#dont get me started on the wild plot omg.

[apathyfairy]

i spent 3 months watching gilmore girls and i finally finished it and a year in the life and then netflix is like hmm what should we recommend... gilmore girls season 1 episode 1 is starting in 3 seconds

[deerspherestudios]

How do you organise the process of creating a character? like, to me its too confusing, i dont know what i do first because there are TOO MANY THINGS TO DO, like backstory, personality, looks, what they like, so what would be the “steps” to make them?

(Since @isabellaswork asked the same thing recently I'm tagging you here, hope that's okay!) Omg I'm flattered I'm the person you'd wanna ask such a big question ;v;!!? Honestly the process is different for everyone, but I'll give it a go <3 This is how my process usually goes:

Personality first, backstory later. Flesh out the concept of the character before deciding their origin story if that makes sense.

Build a moodboard for your character! The more ideas the better!

Time for visuals! Sketch out multiple iterations, looking at the moodboard for inspiration. Colors go last.

Finalize! Once you've got your final sketch + colors, draw a proper illustration and see if you vibe with the design. Repeat previous steps if necessary <3

Extra: Since you've got the design and story down, add some fun facts. This is where interests, likes and dislikes go!

I'll use my VN characters as examples below in case someone wants it in more detail! Mychael (Mushroom Oasis) and Alma (Lift Your Spirits spoilers!! + horror imagery) process ideation under cut:

Usually I start with personality first. Because for me, when you first meet someone, you see what they're like in the present; their past doesn't matter as much until you get to know them. I can decide the backstory later so it doesn't limit the personalities I'm playing around with. Of course I must have gotten the idea from somewhere so these two things work in tandem most of the time.

Then it's just a matter of how they look!

After deciding on personality traits, I start by collecting references from everywhere, even the smallest of things. I think of how I want them to look plus how they would dress. Anything goes at this stage, so just go buck-wild gathering ideas!

Here's a moodboard for Mychael:

This one was for Alma, from their normal self to their monstrous self:

Then it's time for drawing and doodles. As I sketch, I look back at the moodboard I've made and pick out things I like, while drawing things really loose. Copy paste if I need to!

I've shared the ones for Mychael here, here and here! Here's some sketches for Alma from last year:

This part takes the longest but is always the most fun! Don't feel limited by what you had initially, just test out ideas! Here are the final designs!

Mychael(s):

Alma(s):

Then once I'm happy with the design I can flesh out the backstory as much as I like!!! so long as it fits the presentation of the character in current time. Of course this process can differ when you already have a story in mind and need characters to carry out the plot, but I'm definitely not big-brain enough to make an all-out story like that </3 I just enjoy designing characters visually haha

Oh and just for fun, I like to sprinkle in some extra (but kinda unnecessary) background info. It can be the most mundane thing but it gives them more life (to me at least!) Maybe they drink flat orange soda, or enjoy riding trains at night, or hate the smell of french fries, or think apples are disgusting etcetcetc.

Of course there's like, tips for professional character designing like silhouette, shapes, proportions but I assume this ask was for a more casual approach <3 That's all I could think of if I were to describe my process,,, I hope that answers your question!

To recap:

Start with personality traits and decide backstory later. Or work them together as one. It's more concept than visuals at this stage.

Assemble a moodboard for inspiration. The more ideas the better! Look up anything that might relate to your character if it helps.

Sketch, sketch and sketch again! Keep things loose and free. I usually start from the face, to clothes to accessories. Colors go last.

Finalize! Put everything together in one rendered drawing, and see if you vibe with it. You can always go back to previous steps if you're still not happy with it.

And you're done! :-)

[hcuyk]

helloo i just read our inferno and i love it!! i just saw your # saying nobody said anything about it and that you weren't sure if anyone has read it so im here to assure you that it's been read and loved🫡🫡 i wasnt expecting it to go the way it did when i first started reading it (dont wanna spoil it for those who havent read it but shite got intense after the car scene, i was expecting romance i guess) but nevertheless i loved how things ended up there!

i'm new to the concept tho, you said something about this being haechan's version so it will be haechan's version for all other chapters (idk how many it'll have) right? also super excited for the next one <3

HI ANON OMG :( was not expecting this AT ALL and i cant tell you how much i appreciate you reaching out!! and im so glad it was a turn of event even with the warnings and whatnot stated LMAO BUT IM SO GLAD YOU LOVED IT :(((

so basically, this work was meant for hyunjae, so he's the original muse! i replaced all the names in his version to make a haechan/nct dream based version so my work reaches a bigger audience!! all chapters for haechan will be released a week after i drop hyunjae's chapter, so they're both basically being updated at the same pace!

its such a large series that im assuming we'll potentially hit 100k words total since the first chapter was almost 20k and im not even halfway into the first section of the entire plot (and there's 6 total sections...), but yes haechan will have the full story!! if i discontinue haechan's version, its bc i gave up on the original bc its such a big project 💀 i am very passionate about it though and to have people like you who reach out and show their appreciation is what really keeps me going, so thank you so much for doing this again :(

if you thought the first chapter was a wild ride, i can Confirm that the second chapter is just as insane, perhaps even worse?! im excited to write it and have yall experience it :(( this is a completely new kind of genre, writing style, and everything else for me so i hold this series so close to my heart AAAA it makes me so happy to see this i hope you can see how passionate i am about inferno 😭 thank you so much for supporting and i hope you stay around 🫶 and my inbox is always open! i need more dreamzen moots I SWEAR i get so sad knowing i have almost zero to none :(

thank you again! stuff like these always motivate so many writers to stay on this hellhole of a platform, and i really really appreciate you reaching out and taking some time to send me this :(( biggest hugs!!

[hermanunworthy]

!DNDADS S2 EP37 SPOILERS!

im a bit late bc i was at work all day but time for ep37 reactions!! i cant believe its already here

- now ive heard everyone talking about the intro i bet its gonna be a rickroll or some shit

- ITS FUCKINF ALL STAR. I KNEW THEY WOULD PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS

- A TEENAGE GIRLS PARENT JUST GOT SHOT AND KILLED AND UR PLAYING ALL STAR.

- hermie mention in the intro im so calm and cool and chill about this /j

- "ur enough as u are" AINT NO WAY UR ABOUT TO MAKE ME START CRYING OVER A PARODY OF SMASH MOUTHS ALL STAR. WHY DID U HAVE TO PULL OUT THE BIG GUNS

- I DONT WANT THE TAYLOR VOICE CHANGE GOD NO

- MATT IM SCREAMING

- WILL CAMPOS U ABSOLUTE MADMAN. i already knew he was gonna find a way around using revivify but THAT WAS WILD

- are people gonna start drawing normal w that piece of jewelry now. bc i wanna. i already like drawing him w bracelets

- oh god what is beths fact gonna be.

- "i just keep meeting all the right people at all the wrong times" BETH MAY U ARE EVIL. THE PLOT OF THIS EPISODE HASNT EVEN STARTED AND IM ALREADY EMO

- ITS STARTING. OH NO

- NICKY BETTER FUCKING SHOW UP im curious to see what they actually decided on for the reason for him not being there last episode

- HERMIE WAS REMEMBERED giggles and kicks my feet

- TAYLOR AND LINCOLN ARENT AWARE THAT TERRY IS DEAD RN.

- were getting terris reaction rn i cant believe this is happening

- IM starting to feel sick godddd

- i bet im gonna see art of the lincoln and taylor piggyback ride hehe

- OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD TERRIS ASLEEP THIS MEANS WERE GONNA GET SCARY BACK. ALSO IS SHE GONNA SEE WILLY OH NOOOO

- NO NO NO NO NONONO

- "theres my girl" STFUUUUUU

- DOES SCARY REMEMBER ANYTHING??? DOES SHE KNOW WHATS GOING ON????

- "just wake him up" I. HATE. THIS EPSIODE

- SCARY GETTING CHOKED UP I CANT DO THIS

- TERRY DIDNT EVEN NEED TO DIE FUCK THIS

- "whoooa shit thats fucked up!" anthony burch i know u are just so incredibly pleased w urself.

