ravenqueennn

[ravenqueennn]

saving fics for later

august fanfic recommendations!

this is indeed going to be a series. check out july's recommendations!

(also, feel free to give me recs! i'm kind of picky, but i promise to look at what you suggest before adding it to my 80 tabs of fics hehe. rec your own fics if you want 😎)

some of these fics are rated e!

sakuatsu

Take My Hand (Take My Whole Life Too) t. 6.1k. sakusa gets hung up on the idea of indirect kissing and indirect hand holding and becomes enamored by the idea of holding atsumu's hand. lovely prose, sakusa is insane in this (affectionate) and atsumu is very loving.

Watching You for Love t. 6.6k. sakusa moonlights as a dj and atsumu finds him out. THIS FIC!! amazing prose and imagery, and sakusa falling for atsumu is also beautiful. please give it a shot <3

Hall Pass t. 6.8k. sakusa and atsumu discuss one another's hall passes and sakusa gets hung up on why atsumu's is saeko. i admit, i still don't know what a hall pass is despite reading this, but it depicts a somewhat jealous sakusa and saeko kissing atsumu, which is more than i could ever ask for.

atsumu, atsumu, let down your hair t. 7.1k. sakusa and atsumu move from fwb to being in a relationship but it's hard to be domestic after being physical. we love healthy communication in a relationship in this house.

the 28 postcards you left me t. 8.3k. after breaking up, atsumu leaves postcards for sakusa in animal crossing. this hurt to read, especially with how in love they were, until they weren't. there's a happy ending, though <3

The Jacket In Your Closet t. 8.6k. once upon a time, atsumu gave sakusa his newly purchased jacket because he saw him uncomfortable in a crowd. atsumu's forgotten about it but sakusa never did (and continues to have a crush on him).

stuck between a rock hard place, or something m. 10.4k. atsumu starts popping boners whenever sakusa opens his mouth. hilariously written and sweet <3 this made me so glad that i like girls because the way sakusa is described here is just. wow. he really is attractive. good for atsumu.

Situated Motionless in the Center of the Heavens t. 15.1k. "For a very long time, Atsumu could barely stand Sakusa. And can you really blame him? It’s Sakusa, the human equivalent of the feeling you get when you bite into a chocolate chip cookie and realize with profound disappointment that it’s actually oatmeal raisin instead." if that doesn't convince you, just know that atsumu is dense af but he ends up realizing his love in the end.

From Afar t. 17.4k. i could probably make a list of skts fics where sakusa has some kind of ability and intends to keep everyone at arm's length until miya atsumu ruins everything. the ability that sakusa has in this is unique and plays into his mysophobic tendencies beautifully. the way he and atsumu compromise with his gift is a delight as well. just beautifully written overall <3

Again, until it's perfect. t. 18.2k. sakusa and atsumu accidentally pull off a minus tempo quick and they start practicing it. i read this after situated motionless in the center of the heavens, and let me tell you - going from dense atsumu to dense sakusa is so, so good. they're so dumb, i love them /affectionate

One Track Mind m. 18.8k. suna and osamu publicly break up and sakusa is left wondering if it's a good time to tell atsumu that he loves him. hilarious, introspective, with some spice. a perfect blend for an excellent fic <3

In Pursuit of Happiness t. 19.1k. modern magic au where sakusa works at a magic shop after selling his happiness, and atsumu is a pest trying to make him feel happy again. lovely worldbuilding and slowburn!

