#it is like not a 1 to 1 retelling and pretty short with a bunch of other tales in it but. silly…

[hymnoeides]

Sooooo the recent mlp comic loosely based off the odyssey (+ other myths featured)…..

[accirax]

Sooo, after several months of avoiding it in my vid recommendations, I finally decided to go see what Epic: The Musical is all about. And as embarrassing it is to admit, I'm kinda hooked right now. 😅 (I'm currently going through this playlist of various people's animatic interpretations presenting all the songs in order, and I'm only halfway through rn)

Event though I know and care very little about Greek mythology, I gotta give credit to talent where it's due, and Jorge Rivera-Herrans has *definitely* earned it from me. His musical retelling of the stories so far are PHENOMENAL! 😊 I can't even decide on a favourite song 'cause they're all really good! But some are definitely higher up there than others, and the one I'm currently hooked on is "Ruthlessness". So I just wanna throw in a couple of the animatics artists have done for it:

https://youtu.be/0lsYf_0UGLE?si=Zwdr2dLDbtAOMW9L

https://youtu.be/skVSbITX4kY?si=mVjADvKGnnPiqv_N

https://youtu.be/WOgxiS33tME?si=ZE2pfBkSdPREwpRh

The other two are pretty good but AnniFlamma's version will forever reign as #1 for me~ 😄 The way they drew/designed Poseidon is just so hot- I-I mean, stunning- I mean, badass- I mean- .... He's hot. 😳

i know Epic: the Musical! some of my friends forced me to watch it a couple of days before you sent in this ask. i can't find the specific animatic compilation video they showed me, but it had the third version of Ruthlessness in it. i remember that super detailed water animation... that's probably still my favorite, but i can't deny that that horse with human teeth is TERRIFYING, and that gigi's work is peak as always. overall, you have great taste in terms of choosing animatics with backgrounds and ample breakdowns :)

seems we're coming at this from different angles, though. i was pretty into greek mythology as a kid, and i had to read the Odyssey in my sophomore year of high school. therefore, i already knew the basic plot of the musical before i ever heard it, edits they made to the plot notwithstanding. i think i said out loud, "woo, Telemachus time~!" when he first appeared on screen, which is not something you say if you don't already know the story.

still, as both a greek mythology fan and a storyboard artist, i'm glad there's a series out there that's both introducing folks to the Odyssey and giving a bunch of artists an entry point into making animatics. perhaps i'll meet some of these people out in the industry someday. said friend who made me watch Epic has been trying to convince me to board one of the songs myself, but we'll see if that actually comes to pass.

(if i did, i guess it would probably be God Games, as that's the song i remember liking the most. then again, part of the reason why i liked it was because of the accompanying high-octane fight sequences, which are also really difficult and time consuming to board.)

Another quick Epic mention here just to say that I really *really* wanna see somebody purchase an Aiden & Ally double greeting so they can duet this part of "Done For". With how well they can both sing I just know the combination would be Magical~! 💫🌟🌠😊 (Should probably clarify tho, I think this short was initially a little snippet/teaser before the official release of the Circe Saga, so the lyrics in the finished product are slightest different)

Aiden would be a really good Odysseus, honestly. i don't know about Ally, but i suspect that you won't have to wait too long until someone makes Aiden sing Epic. or, maybe Viester will even just choose to do it himself, who knows.

[bethanydelleman]

Thanks for the tag @firawren & @glassslippers-n-cowboyboots

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 45

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 208,023. And that's a bit surprising because a bunch of my longer fics are only on AHA or my website.

3. What fandoms do you write for? Mostly Jane Austen, all novels, Elizabeth Gaskell (Wives & Daughters), and Anne Bronte (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall). I have also technically written Oscar Wilde and My Happy Marriage, but those were very transformative.

I also have written some fics based on Kdramas, mostly for Alchemy of Souls.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

A Ride to Netherfield - Jane breaks her leg on the way to Netherfield and must stay for a month. Short one-shot (6k) and the first Pride & Prejudice variation I wrote.

Of Every Elizabeth - short and sweet Pride & Prejudice fluff, Darcy has nicknames for the plethora of Elizabeth's he's met over the course of his life (it was a super common name at the time)

Carry Me! - three vignettes of Jang Uk and Cho Yeong from Alchemy of Souls after they are married

The Fourth Bennet Sister - long fic (30k words), Pride & Prejudice variation where Kitty Bennet becomes aware that she is in a novel. She desperately tries to protect her sisters from harm.

All's Fair in Love and War - short Pride & Prejudice variation. Mrs. Bennet has weaponized compromise, men live in constant fear of being forced to marry.

5. Do you respond to comments? Yep. Every time.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Umm.... I'm not good at writing angst. I don't like characters to suffer for too long.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? All of them?

8. Do you get hate on fics? Yes, because I dared to write Mr. Darcy marrying Anne Elliot. People get more angry about that for some reason than Elizabeth Bennet marrying Captain Wentworth in the same fic. Someone even told me Darcy would rather "throw himself off of Pemberley" rather than marry anyone other than Elizabeth. (Fic is called One Week Late)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I have written smut a few times, it's pretty vanilla because I am pretty vanilla. I was reading Victorian erotica when I wrote my longest one, A Little Before Their Marriage (Jane & Bingley fic).

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I constantly write crossovers, my first published novel is a massive crossover, Prideful & Persuaded. One of my fun shorts is Fall on the Sword, where every canonically single woman in Austen's novels decides if they want to try for the recently divorced Mr. Rushworth.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not as far as I know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No, though someone did translate one of my meta posts from Tumblr. That was cool.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes, The Marriage Contest with Branch Cloudsky and two with Amelia Marie Logan, Poor Caroline and Inferior Connections. All Pride & Prejudice fics, all funny. (You need an AO3 account for that one, the other two are on my personal website)

14. What’s your all time favourite ship? Catherine Morland & Henry Tilney. They are the only Austen couple I cannot bear to break up.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am writing a queer retelling of Emma called "Different Ways of Being in Love", where Jane Fairfax and Emma were lovers as teenagers, Jane is bi, Emma is a lesbian, and Mr. Knightley is ace, but I got stuck on the middle part. Someday hopefully!

16. What are your writing strengths? I'm told I write some pretty hilarious farces. I am told I do characterization well, which is my main goal when writing fan fiction. I try to stick as close to canon as possible.

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I don't write enough filler or develop things well enough. I like writing action.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I would possibly try my hand at French, but probably never. I also have a lot of trouble reading accented speech (looking at you Wuthering Heights), so I'd probably never write it.

19. First fandom you wrote for? I am fairly certain I started writing a fix-it fic for Nineteen Eighty-Four after I read it in high school. Not sure I would be able to locate it but it did exist. The first since I started writing again was a sequel to Pride & Prejudice.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? Probably Unfairly Caught (my other published work) or The Fourth Bennet Sister. I NEEDED to write a Mansfield Park fic because I hate the ending, so it fixed my dissatisfied feelings. My goal is to edit The Fourth Bennet Sister and get it published sometime this year.

@wurzelbertzwerg, @kehlana-wolhamonao3 and @bad-at-names-and-faces

[foxelfprincess]

mtg book report, entry 2: roreca’s tale by richard garfield

garfield, richard. “roreca’s tale.” magic the gathering: pocket players’ guide. wizards of the coast, 1994, pp. 25-33.

(honestly, pretty suboptimal play casting him when you don't have anything to sacrifice to his upkeep trigger, thomil.)

now, this is actually a short story.

don’t get me wrong. like worzel’s story before it, it’s still extremely straightforward. which is fair enough considering it was also originally published in an instruction booklet. but this instruction booklet came in the game’s third[1] release, revised edition. by the time our second piece of official magic story was published[2], it was clear that this wasn’t going to be some obscure game primarily sold to hardcore gamers & con attendees. by this point the game was fully intended for mainstream circulation.

the eponymous character of roreca’s tale appears to be a sort of familiar or companion of some kind to worzel who you might remember from such stories as [checks notes] worzel’s story. and her old enemy thomil is back, and boy is he ever as generically antagonistic as ever!

this story is pretty noteworthy for having several actual magic cards you can open in packs and play with referenced as monsters each planeswalker is summoning to fling[3] at each other. and the ending of the duel ends up reflecting the actual mechanics of the most iconic card being referenced (lord of the pit) and it's just so dorky and awesome.

there’s still not really any larger story to speak of. it does line up neatly with my overall memory that mtg story at this time was largely just a bunch of people you had no real reason to root for flitting aimlessly around the multiverse gaining more power and fighting any other mages they encountered because why not? you almost kind of get a highlander “there can only be one” kind of vibe from a lot of the planeswalker interactions i remember from this era.

amusingly, roreca actually speculates that planeswalkers fight for the same reasons that cubs of her species playfight, which is as good a description of the overall vibe i usually get from this era of magic lore as any.

notes

1. fourth if you want to count the alpha & beta versions of limited edition as two separate releases. but you probably shouldn’t because that would make the next set being called “fourth edition” very confusing. just don’t want anyone “um actually”ing me here.

2. while we’re avoiding “um actually”ing, i should briefly note that i am technically skipping “duel for dominia,” a semi-fictionalized retelling of the final game of the first sanctioned mtg tournament at gencon ’93. it’s cute if you want to check it out, but ultimately it feels less like intentional story content and more like a flavorful way to report the result of a tournament.

3. nono, not the card “fling,” that wasn’t a thing until stronghold.

4. also, the story is immediately preceded by “dominia and its walkers,” in which richard garfield comes right out and says that planeswalkers are a bunch of “individualistic and territorial” weirdos. really quite glad the story eventually moved on from this era.

***

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[windywallflower]

Its a very late post into pride month here (we've been exercising sleep-month jk... we've been kinda scrambling to get back on top of everything after May. Idk what it is but every year is the same).

But HEY! If you don't know who we are yet, we're Tas & Winter and we run a small minipub called Windy & Wallflower where we write a bunch of fun stories featuring gaggles of queer characters.

Note: on our shop ALL of our PDFs are 5$ no matter if its comics, prose, zines, what have you (some of our older stuff is free/pwyw).

But here's a VERY quick run down of our series/titles!

AUGUSTINE - is our newest webcomic! A series we lovingly dub as our junkpunk meets greek mythology, borderlands meets hercules, mad max meets... uhhh uhhh t-troy?? ENOUGH COMPARISONS. You've got a found family of freaks who get into trouble pissing off local landlords in a crusty pit of desert lovingly called the Crater. Maybe the group relies on their leader a bit too much, maybe she DOESNT know what she's doing. Maaaaybe we'll find out what happens ... when she ... [spoilerspoilerpsoiler] (You CAN buy the PDF on our shop, the physical copy of Volume 1 OR you can also catch up and read it FOR FREE online!) (.....yes its coming back v soon we're almost done rebuilding the buffer i promise)

MYTH RETOLD - Is prose! Retelling Greek myths but with a queer twist. There are 3 in the series so far: Iphigenia (sapphic babes, Iphigenia gets to KISS Artemis? mmm~), Medusa (maybe she meets a transmasc Perseus... maybe its just bi af and Medusa DOES get a happy en-- wait spoilers--) & Atalanta (what can i say, im a sucker for sapphics... Atalanta x Dyktinna) with loose plans to make ... even More. (You can also get all of these as PDFs or as physical copies... im a sucker for the physical since I went pretty hard with the foil ANd spot gloss--)

PAINT THE TOWN RED - is our other major ongoing comic of the queer persuasion (are we... starting to notice a pattern--). This one with a main cast consisting of Vampires, Werewolves.... ... and other mysterious babes. Story opens up with a werewolf shelter, but what happens when a vampire shows up one night?? Hmmm. Looks like things are a lot messier in Merlot than we thought~ This one releases in volumes first so you can grab them all on our shop OR you can test it out for yourself and see if its your thing by reading the first 2 volumes for FREE online~!)

