#i dont know how to describe the premise in a way that doesnt make it sound like the most basic pwp story ever

[red-animator]

Hey if I theoretically posted some fucked up Zestmilla smut, would there be an audience for it or should I keep it in my drafts?

[thatneoncrisis]

oh captain my captain, I've read maybe ten TLT fics in all my time here so I'm not necessarily familiar with the common fandom takes. If you haven't already, would you mind elaborating on them? I'd like to know more about the history that prompted you to write your latest fic. please and thank you, I'm still reeling from the update today and I think I need to hear like. all of your thoughts ever about writing it

GUH. christ. idk its like a lot of things, its a year and a half of fucking around on ao3 and getting annoyed in a way i am only susceptible to because im fucking Online. if i get too specific it starts calling people out by name which i want to avoid so keeping it super broad:

the way gideon is written wrt being a trans butch of color

connected to that point like, the insane amount of rizz she has. god its so funny. to me

the way fics have like an interesting premise but run at a breakneck pace to get to the kissing and then it just ends. nooo the world was so cool go back nooooooo

how a lot of stories do this thing where they want ianthe to be a shitty ex girlfriend/half hearted love interest but they cant commit to her being genuinely awful or treat her like a person with feelings so it accidentally reads like her worst crime was being uncommunicative and bad at sex and unfunny, because the audience is already primed to hate her so were just like yeah this tracks

the sixth mommying harrow to an unbearable degree, like they treat her the way they treated nona in canon, this also extends to them wingmanning her

the like. paradox of wanting genuine conflict between harrow and gideon but also retaining their close banter. this is a hard thing to do if theyre like MEETING in a fic for the first time. theres rarely a reason for them to hate each other with such intensity and thus it fizzles out like immediately. i didnt even really bother with this i just did an immediate inexplicable closeness that is then undercut when harrow snaps out of it by going back to how she generally is

wrt harrows relationship with her faith this is less something im upset about and more something i rarely seen done in a way that interests me as an individual. shes catholic Ish, it doesnt really matter re her day to day outside of her childhood or maybe her job, she might pray sometimes or allude to long since conquered internalized homophobia

and in a similar vein like the very. Correct way people talk. its all very precise terminology to describe their sexuality or gender or a diagnosis they got and are actively working on. nobody is a faggot or transsexual or a girlboy or a thing they dont have a word for but know exists

again im saying this as often as i can. if youve done any of this cool. genuinely. keep doing it i cant stop you. its more about how often i see it just compound in on itself over and over, its the vast majority of fics that do at least one of these things. its a personal problem about wanting more from something that doesnt want to be more, and i cant make it more, because its not mine and wasnt made for me

[elephant-in-the-pride-parade]

Thank you for your thorough reply. I mostly sent that message since I personally can see how people would be quick to call the premise of that fic problematic with regards to race. Making an Indigenous man biologically driven to be submissive towards a white woman has negative associations with “taming the savage” type tropes (1/2)

Thanks for reaching out again and meeting me where I am at on this. D/s and race do need to be tackled sensitively, I agree.

In this case from reading the fic I thought that this treatment of the men in submissive position by this particular writer was done as well as one could. The sub-assignment was equally distributed among almost all the main men on the cast (first point) so did not appear linked to race in particular. Chakotays submissiveness was also not tied to his race in text in any way (second point). The fic also gave him agency over whether to pursue a sexually submissive relationship (third point). Regarding Belanna, the fic put all the main women, not just B, in the Dom position (fourth point).

In terms of advice I've followed as a white writer and a beta on how to handle race in fics, especially in smut fics, I always hear two pieces of advice as best practices - (1) wherever possible include characters performing the kink that are white and nonwhite and give them equal treatment, and (2) avoid sexualizing/exotifying/fetishizing racial characteristics. From the three chapters that did get posted, the author was following that advice in terms of writing her D/s world. I cant judge the actual smut scenes of course, these werent ever posted, but in terms of establishing how this fictional sexual mechanic works the author seemed to be doing the best they could to portray this equally in white and non-white characters, and was not fetishizing race (again at least that I noticed).

The tags on this fic were extremely comprehensive in terms of what kinks would be tackled. this is usually a good indicator for me that this is going to be handled sensitively on the kink front. There are not enough kink fics written by people who actually do their research so I was looking forward to seeing if that would pan out in the writing itself.

Belanna is tricky because as you pointed out in your 2nd message, the angry latina point is very valid. Her klingon temper is also referenced a lot in canon and is used as a clumsy method of showing her grappling with her dual-identities and her dealing with anti-klingon sentiments. And so I think it is a struggle for writers to figure out how to write her in character in that regard without being insensitive as canon is bad at it to start. It is a valid criticism to raise but its also helpful to be able to point to some fic or other resource that either does handle the temper well or explains how not to handle it.

Given that Belanna didnt actually appear in person in the three chapters posted, I really dont have a basis for how the author would have handled her character. And I wont get to find out if she would have been sensitive about it now.

All that to say what I took issue with in terms of the negative comments the author described receiving wasnt that she had been accused of racism. it is that she'd been harassed in multiple ways, on multiple fics, even told to kys over a made up sexual mechanic and that this had hurt her enough to just... stop. To stop writing and sharing her kink. to stop writing these characters. And thats... awful. Blocking and Muting or clicking the back button were all choices this anon had. Sharing specific instances where the D/s was racially insensitive was also a choice they had. Instead it sounds like they went on anon, made extremely general accusations about racism, homophobia, and not understanding the characters, and then sent these to a writer they dont know, who doesnt know them, and told that writer the most awful hurtful think you could say. For what purpose? It just reeks of bad actor behavior.

[kr1llz]

i dont know how to ask questions. but i now need to know everything about this au. any little scrap will do i just NEEDDDDD INFORMATIONNNNN

[sharp inhale] hi. fucking beams you

okay quick note: this is literally something thats been in my head for like 2 or 3 days if you see consistency issues ignore them bless. also for consistency purposes shadow has a higher concentration of chaos energy (bc i dont think this is ever said in any games but is just kinda implied)

the basic premise is that maria and shadow both survived the raid on the ARK and survived the fall to earth

Maria does still get injured and, in an attempt to heal her injuries, is able to use his own chaos energy to not only heal her, but more or less reverse the effects of NIDS at the cost of keeping his black arms traits completely at bay

additionally this extreme concentration effectively ruins his regulators, causing his issues with his black arms traits to be worse than they couldve been

With the reversal of her disease, Maria's lifespan and aging process is uh. kinda messed up, extending it by a pretty significant amount by making her aging process much slower

they go into hiding best they can and the 50 year timeskip that takes place in sa2 instead becomes time where they try and figure out 1. how the world works and 2. more about their past bc they were both kept in the dark about things while on the ARK (basically wtf was going on with shadows creation and why did GUN attack in the first place)

on the other hand, shadow experiences some mutations (third eye, sharper claws, increased amount of red quills/fur) and is more prone to violent episodes

these episodes are especially bad during their first few years on mobius but after awhile hes able to keep these episodes at bay much much better

i also lied when i said i wouldnt post the art this entire post is the entire au as of right now so heres their (still kinda wip) modern designs

this is where i havent thought things out as well but uhh BASICALLY maria hears about tails and how hes a genius and goes "huh. maybe this guy can help us but i have no clue on how to contact him"

this is also where things are very muddy but more or less shadow and sonic accidentally meet, maria finds them about to beat the shit out of eachother and offers sonic a meal as an apology

during this she tells shadow about tails and sonic goes "oh hey thats my brother :D" and there is no way to describe how they react in text so heres a doodle

as an agent for GUN, rouge is more or less the only true key they have to figuring everything out, so they have tails contact her (sonic and tails arent friends with her but its tails he has his ways) and she agrees to help them and uncover their past through some good ol spy work against gun, but says that theres a hefty price behind this work, that price being the chaos emeralds (this is her idea of being absurd and telling them that theres no way in hell she would do the job without being payed shittons of money) but they go "ok lol"

sonic tells tails about shadow and maria and how they want his help, and tails agrees

he does scans on the both of them and tells them exactly what happened to them all that time ago (marias disease being reversed, shadows glorified hormone imbalance) but says that he cant help with much else because he just. doesnt know enough about either of their conditions to really give any solid insight or advice but knows someone who might . this is where rouge comes in :}

this is where things kinda leave off bc like i said i thought of this like. three days ago LOL

right around this time the black arms invasion starts and through a series of events that i also havent thought out yet shadow gets like. partially assimilated into the hivemind

he still has his own conscious thoughts but cant control his actions, making him a threat

[gayspock]

i’ve been meaning to watch succession but all i’ve seen of it is the yaoi twink shipping part of the show…. is the show it’s self actailly good/enjoyable what is you humble pitch dear eggs…

omggg hi sam!! :3

I DID- ohhh let me get it omg... i tried to describe it best for an anon at some point here: https://gayspock.tumblr.com/post/674871571387760640/hi-king-what-is-succession-about-i-kinda-wanna if tht helps.

but also as for more of my little opinion<3 well. putting it shortly: i think its SO good, personally, BUT i know its deffo not for everyone.

ik when i myself first watched it, it was a little hard to engage at the very beginning; as GOOD as i found the premise, i felt myself glazing over a bit during a lot of the "business talk" (help<3 sorry ik thats not the most elegant way of putting that). because it was like- there was potential of a really intriguing story, involving a power struggle with the family of the worst ppl imaginable BUT its also, like, you know... over a, megacorporation. and as good of a setting as that is in some respects (like at a baseline level: all of these characters are fundamentally horrible people, and its a world so insanely removed with greg as the only grounding person in this little bastard world) so much of this conflict is therefore set in boardrooms, and its done through talking - and specifically talking business - and theres definitely a point where i did really start to appreciate it actually. but nonetheless i know at FIRST its hard to sink your teeth into it - and for many it just does not appeal to them to do that, which yeah!! thats fair and makes sense.

but also for me personally... whilst tht was big at first, it sort of became a footnote for me. and i think that this video (it's spoiler free, if you want to check it out) says it best in the beginning. i think, for me, the show really GOT GOOD once i started to intimately understand the characters.

and its like- gosh at the risk of sounding sooo pretentious, its like... there is a genuine complexity to the main cast of them that im obsessed with. theyre all SUCH horrible fucking people, and you dont fucking empathise with any of them (or at least, i know i dont). but, it manages to walk that fine line where they are all still so... real, and as extreme as they all are, theyre not caricatures at all. nor are they unfeeling monsters that operate purely on cutthroatedness- quite the contrary, its their own desires or insecurity so plainly motivate a lot of their action.

