#actual true spoilers now that i'm in act 2 lol!

[acealistair]

screeeeams oh my god gale wyll and karlach are RIGHT THERE

also i am still fucking reeling over what elminster told you to do and now you're trying to progress our romance? 😭

not to even mention this is possibly the least romantic place i can think of to talk about this even if we didn't have an audience hdakngjdakgnjdagml (shadow-cursed lands)

what a disaster of a man i love him

[hongtiddiez]

my stand in ep 2 thoughts, feelings, etc.

alright i wanted to write this up nicely but it took me... two hours to get through the episode bc i kept stopping to write notes, so i'll do my best i guess.

weird thing about me is when i watch shows and write notes for these posts i always write the notes on napkins? i have like 5 different notebooks in arms reach at all times but i really like scribbling on a napkin for the true unhinged effect.

anyway blah blah reminder i'm just a silly dude on the internet, idk shit about dick, i just like to say shit, don't take me too seriously.

also please DO NOT leave novel spoilers in my reblogs, tags, or replies without some kind of warning label. please? it seems to happen with every show i write meta for and i LOVE that people get hyped but there's no way for me to avoid it when it's in my notifications like that.

some before the actual episode stuff; after learning last week that some of the kinnporsche people worked on this it really becomes apparent, especially in the style of the intro.

the music choices also seem a bit reminiscent of kinnporsche (and a little bit of not me) which i really enjoy. it feels kind of familiar and comforting.

immediately i loved how soft this episode started, the slight stubble on each of them, the way joe speaks so softly as if afraid to shatter their little bubble of peace, etc. i also love that the show doesn't skirt around the topic of sex and the fact that sometimes sex is awkward and clumsy, especially with a new partner and doubly so when it's your first queer partner.

and then the peace was shattered with ming kissing his back yet again. ouchies.

"will tong be at the set?" he's just not even trying to hide it. he basically said 'yeah ur great and all but tong????' but DAMN if poom isn't the absolute king of microexpressions.

at this point i can't really tell if tong is being a spoiled prince (derogatory) or if he's tired of acting in general? judgement withheld until a later date.

and then we jump into this actress being a parallel to ming and OOF OUCHIES MY ORGANS. she's a fan of tong but has to "settle" for joe - just like ming. and yet joe takes the time to be kind, to soothe her worries and put her at ease, because he has a heart of absolute gold. "it's her first movie but she was left to drown by the male lead." it's ming's first love and he has been left to drown in it.

mek's acting is really endearing. this is my first exposure to him (ive seen some of his social media and really like what he stands for as a person) and i'm instantly drawn to his performance. he also pulls off a great balance of adorable/sexy.

OOH THE SHOW SAID BISEXUAL OUT LOUD. A WIN FOR THE BI'S WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

i personally find ming's jealously hilarious. what a little caricature of toxicity.

anyway, it seems to me that if ming could get over his feelings and enjoy what he has in front of him he could be part of and enjoy a very sweet family, as it does seem tong IS giving him love, just not the exact flavor he craves.

the cut to joe's training made me laugh. little oat lore dump but my bio dad was actually a stunt man for movies (which is another part of why i was so excited for this show) and i can promise you nothing like this was part of it. what do i know, though, maybe things have changed since the early 2000s lol.

(no, they're probably not any movies you know, aside from maybe wild wild west [1999]. he mostly did westerns, historical docudramas, and historical fiction.)

ANYWAY AGAIN. with this little glimpse into ming's home life we get to see that he's very accustomed to doing what he wants and getting what he wants, which makes a lot of sense when applied to his almost obsessive behavior regarding tong - and now joe. i did absolutely LOVE linin and her sassy independence (minus the 'i can buy anything i need'.)

but... girl... did you just spray perfume in your mouth?

your actions are strange and unsettling. i like that in a woman.

ugh getting into ming venting his frustrations on joe's body. listen. liiiisten. while toxic without prior discussion... i'm into it. it may or may not be one of my favorite tropes in fanfic. toxic and unhealthy as fuck and i'm here for it.

AND THEN DAMN POOM THOSE NOISES. ACTING FOR YOUR LIFE BBY -- and the SNEEZE AT ORGASM LMAAAO oh i hope that's a running bit for some comedic relief.

because we then make a SHARP pivot into "then stop me" and there's so much potential for pain and self loathing there, for joe to think "i can't blame ming, i didn't stop any of it." i'm sat.

a little side bar, but i'm enjoying the fact that while there is discussion of topping and bottoming as a narrative device there really aren't any stereotypes here. i think on a surface level people would think "oh joe is the top" (pit babe style) and the show said no actually he isn't. love that for us.

"you can even move in haha jk" but the thing is, not jk, because joe would do that for ming - for anyone - bc that's the type of person he is.

[i had to stop and have a lil snack here]

hold up is this wut out drinking with them? OH SHIT IT IS. OKAY. it didn't give us much but at least it's a little connection to him finally. we knew joe knew him from his first life, just didn't really know how.

"i missed you" and when was the last time someone missed joe? not who he's replacing or the space he's filling, but HIM?

love ming's goofy ass locking the door and going inside just so he can make a dramatic ass appearance like he's 'the other woman' or some shit LMAO.

"what's in you to make me jealous?" quite possibly the worst dialogue tree choice ming could've picked.

[joe's emotional well being -45]

[everyone hated that]

"don't be so full of yourself" something joe has never been a day in his life. "you're just a stand-in." he knows. it's not something he ever forgets.

but after all that toxicity we have ming back home, seeking out joe's food for comfort, and we finally get to see him interact with his sister. i LOVE that she knows the importance of being a little silly as a treat, one of my biggest life mottos. we also get to see more of how ming is surrounded by love that he misses out on bc of his own wallowing and self sabotage.

oh, the homoeroticism of sparring with your bestie.

[everyone liked that]

oop- joe is wearing the shirt ming borrowed while sol is wearing a shirt with the word 'fantasy.' i'm good, i'm fine, gwenchana, gwenchana.

ough. sol with too many eyes on him and none of them sincere and joe with nothing but sincerity to offer but remains invisible. oof ouch.

enter ming with more religious imagery to match last week's cross scene. something something the sin of greed? confessing your sins? coveting - idk man, i don't have any religious trauma, my family let me just do my own thing.

but with ming knowing joe's true feeling every toxic thing he does is going to be 1000x more painful and i'm here for it. bring it you fucked up little guy.

"we can't mess with each other's privacy" don't mess with MY privacy. "you can't mess around with anyone else" emphasis on YOU, not we.

and then it's driven home what a romantic joe is, both with his workout heartbreak poetry and this little lady and the tramp noodle moment. this man, again much like pit babe, wants to be domesticated so bad.

and i know we all have hated on ming, that's the point, he's been a caricature of a toxic relationship spelled out in neon letters --

but when was the last time ming laughed with someone like this?

ok im exhausted, i'm falling into bed to read fanfic, but i'm absolutely in love with everything this is doing so far. i haven't written anything as in depth as this since last twilight (pre-betrayal) so it's really nice to feel insane again.

[softausterity]

i'm drawing right now but i need to sumigoro parallels post because ghrngfhgrbh!!!!

long ass post and full p5r spoilers. you know how it is

THING ONE: LOCALIZATION BAD

i have mixed thoughts about the choice to add more cognitive characters in p5r but it is good because it very clearly displays some things about like, how people are perceived. right? like cognitive haru sucks for other reasons but it's a good display that her father does not understand her. she's a robot mindlessly following his orders, very literally. same thing with kamoshida and madarame and everyone else. and it's very easy to look at cognitive haru next to cognitive akechi and go "these two act exactly the same" but with one major difference:

that's goro akechi! correct dominant hand and everything! yusuke, who you can also draw easy comparisons to, is Literally A Fucking Painting to madarame. and that right there is Just Akechi.

i'm going to go into the localization because they beefed it up real bad here which is a personal insult to me. everything taken straight from this pastebin i have had bookmarked for like 2 years so i have no idea where i got it from originally.

the 'puppet' bit starts with the line "I was wondering how he'd protect himself if I used my power to tear though his Palace. Turns out you're how. So he's making a puppet kill me… Sounds like something he'd do." in japanese, the second bit of this line is "お前がその係…同じ顔した人形に殺させるって訳だ。…あの男らしい" which our pastebin translates as "You're in charge of that… in other words, I'd be killed by a puppet with the same face as me. …That's just like him."

the notable thing here is that akechi identifies the cognitive double as "A puppet with the same face as (him)" at the start of the interaction. what he's getting at here, with the "that's just like (shido)" is that he's saying "Shido still thinks i'm just some puppet he can order around to do whatever he wants!"

and cognitive akechi responds to that: "Aren't you, though?"

the localisation has completely lost this thread by this point and will continue to completely ignore it despite the fact this is the resolution to akechi's entire character in vanilla P5 no i'm not mad about it - "That's right. I'll do anything. But look at yourself… you're the true puppet." which is just "uhhh no you lol" - the pastebin translation is "That's right, I'm a puppet. I'll do anything. But if I'm a puppet… then the true puppet is you, isn't it?" ("そうとも、オレは人形さ。何だってする。 けどオレが人形なら…ほんとの人形は、お前だろ。")

like. cognitive akechi IS akechi. shido thinks that he can tell akechi to do whatever and he'll do it, and he's right. the entire time, akechi's big plan has been "i'll trick him into thinking i'm co-operating with his plan by co-operating with his plan, and then once he's the prime minister of japan, i'll tell him i was his son the whole time, and he'll be sooooo owned! that'll totally get his ass and I'll Win!" (preemptively addressing a common misconception: he was not going to kill shido. he never says he is going to kill shido. the exact phrase he uses is "living hell.") akechi is the puppet.

and then after the PTs have the heart to heart with akechi and he makes the decision to disobey shido & sacrifice himself for them, his final line in english is: "So, my final opponent is a puppet version of myself…"

which is Nothing. in japanese, it's:

"My final opponent is the puppet I used to be, huh…" ("最後の相手が『人形だった俺自身』か…")

which is EVERYTHING. he changed! he throws away both his life and everything he was working towards to have one real moment of free will!!! that's His Real Actual Death without maruki, and with him it shows why akechi is so fucking horrified at everything that's happening.

anyway, this post was also about sumire.

there she is :)

maruki thinks about sumire as some waifish wilting flower who needs kasumi to do everything and is so consumed by grief that she can't do anything on her own, and it looks like he's right!

pulling out the dogmeta again:

sumire is that weak and helpless when we first meet her, because maruki isn't giving her the tools to help herself and grow. you know, like a therapist? he's making her Feel Better in a way that does not address the problem and will instantly explode and ruin her life again if he's ever removed from the situation. sumire cannot get better because the person who's supposed to be helping her get better doesn't believe she can get better.

akechi and sumire are both completely reliant on Shitty Father Figure who have correctly identified them as useless on their own, akechi changes when he realises he's being controlled, sumire changes when she realises she doesn't need to be controlled.

