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froggie-recs-fics · 3 years ago

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Fic Roundup (up to 9/26/21)

I'm gonna start collecting fics I've read recently to recommend them, because making trope lists takes too long and many fics fall by the wayside. Let me know if you like this new format!

The fandoms in this list are as follows: Marvel (SamBucky, HTP, SpideyPool, WinterHawk, WinterIron, Stony, Stucky, SpiderShield), DCU (Bane/Blake), Inception (Arthur/Eames), Teen Wolf (Sterek).

A * signifies a particular favorite (though I love all these fics)

Marvel

Sam/Bucky

double back by flowermasters (E, 12K, Post-Endgame, Time Loop, Time Travel)

Sam gets stuck in a time loop. In 1943.

Things could be worse, but they could certainly be better.

Companion piece here: quick time

I'll explain everything to the geese by napricot (Post-Endgame, E, 50K, Sam can talk to birds)

Bucky is so competent that it hurts my feelings is not a rational complaint to have about a person, and yet, after a year of being Captain America and partnering up with Bucky for the new and improved, post-Blip Avengers, that’s kinda how Sam’s feeling.

It’s not great. It maybe leads to Sam making some rash, ill-advised decisions like claiming he has a previously undisclosed superpower, and then getting caught in a web of lies when he ends up actually developing that surprisingly inconvenient superpower. Talking to birds had seemed like a harmless superpower, but it turns out that birds have a lot of opinions, and they don’t hesitate to tell Sam about them, especially when it comes to his supposedly subpar courting skills. Which is ridiculous, because Sam isn’t courting Bucky. Right?

Rumlow/Bucky

**blueprints for a better world series by itallstartedwithdefenestration @astralhux (CATWS, Post-CATWS, Noncon, E, 115K, Dark Main Character)

When Pierce discovers the asset is no longer capable of getting himself hard during recreational use, he tells Rumlow to figure out what the problem is, and to fix it. The solution turns out to be more complicated than anyone expected.

I can't recommend this series enough

Peter/Wade

*Dead Men Walking series by doctorestranged @lazystrawberrymilkshakes (E, 235K, Identity Porn, Slow Burn)

When a series of murders take place, Peter Parker goes undercover in Sister Margaret’s to get intel on Tony Stark’s prime suspect: Deadpool. Peter goes in hoping to get enough information so that Spider-Man can save the day, but like everything in Peter’s life, it becomes a bit more complicated than that and it soon becomes apparent that he might not be the best fit for the job.

All About Chemistry by TwiceBakedPotato @sedatedkoala (No Powers AU, M, CNTW, 74K, Teacher-Student Relationship, Slow Build)

After serving his 20 years in the Marine Corps, Wade Wilson is cashing in his GI Bill and going back to college. He feels like the old man on campus, but that doesn't matter. He likes his classes. He likes learning. And he especially likes his Chemistry professor with the messy brown hair.

Clint/Bucky

Making Me A Habit by Kangofu_CB @kangofu-cb (No Powers AU, T, 20K, Pet Store, Slow Burn, Pining, Misunderstandings)

Bucky is a disabled vet struggling with reintegrating into civilian life. He has a routine and a rhythm, and he doesn't like to let anything - big or small - disrupt it. That all changes the day Bucky finds himself inside CATastrophe, the local pet rescue, recovering from a panic attack in the back room of the shop.

He’s used to walking by the place, not visiting, but the next thing Bucky knows, he’s hanging signs and being used as a climbing tree for a bunch of freshly-acquired kittens. And he just...keeps going back. First for the kittens, then for the disaster shop owner who rescues actual kittens from actual trees and teaches archery as a side-gig, and eventually because he’s hopelessly in love.

(Clint was in love before Bucky ever walked in the door.)

*Nameless by AvaKelly (Post-CATWS, M, 101K, Time Travel, Time Loop, Slow Burn)

A gun is pointed at him before he can even move from his position, the Soldier's metal arm steady in its aim. Clint sighs.

"Nemo," Clint says. "It's tattooed on your wrist, right here," he lifts his right hand and taps his left index finger where his palm ends.

The Soldier's eyes widen. "How do you know this?"

"I put it there."

Glitter, G-Strings and Other Mission Hazards by flawedamythyst @flawedamythyst (T, 16K, Undercover, Stripper Clint)

“Which is why you need me to shake my booty for cash,” said Clint.

“Precisely,” said Coulson. “You’re the only agent we have who wouldn’t need additional training in the skills of an exotic dancer to take on the mission, and we want to get someone in there as soon as possible.”

Clint nodded, shutting the file. “Okay, awesome. I’ll dig out my sequined g-string.”

“You’ll have full access to requisition any costumes you might need,” said Coulson.

A mission requires Bucky to be Clint's back-up as he goes undercover as a stripper, which gets more difficult with every new costume he comes out in.

Paternal Error by EVVS @skylarkevanson (Post-CATWS, T, 33K, Kid Fic, Established Relationship)

Bucky has never once thought of being a parent. Not since the Winter Solider happened.

Until he falls in love with Clint Barton. And that idiot just keeps collecting children for his flock.

Now Bucky has to pretend like he's good at parenting.

Bucky/Tony

Forms of Love by bear_bell (Post-CACW, E, 33K, Split Personalities)

Months after the Avengers' dispute in Germany, the team returns to the US and moves back into the tower. As always, everyone pretends that nothing happened. Tony is just fine with this. He's used to pretending, and he'll be damned if he lets any of them see him flinch.

Tony's the bad guy, after all. He's used to it. He's fine with it. He's good at it.

Only now, there's something far worse loitering around the tower - The Winter Soldier. No one notices the guy at first, but when they do, Tony figures that he should have the soldier's back.

Birds of a feather should flock together, and the bad guys should start a book club.

Steve/Tony

While You Were Sleeping by betheflame @betheflame (No Powers AU, M, 65K, While You Were Sleeping AU)

It's been years since Steve Grant Rogers Drysdale has spoken to his twin, Ransom. So it was quite a shock when he was summoned to a hospital and found out that Ransom was in a coma.

Even more shocking? That Ransom is engaged. To Tony Stark.

Steve/Bucky

The Road Goes Ever On And On by PipGraham (Omegaverse AU, M, Noncon, Graphic Violence, 20K, Road Trip, Pre-Serum Steve, Past Domestic Violence)

When Brock's continued domestic abuse puts not only Steve's life in danger, but also that of his unborn pup, he flees into the night with just a small backpack of clothes and almost no money to his name.

Steve quickly runs into trouble as he tries to embark on a 3-day cross-country bus journey back home to New York City.

He meets a kind veteran when he most needs a helping hand.

Just Words by LadyRazzle (crimegimp) @ladyrazzle (Pre-CATFA, Soulmate AU, T, 2K, Fluff)

Inspired by that now legendary post: "soulmate AU where you wake up on your 18th birthday with the first words your soulmate will say to you tattooed on your body so you’ll know them when you meet them." Well what if they appear the moment you turn 18, rather than just the day? And what if by the time you turn 18, you'd already fallen in love?

Bucky wasn’t eager to discover what the words said. He already knew what he wanted them to say. He always had.

Peter/Steve

Forgetting It's There by spinstitcher (stygian) (NR, 8K, Crack, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Porn)

“You’re Captain America,” he blurts out.

“What?” says Captain America, looking a little wide-eyed. He casts a nervous glance at the girl at the counter – he has nothing to worry about there, she’s rocking out to her iPod and could care less what they’re talking about – and says, “No, uh, Steve, it’s just, I’m Steve.”

“Right,” says Peter, and then because his brain-to-mouth filter had apparently been completely destroyed in the fight on Oscorp Tower: “Hey, your butt really is as tight as it looks on TV.”

DCU

Bane/Blake

7 Deadly Ass(as)sins by teacuphuman @teacuphuman09 (AU, E, 23K, BDSM)

Bane and Barsad own a sex shop and John needs a job.

Straws by Menirva (Bane/Blake/Barsad, AU, E, 38K, BDSM)

John works in a smoothie shop.

He has a knack, a second sense if you will, for being able to look at a person and know what they're going to order. It's not the most spectacular gift in the world but he likes being able to figure people out and he's never wrong.

Except for this scruffy asshole who is clearly just ordering the wrong thing to fuck with him.

How is he even finishing an extra-large?

Inception

Aurthur/Eames

Rough Trade by Whisky (whiskyrunner) @whiskyrunner (AU, E, 23K, Internalized Homophobia)

Arthur is an investment banker. He is professional and efficient. He's a halfway decent cook. He's totally independent and has been since the age of eighteen. Maybe he's tired all the time because he works about ninety hours a week which is twice what normal people do, but he's rich and he's competent at his job. He's almost thirty, and already a success.

And there are some things Arthur is not. For instance: Arthur is not gay.

Lucky by earlgreytea68 @earlgreytea68 (M, 37K, Kid fic)

Arthur finds a baby.

Teen Wolf

Stiles/Derek

Cut to the Bone by standinginanicedress (Omegaverse AU, E, 112K, Secret Relationship, Enemies to Lovers kinda)

“Not that it’s any of your god damn business, but my name is Stiles. Do you need something?”

The alpha grins. All teeth, shiny white, straight as an arrow. He’s got this sculpted perfection to him that Stiles is sure has worked on all the omegas he’s ever encountered before, but Stiles stands his ground and narrows his eyes. “A date.”

Stiles looks him up and down, slowly, from the black shoes on his feet, to his uniform khakis and blazer littered with pins, to his face. He frowns, makes a face, and says, “pass.”

Cornerstone by Vendelin (Human AU, E, 83K, Marine Derek, Blind Stiles, Friends to Lovers)

Suffering from PTSD, ex-Marine Derek Hale moves back to Beacon Hills to open a bookshop and find a calmer life. That’s where he meets Stiles, completely by accident. Stiles is talkative, charming and curious. Somehow, despite the fact that he’s blind, he’s able to read Derek like no one else.

Stand Fast in Your Enchantments by DevilDoll, Rahciach (AU, Graphic Violence, E, 76K, Captivity, Feral Derek)

"Stiles knew damn well what a pissed-off wolf sounded like, and every hair on the back of his neck was telling him that somewhere in this room was a very pissed-off werewolf." An AU in which Derek is feral, Stiles is magical, and they eat a lot of fast food.

The Payoff Pitch by Leslie_Knope (Sports AU, E, 83K, Coming Out, Friends to Lovers)

Derek is on the cusp of his second season with the LA Dodgers, and as the reigning runner-up Rookie of the Year, the pressure’s on him to become the team’s star pitcher and lead them to the playoffs for the first time in five years. He’s trying to deal with the burden of expectations and really has zero desire to spend any extra time or energy on anything that isn’t baseball.

But then he meets Stiles.

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cream-and-tea · 4 years ago

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Why hello there

Well, well, well. If it isn't my oldest enemy, introducing myself to anyone in any capacity. Ok so after lurking around this community since I made my blog and keeping track of (ie: lowkey highkey stalking) a bunch of amazing people with amazing work I've decided to face the Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Known (ie: my anxiety) and make an actual post introducing myself. If for no other reason then to let people know what the hell is up with the idiot behind this screen.

So, what the hell is up with

the idiot behind this screen?

⎯hi yes that's me.

⎯you can call me Créme! Because I didn't pick a proper pen name before and now I'm attached to this one

⎯I've basically always thought about stories and writing for my whole life. But I only really got into it when I was around ten years old and had just started writing poetry. That was basically my gateway drug into all of creative writing lmao

⎯speaking of poetry. I do quite a lot of it and hope to create an anthology of my work someday (^^;;

⎯I like tea (obviously,) mostly herbal kinds that I will put milk in purely out of spite (and because it tastes good)

⎯I also like classic literature and history but probably for all the wrong reasons (hmu if you've got any Good Facts) and abusing my right to use brackets

⎯as for what I write currently it's just a lot of girls losing their morals and then kissing because I'm classy like that

⎯in all (a bit more) seriousness my w.i.ps tend to explore complicated character dynamics (just in general but mostly between friends/lovers or any combination of those two,) society being kind of horrible, and characters who at least try to do good in spite of that (or not.)

⎯speaking of my w.i.ps.......

Oops all gays

(aka the w.i.p pile)

⎯⎯ ALL FALL DOWN

⎯ aka "the superhero one"

⎯ stupidly self indulgent enemies-to-begrudging-allies-to-lovers wlw romance

⎯ seriously the p i n i n g in this book Jesus Christ

⎯ it causes me physical pain and I'm the one writing it

⎯ one mind controlling villain with no idea what the fuck he's doing, six disaster gays with something to prove, superpowers and an apparent death wish, two rival teams working together plus a huge delicious heaping of trauma

⎯ what could possibly go wrong? (Spoilers: literally everything)

—this one is basically my child to be honest and I can't wait to share more of it!

