#First by genre and/or vibes and/or my personal experience with the book

[sticknpokelightningbolt]

I'm fascinated by everyone else's methods, but I don't believe mine will be at all helpful

This is very important research so I can figure out how to arrange my books

[diamonddaze01]

beautiful fool

pairing: jeon wonwoo x f!reader | wc: 5.1k genre: angst angst angst angst angst | vaguely based on the great gatsby warnings: really really sad (i’m not sorry) a/n: the angst olympics have begun and this one goes out to serena @gotta-winwin 💕 enormous thanks to @haologram and @ylangelegy for betaing this monster for me i love u!!

the angst olympics are live! check out all the amazing authors <3

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summary: Foolishly, Wonwoo let himself hope.

It’s cruel, Wonwoo thinks, how the sound of your laughter feels like both a blessing and a punishment.

The laughter now—it reminds him of the first time he heard it, ringing out like an unintentional symphony in this same café, on a day when the clouds hung heavy outside and the tables were quiet. You’d burst in with the kind of presence that demanded attention, the bell above the door jangling in your wake as you called out a cheerful, “What’s good here, huh? I need recommendations from the experts!”

You’d strode up to the counter, all wide eyes and crinkled smiles, resting your elbows on the worn wood like you belonged there. And Wonwoo—awkward, reserved Wonwoo—could only blink for a moment too long before fumbling for words.

“Um,” he had managed, his voice barely carrying over the soft jazz playing in the background. “The, uh, the matcha latte is… popular?”

“Popular?” you’d repeated, feigning horror as if he’d personally offended you. “That’s the best you’ve got? Come on, barista guy, sell me on it! Give me the rundown—what’s the vibe? Is it creamy, is it sweet? Am I about to ascend to a higher plane of existence?”

The words tumbled out of you like you couldn’t stop them, every syllable bubbling with life. He’d tried to respond, he really had, but his gaze kept catching on the way your eyes crinkled at the corners when you smiled. How your lips quirked in amusement even as you teased him. How, somehow, your laughter seemed to make the dull, gray afternoon outside feel brighter.

“It’s… creamy,” he’d said lamely, his face warming. “And… uh, it’s sweet, yeah.”

“Sold,” you’d said with a grin that made his chest ache.

When he handed you the drink, your fingers had brushed his for the briefest second. He remembered how you took a sip, sighed dramatically, and declared, “Barista guy, you were right—I might actually ascend. Thank you for this life-changing experience.”

You hadn’t stayed long that day, just enough to finish your drink and leave a tip in the jar, but Wonwoo had found himself replaying the scene over and over in his head that night. He remembered everything—the way you’d wrinkled your nose at the cold weather outside, the exact cadence of your laugh, the way you’d glanced over your shoulder as you left, flashing him one last smile.

He’d learned later, when you became a regular, that this was just you. Full of energy, full of light. But that first meeting stayed with him, a snapshot of you permanently etched into his memory.

The fifth time you came into the café, the heat outside was so stifling that not even the air conditioner could stop the sweat from rolling down Wonwoo’s temples. By then, he’d learned so much about you in the smallest of ways. Your usual drink had changed once—just once—during a brutal heatwave, and you’d swapped it out for an iced Americano, claiming it “felt like a personality betrayal.” He’d learned you liked your pastries warmed, but not too warm, and that you loved to read but always left your books with bent corners, something that made him wince and you laugh.

And he’d learned your name.

That was the first barrier you broke—offering your name with a playful smile as he handed you your drink. “You’ve been calling me ‘matcha latte’ in your head this whole time, haven’t you?” you teased.

He’d stumbled over his words, his ears turning red, and you’d laughed again, your name falling so naturally from your lips it stuck in his mind immediately.

The tenth time you came into the café, you weren’t alone. It was mid-afternoon, the sun cutting through the windows in golden slants, and you’d arrived with a small group of friends. You were louder than usual, laughing as one of them tripped over the step leading inside, your voice cutting through the quiet hum of the space like a melody he didn’t know he was waiting to hear.

Wonwoo had been at the counter, trying not to look too eager as you approached with your friends in tow. You gestured to him with a grin so familiar now that it still caught him off guard. “Guys, this is Wonwoo—the guy who knows everything I like.”

The way you said it was so casual, so effortless, but it felt like a stone dropping into the still waters of his chest. He had to steady his hands against the register, swallowing against the sudden rush of warmth that bloomed under his collar.

Your friends turned to him, smiling, teasing, offering their own introductions, but Wonwoo’s attention was already elsewhere. His gaze flickered to you, watching as you pulled a menu from the holder, furrowing your brows as you skimmed it even though you already knew what you wanted.

One of your friends—a tall, confident woman with a sharp laugh—leaned on the counter, fixing him with a playful smirk. “So, Wonwoo,” she said, drawing out his name like it was something fragile. “What’s your secret? How’d you win her over?” She tilted her head toward you, and your other friends chuckled in agreement.

Wonwoo glanced at you, hoping for a lifeline, but you only laughed, waving a hand in dismissal. “He didn’t win me over,” you said, still focused on the menu. “He just knows my coffee order by heart. That’s all it takes to impress me, apparently.”

You said it so lightly, but something in the way your eyes flicked up to meet his for a fleeting second before turning back to the menu made his heart stutter.

“Still,” your friend pressed, undeterred. “Knowing what someone likes—that’s a skill. So, what’s my vibe, Wonwoo?”

He barely heard the question. His eyes stayed locked on you as you laughed at another friend’s joke, your smile softening as you leaned back in your chair. You looked so at ease, so at home in this tiny café, and for a brief, unguarded moment, something in Wonwoo let itself imagine.

Not the café, but a quiet kitchen. Not you at a table with friends, but you sitting across from him, your head tilted as you teased him about his plain food choices. He imagined mornings with you in your pajamas, evenings with you curled up on the couch, the easy rhythm of a life spent together.

It was absurd, of course. He barely knew you, beyond the drinks you liked and the way you always tucked your hair behind your ear when you laughed too hard. But the idea lingered, like the scent of your perfume, sweet and impossible to ignore.

Your friend was still talking, still trying to catch his attention, but Wonwoo only nodded politely, his gaze drifting back to you. You caught his eye and grinned, holding up the menu. “I’ll just have my usual, Wonwoo,” you said, your voice lilting with familiarity.

He nodded, retreating to the safety of the espresso machine, where he could steady his hands and pretend he wasn’t imagining a life that wasn’t his to dream of.

A year after you’d first stepped into the café, you weren’t just a regular; you were the regular. Everyone knew your name, your order, your quirks, but somehow, you’d made it a habit to linger at the counter and talk to him.

It had been a slower afternoon, a rare lull in the usual rush, and you were perched on one of the stools by the register (a part of Wonwoo wondered if you left your usual seat in the corner for him). You twirled your straw absentmindedly in your drink (“surprise me,” you had stated matter-of-factly as you dropped a tote overflowing with papers at your feet. Wonwoo made you a caramel brulee latte, just as sweet as you), a slight frown tugging at your lips as you stared at your laptop screen.

“Another paper?” Wonwoo asked, glancing over as he wiped down the counter.

“Dissertation,” you groaned, dragging the word out dramatically. “The Implications of Procedural Justice on Environmental Law Compliance. Doesn’t it sound riveting?”

Wonwoo raised an eyebrow, leaning against the counter. “It… sounds like a lot.”

“You can just say it’s boring,” you laughed, your eyes crinkling at the corners. “But it’s not, really. It’s actually pretty interesting once you get into it. You know, how people are more likely to follow laws when they feel like the process is fair? I’m focusing on corporate compliance in environmental policy.”

He nodded, genuinely intrigued. “That actually sounds… important.”

You paused, blinking up at him, and then smiled. “See, this is why I like talking to you. You don’t just nod and tune me out—you actually listen.”

Wonwoo felt his chest tighten at your words, his fingers gripping the edge of the cloth he was holding. He ducked his head slightly, focusing on the counter. “Well, you make it easy to listen,” he said softly.

You tilted your head, studying him for a moment before leaning forward on the counter, a playful grin spreading across your face. “Okay, your turn. I always tell you what I’m up to—what about you? What’s Wonwoo’s big dream?”

He hesitated, caught off guard. “I, uh… I study literature,” he admitted finally, his ears burning. “I want to teach one day. Maybe at a university.”

Your face lit up. “Wait, that’s so cool! What kind of literature?”

“Modern, mostly,” he said, relaxing slightly under your genuine interest. “I’ve been working on a thesis about the intersection of memory and identity in postwar fiction.”

Your eyes lit up, the exhaustion slipping from your features for a moment. “No way! Okay, you’re officially not allowed to judge me for being a nerd anymore.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever judged you,” he replied, his voice quieter now.

You opened your mouth to reply, but the sudden weight of his words hung between you for just a moment too long. Your lips quirked upward, something unreadable flickering across your face, before you leaned back. “Thanks for the drink, Wonwoo,” you said softly, brushing your fingers over the counter before packing your bag.

It wasn’t until later that night, long after you’d left, that Wonwoo let himself linger on the memory. You’d never said his name like that before, soft and deliberate, like you were testing how it felt. He couldn’t help but replay the way your lips had curved around the syllables, how you’d looked at him like he wasn’t just another barista in another café.

For the first time, the thought crept in, unbidden but relentless: This could be something.

It was absurd, of course. You were you—full of life and light, with dreams bigger than the small confines of this café. And he was… just him. But he couldn’t stop the quiet ache that spread through his chest, the flicker of a hope he knew he had no right to hold.

He glanced toward the window, where the neon café sign reflected against the glass. It reminded him of a lighthouse, a beacon in the dark, and he wondered if you could feel it too—that pull, that something unspoken lingering between you.

It had been a slow evening at the café, the kind of night where the clock ticked louder than the murmur of customers, and the air was thick with the scent of coffee grounds and faint traces of sugar. Wonwoo was wiping down the tables, his mind half-focused on the task, when the chime of the door pulled his gaze upward.

It was you, of course.

You always showed up at odd hours, just as the café was starting to empty, like you knew he’d have more time to talk to you then. Tonight, you were bundled in a scarf that swallowed half your face, your nose pink from the cold. You waved at him as you approached the counter, your eyes crinkling at the edges in a way that made his heart do that stupid fluttering thing he wished he could control.

“Hi, Wonwoo,” you greeted, pulling the scarf down. Your breath puffed out in little clouds. “I swear it’s colder in here than it is outside. What’s a girl gotta do to get some hot chocolate around here?”

He smiled softly, already reaching for the cocoa powder. “You could ask nicely.”

“I could,” you said, leaning against the counter. “But it’s more fun to whine about it.”

Wonwoo chuckled, shaking his head as he worked. He knew your drink by heart now: extra whipped cream, a dusting of cinnamon, and just a hint of vanilla. It wasn’t on the menu, but he made it for you anyway, the way he always did.

“Late night studying again?” he asked as he set the mug in front of you.

You groaned dramatically. “Dissertations are evil, Wonwoo. Did you know that? If I don’t turn into a husk of a human being by the time I finish this, it’ll be a miracle.”

“What’s the topic again?”

“Corporate compliance in environmental policy.” You said it like the words physically pained you. “Which, by the way, sounded way cooler in my head when I picked it.”

Wonwoo nodded, leaning against the counter as you took your first sip of hot chocolate. He’d heard you talk about your dissertation before, but he never got tired of it. There was something about the way you got so animated, even when you were complaining, that made him want to listen forever.

“You’ll do great,” he said quietly.

You looked up at him then, your smile soft, almost shy. “Thanks, Wonwoo. That means a lot.”

The café was nearly empty now, the last few customers filtering out as the night dragged on. But you stayed, your mug cradled between your hands, talking about your classes and your professors and the funny thing that happened on the bus earlier. Wonwoo didn’t care that his shift technically ended ten minutes ago. He didn’t care that he still had cleaning to do. All he cared about was the way your laugh filled the quiet spaces around him, the way your eyes sparkled when you told a story.

He felt it again, let himself imagine it —something more. Something real.

It was a dangerous thought, one that he tried to push away as soon as it surfaced. But he couldn’t help it. Not when you were sitting there, looking at him like he was someone worth talking to, someone worth spending time with.

The sound of your phone buzzing broke the moment. You glanced at the screen, your expression softening as you read the message.

“Gotta head out,” you said, standing and wrapping your scarf around your neck again. “Thanks for the hot chocolate, Wonwoo. You’re the best.”

He watched as you walked toward the door, his heart sinking just a little. And then, just before you left, you turned back, flashing him one last smile.

“See you tomorrow?”

He nodded, his voice catching in his throat. “Yeah. See you tomorrow.”

The door closed behind you, and for a long moment, Wonwoo stood there, staring at the empty table where you’d been sitting. The mug was still there, half-finished, a little smudge of whipped cream on the rim.

Foolishly, Wonwoo let himself hope.

