#but it wasn't a retelling it was like a 'this is an interesting concept and if the story went further...' | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

autumnmobile12 · 1 month

Text

The Epic Saga: Just A Man

Trigger warning for infanticide.

I want to talk about what an interesting choice it was in Epic's first installment for Odysseus to be the one to kill the infant.

In all versions of the story, the fate of Astyanax, son of Prince Hector, is always the same. He is thrown from the walls of Troy while the city is sacked. What varies from telling to telling is who does the deed, and it's usually between two people: Odysseus and Neoptolemus.

Most modern retellings make Neoptolemus the villain in this story, or they'll leave out this part entirely, because in the eyes of today's society, the senseless murder of a helpless infant is something only a villain would do.

Who's Odysseus? He's the man who won the Trojan War by engineering the idea behind the Trojan Horse, he's the guy who took ten years to sail home, he's the main character of The Odyssey. Odysseus is a hero. And heroes don't kill infants.

Who's Neoptolemus? He's forgettable. He didn't go on any heroic quests like Herakles or Perseus. He didn't slay any noteworthy monsters. Neoptolemus' biggest claim to fame are three things: He's the son of Achilles, he clubs King Priam to death in the sacking of Troy, and in some versions, he kills Astyanax. (He also enslaved Astyanax's mother.)

From the lens of the Ancient Greeks, a hero wasn't an upstanding guy who did the right thing. A hero was the guy who fought for what he wanted and did horrible things to his enemy in the process.

In the context of modern society, it's no wonder why the dubious credit of Astyanax's death goes to Neoptolemus. When that's the only real claim to fame he has, of course he's going to be a villain. We can't be having heroes killing babies because that's insane.

So let me tell you that when I first listened to The Horse and The Infant and I realized it was Odysseus who was committing the deed, that took me so off guard and I had to pause the song just to tell my poor sister how fucking crazy that is. I rarely saw this version. I mean, I understand the reasoning; it's setting up Odysseus' guilty conscious that'll plague him for the remainder of the musical. It's the flawed hero trope, which is a far cry from the brutality of the original myths.

And that in itself is testament of how mythologies have evolved over the centuries. It's why we have different variations of the myth in the first place. Societal views and values change and the stories told adapt accordingly.

Did Hades kidnap Persephone or did she go willingly to escape Demeter, her overbearing mother? Both versions are correct. All versions are correct. We cannot look for something as narrow-minded as a 'canon' version of mythology because mythology is a jumble of headcanons about the same basic concept thrown together by countless storytellers over literal centuries of storytelling.

In The Horse and The Infant, Zeus directly warns Odysseus that if Astyanax lives, he will take vengeance on him and his homeland. And after what the Greeks did to Troy, slaying the men, enslaving the women, and leaving the city in ruins, Odysseus is one of many Greek kings who have a lot to answer for.

Is Odysseus heroic for protecting his family by killing Astyanax because now the infant prince won't grow up to take vengeance?

Is Odysseus a flawed hero who carries the shame of his sins with him?

Is the deed committed by Neoptolemus and Odysseus goes home with his honor unsullied?

It all depends on interpretation. You can choose one that reflects a harsh history or you can pick the one that's been adapted to suit modern values. You don't even have to pick. You can appreciate them all for what they are.

And Epic: The Musical came out swinging.

#epic the musical #odysseus #the odyssey #the iliad #the horse and the infant #neoptolemus #astyanax #the sack of troy #greek mythology #myth retelling #mythology evolution

76 notes · View notes

finnylemon · 1 month

Text

John Dory introduces his ghostwriter to the family (goes wrong 🤣)

Branch: "FULL Offense John, Do you actually think ANYONE will want to read a book about you?"

Bruce: "Yea, Honestly John,"

Poppy: "That's a great idea!"

Clay: "This is not what I meant when I said Book Club"

John Dory: "Okay, FIRST of all, my life is very interesting. Second, I wasn't asking your opinions."

John Dory: "I was JUST trying to introduce my ghostwriter! Now you guys made me look like a total ass. Thanks."

Finny: Holy Shit what did I sign up for

The group is APPAULED to learn John even has the audacity to think any troll would desire to read about his life. John Dory- keeping most of his old life a secret from the family, knows they only see him as their boring eldest brother. Determined to get his name out to the public again, he hires a ghostwriter to write down the retelling of his stories and combine them into a cohesive Memoir. Having only read one poor excuse for a memoir himself, John Dory is convinced this will be a simple task.

Little did he consider, tapping into his past starts to bring up problems and buried feelings that begin to conflict with those around him.

Just a little summary for my John Dory's Memoir AU! I'm actually getting a TON of ideas for this concept 🔥 expect more hehe + bonus Finny sketch ;3

#johndorysmemior #dreamworks trolls #trolls au #trolls with tails #trolls band together #trolls branch #trolls john dory #trolls floyd #trolls poppy #trollsona #trolls bruce #trolls brozone #trolls clay

56 notes · View notes

neonscandal · 4 months

Note

What are your satosugu fav moments? And what are your fav personal headcanons about them?

Those sweet, egotistical, baby angels. 🤍🖤

For an insane retelling of their whole deal, I kinda talk incessantly about it. I also kinda did a little head canon exercise with a template before? but wasn't sure what you might be in the market for. In any case, roll the tape!

HEAD CANONS

Gojo has been spouting nonsense all his life but Geto was the first person to try to understand it, even when he couldn't. I'm not going to fault Geto for not being able to catch up on all that Digimon lore. But for the most part, he'd make it a point to ask clarifying questions or brush up on topics Gojo mentions in passing just to keep up with conversation.

In fact, they hated each other when they first met but bonded over one off the cuff comment Gojo made about a band, book or something and, suddenly, they found common ground. After that, they bonded over making Yaga and, later, Nanami's lives interesting ✨

Gojo is the prankster, Geto is the watchman/getaway driver. No one suspects Geto's role in Gojo's tomfoolery. Stealing Maki and Nobara's uniforms with Inumaki and Panda was a rewash of a stunt he pulled when he was in high school (with Geto's help). He fashions a lot of the pranks he pulls as a teacher off the hijinks he and Geto used to get away with. He wears a mirthful smile for his students but the modern times don't hold a candle to the good old days.

They were only children and both of their parents sucked. Actually, maybe Geto had a sibling who was either significantly older or younger (hence how he learned to be so considerate) who passed. Subsequently, Geto's parents were emotionally distant/neglectful starting when they got creeped out by the inexplicable things he could see that they couldn't. It's why he jumped at the chance when he was scouted for Jujutsu High, why he was triggered when he saw the twins, and why he always sought family elsewhere. Gojo's parents seemed to dote on him but didn't bother to get to know or nurture him, just placate him.

They make it a point to tease and call Ieri the little sister they've always wanted... though she is the oldest in the trio. Even so, they spoil her (to the best of Gojo's ability obviously). Example: if her feet hurt on a mission, Geto is giving her a piggyback ride but Gojo's goofy ass is trading shoes. Never mind the comical disparity in shoe sizes. They'd just be clopping around together much to Shoko's faux chagrin.

The three of them would absolutely bed rot together. It may have started with Gojo slinking into Geto's room for attention but they wouldn't leave Ieri out, even if it was a twin size bed. Just listless days between missions and classes where they would languidly ignore the weight of their responsibilities. Some days all contorting to fit on the bed, other days strewn about the room. It was always in Geto's room, Ieri almost always brought face masks (at Gojo's insistence).

