#stray kids geniuses

[k-nonsense]

Cannot stop listening to 5-Star. Never have I ever loved an entire full length album this way. Absolutely no skip!

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

Something I never hear anyone talk about in the 'why are Young Adults (late teens to early 30s) reading so much Young Adult (teens) fiction These Days' discussion is how surprisingly difficult it can be to transition from kids books to adult fiction.

And I don't mean in terms of content. Forget themes, characters, plots, etc. I'm talking pure practicality.

As a kid, most of the books you read are calibrated to you exactly. Your local library likely has a 'children's' section, and that section is likely split into smaller sub-sections based on age group. 0-5, 5-8, 8-12, teen. A lot of your interests and experiences are pretty easy to guess at based on average developmental stages (eg. most 16-18 year olds will relate to Coming Of Age stories), so it's probably pretty easy for you to walk into a bookshop or library and find a book aimed at you specifically.

But get to 18 (or younger) and start straying into the 'adult' section, and suddenly nothing is calibrated anymore. When people complain that all 'grownup fiction' is about white middle class heterosexual couples going through angsty divorces in their mid-forties, this is what they're complaining about. They can't find books they can personally relate to, or that are about topics that they are interested in.

And yeah, sure, books shouldn't have to be relatable to be good or enjoyable. But there's also nothing wrong with wanting to read a book about young people, when you're young. Or queer people, if you're queer. Or people from your particular culture, religion, or ethnicity.

Even if we ignore the relatability aspect entirely, there's also nothing wrong with wanting to read a fantasy book that isn't just 'Tolkien but drearier' or a sci-fi that wasn't written by some guy in the 1960s who thought that women were just another kind of alien.

The problem is, fundamentally, that finding the books you like amid the haystack is a skill that most people are not being taught.

As a result, when they get past YA and try using the old tricks of just picking up whatever is on the bestseller list at the moment, or whatever their local library is currently touting as their 'book of the week', they frequently end up with something that isn't suited to their tastes.

And maybe they love it and it opens up a whole new genre that they'd never considered, but more often they hate it but feel obliged to slog through because this is a 'grownup book' and they have decided they want to be a 'grownup reader'.

A few times being burned like this, and they come to the conclusion that all adult fiction is boring, and that the people who read it are all either mature geniuses of the type they could only hope to be, or slogging through like they were and only pretending to like it.

Thus they run back to the familiarity of YA—which is fine, to be clear, there's nothing actually wrong with reading YA as an adult— but there's every chance that somewhere on the bookshelves is a potential favourite author of theirs that they will now never know because they were never taught how to find them.

[that-one-birbie]

Hobie headcanons?

- either vegetarian or vegan (animal rights)(and yes, I am aware not all punks are vegetarian/vegan)

- makes own clothes and / or alterations from thrift clothes (fast fashion sucks) (also like the idea that Hobie knows how to sew)

- Gender Queer (like to orginal concept art)(any pronouns)

- probably knows how to play other instruments. (Drums?)

- ACAB

He doesn't have a drivers licence (he doesn't believe in a paper saying he can't or can not drive) /hj (although maybe he drives a motorcycle instead)

- despite his tough appearance, he has a heart of gold (he took in Gwen when she was homeless *Hobie himself was homeless, according to the comic's, so he knows what Gwen is going through*)( also the way he was looking out for Miles the moment he met Miles) (his friendship with pav) ect

- Always out to help the homeless (mask or no mask)

- would be friends with Spider-man noir (they are going to punch fascists together)

- don't think he would be one to use cellphones/ social media and all that)

He listens to other music genres, too (man does not have to listen to only one type of music)

- Pirates movies, music . Boycotting (but suports small business) (maybe that's why he's living on a boat. He is a pirate)

- participates in peaceful protests as spider punk to keep people safe and help giving people a voice

- Does graffiti tag with Miles sometimes, performing at pubs with Gwen, feeds stray animals with Pav

- Hobie has a pet cat, because i say so

- Ace Hobie (because I say so and because some of yall shippers scare me)

- also pan because he loves their partner regardless of gender identity

- Hobie is absolutely geniuses (I mean, he made his own watch). Although being smart enough in technical and all that, he absolutely had no interest in school ( im not sure if he really went to school? If i remember correctly, when he became homeless, he had a job as a window cleaner) *correct me if I'm wrong*

- I feel like he had a crush or a thing with Caption Anarchy (Karl morningdew)(in comics)

- knows how to use make-up and does it absolutely beautifully. He would do your makeup for you if you ask

- runway model? If say so, but he actually just crashes the runway events because, again, screw fast fashion

- loves looking after kids and helping them (yes, only because that one scene with mayday)

- doesn't buy flowers and rather gather them himself

- Does his own piercings

That's all I have for now :)

[graysmiles-world]

Steddie Fake Dating Part 3

Part One, Part Two

Steve chewed slowly on a banana he grabbed from his bag, pacing back and forth as he listened to Dustin’s recording. A type of music played in the background, something ringing at the back of his mind from the melody. 

“What do you think?” Dustin asked, clicking the recording off and settling his hands on his lap. 

“It sounded familiar,” Steve said, eating the last chunk of his banana and speaking through a full mouth.

“What?” 

“The music,” he explained, wiping his mouth free of any stray fruit that may have escaped. “The music right there at the end.” He didn’t know how he knew it, but he definitely had heard it before. 

“Why are you listening to the music, Steve?” Dustin asked, exasperated. “Listen to the Russian! We’re translating Russian!” 

“I’m trying to listen to the Russian, but there’s music-”

Robin burst through the door, eyes darting between the two. “Alright, babysitting time is over. You need to get in there.”

Steve backed away from her, something that he could ignore with Dustin and the Russian rising back up in his chest. The banana he had just finished threatened to make another appearance, only this one considerably more disgusting and accompanied by an embarrassing confession that threatened to ruin his life. 

Robin spotted the whiteboard that they covered in Russian letters and their English counterparts. “My board!” she exclaimed. “That was important information, shitbirds.” Yeah, right. Like her tally of every time Steve tripped and spilled a customer’s ice cream was important information. 

Dustin seemed to agree. “I guarantee you, what we’re doing is way more important than your data.” 

Steve nodded, tossing his banana peel on the table and crossing his arms, standing slightly behind Dustin like he was protecting the kid rather than it being the other way around.

“And how do you know these Russians are up to no good, anyways?” She asked. Dustin looked up at Steve with a quiet accusation in his eyes, mouthing Did you tell her?

Steve shook his head, just as surprised by the fact that she knew as he was. It wasn’t me, he mouthed back.

“Hello, I can hear you,” Robin interrupted. “Actually, I can hear everything. You are both extremely loud.” Dustin and Steve only stared at her, not really knowing what to say. “You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you’re trying to translate, but you haven’t figured out a word because you didn’t realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet. Sound about right?”

She was entirely and completely right. They all stared at each other briefly before Robin lunged for the tape recorder. In a fit of swiftness, Steve grabbed it before she could get her grubby little hands on it. 

“Whoa! What do you think you’re doing?” Steve asked. He clutched the tape recorder in a white-knuckled grip, the pounding of his heart having nothing to do with the Russians or the translation but everything to do with Robin being in there, so close to him. 

“I wanna hear it.” 

“Why?” Steve and Dustin both asked.

“‘Cause maybe I can help. I’m fluent in four languages, you know,” Robin said.

“Russian?” Dustin asked. 

Robin gave a small grin before speaking. “Ou-yay are-yay umb-day.” 

A hysterical giggle burst out of Steve, excitement with apprehensive boiling in his stomach. 

“Holy shit!” Dustin exclaimed. 

Robin cut him off, “That’s Pig Latin, dingus. But I can speak Spanish, French, and Latin, and I’ve been in band for 12 years.” Robin’s gaze met his, and Steve looked away. “My ears are little geniuses, trust me.”

Dustin looked up at Steve, who shrugged. He heard Robin talk to him. “It’s your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate.” 

Steve shrugged, taking the out. He let the tape recorder fall to the table, ignoring Dustin’s screech. He knew that Robin had no idea why Steve was acting so insane, but he wondered if she noticed how strange he’d been acting the past few days. He sent one last glance towards Dustin before leaving to the front, letting his mind numb with ice cream slinging.  

Over the next hour or so, he heard Robin and Dustin winding and rewinding certain parts of the tape, Robin slowly figuring out words. He checked on them once or twice but didn’t like being pulled out of his little bubble of taking the order, scooping the ice cream, ringing it up. He turned around to Max and El approaching. He scooped them their orders: strawberry for Max and vanilla with sprinkles for El. 

