#why have art skill if not to make your favs suffer the way you do

[miplup]

started this at the height of summer because if i had to suffer the heat then firstprince had to too :^)

[bookie-bookdust]

Sebastian Sallow Headcanons

Shitty attempt at headcanons for my morally gray, stubborn Sebby boy in Sebastian Sallow Fucking Sucks. It's long for literally no reason besides I don't know how to shut up.

My Seb has gone through it. He suffers - but he also deserves it for that whole "ignorant" outburst days after what happened in the Restricted Section on the night of the Yule Ball. So yeah, he's begging for forgiveness by the end when he realizes how torn he and MC's relationship has become - not without stubbornly trying to get under her skin first.

This idiot constantly wears tight clothes - not because he knows it drives MC insane, though if he noticed, it would get much much worse for her lol- but it's because he's so damn messy he grabs the first clean thing he can find in the morning (slutty little vests, tight sweaters, button downs with stressing buttons - RIP MC).

Reading glasses - enough said.

He's an extremely adept magic wielder. Not only can he cast multiple Unforgivables with shorter cooldowns, but his spells are obscenely strong. MC has not been able to beat him in a duel since that very first time.

That being said, he can't cast a patronus because he's a sad emo boy.

Fav spell: Confringo. Secret fav spell: Imperio.

It's not with the times, but he would definitely listen to metal music. You can't convince me otherwise.

The morally gray/dark wizard line is sooooo veryyyyyy thinnnnnnnn and will get worse.

He doesn't trust aurors and would NEVER BECOME ONE!!!!!!!! Why do ya’ll want him to be a cop so bad??? (Unless he's a dirty cop lol)

Career-wise, he'd be a curse breaker, healer, or a dark wizard 😌

Irrevocably dedicated to the ones he loves, and if he feels its dire enough, he will hurt them to protect them. Trust me on this - for no reason in particular😇

Not opposed to getting on his knees and begging hehehehe...

A skilled healer due to countless hours in the library studying up on a cure for Anne.

Has burned his fingerprints off with too many fire spells. And speaking of his fingers, it's common to spot him with ink staining his skin from all his note taking.

While he's charming and cocky, he sees himself as lesser, dispensable, and directly blames himself for all of his life tragedies.

Anger issues - duh.

Not sure if I'll even get into this in SSFS, but my Seb comes from a family of the Dark Arts - whether he's aware of it or not. We already know Solomon used them. I'd like to think his parents did as well, which is what led to their deaths. The Sallow line is cursed as fuck. Will be exploring this more in a future Dark Seb project where he has to break this curse.

Will make dick jokes. No one is safe.

While he'd make a great beater in Quidditch, his life just doesn't have space for trivial things. He's too busy with murder.

Speaking of body count LOL, he's charmed quite a few witches, but no one has shorted his brain quite like MC. He's intently studied some interesting books in the Restricted Section fantasizing testing out some things.

Idk when his birthday is lol. I'm just agreeing with everyone else.

Seb's relationship with Ominis is interesting....I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if their friendship is going to survive in my world. Seb crosses too many lines. Obliviating your best friend really drives a wedge between you.

THE manipulator. We don't get to see too much of this in SSFS because we're in MC's pov. Particularly because he uses his wiles differently on her. But one of my favorite examples is even as he's mocking her for her poor attempt at lying in the broom closet, he's actively making her anxious (and hot and bothered lol) with that little thread on her sweater. And eventually she slips up. He's such a mother fucker lol.

Okay this post is way too long. I'm gonna leave now lol. BYEEEEE.

[danhoemei]

hi! hope you’re doing well! thank you for sharing amazing art and for supporting creators the way you do! if you don’t mind me asking, I was wondering who’s your favorite character in shl 🧐 I’m very curious!

hello! I am doing well and I hope you do as well 💚 and akjvbelfknbejkbv thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate 💚💚💚🥺 I’m happy you enjoy 😊

I’ve been very busy these past few days, which is also why I’m much less active, and this ask has been sitting in my inbox, so sorry about that! But if I knew who’s my favourite I could answer simply and quickly, right? Welllll, such a simple question and it made the gears in my mind spin so much, somehow I had never thought of who was my favourite before. And you know what? I just had no clue.

Then it hit me how it resonated with my recent thoughts on art in general... which I put on another post because I started writing here and it just got so big and off topic xddd But in short, my problem was that you can like characters for so many diverse reasons that it’s sometimes truly hard to compare and make a ranking.

Firstly, a disclaimer, that I *cough* still haven’t watched the drama *cough* (I’m really gonna watch it I swear I’m just not good at watching stuff alone and I’m still dwelling on my novel impression which I use in my writing skjdnvkjbfvker I can’t let go help). I’m very curious about some characters which were given a whole new life in the drama or were non existent in the novel, especially all the incredible ladies or scorpion king. But for now I have to answer for the novel xd

So I had a problem because I love so many characters. Wen Kexing is literally one of my fav tropes for love interests. Smart and witty, sneaky and with much power hidden underneath, literally unhinged, but at the same time can goof around and loves to tease their love interest, starving for affection and ready to give a lot of it themselves, and after they obtain it they get possessive and ready to do hella lot to keep it. I have a lot of fun with such characters and I'm a simp for them, so wen kexing just hit so many sweet spots.

Ye baiyi started off as just a comic relief for me, but he kept growing in my eyes until he climbed up so high. I love his bluntness and how done he is with everything, so free and uncaring. Which kind of stems from his painful backstory, but also shows how strong mentally he is that he managed to bear so much and keep on living like he did. I respect him tremendously, as well as lowkey relate to being done and not caring for some things (which I previously was very anxious about but now could not care less).

Gu xiang and cao weining didn't leave the best impressions at first, but they bloomed in my eyes and I care for them so deeply now 🥺 

I don't know much about jing beiyuan and wu xi because qi ye is also still on my ‘to read’ list, but even just these few bits in tyk made me already very interested and warmed up for these two.

But after all the scattered thinking in these past days, I somehow finally circled back to zhou zishu. And I understood that as much as I love all these characters for so many different reasons, I think zzs wins in one pretty personal to me aspect - how I relate to a certain trait of his, and that every time a character like that appears I go feral for them. It was like that for liu qingge, for jiang cheng, even for shen jiu. It's the characters that have troubles putting their emotions and desires into words and actions, but at the same time they have much affection and care inside.

