#this book is making my worldbuilding gears turn

[basicallyjaywalker]

Good LORD they are working this boy

But wait

What's that in the corner

Ah, it's Wu having complex parental feelings

AHHHHHHHHHH

[topazadine]

Things that immediately turn me off a fiction book

I'm pretty picky with what I read, because the time I spend reading is time that I could spend writing. I generally know if I will like a book within the first chapter, and I feel no shame in giving up if I'm not vibing with it.

And no, I don't believe in the "oooh read further it warms up" because does it? Does it really? Do I want to waste time finding out?

Frankly, at this point in life, I read more nonfiction than fiction because there's just so. many. bad. books. that are getting published. Worse than fanfictions.

Anyway, here are the things that make me give up. Maybe hearing this will help you as you write your own masterpiece.

Too Many Proper Nouns

Three characters maximum in the first chapter or two. Do not throw dozens of people at me. I will get confused and give up. Let me get to know the main character, by themself or with a few of their closest companions, before you make me remember everyone else. And go deep with those characters! I want someone to stick with!

You can reference other characters, to create a sense of a deeper world, but do not go all-in on them. Make it clear that they are just there to provide a bit of context, and we don't have to remember them yet. We should only be meeting three characters maximum.

Throwing Us Immediately Into a Dramatic Action Point

This is controversial I know, but I hate when something immediately starts with a battle. I don't care if any of these people live or die. I don't know them. I haven't grown attached to any of them.

Even just a page or two to get to know them first will help. You can have them gearing up for a battle, thinking about what's going to happen, maybe talking to their friends, maybe checking their armor, whatever feels natural for them. But do not just start with stabbing people! I don't care about them yet!

Too Many Details

Many this is just me, but I simply do not care about every piece of armor your character is wearing. I don't need to hear a play-by-play of every single color of every single thing because I don't care. Pick out a few specific things for me to focus on and that's it. Stop overloading me with colors and patterns and armor styles.

Yes, yes, you've done your research on historically accurate gear. That's great. It would be good for a movie. But if I have to look up different armor pieces every five seconds, I am glossing over it and moving on. I don't care. I'm here for the story. If I wanted an infodump about medieval armor, I would simply pick up a nonfiction book (and maybe I will).

White Space Syndrome

Tell me what the overall scene looks like instead of all these hyperspecific details of certain objects, like carts or emblems or whatever. I want to know where I am!!

Don't just say "a forest." Tell me what kind of forest. Tell me if it's a young forest or an old snarly forest or a swampy forest or a cold alpine forest.

Don't just say "a castle." Tell me if it's a bustling castle or a gloomy castle or a rundown castle.

Don't just say "on the sea." Cold sea? Tropical sea? Far far away from land or is land in sight? These are the things I want!

Too Much Backstory

For the love of god do not explain the entire history of this culture in the first chapter. The first chapter is for getting to know the characters we're going to be following. You can introduce those things slowly and carefully as the story unfolds.

I get that fiction writers are delighted by all the worldbuilding (or research, in historical fiction) they have done. But the reader does not care right away. They need to get invested before all those little specifics matter at all. My eyes glaze over and I give up because I don't want to have to remember all of that all at once. It's like you just threw a college textbook at my face.

Plus, if you're doing third-person limited, you have to remember that the character is not going to be thinking all of that! They won't say all of that either! Because they know all of that!

Even a general on the brink of a major battle is not going to go "yes, this all dates back to when we took Iuanfutila back in 181, when the brave Iuanfutilans protested the rule of our Yawwbaawnwhryr leaders ...." They are focused on the present moment, and they may discuss the backstory later. Tell us what we need to know now because that is what the character would be thinking too.

"Oh, but Topazadine, how will the readers understand the context if I don't tell them??"

There's a battle. Two groups are at war. Or something was stolen. Or two people are fighting. Whatever. We understand those things. We can get the basic gist of how things are going to play out by just showing us these things happening. Then, as we have gotten a feel for the characters, you can tell us more about the context.

If you walk into a store that's being held up by an armed robber, do you give a shit about his backstory, or do you only care once that person has been arrested and you have to testify? I think we know the answer. You're not going "ohhh why is he doing this??" at first. You're going "HOLY SHIT THERE'S A GUN WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN NOW???" and then you'll care about the other stuff later.

Too Much Play-by-Play

I also do not need a play by play of a fight scene. I need to know the general movements, and then the overall atmosphere. I want to feel what the character feels rather than feel like I'm watching a football game.

Your reader will fill in the gaps if you give them enough information, but when you overload them with every single action, they're now trying to keep track of what went where instead of how this moment is supposed to feel. And now the action and drama has gone out of the writing because it's become a manual of fighting techniques.

Pointless Dumb Conversations

"Oh, could you turn around for me? I want privacy."

"Sure, of course, I'm a respectable man." Manfred knew that a lady-in-waiting would be unsettled by the presence of a strange man, so he wanted to be respectful.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Oh my god no one cares!!! No one!! We don't need this exchange. Cut it. This is stupid. Unless something is actually happening or something is meaningful about them saying this, shut up.

How to Not Write a Horrible First Chapter That Makes People Ragequit

Can you tell I'm mad today? I started and stopped three different books because they were all so bad.

Three characters max in the first chapter, with deep discussion of each. (One or two is better.) General appearance, demeanor, profession, whatever.

Restrain the urge to infodump! Dribble it out over the chapter!

Give the setting more attention than random little details that ultimately do not matter. I don't need to know the pattern of the curtains on the horsecart that's about to be burnt. Don't care.

Do not give a play by play of every single action that a character takes because it's boring and no one cares.

In media res is great but do NOT start with a big climactic intense battle or fight or whatever because we don't know these characters and don't know who to root for (or why we should care).

Your character is not going to give us a history lesson in why this conflict is happening. Do not do it yourself either. Give us just enough to get intrigued and no more. Think how your characters would think and what they would prioritize in discussions.

If a conversation is just pleasantries and has no purpose, drop it, we don't care.

[genesisgijinka]

I have returned with another essay on worldbuilding.

Part one: Design.

Your world has more animalistic pokemon. Going for a more... Adapted to a real functioning world where physics and biology are mostly in accordance with how it would work here.

My favourite example of this is this post. In it is pictured a Gardevoir. I don't know if the design is still accurate, but said gardevoir is less a funny alien creature and instead an elongated owl.

Another amazing example of this is the Power Scale post. The beastly legendaries and especially Arcy look sick. With "unrealistic" features like Arcy's fence gate being adapted into much more believable features/body parts.

That being said, we get to

Part 1.5: The Point

With most pokemon being animal-ified, there are some where that just isn't realy feasible. Good contenders for this are the magnemite line, a ton of Grass types and otherwise plant pokemon, and a bunch of object pokemon

small list of examples: Chandelure, klefki, Sudowoodo, oddish, bellsprout, shroomish, grimer, gastly, voltorb, Porygon, Koffing, Cofagrigus, and Ditto. (to be honest, ditto needs its own section)

How would you handle pokemon like that?

I kind of like the idea of naturally occuring mechanical life. You open up a dead Magnezone and there's just a load of gears and electric components in there. (imagine steampunk but with electricity instead of steam)

similarly, How would Gijinka of robotic/ object mons work?

Part 2: Pokespeak

In the anime all Pokemon speak Pokespeak. With pokemon being more animalistic, How do you handle them communicating?

Same question with the sentient mons situation from the anime. Most if not all pokemon on the protagonist's team (COUGH Pikachu) are of similar intelligence as a human, they have complex logic, can read, experience the entire spectrum of emotion, can perfectly understand language, etc.

How does that work?

That'll be it for now.

Part 1-1.5

Yep, gardevoir design is still accurate. Most of my design process for figuring out how I'm going to interpret pokemon design is deviating from a lot of common things that I see. Continuing with the gardevoir example, it's one of those pokemon that you don't google bc everyone just turns it into a booby waifu. I looked at the face and kinda went, 'Hey, that looks like the facial disk of an owl,' and started there.

For things that aren't easily interpreted, I switch to scribbling around with shapes. The Arceus fence thing was more inspired by the biblically accurate angels thing from the book of Revelations bc i thought that was funny lol. Sometimes I just give up tho and things like sylveon still gets it's weird ribbon things bc it's a Fey and they are not beholden to normal rules.

Other ways I design pokemon is by trying to figure out what niche they would fill and how would they have evolved to fill it bc nature is bonkers like that and doesn't like empty spaces. The universe of Genesis is absolutely riddled with ambient energy, so you get things like sentient almost-rocks and minerals or florauna creatures that make up plant types since everything is essentially swimming in a sort of low-key primordial soup. Sometimes a loose spirit just really thinks that chandelier is cool looking and would make a good home. The Good Soup™ makes it easier for that spirit to move its new body and now you have a new pokemon! All that loose energy gives life to things that on our world, would not work. But hey, such is magic-science.

There are lots of different paths I can take, so I don't really have a set process of how I generally do it. And there are so many theories of how certain pokemon came to be - either through in-game lore talked about in the pokedex/from NPCs or someone with their red string on the wall making a spider's web of what's going on in the world of pokemon - that I can take some of those and just run with it. For example; you brought up ditto. Congratulations! You've discovered Prime's "siblings," since I'm using the theory that ditto were Rocket's failed attempts at cloning mew. Little blobs that use the energy of the world around them to craft bodies several times their mass and size, using moves that they don't normally learn.

Robotic/object gijinka would depend on which pokemon is the base form. There's a whole lot of human in a gijinka which keeps things to a mostly human base (this is how I ignore the egg types in gijinka when it comes to reproducing and y'know, keeping your culture alive), so it would mostly boil down to types. If someone was of the magnemite line, they'd have iron/steel deposits in places where the skin is thin, like how Heph does on his knuckles, a characteristic of a steel type gijinka. They'd also be more prone to generating static electricity. Or a doctor giving a vanilluxe gijinka a check up has to have a different base body temperature to test against since ice types have a body temp that runs a little bit cooler than most others (fire types have the opposite problem. Razor has torched off shirt sleeves before, which is why he's almost always in a tank-top of some sort)

Part 2

How do pokemon communicate with each other? Idk, the same way they do in Tarzan. They just, can. Smth smth, pokemon speaking with their hearts, not words. Pokéspeak isn't suuuper well understood, mostly due to not having enough cases to study, but it does very rarely crop up in people from time to time. N is canon to the Genesis timeline (not sure when just quite yet but anyway) and he can fully understand pokemon. Biggest theory is that it's stored away somewhere in the human DNA, a leftover from when pokemon and humans were once considered the same, ala Sinnohian lore. Kinda like how every now and then irl there's a human baby born with a tail. Tail genes are still in our DNA, but it gets switched off at some point during fetal development.

That being said tho, some pokemon have managed to learn human language, in a way. Unown being the starting point for many languages in the world used to communicate more with people back in the day, but now it's considered a mostly dead/slightly resurrected language like Mayan.

The abra line are particularly clever and good at figuring out human patterns. Champion Red from Kanto taught a lot of his pokemon sign language as part of their training and a few of them can sign back at him. He's rarely seen without his kadabra, Pythagoras, and she's the most fluent out of all his pokemon. It's still broken and incomplete tho, kinda like how an african grey parrot would string words together.

A lot of how pokemon speak to each other is mostly body language tho, which even in humans is calculated to make up a whopping 55% of how we communicate with one another (38% is vocal tone and a measly 7% is the actual words and their dictionary definition/context. So it's no wonder why so many people get into arguments on the interwebs with black text on a white background) Pokemon still pick up on all of this, and with their different way of communication, they can still usually pick out human meanings just fine.

[housekonig]

Beginning | Previous | Next

AN & Fun Fact: Thanks to a great friend who encouraged me to use flashback. In so many ways, it's great for Chris and Edward. Edward sometimes still sees his son as the 8-year-old on the receiving end of the media's hate for the first time. Similarly, in many ways, Chris sometimes still feels like that kid. His time with Drew and realization that he's so unsure and unlearned in many ways, and now this confrontation with his father reminds him of how little control he's had and has. It's the infantilizing nature of monarchy for Chris that he can't name--wildly as everyone screams he's an adult and that it's time to live and behave like one.

