#infinite dendrogram

[oozeandgoo-art]

[theyre-the-same-picture]

[honestlyvan]

Aight okay I'm starting to feel better, I'm starting to feel good. *thinks about how the duel being a mirror match matches the way Sechs' behaviour only reflects back a limited understanding of Shu -- an understanding entirely founded on his abilities as someone capable of wielding violence -- and how Shu rejects such an one-sided perception of himself, looks into the literal dark mirror of his rival and goes "actually, I know my own nature, and you failed because you forgot that I'm also kind and caring"* I think. I am going. To throw up, actually.

[greatwyrmgold]

For slightly convoluted reasons, I decided to reread the first volume or two of Infinite Dendrogram, which reminded me of something that's been bugging me since the first time I looked up ID fanfic. At time of writing, fanfiction.net and AO3 have 27 Infinite Dendrogram fanfics, including eight crossovers, of which only three are characters from other settings playing Infinite Dendrogram the in-universe VR MMO.

In my opinion, the core appeal of Infinite Dendrogram the light novel is not the characters or story, but the plot. Ray sure is a determined shonen good boy, and I do want him to stop the cartoonishly evil villains from murdering helpless NPC children or start a war of conquest or whatever, but I don't really care about that.

To me, the world of ID (game) is vastly more compelling than anything else in ID (novel). It manages to strike a balance between being a video game that sounds fun to play and having a power system that is actually fun to speculate about.

It's fun to imagine what kind of build you might go for, what kind of Embryo you might get to compliment it, etc etc, in the same way that it's fun to imagine what your Quirk might be or what D&D class you would take IRL. And yet, the ID (novel) fandom as a whole seems less interested in exploring that aspect of ID (game) than shipping Ray with other characters, or sometimes shipping two canon characters that aren't Ray but also aren't very interesting (in my opinion).

I cannot think of a single story about Ray that I would enjoy writing. I have repeatedly fantasized about writing a fic where characters from one or more other stories play ID (game) together; I even wrote a few chapters of one! I do not understand why that sort of thing isn't more common.

Side note: fanfiction.net only has a third of the ID fanfics, but it has almost all of the fics which don't focus on Ray Stalebread. I thought the asymmetry was interesting, but didn't know how to incorporate it into the body of this rant.

[chromegawain]

please read the infinite dendrogram light novels

[bestofmyideas19]

[weirdcoreboy]

SELLING MANGA!!

Hey ya'll! I was going through my closet and I found some volumes that I'd like to sell! They're all in pretty good condition, no yellowing or marks, all of them are unused/lightly used. I'm open to [reasonable] offers! $5 for shipping, and I'll only ship in the US.

Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun, Volumes 11-12 -> $30 for both, $15 each

Splatoon Vol. 1 -> $10

My Hero Academia, Volumes 2-3 -> $24 for both, $12 each

Infinite Dendrogram, Vol. 1 [Light Novel] -> $15

Feel free to DM me for more info or if you'd like to purchase!

Image [If more are needed, feel free to DM me]:

[xuniqo]

"There's no reason to ever regret the choices you make. Making choices is an important part of grabbing hold of the future you desire. Once you make a choice, what comes next is whether you're able to see it or not, grab hold of it or not. The possibility always exists if you have the will to pursue it. The only time there isn't one is when you give up on grabbing hold of the future you desire. As long as you don't give up and keep making choices towards the future you want, the possibility will never disappear, no matter how far beyond the radix point it is."

[armornick]

Infinite Dendrogram: Volume 2

Today, I finished Infinite Dendrogram: Volume 2.

A great second volume. We learn a bit about Ray's backstory and more about the nature of the game. We also get to learn more about the machine nation, as a mech pilot temporarily joins the party. The action scenes in the novel are well-written and even though it's all 'just a game', it almost feels more like an isekai novel.

Next up I'm taking a little break from Infinite Dendrogram, and instead starting a newly released series.

[bitegore]

Re: inexcusable evil perfume - I wonder if you’re one of like ten people on earth that has the exact right body chemistry to make it work. Have you noticed if you like it more or less on your skin vs. on your clothes? Does it age well over the course of the day?

I like it more on my clothes and less on my skin but it's a minisicule difference! It ages a little over the day but I don't notice a huge variation tbh, it gets a little more cold/sterile-scented but not majorly.

