#lmao he has so many flavors of drama

[sixofravens-reads]

re: 2023 new releases. hope you're ready for a long message because there were a lot.

hot new releases/things that were relatively popular

He Who Drowned The World, Shelley Parker Chan (Chinese mythological historical, very gay, very stabby a la Baru Cormorant. Book 2 of 2. A particular favorite of mine from this year)

Witch King, Martha Wells (New fantasy book by author of murderbot fame. I didn't actually click with this one but I'd be remiss to leave it off)

House With Good Bones, T Kingfisher (Southern gothic rose horror by the very talented Ursula Vernon)

Translation State, Ann Leckie (high sf alien horror regency romance. Wheeeeee. I had a lot of fun reading this. You can read it as a standalone, but you get deeper context if you've read the ancillary justice series, also highly recommended)

Will of the Many, James Islington (futuristic roman empire aesthetic rigged murder school. Not precisely good but appallingly catchy, I read all six hundred pages in pretty much one sitting. If you liked red rising you'll like this, if you hated red rising you will Not)

OH YEAH THE ACTUAL NEW MURDEBOT NOVEL (System Collapse)

A Power Unbound, Freya Marske (book 3 of 3, magic alt edwardian romances with murder. This is more romance proper but it's about equal with the action plot and Marske is very good. I don't think you've read these so you'd have to start at book 1)

Some Desperate Glory, Emily Tesh (The book that absolutely knocked my socks off, my pick for the best sff release of the year. I forget if I've already told you about this one)

Starling House, Alix Harrow (Southern gothic house drama. Similar feel to Ninth House or The Book of Night)

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, Shannon Chakraborty (Divorced lady pirate adventure-drama a la Arabian Nights.)

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Heather Fawcett (Charming, heavily fairy tale trope themed, vaguely reminiscent of the Lady Trent books)

more obscure new releases from this year that I thought were cool, but not in the Hot New Reads You Can't Miss Because Everyone's Read Them category

Under Fortunate Stars, Ren Hutchings (sf timey wimey space shenanigans with aliens. Immensely cool premise.)

Small Miracles, Olivia Atwater (fallen angel sent to tempt a too good mortal. Extremely charming)

The King Is Dead, Naomi Libicki (vaguely persian flavored fealty romance, very heavy to the fealty. Original, thorny, and intriguing)

The Deep Sky, Yume Kitasei (What if we terribly traumatized everyone going on a generation ship by making them go to viciously competitive boarding school together and then act surprised when a murder mystery occurs. Heads up that it's more interested in the human drama than the SF worldbuilding)

The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra Chandrasekera (early modern fantasy world anti-imperialism fever dream narrated by a cult survivor. Brilliantly written, spectacularly original, one of the best books I read this year)

Things for 2024, content warning for being (obviously) things I haven't read and thus without quality control

The Warm Hands of Ghosts, Katherine Arden

The Familiar, Leigh Bardugo

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P Djeli Clark

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan

Goddess of the River, Vaishnavi Patel

The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo

Exordia, Seth Dickinson

A Sorceress Comes To Call, T Kingfisher

Running Close To The Wind, Alexandra Rowland

Wow tumblr just lets me keep writing words. I didn't think they let me have this many in asks. Oh, and pro tip-- keep an eye out for tordotcom's most anticipated upcoming books for the first six months of 2024. They should be publishing it within the next week or so and I always add masses of books to my tbr from there.

oh holy crap, thanks!! I'll have to check these out!

thoughts on a few of em:

He Who Drowned The World - still have to read She Who Became the Sun lol but hopefully I'll get to em next year!

Witch King - Martha Wells has been recced by like All my sci-fi mutuals now lmao I REALLY gotta get into her!

House With Good Bones - THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY ON MY SHELF!! I just didn't fucking read it this year whoops. Very excited for new Kingfisher

Starling House - I was on the fence about this one since I really didn't like Once and Future Witches, but those comparisons give me hope! I'll add it to the library list!

Some Desperate Glory and Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries are 2/3 of the books published in 2023 that I actually managed to read (the 3rd is The Woman in Me lmao), I can't remember if you recc'd Some Desperate Glory, but it was SOOOOOOOO GOOD OMFG

Small Miracles - my aunt has been trying to convince me to read Atwater for quite a while, I'll have to give this one a try!

The Saint of Bright Doors - I have this one on hold!! Saw a post for it a week or so ago and it sounds absolutely delightful!

The Familiar - SO SO EXCITED for this one! I hope Bardugo is maybe...slowly....extricating herself from the Grishaverse and going to write more books not related to it... (not that they're all bad, I loved the Six of Crows duology, I'm just not into it anymore and I reeeealllly like her adult books lol)

Running Close To The Wind - oh yay new Rowland! I still haven't read her last book (the one with the guy on the cover who looked EXACTLY like my boss to the point where it became an Office Meme that [Boss] Is A Gay Romance Cover Model, still meaning to get a UK version of it but haven't yet) but I'll have to look this one up!

[ouatnextgen]

Any headcanons for the next gen?

Finally can answer! Sorry this took so long lmao. These are just a bunch of random headcanons

Reblogging for the update that Alice is now Hope's sister.

Roland

He loves baked goods, especially when they’re baked by Regina, and has a strange love of Mountain Dew, which grosses everyone out

He got his first tattoo, the exact same lion tattoo that Robin had, in the exact same place,  when he was twelve, thanks to Little John, and Regina almost fainted when she found out. 

He inherits his father’s arrows, rings, and wardrobe, while his sister gets his bow. Before he died, Robin made Roland his very own bow, and that is the one he uses

His biggest secret is that he doesn't want to lead the Merry Men, like his father before him; he wants to be a baker

Surprisingly squeamish. Doesn’t do well with blood or guts

90% of his Storybrooke wardrobe is flannels

He likes camping, hiking, and just generally being outside

Is a pretty good singer, and knows how to play the acoustic guitar

His favorite season is autumn

His favorite color is red

Alex

They have survived solely on food from Granny’s Diner and coffee since they graduated high school

They actually work at Granny’s Diner, pretty much doing Ruby’s job after she moved to Oz.

In several instances, they had managed to convince many small children that the pink streaks in their hair are 100% natural

Can wield a dagger pretty well, but is a self-proclaimed “runner” and not a fighter

Most of the graffiti around Storybrooke can be attributed to them

Though they’d rather die than admit it, they really like doing so-called “feminine” hobbies like knitting, sewing, and crocheting. They are very proficient at all three

Got a tongue piercing at 12:01 am, the very day that they turned eighteen

They play the bass, and dream of starting a garage band

Their favorite season is summer

Their favorite color is pink

Leo

Really likes spicy foods. Or foods he can dump gallons of hot sauce on. He pretends to be a tea drinker, but really can’t stand the stuff

Secretly loves country music, but knows that his friends would crucify him if they found out

His least favorite subject in school is English, because he feels like he gets interpretations of stories “wrong” somehow. Math is easier because it’s “straightforward”

He’s a guard on the school football team

Somehow, he’s also senior class president and has a 3.89 GPA

Since in this AU, Regina turned down the offer to be queen in favor of Snow, Leo is next in line for the throne (Emma opted out)

Can’t do archery for shit, but is great at fencing

He likes to babysit his brother and other neighborhood kids

His favorite season is spring

His favorite color is indigo

PJ

He’s one of those people who only eats plain noodles with butter, and only drinks water if it’s ice-cold or flavored. Very picky.

He has dyspraxia, which is a disorder similar to dyslexia. It affects his movement and coordination functions (my little brother has this) so he is very prone to stumbling, dropping things, and just general clumsiness.

He’s a night owl. He tends to stay awake until three hours before he has to get up (“Three hours is enough sleep, right?”) which results in a lot of coffee consumption

He’s a member of the school drama club, and has performed in many plays and musicals

He’s really into urban area gardening, where he grows plants and food in tiny boxes around his house

His honorary aunt is Mulan, and she was the one who taught him sword fighting, archery, and helped him figure out that he’s gay

He likes to live in the moment, and do spontaneous things. He’d rather regret doing something than not doing something.

He has Alex sneak him into clubs sometimes, just to do something rebellious for kicks

His favorite season is spring

His favorite color is purple

Robyn

Thanks to Regina’s influence, she loves apple flavored food

She got her glasses in her freshman year of high school. Before that, she just…moved closer to the board to see what was going on (I know in canon she only has her glasses when she’s cursed, but I like the idea of Robyn, the archer, needing glasses full-time, so here we are.)

She inherits Robin’s bow, and carries it around with her like a favorite teddy bear (when Robin comes back to life he teaches her how to make her own bow)

She longs to escape Storybrooke and travel the different realms, like Henry

She loves the outdoors like Roland, but not quite as much.

