#the novels are also kinda worth a read if you have a chance

[wonryllis]

★ YEONIE's MANHWA/MANHUA/MANGA LIST ( RECS! )

( NOTES ) I WILL KEEP ADDING MORE AS I FIND NEW GOOD ONES!! as you can see i seem to have a certain taste for historical and transmigration aus lmao but they're legit all really good i swear i'm super picky when it comes to these things especially with the art style so trust me my recs all have good art if not bombastically fantastic! IM OPEN TO NEW RECS PLS SUGGEST SOME GOOD ONES!!

LOVE LIKE CHERRY BLOSSOMS: modern school setting, male lead helps fem lead to score points with the guy she has a crush on and they end up falling for each other, kinda bad boy x good girl, there is also a side couple whose story is absolutely cute, the fem lead's bestie x male lead's older cousin. art and plot is realllyy good. completed, 92 chapters, happy ever after ending.

HIDDEN LOVE: modern, brother's best friend, age gap (5 years i think) fem lead falls for her brother's best friend at first sight, her one sided crush goes on for years until she gets into uni and they both stay in the same city and start hanging out together. he slowly falls for her and boom they get into a relationship!! super cute and art style is top notch(i find the brother so much hotter honestly), ongoing i think.

ONCE MORE: high school love reunion kinda, used to like each other due to misunderstandings couldn't confess and later reunite as teachers in their high school. adorable story full of fluff. tomboyish fem x popular guy. the second lead couple is to die for, cute girl x tsundere guy, she's a teacher too and guy is fem lead's childhood friend. completed, 156 chapters, happy ever after ending.

PHARAOH'S CONCUBINE: isekai, royal/historical au, girl is a history major and like really fascinated with ancient egypt so her brother gets her an ancient relic (a snake bracelet) which gets her sucked back 3000 years in ancient egypt and the powerful pharaoh ends up falling deep in love with her. literally the best thing ever the plot is the most interesting and connected in a circle one i have ever read my all time favourite the top one! there are a lot of heart fluttering scenes but also heartbreaking scenes and it's just so damn good! READ IT NOW!! completed season 1 (around 70 chapters) for further seasons there's only novel so far which is in chinese. FAVOURITE!!!!!!.

HOW TO GET MY HUSBAND ON MY SIDE: transmigation, royal/historical au, girlie wakes up in another body who is like set to be the villian of the novel so for the sake of survival portrays herself as a harmless character and throws herself at her husband at any chance to make him think she could never do anything evil to him because she loves him a lot. there's so much fluff and heart fluttering moments but there are some incidents which are kinda angsty but it's worth it! male lead is smitten, crazy over his wife!!! and he's hot! super hot! the best married couple duo ever! he's so protective of her it's crazy. ongoing! one of my favourites.

ACTUALLY, I WAS THE REAL ONE: rebirth/going back in time?, royal/historical au, fantasy, fem lead is killed by her father, the emperor when another girl appears and claims to be the real princess and he believes her because she looks more like the late empress than the fem lead. before her death she finds out she actually is the real daughter. when she opens her eyes she's back years before and this time tries her best to prove the fact she's the actual one, male lead is like not decided between two guys, one is a hot blond magician helping her and the other a head royal knight. ongoing.

I BECAME THE WIFE OF THE MALE LEAD: transmigation, fantasy, historical/royal au, fem lead wakes up in the body of a really power girl with magic, the villainess. does her best to change her role and it starts with saving the male lead and becoming his friend but oh god he ends up falling for her so hard and girlie is so oblivious. they're a power couple in terms of strength like her magic powers are undisputable and the male lead strength and skills in sword fighting are exceptional. they both are a pair of beauties and male lead is hottttt!! the fem lead's so called father is also super hot man. really interesting storyline with twists, ongoing. one of my favourites.

MY SECRETLY HOT HUSBAND/MY HUSBAND HIDES HIS BEAUTY: transmigration, historical, fantasy au, fem lead wakes up as the bride of the powerful demon hunter duke known to hide a hideous face behind a mask, she helps him get rid of the curse of family, and helps the dukedom grow and have a name in the kingdom. husband wife who are down bad for each other. completed, 109 chapters, happy ever after ending. one of my favorites.

NO PLACE FOR THE FAKE PRINCESS: foretelling fantasy?, historical/royal au, fem lead reads a book where she's the villainness and the fake princess turns out the book shows future events if she continues to live the same way so she changes her attitude and gains the love of her father by being an obedient and capable daughter so when the real princess arrives she will not be killed by her father and get the chance to run away to live a peaceful life but when the time comes and she elopes her father goes crazy trying to find her because he loves her and the same goes for the male lead!! ongoing.

SECRET LADY: reincarnation, transmigration, historical/royal au, fem lead could see ghosts in her original body and even after reincarnation as a noble lady of a powerful family she can still see ghosts, these ghosts help her know that the second prince is going to be assassinated so she offers to help him under a guise of a poor maiden. she falls for him while he has always loved her but because of a curse in the royal family their love faces many obstacles. super amazing plot, really really interesting. ongoing. one of my favorites.

WHO MADE ME A PRINCESS: transmigration, royal/historical au, fem lead wakes up inside a novel in the body of the only princess of the cruel emperor who hates her because the empress died giving birth to her. originally the princess is killed by him but the fem lead tries her best to change the story and her father's feelings towards her by being an adorable daughter who apparently loves her dad a lot. the male lead is a renowned magician like the best one from legends and also the son of a duke, she doesn't choose one by the end but it is heavily shown who she prefers. really great plot, so many twists and turns but so worth it! completed, 125 chapters. happy ending, one of my favorites.

BEING A WICKED WOMAN IS COMFORTABLE AND PLEASANT: transmigration, historical/royal au, fantasy, magic, fem lead enters the body of the villianous and decides to live comfortably by using that role and collecting more money and as said living comfortably without disturbing the main couples. (it's a reverse harem for the original fem lead of the novel but now girlie takes her place) she is known as a stupid person not knowing how to use magic but as a person from modern world magic formulae become his forte and she literally changes so many things and becomes an icon. ongoing.

THE VILLIANESS IS A MARIONETTE: transmigration, historical/royal au, fem lead wakes up in the body of the villian's sister who is known as the her brother's (villian) puppet, she decides to change it all by changing her behaviour towards him and gaining his favor and affection trying to make him the puppet, this gets the male lead, a powerful duke who previously hated her and she had been forcing herself on him romantically(the original character) ends up falling for the new her. plot and art and characters are to die for. ongoing. one of my favorites.

BABY TYRANT: transmigration, historical/royal au, after dying the fem lead wakes up in the body of the beloved princess of a powerful empire. now she has everything she's wanted but it's hard to accept and with people trying to undo the prophecy of her birth her father makes her the emperor oh god, also the male lead is a like a demon or something i don't remember. ongoing.

INTO THE LIGHT, ONCE AGAIN: rebirth, new family, historical/royal au, fantasy, magic, fem lead was previously a princess who was killed by her own family because another sister falsely accused her of trying to kill her. betrayed by everyone she loved and thought who loved her, she wakes up as the beloved princess of the neighbouring kingdom where her new family loves her to death, with the help of her brother and the male lead who is the light king, she embarks on her journey of revenge against the evil sister. ongoing. one of my favorites.

THE SIREN: BECOMING THE VILLAIN'S FAMILY: rebirth/travelling back in time?, kinda historical au? but not, fantasy, the fem lead is one of the last surviving sirens, her father sells her to the emperor who cages her makes her sing till death. before dying though, the male lead goes on a killing spree and kills everyone in the palace and rescues her just because no reason no he doesn't love her at that point. upon going back in time she tries to change things and this time ends up as the male lead's wife and he falls for her hard. ongoing, the art is everything literally the best ever you either hate it or love it, and the plot is sooo good too, ongoing, one of my favorites.