I think the actual critical factor is: - If i could smell like rubbing alcohol and concrete dust, i would, and i was disappointed it smelled less like rubbing alcohol and concrete dust as much as just, like, kind of insect-repellent-y cologne. but i would also wear insect repellant before any standard cologne - also i hate the smell of regular cologne

so its probably less that it works on my skin and more that it's appealing to my nonstandard tastes

[outcast-thingz]

The way I wanna start making a list of anime that doesn't have a whole lot of merch, if any and start making sketches for them.

[honestlyvan]

What is dendro and who are your blorbos in it? :o

Infinite Dendrogram is a web novel/light novel series written by Sakon Kaidou that began publishing in 2015 that has a 12 episode anime covering the first five volumes and an ongoing manga adaptation by Kami Imai. It takes place inside a virtual MMO of the same name, filled with fully sapient AI NPCs called "tians", and all player characters, "Masters", are equipped with adaptive AI companions called "Embryos" that range from non-sentient weapons to fully sapient partners that are born from a profound desire their Master has, and evolve to fulfill their wishes, justified as them "adapting" to the Master's preferred play style.

It's bonkers good, has extremely tight power scaling and a well thought-out magic system, intriguing lore and absolutely stacks and stacks of the best girls in shonen. I haven't actually ran the numbers but I feel like the supporting cast is majority female and out of all of them only two could reasonably be considered love interests for the protagonist, the major recurring ones being either his peers or his mentors.

It fucking rules, nonny. I am spoiled by this series. I'm never gonna be able to go back to manga. Dendro has so many well-written, strongly characterised female characters who are nothing like one another and in fact occupy a lot of the archetypes male characters would in other stories.

Anyway! Onto the blorbos! Unmarked spoilers for volumes 1-21 and the entire anime from hereon out!!

Ray Starling & Nemesis

"Protagonist-kun? Really, Van?" Yes, really. Listen. Ray fucking rules. As a Maiden's Master, he is mechanically identified as giving way too much of a shit, and a lot of his personality is shaped by his attempts at harnessing the compassion that is too big for his body to good ends. Ray is very clear-headed about his strengths and weaknesses, and yet he still develops into a suicide bomb of a PC because he just really fucking hates people getting hurt.

He's humble and good-natured, engagingly intelligent without dipping over into annoying smart guy territory, and Kaidou's Girl Respecter streak has rubbed off on him a lot because Ray is chill about having female friends in a way that is startlingly grounded. He's a good ridealong character. He's sweet. He is a good lad.

But also! I did say my blorbo was Ray with Nemesis. And that's because Nemesis helps bring out nuance in Ray and also explain the core idea behind Embryo's so strongly I don't think it makes sense to read Ray without the context Nemesis provides for us. While Ray is chill and humble, Nemesis is exuberant and positively radiates self-esteem. While Ray is passionate and driven by his compassion, Nemesis is calculating and goal-oriented.

All of Ray's features that could be a hindrance to his need to do good, to be good to other people, are cleverly externalised in Nemesis, who is reined in by Ray's mastery but also made charming, relatable and loveable through her. She is gluttonous and hungry for praise, but she is also bold-hearted and principled. She's fearless in battle, but she is also very committed to Ray's safety.

The two of them truly do feel like two halves of a complementary whole, like she is a shard of his soul externalised and given a voice of her own -- many features Ray has that he suppresses or doesn't feel comfortable revealing about himself like his need to do things, be involved and take up space are expressed in her, and then given space to breathe through Nemesis' development as a character. She is herself, but she is also Ray -- and through their love and respect of each other, we understand both of them better.

Shu Starling

We very quickly discover that the reason Ray is so relatively hinged is because all the batshit protagonist perks went to his older brother. Shu is introduced as a chill and deeply unserious dude playing in a bear-shaped mascot suit, explained away by him forgetting to change the presents on his PC and thus it making it look just like him -- a real problem for a guy who IRL is both a former child actor and singer, as well as a known junior league martial artist and a genius level intellect whose career was being followed with bated breath during his university years.

To say that it doesn't come as a surprise that Shu is secretly one of Altar's (his and Ray's starting kindgom's) Big Three -- both a holder of a near-mythical Superior Job and a seventh form Superior Embryo -- would be an understatement. Shu Starling is a slacker genius with the power to punch reality so hard it shatters like glass.

