#(i have been very found family this run by romancing no one but it'll fun to explore his character further)

[justsome-di]

The Fairest of All Stars Should Be Your Next Read: a presentation by Di, the author

The Fairest of All Stars is my most recent project! A sapphic romance, pirates, sirens--god, what else can someone ask for?

Stars is a fun, short novel. It's currently only being posted on Patreon, but you'll be able to read it for free soon(ish). This isn't an ad for my Patreon, I promise. It's just my system.

If you're not super into fantasy but like some elements from the genre--this is good for you. There's no big magic systems or other worlds, but there is lore behind the sirens.

You'll be able to read it for free in 2024:

On Patreon (join for free)

On AO3

Right here on Tumblr!

It'll be a good time.

Transcript of presentation under cut:

What's it about?

Are you in the mood for some lesbian pirate/siren romance? Of course you are! When are you not?

So, listen, we have Andy. Everyone’s favorite gremlin. She’s the captain of a pirate ship, recovering from not so great tropical fever that wiped out a good chunk of her crew.

One night, her ship comes across a siren tangled in fishing net, not doing so hot. Andy takes her aboard and while the siren recovers, learns a lot about her.

But uh-oh Andy is wanted by a Navy Captain, and he manages to find her ship after years of hunting.

--

Okay tell me about Andy and Syan

Andy:

Never meant to be pirate captain but here she is. Living the dream (not really).

Andy trusts very few people. Despite being brilliant, a brutal fighter and cutthroat at sea, she has a hard time running her crew.

Syan:

The runt of the litter. Not as strong as the rest of her choir, she got left behind during an encounter with fishermen.

She’s curious but prone to bad moods. She’s a loner looking for a place to belong.

--

More about them

Andy panicked years ago while cornered by Captain Bettridge and stabbed him through the hand. She’s been hoping to get her knife back ever since. Bettridge really wants her dead, though, so she has to be careful.

Syan and Andy would be pretty badass in normal circumstances but they’re poor little meow meows in this story

There’s another cool guy. His name is Pinkey. He’s the ship’s gunner. You guys will like him, I promise. He’s Syan’s bff.

Syan and Andy are immediately attracted to each other. Andy is a monster-fucker and Syan is into messy women who are hoarders and misplace everything under piles of junk.

--

Okay but tell me more about the story

Set in the Golden Age of Piracy, Andy and her crew come face to face with danger--mythical and imperialistic. There’ll be sword fighting and gun-wielding and all sorts of adventure.

It’s not really found-family, either, it’s more of like found tolerance.

Is this well-researched? No. Not really. But it’s fantasy, and it’s fun. We can make some excuses here and there.

--

*whispers* is there lesbian sex?

yes of course there’s lesbian sex you think Andy is going to pass up on that opportunity?

--

Can I read this anywhere?

Right now, the only place to read bi-weekly updates is my Patreon--but I promise this isn’t an ad for my Patreon.

I’ll be posting it for free once a substantial amount is up on Patreon. You’ll be able to find it on AO3, Tumblr, and you’ll be able to see it for free on Patreon once I made it public.

Keep your eye out for it! btw, you can also join my Patreon for free and get notifications for when the story goes public.

[fuckyeahgoodomensfanfic]

Good Omens Fic Rec: Ink Blots and Forget-Me-Nots

Ninth Circle Ink was hardly more than a stone’s throw from the flower shop; Aziraphale knew from past experience that it took less than thirty seconds to go from door to door (forty-five if you had to wait for a car to pass). It had been a perfect arrangement in the beginning, when they were just starting out. Owning a flower shop across the street from your boyfriend's tattoo parlor is fun and adorable. Owning a flower shop across the street from your ex-boyfriend's tattoo parlor? Not so much.