Her magic is chaotic and wild, like her personality

She’s on the school soccer team, and kicks everyone’s ass

The only jewelry she ever wears is a ring her mother got for her

Her favorite season is summer

Her favorite color is green

Gideon

Has a weakness for seafood, and regularly drinks tea

He’s a math nerd, and is on the school’s mathlete team

Unsurprisingly, he loves to read. Fiction or nonfiction, he doesn’t care. He’ll read five books a day if Belle lets him.

He also likes video games, but is very bad at them

He’s on the autism spectrum

He likes keeping journals, and keeps several personal journals, study journals, and doodle journals

Since his magic is inherently dark, he doesn’t like to use it much. If he does need to use magic, it can trigger memories from his time as the Black Fairy’s puppet to come back in the form of nightmares

He wants to be a therapist when he grows up, and maybe publish a book or two

His favorite season is winter

His favorite color is orange

Alice

She loves to eat things with marmalade, and even just marmalade straight from the jar. And she’s british…so tea is life

She has a mental illness (canon never gave her a proper diagnosis), and takes prescribed medication that helps her symptoms. When she has "bad days," Robyn, Hope, and their parents know how to help her.

She loves the idea of dying or putting streaks in her hair, but she’s slightly worried she’ll regret it later on, so hasn’t tried it yet

She still loves to paint, doodle, draw, and basically anything artsy. 

She loves to play chess with her father, and other, more modern board games with her friends. Her favorites are Candy Land, Battleship, and Monopoly.

She rarely uses her light magic, and only to protect people. Emma trains with her regularly

She will stay awake into the wee hours to go stargazing, and loves astronomy, star mapping, and even the zodiac signs (she’s a proud Aries)

Even though she’s never officially sailed a ship, she knows the inner workings of how to do it so well, she might as well be a sailor

Her favorite season is summer

Her favorite color is teal

Hope

Her favorite food is literally just cheese

She is on the autism spectrum

She has a special interest in swords, which results in a large sword collection, and a bunch of useless sword facts

She also has a special interest in dancing, which results in her now knowing a few books worth of dances, both modern and classical

She’s on the school dance squad (see above)

She likes to go sailing with Killian and Alice

Her favorite piece of jewelry is the swan necklace her parents gave her

Going to the beach calms her down, and she listens to ocean noises to fall asleep

Her favorite season is summer

Her favorite color is navy blue

[admirableadmiranda]

Man sangsang, I'm probably about to join you guys in getting hate despite barely blogging because of that post lmao. I don't even mind kinder interpretations of JC. I just hate that they are messing with a very specific flavor of JC that had it's own tag. They act like tagging "canon character" is a regular thing to do when I don't think I've seen it anywhere but here. But because of their inability to understand the word canon has no bearing on the validity of the post, it gives an opportunity to throw the word "nuance" at them as many times as I can since they seem to be unable to pick up on the nuance that a negative view doesn't mean character hate or bashing.

I remember when the creation of this tag happened. People getting harassed is never fun and shouldn't happen. But as someone who kinda enjoys watching drama from the sidelines the name of the tag was a joy to watch in real time. "Go make your own" -> "ok we will" -> "wait not that name". Perfection.

If they are so concerned with their post being 100% for reals correct interpretation, they should make their own tag. I've suggested "true to text Jiang Cheng" since obviously putting those words before the character name would make whatever is in the post true to the text in the same way any post in the canon Jiang Cheng tag proves the post is canon... As in not at all but maybe it'll make them feel better about themselves.

Oof, I hope you don’t! That would really suck if you were to get hate just for expressing your frustrations. I at least was prepared for it and invited it since I did blaze my post about the tag. But you’re not even part of the whole mess, so they had better leave you alone.

Yeah, I don’t think I’ve seen “canon character” as a tag anywhere else, though most fandoms don’t usually have such a… broad divide between a fanon and canon interpretations. I actually don’t mind a softer JC all that much myself as long as he’s tagged so I can decide if I feel like him today or not, and of course WWX isn’t getting all the blame for stuff going on.

Haha, are you at least having fun with the new word of the day? I agree, having a negative view really doesn’t have to be bashing or even disconnected from the character. Otherwise how would we ever be able to enjoy any villains? Some characters are just not made to be positively sympathized with to begin with.

Lol, yeah that was a lot of fun. I do remember those times fondly. They should have been more specific if they didn’t want me and my friends to have free reign of creativity on our tag. And you know what? It worked!

Lol!! If they do that, I would be happy. A single tag for me to filter out, peace and quiet in our time. I doubt it’ll happen, but also they ain’t winning our stalemate no matter how much Xicheng they put in the tag, so I’m sure that eventually it’ll be just another story in the MDZS fanbase to horrify and amuse new people dipping their toes in.

Thanks for stopping by! Your post made me smile this morning, even if it wasn’t a very happy post to begin with. I wish you all the luck in the world!

[barovianbitches]

If the party had social media and were influencers/content creators, what site and what content???

Bettany would have a blog… I can’t picture him having any sort of presence on any other social platform, but I can see him maintaining a blog where he posts about his plants and cute pictures of Geronimo. That being said, someone definitely posted a video of him having loosing his shit at a protest against unsustainable environmental policies that was posted with the title “leftist cringe”.

Yvan would probably be an Instagram lifestyle/travel blogger. The Vistani in-world travel as a clan, so Yvan would be the type to be living a carefree lifestyle, showing how REAL hippies live without glitz, glamour, and brand deals. His page would all be pretty sunsets, beautiful beaches, and pictures of him and his family all around the world. He would also give a lot of tips on how to live good on a tight budget.

Rorali would be on pretty much every social media site. She would have an active Youtube channel, TikTok and Twitter account as well as having multiple throw away accounts on Reddit. Her content would mostly feature her tormenting her friends, not so unbiased reporting of drama, some video game playthroughs (longer story games like The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, Subnautica, and most recently Bauldur's Gate 3), what I eat in a day/week videos, outfit of the day, shopping hauls and of course a lot of videos with her gfs (holiday, vacation and anniversary vlogs). There would also be some parody apology videos somewhere on there.

Thalassia would run a YouTube or Tiktok shorts channel, put everything on private accidentally, and wonder why she gets only her own views or friends. Her videos are sporadic, 'look at this neat thing!', so there wouldn't be many viewers to begin with. But she always appreciates friends who watch them.

Constantin probably runs a purely informational fitness TikTok where he does those 'how to get (___) physique' with recommended exercises and targeted muscle groups and shit, has a twitch he streams on every now and then where he does cooking streams, focusing heavily on like, dorm meals, high protein/macros low cost/effort, healthy but still flavorful food

Tyyran would def be a music tiktoker creating parodies of songs and comedy skits. Before tiktok he was definitely a popular vine guy. He would def be in a similar comedy vein to laturtle69. lmao.

[thebleedingeffect]

I feel that both SS and botw/totk zelink aren't toxic but that they have very good potential for it. The potential is rife for co-dependency, impostor syndrome, obsession, strong separation anxiety, goddess-related trauma, etc. "I don't know who I am without you" type beat. Love so deep it swallows you whole. Pre-calamity also has fantastic drama potential in the need to keep secrets, etc.

YEAH THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN I UNDERSTAND YOU!! Canonly? Yeah they're not toxic at all cause I very much doubt nintendo would ever be brave enough to make Link's and Zelda’s relationship questionable in any way lmao. But like... the potential is there, there's so much of it, and the worst thing is that it's not unbelievable at all to interpret that they could very easily slip into toxic tendencies. I also agree with you I think sksw and botw/totk zelink are the two with the biggest risk of becoming toxic lmao.

I made that joke post thinking about sksw zelink cause I just could not thinking about of the sheer amount of implications about their relationship in that game. Surface level? Yeah it's pretty sweet, very much classic 'gotta save my love from evil' sorta deal, but there's SO MUCH going on besides just that!! There's an entire conversation where sksw Zelda straight up says 'I emotionally used you and purposely stayed away from you because I and this world needed a hero. Hylia decided this for you and I'm currently experiencing an identity crisis because I'm not sure if I just fabricated your love for me, but either way I must take advantage of it.' LIKE WHAT THE HELL??? HI??

Like just fucking, personally I think Link would be a more victim of the codependency, separation anxiety, and maybe obsession? Idk I see that as something that I think Zelda would go through actually, along with goddess-imposter syndrome, and severe trauma towards fate and all that. What's even worse is that once you start digging into sksw and botw/totk zelink's relationship there are so many things that are borderline concerming if anyone decided to expand on them. Tbh I also completely agree with you about the pre-calamity thing I think they would hide SOOOOOOOO MUCH SHIT FROM EACH OTHER !!!