and like what i was saying before: i, at first, did not care so much for the business-focussed parts of the show... but over time i grew a little obsessed. i am like a kid fascinated with BUGS. bc so much of that culture REALLY IS riddled with contradiction- likeee okayyy besties, its all about the bottom line, about efficiency, about the literal numerical values and what yields the most profit and yet THROUGHOUT so many decisions are based on fucking pissing contests and big dick competitions, shows of strength and weakness and the absolutely loopy minutiae of conversation, and its all so inherently fleighty and fucking going off the rails just bc of one fucking thing thats enough to piss away EVERYTHING, this pervasive desperation to be the richest when you arent, LIKE GIRLS..............

and this family really is a microcosm of that bullshit and so even in that regard, they are inherently flawed and often are motivated by their own feelings and such and theres just this. extremely realistic, believable absolute selfishness to all of them- that i find refreshing (and initially i was abt to rant abt that, abt how rn theres such a weirdass culture with morally bankrupt characters who cant just be morally fucking bankrupt and how feelings and suffering doesnt a good person make, but omg. i got on too many tangetnsafiadpjdsg) which is kinda HILARIOUS to say but its true.

and its so funny. bc literally none of that is reallll, just like business.... NONE OF IT IS REAL GIRLIES... theres all this fucking drama between them all, every single conversation seems to be some insane power play with hidden meaning behind it and its like LITERALLY YOURE CULTIVATING THIS FUCKING ENVIRONMENT FOR YOURSELVES THESE PROBLEMS WOULD BE SO EASY TO FIX IF YOU HAD THE CAPABILITY OF JUST STEPPING OUTSIDE OF YOUR OWN LITTLE BUBBLES OF INSANITY BUT NAURRRR

which i think- literally, i think AGAIN is why this might just not fucking appeal to some ppl. bc its like youre actively just watching these bitches rip each other apart under the thin veneer of frustrating whatever the fuck. and i mean- god theres so many other points where its, like. I KNOW IM PERSONALLY OBSESSED, but i also get why others dont like it. something else i havent mentioned, for example, which i think is another point of contention is the humour?! LIKE- is sth i see a lotof ppl not gel with. and like literally in some ways i get it, i get why it might not be funny for you, which nod nods understandable.......... but also uh ehrm (at the RISK of sounding a bit assholeish, which i dont intend to be...) in some ways im like oh bestie (sighs softly) bc i know there are. a few people tht just kinda. dont actually GET it in a bit of a silly goose way (which oh jeez tht makes me sound like such a cunt </3) bc ??? i see some people jokingly say "Wow. Succession is a Comedy. /end joke" when it like- no but it... it is!? it is ultimately described as a "comedy drama". HELP. its just not, like, funny punchline quips but is very much this fucking. horrible and uncomfortable fucking irony a lot of the time

AND LIKE... im going to stop myself... bc like- I LITERALLY THINK. WHATS BEST IS GIVE IT A SHOT. SIT WITH IT PAST JUST A LITTLE PAST THE POINT U THINK YOU'D STOP. and if it still just doesnt work for you- as i know MANY ppl, it doesnt for- then just let it be and allow it to go down the stream. makes sense bc i KNOW its like- even, hell... even if its NOT just a case of it appealing to you, i know its also sth you gotta be in the mood for . BUT theres definitely an opportunity ro succumb to a madness if youre primed just right and ready for it SO LITERALLY. (NODS AT YOU) SO LITERALLYLITERALLY HELP. DOES THIS HELP?!

[ramuoto]

TOP 10 MANHWAs

if anything good came out of 2020, it’s my discovery of manhwas. 

well, it’s not like i’ve never read a single manhwa in the past 15+ years but tbh, the ratio of manhwa:manga i consume on a weekly basis has jumped exponentially this year. previously it was like 1:99 and now it’s like 90:10 LMAO. 

so, just to remind myself that the world is still full of good things, i had to make this list. which i will probably edit in the future, if i can be bothered to. :) 

anyhow, this list was not made in any particular order, just whichever came into mind. it’s loooong so be prepared! (I’ve read way more titles than mentioned but just included the ones worth checking out)

for whoever stumbles across this list, i hope some of these resonate with you and i hope they make you as happy as they made me. 

pic credits: https://geekculture.co/geeks-guide-to-transmigration-novels-avoid-death-at-all-costs/

1. Ebony

https://mangadex.org/title/41838/ebony

Bahahah omg he looks evil there! But our dearest archduke is hardly that aww. Soz, I just ripped off the covers of the manhwa cos I can’t find a panel I liked more than another. I mean, this manhwa is a GEM. I can’t even begin to describe this because everything about it blew me away. This is not something you read when you are craving for fluff, or just wanna have something brainless after a hard day at work or if you just wanna have some eye candy lol. This is something you pick up on a weekend, when you have time, because you need those hours to digest, appreciate, clutch your chest, tear a little because you find yourself falling in love with these characters. It doesn’t have any of that cliche isekai, romance, revenge themes going on. It has a solid plot, backed by incredible characters, beautifully woven by the authors and artist with incredible pacing that keeps you on your toes and keeps you looking forward to the next chapter. Maybe I would have been happier if I found it after it was completed lol. HAVE I CONVINCED YOU ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU WANNA READ IT?! like, idk, just go. JUST GO READ IT GDI. 

p.s. it says there romance but naaaaaaah, dont go in with that expectation. :) this story is so much more than that. 

2. Bring the love

https://mangadex.org/title/44472/bring-the-love

This...this!!! THIS MANHWA NEEDS MORE LOVE. If you need a lot of fluff, a little, ok maybe quite a bit of sadness and tragedy, sweet sweet romance, cutie pies, please, look no further!!! Again, pacing, character development are so important to me and this manhwa aces it. I love the 2 MCs very much. And the side characters too. :)

3.  A Stepmother's Märchen

https://mangadex.org/title/39474/a-stepmother-s-m-rchen

When I first read this, i fucking cried. like please don’t ask me why. it’s not like its an absolute tragedy but I was just rooting for the MC so much and I really want for everything to go her way. That’s how much I adore this MC!!! I LOVE HER. I LOVE HER MORE THAN YOU DO NORA! HAHAHHA. okay soz. I need to keep this spoiler-free.

Anyhoo, there is nothing typical about this time travel plot. Sure, she goes back to try to undo the stuff that went wrong but phew, she certainly changed things so much everything that comes her way have made it so her previous experiences can hardly help aaaaaaand that’s what makes it fun! I sometimes wish the pacing could be a little more consistent, and there could be more characters I could love a little more wholeheartedly (so i wont have to be in so much despair when i read this sometimes lol) but omg the art, isn’t it pretty?! I’ve re-read this soooooo many times but the art blows me away all the time. And have I already mentioned how much I love her?! I LOVE YOU SHULI! AND I WANT YOU TO BE HAPPY!

4.  Lady Baby

https://mangadex.org/title/34691/lady-baby

I literally LOL-ed when I saw this cover. WHO THE HELL ARE THEY. WHAT LADY BABY?! ehehehe. okay anyway, uhm, this is already incredibly popular. im not sure if i need to elaborate but yes, it’s adorbs!!! i dont think i like the MC as much as i love her family lol. and everyone else who adores her. im looking forward to when they get older. :) actually not really. please stay cute for as long as yall can! but yeah, i do wish the plot can move a lil faster. i want to see more character development in the other kids too COME ON! 

5.  Death Is the Only Ending for the Villainess

https://mangadex.org/title/47754/death-is-the-only-ending-for-the-villainess

am i allowed to reveal how shallow i am rn? like the previous choices were all like ‘wow-deep-plot’, ‘wow-character-development’ and this one i just included cos of AESTHETICS ALONE?! the novel covers are breathtaking!!! the manhwa art is amazing as well. and the harem is great! LOL. as for plot... uhm... it’s alright. it’s pretty engaging and i quite like the MC, she’s smart and independent and i love how she views them all antagonistically at all times HAHAHHA. her past is kinda... weird though and i do wish they’d stop referencing it. cos... girl why do you wanna go back to reality!!! stay here! it’s way more exciting! 

i love the whole isekai/reincarnate/transmigration theme and this is honestly one of the better, not-so-cliche or cheesy ones HA.

6.  Beware of the Villainess!

https://mangadex.org/title/47286/beware-of-the-villainess

do you already see the whole villainess theme?! am i suppose to start feeling embarrassed about my choices?! NO! cos this one is AWESOME!

again, another wildly popular title. for good reasons. it’s hilarious, our MC is as real and candid as it gets and LOOK AT THAT BLUE HAIRED BEAUTY. DO YOU SEE HIM?! IMPLANT HIM INTO YOUR MEMORY NOW!

it’s highly entertaining and breaks all isekai-reincarnation-villainess plot stereotypes. definitely one of the titles i look forward to every week.

7.  Who Made Me a Princess

https://mangadex.org/title/32506/who-made-me-a-princess

what? why did i choose this?

BECAUSE OF CLAUDE OF COURSE. ahahaha. okay aside from the amaaaaaaazing art and the beautiful people, the plot is not too bad. a little extreme at times but it’s interesting enough to keep me going. it’s currently on hiatus though and i was highly annoyed by how the first season ended. (YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED? NOTHING.)

i hope the plot can move faster in the next season! and that our dearest MC athanasia can you know, finally be a little more useful... like omg just tell lucas already!!! and tbh girl, no matter which guy you choose, i approve. :D 

8.  The Flower That Was Bloomed by a Cloud

https://mangadex.org/title/37648/the-flower-that-was-bloomed-by-a-cloud

i featured this before, mostly out of frustration HAHAHA. do you see why i chose this cover?! yeah, i support this (unpopular) pairing okay! the other one is doomed!!! no matter what the author is trying to do now!! I DONT SUPPORT IT!!! lol.

anyway, i had to feature this cos the art is unique! and the story is great. :) and i looooooove listening to the ost while i read it. it starts out kinda slow but as the pace picks up, you won’t be able to stop. and you find yourself conflicted at various points. it did win an award for a reason. 

no matter what, i still think dowun is best for her okay. it’s dowun or nothing. he’s devoted to her, we all know that! he just needs to ditch that annoying female guard!!! ok yknw what, maybe nothing is better. :/ *cries*

9.  Solo Leveling

https://mangadex.org/title/31477/solo-leveling

why do i even bother? this manhwa is popular enough. 

the art is great. the MC is great. i use him and his gang as my wallpaper. 

im just not sure i like how this season’s plot is progressing. :/ but i guess it brings us nearer to solving the mystery in the first leg of the manhwa. i just enjoyed the whole part of him leveling up and now that he isn’t really leveling up anymore... idk. am i hoping for more plot shit like bleach (oh wow now u quincy?)... idk man. anywho, no regrets starting on this series and marathon-ing it to death. 

cross fingers the plot picks up and doesnt get too complicated for its own good.

