#this story can be a comedy or romance or adventure

[the-monkey-ruler]

Goodness, jttw will never run out of different ways the story can be expanded. I don’t know if there are any other books like this. I think something that helps is that there’s no ip law and religious people are more relaxed (I mean when Chinese take creative liberties, it gets iffy when it’s non-Chinese).

Xiyouji has been going on strong for nearly 100 years of media! It truly is a work of art that embodies the human spirit and can be adapted and relatable to any generation to any person. Not matter where you are from or how old you are there is always going to be something so human and so touching in Xiyouji that just captures people for years to come.

Here's to another 100 years of Xiyouji media!!

The closest thing I can think of to another book or franchise that is this widely known could be like Shakespeare but that sadly has been teetering in the past few years. I kinda miss the modern adaptions of Shakespearian plays. And they don't even have games so another disadvantage.

It helps that Xiyouji mostly cameos Daoist and Buddhist figures in its story, hence while it does have a lot of religious messages and is a religious pilgrimage leads to a lot of fantastical worldbuilding and a great way for both patheons to be included. The only other story I can think of that has that kind of storytelling in like Dante's Inferno which while it is well-known certainly doesn't have that much of a media presence.

[retro-friki]

Checking out my recent writing (including certain things I’m not posting), and I can conclude that these are the types of fanfiction I usually do: *Tooth rotting fluff *Nightmare crossovers *Stories about angry gay young women becoming older sister figures of disaster bi girls. (It’s weird that it has happened twice). *Darn, I wish I could make my own Night Vale or Gravity Falls!

[fahye]

book recs: feb 2024

(disclaimer: I have spent nearly three months languishing and sullen with post-COVID symptoms and have read, over dec-feb, eighty-one books. this is a ruthlessly streamlined list of recs that does not include, uh, all the rereading of sarah maclean and charlie adhara and georgette heyer books.)

AT FIRST SPITE by olivia dade - what if I moved in next to the man who ruined my engagement to his younger brother, and tried to ruin his life by playing monsterfucking audiobooks really loudly?? a heartfelt and lovely romance that also expertly sets up a great small-town setting for an ongoing series.

THE REFORMATORY by tananarive due - historical horror based on the existence of a real school for boys, clear-eyed and brutal in showing the the effect of racist systems in the 1950s american south. compelling as hell. even if you're not usually into horror, I'd recommend this: the ghost aspect is light-handed and really not as important as the horror of what humans do to other humans.

SOMETHING WILD & WONDERFUL by anita kelly - this is a m/m romance about walking the pacific crest trail which made me see the appeal of very long walks. a miracle! it's gentle and emotional and well put together; the characters really grabbed me.

THE BELL IN THE FOG by lev a.c. rosen - the followup to 'lavender house', and somehow even better?? a historical mystery series featuring a queer private eye in 1950s san francisco who looks into crimes against other queer people. amazing queer history! ACAB! I hope there are fifty more books in this series.

FEAST WHILE YOU CAN* by mikaella clements & onjuli datta - beautiful, greedy, terrifying small-town horror that is also a fucking fantastic, gorgeously written sapphic love story. this one IS for the horror fans. it gave me the absolute creeps but I couldn't put it down.

LADY EVE'S LAST CON* by rebecca fraimow - I described this on bsky as 'if you like Leverage, space opera, old screwball comedies, and dashing sapphics who are at all times spiritually wearing a leather jacket: this one is for you' and I stand by that. huge amounts of fun.

LONG LIVE EVIL* by sarah rees brennan - I will be screaming from here until forever about SRB's first adult fantasy book. if you like the isekai'd-into-a-villain-character setup and want it to be hilarious, genre-savvy and wildly angry and clever, you will roll around in this like a blood-stained mud puddle and then beg for more.

THE LAST HOUR BETWEEN WORLDS* by melissa caruso - really clever and original fantasy about a woman on maternity leave who gets dragged into saving a cocktail party which is falling through increasingly murderous and bizarre dimensions. LISTEN, JUST GO WITH IT. it's a seriously cool adventure.

YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY* by cat sebastian - yes, it's another m/m romance about queer history in the mid 20th century, this one between a baseball player and the journalist assigned to write a story about his slump. made me care about baseball. cat is a genius.

*I read these as ARCs, they're not available yet but consider preordering or keep your eye out for them!

[physalian]

In Defense of Fanfiction (Or the perfect starting point for your original novel)

Fanfic gets a bad rap pretty much everywhere except Tumblr. It’s misunderstood and misrepresented by its average works, seen as juvenile and cringey, or a banal point of contention between a famous person or piece of media and its fans.

Outside of fanfic that writes about real people, especially smut fics of real people, I support the art wholeheartedly. Fictional characters are one thing, but personally, caricaturing a celebrity’s life for public consumption and writing or drawing them in compromising content without their consent is a little weird. You do you. Don’t like, don’t read, as they say.

Fanfic is the perfect starting point for a few reasons:

It places you in a creative box and forces you to work within those constraints

It does all the worldbuilding and character concepts for you

It lets you write way outside your comfort zone

When published and receiving feedback, it boosts your self-confidence

It's incredibly flexible

It’s practice. All practice is good practice

—

Behold your creative box

When I was little I had no idea the majority of fanfic was shipping fics. I always pictured and looked for canon-divergent alternate universes. Like, what if X happened in this episode instead of Y? What if this character never died?

Fanfic demands you work within someone else’s canon, whether it’s an OC in the canonical world, or the canonical characters in an AU. These are like little bowling bumpers saving you from the gutter, but also keeping you on a straight-ish path toward the pins.

The indecisiveness of too many choices can be too intimidating when you’re first starting out. You want to be a writer but you have no idea where to begin, what genre to pick, what characters you want to chronicle, what themes you want to explore.

Even if it sits on your computer never to see the light of day, you still got those creative juices flowing.

Pre-packaged worldbuilding

Sometimes all we want is to get to the good stuff. Maybe I want to write a story about elemental magicians but Last Airbender already exists and I just want to play in a pre-existing sandbox. So I write some OCs into that world and have a free-for-all.

I don’t have to come up with my own lore, world history, magic system rules and mechanics, politics, geography—any of it. I get to just focus on the characters.

Even if you’re writing an AU, like say a coffee shop AU, you don’t have to think about brand new characters, you can just think “What would M do?” and go from there. The trade-off is your readers will expect canonical characters to behave in-character, but I think it’s worth it.

Stretch beyond your comfort zone!

Do you hate writing action scenes? Go practice with a shonen anime fic. Need work on dialogue? Write some high-fantasy fic, or a courtroom drama. Practice a fistfight by watching fistfights and writing what you see, and do it over and over again until what you read makes you feel like you're watching what’s on screen.

But beyond that—practice genres that you aren’t super familiar with. If you’re new to fantasy, write fantasy fic. Or a mystery novel/show, thriller, comedy, satire, adventure, what have you. The nature of fanfic still gives you those “guardrails” and you can get some brutally honest feedback on how you’re doing.

And, of course, the realm of M-rated romance and smut fics. I haven’t because I think I would die of embarrassment if I tried and I never intend to include sex scenes in my works anyway, but if you do want to, use the internet as your test audience. Post it on a throwaway account if you’re nervous.

Build that self-confidence!

The fandoms I used to write for are super dead, so it’s insane how I still get email notifications that so-and-so liked my fic to this day. Comments are as elusive as ever, but random strangers on the internet telling me they liked my work is a magical reassurance that my writing isn’t actually awful.

Random strangers on the internet are, as we all know, beholden to no moral obligation to be kind to your little avatar face, or be kind to be polite. So a rando taking the time to like my work or even leave a positive comment can feel more honest than one of my friends telling me what they think I want to hear.

I tend to avoid the more present aspects of fandom like online communities, forums, social media, what have you, so I get a delayed and diluted aspect of any given fandom through completed works. Which means, in general, I get to avoid the worst and most toxic aspects of fandom and get to sift through positive feedback and critique.

Even if your fanfic isn’t written with stellar prose, it’s fanfic. We don’t expect Pulitzer-prize winning content. And if your work isn’t up to snuff, people are more likely to just ignore it than put you on blast (at least in my experience, I never got a bad comment or a “flame” in the old FFN days).

Fanfic doesn’t care about the rules of published literature

On the one hand, try not to practice bad habits, but with this point I mean that your layout, punctuation, formatting, paragraph styles, chapter length–all of it is beholden to no rules. I get as annoyed as the next reader with giant blocks of paragraphs, or the double-spacing between pages of single-sentence paragraphs, but if the story’s good enough I might ignore it.

There’s more than just straight narrative fics, though. People write “chat” fics, or long streams of text and group chat conversations. The scene breaks can come super rapidly–I’ve seen fics with a single sentence in between line breaks to show the passage of time. And without the polish of a traditionally published novel, I’ve never seen a purer distillation of author voice in any medium more than fanfic.

All practice is good practice

Even if it’s crack fiction, or a one-off one-shot, or something meant to be lighthearted and straightforward and free from complex worldbuilding and intricate plots. It really helps break writer’s block when you can shift gears and headspaces entirely and you can get relatively instant feedback to keep you motivated.

Beyond that, the “guardrails” help you stay consistent as far as character growth and personality if you struggle with designing rich characters.

The most recent fanfic I wrote was just a couple years ago, for a dead fandom I didn’t think would get any traffic whatsoever. It wasn’t my original works, but the feedback on that fic gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get back into writing more seriously.

—

In short, I support fanfic. I may not be proud of my earliest fics' prose now, but I am proud that they walked so I can now run.

[yurimother]

The 2023 Yuri Guide - Anime

Your ultimate guide to the best Yuri content with over 200 curated titles from every genre and medium.

Adachi and Shimamura

• School • Slice of Life • Romance • Friends to Lovers • Slow burn

Adachi and Shimamura's days of skipping school offer a new world to explore. But as these delinquents bond, unexpected emotions begin to blossom. Now if they could just admit how they feel…

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls' Story-

• Sports • Comedy • Drama

Eve is an underground golfer who supports poor street orphans with the money she makes from illegal golfing matches. But her life is about to change forever when she meets a young golfer who's just arrived from Japan...

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

• Action • Fantasy • Isekai • Enemies to Lovers

When Menou, an Executioner of deadly interdimensional “Lost Ones,” encounters a Lost One named Akari who can cheat death, she sets out on a mission to kill the unkillable girl — but her newly stirring feelings might get in the way of her blade.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

Flip Flappers

• Fantasy • Action • Magical Girl • Love at First Sight

Cocona’s world is turned upside down with the appearance of Papika. They set off on an adventure in “Pure Illusion.” In the pursuit of the “Shards of Mimi,” obstacles arise, and the shards enable them to transform.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die

• Comedy • Music • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Two years ago, super-fan Eripiyo was hypnotized by Maina Ichii and her pop group ChamJam. Now Eri dreams of seeing her favorite group make it big, to the Budokan arena! Her passionate desire consumes money and time—but no cost is too high. This is fandom!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Multiple Couples

A mutual friend introduces Yachiyo Inugami, a dog-like girl who loves cats, and Suzu Nekoyama, a cat-like girl who loves dogs. The girls find themselves drawn in by their opposite traits and the most outlandish relationship starts to take form in this wild comedy that will have you barking (and meowing?) with laughter.