Gojo, quite literally, did not understand the concept of personal space when it came to Geto (or Ieri, really). But, most specifically, with the way he'd casually and absently be all over Geto. Arms over his shoulders, tilting his head inward when addressing him, leaning on him during respites in the day, elbowing him in the side to punctuate a joke.. he just never became conscious of it. That is, until he was no longer around. Geto was always like second skin until he wasn't. In addition to the absence of his company, Gojo felt that physical absence so painfully that he used Limitless more and more to distance himself from the idea that anyone had ever been so close.

When Haibara and Nanami come along, Geto takes his role as a senpai really seriously because the stakes are high at the school. Gojo? Does not ✨ but he does force Nanami to use proper honorifics because he knows it drives him up a wall. He makes it a point to tell Haibara to call him whatever, right in front of Nanami. For the record, Haibara does not obey him but still.

Gojo has a name for all of Geto's favorite or most commonly used curses. The same way girls will refer to their crushes with silly little code names, almost. Like Geto knows that the Rainbow Dragon curse is "Rainbow Dash" or "My Little Pony" whereas other curses might have silly names like "Garfunkle" or "Steve" for no other reason than Gojo felt like it, but he's consistent. So once a name is bestowed, Geto refers to them accordingly. He, of course, never approaches them with fear and he's just as endeared to them as he is to Geto.

Before Gojo got the hang of how to optimize his cursed energy, overuse would leave him... not weak but just not agreeable. Clearly cranky and suffering the drawback, Suguru clocked the difference and that's actually when he started to pamper Gojo. It's also the only reason Gojo ever articulated the downsides of his CT to anyone. I don't know if Geto ever told Gojo the extent of his discomfort with his technique. He either felt like he was being burdensome/ungrateful in sharing or he was embarrassed about what it would say about him (re: regularly ingesting things that tasted like vomit). It's one of the only things he remained furtive about when it came to Gojo though he always wondered if Gojo already just knew.

Supported by canon, but, Suguru absolutely carried candy for Satoru (and a lighter for Shoko) because he's just that considerate. Mans was swallowing vomit rags and still concerned about appeasing Satoru's sweet tooth.

Without realizing it, this gesture inspired a Pavlovian effect and made Gojo super clingy. He associates sweetness with Geto and, in his absence, always overdoes it. Especially after he left the school for good. Nothing fills the void.

We know Gojo became a teacher because of Geto but... Geto would have been an excellent teacher.

You see it in the way they raise kids, Gojo makes sure Megumi and Tsumiki don't simply die. They have lavish accommodations but he has no idea how to parent. I love the Papa-Gojo agenda but know he was out of his depth. He was more like a "cool" but irresponsible (read: unstructured) older cousin if anything, not a father figure per se until maybe his late 20's which was a little too late. I think Geto specifically raised Nanako and Himiko like "normal" kids (ironically, humans) instead of the in the misogynistic, classist way of traditional jujutsu society because they deserved a lifetime of young revelry after everything they suffered. It cost them their lives so maybe everything Geto touched was meant to crumble.

As a fandom, I think people like to think they met up in those ten years of separation and I do too? But, realistically, I think Gojo just kept a forlorn bead on Geto and his whereabouts, too uncertain to go to him. 10 years of absence didn't change how he felt about him though.

FAVE MOMENTS

I'm sorry but every single time Geto's Japanese voice actor purrs "Satoru"? Does that count? Allow me to do a cartwheel on a bed of nails because OH MY GOSH they nailed that. You feel the teasing, the intimacy.

Gojo acting a fool on the beach with Riko in Okinawa and Geto looking on affectionately. Geto really allowed space for Gojo to be a kid and gave him some of his youth back.

Every time Geto's facade of calm relaxed or broke entirely because something was going on with Gojo. Like checking in in Okinawa, when Toji initially got the drop on him, when Toji announced he'd killed Satoru Gojo. Every time you see what writhes beneath the surface.

Geto, in a sea of despair and perhaps a sprinkle of bitterness, still thinks to ask Haibara to bring back something sweet to share with Gojo. Attentive to a fault and crazy how Gojo still manages to occupy his thoughts in that way, even then.

Every tantrum Gojo threw for Geto. Gojo was literally stabbed and didn't break character. Gutted and killed but showed nothing until he comes back an overconfident mess. But just hearing about Geto's crimes, confronting him on the streets of Shinjuku and he's shaking with rage and disbelief. Not so confident then.

Realizing that Gojo saw the day he confronted Geto as a dark and mournful day when, in actuality, it was a perfectly normal, sunshine-y day.

The moment after Geto's dramatic ass is like "I could never smile from the bottom of my heart in this world!" and Gojo says something to immediately recant that by making him smile so genuinely. Just going to do The Worm across a busy highway.

Geto defying all reason to strangle Kenjaku despite hundreds of years without a fight from a host. Just as Gojo never forgot Geto's scent, Geto's body never forgot it's inclination to protect Gojo. Even if only for a moment.

⚠️ Spoiler warning through JJK chapter 236.

Geto's face being the last face Gojo saw before he was sealed and the first face he saw upon being freed. Then agreeing to fight Sukuna on the anniversary of Geto's death because he was sentimental right until the very end.

At the close of Gojo's life, imagining an afterlife where he sees Geto and all of the people he cares about during the point when he was the happiest. After all that time, more than a decade later and he still reflects so happily back on that era despite how grisly part of it was. Not only that but, in a perfect outcome, he imagines full blown cult leader Geto congratulating him because he would take Geto in any form over not having him around at all.

106 notes · View notes

lloydfrontera · 5 months

Note

You know, regarding Lloyd's achievement in history and whether ordinary citizens know him or not made me crave post canon modern au.

Imagine seeing an in universe fanfic authors notes in ao3 or twitter crying about how they simply wanted to write a story set in Lloys time but they just keep diving into rabbit holes.

Kinda like

"So i was writing an historical au set in Alician era where the MC had a detour in Cremo and he was admiring a statue by the sea with a local explaining its history. Of course, I needed to do some research only to found out that Lloyd Frontera, YES, THAT Lloyd Frontera who made the Pantara railroad defeated some sea monster, nearly died and got statue for it"

Maybe someone from Beneto Kingdom being so confused because all he learned from history in school (Beneto history) is that Lloyd is just some brilliant engineer so he got specially confused on why in the movie he was watching set in Alician era is Lloyd fighting a goddamn bone dragon.

I'm interested on how scholars and political figures bemoan and analyse Lloyd's action and achievement but ordinary people's Internet discourse could be so much fun as well.