10.  The Reason Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion

https://mangadex.org/title/31606/the-reason-why-raeliana-ended-up-at-the-duke-s-mansion

okay, tbh, by the time i reached 10, i still have like 15 other series i was considering LMAO. i even considered lengthening this top 10 to top 15. but that would just be more of me and my nonsense. so... why did i choose this?

COS I LOVE THE 2 MCs!!! they’re adorable. the plot is again, kinda far-fetched at times (i literally laugh my head off at some parts) but it’s isekai-reincarnation okay! anything is possible in whatever magical crap country you end up in! lol. and i like how straightforward it is... in the sense there’s no 2nd lead. like okay i mean they are there but we all know they have no chance. oops. sorry!

and cos i can’t give up on the other titles i have, imma just list them down, without pictures... cos im tired. HA. 

11. Doctor Elise 

https://mangadex.org/title/29474/doctor-elise 

Kudos to the huge improvement in art style lmao. The good... lovable MCs, engaging plot. The bad... sometimes lengthy, incredulous medical moments (i work in the medical field so i... idk. sometimes this borders on iryu LMAO and i need to remind myself this is romance) otherwise, this is a highly highly entertaining read.

12.  Seduce the Villain's Father

https://mangadex.org/title/46775/seduce-the-villain-s-father

This is another of my ‘father-love’ whims. MC is adorable and ML is handsome. enough said.

13.  The Villainess Lives Twice

https://mangadex.org/title/49644/the-villainess-lives-twice

This is like a lesser version of Ebony and Bring the Love combined HAHAHA. The plot and premise is great and it’s awesome to marathon! I don’t find myself loving the MC as much as I should but the ML is a darling! I just find her a little toooooooo gloomy. Like come on girl, be more spunky! 

14.  The Stereotypical Life of a Reincarnated Lady

https://mangadex.org/title/46790/the-stereotypical-life-of-a-reincarnated-lady

I dont know why I like this so much HAHAHAHA. It hardly has a plot. I just find the MC and ML amusing i guess lol. 

15.  I'm Stanning the Prince

https://mangadex.org/title/45586/i-m-stanning-the-prince

Sometimes I wonder if I should be ranking this higher but I kinda feel this manhwa is trying to achieve too much with an underpowered MC. I love her... but I just don’t like how she’s just a pawn of everyone else and I dont know how she can change this situation of hers. It’s cute though. the MC and ML.  and the ML reminds me so much of american/jap Mackenyu. 

16.  The Villainess Reverses the Hourglass

I HAD TO. the art is so pretty! but girl, dont use the hour glass so much! you look a little too old! i would appreciate it if MC stops basing too much of her moves on the “past” tho like idk you are gonna sound unoriginal soooooon like develop your own thoughts soon okay? <3

17. Inso's Law

ANOTHER ONE. omg. im a lil on the fence regarding this but i like MC too much. and her harem LOL. i dont see where the plot is going either but i just hope for a happy end... ):

18.  Why Are You Doing This, Duke?

HAHAHA. this is sooooo sooooooo cute, i would have ranked it top 15 if it wasnt licensed by tapas tho cos they are a joke. WHY NOT TAPPY GDI. 

19.  Miss Not-So Sidekick

Uh-oh. Is this a top-20 list now? anyway, the MC for this series is GOLD. im not liking where it’s currently heading tho thus the lower ranking.

20.  IRIS - Lady with a Smartphone

omg IVE NEGLECTED THIS FOR TOO LONG. lemme go buy more chapters hahahaha. it’s a tad too lengthy... otherwise i like the MC and yummy ML!

still not enough?

Special Mentions - Okay, these will be unranked cos I don’t think these are that good but probably still worth a read.

I've Become the Villainous Empress of a Novel - this is new, im looking forward to how it progresses wheeeee.

Lady to Queen - It’s a ruthless manhwa. There was a point i started reading all sorts of sadistic content (i was running out of content i swear) and this was one of the better ones. I appreciate the MC very much. the plot now is a little weird and im a bit wary of the MC’s sister... hopefully the ML can be more useful. he’s pitiful though. but dude come on, dont rely on the wrong gal.

Goodbye, In-law - I’m not sure if i like the current progress buuuuuuut MC and ML are cute so who cares.

The Duchess' 50 Tea Recipes - plot is still engaging. MC and ML are cute. i dont know where the plot is heading towards though. 

A Falling Cohabitation - this is interesting and fun but a lil lengthy.

Light and Shadow - the sequel is out!!! i highly enjoyed this entire series!!! i would have probably ranked it a lil higher if i did this post earlier but too many series have overtaken this in my heart lol.

This Girl Is a Little Wild - is the hiatus ending yet? i would add it back to top 20 if it came back LOL. it’s highly entertaining tho. ML is adorable.

The Duchess With an Empty Soul  - pretty nice. MC and ML are a little boring. i think it can end soon. LMAO.

A Capable Maid - it’s amusing how she gets her powers for all sorts of situations lol. the prince is creepy tbh. and im secretly rooting for the other king hehe.

Beware of the Brothers! - it’s cute and heart-wrenching at the same time! not too sure im digging the latest plot development but okay... i’ll take it. they’re all cuties.

Living as the Tyrant's Older Sister - hehehe. it’s cute. duke is kinda silly but the latest chapter made me squeal!!!

The Evil Lady's Hero  - idk where the plot is going but MC and ML are adorable!!!

The Dragon Next Door - HAHAHA. it’s hilarious.

The Youngest Princess - she’s growing uppppp noooooooooooo

Virtues of the Villainess - ginger is hilarious. i dont see where the plot is going tho... and cant say i like the ML yet. i dont even get to see him much, hello?!

The Justice of Villainous Woman - pretty wholesome... i like the MC! (the ML is fine. no one else to contend with so...) can u end already?! lol.

Amina of the Lamp - hey, what happened to this? it’s pretty inconsistent but i do like the MC and ML... and the art...

The Villain's Savior - this is some sadistic shit. i reserve it for when i feel sadistic. i pretty much wanna see MC happy but idk if she’s making the right choices. :/

I Don't Want to Be Empress! - HAHAHAHA uhm it’s getting interesting. i just want ML to step up more... 

La dolce vita di Adelaide - I FINISHED THIS! and it’s wholesome, feel-good and cute. some parts felt a lil extra but ah whatever.

The Black Haired Princess - plot. move. faster!!! otherwise the MC and ML are pretty cute.

The Abandoned Empress - im a lil on the fence but i know how popular this series is. it started out HORRIBLE. i hated the ML so much. and then i found the green hair boy creepy. like MC, you need better taste in boys. it’s certainly getting more interesting now though. so please, continue to make my money’s worth!!!

Lucia - i. am. not. guilty. of. anything. *smut warning* anyway go read the novel. it’s better. hehehe.

What's Wrong with Secretary Kim - i do not need to elaborate any further. 

Past loves 

I created this section just to remind myself, that what i could like one day, i could hate the next LOL.

The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess - I know this is wildly popular. but i lost interest in it once she grew up. i dont think she’s particularly lovable. soz.

Survive as the Hero's Wife - another popular choice. I find the plot kinda boring now. MC and ML are cute though. 

Sincerely: I Became a Duke's Maid - another popular one. again, boring plot. like cant it end yet? oh you mean we need to wait for the real female lead to show up? dont need luh.

I Am a Child of This House - wow. the plot is shit now. and i do not support the MC and her guard. soz. she’s OVERPOWERED tbh. 

This Is an Obvious Fraudulent Marriage - idk what happened but my enthusiasm for this died.

Charlotte and Her 5 Disciples - i don’t get it. i dont get their obsession for her. 

[jcfoxington]

@sambambucky​ : “pls... Pastels, Peaches and Pain??? among us first draft??? marvel meets warframe meets a bunch of tumblr posts (it’s not an au!?!??!)

hi jo !!! Pastels, Peaches, and Pain is one of those sambucky wips i have mostly fully fleshed out in my head because of one (1) extreme moment of clarity after a rogue ‘what if’ tangent thought but havent written anything of yet out of restraint / knowing i need to finish at least one of my current sambucky wips before i start it or none of them will get done

this was the rogue tangent thought: “what if Sam is haunted by Figaro’s ghost and has been since he was a kid?”. i’ve changed the ghost cat to not be Figaro but that’s the premise !

i refer to the fic as the cat fic ‘cause the whole plot is based around sam’s ghost cat companion insisting he adopts nat’s cat Liho after endgame and then Figaro later and then [insert redacted because plot spoilers but just know it relates to Alpine]. no im not projecting my feelings about cats idk what youre talking about 

here’s some note snippets just for you:

the cat, inexplicably, takes a liking to bucky, which is really annoying bc sam doesnt know how to explain to him that all the oddly soft gusts of wind are actually sam's dead cat insisting on getting pats

bucky getting shade thrown at him by said ghost cat during all of tfatws + them making up (and not out. yet)

starts when sam's a kid & follows him as he grows up w/ a ghost kitty as a companion only he can see & interact with + angst with an undertone of comedy + getting together

he whispers to ghost kitty, who simply mmrrs happily

for the among us first draft thing, what basically happened is i saw this tweet and this video and my brain latched onto these dynamics so hard i had to write about them. 

here’s a sketch of my two main imposters, Black (left) and Cyan (right):

and here’s a snippet:

The thing having Cyan pause and stare out at the asteroid field is how the colors stretch to family. When they and Black came aboard, they had thought every crewmember was an adult working on the planet-change project. That the patch of off-white with a black something-pattern-or-shape signified status. In a way, Cyan supposes it does, but just not the way they expected. They had expected it to show what rank an individual held within the hierarchy of the crew, from deckhand to division leader to captain, not to show that you're family of the crew and not actually part of the crew itself. 