I like zzs for many things. His reluctant care for chengling and even more reluctant opening up to wkx make me all soft, I enjoy (and feel personally) his carefree attitude and bluntness, I respect his quick thinking, skills, and witty remarks. But what makes me care very deeply for characters like him is how they just can’t seem to easily and openly show their feelings or care. They often snap, brush off, or hide whenever it spills, as if they can’t handle it, don’t know how to react, or because it destroys the image they try to uphold. But you can still see signs of it in their actions, when they help someone, make something for them, heal them, give them tips, rescue them if they’re in trouble. Or show their vulnerability in a moment of weakness, in the presence of someone they trust. Goddamn I go feral for that. Also I have much satisfaction when that image or defenses get brought down ajkfnklsdgnvl

And it all stems from the fact that, as much as it may sound ridiculous with all my openness and excitement that you see here, I have terrible troubles in this area as well xdd I am a good actor and observer who knows what to avoid, so if I don’t want someone to know something, they won’t. And I am painfully awkward and absolutely an idiot when it comes to anything romantic or intimate. So combining these two aspects ends up with me suffering in silence and living delusions in my head, while the other person I have feelings for is absolutely oblivious or even thinks that I don’t like them because of all my freezing and changing the subject whenever it gets in any way intimate or emotional xd I am an epitome of awkwardness and avoidance in this, constantly running away when I can’t handle feelings or don’t know how to react xd

So yeah, such characters resonate with me a lot and I self-project on zzs a lot in my writing. Now u know my secret lmao

[linkspooky]

Your analysis on shigaraki's worldview is 😍😍😍. Who's your fav bnha character btw, and what kind of manga are you into? (i mean as in genre, but my phrasing is terrible at times so idk how to put it all in the last sentence)

My favorite manga in the whole world are the manga that run in Weekly Shonen Jump. I read almost everything that runs in the magazine from week to week. I know that’s not technically a genre, but let’s not arguen semantics. 

And now because no one asked for it, my opinion on all of the manga currently running through Jump that I read. 

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba usually manga in shonen jump slowly get worse over time as they try to stretch their stories out, but Kimetsu no Yaiba is a story that continues to develop on itself and improve the longer it runs. 

The art is phenomenal and has a good balance of when to be silly and when to be drop dead gorgeous. It’s more of an ensemble piece tied together by a big brother trying to save his little sister, and because of that almost every character Tanjirou interacts with is fun and really immediately attention grabbing. 

It’s also a pretty heavy story that deals with death, grief and loss and trying to find life beyond a world that has suffering like that. I’m actually planning to make some meta of it soon, especially with the interactions between Domi and Shinobu. My only real complaint is that it’s deep but not too deep. Usually the demons are always bad and the demon slayers are always good in the end, even if sympathy is expressed for some of the demons. Once again though it does so well in the technical aspects of telling the story it wants to tell. 

My Hero Academia it’s pretty obvious that I like it. The biggest draws for me are the art style and the characters, specifically the villains. Also the idea of a reverse X men world where what are basically the mutants now outnumber normal people and dominate society is a fantastic idea for world building with a lot of options. 

I’ve actually followed Horikoshi’s work for a long time. His two previous works, Oumagodoki Zoo and Barrage both ran in Shonen Jump for a short time before they were cancelled which I find really unfortanate because they both had a lot of potential as well. 

I love both the hero kids and the villains, though sometimes I feel like the villains are more connected to the central conflict of the story than the heroes. It would be nice to see Deku evolve a more radical philosophy then just wanting to save people right in front of him, or protecting the status quo. The heroes should ideally act in response to the villains to create a better world and resolve a problem the villains brought up, but if say the League of Villains were wiped out now another League would be created later because the central problem of the story has not been dealt with. 

Dr. Stone this is a series that almost got cancelled, but was saved by a main character switch. Senku is really likable and unique as a character, kind of a mad scientist archetype who turns out to be the good guy and the hero of the story.

He reminds me a lot of Yoichi from the writers previous work, Eyeshield 21. In that they’re both laughing mad eccentrics who seem like they have little scruples for how they use and treat other people, and yet are surrounded by friends and act as the leaders of their team. They also both have a tendency for strategy over brute strength and like to outwit their opponents. 

The only thing I can say about Dr. Stone is that while the characters are a fun little group of oddballs, they rarely get any deeper than that. The most interesting thing is still figuring out the central mystery of the world and what happened to turn everybody to stone, which is why having Senku as a main character was a really smart move on the series part. 

Yozakura Family This is a new series that I actually really like and hope beats canellation at the two week mark. It’s kind of your basic romantic comedy characters get married in the first chapter promise, but also there’s some really strong character writing with the older brother. He’s one of the few examples of the obsessive and overprotective brother type that was portrayed as actually abusive and damaging for seeing his younger sister that way. 

The premise also reminds me a lot of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, just suddenly getting sucked into the underworld of spies and crimminals when you’re an unlucky loser with no social skills. If the character writing is as strong as it is for the brother I can definitely see a lot of improvement and staying power. 

The Promised Neverland the smartest written series in Shonen Jump write now with the best ideas. The Promised Neverland is all about theme, theme, theme, theme, which is why someone like me who devours stories for their nutritious value and content loves it. 

While there are only about three major characters with arcs that matter to the plot, Norman, Ray, and Emma they are some of the deepest characters in shonen jump currently and the complexity of their relationship and the way they all foil each other is superb.

It’s a story about children trying to escape a neverland where they can never grow up, and live in a world that never wanted them alive. Not only is it just about them though, it’s also about adults who are still inside the system and gave up at one point or another and decided to just live in the evil world rather than change it. It’s a deep story but it’s also undeniably shonen jump, the central theme is about not giving up even in a world that is determined to deny your existence. 

Act Age If you’ve read Chihayafuru this manga has a lot in common with that, because both of them are about very singleminded girls with complex emotions that they themselves don’t understand, finding themselves completely enveloped in a niche hobby to the point of obsession. 

Act-Age is a story that’s primarily about storytelling and the nature of stories themselves, with each arc focusing on an adaptation of either a movie made up for the sake of the story or a pre-written play ie, Journey to the West, Night on the Galactic Railroad. However, it’s also bout the nature of stories, as understood by the perspectie of an actor. 

There are only a few major characters but they all get intensely developed in their arcs. My absolute favorite relationship is that of the main character, quiet on the surface but with deep emotions that she uses for her acting talent with her rival an actress that’s much more like a pop star or idol. Rather than having deep talent she instead uses her ability to read people to appeal to them. She is cheerful and lively on the surface, but empty inside. The way they envy each other and learn to grow from each other because each of them has what the other one desires. 

Jujutsu Kaisen reminds me of really early bleach that was just Ichigo and his teenage friends fighting Hollows. This is one of the manga I definitely reccomend, because it’s one of the lesser known manga in jump currently. The art style has this scratchy look about it which really adds well to the horror aspect of the series. It’s a demon fighting anime with some of the best demon designs, more attention is put on making them look grotesque and scary then in series like KNY where the demons for the most part are pretty good looking still. 

The main trio is very solid, a reckless idiot who swallowed a cursed finger in the first chapter and is continually dealing with the consequences of that, the shadowy, quiet type cool headed one who almost never talks about his past or his true feelings on the matter, and between them the cheerful girl whose a tad on the merciless side. 

Not only are the characters good, but it’s one of the few series where the fights and lore are super interesting. Rather than dealing with demons directly Kimetsu no Yaiba style we deal with curses, which are generated from the human subconscious. 

For exmaple one of the villains Mahito is the embodiment of the fear humans have for other humans, that is the anxieties of life, and the fear and suppressed feelings that go hand in hand with humanity. Because that he’s much like a child curse quickly learning and progressing with a human intelligence. 

The fights, the powers of characters, they’re all used to further develop a really interesting world of curses and the people who live dealing with them that it feels like we’re only scratching the surface of right now and desperately makes you want to figure out the system they have in place for this entire world. 