FOR MY DERELICT FAVORITE: transmigration, rebirth/travel back in time?, historical/royal au, fem lead wakes up as a noble woman background character in her favorite novel. however after watching her favorite character die of heartbreak she kills herself and when she wakes up she's years back and this time makes sure to help her favorite character live a happy life and move on from the past, by becoming his wife and getting him justice. fan x idol couple lmao she's crazy about him. ongoing.

SERENA/SELENA: somewhere between modern and historical au, marriage of convience, arranged marriage, the fem lead loses her parents and brother in an accident and then later on married off to a guy of opponent family by her grandmother who passes the family business to him. enraged she's determined he plans to destroy her but later the truth comes ot and they fall in love and oh she takes over her family business a girl boss!! both play hard to get, stubborn characters, enemies to lovers, age gap (5 years) art is so damn good you'll drool, ongoing, one of my favorites.

I TAMED MY EX HUSBAND'S MAD DOG: rebirth/travelling back in time?, historical/royal au, fem lead lives a miserable first life because of her husband who indirectly kills her father, cheats on her, and basically ruins her life. after going back in time she makes sure to do everything to take her revenge and this time she finds and makes allies with her husband's pet like right hand man who is also the male lead, they end up falling in love!! age gap but not much ig i don't remember, ongoing.

I'LL BE THE MATRIARCH IN THIS LIFE: rebirth/travelling back in time?, not kinda historical?, fem lead watches her grandfather die and leave the family business to ruins by handing it to her brothers while she was the most capable one but he realised it too late. after rebirth? she makes sure to make him aware of her skills from early on in childhood so that she can succeed him and take care of the family business herself, her skills from handling the affairs in past life gain her lots of advantage including supporting the second prince who'll become a ruthless king in future by becoming his friend and who also ends up falling for her. ongoing, one of my favorites.

CRY, EVEN BETTER IF YOU BEG: somewhere between historical and modern?, age gap(6 years i think), enemies to lovers kinda?, red flag male lead, he's crazy, so after girlie's parents die she ends up living with her uncle who works as a gardener for the male lead's family. he comes home very summer and everytime they have encounters which screammm red flag but i still love the story. he loves making her suffer. anyway ongoing, one of my favorites.

I CAN'T WAIT TO EAT YOU: modern, office au, one sided enemies to lovers, the male lead's parents die in an accident because of fem lead's dad when they're both kids so he hates her while girlie has no idea. later as grown ups she works in his family company. events lead to them interacting with each other falling in loveee yay. ongoing.

AGE OF ARROGANCE: historical/royal au, marriage of convience, the knight commander fem lead marries the crown prince to get the resources to rebuild her region and help her people live well. while he agrees so that he can build up a support group for his succession to throne against his stepbrother. they make a deal to help each other but end up in love. ongoing.

I WILL SEDUCE THE NORTHERN DUKE: isekai, historical/royal au, fantasy?, fem lead finds herself in a different world after falling off a cliff while filming(she's a star actress) things happen and she makes a deal with the northern territory duke to play as his lover for certain reasons while he helps her stay in this world. really really fun story. ongoing.

STAR DREAM IDOL PROJECT: modern, survival show, revenge, and slight but visible romance between contestant and judge. fem lead is the secret daughter of a famous singer (mom, parents are separated) after her mom's death she participates in a famous survival show under a guise to chase her dreams as an idol along road of revenge involving her public power figure father. the romance hints at her and the blunt famous singer judge who keeps criticising her skills because he believes in her exceptional potential. ongoing.

A SIGN OF AFFECTION: modern, college au, opposites attract, real wholesome just fem lead has been deaf since birth and meets male lead on the subway, he somehow makes her feel so warm and different and it's like love at first sight for her. he learns sign language for her and falls for how cute she is. a simple and pure love story? ongoing, anime has 12 eps and really good too.

SEASONS OF BLOSSOM: HAMIN'S FLOWER: modern, high school au, major character death, summer love? so fem lead and male lead are two opposite kind of students at school ml is popular and a topper while fl is kinda average and very interested in arts and painting. for a long while they meet up in the art room during lunch because fl does not have friends and spends the break painting while ml wants to escape the fake people have some time alone. they become friends and ml realizes he really likes painting because it makes him feel free so during summer break he joins her art club outside school and they have their romance? phase after his parents find out he stops and things happen and he commits suicide. fl after years comes as teacher in the same school and through his younger brother finds the truth which is heartbreaking and finally gets her closure. completed, there's a kdrama on this with the same name highly recommend checking it out, though prepare your tissues.

ETERNAL LOVE: hidden love brother's story, modern, kinda like frenemies to roomates to lovers?, i don't remember much fem lead and male lead are classmates in high school who used to not be fond of each other and later as adults things happen and he becomes her roommate because his apartment is like undergoing renovations or something? there's some misunderstandings and miscommunications but it's a really good read though the art is changed in this from hidden love. ongoing.

BRIDE OF HABAEK: fantasy, god falls for human sacrifice au??? do not remember much i read it long back but like the fem lead is offered as bride sacrifice to the water god and thrown into some well or something and when she wakes up she's in his realm and he's like a child? he also has his adult form but around her he's in child form and she does come across him in adult form but does not know it's him. i don't remember more details but it's slow burnnnn and interesting pretty different from the kdrama. ongoing or completed? no idea but there's a hella lot of chapters and it's black and white.

GIRL AND HER GUARD DOG: first of all this is not for everyone help,, pls don't judge me for liking it (⁠〒⁠﹏⁠〒⁠) modern, she falls first and he falls harder trope, age gap like 5 years. fem lead parents die in an accident and she is brought to her grandpa's house whose a gangster and he gets one of his beloved men to take care of her. later when she grows up and goes to a distant city for school that man(male lead) follows becuz he's worried she might get in danger alone and enrolls as a student too through connections.

MY IN-LAWS ARE OBSESSED WITH ME: historical/royal, travelling back in time/rebirth, contract marriage, magic/curse. fem lead is killed by her family and husband for father's inheritance by a mysterious poison and when she wakes up again she has travelled back to two months. to protect herself and her inheritance she offers the powerful duke of the kingdom a marriage contract for one year but during that time her actions make her in-laws fall in love with her, everyone just adores her and refuses to let her go after a year. oh and male lead, the duke's family has a curse and she's immune to it somehow? ongoing.

will elaborate later on!

broken ring: this marriage will fail anyway

obsidian bride

why are you obsessed with your fake wife

a transmigrator's privilege/the perks of being an s-class heroine

a stepmother's marchen

behind her highness smile

devil's wish

only for love

traces of the moon

i am the villain

roxana

reincarnation of the suicidal battle god/doom breaker

daytime star

raising my fiance with money

[pastafossa]

There's been a little more improvement with mom today.

They gave her heart a little shock to see if they could get it beating normally and it seemed to work - it's back in rhythm, which helped her stats, and it's a good, strong heart rate. Her chest x ray also showed a little improvement. So they lowered her oxygen and sedation levels just a touch to get a sense of how well she'd be able to breathe on her own, and her oxygen stayed up. It also didn't dip when they put her on her back again today. The nurses (gods bless every last one of them) were really nice and said, tentatively, that while she's still very very sick, they're hopeful she's leaving the worst of it.

Me and sis got to see her today (dad sadly is still sick with the flu so doesn't want to bring that in). That was hard, and scary, but also worth it. We told her about normal things, that my CA sis is coming up for Christmas to see her, and that we miss her and need her mom hugs, that there are so many people pulling for her whether it's prayers or good energy or candles or spells, that she still has new things to paint and romance novels to read, and that she still has to see Thunderbolts because Bucky is her favorite Marvel character and think of all the fanfic that will drop after that for her to read. She didn't really react, although she'd kinda open her eyes and move a little every now and then, but I hope she heard us.