Length: 42,373 Words

AO3 Rating: Teen and Up

Best for: Safe in Public, Slow Burn, Slight Angst, Human AU

Triggers: None

Read it here, fic by gutsandglitter

*Minor Spoilers* This story was written in 2019 but reading it now after season two...hm..extra ouch. In this Human AU, Crowley and Aziraphale were together for 14 years before separating and still own shops across from each other. The perspective changes from present to past and we slowly learn what happened to them. It's devastating at times, learning something from their history and then coming back to Aziraphale's present day heartache. It's so heavy on him. It's primarily an Aziraphale point of view, yet you'll still be able to pick up on Crowley's feelings very clearly. Of course Aziraphale misses all the signs, it's a fanfic after all. No romance brain cells allowed here folks.

Internalized homophobia is one of our main themes here. It's something all of us LGBT people know intimately, and I'm sure we've all had experiences that mirror Aziraphale's and Crowley's in this. Fear, shame, having to hide, being hidden. It's heartbreaking but cathartic to read a story that knows this feeling and doesn't villainize Aziraphale for his actions here. He may blame himself, but the story doesn't.

It's not all gloom though! The present day is filled with scenes with The Them, Anathema, and Madame Tracy that I really enjoyed. I love Adam's matchmaker schemes and how it never goes to plan. In the past, the original character of Elsie was one of my favorite parts of the entire story. She was the original owner of the shop Aziraphale now runs and becomes family to our boys. It was such a wonderful and heartfelt found family story line to go along with their new found family in the present. While there is a lot of heartache in this story, there is also so much love!

Completely safe in public. It'll break your heart a bit, but it's ends on a very good note and I wouldn't classify this as angst. Slight angst yeah, but it's not depressing. Well....2004 is a bit depressing....good luck with 2004....

Read it here, fic by gutsandglitter

[kaija-rayne-author]

Finished the main game with my qunari. (Again, 3rd time, this series has me so hard.) I'm very ready for this run to be done.

The 'make Solas hate me' thing wasn't even remotely easy for me. Though, I gotta admit antagonizing him was fun for a while. 😅 I'm only playing Trespasser with this character, (not the other DLCs) because I'm having painful dysphoria issues with the curvier female qunari form.

There's a reason I usually play male elves. Skinny little twinks are pretty androgynous and don't bother my dysphoria so much. Even female elves don't bother me. They're all pretty androgynous. If only I were.

Plus pointed ears. My entire family has slightly pointed ears so it's just fun.

I actually only gave Sera a Romance chance because of a tumblr post I saw. I'm glad I did. It was the hardest Romance of all for me, but it’s actually really sweet and happy. Good brain chemicals.

As soon as I finish Trespasser to get angry Solas end lines, I'm going to take another run at modding Frostbite. (Seeing bitchy Solas in game was way more powerful for me than a YouTube watch would be.)

I've been modding games since modding became a thing, so it wasn't fun to realize how bloody difficult Frostbite is to mod.

But because I really want to play DA:I with some of the mods, and because DA:DW is built on Frostbite too, I gotta figure it out. It was mostly an ADHD patience/frustration thing, I think. I expected reasonable levels of difficulty in modding Frostbite and it is an absolute monster.

I'm actually tempted to play the whole series again since I'm almost done with reading the books and comics. They added so much depth to the games and characters that I'm curious about how it'll change my perception of them.

And I've heard there's art and references to 'The Dread Wolf' in all games. Curiousity absolutely gets me into trouble, frequently. 😅

It's how I ended up on the Solavellan Hell train. I knew who Solas was 'cause I'd already played DA:I, but I still did a Solavellan playthrough out of curiousity.

Being a writer/editor/literary analyst, I didn't truly think that Weekes would snag me, much less snag me so fucking hard!

So, yeah. A day or two, depending on how much time I have to game, to finish Trespasser, and then I'll be trying again to mod this beast of a game engine.

Once you're an insider in publishing, it becomes more and more difficult throughout the years for stories to capture you. I know all the tropes and can see where things are going so easily because I've been working professionally in this field for close to a decade.

Even with that, Weekes grabbed me by the heart then proceeded to rip my heart out. (He did it in Masked Empire too, great book.) Gotta love star crossed lovers. It's one of my very favourite tropes and I'm actually grateful that Weekes reached me. So little does anymore. And to think I got into this field after leaving STEM because I love to read 🤣, oh... sweet summer child.

