#and so they can use over the top plots like literally having 3 different secret marriage reveals in this show

[thesundanceghost]

man okay like vida really was such a good show

[negrowhat]

The Thumb Kiss Trope

Recently (like yesterday) I rewatched Wedding Plan and in ep 3 a thumb kiss was featured that was kind of glossed over by us all. Ever since then (like the past 12 hrs) I've been thinking about how I need more of this trope in my life. It's such a good trope and so under-used.

Sure we have different variations of a barrier kiss; My School President used that trope as a running gag up until the last ep. And we see people place their full hands between their lips. TinCan had a really cute kind of transfer kiss featuring Can's hand in Love By Chance, but nothing hits like the Thumb Kiss trope for me.

So why is the Thumb kiss such a vibe for me? Because it's the flimsiest of barriers to prevent a real kiss. It highlights the tension between the two characters, they both seem to be very interested, but it just isn't the right time for a real kiss yet. In my mind that thumb is a bookmark for the real kiss that is coming soon.

DON'T WORRY I HAVE EXAMPLES!

SoloGui from Oxygen the Series. We get their thumb kiss in ep 4. There are a couple reasons Solo does not kiss Gui in that moment; he didn't have permission, he didn't want to push Gui too much, and mainly because he was under the weather. But he couldn't just let the moment pass without a brief romantic interaction. At this point in the series, Solo is really just trying to gauge Gui's interest in him so he can figure out how to proceed.

Of course Gui responds like it's a real kiss, he kisses Solo's thumb too and then they both pull away. In the novel version, Gui is actually disappointed about Solo's thumb being there because he wanted it to be a real kiss (he's never kissed anyone before despite being a popular campus moon). BY THE WAY Nut Supanut from Pit Babe stars in Oxygen and it's a really cute, lowkey series with good communication. I highly recommend it, ALSO THE SIDE COUPLE IN THAT SERIES IS TOP TIER!

NueaToh from Secret Crush on You. Their thumb kiss happens in ep 2. It's not so secret that Toh is in love with P'Nuea, but we soon discover that Nuea is also kind of enamored with Toh. He goes out of his way to hire Toh as a photographer for his sister's birthday party (btw she's a fan of Toh's photography) and anyways, Toh and his bestie Jao are hanging out with Nuea and his friends and they play that good ole King's card game (you know the one! It's the only time we see cards in these series) and Nuea and Toh are dared to kiss.

We know Toh wants to and so does Nuea but Nuea doesn't want to turn his first kiss with his crush into a party game so he literally smirks at Toh and pushes his thumb between their lips. Nuea knows Toh likes him and he's sure Toh would be fine with their first kiss happening any kind of way, but Nuea wants to make sure Toh knows he's kissing him on purpose so he's going to wait.

ALSO half the cast of the Sign are in SCOY and I HIGHLY recommend the series to anyone who hasn't watched it, Billy is PHENOMENAL as Nuea. Saint produced SCOY as well and it's a good mix of cringe, spice, and pretty much all the characters are queer. I just hope you don't mind stalking as part of the plot (I can explain more if you're interested! I promise it's not that bad)

LomNuea from Wedding Plan. Sailom and Namnuea are vibing from Day 1 but Sailom and his fiancée Yiwa have contracted Nuea to plan their upcoming wedding. To Nuea, Sailom is going behind Yiwa's back to pursue him and he's having mixed feelings about that. Sailom is actually just a man in love with his wedding planner and trying to find the best way to explain a delicate situation without sounding selfish or manipulative.

Their thumb kiss happens in ep 3 and at this point Lom is trying his hardest to keep his intense feelings in check. He's parked outside of Nuea's apartment preparing to drop him off and he thinks Nuea is sleeping. He apologizes and places his thumb on Nuea's lips and kisses his thumb. When he pulls back Nuea is wide awake and Sailom declares that he's going to kiss him and they do kiss. Namnuea kisses him back.

Their situation is a little different because they have kissed already but it was a quick and playful kiss and Lom kissed him because he was trying to calm Nuea down (I can't explain it but it does work) and by ep 3 they are both very aware of the other's feelings. This is one of the moments where Namnuea gives in to his feelings for Sailom, which he immediately regrets.

One could argue that's what this particular scene visually represents. Sailom has a clear understanding of how he feels about Namnuea, which is why we can see him so clearly. Meanwhile Nuea is shrouded in darkness, he still needs some clarity.

I tried to go down my list of watched BLs to figure out if any other ones featured The Thumb Kiss and I couldn't find anymore which is TRAGIC. It's such a fun trope. I scream every time I see it and I wish it was featured more. I need more of this specific trope.

[sirwow]

I have written an essay about why i don't like act 4 (and how i would fix it) and you can read it right here under the cut! Warning its. long again.

Why Act 4 isn’t very good and how I’d fix it. A stupid essay by Wally / SirWow —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER!This is going to be a bit of an over exaggeration when it comes to how I feel about act 4. I think it’s serviceable and all the music and all* of the gameplay is very well done. (*4-2n has problems but I'll get into that.) This is out of a place of absolute adoration for this game and how much I’ve come to love it in the past few months. Also if you don’t know anything about RD this will make no sense <3 With that out of the way, take it away insane Wally. —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rhythm Doctor’s acts all have a speciality of being completely unique and different from the last. Act 1 is a basic introduction to the tone and feel of the game; Fun, a bit goofy, heartfelt and even dramatic at times. Act 2 feels almost like the start of a slice of life romance. The dumb guy with a coffee addiction and the sarcastic barista that serves him with an energetic secret side. Act 3, what it lacks in one settled idea it makes up in a jam packed and fast story that expands the scope of this at first basic story. Act 5 is the king of acts (as of writing this!) a single focused story on Lucky that doesn’t forget the ones going on around it unlike in say act 2’s hyperfocusing of Cole and Nicole. A grand slam story that pays off its build up with a spectacular final level.

Then there's act 4. The confused and uncertain child of the lot. It’s plot jumping around yet not accomplishing literally any story development, repeating points that have already been made and forgetting the ones it introduces. Not only this but it fails to be what it sets up to be and even sidelines it’s own chapter with a sudden unprompted return to the hospital! So let us go step by step, level by level why act 4 falls behind all the rest.

4-1 & 4-1nNow these two levels are actually great, but understanding what makes them so good is important to understanding why the rest is so bad. 4-1 follows us just now getting on the train with Cole and Hailey and meeting Miner. We’re immediately thrown into action as Miner gets a heart attack on the spot, a classic western jig that is perfectly in keeping with the new held beats mechanic. Sets up the feel of the chapter to be a good ol’ western-esk adventure with a bit of a playful lightheartedness to it. 4-1n takes this up a notch by playing off the idea of western and how it was popularized in the 80’s with a midi jam and level literally called Roller Disco Rumble. The level design is also impeccable for both. 4-1 is purely focused on the held mechanic to warm you up to all its kinks and bits. 4-1n is a difficulty spike but in a good way. Teaching you how helds function with other beats (specifically SVT’s) in a difficult but not hard to understand way. Introducing the helds then the SVT’s then combining them during mid and end of the song. Both are wonderfully done introductions to helds for the rest of the act. Keep this in mind for later. 4-1 gets a 8/10 and 4-1n gets a 9/10

4-2 & 4-2n This is where the problems start rearing their ugly heads. 4-2’s story context is that there's a sandstorm and they’re all having a bad time about it. This is… Fine when it comes to a plot but serves zero plot progression in the chapter. By the end nothing has changed and nothing new was learned, merely serves as filler plot wise and makes for a somewhat forgettable story. Then there's the level itself. For what the gameplay is it’s good! Snappy patterns but somewhat reminiscent of 3-2N’s gameplay. The music works well enough but I could definitely not hum the song off the top of my head after spending a good 2 hours S ranking it and 4-2n. It is a bit strange why Samurai and Logan would be there of all people but from a gameplay point of view I completely understand. Overall, a serviceable but filler and forgettable level. Then there is 4-2n. A CRIME TO LEVELS!!!! 4-2n has the exact same song and plot as 4-2 which is already pretty bad considering both of those are middling at best, but now the plot makes less sense and the song is RUINED by WORSE gameplay!!!!!! Richard’s beat is fine and good for making the song harder but the bird? THE BIRD????? Crime. The bird follows none of the beats of the song, it’s frustrating to learn consistently and is more of a game of tying it to the other beats to know when to hit it. Then there’s an extension of the song and for what? So we can be tortured further by this feathered beast??? 4-2 is a 4/10 and 4-2n is a straight 1/10 4-3 & 4-3n Or as I like to call them- “Wait this is act 4? This feels like act 3!” suppose thats why its the third level but regardless- 4-3 is yet another filler story beat and somehow even worse than the last one. The point of act 4 as we were introduced to it in the pre-act cutscene was we were gonna get away from the hospital for a while and see what it was like outside! But nope! This level pulls you back to the hospital to deal with the birds and Mrs. Stevenson. At least with 4-2 we were still on the train. The music is good and the gameplay fun but that doesn’t excuse the fact that it takes you out of the experience of the train. It also straight up doesn’t have the helds anymore and if you think we will be seeing them again after this filler you are WRONG! There are more levels in act 4 WITHOUT helds then there are with helds. In the chapter that introduces them mind you. My general review of this level is basically identical to 4-3n. There's basically no difference between the levels other than Ian doesn’t take over some of the other lines for you. In isolation both these levels are fine and inoffensive but in context of this being a chapter about getting away from the hospital and containing all stuff that was important in the act prior to this this level would have just been better made the night level of 3-3. 4-3 & 4-3N both get a 4/10

4-4 “Wait, where's 4-4n?” I am splitting these levels apart because they’re extremely different from each other. Now then- 4-4 is basically just continuing the filler trend of no story happening and being pretty ill fitting to what the long forgotten original set up of this chapter was supposed to be. 4-4 follows Cole showing off some of his music to Hailey so she can send it to Logan later. (which is pretty passive aggressive but that's an essay for another day.) Nothing new is realized or discovered in this level, we already knew Hailey was longing for Logan and that Cole makes romantic and heartfelt music. Most you can say about this level is that it establishes Hailey and Cole as friends thanks to what Cole says after the level is completed. The music is again good and gameplay alright but still gets lost in the “This could have just been a act 2 level” fog. It is memorable thanks to it’s distinct song and vfx-es. Speaking of which- absolutely no offense to the vfx in this entire act! It’s fine enough and even really good on 4-1n and the last level. 4-4 gets a 6/10 4-4N This level gives me extremely conflicting feelings. Yes it repeats the same ideas as 4-4 but done with far more grace and introspection to the characters up to this point. Cole and Hailey are chatting again and she asks him about who he wants to play the guitar for. (Which also its kinda silly that she’s surprised he plays the guitar. He had to have carried on the guitar case to have it on the train, she was there during 2-1n, and according to 2-2n, Cole and Samurai blast their music playing throughout the entire hospital. ANywhays.) Cole is hesitant to answer and then we flip back to the hospital with Nicole and Logan. We get massive development with Nicole, her picking back up the guitar because of Cole and wondering if he’d like acoustic when she hasn’t really shown any obvious feelings back to him up until now. The song is also fantastic with great leitmotif call backs and being a calm night level to fizzle off. Despite all of this praise however… I can’t bring myself to ignore the fact that this level still probably shouldn’t have been here. If the rest of the levels had a focus on what the act was established to be about then I’d let this level slide but they’re not. It continues the issue of not using the established chapter mechanics, going over pre-established plot points we already know, and really not serving the already hurt story of this act. It is perfectly fine to have a level to develop side plots like 2-4n or 3-1n, the issue is when the rest of the act is failing to say anything. 4-4n is fantastic in isolation, probably the 2nd best of the act in isolation but this is a broad review of the whole act and I can’t ignore that. 4-4n gets a 7/10, 9/10 were it isolated from this. Intermission talk (not about any level) So this is the 8 levels we get for the act. Half fall under a 5/10 and there is a repeating issue that is found throughout this whole act. The writer's curse of filler plots. Filler in Rhythm Doctor is not something that can be indulged in much- maybe 1-2 filler levels in an act. The reason that filler can’t really be indulged in that much is just due to how all the acts get at most 9 levels, usually more like 7 or 8. As a result of the majority of act 4 being complete filler, the act doesn’t leave any impact. Act 1 I can let slide (somewhat. Maybe I might write an angry act 1 short essay) when it comes to not making an impact because it’s the first levels, we just need a basic foundation. Act 4 not so much seeing as the last two acts left far more of an impact. Also there is a notable lack of any act boss like every other act. “But what aboutttt 1-Xn???????” that don’t even got the 4 in it!!!! So let's get on with the final level of act 4. At least when you first play through the game.

1-Xn The second case of being very conflicted about a level in this act. Positives first; This is a brilliant way of getting back to the hospital and really getting across the impact Connectifa can cause. The level visuals I don’t even need to tell you are fantastic and letting Insomniac get more than a single appearance is nice. (#justiceforInsomandLucia) However this is where my praise has to end as much as I adore this level in isolation. No level is truly isolated from the rest of the game and the way this level fits into the rest of the story and flow of things is. Not great!!! First off 1-Xn has zero build up to it happening in the story, it just kinda does. This I can let go a little bit since it’s supposed to be a woah! Twist moment but it’s still not great. Then since this is acting as the boss of act 4, it really fumbles that. I harpped on at the start of this essay that 4-1 and 4-1n are fantastic set up to what's supposed to be happening but this is the ultimate showcase of act 4 not knowing what it wants to be. Why are we back at the hospital? We aren’t using the main mechanic we were introduced to at the start of the act and in fact have regressed back to act 1 mechanics purely. There’s no multiple rows, no SVT, not even skip beats,  just the same 7 beat gameplay from the start. This drives me up the wall- I love you Insomniac but this should not have been the act 4 finale. Lastly there's the post stuff after the level is finished for the first time. I don’t know how to sum up my feelings on it much better than it feels hollow, forced and unnecessary. The info and story we get from it feels less like a payoff and more of a forced reminder that the doctors are appreciated and respected n that you are too. I think that's a good thing to say of course! But we already know this like a lot. 3-X was literally to get this point across, Miner thanked you on the train, Insomniac already thanked the doctors once and now he’s doing it again making him continuously flat as a character. Having Insomniac thank them again would be fine but the whole cast doing so is forced. HELL some of the character interactions that actually did give some development to others got CUT from the current version of the game. Things like Logan being scared of the dark n Hailey poking fun at that or Cole looking for a welcome back and just getting it from Samurai. It’s all just… such a fizzle to the end of what I guess is a mid game act. Worst part? Miner doesn’t even show up in his own act ending </3 Whew ok I had a lot more to say about 1-Xn then I thought I did and I feel too negative now so let’s move on to what to do now. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fixing Act 4 (The Wally Way) So what have we examined about act 4 up to here? Its; - Unsure to what it wants to be - Filler bloated - Fails to help the player master the helds and as an introduction to Miner - Somewhat forgettable SO let’s try and do a bit of a rewrite here shall we? Or I guess just me I don’t know why I keep saying we, I’m the one writing this. Anyyyyywho!

