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tentative-wanderer · 4 years

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🏯🏮🌸 Danmei Book Recommendations 📚🔖🎑

This post currently contains 44 works. Edited on 7 April 2024, will be updated as I go along.

For the uninitiated: danmei=gay Chinese fiction

Wanted to revisit the happiness these books brought me, so I made this spoiler-free rec list. Some descriptions are briefer than others not because the books are worse, but because I read them years ago. I may have forgotten the specifics, but I remember the joy! 🙌

🔂 (If you wish to share the love, prioritise reblogging over liking this post, because only reblogs count towards a post’s visibility on this site.)

‼️ Notes

• Don’t be fooled by ridiculous book titles. Some wacky titles mask deep plots. (And by the end of the books I grow attached to them…)

• I translated most of the titles myself. My translations may differ from other people’s, so if you want to look for fan translations of these books online, copy and paste the pinyin (pronunciation in alphabets) of the title or the Mandarin titles (alongside whatever English key words you choose) into your search bar.

• Many of these books contain elements suitable for ADULTS only.

• Check the authors’ WARNINGS before reading.

• I have complaints about every book. They may be about small things like slightly loose ends or bigger things like gender issues (annoyingly common) and offhanded racism.

Note that: 1) not all my complaints are listed in this post; and 2) a book with cons listed under it is NOT NECESSARILY worse than a book without cons listed under it; it may be that the former book is more memorable than the latter, which is why I remember the former’s cons better! Or maybe I read the book more recently, so I could review it in more detail.

• All these books have happy endings...for the main couple, at the very least.

• Word of advice: if you’re a reader of book translations by fans and you keep scrolling through social media and reading tweets about characters, sooner or later you’re going to come across massive spoilers. If the book is still in the process of being translated and/or you haven’t finished reading it, needless to say, you will ruin your fun. Save yourself and lay off the social media, don’t be a dumb husky (yes I’m looking at Dumb Husky’s fans here). (Being a rec list, this post of mine is safe and SPOILER-FREE.)

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Masterpieces You Must Read To Avoid Regrets In Life

(The pictures at the top of this post are the covers/posters of the following 4 stunners.)

🗑 不要在垃圾桶里捡男朋友 Don’t Pick Up Boyfriends from the Trash Bin by 骑鲸南去 Qijing Nanqu/Riding A Whale South

• Title in pinyin: bu yao zai la ji tong li jian nan peng you

• Key word: REBIRTH (note: it’s deeper than you think)

• Plot: PRIZE FOR BEST PLOT/STORY EXECUTION! Don’t get me wrong, I adore the plots of Dumb Husky, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, and Merman’s Fall just as much as this one. But I’m awarding the prize to Trash Bin because it has 1) absolutely mind-blowing problem-solving, 2) many sub-stories of various genres tied into one overarching storyline, 3) perfect pacing despite its considerable length, and 4) acccumulated the least complaints among my top danmei books. 🏅

• Emotions: 70% humour, 30% heartache. The first time I read the book, I found it jam-packed with fun and witticisms. The second time I read the book, I was stabbed in the heart harder than I expected. The author uses innovative events and metaphors to illustrate sadness.

• Additional points for depicting major real-life problems and blending these mature elements into the plot. The particular issue that personally affects the protagonist enhances the emotions in the story powerfully.

• Genre/setting: Modern, historical, xianxia, horror, apocalypse, sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian...

• Characters: Lovely characters, many characters

• Protagonist: Funny and capable. I’m a huge fan.

• Read my GUSHING PROMO here: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/190027491153/the-best-book-ive-read-in-many-months

• Physical book published as 入池 Entering the Pool. (Suggestive, given the protagonist’s name...but I swear this book is all about the plot, not 🍑.)

🧟‍♂️ 魔道祖师 Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (that’s the fan translation title; personally I think the title can also be translated as Founder of the Demonic Path) by 墨香铜臭 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu/Fragrance of Ink, Tang of Copper Coins

• Title in pinyin: mo dao zu shi

• Key word: DISCOVERY

• Plot: Amazing plot. Never a dull moment. Major plot twist towards the end, which I think could have been explained better, but it’s fine.

• Emotions: 80% humour, 20% heartache

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• Characters: PRIZE FOR BEST CAST! Numerous lovable characters with well-fleshed-out backgrounds and distinctive personalities. They’re still stuck in my mind, years after I finished the book. 🏅

• Protagonist: Funny and capable. I’m a huge fan.

• A favourite character who deserves better: Twinkle twinkle little star

• So fun that it made me seriously explore the danmei world for the first time in my life. Now I can’t get out.

• Has an animated series, a live action series (陈情令 The Untamed), manhua (comics), and an audio drama. Physical book published as 无羁 Unbridled.

• Cons: I have gripes about a plot twist and a major plot point towards the end of the book.

🥀 二哈和他的白猫师尊 Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun by 肉包不吃肉 Roubao Buchirou/Meatbun Doesn’t Eat Meat

• Title in pinyin: er ha he ta de bai mao shi zun

• Key words: REDEMPTION; DIFFICULT CHOICES

• Plot: Amazing plot. Major plot twists in the second half—kudos for portraying a gigantic grey area instead of stark black and white! Hooray for shitty situations with no right solutions! I love fantasy with a dash of realism!‬

• Emotions: PRIZE FOR BEST EMOTIONAL DESCRIPTIONS! Evocative and devastating prose; gorgeous imagery. Sensuous, quirky. Immersive experiences of turmoil (due to personality reformation), sadness, love, and lust.��

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• Characters: Lovely characters, many characters

• Protagonist: He’s a jerk and a good boy. I’m a huge fan.

• A favourite character who deserves better: My boy trapped between a rock and a hard place. Whichever choice he makes, he just can’t win. Did he do terrible things to solve a terrible problem? Yeah. Would you have done the same if you had been in his position? You’d probably have had a pretty strong desire to do so, unless you’re a utilitarian saint. Have some empathy, folks.

• 🍑😏 Award

• Extremely simple intro of the main cast that somehow amassed close to 300 notes...: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/183588840253/im-reading-dumb-husky-and-his-white-cat-shizun

• My critical commentary (contains major spoilers) on character modifications in 皓衣行 Hao Yi Xing/Immortality, the upcoming Dumb Husky drama series: here

• Has 2 audio dramas and an upcoming live action series.

• Con: a major character’s personality throughout the book could have been made more vivid and lifelike.

🧜🏻‍♂️ 人鱼陷落 Merman’s Fall by 麟潜 Lin Qian

• Title in pinyin: ren yu xian luo

• Plot: one heady battle arc after another, skilfully woven together with brilliant themes.

• Themes: PRIZE FOR CONTEMPORARY THEMES! Humanity and the way we justify or fix the horrid parts of it. Self-interested, destructive capitalism that feeds into the arms race. Trying to fit in as an outsider whom many find repellent. Environmental damage. Warped beauty standards and gender expectations. Gods, these are hot topics nowadays. 🏅

• Emotions: 45% “neutral” feelings due to fight scenes, because such scenes don’t usually make me feel happy, sad, angry, etc.; they make me want to know what happens next. 30% humour, 25% heartache.

• Genre/setting/key words: modern, sci-fi, ABO, superpowers tied to different animal/plant/object characteristics, secret service/special ops, combat involving firearms

• Characters: lovely characters, many characters

• Protagonist: Gangster-ish, the mocking, smiley kind of teasing, and vulnerable in the best way. One of my favourite tops.

• The alpha protagonist works at the search and investigation unit of the IOA (International Omega Alliance). The IOA is a major force in global politics. Oh my heart. That goes further than gender equality in our world.

• Love interest: Merman who can and does eat everything—including metal and plastic—and acts like he’s God. A very interesting and amusing character.

• Longer review: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/666482947317202944/danmei-book-recommendation-%E4%BA%BA%E9%B1%BC%E9%99%B7%E8%90%BD-mermans

• Promotional posters: here, here

• Cons:

- Some plot holes

- Significant chunks of the mission scenes are hard to visualise. It would be great to have diagrams of building/submarine layouts to help us understand things.

- I’d prefer shorter fight scenes and more day-to-day activities and relationship-building among the various characters, to put more flesh on their personalities and development as well as the themes of the book.

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Books That Got Me Really, Really Absorbed

🤹🏻‍♀️ 天官赐福 Heaven Official’s Blessing by 墨香铜臭 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu/Fragrance of Ink, Tang of Copper Coins

• Title in pinyin: tian guan ci fu

• Genre/setting: Xianxia but not exactly (gods, humans, ghosts)

• Key words: DIFFICULT CHOICES

• PRIZE FOR MOST PHILOSOPHICAL THEMES! Deep, contemplative themes frequently reoccur throughout the book. On my first read, I wasn’t completely satisfied after I was done with particular story arcs. After reading the book for the second time, I’ve come to realise that a reason why those arcs don’t have supremely satisfying resolutions is that the author wants to convey—multiple times—the struggle of determining the right thing to do, and the hollowness/sense of failure that people feel even after making their choice and trying their best. I like these layers. 🏅

• The main character is a Very Nice Person. He may give off a whiff of Gary Stu, but his niceness has a wealth of backstory behind it. I think that if a person has enough life experiences and has seriously contemplated their life choices, they cannot be a Gary Stu/Mary Sue anymore.

• Has manhua (comics) and donghua (animated series). I found the first episode of the donghua quite lovely; here are my thoughts (a bit spoiler-y):

- https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/633666933824405504/review-upon-rewatching-tgcf-episode-1

- https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/633476984168726528/watched-tgcf-episode-1-sweet-tempered-xie

• Cons:

- The love interest is a tad too smooth/stereotypically perfect in a way that wasn’t to my liking during my first read, but he’s a great match for the protagonist. On second read I got used to him and liked him. Episode 1 of the donghua makes him appear incredibly attractive. Still, his personality, background, and experiences could be fleshed out a lot more!

- I have gripes about plot holes (spoilery details in the linked post: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/651252145705877504/tgcf-plot-holes) and other stuff. But given 1) how vast and intricate the plot is, 2) how the author had to pop out chapters every day with hardly a break in between (because that’s how authors do things on the JJWXC book website), and 3) how she hasn’t had a chance to do her usual whole-book editing for this book, I’m happy to put my gripes aside.

- Someone pointed out to me a flaw in the way the author wrote the protagonist’s reactions; more precisely, the lack of reaction to some things the protagonist should’ve had a (at least minuscule) reaction to when he encountered them. It made the backstory reveals following the encounters feel improvised, making the reader feel cheated. I personally didn’t find this flaw jarring, but that person’s reading experience is valid, especially since their reasoning makes sense.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed my second read of the book.

🚪 死亡万花筒 Kaleidoscope of Death by 西子绪 Xi Zi Xu

• Title in pinyin: si wang wan hua tong

• Genre/setting: Horror, modern

• It sent chills down my spine. Scary.

• But it’s also funny!

• Be prepared to ignore sexism.

• Typos made me almost ditch the book at the beginning. I gave it another chance.

❓ 那个被我活埋的人 The Person I Buried Alive by 反派二姐 Fanpai Erjie/Villainous Second Sister

• Title in pinyin: na ge bei wo huo mai de ren

• Genre/setting: Mystery, modern

• “One Friday evening, a special patient walked into the psychotherapy centre.” (I love this one-line intro by the author. It’s very effective.)