- SCARYS STILL PRETENDING LIKE SHE DOESNT CARE ABOUT TERRY. JUST FEEL UR FEELINGS GIRL GOOD GOD

- "EMBARRASSING"??? FOR A KID TO BE UPSET THAT ONE OF THEIR PARENTS GOT MURDERED???? WILLY STAMPLER WTF IS WRONG W U

- there was never a more obvious lie than willy saying hell revive terry

- 19 INSIGHT LETS GOOO

- THATS RIGHT SCARY. STAND THE FUCK UP TO HIM

- NORMAL DESPERATELY TRYING TO HELP AWWWW MAN :[[ I HATE THIS

- PUTS MY HEAD IN MY HANDS. THIS IS SO DEEPLY UPSETTING

- WHEN WE SAID WE WANTED MORE SCARY AND NORMAL INTERACTIONS WE DIDNT THINK ITD BE LIKE THIS!!!

- THE TWINS ARE HERE NOW OMG

- beth is out for fucking blood this episode. god she is so good at making the audience feel for her characters

- SHES TELEPORTING TO GRANT?? IM NOT READY YET

- "hes dangerous! get away from him!" THE FACT THAT THIS IS LINCOLN SAYING THIS ABOUT GRANT BREAKS MY HEART

- SCARY HAS A GUN FUCK YEAH!!!

- FIRST HERMIE SPEAKING LINE OF THE EPISODE YIPPEEEE

- halfway through the episode now. cant wait to see what could possibly go wrong next!!

- i love whenever anthony allows a fun rulebreaking idea to work

- IDK WHY THE IDEA OF THE KIDDADS HAVING A GC IS SO FUNNY TO ME

- rons status remains a mystery....

- "we could do a whole scene w just hermie and all the other ones" u joke matt but i enjoy every scene w hermie no matter how unnecessary and drawn out

- as always linc and taylor are such a funny iconic duo

- WERE FINALLY GETTING ANGRY NORMAL??? FINALLY????

- WILL WITHDRAWING HIS COOL MOVE LMAO

- i just realized WE STILL HAVENT SEEN NICKY!!! GODDAMN!!!

- "the gayest fucking mecha of all time" swiftli fans do u like the new ship name /j

- ig i cannot deny it anymore swiftli is practically canon atp

- NICKY!!!! NICKY!!!!! I SHOT STRAIGHT UP IN MY SEAT

- NICKY AND HERMIE ARE FINALLY INTERACTING. PRAISE THE LORD

- i thought nicky got all his limbs back?? did anthony just forget

- btw ive probably been waking up my whole house w how hard im laughing over swiftli this episode

- LINCOLNS GONNA PUNCH GRANT WHOA. WHOA

- "so what are u gonna do, ur gonna kill me?" as i said before. i hate this episode.

- SCARY OBLITERATED PAPA JOHN SO FAST WHOA.

- THE DUNGEON SETUP VS THE TONE OF THE EPISODE HELPPP

- i just had such a weird thought/prediction. but i will hold my tongue. bc the last time i said something like this it came true and i do not want this to come true

- IS SCARY GONNA BREAK IT W LOVE FOR TERRY. I CANT DO THIS

- "i love u and i hate that u made me love u when u are who u are and u knew it." I WISH U COULD SEE MY FUCKING FACE RN. HOLYYY SHIT THATS DEVASTATING

- oh. my. good. lord.

- GUYS????? I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW. HOLY FUCK. THAT WAS HEAVY AS SHIT

[hagatha-christie]

new year new reads and also i'm now consciously trying to read a book from every country plus places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico and Greenland that should be their own countries. Anyway here's what I read in January:

I've been pretty brutal about not wasting my time reading books I'm not into so hopefully I won't have any books that fall into the "bad" category this year. Also I did read 2 embarrassing romances and tbh i'm gonna keep those a lil secret because I dont really recommend either of them

The okay You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnam): I think it's good for its intended audience and it reinforced some of the stuff I've been discussing in therapy but I found it very repetitive and kind of surface level when it came to actual Buddhist philosophy. Like I wanted to know a little more than what he wrote.

A Fortune for Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib: I am obsessed with his prose but unfortunately I do not think his poetry is for me! I read his other collection last year and felt similarly. I think in the future I'll maybe skip any other poetry collections that come out.

The good/great (this is always in ascending order, I feel like I need to specify that)

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor: She did a pretty good job of worldbuilding in the like 90 pages of this book, and it's part of a series so I'm really curious to continue it and read more books in this African-futurism genre. Took a minute to get used to the YA narration (is this YA? I don't know)

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski (Poland): This was a little sad and a little sweet, and I liked it very much but wish I would've read in the summer because it really would've hit. More vibes than plot but still enjoyed it.

Monstrilio by Gerardo Samano Cordova (Mexico): Finally a book that was as weird as I wanted it to be! Loved the 4 POVs we got, loved how messy the characters were, loved the ending. Would recommend despite one plot point that I found so disturbing I had to put it down (the book wasn't that graphic I just let my mind run a lil wild and scared myself).

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: as good as everyone says. Read it.

Brickmakers by Selva Almada (Argentina): I started this book a couple months ago and had to put it down because it was soooo jarring and I wasn't prepared, which I think makes the book so effective given the themes criticizing machismo culture. It's crass and gross and really blunt but omg I have not been able to stop thinking about it, or about the final line of the book since I read it.

[leejenowrld]

Hii bubs just read your jeno fic and its literally one of the best I ever read like ever! Firstly how are you? How was your holiday? Hope your year started well! So I made a lot of notes as I was reading, this is going to be very long. Contains spoilers and me freaking out

So starting with yn in the principal's office, I somehow read professor Johnny Suh speech about the project with his exact voice and tone like he really speaks like that sometimes-

Ooooh the panic attack, does she have anxiety?

The way jeno is so soft and smart I'm already In love with him in this wait till she found out he's a fuckboy

AND SHE DID Yeonjun spitting the facts sorry I laughed

Ok so yn and jeno are getting along they're really cute everything is peachy but I'm sending some trouble ahead

I'm still at the beginning so I may be wrong but maybe this sexy and fuckboy persona is just for show, the real jeno is who he is when he's with yn, he's naturally confident but he's also naturally laid back so he is able to have "two personalities", I even think is a bit like the Lee jeno in real life like he's so powerful and sexy on stage but out of it he's actually a sweet silly boy

No but jeno with theo had me giggling that was so cute

Oooooh its getting sexy hmmm the sexual tension hehe

Yn crying cause she wants him I get you girl

Jaemin cameo <3333

Them talking about sex I SWEAR they're getting to another level

"So you're not a needy slut?" IJBOL

Oh the similarities between her ex and jeno I hope he won't do the same

Jeno explaining his fuckboy story was so necessary but omg he's so sexy I caaaaannnnttt

The dress scene was so sensual wow the party and jeno's protective side aaa

Their differences are starting to crash I knew it would come a moment like this, but it's good how they can sort it out, I'm also happy yn enjoyed the party

They're dating OMG THEYRE DATING like officially

The smut was chefs kiss

Why does jaemin hyuck and renjun walking in on yn and jeno seems so real (jaemin and hyuck would definitely tease the hell out of him and ask if they could join and renjun would be pissed)

Oh no those stupid parties!