Story intro, 4-1, 4-1n I won’t be changing any of these, they’re perfect as is. A new 4-2 and 4-2n Now then the first of the rewrites, 4-2 I don’t believe the actual story itself needs to change for this one but I feel it be a good way to start introducing aspects of Miner we see in act 5 here! He’s a caring dude and loves to help out so why not have him help Hailey with not being spooked by the sandstorm before the level starts and maybe a little conversation after the level is done. 4-2n is where the first of the very big changes happens. Throw out the copy paste of the day version level and story and instead we have a level of Miner and Hailey star watching now that the sky is clear. We can still have the beat going on but instead it’s just Hailey and Miner’s- Instead the challenge comes in having an internal rhythm rather than visual as both their bars can’t be completely seen. It’s far more laid back then the hectic day in a sandstorm and focuses more on learning more about these two characters. What would we learn? Idk man I don’t wanna insert my own headcanons if they’re wrong, that's up to the devs to figure out. Unless they hire me /j 4-3 & 4-3n (aka throw it out) That's a nice level you got there. It shouldn’t be there tho. Live by the advice of kill your darlings and kill this level entirely to replace it with a new pair of levels that pays off the setup we were given in the act intro when Hailey said she needed to deliver some things. 4-3 rewrite follows Miner, Hailey and Cole all arriving at the actual town they were heading to and doing town things! In keeping with the silly but heartfelt set up of 4-1, Hailey wanders around town to do things and Miner has to save her from the many dangers of the wild west- cacti, heat, rock slips and snakes. If you want a backing SVT beat or even one in swing then Cole is busy off at another local cafe getting a coffee but having adverse effects because it’s a local brew he did not check the contents of before downing. A story end of Hailey’s ended and potential development for everyone on the train if they so choose to. 4-3n’s rewrite is the gang all done for the day but now stuck at the train station waiting for their train to arrive. Cole starts playing his keyboard bored and Miner n Hailey join in making a little jig! Clapping/stomping from Hailey, Whistling and then a harmonica for helds from Miner. Technically filler but it still gives development to this dynamic and a smooth inbetween to them heading back. 

4-4 & 4-4n Now these levels I’m not actually going to be changing despite my critiques of them. I think they still work in this context- Maybe 4-4 could have a bit more focus that Hailey is getting these anxieties about Logan now that she’s heading back instead of just having them for no definitive reason then she does. 4-4n is still a great level. Maybe add a story reason why Miner isn’t around during this level- perhaps have him say he needs to go check on something and this could be setup for what I have next- 4-X (but for real this time) A final boss level where our chilling cruising state is suddenly thrown off the rails- and literally! I’m a bit indecisive about which I would go with but my two thoughts are both classic western train shenanigans: The train gets derailed somehow and the gang gotta deal with it and hold on. Alternatively, the train gets attacked by bandits and loonytoon-esk fighting ensues. Regardless of which you gotta treat them to make sure they also don’t have a heart attack from the stress. The three can all have their moments and can act as a proper ending to the 4th act. 1-Xn (wait what) We’re not leaving behind 1-Xn though! Seeing as this is still an important level to the story we’re not gonna ditch it. Instead now 4-X acts as a subtle cause to why Insomniac got so bad in this level. Ada got back right as boss level occurred so her, Ian and the intern were all hands on deck when it came to monitoring and treating Cole Hailey and Miner. Besides, if Edega found out they let their patients get injured on a non-approved adventure they’d have their jobs on the line! Unfortunately being hands on deck with the three outside, they ended up missing Insomniac having a Connectifa episode and it got worse. They were just calming down the train gang after the boss level when the power suddenly cut off and cut off the intern’s connection with the train gang. 1-Xn ensues as usual and the situation is handled. The post conversation instead has them all at first checking on Insomniac when the train gang is finally able to arrive at the hospital. Miner gets to be part of the end and properly transferred to his role in the next act as Lucky’s support. Cole and Hailey are able to get their welcome back conversations and they can all still thank the doctors but with a more justified reason now! You just took on boss levels back to back and before they could thank you for the first one they all got cut off. A much more impactful end to Act 4 while still keeping intact a majority of the already existing things set out.

Conclusion and Extra things n doodads So thats my essay on act 4, it kinda sucks and I sound pretty mental at some parts but that's the Wally brand for you! I really love what the rest of Rhythm Doctor has done so far and I know act 4 has potential if it was rewritten. I still hate that fucking bird tho. Uhh now some other stuff i didn’t know where to put: “What about 2-1n’s skips? That's a mechanic not built on like helds!” 1. It’s a night level and 2. It shows up only thrice so far in the entire game and you even get told to go play it if you haven’t yet during act 5. “This sounds like a lot of work to change it to this.” I am well aware. If someone doubts me on this then I can make all the backgrounds and animations myself. I’m no composer admittedly but I can write, sprite, concept and draw! “Wally what even prompted you to write 10 pages about an act you don’t like” I wrote an act 4 fic and got on a tangent about act 4 to Mochii n Jenn and how I'd change it so I decided I'd just go ahead and write it. Nothing better to do (lie he had much better things to be doing like SLEEPING IT'S 1 AM WHEN YOU’RE FINISHING THIS DUDE) And I think that's all? If anyone has any more questions of me then like. Shoot my tumblr with an ask or ping me oke doke? Wally signs off and probably gonna die inside if any dev actually reads this. Hi if you are… I’m more normal than this I swear…

[twochildreninamoteldemo]

Hi Maven!! Same q to everyone this week: what are your top 3 wincest episodes, and why?

ok im gonna cheat and do this in 2 ways hehe

a) top 3 sam/dean episodes

3. A Very Supernatural Christmas: has the samulet (their engagement ring, obviously!), you can palpably feel the isolation, the neglect, it's very two-children-in-a-motel-esque. and of course, the final scene, where i think, if there was any point in the series aside from the barn scene in which they would have said "i love you," it would have been there. the deep long stare, the watery eyes, the fact that they both know dean will be gone within the year, and then... "do you feel like watching the game?" ahhhhhhh drives me nuts

2. Swan Song: their love literally!!!!! saves the world, i mean come on. it has the whole wincest montage that you could literally set a richard siken poem to, or a taylor swift song to (look i know those are vastly different things but. bear with me), and it would just feel right. dean finally lets sam do things on his own. he lives because sam tells him to. sam manages to revoke his possession consent because of how much he's in love with dean, even as his fist is smashing dean's face into a pulp. ok i have to stop or i'm going to start crying in this goddamn airport.

Playthings: obviously. gothic horror episode of all time. picture-perfect family in the outside, secret sibling hidden upstairs. the way sam and dean's codependency is paired with that of the grandmother and her ghostly sister. the face-stroking. the almost kiss. god i swear it always looks like they're gonna kiss. sam writhing on the bed. dean staring at him like that. the subtext was about to bust through the screen, what with the acting and the way the plot and the meta-plot fit together perfectly. catherine tosenberger said it much better than i can, go read her article in TWC about wincest if you haven't!

b) top 3 family-horror-what-the-incestuous-freudian-fuck-is-going-on-here episodes

2. Devil's Trap: azazel uses john's body in a sexual manner against both sam and dean--primarily the latter but sam gets it, too. it's a chilling scene and really cements that this is what spn is about: never being able to escape the family. sam learns partly of azazel's plot, dean gets his daddy issues flayed onto him, and all through the eyes of the father. it's so well done.

3. Skin: imo the most damning thing the shifter says is, "i will be sorry to lose this skin. your brother's got a lot of great qualities. you should appreciate him more than you do." uh...what? the way he ties up sam and plans on torturing him also aligns with the shifter's pattern of turning into the husband and beating up the wife. another HMM moment actually comes from dean himself, when he tells sam that none of his friends will ever understand him and that dean's the only one who can...it's very isolating, kind of abuser tactics, and just. whew. this was episode SIX!!

In the Beginning: come on you knew i was gonna say this. aside from the obvious moments of "mom is a babe" (and remember, dean invokes sam into this moment as well..."sammy, wherever you are..."), samuel!azazel leaning over dean and smelling him, and samuel!azazel kissing mary--passionately returned(?), may i add, the plot itself sets up the winchester family as this enclosed, inbred unit. mary's kiss with her possessed father seal's sam's fate as part of azazel's army. the sexuality she shares with her father makes her son's blood diseased and cursed. the family line is tainted by incest. her kiss is what allows sam and dean to grow up that way, to become so codependent, what allows the moments of avsc, swan song, and playthings to happen! in the beginning. this begins the cycle of selling and saving souls--mary for john, john for dean, dean for sam. it's literally THEE spn episode, perhaps even more than playthings. even though sam's barely in it, his fate hangs over the whole episode, and this is full house of wincest at its finest.

[saltysplayt00ns]

The way Kique draws felines drives me crazy. The golden lioness looks like a plushy and sleeping Feaf… Oh my god. This guy calls himself a professional‚ can't he use references‚ learn anatomy or what

I couldn't agree more on that aspect, but it's understandable why the felines look " plushy". Feaf being a Taiga lion which is a Lion, unless their is a lion subspecies where kique lives. Lion's and similar wild cats surprisingly are very muscle built and sturdy with course fur. They're literally built different XD

Most wild cats that have to pull down and carry prey that can be more then their body weight, which requires a lot of muscles to take that down. Not only that, their structure is not the same as Canines. And that's the problem, Kique doesn't want to be out of his comfort zone, he is used to tracing and doing the same poses and scenes and plot every time, heck majority of the pages of Home has been dogs but not only that JARO'S AND RIFLES. SO whenever he tries to branch out, it becomes wonky and out of place, He tried to do a human, and you would think from those 6 years he had practice behind the scenes to get ready - for all I know it's just another of kique's self insert. it's just too inconvenient and takes too much time to do and rather minimize as much work as possibly and pop out half-bake pages. He only puts effort in scenes that interest him...like Ranach, Rogio and stuff like Rome and Jahla talking with each other. ---- RE-STRUCTURE The Felidaes for one should have been the top predators of the food chain. If you placed one dog with a lioness, it would be severely wounded - and a male lion probably kill it. It's why hyenas , AWD, Hippos, Crocs, Elephants, wildebeests, buffalos etc. have really big groups and most tackle one lion or a cub, cause most likely someone is going to die and the Prey would rather take action and question later. So having a feline be the Capitol matriarch or at least be another Matriarch/Capitol would've been better. If not you have to have a reason why Dogs are top of the food chain when a lion can call a spirit to kill them all or why they have not revolted and formed alliances over the pass 3 decades.

PG. 710 & 711 Like Why the hell would you do this???!! Literally Kique had Nubia hang Iberion instead of breaking his windpipe with her teeth, JUST SO Ranach can be a hero and be with Iberion and then dip. Plot convenient for Ranach. SUGGESTIONS; - Could have made the Felines smaller, like Lynx or cheetah. - Have felines not be in big groups but in smaller groups, be consistent of the dogs wiping out any threats/ competition and placing very strict laws over them. - Have canines destroy alters and historical information involving the felines, limiting their way of spiritual contact. - Have them not be in a public beach and not a established tribe, be difficult TO register and seeing a large pride would start the dogs of "weeding them out" , so Have them hidden underground or dangerous, deep parts of the grouse forests. These helps build up the narrative of why Zilas died instead of a mistake, Axi being a tightwad, and using archery to hit from afar and not starting a panic from the canines, living in thick, tropical forests. Unseen and protected. It also have the lion's protect their only contact of their bloodroots, which was the " Golden Lioness " being protective and caring of her people but Disdain and judgmental over the dogs. Making Rhovanion the first dog to be trusted with the secret, and why Feaf did the same for Rhovanion in keeping a secret for him in wanting to see Jahla and other events. mind you, there's many other sensible ways but these what pops up. ---- ALSO CONSISTENCY OF DESIGNS kique use his broken genetics to do the design but really he just have dogs, cat and horse patterns over the animals with no construct. If you have a structure on how designs work for each species, it wouldn't be a hassle, he had literally section of fodder designs on Wiki with names and everything before it got nuked.

PG. 698 & 654 literally two dogs have feline patterns so far shown, for no reason except " it's cool factor " and " because I want to " no wonder the planet is sucked of life and activity, cause nobody can hunt with a noticeable look over their bodies. they're all over the place.

For starters have the Forngrym be the first Starting cats and over 30+ years, and I mean more then 30+ yrs, the sabers separated down warmer climates to form the Taiga lions, where the saber teeth are not robust and stronger to take down big prey like mammoths and giant bears. They become smaller and and focus on suffocation and tactical ambushes, their spots are not as prominent and subtle, being less as they get older...like actual lions heck some kept their cub spots. tail tip is lighter for groups to follow, signal and for cubs. ---- ART Actually It took a bit long cause I was working on the Golden Lioness to show/ demonstrate what could have been done. and find other concepts I have did involving Felines and place them here and separately if people want to only look at the artwork.

Firstly I had to look up some references and other people gave some of theirs that helped piece out a simple " Golden Lioness" but still interesting to look. They were going to be full golden, but added Whites and different gold color for the mane, to break out the colors and provide and interesting look.

Later I wanted to see how it look with 3 simple Panels, instead of just doing the same pose, I wanted a different narrative, giving it an entry and show it's full-bodied before close up shots.

Later, I worked on the character, had references to help with Feline anatomy both realistic and 3D sculptures to clean up the body. and Finally I got to work on the colors, tweaked Feaf and the bedding, Worked on light and shadow directions and then added effects. ----- I hope you enjoy this meaty blog ♥

[drunktuesdays]

Top five tropes that should be more popular

well. well!! okay i'm going to try to think about different tropes than my favorite tropes here to make it spicy and interesting!

