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Summer mid-season anime impressions

Aug. 22nd, 2025 08:54 pm
petrea_mitchell: (Default)
[personal profile] petrea_mitchell posting in [community profile] anime_manga
(Crossposted from my journal.)

A bit late for first impressions, but I still feel the urge to get my thoughts out there.

Dekin no Mogura: The Earthbound Mole has ugly character designs and a ton of talking, and yet is a joy and a treasure and I can hardly wait for the next episode from week to week. This is an adaptation of a manga by Eguchi Natsumi, the author of Hozuki's Coolheadedness, and starts off with a similar mix of comedy and folklore geekery. But then it adds a lot more layers. First there's the giant supernatural cat antics, and then it turns out that Eguchi has been storing up a lot of thoughts about how girls and women are socialized to behave in contemporary society, and then there's the matter of the ongoing flashbacks to World War II.

Necronomico and the Cosmic Horror Show is great if you are well-versed in both the Cthulhu mythos and the anime death game genre, an overlap not likely to occur much outside Japan. The little problem with the subtitles in episode 1 has been ironed out and now my only complaint is that the new translator doesn't know how to spell Ticktockman. Because the show has borrowed him too, for some reason.

Sword of the Demon Hunter is getting into the big events of the late 1860s while shifting its tone ever further away from grimdark. It may be trying a little too hard at this point, particularly with a recent episode where it is implied that someone eventually reforms but we miss the most interesting part of their story.

Hanako-kun season 2 part 2 is still gorgeous to look at, but suffering badly from being watched the same day as Dekin no Mogura. It isn't dragging as badly as the previous cour, but it feels like it is ambling with unnecessary slowness toward an ending that can be seen a mile away.

I was all set to hate Ruri Rocks for the same reason the geology displays at some science museums annoy me. I hate when the exhibit is basically just "look at the pretty rocks" with no context for them. But this show actually wants to provide the geological context, so great! Plus it has really excellent character animation! Instead, it annoyed me by spending way too much time pointing at the camera at the chest and bottom of the adult lead, so I'm still not planning to watch a second episode.

Bullet/Bullet and Onmyo Kaiten Re: Birth Verse were okay for as far as I watched them (1 episode and 2 episodes respectively), I don't think I'd mind watching more, but I haven't gotten around to it, so clearly I didn't like them that much.

And nobody picked up the latest Cute High for streaming, so I don't know what I think of it.
ursamajor: the Swedish Chef, juggling (bork bork bork!)
[personal profile] ursamajor
I did not end up making a dessert for choir this week that magically used any portion of our eleven cups of plum jam in the fridge. I made chocolate chip cookies, and they disappeared like magic (the only empty container on the snack table when I went to clean up after break!) and I got multiple compliments on them *preens*.

It was my usual recipe, doubled because I used the oversized 20 oz Ghirardelli bag of semisweet chips, and then I went through my spice cabinet and pulled out baharat and rosewater. Though I've made a couple of adjustments over the years, and didn't actually write them down online, so here, have my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. )

Ugh, I need a new chocolate icon, FJKR.

That being said, I went by Market Hall this morning since the internet said they were my local carrier for the See's Candy x McConnell's Ice Cream collab - they didn't have all the flavors, but they did have Coffee + Molasses Chips, so that got promptly plopped into my bike basket.

But while I was there, I also perused the other things they had available, and the regular old standard size 12 oz bag of Guittard semisweet chocolate chips was SIXTEEN GODDAMNED DOLLARS I HATE THIS TIMELINE.

Even checking online right now - Berkeley Bowl is claiming $12.39/bag, Guittard direct says $11.99/bag, and I am wondering how many bags of the semisweet I can order via my farmshare at $7.49/bag before they cut me off. Ghirardelli is still available at Berkeley Bowl for $8.79/bag, but I'm wondering for how much longer - before this summer, both of these were pretty close price matches, maybe 50c/bag difference and not always consistently in the same direction depending on what supermarket I was at? This feels like when vanilla prices exponentially spiked a few years ago and my $50 of vanilla backstock was suddenly worth $300.

... the farmshare website dropdown goes to 20 items. I'm not sure I want to be talked out of this. (I will probably buy at least 4, I am literally down to my last bag of chocolate chips and I usually have half a dozen bags on hand at any given time.)