💣 好一朵美腻的白莲花 What A Lovely White Lotus by 钟晓生 Zhong Xiao Sheng

• Title in pinyin: hao yi duo mei ni de bai lian hua

• Genre/setting: WW2, Chinese Civil War

• Personal growth and development in a time of war. A taunting, teasing ruffian and a cowardly, selfish, rich, weirdass young master evolve into big-hearted soldiers, half forced by circumstance and half owed to choices of their own.

⚰️ 挖坟挖出鬼 Dug A Ghost Out While Gravedigging by 君子在野 Junzi Zaiye/Gentleman in the Wild

• Title in pinyin: wa fen wa chu gui

• Genre/setting: Modern, ghosts (not scary to me, but some people find it scary)

• Intriguing

• Powerful emotions

• 🍑😏 Award

💊 解药 Remedy/Antidote by 巫哲 Wu Zhe

• Title in pinyin: jie yao

• Genre/setting: Modern

• Key word: LEARNING

• Man (booted out of his rich family) with the life skills of a baby VS street-smart gang leader

• Has an animated series (nowhere near as good as the book though)

🕺 迪奥先生 Mr. Dior by 绿野千鹤 Lü Ye Qian He/Thousand Cranes in a Meadow

• Title in pinyin: di ao xian sheng

• Genre/setting: Modern, comedy

• 99% of it is humour

🎋人渣反派自救系统 Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System by 墨香铜臭 Mo Xiang Tong Xiu/Fragrance of Ink, Tang of Copper Coins

• Title in pinyin: ren zha fan pai zi jiu xi tong

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• A favourite character who deserves better: 9️⃣—999 emergency he smashed my heart into smithereens. Facets of good and evil + what-could-have-beens = very nice. I’m obsessed.

• Layers! See this (spoilery!) post for details.

• Cons:

- I found the frequent use of colloquial words/internet slang off-putting at first, but I ended up not minding too much because it fits the protagonist’s character

- Two characters suffer from inexplicably irrational behaviour that I chalk up to plot necessity

👻 今天我又被迫复活 Today I Am Forcefully Resurrected Again by 阿辞姑娘 A Ci Gu Niang/Miss A-Ci

• Title in pinyin: jin tian wo you bei po fu huo

• Genre/setting: Horror-comedy, modern

• This book is about a guy who changes his name to be less “soft”—against the advice of a spiritual master when he was a baby—and promptly gets beleaguered by hauntings. Gets killed by ghosts repeatedly but is revived each time, with the clock getting wound back.

• He cries when he’s scared 👍 Understandable. I would cry too if I were in his shoes.

• Scary, with many funny moments. Exactly what I was looking for. Sent some chills down my spine when I read it in the middle of the night. I think it’s a tinge less frightening than “Kaleidoscope of Death” (another horror novel I recommend), so cowards can challenge themselves by reading it in the afternoon.

• Cons:

- A few instances of unrealistic drawing/sketching speed 😂

- The ending feels rushed and there are loose ends. The author could have fleshed out the backgrounds of some characters in a lot more detail (and earlier in the story) in order to tie up those loose ends. But the reading process is fun enough to compensate for that.

• Additional positive thoughts after my third reading experience are contained in the second half of the following post: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/653237110624714752/%E4%BB%8A%E5%A4%A9%E6%88%91%E5%8F%88%E8%A2%AB%E8%BF%AB%E5%A4%8D%E6%B4%BB-today-i-am-forcefully-resurrected

🦹 忧郁先生想过平静生活 Depressed Husbands Want to Live a Peaceful Life by 青色羽翼 Qingse Yuyi/Green Wings

• Title in pinyin: you yu xian sheng xiang guo ping jing sheng huo

• Genre/setting: Modern, superpowers. This combo usually isn’t my cup of tea, but it had been a long time since I had found a novel (of any genre) to my liking, so I decided to give this one a shot. I’m glad I did!

• The main characters aren’t actually depressed, it’s just that their surnames sound like “depressed” when put together. 忧郁 is worried + gloomy, and the main characters are frequently troubled about stuff (listed in the following point), but the mood is almost always light and/or comedic.

• The story begins with the universe’s most powerful transmigrator, who has left world-hopping behind and is currently living a peaceful life with his husband. However, normalcy is disrupted when his sealed superpowers suddenly start going berserk. This guy now has to juggle three things:

1. controlling his suddenly uncontrollable powers

2. stopping new chaos-sowing superpowered transmigrators—termed “Destroyers” by native inhabitants—from disrupting his hard-earned normal life

3. keeping his husband blissfully unaware of his identity as a superpowered transmigrator. Unbeknownst to him, his husband is an officer in charge of hunting down transmigrators.

• No angst despite the secret-keeping. The main characters are head over heels in love.

• Plotty

• Many characters with vibrant personalities doing hilarious things. I love all the side characters (more than the main characters, even); the picture wouldn’t be complete and colourful without all of them in it. But I have a soft spot for a cunning, pretty, underdog survivor who will take advantage of every opportunity and loophole he can find, with a relative lack of care for morality. His one soft spot is a guy who does care for morality. (The underdog has a similar flavour to someone in another book, Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System/SVSSS 😉.)

• A quick Google search shows that there is an English fan translation of this novel (“Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life”, written by “Cyan Wings”, translated by E. Danglars). I can’t comment on it since I read the book in Mandarin, but you can try it out if you read danmei in English.

🎬 跨界演员 Crossover Actor by 北南 Beinan/North-South

• Title in pinyin: kua jie yan yuan

• Genre/setting: Modern, realistic

• This book is about a little-known actor’s journey to stardom and developing relationship with an acclaimed scriptwriter.

• Social anxiety disorder! Tasty. It’s so good to see someone finding love despite their difficulty in building deep connections with people.

• I like how one of the characters’ backstory is revealed. Peel that trauma apart like an onion.

• The romance is slow-burn.

• Opposites (eventually) attract. The actor is not famous at the start of the book, not that bright, and so straightforward that it has a childlike quality to it. The scriptwriter is renowned, has mature, self-possessed vibes, and is reserved. But both of them are good with people in their own ways, which is surprising in relation to one of them because of his social anxiety disorder. No prizes for guessing who. (I don’t consider the disorder a spoiler because 1, it becomes fairly obvious early on in the book and 2, the author put it in the blurb.)

• Excerpt (translated by me): At that, Lu Wen said, piqued: “You only love my face?” Qu Yanting said: “I wish I could love your brain, but I can’t find it.”

• I read the novel in Mandarin, but a quick search shows that there is an ongoing English fan translation online: https://knoxt.space/crossover-actors/

🧝🏻‍♂️ 穿成高危职业之师尊 Transmigrated into a High-Risk Career: Shizun by 一丛音 Yi Cong Yin

• Title in pinyin: chuan cheng gao wei zhi ye zhi shi zun

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• Off-putting title, good story

• Lively silly unskilled protagonist + possessive love interest with no care for anyone but the protagonist. These personalities are decidedly not my cup of tea, but I kept reading and found that the plot gets better and better. The sense of “mysteries to uncover” gradually builds up and then snowballs in the second half of the book. I was hooked.

• Many humorous moments. Huge fun.

• Interesting supporting characters. The doctor with the laggy response is my favourite.

• There are a couple of loose ends, and a few relationships and some villains’ motivations could have been handled better, but the resolution is still tolerable. I wonder if I should put this book in the section below instead of up here, since my gripes are significant, but I’ll leave it here for now.

👨‍🏫 他们都说我遇到了鬼 They All Say I Encountered Ghosts by 青色羽翼 Qingse Yuyi/Green Wings

• Title in pinyin: ta men dou shuo wo yu dao le gui

• Currently titled 他们都说我遇到了未知生物 They All Say I Encountered Unknown Beings. I guess the change is due to overly gung-ho censors.

• Genre/setting: Modern, supernatural

• Not scary. It’s the human who’s (unintentionally) terrifying the ghosts. But it still has that deliciously creepy undertone of a horror story in some parts!

• Funny!

🌱 Being-Towards-Death 向死而生 by 客兮 Ke Xi

• Title in pinyin: xiang si er sheng

• Tags: Modern, depression, healing, school

• The protagonist’s plans to commit su.i/ci/d.e keep getting accidentally disrupted by an unknowing boy who has feelings for him.

• This is a book about clinical depression and love; because of the former, it is permeated by crushing sadness and there is a constant see-saw between the protagonist’s urge to end his life and events that keep him holding on. There are realistic struggles faced by the protagonist and his partner in dealing with society’s lack of understanding of depression, the ramifications of the condition, etc. There is a happy ending!

• You need to be in a particular mood or state to keep reading this book, because the protagonist is in a lot of pain. I read this book when I was sad. It helped somewhat. Not suitable for you if you’re cheerful or devastated.

• The love interest’s devotion is moving.

• One of the extra chapters contains an alternative sad ending, and I want to commend the author for making its final sentence unexpectedly haunting.

• Interesting way of titling chapters

• Con: the reasons why the protagonist’s partner is attracted to him could be made more tangible.

🐭 深眠 Deep Sleep by 杨溯 Yang Su

• Title in pinyin: shen mian

• Genre/setting: ABO, dystopia, slightly futuristic tech paired with a backward societal structure, revolution

• Straight dude transmigrates into the body of a chinchilla omega, flees an arranged marriage with a military commander—a snake alpha—and unwittingly rescues the said commander during the escape in the belief that he is an injured omega

• Protagonist is willing to throw hands, has a sense of justice and no filter between his brain and mouth. Love interest is the quiet authoritative sort, even authoritarian at times, but his heart is kind and very big (forgives what many people will find hard to forgive).

• One glaring instance of racism. Proceed with caution.

• A constant theme running through the book is the protagonist and other omegas trying to escape the ABO equivalent of the patriarchy. If you know me, you’ll know that I like this kind of book only if they succeed in toppling the system.

• The process of revolution and nation-building is a bit simplified and fast-forwarded. It would be better if it were fleshed out, but I understand that it would take a huge amount of time to make such big topics perfectly lifelike and realistic, and the author is juggling writing with a full-time job. The twists and turns of the plot are decently solid as they are. This book was definitely a page-turner for me.

• There is no chinchilla emoji so I’m using a mouse for now

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Books That Also Got Me Really Absorbed*

*I have more gripes about these books but still greatly enjoyed them!

👹 凶祟 Creature of Malignance by 杨溯 Yang Su

• Title in pinyin: xiong sui

• Genre/setting/key words: Modern, Lovecraftian horror with Chinese supernatural elements, cults. A note to any reader who isn’t into Lovecraftian horror: I usually avoid this genre too, because it doesn’t give me any chills. But there are other factors that make this book interesting, namely adventure and…

• …the love interest. One of my favourite tops. He’s Princess Rapunzel but mad. See these posts for more details. See this post if you don’t mind spoilers (I advise against reading this one if you’re sure you want to read the book).

• Scores much higher than most danmei books with regard to gender equality

• Touching sacrifices for family

• I didn’t have it in me to keep track of some plot details, partly because I involuntarily paused reading halfway; the author hadn’t published the rest of the novel at the time. I only picked up the book again after the author finished writing, and by then I had forgotten some stuff. So I can’t comment on whether everything makes complete sense.

• As previously mentioned, Lovecraftian horror isn’t my thing, so I found some parts a bit draggy

🌸 折枝/阶下囚 Broken Branch/The Prisoner by 困倚危楼 Kun Yi Wei Lou/Drowsily Leaning Against The Balcony Of A Tower* (*this phrase is from a poem)

• Title in pinyin: zhe zhi/jie xia qiu

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• Beautiful depictions of 1) longing and 2) anguish and regret

• Sly and teasing love interest VS cold and stern protagonist, nice.