5. Magic and I mean the Diana Wynne Jones kind. You keep most of the real world the same, but add just a little bit of magic in a very fun and light way. The backstage is rocked when Brian Cage is revealed to be part troll, which makes jim even more determined never to let anyone find out that he's part fae, even though it really does not give him any advantages, and in fact his only real inheritance is that he can't lie. which is fine, because he gets around it pretty well by just not saying stuff when he doesn't want to, but then there's talk of doing testing for Creatures, and well. he tells dustin.

4. daemons from HDM aus. dustin's daemon can be walter, easy. maybe jim's is somewhat small and he usually keeps her in his jacket pocket. dustin's only met her a few times even though they've lived together for a few years, and she's not that interested in socializing with walter. dustin doesn't mind so much, because that's just how jim is about some things. and then one day during a match, jim gets hurt, and his daemon leaps into dustin's arms in the next blink and hides herself in his chest.

3. Ensemble fic. I miss the art of being able to contain the full cast of characters in any one story. I love if you're reading a ship fic but you see fun cameos from other wrestlers wandering in and out of the plotline. it makes the backstage feel vibrant and so real. and maintaining the ensemble is ESPECIALLY good in an AU. if someone did a HangKenny Good Omens au, I would feel such joy in my heart if you managed to correctly sort the other wrestlers into various roles and let them contribute to the plot. I feel like i'm not being super clear about the joy of this because my brain is absolutely done broke, but it was something people used to do in bandom and it was SO fun. If you did a Mean Girls AU, it was SO fun to see how the author filled in all the OTHER background roles. tumblr user baking_soda do YOU know what I mean? do they be doing that in F1 very much? are people writing Mean Girl aus and taking the time to figure out who Kevin is? that's fun to me.

2. your self from another timeline comes to visit. this is SO hard and it's SO sexy to imagine. i'm literally obsessed with it all the time. i love thinking about like, baby!dustin at like what, 19? coming forward in time to 2022 and being like "we're FAMOUS? we're on TV?" and dustin's like "for an incredibly generous interpretation of famous and also not on tv that much." and all the things dustin hates about himself in life he can't help but hate to see in baby!dustin so he's not like...nice....to him. and he especially hates how obvious baby!dustin is about his giant crush on jim. jim just laughs and says "you're such a jerk. he's a good kid..."

1.. this is cheating because i'm using it as #1 in both "favorite" tropes and "need more of" but it's my life MOM!!! it's body betrayal!!!!! body betrayal!!!!!!! unfortunately it's my absolute kryptonite to think about ESPECIALLY ATHLETES or anyone who has a close relationship with their body and takes pride in its reflexes and strength being bowled over by a surprise. i mean, me, if i sprouted a lizard tail tomorrow, i'd be like "oh sure, this might as well happen" but i LOVE when shit happens to people who are so sure they know their body inside and out. and when you combine it with the self loathing of someone who is so sure that the thing their body is doing will cause them to be rejected forever??? that's the good stuff. please note, if you say to me: wow lea, it's interesting that you're so emotionally effected by someone discovering a hidden and horrible secret in your blorbo and your blorbo gets love and acceptance in spite of the horrible secret self. have you considered taking that to therapy? i say to you: go to superhell.

[yuri-review]

Flip Flappers (2016)

I can add this image, it's from the first episode!

Flip Flappers is a 13-episode long magical girl show from 2016. It follows the adventures of our main characters, Cocona and Papika, as they travel through alternate dimensions known as Pure Illusion, seeking out amorphous shards said to grant wishes.

(Full review under the cut!)

The writing and plot: 3.5/5

The writing and plot of Flip Flappers is charming, and differs from typical magical girl shows in one significant way; they don't fight against monsters or supervillains seeking to wreck havoc on Earth, instead travelling to alternate dimensions, and fighting monsters there. And also fighting against the agents of a secret organization seeking to obtain all the amorphous shards... wait, does that count as supervillainy?

Flip Flappers explores themes such as control various adults have over children, growing into your own and changing as a person, and, as any good magical girl show, love. It also briefly touches on the experience of feeling empty, and the idea of people loving you not for you, but for what you can do for them. The writing is good but rushed due to the short episode count, leaving some plotlines feeling a little unexplored. The show definitely could've benefited from a higher episode count, which is something that goes for almost all shows stuffed into such a small amount of episodes, and I will yell that from the top of my lungs constantly! Limiting episode counts is the death of compelling character writing and overarching plotlines! That brings us to our next point-

The characters: 3/5

I love love love Cocona, but I know more could've been done with her feelings of inadequasy and emptiness. Papika is a good complementing main character to her, especially through the last few episodes, but I can't help but find her lack of boundaries and respect for Cocona's a little too grating at first. Yayaka, our antagonistic-ish figure, is a wonderful add-on to the cast, and she's possibly one of my favorite yuri third wheels- I mean side characters to date. All characters grow during the show, and it's a pleasure to watch!

Side characters are also compelling in this show, even if they aren't all very remarkable! I liked the little plotline with the art club senpai, and Yayaka's sidekicks were good to have around as well. Team Flip Flap was good fun too, I especially enjoyed the mad computer scientist who was gnc af.

The yuri: 2.5/5

Flip Flappers comes across as another one of those anime that was gunning for canon yuri rep, but the higher-ups noticed it halfway through and whacked it with the no-homo hammer. Most standout moments, such as Cocona literally conversing with the manifestation of her repressed sexuality, happen earlier than 8 episodes in, but there's some yuri to be found all throughout the show, in the end with some very emotional moments as well! I will say however that the ending twist was giving slightly When Marnie Was There vibes, but thankfully it wasn't like that.

Various short segments:

The emotional aspect: 4/5. The aforementioned themes were well done, and I can admit I cried once or twice while watching! Not much more I can say without spoilers, so let's get on with it!

The humor: 2/5. Not much to say about it, sometimes it hit well!

The fanservice: 1/5. I didn't need to see panty shots of the girls in their transformation sequence or an episode where they're in their swimsuits the whole time and stuffed into tiny environments, thank you very much.

Overall: 3.5/5

I really enjoyed Flip Flappers! It wasn't anything very remarkable, but I know I'll think about it very fondly from now on! Its willingness to take on themes not often seen in anime was good to see, and the characters carried the good plot well. Go watch it if magical girls are your cup of tea!

[dangermousie]

Mousie’s absolutely subjective, very biased Top 10 web novels list

Please note that this is hardly aiming to be objective, if one can even be properly objective about a work of fiction. It is 110% based on my preferences, which means this list is heavy on the angst and has nothing set in the modern day. It is also heavily danmei-centric, even though I read way more het romance than danmei, because for whatever reason, most of the danmei I’ve read has been insanely good.

10. Return of the Swallow - one of the two non-danmeis on this list. Smart and nuanced and with a large cast of characters. Our heroine is a long-lost daughter of the family that is brought back in and has to cope with familial struggles, crazy royals, court intrigue, invasion et al. It’s SO GOOD! There is romance with the sexy smart enemy general but honestly, it’s the heroine that is the main selling point for me.

9. Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - the only other non-danmei novel on this list, this was my very first web novel and what drew me into this insanity. This is just a ton of fun, probably the lightest novel on this list, not an ounce of angst to be found. But it’s hilarious and features competent heroine and tsundere hero and I will always love it for opening a new world to me. Anyway, our heroine transmigrates into the novel as the female lead. Unlike the original lead though she doesn’t want to seek adventures and angst - she just wants to comfortably live with the wealthy, nice husband heroine has. Alas, said husband is no longer nice since he has previously lived this story where he was betrayed by FL and then transmigrated/reincarnated into the past. Oh well, the heroine opens up businesses and makes friends. And eventually, her husband realizes his wife is way different this time around. This actually doesn’t have much romance, not until close to the end, but this is so fun I don’t care.

8. Lord Seventh - I am only partway through this so far, but it’s already on the list because it’s smart and somehow intense AND laid-back (not sure how this works, but it does) and is honestly just a really really solid and smart period novel, with the OTP a cherry on top of a narrative sundae. Plus, I love the concept of MC deciding he is not going for his supposedly fated love - he’s tried for six lifetimes, always with disaster, and he’s just plain done and tired. When he opens his life in his seventh reincarnation and sees the person he would have given up the world for, he genuinely feels nothing at all. (Spoiler - his OTP is actually a barbarian shaman this time around, thank you Lord!)

7. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (MDZS) - oh come on, how are you even on this tumblr if you don’t know MDZS/The Untamed? This was my very first danmei and it’s so much fun! I love everything about it - the unreliable narrator, the looping structure, the main OTP, Wei Wuxian’s laidback, traumatized insouciance, everything. Anyway, the plot in the event you somehow transported here from 2005 is that the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Wei Wuxian, was defeated by the righteous sects over a decade ago and fell of a cliff to his death. Only now that same Wei Wuxian opens his eyes in another body and everything that was supposed to stay in the past starts again.

6. Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF) - people either love its meandering narrative, picaresque structure and cast of thousands, or find it a detriment compared to much more compact MDZS. I love it even more than MDZS for those very qualities. It does have a rock-solid, darling OTP, but what really elevates it to me are the MXTX trademark combo of snarky/light tone hiding a ton of trauma underneath, the insanely intricate world-building, and what it has to say about the nature of grace and goodness. Xie Lian is one of my top 5 web novel characters and probably in top 10 from anywhere. Oh, and while MXTX’s stuff is not as angsty for me as Meatbun’s or even Priest’s, there are always exceptions, and there is one chapter in this novel that pretty much broke me and sometimes I still flashback to it and feel unwell.

Anyway, what is it about? There is a commotion in the heavenly realm - Xie Lian, the Crown Prince of a long-destroyed kingdom, has ascended to Godhood. That in itself is not so exciting. However for Xie Lian this is the third time (!!!!) as he’s ascended and lost his godhood twice prior. And now, the biggest joke of the divine realm is back, throwing the heavenly realm into chaos. And elsewhere, Hua Cheng, one of the four most powerful demons of that Universe, sits up and takes notice.

5. Golden Stage - my perfect comfort novel. Probably the least angsty of any danmei novel on this list (which still means plenty angsty :P) It also has a dedicated, smart OTP that is an OTP for the bulk of the book - I think you will notice that in most of the novels in this list, I go for “OTP against the world” trope - I can’t stand love triangles and the same. Anyway, Fu Shen, is a famous general whose fame is making the emperor antsy. When he gets injured and can’t walk any more, the emperor gladly recalls him and marries him off to his most faithful court lackey, the head of sort of secret police, Yan Xiaohan. The emperor intends it both as a check on the general and a general spite move since the two men always clash in court whenever they meet. But not all is at is seems. They used to be friends a long time ago, had a falling out, and one of the loveliest parts of the novel is them finding their way to each other, but there is also finding the middle path between their two very different philosophies and ways of being, not to mention solving a conspiracy or dozen, and putting a new dynasty on the throne, among other things. It always makes me think, a little, of “if Mei Changsu x Jingyan were canon.”

4. Sha Po Lang - if you like a lot of fantasy politics and world-building and steampunk with your novels, this one is for you. This one is VERY plot-heavy with smart, dedicated characters and a deconstruction of many traditional virtues - our protagonist Chang Geng, a long-lost son of the Emperor, is someone who wants to modernize the country but also take down the current emperor his brother for progress’ sake and the person he’s in love with is the general who saved him when he was a kid who is nominally his foster father. Anyway, the romance is mainly a garnish in this one, not even a big side dish, but the relationship between two smart, dedicated, deadly individuals with very different concepts of duty is fascinating long before it turns romantic. And if you like angst, while overall it’s not as angsty as e.g., Meatbun stuff, Chang Geng’s childhood is the stuff of nightmares and probably freaks me out more than anything else in any novel on this list, 2ha included.

3. To Rule In a Turbulent World (LSWW) - gay Minglan. No seriously. This is how I think of it. it’s a slice of life period novel with fascinating characters and setting that happens to have a gay OTP, not a romance in a period setting per se and I always prefer stories where the romance is not the only thing that is going on. It’s meticulously written and smart and deals with character development and somehow makes daily minutia fascinating. Our protagonist, You Miao, is the son of a fabulously wealthy merchant, sent to the capital to make connections and study. As the story starts, he sees his friend’s servants beating someone to death, feels bad, and buys him because, as we discover gradually and organically, You Miao may be wealthy and occasionally immature but he is a genuinely good person. The person he buys is a barbarian from beyond the wall, named Li Zhifeng. It’s touch and go if the man will survive but eventually he does and You Miao, who by then has to return home, gives him his papers and lets him go. However, LZF decides to stick with You Miao instead, both out of sense of debt for YM saving his life and because he genuinely likes him (and yet, there is no instalove on either of their parts, their bodies have fun a lot quicker than their souls.) Anyway, the two take up farming, get involved in the imperial exams and it’s the life of prosperity and peace, until an invasion happens and things go rapidly to hell. This is so nuanced, so smart (smart people in this actually ARE!) and has secondary characters who are just as complex as the mains (for example, I ended up adoring YM’s friend, the one who starts the plot by almost beating LZF to death for no reason) because the novel never forgets that few people are all villain. There is a lovely character arc or two - watching YM grow up and LZF thaw - there is the fact that You Miao is a unicorn in web novels being laid back and calm. This whole thing is a masterpiece.

2. Stains of Filth (Yuwu) - want the emotional hit of 2ha but want to read something half its length? Well, the author of 2ha is here to eviscerate you in a shorter amount of time. This has the beautiful world-building, plot twists that all make sense and, at the center of it all, an intense and all-consuming and gloriously painful relationship between two generals - one aristocratic loner Mo Xi, and the other gregarious former slave general Gu Mang. Once they were best friends and lovers, but when the novel starts, Gu Mang has long turned traitor and went to serve the enemy kingdom and has now been returned and Mo Xi, who now commands the remnants of his slave army, has to cope with the fact that he has never been able to get over the man who stabbed him through the heart. Literally. This novel has a gorgeously looping structure, with flashbacks interwoven into present storyline. There is so much love and longing and sacrifice in this that I am tearing up a bit just thinking of it. If you don’t love Mo Xi and Gu Mang, separately and together, by the end of it, you have no soul.

1. The Dumb Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2ha/erha) - if you’ve been following my tumblr for more than a hot second, you know my obsession with this novel. Honestly, even if I were to make a list of my top 10 novels of any kind, not just webnovels, this would be on the list. It has everything I want - a complicated, intricate plot with an insane amount of plot twists, all of which are both unexpected and make total sense, a rich and large cast of characters, a truly epic OTP that makes me bawl, emotional intensity that sometimes maxes even me out and so much character nuance and growth. Also, Moran is my favorite web novel character ever, hands down.