Yui Kamio Lets Loose - I find it to be a really sweet romantic comedy about a stuck up boy obsessed with appearances and what other people think of him falling in love with two sides of a girl, the uncontrollable Yui that beat him up and constantly gets into fights and trouble, and the perfect demure girl who can only ever be helpless and kind and needs to be protected. It has a feel of a lot of classic 80s high school romantic comedies. The only real problem is that it needs to acquire a plot fast, because it’s at risk for cancellation which makes it hard for me to get invested in a series that might end soon. 

Double Taisei - One of those shonen manga that had a really interesting beginning chapter, but then failed to do anything with it. I think it would work well as a character piece between two personalities who act like brothers in the same body, but the characters aren’t strong enough quite yet to work that way. I do like the character design… 

Tokyo Shinobi Squad - It looked like a ripoff at first but the main character is actually fairly different from Naruto, and the manga itself is uniquely its own thing. I just hope it learns to utilize it’s cyberpunk setting better, because ninjas fighting in a cyberpunk dystopia is a very tropey premise and the story needs to utilize those tropes in order to work. I do like the fact that the main character starts out pretty powerful so it’s not a typical shonen formula about a main character slowly learning to gain power, instead it’s him taking in and being responsible for a kid. 

Manga I don’t read - One piece, Yuuna of the Haunted Hotsprings, Chainsawman, Samurai 8 the tale of Hachimaru, Beast Children, Miitama Security Busters. 

[writings-from-the-hart]

Prompt Pals Tag Game

Yeah, I’m finally getting to this also after days of seeing @wineandpensareallineed post something similar to their blog. Sorry for taking so long and I know Friday is upon us, but here we go!

Rules: Answer these questions

What kind of prompts do you want? (Phrases, specific situations for specific characters.) 

I love all kinds of writing prompts and drawing prompts! Anything targeted at any of my OC’s, world-building (idk the setting lol), or just simple phrases for the muse to grasp onto is perfect.

What genres do you write, and what’s your favorite? 

My current Wip (Renegade) is a post-apocalyptic, dystopian, thriller. It’s a mouthful I know. But that means just about anything goes, but my favorite is more of the action-packed stuff set in a distant future.

What’s your favorite thing to write? 

I’m currently writing a novel (Renegade) so that’s my fav and baby. And question 2’s answer kinda answers this one as well, I love action and some angst not to fear though I do like me some fluff here and there.

What things do you need to work on? (Dialogue, fight scenes, setting, etc) 

Writing-wise I need to work on keeping things tight and clean, I tend to get lengthy and over-explain when I should let the characters do the talking for me. That or I stifle the action by adding too many sensory details. Drawing wise I need to work on people. (Who doesn’t lol)

What are your strengths?

 I’m good with action scenes, dialogue, and details in scenes. So I tend to stick to them and not wander out of my comfort zone, such as overly fluffy scenes and romance. But don’t hesitate to send something out of my comfort zone! I love a challenge and am trying to learn new skills! My strengths in art are color and shading, I love to play with color!

Tell us about your current Wip(s)? 

My main/current Wip is Rengade, this a rough synopsis or teaser I guess. “So tell me little wolf do you want to punish those who have wronged you?” An assassin known as the Crimson Ghost makes their way through the corrupt city-state of Ashton completing a job given to them by the Black Rose. What is a seemingly normal job though turns into something far more complicated when they stumble upon the fractions of an abandoned notebook from the past. A past the Republic is trying to desperately hide and bury no matter what. On the other side of the world in the Republic’s capital Eshar, plainly referred to as “The Prodigy” or “machine” is Eric Coalwood. A man who has built a life upon the ashes of his family, striving to meet the high expectations set before him by his mentor General Wolfheart. However, his life falls out of its normal day to day routine when the unexpected is asked of him. Command a task force made up of the Republic’s most wanted or his life is over. Eric doesn’t need reasons for why he must do what he has to, all he needs are orders and the Republic is more than happy to give them. Either way the clock is ticking for both the Crimson Ghost and the Republic’s prodigy, with time running out they both have two options. Either get over their different beliefs concerning the Republic or allow the world to once again succumb to war but this time nobody is going to survive it. “Legends are slippery things. For the glory that coats them hides the pain, suffering and death that created them.”

In a few words tell us about your MCs and some favorite OCs. 

Eric Coalwood (The Prodigy or Machine of the Republic) a man of few words with a prestigious record and background in the Republic’s military. Valentina Storm (The Crimson Ghost) a woman whose hair is as fiery as her personality, nobody tells her what she can or can’t do. And lastly The House of Cards (I’ll just lump all my favorite OC’s in here because they actually do belong here), a group of seemingly rag tag individuals with criminal records that put them on the Republic’s notorious most wanted list.

Tag the writers in your prompt pals group or other writers!!

@permissiontobreathe @lyssthewriter and @dawnoftheagez

[imyourliquor-youremypoison]

Marvel fic rec - Loki x OC, Bucky x OC (1)

You guys I have such good ones for this rec.

After Class, by Team Damon (68k)

She's a clumsy but intelligent student who's a little late getting her degree, and he's a young but grumpy professor with a past he's doing his best to move on from. Neither of them expected college to be quite this interesting, but nothing ever goes exactly according to plan.

We’re starting with the good stuff, people, the real good stuff. You know how many shitty Student x Teacher fanfictions there are out there in the vasteness of the internet? A lot. I have seen things I wish I could unsee. But this one is not one of those. This one is the best, the single most beautifully written piece of fanfiction with this trope. I cannot stress this enough, I am in LOVE with this story. It’s just long enough to be in-depth and have flesh, but it’s short enough to read in one sitting. It’s my go-to sotry that I read whenever I feel down, when I’m sick and bed-ridden, when I’m stressed out because of my exams and can’t sleep. It heals my soul to read such work of art.

Team Damon is an absolute sweetheart too, a true wordsmith, and there are more of her stories that will make it into this fic rec.

Blasphemy, by SheWritesThings (76k)

For Sam and Steve, finding Bucky was the easy part. But now two distinct personalities reside within him: Bucky Barnes and the Winter Soldier. Sam decides to call in an old friend: Sgt. Fox, a young war veteran and amputee, having suffered PTSD herself. Dodging SHIELD and Hydra agents alike, the trio struggles to bring Bucky back and eliminate the Soldier before time runs out.

Another masterpiece, not the last one of this list. It’s the first installment of a series (ongoing sequel is here) but I honestly don’t think it needs a sequel, it can be read on its own. It has a prologue-y feel to it, but I love it. It’s the first fanfiction I read that deals so seriously and thoroughly with Bucky’s PTSD, and it doesn’t shove a romantic relationship in our face. The author must have sent HOURS researching about PTSD to write this, I cannot fathom how much work it represents.

It’s so good, so raw, it really stirs something in you. Also if ableism is an issue you take to heart, this story is a goode example on how to write disabled characters, it’s just perfect.

Fate's Children, by theatrewraith (109k)

The Norns, fates of the Nine Realms, long ago chose a protector for each realm bound to keep order in their universe. Roska is the latest guardian of Asgard. When Odin asks her to bring Loki back from Midgard at any cost, she is set on a path of even greater importance. To assure Asgard's stable future, she must set the Jotun Prince on its throne.

One of those stories where you wonder how the hell this isn’t a published work. I can barely imagine the amount of research that went into the writing of this fanfiction, the world-building and attention to details is amazing. I have no idea just how much of what I read is inspired by true mythology and folklore, but it’s impressive still. More plot-driven than character driven. To my absolute sadness, it’s not very centred on the pairing HOWEVER it is one of the best Loki characterization I’ve even seen with my own two eyeballs (honestly Taika Waititi should take example).