PRISM KNIGHTS - A series of short stories (loosely based on fairytales) in the POV of queer knights! Each story is a 'different shade of queer'. You will be hearing a LOT about these two in the next month because we're funding the paperback print of the omnibus so here are the highlights:

Coquelicot: Evil lesbian knights.

Bronze: A nonbinary, ace knight caught in a time loop.

Lamplight: A haunted trans knight learns to love the beast within.

Juniper: A tragic gay knight meets his blacksmith boyfriend.

Sapphire: A polyship between a dragon, a knight and a royal.

Velvet: A sad bisexual knight overcoming grief.

You can snag ALL of the PDFs on our shop though a lot of the physical copies are out of stock because, as mentioned, we're hosting a campaign to reprint soon. You can follow along to be notified the second we launch! (We'll need a LOT of help pushing this one since... um... it IS a reprint).

THAT'S my schpeel. I know we try our best to offer our stories free/as cheap as we can possibly make them to keep them accessible so if you CAN afford to spend a bit this pride consider checking out our shop! You'd be doing us a real solid.

We have a TON of really cool stories in the works all of them extremely queer so any little bit goes a long way, boosting, sharing, buying, telling your libraries about us.... hinthint, everything helps!!

[isure-hopeso]

12.31.2023

48 books this year. My hunger never ends. I am insatiable. Here's my reviews:

Five Classics by Agatha Christie 8/10 Started the year off strong with a handful of Christie's shorter classic mysteries

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack 4.5/10 Super super cool story idea with very poor flow and had a cheating trope

Mountain Mama by Axsom & Pelham 6.5/10 A depressingly realistic look at life on the frontier for a single mom

A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler 8/10 Alva Vanderbilt was so incredible

Followers by Megan Angelo 6.5/10 One of those books where you really don't care the first 2/3 and then you can't get over it for the last 1/3

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 10/10 my annual reading of one of the Big Four, as always

"Kitchen Princess" Omnibus 2 by Ando & Kobayashi 9/10 I'm pretty sure I learned my love languages from the Kitchen Princess series as a kid

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas 5.5/10 A little tropey and the riddle was stupid easy, but I love me a Beauty & The Beast retelling

Homeland: The Legend of Drizzt #1 by R.A. Salvatore 5.5/10 It really didn't need to be that long, but Salvy loves his extra DnD context

The Black Poets by Dudley Randal 10/10 When I tell you how often I think about the poetry from this book. When I tell you.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen 6.5/10 Witty and wild for it's time, like all Austen novels, but she's boring and falls in love with her cousin

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas 7.5/10 Turning the Beauty and the Beast retelling on its HEAD and using tidbits from the previous novel to change everything - but also very very smutty

Tithe by Holly Black 7/10 Rereading an old book I love in high school and finding that I still like it quite a lot

The Big Four by Agatha Christie 8/10 One of her biggie Poirot heists, super thrilling

"Kitchen Princess" Vol. 6 by Ando and Kobayashi 9/10 I have dreams, actual dreams, about these stories for weeks after reading them. Good dreams.

The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chianani 7/10 Decided to read this after watching the movie -- it might not be incredible storytelling but it's a fun story-world, so I decided to read it all

A World Without Princes by Soman Chianani 4/10 S for G&E 2 -It had some good bits, but was overall way too clumpy

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien 10/10 This was actually my first time reading it, and I LOVE getting all the universe context!!

To Weave a Web of Magic by Delacroix, Kurlana, McKillip, and Shinn 8/10 This series of short stories had some real bangers and some ehh

On The Incarnation by St. Athanasius 7/10 the deconstruction never stops, love that for us

Unfinished Tales by J.R.R. Tolkien 8.5/10 It was so cool reading some of his last unfinished works, it was really not cool reading a bunch of stories with no ending

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn 5.5/10 Where the first Bridgerton book was much better than it's season, the second book was exactly as whatever as the second season.

"The Tempest" by William Shakespeare 7.5/10 really very odd, but the overall vibe was so good and exactly what I needed after Quinn

The Last Ever After by Soman Chianani 6.5/10 S for G&E #3 Thus begins my attempt to finish the whole series because I bought them and they were sitting there

"Sophist", "Statesmen", "Parmenides" and "Philebus" by Plato 10/10 What's the difference between is and is not? Is 'is not' a state of being? lol I dunno

Quest for Glory by Soman Chianani 7/10 S for G&E #4 Okay finally these stories are getting interesting again

A Crystal of Time by Soman Chianani 6.5/10 Really pulling out some wackadoodle things for this one, but I wasn't against it too much

One True King by Soman Chianani 6/10 An alright wrap-up, but my boi Hort deserved a more thorough ending

In the Flo by Alisa Vitti 6.5/10 I learned more about my period in this book than in any health class, but it also got a little woowoo with moon phases

The Green Witch by Murphy & Hiscock 7/10 I had a late-night book buying stint where I bought like 7 witchy books and this was the first to arrive

Acting on Impulse by Mia Sosa 2/10 I have nothing particular against this author, but this was the book that convinced me that I could get a book published

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas 7.5/10 Hoo boy does a lot of stuff go down in this spicy, spicy book.

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas 6/10 Just a fun little story about wildly traumatized characters

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody 9.5/10 One of the coolest things I've read, I learned so much about reading and writing

Walden and Others Writings by Henry David Thoreau 10/10 So much beautiful writing, this is going to be a regular reread for me

A History of Magic, Witchcraft, and the Occult by DK 8.5/10 Naturally one of my favorite books of the year was a literal textbook

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas 8/10 Apparently I didn't hate this book as much as I was supposed to, but also please mind your manners in shared eating spaces

American Brujeria by J. Allen Cross 6.5/10 It turns out Hispanic witches are super super Catholics, which I bet would make some non-Hispanic Catholics real angy

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman 7/10 Practical Magic #1 it was such a lovely writing style, like an actual witch telling a prophecy

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas 8.5/10 A really cool story, standing ovation for Lehabah every day, but also weird that the big bad killer guy wears hats and watches basketball

Nevewhere by Neil Gaiman 9/10 Hadn't thought much of it while I was reading it, but this story had stuck with me like a bad cold baby

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simmer 5.5/10 This one had been sitting in my TBR for too long, and it wasn't too bad

Well of Darkness by Weis & Hickman 8.5/10 Getting to read a fantasy story in the perspective of the bad guys? Heck yeah. So cool.

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie 6.5/10 This one had alllllllll the rich family drams

Ironside by Holly Black 8/10 my first time reading this finale of Black's trilogy, and I just feel like the main character could have been more logical or taken more action

A Writer's Notebook by Ralph Fletcher 2/10 I pretty much learned nothing, got nothing out of this

Search the Sky by Pohl & Kornbluth 8/10 Only took off points for misogyny, but it was from the 50s, otherwise a really cool story

The House Witch by Murphy & Hiscock 5/10 A follow-up from the first witchy book to arrive, this one didn't teach me as much about witches as I hoped it would

Approximately a 7/10 average for the whole year! I went out on a limb for a lot of books this year, and that was rewarding just about as often as it was disappointing, but I can at least say that I haven't DNF'd a book yet. I largely write these for myself, and I don't expect anyone to take the time to read it -- if you did, then you are a saint and a hero. May your pillows be cool, your blankets warm, and your eyesight always clear enough for reading.

[fromtheasheslikeaphoenix]

The Grimm Variations | EP 1

Been debating to write some review type content on here for years, why not start now?

This chain of posts comes from someone who grew up with the original tales, as I'm German, but I'm pretty acquainted with retellings so no bias there.

Not spoiler free!

—

Cinderella

I'm honestly not quite sure what I was expecting, I didn't read a ton of the summary prior and the bit I read was quite a while before the show came out...

The style is what you'd expect out of anime these days, stable and pretty. Some visuals are really stunning, most emotions are well portrayed, etc. Even the gruesome has beauty to it, so that aligns well with the origins of it all.

Idea wise it's basically „What if Cinderella was actually a sheming mentally ill girl“ - which, in and of itself, is a solid idea and totally has my stamp of approval..

However, like with the other two episodes I've watched so far, there's a bunch of unexplained that just makes it feel incomplete, like the stories are a draft each for their own spin-off.

Cinderella just randomly has a talking doll, it plays into the old cliche of „Some people are just that way by nature“, gives no real conclusion or ending as the Grimm tales like most stories usually do.

The Grimm's have barely any involvement, despite their high value VA's and nice designs and the inclusion of the sister feels more like a unnecessary extra.

In short, though, it's definitely worth a try - especially if you're familiar with the originals, or as a starting point to check out the originals. They're both meant to provoke thoughts and reactions and however many times I've heard Cinderella and the other 2 stories - they definitely achieved that.

Please keep in mind that the episodes are more like short movies. All are around 40 minutes long and I wouldn't rec splitting them up in between.

The intro and outro are nothing really noteworthy, there's also no content really after the ending so you may just go on after the episodes are done...

If you struggle with dark themes, or gore, or emotional/mental manipulation, and the likes I might avoid the show. The second episode is especially heavy on the bloody, murdery aspects.

This is definitely a show for older anime fans. Some recommendations I can think of or cross-references - in case you need them - would be: Aoi Bungaku (retelling of old Japanese written classics), Kakegurui, Tomodachi Game, Mirai Nikki, Elfen Lied, Madoka Magica, Juuni Taisen. (& Yes, outside of Madoka I've seen them all). These mostly apply to episodes one and two!

[glorious-catastrophe]

hi. i'm currently reading the ill-made knight and feeling insane, so naturally i looked it up on tumblr to find the other sickos and saw your tags on some random "have you read this book" poll about queer lancelot and i just have to ask. is there, like, more of it? i honestly know pretty much nothing about arthurian legend in general, i just found out about this specific series and started reading it, but now i'm kinda hooked. on lancelot especially. what a guy. are there other interpretations of lancelot as being queer?? it's just so interesting to me if he's not just the guy who's fucking king Arthur's wife but is also in love with him too.

hi anon!

first off: i’m so excited that you’re getting into arthurian legends!! it’s a really cool field with some really cool stories :) i wish i could go back and re-learn everything over again

ill-made knight is the most well known arthurian retelling with overtly queer themes, so you’re off to a good start. if you’re looking for similar vibes, i would recommend the sword stone table edited by swapna krishna and jenn northington—it’s an anothology, so it’s got a bunch of queer retellings of arthurian legends (but it might be a little difficult to track all of the characters if you’re unfamiliar with the source material) i know there’s queer lancelot in the story flat white, which is in that anthology

coming out later this year, you have tristan and lancelot: a tale of two knights! i obv haven’t read it yet but it seems like a good introduction to the knights of the round table at large and morgan la fey!

if you’re looking for something other than books, try the album high noon over camelot by the mechanisms (i usually listen on spotify!) if you’re into the magnus archives, the guy who voices jon is in the band—hnoc is a mix of a radio drama and musical retelling of arthurian legends set in space. and they’re cowboys. honestly what more could you want

if you’re interested in learning more about the source material, i would recommend le morte d’arthur as a starting point! it’s like THE arthurian book for people who aren’t insane about the middle ages and cant translate old english and old french. some serious academics are weird abt le morte for various reasons but it is a REALLY good starter text (and lancelot is a bit of a tragic figure and it makes me weep)

if you’re more interested in source material/lancelot stories, start with knight of the cart! there are some good translations (and bad ones) out there—i would recommend a poetry translation over a prose (so it’s written in poem format) because i’m a translation purist but it’s really down to taste

if you’re looking for more source material with more of a queer leaning/playing with gender i would recommend marie de france’s lanval—it’s short and sweet and has some really interesting moments, but, unforch, no lancelot

i do have to put a disclaimer here and say that 1) i have unfortunately been involved more on the academic side of queer lancelot (and queer and trans medieval studies) to know what’s really popping off in the arthurian legends fandom these days and 2) i am one of those people who is insane about medieval literature and have done a research about medieval lit as a whole and so some of the recommendations here are not… fun in a traditional sense. but nevertheless!