“Are you even allowed to be here?” he questioned, only to be met with the side glances the two made at each other before they giggled once more and scurried away. Steve just watched them leave with a raised brow. 

Sure, he could hypothetically call Hopper - there was a landline in the back, after all - but Steve did wayyy worse at their age. He was sure that running around a mall was, like, the least dangerous thing to do as a kid.

It wasn’t until the end of the day that it started picking up speed. All three of them, Steve, Robin, and Dustin, walked through the empty mall - out to the main doors. The neon lights of various signs shined across the tile floors, casting strange shadows around them. Steve hung back as Robin and Dustin chatted more about possible translations. They walked past Sam Goody, and Steve swallowed the lump in his throat that appeared almost hourly at this point. 

Steve had gotten Eddie an LP of Dio’s The Last in Line for their four-month anniversary there. It was after he got his first paycheck from Scoops Ahoy! and wanted to do something nice for his boyfriend. Eddie gasped when gifted it, jumping in Steve’s arms and causing him to fall back onto Eddie’s bed. 

It was a happy memory, tinged blue by everything that happened. Steve tore his gaze away from the storefront, eyes drifting to the Indiana Flyer that always played while he was working, kids lining up to ride it. He paused, digging through his pockets for a quarter, the melody from before coming back to the forefront of his mind. 

“What are you doing?” he heard Robin ask from behind him.

“It’s a quarter, I need-” he started, looking over to Robin and Dustin. “Do you have a quarter?”

They made their way over to him, Robin already making fun of him. Thankfully, Dustin tossed him a quarter, and he could shove it in the slot. He perched next to the bouncing horse, ears open for the music. 

“Do you need help getting up, Little Stevie?” Robin asked, but Steve shushed her and Dustin’s chuckles from the little quip. 

“Would you two just shut up and listen?” he asked, gesturing to the ride. Slowly, they began to understand. Dustin first. He whispered a “Holy shit” and set down his backpack to grab the tape recorder. He clicked play, letting the recording play out in the empty mall. Robin’s expression slowly gained an expression of understanding. 

“I don’t understand,” Robin said. 

“It’s the music,” Dustin explained. “It’s the exact same song on the recording.” 

“Maybe they have horses like this in Russia,” Robin proposed. 

“Indiana Flyer?” Steve questioned. “I don’t think so. This code didn’t come from Russia,” he looked up at the other two. “It came from here.” 

Steve looked over the plant, binoculars covering his eyes as he searched the food court for anyone suspicious or Russian-looking.

“Do you see anything?” Dustin asked from beside him. 

“I guess I don’t totally know what I’m looking for,” Steve admitted. 

“Evil Russians,” Dustin told him - like that was all there was to it. 

“Yeah, exactly. I don’t know what an Evil Russian looks like.” He swung his gaze and binoculars to the balcony as Dustin went on about blonds, earpieces, and duffle bags. Mark Lewinsky and Anna Jacob were talking against the railing, Anna brushing aside a bit of Mark’s hair. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he murmured. 

“What?” Dustin pressed. Steve shook his head.

“Nothing, just Anna Jacobs talking with that meathead Mark Lewinsky.” He didn’t want to go into details about why it upset him. Why Mark has someone to care for him and brush the hair out of his eyes caused something heavy to lodge in his chest. It wasn’t the time or the place, and even if it were - Steve wouldn’t have wanted to anyway. 

“Dude, you’re the worst spy in history, did you know that?” Dustin grabbed the binoculars from Steve’s eyes, putting them over his own eyes. Steve was able to get the strap off from around his neck before it strangled him.

“I don’t get why you’re looking at girls. You have the perfect one in front of you.” Dustin said. Steve looked away from the food court, thumbing at his shorts. 

“Seriously, if you say Robin again-”

“Robin,” Dustin said. Steve bit on the inside of his cheek, wondering when it’ll start to scar from chewing on it when thinking about Eddie. Maybe that’ll be good, a physical reminder for his future. 

“No,” he snapped. “Stop.”

“Robin, Robin, Robin,” Dustin repeated, sounding much like the preteen he really was.

“She’s not my type,” Steve murmured. “She’s not in the realm of what my type is.” His type wasn’t Robin. His type was her boyfriend. 

“What’s your type, not awesome?” Dustin asked. God, Dustin would have loved Eddie if they met. Steve knew it. 

Goddammit, he needed to stop thinking about him. It wasn’t doing him any good, but there wasn’t anything but this Russian thing to distract him - a thing that Robin is now a large part of. He wondered when he’d be able to be free of Eddie Munson, or if he’d be forever marked by his hands. 

“What’s up with you, dude?” Dustin asked.

The two of them were sitting atop the stopped elevator, the long stretch of tunnel above them. Erica and Robin roamed about below, and Steve could hear their occasional comments and boxes being moved.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked, avoiding his gaze. The little twerp was perceptive, and he’s seen his heartbroken expression before. And this definitely wasn’t the place to do it.

“You look, like, so lost all the time,” Dustin said. “You’re a completely different person from when I left for camp.” 

“Well, a lot can change in a month,” Steve said, fiddling with his shorts. They were a little dirty from the adventure they’d already been on, and he knew that they’d definitely need a deep clean whenever he got back home. 

“Did you have a summer fling go sour or something?” Dustin asked, getting a little too close to the truth. 

“Something like that,” Steve told him, done with the conversation. He stood up, pulling up the trapdoor and climbing back down before Dustin broke open his chest and analyzed him. 

Robin and Erica were on separate sides of the elevator. Erica looked through her backpack, and Robin searched through the various boxes - presumingly for something to get them out of this mess. Steve wandered over to a little free space between two shelves, pressing his back against the metal wall and curling his arms around his knees. He fell asleep like that, body contorted to find some sort of comfort. 

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: many worlds, portal fantasy edition

A typical portal fantasy follows a human from our world who steps through a portal into a magical land (think of narnia). But there are many fun variations of this trope! Sometimes it's the magical people who come to our world; sometimes we get to follow people who have returned from their adventures and are seeking for new meaning; sometimes our world isn't involved at all. As might be assumed, most portal fantasies are fantasy stories, but some lean more toward magical realism, others toward sci-fi. It's a fun spectrum!

I'm separating portal fantasies from alternate timelines/parallel worlds type stories (which will get their own rec post soon-ish). I also generally do not include stories where the character travels to fairyland/land of the dead/etc as those feel like a genre of their own to me, but the lines between them sometimes blur and this is, obviously, a subjective list.

(Titles marked with * are my personal favorites)

Other book rec posts:

Really cool fantasy worldbuilding, really cool sci-fi worldbuilding, dark sapphic romances, mermaid books, vampire books

For more detailed info on the books, continue under the cut.

The Magicians (Magicians trilogy) by Lev Grossman*

You may not have heard of this book, but you have probably heard of the scyfy series of the same name that crashed and burned a few years ago. This is the book it’s based on (pros: it doesn’t end in the same way; cons: it doesn’t feature the juggernaut ship of the show in any major way). For the uninitiated: features what is essentially a (secret) magic university for tormented geniuses. When he finds magic isn't enough to grant him happiness, main character Quentin goes digging into the truth surrounding his favorite childhood books searching for meaning, and finds out that the magical other world they describe might not be so fictional after all.

Stray (Touchstone trilogy) by Andrea K. Höst*

Young adult told through diary entries. Including this as a portal fantasy is a bit of a stretch, but essentially: Cassandra unkowingly walks through a wormhole and lands herself on another planet, where she has to survive on her own until she is rescued. Soon she finds herself embroiled in a war between creatures from dreamlike other dimensions and the people who saved her. Skirts the line between scifi and fantasy (it has psychic space ninjas!), but generally feels mostly like sci-fi. Absolutely fantastic worldbuilding.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan*

Young adult. Kids who can walk between our world and a magical one get recruited into a magical school that trains them either to be fighters or sort-of diplomats. Our lead decides that fighting is stupid and that he’s going to peacefully solve every conflict ever, all while being the most delightfully obnoxious little brat possible and getting incolved in the most bisexual love triangle imaginable. Very good, funny, and heart-felt coming of age story.

NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth series) by Drew Hayes*

This one only counts as a portal fantasy on a technicality and on the fact that I love it and this is my list. Follows a group of DnD players whose characters immediately die, forcing them to make new characters, and, parallel to their adventures, a group of NPCs from the fantasy world who find themselves forced to take the place of a party of recently deceased adventurers. The two parties do cross path on occasion, but there aren't actually any portals involved as all characters (mostly) stay in their respective world. A fun and light-hearted adventure that turns a lot of the expected tropes of the genre and of character archetypes on their heads.

The Time of the Dark (The Darwath series) by Barbara Hambly

1982 classic. Medieval history student Gil and biker Rudy are complete strangers, but when they get mixed up with a wizard from another world the two must work together to survive and get back home. Fairly traditional fantasy with its fair share of issues, but! It has cool swordswomen, creepy lovecraftian monsters and also mammoths!

The Twelve Kingdoms by Fuyumi Ono*

Young adult, light novel. Yoko Nakajima is a regular high school student, or at least she was one until a strange man showed up in her school, swore allegiance to her and whisked her away to another world. As the two get separated, Yoko is stuck on her own in a strange world, hunted by humans and demons alike as she travels in search of a way home. Absolute high point of isekai literature, with an incredible main character and really cool and unique worldbuilding (also available as an anime, however I have yet to watch it and can't speak to its quality just yet).

Peter Darling by Austin Chant*

Novella. An older Peter Pan returns to Neverland after years spent in our world, only to find that everything is different. Before he knows it, he finds himself working with his lifelong enemy, Captain Hook. Very gay and very trans, with interesting takes on toxic masculinity. Made my heart ache in the best of ways.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Young adult. A retelling of beauty and the beast, where 'beauty' is a girl brought in from our world to a fantastical one and the narrative focuses a lot on what actually happens to the kingdom when the royal family suddenly disappears, and whether it’s even possible to fall in love with someone you know is deliberately trying to seduce you to break a curse. This is part one of a trilogy, however I'm only really recommending the first book as the second did not work for me at all.

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials trilogy) by Philip Pullman

Young adult/middle grade, fantasy but has a lot of sci-fi aspects as well. Already well-known and for good reason, the His Dark Materials trilogy starts as what seems a pretty typical fantasy with some cool unique aspects (everyone has a soul-bound animal only they can speak to as their best friend!), and soon veers into a truly one of a kind story. It has magical portals, it has strange worlds with equally strange inhuman creatures, it has physics, it has god murder, it has gay angels, it has tragedy, and it’s very much worth your time.

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children series) by Seanan McGuire*

A tumblr favorite, the Wayward Children novellas feature a school open to children who have returned from adventures in other realms and now have trouble adapting back to regular life. Some installments are set in our world, others follow children as they have their otherworldly adventures. The main characters vary between books, but are generally pretty diverse with among others asexual, trans, intersexual and sapphic leads. Both funny and dark, it takes a closer look at the trauma many endure growing up different.

Otherside Picnic (Otherside Picnic series) by Iori Miyazawa

Sapphic light novel with a surreal and episodic horror vibe. Following the directions of an urban legend, university student Sorawo finds her way to a reality populated by horrifying creatures from ghost stories and modern urban legends (of which I'm sure you'll recognize many). Here she teams up with fellow explorer Toriko, both to both find out more about this strange world and to help Toriko find a missing loved one. Also available as a manga and (one season of) an anime.

Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron

Young adult. Brody is dealing with a lot, but it all gets a little easier when he meets Nico, who shows him how to access Everland, a magical land where he feels less out of place. But when the doors to Everland start disappearing, Brody must choose which world is really home. I'd categorize this less as fantasy and more as coming of age with a fantasy slant. It's also very gay.

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Surreal and fairy tale-esque, The Starless Sea is stories within a story, following graduate student Zachary as he finds a strange book which, in-between other tales, tells a story from his own childhood. Trying to find out how this came to be, Zachary gets involved with a pink-haired woman and a handsome man who are doing their utmost to protect a strange, otherworldly library available only through magical doors. It's a book hard to put in words, but which I once described as "romantic without being a romance while stile having a love story at it's core", and which can be summed up only as "an Experience". It's also quite gay!

The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck

Listen, there’s a whole bunch of Swedish portal fantasies I read growing up that I'm dying to include here, but I'm not because they’re not available in English. The Memory Theater however is available, and is very good. Two children who were stolen into an otherworldly realm that wants them dead fight return to earth, and are followed by one of their captors across universes. The story has the feel of a dark fairy tale, and their captors, while not fey, are very reminiscent of them.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow*

Historical young adult, more magical realism than fantasy. In the early 20th century, January is living under the care of her father's employer while he travels the world searching for valuables and secrets. But both her father and her caretaker are keeping something from her, something about her own family's history. When she one day stumbles upon a strange book, one that speaks of other worlds, she finally sets out to find the truth. However, there are those seeking to stop her and destroy the doors between worlds, no matter what.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher*

Horror rather than fantasy. After having divorced, Kara moves to stay with her uncle and help him run his museum of curiosities, until one day she discovers a hole in the wall of his house. The hole leads to a strange bunker, and beyond that, a dark and dangerous world beyond her understanding. In the company of a friend, she goes to explore this world, but quickly comes to regret her decision to do so.

The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood*

The sort of portal fantasy you get when all the worlds connected by portals are fantasy worlds, and none of them are ours. The portals themselves become simply a part of the worldbuilding that the characters use to travel between fascinating places, and it's all really cool. It follows Csorwe (lesbian orc assassin whom I love), who grew up in a cult, indoctrinated as a child sacrifice to a god. But on the day she was meant to die, she instead chose to follow a powerful wizard and train to become his loyal servant and sword. Aside from being an excellent fantasy, it's also a close look at the hard path of unlearning indoctrination and the search for love and validation where you'll never find it, and learning to live for yourself.

Odin's Child (the Raven Rings trilogy) by Siri Pettersen

Norwegian (vaguely Norse mythology inspired) young adult. Fifteen-year-old Hirka grew up thinking she simply lost her tail to a wolf attack, but one day she finds out she never had one: she's an Odin's child, a human, sent from another world and rumored to spread rot and ruin wherever she goes. To keep her secret safe, she goes on the run, but there are forces hunting for her, wanting to use her in their war. This reads mostly as a fairly typical epic fantasy, with the portal aspect not playing a major role until the second book.

The Barbed Coil by J.V. Jones

1997 classic. Tessa is a young woman with little going for her, until she stumbles upon a strange ring that transports her to a magical and dangerous other land. Here she meets Ravis, a mercenary who takes it upon himself to protect her, and discover her own special abilities, which she must use against an evil king whose mind has been corrupted and taken over by his crown, the Barbed Coil.

Skeen's Leap (Skeen trilogy) by Jo Clayton

1986 classic. While most portal stories are fantasy, this one has a distinct sci-fi flavour. Skeen is master thief wanted in a myriad solar systems, until her spaceship gets stolen and she's stranded on a backwater planet. Here she hears rumors of ruins leading to a strange other land. Hoping for treasure enough to get her off-planet, Skeen goes in search of this place, but finds herself stuck and unable to get back. This one has a unique, almost stream of consciousness prose that takes a while getting used to, but rewards you with a one of a kind experience.

Inkheart (Inkworld trilogy) by Cornelia Funke

German middle grade/young adult, in which the fantastical other worlds are those told of in books. Young Meggie's father has the ability to, when he reads, bring things and people out of the books, or put other people into said books. However, once having done so, he knows of no way to put anyone back where they belong. Now, years after he accidentally brought the terrible villain Capricorn and his henchmen out of their book, he and his daughter must evade them at all costs or be forced to bring further horrors out of the page and into the world.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

An Accident of Stars by Foz Meadows

A teenage girl accidentally follows a worldwalker from her world to a magical realm on the brink of civil war. I believe this on has both a major polyamorous relationship and ace/aro characters?

The Sleeping Dragon (Guardians of the Flame series) by Joel Rosenberg

1983 classic. A group of college dnd players find themselves transported to the magical realm they previously thought just a game.

The Wandering Inn by Pirateaba

Webnovel. After having been transported to a magical world, Erin decides to, rather than become a warrior or a mage, start running an inn.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: The Marked Girl by Lindsey Klingele, The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay, Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica, Spellsinger by Alan Dean Foster, The Shattered Gates by Ginn Hale, The Awakening by Nora Roberts, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor.

[demonslayedher]

I feel like there’s always been a lot of “what-if” questions with KnY, but the biggest one for me is What if Muzan never became a demon? Either by the doctor having successfully curing his illness without demonifying him or if he died early as expected, how would that have changed the course of the character’s history?