We didn't get a chance to put up the Christmas tree. We'd planned it the weekend she went in. I think we're going to put it up so it's there when, when when when, not if, when, she comes home.

Thank you to all the people who're supporting me and sending good energy, prayers, spells, supportive messages, everything our way. You have no idea how much it helps.

[sparkles-and-trash]

Bookstore AU (dabihawks, tddk, spinneraki, togachako)

note: this is an old au, I'm just re-writing it into a drabble in stead of the list format!

Touya is the owner of Clandestine Books and Beverages, a small bookstore and coffeeshop that lies on a street corner on an ordinary street corner in a medium sized city.

On the outside, it doesn't really look like anything too special, merely your standard cozy store with dark mahogany shelves and too many plants and nice big windows that lets in the sunlight of the few days it doesn't rain around there.

That, and the owner is pretty damn grumpy.

To be fair, Touya got really tired of people trying to flirt with him when he first opened the store, when he just wanted to sell some goddamn books.

But having that snow white hair, turquoise eyes and being a member of the Todoroki family, mixed with the fact that he has this dark and mysterious aura going with the whole bookstore owner thing made people kinda forget about common curtesy it seemed.

Luckily, rumor got out pretty fast that flirting with him got you nothing but an uncomfortable stare of death, and things slowed down after that.

At first, he mainly built his clientele on having a lot of rare books, and if he didn't have what you were looking for, he would find a way to get it for you.

When Tenko, his friend from college approached him about the idea of starting off a small coffeeshop in the store, however, the customers really started pouring in.

Tenko might be a bit awkward and strange, but he makes the best coffee in town, hell, maybe in all of Japan.

Pretty soon after that, Touya had to accept his fate and hire a few other employees.

...he hired two of his friends, but hey, he still did it, so it counts.

Spinner was kinda hesitant, he was nervous that having a animorph working for him would set Touya and Tenko back, but they wouldn't hear a word of it.

Spinner actually knows a lot about literature, and while he's a little shy, he's also great with the customers.

He also gets to stare longingly at Tenko all day, which is worth more than the paycheck for him, lol.

Toga, on the other hand, didn't really care about books if they weren't overdramatic romance novels, but her sunny disposition did wonders with the customers, and she loved working like there.

One of Touya's favorite things about the stores location was how close it was to UA High, where his youngest brother was enrolled in the hero program.

Shouto is 18 now, and he has a hero license and all that jazz, and he's taller than Touya, whatever, he's still his little brother and Touya enjoys the chance to judge all of his brothers friends when he brings them there for coffee.

Sadly for Touya, most of his brothers friends are pretty cool.

However, because of the close proximity to UA, another hero have started hanging around the shop lately and it's annoying Touya to no end.

Touya obviously knows who Hawks is, he's a pretty popular and successful hero, and the big, red wings are a dead big giveaway.

At first, Keigo had just gone to the bookstore and coffeehouse because Tokoyami insisted they had the best coffee in town, but his eyes met the owners eyes once, and that was that.

It frankly feels like some form of cosmic joke, that Keigo had spent his whole life without having crushes on people, and the one time he gets one, it's on the most unapproachable and grumpy guy ever.

Normally Keigo is pretty good at talking to people, and he gets along just fine with the other employees, but just one steely game from Touya and he freezes like a statue.

So naturally, he hangs around the store constantly now Spinner and Toga is secretly telling him about all of Touya's favorite books etc to give him an edge, but it doesn't help much when Keigo is too busy looking at Touya over the books to actually read them.

Once Touya actually caught him looking over at him while holding a book upside-down.

Touya will never admit it, but he's starting to get used to having the big bird there, and might even get a little bit sad on the days he doesn't stop by.

When Shouto mentions that he wants to find a weekend job to make some of his own money while still in school, Touya tries to make him come work for him, but Shouto declines, saying that it's too easy to just work for his brother.

Touya damn near loses his mind when Shouto shows up at Tenko's coffee bar in an apron, ready to get to work.

According to Shouto, that's more than far enough removed from his brother for it to count as a real job.

It doesn't help when Shouto's green haired friend starts hanging out there every day Shouto works, mooning over his brother very obviously.

...well, obvious to everyone but Shouto, who is obviously feeling the same way, but has no idea.

When Izuku starts bringing his friend with the brown hair and rosy cheeks whom Toga has a huge crush on, there's almost too much crushes around him for Touya to be able to stand being at work.

...including his own stupid crush on the stupid bird.

masterlist - wip list - ao3 - ko-fi - wishlist

[industrations]

hiiii. do you recommend reading the heaven official's blessing light novels if I've watched the anime? Is it much different because I have trouble reading stuff if I already know exactly what's gonna happen but I also need more of them :(

Hiya!!! And yes i definitely recommend reading them! They provide so much more context to what’s going on. Plus there is a lot of scenes that weren’t in the animation. If you really don’t want to read the part that you’ve already seen before then i'd say pick it up somewhere in book 2 but you'd be missing out on a lot of little special things like xie lians inner dialogue, or just other funny interactions. It also gives you a way better idea of the world building and actual plot since its kinda hard to gather the complete picture in the anime.

This series is a long long ride, it’s 8 books but honestly it’s worth every single word. It’s genuinely my favorite book series of all time so i hope you give it a chance<3

(Also a lot of things are censored in the anime because of Chinese homophobia laws and in the novels they arent as much)

[angycryptid]

long ass post of all the media I enjoyed this year!

its a lot so strap in

movies:

Lisa Frankenstien: it came out around valentine's day and I heard NO ONE talking about it. it is defo in my top 10 movies of all time and if you like Heathers the musical and/or horror comedies you should go watch it right now. also besides heathers, it has a lot of the comedy and themes similar to the barbie movie, give it a watch!

Electric Dreams: 1984 scifi rom-com that is entirely avalible on youtube. if you are a Freak about 80s scifi this is the movie for you. Its about a guy who falls in love with the girl who just moved into apartment next door and is too nervouts to aske her out. fortunately his desktop computer becomes sentient and helps him out. Its super silly and cute, also automatic top ten movie for me, i think ive watched it a dozen times.

The wild robot: I'm a sucker for a sympathetic robot enough said

Dr. Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb: Love me a cold war era dark comedy. its got an awesome vibe to it, and is kinda just nice for if you're working on a craft project. Everyone in that movie is freaking insane

Alphaville: niche 1965 scifi movie, kinda absurd to watch but i absolutely loved it. It is a french film noir, and it kinda has the vibe of an hour and a half long twilight zone episode, so it is DEFINITLEY not for everyone, but if ur into that stuff give it a chance

Raggedy ann and andy a musical adventure: perfect movie for a cozy night in, its just a fun 70s animated movie, i dont have much more to say than that!

Evil Dead: I finally got my hands on a dvd of the first movie (not evil dead 2, the first one). Besides Cabin in the Woods, probably my favorite version of the 'college students go to a cabin in the woods and get killed' trope. classic horror vibe and just overall fun to watch.

Rockula: can you tell i like horror comedies. Awesome comedy musical with a really fun cast of characters!

Books: (I pretty much just read sci-fi so if you loathe scifi, skip this lmao also i have no other outlet for this so this'll be a lot)

Full Novels

Space Odyssey series - Arthur C. Clarke: I re-read these books this summer because I hadn't been reading for a while! probably my favorite book series, and HAL 9000 is one of my favorite fictional characters ever. No one ever talks about the sequels, just the first one and usually the movie which is such a shame. Its a beautiful story about space travel and the whole peaceful yet scientific and observant vibe resonates with me a lot personally.

I, Robot - Issac Asimov: I've been meaning to get into Asimov's book series for years and I finally just sat down and read this collection. The book was enthralling and kinda felt like a series of thought experiments about robots and AI. plus the reoccurring characters are very fun!

