Dear Author, Let Me Introduce You to... [Letter]

[e_k_braveman]

Hi, hello, would you like to hear about my blorbos? Well, obviously, otherwise you wouldn't be doing this exchange. Grab a seat, grab a cuppa and watch this chick infodump about their fandoms.

~100% free canons (not counting Patreon bonus content :P)~

    Leif & Thorn

• What parts to read: storylines 1-6 (link leads to full archive)
• Tags: Media - Comics, Genre - Webcomic, Genre - Romance, Genre - Comedy, Genre - Fantasy, Indentured Servitude, Queer Character(s), Character(s) of Color, Jewish Character(s), diverse cast
• Summary: Due to a prophecy, a magical knight named Thorn is tasked along with his team to work at foreign embassy. There, he meets a servant named Leif and they fall in love. This leads to Thorn finding out the horrific systemic abuse present in Leif's country and leads him down a path of trying to balance legality and morality in their relationship. Further complicating things are a Secret Order of Monster Hunters, a mysterious Woman in Black whose memory magic is so powerful everyone forgets her instantly, Thorn's mysterious neighbor who claims he's killed people, vampire and a whole slew of other issues, ranging from the mundane to the fantastical.
• Warnings:
  
  • Graphic Depictions Of Violence - kind of YMMV the vampire feeding in Ch. 5 looks pretty gross. A bit later there's a flashback to a dragon attack, which shows just enough to give me goosebumps. FWIW, these are few and far in betweeen.
  • Major Character Death - way later in the series
• Additional warnings:
  
  • Institutional abuse - this does feature in the recommended excerpt. Indentured servitude, baby! /j
  • Realistic depictions of trauma and its effects - in addition to the abuse above, there's PTSD flashbacks, abusive families and child abuse are discussed, probably other stuff I can't remember right now. It's not particularly graphic, IMO, but it's there and it's woven into the story.
  • Frank discussions about traumatic events - not in the excerpt, but it happens occasionally in the overall series.
• Personal comment: I don't even remember how I found this series, but the short strips are so easy to binge, I ended up reading the whole thing in a day or two, and I still read it regularly to this day! The main relationship is full of deep caring and a clear effort for both parties to understand each other. The minority characters are written with a lot of thought on their development and relationships. The worldbuilding is so fascinating, even the analogous-to-our-world elements feel like they fit and make sense. There's all sort of twists and turns that made me go "YOOOOO!!!" especially once we got to the Woman in Black's identity reveal. It's just a very cool underrated comic I want to show to more people!

 

    The Record of Stan Frederick:

• What parts to watch: All of season 1
• Tags: Media - Webseries, Genre - Horror, Genre - Mystery, Morally Grey Characters
• Summary: A young man named Stan Frederick used to be haunted by the entity known as Slenderman. Now, he travels the USA helping others who are haunted, including by other entities. However, he has some personal demons he's yet to face...
• Warning: Major Character Death
• Additional warning: child death and abuse
• Personal comment: I actually got into this series way before I did any other Slenderman-related webseries, so I think it works even if you aren't familiar with any other works in the genre. There's plenty of references and in-jokes, but they're like some extra garnish for the people already in the Slenderman fandom. Stan comes off as very charming and kind, even if he has his unsanded edges. The effects are really good for the miniscule budget the creator has to work with and the supporting actors do a good job as well!

    Chonny's Charming Chaos Compendium Vol. 1 - Chonny Jash

• What parts to listen to: weeeeell, the full album is just under 2 hours, so it fits into the exchange, but even as a fan of the artist I found it too overwhelming, so I made a Spotify playlist of highlights you can check out instead:
• Tags: Media - Music, Genre - Electronic, Genre - Rock, Identity Issues, Multiplicity/Plurality
• Summary: In theory, a whole album of Tally Hall covers. In practice, an album loosely based on Tally Hall and related acts' music centering around issues of identity and artistry. The central conflict is between the Heart, the Mind, and the Soul—three aspects of the character Chonny Jash (aka the Whole) fighting for dominance amongst each other. Can be read as a narrative about plurality/multiplicity.
• Warnings: None apply, somehow!
• Additional warnings: references to mental illness and suicide, threats of murder, possibly also actual attempted murder (depending on how you interpret some songs)
• Personal comment: I originally got into this because of the Mind Electric cover (a trilogy of covers, really) cause it popped up on youtube and it's one of the only Tally Hall songs I've properly listened to. I found the conflict between Heart, Mind and Soul very interesting and somewhat relatable. The full album expands A LOT on their relationships and struggles, all while showing off the artist's musical skills. You don't need to have listened to much Tally Hall to get into this, but it does help contextualize the musical choices.

