#better than a lot of other characters save for like Falin

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading roundup: May 2024

you guyssssss you guys you guys you guys I've been reading so much this month :)

sometimes my brain gets the itch to just DEVOUR books and it's really been on me, probably thanks to the burst of energy + free time that comes with the semester ending and summer getting started! the days are longer, the last of my season depression has been kicked to the curb, and I can spend hours reading on the porch every evening. the ideal!

right now, as the month ends, I'm feeling a particular hankering towards nonfiction and juicy new summer novels; I reblogged a Lit Hub roundup of new books the other day that got my brain buzzinggggg with excitement for the coming months. we'll see if that ends up manifesting in the June roundup, but for now, here's what kept me busy in May:

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble (Alexis Hall, 2022) - this month I read two romance novels picked by my beautiful patreonites; I did a compare/contrast between the two over on Patreon and I'll leave the majority of my thoughts there, but suffice to say that I am not a fan of Paris. definitely the weakest of the three Alexis Hall novels, and a real disappointment since I found the other two delightful. the story is straightforward enough and has some potential for sure, but Paris as a protagonist is a sodden mess who I found just insufferable. thumbs down from me, gang.

Chef's Kiss (TJ Alexander, 2022) - hi, it's the other romance novel. this one is a lot goofier than Paris Daillencourt, which is fitting since it's BA Test Kitchen rpf starring a bisexual Claire Saffitz and a nonbinary Brad Leone. it's frustrating because the story is definitely stronger than the one in Paris but the romance is piteously undercooked, although I was at least fine with the protag and her love interest getting together - they were boring but unobjectionable, unlike Paris and his love interest who I really thought would have been better off as friends. now that I'm thinking about it, you might get a perfect queer cooking show romance novel if you somehow mashed the two of them together. they're both, like, so close to working, but ultimately fall flat.

Delicious in Dungeon Vol. 4-6 (Ryoko Kui, 2018) - I don't even know what to say except that I'm still loving everything about Dungeon Meshi. the craft and thought that Kui puts into every facet of the world, from the big picture politics between fantasy races to the individual thoughts and feelings of each character, shows so much love for the world without ever being overbearing; it never feels like exposition is being hammered down my throat so much as little details are being tastefully arranged to be enjoyed at whatever speed and to whatever extent the reader likes. the world is getting bigger with each chapter and I'm looking forward to exploring more, especially now that Falin's hottie monster form and that good good catgirl have entered the chat.

Earthdivers Vol. 2: Ice Age (Stephen Graham Jones, Riccardo Burchielli, Patricio Depeche, Emily Schnall, Joana Lafuente, 2024) - once again I've done the worst thing that you can do as a comics fan, which is get invested in a series that's just starting out and is still releasing individual issues. the third trade paperback won't be out until December, so I guess I'm either going to have to go on hiatus with Earthdivers or start chasing down new releases on comic pirating sites, which feels shitty - that's how I read Batman comics that are the same age as me, not new stuff from authors I actually want to support! but Earthdivers might just be worth it. the second installment takes us to a wildly different setting than the first, Columbus-killing collection, dropping fearsome mother Tawny in a prehistoric North America. but while the setting changes, the series is still grappling with the question of what its protagonists are willing to sacrifice and who they're willing to become to change the past and save the world. we're starting to see bigger hints about how much history can be altered and catching some clues about the series' antagonist (???); I gotta know what happens next.

Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Caroline Fraser, 2017) - here it is, the book that got nonfic so powerfully on the brain! this is a riveting history whether you grew up on Little House on the Prairie or not (I didn't), tracking Laura Ingalls Wilder from an impoverished girl constantly imperiled by life on the prairie to a beloved icon of American propaganda. for me, personally, this hefty book really picks up when it gets to the endlessly complicated and frequently nasty relationship that Wilder had with her daughter when said daughter was grown; Rose Wilder Lane is a FASCINATING figure in her own right and I'm kind of obsessed with what a shithead grifter girlboss she was. fascinating stuff all around.

The Brides of High Hill (Nghi Vo, 2024) - Vo's series of Singing Hills novellas has always woven from one genre to another, exploring new types of stories just as our protagonist, the cleric Chih, explores new lands. this installation takes us straight into a gothic horror that pulls out all the stops: an isolated manor, an enigmatic madman roaming the grounds, the strangling snares of social conventions, and a blushing bride who isn't exactly what she seems. I read it in one sitting, it's delicious.