OH ALSO if you’re interested in a story about a trans medieval knight, i would recommend yde et olive—it’s a french chanson de geste (if i remember correctly) and from the same literary tradition as most lancelot stories

if you have any questions about arthurian legends in general, feel free to shoot me another ask! i love talking about it and i would love to be a help! and if i think of any more recommendations to send your way, i will reblog this post and add them! happy reading!

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Super Manga Ch.1-4

What’s that?  Did you think we were done with Battle of Gods?  No, we need to go over it a third time.

So after the success of the Battle of Gods and Resurrection F movies, Toei began producing the Dragon Ball Super anime, while Shueisha began publishing the Dragon Ball Super manga.  Both started up around the summer of 2015, and both made the... uh... bold choice to retell the Battle of Gods movie.

The weird thing is that both versions have significant differences from the original story.  They don’t even agree with each other, and I don’t understand what the point of this is.  The basic plot points are the same, but the details change.  For example, Beerus wakes up in the movie and pretty much heads straight to the North Kai Planet to meet Goku.  In the anime, Beerus visits at least one other planet instead, and he decides to only destroy half of it because their food was good, but too greasy.  Then he destroys a second planet and the explosion reminds him of the Super Saiyan God premonition. 

In the manga, he visits an alien planet, and the locals try to poison his food, but it doesn’t work.  One of their dishes is named Soup D’Saian Gahd, which jogs Beerus’ memory of his premonition, and he destroys the entire planet, not just half like he did in the anime. 

My whole beef is this: Who is this for?  A lot of times, you’ll see a movie come out, and there’ll be a novelization, and maybe a video game, and maybe a comic book or something.  They might vary in content, but mostly because not everyone had access to the final script.  I’ve heard that in the novelization of Empire Strikes Back, Yoda is described as being blue, probably because the author didn’t know they had picked green when principal photography began. 

But the point is that those are different media, with different priorities.  With Battle of Gods, we have an animated movie, and animated TV series, and a comic book that resembles the art style of the movie as closely as possible.  The implication is that all three need to be the same, and yet they’re frustratingly different in minor, nitpicky ways. 

To be sure, the classic Dragon Ball anime and manga had differences, but for a reason.  The anime would pad out scenes and invent whole new ones to sustain its production schedule while the manga was being published simultaneously.  Here, that doesn’t apply, because you have a TV show and a comic book adapting a two-year-old movie.  Also, there seems to be no interest in making both versions agree with each other. 

So let’s explain how this works.  You see Akira Toriyama’s name listed all over the DBS manga, but his involvement is pretty minimal.  When they list him as “author”, they mean he’s the guy who created all the characters.  It’s like when they put “Based on Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry” on every episode of Star Trek.  Gene’s been dead for over thirty years, and even before that, it’s not like he was writing all the scripts.

Instead, the DBS manga is written and drawn by Toyotaro, a different artist who was chosen by Toriyama.  As I understand it, the formula for Dragon Ball Super is this: Toriyama will come up with a plot outline, then send it to Toyotaro, who expands it into a full story.  Toyotaro is an extremely controversial figure in the Dragon Ball fandom, mostly for high crimes such as “drawing the Dragon Ball comic”, and “existing”. 

For my part, I gave up on the DBS manga when it became apparent that it wasn’t going to do anything I wasn’t already getting from the anime.  But after the anime ended, Toyotaro finally got to tell original stories like the Moro and Granolah arcs, and that’s why I decided to finally read the manga this year.  Unfortunately, it means I gotta wade through a bunch of reruns to get to the good stuff. 

I suspect Toyotaro was similarly frustrated with this arrangement, because his Battle of Gods adaptation is very short--only four chapters long.  And there is no Resurrection F adaptation at all, which is lucky for me.  I think Toyotaro was champing at the bit to get this series moving, and in the meantime, he managed to work in some new additions where he could.

For instance, chapter 1 pretty much follows Goku’s POV from Episode 1 of the anime.  We see him doing exercises while Goten drives his tractor, but Toyotaro also shows him imagining his old enemies while he does his drills.  This is handy, as it gives Toyotaro an excuse to put Cell in the manga.  Also, I find it kind of amusing that Goku’s training regimen is exactly the same thing his real-world fans do on the playground.

Vegeta is barely in this thing, save for the part where he fights Beerus on Bulma’s cruise ship, so Toyotaro puts in some side panels of the guy, like this one of Mr. Satan trying to give him his award money.

Or, this one of Vegeta learning the Bingo dance he did in the movie, but not in the anime.  He also doesn’t do it in this comic, either, as the manga version skips over most of the party.  All we get is another panel of Vegeta lamenting that he didn’t get to show off his dance. 

We also get this page where he explains who Beerus is to the others, while also covering the flashback to when he first met Beerus as a child.  I really like the way this comic is laid out.  I don’t enjoy a rushed re-telling of Battle of Gods, but Toyotaro definitely does a great job with the assignment he’s been given.

The only new plot element here is the introduction of Champa and Vados, who are destroying planets while Beerus searches for the Super Saiyan God.  They don’t want to alert him to their presence, but fortunately he’s too busy to notice them.  The only ones who do notice are the Elder Kai and Kibitoshin, who deduce that Champa is looking for the Dragon Balls, but not the ones on Earth.  Accordingly, Kibitoshin goes to New Namek to collect their Dragon Balls, thinking this will foil Champa’s plan.

Then it turns out that’s not what it was about at all, so Kibitoshin uses the Namekian Dragon Balls to dissolve his fusion.  So now he’s Kibito and Shin again.  This would be reflected in the anime, when we see these two in the Universe 6 arc.  So I’m guessing this was thrown into show how that happened.

Meanwhile, Champa destroys a Frieza Force ship just as it locates a Dragon Ball.  So apparently the Balls Champa are looking for are a third set.  According to Garana, the commander of the ship Champa destroyed, these Dragon Balls are enormous.  The Frieza Force’s leader, Sorbet, is more concerned with the disappearance of another platoon of his troops.  This convinces him that their only hope is to resurrect Frieza.

Meanwhile, some sort of Battle of Gods happens.  Goku turns into a Super Saiyan God, but he can’t beat Beerus, yadda yadda.  In the movie, Beerus blew up a small piece of the Earth to satisfy his word.  In the anime, Beerus faked falling asleep so he could spare the Earth without looking like he’d changed his mind.  Here, he just decides to spare the Earth, at least for the time being. 

So yeah, that’s about it.  The art is great, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.  These four chapters are saddled with recapping a movie while also setting up events in Res F and the Universe 6 arc, neither of which needed a lot of prologue to begin with.  I mean, seriously, Resurrection F starts with Sorbet deciding to wish back Frieza.  The Universe 6 arc starts with Champa arriving on Beerus’ planet and stating his business.  It’s not that complicated. 

[withlovelunette]

Matryoshka Doll & Wooden Soldiers writing update #1

I'm here to share some excerpts from the first chapter! You can find the WIP post for this story here if you want a more thorough introduction, but it’s essentially a retelling of Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King with elements of steampunk and magical curses weaved throughout. This post is pretty short because I’m a bit picky with my own writing, but I hope you enjoy regardless!!

So the first chapter is mostly dedicated to establishing the situation/setting, Clara’s character and her relationship with her mother. For context, Clara’s been sent off to go live in the city with her godfather, Drosselmeyer, and this is the opening paragraph!

Clara Stahlbaum never defended her mother’s state of mind, lest she also be labeled a hysterical woman. She’d packed a single suitcase and taken the first train out of Marburg’s countryside, not to pursue womanhood nor stardom the way her mother had, but to “seek respite”, as her father put it. Very few traveled further north during the month of November. Winter’s reach had expanded with each year, powdering the land in white to claim every valley and pine forest as her own. Godfather Drosselmeyer would regularly report on the local rumors within the city in his letters–about the snowflakes acting as spies for a fairy queen further north, or that a vengeful curse had overtaken the land–and Clara read each and every one of them as thrilling stories before bed. Such rumors aside, the harsh winters didn’t frighten her, but spring had never felt as distant as it did now, as Clara steps onto the locomotive that will plunge her deeper into winter’s grasp.

Honestly, I’m always very unsure of how to start a story, and I’m still not completely sold on this first paragraph, but I think it functionally does what I want it to do, so I’ll probably rephrase and restructure it in a different draft.

This is just a random excerpt that I sort of liked:

Her mother had always said that to get all the strands of Clara’s hair slicked back and neatly assorted into a tight bun was an undertaking, as if her hair refused to comply with the disciplines of ballet, her hairline embellished with golden baby curls in defiance. In her mother’s absence, Clara had wondered if her hair would refuse to be slicked back into a bun ever again.

I will probably move this part to a different chapter at some point ^^;

Here’s an excerpt of Clara reminiscing on the train. It’s a continuation of the previous excerpt except I have no plans of moving this part (for now). 

The scene of her mother bowing on stage as the applause drowns out all other sound, even her own heartbeat, is fresh in Clara’s mind despite its age, onlookers tossing out fresh bouquets of camellia and sealed yellowed envelopes to proclaim their admiration for the prima ballerina. Such admirers had remarked how Clara was the spitting image of her mother. She believed that anytime she watched her mother’s performance, she’d been staring straight into her own future, and she held onto that promise with pride. But then her mother’s hair grayed, her eyes sunken in, and her skin clung to her bones in a way that could only be considered flattering on a young woman. The convictions that once made her attractive and lively made her difficult to work with, the perfectionism that once made her brilliant made her controlling, and Clara could no longer aspire to such a future.

Initially, I want to present Clara’s retirement from ballet as if it was something she did by choice to avoid her mother’s fate, because that’s exactly how she copes with her injury (which is the actual cause behind her early retirement). She’s mentally trying to reframe her retirement as something she did by choice, rather than something she did out of necessity, because she already has a bunch of reasons she could have chosen to retire early.

That’s all I really had to share from the first chapter since I’m still reconstructing it, but I hope it wasn’t too short/long of a read! I’d love to make a post about character creation or constructing character psychology or something along those lines one day, so maybe I’ll do that if it’s something people would be interested in? Or anything fairytale related, let me know!

