Crafty Things!

Time to cook up some delicious dishes with two old witches, who just so happen to live together and are raising 4 children. Together.

Upcoming Events:

CoreCon in Fargo-Moorhead North Dakota

May 21st - 24th, 2026

We're guests! We'll have a table, panels and everything!

ALA Annual Conference & Exhibition - Chicago Illinois

June 25th - June 29th

We won't be selling at this show, but Briana will be on at least one panel, about manga in libraries.

Title: 23:45 Re;

Story and Art by: Ohana

Format: Manga

Age Range: 18+

Date Released: July, 2025

Publisher: Vertical Comics

From the Back:

Mimori Seo is a ghost.

Rather, he was a ghost (or something like it) for a whole year while his body lay in a coma recovering from a near-fatal fall. At least, that’s according to the story Iku Kurihara—a local convenience store clerk who for some reason has been visiting Mimori’s dreams—tells when he suddenly confesses his love to Mimori. But is that love meant for Mimori, or a phantom of the past he doesn’t even remember?

Find out in this adult, after-dark spin-off to the bittersweet 23:45!

Thoughts:

I think I’m trying a new thing, where I’m going to go back and finish a lot of the series where I reviewed the first volume and then moved on to something else. So you might see a lot of call back reviews like this, we’ll see. I did also just buy a stack of new books…

23:45 Re; is a sequel, sorta, and it’s really meant to be read in order (so if you want to read my review of the first one, head over here). But this time our main character is a ghost of himself, or so he’s been told.

Almost forgot to post all the May releases! Quick, add to that TBR! You can find the full list on my blog.

If you’ll allow my fannish brain to talk about my latest obsession… oh! And where you can find us and our work over the next two weekends!

Upcoming Events:

Rewind Book Fair

April 18 & 19th, 2026

Minnesota State Fair Grounds

Come by and check out our books or just say hi!

Black Girl Book Fair by Jacque Aye

April 25th, 2026

Virtual

Check out the website to get your ticket and access the special discounts!

Title: Gachiakuta (Season 1)

Story and Art by: Kei Urana

Grafitti Art by: Ando Hideyoshi

Animated by: Bones

Format: Anime

Date Released: 2025

What’s it About:

Somewhere, in another world, there’s a shining white sphere of a city in the sky and the dirty garbage filled world below. Rudo is a Spherite; though even within its perfect walls he is a reject forced to live in the edges He spends his days collecting trash and fixing it so it can be used again, trying to communicate the worth in items people have just tossed away. But when he discovers his father figure, Regto, murdered by a masked killer that slips away, the gilded city is quick to blame him for the brutal scene. Its almost as if they were waiting for the perfect excuse to toss him out to the desolate world below with the rest of the trash. Literally.

But Rudo doesn’t die. Somehow, he awakes on the ground where there’s people and a whole other culture. Here, people survive however they can and some even have powers connected to cherished items they call Vital Instruments. He's picked up by a group of these Givers and slowly learns what its like to be surrounded by people that actually care about him. Slowly Rudo learns how to be a full person… all while he plots his revenge against the Sphere that cast him aside.

Thoughts:

Heads up, my review might contains spoilers because the queer nature of characters is usually directly tied to the plot. I won't spoil everything, but I will touch on as much plot as needed to explain why I tagged things the way I did. Just be warned.

Well look at that, it's a new season and there’s a new ‘mainstream’ shonen series that just forces its way onto my radar. I swear I fall for this every time and I’ve been deep in the worlds of Naruto, My Hero Academia and Tokyo Revengers (just to name a few) to know that this isn’t my usual fare with queer content, but that doesn’t mean its not there… at least a little.

Welp. Saw the series, so of course I had to start picking up the books….

April is here and this is no joke, there’s so much queer content coming up this month, I can barely keep up! Hopefully this list helps you with your collection and reading.

Below is a collection of BL, GL and queer themed publications coming out from major publishers in the manga world. The list is primarily manga, manhwa, danmei and light novels, but occasionally I’ll add in others I’m aware of. Obviously I can’t list everything queer coming out, I’m only one person and there are thousands of publications every month. But hopefully this gives you a place to start with your search and if I missed anything, please let me know so I can correct that mistake here and in the future.

Oops, fell down a rabbit hole with a manga series I once forgot to finish. Glad I finally did.

My review for No. 6 is up!

