#I must admit: that part was shocking XDD

[white-queen-lacus]

One moment of silence for poor Ricciardi who:

harbors quiet, deep, and secret feelings for his longtime neighbor, sweet Enrica (the young teacher who loves him back but the story is long);

is deeply loved and desired by the former soprano Livia whose case he solved brilliantly... and so far, if I'm not wrong, she's the only one with whom he shared some intimacy;

seems unexpectedly on the same wavelength as Countess Bianca di Roccaspina, who - I read - will be a very important character in the last books. Also, both are from nobility, but Ricciardi appears to have returned his title, choosing a civilian life and his job as a Police Commissioner (aaaaw, I love you being and an ancestor of Cagliostro and Vanessa 👍);

shared a deep bond with his late mother, from whom he inherited what he considers a curse, the ability to see and hear the last words said by the dead, to the point of keeping everybody at distance and to the point of avoiding personal relationships because he's frightened that a child of his own could inherit the gift/curse.

The Party Police: you don't have a family, you aren't nor married nor engaged, you even don't attend brothels... you are a very good friend with the M.D. Modo and you even went home with him... You're gay!

Ricciardi:

Seriously????

[thrawnisbae]

Random comments on the latest episode of The Mandalorian (Chapter 11 or 2.03 depending on how you count)

Under a cut for spoilers:

That Mon Cal dock worker barely said a word but managed to make ,e laugh before even saying anything. He was just so done. xD

Lizard mom and her hubby reuniting was too cute, I love it. Their hug, her touching his face and the two of them kneeling down to proudly admire the eggs was just sweet. <3 (I know Lucasfilm calls her Frog lady but she looks more like a lizard to me.)

“Don’t play with your food” and just casually dispatches the little critter while Yod’ika looks shell-shocked. I’ll admit that got a laugh out of me. xD

Why are Quarrens always douchebags? Every time they show up it’s just to start shit. You’d think they wouldn’t be allowed off their home planet when they’re like that.

Love the timely rescue for the other Mandos! :D

Sadly I got spoiled about Bo-Katan showing up or I would have been losing my s**t over it. Still awesome though.

YAY WE FINALLY GET AN ANSWER ABOUT THE FACE COVERING THING!!!!

Also I’m unreasonably amused that the word “dank” is part of the name for Din’s particular type of Mando. Do they have awesome memes or are they just damp and smelly? xDDDD

Lol, poor Din, must suck to find out you were raised in a cult. xD Still rude of him to just take off without so much as a “thank you” though.

Wow, they really blew up the ship. It doesn’t pay to fuck over Mandalorians. xD

“He didn’t kill your brother. I did.” and straight to shooting. I love Bo-Katan so much. xD

The knowing looks when he mentioned the Jedi - probably not a good thing but I can’t wait to see what they’re up to. xD

Ugh, please not the “funny” egg thing again. Ew.

Lol, that young Imperial’s expression when they were identified as Mandalorians. XD

Oh my god, if you know they’re coming up through an elevator why would you not just mine the door with explosives? Throw a grenade in the elevator the moment the doors open far enough! YOU MOTHERFUCKERS NEED TACTICS!

Daaaayum that Imp in charge is a cold mofo. Wtf.

SHE MEANS THE DARKSABER AHHHHH!!!!! Okay I’m good now, I’m fine. xDD

That young Imp has the most expressive face. I have a feeling he’s not going to be so willing to die for the Empire as his commander obviously is.

...crap, he didn’t get a choice. Damn. I was starting to like him.

SQQUUUEEEEE WE’RE GOING TO SEE AHSOKA!!

“This is the way” - awww, he accepted them as Mandalorians.

I’m so hoping this isn’t the last we see of Bo-Katan and her Mandos!

Awww, the itty bitty lizard bby!

LOL, Mando’s ship was redone in Nautical Chic xD

Can’t wait for Ahsoka next week!!! :D :D :D

[meimi-haneoka]

LOL....Chapter 42.