However. Just like how Ray manages to be grounded despite being mechanically identified as giving too much of a shit, Shu is very relaxed for someone set apart by his skills from other people. He's not conceited about his own intelligence, but he's also not overly humble about it, and while he does try to keep a low profile and avoid expectations, he's has his own gentle and caring side too. You'd think a guy with narrative weight like him would be an albatross around the plot that would invalidate major parts of it but in practice Shu's power set limits him to circumstances where the power to punch reality so hard it shatters like glass is actually needed. For a guy that can solve almost any problem with his fists, he would really prefer not to.

Shu is mostly utilised as a comic relief -- his overwhelming genius contrasting with how little seems to be going on between his big fluffy ears being played for laughs pretty much constantly -- but as the stakes are raised, Shu reveals himself to be the "reluctantly reliable" sort. He's a piece of shit bear, but heroic kindheartedness runs in the family, and you can really tell where Ray got a lot of his habitual do-gooder streak from.

Xunyu

Speaking of the best girls in the fucking series -- Xunyu is introduced in the first arc as a Superior from the faraway kingdom of Huang He and a real goddamn troll who in her first proper appearance is already picking a fight with Shu even though she's a specially invited guest of the Altean royal family in the Arena in Gideon. Despite her irreverence and mischievousness, Xunyu is quite calculating and farseeing -- a "ludo" player who enjoys Dendro on a primarily mechanical basis, and likes to antagonise her opponents just so she has an easier time pulling off her multi-step, preparation-heavy strategies on them more easily.

Her player character is also a giant fuckoff eight-foot jiangshi while her actual player is a nine-year old girl. She's one of the first "oh Kaidou is a gamer gamer" characters, because her behaviour and mind games while she's in dueling mode are so reminiscent of pro wrestling trash talk, it's super delightful.

Outside of combat, Xunyu is cheerfully mischievous, and loves teasing people, but despite her bluntness she is genuinely very sweet, being both a graceful loser as well as a committed friend. She ends up becoming one of the many mentors for Ray, as well as being good friends with a fair few significant characters -- including many tians, despite her being someone who mostly thinks of Dendro as a game. She's not overly precocious, but being one of the Masters who are less emotionally invested in the world she ends up having a real grounding presence. I love her so much.

Figaro

Kaidou loves doing a thing where a character is introduced in a very sinister way through the rumours being told about them, and then their actual appearance contrasting with that, as you realise that a lot of the gossip is the result of tians not knowing how to read player motivations. Figaro is one of the first examples of this -- we hear that he is the Over Gladiator and one of Altar's Big Three, and that he really left them in a lurch during the war that happened just before Ray started playing because he didn't want to fight beside anyone, making him come across as haughty and blood-crazed. When we finally meet him, he's solo-raiding one of the hardest dungeons in the kingdom.

The reality behind the legends is that Figaro is, in fact, just extremely awkward. He's very sick in real life, and turned to Dendro for some escapism, but it hasn't helped much with his awkwardness because he ended up extremely invested in the mechanics of the game, and loves nothing more than throwing himself at crazy hard challenges to the point where he spends most of his time either dueling people in the arena or raiding hard-ass dungeons solo. He is, despite the intimidating appearance and the occasional blood rage, very kind-hearted and soft-spoken, and his friendship with Shu is genuinely very sweet and humanising for both of them.

(He also gets one of my favourite romances in the genre ever.)

Tsukuyo Fuso

The last of Altar's Big Three, Tsukuyo Fuso fucking sucks<3 She's childish, greedy and manipulative, and the leader of an actual fucking cult called the Lunar Society both inside Dendro and out in the real world. In real life, Fuso is Ray's upperclassman at TokyoU, and while there are some shenanigans to be had there, her influence within Dendro is so large that she kind of stays on the outskirts of the plot, causing problems for everyone. She is awful in every way and I love her.

But don't let this give you the impression that Fuso is a villain, though -- she is also a Maiden's Master like Ray, mechanically identified as giving way too much of a shit, she does authentically want good for her people and everyone else (which, y'know, she thinks would be easier if they just joined Lunar Society! :D) and her machiavellianism... well, I can't say it's exactly reined in by her better angels, but she does also do a lot of good in her own deranged way. She's both an antagonist and an ally, and she's not above getting in the line of fire if it accomplishes a greater good. We love a good morally gray girlboss in this household.