Once I get it successfully modded, I'll decide on a full series replay (it would give me more to write about) or not.

Right now, I'm so stressed out by my job search that I'm clinging to DA as my only real stress relief. Usually special interests aren't this chronologically long lasting for me. I tend to cycle through them more quickly.

But with the job search being what it is, and my stress levels being through the roof, I'm just grateful this one hasn't abandoned me yet.

You really wouldn't think finding a decent job (something I'm good at, salary with good benefits, ideally remote because I'm more productive from my home office) would be so difficult, would you?

Anyway, enough of me jawing about DA for now. I need to make an online portfolio for my graphic design stuff. I've been doing it as long as I've been doing editing & literary critique (24 years), and writing for 33 years, but having an online portfolio hasn't ever been a priority because my clients have always found me by word of mouth.

Sigh. I'd rather be doing many other things. I just want a job I can be good at that I'm paid a living wage for that actually uses my skills and maybe pushes me a little to increase my abilities. One that doesn't require my autistic/ADHD ass to do social things because that's probably around the 7th layer of hell for me. Why is that so hard to find?

[fenimores-book-nook]

~ day 8 of self care writing ~

November 26th, 2023, Sunday

Good late afternoon! (for me) It's 4:24 pm, and I am finally having time AND motivation to sit down and write a self care writing. I kept meaning to write one at the end of last week but I guess I just wasn't feeling it. But that's alright! I think that as long as I do these frequently enough, it's okay if I miss a few days. It's about taking care of myself, right? ;)

So, on with a few details about the last few days: On Thursday--yes, on Thanksgiving day--I finally finished decorating my room for Christmas!

Featuring my adorable Christmas tree and my favorite trilogy on display; Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, by Lauren Oliver. <3

And yesterday was the first snow for the cold, end of the year months! It was gorgeous.

I spent a good amount of time playing out in the snow with my family and reading! :)

I mainly read this one, the book I mentioned that I got at another small, indie bookstore! I was very feeling the Christmas romcom mood, today included. And of course, my mug that I found at a thrift store for only a dollar. Gotta love good thrift store finds. ;)

Now, today, I was planning on trying out the church choir at the church I go to but 1) The roads were bad and I didn't feel comfortable driving and 2) The choir ended up being canceled for today anyways! So today has been a nice, relaxing/lazy day. :) I was able to sleep in and stay in bed and finish the 14th Baby-Sitters Club book while also reading a chapter of Iron Flame and then going back to A Merry Little Meet Cute. So, lots of reading today, I love it! (there's a very good chance that I'll be reading after I finish writing this)

I watched a Christmas movie: The Best Christmas Ever, with my parents, watched the Christmas episode of Amphibia, then I continued re-watching Mockingjay Part 2*, until we headed over to my relatives house to play some games. Now, we're just chillin' at home again.

*Ever since I read and watched The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I've been thinking of nothing but The Hunger Games. (jk, but I think about it a lot) So, I bought the set of movies that's out on DVD and started re-watching them! I'm a little less than halfway through the last one and I just know that when I finish it I'm going to want to start them over again. BUT- I will be staying at my sisters' place later this week and we're planning on seeing Songbirds and Snakes together, so I'm very excited about that. ;)

Onto the ~ self care writing ~

How am I ~ Lessons learned ~ How to make the best of tomorrow ~ Gratitude ~ Affirmations

I'm doing okay. There are some worries on my mind but I think things will end up being okay. I had much needed therapy on Friday so that definitely helped get some things off my mind.

I learned some important things at therapy that I'm currently working on! And that my social battery does not last as long as I thought it did. I knew that it could run out quickly sometimes but it seems like lately it's been burning out faster.

Plan to do a little more than having another lazy day before working for the rest of the week. Still relax, but maybe having something to do that'll make me "work" a bit but that is still fun, will set the rest of the week off in a good motion.