The crash of dishes from the kitchen startles Wonwoo out of his daze. You’re sitting in your usual spot, tucked into the corner by the window, but the air around you feels different now. Electric. It’s him, of course—the man sitting across from you, the one who pulled him aside earlier with a conspiratorial grin and a velvet box. The one who makes your smile light up in ways Wonwoo knows he could never match.

His fingers tighten around the edge of the counter as he watches you laugh, your head tilting back slightly, the sunlight catching in your hair just so. It’s the kind of moment he’s witnessed a thousand times before, but now, there’s someone else at the center of it. Someone who isn’t him.

The ache in his chest feels almost physical, and he forces himself to look away before the bitterness creeping up his throat can take hold. Instead, he busies himself with the mundane—wiping the counter, rearranging sugar packets, anything to keep his hands moving. But it doesn’t stop the sound of your laughter from reaching him, soft and bright and devastatingly familiar.

It’s unfair, he thinks, how easily Minghao fits into your world. The way he leans across the table to brush a stray strand of hair from your face, or the way you reach out instinctively to steady his coffee cup before it tips. These little moments, so effortlessly intimate, feel like tiny fractures in the armor Wonwoo has spent years building around his heart.

When Minghao glances over, catching Wonwoo’s eye with a small, polite nod, Wonwoo musters a tight smile in return. It’s not the man’s fault, after all. Minghao seems kind, thoughtful, genuine. Everything you deserve.

Wonwoo turns back toward the espresso machine, letting the whir of the grinder drown out the sound of your voice. He doesn’t want to hear it—not when it’s directed at someone else.

But before today, there was another moment. The first time you brought Minghao to the café—a moment that still plays in his mind like a film reel stuck on loop.

It was raining that afternoon, the kind of heavy downpour that made people huddle under umbrellas and rush through the streets. You’d come in with someone trailing behind you, your laughter cutting through the sound of raindrops pelting the windows.

“Wonwoo!” you’d called out, shaking water from your coat. “Two coffees, please—my usual and whatever this guy wants.”

Wonwoo glanced up from the register, his gaze landing first on you, and then on the man at your side. Minghao, you’d introduced him as, your voice warm and easy. A friend, you’d said. Just a friend.

But even then, something about the way Minghao looked at you—like you were the only thing in the room worth noticing—set Wonwoo on edge.

As he worked, he could hear snippets of your conversation, your voice rising and falling in that familiar cadence he’d come to associate with comfort. Minghao was quieter, his words measured, his tone soft, but there was something about him that made Wonwoo’s stomach twist.

When he brought the drinks to your table, you’d looked up at him with that smile, the one that had always felt like it was just for him.

“Thanks, Wonwoo,” you’d said, your fingers brushing his briefly as you took the cup.

But then Minghao had thanked him too, his voice kind and unassuming, and Wonwoo had felt the ground shift beneath him.

For the rest of your visit, he couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting toward your table. You and Minghao talked and laughed, completely at ease with one another, and for the first time, Wonwoo felt like an intruder in the space he’d always considered yours and his.

When you left, you’d waved at him from the door, your grin as bright as ever. Minghao had followed you out, holding the door open with an easy grace that only deepened the pit in Wonwoo’s stomach.

It was the first time he realized that he wasn’t the only one who could make you smile.

The café had been alive with its usual mid-morning hum—quiet chatter from the tables, the clang of dishes in the kitchen, and the steady hiss of the espresso machine. Wonwoo had been at the counter, lost in the familiar rhythm of his work, when he heard it.

“Iced americano, please,” Minghao had said, his voice calm, self-assured, the kind of voice that felt effortless.

Wonwoo’s hand had faltered mid-pour, his grip tightening on the milk pitcher as the words registered. Iced americano? For you?

He had risked a glance toward your usual table, tucked into the corner by the window, and his chest had tightened painfully. You were there, as always, smiling, leaning forward with your chin resting on your hand. But it was different this time. The warmth of your smile wasn’t aimed at him. It was Minghao who was sitting across from you, soaking it all in. Minghao who had ordered for you.

Wonwoo had turned back to his work, trying to focus on the drink in front of him. It didn’t make sense. You hated iced americanos. He remembered the way you’d scrunched your nose the first time he had offered you one, teasing him mercilessly. “How can you drink that stuff, Wonwoo? It tastes like regret.” Your voice had been playful, your laugh easy, and he had stored that moment away like a keepsake.

But now, here you were, nodding along as Minghao ordered for you like it was the most natural thing in the world. Wonwoo had finished pouring the latte in front of him, but his hands had felt mechanical, detached from the rest of him. He had barely registered the weight of the drink as he placed it on the counter.

When Minghao set the iced americano in front of you, his hand had brushed yours briefly before he sat down. Wonwoo had watched as your smile softened, as you wrapped your fingers around the cup like it was something you had been craving. And then you’d laughed, the sound light and melodic, and said, “You know me best, love.”

Wonwoo’s heart had plummeted. He had gripped the edge of the counter so hard his knuckles turned white, the world tilting beneath his feet. The words echoed in his mind, sharp and unforgiving.

You know me best.

He had turned away, pretending to busy himself with the next order. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the image of you smiling at Minghao, couldn’t unhear the way you had said those words with such tender conviction.

The latte he had poured earlier had gone untouched, forgotten. Wonwoo had stood there, rooted to the spot, the weight of his longing pressing down on him like a lead blanket.

It was in that moment he had felt it—the quiet, gut-wrenching realization that he was losing you. Or maybe, he thought bitterly, he had never really had you at all.

It had started gradually, so slowly that Wonwoo hadn’t noticed at first. But one day, it hit him all at once, an unbearable weight that left him breathless.

The café wasn’t yours anymore.

It was yours and Minghao’s.

Wonwoo had watched from behind the counter as the two of you settled into your usual corner table. It had been your favorite spot for as long as he could remember, tucked away by the window where the sunlight streamed in just right. But now, it wasn’t just yours. Minghao was there, always, his presence seamless, like he belonged there with you.

You were sitting closer to him than you ever had to anyone else. Your shoulders almost touched, your hands occasionally brushing as you talked. Minghao had leaned over at one point, whispering something in your ear, and you had laughed—soft and sweet, the kind of laugh that used to belong to Wonwoo’s mornings.

He had turned away, pretending to be busy wiping down the counter, but his ears had caught every word of your conversation.

“Do you think we’ll need more space if we get two dogs?” Minghao had asked, his voice playful, teasing.

Wonwoo’s hands had stilled, the cloth hanging limply in his grasp. His heart had tightened painfully in his chest, but he couldn’t stop himself from listening.

“Maybe,” you replied, your laughter light and carefree. “But only if you’re okay with them taking over your meditation spot.”

Minghao’s voice warm and steady. “Guess we’ll have to buy that house on the prairie sooner than later, huh?”

Wonwoo had turned his back to you then, his breath coming in shallow bursts. He had clutched the counter like it was the only thing tethering him to the ground, trying to drown out the image of you and Minghao planning a future together. A house. Dogs. A life so vividly painted that it felt like a cruel joke.

The café had always been a sanctuary for him, a place where you existed in the quiet corners of his life. But now, it felt foreign, a space where he no longer belonged. It was your spot now, not his.

He had overheard snippets of your plans, dreams spoken aloud with an ease that tore at him. Every word had been a reminder that he was on the outside looking in, that he was just the quiet boy behind the counter who made your coffee exactly the way you liked it.

The café had once been the place where you smiled at him like he was the only person in the world. Now, it was the place where he watched you fall in love with someone else.

He had stood there, surrounded by the hum of conversations and the clatter of dishes, feeling like a ghost haunting his own memories.

It’s cruel, how easily Minghao trusted him with this moment. How he asked Wonwoo, like it was nothing, to hide the ring in the dessert he’s delivering now. As if his hands weren’t trembling as he plated it, as if his chest wasn’t heavy with the weight of knowing this is the last piece of you he’ll ever get to hold.

The plate feels heavier than it should as he carries it to your table. He’s aware of every step, of every breath, as if his body is moving through molasses. The dessert—a slice of tiramisu, your favorite—rests delicately in his hands, but it feels like a cruel joke now. A symbol of everything he’ll never be.

Your laughter rings out as he approaches, light and melodic, and he wonders if it’s the last time he’ll hear it like this—so free, so untouched by the gravity of the moment about to unfold. Minghao’s hand rests casually on the table, his fingers inches from yours, and Wonwoo can’t help but notice the way you lean into his presence like it’s second nature. Like it’s home.

He sets the plate down in front of you with practiced ease, though his hands still shake when he pulls away.

“Here you go,” he says, his voice steadier than he expected. “Enjoy.”

You look up at him then, your eyes crinkling at the corners as you smile. “Thanks, Wonwoo.”

His name on your lips is both a balm and a wound, and for a moment, he thinks he might shatter under the weight of it. But he nods, retreating to the counter where he can watch from a safe distance, where he can fall apart in silence.

You don’t notice the ring at first. You’re too busy teasing Minghao about stealing a bite before you’ve even had a chance to dig in. But then, your fork clinks against something, and you pause, your brows knitting together in confusion.

“What’s this?” you murmur, carefully pulling the ring free from its hiding place.

Minghao is already on his feet, rounding the table to kneel beside you. The café seems to hold its breath as he takes your hand, his eyes shining with a mix of nerves and affection.

Wonwoo looks away.

He doesn’t need to see it. The proposal. The way your face lights up as realization dawns. The way Minghao’s words tumble out in a rush, practiced yet trembling with sincerity. He doesn’t need to watch you say yes.

But the sound reaches him anyway. Your gasp, the hitch in your voice, the soft “Oh my God, yes,” that shatters the fragile cocoon he’s wrapped himself in. He doesn’t need to watch as you throw your arms around Minghao, your laughter spilling over like sunlight breaking through a storm.

Wonwoo keeps his eyes fixed on the counter, his hands clutching at the edge like it’s the only thing tethering him to the ground. He busies himself with wiping a nonexistent stain, scrubbing at the surface with the ferocity of someone trying to erase something far more permanent.

The café erupts into applause, a ripple of congratulations that echoes around him. He forces himself to glance up, just once, because some part of him craves the closure, even as it twists the knife deeper.

There you are, in Minghao’s arms, your face pressed against his shoulder as you laugh through your tears. The ring glints on your finger—a promise, a future, a life that will never include him. He looks away again, but it doesn’t help. The image is burned into his mind, an afterimage of something he never truly had but still somehow feels like he’s lost.

Wonwoo wonders if this is how it will always feel. If he’ll spend the rest of his life haunted by the ghost of what could have been. If every slice of tiramisu he plates will carry the faint echo of this moment, of your laughter and Minghao’s smile and the unbearable weight of knowing he helped make it all possible.

He hears you call his name, bright and warm and unknowing, and he turns automatically, his heart betraying him even now. You’re holding up your hand, showing him the ring, and your joy is blinding.

“Wonwoo, can you believe it?!” you exclaim, your voice ringing with the kind of happiness that should be infectious, but only makes his chest ache.

His smile is reflexive, a practiced thing, and it feels like it might crack under the pressure. “Congratulations,” he says, the word catching slightly in his throat. “I’m really happy for you.”

You beam at him, and he thinks, not for the first time, how cruel it is to love someone who has no idea they’re breaking you - your smile is everything he ever wanted but could never have.

Later, when the café is empty and the lights are dimmed, Wonwoo sits at one of the corner tables, staring at the spot where you and Minghao had sat. He imagines you there, still laughing, still radiant.

And for a moment, he thinks he sees it in the reflection of the glass—the ghost of a love he never had, far off in the distance. It glows brightly, just out of reach, always just beyond his fingertips. And he, the fool, has spent what feels like his whole life chasing it, pretending he could make it his.

The tiramisu was perfect. The moment was perfect. Everything unfolded exactly as it should have.

And yet, Wonwoo sits there, alone, with the unbearable weight of knowing that some dreams were never meant to be more than that—dreams.

The café feels colder now, emptier somehow, and for the first time, he wonders if he’ll ever be able to find warmth here again. He feels the truth settle over him like the weight of an old, forgotten grief:

You were never meant to be his.

Not really.

Not ever.

[scholarinbookland]

Musings Inspired By Jimin’s Imminent Discharge

(Another rambling, late-night, pain-induced insomnia based post inspired by listening through Jimin’s discography. Probably won’t be enjoyable for those who follow me for posts like my ridiculously over-the-top Jimin acting analysis thinkpieces. Semi-personal.)

When I first started listening to Jimin roughly six months ago, it was at the start of one of the worst medical episodes I’ve had since 2019, when I was in the process of getting my first autoimmune disorder diagnosis while studying far away from home. This time I was lucky enough to be attending college online and living at home to save money when I began this chronic illness flare, instead of ending up in the hospital dozens of times over six months while the doctors tried to figure out what was making me so sick like last time. I even had a minor heart attack at the age of 19 due to my untreated illness back then. But every time this happens to me (doctors suspect new autoimmune illness this time, still in diagnosis stage), I get really into music.