She's right actually, he should've told her on the phone what was happening, communication is one of the most important things in a relationship

Thank you sunwoo you're an angel but now I'm nervous

About the mean ppl I get both sides ofc yn is uncomfortable about it and jeno is also right in not letting it get into them

And I love how he's always so soft with her in these moments

FUCKING BITCH WHO ARE YOU TO TALK LIKE THAT TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN BUSINESS I SWEAR WHO SHE THINKS SHE IS I HATE HER SO MUCH

(Quick break to pet my cat cause she won't stop meowing)

The smut and after smut scene in the car was so beautiful I almost cried with them fr

GIRL you're letting some slut get into you DONT BRRAKUP WITH HIM

I WANT TO SLAP THOSE BITCHES

Again sunwoo is an angel

Jeno I love you so much you're the sweetest

DONT LEAVE HIM YOUR DUMBASS

Girl now what are you doing on his party

Damn but it's getting wild omg that was so sexy of yn

THRYRE BAAAAAACKKKKK I LOVE THEM

Also besides the love story the project idea is so cool

The speech was AMAZING I was smiling so wide through it

"I don't believe in God, but God made you for me" THAT WAS SO GOOD WTF

I love how they're ALWAYS HORNY

Sooooooo the writing was magnificent, the plot everything was so good so well planned. I got mad, frustated, happy, emotional, you portrayed love and its difficulty so beautifully

heyyyy!!! my holiday was good thank you 🥹 happy new year to you mwah

suh being the professor is everything to me. a little behind the scenes, i wanted to add a scene with him and ten (as they’re married and both are rich and handsome together duh) but it didn’t fit :( it was gonna be the ending but i really wanted the ending to be jeno smirking and saying he deserved the blow job lmao

yns anxiety!! huge role in the fic

jeno!! yeah!! super interesting. he kinda does have two personalities but keep in mind the person he was when he was with yn was a more relaxed, laid back and reserved version of himself. he’s was holding himself back a lot. i mean, as a person he is quite chill and doesn’t really actively attract attention, everyone just finds him hot and sexy cus he has that nonchalant vibe about him, but when he’s high he’s a lot more needy and himself… but he also shows his needy and confident and touchy side when he and yn get together ;))

them talking about sex was so funny lmfao it’s just jeno finally starting to loosen himself

thank you! i do struggle with smut and i wanted to showcase yn and jeno being freaks which tbh i could’ve done better but it’s ok!!! my series of texts between them will show that lmao

he’s so soft :( softest sweetest boyfriend ever he’s whipped

it’s frustrating isn’t it!! jealous ass dumb bitches. it’s so upsetting how yns anxiety got in the way :(

it was getting wild!! we love a good reconciliation line

no like… jeno and yn are CRAZY for each other oh my god they’re the most in love people you’ll meet. i wanna showcase that even more with the texts i’m gonna post and also future one shots :) wanna write them getting engaged and their sexy honeymoon hehe

[bowl-of-ravioli]

Hello ya’ll! Welcome to the Lots of Ravios AU blog! this au was created by me, @r4zzberry (Razz/Leo) and @luwyv (Louie) way back during the start of 2022.

the AU itself is it’s own spin on the very common “links meet up” trope within the LoZ fandom, but this time it’s with the lorulian heros! this was originally an au of @linkeduniverse but at some point we decided we wanted to have our own designs and all that for the hyrulian heros. also If you don’t know about the plot of ALBW or just dont know zelda stuff in general this au might be a bit confusing, and honestly explaining it would clog this up and all that, plus ALBW is a really good game so if you haven’t played it yet, go play it >:)

this ask blog is story driven and will have different arcs, this was inspired by Author’s wonderful @ask-lu-wild i remember when i first went through the blog i was like “holy shit i should do this with the ravio au” than a bit later talked to louie about it and here we are!

that’s it for now!

enjoy the au!

-💚

Tag guide below cut <3

——Tags——

#comicz fully coloured comics, it could be something for the plot or just something silly

#Asks! answers to asks we got!

#Anon ask answers to anonymous asks

#ref!sheets references for the characters in this au

#foreshadowing ;) 😏😏😏

#reblog a post that we have reblogged

#fanart Fanart that we get! we’ll try to reblog as much fanart as possible! we love and appreciate it all so much

#Fanfic fanfiction that people write! ily all so much omg if we get fanfics u bet ur getting reblogged ily all

#ooc self explanatory, for posts that aren’t from any of the characters and are just me or louie

#le art art me and louie do for the au! there’s no guarantee if the art with this tagged is canon to the story or not

Please keep in mind we cant reblog evey fanart of fanfic we get, especially if this gets too big, but know we see it and that we love it <3

—AU TAGS—

please tag your art with one of these if you draw any fanart! ^^

#Lots of Ravios

#LoR

character tags, more will be added:

#LoR Tunnel

#LoR Unity

#LoR Storm

#LoR Space

#LoR Luster

#LoR Battles

#LoR Glade

#LoR Merchant

#LoR Noble

—Story arcs—

#before story asks non-canon/before story/silly shit

—Admins—

#💜 admin Louie

#💚 admin leo

[transboysokka]

20 Questions for fic writers!

this is from @ozais-lobotomist and i tag any writer who sees this post lolol

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

ive deleted a fuckton and pretty much started my account over in july lol but right now there are 20 things on there

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

101,151. Since mid-July. omg wtf.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

SO MANY in the past, but my ao3 right now just has for atla and theres one les mis oneshot thats YEARS old that i cant bring myself to delete lol

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

wow ive never checked let me see 1. Zuko Amongst the Dragons 2. Zuko and Sokka Get Engaged in the Most Zukka Way Possible 3. Hidden Pain, Shared Love 4. Scratchy 5. Mother whoa tbh im v surprised by this list

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

YES i try to say thank u to everyone!!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

omg i cant CHOOSE uhhh its gonna have to be One Last Time

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

i dont have a lot of those? lol but its probs gotta be the sequel to One Last Time, The End of All Things

8. Do you get hate on fics?

omg no i could not imagine

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

hehehehe nah not really, im not the best at it. i write other fucked up shit instead. we love us some torture porn

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

nah, not really my style tbh

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

no that would be wild (bad)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

no that would be wild (good) ive thought about translating some of my own fics but i just dont know if the demand would be very high to be worth it???

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

not in a long long long time but i'm interested! other zukka writers hmu (though I'm pretty picky about who I write with. It's not personal, just a style thing)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

My all-time favorite ship to WRITE is probably Zukka. It's really fun and comes real naturally to me

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably my Divorced Zukka The Last Five Years AU. I couldn't get it off to that strong of a start, the reception wasn't great, and there's a lot of boring stuff I'd have to get through before I got to the Good Stuff, so that motivation is just dead.

16. What are your writing strengths?

tbh just Being In Character. That's what I get the most compliments on. also grammar and spelling, that kind of thing.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I skip over description and setting scenes as much as I possibly can, and it's not necessarily that I Can't as much as I Don't Care To... I get away with it because it's fanfiction but I'd like to... start trying a bit harder at it

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I guess if I had reason to? If it fit with the flow/plot of the fic, there was good reason to do it, and it was in one of the only two other languages I speak... I don't see there being a reason for that in this fandom though lol

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Wars, about 15 years ago lol

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

all of my children have a special place in my heart. I love Zuko Amongst the Dragons and One Last Time. Also bad idea right? was just super fun and is a bit underrated if u ask me lol

[shoyoist]

Hello, loved your 1:44AM's Hanma Shuji, and was wondering if you could elaborate more on your favorite classic lit? I had no access to proper education on literature and always interested in seeking perspective from people who's well versed with it!

heyy <3 do you mean you'd like me to recommend you some of my favourites? i'm actually quite new to classic lit myself, and i'm just into reading and researching abt it all as a hobby, hehe — i've always enjoyed fiction where the writer projects a lot of their own emotion and experience into their writing, which is what you find in a lot of old novels.

if i find a writer's work interesting, i like to read more of their books instead of just going back to that one popular piece of theirs.

for example, almost everyone knows abt alexandre dumas's the three musketeers, and ofc there's many movies and stuff based on it. but i dont see often people talking abt one of his other books — the count of monte cristo. that's personally my fave work of his, and there's also a 2002 movie based on it. but i rarely see anyone that ISNT a huge fan talking abt it t_t

also fyodor's novel, the gambler. one of my favourite quotes of all time is from the gambler, "do you know that I shall kill you one day? i shall kill you, not because i shall cease to love you or to be jealous, i shall simply kill you because I have an impulse to devour you." you've probably seen the quote, i see it on those dark aesthetic pinterest boards a lot 😭😭 but idk if many people know where it's from.

some of my fave POPULAR books are frankenstein by mary shelley, the picture of dorian gray by oscar wilde, and OMG pride and prejudice by jane austen <3 everyone ik is all over mr. darcy but i actually fell for elizabeth LMAO.

i also really like virginia woolf's writing. i started with orlando, and then to the light house, then the waves. her writing is sapphic, at least heavily implied to be (some people dont believe so but i do KSHJKDN) so i fall back to her works a lot.

one thing that i think everyone should really know and fully understand before they start getting into classic lit though, is that there is a lot of explicit, offensive and violent content. most of these novels were written in the early 1900s and before that. there's a lot of knowledge you can gain about major historical events and life back then in general. but very often, there's a lot of disturbing themes (even if it's not directly part of the plot), not limited to homophobia, religious discrimination, misogyny and racism.

so definitely be aware of each book's contents before you start reading.

