#series: the divine justice saga

[dunbonnets]

Zakaria: Why are your tongues purple?

Wally: We had slushies. I had a blue one.

Sarah: I had a red one.

Zakaria: Oh

Zakaria:

Zakaria: OH

Conner:

Conner: You drank each other's slushies?

[im-probably-crying-rn-ngl]

fuck it, book recommendations based on your favourite driver

+ age rating, summary and rambling disguised as explanation as to why

if your favourite driver is Lewis Hamilton...then i would recommend Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(historical sports fiction, standalone) "Carrie Soto, a fierce and determined retired tennis champion, comes out of retirement at thirty-seven to reclaim her record and face personal challenges, coached by her father partnered with the man she almost opened her heart to, in Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel about the cost of greatness and a legendary athlete's epic comeback."

the connection between this book and lewis is what inspired this whole post in the first place. a comeback story even if you have proven all there is to be proven? trying to beat all the odds against you even time? being an all-time champion AND an underdog? there are so many links that can be made between carrie and lewis not just with their careers and relationships but also what adversities they have had to face. idk but is this like manifesting that lewis is going to be "back" for his 8th wdc?

if your favourite driver is George Russell...then i would recommend A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

(young adult mystery thriller, book 1 of 3) "In 'A Good Girl's Guide to Murder,' Pippa Fitz-Amobi reexamines a closed case, challenging the conviction of Sal Singh for Andie Bell's murder, unearthing hidden secrets that threaten her safety as she seeks the elusive truth."

ah mr wannabe investigator (we all saw him checking out that redbull) but seriously there's something we grussell sprouts must enjoy about someone who seems so straight-laced and uptight be absolutely blatantly unhinged both on and off track. it's just so george to choose literal murder inquiry as a school project, from the ambition bordering on arrogance of believing a high schooler could do what the authorities couldn't to the genuine heartfelt sincerity in wanting the truth and to bring justice for those already deemed outcasts by society. he's OUR good girl that's not-so-secretly "bad".

(main ship are george and alex coded btw like im just saying)

(+ bonus rec bc i am incredibly biased) if your favourite team is Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team (had to google the name for the nth time)...then i would recommend The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee

(adult fantasy, trilogy, best books i have ever read) "The Green Bone Saga is a fantasy trilogy by Fonda Lee, exploring the intricate power struggles and conflicts within and around the Kaul family. Set in the fictional city of Janloon with ability-enhancing jade as it's lifeblood."

my faves with my faves. mercedes aren't a national institution/emotion (ferrari), a team (red bull racing), a villains' lair (ashton martin) or a pop band (mclaren) but a family. a dysfunctional, awkward, barely concealed hot mess of a family, but family nonetheless. chasing victory while trying to survive the horrors of life and each other is the merc way and you will see the same in this trilogy. *toto voice* loyalty!

family is duty. magic is power. honor is everything. <- literally them

if your favourite driver is Oscar Piastri...then i would recommend The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

(young adult fantasy, book 1 of 5) "In 'The Lightning Thief' by Rick Riordan, seemingly troubled teenager Percy Jackson discovers his divine lineage as a demigod, embarks on a perilous quest with his friends to prevent a war among the gods."

wow guys i don't know what to tell you except oscar JACK piastri, SON of nicole and chris piastri, might literally be percy JACKSON (i have connected the dots, you haven't connected shit). your guy might have had a former illustrious career in undertaking dangerous quests and asking greek gods to pay child support, you should check.

if your favourite driver is Lando Norris...then i would recommend Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

(adult contemporary romance, check tws, book 1 of an ongoing series) "In 'Magnolia Parks' by Jessa Hastings, a tumultuous love story unfolds between the beautiful and self-involved London socialite Magnolia Parks and Britain's notorious bad-boy BJ Ballentine, as they grapple with a dysfunctional relationship marked by heartbreak, secrets, and the enduring pull they feel towards each other."

picked this based on vibes, just pure vibes but immaculate ones. the drama, the glitz, the glam yes but also the family, friendship, and love found within the pages of this series. this is british gossip girl. i am telling you there is a vision here people.

(+ bonus review because this might be the only book on this list that has less (3.84) than 4+ stars on goodreads and i can't do him and y'all dirty like that: i personally didn't love the first book but the series really comes together and you truly get invested in these characters and their happiness, actually pretty excited to read more.

also if nothing else it's fun, just some brain popcorn)

if your favourite driver is Carlos Sainz...then i would recommend The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

(young adult romance fantasy, check tws, book 1 of 2) "In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, Shahrzad vows vengeance for her friend's death and becomes the next bride of the tormented Caliph Khalid, discovering unexpected love as she navigates the perilous palace of secrets and stories, torn between survival and the promise of retribution."

wow like you think he didn't step out of a magical retelling of 1001 nights? mhm but let's leave aside the fact i am still not convinced otherwise. carlos this year has shown his insane mega ultra galaxy brain, so i believe the plot of the wrath & the dawn would be something that would resonate with you. the quick wit and guile of the mc as she tries to carry out a revenge plot while trying to not get executed is only comparable to carlos coming up with his own race strategy mid race and cementing himself as the only non-rbr race winner in 2023. wow.

if your favourite driver is Charles Leclerc...then i would recommend The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

(historical romance fantasy, standalone) "The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is an Iliad retelling, focusing on the deep and complex relationship between Achilles and Patroclus."

he has that sadness in his eyes that you only see in tragic greek myths etc etc. i will have to say, achilles walked so charles leclerc could race. *soft longing sigh* il predestinato and aristos achaion, the predestined and the best of the greeks. beloveds born and bathed in golden light. it just makes sense to me.

if your favourite driver is Alex Albon...then i would recommend Beach Read by Emily Henry

(adult contemporary romance, standalone) "A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters."

i mean alex is a living-breathing romance novel of a man. BUT it hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows (helmut marko if i catch you). so i think any emily henry book but especially beach read captures the ups and downs of alex's journey so well compared to just any ole romcom (...but if i had to give one for the alex enjoyers then it would be Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter, coincidentally also george and alex coded lmao).

but was it his remarkable drive back to f1 or the recent holiday beach pics that was the reason behind this rec? i guess we will never know

if your favourite driver is Logan Sargeant...then i would recommend Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

(young adult fantasy, book 1 of 3)"In 'Howl's Moving Castle' by Diana Wynne Jones, eldest daughter Sophie is cursed to age prematurely, the key to break the spell lies in the enigmatic Wizard Howl's castle. Sophie embarks on a quest to confront the Witch who cursed her all the while unraveling hidden truths about herself and Howl."

"let's bring it in and call it a day - let's look after of you." to "that's my girl" pipeline and vice versa. i know what you are.

but logang (the only one i know frfr) you deserve it okay? a cozy lil fantasy full of whimsy and wonder. tuck in and have some tea and cookies, pookies.

(i wanted to do the full grid but keep the teammates together and i haven't yet come up with something for all of em so there will be a part 2...? hopefully...?)

sources for summaries: thestorygraph and goodreads

[mariacallous]

A war stretching into its sixth month with no end in sight, more than 100 hostages still held by Hamas, nearly 120,000 evacuees from towns along the Gaza and Lebanon borders waiting to return home, and a sputtering economy. Any one of these issues should be enough to bring down Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the greatest threat hanging over his government today is the question of whether the ultra-Orthodox should be conscripted into the military, an affair that has been simmering unresolved for more than 20 years.

At first glance, it might seem strange that in the Jewish state, the most intensely religious Jews refuse to serve in the military. But the ultra-Orthodox, or Haredim, have always had a problem with a Jewish state created by human action rather than by divine decree. To help win them over, Israel’s founding father, David Ben-Gurion, made a series of concessions to them around the time of independence in 1948, including exempting from conscription young men for whom “Torah is [their] occupation.” In other words, men spending their lives engaged in the study of religious texts.

It seemed like a minor issue at the time. Many Haredim were fighting in the war. Europe’s ultra-Orthodox community had been decimated by the Holocaust, and its numbers were tiny and expected to decline with assimilation. The total number who were to be exempted was about 400.

By the end of the 1990s, however, that concession no longer looked so minor. Thanks to an extraordinarily high birth rate, the Haredi population was growing rapidly. Today, it comprises about 13 percent of the population and by 2042 it may reach more than 20 percent, by the government’s own estimates. Meanwhile, state subsidies for the Haredim grew immensely after Menachem Begin and his Likud party took power in 1977, enabling the community to realize its ideal of a lifetime of Torah study for males. Even as they took money from the state, refusal to serve in the military became, for the Haredim, as sacrosanct as keeping kosher or the Sabbath.

The first serious challenge to this arrangement came in 1998, when the High Court of Justice ruled that it violated the legal principle of equality among Israelis—in this case, the “equality of burden” in regard to military service. That began a two-decade saga of legislation that failed to correct the problem, more court challenges, and foot-dragging. While the draft issue periodically became headline material, it quickly faded. Politicians from the left and the right were loath to touch the issue for fear of losing the support of Haredi political parties, which often hold the balance of power.

The fact that the controversy has suddenly been reignited is due to a confluence of events.

The first and most important is the war in Gaza, which has made the fact that some Israelis are fighting and dying while others are not more glaring than in many years past. Since Israeli ground forces entered Gaza in late October, more than 240 soldiers have been killed and thousands wounded. More reservists have been called up than at any time in the last 40 years. The sacrifice they have made has been underscored by the fact that most Israelis see the Gaza campaign and the fight with Hezbollah in the north as a war of survival unlike any the country has fought since the 1973 Arab-Israeli War. The sense of national unity that emerged after Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre has made it harder for the ultra-Orthodox to explain their unwillingness to share in the sacrifice.

That imperative for public sacrifice will not go away when the war ends. Oct. 7 has fundamentally altered Israel’s national security thinking of the last 20 years, which held that threats from Hamas and Hezbollah could be contained and that technology could replace boots on the ground. To ensure it has enough soldiers, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) plans to increase mandatory service and the number of days reservists may be called up every year. Even now, it is reportedly short some 7,000 soldiers in the standing army—which numbers around 170,000.

Before the war, the Netanyahu government promised the Haredi parties it would pass legislation shielding the Haredi exemption from future court challenges. Among the wilder ideas was to pass a quasi-constitutional law that equated Torah study with military service, thereby getting around the equality-of-burden problem. However, preoccupied with its judicial-overhaul drive, the government failed to act. Instead, the cabinet voted to give itself what has turned out to be an inauspicious deadline of March 31 to come up with a solution. It is now asking the High Court to give it another three months, but at a Feb. 26 hearing, the justices showed little sympathy for further delays. If they don’t extend the deadline, young Haredi men will, in principle, be liable for the draft starting April 1.

If Haredi political leaders recognize that the public’s attitude has changed, they have shown no signs of it. There was a brief flurry of news reports at the start of the war about ultra-Orthodox men signing up for military service, but it turned out to be overblown. The IDF’s Personnel Directorate told a Knesset committee last month that just 540 had actually enlisted. By comparison, a record 66,000 Haredim received an exemption over the past year. In a December survey of Haredim by the Jewish People Policy Institute, 70 percent said the war had not changed their opinion that they should be exempt (another 12 percent said they felt even more strongly about it). “We won’t agree to anything in regards to drafting yeshiva students. … Nobody can force us to abandon the Torah,” Rabbi Meir Zvi Bergman, an influential member of the rabbinical advisory panel of the United Torah Judaism party, vowed last weekend.

Haredi apologists offer up a variety of justifications for the draft exemptions. They claim that the military doesn’t actually need them and point out that many Haredim volunteer for civilian rescue services. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis contend that Torah study is no less important than military service because it ensures Israel’s divine protection.

But even many believers acknowledge that some of the men who shirk the draft are enrolled on paper in yeshivas but don’t actually study. The real reason the Haredi leaders fear the draft is that it threatens the barriers they have so carefully erected: In the military, young enlistees would encounter non-Haredim in a serious way for the first time in their lives; see the outside world; perhaps learn a useful skill or trade; and, worst of all, meet secular women. Many may never come back.

For Netanyahu, the Haredi case for exemption or the military’s personnel needs are secondary at best. What concerns him is keeping his coalition intact. If the two ultra-Orthodox parties quit over the draft and take their 18 Knesset seats, the coalition won’t survive. Yet Netanyahu cannot, as he has in the past, assume his party and far-right coalition partners will do as commanded. Ordinarily spineless Likud backbenchers have said that a solution involving at least some Haredim being drafted is unavoidable. Even Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, an extreme rightist sympathetic to ultra-Orthodox interests, has picked up on the change. “The current situation is outrageous and cannot continue,” he said during a visit to a yeshiva for more moderate Orthodox students who do enlist.

In the end, most of these renegades will fall in line with Netanyahu; they, too, are focused on their political survival. But that may not be true in the case of the National Unity, a centrist party that joined the coalition at the start of the war, and in the case of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, a Likud politician. Gallant laid down the gauntlet on Feb. 28 when he said he would not back any conscription bill that did not have National Unity’s support. The party has laid out a relatively moderate plan for drafting Haredim, but nothing Haredi leaders would ever consent to.