I mean, I might have become quite boring by now because ALL the chapters I use these shocked gifs, but.....I can’t help it, every time the chapters bring some shocking factor!! XD

Let me just start this reaction post with one happy announcement:

Remember my battles against illegal early spoilers on the internet? How it hurt the fandom (because people who wanted to wait for the official release were forced to avoid social media or block stuff) and the franchise as well?

Well, I’m glad to announce that chapter 42 has been the first chapter ever to not have any early spoilers leaked before the official releases, ever since Clear Card started in July 2016. It took almost 4 years and a revolution by the hands of CLAMP to obtain this result (with the early release of chapters FOR FREE on the official website in 6 languages).

Beware, I’m not celebrating just yet because next month we may get spoilers circulating again, but this chapter was really nice to be discovered all together, legally, without hurting anyone? It was a nice feeling and since it seems we might be approaching the finale, I think it’s important that we enjoy these chapters all together in a proper way.

Well, after this introduction, let’s delve into Chapter 42 of Clear Card!!

Kaito is a walking dead man

I loved the color splash page. It always makes me happy to see Akiho and Sakura together, but this time the theme is a lot more serious. This is getting intense and the color page reflects that. This is also the first black background in a while, I always loved illustrations with black background even in the old manga.

Sooo last chapter we were left with Sakura overthrowing Kaito’s time magic and still conscious and moving. And shocked to see Syaoran and Kaito fighting. Of course Kaito needs to put a patch on this, because he knows Sakura is that powerful, but he doesn’t want her to know any of this, so he starts to “attack” her with time magic, I believe? And prince charming cleverly thinks that he might better call forth the strongest Sakura Cards in the deck, just to be sure to protect Sakura adequately. Even Kaito recognizes that was a wise move. Sakura is more confused than ever, behind the spirit shield formed by Light & Dark.

Syaoran is so fucking fed up with this that he demands to know why Kaito is here in Tomoeda. He candidly admits that he wants Sakura to produce the new Cards. Syaoran is like “No shit, Sakura’s already been producing a shitton of cards” “But she hasn’t produced the one I want”. When Syaoran asks which card that would be, Mr. I-am-an-asshole-and-I-know-it replies “If I told you that, I fear you’d get terribly angry”

Guys, the glare Syaoran gives Kaito after this one is like.......death sentence. The amount of rage accumulated in this short kid is frightening. Syaoran might be cool and composed, but y’all remember his temper at the beginning of the old manga, right? That wasn’t “just because”, it’s still part of his personality XDD he was taming his rough sides of his personality for Sakura, but for Sakura he’s well ready to pull them out at any convenience.

Meanwhile, we aren’t sure if Sakura is listening to the heated conversation or not, but I think she isn’t because she keeps shouting “what’s going on?? What happened??” even after Kaito straight up said he’s after her Cards. Seeing her struggling and reaching from behind Light & Dark, who are restraining her, is kinda.....giving me TRC war flashbacks. Yes. You might have seen the tweet that is making me earn lots of “WHY CINZIA”, but I’m like this, I’m an ugly bitch who needs to suffer in company. I’ll make a separate TRC/CCS comparison post after ages, for this. XD

The highlight of the chapter

Kaito reveals that he knows that Syaoran came back to Japan after his mother had a divination of the future that he absolutely needs to stop. And, at that moment, ladies and gentlemen....

IT’S HER. THE STAR OF THE CHAPTER. THE ONE THE FANDOM DREAMED OF SEEING IN THE MANGA.

LI YELAN-SAMA.

This is a huge thing because a character that was exclusively in the anime canon-verse (even though that line has been more and more flimsy lately) appeared in the manga too. Syaoran’s mother, and the Li family in general, were often mentioned both in the old and new manga series, but CLAMP somehow were always careful to never show any graphical portray of it. Now, finally, after so long, we have Yelan appearing in the manga too, and she’s exactly like her anime counterpart. Regal, elegant, beautiful. I was literally trembling with excitement when I saw her!! It was.....gosh it was huge.

