#that was a romance set in a traumatic post apocalyptic world

[kizo2703]

BELLARKE ENDGAME - 6x13

i still cannot believe we have confirmation that bellamy and clarke were written to be romantic the whole time. as shitty as the ending was, THEY WERE WRITTEN TO BE ROMANTIC.

[nellasbookplanet]

Book recs: great, unique and creative worldbuilding in fantasy books

A note: this is very much a subjective list. I typically do not care much for historical medieval-esque settings (though seeing as I'm a big critical role fan, obviously there are exceptions), but rather prefer settings that mix up historical and modern, fantastical and scientific, and make up entirely new things and societal structures not based on our world.

Other book rec posts:

Really cool sci-fi worldbuilding

Mermaid books

Dark sapphic romances

Vampire books

Without further ado, let’s go!

The Unspoken name by A.K. Larkwood

Honestly there's so much going on in this one worldbuilding-wise that it's kind of hard to explain. Portals, flying ships, orcs, elves, creepy snake gods, cults, immortal evil mages who traumatize teens as their hobby. It's also very queer!

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèli Clark

Set in an alternate 1910's steampunk Cairo, where djinn and other creatures (among other things, creepy steampunk angels) live alongside humans. We get to follow an investigator as she races to catch a criminal using a powerful object to control djinn and stir unrest. Fantastically creative and fresh, and also features a buddy cop dynamic between two female leads as well as a sapphic romance.

Sunshine by Robin McKinley

Urban fantasy on a level of its own, where dangerous magic exists alongside humans. It keeps you guessing and much is left unexplained; if you want clear answers and explanations to everything you might be disappointed, but if you want a world that feels mysterious and dangerous and lived in you'll probably like it. It follows a baker who, after getting kidnapped by vampires, gets embroiled in a dangerous struggle.

Radiant (Towers Trilogy) by Karina Sumner-Smith

A strange mix of fantasy, sci-fi and post apocalyptic, Radiant follows a girl without magic in a world where magic is currency. Those with much of it live in magically floating towers, while everyone else scrambles to survive in the ruins of an old city left devastated from an unknown cataclysm. The setting is creepy and mysterious and leaves me itching as I want to dig for more. Also there are ghosts.

Three Parts Dead (Craft Sequence) by Max Gladstone

This is one of those books where you just kind of have to let go and go along as it throws you all over the place. I started reading it expecting an urban fantasy, but it is much more and wholly unique. It features a world where gods and magic are deeply enmeshed with society at large, and a base of much of its technology and progress. It doesn't quite feel historical, but also not modern, but rather like you took a fantastical world and let it develop naturally into its own contemporary era.

Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer duology) by Laini Taylor

One of my favorite things is when the mysteries of the world and how it works become part of the plot, with characters trying to figure out their own world. Strange the Dreamer is beautiful and complex and will hurt your heart. Personally I didn't care much for the central romance, but the wonderful characters, themes, mysteries and world make up for it.

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

Like Three Parts Dead, The Dawnhounds is a book where you just kind of have to let the story and the world wash over you. It skirts the line of scifi and fantasy, with a futuristic world of environmentally friendly mushroom houses and deadly fungi bio weapons next to literally god-given superpowers and near-immortality. It's really cool and unlike anything else I've ever read. Bonus: it’s also sapphic!

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Another example of a world that feels wholly like its own organically developed thing, with societal structures developed around the magical aspects and a presence of gods and demi-gods, many of whom walk the streets and will smite you if you piss them off.

Dead Witch Walking (The Hollows series) by Kim Harrison

Okay, here we have an actual urban fantasy. While I got a bit worn out by the many, many love interests throughout the series, the worldbuilding is simply phenomenal and relies heavily on a well-developed alternate history. Basically, magical beings such as vampires, werewolves, elves, fairies, witches, etc, used to exist secretly alongside us, but when humanity delved into genetic research instead of the space race during the cold war, an engineered virus ended up wiping a good chunk of us out and the magical beings stepped in to stop us from going extinct. Now in the modern day, we co-exist but tensions remain. Our main character is a witch who, alongside her roommates (a vampire and a fairy) solve mysteries and crime and end up unveiling secrets about their world centuries in the making.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Another urban fantasy, this one aimed at young adults and featuring indigenous mythology alongside creatures such as vampires and ghosts. We follow a young apache girl with the ability to raise ghosts as she works to solve the murder of her cousin.

Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor trilogy) by Mark Lawrence

Honestly, most of what I've read by Mark Lawrence so far could be featured on this list (special shoutout to his Broken Empire trilogy!). We follow a young girl training to become an assassin in a slowly dying world, where ice is overtaking the land and only a small band along its middle is habitable, kept alive by a mirror in the sky sharpening the dying sun's light. Question is, how long will this machine last, and what even is it? Very dark but very good.

The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth trilogy) by N.K. Jemisin

Listen, N.K. Jemisin gets to have two books on this list, okay, she is very good at what she does. In a world regularly torn apart by natural disasters, a big one finally strikes and society as we know it falls, leaving people floundering to survive in a post apocalyptic world, its secrets and past to be slowly revealed. We get to follow a mother as she races through this world to find and save her missing daughter.

The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez

AKA the book the killed me. Two boys travel throughout their land with the body of a god as her horrible, horrible children try to hunt them down. It's hard to explain more than that, but trust me when I say the narrative voice and literary techniques are incredibly unique in how they blend past and present, reality and story, lead and bystander. Truly an experience. Bonus: gay romance!

Wild Seed by Octavia Butler

Master of slightly fucked up romance, Octavia Butler knocks it out of the park in this story featuring two immortals struggling throughout the centuries. What do you do when there is only one other person remotely like you, and you simultaneously can't stand them and can't live without them? Apparently, you turn yourself into a dolphin for a while.

Birth of the Fire Bringer by Meredith Ann Pierce

Cards on the table, it has been a great many years since I actually read this, and just as many years spent meaning to read the sequels (I have a lot of stuff on my tbr okay, don’t judge me), but I do remember it making a great impact on me back in the day. Our main character is a unicorn! Fighting wyverns and gryphons! How cool is that!

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

The Surviving Sky by Kritika H. Rao

From Goodreads: This Hindu philosophy-inspired debut science fantasy follows a husband and wife racing to save their living city—and their troubled marriage—high above a jungle world besieged by cataclysmic storms.

High above a jungle-planet float the last refuges of humanity—plant-made civilizations held together by tradition, technology, and arcane science. In these living cities, architects are revered above anyone else. If not for their ability to psychically manipulate the architecture, the cities would plunge into the devastating earthrage storms below.

Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Urban fantasy but the vampires are aliens? Sign me the fuck up

The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee

From Goodreads: At the edge of the known world, an ancient nomadic tribe faces a new enemy-an Empire fueled by technology and war.

[jokers-bat]

Every Joker and Batman Fic Idea I Have

I’m currently working on other projects but here’s what’s been buzzing in my mind lately!

None of these have titles or plots right now so:

2004 Batman Thingy

Takes place after the episode where Batman goes into Joker’s mind. Dr. Strange decides to keep exploring with Joker’s mind and it quickly becomes a form of mental and psychological abuse. Batman finds out but by then Joker’s mind is so broken he has amnesia. He brings him to Wayne mansion to help him recover only for Joker and Bruce to form a friendship that is later tested when Joker’s memories start returning. (Angst, hurt/comfort, possibly redemption and romance)

Joker’s Sisters

This is partly inspired by the Jack Stauber’s Opal short. Joker has two younger sisters who he left behinds when he became the Joker. Depending on the story, Ruth and Emily either believe their brother is dead or Ruth knows the truth but made a deal to keep it a secret from Emily as long as Joker never involves them in his crimes or does anything that could potentially harm them (I’ll post drawings of them sometime).

High School AU

Imagine if Bruce were a typical student at a school for troubled and traumatized youth. Though he puts on a cold and standoffish exterior, he feels lonely in this new school but with classmates like John, a class clown who everyone calls Joker, Selina who rescues and takes care of stray cats, and Ozzy who pushes everyone away, Bruce finds he’s not alone in this cruel world. (Basically a fic where Batman befriends all his enemies in a high school setting 😆)

And I really want to try a post apocalyptic society kind of fic too but the idea keeps changing. 😅

[maxeve]

The Devil Judge is 'Beauty and the Beast' if it was set in an unlawful dystopian post-apocalyptic world. Change my mind.

No seriously. A traumatized Lord of a gothic mansion whose stone heart is melted by a young, bright-eyed sweet 'girl' and they're living together due to 'circumstances'. Their ideals clash, they fight but somehow they're the only ones who truly understand each other. Cue domestic shenanigans and longing stares.

What in the name of dark fairy tale AU is this.

I love it gimme more

Sad that all this probably will come to nothing as they'll be paired off with FLs with whom they have minimal development.

Or there could be no endgame romance as it's a crime drama and there's an open ending if no one dies that is

Dare I hope?

[ao3feed-stevenatasha]

The Last of Us.

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Uykhva1

by TheWorthyElevator

Set in the post-apocalyptic United States, after tragedy strikes Steve Rogers and his daughter Kate's life, he wonders how they'll be able to survive in a world that's now designed to take everything away from them. But as he and Kate go on a grueling journey over the years of self-discovery, pain and loss, and love and suffering, the pair will find that there is still something left in this cruel world worth fighting for.