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

• Fantasy • Romance • Comedy • Isekai 

When noblewoman Euphyllia is unjustly stripped of her title as the kingdom’s next monarch, the buffoonish Princess Anisphia takes it upon herself to right this wrong. Despite being taken for a fool ’cause of her silly antics, Anisphia is a magic genius, and she has a plan to help Euphyllia regain her good name. But little do they know—their encounter will alter the kingdom and the entire world! Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

Maria Watches Over Us

• School • Slice of Life • Senpai/Kouhai • Multiple Couples

Students at Lillian Girls’ Academy become “soeurs” to support each other during their time at school. Shy Yumi Fukuzawa never thought she’d attract a soeur like the beautiful Sachiko Ogasawara, but Sachiko has unexpectedly set her sights on Yumi!

Streaming on HIDIVE (sub)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

• Sci-Fi • Mecha • Action • School • Drama • Marriage

A.S. (Ad Stella) 122― An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry. Her name is Suletta Mercury. With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart, this girl walks step by step through a new world.

Streaming on Crunchyroll (sub/dub)

Otherside Picnic

• Action • Sci-FI • Horror • Slow Burn

Moments from death, Sorawo is saved by the mysterious Toriko in the world of the Otherside. Entranced by its beauty, she discovers that this dimension is inhabited by monsters once thought imaginary. Joining with Toriko in her search for a missing friend, they set out to explore this nightmare realm and maybe make a little money. What they encounter could bring enlightenment—or drive them mad!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

• Fantasy • Magical Girl • Horror • Tragedy • Fated Lovers • Multiple Couples

Madoka Kaname is an average 14-year-old girl who loves her family and friends. One fateful day, this all changes when she has a very magical encounter with a strange creature called a Kyubey. Kyubey have the power to grant one wish to chosen girls. However, in exchange, those chosen must become magical girls and use their powers to fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness and catalysts of despair. Was this encounter by chance or fate? No matter the circumstance, this will surely change her destiny.

Movies Beginnings and Eternal retell this legendary and dark fantasy story with new and retouched animation and voice acting. The sequel film Rebellion follows Homura, unable to let her memories die, the magical girl continues to fight alone in the world that Madoka left behind, dreaming of meeting that nostalgic smiling face one more time...

TV - Streaming on Crunchyroll/Hulu (Sub) Films licensed by Aniplex of America

Revue Starlight

• School • Action • Drama • Weak Yuri

Childhood friends Karen and Hikari promised that they would one day become the next theatrical stars. Years later, the two finally have their chance during a mysterious audition, but they are not the only ones who have trained for this moment.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

Riddle Story of Devil (Akuma no Riddle)

• School • Action • Enemies to Lovers • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Twelve female assassins are sent to a prestigious boarding school to compete against each other in a secret killing game. The winner will be granted anything her heart desires, but only one girl can come out on top. The mission is simple: send fellow student Haru Ichinose to an early grave. The task should be easy for heartless assassin, Toukaku Azuma – but everything changes when she finds herself strangely drawn to her naive target. Her decision to use her lethal skills to keep her new friend alive will raise the stakes of the game and push the girls closer together as the other beauties threaten to tear them apart.

Streaming on Funimation (Sub/dub)

Sakura Trick

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Friends to Lovers • Multiple Couples

Best friends Haruka and Yu are about to take their relationship from friendship to something more when they share a kiss! But when one kiss becomes two and three, how will their relationship change?

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub)

Strawberry Panic

• School • Drama • Romance • Senpai/Kouhai • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Nagisa has just transferred to a prestigious all-girls school that happens to share a campus with two other elite academies for young women. The new surroundings are overwhelming but Nagisa quickly adapts to life in Strawberry Hall with the help of her new friends. However, when Nagisa catches the eye of the mysterious Shizuma, the respected representative of all three schools, both their lives are forever changed. A bond beyond mere friendship develops between the two ladies amidst a chaotic school year full of heated conflicts, petty jealousies, and crossed boundaries.

Streaming on Crunchyroll/RetroCrush (Sub)

Sweet Blue Flowers

• School • Romance • Drama • Friends to Lovers

Fumi Manjoume enters Kamakura's accelerated high school - Matsuoka All-Girls High School. While waiting at the Kamakura station on the day of her entrance ceremony, she runs into an old childhood friend whom she had not seen in 10 years: Akira Okudaira. As their friendship is rekindled and they start falling back into the rhythm of friends again, it starts a delicate love story...

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

Volicia of Pluto

• Action • Indie • Sci-Fi • Mecha

In 2006, Akiko Hoshigami’s dreams of track-and-field stardom are dashed after a leg injury. She enters high school with her best friend, Ayano Umisoe, and between club activites and meeting new friends, the empty Akio begins to resember her former self. Until one day, Ayano suddenly dissapears.

Streaming on YouTube (Sub)

Yurikuma Arashi

• School • Drama • Sci-Fi • Enemies to Lovers • Multiple Couples

In a world divided between humans and hyper-intelligent, man-eating bears, Kureha attends an all-girls school and holds onto a simple wish—to spend the rest of her life with her classmate and soul mate, Sumika. But after a secret rendezvous ends in tragedy, Kureha vows to never back down on her love and put a bullet in any bear she meets.

Streaming on Funimation (Sub/Dub)

YuruYuri

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Multiple Couples

Four students decide to occupy the room of the defunct tea ceremony club, dubbing it the ‘Amusement Club.’ While the Student Council does its best to eliminate this club, their endless energy, happiness, and comedy will keep audiences smiling all season long!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

Read More of the 2023 Yuri Guide

⚪ Must See ⚪ Light Novel ⚪ Manga ⚪ Visual Novels ⚪ Webtoons

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[ladyloveandjustice]

My Top 12 Favorite Anime of 2023 (and more)!

This was a great year for anime, so here's a long list of my top 12 (including some bonus great anime). If you get tired of clicking the review links, check out my anime overview collection for all of them here.  You can also check out my list of favorite manga here!

Some of these are ongoing, so consider those only a review of the first cour-- no official endorsement on the rest because it hasn't aired yet!

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury (Season 2)

When I listed G-Witch in last year's top anime list, I prayed the show wouldn't betray me. Fortunately, it didn't! Though the final half of the show was a bit rushed, it remained must-see, compelling sci-fi full of exciting twists and turns. And I adore the well developed romance between the robot-piloting protagonist and precious girl, Suletta, and her fierce fiancé, Miorine.  Whether you’re here for starcrossed queer lovers, robots wrecking each other, tense battles between opposing political factions, or morally-horrifying moms on a revenge spree, you’re in for a treat.

See my full review here.

Yuri is my Job!

Hime is roped into working at a cafe where the waitresses playact as students of the fictional all girl’s school from a beloved novel series. However, Hime finds her co-worker, Mitsuki, has an inexplicable grudge against her. Thus begins a tangled web of romance and wounded feelings among the girls in the cafe! Yuri is My Job seems like a fun comedy boasting a cast full of quirky lesbians, but then reveals itself to be a complicated and fascinating examination of performance- as it intersects with queerness, girlhood,  and the desire to be “likeable” and “cute". It's top-tier lesbian drama full of fraught relationships and it's absolutely worth a watch.

See my full review here.

The Apothecary Diaries (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Though it's still going, I have to sing the praises of this dazzling anime about a saavy apothecary who uses her medical expertise to solve the many murders and betrayals in the Emperor's palace. MaoMao is a fantastic lead, a poison-obsessed gremlin who's whip-smart, deadpan, and fun to follow. The Apothecary Diaries has intrigue, well-developed characters, and an impeccable atmosphere. It tells a great range of stories, from romantic triumph, to bittersweet tales of recovering from grief, to pure tragedies. I'm totally hooked.

See my full review here.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

When Euphie is dumped by her fiance at a ball, the oddball princess Anis rescues her.  Euphie becomes Anis' assistant in her quest to develop magical tools. The girls also start to develop feelings for each other, while discovering a conspiracy among the nobility. I'm always desperately in need of cool lesbians having action-packed fantasy adventures, and Magirevo delivers. The characters grow in entertaining ways, we get to see them fight dragons in killer action scenes, and the romantic development is completely satisfying. It's a simple story at its core, but the lovable characters, joyous queerness and jubilant execution make it a great watch.

See my full review here.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls' Story (Season 2)

In the second season of the anime about girls homoerotically golfing while dealing with the mafia and ludicrous family drama, Birdie Wing remains a bombastically absurd sports anime that is fun all the way through. Please come watch these girls get ridiculous sports  injuries, scream their super golf attacks, experience extremely extra plot twists--and be super gay with each other, of course. The finale didn't go quite as hard as I wanted (and the romance is more subtexual than I wanted), but you need to allow yourself to experience the madness of Birdie Wing.

See full review here.

Skip and Loafer

An endearingly dorky, earnest, and driven girl moves from her small town to Tokyo. While she struggles to adjust, she befriends a nice popular boy who's got some baggage. Skip and Loafer is a show that’s like a warm hug. It's sweet, entertaining and funny. It handles adolescent struggles with tender nuance. There's a emphasis on kindness, connection, and looking past stereotypes and misconceptions. It also includes a trans character who's treated with respect (and is a great character in general!) Let this show touch your heart.

See my full review here.

Undead Murder Farce

An immortal woman has had most of her body stolen by a mysterious man. Reduced to a head carried around by her maid, she teams up with a half-demon man to track the thief down while solving supernatural mysteries all across Victorian England.

This a fun, campy mystery series starring three asshole weirdo protagonists,  it’s bursting with supernatural creatures and literary references. We've got Sherlock Holmes, The Phantom of the Opera, Carmilla and more...along with a vampire murders and werewolf drama galore. UDM is a wonderful romp with stylish, slick direction... and it’s unexpectedly really gay.  I’m aching to see more of these scrappy misfits and their adventures.

See my full review here.

Migi & Dali

A story of twins who are pretending to be one kid in order to fool their foster parents and find out who killed their mother. It starts out as an utterly absurd comedy becomes a impressive and genuinely tense murder mystery that is incredibly moving at times, all while keeping up it’s signature brand of goofiness. There’s genuine commentary on abuse, the damage you can do to children by forcing perfection on them, the struggle of being a foster kid, grief and recovery and more. There's also some great character development. It's a weird one, but it's absolutely worth sticking with.

See full review here.

Pluto

Somebody is killing the most advanced robots in the  world and murdering humans alongside them. A robot detective is trying to track this killer down, but he might be compromised as well. Pluto is a tense, tense, tightly plotted robot murder mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Through robots, it explores the idea of being a tool in a corrupt system, and tackles subjects like war, imperialism, and the nature of hatred. It's a masterful psychological thriller with stunning animation and a rich story.

See my full review here.

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

This anime approaches the story of Scott Pilgrim and Ramona's seven evil exes from a brands new angle, and the results are great. We get a exploration of relationships and regrets, the messiness of communication and connection, the trials of becoming an adult, all with the signature goofy video game antics. Characters neglected in previous iterations finally get their due, new facets of the story are explored, queer relationships are delved into more, girls kiss...and it's all accompanied by phenomenal animation and a killer soundtrack.