There are innocents on this ship. Children. It was not something any of them had anticipated, and not something Cyan had been prepared to deal with. They and Black boarded this horrible place to eradicate a threat, believing each and single one of the humans were accomplishes and dedicated to the goal of destroying Cyan and Black's species, and their planet. But, now?

marvel meets warframe meets a bunch of tumblr posts... doesn’t have a wip title or seperate document for itself yet cause it’s been stuck in my ‘story ideas’ document since its creation. so ‘marvel meets warframe meets a bunch of tumblr posts’ is literally just me describing the vibe of an original world gjkerfkds

the world came to be for two reasons. firstly, i want to do make take on a superhero universe because the plot and complete lack of communication in both the dcu and mcu piss me the fuck off. secondly, needed a place to dump ocs with elaborate backstories or fantasy / sci-fi abilities that dont fit into any of my existing worlds

which sounds super competent but trust me, it isn’t. it didn’t gain any solidity at all until i decided to do a personal ‘how different can i make spn castiel look & still retain the same vibe?’ challenge. i have my own cas now

however, the reason i said ‘marvel meets...’ is because i’ve snagged a couple of different things from the mcu, most notably: enemies to reluctant coworkers to lovers, yes our best friend have the same name. no they’re not the same person, secret evil org is controlling the government, and the assassin that tried to kill you several times is now your best friend

warframe was added to the world because i got attached to my Volt build, gave them a name, and have some headcanons idk what to do with because i refuse to interact with that fandom. also because the friend i made through discussing warframe lore + plot dicked me over so it feels Bad to create for

the glue to this whole mess is that one “in every friend group there’s a mean bisexual, an even meaner lesbian, a she/they, a he/they, a himbo, an astrology bitch, a short king, and a token straight” tumblr post. my main group of superheroes ala the avengers consist of these people. the token straight is the only one i havent figured out who is yet

ever since i figured that out ive been throwing story / character ideas and weirdly specific aesthetics from popular tumblr posts into this world’s notes. here’s some examples:

sword grandmas

that trope where someone’s really nice and acts super well-adjusted to society but then they do something super whack and dangerous and you realize ‘oh they’re secretly a little bit insane, actually’

anti-gay group’s leader’s wife leaves him for another woman

superhero who swore to be the best hero [city / planet / solar system / continent / ????] has ever seen ever since he lost his wife. not because she’s dead but divorce just sucks & the hero-to-be is terrible at coping

dishevelled swamp witch

that one person who runs around with an amulet all the time & isn’t aware it’s cursed

an exasperated, tired superhuman assassin running after their husband and their husband's best friend. their husband and said husband's best friend both have wings. chaos ensues (yes, this one is a sambucky post)

ask me about my WIPs!

BONUS:

@sambambucky​​ : #i want to have a coffee and listen to synopses of all of these.... #i miss the discord wow #WRITING TAG #waitttt time jumping dream movie? lmao I'VE READ THIS LIST FORTY TIMES and every time i rediscover something i wanna know about #outfit doodlesss ugh i need to go

couldnt not respond to your tags because they make me go ghrkjfnerknf but in the good way. we miss you too jo !!

the time jumping dream movie was one of the first vivid dreams i had and the whole thing was so stupidly coherent and whacky i had to write it down. it grew plot, a queer love dynamic, weird sci-fi apocalypse elements, anti-military propaganda, questionable science, and a sequel while i wasnt looking and now i just. have to make it a real movie or i’ll combust

outfit djoodlles.png is only on there because my best friend sent me a ‘draw this outfit’ meme and space kitty, my current character brainrot, stole all the outfits for himself. otherwise, that file just sits there until im feeling like designing an outfit or wanna see how a stupid thing looks on my oc patrick

here’s one of the two poses-to-doodle-outfits-on of space kitty ive made so far:

and here’s one of those stupid things on patrick (that then turned into an actual outfit of his because i have no self control):

[locuas642]

Star Wars Visions: Overall Thoughts

The Duel: This was a very interesting choice for the first episode. Because this one both embraces the concept of "making a Star Wars anime" with the creative freedom of doing whatever the studio wants, while also challenging what, visually, an "anime" is. It's also one that combines STar Wars Mythos with a Kurosawa style to effortlesly tell a story that leaves the audience intrigued.

Tatooine Rhapsody: This one's boring.... Okay that's kinda rude.

Tatooine Rhapsody has an interesting premise, the problem is that everything about the "15 minutes format" works against it, because the story it wants to tell is stripped of everything but the essential, leaving a barebones story that only has the emotional cores, but not the scenes building and connecting those scenes. Which COULD work... if this was an animated musical.

That was the feeling I got when it started, making me think this would be one of those animated musical videos telling a short story alongside the music. Instead, it feels like a musical video in which they removed the music and replaced it with the dialogue, which puts in evidence how timportant music is in those.

To put in perspective what I mean I want to share this:

The Twins: AKA, "what people think when they hear the words "Star Wars Anime' " and it is... fine. It's fine. It's what it is and it's done really well.

I dont want to call it a "crowd pleaser". but it is the short that exists to fulfill certain expectations. To be the Bombastic type of raw emotional excitement and big proclamations alongside absurd physics and explosions.

A lot in it is nonsensical. Because the point is not to make sense, it's about shouting and being as huge as possible. This is what some people mean when they saw "Anime".

The Village Bride: This is the other series that someone would describe when hearing "Star Wars Anime". It has the same " animeenergy" as Twins, but in the exact opposite end of the spectrum. This is a quite story with quite, peaceful emotions, in which the story is not explained, it is shown. And it is done in the same way plenty of other anime shows of this kind do. I almost dare to say, this is a perfect short to show womeone and introduce them to Anime.

The Ninth Jedi: if Tatooine Rhapsody was also like a movie that had to remove everything but the essential. The Ninth Jedi feels like a Star Wars Movie that managed to tell it's story perfectly within 15 minutes. That was the feeling I got from watching it: This wasnt just a short story being inspired by Star Wars or giving it's own spin to the series. This felt Star Wars to me. It truly felt like I was watching the first part of yet another SW Trilogy, in a good way.

T0-B1: I want to like this one. It's Astro Boy wanting to be a Jedi with really neat animation and a subtle take on how the Jedi are supposed to be more than just "Fighting the Sith". But... It just falls apart in the second half. It just becomes dijointed and it just goes from one thing to the next without breathing room and no moment to let the audience process the weight of the scenes.

And the fight with the Inquisitor? it's neat animation, but it doesnt know if it wants to be a cartoonish Tezuka fight or a serious Jedi/Sith battle. and at times it's hard for one to process the fight because of how there is never any breathing room.

And that is the word I was left when it finished: BREATH.

The Elder: I mentioned how The Ninth Jedi just felt like Star Wars. How it managed to feel like one of the movies. Likewise, The Elder felt perfectly at home with any regular Expanded Universe stuff. I could totally see this story being... say... a one-shot comic. some extra content in any of the prequel movies or anything like that.

All of Star Wars Visions work on the premise of "we will give these creators complete creative freedom to tell a story with the Star Wars License". So in that context, of having the freedom of telling any story without having to remain "true" to the source material or "fitting" continuity, of being allowed to do whatever, THe Elder takes the creative decision of WANTING to fit perfectly with continuity.

There is no creative take, no creative license, on the mythos. It takes the firm decision of (and I dont mean this in a derogatory manner) wanting to be a Canon Compliant Fan-Fic. And on top of that, wanting to just be a very small tale of a Master and his Padawan and an Unusual event that happened. And it works.

Lop And Ocho: This was a pretty good short. kinda struggling a bit on the short format, but nonetheless still managing to be a good story about family bonds with a bittersweet ending. also Lop is adorable.

Akakiri: It was okay............. For some reason I felt someone had put the shole thing in fast-forward for a reason.

[littlx-songbxrd]

ohhhhhh world building world building!!! nice!! if you want to answer, who was your favorite character(s) to write/develop??

I AM SO LATE BUT I USED GETTING TO RANT ABOUT MY OWN CHARACTERS TO GET THROUGH MY HEALTH ASSIGMENT, 2 CHEMESTRY LABS AND INVESTIGATION ESSAY

Now that I more or less finished all three

Lets do this (jesus youre getting so much more than what you asked this im sorry ignore me-) dividing this through main/secondary

Main Characters

Emmanuel José Figueroa Castillas

Manuel was SUCH an interesting character for me to develop into what he is today. He began as just a simple side character, but the more I got into his story the more he opened my eyes to so many opportunities for the plot. I found myself falling ik love with his concept, how he saw the world. To the point I had to make him a main character. Most of what my plot is today is thanks to him. I loved to explore his struggle with guilt, how loyalty to a fault can destroy a person. His arc mostly revolves around accepting he can't fix everything, that there are burdens he must let other people take. And that in the end, hes not responsible for fixing the faults of the past. He shouldnt carry the burden of mistakes that were not his to make

Personally I dont like describing personality, so I'll give you a fun fact that explains who he is as a person. His music playlist is the biggest disaster in this world. Its all old regetton songs and musical theater. You can be hearing gasolina by daddy yankee one moment and go to dancing queen from mama mia the next. He is literally banned from having the aux chord cause it leaves everyone unhappy. He isnt the best singer, but he WILL belt out the entirety of Defying gravity..........and then go "pásame la HOOKAH-.

And to explain his trauma.....His ennegram is ennegram 2 (so two by sleeping at last)

"I dont even know where to start, Already tired of trying to recall where it all fell apart, I just wanna love you, to love you, to love you well. I just want to learn how to somehow, be loved myself"

Honorary mention

Callisto Rocios

This is my favorite pov to write from ITS MY COMFORT POV. Her story is very interesting but I cant explain as I did with Manuel cause hers is SO MUCH more spoilery. But I love writting from her pov, shes one of the original characters that didnt really change as I developed the story. Most I can say, Callie's story revolves around slowly accepting change. It also involves sacrifice, and learning to see the big picture.

Also getting to write a nd character is just AHHH so exciting when writting her pov

As for personality.....does saying she kins Adora from shera enough?

Secondary character

Sergio Andino Torres

Jesus

I cant say much about him because EVERYTHING IS SO SPOILERY-

But I LOVE THIS CHARACTER SO MUCH AHH. His story so largely surrounds breaking patterns, exposing the premise that what you do to survive doesnt define you as a person. He carries a big part of the plot, and he's so interesting to write. His pov is really realistic, the way he thinks is genuinly facinating to me

Lil fun fact to get you a sense of his personality

Everyone in his school finds him extremly intimidating and cold. He really doesnt care that much about it because he doesnt like any of them anyways. Besides thats pretty much what everyone always thinks. But this kid takes time out of his day to go pet the rats in the chemestry lab, sometimes does hw while holding them in his labs. They have names, Francisco, Cristian and Oscar

lets go with trauma hes a one ennegram

"I've spent my whole life searching desperatly

To find out that Grace requitres nothing of me"

Honorable mention

Alexander Dawncross

JAJAJAJJAJAJJAJAJA i really cant explain deeply about this one without spoiling an entire arc. Lets just say, local deaf pan he/they really likes Rocks and its the best thing I've ever created.

