#Because so much of writing and creating really does come down to vibes

[revenantghost]

Why would anyone use AI to finish or even write fics when absolutely nothing out there can be as brilliantly unhinged as a fic writer

[glowettee]

the secret to taking notes that make you want to study ✧˖°

hey lovelies! mindy heree <3

for this post i'm superrr excited to share a guide on taking notes that make you want to study ✧˖° trust me, i know how overwhelming it can get when it feels like you're stuck in the middle of endless textbooks and dry lecture slides (honestly, we all have those days). so, let's transform your note taking into something delightful, empowering, and totally reflective of your unique self.

✧ finding your vibe first things first, bestie: the key here is to make your notes feel personal and inspiring. rather than sticking to a rigid system, i suggest mixing a little structure with a whole lot of creativity. here are some steps to help you set up your perfect note taking vibe:

choose your medium: even if it’s a cute pastel notebook, sticky notes, or a digital app with fun themes, pick something that sparks joy and invites you to open it up. i personally love notion + remnote + coda

establish sections: break your notes into clear sections. introduction, main points, and summary. this not only boosts organization but also gives you a gratifying sense of progress every time you finish a page.

add your signature touch: doodles, small illustrations, or even a decorative border can make a note feel less like a chore and more like a mini art project. i love using aesthetic symbols for my digital notes <3

✧ creating a study ritual i believe that great notes come from a relaxed and focused mind. try integrating these rituals into your study sessions to set a positive tone, this is really important if you want to make note-taking fun:

begin with a short breathing exercise or a moment of gratitude (think of it as your pre-study pep talk).

play some light instrumental music or your favorite lo-fi beats, or playlist. something to keep your mind in a creative zone without distractions. (i have a great playlist i made that i use for tackling assignments here: 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀, 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀! <3)

grab your favorite beverage (i’m a fan of herbal tea or a cute iced coffee) and make sure you're comfortable. a little self-care goes a long way!

✧ structuring your notes for clarity a well-organized layout makes reviewing notes less daunting and more interactive. and obviously so much more fun, consider using this format for a balanced + demureee approach:

start with a title and date: it grounds your notes and gives you a quick reference.

write a brief summary of the topic: in your own words, capture the essence of what you’re about to learn. just summarize it as best as possible

list key points: use bullet points, numbered lists, or even headers for different subtopics. tip: use cute symbols for bullet points

highlight examples: it can be a quote, a definition, or an application concept, mark these with a star or a cute icon.

close with a reflection: jot down any questions, what you found most interesting, or even a mini action item related to the topic. this is your space for self-talk and reflection.

✧ turning notes into interactive canvases (cause we need it) notes aren’t meant to be static pages floating in an endless binder. make them interactive to truly boost your study sessions:

include thought-provoking questions: ask yourself things like “what would elle woods do?” (lol, we love her <3) or “how does this connect with real life?” to spark critical thinking.

add mini quizzes: at the end of each section, write one or two questions that challenge you to recall key points.

leave room for updates: as you learn more, come back and add extra notes, doodles, or even inspirational stickers (yes, just like in a scrapbook!).

✧ personal tips from mindy because i want you to shine in every note you take, here are my totally secret, fun tips to elevate your note routine:

secret tip #1: color with purpose choose a color palette that not only looks cute but also maps out different themes in your subject. use one color for definitions, another for examples, and maybe a sparkly tone for key takeaways. over time, these colors will trigger your memory (i promise, it really works!).

secret tip #2: integrate affirmations studying can be stressful sometimes, so why not lace your notes with a few tender affirmations? write a quick pep talk (like “i got this, bestie” or “every detail counts”) in a corner. it might seem small, but these little lines can boost your confidence when you need it most. and it's just so freaking cute <3 affirmations from you to you, is like a love letter to yourself, so just try it

secret tip #3: try mind mapping if you’re more of a visual learner, create mind maps instead of linear notes. start with the main topic in the center and branch out with related ideas and details. this not only makes your notes dynamic but also helps you see connections between concepts (ever notice how some subjects just click with a visual flow?).

secret tip #4: use digital tools creatively if you’re leaning towards digital note taking, like me, experiment with apps that support drawing, voice notes, and even embedded links. add images that resonate with the topic or short videos for a quick concept refresher. making your digital notebook interactive can really keep boredom at bay.

secret tip #5: schedule weekly note reviews set aside a bit of time every week to revisit your notes. treat it as a mini self-study session where you update, add reflections, or even reorganize sections for clarity. this habit not only reinforces your learning but also lets you see your own progress over time, like looking back on how far you’ve come.

✧ action items for the week (it's homework timeee) to wrap things up, here are a few steps to try:

pick one class or topic this week and redo your notes using one or two of these tips (maybe add a mind map or a quick quiz).

experiment with color coding: choose colors that resonate with you and assign them to key points or sections.

schedule a 10-minute review session at the end of the week to refresh and reflect on your notes.

share your progress with a friend or even a study group to celebrate little victories. accountability can boost your motivation!

note: note taking is a creative process that should feel as refreshing and inspiring as a new day. keep experimenting until you find what truly works for you. i hope these tips help you get excited about every page you write on.

xoxo, mindy

I made this amazzinggg playlist (as mentioned earlier in the post) and its specifically made to help you complete homework + assignments. i curated it to make sure its soft music to help you focus <3 love from mindyyy 🩷

don't forget, if you need personal advice, submit it here and i'll answer it as a detailed tumblr blog post <3: https://bit.ly/glowetteehotline

[nerdlvr]

dreamies if they weren’t idols ~*

this is all imaginary stuff from my imagination , i went by some of the things they're mentioned irl but idk i kinda let my imagination run wild LMAO , requested here !

mark , by the age of 31 he's a children's book author with a happy family

being artistic in that way is just something that comes natural to mark. i specifically think he'd write children's books or those adventure novels cause his imagination is just so grand, he has so much material to just write hundreds of pages of whatever he's imagining. considering his age and religion as well i truly think he'd at least be married at this point, kids being a big thing he's planning on soon! his lockscreen is a pic of his partner and kid, he's so full of love in the life he's living. ~* didn't finish college but majored in english , living in canada

renjun , by the age of 30 he's a small business owner who is actively dating

i genuinely think renjun would own like a little art business selling art supplies and little pieces he's created. Whether it's clay, paint, or markers renjun is good at using and selling them. I think romantically he'd do a lot of dating I don't know why by I feel like men or woman he's likes the feeling of getting some loving, he'd settle down eventually but he likes to date all different types of people before landing on the one. renjun's life is full of color and that gives him peace. ~* got a masters in art for fun , living in china

jeno , by the age of 30 he's working on cars and thinking about marriage

anything that has to do with cars, whether it's auto repair, design, engineering he's just into cars. i feel like he'd enjoy learning all about cars so that he's able to work with them in every way. he's the guy they always call at the auto shop because he knows everything. lets be real... jeno is hot as fuck and there's no way he'd be single by 30. I think he's the type to wait for a deepened bond in order to consider marriage and by 30 i think he'll finally feel ready to give it his all. loves his girl and his cars and nothing makes him happier than when they're together. is the type to let his partner decorate their passenger side. ~* did trade school for auto engineering , living in korea

haechan , by 30 is a pretty house husband with kids

idc. haechan loves kids and he wants to get on that asap. it took him a while to find the one (i think he's super picky) but when he found them that was it for him. he'd find any possible way to get as many kids as he can in a short period of time, but because of his partner he stopped at 3 kids LMAO. i think he'd be content with the feeling of being a caregiver and he gives sugar baby vibes srry. but he always has dinner ready, the house cleaned, and the babies showered. he loves that he gets to show his love for his partner in that way and at the same time have free time i follow any hobby he chooses. is the designated parent to sing the lullabies ofc. ~* didn't finish college cause he had a kid , was majoring in music theory , living in korea

jaemin , by 30 he's dr. na the cat dad

i think that jaemin is super flirty and romantic but i don't think he's seriously considering a family yet. he's taken a lot of his youth studying for his career so he's built more bonds as friendships instead of romantic ones. he's literally dr. dreamy and all the nurses are in love with him, but he's more than happy going home to his baby kitties. he does have close friends though that keep an eye on him because he's the type to really get into his work and just lose himself and go MIA. it's a hard life but jaemin is content with the fruits of his labor. ~* got a medical degree and did his residency to be a surgeon , living in korea

chenle , by 29 he's a sports media manager in love with the game (ifykwim)

i think chenle loves basketball but going pro didn't really work out with him, so i feel like he'd turn to media management, loving the idea of being with the team and campaigning for his favorite team. he's bossy and he runs the place so the players take him seriously, maybe even sometimes more than their coach. romantically i genuinely think chenle is a little shit. everyone wants him (insane face card) but he likes the game, being with one or the another to have some fun, but by 29 i don't think he's looking to fully commit. ~* double majored in communications and management , lives in the states maybe somewhere hot

jisung, by 28 he's on his way to the moon !

he's finally gotten his astronaut certification and he's so ready to get to work. he literally cried every year studying late nights and training for his job but when he puts on his suit it is so worth it. he definitely needed a push to get through the 10 years of becoming an astronaut and he got that push from his very special partner. he met them at the start of college and it has just been a sweet romance since. every time he wanted to give up they were there to remind him everything he worked for. can he bring his partner to the moon to propose? ~* has a masters degree in a random science major and 2 years of an internship , went to d.c to be with NASA, misses his mom but is now known as andy.

[erriga]

THE QUARANTINE QUERY

(tl dr I didn't vibe with the demo for some silly and not so silly reasons)

Welcome to my special post where I will try to explain my personal problems with Quarantine and the general creative and narrative direction the next game seems to be heading towards. I decided to write a longer text instead of a couple of bullet points, because one does not simply write a thesis about a game just to later complain about it in a sarcastically laconic tone.

