#okay back to star wars and my own fantasy world now

[anoray]

Yes, I watched the debate tonight

[jjunbug]

kipo <33 ml, I would love book reccs from you (I don't have a pref, I've just been trying to read more) 👀

BOY HAVE YOU COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE!!! okay i mainly ready fantasy books so that’s what majority of my recs are gonna be but i’ll try to add some other genres in here too hehe ＼(≧▽≦)／ putting it all under the cut since i feel like this is gonna be kinda long

i cannot put out a book recs post without recommending my literal all time favorite books ever. like if you read any book from this post then it HAS to be one of these!!

the starless sea by erin morgenstern (with this book, you have to go in reading it completely blind!! it will give you the best experience hehe)

the last tale of the flower bride by roshani chokshi (a gothic-infused story about a marriage that is unraveled by dark secrets, a friendship cured to end in tragedy, and the danger of believing in fairytales)

the six deaths of the saint by alix e. harrow (the saint of war spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior, but the war never ends and the cost keeps rising—how many times will she repeat her own story? this is only like 30 pages long but it is SO fucking good omg!!!!)

now for my favorite series hehe!! again, mostly some type of fantasy/magical realism or dystopia… >_<

the hunger games series by suzanne collins (honestly if you haven’t read this book series yet—especially after how good the movies are and keep being—then you MISSED OUT and it’s your chance now to change that!! i feel like i don’t even need to tell you what this is about…)

orange by ichigo takano — a manga series (a plea from the future of the day naho begins 11th grade, she receives a letter from herself ten years in the future. the letter begs her to watch over the transfer student and save him from a terrible future. REAL ones know that february 14th was partially based off of this hehe ^^)

percy jackson and the olympians by rick riordan (again?? do i really have to say anything about this series? you were either a harry potter kid or a percy jackson kid, and iiiiii was a percy jackson kid)

now here are some favorites of mine, but they aren’t all time all time favorites like the ones above!!

a dowry of blood by s.t. gibson (saved from the brink of death by a mysterious stranger, constanta is transformed from a medieval peasant into a bride fit for an undying king. a lyrical and dreamy reimagining of dracula’s brides. one of the best vampire books i’ve read EVER. and it’s not even close)

the invisible life of addie larue by v.e. schwab (“the only way addie knows how to keep going is to keep going forward. they are orpheus, she is eurydice, and every time they turn back, she is ruined.” IF THE QUOTE ALONE DOESNT MAKE YOU WANNA READ THIS IDK WHAT WILL. like hello??? i fucking love this book, this one is honestly teetering on all time favorites)

this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar (among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the commandant finds a letter. it reads: burn before reading. this begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. sobbed. cried. immediate 10 stars.)

house of hunger by alexis henderson (WANTED - bloodmaid of exceptional taste. must have a keen proclivity for life’s finer pleasures. girls of weak will need not apply. — a young woman is drawn into the upper echelons of a society where blood is power. you don’t know how bad i’ve been dying to write a fic inspired by this book)

i’m so sorry this took me forever to get to lmao i’ve been so busy with babysitting and my family and then writing and everything… >_< i hope this gets you to read more and you got some books that interest you!! hehe i’d love to know what you think of them if you do read them!! ♡♡

[incomingalbatross]

Trick or treat! (Stargate SG-1 edition, especially any fic ideas or headcanons)

Okay so I don't know if this will turn out as a headcanon, a fic idea, an outline, or something in-between BUT what it mostly is is an Excuse. :P So here goes

The first time Teal'c watches Star Wars, the team's been grounded for a week. Don't ask me why - maybe the Gate's shut down, maybe Jack and Sam have leave, maybe Daniel's been exposed to a strange space pathogen and is in isolation while they wait to see if it's deadly. Important thing is, they don't have missions and Teal'c (it's early days still) isn't allowed off-base.

Sam pokes her head in his room with a set of VHS tapes and says, "Hey, I brought some Earth culture you might be interested in!" Explains that Star Wars is a classic and even if he doesn't like them, it'll still be useful to know the references.

Teal'c, very bored and always willing to hang out with one of his comrades, agrees.

He likes Episode IV. There's good vs evil. They're fighting an evil space empire! He gets to see what kind of space combat the Tau'ri have made up for their stories.

He thinks it's kind of...charmingly idealistic? Like, there's an Evil Oppressive Space Empire but there's still enough freedom for Luke to have his ideals and Leia to have a government position (they HAVE a government?) and even Han gets to choose whether he wants to fight the Empire or just slip under its radar. It's a little hard for Teal'c to relate to, but he enjoys it. It seems very much like his friends' views of the world.

Obi-Wan reminds him of Bra'tac. :) Vader reminds him of Apophis. >:/ Teal'c sees something of his team in the main characters.

Episode V! Sam is Very Excited.

Vader is still alive? Teal'c is disappointed by what, honestly, seems like an incursion of reality. Why won't the evil galactic rulers ever ACTUALLY die when they look like they've died.

He's invested in all the action on Hoth, though. These heroes still read as very Tau'ri to him, with their emphasis on loyalty to their friends and their hope and all that. He wants them to succeed.

He does guess the Yoda reveal. A little too similar to the Nox. :P

Then it's back to Darth Vader on his evil spaceship and

Ah

Um

Darth Vader goes down on one knee and asks "What is thy bidding, my master?"

And they've taken plenty of pauses before while watching these movies, so Sam can answer questions about effects or plot conventions or other things lost in cultural translation, but this time when Teal'c says "Pause," he doesn't really have anything to ask. Just, "That...is the Emperor?"

Sam says, "Yeah," and they keep going. But suddenly the fun Tau'ri escapist fantasy is a little harder to watch, as Teal'c processes the fact that the villain of the piece to date isn't actually a System Lord.

Darth Vader is a First Prime.

Everything Vader does now leads to new questions Teal'c isn't sure the story even thinks it's raising. Like, does he want to be doing this? and Does he think he has a choice? and Why is he doing it? and How did he get to this position?

Teal'c watches Vader torture Han and tries not to think about his own past.

And then. AND THEN. You know what comes next.

(Turns out the movie did want him to be asking at least some of those questions about Vader.)

Turns out the evil Emperor's right hand is also a FATHER. He's the HERO'S father. But he also cuts off Luke's hand because the only option he'll apparently countenance is for Luke to join him in the darkness.

But he's a FATHER. He IS a person, not just a faceless villain. But does that make him better or worse?? If he's a person and he chooses to be part of the Empire, then all the questions Teal'c has about him have bad answers.

But also how is LUKE - the idealistic, hopeful shining figure of a Tau'ri hero - going to deal with his idolized father turning up on the Empire's side.

...Suffice to say, Teal'c is glad to see Han rescued and all at the start of Episode VI but he is REALLY REALLY waiting for expansion on the Vader plot.

Luke thinks there's still good in his father. Luke thinks he can SAVE him. Luke sees his father and he BELIEVES in him.

Listen. I believe in Teal'c's right to be a nerd, in general. I also believe that watching Vader say it's too late for him and Luke point-blank refuse to accept that is the MOST INVESTED Teal'c EVER is in experiencing any fictional story, ever.

And

LUKE IS RIGHT

VADER IS SAVED

Vader breaks free!! For his son!! Darth Vader hears his son's cries for help and is able to LISTEN and CHANGE and he is LOVED AND FORGIVEN AND ACCEPTED and he DIES FREE

The Emperor's enslaved right hand is REDEEMED and DIES FREE. That was the story all along

Anyway this is why Teal'c has watched Star Wars nine times. In conclusion.

[hopecomesbacktolife]

so I rewatched this episode recently and I am now Thinking Some Thoughts TM about The Librarians season 2 episode 9 And The Happily Ever Afters

namely, I was thinking about how I feel like there’s been discussions about the general plot, admiration for the funny bits and Fleve moments (as there should be!) a general appreciation for the overarching plot of the episode, how it’s compelling that they turn away from their “happily ever after” or, as Ariel put it, “their heart’s desire” right? and, while I’m sure we could even discuss whether these AU lives shown in the episode would really be these characters’ most secret, deepest wishes, given what we know about them—

I want to set that aside for a minute and really think about the premise. Ariel was saying that no human has ever been able to turn their back on that willingly, right? and my first thought was some abstract idea— humans being unable to turn their backs on true love, on the person they want to be with, or perhaps on the job they want most, or even something like having their own peaceful home, right?

but then I thought, okay, what would this be for me? My deepest desire, the thing that makes my heart ache with yearning— is it belonging? love? What would it actually look like to have the offer of your wildest hopes to be real, and to, for the good of the world and to save you and your friends’ (and the entire world) lives, to walk away from that?

and it’s that last bit of the question that really stopped me in my tracks because. and I don’t know if this is just because I’ve been thinking of STIV a lot recently, but. really? truly? if we’re being honest? deepest, fiercest desire? thing I would long for most in the world? fictitious alternate life that would be hardest to give up as it constitutes a happy ending? like, for me, that’s a Star Trek world, no question even about it. A hopeful optimistic future where humanity is among the stars, racism, sexism, homophobia, human xenophobia, and other forms of bigotry have been virtually eliminated, everyone’s basic needs are met and we’re no longer seeing constant and insidious human rights violations? humanity come together to create an equitable, fair, good world for all that has done away with money and everyone’s needs are met, medical care is free, incredibly accessible, and available to all, people are free to pursue their interests with no capitalistic control upon them, we’ve reached the stars and are caring for our earth, each other, and making friendships with new species?

like, ough. It’s Gillian Taylor being able to come with Kirk and crew back to the 23rd century and live there, you know? It’s that scene in Diane Duane’s TNG novel Dark Mirror where [redacted] is in awe at the prime universe’s wondrous hope and equality and loveliness! it’s The ultimate fantasy, this post-scarcity post-bigotry equitable utopia, you know?