But one has to wonder: how the hell does Kaito knows about all this stuff? How much did he investigate on the Li family? It’s kinda easy to imagine when he could do that: for a period, Akiho and Kaito lived in Hong Kong. Right before coming to Japan.

We get, thanks to Kaito, the confirmation that nor he, nor Syaoran, were born with the gift of seeing the future. Kaito can, if he follows all the steps, see some glimpses till a certain degree, but nothing comparable to someone specialized in divination art, let alone a yumemi. Here it is, the cursed term so dear to CLAMP, indicating the ones who can see the future in dreams. Kaito says that Sakura can indeed see the future playing out in her dreams, but it’s a future far from being set in stone. She’s basically a beginner yumemi, with confusing and fragmented visions, I’d say. But when she will grow up, she will be a fully fledged yumemi. Kaito says that it’s for the strong people to decide how the future will go. And here we find again the thematic so dear to CLAMP, the future and the choices made to let it go in a direction, or another one. Kaito starts to call forth the Tina Rie Triax spell. Syaoran is like “the hell I’m letting you get away like this” and is preparing to counter-attack with Raitei Shorai, when The Queen™ decides she had enough and screams “NOOO!”, calling her staff on the spot and activating her power towards Syaoran, switching places with him! She literally forced him out of the picture and took his place!! 

The Queen takes agency

LOOK AT THAT FACE! LOOK AT IT WELL. It’s the same determination she had in this scene:

I knew we would see the results of that determination. When she saw the boy she loves risking his life with someone who was attacking him, she took agency and went to the front row.

You can’t keep Sakura in the sidelines like that.

Kaito is quite suprised by the move. Maybe because he doesn’t understand love or because he didn’t think she would take agency. Either way, Sakura is pointing her staff at him, the same way Syaoran was pointing his sword at him moments ago. You don’t mess with this child, Kaito.

And he must certainly know, because he mutters “That’s too bad” and rewinds time, basically chickening out of the picture. XD

Sakura is back with Tomoyo, Akiho, Sonomi and her father, but she knows something is wrong, and she walks away from them for a while to give birth to a new card!! TRANSFER is the name, and it’s the power she used to switch places with Syaoran. The fact is, she doesn’t remember nor she understands why the hell this card is here. 

While at home Kaito thinks to himself (smile always present but blatantly a mere mask) that he needs to hurry up or he’ll be in a fucking big mess because Sakura resisted his time-stopping magic and the Clear Card survived the time rewinding, Sakura at her own home is a nervous wreck. She calls Syaoran because she has the feeling she saw Light & Dark, they don’t remember, but Syaoran confirms that he feels something is off and has the feeling someone made them forget something. Sakura closes the call promising that she would inform him of anything that would come to her mind, but as she inadvertently knocks her Clear Cards off, they all fall facing backwards, save for one: BREAK.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is how Chapter 42 ends. Leaving us wondering why Sakura is making this dismayed face. She’s either taking it as a bad omen, or she’s remembering what she saw when she captured BREAK, and what caused the birth of the card in the first place. Not only a soulless Akiho talking nonsense in a pretty dress, but also her boyfriend under the robe of the Mysterious Cloaked Figure. Seemingly about to hurt an unconscious Akiho. That is still an open wound in Sakura’s heart, and it’s pretty clear here.

Guys, what can I tell you, this chapter has been a mixture of wonderful surprises, painful TRC recalls, frustrating time rewindings that show us how Sakura and Syaoran are slowly realizing and fighting Kaito’s fuckery with time....I know a good chunk of the fandom doesn’t like this give-and-take-away, it always seems like the final battle is here, but we are tricked everytime. And yet, I do believe that once the story will be over, and after some time we’ll go back to read Clear Card, the time rewindings will show clearly how gradually Sakura was able to overcome and overthrow Kaito’s magic: first it was a finger, then it was an unexplicable sadness, now a new card and the impression to have seen things, and a general uneasiness because something feels off. The kids were even capable of realizing that they were made to forget something. I bet this graduality will feel more interesting and exciting when we’re not forced to wait 1 month between chapters.