Better Find Another Superstition t. 21.3k. 7/7. another modern magic au where sakusa and atsumu are forced to work together to resolve an issue with the city's magic supply. hilarious prose, and very light-hearted with a cool magic system in the background. one of my favorites <3

how can I not be moved (by you) t. 26.4k. 3/3. an achingly beautiful magic au where sakusa runs an apothecary and atsumu is a warlock. the worldbuilding is rich and the slow burn is delicious. absolutely beautiful and fluffy <3

pascal's wager t. 34.1k. 6/6. a sakusa character study and his obsession with superstition from atsumu's pov. beautiful writing, lovely wingmen to help atsumu (gourd bless osamu, akaashi, and bokuto) and lovely prose <3

the awful daring of a moment's surrender m. 34.2k. 7/7. in which sakusa lies to himself that he wants nothing with atsumu but atsumu is persistent. beautiful prose (i read so much of this writer's works, they're all so good) and lovely ending <3

Teach Me, Tune Me, Tempt Me e. 38.8k. 10/10. sakusa asks atsumu to teach him about the many firsts needed to enter his first relationship. oh, the pining, the angst, and of course the smut was on point.

sunaosa

working backwards till it rhymes t. 4.2k. gin congratulates suna and osamu on their anniversary, except they aren't dating. or are they? hilarious prose and premise, absolutely loved it.

reasons to microwave an elixir t. 8.2k. university au, modern magic au, roommates to lovers galore. i absolutely loved the prose and how sunaosa developed over the fic. definitely one of my favorites!

you never have to wander, wonder t. 22.6k. suna is the cameraman for the twins' buzzfeed-like worth it youtube series. lovely, lovely pining and prose.

iwaoi

What spring does with the cherry trees e. 7k. pwp with lovely prose and so much love between iwa and oikawa. reading it made me feel soft and fluffy.

galaxies, within you t. 21.1k. makki and mattsun are the absolute best in this. i love the seijoh4's banter and friendship, and how iwa and oikawa eventually confess their feelings for each other. the prose is hilarious and beautiful!

bokuaka

35mm t. 20.9k. 3/3. another fic where akaashi and bokuto slowly fall in love through high school but more movies, akaashi is a movie buff, and lovely prose <3

other

but i am strong (strong enough to carry him) t. 5.3k. atsumu gets a call that osamu has a breakdown and he, aran, and suna comfort him. a beautiful brotherly fic and the helping hands around osamu.

A Full Stomach g. 6.9k. kageyama notices that hinata is eating less and less these days and intervenes. hinata protection squad arise! so much fluff to the hurt, my son deserves everything that karasuno gives him <3

if it's me, it'll be okay t. 9.1k. yachi discovers she's aromantic and goes through it. also, she's best friends with sakusa and it's the best thing ever. a lovely exploration of aromanticism, please give it a shot <3

city's on fire t. 10.5k. cyberpunk au where the twins can hack into memories and rewrite them. the worldbuilding is unique and the twins' relationship is achingly tender but painful with a happy ending.

An Opponent Is Announced g. 13.1k. sakusa has no idea who oikawa is while the rest of the jnt does, hence commencing a (non-serious) investigation into him. love the character dynamics and plot, just a fun, light-hearted read.

a best man's worst problems t. 14.1k. kagehina. tsukishima is asked to be kageyama's best man at his wedding and to give a wedding speech. lovely outsider pov of kagehina's blooming relationship through the years from one very exasperated salty dinosaur.

Safe & Sound t. 17.3k. 5 times kitagawa daiichi ignored kageyama's suffering and 1 time karasuno didn't. oh boy, this hit me in the face with the ANGST and then the comfort. emotionally prepare yourself for this (i wasn't, and my heart shattered in a million pieces).

Common side effects m. 89.9k. 16/16. kuroken. THIS FIC WAS SO GOOD. kuroo is a depressed 30 year old reconnecting with kenma after 3 years of silence. it depicts the monotony and depression of adulthood so well, and the cast is so loving and supportive of kuroo while he was going through it. please give this a shot <3

[ravenqueennn]

normalise being a teenage girl with an unhealthy obsession with the x reader tag

[ravenqueennn]

The apothecary diaries made me realize something very interesting about how women perceive power...

I can't be the only one who noticed that in stories written by women power is often compared to a prison or a cage meanwhile in the ones written by men it's mostly fun and freedom.