Personally I really like to imagine that botw Link actually did hold some resentment for Zelda because he was jealous over the fact that she was able to avoid her fate for so long. From what we're told in botw it's very heavily implied that the opposite happened to Link, the goddesses had chosen him when he was just a kid. Also the idea that Link had been purposely given extremely difficult and near-abusive training for years to prepare him for being Zelda’s guard and Zelda never knew <333 and he never told her <333 so he has even MORE buried resentment <333

But those are just my ideas cause my favorite zelink relationships are when they're emotionally MESSY and FASCINATING TO ME sjsidjd they don't even need to be romantic, platonic is actually totally fine for me, I just love messy bitches.

But yeah I totally agree, I think while they're not toxic in the text itself, I think they very much have the potential to be. The potential for being so intertwined with destiny that it becomes as much of a slowly corroding force as much as salvation. You love them so much, you can't imagine a world without them, you hate them, you resent them, you wonder if they actually love you or just what purpose you serve, you wonder if they love you or if they've just been broken down and told to. You panic if they're not by their side, your skin itches with the need to run away, you can't look at each other in the eye, did you ever love each other if you were never given a choice?

I think zelink has a ton of potential, BUT I think it's more toxic flavor just deserves to be explored way more cause there's no way sksw/botw/totk are HEALTHY in the SLIGHTEST

[fluorescentbrains]

Wait I’m screaming I’m looking through the comments on that post and someone said: “it’s not Jewish because angels don’t have free will in Judaism” as if it’s not a pretty big point in the show that angels don’t have free will and the one angel who does develop it is viewed as a weirdo by the other angels. Also a lot of people who are speaking on Islam despite clearly knowing nothing about it?

The fact that people are getting mad at you is insane to me I’m not sure if they ever called Chuck the Abrahamic god and I don’t think Islam is ever mentioned but he is canonically the god of both the Jewish and Christian faiths in the show it’s not your fault it’s that way you didn’t write the show

“Based on some second hand impressions from tumblr and maybe a cursory google search I can say definitively that this fantasy show is 100% Protestant you upset me, a Catholic, by implicating my faith under the term abrahamic so I’m going to get all up on your post about it and most importantly what I personally dislike about the show’s writing that you could have no affect on instead of making my own post even though I’m severely derailing your post with my religious discourse. Christmas is a more important holiday to me than Easter and I’ve never so much as read the Bible. I’m just going off of my own interpretation of my faith which [though very valid in reality] is SO MUCH more valid than anyone else’s interpretation or experience, especially the Catholics on the spn writing team, who I doubt are real Catholics”

everyone on your post sounds Quite A Bit Like That; it’s absolutely absurd. (Going so far as to minimize real people’s faith bc you didn’t like their fantasy show is particularly cruel imo and people are doing that to the Jewish creator of the show)

Making any flavor of post about religion when it wasn’t initially about that is wrong; supernatural’s incooperation of highly fictionalized and (yes, anyone can admit, often bastardized) religious elements doesn’t make supernatural posts inherently religious debates like if you want to accuse Eric kripke of being a secret Christian because he made up some nonsense about demons for a plot point in his monster hunting show where no monster adheres to its traditional qualities very well at least don’t do it on a joak post about homophobia against destiel

the religious lore in spn is definitely something worth having Discussions and Conversations about but I always wanna push back when people are like “this is a CHRISTIAN show” like i get that to you spn is something you don’t want to be associated with because it has So Many Problems but it’s actually kind of a huge pop culture phenomenon so… maybe I don’t want to cede it entirely to a christian lens? especially when many of the creators are in fact not christian?? lmao people actually did used to post and meta about jewishnatural so this thing where we take it for granted that it has nothing whatsoever to do with anything non-christian is recent…

my interpretation of spn is that it started out as mostly a pure Cool Monster Show and then eventually the writers started playing in the space of “vaguely modern Christian mythology” (modern being a very key word here—many of the most quintessentially christian lore elements we are used to were developed rather late in the history of the religion and have scant or ambiguous support in the original texts). but what does the show actually SAY with that mythology?? well, a lot of conflicting and frequently offensive things… but occasionally very interesting things as well.

also funny you mention catholic vs protestant discourse because I feel like I remember there being Drama at one point bc people were saying “spn is catholic” and some people were like “no it’s actually protestant” 🙈

I wish I could find any word from eric kripke where he talks about how his jewish identity did or didn’t inform his writing. I think it could be really interesting, even if the answer is “no, I wasn’t thinking about judaism whatsoever.” like that in and of itself would be interesting. it doesn’t seem like it’s something he talks about much—all I could find was an interview about the boys where he talked about how he uses superheroes as a way to write about eugenics and fascism, because times have changed since they were created (by jewish comic book writers).

anyways I find it interesting that tumblr media analysts consider the cultural identity (or gender identity or sexual identity) of creators to be Very Important in basically all cases except when they’re jewish. I’m not necessarily saying it’s good that we rely so much on identity politics in this space (we could stand to move away from that!!) but the absence of consideration for jewishness is quite striking to me. people will go off writing meta about how xyz media is “promoting christian ideology” or whatever and thinking they’re really saying something and not even be aware that the creator/writer was, in fact, jewish, and considering how THAT might affect their analysis (I’m talking about the Star Wars sequels lmao). I think it really speaks to the uncertainty people have about how to even conceptualize jewish people as part of their social justice framework

[cantalooprat]

Fanservice Paradox

What I Liked

hhhh the romance concept of pts and fjx is rly rly right up my alley, philosophy×mathematics with the core of "true self", it rly... rly ticks all my boxes. how do i describe itttt its like, its like... basically, the pursuit of truth is the most romantic of all lmao its like how i think that physics is inherently romantic, philosophy and math are like that too. basically. i love the abstract metaphors and the in-character but non-public knowledge allusions, they way they integrate and make parallels of each other in their own fields of study (moon of entelecheia, point on the number axis). ngl i didn't expect this kind of thing in my idol-setting showbiz wn.

i feel like pts and fjx rly embody the quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction". pts didnt hate fjx himself but hated how passive he seemed despite being at the eye of a storm of rumors, and fjx avoided him bc it’s his natural reaction to someone who doesn’t like him. but at the core they have similar values and outlooks in life, just different ways of going about in preserving them. so once the ice between them starts to melt into warmth, it's rly... fairly easy for them to fall for each other.

i love how zhichu wrote fjx. i feel like true socially awkward introverts r super rare in danmei-sphere. there r mostly taciturn ppl who don't like to speak (hello stoic cold mls) but they're not lacking in the social capability department. when i read abt fjx i lowkey think, wow, i feel like that too sometimes lmao. it's also nice that zhichu wrote how there r ppl who questioned if fjx has psychological problems and responded that there r ppl who r naturally more introverted, and ngl i'm guilty of thinking of that too, even though i myself am an extreme introvert and should have been able to understand and identify more w fjx sighs

ling yi is an entire precious disaster bb and yybl would not have been the same without him

tbh yybl brings back all the sweetest memories of my kpop stan days, reading it is like experiencing ur fav nugu group blow up into stardom. they even come w their own edgy boygroup title tracks lmao. hnn but yeah, there r so many memorable moments. the accidental cp fancam (exid's fancam that made them famous!), faulty audio that catapulted them to stardom (gfriend's infamous slipping performance when they danced on a wet stage?), fjx's mic box almost falling off and him saving it flawlessly (shinee's dream girl perf w minho's broken mic stand), their first win, their first concert... i cried reading the last 2 chapters abt their concert, it rly made me nostalgic. anw. the point is. stan kaleido.

night trip tho it became so meaningful im so shook, it was a drama ost n they described the scenes where the song was used n i got Goosebumps n then the hidden meaning of the lyrics was also revealed n how it's all referring to pts and fjx's love story sigh sigh sigh

ok ok ok but i can't not mention the absolutely beautiful imageries that kept being used to reference these two. from math to philosophy to the moon to spring/winter... they're fantastic, i love the beauty in the writing.

w a t e r f i r e im so! fukin!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! g o d that set of extras they're not even done yet n im so!!! ok i believe the audio drama team will rls daydream for waterfire they cant not rls daydream!! waterfire is s o . . . their sexual tension is off the charts n i was even like ho they have fwb vibes n then they actually became fwb n i was Still Shook like wtf me anw their romance is a whole different flavor compared to tingjue, they're like a more adult tianwang actually. he ziyan was like "mb im someone who cant keep someone else" n i had moumou war flashbacks. fak i had no clue waterfire is a thing in the main text, if it wasn't for other readers mentioning i'd rly have no idea. n then they have a set of extras just for them n i was like mygod... they can be their own wn... they rly have that vibe of "a relationship that wasn't quite complete when they were young, then they reunited x yrs later n finally get together" n like thats just moumou vibes adkfks

What I Disliked

the...pacing is kinda wack. tbh nearing the end of the story i was kind of tired of reading it, and not bc i'm bored (like for ghfod i was actually bored near the end). the ups and downs were just really... quite extreme. idk how to quite describe it, but it was tiring.

pts's attitude screams entitled a lot of the times. tbh he can't get away w most of the shit he does if he wasn't so rich. at least he's not a stoic ml ig

the author mentioned it too but it's def a v idealistic view of the entertainment industry. not rly a con but its also not rly a pro, but having come from kpop n seeing the netizen reactions for kaleido, i just think that they must be living in a much warmer, kinder parallel world compared to this one.

icb heartbeat paradox wasn't actually a song from the wn /unreasonable

Notes

would i read zhichu's other works? probably... i think their writing concepts and romantic philosophy is right up my alley, but the pacing of yybl rly did make me tired at the end lmao

[flareondotcom]

im making tags for my active dungeons and dragons characters!!! just for blorbo posting, for funsies. but ive never posted them before, so this is a lil introductory 🫶 yknow, put faces to the names youre about to be seeing a lot more of lol

forgotten realms babes under the cut!!!

really sorry ahead of time for the low quality pictures, s'all i got boss!

