#Read howl's moving castle this is a threat

[aftermathing]

Genuinely don't understand the changes that studio ghibli made to Howl's Moving Castle. American Howl? A plane war? A BIRD MONSTER?? MARKL????????? THEY RENAMED MICHAEL? TO MARKLE???????

[xanthippe74]

Skybound (now complete!)

Drarry | Rated Teen and up | 61K words/6 chapters

Summary: No matter how much Harry Potter wanted to believe he’d left danger behind when the war ended, it found him again anyway. All he had to do was step out his own front door on a Tuesday morning. A Drarry re-imagining of Howl’s Moving Castle.

Tags: EWE, post-war, romance, HP canon setting plus Fire Demons, getting together, secret identities, curses, dark magic, house-elves, magical house, potions, banter, humor, light angst, disability, threats of violence, happy ending, offscreen mistreatment of magical beings, Harry as Sophie Hatter, Draco as Howl Pendragon

Read Skybound on AO3

Notes: This love letter to one of my favorite stories was long in the making. While it was easy to envision Harry and Draco as Sophie and Howl, it was something of a challenge to translate the plot into the HP-verse while keeping the romance and humor that make Howl’s Moving Castle so beloved. In the end, I took my favorite parts of Hayao Miyazaki's film and Diana Wynne Jones’ novel, cut them into little triangles, and sewed them back together again. I hope the finished product still has some magic in it.

Many thanks to @babooshkart and @onbeinganangel for their input while I was brainstorming back in 2021, the folks on Tumblr and the Drarry Discord who kept me motivated through the home stretch with their enthusiasm for this project, and (most of all!) @nv-md for being a stellar beta reader and all-around trusty cowgirl when I put out the call.

[theresattrpgforthat]

THEME: Studio Ghibli

Studio Ghibli films have captured our imagination ever since they’ve reached our screens, and for good reason. The lovingly designed landscapes, the dedication to complicated (but relatable) characters, and the gentle balance of fantasy and everyday life have enchanted many of creator, including those of the games below!

Hearts and Ravens, by Martian Machinery.

Flying towers cross the land at the whim of wizards who prey on the souls of the wayward or uncareful. The King Underground trades in the mortal lives of the wished-away and the unwanted. A stolen prince daydreams of faraway. All the while there are apprenticeships to fulfill, hats to make, carpets to weave, and the thousand things that prevent an adventure from taking place. Until one day, luck or a dream or magic intervenes and nothing is ever the same again.

You'll go on an adventure. You'll be confronted with challenges and fears. You'll come face-to-face with magic and magical creatures. You'll make difficult decisions. And if you're lucky, and if you look hard enough, you might find yourself.

This is a game about people escaping their mundane lives and becoming adventurers and wizards in a fantasy world. This is a world where contracts are binding and magic is powerful and personal. We create characters with obligations and play to find out how they discover the world, fight against adversity, and explore truths about themselves.

Hearts & Ravens combines the mechanics of PbtA games with the storytelling tools of Good Society. It draws inspiration specifically from Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, as well as media such as the 1985 Labyrinth, so expect to meet characters who have to keep themselves hidden, fairytale magic, and obligations that you can’t simply run away from. I’m very excited about this game!

Singles & Returns, by Groundhoggoth.

Singles & Returns is a way to tell stories that mix nostalgia and fairytale, centred around the passengers on a bus that serves anyone who can pay the fare, and even several who can’t. You’ll meet some fascinating people onboard, talk to them and then get off again. Inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli, there’s no pressure or urgency in this game, no great threat to overcome, just simple, everyday, minor panics: will she like me? Will I get the job? Will I be late? As the bus takes them each toward their destination, they have time to share what’s on their mind, listen and give advice, and maybe lend a helping hand on the way.

This game reminds me of the train Chihiro takes to visit Zeniba in Spirited Away, as well as the Cat Bus in My Neighbour Totoro. The Bus is there to take you from one place to another, and it guarantees to get you there on time. It takes no responsibility for epiphanies, changes of heart, or a meeting of fate (which is one of my favourite little additions in the book!) 

There’s very little rolling other than determining who you are and where you’re going, so this game is probably more suitable for players who really like diving into role-play and conversation. A single session can be over pretty quick, so there’s also suggestions about ways to extend the game, or change it up for future play-throughs.

Spirit Line, by Floofi.

“All Aboard the Spirit Line! An inter-dimensional train that travels through the different realms and realities. You are a conductor of the Spirit Line and you must solve the various Troubles that the train will go through! Work with your fellow Conductors to keep the Spirit Line safe and maintain it’s five star status! Good luck Conductors!”   

Spirit Line is a TTRPG that focuses on you fixing problems around the Spirit Line through the power of friendship and cooperation! To play this game you will need 2-5 players, a d12, a deck of cards, and a few pieces of paper to keep track of your Conductor! You will not need a GM for this and all you need to do is read the instruction and you will be good to go!

This is a quick, fast-paced game of Train Conductors doing their best to keep their train running as easily as possible: it could also easily be re-skinned to fit a different genre or slotted into a larger game such as Hearts & Ravens or Spiritbound to make travel interesting for the players. There’s both a win and a fail state for this game - the Conductors could have Troubles pile up until they're at risk of losing their jobs, or they could fix all of the problems before they hit the end of the line. This is a small, easy-to-learn game with a plentitude of possibilities!

Spirited Cafe, by A Couple of Drakes.

Take on the exciting role of part of a family indentured to the witch Baba, bound by ineffable obligation to run her restaurant in the Crossroads until you can repay your family’s debts. It exists at the eternal nexus where the Human World and the Spirit World overlap. Your job is to protect the Human World by satisfying any guest that arrives from the Spirit World to this strange little place in space and time. If these spirits are fed and contented, they will return home with the sunrise. If they are not, then there is no telling what strange aims they will pursue among the Human World.

You're all that stands between the Human World and all manner of things from outside. On your side, you've got a finnicky stove, a creepy cookbook, and a little bit of magic. Ghosts, goblins, trolls, and tengu file into your little cafe, hungry for mischief. You and your family better cook for your lives! 