THING TWO: LOCALIZATION STILL BAD

so you know the part in the sumi boss fight where maruki tentacle-crucifies sumire and makes her persona freak out and then he's like "waaah how horrible you have to save her amamiya-kun!!!" because he's the good guy?

the first thing akechi says is "Tch, it's gone totally berserk..." and in japanese the word he uses here is "暴走" now, berserk is a completely accurate translation of this! but the word comes up a couple other times earlier in the game, you may have spotted it, and it's translated there as.. "(making someone go) psychotic" and by a couple other times i mean every single reference to akechi's powers except weirdly one time with this random old couple in the very beginning of the game.

so akechi and sumire both have a second phase in your boss fight with them where they 'go berserk/psychotic'! just that maruki's making sumire do it a little more noticeably than shido is with akechi.

i'm normal.

[mxtxfanatic]

Hi 👋. Saw your recent take on how fandom interpret MQ. And I would to here your thoughts about him being the tsundere people try to make him out to be.

MQ trying to make it up to XL when really FX was the only one still sincere. I've only read up to vol. 4 and reread vol. 1 and 2 to get a better look at details. But there are some concerning lines that even XL noticed. Like MQ seems excited at the prospect of XL becoming this mass murder during the Guoshi FangXin reveal. Even the first introductions in the book was him mocking XL's helpful nature.

"Mu Qing’s eyes were glimmering, however, and his restrained shock contained a faint underlying excitement." TGCF Vol. 2 chapter 18

"Since his third ascension, there could only be one phrase to describe the way Mu Qing treated him: passive-aggressive. It always felt like he was waiting for Xie Lian to get booted for the third time so he could make snide remarks. Yet now that Xie Lian might actually get booted that third time, he suddenly became pleasant—he even came specially to deliver medication. This complete reversal in attitude made Xie Lian feel quite disconcerted." TGCF Vol.2 chapter 19

Even XL was freaked out by MQ acting nice to him.

"Mu Qing suddenly asked, “Was everything Lang Qianqiu said true? Did you really kill those Yong’an royals?”

Xie Lian looked up and met his gaze. Even if Mu Qing had been forcibly hiding it, Xie Lian still detected a trace of uncontrollable excitement in his eyes. He seemed highly interested in the details of Xie Lian’s massacre at the Gilded Banquet—he followed with another question.

“How did you kill them?” TGCF Vol. 2 chapter 19

And after XL half lied about his involvement.

"Feng Xin paled. Mu Qing loathed that expression of his the most and said in annoyance, “All right, put that face away. After everything, for who are you looking so pained?”" TGCF vol. 2 chapter 19

I'm not reading this wrong to think MQ is just a very entitled b****** that got high on his position of power and is looking down on XL for coming from a place which is lower than what most people would go through? Is it appropriate for me to interpret him being downright hostile and reveling in XL's disgrace? Because the stans take for MQ questionable character is bothering me a lot. He is not some prickly cat with a soft heart. He is sharp thorns all the way inside and a heart colder than most.

Unless something changes in further volumes I haven't read which is unlikely. Considering MXTX penchant for consistent character writing.

Thoughts?

Something does change about Mu Qing’s character near the end of the novel, but it’s just character growth. You aren’t misreading any of his actions in the earlier parts of the story. What kills me is that yes, Mu Qing is a terrible person who is petty and jealous and insecure and thinks that the only problem with hierarchy is that he isn’t at the top, but he changes and people ignore that! In the best interest of not introducing spoilers, I will say that Mu Qing does explicitly, using clear language, acknowledge his mistakes and how wrong he was about how he viewed Xie Lian and his treatment of the other man. He acknowledges this on his own under no threat and with no prompting. And people ignore this because it does not fit into their perception of Mu Qing as either right or at least well-meaning. He is neither of those things. He knows it. Xie Lian knows it. But he can be those things if he puts effort into it, and for all people call me a hater about his character (which, yeah lol), I for one think he tries by the end.

So no, Mu Qing isn’t a tsundere because he’s not being mean or rude or petty to those he loves to hide a mushy middle. He’s doing it because he thinks he is right to and that eventually people will see that he is right. The story does not agree he is right and duly punishes him for his fuckery, and he changes into a better person who is actually nicer to his friends because he wants to be their friends and not their superiors. That’s his character.

[impishsensei]

more spoiler talk under the cut

okay i've been marinating with my thoughts for a bit but i have to let them out. i've been keeping up with jjk since 2021. i watched the anime and then immediately started reading and caught up with the manga in like 2 days. back then, the shibuya incident had just wrapped up. i was keeping up weekly, and i think by the time the part with maki slaughtering the zenin clan came around was when i started to think like "damn... the pacing is kinda wonky here". i think around that time is also when gege stated he wanted to end the manga in like 2 years... now we all know that didn't come true but it's clear that we're relatively close to the end. and saying it back then, that meant gege believed the end was in sight... i had a feeling from then it was gonna be rushed lol. i kinda fell off reading jjk bc i was getting bored of waiting for weekly releases, and it wasnt til last year when gojo vs sukuna was happening (while season 2 was coming out) that i picked up the manga again. the fight was pretty exciting, especially with all the memes, but i remember thinking that it was all so... drawn out for no reason because we all knew exactly how the fight was gonna end. and i was right lol. personally, i don't hate the fact that gojo died. i was sad of course, but my main issue with it has always been that i feel it wasn't handled well and ultimately, i don't think it is the perfect way to wrap up his character arc. i find it pretty bleak, actually, especially in a story that (stated within the text itself) is supposed to be about hope, love, and powering through the pain.

i fully believe that one month time-skip between gojo's unsealing and the showdown was a terrible decision. it was a miss opportunity for gege to make us care more about his bond with the other students. though honestly, this isn't so shocking considering how much the series lacks moments between characters in general, but really... with a month, there was no reason at all to NOT show us this other than gege just wanting to get on with the fight and get gojo out of the story. aside from that weird timeskip i honestly believe gojo was acting weirdly out of character and stupidly from the moment he came back. why not just kill sukuna and kenjaku the moment he was unsealed rather than letting sukuna prepare? especially when knowing the world is at risk lol?? we could argue that maybe he doesn't want to hurt megumi, but in the fight he had no qualms about launching buffed hollow purples at him sooo... idk, i know it's to push the plot forward, but it's such a dumb decision from a character that's supposed to be smart that it's a bit difficult to overlook. then there's his non-reaction to nanami and no mention of nobara... i get that people in his world die all the time, but really? he really said "damn that's crazy" about nanami and didn't even acknowledge nobara. ON TOP OF THAT is how he's just suddenly cool with gakuganji even though we know gakuganji is one of the conservative old fools? the same guy that killed yaga? and he's chill about it?

i mention all this to hammer this idea that already, gojo's acting ooc. i personally felt like his death chapter at the airport was a major punch in the face, not because i was sad about his character dying, but because of how it was handled and how he was characterized. apparently all he cared about was being strong and fighting? i'm sorry, literally everything else in the manga prior to his unsealing indicated that gojo actually cared about other people lol. it just... felt like such a cheap justification for why his and sukuna's fight had to happen. granted, i did enjoy that fight and do enjoy their dynamic, but that fight itself is honestly probably the last real high point of the manga.. and even then i have some gripes with the execution lol

in this chapter, and from the beginning, really, we're also hammered in this point that gojo wanted to foster the youth to become stronger than him. he could not beat sukuna alone, but gojo believes that the combined strength of his students can take sukuna down. it wasn't just a battle of the strongest, but a battle of ideologies going on here.

and THAT is why i really, truly hate the developments of the most recent chapter. so, gojo's students and the other sorcerers have thrown everything they possibly can at sukuna, and it's still not enough? so they... bring back gojo? only, it's not actually gojo, it's one of his students using kenjaku's technique to take over his body to use his technique. i ask, then, what the FUCK was the point of writing gojo out of the story if gege's just going to bring him back in this unconventional way. not only does it just reintroduce this issue had in the first place of gege having an overpowered character he didn't know how to write around, but now they're basically like... yeah actually we do need gojo's power to finish this. like... that's not the students being stronger, that's just gojo again basically. and the editor even acknowledges this by referring to this as a revenge match!! and i really want to reiterate that i did NOT want gojo to come back. the damage has been done and i don't believe bringing him back would have fixed the damage gege did to his character. i wanted it to be a hallucination to signal sukuna is close to losing, and that his life has been so lonely and meaningless that when on death's door, he sees gojo. that would've been interesting and compelling!! but noooooo gege just has to pull some contrived, bullshit plot twist because that's what he loves to do

i have other gripes (treatment of female characters, pacing like i mentioned, tsumiki's non-existence as a character, poor character development of major characters overall, the over-use of character death to the point that it's become boringly predictable, poor world-building), but this is long enough and i think you get the idea that i have a lot of shit to talk abt this series.

anyway, my increasing dissatisfaction with jjk has negatively impacted my muse tbh, and that's honestly why my activity has been so sparse. i'm losing interest because something that used to bring me a lot of joy is honestly just making me frustrated more than anything else, and i think it's really sad because i do really love the characters, and at one point i did love the series. aw well. i still cling onto a tiny hope that gege is cooking for a great payoff, but idk...

[web-novel-polls]

Five Love Languages of Danmei Tournament Submissions

Submissions are now closed

Submit a Danmei ship here under one or more of the Five Love Languages:

Constantly Being Annoyingly Flirtatious

Biting

Giving Him a Raging Boner

Cooking a Large Meal

Desperate Pining for a long-ass time

Each love language will have its own bracket with a short, final round between the bracket winners.

Tag: #danmei love languages tournament

Not sure who to submit? Feel free to add some propaganda for the CPs below the cut!

(CW: spoilers, biting, suggestive language, colored text, murder, swearing)

[Last Updated: Jan. 2nd, 2024]

*Dealer's Choice (tentative)

1. Constantly being Annoyingly Flirtatious (5)

Wenzhou from Faraway Wanderers

Characters: Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu

Submission:

Mostly Wen Kexing (he's so continuously on it it's hard to pick a scene), but it reaches the true peak annoyingness once Zhou Zishu starts to flirt back. That one time Ye Baiyi was so peeved with them he literally told them to go fuck each other or shut up...

