#i feel like i have a lot of ghost followers anyways sO LMAO

[kuiinncedes]

:|

[sprinkler-ashes]

gold rush // aaron hotchner x reader

aaron hotchner x fem!reader

description: in which aaron hotchner hates social media – unless it’s yours. inspired by gold rush by taylor swift.

words: 2.2k

warnings: hotch is down bad, curse words, a bit of pining and jealousy

a/n: i love the idea of the bau being active on social media + hotch having no idea what any online terms mean lmao anyways i just really like this little fic. happy reading!!

i don’t like slow motion, double vision in rose blush

i don't like that falling feels like flying ‘til the bone crush

everybody wants you

but i don’t like a gold rush

Aaron Hotchner is not a fan of social media.

Maybe it’s because of his job. He knows that posting too much information online could sometimes lead to bad situations because there are always people lurking – it’s impossible to know who, exactly, is watching online. Or maybe it’s because he simply didn’t grow up with it. It didn’t really matter – he just knows he does not like using it.

Penelope had shown him quite a bit of Twitter after several BAU cases started trending while the cases were actively going on, even somehow agreeing to let her set him up an account. Aaron didn’t really want an account, but it was almost impossible to say no to Penelope Garcia who Aaron genuinely liked a lot.

Facebook was another one that he had. He didn’t even have a profile picture and only harbored a small amount of friends – entirely family. The site was strictly used to keep up with Jessica since she was an avid Facebook user. If he couldn’t get a hold of her through her phone, he would send her a message on Facebook’s messaging platform, Messenger. She typically responded that way.

The last social media account Aaron had was a new one. Or, well, new-ish. It had just been created a little over a month ago. He didn’t want the account, but Penelope wasn’t the one who asked him to get an account that time.

It was you. And saying no to you was even harder than saying no to Penelope.

A group photo was taken at Rossi’s last month during a get-together after finishing a case. Penelope went straight to Instagram to post it, tagging everyone except Aaron who wasn’t shy to say he didn’t have an account. He was the only one – even Rossi had made an account.

“You’re not on Instagram?” You’d asked Aaron only moments after that.

He shook his head. “I don’t really use social media.”

You frowned like you were in deep thought before turning to him again with a smile. “We should change that.”

All it took was a good minute, maybe even less than that, and one of your signature smiles to convince him to let you help him create an Instagram profile.

He accumulated a small amount of followers since then, which he had to approve, of course, as Aaron made sure his account was set to private – mainly family, some friends, and the team. However, that was as far as it went. He was still figuring out the app, but completely forgot about his new account due to his busy life.

Except for now.

It’s a slow Friday at work – mainly just a day spent catching up on paperwork – and Aaron never really complains on days like this. Yes, it’s usually boring, but having a day without a case means he actually gets to see his son at the end of the day, so it’s a win for him.

But a slow day creates boredom, especially when he’s actually ahead on paperwork. Aaron can’t recall the last time he was this bored at work – probably because he usually has something to do – but when his eyes ghost over the time on his expensive watch, he has to resist letting out a sigh of agitation because, somehow, there are still four more hours left in the workday.

Aaron puts the pen he’s holding down and moves the file he’s in the process of reviewing. He grabs his phone from one of the drawers in his desk and turns it on. The lock screen, which is his favorite photo of Jack, lights up before he enters his passcode.

He does errand-like things at first, including responding to a couple of texts, checking his personal email, and even spending a minute, or five, on Twitter, not that he would ever admit that to Penelope.

Eyeing the colorful app with a white outline of a camera, he hesitantly opens Instagram, still not really used to it considering it’s been over a month since the last time he was on it. He waits a second for it to load up until a photo appears on his feed from JJ, who posted a picture of Henry and Will before she left for work.

jj_jareau: My two favorite guys <3

Aaron knows that the symbol on the end of her caption is supposed to represent a heart because you often send the same symbol in the BAU group chat. He’s not sure why you never use actual emoticons – he’s never asked you – but he associates the symbol with you.

Not that he’s associating hearts with you specifically. Or overanalyzing all your texts in the group chat. Of course not, it’s just because you use it often. That’s all.

When Aaron tries to scroll, he accidentally presses on your username that was showing up in the preview of the comments, sending him straight to your own Instagram page.

He’s about to click the back arrow above your profile picture that he’s assuming will take him back to his feed, but Aaron can’t stop himself from glancing over your profile. Your page is filled with photos from moments in your life that go back years.

Looking up from his phone, he can see you from his chair as the blinds in his office are currently open. You’re chatting with Spencer who’s sitting across from you, a smile on your face as you continuously glance from him and back over to your computer screen where you’re typing, making sure Spencer knows you’re still listening to whatever bizarre fact he’s probably ranting about.

Aaron looks back down to his phone. He’s never been on your page, nor have your posts ever shown up on his feed during the rare times he’s actively gone on the app. It almost feels too personal – like he’s not supposed to see the side of you he doesn’t work with.

He carefully presses on the last post you made. It’s a post from only one day ago, but you’re not in any of the seven photos you’ve posted, which makes him frown with a tinge of disappointment.

Your caption reads, September photo dump, with a couple emoticons.

Wondering what the hell a photo dump is, Aaron looks through the set of pictures again. Everything is random. They range from a sunset to a picture of a meal you must’ve eaten at some point during the month of September, which just passed, and even one of Emily’s cat.

He scrolls down to the next post from three days ago. This time, you’ve only posted one picture and luckily for him, you’re actually in it.

You’re sitting at a dinner table, head resting gently on your hand with a sweet smile while your other hand is gently holding a glass of what – Aaron brings the phone closer to his face without knowing he can actually just zoom in – appears to be champagne.

It only takes him a few seconds after admiring how you look in the photo to wonder about who’s on the other side of it.

Aaron doesn’t know who took the photo and is getting to see you smile like that, but he does know that he wishes it was him because you’re just so damn pretty.

The man is pretty sure he would quite literally melt down to the ground if you looked at him like that.

He’s attempting to push these thoughts to the back of his head as he prepares to scroll to the next post. Aaron is well aware of the fact he shouldn’t be thinking about you in any way that isn’t strictly platonic. He is your boss and even aside from that, the two of you are not only co-workers, but friends.

Friends, he reminds himself. That’s all.

But as he scrolls to the next post, every thought of friendship leaves his body.

It’s a photo taken with the flash on from exactly a week ago, last Friday night, of you, Emily, JJ, and Penelope in what appears to be a club that Aaron can’t say recognizes. You’re standing on the end, your arm snaked around Emily’s waist with your body turned towards the camera while mid-laugh.

The black dress you’re wearing hugs every inch of your body perfectly – you’re showing more skin in the photo than Aaron has ever seen out of you. He’s seen you dressed up before – even seen you in person at clubs himself – but nothing like this before. Ever.

Much needed girls’ night out, your caption says.

Aaron’s not even sure he’s still breathing when he swipes to the second, and last, picture in the post.