~Mostly free canons (Some content is free but others you have to pay for)~
 

    하루만 네가 되고 싶어 | I Want to Be You Just For a Day [AKA Your Throne] (Comic):

• What parts to read: The first 19 chapters/episodes (link leads to the first of these)
• Tags: Media - Comics, Genre - Webcomic, Genre - Otome Isekai, Genre - Fantasy, Genre - Drama, Political Intrigue, Strong Female Character(s), Female Friendship, Morally Grey Characters
• Summary: Two noblewomen, Medea and Psyche, were once friends, but after Psyche wins a competition to become the crown princess, they become bitter enemies. After accidentally almost drowning, they found out they have the ability to switch bodies. This sets them on a journey to repairing their friendship and confronting their real enemy — crown prince Eros.
  
• Warnings:
  • Graphic Depictions Of Violence - very much relevant to the linked excerpt and the series as a whole
  • Major Character Death - not relevant to the excerpt
• Additional warning:
  
  • In the excerpt: misogyny, child abuse
  • Later in the series: animal abuse and death, dubious consent
• Personal comment: This series, oooohhh my god. Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss the comic right here folks! Medea is the more edgy of the two MCs and she's my favorite for it. I love a woman who's fucked up and has questionable morals! She also gets to show sexuality without being shamed for it (sadly, there's noting explicit). Psyche is also really great; intially she seems naive and a bit of a crybaby, but she shows a lot of quick thinking and her own ability to manipulate situations in her favor. They're both self-sufficient and in the areas they aren't, it makes sense for their characters. The supporting cast is also great, especially because the servants act as proper characters rather than background filler.

    리셋팅 레이디 | The Crimson Lady

• What parts to read: The three free episodes (link leads to full archive)
• Tags: Media - Comics, Genre - Webcomic, Genre - Fantasy, Genre - Otome Isekai, Immortality, Insanity, Revenge
• Summary: After dying and waking back up on her 17th birthday one too many times, Karen Heyer loses her sanity and chooses a path of violence and vengance. As she tries to plot the perfect revenge, events unfold in such a way that she finds out more about her past, her current predicament and what might help her end this cycle once and for all.
• Warnings:
  
  • Graphic Depictions Of Violence - OH YEAH, LIKE BASICALLY IMMEDATELY
  • Major Character Death - not in the excerpt
• Additional warnings: suicide, anti-Rromani racism (incl. slurs, though they're censored in the official translation), child abuse, abusive adoptive parent, dubious consent (all relevant to the excerpt and the rest of the series)
• Personal comment: aaaaa

~The one canon you usually have to pay for~

    W.I.T.C.H. (comics)

• What parts to read: The first 4 issues, (link leads to first issue, use an adblocker on the website!)
• Tags: Media - Comics, Genre - Fantasy, Genre - For Kids, Magical Girls, Strong Female Character(s), Female Friendship, Character(s) of Color
• Summary (of the first arc): Five teen girls — Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia, and Hay Lin — discover they have magical powers and soon discover they were granted their powers to guard the Veil between our world and the world of Metamoor. Meanwhile their friend Elyon befriends a man from Metamoor named Cedric. She soon betrays them and then disappears along with her parents, leaving the girls with the additional task of trying to find out what happened to her.
• Warnings: Major Character Death - later in the series
• Additional warnings:
  
  • Animal death later in the series
  • The main characters are around 13-14 with love interests who are ambiguously older. I don't mind, personally, but I know some people even in the fandom are put off by this, so I thought I'd mention it.
• Personal comment: I was obsessed with this series as a kid and recently it's resurfaced. It's a really fun magical girl series, with a great cast of characters and fun powers. Almost every arc has unique major and minor villains, including, but not limited to an evil prince, an evil former Guardian, Will's shithead dad, an evil book, and many more. In one arc, they even deal with the consequences of constantly summoning and banishing their magic clones! It's got a lot of the typical magical girl tropes, while also putting its own unique spin on things.

I hope you enjoy what you read/watch/listen to!