Superfreaks: Kink, Pleasure, and the Pursuit of Happiness (Arielle Greenberg, 2023) - a poppin' primer for anybody who wants to learn more about the world of kink and what the fuck is going on out there. at one point I did catch myself thinking that I was a little underwhelmed and that Greenberg wasn't really putting forth anything that radical, but then I realized that speaking extremely candidly about and validating interest in basically any kink or fetish imaginable, and yes I do mean straight up any of them, is actually A Lot for many people to handle. so, yeah, good book, check it out for a friendly and enthusiastic intro to the wide world of kink.

Sex Criminals Vol. 2: Two Worlds, One Cop (Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky, 2015) - the first volume of Sex Criminals left me feeling a little meh, but I decided to keep going because Matt Fraction's Hawkeye run was lifechanging and I know this series is pretty widely acclaimed, so I want to see where we're going with this. (plus it's free via the library, so what do I have to lose?) this volume really sold me on the series and particularly on Jon, who I was pretty lukewarm on initially. he really stole the spotlight in this one, and I like the way that the story is ratcheting up the stakes.

The Stone Sky (N.K. Jemisin, 2017) - GOOOOOOOOOD what a book! what a trilogy! in a series shaped by empires and natural disasters, the story ultimately ends with a quit confrontation of clashing ideologies, a young daughter determined to end the world and a mother equally determined that one of her children should live. and that shit hurts! I read the series a couple of times when I was younger but I was never before able to fully appreciate the work Jemisin does in crafting Essun and Nassun, showing us the way cruelty and fear have shaped both of them into the people they ultimately are and the choices they make. absolutely masterful, a legend.

From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World in Search of the Good Death (Caitlin Doughty, 2017) - this was another reread, and while N.K. Jemisin was blowing my mind, Caitlin Doughty was giving me a warm hug. I don't know what to tell you, reading about the ways that people all over the world care for their dead and take comfort in their memories makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. death can be really beautiful and comforting, if you're not a coward.

The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag (Sasha Velour, 2023) - listen, I'm not really a Drag Race girlie. I first heard about this book when Velour was a guest on Nicole Byers' podcast, and while I was very charmed by her I was not expecting to be blown away by her book. it's just a little cash-in for a Ru girl, right? all she needs to do is slap together some cool pictures of her in drag and a few platitudes about being yourself and boom bang, that's a book. but readers, I owe Sasha Velour an apology: this book was so much cooler and smarter than it needed to be! Velour brings an impressive eye to forces of colonialism and capitalism that shape art and conceptions of queerness, and keeps this framework firmly in place while keeping the tone of the book bubbly and lighthearted. she also goes out of her way to spotlight a huge variety of drag performers and gender nonconforming figures throughout history, celebrating all the different means of expression that make up the tapestry of contemporary queerness. a great read, and one that I've already shelled out for. a friend and I are working on a documentary exploring the nuances of queer style, and I know I'm gonna want to pull heavily from Velour's thoughts and the history she's curated.

[fallloverfic]

Mithrun and the changeling shapeshifting

This isn't directed at anyone in particular, but I see comments about Mithrun and the changelings/shapeshifting mushrooms a bit and I think there's some misunderstanding about what the shapeshifting does. Spoilers for the manga for chapters 51-the end/volume 8-beyond, and the Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible (first one) below the cut. (Also yes, I know it's partially played for laughs in the manga, but I think Kui also does some neat stuff with it, particularly in Mithrun's case).

The shapeshifting emphasizes different racial traits, and that's going to be defined differently by each race, like how each race has different beauty standards, abilities, and puts on muscle differently (e.g., Senshi is maybe beautiful by dwarven standards, and his beard is huge, so as an elf he's beautiful by elven standards, but his beard is too powerful to shapeshift, so he has a mustache despite the fact no other known elves have facial hair). Kabru, for instance, is a sort of smaller tank, and is kind of waify as an elf (possibly because elves are just kind of waify generally, though this might also be due to his losing weight after being revived; he also doesn't have much magical ability: he has even less than Laios does, versus Mithrun, who's maxed the magic stats chart).