Anyway, the plot (or at least the way it first appears) is that the evil emperor of the cultivation world, Taxian Jun, kills himself at 32 and wakes up in the body of his 16 year old self, birth name Moran. Excited to get a redo, Moran wants to save his supposed true love Shimei, whose death the last go-around pushed him towards evil. He also wants to avoid entanglement with Chu Wanning, his shizun and sworn enemy in past life. And that’s all you are best off knowing, trust me. The only hint I am going to give is oooh boy the mother of all unreliable narrators has arrived!

The novel starts light and funny on boil the frog principle - if someone told me I would be full bawling multiple times with this novel, I’d have thought they were insane, but i swear my eyes hurt by the end of it. I started out being amused and/or disliking the mains and by the end I would die for either of them.

[whoree321]

yo can i get some tech x chaotic gender neutral reader headcanons?

(fuck yeah bestie you understood the assignment. also i kinda went on my own interpretation of chaotic so if you had something a little different in mind lmk and i can make adjustments!)

tech x chaotic!gn!reader headcanons

ok so here’s the thing about tech

he is literally surrounded by/related to some of the most chaotic individuals in the entire galaxy

like wrecker? crosshair? talk about a hot mess express

and let’s not act like he doesn’t have his own little chaotic streak festering beneath that rigid hairline

so long story short, when you come along in all your chaotic glory, it really isn’t a big adjustment for him

he might be a little surprised after he first meets you (how could someone so alluring and attractive also have that personality??) but overall your presence is simply an addition to the pre-existing insanity of the bad batch

he notices right away how well you fit in with his brothers (matching wrecker’s rambunctiousness or crosshair’s quiet nefariousness or both in your own special way) and tbh he’s a little jelly

and by a little jelly i mean he’s 100% super jealous

he watches how you joke around with them and plan pranks with wrecker and make dark commentary with crosshair and how your antics get a laugh out of echo and sometimes even hunter and how well your energy matches theirs and part of him absolutely hates it

(the other part, of course, is too busy being enamoured by the music of your laugh and the mischievous twinkle in your eye and the electric brush of your shoulder against his armor when you move past him in the cockpit of the marauder to really form an opinion on your relationship with his brothers)

despite his envy, tech is not the type to allow his emotions to derail positive outcomes (on missions or in personal matters)

he’s not gonna spoil y’alls fun or even let you know he’s upset about it. if there’s one thing tech thinks he can do it’s keep his emotions in check

when chaos ensues, he regards you with the same familiar condescension and snark he uses with wrecker (although you realize quickly there’s an amusement in his gaze when he mocks you that’s absent when he speaks to the others)

as much as he loathes the current situation, he ultimately also recognizes that it’s no ones problem but his that you are more compatible for individuals with personality types more like wrecker or crosshair

(little does he know you’ve had your eye on him and only him pretty much the whole time)

before your relationship, tech is the unsuspecting victim of a lot of your tomfoolery

you tend to mess with him the most (totally not bc you have a crush on him or anything nononono)

hiding a tool or his data pad when he’s not looking? a classic

“tech i have no idea where your wrench is i don’t even know what it looks like” “y/n you play this practical joke approximately 3.7 times a standard week I know you are lying”

stating completely made up facts about different things or places with full confidence and arguing with him when he corrects you? tried and true

“fun fact: loth cats actually have a secret fifth leg tucked up underneath them and it only comes out in extreme emergency circumstances” “that could not be more untrue” “ok well have you ever checked” “…no, but..” “see tech there’s just some things you can’t know from book learning” “*deep sigh*”

the best is when you flirt with him tho

it is bold and brash

“I need something sharp to cut through this” “just use your jawline ;)”

“the system we are traveling to is known for its extreme heat and rough terrain” “hot and rough? sounds like you in the bedroom ;)”

he chokes and blushes everytime

despite the constant torment and how much he acts like it’s a nuisance, he secretly loves all the attention you give him (even if it’s at his expense)

knowing our sweet boy he is wayyy too socially awkward to make the first move in this situation (or to even recognize there is a situation tbh)

tech is pretty confident you view him as strictly a friend and an easy target for your shenanigans

like even if you basically admit to liking him, he’s gonna think it’s another joke. plotting and scheming with the other boys to make him step up (a classic “i’m gonna pretend to make a move on them to force your hand” for example) will not work

you have to very directly confess to him and it has to be very very genuine and away from the rest of the boys in order to get it into his exceptional mind that you seriously have feelings for him

once he gets that you mean it tho, he’s over the moon

and once youre in a relationship? the rest of the batch should be WORRIED

now your focus is no longer on messing with tech, and you have a super genius on your side

he may have enjoyed being a casual observer and constant victim before, but now that you’ve allowed him on your team it’s a totally different ballgame

he’s still happy to take a backseat and let you do your thing, but he also loves to be a background player in all your hooplah

you wanna play a prank? tech is scheming and building shit and looking at diagrams to figure out the best way to execute it

hunter gets mad at something you did? tech has already figured out a way to pull focus off of you and onto one of the other boys

OR EVEN BETTER a non-batcher (a reg, a superior, a random streetgoer) takes an isssue with you? tech is launching into a full rant with them about something completely unrelated and giving you time to scamper away before they can even begin to reprimand you

tech is the kind of boyfriend that isn’t gonna overtly match your energy, but can keep up and will balance you out

you still mess with him, but now he has the confidence to mess with you right back

this also creates a really spicy sexual dynamic (I won’t go too into that but def a lot of teasing, brat taming kinda stuff)

overall i actually think tech would be really good with someone more chaotic and wild bc he can seem so rigid but isn’t actually like i think that type of relationship would really suit him

you bring out his playful side and he keeps you grounded, out of trouble, AND acts as a top notch audience/partner in crime

rip hunter tho now he’s got tech to worry about on top of all the rest of you (except echo he’s a perfect angel who could never cause trouble for anyone <3)

[shijiujun]

[END 2020] My Top 9 Danmei Novel Picks of the Year

As a part of my Round Up post for the year, here’s my pick of favourite danmei novels, that I’ve read! This is sort of an accompaniment to my previous danmei rec list over HERE, so there may be one or two overlaps, but I’ve read WAY MORE after that and am prepared to like give more options here 

Note: There should be English translations for all via novel updates if you do a search of the English name, but I don’t think most of them are completed.

If you wanna see my full reading and queue list (it’s all in Chinese tho, for my own records), it’s here.

I’m leaving out the usual MXTX and Priest ones, because they’re already good and we all know that and there’re many carrds and posts dedicated to them.

I am also a sucker for fainting but smart men, and not too overly angsty/complicated storylines, just putting it out there first, which is why I haven’t read a lot of some of the ones on my queue list.

-------

1. 一剑霜寒 | A Sword of Frost by 语笑阑珊

Summary: Jing Yan Ran is the Emperor’s brother and wields military power in the novel, and it starts with an object being stolen from the palace. Jing Yan Ran has to retrieve the item secretly, and so enlists the help of Feng Yu Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Yi Feng, who heads the martial arts world’s one and only information trading post. Yun Yi Feng does not deal in business that involves any royalty, but Jing Yan Ran offers him something he cannot refuse - the Blood Red Lingzhi, a rare and mystical herb that is rumoured to be able to treat his life-threatening condition. 

Yun Yi Feng was used by his shifu when he was younger to test out all kinds of poisons and cures, and since then, his body flushes dangerously hot and cold frequently, with bouts of severe coughing fits in between. Throughout the first mission where he spends time with Jing Yan Ran searching for the stolen object, he allows Jing Yan Ran to take care of him, and they fall in LURVE pretty much like 10 chapters in.

Of course, they have to uncover a plot and conspiracy against their enemies who are plotting to dethrone the Emperor, and also reveal the secrets of Yun Yi Feng’s birth.

My Thoughts: AN ABSOLUTE FAVE AND GEM, I’d say this is my favourite danmei novel ever. This is both hilarious and tears-inducing, to be honest, because for most of the novel YYF knows he doesn’t have long to live and so in the beginning he knows of his own feelings for JYR and JYR also shows him that he loves him, but he is unable to officially reciprocate because he knows his body is like weakening day by day. Halfway through the fear that he’s literally about to die as they are JUST about to find the cure is real, and damn I cried so much at that. Some highlights:

YYF falls asleep very easily in baths and everywhere actually, and pretty much within the first 10 chapters he gets used to JYR carrying him around (even naked from the bath, he’s like oh well, okay cool) and taking care of him, and JYR ALWAYS makes sure he is warm and toasty under his cape

YYF LOVESSSS RICHES, PLAYING THE ZITHER AND COOKING - He’s good at gathering the first one, but he FUCKING SUCKS AS THE LAST TWO - It’s so funny because he’s so beautiful and handsome right, and when he sits down at the zither everyone is like OH DAMN WHAT A DREAM- and then he plays, and everyone’s fantasies is shattered, he’s ABYSMAL at it, and the same goes for cooking

JYR doesn’t actually have the Blood Red Lingzhi, and throughout the first arc, he feels SO DAMN GUILTY because YYF even carved out a pendant that looks like what he thinks the herb looks like, and like carries it with him everywhere LMAO

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

2. 高能二维码 | High Energy QR Code by 青色羽翼

Summary: CEO Xing Ye’s brother Xing Shuo has just passed away at the age of 24, and nothing will make him believe that Xing Shuo died of natural causes despite autopsies and experts telling him that he really died simply of a heart failure. Xing Ye, who has impeccable memory, suddenly recalls the last time he saw Xing Shuo. His brother called out to him just before Xing Ye left for a business trip, and looked as if he had something to say, but ended up just wishing him a safe trip.

At that moment, there was a QR code on Xing Shuo’s phone, and the phone screen was strangely turned out towards Xing Ye, and Xing Ye, with his incredibly high IQ and memory, realizes that Xing Shuo wanted him to see the QR code. Quickly, he reproduces the QR code by pen and then scans it, and finds himself in a game world.

There he meets a narcissistic but also cute mirror which can speak, and finds out later that his name is Lu Ming Ze. Xing Ye’s mission is to clear the game missions in each round that is set by the black and white cubic game system, a system that continuously tempts its players into giving in to committing sins such as killing someone else, stealing and other things. He soon realizes that if he cannot stay on a path clear of these sins, he will never be able to triumph over the game system and return Lu Ming Ze back to his body in the real world. 

At the same time, he gains new teammates and friends for life, and also finds out what role his brother played in this game. 

My Thoughts: MY GOD I LOVE THIS. I LITERALLY JUST FINISHED READING THIS YESTERDAY, and honestly it’s one of my faves. I don’t like game systems very often (I’ve read three others so far, and this, and KOD are the only ones I’ve liked) but this one is *chef’s kiss*. So LMZ was born like with a really handsome face, like SUPER HANDSOME, and that’s why he’s like a harmless narcissist that cannot bear to look at ugly things LMAO, but he’s not spoilt, he makes sure that Xing Ye stays true to himself, and help him keep his head clear. 

THE ONLY THING ABOUT THIS FRICKIN NOVEL IS THAT LU MING ZE STAYS A MIRROR, LIKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MIRRORS, in the first TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY CHAPTERS. I KID YOU NOT. I FRICKIN KID YOU NOT. I swear I was sooo touched starved at the end of the novel, because they couldn’t even kiss?!! Like Xing Ye kisses the mirror, and then uses his thumbs to like hi-five mini LMZ in the mirror back, they can’t even hug. Do you know how empty my arms felt when I read this book?!! And my arms have never been filled!!!!!!

I really like this one because each game world is set up in such a brilliant way, but it’s not so unnecessarily complex that you literally don’t know what the fuck is going on. Xing Ye’s intelligence as he outmanoeuvres every single one of his enemies and convinces his would-be loyal teammates to trust him is so satisfying, world after world, victory after victory.

Humour is also absolutely ON POINT. A lot of it is centred on Xing Ye getting caught in the real world kissing his handheld mirror (LMZ) by LMZ’s parents (who cannot see him in the mirror) and LMZ’s parents going like ???!!!!!!!! 

Available: Novel Online | Physical Novel is coming out on 10 Dec (freebies are, you guessed it, a mirror)

3. 妻为上 | The Wife is First by 绿野千鹤

Summary: This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

My Thoughts: OKAY BEFORE YALL GO INTO THE ‘WIFE’ terminology discourse and everything, in this case they do use the term ‘wife’ literally, and it’s a position, that while men frequently fall into (there are a lot of male ‘wives’ in this story), is also used to cut off like sons from inheriting the family and the fortune, and even titles. Male ‘wives’ aren’t looked down upon in this setting, in fact, Han Zhang gets a lot of leeway as one, and in his case he was also able to rise up the ranks to be an actual official later on, but the sad thing comes from sons who are most of the time forced to marry a male ‘wife’ for whatever reason, and then they are neglected as the son goes and find concubines, women he actually wants to sleep with - this is sad af yall. I don’t know, on one hand, yay for equality in marriage in this setting, but on the other hand like, damn, must you use same-sex marriage like that argh.

ANYWAY THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVES TOO?!!! I mean, especially when Jing Shao literally just goes into doting mode 200% and Han Zhang is totally like wtf why is he so nice to me is he scheming or something? And then he realizes that Jing Shao is really, really gentle towards him despite his reputation as a cruel, dark military commander, and Jing Shao always smiles at him. In any situation, especially in the beginning, when Han Zhang thought Jing Shao would not stand with him, Jing Shao literally just protects him no matter what, gives him everything, and cries, I love it. 

Especially because Han Zhang is the son of a concubine and he was bullied a lot in the Mu family, and the official Lady Mu married him off to Jing Shao in hopes that he would be unhappy for the rest of his life, and I suppose that came true in the first life, but in the second, Han Zhang gets all the love, respect and support he never got before in this family with Jing Shao and that makes me WEEP.

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Kuaikan

4. 死亡万花筒 Kaleidoscope of Death by 西子绪

OOOH I intro-ed KOD here in my previous rec list. Still one of my faves and all-time re-reads, especially under the covers in the dark hehehe.

5. 你的距离 | Your Distance by 公子优 

Summary: Ting Shuang is a student at a German university, and has this handsome professor Bai Chang Yi who he swears kind of hates him. He’s just broken up with his longtime boyfriend, and then goes on this dating app that matches a profile with him based on distance. The app can also show the matched profile’s distance from him once they enter the same area, and Ting Shuang starts chatting with this Chinese guy on the app, who he finds out later, is 36 years old, 187cm in height and wears glasses. 