Friends to Lovers to Complete and Utter Idiots, by Team Damon (39k)

They're just friends. The best of friends, really. But when she's secretly head over heels in love with him and he gets the bright idea to take their friendship to an entirely new and unexpected level, she knows she's playing with fire. She's already burning, though, so why not make it count?. Modern AU 

Listen, I’ve rarely come so close to ripping out all of my hair, and I love my hair. The pairng drove me crazy. Team Damon just knows how to play with my feelings like nobody’s business. The title really says it all, but if you think it’s just another of the usual fwb story, you, my friend, are gravely mistaken. Because it’s more than that, it’s a jewel among jewels. It’s a diamond, alright? Read it, I swear to god, read it.

Stray, by MissMorwen (32k)

“Why did you come here?” “I needed to hide, needed to think.” There was a slight furrow in his brow again. “Think about what?” She tilted her head, trying to catch his eyes. He looked in her direction, but with an unfocused gaze. “The man, he – he knew me. And I knew him.” The knuckles on his right hand were turning white.

******** You know how the story goes: Fucked-up former assassin meets girl. Girl is a cliché vet with a tendency to help birds with broken wings.

I think the author says it all in the synopsis honestly. It’s just a fun, light-hearted Bucky fanfic. It’s a nice change from the more serious stuff, and it’s not too long so it’s a quick read, and it’s worth your time.

Illusion, by likeatumbleweed (155k)

Sigyn has an overprotective brother, an overbearing mother, and an overarching duty to Queen Frigga as her handmaiden. She begins a relationship with Loki, Prince of Asgard and second in line to the throne. It seems easy, but fate has so much more in store for them than they planned. AU. Pre-Thor through Post-Avengers. 

Listen, this is the one of the best fanfictions I’ve even had the pleasure to read. All fandoms mixed together, it’s a fav. I will defend this fanfiction to the death, I’ve scarcely seen anything so beautiful. The prose is amazing, the pace is perfect, there is a balance between plot relevant scenes and self-indulgent fluff, the characterization is on point (Tony Stark, however short his appearance in the story is, has one of the best characterization ever).

It’s 155k long but I find it too short still. There is nothing I disliked about this story, I could write a eulogy about how much I adore it, I could write poems and songs about it, I- well you get my drift. AND because the author knows how much her readership loved the story, we got a bunch of additional oneshots to quench our insatiable thirst. I’m not going to review each of them individually but they are all great, and you will cry actual salty tears, trust me.

Interlude:

Chapter "10.5" of Illusion - Loki spends the night with Sigyn at her apartment, and things get a bit uncomfortable for her brother Edmund.

Unburdened:

Sigyn has had a stressful day; when she threatens to never return to the palace library again, Loki uses his considerable skills to change her mind.

Celebration:

Loki arranges for a private celebration of Sigyn's birthday.

The Better Part of Valor:

One morning not long after beginning her relationship with Loki, Sigyn is late reporting for her duties with the queen. When Loki (who has everything to do with her tardiness) shows up to take advantage of her embarrassment, Sigyn is less than cooperative.

Best Laid Plans:

Loki and Sigyn attempt to celebrate their anniversary, only to be hindered at every turn by extenuating circumstances (especially their precocious six-year-old daughter, Unna, who has a terrible grasp of the appropriate time to show off newly acquired magic skills).

Threnody for a Sparrow:

It's a lesson Loki has never wanted to learn...there are some broken things that cannot be fixed, no matter how badly you wish otherwise.

Monster, by IndigoUmbrella (70k)

“Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?” -Laini Taylor 

Probably the vaguest, least helpful synopsis in the history of synopsis, but hey, I’m here to tell you that it’s fucking fabulous, and you won’t regret reading this fanfiction. It’s not you usual girl meets boy story at all - this time the meeting is not accidental at all, all of their interractions have one sole purpose: help Bucky become himself again. And it gives a lot of weight to their interractions, the story is very serious, but not so much as to give you a headache either. I love it because it’s different, and it takes things slowly, there’s a lot of attention to details too.

Hell Bound (Sequel to Monster) (82k)

Start by pulling him out of the fire and hoping that he will forget the smell. He was supposed to be an angel but they took him from that light and turned him into something hungry, something that forgets what his hands are for when they aren't shaking. When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it. 

Second vaguest synopsis of all time, but trust me when I say that the sequel is even better than the first installement of this trilogy. I can’t really say anything about the sequel without revealing what happens in the first part, so just read it for heaven’s sake. I’m telling you, it’s good.

From Darkness (Third and last part of Monster) - Ongoing

When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows Swallowed whole by the darkness Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?

And last but not least, the third part. Equally vague synopsis. We officially have a top three guys. Haven’t read this one yet, but I wanted to post all three parts together. 

Light & Sweet, by LooneyLockhart (182k)

Bucky didn't understand the concept of a coffee house giving away free coffee. From what he remembered, hardly anything in Brooklyn was given away for free when he lived there. And why wasn't the coffee house girl frightened by him when he struck fear in some of the most competent SHIELD agents? Learning to be Bucky Barnes again, he wasn't prepared for the curious coffee girl.

How the hell am I going to sell you this story?

It’s... a coffee shop AU. Except it’s not really an AU. It’s entirely set in the MCU as we know it, superheroes are totally a thing, everything is like the canon, but Bucky and the OC still meet in a coffee shop. It’s serious, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously either. It’s well written, like really. The OC is endearing, the pace is perfect for the story, the characters have a lot of depth, even the secondary ones get a bit of characterization. It’s a beautiful work all in all.

Honesty, by thearrowsoflegolas (91k)

The Winter Soldier has a new mission. Erin Jefferson is a young SHIELD biochemist who has just synthesised a serum that can make anyone tell the truth, and HYDRA wants it. The Winter Soldier is expecting it to be an easy job, and Erin is expecting to die there. What she's not expecting is to meet a man with light eyes and a dark past who needs her help.

This is the funniest Bucky fanfic I’ve read, and it’s awesome. I’ve never seen such balance between light-hearted moments and serious, down-to-business ones. It doesn’t take anything away from Bucky’s gravitas, but it rather offers a stark contrast with the OC’s bubbly personality, it’s refreshing and beautiful. And it’s fucking funny, you guys, it’s hilarious. Additionally it’s one of the only fanfictions I’ve read as the chapters got published, instead of waiting until it was completed.

[5questions]

Richard Wehrenberg

Richard Wehrenberg was born in Akron, Ohio and is the author of Abracadabrachrysanthemum (2018), Hands (2015), and River (2014), co-written with Ross Gay. Their work has been published in The Academy of American Poets, Peach Mag, Bad Nudes, Monster House Press, & elsewhere. They are a poet, writer, artist, & designer living in Bloomington, Indiana.

I want to start with the cover. I admire its minimalism but also the way that minimalism allows the title to speak for itself, carrying the reader along as they go to the next page. What are some of your favorite book designs? How has your own design aesthetics changed since you first started designing chapbooks and websites over ten years ago? Do you have any sort of codified process for your design work?