This time, it’s only you. You’re still in the same dress, looking at the camera with a sultry smile. You’re not in the club this time. Aaron can’t tell where you are, but that doesn’t really matter because you’re looking straight at the camera with one of the most attractive looks he’s ever seen – it almost feels like you’re looking directly at him.

prentiss_emily: Baddest bitch in the bureau

yourusername: @ emily_prentiss Only behind you ofc

Though he knows she means it in an endearing way, Aaron doesn’t want to call you a bitch, but Emily’s comment on your post technically isn’t a lie. Unfortunately, he also can't seem to figure out what "ofc" means.

A part of him feels guilty. He knows he can’t have you, yet he’s going through your Instagram right now imagining a thousand what-if scenarios, a tinge of jealousy running through his veins at the idea of you ever looking at anyone the way you’re looking at the camera in your photos.

Aaron spends so much time trying to convince himself he doesn’t feel the way he does for you because there are so many reasons why he shouldn’t have the feelings he does. He can’t think of a scenario where you can be his nor can he think of a world in which you feel the same.

So, after he looks at this photo for another couple of seconds, he’s finally going to close out the app and forget about the way you look in that dress.

He can’t get the chance to do that because the door to his office is opening abruptly, startling him to the point where he drops his phone onto his desk.

“Shit,” he curses under his breath, hands fumbling to lock his phone so your Instagram will go away.

There you are, mouth open to say something until you notice him fumbling with his phone.

A sheepish look appears on your face. “Sorry, I forgot to knock.”

“It’s fine,” he says, hoping his voice is even and doesn’t scream: Hello, I just looked through your Instagram. “What do you need?” He lays his phone down – it’s finally locked – and looks up at you, trying to appear like he was actually doing something.

“Oh, I don’t need anything. Reid and I are going to try that new place that just opened up down the street for lunch. I was wondering if you wanted me to grab you something.”

“Do you have a menu?” He asks.

“Yeah, give me a second. I’ll text it to you,” you tell him.

You’re pulling your phone out of the pocket of your pants and if Aaron had been paying attention and not pretending like he was working, he would’ve seen the way you glanced up at him, back to your phone, then back to him, a giddy smile on your face.

You do as you told him you would and send him the menu. “Take your time looking over it. Just text me what you want within the next fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks. I’ll look over it in a minute.”

Aaron really does go back to work this time, his hands moving to pick up the file he moved earlier. He hears the door open and assumes you’re on your way out of the door, but you don’t leave yet.

“Oh! Before I go,” you say, your body out the door and your hand lingering on the outside knob of his office door. He looks up at you, pen in hand. “Thanks for the like on Instagram.”

Aaron thinks his heart has stopped upon hearing those words. Before he can even say anything, you shut the door, and you’re making your way back to where Spencer is still sitting.

He swallows hard, closes the file, and sets it away once again. His fingers frantically type in his passcode, and Instagram immediately pops up, still open from when he tried to turn his phone off.

To Aaron’s horror, he sees the Instagram heart that’s used to like photos filled with red and seemingly glaring at him. It was too late to unlike it now. You’d obviously already gotten the notification.

Meanwhile, as Aaron is mentally panicking, you’re whipping out your phone again to send another text. This time to Emily who is currently in a meeting.

I will never doubt you again – Operation post-a-thirst-trap worked!

[aliceinxreaderhell]

Ghoap x fem!reader nsfw hc2

Listen, I love sub ghost I really do, ya'll are valid but,,,, dom ghost just,,,, you know,,,,

Baby boy loves control, that's why he's good at his job. Loves having a strict schedule and rules to follow. One reason he loves being a dom. He can set his own pace and knows the rules and especially after a while in a relationship know everyone's boundaries.

Loves to watch

So much so that, and he'll never admit to it, he hates it when you sit on his face. Doesn't mind it as much when it's just the two of you, and you've been his good girl but with both you? He wants to see both of your faces

But that's the only reason, other then that he loves being between your legs, and Johnny's

Johnny's a brat, loves to be punished, loves to convince you to do bratty things

Especially loves to convince you, and gets caught convincing you, then has to get tied up and watch you get overestimated as a punishment for listening to him, favorite punishment

Simon is meticulous about eating you out, knows what you like and doesn't like to stray, he wants his lovers to feel as good as they can, as much as he can do it

Johnny's sloppy eating you out, loves being in the middle and getting fucked into your pussy

Both of them are sloppy coming home after out in the field

Your actually going to have to call out of work for the next couple of days because you will not be able to walk

The whole dom/sub thing kind of turns off for the first couple of days. They just need to be close to you and in you constantly

So much cockwarming during this time

You will be (consensually) fucked awake

A lot

It's to the point you want to take up their offer of quitting your job, just be their cockwarmers since they fuck you out of commission so much

One of Simon's favorite reward is letting fuck you doggy style for as long handle, facing him sitting on a chair, slowly jerking off

Once your both done he'll command both if you to crawl and suck him off together

Loves it when you too get distracted and start making out over his cock.

Simon loves cuming in both of you, and Johnny loves cuming on you (and then Simon telling he to clean up his mess,, and then cleaning up Simon's mess in you while you squirm)

~

Anyways have my horny thought while I'm at work lmao

Thank you for reading <3

[depraved-gf]

PART 3.5 OF 3.5 [PREMATURELY ENDED]

Update 11/15/23: Unfortunately, it's over. After the contents of this post happened, I got ghosted. :( I'm sorry y'all.

------------

Alright y'alllll, UPDATE. THERE WAS CONTACT.

*Keep up with or catch up with this adventure following the #repressedh0e's adventures tag below!

There's really not much cnc or the stalking scenario involved as this was just a very quick encounter 💀 it's actually more free use than anything, I think lol. Truthfully, I think he was just horny and so was I, and I wanted to have my very first spontaneous new experience lmao. We both agreed to kinda just meet up real quick. And as some of you might know, I've only ever done anything sexual with 1 person my entire life. And now... Well, that's changed a bit 🤭

BUT, I digress -

So I went to go get my Amazon package, right? As I'm walking down the stairwell, I hear something rustle above me. Nothing happens though, and I go to grab my package from the lobby.

I open the door to go up the stairs, and-

There he is.

Down, he commands, pointing to keep going downstairs to the bottom of the stairwell. Once there, he kisses me, some tongue involved, and feels up my shirt, pinching my nipple a little.

Now, y'all, I'm an awkward person. Not the cute awkward, either. Nervous energy, unable to make eye contact sort of person. And I can tell he is, too, but lemme tell you something-

When you get going into slut mode, you get going.

I flung my package on the stairs, got on my knees lightning fast, and he pulled that big fucking monster out. My eyes kinda popped out of my head at the sheer size of this thing in person, but my body moved quicker, immediately latching on and engulfing that thing into my throat as far as I possibly can. My mouth maybe tiny, but I'm mighty y'all. I stuff it down, doin' the Gluck Gluck 5000, using my lil tongue and stroking where I couldn't reach all while massaging his balls with my free hand. He grabs my hair, pushing my head further, and it's not even 3 minutes before I hear an exhale and a soft, hoarse whisper,

I'm gonna cum.

