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slippery when wet

3 more HNDR routes out the way, here's my usual post with thoughts. These were shorter/plainer, so I don't have too much to say this time around tho.

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The Protomen: Through the Window to the Mirror by VioletVulpini

Fandom: The Protomen
Pairings/Characters: Megaman & Protoman & Quint
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Length: 53,236
Creator Links: VioletVulpini on Ao3
Theme:
Siblings, Science Fiction, Time Travel Fix-it, Alternate Universe, Hurt/Comfort
Summary:
"The sound of Machines marching into a screaming mass did not cause Megaman to turn. The sound of children crying for their mothers would not pull his gaze from the far edge of the city."

And then he kept walking.
Reccer's Notes:
This fic takes the premise of an existing Mega Man character from the games, who was used as a minor sad character, and makes him the main character of a time travel fix-it in this alternate universe of The Protomen. Megaman goes back in time to before he killed his brother Protoman in an attempt to fix things, and manages to save his brother -- but now both his past self and his brother are after him, not to mention Dr. Wily, whose iron grip still holds the city. It has some of the best robot hurt/comfort I've ever read and amazing looks at the family dynamics between the characters.

Fanwork Links:
Through the Window to the Mirror on Ao3

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Mega Man (Cartoon 1994): Mega Man Recut by BlackRussian

Fandom: Mega Man (Cartoon 1994)
Pairings/Characters: Mega Man & Proto Man, Mega Man & Roll
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Length: 342,087
Creator Links: BlackRussian on FFN and BlackRussian on Ao3
Theme:
Siblings, Action/Adventure, Enemies Working Together, Plotty Fic, Series, Science Fiction
Summary:
Fighting Dr. Wily while watching your rebellious sister is tough for anyone, even a robot. Add an evil brother who's determined for you to join his side (or else battle to see who's strongest), things get ugly. Retcon of the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon.
Reccer's Notes:
An amazing AU take on the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon from 1994 which adds heart and multiple intertwining subplots, as well as fixing major plot holes and including more background for various characters. The central character relationships are between Mega Man and his (evil?) older brother Proto Man, and Mega Man and his sister Roll, but there's plenty of background relationships that keep the story engaging, along with a lot of clever worldbuilding and cheesy moments to fit the original cartoon's tone. It's part of an ongoing series, but seasons 1-2 are complete.

Fanwork Links:
Read it here on Ao3 and here on FF.net

Current Mood: accomplished

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fandom: pelléas et mélisande (opera)

[drabble] Pelléas et Mélisande (Debussy/Maeterlinck)

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The Walking Dead Deluxe #131

( Scans under the cut... )

Current Mood: creative

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fandom: we are lady parts

Want (We Are Lady Parts)

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Fancake Theme for March: Siblings

Photograph of two adorable Vietnamese toddlers in identical denim overalls and dinosaur sweaters, text: Siblings, at Fancake.

fancake is a thematic recommendation community where all members are welcome to post recs, and fanworks of all shapes and sizes are accepted. Check out the community guidelines for the full set of rules.

This theme runs for the entire month. If you have any questions, just ask!

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!promotion day

Tuesday, March 2 - Promotion Day

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rl: internet

PSA

I am likely going to finish all current projects, and then my writing I share with the public will only be what I sign up for in charity drives and exchanges.

I just don't have enough energy to warrant putting the effort into sharing/promoting fic when it is a source of stress, given comment dearth and spammer content.

I will not be removing any of my archives. I'm just going to stop trying to engage with others.

Current Mood: sleepy

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📕Book Check-in: "The Tale of the Five #1: The Door Into Fire" (reread)

Barnes & Noble

Goodreads

StoryGraph

Basic summary: Herewiss, Prince of the Brightwood, is the only man in centuries to possess the Power of the Flame, but he cannot use or control it, not even to help his dearest friend, Freelorn, the exiled Prince of Arlen. But Herewiss does have a talent for sorcery, and, aided by the enigmatic creature Sunspark, he is able to rout the armies besieging Freelorn.

Now Herewiss faces a devastating choice. With or without the Power, he knows his time is running out. Shall he join Freelorn in his fight to regain his kingdom? Or shall he seek out the ancient castle where doors lead to other worlds, worlds Sunspark has hinted at, perhaps even the door that would teach him to control the Power...

My thoughts: ...I forgot I have the omnibus edition, I wondered why it was taking me so long to finish. 😭 Then BAM it started playing book two and I was like 'wait what?' I listened to the ebook via the Audify TTS speech, I did have to rewind a fair bit here and there. The magic is intricate so there were long descriptions when Herewiss was working on his swords and spells.

There might be a term for this but the world is one where polyamory and perhaps bisexuality is the norm, at least for the humans. Some are sex friends, some a one-off, some you love and want to spend the rest of your life with and some you don't. Herewiss' 'Loved' is Freelorn, and by the end he also has Sunspark or 'Spark', a fire god. Freelorn has a sex friend in Segnbora.