WORLDBUILDING FUN FACT: When Edward jokes about his father combusting, he's referencing one of Vernick's most famous children's books, Combustible Charlie. Children overwhelmed with emotions turn red and combust from the famous children's book Combustible Charlie. It was first published in the 1930s and has since been updated for modern audiences. There are several titles geared towards helping develop early literacy and social-emotional skills. Other titles include Combustible Charlie Gets Angry, Get Combustible Charlie Gets Sad, Combustible Charlie Gets Excited.

TRANSCRIPT BELOW:

Christopher: But it's not fair! I only waved at my dumb classmates! I promised them I would.

Cordelia: No, you showed off in front of your classmates, and today was about Gan-Gan and your father, not you.

Christopher: But it's always about Gan-Gan.

Cordelia: Right now, it's about your behavior during the investiture. 

Christopher: Fine. *mumbles* I'm sorry.

Cordelia: I'm not the one you need to apologize to.

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

NEWS ANCHOR: The Duke of Henford's investiture was slightly derailed when Prince Christopher of Henford flashed the audience, causing quite the photo frenzy. Sources say Her Majesty is…

Edward: Fuck off! He didn't flash anyone. He's a damn kid! Seriously?

News Anchor: [On TV] Body language experts warn the behavior is a sign of future behaviors and that...

Edward: Dammit. They're not letting up.

News Anchor: [On TV] ...some attendees report being shocked by the normally well-behavior Prince who recently celebrated his eighth birthday.

Edward: What to say? 

Christopher: *whispers* Hi, Dad..

Edward: Your grandfather would have combusted of embarrassment* if I did what you did today. I can hear him, *poorly impersonating his father* "You desecrated a centuries-old ceremony, Edward. And for what? A cackle? A heckle? A chuckle? Don't be so pedestrian, My Boy". He would've gone on for hours about honor, duty, tradition, and my role. We–

Christopher: *better impersonation of his grandfather* "We Königs have a duty to make the mundane magical for the common man." *laughs*

Edward: *laughs* That was scary good, PB. Listen, I want you to forget about today.

Christopher: Forget about it?

Edward: Yup. Forget about it. I want to tell you that you can be whoever you want and do whatever you want, as most dads can. But it's not that simple, sadly. That's all already for us.

Christopher: Chosen for us? By who? 

Edward: The Watcher if you ask your grandpa and the people if you ask Gan-Gan.

Christopher: That's unfair…

Edward: *light sigh* It can be. I used to say the same thing, PB. But every family has something they pass on, and this is ours.

[maideninorange]

for the ask game, not sure what you would do with this prompt but i'm curious anyway!

16. “You don’t have a choice.”

Oh my! I wasn't sure either for a while there! Sorry about the long wait (even by my standards)! But I came up with a decent idea in the end, so here we go!

(TW: Just some somewhat graphic death threats, choking imagery, and mild blood. Nothing too dark here for this one, because I was more in the mood for something humorous. Also, Maiden getting too into her worldbuilding, even by her standards.)

It was a little embarrassing, in Tenkai's humble opinion, to get so absorbed in their grumbling over misplaced things on the shelves that it took them until the knife at the back of their throat presses in for them to realize it was even there.

They raise their arms up, "Not even gonna bother by the spell card rules?"

"And put myself at a disadvantage? Why would I do that?"

Ah, they recognize that voice. So they've been ambushed by that scoundrel? Well, it was only a matter of time before they got the bright idea to try picking on them. This was gonna be fun.

"Ah, the Black Shitodo has finally decided to threaten me? Remaining a scoundrel I see," Tenkai can't help but smirk as the knife presses a little further into their neck, "Still 'accquaintances' with Saragimaru there?"

"I don't exist." And the snake is here too then. This oughta make their week.

"Shut up and keep watch," Kuroji's attention turns back to Tenkai, "Now Zuifeng, if you don't comply, no amount of danmaku will help against a simple knife. You'll-"

"I'll be nothing but a mere corpse on the floor? Have the snakes been rubbing off on you or something? You can't even be creative in how you're gonna kill me like Orochin usually gets!"

"...?!" Speaking of snakes, that must've got Saragimaru's gears turning. This'll make screwing with these scoundrels extra fun.

"Unlike Yaorochi, you'll find that I prefer much more simple measures of murder. So do you truly want to test me?"

Ouch. And now there's some blood gushing out from where Kuroji pricked them, making their point. They let out a nervous chuckle, "Geez, not gonna even give me the illusion of free choice?"

"You don't have a choice."

They gathered that much. But confirmation is always nice.

Tenkai takes a step forward, not quite sure what direction they wanted them to go in yet, "So what are you guys after this time? Money? Powerful artifacts? My pride?"

"Knowledge, actually," the scoundrel answers with a light hum, "Sources say Azumaterasu has a rare book cataloguing the Senri family line all the way back to the very first priest of Mugenri."

"And by sources you mean some poor village historian you extorted that information out of."

"He didn't even try to fight back. Just gave in begging for his wealth to be spared," Saragimaru grumbles, confirming what they already knew.

Tenkai was even pretty sure they knew who that someone was. Always was a snivelling coward. How anyone could've entrusted him with such important information is beyond them.

But even so...Ooh, this was definitely going to be fun!

They bite down a mischievous grin, "Let me guess, trying to one-up the current priest? I never knew you had any sort of interest in history!"

"I don't," A low growl hisses in their ear, "I simply see the value in learning all I can about this world. The rarer information I know? The more of a bargain it will be, if you know what I mean..."

"And to make that worthless priest they won't shut up about jealous. Or something." They can just hear Saragimaru shrugging.

Tenkai suppresses a loud chuckle at Kuroji's annoyed shout. Oh, make no mistake, it would be awful if they got ahold of it. The untold havoc that scoundrel would wreck simply by having one of the most important pieces of documentation the Senri clan ever entrusted to their family cannot be underestimated. And their superiors would have their head. That too.

But that implies they plan on letting them get ahold of it in the first place.

"Can't let ya pass on that one," they exclaim, trying to sound at least a little worried, "Even if I wanted to, that book is under lock and key. Sorry!"

"Allow me to repeat myself, just this once: You don't have a choice in this."

"Or what? You'd actually slit my throat? I mean, you are a scoundrel, so..."

And there's the knife drawing blood again. Ouch.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I would. So start marching."

Tenkai obeys, legs automatic, "Sheesh! Someone needs to learn better manners!"

"Don't you know manners and this scoundrel don't mix? Not that you would know much more about manners yourself."

Tenkai can only click their tongue at that. Tsurubami would've been proud.

Kuroji drags them deeper into the bowels of the shop. The "Employees Only" scroll on the door was cheerfully ignored, and they were taken in and out of various rooms in less a sinister waltz and more a clueless stumble. They even start making low growls as the charade goes on. They oughta be glad Tenkai was left to their own devices (miraculously) today, otherwise they would be very, very dead right about the second room. Maybe the third if they want to be generous.

Oh, make no mistake, their superiors are gonna be pissed if they find out Kuroji decided to break into Azumaterasu, and at them especially if they find them compromised like this. The aftermath would not be pleasant if they get caught.

But then again... it's been a good while since someone tried to knock those arrogant asses down a peg. So why not give them a little helping hand, by a certain definition?

The dizzying constant shifting of their surroundings only stops when a loud crack rings out, causing both of them to look in its direction.

...Oh darn, the snake knows a thing or two about picking apart barriers. Not much, clearly, as Tenkai can easily bypass that particular barrier without busting it so loudly, but they did know how to destabilize the inscriptions at the very least.

Saragimaru turn to look at them, the blue glow at their fingertips fading away, "...Found it."

And by the grin returning to Kuroji's face, it seems Tenkai's reaction had given it away.

"Oh my oh my Saragimaru, how did you ever know the entrance was right there?"

"The melon took me into this very room when we met the first time. Something about the inscription working best in that room... though they were lying so..."

Saragimaru fixes them with a harsh glare. Tenkai can only give a half-hearted shrug, unapologetic, "So you can remember how to break the barrier like I showed you, but can't keep track of prices. Suits ya pretty well if you ask me~!"

"...! Why I oughta-"

"Put the sword down. We still need them to bypass whatever traps these old farts put in order to gatekeep us."

Saragimaru lets out a loud groan as they sheathe their kodachi, their jaw clenched. Kuroji hums in their ear a moment later, "But don't worry! Once they disable all the traps it should be perfectly alright to take care of them then!"

... Okay, now this is just downright hilarious. Last time they got held at swordpoint, the youkai were all cheerfully talking about dismembering them once they served their purpose. These guys are just being more polite about it!

Needless to say, Tenkai bursted out laughing. As if these two could ever be the death of them! They kept laughing as they were ushered through the library doorway and down the stairs.

It wasn't until their laughter became full blown wheezing that they were asked by their current captor, "...What's so funny?"

"You..." They wipe a tear from their eye, less walking down the steps and more skipping down them, "...You plan to kill me once I've outlived my usefulness. Are you sure you won't consider a career as a comedian?"

Judging by the low hiss, like a little bird trying to sound bigger than it really is, Kuroji was making, they weren't too impressed by their wit. The knife presses into their back, forcing them down two at a time.

"...Huh. I now see why you want to kill them. All this time I thought I was craving bread, not blood."

"I told you they were better off dead!" Their eyes bore into them from behind, "So don't tempt me! I will if I have to, consequences be damned!"

"Bloodthirsty now, I see?" Tenkai snickers, "See what I mean? Utterly hilarious! Seriously, both of you might have a future in comedy!"

"Shut up..." They both mutter in unison. That will probably be the first and last time they ever agree on something, to boot.

Tsurubami would definitely be proud. They've come a long way since...

Their feet touch down on smooth stone. They swallow hard, knowing where they are and what they'll have to do.

"March," Kuroji whispers in their ear. The knife digs into their back, and Tenkai obeys.

Tenkai roams the long corridors of books and scrolls, one foot firmly in front of the other. They knew exactly where the book in question is. Tsurubami had quite a few suggestions for it when they stole that very book the third time they met. Their superiors didn't know it, but they had gleefully heeded their suggestions.

Not that Kuroji knows that. Nor do they intend to let them know and ruin their fun.

Tenkai guided the scoundrels over to the bookcase in question. The one at the very back, the oldest and mustiest.

Oh, and the only one concealed behind a very obvious and visible barrier. Can't forget that part!

"...So what happens if you touch that barrier there?" Saragimaru asks.

"You rapidly age as your future death plays out right before your eyes."

"Even to the ageless...?"

"Then just the vision of your future death," Tenkai smiles as a loud sigh rolls by their ears.

Okay, they've never actually seen what happens when an actual intruder like these two tries to touch that barrier in question before. They do remember only getting a small shock as a kid when curiosity got the better of them though. One of their...more overdramatic caretakers did spin that story to scare them away, so perhaps there's a grain of truth in it?

Not that it really mattered. They aren't hearing any protests from them, that's for sure.

"Well I happen to like being the age I'm at," Kuroji huffs, "So...? Are you going to grab the book or not? Because if you're not, I presume you know-"

"You'll slit my throat and then leave me to bleed out and die. Yadda yadda yadda," Tenkai rolls their eyes, "If you're gonna actually go ahead and kill me, at least do something more fun than a simple knife to the throat."

"Believe me, the possibilities for me killing both of you are endless if I had it my way," Saragimaru deadpans, as if they actually had the power to follow up on that particular threat.

"I'm well aware. You've told me plenty of them already," Kuroji sounds way too chipper when refuting their wayward servant in Tenkai's opinion, "But unless you would rather be the one to try and break that barrier there, I would -"

"I lost the right to share my opinion. Got it," The butt of a wooden pole jabs against Tenkai's back, making them take a step forward, "...Hey melon, if you find a way to throw this scoundrel into that barrier, please do. Preferably at once."

A huff, "Ignore them. Try that and I'll show you 'creative'."

"I make no promises!" Tenkai grins, flexing their fingers, warming up with power, as they strut towards the barrier.

In theory, this barrier, designed to keep important books under lock and key (and far away from the nose of their least favorite apprentice), is one of the sturdiest, most complex constructs second to only the Great Barrier itself. It contains dozens of inscriptions, and many riddles to keep intruders (and certain smart alecks) from easily confusing and breaking it. Few should be able to access it without an elder's say so.