He shoves his cock down further, and even though I feel a gag coming, MAMA DIDN'T RAISE NO BITCH. I keep going as I feel the hot, sticky liquid pour into my throat. It doesn't fucking stop. Load after load, this man pumps SO MUCH CUM into my tiny little mouth and throat, that I didn't even catch that I had some land on my shirt 'til I got back up to my apartment like a lil slut 💀 it was A LOT, y'all. I was shocked hahhah. He then kissed me right after. 😵‍💫

But my goddd, he tasted so fucking good. I can still taste him as I type this. And yes, god my pussy is fucking dripping.

Anyway, he says he'll walk me upstairs to my floor. He hands me my package, and once up, we exchange an awkward goodbye (lmao as two nerdy, awkward people do). He kisses me one last time, aaand we go our separate ways.

About 5 minutes later, I get a chat that reads,

Fuck, that was amazing. Told you I hadn't cum in weeks...

Until next time, Isa.

I still cannot believe I actually fucking did that, but now I'm so horny thinking about how in the absolute hell that big fucking cock is gonna fit into these tight holes 😵‍💫

We'll see Tumblr, we'll see.

[12/14/23: Removed the photo of cum on my shirt. This man deserves no clear evidence from me after ghosting.]

[swallowtailed]

palisade 55 / finalisade pt. 10

this is so fucking funny

incredible. they've done it. double feature finale. i don't even want to try and guess how many episodes are left. sometime around 44 or 45 i said they should do thirty more AS A JOKE

i'm not sure i agree that motion is the loose end that needs tying up with an armor astir sortie, but i still think it'll be fun and i'm really excited to get perennial onscreen. hoping both cori and elle can make it >:)

more to the point i gotta say questlandia did not hit as a finale for me, which i think was largely due to the changes in the pc cast and the lack of rp. it felt like the conclusion to a different season. (wrt all the delegate plotlines in particular.) i'm not entirely sure that this next sortie will resolve that for me, but knowing fatt it might well.

because i'm always curious about stuff like this, i am really wondering when they decided to do another armor astir sortie

okay let's talk epilogues a bit though. with the understanding that any/all of these may cease to be endings per se. brnine:

brnine ends up fulfilling the future they envisioned for themself at the beginning of questlandia--continuing the fight outside the mirage. a millennium break admiral, leading the revolution... it really does change lives huh

character of All Time, btw. not entirely sure if this is their ending as a pc but still. All Fucking Time

sorry to hear they broke up with both jesset and gucci. dating sim fail ending. married to the job [ghost of valence]

delicious however that brnine's kingdom-level "unfortunately" ending is a rise in cults of personality and popular hero-worship. that does feel like an accurate downside outcome of a revolution story focused on a crew of heroes where the broader cause keeps getting beat down and the main character crew keeps winning. (that's one detail that really delivered on palisade, imo.)

august and levi:

i liked the twilight mirage's role in these epilogues because it was so uneven. we have the mirage getting twisted around trying to figure out whether august's justice was done well because they didn't directly experience the invasion, while also starting to join the fight in the broader galaxy per levi's epilogue. the high-minded naivety forced into practice is really compelling to me. (cf volition's conversation with thisbe.) not that we haven't seen idealists before in the divine cycle, but i'm eager to see what an attitude of radical forgiveness looks like outside the mirage.

similarly i found levi's localized approach disconnected from the goals of mbreak/other pcs in a way that is... realistic to the character, but might just get overwritten in the next in-universe push toward connection and coalition building, because i don't really see fatt moving away from that framework. (it's not a bad one necessarily, i just don't think they're leaving it.)

anyway. august. man. deciding to join wakeful and then getting stranded for a week that turns into a year, and never quite getting up to it again... brutal. (also completes a very well structured arc.) there are a lot of voids left by unfulfilled desires in these epilogues.

but not in levi's! very hopeful final beat there. both for the character and for the revolution. partizan ended with mbreak reviled as terrorists, now palisade ends (uh. "ends") with a new movement and new hope known throughout the galaxy.

ctc+eggs breakfast is so accurate

thisbe and cori:

thisbe and cori started out with a mirrored pair of goals and now they have a (differently) mirrored pair of epilogues. seizing your freedom and launching off into the galaxy and then realizing that means you're stuck wandering alone. (which does hit a little close to home. lmao.)

very reminiscent of the sangfielle epilogues, by the way, but doesn't work as well after a full season of crew bonding imo

thisbe being able to know and acknowledge and grasp her own freedom, being able to follow her own curiosity, is such a huge win for her. she's come so far.

tbh i'm disappointed that the scattered shards of divinity goal didn't come to pass, because thisbe did get some wins there! two wins and a... something! so that didn't really feel fair. but the chimeric cadent and the afflictions being out in the galaxy does actually feel kind of hopeful to me.

(man, i really wish we'd gotten more about partial palisade and the planet of palisade.)

i have to say, i really liked how cori's epilogue went despite the massive wave of misfortune. the shift into wandering felt more fitting for cori, since she's had a whole arc about losing her place with the devotees. assuming she's coming back in p3, an arc about finding/rebuilding community would be lovely.

also elle getting yanked back by arbitrage was of course inevitable and thus delicious. i'm considering fic ideas. watch this space.

clem:

clem's fortunately/unfortunately was so funny. vindictive. austin being like "there's no one around to tell clem she's done a good job" followed by jack going "and gucci doesn't even like her". and then the only future she can see is one in which she's still powerless and not ruling anything because not even being an oracle can help clementine kesh. satisfying.

so anyway

it was nice to see eclectic again. pleased he didn't fully vanish from the narrative (a ghost!), and the new look is slick. i'm curious whether he's gonna try to mount an escape while separated from wakeful. maybe that's not even an option anymore, though.

who do we think is gonna be on the next sortie? levi for sure, and eclectic (unless leap), and like, it's gotta be cori. are brnine and thisbe coming back? are jack and art playing???

sort of a philosophical question here but is questlandia arguably the holiday special

god it's so funny that they've done this. when i first heard this was happening, i was initially like, this is kind of a failure case of fatt's black box pacing for the week to week perspective. but it is also extremely funny. friends at the table.

[acheronist]

🧛🏻‍♀️⚰️

disclaimer i am not a scholar or a historian or an archaeologist. i just like vampires in a freak way and read a lot of weird articles + listen to podcasts and think about this a lot.

so the vampire burials that i know the most about were done in the general region of like... hungary / slovakia / romania / poland kind of following along the line of the carpathian mountain range. but also then in like, early america as well for some reason. random ass 1700s vampire hysteria panic swept the nation (all 25 square miles of it).

anyways so this area in europe is notorious for vampire folklore anyways so it tracks that where the european vampire folklore was originating = where people are most frightened of it for real. and so the vampire graves that have been excavated and studied are HONESTLY PROBABLY just the graves of like..... normal people who were ill in some way, and therefore cast into a suspicious light, and then died. but it was a fairly common belief that if someone WAS a vampire, especially prior to dying, then they'd return from the dead and attack and kill their family first before moving onto friends and neighbors and the rest of the community. bad for the community. so after the "vampire" in question died, the living would take extra steps to ensure that the deceased would not rise from the grave again and start killing them because well No One would like that! so one one hand its really kind of upsetting that-- essentially-- the dead were being accused and vandalized without the ability to protect or defend themselves AND THEN ALSO having their burial rites get screwed around with. sure you prevented the vampires but now we've got fucking ghosts. great work everyone.