Me-and-media update

Aug. 23rd, 2025 10:15 am
china_shop: Close-up of Zhao Yunlan grinning (Default)
[personal profile] china_shop
Previous poll review
In the Obsessions poll, 9.8% of respondents have one current active fandom, 31.4% have a couple, 25.5% have a handful, and 15.7% have none at the moment. The most common response was "it's complicated" with 37.3%. Seven point eight percent have blorbos but no fandom.

In ticky-boxes, goth butterflies and punk moths came second to hugs, 56.9% to 76.5%. Dream parkour came third with 47.1%. Thank you for your votes! <3

Reading
Audio: Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer, read by Candida Gubbins -- I'm a third of the way through this delightful thirty-hour tour of the Renaissance. No idea how much is lodging in my brain (versus in-one-ear-and-out-the-other-ing), but I'm getting bits here and there. Like, for example, the Renaissance framing of "grace" as heavenly political capital. And theology as it relates to Hamlet. The general tone is very fun. In progress.

Audio: Stone and Sky (Rivers of London) by Ben Aaronovich, read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and Shvorne Marks. Having settled Peter into married life, Aaronovich is porting all the relationship stuff over to Abigail. I guess that makes sense. (The case isn't coming together for me, but that might be because I keep falling asleep while we're listening.) In progress.

Library book: A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. Just a few chapters. Historical romance, and I'm pretty sure all the characters are speaking/behaving anachronistically, but I'm looking forward to the reveal.
Spoiler. The lady in the title is trans and was best friends with the duke before she went MIA at war and transitioned; he thinks she died, and he's now grieving his friend.
In progress.

Guardian by priest. We've finished the main story, just one short story extra to go. Wow, this has been a ride!

Kdramas/Cdramas
Still rewatching Nothing But Love (AKA Nothing But You), ahhh, I love them so much.

I've also started My Girlfriend is the Man, a Kdrama about a woman with a genetic predisposition to sudden-onset sex swap, who does indeed wake up in a male body. I only just finished episode 1, so I don't know yet how well they're going to handle it, but I'm fairly sure the narrative pressure on the boyfriend is to accept that his girlfriend is still his girlfriend, whatever body she's currently wearing. No idea where they'll take it after that.

Pru and I finished Sell Your Haunted House this week. We're planning to start Love Scout next (rewatch for me), unless I can think of something good (and Korean) with murders/ghosts/cases of the week. Hmm, maybe I should give Mystic Pop-Up Bar one more try... I bounced off it before, but I know several people who loved it.

Other TV
Cut for length. )

Guardian/Fandom
It's the last weekend of the Guardian novel scheduled readalong, and then we're heading into a slo-mo rewatch of the drama (half an episode per week). If you've been Guardian-curious or thinking of revisiting the show, now's your chance. *lures*

[community profile] fan_writers is going so well. Love to see so much conversation and interaction over there! If you have thoughts on writing, please feel free to post to the comm, either directly or with a link!

Audio entertainment
Letters from an American (lots, including a great half-hour interview with Gavin Newsom). Half an episode of Sinica, Writing Excuses, a couple of episodes of You Can Learn Chinese, some Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones, and a couple of episodes of A Life Indigenous.

Plugged-in life
The last few days, I've been experimenting with not spending every waking non-keyboard moment listening to audiobooks and podcasts. I was kind of hoping some silence and/or music would wake up my creative brain, and then ideas would come spilling out my fingertips. So far, it's just created an opening for brain weasels. Pbthpbthpbhtpbhpth!

Writing/making things
I spent Monday morning writing a political submission and then finished my meta post about story middles. I spent Tuesday's writers' hour writing most of this. I am working on a fic, but it's slow going. It's veered into one of my DNWs (D/s). I mean, you know how sometimes you can write your own DNWs, because you instinctively avoid the aspects that actively squick you? That part is working. It's just that neither the Shen Wei in my head nor I have any idea what we're doing, lol. Playin' it by ear. *rattles keyboard*

I threw something verrrry last minute together for the [community profile] fan_flashworks Twinkle challenge. No idea if that worked.

Life/health/mental state things
I'm okay, just a bit disconnected. The weather's been so cold I want to stay home all the time. I really hate everything our government is doing (not on the same scale as the US, but terrible in its own libertarian way), so by day I'm a mild manner fangirl, but at night I wake up periodically to scrawl angry letters to politicians and/or newspaper editors in my notebook. I should send more of these; I'm always held back by feeling like I don't know enough and need to fact check.