Keyword: should.

In practice, this barrier was merely further proof that their superiors have never actually fashioned a complicated barrier in their lives. Perhaps it was Tenkai's genius getting the better of them, but this barrier was about as complex as the one on their safe box of gag gifts ill fitting for someone like them to hold onto. It does it's job against one who knows jack about breaking barriers, but only serves as a fun puzzle for a professional barrier breaker.

Tenkai just so happened to be one such professional barrier breaker.

The runic inscriptions light up with a quick swipe over the barrier's surface. Glowing orange fingertips scrawl over it, seeking out the vaguest, frailest sentences.

...Found one.

A twisted grin sprung to Tenkai's face as they began to pour all their energy into it. The inscription glowed brighter and brighter, until it was almost blinding. And then, right before this section could crack, disabled, under the pressure, they let up.

They then reach inside the glowing section of barrier, and yank the target book out.

"You insult me," They huff as their handiwork fades, leaving the barrier like it was never touched, "I could break barriers like that in my sleep."

"...All you did was reach through the barrier and make the room smell like melons," Saragimaru pinches their nose, "You less broke the barrier and more bypassed it."

"And alert my bosses that they were being robbed the moment it shatters? You really ought to be thanking me for not blowing your cover!" They let out a small chuckle at Kuroji's low growl, "Breaking barriers is child's play. Now bypassing barriers? That's a completely different skillset! I put in all this hard work for you guys, and you're too greedy to even thank me?"

"The book. Now." Considering the knife now back at their throat, they guessed so. Kuroji is, at least. Saragimaru is more easily manipulated than greedy.

But nevertheless, Tenkai deposited the book into Kuroji's waiting hand, whistling a small tune as they cast their glance at a nearby bookshelf. It immediately vanishes into their electric purple jacket, never to be seen again.

"Thank you. Cooperating wasn't so bad, was it? Less painful," Kuroji's focus turns to Saragimaru, "Now tie up this loose end here. We don't need all of Azumaterasu coming down on our heads, now do we?"

"On your head. This feels a little too easy, knowing Tenkai Zuifeng. Don't you think they got something else up their sleeve? And don't mix me up in the consequences of your own actions!"

"Oh no, they'd definitely come after you too," Tenkai clasps their hands together, doing their best imitation of the grin Tsurubami typically wore when about to discipline troublemakers, "An excuse to go after one of the last remnants of Yamata-no-Orochi's lineage? It would be a crime to let it go to waste! And then both of your families for good measure! ...Just speaking from personal experience here."

They conveniently left out the time they went after Tsurubami once, for the exact same crime by raw coincidence. They were pretty sure Saragimaru and their beloved Yaorochi would be able to keep their hubris unscathed (unfortunately). Now Kuroji? ...A little more debatable. But that scoundrel's upset worse people before and their superiors are all old farts, so who knows?

It did the trick though. Saragimaru's eyes widened a little, "They'd go after Yaorochi-sama?"

"Loose end. Tie it up," Kuroji deadpans, their gaze flitting between Tenkai, Saragimaru, and the room all around them."

"So I can finally kill this obnoxious melon?" Saragimaru's voice lightens notably, a fang nicking their lip as they bite it.

"Tempting, but no. Leaving a body behind is the exact opposite of a clean break-in. You're going to tie their tongue up so they can't say we were here."

They put their naginata back in its sheathe, restrapping it to their back, "Ugh...Why do I always have to cast the curses? You can cast them too. I've seen you do it."

"...Because your curses are more effective, obviously," Kuroji's gaze turns back to Tenkai, nostrils flared.

"Translation: They can't cast magic like you and I can there, Saragimaru," Tenkai jeers, snorting at the death glare Kuroji then gives them.

"I mean, we all know that...I was just wondering why they weren't gearing up to-"

"Shut. Up. Both of you. You've lost the right to speak," They turn their back towards Tenkai, "Now curse them. Then let's get out of here."

"... Yes Your Excellency," Saragimaru grumbles, stepping towards Tenkai. A blue glow, like rainwater, emits from their fingertips, ominously pressing closer and closer to them.

Or at least, it would've been ominous if they haven't been so desensitized to the dark side of magic. Thanks Tsurubami.

"Sheesh, you guys are so mean! Can't take a little joke or-"

The glowing blue hand closes in around their throat, "Shut. Up."

Tenkai suddenly felt like they were choking on something. They tried to laugh through the pain of talons digging into their nape, but every sound they tried to make sounded garbled. A small white cloud puffs from their mouth, like breath on a cold winter day. Saragimaru's teeth gnash together, and soon enough Tenkai's throat felt clogged with them.

They gargle, clouds bursting from their mouth in a rapid stream like bubbles, purging their tongue of what occurred in this library. And then, just like that, it was all over and the magic all dissipated, their windpipe clearing of misplaced weather.

Saragimaru lets go, the glow of their magic fading, and Tenkai's body drops to the floor with a thud, as if they had dropped them. Air flows through their lungs like sand, black spots dancing in the corners of their vision as they watch their tail sway gently from side to side.

"There. If they say anything about our robbery and hostage taking, the heavens shall rob them of the ability to speak the truth. ...Poor thing, I'd feel bad if it wasn't for them being Tenkai Zuifeng..."

"Good enough. We got all that we need, so let's leave them here."

"Are you sure that's a good idea? People are going to know someone was here once they notice your stupid book is missing..."

"But will they be able to tell it was us specifically? Besides, it's not like we can't pin this on Tsubakura when all is said and done. They say the Senri priest has some kind of right to this book, don't they?"

"I thought this whole pointless excursion was to make that dumb priest you are so obsessed with jealous. Blaming them for your crime sounds very counter-intuitive."

"And that's enough out of you. Let's make our exit while this place is still clear of those elders we're supposed to fear."

"...Did I actually curse the right person?"

"Oh you're such a tease! Didn't you know my body can be just as loose as my lips?"

"Ugh..."

Tenkai clamours to their knees, watching the scoundrels march up the stairs, bickering all the way there. Right as they both reached the top, Kuroji whirls around, and tips their hat to them.

Then, the scoundrel and their swordsnake vanish.

Tenkai pushes themself to their feet, coughing up one more cloud as the curse rolls around their throat and onto their tongue, tasting of smog. It was a pretty unpleasant feeling actually, but Tenkai has been under enough of these sorts of curses to know a strong one from a weak one. And if Saragimaru really wanted them to shut up, they'd be coughing up clouds and hail for weeks on end for daring to think of the forbidden object in question.

It would also be much harder to unravel than this, going by the magical handiwork now decorating their throat and along their chin. Though going by their few unpleasant encounters with that scoundrel, that wrench in their plans was well deserved.

Not as good as the one Tenkai threw though. They can't wait to see the look on Kuroji's face when they realize they handed up a rulebook instead of the history book they were actually after.

Tenkai wobbles over to the bookcase off to the side. They pluck a certain book off the shelf, and with a wave of their hand, the barrier vanishes, revealing A Brief History of the Senri Clan in all its musty glory.

(It hasn't been updated since the fifth priest before the current ones. Tsurubami had ranted to them long and hard about that once they finally got their hands on the book.)

Like Tsurubami had suggested a long, long time ago, Tenkai had the book swapped out for a conveniently dense decoy, disguising both with a cloaking barrier as the other. Not even their superiors had figured out the swap, but that won't last much longer once someone finally realizes they're missing a book or two.

Especially not after Kuroji's plan blows up in their face and they inevitably throw caution to the wind over it. Tenkai can just picture their rage now. The way their cheeks puff up and turn red when angered had always made them snicker.

They blow the dust off the cover before tucking it under their arm. Oh, they couldn't wait until their little prank is discovered. People like those two are way more fun to manipulate than some of the other idiots that occasionally try to make use of them. It's going to be great.

But right now...What exactly should they do? Their superiors are going to be pissed either way, even though they have dozens of those bloated rulebooks lying around in here. Should they put this book back and let sleeping dogs lie for a little while? Hm...

Their attention turns to the old forbidden bookcase it should be on. A smirk plays at their lips.

Perhaps the scoundrels can serve one more use to them after all? They may not know it yet, but they've already humiliated their superiors once today with their crime. What's a little more to teach those hags a well overdue lesson?

...Tsurubami would definitely be cackling at what they've done if they were still here. They'll definitely have to tell them about this when they meet again.

[critfumbled]

Hi! I'd honestly love to talk about Akira because there's no one I know who even knows what it is :') Excuse the long rant, but I guess my main issues with the movie were:

Kaneda was so ready to kill his (basically) brother even though 10 minutes before he was essentially ready to die to save him

The fact that it appeared to me that Akira was most powerful being and all the other children were just trying to replicate him, but the government tabled him away? I see no need to rip Akira apart because they wanted to use him. Was it for later? Surely Tetsuo going apeshit qualified the use of Akira

The worldbuilding was a struggle for me because it seemed like the children (and Akira) were basically gods with absolutely no rules or limitations to their power. it seemed to me like all of them could manipulate time, space, and matter, so there wasn't anything that made each special or more powerful than the other

the kids really sacrificed themselves for a random teenager they didn't know, despite the fact that they seemed to follow the goverment and the government were clearly trying to take down Tetsuo

what's to stop this scenario from happening again, because the government could totally make another Tetsuo/Akira and the entire story can just repeat itself. other than city damage and deaths, there were really no consequences because it's not like the entire government died. This seems like a small part of a bigger story that was left unfulfilled

I didn't understand Ryu's role, as seemed like he was working with the government but Kei was pretty confident he was working with their freedom group? was he working both sides? his side of the story and his goals weren't clear to me

I do know that the pills have a big role in the manga (Kaneda's jacket) but the way they were just mentioned in the movie, it gave Tetsuo a lot of power, then was never explained bothered me.

Also this is totally a personal thing but one of my biggest book/movie pet peeves is when everyone knows something, but they're just using the vaguest terms to describe it to not let the audience know. not between Tetsuo and Kaneda , but between the military, all the scientists, and the kids, they kept just saying the VAGUEST terms for Akira to not let the audience know even though they all knew what they were talking about and that just grinds my gears because it's a way to build false tension instead of naturally letting it build up

I'm sorry for doing a super long ask, but I can't reply to people on my tumblr :/ but yeah those were my issues. I appreciated the art and the music slapped though, and I appreciate how it pioneered certain animation tropes, but overall I was super confused the entire movie

I want to start by saying that basically everything you mention here is expanded upon within the Manga. As I said before it is a lot longer and it is entirely different from the movie. If you are interested in the world, and the story, and you want to know more I would definitely recommend it. I feel kind of remiss in giving you all the details here as I think it will take away from the manga if you do intend to read it. That being said I'll try to give some broad strokes.

Firstly I agree it was a little rushed in the movie, but it was basically the death of Yamagata that turned Kaneda against Tetsuo, Yamagata was also a very close friend of Kaneda, being his right hand man within the gang.

The children were not an attempt at recreating Akira's powers, Akira and the children were apart of the same experiment that consisted of 41 test subjects. Akira was just the most powerful of said subjects.

Akira was the cause of the explosion at the start of the movie, this is why he was iced by the government/military, basically because they were incredibly scared of the power that he had, and the destruction that he could cause. Also they didn't have any way of controlling Akira, so releasing him would mean they would be releasing a world endingly powerful free agent, who they weren't sure they could stop again.

Regarding the children's sacrifice, I don't want to say too definitively as I don't exactly remember but broadly I believe it is because they are altogther altruistic, and they are still children. They are afraid of killing people, and they don't want any more people to die. Also they are very afraid of Akira returning.

Ryu was working with the resistance the throughout the entire movie. Im unsure as to where you got the idea he was a double agent. It's been a while since I saw the movie. Again however the resistance and their motives get a lot more "screen time" within the manga, which I would imagine would help to ease this confusion.

In regards to it all happening over again, we see in the movie that the government do not believe in Akira, and it is only really the Colonel who is pushing for more research in this area. The rest of the government see Akira and the project as a failure and a waste of resources. This also gets expanded on by the manga, with an entirely different ending.

In regards to the pills, I agree they could use more explanation within the movie. They basically ease the migraines that Tetsuo gets, as well as giving him a short term power boost.