HAPPY ENDS FOR EVERYONE BUT KIBUTSUJI MUZAN!!!

--His wives are free from his abuse, the doctor is sad he failed but he goes on to treat many good people, the Ubuyashiki mission-oriented branch of their noble clan doesn't even go on to exist because they just go along their normal merry noble way.

--Tamayo does wind up dying from her illness, but peacefully surrounded by her beloved family. Yushiro later dies, but more pissed off about it.

--Yoriichi and Uta live happily ever after. The Kamados move into an abandoned house down the road and their descendants are fruitful and forever happy neighbors. There was one time when Yoriichi was away looking for a midwife that Uta was almost killed by a wild animal, but a swordsman out there in the quiet of nature practicing his family's flame inspired sword techniques saves her, and he and his family also also become good friends of the Mt. Kumotori simple folk.

--Michikatsu goes on to have an illustrious samurai career and have illustrious descendents. Muichiro and Yuichiro therefore live in the city and go to a fancy private school where they are popular geniuses. It goes to their heads sometimes, though.

--Douma eventually dies an old cult leader without many complaints. Hakuji committed terrible acts, but he was then adopted by a new master, a swordman named Rengoku, who guided him in doing the work to amend his ways. Lots of very angry meditation before Hakuji ever finds enough peace with himself to enjoy gardening and tending koi ponds again.

--Gyutaro and Daki do indeed meet a sad end, but they meet a hypnotist who at least lets them see happy dreams as they die. They get reincarnated into kinder circumstances, albeit Gyutaro always feels a lot of jealousy for people who have things better than him and he'll probably bring about his own downfall again unless Ume steps in and stops him, because she knows he's kinder than that.

--Himejima has a happy family life with his orphans, and remains skin and bones. He eventually had to kick Kaigaku out for causing trouble, though. Himejima cried a lot over having the do that.

--Kaigaku is adopted by an old man who takes him in to train him in... say... electricity. Yes, Jiichan is now the Japanese Nicola Tesla and wants to make Kaigaku into a brilliant scientist. He recruits Zenitsu for the same task and Kaigaku is jealous. Zenitsu gets zapped in the lab.

--Urokodaki was a regular Edo ronin. After the Meiji Restoration, he started an orphanage. Makomo still lives there happily, Sabito has grown up and, uh, joined the military. Because Giyuu is so influenced by his childhood friend he winds up doing the same. Tsutako is happily married.

--Inosuke's out there doing his forest thing but eventually finds himself on the neighboring mountain making friends with the Tsugikuni and Kamado kids. This was after a brief stint being adopted by Himejima, but Himejima was too weak-willed in nicely asking Inosuke to behave, and he was heartbroken with worry when Inosuke wandered off. He saw Inosuke more like a stray cat than a human child.

--The Kochou girls attend a fancy school, Kanae has lots of offers for marriage but Shinobu is disinterested. They came across a girl on a bridge who was getting taken into slavery and brought her home. Aoi, having been sent away from her family home to do domestic work so as to earn money for her family (as was common in the day), works in the Kochou home. Kiyo, Sumi, and Naho happily grow up in their own families and are squeamish at the sight of blood, what with the lack of having to be exposed to it.

--Mitsuri's family takes a vacation out for an island holiday. Mitsuri was hoping for a romantic encounter but finds it odd that there are so many women. While starving herself and she gets dizzy and wanders off and gets hopelessly lost until she encounters a boy with a snake around his shoulders and two different eye colors, in a total separate part of the vacation mansion. He's alarmed that she's so faint and gives her the rich food he didn't have the stomach to touch, she comes back to life and cheerfully thanks him, and then they start chatting, and she's the best thing that's ever come into his sheltered rich boy world, and they have a whirlwind romance which involves her courageously using her strength to beat off his family and free him to join her on the mainland so that they can live happily ever after.

--Uzui and wives become vigilantes. Flamboyant vigilantes. Uzui leans into this personality and the newspaper are always filled with the latest exploits of that mysteriously flamboyant man, taking down corrupt officials and beating up criminals in back alleys. Nezuko is a huge fan and on a long awaited and saved-up for trip to try to meet him, she finds herself in trouble (it's easy to get disoriented in the big city, after all), and Zenitsu comes to her rescue and tazors the perps. It's love at first sight for both of them, and they start a long-distance letter writing relationship. Tanjiro is concerned that this boy Nezuko is writing to might be embellishing things.

--Life's been a lot better for the Shinazugawas since their pops got stabbed. The children have all started earning money once they're old enough, but Sanemi wants them to continue their educations, so he joins the military. He winds up getting in fights with Giyuu and Sabito but eventually they all become friends. Genya eventually tries to join too once the younger kids need less care and looking after, but Sanemi doesn't take kindly to that. Kanae becomes a volunteer nurse in the military and meets them all this way.

--In case it's not clear, the Rengoku family maintains the generations of bonds so Kyojuro and Senjuro and Shinjuro pay regular visit to Mt. Kumotori. Kyojuro teaches Tanjiro kendo.

--One day Tanjiro is strolling around the mountain and he sees mysterious blue spider lilies. "Those are nice," he says, and then no one ever pays a second thought to the flowers ever again.

[mrsfezziwig]

KQ - The Reason Ateez Don't Win Awards: (Pt 1)

n.b.(Good God I am actually scared of what reaction this may get from other Atiny but I feel like it is something I really need to address!)

Ateez are incredible;

as humans, as a group, as vocalists and as rappers, but their stand out ability comes in the way they perform and dance. I have never seen a group like these eight men when it comes to their star power; all of them could probably be in The Demon Line now they have matured, especially Yunho, who feels more relaxed on stage, more intense and he is most definitely not holding himself back anymore (That YunGi clothes grab in the Wonderland tour version, anyone? This Mrs Fezziwig was fanning herself like a Georgian Regency lady with a hand fan and blaming it on her age - hot flushes, you know... Oof! ). But anyone with a braincell can look at the lack of acknowledgement of their talents in terms of end of year award show nominations and wonder what the hell is going on?! It is incredibly irritating when people who deserve to have their hard work and talents celebrated are passed over again and again.

Now, this is where I just know I am going to be side-eyed, possibly bombastically, because I need to make comparisons in order to make my points as this is only about my opinion, and things I see other Atiny discussing on socials. In addition everyone knows how close the members of these two groups are as friends, hence why I am risking my sanity to say it:

The Comparison - Stray Kids

What makes Stray Kids so well awarded isn't just their agency, which has absolutely helped, with their money, organisation and longevity in the idol industry, but there's also the fact that they have practically carte blanche when it comes to the music they make. No body on this good, green Earth can ignore the sheer genius that is 3RACHA and their most common 'making-tweaks-for-perfection collaborator', Versachoi, when it comes to their abilities to write, compose and produce their songs.

Every emotion in the human pantheon of feeling is out there in a song available for fans to discover from their catalogue. Their forte is the musical freedom all the members contribute to the group.

SKZ hits harder because they are performing their own emotion out in song and dance, having three geniuses in one group is fated, no one can ever tell me otherwise... However, Ateez doesn't have that extra layer of connection even though the boys are still insanely versatile and make it work.

That's not the fault of the members, BBTrippin or even on some level the collective Edenary, they're all being told the same thing by the agency. It lies in the fact that those at the top want it to be this way.

I don't say this as a diss against Edenary, and I have yet to find a skip song on their albums. It is all impactful, musically, there is nothing but hit after hit on those but the lyrics just aren't up to par. Guerilla was about a fictional revolution, Halazia was about a fictional revolution from the outsider perspective, Bouncy was about an, um... fictional revolution and Crazy For-... Yeah, I am going to stop here.

KQ CEO-nim, I respectfully say:

Holy Fuck... Drop the fucking storyline into the b-side! Yep, you heard me right - Drop. The. Fucking. Storyline. From. The. Title. Tracks! Plllleeeeaaaaasssseee?

I am pretty sure all the inhabitants of Dimensions A and Z, and how ever many other of these buggers are hiding in the mind of the planners, shall collectively gasp dramatically 'Blasphemy!'