⎯⎯SWEET DREAMS

⎯ aka "the wtf even is this one"

⎯ a short story told from the pov of a dead girl as she recounts her own murder

⎯ we got an unhinged wlw couple in this one and oooh boy it ain't healthy

⎯ increasingly messy narration as she relives her trauma

⎯ lots of flower/dirt imagery

⎯ themes include: purity and filth| grief and death| coming to terms with a toxic relationship| realizing it was Not Your Fault| some weird religious subtext??? Kinda?? not even I rlly don't know what's going on there

⎯⎯ HUNGRY DOGS

⎯ aka "the! space!! Heist!!!"

⎯ basically three dumbasses get fucked over so they decide to fuck over the government as well (and also kind of sort of save humanity as they know it.)

—creepy!! Mind control! Plants!!

⎯ a little lite dystopia (tm)

⎯ space! Pirates!!

⎯ seriously how much plant based body horror can I shove into this sci-fi set entirely in space (the answer is: as much as possible)

⎯ it's actually a lot more underdeveloped than the others but I wanted to let you know it exists

Sooo, yeah....

#Ack this is so long and I’m on mobile so I couldn’t figure out how to put it under a cut #Hnnng and I think I have a character limit?? Or something?? Bc it wouldn’t let me type more then a few words when I went back in to add the #Will reblog with that as soon as possible #Anyways! Here! It’s me! *chucks this into the void*#Writblr #Writblr intro #Writblr introduction #Original work #Wip #cream-and-tea introduction #Will I regret this later?? We shall see #Did tumblr fuck this up and keep in all my awful spelling mistakes?? Probably #The art! I found on a blog called @/michichalove #Will put that in the reblog as well

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butididnottried · 4 years ago

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So, after a few weeks i'm finally at the finale.

The Phoenix King

Excuse me, mister phoenix fire bitch king Ozai, sir, your enormous ego makes me cackling like a kindergardener that just heard a swear word. This man is just insufferable. But yeah, he is a human being (and once he was an innocent (cute?) baby) and Aang is right with not wanting to kill him. Like, they really never talked about this, and they all act like it's one of the easiest thing to do. I know that fandom likes to jokes about how Toph and Zuko we're killing people and the rest of gaang was more than oblivious to that, but seriosusly, none of them - and i mean all gaang - never killed not even a one person. Probably. As far as i know/remember. I realize that fate of the whole world is lying on their backs, but i also know that they know better than to shaming Aang not wanting to be a murderer and they fuckin know that they're not helipng with such agression.

They didn't tell Zuko about their plans to attack after the comet, so Zuko didn't tell them what his father want to do with the comet. And now The Avatar is missing and you have no time to loose. That's what happens when people do not talk to each other! Buuut Ozai plans towards comet sound kinda... important? Big? Dangerous? Looks like Zuko should tell the rest about that anyway.

But hell, they really wanted to wait out this whole comet thing and attacket later? Like, why?! They really expected that the fire lord wouldn't use it's power to do something crazy? Because he already conquered Ba Sing Se? And that's all? He won the war? What? Cooome on, Katara, Sokka, you're smarter than this. ):

Toph was way too happy about throwing flaming rocks at her freinds. And she moulded a whole Ba Sing Se in sand. With the earth king and his bear looking just like they look. Girl, that is some crazy memory superpower.

👏 Give 👏 Toph 👏 her 👏 life 👏 changing 👏 trip 👏 with 👏 Zuko 👏

I have a really hard time with believing that Azula is just 14. Aang and Toph are just 12? Ok. Katara is 14 and Sokka 15? Sure thing. Zukos 16? Yes. And uh, Azula is also 14. And i'm like... you lost me.

Gay disaster mister avatar tracking master be like "i know what to do" and he takes all his friends to meet a powerhouse lesbian.

The Old Masters

Welcome to the family grampgramp!

Seriously, Paku does not deserve such precious grandchildren.

And also seriosuly, master Pianado is not that old. He's fine and middle aged. How dare you.

Bumi can bend with just his face. He can bend a whole house. And then throw a whole house. What a man. No wonder he can just like that proclaim himself as a king. Who would forbid that to him? Aaaand, do firebenders didn't knew that eclipse would take bending powers away from them? Is this some forbidden knowledge?

Uncle Iroh, i'm really start to doubting your wisdom and common sense. You really want to leave Zuko all alone when he become fire lord? I guess that since Zuko himself recognizes his mistakes and choose the right path Iroh thinks that he's ready to be responsible enough and take lead of a whole nation. Yes. Of course. ...Nooo, no no, i would never leave my baby boy like that. But i'm a dumbass and except moral support i wouldn't be much help with ruling. But an old man having his pai sho plays every day is more important. I'm let down. ):

I read how lionturtle and his gift to Aang is just an easy and lazy deus ex machina and... no? No really? Well, yes, it was easy for Aang to just being gifted with energybending and not needed anymore to kill Ozai, but it makes sense in this world and do not came out of nowhere. Aang was so conflicted about possibility that he must kill someone, that he unconsciously seeked help from spirits. The lionturtle do not came to Aang, he didn't even know that there's a human on hic back. Aang asked him for guidance and help, and lionturltle did excatly that - he helped the avatar with his dillema. Easy. Well, i'm guessing that Aang don't know yet what excatly happened and didn’t feel different. Also, Aangs moral dillema about killing another human is just *double chef kiss*. ATLA aired more than 10 years ago and even now it's rather rare to see something like that on show for kids.

But also, all these past avatars we're rather useless. You need to be more active avatar Aang. You need to bring justice. You need to do something. Blah blah blah. These are not really substantive tips. Maybe expect that aribender avatar lady. She also didn't really helped Aang with his problem, but at least she said something new and meaningful.

Into the Inferno

All these firebenders flying around like they have jetpacks is just hysterical. And yes Toph, yes, that's A LOT of fire. I also like how they used a sound of flamethrower in firebending scenes.

Banishment for you. Banishment for you! Banishment for everybody! ...aaand idk, for me Azula slipping away was a little to fast? Maybe if we saw some some scenes with her between “The Boilin Rock” and this it would hit harder/better? Idk. I don’t really feel her. And when she's drawed LIKE THAT i have even harder time believing that she's just 14.

Oh, i like so much music choice during Azulas and Zukos agni kai. When Aang and Ozai are fighting there's proper battle music, but during agni kai scenes music was sad, emotional and dramatic, not only accentuating tragedy of this situation, but also how Zukos and Azulas personal fight is different from Aangs and Ozai. NICE.

Avatar Aang

And that's why you do not mess with the avatar! Fuck him up Aang!

But lol, how funny it is that Aangs cosmic chakra was unlocked absolutely by stupid accident? Ozai that one particular thing bring wholly oh himself. And oh, Aang knew how this whole energybending works buts still was hesistant to use it because it could be too dangerous to him and he left it at the very end, if he had no other choice. Understandable.

Aang is the best avatar, there's no discussion. When all past avatars went down to absolutely obliterate Ozai and Aang standed up to all of them? NICE.

Hmmm, there's one good thing about loser lord Ozai. His hair game. This thick mane is truly impressive. It's almost on disneys Pocahontas level when it's flowing on wind. And then he got roasted by a bunch of goofy kids. Beautiful.

Yes Sokka, it's amazing that Toph invented metalbending. You have no idea how much.

Katara taken down Azula in a very smart way. Can i get a wahoo for Katara? WAHOO!

That open plot with Ursa feels... unnecessary? Do they planned comics at this point? Like, if you're not going to resolve this in the show then why even keeping her alive? I guess that this is in presupposition, that Zuko is going to find her and bring home and they're going to be all happy and nice but idk. Maybe it would felt differently for me if i didn't know how this was resolved in the comics. :/

Ty Lee was like GIRLS, and girls we're like YES. You go, you funky little lesbian.

Aaaah, it felt so rewarding and satisfying when Aang immobilized Ozai, put a whole laser show and then calmly put down this whole fire around them. Closing scenes after that we're good, but emotionally? Aangs being at peace immediately after fight bringed me peace. My skin is clean, my crops are thriving and all that smooth jazz. So good. Such good finale. I can't believe that. Honestly, i don’t remember the last time when i felt so good after finishing something.

...and they needed to ruin it at the very last seconds. Well, not like, ruin it whole, but scratched it enough. Aang walks on porch, Katara joins him, they look at each other and blush, they see how calm the world is right now and how good and beautiful it is, they hug each other, it nice and cute and just good. And it should end right here. Because this kiss really feel like reward and it's... icky a little.

#atla #avatar #the last airbender #aang #avatar aang #gaang #fire lord ozai #ozai #atla finale #sozins comet #atla season 4 #atla first watch #agni kai #lionturtle

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shoujocentral · 5 years ago

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Symphogear S1- Now this is MY kind of anime!

Every once and awhile when I'd log onto Twitter, I'd see people saying "watch Symphogear" accompanied by images from the show. From looking at the pictures, I assumed it was just another magical girl show like Precure but with less magic and more... techno. Oh, and apparently they sing while they fight? Sounds kinda dumb...

Buuuut... I have heard that there's some yuri content? Maybe I'll give it a try. I mean, I'm always open to watching new stuff, even if it's just a silly little kid's show 😅

😳

Well........ color me hooked.

I have to say, this show is not at all what I was expecting in the best possible way. It feels a lot more like a Shounen action show along the lines of Fullmetal Alchemist or Neon Genesis Evangelion than a Magical Girl show (if that's even what it's supposed to be). Today, I'm going to be giving my first impressions of Senki Zesshou Symphogear season 1, which will be spoiler free for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

Plot:

So what is Senki Zesshou Symphogear about?

In the not too distant future (next Sunday A.D.), Japan is under attack by monsters known as Noises, the likes of which cannot be killed by military weapons. The only thing that can kill them are girls clad in weaponized armor known as Gears, which is activated and powered by singing catchy techno-pop music.

One day, a girl named Hibiki Tachibana is caught in the middle of a battle, and one of the Gear users, Kanade Amou, sacrifices herself to save her. Two years later, Hibiki discovers that a piece of Kanade's Gear was embedded in her chest during the fight, giving her access to the Gear's powers. Hibiki is recruited by the Disaster Relief Squadron, the organization that created the Gears, to help defend Japan from the Noises.

However, Kanade's former girlfriend partner, Tsubasa Kazanari, sees Hibiki as nothing more than an obnoxious, naive girl trying to be Kanade's replacement. Will the two learn to work together, defeat the Noises, and possibly uncover a deeper plot to all the attacks?

Symphogear's plot might not be the most original thing ever; evil monsters attack, teenage girls transform into superpowered warriors to fight them, evil mastermind tries to take over the world, etc. But what makes this story stand out is it's unique approach to the fights. Having the Gears be powered by music, resulting in every fight being accompanied by a song, is either a genius way to amplify the fights, or a genius way for the producers to sell a techno soundtrack.

I was worried that the constant use of insert songs would become repetitive and annoying, but on the contrary, they heightened my enjoyment! The fights in Symphogear are easily my favorite part of the show: fast-paced, badass powers, lots of screaming, and downright brutal at times! Hibiki has officially joined the ranks of my all-time favorite battle cries, right up there with Goku from DBZ and Souma from Kannazuki no Miko.

If there was one thing I had to nitpick, it would be that most of the fights take away the credibility of the Noises. They're supposed to be this terrifying threat to Japan that can't be harmed by the military, but as soon as the Gear wielders show up, they're reduced to nothing more than cannon fodder as Hibiki and her comrades seem to waltz through them without breaking a sweat.

Thankfully, the versus matches between Gear wielders are much more balanced. My favorite has to be Hibiki vs Chris (see above), but then again, any fight with Chris is an absolute win!

Characters:

Hibiki Tachibana

Hibiki is your typical genki girl protagonist: optimistic, hyperactive, naive, and pure. What makes her a more compelling hero, however, is her slow growth into becoming a strong Gear wielder. Unlike most magical girl protagonists, who seem to master their powers after one line of "EH?! What just happened to me?!", Hibiki takes time to learn how to fight. She starts out with the mindset that she has to be Kanade's replacement and thus tries to fight just like her. However, she eventually comes to invent her own battle tactics that work much more in her favor. Mainly, punching the everloving shit out of everything in sight.

Hibiki is, in my opinion, a flat character done right. She doesn't go through any personal growth or development throughout the show (learning to fight doesn't count), but her belief that all humans can get along if they communicate and desire to protect people just because she wants to is the cause for most of the change in the people around her. The world is in a dark place, and Hibiki is the light. She doesn't need to change, because she's exactly what the world needs.

