#i am sad for her but also excited for her arc should we get a season 3...

[licncourt]

Is there a specific way to read the vampire chronicles or some books you should skip (I’ve just heard that some aren’t that good but like I’m up for anything)? And what books are focused on Louis and Lestat?

Okay I hope you weren't looking for a short answer to this because there isn't one 😭 Rather than just give my uncontextualized opinion, I'm going to try to explain what makes some (most) of VC so unbelievably terrible in so many people's eyes. There are going to be spoilers for pretty much all the books, but most of it is either incredibly stupid or information that you might want relating to content warnings. I'll list what applies to each book as I go.

I'm assuming you're here from my VC primer post, but if not, I'll link it right here! It gives a bit more detail on my short answer to your main question which is: if you value your sanity, only read the first three. Also a note to read the post I linked at the bottom of it about Anne Rice for context. It will help with understanding the tone this post takes re: the author.

To quickly answer your second question, I am sad to report that Interview with the Vampire is the only book focused on Loustat because after that Anne Rice decided that she hated Louis. Their relationship is on and off in the (very, VERY distant) background until they finally get together permanently towards the end of the series, but it's never the focal point again. She just kept us all on the hook by having one absolutely brain chemistry altering ship moment in a majority of the books (my compilation of those moments here).

Okay, on to specifics:

Interview with the Vampire: a literary classic with incredible character building. I'm assuming we can all agree that IWTV is fantastic and anyone who is reading this because of the show is probably already sold on it. If that's where you're coming from, you might be a bit disappointed by how unsympathetic Lestat can be, but that'll be remedied(ish) later. Lestat is the main character in the series going forward. Enjoy this Louis content because this is pretty much the end of it.

CW: keep in mind that the beginning of the book takes place on a plantation with all that entails; there are some occasional pedophilic and incestuous undertones, but nothing out of place with Gothic horror (it gets so much worse); domestic violence

The Vampire Lestat: this is widely considered to be excellent popular fiction rather than something as elevated as IWTV, but it's a 5-star read according to most fans. Lestat is such a vibrant, exciting character and so much more than the charismatic villain he was in IWTV (the AMC show incorporates a lot of his characterization from this book, as IWTV was originally a stand-alone novel without any real idea of what Lestat would become).

Aside from a (delightful) cameo at the end of the book, Louis is now in Anne Rice Jail and will not be allowed to do anything for the next nine books except be tortured once like a bug for no reason.

CW: a non-consensual turning that is directly analogous to sexual assault; descriptions of child abuse; Lestat, unfortunately, tongue kisses his mom

Queen of the Damned: this is the last book that most fans like. I personally consider it a step down from the first two, but I strongly prefer intimate, character driven stories and QotD is very plotty. It's a fun book, but some cracks start to show in AR's writing that will become a big problem later. Still, it's enjoyable and the ending is very satisfying for the story arc and for the characters. It also contains a fan favorite chapter that follows Daniel, the interviewer, and his insane romance with the vampire Armand.

If you want to be a happy person, turn back now.

CW: non-con blood drinking/vampiric SA; casual racism and pro-imperialism

***CATEGORY 5 EVENT: ANNE RICE FIRES HER EDITOR PERMANENTLY***

The Tale of the Body Thief: this is considered by most fans (obligatory not ALL) to be the worst book in the series simply for how the subject matter is handled. This is the beginning of AR transforming Lestat into something very existentially disturbing without even meaning to. The sympathetic, charming, evil-but-not-really theater kid Lestat is gone without a trace in a way that could be a very insightful look at the aftermath of trauma but is instead deeply insensitive and really upsetting.

Lestat from here on out becomes a hypermasculine caricature that can do no wrong according to the narrative and this has some pretty awful results. There are a few funny moments (like Lestat describing the sensation of peeing for two full pages) and a very cute arc where he adopts a dog, but he also commits two explicit rapes and emotionally abuses/threatens Louis on several occasions with the authorial justification that "men can't help themselves", abuse victims have it coming for setting boundaries, and people who have suffered abuse become abusers. This will be a recurring theme going forward.

Not related to Lestat, but also an Indian man is killed and has his body stolen and inhabited by a white British man in what would be a great metaphor for colonialism if the author thought that was a bad thing.

I am on the last chapter of a 140,000 word fic that I wrote just because I hate TotBT so much and wanted to create a world where it doesn't have to exist. It's one of the most popular VC fics on ao3, and that's not a testament to my writing ability, but rather to how much people hate this book.

CW: graphic SA; domestic violence; insensitivity to the point of racism; the author thinking these things are okay

Memnoch the Devil: not much to say about this. It's AR's ripoff of Dante's Inferno. Lestat meets the devil, goes to hell, drinks the blood of Jesus Christ, loses an eye, vacuum sucks period blood out of a woman's uterus and pad, and then falls into a five year semi-coma on a church floor. Somehow it's still boring. Best I can say is that the Lestat characterization is a bit less heinous than it is in the previous book.

CW: not much here unless you have an issue with period blood guzzling

The Vampire Armand: truly a notorious book in the series, beloved by some, hated by many. There's some good backstory for the character Armand (he first appears in IWTV, likely in season two of the show) and some fun historical fiction, however. Armand begins his story as a twelve year old human child who is rescued from sex slavery by an ancient vampire, Marius (he was namedropped in AMC ep 2).

Over the course of the book, he's physically, mentally, sexually abused by Marius, his teacher and father figure who is, like David, presented as a wise and moral authorit figure. In addition, Armand carries on a sexual relationship with an adult man as a minor. The sex is graphic (it's erotica) and it's really the peak of the pedophilia in VC. Keep in mind that this is coming from an author who publicly defended a child predator and thought that 14 year old kids could consent and should be allowed to have sex with adults.

Of all the later books, this one is the most widely enjoyed because Marius/Armand is a fairly popular ship.

CW: CSA/grooming; statutory rape; explicit adult/minor content; child abuse; cult abuse

Merrick: evil, evil book. AR's giant fuck you to Louis and anyone who likes his character. Lestat is in his devil coma for most of this book, so it's narrated by his newest fledgling and rape victim, David (who I and most others despise. This is the white guy who has an Indian body now). By this point, AR had openly admitted that she didn't like Louis, and she kind of spends this book tormenting and mocking him for no reason.

The titular Merrick (a mixed-race witch drowned in awful racial connotations) mind controls Louis with magic, then forces him to turn her (again, AR has confirmed that this is vampire rape) and be in a relationship. After this, she conjures a "ghost" that may or may not be Louis and Lestat’s dead daughter who tells Louis she always hated him and blamed him for her death. Completely overcome by grief, without Lestat (coma), and having been raped, Louis attempts suicide.

This event and all his mental health issues up to this point are framed by David as being stupid and weak, the sign of a lesser person who should just go and die because they deserve it. It is worth mentioning yet again that David is framed as being in the right and AR had expressed these opinions herself in the past (ie that mental illness is just weakness and you should be able to get over it).

Another fun thing is that Merrick was groomed by David as a child and he spends most of the book wanting her back and also admitting to other acts of pedophilia. So that's fun and great for a character who's supposed to be a voice of reason and moral center.

0/10, despise this book.

CW: sexual assault; grooming; attempted suicide

Blood & Gold: this is Marius' backstory. It is a completely pointless book because we've already heard it twice by this point in the series (and if you read the companion book Pandora, you'll hear it again). The whole thing reads like a Wikipedia page about ancient Rome. Read it if you want I guess.

CW: Marius

Blackwood Farm: this book had...potential? None of that was ever achieved, but I'll at least say that the concept could be worse. Lestat acquires his FIFTH brunette sadboi love interest of the series in this book, so that's kind of funny. Overall though, any positive qualities are overshadowed by weird prose, a really transphobic caricature, and the fact that the main character has shower sex with the ghost of his dead twin brother

CW: transphobia; sibling incest

Blood Canticle: Miss Rice decided to. Get creative with this book. It is a fandom joke. It is the worst prose in existence. It is a literary manic episode. It is truly indescribable. I'm just going to leave this excerpt from ch 1 here and let you imagine an entire book of this

Yes, chapter one is Anne Rice using Lestat as a proxy to berate her readers for not liking Memnoch the Devil. It's also important to me that you know Lestat calls himself "omnisensual" in this book, tries to become a saint, and tells a woman to put some clothes on because men can't control themselves. The word "chuckle" is also written out in the prose in italics like this is ff.net in 2010. The best thing that came of this book is the famous AR Amazon reviews rant (now a beloved VC fandom copypasta). Please read it. It's transcendent.

CW: psychologically devastating prose

Prince Lestat: this is AR's comeback book, published 12 years after Blood Canticle. It's an improvement, but it's still terrible and very, VERY dumb. Lestat has completed his transformation into a macho man male power fantasy for AR and we end with the establishment of a vampire monarchy with Lestat in charge because he slurped and then puked up the brains of the vampire who had the Special Vampire Essence.

Mostly this was an excuse for AR to kill off a bunch of her weird NPCs that she didn't know what to do with. The good news is we get a very cute, official Loustat love confession and for the first time since the first book in the entire series, we get a chapter that's Louis' POV!! It's like 7 pages long but it's the best we're ever going to get.