What a cardinal sin to suggest such a thing!!! Pre-debut Atiny are clutching their pearls and Diary Version albums as I speak such foul utterances, wondering how I could possibly have the very cheek of it to say such a thing! Do you think the boys will be proud of the dramatic delivery here? 😂

Yes, there are some moving and heart-wrenching b-sides on Ateez albums that are ignored for the scale of interdimensional time Pirates, which makes it increasingly, painfully obvious that those emotions are rare in their title tracks. So, I will make the point I've been moving up to with the comparison:

KQ need to let loose the reins

I first encountered Ateez in my initial journey with kpop in 2021 and I was in my 'BTS got me hooked, Stray Kids toppled them with Hellevator from my focus, and Ateez seems interesting...' era

Being 38 I felt kinda like some sort of sicko for finding guys I could have birthed attractive and I still have twinges of this feeling occasionally. Thankfully, none of the 5th Gen children are anything other than cute little babies to me, ones that I want to tut at, throwing appropriate clothing their way and ground them for going out in such tiny skirts and dresses. As you can imagine, finding Deja Vu as my first Ateez song sent me screeching dramatically away from the group, hands flapping and looking for a man my age to hide behind [thank you, Rain; you were extremely helpful during my mid-life-ish crisis].

So I continued on my way along up the endurance hike that is the Stray Kids path, again feeling slightly creeped out at myself for buying Oddinary, but also in absolute awe at the music these eight guys made. I still don't have a fucking clue what their storyline is, although it is coming more into focus thanks to the most recent SKZFLIX but that's kinda positive as it allows for their flexibility in terms of what they say and how it's performed and perceived.

At the core, I like their lyrical content better than Ateez, purely due to the fact it's visceral in its emotional impact. With a leader like Bang Chan, I haven't been surprised to find so many amazing fans out there too. Older STAYs I chat with on Discord have been my rock and support as I admitted my feelings of discomfort at the age thing and we figured out it was my STBX husband and his reaction to my new found hobby and likes that left me feeling so icky.

With their help, I finally got the courage up to accept that we were done after 20 years and I haven't missed him except for one occasion [I was facing a general anaesthetic to have a massive abscess on my jaw drained, all alone in a hospital about an hour from home with nobody at all to hold my hand] since he left in March. Every time I faced a backwards step emotionally because of my Ehler-Danlos Syndrome and my limitations, they were there to check on me.

This community is what makes Kpop the best rabbit hole I ever plunged into - stay away from Twitter (No, Elon, it isn't called 'X', it's called Twitter!) and the fans are such magnificently, genuine hearted people who just get me! For the first time in my life my sense of humour wasn't misinterpreted and rather slotted into place like this was where I was meant to be all along. When I found this tribe I was so lonely it was frightful, and it's only by being who I am today with their love and support I can look back at that version of myself and cry for her desperation and black-fog draped soul.

99% of the people in that chat are actually StayTiny, and they were discussing Halazia, insisting I really need to watch the MV. So I did, and as thankful I am for BTS getting me into Kpop and Stray Kids for finding me at my lowest then giving me my coping song in Voices, Ateez overtook them all in one MV. There is something about these guys that I connected with. That began my twisted path in April 2023 in learning names, songs and personality types that lead me to December and the drop of Crazy Form. Yet they may now be my Ult group, Stray Kids are my foundation in the world of idols. And no, I still can't handle Deja Vu no matter how many times I have tried to make it happen. So far I can get to the end of Yunho's opening but I can't take San with that haircut and eyebrows without cringing and backing out, which means I've progressed beyond the sexual feel of the song and am now firmly entrenched in 'Second-hand Embarrassment Station'.

Ateez could be much bigger if...

Despite the connection I found with these seven crackheads plus Jongho, instantly was thrown off by the incessant focus on the story of Ateez and dimension hopping, wondering where they were, as in where were the personal stories; the freedom of expression and grounding focus of reliving your experience in music?

If the story came in the form of a novel, I would be pre-ordering that shit off Amazon faster than I pre-order SKZ and Ateez albums. And I am not alone in this sentiment. After five years in the industry, these guys aren't newbies, they have the experience to handle the responsibilities of writing their own songs with guidance from Edenary and creating their own choreo alongside BBTrippin.

Hearing how the agency weaves the lore into every single MV and title track, I felt angry. I still am and am likely to always be, because if they let up and allowed the boys to display their joy, sorrow, happiness and agony in their songs and choreo, Ateez would be even greater, they'd be a force to be reckoned with particularly in the international market where they just work already. This is where BTS and Stray Kids have Ateez beat.

international fans have come to expect that the music is written and produced by the members of a group. Sure this could be argued as being a side effect of BTS getting so big, it's also a factor no one should discount.

Now, I shall move onto the part I love most: 'saying shit 'people who don't have a genetic pain disorder and who still have two flying fucks to give' won't...

The agency is responsible for the lack of mainstream recognition in terms of awards and fans because that oomph 3RACHA pour into their music is where the disparity lies.

With performers like the eight men in Ateez imagine them being up there on the VMAs stage getting all the praise... And the viral Taylor Swift reaction to match... Her reaction to Chan was just so relatable after all (be still my Swiftie/STAY/Atiny manic heart). I can't lie, the thought of them never being recognised in the mainstream before it's too late and they disband to focus on solo careers makes me tear up. Oh, that's so dramatic of me is what people who don't know Ateez will think,

'Ewwww... it's not that deep 🙄! Go touch some fucking grass and stop being so saesang coded' { Bitch, if I could go outside without dislocating my hip, I'd still be an Archaeologist! Is that enough grass and mud for you all?}

With a massive 'Wooyoung-thicc, baby-girl-twerking' ass BUT(t):

The thing is, it actually is that deep.

I am sick of spending comeback day piecing together the story point instead of looking at the video and lyrics and it's meaning. Which invariably is about the destruction of the dystopian universe. Don't Stop did the story telling in a way that made sense for what the video portrays and it works real fucking well (plus Mingi? Oooh, damn boyyy!). We understood it because it was all there to be found!

Imagine having that every comeback day, the 'falling out of bed at 5am to match KST' would be so much more enjoyable because there isn't any depth to plunder, it would be a {most definitely not} straight shooting banger or bopper or tear-mopper of a track, ALMOST ENTIRELY written and produced by the members for us to enjoy on repeat. Then a few days later the Edenary b-side/s with all the storyline desired would drop and we would be mentally prepared to disect every second of it because our thirst would have diminished to the 'reasonably manageable when those eight beautiful men plus San's chocolate bar abs are in the world' level.

Whilst I intended to make all my points in one post, I will split it up because of the length it's going to be... To be continued...

[themculibrary]

Taylor Swift Lyric Titles Masterlist

all too well (druig & makkari) (ao3) - camihearts druig/makkari T, 2k

Summary: All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) but make it Druig and Makkari.

don't blame me, (love made me crazy) (ao3) - fluffy_miracle loki/mobius M, 2k

Summary: Mobius is tired. Angry. He's been searching for Loki for fucking days because he ran after his variant and Mobius feels so fucking stupid because he should have seen it coming. Now the TVA has them both back in custody where they belong and Mobius is more than a little jealous. He wanted Loki to look at him like he does at Sylvie. How this god has affected his impulse control because Mobius finds himself shoving Loki up agains the wall and telling him exactly what he wants from him.

Loki doesn't respond the way Mobius thought he would.

dreaming ‘bout the day (ao3) - tellxmebby steve/tony T, 3k

Summary: Tony/Steve Highschool AU fic based on Taylor Swift’s music video “You Belong With Me”.

fearless (ao3) - softeninglooks steve/tony N/R, 1k

Summary: Where Steve catches up on modern music in Tony’s workshop.

hey, stephen (i’ve been holding back this feeling) (ao3) - hopelessrdj tony/stephen G, 11k

Summary: Tony Stark and Stephen Strange have never met each other before until the day every student at their university gets forced into attending one co-educative class not connected to their major. Both geniuses end up in the music department and in order to make it more interesting they come up with a competition between the two of them.