• Has an audio drama

• Con: the second half of the book got strange but it’s okay, I enjoyed the book anyway

🗡 每天起床都看到反派在抢戏 Every Day I Wake Up and See the Villain Stealing My Show by 钟晓生 Zhong Xiao Sheng

• Title in pinyin: mei tian qi chuang dou kan dao fan pai zai qiang xi

• Genre/setting: Wuxia/xianxia, comedy

• My introduction: Han Changsheng, the young irresponsible head of the most powerful demonic martial arts sect, boots a guy off a cliff for insulting his beloved sect. Turns out that the guy is the incarnation of a god, Lord An Yuan, who was undergoing a holy trial on earth, in which he was destined to become a hero who would smite Han Changsheng and rid the world of demonic forces in the culmination of his epic journey. The gods of death are livid because Han Changsheng killed human An Yuan before his time was up, disrupting Lord An Yuan’s holy trial. To fix the problem, the gods wind back time to a point before An Yuan’s death and Han Changsheng is coerced to help An Yuan become the fated hero (and his own murderer). But despite Han Changsheng’s best efforts, things don’t go as planned…

• Humorous!!! I re-read it!

• Cons:

- a few icky descriptions

- the ending is wonky but the reading process is fun enough to compensate for that

⚔️ 每天起床都看见教主在破案 Every Day I Wake Up and See the Sect Leader Cracking Cases by 钟晓生 Zhong Xiao Sheng

• Title in pinyin: mei tian qi chuang dou kan jian jiao zhu zai po an

• Genre/setting: Wuxia

• Intriguing

🧸 安乐死 Euthanasia by 风溯君 Feng Su Jun

• Title in pinyin: an le si

• Genre/setting: Modern, entertainment industry (film)

• Introduction (translated by me):

Every day, people are born and people die. Those who don’t have a right to decide on their birth at least have a right to decide on their death. No one could figure out why young, tremendously wealthy John chose euthanasia.

He was well-prepared on the day of his death, but when he woke up again, he had acquired a legal husband.

• Pros: likeable cast of characters, interracial transnational couple, story interspersed with some humour, pursuit of dreams, mutual support, thoughtful verbalisations of affection and encouragement. John Williams’ expressiveness, quirkiness, and unabashed love of childish and feminine things go well with Liu Zhiwei’s stability (even-tempered, mature, resilient).

• Other tags: LGBTQ+ issues, family, rough personal histories. I excluded spoilery tags.

• Cons: many, many flaws (for example, the lack of detail regarding John’s rehabilitation, an incorrect depiction of how one should treat coral reefs while diving, an interview arrangement that doesn’t make sense), too troublesome to list them all

• Excerpt (translated by me):

“You are a part of my dream,” said John. “God played a prank on me, putting my dream on the other side of the globe. But luckily I found you in the end.”

• Despite the intro, Liu Zhiwei, not John, is the main character in my view. The story is told from several characters’ perspectives, but the book centres on Liu Zhiwei more than John.

• At the start of the story, Liu Zhiwei is a broke background actor with little hope left.

• It’s open to interpretation, but I think John is the top, haha.

• John’s name is not spelled as John in the book. I believe the name in the novel is not what the author would have chosen if their first language were English, because the spelling is unusual, yet it is mentioned in the book that there are many people in the US with that name. Hence, I’ve taken the liberty to use the similar-sounding “John” here.

🌊 水魅 Water Wraith by 樊落 Fan Luo

• Title in pinyin: shui mei

• Genre/setting: Modern, ghosts (not scary)

• Intriguing; dark mysterious mood

• Has an audio drama

• Con: I had a gripe about some powers in the second half of the book, but I enjoyed the story anyway

😤 奴才 Slave by 风弄 Feng Nong

• Title in pinyin: nu cai

• Genre/setting: Historical

• A trashy book. Trashy books make guilty pleasures. Definitely not most discerning readers’ cup of tea.

• Utterly unrealistic, but I wasn’t looking for something realistic anyway.

📕 魔尊也想知道 The Demon Lord Would Like To Know Too by 青色羽翼 Qingse Yuyi/Green Wings

• Title in pinyin: mo zun ye xiang zhi dao

• Genre/setting: Xianxia

• Funny supporting characters. If not for them, I wouldn’t have finished the book.

• Far surpasses most danmei novels in terms of gender equality (though it still doesn’t perfectly meet my standards); see this post for a more detailed description: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/629254095244558336/currently-reading-%E9%AD%94%E5%B0%8A%E4%B9%9F%E6%83%B3%E7%9F%A5%E9%81%93

• Cons:

- The love interest has no personality except for one key trait + I don’t like him, he’s too cold

- The descriptions of how magical energy works/plays out in that universe can be abstract and draggy

🌨 我乘风雪 I Ride the Wind and Snow by 弃吴钩 Qi Wu Gou

• Title in pinyin: wo cheng feng xue

• Genre/setting: Historical

• Moving depictions of survivor’s guilt and longing for people loved and lost

• 🍑😏 Award. As the author says, “If we’re not driving a car [a euphemism for you-know-what], we’re on the way to drive a car.” Trigger warnings apply.

• Longer review (spoiler-free) + book extracts: https://tentative-wanderer.tumblr.com/post/680151717729468416/danmei-book-recommendation-%E6%88%91%E4%B9%98%E9%A3%8E%E9%9B%AA-riding-the-wind

☀️ 2020年夏天发生了什么 What Happened in the Summer of 2020 by 张迷经 Zhang Mijing

• Title in pinyin: er ling er ling (2020) nian xia tian fa sheng le shen me

• Genre/setting: Modern, slice of life

• Straightforward, casual language

• Life, work, finding love. The more you read, the cuter it gets.

• A relatively short book

🥋 不称职的保镖先生 Mr. Unqualified Bodyguard by 钟晓生 Zhong Xiao Sheng

• Tags: Modern, mixed martial arts (MMA), famous singer, bipolar disorder

• What I liked: MMA is cool, depictions of bipolar disorder, the protagonist’s care and gentleness

• Cons: Relatively straightforward plot, nothing flashy; felt like it ended without a climax; go in with the knowledge that it’s just an okay book. It’s not entirely clear why the protagonist loves who he loves.

🥼 全世界都在等我们分手 The Whole World Is Waiting For Us To Break Up by 不是风动 Bushi Fengdong/Not The Wind Moving

• Title in pinyin: quan shi jie dou zai deng wo men fen shou

• Genre/setting: Futuristic, sci-fi, but it’s not about robots and starships. It’s about data science, statistics, and chemistry.

• Unconventional take on the “you are a mere substitute for the one I truly love” trope

• As is common in danmei, the title style doesn’t reflect the type of content. The book involves academia and sciencey concepts and terminology. Author’s disclaimer: not all concepts depicted in the story are factually accurate.

• I didn’t think I would like a top like this, but I do in this case. The relationship dynamics are interesting.

• Cons: I had high hopes that weren’t fulfilled.

- Some plot holes

- The antagonist’s motivation is rather trite and too weak to support their large-scale machinations

- I think the antagonist could have tried to achieve their goal by a much more direct means

🐣 重生成仙尊的掌中啾 Reborn as a Chirp in the Immortal Lord’s Grasp / 笼中雀 Caged Bird by 一丛音 Yi Cong Yin

• Title in pinyin: chong sheng cheng xian zun de zhang zhong jiu

• Genre: Mythology/fantasy

• Horrendous title belies a decent story

• I found the “what if” extra chapters sweet

• You can try out this book if:

- you’re looking for a love story in a fantasy setting

- you’d be interested in a kind naïve bimbo protagonist + sui/ci/d.al love interest constantly teetering on the brink of destructive madness in a calm, smiling manner

- you’re looking for something cute, with a lot of cheeping, but not plain sweet all the way

• This book is absolutely not for you if:

- you’re a stickler for excellent writing. This book has a plot that’s tied up satisfactorily by the end, but the execution and writing quality could be better. I read it when I was not in a picky mood.

- you’re looking for a story where the main couple’s relationship is a side dish instead of the entrée

- you’re looking for something brainy

👾 沙雕渣攻今天又渣了我 That Ridiculous Scummy Top Treated Me Like Scum Again Today by 红口白牙 Hongkou Baiya/Red Lips, White Teeth

• Title in pinyin: sha diao zha gong jin tian you zha le wo

• Absolutely horrendous, shudder-inducing title. But the calibre of the worldbuilding is higher than what the title implies.

• Genre/setting: sci-fi (virtual reality). Involves a VR game, but not geeky gaming/e-sports (I don’t have a shred of interest in those).

• Mini surprises everywhere; many amusingly awkward situations and running gags involving not-so-locked doors and the protagonist’s train wrecks

• Contains numerous imperfections, so I didn’t put this book in my recommendations list after my first read. But the story still kept me hooked—twice! So I put this book in my rec list after my second read.

• Straightforward functional prose, don’t expect beauty

🌬 临时保镖 Temporary Bodyguard by 绿野千鹤 Lü Ye Qian He/Thousand Cranes in a Meadow

• Title in pinyin: lin shi bao biao

• Genre/setting: Modern, mystery

• Witty dialogues

• Warning: shocking racism at some point. I contemplated removing this book from this list, but ultimately didn’t because 1) I managed to swallow the bile and move on with the story, and 2) I did the same when I came across other social issues depicted disappointingly in other books on this list. (Typically, the culprit is sexism; less eye-catching but more insidious.) Read, if you do, with discernment.

• Cons:

- I have gripes about the way some of the cases/crimes were executed

- I have a gripe about a plot twist

- The ending feels slightly rushed

🪲 情蛊 Ardour’s Curse 荷煜 He Yu

• Title in pinyin: qing gu. Qing is love/feelings, gu is a spell/curse placed via a venomous creature like a bug, snake, scorpion, or centipede that came out on top of a battle royale with other venomous creatures. Qing gu is a love spell inflicted via those means. Gu folklore is associated with the Miao people.

• The author used some superficial elements from the Miao ethnic group, but clearly stated that many things in the story are purely made-up.

• Adventure, abduction/imprisonment. A trashy book. Trashy themes make guilty pleasures.

• Manipulative, overly possessive love interest, the sort that belongs in jail. Trigger warning. “Will he ever learn, or will the red flags remain red” is part of the mystery.

• Several flaws, e.g., protagonist’s friends acting a bit dumb at times, protagonist’s internal thoughts coming off as a bit high-and-mighty at times

• Horror is not this book’s genre but I am disturbed

• This book might be classified as having a happy ending, but actually it’s complicated (I want to explain but can’t do it here as it’s spoilery). But don’t let that sole factor put you off—I only like books with happy endings and I was kinda okay with this

🥢 古董下山 Antique Descends A Mountain by 缘何故 Yuan He Gu/The Reason Why

• Title in pinyin: gu dong xia shan

• Genre/setting: Modern, mythology

• I won’t finish this book (the story, as it progressed, didn’t fit my taste), but the first part was fun

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Short Stories

📱 世界虚拟说 Virtual World Theory by 扇葵 Shan Kui

• A story in the book called 哄你睡觉短篇合集 Collection of Short Stories to Lull You to Sleep (pinyin: hong ni shui jiao duan pian he ji)

• Genre/setting: Modern

• Touching, sweet, sad, happy. The love interest is an undertaker with the personality of a big, quiet, obedient dog with some quirks (this is a compliment).