This game takes heavy inspiration from both Spirited Away and the video game Overcooked. Using the fast-paced, ticking-clock mechanics of Forged in the Dark, you’ll work together to create a family and a restaurant while the GM will design hungry (and impatient) customers to demand more and more from your little family business. When your customers are magical, the stakes are much higher! This is great for fans of Studio Ghibli who still like to experience a challenge. 

Golden Sky Stories, by Star Line Publishing.

Golden Sky Stories is a heartwarming, non-violent role-playing game from Japan, by Ryo Kamiya. In this game, players take on the role of henge, animals that have just a little bit of magical power, including the ability to temporarily take on human form. You can be a fox, raccoon dog, cat, dog, rabbit, or bird, and each kind has their own special magical powers. Players will then attempt to solve problems around a small enchanted town with ingenuity, co-operation and friendship.

Golden Sky Stories requires one Narrator, 2-4 players, pencils and paper, and tokens to keep track of Dreams. Your characters have powers and vulnerabilities that operate off of a token economy, with the goal of helping out people in a nearby town. You’ll be rolling dice alongside the mechanic of token expenditure, with different tokens and stats assigned for different kinds of things - the process of operating a telephone or fixing a flashlight is going to be different from sneaking along fences or reading a person’s emotions. 

This is an all-ages kind of game, with peaceful art and a big emphasis on the kinds of stories common in Studio Ghibli movies. If you want to add more character options and some scenarios to get you started, you can also check out Twilight Tales, a supplement for Golden Sky Stories.

Cloud Empress, by Watts.

"The battle between rampaging forest gods and humanity cannot end well; there can be no happy ending. Yet, even amid the hatred and slaughter, there are things worthy of life." -- Hayao Miyazaki

Cloud Empress is an ecological science fantasy setting for the science horror tabletop roleplaying game Mothership. Cloud Empress in the land of ten thousand cicadas will be a full-color zine and PDF and is currently in development. In Cloud Empress: in the land of ten thousand cicadas, players will explore a land governed by the patterns of giant psychic cicadas. When deadly soldiers from royal lands high above the clouds threaten the balance, the Breadbasket's wheat fields will burn without the players' help.

This game involves a world that has changed dramatically, similar to the strange world of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. It’s a game about learning to live and survive in a world that is full of the trash and poison of the people who left the world behind; a post apocalypse in a world ruined by others, and by our ancestors. If you like the idea of speculative futures with world-building that is intended to be quickly picked up and understood by the players, this is absolutely worth checking out.

The link above is a playtest for a game that will have a full version for sale down the road, now that their Kickstarter campaign has finished up. 

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

Spiritbound, by Marc Strocks.

Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast, by Jay Dragon. 

Questlandia, by Turtlebun,

[marlenacantswim]

okay wowie, i want to see how far into byler week i can go. i hope i'll have time to do a prompt for each day, but we'll have to see if i have time!

here's day one's prompt, AU! it's based off of a little au i've been running through my mind as i've gone to sleep the past two months. some information about the au (and a version of the art devoid of speech bubbles) is under the cut!

late during the events of season 1, brenner manages to not only recapture el, but take mike along with her. he could silence him by killing him, but decided instead to diversify the kind of child experimentation being done at hawkins lab. a desire for more test subjects (read: children) along with continued determination to find will on mike's part leads brenner to go on an actual mission to find and bring him back.

upon will's safe(ish) return, mike is absolutely ecstatic, but brenner makes it very, very clear to all three of them that they won't be going back to their homes anytime soon: their new home is here, and their new purposes are as scientific endeavors. over time, brenner "collects" more children, each assigned a different pursuit in what he calls "an expansion to humanity's limits". by christmastime, hawkins lab is back in full swing with a new focus expanded beyond psychic abilities.

eleven's physic abilities continue to be tested and expanded, will presents with the ability to quickly heal the wounds of others, and through severe surgical and chemical modification, mike's body is persuaded to grow wings. mike's alterations also came with unintended effects (think howl in the third act of howl's moving castle) that only present themselves when will is in danger, leading brenner to pair the two of them up quite often (it's a great way to motivate them to cooperate in testing and gives plenty of opportunity for them both to showcase their abilities)

all will and mike want is to return to their families and let them know they're still alive and where to come find them, and as the years go on and el's abilities continue to expand, there might actually be a way to do that... though is it worth it while the upside down remains such a threat just beyond the fringes of their own reality?

if you have any questions or are curious about other aspects of this au, feel free to ask me!!! i've spent so many nights thinking about this, i have a whole story and everything!!! i'd love to share :)

(also mike's number is 13 and will's is 7, and they add up to 20 how cute is that? it's because the two of them together is a critical success :) )

[lily-alphonse]

"I'll Crawl Home to Her" by Lily Alphonse

Category: F/M

Rating: Teen (Mild gore, Injury, War)

Words: 963

And as my mind slips into a place in between: the past and present, beast and man, alive and dead; I wonder if even death will stop me from making it home to her.

A glimpse into Howl's mind as he risked everything to save his family.

A short poem songfic I wrote for Valentine's Day but haven't gotten around to posting here. I have a fandom-blind summary on the AO3 A/N if you'd like to read it without having watched Howl's Moving Castle

>>Read on AO3<<

Or read below ~

I was in Hell. Or at least very nearly so.

The air wasn’t air anymore but something undulating and hot that choked 

It was bombs, debris, and feathers. 

Another airship down. Another comes. More, more, more, attackers. Threats. 

Poor saps, humanity sold for a title, for honor. 

It was honorable, apparently, to be shredded by my talons. 

But maybe the honor was in my blood, dripping down my feathers, mixing with theirs. 

It was human blood, crimson and warm. Or once was. I am nearly as much a beast as them, now. 

But there is no more running. 

There was so much running before. 

But I had found Heaven. It was locked below me in a twisted reversal of legend. 

I had found home . Family . Words otherworldly. Precious now. 