Food
I made two small batches of vegetable dumplings -- Moosewood's sweet potato recipe, and mushroom & coriander adapted from the Omnivore's Cookbook's chicken recipe. I had to use my dumpling press because of my arms, but that worked okay.

Recently made: enchiladas, crispy orange beef (consistency would have been better if I hadn't shoehorned a ton of vege in there too), plus experimenting with crispy tofu in various dishes. A lot of the sauces make the tofu go slimy, but it's so good when they don't.

Goals
My goal for this year is to make goals for next year.

Good things
Guardian stuff -- the readalong, Wishlist!!, the upcoming rewatch, yay! I'm hoping the latter two will combine to get me writing again. Playing with paint pens (drawing butterflies like a six year-old). Sunshine. Cat. Boy. Assimilating my little-worn 'tidy' clothes into my everyday wardrobe so I don't have to shop.

Poll #33518 Plaguefic
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 34


Covid in fiction

View Answers

I'm okay reading fiction about Covid and related subjects
18 (52.9%)

I'm okay reading fiction that includes mentions of Covid
19 (55.9%)

There are aspects of the pandemic I avoid
8 (23.5%)

I like it when characters mask sometimes
12 (35.3%)

I prefer my reading matter to avoid the subject entirely
8 (23.5%)

It's better in profic / a novel
2 (5.9%)

It's better in fanfic
1 (2.9%)

other
0 (0.0%)

I don't read much atm
5 (14.7%)

ticky-box of gossimer and thistledown
11 (32.4%)

ticky-box of steel girders
9 (26.5%)

ticky-box of half a bottle of flat champagne
4 (11.8%)

ticky-box of battery acid and protest signs
13 (38.2%)

ticky-box of three wallabies at a 1970s disco
15 (44.1%)

ticky-box full of hugs
22 (64.7%)

PSA: The Middleman

Aug. 22nd, 2025 09:33 pm
trobadora: (Moriarty - OMG)
[personal profile] trobadora
Remember The Middleman?

Via [personal profile] muccamukk:
Javier Grillo-Marxuach (on BlueSky): hey everyone, wanna watch my tv show “the middleman”
on streaming with no added charges?
I have such fond memories of that show. And it's now freely available online Archive.org!
umadoshi: (Newsflesh - he'll kill you (kasmir))
[personal profile] umadoshi
(I cannot) touch her, make her conscious [Or, the eternal WIP where things go very, very differently near the ending of Feed] (15393 words) by umadoshi
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Newsflesh Series - Mira Grant
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Georgia Mason/Shaun Mason
Characters: Georgia Mason, Shaun Mason, Mahir Gowda
Additional Tags: POV First Person, Adopted Sibling Incest, Canon Divergence, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, incomplete but not a WIP, as finished as it's getting
Summary:

In which Shaun learns something significant late in Feed that he canonically doesn't find out until Deadline, and everything goes very (very, very) differently.



I started writing this canon-divergence AU a looong time ago, and I've likewise known for a long time now that I was never going to finish it--partly because Newsflesh hasn't been my primary fandom for several years, and partly because of how much plotting it was going to take to do it to my satisfaction. This parts ways with the series canon toward the end of Feed, and thus everything that happens to the main characters in Deadline and Blackout would never have happened, but all the political machinations and truths about the virus were still things that would have to be played out and...yeah.

But the emotional arc of this story, most of which I did get written down, is some of my favorite writing I ever did in this fandom; I kinda think that if I'd ever managed to assemble an intact story, it would be among the things I'd be proudest of.

I've decided to post it anyway, because what else would there be to do with it? So this is the heart of it--a bit fractured and strung like beads along a thread of story, but all there. Please ignore any minor wobbliness in the timeline/internal continuity, 'kay? And towards the end, I've left in a few plottier bits to give some idea of where this would have gone as an intact story.

This should make sense if you've only read Feed, but it does include one of the series' largest spoilers and hint at another one (both revealed in Deadline in canon).