It is that women tend to see power as more of an responsibility and men think of it as the ability to do whatever they want?

The apothecary diaries made me think of it first. I discovered with surprise that I actually like the emperor, which I almost never do. Any guy that has relationship with more than one woman at once tends to disgust me, especially if he's in a position of power but for some reason not him.

Because the emperor is as much a prisoner as the 2000 women in the rear palace. Maybe even more because as long as he doesn't touch them, they're allowed to leave.

Like on one hand, he's the most powerful man in the empire. He calls the shots, right?

But on the other hand, he can't even properly protect Lishu from being sold to some pedofile by her father. The only way he could protect her was to make her his concubine and how f*cked up is that? She's like a daughter to him and the only way he could protect her was by marrying her? And then he couldn't even spend time with her anymore because that would be read wrong.

It's the fact that 3 of his children died because there was no proper medic to save them due to the fact that they don't allow non eunuchs to treat them and forbid women practicing medicine... when he doesn't even care about that. He hasn't blinked once at Maomao running around the inner palace and being a doctor.

At first when I was watching the story I thought of how horrible it was that he didn't even visit Lady Lihua after their son died. But then it made me think of how he's literally not allowed to get attached because of his position and how hard it is for him? The fact that he couldn't even provide enough support for Lady Ah-Duo so she doesn't lose her uterus? The fact that she switched their baby with his brother and he had to watch his son grow up "away" from him?

There's so much more to this, especially with Jinshis approach to power and I could go on an on but I think I made my point.

And when I started comparing the stories written by women to those by men... Women tend to write power as more of a burden than a gift.

After watching TAD I watched solo leveling.

And for those of you who don't know, it's basically a story about a guy who suddenly "discovers" that he's like a character in a game (not exactly but it's be too long to explain) and basically finds out that he has endless potential and over the course of the story he becomes the most powerful being in the entire universe.

And there's a moment where he's talking to his little sisters friend that gets very misread as something inappropriate by another character.

This other character points out, kindly, to Sung Jinwoo that the girl is a minor.

Sun Jinwoo doesn't understand so he just looks at him and asks "so?".

And so the guy immediately gets scared and never mentions it again despite the two of them being friends.

This moment is kind of played for laughs. Nothing actually happened, Sung Jinwoo is a good guy so he wouldn't.

But he could. Nobody could do anything to stop him.

And when I watched that I laughed too. But then I thought of how terrifying that is. To have someone be so above the law, this untouchable. Who can do anything he pleases because no one will ever stop him.

But that's never actually adressed in the show other than to show us how cool this is.

It this was written by Natsu Hyūga there'd probably be a million different situations to show us how fucked up this is and how it weighs on the main character.

In the apothecary diaries Jinshi doesn't even want to ask anything directly of Maomao because he doesn't want her to interpret it as an order.

[ravenqueennn]

I love how dance is integral to the apothecary diaries. It's things like that that remind me how important art is in every universe

[ravenqueennn]

Am I the only one who procrastinates shifting? Like I want to do it yet I still...put it on hold at times? Like girl what are you doing? Please someone understand or this would be very embarrassing for me.

[ravenqueennn]

(Spoilers) The story of Jinshi’s family only gets crazier when you think of how he and his father only have a 16 year age gap. Same goes for Ah-Duo. They’re both 36/37 and Jinshi is 20/21 (as of the latest light novel). So they would’ve been around 16 when the Emperor called her to his chamber and then she bore Jinshi. People get up in arms about Lishu being a baby in the beginning of the anime when she’s 14, Ah-Duo was only 2 years older when she had Jinshi. This makes it all the more tragic when you consider how Ah-Duo felt the Emperor disrespected her wishes and made her come to him though she only saw him as a friend. She felt he stole something from her and it changed their relationship forever but even she acknowledges that his freedom was taken away as well and he wanted comfort. Ultimately it’s a story of 3 young people who are thrust into a world of power and politics way too early, I think the difference here between Ah-Duo, the Emperor and Jinshi is that where they simply fell into their roles and have yet to figure a way to break them, Jinshi is fighting to remain his own person and not pull anyone else into the chaos that is the palace.