See my full review here

Soaring Sky! Precure

Sora lives in a world called Skyland and wants to be a great hero. When rescuing the kidnapped baby princess, she falls through a portal to earth. There she meets her fellow magical warriors, and as Precure they protect the princess from the villains!

This vibrant, warm-hearted adventure got me back on the Precure train! This series boasts a lot exciting firsts for the franchise--the first official male cure, the first main cure that's eighteen years old- but above all, it has a lively team of characters with who have an entertaining dynamic and enjoyable individual journeys. It's often very funny, the baby has a surprisingly good character arc, and it's bursting with magical girl (and boy) goodness! It's also not afraid to give you an emotional gutpunch when you've been lured into a false sense of security by all the fun times. If you're new to Precure, this is a great jumping on point, and if you've watched it before, this is a series you won't want to miss.

I'm in Love with the Villainess

Rae is reincarnated as the heroine of her favorite dating sim. But she has no interest in romancing any of the boys- she’s head over heels for Claire Francois, the snooty villainess.

Villainess may not be as polished--storywise or animation-wise-- as these other entries. It's a messy series, it has plenty of problems...but it's also very fun, and it touched my queer little heart like no other. Queer people get to indulge in our imperfect faves too, and the silly shenanigans, blatant lesbian wish fulfillment, honest advocacy for queer people, and the joy and earnestness of the series works for me!

See my full review here.

Some Other Great Anime:

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (still ongoing, review is for the first cour)

Frieren is a long-lived elf who was once part of an adventuring party that saved the world from the Demon Lord. But now her friends are passing away and the world is moving on. She decides to retrace her old party's journey so she can understand what she's feeling.

Frieren is both an interesting examination of what happens after the hero saves the world, as well as a meditation on mortality, grief,  and the endless march of time. It takes you on a quiet, beautiful and sometimes touching journey though a pastoral fantasy world. There's some breath-taking animation and excellent atmosphere to enjoy.

See my review here.

Spy x Family (Season 3)

Spy x Family is pretty much staying the course from when we last checked in,  though this season gives a lot more attention to Yor, and I love the cruise ship arc and all the ridiculous fights she gets into a lot! That arc contains some of my favorite gags of the series too (like Loid’s  attempts to be a cool dad). Otherwise, Spyfam has settled into a series that intends to be around for the long haul, so don’t expect too much forward plot momentum. And Yuri (the man, not the genre) unfortunately still exists. Overall it was good season and remains a fun  adaptation. Yor, please step on me.

[readingcomics-sometimeshiatus]

Sapphic Webtoon Masterlist

One day I thought that maybe it should exist a list with all the sapphic stories of webtoon since is so hard to find.

today I decided to make this list

you can also comment stories that are not listed here!

Sapphic = woman loving woman. although this name means any queer woman (e.g. lesbians, pansexuals, etc.), in this list will only have the ones where the main couple are two woman (or one is not a man).

Last updated: January 23th, 2024

please check up the reblogs to see when the last time was updated if you see this on a reblog!

Originals

Not So Shoujo Love Story (comedy, in progress)

Romance-super-fan Rei Chan is ready for her first boyfriend and she knows just who it'll be: the most handsome boy in school, Hansum Ochinchin. But her plans for the perfect love story are derailed when the most popular girl in class declares herself a rival….for Rei's heart?! This is the year her not so shoujo love story begins!

Nevermore (supernatural, in progress);

There is nothing definitive about life after death, except the involuntary enrollment at the mysterious Nevermore Academy. Now Lenore and Annabel Lee must begin their curriculum to recover the memories of their tragic demise. Between the Dean's macabre demeanor and the tell-tale dangers of Final Exams, both girls must learn to rely on one another and their newly acquired ghost forms, or Spectres, to not only graduate from the academy… but to earn a second chance at life.

Night Owls & Summer Skies (romance, completed);

Despite her tough exterior, seventeen year-old Emma Lane has never been the outdoorsy type. So when her mother unceremoniously dumps her at Camp Mapplewood for the summer, she’s determined to get kicked out fast. However, when she draws the attention of Vivian Black, a mysterious and gorgeous assistant counselor, she discovers that there may be more to this camp than mean girls and mosquitos. There might even be love.

Realta (fantasy, in progress);

When the world was new, the twelve star signs descended to bless humanity with magic according to their date of birth. Fourteen worthy people, called the “Realta,” were given a star from each Sign that allowed them to receive prophecies of the future called “horoscopes” and summon great power to defeat the Fae: beings that tormented humanity. However, much has changed since Elowen was a child. Magic is illegal, the Fae are getting stronger, and the Realta have been forgotten…until our Virgo meets a certain Capricorn.

Muted (supernatural, completed);

On the full moon of her 21st year, the young witch, Camille Severin, is expected to perform the traditional ritual to summon forth a winged demon for her families success and prosperity. But when the ritual goes wrong, it reveals the terrifying truths about herself and the secrets that threaten to tear her family apart.

Mage & Demon Queen (comedy, completed;

Adventurers seek to take the demon queen’s head, but a love-struck young female mage wishes to take her hand. Join us won’t you, for this bawdy tale of love and persistence set inside a real-life RPG.

REVEAL OUT! (romance, will return);

Eeden thought she'd missed out on life: her art career is a disaster, her landlord kicked her out, and worst of all, she's never even had a girlfriend! But life takes a turn when a chance encounter with an old crush sends her back in time. Now she's 18 again and starting college, with a chance to get everything right. Armed with a plan and a crush, Eeden knows exactly how to create the life full of joy she deserves: make it bold, make it beautiful, and most of all, make it gay!!

High Class Homos (comedy, in progress);

Princess Sapphia of Mytilene is not into princes. So, when her parents start putting the heat on her to get hitched, she enlists the help of her equally gay best friend, Prince August of Phthia. But will these two royals be able to pull off a convincing sham marriage? More importantly, will Sapphia ever land a date with the castle maids? Follow these high class homos as they navigate life, love, and (occasionally) their actual jobs.

Finding Wonderland (fantasy, completed);

In Wonderland, Alex is the Ace. When tasked with hunting down the nefarious Black Knave and his scourge of Nightmares, Alex begins to have visions of another world beyond: our world. In reality, Alex is a normal teen who has been placed in a dangerous simulation to draw out a scientist’s lost son. And time is quickly running out.

Aerial Magic (fantasy, completed);

The daily life of an apprentice witch.

Always Human (romance, completed);

This is a story about nanobots, genetic engineering, and two girls falling in love. No matter how technology changes us, we'll always be human.

Savior (fantasy, completed);

Wohn Ku is a vampire that needs human blood to survive. As a tenderhearted child, she led a tortured existence until a girl named Seyeon willingly became her steady blood source. Seyeon stood by Wohn throughout their school years, defending her from bullies. Fast forward to the present where they move in together ahead of their freshman year of college. Seyeon remains fiercely protective of her friend, but Wohn is ready for a fresh start. When a devoutly religious sophomore girl named Juyi showers her with kindness, Wohn emerges from her shell only to realize that Juyi had once been her father’s kidnapping victim, a potential blood source she had refused to bite. Juyi grows closer to Wohn without remembering the incident, fueling jealousy in Seyeon. Will Juyi prove to be a savior washing away Wohn’s guilt, or will she ruin a vampire’s dream of redemption?

CANVAS

My Dragon Girlfriend (romance/slice of life, in progress);

Christy is saved from a bad date by a dragon girl and introduced to world of magical creatures while falling in love with her savior.

Susuhara Is A Demon (slice of life/romance, in progress);

After a perfect girl encounters an infamous delinquent, her life is thrusted into a whirlwind of chaos! Strap in for a ride jam-packed with terribly embarrassing flirting techniques, kick-ass delinquents and existential dread by the buttload! Nothing could possibly go wrong in this perfectly imperfect love story.

Fatal Kiss (romance/supernatural, in progress);

What would you do if your crush was a monster?

The Pirate and The Princess (romance/historic, in progress);

Princess Kirianna has been raised for two purposes; marriage and succession. As a dutiful, intelligent, and optimistic girl, she came to terms with her fate long ago, and simply longs to be content. The last thing she expected was to be pulled into a life of piracy, by a woman in disguise who has a strange grudge against Kirianna's father, and a secret of her own to hide…. Captain is given male pronouns by me until her name drop in Chapter 10!

Eldritch Darling (supernatural/comedy, in progress);

What if we kissed and we were both girls? And one of us was an oblivious human and the other was a dark eldritch abomination creature from beyond the stars??

Deep Sea (romance/fantasy, in progress);

Atarah is convinced : she is not cut out to be a princess. And when her father tells her that the time has come for her to get married, the world of the young princess crumbles: her heart dreams of adventure, and not of an arranged marriage! It is therefore at the worst of times that Atarah meets Robin, a pirate with questionable morals and a tumultuous past. But where will this crazy encounter lead her heart?

The Siren's Light (romance/fantasy, in progress);

I was sinking, the darkness was slowly surrounding me. The depth of the sea was pulling me lower and lower, I could no longer see the moonlight that glowed from above. But, Who was this silver-haired beautiful creature with an alluring voice swimming towards me? "You are a beautiful one." Her voice was so clear and soothing. And before I knew it, She kissed me. Who was this creature you asked? A siren. A flirtatious, annoying siren that changed my life forever. Author: @roseyluv143 (wattpad)

In My Heart (romance/drama, in progress);

Sasaki Mari is a typical delinquent troublemaker whose only goal is to get a boyfriend, but due to her reputation as bully and low grades, all the boys reject her. Then she decides to change her style, and asks for help from the student with the best grades in the class.

My Devotion to You (romance/drama, in progress);

For the past five years, Catalina has spent all-nighters studying and acing exams to become number the one student and prove her place in the academy. Unfortunately, no matter how much she tried…she has been stuck as number two…all because of Valeria Graham. Valerie is tired and does not expect this year to be much different. She will maintain her Top Student title just like her family expects her to. It would be like any other year…right? And so, their final year begins.

My Cat is a Wizard (fantasy/romance, in progress);

Caitlyn is a just an ordinary, struggling student in her final year of university… Or so she thinks. After having her heart broken yet again, her cat suddenly becomes human. She must now juggle the difficulties of school, work, and all the twists and turns life keeps throwing at her: like her cat/roommate being a wizard. Can Cait still fall in love while magic slowly takes over her world?

Honey and Venom (romance/heartwarming; in progress);

An ancient Roman goddess is reunited with her priestess 2000 in the future, but she doesn't remember her! The closer they grow, the more secrets their shared past reveals, all while an ancient adversary lurks in the shadows.

Greta the Red Wolf (supernatural/action, in progress);

An injured wolf pup and an abandoned baby appear at the doorstep of a couple’s home near the woods. The couple decides to take them in, but little did they know that the wolf was actually a werewolf, and the baby a vampire! Despite their shocked human parents, Greta the werewolf and Vincent the vampire had a blissful upbringing. However, as Greta and Vincent grow older, their quiet, peaceful lives are threatened as they discover the secret world of witches, vampires, and werewolves.