And the standard notes: this is unbetaed, and the title comes from Linda Gregg's poem "There She Is".
china_shop: Chu Shuzhi wearing a black face mask with a cat mouth and whiskers on it. (Guardian - CSZ cat mask)
[personal profile] china_shop posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Poll #33513 Light in Dixing
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12


In episode 23, the Deacon says the guest room is dim because Dixing's limited light is being diverted to the palace. Possible implications:

View Answers

wealthy people can bribe the palace for more light
12 (100.0%)

there is a black market in photons
8 (66.7%)

the Dixing bar is well-lit because its patrons donate a portion of their light quota
4 (33.3%)

the bar is not actually well-lit -- it just looks that way for filming convenience
10 (83.3%)

the glowy lava on the volcano uses up some of the limited light resources
0 (0.0%)

you can create a blackout elsewhere by making an especially bright light in a windowless room
3 (25.0%)

the Deacon is bullshitting because he dislikes Zhao Yunlan
3 (25.0%)

other
0 (0.0%)

Where did Zhao Yunlan's stash of face masks, as discovered by xiao-Guo in episode 16, come from?

View Answers

Zhao Yunlan always had them; he just never uses them
2 (16.7%)

the SID team presented them as a pointed gift in episode 3, after Zhao Yunlan sneezed on everything; Zhao Yunlan shoved them in a desk drawer and forgot about them
9 (75.0%)

Shen Wei sent them as a gift in episode 3, accompanied by a note wherein he politely hoped Chief Zhao's health had improved; Zhao Yunlan put them in his lollipop drawer and grinned whenever he saw them
6 (50.0%)

they arrived anonymously in the mail (Shen Wei)
2 (16.7%)

Lin Jing explained disease transmission to Wang Zheng, and she added them to the regular stationery order
5 (41.7%)

other
0 (0.0%)

Help for a fic: Jiajia's family name?

Aug. 20th, 2025 09:35 pm
amedia: On the left: Da Qing in human form, a young man in white shirt and overalls. Caption: Da Qing. On right: Da Qing in cat form, stout dark cat with folded ears. Caption: Chinese characters for Da Qing. (Guardian: DQ1)
[personal profile] amedia posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Is there canon or fanon about Jiajia's family name?

Many thanks for any assistance!

My latest Guardian fanworks

Aug. 20th, 2025 02:10 pm
facethestrange: (guardian: weilan waking up)
[personal profile] facethestrange posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
2 Weilan fics, 1 Zhubai fic, 1 Zhubai drawing. :)

Let's Name Everything (507 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan, Kunlun/Shen Wei (Guardian)
Characters: Shen Wei (Guardian), Zhao Yunlan
Additional Tags: Post-Canon, The Language of the Primordial Gods, Implied/Referenced Sex
Summary: It almost sounds like blasphemy; neither of them has ever had a problem with that.

Much Better Than Expected (150 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018), 镇魂 | Guardian - priest
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan
Characters: Zhao Yunlan, Shen Wei (Guardian)
Additional Tags: Rain, Established Relationship, Drabble and a Half
Summary: Getting caught in the rainstorm was worth it.

A Quiet Celebration (333 words) by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Domestic Fluff, Kissing, Established Relationship, Soft
Summary: "So you skipped the glamorous afterparty to make out in the kitchen and eat noodles with me."

Not a Goodbye by facethestrange
Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV 2018) RPF, Chinese Actor RPF
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Bai Yu/Zhu Yilong
Characters: Bai Yu (Actor), Zhu Yilong
Additional Tags: Kissing, Fanart, Drawing
Series: Part 9 of Zhubai ~canon~ but with more kissing, Part 9 of Guardian Bingo 2025
Summary: This moment from the last day on set. :)
anehan: Elizabeth Bennet with the text "sparkling". (Default)
[personal profile] anehan
Recently read

  • Lynn Flewelling, Stalking Darkness & Traitor's Moon

    I've already bemoaned the fact that somehow I was totally sleeping on the Nightrunner series, but at least I've found it now. I was also correct when I said that I probably wouldn't be smart enough to take a break from the series after the second part. I did manage to stop myself after the third one, so yay for that! I was starting to feel a bit woozy while reading the third volume -- they are so long that it's easy to get lost in them -- so it seemed like a good point to stop for a while and go read something else for a while.


  • Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor

    That something else was the Vorkosigan Saga, which I've also been sleeping on. At least I haven't been completely clueless: I've known of its existence for close to 20 years. I've always meant to read it at some point, but for some reason I never got around to it until now. I completely fell in love with Shards of Honor. It was so good that it was a bit surprising to realise it was Bujold's debut.