THIS v

is Heller Highwater!

race: kenku

class: barbarian

background: sailor

pronouns: he/they

they have fucked up zygodactyl parrot hands and feet. no reason, just some flavor lmao. hes a jokester, a goober if you will, always keeping their spirits high. a scrappy lil fella. optimistic, confident, could befriend anyone in any tavern, and drink them under the table while he's at it. so loyal that its a flaw, not a trait.

as an egg, he was plundered by pirates from a small island apart of the moonshae isles. (the pirates are good guys, its a whole situation) he was raised by the crew on the open seas. they operated more like a nautical merry band of robin hoods than pirates. the captain was a retired harper, and had a strict code of conduct.

the story of how they became a barbarian though, is quite the tale. this is already going to be so long tho, so maybe some other time lol. after all is said and done, he left the sea behind for a life of adventuring on land, and comes out the other end with the same amount of jolly zest for life, but now with a deadly temper when the conditions are right.

their war hammer, Feather Fall, is enchanted to be completely weightless, and still hits with all the deadly weight of any war hammer. he picked it up while escaping captivity. he had been held captive for so long that he was in poor health by the time of his escape. he was so atrophied, feather fall was the only thing in the armory (that was burning down) (again, its a whole situation) that he could lift to take with him as he fled.

during one of the many "missions" heller went on with their crew, the tip of their beak was blown off after a risky maneuver to save their ship mates from certain death. the ship mates and involved crew felt so guilty for making heller risk his life that they pooled together enough silver to commission him an ornate prosthetic with a polished red jewel for his beak. its fashioned to the keratin of his beak by screws, and he can take it off when it suits him. their beak gets sore whenever a stormfront comes through.

THIS v

is Masha Chokecherry!

race: forest gnome

class: archfey warlock

background: hermit

pronouns: they/them

masha is soft-spoken, monotone, and willing to go with damn near any flow that comes their way. absolutely nothing frightens them, but nothing seems to particularly excite them either. has a sick sense of humor. twisted fucking cyclepath. ultimately just wants a simple, quiet life but fate denies them that life at every possibel opportunity, and they are resigned to this. they're slow to trust, but once someone's earned it they'll have it always.

they grew up in a remote village deep in the wilderness. this village was ruled over and governed by three prominent, ancient families of gnomes: the chokecherrys, who are rangers, the brambleboots, who are druids, and the fiddleheads, who are clerics. if you hadn't guessed by now, the village worships all aspects of nature, and live and die by its balance. on the surface, it was all very peaceful, serene even. picturesque. but underneath its surface, behind closed doors, the politics of the three families are cutthroat, high stakes, and taken deadly seriously. each of the families collectively vie for the most divine clout from their respective pantheons of nature gods, and will do Anything to put themselves ahead of the other families. piously, of course.

(hit me up if you ever wanna know about the insane machinations of the three families, it gets crazy. fucked up gnome discourse the likes of which youve never seen. generations of soap opera gnome drama you would not even care about)

^ here they are making pixar face

through a series of bullshit events, masha is violently exiled from their village for entirely petty familial dispute related reasons. (another quite-the-tale situation). it was during their years of isolation in the wilds that they had a chance encounter with an archfey in need of a warlock servant. and well! the rest is history. they have a positive, but ultimately complicated relationship with their patron. honestly i could go on and on about that, but this already feels like a lot of information lol.

ok now do a silly one.

anyways! these are some of the most fleshed out characters in my entire arsenal, so theres a lot of stuff i left out! for the sake of brevity! thanks for looking at my silly lil sketches of my silly lil guys!!! this is going to be the first post in each of their respective tags, and i'll mostly be putting memes and aesthetic stuff in here, but i'll probably post more sketches and blurbs about them in the future!!!

and of course... feel free to ask about em if you ever feel like it, its so fun to talk about them <3

[kozzax]

Ok ok ok

Favorites rn are Jade, the Carapacians (especially Jack Noir and Peregrine), Nepeta, Terezi, Vriska and Roxy (I love women moment)

I actually really love acts 1-3 and it reminds me a lot of a show i like called RWBY, where the first three seasons are chill and then the tension ramps with higher stakes. Big fan of looking back at the past and crying cause the characters were so innocent back then.

Btw anyone who says you can skip straight to act 5 to see the trolls is LYING!!!!

I like the ancestors rn, in the "they're sick legends from the past" way, I havent met the dancestors yet.

The scratch is interesting rn I dunno if i'll be able to tell completely how I feel about it till I see more of its affects. I can see why live readers didnt vibe with the Alpha kids all the way, but I'm really liking them so far. My opinions may change when they get into the game we will see.

Also WV my beloved <3 <3 <3 Such a good soul he's so brave and noble and he lead the rebellion against the Black King and kept the White Queen's ring for years what a guy!!!!

I AM SOOOOOOO SORRY FOR HOW LATE THIS RESPONSE IS LMAO. sorry. my adhd meds have been in limbo for a week and a half. everyone can tell.

You're so right though on like. Everything here lmao. The thing about Homestuck is that it just has so many really good women in it. I may be a captors stan because I have big emotions about their relationship with apocalypses but like. The women in homestuck are simply just So Good. I thiiiiiink PM is probably my favorite homestuck woman and Nepeta is my second though. If I was forced to choose. Wait no I forgot about Aradia and Kanaya. Ohhhhhh boy. How do you pick. They're all simply WONDERFUL.

I'm sooooo glad you enjoyed WV but also don't get used to him. He's never brought back properly again until like act 7. For a few seconds. It's miserable being a WV fan during act 6 because he's treated as less than a person and the fact that he's a WAR VETERAN WITH PTSD ABOUT THE WAR HE FOUGHT IN AS A REVOLUTIONARY LEADER is ignored completely in favor of LOOK! Pet for dave and karkat!

As an archival reader myself I loved the alpha kids. They're fun!!! They're delightful little idiots. I'm deeply curious about your opinions on Jake English, actually. I've been known to have what some people might refer to as strong opinions on him. Incredibly strong opinions on one particular aspect of him that may only be implied in canon but like guys it's so incredibly heavily implied in canon I'm obsessed with it.

Hope you're having as much fun with act 6 as I did when I first read it which. Ok admittedly I didn't like act 6 as much on my first readthrough because the specific flavor of romance drama was Not as engaging to me but in retrospect I really love it.

[ultrastupid]

I'm gonna slop down all the (mostly safe for tumblr dfklgjdfkl) headcanons I have for 1010 (along with Sayu gkldfjgkl). I literally keep them all in a doc file.