I'm grateful for the snow we got! We haven't had this much snow in a very long time and it was so pretty to see again. I'm also very grateful for the Christmas romcom books because they are great comfort reads when I feel in the Christmas-romance mood. I'm also just grateful for today and the past couple days. They've shown me a lot of things I needed to know and also just gave me that good feel of being at peace and just enjoying a good book. :)

There is nothing that God will give me that I cannot handle! Some things may come my way that seem like I can't deal with and I break down, but He knows what He's doing with me! It'll all work out, I just need to put trust in My God and in myself. <3

Until the next one you lovely human,

Thalia <3

[kiribaku-queen]

The Blood King and his Queen [7]

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Romance, Angst, Drama

Word count: 2.4K

Summary:  From being a mere servant girl to marrying the scariest prince in existence, your world changed right before your eyes. Exchanging places with the princess, you knew, wasn’t going to be easy. But could you have found love on the way? Or was it never meant to be?

A/N: I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter because I think its my favorite chapter so far! FYI, if I don't update this series in a while, it'll be because I am working on an 18+ oneshot for a collab for Bakugou's birthday. So if that does happen, the regular uploads will happen after Bakugou's birthday. And let me tell you, its going to be S P I C Y~

But I can't express how surprised I am by all the love I'm receiving! I really wish I could respond to all your comments, but again, this is my side blog so I can't comment! If ya'll want to follow me on my main... please dont. LOL not to be mean or anything but I don't use my main at all and I don't post ever so there's no point in following me there :)

PLEASE ENJOY AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED TO THE TAG! JOIN THE FAMILY!

[previous]                                                                                               [next]

Your heart physically dropped when he said that. You felt sick. Your palms were sweating and shaking. The air around you grew dense and you felt like you couldn’t breath. You couldn’t move for that matter.

Ruin?

What would he do to you if he found out that you weren’t really a princess? That you were a fake lying to him this whole time. It made you sick, just imaging every cruel thing he could do once he found out. But then you remembered, he wasn’t like all the rumors you heard. He was different. He was kind and understanding. He wouldn’t really ruin you if he found out, would he? You shook away the thought. The more you think about it, the more you were likely to get caught.

You were completely exhausted from all that labor you produced in a week’s time. Town after town, you were able to help his people even if it was just a little bit. But it sure depleted a lot of energy out of you. You don’t know if you’ve ever been this drained before in your entire life. It’s not like you had to do hard physical labor back at the palace. This experience was hard on you but also gave you insight on the prince and his kingdom.

Completely drained of your energy, you sat down on one of the tree trunks his soldiers brought for you at the camp not far away from the village you were at. The impoverished village didn’t have enough shelter as is, so you were left with no option but to set up your own shelter. It wasn’t a big deal to you anyway since that’s how you’ve been spending your nights so far.

All the soldiers had gathered around to take a breather for the night and drink away the stress. You weren’t a drinker, but enjoyed the atmosphere the soldiers created: fun and rowdy, like they didn’t give a care in the world. They were dancing on tables, clinking their drinks together, singing songs while hooking their arms around each other’s shoulders.

You laughed at the sight and stretched out your arms. How you wanted to continue the night away but your muscles were soar and aching. A physical exhaustion that you weren’t used to and didn’t want to get used to.

Bakugou was watching his crew from the door, arms crossed and enjoying his crew have fun. He was never the one to be center of attention, so he had his own fun from the back. He saw the way you extended your arms, faced wincing from how sore you were. Cute. It was your last night of volunteer work, why not end the night with something special?

You felt the Blood Prince’s breath sneak up behind your neck, sending chills down your spine.

“Tired?” he asks.

“Maybe just a little,” you admit. You look up at him and he’s giving you those soft yet piercing eyes. He goes to sit next to you and everything is just… peaceful. In that moment you felt content. You felt free. If this was how life was out of the palace, if this was more to life than just serving a spoiled princess, then you didn’t want to leave.

“I am impressed, princess,” Bakugou spoke. “This whole trip, you never, not once sat out. You helped the whole time. Are you sure you’re a princess?” he side eyed you.