Things this essay is going to be:

my opinion/critique

an analysis

a reflection upon my feelings about the series in general

Things this essay is not going to be:

an angry rant about the new game in the spirit of they changed it so now it sucks

an attempt to prove that old pathologic = smart and new pathologic = stupid

Ok, with the disclaimers out of the way, let's get into it, and by it I mean levels of pretentious nerdiness unknown to many.

I wrote down four statements that describe my general feelings about the demo. They will serve as a frame of reference for what my critique will fundamentally touch upon instead of trying to fit every possible complaint I might have in a disjointed fashion. Here they are:

I feel like Quarantine expects me to:

Consider Dankovsky to be a specific Character in a specific Story

Believe Dankovsky has an internal world that can be mechanically represented in the ludo-narrative

Find said internal world to be compelling enough to let it filter the whole experience of the game

(presumably) emotionally connect with Dankovsky due to all of the above

If all this sounds confusing - good! Keep reading, it's going to get even better.

So, is Daniil a character?

Yes, of course he is. But what does it mean in the context of the original game compared to Pathologic 2 and now Quarantine?

Over the years I've come across vastly different opinions about the quality of character writing in the original Pathologic. I am not including complaints about the English translations or other technical aspects, just the most basic tendency of how the game portrays its characters. Most people I've seen who have passionately engaged with the game (including me) tend to describe the original game's characterizations as nuanced, complex and strangely realistic despite their rather theatrical tendencies. But I've also heard others say the exact opposite. That the characters don't feel like real people at all, their personalities are incoherent and fall flat due to a lack of consistency, and that every single one of them, from an old man to a literal toddler, falls back on the same pseudo-philosophical cadence, which while attempting to make them seem deeper ends up dehumanizing them even further. And even though those two opinions seem to be contradictory, I think that they are both the exact same reason why the writing of the original game captivates me so much. Because it doesn't really matter.

I wrote my thesis about the brechtian influences in Classic. One of the most characteristic aspects of the Epic Theatre is the attempt to remove illusions typical to traditional theatre, among which is the illusion of a character's psychology. I believe that you can absolutely argue that the characters in patho 1 were designed to behave like Brecht's characters - lacking internal psychology, mainly serving as mouthpieces for political and philosophical arguments, more so types than individuals. But here's the catch - I believe it's actually impossible to create a character completely immune to identification, because we as humans love to project our silly little emotions on pretty much anything, including animals and inanimate objects. Compared to those cases, Gorkhon's gallery of strange individuals is a painfully human display. So it's no wonder that many of us did indeed relate to those weirdos, just like nothing can possibly stop an audience member from identifying with Mother Courage or Galileo in Brecht's play. But the fact still remains that none of those characters were designed with this kind of simple emotional identification in mind and thus the attachment we may feel to them is more of a byproduct than the main goal. Taking a character who was meant to be analytically pondered and instead adopting them as a breathing human being is in that case, almost an act of rebellion. It's like saying, this is mine now.

Coming back to Daniil, this lack of clarity of how much he was written with this sort of characterization in mind is the main reason why I found him so compelling, he always kept me asking: is this part of Daniil as a coherent whole or is it just a philosophical stance which I should ponder at this moment or is it the writer's attempt at predicting what the player (presumably a straight male player) may want to say through this character? Does Daniil say "wow" because that's how he speaks, or is it just an oversight? Am I supposed to treat optional dialogue as things he would say or just things that are sometimes said in his world? The point is I DON'T KNOW and I love that I don't know that! It gives me so many posibilities! To me Daniil's character isn't so much about what he exactly says or does, but rather the internal logic that guides him. And I am the one who can choose its exact mechanism. He is mine.

Meanwhile, I feel like Quarantine wants me to treat Dankovsky like I would treat most other characters in traditional/popular media. Here are his personality traits. He is intelligent, he says so himself, and that lady over there also said it and he knows science and formulas and speaks Latin. Here are his thoughts. He has a memory about this thing. He feels guilty about that. I suddenly have a whole army of simple sentences that are meant to help me umderstand Daniil in this new iteration. Not so much a puzzle but a construction manual. And I'm not saying that this way of storytelling is fundamentally bad just because I can parody it as simpler than it really is. I want to engage with the new game's writing on it's own terms but so far I haven't done that mostly due to the giant dankovsky shaped object blocking the view.

Speaking of-

THE BACHELOR-CENTRIC MODEL OF THE UNIVERSE

This demo is so much about Dankovsky that it almost makes me embarrassed in his name. And honestly, I'm surprised I feel that way, considering how much I usually enjoy stories where a character's perception shapes the narrative to a great extent. I love symbolic dream sequences, guilt-driven visions and unreliable narrators. But the way Daniil's perception of himself and his surroundings doesn't really feel like a service to him as a character, but rather a narrative shorthand to spoonfeed me, the player, the most relevant information. The way Daniil's thoughts appear around objects is realistic to the extent that yes, human thoughts can be often rather simple and disjointed but there are moments where I think this mental streamlining is detrimental to his characterization and rubs him of nuance. The worst culprits of that are (IN MY OPINION):

Him calling Eva a ray of sunshine

The part where he references the fact that he and Artemy always fight about whose methods are better

Any time Daniil or someone around him refers to him as especially intelligent

Mr Little's Special Tutorial Perspective or Please Daniil Explain This To Me Once Again

None of those ideas are fundamentally bad, not at all. I'm curious to see his relationship with Eva develop, I want to see him interact with Artemy more like they did in the original, I can see some great ironic potential in the constant hyping up of Daniil's intellect and yeah, I hope Yakov is revealed to be some secret government agent or something. But I'm annoyed that I feel like I can predict all of this from just a couple of lines in the demo. I want to be confused and unsure of my own judgement. I want to be proven wrong, surprised, and ashamed of my own surface level analysis. And that can still very much happen, perhaps even in the comments on this very post or once the full games comes out. But right now I feel rather pessimistic.

I don't have a good segue for this part so now let's talk mechanics.

PRESS B TO EAT A CIGARRETE

The new mechanics try to break away from the body-first focus of the original game and the way Pathologic 2 expanded on those ideas even further. This time it's all about the mind, baby. Which - again - on itself isn't a bad idea. If this game was just 2 with different dialogues it would be very hard to justify its existence as a stand-alone product that needed to somehow be funded over those last 6 years. But the result to me feels more like novelty for novelty's sake. Not everything of course - the diagnosis part of the gameplay is definitely its most well-designed aspect, and there is a consistent logic behind it. Where Artemy saw systems, Daniils sees individual parts, where Artemy had to rely on luck, Daniil controls all the variables etc etc. The same, however, cannot be said about some of the other new mechanics.

Managing Daniil's mental state doesn't feel that much different than making sure Artemy drinks enough water and I personally think it's a wasted opportunity. I'm not going to insert myself into the discussion about whether the game's use of terms associated with bipolar disorder is accurate/tasteful because other people with relevant experiences have already voiced their opinions about that and will hopefully continue to do so in the future. My point is - regardless of what exact mental condition or more general function of the human psyche the game is trying to convey, it does so in a manner so simplistic that it doesn't encourage me as a player to connect with it on a deeper level. Apathy is blue because it's sad, Mania means, well, mania so it's red. Once again, I have only experienced a small portion of the game's final system so I might be in for a surprise and perhaps I will get to see Daniil experience something... purple?

Also adding to my previous point about switching perspectives - I think this mechanic will be an absolute gut punch in the final game. I hope it's something akin to the original meeting with the Powers That Be, especially with the way multiple characters can "jump" into one conversation at any moment. This will surely be utilized for some mind-fuckery and I can't wait to see it. I think this is also the one aspect of the demo that gives me the most hope as far as my beloved emotional confusion is concerned. Because what is the switching of perspectives supposed to indicate really? Are we supposed to filter it once again through Daniil's perspective because of the framing device of him recollecting the events? So nothing we learn by getting the insight into other characters' thoughts can be taken at face value because that's just how Daniil sees them? Are those other/new characters even real or just exist in Daniil's psyche? Does it have something to do with the time travel blahblah? Or are we not playing as Daniil at all but some other entity entirely? That's the main question I hope I don't get a clear answer to but rather contradicting paths to follow. But despite that optimistic outlook I still need to get into the final aspect that made it difficult for me to engage with the new game on its own terms, and instead deciding to take its dead corpse apart.

I CARE TOO MUCH BUT NOT ENOUGH

I just can't get over the fact how much this game wants me to identify with Daniil or at the very least find him cool. Cool as in how modern characters are often cool. Wet cats, chaotic bastards, jerks with hearts of gold and vaguely homoerotic energy with other male characters. And I'm not saying this as an insult, narrative trends are a thing, I find many of those archetypes to be endearing more often than not, but my problem is that it still only serves Dankovsky as our center of the world. By flanderizing him and making him fit into a more recognizable character archetype we lose the feeling of him being always at odds with the world around him, the way he used to be conflicted over every single thing in the original game. This new world is too suited for him to be a hero of his story, a tragic hero but a hero nonetheless, while in my opinion what made him uniquely tragic in classic was precisely the fact that he wasn't anyone's hero.