If I was stuck in a life AU like the others in the show, I’m almost certain it would be being put into Star Trek. and I just. can you imagine, being placed into a Star Trek life, and then being asked to give that up, to save the world? how do you give up a future beyond hatred, beyond bigotry, beyond systemic inequalities and oppression and war and capitalistic medical systems and. and. how in hell could someone give that up? how is saving the world the very giving up of the better-future-dream made real, made tangible? when saving the world is somehow going back to the one that seems Worse, where we’re still dealing with all of these hates and bigotries and money-originated-violences? how is that saving the world? and, to be selfish, to give up a world free of homophobia, with instantly available medical care?

I just. god, with the self-reinforcing nature of the AU life spell I just. I don’t know if I’d be able to give it up. Would anyone be able to convince me that it’s not real? And even if, somewhere in my heart of hearts, I know that it isn’t real, that I’d been stuck into a materialized Star Trek AU that isn’t real life… could I give that up? to be completely serious, you know, envisioning that as a real life situation… could I truly look at that life, and say yes, this is exactly what I want, in this life I would never be denied medical care and have no need to work under capitalistic society and am fully accepted and cherished in my queerness and in space… and to say yes, it’s everything I’ve ever yearned for, and then to shut the door on that, and knowingly return to the world of our current day?

I don’t know, y’all. I mean. Even if I did do it, which isn’t 100% certain—but looking within myself I think I could have the strength to do it, but I’d need some time to bid farewell in my heart, it couldn’t be sudden— the very act of seeing a Star Trek future and being in it and then… to willingly leave… it would break my heart so deeply, I just. how does one recover from that? my throat hurts with the sheer emotion and sadness at the very thought; how could one knowingly, informedly leave such a place and not have your heart forever changed? I think I’d always feel a little wounded, a certain especially tender spot somewhere deep within myself. To have held that future and then let it slip from your fingers…

I think this is especially poignant and moving to me given that this comes immediately following And The Point of Salvation and we know that Ezekiel remembers everything, and even though he seems to be fine because the writers don’t let his character breathe and give him the space and respect he’s due / Julian Bashir-ify him / are racist and don’t let him express it onscreen, there’s no way that didn’t majorly fuck him up psychologically, and I feel like, as sweet as this episode is presented onscreen, it’s kind of the emotional narrative successor to the previous episode because it’s like, the other side of the forever-changed-self coin. to really, truly walk away from what you most desire?

for me, to walk away from a brief moment of living in a Star Trek world? to quote another story, I think I might be brave enough; but I don’t think I’d ever feel the same and, I think there would be so much indescribable sadness to the aftermath of this.

Even if we argue that each of their life AUs were vastly more personal than worldwide-altering hopes and dreams, still, and even given that these events were followed up by the season finale (which was very good as well!!) I think the characters would all really, really need time to sit with and process the grief of losing… whatever their heart’s-desire-lives were, whether we agree with the accuracy of the ones we saw on screen or no. I think they’d need to really mourn those brief flashes of an alternate life; and even after they went back to work and proceeded “as normal” I think these sadnesses would crop back up from time to time as a certain sound, certain name, certain object or scenery or other occurrence briefly brought their memory back to those brief flashes of another time, another life. And they’d help each other through it, of course, but. what a particular sadness that would be.

I dunno, I guess I just got to thinking about how incredibly difficult and heartbreaking it would be to be placed into a Star Trek future and then have to make the choice to give that up, and how I don’t think any of the Librarians or Eve would bounce back to normal immediately, how they’d need to give themselves time to feel all of the emotions and process the losses of the time when they inhabited their hearts’ desires because, ough, I would be such a mess.

maybe sometime I’ll write a fic about this because there’s so much unexplored emotional potential and angst/hurt/comfort territory going on here, but I had to get these thoughts out because the concept of being handed your deepest, dearest wishes and then being asked to recant to save the world is so, so much more intense, more heartbreakingly bittersweet, more layered than we really got screen time for, and is (to me at least!) so worth exploring in terms of how it would affect the characters in the weeks/months etc beyond the events of the episode. ough, just. so many feelings about this♡

[downfallofi]

That doesn't sound bad. That's only disappointing if it disappoints you. What kind of stuff do you tend to sketch if I may ask? Also might've been low key seeing if you play video games that I could invite you to play.

Ah, you know, thank you for this. 🥹 they are my hobbies, and I need to learn not to minimize them or apologize for liking them. (Old habits, it comes with growing up the way I did and being told that liking comic books and Star Wars and "living in a fantasy world" was making me weak) But yeah I mean. It's not disappointing to like reading, or art, or video games, nor does it make someone a loser.

(I need to remember that)

I love to draw all kinds of things, I have a sketchpad filled with stuff from reference/still life, I like practicing drawing flowers, I actually sometimes like drawing smut/ shibari and if I ever actually posted that online I'd tag the models I referenced... not even in a horny way but there's something wonderful I find in shibari or fetish stuff artists that they challenge you, in drawing in a pen and ink medium, to workshop how you adapt poses, musculature, lighting, all that stuff.

And I have a lot of superheroes.

When I was a kid, all the way up to about 17, I wanted to be a graphic novelist, make my own comics that were like just my teenaged brain firing off ideas I'd sponged up from a lot of X-Men and a LOT of Toonami. I didnt go on to become a comics artist, in fact, due to being discouraged by my dad and others (...but, well, my dad) I sort of came to the conclusion it was childish ("cute lil cartoons," they were derisively called) and let my gift atrophy. I drew nothing.

So in coming back to it, slowly over the last... ten years? Ive gotten back in to art.

It's not the same as it was. Sadly, it can't be, that fire I had when I was young was well. Stomped out.

So I cant make panels, and I struggle with transition and movement from one panel to the next to make a story flow, and sometimes it feels like I draw OTHER people's heroes like Spider-Man like I'm a fucking cover band at a dive bar playing KISS.

But I've still worked on it, and grown a lot over those last ten years, and found a peace in it that yeah, idk, maybe it isnt what I wanted to be when I was young but it's still art, dammit.

So yeah, sorry. Im wordy and it was complicated to answer but you kind of put a dime in and got me talking about it so. My sketchbook has lots of microliner ink drawing, some flowers and still life, some smut, some X-Men cover band stuff, just stuff I want to challenge myself to draw.

I'm also determined to experiment more with color like my copic markers this year so.

Video games I play are really a lot of single player open world stuff, Im currently grinding on um.

...fallout4 OKAY DONT JUDGE ME, I am of the specific brand of gamer that finds some peace and comfort in going back to Skyrim and Fallout from time to time...

I would love to get in to games with other people but I wouldnt know where to start, or what to pick up, frankly, but that is a kind offer and one I'd be interested in maybe perhaps at some point

I take it back... I did have a coop farm in Stardew Valley I played sorta multiplayer with my friend from CO but... our friendship sort of died off and we dont Stardew together anymore... fuck Im sad now.