My main hobbies when I’m well are reading fiction and nonfiction, crafting, dancing/watching dance videos, video games, and music, roughly in that order. But when I’m sick, I can’t focus on new books or on video games, my coordination and concentration isn’t good enough for crafting, and all that’s left is music and watching dance.

When I’m in the mood, there’s nothing more fun to me than searching up a random genre on Spotify and exploring new music, even if the overall genre is mainly outside of my taste (looking at you, modern country music). I can usually find at least one song I like in every genre I check, it just sometimes takes a while. If I’m feeling especially daring, I check out the Global Top 50 playlist, which is where I found Jimin.

All the Jimin fans who might decide to read this know what it feels like when an artist’s music moves you. “Who” didn’t end up being my absolute favorite Jimin song (I can’t pick a favorite sonically, but emotionally I resonated with Face-Off the most), but even in the relatively standard pop track that “Who” is on its face, he uses his beautiful voice to add emotion and texture to the song in a way that made me pause, favorite the song, and then check him out on YouTube. His utter mastery of dance in the MV clinched it for me, and I devoured his solo content with real enjoyment despite being ridiculously ill for the last six months with diagnosis and treatment still being at least a month away (outpatient treatment is slow with US specialists).

I’ve mentioned before that I tried to get into the solo work of the rest of the group, because I always want more music, but even when I enjoyed a track here or there, nothing resonated with me like how FACE and MUSE feel like a continuous, cohesive, sonically pleasing story. Their music isn’t for me, and that’s okay. I wish them all the best in finding their audience as soloists and am happy for those who enjoy their music, but it’s just Jimin and roughly half of BTS’s music for me. So I didn’t end up vibing with the overall BTS fan experience from the start because it would feel disingenuous to try and discuss their music in those fan spaces. That’s why I’m chronically on Tumblr in Jimin-focused spaces right now, liking posts, reading varying opinions, and just in general keeping up with voting and updates to what’s going on in other platforms. But I haven’t posted recently because I don’t feel qualified to comment on a lot of the discourse.

I’m big on not allowing myself to speak for an artist, to a ridiculous extreme. I’ll speculate about the meaning of a piece of art, or the interpretation of this or that interview, but everything is intended to be speculation or opinion, not trying to talk as if I know them. It’s especially hard when you’re trying to figure out an artist as politely diplomatic and ambiguous about his art as Jimin, without over-interpreting or putting words in his mouth. I especially don’t feel comfortable commenting on how he relates to the rest of BTS, the company employees, or anything of the sort, because I don’t have the data that longer fans have and quite frankly I feel everyone, famous or not, modifies their behavior with a camera present enough that I’m too autistic to read into things. I also have no idea what he plans to do once he’s free from mandatory military service, but I can hardly wait to find out.

So I can hope for more This is Jimin videos, or Jimin eventually creating his third album and touring solo like the others have, or him getting more writing credits in BTS albums, but more than anything, what I hope for him is happiness and career longevity.

Two of my favorite artists, Freddie Mercury and Sinead O’Connor, died fairly young (45 and 56, respectively) and suffered quite a bit in their lives. I don’t care if Jimin never becomes a universal household name, breaks more records, or anything of the sort, as much as I’d love to see it. As long as he’s enjoying his career as an artist and performer and isn’t being limited by his company, I’ll be content.

(Any followers who like BSH, once again, this is not the blog for you. I am not a fan of him both as a person and a businessman, and I don’t believe he has the best interests of the group in general and Jimin in particular at heart.)

There’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing someone doing something they love and excelling at it, and that’s what I see in countless Jimin performances and concert fancams. To see someone who planned out their dream in middle school and achieved it through hard work, natural talent, innate charisma, a determination to overcome setbacks and opposition, and a genuinely kind and magnetic personality is really a rare occurrence. I’m really excited to see how his career develops now that military service is no longer looming on the horizon, and hope that his wish in MiniMoniMusic, to come out of service less easily swayed, has been realized. I strongly suspect that it has, because virtually everything that Jimin resolves to do, he achieves. (Note: I’m not putting this man on a pedestal- I’m well aware that he isn’t perfect, has made mistakes and will make them again. I’m just aware that he’s way more stubborn than he lets on.)

For me personally, I am making a conscious choice to not let myself devolve into pessimism, even in the utter trash fire of a world we live in right now. Art, music and literature in particular, may currently be going through some growing pains due to the looming threats of AI and TikTok micro trends, but dedicated artists, especially financially secure ones like Jimin, stay the course in telling their own story. Even though Jimin’s company have abandoned being artists for healing, I feel confident enough based on his choices outside group activity and his current artistic output that the next album will be just as intentional, symbolism-laden, cohesive narratively, and surprising as the first two, no matter how long it takes for it to come out. I’m sure the countless projects celebrating his release have made it even more apparent to him that we, his fans, are here to stay and see what he does next. Some people can’t help but make an impact, and call me biased, but I’m convinced Jimin’s barely started, despite his massive success thus far.

[chained-to-the-mirror]

Sanna’s MARCH READS

The time has come to list the books I read this month. Putting this under a cut so you can skip my ramblings if you wish 😉

I started the month reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I had never read this one! As a pirate fan, it was high time… I really enjoyed the boy’s own adventure vibe. I read this in Finnish because that’s what my local library had on offer, but I’m thinking of finding a nice English edition to add to my bookshelf.

Next up was one of the stars of the month: We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Mind blown! I read the whole book in an evening - I just couldn’t put it down. I fell in love with Merricat big time. Read this one in Finnish as well, but have since ordered this, and two other Jackson books, in English. Can’t wait to read them all! Instantly in my favourite authors hall of fame.

Then, something historical… Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar. I had seen this book referenced here on Tumblr before, and when dearest @honeybeelullaby recommended it to me, I of course had to read it. This was early in the month, and I wish I had made notes on my experience, but I remember it was a pleasant one. I know next to nothing about the history of Rome, so the setting is very unfamiliar to me, but I was still having a great time. Read this in Finnish too, but I don’t think it matters much, since I would have no skill to read the original anyway.

Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking was the first non-fiction book of the month - I had thought about reading this for a while, and then I saw it sold on Vinted for cheap. I had to order it, and I’m glad I did! I was slow to get drawn in, because the beginning of the book focusses a lot on the business side of things, and how introversion relates to work life. As a person on disability, whose years in the workforce are long behind, I couldn’t really get into it. But I pressed on, and when the author started to delve in childhood, genetics, and the like… I was hooked. Reading this was a very validating experience, and I also love that it ended on a hopeful note. You can make a life for yourself as an introvert in a world designed for extroverts. Who knew?

After Quiet, it was time for crime! I picked up Agatha Christie’s Endless Night, again based on recommendation. I was an avid Christie reader as a pre-teen/early teen, but I have forgotten most of the books so it’s going to be interesting to re-read them now. That said, I really don’t remember ever reading this one before. The all familiar feeling is this: I know starting out, that the least likely person that I don’t think to suspect is probably guilty. I then proceed to doubt everyone but the actual murderer. A bit frustrated with myself to be honest! Can’t wait to re-read and see how every clue was there but I missed them… Anyway, this is now one of my all time favourite Agatha books - I pretty much read this within 24 hours as well. Again, it was in Finnish, but I really want to buy the original as soon as possible.

Then a classic from an author I had never read before: Emma by Jane Austen. (This was also in Finnish because that’s what my library had.)  I’ll be honest, romance novels are probably my least favoured genre. I don’t feel drawn to them, I don’t read them, I am actually quite bored by the concept. Might have something to do with me being aromantic, I don’t know? However, I was entertained by the writing style, and the characters - and when the conclusion of the story arrived, I felt like I saw the appeal clearly. A lesson in not judging anything at a superficial glance! Not people, not books. I might not be reading every Austen book obsessively, but will definitely try to pick one up every now and then. Without question, a genius author!

I also started a book club with dearest @honeybeelullaby this month - our first book was A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf. I had not read it before, though I had read some other books from her that I really loved. This one was a real boost of serotonin, and I was enamoured by her style of writing… I felt like my best friend was talking to me. Similar feeling as the one I get from reading Vonnegut, though in a different way. This book should be read by everyone, certainly every woman. It filled me with rage at times, but more than anything a great hopefulness over how far we have come - even if there is still so far to go.

Next was more non-fiction - What We Don’t Talk about When We Talk about Fat by Aubrey Gordon. Wow, this one was a hard read. It angered me to no end on many occasions. The writer is classified as extremely obese by the BMI criteria, so she knows what she’s talking about. The book describes in detail how it is to live in the world as a person who literally doesn’t fit. I have not had the BMI the writer has, but I have been there around 40 or so at highest (and 15ish at the lowest but that’s beside the point)… so I could definitely relate to a lot of what she was saying. The opening scene about her experience on a flight nearly made me weep. Why is the world this way?! No thin person who has always been thin will never understand how it is to be fat - unless they read books like this one and if they are sensible and empathetic, maybe then they will see. I recommend this to everyone! It’s not a long book and reads quickly. Read it and come rage with me!

Then another rec! I’m calling this one non-fiction because really, it is factual. A Night to Remember by Walter Lord is a novel-like retelling of how exactly the Titanic went down. To me, this was an eye-opening reading experience. I think now I really understand why people still, after all these years, get obsessed with the tragedy to the extent that they do. It’s all hubris and death of the old world, and it’s frustrating. We were talking this over with @honeybeelullaby (sorry for tagging you no less than three times in this post!) and agreed that this event started the 20th century for real - same as 9/11 started the 21st. I can’t even imagine how it was to be around when Titanic sank. How it must have felt. The lifeboat situation will haunt me forever, I think.

Yet more non-fiction next: Fat Is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach. (Can you tell I’m maybe working through some stuff?) This is a true classic which I discovered last month when reading an essay collection about body size - it was credited as source material in many of the essays. There are things that are dated now (the original book is from 1978) but the core message still stands, especially for women who were born in the 80s or before (a lot before as well). To be honest, I nearly stopped reading at the beginning when one of the book’s core themes, if not THE core theme, was revealed. It just didn’t sit right with me without context. But I’m really glad I stuck around for the context, because now I agree that it makes sense. The book revolves around compulsive eating, which is a thing I’m very familiar with, so to me personally it was useful. I think I’m maybe not quite ready to ask myself some of the hard questions that the book brings up, but when I feel ready, there are many visualisation excercises in it that I can use.   

Then we come to the last book of the month. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey is an autobiographical work detailing the positives and negatives of opium use, written by a heavy user. It’s from 1821 and I guess one of the first in this type of drug literature? The writing style enchanted me completely, and I wish the book had been longer. It’s both lyrical and straightforward at the same time. Madness, the autobiographical book about bipolar disorder I read last month, comes to mind (and perhaps even more so Wasted, from the same author). There is no glorification, but also no villainization - the facts are presented as they are, and no excuses are made. It’s exactly the kind of style I love. 

______________

So, a lot was read and a lot was thought about, more than is described here. I really should start taking notes during and after I read books. As it is now, the notes would be the conversations I have had with my patient friends who had to listen to a LOT of body image talk in particular. I’m very grateful for you all.

Anyway. On we go to the April Reads! We’ll see what will happen in the next compilation post. Thank you for reading!

[duckprintspress]

How We Plan, Implement, and Publish Anthologies: A Step-by-Step Guide

On Saturday, Duck Prints Press hosted a Patreon panel in which I and two other members of the press with experience serving as lead editor on projects discussed how we go about doing that (Max Jason Peterson and Alex Bauer). To prepare for my role in the panel, I wrote a long, looooong document on roughly the steps I follow in roughly the order I do them for all the Press’s anthology projects. The other folks in the panel each had different sets of experiences and different procedures they’ve followed, so if you’re curious what the others do, I highly recommend watching the panel – the recording is available to all our backers at the $7/month, $10/month, and $25/month levels, as are all our old panel recordings, and for this panel, well, Max, Alex, and I were having so much fun talking about lead editing that we went almost 30 minutes over-length. I’d like to think folks who watch it stand to learn a lot about running anthologies (as I have done), lead-editing an association journal (as Max has done), and/or coordinating fanzines (as Alex has done). Max has also written a blog post about his approach, and I expect to post that for y’all once it’s been edited.

For the types of anthologies I coordinate for Duck Prints Press, the actual editing stage is only one part of planning and implementing projects that typically take us a bit over a year to take from “glimmer of an idea” to “completed book in our hands.” What follows in this blog post are the steps I go through – though some, I did the first time and haven’t done, or haven’t done as much, since, because I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. If you’re looking to run a project, you may not need to do them all, and it may make more sense for some projects to do these steps in a different order or skip some entirely. This guide is focused on how we do our story-only anthologies, though for projects that include art like our Queer Fanworks Inspired By… series, it’s fairly similar, just add “and art” and “and artists” to almost every place we talk about just stories or authors.