[ravenqueennn]

The way shisui wanted the last her sister saw of her to be her smiling.. I’m not ok

[ravenqueennn]

The Roof Dance: Maomao vs. Shisui

(Spoilers) While I don’t feel like the light novel presented Shisui’s exit as a prolonged “dance” like the anime did, I thought it was interesting how parallels could be drawn between her final dance and Maomao’s of the season one finale. Whether this is intentional or not, who knows, but I couldn’t help but think about it watching Shisui’s exit.

Both danced on a roof of sorts, under the stars, it was a send off (Maomao for her mother, Shisui for herself) and Jinshi was present for both. To me it’s the details in how they differ that are fascinating.

Maomao’s dance marks the beginning of her mother’s life as a wife and no longer a courtesan. Shisui’s marks the end of her life as the doll of the Shi Clan. Jinshi arrives at the end of Maomao’s dance and is able to catch her when she falls. He is present for all of Shisui’s dance but does not attempt to catch her, as he realizes her dance is the finale to her family’s performative end.

Their roles are also reversed. Where Maomao looks like a normal woman on a daily basis, she takes this opportunity to wear makeup and doll herself up. Shisui on the other hand is used to being presented as a consort so is covered in makeup, unmarred and beautiful but as she’s dancing she’s got blood on her and is dirty from the explosions.

To me all of this can point to the differences in the two women, where Maomao’s life is marked by beginnings and Shisui’s is marked by endings. Shisui is freed by her “death” and Maomao is freed by embracing the changes life brings moving forward. Just my thoughts, could be totally off but I kept thinking about it when seeing the final dance.

[ravenqueennn]

They took a week off just to come back with this Shishou/Shisui masterclass omg this was brilliantly executed. Both father and daughter are such tragically written characters who were willing to play the villain for the greater good. Tears in my eyes because This can’t be how my Shimao ship goes down man wtf 😭 Shisui deserved to be happy. Yea, Shenmei got her due, but at what cost..

I like how morally grey a lot of the stuff in this series is. Shishou’s a complex character because he did bad shit for a good reason in his heart, but then again he also let Shenmei abuse his own daughter and treat her like a slave for years. His love for Shenmei teetered on unhealthy obsession. Once it became clear Shenmei just cared about status and thought she was too good for him, he should’ve let her go. Easier said than done, but still.

At the same time, he was obviously conflicted between his commitment to his family(mainly wife) and his commitment to the nation. It’s like he set everything up for a final confrontation in the mountains between his family and the nation and whoever came out on top deserved to win, since he couldn’t choose.

Shisui’s part in all of this was incredible. It’s hard to believe this is the same carefree ditz we used to see hanging with Maomao 😢 For the first time in her life, she really got to do what she wanted to and stand up for what she thought was right. Even at the end, she tried giving her mother a chance to make the right choice. She knew she’d take the gun, she knew there was a chance she might pull the trigger, but she hoped her mom for once in her life would do the right thing. She didn’t. Pride was her downfall.

“If only you’d shed a tear, I wouldn’t have had to do all this” literally if Shenmei had just stopped and realized what and who she had with her, none of this would’ve happened. Crazy.

The snow dancing scene was one of the most beautiful in the entire series so far. The fluidity of Shisui’s movements, the haunting OST, the cuts showing the soldiers drawing weapons.. she knew scratching Jinshi’s face would seal her fate, but she accepted it. How ironic is it that in those last few seconds, that’s the freest she’s ever been in life..