I know this constant comparison to patho classic can get tiring, so let me use another point of reference which is also the reason why I am even writing this post in the first place - The Marble Nest. I love the marble nest. I find its narrative structure to be expertly crafted, emotional beats placed in just the right places and godd i still cry over the fact that they put his soul into a nutshell. And the funny thing is that TMN does share a lot of similarities with the new demo. It's a Daniil-centric story with a framing device that encourages us to look at the entire experience as Daniil's impression of the reality around him. It's a short and rather simple experience with a strong central theme. So why do I feel so emotional when Daniil talks to the death in that game but feel pretty much nothing when he talk about dying in Quarantine? Maybe because The Marble Nest is still steeped so deeply in the theatre influences which I hold dear to my heart while Quarantine moves away from them and maybe towards another medium entirely. Theatre never pretends to be reality and it's artificiality is always front and center. Film meanwhile often has the tendency to try to replicate reality or even try to be reality itself. In one of those cases I feel like an active audience member and in the other like a passive voyeur of some vision of reality. Or to put it simply, in one case I am afraid of Death and in the other, I am watching someone act out being afraid of death. That is a highly personal preference though and I'm genuinely happy to see that many people do indeed relate to this portrayal of Daniil, especially when it comes to how his mental problems are displayed front and center. And that's amazing! I want to see all the fan input that comes out of it and I hope the final game delivers on everything they hope for. But for me? I think I might need to take a back seat, at least for now. Watch the scene from afar, perhaps get a fuller picture. Because I want to care and understand and know and feel. I really do. But sometimes it's not possible and that's also good.

So, if you've read this overwritten mess to the end, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and encourage you to voice your opinion. Art doesn't exist without discussion so let's discuss!

POST-SCRIPTUM - ON THE NATURE OF MAKING GOOD THINGS IN YOUR PAST

One last thing I wanted to add which feels highly relevant to the my critique is the question of what to do when someone says they liked your old work better? I like to think of myself as an artist and I think that many of us do, even without getting into how according to Beuys everyone is an artist. So you make a thing, some people like, perhaps many people do. So you keep making things, you grow with them, change, realize your old ideas were often childish or naive which you can only do through gaining experience. So you make new things, often drastically different from the ones you made before. And someone says "I liked the old stuff better". And they don't say it as an insult, even though it may sometimes feel like it. Because you cannot recreate whatever you did in your past. And you want to grow. Does that mean that you got worse instead? That you peaked in your past and it's all downhill from here? Of course not. You know that. I know that. I hope every artist knows that. And yet it still hurts. It hurts to be perceived as a line graph when in reality you are a recursive function.

----

all images made by me, the ones with yellow background are from a shitpost animatic, the white one was a joke I made after hearing the famous"sherlock mind palace fruit ninja" pitch, and the last one is me in my Daniil cosplay. Goodnight Bikini Bottom

[yuurivoice]

Maybe kind of a basic question, but In what ways are writing a novel and writing for your audio rps/dramas different? In what ways are they similar? Also, congratulations on starting your novel!

The immediate wall I hit while approaching those first paragraphs was the pressure I put on myself to write "correctly". It's not so much the dialog, the story beats, structure, etc. which apparently is what a lot of writers struggle with, but for me it's like......the rules of writing? Like basic 101 type shit. Formatting dialog and the associated rules and unique little bumps you come up against in structuring it had me pulling my hair out.

But I just accepted that it is gonna be a little messy and probably need someone who Does This Shit For Real to come through in the earliest edits and show me what I messed up.

And as it turns out, once I accepted it, it really wasn't that fucking big of a deal lmfao

I still am not a planner. I feel very insecure seeing all these authors on Tiktok who have immaculate planning, outlining, etc etc etc and what I had to do there was like...have a real talk with myself.

I have made a career out of my writing. That's not bullshit. That's not ego. That's literally what every single person who has set out on this path dreams of doing, and I did that shit. So maybe, just maybe, I need to worry less about somebody who hasn't accomplished shit has to say about their process, and take my OWN process a little more seriously.

I was talking to my mom about it, and I told her i came to a conclusion after my little sit down with myself. I will throw myself at this the same way I have done everything else and trust myself. One of two things will happen. I will either be humbled and have to refine my craft and learn the hard way. Or I will succeed.

The same exact results of any other thing ever. So maybe just shut up and do the damn thing and start going!

My process is basically the same, but with some specific guardrails and planning. I get to layer things a bit deeper, I'm thinking about inner and outer motivations wayyyyyy ahead of time, reasons for things happening that extend beyond the text so it feels natural and logical. I think about character arcs well ahead of time and have a vague vibe path in my mind rather than an entire outline.

It's similar to what I'm doing with Evalas. I am planning and creating under the assumption of success. When I was making BitterSweet, Shattered, Lost & Found......it was sorta like living week to week. I got some ideas but this shit could tank and I'll have to pivot away from it. But now I have the confidence to create with a bigger, broader, longer term plan because I have a proven track record of success.

I'm doing a lot of learning on the job, but I think being an outsider in terms of my approach and way of doing things is what works best for me. I'm not an avid reader. I am not educated. I am not sitting on a stack of notes and doing a ton of world building etc etc etc.

It was similar with the audio stuff. I didn't know there was a whole community, didn't know what GWA was, didn't know there was a whole slew of creators on YouTube, and so on.

So reminding myself that I'm that fucking guy and I should act accordingly has really helped me. I don't love showing that outwardly all the time because I'm sure it can look some type of way to folks, but people who know about the journey and the story understand that it's earned. And I've always tried to use that confidence to inspire others, instead of jerking myself off or flexing. I was literally at ground zero, and it was a genuine love of creating neat stuff that got me up outta there.

So I gotta focus on what I do that works, and what makes me and my efforts tick. Not what everyone else has done, or the "right" way, or whatever else. If the words get onto paper, and I maintain the same charm and cheek that YuuriVoice characters bring with them, then I've succeeded.

Thank you for joining me on the ride!

[dr-entomophiliac]

People who say "how can the villains be redeemed, they've killed people" and "If you relate to them you're an edgelord and/or immoral" treat fiction so literally that it hurts. This may be another MHA ramble but lately I come across this mentality so often concerning any fandom, even after quitting mainstream internet I hear about it from friends.

Typically things with no real consequences do not emotionally affect us, so it takes a ton of skill and effort to create a story that makes the audience care, and so often fiction exaggerates, dramatises and ups the stakes to achieve that.

When you take away all the deaths and the action and the dramatics, and just look at the emotion the author is speaking of, it’s almost always, consciously or subconsciously, coming from very mundane personal experiences.

Like you didn’t have to literally destroy your house and kill your whole family to find a character like Shigaraki relatable, as the emotional impact here, to me, reads not too differently from the world-shattering guilt a small kid would feel from, say, a parents’ divorce. Or the self-blame for repeatedly invoking a parent’s wrath, when in reality that was none other than abuse. World-shattering, because to a 5 year old kid, your family— Home *is* your entire world, and as far as your developing brain can tell, your misbehaving tore your Home apart. If only you could be normal, like the other kids, etc…

Which brings me to Toga who I’m pretty sure represents growing up with either a prematurely developing and/or unconventional sexuality, (plus forcibly masked neurodivergence). For example, who here hasn’t at least at one point in their life felt like they’re committing a crime tantamount to murder just for being gay? lol

The common elements in their backstories is things like self-blame for being different and going against familial or fatherly demands, and feeling shunned and misunderstood by the mainstream world. Very typical upbringing for an artist, right?? (And it’s no coincidence the author was only able to write a supportive family for Izuku by taking away the father.)

Shigaraki’s hatred plus creepy vibes may be too exaggerated and toony to relate to, but even during college (where I was promised the ostracisation would end) I remember constantly feeling uncomfortable in my own skin, and being too weird and intense for my peers like my presence alone was burdening them, so that much about him is relatable. It was just an internal feeling regardless of how one actually presents themself. But art is all about those internal feelings, I think.

That is to say, whoever shames you for finding familiarity with villainous characters, seems no different to me than the bullies from my school years. Especially if they’re applying real life morals onto fiction to justify bringing you down. (Some of said bullies clearly had something difficult going on at home too, so while being a doormat was its own issue, being able to sympathise made it easy not to take them personally). But then there were the kinds of bullies that appeared to be living in a totally different and unburdened world, and the hurt they caused was not out of pent up frustration or whatever but basic apathy. The hero side of MHA vividly reminds me of that apathy and lack of burden.

The story being changed and eventually ruined by Shonen Jump to appease the mainstream fanbase (which from my understanding does not really care about the villains getting a resolution, only punishment) ironically further highlights the real life apathy that the story was criticising in the first place. I get it if it’s kids being that majority, they have growing to do, but then I hear it from an adult my age and….yeah.

[madhels-enby-boyfriend]

I didn’t really take any pictures or record anything because I’m simply not brave enough (sorry fellow Patti gays) but I’m gonna share some of my favourite moments/things from the show the old fashioned way (by simply writing them down in this post). These are in no particular order, just whatever comes to mind first:

-the standing ovation and applause as she entered on stage, immediately setting the tone for the rest of the evening

-the gay that decided to scream “I do!” after the iconic “does anyone still wear a hat?” line in Ladies who lunch and the perfectly timed “I’ll drink to that” afterwards

-Patti yodelling

-the suit she wears at the start because I’m gay and down bad for this woman

-Patti singing I wish it so because that song just perfectly explains how I feel and getting to hear it live was an otherworldly experience (I teared up… but to be fair I teared up many times)

-just the entire country song really, the vibes were amazing and it was just so much fun and funny to me

-Firemen

-everyone clapping along during the last song cause that always creates such a feeling of community and belonging for me (idk why)

-A song for you cause that song just felt so emotionally charged and i can’t explain it. Also this being the very first song I ever heard her sing live makes it special to me

(I will probably think of more things but I’m currently exhausted and my goldfish memory is abandoning me)

[automatuck9]

Gideon the Ninth

@thoughtfulfangirling Sorry this is late and rambling if you have any specific questions feel free to ask

3/5 stars

Summary:

Overall a very fun read with an interesting world and magic system, dragged down somewhat by a lack of focus and the strange writing of the relationship between the main characters. I would be open to continuing since the 1st book in a series is often the roughest anyway.