One thing that was very clear during our panel conversation is that finding a set of steps that worked for us each as individual creators was really important to our success, so look at what follows more as one way to handle project coordination, not as any suggestion that my approach is any way superior to any other approach. It’s just…how I do it, it’s worked for me and been refined to meet my personal and my press’s needs across dozen anthologies we’ve completed or have in progress.

(read more - this post is so long)

Project Concept. Figure out the core concept for the anthology. For DPP, this generally means picking two to three key “every story must” concepts, in addition to “queer,” which is a given. So we might pick a genre (such as we did in Aether Beyond the Binary – stories must be in the aetherpunk genre) or a setting (such as magical coffee shops for Add Magic to Taste) or a type of relationship (such as the mlm/wlw themes for the Masquerade anthologies) or a vibe (such as fluff for Add Magic to Taste) or a “characters must be this” (such as monsters for Monsterotica). We usually pick no more than 5 “must includes” – combined, they have to result in a overarching concept narrow enough that readers will know what kinds of stories to expect and broad enough to still allow for variety. When we do five, one is always queer and another is always happy ending.

Market Research. At this stage, I do market research to see what other people are doing similar to the concept we’ve come up with. If the proposed project is too similar to others that exist, it could cause drama, reduce sales, or it might demonstrate viability (because similar projects have done well!). There are many approaches to doing this research and which makes most sense will depend on the nature of the project – for example, for a fandom zine, dig into the fandom and see what other zines are in the works, such as by searching for “fandom name” + “zine” in your preferred search engine. For a fiction project, try searching popular book retailers, past Kickstarter projects, or joining groups on Facebook, Discord, or other platforms and seeing what people there are involved in. Some questions to consider while doing this research:

Are there any books with similar concepts?

How parallel is this idea to what other people are doing?

Is this different enough to be distinct?

Will this step on toes?

Do similar projects appear to have been successful?

How long ago were similar projects completed?

If there are no similar projects, are there any indications as to why not (such as attempts being made and failing due to lack of interest)?

Scope. Having picked a concept and assessed its viability, it’s time to figure out the nuts and bolts of what the book will contain and who you’re looking to recruit to contribute to it. I generally do scope AFTER concept because the answers to some of the following questions will depend on what kinds of stories we’re looking for, and also on the results of market research into projects with similar concepts. Some questions to consider at this stage are:

How many stories will be in the anthology?

How long will the stories be?

How long will that result in the book being, and roughly how much will that cost to print?

How much will authors be paid?

How much money do we expect to be able to raise?

How many copies do we think we’ll be able to sell?

Will there be non-stories such as art or graphics or maps? If so, where will those come from and who is making them?

Budget. At least a basic budget is necessary to figure out the scope, as the questions just above should make clear. It’s not enough to say “it’ll cost this much,” “we’ll pay that much,” there needs to be a baseline idea of how similar projects have performed and a realistic guess of earning potential. It’s often necessary to go back to revise step 3, “Scope,” based on the results of figuring out a budget. Some of these questions, you may have answered in the first round of market research, but if not, go back and do more market research. You don’t need to have all the answers yet, but having a vague idea of them is essential to creating a realistic project that can actually be accomplished. To help answer some of the questions proposed in Scope, consider:

How have similar projects performed?

How much did they cost to make?

How much did they charge buyers?

What vendors do this kind of work, and how much do they cost, and do they have good reviews?

Feasibility. Having done all the above research and planning, establish the feasibility of the propose project aligned with all the above, then greenlight the project. Plans may need to be scaled down, or it may be discovered one has been too conservative and ideas can be scaled up.

Timeline. At this point, making the project go forward means having an idea of how long you intend to work on each step of the process – both an internal timeline (for production and such) and an external one (for contributors to consider). How to structure a timeline will depend on how you are structuring your project, of course. Because timelines for any individual project are so long, we generally have four or more projects at some stage of this process at all times (for example, right now, we are in the Planning stage for our next Queer Fanworks Inspired By project, in the Submission Review period for Monsterotica, in the Editing Period for Scholarly Pursuits, and in the Production stage for A Truth Universally Acknowledged: Queer Fanworks Inspired by Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” Duck Prints Press projects use a model in which we recruit contributors to write stories after they are selected, this is what we’re currently doing:

Planning: one to three months, usually done in the background in bits and pieces while working on other projects. This includes all the above steps and many steps that follow, such as drafting the rules. All the steps after this, I’ll be getting into more below.

Recruitment: up to a month, including time for pre-announcements before submissions actually open.

Submission Review: roughly a month, though when we get a lot of applications, we may need longer. This includes several days set aside for anonymizing entries and preparing review materials.

Writing Period: two months.

Editing Period: six months. During this time, we also plan the entire rest of the book and campaign – cover art, interior appearance, accompanying merchandise, etc., are all prepared while we’re editing.

Crowdfunding: around one month, including pre-announcements, cover reveals, etc.

Production: around three months, including the time it takes funding to clear, the book and all merchandise to be finalized, orders to be placed, proofs to be reviewed, manufacturing to be done, etc. During this period, we also do preparation on received merchandise, such as putting pins on backers and individually packaging small merchandise for distribution.

Campaign Fulfillment: one week.

Publication: this doesn’t take more than a few days, but we generally take a few weeks off intentionally; we aim to publish our crowdfunded books roughly six weeks after campaign fulfillment, so that campaign backers get their rewards first and have some time with them before the books are available to the general public and any extra merchandise is offered for sale.

Total: sixteen to twenty months from “okay, let’s plan an anthology” to “okay, put that book in the books.”

Title. We always aim to have a title before going public with a project, as a solid title is part of the hook. While it’s not absolutely necessary, having a title gives a project a certain degree of reality and credibility. It’s hard to convince stakeholders (potential contributors, customers, advertisers, collaborators, etc.) that the person/people putting the project together have really thought things through if the planners can’t even say “I’m working on a project and it’s called This.”

Create Recruitment Guidelines. There are a lot of considerations when figuring out who is contributing to the project, and final decisions will depend on variables such as whether the project is a fan-project or original works, who the target audience is, what contacts the planners have and networking the intend to do, and more. For example, if someone who already is embedded in author communities is planning an anthology, they may be looking at recruiting a handful of high-profile anchor authors from among their known circle of acquaintances and friends-of-friends, or the planner may have enough name recognition to reach out to fellow authors they don’t know and say, “I’m doing this, are you interested?” On the other hand, a fandom project will look toward who is involved in the fandom, and a project planned by relatively unknown people will likely only be able to pull other relatively unknown people to be the creators (though you never know!). Some questions to consider at this stage:

Who will be the creators for the project?

How will they be recruited?

If the project takes applications, how will the final contributor list be selected from among applicants?

If you’re using a rubric like DPP is, you’ll need the rubric written, including leaving enough time for co-runners/other stakeholders to offer feedback to conclude with a tool that everyone can agree on.

Prepare Recruitment Materials. Getting the word out requires at least one catchy graphic and (obviously) you’ll need rules, rules, rules. Check out the rules and guidelines for other similar projects, they’re often a great place to start. Calls for submissions for zine projects, indie publishers, even big presses, can often be found with simple web searches. You’ll also need to figure out where you’re posting these rules – social media? a wiki? a project web page? – and how you’re disseminating these materials, and how you’ll be accepting applications.

Deciding on a recruiting approach may require making new social media accounts, creating a webpage and/or wiki, doing preliminary audience building, researching how certain groups of writers usually find out about projects, outreaching to contacts, recruiting “anchor” creators, etc. There is absolutely no “if you build it, they will come” philosophy applicable to collaborative projects. While sometimes it’s possible to get a leg-up by working in a known fandom or recruiting popular anchor creators, there’s never a guarantee, and having some online presence established before hand will be necessary for most any project. Even a project that’s locally based – for example, “poetry anthology of local poets I recruit with help from the library” – can benefit from an online presence, as it helps establish credibility and gives people a place to get more information.

A strong set of rules should include:

What applicants the project will continue.

What the applicants must submit.

What rules the applicants must follow, and what will happen if they don’t follow them.

What applicants should expect from the post-acceptance process.

How much and how selected contributors will be paid.

Contracts and rights transparency for contributor’s submitted pieces.

Relevant scheduling and deadlines.

How to apply.

Detailed, clear information on what types of stories/art/etc. the project is seeking.

When and from where applicants should expect follow-up communication, and which communication methods they must have access to/must check regularly to ensure smooth communication throughout the project.

Transparency on the selection process.

Information about the entity soliciting the applications.

Recruitment. Once everything is set up, open the flood gates!

Be prepared for people to send in questions, and give clear and consistent answers.

Be prepared for people to ask the same questions eight times, and continue to give clear and consistent answers. Don’t let it get under your skin that you’re repeating yourself. It takes a lot of patience to do this kind of work in a way that doesn’t alienate people. Always remember that while you, as the planner, are neck-deep in this so it seems really big and important, for most people it’ll be one of eleventy billion things they are doing, and they will absolutely miss details.

Be sure you know how you’ll handle people who violate the rules or apply even though they aren’t eligible, because things like this will always happen.

Having some form letters and boilerplate pre-prepared can be helpful for handling the flood of communication that usually comes with a recruitment period.

Contributor Selection. Use whatever evaluation method you’ll be using to select contributors. How you’ll be doing this should be decided when you Prepared Recruitment Materials. This is what Duck Prints Press does:

Check eligibility; contact ineligible authors.

Anonymize eligible applications.

Review all applications using a rubric, minimum three reviewers per submission.

Do statistics to standardize results across reviewers.

Add up and average all standardized reviews.

The top rated people are accepted, because math.

Reviewer meeting to make sure there are no red flags or issues that can be identified at this point, and no one amazing who may be getting overlooked.

Identity “almost” people – people who almost made it but didn’t quite hit the cut off – and invite them to the Discord/encourage them to write with the Press on future projects.

Contact all applicants and send them messages as appropriate, whether that’s rejections, acceptances, conditional invitations, etc.

There are lots of other ways to handle, of course, not just how we do it. Many publishers have dedicated slush readers, for example. Whether selection involves getting full-story submissions, reading similar work the prospective contributors have done, reviewing art portfolios, etc., many variables will influence which selection process makes most sense. Some projects even accept all eligible applicants automatically!

Some venues will offer personalized feedback to accepted and/or non-accepted creators. Doing so is very time-consuming, so try to be realistic in what you’ll have time to do, and also understand that sending people (some of whom may be your friends) negative feedback on their work is really challenging and that some percentage of people will take it badly no matter how kind and gentle you are. Definitely weigh all that while considering who, and how often, to send personalized information.

Contracts. Every single person you work on a for-profit project with (even a for-profit zine) should have a contract. Make sure you use a good one – the sample contracts at SFWA are a good place to start – and make sure creators have time to review them, ask questions, and amend them. Make sure terms are clear and fair. Make sure that creators are working in ways legal for you to hire them (by which I mostly mean that you are working within the bounds of what legally counts as contract work/that contributors count as contractors – link is to US rules, this will vary by country), and that you have the fiscal framework – the necessary accounts and such – to transfer them the money. Pay attention to what countries they’re in, as this may impact hireability. Ideally, get a lawyer and a CPA involved.

Put Together the Anthology. With all the pre-production steps completed, you’re now finally at the fun part – actually putting together a book! Now, because Duck Prints Press doesn’t just accept stories, we diverge from a lot of other places at this stage. For the majority of anthology folks, this is the step where they take completed stories, edit them, and make them into an anthology, wham bam thank you ma’am. For us, this is the stage where the bulk of the work begins. Here’s what we do:

Writing Period. As we accept pitches/story concepts, once creators are accepted, they need to Make The Thing. During this period, which lasts two months as we currently handle scheduling, we have one mid-way check-in and one final check-in. We look over the mid-way check-ins to make sure nothing has gone radically off the rails (it rarely has) and the final check-in is when we ask contributors to submit their stories to the best of their ability. Because DPP deliberately is structured to accommodate people who may, for any number of reasons, have challenges meeting deadlines (family concerns, ADHD, unpredictable physical disabilities, etc., etc.), we don’t necessarily penalize people for missing these deadlines, as long as communication is maintained.

Editing Period. Once the final check-ins are submitted, we enter into an extended six-month editing period. Because we can’t possibly edit everything we receive at once, this long period means that creators who need more time have it, and we can get started immediately on the stories that are ready for review. For each of our anthologies, we have a team of editors we’ve recruited in the past from among previous contributors (how we do that is a topic for a whole other blog post), and that team divides the work and then, when each story is ready, they get passed to the lead editor (that’d be me) for the final review. Our editing steps are:

Concept Editing: review the work for issues at the paragraph-or-higher level. We do no sentence-level or spelling/punctuation/grammar (SPAG) edits at this stage, we only look for conceptual issues that’ll require rewriting of part of the story to fix. Roughly half the stories submitted to us do not need concept editing, and most of the rest don’t require much.