Other fun thing that happens: Lestat is hooked up to a hormone IV that allows him to fuck (book vampires can't) and the resident scientist vampire steals his cum and creates a petri dish clone of Lestat that is raised in secret for 18 years before being given to Lestat as his son. No, I'm not joking.

CW: uh, brain eating? Insanely unethical human experimentation?

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis: batshit crazy book. Truly bonkers. There are aliens, Atlantis is real, Lestat has a sentient brain parasite that controls all vampires and talks to him in his mind like the PS5, vampire brain surgery occurs, a choir of child vampires is there, an alien named Derek breastfeeds a disembodied hand until it grows into his clone named Derek Two, and so much more.

The one positive is that after decades of harassment, AR finally lets Louis be a main character again. By this point he has been completely stripped of his personality (I call it the Louis Lobotomy) and exists solely as Lestat's sexy lamp, but whatever. He's there and they're cute together. How they managed to become a healthy, functional couple overnight after two hundred years of drama is never explained.

Lestat makes out with his rapist and talks about how he was asking for it in a particularly nauseating scene, but otherwise it's pretty tame trigger-wise

CW: rape apologia/victim blaming

Blood Communion: we are finally being put out of our misery. The end of the series. This is such a boring book and Lestat’s characterization is completely nonsensical by now. Several main characters are presumed dead for a while and by this point you don't even care. Not even the other characters in the book seem to care. Its only use is to get that sweet sweet Loustat happy ending.

CW: temporary character death

-

Alright, that was a lot of shit-talking a book series I literally run a fandom blog and write hundreds of thousands of words of fic for, but the truth is, fans are here for the characters as they were originally created. The first three books are wonderful, the first two completely masterful and case studies in how character building should be done. There's a reason they've been read and analyzed and fawned over for forty years. What happened to the series is heartbreaking, but it doesn't negate the impact of how it started.

AR may have started spelling her own characters' names wrong and writing a baffling combination of disgusting hot takes and total absurdity, but she created something special in the beginning and I'll always love it and be grateful for what it once was.

I hope that was helpful!

[pstelwitchcraft]

Listen, I am happy to see Brennan take the DM seat, and I hope I've understood this incorrectly and we'll still get the main cast, but after seeing that guest list I believe there is simply no way they could fit all 8 main campaign characters + all of these people (amazing ppl by the way, truly nothing but love for them) at the table. And idk... I've started to get disappointed. Bc the thing is I love these characters, I love the Bells Hells, I love Sam's new character he JUST introduced, I love having Dorian with us again and cannot wait to see him deal with the repercussions of Cyrus' death. I love the Imogen and Laudna drama. I love whatever Fearne and Ashton got going on, I love Orym and his weird fey pact. I LOVE them.

And just... recently, I cannot shake the feeling that this is not their campaign. We JUST got them back from the Crownkeepers special episode. Before that, they've gotten separated for a pretty extensive period of time on opposite sides of Exandria. FCG just DIED. Yes, they have communication issues but I feel like that has to do, also, with the fact that every time it seems like they're finding some sort of groove, something like this happens. I get wanting to do something different and a trip to the past before Aeor collapsed IS really exciting, but it straight up feels lame and like they're trying to shove as many people into the table as possible when a major arc like this doesn't have the presence of the LITERAL main characters without them at least being separated again.

Also, don't think I don't see the bias from ya'll. Aabria had ONE episode that was significantly more important and related to the actual plot of the campaign and ya'll were clawing at her neck saying "this should have been a one shot!!!". If Brennan gets 3 freaking special calamity episodes only slightly related to the main plot and ya'll don't let out a peep I am literally fighting you in a parking lot. If this pans out the way I think it will then this absolutely should not be in the main campaign and could stand alone just like Calamity. I could totally be wrong, and I hope I am and they somehow found a way to fit 15 people at the table, but right now it's not looking too good and I cannot understate how sad I am. We just got them back! I want to meet Braius! 😫 Please, PLEASE, let them have their proper moment for us to know him 🙏

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - These Are the Days of Our BLs

Aug 2023 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 5 of 8 - They cute making heart eyes at each other, but could we get back to punching & slutty silk shirts? OMG the poor rich kid & the bodyguard who wants to hug him SO BAD are KILLING me. I did giggle & yell “punchy punchies” during the fight scene before the fire. But Charn is a diamond-encrusted evil-gorgeous gremlin beastie, isn’t he? 

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 1 of 10 - NO SINGING, but also.. wristbands! Sand is great = smart, snappy & over this shit. (Tired Gay 2.0) Neo & Mark are a revelation, where’d that chemistry come from? Force playing a douchenozzle is damn delight. Plus a counter lift in the first ep? Boys, you’re spoiling me. Mew is the least interesting, but Book is still adorable. Ray is the least likable character, but since it’s Khao, he’s the most likable screen presence. In fact, I’m enjoying all the messy messy gays & I know all their types IRL. I wish we had some femme & swish rep tho. Is this Thailand’s Queer as Folk? Seems like. Is it good? Not sure. But it is FUN as hell. Still, I gotta say it… they all dance like straight boys. 

Hidden Agenda that isn’t hidden (Sun GMMTV YouTube) ep 5 of 10 - Zo just wants to turtle & avoid but Joke is not gonna allow that. GMMTV keeps having sub issues (usually fixed within a few days). 

Low Frequency (Sat iQIYI) ep 6 of 8 - I do like the psychic gay detective trope. It makes this show more interesting and enjoyable. But they solved the mystery awful fast. I guess different drama spins the final 2 eps? 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 12fin - It was fine. I was fine with it. A kind of Vice Versa situation. The usual with Jittirain, as it turns out, is pretty simple: one of her main characters is going to be a manipulative liar or extremely unlikeable or both. It got an 8/10 from me, but probably should get a 7/10 just because I’m so exhausted by this. But I have to be fair and judge each BL on its own & not in light of repeat author mistakes. Not much of a trash watch here. Final full review here. 

Dinosaur Love (Sun iQIYI) ep 7 of 10 eps - Boyfriend trip together. Terrible overalls. What the fuck? No. Meanwhile, perfect choice for college star. (Could Ton please lead out a new BL? I know I’m 0 for 2 with him but I’m willing to try again if he is.) I actually enjoyed this installment for a change. Perhaps “enjoy” is too strong a word. Not much happened, dog days of BL, perhaps that’s a good thing with Dino? 

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 6 of 12 - Mostly I was excited to watch this week because of Ben but there wasn’t much of him. Sadness. OK, I know it has STIFF competition but does this show have the worst music in BL, or is it just me? I still like Big Daddy & Hot Doc as characters but I am despairing over their arc (would we call it an arc?). All in all this week... Whatever.

Wedding Plan (Weds YT & iQIYI) ep 4 of 7 - I am officially being driven to drink. Trash watch is happening!

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thurs Viki) 4 of 8 - This show makes me laugh so much. It is so damn cute. And there’s so much language play going on. THEN . . . JUST ADD SIMON. I love a good Simon. Who doesn’t love a good Simon? I know SO MANY Simons. Now 3 boys are circling the ingénue (who I suspect is less innocent than he appears). So much delightful competition, postering & flirting. “My Jun,” is he, Simon? You are a precious angular stalk man, aren’t you? Pacing is great with this show. Every week I can’t wait for the next installment, that’s a hallmark of the best KBLs. If the language stuff confused you as much as it did me here is an EXCELLENT post on the subject that will help. 

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 7 of 10 eps - Sweetest seme. He’s hurt & mad at his boy but still can’t help taking care of him. I do like the courting with snacks & sweet little notes. (It’d work on me.) YAY!  Reunion kisses & nuzzles!!! Snuggling!!!! Gah! Taiwan, I love you. These 2 aren’t your best kissers but their cuddling is off the charts. I guess we are just gonna be plotless messy gay bfs for the final 3 eps? That’s cool with me. 

Sing My Crush (Korea Weds iQIYI) 3-4 of 8 eps - it’s adorable, they’re adorable, I’m enjoying it a whole lot. It’s like a very soft, low-stakes Addicted. 

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) 10 eps - I liked Love Class 1 (more than most on Tumblr) & I normally don’t want 2nd seasons. But this has an entirely new cast (in the “Replay” model). I’m fine with a 2nd season that has little or nothing to do with the first. J-min is an interesting choice of idols but he’s doing an unexpectedly good job. (He is a truly great rapper, by the way.) Trigger warnings out the gate... also this is complicated. Ready? We got 3 queer besties: artist gay Hyun (J-min), shy cafe gay Minwoo (in love with), sunshine gym bunny bi slut Maru (represent, my brother). Then we got Mr Put-upon-TA (+ boy who saw him nekid). And the twist = all black otaku Kim An (used to tutor artist gay in high school = exes ghosting DRAMA). This last reads as a hyung romance. Which you know I love. But it also feels v dark. All of which is to say, I am intrigued but a little nervous over the tone. 

