![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Supervillain levels pet peeve
Jun. 5th, 2025 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkPet peeve of mine: Superhero/supervillain AUs that aren't clear on the degree of villainy involved. Is this the kind of supervillain who commits elaborate art heists, or the kind of supervillain who blows up a hospital? Just showing them fighting superheroes doesn't make that clear. I want to assume it's the former in e.g. a civilian/supervillain romance but how am I meant to judge just how careless the civilian is acting if the fic doesn't say one way or the other.
Weekend + books (read before the weekend)
May. 31st, 2025 03:45 pmschneefinkOne of my favorite things about not having plans and not having to study is that I can do things spontaneously, like meet up with friends to go shopping and have food and then go for a walk to see some sheep and goats that I had no idea were there so my biologist friend could delightedly poke at the dung to find beetles.
One of my favorite things about staying at my friends' house for a few days is that I don't have "I should do chores/clean/tidy" run in the back of my head at all times. I still found things to procrastinate on - an exchange letter, leaving fic comments etc - but overall it was very relaxed. I'm getting better at Beat Saber.
Books I read recently:
The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri: The Jasmine Throne, the Oleander Sword, the Lotus Empire. This series has been on my to-read list for a while and I finally got around to reading it. I enjoyed it a lot! I enjoyed the Indian-inspired setting and the complicated politics of it with many different groups, and I liked the development of the main characters both separately and together. ( Spoilers )
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: I enjoyed this much less than the first book in the series, sadly. At one point I complained to LB, who's actually worked at a university, that I thought the portrayal of academia was unrealistic, and he said that it's not that unrealistic provided the character in question is a bit of an asshole. ( Spoilers )
The Firm by John Grisham: The first non-SFF book I read since April 2022, according to Goodreads, wow okay. And the first non-SFF novel since February 2022. I decided to read it because the lecturer of one of my business law classes mentioned it, and I didn't give up early even though the writing is clunky. In the first half I really liked the slowly growing sense of creeping dread from the dangers the reader sees but the main character doesn't. ( Spoilers: that was the best part ) I don't regret that I read it but only because now I know.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: I started with this one instead of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" because I got this one first from the library, but in hindsight I wonder if that was a mistake. It worked on its own but I strongly suspect I missed many connections. Conversely, it's been many years since I read the original trilogy but there were almost too many connections and similarities for my taste, it seemed a bit repetitive. To be fair there's only so many ways the Hunger Games can differ. ( Spoilers )
One of my favorite things about staying at my friends' house for a few days is that I don't have "I should do chores/clean/tidy" run in the back of my head at all times. I still found things to procrastinate on - an exchange letter, leaving fic comments etc - but overall it was very relaxed. I'm getting better at Beat Saber.
Books I read recently:
The Burning Kingdoms trilogy by Tasha Suri: The Jasmine Throne, the Oleander Sword, the Lotus Empire. This series has been on my to-read list for a while and I finally got around to reading it. I enjoyed it a lot! I enjoyed the Indian-inspired setting and the complicated politics of it with many different groups, and I liked the development of the main characters both separately and together. ( Spoilers )
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett: I enjoyed this much less than the first book in the series, sadly. At one point I complained to LB, who's actually worked at a university, that I thought the portrayal of academia was unrealistic, and he said that it's not that unrealistic provided the character in question is a bit of an asshole. ( Spoilers )
The Firm by John Grisham: The first non-SFF book I read since April 2022, according to Goodreads, wow okay. And the first non-SFF novel since February 2022. I decided to read it because the lecturer of one of my business law classes mentioned it, and I didn't give up early even though the writing is clunky. In the first half I really liked the slowly growing sense of creeping dread from the dangers the reader sees but the main character doesn't. ( Spoilers: that was the best part ) I don't regret that I read it but only because now I know.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: I started with this one instead of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" because I got this one first from the library, but in hindsight I wonder if that was a mistake. It worked on its own but I strongly suspect I missed many connections. Conversely, it's been many years since I read the original trilogy but there were almost too many connections and similarities for my taste, it seemed a bit repetitive. To be fair there's only so many ways the Hunger Games can differ. ( Spoilers )
MCYTblr AUfest letter
May. 30th, 2025 10:49 pmschneefinkPlaceholder
(I didn't manage to finish this in time for the event to start, sorry, but all the likes/dislikes and even most of the prompts are in my sign-up, I was just hoping to expand on them a bit. Definitely this week though.)
(I didn't manage to finish this in time for the event to start, sorry, but all the likes/dislikes and even most of the prompts are in my sign-up, I was just hoping to expand on them a bit. Definitely this week though.)
Food and games
May. 29th, 2025 08:08 pmschneefinkI cooked! Literally. (It took a surprising amount of effort not to address a non-existent "chat" here xD) There's a completely arbitrary (and very silly) distinction in my brain about what counts as "proper" cooking, and most of what I prepare for myself doesn't or barely counts. But today I made a pasta-tomato-ham casserole, which undoubtedly is proper cooking, and it was very good.