RAINBOW! (slice of life/romance, in progress);

Overly imaginative teenager Boo Meadows has always escaped her daily grind by living with her head in the clouds-- for better or worse. But when she meets the girl of her daydreams, it may finally be time to face reality.

Winter Before Spring (drama/romance, in progress);

Hana has recently just fallen in love with her best friend, who just happens to be a girl. After a confrontation with her best friend, Hana accidentally blurts out and confesses her true feelings. Fearing that she would be rejected, her friend accepts her feelings graciously and they start dating. Is this a dream? Hana, overwhelmed with happiness as her wish came true- is suddenly struck down, her world crashing down as she finds out the nasty truth about her best friend.

The Hideout (romance/drama, hiatus);

Nadia is a 18 year old teenage girl that’s finishing high school and working part-time on her aunts coffee shop named “The Hideout” Nadia also happens to not be very lucky when it comes to the love department and that, mixed with overworking herself, has taken a toll on her quite heavily recently. Reading direction is left to right

The Grand Priestess (fantasy/action, hiatus);

Verashana, a powerful sorceress, delves into the past after an incident separates her from her lover, hoping to learn more about the tragedy that occurred. Her hidden memories resurface, and she unlocks a world that she didn't know she was a part of. Now, she must find out where it all started, and where it all went wrong.

Love, Lila (romance/drama, hiatus);

A one-sided love & rivalry between an aspiring ballerina and an artist. Irene comes from a strict and close-minded household which is against her pursuing a career in arts, as a result of her upbringing she became cold, insecure, and distrustful. Then she met Lila, a perfect girl who has everything and is everything Irene wishes to become. But as she gets to know Lila better, she discovers that her privileged upbringing actually hides a traumatic family secret.

Facing the Sun (sci-fi/drama, in progress);

Fear. Grief. Trauma. Guilt. Love, all seen through the eyes of a dysfunctional android prototype well past her estimated lifespan.

I LIKE MY BEST-FRIEND (drama, ongoing);

(since I'm on phone, I'm gonna put this one later)

Unleashed (romance, ongoing);

(since I'm on phone, I'm gonna put this one later)

Pick Me!! (romance, ongoing);

wip

Lotus and the Dandelion (fantasy, ongoing);

wip

The Greenhouse (drama, ongoing);

wip

I want to be your wife! (drama, completed);

wip

Warm Spring Rain (romance; ongoing);

wip

What's A Soulmate (heart-warming; ongoing);

wip

5 More Minutes (romance, ongoing);

wip

Slice of Life (heart-warming, ongoing);

wip

Our Secret (drama, ongoing);

wip

Don't Look at the Sky (fantasy, ongoing);

wip

Somebody to you (romance, ongoing);

wip

[maadsimming]

prismatic personalities legacy challenge <3

if you played our first challenge, WCGW, last year and enjoyed it then you will be happy to hear that we are back with another challenge! this challenge is for the game players to explore different jobs, aspirations, and ingame prompts they may not be aware of. and of course, we didn’t forget our storytellers! so make sure you pay attention to the descriptions for each colorful generation :)

welcome to our nine generation legacy challenge, “prismatic personalities”

CREATED BY @curioustraits AND @maadsimming

follow our stories @/darlingwhim and @/maad.persona over on instagram!

challenge rules:

each generation has a color for you to follow; the colors go along with the personalities of each gen so it is suggested that you follow the color schemes!

the colors of the spouses don’t matter. unless specifically stated in the rules, you can do whatever you please with them.

every generation has an optional rule to make the generation just a bit harder! as stated, these are optional so only do them if you’d like.

some generations will have relationship/family dynamics rules, however if none are stated, the relationships between all sims will be up to your interpretation!

some generations have child aspirations. you do NOT need to fully complete them, but you can if you’d like!

money cheats can be used, but shouldn’t be used excessively. suggestion: use the cheat, freerealestate on for your first home, but no cheats afterward.

your sims may live wherever you please unless the world is specified in the rules of a generation.

every heir should complete the rules, aspiration, and career of the generation.

if you do not have the required packs, you can opt out of certain rules or change them to fit as close as possible.

if you play this challenge and want to share it with us, make sure to post with #prismaticpersonalities so we can see! feel free to tag us as well: @curioustraits @/darlingwhim & @maadsimming @/maad.persona

generation rules under the cut !!

packs used: for rent, growing together, snowy escape, eco lifestyle, discover university, get famous, parenthood, spa day, nifty knitting.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation one: red ❤️

you've always been intense, passionate, first. from the second you were born, you let the world know that it revolved around you. your passion was always your best friend, seemingly letting everything fall into your hands... until it turned on you.

color: red

traits: romantic, erratic, self-assured

aspiration: villainous valentine

career: criminal (boss branch)

rules:

complete the villainous valentine aspiration

master the criminal career (boss branch)

master the mischief, handiness, and charisma skills

have the ‘difficult’ family dynamic with ALL of your children

only max out the romance bar with ONE love interest, but never date or marry them

(optional) never have any friendly relationships

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation two: orange 🧡

"patient... patient.. be patient!" is a word you knew as well as your name. but you were too determined to live life to it’s fullest, it CLEARLY had a lot more to offer in your eyes. can't be patient when you have places to be!

color: orange

traits: adventurous, party animal, self-absorbed

child aspiration: rambunctious scamp

aspiration: extreme sports enthusiast

career: entertainer (comedian branch)

rules:

gain the ‘compassionate’ character value trait (good empathy)

gain the ‘irresponsible’ character value trait (bad responsibility)

complete the extreme sports enthusiast aspiration

master the entertainer career (comedian branch)

must live in mt komorebi

master the dancing, rock climbing, comedy, charisma, and snowboarding skills

adopt at least one of your children

have the ‘jokesters’ family dynamic with ALL of your children

never reject phone invites

(optional) never be in a negative mood

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation three: yellow 💛

your cheerful parent gave you a happy life, you would have never guessed how evil this world could be... until it was time to move on from your parent’s safe grasp. it didn't take long for you to realize how scary everything was, but that fear drove you to want to protect others- be a lawyer! save your clients!

color: yellow

traits: cheerful, paranoid, genius

aspiration: friend of the world

career: law (private attorney branch)

rules:

gain the ‘mediator’ character value trait (good conflict resolution)

gain the ‘emotional control’ character value trait (good emotional control)

complete the friend of the world aspiration

master the law career (private attorney branch)

master the research and debate, logic, charisma, writing, and parenting skills

move out after aging up to a young adult

have something tragic happen to someone close to you after you’ve moved out

have only ONE child

have the ‘close’ family dynamic with your child

only be friends with a small group, but have all of their friendship bars maxed out

(optional) go to university to get your language & literature degree before going into the law career

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation four: green 💚

you were always told that you should "take your own advice" but that never made sense to you. advice was meant to be given? what good does it do if it’s your own thoughts? either it was a severe case of empathy or self-blindness- you would listen to everyone except yourself. you needed some… serious growing up to do… emotionally. but hey! at least you can put all that advice to some good use!

color: green

traits: jealous/wise, nosy, vegetarian

child aspiration: slumber party animal

aspiration: seeker of secrets

career: education (professor branch)

rules:

gain the ‘compassionate’ character value trait (good empathy)

gain the ‘uncontrolled emotions’ character value trait (bad emotional control)

complete the seeker of secrets aspiration

master the education career (professor branch)

master the research and debate, logic, charisma, and gardening skills

replace the jealous trait with the wise trait when aging up to an elder

get divorced (at any age) and then remarry the same sim as an elder

blackmail someone ONCE & then never do any other mean interactions

(optional) use the ‘simple living’ lot challenge

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation five: blue 💙

loser.. loner.. something along those lines. those were titles that seemed to always stick to you from childhood to adulthood. finally over it, you decided it was time for a change, a new style… haircut… job. you were ready to rip off the stickers of shame and embrace the new you... i mean, who doesn't want a new loyal friend??

color: blue

traits: loyal, loner, neat

child aspiration: artistic prodigy

aspiration: neighborhood confidante aspiration

career: style influencer (trendsetter branch)

rules:

gain the ‘good manners’ character value trait (good manners)

gain the ‘emotional control’ character value trait (good emotional control)

complete the neighborhood confidante aspiration

master the style influencer career (trendsetter branch)

master the writing, charisma, photography, painting, and media production skills

move to a different world after aging up to an adult

sell paintings as a side job

have no close friends until level 6 of your career

(optional) as an adult, become friends with someone who you had a bad relationship with as a child/teen

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation six: purple 💜

calm and peaceful... and just a little silly. that’s just who you are, and everyone knows it! you enjoy rooms full of laughter as much as you enjoy silent yoga. taking some passed down advice from an ancestor, you love living life to its full capacity- love, family and doing everything you possibly can. you don't even know the definition of boredom!

color: purple

traits: active, childish, creative

child aspiration: mind and body

aspiration: inner peace

career: athlete (professional athlete branch)

rules:

gain the ‘mediator’ character value trait (good conflict resolution)

gain the ‘bad manners’ character value trait (bad manners)

complete the inner peace aspiration

master the athlete career (professional athlete branch)

master the wellness, fitness, charisma, and video gaming skills

have two failed relationships as a young adult before marrying your highschool sweetheart

have the ‘permissive’ family dynamic with all of your kids

order pizza for dinner every friday night

(optional) apply for every competition (ex; lottery, gaming tournaments, etc)

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation seven: black 🖤

maybe it was the emotionally unavailable parent, or maybe your heart truly was just evil... but you always had a keen interest for the darker side of everything. everything in your life was dark and twisted... except... someone of pure light. was it a change of heart? was it love? were you sick... you didn’t know, but you surely understood that feeling pulling on your heart strings to protect this light.

color: black

traits: evil, snob, kleptomaniac

aspiration: public enemy

career: secret agent (diamond agent branch)

rules:

gain the ‘bad manners’ character value trait (bad manners)

gain the ‘irresponsible’ character value trait (bad responsibility)

complete the public enemy aspiration

master the secret agent career (diamond agent branch)

master the mischief, logic, charisma, programming, and your choice of instrument/singing skills

have ONLY one pair of twins

have the ‘close’ family dynamic with only one of your children, and have the ‘difficult’ family dynamic with the other child

steal something from every lot you visit

(optional) break into someone’s house at least once a week

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation eight: white 🤍

you’re pure. which is shocking coming from your long family line.. but you aren’t all perfect. that overbearing anxiousness of needing to live up to every expectation that’s been set from your lovely ancestors and all the people around you. you needed to start fresh, forget all those expectations! this is your life! and what better way to start fresh than... well... being a civil designer!

color: white

traits: perfectionist, socially awkward, good

child aspiration: social butterfly

aspiration: master maker

career: civil designer (civic planner branch)

rules:

gain the ‘responsible’ character value trait (good responsibility)

gain the ‘compassionate’ character value trait (good empathy)

complete the master maker aspiration

master the civil designer career (civic planner branch)

master the fabrication, logic, handiness, charisma, and knitting skills

must live in evergreen harbor

befriend all of your neighbors

must vote every week for a positive neighborhood action plan

always stay in the green eco footprint

(optional) use the ‘off the grid’ lot challenge

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

generation nine: pink 🩷

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION! …and some giggles. whenever you were a child and were asked "what will you be when you grow up?" you enthusiastically told them that you’d be on the big screen! and you meant it too! the first feeling of relief when you really were on the big screen will forever be your most prized memory. let’s just hope these feelings don’t fade away after a few years…

color: pink

traits: goofball, ambitious, generous

child aspiration: social butterfly

aspiration: master actor

career: actor

rules:

gain the ‘mediator’ character value trait (good conflict resolution)

gain the ‘compassionate’ character value trait (good empathy)

complete the master actor aspiration

master the actor career

master the acting, singing, and dancing skills

have pet(s) but only small dogs/animals

donate to charity every week

marry an ambitious sim

have a big family (4+ kids)

have the ‘close’ or ‘jokesters’ family dynamics with all of your children

(optional) become a global superstar and get a celebrity role on starlight boulevard

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Eva Dahlbeck (Smiles of a Summer Night, A Lesson in Love, Kastrullresan)— Beautiful, formidable, funny. Ingmar Bergman called her a "battleship of femininity" and cast her in several of his comedies. It's a joy to see her pulling all the strings in Smiles of a Summer Night while her two boyfriends make utter fools of themselves.