I hope that helps. Admittedly it has been a while since I watched the movie, so don't take these as 100% fact. Also I tried to stick with the content of the movie, however it's hard to not think about it with the context of the manga as well.

[voidspacecowboy]

Before we get into the book proper, I want to take a moment to appreciate the absolutely gorgeous map of Tellus. In its very first incarnation, this map was a terrible drawing I did in MS Paint, showing blobs where the countries were and squiggly lines where the storm barriers crossed over. My agent at the time and I agreed that without a visual, the whole concept of storm barriers might get a little confusing — but we also agreed that there was no way we could send off my version of the map with submissions!

So, I reached out to my friend Jade, who is way more artistically talented than I am, and she turned my messy map into something that I could actually present to other people. That version was then seen by the folks at Bloomsbury’s graphic design department, and this final incarnation of the map was born!

Every fantasy book is made 400 times cooler with a map; that’s a fact. And I have so much love for this one — to the point where I am considering getting the compass-on-a-cloud tattooed on my actual body sometime.

The only thing I wish now, in hindsight, is that I’d been a little more… imaginative, with the country names. I was going for something that would put the reader in mind of an existing place in our world, but— well. I was sixteen and a little heavy-handed there. Such is life.

But the map itself is awesome, and I love how the storms barriers are represented throughout! I think it makes things a lot easier to understand.

Anyway, onto the story itself!

There is a whole lot of information crammed into the first two chapters. I remember writing and re-writing a million times, trying to get them punchy and exciting while also filling in enough worldbuilding to show what was going on. At this point in the story, all we’ve got is Catherine’s very biased (and very naive) view of the current political climate, but it’s enough to know that something is suspect. And enough to know that her dad is The Worst.

I was (and in many ways still am) bad at elaborating on characters and descriptions in my initial writing. I have everything in my head, and I forget that unless I have put the words down on the page to do so, the reader is not going to see all that stuff, because it’s in my head. Editing the first two chapters was a real workout for my seventeen year-old self, to breathe life into the surroundings and the characters that weren’t my protagonist. Even now, my first drafts are usually pretty lacking — I tend to just get the story down first, and then have someone else tell me all the parts I forgot to scoop out of my brain and onto paper.

Fun fact; in the original drafts of this, Samuel (the family mecha) was actually called Nicholas, but it was decided that having Nick and Nathaniel in the same scenes would get confusing, so he was renamed.

The mechas were actually one of the first things I thought of when I was initially plotting this story and building the world of Tellus, other than the skyships themselves. And while originally I had this idea as just the one standalone story, once I reached a point where I realised I wanted to tell more stories in the same world, I knew immediately that one of those stories had to be the initial creation of mechas — I knew it was going to be creepy and weird, and I definitely wanted to get it out there. And I did, as a side-plot in The City Bleeds Gold!

There’s actually a few nods to future TCBG stuff in these chapters; another is the Erovan festival mask that Sam wears to cover his gears. At the time I just thought it would be cool to have a fancy masquerade mask on this intricately built mechanical servant, but later on when I was looking for inspiration for TCBG, I thought about that mask and the festival I had claimed existed, and everything just kind of spiralled from there.

So chapter one lets the reader know pretty quickly that Catherine is looking for answers, and chapter two includes some of my favourite early scenes in the book. The scene where Catherine slips away from her father and makes her quick-change in a back alley is actually the scene I would read when I did school visits or event appearances that asked me to read an excerpt — it’s just so much more dynamic than reading the actual first chapter, ending on the lovely little cliffhanger of Catherine being on her own for the first time ever. I would stop on the line ‘She had escaped her father. She was free.’ and nine times out of ten I’d have people begging me to keep going.

The chapter also includes the first ever glimpse of the Stormdancer — the ship that started it all. For those who aren’t aware, I got the initial idea for TBtS when I had a dream that I only half-remembered upon waking, of a girl on the deck of a flying pirate ship. That ship was the Stormdancer, and the rest of the plot came secondary. All I wanted was to tell a story about that ship and that girl; the stuff with the war and the kids and everything else were just the things I had to do to make that story make sense.

So there we are, at the start of our journey, and I’ll see you all tomorrow!

[dormouse-iii]

Illusion magic exists but only an illusion. Means you gotta make it LOOK like it casts shadows & illuminates the dark cuz it dont actually casts light.

So many implications, many worlds built.

Like, there was many illusions magics but only a few survived: sound, sight, scent, & taste. Sensation all up & got outlawed & destroyed cuz.... implied implications.

Oh! Oh! OH! *Waves hands excitedly* Runes & sigils!

Runes bound spells for a time to a person, place, or thing & sigils just be for casting in the first place. Any fool can activate/deactivate a sigil but not runes, & only a select few can even create them with INTENSE training.

Could you crazy imagine how runes could work? You could bound em to a piece of clothing like a shirt or a necklace & have a whole drip fit in one little thing. Use em to get your house all ritzy or use them to create a specific tool just for making sigils for people who can't!

It takes up a whole lot of mental energy & you could hurt yourself, maybe even give yourself psychosis without proper genetics or training. even if you come up one some sigil crafting gear it could still be mad dangerous, cuz the sigil is just the crucible, your mind has to be the thing that turns the abstract magic into a visible, audible, sensible thing.

Some use it for stuff like thievery, identity theft, or general skullduggery. Others use it for small stuff like eating healthy, decorating, music, art, posters are gonna be crazy good if you got a sigil crafter in town, some books have runes on the inner cover which copies the same text from one book to the other, music is stored in card decks of runes & each rune is a different song.

Wait hold up! *Rumages through bin like a lil silly boi*

The Midnight Town.

A town surrounded by powerful stone runes buried deep underground that disguises the sun as the moon & the moon as the sun. Story tales of the moon stealing your eyes and drinking the rainwater from the mud grow around the people here as time goes on.

Coyotes & some children in the area go blind from staring at it. When you light up a lantern in the area it looks strange, like a weird purple & green mess cuz it messes with the magics at work.

it's easier to see at night then it is at day, because the "Moonlight" is actual light while the "Sunlight" makes everything blurry & weird. Freezing days & hot nights in the desert town for miles surrounding it, cursed a long time ago by some angry sigil crafters & rune writers for some petty reason.

4 outposts sit beyond the barrier of the town warning traders & travelers not to look directly at the moon & to watch their step when the sun comes out.

I could probably get to all up & organizing these ideas in my nugbone better, but it feels good to just dump it out all in one go before I go & forget any of it. Man, I love worldbuilding.

[fostersffff]

Robot Carnival Review

When I first started my blu-ray collecting kick, Discotek was hyping up their release of Memories, an anthology movie organized by Akira’s Katsuhiro Otomo. While doing research on it, I saw it was recommended in the company of Robot Carnival, another anthology movie Otomo was involved with, with more animators and thus individual shorts, and a unifying theme of “robots”. As a robot enjoyer, I figured I couldn’t go wrong with this, and I was right! This was a joy from start to finish, where even the weakest segment still had plenty to offer. If this sounds like it might be up your alley, it’s available to stream for free on RetroCrush and YouTube!

Additional note before I get into talking about each short individually: with the exception of Cloud, the music for every short was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who has way more range as a composer than I would’ve ever expected, considering I knew him exclusively as the Studio Ghibli composer. Additional additional note: I watched the anthology in the original Japanese order, the version on RetroCrush and YouTube uses an alternate order from the international release.

Opening/Ending (Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira and Atsuko Fukushima, key animator on dozens of anime projects, including Akira) - A mobile fortress (literally the above Robot Carnival logo) traverses a post-apocalyptic wasteland, bringing death and destruction wherever it goes. The Opening sets the bar for what you should expect going forward in terms of production values, and the Ending is a nice send off for the whole thing, but I don’t really have much else to say about these shorts.

Franken’s Gears (Koji Morimoto, Director of Memories: Magnetic Rose) - A mad scientist attempts to bring their robot to life, succeeds horribly. I think of all the shorts in this movie, this one has the most impressive mechanical animation. The whole thing takes places in the scientist’s lab, and the emphasis really is on all of the ways the environment is struggling to bring the robot to life, to the point that once it does so, it begins to crumble and break apart. But the animation on the scientist himself is also really charming; the way he moves almost makes him look gooey, which is apt because my sister pointed out he was probably designed after a snail, what with the big orb on his back.

Deprive (Hidetoshi Omori, Animation Director for Char’s Counterattack) - A super android has to mamoru his imouto from an invading alien robot army. One of my favorite shorts in the anthology, this was an entire action movie expertly condensed down into not even ten minutes, complete with an awesome soundtrack. I’d actually go so far as to call this one perfect for what it is, but it’s not much more than that.

Presence (Yasuyomi Umetsu, Character Designer and Chief Animation Director of Megazone 23 Part II) - A man builds an android for companionship, and he gets more than he bargained for. Longest piece in the compilation by a mile, and the first one with voice acting. Despite enjoying some of the other shorts more, I think I would call Presence the “centerpiece” of this anthology, as it’s definitely the most story-rich. It even has some prescient worldbuilding: the people of this setting do not see robots as sentient beings, which is shown right at the start when a bunch of kids knock the head off of an android and play with it while absolutely no one in the crowded plaza reacts. This sets the tone for the main character’s interactions with his creation, and provide additional context for the things he does besides the obvious explanations.

This was also the first short where I noticed something off about the animation, where it seemed to animate too well in for certain movements. As it turns out I was right; the liner notes explain that the director was using this project to experiment, and he would animate different movements on different frame counts. It’s not terrible, but it is a little distracting to see how smoothly something like a simple head turn will animate while more complex motions look more standard. Also, unrelated but fun coincidence: the liner notes also explain a reference in the script to a story called Daddy Long Legs, about an orphan girl who receives funding from a wealthy philanthropist she never meets, which explains a reference that went over my head Yakuza: Like a Dragon.

Star Light Angel (Hiroyuki Kitazume, Character Designer and Animation Director for Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ and Char’s Counterattack) - What could have been the most effective piece of robosexual propaganda ever made: a girl and her friend are at Tokyo Disneyland ROBOT WANDERLAND and are having a wonderful time, until she discovers that her boyfriend is cheating on her, at which point she retreat into the park and winds up on a virtual reality ride. Meanwhile, a robot performer attempts to find her and return the locket she dropped while she ran past him. This is tied for my favorite, alongside Deprive, because I’m a big sucker for romance and the main song for the short is so perfect for the content. I was also delighted to find the explanation for this short was that Kitazume, who’s work up to this point was all mecha anime like Aura Battler Dunbine and Zeta Gundam, really wanted to try to flex with character expressions, and it came through brilliantly as the range and level of facial expressions was the first thing I really took notice of in this. Funny enough, though, Kitazume also apparently said he considers this and Deprive to be the weakest pieces of the anthology, and I suppose he’s right in that they have the least meat on their bones and are also probably the least technically impressive, but still: my two favorites!

Cloud (Mao Lamdo, a prolific animator on many projects, but probably best known for this) - A robotic boy wanders past a series of ever-changing clouds. Cloud is definitely a stand-out short for a number of reasons, from the way its animated to the incredibly tangential connection to the “robot” theme, and to be perfectly honest I got a lot more out of it after I read the liner notes. The short was adapted from a self-published book Mao Lamdo had written years prior that had nothing to do with robots, and his interpretation of the short and the change to making the main character a robot was that it represented his frustration with the trend in the anime industry at the time trending towards a being obsessed with the mechanical world, while he still preferred to draw and animate nature. As I mentioned at the top, this is also the only short to not have music composed by Joe Hisaishi, instead the piece used is by Isaku Fujita, and as far as I can tell, this is his only credit. Still, it’s a good credit to have; Lamdo said the song evoked the idea of having a conversation with God and asking the big questions, which I can completely see.

Strange Tales of Meiji Machine Culture: “The Westerner’s Invasion” (Hiroyuki Kitakubo, Director of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA and Golden Boy) A terrible steampunk mech invades a Japanese town, and is warded off by a team of youths piloting their own terrible steampunk mech. I watched this one with the English dub first and then again in Japanese because it’s been a fuckin’ minute since I heard a dub this racist, complete with changing r’s to l’s and vice versa, only to be cracked across the skull by what I am certain was a Japanese man doing his very best to phonetically read English in the Japanese version. In spite of that, though, this is easily the funniest short for all the right reasons, and it kinda clicked once I found out that the director was also responsible for Golden Boy; it’s that exact kind of humor, complete with a protagonist who could very well be Kintaro Ue’s ancestor.