Positives:

The magic system- I loved all the variety to the necromancy, and it explained just enough without getting too bogged down in details and the reveal of how people become Lyctors was so, so good, still thinking about it. I love possession stuff and the weird unending half life is perfectly nightmarish.

Harrow- She's such a horrible self hating weirdo who creates most of her own problems, love her and love how the ending can only add to her insane levels of self hatred going forward in a way that didn't seem possible

Vibes/Mystery- It's not a mystery proper and isn't trying to be, but the middle chunk had a lot of the good vibes of a closed circle mystery and that's my jam, so I was all over that. And the reveal made sense and was set up, I'm kicking myself for not catching the past tense of Dulcinea's "I didn't want to die" though I did guess that Protesilaus was the one of the ones in the furnace.

Camilla and Palamedes- I really enjoyed their dynamic and the moment where Gideon lies and says his last words were telling Cam he loved her and she just immediately goes "what no he didn't" made me laugh so much. Absolutely perfect

Good sword fights

Negatives:

I wish there had been a bit more worldbuilding for the Houses. I get the idea of the Ninth, but the whole thing is they're dying anyway, but I just can't quite envision how normal people are living elsewhere in this world, I felt it lessened some of the bite of the politicking between characters when I don't really get their general hierarchies or what the Empire generally wants or what anyone does with their time when they aren't in mystery trials or on a dead cult planet. I don't need a full on Tolkien appendix, but maybe just a couple exposition bits from Abigail, confirmed history nerd, before she gets murdered.

Gideon's relationship with Harrow and the Ninth House and her final sacrifice didn't come together for me in terms of her character (I enjoy how much it will presumably continue to fuck with Harrow though). She starts out quite openly hating Harrow, then with absolutely no extra interaction, she's constantly worried about her and giving her little teasing nicknames. I think the information she gives Palamedes late on how she and Harrow had a weird love/hate toxic thing going back to childhood should have been earlier, because that is just not the feeling I got from the opening chapters. But even with that reveal there doesn't seem to be any proper hate on Canaan House, irritation at best and she immediately no questions is all on board “horribly torture me to pass this test”. And beyond that I wish she had just died at the end to spite the villain or because there was no other way out (which there wasn’t) or something because the way it's framed as her letting go of her hate of the Ninth House? Why? What reason? I like the idea of someone fighting for something bigger despite being mistreated by it like African Americans in the army or something, but what is the greater thing the Ninth stands for? Even the book doesn't know, her last thoughts are dismissing all the things she hates about it but after that it just says "she was Drearbruh" Okay? What exactly is so great about Drearbruh, why are you dying for it? Gideon as a character never came together for me

Miscellaneous:

I mostly got used to the dialogue but some bits still took me out (bingo, they have bingo after 10,000 years?). It seems needlessly distracting, but I did mostly stop noticing and some parts did make me laugh, so I'll call it a net neutral

Okay I know I'm reading a story so seeing the name Gideon on a note is probably important, but I don't get why in universe Gideon immediately clings to it and goes all "why is my name here". Is her name that unique? There's so much writing in this 10,000 year old facility is it that crazy that you'd find your name written somewhere?

I know my negative bullet went on longer, but I did mostly enjoy it.

[theamityelf]

For the naejunko soulmate vision share au how would the first face to face meeting would go would makoto try to play it cool and what would junko do would she make it very well known makoto is her soulmate or not plus during the killing game with makoto seeing the control room

Ohhh boy, great questions all around! Thanks so much for asking!

For their first face-to-face meeting, Makoto doesn't play it entirely cool, but he approaches the situation similarly to how he approached Sakura being the traitor: He treats it as something that should be discussed privately before it can be made public.

First of all, he arrives at school before Junko does, so he introduces himself to a few people before she arrives.

When everyone has showed up and the official introductions begin, I'm thinking he approaches Mukuro first, says a friendly "Hi," to her, because he's seen Junko bully her and he's felt really bad for her for a while now. (Mukuro doesn't say hi back; she looks to Junko, almost like she's asking permission to interact.)

Then Makoto turns to Junko, and he says "Hi," to her too. It's a noticeably heavier "hi". But not expressly hostile. It's basically a "We both know that I know what you've done, and we need to talk about it."

But he barely gets that syllable out before Junko is squealing, "Soulmate!" and just crushing him in a big hug. "Aww, you're even tinier in person! I could just shove you in my purse and sneak you into a movie theater like a cheap snack!"

"That would be dishonest," Taka protests. "The movie theater sets the price of concessions for a reason!"

"You two are soulmates?" Aoi says. Everyone is looking between Makoto and Junko with curiosity and interest.

"I was so, so excited when I saw your Hope's Peak letter!" Junko continues, ignoring her audience despite clearly performing for them. "I brought you a present. Close your eyes."

"Uh, Junko..." Despite the resolve he had before, now he's blushing. "This is really public. Can we talk privately?"

"Oh. Do I embarrass you?" Suddenly, Junko looks like a kicked puppy. "I'm sorry. I was just really excited!"

"It's fine. I actually got you something, too. But I don't really want our first time talking to be in front of our entire class, so maybe we could meet up at lunch or after school?"

She is going to keep trying to create an atmosphere of...absurdist romance, I guess? You know those deeply uncomfortable videos of failed public marriage proposals? That's kind of what she's aiming for. Being so high-romance that Makoto has to shut her down publicly and everyone feels not-great about it. He manages to dodge a lot of her traps by just being normal and communicating.

Likewise, Junko's every attempt to treat him like a pet or accessory fails because he isn't as easily cowed as she was expecting.

Basically, she can't quite get him to make himself "the bad guy" in front of everyone, and she also can't get him to just let himself be stepped on.

They have a weird vibe. When their morals aren't coming into conflict, they have good chemistry; he works as the straight-man to her quirky persona(s), and their soulmate seeing-through-each-other's-eyes thing means Makoto is often running to stop her from doing things and she's often popping up to back up her soulmate in his mild interpersonal incidents. (Like Yasuhiro asking to sell Makoto's organs, or Mondo getting in his face, or any kind of trouble with the faculty.) Half the people he interacts with are subjected to some kind of blackmail from Junko.

(Lowkey, one of these days I need to actually write this scenario, because it's hard to describe exactly how weird their vibes toward each other would be and how misinterpreted they'd be by most of their classmates.)

As for the killing game, he'd have to be given the full amnesia treatment, like Kyoko. Otherwise, it would take him very little time to take "I know my soulmate is Junko Enoshima" and "I occasionally see through the eyes of someone who seems to be running this killing game" and reach the conclusion that Junko is the mastermind. Especially since he's seen Mukuro's face through Junko's eyes.

With the full memory wipe, all he knows it that he sometimes sees through the eyes of someone who seems to be running the killing game. It seems to mean that the mastermind is his soulmate. That's all the information he has. (Also, he would readily admit that he doesn't remember anything, whereas Kyoko would play that closer to the chest.)

Makoto occasionally seeing inside the data center and the Monokuma Control Room and feeling confused and dismayed by the implications.

Makoto getting weirdly affectionate treatment from Monokuma.

Kyoko knows that she and Makoto both have full amnesia, but not why. Kyoko studying Makoto for any signs of duplicity.

He hasn't told anyone that the mastermind is his soulmate.

(Some of the others in class have soulmates who they suddenly don't feel a bond with, because those people died at some point in the interim. Another reason for Junko to either kill or imprison their loved ones; if they could see the world outside, they'd know about the apocalypse too early.)

Makoto slowly recovers memories of his life and his soulmate. Junko didn't become famous until after they'd been soulmates for years, so initially he remembers seeing through the eyes of a girl his age who happens to be really smart. When he sees Mukuro get impaled, he recovers a memory of his soulmate playing a game with her sister, and he feels twice as bad, but he isn't sure how those things are connected.

He and Kyoko (and to a lesser extent, he and Sayaka) get close in most of the same ways as in canon, and Junko is ruthlessly jealous.

[myfandomrambles]

Rating Doctors’ Introduction Stories

Trying to do this based on how they set up the doctor's era, not so much how much I like it

18) The Twin Dilemma (6): This episode doesn't set up 6 very well, at least not in a way that will make fans really give him a chance. It goes really hard on this post-re-gen psychosis in a way that will make people hate him. It does set up his haughtiness and such, but it doesn't set up how much he still cares about Peri and is actually still The Doctor in the core. I think to write 6 like this was like writing malpractice for creating a new Doctor.

17) Castrovalva (5): You get no vibes about how 5 is going to be for good or for worse. You come out with a bit of a blah vibe about how 5 is going to be going forward.

16) Day of The Doctor (War!Doctor): He’s sharing his story with an established Doctor, and it’s more of 11’s story than his. It does set up who The War Doctor is for the most part, but I think you do have a harder edge to him in some of the EU material then the more friendly type you get in this story. As a story, it does play out a lot of his important arc here in a satisfying way, which does engage people in his story to want to see how we get into this place which I think is a positive. But the biggest problem with it being an introductory episode here is that it is his final story so it’s both his first and his last story, making it have to be the end of an arc, which is the intention and written well, but not making it good as an introduction. 