Maureen O’Hara (The Parent Trap, The Quiet Man)—They called her the Queen of Technicolor. That right there should help introduce people to the fiery, wonderful, stunning Maureen O’Hara. She was from Ireland, born in 1920, and started in theater at the age of ten. At 15, she was winning drama awards, including one for her performance as Portia in the Merchant of Venice. At 16, she was the youngest pupil to graduate from the Guildhall School of Music. By 18, she transitioned to film, starting off with a bang alongside Charles Laughton in Hitchcock’s Jamaica Inn, and proceeded to work steadily up through the early 1970s. She was in adventures and comedies and romances, spent a lot of time in westerns giving merry hell to John Wayne (and less merry hell to the indomitable John Ford — she held her own even when he was verbally abusive and demeaning to her). She was in The Quiet Man, which was the first American-made film entirely filmed in a foreign country. She helped make American Christmas what it is with Miracle on 34th Street. She played a lineup of headstrong, forthright women second only, perhaps, to Katharine Hepburn. She was married three times, lived for a while with a boyfriend in Mexico, sued for custody of her daughter in the 1950s, AND sued a magazine for libel in the same era. After mostly retiring from acting, she edited a magazine. She eventually sold the magazine to spend more time with her grandson, but even then ran a ladies fashion store. She was an outspoken, brilliant, passionate lady, with amazing red hair, a career to envy, and — well — that face!

This is round 1 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Eva Dahlbeck:

Maureen O'Hara:

I thought she was one of the most beautiful women in the world when I was a kid and I have yet to really change my mind. Always loved her temper and her red hair. Plus she was kind of a MILF in The Parent Trap

Haughty, red hair, hot.

The hair. The accent. The figure. The acting chops. The perfection.

I would have to give up my passport if I didn't submit Maureen O'Hara but also have you seen her? Not only did she look like that (she was called the Queen of Technicolor, though she wasn't a big fan of that sobriquet), she was also very funny and tough as nails. She faced off against Walt Disney in a contract dispute and the legend goes that when someone mentioned her at his deathbed, he sat up and said 'That bitch!'. Her comment on that story is "At least he didn't think of me and say, 'That wimp'." She struggled to get serious roles for a time, saying ""Hollywood would never allow my talent to triumph over my face," so she plays the sexy princess/pirate/harem girl in a LOT of early movies that she referred to as "Tits and Sand" films, she being the tits in question. She also turned down so many leading men and studio bosses (Errol Flynn and Howard Hughes are among her rejects) that there were rumours spread that she was a lesbian. Many egos were battered it seems. I'm including the infamous Lady Godiva scene in the photo propaganda for the sheer Moment of it [link] . It was a bit of a flop critically, but it was one of Clint Eastwood's first film appearances and she said he told her later that he was very glad of the money at the time. She was a very proud Irish woman and when she went for her American citizenship they insisted on referring to her as British (the timeline of Irish independence is a bit wibbly wobbly, we won't get into it here). She refused to accept American citizenship under that condition and argued her way through every level of US immigration she could find, supposedly saying "I'm not responsible for your antiquated records here in Washington", until a judge finally gave up and said "Give her what she wants, just get her out of here". This made her the first ever person seeking US citizenship to be proclaimed Irish on the record! And while we don't embrace the leprechaun imagery quite so enthusiastically today, her dressing her dog up in a little shamrock hat is too cute for you all to miss so I'm including that in the photo propaganda.

*Marge Simpson voice*: I just think she's neat 🤷‍♀️

[primojade]

【 # 001 】 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄

fallacy (n.) : are flawed, deceptive, or false arguments that can be proven wrong with reasoning.

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 : As a veteran AR60 player of Genshin Impact, you pride yourself as someone who knows the ins and outs of Teyvat, even studiously completing Spiral Abyss every reset, and having 100% exploration to some, if not all, of the released regions so far. Everything is fun and enjoyable, especially since Sumeru just recently debuted so you still have a lot to do!

All that ends though, when a mysterious passerby pushes you off the building of your university while playing Genshin. But instead of meeting your inevitable end, you find yourself waking up in the very world you were addicted to! 

It's supposed to be a fun dream, right? Something you could laugh at when you wake up? Right?! So, why is that you were back in AR1 with nothing but a dull blade in your inventory?!

…well, at least you still have those 700+ sunsettias and mints, Timmie's fowls…and surprisingly similar game mechanics you used to merely see on the screen before. But what should you do now? Flirt with the Genshin men??? Good lords...

"Welcome to Genshin Impact, Dreamer. Here, we can show you a happier ever after you've never had before…so, ready?"

𝐂𝐖 / 𝐓𝐖 : graphic depiction of violence; possible character death (on bad ends so choose your route wisely!); multiple endings (including good, bad, normal and secret ends); canon divergent, game mechanics, existential crisis, character study.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄 : isekai/reverse isekai, choose your own adventure (cyoa) with branching narratives, romance, comedy, angst (depending on the routes), hurt with/without comfort (still depends on routes), action, mystery, found family.

𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒 : albedo, tighnari, zhongli, cyno, xiao, diluc, venti, ayato, kaveh, kazuha and tartaglia. Possible more love interest as the story progresses.

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 : on-going

𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 :

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄 : that love is a fallacy.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈 : alea iacta est. (the die is cast)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈 : argumentum ad hominem.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈 : argumentum ad ignorantiam.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐈: audentes fortuna iuvat. (fortune favours the bold)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈.𝐈 : magister dixit.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈.𝐈𝐈 : argumentum petitio principii.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈.𝐈 : ignoratio elenchi.

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈.𝐈𝐈: cum hoc ergo propter hoc.

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐈𝐈 : veritas liberabit vos. (the truth will set you free)

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐈𝐕 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐈 : —

𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈 : —

tba...

"𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐅" 𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐄𝐒

𝐈 | odi et amo ; ( gn!reader × scaramouche ) ; in which scaramouche reveals you the reason why he hates you so much. But in the silence that comes after his hatred is revealed, and from the unspoken words that never leave his lips, would it be too selfish to ask for something more than this? 

𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒 :

reader here is gender neutral, so if I happened to have a pronoun slip by accident, please do correct me. I swear it was a honest mistake cause I don't really proofread my works :3

that being said, although reader should based off of you, as in you reading this, reader has their own background prior to their arrival in teyvat. Down below are some of the changes/characteristics I took the liberty to add to the reader's persona and history to fit in the story!

(i.) reader is a university student studying science or other related field (their specialisation differs in each route to make it interesting). though i did not specify their age, appearance and race (feel free to imagine them whichever), they were supposed to be in the middle of taking their college degree.

(ii.) reader has an adoptive older brother (who would be important in the storyline later on).

(iii.) reader is presented to be quite reckless, a bit ditzy, chaotic, an unhinge and lively character, rebellious, hardheaded, opinion oriented, and wouldn't bend to rules that they see as pointless no matter how the society dictates them to do so, but they were kind and carefree when you get to know them more. you'll see what I'm talking about in the first chapter 😂

before I forgot, although I'm a huge fan of the sagau presented in tumblr (the one with creator and cult themes; those are chef kiss btw), my take on the plot of sagau is very different. There's no divine creator here or cultish behaviours (i'm so sorry if that's what you're looking for 😷) my main focus here is all about the genshin characters' self awareness that they were in a game as they interacted with the isekai!reader, which is why I added the reverse isekai in the genre tags because it will be a huge turnover in the future chapters :>

also, the game mechanics I'm talking about above is what we see on the screen of genshin. Like the Paimon Menu, the inventory, the character archive, and so on! When reader is isekaid, it seems like they brought the whole screen with them? XD

I know stuff will probably be confusing for you and me later on because of the branching narratives happening in this hellhole of a plot, but please bare with me xD I will do my best to make it clear as possible.

This fanfic has four types of routes (or ends if you prefer it that way), There are good ends (romantic happy ending all the way!), bad ends (if you're unlucky that you fall in the dramatic hellhole then yes), normal ends (this could end in either being platonic, a cliffhanger or an open ending up to your interpretation lmao), and lastly, the secret ends (i'll keep whatever this is hidden for now because I planned something huge for this lol).

a "what if" routes are a series of one-shots, short stories or drabbles that was not really connected with the primary routes. It could be read as a standalone fics. Possibly just my word vomit and brainrotting lmao. They also don't have any branching narratives like the primary routes.

well! that is all, i guess! I'll add something later if I remember stuff I should be telling you beforehand but for now, i guess this would do xD also, if you wanted to be tagged for this, feel free to dm me or send an ask about it! Thank you for reading all the way and I hope you will have fun (and a good laughs!) while you were reading this trash of a fanfic lmao 🤣

Ps. I'll try to post the prologue tomorrow since its already half finished already <3

[boombox-fuckboy]

Hey, @t0tally-n0t-3m0, figured this might be easier to read as a post. Here's 24 pods with nonbinary lead characters to get you started. There's more out there, so if anyone wants to add on, go for it.

Additional Postage Required: (Sci-Fi) Adventures of an interstellar courier who starts to get glimpses of the past from their packages.

Anamnesis (on the Tin Can Audio feed): (Mystery, Weird Fiction) Someone wakes in a temple in an empty town with no memory. Short, really nice sound design.

Badlands Cola: (Mystery, Supernatural & Horror elements) big city PI Sunny is hired to find information on a rural cult leader, and is drawn into a world of strange radio, horse enthusiasts, and dinosaur bones.

The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio (one of two leads, you'll meet them halfway in): (Supernatural, Weird) Two workers for an Ohio dead letter office read the strange confiscated mail their organisation collects, and do some follow up investigation.

either: (Weird Fiction, Sci-Fi, Romance) An explosion at a duck factory sends a pet robot to another reality, connecting two very different (but both lonely) people.

Hello From The Hallowoods: (Supernatural Horror) A dramatic entity beyond your comprehension visits your nightmares to tell stories of the people (in varying degrees of human and alive) that inhabit the strange, deadly, and beautiful Hallowoods.