Words: 6968, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 3 of Katelena Verse

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Captain America - All Media Types

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/F, F/M, Multi

Characters: Kate Bishop, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Yelena Belova, James "Bucky" Barnes, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Laura Barton, Bruce Banner, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Thor (Marvel), Nick Fury, Peter Parker, Stephen Strange, Sif (Marvel), Peggy Carter

Relationships: Yelena Belova/Kate Bishop, Yelena Belova & Kate Bishop, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov

Additional Tags: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Protective Steve Rogers, Hurt Kate Bishop, Steve Rogers is a Complicated Father, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Suicidal Thoughts, Eventual Romance, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Inspired by The Last of Us (Video Games), Father-Daughter Relationship, Hurt Natasha Romanov

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/Uykhva1

[larathia]

The Ghost #94: Pawn Opening

#94: Pawn Opening

Summary (serial): Kuthumae's a highly trained mercenary captain who's pulled off the impossible (and the extremely improbable) many times. It's had its costs; on the last mission, while he pulled off the impossible job and got his team home alive, he got stuck between dimensions, in a plane outside the normal flow of time. There he met a girl - because if one person can be stuck there, why not two? Rina is the sheltered-yet-traumatized daughter of a noble family on an entirely different world from Kuth; a world of goddesses and wishes, imprisoned in that dimension so that she may never realize the full extent of her powers. Not that she's likely to; she volunteered to be put there. When the two meet, they each prove the key to the other's freedom - and we'd say they hold the keys to each other's hearts, but frankly when it comes to People, we're talking about a pair of dumbasses here.

Summary (this arc): Kuthumae and Rina are welcome to live in the strange, multidimensional, post-apocalyptic city of Andeliin. But is that really a good idea? They know only the bare bones of its history and circumstances, but they do know it was until quite recently the capital of a very unpleasant empire. Who knows who might come calling, seeking to tear down what's left - and anyone left alive inside?

There's a romance here, but it's a slow burn one. (Kuthumae is demi, aro, and bi. And clueless. Oh gods. So clueless. This romance will TAKE A WHILE.)

Rating: Mature (violence, language)

Warnings: Discussion of rape, depression, PTSD, generally questionable situations. (Not all the time by any means, but they'll be there.) What can I say, I like quandaries.

The 2019 Master Linkpost is here. The 2020 Master Linkpost is here. The 2021 Master Linkpost is here.

New reader? Don't love in medias res? Begin here! (Or head to the grand masterpost and pick a likely arc!)

This week:

The Queen sets matters in motion. Or at least, does her level best to do so. Kuth is somewhat reluctant to play the hero. Heroes tend to die.

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[goddamnelsa]

Liz’s Top Books of 2020

blatantly stolen from @alamorn but also i wanted to feel accomplished that i did in fact read published books this year before descending entirely into mdzs/the untamed fanfiction :) :) :) :)

In two parts! Books I read that actually came out in 2020, and then honorable mentions of books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years. Enjoy!

Top Books Published in 2020 (which are not in any kind of order because I can’t like rank stuff, I’m not that kind of person)

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

What can I say except it’s N.K. Jemisin who wrote my favorite high fantasy series (The Inheritance Trilogy), won three consecutive Hugo Awards for her The Broken Earth trilogy, and she’s writing urban fantasy with Lovecraftian and superhero team flavor. I mean....obviously I was at the top of the wait list for this once my library ordered it. And it lived up to the hype!! Because of course!! It’s fabulously fast-paced with amazingly smart and interesting characters of diverse backgrounds. I kept thinking one of them was my favorite, and then another would have a great line and I would change my mind. It’s fine, they’re all technically one entity with several parts, so I can love them all and not choose (but it’s probably Bronca, let’s be real). And it’s the first of a series! And I’m counting down the days til there is more!

Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis

I definitely picked this up simply because Lindsay Ellis, one of my favorite video essayists, wrote it, and then ended up loving everything about it. I’m not usually one for First Contact stories, but I appreciate the very human-focused approach here, sticking solely to an ordinary girl’s perspective as she navigates being the person first in contact with a very alien alien. Cora’s attempts to humanize Ampersand are relatable, but I appreciate Ellis reminding us at almost every turn that Ampersand is super Not Human, no matter how much Cora reads into his actions. Ellis doesn’t gloss over the Science part either, especially when it comes to the race of aliens Ampersand belongs to. Again, the first of a series, and you will absolutely be screaming for the next book when this one is over.

You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria

Insert my obligatory “I don’t usually read romances blah blah blah.” Though, during lockdown, I attempted to branch out beyond my usual genres when I was attending a ton of publisher webinars about upcoming books. This one stood out to me because of its Latinx cast and the whole behind-the-scenes of a Jane The Virgin-esque show, based on a telenovela (of course). It is fantastic, a quick read with instantly likable and fun characters. And the tropes! We’re playing love interests but we have insane chemistry! A sensitive, traumatized male lead who learns to open up again! A sassy but insecure female lead who learns to let loose and love again! Hooking up, but we have to keep on the DL or else scandal! And of course, the extended families add to every scene they are in--I loved every interaction Ashton and Jasmine had with their families, it was the cherry on top of a fantastic read. Also the sex scenes are steamy. 

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

I got this graphic novel as an advanced reader copy well before it came out, and after reading it, I was sCREAMING because I couldn’t tell all my graphic novel, queer coming-of-age-with-magic loving friends to immediately pick up a copy!! So thankfully, it’s out now, so I can scream to the heavens to please read this!!! It is such a sweet story with beautiful full-color art and fantastic world-building. It has the same silly, referential humor you see in a lot of kids/YA graphic novels these days, but Beetle packs in a lot of heart as well. 

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

Like many people in May/June of this year, I was reading, reading, reading a lot of books about racism from as many Black authors as I could get my hands on. There were many not published this year that should definitely be read (So You Want To Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo being among the top), but this book really stuck with me because it is written specifically for a younger audience, and Jason Reynolds knows how to talk to kids about tough subjects. Stamped gets across difficult concepts like assimilationists and segregationists in an easy-to-understand, conversational style that doesn’t take away from any of the important history and nuance. This certainly is not The Book of antiracism studies, but it is a good starting point if you are daunted by lengthy title lists and aren’t sure where to begin. I highly recommend the audiobook as well, read by Reynolds himself.

(Side note: I watched this keynote address with Reynolds and Kendi which is an excellent primer into the background of how this book came to be. Reynolds is also just very interesting to listen to)

Honorable Mentions aka Books I read in 2020 that were published in previous years again, not ranked because I CAN’T, OKAY

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

I read this book and then wanted to go back and read it immediately again, not necessarily because it was so amazing, but because I felt like I would get it even more if I did. This is a haunting little book that took turns I was not expecting, even with the book synopsis I read. It is disturbing and features descriptions of an eating disorder, so proceed with caution. However, if you like Gothic tales of haunted houses and the trauma inflicted on us by those who came before, I can’t recommend this one enough.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My last book club read before the pandemic D: We didn’t actually get to meet to discuss this book, but my club (all librarians) were working at our emergency call center at the same time and all reading it, so we KINDA got to discuss it, if not in a formal book club setting. ANYWAY, it’s a thrilling jaunt through 1920s Mexico, following a fantastic Cinderella-esque heroine who makes a deal with a Mayan god to retrieve his body. If you are a fan of the Percy Jackson-brand of mythological adventures, this is definitely one to add to your list, especially if you are looking for something a little bit more Adult.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker

Okay, I know it’s a young readers/middle grade book, but HEAR ME OUT. This is whimsical and haunting tale about seven little fox kits who set out to scare themselves shitless by hearing scary tales. Only one kit will remain when the night is over, but the one who does will get to hear a surprisingly sweet, and well-earned, happy ending. If you are a Neil Gaiman-esque horror fan, I recommend picking this up. Its scares are fairly scary, especially for its audience, but it’s an engaging story about the lengths we will go for the ones we love.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Did someone say Navajo monster-hunting heroine with magic powers navigating a post-apocalyptic world, oh and also saving it??? Look, Maggie is My Kind of Hero, in that she’s damaged, she drinks too much, she’s surly, but she has a seriously gooey heart of gold underneath all that armor. Navajo mythology is woven into this tale of monster-hunting, surviving. If you’re in Supernatural-disappointment-land, maybe give this a try! It has that Western-y, road trip feel to it, and again, I love the lead character. (It also has a currently published sequel and a soon-to-be-released third book as well!)

This is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This was rec’ed to me by a librarian friend, with the words, “Oh, Liz, you’ll really like this.” And she was RIGHT. Red and Blue are on opposite sides of a war waged across time and decide to send letters to each other, at first, to taunt, but then, to understand, to learn, and to love. The details of the war don’t matter much, but what does matter is the achingly beautiful poetry with which Red and Blue reveal themselves to each other. I was told to listen to this one, but I’m glad I read it myself instead. The prose is very purple at times, and I appreciated being able to go back to passages to reread again and again. Oh, and it’s queer (Red and Blue are both female), and SPOILERS SPOILERS has a happy ending. 

(also there is a wangxian remix for my mdzs buds. and also a semi-officially sanctioned fanfic sequel???? at least amal el-mohtar linked it from goodreads so whoo! also also it’s very funny)

And that’s my Year in Books 2020! Seeing it laid out like this, I had a surprisingly good year for book reading even though I felt like I barely read anything. For awhile, reading was Hard, and I just wanted to consume fluffy, sweet fanfiction, but I’m getting back into it. Oh, and please let me know if you check any of these out!

Here’s to a good year for books in 2021! ✨

[badbookopinions]

Parable of the Sower - Earthseed #1, Octavia Butler

3.5/5 - this is a very good book. It deserves a higher star rating if we’re going by quality, but it’s also disturbing - as a post-apocalyptic world should be - so I didn’t enjoy reading it, and my metric for rating is if I enjoyed it.

Thanks to rising violence, climate change, and new drugs, the US has disintegrated into a lawless, violent place. Lauren Olamina lives in a gated community with her family: poor, but safe against the chaos outside. When disaster strikes, Lauren has to go out into the world, forming a ragtag group around her and her own idea of God.

This is a violent book. It has terrible things happening to children and to women and Butler doesn’t censor the horror at all. I had to take a break in the middle of reading it and come back later.

It’s also a very, very good one - the best post-apocalyptic book I’ve ever read. It’s of a quality level similar to the Hunger Games, and while their plots are very different the books share a lot of similarities in theme: a teen girl at the centre observing, characters and setting as carefully constructed allegory, questions about hope in dark times.

There’s very little I love more than a story about a group of people coming together - I don’t want to exactly call it found family, because the people in it don’t ever acknowledge it as that, but it is a found family. 