15) The TV Movie (8): I think it is an okay introduction story. If you get into 8 content, you are going to get a darker Doctor, whether you start with the EDA novels or Storm Warning. The Wilderness Years loved some deeply disturbing stories and Big Finish loved to put him through it, and of course, later on with the Time War. I think this story has brought a lot of people in and even with its failures, I find this movie to not be a terrible way to get into 8. It captures his whimsical outward vibe as well as his tendency to end up in strange, messed-up mental states. I do think however most people who get into more 8-content do so because of other drives like hearing about them versus being entranced by the movie itself. (though this might be that getting your hands on the movie is very hard)

14) Fugitive of the Judon (Fugitive!Doctor): Even if you ended up hating the TC, people were really intrigued by this Doctor. She kicked ass and had a flare and style. Like we wanted more and had questions! This episode, while it did make her share her screen with 13 you still got the idea that she could hold her own and have her own plots to carry on.  It’s generally strong, even with her having to share time in making her someone people wanted to see more of. But still struggles with being tied down to plot lines that are not really about her doctor but about other doctors, and we see most of the fallout brought to 13’s emotional arc. Meaning her story feels very disjointed. 

13) The Star Beast (14): Listen, I'm a certified 14 trilogy hater, but I have to say this is a good story for making him likeable and setting up a tone for this Doctor and actually the new Davies era in general. You get the emotional connection between 14 and his companion. It does lean hard on you having to understand plot lines from 15 years ago, but it still gives you a good view of what this doctor is feeling about these situations and how he’s going to react to hardships. It's a good episode, removed from my personal issues, and a good start. No matter how much I dislike it, it does serve its purpose decently.

12) Time and The Rani (7): I don’t feel any particular way towards this episode as an introduction. It shows 7 generally in a way that will show who he is going to be, though it doesn’t give a totally rounded point of view. Lacking some of the darker elements. However, that can’t be expected or needed for every first story totally, and I don't think makes it a total failure. Generally decent watch, and I think it does a good job of making you feel like watching more of 7 could be fun! I like that we had some regen hijinks, but that they didn’t last too long and we got to still see 7 and his companion interact and see how they will interact with each other, which ques us into a lot of who 7 will be.

11) Power of The Daleks (2): Quite good at setting up the ~vibes~ of the Second Doctor and seeing him up against an enemy who we know and appreciate giving us someone for him to play off. Love that they give us an enemy and companions in a way that helps us engage with them easily. We get a lot of his personality here, which is great! He gets some regeneration goofiness, but as this was the first regeneration, we don’t have an extreme reaction, which I enjoy. Love that we got to see a lot of 2 in action. 

9) Deep Breath (12): You get some really good stuff here, and it sets up some important arcs for 12. When you see him kill the clockwork man, you go oof. The way it sets up the season and the era is really quite good. It put a lot of people off 12, which I'm not entirely sure why? It does a lot to set up his relationship with Clara as well. We get some regeneration wonkiness that isn’t my favorite, but I think it’s not too extreme for it to mean we don’t get to learn nothing about 12 and how he acts. We get this interesting arc of the Paternoster gang helping Clara learn that 12 is The Doctor, something I think might be helping the fans along as well, with the style of Doctor changing. This is one of my favourite episodes on this list so there might be a bit of bias leaking in here. 

8) Robot (4); You get all the 4 vibes here. I think he gets to be himself pretty quickly and is engaging. It brings in an audience without watering him down. And his relationships with his companions are set up really well. I don’t have all that much to say here other than you watch it, and like you get what you’re seeing here and I think that makes it a pretty good introduction episode for that fact. I also like that it sets up his companions well and has the Brigadier see how he plays off another Doctor, as he has seen two before, which makes him feel like “The Doctor” because we see others acknowledge him as being The Doctor. 

7) The Church on Ruby Road (15): This story is quite good at giving us a lot of who 15 is going to be. His adventurous side of wanting to get involved, his determination in saving baby Ruby and Carla, his cleverness in learning the vocabulary of wood and thinking on his feet by singing to the goblins. His relationship to Ruby is set up well here which is really important to his story. We get references to his sadness at being alone and how he feels like he may be the bad luck. His dedication to helping Ruby is there as well. We also see him talk his way past the cop in a very Doctor way, which is great at cementing him as “Doctor” material, if not quite strong enough to count as an ‘I am The Doctor’ moment. It’s great to see him get to own the stage here all on his own as he deserves as since he was forced to share his regeneration moment with the third iteration of David Tennant and play therapist to him.

6) The Woman Who Fell To Earth (13): A well-done introduction to 13 overall. Her relationship with her companions gets off to a good start (whatever you think of how well it plays out over time), having a death at the start of her run is very good and sets the sad undertone for her vibe overall. Her “I am the doctor” moment is decent as well! It’s not as good as 11’s or 10’s, but it’s good. I think you get some funny stuff, which is pretty stable in how 13 behaves. Her being willing to set off DNA bombs while getting mad about kicking the baddie off the ledge is Very 13 as well. In general I think it introduces 13 in a way that is engaging and also generally sets up some core aspects. 

5) The Unearthly Child (1): I think it introduces 1 fairly well while also introducing his companions. His vibe is given well here. I don’t put it higher as the story drags a bit and isn't super engaging on its own but it’s still a decent introduction to 1 as a character, his flaws and some of the mystery about him. The way he interacts with people really does carry forward, so you do get what you were shown here; if you watch it, you get it going forward, which I believe makes it a great introduction.

4) Christmas Invasion (10): While this story is heavily Rose-based, Ten's intro at the end is amazing and gives us a star-level "-I am The Doctor-” moment that gives us a good basis into who 10 is going to be. It sets the tone for series two very well while hinting at the darker elements 10 can have, like killing the Sycorax and bringing down Harriet Jones’ government. We get a long period of regeneration sleep which does mean The Doctor is out for most of the episode, but his “I am The Doctor” moment is one of the strongest in the series, and he owns the stage in a way that sets up his character well. Just sucks that we have so little of 10. 

3) Spearhead from Space (3): Idk man I just think this is a great era tone-setter. I think this gives off the perfect vibes for letting you know what you're getting into and who you're dealing with 3 and UNIT. I think it tells you who 3 is about to be and gets you wanting to know more and enjoy more! I watched it, and while not my favourite ever Doctor Who story,y I deeply wanted more 3 and The Brigadier. The Doctor does sleep for a while, and he does act a bit off from the regeneration, but he doesn’t get as messed up in the mind from regeneration once he wakes us as others, which I appreciate. 

2) Rose (9): His turning of the Earth speech sets up The Doctor as a character for the entirety of New Who Man. I love it. Can you ask for more? The pain in his voice, when he’s begging with the  Nestene, hurts me every time he really wants to not have to hurt them, and because it’s related to the war, omg it hurts. How he doesn’t want to drag Rose in but also wants her to be with him at the end, wants a friend! It’s perfect for 9! Everything about this episode sets up The Doctor for this era well. It's bad special effects might set some people off but I don’t think it’s at all enough to say it’s not near perfect as a story to set up who The Doctor is and the emotionality you're in for. It also sets Rose up really well. Jackie and Mickey for their character arcs as well.

1) The Eleventh Hour (11): It sets up everything about The Doctor’s God Complex in this era perfectly, with him calling the Atraxi back and his fairy tale aspects with the raggedy Doctor. And how much these ideas are both reality and made and how the cross between these things actually existing and being built in The Doctor’s mind is going to be a larger issue. This episode also sets up his relationship with his two main companions for the first two and a half seasons. It sets up his goofy side as well. The way the Moffat era is going to feel in general is set up here. Of course, his “Hello, I’m The Doctor, basically run” is like an amazing “I am The Doctor” moment, and I think it sets up his Doctor amazingly. Even if you hate 11, I think this sets up who 11 is like perfectly. I also appreciate that there are regeneration effects, but we don't get regeneration psychosis aspects and that he’s not knocked out for a large portion of the story. 

[deconstructthesoup]

Just for fun, I'm gonna show off my human designs for the Vessels and break them down... but I can't draw for shit, so, like the Slay the Professor Voices, this is gonna be in Picrew format.

Enjoy!

So, I've said this before, but when I make Beast a human, I always feel like the only way I can still capture her vibes is to make her a kid, or at least a preteen---a younger sister or a daughter of one of the other Vessels, usually Witch. She reads to me as that feral, weird little girl who digs holes with her fingernails on the playground, bites other kids, and almost always has a scraped knee or tiny cut on her face from horsing around that needs a fun Band-Aid to cover it, and her design's meant to reflect that. Beast strikes me as the kind of girl who'd just wear the same neutral colors with some green every day, and the kitty-ear hat is her most prized possession. This is the kind of kid who'd get labeled a "problem child" until she finally gets tested for ADHD.

Witch gives off grungy alternative vibes to me, and everything she does with her appearance is very deliberate---she doesn't have a skincare routine, but she always takes care of her piercings; she dyes her hair red herself and in the bathroom sink, but she always gets a good-quality and cruelty-free dye; she dresses almost exclusively in ripped jeans, flannels/overshirts, and T-shirts/tank-tops, but they're always somehow matching perfectly and look like actual outfits rather than just... well, what she threw on. To me, Witch is the person who gives off as much "I don't care" vibes as possible, while caring immensely in her own weird way.

Weirdly enough, Prisoner's human design was actually difficult, and that might have something to do with the fact that... well, she is the most human out of all of the Vessels, decapitation nonwithstanding. To that end, I wound up giving her a very academic-leaning style, which I think fits with her cynicism and default to the logical approach. She gets glasses, she gets a sweater vest, she gets Mary Janes... Prisoner's always trying to look presentable.

Damsel, meanwhile, was almost too easy---maximum pink, maximum ruffles, maximum princess vibes. There's no choice for Damsel other than being as adorable and as high-femme as possible, and... well, I'm pretty damn sure that comes across. It also helps her contrast well with Prisoner, since they're almost always twin sisters in my AUs.