She brought us together, brought light to the darkness. 

It is her laugh I think of, as I am splattered with more blood.

The beast consumes and I allow it; my human form cannot sustain this burden. 

I am powerful. I am not invincible. But I will fight to my dying breath to protect them. 

Protect the mornings eating porridge around the table, Sophie shooting Markl a matronly glare for trying to drink his, and getting it all over his face. Where I laugh despite myself, because he’s barely any better than I am, but anyone else attracting the fiery woman’s ire makes me giddy. 

Protect the way she gasped in awe when I showed her my hideaway, where I saw her true face again, unmarred by her curse. When I realized I was irreparably taken by her.

 

And as my mind slips into a place in between: 

the past and present, beast and man, alive and dead; 

I wonder if even death will stop me

from making it home to her.

The pain shatters my mind. Stabbing in a wing. Burning in a leg. 

Burning off what remains of my once porcelain skin. 

Prized. My body used to make me worthy. A prize. 

For who? For what? I don’t remember. 

How laughable then, that I relinquish my body to

the beast.

My final prayer, I leave the beast with one directive. 

One primal urge: PROTECT.

Then the pain is gone. 

I am a killing machine. 

A beast that can no longer fathom suffering 

except what it summons for others.

I see the world in flashes. 

Fire, bombs, winged henchmen.

Claws, teeth, screeching. 

Home. Sophie. The family. 

Our story only just began

How can it end so quickly? 

I did not know love before she found me. 

I was stupid. Foolish. 

I knew attention. Infatuation. 

But with Sophie… 

Something in my soul recognized hers

We were crafted from the same cosmic dust

Even without a heart my entire being craved her

Her obstinance. Her humor. 

Passionate to a fault. 

And so, so loving. 

My love.

My love. 

She saved me. 

From Sulliman, from the world, from… 

Myself.

She looked into the eyes of a cowardly, petulant fool and saw goodness.

She took my blood-stained hands and embraced them.

Maybe she could save me from Hell. 

I don’t know if I deserve to be saved. 

But I would fly out of Hell for her. 

Make any bargain. I had already traded my heart. 

What are Heaven and Hell but words 

In the face of my love for her. 

I had never even told her. 

I had never even told her.

There is so much left to our story. 

Waking up next to her. 

Her lips against mine. 

There was so much left to write. 

It would not end like this. 

And then somehow there was no more fire.

Only a door, the warped breathing of the beast. 

Then Her. 

She was blurry, but my star dust would recognize hers anywhere.

The beast had dragged my corpse to her just as I wished.

 

She kissed it. My otherworldly shell.

Our first... kiss.

I can’t feel it. 

Inside I am laughing, crying, screaming.

But I am dead to the world. 

Then we were flying again. 

Distantly I felt Calcifer’s presence…

In the end, Darkness.

I sputter awake, wincing at pain I expected to never feel again.

“What’s going on? What am I doing here? I feel te-” I try to sit up, chest unbearably heavy and pinching, “terrible like there's a weight on my chest.”

Sophie. Sophie. Sophie. Sophie. Her face hovers above me, her hand on my chest. Her brown eyes glitter with tears but she wears a small smile.

“A heart’s a heavy burden.” Her sweet voice is the music of Heaven, the symphony of life and love.

A heart. I had forgotten what it felt like, to have a heart fluttering like this. To have it swell in painful joy at a love so strong it would be sure to ruin me if I lost it. I almost did lose it, but somehow... somehow I am here. She brought me back. She saved me again. 

I lift my hand to her cheek and she leans into the embrace with a smile. Gods I have never seen anything so beautiful. Her hair is short now, silver catching the sunlight streaming through the clouds. Despite the pain I sit up with her. “Sophie, your hair looks just like starlight. It looks beautiful.”

“You think so?” she asks excitedly. “So do I!” she throws herself at me in a tight embrace, laughing, face wet with tears.

I squeeze her tightly to me, wishing for all the world for her touch to scar me as everything else had. Over and over again I can not stop the choked whispers into her ear, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

I  crawled back to her an empty shell, and she breathed life into me again. 

I am home.

Excerpt from “Work Song” by Hozier

My babe would never fret none

About what my hands and my body done

If the Lord don't forgive me

I'd still have my baby and my babe would have me

When I was kissing on my baby

And she put her love down soft and sweet

In the low lamplight I was free

Heaven and hell were words to me

When my time comes around

Lay me gently in the cold, dark earth

No grave can hold my body down

I'll crawl home to her

[spilledbeans116]

Here’s all the fics I have in the works right now (not gonna put their names cause I’m indecisive and they’re prone to change)

Almost all of them are Vegeta x Reader, because I’m into that self indulgent type stuff.

-The Big One

Planet Vegeta never blew up, royalty fic. I’m a sucker for princess stuff, sue me.

-My First Ever Fic

You land on Earth years after planet Vegeta blew up, looking for any signs of remaining saiyans. You find some, but you’re skeptical if you can trust them or not.

-COWBOYS

It plagues my brain nightly. The saiyans are an outlaw gang in the Wild West. Do I need to elaborate ??

-Howl’s Moving Castle

Basically the entire movie but DBZ-ified. Vegeta is howl of course, would I have it any other way?

-Phantom of the Opera

The phantom is hot and him being Vegeta would make him hotter.

-Silly stuff !!!!

I have lots of silly fics. One is you babysit Trunks for the day while Bulma and Yamcha are out of town. Vegeta stops by after finishing his training early.

You wake up in the middle of the night to find Vegeta missing, no doubt trying to calm himself down after more nightmares. You go looking for him and share a tender moment.

I have a couple NSFW one shots, but I gotta work up the courage to eventually post those. Even some of the ones above have more explicit scenes, but they’re easy to take out. I’ll list some of the longer NSFW ones I have below.

-Saiyan Invasion 🔞

After Raditz kills your brother, it’s up to you to defend the Earth while everyone stalls for time to bring him back. Little did you know it would work a little too well.