SPAG Editing: once the story is clear, conceptually, and contains everything it needs to effectively tell the author’s envisioned story, we get nuts-and-bolts on line edits. We may need several rounds of SPAG editing to get the manuscript fully polished and gleaming.

Final Editing: the story is passed to the lead editor (always me, so far) for final review.

Art Projects. When we include art, the process is a bit different. Artists usually need less time to complete their work, and because art has far fewer rules than fiction, we do not edit artworks for “content.” We do, however, do a review process to make sure that we think the colors will print true and that all technical specifications for printing are being met, such as size, bleed, etc.

Determine the Book’s Technical Specifications: To proceed with putting the book together, you’ll need to know it’s technical specifications. Some of this should have been considered during the earlier budgeting phase, but now that the actual anthology is taking shape with actual stories, it’s time to make the final decisions and stick with them. Some questions to consider at this point:

Will the book be printed?

What e-book formats will the book be produced in?

For printed books:

What size will the book be?

Will it be printed in color?

What kinds of paper will you be using?

Will the book have special features?

Softcover or hard cover?

This is a good step to start considering which printer you want to use and to get samples. What features the book will have has to go hand-in-hand in picking a printer: you need to know what features you want and then find a printer that provides them, and then you need to consider your printer options and get samples to pick which best suits your needs. For what it’s worth, Duck Prints Press currently uses Booklogix to print our books, and we do print-on-demand through draft2digital (which is Ingram distribution with a different hat). We make our own e-books, and distribute them with Ingram.

Cover Art. When basic technical specifications for the physical book or e-book have been established, it’s time to pick art. For e-book-only projects, following the guidelines given in something like the Smashwords Style Guide is a solid approach, as those are fairly universal. For a physical book, this is also when to decide what style of cover one wants, if there’ll be an artist hired, if the art is wrap around, how any text on the cover will be presented, etc. Don’t use genAI. It makes you look like a hack.

Merchandise. Obviously, many projects won’t be accompanied merchandise, but if you intend to make any merch, now is a good time to sort that out. Decide what, if any, non-book stuff you’ll be making, figure out what art is going on that stuff, and work out the cost and logistics of making it. Our full process for merch is really outside the scope of this blog post, but as a few references that might be helpful to folks, here are the vendors I’m currently using/have used and would use again if appropriate to the project:

Alchemy: we do all our enamel-ware with Alchemy. We’ve also done woven patches and custom fans.

AnyPromo and 4Imprint: both sources for more “general” merch, the sort you’d expect at, I don’t know, a corporate retreat – logoed shirts and water bottles and pens and the like. I’ve done a couple products with each.

Bookplate Ink: custom bookplates

EmpowerFantasy Plush: custom plushies!

Maryland China: did lovely custom-imprinted teaware for one of our projects.

Printkeg: a good source for paper goods, and I’ve also gotten banners from them.

Speculative Wicktion: custom candles! We’ve worked with him twice.

UPrinting: we do most of our paper goods with them, currently including bookmarks, note cards, postcards, and more.

Vistaprint: yet another good source for paper goods, though I’ve personally only used them for business cards.

Vograce: a popular fandom choice for a lot of merch. We’ve done stickers, magnets, acrylic key chains, lanyards, and more with them.

Papermart: not a merch vendor – this is my preferred packaging material vendor at the moment.

Whatever you order and wherever you order it from, make sure you get at least digital proofs and ideally physical ones, and fight for your right to the best they can make. Check reviews before you pick, and get samples if you can!

Typesetting. The cover and the interior of the book will look best if they have coordinate fonts and styles, so as the cover art comes together, it’s also good to considering how the interior of the book will look. If graphics or vectors are needed, make sure that all necessary licenses are appropriate for the project, or hire artists. At this point, you’ll also want to:

Figure out work order. I usually do this randomly and then tweak it a little. Other people do it meticulously. It’s up to you.

Front and back matter. Copyright notice, creator bios, table of contents, index, etc.

Assemble the entire manuscript. Depending on what format(s) are being made, what this will look like will vary – what’s necessary to prepare for print isn’t the same as what’s necessary to prepare for a PDF and neither is the same as what is necessary for an ePub.

Finalize all exterior and interior art.

Finalizing the cover will involve getting the blurb together as well.

Budget Redux. If the budget hasn’t already been updated since the initial tentative budget you made early in the project, this is a good time to do so. That initial tentative budget is now months old and out-of-date and unexpected expenses always come up. I usually maintain sheets with project expenses, actual earnings/sales, and actual expenditures. Keep your vendor list handy, and remember that economies of scale are your friend – ordering more will virtually always mean your per-unit cost is lower – but also remember that anything you have left over, you’ll need to do something with (store, sell, vend, dump (DON’T DUMP), whatever it is, you’ll have to deal with it).

Prepare to Sell the Book. Sales approaches will look very differentldepending on how the book is being sold. A more traditional sales model might mean making a listing for the book on Ingram Spark or draft2digital or a similar platform and opening pre-sales. For Duck Prints Press, selling books usually means crowdfunding. Getting into the nuts and bolts of a crowdfunding campaign is a whole other can of worms and outside the scope of this already over-length blog post, but needless to say, if the lead editor/project organizer is also responsible for the “actually selling the book” part, while wrapping up all the above is the moment to get on that, especially once the cover is complete and ready to be shared. Some places even open pre-orders sooner than that, with a temporary “front cover pending” graphic.

Last Checks. Before the book goes “live” in whatever way that’s happening (privately funded advance print run, print-on-demand, warehousing, whatever), I always take a a day or three before releasing a book into the wild and look over absolutely everything, all the aspects of the typeset, ever word of every single page from the text on the cover to the “About” page and the back blurb, and make sure I haven’t missed anything. I personally tend to think we’re “ready” if the average rate I spot errors at this stage is under 1 error per page. One-per-page would be too much for actually going to print, but those are the ones I’m fixing in the last read-through, and if I’m finding that few, even fewer will slip by my in the end.

Get a Physical Proof of Your Print Book. I know it’s expensive. I know it adds time to fulfillment. I know, I know. But you never know how wrong things can go until you’ve actually seen how wrong they can go. Review the proof carefully and fix anything that needs to be fixed before any books go out to backers/buyers! E-book distributors will often have a version of a proof too; if you’re able to review something before it officially goes to customers, do so. The time to find out that something has gone wrong is BEFORE any customers have it, not when you get a pile of complaints.

Hope like heck that everything is good ’cause that was it, that was the last chance.

Books! You have books! This may mean a shipment of your prints arrives on your, or may mean launch day comes on Ingram Spark or wherever you’re getting distribution from sends it out, or that all your zine pieces are ready to go, or any of a number of other end points depending on the nature of the project, but regardless…

Congratulations, you have a book!!

Pay Absolutely Everyone. When you pay contributors, vendors, artists, editors, and everyone else involved, will depend on how you’re raising money and the terms of your contracts. Regardless, when the moment comes, pay everyone promptly. The lead editor, the person in charge of the project, gets their cut last. For me, that means that across all these projects, I’ve never taken a paycheck (I’m going to take my first this month and I’m very excited even though it’s very little money). I never said this was a lucrative job. If you want piles of cash, don’t publish books. But truly, the most important thing about this kind of work is to be a person of your word, which means making sure customers get exactly what they paid for, and making sure contributors and vendors get exactly what they’re owed. A project that fails at these two key points has failed, so do your best!

Anyway, this is an overview of a huge process and even as an overview this blog post is 5,000 words long. I focused on the planning parts, as a strong, solid, well-thought-out plan is the foundation on which a successful, satisfying project is built.

Drilling down into the actual implementation of any of these steps is a topic for future posts. If there’s an area you want to know more about, drop me an ask!

[blowfliesorangeeyes]

Do you have any litrpg recs?

OH BOY DO I

I will attempt to give little descriptions but I'm not the best at writing so if nothing else I hope the names pique your interest! This post will be more personal opinion than direct plot summary, though if you'd like I can add those too

Noobtown: Humor is a bit high school boy especially in this first one, but it definitely gets some full body cackles outta me. Though this is a comedy series supposedly, it knows how to tug at your heart strings with some genuinely good characters and an interesting break of the system surrounding the book itself. More than anything, this shits Fun. It gets really interesting, Shart the demon is a pathetic mound of anger issues, Jim’s name is the equivalent of a dog’s in this world, all hail Badgalor king of the badgers, fuck the fecking puma forest.

Chaos Seeds: Classic of the genre, though definitely dated and the series degrades with the more recent books. Very nice magic system, one of the better uses I've seen, and the characters are notably very colorful/fun. Good fights and damn graphic, isn't afraid to be gruesome though there is a beating heart of humanity through the series I personally enjoy

Dungeon Crawler Carl (mix of LitRPG and apocalyptic dungeon elements, what it says on the tin): one of the best, and I mean BEST of this genre in my opinion. extraordinarily dark and horrifically funny. This shit will depress you as you giggle at it. But its just so damn good with some really nice underlying as well as overt commentary. More gorgeous character writing though here it's all Carl and the beautiful Princess Dount (his show winning, talking, cat whom deserves the universe in her paws) all the way. Very absurdist humor by the by, if that's your thing

Ascend Online (town builder litrpg): I mainly love this one for something that happens I think at the end of the first book though it might be the second. It sort of flips the magic system against our hero in a wonderfuly monstrous way. This one is Very Big, and honestly a little boring at times. But the game mechanics and magic system are drooling off of the page, begging to be thought about. Our main character is smart and resourceful, as a veteran of video games he capitalizes his knowlage for a satisfying build. If you’re really into game mechanics this shit was MADE for you, it is also just plain interesting. Good ideas and good fight scenes to go around for everyone! And mainly I just consider it a bit boring because I listened to the audiobook and the narrator read off the Entire Status Page ever like chapter which, if you're an avid LitRPG reader, you’ll understand the pain involved in such a thing

He Who Fights With Monsters: Another insanely long book, another absolute banger. While personally I'm not a fan of the series as it progresses, the first one is a full experience all on its own, lightning in a bottle to me. The main character is one of the best I’ve read about, the magic system is deliciously unique, the side characters are memorable as hell, but most of all I adore the worldbuilding in HWFWM SO fucking much. I have like full posts thirsting after it GOD. I could sit here and just talk. This is one of the best on the list to me, right up there with Dungeon Crawler Carl; even better in the side character department

Ritualist (The Completionist Chronicles): This one’s strengths are a surprising mix of absurdist comedy and a somewhat well thought out magic system. The writing is,,, Not The Best especially compared to some others, but it was a fun and very quick read, especially compared to some others on this list. a popcorn turn your brain off read

System Apocalypse (While most LitRPG exist in fantasy worlds, this one is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi vibe): This is another short one. It takes place in Canada and the main character is a ball of severe anger issues and angst, he has a very cool motorcycle and kicks hella ass. It’s great. His companion is top tier as well, there may or may not be a hot space elf prince involved. If you don't like romance you’re still good though because there isn’t any since John is a pussy ass bitch. Sorry, sorry, I'm trying to be fair and balanced. It's good! John is definitely a flawed individual, I think people often miss a lot of the little nuances in his character and write him off as petulant and pissed (to be fair, he is) but to me at least there's a bit more going on. Even if he can be genuinely irritating to read about

And finally, my two favorite series... and guilty pleasures

The Good Guys: A quintessential barbarian. Think of a barbarian character. Boom. There it is. That’s our man Montana Coggshall. this series is my version of embarrassment exposure therapy, Montana is constantly being humiliated and nothing good ever happens to him. But Also, this is not a sad or angsty or dark series at all. Its fun and light and god are the fights amazing. a fantasy romp to its core. Charming and delicious and fun and action packed to the gills.

The Bad Guys: A quintessential rouge. Think of a rogue character. Boom. There it is. That’s our man Clide Hatchett. This series has a style and comedy and charm to i cannot physically understate and there are So Many genuinely clever moments

there are so many characters that fuck around with morality and right/wrong and different view points that make the world feel so lived in

Everything from plumbing to lumberjacks is explored and given loving attention.

Reading it feels like coming home, I honestly don't care that the plot has turned into side quests and atm the side characters haven't gotten enough time in the spot light

The main character and fucking sheer amazing awkward kind conflicted energy of his dialogue, I've developed a connection to Eric ugland's style of writing further than I thought and I can't get enough of this shit. Also every problem Clide Hatchett has is solved with some sort of fucking batshit way I Adore

He's the guy who used a dagger that could travel through liquid to travel through a guys stomach and out the other side. Did I mention how gorey these books are? Because Yeah. I adore Clide Hatchet, my favorite character to ever be written in any place ever. He walks into places he absolutely shouldn't be, gets called elf boy, kicks everybody's ass while simultaneously being the most awkward and uncoordinated mess elvenly possible, then leaves. He is in the palace throne room profusely apologizing to the servants for getting dirt on the floor and beating the shit out of the king, he is at the altar of your wedding punching you in the face and then turning around and tripping on his dress, he is calling himself a hero before robbing a home blind. And also he keeps on shoving acid globs down people's throats and managing to do that while maintaining pure silly little guy energy is genuinely character writing talent. He's perfect. Yes it is very dorky.