Kaga Jubei

Jubei is much less significant than almost any other character on this list, but she gets to be here because she is the platonic ideal of a blood knight. She fully gives Figaro a run for his money, and I cannot tell you how much I love that that particular archetype of a blood-fevered warrior went to a female character. She is the principle antagonist of volume 17, hailing from the kingdom of Tenchi, and over the course of the volume she keeps challenging Ray and his team because she's his biggest fan, and fucking loves the idea of the two of them physically tearing each other to pieces, to be challenged and to defeat or be defeated by someone she considers an inspiration. She just really wants to have fun, and has a powerful competitive streak that is fed by the fact that inside Dendro, Masters are functionally immortal, allowing her to throw herself with violence at problems to force them into giving her what she wants with her bare hands.

Outside of a blood rage, Jubei actually has a quite mellow, calm personality, but while this gives her a bit of a calculating streak, as far as the physical fighters in the series goes, she's one of the more instinctive and unfettered ones. She's also extremely remorseless and willing to play dirty with people who won't give her a honest fight, and will only resort to using her words where she doesn't think her swords can get the message through on their own.

On top of me just really, really loving a violent fight baka character, and thinking that this series is good at writing fight baka characters (there's also B3 who just barely missed out on being on this list), I love that the most fight-baka of them all in the series so far is a girl, and I love that she gets to be almost a dark mirror of Ray. I can't wait her to show up more in the next big arc. Teenage girls should be allowed to cut things with their swords just because they want to, forever and ever.

Sechs Würfel

Last but very much not the least, Sechs is a major antagonist and Shu's main rival, and he makes me lose my goddamn mind. We hear repeatedly about both his criminal escapades and the legendary duel that finally sent the worst criminal in all seven kingdoms into the gaol, and then when he finally appears in the plot, Sechs turns out to be the platonic ideal of just some guy, to the point where near damn everyone makes the mistake of assuming his soft-spokenness and aversion to conflict make him harmless. Even his allies are a little bit disturbed by how comfortable and proficient at violence Sechs is, in contrast to his unassuming personality.

This is because Sechs' whole deal can be most easily explained as him being an extreme hardcore never-drop-character roleplayer who just happens to be playing a villain. His way of embracing the infinite possibility of Dendro is to take it upon himself to deliberately break every rule and do every bad thing enabled by the mechanics, a task which is greatly eased by his Embryo making him into a slime monster polymorph that renders him functionally immortal and gives him extensive shapeshifting powers. His system of ethics is effectively upside down as applied to himself, which creates the absolute funniest contrast with the way he remains polite and accommodating towards other people, and commands a surprising amount of both loyalty and admiration from the people of Illegal Frontier, his guild made up exclusively of criminal Masters.

As befitting of a shapeshifter and a guy living and dying by his own bit, Sechs' sense of identity is actually extremely fractured, which is the driving force between his rivalry with Shu. Sechs does, after all, spend the majority of the time defining himself through violating the rules made by other people, whereas Shu will do no less than what he wants to, ever. The way their IRL circumstances -- fate's favourite little guy and the Unfavourite of his whole bloodline -- contrast giving them common ground and the way the roles they choose to inhabit in Dendro clash makes for excellent drama. The Weird Friendship between Shu the player and Sechs the player in contrast to the bitter rivalry between the King of Destruction and the King of Crime is genuinely my favourite feature of the ongoing myth arc, and I can't wait to see where it goes in the future.

[tsukiyadori]

Reading+(Watching)+Listening Log 2024.08 - August

Previous: Reading (+Watching+Listening) Log 2024.06 - June

——————————————————————————

Reading languages: German, English, French, Japanese, not listing which was what. (There’s also been some feeble attempts at Chinese, but that was more on drama and music.)

Titles are as I’ve read them either first or most and thus remember it for that title mostly

Not going to bother putting in the original titles of translated reads unless there is something worthy of note to it

Cursive titles have been completed

If it says a volume number, it may mean it has been finished or is still in progress

Some notes’ content may be subject to repetition here and there, as I also copied some older notes from casual conversations over and didn’t go through any rounds of cutting things down.

——————————————————————————

AUGUST

I bought myself an application to hold my phone while lying in bed. That's gotta not only solve my neck and back getting into bad posture issues with using it in bed, but actually be even better for it, as long as don't use a cushion. Once I find a proper page turner, I could just read there. The cold season is coming after all!

... Is what I thought, turns out there is no page turner for the simple function of scrolling down. They'd always scroll several screens worth of content down in a big swoosh. Why. What good is this down botton even for? (Aside of decreasing volume in a media app.) Anyway, at least left and right work, so can read some manga or JNC in the app.