-SSJ4 🔞

Vegeta finally unlocks the power of a SSJ4, but he’s acting… strange. When he’s not trying to fight every other saiyan or guy on the planet, he’s following you around a bit too protectively to be normal.

-CHOMPERS!!!! 🔞

Vampires man. Vampires are cool.

-Evillllll 🔞

Trunks returns from the future to warn the Z fighters that a threat is coming to Earth. When you step out of the pod, Vegeta nearly has a heart attack. He wasn’t expecting a woman, let alone a saiyan one.

If you think any of these sound interesting, consider sticking around! Likes and Reblogs are appreciated, thanks for reading this far! :))

[dreaming-in-daylight]

a list of anime you have watched

S P O I L E R S i am so sorry this took long to answer ive been busy with homework and stuff but anyways here you go. ill go ahead and add that i love everything listed here regardless of the ranking. i am probably missing a lot so im gonna edit this. anyone can feel free to talk to me about anything listed here or not i dont really care. anyways here you go

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

attack on titan (finished the manga and caught up with the anime. i cry whenever i listen to akuma no ko. isayama is a genius and doesnt deserve death threats for killing off sasha and neither does ayane)

bungo stray dogs (currently reading i was screaming your name through the radio on ao3 and i very much recommend)

jujutsu kaisen (itadori kin if you couldnt tell, please stop sending death threats to akutami like cmon i love gojo too but hes a real person)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

one piece (procrastinating bc of school but i swear i'll continue it)

demon slayer (tanjiro is my child now)

the promised neverland (ive got a love-hate relationship w isabella)

hunter x hunter (not that far in but its so good)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

seraph of the end (HAHAHAHAHA MY SISTERS THOUGHT I COULDN'T FINISH IT IN A WEEK BEFORE NETFLIX TOOK IT OFF >:). but fr i love it and i wanna see more of yu-chan and mika)

a silent voice (was crying so much esp when she tried killing herself)

grave of the fireflies (literally the hardest i've cried over ANYTHING and i already knew she was gonna die)

into the forest of fireflies light (planning to rewatch it bc i watched it in class n felt nothing)

spy x family (yes.)

⭐️⭐️

erased (dont remember much, but i remember being very obsessed and i wanna read the manga)

given (couldnt bring myself to watch the movie. crying at ep 9, poor mafuyu)

tokyo ghoul (dropped it at vol 8 cause it was way too triggering)

violet evergarden (who didnt cry at ep 10?)

death note (i LOVE it. ryuk is a mood tbh)

ranking of kings (THE INTROS ARE ALWAYS A BANGER. ily wit studio)

⭐️

orange (used to love it but dont remember anything now)

sprited away (childhood favorite)

ponyo (also childhood favorite)

howl's moving castle (howl&lt;;3)

when marnie was there (didnt understand alot of it)

[novelmonger]

Book Review: The Magician's Daughter by H.G. Parry

Quote that should have been on the back of the book: "Magic isn't there to be hoarded like dragon's treasure. Magic is kind. It comes into the world to help. Our job is to make sure it gets to where it needs to go."

Premise: Set in the early twentieth century, sixteen-year-old Biddy has lived her entire life on Hy-Brasil, an island off the coast of Ireland shrouded in enchantment and inhabited by rabbits. She has been raised from infancy by the mage Rowan, who travels to the mainland by night in the form of a raven, accompanied by his familiar, a spirit named Hutchincroft who takes the form of a rabbit. Biddy's whole life consists of reading in Rowan's extensive library and exploring the island, but one day everything familiar is thrown into turmoil when Rowan doesn't return home. Soon, she strikes out into the world she has only read about, to rescue her adoptive father and maybe even restore the magic that is fading away from the world.

Thoughts: After The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, I had high hopes for this book, and it didn't disappoint. While I think I prefer Uriah Heep because it's a story about stories and focuses on two brothers (both things I have a particular weakness for), this was still a riveting, emotionally engaging read. I grew to love all of the characters (especially Hutchincroft) very quickly, not least because Biddy is well-read and often relates her experiences back to her favorite books--many of which are classics that I've loved and read myself! I could definitely see H.G. Parry's fingerprints all over that ;) Ultimately, this story is about the relationship of a father and daughter, and it's so sweet and so strong, I love it :')

I found this book to be a real page-turner. I read it over the course of a couple days, and while that was primarily because one of those days was spent sitting in a very boring waiting room, I think the plot would pull me along regardless of the circumstances. There's always another secret, and every time I made a prediction about how things were going to turn out, I ended up being wrong about it, in the best possible way. Characters I started out hating because they were selfish and cruel ended up being sympathetic or at least understandable. Those I trusted as whole-heartedly as Biddy herself were revealed to be more dishonest than I would ever have guessed. It really does serve the coming-of-age story Parry weaves, because isn't that what it's like to grow up? The things we relied on or took for granted turn out to be much more complicated than we ever realized, and navigating the world is fraught with perils we never imagined when reading about them in books.

But what I loved above all was how Parry ended the book. It was very satisfying to see things come to fruition, to watch Biddy find the strength to do what needed to be done even though she isn't a mage and thus might be discounted as a threat. I felt that every character got what they deserved, good and bad, and the triumph of the ending wasn't spoiled at all by them facing realistic ramifications for what they'd been through. The book could easily have ended a chapter earlier than it did, but then we wouldn't get to see the characters that have been through so much figuring out how to go about their lives now that everything has changed. It was realistic, but not in such a way that sucked all the magic out. The characters will suffer pain after all the trauma they went through, and they'll have to learn how to navigate a new life so different from the sheltered status quo of the beginning of the book. But there is hope. There is a future. And they have each other. That's what's important, and I just love that Parry emphasizes that.

P.S. I happened upon a review that described this book as a mix of Howl's Moving Castle and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, and I think that's a brilliantly apt description. So if any of this sounds appealing to you, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of The Magician's Daughter!

P.P.S. This book also has the distinction of being the only one to have ever made me cry over a character talking about chocolate chip biscuits and bacon :')

[redgoldsparks]

October Reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon.