Galapagos - Kurt Vonnegut: One of my mom's favorite authors, and ive been meaning to read some of his books for a while. As a zoology student the way that evolution is used as social theory in this book is very well done, and is a sucker punch for anyone expecting social Darwinism. the third quarter of this book is a bit of a slog, but the ending makes it entirely worth it in my book, and the pacing is super unique due to the narrator straight up spoiling most of the plot for you within the first few chapters.

1984 - George Orwell: I never read it for school but GOD DAMN. this is my favorite book I've read all year and possibly my favorite book of all time. Winston is such a unique yet deeply relatable character (for me, i know i got mental illness shit goin on tho so like whatever). All of the political theory in this book was eye opening and so so so well written, and the final section of the book ripped me into shreds. If you haven't read this book I would sincerely recommend, and it's a tragedy this got watered down to 'hehe literally 1984'

Project Hail Mary - Andy Weir: I'm only halfway through this one but this is such a chill and fun read! The sci-fi concepts are on point too, super fun ideas being brought up. Rocky my beloved. This may be up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey as a comfort book.

-Novellas, short plays, and short stories

I have no mouth and I Must Scream - Harlan Ellison: my favorite short story of all time. Discovered it in Senior year hs when i was going through a lot and it changed me as a person. I revisited it this year (and also played some of the 90s point and click adventure game adaptation) and i holds up just as well if not better. You would be surprised just how much is slammed into an 11 page story, this is my roman empire.

EPICAC - Kurt Vonnegut: read this bc i found out electric dreams was loosely based off it and I wanted more movie. Im now seriously considering getting one of the quotes tattooed. absolutely beautiful

LOKI 7281 - Roger Zelanzy: Wonderful little short story, quite silly honestly.

The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin: My friend recommended this to me as thier favorite short story. Gives off the vibes of one of those short stories you annotate in High school that fucks you up for like a week, good story.

Adam Link - Eando Binder: Short story series about a robot from 1939-42, somehow still deeply relatable.

17776 - Jon Bois: Digital novella about satellites watching football. Started out as a comedy and had me near tears by the end, the sequel 20020 is wonderful too

All Tommorows - C. M. Koseman: kinda the opposite of 17776 vibeswise, starts out as a serious horror novel and ends with a surprisingly uplifting and beautiful message of community

RUR - Karel Capek: Weird and baller play about a robot uprising, named my pet crab after one of the characters

Albums:

White music - XTC: very goofy, upbeat, and synthy pop album. super fun to listen to

Hip to the Javabean - Lemon Demon: super strange, comforting, confusing, and cathartic album to listen too. Lemon Demon is my favorite artist and this is his album that meant the most to me this year. (also if you've never heard it, I'd recommend his album Spirit Phone to anyone)

Wild Planet - B-52s: Very fun album, B-52s are my favorite driving artist and this album is so fun to sing along to. super silly and goofy.

Monarch of Monsters - Vylet Pony: Very good album, only came out 2 weeks ago and ive listened to it 3 times. Super impactful and is cathartic for all of the ugliest emotions inside (yes I found this artist through mlp fansongs, they are peak and i am cringe and free what about it)

Girls Who Are Wizards - Vylet Pony: Super chill album to just vibe out, perfect to draw to.

Starlight Express Soundtrack: Insane musical, the og 1984 soundtrack is super groovy and just fun to listen to.

TV: (I dont watch a ton of tv so this'll be short)

Andromeda: 2000s star trek style show. fun for like 70% of the episode until you think about the implications and then it becomes absolutely insane, like one of the main characters tries to kill like a few hundred children in like episode 3 absolutely wild.

Dungeon Meshi: super comfy tv show, nice to just chill out with. It's like a combo of high fantasy and a cooking show. all the food looks amazing

Malcom in the middle: One of my comfort shows and probably my favorite live action sitcom. Just an absolutely insane family that loves each other.

Bojack Horseman: NEVER BINGE THIS SHOW IN 6 DAYS DEAR LORD. Super good show as long as you actually think about the themes.

if you read all this based as hell

[mermaidsirennikita]

I'm on a Lorraine Heath kick thanks to your recommendations so I'd love to know your Top Reads of hers!

Aaah I'm so glad! Lorraine is really so good. A true icon.

My chief favorites include...

Obviously, When the Duke Was Wicked, which feels stupid to say as I'm word vomiting about it right now, but in case someone is in my recs tag later, I love this book and I think it's probably one of the most well-executed romances I've ever read.

Waking Up with the Duke is one that I think has risen among Lorraine fans to be upheld as one of the best, and if I think about everything I've read by her... There's one thing that I think is, in terms of dating and the way we talk about romance, worth critiquing. But in terms of the quality of the love story, her prose, the plot, the EMOTION, it may be her best yeah. It's really moving and really angsty and it takes a truly bizarre plot and plays it so straight and gives you SO MUCH feeling. I just really love this book.

The Earl Takes All is Gorilla Twins, so you've kinda gotta read it, but it's also genuinely a great book. Like, the entire plot is incredibly wild lol, but the drama and twists are done so well. The way she does the REVEAL is not what I think anyone would expect when reading this novel. And it's so messy. God, I love it.

The Duke and The Lady in Red is another one I think we could discuss on some levels but damn did I love it. It's sooooo romantic, and Avendale is honestly a difficult hero because he's such an asshole beforehand, and he has a genuinely super rough backstory. This one made me cry, but I also found it very sexy and like, full of tension throughout because our hero and heroine do initially have a very transactional relationship that gradually becomes more genuinely emotional.

Between the Devil and Desire is one I'd argue could possibly rival Waking Up with the Duke for the crown, because it just hits every beat. A snappy, rough hero who doesn't seem to care about anyone; a chilly, bitchy (yet incredibly horny) widow who sees him as a threat on every level. One of the only children in romance who WORKS and that's because Jack Dodger is the ULTIMATE father who stepped up in romance, imo. Fabulous.

The Scoundrel in Her Bed is a recent favorite. It's second chance, it's extremely angsty, and it destroyed me emotionally. Like. This one probably made me cry the most out of any of the Lorraine books I've read because it just really luxuriated in how like. Sometimes love doesn't fix everything that's gone wrong because love isn't a time machine, but we can still move forward and so on and so on. Also, I'm a sucker for a second chance romance, especially one where they like, took each others' precious flowers and then got separated and are both now SUPER BITTER TBH.

Scoundrel of My Heart is another second chance one where it's like "what happened to us, what did we lose, can we get it back" (no but you can get something new!!!) and obviously I love that shit. It's also one of those second chance books where they were separated when they were just beginning, and they never got to have sex, and now they're back in each other's orbit and it is TENSE.

[sharkbaitouhaha]

Tell me about your book !!! (I saw the name of the book btw) I just don't know what it's about . Curious to know why it's not that enjoyable but you're still reading 😂😂

Lola i am about to write you a novel i am so sorry

for anyone curious this is a bout the book "a touch of darkness" okay so! i have to start with the fact that this was a book bought for me for my birthday and was very much a shot in the dark on if i'd like it or not. and this is all going to be very rambly because i'm really not sure why i'm still reading it 😂

it's a retelling of the hades & persephone myth but it's like a ✨spicy✨ retelling. so look i love some good smut but i'm not a big romance or smut book reader, it's just usually not my jam or something i'm drawn to outside of fanfic. i adore greek mythology which is why the book was bought for me, with the biggest worry being "is the retelling going to be good enough for my dear darling wife who admittedly is sometimes too critical of retellings". My sweet darling beloved husband also did not realize this was a smutty book he was buying which actually is the funniest part of this entire story to me.