(Note: In my canon, Neon J is not their dad and 1010 are not brothers (this is a popular headcanon might I add, not actual game canon), and it takes place 5 years after the events of the game so Sayu is 21) (Sorry olden days of NSR fandom drama makes me always have to say that as a defense mechanism lmao) (Some mentions of genitalia but only VERY brief, anything else that isn't flat out removed gets censored with a humorous [REDACTED] label)

Applies to all of 1010 -Omnisexual and omniromantic, with different preferences -All have the ability to switch genitalia between dick or pussy, and can even have them both out at the same time -Their black-and-white sailor outfits are really plates more or less, that cover up their body with is a frame covered in soft, sensitive silicone skin. They can retract these plates so expose their body and wear other clothes -All of them have an animalistic (animal traits) form -Not related to each other in my headcanon because they are robots lmao -Also not related to Neon J for the same reason, he's just their creator -Used to have a kid form, then teen form, and currently have their final adult form -They are waterproof, can eat and "digest" (incinerate) food, cry, sweat, drool, piss (oil), bleed (thicker oil), and even have fake silicone organs, motherboard/CPU functions as their brains -All have a power associated with them -Cheeks glow brighter for blush, cheeks also can have different sensations when rubbed/touched -Can go multiple days without needing to recharge, but still tend to sleep normally (which recharges them) -They all have surge protector functions, and electric shocks that would damage them instead make them [REDACTED] -They can get computer viruses that act like real viruses and make them sick -1010 are still combat bots so they are VERY powerful, strong, and huge -Neon modeled 1010 after fallen comrades from the war in his unit... Minus Rin. Rin looks like he did before he got a screenhead

Rin (Nickname Rinrin) -The leader of 1010, the face of the band, tends to do the talking in interviews -Oldest member (first created) -Also the shortest at 8 feet -His charm method: All of 1010's charm methods combined -His flavor/scent: Vanilla -Omni with no preferences -Animalistic form: Puppy -In a relationship with: Zuke because I ship onionship sdgljkdg -Power: Hyalokinesis (glass), typically in the form of dangerous shards, but also able to shatter people like glass with strength -Cheeks: Feels smooth like glass, when happy it feels really good to touch, when mad it's sharp like glass shards -Body/build: Twinkish, relatively lithe -Other info: Despite being the leader, he is submissive both in the normal way and the [REDACTED] way, he doesn't like making the decisions and usually leaves that to Purl-hew. Or Neon. Also he has a heavy crush on Neon. Also why 1010 got SEX upgrades after Zuke's [REDACTED] short circuited him LMAO

Purl-hew (Nickname Purly) -The cool mysterious guy of 1010, doesn't show many emotions, most intelligent -Second oldest (second created) -Second tallest at 10 feet -His charm method: Staring/his eyes, he wears shades because he's accidentally made fans [REDACTED] before -His flavor/scent: Blue raspberry -Omni with a preference for men (or anyone with a DONG) -Animalistic form: Kitty -In a relationship with: Zimelu -Power: Cryokinesis (ice), able to form ice and create cold, has turned people into ice and shattered them before -Cheeks: Feels cool, when happy it feels comfortably cool, when mad it's cold enough to cause frostbite -Body/build: Very lithe, next to no muscle -Other info: He always has a semi-renewed bite mark on his neck (from Zimelu~), has two simple black ear piercings, likes water (he's the reason 1010 got waterproof upgrades, love to swim, shower, bathe, etc), second-in-command under Rin

Zimelu (Nickname Melu) -The bad boy of 1010, tsundere as HELL, somewhat rowdy, strongest member, big softy deep down -Middle child (third created) -THE tallest at 10 foot 10 inches -His charm method: His voice, fans have [REDACTED] from his voice alone, he knows just what to say as well -His flavor/scent: Strawberry -Omni with a preference towards anyone with a COOCH -Animalistic form: Bull -In a relationship with: Purl-hew -Power: Pyrokinesis (fire), able to make fire, raise temperatures, has burned people bad enough to expose bones -Cheeks: Feels warm, when happy becomes warmer, when mad it's hot enough to cause burns -Body/build: Tiny waist, firm [REDACTED], broad shoulders, FAT chest, [REDACTED], bodybuilder-like -Other info: He has piercings everywhere, his tongue is 2 feet long and retractable, shark teefs, mohawk is almost always down off to side, loves to cook, this man will take any opportunity to snuggle others, the reason 1010 got fireproof upgrades (was/is a pyromaniac), third-in-command to Rin

(Zimelu's piercings specified, all black) -Nose: Septum piercing (bull ring~) -Ears: Industrial piercing, gauges, multiple rings, multiple spikes, multiple studs -Lips: Canine bites (studs up top rings on bottom) -Tongue: Stud near the tip of tongue (when retracted, looks like normal "middle") -Hips: One stud on each side -Navel: Barbell -Nipples: Barbells [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [JUST TRUST ME HE'S PIERCED EVERYWHERE]

Eloni (Nickname Loni) -The odd guy, tends to be shy and has low self esteem, tends to crack jokes a lot -Second youngest (fourth created) -Second shortest at 9 feet -His charm method: His touch, his fingers feel like magic, he's a hugger and snuggler too~ -His flavor/scent: Green apple/lime, depending on partner's preference -Omni, no preference -Animalistic form: Deer -In a relationship with: Sayu and Haym -Power: Ergokinesis (energy), can manipulate raw energy into hard matter (usually spikes), has impaled/crushed many people -Cheeks: Feels velvety soft, when happy feels VERY soft, when mad turns spiky like thorns -Body/build: Chubby, messy hair, soft middle and chest, decent [REDACTED], no muscles -Other info: His hair is almost always down from his ring in a ponytail, his hair is prehensile, he's traumatized (fans [REDACTED] [REDACTED] him), has scars all over his silicone skin (minus his face/neck and hands, aka what's visible normally), the reason 1010 got surge protector upgrades, fourth-in-command to Rin

Haym (Nickname Sunshine) -The young cute happy guy, very energetic half the time, and sleepy and unable to focus the other -THE youngest (fifth created) -Middle height at 9 foot 5 inches -His charm method: His smell and taste, produces aphrodisiac pheromones and spit, self explanatory -His flavor/scent: Lemon -Omni, preference for people with BREASTS -Animalistic form: Bunny -In a relationship with: Sayu and Eloni -Power: Electrokinesis (electricity), can zap at varying intensity, has zapped people into ash before -Cheeks: Feels tingly with electricity, when happy it tingles so nicely, when mad it can make a nasty shock -Body/build: Tall femboy, nice [REDACTED], skinny and kind of girly -Other info: His hair is long and always down, loves sweet foods, has robot bipolarity complete with insane manias and violent depressive crashes, loves to bake, fluent in "Japanese" (Akusukan?), was actually a Sayu fanboy before they met, the reason 1010 has taste and digestion upgrades, fifth-in-command to Rin

Beta 1010 (Nicknames Ichi, Ni, and San, aka Japanese number puns lmao) -Three almost identical clones, they were the prototypes for 1010 -Made before the others -10 foot even -Their charm method: A weaker version of Rin's (aka everything) -Their flavor/scent: Blackberry -Omni, no preference -Animalistic form: Birds -In a relationship with: Each other -Power: Mild telekinesis -Cheeks: Feels soft and pleasant, when happy it's REALLY soft, when mad it feels rough -Body/build: Very average, tall, slim hips and wide chests -Other info: They are based off the unused/beta 1010 from the early development of the game, they were hiding out in the flying factory for years, Neon J thought they were dead, they are very shy and timid, they are VERY weak to praise because they don't get it often (remember that 1010 is technically powered on praise in canon), they get found and join 1010 and gain fans so happy ending, sixth-in-command to Rin, despite having different names and tiny differences treating them as one is recommended, they still have the 1010 synchronization urges hard-coded into them, feels vulnerable and lost when split up

Sayu (No nickname dlgjkdfl) -She is 21 years old in my canon so not only can she fuck but she can legally drink lmao -About 12 feet when interacting with 1010/organics, normally around 50 feet and can change size -Her charm method: Same as Rin, all the charms of 1010 with even more powerful voice and pheromones -Her flavor/scent: Passion fruit -Omni, preference for men with ANY genitalia -Animalistic form: None, she's already a mermaid girl lmao, I am NOT giving her back the Fishyu form -In a relationship with: Eloni and Haym -Power: Able to switch between physical form and virtual form at will, can manipulate technology, connected to databases 24/7, can summon tentacles (to help her do things but yes, also for [REDACTED], lmao) -Body/build: Uses her 1st form from the game because fuck it's less complicated to write lmao, big [REDACTED] because she is an adult -Other info: She's a food addict and prefers salty foods, she drinks sake, she can cook and bake really well, she watches a LOT of [REDACTED], fluent in "Japanese" (Akusukan?), was actually a Haym fangirl before they met

[twobrokenwyngs]

"#I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A DRAMATIC BABY" uh I beg to differ you've seen Tommy Shelby

...............................i stand corrected

[springday-aus]

Disney Prince!AU with Seonghwa

★ Seonghwa as Disney’s Prince Charming ★

moodboard link

Group: ATEEZ 

Member: Park Seonghwa

Genre: fluff, romance, hints of angst 

part of the Disney Prince Series - could also be a prince!au

Type: Bulletpoint AU 

Word Count: approx. 3k

A/N: I had to spice things up a bit bc after a rewatch of Cinderella, I have realized they have no flavor and got a bit carried away—so enjoy! 

Warnings: family death + mentions of abusive family - you know the classic princess storyline. 