Title: No. 6 (Volumes 1-9)

Story by: Atsuko Asano

Art by: Hinoki Kino

Format: Manga adaptation of a Light Novel series

Age Range: Teens, 13+

Date Released: 2011 (Japan), 2014 (English)

Publisher: Kodansha

What’s it About:

No. 6 is a shining utopian city where everything is perfect - so of course everything is wrong deep underneath. Shion was born and raised as a pampered elite in that city, only to have his entire life turned upside down on the night he shielded a wounded boy from the police. Now he’s been cast out by the city and struggles to find a way back in to save his family and friends, assisted by the boy he saved who only wants to destroy the city that nearly destroyed him.

Thoughts:

The nature of being an anime fan is that there’s SO MUCH content for us to work our way through. Even when you’re trying to focus on simply BL or GL titles, there’s honestly just piles and piles of things to read and watch of all different varieties. (I am not complaining.) And, try as I might to keep up, I still fall behind quite often and there’s an ever embarrassing list of series that I’ve started and just never got around to finishing because something else came up.

The nice thing about this blog is I’m able to go back and revisit those, reliving what caught me about certain series and finally get to the ending of the story.

No. 6 is a BL series I came across years ago, likely because I saw fanart of the two main characters and was instantly caught by yet another mysterious white haired anime boy and his brooding lover. What can I say? I might have a type… And here that type won out even if the series is very specifically dystopian sci-fi, a genre I’m usually not that enthusiastic about.

Read the rest of the review over at Well Are They? a Queer Review Blog

In honor of the anime release of Go For It, Nakamura, I thought I’d reshare my review of the manga. I can’t wait to watch the first two episodes today!

Title: Go For It, Nakamura! Vol 1 & 2

Story and Art: Syundei

Format: Manga

Date Released: 2018

What’s it About:

Nakamura has a crush on his classmate Hirose, so much so that it’s dominating every part of his school day life. How will he survive when this cute angel is always turning up right next to him? How will he ever confess his feelings without tripping over his own nerves?

Tags:

Baby Gay, Crossdressing, Gay, Messy, Queer Dreams, Teenagers, Crush

Title: I Live To Serve the Witch

Story by: Jacque Aye

Format: Novel

Age Range: New Adult

Date Released: 2025

Publisher: JacqueAye.com

From the back:

I only know of true love because of the witch.

Ceciline lives to serve her Mistress -- the wise, warm, and mysterious witch who raised her. Together, they live a peaceful life tucked away in their cottage in the woods. The witch works her magic, and Ceciline follows closely behind, sweeping floors, gathering ingredients, and staying alert should her Mistress need her for anything. The witch refuses to teach her any spells or incantations. But Ceciline doesn't mind. She's perfectly happy with the way things are. She only wishes to be useful.

But things change when a mysterious traveler lands on her doorstep with a thump. And the closer the two become, the more Ceciline questions whether the witch is protecting her... or imprisoning her.

Thoughts:

Full disclosure, my wifey and I have been supporting and following Jacque Aye for a while and we have a couple of her books, but this is the first one I’ve had a chance to pick up and read. What can I say, our TBR piles are literal bookshelves and I'm working through them slowly. I’m usually the one into magic and witchy things, so when I was headed off on vacation, I thought this would be a great book to throw into my suitcase for a early morning balcony read, and I was right!

I Live to Serve the Witch is a twisty tale that hops between two stories and two timelines, as things slowly connect together. We follow the story of Ceciline, who studies as a witch’s apprentice and is mostly busy keeping up the house of the kindly but mysterious witch she lives with. Ceciline cleans and tends to the herbs and is quick to grab whatever ingredients her mistress needs. She’s curious and naïve, but she also knows when to keep her mouth shut -- mostly. It’s all she can do to wait at the little home for her mistress to return… but when a young woman shows up bleeding instead, she quickly tucks her away in her bedroom to heal and doesn’t say a word. From there the lie only grows bigger, as does the danger she’s in.

Just because it’s dated doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a read…

Title: My Only King (Old School)

Story and Art by: Lily Hoshino

Format: Manga

Age Range: YA - Young Adults 16+

Date Released: 2004 (Japanese), 2006 (English)

Publisher: DMP: Digital Manga Publishing, yaoi-manga.com

From the Back:

For ages, kingly coronations in the land of magic have been steeped in mysticism and rigid tradition. But what happens when magic goes awry? The royal crest signifying the kingly office gets bestowed on a bumbling, hormonal teen-aged mortal, that’s what!