Tsubasa Kazanari

From what I've learned, Tsubasa is a favorite amongst Symphogear fans. Me personally, though, I have a few issues with her character. Now, I have nothing against brooding, damaged characters. In fact, Tsubasa's recovery from Kanade's death and learning to cherish her own life was incredibly engaging... for the most part. Sorry, but I can only take so much edge. Her constant repitition of "I am a sword, I exist only to fight" grew old after the first 10 or so times.

Also, while I love her overall development, I feel that her acceptance of Hibiki was a little rushed. For the first four episodes, she hates Hibiki for carrying Kanade's Gear to the point where she tries to fight her to the death. Then, after another fight sends her into a coma, she has a (extremely gay) hallucination of Kanade telling her to get over herself. Next episode, she's treating Hibiki as if they've been friends the whole time. Did I miss something? Did Hibiki even apologize for saying she wanted to replace Kanade? Did Tsubasa apologize for trying to shishkabob her?!

Development aside, her fighting style is awesome and unique, and leads to the best choreography in the show. Hopefully as I watch more seasons, my opinion of her will improve.

Chris Yukine

Best Girl. No questions. Anyone who disagrees is wrong. Deal with it.

Jokes aside, Chris is my favorite character of the show bar none. Maybe I just have a weakness for evil-turned-good characters, but I adored her "don't take no shit from nobody" attitude and her soft side emerging as the show progressed. And let me tell you, Tsubasa would have no right to brood if she knew what Chris went through as a child. I won't give anything away, but just a few brief images and harsh words were enough get the picture across and tug at my heartstrings.

She also had my favorite Gear and fighting style in the show. If there's one thing that always gets my blood pumping, it's gatling guns and an endless supply of missiles. Seriously, I could watch this girl fight for hours.

Kanade Amou

A moment of silence, ladies and gentlemen.

......

Kanade would be my favorite character if we had gotten more of her. But alas, she has to die in the very first episode. DAMN YOU, PLOT!!!

Even though we get very little of Kanade, she makes it her mission to leave a lasting impression. Her sacrifice at the beginning sets the tone for the rest of the show, and her flashback is the best of the bunch. I got hard chills when she transformed for the first time. Let's just say she's psychotic in all the right ways.

Kanade died for our sins. Remember that... 🙏

Finé

Our main villain of the show. That's it. There's really nothing much else to her. She's cruel, manipulative, and powerful beyond belief, as most big bosses of these kinds of shows are. She was honestly my least favorite part of the show.

Fine's motivation is incredibly confusing on first watch. I had to go back to pause and read the subtitles multiple times to understand her backstory, but maybe that's my fault for being a slow reader. On the other hand, the explanation as to who she is and why she's so powerful comes right out of nowhere and doesn't seem to connect to anything the story had been building up to that point. Also, by the time I understood her motivation and actually found it a little intriguing, she dropped the dreaded "I'm going to take over the world" line. Aaaaand.... all my interest just went out the window.

There is a twist involving her connection to a certain other character in the show that I genuinely didn't see coming, but in the end, it wasn't nearly enough to make up for her shortcomings.

Miku Kohinata

God bless this little angel. Miku is a precious cinnamon roll who must be protected at all costs. Thankfully, Hibiki's got it covered 👍

Words cannot express how much I love this girl. She may be only a supporting role for the time being, but good lord, does she support! It always broke my heart whenever she tried to spend time with Hibiki or talk to her, but the Disaster Relief Squad kept pulling them apart. I know DRS is classified, but Miku deserves better than to have secrets kept from her! Life sucks when your girlfriend best friend is a superhero...

Well, that was a mouthful. There's a lot more characters in this show, but I don't really have much to say about them. However, while we're on the subject of Miku, let's move on to the reason I checked this show out in the first place, and the reason I'm sure most of you read my stuff.

Yuri:

No sooner did I finish this show did I start looking up HibiMiku fanart 😍

I was expecting a fair dosage of yuribait going into Symphogear, but mother of all that is gay, did I get an overdose!

First and foremost, the main ship: HibiMiku. These two are dating. Nothing anyone says will change my mind. They compliment each other perfectly, with Hibiki's energy and Miku's sweetness... HHNNNGGH! IT'S TOO PRECIOUS! I sincerely hope these two get more time together in the next few seasons. Now if only they'd stop with the damn F word...... 😡

Next up, TsubaKana. This one seems more like it was one-sided feelings on Tsubasa's part, judging by how dedicated Kanade was to fighting the Noise. Regardless, you don't just lose all sense of your humanity and self-worth after your "partner" dies. And all that hardcore blushing in the flashbacks and naked cuddling dream sequences... nah, Tsubasa was hella hot for Kanade. Sadly, our lord and savior was taken from Ms. Brooding too soon.

Finally, there's Ryoko Sakurai, the DRS's head scientist. She was initially hinted to be gay, what with her being all too eager to have Hibiki undress and wanting to "pop her cherry" (yes, an adult said that to a 15 year-old). However, after a certain conversation occurred, it seemed more like she was straight or at least bisexual, if all that dirty talk wasn't just teasing.

I've heard future seasons introduce more potential couples, so I'm keeping my eyes open and my yuri goggles on tight 😋

Conclusion:

I enjoyed the first season of Senki Zesshou Symphogear through and through. As someone who enjoyed Akanesasu Shoujo and Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, I have a soft spot for shows about badass girls kicking monster ass and unleashing their inner yuri. Overall though, I think Symphogear might be my favorite of the bunch so far. It has its fair share of flaws, sure, but I think its positives outweigh the negatives by a long shot. If I got this much enjoyment out of the first season, I cannot wait to see what the following seasons have to offer!

Symphogear delivers a fun, action-packed story with colorful characters, kickass fight scenes, head-banging music and plenty of yuri content. Anyone who loves Magical Girls or Shounen battle shows needs to check it out!

Rating: 8/10

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go binge Symphogear G. See you next time, my fellow yuri lovers!

#symphogear #senki zesshou symphogear #yuri #shoujo ai #yuri anime #hibiki tachibana #miku kohinata #tsubasa kazanari #kanade amou #chris yukine #hibiki x miku #hibimiku #tsubasa x kanade #tsubakana

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symflash · 5 years ago

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Ultimate Spider-Man Symflash headcanons

Because I can’t write, I can’t draw, and I can’t pay other people to do it for me.

* The symbiote that's with Flash is a fragment of the larger chunk of symbiote that went down with the Helicarrier in season 1, episode 26, and not the brand new symbiote created in season 3, episode 2. Consequently, they remember Harry, but not the time the Goblin injected Peter with Venom (different fragment).

* Also, in this continuity, "Venom" is actually the name the symbiote picked for themself.

* Venom was a blank slate at their birth, like an infant, with zero concept of morals or social mores. They might've been able to suss it out by osmosis from their hosts' brains, if their most long-term host hadn't been Harry "I hate my dad and I wish he was dead" Osborn.

* Flash's and Venom's first dance as Agent Venom went something like this: Venom: “Okay, I think I've cracked the code. Every time I assert my personhood separate from my host, I get electrocuted to smithereens. So maybe if I... pretend to be an inanimate object, act super low-key, this new host won't notice, and I can delay my next near-death experience.” Flash: "This is awesome! You're awesome! What's your name? I'm Flash! Do you wanna be friends? Do you like football? Do you know what football is?" Venom: *tears streaming down their metaphorical face* "wHAt tHe fUcK Is goINg oN"

* That was not the moment Venom decided to bind themselves permanently to Flash, though. That happened after Beetle tried to hit them with a sonic blast. Venom was in pain, and Flash was telling them not to be scared, because Spider-Man would help them, they could trust Spidey. That was Venom's first exposure to the concept of trust. And after they saw that trust paid off, they decided to trust Flash. And their trust paid off. Flash: "Did you hear that, buddy? You won't have to leave after all! Isn't this great?" Venom:

* Flash's training period at SHIELD was mostly dedicated to teaching human morality to Venom and training himself to not refer to himself as "we" (it gives the people with the sonic guns twitchy trigger fingers).

* Sure, I could NOT shoehorn in Flash's comic book backstory. But I'm a slut for cheap angst, so I'm gonna. ** Flash didn't so much live at the gas station as he squatted there after running away from home. ** The smell of alcohol is a trigger for him. He drops off the radar on his 21st birthday because he's terrified his friends will try to take him to a bar.

* Flash and Venom converse telepathically more often than they let on. They like to do Mystery Science Theatre 3000 running commentaries during boring meetings. They also do a psychic duet of Bohemian Rhapsody whenever a known mind reader walks into the room. Just in case.

* Venom thinks the fact that Flash was The Very First Host They Ever Took is the most romantic thing ever. ("It was destiny!") Flash is just embarrassed that their first meeting was so inauspicious. ("You came out of a toilet and I tried to feed Pete to you.")

* Venom can do a bang-up impersonation of Harry, and you can bet they use it to make fun of him at any opportunity. ** "Hurr burr, I have a limousine, a penthouse home and billions of dollars, and when my favorite Spider-Person doesn't reciprocate my gay crush *choking up* I don't cry about it."

* There was a brief period after "Anti-Venom" where Venom was too weak to speak to Flash, and Flash wasn't sure if they were dead or alive. ** Of course he cried; slut for cheap angst, remember?

* Flash has undiagnosed dyslexia. He didn't figure it out until Venom asked him why letters wiggle for him but not for Harry.

* Venom likes dandelions, especially ones growing out of cracks in the sidewalk. ** "They're considered weeds and eradicated on sight, and yet they're strong enough to break through rock, and hardy enough to survive in environments that would be inhospitable to all other plants. It's just... poeticcinema.jpg." *** "Buddy, you can beam a crisp and clear mental impression of any picture directly into my brain. There's literally no reason for you to say 'dot jay peg' out loud, ever."

* Peter & Co. keep making references to stuff Venom did that Venom has no memory of (because there's an entire branch of symbiotes that diverged from them, so they literally weren't around for those events). Flash decides to investigate and pulls up all SHIELD case reports about Venom. That's the first time he finds out how many symbiotes SHIELD has killed or attempted to kill. Venom can only shrug their metaphorical shoulders. People have been trying to murder them nearly from the moment of their birth. They didn't have a point of reference, so they'd just sort of assumed it was a normal part of life. They don't really understand why Flash is crying. And that makes Flash cry harder. ** And that's the story of how Flash got over his crush on Peter. *** Venom doesn't see much point in holding grudges. After all, if they ever express anger or try to retaliate over their treatment, they'll be stuffed in a jar at best and incinerated alive at worst. Luckily, Flash is a finely-tuned rage producing machine; he can be angry on both of their behalf.

* Flash encourages Venom to have their own hobbies separate from him. To facilitate this, Venom has permission to drive around Flash's body while he sleeps, provided they don't stray away from SHIELD headquarters and wake Flash up if there's an emergency. ** Venom likes looking up video tutorials for random things. And because they share a brain with Flash, he ends up learning things by proxy. (The morning he woke up fluent in American Sign Language was a trippy one). *** They're also into videogame speedruns, of all things.

* Scarlet Spider would very much like to forget the time he got up for a midnight snack and found Flash, with solid black eyes, hunching on top of a vending machine like a goblin, attempting to insert three chocolate bars into his mouth at once.

* Venom is the only one allowed to call Flash "Eugene". They're very territorial of their monopoly.

* Venom has a dim, dim view of father figures. Their genetic progenitor tried to murder them multiple times, and their only second-hand experiences of fathers are, well, Norman Osborn and Harrison Thompson.

* What's the point of having a foot long tongue if you don't use it to lick the bottom of your ice cream carton?

* Venom and Flash have such divergent music tastes, they need to have two separate playlists. (Flash likes punk rock and hair metal, Venom's into eurodance and chiptunes.)

* Incomplete list of animals Flash unironically thinks are cute: tarantulas ("Fuzzy!"), snakes ("Their tongues go blelele!"), amblypygids ("They cuddle their babies!"), velvet worms ("Their feet are so stubby!")

* Flash is actually pretty insecure about being Venom's host. He feels the only reason they stick with him is because he was the first person to be nice to them, and they could do better. ** Flash: "I mean, you give me superpowers, the means to get away from my old life, the opportunity to be somebody... but what do I give you in return? Maybe Doc Ock was right... maybe I AM a parasite." Venom:

* Actually, Flash is insecure about a lot of things. He's afraid Peter secretly resents him for the years of bullying, he fears that he's just fooled everyone into thinking that he's a good person and really he's just as much of a monster as his father, he's scared he's too stupid to make anything of himself and he'll become a deadbeat... it's a bunch of separate but interlocking self-esteem issues. ** Venom helps, though. It's useful to have an outside perspective to your own brain.

* Flash initially calls Venom an "it", because they're genderless and he doesn't have a lot of insight into gender politics and pronouns. He later learns about they/them pronouns, and asks if he can use it for Venom. Venom, who's used to being called "it" and knows even less about personal pronouns, is confused. They have a long discussion about dehumanizing language that ends with Venom shrugging their metaphorical shoulders and going "Sure, if it makes you feel better".