at the time of writing this i'm about 50% done the book. now the way this author has gone about doing the actual retelling or reworking of the myth is just, in my opinion, not great. however it really reads like maybe they had this other story and just slapped some greek mythology characters onto the book. the story very much feels like they wanted to write that kinda 'billionaire, possessive, enemies to lover' type story which again just not my usual type of story but hey it's good to give things a chance. also persephone, who this particular book really places the focus on, is just really fucking stupid

the smut is also just not really smutting to put it in the worst possible wording i can. there's like hints of it but nothing has really happened. perhaps i am just impatient but also there's been moments where there's definitely build up and then it doesn't go far and just ends very abruptly.

honestly it feels like maybe the book would have been better if it was not meant to be smutty at all, or there was more commitment to the smut. it almost feels jarring, like i'm being pulled out of one type of story and i'm being plopped into another type of story.

now with all of that i'm sure you're still wondering why is she reading this she has many a complaint. and i really wish i had a firm answer here because i wouldn't be so confused myself. here are some thoughts on why i think i have continued to read it despite all of the above

like sometimes things are objectively bad but they're fun and so it's still enjoyable and while it may not be a super enjoyable book it's also not unenjoyable, it's kind of a middle ground i guess. at no point have i been reading and felt "this is so atrocious that it's a waste of time to read it". so while i don't find it's very good i also don't think it's bad enough to just stop reading. ya know what i mean?

i am also genuinely curious to see where this author takes the myth. i don't necessarily think it's a great retelling or rework of the myth but i am so curious to see where she takes it, at least for this book because i don't see myself reading the rest of the series. that's part of the fun in reading retellings is seeing how things are changed and while i don't love the current choices i've seen the authot has in fact piqued my interest enough to see where things go, or at the very least where this book ends in terms of the myth.

it's also a pretty quick read so it doesn't feel like it's draining or taking more mental energy than its worth to read it. and hey why not try to just finish a book in a genre you never would have bought yourself

anyway i don't know if any of this makes any sense or really explains why i'm reading it. i guess there's just parts of the story i am somewhat interested in but as a whole im just not really liking it. if i had to rate it right now i'd say it's like a 2/5 so not the worst but also not good.

[bookinit02]

found this little thing i wrote while i was reading the second part of your rewrite series, it is yours now🤝

“here to log my progress,, really trying to marathon this whole series got the whole first part done yesterday and im determined to get this (40k longer) part done today,, im half way through so only 50k to go and its good dont get me wrong but its a Lot and im Overwhelmed and i wanna get to season three when mike figures out his feelings for will and wills feelings for mike get more angsty and jaded and then i wanna get to season four when mike cant stop staring at wills lips. i must stay strong through them having a good relationship alas

hmmm all this talk of mike never lying hmmm… almost seems,, dare i say…. like foreshadowing. hmmm when does mike wheeler lie hmmm. literally season 4. this is already season 4 foreshadowing. and it’s Been happening like since the beginning. shoutout to the girlie who’s writing this’ forethought,, truly insane im in awe,, will has to believe mike loves el, he never lies.

“And Mike knows what a rare, powerful feeling that is. To be needed. It doesn’t happen all that often, for guys like him and Bob.

When you get the chance, you leap on it, just as eagerly as one of those mini-demogorgons in the hallway devouring their prey. Or at least, Mike would. And, not to assume, but he thinks he and Bob are kinda wired the same way. So that means Bob would, too.” god this boy,, i am him and he is me but also,, Season Four Love Confession.. hes leaping at the chance to be useful, hes needed and he knows what hes needed for in that moment holy shit this is crazy were only half way through season two,, this isn’t even written yet and yet it is written in the Stars holy shit

possibly my favorite addition to this retelling is mikes investment in johnothan vs steve”

thank you so much!! i love seeing people’s notes🫶🏻

i am still so impressed by how quickly you finished this series!! i was watching the comments roll in with a mixture of awe and fear tbh😭 i am always blown away when people make the decision to read the rewrite from the beginning—that is so much writing!! several novels worth!! you deserve an award!🏆

haha i love a good bit of foreshadowing😈 & thank you so much for the compliment!!

bob☹️ and yes you got mike’s character struggle perfectly! he Needs to be Needed.

and YEAHH lmao i love writing the love triangle through mike’s eyes😭 it’s so fucking funny he’s so bitchy about it

again, thank you so much!!!

[starlit-mansion]

i feel kind of bad because i followed an author on here because i thought the premise of his next book sounded like something i would like, and i bought it and read half of it and.... ngl it sucks major ass.

it's billed as a romantic comedy and it's painfully weak at jokes, it's chock full of that therapy-talk thing that people make fun of (i lost my shit at one of the lead's ex wife scrupulously listing out her privileges as a straight white cis woman before literally spelling out that she thinks he might be demisexual based on an article she read once. like. who talks like that to their ex-husband. also she's just generally written like if a blank piece of paper was a person*), and it has an absolutely catastrophic case of fanfic pacing (ie something kind of uncomfortable happens and is immediately resolved within or by the next chapter so the plot just bobs up and down in a pool of tepid water rather than having any sort of swell and crash) and it has to instantly file down any flaw that the characters are ever shown to have. (this character's an alcoholic? that's okay, it's safely in his past and barely affects anything other than giving other people a chance to dither about whether or not they can drink in front of him before he assures them that it's okay. he was involved in a scandal? yes but it's not through any fault of his own. the love interest didn't realize he had the capacity to be attracted to a man before reuniting with his trans ex and being into him currently? don't worry, the narration will tell you twice that it's so wild that he's not experiencing any panic about his sexuality whatsoever because he's so naturally chill? the love interest has a demanding restaurant job? doesn't effect the plot in any way because he's never once been unavailable to do one of the 5 or 6 meandering hangouts that have stuffed the book so far, or even been tired or lost sleep even though him having some insomnia was established immediately.)

i keep wanting so badly to just like.... ooh, rewrite it a little bit. i can SEE like 4 places where a little needed conflict could go. I even second guessed myself like "maybe i'm not a good judge of contemporary romance novels because i only read regency romance novels" but then i remembered that's a dumb thing to think. I'm perfectly good at discerning weak plot, empty quip exchanges, and preaching to the choir. it's just kinda bad lmao.

I do think it's funny that i chewed through half of the book while on an edible and then realized as soon as i sobered up that it was pretty terrible actually (to be fair. i was giving it a chance to pay off.... any potential conflicts. but it steadily refused to, and instead sprinkled in the tiniest bits of miscommunication to spin out the mutual pining for a couple more chapters. and a couple more chapters again), but also. i fucking never have anything to say about good books and i think i got $17 worth of value from being able to roast it so thoroughly.

*shoutout to drew gooden for that evergreen phrase, you changed my life

[packagingcontainer]

Venting about Ishimiko (Kaguya-sama)

You know, I was writing this as a reply in reddit then I realized that they don't want to read this. I don't think anyone wants to read this (sorry for using the tag, but I also don't want to be yelling at an empty abyss either). As I was writing the reddit reply, I realized I finally put into words how I feel about Ishimiko in the Kaguya-sama love is war manga. And I literally have nowhere to share it, so I recreated my tumblr account.

Warning because there are massive Kaguya-sama spoilers and this is also not going to be a positive post at all. So if you read it and don't like it, you have only yourself to blame for reading it. -- I don't know.

If there's something I've learned from the short story and the new werewolf game novel, it's that I don't really want more Ishimiko. I don't want to see more explanations of what they think. I don't want to learn more about them. Frankly, I know more than enough. Sometimes I wonder if I know more about it than Aka.

I seriously just wanted them to close lips. Heck, hold hands or something. I just want some damn closure. He had a chance to do something like that with the time skip. Instead he wasted that flash forward in 276 by making the most incredibly ambiguous and frustrating flash forward chapter on existence.

And that's the greatest problem right now. 276 and 278. The Light Novel couldn't solve anything about Ishimiko , because it happens before 278, meaning that no matter what, 278 is going to Thanos snap whatever 'progress' was made during it. And 276 causes a similar problem, cause If he made a college Ishimiko continuation, it would have to be after 276. Because otherwise we still still ahve 276 smearing itself all over whatever we see from college Ishimiko before that point.