“If I am not a princess, then what am I?” you asked back. (y/n), what are you doing? You could expose yourself and everything would be ruined! But for some reason, you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to know his reaction and how he would respond. Maybe you would give up your whole mission for him.

“An innocent and hardworking beauty that is not a princess. She is my future queen who will help me restore this kingdom.” He came closer to you, meaning every single word. Your eyes softened and you got emotional, almost to the point of tears. He’s smiling at you, but suddenly gets up. But gestures for you to take his hand. Of course you did.

“I want to show you something,” he says and leads you away from the crowd of people and into the woods.

You two were walking for a while, your hand in his the whole way. He hadn’t told you where he was leading you to but it had to be something special if he was dragging you to what seemed like all across the country to get to your destination.

“Your highness, are we almost there yet?” you asked, fatigue hitting you once again.

“Almost,” he responds, continuing to look ahead. You huffed and held on tight to his hand so you didn’t get lost or left behind. After a few more minutes of walking, you felt the air get hotter and thinner. Bakugou smiles in front of you, looking excited.

“We’re here,” he announces. He pulls back these huge leaves, revealing a natural hot spring. The water was clear enough that you could see right through it, steam rising from the water, and rocks surrounding it, creating this gorgeous, peaceful atmosphere. Your eyes lit up and a loud gasp escaped your lips.

“How did you find this place?” you asked, getting closer to the hot spring.

“You like it? None of my men know about this place,” he says.

“It’s beautiful!” you continue to gasp, feeling the water with your hands. The heat of the water made you giddy and you couldn’t wait to hop in.

“You deserve it,” Bakugou comes up to, whispering in your ear. His statement made you blush, but this time, you didn’t hide it. He smirks behind you and you heard something falling to the floor. You dare turn around to see Bakugou shirtless, discarding his clothes one by one. As if your face wasn’t hot enough, steam was coming out of your ears with embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” you freaked out, turning around immediately.

“Getting in,” he said in the most obvious tone of voice.

“Together?”

“You’ll be on one side and I’ll be on the other,” he points out a huge rock, separating the hot spring into two pools. That seems a little better, but the idea of soaking in a hot spring together with the prince was nerve wracking.

“Princess, you can enter first, if that makes you feel better,” he suggested. When you turn to look at him, he already had his back turn out of respect for you.

So you undress and enter the heated water, noticing that all your muscles relaxed and the aches started going away as soon as you hit the water. You lean the back of your head on the rock and allow yourself to fully relax and destress. You could hear water splashing from the other side of the rock, indicating that Bakugou had also entered the water. Humming in satisfaction. You grew deeper and deeper in the hot spring until your nose was sitting on top of the water.

“Princess, I realize that I don’t know your name,” Bakugou spoke. Your name? You stayed silent. Was it wise to use your own name or should you continue to play as the princess?

“(y/n).” you decided.

“(y/n),” Bakugou repeated, elongating your name as if he stopped saying it, it’d disappear from him forever. The way your name left his lips felt like butter to him. He couldn’t help himself from repeated your name over and over again in his mind. You giggled and looked over the rock, arms crossed and head resting over them.

“Your highness, allow me to scrub your back,” you offered. Bakugou waved his hand while shaking his head.

“Nonsense. You shall not attend to me. We’re here to relax,” he had to remind you. But you insisted.

“But I want to, Prince Bakugou,” you pouted, jutting out your bottom lip.

“The high and mighty princess wants to wash the blood Prince’s back?” he questions playfully. He glances back to see you resting on top of the rock, giving him your big doe eyes.

“If you insist,” he gave up. He turns his back again, making sure to give you the privacy you needed to be able to come over to his side. You make your way over to him, covering your breasts in case. When you got settled behind him, you started washing his back.

You expected Bakugou to have scars from his many battles he’s had, but you didn’t expect his back to be covered in decolored and deformed wounds. Unknowingly, your hands went up to caress each scar.

“Does that frighten you?” he asks.

“Not at all,” you tell him honestly. “I think it makes you very brave.”