OH OH!! idk if modern day works actually count as classic lit, but i think any novel/piece that has that level of depth and timelessness to it deserves to hold the title!! so i'll recommend ocean vuong's poetry with all my heart <;3 night sky with exit wounds, and on earth we're briefly gorgeous are both popular works AND FOR GOOD REASON!! they're so so so good ocean vuong is my favourite poet ever.

AJGMFH i'm rambling now and i'm not sure if this is what you wanted me to answer with when you asked this 😭😭 but yes!! if you want more recs, or if you have a different question, then lmk <33 as i said b4 i'm also new to classic lit, but i'd love to talk to you abt it if you like ( ^u^)

[many-gay-magpies]

okay you've got me popping some popcorn and settling down bc I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK AND YES GIVE ME ALL THAT PRE-DARK MOON STUFF. PLEASE. IM A SUCKER FOR GOOD HEADCANONS AND THEN CANON COMES ALONG TO RUIN SHIT. pre-dark moon my general thoughts/timeline was that the boys were born vampires, and uncommonly strong ones, so they were taken to the "orphanage" to observe their powers and raise them in a contained environment away from the world. eventually they break out (not necessarily bc orphanage evil but bc smth tells me these kids did Not want to sit down and be obedient). i also had a sense that the orphanage was a distant victorian past and the boys at decelis is the present decades later, trying to move through life away from that traumatic past. once dark moon/tamed-dashed jpn dropped i adopted more of that evil orphanage mindset. and thats when i started thinking about sooha. what if sooha was born superpowered like the boys, but because she's not an actual vamp she evaded the kidnapping by the orphanage and thats why she doesn't have that story. think about it— they could have this deep connection because they all originated together somehow, but the orphanage taking the boys separated them. and thats why the low-grade vampires are searching for sooha. because the organization realized they missed one.

AND RLY NO LITERALLY YALL THINK IT WAS SOME SORT OF "ATTACK" FROM LOW-GRADE VAMPS???? U HAVE A VERY STRESSED AND VERY MISCHIEVOUS GROUP OF SEVEN BOYS WITH PYROKINESIS, SUPER STRENGTH, SUPER SPEED, ETC. HAVE U EVER HEARD OF TEENAGE ANGST AND REBELLION.

no bc youre So right idc if its supposed to be deep or not. idc about "oh dont think about it too much and just enjoy the story." NO. I WANT ACTIONS AND EXPERIENCES TO HAVE CONSEQUENCES. TO HAVE WEIGHT. I WANT TO SEE LASTING EFFECTS THAT ALTER THE COURSE OF THE STORY. WHATS THE POINT OF ANY BACKSTORIES OR BATTLES OR TRAUMAS IF THEY DON'T . MEAN ANYTHING????? hybe im angry at u

-vrvr anon

hehehe YES sit down with your popcorn because boy have i got some CONTENT for YOU. idk if youd be interested in reading the old enhaverse shit i have posted or not (forewarning if you are i actually havent gone back and read it in a while so it may be. bad-- like i remember it being decent but that was like last year so my standards could have changed LMAO) but if you ARE i could link those. and also maaaan the SHIT we put sunoo's character through omg those were some wild times

firstly though id like to adress your pre-dark moon headcanons because. that actually makes a lot of sense HFBFJFBJF and it fits with the addition of sooha too! OOH WAIT OR I JUST HAD AN IDEA. in the scenario where the boys were turned into vampires (not necessarily born as them; idk how that would work so im not gonna try and figure out the logistics just yet), then experimented on to be made into the better, more functional and long-lasting superpowered vampires, maybe the superpower part was like... an afterthought of sorts, just added on to make them even BIGGER powerhouses of destruction/idk whatever. but then whoever made them (im just gonna call them the organization for now like you) may have been like "wait, could this superpower gene... work on normal humans?". so then they either take a bunch of pregnant moms OR a bunch of newborn babies and run all the experiments and shit and well,, most of them die (because a: i like angst and b: it would explain why sooha's the only superpowered human in the story/why the organization wants her so bad) except one: sooha. but sooha's mom obviously doesn't WANT her daughter to live her life as a lab rat, so she figures out a way to get her daughter and herself out, escaping and probably pulling some wild identity-alteration shit so she and her daughter can live safely without the threat of being constantly hunted hanging over their heads.

WAITWAITWAIT OR. omg okay im sorry my brain is doing one of those things where i try to figure out the plot holes of a story or concept literally as im explaining it to someone hsjbffj give me a second-- if we're going with the timeline where the "orphanage" was like a long time ago and everything. maybe sooha's MOM was one of the babies that got experimented on, and she was the only one that didnt die, but she never showed any signs of superpowers or anything so the organization figured she was a dud... but it turns out, years and years later when she has her OWN kid (sooha), whatever weird superpowered genes the organization injected her with manifest in her daughter instead, and the organization is AFTER sooha because they somehow caught wind of this miraculous superpowered child who wasn't a vampire and went "oh shit so it DID work" and now theyre after her. idk how sooha and the boys having their whole weird ✨connection✨ would work in this situation, maybe they can just feel that she has the same weird superpowered genes as them and they feel drawn to her because of it? idk

really i dont know how that entire storyline would go—i just went off on a whole other train of thought there lmao (that was not intended, sorry). now though i wanna start telling you about my friends and i's pre-dark moon ideas because it ties into the idea of how the vampires originated and also cuz. well i want to. HDJFBFJFB (im gonna group this into sections actually via titles because i have a feeling this is gonna get insanely long again)

pre-dark moon: selene and the orphanage

okay SO: the train of thought that we had initially sort of started because of the mysterious princessy/queen-y figure that appeared in the drunk-dazed mv (who i now realize was most likely meant to be sooha, but SHHH we're in pre-dark moon headcanon territory now lets ignore that). we conceptualized her as this sort of... motherly or goddess-like "vampire queen" figure. in the story we constructed, she was the one that MADE the boys, although because we were all sluts for angst and trauma it turned... very quickly dark. she was very definitely NOT a good guy lmao.

the idea with the orphanage was that the vampire queen (who i called selene, based off of the greek or roman goddess of the moon and mother of vampires-- i think, i might have my myths mixed up there) was the one that started it all. she orchestrated the orphanage, hired all the staff, ran the entire "project" so to speak: she wanted to create more vampires like her. maybe she was lonely at first, but got driven mad by the loneliness and the vampirism combined; maybe she wanted to build an army. i don't know, we never got her motives fully straightened out. the pills that the boys all took in given-taken were pills containing her blood: that was how they were turned (in our story vampires didnt get turned via biting, they got turned by consuming the blood of another vampire; i think i read about that somewhere). it was a very slow process, so the boys (who had all been brought to the orphanage as kids and grew up there together) weren't aware of what was happening until it was too late. now, we stuck with the whole "orphanage bad and abusive, enha escape" storyline from the very start, so that happened; they ran away and set out in the world on their own, constantly on the run from the orphanage and selene.

now onto the more... character-specific parts (from here on out im gonna refer to the enha boys with a c! before their names to distinguish them from the real people because the dark moon names. uh. dont exactly work with the kind of story we created lol). unbeknownst to the rest of the boys, while they were all still in the orphanage, from the time when they were little kids up until their escape, c!sunoo felt sort of estranged and overlooked—like the others didnt care about him as much, or like he was irrelevant (this wasnt true, they cared for him a lot, but you get the idea). he started building up a habit of running away from the orphanage and into the forest surrounding it, where he would meet up with selene—who at the time he didnt know was the vampire queen. selene basically fucking groomed and manipulated him jnto believing the others didnt love him, she was the only one who would ever TRULY love him, the others would never understand, etc etc. she was a massive bitch lmao that's basically it

now this idea did come in part from my love of traumatizing characters, but it ALSO came from the entire enhaverse circle on tumblr thinking sunoo in the mvs was like. evil. but artzyy and i didnt like the idea of his character being just straight-up evil and not caring about the other boys so we were like "but what if he was manipulated" and then it just sort of spiraled from there. after the boys escape the orphanage, they come across this castle where selene lives. none of the boys know all the shit she's pulled with c!sunoo—they just think she's this benevolent motherly figure, if a slightly suspicious one. after a while of staying in the castle they figure out she's no good and escape, again, but by then c!sunoo has already been roped into betraying them by selene and he works as a sort of double agent for the rest of the story, sowing their demise at selene's behest. there are... a LOT of feelings had about this, just generally, by everyone. as you'd probably expect.

another thing to know about me and my mutuals' version of the enhypen that lore is that we were all apparently gay and longing when we were coming up with all of this so we sort of projected and. made the characters into this one giant gay poly qpr situation. i really dont know what happened HHDJFHFJNFN the fever mv came out and we started making jokes about it being gay (because WE all were; still are, that hasn't changed) and the jokes became less and less like jokes the more we posted about them, which tended to happen a lot with us for some reason. so. yeah.

and THEN of course the official dark moon teasers got dropped and hybe went "haha hey theyre brothers actually" and all of us at dear old engeneblr went "haha wow okay thats great!!!" while simultaneously shoving all our gayass character ideas under the metaphorical rug. and like yeah it ended up being revealed that the guys arent BLOOD brothers, they were just raised in the orphanage together and DECIDED to be brothers, but now i see them as being far too familial for that to ever not be weird.