Which still fed me up after a while, because no offline reading, so now I installed an auto scrolling app for scrolling. Would vastly prefer a remote, but oh well. It's useful for reading in a train where a remote is not very handy to fiddle around. My thumb is also thanking for the lack of strain.

The main learning I took away: All remotes with a camera button are complete crap on all buttons for this purpose. For those not even left and right work.

And the other ones so far have rather loud buttons…

Light Novels/Web Novels/Novels:

Fake Saint of the Year: You Wanted the Perfect Saint? Too Bad! v1-4

A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires (Light Novel) v2

A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady v1

Accidentally in Love: The Witch, the Knight, and the Love Potion Slipup v1-2

Coins of Destiny Rosmei Preview

Fushi no Kami v1

Hell Mode v3-4p6

I Met You After the End of the World v3

I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! (Light Novel) v5

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? v10

The Blessing of Liefe: Leave This Magical Letdown Alone! v1p1

The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! (Light Novel) v1

You're Too OP! Rosmei Preview

(classified)

Manga/Manhwa:

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life (Manga) ch1, v2ch6-11

A Side Character's Love Story ch50.2-51

A Wild Last Boss Appeared! (Manga) v2ch6-10

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride ch55-57(v11 finish)

Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch20-21.1

Are You Okay with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? ch22.1-24.2

Beast Tamer ch1-6

Black Summoner (Manga) v16ch112-119

D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared (Manga) v3ch15-21

Death's Daughter and the Ebony Blade (Manga) v2ch6-11

Domestic na Kanojo v17

Firefly Wedding ch1-5-10

Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch11.2

Hell Mode Manga v4ch20-26

How a Single Gold Coin Can Change an Adventurer’s Life ch1-15

I Lost My Adventurer's License, but It's Fine Because I Have an Adorable Daughter Now ch42-46

I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (Manga) ch1, ch11, v3ch21-30

I don't want to work anymore ch19.52-21.5

Infinite Dendrogram (Manga) ch56-57

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch20.1-2

King in Limbo ch1

Knitter's High ch29-30.1

Living With My Brother's Wife ch66-74

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch34

Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole ch1-2.1

Mononogatari – Die Wächter der Artefaktgeister v1-2, v4

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer (Manga) v5ch25 i

My Housemate Sano-kun Is Just My Editor! ch1-3.1

Nabi ch113

Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru no de Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch27-28.2

Quality Assurance in Another World v1ch6

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ (Manga) v5ch22-25

Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Legendary Hero and the Queen of Spirits ch59-61.1

Run Away with Me, Girl v1-2

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch76-77

Strawberry Love ch1-8.52

Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess (Manga) ch1, V1ch5

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! (Manga) v1ch5

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses ch100

The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1 (Manga) ch1, v2ch6-10

The Prince's Keeper: The Cursed Prince is Too Fluffy to Resist! ch1-3.1

The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World (Manga) v1ch1-4

The Vexations of a Shut-in Vampire Princess ch1-4.2

This Art Club Has a Problem! v4ch20-26

Through the Viewport: Child of a Ruined World v2ch8-14

Trying Out Alchemy After Being Fired as an Adventurer!: Frontier Settling? No Problem, Leave It to Me! ch1-2

Victoria's Electric Coffin v2-3

Wistoria Wand and Sword (Manga) v1-3

Webtoons:

A Royal Princess with Black Hair ch60-65

Can the Grand Duke and the Marquis be Friends? ch33-43

Closer Heartbeat ch1-7.5

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira ch52-56

Kijou no Eden ch32-33

Taberare Usa ch114-117

Drama:

Story of Yanxi Palace #9

Music/Music Videos:

RADWIMPS - Suzume (Suzume No Tojimari) [Dante Levo and Kindred Remix]

Zhou Shen - 铃芽之旅

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 02 - 蜃楼 Mirage

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 08 - 缝合

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 11 - 没关系

Zhou Shen - 我的答案

Zhou Shen - 人是_ (电影《流浪地球2》定义主题曲)

Zhou Shen, 新裤子乐队 - 不会拜拜的Disco (Live)

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 01 - Intro

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 03 - 重启 Restart

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 04 - 记忆商店 The Memory Store

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 05 - 警报 The Giver

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 06 - 少管我 Shao Guan Wo (Watch Ur Manners)