Sincerely, thank you for the asks and the kindness and if you made it through reading ALL of that shit you are a fucking G and I respect and love you so much

[beardedmrbean]

Hey it me, zoomer Huey, I saw the post saying about the young gamers retro revival

But how retro because this book..

https://www.tumblr.com/gsirvitor/742534236498804736

Also yes people halo is going to be 23 this fall so it’s a retro game

Yes, don’t have to deal with horrific live service and micro transactions but the thing is….economic reasons

Like I been getting into kingdoms hearts and final fantasy….but I was a Xbox player so they are new ports in the ecosystem

And like I said, AC red will probably be a huge entry point for a lot of new fans. So it very likely they will be curious what the game Easter eggs are about so I will gladly help them get say get the Ezio Collection if the European Templars have dialogue mentioning they don’t want another Borgia fiasco since the game take places in the 1580’s-90’s and during this time many Templars went to the new world or other places to escape the “Dark Age” of the Templars order where it’s was about gaining power for selfish reasons rather further their causes

And about retro games, um…the same way a adult might want to watch old classic movies

Now I watched Fox’s miracle of 34th street a couple of years ago on Disney plus (actually I often use these streaming services to watch old shit like the muppet show) despite being at my depress state, I couldn’t help but smile at the Santa in it

It like for me, I found the Santa that inspired the ones your generation, my generation, and all those in between the Santa we had when we were kids. I’m glad the actor got the Oscar. And I’m more glad Hollywood graveyard help find his lost vase and people came to celebrate the actor new home. With him Unknowingly inspired the Christmas magic we love

Sorry using that as example

Also a lot of young gamers….were often too poor, too young, didn’t have enough resources when these old games came out. So we are interested in what these games that older gamers talk about even if we don’t have the nostalgia for it

Like Xbox Backwards Compatibility library….can someone please make a deal to bring the one transformers or marvel games back on it? Anyways, I’m 24 now, so there a lot of old 360 and og Xbox games I didn’t okay that I use bc for

And modern gaming, ugh feel like it intentionally designed for Twitch streamers and YouTuber gamers. Ugh halo infinite mp made just drop it all together

Oh gaming companies, a lot of modern gamers have JOBS so we might invest in a 1 or 2 live service games. Hell ac red might have a 3-4 live services era (ac Valhalla had 2 years of support) but I’m mostly invested in single player games

Well I’m autistic and I work 10 hour and 4 days a week work schedule. I am not interested dealing with try hards

Like I don’t understand this shock? Ac red is dead ass the only triple a gaming I’m probably going to be paying at launch at full price while the upcoming Star Wars game I’m probably going to get on sale

I feel like people are so focus on young people who refuse to consume pre 2012 media. There are those with a mentality that can stand old shit.

Hey it me, zoomer Huey, I saw the post saying about the young gamers retro revival But how retro because this book. gsirvitor/742534236498804736 Also yes people halo is going to be 23 this fall so it’s a retro game

I think the first post your talking about was one I put up, I go with most anything PS2 on down for consoles, some PS2 aren't really "retro" but the divide for me is mostly based on hotfixes and micro-transactions so like Sims2 is the right age but i shift round on the retro bit since you could buy skins and such still gonna be retro I think.

Online games you could play for free online are retro too, but everyone will define it in their own way too so no hard and fast rules for me.

Like I been getting into kingdoms hearts and final fantasy….but I was a Xbox player so they are new ports in the ecosystem And like I said, AC red will probably be a huge entry point for a lot of new fans. So it very likely they will be curious what the game Easter eggs are about......... And about retro games, um…the same way a adult might want to watch old classic movies

Classic and retro work together in tandem a lot, there is a difference but I don't want to tangent too far into that.

Now I watched Fox’s miracle of 34th street a couple of years ago on Disney plus (actually I often use these streaming services to watch old shit like the muppet show) despite being at my depress state, I couldn’t help but smile at the Santa in it

Watch some Mr Rogers, it's a soothing balm on depression, won't make it go away but at the end of a episode or two you'll feel loved, man you've never met in your life but you know he loved you, just the way you are.

Also a lot of young gamers….were often too poor, too young, didn’t have enough resources when these old games came out. So we are interested in what these games that older gamers talk about even if we don’t have the nostalgia for it

Nostalgia isn't required for retro, good games are good games.

Like Xbox Backwards Compatibility library….can someone please make a deal to bring the one transformers or marvel games back on it? Anyways, I’m 24 now, so there a lot of old 360 and og Xbox games I didn’t okay that I use bc for

If I'd had the money to get one of the first gen PS3's I'd have gotten one since they were built to still run PS1&2 games as well, once they took that away I had no desire to get the thing. Wii was great because you had the Wii shop for the older games and it also played GC games, Wii shop games weren't too pricey either.

And modern gaming, ugh feel like it intentionally designed for Twitch streamers and YouTuber gamers. Ugh halo infinite mp made just drop it all together

I've noticed that with some, they dial back the graphics and all that good stuff so they stream well, or at least leave the option of that. I figure as long as everyone is happy.

Oh gaming companies, a lot of modern gamers have JOBS so we might invest in a 1 or 2 live service games. Hell ac red might have a 3-4 live services era (ac Valhalla had 2 years of support) but I’m mostly invested in single player games

That's really all I do, even when battle net was going strong I still didn't sign up for D2 on there except rarely.

Like I don’t understand this shock? Ac red is dead ass the only triple a gaming I’m probably going to be paying at launch at full price while the upcoming Star Wars game I’m probably going to get on sale

Blizard had it right with World of Warcraft, at least at one point. The were selling the game disc for like $5 with a 2 week subscription make their money in the long game, not sure if anyone is doing that kind of thing anymore but they should be.

I feel like people are so focus on young people who refuse to consume pre 2012 media. There are those with a mentality that can stand old shit.

I love seeing people get into the games and stuff I enjoyed when I was younger, watching through the X-Files with a friend who's never seen it before and it's great seeing it through the eyes of someone who hasn't watched it.

Same with nerding out about games, as you've seen me do with FFVI here previously.

Most people that matter feel the same, so don't worry about any haters, they aren't worth your time or thought.

[soul-dwelling]

I wonder if the "war arc ending" thing used allways to be the case in shonen. From Naruto to MHA to OP in the future and even partly Soul Eater with the whole clone army thing - guess its a logical conclusion of ever growing stakes and powerlevels, spectacles that need to leap over all what came before.

Naruto may not have needed to be a war--but then again, you have villages in territorial disputes, inspired by the history of ninjas used in warfare, so it's kind of hard to avoid that as a plot trope.

Same with One Piece: it's a pirate story, it has a navy, it has a world government, it's kind of hard not to bring up war.

MHA is divisive for me. Superhero stories don't strictly have to be war stories. And I'd too sour to treat the ongoing war arc(s) well, as I can't believe how badly the Pro Heroes dropped the ball on all of this (not preparing enough, not enough heroes, not having more contingency plans, somehow just letting Re-Destro or, rather, his clone, show up at their offices and not having a plan to contain him before he killed someone).

Superheroes have been in war stories (they have been used repeatedly to drum up support for war efforts). But that's not quite how MHA went about it...

...Although, given the post-January 6 2021 climate we're in in the US, I end up looking at the war arcs and realizing, "Ah, okay, this is what happens when you have some really evil fuckers doing fucked up shit to government officials--and a government too incompetent or so destroyed from internal rightwing forces that it can't respond in time, got it."

To its credit, maybe Fire Force ending without a war exactly, or saving the final moments for mostly talking it out and re-directing any action scenes not to a fight but the action film equivalent of painting a blank landscape was more creative....and that is about the nicest thing I can say about Fire Force compared to all the other series I just mentioned above.

I don't get why Soul Eater ended with a war arc. I can accept that Ohkubo had in mind a fight against Asura and Crona planned far in advance, to have them be the titular soul eater.

But Asura had since faded away for so long. Who cares that we now have him confronted finally?

And even when considering that Justin and the Clowns had been popping up for awhile, what actually were they accomplishing? What was Asura's goal here? Did he just want to be left alone? Was he planning to bathe the world in madness to get back at dear old dad? That arc felt like it needed more build-up: showing an actual set of steps Justin and the Clowns were following would have helped, having Asura appear in one other arc and actually doing something in that arc to hamper the DWMA would help, foreshadowing earlier that Asura had something in common with Death and Kid would have helped.

Otherwise, the war arc to me felt like an action figure fight: "Here's my Maka Albarn action figure, here's my Crona action figure, I'm going to knock them into each other for a fight before I just have them kiss and make up."

I'm not ignoring what good these war arcs can do. Bakugo finally apologizes to Izuku. We see Black Star come into his own. We say goodbye to Lord Death. All of that works. But nothing about those strike me as needing a war to make them happen.

And that's not even getting into when your war story is more like a GI Joe story rather than a response to actual real-life wars, assuming a silly fantasy story is going to handle such a response well. (See the odd Iraq invasion reference by Kid in that one chapter.)

If you're going to do the war to raise the stakes, fine, that can work. As I said, the stakes going up so that Bakugo is finally forced to apologize and Black Star gets to vomit up a laser--that all is fine. I guess what I want is a war arc emerging out of the characters' arcs and their interpersonal relationships. Is Toga's internalized trauma exploding out in a sea of Twice really needed for a war arc? Does that work at giving closure to how she regards Twice, the League, Ochaco, and Izuku? I don't think so, it seems unfocused with so much other stuff going on. Endeavor versus Dabi? Sure, that seems more suitable. Whatever is going to happen in a fight between Izuku, Shigaraki, All Might, and All For One? I guess that is inevitable.

