hello all! recently swapped over to here from pagebound via recommendation from some danmei readers I know, and I'm hoping to meet the rest of the community here. I'd love to be mutuals if you read any amount of danmei!

So I had this idea for us all to play a little bookish game if you’re into it 😁 This is inspired by the “cadavre exquis” game, or “Exquisite Corpse” if you know it. The original point is to create a grammatically correct phrase, but with an unexpected meaning. Here, I’m proposing that we all create some short stories together (which will hopefully be funny) based on our reading.

If you want to participate, rules are :

• Pick the book you’re reading (or a book within your reach)
• Pick the sentence you’re currently at, or a random sentence from a random page in the book, you can do as you please for this tbh, but you shouldn’t think too much about it
• Then reply that sentence to this post to create a new story and/or a comment underneath this post to further a story You can respond to multiple threads if there are multiple ones, just pick a new sentence to miw it up. And you can participate multiple times on the same thread, just try to not respond to your own sentences, so we have a chance to mix it up ^^

I’m sorry if it sounds like i’m policing you (it kind of sounds like that to me), but that is not the intention at all, I’m just trying to offer some ground rules in the hopes this will help make the experience better, and I don’t know how to phrase this differently and still get my point across 😅

Also, if this goes well, I’ll make a compilation of all the stories created and post them on a new post in club, so don’t worry if it gets a little messy ^^

I’m hoping you all, and I, will enjoy this, and I’ll start us off with :

It’s at once a relief and a tragedy, realising that nothing which mattered to you as a child really matters.

I love a supernatural romance, but usually when I see a F/M human x monster/creature/beast/supernatural being pairing, the monster is almost always the MMC!!! I mean no disrespect to all the human girl x 100 y/o fae, 100 y/o vampire, angel, werewolf, demon, fish-man etc etc. I have read and loved many, and I know there are 500 beauty and the beast retellings for a reason.

But I want to see a man pining over a terrifying woman!!! I want a reversal of the usual situation where the FMC falls for the man because of or in spite of his monstrosity, and the MMC learns to accept/feel deserving of love.

I don’t mean situations where the FMC is only supernatural in a hot way (i.e. the little mermaid where she’s pretty and non-threatening throughout). I do have a soft spot for when the MMC is supernatural but the human FMC is objectively scarier, but that’s not exactly what I mean either.

I will also accept queer recs with monster girls or trans/nonbinary folks, though I have a few of those already (Ex. Someone You Can Build a Nest In (sapphic)).

So please, give me your favorite scary/monstrous girls! I am BEGGING someone to come in here and say, “Oh what a terrible oversight, here are 10 recs that do this exact thing!” If I get enough maybe I’ll make a list. 🙏

I’ll add the few recs I have so far in the comments.

I've been in a reading slump for a week now. Reason? Anime. 😭

I watched Yona of the Dawn last year and then The Apothecary Diaries this week.. finished it within 5 days. Now I can't stop, I'm watching demon slayer & Frieren now. I couldn't even read a single page this week 😰 and I'm freaking out.

But on the good side i think I just found out how amazing anime is 🤩 it all started with some animated series like Blood of Zeus and Castlevania. • So please recommend your favourite anime with a side of romance. (and also a book rec for reading slump)

PS: yona of the dawn season 2 is announced!!! I can't!!! 😭❤️‍🩹

I’m just curious, as there are so many cute icon/avatars to choose from… why did you pick your current one? Do you change it based off your read? Change it with the season? What drew you to be your little icon?!👀✨💭

what's the opposite of a reading slump? i propose that the existence of a reading "slump" implies that there must also exist a reading "high." has anyone encountered such a "high" before? what is this "high" like? is the "high" a state of euphoria or is it similar to a flow state where you are just in the zone, focused, in your own lane, etc? how long does a reading high last? if anyone has answers to any of these questions, please, i must know for science!!