Ennegram 5

Thanks for the ask!

[babambatman]

Okay, I need a minute to rant. I was forced to read this book for school-- and I’m so sorry? Why? It’s not at all well done, there are a thousand other book that we could have studied instead?

The List, by Patricia Forde, was... it just was. The premise was interesting, the concept was cool, but at the end of the day it was just.. so poorly executed.

To start, the topic of the book is language. It’s a post-apocalyptic world where global warning happened, and now there's a group of people living in the settlement called the ark, which is lead by Noa (yes, like Noah and the Ark haha). The people there are limited in their use of words for reasons that I’ll rant about it in a bit, too. They speak “List” since their allowed words are a list of 500. Cool, kay? Don’t have a problem with that. Let’s explore how limiting human language to 500 words impacts how the characters interact, how that impacts the rest of the people and everything like that.

Except, ya know, the book just never??? explores that???? The main character, Letta, is exempt from the rule because she’s a Wordsmith (which means she documents, collects and creates lists of words.) Her mentor is exempt from the rule. The main side characters are rebels, so they don’t follow the list. Noa and his lover are exempt from the rule. Everyone important is fruggen exempt from the rule?? The only characters that adhere to the list are minor characters that Letta has little personal attachment to? Like thanks, but what the heck is the point of the list if it doesn’t even matter in the end??????

Oh, yeah, why do we have a list??? because... Global warming was bad, Noa tried to warn them, and no one listened. Politicians used their words to lie and lure the public into a false sense of security. Therefore, words are bad. Fine, so he’s trying to protect the people from being lied to, right? Trying to stop the deceit and lies that can be spread by words. That’s good. okay.

But Forde also throws in Noa... wanting all humans to be reduced to animals, because people think they’re superior to other animals, and they think that because of words... and... something about how people thinking they’re superior and exchanging ideas is bad because they're destroying themselves... or the environment? I’m not really sure but let’s pretend it made sense.

Both aren’t necessarily bad ideas to explore, but Forde muddles the two ideas... and Noa’s trying to protect people from words while not caring if they die in the process of removing the words. She mentions how the superior species will be destroyed by the earth-- like the dinosaurs-- and Noa wants to make them animals so that they’ll survive when the world... destroys them again(?), but then he shows no regard for them dying during or immediately after the process of making people animalistic??? It contradicts itself too much.

Okay, so beyond the list-- there are rebels called Desecrators, who don’t like noa and live outside the arc, because he bans speech, and creativity like art and music. Benjamin, Letta’s mentor, leaves to go search for words in the forest that surrounds the ark (they look for labels and stuff that may hold words from the old world). While he’s gone, a desecrator, Marlo, hides in her shop and she helps him hide from the gavvers, which are basically police. She contacts other desecrators to help him get home, since he is wounded. Noa calls Letta to announce that Benjamin is dead, some things don’t add up about his death, so Letta goes to explore what is up with that. Because she’s sneaking around to figure out what happened with Benjamin, Noa comes to her shop and is like, “yo, if you wanna know something just ask, cuz I don’t like people snooping behind my back.” Shes cool with that, so she goes to ask him about adding hope to the list of words because that had all correlation about figuring out how Benjamin died, and overhears that Benjamin is alive and being tortured by Noa. 

Thus, she teams up with the desecrators to save her mentor, and in the process they find out that Benjamin is being tortured because he didn’t agree with Noa’s plan to make people wordless and essentially animals. Benjamin dies. They foil Noa’s plan. the end.

realtionship are... very stale in this. Letta and benjamin interact for two second before he leaves on his word search, and theres nothing we know about what they think of eachother? Is he important to her? is he just a teacher? does she consider him like a father? who knows cuz i don’t. He’s then declared dead. Letta’s sad and is in shock but... why? I don’t even know why he’s important to you? So I just don’t care???? Like, thanks, but Letta went on a whole ass journey looking for you but I can’t tell you why or how you’re important to her. Its only two seconds before Benjamin dies for real that Forde is like, oh yeah, Letta loves him, he’s her father figure, mentor, friend, ext-- like thanks. Now he’s dead. ya could have told me that before. 

Letta’s relationship with noa? weird??? Apparently, he’s her uncle-ish. his lover amilia’s sister is Letta’s mother. But Letta’s mother didn’t agree with what Noa was doing and just.. left. There is no emotional turmoil in discovering that her mother had abandoned her, and on top of that... Noa and Letta dont have a relationship? Like, Forde says he loves letta because he knew her when she was little, but when Letta’s mother left, amilia didn’t want anything to do with her. Noa makes no attempt to come visit Letta when she’s a child. There aren’t really any familial moments between them. by the time they start interacting again, latta is involved with the rebels and we know Noa is evil.

Benjamin and Noa? Apparently friends. even though we never see them interact, except for when Noa is torturing Benjamin when he refuses to agree with Noa’s plan to animilsize people.

In both of these relationships there's no sense of betrayal, despite the fact that they were apparently very important to each other.

Motivations are all over the place? Letta’s described as a blind follower to Noa but... she doesn’t really act like it? Like, she goes behind his back to look at bejamin’s death... why? just ask Noa? when Noa comes and says, hey, stop snooping and just ask me, shes like Kay cool i’ll do that I trust you. But then why did you snoop in the fist place that makes no sensssseesesesrukhgefjchdgl

When Marlo, a rebel, comes into her house and is being hunted down by the police she hides him... even though she doesnt know him or what hes done wrong, knows that Noa wants him arrested... and is a blind follower to noa.

If she’s a blind follower, why does she do these things then? her motivations are non existent. Forde could have made her motivations as simple as curiosity, but Letta isn’t shown as being a curious person? like, when Noa tells her she can ask him anything... she doesnt ask him about Benjamin’s death. Even though she went out of her way to figure it out, and can now question the person who would, in theory, know the most about it. She also shows no interest in finding out about her missing parents, even though she’s presented multiple opportunities to find out more. 

What is this book? Why is this the book my teacher chose? The motivations are unclear, the character development is weird, the relationships arent built properly??? Please explain????

[achillescourse]

Thank you. Correct me if I’m wrong, from what I’ve read, gender is a social construct. Which would make sense, but then it makes me wonder if nb people aren’t actually just breaking up with gender roles? How can you tell one gender from the other? What makes a gender? How do you know your gender? Isn’t everyone nb? How can you define the binary genders then? I’m so confused

gender is a social construct yes, but so is 'middle age', and arguably lots of other things, it doesnt mean that they arent real but rather they are essentially things made up by society without like a '' real world '' basis, and therefore can be fucked around w

in order for nonb ppl to be 'breaking up with gender roles' there is the inherent assumption that only two Real Genders exist which it is safe to say is a faulty premise

how can you tell one gender from another?

im assuming this means in others - in all honesty, ya dont. sometimes u can make an educated guess based on peoples presentation but presentation does not have to fall in line w ur actual gender and its best to just ask - gender can only be narrowed down to the trait of 'this person says they are xxxx gender'

what makes gender

gender is a social categorisation id say, as well as a part of each individual, but from my perspective it takes a mostly social role. a lot of places describe it as a 'feeling' but its not really the right word, its more like an instinct / inner knowledge of yourself that is often expressed through feelings (euphoria or dysphoria generally) - nothing really 'makes it' because at its heart. the idea of gender was created by society and thus it relies on society to survive. for a long time the dominant social thing was the man/woman dichotomy, based on perisex external sex characteristics, but all throughout time there are people who have defied these norms, (and we know more science now) which highlights that these are not concrete categories, but rather socially agreed upon ideas

how do you know your gender

u get a letter from the gender fairy - jkjk, as i said before i find gender as a type of inner knowledge expressed through feelings that i may not have been initally conscious of bc i couldnt recognise myself in anyone else - basically its about becoming in tune w urself and following what sparks joy

isnt everyone nonb then?

not really. lots of people are happy to be considered ' binary' men or women but i kinda think its silly to put it that way. they are just two categories that can contain a massive variety of people, so can nonbinary - nonb is just a 'catch all' for anyone who isnt a man or a woman(although its also an id in itself but im using it as the collective here)

how can you define binary genders then?

i guess its basically an inner knowledge that you are a man or a woman, which have typical 'roles' but you aren't required to stick to them

hopefully this was helpful / feel free to ask clarifying questions and if anyone else wants to comment please do !!!

[insomnihan]

han’s Entire Thoughts and Feelings on CLC’s “Devil”

THEYRE BACK SO IM ALSO BACK ON MY BULLS HIT STAYING UP UNTIL 2AM TO WATCH IT AS SOON AS ITS UP aka its TIME AGAIN to be a loud CHESHIRE™ ON TEXT POST

there are no read mores here so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ its my brand

ALRIGHT SO-

THE SONG IS A FUNKY JAZZY BOP™ AND A HALF its the kind of song you just literally BOUNCE in your seat and make you sway from side to side THAT CHORUS IS INSTANTLY CATCHY AND ADDICTING TO LISTEN TO i love the guitar and horns and that weird laser whistle sound????? so much throughout the song!!!!!!! theres a part that goes ‘i tried to be so polite’ that elkie and seungyeon sinGS UUUUUUUUUUGGGHH THATS SO SATISFYING TO MY EARS THERES SO MUCH SEUNGHEE I NEARLY CRIED SHE SINGS THE CHORUS TWO (2) TIMES HER TONE IS INCREDIBLE AND WHEN SORN SINGS IT AFTER AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- (THE SECOND CHORUS WITH YUJIN IS FANTASTIC TOO) YEEUNS RAP OKAY LISTEN I LOVE HER RAP BREAKS IN THE MIDDLE OF THEIR SONGS AND THIS ONE DID NOT DISAPPOINT THAT INSTRUMENTAL BREAK PUNCHED ME AND THERES MORE YUJIN AND EUNBIN!!!!!!! THEY KILLED THEIR PARTS THEY WERE SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! no im not gonna talk about seunghees breath from the first second we know how i feel

THAT BRIDGE with eunbin and elkie was pretty interesting it stays upbeat and it passes really quickly i dunno why but it felt a little off??? i dunno why??? it just does to me??? i feel like it ends too soon??? just a smidge tho- and it barely makes it to three (3) minutes???? (no is about the same length) but im still BOPPING

sidenote: apparently seunghee mentioned (i dunno where tho) that this song is similar to pepe and that sure is true lmao

THE DANCE remember when i just mentioned how it makes you wanna bounce and sway WELL THATS BC theres a move in the chorus that does just THAT!!!!!! the moment i saw it i copied the move like I GOTTA IN FACT the choreography for the entire chorus is SO fitting like its just lots of hip and shoulder movement BUT it just feels so RIGHT- during yeeuns rap part theres a little bit of a move they did thats similar in their song ME and lowkey i thought that was cool!!