After the crest appears on the body of mere mortal Kazuomi, an apprentice sorcerer named Mewt is sent to our world to find and protect the crest from villains who want to get their hands on it. Mewt is fiercely loyal and is willing to go to any lengths to prevent anyone from getting close to Kazuomi… including, as Kazuomi finds out in dismay, girls who are willing to go all the way with him!

Also included in this compilation are stories involving a ghost possessing a young office worker’s bathtub, a king who sells orphan for profit and a bonus episode of “Aishichattano (I Fell In Love With You)” and “Mix Mix Chocolate,” the hit series that spawned a Drama CD. Indeed, if yaoi of the cute and quirky kind is what you’re after, then this comics compilation from creator Lily Hoshino is the book for you.

Thoughts:

A word: This manga is dated - but not necessarily in a bad way. See, this Boy’s Love (then called yaoi) was brought over when manga was just making its way into bookstores and people were still discovering what readers did and didn’t like. In this world even a gay glance warranted wrapping the manga in plastic and relegating it to the ‘adult’ shelf of the store. Some things are translated poorly, without much of the cultural nuance we have today and the choices for what made it overseas was overly complicated. What I’m saying is give this manga a bit of leeway, because it helped form and inform what we have now. And some of these gems are still worth reading, if you can look past the imperfections.

Heads up, my review contains spoilers because the queer nature of these characters is directly tied to the plot. I’m not spoiling everything, but enough to complete the review. Just be warned.

Ahh, the early 2000’s. It’s a time when the world of yaoi is new and exciting, with several publishers popping up and slowly filling the single manga shelf at the bookstore with enticing plastic covered volumes. We had yaoi paddles, anthologies, incomplete series and little cute bears with t-shirts that proudly proclaimed ‘seme’ and ‘uke’. It was a completely different time for the fandom where nearly every volume of manga by an unknown mangaka was like Russian roulette. The backs always over promised and while that plastic could mean a censored but deliciously naughty scene or two, it could also mean that the characters finally kiss in volume 4 and that’s it. Period.

(Still burned by you, Eerie Queerie.)

My Only King is one of those aforementioned anthologies where the main story is the one on the back and the rest of the book is padded with tiny little miscellaneous stories by the same mangaka that are of varying quality. It’s a fun little varied escape, but if you’re looking for long form narratives that do more then hint at a grander plot, this really isn’t where you’re going to find it. Which is a shame, because some of these would have been great with some expansion.

It’s March and I was on vacation so I totally forgot to post this. Sorry about that! Now I'm off to the book store to pick up the titles I missed!

Below is a collection of BL, GL and queer themed publications coming out from major publishers in the manga world. The list is primarily manga, manhwa, danmei and light novels, but occasionally I’ll add in others I’m aware of. Obviously I can’t list everything queer coming out, I’m only one person and there are thousands of publications every month. But hopefully this gives you a place to start with your search and if I missed anything, please let me know so I can correct that mistake here and in the future.

Rewatched these recently and just had to enjoy the very good crumbs given.

My reviews of the 3 Sonic the Hedgehog movies are up!

Title: Sonic the Hedgehog, Movies 1-3

Owned/Created by: Sega, Paramount Pictures, Sega Sammy Group

Format: Movies

Date Released: 2020+

What’s it About:

Based on the popular video game franchise, Sonic is a blue alien hedgehog who finds himself stranded on earth and attempting to live on his own. He’s eventually found and adopted by a human family of Tom and Maddie Wachowski while attempting to escape from the evil genius Doctor Robotnik. As the movies progress Sonic faces more threats and joins up with other alien creatures, such as Tails (a multitailed fox), Knuckles (an extremely loyal echidna warrior) and Shadow (an evil hedgehog from a hidden science lab).

Thoughts:

Heads up, my review contains spoilers because the queer nature of these characters is directly tied to the plot. I’m not spoiling everything, but enough to complete the review. Just be warned.

I, originally, wasn’t going to write this review. In spite of loving the Sonic games growing up, devouring the cartoons as a kid and thoroughly enjoying the new movies with my video game inclined wife, the world of Sonic isn’t exactly a beacon of queer media. Well, that's not exactly true because there's a very healthy world of fanfiction and fanart between the hedgehogs and other furry creatures across the internet. Still, as they're portrayed as children/ young teens in the movies, that's not really where this blog lives and I won't be tackling all that.

However, the recent three movies and their little spinoff series have introduced a new character that changes all of that in Agent Stone. After rewatching the third movie over the weekend I realized there’s plenty to write about here, especially since he and Robotnik’s relationship is one of the most hilarious parts of the films.

So let's table that hedgehog and focus on the real star of the show…