Superhero movies and comics have conditioned me to not believe someone’s dead if we don’t see a body and they conventionally don’t pan over the castle, so if Shisui is out there somewhere alive and well and we just don’t see her for years.. I’d be ok with that. As long as she can finally be herself.

Ahhh my full Jinmao reunion next week is gonna be amazing. Maomao definitely saw Jinshi trying to touch her when she was asleep and they have a LOT to talk about now that the cat’s fully out the bag with him being the prince. The next episode title of “the beginning” makes so much sense because it does feel like this was all just the prologue to the real story and Jinshi x Maomao relationship taking the next step! Can’t wait s3 please 🙏🏾

Edit: Rewatched the ending and yea this series commitment to details is crazy because you see the sparkle of the ornament in the bush so you know she survived and dumped it. What a series and what an episode.

[ravenqueennn]

Something about Apothecary Diaries and the complexity of what it means to have a mother. Something about Maomao and her only memories of her mother being silence or a pain that has nothing to do with her but is reflected onto her anyway, and yet still engineering things so that Lakan, years later, would come to find and marry her. Something about all of the courtesans in the Verdigris House being like mother figures to Maomao, yet never paying attention to her when she cried. Something about Loulan doing everything in her power to not be a mother - taking drugs to avoid it, knowing that to have a child would be a selfish, cruel thing, even down to 'killing' the children who adore her. Something about Jinshi, and both of his mothers - the one who birthed him and the one who raised him. Anshi, and raising him to be mature and older than he should have had to be to be the opposite of his grandfather, the man who victimized her, and Ah-Duo, unable to be in his life because she chose to give him up. Something about mothers not being unconditional and uncomplicated; something about motherhood being absent, ugly, confined by circumstance or by past pain. Something about not wanting to be your mother; something about being too much like your mother. Something about how your mother haunts you regardless.

[ravenqueennn]

Cutting Maomao's inner monologue off in the balcony scene was a complete miss this episode AND IT'S HURTING ME

It minimizes and downplays the scene, and in my opinion, it's also the reason why the jinmao reunion feels plain, it did not reach the big impact that it had in the novel. Maomao spots Jinshi from the balcony and wonders if he's there to rescue her but immediately denies the possibility, it can't be him, it must've been an illusion because why would someone of his status come for someone as worthless as her? This directly connects to the next scene with Jinshi kicking down the door of the room where Maomao is, they stay in silence, processing what is happening, he's relieved to finally find her, she's relieved he's the one who finds her, it's really him, and after a moment she speaks and ask Jinshi to protect her, because she knows she'll be safe with him.

It's the little dialogues, the little details that add so much to the characters' development. Please go read the novels if you haven't, you're really missing out on things like this 🥹.

[ravenqueennn]

Tobio didn’t make fun of shoyo when he said he was a ball boy bc he fully supports his boyfriend’s wrongs.

also bc he would have done the exact same thing.

He would sneak into a camp uninvited, he would go to Brazil just to learn and get better at the sport. He’s just as driven, just as dedicated he simply had more opportunities. As in the chance to start playing vb and working towards his goals earlier.

I know the whole natural talent vs hard work discourse in this fandom gets tired so I’d like to avoid talking about it further but I still wonder how do so many people underestimate how dedicated Kageyama is to volleyball

when this is him

I do think the fandom is aware that kageyama is a volleyball freak but many don’t see him as inspiring in the same way they view characters like Hinata or Oikawa because his story isn’t told through an underdog perspective.

He succeeds really young and continues to succeed even bigger which often gets read as being handed things on a silver platter rather than perseverance.

In contrast we see oikawa struggle “for longer” he doesn’t make it to nationals, he doesn’t get everything he desires. So the audience feel for him, they project onto him. They admire him for “working harder” precisely because he doesn’t get to win until the very end.