Javier and Lloyd getting the Alexander and Haphaestion treatment on whether they were lovers or not. The discourse would be so toxic lol.

oh my god forget changing the history of civil engineering forever, sparking the nastiest discourse ever on history/fandom internet forums is lloyd's true greatest achievement akshfksdg

he's the go to historical domain character used to set the time period for a historical movie/book/series. he's the guy writers insert to give their work a more period accurate vibe. everyone knows just enough about him to make really passionate history nerds very angry about all the inaccuracies and made up facts that are taken as common knowledge.

i'm thinking people of completely different online circles all knowing about lloyd in some capacity but regarding completely separate facets of his life and work and being so surprised when they accidentally find yet another whole field lloyd revolutionized. like.

a sword nerd who's really into the concept of the asrahan core technique and knows perfectly well that lloyd helped invent it getting gobsmacked about the fact that's the same guy that laid the ground for modern sewer systems.

a fan of historical romance stories who is used to seeing lloyd as a fun cameo in the background of stories set in the alician period being really confused when they open their book on thermodynamics and see there's a whole chapter dedicated to a method lloyd figured out to create ice without the need of magic.

a train enthusiast who is really fascinated by the rudimentary switchback system lloyd frontera implemented when the concept of a train wasn't even known in the empire being completely dumbfounded when their friends invite them to see a movie about that one time lloyd frontera and his knight defeated a knight of hell in namaran.

i think it's definitely a meme to post "so i was doing research for my asfahan au and went on a rabbit hole and guess who fucking built the qanat that's widely regarded as the only reason the kingdom didn't fall into civil war. take a wild fucking guess" "was it lloyd frontera" "IT WAS FUCKING LLOYD FRONTERA OF COURSE IT WAS"

i'm also certain there would be some guys who think he's overrated and people should really stop talking so much about him when there's so many other historical figures who are just as interesting and not as recognized 🙄. to which people immediately go "mad cause your history blorbo didn't defeat a bone dragon aren't you" at them

Javier and Lloyd getting the Alexander and Haphaestion treatment on whether they were lovers or not. The discourse would be so toxic lol.

they definitely get the alexander and hephaestion treatment you are so correct. they're also the achilles and patroclus of the modern magentano girlies. there's a bunch of 'queer retellings' of their lives. they're the go to example for homoerotic friendships. there's a bunch of edits that mix historical paintings of them with ship fanart with that 'history hates lovers' song playing over them. dudebros get really angry about it. llojavi truthers pull out their 20 pages long annotations that start with "they fucking slept in the same bedroom for years" and it only gets worse.

there's one poor person online who just really fucking wants to know how and why lloyd frontera changed faces one day out of the blue with no one ever explaining it. there's no official records. no member of the royal family ever made a statement about it. why is everyone acting like the frontera family didn't have one eldest son for 25-29 years and one day suddenly had a completely different one. what the fuck is going on.

so. yeah. i'm a little obsessed with this concept actually ajkshdksa

#hey i got an ask #myfracturedlife #tged #the greatest estate developer #lloyd frontera #llojavi #<- i guess??

130 notes · View notes

cosmic-light-fics · 8 months

Text

The Death of Mikey Berzatto = The Death of Stagnation/Repetition

It hurts so much to realize that Mikey's character represents a stall in any forward movement for all characters and the story in general. With him still living, no one moves. With him still living, Carmy never comes back home to run the family restaurant, Sydney Adamu never comes to work for The Beef, The Beef never becomes The Bear. There is a comfort to Mikey's character that is often spoken about when the characters who knew him the best talk about him after his death. They talk about him as something almost reliable, a being whose energy never changed. He'd always been loud. He'd always had this larger than life personality. They could rely on this person to be their source of comfort, and within that deceptive comfort, they were unconsciously never allowed to seek change.

Richie's conversation with Uncle Jimmy in Fishes is a prime example of Mikey's stagnant presence. Throughout the whole whispered conversation, we hear Mikey in the background retelling the Ceres story and Richie keeps checking over his shoulder to make sure he isn't overheard by anyone. He's begging Jimmy for a job because he knows sticking around The Beef, which means sticking around Mikey, won't allow him to grow. It's interesting to see that in the same episode, whenever Richie is around Mikey he acts just like him. But when he's alone with Tiffany and alone with Jimmy, he acts like a completely different, more mature person. Richie continuing to act the way he behaved with Mikey in season 1 came from a place of denial. He didn't want to fully accept that Mikey was really gone, so he continued to act as if he wasn't, which resulted in Richie rejecting any and all changes to The Beef, especially Sydney, whose character is the embodiment of change. It isn't until the end of the season, when Richie gives Carmy Mikey's letter, that Richie finally leaves the denial stage of grieving. He's finally able to grow and move on.

One of the major points of tension in Fishes is Mikey's fight with Lee. Lee voices his displeasure with Mikey telling the same story over and over again, and Mikey reacts aggressively to what he considers to be a massive insult. I believe Mikey lashes out so harshly because he already understands the truth of Lee's assertion. Mikey is stuck telling the same story over and over and over again, stuck with failed business venture after failed business venture, stuck living in his mother's house and running the family business and being Mikey Bear. He is Sisyphus, cursed to push the boulder up the hill for all eternity. I think the worst part of it all is the writers made him aware of his stagnation (I don't mean that in a negative way against the writers, it's gripping storytelling). We see him almost break down when Carmy gifts him the concept drawing of The Bear. He loves that his brother can see towards the future and has a vision, a plan to try to make it come to fruition, but he knows he can't be there with him.

Mikey's death is tragically inevitable in every way possible to this narrative. In a story formulated around growth, the one character who was written to be intrinsically inert could not move along with the rest of the story. What I appreciate the most about his character is the fact that, though he was unmoving, his death became the catalyst for movement. It's all so tragic and yet bittersweet.

#the bear #mikey berzatto #michael berzatto #carmy berzatto #carmen berzatto #richie jerimovich #the bear fx #the bear hulu #sydney adamu #the bear season 2

141 notes · View notes

mdhwrites · 6 months

Text

The Isles is Particularly Awful for Sequel/Next Gen Stories

With Belos gone, the Isles loses literally the only thing that makes it unique from any generic fantasy setting out there: The Coven System. Worse yet is how much the show tries to blame every bad thing on the Isles on Belos and his collaborators, portraying pre-Belos as utopian, so now that he's gone, you have to retcon that part of the show to have ANY real threats.

That's really the main thrust of this. I could expand but the basic point is that there's just nothing to do with the Isles that's better than doing it during Belos' reign. You could explore the Isles but now you're just messing with monsters in their ecosystem who were never a real threat in the show. You could try to depict the reconstruction but there's no tension between people of the Isles, just a need to rebuild. Besides, how do you even portray that when the Isles has zero culture so there's nothing to explore in how they are besides how they feel about Belos falling which is seen as a positive by EVERYONE if the group shot at the end, where even old enemies are now on Luz's side, is any indication.

Really, the only thing about the Isles that is still intact in a way that makes for interesting storytelling AT ALL is Hexside and pretty much just because it's a generic fantasy school that you can do whatever you want with. Which... Yeah, that's pretty much all I've seen. Despite the fact that the fandom immediately went for fankids after the finale, no one seems to have anything to do with them besides throwing out concepts and shipping. Or, you know, recycling old plot lines but with the new cast, committing the cardinal sin of next gen stories of just having an excuse to reset and retell. *glares at Boruto*

But what else are you supposed to do? Unless you want to say Eda and Raine failed in reforming the Isles, you have no conflict there. You either have to bring back old villains, bring in an invading force, both... Or change things so drastically that I question why you're not just doing an original story since you're having to put in that much work anyways.

I guess MAYBE you could do the Isles integrating with humans but like... The show made it clear that that's not a hard process either direction. And why should it be? The Isles is so generic as to barely feel like the other world that it is instead of just our world but with elves.

Even Amphibia, which ends similarly happy, still gives people more to do simply by the fact that it explored its setting. There's still so much out there. The three races still have to figure out how to coexist. Andrias wasn't a toxic power structure, he was THE power structure and the entire world has to recover from an incredible ecological disaster instead of just a glitter bomb.

So yeah, good on those who are having fun with their fan kids but I'll just continue to hope they don't try to continue TOH, not when they left themselves nowhere to go.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

49 notes · View notes

snifferish · 3 months

Text

Sneafie Book Review: "Where the Dark Stands Still" by A.B. Porenek

Alright gamers that's right I'm posting book reviews on my tumblr, BOO! Jumpscare! Anyways I'm a spoiler free kinda guy here we go.