Seonghwa….. is not your average prince

but it’s not depicted in a negative light

so, he’s the prince other nations wished they had

he’s very involved with the state of affairs, often spends time in the villages and conversing with the townsfolk, and often visits schools to read to them or just watch them and it’s so……...wholesome

*cut to him struggling to sit on the carpet with the kids bc his legs can’t fold*

basically everyone loves him because he’s got this angelic aura around him that just makes you feel like you can trust him with anything

and I mean anything

mothers would probably offer him their babies if that was appropriate

he’s just super sweet and tries to remember what he learns in order to take it back and make use of it with the current policies that the parliament is trying to endorse or something

obviously, this is the main image of him to the public

and it’s not fake

but those in the palace know he can get a bit mischievous and sassy

it’s only really seen by those who are close with him, or have been around for a longer time

like assistant!Hongjoong and head butler!Wooyoung

since they’re all close in age and grew up together too, they’re much more comfortable with one another

Hongjoong: *hits his head on a doorway*

Seonghwa: “......... are you an idiot?”

guard!Yeosang and butler-in-training!San: laughing

no, but for real, all of them know he’s basically an angel

the amount of shit he’s putting up with them, but like they make for great entertainment lmao

anyways

the older workers at the palace find him adorable

like when Seonghwa tried to sneak-eat the freshly picked strawberries

“my prince, did you just eat a strawberry?”

Seonghwa with a mouthful of them: “no”

he’s like the grandson they all want (and are trying to get, but we’ll get to that later)

other than his charities and visits and public outings, he’s also known to be a good horseback rider

like real good

Wooyoung: “this is the most princely we’ll ever see him”

he’s kidding, but he’s also not kidding

bc lbr: Seonghwa in a horseback riding fit with the shoulder pads and the helmet and the wind and

Wow

many gather to see him in his glorious, sweaty state afterwards

it’s funny bc he’s so handsome and there are times when he’ll acknowledge it and other times when he doesn’t

especially since the ateez boys just ignore him or tease him

now it just depends on how he feels that day as to how he’d react

since he’s got such a good reputation, you know what that means?

lots of treaties and lots of marriage proposals

on one hand, many nearby countries know how nice Prince Seonghwa is—and some thought he was naive enough to be deceived by them

and that led to a few wars, but they lost real bad bc they assumed he was too nice

when, in actuality, he’s very knowledgeable since he takes a lot after the king and the queen

that allowed much more respect for the kingdom, especially since he’s the first in line for the throne once he’s married

which leads to the second thing: he gets lots and lots of marriage proposals

have you SEEN him?????

do you know how CAPABLE he is????

helloo?????

anyways

the royal family kind of milks this—not in that way tho

it’s in the sense that it’s because they want him to find someone soon and there’s more time for them to learn the ropes about ruling a kingdom

that means lots of balls are thrown in hopes of Seonghwa finding someone to ~catch his eye~ and whatnot

but Seonghwa just uses this as a diplomatic advantage, you know? like a chance for him to meet other royals and build these relationships

and while he has good intentions, the rejected royals are kind of bitter, but they know better than to mess with the Royal Family

meanwhile, party planner!Yunho is lowkey racking in the dough from these events, so he’s fine throwing all these balls lmao

this is where you come in

but, it’s not how others might think

so, you used to be the daughter of a well-of-ish family—you had money for a house and caretakers who adored you and you with parents who loved you dearly

you lived in your own little bubble of love

but then your mother died

when she died, it was almost as if she had taken the lively atmosphere of the household with her

your father buried himself into his work, rarely making time for you anymore and…. there was a drift

one day he came home with a mysterious woman, proclaiming her as your stepmother

along with her came her two daughters, who were as ugly outside as they were on the inside

while you could have done without her passive-aggressiveness, it was nice to see your father happy

but lo-and-behold, you lucked out and he died on a business trip, leaving you alone with strangers to become your only family

it only got worse from there as they openly started to mock you, shame you and push you beyond your boundaries

as they could no longer pay for the staff, they also forced you to clean after them, cook for them, and make all the arrangements that they demanded

or, as your oh-so-lovely stepmother said “you’re below us and you will always be below us”

at first, you put up with it because there’s nowhere else for you

but, slowly, the idea of running away was starting to sound better

and the opportunity came as the palace was starting to look for more servants who would stay in the servants’ quarters

you immediately packed away your things, which wasn’t much to begin with—your mother’s locket being the major trinket you possessed

and ran off to work as a housekeeper, who hid away behind the palace walls and the public eye

since you clean for the palace, it also means cleaning after the balls

other than television appearances, you never really saw the royal family

even as you did work in the palace because……………. they’re running a goddamned country

but, of course, there are rumors and gossip with the other housekeepers which all come from reliable resources

**cough cough definitely Wooyoung cough cough**

so there’s a lot of what you heard, not really from what you’ve seen, despite what some might think when working in the palace

that was until you were called to work at your first ball

which meant you were cleaning after the tables and in the kitchens, going in and out of the ballroom and between dinner tables

getting glimpses of some of the royals

and picking up on some of their juicy conversations

(apparently this one duke almost had an affair with this king’s secret mistress… all the tea)

anyways

you get the point

every once in a while you have to work at the balls when they need the extra help

but, there was one that was…………. different

a lot of the balls are for the royals to take and engage and whatever, but there have been so many and Seonghwa………….

Seonghwa hasn’t been interested in a single one despite the purpose being to help him find someone

Hongjoong: “what’s wrong with them?”

Seonghwa: “there’s nothing wrong with them, I don’t want just someone”

Seonghwa: “I want it to happen naturally—call me old fashioned but if this is someone I want to spend the rest of my life with, it has to be someone who knows me”

Wooyoung, in the corner: “that is old fashioned, hasn’t he heard of tinder?”

advisor!Mingi: “I don’t think it would be a good look for the country if the prince is on tinder”

guard!Yeosang: “we should test it out”

butler-in-training!San: “omg reverse pretty woman”

Hongjoong: “everyone get out, you’re all useless”

okay, but like real talk: he’s such a romantic and the whole unofficial arranged marriage is just………. too much

so, his parents were like: so, you want more options?

Seonghwa: “not what I said”

and they expanded the invitation list for one night, meaning ANYONE had a shot with Seonghwa and

well

he is very popular, so you can imagine how many people were planning on coming and the staff (i.e. you) had to prepare for everything

for the week, the castle was bustling and you were running around to help out and it……. it was all so insane

and then it happens

you’re minding your own business and working and eavesdropping as one does when one works

because everyone is there and who doesn’t love listening to drama that isn’t just from fancy people

but since everyone is here

you failed to remember that a certain group of people were also there

the group of people being your step-mother and step sisters

instinctively, you ducked and hid, moving away from the main room that was swarmed with people who were all trying to obtain Seonghwa’s attention

(who was also trying to hide from everyone else and instinctively failing)

eventually, you found yourself in the gardens, where you tried to make yourself busy

but it ended up being a small walk through the gardens, picking up the occasional liter and small talk with the gardeners

the garden is huge, so you get a bit lost as you wander—physically and emotionally

meanwhile, Seonghwa managed to escape from the others with the help of the other ateez boys

major shoutout to Yunho and Jongho, who insisted on leading the cupid shuffle and cha cha slide

also Yeosang for blocking off people who were trying to shoot their shot with a tired Seonghwa who did not want any of this

he ended up in the gardens as well, walking down a small path with Yeosang trailing a bit farther behind

he spots you on a bench, admiring the flowers under the bright moonlight

and you were absolutely breath-taking

not wanting to disturb your peace, he tried to leave

only to knock into a garden gnome and catch your attention as he tries to not break it

You: “um”

Seonghwa: “I’m so sorry, I was just going to leave, I didn’t mean to disturb you”

You: he looks familiar

You: “I know you from somewhere”

Seonghwa: literally in the most extravagant suit and sparkle make-up as he’s still crouched on the ground trying not to break a gnome that cost like $5 at a Target

also Seonghwa: “have we met before?”

you exchange names and that’s when it clicks

You: “OH MY GOD. MY PRINCE.”

immediately, you try to curtsy or bow or whatever the royals make you do to the ground bc Seonghwa’s still at ground level

and Seonghwa’s just…………. scrambling to try to get you off the ground with flushed ears at you calling him your prince

Seonghwa: “please, you literally do not have to”

You: “I don’t want to be beheaded”

You: “plus, isn’t it like, illegal for me not to?”

Seonghwa: “well, I’m technically giving you orders not to…..”

You: well, can’t argue with that

you slowly get up and dust yourself off, unable to look at him in the eye

even from the corner of your eyes tho, you can see what the fuss is about

bc Seonghwa in that suit and hair swept back is hot™

You: “Prince,  I apologize if I’m speaking out of line, but shouldn’t you be inside?”

Seonghwa: “couldn’t I ask you the same thing?”

You: “but this is in your honor, not mine”

Seonghwa: “is it tho?”