and then on the other hand morbid freaky trivia is so fascinating to MEEEEEEE so here some of the most dramatic methods that i can recall from the top of my head:

dismembering the deceased's corpse ( with an emphasize on decapitation)

and for the decapitation, sickles or hand scythes were placed over the deceased's neck, so if they lived and sat up again, they'd cut their own throat

also rearranging the dismembered body (pieces) or the body (whole) in specific patterns

padlocking the deceased's feet together

placing bricks or rocks into the deceased's mouth, either breaking their teeth or making it impossible for any postmortem vampire zombie bite damage to be inflicted upon the living

pinning the deceased's corpse into the ground via steel or iron stakes to keep them from getting up. often stakes were stabbed thru the heart which is where the motif in media today comes from

but also sometimes removing the heart from the deceased completely and burning it also happened

burying the deceased with wreathes of garlic and poppy seeds and paprika peppers to act as wards to keep them where they were. which is hilarious also when you take into account how much garlic and poppy and paprika gets used in eastern european cuisine

and i might be making this part up LMAO but i feel like in my heart. and brain. that i remember a colonial american(?) story where an autopsy was performed on a recently deceased girl(??) whose organs still looked "fresh" and functional, as it were, and not like the organs of someone dead. because she was obviously rising from the dead and drinking the blood of the living which we can tell from her remarkably fresh organs. this was another great instance of vampire organ harvesting but i for SURE need to go try and find my source for this again.

and similarly, i also am like 90% sure I've read about exhuming someone who had been accused of being a vampire, and judging how their rate of decomposition was going, and if they looked too fresh and alive then they were a vampire and we can brutally kill them again. obviously differences in burial climates and situations would have no bearing or affect upon the body's rate of decay btw.

but then as we work our way up thru history, illegal body snatching also became an incredibly common thing as anatomists and doctors and surgeons needed the bodies to learn from. and I'm SOOOO so certain that grave cages / mort safes were invented because normal people did not want their corpses to be body snatched and turned into underground med student dissection homework. BUT ☝🏻 i have also seen claims that cages over the graves were put in place to keep the vampires IN the grave, not to keep body snatchers OUT of the grave. and then I went hmm. where have I seen big elaborate grave cages before?

mother fucking henry ford has a mort safe cage on his shit, so the only reasonable conclusion to all of this is that henry ford was a vampire. amen. my edible is hitting now and i cant think of a good conclusion to this post sorry. someday i will write an essay. or finish making my gay ass zine about this.

[taihua]

tgcf=bad writing (based on that reblog THIS ISNT HATE IM JUST GENUINELY CURIOUS I REALLY LOVE U)

Allow me to elaborate! It's my favorite book so I say this with all the love in my heart for the story and characters, but--

She needed an editor: there are large sections of the book that could have been cut without changing the plot. Like Hua Cheng trying on different outfits during the Brocade Immortal arc... I know fans like this scene, but it's obvious word-padding that doesn't contribute to the story or even contribute anything significant to Hualian's relationship development. See also the endless chapters leading up to Mount Tonglu. Bloated cast and characters not contributing anything significant (why were Banyue and Pei Xiu there except to address the fact that MXTX forgot about them after book 1???) and honestly, there's a lot of boring filler around this point in the novel. Reduce and cut.

Another thing that needed editing: loose ends not being tied up. The Brocade Immortal arc is a disaster, difficult to follow, and has no lasting impact besides Ling Wen being in jail for maybe two pages. It's never explained who created Cuocuo and why and Mu Qing's involvement is handwaved even though his explanation doesn't make sense. Xie Lian puts Banyue in a jar and forgets about her for an entire arc.

The descriptions are severely lacking compared to other danmei novels. I'm not a fan of 2ha but I'm reading it anyway because I love the way the author describes the scenery, the food, the clothes, the architecture... Thousand Autumns also has some of the most beautiful passages describing the cultivation techniques. I'm sure some of this has to do with the translation teams, but TGCF also doesn't really give much to work with? The descriptions of the Ghost City are good, but the rest of the book is just kind of like. "Xie Lian was in a room. He looked around and there was a table." versus other writers who are giving us sentences like "The celadon tea set gave an aroma of jasmine where it sat on top of the mahogany table and when he picked up the teacup, it was cool against his palm." Good descriptive writing engages five senses and I don't feel that TGCF does that successfully. What do we know about heaven except that the palaces are golden?

Anyway, what she does do successfully is making an interesting world with memorable characters, even if most of them don't get the attention they deserve, and she's great with dialogue and humor. Plus the romance is good; it's not rushed and it's believable that Hualian like each other (which you'd think would be a given in romance novels, but some of the ones I've been reading lately don't bother to establish that lmao).

tldr version: too many words that aren't giving us the right info :,I

[tasty-littl-snack]

I saw some clips of that one streamers show and they all seem kinda not great and no I will not be naming because I hate them with a passion but maybe you can guess who. But anyway, it got me thinking; Why does most of the watchers content just feel so…authentic. Like they put so much hard work and passion into their stuff and I’m just feeling so emotional about them right now lmao. Steven’s cooking shows(yes all of his cooking shows) Ghost Files, Puppet History and WWW are just so fucking amazing and the love and care put into them is just so beautiful. ;-;

Sorry to be weird in your inbox but I had to let this out lmao

Hope it's okay to answer this because you got me thinking and yeah I agree. While I don't watch any other let's call it "youtuber with a streamer" type channels, so I can't really speak to wether they are good or bad I know that watcher is the only one that appeals to me. From what I've seen the others have the "quantity over quality" aspect and while that is a way to game the system and get people feel like paying for more content is worth it (I personally think that it's a disease of modern times like why would you pay for one good movie if you can have several bad ones for the same/lower price), I prefer to pay for something that is done out of passion even if it's some kind of niche stuff I didn't think about before. And it's very well made and I feel like Watcher delivers just that.

I feel like the difference with Watcher and their content is that there is a lot of heart put in their shows, and they are doing things that they are curious/passionate about, and they have the ability to also awaken that curiosity in the viewer. Kinda a "follow me on this deep dive into a topic I just learned about", which is also the appeal of like video essay/long form content, but in watcher you can really feel the love they have for the thing and the people they work with. Steven once said in his interview that finding new people is their goal but it's very hard to find them because they feel like the chemistry and 'clicking' has to match with what they are doing. And when I heard that I was like "well this feels unnecessary" but then I watched the www woundtable where Violet talks about finding the right locations for www and how research goes into that, and then I felt it you know. They really care about every detail, to the point where you feel like "Wait why does this matter" but then the end result is a high quality episode of a show.

If you think about it, all of these shows are made from scratch. From ideas that they come up with and then discuss how to execute them well. The fact that Ryan got his popularity with unsolved aka things he was interested in and that allowed him to gather a team of trusted people who know what to do to make his idea a reality (and a better show and I will die on the hill that Ghost files is better than unsolved) is amazing to me. Shane with his interest in fun history facts and Puppet history starting out as a spiritual continuation of his previous show but then being combined with the manic energy of hot daga allowed him to express his creativity in ways that I really admire. (Like listen to believe me maizy and then to the dinosaur metorite song back to back you can feel that the creativity is there but as the years passed he got better at writing storytelling songs.)