But on the other side of the coin. Having the interesting parts of the Ishimiko romance happen after college Ishimiko after 276 has the slight problem that it would be incredibly depressing. It's kinda funny and cute to see these characters wasting time for a couple of years. But 6+ years (high school + all the pre-276 college) would be so sad and honestly, really mean with the characters? Not even the rent a girlfriend guy is going to wait 6 whole years like that.

I guess my biases are showing here though. Because nowadays I am really feeling like I don't actually like College Ishimiko? I know it's fun in theory. But it's not really what I signed for. Maybe I would feel different if I going through 276 was worth it and it led to some form of closure. But nah, of course not. Because it would have been so hard for Aka Akasaka to give us even one speck of breadcrumb so near the end of the manga. I can't read Aka's mind so I don't know what he was thinking when writing 276, but I get such the vibe that it was just mean-spirited*.

And I think that's the problem I have overall. After 137, the manga + Short Story are so full of stuff that makes the ship more annoying and/or painful but there's never a reward that makes all those annoyances and pain worth it. I mean oh, how cool Ishigami almost killed himself and Miko broke her arm, but it's all worth it cause 226 chapters and a short story later we get to learn that Ishigami is transphobic. yay.

And the question is, after all of that, do I really want more of it? Probably not. This is probably why, the second I heard about that new light novel I automatically got defensive about it. I can only go through the annoyance -> pain -> no real reward cycle so many times before it's just tiresome. That's the best word I would use to describe Akasaka's writing overall. Tiresome.

*I know people really love 276. Specially HayaFuji shippers. But I think this chapter is the one that really broke me. And as a HayaFuji shipper, I can't help but notice that even the big win that 276 is supposed to be, Fuji looks like she's hating every single moment of it. And surely, that's not what's really going on. But it's an example of just how Aka forced himself to be as ambiguous and annoying and honestly cruel as possible in this chapter. The least-ambiguous thing about it is the Wedding rings, but it had to be so covert and stealthy that most people don't even notice. I've seen plenty of people tell others to go read Oshi No Ko chapter 90.1 for confirmation that Guya got married, because for some reason Aka couldn't be clear-enough about Kaguprez' status in their own manga. Again, it's just tiresome.

"Show don't tell" has its limits. Sometimes you really just have to show something. Anything at all. Unless exhausting your audience is part of your goals, I guess.

[margieargie]

Curious if you've played the TES spinoff games? And what your thoughts on them are?

So, I haven't played any of the Travels games (Stormhold/Dawnstar/Shadowkey) because you needed to actually use cell phones in the early 2000s and I sure didn't at the time, but I have played the rest!

Battlespire is... I really like the idea behind it, it introduced a lot of great lore, and the writing was pretty fun, but as an actual game it's just a bunch of a mess. As someone who's used to and enjoyed the whole swing-mouse-to-attack thing from the first two main games, for whatever reason the way they did it here just really Does Not Work. There really is a lot about the game that just ends up being a bit off, and it all comes together to make it a mess in general.

Redguard is great for what it is! It just suffers a bit from early 3D game syndrome. I'm glad Bethesda tried to do something pretty different for this game, even if it ended up not selling well.

Online definitely comes highly recommended, if you have the time and willingness to interact with other people that you need for an MMO. It was a bit rough starting out, but it's come a pretty long way (seems to be the standard for those kind of games, but it's not quite as extreme a case of that as, say, Final Fantasy XIV... in either direction, really, don't expect it to be as good as that, but not much is).

Blades. Ah, Blades. The game is simple, but fun! The only problem is that it's built around microtransactions, and it will NOT let you forget about that for even five seconds. You can absolutely play it very well without having to pay for anything, but the amount it begs you to do that anyway gets old extremely fast. That, and the whole idea of a microtransaction-based game is a morally awful one either way.

[sparkles-and-trash]

Bookstore AU (dabihawks, tddk, spinneraki, togachako)

dabihawks art -

notes: yet another little au that won't leave my brain, but at least I'm writing again, so... a win is a win! maybe I'll do something more with it (one-shot?), maybe not, time will tell!

Dabi is the owner of Clandestine Books and Beverages, a small bookstore and coffeeshop that lies on a street corner on an ordinary street corner in a medium sized city

it doesn't really look like anything too special, your standard cozy store with dark mahogany shelves and too many plants and nice big windows that lets in the sunlight of the few days it doesn't rain around there

also, the owner is pretty damn grumpy

to be fair, he got really tired of people trying to flirt with him when he first opened the store

having white hair, turquoise eyes and being a member of the Todoroki family, mixed with the fact that he has this dark and mysterious aura going with the whole bookstore owner thing made people kinda crazy

but rumor got out pretty fast that flirting with him got you nothing but an uncomfortable stare of death

at first, he really built his clientele on having a lot of rare books, and if he didn't have what you were looking for, he would find a way to get it for you

when his friend from college approached him about the idea of starting off a small coffeeshop in the store, however, the customers really started pouring in

Tenko might be a bit awkward and strange, but he makes the best coffee in town, hell, maybe in all of Japan

pretty soon, Touya had to accept his fated hire a few other employees

...he hired two of his friends, but hey, he still did it, so it counts

Spinner was kinda hesitant, he was nervous that having a animorph working for him would set Touya and Tenko back, but they wouldn't hear a word of it

now, Spinner actually knows a lot about literature, and while he's a little shy, he's also great with the customers

also he gets to look at Tenko all day, which is worth more than the paycheck for him lol

Toga, on the other hand, didn't really care about books if they weren't overdramatic romance novels, but her sunny disposition did wonders with the customers

one of Touya's favorite things about the stores location was how close it was to UA High, where his youngest brother was enrolled in the hero program

now, Shouto is 18 now, and he has a hero license and all that jazz, and he's taller than Touya, whatever, he's still his little brothe r and Touya enjoys the chance to judge all of his brothers friends when he brings them there for coffee

sadly for Touya, most of his brothers friends are pretty cool

however, because of the close proximity to UA, another hero have started hanging around the shop lately, and it's annoying Touya to no end

Touya obviously knows who Hawks is, he's a pretty popular and successful hero, and the big, red wings are a dead big giveaway

at first, Keigo had just gone to the bookstore and coffeehouse because Tokoyami insisted they had the best coffee in town, but his eyes met the owners eyes once, and that was that

which frankly feels like some form of cosmic joke, that Keigo had spend his whole life without having crushes on people, and the one time he gets one, it's on the most unapproachable and grumpy guy ever

normally Keigo is pretty good at talking to people, and he gets along just fine with the other employees, but just one steely game from Touya and he freezes

so naturally, he hangs around the store constantly now

Spinner and Toga is secretly telling him about all of Touya's favorite books etc to give him an edge, but it doesn't help much when Keigo is too busy looking at Touya over the books to actually read

once Touya actually caught him looking over at him while holding a book upside-down

Touya will never admit it, but he's starting to get used to having the big bird there, and might even get a little bit sad on the days he doesn't stop by

when Shouto mentions that he wants to find a weekend job to make some of his own money while still in school, Touya tries to make him come work for him

but Shouto declines, saying that it's too easy to just work for his brother

Touya damn near loses his mind when Shouto shows up at Tenko's coffee bar

according to Shouto, that's more than far enough removed from his brother for it to count as a real job

it doesn't help when Shouto's green haired friend starts hanging out there every day Shouto works, mooning over his brother very obviously

...obvious to everyone but Shouto, who is obviously feeling the same, but has no idea

and when Izuku starts bringing his friend with the brown hair and rosy cheeks whom Toga has a huge crush on, there's almost too much crushes around him for Touya to be able to stand being at work

...including his own

oops this got long alskhflkshf

[videogamelover99]

I'm really intrigued to hear your thoughts on Shirase. For all of his very apparent faults, he's one of my favorites and I find him very interesting so I'm always intrigued to know what other people's thoughts on him are (especially those who have read Stormbringer).