A comfortable silence fell upon you. Only the sound of water running and insects in the background could be heard. That was until you felt poke your butt. The hairs on your body hiked and you screamed as loud as you could, rising from the water in panic.

“Princess!” Bakugou instinctively put protection mode on, shooting up from his place to see what the danger was. You immediately clung to him, Bakugou wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close. What Bakugou saw wasn’t an enemy but rather, a wild Japanese macaque monkey poking his head out of the water.

“Shoo!” Bakugou scared the monkey out of the water and back into the forest. Bakugou grunted and relaxed his shoulders. “Damn monkeys. I thought they only came out during the winter season. Are you okay, prin…cess,” he looked down at you only for you to look up at him with your exposed chest fully pressed against his chest. Now this could easily be the most embarrassing moment of your entire life. Your face heated up with embarrassment and you let out another scream, using all your force to slap him across the face. Bakugou wasn’t expecting such a reaction and it caught him off guard. You put for much force into the slap that Bakugou flew back and fell into the water. You ran out of the spring, covering up as fast as you could.

Bakugou had never been so flustered in his life. He was a blushing mess and now the image of your naked breasts on him could not escape his mind. He needed time to calm himself down and a certain friend from getting too excited.

When you both had returned back to the rest of the crew, everybody had been knocked out cold from the alcohol. Thank goodness, because they couldn’t see how awkward you two were at the moment. That night, you slept in the tent again while Bakugou camped outside.

But you couldn’t sleep. How could that situation happen to you, out of all people? You weren’t sure how much he saw of your naked body. Maybe he didn’t see anything at all. But you saw the expression on his face, he definitely saw something. You covered your chest and closed your eyes. To think that a man saw your body and it wasn’t even your wedding night.

You felt the wind enter your tent, the chill making you shiver. If it was cold inside the tent, it must be extra cold outside. Bakugou was sleeping outside. You bit your lip in confliction. You wanted him to be warm but that means you had to confront him. Ah, fuck it. You opened your tent and saw Bakugou resting on the grass with his cape wrapped around him. And it wasn’t doing a very good job because you could see him shivering. He couldn’t hide it no matter how hard he tried.

“Would you like to come inside?” you invite him in.

“It’s for you, princess,” he reminded you.

“I understand. But it’s too cold to be sleeping out here. Please. I insist,” you urged. He opens one eye and sighs.

“As you wish, princess,” Bakugou gave in. You scooted over to make room for the large man to sleep next to you. Bakugou made himself comfy but he was a tad too tall for the tent that he had to have his legs hanging out. The opening of the tent revealed the big, bright moon overhead.

“I’m sorry for hitting you,” you apologized. Bakugou just lets out a breath.

“It’s whatever. I didn’t see anything, by the way,” he reassures you. Embarrassed again, you unconsciously covered your chest.

“You sure?”

“Erased from my mind,” he says as he closes his eyes and moves his hands around his head, as if he was erasing his memory. You laugh at his antics, more comfortable with the mood that was created. Bakugou laughs with you and turns to you, meeting eyes. This is the nth time that his heart leapt when you stare at him with those innocent, childlike eyes. He clears his throat and all of a sudden, his ears got red.

“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Bakugou professed. You blinked in confusion. You weren’t sure why he said that. Glancing up at the moon, you guess you could say that it was beautiful. It was a full moon, and shone brightly above your heads. You weren’t versed in the poetics so you couldn’t comprehend the message the Blood Prince was trying to get at you.

“The moon is especially beautiful tonight. But isn’t the moon beautiful every night?” you responded.

Bakugou looks are you in mortification. Fuck, did he just get rejected? His ears got hot and he covered his mouth with his hands.

“Yeah… yeah it is,” he agreed, embarrassed. He took a deep breath in and back out again to calm his beating heart. You look over at him to see him a little distressed. You softly smiled, another side you got to see of him. It was cute. You could feel your heartbeat starting to pick its pace up and that’s when you realized. Gathering up all the courage you could muster, you leaned over to kiss him on the cheek you slapped.