The most muscular elf we know of is Lycion, on the left:

Lycion still looks "skinny" in a way, but he's strong and muscular, just not Hollywood bulky. He matches a race that doesn't put on thick, bulky muscle, at least not easily. Compare this to Mithrun on the right, who isn't as naked as Lycion so we can't quite see what he looks like as an elf under his clothes, because the clothes give him some padding. The closest we get to modern him as nude as Lycion is, is that shot in his cabin in the Adventurer's Bible:

It's hard to tell, but his arms are decently muscular for an elf (also one-armed push-ups are hard, that's not something you do on a lark). His whole thing since Milsiril talked him into getting back into shape to go to dungeons has been solely that: getting back into shape to go deal with the demon, and he's had to build up his body to be able to walk on his own and stay alive long enough to deal with the demon. Given he's also a powerful magic user, but he seemingly doesn't have those abilities as a tall-man (or at least he wasn't using his magic on the door), it might be his tall-man form is also compensating for that. This is Mithrun's stats chart:

"Though he's an elf, both his strength and stamina are excellent. His one weakness is his terrible sense of direction." p.73, Chapter 01 / Characters, Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible. Dudes' beefy even for an elf, even if he doesn't precisely look it. But compare Mithrun and Lycion here:

Mithrun's shorter, and the clothing is probably making him look bigger than he is, but they're somewhat similar, comparatively, once you compensate for the height differences.

We also get some shots of him in motion and wearing that tightish shirt/dress.

Clothing can of course make your bust look more defined than it is, but it's notable that we get some obvious muscle definition to him in the chest area (for an elf), and his lower chest/trunk is rather solid-looking, rather than the thinner forms of his female companions. He seems to be a bit thicker in his mid-section than Pattadol, for instance, who's only slightly taller than he is, and she and Cithis have similarly-sized waists (actually Cithis might be a little thinner? Which would make sense as her focus is on casting).

His focus is movement and physical interaction more than the other casters in his party (he has to touch stuff a little to teleport it), so he builds up his body accordingly. Which also makes sense for how he does one-armed push-ups in his ship cabin in his spare time.

I think a big reason Mithrun is viewed as weak/tiny is because he's often around Kabru so we often compare them physically. Mithrun is thinner and six inches shorter than Kabru, who is not in the best physical shape due to his revival, on top of, at this point, not having a great meal regimen due to neither of them being good at gathering or apparently making meals.

Some shots of Kabru and Mithrun together, for comparison, including Mithrun helping Kabru stand. Kabru is more muscular, but not the bulkiest for a tall-man (he's smaller than Laios, even accounting for the height difference, though still tanky in his own right, I mean he grabbed Falin pretty easily, and Kabru and Falin are the same height; Laios is just big).

(I know Laios' armor makes him look bigger than he is, especially when Kabru has his off, but, ignoring the height difference, Laios is broader than Kabru, seemingly, particularly in the chest and arms).

Yeah, Kabru lost weight after the first revival, so he's not the best comparison, but if Mithrun, an elf, doesn't look rail thin even next to Kabru, who's not that skinny for a tall-man (skinnier than he used to be, but not skeletal), it kind of also says something about Mithrun. He's not like... bones. He's thin, but not rail thin (we know because he was shown rail thin in Daydream Hour during his recovery, and he put on muscle since then). And shots of him, while variable at times - sometimes he's drawn thinner, sometimes thicker, often in comparison to who he's sharing a shot with, e.g., Sissel - often emphasize how thick his arms are, even near Kabru, who is broader and more muscular. I think my best description of Mithrun is "mostly solid for a dude often running on fumes".

And we see him moving fast and hitting hard a lot. Whenever he fights, he's running, jumping, punching, or kicking something. Being lithe would help with that, but he'd need muscle too, especially for how fast he is (an easy comparison is a ballerina or a track runner, both of whom have to build up specific muscles for their craft, and regimens for both can be grueling). And he's not just teleporting people, he's smacking them hard.

He also was (and is) still notably good-looking for an elf. He has nice hair (that he doesn't pay as much attention to as he used to, but still is nice), a good body (even without half his ears, which seem important for elves), and would be considered attractive by a lot of people.

So yes, he's possibly still stringy-ish for an elf because he's likely exhausted due to lack of proper sleep (the bags under his eyes, his noted issues sleeping while in dungeons without aid), and doesn't eat regular meals (while in dungeons). But he's still muscular - to an elvish degree, anyway - and strong, particularly in terms of magical power, so it makes a lot of sense that the guy on the left would become the guy on the right when shapeshifted into a tall-man to become a race that better creates bulkier muscle and has to compensate for Mithrun's magical abilities (also looks kind of cliche handsome, maybe mimicking how Senshi looks as an elf).