* Being a couple kind of sneaks up on them. In their defense, both of them have little to no experience in giving or receiving affection; they have trouble distinguishing different kinds of love (hence why Flash thought his giant gay crush on Peter was just wanting to be his best buddy).

* Cons of wearing actual clothes instead of a shapeshifted symbiote: Doing laundry. Pros of wearing actual clothes: Nobody can tell you're giving your boyfriend a fullbody cuddle under his shirt in public.

* They're both super affectionate and flirty. They both get super flustered and embarrassed when receiving affection and being flirted at. Together, they are a disaster.

#symflash #flash thompson #venom symbiote #agent venom #ultimate spiderman #man of action studios: *give flash a shallow two-dimensional characterization and the symbiote zero characterization*#me: my city now

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strangestofquarks · 5 years ago

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Things I love about I Am Not Okay With This

The characters are all depicted as the absolute gremlins that high schoolers are, giving actual high schoolers relatable characters, and older audience members characters that they can look st and go ''yep, that's about the level of chaptic disaster I was in high school." They are awkward, emotional messes of teenagers who aren't conatantly doing interesting, edgy things and who use the phrase 'we sixty-nined and everything' to "prove" they had sex. Also, they're not sexualized (which should never be a thing for teens, and the fact that this is common in other shows is incredibly unsettling).

When Sid says she lives in a shitty town/the show attempts to portray her family as poor, this is actually shown to be a thing. The characters live in small houses without/unable to afford amenities like air conditioning (at one point Sid and her mom are annoyed by the house being hot, and AC is never brought up as a solution), Sid walks what looks like at least a mile, maybe a couple, to and from school, the only teen with a car isn't actually supposed to have it, and the teen characters are either expecred to help run errands because they are the only ones with the time to, or left functionally self-sufficient. It's made clear the characters aren't able to afford many nice things, and the plot doesn't forget about that when it might be more convenient/make them look cooler. Essentially, the show accurately portrays its characters' economic situations rather than doing what some teen shows do with the whole 'yes I live in a small, poor town and I'm struggling very much... anyways now I'm never going to wear the same outfit twice in the emtire show and I have a very expensive car'.

Sid being gay is just a thing. Her sexuality is explored in the 'do I like my friend, and does my friend like me back' way, not in the 'OH GOD I'M GAY' way, which is nice because there aren't a lot of narratives where the character just happens to be gay and it's not a huge thing. However, the show also doesn't avoid confronting homophobia in plot-relevant ways, and Sid's narrative about struggling with her sexuality is tied really nicely into the premise of 'teen whose life is already an emotional disaster (including said sexuality struggles) that she's struggling to handle now has to learn how to get her shit together so she doesn't activate her superpowers which are triggered by intense emotions'

Sid is a flawed character. She's irresponsible with family-related things, handles her anger badly, can be mean to her mom, and often doesn't think things through. She's also a likeable character. She cares about her friends, wants to protect her little brother, is sometimes witty, and as time goes on, handles aknowledging her mistakes really well. And her flaws are shown to come from serious emotional trauma (losing her dad, discovering her powers, etc.), which doesn't excuse her being a jerk to people, but does create empathy.

Sid doesn't tell Standley why she doesn't like him ronantically/sexually, because she doesn't have to. Unlike so many other works of fiction, the show doesn't perpetuate the extremely harmful idea that someone has to justify their lack of attraction. It doesn't matter that she's not into him because she's gay - she's just not into him, and that's all that meeds to be said on it.

Stanley's reaction to Sid not being into him is entirely respectful. He's confused, because he's not aware of the whole 'Sid realizing she's not into banging dudes/is into banging girls thing after she and Standley banged and she kissed Dina' thing, and sad, but he never attempts to pressure her into dating him.

The show escalates things REALLY WELL. It starts off just letting the audience get to know the characters, establishing who they are and what thwir lives are like, and creating various plot points/tension based around interpersonal drama. Then it slowly introduces Sid's powers, then her mysterious stalker, then delves into the mystery of exactly how she got her powers. Also, there is as yet very little explnaation/answers, just enough to keep the audience om the edge of their seats, and I love that.

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS BULLET POINT, BEWARE. When Sid realizes her diary is gone and everything on general is going to shit, she 1) acknowledges her mistakes, apologizies for them, and attempts to make amends, and 2) decides that the only way she's going to be able to handle thhngs well is to just... stop worrying. Obviously, it's not quite that simple, but it's made evident that this isn't a snap decision; this is the culmination of her character arc where she's gradually gained confidence. The costume design choices are also excellent here, with the t-shirt replacing her usual sweater/hoodie being a fun way of symbolizing there's a weight off her shoulders, and the whole thing is really satisfying to watch after seeing this character go through so much shit.

THERE ARE EVEN MORE SPOILERS IN THIS BULLET POINT, BEWARE. The show doesn't shy away from horror. They could have had Brad just drop dead or something, but instead they LITERALLY made his head explode. And because of all the effort that got put into the buildup, it's a fuckig glorious payoff with excellent shock value. If you want to build up a bunch of suspense and then give your audience an action-packed sequence that releases it, this is how you do it.

#i am not okay with this #trope talk #characters #storytelling

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tinsley-goldsworth · 5 years ago

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with great power comes great responsibility (chapter 4)

summary: they have one shot to take down the shadow once and for all and ryan never thought he would have to fight this hard for a happy ending

read on ao3!

After the initial shock of the Shadow’s attempted shock wore off, everybody began getting situation. Ryan was surprised to find that Ned Fulmer and his wife, Ariel, were the ones who had found the office and they helped assign two people to an office room. Of course, Ryan was assigned to a room with Marielle and he didn’t take long to unpack his belongings before he and Marielle helped others get situated. Andrew was still having a hard time adjusting and Adam and Annie were still trying to help him feel better. The healer who had been keeping the building safe was Keith Habersberger, which was surprising as Ryan never knew that Keith had powers.

Keith had informed Ryan that only half of the Try Guys were in the safe-house because the Shadow got to Eugene and Zach before they could get a chance to leave to the safe-house. He and Ned weren’t the only ones who lost people who were dear to them; many other people in the safe house had azure auras from feeling despondent about their losses.

The office wasn’t the worst spot to be trapped in but it wasn’t the most ideal location either. There were plenty of bathrooms but there weren’t any showers because there was really no need for an office to have showers until you were forced to stay inside it for two days. There weren’t any beds, which meant everybody had to sleep on the floor, but Ned and Ariel had enough sleeping bags and blankets that each pair of people could share one of the two. There was only one kitchen available and the food supply was sparse, to say the least. On the bright side, they only had to bear with these uncomfortable conditions for forty-six more hours. But then again, facing the Shadow wasn’t much more desirable than staying in the safe-house.

Settling in took about an hour and there was another hour of people wandering around the office building with either the intent on exploring the place or numbly trying to walk off their negative feelings. After those first two hours, Ned and Ariel assembled a meeting to discuss a plan for when the safe-house was no longer safe and to establish a few rules. The meeting was held in a large meeting room and everybody stared at the blank whiteboard from the office chairs around the long table they sat in.

As Ariel and Ned explained the rules and a couple things they needed to know about the safe-house, the tension was now not in the silence or hushed whispers, but rather in people’s expressions. Ryan didn’t need to read people’s auras to tell that they were worried. Sara had her arms wrapped around Obi in a tight embrace and Shane looked exhausted. Even Marielle’s aura was starting to dull a bit as she looked unbelievably stressed.

After the couple in charge finished setting down ground rules, Jen stood up from her seat and Ryan, along with many other Buzzfeed employees in the room, was shocked. Out of all the people in the building, Jen seemed like the least likely to have her life put-together enough to handle the responsibility of explaining a plan as she had the reputation of being a messy, spontaneous disaster gay.

“Okay folks, listen up if you don’t want to die. Technically, as a seer, I’m not usually allowed to tell you these sorts of things because of complications with the future and stuff but-” Jen paused when she saw Adam raising his hand with a confused expression on his face. “Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

Jen took a moment to take out her contacts and revealed her golden eyes. Ryan wasn’t the only person who audibly gasped at her reveal as Jen had the most intense gold eyes Ryan had ever seen, which meant that she was an extremely powerful seer. Jen must’ve had a reason for hiding her being a seer but now was not the time to ask questions about her decisions. She clasped her hands together, a small smile still on her face. Even in the darkest times, Jen somehow always was the one to stay positive. “Now, as I was saying, I’m telling you all this because it’s important for you all to know about what we need to do in order to stop the Shadow from hurting more people.”

Jen proceeded to pick up a blue expo marker, taking off the cap, and began drawing on the whiteboard. “The plan is pretty simple and it should work as long as we make sure we don’t mess up. Only a few people are really needed in order to destroy the Shadow and all the other people have to do is distract it, which is another thing I have to explain, but that’s for later.”

As Jen spoke, she drew some stick figures on the board and when she stopped talking, she stepped away from the whiteboard and gestured to it. She had drawn a couple stick figures arranged in a circle and there was another circle of people around it. In the center of the two rings of stick figures was a dark ball of squiggles that was presumably the Shadow. Pointing at the whiteboard with the back of her marker, Jen turned towards everybody and explained the obvious, “This is the Shadow.”

She dragged her marker over to the inner circle of people and continued, “These are the people with superpowers who we need in order to destroy the Shadow. They will combine their powers and then send that as a blast to kill the Shadow. But they have to all be holding hands in order to combine their powers.”

Then, Jen moved the marker over to the outer circle of people. “After the distraction has been created, the people who have been busy with distracting can move out of the circle so they don’t disrupt the people with superpowers.”

“Now, back to the Shadow just targeting people with superpowers point I made a couple seconds ago,” Jen pushed the cap back onto the marker and as she talked, she animatedly gestured with it. “We can confuse the shadow by having pairs share powers. Long story short, pairs are pairs of people, usually with one person who has a superpower and the other without, and who you’re paired with is usually who you’re closest with. It’s sort of like a soulmate system but the pairings can be platonic. If you’re paired with somebody, it means that you were chosen to share powers with them.

“Anyway, nobody on this planet has figured out how to share superpowers but after realizing that pairs were an important part of this plan, a bunch of seers came together and tested ways to share powers. Ned and Ariel actually helped a lot with this so everybody give a short round of applause for this lovely couple, who both, by the way, are so wonderful for arranging all this for us.”

There was a short break of scattered claps and Jen paused for a moment to wait for the applause to die down before resuming her explanation. “It’s hard to explain how to share your powers but basically, you kind of just have to let your energy flow through you, like how they tell you to do so in yoga, while holding their hand. Let me demonstrate. Annie, do you mind standing up?”

Annie looked confused but she nodded, standing up and walking up next to Jen. Jen gently grabbed Annie’s hand gently and closed her eyes. While Annie’s aura had been a deep purple and Jen’s aura had been a lighter lilac purple, Annie’s aura shifted to a lilac purple and when she blinked, her eyes suddenly turned golden. Jen stepped away from Annie as Annie blinked in confusion, wiggling her fingers. “See, Annie seems like a seer but she doesn’t have all of my powers. The effects will wear off in an hour. Also, surprise, Annie and I got paired. You should be able to find your pairs pretty easily.”

“You still haven’t told us who’s in the inner circle yet,” Ariel reminded and Jen grinned as she twirled around to face the board. She seemed to be in thought for a moment before she turned back towards everybody.

“I believe the order is Ryan, Marielle, Sara, Adam, Keith, Ned, and me. That’s about it. The plan is pretty simple,” Jen leaned against the board and she seemed to be radiating confidence, even though her aura was still a lilac purple. Everybody, despite still being a little shell-shocked from the Shadow’s attack, seemed a little more at ease knowing there was a way to defeat the Shadow. However, Andrew was the only person who didn’t seem too excited about this plan as he leaned back in his chair with a frown on his face.

“This sounds so cheesy. It sounds like it was taken directly out of a movie,” Andrew complained and everybody turned towards him, not really surprised that he was stepping in to provide a cynical viewpoint. After all, he just watched his best friend die and probably didn’t really want the responsibility of helping people save the world.

“Do you have any other plans? Weapons don’t work on the Shadow. Oh, by the way, I’m Marielle. I’m also a seer,” Marielle smiled as people shifted their attention towards her. Most of them didn’t seem to know her but they seemed to agree that Jen’s plan was the most reasonable as after her remark was made, there were a few nods. Andrew slumped in his chair in defeat and Jen clasped her hands together again, hoping to ease the awkward tension.

“Great! We’re all on the same page! Now, we have forty-five hours to chill out, test our ability to share powers with our pairs, and enjoy life before we face the Shadow!”