Stray by Molly Mendoza 

Beautiful, mysterious, fluid in a way that makes a story summary difficult.           

Invisible Differences by Julie Dachez and Mademoiselle Caroline

Translated from French, this comic tells the story of Marguerite, a woman who has never fit in well in social situations, who is very sensitive to sounds and textures, who prefers the company of her pets to most people. Eventually, she is diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, and is able to make changes to her life to better accommodate her needs and feels a lot of affirmation at finally having the language to describe her experience. From the information at the back of the book, I gather France lags behind even the US in terms of understanding of and support for people with Autism and Asperger's; to me this story read as fairly basic. It's clear, nicely drawn, and easy to read, so hopefully it will be a good resource; if it helps some readers either see themselves, or better understand a friend or co-worker, then it will have done its job!

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

Addie and Meryl are sisters, princesses in the kingdom of Bamarre, who love each other dearly and could not be more different. The older sister Meryl is brave and assertive, practices swordplay, and longs to go on adventures and fight monsters. Her younger sister Addie is timid and shy, scared of monsters and spiders, and prefers to stay home with her needlework. But when Meryl falls sick with the gray death, a fatal magical illness, Addie overcomes her terror and leaves the castle to search for the fabled cure. Along the way she must face everything she's most afraid of, including the prospect of losing her sister forever. This is a wonderful middle grade book, very inventive and whimsical in the same vein as Howl's Moving Castle and The Princess Bride. Reading it made me want to write a short fantasy story in which characters can fly and dragons can speak.

It Won't Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib

Malaka's parents divorced when she was in elementary school, and from then on she spent summers in Egypt or Qatar with her father and school years in California with her mother. This book weaves together memories of many summers in the Middle East, some joyful, some challenging. Malaka's father remarried and eventually had three more children with a woman named Hala, who Malaka saw more as a big sister or mentor than a mother. Their relationship forms one of the central emotional cores of this story as they connect across language and cultural barriers. Drawn in the same loose, energetic style as I Was Their American Dream, this story is a nuanced examination of a family forging closeness despite distance. 

Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez

This book carries a content warning for almost everything I'd usually warn for: sexual abuse of a minor, on page rape, anti-Black and anti-Mexican racism, threats of lynching, character death in violent accidents, torture, and on page murder of main characters.

The story centers around a real historical event, a gas explosion at a school in New London, East Texas, in 1937, which remains one of the deadliest school accidents to this day. The book opens with the aftermath of the event and lets you know right away that at least one of the main characters is dead. Then it winds back the clock and introduces Naomi, a Mexican American teen orphan, and her half-white younger twin siblings, who had been living with their grandparents until the twin's father summons them all to live in the deeply segregated oil town of New London. Naomi was sexually abused by her step-father as a young girl, and the threat of continued abuse hangs over for the whole story, as does the danger of racially charged violence. Amidst this grim setting, the siblings steal moments of tenderness and joy, playing in the woods around their house, delighting in books, and a friendship with a Black teen, Wash, from a nearby community. When Naomi and Wash begin to fall in love, their happiness feels as fragile as soap bubble. But it is a bubble that might contain a whole life time's worth of passion and joy, even if it cannot last. This is a devastating book, unflinching in its depiction of racism and violence. But I found myself reminded of In The Dreamhouse, another book about very hard topics which is nevertheless still a pleasure to read because the writing is so strong.

To All The Boys I’ve Love Before by Jenny Han

I enjoyed this so much! Lara Jean is the middle child of three Korean American sisters who lost their mom young. This bonded the girls very tightly, and I loved that the relationship between the three of them was equally as, or more important than, the romantic relationships Lara Jean gets tangled in. The plot is fairly simple, but the writing is so grounded, warm, and witty, it really allows all of the characters to shine.

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

This is the second book in Johnson's excellent YA murder mystery series and I had SUCH a good time with it. It's hitting a really satisfying mix of flashbacks to a kidnapping/murder case from the 1930s which took place at a elite boarding school; present day story line of Stevie Bell, true crime obsessive, trying to solve the cold case; and Stevie Bell, teen with severe anxiety trying to navigate some complicated friendships, a potential romance, conservative Republican parents and a series of mysterious deaths. The historical mystery and the present day mysteries are both being strung out across multiple books, but so far the first two volumes have concluded with reveals that were surprising cliffhangers but also still well-earned endings. This series reminds me of The Westing Game the murder mystery I loved most as a teenager. I definitely plan to keep reading the series and I can't wait to see how all of these separate plot threads will wrap up!

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

The third and final book in the Scholomance series opens with El back on earth, incapacitated by grief over the loss in the graduation hall. It takes her a long time to pull herself back together, and she might never have done it except some of her old school allies call for her aid: more and more enclaves are being attacked by a mysterious enemy and maw-mouths are clawing at the gates of other. I struggled with the pacing of this book; there were several times I found myself thinking certain plot element had been revealed in the wrong order, and would have had a bigger emotional impact if arranged differently. This book also introduced a ton of new characters, as well as tons of new settings; this is a big ask from the last book in a series that has already introduced a pretty wide cast in the previous volumes. Also, the very clearly established rules of the magic system, which I loved in books 1 and 2, felt like they were getting broken over and over! I'm glad I read this book because I wanted to know how the series ended, but unfortunately I just didn't love it as much as I wanted to, and that makes me much less likely to rec this series to other readers in the future.

[maybeitsalivescribbles]

Ailess Whumptober 23 - Alt Self-Defense

Encore 5/5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Last part ! Let’s hear our pianist play for real this time.

Tw: major character death, implied death, bad things happening to hands, gun wound, death threats

***

The count joined his prisoner and his guards. Without adding a word, the two men dragged the young man into the castle, then before the piano. The rest of the servants were there, too, huddled up together. All their eyes were on the pianist as he sat before the instrument, and strangely enough, that made him feel better. He knew now that the audience was on his side. His stomach still sank, though, when he noticed the open coffin at his feet, waiting.