😠 室友男友是个渣，我该不该提醒他？ My Housemate’s Boyfriend Is Scum; Should I Warn Him? by 反派二姐 Fanpai Erjie/Villainous Second Sister

• Title in pinyin: shi you nan you shi ge zha, wo gai bu gai ti xing ta?

• Genre/setting: Modern

• A simple and light “bedtime story” (in the words of the author) for when your brain just wants to trundle along sluggishly.

🌔 月光宝盒 Moonlight Treasure Box by 反派二姐 Fanpai Erjie/Villainous Second Sister

• Title in pinyin: yue guang bao he

• Genre/setting: Modern

• A short “bedtime story” (in the author’s words). A bit plottier than the one above. Cute.

📑 将就 Make Do by 河汉 He Han

• Title in pinyin: jiang jiu

• Genre/setting: Modern

• Trite trope, simple, mild sweetness, no brain needed.

🧑‍🎨 潮湿 Moist by 春日负暄 Chunri Fuxuan

• Title in pinyin: chao shi

• Genre/setting: Modern

• Light, 🍑😏 story. Trigger warning. No brain needed.

🏘️ 邻居 Neighbour by 青端 Qing Duan

• Title in pinyin: lin ju

• Genre/setting: Modern

• Very simple, sweet. The main character has social anxiety disorder.

😇 烂漫的任一顾 Artless Ren Yigu by Your唯 Your Wei

• Title in pinyin: lan man de ren yi gu

• Setting: Modern

• Peculiar (interesting) way of storytelling! Comedy intermingled with a hodgepodge of mental illnesses (delusions of persecution, OCD, a bit of depression). The protagonist’s lively tone makes everything a few shades lighter even though he’s facing some dark issues.

• The love interest has a stutter

• Ending felt abrupt but that’s a small matter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Others

👁 目杀师 Master of the Killer’s Gaze by 袁依楣 Yuan Yimei

• Title in pinyin: mu sha shi

• Short story

• Genre/setting: Modern, thriller

• Not danmei, but I’m recommending it anyway. Has the potential to be danmei, if it were to be expanded into a novel.

• Gripping. I wish there were more.

• I was tempted to translate the title as “A Killer’s Gaze” as it’s pithier, in line with the spirit of the three-syllable Mandarin title, but I went with the longer translation instead in order to better encapsulate the title’s meaning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

🗣 Please recommend books for me to read! My reading habits:

• I read danmei in Mandarin.

• Most of the time, I’m picky about writing and plot quality. I’ll tolerate the occasional grammar mistake/typo if the writing is still good overall and if the plot is really interesting.

• The likeableness of the main characters plays a huge role in keeping me interested. I get attached to characters. Most of the time, I dislike constantly cold-blooded protagonists.

• I dislike dry court politics and palace intrigue. In a similar vein, I’m seldom interested in books with a non-magical historical setting, but I’m open to trying out such books if they don’t involve a lot of politics.

• Most of the time, I dislike books whose “plots” largely consist of characters being cutesy and lovey-dovey. Short stories are exempt from this standard, to an extent.

• Most of the time, I dislike nigh unbeatable protagonists who smoothly sail over obstacles and keep winning at life without much effort (金手指).

• I’ve tried many times to read Priest’s books but have never been able to sustain my interest, for some reason.

• I don’t read danmei books about school life. Uni is okay.

• For some unidentifiable reason, I don’t like danmei police stories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thoughts about some nice characters: here

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Thank you if you reblog this; I’m both starving and picky so I really want more good books on my radar! Also, on Tumblr, only reblogs count towards a post’s visibility; likes don’t, so do reblog this post to spread the love.

Let me know if you read a book because of this rec list :3

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whumphoarder · 4 years

Note

Do you have any fics that you want more people to read? Not any specific trope, just fics you really like and wish more people gave love to. Self-promo encouraged too :)

Sure, I’ll give some underrated fic recs. At the moment, all of these have <300 kudos (but hopefully we can change that):

To Protect and Serve by AgentNerd

Happy Hogan looks after the people in his life. It's all he knows how to do.

^This is the character study of Happy Hogan that I wish everyone in the fandom would read. It’s just so richly detailed and fleshed out and I love how they dive into his youth. I’ll wait 6 years for an update, i don’t even care man

May the Fourth Be With You by Undercover_Royalty

Peter’s funeral is on May the 4th.

Ned is... trying to cope.

^An AU one-shot in which Peter dies in the snap and Ned is left to give the eulogy. Not the kind of fic I typically read, but I adored this one and I’d love others to give it a chance too

Leave out all the Rest by @xxx-cat-xxx

“Listen, Peter,” Tony says. “You need to promise me one thing. Don’t stop being Spider-Man. The world needs you, more so than it ever needed me. More than you know.”

Then he gets up, walking away at the slow pace of an old man, and Peter never sees the tears on his cheeks.

^Listen, if you want your heart to be ripped out of your chest and smashed into a million pieces, but in the best way possible, give this one a go. It’s Tony with brain cancer and all of the people who love him coming to terms with that

Open fire by @builder051

“I hoped you would at least acknowledge it. Maybe ask for a little help, for someone to stay with you or something. Go buy you a gallon of ice cream or take you to see a movie, I don’t know.” Steve bounces the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. “You think I’m stupid, Nat, but I’m not. You’re not the first person in the world who’s ever felt bad and not known what to do about it.”

^ A Nat & Steve centric story that just hurts in all the right places. Mind the warnings, but it’s my favorite of the author’s series and really hits in an angsty-but-warm way that I don’t really have a word for, but you’ll understand if you read it

For He's a Jolly Green Fellow by @twentyghosts

On the anniversary of Bruce's gamma radiation accident, Tony finds Bruce baking a very large cake for the day that he's come to consider Hulk's birthday. Party-loving Tony is scandalized to learn that Bruce hasn't made any plans for the day beyond the cake, and he scrambles to plan the party the Big Guy deserves. The resulting event isn't particularly elegant, but it's full of love. And frosting. A lot of frosting.

^ This is just incredibly sweet, but also really dives into Bruce’s mind and his own struggling to accept the Hulk side of him. Brilliantly well done <3

Ordinary People by tasalmalin

The Avengers are an extraordinarily effective team of superheroes, but their lives outside of fighting aren't quite so together. This is illustrated by their first real team bonding activity: dinner

^It’s a bit crack, but it’s really well-characterized crack, which imo is the best kind. Definite 2012 Tower vibes and just disaster superheroes being disasters

Eggnog and Tums and a Stairlift and Too Much Pie by @whimsicalethnographies

“Okay, they’re gone…”

Peter looks up from his spot on the floor, where he’s dutifully cutting out snowflakes to add to Morgan’s collection. Mr. Stark is in his chair at the window, where he’s been since Happy ushered May and Pepper out the door ten minutes ago.

“...now’s our chance to be bad.”

^ Tony & Morgan shenanigans with poor Peter along for the ride and trying to be the responsible adult. Hilarious and adorable without at all being saccharine, and Morgan’s characterization just makes me grin

It's all fun and games by @frostysunflowers

Peter loves playing pranks on Tony.

Tony isn't so keen.

^I am such a sucker for Peter faking being hurt/sick for some kind of decent reason and this one is just superbly well done. I won’t give away the plot here, but when it hits, it hits brilliantly

And for the self-promo:

Sweet 50 by @awesomesockes & @whumphoarder

While setting up for his 50th birthday extravaganza, Tony manages to hurt his back. Bruce and Peter try to help.

Key word: try.

^This is just fun disaster-Avengers whump, and we name drop a lot of celebrities for the lols

#underrated fics #fic rec #rec list #seek-rest

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searchingwardrobes · 4 years

Text

Self Promo Sunday

I have honestly really enjoyed going back to my older fics and making picsets for them to post here on tumblr. This one is a cute little one shot that came to me because I did a brief stint in direct sales and was HORRIBLE at it! (I sold - or tried to sell - scrapbooking supplies). I know Killian is good at charming his way out of trouble and using his charm to steal things, but I imagined that being a salesman wouldn’t be as easy for him. You see, I was horrible at sales because I don’t like talking people into buying something when they clearly don’t want to. Killian Jones is very passionate about choice and free will, so I imagined the following story!

Words: 2k and some change

Rating: G for silly, sweet fluff

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4 @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @optomisticgirl @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @superchocovian @sherlockianwhovian @vvbooklady1256 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan

Emma Swan really hopes Killian Jones has a second job. Because she’s never seen a worse salesman. The first time he comes into the diner, the last thing she would have pegged him as is a salesman. All mussed hair and black leather with piercings and a tattoo. The heavy black vinyl bag leaning against the booth next to him that says Buy the Book: Direct Sales is out of place.

He’s so bad at it that it takes him forever that first day to give her his sales pitch. Until his second cup of coffee, to be exact. That’s when he hems and haws as he gives her his business card. She stares at it, wondering how she can politely decline as he scratches behind his ear and slides a glossy catalogue across the table. She normally wouldn’t have any qualms at turning down either a sales pitch or a pick up line with a gruff not interested, but he’s so adorably nervous. He starts pulling sample inventory out of his bag, and that’s when she’s in trouble because Henry sniffs out the books like a bloodhound. Her son hops from his stool at the counter where he’s been doing his homework, and eagerly starts looking through the books.

“Look at this one, mom!” Henry exclaims, holding up a pirate sticker and activity book. “It’s not for babies. It’s got cool facts about the history of real pirates.”

Yes. Emma Swan’s son is not your typical ten year old. He’s both a bookworm and a history nut. And she loves him for it. Which is why she buys it. Not because salesman Killian Jones has killer blue eyes.

She pulls a twenty from her apron pocket, hands it to him (because there’s no way she’s giving a guy she just met her credit card information), and tries not to swoon when he smiles. It’s killer, too. She’s his first customer, he tells her, and she can’t help smiling back. He frowns, though, when he realizes he doesn’t have change for a twenty, and then Emma rolls her eyes because, really? It’s just a nickel. He smiles again at that and, well, crap. That smile!

She rolls her eyes later when she sees the ten he left for a tip along with a note telling her she’s “bloody amazing.” The fool went and gave the majority of his profit right back to her. Yeah, he really sucks at this.

*********************************************************

The second time he comes into the diner, he wisely comes in the afternoon again, ensuring Henry is there doing his homework. But this time, he tries (and fails) to chat up fellow customers to get a few sales. They seem skeptical of a salesman who looks more like a biker/rock star than someone who peddles used cars. Emma almost laughs when the only single woman in the diner’s face instantly falls when Killian Jones produces his business card and a catalogue. Seems his blue eyes and his smile are powerless against a woman scorned. She huffs as she tosses her tip on the table and exits the diner post haste, leaving a clearly baffled Killian behind.

When Emma approaches his table, he smiles half-heartedly and she feels sorry for him. Once again, he doesn’t try to sell her anything until she fills his coffee mug a second time. That’s when he pulls out a book he thinks Henry might like, all about knights and castles of the Middle Ages. Henry eagerly peruses it, and Emma is a sucker once again. She buys it because Henry loves history so much he’s the only ten year old Emma has ever heard of who was pumped about a weekend trip to Gettysburg. It’s not because of the way Killian Jones swipes his tongue over his lower lip when he’s nervous.