Segnbora is the opposite of Herewiss, where he couldn't bring out his true power, she can't control hers. We didn't get to see Segnbora fully open up though she came close with Herewiss, I hope she finds a solution to her problem like Herewiss did.

I loved Herewiss and Freelorn's relationship and backstory, they certainly have their problems but they're there for each other through thick and thin in the end. I did remember feeling Herewiss/Sunspark was a bit instalove the first time I read it and I still agree sorta, but looking at the world and how they see relationships it makes a lot more sense. I guess I just wish it was fleshed out just a bit more on Sunspark's side, maybe get their POV. BTW, Sunspark switches between his 'horse', man and woman forms at will.

I'm really excited to see Freelorn get his sword and take back his kingdom, and for Herewiss to settle more in himself and Segnbora as well.

update comments from 2010

November 15, 2010 – page 22: I have a feeling that I'm going to -love- this book. :)

November 15, 2010 – page 70: Very much enjoying this book! I love the characters and the world so far.

November 16, 2010 – page 95: (Your friend greets you by me,) Sunspark said, (and says, "Get me the Dark out of here.")

November 17, 2010 – page 104: "I am the Keeper of the Archive," he said solemnly, as if he were summoning Powers to hear him. "There must be something in here that would help you. I'm going to start looking. And when I find it-"

November 18, 2010 – page 146: The innkeeper sees her, and says, 'Madam, if you please, where are you going with those?' and Segnbora smiles at him and says, 'Sir, if you want every skin of wine or tun of ale in your place to get the rot, ask on. Otherwise-' and out the door she goes, gets the horses from the stables and rides off. We met her a few streets away and got out of there in a hurry.

November 23, 2010 – page 174: How is this book so awesome?

December 3, 2010 – page 304: No words can adequately describe how incredible I found this book to be. I never want to forget it, and I can't wait to get and read the next one!

Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Story: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Romance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My rating: 4.8/5

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Two recent fics (War of Faith, The Rebel)

Addendum (~8,800)
Fandom: 追风者 | War of Faith (TV)
Pairing: Shen Tunan/Wei Ruolai
Rated: T / No Archive Warnings
Tags: Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, Getting Together, Angst, Pining, Guilt, Loss, Headaches & Migraines
Summary: In December of 1936, Shen Tunan and Wei Ruolai meet again in Shanghai, reunited as allies. They've both been waiting for this chance, but after the way their paths have diverged, facing the memories of his own past is no longer easy for Shen Tunan.

Ways to Fall (~3,800)
Fandom: 叛逆者 | The Rebel (TV 2021)
Pairing: Chen Moqun/Lin Nansheng
Rated: T / No Archive Warnings
Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, UST, Headache, Massage
Summary: Not quite unscathed after the explosion at the bookstore, Chen Moqun lets Lin Nansheng a little closer than expected — at least for a while.

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due South: Puzzle Pieces by luzula

Fandom: due South
Characters/Pairings: Benton Fraser/Ray Kowalski, Maggie Mackenzie/Francesca Vecchio, Benton Fraser/Frannie Vecchio, Ray Kowalski/ Maggie McKenzie
Rating: Explicit
Length: 7587
Content Notes: no AO3 warnings apply
Creator Links: luzula on AO3, and on the Audiofic Archive.
Themes: Siblings, Marriage, Family, Domestic, Kidfic, Polyamory, Bisexual characters, AU

Summary: Sedoretu AU. Glimpses from the marriage of Fraser, Ray K, Maggie, and Frannie.

Reccer's Notes: I love the 4-person marriage invented by Ursula Le Guin - the sedoretu - and

luzula makes it work perfectly here. In this 'verse there's the category of gender, plus another category called moiety - morning and evening people. In a sedoretu there are two same-sex and two opposite-sex couples, and two pairings (morning-morning and evening-evening) that are forbidden. Here, the forbidden pairings include the half-siblings, Fraser & Maggie. Luzula writes them all beautifully and lets us see how well this poly marriage works. We also get glimpses of how the sedoretu is the usual form of marriage in this AU, with their parents also in sedoretus. Domestic and lovely.

Fanwork Links: Puzzle Pieces, and luzula also recorded it as a podfic here.

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Mod Post: Off-Topic Tuesday

In the comments to these weekly posts (and only these posts), it's your chance to go as off topic as you like.

Talk about non-comics stuff, thread derail, and just generally chat among yourselves.

The intent of these posts is to chat and have some fun and, sure, vent a little as required. Reasoned debate is fine, as always, but if you have to ask if something is going over the line, think carefully before posting please.

Normal board rules about conduct and behaviour still apply, of course.

It's been suggested that, if discussing spoilers for recent media events, it might be advisable to consider using the rot13 method to prevent other members seeing spoilers in passing.