The last few hours of the day consisted of people figuring out what pairs they were in and figuring out how sharing powers worked. As Jen mentioned, most pairs consisted of one person who had superpowers and one person who didn’t but in Ryan and Marielle’s case, they both had powers so they didn’t need to share.

When Jen was talking about pairs, a thought occurred to Ryan: the reason why Marielle’s aura was silver could be because she was paired with him. He didn’t feel the need to share this theory and decided that he could wait until he had the chance to ask her on a proper date.

Slowly, people drifted back to their rooms to sleep and while Ryan was used to staying up extremely late and only getting four hours of sleep, the events during that day were a lot to handle and he found himself more exhausted than usual. He quickly fell asleep next to Marielle under the blanket they shared and when he woke up the next morning, he found that Marielle was curled up next to him, her head gently nestled next to his shoulder.

For that reason, Ryan didn’t want to get up but he was fully awake and antsy, meaning that he definitely couldn’t fall back asleep again. He decided to carefully get up and head into the kitchen to make some coffee. The coffee machine, fortunately, was working so Ryan made one cup of coffee for himself and another cup for Marielle. By the time he returned to his room, Marielle was up and she was sitting on a chair, glancing out the window.

“Good morning. I made you some coffee.” Ryan handed Marielle a cup and she accepted it gratefully, smiling widely. He pulled up a chair and sat next to as they both stared out the window into the cloudy sky. The wind had stopped blowing so rigorously but there was still some wind kicking up loose pieces of debris on the road. The silence between the two was nice but Ryan broke it when his insistent curiosity got the best of him.

“Are you sure this plan is going to work?” Ryan tentatively asked and Marielle turned towards him, a look of surprise crossing her face.

“Yeah, why?” Marielle’s voice had an edge to it, as if she were tending up and waiting for something to happen. Slightly regretting asking the question, Ryan shrugged his shoulders and tried to brush off his remark.

“No reason. It’s just that, you know, it’s good to be sure.” Even though Ryan thought his reply was rather passive, Marielle didn’t seem to take it that way. Her grip on her cup of coffee tightened and she turned her golden eyes away from the window.

“Do you just not trust me and Jen? Or seers in general?” Marielle’s voice was starting to get louder as her anxiety began creeping its way into her thoughts and words. Her aura was tinting a slightly redder purple and her worry was starting to morph into anger. Having dealt with quick emotion changes, Ryan knew that this was just a natural response to the situation. The best way to handle any abrupt change in emotion was to stay honest.

“Mari, it’s not that I don’t trust you. I’m just scared that if it doesn’t work, people are going to get hurt. I’ve already lost Steven, I can’t afford to lose you.” Ryan didn’t mean to let the last part slip out and Marielle set her coffee on the windowsill so she could properly hug Ryan. They both hadn’t really talked much about how they had been feeling and as the silence settled as they hugged, they knew that they had each other to rely on.

Their intimate moment was broken by Shane, who knocked on their door and cheerily announced, “Breakfast is ready!”

Breakfast was slightly less gloomy than the meeting and everybody seemed to have a little more hope than the day before. The next day mainly consisted of people trying to relax and distract themselves from the Shadow by listening to music, walking around, etc. The day after, from the moment morning broke, tension was starting to bubble again as it was the day they would face the Shadow.

Breakfast was finished quickly and everybody began preparing with two hours left to spare until the protection spell wore off. Once the protection spell wore off, the Shadow would be immediately drawn to the building as there were a large number of people with superpowers in it so everybody had to be prepared. Nervous energy was piling up in the building as people asked Jen questions about the plan to clarify certain aspects and tried to mentally prepare for the battle. They only had one chance at taking down the Shadow and they couldn’t afford to fail.

Half an hour before the spell wore off, everybody began fusing their powers with their pairs. Ryan found that he had trouble reading auras after the powers were fused so he couldn’t tell how everybody was feeling but he still felt the general dread in the air. However, since fusing powers required holding hands, some people seemed a little more hopeful as they held their partners hand, not only to fuse powers, but also for comfort. It was nice to know that even during the darkest times, love and care could still provide some light.

Finally, the protection spell wore off and the wind began howling ferociously outside. Everybody shuffled outside, staring up into the ominously dark sky as they awaited the arrival of the Shadow. Sure enough, the Shadow came barreling towards the group of people gathered in front of the office building. As much as Ryan wanted to run away screaming, he stood his ground, gritting his teeth as he reminded himself that he needed to do this for Steven and everybody else who was gone.

Marielle must have noticed Ryan’s anxiety as she delicately intertwined their fingers together, even though they had no need to hold hands, and shuffled closer to him reassuringly. As the Shadow drew closer, Jen shouted over the sound of the wind ripping through the air, “Don’t forget the plan! Scatter! On the count of three.”

“One.” The Shadow was leaving behind a trail of debris and rooftop shingles were flying everywhere. It looked more enraged than it had been before, somehow emoting pure rage in nits formless tornado-like body.

“Two.” Ryan’s heart was about to explode. He had never felt his heart beat so fast before, not even when he was locked in a musty, dark room for ten minutes straight talking to ghosts and demons. Marielle squeezed his hand reassuringly and that simple gesture provided some strength. He stood up a little straighter and took a deep breath as the Shadow continued to get closer.

“Three!” The Shadow was only a few buildings away and was roaring with the fury of thunder and the power of earthquakes. Everybody scattered and Marielle let go of Ryan’s hand, joining the fray. Ryan didn’t know who was who but he brushed past people as he focused on trying to confuse the Shadow.

The Shadow paused as it hovered over the mass of people scrambling around, too confused by all the fake superpowers and having trouble distinguishing which souls were the ones that actually contained powers. Ryan noted that the people who were in charge of distracting were starting to move towards the outskirts of the clump and he took it as a sign that the people in the inner circle were starting to form the circle. He grabbed onto Marielle’s hand and also managed to find his way to Jen. The people in the outer circle left the clump and by the time the Shadow realized what had just happened, the people with superpowers were already in a circle with their hands connected.

Ryan closed his eyes and tried to allow the energy to flow through him just as Jen had instructed. He found that he could feel the powers of others pulsing through his fingertips and when he opened his eyes, his feet were floating off the ground. There was a strange but intense blue aura around everybody in the circle and as people began opening their eyes, they all were shocked by the fact that they were floating.

“Woah, is this a Guardians of the Galaxy moment?” Even though they were in the middle of trying to defeat the Shadow, Ryan couldn’t help but make a movie reference. He couldn’t wait to tell his brother that he got to levitate in the air while holding hands with other people with superpowers. From across the circle, Keith laughed at his reference and Ryan broke into a smile.

The Shadow was trying to rip the souls of the people in the circle out but their souls were secured in their bodies. Jen seemed to be concentrating on controlling the flow of energy and Ryan could feel the energy starting to build up. Her golden eyes opened and with a determined expression, she snarled at the Shadow, “This one’s for killing Steven.”

With those final words, the energy finally built up to its maximum power and there was a loud blast of blue. The blast was so powerful it caused Ryan to lose his grip and he flew backwards, skidding against the pavement. Dust had kicked up and Ryan coughed as he stood up, brushing off the dirt on his hands. The sky was slowly brightening and the looming clouds began parting quickly, like a wave receding back into the ocean.

Fortunately, Shadow was nowhere to be seen and Ryan saw that Marielle was standing up as well and rushed over to check in on her. She was coughing and waving away the dust from her face as Ryan hurried over to her. “Are you okay?”

“Never been better. How are you?” Marielle asked as she stood up straighter, her golden eyes blazing with triumph and her lips starting to form a grin. Her curls were out of place but Ryan could not stress the fact that no matter how messy her hair was or how tired she looked, Marielle was always going to be the most beautiful girl on the entire planet.

“You still look so beautiful even though we just killed the Shadow,” Ryan remarked breathless as he lightly placed a hand on Marielle’s face and Marielle smiled even wider. She took a step closer to him and maintained the perfect amount of eye contact.

“We just killed the Shadow and that’s the first thing you say?” Marielle raised a joking judgmental eyebrow and Ryan tried to form a proper sentence as he kind of had trouble thinking with Marielle’s face being this close to his. Luckily, he didn’t have to say anything as before he could speak, Marielle closed the gap between their lips.

It had been ages since Ryan kissed anybody so the first few seconds of the kiss mostly consisted of his brain forming key-board smash thoughts. Then, he managed to reciprocate the kiss and gently placed another hand on the side of Marielle’s neck as they continued to kiss. They didn’t stop kissing until they heard Shane clapping and they both blushed as other people joined him.

Ryan was sure that he was going to die of embarrassment but before he could melt into a puddle of distress, Marielle pulled him into another kiss and the world seemed to fall away, leaving them two to celebrate their victory.

After the Shadow disappeared, everybody struggled to return life back to the way it was. Projects were created to help support families who lost their homes to the Shadow and Ryan and Marielle settled down together. It took them an embarrassingly long time to admit their feelings but it was worth it. News reporters and scientists were stunned alike at how quickly the Shadow disappeared and nobody seemed to have witnessed the blast other than the people who were in it so the Shadow just seemed to disappear without any rhyme or reason.

Most of the damage was fixed with money from governments who felt guilty about not stopping the riots but the deaths caused by the Shadow couldn’t ever be fixed. There were fewer people with superpowers now and Ryan missed being able to share a knowing smile with empaths he encountered on a daily basis.

Then, a few weeks after the Shadow disappeared, people who had their souls taken were suddenly coming back to life. They woke up confused and everybody began to search for lost people who came back to life. The moment Andrew heard this news, he immediately left work and drove to the office building, where Steven’s body had been placed in and surely enough, Steven had come back to life.

Now that everything had been restored, all that was left was for the world to learn its lesson about hate and how it literally tore the world apart. It would take the world a long time to fully accept this lesson but for now, Ryan didn’t want to worry about the future so he could some time with Marielle.

that’s the end of this fic! thank u for reading and supporting my work! check out my bfu fics on the page on my blog :D

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ivanaskye · 7 years ago

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IVANA SKYE BIBLOGRAPHY MASTERPOST!!

Finally, some information about all my books and series in one place...

Šehhinah:

Šehhinah is a fantasy-with-angels trilogy in a world with near-modern tech, but a different history (and set of continents!) than ours. It’s about understanding yourself, finding friends, and being a dork.

There are angels running around, and Fallen too. The magic system, Theurgy, is based on literally manifesting one’s soul into the world, because no one in this series has any chill. Especially not God, who makes willing people into Their Holy by manifesting Their soul near enough to them to burn their bodies and give them superpowers. Or Lilith, who lowkey kidnaps abandoned or abused children and manifests her soul near their bodies to make them into demons.

Each of the books takes place primarily in a different city with a different cast, although some of the characters do cross over (especially in the third book.) For this reason, the second book can probably be read standalone if that’s what you’re down for.

The first book, The Stars that Rise at Dawn, takes place in Ēnnuh, a desert city which is maybe the second-oldest city in the world (but this is debated). There’s solar panels and motorcycles everywhere, and bookstores host philosophy debates with clickbait-style advertising.

It follows Elīya, a philosophy major who Doesn’t Know When To Stop, and her childhood friend Yenatru, who is Too Gay To Function. Elīya’s on a quest to get back together with her other childhood friend, Tamar; Yenatru’s just on a quest to have friends, or maybe even a boyfriend. Thankfully for Yenatru, he runs into Lucifer in the library one day, and strikes up a weirdly good conversation with her.

Yes. That Lucifer. He’s surprised about that too.

Anyway, Lucifer’s also pretty much just a dork who wants to have friends, so they’re a good match. But Elīya might have other plans for them… like trying to rope them into this whole finding-Tamar thing.

“Most people think of you as somewhat dignified,” Yenatru points out. “Someone with pride. Impressive.”

Lucifer clutches a hand to her chest. “Ow, don’t go implying I don’t have pride. I like being prideful! ’S fun.”

“You are attempting and failing to banter with some really shy boy you met in a university library,” Yenatru says, deadpan.

“I did say I was pathetic,” Lucifer says with a smile. “Do you believe me now?”

Yenatru thinks about that for a moment, then nods. “Yes. Yes, I believe you.”

Lucifer’s smile turns harder, almost determined. “Good.”

[GET IT HERE FOR 99cents]

The second book, The Birds that Fly at Dusk, takes place in Ākal-ne, a city at the edge of the steppe near some mountains. It’s large and spread-out, people mostly roller skate to get everywhere, and each field of study has its own college, which is also a lodge where its students say. A collodge, if you will. (Sorry not sorry.)