Seonghwa: “I keep telling everyone I would like to fall in love on my own and yet………. everyone keeps meddling and making plans and now everyone in the kingdom is after me when I’m just trying to do my best for our citizens”

you’re a bit silent, unsure as to how to respond

Seonghwa: “I’m sorry for just dumping this on you, but, everyone keeps telling me I shouldn’t be so worried”

You: “well, Prince, I think what you need to hear is that your feelings are valid”

You: “it’s only natural for you to want to find someone on your own—freedom is something everyone wants, which is why it’s so hard to obtain”

there’s a bit of an awkward silence

for one bc you didn’t know what he was really like and if you were allowed to say something like that

two being that you didn’t know if you should leave

but he speaks up

Seonghwa: “you’re right—I did need that”

the air loosens a bit between the two of you

Seonghwa: “so, are you also hiding from an influx of suitors?”

you laugh a little, playing like a twinkling melody to Seonghwa’s ears

You: “no, but I am hiding from people”

Seonghwa: “it’s okay, you don’t have to share if you don’t want to”

you two get to spend a bit more time together, just chatting and getting to know one another

he’s really sweet, but also kind of goofy with a handful of cheesy pickup lines that definitely comes from spending too much time on the internet but also Wooyoung

the time is short but sweet

bc, before you know it, it strikes 12 and Hongjoong has a hold on him by bulldozing past Yeosang who just blinks at the small gust of wind

Hongjoong: “Seonghwa! your parents are looking for you! we gotta go!”

he greets you hastily, before grabbing a hold of Seonghwa and dragging him away—in which Seonghwa is still trying to get one last look at you before you disappear off into the night

or, in your case, back to the kitchen to avoid your stepfamily

the rest of the night passes as expected, at least for you as you busy yourself with washing dishes in the kitchen

but Seonghwa found himself like a mercat, poking his head around trying to find you every once in a while

the time you’d spent together was short, but it was the most fun he’s had at these balls

and it showed, as noted by Hongjoong and Wooyoung with the week that followed after

he was spacing out, wondering what could have been if things were different

basically, homeboy was sulking bc he didn’t know when he could see you again or if you had someone or if you were even interested

Hongjoong: “how are we supposed to help him when we don’t even know who it is?”

Mingi: “didn’t you get a glimpse?”

Hongjoong: “I was busy with other things”

Wooyoung: “so you didn’t even ask for a name?”

Yeosang: “it’s (Y/N)”

all the boys:

Hongjoong: “how do you know that?”

Yeosang: “I was eavesdropping”

San: “um—”

Wooyoung: “wait, we know (Y/N)”

Yunho: “so am I throwing another party or?”

Wooyoung: “we can find (Y/N) first and then throw a party”

so, they kind of hunt you down to where you’re cleaning for the day

and Wooyoung asks you about Seonghwa

lowkey bc he wants the tea but also bc he wanted to make sure you’re not one of those insane people that are completely obsessed with him

(considering what he had to witness during that last ball)

and after passing his vibe check

he sends you to the library “to clean”

which is odd because you already cleaned it for the week but

Wooyoung: “I’m technically your boss, so go”

You: weirded out

also you: “okay”

little did you know, Seonghwa was already there, occupying himself with some new books while Hongjoong and Yeosang were keeping an eye out for you

who was lowkey trying to hide in the shadows and failing miserably bc of all the goddamned windows

Seonghwa spots your shadow, quickly getting up and following you

Seonghwa: “wait! (Y/N)?”

you turn around, a bit startled from the call out

Seonghwa: “I thought it was you”

you give a small bow to greet him

You: “my prince”

Seonghwa: “you can just call me Seonghwa”

Seonghwa: “I didn’t know you were here”

You: “I didn’t know you were here either”

he lets out a small chuckle

Seonghwa: “I meant I didn’t know you were staying in the castle”

You: “I’m not just staying here, I work here prin—Seonghwa”

Seonghwa: “well I guess that makes finding you a bit easier around here”

You: “you were looking for me?”

Seonghwa: “well, I like your company”

You: flushed

Seonghwa: “do you enjoy mine?”

You: “I’d be glad to bask in your presence”

and for a moment, it’s just the two of you

*cut to Hongjoong and Yeosang high-fiving in the back*

after that, the two of you spend more time together

it’s cute bc Seonghwa also likes to clean (which explains why there were never housekeepers needed for him)

so it means he also helps you clean and still have fun doing it

speaking of which, you got to find out how domestic he is and it melts your heart every time

especially when he’s interacting with children who visit the castle

so you can tell he really wants a family

bc he’s so good with kids and knows how to take care of people and what more can you really ask for

he’s also a great listener 

like he really knows what you need based on what you tell him

and when you opened up to him about what happened at home

he was just such a big sweetheart about it, asking if you’re okay and checking with you emotionally and it 

I LOVE PARK SEONGHWA SO MUCH 

anyways

so his parents did find out bc Wooyoung has a big mouth and def blabbed to San and everyone else in the goddamned kingdom who knows Wooyoung

rip Seonghwa

also rip everyone in the kingdom who found out bc again

Seonghwa is very desired amongst many

which also led to a lot of jealous people who gossiped about you but jokes on them bc you still have Seonghwa at the end of the day and they have jack shit :) 

back to what I was saying 

when his parents found out, they were totally accepting of it considering how happy the two of you are

(also you were lowkey fearful they were just gonna straight up kill you bc you aren’t royal, but also, they’re good rulers who care about people) 

which also meant they wanted to train you to help him run the kingdom but that’s a different story

anyways, prince charming!Seonghwa is indeed very charming

and gentlemanly and all that other good stuff

[silviakundera]

Luoyang episode 1 watch notes

(there's spoilers u guise)

First episode is on YT let's gooooo

the opening backstory monologue: fictional historical set w empress in charge instead an emperor? I am intrigued. First time for me in CN palace dramas. I honestly don't know anything about this empress' reign, so I'm going in completely cold here.

Ok, it so so fckin pretty like YES YES sumptuous colors and vibrant city feels

Good intro on the 3 mains. The female inner guard character is immediately appealing. Mr Scraggly Hair is appropriately mysterious. Scholarly official boy is less immediately interesting, except his fussy but practical officialness and intensity about food reminds me of Tang Fan from Fourteenth Year of Chenghua. and I LOVE that character, so I'm inclined to like him. (Also interested to see if this actor can do more than Lan Wangji.)

Enjoying the little touches of how this isn't exactly the standard ancient china drama: first royals we're introduced to are empress, princess, crown princess;  there's a character reluctant to marry (likely to maintain their independence) but being forced to by their parents, but this time it's a son, not the daughter. There's a palace guard with doubts who you just know will get wrapped up in dangerous politics, but this time that guard is a woman.

It's just these subtle differences. No intentional gender play; writer is just telling a story and the story is comfortably familiar in many ways, but just w a slightly different flavor.

Hmmm inner guards vs judicial review infighting drama!!

And Scraggly Man of Mystery is like a coroner for Court of Judicial Review?? And also a masked man who sneaks into prisions to whisper mysterious things to prisioners and murder them for...? the mystery? 🤔

Love the ominous music and serious face of mysterious murder dude. He really has a whole VIBE.

'I've already tortured, er INTERROGATED 12 of ur buds. You are #13. Don't worry, I only stabbed u three times, nbd. I'll be back.'

asdfhjkj who is this man? Why is he so extra in everything he does? Why does his hideout look like the lair of a serial killer lmao

Inner guard really likes throwing around the empress' name, hope she can back it up. Otherwise, seems unwise.

I can't get over how gorgeous these settings are. Applauds, applauds to the set designers and director.

Fussy rationalist official boy Baili has a really pretty house and not much going on so far. I'm rooting for you to join the plot gege! u can do it!!!

why tf does this man have a crowd around him every time he eats. he has an active queue lmaooooooooooo

also noted: liking the relationship btw inner guard and her more politically savvy superior. Really hope he doesn't turn out to be evil

then Scraggly Man of Mystery goes all S1 Angel on Buffy at our local food critic !! He's joined the plot! sort of. Look, Sir Scraggles, you are not actually a 200 year old vampire and thus perhaps you could be a little more helpful????

And then he publically confesses to murder because cliffhanger.

[touchmycoat]

cnovel!anon: yeah, I have to turn off my reality filter when reading the police cnovels. Under the Skin was a little better, I thought, probably because of tv censorship, in that the police generally did things more by the book (e.g., got warrants and evidence) and didn't act with impunity (the way they would in the novels). Ofc it came with a side of "the police are to serve the people" propaganda.

cnovel!anon: cont'd: probably why I don't read too many novels set in modern times (also because the slang is often a lot harder for me in modern novels). Hm, the lawyer novel sounds interesting - how are you enjoying it? I'll put it on my read next list - I just picked up 將進酒 from another rec list. What doesn't your mom like about Priest's stories?

--

Ye ye. Oh the slang is SO interesting I wanna read 全職高手 just to get that gamer lingo. Just casually watching the drama had me picking up some cool terms lmfao. I was like "what the fuck is 刷本" for a solid four episodes.