  • Yatsuki Wakatsu, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 1: Holy Maiden Summoning Improvement Plan

    Isekai BL about a workaholic accountant, who is pulled along another person's transmigration trip, and a grumpy knightly commander, who very reluctantly gets invested in the accountant's eating and resting habits (or lack thereof). Reading this sure was an experience. Not a good book by any conceivable metric, but unfortunately highly addictive. I've already bought the second volume, so excuse me while I go cry about my life choices.


Currently reading

  • Yatsuki Wakatsu, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 2: Church Management Support Plan

    Ehehe.


  • Aliette de Bodard, The House of Sundering Flames

    One chapter in, and the melodramatic prose is already annoying me. Thuan continues to be a delight, though.


  • Jonathan Dollimore, Sex, Literature, and Censorship

    I definitely don't have the theorical background to understand this, but I shall persevere.


Up next

Bujold's The Warrior's Apprentice, perhaps. Also, volume 5 of Ballad of Sword and Wine just came out.

Dear Rarepair creator

Aug. 20th, 2025 02:48 am
trobadora: (Huo Wensi - hypnosis)
[personal profile] trobadora
Dear [community profile] rarepairexchange creator,

thank you so much for writing a story or creating art for me! I'll be absolutely thrilled about anything you can create about the relationships I requested, and everything important is in the requests themselves, but if you'd like even more info, general likes etc., here you go,

My AO3 account is [archiveofourown.org profile] Trobadora, and it's set to welcome treats.

General Preferences

Likes & Dislikes/DNWs )

Fandoms and relationships

In somewhat alphabetical order - note that some sections are expanded compared to the sign-up form:

Jump directly to:
绅探 | Detective L: Huo Wensi/Luo Fei )

Grimm: Nick Burkhardt/Sean Renard/Juliette Silverton )

镇魂 | Guardian (TV): Ya Qing/Zhu Hong )

Grimm/Guardian crossover: Renard/Ya Qing )

Legend of the Seeker: Cara/Darken Rahl )

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: Anastasia/Jabberwocky )

Time Engraver Crossovers: Time Engraver/Zhao Yunlan, Time Engraver/Jiang Yang )

长公主在上 | Eldest Princess On Top: Li Yunzhen/Gu Xuanqing )

Coming soon: Guardian Slo-Mo Rewatch

Aug. 19th, 2025 11:20 pm
trobadora: (Hei Pao Shi/Zhao Yunlan)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Zhao Yunlan sprawled on a couch, grinning at his phone. The background shows a purply sky with stars. Text reads "Slo-Mo Rewatch. Guardian - half an episode per week @ sid-guardian.dreamwidth.org."


Announcing the Guardian Slo-Mo Rewatch, coming to a [community profile] sid_guardian near you, starting 5 September. We'll be watching half an episode a week (about twenty minutes) so we can talk and squee about our beloved 镇魂 | Guardian drama.

For those who remember our last rewatch, this time we're aiming for a lighter touch. Posts will be on the minimalist side - a brief summary, one quote, one screencap, maybe one noteworthy detail and some discussion-starter questions.

We're looking forward to some fun discussions as we revisit Haixing, Dixing, and the SID.

Fans of the novel, the drama, or both are very welcome! You don't have to keep up with the rewatch – it's absolutely fine to dip in at any time. We want to hear what you think! Those of us who've just finished the Readalong or are otherwise familiar with the novel are likely to compare and contrast the two canons, but it's 100% okay to focus purely on the drama.

Please consider hosting a post or two, if you're willing and able to! Comment with a date from the schedule below! Posts should ideally be made sometime on the Friday or Saturday, in any time zone.

Schedule for round 1
Weekend of 5 September - episode 1 up to 22:28:
Weekend of 12 September - episode 1 from 22:28:
Weekend of 19 September - episode 2 up to 22:11:
Weekend of 26 September - episode 2 from 22:11:
Weekend of 3 October - episode 3 up to 23:25:
Weekend of 10 October - episode 3 from 23:25:
Weekend of 17 October - episode 4 up to 22:16:
Weekend of 24 October - episode 4 from 22.16:
Weekend of 31 October - episode 5 up to 23:04:
Weekend of 7 November - episode 5 from 23:04:

Next-gen Fruits Basket fans

Aug. 19th, 2025 04:12 pm
umadoshi: (Tohru & the pretty boys (flamika))
[personal profile] umadoshi
Over the last...several months?...[personal profile] wildpear introduced Pumpkin and (to different extents) a couple of other teenagers to Fruits Basket. Pumpkin got the double anime experience, starting with the 2001 anime and then going on to the 2019 anime, and while they were still working their way through the latter, they also restarted it to show it to two different people, including M, Pumpkin's agemate among our local friends' kids. Throughout, [personal profile] wildpear texted me intermittent reaction updates, which was a delight.