As a result, Netanyahu is boxed in. On the one side is Haredi obduracy; on the other, Gallant’s position raises the risk of National Unity and even Gallant leaving the coalition if they don’t get what they want. Technically, the prime minister doesn’t need National Unity or Gallant to stay in power. But their exit from the coalition would leave him in a difficult position, running a complicated war with mostly inexperienced and extremist ministers. The Haredim may feel boxed in as well, in which case they might force an early election—as a way of buying time. A caretaker government would not be allowed to deal with such a critical issue, putting it off until the formation of a new government.

Netanyahu may try to kick the can again by giving the High Court a plan for a Haredi draft that looks good on paper but is designed to fail. If it’s vague enough and impractical in the long run, the Haredim might be willing to go with it. The problem is that in the post-Oct. 7 reality, almost no one else would accept it.

[koraesrambles]

KORAES SUPER DUPER COMIC READING CHALLENGE 2024

Alright, I've decided to set a goal for myself. I've been binge reading comics for over a year but only of a specific variety and it's time to expand my tastes. Especially since OUTCAST ODYSSEY is updating on webtoons. The more comics I read, the better my own comic should be, right? I mean, supposedly.

I decided to read 100 of the top graphic novels on goodreads. The list spans all ages and genres, so there's going to be some VARIETY here. There are some graphic novels I've already read (like Maus or Calvin and Hobbes) that I didn't include. I dunno if I could handle reading Maus again (It stabs you in the heart, twists it and pulls it from your chest still beating, but instead of being happy about it like I am with fiction it's soured by the realization that this actually happened and then I want to die).

Here's the list I copy and pasted from Goodreads. If you don't see your favorite on here, add it! I need to read all of the things!

Watchmen

V for Vendetta

Batman the Dark Night Returns

Saga

The Complete Persepolils

The Sandman

Y: The Last Man

Batman: Year One

Batman: The Long Halloween

The Walking Dead

Preacher

Sin City

Locke & Key

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Fables

From Hell

Blankets

Fun Home: A family tragicomic

The Arrival

Haven

The Far Side Gallery

Marvels

Kick-Ass

Habibi

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Pride of Baghdad

Cult Girls

The Crow

The Absolute Batman: Hush

Chew

Amulet

X-men: The Dark Pheonix

American Born Chinese

The Umbrella Academy

Kingdom Come

The Absolute Death

Marvel 1602

Sweet Tooth

The Cartoon History of the Universe

Transmetropolitan

Superman: Red Son

All Star Superman

The Ultimates

The Unwritten

Runaways

Astonishing X-Men: Ultimate

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Planetary

Wolverine: Origin

Identity Crisis

Black Hole: A graphic novel

Spider-Man: Blue

Hellboy: Library Edition

The Books of Magic

Astonishing X-Men

Lone Wolf & Cub

Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter

300

Squee

Rat Queens

The Uncanny X-Men: Days of Future Past

Monstress

Wolverine: Weapon X

The Wicked + the Divine

Captain America: Winter Soldier

My Friend Dahmer

Blake Orchid

Dr. 2

Once Upon a Time

Superman: Secret Identity

Asterios Polyp

Ex-Machina

Domu: A Child's Dream

One Piece

Civil War

Mouse Guard

Summer Blonde

Desolation Jones: Made in England

I Kill Giants

Pumpkin Heads

The Wolves in the Walls

The Batman Adventures: Mad Love

Through the Woods

Absolute Dark Knight

Lenore

The Fountain

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl

Death Note

Girl Genius

Wonderstruck

The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch

Happy New Year

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

Skooter Girl

Daytripper

A Little Prince in the Land of the Mullahs

Absolute Justice

Wanted

Velvet

Obviously, a lot of these are series, and I'm not going to read the whole series of every book on this list. If I like it enough, I might continue it for fun, but it won't count toward the list. I'll cross the title off as I finish them and write up my thoughts. Cuz what's the point if I don't post an analysis, right?

[dangal-play]

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[ogradyfilm]

Recently Viewed: Return of Daimajin

[The following review contains MAJOR SPOILERS; YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!]

Recently, I had the pleasure of revisiting Daiei’s Daimajin. In many ways, it’s fairly typical of the studio’s consistently above average B-movie efforts, combining competent period drama (reminiscent of the Zatoichi and Sleepy Eyes of Death franchises) with spectacular kaiju mayhem (à la Gamera). The first film’s excellence, however, is utterly dwarfed by its sequel, Return of Daimajin, which elevates the previously established themes and tropes to almost biblical proportions: the political intrigue is more intricate and suspenseful, the battles more epic and meticulously choreographed (courtesy of director Kenji Misumi, a veteran of the chanbara genre), and Yoshiyuki Kuroda's special effects more elaborate and explosive.

The plot—which is repeated more or less verbatim across all three chapters of the trilogy like a poetic refrain—revolves around the concept of divine retribution. In the era preceding the unification of Japan, the land is splintered by conflict and strife. Ambitious, opportunistic tyrants ruthlessly exploit the peasantry; excessive taxation and slave labor abound, as commonplace and devastating as earthquakes and typhoons. When the innocent cry out for justice, the ancient deities that govern nature answer their call by animating a colossal ceremonial statue to wreak terrible vengeance. But the wrath of the gods is indiscriminate, and only the tears of the pure-hearted can once again quell the stone giant's blind rage following the completion of his violent duty.

The influence of foreign culture is already evident in that basic premise (the eponymous guardian spirit is essentially a reimaging of the golem from Jewish folklore), but this particular installment takes the allusions a step further. During his climactic rampage, for example, the monster magically carves a path through the waters of a vast lake like Moses parting the Red Sea. Additionally, his anger is roused by the desperate prayer of a young princess condemned to crucifixion and immolation by a conquering warlord; her selfless offer to sacrifice her own soul in exchange for the salvation of her subjects more than justifies the ensuing deus ex machina. Indeed, images of crosses pervade the story: the wreckage of a demolished torii gate, for instance, is distinctly cruciform in shape; the central villain, meanwhile, meets his karmic demise when he becomes entangled in the rigging of a burning boat—mimicking the sadistic execution that our heroine nearly suffered at his hands.

These (admittedly cosmetic) references to the iconography of Western religions and classical literature lend Return of Daimajin a mythic quality that distinguishes it from the rest of the otherwise rather formulaic series. Simple in its narrative structure yet absolutely immaculate in its craftsmanship, this sophomore entry in Daiei's sadly short-lived saga ranks among the very finest creature features ever produced.

[hanzajesthanza]

I saw your “thoughts on ______” post and I quite like reading your thoughts on witcher lore (especially your thoughts on Geralt’s hansa), but I was wondering what are your thoughts on Ciri in the witcher 3? Specifically her personality if you think it aligns with the books at all.

Thank you for your all of your posts on the witcher!

okay looong post haha :D

tldr: tw3 ciri and books ciri are very different characters.

i would say that the ciri of the books and the ciri of tw3 are both reflections of their respective mediums; ciri is the books and ciri is the game; or at least, she should be...

the witcher books are a narrative saga with a predefined story, and a tragic one at that; the witcher 3 is a game with storytelling, yes, but it changes based upon player interaction and choice. but there is no choice with ciri of the books. her destiny, and the destinies of all the other characters, have already been decided by fate, destiny, the hand of a great demiurge... conveyed via the divine medium called sapkowski's computer keyboard. ciri, like all the other characters, are bound by the same fate and doomed... they lose, in the end, having lost everything, they still lose... but in the witcher 3, fate rests in your hands as geralt. you choose the destiny, your decisions towards ciri affect the ending she has and who her character becomes.

both ciris have the opportunity to become witchers. but the books and tw3 treat the concept of a witcher very differently. for books ciri, she is given the entire series to meditate on the meaning of witcherhood. geralt teaches her the sword in self-defense, but the ability to kill consumes her.

ciri is beaten down, over and over again, from the slaughter of cintra to losing geralt and yennefer and landing in the korath desert and suffering utter humilating circumstances, hiding out as a criminal with the rats... in many ways she is like every other war orphan, but her princess side never leaves her, her dignity demands more, and for this reason she rages.

originally, she wants justice for the slaughter of cintra, and later, she wants justice for the torture and other wrongs done unto her, to repay evil... and she is well-beyond justified in her anger. however - her arc is about the extent which revenge and violence can take, because engaging in an excess bloodbath continues the cycle which she may never escape from. the sword has meaning and consequences in her hands. we get to see what it looks like when she has no control. when she kills and bullies and threatens indsicriminately, not to only the evil, but to the innocent as well, out of her own pain, misery, and contempt. the worst of everything that can hide in a person emerged from her, wickedness and cruelty... and soon, as a result of that, we see an even worse manifestation of evil following her footsteps, tracking her down - bonhart.

at the end of tower of the swallow, she's become a witcher again - she slaughters the mercenaries at dun dare, but she shows restraint on tarn mira and does not kill skellen, although he wounded her. but this is her revelation and personal philosophy that "witchers kill monsters". it's quite nice, actually, come to think of it, because as soon as geralt stops being a witcher (sometime in early october, his medallion melts away in the fire of the druids' wicker hag) ciri becomes one (at dun dare on saovine, the end of october). she is still considered "evil" though, and only stops being "evil" when she descends the marble staircase with geralt and yennefer at castle stygga; then, she becomes something else, which she doesn't know. but i think, from chapters 1 and 12 of lady of the lake, that she simply becomes a witcher girl, and that sailor of an archipelago of places and times that she is described as being in ch 7; a lone wanderer, eliminating darkness in her path... the new kind of witcher that the world needs, which geralt describes in rivia before his death.

this is a magnificent story. especially since it was well-written. it has all the virtues of what a seven-book series should be. but it wouldn't be as much of a good video game. its virtues as writing do not directly translate to the virtues of a game. and neither do the virtues of its characters.

because ciri's story (as it is in the books) is remarkably dark, exceptionally horrifying in many cases. it makes me weep, it makes me feel. and there's no happy ending. as nimue and condwiramurs say, "it's so... frighteningly realistic." it reminds me of my own life and growth and pain and an uncertain future. of my own past lives lost and my own bitter defeats and who i've had to take out on a boat on loch eskalott...

but would any of this be fun to play as a character in a game? when i first played the witcher 3, i was surprised at some of the darker storytelling elements (e.g., the bloody baron, carnal sins, the empress ending... which i won't touch on the empress ending for ciri because... apologies, but it's bullshit if we're considering the books canon, it's practically netflix's interpretation of the series... it's just so wrong i can't even start to explain why or how much retconning it involved)

but when i read the books? the books make the witcher 3 look like children's daytime tv programming. at least when it comes to ciri's story and character. this is necessary in order to make the witcher 3 game fun to play and not a horrifying endless nightmare of suffering and s*xual assault, which the books can sometimes end up being! at least in the ciri parts... but the witcher 3 is virtuous as a video game because it is fun to play. it treats being a witcher much more simply...

i think this summarizes it: you know in blood and wine when regis asks geralt, if you were reborn, would you choose to be a witcher again, or would you want to be something else? the first time i played the witcher 3 (and was new to the franchise) i was so confused why he would ask this. of COURSE i like being a witcher, i bought this game for like $25 on steam with DLC included and i've been having the fucking time of my life doing all these quests and riding around on roach. (i play on the 'just the story' mode :))... but after i read the books, and then replayed the witcher 3, and got to this part? geralt, would you want to be a witcher? there was only one answer in my (geralt's) heart - NO! god, please no... being a witcher canonically sucks, but the witcher 3 does such a good job at being fun that it makes you forget how terrible of a life it is. it's a game, it's not intended to feel real... but the books tell a very realistic story.

ciri in the witcher 3 is not so much a justified in her rage, fallen from grace, vengeful and spiteful victim, as she is... a spunky girl on the run from some baddies. don't get me wrong, she suffers much loss over the course of the game... but she suffers nowhere near as much as ciri in the books and has nothing to grow from or react to.

one such example is of her scar, her iconic scar. (well, first off, it's not even really in the right place in vanilla tw3...) ciri's scar in the books is the epitome of her loss of childhood, the horror and pain of it, and the later shame of it and need to conceal her trauma. she's marred, she thinks the scar is ugly, and she cries when she sees her reflection. she weeps for the death of her childhood. the unscarred child who she'll never be again. ... whereas witcher 3 ciri... uhhh... "avallac'h made me some ointments to make it better :D!" good for her...! the scar for her has little impact and little depth, unlike stefan skellen's orion, but much like she has on us as the audience.

it doesn't help that she's not the main character of the game, unlike in the books, where so much in the later saga is told from her point of view. game ciri simply doesn't get the screentime or narrative importance to be the center of attention. i mean, the part of the witcher 3 that always makes me cry is the isle of mists quest, where she finally is the center of attention and the themes of the books come in - the loss, the grief, the reunion... they play the scene from something more, to make a point...

so because of this, ciri in the witcher 3... is kind of bland. she does what the player wants, because the player's decisions are her. she, like many video game characters, lacks agency of her own (when compared to a character from a book) because her writing is dependant on the player. i'm not trying to hate on witcher 3 ciri, i think i'm being objective - but what does ciri in the witcher 3 have to learn from, what hard lessons does she encounter, what suffering does she endure, what is she wrong about and how does she suffer for her mistakes and imperfections?

it has been a while since i played the game's main quest, forgive me, but i can't remember any significant storybeats that ultimately defined her character asides from vesemir's death, maybe fighting the crones, and entering the tower at the end. and i still can't really picture what she learned from these storybeats, other than it being emotional and having to deal with a difficulty and move on. she doesn't change, and that's what makes her less of a character with agency and more of a static object that geralt and yennefer are tracking down. (i also don't wish to explain these differences away with "well, she's older, since the games take place later..." characters should not get more boring with age or timeskips)

witcher 3 ciri's personality is mild compared to books ciri. yes, she has her emotional moments, is a daredevil and sure of herself, but has none of that terrible teenage rage that books ciri carries, that determination and frightening bloodthirst, as well as her ultimate vulnerability, sorrow, grief, and childlike tendencies. books ciri has flaws, human imperfections, is sure of herself to the point of arrogance, feeling deserved, being hot-tempered, and she suffers for all of it. witcher 3 ciri... certainly... has a sword!

can y'all send some asks that are like “thoughts on __” (ask meme)

[parvismaxima]

Ragnarok references in Attack on Titan

Ragnarok is a series of apocalyptic events that will define the end of the world, where gods will band together to fight against the giants in a final battle that will ultimately destroy the planet, submerging it under water. According to the legend, the world will resurface, the surviving gods will meet, and the world will be repopulated by two human survivors.