Eric Ugland (who wrote both the Good Guys and Bad Guys series) has this way of writing, this STYLE I cannot properly articulate how much I find myself in love with it. though I will warn you I'm definitely bias, since I've been following both of these series almost since conception my perception could be entirely skewed by nostalgia

[that-ari-blogger]

Keep The Stories, Not The Books

For all those who are unhappy with what JK Rowling is doing but don't want to give up your wizard school books, I get it. Trust me, I do.

But she is directly and intentionally hurting a lot of people with that Harry Potter money. Trans people are a part of that, but they are not all of it.

You don't have to burn your old Griffendoor Crocs, or even stop wearing them. But understand that every cent that goes to her goes to causing real damage, and exposure and popularity contribute towards that.

I describe her actions as a "betrayal" for a reason.

So... I have a proposal. A different magic school. Keep that feeling of whimsey, keep the love of stories about friendship and the sense of wonder from a story where almost anything is possible. Keep the story, not the book.

Enter this post, as a kind of recommendations list. I have a few stories that I like for different reasons, and I hope that maybe you will enjoy them as well.

Dazzling will break you, and I mean that with as much love and reverence as I can muster. Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ's grasp on emotionality is unique and resonant in a way I'm not entirely sure how to articulate. Dazzling will break you.

It's also a story by a Nigerian author and set in Nigeria, which makes it a really contrast to the Eurocentric storytelling of mainstream literature. Essentially, it's a cool book and if you grew up reading the Harry Potter books, I guarantee you this will be something both recognisable and completely new.

The Gatekeeper Chronicles are pure vibes. I was surprised at how essential this series and especially the first book was for this post. As in, on paper (heh) it's not that similar to the Harry Potter books, but holy moly does it scratch that itch.

It's urban fantasy with some cool worldbuilding, but it's also paced very peculiarly, and I find that fascinating. To me, one of the draws of Harry Potter was how it felt to read.

Morality and skill are not one and the structure of the Harry Potter books is engineered to keep you reading. The Gatekeeper Chronicles understands that flow of interest and anticipation and movement in a way that I guarantee you will love.

The reason JK Rowling is a bad person is her bigotry, not her writing aptitude. Do not get that twisted. The way to outdo her as a writer isn't to go overboard into flowery language, it's a lot easier. Don't be racist, don't be homophobic, don't be transphobic, DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE ONLINE. It's not hard.

Little Witch Academia is one of the most heartfelt stories out there.

I dont watch enough Anime to comment on how the story fits into its genre or style. I've seen two episodes of Frieren and that's it. I saw LWA for the first time because a friend noticed I was writing this post and made me watch it.

That being said, Little Witch Academia is gorgeous. The art is really nice, the tone is really a sweet, the acting is adorable

This was a story that felt, to me, whimsical and folkloric, in the same way that the first few Harry Potter books felt small scale and fairy tale.

The other stories on this list are emotional or powerful or resonant. I would reccomend LWA as a comfort watch.

Genuinely, find a mug of hot chocolate and a stuffed animal and maybe a few friends to watch this with, and I promise you that it will match the experience of watching the Harry Potter films.

I have to include The Owl House here. It's one of my favourite stories out there, to the point where I am almost finished a series dissecting each episode. It is also a Harry Potter parody and open about that, except for one thing.

The Owl House feels like the obvious choice, but I don't think it makes this list fairly. As far as Wizard School stories go, The Owl House doesn't really have a lot of it. The story is more about the wider world.

In any case, 13/13 would recommend.

Kids On Brooms is the poster child for my final reccomendation, but I could easily have put almost any any TTRPG here. Tell your own story with friends.

Cantrip is awesome and inspired by Little Witch Academia, and DnD5e and Pf2e both have magic school adventures that are really quite good. That's coming from someone who despises Pf2e's adventure paths, so you know it must be good.

Essentially, get some friends together for a one-shot or a campaign set in a wizard school and have fun.

Also, side note, Pf2e has potions that Trans your gender and that are really accessible for low level characters and even commoners and other NPCs. Trans people are built into the mechanics of the system and settings and I think that's cool.

.......

Now, these are stories that those around me love but I didn't get much out of. I think they are worth reccomending, but I don't have much to say beyond that. So, please accept these second hand reccomendations.

Wednesday. A lot of people love this and I know tumblr itself would murder me if I didn't include it.

Wicked. The book not the musical. I love the musical, but my sister insisted I include the book here, so here we are.

My Hero Academia. I know nothing about this series. I have not seen it. But I am told it is very good.

Summoner. The only reason this book series didn't make the main list is that I couldn't convince myself the school was that important to the story. Still worth a read tho.

The School For Good and Evil. This one comes highly reccomended from a plethora of people, even if I did bounce off it pretty quickly.

A Wizard Of Earthsea. Honestly, this was the obvious answer, and The Owl House already had that spot locked down. Really good book though. Yet another property that I discovered through the film and then read the book.

[irregularcollapse]

hi sorry same anon as the previous message!!! i forgot to ask if you have advice on how to improve writing akdhfbskdjdb apologies if this is annoying IM SORRY AJSHDISH

Anon! You need to stop being so sweet pls because I'm already too flattered. I answered your first few questions here and wanted to do this separately because I know I'm going to go on lmao feel free to ignore me (also it's not annoying at all, never ever, don't apologise for asking questions when you are curious about things! Especially when you're asking about something that someone is interested in!)

So: how do we improve our writing? From my perspective, it's a continuous process. Writing is one of those great pursuits where there's no single way to be better/good/successful, and your metric of what it means to "improve" can be entirely personal. By that, I mean improvement depends entirely on what your writing goals are.

My writing goals are about expressing my ideas about things which I see as integral to myself, capturing human experiences which ring true or resonate, and experimenting with genres/subjects. The things which I feel help improve my confidence in executing these goals are:

Reading! Reading anything and everything! Reading out of your comfort zone! Read literary prize winners. Read children's books. Read best sellers. Read indie pubs. Read short stories, and memoir, and poetry. There's no lesson as good as absorption, and reading across demographics, genres, and forms will help you understand your own writing philosophy so much better

Read like a writer. Reading for entertainment is obviously so lovely and fun, but try to coach yourself into the habit of looking closely at the writing as you read: what is the writer trying to do? How are they trying to do it? Are they achieving their intent? Look at how the sentences work together and think about the effect that is having on you as a reader. Is there an identifiable author or character voice? How have they constructed it? What tones are the writer working with, and how are they achieved? If you like what they're doing, why do you like it? And if you don't... why not?

Show people your work, and seek critique. Obviously this should be people you trust, whose knowledge and ability you trust as well. It's nice to have friends read your work and hype you up, but can they be constructive with you? Do you trust their advice? It's also really important that the people who give you critique can give you actionable notes which are focused on what your intent with the piece was, not on their own preferences. It's your choice whether you accept these notes, but remember they're trying to help you!

Show people your work for creative stimulation! This is more about vibing with people on a creative level and talking about what writing can do, your ideas, your writing philosophies, influences/inspirations, etc. Having creative friends to talk about your art with is crucial to feeling challenged and inspired! And they don't have to be writers, either. Bonding and connecting with other people over the process of creation will improve and develop your own process.

Edit with a critical eye. I said in the other reply to you that I do a "rolling edit", which basically means that up until I've "finished" something I'm reading it over and over and over. I'm a huge advocate for reading aloud and listening closely to what the sentences sound like, which I think really helps with the flow of a piece. Keep your aim for the piece in mind, and ask yourself whether everything you've written is contributing to that. If you think that something could be better, highlight it and come back to it later. Lots of highlights and lots of edits isn't a sign of bad writing; it's actually a sign of good writing, because you're thinking consciously about what you're doing.

Study it. Studying writing in a formal capacity is definitely a privilege, but learning about writing isn't out of reach for everyone. There are online workshops, there are video tutorials, there are books, there are in-person workshops! People write blogs! Writers do interviews! Podcasts! Substacks! There are so many avenues for free, accessible education about writing craft—a creative writing degree isn't the only way to learn it. I say this confidently as a person with a creative writing degree.

Practice! Experiment! Imitate! It's a pretty good writing exercise to pick a writer with a distinctive style and write a paragraph trying to emulate that (not to share or publish, to be clear. It's a developmental activity! Imitating other people's styles is a way to learn, but it's pretty fucking rude to claim another writer's style as your own work). Have a go at writing something short in a genre you've never considered before. Play with the same idea in different ways - write the same idea in different genres, or from different POVs. None of this needs to be shared, which is the great thing! But also, you may discover something that feels right to you and that you want to expand into a more developed piece.

This is so fucking long and rambly, but hopefully there's something in here that boosts you, anon. I haven't touched on anything technical because that's a whole other discussion to me, and I've definitely gone on enough. Anyway, thank you for the question! As you can probably tell, I loved it and I'm so appreciative to you for taking an interest <3

[anonithemousse]

The Magnus Archives: Fresh into the story + Season 1 Fan Art snippets

NOTE: For fanart part, skip to "read more" section!

Greetings!

I've been looking for some idea for my very first post after my introduction. I knew I want to use tumblr to ramble about my interests, recent and timeless ones. Well, guess what I got into about a week ago?

So, I've discovered this series only thanks to Youtube's recommendation system, when the fan animatic popped up in my feed. Fan arts and fan animations are one of pillars that keep the stories alive, ey?

And the one below really made really caught my attention, because DAMN, the camera and light work! The comments are praising and commenting the well interpreted characters and scene setting.

Obviously the vibe of horror story is vivid here, so I hesitated to learn more about The Magnus Archives, especially when I discovered it is in form of podcast.

I have nothing against either horror stories or podcasts. The reason is I am sensitive person since forever, so vivid descriptions/visualisations of violence or body horror cause lot of discomfort, similar with classic spooks (sorry, Jon). I got tougher over years, because hey, there's a lot of great stories I want to watch/read and which have violence/gore, especially in genres that I'm most interested of.

In terms of podcasts, I knew it would involve sound effects to increase the immersion, maybe even ASMR type of SFX. I have sensitive hearing and ASMR stuff causes discomfort to me.

But then I got recommendation for another animation of the same author. Sure, a big spoiler, but at the time I highly doubted I would get into the series anyway. Well, you sealed my fate, my friend! I don't even know where to begin with my comment about your storyboard, but I think I will share it under your video, maybe now, or maybe when I'll reach that point in the story.

I dug into some fandom wiki, to learn more about the protagonist, the story setting, etc. From initial readings protagonist is a bit of a nerd and investigates or makes records about paranormal events. Which by the way aren't so secret, hidden from world like wizards in Harry Potter universe, but they're not so common too - they're paranormal, they're mysterious and unexplanatory.

Investigations? Open world? Being a bit nerd about it all? I think that was the moment when I decided to just avoid getting more spoilers and give it a try. The audio used in animatics was in decent quality, surely there were no sounds effects that would cause my discomfort. About gore stuff - you can always skip the nasty details and avoid visualising them in mind, similar to when reading a book.

I've listened to the podcast with unofficial transcript open on side. This is fresh format of storytelling, where the story is told between recordings supposedly recovered from titular Archives - you meet such medium as lore elements in games like Spider-Man or Horizon: Zero Dawn. This is first time (at least for me) to meet this medium as main storytelling tool. And it's used with such immersion!

Voice actor really handles the emotions of protagonists, and even more impressive, reading statements is as living as if given first-hand from statement givers. Jon breaks that wall between now and the past, so you can easily forget you're just listening to second-hand given statement, that you're in regular office and not in the cave or on the haunted cementery. You may even imagine women's statements, that's how natural Jon's in-character narrative is. And yet it's still a part of the TMA lore! Now add occassional SFX, default tape recorder filter, echoes, distant sounds, and you won't even notice when you stand next to the statement giver.

My imagination really cranked up at that moment. I'm really into storytelling and animation and that podcast gives a lot of room for interpretation.

I've came to a conclusion this is a perfect material to experiment with animation. I was looking for audio that would be interpreted and visualized in storyboards or animatics and this podcast is a good opportunity.

For the last week I couldn't think about anything else. I was visualizing scenes from Season 1, sketching and doodling some first character designs and storyboards.

I'm eager to dynamic scenes, action, so my head was especially buzzing with scenes from Season 1 finale (mainly ep. 39, with parts from ep. 38 and 40).

And look, there's already some animation going on! My initial idea is making and releasing scenes one by one, until I polish them and compile into one long sequence. Let's see how far I'll go with that idea!