It follows Celyet, a semiverbal autistic demon originally from near the city who ran off to the city to evade bad social dynamics, which, #relatable. She manages to run into Sän, another demon who’s been spending their time lately working as a barista and also falling over a lot. Celyet’s trying to avoid people and doesn’t want to make friends, but there might be some kind of connection between them…

…And then Jibril, the pun-loving angel who never shuts up, walks into that very coffee shop, because they (a terrible coffee fiend) are actually its owner. That’s why it’s called JiBrew.

And that’s when Celyet accidentally performs Theurgy right in the middle of the coffee shop.

“Hmm, okay,” the angel continues on, “it’s kind of starting to look already like you’re not going to say anything, sigh”—and Celyet, looking down at the bar, finds herself blinking at the fact that the angel Jibril just said the word ‘sigh’ aloud, dramatically, instead of actually sighing—“I mean, I’m kinda used to it, since I’m so overwhelming and frankly gorgeous and all, this kind of thing absolutely happens. Although I do quite like hearing from other people! God, that’s always fun. Oh, yes, that too—I’ll curse by God, when I feel like it. Of course, I’m an angel, but why not. I’ll curse by God and fire and flames, the whole thing, it’s a better curse than anything else really, and that disaster probably deserves to be used as a curse anyway. Still can’t believe They didn’t notice how flaming sad Lucifer was for so long! A couple of times I even tried to be like, hey God, my man, I mean not really man because You have no idea what a gender is, but my man all the same, have You noticed, there are some flaws in how You’ve set things up. And They were just kind of like … well, the way They are, They basically only responded by just being fire, you know how it is. And it’s fun to feel that kind of fire and light everywhere in your body, at least for me …”

Speaking of God, Celyet thinks, God she wonders if Jibril’s ever going to shut up.

[GET IT HERE FOR 4.99]

The third book, The Lives that Argue for Us, is set for a May 4th release date, and is available for preorder. It introduces the partially-floating tropical city of Askannan, where a subculture of people—the Seafarers—dedicate their lives to traveling around the world and showing people cool art because, again, no one in this series has any chill.

Kjorel is one such Seafarer, and is about to leave for his first voyage after secondary school… which unfortunately means not seeing his datemate, Teśena, for about eight months. They’re in an open relationship, but have never been put to the test quite like this before.

So while Teśena’s dealing with the loneliness of being almost entirely nonverbal and without aer datemate by befriending God, Kjorel finds himself in Ēnnuh… where he meets a certain adorable boy who hates shorts.

Teśena’s not quite sure how this works, how to think to someone who’s this here with aer, but ae tries, ae imagines almost an opening up of the memory of it all—and somehow this act, this unfurling, itself gently glows.

A thousand wings shift again, eyes made of fire open and close, wheels made of fire turn and turn. And the fire of God’s wings moves as if closer to aer, almost as if laughing, understanding, something like a mirror wrapped in one of the wheels reflecting.

Teśena has made terrible, impulsive decisions, ae understands.

And God seems to respect that in the way God respects Themself.

[PREORDER HERE]

Evocation:

Evocation is an NA fantasy series with short, novella-length books set in a fantasy world which thinks it knows what’s up. There’s a very established and easily accessible system of name magic, and easy communication with the low-power Gods known as Vitalities… what more could a society want?

And then a completely different type of magic shows up overnight.

The series follows Nena, a former circus performer who’s already won the world’s equivalent of the Olympics… meaning that now, at eighteen, she has no more life goals left. Oops. So she’s getting TF out of dodge, which is to say, out of her hometown, to do… something. She isn’t really sure what. It might involve befriending fellow traveler Maráh. Or it might end up accidentally setting a bunch of things around her on fire with her thoughts…

Meanwhile, Cijaya’s recovering from emotional abuse over in a different city, and is pretty sure that graduating secondary school is the right time to get as far away as possible. But even waiting two months for that is a challenge, especially when your only friend is the snarky Vitality of a nearby lake.

The second book, currently up for preorder and about to be released on April 3rd, continues these characters’ stories in addition to introducing the fourth major character of the cast: Pelekri, who’s also discovered the new system of magic, and is using it to … be a vigilante solar panel installer. That’s what anyone would do with magic, right? Right…?

“You’re not excited,” Maràh said. “Not really. Not openly. No matter what you present on the surface.”

“About this?” I asked, almost smiling, however inappropriate that expression was. “About Mangtena?”

“About anything,” Maràh said, almost smiling too, perhaps as if they’d caught me in something, as if they’d won, or just as if in the back of their mind they were thinking about really good chocolate.

Well, of course, I could travel. I could even imagine being excited about that, as I once was. I hadn’t yet visited every city on Sifir, and perhaps I could. I could go to every last one, see it all, see everything—

—and, I asked myself, how long would that really take? A few years? Sifir wasn’t big; everyone knew that. But though certain Vitalities had long hinted at a much larger landmass somewhere across the ocean, a continent they called it, the oceans were simply too wide to cross, though many had tried.

My breath caught in my throat and the reason for that catching burned in me: boredom.

[GET THE FIRST BOOK FOR FREE HERE!]

[PREORDER THE SECOND BOOK HERE]

The Size of the World:

The Size of the World is a standalone novella, my first published release, and also the only one of my books available in paperback (which is very pretty.)It’s hyper-poetic in both style and setting, and involves Theia—a character who is much more autistic than I had a clue about at the time when I wrote her—crossing the Seven Seas to find the Darkness past the Seventh Sea. And, uh, falling completely in love with this girl she meets in the Second Land.

“Theia,” she says, grinning. “That is a good name. It tastes like ivy in my mouth.”

“Who are you?” I ask.

“I am Tellus,” she says, “if you wish.”

“If I wish?”

“Tell me,” she whispers, “have you ever met someone with only one name?”

“Yes,” I say. There is nothing in common between my Kingdom and hers.

“In this Land,” she proclaims, “you never will.”

[GET IT FOR 2.99 HERE!]

#my writing #longpost #fantasy books #actuallyautistic #lgbtq fantasy #queer fantasy #THIS ONLY TOOK LIKE FOREVER TO MAKE AAAA.

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preserving-ferretbrain · 6 years ago

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Three Utterly Unconnected Books With Gay Protagonists

by Wardog

Thursday, 13 January 2011

Wardog fails at themes.

By accident, rather than design, I just read three young adult books with gay protagonists. They're not really thematically related at all, nor do they have anything in common, but I found the coincidence harmonious enough that I've decided to review them in a bunch regardless.

Boy Meets Boy

I picked this up from a discount bookshop, remembering absolutely nothing about it except that someone might have told me it was good once, well, either this or a different completely book, which is the sort of thought process you find yourself having when you're unleashed in a space where everything is £2. Things you pick up in discount bookshops because there's no reason not to, rather than because you had a set reason for wanting to read them, can be surprisingly delightful. They can also be unbearably dreadful but I'm glad to say that Boy Meets Boy fell into the former category.

It's basically a coming-of-age tale, and a love story, so simply and straightforwardly told that it's almost banal – the message here seems to be that the experience of being a teenager is universal, and that sexuality shouldn't be something that marks difference between people who might otherwise find points of connection. Because of this, and setting elements I'll address later, it subtly addresses issues of acceptance and tolerance. The book itself is a vehicle for them, but mainly it tells a story about a recognisable teenager undergoing recognisable teenage experiences who just happens to be gay. Its very existence, in a way, emphasises the normality of gay experience, while leaving the book at liberty to simply a story in an entertaining way. To be honest, though, the story of Boy Meets Boy didn't interest me all that much, although I did care enough about the protagonist (Paul) to want a happy ending for him. But then it's self-unconsciously unremarkable – as the title itself suggests it will be – and charming enough to carry its own deliberate ordinariness. One of the things I did very much like about Boy Meets Boy is that it successfully creates a transitory space (being a teenager at school) that both owns its own transitiveness and yet doesn't undermine the importance of events and experiences within that space. So, for example, we are never expected to believe that Paul's love for Noah is Forever, but we still recognise its value, and even savour it because there is something uniquely delicate, perfect and intense about that kind of teenage romance.

Boy Meets Boy inhabits its adolescence almost to a fault – it's told in the first person, by Paul, so we are rather trapped in his often rather limited and flawed perspective. It struck me as being so realistically teenage that I found it rather stifling sometimes – his arty whimsicality strays perilously close to pretension. But as close as I came to rolling my eyes on occasion, self-irony is something adults impose on the excesses of adolescence and Paul's earnestness is genuinely endearing. Part of the problem with the book being so grounded in Paul was the less flamboyant characters don't really come through as clearly as they need to – Paul has an interesting circle of friends, including his bisexual ex, Kyle, who is working through his own confusion, and Tony, also gay, who is struggling with the restrictions of his parent's religion. Noah, Paul's love interest, never really develops his own identity – yes he is charming, like Paul, and whimsical, like Paul, and arty, like Paul, and somewhat vulnerable from a relationship gone wrong, like Paul, but although I believed in Paul's attraction to him, I found it rather difficult to believe in Noah as a person in his own right. But, then, I think Boy Meets Boy is more interested in love in general, than the specifics what makes a particular relationship work, so there's an extent to which it doesn't really matter.

The thing I loved most about Boy Meets Boy, however, was the setting. Because I didn't quite realise what I was reading, the fact that it is essentially set in a utopia of complete equality, where all sexualities are accepted, came at me completely unexpectedly. Basically the text presents you – in a very delightful way – with an increasing level of tolerance, up to the point at which it becomes absurdly unrealistic and then you feel deeply sad that what should surely be a basic level of human decency comes across as ludicrous idealism. It's never really “explained” in the text why this small town in America has embraced so wholeheartedly the tolerance it should not be unreasonable to expect from society as a whole but equally that shouldn't require explanation. This setting comes absolutely shining out the book, and some of my favourite passages are when it allows for things like this:

It was with Joni's help that I became the first openly gay class president in the history of Ms Farquar's third grade class. Joni was my campaign manager. She was the person who came up with my campaign slogan: VOTE FOR ME... I'M GAY! […] My biggest opponent was (I'm sorry to say) Ted Halpern. His first slogan was VOTE FOR ME … I'M NOT GAY, which only made him seem dull. Then he tried DON'T FOR HIM... HE'S GAY, which was pretty stupid, because nobody likes to be told who they can (or can't) vote for. Finally, in the days leading up to the election he resorted to DON'T VOTE FOR THE FAG. Hello? Joni threatened to beat him up but I knew he'd play right into our hands. When the election was held he was left with the rather tiny lint-head vote while I carried the girl vote, the open-minded guy vote, the third-grade closet case vote and the Ted-hater vote. It was a total blowout and when it was all over Toni beat Ted up anyway. The next day at lunch, Cody O'Brien traded me two Twinkies for a box of raisins – clearly an equal trade. The next day I gave him three Yodels for a Fig Newton. This was my first flirtation.

Or when the universal tolerance of the setting is playfully juxtaposed against the general intolerance of high school society:

Infinite Darlene doesn't have it easy. Being both star quarterback and homecoming queen has its conflicts. And sometimes it's hard for her to fit in. The other drag queens in our school rarely sit with her at lunch; they say she doesn't take good enough care of her nails and that she looks a little too buff in a tank top. The football players are a little more accepting, although there was a spot of trouble last year when Chuck, the second-string quarterback fell in love with her and got depressed when she said he wasn't her type.

It seems to be telling us we have enough to worry about it without also stressing about other people's sexualities. I'm also just glad there's a bisexual, and a real bisexual, in the book. And although his confusion ends up causes a bit of conflict, it is sympathetically presented.

There were a few aspects of Boy Meets Boy that fell a little flat for me – Noah, as I have said, and I was a bit sad that the story of the straight best friend is essentially one of loss. Joni gets into a relationship with an apparently rather controlling guy but we never really get any into her side of things (because Paul doesn't have any) and Paul is never quite able to reconcile with her. For a book about love, in all its forms, this is fair enough, since love and loss travel hand in hand, but it does mean that the one straight person in the entire book abandons her friends the moment she gets into a relationship. This is even more problematic because Boy Meets Boy is dependent on archetypes, rather than characters – what Boy Meets Boy, hopefully unintentionally, seems to be saying through arc is that gay-straight friendships are impossible to sustain, especially since the friendships he maintains, and the new ones he forms over the course of the book are all with gay people. The other thing that made me a little uncomfortable was the fact that Gay Tony's parents, who are unable to accept his sexuality, are highly religious. Of course lots of people who are religious have trouble with teh gay but it always seems to end up being a short-cut for blind homophobia. To Levithan's credit they are not obviously evil, and genuinely love their son, but just as there are problems in your only straight person fucking off into an unhealthy relationship there are problems in having your only homophobes be people of religious conviction.

Minor issues aside, Boy Meets Boy is basically an adorable piece of fluff. It is a hug in a book and I really enjoyed it.