The following major battles will be fought:

·       Odin vs Fenrir

·       Vidar vs Fenrir

·       Thor vs Jormungandr

·       Heimdall vs Loki

Major warriors during Ragnarok:

Odin

Odin is the chief of the Æsir and king of Asgard. He will lead the battle against giants during the Ragnarok

(Hange and Odin both sacrificed their left eye in exchange for knowledge)

Heimdall

is the guardian of the gods and the personification of order. He will blow a horn, called the Gjallarhorn if Asgard is in danger. His senses are so good that he can hear the grass grow and he can see to the end of the world. Heimdall could hear a leaf fall. He does not need any sleep at all.

Loki

The god of trickery and mistrust, Loki has a complicated relationship with the  Æsir, oftentimes assisting them or hindering them in bringing their goals to fruition. He is the personification of chaos

Tyr

He is the God of war, and the bravest of all the Gods in Norse mythology. Tyr is interested in justice and with fair treaties, which makes him a God of law as well.

The reason why Tyr is the bravest of all the Gods is because of his most written story:

He once put his hand into the jaws of the gigantic evil wolf Fenrir. He did this while the other Gods bound Fenrir to a rock. When Fenrir saw this, he became suspicious, and declared that he would only allow the gods to put it around him if one of them would stick an arm in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. At last,  when the wolf noticed that he could not get free from the chains, he became furious and ripped Tyr’s right hand

And there in that chain, the giant wolf remained in that sordid state until Ragnarok.

Freyr

the central god of peace, prosperity, sunshine and with good harvest. Freyr is in particular associated with the horse cult, and in the Hrafnkels saga, a noble Gothi once killed a man for riding a horse that he had dedicated to the god.

Thor

The champion of Asgard, Thor’s job is to protect both it and Midgard from the likes of the Jotnar, the giants of Jötunheimr.

He has two children: Modi and Magni

Vidar

is the god of vengeance. A member of the Æsir, he is the son of Odin and the giantess Gríðr. To be honest, Vidar isn’t really an important God. Virtually all of the references to him Norse mythology are concerned with his role in Ragnarok; we know little to nothing about his origin or function outside of his one particular role at the end.

Personally, I only saw two things for Connie’s role in this story — Sasha’s comedic counterpart and someone who will justice for Ragako (however that justice might look like). Given that Sasha is gone and the series has taken a serious route, there is only one role left for him to finish

Eren’s soul: Fenrir

Is the half-giant wolf of Norse mythology. The Æsir gods raised Fenrir themselves in order to keep him under their control and prevent him from wreaking havoc throughout the Nine Worlds. Fenrir however, grew at an astonishingly fast pace, and eventually the troubled gods decided to chain him up. 

Eren’s titan: Jormungandr

The biggest beast in Norse mythology, he's a sea serpent who was imprisoned into the sea by Odin and is fated to rise during Ragnarok. In literature and prayers,  he symbolizes the destructive forces of nature, with everything from hurricanes, tornadoes, vulcanism, earthquakes, etc... His greatest foe is Thor

Before Ragnarok:

In Norse mythology, gods belong to either one of two tribes: the Æsir and the Vanir. And these tribes fought a lot. They fought so much that Prose Edda had poems entirely dedicated to the War of the Gods.

On the other hand, the Giants (Jotun) came before these two tribes and lived in in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. They were banished there by the Gods, who refused them entry to their world, Asgard. In the ancient Norse stories, the Giants frequently interact with the Æsir and the Vanir, but they are usually in opposition with them.

The Æsir fought by the rules of plain combat, with weapons and brute force, while the Vanir used the subtler means of magic.

Loki is the mixed-blood son of a goddess and a male Jotun. His role in Norse mythology is unique and controversial since he appears to both help the gods and hinder them. According to the story, Loki tricked the blind god of winter Hod, an action that resulted in the death of the god Baldr, the shining god beloved by everyone.

Because of this, he was punished and cast into a cliff where he was to remain bound to a rock until Ragnarok, the end of the world.

Baldr’s death is one of the many signs that will fortell Ragnarok. First, there will come a great Winter “Fimbulvetr” which will last for years. Brothers will slay brother, father will slay son, and son will slay father. It will be an age of war

Next, the wolves Skoll and Hati (Fenrir’s sons) who have hunted the sun and the moon for a very long time, will at last catch their prey.

Loki will escape his prison to join the other Giants.

the chains that has been holding back the monstrous wolf Fenrir will snap, and the beast will run free. 

Jormungandr, the mighty serpent who dwells at the bottom of the ocean and encircles the land, will rise from the depths, spilling the seas over all the earth as he makes landfall.

These convulsions will shake the ship Naglfar (“Nail Ship”) free from its moorings. This ship, which is made from the fingernails and toenails of dead men and women, will sail easily over the flooded earth. Its crew will be an army of giants, the forces of chaos and destruction. 

Fenrir, with fire blazing from his eyes and nostrils, will run across the earth, with his lower jaw on the ground and his upper jaw against the top of the sky, devouring everything in his path. Jormungand will spit his venom over all the world, poisoning land, water, and air alike.

The gods who have been warring all these time, will decide to join arms and go to battle, even though they know what the prophecies have foretold concerning the outcome of this clash.

They will meet their enemies on a battlefield called Vigrid (Old Norse Vígríðr, “Plain Where Battle Surges”

An ominous horn blast will ring out; this will be Heimdall, the divine sentry, blowing the Gjallarhorn to announce the arrival of the moment the gods have feared. He will be the first one to stop the giants

Odin will anxiously consult the head of Mimir, the wisest of all beings, for counsel. Odin will face Fenrir, and by his side will be the Einherjar, the host of his chosen dead human warriors whom has preserved in Valhalla for just this moment.

During Ragnarok:

Odin and the champions of men will fight more valiantly than anyone has ever fought before. But it will not be enough. Fenrir will swallow Odin and his men.

Then one of Odin’s sons, Vidar, burning with rage, will charge the beast to avenge his father. He will stab his sword through the wolf’s throat, killing him.

Heimdall and his archenemy Loki will do the same, putting a final end to the trickster’s treachery. Both will inflict fatal wounds on each other, but Loki refuses to die until he sees the destruction of the worlds which happened soon after. They both died next to each other

Tyr will perish fighting Fenrir. The wolf will bite his remaining hand and he will bleed out, but not before he gives the beast a mortal wound

The god Freyr and a fire giant will also be the end of each other. 

Thor and Jormungand, those age-old foes, will both finally have their chance to kill the other. Thor will succeed in felling the great snake with the blows of his hammer. But the serpent will have covered him in so much venom that he will not be able to stand for much longer; he will take nine paces before falling dead himself and adding his blood to the already-saturated soil of Vigrid

After all these, these gods will die, the giants will alight the world in flame, until a flood finally covers the world.

After Ragnarok:

Several of the Gods will survive, among them is Odin’s sons Vidar. Thor’s sons Modi and Magni will also survive, inheriting their father’s hammer Mjölnir.

While most of the Gods will die in the mutual destruction with the Giants, it is predetermined that a new world will rise up from the water, beautiful and green. Before the battle of Ragnarok, a woman and a man, Lif “life” and Liftraser “lover of life”, will find shelter from the cataclysm in a place called the “Wood of Hoddmimir” (Hoddmímis holt).

They will now come out and populate the lush land in which they will find themselves. A new sun, the daughter of the previous one, will rise in the sky. And all of this will be presided over by a new, almighty ruler.

After Ragnarok” by Emil Doepler (1905)

 The significance of Ravens in Norse mythology

Ravens are found everywhere in Prose Edda, a collection of poems detailing the legends of Old Norse. It is the holy bird circling around Odin

In Norse mythology, Huginn ( "thought") and Muninn ("memory") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world and relay information to him, causing Odin to become very wise.

Now I know I just said that Hange is supposed to play Odin during Ragnarok, but given the bird’s role in the Norse story, and all the perspectives being dropped, I think it’s safe to say that Eren’s been hearing his enemies pretty well, as well as seeing the literal bird’s eye perspective of the entire war

Anyway, these are all the Norse references I saw during the Marley arc onwards. What do you think? How do you foresee the final battle ending?

[dunbonnets]

Kaldur: On the count of three—

Sarah: Are you saying GO in the end? Because if that's the case it's after GO, not three.

Zakaria: Damn it, Sarah! Now is not the time for this!

Sarah: Look, I have to know when to be ready!

Yue: Uh, I'd also like to know if there's a GO in the end...

Zakaria: *pinches her nose and sighs*

[midnights-wonderland]

OKAY ITS THAT TIME AGAIN!

My timeline is hella dead, interact with this post and you will probably gain a follow! Make sure to read down the whole list because I do run two different types of blogs here! Like/Reblog if your blog includes the following:

- She-Ra

- Young Justice (spoiler free; in the middle of season one)

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- Insatiable - Cyberpunk

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- Darling In The Franxx

- Kiznaiver

- Seraph of The End

- Adventure Time 

- RWBY (spoiler free) - Voltron (spoiler free)

- My Hero Academia (spoiler free) - Sword Art Online (spoiler free up to Alicization)

- Anything LGBT+ and Mental Health Safe - Videogames with a plot (uncharted series, detroit become human, life is strange)

- Unus Annus 

If any of you guys want to follow my witchcraft account @midnightmoonbb

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[myupostsheadcanons]

Books “Read” in 2020

Previous entries: 2019, 2018, 2017

I don’t rank these based on actual literary quality, but by how much i enjoyed reading/listening to them. Hopefully with Audible’s new “Premium Included” feature it would cut down on so many Average/Below Average books next year, it’ll give me more of a choice on what kind of books/podcasts i want to listen to rather than given a handful to pick from a month.

The “Top 10″

Forging Hephaestus / Bones of the Past: Villains' Code Series - Drew Hayes has became one of my fav authors over the past couple years, from his Vampire Accountant series, 5-min Sherlock, and his Spells, Swords, and Stealth books. FH is one of the few times he wrote Adult Fiction. This is the second time Drew created a world of super heroes (the YA Superpowereds), thus previous experience in dealing with the nuisances and meta of super meta dynamics. I love the main character, Tori, and especially love many of the side characters (like Ivan) and the comedy is the right tone of dark and not-in-your-face (not quite as well -written as something like The Venture Bros or The Tick, but being adult fiction you can get away with having characters named Johnny Three-Dicks and Captain Bullshit)

Dreadnought / Sovereign - the second super hero series I’ve placed on my top list this year, this one is Young Adult. This one is far more serious and deals heavily in issues like trans and women’s rights, mental abuse, and social acceptance. The main character is full of angst, but that should be a given for a 15 yo with lots of mental baggage and new social pressures. The main character is the main draw, most of the side characters are a bit more one-dimensional.

The Trouble with Peace: Age of Madness, Book 2. It isn’t a “First Law” book if you don’t want to strangle half of the main characters. Many are stepping outside of the shadow of the previous generation and finding themselves falling flat on their faces. If they aren’t at each other’s throats, they would soon have to deal with rebellion in the streets and the constant looming presence of Bayaz, who waits to sweep the board clear and rearrange the pieces the way he sees fit.

Michael J. Sullivan’s: The Riyria and Legend of the First Empire Books.

Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords / Rise of Empire / Heir of Novron

Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower / The Rose and Thorn / The Death of Dulgath

Age of Death / Age of Empyre, Pile of Bones

After finishing the Legend of the First Empire books that came out earlier this year, I went ahead and read the prior series that takes place in the same world. I would suggest reading the entire series by Publish order, but they can be read Chronologically. I read the Legends books first, and it helped me see where Sullivan was heading and when he started to plan out the Legends books in more detail. (The early cameo of the Main characters from Legends in a mural in Heir of Novron, and knowing who is behind the events in Dulgath)

The Dresden Files: Peace Talks / Battle Grounds - They really should be read as one book, because that was how they were written. It is a Feast of Crows / Dances with Dragons situation, where the book got too long and got split up. The fans are pretty divided by the book(s) ending and how some of the main characters are handled, but these are Jim Butcher’s characters not theirs and he can drop bridges on whom ever he wants.