But these are individual battles, not what I consider to be part of a larger war. Wars, I tend to think, are long-lasting affairs, small battles, insurgencies, isolated instances that foment more discord, weaken one side, lead to more desperate measures. You want an actual war arc? Watch DS9. I don't see it happening with the examples mentioned earlier, not in a more strict definition of "war."

About the only time I think the looser definition of a "war" worked was in something like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003, Season 5--where it's just, "Hey, we need to grab every last single character, hero or villain, we have ever met in this series, to work together for a final attack on the Shredder--because if he wins, all of us, hero or villain, are dead." The stakes are that large that we call that a "war," even when it's just one final attack, not a long set of battles. Sure, it's fanservice--but it was a hell of a good amount of earned fanservice.

Or, maybe war arcs suck. If you're going for spectacle, just go for a tournament as your finale, like the Cell Games in DBZ or in Yuyu Hakusho.

[theycallmequeerhat]

Very much loving your WN fic - I (Really) Do. I love your writing style and the story is just so compelling that I can’t wait for Mondays.

It seems like you have a good taste in books as well with Delilah Green Doesn’t Care and the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Got me wondering what else might be on Bea’s bookshelf. Do you have any other similar recs for lighter reads like those? Thanks!

First of all, thank you!!

Second of all, here's a list of Bea's (my) sapphic shelf. Admittedly might have more, can add if I realize I've put something in the wrong place on my shelves at home. *I've not put Author's names in these because I'm not trying to turn into booktok. The people that have the energy and ability for tiktok deserve all the love and awards. I'm just a book worm and will buy/read anything that seems kinda sapphic.* That being said, if you can't find a book from here and want more info, just ask. I can send photos of covers, etc.

Sapphic Books

YA Romance Novels

-Last Night at the Telegraph Club- I can guarantee you that this would be Bea’s favorite lol

-A Scatter of Light- no where near as good as LNatTC. Also, you have to tilt your head and squint for this to be a sequel. Which obviously annoyed me.

-She gets the girl- cute y/a romance

-home field advantage- y/a. eh. had to google just now to remember what it was about

-A Falling in Love Montage- I will defend this book because I don’t feel like we get queer books like this. That being said, this book pissed me off.

-I kissed a girl- if you like low budget horror movies, this is your book. if not, it’s just okay.

-She drives me crazy-I thought Irene could do better. i said what i said.

-Her Name in the Sky- So accurate to growing up queer in the south. I cried several times. I also asked my mom to read it. She did. We then cried together.

-Ash- It has been so long since I have read this, that I’ve just moved it back to my tbr pile

Adult Romance Novels

-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo-there's a reason this is getting developed into a movie/show. Netflix will probably ruin it, but there's a reason it's getting one.

-Delilah Green Doesn’t Care- probably my favorite sapphic romcom to date.

-Astrid Parker Doesn’t Fail-I don’t like Astrid as much as I like Delilah so that probably impacted my feelings of this book. Well written, probably better than the rest of the list, but Delilah was SO good.

-One Last Stop- fun, almost fantasy, almost young adult, but it’s a wee spicy, so we’ll put it here.

-Count your lucky stars-possibly better than the first

-written in the star-super cute. there is a third in this series, but it's m/f and I'm just not here for that, as lovely as they might be.

-the Romance Recipe- spicy, legit started skimming the rest. preferred the porn to the plot.

-Read Between the Lines- Cute, i’d read more of this author

-The Perks of Loving a Wallflower- cute, regency, unrealistic, but totally fine with that, part of a series, but you don’t need the rest

-Bloodmoon: Bound <- Yep, I’m promoting my own book lol, though I doubt Bea would be into it. very nsfw. vampires, bdsm, it's a good time

Sci-Fi and Fantasy (My favorite and subsequently, Bea’s favorites)

-Crier’s War- i want a movie

-Iron Heart-i aggressively want a movie

-Gideon the Ninth-these books will change your brain chemistry

-Harrow the Ninth-like a fever dream you don't want to wake up from

-Nona the Ninth-i love nona.

-The Space Between Worlds-Bea would absolutely love this book. one of the coolest reads of my life.

-This is How You Lose the Time War-pure poetry. i read it, let out a weird noise between a sob and a gasp and then immediately re-read it.

-The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet- barely queer, but I’m counting it. no i won't elaborate, that would be spoilers.

Graphic Novels:

-Sunstone-If you’re in to BDSM. PLEASE do yourself a favor and order all of these now. i believe volume 8 is set to release in November.

-Lumberjanes- SO SO SO SO cute. and good. and innocent.

-Batwoman (The New 52)- 1-27 are amongst the greatest comics I have ever read. F*ck DC. They know what they did.

-Space Trash (really, anything by Jenn Woodall is queer. also, small run comic books, deserves some support, you can find them online)

Currently Reading/To Read this Year Shelf:

-Malice

-She Who Became the Sun

-The Jasmine Throne

-The Priory of an Orange Tree 

-A Closed and Common Orbit- Not sure if this will be sapphic

-Sorry, Bro

-These Witches Don’t Burn

-Melt With You

-I think I love you

[death-and-other-myths]

Red, White, and Royal Blue Deadass Book Review

America's first son accidentally falls on a wedding cake with England's crowned prince. SHENANIGANS ENSUE.

This is an unhinged book review/recap of Red, White, and Royal Blue By Casey McQuiston

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

When I picked this book up, I did what I normally do and barely read the description. I like to go into things COLD, you feel me? I skimmed the back (the president’s son falls for the prince of england. Okay, cool. Got it.) and downloaded a sample of Chapter 1.

I loved the style of the writing. It's told in present tense, but it has a lot of personality. I like when the omnipresent narrator's voice was in sync with the snarkiness of the characters, and every sentence was just hilarious and quippy and fun.

So I downloaded the audiobook (because my trainer told me to walk 10K steps a day, kill me), but ended up ALSO downloading the kindle version because I got so hooked on this story, I would both listen to it during the day and read it at night.

The main character is Alex, who is the “first son” of the first female president! Apparently this author started writing this book in 2016 to scratch an itch to imagine a fantasy world where competent, progressive people are elected president, and homosexuality isn’t completely demonized. The president in this story is super cool. She's a hardass redhead from Texas.

So her kids are Alex and June. They’re in their early 20’s, and are major celebrities and constantly on the covers of magazines, adored by all, etc. etc. June is smart and sweet and wants to be a writer. Alex is snarky and impulsive and passionate and wants to be a politician like his Mom. Their best friend is Nora, who is the Vice President’s daughter, and Nora is a hoot. She’s whip smart, can do math in her head, loves analyzing data for fun, and is a borderline sociopath. Like she just does what she wants and dates who she wants (men or women) and loves messing with the paparazzi by flirting with Alex all the time when they actually have no romantic interest.

The Trio (who have some fun, flashy media name I can’t remember) are invited to a royal wedding in the UK, where a fictional Prince Phillip is getting married. And Alex learns that his ARCH RIVAL Henry will be there!! OOOOOooooOOOOoooo I hope they don’t exchange quippy remarks and fall on each other!!

Oh no! That’s exactly what happens. Because you can package this story up in clever prose all you want, but at the end of the day, this is an “Enemies to Lovers” story. And everyone knows that to go from enemies to lovers, you must fall on each other at least once.

So anyway they fall on the wedding cake.

AND IT IS AN INTERNATIONAL SCANDAL!!!

So now, the White House and Royal PR teams scramble to save their images by forcing Alex and Henry to pretend they’re friends for a few months. Which means they have to hang out together. And Alex is all “Aw shucks I can’t believe I have to hang out with this prudish fuck. He sucks so much. I hate him. I hate his stupid face and I’ve hated it ever since I stole that teen magazine spread with a photo of him from my sister when I was fifteen and stared at it for hours and hours. Like boy do I hate him.” -- this is literally a thing that happens, by the way.

There are moments in this story that remind me of Olive and Evan from The Unhoneymooners, where Olive is like… going out of her way to paint Evan as a dick when he’s literally just standing there minding his own business.

So then starts this campaign where they arrange a few meet ups for them to have some photo opps. There are several, but I can’t remember them all. The one I do remember is the stupidest one, where they are reading to sick children in the hospital. And Alex overhears Henry talking to a little girl about Star Wars, and it’s supposed to be this emotional thing, but it comes off as forced and dorky.

Any way, right after that, Alex and Henry get locked in a closet and they fall on each other and it’s sexual and awkward.