THERES SOMETHING ABOUT that hip move that murders like the way they swivel around first and their hand movement with it and then leading into the side to side just SO SATISFYING TO WATCH especially during the last part in that darker setting!!!!!!!

seunghee starts the dance............................... thanks........ the dancing during eunbin and elkies parts during the bridge was lowkey kinda funny but i found myself following and copying it like sticking my hands out like they did in the video BUT overall it goes with the vibe of the song VERY well!!!!

THE VISUALS the overall video premise reminds me red velvets russian roulette like they are REALLY trying to KILL EACH OTHER IN THIS MV (or at least injure each other) with the soap slipping pushing sorn off that chair dropping that thing on yeeuns head that vacuum literally THROWING DARTS and LIGHTING FIRES and THE MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL....................... stepping on legos.........

SUPER COLORFUL............................ BUT FINISH IT WITH BLACK AND DARKNESS i thought that was interesting LIKE i knew it was coming from the teaser images but i DONT HATE IT the song is called ‘devil’ after all going all dark and lowkey menacing at the end is welcomed here!!!!!! i feel like its supposed to lowkey represent their concepts from debut to now yknow???

I LOVE ALL THE BRIGHT COLORS THO especially the yellows and pinks BUT THEN paired with colors like that blue and green and salmon color or whatever like THAT is just P L E A S I N G™ to my eyes there was ALWAYS a bit of all these colors in nearly ever scene and theres just so mucH BALANCE its pretty refreshing™ if you ask me

BUT THAT ENDING WITH ALL THAT LOWKEY CREEPY (but like not really) PROPS LIKE ALL THOSE BARBIE HEADS AND EYES LIKE THATS AESTHETIC™

SOME SCENES THAT I LIKED AND WANNA MENTION:

FIRST SCENE WITH THE ALL OF THEM AT THE TABLE SURROUNDED BY DESSERTS I WAS HOOKED I KNEW I WASNT GOING TO LOOK AWAY FOR A SECOND 

FIRST DANCE SCENE WITH THE BLUE AND PEACH COLOR OR WHATEVER COLOR THAT IS 👌

THE BATHROOM WITH THE HOT PINK WHERE SEUNGYEON AND YUJIN WERE IN and then made her fall over with the soap and seungyeon acted like she was eating it in the middle of a bathroom

THE ROOM SEUNGHEE AND SORN WERE IN WITH THE YELLOW CHAIR (love putting her in yellow chairs i guess) nearly lighting her on fire seunghees face after makes me laugh lmao

THE DARK GREEN AND ORANGE.............................. Y E S

THAT ALL YELLOW ROOM ELKIE AND EUNBIN WERE IN and it contrasted with elkies bright pink dress and eunbins darker outfit my eyes feel so blessed™

THE DARK SCENE LIKE THEYRE IN A HAUNTED MANSION WITH THE FLASHING LIGHTS I LOVE-

I CANT EVEN DESCRIBE IT I JUST LOVE LOOKING AT THEM

(okay but that chair sorn was on only had one leg i just wanted to mention)

AKA I LOVE EVERY SCENE I LOVE THIS C H A O S™

T H E M

OKAY DENIM ON DENIM YOU DIDNT HAVE TO ATTACK ME LIKE THAT™ AND the construction boots????? really?????? in front of my carton of barbie heads?????? YOU ABOUT TO MAKE ME WORK FROM HOME????? why would you do this if you KNOW HOW I FEEL????? but................... thank you i owe yoU MY LIFE- maybe its just me but at the moment ive been really feeling more brighter things so this.................... is some good food and like i know theyre supposed to be menacing but those black outfits make them look like an all-female biker gang more than anything-

also LEGS™

you usually save the best for last HOWEVER SEUNGHEE a whole WOMAN™ SHE REALLY KILLED ME THIS TIME AROUND i mean is there a time she doesnt kill me lets be real FIRST OF ALL BLACK HAIR BUT ITS STILL THE SAME LENGTH THANK YOU that dark green dress just suits her SO well!!!!!!!!!! also i just love green SO CLASSY™ with the headband and black heels pls- THAT light blue denim on denim with black crop top with the little pony tail...................... at ease i LOVE that look on her so much i dont think yall understand!!!!!!! then the BLACK DRESS!!!!!!!!!! the shoulders out!!!!!!!!!!! the thigh high boots!!!!!!!!!! when she does that dance move with her hips her figure accentuated by her belt.................. at ease x2 (also that one second of a scene where shes smiling over her shoulder in the black outfit i just wanted to mention-)

yujin pls that pink plaid outfit with the pink heels with your purple beret youre sO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LISTEN that denim with the crop top jacket???? with the orange and pink twin braids I CANT SHE LOOKED SO GOOD WITH THAT OUTFIT ON AND THEN THE BLACK LEATHER (is it leather) and the little two BUNS ON THE TOP OF HER HEAD!!!!!!!! A LOOK™!!!!!!!!!! i just always always think shes just so cute but also so fierce????? it breaks my neck i dunno how to describe it i just really like her face????

SEUNGYEON BETTER LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE WITH THAT PINK AND GOLD TOP WITH THE BLACK SKIRT STUNTING WITH HER BEAUTIFUL TAN SKIN she looks so so SO GOOD with the short hair BUT LIKE i love that hairstyle in general so thats to the SURPRISE OF NO ONE shes wearing a darker blue denim but i cant understand the shirt??? is it a jacket wrapped around like a shirt??? so the black outfit with the leather shorts and then she threw the jacket at the camera like the Baddie™ she is................ thanks-

must you be so beautiful sorn??? the braids with the clips in the dark denim with the black crop top i cANT- THIS HAIR COLOR IS STUNNING ON HER I DUNNO HOW TO DESCRIBE THAT COLOR BUT IT LOOKS SO GOOD SHE IS SO FINE™ DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THAT YELLOW FIT WITH THE PLAID YELLOW BERET HOW COULD SHE LOOK SO GOOD WITH SO MUCH YELLOW ON????? that black outfit with the single bun on the top of her head and her hair is like super straight and the boots to her knees im SO-

yeeun you always kept your bob pls keep iT FOREVER- the one piece dark blue denim with that big green clip in your hair YOU MAY BE FIERCE BUT JUST LIKE YUJIN YOURE CUTE™ that red dress with the black heels and then they gave???? you extensions???? for your high pony tail with the black bow??? its cute but i mean i feel like that wasnt needed??? it wouldve looked great with just her short hair i dunno fashion FINALLY the last black outfit with the black hat and one glove and black boots that outfit HITS like pls punch me

DOES ELKIE JUST............... HAVE TO look like a princess?????? like she just always looks like a princess i cant explain it!!!!!!!!! SHE JUST FEELS SO PRINCESS-LIKE honestly i feel like its bc whenever they kinda make her hair wavy or something like that it just makes her more classy looking??? the denim two piece and her skirt is actually half light and half dark blue honestly thats a Look™ its cute!!! that hot pink dress with the one sleeve im HERE FOR IT!!!!!! PLS SHE LOOKS SO CLASSY!!!!! the black outfit is just a black dress BUT the black combat boots and her silver accessories like literally kill me with that hammer youre so stunning™-

so we agree that eunbin took that pink wig from jisoo right?? from ddu-du ddu-du?? jk but IM SO GLAD TO SEE HER MORE IN THIS MUSIC VIDEO!!!!!!!!!! WITH MORE LINES!!!!!!!!!! ANYWAY the light blue was fitted rather loosely but it still looked SO BOMB ON HER and her hair was so straight and that really made that whole Look™ that black dress with her kinda messy hair with combat boots while she was vacuuming elkies hair is an ABSOLUTE LEWK™ I LIKE IT A LOT!!!!! but seriously something about that pink bob is like............... im not sure if i like it??? i think i do??? the grey hat and fringe really pulls that whole look together honestly

tldr: *chefs kiss*

LIKE this was their style and sound of music i believe in the beginning and its nice to hear it again in a new way!!!! its fun and the instrumental even after listening to it so many times im still dancing along with it!!!!!!! i slept late as hell (bc yknow i had to watch this mv) and had to wake up hella early but I AM PUMPED FOR THE REST OF MY DAY!!!!! i mean like no which also barely hits three (3) minutes but im sure just like with no im not gonna mind that duration

IN CONCLUSION: MY MOOD WAS LIFTED TENFOLD LISTENING TO THIS I FEEL SO ALIVE NOW

[curly-q-reviews]

FLIX FROM THE NET

Bird Box, 2018 (dir. Susanne Bier)

SPOILER WARNING THERE WILL BE SPOILERS DONT READ IF U HAVENT SEEN IT YET AND WANT TO

[TW: SUICIDE, MURDER, VIOLENCE, BLOOD, GORE]

well fuck its been a while!!  happy new year y’all hope u had a Fun and Safe time!!!  i for one was at a party where we started playing Shrek at exactly 10:39 PM to see if Smash Mouth’s hit song I’m a Believer started playing right at midnight and to my utter disbelief and elation it did!!!  move over times square ball drop a new arbitrary way of celebrating the start of a new calendar year is here and it involves a large green monster with a scottish accent who really loves his onions (#me am i right ladies)

WELL ANYWAY heres a fun new series ive been thinking of starting cause ya girl watches a lot of netflix movies and has many opinions about them.  i think i’ll do a separate post about the whole Netflix Original Film trend in general and how its changed the film industry at a later date but since i just watched the above movie not too long ago i wanted to get all my thoughts out there right fuckin now!!