(i even had a thing going for a while where i was compiling all the stuff about enhaverse to make into its own story, with different names for the characters to separate them both from the dark moon boys AND from the real-life enhypen; i ended up losing interest and its remained a hardly-touched note in my phone ever since, but the character names are still on there and i think theyre pretty snazzy if i may be allowed to toot my own horn about it)

okay NOW. to address:

the rest of your ask

-because that did indeed get just as insane and long-winded as i was expecting lmao. i wanna double back for a second and kinda talk about your sooha ideas again because,, i know i went on that whole tangent about how she and they boys could be related in the whole "artificial/experimental vampire" thing i had laid out, but i really do like the idea of them somehow all being BORN superpowered like that but being seperated—if thats the case, who or what made them? how old were they when they were seperated? what the hell HAPPENED?

(i really dont know how that storyline would work but i just got a very very cute idea involving it which is just. so you know the whole concept in canon where sooha was a "princess" in a past life and the boys were her "knights"? what if those are repressed memories of them all playing make-believe as kids with sooha as the beautiful princess in the tower and the seven boys as the knights that rescued her from the fearsome dragon? what if?)

okay A N Y W A Y moving on (before i go on another tangent). jino totally burned that fucking orphanage down i dont care what anyone says, the organization probably went "hahahaha oh yeah it was an ATTACK we were ATTACKED these children TOTALLY didnt leave of their own volition they had a GREAT time here but they were FORCED to LEAVE by the ATTACK" to cover up the fact that they were harboring teens in the midst of their respective rebellious phases while also having literal superpowers without any fireproofing. like. what

"oh dont think about it too much and just enjoy the story" i cant enjoy a story with no substance. i cant ENJOY a story when theres nothing there for me to actually GET INTO. "just enjoy the story dont think about it too hard" is used for silly comedies and stuff. not THIS. i can't enjoy a story if its straight up not written well. the meaning and the trauma and the impact IS the part that i enjoy.

*deep, deep inhale* WHEW okay. WOW. did uh . did your popcorn last you through all that? GMVDBFBFN i know we already established that i shouldnt be sorry for writing a lot but i,,, still kind of feel a little sorry--

[koqabear]

Hello, I am here to excitedly rave about Only You Darling and shower you in well-deserved compliments. Anybody else reading this, stop if you haven't read Only You Darling as there will be SPOILERS.

First of all, your writing is brilliant, I wish I could come up with plots like you do. I have so many fics that I start writing and then I don't know how to get from A to B or what should happen next and just give up.

I have read Only You Darling (and also What The Body Wants, the whole concept of that fic >>>) twice now, and I'm sure I'll read it again in the future. My first read was a wild ride, I was so invested, I thought what if it's Yeonjun and Beomgyu but nah, then I when Soobin came into the picture I was sure it was Soobin and then it was Beomjun! Every time I thought i had it figured out, you had me doubting myself. I loved all the twists and turns and the way I was so stressed after everything went down and the reader was living in that house, the imagery that you created was amazing. I have to say that it's the best fic I've read on this site. Hands down. I don't think I've read such a well planned and fleshed out fic in maybe a decade (not to show my age haha), after I was done reading I felt as if I'd just watched a movie. I don't even get through thriller novels, I always get bored with the pacing or the writing, but you had me in the palm of your hand.

I'm sure I have more thoughts, but right now they're just a blurred mess of excitement and awe. Thank you for sharing your work and making me excited about reading fics again. I am slowly making my way through the rest of your stuff, I'm sure I will be back to word-vomit on you about other stories in the future!

HAIIIIII HIHIHI OMG IM SOOOO SORRY I TOOK LITERAL MONTHS TO ANSWER THIS 😭😭😭🙁 i saw it and wanted to make sure that i had time to answer all your points but then i KEPT FORGETTING ABOUT IT 😭😭 but please know that i really appreciate feedback like 🫶🫶🫶 getting a review on oyd always makes me so happy and you really delivered with this 

full response under the cut :]

AHHHHSJDBSKDB BUT THANK U OMG 💔💔 when i first started writing on here i’d neverrrr thought i’d be writing long fics so consistently… even 10k was a huge rare accomplishment to me akzbwkdjs,,, it takes time to really figure out what works and what doesn’t with writing methods but… i wish you the best of luck with all your wips and i’m sure you’ll be able to have a breakthrough someday with any you might be struggling on !!! i believe in you !!!

YOU’VE READ OYD TWICE. Oh… my heart T_T idk but like,, i’ve never really been able to grasp the concept that people actually.. reread my stories. That’s genuinely one of the most flattering things to hear in my opinion bc 😭😭 to hear that i’ve managed to write a fic that’s worth being read again is mind blowing to me algskldgh (also thank you !!! WTBW is forever near and dear to my heart <3)

It’s always so satisfying to hear that my attempts on tricking the readers were successful hehe :3 it was one of the major things i was worried about tbh,,, it took a lot of thinking on how i would introduce soobin’s character and how he would be involved, so im happy to hear that my work paid off ! and imagery was something that i learned was very important while writing oyd; it really makes or breaks a scene, imo. Especially in those final cabin scenes,,, AGH idk im so giddy to have it pointed out tho bc i do put a little extra love and effort into my imagery :3

AWWWWSLDKGHH UGH YOU’RE JUST. im gonna sob. The best fic.. dont say that to me im crazy 😭😭 but aggggh it makes me feel so appreciated and seen to read that you think it’s well planned like :(( i remember how much effort i put into that fic omg… that story is my baby im afraid 

Again, thank you so much for taking the time to write such a sweet review, and im sorry i couldn’t respond to it sooner 😭 comments like these are sooo motivating and validating, i seriously can’t explain how happy it makes me <333

[cantalooprat]

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

What I Liked

actually good enemies to lovers even tho idt it was ever explicitly mentioned that it was enemies to lovers. but like. wangxian past dynamic of cocky hotheaded wwx n strict rule-adhering lwj n how they just...clash, bc wwx is naturally so boisterous and annoying and he just keeps bothering lwj, and how lwj was like nonsense but he??? does he like wwx???? and he just! gets so annoyed!! and when their ideologies stayed the same but their methodologies clashed and how lwj still wanted to save wwx but can't quite get it across. man, that part hurt.

ok but like im a huge sucker for the "even if the world is against you, i'll always be on your side" trope and the siege against wwx at nightless city w lwj defending him n attacking his own sect's ppl is like the epitome of that trope n im so in love oh my god. n then... how lwj recognized him as mxy n like. protected him from jc as if hes trying to make up for 13 yrs ago.

jin ling's uncle

jin ling lowkey reminds me of sun xiang n i love sun xiang

tangentially related: season 3 ending song "wuwang" is soo good, i love the lyrics, it's so tender and the imagery the lyrics paint is so beautiful and vivid

the plot is tied together so well! the cause and effect and the world wwx and lwj live in r so, so vividly described. like everything makes sense in the bigger picture, no one's fully right or wrong, everyone has reasons for behaving the way they do and they all receive the consequences, whether good or bad.

oh!! the xiao xingchen flashback!!! i think that was the first moment that rly sold me to mdzs. it was like watching a trainwreck and i mean it in the best way possible, the way one knows the ending is sad but that it's inevitable bc it's in the past, but even knowing that doesn't help the sadness.