Ah, well anon I hope you don't take offence but I think he's the wrost XD. But in, like, an interesting way? He's the type of toxic person that's very typical to find in our day to day lives; unlike all the villains and whatever Dazai's got going on, Shirase is just. Someone who responds to growing up powerless in the worst way possible.

On the other hand, it's so facinating to read into his and Chuuya's interactions cause...man, if the fandom wants a codependent relationship, there's one right there. The "how many times am I gonna have to save you" line from Chuuya is so indicative of what Chuuya was to Shirase, and by extension, the rest of the Sheep. I'm gonna do a post on this dynamic specifically later, but the bottom line is. Shirase needs Chuuya, for power and protection, and Chuuya, at least in the past, was desperate to be needed by someone because if he gives enough, that means he's worth something, right?

I also have a small theory. While the anime portrays the Sheep getting kidnapped in Fifteen as just dumb kids being dumb and Chuuya being the only one with some common sense, the Light Novel's conversation with Shirase on the matter is a little different:

“Hang on. You went to the factory road?” Chuuya asked sharply. “Did you go to steal booze again? This is war, ya know! And you got that close to the Mafia’s base?! That’s like begging to be kidnapped!”

“Quit yelling.” The boy frowned. “It’s not like we went to kill anyone. We’re only acting in self-defense just like the rules say. Besides, isn’t this our chance? The Sheep always get their revenge. You lay a finger on us—we pay you back double. Right?”

A) Shirase immediately dismisses Chuuya's fruatration as an overreaction (it's not) and B) tries to justify invading mafia territory by saying that they didn't intend to kill anyone, and whatever skirmish that happened was just self-defense. Like, to me, it seems that Shirase had pushed against those rules before, for him to need to justify himself to Chuuya. Also, he was the only one of that group not captured. Sounds kinda sus XD.

Also, he's so bloodthirsty??

Shirase: "Kick his ass and tie him up! Then we can exchange him for— Wait. Actually, just kill him.”

Dazai: "Oh my. That took a dark turn."

Combined with the stuff in Stormbringer and how Shirase claims he was the one running the Sheep the whole time and laments the resources and power he lost when the gang was broken up, I think he deliberately entered mafia territory to provoke them into capturing the other Sheep, giving Chuuya no choice but to retaliate and, in the process, gain more Sheep territory. Simply put, Shirase was using his position as Chuuya's (probably closest?) friend to gain power for himself and the gang. Gaslight gatekeep girlboss?

In his defence, Stormbringer also showed his capacity for kindness. If Shirase hadn't given Chuuya that bread, I think Chuuya would have turned out a very different person. Like all BSD characters, he's complex and very grey.

I am happy with how Stormbringer ended, that the little codependent dynamic the two had going on was finally broken up, that Chuuya could freely state how much Shirase owes him, and that Shirase could take it fine. Them not looking back at each other is also them putting that relationship behind them.

So, in conclusion, Shirase is a little shit but he's an enjoyable little shit? Dazai immediately spots his brand of manipulation, and it's great, because he is a parallel to Dazai, in a way. He's there to point out how differently Double Black functions from the relationship he and Chuuya had. How Dazai, while capable of being even more manipulative than Shirase, still regards Chuuya on equal footing, not as a tool to be used, but as a person with his own desires. There's a reason why, as soon as Chuuya turns his back on Shirase one last time, Dazai's the one waiting for him.

"'He can’t. All you can do is trust him,' Dazai interjected once more. 'Isn’t that enough? You’re friends, right?'"

[lollytea]

Deeply sorry for disturbing the Queen is dead fest🎉

But huntlow brainrot knows no time or place

One of things i like to imagine about them is how meanwhile both of them are aware of their feelings (not that the other likes-likes them but they do notice the affection directed at them) But due to circumstances they decide to stop thinking about it now, there are more important stuff!!

But the thing is both are extreme losers so each time they tell themselves "this is something i d do for each of my friends!" It very much is not

And thus Hunter reads many books about plant life (while daydreaming of discussing it and amazing willow with his knowledge), almost always takes the place next to willow if there s chance

And willow is very affectionate (shoulder touching/grabing hand when she s excited to show something etc), bringing snacks she knows he enjoys to their gravesfield history studies)

YEAH!!!!

This reminded me of something I think is really funny but don't see that much of in huntlow content. Willow being a complete loser for Hunter but like. Reluctantly? Melting against her will? Knowing she's being so very silly right now but unable to stop it?

Like when it comes to Lumity, Luz and Amity were already HUGE romantics even before they started dating so when mutual crush began, they dove the fuck in at full throttle.

But I like to imagine that Willow and Hunter just were not like that to begin with. They really ARE huge no nonsense "I need to focus on more important things" kind of people. (And maybe, just maybe, once they become a little more aware of their crush on each other, focusing on more important things also becomes somewhat of an excuse. Cuz feelings like this are unfamiliar territory and they're scared of tackling it head-on.)

Willow might have poured over romance novels when she was little but I see it as something she stopped doing as she got older and she deemed it "silly." (Let's not get into how part of the reason for that might have been her diminishing self worth and feeling like she can never be loved in that way or we'll be here all day.)

I could see her watching pre-relationship Luz and Amity being blushing messes around each other and trying to convince herself she is way too mature to ever behave like that. She's thinking "Could never be me. If I liked somebody, I would simply not be obvious about it."

Actually ma'am you are incorrect.

Hunter too. Like scouts being annoying about their crushes while on a mission and Hunter rolling his eyes like "There is no way a single person on the Boiling Isles could ever make me act so undignified."

ACTUALLY SIR YOU ARE INCORRECT.

And now they're both kinda kicking themselves for how they're feeling and how their brains are practically soup rn.

But it's FINE they're FINE, they're both just like "Nobody needs to know. I can hide it. I can totally hide it. I will be so good at hiding it."

Hunter most definitely is not good at hiding it, but he thinks he is. Yes, he is Willow's friend so of course he wants to do things that make her happy. So obviously he's gonna memorise passages from the encyclopedia chapter on her favourite carnivorous plants so he can recite them casually during conversation and her eyes will light up with delight and she'll burst into babbling about it. And he'll be able to keep up with her and impress her with how much info he's soaked up. This is a normal friend thing. He's a good friend, get off his back.

Willow is very touchy and affectionate with all her friends so she's a little bit more subtle. Patting his shoulder, hugs, linking arms with him, holding his hands. These are all things she does with Luz, Gus and Amity so it's not all that weird. But she gets so comfortable with the freedom of touching him ("Nobody's gonna know.") that she begins getting carried away and taking it much further than she does with her other friends. Miss Park why did you just cup Hunter's cheeks in your hands and smile at him like he holds the moon? Why did you say "Hi Hunter 💘" so very softly? Why did you take his hands in yours and then gently stroke your thumb across his skin? Why did you stand up on your tiptoes to thread your fingers through his hair because "wow it's kinda messy. Let me fix it for ya." Miss Park?? Miss Park get back here I want answers.

Anyway as time goes on, Willow gets a little lost in the sauce when it comes to her affection for Hunter. But it makes her so dopey that she just?? Doesn't notice she's doing it?? So she's so convinced that's shes being so low-key about her crush on him and nobody is the wiser.

She's definitely trying very hard to keep her crush in her head and not to let it leak out into the real world. Because, again, she's pretty adverse to schmaltzy stuff because it's a kind of weakness she doesn't want to reveal. But now she's out here getting absorbed in her thoughts and when she comes back to reality she's written Hunter's name all over her notebook and she's just like "FUCK!! SHIT!! FUCK!!"