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 1 of 8 - Classic JBL is back! This one is My Beautiful Man + Tokyo in April/Oh My Assistant. It’s odd and warped af but I like it. Very much has a the feel of old live action yaoi + VERY D/s. BRING IT JAPAN.

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) 6 of 12 eps - Shin is my sweet bean sprout and Minato should just boink him. Why all this waffling? I love the doctor. But mostly I’m as frustrated with this show as Shin must be in general. Minato 2- the season of blue balls.

Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) 2 of 5 eps - I re-watched the first 2 eps & now find it a bit more comprehensible (yes 2: there is an ep 0). I don’t think we can expect this to end happy for either couple. It’s kinda sticky & grungy (in a way I’ve come to expect from the Philippines, although this is not as cluttered visually nor as brightly colored as the Pinoy stuff). I do kind of like that lived-in feeling, it reminds me of Taiwanese shorts. There is something very honestly queer about the primary leads (tattoo & babyface) in particular the way they dance queer? around each other: verbally, emotionally & physically - laying down breadcrumbs of gay for the other to follow. The secondary couple (reunion, cheating) is very sad. Although I do love a counter lift make-out sesh. (Occasionally Cantonese sounds like Vietnamese to me. Apparently I am not alone in this.)

Gossip - AKA P’ABL is Disappointed

I was gonna put a statement here but I just did it separately, earlier this week, since my ask box was overflowing regarding actor gossip and other stuff. 

Meanwhile, Stay With Me ended exactly as expected. Can’t say I didn’t warn ya. You watched this anyway? You got what was coming to you. I am entirely unsympathetic. 

 Next Week Looks Like This:

Look at that PACKED week. NIIICEEEE. 

Starting:

8/18 Dangerous Romance (Thai Fri GMMTC YT) 12 eps - Perth returns to lead out a BL, odds on that ever happening were slim. (Let alone Chimon.) Still here we are. Interesting times. Chimon plays a poor studious kid who hates the school bully but is forced to become his private tutor. Lurv results. 

8/19 Love in Translation (Thai Sat One31) 10 eps - Two strangers start working in a cafe together. Looks very pulp. No idea on international distribution. 

8/19 I Feel You Linger in the Air (Thai Sat Gaga) 12 eps - The time travel historical romance many of us have been waiting for. Adaption of y-novel by Violet Rain. Heartbroken architect is transported to the 1930s. From the producers of Lovely Writer.

8/20 My Universe series (Thai Sun iQIYI) 24 eps - This is sampler pack BL, 12 pairs, each pair gets 2 eps, not sure on the order they’ll drop. Known couples include EarthBank from Destiny Seeker and KaownahTurbo from Love Stage!!!, fresh faces otherwise. Jane to direct.

Still Coming in August 2023

8/22 Kisseki: Dear to Me formerly known as Miracle (Taiwan Tues ????) 13 eps - From screenwriter Lin Pei Yu (We Best Love, H3: Trapped) features a student doctor forced to take care of a gangster. I love the premise and like the writer, Viki or Gaga will get this one.  

8/23 Why R U? (Korean remake iQIYI) is supposed to be out this month, filming started in sept 22. I find everything about this hilarious. I mean if Korea remakes it, we lose all the sexy and then... would we have a story at all? No we would not. Not even for six short eps. It’d be like one of those mesh shopping bags.

8/24 Man Suang (Thailand movie, domestic cinema release) - historical drama about Thai burlesque with KP’s MileApo. 

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Talking grandkids. Made me snicker. (Low Frequency.)

The waist grab that launched a thousand gifs (Laws of Attraction). Okay it was last week but I gotta chronicle it here in the weeklies. For science. 

Sing My Crush. They are so damn cute. 

Thank you for the counter action GMMTV, please Sirs, may I have another?

Captain snark in the house. Of course they handed the best and most complex pairing to these two. Well done GMMTV. (Only Friends) 

I really did not expect J-Min to be this good. (Love Class 2) 

(Last week) 

[lovingeddiediaz]

9-1-1 rant. I have a lot of mixed feelings about this season and a lot of them aren’t good. Love this show, I’ve been watching live since season 3 but yikes that finale was a mess imo definitely one of my least favorites for sure. Very underwhelming. The whole season in general was wacky.

I’ve been feeling this way for at least 2 seasons now. I feel like 911 has been trying to fit these LARGE stories that they don’t have time for or are failing to make time for in these episodes. I get that this season was shortened, but if they can’t properly flush out a story in time, they should figure something else out instead of simplifying it and cutting out so many parts that it loses the build up and the emotion and captivation.

So much happens off screen that I feel like should be SHOWN. like we didn’t get to see Chris upset in the moment when he saw the Shannon lookalike, the scene cut out after he said mom. All we see is just him in his bed telling Eddie to go away later. We didn’t see the confrontation with Marisol and Eddie and her leaving, just an offhand comment of her not coming back later. We didn’t see the phone call that had Buck rushing over. We didnt get to see Eddie at his house alone after Chris leaves, just him leaving with his grandparents and boom, cut scene. We didn’t get to see hen or Chim at Bobby’s bedside.

We don’t get to see the aftermath of ANYTHING. The show keeps cutting the scenes just short and it has been pissing me off so much. They’re missing out on so much depth bc they’re doing too goddamn much at once and too quick.

All action, no build up or payoff. Just one thing after another. You don’t even have time to let your emotions settle and follow the characters bc it’s over so soon. You don’t get to worry and grieve alongside the characters. Bobby almost died and then boom he’s fine again like nothing happened. Like what am I supposed to be emotional over? He almost died in the desert just a couple episodes before that and then he was fine, no mention of it again.

Idk it seems like this show has been doing a lot of telling instead of showing when it comes to what are supposed to be emotionally charged scenes, like Buck saying how he was worried he was gonna lose Bobby but we didn’t really see that. All we got was a teary eye when Buck told Eddie he was in the hospital. Didn’t get to see the team actually save bathena in the beginning, so seeing them get the medals held no weight, like cool we’re told they saved them but we didn’t see shit. We didn’t get to see any of the madney wedding buildup like picking flower arrangements and a venue and dress/tuxedo shopping or anything like that, just assume off screen obviously XD

Buck’s sexuality arc being reduced to background noise also sucks. He kissed a man and then they said ok cool good enough moving on now. Not even bothering to deepen/develop his relationship with Tommy (are they even together or are they still going on dates?? No fuckin clue lmao), instead of a meaningful conversation between them in the finale it’s turned into a sexual joke like come ON, besides the first kiss and the second kiss that Buck initiates, their scenes are meaningless imo and that’s sad bc I was so excited for this storyline in the beginning but again, there’s nothing there. No substance.

And don’t even get me started on henren’s storyline. How many times are they gonna recycle the ‘person gets in the way of henren expanding their family’ bullshit before they finally get creative and think of something new? What is that, 3 times now? It’s just annoying at this point lmao I’m over it.

Why is Tim so against happy storylines? I know he said something along the lines of people wouldn’t watch if the characters were happy, but I think that’s bullshit. If you can’t captivate an audience with positive stories then I think you have a skill issue. Big drama and angst doesn’t equal good story telling and writing. Couldn’t even give madney a nice wedding like wtf.

Idk. I hope next season is thought out better.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

Recently I refound a screenshot I took with a post from Twitter that frustrated me and seeing @kitkatopinions post reminded me about it and I kind of sort of ish touched on it in my reblog but I realized it would be a king winding tangent and I should make me own post but the thing that started all of this was the point about so called “irredeemable” characters and the post in question was talking about how we all think Ruby WILL save Salem. Not might or maybe. Not defeat Salem but SAVE her and between that and the comment about irredeemable characters I have thoughts.

As you hopefully know I am not against redemption arcs. I like them a lot. One of my all time favorite arcs is Zuko’s redemption and his reunion with Iroh. It’s an amazing arc amazing storytelling brilliant. However what frustrated me about fans of the show excited to see Ruby “save” Salem is that these same fans insist that their are other characters who are “irredeemable” and that is it “wrong” to even write fanfics that redeem them. And it continually blows my mind that fans can insist that no matter what Salem, the woman who wants to end the entire world and has killed at least thousands and possible more, will be redeemed and in the same breath insist that despite her heinous and vile actions, her victims are somehow WORSE and no matter what CANNOT be saved.

How has the fndm deluded themselves into thinking that if Salem can be redeemed their are characters who are somehow off the table on the whole redemption thing. She has killed so many, manipulated used broken so many people. But somehow, this isn’t a problem for them. It’s not a deal breaker for them while things like robbing stores or making a morally gray decision in the middle of a nightmare scenario….is?

Like if we’re going to be setting hard lines on what makes a person redeemable vs not Salem should be considered someone in the irredeemable category. Especially if we’re going to pretend that characters like James, Adam and Torchwick are irredeemable the person whose done worse and on larger scale bad thing then them should also be cool spidered irredeemable. Her being a uwu sad woman doesn’t erase the horrific things she’s done and the harm she’s caused.

However, if RW/BY wants to be a hopepunk….then it doesn’t make sense for anyone to be considered irredeemable. As I’ve said, what’s more hopeful, you or a loved one forever being doomed to be evil once you make a mistake or knowing that their is hope and goodness inside someone, no matter how buried and hard to find it is, it’s still their if you’re willing to fight for it.