The guy is a little aloof and cool, very mature in his replies on the app, and somehow Bai Chang Yi finds out who he is later, as Ting Shuang starts complaining to him about his professor to Bai Chang Yi. Instead of getting angry and offended, BCY is pretty much amused and finds Ting Shuang cute. A few days later Ting Shuang finally realizes who it is he’s been texting, and after getting past the initial embarrassment and fear, they start dating for real, and they really fall in love!!!!! 

My Thoughts: This is sweet and also hilarious af, if you need to like satisfy your sweet tooth, this is definitely one for you. It’s really funny because Bai Chang Yi runs in the same circles as Ting Shuang’s dad, who he’s estranged from because the dad doesn’t want to recognize a son who is gay, and then BCY convinces him later in the funniest of ways, and there’s a small subplot at the end in which Ting Shuang is pretty cool, and yep, short and sweet! BCY in the manhua is handsome af too guys ;-;

Available: Novel Online, Audio Drama on Maoer FM and Manhua on Bilibili, 

6. 神木挠不尽 The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post by 绿野千鹤

Summary: Mo Tian Liao, a weapons forger and master who ruled the Demon Tribe, was hunted down and killed by other righteous sects in the region when he managed to forge an incredibly destructive weapon that could end the world. Before he died, he placed the only thing he loved, a white cat, into a hole in the tree behind him to protect it. The only thing he was grateful for was that he did not create a blood pact with the cat, Xiao Mao, because if he had done so, when he died, Xiao Mao would have died along with him as well.

Right before he dies, unbeknownst to him, Xiao Mao who is no simple demonic cat, wraps part of his consciousness around Mo Tian Liao, and MTL’s spirit ends up floating about for 300 years, until he finds a suitable time to return with a body made out of a special tree and its wood. The first thing he does, of course, is to find his white cat, but he’s poor, and the body he has isn’t powerful, so he joins Wo Yun Sect, the only sect that did not hunt him down that day hundreds of years ago.

There, he is chosen by Qing Tong shizun to be his direct disciple, much to the astonishment of other shizuns in the sect, and Qing Tong’s shixiongs. MTL has never seen a person as beautiful and gorgeous as his shizun, and if only he could find that cat (who’s actually his shizun, who recognizes him and protects him, even if MTL doesn’t actually need much protection).

My Thoughts: This was hilarious as well, and so romantic?!!! Qing Tong/Xiao Mao waited for MTL to come back, and the moment he came back, Qing Tong was there ready to grab him, and then before he went to sleep that night, Qing Tong thought to himself, “I’ve gotten my person back, I can sleep well now” and AHHHHH at this point they weren’t even like a couple yet? MTL ‘kidnapped’ Qing Tong when he was a young demon cat by accident because he likes pretty things (like his shizun lmao) and Qing Tong is attached to him because MTL never forced a blood pact on him, and gave him everything he wanted as a younger cat before MTL died. Gosh, a mirror in #2 and then a cat now with this one. XD

Available: Novel Online

7. 破云 | Breaking the Clouds by 淮上

Summary: Three years ago, Captain Jiang Ting and his team of the Narcotics division perished in an explosion due to a wrong call of his, and he returns three years later under a new identity ready to deal with the people who set him and his team up. He’s caught in what seems to be a simple murder case almost immediately and meets Yan Xie, who’s Vice Captain and in charge of this case. Yan Xie realizes who Jiang Ting is shortly after, and begins to unravel the huge mystery surrounding the events of three years ago, and falls in love with Jiang Ting along the way as well.

My Thoughts: Okay out of the FOUR crime/detective/thriller danmei novels I’ve read, the poyun and tunhai (below) series is the one that MIRRORS actual narcotics division and undercovers the best. It has the complexity and depth of the drugs/narcotics world, and both this one and its sequel focuses a lot on the position of an undercover and mole. I liked this one a lot because there are SOOOO many twists especially in the last arc, like you honestly won’t see any of them coming until it hits you? And Yan Xie is such a confident, rich-ass narcissist, and he keeps asking Jiang Ting if he can “just touch” him ONCE lmao, he’s thick-skinned af, but that’s why he and Jiang Ting are so compatible ;-;.

Available: Novel Online, Novel Print, Audio Drama and Manhua on Bilibili

8. 吞海 | Swallowing the Sea by 淮上

Summary: Sequel to Po Yun. Yu Wu is a young-looking new detective under Captain Bu Chong Hua’s narcotics team. Bu Chong Hua is Yan Xie’s cousin by actual relation, but brother in relationship because BCH’s parents died early and Yan Xie’s parents have been taking care of him mostly. He cannot stand Yu Wu, who seems to want to coast through at work and keep to a 9-5 work schedule. 

It’s only after an altercation and Yu Wu dumping his nonchalant facade to snarl at BCH that he realizes that YW is actually more interesting and mysterious than he thought, and he begins to try to get close to him, understand him. It turns out that Yu Wu is a famous undercover who nearly died a year ago during an operation, and due to various reasons, he was assigned to BCH’s team by higher ups so he can peacefully live the rest of his life out there. However, his past catches up with him quickly, and his enemies turning up forces him to rely on BCH. 

With BCH, Yu Wu’s resentment of having to be an undercover in the past and being so easily discarded by his team’s leaders, and of him being forced to be in the shadows while others can announce their achievements to the world, is slowly erased, because BCH sees him, knows him, and understands him more than anyone else.

My Thoughts: I actually liked this one better than the first one - Yu Wu is such a pouty, angry little thing?! And for good reason (there’s a bit of cannibalism in the book, not by choice when he was younger and in a poor village in Cambodia, where some militants forced survivors in the village to eat the meat of boiled corpses of other villagers, so YW is a vegetarian, like if he eats meat he gets really sick) and the twists here are even more amazing?! BCH really, really, devotes himself to YW the moment he realizes how much he likes him, doing a 180 degree turn. Instead of Yan Xie’s flamboyance, BCH is much steadier, grouchy, like an old uncle, but also looks at things even more clearly than Yan Xie does sometimes. Yu Wu is understandably bitter about what he had to go through, and BCH is the ONLY person who can calm him down, whom he listens to, which I LOVE. Some highlights:

Yu Wu grew up in a poor village and thus loves money, and he fights in underground betting rings to earn more money - The stash of hidden money he collects I think is half for his escape money, but if he happens to never need it, his dream is to donate the money to his village so they can open up a school there - ANYWAY because Yan Xie’s parents, and technically BCH’s ‘parents’ are soooooo rich right, Yan Xie’s mom shows her approval to her son-in-laws (Jiang Ting first, then Yu Wu), by giving them winter pants. It’s kind of like inside warmers, and usually meant for older ladies to wear LOLOL so Yu Wu was like staring at the pants when he finally got them and looked soooo reluctant until Jiang Ting told him it costs $6,000 AND HE WAS LIKE :333333 okie

He acts a lot like a kid?!! He likes eating like some snack but it’s really unhealthy for him, and BCH the mother hen keeps catching him in weird places like the toilet, where he’s hiding from BCH so he can eat his fave snack?! And the whole police station knows not to give YW what he wants in terms of snacks and smokes because once BCH finds out, he makes life very difficult for them HAHAHAHA

9. 穿成反派如何活命 | How to Survive as A Villain by 伊依以翼

Summary: Rich and handsome CEO Xiao Yu An finds out he has a terminal illness (cancer), and dies while he’s reading this online novel, where a king mistreats the crown prince from a neighbouring state which sent him over as hostage after losing a war, and ends up being killed by the crown prince years later (SVSSS much?!). He wakes up AS THE KING, and afraid of dying, he immediately goes about befriending the prince, Yan He Qing. Yan He Qing falls in love with Xiao Yu An while being his friend/hostage/bodyguard, and Xiao Yu An tries to avoid all the deaths he read in the book, while making sure Yan He Qing manages to find his three/four wives, including Xiao Yu An’s sister.

Of course, because Xiao Yu An showed him warmth and kindness, Yan He Qing ends up falling for him instead, and Xiao Yu An is an absolute oblivious idiot because he REALLY doesn’t realize until much later. Yan He Qing ends up declaring war on Xiao Yu An’s kingdom because he is duty bound to do so, but doesn’t hurt Xiao Yu An, wanting to keep him by his side, but YHQ’s scheming uncle drives a wedge between them, and XYA leaves, breaking YHQ’s heart.

They meet again a few years later, where XYA is training to be a physician in a small village and chances upon a severely injured YHQ. There, he realizes that it was all a misunderstanding, and that YHQ actually LIKES, LIKES him, but before they can enjoy this short period of happiness, disaster strikes again.

My Thoughts: THIS WAS really enjoyable, and with the manhua visuals, it is *chef’s kiss*. I think this transmigration version actually delved into the part where XYA is unable to change everything, and if he saves one person, someone else is destined to die, and that moral dilemma devastates him a lot. In this novel he actually transmigrates TWICE, once into the king’s body, and the second time into a neighbouring state’s prince/king’s body, who looks exactly like his modern self after. YHQ is real sweet to him istg, and I like that the epilogues are SUPER EXTENSIVE, including an arc where YHQ and XYA transmigrate back to the real world and everyone who died is alive and close to them, and gets their happy ending ;-;

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

[oh-boy-me]

I just read both the australia and museum post and the chaos levels are top tier, but like imagine the chaos that ensues if lord diavolo discovers about amusment parks and immediately just buys tickets to disneyland. Lucifer is basically the dad trying not to loose his children(lord diavolo included). Lord diavolo wanting to ride a loopy rollercoaster and just having the time of his life! (Also I highkey see diavolo ordering lucifer to make a disneyland in devildom tbh) Also mouse ear headbands!

This..... this took forever

Hey there anon!  Sorry it took literally a year to answer this!  If you’re still into Obey Me, I hope this was a pleasant surprise.

Also for the first time ever a scenario post is being put under the cut for length purposes.  This scenario is 2.6k words Jesus

Please note that the last time I went to Disney was in 2015, so anything that’s newer than that is taken from the extensive reading of Disney advice blogs I read in preparation for this post.  Anything older than that is likely from experience.

Also, I tried my best to keep this spoiler free for the attractions that can be affected by it.

--

So the Devildom DOES have the concept of amusement parks.  I slept on this ask for so long that we’ve learned about Devil’s Coast.  It seems to be more akin to a smaller-scale theme park, though.  Small-ish.  I’m used to NYC idk what constitutes as small.

Something like Disney World is on such a larger scale!!  When Diavolo heard about that, he knew they had to go.

They are going to Disney World in Orlando because it’s the only one I’ve been to.

Lucifer is REALLY getting tired of these field trips, but there would be no weird animals, and there would be no sobering lessons on global extinction events at a family-friendly amusement park.  He.  He can handle this.

Solomon has actually been banned from all Walt Disney theme parks.  We’re talking blacklist-level banned.  He’s barred from ever entering any Disney park ever again.  However, this was back in 1976, so this must be, like, his son or something, right?  There’s no way this is the same guy.  Thought the security guard who let him in.

What did Solomon do to get banned?  When asked, he only gave a curious hum.  “Yeah, I wonder.”

The place is split into four parks, so they’ll spend one day in each.

Barbatos continued to flex his power as the only one in the group with a brain cell, being sure to get them all fast passes.  He even set time back just for the passes while they were booking the rides they wanted to cut the lines for, so if they don’t get used he’s going to be very snippy.

Also for convenience sake this is taking place in an AU where everything is the same but COVID doesn’t exist to shut down some rides and attractions.

Day 1: Hollywood Studios

MC and Simeon basically have to coerce Lucifer into letting everyone run free instead of making them all line up with a walking rope all day.  He relents on the condition that everyone checks in periodically so he can at least know they haven’t killed anyone.

Nobody will check in except for maybe Beelzebub and those at Purgatory Hall.

Levi immediately gathered his fellow Star Wars fans (which basically meant calling over Mammon Belphie and Asmo and then pulling in two unsuspecting people suddenly given the title of “Star Wars fan”), and made a beeline for Galaxy’s Edge.  There’s a LOT to do there and damn it if he wasn’t going to hit all of it.

First up for their group is the interactive Millennium Falcon Smuggler’s Run.  They fail the mission.  Levi’s pretty pissed, but everyone agrees that it was fun nonetheless.  They really felt like they were doing a mission in the Falcon!  Plus, the gameplay element was totally up the alley of most of this group.  Simeon does feel a little nauseous from Luke’s jerky steering, though.

Did you know that Diavolo loves Toy Story?  He does.  He’s very much enjoying the Slinky roller coaster with Barbatos.

Barbatos would rather be spending time at the shows and performances, but oh no god forbid we don’t get an autograph from Doc McStuffins.  Lucifer please come find him and save him.

Lucifer somehow wandered into the Frozen Sing-Along Celebration.  He wants out.  Barbatos please come find him and save him.

In general, Lucifer isn’t a fan of these sorts of places, so honestly he’s just hiding from the others and waiting for today to be over.  Barbatos told him that there are parks that don’t revolve around rides and characters, and he’s holding out for those.

Luckily for them Diavolo wants to do LITERALLY everything, and that does include the shows, so Barbatos and Lucifer can have at least some fun today

Levi, Asmo, and Beel are about to start their relay for getting character autographs when Satan shows up out of nowhere and starts dragging everyone over to the Tower of Terror.  Solomon bars all attempts to flee on a certain Avatar of Greed’s side.

The line to the Tower is so long, and honestly?  Satan feels like the ride didn’t live up to the literal hour they waited to get on.  Like yeah it was fun, but way too short.

He voices those thoughts, and Levi, who Satan knows is afraid of heights, is pretty fucking livid and drags him to Rock n Rollercoaster as revenge.  Satan hates roller coasters.

As for the others, Asmo and Luke have a lot of fun on the thrill rides.  Mammon and Simeon do not.  Beel is a little spooked by them but still manages to have fun, while Belphie and Solomon think they’re alright.

Eventually, Simeon gets too sick to move, and they assign him to Luke.  They say it’s because he’s too short to ride some of the rides (even though he’s literally not, screw you guys.)

Barbatos messes with time a lil bit so they can enjoy the Fantasmic Show and Fireworks to wrap the day up.

Levi is very jealous of Diavolo’s Doc McStuffins autograph.  Somehow Asmo has Buzz Lightyear’s number.