Huangkou from You Yi / Itinerant Doctor

Characters: Huang Jinchen and Kou Tong

Carrd Link

Submission:

Their first "meeting" is them killing a guy together with HJC doing the murder and Kou Tong over the comms helping him figure out which guy is the guy they need to kill. The comms cut after the fighting starts, and then basically a minute later HJC calls Kou Tong back with "Let me just ask, handsome, can you tell me your personal contact information?"  Then when they meet for real its soooo bad (affectionate). My favorites were Huang Jinchen embarrassing Kou Tong in front of his dead mom (long story) to pay him back for teasing him, and Kou Tong replying to Huang Jinchen asking him out with "whatever there is to discuss, we'll discuss in bed". Theyre such clowns

Yuling from Everywhere in Jianghu is Wonderful

Characters: Qin Shao Yu and Shen Qian Ling

Carrd Link (No Characters section)

Submission:

I'm guessing few people know this couple especially considering good TL was deleted(sob) so first a quick intro: Shen Qianling is an actor from the modern world who transmigrated into a wuxia world. Worst part? The person he transmigrated as is engaged to a man! And the man is a huge weirdo! So Shen Qianling resolves to do everything in his power to break the engagement. You Can Guess How Well That Works Out for the MC of a danmei novel lol So the annoying flirt in question is exactly SQL's husband-to-be, Qin Shaoyu. He's constantly going "wife~" and making dramatic declarations of love... especially in front of others. Shen Qianling is onto his insincere ass! (They're really kinda theater kid x theater kid tbh, both are acting and pretending a lot.) Later it's actually revealed that Qin Shaoyu had a reason to act like that and provoke SQL all the time, but by that time SQL's (lack of) swag has deeply captivated him, so he just goes from annoying flirting(insincere) to annoying flirting(affectionate).

Liushen from SVSSS

Characters: Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan)

Submission: 

SQQ loves to be Constantly Be Annoyingly Flirtatious to his poor, flustered shidi, though the jury is very still out on how much of that is intentional/he is aware he is doing. (Denial is not just a river in Egypt to Shen Yuan.)

Wangxian from MDZS

Characters: Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

2. Biting (7)

Wenzhou from Faraway Wanderers

Characters: Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu

Submission:

Chapter 63 my beloved... there is a super significant and intimate scene where Wen Kexing bites Zhou Zishu's wrist, drinks his blood, and then rips up his own clothes to dress the injury. And then they cuddle to sleep on the bloodied sheets. It's such a good scene okay. Also it ends with my favorite line in the novel: "And just like that, they fell asleep in each other's arms, steeped in the scent of blood." Wenzhou thesis statement fr fr.

Cezhou from Qiang Jin Jiu

Characters: Shen Zechuan / Shen Lanzhou and Xiao Chiye / Xiao Ce’an

Carrd Link

Submission 1: 

Literally the second time they meet (the first being Xiao Chiye almost killing him) Shen Zechuan bites Xiao Chiye's hand so hard it leaves a permanent scar

Submission 2:

I love their feral bastards energy in general but I knew I was in for a good time when Shen Zechuan fucking chomped on Xiao Chiye's hand super early on in the novel. Meet cute: giving him a scar to remember you by (i think it wasn't their first meeting, but its the spirit of thing)

Image Link 1, Image Link 2, Image Link 3, (NSFW–>) Image Link 4

Zhaowen from Tu Fei Gong Lue / The Bandit’s Strategy

Characters: Zhao Yue and Wen Liunian

Submission:

So I know the translation isn't there yet (the TL isn't even up to them getting together they're slow-burny like that...) but after they do get together and after Wen Liunian gets over Some Stuff, it's mentioned several times that he bites Zhao Yue when they fuck. Then again, if I had a man with big pretty badonkers, I would also chomp on that shit...

Bingqiu from SVSSS

Characters: Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan)

Submission: 

Shen Qingqiu mentions several times that Luo Binghe kissing him feels like he's trying to bite his lips off... it counts, right?..

Xiyuan from Qi Ye/Lord Seventh

Characters: Jin Beiyuan and Wu Xi

Submission: 

- Wu Xi famously kisses (mauls) Jing Beiyuan's like an untrained puppy, biting his lips - Wu Xi wants to Chomp and Bite. This is how he shows his love <3 - Wu Xi drew blood when biting Jing Beiyuan. And liked it

*Cang Ji x Jing Lin from Nan Chan

A significant part of the novel occurs while Cang Ji is under the impression that he wants to eat Jing Lin because then he can be together with him forever - “It doesn’t matter if I’m the one. As long as I’m together with you.” He also bites Jing Lin more than once to receive spiritual powers. 

Chapter 25:

Cang Ji teased him. “Is Cang Ji good?” Jing Lin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head hard. “He’s always biting me. No.” Cang Ji laughed aloud and said, “Then what should we do? He will definitely bite you again in the future.” “Then.” Jing Lin replied in all seriousness. “Bite me gently.”

No Propaganda

Wangxian from MDZS

Characters: Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

3. Giving Him a Raging Boner (4)

Bingqiu from SVSSS

Characters: Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan)

Submission:

1) Poor teenage Luo Binghe having to dunk himself into a freezing pond in winter because his hot teacher hugged him  2) Holy Mausoleum coffin scene. This is all.

Hualian from TGCF

Characters: Hua Cheng and Xie Lian

Submission:

the coffin scene 🙏 and it's Xie Lian's first boner in 800 years poor guy

Needs Propaganda

Cezhou from Qiang Jin Jiu

Characters Shen Zechuan/Lanzhou and Xiao Chiye/Ce’an

I barely started this story before getting distracted, but I have heard SO much about their unhinged sexual teasing/tension. 

QJJ Carrd Link

No Propaganda

*Mo Xi x Gu Mang from Yuwu

4. Cooking a Large Meal (4)

Bingqiu from SVSSS

Characters: Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan) 

One of Luo Binghe’s main hooks as a stallion novel protagonist (that gets him a giant harem) is his cooking. It’s so delicious Shen Qingqiu, who wants to avoid “wife plots,” can’t help but have him cook for him. 

Submission:

Luo Binghe's love language is literally cooking! He starts making Shen Qingqiu's meals as a teenager, then makes him three meals a day for the 5 years Shen Qingqiu is dead, and ofc cooks for him regularly after they get together. Binghe's congee might as well be a symbol of their love at this point!

Wenzhou from Faraway Wanderers

Characters: Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu

Submission:

New Year's Celebration chapter my beloved! Anyw yeah Wen Kexing malewifes it up so hard in this one. He cooks a whole feast, he flirts over it ("When one eats, one should eat something handmade by a human being. It has soul and flavor to it, and it might even have love… When you taste it later tonight, you’ll be able to tell”), he puts food into Zhou Zishu's bowl, it's all soooo sweet and domestic!

Moshang from SVSSS 

Characters: Mobei-jun and Shang Qinghua

Submission:

noodles! hand-pulled! he'll make them!!!

Liu Qi and Bai Chuan from The Right Way to Offer a Sacrifice to The River God

Submission: 

Liu Qi x Bai Chuan is a "masterful cook x ultimate foodie" couple. Not only is Liu Qi an amazing cook, his cooking is actually what first draws Bai Chuan to him.  To quote: "Not long later, Liu Qi served up two dishes of home-cooked food. Tomatoes and scrambled egg, vegetables stir-fried with smoked meat, and a large bowl of fish soup."  And then, a few paragraphs later: "Liu Wi once again entered the kitchen and made two bowls of noodles, added in two eggs, and topped it with a few slices of cooked beef."  And then: "Liu Qi rolled his eyes at Bai Chuan's antics and asked, 'What do you still want to eat? Want me to add in another dish of fried prawns?'"   And so on. Bai Chuan, being the river god, brings in all the seafood they want for Li Qi to cook: "With a shake of his sleeves, a heap of seafood that could be found in the river came out from his sleeves, making pitter-patter sounds when they landed on the floor as they were still alive and jumping around energetically. Frantically, Liu Qi called out for him to stop so he could use a small basin to pick up the prawns. The remaining fish and crabs were stored in a bamboo basket for their next meal."   Even better, they split the chores! Bai Chuan uses his river god-powers to act as a magical dishwasher after Liu Qi's done cooking. Peak domestic. What harmony.

Translation Link

5. Desperate Pining for a long-ass time (11)

Hualian from TGCF

Characters: Hua Cheng and Xie Lian

Submission:

Hua Cheng has been in love with Xie Lian for 800 years before he could ever approach him as a possible romantic partner

Mingqian from Liu Yao

Characters: Yan Zhengming and Cheng Qian 

Liu Yao Carrd Link

Submission:

"A hundred years, Cheng Qian! A mortal's lifetime would've passed just like that"  Poor single mother Yan Zhengming keeping the family alive because SOMEONE couldn't stay alive... The way Han Tan was able to recognize Cheng Qian because YZM kept drawing portraits of him... The fucking. slappy ring. Anyw yeah Yan Zhengming be pinin'

Bingqiu from SVSSS 

Characters: Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan)

Submission:

Luo Binghe spends roughly 11 years pining for Shen Qingqiu before Shen Qingqiu gets a clue about his feelings. This includes 2-3 years in the Abyss and 5 years Shen Qingqiu has been dead. But the pining never stopped!

Not specifically romantic yearning, but Shen Qingqiu holding on to and taking care of Luo Binghe's sword while he was in the abyss, seemingly refusing to admit the "truth" that Luo Binghe was dead? Yeah, Shen Qingqiu was definitely feeling emotions he was not ready to acknowledge imo

Moshang from SVSSS 

Characters: Mobei-jun and Shang Qinghua

Submission 1:

They've known each other since teens and well into their thirties before getting together. And it's difficult to tell for MBJ, but Shang Qinghua had considered him his ideal man the entire time! 

Submission 2:

Airplane has been pining for MBJ since /before the universe was even created/… he has pined for him desperately and also just been desperate in general for two (2!) lifetimes, not to mention that MBJ has been trusting in and helping sqh out since basically the very first time they met as TEENAGERS and now they are like… At Least 50,, probably older to be honest .

Liushen from SVSSS

Characters: Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu (Shen Yuan)

Submission: 

Want Desperate Pining for a Long-Ass Time in spades? LQG not only spends ✨five years✨ daily fighting to get SQQ’s body back and lay him to rest, he’s also on full on Be SQQ’s Uber and Return All Fans to him before that little temporary human mortality hiccup for ages before that

Yuesong from Mistakenly Saving the Villain

Characters: Song Qingshi and Yue Wuhuan

Submission: 

First, you get Song Qingshi spending 1,350 lifetimes falling in love with and trying over and over again to rescue Yue Wuhuan. (His 1,351st attempt finally succeeds! Yay! Also, *holy shit*.) Then things happen to Song Qingshi, and you get Yue Wuhuan spending 3,000 years waiting for Song Qingshi to reincarnate. And then the lore drops, and you find out that then-newly-ascended-stone Song Qingshi had already been mesmerized by Phoenix-God Yue Wuhuan ten thousand years before the story started. And *then* the background of the universes' worldbuilding is revealed, and you realize that Yue Wuhuan had actually been waiting for Song Qingshi for literally hundreds of millions of years, long before these two ever even had human forms. You want "long-ass time"? Here's your long-ass time. (And on that note, if you enjoy MXTX books and want to read something that's an unholy mixture of SVSSS and TGCF cranked up to 100000%, please read MisVil.)