Inn Between: (Fantasy, Adventure) Ever wondered what the party gets up to at the tavern between D&D sessions? (Not a tabletop).

Jar of Rebuke: (Supernatural, Horror elements) An unkillable amnesiac scientist (they die, just have a hard time staying dead) investigates weird entities, makes friends, and eats a lot of tasty food in the strange town he lives in.

Khôra Podcast: (Sci-Fi, Adventure) Somewhere between inspired by and adapted from greek mythology, a space adventure following four mythological figures on their search for the golden fleece.

Less is Morgue: (Comedy, Horror elements) A ghoul and a ghost host a podcast about whatever they please in the ghoul's mom's basement, and manage to get off topic anyway.

Light Hearts: (Slice-of-Life, Supernatural elements) Three friends run a lightly haunted queer café. Upbeat and wholesome.

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality: (Weird Fiction, Supernatural, Horror elements) A friendly AI tour guide leads you on a tour of the Mistholme Museum, explaining the strange and often alternatural story behind each item. (To be clear, the nb lead is an AI with no concept of gender, but the creator is NB also and it is far from the only nb character.)

Monstrous Agonies: (Advice, Supernatural) An interpersonal advice show for supernatural entities and other people living liminally in the modern world.

ROGUEMAKER: (Sci-fi, Whodunnit) A commercial space flight explodes and passengers are left isolated in the escape pods, only connected for minutes at a time and unsure what happened, or why.

Second Star to the Left: (Sci-Fi) Audio logs of a colonist sent to a new world and her communications with the minder in charge of keeping her alive.

Sidequesting: (Fantasy) A wholesome podcast following Rion, an adventurer with a difference: they only do sidequests.

SINKHOLE: (Sci-fi, Weird Fiction) Forum posts from a data restoration community in a near future where the human brain is its own computer and one city hosts a massive void.

Skyjacks: Courier's Call: (Tabletop, Fantasy) Three young postal workers aboard a skyship go on various adventures. Kid-friendly but enjoyable for all ages.

The Starport Inn: (Supernatural, Mystery) An FBI agent sent to a rural town to solve a disappearance finds they've walked into something much stranger.

The Supernatural Protection Agency: (Supernatural) Call logs for a helpline that aims to solve the supernatural problems plaguing your life.

Tell No Tales: (Supernatural, Horror elements) Leo Quinn, secretary to the man in charge of the world's leading ghost removal service, interviews various ghosts in an attempt to create a device capable of actually recording them, in the hopes of taking down the company they work for.

Trial and Error: (Sci-Fi) Interviews with various AI as a scientist attempts to make sense of spontaneous machine sentience.

Under the Electric Stars: (Sci-Fi) A courier's failed heist to help their AI friend/navigator pulls them into a world of crime organisations and unethical science.

The Weird: (Tabletop, Supernatural, Comedy, Horror elements) The two staff members at The Department of the Weird travel America in their shitty Ford Fiesta to investigate various strange happenings

[shygirl4991]

Chapter 2 Artistic Ringmaster

Art done by @alianarepasa do not repost Summary:  After the event of Splits into Three everything felt like things were back to normal, that is until Three’s boyfriend kicks down his front door announcing he has fallen under the same spell he did. Together they will learn the secret of the cherry potion and with SMG4 splits put an end to the evil gang's plan.  Sequel to Split into Threes Last Chapter Next Chapter

Tags: Fluff, Angst, Comedy, Romance, action and adventure

SMG4 sits there wide eyed at the story, Producer nods taking notes trying his best to take all the information in. Four gets up looking at his boyfriends face, now that he was told the story he started to see the difference in Three’s appearance. He gently touches Three’s face “You do look softer with a bit of sharpness…so the reason you really were pink was because I was talking to your heart. Heh explains why you seemed so open, I was literally talking to your emotions haha!” 

Four starts to do a panic laugh, Producer gets up and holds on to Fours arm “It’s okay original, i know…it's scary since if we mess up we lose everything but T-three did it so maybe we can to?” Four turns looking at his personality studying his appearance. This is what he acts like when those thoughts take over, the sleepless night and panic that his next video won't be perfect. The thought causes an image to flash in his mind.

“IT’S GOTTA BE PERFECT!”

He stands up straight holding his breath while Producer holds his head “Ah OH GOD!” Three panics running over to the personality to make sure he was okay.  He talks gently to the personality helping him relax before turning to his main boyfriend “Hey uh..everything okay you both just freaked the hell out.” Four opens his mouth to answer only to be interrupted  by a cheering crowd, they all turn confused as the crowd gets louder. Then they hear a voice “WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE MAIN EVENT I RINGMASTER 4 SHALL BRING YOU A SHOW YOU WONT FORGET!”

Three and Four exchange a look before running out of the castle, where they saw a huge stage was set up in the middle of the showgrounds. On the stage was a red SMG4 dress like a showman, he smirks at the crowd as he tips his top hat and twirls his cane “Remember folks like what you see then like, comment and subscribe to my amazing channel!”  He hits a button making the cannons on the stage shoot out youtube pillows with the channel link on them. Three catches one and stares at the pillow, his face going blank “I see..you have a showman personality, why am i not surprised.” Four blushes as he watches the personality doing tricks. It was impressive how resourceful this personality was, any mistake he made he just twirled his cane and went with the flow of it making it into a joke.  SMG4 walks closer to the stage, red eyes looking right at him “Ah a shame i must end the show folks, it seems the main character of the story is here and needs me!” the crowd boos and starts leaving the showground, he jumps off the stage with a flourish “Ah Chang Noi! Happy to see you will be with us on this journey. I see producer is here,” Producer does a small wave as he anxiously messes with a page of his notepad. 

Ringmaster smiles at them as Three stands there confused as to what the personality called him, Four lets out an awkward smile offering his hand “um nice to meet you?” the showman chuckles as he shakes SMG4 hand “Pleasure i'm Ringmaster your Imaginative side!” Producer scoffs “More like a walking Ego.” The comment surprises Three as he turns to see the personality pouting as Ringmaster glares at him, Four notices looking at the two worried “um is everything alright with you two?” Ringmaster walks up to Producer and lightly smacks his back “We are fine! Producer isn't wrong…I may be labeled as egocentric but that isn't all I am!”  SMG3 nods hearing the annoyed tone dripping from Ringmaster. Seems something Four hates more than anything is someone pointing out his ego, shame they weren’t rivals this would have been a gold mine of information. SMG4 lets out an awkward chuckle “I mean I may have had one when I was younger but there is no way I have a huge ego now right?” he turns to his boyfriend who was standing next to  Producer. They both blink at him before they exchange a look, Three gives a small smile “You uh have gotten better…you know till you decide to be an asshole about things,” Four’s eyes go wide. Then he and Ringmaster both put their hands on their hips and in sync yell “When the hell were we assholes?!” Four blushes as Three points to his cafe “My opening?”

Four bites his lip as Ringmaster chuckles “Please we explained to you, it’s what we do, we tease and fight only now is it wrong to do since you became our corazón!” Three facepalms feeling a headache grow as he talks to the red personality. He just wished something would happen to get everyone on track to the mission of finding all the splits, they were so close just one more and they could try to figure out what's wrong with Four. SMG4 stared at the cafe frowning as he remembered how he took things too far, could it be he has been blind to the way he treats others. He could feel eyes on him, turning, Producer was looking at him, eyes glowing. He could feel a flutter of anxiety grow in him ‘what if i'm not good enough for SMG3’  with that thought he turned away fast only to catch the sight of purple running around the cafe. 

Producer noticed SMG4  looking at something and followed his line of sight to catch a glimpse of someone , slowly he started to walk over to the spot. Seeing this Four walks after him leaving Ringmaster and Three to fight, they get closer and get hit with a strong smell of paint. That's when he saw himself in purple, he had his tongue out and was covered in paint. Looking closer he had a sweater tied around his waist and like ringmaster the hat was different it was beret. He was humming as he moved the brush on the wall of Three’s cafe, he wasn't sure what to say given how lost in his world the personality seemed. Three noticing the pair left he walked over “WHAT THE HELL WHO IS PAI-,” he freezes as the artistic personality turns looking into Three’s eyes.

His eyes flicked violet as he stared at the man in front of him, looking around and noticing what was going on he laughed “OH! You found me haha sorry about that. I was feeling a bit sketchy today haha get it?!” he winked at the crew making Three’s face go red. The purple personality fixes his hat “Well hello everyone im Artist! Without me SMG4 wouldn't be so creative and funny, ah speaking off your cafe needed a little something Mcdreamy so i painted dead memes on your walls to celebrate you!” 

Three looked at the mural and gasp “Terrance…you painted Terrance and the others on the wall..” his eyes watered. Four smiles softly wrapping his arm around his boyfriend for comfort “Thanks Artist.” He nods, pleased to see that he managed to make their partner smile, Ringmaster looks at the art and scoffs “You really think this can bring attention?” Artist glares at him “Remember your place red, you think you can do half of what you do without my humor?” Producer was panicking and grabbed onto SMG3 for comfort. SMG4 lets out a chuckle “So this is what you went through with your three huh?”

SMG3 frowns watching the fight, his splits never acted like this. They all acted like siblings since they all seemed to get along, that's when he remembered something Book told him, making him wrap his arms around Four and Producer. He sighs “Hey scrub…are you doing okay?” his boyfriend gave him a confused look, Three looked at Ringmaster and Artist fighting about making content stressing out Producer “Four, these guys are you. Looking at the three of them they can't stand each other, it's okay if you need to talk to someone about what's going on in your head but you can't brush aside that none of your personalities like each other!” 

Four shakes his head “I’m fine three, now we have to all get along and this will be done shouldn't be hard!”

Ringmaster smacks Artist with his cane making the purple personality growl “All right you egomaniac, you may think the world is all about you but SMG4 needs us!” Ringmaster chuckles “Cute you call our Original by his name, must be nice to be liked.” Three was hearing the conversation and it clicked, he accepted Spade and Book easy that is until heart came into the picture. He almost killed his emotions, Four seems to be having a hard time accepting these parts of him. Letting out a sigh he lets go of four and turns to producer “Hey PD i need to know something, is something holding you three back?”  

Producer looks down “I…he..” seeing the personality was going to break down he takes a step back and comforts him “Whoa okay its fine PD was just making sure.”  Four eye twitches hearing the fighting, taking a deep breath he walks towards Ringmaster “Look I do understand you're a part of me, it's just hard to process everything. Let's just relax and figure this all out.” He gives them a sheepish smile then shows a meme on his phone hoping to stop the pair from fighting. The pair exchange looks and sigh after watching the video, Four wasn't sure what the reaction meant but was pleased to see the fighting had stopped. 

Three gentle touches the pins on his overalls thinking, this wasn't going to be a one day thing. There was something his boyfriend isn't telling him, whatever it is seems to be making it hard for his personality to connect. He stands there thinking about what the missing link could be until he hears a shout from the Personality holding him “M-my notes! Oh no, without them we cant do the video and no video is going to disappoint all our viewers!” Looking up he sees the page has been blown away and landed on the roof of his cafe.