What Lies Beyond: Cycle of Galand, Book 6 - This is a “mythology” book (like Sullivan’s Age of Death was) where it introduces most of the Pantheon of their religion and corrects much of the mythology that had been lost over the decades. They seek a weapon to vanquish the Litch and save their world and the afterlife from oblivion, but not all of their Gods are happy about it.

Will Destroy the Galaxy for Cash - Yahtzee (Zero Punctuation!) has to be one of my favorite internet personalities for the past 10+ years, and I eat up every book he puts out and because he wrote the books, and is an actor himself, he could deliver the lines as they are intended to be. The sequel to Will Save the Galaxy for Food does not disappoint and even ups the stakes from the previous book.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon - This has to be one of the most charming books I’ve read. It is magic and wonder at it’s finest, no need for long explanations on how the world works. If you like Ghibli movies, you’ll be interested in this book. It has its dark moments but isn’t outside of what you’ll find in something like Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Nausicca.

The Goblin Emperor - the youngest son of the Elf King finds himself emperor after the death of his father and brothers in an assassination. The only problem is, that he is only half-elf... his late mother was a Goblin, and he had been in exile as an embarrassment to the family for most of his life. He knows nothing of how the courts work and what’s left of his own family work against him just for being who he is.

Lost Gods: Brom - I liked this book more than I did American Gods (which I read a few years ago). It is darker and bleaker by the bucket loads. One of the few books with a downer ending that I actually liked. I would compare this book to books like All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men-- but it is a Fantasy!

Above Average.

Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth. Book 4)  - What happens to adventurers after they retire? A fun concept that is explored with our party of NPCs running across a town full of epic-level characters that no longer have a player.

The Arthurian Saga - The Crystal Cave / The Hollow Hills  / The Last Enchantment / The Wicked Day - A more realistic version of the Arthurian tales, taking the POV of Merlin, bastard son of a princess, as he earns notoriety as a scholar and wizard.  The Wicked Day takes the POV of Mordred, making him far more sympathetic than other iterations of his character.

Arc of a Scythe - Scythe / Thunderhead / The Toll - Science and Technology eliminates death and in order to prevent over population and complacency an order of grim reapers are chosen to randomly deal out quotas of permanent deaths. An example of what happens when every need and want is satisfied by a higher force and the apathy that causes rot in human society and the superiority complex of those in charge of life and death.

The Diviners / Lair of Dreams / Before the Devil Breaks You / The King of Crows - Horror during the Roaring 20′s. Tackles issues as Racism, Poverty, Government Secrecy, Christian-Evangelical Cults, Nationalism Cult Mentality, Communism, Labor Unions, Eugenics, Post-WW1 trauma... It could almost pass as an adult fiction book. I wouldn’t recommend giving it to someone under High school age.

Ancillary Justice / Ancillary Sword / Ancillary Mercy - Artificial Intelligence takes over human bodies as a form of capital punishment, controlling ships and space stations. The dominate human empire outgrew the need to label any gender, using “she” to refer to everyone rather than the vaguer “them/they” pronouns, and only outlying colonies stick to the binary ideals. Think of “The Left Hand of Darkness” but on a more broader scale and as the default majority/ruling empire. Toss in a solid military action novel on top and it isn’t nearly as boring as Left Hand.

Children of Time / Children of Ruin - War destroys the human population of Earth and those that remain are the ones that headed out to the stars on tera-forming missions. A virus created to advance life forms to prepare a world for human habitation runs amuck with out its overseers, creating intelligent arachnids, crustaceans, and squid.

The Licanius Trilogy - The Shadow of What Was Lost / An Echo of Things to Come / The Light of all that Falls -  It is very heavy on info overload, there is a lot to keep track of, so much so there is a summary of book one and two at the start of the third. I like the twist at the end of the first book and that the villain is actually trying to help save the world, and you spend most of the second stuck between who thinks they are doing the right thing and who is actually doing the right thing - a lot to talk about doing the lesser of two evils.

Mythos - Steven Fry - A humorous retelling of Greek mythology. I read Mythology - by Edith Hamilton prior to this book, which is a more scholarly take on the myths, and helps if you are unfamiliar with classical mythology prior to reading Fry’s take on it.

Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History That Inspired Game of Thrones - a nice history book about Iron Age royalty. It is actually refreshing to read after going through so much faux fiction that is in Philippa Gregory’s books.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? - Children ask questions to a Mortician about death and what happens to bodies after people die. I listened to her autobiography last year/year before and it is worth picking up this one along with it.

Average, but still good.

Jack Campbell’s Lost Fleet Universe: Triumphant (Genesis Fleet, Book 3) / Tarnished Knight: Lost Stars, book 1 - The realistic space battles just drag me back in each and every time.

The Case of the Damaged Detective: 5-Minute Sherlock - Drew Hayes can’t write a boring book. It isn’t quite on point as his other series, but still fun to read. Hayes is really good at making YA books with Adult Protagonists. It is a road-trip book, the main character is a washed-out operative that is getting his second chance playing bodyguard and future assistant to the 5-minute Sherlock.

Locked In / Head On - Do you remember “Surrogates”? that Bruce Willis movie where people walk around in robotic avatars, well... it’s almost the same thing. A virus kills millions, save for a select few that experience “lock in” syndrome and are able to connect to robots via their brains and the internet.  The main character is gender neutral and you get a choice to listen to the book with a male or female reader.

Murder by Other Means: The Dispatcher Book 2 - more John Scalzi! The first book was in my top list a few years ago, and i enjoyed the sequel just as much. Between Scalzi’s The Dispatcher and Locked In series, i like the Dispatcher more.

The Shattered Sea Trilogy: Half a King / Half the World / Half a War - Joe Abercrombie’s attempt to make Young Adult books. It keeps all the grim dark, but lacks all the swearing and humor that made The First Law books more enjoyable. Many of Joe’s favorite character tropes are still present and is one of the better “Fall to Darkness” stories I’ve read. It also has different POV characters each book and is one of those “faux fantasy” settings.

Mage Errant: Books 1, 2 & A Traitor in Skyhold: Book 3 - If you are wanting to get away from Harry Potter, pick up this book series. It takes place in magic school, but it is its own world and setting and not just a hidden world within our own. The main group of kids are misfits among the school, unable to master their powers, that get taken up by the badass librarian to be trained in more unconventional ways.

Dawn of Wonder: The Wakening Book 1 - the main character has ptsd from growing up in an abusive household, and i thought it was handled rather well. He would be rather competent and cleaver most of the time until he gets triggered into an episode, he fights really hard to overcome this short-falling of his. Standard classic affair else wise, family leaves home because the local authority figure doesn’t want them around anymore, goes to big city, kid wants to do good and avenge the deaths he was accused of, joins the badass school of hard knocks...  big powerful evil thing trying to consume the world.

The Rage of Dragons - It shares a lot of tropes and story points with Red Rising... just in a fantasy setting, not in space. If you are wanting fantasy with POC main characters and a non-European-centric culture, that doesn’t pull any punches, give it a shot.

Earthsea - Tehanu and Tales from Earthsea - I had read the first three books several years back, and i did re-read them in order to refresh myself prior to reading the final two.

The Secret Garden - I absolutely loved the movie from the 90′s as a kid, and finally got around to listening to the book.

Six of Crows - A heist book in fantasy world with the magic users being heavily “Jewish / Slavic” coded by how they are treated and persecuted. I might have thought more favorably about the book if i hadn’t read other books with “street rat slum” main characters. (Seriously, after spending six books with Royce in Riyria someone like Kas is just second bananas)

Unconventional Heroes / Two Necromancers - Comedic Fantasy, the humor’s not on par with say MogWorld, and has more jokes than Fred The Vampire Accountant. It is still a parody of villains and heroes in fantasy worlds. I would find it safe for a 12/13yo to read, cursing and all, though they might not be aware of many of the tropes that are being deconstructed. The reader of the book did better in this one then he did with Six of Crows and Beezer, still the audio needed some editing because it repeats itself a few times.

Once More Upon A Time (Free Audio Book)  - I don’t always care to read romance stories. I like the idea behind it however, to trade their love for each other in order to save their partner’s life, then learn to re-love one another again.

Monster Hunter International - If you think Dresden is too liberal, this takes a hard turn to the right.. replace the magic with GUNS, lots and lots of GUNS. An organization that hates the government but hunts monsters for government bounties. The main cast is multi-ethnic and they do make fun of that at one point. There isn’t a lot of thought into the plot, because action is #1, but it is fun enough to ignore the politicking.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Collection - i bitched about there not being an omnibus last year, and then Audible uploaded one. The ending is still one big clusterfuck.

Stephen King’s Insomnia - this book is the bridge between Steven King’s two universes. It is a sequel to IT and brings up the Darktower often. IT dealt mainly with childhood fears, Insomnia deals with Elderly and feminine fears.

D’Arc / Culdesac: War with No Name - I liked D’Arc more than i did Mort-e, and Culdesac is more on track with Mort-e. The virus that mutated the ants and animals reminded me of the virus from Children of Time/Ruin, even though i read Mort-e first, reading D’Arc after CoT let me notice it.

Michael McDowell’s:  The Amulet / The Elementals / Gilded Needles / Blackwater - From the guy that wrote the screenplay of Beetlejuice, and the pioneer of the Southern Gothic Horror. Gilded Needles is a bit out of place, taking place in 1890′s, and is more of a social horror rather than a super natural horror the other books are.

Gardens of the Moon: The Malazan Book of the Fallen, Book 1 - high fantasy dark fiction. if you really want some CHONKY door stoppers, there’s over 10 of them in this series. Could’ve done less with the manipulative bastard mage that speaks in 3rd person. I had read The Willful Child, an attempted comedy science fiction novel by the same author, and it showed that the author was unfamiliar with that kind of genera and should stick to grim fantasy.

The Knife’s Edge / Citadel of Fire: The Ronin Saga - This is one of those series that I’m always going “oh, that reminds me of [insert another better series]”  At times it reminded me of The Licanius Trilogy, Shades of Magic, Arc of Scythe, Riyria, Korra... It is just shy of being as good as them, and is rather firmly in that Sci-Fi Fantasy Ghetto and has a bit of “anime” feel to it with their magic users having ‘power levels’ and the power creep. 

In Calabria - My only problem with the book is the massive age-gap between the Main character and his love interest. Outside of that, the whole Unicorns in the modern world concept is done very well.

Pout Neuf (Audible Free Book)  - Journalism and romance during WW2. A quick read and the book really shows that research had been done about the setting and time period.

Nut Jobs: Cracking California's Strangest $10 Million Dollar Heist: An Audible Original - Not only does it talk about the heist, it actually touches on the subject of migrant farmers and slave labor, as well as the desertification of the California Valley.

The Science of Sci-Fi: From Warp Speed to Interstellar Travel (Free Audio Book) - a neat little informative podcast if you are looking for an introduction to some of the harder science fiction.

Mythology - by Edith Hamilton - Text book about Greek Mythology. Like “used in schools” text book. It is a good read if you don’t want to go through Ovid, Virgil, Homer, and all the other classical writers on your own.

The Space Race: An Audible Original - America didn’t win the Space Race. Russia did just about everything first. The only thing we did first was put people on the moon. It also goes into detail about how the inventor of the Nazi’s V2 rockets became employed with the US Space program. As well as the government’s announcement to let space travel become privatized.

Pale Blue Dot / Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - It’s Carl Sagan. Come on! Everyone should be reading them. Pale Blue Dot was being turned into an Audiobook in the 90′s but with Sagan’s death, only the first few chapters were read by him and his partner reads the rest of it (she does a decent job, and i understand why they wanted her to read it, it should’ve been done similarly to Cosmos, with guest readers doing each chapter)

Thicker Than Water (Free Audio Book)  - start up pharmaceutical company scams people out of millions with promises of a miracle machine that was ahead of its time. Story told from the whistleblower himself as he recounts what his job was within the company and how he knew the owner/founder of the company and how coming out about what was going on ruined his relationship with his family and friends.

Don't Panic: Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - biography on Douglas Adams and the history behind the creative process behind the Hitchhiker’s Guide series.

The Genius of Birds - It reminded me a lot of “The Soul of an Octopus” in quality. It is rather informative about birds, how they behave, and how we judge intelligence in non-human animals.

It’s “ok.”

Les Miserabes - I can see why people favor movies and theater versions because of how dense the book is, getting the cliff notes version of the book instead of reading several chapters about the Battle of Waterloo. 

Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons (Audible Free Book) - It’s cute, and I spent the next several weeks humming that freaking song.

Challenger Deep - A book about mental illness by the same person that brought us The Arc of a Scythe series. It isn’t a bad read, but if you are prone to get panic attacks and have mental illness yourself, you might get too into it and make you uneasy. It can help with neurotypical people with understanding how some illnesses work.