I perceive Text as Image and Image as Text, in a kind of infinite stirring/reworking. My aesthetic/process for design feels necessarily influenced by how my specific body-form perceives/reads the world, via its various miracles and supposed ‘deficiencies’—ie. having one barely-able-to-see (left) eye and one incredibly-over-achieving (right) eye, as well as having benign hand tremors (ie. my hands shake, inexplicably). I understand designing as the praxis of ‘de-signing' (ie. removing the signs from) this Earth/traditions/meanings/images. To quote one of my fav poets, Mahmoud Darwish—“I love your love / freed from itself and its signs,” which to me means: I love you ‘best’ when we shed the layers/masks/images that bury us in stories, when we dwell in our original and base-form—which of course has to be, for me—Love—the desire to see the world as un-riven, as One, despite everything working against the infinite forms love embodies. I feel my design aesthetic as ‘spiritual,’ or at least to me it feels like it springs enigmatically from a spiritual impulse/condition/base. All to say—my style/praxis is mysterious, even to myself, and my design depends on this kind of unknowability/improvisation. For Abracadabrachrysanthemum (and Three Crises by Bella Bravo, which share almost identical design elements), I viewed the circle on the covers to be a kind of gravitational wormhole into the book’s work, like you implied. A simple entranceway that has, like a planet or black hole, its own gravity to pull/cull others in, to merge and connect worlds. As far as design influences—I love love love Quemadura’s work (who you probably know as Wave Books’ designer.) I remember seeing their stark, simple, text-based covers as a younger poet/designer and being moved by space they allow for the text (exterior and interior) to become its own image/meaning apart from other visual suggestions. Also, Mary Austin Speaker’s work—who does design for Milkweed Editions—is always so precise, gorgeous, and enchanting. Outside of the poem-world, I am constantly inspired by fellow Bloomington designers/friends Aaron Denton and Sharnayla. The beauty they channel is astounding. Since I began designing, I feel that I’ve just become better and faster at designing, and my core aesthetic has mostly stayed the same. Being self-taught, you kind of just pick up little preferences, skills, and potentialities randomly along the path of work. I’m in a constant state of knowledge-acquisition re design and thus my process is really just experimentation. One codified process I do have is to meditate on a book’s content, to summon its image by intentionally dwelling on it within an unconscious states of meditation, dream, trance, etc. Usually I can call up a color palette, or image/font/et al that each individual book/design is calling for via these means. I believe in this kind of prayer/listening in my work, and I cite the unconscious as my main source of artistic capacity and production. I’ve also dreamed book covers before. That’s the best.

Many of the poems in this collection have geographic allusion, descriptive precision, and a general sense of place becoming character. This reminds me in many ways of your book RIVER, co-authored with Ross Gay. While that was prose and this is poetry, this is something I have noticed in your writing. How would you describe your aesthetic connection to geography? nature? environment? This book seems to expand beyond America in ways previous writing of yours doesn’t...

I can’t not attempt to constantly locate my Self in this World—can’t not see/feel/attempt to understand where/how/who/why I am in relation to ‘others’—to the land, rivers, oceans, to other animals, to the incredible manifold instantiations of plants, to the water with which without we would vanish, to all the ostensibly separate “I’s” on this shared Earth/consciousness/World surviving, dwelling, praying, creating—Being. I am an empath and embed/imbibe my surroundings almost automatically/unconsciously into myself. I become wherever I am. And thus its violences and gorgeousnesses alike become my own. And thus I speak for them, to them, of them, with them, in service and toward the healing of them/us/I/we. I unbecome my self to reset my churning and lumbering around this planet, to geographize ‘my’ position within this unpositioned House we find our selves. I am also quite of the mind that we are indeed both Here and Not Here. This Not Here is completely devoid of the drama of the body/ego, which we so often encounter and identify with today (and have since arriving on Earth.) My body, it’s specific forms and desires, languages and impulses, with yours, in conflict with theirs, with the scarcity, the low amount, the abundance, the never-ending forsaken nothing-everything, all of it, all the time, ever, ever, never-enough or always-too-much, the never-quite-right. You compared to me, thine in yours with mine of we. In spirit realm, there is no time and ID like we think here. Both Here and Not Here are real/valid places—the corporeal realm and the spirit realm—and I know, at least for now, I live in both places. I realized recently one of my main hopes for my writing is for it to re-embed the divine into the every day, re-pair it with the quotidian—to reunite these worlds-torn. What I mean is: I identify heavily with wherever I am in this 3D reality called life, and also identify heavily with the spirit realm as an (un)geographic place where I also reside. Over-identification with either realm leads to misery/suffering or disassociation/location, to paraphrase A Course In Miracles.

There is a sense of unity between the voice of these poems and everything else in the world, seen best, in my opinion, in “Signifying Brown Bear” wherein a stuffed animal becomes a virtual tunnel into all sorts of real human and existential experiences. Do you think something fundamental has changed in contemporary consumer society from ancient or medieval or even early modern societies, in which we have too many outlets for our emotions and experiences? Maybe too many is good (whatever "good" means)? In this poem, the stuffed bear almost represents your own yearning to connect as fully as you already are with universe around you. It has many of the conceits of a love poem and, at times, a tongue-in-cheek tone. In the end, the poem is what makes us think. You have turned a mirror on the reader. Was this your intention? How do you decide when to write in second-person versus first person etc.? Is any of this interpretation at all on point?  In “Signifying Brown Bear,” I am referring to an actual brown bear (ie. Ursus arctos) and the poem is just kind of about how people/entities who I become close with can begin to feel like sweet-tender-almost-cryptozoological-creatures to me and I want to also just be a sweet-tender-almost-cryptozoological-creature—or hell, I’ll settle for even a plant or a rock—back to them. Anything but this warbling, incomplete, stammering-maunderer of a human being! (Exaggeration.) I do not want my humanity at times—my human-being-ing—which has been categorized, documented, and shrink-wrapped for societal use and relation, who is part of the decimation of Earth via capital. I want the freedom (and I’m sure we could say unfreedom) of the brown bear who is in relation to the Sycamore by the river, and the salmon floating above the stones, the water gliding over, ever-thinning rock into sand granules—slowly—and back again—and back. I don’t want to be (and can’t be, is perhaps my thesis) relegated to the realm of signifiers and signs imposed via any of the manifold categorization machines we navigate on the daily to obfuscate these kind of otherworldly, ancient connections I feel as Real. To decimate that last paragraph—I also believe in becoming fully-embodied/present in the form we are in in this life, too. So, it’s confusing, this ever-always-transforming-ing perceptioning. The confusion about what energy/thing I am and what you are is a little about what that poem is about, too. I was reading Agamben’s The Use of Bodies and came across this ancient Greek word, poiesis, which appears in the poem and means, “the activity in which a person brings something into being that did not exist before.” I love that idea, and think it is what we are here to do, in part. So often for me the unprecedented-something we are trying to bring into existence is ourselves and the art/energy we carry in us must be made into song. I want to always make the reader aware of their presence in my writing—to me writing is a collective act and readers are always existent, even if they never ‘read’ your work. The imagined, the dead, the unborn, the spiritually uncanonized, the already-gone-never-was reader, writer, seeker, be-er. I switch between tense often and freely, because in poetry, at least for me, we feel/fall into each word/line we write and there’s less of a need to be ‘coherent’ in the sense of the popular notion of storytelling/fiction, which (I might have another thesis here) feels like a symptom of capitalism, too. Of course it feels really nice to have a coherent story. I love television and pop culture. I want to write for television. I want to be perceived as coherent. But I want to say too: the ‘incoherence’ of poetry is a kind of coherence, a prayer toward a ‘new’ form, if you will, despite being so old itself. Poetry coheres to a perhaps more experimental way of telling a story, a precedentless next-ing, and this variation is vital—these unforeseen forms, stories, ways of being. We are a species that evolves, and because the mouth/mind is the site of evolution now, I am playing accordingly.