Through community and compassion, things get better in this book. It’s a hard road, and there’s so much violence and horror along the way it’s hard to realize it until you take a step back, but things get better.

I HATED the romance, though. Lauren is just barely 18 and gets together with someone in his late 40s - a year older than her own father. It’s never much more than the C-plot of the story and Bankole himself isn’t abusive, but the age difference freaked me out.

Plot: slow at the start, but it picked up well. Especially at the beginning, when Lauren is introducing the gated community she lives in for the first third, it’s hard to tell where it’s going and what’s actually important to the story. Once they got on the road, it worked much better, though. I especially liked that it isn’t a typical three-act structure, but more of a gradual build, which helps to elevate the story from typical dystopia to something much more clever.

Characters: bland. They aren’t really meant to exist except as different things that could happen to people in this world: they don’t have personalities so much as traumatic backstories. There are really too many of them for each to get their own personality in a book of this length, but I wouldn’t have minded seeing a few of them get developed, because they all were such interesting premises for characters. Lauren is the exception. She was a good main character: clever, driven, and interesting. Bankole is also kind of an exception but I hate him so he gets no credit.

Setting: yikes! As in, it is carefully engineered to give the biggest yikes! possible. It’s a masterclass in apocalypse, nightmarish enough that you’re shocked while still maintaining plausible possibility that it could happen. It’s really the star of this story and it stands out - some of the images are going to stick in my head.

Prose: fine. Lauren writes verses about her Earthseed movement, which is a religion she founds over the course of the book. “There is no end /To what a living world / Will demand of you.”

Diversity report: Lauren and most of the characters are black. Some are mixed Asian or Latinx. Well-written female characters.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 12/1/20

Cutie and the Beast, Vol. 1 | By Yuhi Azumi| Seven Seas – This looked cute, and gave off a very My Love Story!! vibe, but I was wary of the fact that one of the leads is in his late twenties and the other is a senior in high school. That said, unlike a lot of other romance titles from Japan that adore this sort of couple, the manga makes their age difference the main conflict. He’s a famous pro wrestler, and getting involved with a girl her age, even if she is eighteen, would be career-killing. On the other hand… these two have fallen hard for each other almost at first sight, and can’t stop texting, calling, meeting up, etc. Now, how this will play out I’m not sure. Pretty sure they’ll get together, but I bet his career does take a big hit. Nice to see the manga address it, though. – Sean Gaffney

How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | Viz Media – “Opposites attract” is a common enough trope, but it is utilized to great effect and with notable complexity in How Do We Relationship?. The manga follows two young women in college as they begin dating each other—the somewhat shy and innocent Miwa and the much more boisterous and experienced Saeko. Navigating a new relationship is rarely easy and a romance between two women has additional sets of challenges, as Saeko in particular is very aware. While Miwa and Saeko’s deepening feelings are obviously core to the story, their relationships with friends and classmates play critical roles as well. One of the things that impressed me the most about the first volume of How Do We Relationship? was just how believable and realistic all of these different relationships were. The characterization of the leads is wonderfully nuanced, too. I’m really looking forward to reading more of the series. – Ash Brown

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 9 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Most of this Komi volume revolves around Valentine’s Day, which as always presents the author with a conundrum: how do I make them give chocolates and be the cutest couple ever without actually making them a couple or having them confess? Rest assured, though, fans of Komi and Tadano will find endless scenes to love here. My favorite may be Tadano’s sister trying to get him to admit his feelings, then being rather annoyed when he actually comes close to doing so. Fortunately, as the title suggests, Komi is not very good at communicating, so things stay the same for now. Still, I suspect we need something to shake things up. Perhaps a new love interest could magically arrive soon? – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 25 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Shigaraki’s backstory is as terrifying and traumatic as you might imagine—let’s just say the hands he wears aren’t just for show. So it’s back to our heroes, who are practicing how to do hero interviews (Midoriya’s goes as badly as you’d expect) and also preparing for the next round of internships. Oh yes, and celebrating Christmas, which is adorable and also has Eri Santa. As for internships, Nighteye is dead and his agency is too busy to take him in, and Best Jeanist is missing, so Bakugou’s in limbo as well. Todoroki suggests an obvious idea: all three of them could intern with the best dad ever. All of this is clearly setting up a huge battle in the upcoming books, but it’s fun to see. – Sean Gaffney

Ossan Idol!, Vol. 1 | By Ichika Kino and Mochiko Mochida | TOKYOPOP – Adapted from a light novel, Ossan Idol! is the story of Miroku Osaki, a virginal, pure of heart, and unemployed 36-year-old who has spent the last decade as a shut-in. He’s always been overweight, but once he discovers a love of dance, he starts training at a gym with Yoichi Kisaragi, who was once overweight himself. Soon, Miroku is buff, handsome, and charming and the karaoke video he accidentally uploads to the internet becomes a viral sensation. The volume concludes with a famous producer declaring he’ll turn Miroku into an idol, and not just him but Yoichi (41) and dancer pal Shiju (40), too. All in all, this is a pleasing bit of fluff that I don’t have a lot to say about either positively or negatively. I will probably check out volume two, at least, to see where the story goes. – Michelle Smith

Sadako at the End of the World | By Koma Natsumi and Koji Suzuki | Yen Press – The premise of this one-volume manga—What if the girl from The Ring ended up in a post-apocalyptic world?—made me wonder if it would be horror or melancholic like Girls’ Last Tour. It’s pretty much both. Sadako, particularly once the artist gives her a tablet to communicate with, is not as scary here, and the girls she’s with are an innocent delight. But as they meet the few remaining people in this world along the way, there’s a definite sense she’s also going back and doing what she does best to each of them. The ending tries for sort of a fourth-wall-breaking thing but I think it was simply there as the author wasn’t sure how to end it after the cast was gone. A good read overall, though. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 13 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media After reading my brief of the last volume, I feel a need to eat my words. The combination of this new volume and the currently running anime have made me realize: yes, there is real character development here. Syalis at the start of the series was a gag character who would murder at the drop of a hat. Here, while she’s still extremely flaky, she’s doing her best to unite humans and demons, even if this means completing all the Demon Lord’s paperwork—in ONE DAY. Even better, when the Cleric waffles on about his feelings for her and the reason he ran away from the castle, Syalis points out something: who she likes is her own decision. Our Sleepy Princess is all grown up! – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 4 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – There’s a chapter of sex here, in case you were looking for that, but for the most part this series would rather deal with the sweet tensions of a young couple in love trying to negotiate how to do that and still be attentive to the other partner’s needs. Their couple-ness is now generally known to the office, though we have not quite told the parents yet—I suspect that will be next book. More importantly, they are talking about moving in together, something that requires charts and sticky notes, because these two are organized and also adorable. And they are also still very much desiring each other as well—the sex here is hot. One of the best romance mangas to come out in 2020. – Sean Gaffney

What the Font?! – A Manga Guide to Western Typeface | By Kuniichi Ashiya| Seven Seas – This is pretty much exactly what you’d expect. A young woman is told to layout a presentation, but has never done this before. While studying Western fonts, she falls asleep… and meets personifications of many of them, both Serif and Sans. Each font has a personality, they talk about themselves and their history, and then we move on. If you’re expecting Hetalia antics, look elsewhere—there’s no plot to speak of, and the fonts are not the most riveting characters. If you do want to learn about the differences between Western typefaces, though, this is a good enough guide for you, though I suspect it works even better in Japanese. – Sean Gaffney

Whisper Me a Love Song, Vol. 1 | By Eku Takeshima | Kodansha Comics – The cover of this volume is quite striking, and it led me to believe that this would be somehow different from your standard “high school girls in love” story. Unfortunately, it really isn’t. Yori Asanagi is a talented singer who fills in with the light music club band for a performance at the entrance ceremony Himari Kino is attending. Himari promptly informs Yori she’s fallen for her at first sight and Yori believes she means it romantically (instead of merely as a fan), and instantly falls in love herself. Characterizations here are shallow, particularly for Yori’s would-be bandmates, and there’s just not much going on that’s especially interesting. The one exception is that Himari’s enthusiastic appreciation for Yori’s singing is seemingly helping her to overcome some confidence issues. I’ll give this one more volume, I think, to see how it develops. – Michelle Smith

You Are My Princess | By Hiroto Kujirada | Futekiya (digital only) – Itsumi Tachibana is a scary-looking guy who secretly loves kitties. He’s surprised when the princely student council president, Seima Takajo, confesses romantic feelings for him, and suspects he’s being made fun of. After spending more time with Takajo, however, and realizing he’s the only one Takajo allows himself to be unguarded around, Itsumi’s feelings change. Plot-wise, You Are My Princess isn’t terribly unique. The guys get together, they have sex in the final chapter, the end. What makes it special, though, is Kujirada-sensei’s clean and expressive artwork, the nonverbal storytelling, and the little moments in which Takajo drops the facade and reveals real vulnerability. And also kitties. In the end, I enjoyed this cute story and look forward to more by this creator! – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

[bleachintothemultiverse]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME. First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all have witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat Mun Name: Phoenix (Pho) (can also be called blaze-bc of my discord username. though i use that name for a oc)  Age: 17 (18 in august)     Contact: Discord, ims

Character(s) I rp: Aizen,grimmjow, Uryuu, renji, Byakuya, Kusaka, Hanataro Which muse(s) inspires you the most atm?(for MM):  Aizen, Grimmjow, Byakuya and Uryuu Current Fandom(s): Bleach, fullmetal alchemist,  Yugioh Fandom(s) you have an AU for:  Fullmetal alchemist : Brother hood, Yugioh My language(s): English, spanish //Kinda- im learning it// Themes I’m interested in for rp:   Fantasy / Science fiction / Horror / Western / Romance / Thriller / Mystery / Dystopia / Adventure / Modern / Erotic / Crime / Mythology / Classic / History / Renaissance / Medieval / Ancient / War / Family / Politics / Religion / School / Adulthood / Childhood / Apocalyptic / Gods / Sport / Music / Science / Fights / Angst / Smut / Drama / etc. Themes/Genres you have an AU for: Modern.