I had two rules for Adversary: make her hella sporty, and make her hella butch. This is a girl who actually uses her gym membership, and she is almost always in workout gear of some kind. She's gotta be tough, she's gotta be badass, and she's gotta be hot. (I love butch Adversary so much, you don't understand)

Tower... well, she was pretty simple. Power suit, perfect jewelry and heels, pantyhose, professionally-styled hair, definitely enjoys wine. I struggle to write her because on one hand, I don't want to make her an egotistical monster, but on the other hand... well, it's difficult to make her human and likeable without going too out of character. At best, she's more akin to a mean girl than anything else, and at worst, she's Karen-level. (Sorry, gorgeous.)

For Nightmare, I had two words: "cute" and "goth." Nightmare is totally the kind of girl who would dress up like a spooky doll for funzies, so she's got frills like Damsel, but a bit more understated---and, also, leaning way more heavily into black-and-grey than any other color. And yes, she has tattoos and vitiligo, because it just... works for her. She still absolutely slathers intentionally exaggerated makeup on her face, though.

For Spectre, I also wanted to go in a goth-adjacent direction, but I wanted her to be way more witchy and whimsical, creating a pastel-whimsigoth vibe that I think really suits her. While skull makeup was an option for this Picrew, I was already way too attached to the idea of giving Spectre round glasses in place of her... well, sunken eyes, and it turned out pretty nice. Also, if you're wondering about all the purple---don't ask me why I associate that color with her. It just fits.

Razor is always gonna be a punk-slash-metalhead to me, because that means I get the excuse to give her plenty of piercings, plenty of studded bracelets, and---not pictured in this Picrew---a gazillion chain wallets (the eagle-eyed among you will even notice that she's got metal in her hair, which was very much intentional). And as it's the most obvious with Razor, this might also be a good time to mention that, yes, I didn't want to make all of the Vessels white, because a) that's boring, and b) if Shifty's meant to represent the entirety of change and transformation among humanity, it stands to reason that if her Vessels became human, they wouldn't all be skinny blonde girls. I'm gonna get off my soapbox now.

And lastly, Stranger was... well, both hard, and surprisingly easy. I knew I wanted to make them plus-sized, I knew I wanted to give them vitiligo, and I knew that I wanted their "base" outfit to be as pattern-clashing, color-clashing, hurt-your-eyes busy as possible. However, that did mean that I ran out of colors to include preeeeetty quickly, which is actually something that can happen when you're trying to squeeze in every color at once. Still, though, the end result was quite cute, and I think it definitely captures their vibe. (Not pictured: their masc outfit with suspenders and a tie, their alt outfit with a black cowboy hat and old-fashioned jester makeup, their femme outfit with a big ol' hoop skirt and matching parasol, and their "no-effort" outfit with a slouchy sweatshirt and matching pants.)

[eledritch]

hey! are you playing the new dragon age? thoughts!

yes, I finished it!

I have.....a lot of thoughts, but what it boils down to is that while I'd recommend the game (it's generally quite fun as a game, polished, gorgeous environments, combat that is overall fun & dynamic, & it actually made me care about Solas so that's a point in its favor) and I think it's amazing that it exists after such a long & fraught wait, it was disappointing for me in several big ways:

1. I didn't like Rook's character (someone said it feels like a JRPG in the sense that the protagonist is kind of already a defined personality meant to serve as more of an anchor to the party characters and I agree; it felt like Rook got minimal characterization & development throughout). I wish we'd gotten to play Rook's origin story and/or had way more dialogue choices. The flatness of Rook as a PC consistently made it tough for me to get engaged with this game the way I have with the other DA games.

2. Yikes @ Taash & all of the nonbinary/trans rep in the game. I wanted to love Taash so fucking much, you guys. I could not. Every aspect of Taash's character fell flat for me (except their design, that's great), especially their coming out scene with their mom (I thought Shathann was a super interesting character and I felt like the game did not want us to like her, much like DAI wants you to dislike Dorian's dad...but only one of these parents is worthy of disdain). I think the game also does an astonishingly poor job at trying to make a storyline about intersectional identity. Don't get me started on how Qunari, particularly the Antaam, are portrayed in the game...

I also played as a nb Rook and those dialogue choices all felt weird (& sometimes viscerally cringe & HUH) to me too, it only felt affirming when other characters used they/them pronouns for my Rook and bro that's the BARE MINIMUM. so I was just totally disappointed and also confused as to how this happened, given that I've really loved Trick Weekes' writing in the past.

3. There is a lack of inter-party conflict and the romance leaves a lot to be desired. I do think that especially by Act 3 this game does have some ~Dragon Age Edge~ to it (I liked a lot in Act 3, big Mass Effect vibes...at the same time tho, why does a Dragon Age game have Mass Effect vibes?? They've always felt so distinct to me in previous games; less so here). But I get why people were upset that, for example, your Rook can't be a jerk or even critique other characters (though Rook does have a lot of dialogue with what felt to me like an unintentionally condescending tone). They do try to create a confrontational dynamic between Lucanis and Davrin but that felt forced and unconvincing to me.

Because of this, because I never felt like I really knew my companions' core beliefs or flaws, and I wasn't able to argue with them or change/challenge any of their beliefs, I didn't feel very attached to many of the companions. I do think Emmrich was quite well written, and Neve is good too, but I romanced Davrin and I gotta say, the romance in this game was weirdly minimal (in my experience at least). You can't talk to your companions whenever you want. You can't give them a little kiss whenever you want. This is a core aspect of DA games for me so it was a bummer not to see it in Veilguard. There ARE a lot of cool cutscenes and interactions between the other party characters, but Rook is just a witness to those, kind of standing on the sidelines or awkwardly interrupting. Which comes back to the problem of Rook in this game! (For me, at least.)

4. This game's approach to slavery or lack thereof is a glaring issue. I could write a whole essay on this but I won't do so here. Suffice to say: I thought this was handled poorly and in a frankly cowardly way, considering that this game was so big on inclusion and social justice. I played as a Shadow Dragon elf Rook and there was ONE conversation about how "being an elf in Tevinter must be hard" (DUDE...). We do not see slavery in Tevinter except in a few codex entries (one by Dorian which...I HAVE THOUGHTS) and allusions, random NPCs here and there, and "uh oh gotta help the Dalish," etc. Fenris's absence haunts the narrative HARD. This is a big problem and I haven't seen a lot of talk about it, but especially since slavery also existed under the Evanuris, and Solas is supposedly anti-slavery, the way Veilguard consistently swerves around slavery is wild.

Idk, it just feels shitty that they devoted the resources to hiring diversity consultants to write a nonbinary character (presumably, because most of the dialogue about that reads like a DEI statement) but they did not devote time and energy and nuance to including slavery in the narrative in any meaningful way. Although maybe it's for the best that they didn't, given how not nuanced a lot of the writing in this game felt to me.

So, yeah...some things I liked about it and I do think when it comes down to it, Veilguard is a good game, but it's not a great Dragon Age game, and it's certainly not the DA4 I personally wanted :/ I am planning to try to replay it and maybe my thoughts will develop more after that, because believe me I wanna give this game all the chances.

[canmom]

hello, I'm back from the Annecy festival! it was as amazing as ever - I'm working on a proper writeup about it for my site, hopefully sometime this week.

fave things I saw included Death Does Not Exist which is gonna be a hard fave, one of the best animated films I've seen; Shinya Ohira's extraordinary short film Black; Hyakuemu; Housenka; Planètes; the Hungarian programme block on Réka Bucsi, WTF2025, Amélie et la Métaphysique des tubes and (for all its endearing jank) Nightmare Bugs. I can't wait til I can share them with people.

I did not see the overall winner of the feature film category, Arco, or a lot of the Contrechamp films this year, or even a couple of the short film blocks - despite seeing films pretty much every available hour, it remains the case you could do three Annecies over and have a completely disjoint festival each time.

of course the true joy of Annecy is not just its film deep cuts, but the sheer vibe of being in a city with thousands of animation people for a week. I got to meet the authors of Animation Obsessive and spend hours chatting away with them - sometimes you meet someone who's on the exact same special interest wavelength you are and that's those guys, and they've been writing some lovely coverage of the festival over there. also got to hang out and do some drawing with some of the ButaPro guys (FAR et al.), who were awesome. but equally there's just randomly getting to know animation students on buses, or chatting with people in the queues, or sitting in a theatre and watching the paper planes fly.

I just really love film festivals, and this one especially!

the students I met seemed to really like the stuff I'd made like Incubator, which was a pleasant surprise! I think I'm finally getting to the point where I've got all the techniques I need down enough to start telling stories with animation, and of course I'm all fired up about all things animation after being immersed in it in a place like Annecy...

for all the fears that grip the industry at the moment (so many industry talks titled things like 'Animation in the age of AI'), the actual films we are creating are so fucking aesthetically ambitious and varied - really underlining just how many tools we've cultivated to explore aesthetic space. I only saw one film in the festival that used AI video generation, in the highly experimental Off-Limits category. it was a self-referential film about the idea of art that leaned into the surreal morphing jank of AI to get some laughs, and frankly it wasn't much.

I did visit the Mifa trade show area at one point, where I found (in one small booth) some Japanese guys trying to sell people on their ComfyUI-integrated tool for tweaking character expressions with sliders, but it was fairly jank (at one point generating open eyes on top of closed ones) and I'm not convinced it would be practically useful, it just seemed like a harder-to-control version of a 3D rig. (though it was hard to have a discussion of any technical details talking through the interpreter, all I was really able to get is that it's apparently not a diffusion model). so, I think we can breathe easy about the supposed AI job apocalypse for another year. equally, my wish for a film that really does something interesting with AI remains unfulfilled.