Let me know what you think, too!

[starwriterulia]

Reviewing Brea's Stuff - BTS Soulmate AU (2/2)

PART 2/2 (Rap Monster, Jin, J-Hope, Suga)

HI! \(OwO)/

I want to draw ya'll's attention to one of my friends: @jimin-jungshook-over-literalbae. She's a k-pop reaction/scenario/text writer, and not only have I missed her as a friend so much during my long hiatus, I've also missed her writing. Thankfully, there's a lot for me to catch up on! She asked me to give my opinions on her BTS AUs, and with her permission, I've turned my reviews it into a bit of advertising! If you wanna read the stuff I did, ya'll don't have to scroll super far to find it all. I'll be reviewing each AU from a Reader's Standing (silly, sometimes improper sentences; sO MUCH swearing; caps lock) and from a Critic's Standing (second reading; at least one paragraph).

Yes, that was copy-pasted, but you never know, someone might stumble onto this and be wondering why I'm doing it.

Let's get into this again! >o<

—Faith

Rap Monster (Reader's Standing):

Back-up back stage manager Y/N while the official person is sick, interesting

'His voice, though muffled by the door, is attractive and masculine'—Yes, yes it is.

Shaking hands with soulmate warmth/fire, ooh, wow, that's really cool! I love that, Brea.

aND IT LINGERS

tHEN IT FAdes

'You could feel when he was getting closer, that warmth growing within you'—Is Y/N therefore hot or cold? Hot, definitely hot.

Yes, Namjoon is gorgeous.

Y/N is secretly OCD while sweeping, I just know it.

Fated finding of Namjoon's phone is fated.

Intensifying level of heat to a bonfire was really nice to read, good metaphors, ooh.

He backed Y/N into the dressing table liKE A MONSTER. Yeah all right I need to chill. Brea, do you have some water I could drink, right quick?

*Oh no there's a typo, it's 'breathe' instead of 'breath'. I'm fine. This is OK. :D*

Ooh, Namjoon sensing where Y/N is with heat is such a cool thing!! I love that so much?!

'His fingers burn against the cool skin of your cheek'—*Hisses to add affect* OK wow that was hot. >:)

Y/N confessing their attraction to Namjoon is a win

tHAT KISS WAS LITERALLY HOT AND I LOVED THAT SEQUENCE BREA YOU'RE SO GOOD AT THAT?!

Ooh yes, slightly possessive Namjoon is treat

Evenings spent together? Yes to a classic romance trope.

Fire becomes uncomfortable when Y/N or Namjoon is upset and Namjoon even dispelled a situation, bless that twist

Namjoon's little speech at the end was so beautiful and ugh

Also thanks for the small kisses across the knuckles and—

Oh god it's 'breathe' instead of 'breath' again. Brea I know autocorrect is a bitch, you're not to blame, just leave the typos. XDD

Rap Monster (Critic's Standing):

The scenario for this AU was interesting, and how Brea made sure to remember Y/N's job throughout the story. This review is going to be far shorter because I'm literally taken away by how fun and romantic this was? Fire is such a classic writing tool, and Brea used it so well, in this AU, I just loved it so much. I'm pretty sure this will be my favourite, when I'm done reading Jin's and J-Hope's, 'cause I'm sitting here and I can't find anything I would want to improve on this scenario, in terms of how it played out. Brea, this was perfect.

Jin (Reader's Standing):

I wouldn't be just sitting outside relaxing, I'd be on the look out for sp00ders.