Chicken Man and Red Neck, a.k.a. Nightmare (Takeshi Nakamura, director of Catnapped! The Movie) - A robotic magician wreaks havoc on a city by transforming everything in sight into robotic monsters, and a vagrant gets caught up in the chaos. I initially wrote down “this one has the energy of a Don Bluth movie, particularly In the Dark of the Night from Anastasia”, although the liner notes say he actually was inspired by Night on Bald Mountain, which is definitely a more flattering inspiration and more accurate, to boot. I think of all the shorts in this anthology, this one gets the prizes for “best overall animation” and “best use of robots”, and it also has the most intense PS1 RPG sounding music, which once again speaks to Joe Hisaishi’s talent as a composer for doing that a full decade before the PS1 even existed. Also, fun trivia, the director turned down an offer from Hayao Miyazaki to be animation director on Castle in the Sky to make this, which… was maybe not the best career move, but still this was a terrific short and I’m glad to have it.

Again, the movie is easily accessible for free streaming, and I’d heartily recommend you check it out if you haven’t already. But if you’re into collecting physical media, the blu-ray is crammed full of tons of goodies, including the liner notes I’ve referenced, art galleries for each segment, and a lot of other production materials. Discotek also announced they’re doing a 4k UHD release of this soon, which won’t include all the extras due to the way UHD discs work, but I gotta be honest, this would be worth double dipping for if the resolution bump is noticeable enough.

[terramythos]

TerraMythos' 2020 Reading Challenge - Book 29 of 26

Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea (2020)

Author: TJ Klune

Genre/Tags: Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, Found Family, LGBT Protagonist, Third-Person 

Rating: 10/10

Date Began: 10/13/2020

Date Finished: 10/18/2020

Linus Baker, a forty-year-old caseworker for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (DICOMY), lives a solitary and mundane life. But when he’s summoned by Extremely Upper Management and given a top-secret case, everything changes. Linus is sent to the classified Marsyas Island and tasked with investigating an orphanage housing six dangerous magical children-- including the Antichrist. He is to live among the residents for one month, record his observations, and report back to the organization. No more, no less. 

The master of the house, Arthur Parnassus, is a mysterious and enigmatic man. But Linus soon learns that Arthur will do anything to protect his wards. As Linus grows closer to Arthur and the children, a secret from the past and prejudice of the present threaten to destroy the orphanage and their way of life. Linus must decide if he can abandon the world he knows in order to help the ones that need it the most. 

"Fire and ash!” Lucy bellowed as he paced back and forth. “Death and destruction! I, the harbinger of calamity will bring pestilence and plague to the people of this world. The blood of the innocents will sustain me, and you will all fall to your knees in benediction as I am your god.” 

He bowed. 

The children and Mr. Parnassus clapped politely. Theodore chirped and spun in a circle. 

Linus gaped. 

“That was a lovely story, Lucy,” Mr. Parnassus said. “I especially liked your use of metaphors. Keep in mind that pestilence and plague are technically the same thing, so it did get a little repetitious at the end, but other than that, quite impressive. Well done.” 

Minor spoilers and content warning(s) under the cut. 

Content warnings for the book: Semi-detailed discussions of child abuse and trauma. Internalized fatphobia (challenged). Structural discrimination, and hatred/prejudice associated with that, some of it internalized. 

I'm going to have a hard time reviewing this book, because it was so goddamn good I don’t think I’ll do it justice in a few short paragraphs. So here’s the fast version: The House in the Cerulean Sea was a fucking delight to read from the first page. It’s full of genuine humor, magic, and charm, while being just this side of heart-wrenching. Though geared toward adults, it’s the first novel I’ve read in a long time that captures that childlike enthusiasm I used to have when reading a good fantasy book. It takes place in a world with magic (obviously), but it’s 98% character-driven. Both the main plot and the (queer!) romantic subplot are woven together so well that neither feel tacked on or lacking. The found family hit me in the emotions again and again and again. I read books out loud, and I spent the last third of this book struggling because I kept fucking crying and having to take regular breaks before continuing. And then I went through the whole book to find a good quote for this review and ended up fucking crying again. So yeah. 

Ok. Got that off my chest. Usually in these reviews I talk about what I liked and then what didn't work for me or confused me. The good news (?) is I have zero complaints or critiques on this one. So you just get to hear me gushing about it for a while.  

Since this is a character-driven book that’s where I’ll start. Linus Baker, the protagonist, is great. Let me just say I love speculative fiction books starring older characters. At forty, Linus isn’t old, but it feels like the majority of spec fic stars people under thirty. Linus is also a conspicuously ordinary guy; prim and proper to a fault, no magic, oblivious in many ways (including to his own loneliness), but with a hidden sense of justice and protectiveness for people that comes out more and more. His development over the course of the novel and how much he grows to love and care for the other characters is just so good. The writing draws attention to this through repeated phrases and jokes one doesn’t expect to make a comeback (more on that later). Seeing him come out of his shell and stand up for what’s right is cathartic as hell. As a side note, it’s also nice to have a fat protagonist who struggles with his self-image but gets warm affirmation and support from his family and love interest. 

Arthur Parnassus, the deuteragonist and said love interest, is more of an enigma. A lot of his motivation and behavior makes sense once you get his Tragic Backstory (TM), and I think this will be a fun book to reread based on that. I picked up on some of it before the reveal, but not everything. But without spoiling it, I do love seeing an older (mid-forties) father figure who would do literally anything to make sure the children on the island have the care and love they need. Seeing his patient love and acceptance of them tugs my heartstrings. Maybe I’m a bit of a sap. Linus and Arthur’s obvious mutual crush on each other is also really cute, okay. There’s something about older queer people finding love that makes me smile. 

And the children are great too, of course. I really liked each of them and thought they were all unique and interesting. My favorites are probably Lucy the six-year-old Antichrist, Sal the were-Pomeranian (his arc just really hit home for me), and Talia the gnome. They all have such distinct and fun personalities, and seeing them interact is great and often hilarious. I’m not very paternal, but I love seeing children with sad/abusive pasts blossom into their best selves with love, guidance, and support. It’s uh, a little personal. I’d be remiss not to mention Zoe, the resident island sprite, who brings a whole lot of personality and rounds off the group. 

When I say the story is character-driven, I mean it. While a fantasy novel, there’s not any significant violence or action in the story (except for maybe one scene if you squint). The House in the Cerulean Sea is carried by its characters, interactions, and worldbuilding. The humor and inherent charm helps too -- and manages to do so without ever feeling trite. I can’t help but admire that. I was never bored; I honestly enjoyed every page because I liked the characters so much. Not to say there isn’t an overarching conflict with the whole DICOMY thing, but most of the focus is Linus struggling and coming to terms with his discoveries-- about the others and himself, and how he can make a difference on a grand scale. To me that kind of stuff is captivating. And boy does seeing someone find the place they belong get me. As I said, found family is a big thing in this book. 

Aside from that, the writing is just super; it literally had me laughing from the first page. I can’t believe the fucking lemur joke came back at the end, too. But on that subject, I love that this book utilizes recurring jokes and phrases to show Linus’ character development. In particular, “see something, say something” and “don’t you wish you were here?” have VERY specific meanings to Linus at the beginning of the story, and over time transform into the polar opposite. I’m  holding myself back because I don’t want to spoil shit, but if you read it you’ll see what I mean. There’s also a lot of meaningful callbacks to certain dialogue earlier in the story and I eat that kind of stuff up. But even small details, like the early quip about Linus forgetting his umbrella, come back to deliver an emotional gutpunch near the end. So thanks for that, Mr. Klune. 

The book really takes a turn in the second half of the story, which is a tad darker. Avoiding the Actual Spoilers, this is where prejudice and hatred of the outside world become a bigger part of the story. We learn what’s really at stake, and that this wonderful found family in the first half is threatened by a world that hates and fears them. Boy does that shit get emotional REAL quick. Yes the allegory is obvious. No, that’s not a bad thing. Ultimately, The House in the Cerulean Sea becomes a story about love, hope, and change; and boy does that shit strike my gay little heart right where it hurts. 

If you’re looking for a (literal) magical pick-me-up (ignore my comment about crying a whole lot) with INTENSE found family vibes and a side helping of queer mlm romance, dear God read The House in the Cerulean Sea. I don’t think I did it justice in this review; just trust me, it’s real good. My only complaint is that it ends; I want more, damn it! 

[thehoveringbrain]

Better than it started

Guess who has just finished watching Shadow and Bone? me! And you get a review (that was supposed to be short but, oh well)

The show could be summarised as “it ended better than it started”. Way, way better actually. I don’t think many shows actually achieve that, it’s more common for stories to be the same quality all over or get worse over time, than it is to develop into something better. And I can point, with precision, at the moment Shadow and Bone got an upgrade: episode 5, the royal party episode. It’s a great episode, sitting right into the middle: it’s the turning point, the story shifts gears and from that point onward it just falls into a natural development toward climax and ending.

What comes before... isn’t as great. Which I think can be a problem when trying to keep new viewers interested. However, that was probably never a priority. Shadow and Bone falls neatly into the category of tv series inspired by books/games/comics, therefore its main aim (and strength) is getting all the fans of its franchise to watch it. Attracting a new public is welcomed, sure, but secondary. These kinds of adaptation can get away with bare minimum character introductions and little lore exposition. Personally, I don’t think that’s great storytelling: relying on previous fan knowledge kinda feels like cheating. Thus, the series isn’t new-fan friendly. It’s certainly watchable, but compelling and clear since the start? Not sure. I’d recommend starting from episode 5 if that were something that could make sense, but it won’t.

In fact my (rather personal) beef with episode 1 to 4, is hilariously contrary to my expectations toward the series and my feelings when reading the books. Premise: I read Shadow and Bone, the first book in the series, and the two Six of Crows books. I hated Shadow and Bone. Despite being intrigued by its worldbuilding, Alina’s point of view proved insufferable to me. You have to understand, at over 20 years old I think I was just outside the target audience for it; I had read plenty of stories like these, it was just all extremely predictable, boring. Six of Crows instead, was my jam (and just better written tbh). So here I am, having chosen to watch this show only for Kaz, Inej, and Jesper.

... and then I ended up staying for Alina’s story. Yeah.

You see, episode 1 to 4 had on me the same effect Shadow and Bone (the book) had: I just wanted to skip scenes. In fact I did. I mostly skipped scenes with Mal because, remembering the book well, I really didn’t need them, and I just wanted to get to the good bits. At the same time, I felt that all the crows scenes in this first half of the show were too rushed, too quick, and confusing. I kept on wondering what someone unfamiliar with these characters would think of this half of the story; they’d probably be annoyed by what felt secondary interruptions to the main storyline. I do think the two set of characters have been brought together beautifully, I like the plot idea that tie them, it works! The pacing though, that’s off. Picture two trains running on parallel tracks: they’re supposed to stay parallel as much as possible, but the Crow train bizarrely seems to move faster, while staying in place, while the Shadow train goes slower, but covers more ground. That’s the first four episodes for me. Bit odd. What saves these four episodes though, is exactly what I hated of the S&B book: its predictability. The “shadow” plotline, with its “special girl” trope, is so familiar to the viewer (especially one well-versed in young-adult fiction) that it ends up carrying all the weight of the show on its shoulder. I mean, it’s the main plot after all. It’s simple, but effective. The crow side-plot instead is action-packed, and while that respects generic conventions, it might have needed more space to develop. As for Nina and Matthias’ story, it suffered a similar fate: it’s a cool story, but if you don’t already know why you should care about it, then it’s confusing and a seemingly useless. I liked it only toward the end, when I recognised were we were at in the frame of the Six of Crows storyline.

In the end, I think the actors are what made this show. Pretty good actors, that interpreted likeable characters perfectly and just as the audience expected them. Jessie Mei Li’s Alina and Archie Renaux’s Mal were way better than their book version. Freddy Carter... it’s odd, from a purely visual perspective he’s not exactly the Kaz I imagined but also he is not not Kaz? Do I make sense?