I would much rather have a Ruby who unapologetically declares “I know you think you’re too far gone. I know you think the darkness has swallowed you so deep their is no way the light can even find you. But you’re wrong. I’ll be your light. I’ll guide you out of the darkness and back into the light because I refuse to ever leave anyone behind.” Over one who says “well sorry you passed your amount of evil things you’re allowed to do before I abandon you so…sucks to be you pal you’re forever evil now.

Hopepunks are supposed to be stories that whole feel hopeless, refuse to give up on hope. They are determined to bring hope and joy to the hopeless. Hope in a hopepunk is even an act of rebellion. And what better world to have hope be rebellion then a world torn by war against what feels like and endless army of soulless monsters, where people are so desperate to survive they are willing to compromise their morals in the name of surviving. A world that have given up on kindness meaning anything. Let Ruby’s kindness be rebellion. Let her refusal to give up on hope and kindness show a world shrouded in darkness that they can still be kind and have hope.

One of my all time favorite redemption arcs is Zuko’s, and something about it I adore and gets me emotional every time is the reunion between Zuko and Iroh. At this point, Zuko is sure his uncle can’t and won’t ever forgive him and he’s certain that it’s what he deserves but he still feels he at least owes him an apology so he does. But instead of being angry and rejecting Zuko, Iroh hugs him, he loves him and assures him that he wasn’t angry, just sad he lost his way. And he was so grateful and happy that he found his way again. Imagine a Ruby like that who doesn’t hate those who’ve lost their way, who only wants to help them find their way back if they do get lost. Yes I’m channeling a fair bit of Iroh and Sora in my discussion of how I want Ruby to be but they are such perfect examples of what the show teased us Ruby would be like.

And no, it would not be weak or childish or whatever other insult you want to throw at her for Ruby to be like this. Maybe naive but….isn’t Ruby holding onto her ideals in the face of adversity so much better though? Her seeing the unthinkable and surviving a living nightmare but still having hope and still showing kindness is so powerful. Her offering forgiveness to those who hurt her because she believes in a United world and wants to be the change she so desperately wants to see. We where teased at this Ruby but it just didn’t happen.

The fndms insistence that certain characters aren’t deserving of redemption only serves to weaken Ruby as this simple soul who will save the world. A simple soul doesn’t arbitrarily decide who can be saved and who can’t. They don’t abandon people who need them the most. They just unapologetically help people. They show kindness and compassion to everyone around them. That is the kind of character RW/BY promised with Ruby, not this person who abandons people when it gets hard or who runs away crying and waiting for the solution to just fall into her lap. And I don’t understand why the fndm insists the Ruby we have is even remotely as good as the Ruby we where promised.

Give me a Ruby who believes no one is ever too far gone. Give me a Ruby who truly and unapologetically fights for ever life.

[my-mt-heart]

I apologize in advance for the rant that's coming your way. If you're seeing this and you're having a good day - you're welcome to skip it.

I'm tired of the whiplash.

Melissa comes back, and then there is a string of articles basically teasing there will be heavy-handed shipbaiting in S2. Then we get a BTS interview, and now there's more to be sad about.

What is the point if the good news is overshadowed every time?

I did not get into this show to "obsess" over superficial characters. I got into this show because of its heartfelt storylines and strong character arcs. Carol and Daryl helped me sift through some dark things in my life, which I am grateful for. It felt nice to root for something precious and one-of-a-kind and funnel hope into two characters who deserved to find their happy ending together. Most people I know are still here because they think these characters deserve better. Ya know what? Because sometimes the world is shite and some days it's hard to find hope. These characters bring hope. And the fans deserve respect (not talking about the ones who were sending hate to actors and/or their families).

The current showrunner, with his contradicting statements, has done nothing but make me feel anxious - even though some of what was said was positive. He has done nothing to win my trust. The contradictions make me think he either doesn't know what story he wants to tell or, worse, he doesn't understand the characters he's working with. If storylines keep getting overlooked, and characters are treated like shipbaiting devices - what's the point of S3?

I'm happy to have Melissa and Caryl back; she's why I have a bead of hope. Her input is the only one I trust at this point. But I have no excitement left to give, and now I have one foot out the door. Until I see something that helps me trust this show again, that won't change.

Bring me a showrunner who understands these characters deeply. Bring me a director who makes room for meaningful stories. Bring me writers who write complex storylines that dive into the psyches of these characters and show us why we fell for them in the first place.

And for the love of all that's good and holy -Bring me strong and powerful female and POC voices. Bonus points for both.

I'm tired of watching POC characters get turned into walker fodder or shipping devices. I refuse to invest in a show where the characters I fell in love with get treated with callousness and shoved into storylines that don't honor them.

I'll simply find something else worth my time. Because you see, I know that my value isn't intrinsically attached to this show and the direction it takes. Sorry about the rant. It's one of those days. Peace be with you.

You don’t have to apologize for how you’re feeling. Everything you said is completely valid and to be honest, it’s where I’m at as well. Having Melissa back is amazing, and I know she has input, but it feels like she and her fans are still being punished. The lead actor reduces us to “obsessed” parasocial shippers, the current showrunner doesn’t acknowledge we exist let alone understand what Carol’s/Daryl’s/Caryl’s story means to us, “The Book of Carol” is being left out of promos, that and Melissa’s name aren’t in the casting calls. How can I trust the show to honor a narrative about a woman beating the odds time and time again when business practices show the opposite? How can I subscribe to AMC+ for a show called "Daryl Dixon" knowing it represents white male privilege 🤷🏻‍♀️ We need leadership to not only give us the heartfelt storylines and deep character arcs that we want, but also to uphold our core values, to nurture, not insult, our intelligence, and to give the lead actress the respect she deserves. That's why I think Melissa should get to choose the new showrunner.

[whenthechickencry]

Our Confession

I actually have read both this one and Last Note Before, it was a long while ago though... so I know the general gist but I don't quite remember all the details

The way Beatrice is doing her dead inside sprite before she realizes others were in the room and then she plays up her hamminess a bunch is really sad, aaa.

Dlanor constantly tells Beatrice she's a good writer and she's so excited but a little sad she won't get to see it as a full-blown game first, and Beatrice is like you don't need to flatter me but she's right Beato you should accept her compliments.

Iirc what the Booklet did for this was having the pages be sealed after this and you had to unseal them, which is actually extremely cool. They did their best here but a simple choice prompt just can't match that, I think.

Haha, the complaining about how Natsuhi is hard to make an accomplice... she's like the only person that cares about the headship as much as the gold, Eva as well but Eva isn't getting that without Sayo's help anyways, thinking about it even in Episode 4 she was one of the first to go,, so I can imagine getting her to cooperate is kind of hard. Granted, once you bring up Jessica to the equation you can probably get her to relent.

Beatrice getting a gun sprite is kind of uncanny, haha, really bringing it home was an early draft before Sayo had the chance to embellish the story with magic.

Kinzo being willing to explain to his children that he would blow them up if he felt like it worked in Sayo's favor when getting accomplices, I suppose.

You know, the fact Genji was like "hey! you are a product of incest. we rewrote your entire life for your incestuous grandfather. All your lovers are your cousins. Everything in your life is a lie. By the way, you have a bomb to blow everything up!" like okaayyy what were you expecting at that point Genji.

It's kind of interesting Beatrice tells accomplices that Kuwadorian is safe - technically Rosa could have probably survived Episode 2 with Maria if she just checked Shannon's corpses and realized she really was dead and just tried to make a mad dash to Kuwadorian, maybe.

Krauss is like yeah sure, sure, why not I guess. The fact that Natsuhi is the one more hesitant about this when she's the one thrust into solving all their problems, figuring out what to do, and she never had the option to not do her part...

This episode really does feel like tearing up the guts of Umineko... you can tell a lot of the accomplices act a little weird around Battler so you can guess Sayo probably told them vaguely of her plan, but it's the sort of thing you don't expect to be explicitly confirmed.

Kumasawa is grinning here, haha, she really does think she's a prank up to the very end.... it's kind of sad. She probably can't even imagine Sayo as someone who would do what she did, but I guess that also shows the way she didn't reach out to try and understand her enough...

It's kind of funny how sometimes you see the story going, ah, shit, sorry I have to embellish this more, right.

While thinking on how to properly kill 5 people she gets distracted by the fact she wants to draw a cute girl instead of a man, haha.

It's kind of funny because she does absolutely think they also did something wrong, but I guess talking to herself like this also makes it easier for her to justify herself to her...

Huh... now that I think about it most magic circles were indeed in places that people don't usually go to, ie the shed or Kinzo's rooms... I did think Sayo did the drawings in between murders, haha

The fact Sayo writes some of her tales while thinking about how the argument with Battler is going to go is kind of funny, haha. I wonder what the Japanese version said for metaworld here... it's not a sentence the translation has used so far and the side arcs don't have the greatest translation, so I am curious...

Beatrice is making fun of Battler for reading so many mystery novels but not being able to figure out the mystery, but also praises the person able to see the fantasy aspect of it...