But good solid first paragraph, in other words

Our boys are here and they're disturbing Y/N oh dear

Scared by Seokjin, oh Y/N, he wouldn't hurt a fly. ;w;

Ooh. Soothing soulmate feeling, that's so nice, it's like, the opposite of Namjoon's. Wait, that was your plan, wasn't it? 'Cause it worked, I'm so blown away by how nice this is, so far.

Wait 'figures over yours' Brea you missed the word 'stands'. You might want to fix that, some time. No pressure, relax, my girl. Wait, that was awkward for me, probably for you too, I'm sorry for being a millennial. XDD

Very surreal paragraph as Seokjin helps Y/N stand

Breeze from Seokjin disappears and suddenly Y/N feels stressed again, poor Y/N. :(

oF COURSE IT WAS TAEHYUNG

Good puppy for apologizing, he's so soft.

Yes puppy smiles that blessed my afternoon thank you Brea

Yes, Kim Seokjin is alluring.

And yes he has a beautiful face

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA he knows right away when you hold hands!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the amount of !'s but wow that was so romantic and I loved it

'I can't leave the children unattended'—Agreed, they're all children

Actor Seokjin is accurate, too

Heart emoji was cute oh my Lord

Good summary of Jin in one paragraph, demonstrates what Y/N learned about him

'His talk form'—EY YO BREA, I FOUND ANOTHER TYPO

He dresses so softly though, ah

Loud laugh and mischievous, yep

Feeding Y/N food, thank you Brea, oh my gosh it's all so cute and just ugh

Aw they fell asleep on the couch

THAT ENDING THO 'PRINCESS' MY LORD SO ROMANTIC SEOKJIN YOU SCALLY-WAG

Jin (Critic's Standing):

This one had such a sweet aesthetic to it, it was so Seokjin, I enjoyed it so much! The guys messing around and disturbing Y/N's rest was on point, and Seokjin shielding Y/N from a baseball ball (try saying that ten times fast) was so princely of him. Timid Y/N was cute, too, and Seokjin again being a prince and helping them stand up. Not to mention the introduction of the calming wind soulmate cue that Y/N and Seokjin have, and how he immediately knows Y/N is his soulmate, that was just so... soap opera-esque, so well done and I loved it. Also, Taehyung apologizing and then smiling like the puppy he is was a bonus.

The first date was fun and pleasant to read, and as I said in the Reader's Standing, I really liked how you included things about Seokjin that Y/N know that ARMY already knows, it was a very nice and natural addition. Jin feeding Y/N was also a win, and the two watching movies and cuddling, then falling asleep on the couch, and Seokjin calling Y/N 'princess' before he left was just so smooth. I'd have to place this one as my current third, after Jungkook's and Namjoon's, who's still in first. Such a romantic and casual scenario, Brea, well done!

J-Hope (Reader's Standing):

Y/N is super busy in this one, hoo boy

Drink carriers are also called cup trays! I love how words can be called different words. :D

OK I need to drink some water hold on... yeah I'm good now, damn I'm getting tired of reading so much romance, my emotions aren't used to this much softness.

Bright red haired J-Hope is great thank you

Love hurts, hell yeah :D

Y/N works for advertising, neat

Ooh look, it's 3/4 of the hyung line!

Dancer Hoseok is accurate as hecc

Realistic company, very nice

'You might be blinded as if the sun were to glint off that smile'—Well, he is our sunshine.

Hello, 'taking a deep breathe' typo, nice to see you again.

MATCHING FLAME TATTOOS COOL

And on opposite arms ooh

Whoa dang that was a long bow and dang Y/N straightened him that was a nice touch

Ye boys and girls it's a dinner date

The tattoo reminds Y/N that this isn't a dream, good catch there Brea

Hoseok admitting that Y/N looks cute was indeed cute

SHINE HOSEOK SHINE oh boy that car ride would have been fun

SURPRISE JIMIN IS A CUTE SURPRISE THANKS BREA

All the boys are here bless you Brea

Cute kiss is cute

And he kisses back of course, aww

AWEUROUEWI Hoseok's hands through Y/N's hair

And 'breathe' again, BREA THIS IS RIDICULOUS I'M TRYING SO HARD NOT TO LAUGH

Such a strong ending, Lord, bless this AU

J-Hope (Critic's Standing):