Hero

I feel really bad about Hero because I honestly expected to love it, but as it turned out I just didn't get on with it. Thom Creed's father used to be a super hero but following a National Disaster (the collapse of the Wilton Towers while fighting off an alien, apparently) he's an outcast, a single father trying to raise his son. Thom is gay, and starting to manifest a superpower, two things he knows his father can't stand, and both of which are aspects of himself he feels he has to hide from his father for lose his love and respect. Unexpectedly, Thomas receives an invitation to try out for the League, the official syndicate superheroes, and finds himself on probation with a bunch of other aspiring superheroes.

One of the first books I reviewed for Ferretbrain back in the day was

Soon I Will Become Invincible

, the first superhero “novel” I'd ever read, which I ended up rather enjoying and is told from the perspective of a supervillain. I remember that Jamie and I had a rather tangled discussion – enacted from a perspective of mutual confusion – about the very concept of a superhero NOVEL.Soon I Will Become Invincible was clever and stylish enough that the inherent problems of the form Jamie articulated in his comments didn't become more than a minor issue. Unfortunately, they bugged the crap out of me in Hero. I felt that the narrative was constantly straining against itself – it wanted, and needed, to be a comic. Or about something else. Equally, the tropes of the genre, which are a vital part of any superhero story, are primarily visual, and largely present to bridge the gap between the images and the words. When there are only words these tropes come across as clumsy and lacking in subtlety – instead of bold, dramatic and exciting.

There is a lot to find likeable about Hero, really. The being-gay arc is nicely paralleled by the being-a-superhero arc; in fact as far as metaphors go it works pretty well, feeding into similar feelings of difference, and a pressure to conceal aspects of your identity. I also thought Thom was very well portrayed, in all his confusion, his foolishness and his charm. The scene in which he first meets Goran is particularly effective. Thom works for a mentoring programme for encouraging literacy:

I turned round and saw one of my new students, about my age, standing behind me. “You scared me.” I shut the file cabinet. “What are you doing in there?” He had a thick accent, so his family must have only moved here recently. One of the many English-as-a-second students who came to the centre to learn English … I always felt bad for the ESL students. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I had to take chemistry in Bratislava... “Oh,” I was just looking for something for us to read tonight,” I said, slowly enunciating each word. “Do you like books?” He stared at me. He didn't blink. “See, that's the great thing about learning English. You get to read some cool books and stuff, so it's not all about boring homework.” He still didn't blink. “Books and stuff?” He repeated the words like he was spitting out poison. “Yeah,” I said. “It's pretty fun when you get into it. Reading and all.” Phyllis hurried back in the room... “I see you've met Goran,” she said. “Yes.” I smiled. “I have the feeling he's going to pick up English in no time.” Phyllis looked at Goran to see if I was serious and then looked back at me. “Thom, Goran founded the literacy programme for the older kids here two years ago. I asked him to show you the ropes tonight.” […] Goran, arms folded, stared at me with contempt. Sometimes I am the world's biggest loser.

I did, in fact, really like Thom. He's unflinchingly presented with all his flaws and vulnerabilities, right up to and including his mushy fantasies about Uberman, the most famous superhero in the league. He's nicely complex too, so he's always a very real person, not a stereotype. I liked the fact his fantasies about Uberman are as romantic as well as sexual (heh, being gay is not ONLY about sex), that Thom is quite athletic and his with Goran friendship develops over the course of basketball games, and that his first kiss is something he shares with a stranger because he's basically gone out to pull, and that it's okay that he does this. He doesn't come to any harm as a consequence, he doesn't have a horrible time, and it isn't presented as anything other than the act of a hurt and bewildered teenager.

What didn't work for me at all were the superhero aspects of the text. Although they function well enough on a metaphorical level, in practice I found them banal, overwrought and unsatisfying. It's possible I just missed the point. There are plenty of comic-related in-jokes and references – Uberman is clearly Captain Planet, Justice is Superman by way of Dr Manhatten, and his alienness and loneliness is rather affecting in the few scenes he dominates – and it's amusing enough, I suppose, but the dark-man-dark aspects don't sit very well with the more comedic ones. For example, Thom has a team-mate called Typhoid Larry and I think we are expected to care about him as a person, but Moore doesn't put in the effort necessary to make him anything more than a one-dimensional joke about hilariously unpleasant superpowers. Miss Scarlet, equally, is an angry bitch because her superpowers have horrendous side-effects but she's also incredibly boring. It's a shame because the style and complexity with which Moore depicts Thom, his father and, strangely enough, Justice is completely lacking in the supporting cast. They little more than dull, sub-Watchman stereotypes who obligingly die when it is time for us to feel sadness.

I initially liked the fact that Thom's superpower (healing) is a second-order power – it is far from traditionally glamorous and it is also not the sort of power we might instinctively associate with a man. It also ties in nicely to Thom's development from a self-conscious, self-absorbed teenager to an empathetic adult who cares about the people around him. Unfortunately it soon turns out that super-healing also comes bundled with aspects of super-blowing shit up – so something that could have been genuinely interesting and a little bit subversive basically becomes standard superhero fare. Blah.

The other inherent problem with the superhero format is that it's embedded in short-term, dramatic gestures. Thom's father is another example from the “excellent” spectrum of Moore's characterisation – as a disgraced superhero, the guy clearly has issues, and I thought the complicated, messy and frustrating relationship he has with his son was depicted with sympathy and subtlety. He manages to be an admirable man, a good father and a terrible father all at once; he is also, of course, homophobic but he never becomes a strawman bigot. Thom's father eventually comes to accept Thom's homosexuality but only directly before plot requires him to make the traditional superhero self-sacrifice. This was all very moving but I actually thought it was a cop-out. It is probably pretty easy to come to terms with your own internalised homophobia if you're about to die. Acceptance and tolerance are long-term prospects. They are not about short-term gestures. I would have been much happier if Thom's father had shown his commitment to these values through living with his son, not making an "i wuv you" speech and conveniently dying. I know this probably sounds perilously close to counter-factual criticism but since these issues are a major theme of the novel, it is frankly cheap to offer resolve them via trope.

There's a lot of really good stuff in Hero, and I did enjoy it when I wasn't being frustrated with it. But it really is its own worst enemy and the superhero trappings interfere with the story I was interested in reading.

Ash

This book is so utterly different to the preceding books that makes even more of a mockery of this review collection than it is already. Oh well. Ash is basically a Cinderella-retelling. It's charming but I found it rather insubstantial, but then there's also an extent to which fairy-tales are supposed to be insubstantial. The writing is elegant but in many ways it's a very suppressed book – Ash, is after all, subsumed in grief and despair, following the death of her father, and spends most of the book essentially trying to escape her own life. Left at the mercy of her stepmother she is not horrifically abused, but she is reduced to servant status and her wants and needs become completely irrelevant to those around. As a consequence of this, she is a rather difficult character to find in the text – she is, essentially, suicidal for most of the book - and the overall effect makes reading Ash is somewhat alienating. I did, however, appreciate how anti-dramatic is is. With such a depressing take on the material, it would have been easy to turn it hysterical - but, bleak though it is at times, Ash is very controlled, almost too controlled, since we come so close to losing hold on our central character.

It was not quite what I was expecting in a fairytale retelling but it did grow on me. And though it may be subdued, it is thankfully not self-consciously dark-man-dark about it. There's quite a sophisticated world underpinning this simple story, although it's incredibly lightly sketched, it's less world-building than world-suggesting, which I actually rather enjoyed. The magical elements of the story become entwined with Ash's desire to escape, rendering them both sources of solace and threat. Ash yearns to become part of the fairy world, a world not meant for humans, because the human world offers her nothing, and she sees the annihilation of herself as being a release from pain and grief and loneliness. Her fairy godmother is actually a rather sinister fairy called Sidhean and although her attraction to him, and his world, is understandable, and he is certainly fascinating, it is also never portrayed as anything but unhealthy.

Ash's “handsome prince” is not, however, a prince; it is actually the King's huntress, Kaisa. There is a handsome prince in the story, and Ash does end up dancing with him, but he's delightfully incidental. The romance between Ash and Kaisa unfolds beautifully – the fact they are both women is neither here nor there. Ash is very much framed as a love story, not a coming out out story. Being gay is very deliberately Not An Issue. I liked Kaisa very much, she is strong and sensitive, and clever and, quite frankly, she could have me any day. Unlike Sidhean, and, initially, Ash she is very much a part of the natural, human world. As her friendship with Ash develops, it is significant that one of her first acts is to teach Ash to ride, drawing her back towards the world she wants to leave. For all Kaisa's strength and love though, Ash must ultimately choose to rescue herself.

As I said above, Ash was not quite what I was expecting – a fairytale about a depressed girl who must choose whether to reject fairytales and live in the real world. I appreciated it more, in retrospect, since it is rather a slow and quiet read. On the other hand, the relationship between Ash and Kaisa is awfully romantic. And yay for lesbians.Themes:

Books

Sci-fi / Fantasy

Young Adult / Children

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Frank

at 04:09 on 2011-01-14

Hero

is likable. It was easy to escape into without thinking too hard on any possible reveals though the main villain was obvious from the get go. Moore's Aquaman family is sickly funny, and his Superman's (Justice's) superolfactory is a cool twist. What was way unlikable and absolutely did not work in the story was the writing because suddenly I found myself counting how many times Moore used 'suddenly' in the text and was suddenly struck plum dumb after reading it twice in the same paragraph.

I couldn't read it again. But I would see the movie or mini-series if it ever came about.

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Robinson L

at 03:02 on 2011-02-19Oh dear,

Perry Moore, author of Hero has died

, and at a ridiculously young age, too. That's sad.

I might read his book sometime, or one of the others. They all sound moderately-interesting-but-not-essential-reading. (I might read

Boy Meets Boy

just for the writing style, if it's all like that.)

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Wardog

at 11:20 on 2011-02-19Oh no - I feel kind of low key guilty now, for not liking his book.

I'm kind of with Frank actually - I didn't really fixate on it but the writing style was incredibly pedestrian.

Yeah, they were all likeable books - not amazing and essential but definitely a pleasant way to pass an afternoon. In order of liking for me it would be: Boy Meets Boy (I believe he's written a

book for adults

recently, I'm curious), Ash, Hero.

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valse de la lune

at 07:17 on 2011-05-02I'm plodding through

Ash

slowly. The writing style's actually easy to read, but I'm having trouble with how anvilicious the author is; your review does suggest it gets better, or at least subtler.

Lol at a fairy named "Sidhean," though.

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valse de la lune

at 11:56 on 2011-05-02Okay I speed-read through it like a thing that is speedy, but what exactly did Ash do to get out of the bargain with Sidhean? "I'll be yours for one night and the curse will be broken because if you REALLY love me you'll set me freeeee" makes sense... how?

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Wardog

at 19:21 on 2011-05-03I guess I just saw that as typical fairy-tale logic, and didn't really worry about it. Although truthfully I wasn't paying much attention by then, just hoping the Huntress was okay :).

Ash was one of those books I liked more retrospect than while I was reading it - Ash's frozen despair doesn't exactly make it easy or lively to get through.

I think there's a second book out now (Huntress?) and I'm almost tempted. I didn't feel massively passionate about Ash, but I'm starved enough for decent fiction with non-straight female characters in it that I'm happy to go along for the ride.

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valse de la lune

at 19:53 on 2011-05-03

Huntress

is certainly on my to-read list, but before I get to it I'll probably read a bunch of others first. For what it's worth, here are books I've read or which I'll soon read that include gay female characters:

Disturbed By Her Song

, Tanith Lee (nominated for the LAMBDA award, even, though I'm still surprised because Lee's straight and I thought their rule was "author must be LGBT")

Daughters of a Coral Dawn

, Katherine V Forrest

The Female Man

, Joanna Russ

Child Garden

, Geoff Ryman (author is a gay man)

Fire Logic

and

Water Logic

, Laurie J. Marks

And obviously, some of Catherynne M. Valente's stuff (author being herself bi, I believe) particularly

Palimpsest

and

The Orphan's Tales

if you haven't read those already.

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Wardog

at 21:42 on 2011-05-03I find Lee pretty variable, to be honest, although I haven't read that one (adds to list). Some of her stuff I really really love and some of it, well, not so much. Valente is one of those authors I've been meaning to get round to for ages, but I've read (and liked) quite a bit of her critical stuff so I'm terrified I won't like her fiction.

The only examples I can remember off the top of my head are Kushner's The Privilege of the Sword in which the heroine is maybe a lesbian if you squint a bit and cross your fingers, the dreaded oh god no Green, and, well shit, that's it.