Novel Updates Link

Xiyuan from Qi Ye/Lord Seventh

Characters: Jin Beiyuan and Wu Xi

Submission: 

- Wu Xi waited for a whole year for Jing Beiyuan to return to the capital, and each day of it waited at a pavilion outside the city, just in case he happened to return that very day. Each day. For 365 days. - When he returned, Wu Xi gave Jing Beiyuan a jade ring, which in tradition meant that Jing Beiyuan would be betrothed to him. This was when they were both teenagers - Does Wu Xi tell Jing Beiyuan this? No. He simply gives a token of his love & affection and doesn't dare tell him yet, just pines - Ends up in his 20s when he finally, actually tells him the meaning of the ring and confesses 

Submission 2:

Additional Xiyuan propaganda: If we're counting Wu Xi's life as the Soulhook Envoy, then there's also the "several endless centuries" where he watched Jing Qi as he did his duties while Jing Qi never looked back at him, plus another 63 years that Jing Qi spent by that rock.

*Ranwan from 2ha 

Characters: Chu Wanning x Mo Ran

"To yearn unwittingly breaks the willow branch." - Ji Baihua to Mo Weiyu 

Chapter 150: 

"The two of them had misunderstood each other so deeply in their past life that they were separated by a huge abyss. Therefore, in their lifetime, they had used their blood to water the abyss into a sea of blood and swam towards each other. However, because of a barrier, they could not see each other's surging emotions, and could only allow their love to flood by itself."   

Mo Ran and Chu Wanning pined for each other in two lifetimes - one of which Mo Ran wasn’t even aware of his feelings for the majority for it. 

*Wen Xuan x Jian Yi from Let’s Talk About That Guy Who Transmigrated to Pursue Me

NU Description: 

“After dinner for leisure, many people would use a mocking tone of disdain to discuss your disastrous life. But no one knew how you survived through all those years. No one saw how you struggled to hold on to your principles in your lonesome. No one cared about the suffering you experienced and your perseverance. But I saw it. I know. I care.” “That’s why I came to this world. To become your support.”

Need Propaganda

Wangxian from MDZS

Characters: Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian

Lan Wangji was prepared to spend his life in mourning until Wei Wuxian came back to life around 13 years after his death. 

Qijiu from SVSSS

Characters: Shen Jiu / Original Shen Qingqiu and Yue Qingyuan

[honestmouse20]

Okay, personal thoughts on dragons rising under the cut. Spoilers ahead!

I didn't care too much about Wildfyre going into part 2. she was cool but not really a character I was fully invested in. That is, until her and Kai went on their little quest/mission to get the dragon energy core. They were so Sweet! I loved how Kai had to be the responsible one and how Wildfyre had to learn how to thikn before she acted. They're a really good dynamic and I their relationship growing during this season felt very natrual and good!

Zane! also not one of my favorite characters. But him speaking to a broom with Pixal's photo taped to it got to me okay? I do wonder now where she is.

Mr. Frohicky (idk how to spell things, i've been up all night. give me a break lol) I did Not expect him to return after the crossroads episode back in part 1. He's actually grown on me a lot. It's still kinda weird bc the tone of this show is just a Bit different than previous Ninjago. But it's not bad and I wouldn't hate seeing more of him in the future

Lloyd. God he got so much character develepment this season but especially in part 2! From him trying to do everything on his own to upkeep the Monastary and then finally excepting help, to getting much better at teaching the new ninja. I really loved all the scenes with him an Arin and how their relationship has gone from Arin being a fanboy, to genuine respect and friendship. 10/10

Speaking of Lloyd. What on Earth was all that stuff he saw Again when he acted as the conduit again? I really hope we get more info on those vision in the next season. That's the one big mystery that they havn't really touched on

last lloyd thing, mayeb it's just the angst lover in me, but I really hope there's some kind of conequence to him acting as the conduit. Maybe it starts really draining him or maybe it just makes accessing his power a little harder. I hope they explain it or at least like, mention it.

I'm actually kinda glad they didn't go the whole route of having Nya distrust the Djinn guy who'se name i can't remember lol. It was a nice expectation subversion. Bc my first thought was that he was gonna be evil/ have heard that *she* was the one who tecnically destroyed Djinnjago. I really like that they helped him the way they did and the lesson it taught Sora

Speaking of Sora. I love her. I still fully belive that her power is creation but if it is just 'tech power' i really like how they're handling it. LIke we all Knew it was never Ryu's power she was using but the moment *she* figured that out still felt genuine and deserved because we saw her go through the process of realizing whta was holding her back. 10/10. no notes

Freaking COLE! So him and Lloyd are tied as my favorite charaters bc yee. But holy shit even tho it was 5 am when i got to his episode and i was exhausted. I sat up on the couch and just lost my shit. One, he's still so good at finding people in trouble/captured and deciding he's their protecter. I love him so much. and two. was it just me or was that whole episode so freaking queer coded it isnt funny? Like, even more so than his true potential episode back in S1.

Shipping aside, I really like how on par with his character his episodes were. Even tho they were short and I really crave more about him, they did a good job of leaving just enough questions to keep us interested while also showing us the important parts. Plys the new ability rock monster thing is cool

in that same vein. what the fuck does 'the earth is screaming' mean? hello that shits terrifying? My theory atm is that its' the realms fighting the merge bc it's like unnatural or something. but idk. i would have liked to hear more about that

Zane's car!!!! I own that set and holy fuck it did not dissapoint! At first i was kinda bummed it didn't do Actual spinjitzu, at least I don't think so. But him spinning wildy and saying 'this is adequate' or whatever, is so freaking funny! also it's super fast and looks epic. no notes lol

and Jay! we see him! I'm not really a big jay fan but I am curious what theyr'e gonna do with him next season

and finally, i Really liked all the references to past seasons/events! Even if it wasn't in your face, it was still really nice to be able to see all the pices of the past sprinkled throughout. It was also funny to see Sora being surprised Lloyd is the FSM's grandson. 10/10

If i think of more I'll make another post lol

god i need to re watch the season already

i have SO many thoughts. HOw am i supposed to go to work later and be an adult while ive got these little plastic ninja running through my head at full speed

[yurissweettooth]

I'm... fine... This is............... fine.........💔 (It's actually not fine lol) My longwinded thoughts about TB2's ending under the cut (contains major spoilers, of course)

It isn't even that they killed him... it's how wildly out of character it was for all three of them. I don't really even have the proper words for all of it right now, but if you saw it you probably know exactly what I mean even if I can't articulate it well here.

The way they were talking and smiling (for quite a while, long enough for emergency services to arrive) while Lunatic was left to lie on the ground was absolutely shocking. Official or not, they are heroes and they protect civilians and criminals alike!!! Why would they leave someone so injured unattended? Why did they not stay at his side like they usually do? How did they take their eyes off of him so long that he could sneak off?

Additionally, when they found him, they didn't take many measures to save his life. Have they never seen a suicidal person before? Of course they have, as heroes they likely deal with it often. He was standing precariously looking like he was going to jump, he put a barrier between them and told them to stay away, and yet it took him actually setting himself on fire for Kotetsu to yell "what are you doing!?" and run after him???

Also wtf was up with what they said to him? They didn't try to talk him down or beg him to stop or reason with him. They didn't tell him his life had meaning or that he wasn't deserving of death. They didn't give him the same treatment that was given to Virgil, or Fugan and Mugan, or so many others. They simply said "I didn't agree with everything you did but thanks for the help" and "you were a true hero out there". It almost sounded like they were just accepting his death!!!

And then the way they acted afterwards... they looked like their 3 day old pet goldfish just died, not like a man they knew for YEARS just took his life right before their eyes and they weren't able to stop him. Not like Kotetsu had failed to protect the man he'd spent actual years trying to change and reason with and help. Not like the Judge turned Director they respected and knew to be helpful and reasonable wasn't beaten to a bloody pulp and trying to kill himself. Not like a human being who is deserving of life as all human beings are wasn't just in need while they did nothing to stop it.

But yeah, go out to eat. Smile and laugh, celebrate right after you carelessly and willfully failed to protect someone.Someone you had at least some marginal connection to, no less.

This is a huge slap in the face to Yuri as a character, but it's a full-on assault on Barnaby and Kotetsu. It's actually appalling how out of character and regressive that was.

Additionally, Kotetsu never even remedied his past blunder when having Legend revealed to him. I thought for sure that it would come up again and he'd be able to speak more empathetically and clearly, but no. Yuri's last one on one conversation with Kotetsu, someone he clearly respected and admired at this point, was being told that Kotetsu still respected his father after he abused his and that the power of friendship would have stopped it (how did Kotetsu know whether or not he had friends? Also was his wife not enough? She supported him even when he was beating her, like how much more support and companionship did the guy need?). And of course they didn't know, but this was all on the day his mom died too, yikes!!!!!

I thought the message of this series was about how every life was worth saving and that there were no sins too heavy to be atoned for. Yuri has been having that message drilled into him by Kotetsu since the beginning, even in S1 we can see him start to change. By the Rising you can witness him start to take that to heart and when cour 2 rolls around he's stopped killing entirely and is attempting to live a normal, peaceful life in spite of temptations.

Even after his (quite understandable, frankly) slip up he goes through MORE character development. Though initially he tries to kill again, his mother and father's words take on new meaning to him when he teams up with the heroes. He has the revelation that he has his own autonomy and can follow his own heart. The actions that preceded were of his own will, and he seems to use that knowledge when going into battle alongside Kotetsu and Barnaby. He can be a true hero, he can avoid turning a blind eye to evil. When he fights against Audun, he isn't going for a kill. Let me remind that there have been SO many points in this series where Yuri has asked that the heroes prove their form of justice to him, where he has sat back and observed, where he has even aided them in carrying out their own form of justice. And now he is experiencing it first hand!! He threw himself in front of the heroes and took serious hits to protect them, to protect their form of justice… so why then does he do a 180 at the very end and decide to stick to his own code of justice? The old one? Why does he use his fathers words (which, not even moments before in that episode he used to inspire him to be a hero in a way that wasn’t killing) to justify killing himself??????????

It was incredibly out of character!!! So much of the stuff between those three was in that episode to an insulting level.