Into the Wilds (Warriors, Book 1)  - Ah, the cat book. It is prob because there are soooo many books in this series that it over-saturates the kids impressionable minds.

House of Teeth (Audible Free Book)  - I read this book prior to Monster Hunter International, and thinking back on this one, i am reminded about the other. Save for this one is PG. So... the kid friendly version.

The Martian Chronicles - Space Horror, on Mars. If you like old science fiction, like Classic Trek, Wells, or Forbidden Planet stuff. There is a lot of zerust.

Andrea Vernon and the Corporation for UltraHuman Protection - The third superhero series I’ve read this past year. It is not as ground breaking nor subversive as Villain’s Code or Dreadnought. The humor is a bit too forced and parts of it falls into “we can be more offensive because it is an adult book” category.

Interview with the Robot - Don’t really care for books or programs that are set up in the “interview” format where it is two people talking to one another. (I have no fucking idea how this book got top Kids book of the year on Audible, it is more of a YA book... it must been because it was Free and lots of people picked it because the rest of the choices that month were complete garbage)

Micromegas - perhaps one of the oldest examples of Speculative Science Fiction. Written by Voltaire, it is about a giant from another solar system that is so big that humans and life on Earth are microscopic. “what value are the lives of ants to a man?”

The Three Musketeers - i had forgotten how much espionage there was in this book. I would say this is a good companion book to Don Quixote, as it takes its fair share of inspiration from and even name-drops the character a couple times. 

Charles Dickens: Oliver Twist / David Copperfield / A Tale of Two Cities - DC is the standout IMO among the three, it is Dickens’ Magnum Opus. Les Mis did a far better job with the Revolution than Tale did as well. I felt rather obligated to reading these books because of the subplot in the Age of Madness books being about Poverty during the Industrial Revolution and Workers Revolts against the Ruling Class.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - the version i listened too made most of the Americans sound like GWB... which is funny because one of them is Canadian, and the Comic Relief character about how boorish Americans are.

Stuck (Free Audio Book) -  it is a neat idea, getting jarred free of time but everybody else isn’t and doesn’t remember. It gets a little heavy for a kids book near the end, edging into YA territory as the character gets older mentally and the people around him age physically.

Phreaks (Free Audio Book) - i knew a lot about Captain Crunch and other phone hackers of the 60′s. There is a subplot of the big radioactive corporation covering up causing cancer to their workers, and the father (voiced by Christian Slater) being in the closet but still homophobic about it.

Silverswift (Free Audio Book) - If you like fairy tales set in modern times, it is worth a look. It is similar to In Calabira in that way. The mom being the nonbeliever and thinking grandma is off her rocker, but the granddaughter knows it in her bones that grandma is telling the truth.

Sleeping Giants - alien mechs from the distant past, once mistaken as the titans and gods form mythology, now being studied and experimented on by the government. This is another “interview style” story telling.

Celtic Mythology: Tales of Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes - there is a lot of names and stories, it is worth prob getting a physical copy of the book to keep things straight and to use as a reference.

How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps - A love letter to The Legend of Zelda’s Ocarina of Time and other RPG games.

Casino Royal: James Bond - the movie was rather faithful, including the part of being tied to a chair. I do wish they kept more of the book’s ending where Bond was ready to retire prior to his secret-spy love interest gets killed.

Aliens: Bug Hunt - a compilation of Alien stores about people landing on various planets and encountering aliens, not always the Xenomorphs we know, but the term “Bug” came synonymous to any dangerous alien lifeforms encountered.

Macbeth: A Novel - retelling the story of Macbeth but in a novel form. If you can’t get past the language of the original play, this would help. It sets it more firmly in historical fiction.

Hannibal: A Novel -  I went ahead and re watched the tv show after finishing the book. I’ve seen the movie a dozen times, and i understand why they changed the ending to the movie. The book is the main one that characterizes Hannibal and the show uses a lot of the plot. Hannibal Rising wasn’t really needed because Hannibal (in this book) does think/talk about what happened to his sister and home, and i can see why Harris didn’t want to write that book either. The audiobook is rather poor quality, they talked too fast in places and i don’t really care for their acting...

The Power of Six - I read I am Number 4 several years back and this one popped up on sale so i nabbed it. I like Neil Kaplan, and i think this one is better than the first one and actually gets into the meat of the story.

Cut and Run: A Light-Hearted Dark Comedy - body parts harvesting.... mmmm.

Calypso - non-Fiction, biography of the author. Talks about his family, his life with his partner, and what he does. Much of it is charming and it is read by the author. this was prior to him loosing his marbles about retail workers and becoming a karen.

Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music and Soul at the Red Rooster - the history of Harlem and the Harlem Renaissance. I didn’t mind this podcast so much because i was reading The Diviners during the same time.

Malcolm and Me - another biographical book. one of the free books i got during Feb’ Black History Month.

History of Bourbon (Free Audio Book) - Informative about the liqueur industry in America.

Junkyard Cats: Shining Smith Book 1 - post apocalyptic action science fiction novel. the moment that guy showed up i was “that’s your bf.” and it was so... the plot wasn’t hard to figure out, it’s all about the action and setting.

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - One of the better Heinlein books. The man can’t write romance and he is rather big on casual polygamy and open marriages. An anarchist-revolution book written by someone that is more on the Libertarian side of the aisle. Mycroft (the computer) comes off as rather antiquated, an AI that runs on a closed server, communicating through the telephone lines and printed paper, makes me wonder what Heinlein would’ve done if he was told about the internet and Deep Fake tech. (the book takes place in like 2075, but written in 1966)

Caffeine: How Caffeine Created the Modern World - the production of coffee and it’s prevalence around the world.

The Life and Times of Prince Albert - Exactly what it says on the can. *rimshot*

The Real Sherlock: An Audible Original - a biography of Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Design of Everyday Things - using psychology to improve the design of systems, products, and the modern business model.  It gives proper terminology for several common design features and how to improve on existing structures.

Bottom of the Barrel.

The Pagan World: Ancient Religions before Christianity. I was hoping there would have been something in there about European Religions, there isn’t, and the book was mostly Greek and Roman life styles and how gods are worshiped. It let me know where the word “auger” came from and why it was used in the Licanius Trilogy.

Life Ever After - disjointed at best. a couple that aren’t good for each other spend the next several hundred years in a crappy relationship.

Beyond Strange Lands: An Audible Original - The audio was complete crap on half of the voices. Which is bad because this could’ve been better. It is a Pod Cast Show and the director couldn’t make sure everybody had decent recording equipment and the sound effects often drown out the actors.

Henrietta & Eleanor: A Retelling of Jekyll and Hyde: An Audible Original Drama - They were going for a modern telling, but the language used is archaic. They speak like Dickens characters even though they talk about cellphones and computers.

A Crazy Inheritance: The Ghostsitter book 1 - The concept is there, but it is too nerfed. It was made for the 8-12yo crowd in mind by people that don’t know how to write for children.

Tell Me Lies (Free Audio Book) - It really wants to be smart. Who’s playing who and who is the actual villain of this story? If you want a quick “who done it?” maybe look into it.

Evil Eye (Free on Audible Plus) - told through phone calls between a mother and daughter. The whole genera of evil boyfriends/husbands isn’t really my cup of tea, and the boyfriend’s actor was too fake and the set up to the meat of the story was annoying.

The Half-life of Marie Curie - I didn’t mind learning stuff about Marie Curie... falls squarely in “made for TV lifetime movie” quality though. You should not carry around a vile of uranium where ever you go.

Alone with the Stars - A girl in Florida hears the call for help from Amelia Earhart, but nobody listens to her. Part fiction, part biographical. It would’ve been better as a biography and talking about various conspiracy theories about what happened to her and finding the pieces of the airplane.

Beezer - The son of the Devil learning to become a good person with a found family... however, most of the characters are annoying.

The Year of Magical Thinking (Free Audio Book) - very heavy on the subjects about loss and death.

Complete Garbage.

The Getaway (Free Audio Book) - A man being a POS by stalking and abducting women. It broadcasts just about everything that is going to happen.

Agent 355 (Free Audio Book)  - Do you like “American Mythology?” Like the whole “the founders are the greatest people in the world” kind of vibe? I don’t. I also hate the main character for being one of those “i’m smart, because i read books that women aren’t supposed to” girls when she doesn’t really think for herself at all.

[poemsforpersephone]

This is part two of this list here HANGED MAN PROMO REC LIST. I’m going to split these up in a slightly different way than the other list, but I will still go into a bit of detail as to why I think a fan of The Last Sun would enjoy these books too. 

Fey Novels

I’m going to start with basically anything and everything by Holly Black, because she knows how to build fantastical, beautiful, scary worlds that are detailed and fleshed out in a similar way to how the world of The Last Sun is. 

The Folk of the Air series is comprised of three books, The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King and The Queen of Nothing, and I devoured all three as soon as I got my hands on them. I’m typing this fresh off of having read the third and last book of the trilogy in fact. In terms of LGBT rep the main character’s sister has a female love interest and there are other characters scattered throughout who are very obviously not heterosexual. Lots of political intrigue and power moves between the courts too, which is another reason why TLS readers might enjoy!

The Darkest Part of the Forest is a stand alone novel (sadly). “Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.” It’s just really good in all honesty, kick ass characters, strong friendships and family bonds, great plot and one of the main characters is gay and another is bisexual.

Tithe and the sequel Ironside are both very good and a more ‘urban’ fantasy than Folk or Forest which, to me at least, are more pure fantasy in a way although all of them take place in the modern world. It’s been a while since I read these two specifically, Tithe has a gay main supporting character who I really liked, and he’s also in Ironside too.

Moving away from Holly Black but staying within the realm of fey magic the Wicked Lovely series is a beautiful mix of urban and fey magic. Each book in the series stays within the same world and plot line but generally delves into a different character’s POV. Ink Exchange is technically the second book in the series but my favourite and IMO can be read alone, but I would recommend the entire thing. Two of my favourite bisexual characters are heavily featured in this and pop up through out the rest of the series, sometimes only a little and sometimes a whole lot. 

Prince of Air and Darkness by M.A. Grant. “The only human student at Mather’s School of Magick, Phineas Smith has a target on his back. Born with the rare ability to tap into unlimited magick, he finds both Faerie Courts want his allegiance—and will do anything to get it. They don’t realize he can’t levitate a feather, much less defend the Faerie Realm as it slips into civil war.” I MEAN how could you read that description as a TLS reader and NOT want to give this one a go???? 

Abhorsen Series

In another realm entirely the Abhorsen series is a stunning example of world building which starts with the novel Sabriel, then Lirael and then Abhorsen. I can’t remember there being any lgbt characters in these three, I read them like ten years ago and they were published in 1996 so that kind of explains that, but I love them so much, they’re so well written and I really think fans of TLS will like these. They aren’t urban, but they’re very fantasy and the magic system is super interesting. Possibly one of my favourites in any book ever. 

“Sent to a boarding school in Ancelstierre as a young child, Sabriel has had little experience with the random power of Free Magic or the Dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But during her final semester, her father, the Abhorsen, goes missing, and Sabriel knows she must enter the Old Kingdom to find him.”

Comics

I recommended the Batwoman series last time, this time the rec I’m making is for a comic series called The Wicked & the Divine. The art work is beautiful and concept is unique and intriguing: “Every ninety years, twelve gods incarnate as humans. They are loved. They are hated. In two years, they are dead.” It’s also lovely and diverse in it’s cast. I think fans of TLS will enjoy the characters in this especially. 

Saga is also very popular with sci fi fantasy fans, so I think a lot of TLS fan will be into this if they wanna give comics a go. “When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe.” I’ve only personally read the first issue of this but I enjoyed it a lot. The art is really pretty and it’s quite diverse from what I’ve heard/seen, but I’m not 100% sure about lgbt characters. I know there are some in but I’m not sure how prominent they are.

DRAGONS

Dragons. That’s all i’m saying. If Rune could turn into a dragon or ride a dragon... ahh the possibilities are endless. If anyone asks why this rec section is on the list i’m just gonna say its part of my shiny new determination to see Rune turn into a dragon in a sequel later down the line. I think we only see a dragon once in The Last Sun right at the start but man. It got me hankering for more you know? K.D. Edwards if you’re reading this... you know what to do ;) .

The King’s Dragon by W.M. Fawkes and Sam Burns. “Lord Tristram Radcliffe has a secret—he is the only dragon at the king’s court in Llangard. It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy.” 

Silk & Steel by Ariana Nash. “A tormented dragon prince. A captured elven assassin. Duty demands they fight for their people, but love has other plans.” 

Other

Spellbound by Allie Therin. “Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.” Another disclaimer: I haven’t read this one yet but the reason it’s on my list in the first place is because it gave me some TLS vibes so I thought i’d bring it to everyone else’s attention too!

Black Dog Blues by Rhys Ford. “Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone's rescue when something shadowy appears.”

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan. THIS BOOK. oh my god. “Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.” Such a beautiful, well crafted fantasy world. Such rich characters. Ugh i love it and the f/f romance it brings to the table. 