*****************************************************

The next time Killian comes into the diner, Christmas music is playing and a garland of evergreen hangs in loops over the counter. It’s mid-morning, so Henry’s at school. After his second cup of coffee, Killian admits he came when he knew Henry would be at school because he was hoping . . . and then he’s hemming and hawing again, rubbing at his neck and scratching behind his ear. Emma thinks for a split second that he’s trying to ask her out until he pulls his company’s Christmas catalogue out of his bag. She tries to ignore her disappointment when he asks if she’s finished her Christmas shopping yet.

She ends up buying a “Daily Inspirations for Teachers” desk calendar for Mary Margaret and Nicholas Spark’s newest bestseller for David (a guilty pleasure she loves to tease him about). For Granny she gets a book of knitting patterns. Killian pulls out a book he thinks Henry would like: a leather bound book of fairy tales with the title Once Upon a Time embossed in elegant script across the front. Emma knows Henry would love it, but gasps at the price. A forty dollar book is way over her budget, and like the horrible salesman he is, Killian doesn’t push it. She orders two graphic novels for Henry instead, and when she places the order she slides her credit card across the table.

Killian tells her it’s his biggest order to date and smiles so wide Emma is able to confirm her suspicions. There are dimples underneath that scruff. She begins to second guess her assertion that he’s a bad salesman. Because she’s pretty sure he could sell beachfront property in Kansas with those dimples.

*************************************************

In January, Emma is alarmed when a dejected Killian Jones enters the diner and slumps in his usual booth, his head in his hands. Emma decides to stop the charade when she approaches his table.

“You don’t have to wait till your second cup of coffee.”

Killian lifts his face to hers and quirks an eyebrow in confusion, “I’m sorry, love?”

“You know,” Emma says, gesturing with her order pad, “selling me books. What do you have for Henry this time?”

Killian sighs and leans back in the booth, “Alas, Swan, I am no longer in the business. I’m pretty much the worst salesman in the world.”

Emma hates that she chuckles, but she can’t help it, “Yeah, you pretty much sucked.” Killian, thankfully, laughs as well. “I’m glad I was your best customer, then. While it lasted.”

Killian winces, “Actually, love, you were my only customer.”

Emma’s jaw drops at that and her sympathy grows exponentially. She never bought that much, really. She glances around for Granny as she slides into the booth across from him. Although, based on Granny’s reaction to the knitting book (Why don’t you kiss the man already instead of buying all his books?), she doesn’t think she’ll mind.

“Are you okay? I mean, you don’t seem like you’re starving and destitute, so I’m assuming you have another job.”

“Several, actually,” Killian says, drumming his fingers on the table. “My brother and I do seasonal work on the Cape with a boat charter we own.”

“Cape Cod?”

“Aye. The Cape is beautiful in the spring and summer, but in the winter it’s downright depressing. So I like to come here to Boston once we winter the boat. The hustle and bustle is a nice change of pace, and I love city life during the holidays. Plus, like your boy, I’m a bit of a history buff. I work seasonally at the bookstore down the street.”

“So why the direct sales?”

Killian sighs, “A foolish notion. The bookstore only hires me through the end of December. I thought with this second job I could stay in the city until spring,” he shrugs. “Turns out convincing a customer in a bookstore to buy J.M. Barrie’s original Peter Pan instead of the abridged illustrated version is a mite different from selling books all on your lonesome.”

Emma’s heart drops at the implication of what he’s saying. “So what will you do now?”

“Slink back to the Cape with my tail between my legs and help my sister in law at the ice cream shop, as usual.”

So he’s leaving Boston. He’s leaving, and Emma is surprised at how much it disappoints her. “An ice cream place on the cape can make it through the winter?” She almost face palms. Can she sound any more desperate to convince him to stay?

Killian doesn’t seem to pick up on any subtext, thank goodness. “Elsa inherited the place from her aunt. She and her sister helped out there since they were kids. They know how to make it through the lean months. Dull as tombs, though. Yet, as they say, spring will come again!”

Emma tries to smile, but she knows it’s half-hearted. Killian reaches into his bag and pulls out the leather bound book of fairy tales she couldn’t afford at Christmas. Emma arches an eyebrow, “Still trying to make a sale?”

“Oh no, Swan, this is a gift. To thank you.”

“Killian, I can’t accept that. You need to sell off your inventory, or you’ll lose everything you invested.”

Killian chuckles sardonically at that, “Too late for that, Swan. Besides, you’re the only one who ever bought anything, and you know it wasn’t for the books. You felt sorry for me.”

Emma’s face flushes, and she wishes she could tell him that wasn’t it. She’s always despised pity and vowed she’d never doll it out. But how can she explain that while still guarding her heart? Instead, she accepts the leather book and hugs it to her chest, mumbling a soft “thank you.” Killian smiles in return and exits the diner without ever ordering a thing. And she hates the finality of his departure and the possibility that there could have been a them, but now she’ll never know.

She looks down at the book in her hands and notices a little rectangle of cardstock poking out of its pages. She pulls it out, expecting it to be Killian’s Buy the Book business card. Instead, it says Jewel of the Realm Charters with the names Liam and Killian Jones and a phone number. Emma’s heart flips in her chest when she sees that Killian has jotted a note on the back.

I owe you and Henry a free day of sailing. – Killian

The fool still knows nothing about making a profit.

********************************************************

In February, Emma Swan walks into Any Given Sundae along the shores of Cape Cod. She convinced herself there was nothing stalker-ish about her showing up here, but now that the bell is jingling above the door and the blonde woman behind the counter is smiling at her, she’s having second thoughts. Killian had mentioned his sister-in-law’s name, so it’s not like she had to be a private detective or anything to find the place. Still, who drives all the way from Boston to Cape Cod just to visit an ice cream shop? In February?

“May I help you?” asks the blonde, and Emma fiddles with the end of her scarf. She was kind of hoping Killian would just be there when she walked through the door.

“Um . . . I . . .” and she almost laughs thinking of the way Killian would hem and haw when selling her books. She glances around the store. It’s one of those tiny places that beach goers walk in and out of on hot summer days. There are no tables or chairs anywhere in the place. But in the corner a display table has been set up. A display table of books. Emma walks towards it. “You sell books?”

“Oh,” says the blonde – Elsa, she assumes – with a dismissive wave of her hand, “that’s a failed business venture of my brother-in-law’s. Please buy one. I need to get those out of here before tourist season.”

Emma reaches out and runs her fingers along the edges of the books.

“Swan?”

Emma turns to see Killian standing behind the counter with a large tub of ice cream in each arm. He deposits them quickly into their slots behind the glass then comes around to face her. They stand there staring at each other for a few moments, grinning like a couple of idiots.

“Wh-what are you doing here, Swan?” he stutters, and she swears he sounds more nervous than he did when he was trying to sell books.

“Guess it’s too early for that day of sailing, huh?” she teases with a shrug.

“Yeah, I’d say so,” he teases back, “there’s a foot of snow on the ground, Swan.”

Emma bites her lip and fiddles with her scarf again, “Actually, I came to tell you thank you. For Henry’s book. He loves it.”

Killian raises his eyebrows, “You drove all the way out to Cape Cod to tell me that?”

There’s a twinkle in his eyes that makes Emma blush, and they just stare at each other again like goofballs. She sees Elsa laugh and shake her head out of the corner of her eye, and she thinks that she couldn’t possibly embarrass herself any more than she already has. So with a roll of her eyes and a screw this, she grabs him by the shirt collar and kisses the living daylights out of him.

He dives back in for more when she finally pulls away, and when Elsa tells them, “Easy there, tigers, you’re gonna melt all the ice cream,” they laugh against each others’ lips.

************************************************************

Two months later, Henry brings his book along when Killian takes them sailing. He reads parts of it out loud to them when Killian lays anchor, and Emma finds that it’s modern versions of classic fairy tales. Snow White is a bandit with a bow and arrows, Red Riding Hood is a werewolf, and Captain Hook is a hero who falls in love with a princess. And Emma thinks that she really likes this story. A pirate and a princess.

But she likes theirs better.

A salesman and a waitress.

Make that a horrible salesman and a waitress.

#cs ff #self promo sunday #cs modern au #fluff #killian as a salesman #a horrible salesman #emma as a waitress #emma and henry

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thestylesindependent · 4 years

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Inside Eroda, the fictional Harry Styles island that’s baffled the internet

Full Text from The Telegraph 4/12/2019

It all started on November 20. A Twitter account opened in October released its first post: “The Isle of Eroda’s rich history is embedded in daily life as the ruins of many structures from the past remain standing across the land. #VisitEroda”

It looked like a new marketing campaign for a little-visited, off-beat beauty spot. But a quick search would show it didn’t actually exist. Yet, Eroda had a website. Advertisements for the place were popping up on Facebook and Google. People interested in all manner of nerdy subcultures were foxed – it had the whiff of a clever marketing campaign about it, but what was it for?

Within hours, an Eroda subreddit had been created to discuss it. People dived deep into web hosting details, and only became more baffled as they seemed legitimate: “it ain't no kid doing a school project”. Was it a scam, a game, an elaborate prank? Some were convinced it was the beginning of a new Cloverfield film, World of Warcraft, a new Channel 4 series or even a means of human trafficking.

Meanwhile, scores of “Harries”, the sub-group of Directioners dedicated to Harry Styles, were piecing bits of evidence together. The pop star was due to release Adore You, the second single off his forthcoming sophomore album. “Adore” backwards was “Eroda”, and the video, released on November 23, looked like it had been shot in St Abbs, the Berwickshire fishing village where Styles had been spotted shooting in August. As Eroda claimed more of the internet, Harries – some of the most forensic fans in the world – were sent into a flurry of investigation.

The goliath churn of a pop star marketing campaign is fairly familiar by now: cryptic social media teaser, excitable release date news, lyric video, full video, rinse, repeat.

Styles, who will release sophomore album Fine Line on December 13 and Adore You on Friday, satisfied many speculating fans on Monday with a near-three-minute-long trailer for the single, along with an illustration of the star standing in the ocean, surrounded by fish.

To those who had been studying Eroda for the past 10 days it was the confirmation they had been hankering for: Eroda was a Harry Styles project, and it confirmed what they had always known – that he is an artist beyond the normal realms of pop frippery (by contrast, former bandmate Louis Tomlinson spent the same afternoon releasing a video in which he sings in a bunker wearing a Stone Island parka).

Styles’ trailer introduced Eroda, showing it to be an island in the middle of the Irish Sea “shaped unmistakably like a frown, it is home to an all-but-forgotten fishing village that has had perpetual cloud cover for as long as anyone can remember”. Scenes appear of a typical coastal village, with crashing waves and brave little houses facing them. It gets increasingly weird: we learn that it is bad luck to “mention a pig in a fisherman’s pub” and to “whistle in the wind, in case you turn a gust into a gale”; the island mustn’t be left on odd-numbered days.

The inhabitants of Eroda’s village always frown, calling it “resting fish face”. Until, that is, a beaming baby appears amidst the gloom. Deemed “peculiar” (a word that pops up a lot), the boy – who grows up to become Harry Style – was outcast, leading him to deal with his angst by screaming into jars. “He had lost his smile, and without it, the world grew darker, the wind colder, and the ocean more violent” the pan-European narrator explains. “Loneliness is an ocean full of travellers trying to find their place in the world”, she continues, as Harry finds himself bonding with a stubborn fish, before the film ends “to be continued…”

So far, so intriguing. But delve a little deeper into Eroda and you may find yourself wanting to visit. The island’s website – beautiful island views and a template dating back to the late Noughties – looks remarkably similar to those for any other charming coastal holiday destination, say Bute or Oban. “No Land Quite Like It”, reads Eroda’s strapline, before offering a familiar-enough menu: Accommodations, Attractions, Guide, Home and About Eroda. The video is similarly convincing: “Make memories for your senses at VisitEroda.com”, a dulcet-voiced woman encourages over shots of crabmeat and speedboats.