Kageyama gets to Nationals, he becomes an Olympian at 19, wins countless time with his team. He even get to achieve his dreams of becoming Japan’s best duo with hinata when Iwaoi could never (I’m joking but not really)

seriously tho tobio’s success shouldn’t make his story any less compelling than Oikawa’s especially since they are basically two sides of the same coins. if you think oikawa’s arc is amazingly done? well…

More importantly the same qualities that people admire tooru so much for are traits tobio carries as well : they are both resilient, passionate, determined etc etc

Yes tobio has an advantage of playing vb since he was basically 0 years old but he also had a very challenging childhood, went though so much isolation and rejections, from not having anyone to keep up with him to losing his support system to his teammates abandoning him but he never once became discouraged or thought about giving up.

He always shows up at the gym to practice every single time despite EVERYTHING he went through.

It’s only a fair to note that Oikawa had his own kind of privilege. He always had his childhood friend by his side and never experienced the same kind of loneliness tobio did.

Kageyama’s serves are so amazing and that’s because it’s one of the few skills he could practice completely on his own. He became so good at serving because he didn’t have anyone to practice everything else with.

Oikawa also is naturally charismatic which makes it easier for him to communicate and connect with any of his teammates… a huge advantage for a setter and that’s something Kageyama inherently lacked. He had to work hard to develop those skills.

I could go on bc I do enjoy oikawa and kageyama dynamic a lot but I’ve talked too much already so here’s my favorite official art of tobio to ever exist

“kageyama who can afford to look up at the sky even in the extreme cold” FURUDATE LOVES HIM SM

[ravenqueennn]

watching ‘I’ll make a man out of you’ x the apothecary diaries edits is my new favourite drug

[ravenqueennn]

the thing that really kills me about all the new jjk art is that shoko is always there. they were a trio. just because she wasn't involved with protecting riko (aka the majority of what we saw in hidden inventory) doesn't mean that she wasn't there. shoko loved suguru and satoru. suguru and satoru loved her. loves. fandom can push her away all they want but it will never diminish the fact that shoko was just as important to satoru and suguru as they are to her. she was there. she is there. she loves them and they love her.

[ravenqueennn]

Whoever wrote Thunderbolts* really really gets mental illness in a way I’ve never seen before. Bob’s repeated suicidality, his feelings of guilt and worthlessness and self hate, how he always feels like he’s just a drag to other people, and how generally insecure he is especially around others, his antagonistic and confidence streaks, his memory loss, the general fracturing of his identity, the implied trauma from abuse, and just, everything with The Void. Everything. How it’s still Bob, but it’s not him, but it also is him, but it’s not at the same time and that it’s almost an independent entity in his head but it’s not. That it’s an internal separated and personification of all the parts he hates the most about himself, but that it’s also his self preservation. That it won’t let him die, that there’s probably some comfort in it, how he just got used to everything over time, and that fighting it just makes it worse and more intense and makes you lose yourself because that little part is still part of you too, how The Void had likely been developing long before the serums in his mind, and how it’s probably something that Bob still has to deal with everyday. Not that he’s fighting it all the time, but just that it’s there. He very likely has intrusive thoughts based on how it was talking to him in the shame room and my own experiences with one of these. I connected with Bob so, so much in a way that I never have before, he’s representation that I never had before and he’s so damn dear to me. There’s also the things that I don’t relate to but we’re also done extremely well, his mania and how it still has an underlying insecurity, his addiction struggles, the way Val manipulated him and attempted to groom him and how he pushed back on her, the way they showed the parental abuse, how you need more than one person in a support system, They just all got it so right. There’s so many subtleties and complexities I’ve never seen represented before, traits that I’ve never seen represented so well or even done at all before especially in such an unvilified and honest way. And the way Lewis acts it is just incredible. His expression work, micro movements and all the quirks he put into Bob are so good, he’s a phenomenal actor.

[ravenqueennn]

so disappointed in jinshi’s armour in the anime ngl

Reminder that we get to see jinshi in armour animated this week!

[ravenqueennn]

a good sailor will always return to the sea