Next came early character design. I only have Jon so far, but I am already happy with the current results. My thoughts are racing in such moments and drawing on paper lets me picture the character in raw state before refining it in digital drawing.

I won't hide it, ThirdChildFilms' Jon had a huge impact into my vision of Jon. I'm not looking for original character design, but for Jon that will suit best for who we hear in podcast and who I'll present in my storyboards.

I think that's wraps up my fresh experiences when I got into that story. For now I want to progress my storyboards and share something more juicy, as part of next blog, maybe on reddit or my youtube channel. Stay tuned!

[dwimmerlaiks]

hello! good evening! my train was delayed and then I missed my connecting tram and while waiting for the latter I had one of those moments where I felt queasy just because I was so tired. then when I finally arrived at home I had some pistaccios and rosehip tea and went straight to bed. "pistaccios and rosehip tea" sounds so fancy now when in reality it was me standing at the kitchen counter working my way through the first snack I could find and the only thing that would count as a "fun beverage" I had available.

Pistaccios (the roasted, salted kind) are also so nice to snack on because of the haptics. it's like a little project, every single one. gourmet stim tools, maybe.

also, I am nearing the end of my train book (the book I read on the train). I've been reading to kill a mockingbird, I've never read it before. I think for many US-americans it's one of those standard high school reads, yeah? the type you feel some ambivalence towards maybe because you've spent some of your formative years overanalyizing it in a school setting? Or maybe not - I think that's what I heard. It wasn't for me, not being from the US, and the year I went to High School in Maine as an exchange we read Beowulf lol. Oh and!!! Macbeth. I haven't reread either since and don't remember much now. Beowulf was DENSE, for me, tough to read. That year though I was deep in my "russian literature" phase (this sounds ridiculous but to explain I was 17 and tragically in love with my friend, she talked a lot about the books she read.. which naturally became the books I read lol) and that's why I once held a 40 minute presentation about anna karenina in front of my highschool class which I would like to apologize for now to everyone involved. that was probably NOT EASY to have to experience. again, 17, gay, pretentious... my environment had to go through it. but you know, the books I read during that time were a real gift and opened worlds to me. so yay.

Maybe let's take a moment to be thankful to our 17 year old gay pretentious, obsessive selves for opening up worlds, whatever they might have been.

ok weird direction for this post to go in. anyway, trainbooks. I'm glad I read this one (to kill a mockingbird), it offered a lot to me. Next up is handmaid's tale which I also haven't read yet (obviously). am a bit anxious about it.

during summer I read dracula, finally. I'm a little sad I missed the first dracula daily run when everyone was reading it, I'm sure it was fun. but it was fun also to just read it by myself. I've watched and read sooo much vampire media and literature and then to read this finally was... so odd. I kept thinking, wow, actually - this is much more scooby doo in genre. It's like ... much closer to buffy the vampire slayer than like, nosferatu (the new one) lol. anyway that's what stood out to me, just some twenty-somethings forming connections and experiencing life and solving crime!! the vampire bits was just set dressing. (I know that's a simplification but that's the vibe I got and what I enjoyed the most! also why nosferatu (new) was such a let down for me personally. ergh). also van helsing was so. annoying. sorry but can anyone back me up? I started sighing out loud when he started talking hahha. like pleeeease can you hurry up. can you keep it a little shorter. the point, can you get to it!

oh this post is so long now, again. I can't believe I just told van helsing to zip it. I go on and on just like he does!

ok good night! I'm going to doodle and watch youtube and fall asleep.

[theinstagrahame]

It's been a wild few months here at theInstaGrahame HQ, but what never fails to make me happy is the rad games I get from the mail. I'm getting over a cold, so I'mma work on this instead of anything productive I could be doing!

Here's my month of RPG mail calls, and why I'm hyped!

Coriolis: The Last Cyclade: I've been curious about Coriolis' Middle Eastern-themed sci-fi vibes for a while, so I put this on a Secret Santa wishlist; and this is what I got! Excited to dive in.

Curios: Albrecht Manor and Jasper Park: Good Luck Press is one of those game design teams I'll try anything from, and the pitch for this is really unique. It's not an RPG per se, as much as a collection of books, papers, maps, and other materials that point toward a mystery you get to figure out. Playing it is just... looking through stuff.

Salvage Union: I am a big fan of post-apocalyptic media, and a fan of the mecha genre. So, yeah, this was an easy sell. It's built on the Quest system, which I've been meaning to get more into anyway, and it looks like a mech repair manual!

The Zone (which I apparently thought people would just recognize): This game is available for free online, but the box set is gorgeous, and features some designers I love. Trying to set up an online session soon, but I do really want to play it in person.

Deimos Academy: Honestly, I picked it up because of the creative team, but also the pitch is great. I skipped my high school reunion, but if there was a chance to go back and face a monster? I might've thought about going.

Brindlewood Bay + Nephews in Peril: I was originally just going to get the super popular Elderly Detectives Solve Eldritch Crimes RPG, but the title of the expansion/mystery book was just too perfect.

Rebels f the Outlaw Wastes: I've already mentioned I like post-apocalyptica? Well, this took a neat approach to achievements/leveling that I was super intrigued by, and I just dig the fun vibe. The reason I like post-apocalyptic media is that it's hopeful, and this feels moreso than a lot of other stuff.

Skyrealms Almanac and Creatures and Folks: I've been into setting guides this past year. And like, this one is also a coloring book? Hell yeah.

Stoneburner: I've been following the creator on Twitter and elsewhere for a while, so I was curious about this title. But definitely sold when they talked about some of the inspiration being the original Starcraft games.

Forgery: Again, picked it up because I really like Banana Chan's work, but this is a paint-by-numbers solo RPG about forging a demonic painting. So like, yeah. That's rad.

Vast Grimm: Space Cruisers: Vast Grimm is Mork Borg in Space, but I'm also a big fan of ship catalogs, so I really wanted to check this one out.

.Dungeon: Everything Snow makes is beautiful, queer, and nostalgic, so when they mentioned a re-release of .Dungeon was coming, I really wanted to check it out. I have a lot of nostalgia for the

Cloud Empress (everything, including a patch!): I mean, you say Nausicaa and I'm listening. This has some roots in that world, but also does some really interesting things with the Mothership game engine. I'm especially intrigued by the notion of replacing racial traits with age traits, and having a series of pretty mundane jobs as the classes.

Layers of Unreality: The first of this month's Zine Club deliveries! I keep hearing about Liminal Horror, and this particular module I've heard nothing but incredible things about. So I'm really hyped to check out what happens in these backrooms.

Fear the Taste of Blood: My second Zine Club book this month! Kayla Dice is one of those really rad creators who I think deserves more attention than she gets, so I'm really hyped to dive into this take on classic movie monsters.

I also got this from my partner's family's Secret Santa.

Okami is one of those games that sticks with me, and has ever since I first saw images from it, and played it. It's a genuinely beautiful experience, and while it's maybe not a game everyone will like, it's one that I really enjoy, and the art is a big part of that.

It stands out as an example of what you can do with a video game that's nearly impossible with most other art forms, and also a reason that I don't think the Arms Race for More Photorealistic Graphics in video game consoles is worth the effort.

[homesicktadpoles]

WIP INTRO - LUDO

this idea sparked on the 25th of august during the final days of summer like a miracle. my summer was really bad in terms of writing i was frustrated, lost, and heavily demotivated.

anyways, i had so. much. fun. outlining. it started out as eerie vibes, no plot. i remember, in 2022, when I was drafting my first litfic novel titled fly anatomy, i typed this exactly:

next project?

celebrity

busy city

crowd = addiction, crushing

And that stuck, it’s exactly how this idea came to be.

so! the story was taking shape slowly but nicely for four full months. wait five. FIVE? ok time???

even though i have an extensive outline doc, it doesn't reveal the total number of chapters or the exact chain of events, meaning i will write freely and messily and i'm so excited.

okay, enough.

introducing the strangest, most eccentric, straight from the heart story i've ever come up with. it’s everything i’m passionate about, i was, am, will be, wish for, mourn, yearn for, and today, i'll introduce it to you to make certain it gets written, one way or another.

!! DISCLAIMER: this is my own work. please refrain from plagiarism of any sort, it will not be tolerated !!

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genre: literary fiction, novella possibly (?), mystery

pov + tense: first person past tense

status: drafting! i've been brainstorming this book for months, and i decided winter was the perfect time to begin.

setting: 1980s England, particularly Manchester. Edale and Buxton as well. i hold manchester very close to my heart.

aesthetic / feel: cherry seeds sliding down your throat accidentally, a single star in the night sky, feeling like you're being watched, stitches all around the neck, scattered egg shells and yolk, dancing on a tiled rooftop, molecules, animal masks that cover the full head, the sound of a camera click, nausea, black cabs on busy streets, voices overlapping, weirdly shaped metal scissors, running towards a flock of birds so they fly off, rolling green hills

synopsis: In the heart of 1980s England, 25-year-old Ludo, a retired celebrity actor with a troubled past and the second youngest of three brothers, has traded the spotlight for a quieter life as a teacher at a small secondary school. He imagines he's found solace until a bizarre event shatters his routine: a young girl hatches from a human-sized egg in his backyard.

Ludo soon learns of a notorious, elite scientist known as Frankenstein, who leads a secretive cult and aims to exploit the girl's kind for his experiments and discoveries. As the cult begins to close in, Ludo feels an urgent, instinctive responsibility to shield her from them.

While on the run from Frankenstein, the girl awakens in Ludo a sense of hope long buried beneath his cynicism. Through her eyes that have never seen life, never seen earth, he begins to rediscover the real meaning of life, questioning whether it's ever too late to start anew, to rewind, to find purpose.

But can he hide her away for so long? After all, there is always an end to a game of hide-and-seek.

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themes: rebirth in your mid-twenties, loosening up and reconnecting with nature, the realization that you are only human, what it means to leave the past behind and accept that you can’t rewind, what it means to, instead, choose to unwind and relearn.

also: greed, betrayal, misogyny and how someone's true nature only slips through in times of great adversity.

project label: i'll call this project north star.

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characters:

Ludo (narrator):

25

chemistry teacher

trying his best at life

impulsive

loves intensely

reflective and sentimental

has trouble trusting others

very suffocating past

identity crisis

guilt-ridden

he seeks freedom, freedom from the spotlight. he just wants to live simple away from the noise.

Polaris:

the girl who hatched from the egg

curious and lively

likes to take photographs

i'm still learning about her

now, ludo's brothers in MANCHESTER:

Nigel (OLDEST):

31 years old

not married

still not well-developed.

Allister a.k.a Alien (SECOND OLDEST):

28 years old

university student still

charismatic but in reality weak and cowardly, controlling, selfish, emotionally immature, insensitive

i'm sorry he's not the best character ever

doesn't act like one of the older brothers

not married

Eugene (YOUNGEST):

23 years old

married

friendly

follows the crowd to avoid conflict, dependent on others for validation

will do anything to be perceived as innocent and good.

dishonest

can be kind, can't have genuinely ill intentions

Anaïs:

eugene's wife

extremely long frizzy hair

in BUXTON:

Maude:

literature teacher at the same school ludo works at

only staff member close to him

my favorite love story EVER ack

sweetest, most genuine soul. ludo's gotta step up his game or i'll marry her myself

considering involving hollywood actors he's worked with???

oh and back to Manchester:

FRANKENSTEIN ⚡️:

mad scientist freak elite billionaire proud mysterious crazy freak elite proud crazy

yeah and freak

cult leader

psychopath

inspiration is drawn from the concept of mary shelley’s frankenstein of course. the monster, victor frankenstein, and their relationship. i’m really excited about that aspect i came up with some cool horrid stuff!!

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thank you for reading. if you read this post all the way through wow i love you.

i intend to post updates every once in a while with excerpts. i've only just started writing the day before yesterday, so i’ll take it slow as i figure things out. as soon as i feel like i’ve adjusted to the voice and set the mood, hopefully i’ll speed through.

i'm posting this intro so soon to feel held accountable. this draft is a need seriously.

okay goodbye thanks for stopping by! it was a dream to have you here as always.

taglist (for all of my writings | ask to be added or removed): --

with all love and soul,

- tadpollatibule

[diamonddaze01]

beautiful fool [TEASER]

pairing: jeon wonwoo x f!reader | teaser wc: 0.6k genre: angst angst angst | vaguely based on the great gatsby warnings: really really sad (i’m not sorry) a/n: the angst olympics have begun and this one goes out to @gotta-winwin this is only a SLIVER of the pain i will cause u i love u sm // thank u to @ylangelegy and @haologram for beta-ing i love u both muah

the angst olympics are live! check out all the amazing authors <3 join my taglist here

summary: Foolishly, Wonwoo let himself hope.

It’s cruel, Wonwoo thinks, how the sound of your laughter feels like both a blessing and a punishment.