Preferred Thread length: one-liner / 1 para / 2 para / 3+ / novella. Asks can be send by: Mutuals / Non-Mutuals / Personals / Anons. Can Asks be continued?:   YES / NO    only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO. Preferred thread type: crack / casual nothing too deep / serious / deep as heck. Is realism / research important for you in certain themes?:   YES / NO. Are you atm open for new plots?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Do you handle your draft / ask - count well?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. How long do you usually take to reply?:  24h / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3+ / months / years. I’m okay with interacting: original characters / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / my fandom / crossovers / multi-muses / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / canon-divergent portrayals / au-versions (as main or only verse). Do you post more ic or ooc?:  IC / OOC. Are you selective with following others?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

Best ways to approach you for rp/plotting:  message me either on ims or discord. ^^ I am open up to any idea that you may have What expectations do you hold towards your plotting partner:   Uh knowing what muse they want to interact ahead of time.  Normally I can create a plot if they already know what Muse they want to rp with. How do you usually plot with others, do you give input or leave most work towards your partner?:   I say it kinda 50/50 I tried to build the plot equally with the rp partner.

When a partner drops the thread, do you wish to know?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?:  I know some things happen- so its okay if you don’t want to tell me if you are- I normally figure it out after weeks of not responding. (Unless you are a low activity blog- then i figure you are just busy ^^) - Will you tell your partner?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

Is communication in the rpc important to you?   YES / NO. - And why?:  Because communication is important, especially for plots we are winging mostly. and if they have any questions about how i portray a certain character. - Are you okay with absolute honesty, even if it may means hearing something negative about you and/or portrayal?:  I wanna say Yes. It really depends-  If its about me. I want to know why you say that especially if you don’t know me well and we could possibly clear up a misunderstanding or something. But if it for a character Yea sure. As long as it done explaining what they don’t like on it or if  there is something I could improve.  - Do you think you can handle such situation in a mature way?  YES / NO.

Why do you rp again, is there a goal?:  to explore my muses and expand on the more complex ones. (Like Aizen for example) Wishlist, be it plots or scenarios:   TYBW stuff. more Pendulum arc stuff for Aizen.   Muken Aizen related things.  What Type of Starters do you prefer / dislike, can’t work with?:  I can work with basically any type of starters? As long as it has a clear way to make interaction happen.

What type of characters catch your interest the most?:   Characters i’m familiar with. Characters that is well done (Especially Oc’s).  What type of characters catch your interest the least?:  Characters that seem way to Mary or gary sue. (More Oc related things).  Characters who are just- evil because they can be.

What are your strong aspects as rp partner?:  willing to learn about different fandoms. Open to literally anything. gets invested in ships easily.  What are your weak aspects as rp partner?:  Being to anxious to communicate. Forgetfulness. Loosing track of threads (Because threadtracker hates me-) Do you rp smut?:  YES / NO. Do you prefer to go into detail?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS. Are you okay with black curtain?:  YES / NO. - When do you rp smut? More out of fun or character development?:  I don’t rp smut.  - Anything you would not want to rp there?:  N/A Are ships important to you?:  YES / NO.

Would you say your blog is ship-focused?:   YES / NO

.Do you use read more?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES.

Are you:  Multi-Ship / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  Multiverse / Singleverse.

- What do you love to explore the most in your ships?:  Relationship building. Having moments that can be expanded on between the characters. Having relationship conflict. Even know i don’t rp smut- There is so much that can explored with ships that is more then just sex related things.

- What is your smut tag?: N/A

Are you okay with pre-established relationships?: YES / NO. - And what kind of ones?:  Familial, Friendship. 

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

//you said to pick my favorite muse- so here we go xD// - What could possibly make your Muse interesting towards others, why should they rp with this particular character of yours now, what possible plots do they offer?:  Oh jeez- he is the main villian of the series. One of the most unpredictable muses that I have. Possible plots- depends on the time line. If its in the pendulum era. Literally anything can happen. There is a large gap of time (9 years) of things that could of happen but the anime or manga didn’t show. The same goes with his Captain era. We don’t really see much then or anything relating to his time in Muken. There is a lot of different situations that could happen with the right other muse.  

- With what type of Muses do you usually struggle to rp with?: muses who are hopelessely romantics. muses who don’t have much to work with in a plot.    - With what type of Muses do they usually work well with?:  muses who has similar mind set as him or could be as unpredictable. . Characters that could possibly catch him off guard or catch his interest because of the way they act.

- What interests your Muse(s) in general:  evolution, Science related things. hollowification experimenting. becoming a god.  - What do they desire, is their goal?:   Their goal . It depends most verses  its to gain access to the royal realm and become the one true god, and change the soul society. - What catches their interest first when meeting someone new?:  The way that they handle them selves, there intentional personally.   - What do they value in a person?:    Loyalty. Hard working.  - What themes do they like talking about?:  he likes when people talk about themselves. He can learn more about them. But he also likes talking philsophical debates about existence and morals.  Or anything that would relate to his mindset about life. - Which themes bore them?: anything to romantic. He does not like that.  like full on fliriting. He doesn’t do at all.   

- Did they ever went through something traumatic?:  Yes //though it can be debated what is consider traumatic to a adult who causes there own trauma mostly// //But like- he had to have seen some stuff in his childhood that would make him more desensitize to murder and killing fellow Shinigami// - What could possibly trigger them?:   Experiencing the feeling of dying. Sensory deprivation. //after his 20,000 years in Muken. Which is underground. away from most sounds and sights and feeling// - What could set them off, enrage them?:   Making him question his motives. Making him actually feel something. making him loose his goals.

- Is there someone /-thing they hate?:  Urahara, Shinji.  - Is there someone /-thing they love?:   //Romantically- in most verses no// Platonically : Hiyori (only in pendulum arc). Hougyoku.  his self.

Is your Muse easy to approach?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:   catch their attention. Literally just talk to him. don’t go trying to challenge or question his ego.  Literally just talk to him with any amount of respect .  depending on the verse- his responses may very. but other then that- He is rather easy to approach depending on your intentions to be approaching him. - Where are they usually to find?: His office in division five, hueco mondo, (Specifically in Los Noches), Muken. The forest near rukongai (only really applies to pendulum verse).    

Something you may still want to point out about your muse?:  he is nerd with a god complex.  he deserves a more flesh out back story then what the Manga gave him.  I try to keep him as close to the manga, keeping all of the things that happen in the manga and anime as canon. Only changing his child hood and early divisions days- as that isn’t really shown and expanding his relationships with some of the visoreds.  I also portray him as Aro/ace in most verses so its very Awkward if you try to ship with him in most verses unless discussed in ims or discord.  tagged by @skyvar​ //thank you for the tag snow uwu// tagging @rukia-kuchiki-divided​ @redeyeschaosdragon​ @kaibacorpbros​ (any bro) @viciousvizard​ @hirako5hinji​ @bookofaion​ @gentleshinigami​ @goofyshinigami​ @windstormwielding​ @cxb3r​ @nightbeat-cat​ @world-duelists​ / @loyal-to-chaos​ (if you want ^^) and you! if you want to do this uwu. 

[starrysplanet-blog]

{What Netflix’s “The Rain” Does Right That FX’s “Legion” Doesn’t?}

         It is extremely weird to compare these two shows that have nothing exactly in common with each other. Netflix’s ‘The Rain’ is a Post-Apocalyptic show about a virus being spread through rain that is killing people. FX’s ‘Legion’ is about an omega mutant named David Haller who basically goes on a self-discovery quest. Two very different shows, two very different concepts and two very different networks. Yet there is one thing that The Rain does right that Legion doesn’t. Warning: Do Not Read Further If You Have Not Seen Both Shows & Would Like To! And that is the ‘untouchable couple’. In Season 1, Episode 1 of Legion, we are introduced to David’s main love interest Sydney Barrett. A woman who he meets in the mental hospital as she is a new patient and hates being touched. She is wrongly diagnosed with Anti-social Personality Disorder, although this is never brought up again. David immediately becomes infatuated with her and asks her out on the spot without even getting to know her and she accepts. Immediately pointing out, ‘Do Not Touch Me’. A boundary is set from day one. One that he goes okay. In Season 2, Episode 1, we are introduced to Rasmus’s main love interest Sarah, a young adult female who suffers an immune system disorder that causes a simple infection to kill her. She must live in a sterile room where she is constantly checked up on. Her and Rasmus do not officially interact until Episode 2 where it is extremely awkward because Rasmus is the reason her brother is deceased. Yet they come to somewhat good terms in Episode 3 where she compares them to ‘Romeo & Juliet’. 

(Why Is Physical Intimacy Not An Option?)

       Physical Intimacy is not an option in either of these couples. Yet it does eventually happen for both. Think of these two couples to Rogue & Gambit from The X-Men. Touching can have serious consequences. Like David, Sarah is made immediately aware that she can never touch Rasmus. Sydney’s reasoning and Rasmus’s reasoning are very different but is mostly for the same reason. Protection. Sydney does not like being touched because her mutation is activated through touch and she switches bodies with whoever she touches. Rasmus can not be touched because the virus is a part of him and will infect/kill whoever comes into contact with him physically. His consequence is a lot more painful and devastating than Sydney’s but is still in the same concept of both cannot be physically intimate. 

