memoirs of a geisha by arthur golden has been my most recent book and it's been a good read, though very much not a lighthearted fun one. i'm about halfway through and should get back to it. as a westerner writing stories about historical japan i thought reading another westerner's story about historical japan would be good inspiration, even if memoirs of a geisha is a few hundred years past where i write ryu.

akane-banashi, my girlfriend's not here today, and yotaka futatabi are my main ongoing manga reads now that chainsaw man's wrapped up. i should get back to ranma and young ladies don't play fighting games, too...

for web fiction i've been slowly catching up on norainumonogatari, an ongoing chainsaw man AU fanfic by my friend artdevil. if it's any endorsement to that story's quality, i'm not much of a fanfic guy but i am absolutely enraptured by every chapter i read. i am also reading long live the immortal by my boyfriend siwonwrites, which has been a similarly-fantastic korean action/fantasy that's been a joy to both read and edit.