What ended up happening with MHP?  Why did you decide to stop active involvement in it? What are you doing now in terms of day-to-day life? Monster House Press has evolved through many forms. In 2010, it began, semi-naively, as a collective publisher of zines and chapbooks in the eponymous punk house. It then expanded and evolved into a project I was maintaining, mostly on my own, from 2012-2016 in Bloomington, Indiana. In the summer of 2016, MHP rose again as a officially collective project—an amorphous mass, as we liked to call it—primarily because the workload had become unsustainable for me to do on my own, and we were doing more and more, gaining recognition, et cetera. We decided to lay MHP to rest at the end of the 2018, as many of us involved in keeping it going are moving onto graduate school and/or starting new projects/lives. It felt apt to end this specific instantiation in my career-form of publishing, as I have moved away from the punk/DIY scene from which it was born, and the name itself has too become divorced from its origin and who I/we was/were then. I’m sure I’ll always be editing, publishing, reading, designing and helping steward others’ work in this world, as that impulse is something part and parcel of my being, this collaboration; however, the terms and boundaries within this specific modality as MHP have expired to me. In my day-to-day life, I am a freelance graphic designer, artist, editor, and writer. I usually sit at my house with my dog, working on whatever project I have in my docket at the time, or go out to a coffee or tea house to do work. I also just finished auditing a graduate poetry workshop called Joy & Collaboration with Ross Gay, which was, in a word, divine—and I currently spend my days/time helping out with the growing at a communal greenhouse as well as generally just reading/writing/watching/listening to the Earth/Universe, hoping to be of service, use, and care.

What future projects are you working on? Do you still play music with organized groups? Have you thought of writing long-form fiction?

I’m hoping to start my MFA in Poetry next year. As far as writing projects—I’m writing a collection of sonnets about my alcoholism/being an alcoholic in the United States. (I’ve been sober for 5 years now.) The sonnets are these kind of little, tender love-songs to my alcoholic/former self (who I can never fully extinguish) which—I hope—also reckon with and help shed light on addiction, malevolent masculinity/whiteness, and which also seek to forgive and release—to heal. I also have this big, kind of far off ditty of a dream to open a Poetry Center one day, in the Midwest ideally, kind of a little like Poets House in NYC, where events, workshops, reading, writing, and magic can happen. A hub for poetics/healing/joy/collaboration. There will probably be an herbal/plant element too, somehow, as I love working with/growing plants. And music! I haven’t played music in an organized group in a while, but enjoy being able to play piano and saxophone here and there, when I can, however that happens. I helped transpose, sing, and record a score for a little art movie project, along with Ross Gay and Lauren Harrison, which was super delightful. Music is the literal heart of the world, imo. I listened to 36 days of music this year, ie. for 1/10 of the year I was listening to music, which was kind of staggering and incredible for me to realize. I love writing long and short form fiction, but have found it removes me from the world too intensely, which, I feel I am supposed to stay more rooted/involved in the World in a proactive sense, so I tend to write poetry and other forms over fiction. I am interested in the hybrid essay form—with poetry hidden inside—and creating/seeking new hybridized forms. There’s so much potential for greatness—and so much to come.

[franeridart]

So Bakugou and Todoroki's hero names didn't get decided early on I think because they're each gonna get their own little mini arcs that get em to decide them, but I kinda wanted to know your opinion on what they might end up being? 'Course they'll probably be derived from future plot that we don't know right now, but I wanted to ask anyway!

!!!! I’ve never really thought about Todoroki’s, tbh? So I have no clue, honest, but as far as Bakugou goes I’ll keep on holding onto Ground Zero until Horikoshi officially and unequivocally tells me he 100% definitely scrapped it, my friend - it’s such a cool name??? I read it and I nearly cried when I realized that probably it’s not gonna be his actual hero name rip

Anon said:You need to draw Bok.uro more (i love them so much,(you to of course)

I’m sure you didn’t mean anything bad by this ask anon, but as I’ve said more than once I really, really don’t like the word need. I don’t need to do anything, no one’s paying me for this. When I’ll want to draw more bokro it’ll for sure happen, so don’t worry about that~

Anon said:Would you read Bobata x Terushima fanfics? Do you know any??

I would! But last time I checked there were none *sob* do you know any? °u° if you do I’m all ears!!

Anon said:asdfghjklajhsns mirit.ama is adorable thEY’RE CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AHHHH i love them a lot,,,

I K R they’re so soft and pure!!!! Such a good couple I love them so much !!!!!

Anon said:Since most of what you post is such simple arts, I find myself forgetting a lot that your a really skilled artist, and I sort of get this shock like ‘what the fuck Frans amazing’. I really got that when you posted that drawing with Monoma getting scared by kuroiro, the one you posted a while ago with witch Kaminari, and the recent tododeku fight one.

I’m ???? dying ???? This ask slayed me??? Oh my god thank you so much I’m not sure I deserve such praises yet but!!!!! BOI this just made my whole week!!! Thank you!!!!!

Anon said:idk how you feel about bakus.hin but pls read coffee can and energy drinks bc it’s super cute and convinced me to ship it also the characters are on point 👌

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh … sorry anon but I don’t ship Bakugou with anyone that doesn’t like him, and the one time Shinsou interacted with him he really didn’t seem to like him…….. #rip maybe one day I’ll try the fic, tho! Thank you for the rec!!!

 Anon said:I just wanted to say because of your wonderful art you have converted me to watching boku no hero academia!!!! (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hope you’ll like it, then!!!!!! *O*

Anon said:I definitely smile when reading Teacher Bakugou comic Fran XD i just like it very much like the kids went to being scared and go to adored him and i just like that the kids will defend him from others and the way he just casually broke the window just to get to class in time :) There this hc i read can’t remember where but it said that Bakugo will adress his student by insult like fuckmunch (?) and will change it everyday and like the kids will just remember it (sorry for the bad english)

Anon said:I’m dying because of Bakugou-sensei AU?????? IT’S SO AMAZING!!!! You always kill me with your AUs, so unfair hahahah I’m in love with the idea of Bakugou being a beloved teacher because I think he already suffers too much on the canon series (seriously, he needs a break and a hug ffs). Anyways, I just love it really much 💜💜💜💜💜

I’M SO SO HAPPY YOU BOTH LIKED IT OMG!!!!!!!!!!! *O* I know it’s a pretty unlikely possibility but he’s the only one in canon who actually took on the role of teacher at some point? And Kirishima did pass his exams so he can’t be too bad at it either!! The possibility of him actually enjoying it makes me so happy hahaha

Anon said:Your little note about “Maybe it’ll make you smile” under the teacher Baku is- I’m- I’m going through a bad depressive episode and it really did make me smile so thanks

*holds you* I’m glad I could make you smile at least for a bit, then! And I’m so so sorry you’re not feeling alright, right now ;-; I hope today’ll be a better day, for you

Anon said:ILOVEYOU

ILOVEYOUTOO!!!!!!