Tag list: @sam-glade @strangerays @writing-is-a-martial-art @amywrites256​ @eurydicefades​ @serenanymph

Let me know if anyone would like to be removed/added to the tag list for writing updates and additional content for this wip!

[vilithshaven]

Hi can you do a part two on Giyū Tomioka x Human Reader x Malleus Draconia? Pretty much, the Hashiras found a passage way to Twisted Wonderland and ended up in Night Raven College. Y/n was then called to the Headmaster’s Office when she got there, she saw something more like somebody she expected to see.

A DRAGON AND HASHIRA'S FIRST LOVE // PT. 2

Part 1

Back at NRC, (Name) felt a mixture of relief and regret. She felt bad for Giyuu, but it wasn't like they were going to see each other again. Unbeknownst to her, she has unexpected visitors in Crowley's office. Ones that Malleus does not seem so fond of.

Words: 3,198

Here is your part 2!

I feel really bad for Giyuu, I love him I promise. I'm not meaning to bully him, he just..isn't so lucky.

Hope you enjoy~

-Vin

Malleus and Lilia listened to (Name)'s retelling of what happened in the other world, from her waking up in the forest, how she got her wounds, her few days spent at the makeshift hospital, her trial.

She got it all off her chest as the two rebandaged her wounds, Lilia chirped in with weird questions that she did not know the answer to while Malleus just grinned and was glad she was safe.

"Tomioka was really nice, he's the only one who didn't want me killed or hurt in some way."

The way she spoke of this unknown man irritated Malleus a bit, though he refused to show it. He has enough discipline to not succumb to such petty emotions when he knows they won't ever see each other again.

Lilia giggled at his plight and decided to press the woman for more information.

"So..was he handsome?"

Malleus flinched causing a little rip in the bandage he was currently holding, (Name) gave a nervous laugh and waved Lilia off choosing not to answer the question.

(Name) wasn't blind nor naïve, she could tell that Giyuu felt something for her despite their short time together. At first she just assumed he was simply shy, but it became obvious when all he did was blush and stare at her.

She hoped he found someone in his life, he was a genuine man who deserved to live a happy life in her opinion. (name) would not pursue something with him because it would never work out, they're both from entirely different worlds. And asking your partner to move across the country was one thing, but move into a whole new world? She couldn't do it.

Besides, they didn't have the advanced technology that she was used to.

"I think I'm all bandaged up now!" (Name) hurried and stood up ignoring Malleus's whine of protest. She thanked them both and left the dormitory heading towards Ramshackle.

Her face was red from embarrassment as she made her way to her dormitory, the nightly chill snapping her from her thoughts as she hugged Lilia's spare jacket closer. Malleus first insisted upon using his, but seeing the piece of clothing envelope her form entirely, they made the wise decision to go with Lilia's.

Walking through the gates of Ramshackle, (Name) felt a sense of serenity wash over her. She was finally back home, as run down as it is. Dead trees littered her yard, the grass a sickly yellow, one could easily tell the run down state of the dormitory and it's not like she hasn't tried to fix it up, but she was only one person.

Her footsteps were loud against the cobblestone pavement, all she heard along with it was the cries of crows. The spooky atmosphere would've scared anyone else but she was used to it. But as she made her way to the door of her building she heard a loud crash inside making her jump. (Name) calmed herself down and opened the door, figuring it was from grim or one of the ghosts inhabiting her dormitory.

What she saw was something she didn't expect,

Ace and Deuce looked up to her in shock as if she came back from the dead, they were kneeling down with a bunch of her stuff surrounding them and a spell book open. (Name) cocked her head to the side in bewilderment. The pair just stared at her for moment before running up to her and yelling.

"How are you here?!"

"We're so sorry!!"

They cried out making (Name) smile slightly, she patted their heads when they bowed down and moved her attention towards the mess they made.

"So..what are you two doing with all my stuff?" She questioned.

Ace and Deuce both gulped and gave a nervous laugh.

"You see..We found this spell to bring you back!"

"But it required some of your DNA"

(Name) grabbed the book they were using and saw the spell they were looking at, it was a reincarnation spell.

"Did you think I died?" She deadpanned

To be fair, she almost did but they were going about this the wrong way.

"Well look at you!"

"We weren't that far off!"

They both exclaimed as they saw her current state, wrapped in bandages with cuts on her face.

(Name) sighed and dropped the book, picking up her stuff to bring back to her room.

"Are you..going to tell anyone?" Ace gave her a nervous smile.

The woman only gave a coy smile before disappearing to her room, she wasn't going to tell anyone but that doesn't mean some people didn't already know. She can only pray for them if they run into Malleus or Lilia one day.

Throwing her stuff in a random corner to deal with later, (name) shrugged off Lilia's jacket and changed into proper pajamas, making sure to be careful with her bandages as to not rip them off. Though her wounds weren't deep, there were a lot. Her skin was still swollen and red around each one of them, making laying down in her bed slightly difficult.

She slowly positioned herself to sleep, even the slightest pressure from laying on her side making her wince. Typically grim was here for her to nearly choke in her sleep but he probably went to another dorm while she was gone. Seeking comfort (Name) grabbed Lilia's jacket that was thrown on the headboard and snuggled it against her chest. The comforting scent of the Diasomnia dorm easily lulling her to sleep.

The cleanup in Kagaya's estate was coming along nicely, the lower rank slayers stuck with the painstaking clean up. Though they all grumbled when doing repairing the wall and cleaning up the fallen trees, it made the process much quicker.

The Hashira's were inside discussing to one another about the event, some were in disbelief while others (Sanemi) only got angrier.

"Tomioka-san said he'd take all responsibility correct?" Shinobu clapped her hands, "Then we should punish him!"

Giyuu kept his head lowered and clenched his fists at her statement, only reminding him that he lost someone once again. He couldn't help the depressing thoughts that crossed his mind, it seemed the world had it out for him.

"I still wonder what this is" Said the flame Hashira, holding up her left behind phone.

The others were examining it one by one before he got it, passing it down in a row. They all had no idea what it was or what it did, they pressed the buttons on the side and bottom but to no avail.

"Maybe it's a heirloom?" Mitsuri guessed.

"Usually heirlooms are something useful, this is trash. Not flamboyant at all" Uzui responded, clearly uninterested in the item.

Rengoku then passed it to Giyuu who was beside him. Taking the phone the water Hashira looked it over as he gently cradled it in his hands. He still had this one piece of her even though she left him.

His eyes watered as he reminded himself of how alone he was, he only had mementos of those he loved. He brought the phone closer to his chest and kept his head tilted down to avoid being seen as tears leaked from his eyes, he could feel them trail down his cheek and to his neck.

Some of the other Hashira's noticed his breakdown but kept quiet, choosing to ignore it and look away.

Suddenly a bright light emerged from the device making Giyuu gasp and hold it away from him, the other Hashiras became alarmed and made him put it on the ground as they prepared for another attack.

The white light only got brighter till it enveloped the whole room making the current occupants shield their eyes away from it. No one said a thing until they were all gone. The room became empty as the light died and disappeared.

The next day in NRC, (Name) and Malleus walked side by side through the campus. He had come to Ramshackle and insisted on rebandaging her wounds again much to her embarrassment.

While he did just that, (Name) watched him. She was sitting on her bed and he knelt in front of it, his fingers occasionally gracing her skin. This angle gave her the chance to inspect his horns more. The ridges carved into the black horns elegantly curved to a point, they looked rough but when she had grabbed onto them, they were hard and dense but felt smooth like marble.

In the end it reminded her of his dragon form. It was the first time she'd seen it and she couldn't help but be in awe. Malleus was so beautiful then, the black scales on his back and head fading into a toxic green on his stomach. They'd felt surprisingly smooth underneath her touch.

"Your dragon form...it's really beautiful", (Name), not realizing she'd spoken her thoughts out loud.

His hands froze in mid-motion.

Malleus felt his face heat up at her words, never being told them before. Most people were scared of him just from his tall stature and horns. The only one to have seen his dragon form was Lilia, though he had said something similar, (Name)'s words held a deeper meaning to him.

There's no doubt in his mind anymore, the one human to accept his dragon form must be his soul mate.

These thoughts kept his frozen until (Name) noticed and snapped him out of it by motioning her arm up, attempting to finish the wrap herself.

"Thank you." Malleus spoke sincerely, a loving smile on his face as he continued wrapping her arm.

(Name) blushed realizing what she had said and looked away from him. Silence filled the room as he finished.

Afterwards they both decided to walk to their classes together, taking their sweet time to enjoy the weather. (Name) soaking it in as much as she could, blissfully forgetting the chilly forest that night.

Her peaceful moment was interrupted by a sudden shout of her name. Turning her head she saw Grim barreling towards her with a cry.

"Where were you stupid human?!" He slapped his tail against her chest as she held him.

"You left me alone! I could've died without being fed tuna!" His huff made her giggle, knowing he deeply cares about her despite his tough act.

She brought the cat closer to her chest hearing his slight purrs, the comforting sound making her smile and nuzzle her nose into his fur.

"Hey human! No mushy stuff!" Grim pushed her back and crossed his arms.

(Name) hummed turning to Malleus who was smiling at the scene.

"Oh! That's right I was supposed to tell you something" Grim remembered.

The woman tilted her head as did Malleus, he didn't even know she was back till now, how could he have something to tell?

"That cheap crow wants you in his office"

His words alarmed her, wondering what Crowley could possibly want. He shouldn't have any idea that she went missing, Ace and Deuce had informed her that they told everyone she was out sick during her time missing.

(Name) slumped her shoulders, already not looking forward to this meeting. A foreboding feeling consumed her making her stomach turn.

"I shall accompany you" Malleus spoke up noticing her anxious state.

Relief filled (Name), his words reassuring her. She sent a smile up to him and linked their arms together before directing them both to Crowley's Office.

"You can't just leave me again!" Grim shouted and followed the two.

As they stood in front of Crowley's door, the pair could hear a bunch of shouting and banging. Malleus became alarmed and stood (Name) behind him in order to shield her from any potential danger.

(Name) wasn't as alarmed as the voices were vaguely familiar to her, the angry shouts..enthusiastic yelling..something about flamboyancy...oh.

Oh no.

(Name) stepped back bringing her hands to her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart, how did they get here?! why are they here?! Was this why she was called?! Her mind raced with all sorts of questions.

Malleus looked back at her and grabbed her hand, squeezing it to give her some reassurance.

"Do not worry, I will protect you" He stated.

His smiling face calmed (Name) down a bit, knowing Malleus was more than capable of doing so. Squeezing his hand back she gave him a firm nod and put on a brave face. She took a deep breath as Malleus opened the door and entered through.

"Oi! You birdbrain! You're not listening to me!"

The familiar angry shout by a certain scarred man caused (Name) to flinch slightly, recalling how he was about to beat her to the ground just the day before.

Crowley's door creaked letting everyone know of their arrival, all of the Hashira's eyes widened upon seeing her. Mitsuri gasping when seeing her hand intertwined with Malleus's.

Crowley clapped his hands standing up and greeting his two students.

"(Name)! These people are your guests! They wanted to see you." His voice gleeful as he informed her of her demise.

The woman scanned the room and gripped Malleus's hand tighter, if it was anybody else she would've been worried she'd break it.

"(Name)..."

