Continuing on the academic theme for the week today's #DecRecs is The King’s Road: Diplomacy and the Remaking of the Silk Road by Xin Wen
I really loved this book about diplomats on the silk road. I really enjoy fine grained historical analysis and this a great example. It's full of details about what envoys and other diplomatic travelers ate and how they traveled, as well as the broader implications of the network of diplomatic travel. (1/2)
I'm going to be totally and completely petty and take advantage of the fact that plagiarism is the current topic of conversation in fandom and recommend a great work of fannish history:
The Cassandra Claire Plagiarism Debacle
Written in 2006 by white_serpent in the bad_penny community on journalfen (which was a journaling community where a lot of people fled after various strikethrough incidents on livejournal).
It's an incredibly well-researched look into a notorious early aughts fannish incident involving someone who later became a successful, best-selling author. And it is fascinating!
And a bonus recommendation: donate to the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine! They're the only ones keeping our fannish history accessible on the internet!!!!
🥚 #TheUntamed#MoDaoZuShi
🥚 #LanWangji / #WeiWuxian
🥚 31k, rated Teen, modern with magic AU
🥚 Pheasant-yao WY has a tryst he can't clearly remember
🥚 Now he has an egg!
🥚 He must be a good father and provide for his child
🥚 So he goes to the big city to earn money
🥚 WY doesn't know much about humans but he has plenty of determination and self-belief
🥚 This story is a delight
I started Katherine Addison (Sarah Monette)'s 'Melusine' yesterday, stayed up late reading, and got up early to finish it this morning. I was utterly engrossed. Enthralled. Captivated.
I also read several 1* reviews on Goodreads and, to be honest, I kind of agree with them all.
I still bought the other three in the series, though.
⚔️ #TianGuanCiFu
⚔️ #MuQing / #XieLian
⚔️ 7k, rated Teen, canon compliant
⚔️ MQ adores XL
⚔️ XL likes sparring with MQ more than anyone else
⚔️ Their relationship can never be one of equals
⚔️ XL has the luxury of forgetting that sometimes
⚔️ MQ never can
ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department
Description: Jean Otus is an inspector of the Inspection Department, tasked with auditing all of the territories of Dowa. During his inspections, there are rumors of a coup d'état and without really wanting to be involved, Jean ends up learning details about it anyway.
This is a short series, 13 episodes only. The political conspiracy unfolds very slowly, but the more I watched the more I wanted to know. Also, there's lots and lots of bread. You will want to eat delicious bread watching this show. Also, it's pretty, and features a secret bodyguard, is a calm watch, not exactly something I'd recommend a marathon for but sometimes, a nice chill watch is a good thing.
Yakitate!! Japan
Description: There are tons of cooking anime/manga out there, and well, this one is about BAKING! BREAD!
and lots of puns. So many bread puns. In fact, the title is a pun. Pan = bread. And so, Japan. You see? Main character Azuma Kazuma is blessed with solar hands, warmer than usual hands, that makes for great baking. He goes to Tokyo to work at this bread making place (bakery?), Pantasia, meets other bakers, and have bake-offs with increasing over the top reactions from the judges, including a whole Detective Conan parody and literally dying and coming back to life.
I didn't finish because it was still ongoing when I reading the manga and I have terrible stamina for following ongoing series, but whatever I read (and watched) was loads of fun and I hope you will enjoy it too!
Ok you asked for it (or are least said encouraging things when I mentioned it) so today's #DecRecs is a paper form 1956
"Early-Ripening Rice in Chinese History" by Ping-Ti Ho which is about the introduction of early ripening rice in Song times and how that lead to double croping and the effects that had on to population. It's a classic! Note that this paper was written before pinyin was a thing so all the transliterations are Wade-Glies
Today's #anime#DecRecs is comedy! One rather old, with caveats, another more recent.
Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu
Description: This is season 2 of Full Metal Panic (or rather a side story season?). You will probably need to watch season 1 for the context. The gist of the story is, Sousuke, a soldier from a covert military operation, Mithril, is tasked to protect a school girl because of some secrets she hold (she has zero clue). So he had to enroll in her school and try to blend in as a student. A lot of the comedy is because of the cultural clash between Sousuke who has only known fighting and war, in a very normal (ish) highschool. Caveats, it is quite old by now, and it's been years since I watched it so I can't remember if there was anything explicitly problematic in terms of the humor.
I do remember laughing till I had to pause the show a few times though so on that basis, I am recommending this show. Watch s1, for s2.
Tbf, the show is pretty interesting by itself too.
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Description: Through Chiyo's failed love confession to Nozaki, she found out that Nozaki is actually a popular shoujo mangaka! And then she got roped into assisting him and found out that a few other people in school are also assisting him, including the president of the drama club, the student who is Nozaki's shoujo manga heroine inspiration, etc.