And of course Milo MPV of the story. Who knew this story needed a Milo to work. I love it.

As for other aspects of the production, I already mentioned my confusion concerning the choice of British English accents for Ravkan characters, just use Standard American English guys, it’s a real thing, I swear. Photography: seemed pretty good. Music: it worked, but I wouldn’t say remarkable. Costumes: sometimes confused. I loved the First Army uniforms and the change of style during the Darkling flashback, but in many other points there’s some confusion as to the period of reference for the clothes. This isn’t a costume drama so it’s not fair to judge it too harshly, and upper-class clothes in particular are expensive so I can see why they looked all over the place. I hated Alina’s look when she ran away though, that was too modern.

All in all, Shadow and Bone wasn’t a total waste of time but it’s not gonna be my new hyper-fixation, you know? I devoured the last episodes though, those were really good. Thus I’m looking forward to a second season that will explore the events of the books I haven’t read, and I’m curious to see if and how they’ll bring the Six of Crows plot in.

[eldweena]

So...road trip this weekend. This is pretty absurd, but we don’t really have used bookstores here... We have a Books-A-Million at the mall, which dabbles in used books but just barely, and a nerdy store called The Inner Geek that has some books but mostly vintage toys and tabletop gaming gear. And I heard someone opened a book café, but it’s on the far end of town and the online photos made it look more café and less book. (Maybe it’s BYOB, bring-your-own-book?) ANYWAY. Point being. When we want to brose a *good* used bookstore - which I often do, because I love out-of-print classic fantasy novels - we have to leave the state. So Saturday we drove two hours to Lexington because they have a couple Half Price Books stores. And after a full year of not leaving town due to COVID, we had like 7 bags full of books, CDs, video games, and DVDs to sell. Everything went great at the first store. We got there shortly after they opened at 10:00 am and there were signs posted everywhere saying one person per aisle. They had a sign on the door, and also called over the intercom, that your mask must cover your NOSE as well as your mouth. They’re taking the pandemic seriously and holding customers accountable! I was very pleased. We got $50 for half our sell-backs and found a lot of great buys, too. Then we had lunch at Schlotzky’s. I didn’t mean to take her picture, but in the background you can see a masked woman. She brought a book into the restaurant to read and it made my heart feel happy! After lunch we found an Asian market and my wife stocked up on sweets and drinks. Then we headed to the second HPB, and that’s where we somehow picked up a stalker. This store was a different experience entirely. This time we only got $30 for our remaining sell-backs (we split the selling into two trips so we wouldn’t have to be running back and forth between the store and the car in one go), and while the signage was the same, nobody was adhering. We were looking at science fiction paperbacks and a tall man talking loudly on his phone kept stepping closer to me until he literally brushed my arm. He wasn’t even looking at books - he was on the phone. I pointedly stomped around the other side of our cart to get away from him and while he didn’t stutter in his phone conversation, he did go away. I was about ready to make a scene with a loud, “EXCUSE ME - SIX FEET!” My god!!! People piss me off. Then we went to look at some gaming books because my wife found some old White Wolf manuals and we kind of collect them. (I did LARP Vampire: the Masquerade and MAGE briefly, but mostly I keep them for writing inspiration because the worldbuilding is just fascinating...) This time a young male kept inching his way closer while we were examining the two books they had. (The MAGE manual was brand new, velvet-lined, purple, and pristine. Also $60, so I passed. The Camarilla book was an older edition of the one I have, and the pages were pretty filthy, so I also passed.) I thought initially the guy wanted to look at the gaming books because - I say this only because he had glasses and unkempt hair - he looked like a nerd. Turns out, that was not the case. I caught the same guy staring at us as we moved to another section of the store, where he suddenly also happened to be. My wife went into the young adult alcove and was quickly swarmed by three girls. I couldn’t even get into the crowded aisle (again, the limit was supposed to be one person!) so I went to another shelf to look at true crime. I checked the YA books a couple more times, waiting for it to clear out some. And the guy was hanging around a corner. Not even alone, he was with a girl and I think another guy. By then I was feeling annoyed. I had a fucking mask on, so I knew he wasn’t really looking at my face??? We then looked at middle grade because I’m always on the lookout for Donna Jo Napoli, and that’s where they stick her, and i SAW The SAME GUY! He was never actually looking at books. He was always just standing there, looking out of place and hella awkward, never alone but with the same two people, but he was always looking at us. I wasn’t sure if my wife had noticed so I said, “Let’s get the fuck outta here. I’m tired of that guy staring at us.” She hadn’t noticed, but loudly proclaimed, “Where is he? I’ll stare right back?” I just said again, “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” We took our cart of books (yep, found some more) up to the registers. AND THAT MOTHERFUCKER FOLLOWED US. He like...jumped in line behind us, took a sliding leap. He was holding some things so I was like...well, I guess he could be checking out at the same time as us, coincidentally...??? But this time he was without his companions. So we started checking out and I whisper-hissed to my wife, “That’s--” and she said, “I know.” Then, loudly, she said how rude it was for people to stare. Our cashier said something (I’m hard of hearing so I don’t know what he said; my wife said he told her something like, “I understand, I’m sorry that happened to you”), then the other cashier, who I thought was checking that stalker-boy out, held up a flower book and asked, “Is this yours?” We were like...uh....no...and went about our business. After we checked out I grabbed our bags and was trying to like, run for the door. He’d only had like two things in his hands when I saw him scurry into line, and I was scared he’d try and follow us. I’m one of those people who fumbles and drops things and typos and gets all sorts of clumsy when I try to hurry, so it took twice as long as it should have. Finally we got out the door and I kept whisper-hissing to my wife, let’s hurry to the car. And she was like, no, if he follows us I’m going to tell him to fuck off! We got to the car and loaded up our books as fast as possible, and I just wanted the hell out of that parking lot, but my wife was like, no, there’s a trash can beside the store entrance and I’m dumping our garbage. I didn’t want to hesitate or linger, but despite her insistence that she could do it alone, I went with her. That guy gave me a really bad feeling. He could have been a harmless staring-type of creeper, but regardless, I wasn’t about to let her find out on her own. We went back to the store, and as she dumped our trash my wife said that guy was still in the store, fucking staring at us through the window. When they made eye contact, he ducked away from the corner and went down an aisle. I felt shaky for almost an hour after that, until we were headed out of Lexington and absorbed in an audiobook. I don’t feel like it was all harmless coincidence. How many times can you run into the same person in a store, even a small one? Why was he even there, if he wasn’t interested in books? I’m not sure if he even bought anything, or did he hand that flower book to “his” cashier and try to get her to give it to us as a creepy gift from him? Like, I don’t even know what was up with that flower book. We weren’t even at that end of the counter. We also considered that he might have gotten it into his head that we were shoplifting. I don’t know what would have given him that impression, other than perhaps the fact that I kept taking my cell phone out of my hoodie pocket and tucking it back, as I was comparing prices online versus the store, as I always do... I did see him lean over the counter and talk to the cashiers as we were leaving, and I thought at the time, is he complaining about us? Did he think we were stealing??? Which we weren’t, nor were we behaving suspiciously in any way. And, if he had thought that, why hadn’t he reported us the first or second times we bumped into each other, instead of waiting until seeing us check out and then jumping into line behind us? I mean, WTF. My best guess was that he perceived two girls looking at gaming books and got nerdily excited. But he didn’t try and start a conversation, he just. kept. staring. Men, don’t do this, ever. Women have enough shit to worry about without you stalking them, even by accident, in a fucking store.

[thereadingmoon]

A Recommendation: “The Binding” by Bridget Collins

Summary: “Books are dangerous things in Collins's alternate universe, a place vaguely reminiscent of 19th-century England. Once their stories have been told and are bound between the pages of a book, the slate is wiped clean and their memories lose the power to hurt or haunt them. After having suffered some sort of mental collapse and no longer able to keep up with his farm chores, Emmett Farmer is sent to the workshop of one such binder to live and work as her apprentice. He is forbidden to enter the locked room where books are stored, so he spends many months marbling end pages, tooling leather book covers, and gilding edges. But his curiosity is piqued by the people who come and go from the inner sanctum, and the arrival of the lordly Lucian Darnay, with whom he senses a connection, changes everything.”

Note: This book has mature themes rampant throughout the story, including rape, infanticide, suicide, abuse, and period-appropriate homophobia. It isn’t overtly gratuitous, but just shocking when you aren’t ready for it. 

Highlights

Scope: Intimate and Micro Unlike other stories I’ve read in a soft fantasy world, The Binding doesn’t lead us to the center of the action, to the gears behind the magic system, to the corrupt/binary politics that run the show, where the stakes are high and the world is full of people trying to outpower one another. Instead, we watch one (1) talented apprentice binder go through the motions to discover who he is, who he will be, and who he was. It’s a story where the magic is but a backdrop as we watch Emmett develop as a person. It’s an interesting turn of events.

Worldbuilding The worldbuilding is thoughtful (if not questionable now and then). People in the uneducated province see binding differently than in the cities, where it’s another service to use. We see the modern and traditional approaches in binding, how the books are treated and stored. We get the answers on textbooks and writing, and even lovely little novels pop up into view. (I especially enjoyed Lucian’s little rant on novelists.) We even get to see how people take advantage of that service...

Voices When Emmett’s narration is turned over to Lucian, it’s jarring and distinct. They both have their thoughts and motives laid bare on the table, and they very defined characters. I will admit the shift can be too jarring, and the arrangement of events feels iffy when the middle of the book is an all-out flashback; but in all honesty, it makes sense in the story.

Gay Relationship Before picking up this book, I read a Goodreads review that a reader didn’t appreciate the “unnecessary” injection of LGBT+ themes, and I immediately expected something like The Reader (Traci Chee). I have come to realize that bitch was just homophobic, because there wasn’t any severe case of pandering in this book. It was just a MLM period love story with magic. Just death-do-us-part disaster gays all the way with a build-up of recklessness, pining, and unconditional love thrown in. If I hadn’t read that review, I would’ve expected the gay anyway because it was that overt in the build-up and hinting. 

Emmett’s Narrative Emmett’s narration is creative and rhetoric AF. Imagine Rosalie Ham’s descriptions in The Dressmaker, and pepper it all throughout page after page. That’s Emmett’s vivid narrative, a binder from birth. He describes hours that pass by like ripples in a pond, and describes pages like bird’s wings. 10/10 a vivid experience.

Seredith and Emmett I just wanted them to flesh their dynamic out more ;-; SHOW ME WHY HE LOVED HER WHEN SHE WAS BUT A TRAUMATIZED TEACHER.

Loose Ends There are so many questions left unanswered for the second book to step up to. What exactly happened in the Crusades? Was de Havilland really ******’s son? What did Seredith mean when she said binding existed long before books?

I’d recommend this if you like...

LGBT+ books

Soft magic systems and soft fantasy

Period fiction/period fantasy/historical fiction

Vivid narratives

Stories about amnesia/regaining memory, like Patrick Ness’ More Than This

Actually, if you like More Than This

Interesting fantasy takes on books/stories, like Traci Chee’s The Reader or Frances Hardinge’s Fly By Night

Want to see more recommendations like this? Check out my blog’s masterlist for more book recommendations.

[broken-clover]

AU-gust Day 9- Royalty

This one kind of stumped me, so I tried to do something a little more out of the box. Obviously there’s already royalty in canon GG, so I tried to to with it as well as do some different worldbuilding.

First and foremost, this is for @samarline, since I know they like Leo/Izuna (dunno how that rarepair got any fans, but as long as someone is enjoying it)

Izuna was doomed. He was absolutely, positively doomed.

Durable as a yokai was, he wasn’t foolish enough to never consider the concept of his own death. Especially given his status. The head of the yokai prince would no doubt be a priceless treasure for the armies of humanity or Gearkind. If political strife truly was where he was to meet his end, then he would have fought tooth and claw to die with dignity, and to allow as many of his people to escape as possible.

There was no dignity in the death that he stared down now. A simple run around the woodlands in his full fox-skin had drawn the attention of a pair of equally-simple hunters. The head of the yokai prince was a grand treasure, but the pale, silken pelt of a fox was worth a pretty penny on its own. Shrapnel to the leg had crippled an otherwise-effortless escape attempt, and the blood he had lost trying to outrun them sapped away his ability to perform spells, or to shed his skin back into a humanoid form.