“Good night,” you quickly say, then turned over to face away from him. Bakugou stops everything in his tracks and is frozen. He couldn’t help but smile and fall asleep next to you.

The moment you made the decision to kiss him was when you knew that you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to become his queen and rule his kingdom together. You were going to forget your past life. You were going to forget this mission you were on. You were the princess now. That was his truth and you weren’t going to change it.

A/N: For those who don't know, the phrase "the moon is beautiful, isn't it" or 月が綺麗ですね is a more poetic way of saying "I love you" in olden Japanese. And then the response to that would be "I can die happy" or 死んでもいいわ. Just for reference.

As I said before, I absolutely love this chapter and I really really REALLY want to know your reactions and thoughts!

Spoiler: drama starts in the next chapter :)

If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know in the comments or DM me! and if you'd like to be tagged when my 18+ oneshot comes out, let me know too! I love you all!

Tagged: @superblyspeedydragon @melasnchz-things @animexholic @bkgwrites @sam-i-am-1025 @apexqueenie @katsukibabe @germfart3 @tspice283 @angie-1306 @bakugous-trauma @bakugousmrs @random-fandom-girl-24 @monetfatalia @triviajeongin @readingslumpfanfic @softredrobin @briefhoundpartynickel @bnhahegao

[chuuyagum]

♡ Winter 2021 Anime Watch List ♡

i've always wanted to make watch lists and reviews of anime i'm watching each season so i thought now's a good time as any to start! below are the anime i'm watching this season, at some point i'll make lists of the anime i've dropped or put on hold as well ♡

---♡---

♡ Current Season;

Beastars Season 2

although i thoroughly enjoyed S1, i'm not currently keeping up with the manga so S2 will be full of surprises for me. so far the pacing and tone is keeping up with the 1st season so i'm looking forward to how this will progress. in particular i'm enjoying seeing Legoshi tackle the murder on school grounds, and Louis's gripe with his morals.

Dr. STONE: STONE WARS

another one where i absolutely adored S1! granted i'm pretty biased as this anime got me through a dark time when it was first airing, so i'm very excited for S2. i'm not keeping up with the manga, however i do know most of what to expect so i'm interested to see how it'll be adapted. the tense struggles with an environment so fragile that the Kingdom of Science could be sent back to square one easily, and the Tsukasa empire looming around the corner is riveting. what always stands out to me is how hopeful and driven Senku is in his pursuit of a better future which always has me rooting for him at every turn

Kemono Jihen

so far pretty good! i went into this one blind, so i'm not sure what to expect and don't plan to pick up the manga at the moment. i'm enjoying the found family set up and hope to see more of the world our protag has been brought into! i'm curious what cases will come the way of the main characters, and to learn more about the kemono world sitting just under the surface of the human world

Tenchi Souzou Design-bu / Heaven's Design Team

i haven't watched a comedy anime in a while that made me laugh this hard! the topic of God outsourcing the creation of life on earth is hilarious on its own, but the cast of characters and pace of the story as they brainstorm new animals is just the right balance! its lighthearted enough to be a pleasant break from the heavier series i'm watching this season, but still clever and witty in a unique way

Urasekai Picnic / Otherside Picnic

setting aside the fact that i keep misspelling this, honestly it's not that great. plenty of other people have said it, but i will too - the animation is horrible. you can tell the budget for this was really really low, all the CGI creatures our protags run into look campy and awkward instead of creepy which takes away from the setting a lot. this story is being carried by the characters and the romance, which i don't necessarily mind and i am still enjoying this, but it's not the best watch of the season

Wonder Egg Priority

i'm convinced this is going to be one of the best anime of 2021 hands down. the animation, pace, tone, character design, voice acting, everything is simply that spectacular! i wasn't sure what to expect, and i finished the first episode in awe. i'm so excited to see what the future episodes will bring! although we've already seen some really heavy topics bubble to the surface, it's clear our girls have a lot of trauma to heal from that we haven't seen yet. i anticipate it's going to be addressed in a way that feels liberating and cathartic, if the Wonder Killer's we've seen faced are anything to go by

Yakusoku no Neverland 2nd Season / The Promised Neverland Season 2

another 2nd season, and honestly what can i say? this one is living up wonderfully to the 1st season! although our protags have been thrown into a new and much more uncertain environment the air of mystery, tension, but also family and hopefulness ties everything together. it's interesting to see what the world outside of the farm is really like, and unravel what lies Ray, Emma, and co have been told all their lives. looking forward to seeing where things go!