Anon said:Fraaan another AWESOME comic !!! Another baby doodle !!! just !!! my heart !!! can’ t take it !!! aaaaaah !!! they’re soo cute. Ashido just eating Bakugo hair and he just let her and Kirishima call him Bakuo and Jirou saying Bakusquad will cry if got taken from Bakugo and she just nonchalantly tell Bakugou he that he cares about them Aaaaaah !!! ♡♡♡♡♡♡ By the way is the Bandage (?) that Bakugo has because of the squad and do they remember Bakugo ?

Thank you for liking it!!!! Oh my gods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It wasn’t a bandage tho, just baby Sero messin around! And yeah, they do remember him! They’re just deaged, time didn’t literally turn back for them - only being babies their thought process is way simpler so the most they know is that that’s Bakugou and he’s good and safe and they like him. That’s about it, nothing more complex than that haha

Anon said:u are like, 80% the reason why i started watchin bnha. i thought my fav would be someone from the bakusquad (kirishima maybe) because of ur art but somehow monoma is my fav, the jerk. i love him. why am i cursed to like side characters with barely any content.

Monoma’s great tho!!!! I mean. He’s an asshole. And a total disaster. And his inferiority complex is a seriously huge thing. But he’s great!!!!!!!!!! That’s an amazing pick as a fave character t b h I think we’re getting more of him (together with the whole 1B class) in the manga soon, so don’t despair too much about the lack of content just yet haha

Anon said:THE LITTLE SERO TAPES ON BAKU��S ARM I’M WEEEEEAAAAK

Anon said:Baby Sero putting tape all over Bakugo ’s arm made my study-full day a lot better, thank you Fran.

I’m!!!!!!!! Actually surprised by how many people liked Sero most out of the whole drawing??? But I’m GLAD he’s amazing please love my son as much as I do (or more) (if you can manage that) (the more love he gets the better)

Anon said:Is it in canon that Kirishima has terrible handwriting because I think it should be

I don’t know if this is terrible or not because I actually can’t tell good handwriting from bad in Japanese, but this is Kirishima’s canon handwriting!!

Terrible or not it’s definitely a sharp, STRONG handwriting, which is all that matters as far as Kirishima is concerned!! 💪💪💪💪 haha

Anon said:that bakukirikami art with the AU killed me

PLEASE DON’T DIE ON ME ANON !!!!!

Anon said:YES my emotions are from tododekus I’m just😭😭😭 I love Shouto so much!!!! I didn’t realize how much until just now tho??? Like how dare that episode honestly

!!!!!!!!!! he’s a super great character and honestly I like him way better after the sports fest is over and done with, he’s such a chill nice silly guy bless him and bless Deku for making his actual personality come out *deep sigh*

[cjihve]

greetings, earthlings !! nala here ... ilysm :’)) ok u really don’t have to pay any attention to this, i just ?? decided to give jihye a teeny tiny revamp ( she’s primarily the same person she’s always been, i just changed a few uber small things about her personality ) and wanted to actually write down a proper “intro” post for her that i can reference back to. her story isn’t all that interesting, neither is she, which is another reason why this is mainly for myself. i also just wanted an excuse to use another one of my fav shownu gifs. anyway. ilysm !! <333

tw: mentions of death.

BACKGROUND ---

born september 9th to choi jaehwan & kim hyejin. jaehwan, a photographer who traveled the world, hyejin a painter who also volunteered to teach art to children.

unfortunately, labor didn't go as smoothly as they were hoping ( tho they expected complications --- pregnancy didn't go well for hyejin from the beginning )

after finally giving birth, hyejin was able to hold her baby for the first time ( and name her ) before passing away.

it was extremely tough for jaehwan, but he had made a vow to his wife and newborn daughter, and there was nothing anyone could say or do to stop that. for the first few years of her life, they lived in america. her father took a break from his job, but he couldn't stomach living in the same place he had met, loved, and lost his soulmate. hence why they moved.

when jaehwan believed jihye to be old enough, he went back to work and so began jihye's travels around the world. the two bounced around a lot; jihye has “lived” in lyon, barcelona, london, texas and california, jamaica, mexico, south africa, trinidad & tobago ( just to name a few ).

she was home-schooled, which made it easy with their living arrangements ( or lack thereof ) and it didn't take long for them to realize she excelled in school. jihye continued her path until she graduated high school ( at 16 ) and applied to college in seoul because, unlike her father, she wanted to be closer to her mother.

she was accepted, of course. and this caused a big riff between her and her father. he let her go and they cleared things up before she actually left, but their relationship had been on the rocks for some years as it was.

jihye moved to seoul, going to the same university as her mother. only, she changed her major, deciding early on that she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, not an artist.

she kept in contact with her dad and they skyped a lot, but he never took the time to visit her ( or show up for her graduation )

she graduated third in her class and was able to choose which school she wanted to teach at; quickly deciding on the one her mother volunteered at and she's been there ever since.

HEADCANONS ---

she's the mom friend. carries a first aid kit and snacks with her always. she’s also the “i wanna be evERYONES friend” friend.

more than happy to feed you and she'll probably try to if she can. also has a bad habit of cleaning your face, even licking her finger if she needs to.

has a very unrealistic view on love and she craves it ( and attention bc she a freak ). because of this, she's always down to hook up if she finds you attractive in any way, shape, or form. all you gots to do is ask.

unable to dislike anyone. or anything, really.

very into photography and a pretty decent painter ( seems she inherited both of her parents' skills )

suffers from insomnia

easily frightened. and she doesn't trust anyone, which is why she'll only do/watch anything horror related with someone she’s UBER close with :///

serious rambler, but always about nothing special. she doesn't touch on issues of her own unless you're really special to her or she's come to accept it.

very ?? into ?? skinship !! please let her link arms, hold hands, hug, rest her head on you, touch your leg ... if it's something you don't like, be sure to let her know that ahead of time. you'll always probably have to tell her that 239572093570297 times before she's willing to understand, tho :///

jihye was a miracle baby. her parents had difficulty conceiving and when they had finally decided to accept defeat and give up, her mother found out they were expecting.

she loves strawberry flavored things, but she can’t eat actual strawberries because she’s allergic to the seeds.

she’s really annoying ://// pls make her stop :////

[cerealmisandrist]

Best PC Games I Played In 2016

So, this year has been pretty shitty for me and I haven’t been able to blog much unfortunately, but I’ve decided to start the new year off with at least one long-ass post written by moi and I’ve decided to do a fav games list! (Sorry for all the no doubt mindless attention to detail but I had to lol!)

Now let’s begin shall we?:

DROPSY

tw: murder

- This is the most charming and heartwarming game I have ever played, the rather scary looking main character not-withstanding.