I also think Steven is an interesting example because he wasn't a foodie at first but then got known for a food show so it feels like food is the niche he has to do. But even then, if you look at his first shows on Watcher it's Grocery run which gives voices to Asian-american influencers, and home made which is comparing the home made foods to the restaurant ones. The conclusion in that one is that even though sometimes home made is better the restaurant ones have a love for food as well. So he chose food as connecting with people and nowhere it's more shown than in dish granted which, yeah started as a show able to be made in a pandemic but also as making food for his friends to express gratitude for what they meant to him. The expensive stuff is the gimmick to get clicks, but you can see that the connection with people is really what that show is about. Travel season is again, an exploration of different countries through food and the fact that he chose Korea to start it off with - knowing that his wife is Korean, and the way he introduces some of the food to Andrew and Adam I think it's another expression of love he has for the connections he can make while eating food.

I just think all the shows are made with love, even the ones with guest shows. You can really feel the passion there that they have for the topics they explore and for the people they work with. I think that's what makes Watcher different and I really love that about them. They also find ways to improve their current shows and always evolve, and that takes time and effort but I feel like at heart they are creative people who got popular, whereas other people got popular first and then felt like they have to come up with things to keep this going. And that might be the difference and what sets watcher apart from all the other similar channels.

[weekend-whip]

Ninjago Fic Rec Week: Day 5

Prompts: Multichaps / Nya Recs! *shorter one today, I'm not feeling too well rn -w-)

Multichap Recs-

Saturniidae: *takes long hard swig* This one's a doozy, fellas. Beautifully melancholic Cole-centric fic detailing the descent of their team reflected in their beloved Ultra Dragon amongst other things, and the stinging realization that what we need isn't always going to be what we want...or in the ways we think. I still think about this fic from time to time and have to take a moment of silence for my heart snksnksnk

Father Always Liked You Best: Another Shiny special, this time with some Garmadon angst and what the view of his gradually splintering off from his brother (And very quickly reminding me what my favorite take on Garmadon is. Spoilers: IT'S THIS. The very last line reminded me of how hard it hit when I first read this aaaaaaa)

Five Times Morro Trusted Wu: AND THE ONE TIME HE DIDN'T. Or, the fic that sits at the very core of my tempered adoration for the ghost kid.

Habits of Home(lessness): Putting this here cuz I'm once again mad I dropped the ball on Jay's day lmao!! In which Jay's "normal" childhood growing up is very abnormal in the face of the rest of his team (and he is THROWN when it comes to trying to figure out why)

Nya Recs-

Ninjago: The Nya Perspective: THE NYA FIC I'VE SEARCHED MY WHOLE LIFE FOR (aka maybe twoish weeks? Three? This has been a long drag of a month, man) ANYWAY it's the series retold from Nya's point of view and it is MMMMMM peak Nya. Peak Nya. Very highly reccomended.

selkie: short, sweet, and a little bit haunting, a reflective Nya Post-Seabound (......with a solution to the 'being the sea' problem I also thought really should've happened, or at least considered, but give the flow of this fic...perhaps, maybe not)

Please Just Don't Break an Ankle: Nya, Skylor, and Pixal getting the chance to girl-out and just be friends if not sisters!!!!! But, there is a lot of fun dynamics with everyone, though big sister Skylor has me by the throat!!! And Nya getting the chance to be just a little bit vulnerable :3

this grueling cycle: mmmmmmBACK at it again with the pre-pilots fics!! Nya and Kai in the ~before~ times, following the siblings' clashing opinions on the disappearance of their parents. Very descriptive and ripe with characterization!

Blue-Black: Nya and, ironically, the impressions that the color green has on her overtime. She also has synesthesia <3

déjà-vu: Y'all know I'm always a sucker for stories where Nya and Lloyd has out their feelings with each other, and this is definitely towards the top of the list! The angst burns so good <3

Skating on Thin Ice (Can Get You Into Hotwater): A multichapter braincellshipping fic in a hockey/ice skating au that I haven't actually finished, but a) I loved what I read of it so far, b) the character dynamics are sooooo much fun, even beyond the ship, c) the concept is AMAZING, and d) it's by an author who's made this list already, THEREFORE I trust this story with my life. It needs a little extra love <3

Nya and the Song of Sirens: Poetic Nya stream of consciousness thingy during some Crystalized events, I don't talk about this one a lot because writing it stressed me out and I didn't think it was anywhere close to my best snksnksnk, but upon rereading again for myself, I'm like "whoa, maybe I really had something here". I should be nicer to myself, and it is very potently Nya, thus *plunks down rec*

[coldercreation]

brb about to go down a research rabbit hole lol

Question of the day!

Why is showing ‘disinterest’ such prevalent thing when it comes to building friendships and relationships?

I have talked about this here before in my rants lol, but it just always frustrates me. Like, you know those arbitrary ‘rules’ in dating that you shouldn’t show too much interest or get in touch too soon, or be too ‘intense’ or interested? Like, obviously don’t be a stalker and read the room etc, but I mean if you're just a regular and safe 'well-adjusted' person, why is you showing genuine effort and interest seen as a bad thing (I don't mean love bombing, that's a whole different thing)? If you genuinely like each other, why is the social rule saying that you shouldn’t show that? Same goes with friendships, why is showing interest in the person you want to get to know sometimes, somehow, a bad thing? To a point that some people can get put off by that effort someone is showing to get to know them? Not saying everyone is like this, because I know there are so many people who aren’t. And plenty people also disregard these social rules because they aren’t actually concrete rules. 

This is just a social construct and I’m trying to figure out why it is, because it seems counter productive? By what logic does it work? How are you supposed to make friends/date, if them showing interest in you makes you exit the relationship/ghost/breadcrumb?

How long are we supposed to only talk in one line texts about surface level stuff, to avoid being too much/too intense, before it’s acceptable? How do you know you’re following the same social timelines with the people you’re trying to get close to, when there’s no actual set rules? Someone might think you have to wait three days after a date to get in touch, but someone else will get offended if you take longer than two. But the next day or the same day is too desperate to some folk? And I'm talking about this from the point of view of someone who doesn't have trouble reading social cues/expectations. Can't even imagine dealing with this mess if that wasn't the case. Like what's the point of having these 'rules' if it just makes things more difficult for everyone? :')

These rules, technically, don't need to exist at all. It's all made up, based on... Something? We can always dismiss them ourselves but I'd like to know why they came to be and why we keep upholding them. I want to know the social purpose y'know? Is it a safety thing? Protecting yourself and not wanting to be vulnerable? That'd be valid, of course. But it does seem self sabotaging as it blocks people from actually making the connections they say they want to have?

I’ve been trying to find any research on the social behaviour regarding this, but I’m not sure what to even look up lol. Especially because I think the way we interact and behave has changed so much just in the last five years even. 

I just find it so curious that there’s so many headlines about loneliness epidemic, but people also recoil away from others when someone does show them genuine interest and wants to talk to them.   

