This story is uniquely beautiful. Not the kind of tame, window dressed beauty that is curated for consumption. No, it is beautiful like a spider willingly being eaten by her young so that they have a chance to live. Like a half starved lion cub making her first desperate kill, all odds against her. Like a taxidermied Butterfly, it's life cut short for the quiet pleasure of another. It is beautiful in the way only something born from the sublimation of trauma and its survival can be, and we will be eternally grateful for its existence, for being allowed to share in this world, and are left better for reading it.

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This story is perfectly aimed at a certain flavour of trans perspective.

It's got a variety of wholesome themes to offer; becoming better, healing from trauma, sense sharing consensual gore s*x, helping pretty gerlthings live freely and more

10/10 almost forgot to eat for over half a day while catching up

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This is a story that trys a bit too hard to be unique. Instead of being introduced and immersed in the world we are instead thrown in head first. You quickly find yourself drowing in terms and turns of phrase that mean nothing. As all of this is happening you are given the barest hint of descriptions that barely give you a glimpse at what you are supposed to be seeing as a reader. The writing style generally just feels like a desperate attempt to stand out and seem sophisticated. Instead what you get is a story that provides nothing to the reader and feels like you suddenly started 10 novels into a series.

There is potential in the story but when I'm reading what is basically just word vomit I can't get far enough in to see that potential realized. If this writing style, of stumbling around blind, is your cup of tea then more power to you but it's not mine.

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This story is excellent. I'm somewhat obsessed, I wish it was more well-known so I could look up fanart and speculation and such. The use of magic and fantasy elements to reflect the story's themes of trauma recovery and healing and choosing to be better, and turn these mental struggles into something often visceral in its materiality, is delicious to read. And the more cute and/or hornii bits are quite enjoyable as well, as is the aspect of characters working on projects and figuring things out in a way that can kind of give 'progression story' aspects but without being the masculine power fantasy that stories more focused on that can often fall into.

A few notes before you read - (a) there is something of a tone shift between the first chapters and more recent ones, I can't pinpoint it exactly but it's there. It's not at all a bad thing, I enjoy both the earlier and later moods, but it does exist imo.

(b) As some of the less positive reviews point out, the writing style can be a bit dense, and the more abstract magical elements unintuitive at first glance. I disagree with them framing this as a problem, though - you should go deeper than first glance. Blade and Witch is not the lightest read, but you'll be well rewarded for giving it your full attention and careful reading.

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I do enjoy this story. The characters are interesting, the character interactions are interesting. The multiple perspectives, both on the world, and from a story telling standpoint work well and I do plan to come back and continue this later on....

But there is a somewhat glaring flaw with the story, as much as I like it. Several "events" just sort of happen. It's hard to describe all the different ones, but the problem is that these are notable events with lots of moving parts... that are never written down. A fight scene that should take up a chapter or two is condenced down to a paragraph and then I'm left with no real understanding of what just happened and it grates on me.

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