It didn’t take long for the Harries to take over the Eroda subreddit, moderators becoming increasingly rigid in ruling nuggets of unrelated Eroda flotsam irrelevant to the cause of discovery (such as the user who wanted to discuss Eroda, but without any intervention from the Harries). Tumblr users were similarly invested: “What do the ominous references to Him portend? What are they serving at those town dinners? You think it’s a cute little coastal AU [alternative universe] but upon closer examination it’s full-on Wicker Man meets Hotel California meets Nightvale in the afterlife (which is what most of those places are anyway so sure why not),” posted 1D Discourse of the Day.

The whole thing is littered with wordplay. Eroda, for one, is Adore backwards (Harry’s next single is called Adore You). But, as Directioners have pointed out, the copy throughout the website nods to forthcoming Styles songs: The Fisherman’s Pub is located on the corner of Cherry Street and Golden Way (Cherry is one new song, Golden is another); the album will be released on Friday, 13 December and Eroda recommends avoiding a departure on an odd-numbered day. Eroda’s fishermen wear a single gold earring for good fortune – a look historically sported by Styles.

Directioners went further still: the hosting for VisitEroda.com and Styles’ website, doyouknowwhoyouare.com, were owned by the same company, MarkMonitor.inc. Social media pixels linked pages about Styles with Eroda. Fans became suspicious over Visit Eroda adverts appearing not on their social channels or YouTube, but, of all places, on Wikipedia. “I'M FROM FRICKING PORTUGAL,” a baffled Reddit user posted. “NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE. WHY IS THIS HERE”.

Eroda had analog presence, too. A4 pamphlets – the kind of thing one could make on MS Publisher circa 1998 – appeared in the freesheet boxes on the pavements of Manhattan. At a promo event in Paris, Harry was asked about Eroda by a fan. He remained silent, but those who were there claim he “made a face”.

By November 29, more evidence arrived. A short film “advert”, which used footage from the trailer released on Monday, was screened by a new Harry Styles fan account from “Eroda”. They said the film appeared in a cinema in Kinlochbervie, on Scotland’s northern coast; the Eroda account then started to tweet about cinema screening times. Eagle-eyed fans were swift to post screengrabs, showing similar island formations in the background of both the Eroda advert and that featuring Styles. The two were linked.

Kinlochbervie was, fittingly, a bit of a red herring: the footage shown in both the advert and the video trailer was actually taken in St Abbs, a picturesque fishing village in Berwickshire that’s no stranger to a rolling camera – it was “twinned” with New Asgard after being used as a location for Thor’s new home in Avengers Endgame.

Styles was there in August, shooting, it appears, a few things for the forthcoming album campaign. He and his crew used Angela Morris’s cottage, in St Abbs’ Sea View Terrace, as a green room during the three days of filming in the village, after Morris had responded to a note being popped through the door from a filming company. “One Thursday I was just coming home from work and there was Harry walking into the house,” she tells me. “All of the costumes were in the living room, make-up was going on in the kitchen.

“I asked if I could wait in the garden before my husband and I went out for the evening, so I just sat there when Harry came out,” Morris said. “I think he was having a coffee, and he sat down and chatted, asked me about bits and pieces about the village. I was talking to him about his Gucci clothes and we had a bit of a laugh. I wasn’t too starstruck, really, and I think he appreciated that.” Later on in the shoot, Styles invited Morris and her husband to share a glass of champagne with him and the crew.

While the shoot interrupted the sleepy pace of life on St Abbs for a few days – Morris says that visitor numbers had already been boosted by Avengers Endgame but small crowds of teenage girls began to crop up after word spread of Harry’s location – most villagers, she reckons, are pleased to see the place put on the map: “Most people I saw were embracing it and interested to see what was going on.”

A German artist named Mario Klingemann was, however, more incensed when his holiday collided with the shoot: “I didn't know who Harry Styles was until today when I learned that he's the guy who blocked off the entire St Abbs harbour and prevented us from enjoying our fresh crab rolls," he posted on Twitter, aggrieved.

But Morris found out about Eroda much like everybody else – through Facebook. “It’s really odd,” she assess. “Lovely footage of beautiful St Abbs, though.”

Long-lens pap shots from that shoot certainly seem to match up with what we’ve seen of Eroda so far. Styles gangles around in Seventies suits, befitting the aesthetic of his trailer. The smoking gun, though, is the presence of a young woman with hair that brings to mind a Dr Seuss illustration, or the hat Princess Beatrice wore at the Cambridges’ wedding. VisitEroda’s “about” page explains: “The primary occupation in Eroda is fishing, however, the island’s art scene has recently started to develop. In particular, Erodean hairstyles have become a rather bold expression of self amongst the island’s youth”. Clearly, these are scenes of Eroda that are being filmed.

There’s an unmistakably ominous air to Eroda, and some believe the video for Adore You will see some misfortune befall Styles – there were reports of a (fake) gunshot being filmed in St Abbs while he was there.

But what happens next is arguably less intriguing than what we’ve been given with Eroda so far. We are well-used to being nudged and prodded by pop stars ahead of a new release. Major albums aren’t so much brought out as “dropped” or “leaked”, arriving online in the middle of the night before their fans disseminate them through the internet. Fans, rather than critics, are given early listens – and under tight NDAs. Artists will clear their channels to mark a new direction, only to give us elaborate photoshoots and contrived poetry to create a “concept”.

Eroda is undeniably a “concept” – themes of loneliness, peculiarity, conformity and happiness have been woven into the fictional island from the off. But it’s been artfully done; look deep enough into the Reddit forums and you’ll see non-Styles fans begrudgingly accepting that this is the work of a former boy band frontman, rather than that of a somehow more “serious” game creator, filmmaker or even musician. Furthermore, it’s fun – and that’s all too rare in a pop world where things have become obsessed with authenticity, and a rogue comment can result in “cancellation”. One Directioner popped up on a thread only to add, “As someone who works in marketing/promotion... This is fucking genius. Harry Styles' team is tops”, and it’s difficult to disagree.

After a decade in which stars have had to up their social media presence to survive, tweaking and teasing their listenership in ever-increasing desperation to retain shrinking attention spans, Styles is closing out the 2010s with the greatest album campaign we’ve seen so far. As an artistic statement, it suggests the 2020s will be his to claim.

#harry styles #eroda #press #the telegraph #dec2019 #long post

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thelunaticbinge · 4 years

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Kenny Omega is a Siren

And I am but a flailing sailor throwing myself onto the rocks.

I've been watching wrestling since I was about 10 years old, give or take. I'm now 28, almost 29. I fell in and out of watching it along the way, but have been pretty consistent for the past 6 years.

WWF/WWE has been the primary player in my story, understandably. I grew up in love with (and still am in love with Jeff Hardy). I gravitated, as a kid, toward colorful characters and teams like Team Xtreme, and ones that were high flying dare devils. The acrobatic, lightning fast nature of that style captivates kids easily, it can’t be denied. I still love the style, and appreciate any performer that works that way. It’s high energy and grabs the audience.

Despite this preferred style, however, I must admit that the actual wrestling wasn’t what initially drew me in, and it isn’t often what keeps me held nowadays. Obviously, if I didn’t enjoy the physical aspect, I wouldn’t be watching, and I can recognize when someone is particularly talented at what they do in the ring. But it was always the characters and the stories that pulled me in when I was younger, and which continue to do this day. That being said, I’ve gravitated away from WWE in a lot of ways. I appreciate so much of what the guys and girls do, and how hard they work, and how talented they are, and yet I’ve been terribly bored by it all lately. The stories just aren’t there for me. But that’s an essay for another day when I have more patience.

Fast forward to roughly a year and half to two years ago. Enter Bullet Club/The Elite.

I have far too much solitary time at my job so my mind tends to wander into daydreaming about what it would be like to meet some of these guys, or else what it would be like to sit down and actually spew my wrestling fandom story to some made up interviewer. Doing this really helped me dissect what it is I love about Kenny as a performer. Because I love him as a person too, but that much goes without saying. I’ll get this out of the way right now so that I can be genuine and serious for the rest of this. Most of what I explain in this essay lends A TON to the fact that the man is just sexy as fuck. Kill me dead.

God damn angel.

The first thing that drew me to Kenny was, in fact, his in ring ability. As I said before, I don’t often over analyze what the wrestlers do in the ring aside from finishers or signature moves and if I like the way they look. For instance, I think the RKO is one of the loveliest moves to watch. Call me fake all you want, it’s fine by me. I’ve been watching long enough to know what most moves are called and how an in-ring performance aids the story: I’m not uneducated, this is simply about taste. I’m a plot person, a charisma and character person.

But Kenny is one of the special ones.

Something about the way he moves strikes a chord. It took me a while to pinpoint what it might be, but I finally had an epiphany not too long ago. He really does move like a video game character. I grew up loving video games and while I don’t play as much anymore, I really appreciate how his passion for them bleeds into his wrestling style.

And it isn’t just his moves, but his mannerisms. I’ve seen a lot of people say they don’t like that about him; that he’s too over the top and goofy sometimes, and I just want to tell them, “That’s the point, though.” He excels at being over the top. Because depending on what he’s doing, who he’s fighting, what the current arc is, his mannerisms always make sense to me. The deliveries of his finger gun, the “You can’t escape”, some of his crazy eyes. I love it all.

I am 90% sure that the first match I ever saw of his was the one with Jericho at the Tokyo Dome. So obviously I haven’t been around long as far as his career goes. But if there was ever a match to fall in love at first sight with him, that was the one.

His moves, guys. HIS MOVES. The man is a machine. But like a 95% organic, android machine. Terminator, obviously. Wink wink.

Think about it. He is so crisp, concise, and articulate in how he moves. He is both explosive and technical. He mixes the powerful moves in with the high flying, manic style I’ve loved since I was ten in such a seamless way. The one-winged angel is a great move for its established devastation. Rarely have I seen anyone kick out of it, which is why I’m glad he never connected with it in the Mox match at Full Gear. Mox was able to come out on top in his specialty match, and yet Kenny wasn’t lessened by having his finisher made ineffective.

But I’ve found that even though I adore Kenny’s finisher and his flying over the ropes and around the ring, it’s some of the other things he does that fascinate me. For one, I adore the movement for his “You can’t escape” segment. How, may I ask, does a person move like that? And I’m not even talking about the moonsault part. I provide a link to a twitter gif because I can’t save gifs off twitter. Click HERE.

The man is like a gymnast with that stuck landing GOOD LORD.

To make up for the lack of an at hand visual, have this gif because I love it.

Secondly, the V-Trigger. This is a signature, yes, but fucking beautiful to watch. It’s speed and power and looks as life-ending as it does poetic. Just ask Joey Janela.

Have I mentioned yet that I love Kenny’s run? It’s so distinctive. Especially when it first starts. The high knee. The acceleration. The man is gorgeous in motion. Just agree with me and we’ll keep trucking along here.

The one move, though, that really illustrates what I’m getting at here is one that should--at least to my not professional in any way eye--be fairly elementary. I’m talking about the the snapdragon.

Please correct me if I’m wrong in saying this, but to my eye it seems like a move not developed for its power/match ending ability, but simply as a way to bring the opponent down and waylay them for a minute. It’s a suplex of sorts, yes? I imagine it isn’t meant to result in a pin.