There’s like… a car that backfires or something. Oh wait no, it’s kids lighting fireworks. So of course the secret service is like, “QUICK!! YOU TWO FAMOUS HORMONAL TEENS. GET IN THE CLOSET!” and they have a silly conversation about Star Wars while rubbing on each other in the dark. This book is silly. It’s just silly.

OH HOW I LOVE IT.

A few other things happen that make them start to become acquaintances or friends. They text each other and actually get along.

Alright so then it’s New Year’s Eve at the White House. And the kids are having a big ol’party and Henry is there because of the publicity plan. Alex and the gang get sloshed. Alex is a party animal and extroverted and gregarious and at one point, notices that Henry is missing. He drunkenly wanders out in the snow and finds Henry beneath a tree. And Henry talks about how things like this can be overwhelming for him, because he’s just always been different. And he’s basically trying to come out to Alex, but Alex is too stupid and drunk to notice. So Henry ends up just KISSING HIM and then running away like Cinderella.

Alex spends the next few weeks texting Henry, but he won’t reply.

So he has to wait until their final PR photo op (as per the agreement). Oh and in the time leading up to it, he is in full-on gay-panic going to Nora and basically discovering he is bi. Nora is so smart, she’s like “Oh baby I crunched the numbers on this a long time ago. You’ve been bi since we met.”

Anyway…

So at the event, Alex gets a bunch of secret service people to guard a room while he traps Henry in there and they furiously make out under a painting of Alexander Hamilton. Then after that, he tells Henry to come up to his room, and we get a very tasteful, very well written description of two famous guys giving each other hand jobs.

It is at this point, during my 10K walking around the city, that I looked around open-mouthed, to no one in particular, and thought, “Oh my god this is porn. I bought porn.” Like I did not read the description that thoroughly. I expected a pretty PG-13 Rom Com like the Unhoneymooners (whose sex scenes were basically the literary equivalent of the camera panning to the billowing curtains). But hey, I’m not complaining. I already fell in love with these characters. I’m here. I’m along for the ride. If they wanna bang, they can and should BANG.

So the like 10 subsequent chapters are about all the different ways they have sex.

Some of the feedback on this book is that it reads like a tumblr.com fanfiction. It’s a little too snarky and too goofy and there is a ridiculous amount of sex. Like it doesn’t even really drive the plot, it’s just sexy fun times. Some people didn’t like that. Some people don’t know how to just relax and have fun reading a stupid romance book.

Well eventually, Alex and Henry get caught. They get caught twice, if we're being technical. The first is something harmless like “Look at this picture of their elbows touching! They’re talking awfully close to each other!” -- so the boys are pulled apart and forced to date women for the optics.

But then they fuck up and kiss in the back of a secret service car, forgetting that the windshields aren’t tinted. This is all really terrible for Henry, by the way. The monarchy is much more awful about decorum and standards. At least Alex has this really cute, touching moment with his family who loves and accepts him no matter what.

OH WAIT the bomb really drops when both the kissing pic, AND all of their saucy emails get leaked to the public. I forgot to tell you about that part. They write these really beautiful, thoughtful emails to each other back and forth. And even add quotes from other famous love letters. It’s very sweet. But Alex is freaking out, and we don’t know how Henry is doing because the “literary camera” stays with Alex for most of the book. But there’s this sweet part with his Mom basically telling him it’s okay, and if he really loves Henry then fuck the world. And all of this happens at like 3am, and Alex has a panic attack in the arms of his family members and it’s all very tender and sweet. I wish they were the real first family because everyone in it is so nice.

The president has this “Go get your man.” moment and orchestrates a flight to the UK for Alex to do just that.

There’s this whole crazy showdown with the QUEEN at the end, where Henry and Alex (and Henry’s Mom who is a badass). And the Queen is all “Blah blah blah homosexuality is wrong. The public will hate you forever.” and someone walks over to the curtains and RIPS them open, and we see this huge explosive crowd outside of Buckingham palace with rainbow signs cheering for HenryxAlex. And it’s a movement that’s happening all over the world. Like of course there are homophobic assholes out there. But overwhelmingly, it sparks a social media movement and these boys are publicly accepted icons.

HAPPY ENDING.

The president wins her re-election campaign. The people behind the leaked photos and emails turned out to be her evil republican adversaries. They get publically shamed. And Alex and Henry move into a brownstone apartment in Brooklyn while Alex goes to law school and Henry does prince stuff. IT’S VERY SWEET. And very much a fantasy of the author’s, which I appreciate. It’s fiction! It’s fantasy. It’s FUN!!

I loved this book. My only criticism is that sometimes, the narration was TOO snarky? Like not every paragraph needs a joke. Or a jab. Or something that says “look at me, I’m so internet culture cool.” -- But I love the characters. I love the message. I was so entertained by all of it. I can see why so many people adore it and yes, I've read it several times.

Deadass Rating: 9/10

[swiftiephobe]

hi! do you have any reads for the holiday break in mind?

i do like reading ya! all of the fantasy i've read has been ya from when i was younger (i just haven't found the right book to get back into the genre). i've read six of crows! just the first one anyway, i liked it okay and i think i gave it 3 stars. i still haven't gotten around to crooked kingdom. i will definitely check out the other series! and the farseer triology too.

oh my god, now i'm curious! what were some of your issues with prophet song? i love reading book rants, so please do tell!

question for today! do you like book to movie adaptations? do you have a favorite one?

--🎅🍪

hello! earlier this year i kinda went crazy at my uni's book fair and bought a bunch of books for super cheap, so my tbr is pretty stacked atm!! hopefully i can make a good dent in it during the holidays. i kinda am craving a good fantasy as well but i don't have a lot of it on my tbr right now haha. i hope you can find a fantasy that you enjoy!!

my criticism of prophet song got kinda long so i'm going to put it under a cut, you did say you liked book rants so hopefully i can deliver on that for you haha

i would say i do enjoy book-to-movie adaptations! i really like the hunger games movies (except for them splitting mockingjay into two which was so unnecessary). i also really like the movies for the book thief, the remains of the day, holes, dune just to name a few! generally if i like the book i'll probably like the movie haha, i'm not too picky about the movies having to follow the books to the letter unless there are really big changes made that ruin the whole point of the book or something!

so my main issues with prophet song were mainly about the premise of the book - it's basically a "dystopian" set in ireland but it's inspired by real-world events, in particular the author cites the syrian civil war as an influence but i think there are also clear parallels to other countries like palestine.

so my first issue is with just it's merit and validity as dystopian fiction. i think what makes good dystopian fiction is writing a scenario that hasn't happened but that could happen, and giving a critique on some aspect of modern society. and this just didn't have any sort of meaningful critique or anything to say really? the concept is just "an authoritarian/fascist government seizes control and gradually takes away the people's freedom" which is by no means an original concept so to actually make something of it you have to interrogate how it happened. but prophet song doesn't - it really has nothing new to say apart from "fascism is bad" which... duh?

i also ultimately just think it's really... tasteless? to transplant these events that are happening in other countries to a "western" setting and dress it up as some kind of groundbreaking dystopian work. like just write a book about syria if you want to write about the syrian civil war! and if you want to write about ireland it's not like ireland doesn't have its own share of historical conflicts to draw from! the fact that so many critics seemed to finish this book and find it "eye-opening" or whatever is shocking to me - there's real life accounts of these things happening to real people around the world right now, you shouldn't need to read a fictionalised version of it happening to (white) people in western countries in order to feel empathy. just so frustrating to think about!

and finally it didn't have any line breaks or quotation marks so it also fell into that pretentious category of literary fiction where the author just ignores the rules of grammar because they think making their prose less accessible makes it more clever. and that's just not true lmao. readability is good!

[ozma914]

Oodles of Books: the Gift That Keeps On Reading

"If the Beast gave me a library like he gave to Belle, I'd marry him too." -- Aya Ling

 So, my wife's bosses were going through storage units, and had to sort through all the books their daughter collected over the years. Some were damaged, but they offered to give Emily and me most of the rest. Their daughter, they said, read a lot.

Not long after, they filled our Ford Escape with so many books I was afraid it would bottom out on every hill on the way home. A few days later, they did it again. Then again.

Mountains of books! Forests of books! More books than you'd ever read in a lifetime!

Ahem. If you'll pardon me for quoting Beauty and the Beast. I may have cried a little. I also may have cried a little while we were carrying them all up the steps into the house, but enough about my back.

It was Emily who had to clean up the books because, as it happens, I'm allergic to both dust and mold. Never thought I'd be glad about that. But I forgot, and later when I was cleaning our former bedroom/new reading room (our own library!) I gave myself an allergy attack. Too bad--eight hours of sleeping off the Benadryl, when I could have been reading.