The count opened a drawer, pulled out a pistol. Then, very calmly, he settled himself on the sofa, looking at the ceiling, his hands and his weapon on his stomach.

“Play.”

F, answered the piano. F, F, F. One lonely note, repeated with an identical rhythm. The hand of the count clenched in a fist around the pistol. He opened his eyes and glared at his prisoner. The pianist delicately put his bandaged hand on the keys to add a chord. The same chord. For several bars. But as the count let out a growl of animal fury, the young man leaned over the instrument and his seven fingers flew all of a sudden. Some of the audience members started. The melody became insanely fast and aggressive, flowing over the room. It was a cry of rage. The fingers jumped from octave to octave as if it were nothing. Playing with crossed hands didn’t seem to disturb the pianist at all. He smiled grimly, lost in the wrath of his music.

Then, behind his back, he heard a strange noise. Something like a sigh, maybe. No, it was too loud. Someone was gasping behind him. It had to be one of the guards. Gritting his teeth, he threw a glance at the count. No need to push the pedal to play louder. He had noticed. They’d all noticed.

“I’m sorry, my lord,” mumbled the guard, disturbing the piece even more and so dooming himself further, “I could not – I was surprised - it was beautiful -”

The count aimed at him. The count shoot. The man fell. The pianist closed his eyes. His fingers froze on the keyboard. The rest of the servants clenched their fists.

“ Nobody moves”, said the master of the house quietly. “Sir, I believe you were in the middle of something. Would you start again from the beginning ?”

“I-I would,” stuttered the pianist, “but I believe the A4 is slightly off-key.”

“Is it now ?”

“ Surely a man with a hearing as keen as yours must have heard it. It’s very slight, but it’s here all the same; listen.”

He played the accused note with emphasis.

“I’d need a tuning hammer.”

“Nonsense. This A is perfectly in tune. Write another chord.”

“I can’t. This is what works best. Would you look at the music sheet?”

The count glared at him.

“I’d be honored for you to read my work,” softly said the young man. “I know how important it is that everything has to be perfect.”

“This is an adaptation, everything is far from being perfect. It’s not even the best one. I hear a pale imitation, a mockery of the real thing.”

“Come and tell me what I’ve been doing wrong.”

The count hesitated, but reluctantly got up and came closer. He looked at the music sheet, and with a disdainful hand, began to play the first bars. One finger. Four fingers of the right hand. Only at the seventh bar he used the left hand.

Only then, the pianist closed the key lid as hard as he could.

The right hand jerked away. The left didn’t. There was a sickening crunch as his host howled in pain, but the young man kept the fall-board closed, leaning on it with all his weight, and only relented when the bones stopped breaking. The lid opened at once, revealing dismantled fingers and blood stains that made his stomach sank – he never liked when an instrument was damaged.

An elbow flew near his face but he could dodge it. He’d hoped that the count would be polite enough to faint so he could escape, but it seemed like the older man wouldn’t surrender without a fight. He was still standing, his face livid and grim with pain.

“You will lie in that coffin,” he groaned. “And before nailing you in, I will break every bone in your body. Seize him !”

He had snapped these last words at the guard who remained on his feet, but the servant hesitated. Stepping back, the pianist gave him a pleading look, but he refused to look at him. So slowly, the count turned toward his pistol, his right hand twitching in anticipation. There were so much people in the room who could have halted him, but no one moved. The young man’s heart stopped. He knew for sure that the count would go to the weapon and kill him before someone dared to move a finger. No miracle was going to happen.

He looked away. The metronome was still by the piano, the rod leaning on the right. He took it and...tried.

Now, there are only two options when a man out of his mind with despair tries to strike with all his strength: either it will reveal itself to be very weak, either terrifically, inhumanly strong. If the pianist had tried to hit the count the first night of his arrival, he would have barely brushed his skin. Trying the same thing the day before would have been fruitless, too. But he was not the man from yesterday. Not after the coffin. Not after Winter. Not after seeing a man being shot.

The rod pierced the count’s throat like a sword through hot butter.

The gurgling sound was enough; the pianist didn’t wish to learn more about it. He turned his back immediately, only hearing his captor falling to the ground.

That sound seemed to break a spell. At once, the servants came back to life. Many rushed toward the wounded guard, who was still breathing. None went to the count. Absentmindedly, the pianist went back to the piano to carefully wipe the keys out with his sleeve. Only after he joined the little group who circled the man. Leaning over, he gently asked him:

“Do you want me to play again ?”

The guard had a weak smile.

“Please do, until the end.”

*

Back to Whump/Horror Masterlist.

[fawnborns]

the flutter of ribbons in spring they will escape you just as girlhood has far away in the past, a tiny green sprout fighting through the mud after a storm it’s leaves dripping with dew, squirming in your seat during worship you can see the imaginary worlds in your mind so close but so far away THE LADY OF THE STORMLANDS ; CRESSIDA BARATHEON

name: cressida baratheon

age: twenty-two

dob: april fourth

nicknames: cress, crescent

title: lady of storm's end

orientation: bisexual biromantic

religion: the faith of the seven

traits: +effusive, +gregarious, -puerile, -quick-tempered

character parallels: molly gunn (uptown girls), howl pendragon (howl's moving castle), usagi tsukino (sailor moon)

it is of popular opinion in the stormland’s that the youngest ladies of storm’s end cares for nothing but pretty dresses, sweet treats, and lavish parties. 

born the youngest of her siblings (though technically only a half as she was the product of her father’s second marriage) she was unburdened by any of the expectations of the elders. 

cressida (or cress as she’s called by her family) expected for most of her life to marry well, run a house, and have little in the way of responsibility. she did not care for politics nor for any of the worldly affairs that should have concerned a noble lady of her age.

despite her lovely appearance, fresh as a spring daisy, she became known in the castle for her vicious temper as a child. as it turned out being the youngest child of a noble house afforded her a level of freedom that was almost neglect.

she tended to run barefoot, stealing shiny trinkets from rooms until she'd amassed a grand dragon's hoard hidden neatly underneath her bedframe.