Now that they're all finished (on the anime front), [personal profile] wildpear brought Pumpkin and M over for an intergenerational fandom yard hangout last week! (Of the 2001 anime, M has only seen the very ending, in a sort of "must know what the horror actually is". For anyone who doesn't know, the original anime is mostly really charming and has a lot going for it, with most of its weaknesses being pretty understandable given when it was made and where the manga was at that point, but its ending is a straight-up travesty and an abomination.)

Jumping ahead a bit: you may notice the absence of the manga in the above, which has now been resolved! I initially had been like, "Well, I have a lending set, and its day has come!", but by the time the visit actually happened and I'd unearthed said set (a combination of the five 2-in-1 hardcover volumes Tokyopop managed to release, and the rest of the series in the standard Tokyopop edition), I'd talked sense into myself and decided to make it a gift instead. I'm not actually sure the lending set had ever gone out of the house (other than [personal profile] wildpear, the only person who'd ever read my hard copy was my sister, and that predated the lending set, IIRC), and I didn't honestly need four sets* in the house, even if one of them is in Japanese. So that box has gone off into the world, and while I warned everyone that manga spines aren't as sturdy as anyone would like, they don't have to worry about keeping the books pristine for me.

Anyway! Seeing the three of them was lovely. cut! )

Writing meta: What Middles Are For

Aug. 18th, 2025 03:05 pm
china_shop: Guo Changcheng writing in his notebook (Guardian - rookie taking notes)
[personal profile] china_shop
Context and disclaimer: Most of these thoughts are not the kinds of things I take into account when I'm drafting. I'm hoping that looking at them in the abstract will a) train my subconscious in useful directions, and b) help me un-stick some WIPs.

I’ve mulched a bunch of Writing Excuses podcasts and Brandon Sanderson's Youtube writing lectures over the years, which have deeply influenced this random crop of ideas. I made some of it up myself, but I'm not claiming any kind of authority or even experience.


What Middles Are For

Arguably a story consists of 1) promises, 2) progress, and 3) payoff (cf Sanderson, Youtube). The promises are "here's what you're in for", including main characters, setting/genre/tone, goals and stakes. Most of that gets set up at the start. The payoff happens at the end, obviously, as all of it comes to fruition or failure. But middles can feel a bit formless. What does "progress" even mean?

Here are some thoughts about what the middles of stories are for.
Many bullet points beneath the cut. )

Anyway, all of this has been swirling around my head for a while now. What do you think? Do you get stuck in the middles of stories? Do you have other ideas about what middles are for (other than putting some space between the beginning and the end)? Does thinking about it in these kind of terms help you, or do you prefer to frame your writing in other ways? If you look at your current WIPs or just-finished stories, what broadly/structurally are the middles of those stories "doing"? Do you think all this is different for fanfic, where you can assume a certain amount of reader pre-investment in the characters, at least, and where backstory is often canon?
trobadora: (Black-Cloaked Envoy)
[personal profile] trobadora posting in [community profile] sid_guardian
Guardian novel readalong


Welcome aboard for this week's extra in our Guardian readalong!

are last week's extras. You can find all previous discussions on the schedule posts (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5), or via the !readalong tag.

Summary: Jianghu wanderer Shen San is injured while saving someone, falls down a cliff, and finds himself in the care of a beautiful immortal yao, who nurses him back to health. He soon finds himself entirely smitten. Returning as promised after taking care of unfinished business, he finds the cottage empty. Three years later, having made a home there, Shen San discovers his yao-xiong has been secretly around all this time. They settle into domesticity, disrupted only by a book of erotica and Shen San falling ill. Before Shen San dies, he promises to come back in his next life and find him again. Afterwards, the newly-named Shen Wei hunts down the original Soul-Guarding Order, which Shen San had given away, and unseals Daqing so Daqing can take care of Kunlun's reincarnations.

The corresponding part in the Chinese version/the fan translation is the "Shen San" extra.