Freaking scads of books! 

We're still sorting them, by author and genre. Authors like me, who don't stick to a genre, will be a problem. But many of them were novel series (love a good series), which helped. We unfolded a table and Emily got started while I was cooking and doing the dishes, which is completely understandable when you realize how much more organized her mind is than mine.

Really, the only member of the family who wasn't thrilled was the dog. (This all happened before Beowulf passed away.) When we first put up the table he liked to lay down under it, but as we unpacked more books that space became filled, too. Sometimes he just walked up to the table and looks sadly at his former doghouse.

"I am NOT amused. I can't even read."

A large percentage of the books are what's called high fantasy, which I take it are better enjoyed when you're high. Wait, let me check ...

Oh. Well, it means epic in scope, with forces threatening a world that is not our own. Game Of Thrones stuff, and didn't it take us a whole year to read through those massive tomes. The novel I wrote (and am currently trying to sell) is low fantasy: mostly set in the real world, with the addition of magical elements. Now we're talking about Harry Potter and the Giant Dump Truck of Money.

Many others are space opera, again similar to another novel in my submission process. Think Dune, the Lensman books, and of course Star Wars. (My Junior English teacher in high school was the daughter of E.E. Smith, who authored the Hugo-nominated Lensman series. Fun old-timey SF, and possibly an inspiration for the Green Lantern.)

There are also history books, mostly involving World War II, which made me squeal a little. Okay, a lot. There are mysteries, and both nonfiction and fiction books about horses, and encyclopedia yearbooks covering all the earlier years of my life and some before. We have our own library of books--something I always dreamed of.

I took this photo to document that someone decided to leave their shampoo behind, and buy a book instead. If you never leave your couch, you don't need shampoo.

It all made me a little sad.

Let's face it: even if I gave up writing and put all my spare time into reading, there's no way I'll ever get to all these books, plus the ones I already have, plus the ones on my reading list. We've still got books in boxes in the garage. I've got friends writing books that I want to read. It makes me want to retire to a rustic cabin in the woods and just become one with a comfortable chair.

Still, just having all those books up on shelves around us will cheer me up substantially, and better too many than not enough. With books, I may never go anywhere again--but I'll go everywhere.

That's a pretty good way to spend your time.

Remember: Every time you don't read a book, the author has an allergy attack. Keep authors healthy.

We and our books--I mean, the ones we wrote--can be found everywhere:

·        Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO

·        Barnes & Noble:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

·        Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4898846.Mark_R_Hunter

·        Blog: https://markrhunter.blogspot.com/

·        Website: http://www.markrhunter.com/

·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozma914/

·        Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarkRHunter914

·        Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markrhunter/

·        Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkRHunter

·        Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MarkRHunter

·        Substack:  https://substack.com/@markrhunter

·        Tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/ozma914

·        Smashwords:  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ozma914

[one-spaceship-to-historia]

I read, and then looked up, once that the galaxy may be disk like in its layout but that our solar system which is also commonly depicted in such a manner is actually more similar to one of those collapsing coils or a slinky with a pole through the center, if I had to compare it something I could hold.

Now why is that important trivia to me?

World building. Literally and figuratively in terms of my story.

When I first started writing this story with a true bedrock of intent and dedication I sat down with a lined note book and asked myself where this story takes place. And the answer was a lot of places. Some are small but impactful: the dark woods home to a fairytale house. The others are bigger. After all some of these characters are more than, and their native places are the same. This story while very much a fairytale is SciFi fantasy, and magic is real but the most brilliant use it like science with science and that makes them go farther.

So I stepped back and said okay, planets and magic made galaxies alongside them. And here's where that trivia becomes important. That disk orbit, make that real. You only have to move in a straight line to get anywhere no arcs or curves unless you want a scenic view. Bet that sentient races with lots of magic will figure out magic paths to their neighbors easy enough, make those hospitable no matter who travels them. Make that the standard for a lot of cosmic communities except maybe in the very outskirts or in separate universal clusters(This is it's own post, but we work out way up.) where theres other things than worlds and stars wandering in the dark. Things that come one at a time to devour, things that hurtle past on what must be realm or path but is undetectable. Deep voiders, are peaceful and can be observed from great distance if you know how to look but their native places are like the deepest ocean.

Now imagine Golden-like-the-magic-and-future--and-color=you-are-named-for-and-are, a devourer raised by a being that comes from a place of life, of civilization, of brightness, of clustered flat worlds and realms. War was a good father and he ran with the child he raised until it became clear that all that could happen was circles and retraced footsteps. Then he stood and died as a disguise, and Auden got to think, for a long long time on how things could have gone better.

The make friends with a world and her clock called Futurus who had be transposed to an experiment called Earth. And there looking at this world that was inverse of the spherical Centers Endtimes are born within, Golden a devourer granted the tittle of Era who has no center says, "Bet."

They and their dying friend work until the world is pocketed by an atmosphere surrounded by a pocket dimension that "Someday," Auden once named Golden whispers, "These creations will launch themselves into this cosmos I have made just for them to grow in, with technology the rest of the worlds could only dream of inspiring." And it is a fate set in stone.

And so that escape is always certain they spin the world in it's orbit and launch it at a curve through and orbit in a cosmos that will not love it. They pull the endless realms of water and grit that has been hidden far in the deep void along with them to act as a tail and obstacle.

It is only after Futurus is long dead, and they have long been crammed into a too small body that they prefer over the ever growing itch of their first one. That this thing that is now so old that their every breath is a record for their kind as a whole, that shudders at its tittles of Era and Devourer, but feels warm at the tittle of 'my world' 'my being' 'good human'. That Auden stops and peeks out into the cosmos beyond the magic defenses and sees the cluster of worlds that surround the Center in the distance.

They see there no trace of the civilization that was their father 's and aunt's the prior Era. Instead they see worlds that look like the one they built, still with the million paths and drifting areas that serve as safety on long treks between worlds, but dancing together in orbits around their tails of grit and water in orbits that keep them alive spiraling through the void like pods of fish.

And that bit about no one dying in a flat race like the one their father War died in fleeing those who wanted both of them dead? It held true. It became difficult to catch a world to get at a target hidden on its surface, not impossible for one that may as well be omnipotent. But it made it harder for those outside of the system of the cosmic law, invaders, plague in some cases never spread, and to Auden's relief made it harder for Mad-Borne Endtimes and their beasts to slaughter the worlds that orbit them for warmth and out of misplaced hope.

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

So this is poorly explained, I went a little lyrical in my lack of science to quote. But as it turns out, building universes is a difficult thing.

Anyways thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated and I love to talk about this project a lot too!

[psychologeek]

Fic recs!

So, you want some Dami-centric, or protective Dami, ha?

Witwat and the Jin (Batman, 2,245 words)

The urge to prove himself? claiming- not, INSISTING he is the only real son? where do you think it came from? or Dami had a brother (he's long gone).

(Throwing knives as affections and love announcements in the form of death threats)

Liminal Spaces by Calamityjim (series, 13 fics, 340k in total)

Batman from another verse finds not-well-treated Tim.

AU!B: we have a guest from another world, his name is Tim. It's like a "catch and release"-

AU!Damian: I'll make it my sworn duty to protect him and force feed him self care.

Life Happens by Cdelphiki (176k, complete)

So very cute. Tim and Damian get thrown into an alternative universe. One where the jl and batman are nothing but a comic book.

How long will they be stranded on this strange Earth? And will the boys murder each other before they figure it out?

Another Mirror by byrambles (complete, 6.5k words)

Badman!verse (Bruce saving alternate dimension versions of his children). Reverse Robins. Damian is the oldest. He is also the bio son of the evil Batman, which leads to some *ahem* misunderstandings when Good Batman enters the scene. (A complete sequel and 2 one shots)

Sweet Dreams (aren't made of this) by PsycholoGeek (complete, 2k)

Inspired by "Another Mirror". Damian's pov of what happened, include flashbacks and his personal history. (+Sequal, wip, 4k)

A Brief Interview by Miss_Lazy_Tuesday

Reverse Robins. Damian find a small kid with a camera taking photos at night. We all know how it goes.

And If You Wrong Us by Ellegrine (2k, complete)

Short and lovely. Dami and Tim are so protective at each other! ❤️

Time (to Protect You) by Blueseabird2 (complete, 90k, +2 complete sequels)

Time travel!

Losing Damian not only hurt beyond measure but also made Dick the last Bat standing. He had nothing keeping him in a broken world so goes back in time with only one ally (Damian begs to differ) and no plan except to protect everyone he can, at any cost.