What I Disliked

i want so badly an extra chapter dedicated to lwj. lxc mentioned how he wanted a flute with such a lost look on his face, branded himself with the same brand wwx got in the xuanwu cave incident n like. i want to read abt his emotional turmoil during that period of time. he's so emotionally repressed!! let me read more abt his feelings!!!!!

the way the story interweaved flashbacks n present events give me so much whiplash

more abt the donghua but the sheer injustice jiang cheng’s characterization faced at the end brings me so much rage

Notes

THE INCENSE BURNER TRILOGY LMAO that shit was Wild icb wwx used bichen as a dildo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i honestly dont know if its a pro or a con it was so wtf

ok i just imagine lwj eventually quietly moving on with life but like. he wont ever fall in love with anyone else. he will keep remembering wwx. n im so. idk. i just imagine stoic and icy lwj, keeping emperors smile in his room for wwx but wwx never returning. lwj and his song wangxian. lwj raising lsz as the last remnant of what wwx had dedicated himself to protect. im so. god. 

i literally went from "this wn is ok n i understand why its so popular" to "CRYING OVER WANGXIAN" (edit: now i am a jiang cheng stan)

i felt intense dugeuns rewatching the clip of wwx playing lwj's love song for him when he was subduing wn in the beginning he was walking backwards n then crashed into lwj n i was like,,, omg,,, lwj recognized him from the beginning bc of this,,,

i started mdzs expecting the emotional outcome of a regular danmei novel, and ended up a crying jiang cheng stan, and i think that says a lot abt mxtx as a writer

Quotes

He wasn't scared of falling. All these years, he'd fallen many times. But falling on the ground still hurt, after all. If someone was there to catch him, it'd be more than wonderful.

[dormarunt]

VERY VERY VERY VERY EYE EMOJI ABT THIS FIC!! what all is on your wip list right now, if you dont mind my asking? 👀👀

I posted the fic! Earlier when I wrote this (I answer asks on my lunch break #adult) I had only disparaging things to say about this fic but now I kinda like it? Maybe? It's just smut. Okay so my endless WIP list:

- a two-parter fic based on a poem ("""poem""", more like nursery rhyme?). The first part is Andres' POV and it's finished, 7 short vignette chapters at 7-8k words in total. Beta'd, but not edited by me yet. AND!! i have a title for it, which - wow. - the second part of that fic, from Martin's POV, is... a mess, I have nothing but the structure and an idea that i can't seem to get on the page. - this wild, wild fic that I don't know whether I should even finish because it started off as the dumbest, crackiest idea that - and I'm not even kidding - the initial premise was based on a rude slang expression in Romanian. Does that sound vague? Well, would it make it easier if I said that the fic was completely heretical in its first incarnation, so I decided to handwave/create a magical, non-denominational being instead? No, not any clearer? Well, I have ~3k words of this and I abandoned it because I started writing this cracky idea too seriously and I don't even know what I want with it anymore. (But feel free to inquire more about it since I'm maybe embarrassed to even explain the expression that started it all) - this fic that's ready, I think? And has been ready for half a year but it's so depressing that I worked hard to un-depress it. I'm pretty sure it's even beta'd. Doesn't have a title (ofc) but it involves Martin and Andres in the Mint, and it's the both of them that are left behind, so they have to hide when the police is inside, and to wait to be rescued somehow. - a prompt (may or may not be yours?) that's pure smut, involving sextoys and a long day of edging, that lives 75% in my head. So far titled "GLASS". Because glass is a great material for toys <3 - this... thing? that sprung to me as a scene so it has no plot, temporarily called "Cockblocking beats" in which Martin gets jealous and denies any and all intimacy except they're both idiots and want it and hilarity would ensue if i got off my ass and wrote it. I got about 1.5k words of this, and a couple of ideas that are in my head alone. - this drabble I started eons ago of Martin enjoying some recreational choking with a Grindr hookup, in which he wakes Andres up in the middle of the night when he thinks he's killed the guy. barely 500 words and OMG. You know what I found in this document? The reply to a comment on my Secret Santa fic, that I began writing (in that doc) and apparently never finished. I am an ass, I'm sorry. And a disorganized ass at that, I only opened this doc to get a wordcount, otherwise I'd have completely forgotten it - in my mind, I died at that gorgeous comment, *and* replied too. On AO3, not in a document I haven't opened in *months*. - part 2 of "Love Instead". I have a good 5k of that written but I don't know if I should even finish it? I love the ending of part 1. It's heartbreaking and I might leave it at that. - the epilogue to "Libreria del Pecado" which is almost done but I can't finish. It's Martin (and Mirko) saying goodbye to the bookstore and I can't go through that again. I visited one of the bookstores I worked in, when @the--sound--of--rain came over to visit, and I CRIED. Just by being there. But I also cried when I saw that my first bookstore closed. I can't say goodbye to another bookstore, you know? the one in Libreria is based on both those beautiful places I worked in, and it's so close to my heart. - a mythology-inspired fic in which Martin is a "zburător" (and man would I love to hear how people pronounce that), which is a sort of succubus in Romanian folklore. They escape to a remote village in Romania and (spoilers since I may never finish this) Martin is that creature that unknowingly feeds off Andres, just by loving him the way he does, and he's the cause of his illness. Romanian folklore and all our specific mythical creatures are fascinating, though. And it holds up to have an old biddy speaking Spanish, what with the huge wave of Romanians migrating to Spain since 2007; it's facts.

Aaaand that's it! Thank you for giving me the chance to go through my WIP folder and to see what I have! You don't know how much this helped me! <3

[hellothisissade]

some squid game thoughts

as someone who is an avid kdrama watcher and absolutely loves the whole ppl with money making the lessers die for sport---i found squid game mid-tier af.

maybe i would feel differently if i hadn’t watched alice in borderland first, but whatever:

1. the series starts off amazing, we meet gihun who for all intents and purposes is a shit bag with a gambling addiction whose consistently poor choices keep catching up with him.

2. i guess he loves his daughter tho

3. i think it’s weird af that despite gihun’s obvious gambling addiction and incompetence as a father, his wife is low key framed as a heartless bitch for leaving him

4. GONG YOO’S CAMEO OMG the way this man can wear a fucking suit I SWEAR. he’s utterly captivating on screen, i literally couldn’t take my eyes off of him. 

5. i really loved the very first game we see gihun play as a sort of hazing into the squid game arena. it’s very telling of his state of mind how quick he was to keep playing (completely mindlessly) and how quickly he forgot about the cash reward (more focused on getting revenge). it was a GREAT scene

6. the loading, drugging, track suit distribution and red light, green light game was all dope af. really loved the use of color between the contestants, guards, and the setting. from the stark almost asylum-like nature of their “dorm room” to the candy colored and maze-like quality of the setting itself. 

7. the red light, green light game was hella iconic, i honestly dont think any other game comes close in comparison for me tho if i HAD to choose it would be tug of war. the little tightrope number that comes later was fun too.

8. at first i thought it was odd af that they were allowed to go home but it made for an interesting break to allow us to see just how desperate someone must be to enter the arena again

9. i’m sorry but i think it’s wild af how we’re lead to believe that gihun is entering the arena (again!) to save his mother when he literally leaves her for dead LOL. the reason why she wasn’t able to get medical attention is bc he kept gambling her money away. and instead of humbling himself to actually accept the money he asked his ex for on behalf of his mother, he lets his “pride” get in the way. pride in what, i can hardly imagine.

9. the gangster guy and the woman clearly there to be the residential psycho got annoying af to me REAL FAST. so incredibly one note, it was so obvious where their story was heading i rolled my eyes so hard during their sex scene. the only valid outcome would be if she slit his throat in the bathroom so i woudn’t have to suffer through that tired ass kdrama gangster archetype but ALAS that was not to be the case

10. it’s so weird how in one scene the guards dont condone fighting but in the next, just to allow the gangster guy free reign to randomly beat the shit out of ppl for profit. i feel like i need to re-watch to be sure but i swear the guards step in to breakup a fight prior so i was super confused but maybe i’m remembering it wrong.