Excerpts:
I could have quoted everything! But I managed to restrain myself. *g*

1) Shen San, jianghu wanderer )

2) Human, immortal, yao? )

3) Shen San has a revelation )

4) High literature )

5) A promise )

Questions:

What do you think about Shen San? How much is he like Kunlun, or like Zhao Yunlan? Do you think Shen San and his yao-xiong ever managed to make proper use of that book of erotica? *g* How do you feel about the tragedy of it all? Should Wei have resisted harder? Can you make sense of how the parts about the Soul-Guarding Order fit with everything else? Which parts of this extra have parallels in the drama?

(As usual, these are just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like!)

Our schedule - only one more extra to go! Sign up if you'd like to host it!

Weekly proof of life: mostly media

Aug. 17th, 2025 10:56 am
umadoshi: (fancrone - china_shop)
[personal profile] umadoshi
Reading: [personal profile] scruloose and I finished listening to Artificial Condition and have started Rogue Protocol (but only barely--we've listened to however much of chapter 1 we could get in over supper on Friday before [personal profile] scruloose had to be doing something else).

We'll Prescribe You a Cat (Syou Ishida) was a very quick read and hard for me to pin down. It's a story in the vein of "~mysterious~ place provides X [often wishes granted or strange/deadly creatures, as in xxxHOLiC or Pet Shop of Horrors], but the actual cats being prescribed mostly appear to be just ("just") cats. I think this is the first in a series. Alas, I find the prose of the translation awfully flat, and can only hope I would've found the book more engaging in different hands.

I also read The City in Glass, which was my first time reading Nghi Vo. Gorgeous prose, a neat concept, and a great read overall.

Watching: We're six episodes into The Summer Hikaru Died (which is, I suppose unsurprisingly given the premise, touching on a significant existential question from Newsflesh [and from plenty of other places]). It continues to be very good. ^_^

I think we also saw an ep. of Silo sometime last week.

And on Friday I started watching Glass Heart on my own. As so often turns out to be the way, choosing it from my horrifying to-watch list was mostly random. Sometimes the choice is made simply because something is short (ten episodes, in this case) and I've seen several friends talking about it very recently. I'm six episodes in now.

I knew going in that Machida Keita is in it (who I knew only from Cherry Magic). I did not know in advance that Satoh Takeru is one of the leads, and then couldn't place him until I caved and looked up the cast. (He played Kenshin in the live-action Rurouni Kenshin movies [of which I've still only seen the first], and was impossibly good in the role. I keep meaning to rewatch the first and watch the others, despite my feelings about the franchise overall being irrevocably poisoned now by the horrible revelations about the creator. I still need to offload my set of the manga. >.<)

Weathering: The drought continues. Parts of the province are on fire, although the uncomfortably-close-to-me wildfire is under control, last I heard.

Planning: We don't have tickets yet, because there aren't yet showtimes for it, but the plan is to see Dongji Rescue late in the week. *fidgets*

Some JP BL drama cd stuff

Aug. 17th, 2025 04:51 pm
geraineon: (Default)
[personal profile] geraineon
Due to a recent conversation with a friend, I went to check some of the recent Morikawa Toshiyuki BL drama cd works, and hey, he is still active!

The context was a discussion about how JP BL (well, that and dangai) tend to cast less known actors, sometimes newbie actors, which means the acting is usually kind of stilted. I said that I wish more experienced actors will also do BL, but it's usually seen as a stepping stone to better projects and not something they will do once they get more popular.

And so I said, "Explain Morikawa Toshiyuki."

(Context: Morikawa Toshiyuki is a very well known veteran JP voice actor, famous for roles like FF7's Sephiroth, JJBA's Kira, Berserk [1997 version]'s Griffith, etc.).

To which my friend replied, "Probably because he likes banging new bottoms."

(Context: He was [idk if still is] known as the Emperor of BL [Teiou, 帝王] because he is usually the first voice actor other voice actors get paired with in a BL work, and he has a long, long list of past works XD).

Then both of us were like, wait a min, is he still doing BL drama cds?

And so I checked, and he is! There's an upcoming BL drama cd where he's the top, and Maeno Tomoaki is the bottom (my voice preference is actually Maeno Tomoaki x Morikawa Toshiyuki but this is fine), Afterglow (release date: 2025/09/24). It's gonna be a yakuza story, painful and serious in tone. Looking forward to it (if only I can remember to somehow acquire it when it's out).

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