(Thoughts On Physical Intimacy: Sydney & Rasmus)

       Despite being the factor of someone who cannot be touched. Sydney and Rasmus have two very different views on physical intimacy that is shown through thoughts, body language, and pasts. Sydney has shown from day one that she never liked being touched. However social norms can force us to feel like an outcast if we do not conform to them which resulted in a horrific mistake that painted Sydney as a bad person in the viewer’s eyes. She switched bodies with her mother and tried to have sex with her mother’s boyfriend in the shower. This scene is not treated as an okay thing. It leaves both her, her mother, and her mother’s boyfriend in misery. She lost control of her abilities causing her to appear as herself in the shower while her mother comes in to find them both. The mother’s boyfriend is sent to prison for statutory rape while Sydney is left traumatized for the awful action. She takes responsibility for her actions. Both Sydney and Rasmus’s first time have painful consequences. But for two different reasons. Sydney really shows no interest in physical intimacy. She is perfectly fine living a life where she isn’t touched. She even says in Episode 2 with David that she does not like being touched even with the gloves on. As it feels like ants are crawling all over body. When Sydney is shown showing affection, it’s through hand holding with a cloth, blowing kisses, sitting at a comfortable close distance, and having intimate talks. She’s honest with David from the start. Even when he asks her if having sex with him was her first time, she tells him the boyfriend thing. David kisses her without her consent in episode 1, resulting in them switching bodies and causing chaos. He finds a way around her “issue” in later episodes of Season 1 by using his telepathy to find them to be able to touch through their minds. Despite Sydney being perfectly fine with just having a ‘romance of the mind’. While Sydney seems intrigued by the idea of being physically intimate and has sex with David. She does not really initiate nor does she truly desire it. In fact, the only time that they kiss after Episode 1 and the few mind scenes is when Sydney kisses him to save his life. She is willing to sacrifice her comfort to save David. In Season 2, she tries to explain to David how much she missed him by using how she got used to cherry pie (something she once hated), she used to hold her breath until the kettle showed tea was ready, and explained how she looked all over for him after his abduction. David immediately goes into physical intimacy, ignoring what she said previously. Asking if he can kiss her and while she shows interest, it’s up to debate where Sydney feels forced to accept it. When David takes a look into her mind to figure out her puzzle, he sees a couple snogging at an art museum. And immediately assumes that this is what is bothering Sydney. The couple. How intimate they are with each other. How she witnessed them when she was younger and she comes there every day. He never takes into consideration that Sydney may just like art museums as she has shown art ability in Season 1 and her mother was a very artistic, creative person. When she says that is ‘wrong’, he seems almost baffled. She walks off a bit offended and tells him to watch it again. He retaliates by telling the couple to ‘get a room’ because he still subconsciously assumes that they are bothering Syd. Or it could also be that he is envious of how they are doing something that he wants to do with Syd. Of course, this all falls in the end when David rapes Syd after he assumes Farouk is mind-controlling her when she tries to kill him after seeing how he destroys the world. He rapes her by manipulating her mind to not remember much and has sex with her. There’s a lot of debate whether this counts as rape as she never said ‘no’ or seem ‘uninterested’. She didn’t seem exactly excited or into it either. She seemed confused and it almost clicked that it isn’t supposed to be happening. David refuses to accept this and tries to paint himself as the victim causing the ending of Season 2 to be him escaping his trial and leaving with Lenny. 

       Rasmus, however, is the complete opposite. Rasmus shows interest in sex real quick after witnessing Beatrice and Martin have sex and trying to question his sister on it. He’s sort of sheltered. He develops a crush on Beatrice who is older than him and starts to show interest being sexually active with her. Especially after she shows him her breasts in the shower scene. However, after episodes of somewhat conditioning and Beatrice not being as truthful (which is also up to debate), Beatrice fears that she will die from the virus after having a drip of water fall on her forehead. Rasmus and her decide that they should die together which causes them to have sex and that is Rasmus’s first time. The next morning, he is at first stoked that they both made it alive. Yet is horrified to find that Beatrice died from supposed infection which probably happened through sexual intercourse with him. A traumatizing first time. This leaves Rasmus temporarily suicidal and with his powers that cause him to not be intimate as he can kill anyone who touches him as the virus is inside of him. Rasmus tries to not be touched by anyone. However, when he meets Sarah in Season 2, he once again shows desire to be intimate. After Sarah notes that she wants to get super wasted, have sex and run a half of a mile without wanting to collapse. He notes that he cannot help her with that but understands how she feels. Indicating that he too wants to have sex with her. Again, intimacy is shown through intimate conversations, they run away together for a temporary time to see Bakken, seated next to each other at comfortable distances, he gives her his jacket, and she can touch him through gloves when doing his makeup like a clown and wiping it off. On top of the roller-coaster, Sarah notes that she wants Rasmus to kiss her and he responds with her sad that he can’t. (Note: A similar interaction happens between David & Syd, but she responds ‘You can’t’ in more of an aggressive and assertive way. Letting him know that he can’t after he kissed her non-consensual the first time.) Sarah gets sad and nearly jumps off the roller-coaster at the thought that he cannot touch her, only once. As she wants to have one good day with him that ends with a kiss and he doesn’t want to kill her. He talks her out of it and tells her that he doesn’t want superpowers if he cannot kiss her. Showing that he is willing to give up the virus if it means to be intimate with Sarah. Sarah almost has a weak moment touching Rasmus twice but stops herself the first time when she remembers that he doesn’t want to be touched. The second time, he pulls away with her in enough time and she looks saddened to remember but understands. After Rasmus is ‘cured’, Sarah and Rasmus holds hands and shows interest in being intimate now. Rasmus initiates it a lot more too. Rasmus’s and Sarah’s first kiss and her death scene is a lot different from David and Syd’s first kiss. Sarah tells him to kiss her and when he hesitates, she tells him that he is so slow and pulls him down to kiss her. He holds her in his arms as she dies. As Rasmus is way more open to physical intimacy than Sydney. And Sarah does not force physical intimacy on Rasmus as David does to Sydney. 

(Similarities: Sydney & Sarah)

       Despite Sydney being the untouchable one and Sarah being able to touch people. They do have some similarities. Both have boyfriends with deadly powers that they cannot control and end up killing people. Both have witnessed them kill people. Although Rasmus does it accidentally while David does it more willingly. Both have great fashion and colors assigned to them. Sydney wears a lot of black and orange while Sarah wears a lot of pink and creme colors. Sarah and Sydney are also a bit similar in personality. Strong-willed, brave, loyal, and understanding. Honest and blunt. A thing that comes to my mind that is similar is how their one-on-one conversations with their male love interests go. When Sydney first meets David, she goes on a monologue about how she doesn’t feel like she belongs in there. She is not enthused, a bit distant, and harsh. She simply states, “You’re in here because someone told you you’re not normal. How I don’t want to be handled and you hear and see things. That’s what makes you you”. She unknowingly tells David exactly what he wants to hear which makes him ask her out. He ignores everything else that she just said. After he asks her out, they meet at dinner and we get this short montage to the Rolling Stone’s song “She’s a Rainbow” which shows David’s view of Sydney. She is more lighthearted and cheerful, explaining things about herself while he ignores those things and tries to keep his false image of her. Sarah’s one-on-one conversation with Rasmus is different but has the same harshness when Rasmus tells her that he believes they share the same fate. She says, “So you see us as Romeo & Juliet?”. When Rasmus doesn’t get this, she explains that Juliet and Romeo cannot be together so she kills herself and so on. When he explains to her that he was locked up inside a bunker for six years, she breaks her harsh character and laughs and apologizes that she thought it sounded funny. He looks to her for assistance and she agrees to help him with his powers. Calling it a ‘date’ showing immediate attraction between them as she is a lot more cheerful. Sydney and Sarah both accept their male lovers for who they are until David becomes a danger to Sydney and breaks her trust. Sarah is very protective over Rasmus and doesn’t keep any secrets from him. Similar to Syd. 

(Dealing With Not Being Physically Intimate: David & Sarah)

       As the two characters who are with two characters who cannot be touched. David and Sarah react to it very differently. David does not accept boundaries nor does he try to have a non-intimate relationship. He creates this mental room where him and Sydney can have sex. He also reads her mind without permission. He kisses her without permission. He tries to persuade her to be okay with touch through her gloves. And while he tries to be understanding, he fails. He willingly puts Sydney in danger and keeps secrets from her. He has a mutation that makes him unstoppable and he is not a very good person. He seems very controlling towards others. However, Sarah is the complete opposite. Despite showing desire towards Rasmus, she accepts his boundaries. She doesn’t touch him nor tries to. She doesn’t put him in danger and in fact helps him out of danger. She becomes perfectly fine with not being intimate especially with Rasmus trying to keep them the satisfaction through touching by a window. She enjoys his presence and has conversations with him and learns to love him by who he is and not his body. She doesn’t have a false image of Rasmus, she sees him for who he is. And in fact, she doesn’t want him to be cured, despite that meaning they can never be physically intimate. As she worries that it may not be the right thing and how she envies how he can be connected to something. She doesn’t know what it feels like to be normal, similar to David yet instead of forcing everyone in a mess to solve it. She fears that Rasmus will become cured and she will die of her illness as her illness is becoming worse. She doesn’t want him to sacrifice anything for him. His comfort or his safety. She’s honest about this too. Wanting him to know that she accepts him either way. David does not accept Syd either way. 

(Differences: David & Rasmus) 

       David and Rasmus are surprisingly similar in a few ways. Both have abilities that quickly kill people and are a danger to society. Both have controlling men after them to use them as weapons or world domination. Both have loving, protective older sisters who did a lot for them. Killed people. And have put their loved ones in danger. And had fathers that abandoned them at a young age. Yet Rasmus is different from David in a sense that he is actually a good person. He does not deny his actions as when Sarah shows him how he killed the lab full of people after losing control, he shows remorse. He is honest, fearful of what he can do and is trying to learn to control it on his own. Most of his kills have been accidental. He has been a lab rat for finding a cure for the virus as he is the only one who can help. He does not play the victim. And when feeling betrayed by his older sister, he runs away with Sarah to get some air and does not plan the end of the world. David is complicated, he has killed people intentionally and continues to do so. He really only thinks about himself. He’s not a lab rat yet Division 3 is trying to understand him and then they are trying to stop him. He tortures Oliver Bird for information. Is an aggressive person who inflicts pain when he doesn’t get his way. The list can go on why these two are different but the first instance that I want to mention is the ‘protection of their girlfriends’. Rasmus and David handle dangerous situations that put their girlfriends at risk very differently. Sydney has been nearly killed twice due to David. She has had to save herself both times. The first time was the mental asylum reality altering caused by the Shadow King where Sydney had to work to wake David up from his delusion and get him to stop the bullets coming right at them that will result in his and her’s death. Second time is where she has to kill the Minotaur in a giant rabbit hole to save her life while David was too busy torturing Oliver Bird. David doesn’t really risk his life a lot and likes to take an either aggressive way out or ignorance. Rasmus is the complete opposite. Rasmus gives zero shits. When Kira is about to shoot Sarah in the head, he risks everyone’s life almost by intimidating Kira to let go of Sarah and leave by slowly unleashing his powers. Saving her life and his own. He is not afraid to risk his life for her. He wants to be with her and doesn’t want her to get hurt. 