Giyuu's soothing voice reached her ears, only to see his eyes directed at her and Malleus's hands.

The fae noticed this and kept her hand in his when she started retreating, smiling at the opposing man.

Obanai suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at Malleus.

"You're a demon, aren't you?"

Both Malleus and (Name) widened their eyes at the Hashira's actions. His fellow slayers suddenly noticing Malleus's horns did the same.

"Oh?" Malleus gave a light laugh.

"A demon would be far nicer than my kind."

He brought a hand up to cover his mouth hiding his fangs while (Name) tried to diffuse the situation in a panic, not wanting any violence. She looked over to Crowley only to see him standing there with his hands clasped together, his signature coy smile on his face.

The room quickly grew chaotic as everyone as shouting over one another, Giyuu trying to grab (Name) and bring her back to protect her from the "demon" but Malleus kept shoving her behind him denying the other male access.

(Name) was quickly getting overwhelmed by everything, she could no longer understand what anyone was saying anymore. All of their voices blended together and her vision started to slightly blur.

Out of panic, she reached up and grabbed onto one of Malleus's horns, gently tugging it down in an attempt to get his attention.

"!!" Malleus froze at her sudden action, his back bending towards her in an uncomfortable position. He did not dare to move away as he was in shock, touching a fae's horns was an intimate gesture between lovers and family. The thought of her as his lover making him blush intensely.

The room grew quiet once the others noticed what was happening, it was like she was taming a beast.

"Okay uhm..how did you all get here?" (Name) wondered.

She didn't know what had caused Malleus to grow silent, she had panicked and grabbed his horns in an attempt to take control of the situation because clearly Crowley wasn't going to do a thing.

"Your thin metal box!" Rengoku exclaimed, his voice as loud as ever.

(Name)'s head tilted before she remembered her phone was left behind in their world, though she still doesn't know how her phone teleported them here.

"Yes! A bright white light suddenly from it and next thing we know, we're in this strange building." The love pillar backed him up.

Malleus stayed silent as he got his composure back, hearing the woman's word made him remember that he had casted a spell upon (Name)'s phone some time ago.

His entire demeanor changed when he realized he was the cause of them ending up here.

"(Name)...I had wished to see you again..and it lit up." Giyuu tried walking towards her, his steps hesitant as he observed Malleus.

(Name) shoved the fae behind her as best as she could, considering his tall stature.

"Tomioka.." Her voice softly spoke.

Reaching her hands up she grabbed the device out his hands, noting how reluctant he was to let it go.

The water pillar attempted to reach out for her hands when she pulled back, only for a pair of gloves hands to grab his instead.

A mocking smile looked down at Giyuu making him glare.

"I would appreciate it if you left my fiancé alone" Malleus spoke up.

'What'

(Name) choked on her own spit.

'His fiancé? since when? He didn't even propose! We aren't even dating!!'

She froze up as her mind raced, not understanding why Malleus said such a thing so openly.

"Your..fiance?" Giyuu's voice broke.

He couldn't believe it.

He didn't want to believe it.

Another person he loved is taken away, it's like everything he loves leaves him eventually. He had no idea.

"N-no! fiancé what?! Malleus!!"

(Name) snapped out of it and tried to drag Malleus's arm back, her protests fell on deaf ears as everyone tried processing the information.

Malleus refused to budge and yanked his arm, making (name) fall against him.

"Oh well congratulations! Though I do think the both of you are a bit young.." Crowley muttered the last part to himself.

No! This is crazy, Malleus!" (Name) shouted and struggled out of his hold.

She ducked under his arm, squeezing out of his tight grip. Her hair a mess from the ordeal.

"I am not his fiancé! He isn't even my boyfriend!" Giyuu perked at her words.

"(Name)." He grabbed her arm, pulling her to him.

"Please return with me." Giyuu pleaded.

The two stared at each other in silence. Deep blue eyes holding a longing she's never seen before.

(Name) felt shame wash over her as she hesitated to answer. Obviously her answer should be no, but she could not help but feel slightly bad for the man. Her inner debate tearing her apart.

Malleus noticed her hesitation and went up to the pair. He grabbed (name)'s phone that was pocketed and started to activate the spell once again, changing the destination.

Before (name) could answer she was picked up and thrown outside into a pair of awaiting arms. Looking up she saw Lilia smiling down at her, his expression showing that he was slightly peeved at how this unraveled.

"What are you doing?!" One of the Hashira's yelled out.

Suddenly the phone was thrown back to Giyuu who caught it, the same bright white light surrounded the group once again before they all disappeared.

All (Name) saw was Giyuu's sad smile aimed towards her before he was gone.

"You know, he was pretty handsome!" Lilia giggled.

The woman in his arms looked up to him dumbfounded as Malleus shortly joined them bidding a goodbye to Crowley.

"Well, we have lots to talk about." Was all he said before leading the way back to his dormitory.

(Name) laid in Lilia's arms as he floated behind Malleus, wondering what the hell had just happened.

She's definitely making sure Ace and Deuce pay for this later.

[tuulikannel]

My WIPs

@solarsavoy wrote about her wips, and that got me thinking about mine. Unlike her, this isn’t so much to show you what my goals are, but what kind of plotbunnies are bouncing around in my brain at the moment…

Well, first of all, there’s of course those wips I’m already posting, and hopefully finishing some day soon(ish). Stress the word hopefully… >_> Caught Between, a Hikaru no Go fic with intersex Sai, and All the Gifts, Assassination Classroom fic inspired by The Girl with All the Gifts (which has been facing something of a writer’s block for a while, but good news for the readers: I started writing this again yesterday!)

Then, the unpublished wips (that are stealing all my attention). Don’t hold your breath waiting for any of these, though… they'll happen. Some year.

Untitled Assassination Classroom/Danganronpa crossover #1 I’m pretty excited about this one, but also slightly terrified. I mean, I’m afraid this fic’s going to be huge (in size, that is), and I technically know where it’s headed, but I’ve no idea how to reach that ending yet. ^^; I also have way too many characters in my hands (all assclass characters + all characters from the 3 DR games…) How many different povs can you have in one fic? I’ve now written some 6k of words, and I’m still far from what I consider the starting point of the fic. >_> It’s all just background stuff so far.

The starting point? It’s this: “Under the broken moon, Junko Enoshima laughed.”

(I feel like that sentence is a bit… overly dramatic or something, but I just like the image. XD)

Untitled Assassination Classroom/Danganronpa crossover #2 which is in fact a Koro Quest/Despair Dungeon crossover. I personally like this idea a lot and I’ve a clearer view of the plot than with the first crossover. I’ve written most of the first chapter, but the previous plotbunny’s demanding my attention right now…

Trying to come up with a title for this, I created one kinda in the style of the ridiculously long Victorian chapter titles: The Epic Tale of How Students of Two Grand Schools Set Aside Their Differences and Joined Forces to Combat Despair. Then, just for the sake of procrastination, I put that through several layers of google translate, and it turned into this: Breakups aside, a good story about two high school students struggling with depression.

Therefore, I’m thinking of this fic these days as Breakups Aside, just fyi. A working title? It has nothing to do with the plot, but so what.

And then there is Toilet-Bound Nagito-kun. Umm, does this need any explanation? xD Hajime has a wish, that’s all I’m saying about the plot. If you’ve played DR2, I’m pretty sure you know what that wish is. Something he’s desperate enough to realize that he’s sneaking into a girls’ bathroom in the middle of the night after an urban legend. This was inspired by a short clip on youtube. Don’t watch the video if you’ve not played DR2! No spoilers for Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, the clip’s from the very beginning of the anime. Here it is.

I thought this fic would just be a pointless, short one-shot, but now that I’ve reached what should have been the end, the characters suddenly want me to take this seriously, and I don’t know where I’m going with this anymore. >_> We’ll see.

Then, there’s two more additions to Mythologica (assclass retellings of various myths, that is) that for now exist only in my mind:

Helen of Troy which is nothing but a rom-com. Here’s the cast: Kanzaki as Helena, Sugino as Menelaus, Isogai as Odysseus, Ren as Paris of Troy, and basically the rest of 3-E guys (apart from Nagisa and Karma) as her other suitors. Oh, and Maehara is Penelope, i.e. Odysseus’s love interest. XD

Then there’s a very short ficlet idea with Hazama as Medusa. Inspired by the song Medusa by Heather Dale.

And some sequels:

The Haunting of Kunugigaoka, continuation to blind alley. Again, something I really want to write, but it exists only as a bunch of random ideas in my mind, atm. It’s not even a wip yet…

A sequel for Chika-go, crossover between Hikago and Dresden Files, still untitled (what a surprise!) I’ve only written very little of the beginning, and this is unlikely to be ever finished… but I like the first fic a lot and would love to write this someday. Hikaru returns to Chicago years later with Akira, just to find out that a lot has changed.

And oh damn, I’d forgotten about this one! A Dresden Files fic about Thomas. I seem to have written over 7000 words of it… I really have to finish this someday. There’s less than half left to be written, anyway.

That’s it, I guess? There might be some other random things, but they’re so unlikely to ever be realized that it’s not worth it to talk about them.

[orlissa]

February reading summary

Another month has passed, so it’s time for another book round up :)

In February I managed to read 8 books (and had one DNF). Altogether, altogether, I’m at 16 individual books read this year, which is pretty good considering that my goal is 50 books by the end of December.

But now let’s see what was on the menu for this month:

Rob Sears: The Beautiful Poetry of Donald Trump -- Just to make it clear, this is not a poetry collection written by Trump XD No, it’s a poetry collection edited together from stuff he has said, which is nothing short of brilliant. Like, the author(s) when through everything he has said, and rearranged them in a way that they mean something (every line is annotated, bwt). It’s just simply funny and even poignant at some places -- a “poem” especially stayed with me, where what he said in the Access Hollywood Tape (”grab them by the pussy”) was juxtaposed with a pre-prepared speech about the horrors of domestic abuse and rape.

Jenna Evans Welch: Love & Gelato -- Overall a nice coming of age story about a girl, who, after the death of her mother, moves to Italy to live with her father she’d never even met before, and then discovers Florence through her mother’s diary written the year before she was born. I love Florence, so it was a treat to me in that aspect, but I did feel like that author didn’t really know the place (the characters were complaining about the lack of AC, lack of American fast food, bad internet...), and I think the present-day romance was a bit stupid (the author clearly wanted to parellel the past/the mother’s romance with the present/daughter’s romance, to make the point that the daughter is not making the same mistake, but that wasn’t exactly what she ended up doing). Plus I read the Hungarian edition, and there were some seriously issues with the translation.

Mary McMyne: The Book of Gothel -- Easily my favorite book this month. I went in expecting a Rapunzel-retelling from the witch’s POV, and I got so much more, a lamentation on wise women’s situation, on magic, the occult, Christianity, and Christian mysticism in the 12th century Germany. Wow. Absolutely recommend.