He gives a pat on Producer's head “It’s fine i can go get it, just sit here and don't…uh pass out okay?” while Four attempted to get Ringmaster and Artist to get along Three started to climb the ladder to get the page. Producer looks up nervously catching the Artistic personality attention he turns and looks wide eyed at Three “Uh hey Three the ladder isn't really stable i broke it when i was messing with paint!” Four looked up in panic “THREE!” Not hearing the group due to the winds Three grabs the page and smiles at them waving it, the wind picks up knocking SMG3 hat off and making him lose his grip as the ladder bar snaps. He closes his eyes as he feels himself fall “I SHALL SAVE YOU MY FAIR MAIDEN!” with that yell he felt warm arms catching him. He opens his eyes only to scream “THERE'S MORE THEN THREE!?” 

[iamalivenow]

alive can i have new podcast recs please i want new podcast recs please please can i have new podcast recs please horror and also gay

so tma ended, now what? horror podcast recommendation list part 3 oh my god they made more of these things

malevolent - i think people are already turned on to this one because its slowly becoming the new big thing imo. malevolent is about a guy named arthur who fucked up and got his eyes stolen by an eldritch abomination that is also now physically tethered to him and they dont like each other enough to just live like that so they go on an adventure to try and unstick themselves from each other. its a lovecraftian mythos story, so thats the type of horror you're getting. it's not a comedy and its not a romance but it both is a comedy and is a romance you know what i mean? 10/10 can you believe its just one guy doing all of these voices

red valley - red valley is about a guy named warden who works in a weird government agency tasked with trying to find a seed vault that very quickly becomes not a regular seed vault. the characters in this one are all so well written and the gut punches kill me. this is a bit more near future(ish) scifi than regular horror, but while you're listening to it turn into a road trip you're going to be like "alive this isn't scary" and right around that time is when they're going to introduce truly what is one of the most fucked up concepts i've ever heard. 10/10 the british people made me cry again

out of place - okay so stop me if you've heard this one before. there's a british guy working in an archive where he gets weird kind of scary things and his archive institution is shady and there are tapes and its not mag again i swear. out of place starts much the same but instead of getting scary bullshit, andrew starts receiving historical artifacts from different alternate history realities. its fantastic world building, good story telling, and just like. existential dread nightmare after existential dread nightmare. 10/10 i can't listen to this in the grocery story because i will just stare of into space and sigh for twenty minutes at a time.

they're all ongoing and at around 20ish episodes right now and i love them. i only do these rec posts when i can find at least three shows so sorry for how long this ask took to get to <3

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Just finished the last season of Disenchantment and it's sad that because it's not strictly a comedy series, it doesn't get as much attention as the Simpsons or Futurama does. It's funny in it's own way and the characters and story is entertaining. I like how the characters change over the course of the show without being reset at the end of the season like a lot of shows, Bean especially goes from hating her dad and step-mom to accepting them and they her (Plus Bean's romance with a mermaid was cute too). Luci is always funny (being voiced by Eric Andre will do that) and he goes from just doing his demonic duty of torturing Bean to caring about her that he gave up everything so she can be happy. Elfo had a Boyle's (B99) arc which was very much thankful for and so this is one of the few shows where the main boy/girl characters don't get together and yet they're still good friends who'd do anything for each other.

I very much recommend it if ur looking for a silly fantasy adventure about a buck-toothed princess, her personal demon and an elf who despite everything is a good friend.

[arataka-reigen]

Winter Anime Review by Yours Truly 🍄🌻

This season I said I would not watch anything besides dunmeshi. As we can all see... that was a fucking lie.

In total I've started 10 anime (can everyone praise me and be proud of me for being a bit more tame than I was in the fall season? At least it wasn't 20 anime this time).

My reviews are something I make just for fun, and they 100% reflect my own personal tastes. I might give a highscore to shows other people would call absolute trash, and that's okay! To each their own~~ That being said, I do try to make it very informative to aid you in choosing what you might want to check out by adding a summary and a few content warnings along with the actual review.

A little preview: this season has some great romance anime with couples that actually do make progress in their relationship, which is kind of rare for anime couples, always on their "will they wont they" thing, so if anything, i would recommend picking up one of the romances this time around. (And dunmeshi. Watch dunmeshi.)

***This review will include exclusively animes that debuted this winter, so no 2nd seasons or continuing shows from the fall season.

So, without further ado, let's get into it under the read more.

Dungeon Meshi

Summary: Seinen, Fantasy, Gourmet, Comedy

A party of adventurers gets stuck fighting a Dragon even though they are starving and in no shape to survive. In a last ditch effort to make it out alive, mage Falin sacrifices herself to save her brother Laios and their party. She sends them back to the surface but gets eaten by the Dragon. Now Laios and co are in a race against time to save Falin before she gets digested. The problem? They don't have any money for food. The solution? DUNGEON MESHI!!! AH, DUNGEON MESHI!! DUNGEON FOOD!! JUST EAT THE GODDAMN MONSTERS 😋

Rating: 10/10

Review: if you've been following me for 2 seconds or less you already know dunmeshi is one of my all time favorite mangas. And the anime absolutely delivers. The animation is great, the voice acting is great both subbed or dubbed (the english dub AND the portuguese dub are worth it). The comedic bits hit so hard, and we're just at the start but you can already see bits and pieces of a larger and more dramatic story unfolding.

World building is insane. Character design is insane (everyone say thank you Ryoko Kui our goddess).

Not only is the story incredibly well written with no plot holes, the characters are also well fleshed out and three dimensional.

I could sing praises for it for hours, but then it would leave no space for the other shows on this list so I'll stop now.

But if you only have time to watch one anime this season, this one is it.

Content Warning: blood, death, necromancy crimes 🧟‍♀️

7th Timeloop: the Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy

Summary: Reincarnation, Fantasy, Romance

Rishe is not new to the reincarnation business. This is her 7th time around. After being accused of crimes she didn't commit and having her engagement to the crown prince broken off in her 1st life she went on to discover that life is full of possibilities and adventures. But, after 5 years, she died. Only to find herself back at the moment the crown prince broke off their engagement. With each life she explores new countries and new possibilities, but in every life, after 5 years, she is caught up in the war waged by emperor Arnold Hein, and is killed. In her 6th life she dies directly by Arnold's blade and in a turn of fate she runs into him in her 7th life, catching his attention, and maybe his heart? Can she prevent her death this time around and finally live a peaceful life?

Rating: 10/10

Review: ah, we all knew the otome reincarnation was coming. This shit is my life source. That being said, even if it wasn't, I would still probably really love 7th Time Loop. It's just that good.

Rishe is a great main character, in all her past lives she was on The Grind. From being a merchant, to a doctor, to a maid, to a royal guard. And now she tells herself she just wants to chill, but this girl simply cannot chill. She is playing mind games with Arnold, trying to figure out what he is planning and how to stop the war from breaking out.

Meanwhile, Arnold is head over heels in love and probably so so full of trauma we still don't know yet. We must protect this dude. I'm very excited to find out more and more about him and what exactly led him to start a war against the world.

The animation is gorgeous, I love the way the eyes are drawn like constellations.

The romance is great and developing at a very nice pace, Arnold is very respectful of Rishe's boundaries for their marriage and overall just a really great guy.

CW: blood, death, kidnapping.

Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

Summary: Boys Love, Adult Cast, Workplace, Supernatural, Comedy

Office worker Kiyoshi Adachi has gone 30 years of life without ever having his cherry popped. Due to this profound accomplishment, he gains the ability to read minds through physical contact. However, this new skill has only made his life harder and he now hates crowded spaces.

On the way to work, Adachi runs into his colleague Kurosawa, curious about what an outgoing guy like him thinks about, Adachi touches him and finds out that Kurosawa has a crush on someone from their office, looking further he realizes Kurosawa is actually crushing on him.

Rating: 10/10

Review: first of all, if you say "romance + adult cast" you already have my full attention. Add mind reading to the mix to make sure that the main character doesn't have miscommunication problems and i'm at the fucking table eating it up.

This show is incredibly funny, Kurosawa's thoughts about Adachi are always so sweet and/or horny and obsessed, but he is still just a super great guy with great morals and he would never do anything Adachi doesn't want (much to Adachi's surprise because he thought the dude was going to jump him anytime with how badly in love his thoughts are).

Adachi is straight until proven otherwise, and Kurosawa proves otherwise really fast. The pace of their romance is really great, we dont get ten thousand episodes of "will they wont they" and I really appreciate that.

CW: none that i can think of atm. Let me know if you have anything i could add here.

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I'm Not the Demon Lord

Summary: Otome Isekai, Fantasy, School

Yumiella Dolkness is a girl with dark hair and dark magic (characteristics associated with the Demon Lord) and for that she is feared.

When Yumiella was 5 years old she regained memories of her past life in modern Japan, and the game she used to play: Light Magic and the Hero. In it, Yumiella was the secret boss you had to defeat after the Demon Lord. Determined to avoid this fate she applies gamer logic to her life and begins adventuring in dungeons to max her power levels.

Now, 15 year old Yumiella is going to school, where she will meet the true hero of the game. She wants to avoid calling attention and just go through her school years without trouble. But when their power levels are measured in the first day of school, she is measured as a level 99 dark magic user and now even the king and queen have their eyes on her.

Rating: 10/10

Review: you gotta trust me on this one and get through the first ten minutes, I promise it gets so much better after Yumiella is really introduced. They just had to spend a few minutes doing a gag introduction, where you follow the game's hero before you find our beloved villainess. And it was very cool how the opening resemble a dating sim game opening.

Yumiella is great, one of my favorite female leads this season, and that is including frieren and maomao from the fall season animes that are still airing. She is not very aware of all the social cues and has trouble communicating and making friends, but we get to see her inner thoughts and they're always hilarious.

My favorite gag is that dark magic can be used for healing, but the healing process looks fucking grotesque so people would rather not be healed by Yumiella. For some reason that always gets me.

I really fucking hate the 4 hero characters, they're super annoying, but in a "i love to hate them" way, and I love seeing yumiella wipe the floor with their asses without even trying because she is just that overpowered. Most of the anime is just her trying to use just a tiny bit of her power because if she uses her full power people would just straight up die with a simple punch.

CW: blood

Yubisaki to Renren

Summary: ✨️Shoujo✨️, Adult Cast, Romance

(Summary stolen from myanimelist, sorry) Yuki Itose is a hearing-impaired university student whose world has been shrouded with silence since birth. She has lived in the same place her whole life, and rarely interacts with others save for her best friend, Rin Fujishiro. During her commute one day, she meets the silver-haired and multilingual Itsuomi Nagi, a mutual friend of Rin. Unlike most, Itsuomi is unwavering when he learns of Yuki's impairment; this, along with his experiences abroad, fascinates and touches her. After they part, her fondness of him starts to grow. A new world begins to open for both Yuki and Itsuomi as they learn about each other's different lives.

Rating: 10/10

Review: and here we have The Shoujo Of The Season. And it occupies that spot marvelously.