If you have read some shoujo manga, you will enjoy this light hearted poking fun of tropes like, riding double on a bicycle, sharing an umbrella, etc. It also does some gender expectations subversion (shoujo manga heroine is based on a guy, the stand off-ish guy inspiration is based on a girl, etc.). The whole ensemble cast is lots of fun and lovable, and you will most definitely laugh at least a few times throughout the show (my threshold is very low, I laughed throughout the whole show).
The artist Elizabeth Wade creates what she calls "story maps"--watercolor works that celebrate the physical landscapes of beloved works of fiction.
I own the Anne of Green Gables one but there are also maps of the Hundred Acre Wood, Neverland, Narnia, Middle-Earth, The Secret Garden, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Nancy Drew, Little House on the Prairie, Bible stories, Charlotte's Web, Mary Poppins, the Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, and MORE.
You can buy prints in different sizes or note cards, tea towels, and stickers.
This just so good! I could feel my mind lighting up as I watched this! Lots of interesting stuff about craft and knowledge, and about different scales of time
Happy Day 9 of #DecRecs, for those who celebrate! Today's recommendation I haven't even finished yet, but that doesn't matter, because I'm having a blast and a half reading it. It is T. Kingfisher's newest Saint of Steel book, 'Paladin's Faith'.
Just as much fun as the others, standard bantery light comfy T Kingfisher reliable fluff. If you haven't read any of her work, you can start with The Clockwork Boys, where I started, or with Paladin's Grace. Or, y'know, anywhere. She's great.
🌱 #TheUntamed / #MoDaoZuShi
🌱 #LanWangji / #WeiWuxian
🌱 18k, rated General, canon divergent
🌱 LWJ loses his core while defending WWX
🌱 He struggles to come to terms with it
🌱 WWX tries to help
Today's #anime#DecRecs is themed Bump of Chicken because I love Bump of Chicken
March Comes in Like a Lion
Description: It's a story about shogi players, but it's so much more than the game. It's about loneliness, depression, finding warmth and connection. About high school bullying and how it's hard to resolve. It's about responsibilities taken on by the eldest, the messiness of family. I love how the colors in this anime reflects the inner world of the characters. When we first see Rei, the main pov character, his world was muted. Cold colors, monotonous, like he was drowning (he was indeed drowning). But the colors change and he grows and heals. And the story is a lot more than Rei's story, as it also focuses on the people he knows, so we get to know about the Kawamoto family, about his rival, etc.
I love this series a lot and I hope you will too! (Ok, tbh, this series doesn't need an intro or a rec, so treat this as encouragement)
There's a music video collab between the mangaka Umino Chika, and Bump of Chicken here, because they are fans of each other: https://youtu.be/CiCWbfjf8Tw
Tales of the Abyss
Description: I am cheating because I am using this to recommend the game (but the anime follows closely). I have not cried as much over a game since Tales of the Abyss. It's a story about mistakes, redemption and revenge. Human experimentation, clone ethics, lots of heavy topics. But the game also allows silly stuff like equipping forks as weapons, ahaha. The main character grew up privileged and spoilt, but Extremely Traumatic Events happened and now he's a ball of guilt and trauma (among other things). He is my Tales of the Abyss blorbo and I will stab anyone who hurts him anymore.
Anyway, this is also the game/series that introduced me to Bump of Chicken with a song that still hit me in the feels now (and a song I enjoy singing in karaoke sessions: https://youtu.be/mTdcxQZcQAE
Today for #DecRecs I'm recommending one of my favorite Chinese learning resources: Pleco!
This is an English/Chinese dictionary app! The default here is Mandarin but you can switch to Cantonese too! I have a Classical Chinese dictionary as well, which I paid money for. (The basic app is free!)
I love that there's so many ways to look things up! You can write on the screen, use radical or type in hanzi or pinyin! And you can also type in English words too.
(1/2)
#DecRecs No.8 is 'Just Like Home', by Sarah Gailey. A woman goes home to look after her mother in her last days. Dark secrets in the woman's past surround something horrible that her father did (no, nothing sexual, relax). Her house, built by her father, is really super creepy. True-crime loving weirdos swarm all over it. But sometimes we must love monsters, no matter how monsterous they are. What is a monster, anyway?
It's basically a banana bread but carrot. I liked it a lot! I didn't have either yogurt or applesauce though, so I used milk. My go-to banana bread recipe has a much more liquid batter than this so I figured it would be fine, and it was.
Time for my #anime#DecRecs and I promise today, it will be for all the wrong reasons:
Uta no Prince-sama
Description: Haruka wants to be a song writer/composer so she now attends a school for the performing arts where she meets incredibly talented future idols (read: incredibly eccentric future idols) and write songs for them.