In Paper Rings, In Picture Frames (Oh, You're The One I Want) (ao3) - OceanSpray5 druig/makkari G, 14k

Summary: Or, Druig and Makkari get married and wait for the rest of their oblivious family to figure it out.

invisible string (ao3) - captasha_universe steve/natasha T, 4k

Summary: Three years after Steve divorces his ex-wife Sharon, Natasha and her daughter Lucy receive a surprise visit from Steve and his two kids, resulting in a wonderful day spent and Natasha and Steve rekindling their romance of the past.

it felt like home somehow (ao3) - orlandoblueberry wanda/vision G, 5k

Summary: After a dinner where the Avengers all come out as Taylor Swift fans, Vision seeks Wanda’s help to understand the appeal of this kind of music. Romance ensues, obviously.

loving him was red (and blue) (ao3) - 70sBabe mj/peter T, 22k

Summary: the story of Peter/MJ, told through the tracks of Taylor Swift's album Red

maroon (ao3) - MissAmyShay mj/peter E, 13k

Summary: In which Peter and MJ spend an eventful 24 hours together after three years apart.

on a wednesday, in a cafe (ao3) - TaraLy gilgamesh/thena T, 111k

Summary: Thenamesh Coffee Shop AU. No angst, no plot, only love (and food).

one single thread of gold tied me to you (ao3) - vegetativestate druig/makkari G, 1k

Summary: The smile this dredges up in Druig is brighter and more radiant than anything a Celestial could conjure, and Makkari thinks, there it is. The sun.

So they lie there, on the duvet, under the stars, centuries worth of lost time stitched together as they breathe their own galaxy into existence.

or, Makkari and Druig decide to take a vacation after the Emergence and before they leave Earth, where they talk and stargaze. Sensibly.

the more you say the less i know (wherever you stray, i follow) (ao3) - notcaycepollard sam/bucky M, 22k

Summary: It starts in the desert.

the way i loved you (ao3) - agayturtle wanda/natasha T, 3k

Summary: “It’s 2am and I’m cursing your name���”

Wanda and Natasha’s relationship didn’t last longer than a couple of months, but Natasha can’t help but wonder if they made the right choice when they ended things.

or The Way I Loved You by Taylor Swift but it’s Wandanat.

you are the best thing that's ever been mine (hold on, never turn back) (ao3) - lesbiannshit wanda/natasha G, 1k

Summary: Natasha and Wanda fight and Nat expects Wanda to leave, but to her surprise, Wanda stays. (loosely based off of Taylor Swift's song Mine)

you can call me babe for the weekend (ao3) - complicationstoo steve/tony T, 10k

Summary: Tony left his small town for Los Angeles after high school, leaving behind everything to pursue his dream. Ten years later, he comes back for the first time and finds that some things are impossible to let go of.

you can hear it in the silence (you can feel it on the way home) (ao3) - notcaycepollard steve/bucky/sam E, 2k

Summary: “Are you two drunk?” he asks, and Sam laughs, blushes enough to confirm it. Bucky gasps, just a little, and Steve narrows his eyes a little more. “Are you fucking?” Bucky giggles, something that turns into a breathy sigh halfway through, and god, they are, they’re drunk and fucking and Steve was at work, it’s not fair, they are the worst.

“It was Sam’s idea,” Bucky tells him, and Sam brings his hand up from under the covers, smacks him lightly in the shoulder.

“The fort was my idea. Drinking and fucking, that was all you, Barnes.”

you look like my next mistake (ao3) - littlemissstark315 loki/tony M, 3k

Summary: based off Taylor Swifts “Blank Space”, Tony beds the wrong woman for the weekend, barely escaping with his life intact.

[collisvng]

I just want to take some time away from my writing projects to speak about Yoongi and Jisung’s lyricism for a moment. Never in my life did I think I could fall in love with music and writing again until I found BTS and now Stray Kids. And the fact both my biases are complete lyrical geniuses is just bewildering to me.

Yoongi and Han have so much in common, but are also so different. Their types of writing styles and how they express their artistry is so unmatched in my eyes.

Yoongi has always been the type to express his feelings and world views through his music. He speaks about his life experiences, how others’ life experiences can change and affect those around them, and just makes music that feels so freeing when you listen to it you can’t help feel overwhelming emotion with each word that is said. He’s truly grown as an artist and will always choose being real over appeasing his audience, which I respect so much.

Han’s music is the kind of music that is so deceiving to the ear, it’s absolutely beautiful. His backtracks are always so full of life, while the songs themselves are so full of sorrow and heartbreak. His lyrics can literally rip your heart out with only a few words. And it’s like you are putting yourself in that pain while still managing to stay happy because of how it sounds. It's such a weird thing to experience, but it’s always so beautifully done.

They are both so forthcoming with their words, and the inspiration for what they write is always creative.

My little gummy smile boys with anxiety, using the most beautiful analogies to write the most gut-wrenching lyrics and coming out with the most expressive music. Ughhhhh, I love them.

And in more recent times, I have grown such emotional attachments to their more recent projects for emotional support.

Amygdala and Collision are the songs I have found myself having the most attachment to recently.

Those songs kinda saved me from myself in recent times when I was going through some really terrible stuff. And now with Han’s new song “Miserable” coming out at a very convenient time for me, it’s literally become my new favorite after only a day.

I will forever be grateful for their existence.

I hope BTS and Stray Kids continue to create a safe space for their fans, and know that there are people out there like me that were able to find a reason to keep going because of them.

I love them so much.

[hyumjim]

1, 3 and 30 for the ask game!^^

three songs ask set

1. three songs that come up when you put your phone on shuffle

why bonnie - galveston

2. v - blue

3. ty segall - my lady's on fire

i honestly don't really know any of these songs lol. i have a lot of music in my library <3

3. three songs you were recently obsessed with

yesssss!!!! time for a fun one. (@lesbiandeancas asked about this one too)

STAYC - bubble. teddy bear is my favorite stayc song i think, and this is very much in the same vein, really really fun energetic cute pop girlie stuff. may even surpass teddy bear! also to me this song is about being gay. in many years i believe the "mannish schoolteacher trying to get the girls to behave" trope will be widely discussed as a hallmark of lesbianism in kpop

2. stray kids - super bowl. kinda haven't been as obsessed with skz lately (on mood stabilizers so im not as into bts etc), but this shit just so-- well-- the shit so bussin, you could say. its so interesting to me that this song was the original "gods menu." I see some people saying let's stop making gods menu, well i disagree. let's do gods menu forever and ever and ever amen

3. walk the moon - tiger teeth. i put it on an OC playlist and i loooove it! lovely melodically and lyrically captures the feeling of loving and wanting someone so much it's painful. yes i have emotions too! this is a great song for having a nice emotional shower. crazy to think this is by the same people who made that awful "shut up and dance" song. absolute madmen i say

30. three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above)

hmmm interesting.. i'll just post things i think people are not likely to have heard?

waxahatchee - with you. yes a cover of the song by jessica simpson! yes it's from the girls hbo soundtrack! lol whatever. this is amazing to listen to on your way back home after something wonderful has happened.

2. LUCY - stove. these guys are geniuses. they're a korean band (not really kpop) with an incredible violinist and amazing lead vocals. i never see anyone talking about them, they're really underrated in that way but everyone should get the chance to listen to them! I'll recommend "stove" because it's a wonderful wintery song and it's just getting cold out now. but definitely listen to "flare" too!

3. soccer mommy - your dog. for anybody who's ever been in a shitty, unfair, unequal relationship.

[solaceintimeandspace]

a mosaic of my self

I've been on Twitter for 12 years now and I have never had a proper Tumblr blog during the heights of its hype. Twitter has never been more of a dumpster than now. I wonder if I can make friends here too.

You can call me Solace, I'm a trans asian man, I'm 25 now and got my first job recently. It's a time-limited mission so I don't know if I'll be able to stay at this company, and I live in this liminal space of not knowing if livelihood will still be possible in a few months.

I tend to dissociate a lot, mainly in a depersonalization type beat. To fight the horrors that come with constantly forgetting who and what I am, I write a lot, and I have decided to archive all of it recently, on an anonymous Tumblr page, like I did when I was twelve. It's the only thing I persistently do in my life. I try to commonplace and write down my neverending ramblings, I have made a whole archive for these here. I note down how I feel and what I do so I don't forget and can look back on the mosaic of people I've been.

god, i talk a lot.

I chose to call myself Solace here because it's the word that resonates with me most right now. I'm in a new city, in a country I haven't lived in yet, away from friends and alone. But somehow, it allows me to discover and get to know myself -- at least the one I am right now, and it gives me time away from the crushing expectations that come with knowing others.

I like music -- I have white guy tastes like Glass Animals, Tame Impala, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, half·alive. I also like Stray Kids and think they're music geniuses. I also can't make music. I like indie video games and speculative science fiction. I feel at home reading Lovecraft's short stories because I myself am the outsider -- in a cringe way and in an earnest feeling alienated from life and people way. I might really well be autistic.

i dont have a diagnosis and i dont seek one. it just helps me to recognize myself as being on the spectrum.