I'll leave it at that for now, pending a more substantial writeup where I can pick out some of my fave shorts. but yeah, a really good festival. can't wait for it to come round again. they're apparently adding a whole new building with a new cinema, which might give some relief to the queues - they were especially brutal this year.

on the way home I got stuck in Frankfurt for a day because airline shenanigans! I made the best of it and visited Goethe's (rebuilt) house and the Deutsches Romantik Museum, so if you catch me standing with a yearning look before a vast empty seascape or something like that, you give my shoulders a good shake. (for real, very cool museum, hope I can visit Frankfurt again at some point when anything else is open because apparently Monday is museum closing day...)

[crvptyd]

Rank The Process Ask Game

Thank you @charmfamily for the tag! Tagging @daniigh0ul @morgynember @esotericas-sims @fallstaticexit @surely-sims and @fledermausbend

"As storytellers, there are so many pieces of our craft and I'm curious how you would rank each step of the process. Rank each of the following on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 lowest, 5 highest): Setting up the scene (building sets, decorating, etc), Posing the sims (creating / find poses, and setting up the sims), Styling the sims (cc hunting, time spent in cas), Writing the dialogue/story, Editing the photos. Send to three other story simblrs and get to know more about each others favorite and least favorite part of this crazy process!"

Gonna put my answer below the cut bc it's a little long.

Setting up the scene – 🌟🌟🌟🌟

There’s something really cathartic about building — I genuinely enjoy it, especially when it flows. But it can get frustrating when I’ve written a scene that hinges on a specific piece and I just can’t find it. I had a moment like that recently in When the Light Comes In — I needed melon bread, and it was like it didn’t exist. (I did eventually find two versions, but it left me frazzled!) That said, when everything does come together, it’s super rewarding.

Posing the Sims – 🌟

Absolutely hate this. Finding poses? Easy enough. Making poses? Doable, a little tricky. But watching Sims pop out of position mid-scene? A nightmare. Every time someone launches out of their chair or resets while I’m lining up a shot, a little piece of my soul crumbles. It’s the most rage-inducing part of the process for me, hands down. TOOL makes it easier though.

Styling the Sims –🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I love this part maybe a little too much. I’ll spend hours tweaking a Sim’s look to get everything just right — and I’m constantly downloading new CC, especially when a character has a specific aesthetic or I’m aiming for the perfect vibe. I had like seven different uniforms lined up for When the Light Comes In and still defaulted to the Copperdale Set by CloudCat because it just sat right. That said, a lot of my stories have stalled after CAS — not because I hate writing, but because my brain goes, “Well, we made the Sims. Mission accomplished.” Also, I still love a good subtle colour code. Not full Berry, but the influence is definitely there.

Writing the dialogue/story – 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I love to write. I’ve always wanted to be an author, and writing Sims stories — even if it’s just dialogue — is so deeply rewarding. I tend to go overboard, especially with dialogue-heavy stories, and will write the entire thing out before I even open the game. I have to actively stop myself from slipping into full prose, but I love how much can be told through just the dialogue and the Sims themselves in the shots I take. One day I’ll get around to writing my mostly-prose projects (Bondbreaker, Genesis) and then you’ll really see.

Editing the photos – 🌟🌟🌟

I enjoy editing, but it can be a bit tedious. I rely a lot on GShade in-game for most of the heavy lifting, and then move into Photoshop afterward. I typically use Intramoon’s Sonder actions to add a little drama — sometimes more than a little. Editing can get more meaningful when the story calls for it; for example, the saturation in When the Light Comes In shifts over time as Bob starts to realise he likes Eliza. Other times, it’s just about getting the basics right.

[jungkoode]

Hiii Kiki!! Sorry if this is random or annoying, but I seriously LOVE the way you write, like... how do you do it?? Do you have any tips or things that helped you write like that?? I’m obsessed. (You can totally ignore this if it’s too much btw, I just had to ask because you're amazing 🥲)

Hello angel!! (｡❤︎︎‿❤︎︎｡) First of all: not random. Not annoying. I am so, so flattered you asked this because I think about writing constantly. Like, way more than is probably healthy. Also, I’ve gotten this question a loooot, especially in my Spirk blog (to the point I had a whole #writing tips / advice tag). So this is me trying to channel the voices in my head into something coherent for you, okay? Buckle up because I’m absolutely going to ramble like the deranged human being I am. Let’s gooooo—

WHERE MY STORIES COME FROM (a.k.a. welcome to the multiverse in my brain (??)

Every fic starts with something. A dynamic. A vibe. A scene. A line. A feeling. Like, for FMU, I knew I wanted to do a contemporary romance that chronicled an entire relationship. Not just getting together, but the messy, stupid, soft, agonizing journey from strangers to friends to best friends to lovers and everything in between. I didn’t want to skip any of it. I wanted to write the kind of story that felt lived in.

For 25H, it was the theme. I was like: “Okay, what if we had a timeline-fuckery AU and also a dystopian setting and also trauma and also sexual tension and also psychological horror and also identity confusion and also soulmate telepathy? Great.” (Headlock by Imogen Heap literally birthed that story. I was in the shower like Galileo discovering gravity.)

For C:E it was the world. I was obsessed with Dune, yes. I was thinking about Star Trek, yes. I love worldbuilding. I love alien politics. I wanted to create a cultural and emotional system entirely from scratch and make it make sense. (RIP me, I am still suffering.)

WHAT I STAND FOR—or basically, my writing pillars

So once I knew I wanted to write those stories, I had to ask myself: okay, what is me? Like, what are the things that always show up in my writing? What are the hills I will die on?

And I narrowed it down to these:

Slow Burn (capital letters necessary): I just don’t care about a story unless the development is earned. I am SO picky as a reader. If I don’t understand why characters are making the choices they are making—I’m out. If things move too fast, if nothing’s built, if motivations are shallow? I’m immediately taken out. So I make sure my writing answers every question I would have as a reader. Why is he doing that? Does that fit his trauma? Does this align with his core fears and desires? Consistency and psychological realism is EVERYTHING to me.

Psychological depth and trauma (are we surprised…): I always write people who are struggling, who are complicated, who are carrying things they can’t name yet. Not everyone is self-aware. Not everyone knows why they’re fucked up. Most people don’t! Especially in your twenties!! So when I write, I write through that lens. It’s why I use limited POV—I want the reader to experience the world as the character would, in all their confusion and misinterpretation and flawed logic. That makes the eventual clarity hit so hard. I write to help people understand themselves better. And I’ve gotten messages saying that’s happened. Which is insane to me. And beautiful.

Realism:The little things matter. The way your partner shadowboxes near you like an idiot. The way someone drinks chai tea because you smell like chai tea. The little character habits. The pettiness. The weirdness. The lived-in chaos of being a human. I think that’s something I really try to emphasize—making stories feel real, not idealized or polished. Just human and messy and full of flavor.

Scent Symbolism (my Roman Empire): Look. I think we all KNOW I am NOT normal about this. I have always associated emotion with scent. I love the idea of a person becoming a sense-memory. That someone might crave chai not because they love chai, but because she smells like it. That vanilla reminds him of one night and he can’t forget. I’ve used scent in every single story and it’s 100% my author signature at this point. If you start craving someone’s cologne in your fic… that’s me. You’re welcome.

HOW I KEEP THINGS CONSISTENT: FILESSSSSS

Girl. Files. So many files. I do NOT write anything unless I have at least three Google Docs open. Every major project has its own archive of chaos:

One for backstory (childhood trauma, family dynamics, etc.)

One for psychology (triggers, coping mechanisms, conflict styles)

One for plot structure (timeline of events, key beats, major turning points)

One for supporting characters (roles, dynamics, functions in story)

And for 25H specifically? I HAD TO WRITE DOWN HOW YOONGI AND Y/N’S CONNECTION WORKED ON A CELLULAR LEVEL. LIKE—SCIENTIFICALLY. BECAUSE MY BRAIN WOULDN’T LET ME MOVE ON OTHERWISE. Am I okay? No. Do I sleep? Also no.

But all that is to say: consistency is king. If a character has a trauma response, it should show up in every context that would trigger it. If a person grew up walking on eggshells, they don’t just magically become confident. They double-text. They spiral. They apologize too much. You get me?

I keep track of that. I make sure readers only have the questions I want them to have—not because things are vague or messy, but because they haven’t been told yet. That’s the difference between mystery and plot holes.

BONUS: uhhhh reverse engineering thingy???

Sometimes I imagine one scene and build backwards.

Example: in KGP, I wanted a scene where Jungkook takes off his shirt in the infirmary and Y/N sees his tattoo. HOT. BUT—how do we get there? Jungkook only gets seen by Hobi. Y/N has to be in Hobi’s office too. Why? Okay—let’s injure her. But not in a way that makes Jungkook take her to the infirmary. That would be out of character at that point. He doesn’t care yet.

So then I was like: what if she can’t train (ankle injury) and she refuses to be useless, so she has to do other training, like, let’s say, Medical (Hobi’s)? Okay. That’s good. Now how do we force Jungkook in? Easy. He’s been dodging a mandatory checkup. V is sent to fetch him. Jungkook hates V. He would rather face Hobi than interact with V longer than necessary. And BOOM! They’re in the same room. The setup makes sense. You feel like it happened naturally. That’s the goal.

Some other random tips:

Make playlists. I structure whole chapters based on scenes I imagine while listening to specific songs. The scene doesn’t exist yet, but the vibe does. Then I figure out how to logically get there.

Don’t be afraid to be extra. Explain the biology of a soulbond. Add the detail about his post-workout shake routine. Let them argue about who does Griffin’s litter. That’s what makes your characters real.