Liz Braswell: What Once Was Mine -- DNF. Sigh. So after The Book of Gothel, I decided to go with the other Rapunzel story on my list. This book belongs to the Twisted Tale series, which is basically standalone novel of Disney What ifs with a dark twist. I read the Mulan one some time ago, and that was absolutely phenomenal (in that one Shang gets injured in the mountains instead of Mulan, and as he is dying, she goes down to the underworld to bring his soul back), so I had high hopes for this one. Yeah... it didn’t work out. The whole book is framed as a 16 years old guy telling the story to his twin sister while she is getting chemo, the language/narrative stlye is all over the place (sometimes it’s all jokey, sometimes it very serious and old timey, but nothing like how a 16-y-o kid would speak), we keep switching back to the hospital room which breaks the rhythm, and for some reason it takes place in the real world, and apparently Elizabeth Báthory is the bad guy? Yeah, I gave up after about 10%

Cory O’Brian: Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes -- There were only two reasons why I finished this book: 1, I didn’t want to have two DFN’s right after each other, and 2, it was a quick read. It is supposed to be a funny, modern retelling of myths (not just Greek, but from all around the world), making them widely accessible and weeding out the classism aspect surronding them, and it even started out promisingly when the author talked about Joseph Campbell’s work in the preface. But then... Sigh. It’s endless dick jokes, misogyny, and low-key racism (e.g. the African section has three myths, and in the section preface the author talks about how hard it was to choose these three, because there are just so many different myth. Yeah, dumbass, because Africa is a whole continent with a bunch of cultures. He could have just chosen to focus on, let’s say, Yoruba myths, he could have avoided this).

Katharine & Elizabeth Corr: Daughter of Darkness -- Solid YA fantasy based on Greek myths (but not a retelling of them). In a world where the tyrant Orpheus reigns over most of what we know as Greece today, some people are being marked by the gods--they get a fraction of the power of the god who marks them, which mark appears in early childhood, after which they are brought to and raised in Houses; after their training is complete, they are to work there for forty years as indentured servants. Deina, our protagonist is marked by Hades, and there is nothing she wants more than freedom--which seems to be within reach when Orpheus is looking for volunteers for a quest, which turns out to be going down to the underworld to retrieve his queen’s soul. I really enjoyed the early/worldbuilding parts, and the last couple of chapters after the twist(s), but the middle part--where the characters were traipsing through the underworld--did drag a little. The characters were generally very interesting, and although the authors built a bit too much on secrets and the twists coming from these secrets being revealed, and the romance aspect felt a little weak, and it went really dark, and I mean really dark by the end, I actually enjoyed it a great deal. It was the first part of a duology, with the second one coming out in July I think, and I’m pretty sure I’m gonna read it.

Karen Cushman: Katherine, Called Birdy -- I downloaded this book when I saw the trailer for the movie back in like September, then promptly forgot about it. Anyway, so it’s the fictional diary of the daughter of a 13th century English knight, on the cusp of adulthood, chronicling her daily life for a about the span of a year. It’s delightfully medieval and modern at the same time, in a sense that the narrative focuses on the realities of everday medieval life, while Birdy... well, Birdy is being a teenager with an attitude that that reflects the attitudes of modern teenaged girls. Really funny and thought-provoking, an absolute delight.

Natasha Bowen: Sould of the Deep -- Sigh. Nope. No comment on this one. 

Sasha Peyton Smith: The Witch Haven -- YA fantasy set in New York, 1911, with the driving force behind the narrative being the murder of the protagonist’s brother. It started out really strong (like, it’s almost as if the first two-three chapters were written by a different author), but the rest is a little (a lot) all over the place. The book is somehow about too much and too little at the same time, trying to virtue signal and address everything, but in the process making most of the characters unlikable and just underdeveloped, swmming in a mess of a plot. But I did like Oliver, the protagonist/her brother’s childhood friend, who depicted as a model of gentle masculinity. Also a duology, but I don’t think I’ll read the second book.

[liaromancewriter]

Delaying the Inevitable

Premise: This is a retelling of the diamond scene from book 1, chapter 5 when Ethan and MC are in the private box at the baseball game…from Ethan’s perspective. 

Book: Open Heart

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x F!MC (Cassie Valentine)

Rating/Category: General. Fluff

Words: 2.5 K 

A/N: I’ve also often wondered what they talked about as the game unfolded and the sun sunk lower in the sky. Characters and some of the dialogue belong to Pixelberry. Be kind, hit the like button or comment.

-----------------------

Ethan Ramsey could think of at least 10 other things he could be doing than spending the afternoon at Fenway Park with a bunch of vultures from Banner Health. He had been distracted by a certain intern who was completing paperwork on the other side of the nurses’ station when Harper had asked him to accompany her to this meeting at their private box. He’d said yes without meaning to and now he was stuck.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Harper hadn’t been pulled away for an emergency consult at Edenbrook. He would have just let her do all the talking and nodded or added a word here and there when required. Now, it was all on him and he would rather have a root canal without anaesthetic. He knew he was stalling when he ordered one more drink before heading upstairs, but he frankly didn’t care. It was one more moment that he could use figuring out what he was going to about his intern problem, namely one intern – Cassie Valentine.

Ever since the night they’d stayed up to watch over Dolores’s baby, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his mind.  He’d thought that what he’d felt the first moment he’d seen her was a fluke, but after Dolores he couldn’t keep lying to himself. Something was happening and as the more experienced party it was up to him to stop it. He just didn’t know how. All these years of seeing interns come and go and all it took was one to shake his world. On top of what was happening with Naveen, he just couldn’t…

“Dr. Ramsey? What a small world.”

Ethan inwardly flinched as he heard the familiar voice break through his thoughts. He looked up to see Cassie walking toward him, looking entirely too appealing in a sports jersey and shorts.

“Some might say too small,” he said, finally looking up to meet her eyes.

She smiled at that. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m merely doing what all doctors do…delaying the inevitable.” He said the last few words almost in a whisper.

 “Wait…what?”

She looked confused and he didn’t blame her. What was he doing? He looked around making sure no one from Banner Health was nearby as the entrance to the private box elevator was just behind them.

“I was invited here by the executives of Banner Health.”

“The health insurance company?”

“The administration is negotiating our contract renewal with Banner,” he explained. “Chief Emery insisted I accompany her as they essentially bribe us in their private box suite.”

“You and Chief Emery are up in a box? Cool!” Cassie’s cheerful reply was Ethan’s undoing and an idea started to formulate in his head.

“Well, it’s just me now. Harper was called back for an emergency, so I’m fending off the vultures on my own.” He could feel his frustration leaking. “They’re trying to butter me up with lobster, fine wine, all the ridiculous luxuries they can afford. It’s terrible.”

“Um, that sounds pretty alright to me,” she looked at him quizzically as if she wasn’t sure what the issue was.

Ethan sighed deeply. “It may surprise you to hear. I’m not one for…schmoozing.”

At that, a huge grin broke across her face and he could see the mischievous sparkle in her green eyes. “You? Noooo…”

He wondered if he was losing his mind but made the ask before he could stop himself.

“As much as it humiliates me to ask a favor of an intern…would you…join me upstairs?” He pushed when he sensed she might be getting ready to refuse. “I won’t keep you long. I just don’t think I could survive with them on my own.”

He breathed a sigh of relief when she agreed to be his wingman or wingwoman, he supposed. He led her to the elevator before she…or he… could change their minds. Soon they were upstairs standing at the entrance of the luxurious box, the team from Banner Health standing near the buffet, drinks in their hand while other guests spread out across the couches and cushioned stadium seats watching the activity in the field below.

“I could get used to this.”

“God forbid,” he muttered but he wondered if he wasn’t being an ungrateful ass. To an intern who was 200K in debt, it would certainly appear that way. It wasn’t that long ago when he was in her position.

The view of the game from the box was spectacular and it wouldn’t hurt to take a few moments with Cassie after their business was done. After all, he didn’t want to her feel like he was using her without any benefit. She might never get a chance to enjoy something like this.

“Here.” He poured her a large glass of an expensive looking malbec. She looked like the type to appreciate red wine. He poured one for himself too and raised his glass in a toast. “To surviving the insipid people in our industry without having an aneurysm.”

Cassie didn’t salute his toast, taking a sip of her wine instead. “I don’t know what you’re complaining about. Great view, great wine, lobster and steak at a baseball game? This is the life!”

“That’s what they want. To seduce you. To convince you to think like them. Don’t let become about the money.”

He hoped she wouldn’t. She had such a brilliant mind and an empathy for patients he hadn’t seen in many years. He couldn’t let her be taken in by the perks and incessantly needing to please their insurance overlords while leaving patient care behind. He’d seen too many good doctors lose their way because of it.

“Of course, it’s not about the money.” he watched her take in the view. “It’s about the patients. But I can enjoy the perks, right?”

“Of course, you can. I encourage you to milk them for everything they’re worth.” He smiled as she raised her glass in his direction. “I’m just warning you. I’ve seen too many good doctors change their priorities. Doctors who would’ve sworn they’d be the last to do such a thing.”

“Ethan! Ethan, there you are!”

Ethan forced himself to smile as he turned to the Banner Health executive that had called out his name.

“You have a terrible poker face.” She grinned as she said it.

This time his smile was genuine. “What do you want from me? I’m a doctor, not an actor!”

He quickly explained to Cassie what the hospital wanted as the executives walked over. She nodded once and then he was introducing her to the group.

“She is one of our most promising young doctors. The next generation of medicine, in fact.”

He watched her charm the executives, being polite and attentive; he couldn’t have been prouder. She deftly got him out of a tee time, and he could have kissed her just for that. He glanced at her briefly and for a split second he let what he felt for her show – approval and maybe a hint of something more. She met his gaze, unblinking, before turning her attention to the executives.

Soon they were exchanging numbers and Ethan found himself surprised once again when Cassie turned into a ruthless negotiator. She talked about percentage points, pay for performance, value-based reimbursement and better rates on cardiac services. Every time someone from Banner Health talked about monetization, she pivoted the discussion to deferring the cost of patient care and made it seem like the idea came from the executives themselves.

She really was the next generation of medicine. He couldn’t remember a single intern having enough knowledge of business, let alone turning the tables on a national insurance carrier in their first few weeks on the job. He found himself once again wondering about the puzzle that was Dr. Cassie Valentine. He tuned into the conversation as the negotiations appeared to have reached the end and he found himself shaking their hands.

Before he knew it, he and Cassie were alone. “Good job squeezing them at the end.”

“Our patients would have suffered otherwise,” she answered as if it were obvious. It was to him, but it was nice to hear someone else share his perspective. “So, we’re done?”

They were, but he didn’t want to let her go just yet. “With the business, yes. Though I suppose we could stay and enjoy the game for a while.” Please say yes, he thought.

“I have some time before my friends expect me back.”

“Can I get you more wine?”

“Yes, please. Pinot noir if they have it.”

Ethan made his way to the bar, ordering a scotch for himself and red wine for her. He saw her texting as he walked back with their drinks and wondered if she was giving her friends an update. He hoped she kept him out of it. The last thing he wanted was to be part of the hospital gossip grapevine. He placed the wine glass on the table in front of her and took his seat, turning slightly toward her. She was smiling as her fingers ran over the screen.

 She put the phone away and took a sip of her wine. He knew what was coming when she beamed at him. For some reason seeing each other outside the hospital was making him think they could be different people. For one hour he wanted to believe that they had met under different circumstances; in this one he wasn’t her boss, and she wasn’t almost 10 years his junior.

“One of our most promising doctors.” The mischief was back in her eyes.

“Stop.”

“The future of medicine.” She was laughing at him and he let her.

“Well, I couldn’t very well introduce you as a colossal pain in my ass, now could I?” He teased back. There was something about her that brought out the smart aleck in him. Before he knew it, he was asking the question that had been nagging him all day.