Day 2: Animal Kingdom

Satan is vibrating

He literally instantly sprints to the Kilimanjaro Safari.  And good for him; that’s something best done while the sun isn’t high up.  The whole gang actually agrees to check that one out, and while Satan isn’t thrilled to be within 50 feet of Lucifer, he’s glad Simeon is there because he remembers how his presence lured animals out in Australia.

Simeon also finds himself pulled along the trails by Satan and parents watch in horror as a gorilla gives him a friendly pat on the back.

If you didn’t know, Animal Kingdom is divided into the two continents of Asia and Africa, as well as the secret eighth continent Avatar (2009).  Diavolo heard great things about the Flight of Passage ride, but he totally forgot to tell Barbatos about it, so they’re stuck on a three hour wait line now.

Levi takes Luke on the Everest roller coaster because Simeon saw it in the distance and looked like he was about to cry.  Levi wouldn’t shut up about how the yeti effect needs to be fixed and Solomon had to explain that the effect literally couldn’t support itself.

Simeon, having escaped a roller coaster for the first and only time on this trip, grabs lunch with Lucifer and Solomon and they enjoy the Lion King performance together.  Solomon’s the only one of them who’s seen the movie, but the others still found it fun.  Solomon keeps making up random plot points that don’t exist, though.  Remember when Simba was captured by pirates?

Mammon found the Bugs Life show very scary.  Normally Asmo would laugh at him, but he’s afraid of any bug he’s never seen before and at least Mammon was afraid of the things that were supposed to get you.  They agree that bugs are still not their friends.

Satan has many things to say about the Dinosaur ride and most of them aren’t good.  Belphie thought it was pretty ok, though.  Lucifer can’t believe there was a sobering lesson on a global extinction event at this family-friendly amusement park.

Diavolo is still in line.  Barbatos abandons him.  He accompanies Luke to the kiddie fossil thing and actually finds it more tolerable.  Oh yeah that’s the other secret ninth continent, Dinoland.

Beel and Belphie spend most of the day together at the various petting zoos.  Belphie comes back knowing more than he ever wanted to about conservation.  He thought Rafiki’s Planet Watch was going to be about watching other planets, not this one!

Asmo gets very interested in the costumes of the performers, as well as the parrots in the bird show.  He could probably make some really colorful designs with those as inspiration.

Nearby, Mammon runs into Kevin and squawks in surprise.  The zoo staff spend the next two hours trying to find the bird that escaped.

Diavolo says the ride was worth it, don’t worry.

Honestly this park has a lot of stuff that wouldn’t translate well to a funny scenario post so this part might be a little short compared to the others.  I can only talk about a zoo for so long.

Anyone remember the Honey I Shrunk the Kids 4D show?  Apparently it closed in 2016 to make room for more Star Wars stuff.

Anyway, at the center of it all there’s the Tree of Life, which is really pretty all day.  Lucifer is thrilled to have a decently obvious meet-up place, too.  They get to catch the brief awakening show at night.

They’re very bummed to learn the Rivers of Light show isn’t happening anymore, so Levi pulls it up on his phone so they can watch it in spirit.

Then Satan learns about the Wilderness Explorers badges and the others spend the rest of the time preventing too much collateral damage over the fact that nobody told him.

Day 3: Epcot

Finally, Lucifer thinks.  Boo, Luke thinks.

Beel didn’t expect this park to be that interesting to him (he’s much more into the wonder and immersion of Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom), but then he learned about the restaurants.  China, Norway, France, Mexico, Germany, Morocco, Italy, Japan, Canada--Canada?  Huh.  Canada.  There’s so many different restaurants from so many cuisines to try, and yeah he knows that it’s definitely not the same as going to the place and it’s overpriced (sorry Lucifer), but it’s all right there.  He makes certain to take MC on a deluxe Epcot restaurant tour.

Oh yeah MC.  That’s the first time we’ve heard from them in a while.  They’re doing whatever you want them to I guess.

Levi buys so much from the Japanese gift shops that he has to go back to the hotel for a bit to drop his bags off.

Satan and Diavolo aren’t much better, but their stashes are more varied.

Also, Diavolo found Mouse Gear, and bought everyone a pair of ears.  Lucifer says that everyone has to keep them on because it’s what Lord Diavolo wants, but he is by far the most upset about them.  Mammon snaps a picture and Lucifer throws his DDD into the lake.

Asmo and Belphie decide they’re gonna take it easy this day, and they nab Solomon and Barbatos for some exhibition hopping.

Luke finds Mission Space and please father no Simeon thought he was safe he thought he was safe here no please

Aside from that, though, Luke honestly finds this part of the park boring.  He’d have been more interested in these attractions elsewhere, but as a kid he’s in Disney for roller coasters and Mickey Mouse.

Simeon is very grateful that Luke doesn’t have much that he wants to do, because it means that he can enjoy the Gran Fiesta and Living with the Land boat rides and have a single moment where he doesn’t feel like he’s about to be sick.  He’s not even afraid of the rides; he just gets motion sick easily.

Asmo makes sure to see the Chinese acrobat show, and Mammon catches that with the show-hopping gang since there isn’t much he wants to do here either.

Epcot has alcohol and Solomon hasn’t been able to drink in ages so he really wants to spend some time doing that with MC.  No demons allowed, thank you very much.  He doesn’t hold his liquor as well as he’d like you to believe, but he just gets really talkative when drunk so it’s ok.

Epcot is a nice day to take a breather and Lucifer and Barbatos definitely needed a breather before tomorrow.

Day 4: Magic Kingdom

This is the day Diavolo has been waiting for.  The crème de la crop, the best park for kids and kids in a future king of the Devildom’s body.

Also I feel like now is a good time to mention that this probably isn’t a reasonable order of events because I don’t remember the map layout of these places idk Disney city planning

This time.  This time, Levi, Asmo and Beel are gonna get those autographs, dammit.  Levi doesn’t even know who half of these characters are but hell if he’s not getting their autograph.

Mammon actually really loves the mascots too, but he’s embarrassed about it so he’ll only try to get one if he can use the guise of MC wanting one.  MC, please help him out

Belphie isn’t big on rides, but he does have a soft spot for the more retro ones like Dumbo and Seven Dwarves.  And like I said before, Beel loves Magic Kingdom for its wonder.  So Belphie is perfectly happy being led (read: piggybacked) around by Beel today, because their favorite attractions match up pretty well here.

Actually, Beel’s favorite Disney movie is Lilo and Stitch, but.  RIP Stitch’s Great Escape ride 2004-2018

Diavolo and Lucifer take a moment to enjoy the Carousel of Progress, and they reflect on how much the Human World is always changing and how much about it they still don’t know.  It really does make them think, like.  Grandma found the VR games at Christmas!  The Devildom doesn’t have grandmas!

Mammon is terrified of the Haunted Mansion ride, and Satan has literally never felt so much schadenfreude in his life.

Mammon’s afraid of most rides to be fair, but he likes water rides, so Levi eventually takes pity on him and they go on Splash Mountain together more than once.

The Peter Pan ride broke down

Luke wanted to go on Space Mountain and Simeon was the only one around, so.  RIP Simeon ????-2021

Diavolo was That Guy.  If you know, you know.

Beel accidentally spun the teacups way too fast.  Not even Solomon got out of that one unscathed.

Following that, Solomon manages to drag Barbatos onto the Jungle Cruise while Lucifer is busy.  What is Lucifer busy with?  Riding the Buzz Lightyear shooting ride over and over until he hits every single target and gets a perfect score at a Disney ride, something that is normal to want and possible to achieve.  Anyway, Barbatos finds it really charming and Solomon finds it a nice break that he didn’t know he needed.

While looking for a food place that sells water for a reasonable price, a kid runs up to Asmo asking for a picture and autograph.  He’s kind of confused, but goes along with it to make the kid happy.

Turns out, Asmo’s so naturally charming that they mistook him for a prince.  Other groups see that family and follow suit.  Mammon eventually catches wind of it and shows up to charge a fee.  The parents are pretty sure Disney doesn’t charge fees like that, but their kids really want a pic with Asmo so they hand over the two bucks.  (“Oh it’s so low” come on Mammon’s not a dick to children.)

And that’s the story of how Mammon and Asmo ended up in Disney Jail.  You’re very much not allowed to pretend to be a cast member and then charge money for it.  Lucifer has to bail them out as their “guardian,” and as punishment they aren’t allowed to opt out of It’s a Small World.

Small World isn’t that bad imho, and those like Diavolo, Satan, Simeon, and Levi would like it a lot.  But Lucifer has been playing parent all day, Belphie does not like the noise, and Solomon has literally been on this ride at least fifty times.  Very mixed feelings on this one, but it feels fitting to end with that and a fireworks show.

All in all though this wasn’t the worst trip Lucifer’s been on (cue everyone applauding for some reason).

Barbatos by far had the least fun of them all because for four days he was stuck in a park where the mascot is a fucking rodent and he wasn’t allowed to annihilate Mickey Mouse where he stood

“Disneyland Devildom when” “Lord Diavolo, no”

Masterlist

[glove23]

ALL. ALL THE NUMBERS.

thank u ily

1: Which of your fics would you keep the basic plot of but rewrite completely?

Meeting Your Maker (Literally) which like. I've already sort of done dkdjsjsjs but I think if I started completely fresh with it I would do a lot of things differently! I love it tho it's my baby

2: Anything that you'd like to write but feel like you're unable to?

hmm not so much Unable as it's just hard but I struggle a lot with Smut. it just takes practice

3: How would you describe your writing style?

hmm. vibe based

4: Do you have any OCs? Do you have a story for them?

mmmm I sure do. they're all lovely and it's a time travel story I just have to write it dkhjsjdjs and the hardest part is always starting KDHAJDJA

5: What's a tag you never want to use for your works even when it applies?

okay so. I use whatever tags apply but like. sometimes,,,,I love Major Character Death and sometimes I don't want to use the archive warning for it skfhsjdjs so I only use the actual tag. but that's literally it djdjsjsj

6: What's your ratio for rating your works?

almost all of my fics are rated T, with a handful of G and a few M, but the majority is definitely T

7: Your favourite ao3 tag.

Major Character Death ksjfksjxs

8: How slow is a slow burn?

too slow. I'm so impatient, I can't stand to write them for more than a few hundred words

9: Thoughts on cliffhangers.

my favorite. I LIVE for a good cliffhanger I aim to get yelled at at the end of every chapter for where I end things skfhsjdjs

10: Top three favourite fic tropes.

bedsharing, time travel, AND FOUND FUCKIN FAMILY 😭😭

11: Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

uhhh. all of them cksjdjsjs uh coffee shop aus. is that a trope. I don't care sofhwjd it's what I'm putting, they're SO overrated like have u ever worked in customer service

13: Rate your worldbuilding skills from 1 to 10.

3

14: Write and share the first sentence of a new fic. Just that.

"It has to be said: some bodyguards just aren't as skilled as others."

15: What's your favourite plotless fic you have written?

sharp objects. sharp objects. shARP OBJECTS

16: Are one-shots really underrated?

by fandom? yes. I live and breath one-shots and ppl don't fucking appreciate them enough.

17: Past or present tense? Why?

past tense. it sounds better and I like the idea that all stories are being Told, like they've already happened, ur not witnessing events as they play out, ur being told a story.

18: First, second, or third person?

third. it's better. first only sometimes, usually Percy Jackson related. but mostly. third.

19: Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

“You shouldn’t be up, you’re still healing.” He murmured.

Her gray eyes hardened and she stuck out a foot to kick him lightly on the shin. “This is kind of time sensitive, so if you could stop wallowing out here on the balcony, we could use you inside.”

Annabeth turned and skulked back inside, taking all the warmth with her. He shivered, the rain seeming to seep in right through to his bones. He took a deep breath and followed Annabeth inside.

20: Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

many. badly. KSBDKWHDJS got so many ideas so little energy. some things get finished as soon as I start them and others get poked at for months. it's just. life

21: Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what's your secret?

uhh yeah pretty much. it's usually how detailed the idea is and how many different branches it's gonna have. I do always still feel like a wizard when I guess correctly

22: What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

it's all the in between that's the fun part, bc it's different everytime. even if it writing the same idea, it's always gonna be different from someone else. the anticipation of it all, knowing how it's gonna end up and watching all the pieces fall into place over and over again....it's just Fun

23: Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

dialogue. I love dialogue so much. description just doesn't come as naturally so I like it less dkdhsjjds tho it is still very fun, especially when it's the main focus of the story with very little dialogue. mmm. tasty

24: Thoughts on flashbacks/flashforwards.

like. they have their uses and I do love making the timeline funky but sometimes they are definitely the lazy way out OFJAJDJSJ

25: Is writing the whole thing beforehand better or worse than writing it as you go?

is writing the- DO PEOPLE DO THAT?? WRITE THE WHOLE THING FIRST AND THEN POST IN LITTLE INCREMENTS??? god. well I guess that answers that question. I am a write as I go kinda person, tho writing it all beforehand is definitely impressive

26: What would you describe as OOC?

this is literally different for every character ksbdjsn if they don't sound like themselves. doing things they wouldn't do, and u haven't given a good reason for why they're doing this OOC thing. I love characterization so much, it is definitely a big passion to get characters Right so when they're not,,,,

27: Do you agree that one shouldn't start a story with a piece of dialogue?

fanfiction? or like a legit pro published work? cuz uh either way? do whatever the fuck u want skdhsjsh. sometimes the vibe is dialogue to start!! sometime it's exactly what the story needs

28: Any writing advice that works for you and you feel like sharing?

write every day. forreal. it doesn't matter how much u write, but write something everyday. it helps build the habit and legit makes it easier to start

29: What's the hardest thing about writing?

writing

30: Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

I have zero memory so no oshdjwjd I will not

31: What was the most difficult fic for you to write (but in the end you made it)?

sharp objects.

[nocek]

Don't spare us the long rant! We want to hear your thoughts!

Oh you are going to regret this ;P

So here goes my loooooooong angry rant about Taskmaster and also the Black Widow movie in general.

Let's start with my point of comparison. Captain America the Winter Soldier was a good movie. It's still in my top 3 Marvel movies as I'm sure is for many people. And statistically speaking everybody likes Bucky. He is like the most beloved side character right after Loki. I guess.

Anyway. My point is that Taskmaster and Winter Soldier have bit for bit the exact same building blocks: hypercompetent antagonist that is a serious threat to our hero who just can't win with in one on one combat. But then plot twist: our antagonist was just a victim and puppet without free will in hands of actual villain who is bland bureaucrat.