Y/N in this scenario is so relatable, they're a hard worker and—oh wait, there's Y/N's soulmate and it burns again. I'm serious, I'm not used to reading this much romance, I'm a little tired, want to take a nap but MUST FINISH, c'mon Faith, you've only got one left. That meeting J-Hope on 'accident' (it was fate, we all know it was fate) went together so well, it was very pleasant to read. Then they formally met and Y/N brought him to their office to review the proposal for footage, and Hoseok prompted Y/N to discover their matching flame tattoos, except each was on a different arm, and I thought that was a cool little feature. Not to mention that Hoseok bows low and for a prolonged amount of time before Y/N makes him stand because they think they're equals, that was a really nice touch. The car ride was fun to read, I could totally see Hoseok doing that. And we see the guys again—Jimin first, 'cause that puppy was so excited to see his hyung, apparently—and they seemed to have a really nice time. The fluff at the end was so sweet, and I just... it was so cute, I loved this one. Wouldn't change a thing.

Suga (Reader's Standing):

LAST ONE THANK GOD

This one is probably going to dethrone Jimin as my bias someday because BOY IS SUGA R00D BUT CUTE AND IT FRUSTRATES AND PLEASES ME SO MUCH ugh, I love men

What a relaxing first paragraph...

Good reflexes, whoever saved Y/N

Ooh, icy cold soulmate. That suits Yoongi a lot, somehow.

'staring at him hand at shock'—When the 's' is an 'm' and you can't help but chuckle.

The 'hot' finger across the ice was honestly breathtaking to read, wow

He said 'holy shit' lmao thank you Brea I almost laughed out loud that would have been the end of me having a laptop XDD

WHOA POV CHANGE WHEN Y/N SAYS THEIR FIRST THING BREA YOU REALLY GOT INTO THIS ONE DIDN'T YOU XDDD

Hoseok is here!! Hi sunshine!!

Casual phone number giving is casual and I liked it

GUMMY SMILE THANK YOU BREA

This one is aesthetic too wow

Aw Y/N and Yoongi are both nervous about the whole soulmate thing that's so cute

'His outfit is casually sexy'—Bless you Brea that's such a concept

Speaking of smiles that pull at heart strings, that paragraph pulled at my heart strings.

Very pleasant and casual conversation between Y/N and Yoongi was really nice

The ice spreads oh my Lord that's so cool

The ice also might melt into Y/N's skin wow

Hello Jungkook and Taehyung nice to see you again

Awkward with words Taehyung and then apologizing real fast Taehyung was funny

'I'm glad I'm wrong'—Brea where is the 'I was'??

I thought the dog was Holly but nope it's Yeontan, my bad

Lmao at Yoongi's reaction to Jungkook's comment on how Y/N makes Yoongi happy

Soft kiss to the cheek garners more cool chills, nice

Dinner and movie with Yoongi was very relaxing. Uwu

Literally a very cool kiss, damn

WHY IS THERE NO MORE I'm a little sad now

Suga (Critic's Standing):

Never mind Namjoon's, this one was my favourite. I love how their meeting was so laid-back and romantic but had that literally icy cool soulmate twist to it, I absolutely loved this scenario. It was just a little more sweeter than the others because of how you portrayed Yoongi, and everything he did with Y/N. It was nice to see Hoseok, Taehyung and Jungkook again, and we even got an appearance by Yeontan! The way the ice spread and melted was so pleasing to read, and the little dinner and movie date Y/N and Yoongi had at his apartment was cute. I'm glad this was the one Brea started with, it was so so good!

I really hope Brea does more of these. I'd personally love to see Got7 or Monsta X (though Monsta X a little more, because Wonho has taken over my life). That's it, I'm out of here. >w< Go follow Brea. Do it.