“Why have you not entered the competition for the fellowship?”

“Were you hoping I would?” How did he know she would turn this around on him? The skillful way she’d managed the Banner Health executives had been eye opening.

“It’s unbecoming to flatter yourself, Rookie.” He used the nickname thinking how he hadn’t had one for any other intern before her. Whenever he used it, he was reminded of when they first met.

“You were hoping, weren’t you?”

“Not in the slightest. It’s a mystery, and I cannot resist a mystery. Nothing more.”

“I think you care because we’re becoming friends.”

“Absolutely not.” He denied it even as he knew it was true. They were becoming friends and, at least on his side, maybe something more.

“You’re just delaying the inevitable.” She smirked as she played his words back to him.

“…As all doctors must.” He grinned. He couldn’t help himself. Something about her made him years younger.

“Will you answer another question for me?” He said after they watched the game play out on the field below them. His curiosity about her was in full force as he thought back to the discussion with the Banner Health reps. “How do you know so much about contract negotiations? It’s not a standard course in med school.”

He watched her as she thought about his question. It wasn’t a complicated one, but for some reason she seemed reluctant to answer him. She watched him over the rim of her wine glass and then appeared to come to a decision.

“No, it wasn’t part of the standard curriculum at John Hopkins, but it was at Wharton.”

He stood still at that. There was only one reason why someone would go to Wharton and it wasn’t for a lark.

“Before I was accepted to med school, I was finishing my MBA in international business at Wharton. It’s a Valentine family tradition, I’m afraid.”

“What made you change careers?” He was impressed and intrigued at the same time. Cassie Valentine was a mystery, and he would get to the bottom of her.

“You did.” Her cheeks were flush as if embarrassed, but her green eyes never wavered from his. “I read your book and it was like the world suddenly made sense. Your papers on systemic amyloidosis, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, spinocerebellar ataxia…You inspired me to go to med school.”

“Flattery, Rookie? I know I’ve told you before I can’t be bribed into favoring you.” He heard the sincerity in her voice, but he wasn’t ready for things to be serious between them. He wanted the light-hearted banter from earlier.

“And I believe I said, you already do,” she laughed and finished her wine. “You better hope you don’t run into my grandfather. He hasn’t forgiven me for turning my back on the family business and he blames you completely.”

“Oh?” This was the first time she had mentioned her family, not that he had given her opportunities to do so before. Their roles at the hospital meant there was a barrier between them, one that he had encouraged because of his initial reaction to her.

“In my family, we take tradition and loyalty very seriously. I’m now the black sheep and it’s all your fault.” He knew she was teasing him, and he couldn’t help but smile. He had likely smiled more today than in the last few weeks and it was the Cassie Valentine effect.

“Should I watch my six?”

“And your three, nine and twelve. Valentines don’t mess around.”

Her phone pinged before he could respond. “It’s my friends. They’re wondering where I am.”

“Yes, of course.” He knew he should let her go. They’d been up here a while and he needed to head back to the hospital.

“Thank you for the assist, Dr. Valentine.” He knew he sounded stiff, but it was time to put the barrier back up again.

She smirked at his tone but followed his lead. “You’re welcome, Dr. Ramsey. See you later.”

They walked back to the elevator and he pressed the call button. When it came, she stepped inside and turned to face him. He kept his eyes on hers as the doors slowly closed and didn’t realize he’d been holding his breath until she was no longer visible.

It was going to be a difficult year no matter how he looked at it.  

Post A/N: Last minute entry for @choicesfebchallenge​

Tag List: @mrs-ramsey​ @genevievemd​ @anntoldst0ries​ @perriewinklenerdie​ @justanotherrookie​ @starrystarrytrouble @jamespotterthefirst​ @the-pale-goddess​ ​

[nightwingmyboi]

Dick Grayson Comic Recs

I’ve been getting an increase in requests for comic recs, so I finally caved and decided to list a bunch of comics and series I recommend about Dick Grayson and put it all in one convenient place. I also wrote out a little description/review, to try to give people an idea if the comic sounded appealing and they wanted to check it out. Some of these are just single comics, others are some series to check out, pretty much in chronological order. 

Robin: 

Robin (1993) Annual #4: One of my preferred Robin origin stories. Fairly solid characterization, and a more reasonable timeline for events than other tellings. Provides an inside look at Dick’s thoughts during this time. 

Batman: Dark Victory #9-13: All of Dark Victory is excellent, these are the issues that Dick appears in. It could be considered another Robin origin story, though it is not solely focused on Dick. Everyone is characterized very well, especially Dick. The plot is very engaging, involving Two Face and a crime family, along with tracking down Zucco. As the name implies, it is a bit grimmer than your usual retelling. 

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet: Dick has been training to be Robin, and he thinks he’s finally ready, but he has to pass Batman’s final test--to keep away from him for a whole night. Of course, the test goes off track, and Dick soon finds himself the target of a ruthless mob boss, his deadly gang of thugs, and the GCPD. Batman chases after Robin, trying to save him before it is too late. 

Robin: Year One: This is a four issue run that gives you a snapshot of the time where Robin is just introduced in the crime fighting scene. It features villains like the Mad Hatter and Two Face. The art style is really fun and dynamic, and we get to see Bruce and Dick start to figure each other out. Lots of Alfred as well! 

Scarecrow: Year One: Another fun look at Dick and Bruce’s relationship, a little further along the road. Dick is very small and cute, and has also basically become Bruce’s therapist lmao! Not a great Scarecrow origin story though.

Legends of the DC Universe #6: The first time Superman and Robin meet. An absolutely delightful team up, I still have cavities from reading it because it is just so sweet. This one is so good, read it. 

Teen Titans: Year One: A short little origin story for the fab five (ie Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin). A cute introduction to the original titans. 

The New Teen Titans (1980) and (1984): Forming the Teen Titans was a really important part of Dick’s development as a superhero, and some of his best stuff is when he is in a team setting. This run has the team you’d be more familiar with if you watched the animated Teen Titans show: it has Raven, Starfire, etc. Dick decides that he is going to leave Robin behind in issue #39. 

Nightwing: 

The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract: This is the infamous run where Terra betrays the Titans. Dick dons the name Nightwing for the first time in this run (discowing style), and goes off with Joey Wilson to save the rest of the Titans from Slade and Brother Blood. 

Batman #416: Dick meets Jason for the first time, and eventually the two bond over beating up some baddies. 

The New Titans (1988) #55: You can read this series too for some Titans action, but even if you don’t you should skip over and read issue #55. It shows how Dick reacted to Jason’s death, and how Bruce and Dick had a huge falling out. It’s heartbreaking to read honestly. 

Nightwing (1996): If you want to read Nightwing, it’d be best to look at his solo run also. It starts with him moving to Bludhaven, and continues from there. If you’re looking for Batfam cameos, I specifically remember issues #6 and #25 for its really cute brotherly Tim and Dick moments. Issues #13 - #15 have Dick and Batman working together. #105 and #106 have Jason (as Robin) working with Dick. There are a lot of solid Barbara moments throughout with her as Oracle. #138 is when he meets Damian for the first time. There’s a lot here, so I would just pick and choose the arcs that interest you, and go from there. 

Action Comics #771: Another comic where Nightwing and Superman team up. Sue me, I love their dynamic! 

Gotham Knights #17: Dick finally gets adopted in this one. 

Batman (1940) #615: This one is smack dab in the middle of the Hush arc, an arc that focuses on Batman’s relationship with Catwoman and a mysterious new villain named Hush. I like this arc of comics (they recently made it into a movie!) so if you want to read the whole thing it starts at #608. This is just one that features Nightwing a lot. I include it because I really enjoy the dynamic Dick and Bruce have. It’s good stuff. 

Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day #1-3: It’s fun to see Tim and Dick’s generations interact and deal with growing up as superheroes, and there is a lot of drama. Pretty important crap goes down in these comics: several people die, including Donna, and as a result Dick disbands the Titans. If you want to read Outsiders, you should really read this one first. 

Outsiders Vol 3 (2003): Dick is mourning Donna’s death and self-destructing, so Roy forms a team called the Outsiders--a team that is meant to be just business rather than a family. Dick is more stern and his temper is shorter than usual, but I think it is all pretty in character for him, especially since he is grieving. Highlights include Roy and Dick’s lovely relationship.

Teen Titans (2003) #6: Ok, I almost didn’t put this one on here because it is very self-indulgent, but I couldn’t resist. This series has the Teen Titans starting back up again without Nightwing, but in this issue he makes a little cameo. If you’ve seen those panels around where Nightwing lectures the Justice League? This is where it happens. He’s just really cool here. 

Batman: 

Batman #687-688: This follows the Batfam’s initial reaction to Bruce’s death, and how Dick begins to approach being Batman himself. It is technically an epilogue to Battle for the Cowl, but that doesn’t have to be read for these comics to be understood. 

Batman and Robin (2009): This is the series where we see Dick and Damian transform into people forced together who can barely tolerate one another, to some of the closest partners in the Batfam. They develop their relationship very nicely, and we get to see how Dick approaches a lot of the emotional and physical challenges that come with being Batman. Some of the arcs are good, some of them very much miss for me. 

Batman: Black Mirror: This is a collection of Detective Comics #871-881. I’d say these are  my favorite Dick!Batman stories ever. All the cases are very good (really chilling), and the characterizations are top notch stuff. Lots of Gordon, Barbara, and some Tim also. I won’t spoil who it is, but the big villain they have for this book is one of the best I’ve seen for Dick, an almost perfect foil in my opinion.

Batman: Gates of Gotham: A good story, it’s interesting to see how Dick interacts with his siblings as Batman. I think this may be one of the first times Cass and Damian meet, though I’m not positive about that. 

Just as a heads up, I’ve left out some significant events and this isn’t an exhaustive list on everything there is to know about the character. These are just some comics I enjoy. I hope they help you get a start on who Dick Grayson is, and how he figures into the Batfam and the larger superhero community.

[therainbowwillow]

https://therainbowwillow.tumblr.com/post/639917088173113344/alright-its-been-a-hot-second-since-ive-written -Part 1

Okay, Hadestown Fanfic With Crossovers Where Orpheus’s Terms are Different and Also ✨Olympus Drama✨Part 2/???

I think my greatest struggle in writing is... posting it. And deciding on a consistent plot. That too. Expect changes. Edit: Well, well, well, there’s a draft feature on this website? I might just migrate to Tumblr.

I may make an overview post at some point so you don’t actually have to read this. A long TL;DR probably, because it is written by Miss What-Is-Concise. My TL;DRs need TL;DRs of their own. Anyway, I’m rambling, so let me actually get started.

Preemptive:

-Orpheus is Apollo’s kid in this version, as he is in many retellings. He is raised by Hermes.

-Hermes works for Hades, bringing souls to the underworld. He resides away from Olympus to fulfill said duties.

-Dionysus’ parentage is by Persephone and Hades. (Because there’s no way Persephone’s screwing Zeus in the other room. Also this is his more underworld-connected family ties.)

-You drink from the River Lethe, according to some ancient authors, to forget your past life. And if Virgil can blatantly rip off Homer, I’m stealing ideas too.

-Would you look at that? This “short” AU fic is expanding by the minute. Hades and Persephone’s are true to the musical and that’s about it at this point.