So why did Winter Soldier worked really really well and Taskmaster was just ehh.. ok?

Well the short answer is that catws was a much tighter movie that had clearer goal (and also that goal/theme was singular: good things get corrupted with time and sometimes you get to start over) compared to black widow which had to jump through too many hoops and still somehow managed it but it wasn't as graceful as it would be if they (as in executives) resigned from one or two hoops and flips and explosions.

And I'm omitting a BIG disadvantage of making a prequel movie about a character that they killed off in shitty way. Though that created one of extra hoops for them to jump through: quickly build up Yelena as a character.

And character build they did. Because srsly Yelena is awesome and I love her. BUT. That came at a price.

Lets compare to catws. The new character there is Sam (and kiiiiiiiinda also Natasha a bit but that's a topic for a different rant) who is nowhere near as well build as Yelena. At the beginning. Because he had time to be fleshed out and naturally grow in few different movies and then we got a deep dive in the Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

But Marvel can't give Yelena few movies because she will appear in Hawkguy an Hawkeye series and also Marvel is generally dividing their assets into: outer spaaaace, down to earth heros and magic stuff (aliens, androids and wizards ;P). But also they can only create so many things in a year.

So yeah. Yelena offtopic can be summarized that I love that we have her as we have her but it came at a cost of air time of the movie.

So comparing the movies again:

Catws had the theme of good things being corrupted with time. And the theme was underlined 3 times through Peggy, Bucky and then Shield/Hydra. Which are interconnected and also make nice scale from inner conflict of the main character to the outer conflict of the movie.

In Black Widow there is the topic of the past evil that never went away and is still taking away free will from people. And again we have it shown through 3 outlets: Yelena, Taskmaster and Black Widows. But there is also whole family subplot attached to Yelena and there is Red Room attached to Black Widows. So as you can see things are getting crowded. Which in turn make the theme a bit blurry.

I mean, sure, the Red Room should be the Shield equivalent. Even it could take smaller space because good Shield turns out to be evil Hydra is generally more time consuming to explain than Red Room bad. But still combining Red Room and Black Widows make things a bit crowded.

(There is a reason why the surprise subplot of there is more Winter Soldiers was in separate movie and was kinda handwaved and cut to minimum. But they couldn't do that here).

But it's time to stop my ranting about whole Black Widow movie and focus on comparing Taskmaster and Winter Soldier.

Because to be honest both are bare bones of character and more of an carte blanche in the movie. Both have barely any screen time yet there are colossal difference which stems out of:

first introduction: as I mentioned they are hypercompetent and unstoppable threat that you can't win with, you can only hope to run away (both done equally well)

programmable killing machine:

For Taskmaster we just get a scene with her watching other heroes fighting at the screen. For the sake of building up the mystery of character we think that "he" is just watching. Maybe learning or more likely just being creepy. The information about the chip and literal programming is given to us much later in the movie which makes this scene lose the power. idk how it will work on rewatch? Maybe better? Hopefully. right now there is too many new movies in cinemas to go for a rewatch and disney+ still isn't available here -.-

For Bucky we have literal torture scene. You just can't be more blunt than that. It also hammered the next point in.

there is human behind the mask:

Winter Soldier is introduced with full face mask which he gradually loses and then we have the big reveal of not only: that's a human but also that's a human our main hero cares about deeply.

With Taskmaster they fucked up it for chap plot twist. We are learning quite late that oh snap that's Antonia (that we don't really care about) and our main hero kinda feels guilty about her.

I think the big difference is what kind of character Steve and Nat are and also the way they reveal this secret. Steve actively recognizes Bucky by himself and is very openly shocked. Nat is passively told and shown that hey, this is Antonia. And there is no time in the movie for Nat (and for us) to be shocked because that's the 3rd act and we need time for explosions and stuff.

Besides, the problem is that all the big plot twist reveals are boring on rewatch (stil big props for Pacific Rim and giving us the monster reveal in like second minute of the movie, I will never not appreciate that).

Also on related shitty note. We the audience. Bucky is handsome and vulnerable and we can drool all over him (and oh man, we the fandom did a fair share of drooling). Antonia is disfigured and not sexualized in any way. Which I'm actually grateful for but there is no pretending that doesn't make a hell lot of difference. But that's a whole different, ugly and big topic I'm not remotely qualified to write about. I'm just angry ranting here.

they don't have free will:

For Winter Soldier we have amnesia + torture tropes which to be honest have been done over and over again and it shouldn't have worked as well as it worked. Bit it did. In context of Black Widow movie it worked because it was just one guy that actively broke through brainwashing with active help of the hero.

In Black Widow there is a lot of characters that are pasively "woken up" out of mind control over and over again by active protagonist. Unfortunately the repetition kinda cheapens it. Especially in comparison to main gut punch right in the feels scene in the other movie. Which is why it's not fair to compare the two.

So lets talk about lack of free will aspect itself. To be honest the mind control aspect in Black Widow was done really great from story perspective. Evil scientists perfected it to the point it being (bit handwavey but) completely impersonal but also completely dehumanizing to the subject. So I'm buying that it can be completely switched off in equally efficient and impersonal way. Even the way they explained it with Alexei the pig was great and terrifying... to a point. Because then kicked the main problem with this movie. Clearly some execs came and saw it and went whoa... that's too dark for pg13 blockbuster. Let's put some cheap jokes here. And it happens over and over again in this movie :S

humanizing flashback scene that ties them to main hero:

For Bucky, sure we had Captain America First Avenger but a movie needs to stand on it's own legs. That's why we have the flashback scene which shows us that Bucky cared about Steve. Leaving it at the narration in Smithsonian of "best friends since childhood" would be just telling us. And we needed to be shown and we needed a space for the "till the end of line" so it could come back and stab us right in the feels.

Also because we are ignoring previous movie Russos cleverly made us care about Winter Soldier because Steve cares about Winter Soldier. And we already know and like Steve so building up our main character gives us more mileage out of new bare bones character (because let's be honest, Winter Soldier is just that). Two birds one stone thing.

In Black Widow there is no such thing which IMHO is the main reason Taskmaster doesn't work. We just get information about cardboard cutout: insert cute little girl here (only told, not even shown actual cardboard) and all of the emotional connection to Natasha is: I know that my boss that I hate has a daughter, she got in the crossfire. Which means nobody cares.

All it would take is adding a short flashback scene. idk Dreykov is an asshole and doesn't care about Antonia but she is she cutest and most adorable little girl. She treats the Black Widows as older sisters. Hell if you want to make it more horrorish copy of the idea of Thor wanting to be a Valkyrie when he grows up or T'challa wanting to be a Dora Milaje. Little Antonia wants to be Black Widow when she grows up because they are badass and they are nice to her (and are also slightly confused by her) because she is nice to them and is only person that treats them as humans. Hell we could have short interaction between her and Nat. Just a smile between them would be enough.

You could get a lot of character buildup mileage out of such a short scene.

But it couldn't happen partially because the movie didn't have time for that but we didn't get that mostly because it would show us instead of telling that Nat killed a cute little innocent girl for her own personal gain. (well she thought she was destroying Red Room but mostly wanted to get away - vide she didn't check on Yelena or other widows. But I wouldn't hold that against her. It was put your oxygen mask first kind of situation. But still it would make her look bad)

Besides, that would take guts to actually show.

And technically they could have afforded to have that guts. That was last movie with Nat anyway. It would actually make this plotline about her feeling guilty about Dreykov's daughter and red in her ledger work. But well... It was last movie so they wanted to leave us with the most goodest and bleeding hartest and heartwarming mary sue version of Nat with just telling us without showing hey, she got dark past.

On the other hand if we had the rumored Endgame plotline of Nat running an orphanage. Damn that would tie to this plotline so well. We could tie the loose widows also. Dam we were robbed here I tell ya >.<

Ok I'm overdoing offtopic about Nat. Sorry

design

So yeah. Design wise Winter Soldier is like great. For Taskmaster, she sure looks cool but also kinda generic? If in 10 years you'd show me her and say it's antagonist from GI Joe or something I'll believe you :S (not touching the debate that in comics something something because unfortunately I don't know Taskmaster from comics. Although I hear that few recent ones were quite good so I'll check them out sooner or later)

snapping out of mind control

I mentioned before. It would be unfair and there is no point comparing main emotional scene of the movie versus means to an end that were repeated several times through a movie.

Natasha freeing Antonia even if she thought that Antonia will kill her because that would fair was great. What I'm annoyed is a cheap fakeout that went with that. It was just after the bombastic finale with explosions and all the cgi shit. Even without looking at the movie runtime it was obvious there will be no extra fight scene.

In catws it worked because the cgi pew pew extravaganza was a background noise and was part of a continuous fight. In BW helicarriers fell already, there was a second of dust settling and then Nat throws away the shield (uses that capsule). Tension just fell from highest place in a movie (quite literally lol), trying to rise it again for such a short moment just doesn't work.

But that's the general problem with Marvel movies. Bombastic CGI fest as grand finale that probably is "outsourced" and then actual director comes back and needs to end movie super quickly.

disappearing act at the end

So in catws there is mystery of what will Bucky do. We are given some hope since he dragged Steve out of river and visited the museum but thats all. I mean there is this annoying Marvel thing of skipping over the interesting ending of last movie and starting with next plot point. We were hoping for the grand roadtrip/hunt for Bucky but nope. We must run ahead with all the plotlines (same way I'm sure that the Spiderman is Peter Parker and he killed a guy thing will be already dealt with in the beginning of the next movie -.-) But that's bonus mini rant.

In BW they needed to wrap up to many plot lines too quickly so Antonia wakes up and that's all. We don't get a suggestion what she may do. The problem of the chip she still has installed is omitted. There is nothing. She just fucks off to lalaland with other Black Widows the end. Because we needed ending for Nat's actual family which was ok but also kinda rushed.

As I mentioned waaaay before (god, this rant is pretty long) too many hoops to jump through.

Which really sucks because if they added that one flashback scene just for Antonia and spared few more minutes for the overall ending it would work so much more better.

And I even know where they could have saved few minutes (besides the explosions thingies). The supply guy. One extra character in a movie with too many characters. In catws the supply problem (with wings) was solved with nbd shrug. If you wanted to show that Nat has her own web of contacts it should be more than one guy. IDK in Budapest there could be 10 second scene with neighbor saying hi nice to see you again we reinforced the walls after last time. In Norway we could see her visiting some special secret supply stash run by some rando before getting to the mobile home.

But oh she was on the run so that would be too many people. Then cut the people entirely. The shitty helicopter can be worked around with joke that I'm not on speaking terms with Stark rn and that's the best we can have on short notice.

Eh.. side rant again. Sorry.

So to wrap it up. I actually really would love to see what will happen with the loose Black Widows and Antonia because here they were really underdeveloped. And while widows were more of a group hero and we have Yelena as a representative so in a way it balances out but Taskmaster needed so little extra care to make her character so much better and I'm a tiiiiiiny bit salty about it.

[nntheblog]