Zhou Shen - 浮光

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 09 - Wala li longla

Notes:

Fake Saint of the Year: You Wanted the Perfect Saint? Too Bad! v1-4: It was in the catch-up and a total last minute read I even considered dropping at the beginning - really the MC makes every effort to be a questionable creep. And almost any other character unfortunately is a bit bland. (A few get a bit more characterization in the epilogue chapters.) Which just made the MC stand out even more. By v2 I half suspected if it was just half an act, due to the plot twist of him being dead sick before being isekaid, but by the end him being like this became actually plot relevant. That was quite a nice surprise. The overall world structure and how it offered some reverse isekai alongside the normal isekai was also refreshing. (And on top of that there's even alternate universes.) So I'm glad enough to have finished it to get the payoff of sitting though the beginning, but that bit by itself still remains more of a turn-off than not.

A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires (Light Novel) v2: Volume 1 was about as anti-fluff as it could possibly be, but volume 2 has scaled things down in terms of its cruelty factor. MC, while still very much have the upper hand by plot, is now also not the overly OP Mary Sue. Probably mainly because the people in the empire appear to have some wits themselves, unlike the fellows of her home country.

A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady v1: Have the generic villainess story shafted to the sidelines, this one focuses on the sister of one without having to be a spin-off to some main series. In a way it's a bit of cinderella plot x shy nerd standing up x MC with wits, good naturedness and effort spending hard worker mentality. Nothing really there that makes it special per se (slimes by now are also a dime and a dozen), but cooks the ingredients up in a decently enough dish. Surprisingly, the cheese factor wasn't even that hugely focused on.

Accidentally in Love: The Witch, the Knight, and the Love Potion Slipup v1-2: Right, another one of those that just cook your standard dish with standard ingredients……… It makes for a literal light novel, because, well, it's perfectly a light read. Full of soft cheese.

I Met You After the End of the World v3: Just when I got a bit ??? about the supernatural elements, it struck me maybe that was what the narrative resorted to, because it may be a little bit hard to spin a narrative with just two characters alone to force up some circumstantial plot. And now suddenly there's a parallel narrative. One continuing from where it left off last time (still with the supernatural elements) and another some years into the future introducing a bunch of new characters. Daisuke suddenly is gone, but as they say, unless there's been a corpse, don't assume he's dead? But more than anything, it proves that it can very well spin a plot without said supernatural elements. The mystery box is working rather well as to what happened to Daisuke or what strange occurrence that looks-like-a-ritual-sacrifice-site may be about.

The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! (Light Novel) v1: Read the manga before on JNC Catchup and while the manga entirely sucks at having a good flow between scenes, the world and setting wasn't too uninteresting. But the novel is a bit… too rants-y. MC is just way too much of a bundle of impatience and forced expectations based on his worldview, and that makes him rather obnoxious. And while the manga is kinda too jumpy, the LN definitely is a bit slow. Maybe a little too slow for my taste. Will continue, but not in a hurry.

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride ch55-57(v11 finish): FINALLY CHASTILLE HAS SOME BADASS MOMENT AGAIN.

Domestic na Kanojo v17: I forgot to take notes immediately after writing and now I can't remember zilch about the volume. I suspect, there was loads of whatever cheese.

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch34: Rishe making faces.

Also that hairdo is just so very pretty, gimme, too----

Run Away with Me, Girl v1-2: Original thoughts of when I had just finished it: I think it kinda lost me at the end. How so? In a "flows over my head and just goes puff"-way somehow? I dunno, i doesn't seem bad, just euh, kinda after the asshole gets ditched and the family discussion bit, it kinda lost it's string. Maybe the photoshooting is just also too cheese? dunno And the epilogue with that daughter was very much I have now read it almost twice, but it's just not sinking in really

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch76-77: Some chapters expired yet again in between. Darn it, damn me. But ok, after the thing with the very very questionable classmate raising a ruckus we move on to… puberty! And some cheese. And it's getting back on track with the new teacher's mystery endeavor.

Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess (Manga) V1: This one raised a big question: If the MC is SO massively OP, how come she never took a stand for herself, but then just suddenly is able to do so and with such a superior aloof attitude, too. You'd think there ought to be some development or rehearsal to go from meek damsel to this rather smooth going with the badassery. Not sure where this is going, but probably will read on a bit.

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! (Manga) v1: Now this one is the entire opposite. MC died so many times but still maintained this balanced calm, almost carefree attitude. That's truly being badass. Although I have no idea what the title is referring to, even after reading v1.