Yuki and Itsuomi are another one of the incredible couples of the winter season. Relationship developing at a very nice pace that isn't too fast and not too slow (like shoujo can be sometimes). Yuki is very inspired by Itsuomi, she wants to see the world and experience new things now that she got a glimpse into his life and realized how big the world is.

I specially love how cool, calm and collected Itsuomi always acts, but how his cousin, Kyouya, lets us know that Itsuomi is really interested in Yuki and just shows it in different ways, like the way his voice gets very affectionate towards her.

The animation!!!!! Wow!!!! So soft!!! So warm!!!! I love it!!!! I'm sure you'll love it too!!!

Sound design is also very good, it's specially interesting during scenes where we cant hear anything because we are on Yuki's point of view. I wish it happened even more often.

I've seen people compare this show with Koe no Katachi but they're very different shows, specially since we get to see most of this one through Yuki's point of view, while Koe no Katachi was not from the POV of the hearing-impaired character and dealt a lot more with issues like bullying and suicide. Yubisaki to Renren is a lot more light-hearted, soft, sweet and overall just a feel good anime.

I am always going to recommend shoujo. Specially when they're as good as this one is. So definitely check this one out.

CW: none that I can think of. Let me know if there is anything I should put here.

The Foolish Angel Dances with the Devil

Summary: Seinen, Romance, Comedy, Supernatural

The angels and the devils are waging a war. Things are not looking so good on the devils' side, so they send Akutsu Masatora on a journey to the human world, to find someone that can aid the demons on their fight.

Akutsu is assigned a seat next to Lily Amane, the cutest girl in class. But when he tries to recruit her to the devil's side he realizes she is not a normal human. Now he must deal with the fact that he is tied to his mortal enemy, an angel, and with the fact that he might be falling in love.

Rating: 10/10

Review: More like,, the foolish devil gets played by the angel.

Akutsu and Lily get into stupid mind games trying to make the other fall in love, all while realizing that "hey, angels/devils arent so bad after all" as they spend more and more time together.

It reminds me just a bit of Kaguya-sama how the main couple wants the other to cave first.

This show is simply hilarious, I was laughing out loud at so many stupid scenes. Some gags do get old a bit fast, but overall it's still going strong and makes up for where it falls short with how badly in love these two already are just a few episodes in.

I'm not sure we'll get a proper confession this season, but it doesnt look like these two will be stuck forever in the "will they wont they" stage like the couple from kaguya-sama.

CW: there is a scene by the end of episode one that is completely played as a joke that has one of the lead characters putting a collar on the other lead and the imagery was a bit disturbing, definitely leaning on non con bdsm themes, it isnt terrible, just felt a bit distasteful to me, but nothing big, i dont think it should deter you from watching this, but watch out for that.

Solo Leveling

Summary: Action, Fantasy

(Synopsis stolen from myanimelist again) Ten years ago, "the Gate" appeared and connected the real world with the realm of magic and monsters. To combat these vile beasts, ordinary people received superhuman powers and became known as "Hunters." Twenty-year-old Sung Jin-Woo is one such Hunter, but he is known as the "World's Weakest," owing to his pathetic power compared to even a measly E-Rank. Still, he hunts monsters tirelessly in low-rank Gates to pay for his mother's medical bills.

However, this miserable lifestyle changes when Jin-Woo—believing himself to be the only one left to die in a mission gone terribly wrong—awakens in a hospital three days later to find a mysterious screen floating in front of him. This "Quest Log" demands that Jin-Woo completes an unrealistic and intense training program, or face an appropriate penalty. Initially reluctant to comply because of the quest's rigor, Jin-Woo soon finds that it may just transform him into one of the world's most fearsome Hunters.

Rating: 8/10

Review: everyday that passes I find myself liking battle shounen less and less. This one is not bad, it is actually quite interesting, it's just not the type of stuff i'm into anymore, I guess.

That being said, if you're in the mood for it, this one if very interesting. Jin woo's life is now completely ruled by this game that allows him to level up, and he is getting a bit fucked in the head by it.

Animation is great, I love when his eyes get all shiny because you know he's gone Beast Mode.

Not a lot of characters introduced so far, but it's still cool to see Jin Woo leveling up on his own. I mean... a show named solo leveling has got to make sure that the solo aspect isnt boring lol.

For some reason tho I still gave it an 8, which is high, so... it's pretty good.

Jin woo is just a bit... generic i guess. Nothing you havent seen before from an isekai male lead.

Also... i miss his haircut from the earlier episodes, his current haircut makes him look even more generic.

CW: blood and gore, body horror, torture, death games. Big and scary god statue that smiles in a fucked up way and kills kills kills.

Drop Box

Animes I either already dropped for a specific reason or will probably drop in the future simply because I wont have time to watch everything I started this season, so among the 10 I started, these are the ones i'm least likely to finish:

Majo do Yajuu

Summary: Seinen, Action, Fantasy

Guideau and Ashaf are an ominous pair, working for a mysterious organization that deals with magic crimes. Guideau is a feral and unhinged girl/genderless beast with a curse she wants to break and Ashaf is her soft spoken and calm companion. They go from town to town looking for witches to defeat and trying to find the witch who cursed Guideau and get their revenge.

Rating: 7/10

Review: I do like this one, I just think that if it comes to it and I dont have time, I wont miss it too much if I never finish it.

The blood and gore are heavy, and that might be the reason why i'm fine dropping it, i'm not that big of a fan of gore.

Other than that tho, I find the two main characters extremely interesting and i want to learn more about them, specially Guideau and her curse and that crazy beast mode she goes on when she manages to put a pause on her curse sometimes.

CW: blood and gore, body horror

Gekai Elise

Summary: Reincarnation/Otome Isekai, Fantasy, Medical, Romance

(Again, stolen from myanimelist) In her first life, the renowned and genius surgeon Dr. Aoi Takamoto was Elise de Clorance, a villainess of noble descent. Elise's selfishness, insolence, and obsessive love for her fiancé—Prince Linden de Romanoff—led to the deaths of her family members and, eventually, herself. Only after being reborn did Elise realize the error of her ways and decide that, instead of ruining lives, she would devote herself to saving them. But a tragic airplane crash robs her of her dreams too soon.

By a miracle, Elise wakes up in her original body before her official engagement to Linden. Recognizing the chance to cherish her loving family and free Linden from an unwanted marriage, Elise wishes to use her advanced medical knowledge to continue down the path of saving lives. In a deal with the emperor, Elise is given only six months to prove that her true place is not on the throne, but rather with the wounded and ailing who desperately need her help.

Rating: 6/10

Review: I'd like to say I dropped this show for personal reasons, not because it is a bad show.

It is definitely not the best otome isekai of the season (7th time loop and Villainess 99 win by a mile), but it is quite good and has an interesting premise. The main couple didn't seem too promising or interesting to me tbh.

The thing that interested me the most was the fact that Elise's original life was as a noblewoman, her second life was as a doctor and then he got a chance to relive her first life and change the mistakes she made.

Unfortunately, I am a med student, and I simply can't watch medical related stuff without nitpicking it to hell and back. Mostly, I try to distance myself from medicine related shows because my life already revolves around it too much, u know. I just need a break from All That when I'm watching my silly little shows, so... i had to drop this one.

Also, the main character was kind of annoying, but that might just be me.

Anyway, check this out if you think it sounds interesting. I might not be the best judge of this one.

CW: plane crash, death, medical procedures, surgery

Gushing Over Magical Girls

Oh boy...

I'm putting the CW before anything else because this one is problematic and I don't want anyone acting like I didn't warn them beforehand.

CW: this is straight up softcore porn and the characters are all middle/highschool aged. The anime revolves around BDSM themes (so many and increasingly worse themes, from simple bondage to pain play, to age play and other stuff), and there is nothing more than that to it, all the character growth is about the characters becoming more and more uninhibited with their sexual preferences. Also extremely dubious consent for all of it.

This is just a hentai disguising as an ecchi. It's fully yuri tho. Small blessings lol.

Summary: Mahou Shoujo, Girls Love, Ecchi, Comedy

I'm tired already so this will be short. Utena is a girl obsessed with magical girls. One day she gets the chance to become a magical girl herself, however, she is fooled and actually becomes a villain. She is made to fight Tres Magia (magical girl group) and ends up realizing she quite enjoys inflicting pain against them.

Review: the animation is good, very clean, the boob physics is not all that bad (what. this is an honest review and the anime is an ecchi. i gotta talk abt the boob physics.)

It is indeed super funny and definitely unhinged.

Plot wise, it is pretty straightforward, girl likes magical girls -> girl finds out she likes to watch magical girls suffering and in pain and moaning (well, not only watch, she does a lot of touching too)

Do I recommend it? No. Am I having fun watching it? Yes, it is pretty funny if you're the type of person who can ignore A Lot of things.

I'll probably favor the other animes tho so this one is very likely to get dropped before the season is through.

Thank you for reading (if you managed to make it this far lol, although this list is definitely smaller than my fall anime list)

If there is any other anime you think I should check out this season leave it in the replies and I might take a look at it and update this review with it!

[ladyluscinia]

I have been turning over the question of how I would "fix" S2 - more conceptually than with intention at the moment - and more and more my conclusion is just scrap it entirely and go a different direction.

Like as much as I enjoyed 2x01 - 2x03 (maybe even 2x04 and 2x05, too) from an audience perspective (specifically as someone who enjoys darker content, toxic relationships, black humor, and the potential of generally fucked up plot beats) it kinda hinged a lot on my expectation that they were doing it with intent to deliver a satisfying story resolution in the end. I couldn't guess exactly how on the spot, but that's not really my problem as an audience member - I can just enjoy guessing along the journey until we get there.

Whereas looking back as a writer, struggling with the lack of resolution (successfully executed or even just projected), those episodes are just too many problems built into the foundation. I very rarely say this but I will agree with the antis that watching Edward go on a multi-phase apology tour to try and make amends to each character would be tonally a disaster to deal with and not particularly satisfying on a character level, either. I mean, I like Edward? I don't want his primary plotline being him getting kicked repeatedly and wallowing in guilt? But I also don't see a clean way to wrap up all that with perfunctory apologies and then behaving better in the future AND to sell any kind of found family, "these people will be celebrating at your wedding"-energy between Edward and the breakup boat crew. Not while treating any of them as mentally ok, at least.

Handwaving Frenchie's box is not actually funny at all if it's explicitly full of unaddressed traumatizing memories of a guy he works for / hangs out with on a daily basis?

I think I was right in my pre-S2 thinking that Kraken era needs to be predominantly violence directed toward people outside the crew, and while the remaining crew can be unhappy they probably shouldn't feel abused. I'm still not sure if Izzy's leg could be made to work with some context changes, but the offscreen additional toes lines definitely need to be struck out. Like, fucked up Kraken era could be interesting in more trauma focused fics that explored it as whump or darker adventure stories, but I don't think canon benefits from the harsh genre shift. Especially not if we want to keep forward movement for BlackBonnet as the main arc of the show.

There's just too much setup baggage on the route they chose, and I can't figure out a satisfying answer for what to do with it that doesn't require temporarily dropping the romance, the comedy, or both from this romcom 🤷‍♀️

Better to remove the problem at its source and just reimagine Kraken era entirely.