This week I read Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Porenek, this is a Young Adult Fantasy novel that leans slightly into the gothic genre. It's got a lot of Polish Folklore, It's kind of a beauty and the beast retelling? The author and the marketing has compared it to Howl's Moving Castle, which is why I originally took interest in it.

Personally, I gave this a four star rating, but on the Sneaf'o'meter of precision I'd say 73%

Let's get into the good and the everything else.

First off, If you like fun prose and description, this is for you. The Author's range of being able to describe something so beautiful and then transition to something grotesque and everywhere in between is wonderful. This ability comes into play frequently with how she describes the house in the story (which is sentient).

The magic system in this??????? Spectacular, I loved the concept. I've seen things similar to it, but it was so simple yet meaningful (AHH!). Probably my favorite part.

Another really prominent point in the marketing is the amount of Polish Folklore. There's a few specific spirits and demons referenced that are apart of it. I'm no expert on Polish folklore that's for sure, so I can't say whether it was truthful, or what the Author directly took from it. However I can say it was refreshing, new and I learned things :)

Okay sooo... Welcome to a segment called, why not five stars? I hesitate to say something is "bad" about about this book because I think it's really just preference at this point.

The exposition was normally paced but around the exposition into rising action area I felt like It was stalled. Really the book was just giving vibes left and right which is totally cool to some people, but because some information was withheld to certain points I felt like I was missing a lot of the foundation for the conflict and by the time I understood the conflict I was just like ahh, okay.

The romance plot within the story is pretty big, and to me it felt, okay. Just okay. I'll admit I'm a stinky gay that holds heterosexual romances to high standards so maybe that's why I wasn't so into it??? Again! I was so excited, I was thinking yes, it's like Howl's Moving Castle! and I just didn't get that. However, a lot of people who read this and reviewed it did get those vibes, so... not sure. Also, I think pet names just aren't my thing.... It's not usually something I find appealing in romance storylines.

Ultimately, I still really enjoyed this book. This is Porenek's debut novel, and I think it's very promising! Her writing style is excellent and I imagine she can only get better.

Also, this doesn't effect my rating at all, but I am begging fantasy Authors of all kinds to considering adding pronunciation guides. There where times I had access to my computer and I could look it up, but even then I don't know if google is telling me the right way to say it.

if you've read this I'd love to know your thoughts and if youre going to read it, well same, basically, do tell.

#snifferish #booklr #bookblr #book review #book recommendations #sneafie book review

32 notes · View notes

aylinvail · 2 months

Text

Tanna Talk: This Week in the Rogue Trader (Video Game) AO3 fandom (March 24- 30 2024)

"Oh, yes, a dance was never just a dance. It was also a display of the soul. It was love, and war, and didn’t they say that all was fair in love and war ?" - Tapestry of Fate, Ch. 34.

Lots of new plot bunnies this week in the trenches. Anyway, this is user aylinvail reporting to you live over vox caster from the Starseeker Bridge.

Cool new fics

Maybe the fic did something new. Maybe it innovated. Maybe it's an entirely new concept we haven't seen yet. A non-comprehensive list.

Two sides of the same Aquila - An AU where the Warrant of Trade is held by two most incompatible individuals in the Koronus Expanse. A series of pivotal moments of their relationship where they need to learn to share the power, space and an Interrogator in order to make it out alive. BOY THAT IS FRESH @vitanithepure.

Eliminate - A fic about Epitaph and Calcazar telling Heinrix to kill you. Told in 500 brilliant bittersweet words. @pycnolite's masterclass in how to keep it short and sweet.

Omega von Valancius - OMG @pallysuune has finally brought us the first A/B/O RT fic. As an omega, Violet von Valancius wasn't fit to be the Rogue Trader, and everyone around her seemed to know it too. But no one was more vocal about it than her so-called-peer. Can her actions ever earn his respect, or will she forever be lesser in his eyes?

The First Engagement - I know, I know, but listen. Have you seen a Lord Captain Heinrix x Interrogator RT yet? No. Fits here. Anyway, if you wanted to see what Heinrix is like as a jackass who "summers" in Janus, here ya go.

Who updated?

Here are the longfics that updated this week.

Starseeker - Heinrix/RT intrigue rewrite of game events with Kunrad-related canon divergence. And a shoujo romance.

gossamer of starlight - RT/Yrliet. Yrliet watches her elantach's dynasty fall apart in slow motion. Non chronological.

Predator & Prey - RT/Marazhai. Aurelia von Valancius has a secret. Marazhai Aezyrraesh has a craving. They're perfectly matched opposites, so long as as they can overcome their differences.

Theatre of Hearts - RT/Nocturne of Oblivion arranged marriage. And from what I hear, getting really cultural difference-flavor of interesting.

Much ado about the Lord Captain - A Comedy of Terrors - RT/Heinrix. A retelling of Rogue Trader with tons of pining. A forest of pine trees. And smut.

Immortalium - RT/Heinrix. NEW! From @cawyden-gaming. The story follows Venria von Valancius on her journey of coming to terms with her past and present.

Iron Maidens - Multiship. An Iron Widow x Rogue Trader crossover.

Omnissiah Forgive Me - RT/Pasqal. Pasqal Haneumann owes his life to the Lord Captain, Kassard. When he joined the Lord Captain's retinue, Pasqal found he had got more than he had bargained for. For the Lord Captain was enough for Pasqal's faith to be shaken to its core.

My Knight So Daring - An Imperial Knight!Heinrix x noble!RogueTrader arranged marriage AU. And from what I hear, getting really hot.

Into Temptation - RT/Marazhai/Heinrix. Former Ministorum Priest now Rogue Trader Cassius Von Valancius must contend with his heretical desires for Marazhai. Matters become even more complicated as his feelings for Heinrix Van Calox deepen.

Edge of Daybreak Unbroken - RT/Heinrix. Heretic Rogue Trader gets brought back to the start of the game. Time travel shenanigans ensue.

Once we were - RT/Heinrix. A story following the events of the game, in which Imogene von Valancius allied her dynasty with Xavier Calcazar and brought peace and prosperity to the Koronus Expanse. But neither last long, and the line between hero and heretic is always blurred.

Domino Effect - Multi. Betrayal is terrible. It never comes from one's foes. But instead from those closest. It comes from a place of safety. Of love.

Addendums

they go here. for in case there are late night updates. im out of spoons bros.

#rogue trader #rogue trader crpg #warhammer 40k #warhammer 40k rogue trader #warhammer 40000 #fanfic #fic #ao3 #fic rec

37 notes · View notes

kaylinalexanderbooks · 2 months

Text

WIP Questionnaire

Thanks @buffythevampirelover for the tag! This game looks fun!

Rules: answer as few or as many as you'd like!

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

TSP: Lexi was! TSP started out as a school project, and we had to create a character sheet for our first person narrator! That was "Alexia" who is now just "Lexi" (but her full name is still Alexia).

SOTL: The concept! "School for fairy tale characters" was basically it. I got discouraged a bit when I found out this concept already existed, but that didn't mean I couldn't do my own take!

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

My favorite types of intros for TV shows are original theme songs or very catchy instrumental music. 30-60 seconds is a good length. I'd hope that for TSP and SOTL. Hope this isn't a cop-out.

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

TSP: My favorite characters to write for are Lexi, Gwen, Akash, Robbie, and Carmen. Lexi because the arc I gave her is an exaggerated version of something that speaks a lot to me. Gwen because I wasn't expecting her to be as interesting as she ended up being planned to be. Robbie and Akash because of how funny and sweet their dynamic is. Yes, I love them separately, but they're a package set. Carmen because she's just so damn interesting I love studying her under a microscope.