netflix is without a doubt the OG king of streaming services, they were really the first to get the ball rolling and then dozens of other companies scrambled to latch onto this money train while it was rolling on the tracks full steam (or should i say.... stream EL;KGHS;EKFSH; please end me) ahead.  it started out as a rental subscription service where u could pick out three movies at a time to rent and then they were sent to u in the mail (like blockbuster but now you never have to leave your house ever again to get that sweet sweet rental content).  and then the decision was made to actually start online streaming, no physical DVD’s required!  ISNT TECHNOLOGY GREAT

well whoooo boy this shit swept the nation, people couldnt get enough of such a convenient and relatively affordable service and netflix started really raking in the dough.  and at some point they got rich enough to say “hey fuck it!!!  lets make our own movies baby!!!!”  and here we are now with Netflix Original Movies and TV Shows, which means a new player has entered the movie game in a very novel and innovative way.  why pay money for a movie ticket and leave your house to go to a theater when cool new movies are being released on a subscription service u already own to watch movies you already know and enjoy?  and then u can sit butt-ass naked in ur bedroom alone stuffing ur face with cheese puffs like an insatiable cheddar beast and see something new and fun and interesting

ok so.  Bird Box.  here we have a movie based off of a book (so i guess this also counts as a Book Movies review but I DIGRESS) starring hollywood powerhouse sandra bullock, featuring Supreme Lesbian Overlord Sarah Paulson and Resident Crazy Old Man John Malkovich, directed by a relatively unknown but competent female filmmaker Susanne Bier (who also directed Things We Lost in the Fire in 2007, a moving drama starring Halle Berry).  this one definitely has a lot of proimse compared to what netflix has offered so far in terms of their original movies (im gonna get into Dumplin’ at a later date cause jesus christ what a mess) and i went in with pretty high expectations

did it deliver???  well uuhhhh yeah sort of i guess!!  we got some pretty strong performances from our leading lady bullock who really does deliver it every time, a few strong supporting roles like newcomer Trevante Rhodes of Moonlight fame (his energy on screen is just so compelling and soothing), not overly obnoxious child actors which is really all u can ask for, and overall a solid story. 

now heres where i gotta say that i couldnt help comparing this film to another movie of its kind, directed by the notorious M. Night Shyamalan.  y’all remember The Happening?  cause i remember The Happening.  i remember that it was total shit and that the twist was that it was the fucking plants making everyone kill themselves.  the PLANTS.  and i also remember mark wahlbergs dumb-ass confused face that he used in every single shot no matter the context, im AMAZED i remember zoe deschanel in this movie cause she may as well have been one of the killer plants with how little she emoted, and i remember mark wahlberg yelling at a fake office ficus and apparently i was supposed to be scared while watching this clusterfuck. 

the way that this movie was described to me by friends who had seen it before me was basically that Bird Box is a slightly better The Happening, and no truer words have ever been spoken.  we basically have the same premise going on here:  unknown force is causing people to off themselves, our lead(s) have to try and find a way to escape this unknown force without even knowing what it really is, and theres some sort of “sanctuary” they gotta try and get to (which is a common plot point in really all apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films).  now whereas The Happening’s rules for this scenario make entirely no fucking sense (how in the fuck are u supposed to be able to out-run WIND???), Bird Box has some rules for dealing with this Unknown Thing that make slightly more sense.  when u open ur eyes while outside, the chance of the Thing making u kill urself in some horrific way is extremely high, so wear a blindfold when ur outside and keep all windows covered when ur inside.  makes sense!  thats something i can believe and get behind which makes me more immersed in the story!

unfortunately like The Happening there are still some little things that kinda dont make much sense and take u out of it.  apparently some people when they see this unknown entity dont wanna die, but instead find it absolutely beautiful, which makes them want to make everyone else look at it to see how beautiful it is.  and its insinuated that these people are mentally ill or have some sort of psychiatric issue.  i get that this adds more stakes to the situation and ups the ante, but it doesnt really sit well with me that once again, mentally ill people are the villains in a horror-type story.  and i also dont really understand why theyd then wanna go around and make other people see the thing??  unless the thing has them in a mind-control state or something and is making them do its bidding but that seems kind of a weird thing for an all-powerful evil formless entity to do. 

and that leads me to the next issue i have with Bird Box.  if ur gonna have an apocalyptic scenario where people do something as serious as kill themselves due to an unknown cause, it almost seems a little cliche and cheesy to have it be some sort of mythical celestial god-like or demon-like entity thats doing the damage.  i actually really liked where The Happening was going with its source of all the chaos being something naturally made, like the Earth deploying some sort of self-preservation mechanism or something.  the idea of that to me is actually loads more frightening than some invisible boogeyman that u cant look at.  and then Shamalamadingdong had to go and make it stupid by saying that it was fucking plants trying to kill people by releasing pheromones or some shit.  like why cant we have the best of both of these??  something naturally-occuring that maybe has even happened before in the planets history (maybe it wasnt a meteor that killed off the dinosaurs after all??), that isnt FUCKING PLANTS, and that doesnt do cheesy shit like make ur eyes turn grey and bloodshot and like whisper to u telling u to take ur blindfold off (i swear that happens multiple times it was pretty silly)

thats another thing, this movie’s tone is all over the place.  there are some moments where a more light-hearted tone is needed to break up the tension, for sure, but it almost as if the writing and dialogue werent really taking this serious of a story as seriously as they should have.  weirdly placed jokes are all over the place, there were some moments where the dialogue made me cringe cause it was so awkward.  bullock’s character gets to have some good breakdown moments which help bring the tone to the level of somberness and despair it should be at, but all the other supporting characters dont really get the same space to process whats happening to them, so it kinda comes off like they arent really affected by, say, their wife throwing herself into a burning car right in front of their very eyes. 

overall i’d still say this is a worthwhile watch, especially considering its a netflix movie.  if you’ve ever wanted to see a not-as-horrible version of The Happening that has some deeper metaphorical stuff going on about motherhood and family and shit than this is for you.  the production value is overall pretty solid (though when it comes to cinematography i actually prefer The Happening from an artistic standpoint) and sandra bullock knocks it out of the park.  go check it out if this seems like something thats up ur alley!!

ok bye for now hopefully it doesnt take me six months to write another review but we’ll see!!  my brain is a mystery and time is an illusion HAPPY 20-BI-TEEN Y’ALL

[that01nedude]

If I could physically be able to explain how good this show is.

I dont know how to describe it most of the time. The premise or the elevator pitch certainly doesn't garner the respect of talent that the writers, and the crew, and the actors deserve.

If I had to try...

Let's say there is an intelligent life form - perhaps from another planet, or another dimension, or even a time that has passed - doesn't matter, but let's just say this intelligent life doesnt have television. And so you try and explain it to them.

"People dress up as other people and do things and they film it and then you watch it on your tv."

That wouldn't make sense to them. Why would we do this? Why would we subjects ourselves to hours of doing nothing except giving our full attention to this screen, and when we aren't in front of that screen, we are doing everything we can to talk or write or read or discuss or feel the show with other people. Why would we do that? There are other ways of spending your time?

I'm sure this life form would be confused.

And to explain it to them, to help them understand, I was able to choose one show, one single episode in the last 5 or so decades of television to show this extremely specific audience that could convey to them why this thing called television is not just important, it demands your respect and undecided attention, there's no other way around it.

That single show would be Wynonna Earp. I could pick any episode to finish the task with justice, but especially an episode like tonight's, 302.

I have watched television for more hours than I have probably been alive. I have see some shows that no one hears about, and the ones that everyone knows the theme song too, and the ones that win all the awards. I've seen them all.

I have never, in all that time, been able to sit down and spend time with a television show like Wynonna Earp. Telling you it is special and incredible and any other adjective will not give it justice, will not respect the talent that every single person executes to perfection, and further, honesty.

That has, truly, never been a show like Wynonna Earp. I can't even tell you why, you have to just watch it.

[tumblunni]

Trying to think up names for my stories at last, cos it gets awkward to talk about them. Well, they have like their tag codenames but that’s dumb :P So umm... IDEAS! Tell me if any of these sound good or bad or if you have any better suggestions. You can find more info and art for all the ideas using the tag name thingies here.

Better names for “Changeling Sim”: ....Changeling Sim could actually work, since it was inspired by the game series Princess Maker and Monster Rancher which both have names that sound like someone’s placeholder description XD But I kinda wanna keep the lame descriptive name as a last resort, yknow? Alternative equally self explanatory but a lil more catchy suggestion: Fae Builder? .... Leprechaun Artitecht? XD

Better names for “Zombie Sim Thing”: Give Up The Ghost Dead To The World Better Off Dead Cradle To Grave One Foot In The Grave (except that was an old sitcom in my country and the copyright is probably still running...) (and its a shame the protagonist is a mum otherwise i could have used Dead Beat Dad...) (anyway i dunno why but i feel like it should be one of those games with an idiom or saying or quote for a title. but not something pretentious, more of a pun. puns are good.)

Better names for “Witch Mansion Game”: Lost Abode (....which is just another self explanatory awful name. dammit.) Apprentice Quest (.....MY IDEAS ARE SOMEHOW GETTING MORE WORSE) Witchery Widdershins (...IM JUST POINTING AT COOL WORDS NOW) Something to do with ‘fork in the road’, or ‘branching paths’? The big point of the story is finding out the truth of your past and having a lot of choices. Puzzling Spire... Paradox Spire... Labyrinth Spire, Tenebrous Spire... I mean that’s... equally as self-explanatory, but at least its not quite as boring a way to say a descriptive thing.

Better names for “Cathedral Tower Defense”: Could maybe just be the name of the cathedral town that the game revolves around? if I can think of a cool name for it. [Something] Abbey is a catchy title, like how Downton Abbey was a sitcom or something... Kind of an over the top badass idea: Hand Of God Cos.. yknow... literally you are a priestess, defending the church as one woman against an army, using only a bow and arrow. But could also fit well with the game’s more cute and funny moments cos it abbreviates to HoG! XD Or maybe a title that’s named after the main character? [Something] Amity, Amity’s [Something], Amity of [Something] Abbey...??? I dunno, I just feel like since the protagonist is a huge badass and the focus is on singlehandedly defending, rescuing, rebuilding and befriending a town of loveable characters, the name has to be something kinda tough n cool. Usually my name ideas are just boring descriptiveness or KH style word salad but that wouldnt fit here...