The fact that so many of the mysteries in Umineko rely on several characters thinking that Shannon/Kanon wouldn't do X is very sad... like Sayo is writing these stories with the assumptions that no one in the family actually understands her and won't care to try to, so her mysteries are safe.

It's kind of interesting how in the episodes Sayo does this they mix up whether a Sayo actor is doing it or whether it's an actual conclusion the characters reached, in order to have more difficulty seeing the pattern. For ex: in Ep1 Eva, the accomplice, and Natsuhi both brought up this argument. Eva was an accomplice but Natsuhi isn't.

It's brought up that Gohda and Kumasawa don't know its actual murder, I knew about Kumasawa but didn't know about Gohda, actually... I think the roulette accomplices always know or at least figure it out early enough. Kumasawa's the one who is always clueless. Not really sure about Gohda in ep2, though. I think a lot of people were probably clueless in ep4.

This scene always fucks me up.... the way one of the few light conversations we see between Sayo and Kumasawa is here, the fact Sayo is crying after what she does before resuming the mocking Beatrice act. The use of "End of a Daydream" as the song...

In general this episode really highlights how? Disassociative? Sayo was during all of this. She constantly switches from doing the cruel witch that laughs at everyone's misfortune, to passing the blame on to Battler for what happened, to being fucked up about what is happening. None of these are Sayo on their own but all of them together make up Sayo. I think an episode like this really helps you see how all of the Sayos are one Sayo. Its role as a post-Umineko arc is interesting too. Even people sympathetic to Sayo occasionally role her as ie the innocent victim who did nothing wrong or flatten her into her relationship with Battler. Sayo is so much more than that and this episode forces you to confront that.

Shannon's words here hit so hard... Sayo here is affirming she was an incomprehensible being that was impossible to understand in the first place. In general, Shannon seems to be the persona most resigned to giving up... Beatrice might think its a long shot but her game and the meta arguments show that she does have a hope that she can be understood. Kanon might not think better is possible, but still yearns for it and isn't satisfied with what they have; as opposed to Shannon who seems completely resigned to the fact no one will understand them and that there is no hope for the future. Ofc all of these are the same person, so it's not useful to see them as totally different perspectives. But I think trying to understand each persona on their own is useful to analyzing Sayo. Like, why is the persona that has completely given up tied to George? Why is the persona that wants better but doesn't think its possible tied to Jessica? I think answering those kinds of questions can help you understand what was going on in Sayo's head during a lot of moments as well as help you contextualize their relationships more.

It's kind of funny how they do the missing corpse trick with Kanon constantly but never with Shannon, when Shannon's corpse appears its either after Sayo is dead or they hide the corpse another way entirely. R07 probably didn't want you to figure out they were the only corpses allowed to do this.

Dlanor points out that Beatrice surely wants to be understood by more than one person, Beatrice doesn't really answer to that remark and just says it's fine for her to just hope that one person understands her.

Of course, Dlanor did end up guiding Battler to Beatrice... and thankfully he didn't have to release her guts in order to do it, but... Battler still didn't understand her with just Beatrice's own words and actions. He needed to be guided and prompted by others to be able to get there, and it was still too late. This is still very sad.

Beatrice gets a shocked expression once Dlanor points out that said prince needs to have love for her or otherwise they won't get to her, and Beatrice relents in giving her the manuscript as long as Dlanor agrees to not release it before she is dead.

Now, on to the present.

Of course, Sayo didn't *just* want Battler to understand her. She wanted others to be able to see her heart. She wanted others to stop painting over her for the benefit of others. She wanted everyone to see her for the full person that she was. But that seems like such an impossible, naive dream that she won't even accept to having it.

There's just so much going on here... Dlanor begging for you to understand her, the reuse of the episode 4 red truth. Dlanor points out that just understanding what went on in the gameboards isn't enough to understand Sayo, there is still so much more for you to understand.

This is the first of all the side arcs I would say is completely required reading, Umineko's Saikoroshi basically. The writing here was excellent, allowing you to see the gameboard from a different perspective helps you understand Sayo much more. Being post-ep8 also lets them be so much more explicit with things they didn't have as much of liberty in the main arcs. There are so many heartbreaking scenes in this episode. If anyone reading this hasn't read this arc, I really beg you to do so.

[clovercalloway]

We Best Love: Episode 2, "Why are we here, just to suffer?"

ON THE PREVIOUS FIRST EPISODE:

Well, damn, now I have no idea what'll happen next. I usually expect something like this to happen near the end of any romance, but they just went and did it.

Will they reach the second base in this episode, then? Who knows.

They already kissed, now we just wait for that sweet tension.

I swear, the more I watch this intro the more gay it looks. Like, I can feel the tension in the air.

Meanwhile, Shi De is a hopeless romantic, he can't be more obvious with that monologue. Like, it's impossible.

He keeps saying things like "look at me" as if that isn't the gayest thing to ever say in any fictional show when you refer to another guy.

[EAW: Now I know what this reminded me of. Warning: kinda MHA spoilery but w/o context , @bossman ]

Idk which one is gayer, I'll be honest

Shi De, you're the one that kissed him underwater OUT OF NOWHERE. Are you really in the position of asking that?

"What's wrong with you? Why did you kiss me?" TELL HIM, SHU YI!

He says that Shu Yi wasn't coming up. Boy, that's the lamest excuse I've heard. Please just follow Bruno Mars advice and say this instead.

Now he's asking about Yu Xin, like he's tired of Shu Yi pining after her for so long (the jealousy, guys... Alexa, play Heather). But Shu Yi is all "you stalkin' me?".

I know he asked that as a joke.

THAT WAS A RETHORICAL QUESTION, BUT SHI DE SAID GO BIG OR GO HOME!

Is Shu Yi fucking serious?

"So you can defeat me". Sweetie, that's not-

Not the reaction I expected. Like, I used to watch Ladybug but this guy's too much. How is he somehow more oblivious than Adrien? Is barely episode two. Lord, please don't tell me it gets worse. I'll need ice cream if he starts acting more dense than he already is.

Anyways, Gao Shi De tries to comfort him but Shu Yi tells him to get lost and our boy obeys.

He went back into the water, istg...

I can only picture Linkin Park in the backhead of his mind playing very loudly. My son is in his sad arc.

He's being very dramatic and thinking "boy, I need to get over it".

Well, he actually says a lot more, trying to be deep and all that, but I was very distracted by his dramatic self.

Tho he's right that it's worse when the unrequited love is a friendship. Little does he know, for Gao Shi De the unrequited love is hitting hard.

Oh no

He seems into it

Well, idk what'll happen next, but whatever it is, please don't let this pretty lady be a rebound, what you need is to dwell in your own feelings, even if it doesn't feel right at the moment, because it's better to learn how to live with those emotions and then manage them, that way you will be mature enought to fall in love in a better- who am I kidding, his ass is not listening

Fang Zheng Wen tries to talk to him, but then Yu Xin appears and invites them for lunch, but Shu Yi says he "doesn't wanna be a third wheel".

I feel you, man. You don't have to force yourself to be in that uncomfortable situation.

HERE COMES THE BOY TO THE RESCUE

It's a green flag if someone notices what you're trying to say without saying it. He was uncomfortable and at least someone not only noticed but also did SOMETHING about it.

Like, no hate to Zheng Wen but it's obvious the atmosphere is not pleasant for your friend, you should say or do something.

Speaking of being proactive, Shi De went and showed him a recording of him at the pool, in a low moment as we know he got a taste of that unrequited love.

Shu Yi is again asking the right questions ("why do you follow me all the time", "what do you want") that would give him a clear answer if he wasn't so dense.

The nerve of this guy. He's blackmailing him with the video.

"You have to be on-call and obey me." Sounds fruity, LET'S GO!

Modern marriage proposal, they call it.

So the only way to break this deal off is for Shu Yi to beat him, anything counts. Shi De tells him that and Shu Yi looks excited.

"I'll beat you hard" This isn't getting less gayer by the second.

"Tomorrow in my house" I'll count those as dates.

Skip to the next morning and now they're arguing over going on a car or a MRT.

Bro is blackmailing him with the video again, so they end up being late and Shu Yi pretends to be mad about it.

You are not beating the stalker allegations.

"You have it so you can put pranks on me?" Why are we here, just to suffer?

While Shu Yi keeps being his oblivious self, Shi De invites him for breakfast.

Class is boring and Shu Yi falls asleep on his shoulders, so adorable.

Still, you'll have to lend him your notes, man.

Classmate over there is telling Shi De to wake him up and our boy refuses. Let him have this moment, dude.

"But he's not even from this departam-" "Shut up"

After class, Shu Yi suddendly wants to have lunch.

Oh

Well, Yu Xin is there and Gao Shi De can tell that his boy is not feeling good.

So now both of them are hiding, but

"How long do you have to hide from her?" He's not wrong

Obviously is gonna be awkward but is better to do it sooner rather than latter or it'll be worse and he'll end up losing his friends without wanting to.