SOTL: I am barely into writing it, but it's Jack at the moment. Shocker, he has three chapters while Tierney and Úrsula have one each! But the reason is that he is average at everything, but he doesn't let that get him down! He's funny and relatable and a dork.

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

TSP: Hm, good question. The only thing coming to mind right now is Young Justice (the cartoon). Starts out with this fun group of kids, becomes extremely dark. Ensemble cast. Sneaking around. Superpowers. Fight scenes. Drama.

SOTL: Insert fairy tale retelling here.

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

TSP: Juggling everything. The world building, I guess. Making all the characters distinct was something I struggled at for a while, but I'm getting much better at it. Trying to figure out how the world works is challenging, but I am having fun. But juggling all the moving parts to make it cohesive is a challenge.

SOTL: What is plot?!! Also battling my ambition to do every fairy tale ever. I'm gonna have to make a lot of background characters that will get their own side stories separate from the main series to get all that I want. I probably will do that.

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

TSP: Yep! Alium has a lot of fantasy creatures, animal hybrids, and fun things I just made up. Custos the dragon is the only truly prominent one right now. He's a blue fire dragon and is adorable. I also have kitsunes. Animal hybrids include unibison, ferretsnakes, cowyotes, beaverducks. Things I made up include the elemental foxes and blue hedgehogs.

SOTL: Hofiwi is an anthropomorphic bear! She was cursed to be anthropomorphic, this is not a normal thing in this world. I love her and she's just planned at the moment. Can't wait to do more.

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

TSP: Hovercrafts, dragons, teleporting, trains, and some other power-based travel

SOTL: I'm still figuring this out no one has gone anywhere yet. Dragons or carriages would be cool. Maybe I can mix them with something modern to fit the setting.

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

TSP: World building! Specifically the power database since that will be the backbone for everything.

SOTL: Reading fairy tales... I need to do that more

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

TSP: Powers, diverse cast, queer/disability rep

SOTL: same as TSP but fairy tales!

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

If I see one (1) fanart between either my life will be complete.

This was fun!

Softly tagging @mk-writes-stuff @jezifster @blind-the-winds @little-peril-stories @sleepywriter00 @mysticstarlightduck @sarahlizziewrites @writernopal @gottestod-writes + anyone who wants to join!

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites - giving a slightly harder nudge than usual cause I really want to see what y'all have to say! Still optional obviously

Blanks below the cut!

1. What was the first part of your wip that you created?

2. If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be?

3. Who are your favourite characters you've made? Why?

4. What other pieces of media do you think would share a fan base for your story?

5. What has been your biggest struggle with your wip?

6. Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them!

7. How do your characters get around? (ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.)

8. What part of your wip are you working on rn?

9. What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in?

10. What are your hopes for your wip?

#writing tag game #wip questionnaire #the secret portal #tsp #teaspoon #school of the legends #sotl #writing blog #writers on tumblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing on tumblr #writeblr #writeblr community

29 notes · View notes

normiematsu · 6 months

Text

concept for angel killer yumemi ^_^ the au i have thought the most about storywise! she's an angel in training who gets corrupted by choro. i made a playlist for it here that serves as a moodboard/audio version of the whole story when you listen to it chronologically! i need to type up a proper retelling of it and create real ref sheets but have some unformatted thoughts/minificlet below...

yumemi is an angel in training tasked with learning more about how humans live. unfortunately for her she ends up at choro's cathedral and he's immediately able to clock her as an angel. even more unfortunate is the interest he takes in her...

shes super trusting and willing to put aside any suspicions she has about choro since she likes him. gets scolded a lot for not being that great at hiding her own identity - what would everyone think if they saw her wings!! her halo!! humans aren't ready to handle that - so choro keeps her close by. she's like a lost lamb that dutifully follows him around the cathedral, never openly questioning the odd things that happen when they're out of sight from the congregation. she thinks there's a lot to learn from him, a man so willing to teach her about humanity, while not questioning how little he shares about himself...

eventually she figures out he's belphegor and despite feeling betrayed she abandons her mission and decides she's going to save him, no matter the cost! love always wins!! she genuinely thinks she can fix choro and he's like... "do you know who i am? what i am?" for a while lots of fighting ensues. shes not that strong though so all her threats fall on deaf ears, and he knows she doesn't have it in her to put her lance through his heart. (he kind of wishes she would tho, since he's a demented freak)

choro could kill her so easily. he's never met someone with so little common sense... he can't imagine her ever completing her mission or being in charge of anything important... so he decides to start up his own little game. testing the limits of how much he can get away with. before he knows it, he's already claimed her soul, not thinking of the consequences...

and then one night he gets too riled up and accidentally kills her during one of their fights. he didn't even mean to do it, honest! suddenly he's hit with the realization he wasn't quite ready for their game to end... he's toyed with keeping undead humans around before, but they never lasted long after reviving them. he's never resurrected an angel but he figures it's worth a shot trying. the result is... not quite what he was expecting.

he manages to get her revived, but not as an angel - she's some strange and twisted thing fresh out of purgatory. violent. bloodthirsty. she wants nothing more than to get revenge for what he's done! even in this state though she's not powerful enough to finish him off, not like she could anyway since he'd just regenerate... begging god for forgiveness gets her nowhere either. she's committed an unforgivable sin by abandoning her mission and knowingly pursuing a relationship with a demon.

choro takes great pride in telling her she wasn't his first plaything, but he didn't think she'd be his last - and now she's bound to him for eternity...

#I HAVE HAD SO MUCH FUN WITH THIS TEEHEEEEEE i love angel killer au.#kits sketchbook #yuulore

31 notes · View notes

raidergamerspice · 7 months

Text

I recently binged all of Sense8, but even before I finished it, I'd already thought that every other media should have at least one Sense8 AU fanfic.

I mean, the idea of multiple people all over the world being psychically linked with one another as a sensate cluster, being able to visit each other and share knowledge and skills whenever it's needed? It's so fucking brilliant! Not to mention, all the queer themes, stories, and characters... It's all so beautiful 😭

I actually first got interested in this show through a Final Fantasy 16 fanfic that retells the story of FF16 so that all the Dominants (minus Joshua) are a sensate cluster. That in itself was interesting, but then I checked out the actual show, and I was hooked.

I even checked out the wiki just to look at the rules for clusters, and they seemed fairly simple: clusters can be as small as two people and as large as twelve people. And family members can be part of the same cluster, so Joshua could have also been part of the cluster in that FF16 fanfic, but the author's main reason for leaving him out was so that he and Clive wouldn't be able to...well...sense each other when things...got steamy...did I mention that there were a few times where the cluster in Sense8 all got together to...have some adult fun? Yeah, it's a very adult show, and the author of that fic was understandably valid for not making Clive and Joshua part of the same cluster.

But I feel like, for Sense8 style AUs, not everything has to be sexual among a cluster, ya know? 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, with these rules in mind, I feel like other fanfic writers could have a field day with this concept. I already first thought of a Sense8 style AU for Twiyor in Spy x Family because the idea of Loid and Yor being psychically connected is so juicy. Personally, I feel like this would nudge them closer to romantic territory compared to what's currently happening in canon lmao. Plus, just imagine when Yor gets shot in the butt, Loid feels it too 😳

Then I thought of a Sense8 AU for Avatar: The Last Airbender, though I wasn't the only one, where each Avatar would be bonded to multiple people in a cluster (the number of cluster members would vary with each Avatar); therefore, just like there is only one Avatar each lifetime, there can only be one cluster each lifetime.