The Prince's Keeper: The Cursed Prince is Too Fluffy to Resist! ch1-3.1: I object to the title. It's not too fluffy, it's too sparkly bishonen. Like so much glitter, stop it, the MC looks like she's going to go blind… The vibes are similar to Hi, I'm a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion, with the MC just a little bit more wordly. At least she doesn't risk starving to death by accident.

Victoria's Electric Coffin v2-3: It wound up being about as generic/preditable as I expected it to be after v1. Closes on the same note it already exhibited across v1 as well. Nothing remarkable about it beyond that it does have a rather eyecatching cover.

Wistoria Wand and Sword (Manga) v1-3: Wistoria's long term goal premise composition is kinda real similiar to Kaiju 8, except the MC is more like an OP Version os Rakudai no Kishi's. Is what I thought after v1. But then: ....  I take it back. It's purely teenage-y cheese motivated, Kaiju 8 didn't have that. I will say, is of now, half of v1, it is vastly more interesting than Danmachi. But.

It's.... almost as bad with the outfits after all....

Kijou no Eden ch32-33 - Ouf, that's been some ages that I last read it. But it was easy to get into again and I still quite like it. The subject matter is a bit heavy, but there is just this bold, but sense of optimism filled with kindness about it. How inspirational things can start from something as small as imaginative wishful thinking. I quite like the the title. Kijou means "theoretical, something not yet implemented", but it's also meaning "on the table". And MC's a writer, an abused child who wrote a novel about what family could mean. That's like this hypothesis, his eden, that sits on the table that he has yet to reach. Which he has a hard time to, but to his first biggest fangirl it was a life altering experience regardless and she wants to give some of the goodness it brought her back. That's a very endearing sort of positive feedback loop.

August's Music Listening: Same stuffs from last month continues, with the addition of the new tracks of Zhou Shen's Shenself album (there's more than is listed on youtube music, apple music etc.) 缝合 struck some chords melodically only to turn out to be somewhat depressive with an optimistic silver lining. The English refrain line of "I'm giving my all" is kinda haunting. 没关系 meanwhile goes the opposite way of doesn't matter what comes around, just "don't mind". 我的答案 is melodically a total motivation mood track…… that turned out to be a propaganda song for the Chinese Crimes/Laws department. That is, it's used like that, but the lyrics are maybe not really that heavily propaganda in the negative political connotation of one may think of first. From what I can glean after some extended use of the dictionary it appears to be more about the variety of diffrent departments and what calling those professions have (or should have).

Mirage was kind of an instant hit melodically and its lyrics sounds very cyberpunk-existential, now I wouldn't have minded to watch a SciFi series with such a mood. Clearly someone else had the same idea, as there is a fanmade movie MV for it cutting scenes from the movies Wandering Earth I, II and the trailer from III together in a quite well put together clip for it. And guess what, Zhou Shen actually did the theme song of the second movie. 人是_ is just the kind of bombastic fireworks epic sort of song suiting the bigger than one life-movie and so it also wandered into the playlist.

Other than that Shenself album ran a lot when I was sitting onto (classified) and especially I was at it when I discovered 缝合, 没关系, so they together with tracks 3-6 of it kinda have half become my theme songs for that series.

[greatwyrmgold]

Infinite Dendrogram is an oddity out of series I read. Its lore is really neat, but everything else—all the stuff I normally read stories for—is pretty weak. Worst of all are the villains, who are almost universally just people and monsters who cause mayhem for increasingly ridiculous reasons.

Volume 1: Gardranda, a boss monster which kills people because it's literally programmed that way

Volume 2: A couple of bandit leaders which kill people for research and food, which end up combined into a boss monster which kills people because it's literally programmed that way

Volumes 3-5: Mr. Franklin, the first player-villain, who kills people to make the kingdom easier to invade by breaking its spirit

Volume 6 breaks the trend with Tsukuyo, a player who kidnaps Reiji (the protagonist) because she wants him to join her in-game clan (which is also an IRL cult).

Volume 7 has Monochrome, another boss monster which kills people because it's literally programmed that.