Hunter, meanwhile, is going through the photos the group has taken while in the Human Realm and he finds one of just Willow alone sitting on a swingset and grinning at the camera. And he thinks to himself "I could...I could hold on to this." Which just sends him crashing back to the memory of that one scout he knew who talked about keeping a photo of his girlfriend under his pillow. And Hunter's skin nearly melts off from the fiery heat of his blush. FUCK!! SHIT!! FUCK!! He really is no better is he? He's gotta get this under control or she's gonna find out.

Basically Willow and Hunter being like "I am being SO normal right now" while literally bursting at the seams. Miss Park, we see you twirling your hair, Mr Hunter we see you fuckinf giggling. Please for the love of God get a hold of yourselves.

[pianostarinwonderland]

Girl say it louder FOR THE ONES AT THE BACK!! Azul is not a crybaby and his confidence is NOT faked C'MON!!!

Funny thing, someone told me they'd never seen an azul stan such as me who adored him sm, BUT I'M SORRY YOU NEED TO BE GETTING A CROWN FOR THIS, I am literally an amateur in front of you.

Also, I read that anon ask of yours where you both admitted to almost crying with azul, and now I feel kinda pathetic to say it hyped me up and I was disappointed it ended so quickly 💀 (also I didn't even realize he was crying until I logged onto tumblr wtf) it was more like "he's crying? is he? OMG AZUL IS CRYING?!?! LESSGO LMAO THIS IS INTERESTING" mind you I ADORE azul and I did even before book 1, but I just have this tendency to insult my favourite characters 💀 love-hate relationships <3

SPEAKING OF AZUL, I USED THAT BITCH IN MY ENGLISH DESCRIPTIVE WRITING IN MY EXAM. Yeah I used his personality, and mostro lounge's interior, and an angry client and some contracts bs💀 except I switched the tweels for a blue eyed woman u h. I ALSO NAMED THE AZUL CHARACTER JONES TF 😭 and he also had azuls glasses AND I WANTED TO ADD MORE BUT my English teacher isn't a boomer and there is a HIGH chance she'd played or HEARD of twst, so I didn't wanna embarrass myself. Now I hope azul charms my paper and I get a good grade sksjsjsj

[Reply to this reblog!]

I am so sorry this is so late HAHAHA BUT FKDFKNSDFKLSDF THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT and trust me, this may not be the last time I'll talk about this because who knows, something might inspire me to make a third post. But I won't try to bog this blog down either.

Anyway, onto the main anon, kjfsdnfkjdskjnjksdnjkdskf a lot of people have said that to me as well xDD I think I've gotten a couple of anon asks about it. I can't help but be loud about Azul here, he's my joy and light. But hey, loudness doesn't equate to how much one adores someone, I'm sure you adore Azul a lot as well (and please bug me about it so we can scream together, I need more Zuzu stannies)

As for the anon ask, ok I can't find it right now HDFKFJKSFKSD but noo don't worry too much about it. I know some Azul stans who also reacted the same way xD first impressions are first impressions, after all, plus not everyone will react the same way. Like ,, I love Riddle, but I was laughing when he cried the first time because the sounds sounded funny 💀 What matters more is understanding and the willingness to understand what's happening, why a character acted the way they did, and how they are as a person in general.

LMAOOOO good job anon, hope you got the grade you wanted. I've also used Azul in so many of my school outputs 💀💀💀 like, I used him once in a 17k word fic that I submitted in class HAHAHHAHAAHAHAHHAHA I never got my grade for it but hey . it was worth it. I have a novel now that I could potentially publish if I just revise and edit.

[violetren]

I have this problem of I love so many things about different parts of the series that choosing my fav book from it kinda triggers that "would you ask me to pick a favourite child, how cruel!" response. I think its because I am mostly here for the character driven narrative, and ALL of Bragg's books do that. For real, it sounds like you're into Bragg's writing for the superhero focus, but you might find it worth while to try Master of Puppets (War of Souls book 1) to see what I mean.

But I do really reliably love Chance and so Transistor usually wins on that front.

When it comes to Superhero Romance I appreciate the romance aspect, because how characters approach those situations can tell you a lot about them, and like I am more of a romantic at heart than I care to be IRL. However the thing that really gets me excited is how the nature of superhero stories ties character building and world building together and lets them build on one another. Like when the power scales are so huge, and the genre slams routinely puts the stakes at an 11, even small character quirks can have rippling consequences and that's a lot of fun for me.

I can absolutely see how Transistor would rate lower for someone who is here for the superhero stuff. There were times when i was live blogging my first read through where I was like "this should probably be tagged fantasy rather than superhero fiction." With the angels, dragons and alchemist as key characters it really feels like an urban fantasy story that just happens to take place in a superhero setting even with the emergent collective consciousness of nanites thrown in. Like it IS an origin story but it feels almost as if by coincidence.

Personally, I didn't see the apocalyptic threat as incongruent with the road trip to meet her crush's family, because aside from Chance sorta going "Ok superheroes are cool and also joining an MERT is our best shot at not living in hiding forever and ever" those over blown stakes from a weird family connection felt like one of the most superhero-y aspects of the book. Because taking a fairly mundane event and exploding it out to have insane amounts of collateral damage and then resolving it/preventing/stopping further damage by finally addressing the most mundane interpersonal relationship aspect is just very on brand for my experiences with superhero stuff. And again, as I value character focus so much having the story focus on the romance and family dynamic stuff instead of rushing to combat the coming apocalyptic threat was chill with me.

Scatter and Transistor are both really good stand-alones but are doing a lot of heavy lifting of drafting out what the world of the series looks like, and setting up plot threads that don't get resolved or woven in deeper until Aether and Rhapsody, which helped make Aether and Rhapsody feel so much richer without actually needing to break pattern or cram in an overwhelming amount of lore. I'm too immersed to tell how they do as standalone books though. Probably good, but not as phenomenal as they are in context.

Of all of them Aether is absolutely the most traditional feeling superhero story with Ayanda's backstory within Scatter pulling a close second, and then the entire Scatter novel itself in third. Or at least that is my impression.

I am currently on the fence about where to put Transistor and Rhapsody on the superhero-ness ranking, but I am thinking Transistor then Rhapsody???

As I said before Transistor is very urban fantasy in a superhero setting BUT it is building up to a superhero career, meanwhile the whole conceit of becoming a superhero is rejected by the protagonist of Rhapsody the whole way through. Like if Megan shows up doing hero stuff in later books, I can only imagine it happening because she is helping her wife who is only doing it to help one of her friends. I'd love to hear what you think on that front.

#everyone go read these so that we could have a full fandom and actually discuss them

PLEASE. EVERYONE. MY KINGDOM FOR MORE FANS TO DISCUSS WITH!

Book Shout-outs for Pride Month #1:

Ever wanted a series of lesbian superhero romances, all stand-alone, but set in the same universe and building off of each other (think Phase 1 MCU)?

Hearts of Heroes series by Molly J. Bragg. They're more romance than superheroes, but once you know what to expect it's GREAT.

Scatter is about a US Deputy Marshal who gets promoted to work with the team around the superhero Focus. From the first moment on, there is something strange between her and Focus, but only when she accidentally time travels back to the early 90's begins she to realize that she may be Focus' mysterious long-lost partner, Scatter.

Transistor is about a woman who gains superpowers because the doctors forget to deactivate the supercomputer used in her gender-affirming surgery. It only really becomes an issue when an angry angel comes after her neighbour and long-term crush, very determined to kill her.

Aether has a disabled protagonist, who dies when the building blows up during an experiment. Luckily for her, her consciousness gets somehow preserved, and she gains extremely strong powers. Now she just has to stop the guy who caused the accident from doing it again...

Rhapsody isn't out yet, but based on the summary, it is going to go more into the dragon side of the lore.