     The second instance I want to touch on is the ‘bad guy turning point’. The season two finales for both shows is intense especially the last scenes. David is put on trial for future crimes and raping Sydney and he ends up escaping the shield that is supposed to hold him in while he is gassed. He leaves them there and frees Lenny and notes that there is no Blondie anymore, referring to Syd. He also raped Syd which counts as his bad guy turning point too. Rasmus’s turning point is completely different and is understandable. It comes down to his protective instincts. Sarah is killed by a simple gunshot by some Apollon members. After she is unable to speed up to catch up with the rest. She dies in Rasmus’s arms and it is quickly discovered as the rage built up in him that he is not cured, at all. He is furious, heart-broken and sick of this shit. He goes on a ruthless and sorrowful massacre throughout the whole facility, killing every single Apollon member that was invading the area with his ability. Infecting them and murdering them. It’s an intense scene because it is the first time that he actually intentionally murders people and his sister, Simone is unable to stop him. Although Rasmus tries to deny his actions by blaming everyone. The Apollon members killed Sarah, Simone wouldn’t leave him alone, and Martin is always calling the shots. As Rasmus came close to killing Martin, Simone shoots him which he quickly heals from but comes to his senses. Betrayed, he leaves the facility and comes in contact with the main Apollon dude. Presumably handing himself over as he, himself realizes the threat that he is causing.  Sarah wakes up from death, now infected with the virus. And seemingly will come back together with Rasmus in the future. As we see that their love is much stronger than Sydney and David’s. 

(Why Is FX’s Legion So Frustrating Fan-base Wise?)

         Legion suffers from what I call ‘justification of an irredeemable villain’. Sydney is hated in the fan-base, especially after Season 2. She is seen as the bad guy to the fandom despite being the hero in the story. Some say that it feels unearned and that she’s a hypocrite due to how she raped her mother’s boyfriend and got him in major trouble. And I won’t deny that was a shitty thing to do. She should have never done that and it is probably the cause of why she hates physical intimacy so much nowadays. She has hurt someone for life and she feels intense remorse over it. BUT. She is honest about it, she does not defend her actions, and she knows she’s not the victim in the scenario. She is entirely aware that she deserves to be seen as awful for what she did. She has accepted it. David shows no remorse, plays the victim, defends his actions, and does the exact same thing that The Shadow King would have done. Yet he is loved by the fandom. Was what Sydney did shitty? Yes, she was a sixteen year old girl who felt that she had to be sexually active and felt stupidly that she could have done it but it failed miserably. Could Sydney have spoken up? Yes but she was already walking on thin ice with her mother and was a mutant. Which would have caused her and everyone more harm than good. Did Sydney deserved to be raped? No. Is Sydney a hypocrite for feeling betrayed by David? No. She trusted him. She defended him against everyone who told her that he was a bad guy and he violated her body. I am so sick and tired of hearing it be the woman’s fault that she got raped. She didn’t love him enough, she didn’t accept him enough, she was easily manipulated by the Shadow King. It was never Sydney’s job nor did she owe him her full loyalty. He lied to her, he kept secrets from her, he invaded her privacy and he ended up harming her in the end. Sydney did not owe him her forgiveness. And she even brought up getting him some help and he went on the defense mode. RAPE IS NOT JUSTIFIABLE. BY ANY STANDARDS. IF YOU CAN’T JUSTIFY SYD RAPING HER MOTHER’S BOYFRIEND, DO NOT EVEN THINK OF JUSTIFYING DAVID RAPING SYD. And as sad as it is, Sydney raping her mother’s boyfriend is actually a bit more justifiable than David raping her. Age, stupidity, and lack of control. Her reaction is what makes it more redeemable than David’s. David blamed Syd for it, til the end. Syd blamed herself. 

(In Conclusion)

       In Conclusion, The Rain did a hell of a better job of the untouchable couple than Legion. Which is quite sad Sarah and Rasmus are young adults while David and Syd are in their late twenties to early thirties. They had no concept of consent nor accepting boundaries. Their relationship was toxic and manipulative. It was built on false imagery, distrust, and misunderstanding. It was built on Syd falling for a villain who disguised himself as a victim and hero. I personally love the untouchable couple because it forces the writer to build a dynamic and powerful couple without the normal physical intimacy. It is truly built on personality and conversations. Also creative ways of how they can quench their thirst for intimacy. Rasmus reminds me a lot more of Rogue’s scenario than Syd. I feel like it also depends on how the character reacts to physical intimacy and how much they want it. Legion shot themselves in the foot when they wrote Syd as being such a character who really doesn’t seem to want physical intimacy at all while The Rain put it out there quick. 

        I hope you enjoyed this comparison. Feel free to leave your thoughts and opinions in the notes as I am always eager to hear. Also feel free to reblog, like, or follow my blog.

                                             -Starry Fleur

[pride-vns-blog]

LGBTQ VN Week: Day Three! (6/20)

Welcome back for my third day of LGBTQ visual novel recommendations! Remember to check out my first post’s “One note before we get started” section to get a handle on what this recommendation list is, what it’s not, and why I made it, if you haven’t already!

The four visual novels I’ve got lined up to talk about today move beyond endlessly bleak apocalypses to focus instead on persistence and hopes for a brighter future — Spincut’s Who We Are Now, Sofdelux Studio’s Disaster Log C, and Worst Girls Games’ We Know The Devil, followed by a conversation with Jaime Scribbles Games about her upcoming As We Know It.

(Disclaimers: I’m somehow still into unique-looking apocalypse stories in the year 2018, so I backed both Who We Are Now and As We Know It on Kickstarter, and I also know the creators of Disaster Log C personally.)

Head on in for comic book supervillain jokes, super important teddy bears, one hell of a summer camp, and juggling your full-time job with the end of the world!

WHO WE ARE NOW (SPINCUT)

Itch.io Tagline: "A queer, post-apocalyptic visual novel about love at the end of the world.” Genre(s): Romance; slice of life; science fiction. Release Date: December 12th, 2017 (Xander’s Story); June 18th, 2018 (Jesse’s Story); TBA (Ray’s Story & Nathan’s Story). Content Warnings: Multiple explicit sex scenes; discussion of traumatic violence.

Who We Are Now, a visual novel following protagonist Wes as he offers comfort to the isolated fellow residents of a post-apocalyptic town named Home under the advice of town leader Mohra. The backdrop for Who We Are Now is distinctly science fiction, but the worldbuilding elements are interestingly vague enough that the characters only refer to the apocalypse more in terms of how it impacted their lives, rather than concrete details about exactly which places were destroyed on what dates and how. That’s personally something I prefer for character-focused pieces like this, and an interesting contrast to the hyper-detailed way AAA studios approach the apocalypse — it works in Who We Are Now, especially in the instances where the characters react differently to the circumstances of their situation or share different information, because it’s what they’ve retained.

Although Who We Are Now is short and largely still in “preorder”, according to its Itch.io page, both of the two relatively complete Stories — starring romanceable characters Xander and Jesse, respectively — offer distinct enough stories with memorable characters that I feel comfortable saying their two companion pending routes (Ray and Nathan) will all be well worth the price and the wait. Spincut’s script treats the two love interests’ struggles with society and their respective traumas carefully, never really offering an answer or a single moment that stood out to me as being a demand for them to just “get over it”. Both Jesse and Xander bristle, especially in the later half, and neither Xander’s struggle to control his mysterious electric powers nor Jesse’s slow progress fitting in as part of the society in Home go seamlessly. Even Wes’s personality feels realistically flawed; as a character who’s lived for years on his own, there’s moments in the script where his self-reliance and avoidance gets in the way of honest and open communication.

As a relationship-focused story with a heavy emphasis on character development, Who We Are Now’s writing delivers some solid growth and reasonable conflicts in a minimal amount of time, especially in Xander’s Story! Without going into too many spoilers, his convictions about the “bad guys” outside of the community of Home and his struggles with self-worth throughout the story build up to a believable, sympathetic end — his Story raises some interesting questions about violence in a post-apocalyptic world that, combined with how different it felt from Jesse’s perspective, made me all the more excited to see Ray and Nathan’s viewpoints on the apocalypse.

(Also, the sex scenes are 👌.)

The Xander’s Story and Jesse’s Story chapters of Who We Are Now are available now for a total price $15, a price that includes the eventual release of Ray’s Story and Nathan’s Story, both of which currently TBA. For more updates, you can follow developer Spincut on Itch.io or Twitter.

DISASTER LOG C (SOFDELUX STUDIO)

Itch.io Tagline: "It has been raining ceaselessly for 7 days...” Genre(s): Comedy; mild horror. Release Date: October 23rd, 2017. Content Warnings: See Itch.io page.

(This section contains mild, vague spoilers for Disaster Log C’s ending. It’s short and free, you might want to give it a try first!)

When it comes to the four apocalypse stories on this list, they’ve all got (thankfully) relatively different approaches to handling the end of the world, but Disaster Log C’s approach is one of the few visual novels that actually surprised me with its later swerve into a revelation I hadn’t totally expected. (I’m trying to be vague enough as possible, but I seriously didn’t see that plot point coming and can appreciate the worldbuilding that made it easy to accept as a “how did I miss that?” kind of fact once it’s revealed!) Protagonist Mell’s no-nonsense approach perfectly serves the story’s steady pace, punctuated by Mell’s own “Disaster Logs” of the ocean rising up to swallow the island she’s lived on her whole life, and that pace is fed into perfectly with the frantic nature of knife-wielding Issa’s demands about where to go, what to do, and how much alcohol she wants to drink. 