Top Manga With Reverse Harem

The common name for reverse harem or also known as male harem is the gender-reversed version the traditional harem genre. Instead of seeing a number of female characters focusing on one male character in a normal situation, a reverse harem shows several male characters around a single female character. Except for the fact that the characters' genders are swapped, most details are the same. The majority of the changes refer to the behavior differences between males and females in the characters' ages. Due to the most relevant characteristics of the trope, reverse harem authors often choose bishounen looks. Reverse harem does not cover harems involving homosexual relationships, though they are an exception to the harem genre. Top 25+ Manga With Reverse Harem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6l6PKEozwg My Top 20 Reverse-harem Manhwa/Manhua List Recommendations 1. An Otome's Bad End Chapters:26+ I was reincarnated as the otome player I had previously played. Ophelia, a beautiful female protagonist who resembles a goddess, is adored by many nobles, whereas Emilia, the character I reincarnated as, plays a supporting role as a villain, following around the male leads after Ophelia’s death, only to be destroyed by them. The default name Elodi is the player who appears to be Ophelia a few years after Ophelia dies from an incurable condition. The male love targets, who are heartbroken over Ophelia’s death, become obsessed with Elodi. I decided to give up this plot after I was reincarnated as Emilia in the storey. So, on the day of Ophelia’s funeral, I decided to quietly leave the place where I had lived for ten years. They were surprised that she was leaving. 2. I got into a reverse harem game! Chapters:69+ I awoke in an unfamiliar room with not one but two lovers! I’m Elvia, the Imperial Princess, and there are a slew of men vying for my favour in this game of love, affection, and deception. Isn’t that fantastic? Except that this means I’m stuck as the villain, with my manipulative maid, Arielle, as the main character! She’s out to bring me down, and she has plans for my men’s harem. I am able to see all her player notifications so I know her secrets. Is it possible to beat her in her own game? 3. Villains are destined to die Chapters:85+ I’m completely sucked into this game! It’s as if it’s taken over my life… wait—HARD MODE IS ON. No-no-no-no-no! It literally has thrown me into Penelope Eckhart's role. As the heroine, it’s easy to fall in love, but as the despised villainess, I’m fighting hard not to die… My brothers… the prince… a fork… every possible outcome is death! This world is stacked against me, but can my wits and insider game knowledge win these male characters’ affection? You could also try the reset button. 4. The strongest characters in the world are obsessed with me Chapters:36+ Dalia Pesteros was 13 years old when she suddenly recalled her past life as she was eating bread for breakfast. This is an impoverished otome game world where the main characters go insane, and she was born as the future villain’s sister! There is no way out at this pace. The entire family will disappear and I will also be gone. It doesn't matter what happens, I need to leave this family as soon and as possible. ‘Now that it’s like this, I need to let down my guard and flee.’ To avoid relatives who are only interested in the family and the sly emperor, it is preferable to be well-liked by my brother- “I want to dance with Dalia.” “What’s the issue?” “I apologise, but my sister is shy.” “Dalia stated that I was her favourite!” Not only have I tamed my brother, but all of the strongest characters in this world are obsessed with me!   5. An unseemly lady In the reverse harem novel, I was the younger sister to the female protagonist. After being very sick, I was extraordinarily pampered and spoiled by the female protagonist. I used that to defeat the original inexcusable tr*sh male leads who only hurt my sister… "Lili! How are you?" Do you like cakes? "Lili looks just like her sister. Won’t you eat cookies? Please tell your sister that you were gifted these cookies by your amazing brother. "Would it be possible to have this meal and stay for a while?" I have some words for your uncle, and sister." The male lead candidates seem eager to see me, for some reason... “I don’t play with ugly kids,” the boy in front of me muttered with a deep frown. What? What? I’ll show you what the real world is like. I gently pulled the hem of my sister’s clothes and shook my head: “I hate him, so I hate the older brother who brought him.” At the same time, Cedric’s face turned pale, similar to someone who had been sentenced to death. An unseemly lady is currently publishing . It is also Known as: The Little Lady Behind the Scenes, 幕后掌权者小姐, 秘密控权的千金 6. Namjuneun Jeongjunghi Sayanghagessseubnida! A young girl becomes obsessed with a novel and suddenly finds herself immersed in the plot. Problem is she's now the villain of the story. And she knows how this ends…it’s off with her head! Maybe she’ll just let this play out and wake up back in reality… But after a few too many deaths to no avail, it’s finally time to go off-script. This tale will be a lot of fun for her. She’s made up her mind…to live! I'm No Heroine! is currently publishing . It's also known as: I Will Politely Decline The Male Lead 7. Fruits Basket Tohru is a freshman at high school who is experiencing serious misfortune. She was recently left orphaned by the death of her mother and now lives in a tent. She meets the Sohma family when her luck is at its worst and is invited to stay with them for the chores. Tohru quickly discovers that the Sohmas harbor a deep secret. Some of the children of the Sohma clan are cursed by the Chinese Zodiac spirits, and they possess some of their children. They cannot be "huggled," or transformed into the Zodiac animal they are possessed by. Tohru promises to keep their secrets secret, and this doesn't bother her. They continue to live with her, and she never loses her profound humility and gratefulness. They become very important in her life and the Sohmas realize how fortunate they are to have her. Fruit Basket is finished and has 23 Volumes and 136 Chapters. It is also Known as: フルーツバスケット, Furuba 8. Sweetheart V5 is the Boss Who Is Too Kind! Jing Yiren, a talented and proud 14-year old princess, was very proud. She was transmigrated one night and became the President of the Lu Conglomeration's 19-year-old daughter. She would be tested to the limit by this sudden change! Lu Ming, on the other hand, now has to deal a wife who is completely confused by her new life situation. Faced with such difficulties, he can only communicate his feelings to her by his actions Sweetheart V5 is the Boss Who Is Too Kind! is currently publishing . 9. Beorimbadeun Wangnyeoui Eunmilhan Chimsil Princess Llewelyn was once a shining princess, but she is now miserable and abandoned. With no one to defend her, a horrible curse has been placed on her. It is a curse that makes her lust after men. Llewelyn opened her bedroom to end her curse. Four men get entangled in the abducted princess. Will the curse finally be exposed? Who will find the solution for her? Beorimbadeun Wangnyeoui Eunmilhan Chimsil is currently publishing . It is also Known as: The Abandoned Princess' Secret Bedroom, The Abandoned Princess’ Secret Room, The Secret Bedroom of the Forsaken Princess 10. Warrior, Wake up The five legends heroes appeared one day in my front yard. The antidote I found in my front yard worked without me even thinking! Really? I hate saving lives, but I’ve lost the will to say no. ‘Let’s just treat them as soon as possible and let them go. ’However, the atmosphere that surrounded the warriors was very strange. “Ms. "Ms. ” “Why don’t you warm up? The most important thing is your body.” “Why are you hiding so many secrets, Kacana?” “Do you like my scent that much?” “I’m a bit of a freak in bed.” ‘I’m not accidentally leading them on, am I? Warrior, Wake up is currently publishing . It's also known as Wake up, Hero 11. Men of the Harem Latil is snubbed by her lover, and her father's mysterious assassination puts her in power. She must marry him to protect her Tarium sovereignty. Instead of selecting one man to be her Royal Consort she selects five young men from all walks to join her Harem. Will Latil ever solve her father’s murder, and can she keep the peace in her Harem? Men of the Harem is currently publishing . 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[don-quixotine]

I think I just realized a pattern?! S1 - Ladynoir: great dynamic duo, Adrinette: barely even friends S2 - LN: troubled coz Fu is picking favorites, Adrinette: actually friends, finally feels like we're getting somewhere S3 - LN: back to business and foiling the villain duo , Adrinette: Lukanette and Adrigami rise up so they are moving away from each other S4 - LN: trouble coz guardian LB is overwhelmed, Adrinette: getting closer, 'reversing' love square. What does that mean for S5, you think?

Oh anon, you opened a pandora box ahah.

I mean, I'm gonna gloss over all the theories we've been discussing for the past few weeks but for the sake of context, I do agree with the Fandom Consensus: the remaining episodes of S4 will put Adrien and Ladynoir to the test. However, for as fun as all the theorizing has been, I also think that it's really not going to be as doom and gloom as we're making it out to be.

What I'm getting at with this is, while there will certainly be consequences for the decisions Marinette has taken which will impact her relationship with Chat Noir, I don't think they will be long-lasting. Like, I don't think we're arriving at S5 with a Ladynoir that is still soured by the secrets that have been revealed because then that opens the door for Chat Noir to adopt more of an antagonistic or anti-hero role, and I really don't feel like that's what the series has been getting at for the past 3, 4 seasons.

The only thing that I am expecting on the other side of this certified angst shitstorm that we're forecasting for Adrien, is that Ladynoir will be much more business-like and on top of their game. Ironically, this is what Ladybug has always implied that she wanted: Despite loving Chat's humor, she does get irritated when he's distracted. And ironically, once she has what she wanted, she'll realize she lost what she had.

I expect them to still joke around and things like that, but after recovering from the Ladynoir Conflict, I think Chat will be more reserved and will cut back on the flirting, giving the reversal the last push it needs to go into full gear. This of course, does not mean that Marinette will forget her feelings for Adrien, nor Chat for Ladybug because in the end, they're in love with different aspects of the same person's personality, but I do think these feelings won't be at the front of their attention anymore (and I mean, this is kind of already happening in S4 anyway).

The interesting thing about this is that once the reverse ships are going at full speed presumably in S5, I don't think they will act on their feelings quite the same way as they did before. I don't think Adrien would suddenly start pursuing Marinette and handing her flowers and flirting because a) he might think it doesn't work as per his experience with Ladybug and b) he has his public image to watch out for. I also don't think Ladybug would become a hot mess or plot for ways to spend more time with Chat because she also has her guardian duties to think about. They will do it more subtly. Say for example, Adrien in his civilian persona cannot be openly flirty, but he can try to spend more time with Marinette in private and he can act more genuinely around her (re: Kagami's 'I wanna see the real you'). Ladybug similarly cannot indulge in her feelings for Chat, but she can show him how much he means to her using the things she knows makes him feel appreciated: trusting in him, and using words of affirmation.

this was literally just a bunch of brain barf but i hope it made some sense haha.

[afishlearningpoetry]

Hi! I've loved Sherlock since 2012 but I'm new in the Johnlock fandom. Your meta is one of my favorite! I totally agree that S4 is John's story/blog/alibi etc, but I wanted to ask you: if this time Sherlock is working with John to take Mary down, why is John jealous? How can he think Sherlock has feelings for her, if Sherlock wants her dead? Also: how do you think John faked his suicide? Is there a body? Maybe it's David's? I really hope it is all John's plan! It would be so smart and badass.

Hi, thank you so much.

It's funny you ask that first question because this (John's enduring jealousy) is a thing that was established the series 3 finale in 2014, and the particular scene in which it culminates is so convincing that it's not an exaggeration to say that currently almost no one knows what actually happened in it, which is in large part due to how manipulative Sherlock acts to John in the latter half of that episode, and also how people believe Mary's stated intentions (especially after her death, which was supposed to make her look like a saint, which definitely worked on viewers) and and underestimate John's intelligence.

Just to recap for anyone else: John's jealousy is conceived when Sherlock and John enter Magnussen's office and Sherlock deduces that the smell of perfume is Claire de Lune, which is the perfume Mary uses. This also comes right after the scene outside the elevator to his office, where Sherlock manipulates Janine into letting them in. John says, "But Sherlock, she loves you," and Sherlock says, "Yes, as I said –– human error," as John looks on, terrified. Later in the episode, John confronts Mary and says that the first thing Sherlock said when he woke up was her name. When Sherlock disappears from the hospital after being shot, in part because he doesn't want to be questioned by the police after who shot him, because he's trying to protect Mary to protect John, Lestrade asks John why he would disappear, and who he would be protecting from whatever happened in Magnussen's office. John asks the same thing, and then looks at Mary's perfume, which is sitting on the table next to him (he doesn’t even consider Sherlock is protecting him). To summarize, he assumes Sherlock is protecting Mary because he secretly loves her and that they had an affair, which in his mind is only confirmed later in the episode when John learns Mary was (is) an assassin, because John draws a correlation between him assuming Sherlock loved Irene and now Mary, to Sherlock being a sociopath and only being able to care about other sociopaths who enable him, which also means he could never love John. He says during the loft scene where they treat Mary as a client, “You two should have gotten married.” There's some comfort in the idea that Sherlock isn't capable of love to begin with, it's another thing to see this. (Something cool about its shape is it's echoed in Mary's wedding earrings, which are hearts with a hole in them, as well as the coin she shoots; "I will burn the heart out of you.")

So there are a couple explanations why John would still be jealous, even after him and Sherlock team up to stop her. The most simple is that it doesn't even matter to John that he's trying to kill her now, because he's convinced he's a sociopath for the majority of series 4, so he doesn't have any lingering feelings about turning against her now because he doesn't care about other people in that way. John isn't jealous to the extent that he wants whatever their relationship was (at least consciously -- there's a lot to talk about how he makes his subconscious insert of Eurus into a brazenly over the top sociopath that Sherlock has to learn how to love, but even then, John still locks himself into a sibling relationship where he's caged up and they can only see each other when there's glass between them to stop him from attacking him), so much as that there was any initial love/connection or sexual affair between them. Throughout TST, Sherlock follows a trail of breadcrumbs he thinks will lead him to Moriarty, but actually leads him to Mary, so the real events of that episode involved him realizing the two of them are working together (if he didn't already realize this at the end of TAB -- there's debate whether he is or if it's still subconscious, but either way he's right on the edge).

So John wants to stop Moriarty, or Mary for working for him (she's working with him, but they wouldn't know this yet, because it's being saved for the series 5 reveal), which compounds his anger at her betrayal, but he doesn't know that right away. He already has enough motivation before that because he still thinks they had an affair. Sherlock doesn't have sex with Janine, but John thinks he did. John doesn't even understand what that kind of relationship would be like, if there are any emotional feelings involved, which is why he asks, "So how does it work, you and the woman?" at the end of TLD. His jealousy is also magnified by the idea that he fell for a sociopath in Sherlock, so a lot of it is just swelling self-hatred that John can't escape, that keeps growing and growing until he's choking on it by series 4, so it still doesn't matter Sherlock is trying to kill her now. In the teaser for series 4 they were both drowning.

If anything, their covert mission being focused around her means that John probably can't stop thinking about it. If Sherlock loved her then he could he do this now?

Then he looks at himself, and he starts thinking about how whether or not he ever loved Mary to begin with, and then he thinks about how Mary was supposed to be different, and oh John actually fell for a sociopath for a second time just like Sherlock, so is he any different? Of course he should know that he is, even if he's wrong about Sherlock, but then he starts thinking about how his love for Sherlock actually makes him a monster, and that his love for him isn't real either because it could never be the same thing as him loving a woman, or maybe he could never love anyone to begin with, not really, and that maybe John himself isn't real either, maybe he isn't even a real person, or a person who should stick around at all. But no no no, first he has to stop Mary. He has to stay around to stop Mary. His goal for the first two episodes of series 4 isn't about trying to fuck Sherlock anymore, it's all about stopping her.

Of course we know that he can't stop thinking about it, because not only does he write Mary and Sherlock having a perfect relationship that doesn't exist where John is considered more worthless than a dog (calling back to Moriarty calling John Sherlock's pet by the pool in TGG), the cheating subplot established two episodes ago (and clarified by Sherlock in TAB, which is another explanation, but he isn't even aware that John thinks they had an affair), isn't addressed at all, even on the surface text/blog level in series 4. It's just dropped completely, which went over the heads of most viewers watching because they didn't even pick up on or remember it from before (fitting because it's not mentioned in John's blogs in series 3 to begin with iirc). John does this to absolve both himself and Sherlock, because there's no way he could resolve it without offering motivations for either Sherlock or himself to kill her. He finds ways to sublimate it though, because he has to make them flawed so it's a believable event. So to answer: John's jealousy is a huge, invisible, growing monster sitting at the heart of series 4 and everything that happens in it. It's largely irrational and trying to ask him why he would even think any of this would just make him retreat further into denial of the truth: that Sherlock loves him, which he's deeply afraid of.

When Sherlock manipulates John into thinking that Mary shot him non-fatally in order to cover for herself while saving his life, he's lying, because he literally died lmao. But he decides not to let John in on the secret, which is a huge mistake, and John can see through what he's doing and that Sherlock is using him, but he plays along in order to take Mary down. Sherlock underestimates John, so it's only fitting that Sherlock underestimates John again when he fakes his suicide, because John doesn't let Sherlock in on his secret, in part so he can know what he felt during and after the fall, because all of this is about the fall (and John tries to communicate with Sherlock while Mary is manipulating him, as we see at the end of TST with John’s note that is also dropped from the plot completely) (Sherlock does let John in on their plot to stop Mary sometime after the loft scene, but by that time John's already operating on his own to some degree, because Sherlock still isn't letting him in on the biggest secret of all that would explain everything to John). So because John is mastering the level of deception Irene, Sherlock, Moriarty and Mary (and Emelia Ricoletti) showed him over the course of the show, he would also leave a body behind. He would have planned it extensively, and part of that is by manipulating public opinion. He even gets really blatant with his prose and has himself sitting in front of a carpet of blood (calling back to how Sherlock sees the pile of blood before Mrs. Carmichael, explained here). You already saw this post but he would also need a body to draw Mary out of hiding by making the suicide convincing, which he also does by writing so many suicidal themes into series 4 so that when news gets out and people in-universe (and real life) react to his death, they put the clues together, which is like a double deception in order to make it seem impossible that he could have faked it. (#tw suicide)

So these plot points have been ongoing for seven years now lol and they’ll be key to series 5.