I’m not even bitter that he died. If they needed him to die then he can die, but there are so many other ways they could have done this that didn’t feel shallow, rushed, and completely careless. There was something so cold about the way everyone immediately forgot about him and took to smiling and laughing again. He was put through an unimaginable amount of torture porn, lost everything, had a redemption, undid the redemption, died in mental and physical agony, and no one even cared, thus proving how he likely felt: He was not worthy of living or redemption. It’s so antithetical to the spirit of the whole series, as was a LOT of this season.

And this is as someone that LIKED this season. It was messy, there were weird moments and overly convenient plot devices, and it had a serious change of tone compared to S1 and the Rising but I still enjoyed it! I loved the new characters, I loved the suspense, I was so compelled by the story, and I was so invested. For all of those reasons I was able to accept the minor nitpicks, even some of the ooc moments, but that ending… wow, so much came undone then. It was so much build-up just to have so many plotlines ditched and fall flat. And what did we have to show for it all? A fist bump (he couldn’t even hug his crying partner after all they’ve been through together? A fist bump? Really???) and some sequel bait? Lol

In the end, so many of the amazing ideas felt pointless or like they did not resolve. I love that they tried so many things, but I genuinely wonder if they tried TOO many. There was a ton of new characters with forefront plotlines thrown in (several who didn’t even make it cour 2), many major interweaving and ongoing storylines, and an attempt to tackle a huge plot while balancing so many other aspects. It was ambitious, but it felt like a bit much for one season and, in the end, it was rushed.

Other minor issues become more glaring when there is little to no payoff in the end. I’m not sure how this affects my overall view of the season… as of the moment, I still like it. I had a lot of fun and there are many interesting ideas and some pretty solid stuff there. I am the type of person who loves to rewrite stuff I didn’t enjoy or pick up dropped plot threads for fanfiction exploration and there is truly a lot to explore here.

It had been my mentality since the beginning that I would likely view S2 as a separate entity from S1. From the get-go the vibe and tone was different and it was hard for me to reconcile them in my head. I still maintain that mentality now. I like them both, but they are very different in tone, spirit, and heart.

I am just so disappointed in that ending… it’s appalling… Kotetsu, Barnaby, and Yuri all deserved much much better :(

[ayosdesignz-blog]

I finally finished good omens 2!!

Some spoilers I guess for those later into it than me:

Metatron is a manipulative shit. Calling it now.

He was part of the party that fired Gabriel, was the one to insist he be searched for quietly and then acted as if the angel group might be in trouble when all was said and done.

The natzi zombie thing was...horrific. Those poor ppl they ate...🥺

No spoiler I came across warned of them.

The friendship between Shax and her buddy she made a deal w/ was cool. I like how they honestly remained honest about helping each other so far. 🤣 They even did a fist bump over her prospective promotion to grand Duke of hell meaning she could drag his ranking up too!! And it's cute how she goes to the Traitor Crowly for advice or clarification after having taken his rank and that he actually gives it even when mocking.

I can see why ppls feelings were hurt by the ending but it wasn't THAT bad. Tho I think I'm only able to think that cuz I saw posts about a season 3 incoming so...lol.

I could honestly see where both were coming from regarding the whole "be together in heaven" thing but I think Crowly had the better idea of things. Both sides are toxic. They also give a lot of pressure. And while Aziraphale may want to change things on the inside it doesn't mean he'd be able to, even with the 2 of them. Especially since he's so gung-ho still about heaven being right.

Speaking of, am I the only one who found that odd? He's been questioning and circumventing heaven while collaborating with a demon for...too many damn centuries to just insist that Heaven is the good side like that negates all the things he's witnessed and gone through and had to work around to help ppl.

I mean the true start of his disquiet and discomfort was learning that a favored human of God was being purposely bullied, harassed, tormented, bereaved, and forsaken for a bet. A lousy bet with no true stakes or real worth since God is "all seeing and all knowing" and therefore shouldn't feel need to do so because of a demon's needling.

He seems like he's not really liked by other angels much and he knows the other higher ups don't really respect him. If he felt it hard to bend rules and such before why exactly does he think he will have an easier time avoiding direct orders from the very tops? Disregarding his excitement. Who will actually, properly listen to him? When he himself can be easily led if not feeling stubborn.

The whole last conversation between the demon and angel was just...I mean it struck me that Aziraphale tends to not listen. Not properly anyway. When Crowly wants to say something important-urgent even, he's disregarded or made to wait because Aziraphale just has to say or do his thing 1st. And even if or when he listens...he doesn't do so fully. Not for the important conversations we got to witness. He'll insist on things having to go his way or no way at all unless he's kinda forced to reconsider or compromise. And sometimes that takes him awhile.

Like why was it such a big deal for him to admit he likes Crowly even now? After everything. He chose "its us against them" as his side but still looks perturbed when someone says they're friends. Still insists he's on the good side, heaven's side. He can say he needs Crowly and wants them to work together in heaven. But not try to discuss anything further because their viewpoints differ again.

Personally I don't see why they don't plan out how to make it all work in their favor, get heaven to make a few more concessions or whatever and if after both are now angels and still don't like the mindless/senseless harm heaven tries to make them do they can then run off far away together like Crowly has wanted since...before season 1 I think? It would make it only 1 faction likely to chase them instead of both as previously feared.

Also I'm disappointed that Aziraphale didn't defend Crowly when Metatron insulted him for having "too many fool questions". And was actually a warning flag for me. Yknow aside from the look he gave Crowly when 1st leaving.

Anyway!

I'm a little disappointed with the style Crowly chose to blend in to heaven. I mean he was cute or whatever but I missed the curl/wave to his hairrrrrrr 😫

I like that Crowly confronted Gabriel about how mean he was to Aziraphale before trying to kill him. He didn’t remember as it happened but I'm sure he remembers once he got his thoughts back. Still could've gave a proper thank you to both tho.

I also like that Aziraphale didn't push Crowly away from him for the kiss. Couldn’t tell if he kissed back. But he did rub his hands on Crowly's back so that's something I guess lmao.

Oh! But the end credits! That was interesting. Crowly maintained his upset but stoic disposition while Aziraphale kept trying to force his pleasant smile on his face over and over.

It occurs to me the whole promotion thing could be a trap.

[raymond-reddington-ruminations]

Thoughts about 10.20, no spoilers.

I'm finding it really hard to talk about this one. If I sat down and imagined exactly what was going to happen, I probably would have imagined something like this. And I have a few ideas about how it might go in the next two episodes. I'll say it again, predictability is fine if the story is well told, and it is well told.

Well except for one part. Weecha might be right in her assessment of her own character, but I believe she's very much wrong about Reddington's. We know him better than she does. We've seen him live that life. And there's no magic between them. Just convenience, even lifestyle kind of convenience. Red needs to try a little harder, have a bit more ambition in his personal life than just what is convenient and easy to hand.

I love seeing Edward, finally. That was fun, especially knowing that he's been the director of so many episodes of the Blacklist.

The conversation with Brimley was hilarious, as all conversations with Brimley are. I was kind of surprised by the stuff that Red said, and exactly what Tadashi's role was in this episode. I was kind of expecting both of those interactions to go more like what that conversation with Hedy ended up being. So that surprised me.

I really feel for Harold and the team. They really have been in an impossible situation. The government made this deal, and then turned a blind eye to how it was actually achieved while reaping the rewards. Harold and team had to face up to how things were actually accomplished, and decide whether it was worth it or not. So now they're left holding the bag. And again they're in an absolutely impossible position.

I can't see how Dembe's life continues as it has been. No matter what they promise, he's going to be the first one to get hit with the blame game. Fortunately, I think he'll see it coming and act accordingly. I may get my wish for Dembe's ending after all. And LOL at Dembe's suggestion for the next Blacklist case. Another head Cannon of mine come true.

Resslers' story finally hit a major point that I did think was coming as well. I'll be curious to see how this drives him. He's kind of the wild card in all this. I don't know which way he'll lean. Well, I think I know where he'll end up, but he may take a while getting to that point because of tonight's event.

But what the hell does Harold do? I mean his job, obviously, he doesn't really have a choice, but what about Agnes? There are ties there that cannot be broken.

Siya at least has an easy out. I think she can just go home. She isn't officially one of them, and her bosses can just call her back.

I wonder if Herbie is in over his head and can't swim. I hope not. I hope he comes up with something clever to get out of this.

So here we are. 2 hours left. I don't know exactly how they're going to go, but I have my hopes and my dreams. I'm still very unhappy that we're here. I think the show had a lot of life left in it, and they could have proven that if they had just been a little bit more focused on intense character stories that they're very capable of telling. I think they've kept it too emotionally controlled.

By rights the last episode should be pulling together the mystery story that we've watched and wondered about for 8 years, but I don't think that's going to happen. So many unanswered questions. I really hope that the creators find a way to address that. It's kind of old school to write a book or comic book about a prematurely canceled TV series to finish it off, but that would be something I'd very much welcome at this point.

Well, once more on to the breach.

[fireemblems24]

Azure Gleam Ch 6

Dimitri fans stay winning. The only route where I actually feel the need to put spoilers in the title - at least for anyone who's played Three Houses.

STORY

Oh, wait, we DON'T fight at Arianrhod battle? Count Rowe falls off screen? Man, Edelgard taking Ls all over the place.

I love how Arianrhod is unconquorable but fell right away. Lamo.

Is Edelgard keeping Aruendel imprisoned? I thought she had no clue where he was.

Dimitri struggled with his revenge issue for a moment there.

Annette is so smol. 😭

The way Dimitri says "Imperial snake" with so much venom.

Someone came with terrible news. Count Rowe escaped. Should've just killed him.

Oh, wait, they got attacked by mages. That's TWSITD? And Dimitri knows they're behind Duscur? Suspecting Cornelia is behind it. Glad that we'll get to deal with her again. She's a great villain.

MAP & SIDE BATTLES

Mannnn between the hurricane, not having internet, and last week being a nightmare for work, it's been sooooo long since I played AG. I had most of GW Ch 6 done when the hurricane came through, so it really has been like 2, 3 weeks? (not that I'm complaining, the flooding is just getting even worse in some areas)

Ahhhhh, I'm always so happy when I remember Flayn and Seteth are on this map.

Man, thinking about Post-CF Flayn makes me so sad. Like I know some people think it's oh so great she and Seteth can live, but they'll spend the next few hundred years on the run, terrified to trust anyone with their true identity. And Flayn hates that. She wants to hang out with friends and go to school. The fact she gets that teased and gets tossed into an even worse way of life if she survives CF is so sad. And she has to see everyone celebrate Rhea's death and act like her race is responsible for human greed too.

Ingrid knew Miklain was abusing Sylvain 😭

Dimitri's no nonsense. He's like "if Miklain acts up, kill him" to the soldiers. Like, that's hardcore.

Mannnn, Sylvain is interesting here. He's supporting Dimitri's decision with Miklain I'm betting in no small part because he wants to undo the reliance on crests and knows Miklain could help that.