I mean obviously there are strong human magic users, like Falin... and she has stronger stats all around than he does/roughly close in some places, so it makes sense he'd be as tall and bulky as she is.

Mithrun is, canonically, way more powerful than Kabru, as well, (at least against monsters), hence probably part of why he's seemingly bulkier than Kabru as a human. Mithrun is the one who deals with almost all the monsters for a reason. It's only when Mithrun is distracted or tired that Kabru gets one over him (e.g., in Sissel's house, or when Kabru grabs Mithrun at the dungeon entrance). Notably, when Mithrun crawled out of a spider and got knocked out by Kabru in chapter 76, Kabru was pointing out that Mithrun needed to rest. He was at his most wet cat moment then... when he was exhausted. So to me at least, this shapeshift makes sense. Normal Mithrun isn't really a wet cat most of the time. He's strong. He just runs himself ragged for various reasons.

[lgbtlunaverse]

I've seen a good number of people ask a question along the limes of "why do characters like Falin and hate Laios when they're so similar?" and i've also seen good analysis on the differences in how the touden siblings carry themselves that would, despite their shared traits, make a person gravitate to one more than the other.

But i feel like we've overseen one very central thing here.

People don't like Falin

Like... the average person in dungeon meshi doesn't like Falin. She was deeply ostrasized by her home village, in magic school she had zero friends before Marcille and the others generally saw her as strange and a bit offputting.

Characters like Namari and Chilchuck like her well enough but not necessarily more than any other member of their party, including Laios. Neither Kabru nor his party think much of her. The canaries don't give a fuck about her. Toshiro's retainers don't see her as anything else than the weird foreign girl their boss has a crush on.

The reason we think everyone loves Falin is because, despite all the indifferent side characters, the 2 most important and central characters of the story are Laios and Marcille. Who are NOT representative of the average attitudes to Falin! But necromancy georg number 1 and 2 are our main eyes into the story and they love Falin so much that it colours our perspective of the whole world.

The only side character who qualifies as liking Falin and not Laios is Toshiro (at least at first, as he ends the story on much better terms with Laios) and that says a lot about his character, with him drifting to the quiet Falin precisely because of her oddness but being both uncomfortable with and deeply jealous of Laios' much more open expression of that oddness. Because he's a repressed guy from a culture where etiquette is incredibly important.

But like I said, that's a specific aspect of him, not to the world at large.

Because there's also people that click more with laios than with Falin.

Kabru, for one, who is initially distrustful of laios but clearly also deeply fascinated by him and drawn to him.

Minor spoilers, and you don't have to read too deeply into this, because I don't think Kabru particularly dislikes Falin or anything. But it's interesting that when he talks about his distrust of the toudens in ch.32 he's talking about them both. But his big friendship declaration in chapter 76 is aimed squarely at Laios, he doesn't say "you and your sister" he says "you"

And Senshi!! He instantly clicks with Laios, well before he does so with anyone else in the party– who he also becomes friends with, it just takes a bit longer– specifically because they bond over their shared special interest in monsters!! Senshi is kind towards Falin and cares for her wellbeing, but he also... doesn't know her. The reason he is even here, helping to save her, is because he and Laios bonded over monsters and he wants to help his new friends out!

Of course, the theme of neurodivergent isolation is very present in Laios' story. I'm not denying that. He does turn people off, without meaning to and unable to fully understand why! But so does Falin. And just like there are people who like her despite of or even because of those traits, there are people who do the same with him.

In conclusion: "Average person loves Falin and hates Laios" factoid actually statistical error. Average person is neutral on both Falin and Laios. Georcille, Laiorg and Geoshiro, who live in the dungeon and think over 10,000 Falin-loving thoughts a day, are statistical outliers adn should not have been counted.

[wormlette]

I do think a LOT about why Chilchuck would join the "save Falin" dungeon dive at all tbh and it makes me feel like eating drywall. Namari is the one who brings up the "I figured you'd be the first one to leave, you never take a job without getting paid" and he's like yeah. I do insist on payment up front. But do you think he was ever going to bring up his motivations on his own? If Namari hadn't? I don't think he would talk about it because I don't think it's really that simple. We find out in the ep that just aired a few things--

1) Chil is paid in advance, and however that works, he's apparently already been contracted for future dungeon dives too ? 2) The adventurer's community is tight-knit and full of gossip, so the things you do will have impact on what kind of work you can do going forward.