Volumes 8-9 have two villains: Logan (a player who kills people for XP), and Acra Vesta (a different kind of monster which kills people because they're in the way of the target it's programmed to attack)

Volume 10 is an anthology of shorter stories (and Reiji's normal college life), with about three villains: One guy who wants to get away with grand larceny, one guy who used to kill people for vague bandity reasons before getting stuck in a place where he can't get away with that, and one woman who kills people because (checks notes) her boyfriend broke up with her, so she started playing the game he and his new girlfriend play together and killing any happy couples she saw??

Volume 11 has Gloria the Tri-Zenith Dragon, a boss monster which kills people because it's literally programmed that way

Volume 12 has F, the reason I wrote this post

Okay, so F is a writer who started playing the VRMMO Infinite Dendrogram to improve his writing craft, somehow. He is the third character in the series who started playing ID for that exact reason. In his favor, the first two are writing a modern-day detective manga and fucking opera, so it's less absurd for F to seek inspiration in a fantasy VRMMO.

On the other hand, this questionable motivation has to be shared with two other characters who have actually been developed, instead of showing up once at the start of the volume and then again in Act 3 to provoke volume 10's woman scorned into a rampage, which is what F does.

Among other things, F is the worst example of what I feel is the biggest problem with Infinite Dendrogram's villains: Reiji doesn't have any reason to care about them. He doesn't have a relationship more complicated than "The bad guy is gonna do something bad, and I don't like bad things" with any of these villains, except Mr. Franklin (who ends up both pissing off and being pissed off by Reiji) and Tsukuyo (who goes to the same university as him and keeps trying to recruit him to her clan/cult/school club).

I have my criticisms of both Mr. Franklin and Tsukuyo as characters, but it's nice to have some recurring antagonists that Reiji has an opinion about, other than "Please stop killing people". It would be even nicer if the series used them in the actual plots of the books, instead of just hinting that Franklin is preparing something sinister and turning Tsukuyo and how much Reiji hates her into comic relief. (Which is, um, one of the complaints I have about Tsukuyo.)

[ao3feed-undertale1]

www.fanganronpa.com/internal-conflict

read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50386528 by EmeraldLikesIceCream Sage wakes up in an unfamiliar mansion, alongside her father, and learns quickly that she can trust no one as she and her father and thrown straight into a killing game. Surrounded by so many unfamiliar faces, Sage's processors don't know what to do Or. Yet another crossover killing game Words: 4357, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Dangan Ronpa Series, Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Doki Doki Literature Club! (Visual Novel), Phineas and Ferb, Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game), 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing, My Little Pony Generation 4: Friendship Is Magic (Cartoon 2010), Mother 3 (Video Game), 新・光神話 パルテナの鏡 | Kid Icarus: Uprising (Video Game), インフィニット・デンドログラム - 海道左近 | Infinite Dendrogram - Kaidou Sakon, Scratchin Melodii (Video Game), Kirby (Video Games), MetaWare High School (Visual Novel), Homestuck Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Categories: Gen Characters: Sage (Sonic the Hedgehog), Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb), Rouxls Kaard, Papyrus (Undertale), Ayasato Mayoi | Maya Fey, Shirogane Tsumugi, Masked Man (Mother 3), Pit (Kid Icarus), Kirby (Kirby), Nari (MetaWare High School), Jade Harley, Applejack (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Melodii (Scratchin' Melodii), Nemesis | Maiden of Vengeance (Infinite Dendrogram) Additional Tags: Crossover, This Is STUPID, Fun, Crack Treated Seriously, Crack Relationships, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Post-Game: Sonic Frontiers, Post-Game(s), Shirogane Tsumugi Redemption, Maybe - Freeform, Trans Female Jade Harley, Autistic Jade Harley, Sonic Frontiers Spoilers, POV Sage (Sonic Frontiers), Act 3 Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club), Monika Being an Asshole (Doki Doki Literature Club!), for now, Papyrus (Undertale) Knows More Than He Lets On, Papyrus (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Protective Papyrus (Undertale), Parental Rouxls Kaard, Pit Needs a Hug (Kid Icarus), Post-Kid Icarus: Uprising, Kid Icarus: Uprising Spoilers, Post-Gyakuten Saiban 3 | Trials & Tribulations, Pre-Gyakuten Saiban 4 | Apollo Justice, Protective Claus (Mother 3), Mute Perry the Platypus (Phineas and Ferb), Parent Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik, They/Them Pronouns for Kirby (Kirby), Post-Game: Kirby and the Forgotten Land read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/50386528

[quetzalpapalotl]

Hi, people, this is Nemesis from Infinite Dendrogram, my new best girl. She is literally perfect.