And then...I thought of a Sense8 style AU for Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Imagine all sixteen Final Fantasy heroes (yes, I'm including Clive because why wouldn't I?) being a giant cluster despite all being in different realms! Wouldn't that be something? It'd be chaotic, that's for sure 😂

Finally - for now, at least - I figured a Sense8 AU could also work for the Heart Hotel in Kingdom Hearts. Just imagine Sora being connected to the rest of the Heart Hotel like sensates?

Phew, another long post where I ramble lol. What do you guys think of these ideas? I could probably write fics for this myself...but I have constantly wavering confidence and focus on fanfic writing, which is why I try to inspire ideas for other, better writers 💀

Also, here's a link to that fanfic I mentioned. It's currently still going, but it's very good so far: https://archiveofourown.org/works/48588124/chapters/122560603

#sense8 #this is such a good show I highly recommend #it's also just a brilliant concept #it could work for anything if you try #I should add more fandom tags so people can find this lmao #final fantasy xvi #spy x family #avatar the last airbender #dissidia final fantasy #kingdom hearts

32 notes · View notes

isfjmel-phleg · 2 months

Text

March 2024 Books

Norby, the Mixed-Up Robot by Janet and Isaac Asimov

This one was a lot of fun! I should track down the rest of the series.

The World's Greatest Detective by Caroline Carlson

I was very confused about what era this world was mimicking (are they Victorian? 1920s/30s?), but it was a fun story and I enjoyed the dynamic between the protagonists.

A Dig in Time by Peni R. Griffin

I remember liking this one, but it feels like I read it years ago and I can't remember everything. Time travel with a family emphasis.

The Promise by Monica Hughes

Like Sandwriter, which this is a sequel to, I initially wasn't so sure that I liked this one, and then it went in an unexpected direction that took the themes in a more complex place, and I appreciated that.

The Yellow Fairy Book by Andrew Lang

I generally like fairy tales well enough, but this one was rather a slog to get through, and I ended up skimming a lot of it. There were some familiar favorites, but a lot of the tales were of the variety that consist of an interesting set-up followed by a seemingly incoherent series of events, and I regret I don't have enough interest in folklore to get much out of that.

The Romance of a Shop by Amy Levy

Interesting from a historic perspective mostly, but I didn't connect much with the story.

The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan (reread)

Reread so it would be fresh in my mind before the presentation. You already know how I feel about this one.

The Humming Room by Ellen Potter (reread)

Same as above. I have a post in drafts with some thoughts on this one that may eventually see daylight.

The Making of May by Gwyneth Rees (reread)

Already discussed this one.

A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi (reread)

Beautifully written and very readable and develops its themes well. Does fall into the trap of making the story about grief (Maria's late parents were frequently absent from her life, and she resents this, but she did have relationships with them in ways that her counterpart in the original book never did with her parents, so it's a completely different dynamic). I found this Colin to be somewhat underdeveloped, but I did appreciate the concept of his being fearful about failing to live up to family expectation, which is a reasonable translation of the original character's source of shame.

Charley by Joan G. Robinson

I don't remember much of this one. Didn't have any problems, just didn't have as much impact as other books by this author have for me.

Greenwild by Pari Thomson

A very derivative example of the Child Learns That They Are Magical And Special And Enters A Fantastical World Where They Must Take On The Villain sort of story. I wanted to enjoy it, but everything felt trite.

Doctor Who: A Brief History of Time Lords by Steve Tribe

This was a gift from my brother. I am a very casual DW fan and haven't really engaged with the show in quite a while (really should rewatch and catch up on new stuff but that's a pretty big time commitment right now). I think I would have got a lot more out of this if I were more than passingly familiar with Classic Who and all the lore in general.

Not Quite a Ghost by Anne Ursu

I was interested in this one because it's a retelling of "The Yellow Wallpaper," and the concept of comparing the difficulties of getting difficult-to-trace chronic illnesses taken seriously and diagnosed in today's world to the mishandling of women's medical and psychological conditions in the late nineteenth century intrigued me. However, this book didn't really know what it wanted to be. The young protagonist's struggles with her mystery chronic illness took up most of the book, but there was also a plot about a literal ghost in the wallpaper of her new attic bedroom that needs to be defeated in the end, and neither of these things fitted well together. One or the other of them would have been fine, but the combination left me confused about the nature of this fictional world and the themes of the book in general.

Comics/Graphic Novels

Benevolent Sisters of Charity (Over the Garden Wall)

This is the only one of the OTGW comics that I wasn't able to buy before it went out of print, so I ILLed it and realized that it was for the better that I hadn't. The story was incoherent and pointless and the characters were OOC. The art was much better than the story deserved.

Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 3

I've read these as a webcomic already but wanted it in book form too. These are entertaining; you just have to go into it aware that this is The Fluffy World version of everybody and they are characterized accordingly.

The Flash by Grant Morrison & Mark Millar

Not on a level with Waid's work, of course, but the highlight of this one was the storyline in which Linda dies and Wally manages to bring her back (some good Bart content here) and a delightfully meta short story in which Mark Millar meets up with Wally to figure out what story about him to tell next...and Wally is given a co-writing credit in the end.

The Flash by Mark Waid Books Seven and Eight

An effective end to this run. Waid points out in his Afterword that he's still got another story on reserve, so...anytime he wants to give that to us, that would be great. I'll be waiting.

The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Retelling of the Secret Garden by Ivy Noelle Weir (reread)

You know how I feel about this one. (I whipped it out at the convention to show somebody who was talking to me about CEN in the present day through leaving one's child to technology that that concept was used in this retelling, and somebody nearby oohed about what a diverse retelling it was as I flipped through pages. Which is, you know, more important than effective storytelling. It should have done both! We could have had both!)

Stephen McCranie's Space Boy Omnibus Volume 5

I've read this in webcomic form already, but it's a pleasure to have a physical copy of the latest omnibus.

Sinister Sons #1-2 plus additional material establishing the backgrounds of Lor-Zod and Sinson

A sort of response to the series Super Sons (which featured Jon Kent at his proper age and Damian Wayne), by the same author. This is going to be about a teamup of Lor-Zod (son of General Zod, was Chris Kent in another continuity, has apparently been Zukoed in this incarnation) and Sinson (a young, apparently orphaned thief who believes that his father must be Sinestro, the Green Lantern's arch-nemesis). So far the boys haven't done much more than fight, but I'm interested to see where this is going. (#3 is in the mail now!)

Lor is a horrid little piece of work, but his parents' recent treatment of him puts him in a more sympathetic situation, and I am hoping he'll get a redemption arc that would move him closer to his original version. Sinson is no angel either, but he's just a child who really, really wants a family and is clinging to the only hope for one that he has--and if that means he's a supervillain's son, then he's ready to follow in those footsteps to gain acceptance.

(Also he drew a mustache on himself with a black marker to look more like his alleged father, and that's so ridiculous and kind of endearing.)

#random personal stuff #it's been a weird month for reading but I'm hoping for both more time and more motivation this month #I'm at a point where I have plenty of unread books but don't feel particularly inclined to pick up any of them #and I need to get out of that

10 notes · View notes

milky-rozen · 8 days

Note

Hi Milky!

This question might be a bit weird but what are your thoughts on bl manhwa ENNEAD?

As someone who is interested in Egyptian mythology you might’ve heard of it (it’s pretty popular (which sucks)) and I’d love to hear your opinion

Heya Anon!

I've read it actually, and it has inspired me a lot for my comics. My Thoth's design is actually inspired by Ennead's Thoth which, as you might have guessed by now, is like my favorite character in Ennead alongside Hathor!