I’ve had this initial ‘disinterest’ stage happen in the friendship context more. Also sudden, out of nowhere, communication ending/ghosting disinterest when trying to make friends (like please hurt my heart some more I beg u lmao). I haven’t really dated in the last few years so I don’t personally know how that field is at the moment, but I know ghosting is really common and people actively try to hold back from showing interest at first, even if they are reallyreally interested.

Maybe I’ll try looking more into the effects on social media etc, there’s a lot about ghosting in that context. But I just feel like it’s not quite what I mean, because I feel this disinterest phenomenon thing is separate from ghosting. 

Anyway! Happy Sunday loll xx

[lustbile]

hi :)

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I’m typing this all at like. Almost 11 at night so excuse me please if it’s at all rambling or weird idk. I just felt like since it’s been over a year since I genuinely posted anything I need to say some stuff about me just going ghost.

So hi :) to old and the somehow new followers I’ve accumulated. How are all of you? I missed you all and this account a lot and I feel really shitty just kind of abandoning it the way I did so I think it’s time I give some explanations? Or like… I don’t know, life updates? Which feels weird to say considering I’ve always been very anonymous on this account, which I will continue to do in this so. Please enjoy some basic info about my life

1) I graduated college :) Which I think was a huge part of why I had to abandon this account for a minute. Those of you who are unaware, I was a studio art major, and if you think that studio art is an “easy” major you’d be wrong! That shit kicked my ass like no other. “Art school” just used to be old rich dudes giving a little freak some money and told him to paint or sculpt some dicks and god do I wish that was how it still was. I had to like, come up with concepts and reason behind my work, and create a shit ton of it to. I put my entire soul into that shit, defend the hell out of it in critiques, and my final work means so much to me. If I wasn’t anonymous on here I’d without a doubt post it because. It truly feels like I ripped out my little dumb heart and put it on paper/canvas

But with that, I’ve had to become real adult :( I’m doing what I can to make money off my work (which is going better than imagined) while also doing some part time work. It’s great, but very tiring.

Also 2) (this part will be short I swear) I have a long term partner now. I won’t say exactly how long we’ve been together, but I do live with them. And as weird as it may sound, I’ve never told them about this account or my writing. They know I like kpop, but not this side of it. And I think part of me is still weighing my emotions towards writing smut about kpop idols while being in a committed/monogamous relationship. But I digress.

3) With how busy I became around the time that my posting schedule really took a hit, I’ve also just fallen away from kpop :/ I still listen to the music and watch music videos and stuff. But the fandom side and the non music related videos, I completely lost on that now. And I don’t like that. Being into kpop made me really happy and I liked watching boys be silly. But it just feels like I’ve missed so much now. I like a lot of groups, but more than anything, I miss nct so much :( I don’t even know what they’re really doing now. I know some of them will be entering the military soon so I feel like maybe the fandom will slow down, and as someone who used to run a 5sos account, I know what it’s like to just feel like a fandom is dying. And idk. I doubt kpop fandoms are like that but. Okay yeah now im rambling anyways!

This is all to say, I miss this part of my life a lot. Keeping up to date with music, watching funny videos of my boys, talking to you guys, and writing. I still have so many stories half finished. So many ideas that im just so disappointed didn’t see the light of day. Maybe I’ll get around to it again, but im not exactly sure if/when I’ll be in the headspace to write smut. Which I know, I can write without involving smut. But some of my ideas kind of needs it I think? And if im being honest, would anyone read my stuff if there wasn’t smut in it? Idk and I don’t know if I want to know.

Anyways if you’ve read this, thank you but like also. Im so sorry about how much there is lmao. If you want to send me a message please do. I don’t know if I’ll respond to what’s in my inbox now, since I just feel like I waited to long and I’d feel like a dick responding now. But I promise to keep an eye out. If you just want to say hi or just update me on what been going on in nct (please I want to get back into nct even if it’s not for my writing). If you have any questions for me I’m here :) and just as dumb as I was when I left. And I would recommend the inbox more than anything. I get really anxious with dms and I’m horrible about keeping conversations going there, so my inbox is really the best. I won’t promise I’ll get to it like, the second you send it, as, awhile ago I turned off my notifications for tumblr. 1) because sometimes the notifications were cringe lmao. Like I’m very liberal with who sees/handles my phone and some of those notifications were clearly for fanfiction and I don’t need to be exposed like that lmao. But also because I started getting very, very anxious about how many notes/likes a fic got and how quickly and it just was so bad for my mental health. But that’s not the point.

The point is, I’d love to hear from any of you guys again, be able to talk about kpop and just shoot the shit. Which if I’m not writing (for now, we’ll see about the future because those old ideas are still gnawing at my brain) I understand if the traction and interest in my account has worn off. But either way.

Hi :)

[purgetrooperfox]

Hewwo 👉👈 Do you have any roach hcs or info to share? I don't think I know him

well he's only in mw09 and cod mobile so 😅 there's like. basically nothing to his personality in canon

he's British in mw09 and American in codm iirc but they're two separate canons and it's all very silly

in mw09 he's one of the primary player characters, faceless and voiceless per tradition. he was a sergeant in 141 under Soap, worked a bunch of ops with him and a few with Ghost and a couple with Price. you can find a list on the wiki

I don't know jack about codm but here are some comic panels a friend of mine showed me dkdjdjfjjf only the bottom four are sequential, he's in the mask and goggles

I think he's just an operator skin in the codm game? and it's just a copy-pasted milsim skin that they called Roach? but whatever lmao

I don't know if you care about plot or spoilers so I won't uh. put the big one here

and that's it, that's canon Roach :)

but Roach in my brain,,, ⬇️

I personally am very fond of American Roach. southern Roach my beloved. I think he deserves to be yeehaw. giving him a small town upbringing and no one can stop me

I also think he deserves to be a weapons expert for two reasons. 1) southerner, 2) as the pc he's equally competent with every weapon he gets his hands on. good for him

honestly a lot of how I think about him is influenced by how I play mw09. scrappy in a fight, plenty willing to smack a mf with his gun, deeply sarcastic commentary, aversion to stealth missions, etc etc

more ⬇️

bolt action enthusiast but not much for sniping, etc etc

I also tend to think of him as kind of an asshole! abrasive! not all the time but his tolerance for bullshit is low. he won't throw hands but he'll tear you a new one so thoroughly that thrown hands might be preferable

blunt might be the word I'm looking for. blunt in general, abrasive and snappy on occasion

what else. uhhhh

heavy smoker

the most stubborn bastard on the planet. this is beneficial in wearing Ghost down enough to [redacted]

cough. ghostroach go brr. they rile each other The Fuck Up. Ghost is a proven hardass but what I like about 09 Ghost is that it's fully plausible that he's also got a sense of humor, no one traipses around in that mask with those glasses without a sense of humor

and that combination resonates at the same frequency as Roach from my brain. insults as flirting but they both know it's flirting. refusal to cede an inch of ground when Ghost is in hardass mode. frantic desperation and also quiet, fragile intimacy. so much trust

do you see my vision?