The bubble over Felix says "It really pisses me off." So Felix being Felix. Annnnd Felix is annoyed with Dimitri for not telling him everything. So more Felix talking about Dimitri, lamo.

Man, the Blue Lions are always so intense. Everyone here is talking about Miklain or Ashe finding a way to deal with Lonato's death or Duscur generals talking about murdered family. AG goes hard.

Ohhh, if Dedue trusts Duke Infan, than I do too.

I was right about Dimitri and Count Gloucester, he just admired Rowe for surrendering quickly and sparing the people.

I get to kill Count Varley. Cool.

Why does Dimitri know so much about which plants you can eat 😅

ASHE & DEDUE C SUPPORT

Ashe is such a cinnamon roll. He's already wandering around while it's late outside and stopped to pick some yarrow because of its healing properties.

Gardening bonding incoming. Ashe noticed Dedue's hobby.

They're both missing the greenhouse :(

Dedue wants to visit Lonato's garden. He also wants to know why Lonato knows so much about herbs. Good question.

Dedue's into medicinal herbs.

These two are too sweet 😊

FELIX & MERCEDES C SUPPORT

He better be nicer to her than last time. I'd love to see her chew him up, lol.

Ohhhh yesss, we're finally talking about Felix's cat thing. Felix really is a cat in human form.

Felix taking in injured stray cats 😭. Mercie and Jeritza did too 😭😭. And they had to hide it because they wouldn't killed it 😭

Mercie "We left my brother behind. Next sentence. "Still, I wonder what happened to that cat." 🤣 Jeritza found dead.

Cat is attached to Felix and won't leave. 🤣🤣🤣 People (and cats) ignoring Felix's being tsun is what I live for.

Mercie is like "quit whining, Felix. You have a pet cat now." lamo.

FELIX & SYLVAIN C SUPPORT

Oh, this time it's Sylvain calling Felix out for fighting reckless. It's a reverse uno from their Hopes' supports.

"You don't look like a man who's achieved some fantastic new enlightenment." Sylvain just slayed Felix.

Now they're arguing about who got in trouble more as kids. I love that, lol, makes them really feel like childhood friends.

Ten bucks says Felix got in the fight defending Sylvain's honor (or Dimitri's).

Sylvain's like you can't die because you mean too much to Faerghus and Dimitri. And then talks about how much Felix means to Dimitri.

Wait, wait, wait - important line here "reforming the entire social structure of pretty much everything . . ." Sylvain on Dimitri. Eat shit "StAtUs QuO dEfEnDeR" argument.

Soooo the "Sylvix" support so far is all about . . . Dimilix 😅

I don't mind this in the slightest, but I suspect someone on the writing team was a shipper on deck OR they were as sick as I am of people saying "CF Felix makes sense because he HaTeS dImItRi."

Felix throwing the same arguments at Sylvain. Good on him.

"You're the complete opposite of integrity." Felix, that's your friend 😭😭.

So Sylvain did some growing up it seems.

SHEZ & RODRIGUE C SUPPORT

Finally got Rodrigue's C support. Took long enough.

Shez complaining about the cold brings back memories lol. I used to live in the North.

Hearing her talk about lamp-lit streets covered in snow makes me miss winter sooooo badly.

Cool detail that messengers ride pegasus during the winter. I think someone mentioned that on here before.

Lamo, Dimitri and Felix followed a pegasus and nearly froze to death as kids. Poor Rodrigue.

Man, this is why the Blue Lions are the best. All these little stories from the past in the supports. Other houses don't get this.

SHEZ & DEDUE B SUPPORT

Shez looking out for Dedue. Good.

Soldiers giving Dedue shit 😭😭.

Shez can sympathize with the soldiers. Wtf. No way. I'm questioning them. (I could either agree with them or question them)

Dimitri put Dedue in a position often given to nobles. Good. Deserved.

Shez says she naturally get's under people's skin, and Dedue's just like "true." lamo.

Commoners bonding over the resentment nobility feels towards them for Dimitri elevating them.

I like how Shez's solution is to just prove themselves. It feels very shonen lead and like what Shez would say.

This was a good support balancing being about both characters.

FELIX & INGRID C SUPPORT

Nooooo, not Glenn 😭😭😭😭

Ingrid found a spur. It's Felix's, but actually Glenn's.

Ingrid's calling Felix out for being a softie for keeping hold of a memento.

And now he wants to give it to her 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I'm actually tearing up in real life over this. I'm so over attached to this group.

Glenn told Ingrid before anyone else about his promotion 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I was not expecting that support. That support needs a warning. How did that??

Felix being sweet is my weakness, though.

Not going to lie, sometimes going through support after support feels like a chore. But never with the Blue Lions lol.

SHEZ & SETETH C SUPPORT

Fodlan's #1 husbando support incoming.

Seteth thinks Shez could've impacted Fodlan's future if she continued to study at the Academy and it wasn't shut down.

Seteth admits he's suspicious of Shez. Which . . . I mean it's Seteth.

Man, every time someone doesn't trust Shez, it just makes me love Dimitri's take on her powers even more.

Seteth defending Rhea. You love to see it.

Lamo, he wants Shez to stay away from Flayn and Rhea.

What's funny about that is Shez doesn't have a C support with Flayn (B & A though), so it's almost like she listens until they're more familiar with each other. And OFC Rhea doesn't have supports . . . . again . . . .

MAIN BATTLE

I love how Byleth sides with whoever you're not playing as lol.

Dimitri wants to help Shez achieve her goals (defeating Byleth), and Shez is like "appreciate it, but focus on the war" lamo.

Dimitri is obviously projecting. Shez is explaining how they're not THAT upset about Byleth killing their former teammates. And she's like "you gotta get used to death when it happens all the time or it's too much weight." I think we ALL know where this is heading.

Shez is like "you've let things weigh on you too much" too true.

Though it's kind of sweet that he's trying to help Shez out lol. In his own way.

Awww, yeah, Dimitri over here suggesting they recruit Byleth now. I'm pro-Dimileth, tbh. Even IF I may prefer other ships a bit more, I still think it's pretty sweet.

Dimitri's like "what if we pay more than the Empire?" Like, Dimitri, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING ALL THIS MONEY??? Lamo. He's already in the poorest nation taking in all the refugees from Edelgard's mess and paying an army. Like he must have a finance genius working for him or something.

Kinda cool that AG suggested recruiting Byleth first.

Time to recruit Bernie. Never again will I leave her alone with Edelgard when I'm not monitoring her.

I feel like this is the most tactics I've seen a Fodlan leader use in a map battle ever. Dimitri's giving orders to explicitly ignore Byleth, which is different from every other route that says to attack Byleth before pulling back. He's doing it because he knows Byleth is too strong. Same for the Death Knight, who they trapped. It's pretty cool, actually. No one else has done anything like this.

Dimitri forced Jeralt to retreat right away, lamo. And then beat up Alois. I think . . . my Dimitri might be a tad over leveled. He's level 30. Everyone else is level 20. I may . . . use him a bit more than the others lol. But he just . . . kills everything.

Pretty smart tactics actually. Dimitri had all the strongholds captured, then focused on getting the Death Knight, then on Byleth. So securing the area, then picking off the threats.

Oh, cut scene. Sothis! I think Shez woke Sothis up. But let's be real. It was actually Dimitri who did all the work. Legit I had everyone else picking off Jeralt's reinforcements. My Dimitri took Byleth on by his lonesome.

Oh, Byleth and Sothis fighting??? Ohhhh. What's going on?

Sothis kicked Arval's ass lamo.

I'm sure I'll eventually get this discussion on the other routes.

Shez's rivalry seems so low key. Shez prioritizing recruiting like Dimitri suggested, lol.

Sothis is being a dick to Byleth. ngl. Kinda treating Byleth like a car she's driving.

Arval and Sothis seem to hate each other more than Shez and Byleth do.

I just . . . can't get beyond Alois abandoning his family to follow Jeralt around.

Oh, Byleth hair-color changed. Don't know if that just happened or not. Yep, Byleth just said something. Jeralt seems alarmingly unbothered his kid now has mint-colored hair and eyes for no actual reason. Like what if you woke up one day and -bam- you're a redhead. Wouldn't you be a bit, um, concerned?

Alois saying nothing about having to fight his old friends. Oh, there it is, finally. Man, they really stripped Alois of all his character and turned him into what the fandom claims Leonie is, a mindless Jeralt simp. But he has his jokes, I guess??

Nice to see Jeralt isn't interested in fighting Rhea. Just ignoring her. Fair enough.

Wait . . . Dimitri is leaving? Does that mean I don't have him? OMG. I need him. He's my OP unit. No.

Oh, Sreng. That's cool. They're actually getting involved. And Gautier is in trouble :( Will Sylvain leave too? Or is this the next battle?

Ohhh Annette called them peaceful. Ouch. Sylvain was quick to correct her, though. Poor girl just didn't know. Appreciate they gave them a realistic reason to attack though. Needing fertile lands was a real world reason stuff like this happened.

Yes, Shez, tag along. Please. Don't make Dimitri leave all on his own. I need him ahh. Oh, great, that's not where this is going.

DEDUE AND RODRIGUE. NO. Why. This sucks. Ugh. I lost 3 units this chapter???? WHYYY? Unless I am with them?

Leaving Felix in command is cool, though.

Dimitri just said "protect every last one of them." Oh, the change there lol.

Annette comes to like Dimitri's elbow lamo.