The world situation is the world situation. If you're following the news, you know it as much as I do, if you're not, then there are better sources than scans_daily. But please, no doomscrolling, for your own sake.

Happy Lantern Festival, as the first Full Moon of the Chinese New Year dawns... or dusks... you know what I mean?

Those of us hoping for at least one month of the current US Presidemcy which wasn't an entire new verse of "We Didn't Start the Fire" were disappointed again when the US and Israel decided to bomb Iran. And those wondering "Why" have the disturbing benefit of multiple choices answers, as Trump, Vance, Rubio and Netenyahu all appear to have different explanations.

The fact folks were instantly able to point to a series of tweets from 2012 when Trump speculated that Obama would, because of plummetting popularity declare war on Iran as a distraction has not gone un-noticed.

Sigh...

A by-election in England last week gave us the first Green MP to ever win a by-election (As opposed to a General Election), and by a handsome majority too. This led Reform, who are finding out out that being hostile arseholes to pretty much every possible minority group is not paying off the way they hoped it would, to immediately pull a Trump card, and claim/whine that the election was rigged against them.

We bid a sad farewell to co-creator of Red Dwarf, Rob Grant, who passed away at the age of 70. "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast!"

I've not watched the new Monarch: Legacy of Monsters episode yet, but I have high hopes.

I did watch the latest Starfleet Academy which is a strange mix between working through grief via "Our Town" (a 1938 meta-textual play which, as far as I am aware, has no real pop culture relevance outside the US) and a rather beautiful subplot (Which was a lot stronger than the actual plot IMHO) with Robert Picardo's Doctor and SAM.

Fox went out on a chilly night, prayed to the moon to give him light

And, incidentally, freaked the fuck out of my sister

I did tell her there was a fox!

I ordered some stickers

and on the packaging it says:

"This product is not a toy and is intended for collection or use by individuals aged 14 or above"

They're superhero stickers! 14 and above! What do they think kids are doing, eating them!?

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Generic Story: JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #46-47 (JLI 64)

The feelings General Glory inspires in me are…mixed. I think he was useful as comic relief in the JLI’s last year-and-change, when the stories were otherwise leaning toward heaviness. I don’t miss him at all, but I think he’s fun in small doses.

A five-issue introductory arc is nobody’s idea of a small dose, and “Glory Bound” has some logical flaws on top of that. But Giffen and DeMatteis are interesting even when they go astray, Linda Medley knows her stuff, and the plot gets off to a promising start.

( Like the priest at Mister Miracle’s funeral, this is a Kirby tribute that I suspect left Kirby more annoyed than gratified. )

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Monsterverse/Godzilla Icons

Most of the icons feature characters from the Monsterverse (aka Godzilla 2014 and Kong: Skull Island universe, including Monarch Legacy of Monsters) but there are a couple of Godzilla: The Series icons in this post 'cause I love that series and I couldn't help myself.

Preview

Gojira is not only living proof that coexistence is possible. He is…the key to it.

[GOT/ASOIAF] Sansa Stark Fic & Art Exchange: Signups Close March 6!

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author: m

Recent Reading: Earthlings

The second book I finished this weekend was Earthlings by Sakyaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Takemori. This book is about Natsuki, a girl who's always felt she doesn't quite belong with humans. This has been book #16 from the "Women in Translation" rec list.

I've struggled a lot with what to say about this book, or whether to say anything at all. First, as many other reviews note, the book description does not in any way prepare you for the trigger warnings that may apply, so if you have no-gos for reading, do have a look around for a list before you crack this one open.

There are a lot of things you could take away from this book. The lifelong impact of childhood sexual abuse. The damage of a child having no safe adult to confide in. The pain of feeling alienated from society. The pain caused by strict social expectations that leave no room for individuals to pursue other modes of living. The danger that refusing to allow deviations from the "norm" will lead individuals incapable of conforming to that norm to reject society altogether. The idea that rejecting smaller social rules eventually leads to complete anarchy and amorality. The suffocating impact of the absence of privacy and the extremes to which it may drive people.

It is an exploration of the harm done, intentionally and unintentionally, to those who don't "fit" into the mold of society. How much of it is reality and how much of it is Natsuki's imagination is also up to the reader.

It's also a book about interrogating taboos, which leads to the trigger warning above. Natsuki's choice not to marry or have children is in and of itself, violating a taboo of her culture. Her feeling that violating this taboo does no harm to her or anyone else naturally leads to questioning other taboos, and you can't write a book about questioning taboos and then say "but not that taboo, that's too taboo!" so the book does go some dark places as Natsuki and her companions ask themselves if there's anything rational in refraining from theft, murder, and assault.

The translation is well done, particularly in dealing with a number of sensitive subjects.

I'm not sure what I ultimately take away from Earthlings. Perhaps how much damage societal rejection has on a person's psyche and the harms that can spawn from that. We are, in the end, social creatures. Feeling from a young age that you don't belong is bound to have detrimental developmental impacts.