[bangali-ray-blog]

Book Review "RAM: The Scion of Ikshvaku"

“You live in Ram’s kingdom, hold your head high. Fight for justice. Treat all as equal. Protect the weak. Know that dharma is above all. Hold your head high, You live in the kingdom of Ram….. “ 

The COVID-19 Pandemic has proliferated around the world in 2020 spreading the sense of despondency throughout humanity. Even in such dark times there have been several interesting developments happening all around world. One such instance has been the resurgence of public interest in India for the ancient Indian chronicle of "RAMAYANA". The re-telecast of the 1987 television series based on the account Tulsidas has emerged as a surprise winner when every telecasting platform has been trying to grab eyeballs amidst the lockdown. Hence it is the most appropriate time to revisit another successful attempt of retelling this tale by India's literary popstar "Amish Tripathi".    

SCION OF IKSHVAKU, the first book in the Ram Chandra series by Amish Tripathi gives an amazing mythical re-imagination of the Ramayana without losing the essence of the story. Amish tries to keep every character in the book as real as possible with no traces of Godliness or the magical powers that we are accustomed to knowing in the epic saga. Just like his previous book series "The Shiva Trilogy", here too a great attempt has been made to present the readers with the set-up of the story and world it is set in. The intricate details of the society gives the modern day readers and context for the world in which the tale is set in. 

Although the storyline is the same as the well known classic tale, but it still breathes of freshness. One of the unique feature of Amish’s writing is that although he’s rewriting mythology, but he never resorts to equip any of his characters or the environment with any magical or divine power. He attempts to back up the mighty powers and things in the story with science and technology and it works, it works well. Ram is neither born through divine means, nor portrayed as the apple of everyone’s eye. In fact, the first and greatest point of difference between the traditional Ramayana and Amish’s retelling of the tale is the depiction of Ram as an unloved prince. His father, King  Dashratha, considers Ram’s birth inauspicious and blames him for all his misfortunes. So, the fabulously powerful and wealthy king of Ayodhya is shown to be a defeated old man ruling over a crumbling kingdom. The very foundations of the epic are laid differently in this story. Even Manthara is depicted as a powerful merchant of the Sapt Sindhu. Her actions are justified in the lieu of her daughter's murder which instigates her hate for Ram.     

 Amish also makes use of the feminist wave (on purpose or not), is the portrayal of Sita as a ‘physically’ strong women with scars as opposed to the delicate nature deserves a thumb up. We all know Sita is a strong character, but here Amish pushes the envelope by appointing her the prime minister of Mithila. Even the reasoning why Dashratha was devoted to Kaikeyi, and later forced to grant her, her wish is ratiocinating.     

 At times, the narrative of the book feels like Tokiens. There are points where the creative brilliance shines bright. The description of the city of Mithila is breathtaking. The author jots down minute details about the skills of Archery or the muscular movement in swordsmanship. Also philosophies and ideas from his previous books is also sprinkled here and there.   

Many of the well known characters of the fable gets a bit of makeover. Here Bharat is presented as something of a “ladies’ man”, a foil to the stoic Ram. Vishwamitra, the sage, becomes a conspiring sarcastic leader of a clan and Jatayu becomes a Naga and so would any other characters too with any resemblance to other animals. Ravana loses nine of his heads in Amish’s version and gets a horned helmet instead. The story is told entirely on third person objective and most of the inner struggle faced by the Maryada Puroshottam by the strong resolve abide by the laws is Lakshman’s respect and love for his elder brother Ram, Sita’s strong character, the mutual respect & trust between Sita and Ram etc. has been presented to the readers.But on an overall basis the creative genius of Amish is at play. The books clearly creates a parallel Ramayana and many interpretations of known beliefs are intriguing. All in all this is a light read and interesting book. The first paced narration will keep you occupied for hours. The twisting and the interesting characters sets a strong stage for the remaining books. The book is a pure enjoyment and will leave you refreshed and wanting more.

[nadziejastar]

“What are your theories on Demyx bring the Master of Masters?” 

I definitely agree that the Master of Masters isn’t human. I don’t think he’s a good guy, though. But he is some type of higher being, for sure. He said his eye is the Gazing Eye. He wears the black cloak and so do some of the Nightmares. So, Xehanort probably learned of the cloak through them somehow. Personally, I think this was going to be explored more in-depth, but it probably won’t be anymore. I think whatever Nomura had planned with the Realm of Sleep and Xehanort’s past (like the Recusant’s Sigil) has been retconned and won’t return as it was originally envisioned. Most of it will be left on the cutting room floor, sadly. The power of waking itself got changed into a time travel gimmick, even though its main purpose was to awaken a sleeping heart; not bring people back from the dead. So I don’t have much faith that the concept of the Nightmares will be done justice. Riku and Terra’s Keyblades had the Gazing Eye. Riku got a new Keyblade in KH3. But none of that was ever explained, unfortunately. Riku’s Keyblade just randomly broke for no apparent reason. And we never did learn the origin of Terra’s Mark or the Nobody symbol either, which we were supposed to.

Literally, the word demiurge means “public worker” or “public craftsman.” The Greek word from which it comes was originally used to denote a person such as an artisan who had a special skill and fulfilled a special function in society. Over time the term came to refer to a deity of sorts; in some philosophies and religions, the Demiurge is a subordinate god who was involved in the creation of the universe. The Demiurge is seen as the Great Artificer or the Grand Architect of the Universe.

Plato was one of the first to discuss the Demiurge as the being responsible for the production of the universe. According to Plato, the Demiurge fashioned and shaped the material universe. This being was good, but the world is flawed because the Demiurge did not have much to work with—despite the Demiurge’s best intentions, the world is imperfect.

In Gnosticism, the Demiurge is not good at all. Rather, the Gnostic Demiurge is a proud, bungling fool who created the material world against the wishes of the Supreme God. In this way the Gnostics consider all material things evil—the physical world is the product of a hostile Demiurge—and all spiritual, incorporeal things good.

If I had to take my best guess, I would say that the Master of Masters was based on the concept of the Gnostic Demiurge. And since a lot of things associated with Xehanort derive from Freemasonry, it fits pretty well. The Demiurge is called the Grand Architect of the Universe. Gnostics believed that the material world is created by an emanation or 'works' of a lower god (Demiurge), trapping the divine spark within the human body. This divine spark could be liberated by “gnosis”, spiritual knowledge acquired through direct experience. 

What about Xemnas and Ansem, essentially they weren’t inside anyone, was it due to circumstances of the Sleeping Worlds? First off, when Young Xehanort made contact with the Robed Figure–that is to say, the Xehanort who called himself Ansem–his abilities were transferred to him. As a result of Master Xehanort tossing his physical body away, he was able to transcend time, and this power was carried into the Robed Figure. Thus when Young Xehanort made contact with him, he gained this power. Possessing this power, Young Xehanort functioned as a “Portal” which summoned Xemnas and Ansem each time they appeared. That’s why Young Xehanort was there whenever they were. Additionally, when Sora and Riku dropped into the Sleeping Worlds, simultaneously Young Xehanort himself goes into the worlds of sleep.

And the whole idea was that Xehanort had to cast away his body in order to time travel and gain whatever power he used. The Demiurge is said to be the ruler of the Archons.

Archons (from Greek arkhōn ‘ruler’) are inorganic interdimensional entities that are the hidden negative controllers of humankind. Although these parasites are not human, they feed off the negative energy/emotions of humans. The archons are intrapsychic mind-parasites who access human consciousness through telepathy and simulation. Archons can be likened to a computer virus, which is able to infect organic life forms. Their function is to destroy all organic life, which includes all emotions and purity of organic life forms. All inorganics like archons are functioning according to their artificial universal laws, which they cannot change nor adapt to new situations, which makes them inferior and easy to remove/defeat by being conscious about their presence. 

I think this sounds a lot like the Nightmares/Heartless, too. And the Lich no doubt factors into all of this as well. In Gnostic psychology, Archons are an alien force that intrudes subliminally upon the human mind and deviates our intelligence away from its proper and sane applications. They cannot make us act inhumanely, but they can influence us play out inhumane behavior to weird and violent extremes. Archons lack intentionality (self-directive capacity), and they have a nasty tendency to stray from their boundaries and intrude on the human realm. Archons are said to feel intense envy toward humanity because we possess the intentionality they lack.

Secret Report 11: Observations, Excerpt 1

I have seen it through; the Keyblade War exactly as written on the Lost Page. Now, the Keyblade the Master entrusted to me must be bequeathed to another. Five Union leaders have been chosen from the surviving Dandelions. I will pass the Keyblade to one of them, and then continue watching the future unfold. Yet, it seems someone has pulled the old switcheroo. One of the Five is an imposter, someone the Master did not choose. They represent a virus in the program he so carefully wrote. The virus has begun a strange undertaking: a reckless plot to allow the Five to escape into another worldline. Surely such a thing can't be possible? We're talking about the same trick that allowed the Dandelions to transfer to other worldlines after the Keyblade War. But these children are no Masters. They haven't the means...unless, of course, a certain lady of magic summoned here from the future knows more than I do. The whole Union leader thing was supposed to be by the books. Are these new events just another phase in the Master's grand plan?—Unknown

The Union leaders are named after the 7 Deadly sins. And I couldn’t help but notice the use of the word “virus” in this report. Archons are frequently referred to as computer viruses, but for human consciousness. They are agents of error rather than evil - but human error, when it goes uncorrected and runs beyond the scale of correction, turns into evil. Gnostics taught that the Archons exploit our tendency to let our mistakes go uncorrected.

Regarding Demyx, I certainly don’t put it past Nomura to make him the Master of Masters. I can’t say I’m really fond of the idea, though. I feel similarly to how Xigbar was made into Luxu. Demyx had his own identity, modest as it was. He was a goofball who wasn’t very smart. But he had a strong enough heart that he created a special Nobody and was forcibly recruited into the Organization. He was lazy and simply did the bare minimum to not get turned into a Dusk. If he was planned to have some sort of special secret identity, it would have been alluded to in some way. His Mystery Gear is called “After School” and is shaped like...a broom. It sounds like he served detention a lot or something. Maybe he was just some poor guy who got turned into a Heartless while serving detention one day. I think that’s fine. Not every member has to have some kind of amazing secret past. Being an ordinary guy made him unique. I would have preferred to see him recompleted and living a normal life as a citizen, instead of joining the New Organization for NO reason and simply serving as the Replica delivery boy.

I’ve never had a big issue with retconning in this series until now. And that’s because most of the time, I felt it served the story well. For instance, Nobodies having hearts and the idea that Xemnas wanted to complete Kingdom Hearts to turn the members into vessels, and NOT because he was really trying to regain their hearts. I am fine with that because it made the story more complex and interesting. And it all tied into the main arc of the Dark Seeker Saga. But KH3′s retcons seem to have made been simply as a compromise to allow Union X characters and story elements to be carried on in the future games. Like Lea and Isa being made into apprentices. I HIGHLY doubt that was done because Nomura thought it made a better story. It was only done to allow Skuld to fit into the current timeline in SOME way and to forcibly connect her to established characters. It didn’t serve Lea and Isa as characters in any way. And it only happened this way because BBSV2 got cancelled and the original vision for the story was not able to be realized. Nomura was unhappy about this and talked about how badly he wanted that story to be told, even after it was cancelled.

[mismagireve]

WIPs/Drafts/Concepts

going under a cut because this fucker is long

like 60-stories-and-their-summaries long

Works In Progress

He Who Invites—Police Detective Ryotaro Dojima is pulled into the strange magical side of the Inaba Murder Case when he sees his nephew’s persona casually hovering above him one night.  Focuses largely on Dojima’s development and his interactions with the Investigation Team in the real world as they plan their next moves.  Five out of ??? Chapters published.

Everything Stays—The Fell Dragon Grima interacts with his fellow dragons in the kingdom of Askr.  A writing challenge to tell a story in 300-700 words each.  Somewhat on hold until more dragon units are added to the game.  Two out of Fourteen stories published.

Drafts

Words Spoken In Wormwood—Members of the Rose Cult have not overlooked Amadeus’s strange eccentricities.  They may not know what he is, but they know that he’s almost certainly not human.  Several cultists discuss Amadeus’s relationship with the Hero in a bar one night, leading to uncomfortable revelations.  Oneshot; draft has 1,751 words so far.

Can You Hear Your Heart Sing?—When you get close enough to your soulmate, your heart can’t help but sing in sheer joy at finding the person that is destined to love you forever; this causes problems when your soulmate is your also the person destined to be your enemy.  Slowburn Heropulchure Soulmate AU.  Multichapter story; draft has 722 words so far.

Somewhere Ages And Ages Hence—In exchange for being declared dead and saved from being imprisoned or executed for a crime they didn’t commit, the Reader puts their life in the hands of a strange man in a Rose uniform living out in the woods with his daughter.  Oblivious to his true identity (but not his true form), the Reader slowly falls in love with their new family.  Second-person Slowburn Reader/Sepulchure story, set during Book 3.  The Calamity Saga is unfortunately canon in this one.  Contains smut.  Twoshot; draft has 4,534 words so far.