Eurydice drags Orpheus to his feet. He leans against her. “Eurydice...” he mumbles. “I... I’m so sorry.”

“I signed my life away. That wasn’t up to you. We need to get going.”

Orpheus nods. “Why’s he letting us go? I don’t remember... anything really. I sang. Then I...” he turns away. “It felt like I was sitting in a fire. I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t think. It was unbearable.”

“I’ll never let them lay a finger on you again.”

“You didn’t answer me. Why’s he letting us go?” he asks, softly.

“He’s not,” Persephone mutters. “He wants you to fail. Then he’ll have a canary for his mines.”

Orpheus shudders at the thought. “My song... I thought... Persephone, I think I rewrote every note a hundred times. I lost the love of my life for that melody. And... it failed.”

“Just walk, okay? Please. Once we’re out of here, none of it matters,” Eurydice pleads.

“H-how far?” He’s almost afraid to ask. The original walk had been a grueling task. This one, he thinks, might be a hundred times harder. Whatever Hades had done to him... the effects hadn’t faded. Eurydice must already think he’s a selfish, naive, worthless idiot, he’s certain, so he plans to stay quiet. Unless it gets bad. Only if he needs to tell her, he decides.

“A mile, maybe a little more,” Persephone replies. “We’ll rest in my old greenhouse. It’ll be a roof over our heads at least. Don’t look back,” she warns. “Hades’ servants will follow us. Don’t give them a reason to think we’re afraid.”

Eurydice wraps and arm around Orpheus’s waist. “Tell me if you need a break.” He nods.

———————————

Hades sinks into his office chair. A painting of his wife hangs on the wall. He’s posing at her side. They’re smiling. She’s holding a bouquet of flowers. He rises and storms over to the portrait. He rips it of the wall and it crumples to the ground, torn in two.

He glances out the window. He’s viewing his realm from the highest point in Hadestown. The landscape is as flat as a sheet of paper. No hills, no mountains, only rivers, flowing by some force that is not the gravity of the overworld. His tower is the only peak. And the smokestacks of his factories.

This is his realm. All of it is his. Every inch of dirt, every scrap of metal and gemstone beneath the ground. Every sullen face of every tortured worker who’d sold his soul away. The wall is his too. And the Styx, which wraps it 7 times over. He’s a king and his castle is protected by the highest of palisades and yet... that boy... that son of Apollo had taken it all from him. What is a king without his iron fists? Now he had shown softness, now he’d shown weakness. A crack in the wall will bring the whole structure down, he thinks to himself. But what else can he do? Persephone is his wife. She is *his*. To imagine a thousand winters and springs and summers without her...

The underworld is lonely. He cannot lose her. But he cannot let the boy escape. Nor his lover, nor his traitorous workers. If he shows them an inch, they’ll take a mile. Worse, the traitors were right. Orpheus is alive. Orpheus is not his. That poet is all that stands in the way of his kingdom. And like any barrier, he will fall. How? Hades wonders. How can he kill the boy, break his spirit and punish him without losing Persephone? What blinds his wife? he asks himself. That silly little song had manipulated him, taken hold of his heart like alcohol. And Persephone loves it. She believes, truly believes, that Orpheus deserves to live for the very reason he must die.

Hades slams his fists against the window. Perhaps she was right. He ought to follow in his brothers’ footsteps. Forget his wife. That simple action would be enough to fix everything. If he let her go, she’d have nothing to hold over him. He wouldn’t be her puppet. He’d kill Orpheus, chain up the boy’s foolish lover and send Achilles and Patroclus to the darkest mines, and force them to work day and night apart from each other. Sure, the bunch of them would whine like kenneled puppies, but he could take their cries. They’d forget everything if he could get them to drink from the Lethe. Orpheus would be easy. Threaten his pretty little muse and he’d be scrambling to his knees. Eurydice would be nothing without her poet. Achilles would resist. He’d fight a millennia before he or his lover bowed before their king. But they too would fall.

Only Persephone stands in the way, he knows. He likes to imagine he has her under his control. But he knows it’s a lie. The food of the underworld she’d eaten, it didn’t confine her as well as he’d hoped. Sure, her time above ground would be made unbearable, but she would still be out of his grasp. She could leave. She would leave. He knows her threats aren’t empty. So he’ll find a way around her. He needs her to come back. Without Persephone’s warmth, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

He watches the crowd of shades begin to disperse and it dawns on him. Orpheus gives them hope, but he makes them afraid. How many deceased reside in Hadestown? It’d take a hundred thousand mortal lifetimes to count. And how many had stepped forward to help the poet boy? Two. Among that crowd, he knew, were great heroes. Heroes who once resided in Elysium. And still, only two shades had betrayed him. Two out of a trillion. Hades smiles. He won’t need to kill Orpheus. One of his workers can take the fall. Even Achilles won’t succeed in standing against an army the size of his. And Hades will win. His wife will see that some dead man has killed the singer to appease his king. She’ll suspect, but without proof, what does she have on him? Eurydice will see she has no choice. Once the boy belongs to him, Orpheus is his to manipulate. She’ll be trapped. Achilles, for all of his strength, is nothing alone. Without his dear Patroclus, he’ll give in. And so Hades plots.

————————————

Hermes, god of roads and messages, receives word of his adoptive son’s predicament with astounding speed. And he fears for Orpheus. But Hermes guides souls to the underworld, to Hades. To betray the king of Hadestown by helping the boy would be to lose his work and by extension, his freedom to live on the railroad. Without an excuse, he’d be back on Olympus, listening to Zeus and Hera’s endless bickering, watching Ares and Aphrodite humiliate themselves, and helping Dionysus comfort Apollo over the death of the mortal pretty boy of the week. And they wonder why Artemis avoids the damn place at all costs. In fact, he’s stuck on Olympus right now, called to the counsel by Zeus? Athena? He can’t remember. Some mortal breaking some rule.

Orpheus is more important than the meeting. His messenger had interrupted the counsel meeting to bring him word of the poor boy’s situation. He’s not sure how to cover this one up. No one was meant to interrupt important matters as this. Plus, he’d given the kid directions straight into Hadestown, which was the opposite of what his contract with Hades had said. He wasn’t allowed to barter for the return of mortal souls and he wasn’t allowed to assist mortals in doing the same.

“Hermes!” Zeus booms. “What is the meaning of this?”

He rolls his eyes. “Begone, messenger.” He slips a note into the man’s hands: ‘Tell Orpheus I’m coming.’ “Nothing, father. Just... matters of work. You know how Hades is. And don’t get me started on Thanatos! I’m late by half a second and-“

“Enough! I’ve half a mind to banish you from this counsel.” Hermes smiles. His excuses have succeeded.

Dionysus laughs, considerably beyond tipsy on his own wine. “You mind if I go too? I’m sick of this awful alcohol and I’ve got something far better back home.”

“Dionysus, wasn’t there an agreement we made?” Athena inquires, icily. “You cannot come to our meetings drunk.”

He smiles. “Well, you see,” he snaps his fingers and shakes his head, washing away his intoxication. “I didn’t come drunk. I *got* drunk while here.” He raises a flask and shakes it, refilling the canteen instantly. “There’s a difference.”

Athena grits her teeth. “Father, one more of these counsels and I swear...”

“And husband,” Hera pipes up, “We were going to address that nymph girl you’re always hanging around?”

Zeus flushes a deep shade of red. “Out. All of you. We’re done here.”

Hermes rises, forcing himself to keep his composure, at least until he’s out of sight. He steps into the sunlight that dazzles Olympus, treks the road to the edge of the mortal realm and... “Hermes?”

“Gods have mercy,” he mutters. He turns. “Apollo.” The god is puffy-eyed, probably from crying. Even Hermes had to agree, his latest lover had been gorgeous. Hyacinthus, was his name, if he remembered correctly. Apollo himself had called the counsel to beg for mortality when the boy had died and he hadn’t found another for what? Seventeen years? Spare for Orpheus’s muse mother, of course. Still, this was unusual, even for Apollo’s mellow dramatic self.

“You’re afraid.”

“Don’t... don’t do that, would you?” Hermes snaps, recoiling. “Yeah, yeah, medicine and all, but I don’t want you telling me what I’m thinking.”

Apollo dips his head in acknowledgment. “It’s my son, isn’t it?”

Hermes shakes his head. One word to Zeus and... all Prometheus did was hand over a spark. This was treason. “No, just work.”

Apollo tilts his head. “You’re lying.”

“What cause would I have for lies? I cannot keep Hades waiting, now.” He whirls away from Apollo’s gaze.

“Perhaps... treason?” Apollo inquires. Hermes’s eyes widen.

“Strong accusations.” He forces his voice not to shake.

“I won’t turn you in.” Liar, Hermes thinks. He wants to get on Zeus’s good side. A chance at getting his lover boy back.

“Correct. You wouldn’t have anything to turn me in for,” he tells the son of Leto.

“Orpheus’s wife... no, fiancée. No... I don’t know! The girl. She’s dead. Orpheus’s song is a failure. I heard it from Olympus. Lovely, really. But not nearly enough to convince Hades to let her go. Nothing is.”

Hermes turns again to face his half-brother. “Keep your voice down, would you? If Zeus hears a word of this-“

Apollo cuts him off. “And you helped him. You broke your contract and you know Hades better than anyone, other than Persephone, if they still talk these days. He’s crueler than he once was. They say Elysium itself is no more, that there’s only Tartarus now. You’re afraid of his wrath. And you’re afraid of Zeus. He’ll punish you too. You saw what he did to Asclepius. Struck by lightning for treason against Hades. And that was before this... winter,” he says, softer now.

“I don’t want a lecture, Apollo. What do you want?” Hermes glares at the god.

“I want a deal.”

Hermes narrows his eyes. “What kind of deal?”

“You break me in to the underworld-“

“No. I’m in enough danger as is.”

“Hear me out.”

“I said no!” Hermes steps back onto the road. Apollo grabs his wrist.

“I can get you out of trouble. Dionysus!” The wine god steps out of the woods.

“I’m due to visit my mother. Hades won’t prevent me from entering his realm, I’m his son,” Dionysus explains. “You and Apollo are there on Demeter’s ask to learn why Persephone is late. You, because you’re the god of messages and Apollo because he was available, on leave from his duties to mourn.”

Hermes groans. “The walk is far. Even if you’re me. Days on end of moping and drunken ramblings for a plan almost certain to backfire? I said no.”

Apollo smiles. “Then I’ll turn you in,” he says simply.

“You won’t. Orpheus is your blood. You’d put him in more danger. He knew of my contract and he let me break it. You’d add a charge against him. And it’s me. You cared once, didn’t you?”

“You know I would. You said so yourself. I visited the poet boy twice, maybe. And you? Ask yourself: when was the last time you optionally visited Olympus? But Hyacinthus, I loved for years. If I turn you in, I’m one step closer to him. On Zeus’s good side again.” Hermes shifts on his feet. “It’ll be good to have a doctor at the boy’s side too, seeing as your instructions just about starved him to death.”

Hermes glares at him. “Don’t.”

“You know it’s true. So? Let’s go or you trade places with Prometheus.”

“Fine,” he mutters, through a clenched jaw.

“Good. Now, this is on our terms, Hermes. I will aid your son because you’ve always been good to me and because he is my blood. If he gets in my way, he belongs to Hades.”