11. HOW COULD I FORGET ALI?? i was pleasantly surprised to see migrant working representation in this show at all. and honestly ali is great. i will say tho there is a difference between being naive and being dumb and it seemed ali toed the line a little to often depending on how the writers needed him to be in order to further the plot

12. i DID NOT like how the random “crazy” woman went on a xenophobic rant against ali AND NOT A SINGLE PERSON STOOD UP FOR HIM despite the fact that he’d literally saved their lives multiple times by that point. i think it’s one thing to have a xenophobic character, a whole other thing to have the narrative SUPPORT said xenophobia through the silence of those that witness this behavior

13. same also goes for sang woo’s extremely sexist rant prior to the tug of war game. i thought FOR SURE the narrative was going to check him (like he really did take it too far) but NOOOOOOO the narrative doubles down on it by making it a game of brute strength. while in the end it was strategy that helps them win, the female characters still remain largely invisible in this game having been labeled “useless” by their male counterparts. all the clutch moments come from ali, the old man, sang woo, and gihun.

14. it’s weird in general the lack of female characters and the mediocre writing they all receive but i was really excited by seobyeok. she seems like a lead, especially given the fact that she’s the only female character we get any real backstory on. but for the most part she’s a background character. present when the plot needs her, rarely contributing to strategy. VERY resourceful (yay!!) but the second she’s no longer needed she gets randomly injured and unceremoniously murdered just to further the rage (and plot!) of her male counterparts. yikes!

15. omg i love the organ selling side plot LOL. i’m sad it ended as soon as it did. made me wish we got more perspectives from the guards given how many of them there were. 

16. how did the cop dude not die? he was so sloppy with his investigation after a while it was silly they couldnt catch him despite the eleventy million cameras in the facility. i also low key didn’t care about his story once the organ selling plot ended. i completely forgot he was looking for his brother LOL

17. i hated the marble game wow. with the fire of 1000 suns wow. i think this was the episode where squid game lost me a little. the plot armor around the gangster guy was ridiculous, he should’ve met his hubris in that game instead of subjecting us to more of his predictable ass behavior.

18. seobyeok’s scene was the only one worth my heart in the marble game. i’m sad they literally brought the other girl in for one game just to die in the next, she was so great i would’ve love to see seobyeok develop a stronger friendship with her even if she died later. sheesh! 456 contestants and only 3 women with speaking lines??? ridiculous. 

18. and idc what anybody says, sang woo’s “plan” in the marble game was such an obvious lie. it literally made no fucking sense. ali “falling” for it made him look stupid af and i’m mad he went out being made a fool of like that. i’d forgive it more if sang woo’s “plan” was even remotely believable. like damn, fool me too! but ali just ends up looking like an idiot, running around like a chicken with its head cut off as if all common sense left him when you can CLEARLY SEE IN EACH PAIR THAT ONE PERSON IS CONSISTENTLY DYING. like come tf on!

16. the moment the VIP’s open their mouths to speak is when squid game goes from intense to straight up camp. it’s just silly and incredibly difficult for me to take the games seriously from that point on. the dialogue and acting is just awful. 

17. this show had ZERO queer representation until they needed one of the VIPs to be predatory LMAO. like wow, talk about poor fucking taste

18. the actor who plays the cop is just BAD lololol. like what in the 2 facial expressions nonsense?? shoulda kept the mask on

19. the tight rope game was cool but dragged on a little too long for me. i think it’s bc the VIPs fucking suck LOL. i was REALLY looking for gangster dude to finally be revealed as a spineless fuck but NOOOOOO more bullying and intimidation. honestly so pathetic. 

20. gangster dude deserved to die due to his own failures IMO but NOOOOOO. i swear the “crazy” woman lasted as long as she did just so she could say his dick was small and some rando VIP could utter “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”. i’m sorry i rolled my eyes so hard at that scene, doesn’t she have a newborn baby?? LOLOLOL like what a pathetic way to die, sorry.

21. FRONTMAN IS LEE BYUNG HYUN??? LMAOOOOO!!! i mean what in the cameo?? it was impossible for me to see him as frontman after that “luke i am your father” moment. and the irony of byung hyun playing role is just extra rich given that he was literally blackmailed in a similar squid game story IRL. and where is she now? and where is he now? hmmmmm

22. and again i have to express my rage. seobyeok randomly getting injured by the blown up glass (literally WHY??) just to struggle eat and bleed out LMAO. and then be “mercy killed” by sang woo’s stank ass JUST to give gihun the motivation he’d need to kill sang woo?? fucking foul. the ONLY COMPETENT FEMALE CHARACTER and they couldn’t even do her the dignity of going out through a game. they literally kill her to further the plot of her male counterparts. awful

23. i mean by the time the final game comes, ngl squid game completely lost me as an audience. i just didn’t care anymore. and like who am i supposed to be rooting for anyway? the asshole sang woo who's in debt bc of a blue collar crime? or the asshole gihun who’s in debut due to a gambling addiction that literally left his own mother unable to financially take care of her sickness?

24. HOW exactly are either of them suffering at the hands of capitalism again?

25. i was so happy when the fight ended and gihun was finally ended up the victor, not bc i wanted him to win i was just tired of the psuedo-moralism he randomly developed at the very end. like give this man his money and wrap this shit up.

26. j/k he comes back home to a mother he left to die and then wallows in misery for a year even tho he promised sang woo and seobyeok (also why ali’s wife and child wasn’t important enough to include on this list is very telling but whatever) that he’d take care of their families, he becomes a drunk instead.

27. like i WANT to feel sorry for gihun bc trauma but i literally do not care. like the ONE TIME he should actually be putting others before himself and he STILL can’t do it

28. oh but look a squid game card! THAT’s what spurns him to action. not atoning for the lives lost but the concept of getting revenge...for a game...that he actively participated in...knowing that they’d kill contestants indiscriminately LOL. like i literally cant. i get why he’s angry but here he is with a second shot at life and it’s like the only change in his character is MORE TRAUMA™

29. i feel bad for seobyeok’s little brother most of all. sitting there thinking his sister abandoned him FOR A YEAR poor thing

30. i felt the scene with the old man was unnecessary and went on for too long. but then again at that point i’d lost complete interest in the show so LOL

31. i mean honestly gihun gambling AGAIN with someone’s life just to prove the old man wrong LOL. i thought he felt guilty? i thought he was traumatized? why do the writers keep trying to frame him as heroic when he’ll throw everything away to gamble EVERY. TIME.?????

32. so one midlife crises dye job later and gihun is so desperate to not be a father that he enters squid game again. for revenge or whatever LOL

*whew* my goodness, i think i needed to get that out.

like i found squid game wildly entertaining overall but the ending but absolute trash. and i just dont care enough about gihun to want more story from him, he really should’ve gotten on the plane.

i also find it interesting that ppl saw the show as a critique on capitalism when really i felt like it doubled down on it. but maybe that’s just me idk. regardless, i’m happy for the show’s success. better squid game at number one than fucking bridgerton LMAO.

[romance-club-daily]

Okay so: I have finished Moonborn (all seasons and it was AMAZING) and I will play all books plus the new one when the update comes except Legend of the Willow because that book is so precious to me so I want to wait until more chapters has arrived. I started playing Chasing You but dont like it so I want to play something else. WHAT SHOULD I PLAY HELP ME

OMG! 😮 Well! Let's see:

• Shadows of Saintfour: That's a good one if you like the horror genre! It breaks down into two different timelines and contains three seasons each with a mystery that intertwines until the culmination at the end! And it has the same writer from Heaven's Secret.

• Heaven's Secret: It takes place in the academy of angels, demons and the unclaimed. It has wonderful LI's and some cool plot twists, we try to unravel what happened to us and to the school (and there's a lot of things going on). Aaaand we have wings 😊.

• Seduced By the Rhythm: We follow the life of a dancer who finds a unusual dance group in an unusual way. So they commit in championships. We have drama, lots of LI's, comedy and tsunderes (*cof cof* Brandon *cof cof*). And amazing outfits!