There are other things we know about Chil:

1) he's worked for Laios' party for three years. Namari was a member before him (she joined at the same time the husband hunter and some tall man guy joined, iirc) and Shuro was a member after him, but after those two leave, he's the person who's worked with the Toudens for the longest. 2) He's had some really shitty jobs in his past, especially pre-union. He understands very well what kinds of things people will use half-foots for. 3) He is thinking about retiring. He was going to retire before joining Laios' party.

And one thing we learned in the very first episode -- Laios told Marcille and Chilchuck that they should sell their equipment so he could go down on his own to rescue Falin. Chilchuck asks him if he's suicidal and then invites himself along for absolutely everything that goes down after. He's more ride-or-die about eating monsters than anyone other than Senshi. Him breaking his contract is obviously not something Laios would have held against him. Maybe it would have "Changed his clientele" as he says to Marcille about Namari in the latest ep, but also: HE COULD JUST RETIRE.

IDK PERSONALLY I JUST THINK this all adds up to an implication that he is really very fond of the Touden siblings. As Marcille notes when she's making a fanfic of his wife leaving him he's not the type to ever say his feelings out loud so it's not ever really gonna be said in the text of the story and THAT'S WHY I'M HERE. They seem to be a well-renowned party during the events of the story, but when he joined up with them they were just a year out from being bodyguards in a gold-peeling party with a few other no-name adventurers (as far as I know from the extras that have come out so far, the order of main chars joining the party went Laios&Falin->Namari->Chil->Shuro->Marcille.)

Three years AFTER HE WAS ALREADY CONSIDERING RETIRING he is willing to go on a journey that every other character thinks is fucking insane for the chance to rescue Falin, even though he is not an optimistic guy and he probably has a more realistic understanding of how dangerous dungeons are than anybody else in the group. If he started doing dungeon work when he left his home at 14 then he has about 15 years of dungeoneering experience by the time of the story. He would know what he's doing is actually EXTREMELY dangerous in a way resurrection magic doesn't actually eliminate. They are going down into a floor that's so far down the story has expressed "it's really dangerous to go there and most people don't because it will be hard for corpse retrievers and necessary supplies to get to you if you die. if you are eaten you might just be gone beause no one will ever find you."

I think he's harsh on Laios because he really cares about him and Falin. We know he ranks Laios' ability as a party leader as like a 61 or something lmfao but IMHO he is like that stern teacher who is forced by admin to put a 20pt curve on every exam because everybody is fuckin failing. Nobody is doing a good enough job. But he must have faith in the idea that Laios is able to do better if he has the right coaching (kicking and yelling at him). I JUST THINK the Touden party has been the best one he's worked in, or if not the best then his favorite, for him to keep doing it for THIS LONG when he SHOULD absolutely have his pick of contracts, given that "no other half-foots had the expertise necessary to accompany Laios to such a deep floor of the dungeon".

[jadequarze]

Jade, Jade I have a favour to ask: can you info dump about Dungeon Meshi? Work is going tits up and I was hoping for something to look forward to after my shift is over. Pretty pls?

Let me try because it's so hard not to spoil TOO much.

Dungeon Meshi is a manga about a group of adventurers who had a big fall when they were up against a red dragon and one of theirs (Falin) is killed/eaten. Once they manage to escape, the brother (Laios) wants to go back and save his sister. However, some of the members left because it's not worth the risk. Unfortunately, they don't have the golds to but supplies that then leads to the MC suggesting they should kill monsters to cook them. Who actually genuinely wants to eat monsters. He manage to convince them. Then, they meet with Senshi, who knows how to cook monsters and despite the other members reservation, enjoys the food Senshi cooked. This is a very brief summary but yeah. The running theme is going to be this, food.

The whole manga revolves around food. It starts with food and ends with food. Ryoko Kui is on point when it comes to the themes she made in the manga and it doesn't taper off. The manga have a lot of fun bits in and there are times where it's serious for character development. Like, it's a nice balance of fun and serious if that makes sense. It's not too overwhelming with information and you can see how it progresses and not feel like it gives you whiplash. It tends to end the day when the group stops to eat and gives them a chance to talk/ contemplate on what had happened hence, character growth. Eating together is the main core of the manga. Moreover, to me especially, Ryoko Kui doesn't focus too much on any romantic subplots. There are a few tease for Falin/Marcille, but other than that, it's not her main focus. You can ship them but don't expect too much of it and honestly, I don't mind at all. I didn't read this manga for romantic subplots, I just love the world building and the individual characters themself. Despite being really horny, like legit horny, it's not in a sexual way kind of horny. It's more to horny of eating or being eaten. This post is better at explaining it than I could.