Overall, I think that the mythology is well handled here, although, of course, the original author Mojito had to take some artistic liberties to make it fit for the genre and target audience. But I've got to admit, I had to take my time to read the second part since it's pretty dark and, at that time, I had anxiety problems lol but as for the first part, I actually liked it very much.

Of course, the manhwa is not 100% accurate with mythology, but I've appreciated its interpretation nevertheless as it introduces us to many little known facts and details. It really felt like breathing some fresh air to me as I noticed how Egyptian Mythology is often misrepresented in many media, probably also due to the many confusing versions we have of it-- which is fair honestly lol

But I especially liked how the author brought forth an argument that is just as complicated as generally misunderstood which is - yes, let us talk about the elephant in the room - the relationship between Horus and Seth. Now, I'm not gonna lie here, I'm not a huge fan of how this relationship is treated in the manhwa, but I'm not a huge fan of how this is often portrayed in the media either. People generally tend to look at them as nothing but rivals and mortal enemies, when in reality these two are closer than you might think: they are enemies, but they can also work as allies. They fight each other but they can still be friends. They are rivals but they can also be lovers, and that is all due to them serving also as a political symbol of a united Egypt. But, as I said before, I wasn't really enthusiastic about how Mojito treated them here as they did the exact opposite of what other media do in general, but I've appreciated the fact that they kind of played with that concept, which is very creative of them.

I also know that many people disliked the comic for totally valid reasons (again, I had to take my time to read some parts specifically due to my anxiety problems) so I hope you could forgive me for this, but I found it actually very good and I would totally recommend it to people who are into Egyptian mythology (but like only part 1 cause the second part, right after the Contendings, it has nothing to do with mythology from what I remember and it's unnecessarily violent lol), especially if you like to make comparisons and are in search of a creative retelling!

Sorry for the long answer! I tried to be as brief as I could because Ennead has a special place in my heart and English is not my native language lol I hope I answered your question clearly! ♥️

#egyptian mythology #ennead #milky answers

13 notes · View notes

eonian-nightmare · 1 year

Text

If you know me, I'm a podcast addict, and as such I have alot of opinions about alot of podcasts/concept albums/audiobooks, so I decided to make a masterlist; which rates these on a 5 Star Rating System.

[Note: This list is ongoing an will be updated at random points indefinetly]

***Currently listening to: Our Wives Under the Sea***

》 Alice Isn't Dead: An audio diary by a truck driver in her search across America for the wife she had long assumed was dead

Content Warnings: Body Horror, Cannabalism, Gaslighting, Kiddnaping, Mental Health Issues, Possesion, Stalking, Torture,

Themes: Drama, Memior, Horror, Mystery, Roadtrip, Supernatural & WLW

Notes: The story was interesting and steadily paced. I enjoyed it, I just wasn't gripped with excitement to finish it. It was entertaining, just a bit bland for my taste

[Rating: ☆☆☆]

》 Archive 81: An archivist takes a job restoring damaged videotapes, but finds themselves getting pulled into a mystery involving the missing director and a mysterious cult that they were documenting.

Content Warnings: Addiction, Body Horror, Child Abuse, Drowninv, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental Health Issues, Possession, PTSD, Self Harm, Suicide, Stalking, Torture, Themes: Anthology, Drama, Horror, Mystery & Supernatural

Themes: Anthology, Drama, Horror, Mystery & Supernatural

Notes: I liked it as a concept. But I found that I couldn't keep attention on it. If it progressed a bit quicker maybe I could have completed it, but I lost interest and abandoned it.

[Rating: ☆☆]

》 The Bifrost Incident: A retelling of Norse myth, framed as mystery, set on an interplanetary train, using rock and prog style music.

Content Warnings: Body Horror, Kiddnapping, Mass Death, Possesion, Suicide,

Themes: Lovecraftian, Music, History, Folk Rock, Eldritch, Drama, Queer,

Notes: the songs are a bop and the ending made me sob like a baby

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

》 Critical Role: A band of professional voice actors improvise, role-play, and roll their way through an epic Dungeons and Dragons campaign

Content Warnings: Alchhol Use, Dead Animals, Child Abuse, Gaslighting, Kiddnapping, Mental Health Issues, Possesion, Recreational Drug Use, Self Harm, Stalking, Torture, Violence,

Themes: Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Magic, RPG

Notes: This is an fun, and adventure filled tale. It's a roller-coaster of emotions. It's just soooooo long.[Rating: ☆☆☆]

》 Deviser: In this series Son wakes up aboard a spaceship bound for earth in an effort to recolonize. What he discovers however will change everything he knows about his world and him.

Content Warnings: Animal Cruelty, Body Horror, Cloning, Human Experimentation, Gaslighting, Mass Death, Self Harm, Torture,

Themes: Apocalypse, Horror, Isolation, Sci-Fi, Space etc.

Notes: Not my usual cup of tea but a good short podcast with an addictive plot.

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

》 Jonathan Sim's Family Business Audiobook: after the death of her QRP, Diya picks up work cleaning up after dead people.

Content Warnings: death, gore and corpses, derealisation, unreality, prompted feelings of insignificance, etc

Themes: horror, thriller, suspense, grief, supernatural

Notes: Typical Jonny Sims work. Irked me to my core. I loved it.

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

》 Good Omens Full Cast Production Audiobook: An angel and a demon try to thwart the ineffable apocalypse.

Themes: Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural, Religious

Content Warnings: Religious themes, mild gaslighting, smoking

Notes: I just love my ineffable husbands

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

》 Limetown: Journalist Lia Haddock attempts to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of over 300 people at a neuroscience research facility in Tennessee.

Content Warnings: Animal Abuse, Bodily Harm, Child Death, Mass Death, Gaslighting, Graphic Images of Violence Human Experimentation, Human Torture, Kidnapping, Refferences to PTSD/Flashbacks, Refferences to Suicide, Self Harm, Stalking, etc

Themes: Drama, Mystery, Queer, Sci Fi, Supernatural Abilities, Thriller, Technology

Notes: It's the first podcast I ever fell in love with, I was so intrigued by Limetown as a concept. It kept me engaged and heartbroken all at the same time.

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆ ]

》 The Magnus Archives: A queer horror podcast about what lurks in the Archives of The Magnus Institue.

Content Warnings: Animal Abuse, Adicction, Body Horror, Being Buried Alive, Cannabalism, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical Malpractice, Mental Instability, Refferences to Child Abuse/ Neglect, Refferences to drug/alcohol use, Spiders- God so many spiders, Scopophobia, Self Harm, Stalking, Suicide, Trypophobia, Uncanny, Unreality, and so much more. For a full list please read individual episode warnings

Themes: Anthology, Mystery, Horror, Queer, Supernatural Themes.

[This is also my main special interest. I can connect magnus to everything. My students (I am a teacher) judge me for my laptop covered in magnus stickers. My friends know the entire plot and haven't even listened to it. They sat for 5 hours to let me rant from beginning to end.]

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆]

》 Malevolent: In the early 1900s a PI wakes up with no memory, no sight and an equally confused voice instru cting him to hide a body. Together these two must work together to solve the mystery on who they are, what their connection is and most importantly how to co- inhabitant the body they must now share.

Content Warnings: Body Horror, Cannabalism, Cults, Child Neglect, Dead Child, Drowning, Gaslighting, Humans Hunted, Mental Health Issues, Kiddnapping, Possesion, PTSD/Flashbacks, Sucidal Characters,

Themes: Faustian, Lovecraftian, Mystery, Horror, Psychological, Queer, & Supernatural

Notes: This podcast is so personal to me. It hit quite close to home during a vulnerable time for me and gave me the strength I needed while low. PLUS I JUST LOVE THEIR DYNAMIC.