Let your readers connect dots. You don’t need to explain every emotion. Just show the coffee stain on the page where he was writing her name. That’s enough.

Aaannnd I think that’s it for today?? I’m sure I forgot something and I’ll want to edit this five minutes from now, but. You get the gist. I write like this because I’m obsessive. Because I have to. Because I can’t stand bad writing and I try to write the kind of stories I wish I could find.

And also because… I’m mentally ill but, like, in a productive way.

Thank you for reading my TED talk. You’re amazing. Ask me things anytime. I love talking about this more than I love Jungkook’s jawline. (Which is saying something.)

[composerbutnevercomposed]

Reading Recap - March

This month I read 5 books total: The Night Circus, Legendborn, Bloodmarked, Oathbound, and Butcher & Blackbird. I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of 5 star reads recently, and I don’t know if that’s because I’ve been picking well, or I’m just easy to please lol.

** Spoilers Ahead! **   

The Night Circus - ★★★★★

Wow! What a great book, let’s start off with that. I picked this up on a whim, cuz I kept hearing it’s a “modern classic,” and everyone was right! It’s a solid piece of fantasy, and I recommend it to anyone who’s looking for something different, yet familiar in the genre. I really disagree with people saying this book is “no plot, just vibes” as I feel it’s clearly building to it’s ending all the way throughout. When we find out Isobel is the reason everything’s been so balanced and harmonious in the circus, and we as the reader know everything’s about to fall apart once she stops intervening? Hell yea! And I really like Celia and Marco together, it was love at first sight that felt “believable.” I’m not entirely sure what inspirations Erin Morgenstern turned to when writing, but I couldn’t help but draw comparison to The Master and Margarita; it’s approach to magical realism reminded me a lot of it, and the ending of the book (”I don’t want a story you create from here,” he taps his temple, “I want a story that comes from here,”) is incredibly reminiscent of the famous “manuscripts don’t burn” quote from the novel.

The only thing I have about giving it 5 stars is I feel after reading the Legendborn cycle directly after is that it didn’t stick with me as much as that series did? I don’t know, part of me wants to bump it down a star in Goodreads after the fact, but I also don’t feel like I should “punish” a book that I did actually enjoy because of comparison. Either way, I’ve picked up the Starless Sea since I enjoyed Erin Morgenstern’s writing so much.

The Legendborn Cycle - ★★★★★

Individual Ratings:

Legendborn - ★★★★½

Bloodmarked - ★★★★½

Oathbound - ★★★★★

Legendborn is a book series I’ve had my eye on for a few years now, and I genuinely am kicking myself over not reading it sooner! I think I said this to someone, but reading the first book gave me the same vibes of reading Percy Jackson for the first time. And, not complaining, but Tracy Deonn’s frame(s) of reference is incredibly apparent within the first book; 2010s YA fantasy but with a modern understanding of why these mythologies have persisted over others (spoiler alert: it’s white supremacy). If you’re a PJO alumnus who was emotionally attached to Nico di Angelo ten years ago, and you don’t come away with a soft-spot for Selwyn Kane, I don’t know what to tell you. 

The reason why I didn’t give Legendborn + Bloodmarked five stars is kind of due to my own personal code when I rate my books; if there’s something that detracted from my personal enjoyment of the book, I take off half-a-star. That doesn’t mean I didn’t love the book (I’m obsessed), just something was needed for it to be a 5. For Legendborn, that was me personally struggling to understand the “calling” system of the Scions. I understood the concept of Scions of <Blank> being called first, and then the next lowest rank, and so-on and so-forth; I just started to get confused when William tries to explain the individual lines and who gets called when. I don’t know why; but on top of the ranked knights thing, I came away thinking that all of the lowest in the line of succession gets called until the first-in-line does? I don’t know, sometimes I get mixed up; and I don’t think it helped they tried to explain the Regents thing in the same breath, and that’s a whole different beast to me. And then looking back, my gripe with Bloodmarked feels a bit petty? I don’t know, I may bump it up to a 5 in Goodreads posthumously. I really was bummed we rushed through how the hell Nick and Sel got there in time to help Bree, and it was explained away in a large paragraph said to Alice in a coma; I would’ve liked to see that. On top of that, it was a bit difficult to understand how Bree came to the conclusion to run away with Erebus/Shadow King, it felt out of the blue (but the impulsive stuff she did at the end is sort-of explained in Oathbound? so I’m more willing to let that go)

Oathbound, I loved however, which seems to be against the grain of how other people view it based on Goodreads. Maybe it’s because I recently read another highly-anticipated, third-in-the-trilogy book in Jan. that I wasn’t impressed with (that has the initials O and S, ahem); but this just felt really really, well-done for a “”slow-paced”” book (which I don't agree with, just saying). It didn’t feel like filler, it felt like expansion; which is more that can be said for “let’s go to fantasy-<insert real-life equivalent culture here> island” book -- I say this as someone who does actively read that series, don’t kill me.

What can I say, I’m a sucker for a training arc, and it felt very much like the Son of Neptune in a sense, with the battling POVs and the dramatic irony of it all. I love Bree, and having a whole book dedicated to Bree just being on her own for once after The Six Weeks From Hell was really great. I really liked being able to see the collision-course everyone was on towards each other, and the ending I think is the strongest of the three books. The only thing I really struggled with was how “different” Sel’s character voice was; which I get is the point, but it did make me miss the Sel in Bloodmarked. But I think Nick’s character development from off-screen taking front and center and just getting an influx of sheer Nick (I missed him in Bloodmarked) more than balanced it out. God, I love those three so much.

Now, about the ending of Oathbound. I really, really liked the plot twist. I thought it was the perfect way to differentiate our characters, and really tightens the strings that tie the three main characters together. I also think it’s really, really funny that potentially Sel has always been a balanced cambion (since we now know he’s probs 51% demon based on the ending); regardless if it's true, the thought that he may have been just acting like that because he thought he was “succumbing to the blood” tickles me. I know that’s probably not what happened, but I would expect nothing less from him lol.

The thing that most stood out to me in the ending, however, was the repetition of “Loving people is a practice.” I know it’s probably just something Deonn wanted Bree’s dad to say, or is the take-away from this book, but the words “a practice” really perked my ears up. I couldn’t help but draw comparison to the idea of practices in Rootcraft, and wondered if Deonn was trying to imply either something about this book, or the future of the books. I don’t know, the idea of Bree or someone practicing Lovecraft (haha) is an interesting idea to me, but I think it’s more about how loving people is it’s own form of magic; and that’s why Bree was able to heal over her soul. But yea, overall my favorite of the three, can’t wait for the next! 

Butcher & Blackbird - ★★★★★

I was trying to finish Vicious as my last book of March (see below), but just wasn’t vibing; so I picked this up on a whim as I’ve heard good things, and man was I really delighted! This is a really cute “murder rom-com” with a lot of fun little bits to sink your teeth into (no pun intended). Without giving too much away, it was really fun that all of the victims of Sloane and Rowan were kind of parodies of the classic slasher/killers in horror (i.e. Norman Bates, Hannibal Lecter, Leatherface); and the main characters were super cute and honestly very well-developed. I’m quite hesitant of a lot of “book-tok” books, but this is worth the hype; I get it. I even found myself really relating to Sloane a lot, she’s a data scientist, I’m a computer scientist, she likes to draw, I like to draw, she’s kinda emo and has red nails, I’m kinda emo and have red nails. I don’t know, I could be a serial killer with social anxiety too lol. But make no mistake this is a “book-tok” smut book for sure, and it definitely was raunchy, but surprisingly didn’t fall too hard into the stereotypical “spice” scenes books aimed at modern female audiences do. The only gripe I had is they went to the Omni Hotel in one scene, and I have a grudge against that place lol. I bought and read this the same day I’m posting this, and I’ve picked up the next two in the series, so I’ll probably pound those back as well lol. Good quick read, what else can I say.

Currently Reading

Vicious by V.E. Schwaab

Man, I’m really struggling with this one and I don’t know why! I picked this up about a week ago and only have a hundred pages or-so left, but I cannot get into it. Make no mistake, it’s written well, has great characters, and an interesting premise; but I’m feeling super removed from it for some reason? That’s why I picked up Butcher & Blackbird; I wanted my fix of evil characters but it wasn’t clicking with this one. I’m trying not to soft-DNF this one, so I might just trying and use my Spotify audiobook minutes to finish it off, see if changing the format fixes whatever’s wrong with my brain. I have Vengeful as well, as I’ve had the box-set sitting on my shelf for a while, and depending on how I feel when I finish this I may or may not read the sequel. I don’t know yet, my mind could change. I will be picking up other books by Schwaab, I love her prose; just not this book all that much.

April TBR

This is just a list of the books I have my eye on to read in April, not sure if I’ll even read any of them.

Johnathan Strange and Mr. Norrel - I picked up a gorgeous anniversary copy after reading the first page, I’m obsessed. Def something I want to read sooner rather than later. I read Piranesi, and that was good, but I’m hoping to like this one a bit more

Everything is Tuberculosis - I’m a sucker for a historical science novel (Demon in the Freezer is one of my fav non-fiction books) and I did really like The Anthropocene Reviewed, so I’ll probs pick it up at some point.

The Cruel Prince - I started getting a bunch of Tik-Toks for this out of the blue, and found out it was written by Holly Block (aka. the Spiderwick Chronicles). I loved those books as a kid so I had to pick this up, though I’m trying to limit my YA reads. 

I might throw some lit-fic in here? I have a tendency to just keep reading the same genre until I get tired of it, but I have a lot of Joan Didion books on my shelf I’ve been meaning to pick up. A few of them are small, so could be easy to throw on top of the pile.