I really wanted to properly cook something because I'm currently house-sitting and the house has a very well stocked kitchen - I'm envious of their spice selection - but it turns out that not having my own tools, like working scales, and knowing where everything is is a disadvantage and it about evens out. (Most of these spices I don't even know what to do with tbh.)
I've also played quite a bit of Beat Saber already. Got a some expert level completions, but only managed normal for other songs. It's nice to play outside, too.
I've barely seen the skunk I'm house-sitting for, he's still in his winter phase apparently and eats little and mostly sleeps all day, and the one time he saw me he ran away. Nothing to worry about, according to his owners; he's getting old for a skunk, too. Beforehand I was mildly apprehensive about him demanding lots of attention, now I'm more worried that I wouldn't even notice if something was wrong.
Last weekend I played Islets, an indie metroidvania by the same solo dev who made Crypt Custodian. I only meant to try it out on Saturday and ended up playing for six hours, and then I finished the next day with 95% completion. It was a lot of fun! Importantly, movement feels good, and the exploration is fun. I played on easy because there were some bullet hell bosses and I don't like those, but on easy it was fine.
I really wanted to properly cook something because I'm currently house-sitting and the house has a very well stocked kitchen - I'm envious of their spice selection - but it turns out that not having my own tools, like working scales, and knowing where everything is is a disadvantage and it about evens out. (Most of these spices I don't even know what to do with tbh.)
I've also played quite a bit of Beat Saber already. Got a some expert level completions, but only managed normal for other songs. It's nice to play outside, too.
I've barely seen the skunk I'm house-sitting for, he's still in his winter phase apparently and eats little and mostly sleeps all day, and the one time he saw me he ran away. Nothing to worry about, according to his owners; he's getting old for a skunk, too. Beforehand I was mildly apprehensive about him demanding lots of attention, now I'm more worried that I wouldn't even notice if something was wrong.
Last weekend I played Islets, an indie metroidvania by the same solo dev who made Crypt Custodian. I only meant to try it out on Saturday and ended up playing for six hours, and then I finished the next day with 95% completion. It was a lot of fun! Importantly, movement feels good, and the exploration is fun. I played on easy because there were some bullet hell bosses and I don't like those, but on easy it was fine.
May recs: 3 long SVSSS fics
May. 25th, 2025 11:35 pmschneefinkI've never read "The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System," but the fandom is very into canon divergence and (time travel) fix-it and so am I. At this point I've read so much fic for it that I keep thinking that I probably should read canon – but I have a strong suspicion that I wouldn't like it as much as the fic.
airplane view of the self by![[archiveofourown.org profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/b164c54b26e4/-/archiveofourown.org/favicon.ico)
Nonymos
114k, Airplane-centric time travel fix-it
Summary: Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky gets a do-over.
Aha, that first go was pretty traumatic, but surely everything will be much easier this time! Surely the System won't mess it up for him! Right? Right?
Why I love it: I love a good time travel fix-it and I really enjoyed this one, featuring identity crises, mysteries, romance, but most importantly character and relationship development.
pride is not the word I'm looking for byTossawary
408k, Airplane-centric canon divergence fix-it
Summary: Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right?
One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out all right?
A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.
Why I love it: I love canon divergence stories where you can really follow how small changes snowball and then suddenly everything is different. This one does that very well, and I really enjoyed the ~OC and plot changes.
The author has many other SVSSS stories that I also enjoyed.
I Wish You Were My Husband byFeynite
110k, SY/LBH harem AU
Summary: AU based on The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir (familiarity with that story's not required).
Wherein Shen Yuan transmigrates into a harem intrigues romance novel (gay edition), Yue Qingyuan really fucks up, Liu Qingge is not suitable for his job, and no one even remotely sees Luo Binghe coming.
Why I like it: A very tropey harem fic, perfect for when one is in the mood for something like that (and can tolerate a very oblivious protagonist.) Comes with over 500k of extras, sequels/AU/crossovers/etc., that I also enjoyed a lot.
airplane view of the self by
114k, Airplane-centric time travel fix-it
Summary: Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky gets a do-over.
Aha, that first go was pretty traumatic, but surely everything will be much easier this time! Surely the System won't mess it up for him! Right? Right?
Why I love it: I love a good time travel fix-it and I really enjoyed this one, featuring identity crises, mysteries, romance, but most importantly character and relationship development.
pride is not the word I'm looking for by
408k, Airplane-centric canon divergence fix-it
Summary: Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right?
One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out all right?
A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.
Why I love it: I love canon divergence stories where you can really follow how small changes snowball and then suddenly everything is different. This one does that very well, and I really enjoyed the ~OC and plot changes.
The author has many other SVSSS stories that I also enjoyed.
I Wish You Were My Husband by
110k, SY/LBH harem AU
Summary: AU based on The Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir (familiarity with that story's not required).
Wherein Shen Yuan transmigrates into a harem intrigues romance novel (gay edition), Yue Qingyuan really fucks up, Liu Qingge is not suitable for his job, and no one even remotely sees Luo Binghe coming.
Why I like it: A very tropey harem fic, perfect for when one is in the mood for something like that (and can tolerate a very oblivious protagonist.) Comes with over 500k of extras, sequels/AU/crossovers/etc., that I also enjoyed a lot.