OKAY ACTUALLY Lets sit down and think about what ideas I have for what KIND of name would fit each one, maybe that’ll help me out? CTD needs to have a badass strategy game type name, because... its a badass strategy game. Tho its more like ‘rune factory if it was a strategy game’. Badass but also full of cute people. You become badass because the game is cute and charming and your single arrow is the only thing between these cinnamon rolls and death! The reward for badassitude is further cuteness! And as the game goes on you rebuild this base and train all these people so they start joining your party to defend their home, until all the cuties are badass at the same time your stoic badass protag has become full-on cutie too. FRIENDSHIP. FRIENDSHIP, MY LAD. Y’ALL GONNA CHOKE ON IT!! .... so yeah how do you sum that up in a name? XD And then ZST needs to have a sort of nostalgic melancholy feel even though also its gonna be cute and funny cos everything i ever make is cute and funny. This story starts out at a very sad place before getting better, I want a name that feels as mournful as the protagonist begins. Hence the idea of it being some sort of idiom or saying that’d be instantly recogniseable, but like some sort of zombie pun too because puns. I like Give Up The Ghost cos that is literally the plot, ‘hey is it really possible to protect my daughter when she’s already dead?’ Hmm maybe it could be like a song lyric or a line from an old pom or something.... Changeling Sim... all I know is that compared to the others its gonna have a very happy and cute name that doesnt really have much stake in it. like, it doesnt matter as much if its perfect, i dont need to describe the whole premise in one word. The premise is pretty damn simple, you’re just adopting a fairy child and having Amazing Mum Adventures. The Less Sad Mum Game! It could be a goofy KH type word salad maybe? Random possible idea: Red Leicester. Which has nothing to do with anything, its just a type of cheese that sounds cool. But it was the name of my first comic during high school, which was just a dumb ‘lol me and my friends get superpowers’ thing that never got off the ground. So its a bit nostalgic to me! Possible other idea: Spectrum Heart, which is another name thats just been floating around in my brain for ages and i cant find anything to use for it. (it was the name of my digimon oc’s xros army at one point lol) RELATEDLY, maybe something could be Fiend Sympathy cos that was another cool name i thought up for a project ages ago but it didnt work out. That could work for witch mansion game.... AAAAAARGH now ive just gone from not enough ideas to too many ideas and none of them work!!!

[isaacathom]

im figuring for most of the game Rhia ONLY refers to Jun as ‘my uncle’ - she doesnt refer to him by name. you can figure out that she means Jun through his own dialogue and through interactions with Lyndelle, who Rhia says is her cousin. and Lyndelle speaks quite openly about her father and how much she aspires to be just like him, and how much he inspires Rhia, too. so when you eventually meet Jun in relation to Team bullshit, and he’s friendly and kind, you go ‘ooohhhhh thats her uncle, right’.

the main reason she does it is because shes paranoid about accidentally incriminating him. when shes berating Elliot for leaving her behind, and describing in detail what occured after she left, she’s fully aware that if she says his name, and then FAILS to stop Elliot and the player (and Zeke, iirc) from leaving, they might report his connections. its a VERY weak defence, admittedly, given how easy it is to work out who she’s referring to. but theres also the fact that shes NOT related to him. and Elliot, knowing this fact (knowing that she’s Seren, and that her entire family live in Johto and didn’t take her ‘home’), would be unable to connect that dot. Being that he is obsessed with Seren, rather than Rhia. the player knows she means Jun, but the player has also actually met Jun - which Rhia doesn’t know. But they’ve met, and they know that Jun isn’t enthusiastic about Team shit, and only works with them because he is blackmailed and wants to protect his family.

so. yknow. if she just says ‘her uncle’, theres room for interpretation. its vague enough. plus, if you actually go to HER records, the records of Rhia Stanton, you will not find Jun Zhang anywhere. he’s her step uncle. instead you will find Patrick’s family, and the family of her ‘mother’. who i think, for shits and gigs, dont have any brothers. that’d be funny. someone investigating Rhia’s ‘uncle’ claims would actually have to look a long way into her records to find a man who could match that description. ofc in reality they’d just ask Jun because that’s her home address now but like, yknow. they share no blood, both in general and as far as her legal records are concerned. so. yknow. someone trying to be covert and investigate Rhia would have to put a lot of extra effort to find this info.

idk i think itd be fun if Rhia’s going on her long tirade explaining the time between her being assaulted and Jun finding her and speaking in these vague terms. not in any overt hilarious way, i just think itd be cool for her to do. then, of course, once shits all cleared, he’s just Jun. well, ok, she alternates, because she does feel a genuine familial attachment to Jun and Bronwyn and Lyndelle, and terms like ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ and ‘cousin’ are vague enough that it can describe how she feels while not NECESSARILY necessitating blood ties. its a cute thing. initially it was part of her cover story, calling them auntie and uncle (and then mostly just calling Lyndelle by name), but at one point Rhia would’ve just slipped and called Jun ‘uncle’ in private and honestly it probably made him cry. and shes fretting and apologising and saying ‘fuck fuck i meant Jun sorry’ and hes all ‘no no its fine.... you can call me uncle if you want.’ and shes like ‘wait, really?????’ ‘absolutely, Rhia. if you want to!’ and she cries too. Bronwyn comes downstairs to find them hugging and crying and shes just ‘did i walk in on something?? do you want me to give you a minute’ and they both laugh reallyyyy awkwardly and theres a silence, before Rhia goes ‘heyyyyyy uuhhhhhh i had a question..... am i allowed to call you auntie????’ and bronwyns very confused about what exactly brought this on, looks at Jun, looks back at Rhia, back at Jun, and it clicks and she goes ‘oooooohhhhhhhhhhh. oooohhhh. you mean actually?’ and rhia nods and bronwyn goes ‘well, you do already, dont you? why not! :)’ and its just a big fun time.

then lyndelle also walks in and is INCREDIBLY confused. what the fuck is happening. why is everyoe laughing and crying and hugging and shit. did something happen???????? it is an incredily weird time.

uhhhhh point is she means it sincerely but not in a blood tie way and its also juuuuuuussssttt vague enough that she doesnt give anything away when shes trying to keep shit secret. of course, if pressed in a normal situation, she’d tell you exactly who ‘uncle’ is, the talented Dr Jun Zhang, but in any remotely crime-y shit, you wont get a peep.

so i guess she just always calls him uncle? maybe after the whole team/org blows over, she switches to ‘Uncle Jun’, rather than just uncle? that’d be kinda cute.

im not sure exactly when shed start sincerely calling then family, though. she has like 8 years to figure that out. it certainly wasnt in the first year or so - she was still mixed in that time. at some point, certainly.

the same sort of terms follow for Jun and Bronwyn too. Bronwyn probably took a little longer - mostly because she had slightly less history with Rhia than Jun did - but both of them feel very close to her and refer to her as their niece on a few occasions. Jun especially. mostly because meeting Jun is actually required for story progression, so IF he mentioned his family at all, itd be in vague terms. because just like Rhia, he really doesnt want to tie them into his business. he hates this business, why would he want them connected? so its just ‘my niece’ not ‘my niece, rhia, that cop whose been sorta bothering you the whole game’. YOU know, obviously, the player knows thats probably whats happening. which is probably also the point where you should be going ‘hang on......... her uncles in the evil team??? does she know???’ and it should cause people to think twice. ideally between meeting Jun in a team context and the tower sequence the player should see her again - presumably to insert the whole Seren thing which ive technically retconned out of existence but still needs to occur i guesssss - and she should seem especially suss in that instance. in fact, yea, having that be the point where she asks you to ask elliot about Seren makes sense, and should look INCREDIBLY shifty. like, whyyy cant she just ask him herself? why do you have to do it? what does that mean? theres probably been minor hints about it throughout the game, and there IS a cemetery why you can find graves for both her parents AND a grave for Seren with only her DOB and an end year. and Zeke probably actually knows about it, even if he didnt know Seren personally (given the age difference - he’s older than the player but younger than Rhia, being that he is like.... 17??? which is 6 years younger than her and anywhere from 2-5 older than you. idk. there would be minor info sprinkled about Seren throughout the game, to the point where the player COULD fill in the blanks about what the fuck is happening themselves. to a point, anyway. like, hmm.... so Seren was Elliot’s charge, and vanished, and now this girl who is roughly how old she’d be now is asking me to ask Elliot about her...... hmmmm. and the player might click it. the details, about how he abandoned her, come out only from Rhia herself in her tirade against Elliot. what Elliot tells you is slightly different. ooh, thats a bit, actually.

how Rhia recounts the events and how Elliot does is vastly different. mostly because they drastically diverge at a point, but also in terms of what they recount in that similar lead up. Rhia talks about how shifty the plan was, how he made her wait while he spoke to the gym leaders before coming to get her, how they were on their own despite the other groups being fairly large and proportionally uneven, how she ended up leading the way down the corridor (of her own arrogance, but her point is that He didnt stop her). Elliot talks about her boundless enthusiasm to take part, her insistence, his concern that he’d end up disappointing her if the gym leaders found out and subsequently stopped her. and the specific ‘incident’ bit, the description is different too. Elliot doesn’t really go into specifics. its just ‘there were..... complications. i had no choice but to flee’. Rhia instead describes in details how they were grabbed from behind when the corridor opened up abruptly, how the grunts jeered them and held hands over their mouths, how she kicked one of the grunts in the arm so they let Elliot go, how Elliot hesitated for JUST a moment before bolting, silently, down the corridor. that silence is a big part of it, too. Elliot will say to you that he tried to find help, which is true (to a point), but Rhia’s statement makes that seem strange. if he ran silently, how much did he want help? whether he DID actually leave without crying out at all is..... unclear. neither account of events is wholly accurate. the commonalities are true, but the minor parts are based on interpretation. in fact, the ONLY people perhaps equipped to offer an objective view on what happened in the confrontation are the Grunts, who could talk about how Seren crossed the threshold first with a pokeball in hand, and how Elliot passed closely behind without, and how Barny got kicked in the hand and probably later in the face by the flailing Seren, how Smokes followed Elliot down the hall and saw him completely leave the premises, how Tiny Fae later told Jun about Seren. that sorta shit. those are random names i dont even know what the fuck those mean.

i think thatd be a very neat difference. just to emphasise how they both feel about it. how Rhia would highlight the choices available to Elliot (and technically herself, but trust me, that isnt her idea) and how Elliot would highlight how inevitable he felt his choices were, or how he didnt have them.if it isnt obvious i probably agree with Rhia more, though shes a lot less blameless than she makes it out and there is probably more actual manipulation of information in her recounting over Elliots. like yea, both are manipulated to elicit a specific response (sympathy for both, and anger at Elliot in Rhia’s case). but since Rhia is making a point when she’s telling her version, she’s likely slightly twisted parts of it. the emotional impact of the event isnt changed, but some of the physical elements are likely emphasised to make Elliot feel reaaallllllll fucking guilty. like ‘you thought i was dead, but i lived! but in agonising pain for a while and there have been permanent physical and mental repercussions for your actions, asshole!’ what fun! :)