if she did encounter her siblings she'd often play pranks on them, unlooping their belts or stealing all of their left shoes. her antics gained her a reputation as a deeply unserious individual.

this continued all the way into her teenage years as she blossomed. what once was an awkward gangly girl had turned into a beautiful young lady

suddenly she developed an interest in how she looked, she amassed a massive collection of fine dresses and indulged in the finer things in life

she was at her own disposal, after all it wasn't like anyone in her family actually minded her. but inside she was screaming look at me, notice me.

though many thought her foolish she spent many of her own quiet hours reading and educating herself. it was armor she kept, to be a frail and silly girl who has never a threat to anyone. even this did not gain her father's attention.

but nothing worked. despite everything she was still a forgotten child loved only by her mother.

so she resolved to live her life as she pleased until she was married off to whatever house made the best offer. she'd live in luxury and spend her time as frivolously as she possibly could.

but as she approaches highgarden she'll soon learn that you can't outrun the game no matter how hard you try, and in order to survive she'll have to try like never before.

wanted connections

betrothal at first annoyance- perturbed by her reputation as a thankless brat this is not the happiest of betrothals at all. y/m resents having to wed cress and her own reaction has been less than favorable. these two get along like a house on fire. it's up to you if they end up overcoming their differences or completely imploding!

baby's first romantic obsession - this would be someone older who she'd known growing up and always been infatuated with. bonus points for even more angst if they are married now and she's getting her heart broken.

great for them, terrible for westeros - though cress can be difficult at times this muse has stuck by her side through it all. even when they were apart they wrote letters to each other constantly. when they're together they're stuck to each other's sides strolling in the gardens or being awful little gremlins.

the fantasy equivalent of frenemies - these two cannot stand each other but as polite society demands they grit and smile through their teeth whenever they're around each other. though most of their time is spent trading thinly veiled insults.

[abookisafriend]

uprooted, by naomi novik: three and four fifths trees out of five

i started reading naomi novik's novels when i was in college and she was producing the temeraire series (his majesty's dragon), a series that reputedly began as a master and commander fanfic and escaped into the wild when novik shaved off the serial numbers and revised it with original characters. i enjoyed the first book and loved their visit to imperial china but didn't get caught in the series, perhaps partially because i was focused on college and getting into graduate school. i recently got back into novik's books by reading a deadly education, the first book in the scholomance series (hope with me that it's a series and not a trilogy, okay?). when i ran out of scholomance books, finished the first three locked tomb novels, and had nothing else to warm my lonely nights, i found uprooted.

uprooted was recommended to me by the same reader who recommended the scholomance novels. it's a very different book, though. this novel is set in a vaguely fantasized europe -- except that it's clearly poland near the border with kievan rus (the former russian domain, overlapping with today's belarus and ukraine). they have blini and zhurek and the country is called "polnya" (novik's family are polish on her mother's side). the year is sometime after 1267, based on the date of one book the main character references, but we don't know how long. it is in the days of swords and bows, before the gun. like the scholomance, though, the protagonist is a young woman who starts out with few resources but comes to cultivate tremendous power.

uprooted takes a very classical approach to the rewritten fairy tale genre. the characters are a mix of peasants and princes, and the main threat of the book is a mysterious and dangerous woodland -- "the Wood". the structure of the plot is a series of interlocked arcs, each part of the story a bit self-contained but leading into the next. there is something of a classical feel without becoming generic. you may be frustrated by the implication (if you know your tropes) that there will be a romance, since one of the implied romantic figures is rather disagreeable, but you may warm up to him by the later parts of the book. this book is especially recommended for readers who grew up with howl's moving castle and want an adult version of the story.

[wanderingandfound]

This could be a better post and maybe I will come back to these ideas later but like..... I’m tired of reviews judging television and film adaptations by like,,,, what will make the fans of it the original happy. Like,,,,, I actually am interested in if an adaptation captures the spirit of the original. I don’t think an adaption has to, but I’d love to read criticism from that angle.

But man, like a video game journalist retweeted onto my timeline a review of the Mario movie where most of the [negative] criticism was “there’s very little in here for the people who grew up on these games” with only a few side-sentences on lackluster emotional payoffs and sparse character arcs. Basically the review was more concerned about adults who grew up with the games (not all of us adults!) then whether or not the movie was a good movie.

And then within two days, from the other side of shallow criticism, I was reading a review from a library perspective about both the Mario and the D&D movies that spent most of the time glowing about them not because of any strengths in the movies, but because they were considered “”successful”” adaptations over these franchises’ previous cinematic adaptations.

Meanwhile I haven’t watched the show or play the games or read any longform criticism of The Last Of Us, but from my Twitter timeline my understanding is that the games were very cinematic games, and the television show has been replicating it shot for shot. And some fans like that, but some people I follow and myself are like “Why though? What’s the point?” Especially in this age of let’s plays where not being able or interested in playing a game is no longer a barrier for experiencing the game.

And I’m also thinking about how like, even as I revisit Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the MCU as I return to this fanfic from 2016, I haven’t actually seen any of the adaptations of the Marvel comics I was reading at the same time as I was genuinely excited by the MCU: Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop and Clint Barton and Lucky the dog Hawkeye comic, Young Avengers (which doesn’t yet have an MCU adaption but we have Kate and Cassie and Eli and Billy and Teddy and Vision 1.0 is dead). And I don’t have an interest in watching these adaptations, except for maybe the Ms. Marvel one. I haven’t seen anything that tempts me as I currently am, nor that tempts the teenager who loved those comics who still lives inside me.

And like I said at the top, I don’t think an adaptation needs to be exactly the same. I like both Howl’s Moving Castle the book and the film. I don’t think that the Ella Enchanted movie is a good one, but I enjoy seeing Anne Hathaway singing and being feisty and a talking book that is essentially the fantasy equivalent of an AI. Maybe a reread of the satire book The Princess Bride would feel tiring at the moment, when we live in an era full of snark where genre isn’t allowed to be sincere, but in my heart the somewhat mean-spirited book means just as much to be as the sincerely committed movie.