• Sails in The Fog: One of my favorites! It was the first RC book ever. We follow the story of a super badass pirate lady, with several adventures, paradisiacal beaches and the threshold between the magical world and ours. You may find it a little strange because the character design is not consistent, but I believe that it doesn't interfere too much with the story.

• My Hollywood Story: If you like comedy (a lot), and want to see how the most unimaginable things can happen in the life of an aspiring actress, this is your place (and see her get into a lot of trouble too). Be prepared for what you will see! (Really, it's a wild ride).

• Queen in 30 Days: We follow the life of a history student for 30 days after she won a trip to Sagar. We'll see how she gets involved with royal plots, princes, bodyguards, fashion shows and kidnappings. And gossip too. A lot.

• Wave Patrol: We got an FBI agent who goes on vacation to Miami, but of course she won't enjoying any of it anytime soon, because work never goes away, poor Kim. We have two seasons with two mysteries that we'll have to investigate while we develop our love life as well. WP is famously the hardest book to get a satisfying ending without help, so I recommend you always check the Wiki walkthrough to get a good game.

I think that's all! Have a good playthrough! 🤗

[faorism]

needing the au to drop wherein i can commit to writing a historical au,, because since i first watched the db cooper job my mind went straight to OT3! OT3! OT3! (unlike with the van gogh job, since i aint playing with that fucking lieutenant)

one day maybe one dayyyyy i will sit down and i will write the ot3 into that episode's story. so, it'll be the backgrounds for the characters in the flashback (so, stephanie ritter, steve reynolds, and reggie wilkins), but with the necessary personality adjustments (parker, eliot, and hardison respectively). basically, vintage ot3 with some hot as hell aesthetics and secrets and avoiding as much as possible producing copraganda.

so. my thoughts. what i see happening. and this got super long so im throwing this under a cut. and for ease i will call them by their modern day canon names except when making a point.

first, general thoughts about the characters.

and so: steve to eliot. nothing much here on the surface. eliot still volunteers, too much an indoctrinated white man to have been forcibly drafted. so its still one man gone to war. one man come back. eliot would had been noticed early in training for his ability to pick shit up, and they teased at maybe sending him to a special unit. maybe they do, or maybe they don't because they just need to funnel fuckers to the jungle. the vietnam invasion was a terrorist imperialist venture and there's no romanticizing from me about anything done being at all valorous or special or brother-in-arms'y. and eliot commits war crimes under the american stars and stripes instead of just to keep moreau's champaign running. but also maybe moreau is eliot's superior. he certainly would have been rewarded for this ruthlessness. (eliot of course strove to impress moreau because there aint an eliot spencer who wasn't that man's dog at some point, i!!!! dont make the rules). eliot's friend died and eliot's gone off to carry out his wishes and moreau lets him because he Knows eliot is gonna come back. whether its to come back to the same squad, or follow him into deeper spy shit for the military, or to fuck off and go private. then eliot meets parker.

now. stephanie to parker. beth plays normal so well im mad at her, but there's something edgy and strategic about stephanie that i think parker can grab onto. i feel that maybe she was kind of a thief still, but there's more realism to this world so archie wasnt a super secret spy with lasers to practice with, but just a guy with sticky fingers whos a little bored and wants a protege. parker is good really good at what she does, and not having to deal with lasers makes me easy. but she's into scams that are less grifts and more Catch Me If You Can slight of hands. she's always looking for easy money (she was into lifting cars at one point! literally she follows where the crime is). she's doing something in an airport and someone tries to recruit her as a flight attendant because she's got the Look. and yall, flight attendants? that shit was like being a model and an astronaut and a time traveler back then. and according to a teacher i had, who once worked as in the f.a. union, those ladies back in the day were rad and queer and free spirited and runnnnning shit. i think, yes, it's a Job which i think we might resist placing parker into. but! of the jobs, at the time, i really see her rocking it during the time period. (also come on, the opportunities to swindle distracted people of their shit would be endless. they would just think they dropped their stuff in the airport! not that it was stolen.)

finally, reggie to alec. i think hardison will be the hardest to translate. even tho i admittedly listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, i dont know much about fbi life and also definitely don't know about it historically. part of me desperately wants to put him somewhere else even if it does have to stay within the fbi. i might cheat and make him like a Q(uartermaster) to 007/00s like in james bond, and he's like UGH this is horrible god i hate working for the fbi but they will give me funding so...... anyway, here's this totally cool [radio term]. that said, if hardison is stuck in the fbi, why he ends up there is that he is a fucking savant when it comes to research and the man can put together a presentation like no one else. that white man gets all the credit for profiling but it was hardison who goddamn was the google of the microfilm days. reggie felt super square but that might be because he had to deal with mcsweeties db cooper shit day in and day out for years. hardison is more himself. and definitely still a nerd. alec would be into dime fantasy novels and comics and ham radios and oh god he also would be into star trek like the original star trek as it came out and he would be into the zines yes! yessss. omg. also he plays a mean arcade cabinet. but he's mostly well adjusted but lonely. his colleagues dont appreciate him because fbi esp during that time were fucking wilding out and racist as hell aaaaaand im sorry im srry im trying so hard to have fbi hardison make sense but also! acab. ANYWAY.

second, the relationship

i think it would be fun to play with what it means to have parker/eliot start off first and bring in hardison afterwards. (if white collar is your thing, it would be like this canon divergent ot3 fic wherein peter burke is the last to join in.) i feel they would be Super Intense esp since they are carrying this big ass secret. kind of broken and dysfunctional and there's the passion and the commitment, but i think there's also a tenderness that's super hard for them to achieve? and i think there's a way that hardison plays such an important part in who they are and how they are. like, sure i think parker/eliot would have joy but they won't have levity. they would have compassion but they won't have gentleness.

eliot meets hardison after being recruited by nate. i think they get close because while nate and eliot have an interesting and compelling mentorship/friendship, nate is still eliots superior; sometimes its nice to complain about your boss, as hardison will say to eliot to try to make friends. i think hardison and eliot would become legit friends and not just work buddies because they are just not cut out of the same cloth as the rest of their colleagues. they grab beers after work. after hard days, hardison cajoles eliot into going to the arcade. they are friends. real real truly deep best friends, in a way hardison didn't think he could have with a fed and eliot didnt think he would have after his friend died. but also? they are like "buds" who are buds who are desperately tryna to cross any lines because there's a.... tension? an UST between them they dont know what to do with.

parker meets eliot by way of a "lets have my friend for dinner, he's a blast." and immediately immediately hardison is like... wow this woman is beautiful but like, really attracted to her personality. and parker things hardison is kinda dorky but cute dorkie? anyway, they have a puppy love situation growing. and it keeps growing until bam. eliot and parker are like. are we into alec???? fuck we are aren't we.

i think stephanie and steve would never tell reggie (even if somehow they were to be a thing). but parker and eliot? hell yeah they tell hardison. eventually. after a while. sooner than maybe they should. the tension if they should say something is one of the things that build up as UST between them for so long; parker and eliot know they are carrying this huge thing. two huge things. eliot being db cooper and also their massive crush on him.

if i could control myself to stick to a pwp, it would be another christmas. maybe the christmas nine (more?) years down the road. the damn snow grounded hardison's flight back to his nana's, and parker and eliot hear this and invite him over. the egg nog gets flowing and parker eventually is like,, fuck this. and comes onto hardison. and hardison would be like wow wow what but... idk, free love and swinging were In The Thoughts And Minds Of The People. he still checks in with eliot who is like. her body, man; i aint gonna tell her what to do. and for a sec hardison is like, man is this a cuck situation? i guess i can be for it but also...... aint mad if i aint alone. and eliot is so grateful and idk. i just want them all to be happy and having fun and no one to be left out. and yeah i am kinda brushing over a lot of the racial politics which, in a more developed fic rather than a pwp, would definitely need to be brought in; but idk that needs to just be in the bedrock of whatever plot is going into this.

it takes a lot of maneuvering of their lives but they make it work and eventually hardison is a keeper of eliot's secret too.

(apart from the historical aspect, another reason i probably won't actually write this is because i know myself. i would want to do worldbuilding. i would follow eliot and alec to their jobs, but i wouldnt want to write outright copaganda. the grit/realism i would be comfortable with would take a level of research i dont think i can commit to. but if someone wants to take this up or if you figure out a way around this issue, pls do i wont be mad)