Don’t You Dare Call Me Daddy—Though initially only taking the job for extra textbook money, Hero has to admit that it has some nice benefits.  Like getting pounded into a mattress until she can’t see straight by her old highschool history teacher.  Heropulchure Babysitter AU.  Contains smut.  Oneshot; draft has 508 words so far.

In Which The Lowblood Prince Saves A Dragon From A Princess—Prince Karkat of Prospit is sent to diffuse a situation between two princesses.  This would be fairly easy if not for the fact that one of said princesses was a dragon.  Old-ass Homestuck fic draft from 2015.  I think this was going to be fefkat.  Oneshot; draft has 1,481 words so far.

Fic Concepts

DC Comics

Not Quite Bat Son—When a new hero from Fawcett City is welcomed into the Justice League on a probationary membership, Billionaire Bruce Wayne feels a pang of nostalgia for the old city and decides to check in on how his godson Billy Batson is doing after so much time away—only to find that Billy’s guardian Ebeneezer Batson had thrown the boy to the streets nearly an entire year ago, and his whereabouts are unknown.

Tim And Dick Write A Yaoi—Sequel to The Bat And The Billionaire.  Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, the former and current Robins respectively, attempt to write their own “janky brucebat romance story” after the discovery that a market for such stories actually exists sends them into howling laughter.  The boys quickly grow bored of their story, but other players in the Batman mythos slowly find and add on to the document until it is completed.

Ain’t You Ever Hear Of A Harlequin Bat?—Harley Quinn’s dumped the Joker for good, and her new boytoy Bruce Wayne is keeping her safe in the public eye while her new partner Batman keeps an eye on the Joker’s activities in Gotham to make sure it stays that way.  Look out Gotham City, Harley Quinn maybe be fighting crime instead of causing it these days, but joining the Batclan hasn’t done a thing to reign her in.

The Adventures of Supergirl—Kara Zor-El finds a small drone with a voice coming out of it, claiming (reluctantly) to belong to a hero named Querl Dox from the 31st century.  Though initially not wanting assistance and not wanting to interfere with the past respectively, the two quickly become partners when a supervillain attack turns out to be more than Kara can handle by herself.  Querl’s history documents say she saved the world countless times; they never said she didn’t have help.

DC Comics: Black Dadam Initiative

The Prince of Kahndaq—Though not exactly planning on ever stepping down, Black Adam is still a practical enough man to plan for the possibility that he might have to anyways; that plan includes the task of choosing an heir for the throne of Kahndaq.  With no living descendants and no living mortals worthy of his kingdom, Black Adam comes to realize that the only being alive that could truly make a claim for his throne is current champion of Shazam: Billy Batson.  Not that Billy is going anywhere without his co-champions to back him up.

Welcome Home Uncle Teth!—After 5,000 years hurtling through space, the last thing that Black Adam had expected to see was not that the wizard Shazam had chosen a new Champion, but that said champion and his companions would welcome Black Adam with open arms as if he was some long lost relative instead of an enemy.  Perhaps—perhaps he might wait a bit to destroy them all.  It... has been an awful long time since anyone was happy to see him...

Ben-Adam—In accordance to ancient Egyptian belief, it takes, on average, 3,000 years for a soul to be able to reincarnate in human form once again.  But perhaps in certain special cases, a soul may choose to delay its return to human form.  When Black Adam returns to Earth after 5,000 years away, he finds one of his children waiting for him:  Billy Batson, a child living on the streets with the power of Shazam and no memory of his past life.

Fire Emblem Heroes

The Villain Of This Story—The Fell Dragon Grima is summoned to Askr, and the Order of Heroes finds that he can’t be sent away.  Not wanting to waste a perfectly good unit, the Summoner takes it upon themself to make an ally of the old god, show him that humanity has more to offer than pain and empty promises—and perhaps find love?  Grima/Summoner.

Love Like You—A series of cute oneshots of Grima and the Summoner in various situations.

We Are Ready (We Are Many)—Legion finds himselves smitten with the Summoner after they unwittingly become the first person to treat him and his brothers with unconditional kindness.  When Reese and Clarisse join the Order of Heroes, he can’t help but feel... jealous as his Summoner offers them the same treatment.  Contains smut.

Imposter—This masked swordsman, prior to what he says, cannot be Marth.  Camus has fought Marth, and while this stranger is close, he isn’t the real deal.  From what Camus can tell, he isn’t even a he at all...  Camus/Lucina crackshipping.

Penance—Titania finds the Black Knight in Askr long before any of her fellow mercenaries are summoned, and while she knows that his life is Ike’s to take, there is no way that she can bear to let the man live even a second more.  At least, no way until she realizes that the Black Knight wants her to kill him; there’s no valor in killing a man who wants to die.  Which, she supposes, leaves them at a bit of an impasse.  Titania/Zelgius crackshipping.

Google: How Do I Escape Another World?—A college student finds herself embroiled in a sudden inexplicable war as the Summoner of Askr; too bad she comes from a world without Fire Emblem so she doesn’t know who or what anything is.  At least she has her phone with her to look things up in the real world and keep in touch with her friends... Kiran/Bruno AU.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows Of Valentia

Creation Of The Brand—The brand of a Divine Dragon signifies a blood pact between dragons and the men that worship them.  In the early days of the nation that would become Rigel, a young tribal leader petitions her god to grant them someone worthy of becoming King.  Reader/Duma.  Contains smut.

All But Invincible—Zeke finds his memories returning much quicker after joining the Rigelian army under Jerome’s command; unlike in canon, this time he makes sure to tell Tatiana about what he’s discovered, leading to changes in the upcoming war with Zofia.  Tatizeke AU.

Sable Blood—Tatiana finds a coffin washed up on the beach, and the man isn’t human: he’s a vampire.  A young vampire, one with little power, and littler bloodlust still.  Instead of wanting to dominate the village, he’s indebted to it, and begins working to make their home an easier place to live... Something that catches the eye of the vampiress Nuibaba, whom holds this region under her iron grip.  Tatizeke AU.

Hello?  Hello?  Are You There?—In modern day Valm, long after all the gods have died and all the magic is considered little more than a myth, Tatiana moves into a house on the coast after returning to her old hometown—and finds an old ghost haunting it as she sleeps.  Tatizeke AU.

Fire Emblem Tellius Saga

Black Dawn—Sothe didn’t come in time and Micaiah was unable to escape enemy capture, leading the soldiers to bring her to a surprised General Zelgius visiting from mainland Begnion.  Not seeing any way to free her without revealing himself, Zelgius kills the soldiers and escapes with Micaiah, joining the Dawn Brigade and continuing his master’s plans at the cost of his life in Begnion.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

Absolution Of The Queen—Yune is able to heal the Black Knight before he perishes from his wounds, and Zelgius survives to see the end of the war.  Micaiah gives him a public pardon when she is crowned Queen in order to not deprive the struggling people of Daein of one of their few heroes, something Zelgius finds too forgiving to bear.  Then she requests that he marry her in order to strengthen the throne.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

The Branded King—Zelgius is normally able to smother his conscience without much issue, but one order from Ashnard suddenly strikes a chord.  The Mad King challenges his knight to a duel to the death for his ideals, and claims Zelgius as his heir upon losing.  Later, an attempt to reconcile his dual identities leads Zelgius to both cut off his ties with Begnion and reveal his true nature.  Thus begins the reign of the Branded King.  Micaiah/Zelgius AU.

What We Talked About—Ike did return from his journey one day, though he never again set foot in the nations of man.  Part of the reason he’d left was to find himself after living so much of his life fighting a war.  And part of it was to learn to become someone that could stand on equal footing with the woman he loved.  Ike/Lethe AU.

Happy Family—Lillia is able to hold on long enough for Greil and Elena to flee Daein.  Zelgius accidentally bears his brand to Greil, who offers him a chance to escape.  Lehran’s Medallion never changes hands with someone who could not withstand its power.  And the world is a happier place.  Everybody Lives AU.  Micaiah/Zelgius.

White Dahlias—Faced for the first time in his life with someone whom not only understands him, but appreciates his company, the Black Knight falls quickly and completely for his maiden.  It was easy to shove his feelings aside at first for the sake of the mission—but then he started coughing up flower petals.  Micaiah/Zelgius Hanahaki Disease AU.

Diplomatic Relations—Micaiah was never spirited away to Daein, but declared a bastard child and thrown into the ranks of the servants with only the grace of Prime Minister Sephiran keeping her from being executed instead.  Years later, an envoy from the country of Daein arrives in Begnion, and Micaiah encounters the Black Knight while tending to her royal sister.  Micaiah/Zelgius No War AU.

I Can Read Minds, You Know—There are many things that the Black Knight does not tell her, and she is willing to allow him his secrets.  However... her knight is not nearly as guarded with his emotions as he thinks he is, and they’re becoming a bit distracting.  Micaiah/Zelgius.  Contains smut.

Dragonfable

Red Bloodied Armor—Formerly written for NaNoWriMo, in serious need of rewriting.  While on the voyage home from yet another failed attempt at finding out who she used to be, Serenity’s carriage is attacked by a dragon, forcing her to take cover in a nearby castle in the woods.  Though her monstrous host is all too happy to let her stay as long as she wants and keep his daughter company, without any means of contacting the outside world, there’s no way she can leave.  And on top of that, there seems to be something else going on in the castle that no one wants her to know about... Serepulchure Beauty And The Beast AU.

A Warm Heart(h)—Xan never did recover his spark after the Hero defeated his Magman and headed to Serenity’s Inn for a job as promised.  Though admittedly terrified at first, it didn’t take all that long for the innkeeper to warm up to him.  Everyone deserves a second chance, right?  Serenity/Xan AU.

Dragonfable Awakening—Serenity joins the army after a a small detachment saves her from bandits on her way to garner trade deals for her inn.  It works out well enough: the people are nice, and she’s quite useful as a cook and a healer.  On top of that... there is a certain wyvern lord who just keeps catching her eye.  Serepulchure Fire Emblem Awakening AU.

Fate/Doom Knight—Serenity tried out the summoning circle on a lark.  Magic wasn’t real, and surely summoning spirits wasn’t either.  So why is there suddenly a very tall man in red armor in her living room asking if she’s his master?  And what the heck is a Holy Grail War?  Serepulchure Fate/Stay Night AU.

Firefly—A Star Captain wakes up in a field shortly outside of Falconreach and finds himself a stranger in a strange land.  How did he get here?  How can he get home?  At least the locals seem friendly enough...  Based loosely on conversations with @tmae3114.  Serenity/Sys-Zero AU.

Basking In The Aftermath—There are few things more enjoyable after a successful hunt than going out to the nearest tavern, having a nice meal, and getting absolutely plastered with your brother-in-arms.  Throw in some casual sex on top of that?  Now you’ve got a dragonslayer’s idea of a good time.  Hero/Galanoth.  Contains smut.

Skyrim

Gods Of Dov—Two women wake up in a cart heading to Helgen, and hundreds of miles away, a man outside of time wakes in a field.  Together, they are not only Skyrim’s only hope of stopping Alduin, but the only hope of all of Mundus.  Skyrim AU where the protagonists are Galanoth, Kensington, and Daeris.  Based on a heavily modded instance of Skyrim and mine and @hnybnny’s AQW headcanons.

Ancient Alphabets—Miraak has a name on the inside of his wrist that no one can read.  His soulmate’s name.  It is faded and white; his soulmate hasn’t been born yet.  His fellow priests console him as the years go by and his soulmate has still not been born, but Miraak is a very patient man.  He can wait.  He can wait all that he needs to until the time comes that the Last Dragonborn finally meets him.  Miraak/LDB Soulmate AU.

To Steal A Champion—As Nightingale of Nocturnal, the Dovahkiin is far better at thievery than the average mortal.  Better enough, apparently, to steal the bonds tying Miraak to Hermaus Mora for her own use.  She was just trying to keep Mora from killing him so she could kill him herself; now what’s she supposed to do with a Champion?  Miraak/LDB AU.

Fate/Stay Night

The Holy Childcare War—Heroic Spirit EMIYA is summoned in the Archer class, but his Masters are both a young Rin Tohsaka and a young Sakura Matou before her family ever traded her away.  Still wanting to prevent his future from ever occurring, Archer decides to take his two small masters and run before their father can ruin their lives and set the catastrophic events of the Fifth Holy Grail War into motion.  Unsanctioned fan sequel/retelling of the Fate doujin “Childcare is War”.

Sakura Doraku—Kariya Matou wasn’t going to win the war, and he knew it.  But that doesn’t mean he can’t save Sakura.  Sacrificing his own soul and all of his command seals to power the required miracle, he was able to grant his servant Lancelot Independent Action A+, allowing him to linger in the material plane and protect Sakura indefinitely.  Seeking to obey his Master’s final orders and redeem himself for his crimes, Lancelot steals Sakura away from the Matou family and raises her as his own for the next ten years—when Sakura is chosen as a Master for the Fifth Holy Grail War.

Oleanders In June—As magus from an old but nondescript family, Pepper Malone never thought she would get to see a Holy Grail War, much less participate in one.  So when the war starts up in the middle of her hometown, she’s going to need all the help she can get just to survive it; especially with her monstrous knight of a servant jamming up the works.  OC/Berserkerlot.  Contains smut.