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valse de la lune

at 06:54 on 2011-05-04I am... not fond of Kushner; couldn't finish

Swordpoint

and what I know of her collab with Sarah Monette (whose books I'm not fond of either)--

A Companion to Wolves--is that it involves gay people and an awful lot of rape. Can't we have fantasy featuring gay people that's not so rapey all the time? But I agree with you on Lee; she has written things I loved, and things that made me go "she... she can't write." Valente is one of those authors I've been meaning to get round to for ages, but I've read (and liked) quite a bit of her critical stuff so I'm terrified I won't like her fiction. Palimpsest isn't her best, IMO, though a lot of people may disagree--it's got iffy sexual politics (i.e. consent issues)--but the Orphan's Tales duology is almost universally liked. The Female Man opens beautifully, with the female narrator introducing herself and talking about her mother, her other mother, and how she loves her wife Vittoria. Aw hell yeah.

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Wardog

at 18:18 on 2011-05-04I actually quite liked Swordspoint, and to a lesser extent Priviledge. But then I think it was the first of that "type" of book I read. I might be less forgiving nowadays. I thought A Companion to Wolves was Monette and Bear (or are Kushner and Bear the same person, I really have no clue about incestuous author cults), and I read halfway through it, slightly bewildered by both the rapey and, even more objectionable (not really), the *boring*. Also I thought what was going to be an interesting examination of the mythic and the construction of masculinity seemed to just boil into who goes on the bottom ... so... yeah.

I've been trying to control my book buying habits, in that I need to read (and review) what I've already got ... but ... but ... temptation...

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valse de la lune

at 18:31 on 2011-05-04Oh shit, my bad. You're right, it is Monette and Bear.

These writers are all the same to me okay.

Not coincidentally I also don't have much patience for Bear, and that's not just because of her part in Racefail 09: I read

Ink and Steel

and kept going wryyyyyy.

(Oscar Wilde said the only way to deal with temptation is to give in to it. :))

#Ferretbrain #Boy Meets Boy #Hero #Ash #Superhero

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magiccaughtoncamera · 6 years ago

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It’s been a while since I posted on here, and that’s because of a lot of reasons, and I felt it wasn’t really nice to leave you all in the dark. As you might know from my twitter, I have just started my Master’s degree and it hasn’t been easy. This is the third week of lectures and I feel like I’m already way over my head with homework. And on top of that I want to keep working at my part-time job one day in the week, so I barely have free time. And if I have free time, I’m just too mentally exhausted to do anything else than watch Netflix. But as much as I’d like for it to be the only reason I haven’t been blogging, it’s not all.

When I returned from my vacation almost two months ago, I hadn’t posted in weeks (because I was away), and completely fell out of love with blogging. I worked a lot, because I wanted to make some extra hours before going back to uni, and I wanted to spend my free time drawing or reading, and didn’t at all feel like blogging. I just didn’t know what to blog about anymore. And then on top of that, I kind of fell out of love with YA (or at least a little) as I started reading more non-fiction, I found it hard to get excited about new books. Even books I’ve been anticipating for months, I feel ‘meh’ about.

I’ve been following bloggers who read almost exclusively YA, all my friends and mutuals read mostly YA, and I’m guessing there are some people with different tastes, but still overall, it’s mostly YA. You all probably read YA, because you started following me for a reason, I guess, and the thing is that I have been reading YA for the past two years almost exclusively and that’s what my blog has been about. So I know I shouldn’t let that influence what I post about, but what’s the point in posting about books you probably aren’t interested in? It just feels pointless? Or maybe that’s just all in my head.

I want to get back into reading YA and that’s why I wanted to write this post (also because I felt you deserved an explanation for my disappearance). I’m going to go through my goodreads shelves and find those books (mostly YA) that I was anticipating in the hopes it’ll somehow help me get more excited about them.

Picture Us in The Light by Kelly Loy Gilbert is a beautiful book about an Asian gay boy who lives in the US and it’s about family and love and relationships and it seems to be very emotional but a bit slow (according to reviews) but it sounds so good?? And that cover?? *dies*

Sadie by Courtney Summers is about (you guessed it) Sadie. Her friend gets killed and the story gets picked up by a radio dj who gets obsessed with finding out what happened. I am just trash for the entire concept of murder/mystery podcasts in book form (it’s the only reason I still want to read Six Stories by Matt Wesolowski).

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab is the second book in her duology and honestly, it doesn’t matter what she writes, I’ll always be excited to read it! I read Vicious earlier this year and absolutely loved it.

Summer Bird Blue is by the amazing Akemi Dawn Bowman and Starfish was one of the best books I’ve read, so I know this will be so good as well! AND it has an aro/ace-spec questioning main character and that makes me want to cry happy tears. It’s also about a mixed-race (Japanese/Hawaiian/white) girl who loves music!

Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor is the sequel to Strange the Dreamer and that was just so well-written! Laini Taylor has such an amazing writing-style, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with my favourite godspawn.

The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried by Shaun David Hutchinson, because if you haven’t been paying attention, I LOVE SDH’s books. They’re emotional, original, quirky and weird and ALWAYS very queer and I’m so down for this new book.

A Girl Called Shameless by Laura Steven is the sequel to The Exact Opposite of Okay aka one of my favourite books of this year and that’s enough reason for me to get really excited! The first book was so powerful and feminist and I just adore Izzy and the unique voice she has, I need more of that!

One Giant Leap by Heather Kaczynski is the sequel to Dare Mighty Things which is about a competition for young adults to go into space with an aro/ace/questioning main character (Indian-American) and it honestly feels like this was written for me. Though it had some flaws, I can’t wait to see where the story will take us.

The Disasters by M. K. England just sounds so good! It’s about a bunch of queer outcasts who try to do a heist in space?? Like can it get any better?? So basically what I gather it’s Six of Crows but set in space.

And lastly, but without cover, Not Your Backup by C.B. Lee. This is the third book in the Sidekick Squad series and if I owned this book right now, I would have read it right this second because it’s exactly what could get me out of this slump. It’s about kids with superpowers and everyone is queer and there’s a lot of POC rep and Not Your Backup is about one of the characters that is aro/ace/questioning and I’M HYPED.

Have you seen all these covers?? They’re so gorgeous!! This has definitely helped me remember why I love YA and I just wish I could have all these books right now so they can help me fall back in love but since the majority isn’t even out yet, that’ll be a bit hard… For now, if you have recommendations for what I should try to read next, let me know. I’m looking for something that is quite short and not too slow or lengthy, that’ll drag me in!

I have no idea if I’ll have the time to write more blog posts in the soon future, so I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. If you want to keep in touch in another way, follow me on twitter (see sidebar) because I will be on twitter quite a bit (mostly to complain about homework).

Do you want to read any of these books? What book helped you out of a slump or made you fall (back) in love with a genre? Give me all your recommendations!

Why I disappeared + Books I’m excited about It's been a while since I posted on here, and that's because of a lot of reasons, and I felt it wasn't really nice to leave you all in the dark.

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deltaengineering · 7 years ago

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Fall Anime 2017 Day 7: Weird things are weird

And for the grand finale, we pick up a few stragglers.

Previously:

• Part 1: Maximum Something

• Part 2: The snooze cruise

• Part 3: Fooled again

• Part 4: Screenshots don’t lie

• Part 5: Rather problematic

• Part 6: We’re bringing it back.

Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Shobitch na Ken (My Girlfriend is Shobitch a Faithful Virgin Bitch)

Shobitch is about a highschooler who somehow lucks into a Rei-like girlfriend that is very serious about sex, so she talks about it a lot. There’s a bunch of other girls too, who also like to talk about sex a lot. Spoilers: None of these people are about to have actual sex any time soon, so this seems mostly just one of those “voice actress talks dirty to you” CDs. Since the VA in question is Aoi Yuuki, that may indeed appeal to a certain kind of viewer. There’s also technically some visuals on top, but that’s not a priority. Shobitch is hella cheap even in episode 1; not on the level of a disaster like Dynamic Chord, but certainly on the level of a lower-mid tier TV anime by episode 8. The camera also has a bizarre obsession with skirts – not even butts, or panties, or zettai ryouiki, just skirts for some reason. On the content side, it adheres to the same broad formula as Imouto Iraeba: First some shocking lewdness, then some circular slice of life shenanigans (with more lewdness), and finally some sentimental bullshit so the viewer is left under the impression there’s some merit to it all. The main difference is that impressive title aside, this is based on a manga and not a light novel. That has clear benefits: It has to try for writing constructs that broadly qualify as “jokes” and doesn’t spend the majority of the time with end- and pojntless nerd conversations – even if the jokes are, of course, all the same and quite terrible besides. Just keep in mind that the key visual is still funnier than anything that’s actually in the show. So it doesn’t challenge Imouto Iraeba for worst of the season (and consequently earns a real screencap), but the distinction is academic because like hell I’m going to watch more of either of them.

Evil or Live

Oh Haoliners, what are we going to do with you. It’s nice that you’re not doing unfunny comedy or boring action for once, but whatever this is, it’s not a winner either. Evil or Live appears to be a brutally grim prison drama about a kid that gets sent to Internet Addiction Reeducation Camp (somehow I don’t think this is going on air in China any time soon, unless the values behind it are not what they appear – which is a slim but not completely insignificant chance) and learns the value of hard work and friendship. j/k, he just gets beat up a lot and contemplates suicide. So this is all very serious indeed, apart from the bit where everyone is cartoonishly evil and the obligatory gay joke in the middle of it all, because he ends up as the prison bitch of some local hotshot. This would be eye-rolling under any circumstance, but in the middle of this dour tragedy it sticks out like an inconvenient erection. Even without that, Evil or Live would not be a pick simply because it’s so astoundingly grim and ugly (both content- and visualswise) that it ends up being unwatchable, and absolutely not in a good way. I’ll add “inept drama” to the list of Haoliners’ achievements and move on.

Inuyashiki Last Hero

Ichiro Inuyashiki is having a bad day. Not only is he a late-50s dead-end salaryman that looks a good decade older than that, he also has a family of such astounding indifference that they won’t take his call when he gets diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer and told that he has three months to live. And that’s not even the bad part, later he gets killed in a freak hit-and-run accident involving passing aliens. Those aliens don’t want to wait for the police to show up so they give him a military-grade cyborg body and flee the scene. Then he witnesses some scumbag kids trying to kill a homeless man and after knocking them out with homing lasers, he decides that he’s going to be a Hero of Justice™ from now on because this is the first time anyone has given a shit about him in years. You know, noitaminA is always a toss-up these days, because you never know whether you’ll get Serious Anime for Serious People or just a battle harem LN with an above-average budget out of it. I’m happy to report that of nothing else, Inuyashiki is... different. Not that “sad loser gets superpowers” is very original, but this time it’s a loser so sad that no high school kid, no matter how sad, can begin to compare. And there’s just something incredibly weird about it all, with how it starts as an atmospheric portrait of this poor old man and then suddenly ALIENS, how the action is shot extra not-exciting and set to bizarre music (not that a bunch of punks with baseballs bats going up against the Terminator would result in a fight), how the show constantly leans on not-quite-good-enough-CG a little too much, and how the opening is both visually sumptuous and set to a song by Shibuya’s own rap-rock phenomenon Man on a Mission (of LIVIN IN DE DETUHBES fame). That song is no joke called “My Hero”, has incredibly on-the-nose lyrics and is both Kid Rock levels of stupid and incredibly catchy, epic (they have strings now) and just plain fun. Well, the source manga is by the author of Gantz, which may or may not explain things (I think it at least explains how inexplicable everything is). In any case, Inuyashiki is not super great right away, but it is intriguing and there’s a lot of even more interesting ways it can go. I’ll at least keep watching it until it confirms that it is not picking any of those.

Onyankopon

Speaking of weird, here’s an absurd 3-minute CG comedy short. It is a very familiar kind of weirdness. If you’ve seen gdgd fairies and the like, you’ll know it: If it’s not voice actresses adlibbing non-sequitur jokes, it does a good job imitating that. It looks like shit. There’s also a musical number with subversive lyrics. Laugh at this stuff or don’t, it’s not like I care.

That would be it for the season then, it seems weaker than last one for sure. A week in, there’s been a few second episodes of note: Dies Irae (which I’ve been suckered into watching more of by a bunch of fools) is still terrible. Just Because couldn’t keep up the production values and veered off into very familiar romantic territory too, which makes me withdraw a lot of the praise I’ve given it. Kino no Tabi followed up its “meh” first episode with a second one that was just straight-up bad, so it’s not looking well for that either. Positive surprises were iM@S Side M, which managed to be fun even when not about Jupiter, and Net-Juu, which is just cute and might end up being legit if it sticks to the more serious undertones all the way. I think I’ll call it here since there’s nothing really noteworthy down the line; thanks for reading, and see you in three months (unless I actually manage to review a few shows from the last season, that is).

#Boku no Kanojo ga Majimesugiru Shobitch na Ken #my girlfriend is shobitch #Evil or Live #inuyashiki last hero #onyakopon #anime #impressions #fall2017

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