[This is also a special interest to me.]

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆]

》 Myths Baby: Join Liv Albert as she discusses Greek Mythology.

Content Warning: Lots of discussion of Rape.

Themes: Education, Greek Mythology

Notes: The author claims to be a classics expert, yet has admitted to never reading the source material. She goes further to use sources that are known to be incredibly biased and uses her distorted perception to villanse culturally significant Greek heroes but idolise hedonistic assholes.

[Rating: ☆]

》 No Sleep: Reddit users submit their freaky stories

Content Warnings: Various Episode to episode but generally strong Unreality vibes

Themes: Anthology, Creative Works, Horror, Thriller & Supernatural

Note: I enjoy the series, but honestly I find reading the tales/ the thread more engaging

[Rating: ☆☆]

》 Shipworm: A one of a kind audio movie, in which a man is mplanted with an untraceable earpiece while sleeping. So long as he does everything the voice on the other end tells him, he and his family will live.

Content Warning: Violence, Mental Health Issues & Unreality,

Themes: Audio Movie, Mystery, Science Fiction & Technology

Notes: Its really easy to place yourself in the story, it was an incredibly detailed audio environment.

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

》 Stella Firma

Content Warnings:

Themes: Adventure, Comedy, Improv, Science- Fiction & Space

Notes: This show is such random ass comedy. It's honestly so stupid and I love it. Plus Ben Meredith is in it and I just love him.

[Rating: ☆☆☆]

》 Tiny Terrors: The Tiny Terrors story exchange is a writing exchange program that explores message boards & pre-internet recordings of spooky stories to share with their listeners.

Content Warnings:

Themes: Anthology, Creative Writing, Found-Footage Horror.

Notes: I do love the concept behind this, I do think the series has a lot of potential, it's engaging.

[Rating: ☆☆☆]

》 Welcome to Nightvale: A radio host provides a cryptic supernatural dessert town with community updates.

Content Warnings: Animal Cruelty, Alcholism, Addiction, Body Horror, Childhood Abuse/Neglect, Canabalism, Gaslighting, Kiddnapping, Mental Health Issues, Memory Issues, Mirrors, Possesion, PTSD, Recreational Drug Use, Scopophobia, Self Harm, Stalking, Unreality

Themes: Comedy, Conspiracy, Horror, Mystery, Queer, Science Fiction & Supernatural

Notes: This podcast is just so uniquely original. It's comedic approach is something similar to how I personally view horror. Plus it changed the podcast community on a fundamental level; it deserves its stars.

[An this podcast marks the 3rd of my holy trinity of special interest podcasts]

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆]

》 36 Questions: Two lovers who have fallen apart due to lies, use the 36 questions—an experiment known for making strangers fall in love—to save their own relationship.

Themes: Comedy, Musical, Romance, Drama

Content Warnings: Alcohol use, Drink Driving, Drug Use, Overdosing, Parental Neglect

Notes: Its a good short podcast that can be completed during a long road trip. I found it very emotionally engaging, and liked the progression of the story

[Rating: ☆☆☆]

》 Epic: An Odysseus Story: A musical retelling of the Odyssey

Content Warnings: Bodily Harm, Death of a Child, Depictions of Violence, War (to be updated as songs are released)

Themes: History, Musical, Action, Drama, Violence

Notes: I have never heard fights been so well described in songs. Plus the music suits the myths so well, and has me falling in love with Greek Mythology all over again

[Rating: ☆☆☆☆]

To type review up

I am in Escrew

Watcher in the rain

Faceless Old woman

Death by dying

Rules for vanishing

》 Intending to Consume 《

Hello from Hallowoods

Supersuits

Knifepoint Horror

Kings Fall Am

The Arkham Sessions

Spines

The Silt Verse

Batman Unburied

Rabbits

The Black Tapes

Devil Town

Old Gods of Appalachia

Case 63

Harley Quinn: Sound Mind

133 notes · View notes

hummingbird-games · 4 months

Text

Dev Diaries

February 17, 2024

I almost put 2019 as the year and that's the energy I'm bringing to this update, help.

What Has Gemini Been Up To? -> The Knight Dance

This is around the time that the Black Visual Novel game jam would be in progress. Alas, there hasn't been an official announcement for 2024 so it's more than safe to assume that it's a hiatus year 😞 In my heart of hearts though, I still classify TKD as a jam project.

(Some might remember this idea was originally for the Yuri + Once Upon A Time jams but I had the suddenly good idea to like, chill, and shelve this project. I'm still a bit bothered I had to do that, but coming off of the development of Crushed was...brutal. Almost as if I didn't learn from my first project....huh.)

So late last month I started recruitment for sapphic project aka THE KNIGHT DANCE!! I have been DYING to work on this, but I wanted it to be a jam entry + team effort. I've never been on a team when it comes to game development! Way too anxious to function and for the longest stretch of time, I had zero experience. I have previous writing credits, but I wasn't sure how well my previous skills would translate over. And I was too embarrassed to reach out to a team and be like "hey, I don't know anything but I wanna help!". Maybe someone would have been cool with that, but I was too scared to put myself out there.

Well, Gemini is moving up in the world!! At the time of this post, I've assembled a team of people who are as jazzed as I am to work on this sapphic fairytale and bring it to life. There are a lot of first for me with this project, which means I will be learning a lot and taking copious notes.

Also I think I kind of suck at the leader part? 🤣 Methinks I was not built to be in charge.

This will have voice acting as well, and ohhhh my goodness after all the efforts to do partial VA in Crushed I really sat here and said, "Yes, yes... I shall do it again" 😭🤧💛

I don't anticipate TKD taking as long as Crushed did from start to finish (8 MONTHS Y'ALL, AHHHHHHH--), but I'm also prepared for anything to happen with TKD. I'm trying to extend the same grace to myself as I freely give to my teammates and anyone I work with, and let me say: I prefer bullying myself to being nice sometimes ☠️ I should work on that....

LOL I keep talking about TKD, but have yet to explain the concept! I'm unsure if this game with get the pinned post treatment but we'll cross that bridge later.

The Knight Dance is a sapphic remix not retelling of the original 12 Dancing Princesses story. We focus on the stubborn, youngest daughter of three, Princess Heather, and the knight who's already fallen in love with her, Lady Ezra. Are they meant to be or is love not enough???? 👀🍿

TKD takes a couple of the concepts I wanted but never saw all together.

12 Dancing Princess is one of my favorite fairytales and no one ever adapts this outside of literature.

I've wanted to do a sapphic game for a hot minute (HSDJY is basically yuri if you ask some disgruntled players LOL 🤷🏽‍♀️ Ryan and Langston are chopped liver...)

It's Black History month and I'm Black 365 days of the year and damn if I can't just see Black women falling in love and being loved in return????

The ridiculously stubborn girl trope and the love interest who loves her. I know some people are annoyed by MCs who would rather die than admit their feelings ('immature' comes up a LOT) so I was kind and kept y'all in mind when writing the script😂

So there's the update for the 'in progress' game. Tune in next time where we tackle -> HSD:JY 2...THE SEQUEL!!!!!!!!!!!!

- Gemini 🖤

#lol the 'part 2' of the previous dev diaries #gamedev #gamedev rambles #visual novel #the knight dance #God I LOVE using that tag in earnest heehhee

9 notes · View notes