This is based on an otome game series by the same name. If you have a bit of time and want to watch something utterly ridiculous with a friend, just so you can make comments like, "is this person a fairy? why is there a tower in the forest? why is he staring out of the window? why is there a magical prince from a different country? why is Shining Saotome, Shining Saotome? what the fuck is going on here?", this is the anime for you! It is over the top ridiculous and has some fun songs.
I had a lot of fun trash talking this anime with my friend.
(and then I tried playing the otome game and fell head over heels for Maeno Tomoaki's voice forever, so well, I got what I deserved for laughing at this anime I guess? Also, Haruka has so much more personality in the game... it's unfortunate anime Haruka is not as fun.)
Cuticle Tantei Inaba
Description: This is yet another anime I watched because it was very nonsense. The main character, Inaba, a werewolf detective, investigates things by tasting... hair???
Anyway, the point is, there's a goat mafia voiced by Ohkawa Tohru [1], there's a mafia underling with a paperbag over his head voiced by Kosugi Juurouta [2], the main character (the guy with the hair fetish) is voiced by Suwabe Junichi [3].
GOAT. MAFIA. OHKAWA TOHRU. [1]
That's the reason I watched it. Also this is a good rare Suwabe Junichi voice and character type.
[1] You might know him as Roy Mustang from the 2003 version of Full Metal Alchemist, Gundam IBO's Rustal Elion,
[2] One Piece's Arlong, Utena's Akio, Tiger & Bunny's Mr. Legend
[3] Kuroshitsuji's Undertaker, JJK's Sukuna, Jojo's Bizarre Adventures' Abbachio
#decrecs
Today's rec is:
Buying a small thing to make your life easier even if you don't "need" it
I got a $2 tea strainer at HMart about 5 years ago even though I "had one" (that had come with a teapot I didn't use and didn't fit in my mugs). I use this for literally every cup of tea I make now.
Another one was one of those knuckle dusters for cutting butter into flour. It violated my "no single task kitchen tools" guideline but turns out it's WAY easier than using your fingers.
day 1: I impulse bought this muji glass teapot in the spring because I wanted something specifically for both brewing and storing cold brew tea in the fridge and it's PERFECT, it's just the right size for a couple cups of tea without taking up too much room in the fridge, it's so easy to clean, and I make wonderful cold brew tea nearly every day now which means my palette of teas has broaded significantly since I still often feel intimidated hot-brewing most white or green teas besides genmaicha. US store link because it's no longer listed on the Canadian site for some reason :( https://www.muji.us/products/heat-resistant-glass-pot-mdea5a
#DecRecs day 5: HARDLY ORIGINAL of me but the hobonichi sneaker weeks mega was my work planner last year and I loved it so much that I plan to continue using that planner system as long as I'm at my job. I prefer the sneaker version with a clear plastic cover so it's durable but also I don't get too precious about keeping it cute https://wonderpens.ca/products/b-pre-order-b-hobonichi-mega-weeks-2024-planner-sneaker-aqua-blue
Just learned about #DecRecs! To make up for yesterday, Day 1 of Dec Recs I'll recommend this Chinese short animated series "All Saints Street" with four seasons. An angel, vampire, mummy, zombie, and werewolf live together. What could go wrong? Really enjoy it for the combination of great art, slice of life, and the supernatural. There's also a comic. It's produced similar to "Hey your cat ears are showing" but more memes and skulls than wholesome uwu. https://anilist.co/anime/114555#anime
For Day 7 of #DecRecs, drawing implements
✏️ The Pentel Sharp Automatic Lead Pencil, the yellow one with .9mm lead. I struggle to control the pressure I put down on paper, so I always break lead. That's never been an issue ever since I came across this pencil in an assortment of random stationary we had in the basement. It's very sturdy and I find comfortable to hold.
🖌️Huion drawing tablets. They are the best budget alternatives to overpriced Wacoms. I've had both versions of the H610 pro, which come with a large workspace, hot keys, and 8192 sensitivity levels. Haven't had any issues with drawing software recognizing it either.
Wishes inked beneath your skin (6k) by Suspicious_Popsicle is a sweet #WangXian modern AU #fanfic with wwx as brilliant cultivator/tattoo artist (very special tattoos) & lwj in love. Although relatively short it captures wwx's essence & lwj's feelings so incredibly well. There's a dash of sadness / a sense of loss (loving parents, wwx living in hiding) but it's a very positive fic. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23388628 #cql#TheUntamed#DecRecs
Come home to my heart (30k) by occultings is a canon divergent #WangXian#fanfic where our favorite oblivious boys suffer a body swap curse after the Sunshot campaign. Some shenanigans ensue (but no slapstick humor), the fic is funny, soft and lighthearted, with lots of tender, bittersweet pining that becomes mutual after an initially slightly obnoxious wwx has some revelations. https://archiveofourown.org/works/23720248 #cql#TheUntamed#DecRecs