The laughter now—it reminds him of the first time he heard it, ringing out like an unintentional symphony in this same café, on a day when the clouds hung heavy outside and the tables were quiet. You’d burst in with the kind of presence that demanded attention, the bell above the door jangling in your wake as you called out a cheerful, “What’s good here, huh? I need recommendations from the experts!”

You’d strode up to the counter, all wide eyes and crinkled smiles, resting your elbows on the worn wood like you belonged there. And Wonwoo—awkward, reserved Wonwoo—could only blink for a moment too long before fumbling for words.

“Um,” he had managed, his voice barely carrying over the soft jazz playing in the background. “The, uh, the matcha latte is… popular?”

“Popular?” you’d repeated, feigning horror as if he’d personally offended you. “That’s the best you’ve got? Come on, barista guy, sell me on it! Give me the rundown—what’s the vibe? Is it creamy, is it sweet? Am I about to ascend to a higher plane of existence?”

The words tumbled out of you like you couldn’t stop them, every syllable bubbling with life. He’d tried to respond, he really had, but his gaze kept catching on the way your eyes crinkled at the corners when you smiled. How your lips quirked in amusement even as you teased him. How, somehow, your laughter seemed to make the dull, gray afternoon outside feel brighter.

“It’s… creamy,” he’d said lamely, his face warming. “And… uh, it’s sweet, yeah.”

“Sold,” you’d said with a grin that made his chest ache.

When he handed you the drink, your fingers had brushed his for the briefest second. He remembered how you took a sip, sighed dramatically, and declared, “Barista guy, you were right—I might actually ascend. Thank you for this life-changing experience.”

You hadn’t stayed long that day, just enough to finish your drink and leave a tip in the jar, but Wonwoo had found himself replaying the scene over and over in his head that night. He remembered everything—the way you’d wrinkled your nose at the cold weather outside, the exact cadence of your laugh, the way you’d glanced over your shoulder as you left, flashing him one last smile.

He’d learned later, when you became a regular, that this was just you. Full of energy, full of light. But that first meeting stayed with him, a snapshot of you permanently etched into his memory.

The fifth time you came into the café, the heat outside was so stifling that not even the air conditioner could stop the sweat from rolling down Wonwoo’s temples. By then, he’d learned so much about you in the smallest of ways. Your usual drink had changed once—just once—during a brutal heatwave, and you’d swapped it out for an iced Americano, claiming it “felt like a personality betrayal.” He’d learned you liked your pastries warmed, but not too warm, and that you loved to read but always left your books with bent corners, something that made him wince and you laugh.

And he’d learned your name.

That was the first barrier you broke—offering your name with a playful smile as he handed you your drink. “You’ve been calling me ‘matcha latte’ in your head this whole time, haven’t you?” you teased.

He’d stumbled over his words, his ears turning red, and you’d laughed again, your name falling so naturally from your lips it stuck in his mind immediately.

[ettawritesnstudies]

Hi Etta! Sorry if you already mentioned this, but where/how did you find your editors? (If you don't mind sharing)

Don't mind at all!

I know there are companies like Reedsy and the Writers Digest which have databases of editors, but that seemed really overwhelming. At the end of the day, the best way to get resources is to network (make friends, and hope their mutuals like you too).

Last year, I did an interview for Amanda Auler on Instagram and she boosted my account, so months later I ended up doing an interview for Addison Horner. He does editing for indie authors, so I asked him for a sample edit and liked it, but I wanted to get other points of comparison first, so I asked around and came up with a short list of editors. I contacted them, and when I had enough to compare, I ended up deciding I liked Addison best and drew up a contract with him. God moment that I found him so quickly.

But if I had to give this advice to someone else I'd recommend following these steps:

Read books in your genre. Read INDIE AUTHORS in your genre. Review their books. Follow them on social media. Be a friendly fan but don't make it weird.

Indie authors are one person publishing teams desperate for engagement and positive attention. They will thank you for your help and be willing to pay it forward when the time comes.

Once you have a handful of books you like that have similar vibes to your book, flip to the acknowledgements and find the editors name.

Google the editor, find their site, submit your inquiry, email works better than a form.

If you can't find the editor online, DM the indie author and ask "hey I really liked your book and it's a good comp title for my WIP. Who's your editor and what was your experience with them like? Do you mind pointing me their way?" Follow the author's advice. Repeat as needed.

(I've only ever received nice responses to this, don't be anxious. If they don't reply they're probably just busy, not annoyed).

When you contact editors, ask about their availability, rates, and be specific about what type of editing you need. Ask for a free sample edit. Mine were 250-2500 words.

Supply details about your WIP. Mine looked like this:

Title: Runaways

Genre: Middle Grade Portal Fantasy. I'm not labeling it as "Christian Fiction" as religion isn't a focus point of the story, but there are significant underlying Catholic themes.

Premise: When Cecelia goes missing one stormy Halloween night, her older sister, Hannah, must venture into the faerie courts to learn the truth about their past and bring her home. (Linked WIP Page with additional information)

Length: About 86,000 words, 180 pages (Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced, standard 1in margins formatting). 21 chapters with an epilogue

Style: 3rd person limited, present tense. 3 POV characters: primarily Hannah at first, and then Cecelia and the third added later, alternating.

Status/Timeline/Availability: Currently with a 2nd round of beta readers, and I'll be getting feedback by March 31st. After editing the draft to reflect their feedback and doing my own line edits, I'll be looking for a line/copy edit around April/May or early summer.

Types of edits needed: As I understand, every editor uses "line" and "copy" edit slightly differently, but I'm looking for a combination of both styles if possible: checking for internal consistency, logical choreography, adequate descriptions, minor plot or worldbuilding errors, as well as language concerns like cutting crutch words, making sentence structure more dynamic, choosing the right verbs, etc. Developmental editing not needed. Waiting to do proofreading at the moment

When perusing at the editors site, look for credentials/certifications, their backlog of works, and testimonials

If you don't have enough options following this method, join some discord servers! I'm in a local NaNoWriMo group and a Catholic Writers Guild called Inkwells and Anvils which were both useful. I think there might be some writeblr ones as well. Find the critiques channel and send the same information there^^

Compare sample edits. Who respects your voice? Who supplied the most insightful comments? Do you vibe over email? Are they willing to do a stylesheet? Do they like your book? Can you set up a 15 minute zoom call to see if you vibe and discuss details?

Look at prices. My rate is $.015 a word but that's pretty cheap for the industry. Most of the rates I saw publicly were between $.02-.03/word for line editing.

Pray/sleep on it

Once you pick your best option, set a date to send them the manuscript, sign contracts, and make payment.

Send a polite email to the other editors and say "I regret to say you're not quite the right fit for this book, but I appreciate all your time, help, and advice! I hope to work with you in the future" or something along those lines. Don't burn your bridges.

Celebrate!

This whole process took me a couple weeks, everyone was very punctual and professional and friendly. I ended up going with Addison not only because he was the cheapest but also because he made 3X the number of comments as any other writer, and his comments were specific and useful. He understood my characters immediately, I think in part because his writing style is similar to mine, based on his debut novel, Marrow and Soul. We're both Christians who like YA dark fantasy. It's a good match. He's still taking clients for later in the year if that's your vibes. I also worked with Amber Burdett and Sariah Solomon, who were both lovely.

I wish you the best of luck finding an editor who fits your story! I hope this was helpful and not overly long.

[mxtxfanatic]

Why do you think Shen Qingqiu sees himself as selfish and lazy when he is a genuinely kind person ? where does it come from in your opinion, I mean ?

I think this perception comes from a combination of things: fanon, canon, and fandom issues, but I guess I should start by saying that I don’t believe that Shen Qingqiu seriously believes himself to be genuinely selfish and lazy person (also that being selfish and lazy precludes you from being kind).

Canon:

1) Shen Qingqiu has typical millennial self-depreciating humor. Most of what he says about himself is exaggeration and hyperbole. He is not being serious.

2) Shen Yuan acknowledges and accepts that he has inherited the sins of Shen Qingqiu along with his body, so a lot of times he’s also taking into account Shen Qingqiu’s actions as Shen Jiu when talking about his own. He’s considering Shen Qingqiu as a whole, not just from the moment he transmigrated in.

3) Shen Qingqiu never directly brags about himself or his achievements, so the self-depreciation sticks more in the mind of readers. He turned a purely aesthetic created by Shen Jiu into a fearsome weapon. He was accepted into a top civilian school as a teacher as soon as be stepped in, and he taught there for months. He has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the world of PIDW. But because most of these we see through context, it makes it seem like he may not see his achievements as noteworthy, when he simply just.. does not brag. And this makes sense that he doesn’t when you remember that he’s already a revered shizun and sword cultivator. Why does he need to list off his skills and triumphs to anyone just to counter the jokes he makes in his mind?

Fanon:

Shen Qingqiu is not nearly as self-depreciating as fandom makes him out to be. A lot of it is just a direct misunderstanding of Shen Qingqiu’s character stemming from as early as his transmigration, where many readers assume that he is only motivated by “survival” despite Shen Qingqiu accepting the “inevitability” of his death before even laying eyes on Luo Binghe for the first time. This is just one of those situations where fandom has taken a relatively small and casual character trait and turned it into the character’s main personality.

Fandom-wise:

There’s a worrying amount of people in this fandom who seem to miss a lot of queues from story, which I feel like stems from two places that may intersect but aren’t mutually exclusive: 1) people are reading mxtx as their intro to cnovels when every mxtx novel is a critique and takedown of the genre it inhabits. If you don’t even know what’s typical of average Chinese webnovel writing, how are you able to pick up when an author is mocking something or playing around? Speaking on myself, svsss was my first cnovel, and there were a lot of things I either missed or misunderstood until my second reread after spending a year consuming any cnovel I could get my hands on. That added experience changed my understanding of svsss when I finally revisited it.

And 2) a lot of the English-speaking fanbase (which is mostly composed of white people from Western nations) have a worryingly hard time conceptualizing of Chinese people as people and not little robots or meme-machines, and that translates into the inability to see Chinese characters as anything but either illogically literal or callously glib and unfeeling, no nuance or in-between… unless it’s a character they personally vibe with, in which case only that character has nuance and complexity while the others are “boring” and “unnuanced.” I have no sympathy for or solution to these type of readers, but the fact that they tend to dominate book discourse is a massive problem.

[the---hermit]

Hi! I’m looking for books to add to my summer reading list. Do you have any favorite books that you would recommend?

Hello! I haven't got a book rec ask in ages! I am not sure what genres you like most but I'll try to make a list that is a bit varied so you have options!

The first two books that came to mind when I read favourites to recommend are The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (which I am currently rereading because it's that time of the year again) and The Humans by Matt Haig (which is one of the most underrated novels out there imo). You probably know about The Hobbit, if you have never read the book and are intimidated because lotr is intimidating, fear not because The Hobbit is much more approachable, and it's such a comfort book. You follow Bilbo in his adventure and I feel like it's one of the best examples of books that shut your brain off and let you escape reality for a bit. It's at the top of my list of comfort reads. As for The Humans, it's a novel I recommend every chance I have because it's so good and again super comforting. You read the story of this alien who comes down to Earth and had to disguise himself as a human without knowing anything about humans. And as he learns about humans and what it means to be human you get these amazing descriptions of daily things, and again as I mentioned it feels very comforting. It's the book I recommend for all the times in which you feel a bit lost and a bit hopeless. Lastly if you pick absolutely anything written by Neil Gaiman you are safe to have a great time. He is my favourite author and I think you can't go wrong with any of his books, and you have pretty different vibes from which you can choose!

Approaching your question from a slightly different angle, I really like to save long books for the summer. Of course studying it's the season I am less busy and I can fully immerse myself in longer novels. So if you have big books on your tbr pick one of those even if it's intimidating! I fought my personal big book fear a few summers ago and it's just getting better and better with time. If you want some big book recs I have to recommend The Priory OF The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (as well as A Day Of Fallen Night, which is its sequel, and it's probably the best book I have read so far this year). It's an amazing epic fantasy, with incredible worldbuilding, dragons and anything you can imagine. And I also think it's a great starting point if you have never read epic fantasy before, but want to try it! The big bookTM that made me win my fear was It by Staphen KIng, on which I have a lot of opinions that I won't go into right now, but it was one of the best reading experiences of my life. I basically spent two weeks fully immersed in the book, just reading and it was incredible. If instead of big books you prefer to get into a series last summer I read The Poppy War series by RF Kuang and it was a really good fantasy (tho definitely not a light read so if you consider it check trigger warnings and everything), and of course I cannot talk about series without mentioning The Locked Tomb by Tamsyn Muir. I just reread it in the past couple of month and I had such a great time. The less you know about it the better, just strap yourself in for an amazing time and embrace the confusion it puts into your brain. To this day I have not found a book with a better narrator that the one in Gideon The Ninth, I really really recommend reading it.

Hopefully there's at least one title that you find interesting in the list! If you end up reading one of these please let me know if you had a good time! Happy reading!