Characters summary:

You have an autistic MC, Laios, who is really fixated on monsters. He has a sister, Falin, who died saving the group from the red dragon. They both live a really hard life as Falin is the only one who is magically-inclined leading to their parents keeping her under a tight leash. The way they treated Laios, especially his dad, is bad because he's not like other 'normal' children.

A cringe fail half elf girl, Marcille, who has nightmares of people leaving her due to her long life expectancy.

A divorced short dad, Chilchuck, who gets treated as a kid because he's short and looks young (especially in early chapters but eventually tapers out as they grow together). He's a half-foot (a halfling in dnd terms).

You have Senshi the dwarf (the one who has the fanservice, you'll know why soon enough). He's the cook of the group.

Finally, honestly my favorite character, you have a cat girl, Izutsumi. She appears later in the manga though. She's not the typical overly cute cat girl you usually see in medias nowadays. She's the legit cat girl, as in she acts as a cat. Moreover, as the manga progresses you can see Chilchuck taking her under his wing and basically becomes her adopted dad (which is really cute).

Again, this is really a really brief summary of the characters. There's more depth to them but I'm not saying too much. Avoiding spoilers as best as I can. The ending, THE ENDING IS SO ON POINT AND ACTUALLY FEELS FULL!!!1 The main plot has ended but that doesn't mean it ends fully because it's been mentioned that Ryoko Kui will be writing/drawing epligoues for the characters after the main plot. Which is awesome.

Here's a couple post that I think can articulate better on why I fucking love this manga:

[pbear]

Opinions below the cut. May include spoilers for any of the shows

Spy Classroom: Okay, the first three episodes are terrible then it gets better. They rush the plot without developing any of the characters so I don't care at all. Also, they pull a lot of uno reverses with Klaus' mentor being alive and then materializing an eighth girl out of nowhere (I love Erna but still). After that the show actually has stories that help develop each girl which is what I was looking for coming into the show. I started really enjoying the characters at this point. Thumbs up on not making it harem. Season 2 followed that energy and learning more about Annette (she was blowing my mind), Thea (I like that she's the kindest out of the girls), and Monika (it's so cool seeing her in action) was great. It's not the most amazing show ever but I would definitely watch more if it came out.

Dungeon Meshi/Delicious in Dungeon: Yeah I hopped on the bandwagon. I’m not sure how to describe what makes this show so good. I think it’s just really well balanced and all its components are done very well. It succeeds in a more slice of life setting where this party is traveling and cooking, but it’s also exciting in the action scenes and as an adventure to defeat the Red Dragon and save Falin. (The animation 👌) The characters are all likeable in different ways. They each get little moments that help reveal more about them even in the more casual episodes. It’s also really funny. Wearing the frog skins made me laugh so much:

So yeah. If you have heard good things about Dungeon Meshi and are considering watching it, check it out.

A Sign of Affection: I have a hard time articulating my thoughts on romance aside from just saying I liked it or not. I did like this one though. It’s very sweet. Kind of similar to Horimiya, I like that the side characters get moments and development alongside the main couple. (Rin is the bestie we all need and Shin is scratching my itch for unrequited love stories) Overall a really sweet show.

Oshi no Ko: I was listening to the AmaLee cover of the opening so I thought I’d check out the show. Firstly, the animation is beautiful and the opening absolutely slaps.

The first episode is wild and it GOT ME at the end. I really liked Ai’s character and her doubts about whether she could ever express true love to anyone. Even though she wasn’t sure if she could love someone truly, it seemed so clear that she loved life. She chose to give birth to her children, she chose to continue being an idol afterwards, she enjoyed every moment she spent being with her kids.

After the first episode, it’s a hunt for who killed Ai. Miyako stepped up after the murder and I need to shout her out. Ruby doesn’t get much to do, at least where I am, other than wanting to be an idol. I admit the stuff Aqua is up to is more interesting but I thought it would be about both of them equally. He also scares me sometimes with the dark look he gets in his eye. Also, I don’t know how he keeps attracting girls. (Kana and Akane both seemed to have a thing for him. Also, shout out to Akane for her exceptional acting. I screamed when she impersonated Ai.)