And Shu Yi knows this, but he says it still hurts. And that's totally reasonable

But then "if she finds out, we can't be friends anymore"

No, man. If you can get pass that, you'll just have an even stronger friendship. If not, she at least will know it and will try to explain how you're still important to her, even if her love isn't the same as the love you say you feel. The only thing actually puting your friendship in danger is the dreaded miscommunication.

"Why do I tell you this" Cause he's your future husband

And, of course, because is nice to say things. Bottling up your feelings will only hurt you more on the long run, you need to face them head on.

Gao Shi De agrees with me, a total w

"You can't just put [love] back into the shelf"

Then he says Shi De wouldn't understand. Boy do I have news for you...

Shi De says he DOES know and Shu Yi is curious

This is too much. This is Wei Ying levels of oblivious.

Shu Yi, stop ruining my ship, you're part of it.

Shi De's classmate keeps looking at him like that meme of someone pointing with their eyebrow raised and a big rainbow at the side.

Wait, I had an idea

Sorry, I had to

Sharing a meal is fruity activity, says science (at this point it's just me thinking these are dates, because if they're not, I'm even more curious about how a REAL date between these two would be).

Well, now the classmate, the same one from before, keeps butting in and acting as if this couple's existence is a personal offense.

But his dislike seems more inclined towards Shu Yi. [EAW: is this guy 🌈 too?]

Now our main couple and their closed ones (even tho the guy with no name may only be a classmate) are all in the same table, and this dude keeps making passive aggressive comments, but Shu Yi bro defends him and says that Zhou Shu Yi doesn't lose, not against Shi De, and if he did, it was on purpose.

Thanks for exposing him, man.

And guess who comes in

Welp, a lot has happened in just one meal, right?

Of course, Shu Yi leaves immediatly. And Shi De follows.

At an arcade, Shu Yi's friend is asking him why are they so close now? Is it another prank for Shi De?

No, my man, but you should ask Gao Shi De, at least he knows more about his own feelings.

Suddendly, and idea.

Did you really never think of this? Were you so caught up in trying to rile him up that you didn't actually do any basic competition? You really are something else.

Playing montage!

This is even funnier because for Gao Shi De, I bet he shares my mind and totally thinks of this as a date

Meanwhile, Shu Yi

"Your days are numbered, you little-"

Shu Yi does his litle finger gun at Shi De and I'm like don't worry, you already shot him, just look at how his eyes are hearts when he's with you.

Welp, we have a flustered Shi De.

It's obvious who keeps winning again and again. But in case it wasn't clear with episode 1, it's Shi De.

Shu Yi leaves, ready to be "tortured" again tomorrow, and Shi De is totally smug because he got what he wanted, at least. A nice time with future bf.

Cute aggression, they call it. Typical of future life partners.

Perfect opportunity to commit theft, says Shu Yi, but he's caught instantly.

Both begin to wrestle for the phone and for being caught and then somehow this happens.

The way I had to pause (the video and myself) after this. Gods, my mind is not pure and I'm going to hell.

Also, I snorted hella hard.

Yu Xin is me fr

I know it's basically the same scene, but this is just too perfect for a meme

Yu Xin apologizes saying "I thought you and Gao Shi De were together". Give them a few months. If it depends on Shi De, it could be weeks. If it's on Shu Yi's hand, maybe we'll need like three years at minimum.

It's usually "from their limited perspective, it can be seen as fruity" but man, from my non limited perpsective as someone who witnessed those moments, this is still fruity as f.

Yu Xin has the right energy but not the right idea and keeps insiting that Shu Yi confesses. Shi De gets tired of watching this uncomfortable circus and leaves with Shu Yi.

"Are they really not dating?" You both are his friends and know him well enough, I do not. And even I think this is very very rainbowish.

Well, Yu Xin, they are on a date so does this answer your question?

"Why do you add spicy if you can't take it?" "Cause you like it" This is a gem.

"I just know you too well" It's nice to know that at least from Shi De's perspective this is a rivalry more than an enemies relationship.

Shu Yi thanks him for getting him out of there, and says that Yu Xin and Zheng Wen are really compatible and make a perfect couple.

"What would you do if the one you love loves another person" says Shu Yi, having dealt with something similar to rejection but accepting it.

After eating they go out but Shu Yi starts feeling bad and Shi De takes him to a doctor.

"Try to separate them and take adantage of it" says Shi De and Shu Yi gulps hard. Try to run but you won't get far, kid.

So that was episode 2! Aside from the doctor being a bummer and not letting me and Shu Yi live (or well, die), it was fun. They're not even in an official relationship yet, but sure feels like it!

"If you want to die keep eating spicy hotpot" Hey doc, I'll die but I'll die happy, ok?

Shu Yi, man, like, besides the obvious hints through the whole episode, he literally kissed you. Like, how dense can you be?

And to @bitacrytic, oml, thanks a lot! Tumblr was being a b*tch and didn't let me answer your comment. And yeah, so far I'm invested. But also busy. I hope to finish the post for episode 3 sooner.

The most probable case is that I'll be uploading these blind reactions weekly, but only if I'm less busy those weeks. [Jokes on me, adult life is hard.]

Anygays, hope you enjoyed this. (I surely did.)

[aihoshiino]

thots on saito now he's back?

So Saitou has thots now...............

More seriously, I don't have a ton to say just yet since his reintegration into the cast is so fresh but I'm tentatively interested to see how things go. I really appreciate he wasn't just uncritically accepted back into the fold and that Miyako smashed his face in with a brick offscreen like she deserved so my bare minimum for vibing with this plot thread had been met and I'm excited to see where we go from here.

About Saitou as a character in general... I think I like him a lot more than I maybe should do? LOL

Not necessarily because he's an unpleasant or unlikable character (though I would totally get it if somebody was off on him) but because I think my fondness for him is pretty out of proportion to his actual role in the story. I've said this before but the Strawberry Pro family from volume one (Ai and the twins & Ichigo and Miyako) is my favourite dynamic in the manga so Saitou kind of inherits a lot of goodwill on the basis of being part of that group alone.

I am also, like any other gay person with taste, extremely weak to the trope of "guy accidentally becomes the dad of a troubled teen and doesn't even realise it" so Saitou and Ai's relationship was basically cooked up in a lab to make me so so so so so so so sad and soft. I also just think he and Ai have a really fun rapport when they're together and getting to revisit it is one of my favourite part of rereading or rewatching the prologue arc. Wanting to see more of that dynamic is one of the big reasons (apart from, you know, The Obvious) that I wish we'd get some kind of comfy happy end spinoff or an anthology or something.

I also really like what he does for the series commentary on the entertainment industry, however accidental or otherwise it was on Aka's part. I think when you're writing a story like OnK which is so strongly about commentary on abusive systems, it's very easy to make it onto a black and white issue where everyone involved is either an active perpetrator or a hapless victim - OnK is refreshing to me in that it's very honest about how many people there are in that fucked up system trying their best to just make good art and minimize any harm done in the process but end up perpetuating harm regardless.

Saitou is in this gray area for me where I think it's undeniable that he was complicit in exploiting and hurting Ai - at every step of the way, Ai was a Strawberry Productions commodity before she was his daughter and Saitou loved her even as he was feeding her to the idol industry meat grinder. But at the same time, B-Komachi gave Ai hope. It gave her opportunities and a goal to work towards and it got her out of a truly dogshit situation that she had no power to change without help, even before she was pregnant.

So it's like... yes, Saitou was complicit in Ai's suffering, but he was also one of the very few people in the industry who really, genuinely gave a shit about her. He's not blameless by any stretch, but it's hard for me to WANT to blame him especially since like... the dude lost his daughter!!! I think that's punishment enough, don't you?

Man, I had a lot more to say than expected lol. Thank u for the ask, anon, I hope this was interesting to read!

[bookinit02]

HAVEN OH MY GOSH THE NEW EPISODE!!!!!! I SCREAMED. I made a bunch of very insane notes and I thought I'd gift them to you. as a treat:

fucking COLD

BABY WILL AND MIKE GOT ME SOBBINGGG

So curious as to what's going on with Will and Vecna, also Will tell your boyfriend!!! Come on!!! crazy together!!! (also MIKE tell your boyfriend actually. y'all need to talk about the messed up Vecna stuff!!! that's the whole idea!!!)

OH FUCK OH NO MAX AND LUCAS. OH NO. OH NO I AM SO SAD. OH NO. I AM CRYING. WHYYYYY

NANCY ROBIN ERICA TEAM UP!!! Erica gets friends and mentors as she SHOULD and I love her

WINGWOMAN NANCY!! Hasn't even been come out to yet and is already the wingwoman of all time. We love to see it. I love her.

RONANCE CRUMBS???????

THAT JANCY BREAKUP WAS THE MOST HEARTBREAKING THING I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME. I AM CRYING. SOBBING. BUT IT WAS SO GOOD

What does Karen Wheeler KNOW

Mike and Holly are the cutest little sibling babies and I love them so much. They are my favourite and Holly is adorable and deserves the world.

NANCY AND MIKE ARE ALSO THE CUTEST SIBLINGS. QUALITY WHEELER FAMILY CONTENT RIGHT HERE. I LOVE THEM ALL SO MUCH.