Pokemon

Seelonce Mayday—At the behest of her doctor, May finally sets out on her pokemon journey through the Hoenn region in hopes that the changing scenery, fresh air, and possibility of bonding with new friends and pokemon might help lessen her depression (in conjunction with regular medication of course).  Partly a retelling of ORAS with a splash of Emerald thrown in, partly an attempt to work out my own issues vicariously through helping May overcome hers.

So Now You’re The Very Best, What’s Next?—With his pokemon journey over, it’s time for Red to return to school like every other kid.  But, what other kid can relate to what he’s been through?  Blue might’ve become Champion just the same as Red did, but he didn’t take down a criminal organization while he was at it—and speaking of criminals, what’s Red’s mom going to say about Mewtwo...?

Raphael—Byron meets a new drinking buddy one night, a man with long white hair and bright blue eyes.  He meets the man again a few nights later, and a few nights after that.  It’s nice to have someone to talk to that gets him so well, but he can’t shake the feeling that maybe there’s a connection between his new friend and the sudden string of people being rushed to the hospital for nightmare-induced insomnia.

Transformers

Cadmus—Professor Sumdac is long dead from a lab accident, and his daughter Sari is tossed out from the company she apparently has no claim to.  Trying her best to survive on the streets, Sari finds a family in the old disembodied head her father used to keep in his lab.  An unsanctioned fan rewrite of My Big Sister The Spider.

Heterodyne—Soundwave escaped the Shadowzone much quicker than expected, though with no Megatron to serve and no war to fight, he’s left at a bit of a loss for what to do now... At least, until Knock Out vouches for him to the Autobots and reminds him that there are plenty of Decepticons who’ll be coming to Earth that don’t agree with Megatron’s order to disband.  Though his new life working with former enemies is less than ideal, at least Soundwave doesn’t have to put up with Starscream anymore; not that Miko isn’t a menace in her own right.  Junewave AU.

Black Noise—There is a temple hiding deep in the woods, and a monster hiding deeper still.  A monster bound in human form nearly thirty years ago from what June hears the locals say.  And now this monster is holding her son hostage in exchange for her help in returning it to its original form.  Reverse Beauty And The Beast Junewave AU.

Deep Cover—Vorns upon vorns after an incident in Autoboot Camp lead to him losing his memory, Longarm Prime begins to fear that he may secretly be a Decepticon spy after finding hints of an additional alternative mode.  Turning directly to Ultra Magnus for advice on how to deal with this potential information leak, Longarm learns that not only was he a spy—he’s Megatron’s right-hand man.

Miscellaneous

Feral—The Dark Warrior Project was not a complete failure, but it could hardly be called a success.  With most of his body changed and most of his mind locked away under a haze of dark eco and pain, a very different Jak is rescued from Baron Praxis’s prisons—leading to a very different revolution of Haven City, and a very different ending for many of the players involved. 

What’s In A Name?—No one actually calls themselves Guild Girl or High Elf Archer: Goblin Slayer is just terrible at remembering names.  Though oddly, he does still call himself Goblin Slayer rather than a conventional name.  Priestess, or Lucidia rather, wants to know why.

It’s Not About Goblins (But I Do Care)—Guild Girl and Cow Girl put up a good fight, but Priestess has won Goblin Slayer’s heart.  Unfortunately, Goblin Slayer’s backstory has left him with a few... issues regarding intimacy and displays of affection.  At least he’s trying?

Disarmament—What is there left for the Doom Slayer to do when all the legions of doom have been slain?  What is there left to live for now that he’s finally completed his goal?  There’s a brave new world out there in need of repairing after Hell invaded.  Maybe it’s time to help picking up the pieces.  A speculative ending to the 2016 Doom reboot series.

Original Concepts

Inside The City Walls—One hundred years ago, a man named Mackeroy Neren protected the country around the Walled City from vampires.  When he left for a hunt and never returned, the City ceased almost all trade, and rarely ever opens the Walls.  But—something’s gotten into the City.  Something’s lurking in the shadows.  And one Patrice “Patty” Argall finds herself wrapped up in the middle of it all.

God’s Stone Crown—For unknown reasons, several players of the popular VRMMO God’s Stone Crown Online find themselves trapped as their characters within the game world, where things are much different than actually playing the game would lead one to believe.  There are many unfinished dungeons within the game that turn out to merely be unmapped within the world: maybe one of them could hold the key to escaping the game? Co-created with @nostalgiamascot.

The Miracles of Saint Maylis—302 years ago, Saint Maylis converted a demon to the light of the church, training him in the faith as she would any other.  300 years ago Saint Maylis lead an army against the encroach of a great evil, and never returned.  Now, the evil is returning, and the only one who can truly stop it is the only one left who was there: Sir Penetratus Iseley, the First Miracle of Saint Maylis.

Another Day In Kingfisher Bay—Welcome to idyllic Kingfisher Bay, home to a thriving superhero/supervillain population.  Would you like to spend your days cleaning up blood because one of the heroes took shelter in the wrong apartment again?  Get abducted by an alien overlord?  Or perhaps have a supervillain for a neighbor?  Try anything and everything here in Kingfisher Bay!

Journey To The Demon King—Yuliya is a simple cleric, tasked with guiding the Chosen Hero on his journey to slay the Demon King when they rise again.  So why is everyone so convinced she’s the Demon King’s next coming?  Do you see any horns under this habit???

[cindyfelicia]

Hi, I hope you’re doing well!! I was just wondering if you read comics? If so could you recommend some/ how to start getting into them? I want to start reading them, but it’s so stressful trying to figure out where to start. Also I love you blog!

Hi there! you’re all manners of sweet and kind thank u my advice abt approaching comics is going for solo runs first, this is how I, personally, did it and it’s way easier than jumping in on team books, or worse events bc they tend to be messier and need more bg info and pre-existing knowledge than a comic that focus on just the one character; I also feel it’s good to start with current or at least recent comics, you can always read the old stuff when you’re better acquainted with how comics work and which characters, artists and writers you like (or can tolerate).

actual recs under the cut because this got so long

i was gonna do a whole list of mcu characters’ solos because most people entry point to comics rn is superhero movies, and hmu if you want that, but instead I think I’m gonna rec you some good comics that are either separated enough from main marvel continuity as to be intelligible without extensive info gathering, or I just think they’re great and worth a bit of confusion (part of starting out reading comics is not knowing fully wth is going on sometimes, but stiking with it for some good art or for characters you love -I’m not gonna go so far as to say for good writing bc that’s just not realistic):

if you like yourself some spider-people:- silk (2015) and vol 2 (2016) are my absolute favorites- I’m not very much into spiderman but I read renew your vows  and it’s lovely,  it’s just not a main universe comic it’s an au where things are as, imo, they should be with ye old web slinger, and it’s good for getting your feet wet in the huge pool of spider-man comics;- I love miss jessica drew (spider-woman) but her solo is……. questionable if someone has a good jess drew intro rec pls tell me so I can pass it on, - miles morales has been written badly in more ways than one but I love him so I suffer, I can direct you without scruples only to his novel tho, absolutely lovely and not written by brian michaelbendis lmao- anya corazon is a really good character that marvel loves to forget it has, let’s not make the same mistake;- black widow 2014 and 2016 and bw: the name of the rose are all good comics (I know technically nat isn’t a spider person but like nothing about spider-woman’s powers screams ‘spider’ either so..

for wakanda I’d say good recent start-ups would be: - black panther (2016), - black panther: world of wakanda (w/ a lesbian couple as protag), - and rise of the black panther (ongoing)

some non x-men team books that are easier to approach as a beginner imho:-young avengers vol 2 (vol 1 has its moments if you want to start from the beginning with them but a lot of it involves the civil war arc and stuff.. also some characters die, the art is less good and I want to protect people from 17’s yo cassie lang’s nipples poking through her shirt.. I wish someone had protected me tbh) -I want to rec some Runaways but besides the current run (which is alright) there’s a lot to be said against the writing in most of the rest of them maybe vol 1? to have the origins pinned down-I feel like after a small read through of what exactly the hell was going on with secret wars you could approach A-Force vol 1 and the first half of vol 2 (the second half ties in with civil war II and I’m not touching that mess) and that and avenger world and sometimes secret avengers to me are good avengers books-she hulk 2014 and totally awesome hulk are my greens of choice but if you want an intro to bruce banner idont actually know, sorry-for the asgardians: thor 2014 and it’s follow up mighty thor, thor: god of thunder, angela: asgard’s assassin and its sequel angela: queen of hel, and loki: agent of asgard are my pick of this crop-we also have Fun here at marvel comics on occasion and both patsy walker aka hellcat and squirrel girl are nice in their own way although the latter isn’t really my thing

some follow up on the young avengers:- hawkeye (2013) an absolute fan favorite, good to discover that actually clint barton was a good character it’s that the avengers movies are just bad and hate people with disabilities- a couple of follow-ups to that (x) (x) and the kate bishop solo all pretty nice- america chavez’s solo (I’m just here to suggest gay comics, that’s almost all I read really)

I want to rec Champions to people but frankly it’s just a long series of event interruptions and bullshit interspersed with a couple of nice moments so far, so I’m gonna rec you some kids that are in the champions and have solos I haven’t already mentioned:- kamala khan’s book is probably my favorite ongoing series at marvel right now about any non-mutant char, I cannot say enough good about it,- nova is nice,- miles morales (spider-man) and amadeuscho (totally awesome hulk) are also there but I’ve already mentioned themalso in this house we love and respect elektranatchiosand any other attitude just isn’t tolerated.

on to the x-men, gotta love those guys, you just gotta:- like I said I prefer to tell people to start from recent comics but with the xmen that’s so difficult? it’s been 10+ bad years for them because of the movie rights situation and just marvel being shit in general, so my one recent team book to approach the x-men is prob x-men ‘92? because its based off of the xm animated series so you don’t have to straightaway deal with some mutant plague, eugenics plots, and other catastrophic events, but you can still get to know more of the char we all love - I want to say generation x vol 2, it’s not a good starting point for anything really but I love it so so much I had to mention it even tho it was cancelled and I’m still angry as hell about it.

the solo situation is better. I’m gonna be able to breathe without tasting my own bile while I type this, hurray!-all new wolverine follows laura kinney as she takes up the mantle from logan-iceman, good solid comic abt coming out and ice puns, who doesn’t like bobby really-jean grey, yes she’s a teen girl in this, yes it’s weird and I hate de-aging characters but it’s nice to see her train with different mutants, struggling with the incoming phoenix force and her adult self’s shadow, not really great entry point to jean grey but id read it anyway-if you were into the 00’s xmen movies like me, or at least a normal person’s amount the phoenix recently returned and with her adult!jean grey, it was a good book for me and good if you want to later start reading the actual phoenix saga (which is a lot of material so starting small with this might help) -I love wandamaximoff and despite what they’ve done to the maximoffs in order to bring them into the mcu (was it worth it for that result btw? really?) her recent book was good and I genuinely loved it -storm’s solo is so good, you’re gonna fall in love with an het ship and you’re not gonna regret it either-rogue and gambit, is ongoing and it’s good to get a little acquainted with these characters but mostly it’s about explorign their relationship

I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot of good x-men content atm but I can’t stop thinking I need to mention that there are ongoing series you could pick up its just.. I hate them.. some started out promising (xmen gold, astonishing xmen), but they’ve not developed in good directions imo, but I still feel they should be mentioned, there’s also a weapon x comic if you want to go for a more bloody kind of book and xmen blue if you like time displaced teens or something? god its bad

jeez this is so so long and guess what? I haven’t even finished yet.. there’s some excellent indie comics out there and with those you really don’t need to worry abt knowing any 30 years old lore or anything you pick them up and they explain themselves like any other normal media out there, I know, be still my heart:

- lumberjanes is my absolute favorite, a little corny, but so much fun and cuteness and if I could go back in time I’d give it to my little bi self so she’d know she’s not alone and anything I feel that ways about has a special place i my heart js

- Motor crush, there really isn’t any other comic book with a black lesbian as protagonist out there that I can think of, good if you’re into motorcycles but if like in my case that threatens to put you to sleep, it also has a sci-fi streak and solid character work, you won’t regret giving it a try

- moonstruck, cute non-white gay werewolves and other mythological creatures are there, I feel this cathers to me specifically every time I open it?? bless

- Hi-Fi fight club or heavy vinyl (they changed the title) if you want a period piece that’s fun and cute and gay (I meant it about me reading only gay comics as you can tell)

- saga, for a space, well ya know.. saga I feel that I can describe it as romeo and juliet in space with added racial commentary except they don’t kill themselves, I have to say not my favorite but you might stick with it for the characters, I sure do

- the wicked + the divine, I feel very much the same about this as I do about saga, only this is mythology based so like.. I sold my soul to it, but please do tread with care there’s a lot of deaths in it and so many of these dead people are gays and/or poc.. I’m none too pleased about it and I’d understand anyone not wanting to pick it up, I mean the deaths are basically in the premises of the books but that doesn’t change the end result..

lastly like I said dc is not my area of expertise but I’ve been following with pleasure both batwoman and green lanterns, and mr miracle was an amazing comic so I thought I’d mention them