Dick starts with making sure Jason never dies at the hands of the Joker and proceeds to track down and love his siblings (while maybe also plotting the destruction of the League of Assassins). He just doesn't realize that a clan of highly trained vigilantes are more than capable of realizing that Dick is not okay, and of returning his devotion with their own.

prodigal by punkrockhades (12k, complete)

Dick liked to think he had a pretty good handle on the whole ‘big brother’ thing by now, even if Tim still saw sleep as optional and Damian still got a little stabby when a hug lasted too long. But then Damian’s other big brother comes to town, mysterious and red-helmeted and oddly familiar, and seems to want nothing to do with the Bats sans Damian. Damian is strangely close-lipped about his other brother's past, but Dick is determined to find out more about the Red Hood - he could always use more little brothers, anyway!

Taming a Baby Assassin by nighttmr (11k, complete)

Damian didn’t need an older brother. Tough luck, Bruce thought he didn’t need a Robin either. Look where that got him. Or Tim doesn’t care what Damian says. He has always wanted a baby brother to love and care for and Damian fits the bill. So what if he’s a little stabby stabby? That just gives him character.

Rise Above It (Spread Your Wings) by clarakent (mintaejin), njw, Silver_Snow_77 (17k, complete)

Reverse Robins, fantasy au. Timothy sacrifices himself to save his brother and father. Years later, there's another war. (We all know what comes next)

Veritas by Anonymous (3k, complete)

Not Dami centeic, but so cute! A villain gives Batman truth serum and asks what he hates about the kids. It... doesn't go as he expects. Fluff! Cute! B love his kids!

Catching Stars and Comets by Faeriekit

From this tumblr prompt: "Reverse Robins AU but instead of making Damian oldest and going down the line so on and so forth, it’s a bunch of assembled weird vigilante-crime men and their accidentally adopted autistic eight year old rich boy, Bruce, who calls himself “batkid” for reasons beyond their mutual understanding of expected kid behavior."

Ok this is a weird one

I'm looking for a fic that I read like a long time ago the batfamily like forgets Tim's birthday Damian finds out and one of the last lines is him like staring Bruce in the face and threatening him, and I really would like to read it again so if anyone knows what that is, please let me know 

Also, I'm a sucker for a protective Damian because I think that kid is cooler than half the fucking bat family so like if you know of a fic rec , let me know 

Also, don't ask me why I can't ever find the shit I read it might be because I read way too much shit but it's literally like I cannot remember a title to save my life

OK so I can't find that one but I found one a little similar the concepts a little different, but Damian's a fucking delight in the fic so I'm gonna share it

I loved this Fic and I mean it was cute and sad 

[kavrillia]

Titles. Ugh.

I've always hated coming up with titles. The first story arc I wrote in the Kavrilliaverse was originally called "Legacy," and the second arc "Heritage." They definitely fit the themes but weren't exciting or original.

After I added a third arc that took place before the other two and kind of mushed it all together into a single novel, I started referring to the whole thing as "Heritage" and gave each part its own title. (Part "zero" became "Passing of the Peacemaker," Legacy became "Vincaran Vendetta," and the original second arc became "Abandonment and Betrayal," "The Battle is Joined," and "Borrowed Birthright." I'm not crazy about the "The Battle is Joined" and may change it someday.)

After awhile I figured I needed a more distinctive title, so I started calling it "Heritage in the Stars." It hinted at the forces of destiny at work (being "written in the stars",) but all it really meant was that the story was in a planet-hopping sci-fi-themed setting. (It's always had a more fantasy feel, but it was originally inspired by War of the Worlds, so space travel was baked into the setting.) Back when I had a personal website with a section for the Kavrilliaverse, I saw that most of the hits I got were from people searching for conspiracy theories about life on Earth being seeded by ancient aliens. Okay then! Not what I meant at all!

Since then I've revised the entire setting drastically, and now everything takes place on the planet Kavrillia. What used to be star systems are now islands and archipelagos. Although the technology level includes high speed rail and videoconferencing, flight has never been invented. Thus the "in the Stars" part is even less relevant than ever.

In my mind I alternate between calling it "Heritage" and "Kavrillia," but the latter term doesn't mean anything to anyone so it wouldn't make a good book title.

This summer I've been mulling over "Heritage of Empire." It abbreviates to H.O.E., which is unfortunate, but I kind of like it otherwise. (Maybe "The Heritage of Empire," for T.H.O.E.?) The existence and history of the Lanarian Empire drives a lot of the conflict in the story.

See, when I was fifteen and first brainstormed all this, I had only the vaguest idea of how problematic real life empires can be. I'm an American of northern European ancestry living in a predominantly white Midwestern community. Imperialism and colonialism were just words from history class. "Empire" and "Empress" sounded cooler and more mature to my ears than "Kingdom" and "Queen." When you're that age, the Rule of Cool is basically all that matters in your writing.

Even then I knew the Lanarian Empire having first contact with a different culture that was at a slight technological disadvantage and then subjugating them was Very Bad, of course, but I handled it clumsily and only on a surface level. (At the time I was more interested in the rift between the rich and poor, which is still a strong theme.)

In the years since I've realized the implications of all this, albeit still through an unavoidable lens of white privilege, and I've adjusted my writing accordingly. The Vincaran culture is a hundred times more fleshed out than it was to begin with, in some ways even more than the Lanarian culture (which, let's face it, is pretty Western with a veneer of fantasy over the top). I have Vincaran POV characters who (gasp!) aren't antagonists. I've also written Empress Vazali to be more self-aware of the fact that she's the figurehead of a political entity that has done some pretty horrible things in the past, and continues to benefit from it. Just as in real life, there are no easy answers, and I don't pretend to have anything profound to say about imperialism, but at least now I acknowledge the issues.

The fact that the Lanarian Empire is, well, an empire is a factor behind almost all the main plot threads:

The main character is the empress, and the power struggle with her brother is a major plot point. What makes a good, responsible ruler? (Hint: It's not strutting around in fancy outfits and ordering people to bring you snacks.) Vazali's arc is also about duty vs personal desires, and the difficulty of being an empathetic, compassionate person in a world that, well, isn't. Ruling an empire with a problematic past doesn't make that balance any easier to find.

Delzeena's early life of poverty isn't exactly due to the empire's existence, but the fact that a sizable chunk of the capital city's population is experiencing homelessness doesn't reflect well on the government.

Xorax's plot arc is a direct result of the empire's oppression. His people are scattered and downtrodden thanks for colonialism, and the fight for independence cost his grandfather his life, sparking the vendetta that controls Xorax's destiny. Sicara's arc, which is closely tied to his, is at least in part about preserving and celebrating their cultural and religious heritage.

Zadie and Abarok's story is tied to the empire's just because she's a military leader and he's a diplomat, but the conflict in their arc is over their relationship, his asexuality, and societal expectations vs. what works for them.

Zalani's is a more minor plot arc, but she's trying to navigate between the two cultures, as she sees good and bad in both. Should she try to bring the good (i.e. feminism) from Lanarian culture into her own, or abandon Vincaran culture to assimilate into the one who has oppressed her people but not her sex?

Still, the shadow of what the Lanarian Empire is and what it has done, for good or ill, looms over the entire story, so "Heritage of Empire" isn't a bad title. I'm not ready to make the switch officially, but it's something I've been mulling over.

[Edited 27 Aug 2023 to add: "Heritage and Empire" is another option. "HAE, how you doin'?"]

[midnightsslut]

If You’re Anything Like Me + evermore parallels

(and also hoax)

‘you promise people the world, because that’s what they want from you. you like giving them what they want… but darling, you have to stop.’ —> ‘I gave it my all. he gave me nothing at all, then wondered why I left.’

‘your superstitions were the lone survivors of the shipwreck.’ —> ‘when I was shipwrecked, I thought of you.’

‘Rest In Peace, to your naive bravado…’ —> ‘if the shoe fits, walk in it till your high heels break.’

‘you never wanted to lock your door, your secret garden gate or your diary drawer’ —> ‘but if someone comes at us, this time I’m ready’

‘didn’t want to face the you you don’t know anymore, for fear she was much better before… but darling, now you have to’ —> ‘she’s still 23 inside her fantasy, how it was supposed to be’ / ‘can’t remember what I used to fight for’ / ‘you know I left a part of me back in New York. you know the hero died, so what’s the movie for’

‘if you’re anything like me, there’s a justice system in your head’ —> ‘misery, like the war of words I shouted in my sleep’ / ‘my sleepless night, my winless fight, this has frozen my ground’

‘for names you’ll never speak again’ —> ‘the shape of your name still spells out pain’

‘and you make your ruthless rulings. each enemy turns to steel’ —> ‘your nemeses will defeat themselves before you get the chance to swing’

‘they become the bars that confine you in your own golden little prison cell’ —> ‘I knew you, living in a gold age, sneak into my birdcage’

‘but darling, that is where you meet yourself’ —> ‘and I was catching my breath, floors of a cabin creaking under my step / and I couldn’t be sure. I had a feeling so peculiar, this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.’