Roach from my brain also has immense, bottomless respect for Soap. that's his captain that's his buddy he'd follow him into hell. blind trust that gets reinforced every time Soap doesn't get them all killed

more wary of Price! Price is a little unhinged! no lack of respect, he's just MonkaHmm squinting a bit. morbid curiosity about just how far he'd go

there's no proof that Roach wasn't around when Gaz was so I'll run with it. Gaz was an inspiration to him. his unhingedness was fine by Roach because crucially, Gaz wasn't a captain. I miss Gaz

anyway I feel like I could ramble on but this is like. the core of him. always happy to chat though!

[earwigconsumer]

May start posting fanfics here

A lot of Kennith x Greg fics cuz I only write what I like LMAO

Long rambling incoming, uh oh

I'm working on a fic where Kennith and Greg are normal and have a date at probably Kennith's house. They watch movies, eat popcorn and stuff, and maybe have an edible. But it's just based on what I'm feeling up for. It's in the planning stage, really. I only have a sentence or two down. BUT I'm getting there, it's a quarter done planning!!!! I have a general idea and that's like it

Though there will be NOT NSFW mpreg in my fics because writing it is comforting to me, cuz of my past experiences. Should clarify the not nsfw part, just weird to most people for some fucking reason. If you don't like that, don't read it.

The fic I'm working on rn IS an mpreg fic, but it's just cute shit. It's a Kennith x Greg fic where Greg actually takes care of Kennith, because pregnancy is fucking hard.

If you haven't experienced that, I'm telling you it's really hard. It's exhausting, painful, and just over all uncomfortable. And people are weird about it

But anyway, the fic takes place a year after the colorbars broadcast. It's also out of character a bit for the both of them. Cuz I seriously don't think they're having a kid at all type, but like I don't care. This is for me. I can break whatever canon I wanna. The entire ghost and pals fandom does that every day anyway. They have a house, and the fic starts out with Kennith working from home, and Greg surprising him with something he mentioned wanting before Greg went to work. Then the fic is just general cute shit I wanted but wasn't able to have.

I've been worried about posting it cuz of how people are about mpreg but I just, don't fucking care anymore. Kennith is trans in the fic btw. It wouldn't fly in the 80s, but I'm allowed to change that. It's MY FIC AND IM THE DICTATOR.

Sorry for the rant, LMAO, but because of the ghost and pals tiktok people, I feel the need to clarify it's not sexual in the slightest. Those people are so fragile, they're like very thin glasses. People on Ghost and Pals reddit too, people on there DO find mpreg sexual and that bothers me EXTREMELY.

It makes me so fucking uncomfortable, genuinely.

Tldr: Kennith writes gay fanfics, and some involve mpreg. Don't like mpreg, don't read it and don't make it sexual when it isn't

Good night, it's currently 2:35 am and I am expecting a bad response to this. But I seriously don't entirely care. Now that I've gotten my feelings out about it, actually.

A couple of my mutuals here are following a person with a Kennith gender bent communications au where the equivalent of Kennith and Evelynn kidnap someone to test the broadcast, and Kennith molests the person they kidnaped repeatedly. The creator has since deleted the post where it's mentioned, but I have the post screen shotted

Not my circus. I'm a freak in my freak corner doing my sorta freak things

So I doubt y'all care anyway. But if my content is somehow uncomfortable for you, I have no clue what to tell you man, that's on you, ig???

/\ (should add that's just me trying to say I think I'm being paranoid)

[ducknewtonscoolhat]

I've been inspired to talk about ducknerva again. People have been reblogging my other post about them and now it's got me thinking about them frfr

Uhhh so I'd like to first start off with I am, and you can fight me on this, the #1 Ducknerva fan and I will support them till the day I die :D

Anyways

So Ducknerva is so special, in my opinion, I think that their relationship is so incredibly strong, stronger than people seem to realize. Like they, I think, are up there next to Lup and Barry, and if you know me (which y'all don't know my Balance opinions LMAO) you will know that I fucking LOVE blupjeans. On my main account, I'm planning on doing this whole big post about them but anyway, I think that Ducknerva and Blupjeans are on such a similar level with how strong they are, with the connection that these characters have. They had so much time to fall in love and they did, but the difference with Ducknerva is they didn't fall in love until a lot later, until Duck had experienced so much and Minerva was there to witness. She has been by his side, supporting him, wanting him to be more than he thought he could be, and refusing to give up on him. Sure, some can say she was really pushy with him, and she was, but she had good in her heart with these actions and for the most part only good seemed to come out of it. Of course some of the consequences of this, the bad of Amnesty, you can't avoid. This world isn't perfect and I think Duck and Minerva know that best. They know this better than most. I think Ned and Mama experienced the hate and the worst parts of the world, Ned even being a part of them at some point, but these two witnessed so much, even if they weren't directly apart. With their visions, with the pressure that they were given, and not just Duck but Minerva too, they were given the world to protect, both Earth and Minerva's world, even though it was destroyed, and had to deal with the idea of it ending if it wasn't for their efforts. And they worked together, building one another up and helping each other out to be better than who they were. We know that Duck wasn't all that enthusiastic with this whole chosen one thing, especially not after seeing friends get hurt and risking his life, I'm sure, but even after all this, Minerva stuck by him, kept training him and hyping him up even if they were worlds apart. She didn't leave him for a moment until she was forced to. They make each other stronger, so much stronger than they ever thought they could be, and definitely stronger than Duck thought he could be, and conquered so much. When seeing her for the first time the words 'It's so fucking good to see you,' said by Duck really just shows not only the amount that he confides in her but also just the relief to finally be able to be in her presence. I think before it all, maybe the following months before shit really went down, Duck had this feeling in his chest but never connected it to love when it came to Minerva. He kept it down, to himself, and when she was gone it kinda hurt not to have this pillar of hope and strength that he always had. So when he saw her for the first time, he just melted into the puddle of love, falling for her. They are both incredible warriors and they strengthen one another, and even after all was said and done, they just kept building one another up, kept making each other stronger and stronger, both emotionally and physically. I can imagine even after everything, Minerva made sure to keep Duck in shape. They made each other happy, they were all each other knew for so long. Like I think in some of Duck's darkest places, Minerva was there in her spiritual form to give him some sort of words of encouragement and while Duck really didn't know what to make of all of this, from some sort of ghost that kept following him around all the time, it was still nice to have those words when it seemed no one else would give them to him.

After they moved to the Amazon, and even before, they kept each other happy, active, and moving towards the goals that they had together. Once they did move though, with Juno by their side as well, I think that Duck had a really hard time with that change at first. He missed Aubrey, someone he saw as a sister, and not only that but he missed his actual sister. He missed Mama and he missed Indrid and he missed Barclay, all of them, he missed his hometown and friends. He wanted to do something more, something different, something bigger to impact the world, even more than he had (which is hard after basically saving the world from destruction), but he still had to deal with what I can imagine being some of the hardest struggles for him, and it's changing. But Minerva was right there by his side, keeping him steady, keeping him ready for everything that the world and this new life had to throw at him. Luckily for him, there was always a way to get back to his home, to see his friends again, and in the near future, there would be much easier ways of communication, even in the national quiet zone.