While I have my archive with all my personal stuff stored here, I was lacking interaction, reblogging and just shit chatting on the internet -- and screaming into the void as well. That's why I'm making this other blog. If you wanna chat about anything I mentioned or make me get into something you like, pop off. I'm looking for new hyperfixations. I speak French and English.

Talk to you (anyone?) soon. ✸

[madraleen]

Bungo Stray Dogs - Kafka Asagiri/Sango Harukawa Vol. 13: I have enough to say to make a post just for a single volume apparently - A Commentary (*anime spoilers and manga spoilers up to ch.114)

-@cover: AND I REPEAT! FYODOR, IF VILLAIN WHY SO PRETTY! also dazai-chan looks extra pretty princess, i approve. atsushi lowkey looks like he's about to fuck shit up, which i also approve. and aku-kun i approve in general.

-the colored page always takes me by surprise, it's so pretty

-OH LOOK, A DAZAI OUTLINE AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE AGENCY! REMEMBER WHEN THAT WAS A THING?! WHEN DAZAI WAS PICTURED AMONG THE AGENCY? HA?!

-also, another thing on manga vs anime: because the timeline is so streamlined, so far the character appearances have been pretty even. there's not too much or too little of anyone, it feels just right. i wonder if that'll still stand for the s4-s5 arcs and their many side-plots. of course this feels different when you're reading month to month, i assume you start screaming in exasperation at some point over who you see and who you don’t, but in the volumes it works great

-atsushi, angry, uncomfortable: "let me go , dazai-san!" akutagawa, docile, obedient: "senpai asks, senpai gets."

-it's funny, 'cause an injured dazai technically wouldn't be able to do much if atsushi or akutagawa threw fists with him right now, yet he's holding them by the scruff like stray cats.

-oh that's such a different vibe, i feel like! dazai's "could you not go running wild? you'll open up my stomach wound," in the anime it was played as a funny moment to restrain the kids, whereas here it feels like dazai is actually serious in the comedy of the panel

-dazai: "could you not go running wild?" atsushi: *presses himself against dazai's side and by extension his wound* BUT WHY IS AKUTAGAWA-" oh atsushi i love you

-there's a certain way that harukawa-sensei draws mouths that you can practically hear the obnoxiousness of the characters' tone, especially with ranpo and dazai

-*mutters something about dazai's hands*

-dude, the panel composition is beautiful idk. very dynamic

-"it's no wonder dazai-san chose to abandon you and disappear!" omfg atsushi. also yes bitch, slay, but omfg you ruthless little man-tiger.

-atsushi ain't having anyone's shit. everyone around him is deranged, foe and ally alike, and he's gonna react via expression or call them out for it, i love that about him. he's such a rich character, because yes he's been abused and he's traumatized and has low self-esteem, no self-worth and so on, but goddamn he ain't gonna stand there and take all this insanity

-"hellhound" akutagawa, dogs, mafia dogs, agency cats, i'm still on that.

-"what are you, a lawn mower!? dazai-san left you because all you think about is chopping up the enemy!" AHAHAHA ATSUSHI PLEASE!

-"I'LL TURN YOU INTO A TIGER-SKIN RUG" - AKU-KUN, PLEASE! atsushi and aku-kun have upped their bickering game, good for them

-like in the anime, aku-kun isn't coughing anymore so i'll just go ahead and assume his lung disease has flare-ups that come and go (or is affected by certain environments, eg the sea)

-babe. atsushi. my love. not only dazai-san trusts you, but EVEN AKU-KUN ACKNOWLEDGES AND SAYS OUT LOUD THAT DAZAI-SAN "PUTS A LOT OF TRUST IN YOU"! that's like almost too much trust in layman's terms

-"bamboo shoots come from bamboo, so mushrooms come from mush" oh god, that's something *i* would say

-oh actual rat members, great, thank you.

-akutagawa went from "wha-!?" to "how do i steer that thing" in a heartbeat when riding on atsushi, i love him. they're hilarious, bsd is so entertaining

-i imagine the creative conundrum, "how exactly do we position akutagawa so that he can ride on atshushi's back"

-ATSUSHI'S AND AKU-KUN'S COLOR PATTERNS ARE SO COMPLEMENTARY I CANNOT

-dude seriously though, the panel composition. it's beautiful.

-i mean, the kids are big-braining it. they're not five-braining it like the geniuses, but they're big-braining it alright

-lol, dazai-san is so shocked that the climber's not dostoyevsky that his eye veins popped out, good good

-"far crueler than my own mentor," akutagawa's "own mentor" being dazai? then yes, orphanage director is far crueler.

-lemme make an interlude here, 'cause i'm still on my dazai and the nurse bullshit. i just keep thinking that if you don't interpret it as another "actually, dazai didn't do that" moment in the long line of "dazai didn't do to that woman what you think he did" gags, and you actually interpret it as dazai fucked/sexually pleasured the nurse in order to get his phone and continue with business, it's one of the subtly darkest, saddest moments, because he probably learned that in the mafia, and he employs that tactic while physically in pain, to a literal stranger, and then goes on with business completely unbothered because he doesn't give a fuck about the nurse, his physical discomfort or his own body in general, and only used himself as a tool so that he can continue operations, STILL uses himself as a tool even though no one wants that of him now (not like this), and that's just so sad and fucked up.

-"most people are unaware that the tiger's claws can tear through skills themselves" aku-kun is pleased that he knows this

-no seriously,  mori-san is so much prettier in the manga. like wth, sometimes he's serving looks

-your master cut out the parts of your brain that feel unhappiness?! WTF IS FYODOR'S SKILL

-ahaha, dazai contacted francis, later atsushi contacts francis... like senpai like kouhai

-interesting. dazai yells "don't touch him" FIRST, and then fyodor kills the man, so it could very well be that he only does it to mislead dazai that touch is necessary for his skill, to play right into his false(?) guess.

-well yeah, dazai is conflicted because he doesn't know fyodor's skill, therefore lacks very important information, ACTUALLY miscalculated fyodor's moves until the very end (as did ranpo), and fyodor just let himself get arrested without any real fuss, which is sus. dazai's at a major disadvantage information-wise and he knows this ain't over (it's never over. it's never ever ever over, never ev-). but it's sweet that it's atsushi that notices this in a scene where it's just the two of them. idk, the fact that it's atsushi and that he doesn't really dwell on it, just reinforces how human dazai is in atsushi's eyes. to everyone else, it'd be a "!" moment. atsushi just notices it, as a fact.

-it feels like in dazai's eyes, atsushi is at his core all that is good and pure and righteous and shiny. the oda vibe in its purest form, never wavering, never tarnished.

-LOUISA IS ONLY 18?!

-"WHO GIVES A CRAP ABOUT YOUR INNER DRAMA!?" AHAHA RANPO-SAN <3 if that ain't the essence of bsd, i don't know what is.

-this ain't no rivalry, dear poe, you're just ranpo-kun's bitch. it's alright, we understand

-this "the conjurer" that they refer to fyodor as is the anime's "majin"? demon fyodor?

-i forget, DO we know the real reason fyodor let them capture him? we know why fukuchi wanted him imprisoned, but fyodor himself?

-ahahaha kunikida makes glasses with his skill and dazai knows and can nullify them? AHAHAHAHAAH that's cute

[skz-devotee]

Yay!!! First post for SKZ.

I’m an American living in the good ole Midwest. Sunsets over the corn fields, a slightly behind the times form of Americana, and the mundane is ever so present. I lived in multiple places around the country being a ballet dancer and teacher. I love music. I love art. I love dance. And I have been so disheartened by music and art in America lately. Even the avant-garde is shockingly self indulgent, ego stroking Blech.

A friend introduced Stray Kids to me, and I remember thinking how I was sure it wouldn’t be anything special. I’d heard some kpop before and enjoyed it more than a lot of American music, but it didn’t really have a deeper effect than that.

SKZ was different. My friend played bts videos and interviews of the guys before I heard the music as a sort of vibe check. I was intrigued so we went full steam ahead.

I haven’t stopped since. I’m fully devoted. I’m listening to music again. I’m dancing in the studio again. I’m singing like a lunatic while horribly mispronouncing the Korean language but I am so happy. It’s music with feeling, whimsy, and passion. It’s upbeat and broken down, it’s raw and masterfully produced atst. These guys LOVE music. They love making music. They love sharing their music. They’re geniuses, and novices. They are humble and kind, and yea they know they look good, but I see NO SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT from them which makes them seem alien compared to a lot of American artists.