But Kenny’s snapdragon is probably my favorite move he does. The Speed. The SPEED. THE SPEED. Whip-like and akin to the RKO in its tendency to strike out of nowhere. I watched him do it 3 times in a row live in person and I could only stare with fucking heart eyes.

He takes this move that should just be a trip up maneuver and makes it look like it could truly kill a man.

This is the best gif I could find, my apologies. Found on reddit.

Again, maybe the move was always supposed to spell obliteration for the opponent. I don’t see it really outside of when Kenny does it. But I think his style largely affects my view of it.

The motion of this man in his performance really drives home to me what so many people love about the art in wrestling. I sit up and pay attention to the physicality in a way I don’t in other matches. Don’t get me wrong. I’ll be up out of my seat for a lot of guys and gals, screaming and electric with the crowd when shit gets crazy. But when Kenny is in the ring, I find myself really absorbing what he does because of how well he does it. His talent has really connected with me, but I get it doesn’t with some people. Well, maybe I don’t get it, per-say, but to each his own.

I find that a lot of the qualities I find so enrapturing about his wrestling transition into what I love about his promos. His work on BTE is often very different from the NJPW/ROH/AEW stuff. His BTE stuff is usually humorous and endearing in weird, chaotic ways. I find him funny and cute and sometimes a bit unhinged. I’ve always liked a little crazy in my faves, let’s be real.

His in-ring promos hit a different nerve.

As with his wrestling, Kenny’s speech is crisp, concise, and articulate. It’s been a while since I’ve watched one, but I call to mind his introduction of Marty into Bullet Club. The wording he uses in such promos really elevate his character, especially when he’s got The Cleaner vibe going on. But for me, its all in his tone, the inflections. He’s quiet and you listen. The promos are smooth, easy to track, and evoke emotion.

It’s been a long time since a wrestler has really snatched my attention in the way Kenny Omega does. I find myself listening to my faves’ promos in both WWE and AEW more often than “listening” to their matches, and this often leads to me missing parts of the story. Do some promos fall flat? Sure. Depends on the character much of the time, and if I dig the current rivalry.

It hasn’t yet mattered to me who Kenny is facing. I pay strict attention. And in turn I pay attention to what the other person is doing, too. I love the wildness of Kenny’s matches--a wildness that isn’t only made obvious by his high flying moves, but by the subtler ones, too, as well as his mannerisms and expressions. The man can lay you out with a one-winged angel, 1,2,3. But first he’s going to tear you apart with a plethora of poetry in motion.

#kenny omega #aew #all elite wrestling #the cleaner #being the elite #bte #welcome to my brain

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tddkmodelzine · 5 years

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Meet the Mods!

Yo, it's ya boi, Mod Komi.

My role in this zine is basically butting my nose in everyone else's stuff lol. I'll be overseeing many aspects of the zine including checking in with artists, animators, writers, graphic designers, and cosplayers voice actors, as well as checking in with the other mods to make sure everything is running smoothly. You'll have seen me answer some questions on the Tumblr as well!

I'm currently modding Of Fire and Fury, a Bakugo Fanzine, as Mod Todoroki, and I'm also participating as an artist in the TodoDeku, Villain, Fantasy, Genderbend, Barbie, and Reverse BNHA Big Bangs.

I'm excited to work with my fellow mods and with our future contributors. Working on a project like this together is a very rewarding experience and I hope that we can all see this through!

Tumblr: bokunoherokomikuko Insta: bokunoherokomikuko Twitter: bnhkomikuko

>Also, I can’t spell

Hello, my name is Mod Egg!

My role in this zine will be keeping track of info like check ins and applications and will be helping writers and cosplayers with their progress! I'm also writing the script for our animatic!

I'm currently modding Of Fire and Fury, a Bakugo zine and I'm participating as a writer in the TodoDeku, Villain Vigilante, and Fantasy bnha big bangs.

I look forward to working with everyone and am excited to meet more talented creators!

Tumblr: eegghhh Insta: aniblogplay Twitter: aniblogplay

Hi my name is Kuuro.

I love TodoDeku and I'm trash for the ship. My role in this zine is to create graphics. I've made most of them on this blog. I hope you like them.

I'm a chaotic person who loves memes and occasionally writes fics. I have an obsession for rice and bubble tea.

This is my first zine I've paticipated in, I'm very excited to working with you all.

Tumblr: kuurokunn Twitter: tododekunn

Hewwo it's Eza. ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/

I draw, I would like to eat more mango cheese sauce and enoki mushrooms, and sometimes I sleep in on rainy mornings.

I got into the whole zine deal in the later part of 2017, as a contributor for page illustrations. You might have seen my work in the TodoDeku Worlds Zine and Forever Your Hero Zine.

I may not have done something like this before, being a co-mod, but the chance was presented to me, and I have been making some of the art for this zine's promo posts. Thank you for having me here, please support us. (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Tumblr: ezaria-umiko-art Twitter: ezariaumiko

A happy howdy and a good Yeehaw! I'm Mod Gummy!

Just like everyone else in this zine, I adore Tododeku with my whole heart, and want to create more content for those who share the same love. My role for this zine is to similar to Mod Komi's in the aspect that I'll be overseeing the zine's general creation period and helping enforce deadlines to make sure things go well! I'll also be available for support, critiques, help, or anything else that might be troubling you about the zine! Think of me as your cheerleader/clarification agent!

This is my second time being apart of a zine team, and my second time helping moderate one too so I'm super happy to get more experience! I'll also be participating in the Boku No AU bang too so you might see me then!

The Mod team is a joy to work with, and I'm very excited to have some contributors join the family so we can see this zine through to its production! I look forward to working with you all!

Tumblr: gummygem Twitter: gummy_gem Insta: gummy.gem

Hey there, it's Seve!

I'm one of the zine's co-mods as well as your local mascot and I'll be assisting artists along with the animation team! (´꒳`)

This is my first time helping with a zine. My fandom events experience so far has been participating in a few big bangs as an artist (TG Reverse Bang, TDDK Big Bang, and Boku no Villain Bang). Outside of that, I'm currently studying animation. (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و

I'm looking forward to working with all of you!

patch notes:

+recently been upgraded to two braincells, one for tododeku and one for granblue fantasy. ±currently downloading a third braincell for mxtx novels.

Tumblr, Twitter, Insta: sevedraws

#tddk model zine #tddk zine #tddk #zine #bnha zine #mods #mod post #tddk style

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shewholovestoread · 5 years

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Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 5 - The Bells

I saw the episode last night and I actually loved it, everything that had been teased, hinted at, came to pass. It was exceptionally well shot and the cinematography was excellent.

Emilia Clarke has progressively gotten better where her acting is concerned and her performance last night was nothing short of spectacular. She conveyed so much just through her expressions, it was amazing.

More under the cut

I’ve seen a lot of people who are deeply unhappy with this episode and that’s cool, you’re entitled to your opinion. Is it rushed, absolutely, but everything about Game of Thrones has been rushed since season 7 began. So now I’m used to it. Did they leave Dany’s devolution too late? Yes they did. Does it lack in nuances, of course it does and at this point, I don’t expect subtlety and nuance from D&D, I’ve gotten myself to look beyond those faults because that’s the only way I could enjoy it. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed last night’s episode, for once D&D didn’t pull any punches.

Dany’s descent into darkness has been foreshadowed over the last 2 seasons, it’s been there all along. I won’t say that she’s gone insane, she hasn’t, she’s just realised that she won’t get the love and adoration that she’s craved and she decided, if not through love, then she’ll rule through fear. Her scene with Jon also highlights this. It also highlights that she’s realised where his loyalties lie. In her mind, he chose his family over her, he chose Sansa over her. She gave him a choice and he made the wrong one.

Add to that, she’s lost a great deal over the last 2/3 episodes, she lost Viserion, Jorah, Rheagal and Missandei over a very short period of time. She’s been nearly stripped of everything that made her special, she’s been stripped of people who genuinely loved her and believed in her and all of that for a war that she needn’t have been so involved in. Because, even after all of that, she still didn’t get what she wanted, the people’s love. She’s experienced nothing but loss ever since she came to Westeros and she’s done playing nice.

I also liked the way the episode was structured, we first see Dany decimate Euron’s fleet and then The Golden Company and up until that point, if you’re a Dany fan, you’re really rooting for her. It follows in the same vein as the previous encounters that we’ve seen with dragons, where she’s clearly fighting someone the audience doesn’t like. She’s taking down Euron and the sell-swords, she’s still the good guy. But then, the perspective shifts, we see what the small folk see and experience when she turns on them after the bells have been rung. She is the dragon, she doesn’t see the difference between a soldier and a civilian, they’re all cannon fodder to her. If she can’t have them through love, she’ll make sure that they’re so terrified of her, no one will ever think of defying her. We see the damage she does with one dragon, I shudder to think what she would have been done with 2.

As far Varys’ end was concerned, we all saw it coming, I just didn’t expect Tyrion to be the one to betray him. Varys saw her tyranny and acted in the interest of the realm and for that, he has my respect.

Tyrion not only betrayed Sansa when he went to Dany, he also condemned Jon. I’ve had a problem with Tyrion since season 7 and this episode just furthered that. He’s been blind and made more errors than anyone can count, he underestimated Cersei, the list goes on. Like Varys, he can see the parts of Dany that are worrisome but unlike him, he chooses to be blind.

If you had any doubts about Pol!Jon, this episode ought to put them at rest. Jon comes to Dragonstone and continues to turn down the throne and refuses to plot against Dany because he’s already involved in a plot except no one knows about it. His problem has been his own arrogance. I know that he thinks he’s playing Dany for the good of the North and his family but she’s not blinded by him any more. His refusal to confide in Sansa and Arya has now come to bite him in the ass. Dany can see that she has been manipulated by him, that when it came to choose, he did not choose her. He’s complicit in the genocide at King’s Landing. As a military man, this is the most dishonourable thing he’s done. Like Tyrion, Jon convinced himself that what he was doing was right and it was the only thing they could do and now he’s well and truly screwed.

I liked that Sandor was able to change Arya’s mind, that she chose to live instead of dying for her vengeance. She’s a child who was forced to grow up too fast but all of that was when she thought that she had lost her family forever. But now she has them back, she has Sansa and Bran (okay, he doesn’t technically count but still) she has her home back, she even has Gendry, should she choose to be with him. She has something to live for now. It was a marked change that while she had gone to KL to kill someone, she ended up trying to save people.

Sandor and Gregor were too closely linked by their hatred for each other for them to have any other conclusion. Sandor had done horrible things but had tried to change and his greatest act wasn’t killing Gregor, it was saving Arya.

Many people were disappointed with Jaime’s decision to ride South to Cersei and, actually, it made sense. The show illustrated to the audience, his capacity to do good but it was underscored by his love for Cersei. He knew she was toxic, but she was also family, he loved her and and she was the mother of his children. He was never going to abandon her. He never regretted his actions, never expressed remorse for them, he went so far as to say that he would do them all again because they were at war.

In the end, Cersei died with her dignity intact and with the audiences sympathising with her in her final moments. The writers humanised her, her terror at her impending death and with no way to stop it. But she didn’t die alone, she was with someone who had loved her through everything and had fought tooth and nail to get to her.