Touted as the cause of a fire during a circus performance that ended up killing several townsfolk as well as his own mother, Dropsy is a point-and-click adventure game mainly about showing the people who hate the protagonist that he is innocent by helping them out with their problems in order to make them happy again and see Dropsy for who he really is: a rather freaky looking dude in clown makeup that genuinely loves everyone and who’s favorite activity is hugging literally everything he comes across (I am not even lying he even hugs a port-a-potty and it is adorable). Although not really driven by a main story, there is, in fact, more to Dropsy’s narrative than meets the eye as we learn the truth behind the fire as well as the revelation of the story’s antagonist, and the ending is as equally heartfelt as Dropsy himself is. The soundtrack is absolutely amazing and even though you might have a hard time discerning the images that the characters use in their speech bubbles instead of written dialogue in order to solve its puzzles, this game has quickly become a go-to for me when I’m feeling particularly glum and need a pick-me-up – and for that alone, Dropsy has become one of my favorite games of all time.

FRAN BOW tw: child abuse, tw: child sexual abuse, tw: Nazi experimentation

- Ok, this one was a no-brainer for anyone who has read my previous theory post about the game, but I am completely serious when I say go play this game asap.

The plot is about a spunky, mentally ill child named, of course, “Fran Bow,” who is trying to escape from the mental asylum she is being held in against her will  as well as the dark presence of a demon-like creature named Remor during the 1940s in order to find her cat Mr. Midnight and reunite herself with her aunt Grace, and while the art style, imagery, and various themes are EXTREMELY dark and foreboding, this game will change your life – or, at least, your previous held views on young girl protagonists, mental illness, and young girl protagonists struggling with mental illness and still managing to be heroic, empathetic, and all-around badass. Although some will find this game hard to swallow due to all of the violence directed at young children as well as the fact that this game is basically just a giant metaphor to begin with - Fran travels through supposed different realities during the game and even Fran herself is not sure if what she is experiencing is “real” or not - I cannot recommend it enough. This game changed me and not only is it now one of my favorite games of all time, but I truly consider the ending to be one of the best in all of my rather meager knowledge of gaming history. 

LIFE IS STRANGE tw: murder, drug use, sexual assault, sexual relationship between an adult and a minor

- THIS. FUCKING. GAME. This game made me fall in love with each of its characters, tore my sorry heart apart bit by bit as it’s story and its mysteries were slowly revealed, and it didn’t even have the decency to sew it back up together again at its end - and yet, somehow, I cannot help but love it so.

Life Is Strange is basically about a teenager named Max Caulfield who returns to her hometown Arcadia Bay - and her childhood friend Chloe Price - in order to attend a prestigious art school named Blackwell Academy to hone her photography skills and discovers she has the ability to travel back in time, with and without one of her many photographs as a medium, when she saves Chloe’s life after she is shot to death by Blackwell’s resident evil rich kid Nathan Prescott. After that one scene, Max is sent on a long wild week with Chloe at her side discovering who she really is as a person and trying to uncover the truth behind the terrible events happening at Blackwell, all while trying to save her friends and the town from the terrible storm that she repeatedly has visions of in the near future. The artistic direction is groundbreaking, and while the dialogue can be clunky, the voice acting is devastatingly top notch, and the early parts of the narrative - which differs based on the choices Max makes throughout the game - more than makes up for the rushed, bordering-on-lazy ending. Life Is Strange, though not perfect in any sense of the word, is a game that is an absolute must for any hardcore gamer, and like the rest of the games on this list has become one of my all-time favorites.

TORMENTUM: DARK SORROW tw: grotesque imagery, suicide

- If H.R. Giger and Heironymous Bosch had a love child that was babysat now and then by their good friend Immanuel Kant (who is quoted before you actually play) you would get this little point-and-click adventure game that is truly a hidden gem.

You start out as a rather mysterious and androgynous amnesiac who has recently been captured along with a rabbit-humanoid character to be taken to a giant castle that endlessly tortures its victims for being terrible people and its your job to escape this horrific and hopeless place. The artwork is STUNNING. Like if you don’t agree with me on this then you are an idiot, I’m sorry, there is no getting around that. It. Is. stunning. The story itself is also quite interesting, although I can see that some people could find it pretentious if you miss the subtlety of its themes. The game also goes hard right from the start with the inventory-object puzzles and it could be overwhelming for some, but I can’t help but overlook it in the face of it’s absolutely phenomenal art direction, character design and its Kant-isms. Again, this is another one for the all-time favorites list.

THE CAT LADY/DOWNFALL/DOWNFALL REDUX

tw: suicide, character death, depression, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, mental illness, did I mention suicide?, murder, cannibalism, cancer, eating disorders, psychosis, cat’s murdering humans, serial killers, gore, the list goes on and on really

- This trio of three games really surprised me, especially because there are so few games out there that deal with suicidal depression in such a realistic and hopeful way.

While DOWNFALL/DOWNFALL REDUX is really about a psychotic character named Joe Hill coming to terms with his wife, Ivy’s, own mental illness through a hallucination-filled fever dream at the mysterious Quiet Haven motel, its really THE CAT LADY that brought attention to the universe these games exist in as well as the fantastic narrative. While some can say that the narrative of DOWNFALL (the original game made by the creator which was released as freeware and is oddly more charming in a way compared to its re-release after the THE CAT LADY to cement it in THE CAT LADY’S universe due to it missing its original B-horror movie element) and its remake DOWNFALL REDUX is better since it lacks a lot of the exposition that can drag on for some in THE CAT LADY, it’s THE CAT LADY that is my favorite although I admit I love all three. THE CAT LADY is a game about a suicidally depressed woman named Susan Ashworth nicknamed The Cat Lady due to her habit of playing her piano in order to call and feed the feral cats that live in her neighborhood, who manages to successfully kill herself at the beginning of the game and in a limbo-like reality is given immortality by a woman called The Queen of Maggots so she can come back to life and kill 5 “parasites,” aka serial killers that will be drawn to her once she returns to the real world. All of the serial killers either suffer from what I call Steig-Larson-Syndrome (they’re murderers AND kidnappers AND cannibals AND a host of other bad things) or are completely forgettable and both the sound, voice-acting, and image quality is blaringly low budget at times, but trust me when I say that it more than makes up for it in it’s extremely well written narrative and character design, as well as one of the best friendships between two women in any game ever (and said women are from two different age generations! which never ever happens ever!). I don’t want to spoil anything, but all three games also give you more than just two endings which are all (strangely) equally extremely satisfying – and in THE CAT LADY’s case, manage to be uplifting to top it all off, which is why this game, as well as its follow up ones, made it on this list.

UNDERTALE

tw: murder, serial murder

- Another no-brainer, UNDERTALE takes all your pre-perceptions of your average game goals and throws them all out the window in the most charming way possible.

Like THE CAT LADY it is ruthless in its realism despite its cute characters and hilarious jokes, pulling no punches when it points out the sheer amount of violence you as the player expects to dish out towards even the most non-violent characters in your usual game. On top of all this, its completely original backstory, loveable characters, and groundbreaking soundtrack will bring every single one of the feels to even the most shriveled of hearts. Honestly the only con I can see in this game is its replayability, which I admit is rather low due to its lack of different endings and its over abundance of obvious homages to other games like Earth which does give it an air of laziness even though its clear that the game is like this in order to critique it….but to me, there‘s no question as to why I have chosen this game for this list and why, like all the others above, I have added it to my personal list of favorite games of all time.

And that’s a wrap! Feel free to send me recs to other amazing pc games in my inbox, I love trying out new gaming content.