‘you couldn’t recognize the face of love until they stripped you of your shiny paint’ —> ‘and you passed right by / I was in the alley, surrounded on all sides’

‘threw your victory flag away, and you saw the ones who wanted you anyway’ —> ‘when I was shipwrecked, I thought of you’

‘darling, later on you will thank your stars for that frightful day’ —> ‘pushed from the precipice, climbed right back up the cliff / long story short, I survived’

‘if you’re anything like me, I’m sorry. but darling, it’s going to be okay’ —> ‘I had a feeling so peculiar, this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.’

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Okay but I would LOVE to here your heretical opinions on Padame if you ever want to share them or any of your other views on star wars prequel characters. Your character analysises are INCREDIBLE and really fun to read <3

Oh boy, are you sure about that? Well, the ask has been made so here, we, gooooooooooooooo!

Padme’s one of those strange characters who appears as one thing but in actuality is quite different. Because she appears as the first thing, and it’s something people really like, most people accept that at face value and if she’s not always consistent--well, she came from a series of screenplays written by George Lucas.

Padme comes across as a very noble, kind, and courageous character who is also quite politically savvy. At fourteen, against all odds, she saves her planet from invasion when the Senate did nothing, secured herself an ally in the chancellor (nevermind him being secretly Palpatine), and even after relinquishing her title as queen remains a major player in the senate for years and is seen as enough of a threat to warrant several assassination attempts (one so bad she has to be guarded by Jedi and sent home to Naboo for several weeks). 

And I’m not saying she’s not any of these things. Padme is very courageous, is one of those odd politicians who... believes she stands for what she believes in (more on this later), and has a remarkable political career.

However, she’s also romantic to the point of being completely and utterly delusional, self-centered, and frankly a little nuts.

(Yeah, you knew you were waiting for me to say something terrible, WEREN’T YOU?!) Right, so what’s wrong with Padme?

Well, if you look closely at a few of her choices, the ones that never seemed to make much sense, then you can look at her other choices and... Well, it all sort of comes together. 

That’s right, I’m talking about “Attack of the Clones” and “Revenge of the Sith”.

Attack of the Clones we have the very lackluster and strange romance of Anakin and Padme.

On Anakin’s end, his infatuation with Padme makes a lot of sense. She was part of the party that rescued him from slavery, she was very kind to him, and was the prettiest girl he’s ever seen in his life. Ten years later, always having harbored a crush on her memory and keeping it alive through whatever news he hears of her, she’s grown into a very beautiful woman and Anakin is by chance introduced back into her life. I get why Anakin falls head over heels for Padme, I’ll get more into this later and how their relationship has some major issues (aside from the obvious), but I understand why he marries this girl out of nowhere even when it could get him thrown out of the Jedi. (As an aside, since this is more of a Padme post, I think Anakin was spurred on in part also by the death of his mother and his massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Anakin’s life was flipped upside down in a very short amount of time, one of his great emotional ties is suddenly gone, and I think he has this internal crisis that culminates in him deciding to marry Padme. Without this, he and Padme may have become lovers, but I don’t think he’d marry her).

On Padme’s end... it’s a little less clear. Anakin has grown into an attractive young man, yes. Take out all of George Lucas’ dialogue, and maybe Padme finds Anakin very charming. However, Padme secretly marries a Jedi she’s known for three weeks. Now, I’d be a bit more forgiving of this, love is love and we can’t always think rationally, but there’s some other things.

Unlike Anakin, Padme hasn’t been spending the past ten years romanticizing her memory of Anakin Skywalker. When they met in Phantom Menace, Anakin was not only five years younger than her, he was nine-years-old. To fourteen-year-old Padme, Anakin was not then dating material and was instead this poor boy in slavery. Which means while Anakin has build up justifying this rapid romance, Padme really doesn’t. What this means is that her romance with Anakin reads a lot more like a romantic fantasy. Cute dashing bodyguard shows up, saves her life, through contrived circumstances they’re sent back to beautiful Naboo where they spend time together, only cute bodyguard is a Jedi and can’t marry, which makes their love excitingly taboo! 

Everything Padme does, before and after this point, lends itself to this overdeveloped sense of romance. Padme wants to be whisked away, wants to have this secret unsustainable marriage with a man who cannot be married, she’s in love with the idea of being in love. Given how little time she spends with Anakin, how little they really know of each other, I’d say she’s more in love with the idea of Anakin than Anakin Skywalker himself. And this isn’t a bad thing necessarily, or at least not a grievous flaw, however, that’s not all. 

Padme chooses to marry Anakin knowing he murdered an entire village of men, women, and children. She marries him almost immediately after the massacre of the Tusken Raiders. Note, she does not learn about this later and have to come to terms with it, she is right there. She is on Tatooine with him and sees him go to do it and then return. 

Padme doesn’t take it... particularly well, that said, she also seems to shove it under the carpet immediately. She, first, marries Anakin within days after this event. She second, never really has a “holy fuck, Anakin” conversation with him. And worst yet, she never confesses to anyone else. Padme is a hypocrite and willing to sacrifice everything she believes in, albeit I believe unwittingly, for her romantic fantasy.

She tells no one about what happened. An entire village was brutally massacred, those who are already poor and oppressed and have no voice, by a man who is supposed to be a protector of all people in the galaxy. I’m sorry, Anakin, but if Padme was who you think she is then she would have to tell the Jedi Order at the very least if not the Republic. Instead, there are no consequences, only Anakin’s descent into guilt and madness as three years pass with it festering in the back of his mind.  Padme does not stand for the poor, for the people, or for justice. She only does so when it does not conflict with her own interests, i.e. her actions regarding the invasion of Naboo. More, I do not believe Padme has the introspection to realize this about herself, she never realizes that not narking on Anakin was very very very bad. Three years pass and she lives the whirlwind romantic fantasy that she and Anakin both want. They’re secret lovers/spouses, meeting up at the oddest hours of the day and... This is three years of this ridiculous affair. Three years to come to terms with the fact that something must change. And then the kicker, Padme gets pregnant, and this is where the extra delusional comes in.

The child should have been a signal of the end. There can be no more secret now. Padme is having a child, presumably out of wedlock, and even if space is very very very different from our society I imagine this would be quite the scandal that could even get her thrown out of the senate. I believe Padme mentions as much to Anakin. More, Anakin is no longer a lover, he is now a father. What’s supposed to happen now? They raise this secret child, instructing them that Anakin is only a father in private, never in public?

Anakin and Padme briefly flirt with the idea of Anakin leaving the order. Anakin even wants to do so, but it... never happens. Now is the time it absolutely should happen. Yes, Anakin’s a big part of the war effort, but he could at least start talking to the Order and they could decide if it’d be a slow or fast exit. 

My theory, Padme’s too in love with the fantasy. Anakin leaving means he’s no longer a Jedi, it means he’ll come to Naboo, be unemployed and be around. Anakin visiting will no longer be this romantic, fraught with the danger of being found out, passionate, short lived event for Padme. It’ll become real life. He’ll be a real, ordinary man, she’ll be a real, ordinary, woman, and that spark of romance will be gone.

I don’t think Padme wants that. 

Which is why, even with the child on the way, we see Anakin and Padme continue to play out this ridiculous secret lovers fantasy. And then, of course, Anakin goes insane off screen.

Padme is told that, once again, Anakin has murdered dozens of children. Of course, this is a terrible thing to be told and she can’t process it. She needs to find Anakin and confront him, but people always criticize Lucas here and feel it’s out of character for Padme to have run to Anakin in sobbing hysterics with no plan of enacting vengence.

Frankly, I think it’s very in character. She did nothing about the Tuskens, remember? I think at the end of the day, the murder of the Jedi children means very little to her. What hurts Padme the most is that the fantasy of Anakin she married is not real. The Anakin she married would never murder the Jedi children, betray the Republic, or do any of what he’s done. And I think Padme only has that strong, iron, will when she knows the world she’s in. With the Trade Federation, her stance was obvious. Her people were being oppressed, butchered, and invaded. In this case, the world she knew no longer exists.

The Republic is gone, perhaps hasn’t existed in thirteen years, as it turns out the senator who had always been her biggest supporter was a Sith Lord. The Jedi are gone, children murdered by Anakin while those in the field are picked off by their own clone soldiers. Padme’s world has fallen apart, and I think that makes it much harder for her to be the girl we saw in Phantom Menace. In time, perhaps, she would have joined the rebellion but... I do think Padme might have also given into despair.

So, yeah, that’s Padme for you.