XXX

[dumbegglife]

long daily life rambles and bg3 spoilers

august has felt soooo long. in a good way? but it's also ending in like a week. so it's also way too short. idk, i hate the way time feels as an adult. i never know what day it is.

a friend moved really, really close by. i'm not used to having a friend near me. i'm not really sure how to act lol. i'm happy, it's actually insane that she's here at all, i should be more surprised/in awe, but i'm more just worried about if i can act like a good, normal friend. i've actually done a lot to help her, but grand gestures aside, how to be just like. a normal chill friend.

tonight, i spent like 10 minutes thinking of what to text her. laughable, but it's true, i just haven't lived near a friend (furthermore, a friend who knew me in CHILDHOOD) for a long time and i basically never expected to ever again. i'm usually not spontaneous, i'm an introvert, for most of my adulthood so far i've been too stressed and broke to hang out much at all so yeah. hanging out or just randomly sparking a conversation. not something i can just do - i have to plan it, even just a hello text.

but it's been good, we're going out for ice cream, we're hanging out at cafes, we're seeing movies, it's good. can't just focus on the worries.

anyway. bg3! spoilers and thoughts.

i started the game last week. i'm at the Emerald Grove. just talked to Kagha, so we're very early on.

i'm having tons of fun, i'm so happy we've made it at last!! i haven't played the game since early 2021 ^^ it was like a huge sigh of relief to see all the characters, hear their voices and the (wonderfully wonderfully written) dialogue. it's such an intricate, beautiful game too. thank you bg3 for saving me from genshin or else i'd be miserably trying to drag myself through fontaine right now looking for a crumb of excitement from tartaglia ^^

i love seeing that the dialogue's been expanded on since early access, the characters seem to have more to say, i'm welcome karlach since she's happy and energetic but also big and tough, i didn't realize just how much i wanted a character like her!! i like allll the original companions + karlach, they all have interesting perspectives, pasts, and things to say, i cannot wait to get to know them better.

i got chills when we talked to everyone after meeting raphael - the dialogue in those scenes were insanely good.

sooooooo something i'm not sure i like... i did see wyll's new...transformation??

i was super attached to early access wyll, so i'm hesistant. i haven't gotten far, but from what i've seen, his direction seems a bit angstier right out the gate, his voice and tone are feel heavier, less whimsical. i'm reallyyyyy hoping to see hearty, whimsical wyll again, maybe after his luck picks back up, because he charmed me so much. i feel like karlach absorbed some of his happy energy lol.

i was BEFUDDLED when mizora showed up and straight up turned him into a devil (??? idk??) on my 2nd long rest LOL oh like we're doing this now??? heeeehee sorry he looks rather funny to me now, i can't take it seriously!!! i can't get into the angst of "alas do you think i'm a monster now?" like lolll wylll, have you seen everyone else we've been hanging out with. maybe that's a me problem but i can't say i loved that particular development, i can't get into it.

but yeah, up and onwards!! i have the upper hand in act 1 since i'm starting to remember things here and there, but act 2 is going to kick my ass lol I CAN'T WAIT

[annicaax]

Help! I have a new fave!!! PLUST's MIKOTO AMAMITSU

Mik's story was so good. Freakin hilarious and cute but also involved sentimental themes and emphasized on not giving up your dreams and aspirations. And how much it's comforting to work on your goals together with your partner/friends.

I love this title. It looks very promising so far. After reading Mikoto, I'd recommend it and the guy to everyone who has a similar taste. I'll list some of my forever favs (from Love 365) below so you'll know what I'm into.

MPD CTY, ASA, FILA, RMD, TLH... and PLUST (safe to add now. I think) So you can predict the themes I like now ;)

It took me 3hrs 47 min to binge Mikoto's story which I managed to do during different hours of the day. Spent about 240 hearts to unlock every heart choice and the SHE plus bonus track.

The art and the OST are gorgeous. I wish there's a steam release where I can buy the whole thing in one package with the OST. The OST is that good. It's so worth the effort (in reading a long story with a slow burn plot.)

(Oh this is a slow burn plot, mind you. And I love the stuff lol) The MC is fair enough. At times I cringed a bit, wondered why she wosn't protest when the guys casually get touchy with her. (Oh she does at times but she could grow more strong).

The fan service thing sounded unrealistic but it was still hilarious and cute. I was laughing falling in love not just with Mikoto but all the guys as a whole. They are all amazing. I think I'm gonna read every route. tho at present I have my eyes set on Mik, Wataru alone.

Guys like Claude aren't my type but I'm curious about him. I think Kotoha is a sweet guy, a tsundere. And Ryogo. Well I love childhood friend trouples so I'm gonna read his MS. He was super sweet in Mik story but the guy who stole the show (when it comes to side characters) was: Zeus.

The ThrOne guys. At first I didn't understand MC's obsession, specifically as they described the group is cold to its fans, but then I understood. That's not the scenario. Zeus has me very fascinated. I'll say I like him already. And his attachment to MC means we MAY get to see sparks flying between him and Mik. (I'd love to see Mik getting jealous haha)

Now I ramble about Mik here: Mikoto is a charmer but he's not overbearing or commanding. I only saw a trace of the pushy guys I played and liked in him. Just a trace. He apologizes when he's wrong. He thanks the MC. He encourages her!?

I expected Mikoto to be like Guy or more like Ikesen Nobunaga (both my faves) but he isn't.

Mik is so refreshing, so chill. Just like TLH Suzu was, captivating, with just one main story! He's blunt but not condescending. He's cheeky but with a sweet awkward side to him. He tries to shoulder his burden alone. The slow reveal of his true personality was a treat. I was rooting for him and MC! There were so many moments: them walking the ramp, rehearsing lines... Watching the show a pop star acted in, with the guy, and sharing a highfive? Haha. That's freakin cute. I love Mik and his Ducky.

So by the End of the SHE I'm super content and looking forward to MC and Mik's budding romance to blossom more. Which I expect to happen in MS 2. And anticipating more of the guys while hoping this title wouldn't take forever to get updated. (Well I understand making games isnt easy. I'm willing to wait tbh. But I see some title updates getting rolled out quickly, so)

Ugh! I went into rant mode there. Will post more content tomorrow. (Not much tho and not many spoilers. Don't wanna hit the game's earnings coz... well that's what I do. Be moderate. I think nicely done posts/shared stuff actually boost sales and earn more fans. THAT is what I try to do on my blog. Share. Share. But be nice.)

[lightlycareless]

Chapter 33 - thoughts.

Hello everyone!! I'm here... again... after disappearing for like 2 weeks lol.

Allot of things happened, between my birthday, surprise visits, me getting sick, me getting sick again, and con's... yeah, I was quite busy (and good thing I postponed the next update lol am I jinxing myself tho?) but I didn't forget writing them notes!!!

I'm sorry it took a while for me to post them, but they're finally here! They're quite short since there isn't much for me to expand on this chapter :> (which you can find over here.... hehe) but I still hope you find them interesting!

Per usual, this post has spoilers so I recommend reading the chapter first, unless you want to get spoilers with no context lol. Also, this is briefly, (mainly not) proofread so I apologize for any mistakes 😭

Now, without any further ado, here are the notes!

As some chapters in the past, I had some issues figuring out what I wanted for an introduction.

I already knew what points I wanted to cover, but there are moments where I have issues connecting those points, so after a while thinking about it, I finally decided to go with the one thing I had talked about in the past, but never really show, that being: Y/N’s letters to Hinata!

Now, it goes without saying that these letters had to be treated carefully since Y/N is meant to be locked away from the world and all that stuff. So, there wasn’t much to be written in that sense, Y/N wouldn’t go ahead to literally write down all of the things she had gone through while on the estate.

Of course, that soon changed when she began to feel some kind of cathartic release while writing them, as well as a feigned sensation that she was actually speaking to Hinata.

 Going back to those letters after I was done writing them was bittersweet. After knowing all that happened all I could think of is “NO, THAT’S NOT TRUE AT ALL!!” 😭😭😭 (on the fabricated ones right) and the way that Y/N was trying so hard to act as if she was living a normal life, like she was contacting her sister as she always did because they couldn’t meet due to her job… ☹ It’s nothing but a lie, a longing for a happy life, in a happy marriage, maybe where Naoya wasn’t her husband but instead anyone else lol.

Ugh, he’s a terrible, poor excuse for a human being. I’m excited for next chapter 😊

Anyways, I added a few details I thought would fit Y/N’s personality, how she would normally “text”, for example, kaomoji’s. It might be a bit… redundant I guess, but it’s the small things that help remind me she’s just 18, super young and already having gone through all this. (Also the first letter made me think that maybe I’m being too serious/dramatic with certain conversations, you know? Like chill, that’s your sister you’re talking/writing to lol)

My favorite letter would have to be the “I hate Naoya” one, inspired by a segment found in the Twilight saga, specifically on New Moon, right after Edward leaves Bella and there’s just chapters that only October, November, that kind of stuff. At one point I was tempted to upload a chapter that only said “I hate Naoya” over and over again and call it a day 😂 (I would’ve posted the rest of the chapter immediately after, but damn … I just might do that later on)

When doing the final editing on the ao3 page, just to check how the chapter was going to look published, I was very surprised to see that segment wasn’t very long… I ended up extending a few “I hate Naoya’s” just because, but I still wasn’t satisfied, considering it was one whole page on my google doc, but I think it still got the point across lol.

From there, the other thing that I wanted to show (and the one that seems to have yall divided 🤭) is Naoaki! And how their dynamic has changed. The staff and Ranta have stated that the two (mostly Naoaki tho) had become a bit bolder with their interactions, and I wanted to show just what they were doing for them to come to that conclusion—cause we’ve seen how they be acting inside closed doors AMIRITE? AAHHAHA

This part was particularly… well, I don’t know if hard is the right word, but I was heavily debating whether to write it in or not because, (I think I stated this before) I don’t want to cross certain lines with the two just yet. This is a Naoya/Reader fic at the end of the day, and reader being with someone else that’s not of the main pairing is…. Well, idk how to say it, a trope that if not handled carefully might sour the story for me lol.

Ahhh, I still want the harem experience though 😂 I can’t seem to understand myself. We’ll see.

My initial notes portrayed Naoaki to be a bit more insistent on the… you know, implications given throughout the whole the grape feeding thing. I supposed it made sense he’d want something more since the two had been going at it for a while, however, I do not think he would’ve been that adamant after her initial rejection.

Sure, he’s been a bit more comfortable with her as days went by and there’s many things that already happened between the two to build a stronger trust, but this specific desire might be a bit too much in this context, so he respected her decision and stopped insisting.

Also, let’s be real, Y/N has too much in her mind to go through with it. She might think of it, cause she’s human at the end of the day and who doesn’t like being doted by a nice, kind and handsome person???, but all that Naoya has done to her is still taking a toll on her.

I haven’t explored much about this topic, but most sexual acts disgust her at this point—it brings her back to the moments she was absolutely miserable with him. So yeah, at least for now, we can rest knowing Naoaki and Y/N are occupied thinking of other things (for now, for now mwahahah)

From there, Mariya’s secret makes its return. It’s here that I realized this is probably the most Mariya has spoken of her relationship with anyone outside her parents (More on that later) thus… it’s only natural that someone would overhear of it eventually.

All things considered, perhaps Hitomi being the one to hear about this wasn’t as bad as literally anyone else, but it’s the emotional value of their connection that worries her!! Hitomi is very… strict when it comes to following the rules, looking up to Mariya as a role model because of such thing—she wishes to have her work ethic, her determination… And Mariya knows that. It’s why she feared telling anyone from her close coworkers to begin with.

Haruko would be somewhat ok with her having a relationship with a fellow employee, after overcoming her surprise of course, since she never, ever, imagined Mariya would break the rules lol. At the end, I imagine both sisters would be very supportive of her, just… not right away.

I find it funny how Hitomi was quick to become suspicious of Mariya as soon as Tatsuro was mentioned. It’s not the first time she’s heard her talk of a man, but rather… her use a tone that would be comparable to excitement. Now THAT’S suspicious.