And then there’s now. When I think of the Good Omens show adaption, just the show not the fandom, the only thing that really comes to mind is the frustration that they didn’t update Anathema’s conspiracy theory magazines to contemporary ones, which I feel completely changes her character to one who is both more out of touch and less concerned with the current threats to humans and the environments.

I dunno what my point was. And wow, typing on a computer can go so much faster than typing on my phone. But I’m just tired. I want good shows and good movies that stand on their own. I am so sad that The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself got cancelled, and I have not read the books it was based on (and also feel like the books aren’t going to give me what I want).

I want adaptations to have a point. I want them to be well-crafted. I don’t want them churned out for name recognition. I don’t want them being written to make old fans happy! And I also don’t want the only things of interest for those old fans to be counting easter eggs in the background, even while I think easter eggs can be neat!

[ovaryacted]

✧˖° ── ABOUT ME & FUN FACTS!

BIO STUFF:

✩ ─ I go by Nic! I’m 23 years old. My pronouns are she/they.

✮ ─ Pisces ☼ | Gemini ☾ | Leo ↑

✩ ─ Studied Political Science and Women & Gender Studies in college.

✮ ─ I'm a mixed Latinx American but culturally come from a Carribbean country and speak both Spanish and English. #bilingual queen

INTERESTS & LIKES:

✩ ─ I'm a foodie, and an alcohol connoisseur. My favorite drink is a pornstar martini!

✮ ─ I love Pop, Hip Pop/Rap, & R&B/Soul music. My favorite artist is Beyoncé, I'm a die hard fan and saw her on the Renaissance World Tour in June of 2023.

✩ ─ I enjoy reading contemporary Romance books and High Fantasy/Sci-Fi novels. Also a big fan of historical books and things revolving around feminism, sex education, queer studies, & civil rights.

✮ ─ Huge anime fan! Some of my favorites: Sailor Moon (Original & Crystal), Attack on Titan, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, One Punch Man, Black Butler.

✩ ─ I take cinema seriously. Some of my favorite movies: Alien (1979), Black Swan (2010), Interstellar (2014), Howl's Moving Castle (2004), Ponyo (2008).

✮ ─ Always been a gamer as a kid. Some of my favorite games: Sims 2-4, Outlast, Minecraft, The Last Of Us Parts 1 & 2, the Resident Evil Franchise, Alien Isolation, Alice The Madness Returns, Catherine, the Zelda Franchise, Super Mario Galaxy, the God of War Franchise.

FUN FACTS:

✩ ─ My first ever fandom community was Attack on Titan when only the first season was out. I ran a very popular instagram account when I was 13/14 that had around 300k followers and got death threats for shitting on ships. That's some lore for you.

✮ ─ I used to roleplay when I was younger and wrote anime fanfics on Wattpad before they monetized everything. My first ever fic was a mafia inspired story with Levi Ackerman as the love interest. So I guess you can consider me a veteran lol.

©️ ovaryacted 2024. Please don’t repost, copy, translate, or feed into any AI.

[allyofavonlea]

3.75-4.5 stars.

Emotional, powerful, full of love and overcoming hopeless situations. Sorcery of Thorns follows the escapades of Elizabeth Scrivener, an orphan who grew up within a magical library and is now training to be one of the library wardens. When a series of gruesome murders start happening throughout the libraries of the city, Elizabeth has to team up with gloriously charming and outlandish Nathaniel and his assistant, Silas (the single greatest character of the century), to save the libraries and the city from a bigger threat than anyone could have imagined.

I had only a few minor complaints which kept this from being a five star read for me, and it was only because of how much I grew to love our main three Elizabeth, Silas, and Nathaniel. Where this book suffers is in not spending more time growing these relationships, both platonically and romantically.

While Elizabeth is a great character on her own, I found the chapters in which she embarks on solo trials and tribulations to be the most disengaging. There were quite a few segments of the book which could have been shortened (particularly a three chapter long undercover stint in one of the magical libraries). While Rogerson did state that she intended for this to be more fantasy leaning, with a tertiary romantic plot, it still could have benefited from delving deeper into the friendships between the three characters.

Similarly, one of my biggest critiques of said romance is that Elizabeth learns about Nathaniel through Silas, instead of spending those moments with Nathaniel himself.

All of this to say that I wish this was entirely more character driven because these characters are, quite frankly, unforgettable! If you love Howls Moving Castle you will love the dynamic between Elizabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas.

[ashkareads]

Ashkaztra Reads: Thornhedge, by T. Kingfisher

Title: Thornhedge Author: T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) Genre: Fantasy, alternate history Length: 128 pages Release Date: August 2023

Summary:

There's a princess trapped in a tower. This isn't her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

My Thoughts:

As this is the first post here, be aware that I am biased, in that I love Ursula Vernon's writing style.

This is a Sleeping Beauty retelling at its core, but as the summary says, it's not the princess' story. Not really. Toadling is a sweet, anxious character, and despite what she thinks, she's intrinsically human. Just toad shaped. All she wants is to fix her mistakes and do what she was meant to do, and she tries so hard. When Halim comes along and decides there's a curse to be broken, he is a lot more perceptive than she thinks, because in an almost Howl's Moving Castle-like way, Toadling has made her duty a curse for herself as well.

The friendship between Toadling and Halim is lovely. They have great dynamic, and I love the fact that he's a Muslim knight, at least culturally. He didn't have to be, but it adds depth to the story. I also greatly enjoyed the way their relationship is clearly close, but it's up to the reader to interpret the details.

Most of the time I forgot that this is technically a magical version of our world, but that's mostly a part of what I love about Vernon's books. I love an epic fantasy, but sometimes I want a small and contained fantasy were the stakes are not saving the world as much as dealing with a more localized threat.

I also love the Greenteeth. I'm a sucker for found family as is, and a found family that's made of powerful, inhuman creatures that get to just be not human, but still loving in their own way.

All in all, I very much enjoyed this book, and it's a short, but sweet, read.