Kai Byoui Ramune / Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-

not really sure how i feel about this one! it's another anime i started watching without knowing much about it. the character designs are interesting and i'm into the art style, but besides reminding me of MP100 there's not much i can say about it yet. the premise is interesting, sure, but the "weekly problem" style episodes right from the beginning feel a little offputting.

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♡Past Seasons;

Jujutsu Kaisen - Fall 2020

just like everyone else, i'm having a ton of fun with this anime even though its tugging violently at my heartstrings! the writing, animation, characters, and tone are all spot on. although there are serious moments, the humor doesn't burst those bubbles and everyone's reactions feel realistic despite the less than realistic scenarios. from what i've seen manga fans are pretty satisfied with the adaptation, and while i won't be jumping into it any time soon i'm excited to see how well the anime captures everything

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[aurorapillar]

Hi, sorry to bother you but I'm here to ask for some story recommendations because I think that my taste is similar to yours. I've been a fan of yours for a few years now and I hope we can be friends.

Hey sorry for the late response to this, real life has been kind of busy for me lately.

For recommendations, from what I recall you've already read TCF, but I don't know if you've read Lord of the Mysteries or My House of Horrors yet.

Lord of the Mysteries is about Zhou Mingrui, a young man from China who after performing a luck enhancing ritual and going to bed, wakes up in another world in the body of Klein Moretti, a young man who'd just shot himself in the head. Both due to the circumstances surrounding the original Klein's death and because he hopes to find a way back to earth, the new Klein ends up getting involved in the world of Beyonders, people who've gained supernatural powers by consuming potions.

It's a fun read and while not explicitly a found family novel, a group that the MC is part of feels a lot like a family (at least in my opinion). It's also entirely romance free. I will warn you it's a long read at 1307 chapters and exposition heavy, especially for a portion of the first arc, but if you can get past that it's an amazing story.

My House of Horrors is another recommendation I have, like the title suggests, it is a horror story, so if you don't like horror it's probably not for you. That being said, personally I don't find it that scary as you don't read it at night. The story is about a Chen Ge, a young man whose parents disappeared half a year earlier, leaving him to run his families haunted house. One day while looking for stuff to fix props, he comes across the box of items that were left behind when his parents disappeared and finds a black phone that has an app on it that gives him mission that end up affecting real life and his haunted house. Hoping it'll will lead him to his parents, he begins completing the missions and in the process befriends ghosts and improves his haunted house.

It's a very fun story, Chen Ge is hilarious and on multiple occasions chases ghosts and murderers with a sledgehammer. There is romance in it, but it's not a story about romance.

If you read and end up enjoying MHOH, you might also like My Iyashikei Game. It's by the same author and is also a horror novel. The MC Han Fei is a social anxious comedy actor who recently got fired from his job; he ends up getting sold a relaxing iyashikei vr game by a mysterious store owner, but rather then the calm relaxing life the game promised, he finds himself in a game world full of ghosts. It turns out the ghosts aren't just fictional creations of the game, but that each of them seem to be related to a murder victim in real life and Han Fei ends up getting involved in trying to solve their murders and have a peaceful existence with all of them.

Unlike LOTM and MHOH, it's not a finished novel, but the translation tends to update most days.

Other recommendations I would are Baccano! (specifically the light novels, the anime is okay but it only covers stuff from the first four novels and not even all of it, and it does it out of order which ruins a lot of the reveals) and Mondaiji tachi ga Isekai Kara Kuru Sō Desu yo?

There are probably more recommendations I could give, but this is what's coming to my head light novel and anime wise, and I'm not sure what other forms of media you like.

And I would love to be friends.