Izuna had skittered into some nearby underbrush, leaving flecks of his own blood on the leaves as he did his best to huddle under it. Dying as a fox meant his people would never know what became of him, and they would be left without their leader, or any sort of direction. He was going to be slaughtered like common game. He could only hope that his meat would drive his murderers ill as a final act of spite from beyond the grave.

The trees shook. Izuna cowered in fear.

But instead of the hunters, he was surprised by the sight of a large man in a fancy orange coat pushing aside the leaves.

“Is someone there?” He asked, voice low and booming, but undeniably kindly. “I heard shouting, is someone hurt?”

++++++

The book of history was deeply stained in blood. No living person, except perhaps the eldest and most ancient of the yokai, could remember the times when the three races were in conflict with each other. Nor was anyone truly sure of what the conflict was for anymore, but all they knew was that it needed to be done in order to protect their people. At least, that was what they said.

In the beginning, man, gear, and yokai lived in quiet harmony, building their kingdoms and sharing what they had that the others lacked. Each race only cared for their own kind now, and interspecies trade was banned even if it were possible in the first place.

That’s how the world seemed to be for eons, but time was never static, and things always shifted. The human nation’s First King, Ky, had accidentally but fortuitously created a peace between humanity and Gears after falling in love with and wedding the daughter of Queen Justice, Princess Dizzy. Their alliance was tenuous, but the constant back-and-forth attacks had begun to quell, and the people began to have hope. Hope for peace, for calm, for kinship to replace the violence that had been constantly shaping their lives.

Ky and Dizzy seemed happy enough together, at least. Leo hadn’t much entertained the thought of marriage. His work as the human nation’s Second King kept him busy enough. He hadn’t even thought to pick up a hobby until it had been more-or-less foisted on him.

He looked down from his paperwork to watch the creature snoozing away in his lap, motionless aside from the rise and fall of its chest and the occasional twitches of its tail.

He’d named the creature ‘Rubinrot,’ for its beautiful, piercing red eyes. Leo had never met such a peculiar animal in his life. He knew what a fox looked like, obviously, but he’d never seen one with a perfectly white coat. That strange color was paired with a bizarre brilliance that he swore was too advanced for an animal, but it was endearing. He’d only taken the creature in in the first place because of its crippled leg, but he found Rubinrot’s presence relaxing.

As soon as he tried to move the animal so he could stand up, he roused, and was clearly displeased with the concept of being abandoned. Leo stepped away from his desk, only to be interrupted by a displeased bark as Rubinrot limped after him.

“I’m only going to get food. I’ll bring some back for you, too.” He tried to assure him, but it didn’t work. When barking didn’t work, the fox began snapping at his trailing coat and tugging on it.

“Rubinrot! Nein!” Leo attempted to pull the material free without crippling him further. “I’ll only be gone for a minute! What do you want from me?”

His answer came in the form of him swatting at his legs until Leo reluctantly picked him up. “Really? I could have sworn you were a fox, not a cat.” Maybe he had been wrong. Rubinrot was remarkably tranquil and easygoing for a fox, anyway.

Still, he didn’t feel like arguing with an animal. Rubinrot seemed perfectly happy with his new position cradled in Leo’s arms, even if it left the man with only one arm as he dug through the kitchen for food. He could see the way the staff looked at him. It was odd enough that a king would be searching for his own food, but carrying a fox around like a pampered puppy was a whole new level of strange.

Though he didn’t admit it, Leo was a little relieved at the concept of Rubinrot being healed and released soon. He could only imagine the image he gave off, distracted from his important political duties by a single animal. He still deeply cared for his fox and his people, and wanted to do his best to serve both.

“What should we make today?” Leo asked aloud. “Leftover meat, fruit…” He pushed something aside. “I’m not sure how the fried tofu got in here-”

The fox immediately perked up, barking in what he could only assume was excitement. “Tofu? Really? Is that healthy for foxes?” Still, he obliged, pulling the container down, opening it, and letting his companion get to work demolishing it.

“I guess you have a craving for beans.” Leo stroked the animal’s back as he ate.

“Erm, Leo?”

He jerked to attention, mentally groaning as he recognized the voice of the only man that could always make him feel uneasy. “Hello, Ky.”

The First King wore his usual pleasant smile, just real enough to be convincing. But Leo could see the way his eyes darted towards the fox on the counter, messily eating their leftovers.

“It seems you’re...having a lunch break, yes?” Ky asked.

Leo skipped straight to the point. “I’ll only be a few more minutes, then I’ll get back to work. I just wanted to make sure he was fed.”

“Of course, Leo. Of course.” Ky’s smile was forced, almost uncomfortable. “I just can’t help but worry a little bit about your new...preoccupation? Nothing wrong with a hobby, of course-”

“I don’t know why you’re making this your business, Ky.” Leo grumbled. “Shouldn’t you be more worried about your wife instead of what I’m up to?”

Ky flinched. As much as Leo wanted to be proud of that, he also knew Ky didn’t like having his weak points hit. “Dizzy is not plotting anything behind my back.”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that-”

“With all due respect, Leo,” He rubbed at his temples, still doing his best to be cordial. “I don’t want to be cross with you. I really don’t. But we are still in a tenuous political situation, and everyone needs to stay on top of their work. If you don’t start spending less time with that fox, I am going to have to ask you to release it. We can’t afford any distractions. I hope you understand.

Without another word, Ky turned and left.

++++++

With all the work he had during the day, lying in bed was one of the few times Leo was able to have a moment to sit and think. He would have rather spent it fantasizing about something nice, but his thoughts always came back to work, and to Ky.

Leo knew of the weight that rested on him. He wouldn’t have taken such a lofty position if he hadn’t understood how serious it was. But he didn’t understand why one simple distraction was causing so much fuss. His Rubinrot had only ruined a few documents, but wasn’t a problem when it came to anything else, not really. Actually, Leo liked to think he was working harder than ever when he had something less serious to help him relax.

Rubinrot was curled up beside him in bed. It seemed to be his favorite place to sleep, and Leo refused to shoo him away. He could only imagine how swiftly the fox would be torn apart as an easy meal by wild animals with his leg still injured. Would Ky push him into it anyway?

He knew there was a war going on. It was impossible to ignore it. The yokai forces in particular had grown restless recently, but the Gear Alliance was being redrafted, and prospects were high. There may have been peace between two nations for the first time in people’s lives. Yet Ky seemed more on edge than ever.

“Hmmph. Maybe that’s just what marriage does to people…” He mused, petting the fox’s back. “I don’t suppose you would know anything about that?”

The animal huffed. Leo knew he couldn’t talk back, but he still did it.

“You respect me, don’t you?” The fox butted against his hand. “I know I’m not as brilliant as Ky, but I’m still good for something, aren’t I?” It was difficult being Second King and second banana to a tactical genius that everyone seemed to adore. His marriage had done well for his public image as well, despite fears of how the people would respond to their beloved king marrying a gear, especially the daughter of a rival kingdom.

“Pfft. Maybe I just need to get married, then?” He smirked at Rubinrot. “Yeah, right.”

Leo rolled over to switch off the bedside lamp and curl up in bed. “Gute nacht, Rubinrot.”

+++++++

Izuna’s tail frisked back and forth across the silky sheets. He would need to find some when he went back home.

Ah, yes, home. He could only imagine how his people were managing without him for the past few weeks. He had gotten some information from the humans, but yokai were always the most skilled at subterfuge and trickery, so whatever the humans knew, so much more was going on under their noses. That was how the war had been. Gears and humans could throw mortar at each other’s walls all day long, but neither of them even knew where the yokai kingdom was, and were left to chase after whatever forces they could find.

Of course, that was also the reason for the state they were in. Yokai could never ‘win’ a war. They could run armies to exhaustion and strike them as easy, weakened targets of smaller groups, but in the sorts of battles that humans and gears fought, their forces would have been mowed to nothing in weeks. The yokai had only survived by being secretive. They never lost any land, but never gained any, either.

But they scraped by through ingenuity, and right now, Izuna was being an ingenious little fox.

Well, maybe that was only half-true. For all his distrust towards humankind, he had somehow managed to spend the last few weeks utterly spoiled by one. He was pretty sure his rescuer didn’t know what he truly was, but either way, it hadn’t stopped him from showering Izuna in pats, food, and cuddles while his injuries healed. It was hard not to find merit in that. Though he wondered if those loving arms would turn hostile as soon as he changed forms.

But...that was where the ingenuity lay. He had known of the union between the human king and the gear princess, and how the political climate had slowly-but-surely begun to shift. Izuna knew that if humans and gears began working together and combined their powers, then it was far more likely they would be able to pull the yokai out of their well-hidden foxholes and gradually massacre them. Peace for them meant disaster for him and his people, but what were they fighting for in the first place? And what if there was another option available?

If the gear and human kingdoms merged into one, and they became at peace, what would happen if all three nations fused?

Some part of Izuna knew the concept was almost selfish. Because he wasn’t doing this just for the politics. He had spent so much time with this fascinating human, this ‘Leo,’ how could he not form some kind of bond with him? He had learned so much about the man through their one-sided conversations, he could hardly understand why the two of them were at war with each other. The human king was a lonely man, always pushed aside as the runner-up, feeling as though he could never measure up to his fellow royals and heads of state. But he had taken his time to meticulously care for an injured animal, that for all he knew, would simply run away and never feel an iota of thanks for his kindness. Yokai and humans may have been different, but they knew how to repay debts of kindness. And nursing the yokai prince back from the brink of death was a deep, deep debt.

Izuna wasn’t sure if he had enough stored magic to turn all the way back into a human form, but he prayed that it would be good enough.

++++++

Leo had been awoken by a peculiar noise in the middle of the night. He tiredly fumbled to attempt to find a way to lie back down and nod off again, but as he tried to roll over, he noticed an ominous glow.

“What the…?” He grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. Had he left a lamp on? The color seemed too harsh to be a lamp, though...

“Leooooooooo… An unfamiliar voice whispered.

He snapped to attention. “H-hello?” He stammered. “Who said that!? Show yourself!”

“As you wish, your majesty…”

Izuna let a stream of fox-fire illuminate him in the darkness. He had only been able to manage a partial transformation, but it looked real enough for what he needed it for.

“What on earth?” The king’s eyes widened. “Those ears, you’re a- !”

Izuna fanned out a half dozen tails from his back, each tipped with a will-o-wisp. “I’m a man who’s come to offer you a deal, Leo Whitefang.”

“H-how do you know my name?!” He demanded, shuffling towards the side of the bed. “And why would I make a deal with a yokai!?”

“I hope I’ll be able to answer both of those to your liking.” The yokai slowly smiled. “Tell me, do you like my eyes? Aren’t they beautiful?”

“Eyes? What kind of trickery…” Leo trailed off, his own eyes slowly widening as he realized. He turned to his other side, and realized his bed was empty.

“This world is full of actions and consequences.” Izuna continued, internally wincing at how ridiculous he sounded. Jeez, maybe he should have prepared a script. “You took in a yokai in his hour of need. Now, our kind owes reparations to you.”

“Reparations…?” The man still seemed awestruck enough that what he’d thought was his pet was now standing over him and covered in arcane flames.

“Yes. You have shown your human kindness to our people. So we are willing to pay it back in turn."

“S-so what are these…” Leo took a nervous swallow, “Reparations?”

He placed a hand on his chest. “I am Izuna, reigning prince of the yokai kingdom. You have cared for me in my darkest days. You have saved my life. Your hands have tended to me with the care and compassion of a lover.”

Leo’s confused fright slowly gave way to a bright red blush. “Erm, lover?”

“So I wish to pay it back to you.” Izuna knelt down, taking the man’s hand. “If you would have me, may the gods smile down on our union, and bless our people with peace and harmony for a thousand years.”

“I...I’m afraid I don’t follow…”

The kitsune looked him right in the eyes. “I want you to marry me.”

++++++

To many, the concept of a ceasefire was wishful thinking, idealism that clashed heavily with how the world truly was. Nobody seemed to have ever expected it would actually happen.