A double whammy for pedophilia and incest in the weirdest way possible and that’s the main downside to this show. It’s not super prominent but as someone who normally avoids both of them it’s still an ew.

Yugioh Go Rush: I’ve included this one another iteration of this poll, but I thought I do it again since we’ve just hit the end of season 2. The final episodes were really good, Yuamu’s character has been saved for me. The revival of the Velgearians didn’t happen and I’m not sure if it ever will (I said previously I didn’t want it to but I will miss Zwijo).

It looks like season 3 is going to be traveling space. I’m not super excited by the group of Yudias, Yuhi, Damamu, and Epoch. Yuhi is my favorite of the group easily. Yudias is pretty good if he has other characters to bounce off of and the plot challenges him. Damamu I like and they’re fun but they’re not too interesting/dynamic. They’re very powerful and I hope that comes into play. Epoch isn’t bad, but most of her character so far is cheating. If they can do something interesting with her and have her grow some, I’ll be okay with it.

I’m mostly disappointed that they’re leaving a lot of characters I’ve grown attached to back on Earth. I don’t know if they’ll introduce new characters on this journey, but I’m going to miss Asaka, Yuna, Rovian, Zaion, and the Ryugu brothers.

[viv-weylin]

20 questions for fic writers

Anyone who writes, feel free to consider yourself tagged!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

104 works

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

225,304 words! I write a lot of short oneshots…

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Roll with It, Pathologic and Team Fortress 2

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The One Road that Leads me Home - queerplatonic Gepard/Sampo

I've Fallen in Love (and it's better this time) - Blackbeard/Stede fic.

Play Destroy - Ted/Am crackfic

a log of rebellion, bug, paranoia - Spy & Scout fic

Je t'aime tellement fort; Toi qui me fais si peur. - Spy/Sniper oneshot

5. Do you respond to comments?

I try really goddamn hard to! I’m not good at it though…

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

City of Mud - Clara gets a really sad ending in this one…

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings! Save me (I am swallowed by the guilt of this) is probably the happiest ending I’ve written for Clara.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yep! JRWI fans do not like gore!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I mostly wrote smut for the TF2 fandom– I prefer f/f smut but I’ve written more m/m smut because of the nature of tf2. None of it is normal vanilla really by the way… I guess my current surgery/gore fics could be smut if you weren’t a coward.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Uh, HLVRAI and Lain!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No…?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yep! It was one of my Pathologic ones. Due to Pathologic being a russian fandom, I’m sure a few of my fics have been translated without my consent which like, whatever, but I know for sure one has been…

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope… I don’t think I’d like to either.

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

Anna/Lara have my heart but I also really enjoy Falin/Marcille, Arthur/Viv, Kianbecky and Fizzfangs. I also like Sniperspy but my love of it has died down with the TF2 fixation sort of ending as it did.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The sequel to City of Mud… it meant to be a trilogy focused on each healer, I only got the prologue (Clara’s) done and until the Pathologic fixation hits me like a truck, don’t expect a sequel. 

16. What are your writing strengths?

Gore! Writing gross things and well- as weird as this sounds, smut. Writing smut genuinely improves your writing because you need to think outside of the box to write it and so it’s not bland and boring…

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Action and movement really… I try not to be repetitive about the way characters move but it’s difficult to not be when it’s so fucking difficult to explain the ways that someone picked up a cup or something. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I can speak some decent French, so when I wrote for TF2 I had Spy speak some French! Other than that, I try not to use other languages though I do use some of the fictional Pathologic Language called the Steppe Language. Most Patho fans know some of it (kheerkhen, bayaarla, aba, amaa tat, tiimel daa) so it’s not a big deal and canon compliant lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Hmmm, I’d say it was probably Undertale? I didn’t post much for Undertale but I did start fanfic writing with- good god- Hamilton. On Hamilton Amino specifically- jesus christ- but then I got into Mystic Messenger and then Danganronpa and well… I got pretty popular in the DSMP fic writing community and even hosted a pretty big event called (fucking hell) Wholesome Week where it was kinda just a nice week of cute prompts.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

100% it’s the collab fic with koiisure and dawnlotus for the jrwi big bang, one more soul to the call! For me the use of art just makes it… so goddamn good. Also it’s about Rachel, Dickman and Becky- my favorite characters in BITB tbh!