OHHH MIKE JUST CAME OUT. OH HONEY. NANCY YOU ARE THE BEST BIG SISTER I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

THE JONATHAN AND WILL MIKE AND NANCY PARALLELS IM-

THE MIKE AND NANCY SCENE AS A WHOLE. THAT IS LITERALLY MY FAVOURITE SCENE SO FAR. THAT WAS SO GOOD. READING THAT IN THE FIC IS GOING TO BREAK MY HEART EVEN MORE. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Oh Mike. I love you so much. you and will need to TELL EACH OTHER THINGS. PLEASE.

All in all amazing episode, I loved it and it was sad and happy and funny and destroyed me like six times but it's WORTH IT!!!! I'm excited for the chapters of the fic!!!

ok i hope it’s ok that i waited a few days to answer this—i didn’t want to spoil it for anyone!!

first of all YES i was so fucking proud of myself for that line😭 such a banger . i literally left it there for like 2 days without writing anything else bc i was like how tf do i follow that😭😭

MIWIIII💗💗💗😭 BABY MIWIIIIII💗🫶🏻😭

yes!! i am also super excited to develop the will & vecna storyline. and listen they’ve been miscommunicating for like 2 seasons now, ofc they’re gonna keep going (for a little bit at least😉)

yeah honestly i cried writing that scene☹️ they make me so . So.

yes!!! i need some sort of girl power moment in s5 so badly (but Not in that cringy forced way that shows do sometimes if u know what i mean😭)

nancy is The wingwoman of all time actually. she treats it as a matter of life and death. it is a one-woman competition and she is NOT losing.

ronance crumbs… perhaps… hehe :)

yeah listen it broke My heart too and i was SO split on whether to do it or not . but i think it’s the most realistic option and they definitely have things they need to work out!! i’m honestly very very interested to see what the writers do with the love triangle storyline bc this has definitely been the most challenging plot to write so far. but i am enjoying the challenge :)

as for what karen knows… we’ll have to find out👀

I AGREE😭😭💗 HOLLY IS SO UNDERRATED WE NEED MORE OF HER SO BADLY!!!

nancy and mike as well. just more wheeler family dynamics all across the board bc i am Obsessed with them!!

yeah that scene was very emotional to write😭😭 he’s come so far and i’m so proud of him!! (is the one actively writing his character arc)

love me a good parallel🫡🫡

THANK YOU THAT’S ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES AS WELL💗💗💗 and yes i’m so excited to write the fic version!!

i’m so glad you liked this episode, thank you SO much for this comment! i don’t get as many comments on my scripts (understandably) as i do on my fic, but i really appreciate when people give me feedback :) i’m so happy that you’re enjoying them!

[jaysbookofnothing]

Forth Wing Review

What is there not to love about the fourth wing? We have dragons, we have a found family, we have smut, a mildly confusing plot, an enemy to a lover that moves by too fast for it to be an enemy to a lover. So let's go into my thoughts about it. The story follows Violet Sorrengail, who, despite her small stature and preference for scholarly pursuits, is forced by her mother to join the elite dragon rider academy, Basgiath War College.

Violet Sorrengail, the protagonist—I didn't mind her that much; she was an okay character. I wish we got more onto her having a cronic illness or having a disability of some sort that would excuse the whole "Youre too weak" thing because it got annoying to read so many people call her weak when she's pretty average. Another thing I liked about Violet being short was that she didn't just get forgotten about immediately; she had to get extra things to make up for it.

Xaden Riorson was okay—nothing amazing, nothing horrible—to me personally. didn't like how quickly he and Violet were set up as enemies and then to just not be? It felt more like Violet thinking they were enemies, but Xaden not caring that much and just trying to not get in trouble?? I liked the rebellion set up at the end of the book; it felt like a nice tie-in. As said before, he's just another tall, dark, and handsome guy with shadow powers, as if we don't already have hundreds of them. I am curious as to how he's going to become king at the end, though (I think we're all aware that the rebellion is going to win and they'll be king and queen, yada yada). The whole "violence" thing is such a disgusting thought, and I will never forgive him for it. 

The dragons—yes, I am thinking of the dragons as characters because they are!! I honestly wanted more of the dragons; I wish there were more conversations with them, especially due to the bond and being able to talk to them. It just felt like a loss. I just really like dragons, okay?

Dian Aethos, nepo baby Gale. He's just annoying and pathetic. At the end, we say that his power is seeing people's memories after touching them, and how all through the book he was touching Violet (and reading her memory) just rubbed me the wrong way. The fact that he always tried to downplay her and never took her seriously annoyed me as well. It was funny to see him take up Xaden's role in the second book and look so weak in comparison. I wouldn't mind a revenge arc for him, honestly; I just want to go off and live his sad wet dog life somewhere else.

Rhiannon Matthias, I honestly don't know if I can count her as a main character, but since that's what the wiki says, I shall. Rhia is cool; she's ready to fight for Violet. She's a good friend, and I'm excited to see what happens to her plot line!

My nitpicks now! It was confusing as to why children of the rebellion aren't allowed to gather in groups of 3 or more but are still able to bond with dragons. I get they are forced to join in order to kill them, but if they don't die, then they have a dragon??? There was also (in my opinion) a lot of foreshowing, like Xadens always saying cryptic things about Violet's brother and Yada Yada. I don't have much to say that's bad. Fourth Wings is your basic romantic book for those who are into it. It was an entertaining read; of course there's criticism to be given, but I don't think it should be hated, like it's the worst thing ever. 

[lin-lizzie]

I JUST LISTENED TO THE EPISODE OF TFTSD WHERE YOU'RE A CHARACTER THATS SO COOL!! ALSO WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE PC FROM EACH CAMPAIGN?? SORRY IM EXCITED :D

aaa it’s ok!!! I was sooooo excited hearing my name too LOL

as for favorite player characters… for campaign 1 Kyborg!!! He’s so goofy and silly and stupid, I honestly never expected to love him so much but omg before the Spectril brainrot i was CRAZY for Kyborg too. he’s just??? So???? HEHWHWHEHWHEHWHWHWHWHEEHWH

I think it’s also because of his whole arc in Armageddon plus his backstory… I love me a traumatized man/j

Im really struggling for the second campaign though… like ok can I be honest here? I love both campaigns, I really really do love the work the cast puts into each episode!!! But for some reason the second campaign hasn’t exactly… captured my full attention? I don’t know how to word or phrase this, but as funny and amazing and cool Groteth is… it hasn’t exactly drawn me in as much as the Infinight campaign did. I really don’t know what it is, like literally they still have the same humor, rp and y’know all that, but like… I don’t know ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I really want to say though I am between Mathide and Chip, mainly cuz Chip is a tiefling rogue (assassin too) and omg I LOVOOVOVOEEEEEE that. He’s also very funny, and love how his wife is missing (I miss my wife tails. I miss her a lot.), but also Mathide is just… so relatable. LOL

I think I liked Duran and uhhhhhh what’s her name again? Barbara’s character in the mini campaign, the Euthagenia memes are taking over my head so I can’t remember her name…

I am also going to use this ask as an excuse to talk about my other favorite characters that are NOT player characters!

From the Infinight campaign, everyone that knows me or have seen my stuff SHOULD know who my favorite NPC is here. I love him so much!!! Spectril, just, AUAAUUAUAAUUAHHHH

however I would like to say that I LOVE all of the OG Infinights too! I sooooo wish we had more on Elleve and Grissly, sad the women get barely any screentime :( I also wanna know more about Fred and Elleve!!!

Back to Spectril though, there’s SO much I love about him. Not just design and voice (aka physical attraction) but literally he AUUAUAUAUGHHH

his whole little arc within Wight Winter? His introduction with his bust at the library? Just. I don’t know how to explain this without making this whole post about him. Maybe after this.

The mini campaign didn’t have many npcs… but I will say I absolutely LOVED the references to the main 4. (Well, 3. Idk if Gum Gum had one, I can’t hear for shit)

Campaign two should be a little obvious but omg I LOVE LIMBER LIZZIE. THEY ARE SO COOL. BADASS. YOU GO LIMBER LIZZIE. oh and uhhh what’s her name? Franceska? Robert’s wife also the Wolfman’s girlfriend?(/j) yeah she’s cool too

[lolabearwrites]

This is just a ramble post about my thoughts of S8 of Voltron. Biased shipping opinions ahead. This is not written in a neat order it's just bullet points of random thoughts

-Seeing non evil Zarkon and baby Lotor in the ending was so sad because like, Zarkon wanted to be a good dad he was excited too.

-In the dream-scape of the final EP when it shows memories of Allura and Lotor's time together then Haggar is like "he was happy...he deserved better" like no shit Sherlock. He should have gotten better by the writers just decided not to?? Like how they wrote him, I can't tell if they were trying to make him be irredeemable or not?? Because I would have loved some Zuko arc shit for Lotor. And Lotura I absolutely love them as a couple. Like I can say no to enemies to lovers I'm not that strong

-The ending scene after the "one year later" where Keith is standing Infront the Galra empire and giving his speech LOVED that. Especially because he was saying things like "We as the citizens of the Galra empire" or "cleanse the mistakes of our forefathers" just love that he accepts himself as part of the Galra race.