Following the merging of the human and gear kingdoms, for the first time in recorded history, the location of the yokai kingdom was revealed to the world. Its sudden openness was not a coincidence or stroke of luck. Instead, it intended to follow the path its former enemies had taken, and merge together into one nation.

Tales were spun on how the human’s Second King had selflessly rescued the yokai prince, and how they had fallen in love during his recovery. Nobody was entirely sure what details were true and what weren’t, but the important thing was that the war had been called into a ceasefire, and that the two men were to be married under the elaborate roofs of the yokai palace.

It was a momentous occasion, of course, it only seemed natural. Humans and gears entered the kingdom for the first time to witness their union, to offer well-wishes or simply to just admire the sights. The more cynical would remark that the merge of kingdoms was most likely a mere tactical motion, but the expressions shared between the two monarchs held a genuine, sincere love.

“Ah, the people love us, don’t they?”

“It’s nice to see them so happy.” Leo reclined in their wedding carriage, watching the crowds vanish behind them. “I never thought I would live to see the yokai kingdom, let alone be wed in it.”

“It’s your kingdom now, too.” Izuna was sprawled across the other seat, shedding his sandals and rolling down the top of his wedding kimono. Leo found it unbelievably amusing. Underneath the stoic front he put on in public, Izuna was...well, remarkably easygoing, comedic, and cuddly. So very, very cuddly.

“So they’re taking us back to your place?” The kitsune wiggled across to lie in his lap, humming with glee as Leo began scratching him behind the ears.

“Sort of. There’s a hotel we’re going to stay in for a few days until the press dies down. I’d say we could both use a bit of rest after all this.”

“Of course, love, of course.” Izuna rolled over to wink at his new husband. “And hopefully we can consummate our new union a few times, in the process.”

"Izuna!!"

[hanatsuki-esperanza]

PMD Day 9-Human(s)

Series: Explorers - Heart of Fire, Heart of Ice Spoilers: None, Except maybe a small one to Rescue Team? Notes: Worldbuilding of some kind? Gijinka pokémon.

Human - a bipedal, two legged species that went extinct long ago due to being lesser of strength physically and mentally compared to pokémon. Conspiracy theorists claim they have survived and are living in secret to this day. Alternatively called: monsters or kuma.

The text was difficult to get through, not because of the language, for it was one she understood, but because the words were so old and cryptic. It was written in an older dialect, one that slowed her reading. She ran a finger along the yellowed paper, tracking the symbols and translating them in her mind to words and phrases that made more sense. [Not long ago, humans and pokémon existed in the same lands, and even sitting to break bread together. Pokémon respected humans for their cleverness and adaptability, while humans respected pokémon for their versatility and great strengths. They had an agreement to stand side-by-side whenever they were in need. Pokémon that were fascinated by the human form sought to make a way for pokémon to appear more human, and humans sought a way to better communicate with pokémon. Then a great light cut its way through the land. It was a human, one who had never been seen before. He wore strange clothes, speaking in a strange tongue, and wielded strange tools that captured pokémon, those tools turning the captured pokémon against those they loved, forcing them to obey this human's orders. This human marched the land, capturing the strongest of pokémon and abandoning the weak ones to their injuries. Human settlements did not have the strength to oppose this human and were forced to bow to him, and pokémon settlements were broken apart under fire and disaster. Who was this human? Why had he come? Where had he come from? No one knew, and no one dared ask for fear of his power. The humans and pokémon of our world lived in fear. Then suddenly it was over. The human had fallen victim to his own pride and by a ninetales' curse, but the damage was done. No longer did one side trust the other. Pokémon feared that the humans had been hiding this technology to enslave them, while humans feared that the pokémon would seek revenge for what one of their race had done. The fear and distrust grew in a circle, until one side struck. No one knows which side acted first, but it doesn't matter. The humans were aided by certain species of pokémon who would not abandon them, but the others that attacked drove them to their knees, eliminating their numbers in great swoops. If they remained, they would all die, but the legendaries had turned their backs on humanity. So the humans stole away in the night, seeking shelter in mystery dungeons, in caves that would not be found by burrowers, in forests protected by unjudging nature, wherever they would not be found. And no one knows where they are now, or if any humans still exist.] "What are you reading?" She looked up from the book at the blonde-haired boy who had come up behind her, seeing his curious smile. But he was not human. The tail that swished from side-to-side, the ears that popped out of his hair, and the markings on his face were proof enough. Without words, she marked her place in the book, tilting it's cover to him. The blonde-haired boy tilted his head, squinting at the symbols. His skills in the language the book was written in were much lower than hers at it took him a minute to read them. "Journey into the Darkness?" She nodded. "My grandmere's had a copy of that. I could never read it. But I loved the stories when she read them to me." She shrugged, reopening the text and returned to reading. Chatot had allowed her access to the guild's library, on strict conditions that she was not to damage the books or take them out. Those were acceptable conditions, so she came here every night before and after dinner, to read and learn. To try and find something about herself. To try and discover the history of her people, her family, her race. The shiny riolu settled himself next to her, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. Exploring always took a lot out of him. How his companion could read with full attention after a busy day was beyond him. Honestly, it was a bit embarrassing that a human could outpace him, a riolu. He cracked one eye open, tilting his head to watch his partner's eyes flit across the pages, absorbing the stories-history within the book. The fluffy hat with fox ears sticking up she wore, and the cuffs of orange fuzz circling her wrists and knees, those were fake. Her ears, her true ears, human ears, were hiding under the flaps. And that fuzz wasn't real, or so she said. It was fake, manufactured, to hide the tools that allowed her to pass as a true pokémon. She didn't have a tail, but not every pokémon that took on a humanoid form had one. Her disguise was her protection against pokémon who would hurt a human. She took the title of "Vulpix" to hide herself in plain sight. Yawning, he closed his eyes again, thinking back to when he thought humans were just stories made up by the elders to scare pups. But his grandpape had told him that if he were to ever find a human, he should treat them respectfully, because their lot in life hadn't been easy. There was always more to someone than there seemed, and if you only listened to stories, you wouldn't know the real them. You were right, Grandpape. The shiny riolu listened to the sound of flipping pages, thinking on the adventures they had gone on. Just last week they had returned from Fogbound Lake, having found the treasure of the lake: a time gear. A month before they had 'discovered' a hidden cavern behind a waterfall, and before that, they had caught an outlaw. A real outlaw. It had been scary, but with his partner, his human partner, by his side, he could do anything. If he hadn't met her, who knows where he would be. You would have loved to have met her, Grandpape...she-no-we are proof that humans and pokémon can stand together again.

[[Find more PMD July stuff at this parent list.]]

[battlestar-royco]

Considering my place in the anti community

So, I know that might be an alarming title, but rest assured I don’t see myself deactivating or ceasing discussion of SJ/M’s books any time soon. But a lot of things have led me to the decision to explicitly veer my blog in another direction. I’ve said more than once before that I made this blog around May of 2018 as a joke between me, myself, and I, as a way to vent my disappointments with the T0G and AC0TAR series into this dumb blue void. I kid you not, I literally did not expect anyone to interact with me at all, and aside from mutuals on my main, I’d never been sent an ask in all the (then) six years I had a Tumblr. I didn’t expect to meet and befriend such a passionate, salty, visionary, thoughtful community. A little over a year later, I’m interacting with too many people to keep up with, I find myself being tagged and reblogged by reputable bloggers with way bigger followings from all over Tumblr’s diversity-forward fandom communities, and I even have run-ins with anon hate and stan ridiculousness every so often. The anti community as I know it has been a welcoming home that has taught me so much. That being said, there are a few reasons I want to slightly switch gears. So here goes. This is a long one, so thanks for sticking it out, if you make it to the end.

What will remain and what will change?

More will stay the same than will change. I will still absolutely be answering asks about YA books and SJ/M, and I will be posting about the issues within them and how I think they could have gone better. I will also still be tagging such things as anti. I really enjoy discussing the nitty gritty of characters, worldbuilding, and how all that coincides with the handling of diversity and feminism in the books. This type of discussion is, I think, how I gained most of my following, so I don’t want to turn my back on you. Also, in the near future, I mainly just want my blog to be a place where diverse representation across all identity vectors and forms of media, especially fantasy books, is a focus. I want people to feel they can talk earnestly about their issues with xyz representation and/or discuss diversity struggles they come across with their own writing.

I feel like the anti community stagnates periodically and we devolve into cold wars with stans, picking apart miniscule details of the books, scouring SJ/M’s social media, repeating ourselves, or other similar activities. Going forward I want to reduce the conversations that are founded in pettiness or insulting other Tumblr users or SJ/M for things that honestly have nothing to do with the books, the YA/publishing community, or problematic behavior. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of things worth discussing re: problematic author/stan behavior, but it’s easy to lose sight of the reason for antis to exist in the first place. On to reasoning:

1. The connotation.

This is something many of you know about me as well, but it bears repeating: I never hated SJ/M’s books. My blog is a result of my passion and enjoyment of the earlier books twisted into disappointment. I wouldn’t have bothered making a blog about these books if I hated them from start to finish. I wouldn’t have made an “anti” account if I’d felt that my opinions would be accepted among stans. I felt there was a lack in both the anti and stan community for my experience, so I’m here to give voice to that. Although I started out talking about the negatives, I don’t think my blog has ever fit most people’s idea of “anti” on this site. There are a lot of truly toxic anti communities all over Tumblr who exist just to shit on creators and fans or to be negative out of spite, and I really have never identified with that desire, nor have I tried to exhibit that behavior. But thanks to worst of the worst on this site, anyone who calls themselves anti is automatically associated with that. I also think as a whole, every SJ/M anti is doing completely different stuff with their own blogs. We’ve got book cover criticism, opinions and advice about publishing, T0G rewrite projects, shitposts, etc. I myself started expanding months ago into providing writing advice on diversity and generally writing meta. It’s not a group of angry people yelling slurs at each other like I’ve seen other anti communities do, so I don’t think it’s the right label for me.

2. Stans.

This goes a bit with the connotation point. I feel like, especially because of how I’ve branded myself and because of antis who preceded the current batch, stans really have no idea what I’m about. I have always been clear that I do not wish to attack them or their enjoyment of/engagement with the books. And yet I’m constantly being vagued about, having my words twisted, or having my arguments and blogging style very purposely, transparently ignored/misinterpreted/ridiculed in said vague-blog posts. All this despite stans’ frequent claim that they ~never~ go into anti tags or check out our blogs, and despite their other frequent claim they don’t believe in the anti/stan divide and that we’re more alike than not. I agree that this divide is dumb, but it’s kind of hard to distance myself from it while constantly being thrown under the bus by SJ/M BNFs. I don’t mind anyone viewing or interacting with my posts, because transparency and all, but it’s tiresome to constantly defend myself because I’m being misrepresented by accounts that are 4, 5, 6 times bigger than mine who either don’t know how I run my blog or purposely mischaracterize me. I can’t control other people’s behavior and I don’t want to, but this is a change I’m making for my own mental health and to promote better behavior among both communities, and I hope others follow suit.

3. Things I’ve handled poorly and how I want to do better.

Anyone with an ask blog for a minute inevitably acquires their share of public fuck-ups. I can think of a few instances in which I would have handled a situation differently. For example, a few months ago the community as a whole was asked to expand our conversation to more than just presenting SJ/M and Bardugo as foils, and I wish I’d been less defensive there. That day made me think a lot about the way I carry myself on this blog and how limited the conversation can sometimes be. I really do appreciate any and all criticism for the community, and looking back, I feel like my reaction to that didn’t go along with the way I usually try to handle criticism. I think it would be good to try and, like OP said, infuse more book promotion into my blog in general, to try to support and read more books by marginalized authors in the future so we can discuss them more thoroughly here.

In closing/TL;DR:

This isn’t inspired by any particular event or person, but rather a lot of things that have happened in the past several months on Tumblr, in the world and the media, and in my personal life. It’s not a change that was inspired out of negativity, but more out of trying to generate a more positive framework for my Tumblr activity and seeing how I can effect change through this blog. I’m still here for rants, masterposts calling out problematic books and characters, pretty much all the book talk I was doing before. This is just a really long-winded announcement that I want to expand my blog to a general spot for discussing diversity in media. Thank you so much for sticking it out if you made it all the way down here. Here’s to improving ourselves.