There’s a goofiness to Disaster Log C that never undercuts the story’s more serious moments — Mell’s struggle with the end of the world she’s always known and Issa’s own relative detachment from that world as it exists are both given more than enough space in the text, and the story never holds their growth back for the sake of slapstick. But there’s plenty of slapstick and a lot of absolutely hilarious moments, served equally well by both script and story, that are well-placed enough that it becomes clearer and clearer in hindsight exactly when Mell and Issa became as close as they can be by the story’s end. Their dynamic is a delight and well worth reading for, whether it’s in the most serious of heart-to-hearts or a scene where they’re arguing with one another about how much food to eat.

But above all else, the thing that really sells me on Disaster Log C — and Sofdelux Studio’s previous dating sim, Mermaid Splash Passion Festival — is how sincere it is. It’s easy for apocalyptic fiction to be smug, or grim, or just plain dark, but Disaster Log C manages to capture the real grief inherent in its premise without ever plunging into hopelessness. The world Issa and Mell inhabit is a beautifully illustrated one filled with plenty of jokes and triumphant fishing CGs, but it’s also a cruel world, and it’s still very much the story of how everything Mell has ever known disappeared in the blink of an eye. That’s a delicate balance to walk, for sure, but it’s a balance Disaster Log C walks seamlessly enough that its wonderfully optimistic True Ending had me in tears.

Disaster Log C is available now for free, in both English and Korean. Both halves of Sofdelux Studio also have individual Itch.io pages (DCS’s here and Nami’s here), or you can follow their shared Itch.io for more Sofdelux Studio projects!

WE KNOW THE DEVIL (PILLOWFIGHT, WORST GIRLS GAMES)

Steam Tagline: "Follow meangirl Neptune, tomboy Jupiter, and shy shy Venus as they get to know each other--but one always gets left out.” Genre(s): Group relationship horror. Release Date: February 15th, 2016. Content Warnings: Religious abuse; blood; character death; implications of sexual harrassment/abuse.

(This section contains spoilers for the plot and endings of We Know The Devil. Sorry! Please play it!)

It would be difficult — if not totally impossible — for me to talk about why I liked We Know The Devil or what it's doing in this group of visual novels without spoiling the ending in one way or another. (I don't think I could even refer to Venus, my hands-down favorite character, in a way that felt natural without dodging around her pronouns like a middle schooler playing volleyball.) For a while, I considered putting this in the creative design category and trying to avoid spoilers anyway! There’s been of fascinating pieces that I’ve loved reading about how We Know The Devil’s unique choice system operates; its “choose two characters out of three” model is smart, well-executed, and offers a lot of character development in both the duo you observe and the one you don’t in every playthrough.

But the piece of this story that I’ve always loved the most has been its ending and the way I feel that it functions as a work of apocalyptic fiction. While the other three entries on this list are all set either at the dawn of the apocalypse or well after the apocalypse has literally “dawned”, We Know The Devil’s apocalypse is more quasi-metaphorical and much more closely linked to its ending. If you read it 100% literally, the “three worst girls since Eve” ascend in all the ways they were never supposed to be and end the world; if you read it strictly metaphorically, they still become more removed from the all-encroaching, endlessly painful social standards that have been forced upon them. And in that case, it’s even more the “end of the world” for their family or the religious authority figures around them to see that self-satisfaction and acceptance instead of the quiet repression and shame, isn’t it?

I can’t deny that a lot of my fondness for this kind of reading is a deeply personal one, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. (If anything, I think how many personal reactions there have been to We Know The Devil is a testament — ha! — to the nuanced writing and worldbuilding.) The legacy of religious abuse in the name of Christianity, specifically Irish Catholicism, is something that’s haunted my own family for generations. It’s dictated who got married and who couldn’t get divorced, it’s been the reason some of my friends were born and the reason some others died, and its impact is so irreversable that the guilt even gets passed down into generations that have barely attended a service. So for We Know The Devil’s true ending to take a lot of those religious hallmarks, that guilt from failing to live up to expectations, and then build up to a true ending where the rest of the world is damned for the way it treated Jupiter, Neptune, and Venus — without the true ending’s text ever condemning any of them for being teenagers who are willing to scorch the Earth, metaphorically or literally, and refuse to accept the pain they shouldn’t have to suffer? As a story about the end of three characters’ slice of the world, We Know The Devil one hell of an answer to the Christian idea of a Rapture, and one I prefer a thousand times over.

We Know The Devil is available now on sale for $1.99 (75% off), while you can try We Know The Demo for free on Itch.io; Worst Girls Games can be found on Twitter and Tumblr with more information about their upcoming project, Heaven Will Be Mine!

AS WE KNOW IT (JAIME SCRIBBLES GAMES)

Kickstarter Tagline: "A heavily branching visual novel, featuring love, friendship and life-sim elements in a future destroyed by the sun.” Genre(s): Romance; drama. Release Date: April 25th, 2018 (demo); TBA (final version). Content Warnings: Alcohol and drug use; violence; mature content.

As someone who really enjoyed Pinewood Island, Jaime Scribbles Games’ debut horror visual novel about college students trapped on an island with a murderer, I’ve been looking forward to As We Know It since I first saw initial character designs. The first demo definitely was what I’d been hoping it would be — although visually unfinished in places, given that the Kickstarter was largely to help fund purchase of its art assets like finished backgrounds and side character sprites — and the story about a post-apocalypse society that largely functioned but still ran into unexpected troubles instantly hooked me.

Interested in hearing a little more about protagonist Ashlynn’s dual focus on romance and maintaining a job, I reached out to Jaime with a couple questions to hear what she had to say about her upcoming visual nove.

First, congratulations on your Kickstarter reaching full funding and a bonus goal! I'm sure you've done a lot of this already during the funding period, but how would you pitch As We Know It to someone who'd never heard of it before?

A heavily branching visual novel with romance in a post-apocalyptic setting. Something along those lines.

Yeah, that sounds accurate to me! What's the experience in having run a successfully-funded Kickstarter for a visual novel been like? Are there any weird little details or things that you weren't expecting to have to deal with that have become surprisingly important?

Hm, I didn’t really know what to expect. I can’t say anything too unusual occurred.

Hey, no news is better than bad news, for sure!

Both As We Know It and Pinewood Island have had different mechanics alongside the romance -- in Pinewood Island's case, unpuzzling a brutal series of deaths, and in As We Know It's case, pursuing a career path in a crisis-stricken community -- that seem to be just as central to the storytelling, rather than a backdrop for romance. Can you talk a little bit about striking that balance?

It’s not easy! I have to make sure it makes sense for these characters to want to pursue romance despite whatever else is going on. That usually means making sure things don’t get too intense until more of a relationship is formed. Since romance is such a heavy aspect I hope people don’t question it too much lol

When you're designing characters' personalities or approving their visual depictions, what do you keep in mind? What do you think is the most important thing when it comes to building a lineup of characters to make them all feel distinct from one another?

I think of different personalities, different types of people I want to write, and then I try to make sure their looks are diverse and varied. As I write them their characteristics become more solid.

Were someone else to make a "dream visual novel" for you as a player, what do you think that visual novel would be like? In terms of genre, romance routes, etc?

Oh I’m not sure 🤔 probably a really good mash up of horror and romance with psychological elements and a mature story (no teenager plz) lol

😆 I'd definitely play that, too!

For my last question, what LGBTQ visual novels from other developers or creators are your personal recommendations?

Let’s see, Hustle Cat, Let's Meat Adam are my faves, but there are tons more out there!

Definitely! Thank you for the conversation, Jaime, I'm looking forward to seeing As We Know It's progress over the next couple months!

You can find more information about As We Know It on Kickstarter, try out the free demo on Itch.io and Steam, or keep up with progress on the game’s development blog!

[fyrapartnersearch]

RP partner wanted! ^.^

Hi! 

I am 26 yrs old with many a year of RP experience, & I am looking for somebody for a long-term RP! :3

What I do:

-I will always write at least a para or two, but I tend to be more of a multi-para/novella kind of person.

-My major character/s will usually be male, but I can play female if necessary.

-I will pretty much always have a bunch of side characters running around though, of both genders.

-I am comfortable with pretty much all kinds of settings, species, eras and plots. Not fussy. :3

-I like to have a bunch of subplots and conflicts running alongside the main plot/s.

-I am comfortable will any and all gender pairings, though I do have a slight preference for MxF pairings.

-I prefer original universes & world-building, but I can work in pre-existing universes if I am familiar with them.

-I am very okay with violence, darker themes etc., but am only going to be okay with a lot of sexy stuff if it drives the plot or helps develop the characters in some way, not just smut for smut's sake.

What I don't do:

-I will ONLY play/play with original characters.

-I am not interested in RPs where romance is the only thing happening, or where romance is forced. 

-While I do not require multi-para responses from my partner, I would at least need a para or two with decent spelling/punctuation, including making thought & dialogue clear.

-I do not need my partner to play multiple characters or add a gazillion subplots (but it's nice if you do!), but you need to be okay with me doing so. 

-If you have an idea of something you want to happen in the story, I will most likely be happy for us to work that in, but I will NOT break character & so it might take me a few posts to figure out how/why my character would do what is required. I feel this is important to mention, because I have had many people assume my character should immediately be okay doing something they normally wouldn't (for example, a character who is scared of water suddenly being okay to swim across the river). >.<

-I enjoy fantasy and such, but if you're gonna add something unrealistic, there needs to be clearly defined lore & rules for why it works this way. I don't roll with just random unexplained magical shenanigans. 

-I also don't roll with super perfect, super powerful, boring as hell characters. Your characters need to have flaws and weaknesses, or else they suck. Sorry. 