Anyways, they're just such a strong couple. They love each other and they love doing everything together. I can imagine that leaving each other's sides isn't something they do often, but when they are apart, they reunite as if they were apart for much longer. At least this is how Minerva does it. She's always over the top when it comes to seeing Duck after not seeing him for a lil while.

They love and care about each other so much.

[raptorsgust]

hello! so i was lucky enough to snag a ticket to the tgcf donghua s2 fan screening right here in singapore, so here's a short report on the happenings! under the read more as there will be spoilers including those from the novel

arrived at around 1:20pm and it already looked like a full house! lots of people queueing at the photobooths and stuff, LOTS of cosplayers, mainly hualian and beefleaf. after a while i asked an usher about the merch booth but it was already closed due to the long queue, so i just went to find my seat which was near the back (in front of a bunch of cosplayers haha)

the hall had at least eight screens but none were positioned in a way where i didn't have to turn/crane my neck lol i can still feel the strain

the screening itself started at about 10 minutes past 2pm! we first had some voice actor greetings first, both of shi qingxuan's voice actors seemed to have received the loudest cheers from my pov! all of them ended their greeting with 天官赐福，百无禁忌

there was also a quick announcement of another tgcf collab cafe in 2024! sg just keeps winning and winning

after that we finally started the screening with a recap of s1 starting from the cart scene all through the banyue arc. xie lian's lines were all newly voiced by his new voice actor deng youxi, and he sounded alright to me! (note: not 100% sure that he did replace jgt's voicing but that's what i remember, correct me if im wrong!)

more than an hour of s1 later, we smoothly transitioned into the first episode of s2, and the following are some highlights and points:

s2 is still based on the unrevised novel as far as i can tell

everyone loves shi qingxuan!!

ghost city is very extravagant and fun! lots of quirky ghosts, there's joss paper flying around everywhere

xl's 不举 was omitted even though it's already rated m18 lol

the part where hc teaches xl to shake the dice has a lot of hand touching and cute reactions from the ghosts and sqx and lqq

a LOT of teasing leading up to the reveal of hc's true form, they'd show part of his face, his hand, his boots, and when he stepped out from behind the curtain and xl laid eyes on him for the first time there were shoujo bubbles

also A LOT OF SCREAMING FROM THE AUDIENCE tbh it was already loud enough throughout the gambling scene it was just hilarious

frankly i couldn't see hc clearly cuz, bad seat, but we all know how he looks like anyway

idk if it's just mE but the audio of the entire screening had its pitch raised, all the songs were a key higher, everyone sounded higher-pitched...... to ward people from secretly recording it?

feels bad for fulgur cuz it feels like most of the audience didn't care about him? half of them left their seats for the photobooths during his q&a segment

quiz time was interesting......

for "what is hc's weapon?" the host accepted the answer E-Ming, as in the person who answered said cAPITAL LETTER OF THE ALPHABET E which i would personally not accept as correct but o wells

the last question was "what did hc give to xl at the end of s1?" and the lucky person who answered very precisely said "his ashes in the form of a ring" and the host went aRe YoU sUrE and tried to make us recall an oBjEcT and i think we were all second-guessing ourselves there lmao please get a host who did their homework next time

pretty sure that was a huge spoiler for donghua-only fans tho HAHA

after the event was over i hung around texting friends and then tried to see if the merch booth was available but all the nice merch was sold out, and frankly just thinking of trying the queues at the photobooths was mentally draining so i just left haha

overall it was a great experience! watching and reacting together with so many other fans is truly a rare experience and despite going solo i had fun!

excellent door gifts too, the acrylic stand is of great quality and is now set up and sitting on my mxtx shelf~

[youremyheaven]

i am so here for the mercurial slander omg. i had the displeasure of being friends with a mercury-ketu girl who was genuinely unhinged and extremely immature. like i'd say something completely innocuous and she'd sit on it for like two days and then i'd receive like 4 paragraphs of her chewing me out just because she misunderstood something i said

the other two mercurials i know (free me) are the biggest yappers i've ever met. one of them would literally send upwards of 150 messages to our group chat daily of just a never ending stream of thoughts, which was annoying in and of itself, but the real issue was that she'd yap endlessly and never read any of our messages or ask how we were doing. i've noticed this theme a lot with mercurials where they just use people as a sounding board and forget to even ask how your day was before the yap fest begins

😭😭😭😭 sister,, I can tell the pain is fresh because you did not hold back 💀🫡

Using other people as a sounding board is soooo TRUEEE OMG 😭😭ILL SCREAM

my former friend, Revati Moon who ghosted me for 3yrs came back into my life last year and from the way she spoke about her circumstances I knew that she was alone and just wanted company lmao but I thought I'd give her the benefit of the doubt anyway and what followed was a huge lesson in trusting my gut and not giving anyone the benefit of the doubt 😮‍💨💀🤡 I was her unpaid therapist and soundboard for several months. The conversations were often too long for comfort or she'd go on one of her rampages about how awful people are (Mercurials are unfairly critical of others, have you noticed?) and she frequently took digs at me and was one of those people who make jokes at the expense of others. I had to reallyyyy hold my tongue bc she was clearly at fault in half of the situations she's describing and i couldn't stand how she was always putting down absolutely everybody she spoke about.

I'd have to come up with lies or sometimes I'd pretend the call dropped or something bc 😭 7hrs is too many hrs to be talking to someone night after night (and the conversations are majorly heavy or unpleasant) i felt like she thought I owed her my time unless I had a "valid excuse"

during these months, she'd go on trips and I'd be as good as dead to her in this period. Once she was home and bored again, the calls would restart.

she said something awful to me and I stopped talking to her and maybe a month later after she said some other awful thing, i confronted her and she started shouting at me saying she's been mad at me all along for not talking to her 💀💀💀💀 which

a) isn't true (I texted her like 2 days after the first incident and she didn't respond to it --- she shouted at me saying she wanted me to call her???)

b) she literally said something godawful to me which made me want to not talk to her???

Needless to say, that "confrontation" was a spectacular display of Mercurial manipulation. I asked her why she was so goddamn mean to me and she said "I don't think this conversation is helping either of us, I'm sorry, now let's move on"

🤡😭😭 and I asked her about incident 2 and she said she's used to being around people (read: men) who bully each other playfully and that she wasn't used to my "sensitivity" (for context: I sent her a semi nude picture and she told me my shorts looked too tight around the waist and that looking at my "realistic" body helped her feel seen bc she's used to seeing photoshopped women and went on to compare both herself and me to our friends who are more petite 🤡)

After almost a year of being her unpaid therapist, she once interrupted me telling her something and told me to "wrap it up quickly" 😭😭😭 (the audacity) like she didn't gaf about what I had to say unless it soothed her ego somehow lol

As if all of this wasn't enough, I decided to call her a month ago, even though by this point we hadn't talked for over 2 ish months and she ended the convo 2 mins in saying she'll call me back and never did.

The way Mercurials exploit others to just bitch and whine and yap needs to be studied

Everything you said about your friend, I can also relate to (unfortunately)

Most Mercurials are friendless or have superficial friendships and tbh it makes sense bc they make it really hard for others to stay friends with them 😭 sorry to say it