Sansa, sadly, did not appear in this episode but she was referred to so many times that she may as well have been present. Sansa was right all along, all of her fears and concerns were realised in this episode. Dany is a tyrant, Queen of the Ashes. They exchanged one tyrant for a more dangerous one, one with a dragon. It is possible that in the next episode, she goes after Sansa since she’s the only one who’s still defiant and the North still has to be dealt with. She makes the threat crystal clear when she’s executing Varys, “let those who betray her know what will happen to them.”

The promo for next episode only shows us a few seconds from the first few minutes of the show, it would not surprise me if Dany decides to go to Winterfell to deal with Sansa and the North. Alternatively, it is also possible that Dany has her brought to KL (against her will). She already suspected Jon when Tyrion came to her at the beginning of episode 5, it is possible that she took measures to deal with the threat Sansa presented by being proactive and having her brought South without Jon’s knowledge. It would not surprise me if Bronn still has a role to play considering that he was still in the North when Jon and his men left Winterfell to join Dany.

#game of thrones season 8 #got season 8 #gots8 #Cersei Lannister #Jaime Lannister #jon snow #Tyrion Lannister #Sansa Stark #Arya Stark #lord varys #dark daenerys #dark dany #Sandor Clegane #gregor clegane #bronn of the blackwater

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extremedivas · 5 years

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Top Five Failed Attempts By WWE to Create the Next Trish Stratus.

Trish Stratus, even at her peak, was never something out of All Japan Women, circa 1994. She was a decent worker, although Victoria (now Tara in TNA) and Molly "Nora Greenwald" Holly (two performers she often feuded with in 2002-2004) were superior to her in the in-ring department. She was over, but never had the connection with fans that, say, Sunny or Lita did in their primes (indeed, after Trish’s brief in-ring return this year, she just disappeared. Fans didn’t seem to notice or care.) She was never a huge ratings draw like Sable (who in 1999, believe it or not, was actually pulling in bigger ratings than Steve Austin.) In short, Trish was a decent all-rounder, but never excelled in any area (although her heel promos were occasionally very good.) but still WWE brass has placed her on a lofty pedestal. She was brought into be a trainer for Tough Enough. She’s likely to go into the Hall of Fame next year. Announcers and fellow wrestlers will often lavish praise on her and refer to her as a legend. Why, all the adoration? Well Trish is the only tangible proof management have that they can take a model and turned her into a good performer. It likely justifies their whole attitude to the women’s division: why bother hiring actual female wrestlers (who usually don’t have the looks), when you could just get models in and train them to be good wrestlers? Accordingly, they’ve tried to replicate the Trish experiment since. Even if, as I have noted, the original was probably a bit over-rated anyway. But, nonetheless, they’ve still tried. And, needless to say, most of the results have been a dismal failure. So, let’s have a look at five of the most blatant failures:

5.Ashley Massaro

What She Had Going For Her: She was a rock chick! She was totally different from all the other blond models! Well, okay, she really wasn’t. But the glimmer of personality she showed during the second Diva Search contest allowed her to win and gain the $250,000 contract. Also, Kevin Dunn and Vince McMahon liked her. A lot. This was mainly why she got the WWE spot on the CBS show Survivor, when the company was asked by the show to submit a contestant, even though most thought she would be a disaster and it would be ample opportunity to push an up and coming male star (indeed, Ashley lasted about 1 week and a half before getting kicked off).

What Went Wrong: Ashley was an atrocious wrestler. Like, unbelievably bad. Sloppy, un-coordinated, injury-prone...frankly, Manami Toyota would have dug up her grave to roll in if she ever saw one of Massaro’s matches. Jenna Morasca even thought Ashley was a crappy women's wrestler and could have put more of an effort in. Massaro also battled personal issues (reportedly, getting sent him from a Raw taping, due to being in "bad shape", which in wrestling usually means only one thing); she also shrunk dramatically in size, prompting worries about her possibly having an eating disorder. No, it’s never a good sign when we can clearly see your rib cages in pictures. Then there was the small matter of Rolling Stone Magazine outing her as a high-priced escort in their May 2008 issue after an FBI sting operation. Ashley took to her MySpace, vociferously denying the reports and claiming she was contacting her lawyer to demand a retraction. The Rolling Stone writer, Michelle Grigoriadis, stood by the claims that Massaro had worked as a $50,000 a night for a Los Angeles Escort Agency (and denied the theory that Massaro had been mixed up with a Las Vegas model of the same name.) The magazine never issued an apology or retraction, and nothing was ever heard about Ashley and her legal action again (quite similar to the time Dave Batista dramatically announced he was taking legal action against Sports Illustrated for linking him with steroid use, and then never made another peep about it again). She was released some time afterwards. Although it probably had less to do with the Rolling Stone story, and more with the fact that management had had it with her.

Where Is She Now: She was apparently in talks to do a reality show with VH1 (isn’t everyone?) The pitch of the show is that unknown MMA fighters would fight in gruelling matches to win the privilege of dating the supposedly stunning Ashley (for some reason, this concept conjured up the memory in my mind of GSP after he won the interim Welterweight title: “No, No, I don’t want this!”)

4.Christy Hemme

What She Had Going for Her: She was the winner of the first Diva Search and a management favourite for some time- they liked her look and her willingness to learn. Indeed, Christy was enthusiastic and worked very hard to get better in the ring. Indeed her first few performances were, for someone with limited training, very good indeed.

What Went Wrong: No-one is quite sure, actually. She was demoted to OVW in late 2005 (in a move that was speculated to have been an encouragement by WWE for her to quit on her own; although, instead, she relished the opportunity to get better) She was officially released from WWE in December of that year for what were apparently “budget reasons” (which makes sense: she was making quite a lot of money to not do that much, after all). Although Hemme strongly denied this and said she was more than willing to take a paycut. There were also some bizarre rumours about her and HHH (which were shot down by most reporters; after all, Christy looks way too much like a woman for HHH to be interested.) So, what was the deal? Later, Hemme writing in November 2008, claimed she had quit: “My departure from WWE was on my own terms because I stuck to my guns on my morals and values as a human being. I knew in my gut that it would be the end, but I also knew that carrying guilt for knowingly doing something against what I believed wasn't worth getting ahead. Leaving broke my heart... but doing the right thing is something I will always be proud of." Hmmm.

Where is She Now: Earning a huge pay check in TNA to do something that only mildly resembles ring announcing.

3.Kelly Kelly

What She Had Going for Her: Signed at 19 when Johnny Ace spotted her photo in a bikini magazine (prior to that the only wrestling match she had seen was Andre vs. Hogan at Wrestlemania III) Kelly was probably far too young when she got called up in 2006, but she is, nonetheless, an enthusiastic performer and well-liked backstage (It’s been noted that Randy Orton got a ton of heat for his criticisms towards her in his infamous interview with Arizona's Real Rock Radio Interview, because of her popularity in the locker room). She worked hard to get better in the ring and was given the divas championship after she won a title match in the fan voting for the interactive edition of Monday Night Raw. She even cried when she won her title(presumably because she was happy, not because she was distressed at being burdened with the ugly thing.) Also, she can count Vince McMahon and Kevin Dunn among her biggest supporters backstage.

What Went Wrong: She’s deathly afraid of the ring ropes, for a start. She’s also had some absolutely atrocious matches (Notably with Brie Bella at Money in the Bank) as champion. Also, in recent times, she’s become far more well-known for her turbulent love life than she has for any of her in-ring contributions. In the past, she’s been romantically linked with Dolph Ziggler, Andrew “Test” Martin, Chris Jericho and Batista (who admitted that, shockingly, he found the girl was dating “immature”, apparently not realizing that’s what happens when you date someone young enough to be your daughter.) It was all this that apparently inspired Orton’s harsh remarks last month.

Where Is She Now: Still hiding in fear from the ring ropes, I assume. Also: shooting Randy Orton evil glares if she spots him backstage at a taping.

2. Candice Michelle

What She Had Going for Her: Former fetish model Candice worked hard to improve her in-ring skills after joining WWE in 2004. Eventually, her hard work paid off and WWE rewarded her with the title at the notorious WWE Vengeance in 2007. Oh, and Vince liked her. A lot.

What Went Wrong: While she improved a lot as a wrestler, she still wasn’t that great. She was never particularly over either. Of course what really killed her career was broken collarbone in a late 2007 match with Beth Phoenix, an injury she was never able to fully recover from. She also committed the ultimate diva infraction of Not Being In Totally Perfect Shape and was released soon afterwards. After her release, she put up an incredibly gracious goodbye note on her official WWE blog, thanking the McMahon family and everyone else at WWE for everything they had done for her. It was rather coldly yanked from the site an hour later.

Where Is She Now: She got married to a doctor and had a daughter called Aki-Anne (almost as bad as a NXT name, isn’t it?). She can occasionally be found on the convention circuit, but appears to have moved on from wrestling for the most part.

1. Melina

What She Had Going For Her: Upon her debut, former beauty queen and Tough Enough contestant Melina Perez gained notice for her wrestling talent, presence and mic skills. Indeed, many predicted that she, along with her on and off screen boyfriend John Morrison, would become a major star in wrestling. Also, Mick Foley was a big fan. And Batista. And Bret Hart (who, in something he will probably never live down, once called her the "best wrestler in the world".)

What Went Wrong: Where to start? She was a heat-magnet for a start: shortly after her debut, she got sent to wrestler’s court in Australia for being rude to the other women and hitting on the wrong people (in their infamous shoot, Paul London and Brian Kendrick noted that she cried the entire time, and they thought the whole thing was awkward, needless and a complete waste of time) She apparently got into a catfight with Sharmell at one point, too. Melina’s erratic behaviour eventually got her and Morrison sent over to Raw. Later, she was kicked out of the locker room by Lita for her attitude. She was often compared to Tammy “Sunny” Sytch, who was also known for being a handful backstage during her run. She also allegedly got Brooke Adams fired for daring to wear furry boots, like she did (for her part, Brooke denied the story on Twitter, but acknowledged Melina was extremely difficult to be around in WWE, calling Melina a "rude, fake b****.")

More recently, Melina convinced herself that Trish Stratus had “stolen” her spot at Wrestlemania and instructed Morrison (who really does need to grow a pair) to give Trish the cold shoulder, bringing down an avalanche of heat on herself and Morrison. She also suffered a fair amount of injuries, including a torn ACL in early 2010, which seem to have affected her wrestling too: She has went from being a decent women’s wrestler to being as bad as the rest of the models turned wrestlers. Even if Ariane from Tough Enough claimed she had a five star classic with Alicia on Superstars once. And, worse still for any diva, years on the road and bad plastic surgery have also taken their toll on her looks: Melina has went from being a pretty girl to looking a bit like Michael Jackson. In such a cosmetic business (even the always- thin Maria Kanellis once claimed she had been dragged into WWE offices and told to lose weight) this likely doesn’t bode well for her future in WWE.

There’s also the strange behavior: the odd tweets, the strange Youtube videos, her new work-shoot persona (as for whether the angle is any good, let’s put it this way: she’s no CM Punk) and, of course, the skittles. Don’t forget the skittles. You know it’s never a good sign when Michael Cole (who is usually receiving instructions from Vince McMahon) refers to you as a “wackjob” on air (as Cole did last Monday) and it has nothing whatsoever to do with your on screen character.

Where Is She Now: Still munching down skittles and bossing Morrison around, I guess.

#wwe divas #wwe #trish stratus #pro wrestling #diva era #wwe divas era #Christy hemme #Melina #candice michelle #Kelly Kelly #ashley massaro #wwe want made blonde women wrestler as the next Trish Stratus

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