But she’s unable to confront her since there really isn’t evidence of anything, it’s all in her mind right now. Also, Mariya isn’t known for being a so… yeah, still, very funny indeed. What do you think? Think she’s going to find out who Tatsuro is to Mariya? Or will that remain a secret 👀? (I don’t want Hitomi to know… I fear the reaction she’ll have :’) I actually wanted to develop more that whole scenario in this chapter, but it was getting a bit too long so I decided to postpone it ahaha)

Moving to something happier, Hitomi preparing Y/N a gift because she’s super thankful of her sweets?! Ajkajkgajkjga Her and her sister really couldn’t get any sweeter…. I want them to be happy, just go with Hinata and leave all this shit behind. 😭

Aw man, now I want to write something with all of them together, explore what kind of dynamics they would have and all that. (Well, I do have some pending one-shots… so who knows?)

Honestly these scenes are just excuses for me to live my slice-of-life, fluff fantasy in this nightmare I have written lol.

Now lastly, but not least… the mystery that plagued the last chapter… what the hell was Naoya doing the moment he briefly left Y/N on the record store? We only see him shove something in his pocket, but what is it?

Well, now it’s finally revealed… the thing he was hiding in his pocket was… a receipt! For the things that eventually got delivered to her :> Guess Naoya did pay attention to what Y/N was saying after all, although there’s another motive behind those gifts that will be revealed in the future. Oof, excited for what’s to come.

Y/N’s reaction regarding the discs was something I was the one thing I knew had to be in the chapter, if anything, all was written around that particular detail, there’s no doubt about that.

The way her reaction happened was the only way I envisioned it going down honestly 😂 blatant anger seemed to be… a bit too on the nose I guess, but if you think about it horror sometimes starts from there— So yeah, I couldn’t see her reacting any other way: Naoya has been nothing but piece of trash since they got married, and suddenly he cares for her and what she has to say? Naaahhhh.

It felt like a mockery to her, a way for him to taint whatever good memories she had of her family, so yeah. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sad that she’s unable to react any other way 😣 wishing she wouldn’t have to get emotionally exhausted all the time, but in a place where she’s constantly attacked by everyone around her, and without the appropriate guidance to deal with her emotions, a completely different environment to the one she grew in… yeah, Y/N’s doing the best she can I guess.

Y/N’s decision (or more like approval via Mariya) regarding the relocation of the discs is one we’ll see further developed immediately in the next chapter, how it will affect her relationship with Naoya, as well as what he was doing during these days they didn’t speak to one another!

I’m really excited to post the next chapter, it’s one that I’ve been literally dreaming about!! I just hope I’ll be able to deliver. Agajkgvjkagja!!!!

Anyways, these are the notes I have for this chapter! They’re quite short, since it was straightforward and settled down some points that will affect the future of the story and I don’t think there is much for me to say outside what inspired me, but if there’s something I missed out on please let me know! I’ll do the best of my ability to respond ❤️

As always, thank you so much for coming back for another update! I’m eternally grateful for all of your support 😭❤️ I hope you have a wonderful week, take care, and hope to see you soon!!!

[shipcestuous]

SPOILERS for possible future plot lines in HOTD!

DON'T READ THIS if you don't want to know about characters and stories from Fire & Blood that the HOTD writers MIGHT integrate in the show!

...

...

Okay, now, with that HOPEFULLY out of the way... XD

There's been discourse in the HOTD fandom about the character of Nettles, who may or may not (I don't think anything substantial has been officially said about casting) appear in season 2. In the books, she is said to be a young lowborn girl with no apparent Valyrian ancestry who tames a dragon by using her wits rather than calling on any ancestral bond, fights on Team Black, and becomes Daemon's lover, drawing Rhaenyra's wrath on herself to the point Rhaenyra claims she seduced Daemon through witchcraft and tries to have her murdered.

The discourse, from what I have seen, is mainly about how much truth there is that story. Some take it at face value. Others think that Nettles couldn't have tamed a dragon without Valyrian ancestry and claim she's really Daemon's bastard daughter, so the story about her relationship with Daemon and Rhaenyra's jealousy is either a historical fake, a misinterpration of an innocent platonic father-daughter bond on Rhaenyra's part that led her to make a tragic mistake, or Mysaria or someone else purposefully whispering lies into Rhaenyra's ear to turn her against Daemon.

Most of it, of course, comes from Daemyra antis on one side and diehard Daemyra shippers on the other. Although it would be disingenuous to act like some in the "Nettles is Daemon's lover" camp don't genuinely want the unchanged storyline for representation (Nettles is already canonically described as dark-skinned in the book, unlike the Velaryons, and she's not only a fearless warrior but smart enough that she might have figured out on her own how Valyrians first approached dragons before coming up with blood magic, so "oh no, it only worked because she's a secret Targaryen, lol" would take away from that) and some in the "Nettles is Daemon's daughter" camp aren't just squicked out by their age gap in the book (I'm not sure how old show!Daemon is supposed to be at this point, but in the book he's like fifty while Nettles is seventeen).

That said... I'm a contrarian by nature, so even though I know that's never going to happen on the show, all this back and forth (especially when it gets aggressive on both sides) just makes me want a version of the story where "Nettles is Daemon's lover" and "Nettles is Daemon's daughter" are somehow both true at the same time. Partly because it would be kind of hilarious to spite both camps in one go, possibly while squicking out both those who watch a show about the Targaryens only to condemn any canonical incest AND those who make an exception for Daemyra but then turn around and condemn any fanon siblings or parent/child incest ship, and partly because I do actually feel it could be interesting from a narrative and characterization standpoint.

I've seen the picture of Daemon hugging his daughters after Laena's death and I really, really wish they had kept that scene, but without it actually being in the show, Daemon doesn't look an especially caring father to Baela and Rhaena. We know very little about their relationship, basically just that when they were children Rhaena felt Daemon favored Baela over her because Baela already had a dragon, that he agreed to Baela becoming Rhaenys' ward but kept Rhaena in Dragonstone with the rest of the family (because there are wild dragons and also Syrax laying eggs there? Because he couldn't bear to separate himself from both his daughters? Because there weren't any advantageous opportunities to have her fostered by an ally?), that Baela knew to contact him in case anything of political importance happened while she was in Driftmark, and that he agreed to betroth both of them to Rhaenyra's sons. So, what would it do to the relationship between all three of them if he found out he had another, illegitimate daughter? And that daughter tamed a dragon without having ever been taught anything about the Targaryens' history as dragon-riders or any of the command in High Valyrian? And he hit it off with her because of her reckless bravery and spent part of his time mentoring her and teaching her about those subjects? And then... he even fell in love with her, making her not just a daughter but something more? It would be even crueler than hooking up with Nettles while Rhaenyra's in the middle of a war to defend her birthright, imo... and tbh I just can't resist twisted, complicated, heartbreaking angst!

I also want to point out that there IS a third camp that wants Nettles just cut out of the series altogether and replaced with Rhaena for a "young black female character with an important connection to Daemon tames a dragon using her smarts" story, and I think that could also be an interesting variation from an incest shipper's perspective. Did Rhaena's fears as a child ease as she grew and matured or has she kept feeling the unfavorite compared to Baela all this time? Did gaining *counts* three stepbrothers and two half-brothers through Daemon's marraige with Rhaenyra make her feel more insecure and possibly overlooked? In that case, getting a dragon by showing off her cunning and then fighting alongside her father could make her feel more appreciated by him and also make them grow a lot closer... and doesn't that sound like an intriguing father/daughter plot? ;)

Lots of father/daughter possibilities! I wouldn't be surprised if they left her out altogether but if they don't, it should be pretty interesting, especially in fandom. Daughter or mistress?

I like your analysis of the possibilities with Daemon/Baela or Daemon/Rhaena!

[yanderelovlies]

✨Galaxy Anon ✨ here!

Feel proud of it! Your work it amazing! Oh totally same. I’m thinking of making a fanfiction but for another fandom one day and one of the things that holds me back to try to publish it is fight scenes. I suck at writing fighting and I need to at least get more of an idea before I publish my work. And also because I don’t want people to steal my work.

Ooh I see. Wow then that sucks then when people asked you about that since no you’re off the clock and yet they still try to make you do things for them. Wait that long for a paycheck? Shit man I would hate it then since I’m not working six weeks to get a paycheck finally. There is rent and bills to pay.

Also my god today I know for sure the host hates me! I asked the manager if I can have two more tables and she heard her because the manager even told her as well and she nodded! And she gave me three and even worse the fact the third was when the time I told her I needed to leave. And when I told someone and they confronted her she has the audacity to act like she never heard that and that I never said that. The audacity. Man that lady is so horrible sometimes. She’s the one who acts passive aggressive so you can’t blame her for anything but she knows what she is doing.

Hooray i’m safe! Ooh that be fun! I actually never watched it ( everyone with those pitchforks put them down!). What is it actually about? Yes especially if the one who commit the crime gets barely to no consequences. I have literally heard cases where it even helps those kinds of people and the government asks why people don’t trust them. People you guys literally let horrible people put on the streets. Yeah when it’s a case that makes me horrified or mad then I know you put it down. It isn’t worth my own mental health but my heart goes out to those poor victims and families.

My god yes thank you. No offense to people who want a family early or had a kid young but I can barely function sometimes right now so why do you want a kid that young? Everything becoming more expensive these days Nope not for me. Yes though because there the ones who stay and take care of the child so good on them for standing up and taking care of things…unless there abusive then it’s better if the kid was getting adopted by a good family. But also some dads because they also stick with their kids. Guess it wasn’t meant to be oh well.

Ooh it meant I love you? Then I love ya too! Also it’s a cute habit keep doing the habit!

Awww thank you! I try to give you guys the best. Though at some point I need to edit some cause the writing on them isn't the best. If you ever decided to post any work I will be there to help and support you!

No there was a bit of mix up there. We got paid every two weeks, but our work schedule was work 6 weeks straight no days off then get 2 weeks off.

Holy shit that sounds God awful, and I'm glad other people called her out on her shit. I strongly dislike those coworkers who make your job harder for no reason. They are the worst.

So to put it without spoilers hobbit and friends go on a journey to destroy the evil ring so evil doesn't come back to destroy everything. The story is so much cooler than I described it lol but you get the idea. Oh, I agree my mom is also into true crime so when she hears something new she likes to talk to me about it. However some days I have to step away because it becomes too much. I usually go back to my own home for a while to play games. My heart goes out to the victims and their families too.

Because it was always just me and my mom I had to raise my younger siblings and let me tell you that shit was hard. I don't want to do it again any time soon. I'm cool with me, my cat, and possibly a dog. Don't get me started on father shit galaxy I don't think it's for the public lol.

Lol aww thank you 💕