-It was so disturbing to me once we learned Haggar was using Lotor's ship with his melted corpse inside. Creeps me out a little ngl

-The lions should have been sacrificed instead of Allura. And the fact that they disappeared regardless just feels like an insult to injury.

-Allura's death really felt like a cheap way to get people to feel emotional about the ending. Also, no one really pushed back against the idea of Allura sacrificing herself, which I thought was odd

-If I hear one more time about how their strength comes from their bond and their friendship I will lose it. Especially given the fact that they seemed like co-workers this season.

-Yeah so, Broganes?? Ya know the ones who had the most fleshed out relationship the whole show? Nope. Guess not anymore.

-Farmer Lance? Wtf. No thankyou. Like, if he wants to do it for sometime to be able to heal after Allura's death that's fine! It's cool and makes sense! But for the rest of his life??? No.

-I am so happy Keith and Axcea (Acxa? I'm not sure how to spell her name, but she was one of Lotor's generals) didn't become canon. That came out of left field. Her and Veronica tho? Doesn't matter if it's a ship or not but I did enjoy their friendship, but again, don't know either of them as characters very well so not too many thoughts for them

-So the writers took Lance's character development. Crushed it. Stabbed it. Burned it. And threw it out a window. All he did this season was be Allura's bf. He is a good bf I'll give him that, but he has more to offer than just that

-Coran didn't get to say goodbye to Allura and that's one of the things I'm the most salty about.

[wishesunderthestars]

JUNGKOOK AND JIMINNIE IS MAKING ME CRY!!THEY ARE THE SOFTEST, FLUFFIEST LOVERS INSIDE THE CASTLE RIGHT NOW!!! I AM SCREAMING BECAUSE FINALLY THEY GOT THE MOST AWAITED CONVERSATION!!! AND I COULDN’T BE MORE PROUD OF JIMINNIE TAKING THAT FIST STEP!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH ELLIE!! THANK YOU FOR GIVING US SUCH AN AMAZING FICTION!!!

I am so glad that slowly Taehyung is finally trying to bond with some of the people in the castle. He’s just such a softest baby and I just want to bubble wrap him so he could be safe forever!! I hope soon he won’t be so scared of the MC and will try to bond with her. I know it will come!! Im just so excited reading his healing arc.

I couldn’t help but feel sad about Tae not having someone to confide with about his nightmares. That makes me think of my question.

Ellie if you don’t mind me asking, who do you think between the people in the castle would he turn to if he gets his nightmare episode again when he feels more comfortable with everyone? Im not sure if you can understand the question but to rephrase it who between the pack will he talk to about it???

Also, do you think you would sometime in the future meet the pack and the mc’s ex lover? what do you think would be their reaction? Are we also half way done with the fiction?? Just wondering!! Please don’t take this question the wrong way 🙏🏼

Ellie!!! Thank you so much with this gift you’ve been sharing. You write so beautifully and I really just wanna thank you because every time I read this I feel so comforted. Like im cuddling with my dogs with the fluffiest bed and blanket on a rainy day! Thank you so much for being so dedicated and making these chapters, despite your busy schedule!! I hope you to have a great break and take care!! ☺️☺️☺️

Jungkook and Jimin are definitely the softest and fluffiest!! They have been through so much (I know it's my fault but...) and now they are finally talking and on the same page. Jimin has gotten so much braver since he first arrived at the Castle and it's mostly because of how loved he is and now he knows it. I love them so much.

Taewhyung is taking a few baby steps to get closer to the pack. He can see the way they act around each other and how soft and dull of live they are and it makes him very confused but at the same time he secretly craves for that too. He doesn't know how to be like that though and he still can't understand what the limits are, how he should act and what his place is. He is less afraid of the mc now but he can't help but be guarded around her, it doesn't help that he doesn't see her that much (regardless of what ashe believes)

To answer your question I think he would either go to Hoseok or Jimin. Hoseok because he has spent the most time with him and he trusts him the most. And Jimin because being with him is easy, he feels like there are no expectations there (soulmate things, you know).

About the pack meeting Jacob... Maybe... We'll see... They are a little overprotective of her so that would show. And they don't like him on principle so it would be interesting.

Eunoia is more than halfway done and after the next chapter we'll move on to the final part of the story. It makes me emotional to think about it. Thank you so much for reading 💜💜💜

[demonslayedher]

Buri-senpai~!! Anon-kouhai’s here once again to infiltrate your ask box for one last time. While I’m sad that we’ll no longer have these interactions, I wish you all the best at your new job! First things, first: Buri-senpai praise and season 3 fangirling! Your Michael Jackson cosplay was stunning! You looked so good! I’m extremely looking forward to the upcoming SWORDS SWORDS SWORDS season! We’ll finally get Tanjirou’s black sword with Rengoku’s tsuba, Muichirou’s beautiful white sword, 1/4

Anon-kouhai, you were remarkably ready and quick to fire this Ask. Such impressive preparedness! Are you sure you're not Anon-ninja? And thank you! I felt very ritzy in the Muzan get-up and SWORDS SWORDS SWORDS are very, very exciting!! Ask Box open or not, we'll be excited together! I'm especially curious about Muichiro's white blade. 

As for Nezuko welding Uzui's arm back on, this almost feels like it should go along with this Ask--maybe getting rid of the poison and melding it back on wouldn't be enough to breathe life back into a dead hand, but perhaps demon cells!? A life-long present from Nezuko? Just enough to get blood back in those fingers! And like, repair the severed nerves and sinews. Doctor Nezuko, on the case!! Maybe with some help from Tamayo. ^.^

As for exploring Nezuko's abilities, I'll admit I got a handful of other Asks that require me to be imaginative about Blood Techniques and this is not my strong suit. ^^;;; If it's a matter of coming up with a Blood Technique to serve a narrative purpose I usually find that easy, but if it's a matter of thinking of anything out of nowhere I find myself grasping for perimeters. I also find it easier to dig into what's already there, so I would probably stay stuck on developing Nezuko's preexisting techniques. Nezuko clearly is more creative than I am, what with being able to decide in a moments notice to burn poison and stuff. Her approaches are simplistic, but effective.

Aaaaahhh, again, I feel like I would be more creative if I was already in the process of writing something--aha!! I did kinda like how I utilized her Blood Technique at the end of Impatience & Hunger (but oops that's kind of a spoiler)? And when it comes to having gotten time to explore Nezuko's abilities more, we totally could had used one more arc!! As a long-time (and clearly dedicated) follower of my blog, perhaps you read my proposal for an anime-only filler arc? That would be a good spot for some more exploration! Maybe if I were ever to write that proposed filler arc as a fanfic, some idea would come to me. I guess that's it for this--keep your secrets as you like, Anon-kouhai-ninja! I'll assume you're watching around every corner!

[tuiyla]

on bela: i don't even know how to feel, i'm so conflicted, right, cause in s1 she was my favorite (i couldn't even tell you why, she's not even really the kind of character i usually gravitate towards but smth about her was so charming, i was obsessed with her) and now.. i am just sad. don't get me wrong i still love her sm and i actually appreciate that she's making so many shitty mistakes bc, that's life, and that's part of growing up and learning to become a good person, but GOD i am sad -dan

Oh I feel that, you have every reason to be sad. I was hoping we might have hit rock bottom with Bela already and would start on a positive arc but nope, there was more!

The one reason I'm still... well happy isn't the right word but content with Bela's stuff is because I genuinely believe hers was the best written. Did it hurt, god yeah and she really tested my "support women's wrongs" stance. Girl did soooo many things wrong this season and these last two stunts with the Foxy and Georgia didn't help. But I do feel like the puzzle pieces all fit together and we have been leading up to this. During her last scene at first I thought she'd try and go back to the Catullan, but I suppose wanting to essentially run away is similar, in a sense.

Also in that last scene we saw the self-awareness she's been lacking all season, and that was reassurance that she does feel it, it's just too terrifying to face. And in that not only is Bela's story the most well-written but the most emotionally poignant. It sucks right now because she's in such a bad place and her future up in the air, but I this last scene made me have hope for the future. And, tbh, turned her into a much more interesting ch for me. This is how Bela has really arrived for me, with her broken admission that all she's ever wanted was to be liked and she messed it all up. Like, I just find it satisfying, despite feeling for her, how everything piled up to land her here. I especially appreciated that we acknowledged her 1.8 GPA and general lackluster academics because she more than anyone has been ignoring that and it should matter.

I feel like such an ass for saying her misery is by far the best storyline lmao but it's clear to me that most care was put into Bela's arc. And sure, that arc has been a downfall pretty much all season and those are inherently not fun to watch with chs we like and root for but at least I have something to root for, you know? No other character has made me feel so much for them this season than Bela did in that one scene. That was just so raw, you know? Like damn girl yeah you really have messed up, now let's put you back together. I'm really excited for Bela in season 3; I mean the only way from here is up surely lol.

There was also her throwaway line about being treated worse at the Catullan than she did Georgia and ashkjjs I'm so unwell about that, someone get this girl help.