I just love them- and I love that they’ve woken up a part of me I had thought I’d aged out of. I’m so grateful.

[mandoanne]

They were geniuses on this album!

[icarusexperiment]

Non-canon stuff from my fanfics #2

Light is sitting in a swivel chair that he has claimed on the right side of the hotel room. L took the left side as they both agreed this was the only way they wouldn't back seat detective each other. They checked into this hotel as the security was pretty good, and L's wild requests aren't the weirdest thing this place has dealt with. Aiber suggested the area, and the site passed Light's test.

Light is typing on his laptop, filling out forms for warrants, and writing reports to update their employer on their findings. As he is mid-word, a nerf dart hits his back. He looks down and sees it's one of their heart-shaped ones, which means L is being a brat.

Light turns his body to face L's side of the room, grabs a nerf gun that is kept on his desk to say, "What the fuck, L? I'm literally doing the paperwork you asked for? Why did you shoot me!?!"

L planned on ignoring Light's complaining and blatant lies until a dart shot him in the shoulder. L turns his body to face Light and says, "Light, I didn't even shoot you. I thought we were over the phase of you blaming things on me so you can lash out? I see we are devolving." He shoots back at Light aiming for his neck to further his point.

He dodges the dart that was going to hit him. "Do you even know what devolving is?!" Light proclaims with anger, offended by the accusation and L's lie.

L responds quickly, now frustrated he is being torn away from his work, "Yes, I do, in fact. Devolving is-"

Light cuts him off and is now fully facing L and shuffling closer, "Oh, do you really?! Says the person who didn't know that the Earth revolves around the Sun! ALSO, ME DEVOLVING? I will show you how I can devolve you little hand-footed gremlin!" Light stops his shuffling and barrages L with darts, now continuing to harass him. "Did they not teach you that at the Genius Academy?" Light says mockingly.

L trying to dodge as many darts as he can, leaps out of his chair and wittily replies, "I had better and far more interesting things to do them learn that dumb fact. For example, solve cases." L realizing what Light said earlier about his feet, he raises his gun back up and repeatedly shoots at Light, "I'm sorry you said what about my feet? Don't bring my feet into this! I don't like socks on my feet! It's a SENSORY THING, and you KNOW it!"

Ryuk, having been quiet this long, finally starts to cackle, drawing Light's attention. Seeing Ryuk floating and knocking his fists against the wall in laughter sees a stray nerf gun at Ryuk's feet. Now realizing that Ryuk was the instigator of this battle and not L, he decides to double down on his shooting cause he can't just tell L he was incorrect and in the wrong.

A knock at the door stops the two geniuses from their shootout. L quickly goes back to his seat and tries to sweep away the darts around him. Light just walks back to his desk, cleans off any stray darts in his space, and calls out," Come in!" Watari opens the door with a tray of sweets and tea. He sighs disappointedly at the darts on the floor but ignores them as he has more prominent things to share.

"L there seems to be a commotion being caused by some middle school students led by a Ministry of Defense agent. The recordings from the cameras we installed are now being transferred to your computer as they might interest you. Especially seeing as you both have grown bored if the mess says anything," Watari ends his announcement with a touch of dismay, handing a plate of a strawberry shortcake slice.

L opens a link that was sent to him and stabs his cake. Light debates on if he should walk or push his chair to L's desk. He decides to risk the chance of tripping over a stray dart and rolls over. He brushes shoulders with L and sees a group of children walking away from a passed-out man and another holding up who he assumes is the Defense Agent. L seems to be very focused as he sees these kids split off and one group go into the entertainment bar area. Light seeing that asks out loud," Is that allowed? Or are we just turning a blind eye to underage drinking like how we do to your child soldier and his mafia ties? Hmm, L?"

"Calm down, Light. I am sure all the money that this hotel receives excuses such activities. Also, I was doing way more thrilling things than contacting the mafia at his age," L mutters the last bit before continuing his response. " Watari, get me the name of the Agent, I'd ask Light, but he hasn't finished the paperwork I asked him to do earlier. I wouldn't want to overwhelm him." Light is holding back a scream and the urge to fight his partner in, well everything as L is giving him that horrid I am better than though look. How he wishes he could lash out, but he won't prove that bastard right from his earlier comment about devolving. Watari nods and leaves to reach one of L's contacts to get the Agent's name. L frowns as he gets no visible response from Light. Light pushes his chair back to his side of the room to finish his report.

[entamewitchlulu]

reasons why i think b*ngo stray dogs fucking sucks. again this is my way of coping right now because being mean about a fictional story is better than being mean to other people

there are too many goddamn characters. like truly, an Insane fucking amount of characters, and this is coming from the guy who loves high fantasy.

there is NO space to develop a single one of these characters. they're all flat as a piece of paper. every single one of them is one single character trait and a fancy ability.

atsushi is presumably the main character, but he disappears for chapters at a time and his supposed relationship with mafia guy Does Not Earn Its Development. the pacing is a fucking MESS. every single chapter a New Guy is introduced. and while the concept of them being named after authors was fun at first, it makes it actually more difficult to differentiate them as individuals because all they are is a character design with a random real person's name slapped onto them.

No one is on screen long enough to care about them! there are too many relationships that we're supposed to be interested in, but no one gets more than like three panels to develop a rapport! and then when we do get these character relationship moments, they're almost always instantly undermined by their sudden ability to work together being completely obliterated by their opponent's heretofore unseen special new power that was not once foreshadowed. speaking of which, entire characters would fucking DISAPPEAR with no warning or explanation. where did fucking kyoka go. did the author forget she existed.

the worldbuilding is atrocious. the whole point is that they have superpowers and yet they can't come up with anything more interesting than to call their special powers "Skills" (or Abilities, depending on translation). they're just called SKILL USERS???? at least my hero comes up with the word Quirk.

speaking of skills, there's no rhyme or reason to what a skill can do, which means every chapter there's just another insane escalation of what someone can manage to do out of nowhere. the worldbuilding is a mess so that they can just keep pulling things out of their ass.

And oh my fucking god, don't get me started on the PLOTTING. it's just oneupmanship after oneupmanship. Every single fucking chapter ends with "but actually, *I* was the one who outsmarted *you*!" it quickly stops being a fun game of cat and mouse between geniuses and devolves into a messy pile of two kids pretending to shoot each other and then saying they have an invincible shield, but then oooh i have an all powerful SWORD. every time d/azai and d/ostoyevsky were on the screen i wanted to smash my head through a window because they were the fucking WORST. everyone would deduce some perfect plan, but then that plan was upended by ANOTHER perfect plan, but then actually the first plan had accounted for that plan, but then actually actually the other plan was ready for THAT plan -

it gets exhausting!! in an attempt to upend the status quo every single chapter, it just becomes a mess of not being able to, for one second, rely on any sense of stability in characters or narrative. there was never any point in feeling excited about the good guys' plans working, because you knew in two panels the bad guys were going to have anticipated it and done some other stupid thing, and then you couldn't feel any tension from the bad guys' plans overwhelming the heroes because you know in two seconds d/azai was going to have some extra special galaxy brain moment where the had KNOWN EVERYTHING THE WHOLE TIME ACTUALLY UWU

and the fact that it wanted so bad to be gritty and dark and intense, but it could never, even once, commit to letting EVEN ONE of its characters die, was so frustrating. i hate when characters die! I don't like it! but even i was tired after the 100th fake out where you think a character was assassinated and it turns out no they were actually just spirited away to a magic book world uwu

and the thing that pisses me off the most is that i keep seeing this fucking major ship show up in the sher/liam tag and someone called d/azai and ch/uya "sher/liam in a different font" and i have NEVER been so fucking OFFENDED in my life, there is barely even the slightest, most tenuous actual relationship between those two because despite being told of their extensive history we only ever see them together on page like, maybe 4 times, and also, the appeal of sher/liam is that they have an actual, deep respect for each other and are both geniuses who have been on to each other for ages but like to smile politely and pretend they don't know anything as they dance around each other. d/azai and ch/uya are an insufferable, implausible genius x a loud, destructive idiot. THEY ARE NOT THE SAMEEEEEEEEEE

sorry to be a hater but i'm having a horrendous time in my life right now so i picked up the next manga on my list to read and read the whole thing up to where it's currently left off so i could just have some neutral thing to read to not associate with my current sadness and it turns out that b*ngo stray dogs fucking sucks