Things I like/would like to try:

-Anything with a lot of conflict & drama is cool with me.

-I enjoy post-apocalyptic settings, fantasy worlds & medieval settings the most, but can work pretty much anywhere.

-I enjoy rival clans/factions/packs/kingdoms. Anything like that, really.

-I like anything where characters who usually wouldn't wanna be around each other are forced to work together, maybe 'cause they just survived something traumatic together or have a mutual enemy. Things!

-I usually play in original worlds, but I would be interested in trying something GoT, Fallout or Elder Scrolls related (Original characters only, though), or yeah, basically any other cool world I know well.

-Basically, I am open to try just about anything. ^.^

If you are interested:

I would wanna do this by email (breakherlegs46@gmail.com). So yeah, lemme know if you're keen. :D

[garden-of-succulents]

2017.5 fanworks roundup

The weasels of doubt that chew on my brain: Ugh, you haven't written or posted ANYTHING since you posted that fic exchange in December. You've just sat around and not produced anything, like a big lazy lump. Me: Uh..... let's fact-check that one.

So in the spirit of my 2016 roundup, here's my 2017.5 roundup! Compiled mostly by reading back in my Stuff I Wrote tag. Reminder that I have a blanket open fanworks policy: Feel free to add to, remix, theorize about, or create art, audio, fic, or anything else for my fanworks!

Stuff I Consider Finished: Aroace Parse/Swoops. Jack Zimmermann and Stan Rogers. The secret to Ransom's parents' marriage. Tater, George, and image management. Jack is a rolemodel for fuckups everywhere. Fic of fic: Parse/Swoops/Jack/Bitty/Tater. Chowder calls Bitty his personal chef on social media. Tater can talk himself out of traffic tickets. Bitty moves back to Georgia in his late 30s. Tater and Ransom looking after each other through injuries and med school. Sadass teenage Pimms paragraph. Mashbits pregame naps. Jack and chewy stim toys. Ford trying to keep Whiskey from traumatizing Tango. Zimbits next-gen dream writeup. Anglo Canadian stuff I want Ransom to do. Ransom and Holster being cool with Bitty's gayness. Dex learning about privilege. A Mashbits AU people took amazing places. Kent coping with music. Nurseylardo snuggling. Zimbits "Enchanted" AU. Where does Holster get off on bugging Ransom about "selling out"?. Pimms in a Pimbits universe: Locker room sex (AO3). A theory about why Bad Bob makes that weird face in Jack's baby pictures. I forgot who "Adam" was. George billeting Tater as a rookie. Peak Jack Zimmermann. Poly Ransom/Holster/March. Zimbits pace bunny AU. Ransom learning about Nursey/Tater. Nursey/Tater. Jack doesn't love history, he only loves hockey. Reblog if you’re mentally ill, a trauma survivor, or had a shitty childhood, and you think fanworks about Kent Parson are valuable and worth making.. The frog Jack develops a crush on is Justin Oluransi. What I want out of Ranskov. Poly Ford/Lardo/Shitty. What kind of antagonist I think Parse will be. Jack's fans learn he likes pie. Jack the edgy Canadian history major. Jack gets a picture of Canadian soldiers playing hockey. AU where Bitty's from Alberta like me. Notes towards a police AU. Kent Parson with ADHD and dyslexia. Jack gets a history article published. Jack begged the Sorting Hat not to put him in Hufflepuff. Kent listening to Welcome to Night Vale music during games. Fact-based thoughts on Jack's alcoholism. Patater is OMGCP fandom’s Draco/Neville. Jack as Bitty's nonathletic French tutor. Parse gives Holster relationship advice re: Ransom. Jack goes skiing the year after his overdose. Tater handles Parse taking some news VERY badly (AO3). Follow up thought on the complexity of being a Parse fan. Fannish Minor Character Obsession Draft Candidates for 2017. Jack Zimmermann is a paper snowflake ho. The Rimroller™. A Jack/Chowder AU. The Zimmermenn. Hall/Murray OTP 4eva. Jack gets a dog. Why Dex looks up to Ransom and Nursey looks up to Holster. Post-apocalyptic Parse/Ransom AU and Part Two. Ransom wants Tater to deadlift him. Patater World Juniors soulmate AU. Bitty writes academic papers about Beyonce. Bitty using Jack’s computer when it’s set to Canadian Multilingual Standard. I think Holster played Juniors in Waterloo, Ontario, not Iowa. Kent and self-injury.Kent's role in bakery AUs. Does Bitty have PTSD?

Stuff I am Done With Right Now But Wish Had Gone Further: the seed of Jack and Ford's friendship. Suzanne and Alicia AU idea. Ford and Bitty watching football. Tater goes to a kegster to romance Ransom (Part Two) (AO3).

The Coach Bittle/Bad Bob AU: Rich knows who Bob is. Bob finds out Rich is a CFL player. Jack who grew up with openly queer retired pro athletes for dads. Jack meeting Kent.

Stuff I Would Like to Come Back to Later: A Ranskov retelling of Yuri on Ice. Bitatomann Bodyswap AU (Part Two). The Gay Island story (more). The Stanley Cup age regression story. A Ransom-on-the-Falconers Ranskov AU. Kent visits Tater's gay moms in Moscow. TATER'S GAY MOMS Y'ALL.

Gay hockey moms (AO3): 1997: George and Suzanne meet again. 1992, 1994, 1997: Suzanne bakes her way into George’s heart. Suzanne confesses her love . Telling Bitty's Moomaw about their relationship. 2002 Olympics: George and Suzanne talk strategy for being gay as they plan to move to the South. How Bitty’s life would have changed in an openly gay family in Georgia. Suzanne Bittle is a cool gay mom. George and Suzanne's weddings. 2013: Bitty tells his moms about his first couple days at Samwell. 2013: Bitty and Jack meet each other’s families at Parents’ Weekend and have a clash of worldviews. 2013: Bitty explains to Shitty how growing up surrounded by pro hockey players has affected his perspective on the sport. George evaluates Jack as a player.

Princess Robinson: Carrie Robinson interviewing Bitty as a babysitter. Bitty and Holsom babysitting Princess.

Andy Scarlatti: The Flemish Giant of puck bunnies. Andy coaching little kids. An easter egg for fans of the TV show Flashpoint. Andy during playoffs. Kent and Andy having sex in 2011. Thoughts on marriage and children. Kent and Andy hooking up when she lives in Minneapolis. A femslash idea between the Falcs and Aces twitter staff. Dealing with Kent's bad days. About Kent and Andy hooking up in 2011. Further thoughts on relationships that take a long time to come to fruition. The All-Star Game Story: The dinner party. Kent wakes up. Andy goes down to breakfast. Andy and Bitty talk. Kent and Andy have a quiet moment. Kent and Jack talk.

Luis and Maida (the original Garden of Succulents): Maida's online life. How Kent met Maida and Luis. Maida's career with wild birds. Kent, Luis and Maida run away together after locker cleanout. Maida and Luis interacting with Andy.

Climb Aboard the Minivan Express (Zimbits Single Dads AU) (AO3): How Bitty ended up with the frogs. Jack being Chowder's hockey coach. Jack babysits so Bitty can go out on a date.

Love Drought (the Bittypoots AU) (AO3): Jack wants to punch Poots in the face. Bitty gets stood up and goes to a gay bar. Jack talks to Kent and Alexei about Bittypoots.

Meta: Conflicting access needs and safe vs safer spaces. Brief position statement on Jack's orientation. Thoughts on being a fandom writer with mental disorders that keep you from writing. The first racism apology. The second racism apology. Thoughts about Shitty abominableobriens added cool thoughts to. Thoughts on queerness and skin hunger. Me and puns. Me and BPD (AO3). If you want to talk to me about racism. More about writing BPD. Facts about Borderline Personality Disorder. A representation callout that went really well. Thoughts about class. Good idea/bad idea: Getting people to write fic you want. Not all relationships in a polycule need to be equal and equivalent.

[larathia]

The Ghost #93: Setting Up The Board

#93: Setting Up The Board

Summary (serial): Kuthumae's a highly trained mercenary captain who's pulled off the impossible (and the extremely improbable) many times. It's had its costs; on the last mission, while he pulled off the impossible job and got his team home alive, he got stuck between dimensions, in a plane outside the normal flow of time. There he met a girl - because if one person can be stuck there, why not two? Rina is the sheltered-yet-traumatized daughter of a noble family on an entirely different world from Kuth; a world of goddesses and wishes, imprisoned in that dimension so that she may never realize the full extent of her powers. Not that she's likely to; she volunteered to be put there. When the two meet, they each prove the key to the other's freedom - and we'd say they hold the keys to each other's hearts, but frankly when it comes to People, we're talking about a pair of dumbasses here.

Summary (this arc): Kuthumae and Rina are welcome to live in the strange, multidimensional, post-apocalyptic city of Andeliin. But is that really a good idea? They know only the bare bones of its history and circumstances, but they do know it was until quite recently the capital of a very unpleasant empire. Who knows who might come calling, seeking to tear down what's left - and anyone left alive inside?

There's a romance here, but it's a slow burn one. (Kuthumae is demi, aro, and bi. And clueless. Oh gods. So clueless. This romance will TAKE A WHILE.)

Rating: Mature (violence, language)

Warnings: Discussion of rape, depression, PTSD, generally questionable situations. (Not all the time by any means, but they'll be there.) What can I say, I like quandaries.

The 2019 Master Linkpost is here. The 2020 Master Linkpost is here. The 2021 Master Linkpost is here.

New reader? Don't love in medias res? Begin here! (Or head to the grand masterpost and pick a likely arc!)

This week:

Rina and Kuth might be sorting out the logistics of extreme magical healing, but the Queen of Andeliin has to look at broader implications. And the needs of her city. And, frankly, the fact that she's managed to land a nonviolent demigoddess in her front garden with an idealistic need to be helpful. Oh, and let's not forget the guy that could take over her city in an afternoon, and wants to marry her. Can't forget that.

The Queen of Andeliin has a headache, and is looking at possible cures.

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