Lawyer novel is very fun!!!! It's literally a Xie Wen/Wen Shi modern/sci-fi lawyer!AU and I don't mean that in a bad way lolol. Yan Suizhi is Xie Wen with the unflappable elegance, smiles-beautifully-as-he-pokes-fun-at-you manners, and immovable core of ethics. Gu Yan is Wen Shi as the ardent yet super repressed student who has YSZ's teachings centered at the core of his practice but is very much his own man. Peak sexy 悶騷. If you finished Panguan with an itch for Xie Wen's side of the story this is a very interesting version of it. Their dynamic is 互懟, very fun and very dry, and it's the good flavor of 強強 with all the unspoken mutual trust and respect.

Since we're also talking police procedurals, the cases in this novel are a fascinating counterpoint? They very much only take place within the courtroom and clearly "ends" with the ruling. It's very strange to read this after the GUNS-CAR CHASE-DRUG LORDS-MURDER energy of Po Yun 1&2 and Under the Skin lolol but it's a cool change of pace?? Like, I've only seen maybe an episode or two of Suits. I've never engaged with courtroom procedurals before. (and I finally understand the thing from Brooklyn 99 about cops hating defense attorneys lol)

So I'm only on chapter 117 of 215, but I will comment that they get together...surprisingly quickly?? And I don't really know how that affects the pacing of the novel as a whole yet. One of the strengths of Panguan for me was definitely the mutual pacing of the plot/cases and their developing relationship. I don't think the novel is going to get worse and I don't necessarily want her to dangle the relationship in front of me the whole way through, but I am wondering if the second half of this novel is all just going to be about the cases-slash-where their relationship is going to develop from here.

Re: my mom and priest, my mom doesn't like her writing style hahahaha, and I think it's priest's sense of humor? My mom really likes Huai Shang's and Wu Zhe's writing and has remarked that MXTX's style is simplistic but she's still a fan. My guess is that she really doesn't vibe with priest's "your mama's ass" style of sarcasm kjksjdfkjsdfk

將進酒!!!! that's caught my eye 'cause i'm a slut for the poetry reference lmao how is it!!!!!!!! eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji

[sanchoyo]

danny phantom 14-20 thoughts!! I finished up s1 :D these last few eps were actually really really good!!!

-did. did tucker really just say esperanto was a dead language only spoken as a secret code between geeks. google says around 100,000 people actively speak it. oh my god...it being an auxiliary language doesn't mean its 'just for geeks to speak in code' ...it helps bridge gaps between people who don't have a language in common...

-danny really isn't pulling punches when it comes to fighting the ghost-cop possessed people huh. like he SLAMMED KWAN INTO THE CONCRETE SO HARD. HE THREW PAULINA INTO A BILLBOARD. will that...I mean it WOULD carry over to their bodies non-possessed, right? like if the ghost piloting their bodies gets hurt?? itd be so upsetting to be possessed, lose time, then wake up covered in bruises (and possibly, broken bones??) real horror movie stuff im sure wont be addressed in any way

-tuckers parents seem nice! I like them :)

-WULF IS CUTE AND I FEEL BAD. im so glad the gang realized he was only causing trouble bc of the shock collar walker put on him and helped. also, him wearing that big hoodie with the hood on, and thinking its subtle. we can tell youre still a giant wolfie :) THEN GETTING SUCKED INTO THE PORTAL AAAAH :( anxiously waiting to see Him Again....

-DANNY BLASTING HIS PARENTS THINKING THEY WERE OVERSHADOWED LMFAO GET THEIR ASSES. maddie marking how many ghosts she gets with lipstick tallies on the side of her portal gun? kindaaa iconic tho. (ALSO, SHE WAS LIKE, 2 FT AWAY FROM HIM RIGHT AFTER SHE TRIED TO SHOOT HIM. HOW DO YOU NOT RECONINZE YOUR OWN SON??? like sure, he might have diff hair/eye colors. but like, if one of my family members dyed their hair, and was wearing contacts, its not like id be like 'wHO IS THIS STRANGER!!!' ...he still has all his facial features!! same everything!!! I hate it here)

-paulina being #1 girl realizing danny's a friendly ghost immediately. smart queen. lancer and kwan ran away right after he made this sweet baby face at them:

which is hilarious.

-ok. im not saying his bullying is JUSTIFIED, but. dash looked so pleased with the (cute!) poster he just painted, and danny comes thru the wall and spills paint on his nice letterman jacket. his anger is justified maybe 65% of the time so far...(not the way he handles it, but STILL.) at least lancer is stepping in!! and them making a silly little bet was...cute?? until dash pulled out his GROSS UNDERWEAR AND SAID DANNY WOULD HAVE TO EAT THEM???? WHAT THE FUCK MAN. TUCKER WAS SO RIGHT ITS FUCKING WEIRD TO CARRY THOSE AROUND EWWW. THIS KID IS UNWELL. lancer was right, his animatronic setup was SUPER IMPRESSIVE?? hes actually pretty creative. danny meanwhile is stealing the fright knight's design...I hope dash is taking art classes or smth with his sports

-fright knight is the most bestest ghost so far i LOVE THAT DESIGN. I am biased towards knights, and characters with swords, but he fucks so severely. and should sue danny for copyright infringement for stealing his design for his haunted house. if some 14 yr old broke into MY house and stole MY sword, id also be pissed. his evil winged unicorn rules too with its FANGS. and he just CAN SHOVE THE PORTAL OPEN WITH HIS HANDS??? is he the strongest ghost weve seen so far? idk but hes my fav. SOUL SHREDDER IS SUCH A COOL SWORD NAME TOO. ANY NAMED SWORD ALSO FUCKS. 'flaming bedsheets of DEATH' funny king. ALSO he was polite to dash and tucker when just asking for directions and telling tucker 'oh maybe, just a suggestion, maybe be nicer to me and be more respectful :)' I LOOOVE HIM.

-I noticed this in the Ember ep, but jazz has an electric guitar in her room!! talent musical queen!! its cool to see hobbies just in the bg.

-fright knight's murder castle reminds me of the booby trapped murder castle in zexal!! another supposedly 'for kids' show with murder/trap castles! we love that. if you are a dp fan reading this, give yugioh zexal a try. its also got 13-14 year old protags and involves (alien) ghosts. the cardgame is just a vessel for the plot, which is really good. (I just want more people to watch my fav yugioh, man)

-danny. with a SWORD.

-danny doesnt NEED TO WIN this contest, dash didnt STEAL HIS DESIGNS AND STEAL A SWORD. he also got excited to hear lancer got sent to a dimension with his worst fears too just so he could win the contest? DANNY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!!! BRO MAYBE YOURE 14 AND HAVENT FULLY DEVOLPED YOUR WHOLE BRAIN YET, BUT...THATS FUCKED. this kid casually says the most deranged things, I do worry for my spooky son. once again, therapy needed. that judo toss was great tho. I wonder if he actually did pick up some martial arts stuff from his mom?

-danny can fly 112 mph!!! thats so fast! I love the lil montage of him and his friends testing his abilities and stuff, very cute and a good way to showcase what he can do by now and how much more proficient he's gotten from ep 1!!! I'm sure he's going to get more abilities :)

-im glad...maddie's at least TRYING this ep. I do feel for her because her husband is a man baby. but the fact it took 16 episodes to get a kinda semblance of any kind of real concern or attempts at bonding. hmm. jack's 'BACK OFF SHES A MINOR' @ the ghost trying to attack jazz. also was very funny. and him wanting to make an action figure of her? are the parents redeeming themselves to me? slightly. they gotta Work Harder

-THE GHOST. IS FLYING. THE PLANE.

-fenton machete. but she doesnt carry a PHONE??? ???

-I mean I expected vlad when you namedrop him earlier in the ep, and also the title card picture, and dalv corp being fucking vlad backwards. but seeing him just pull up on a golf cart made me bust out laughing. WITH the gift baskets prepared. why wouldnt you at least be suspicious. also, if he wants danny to be his lil sonboy, why is he so fucking malicious?? dude you are going about this in such a bad way. stop it. get some help.

-maddie not even hesitating to drag danny out. fucking good. danny is so right, go on the internet to date. get a cat. how do you spend...how many years?? has it been since college?? at least 20, right, since the parents/vlad are in their 40s? hung up on ONE girl. my god, man. incel drama queen. her kung fu IS impressive, but dude. 'we both know hes a creep' SO right. it sucks but they do need a phone and shit being in the middle of NOWHERE. also, just stealing his helicopter was great. <3

-'you must be exhausted carrying the weight of that mistake you made years ago' 'well we all make mistakes. maybe I'll make one now!' WHY DID THIS EXHCHANGE SEND ME. AND VLAD WITH THE BREATH SPRAY EWWW BITCH. 'OLD BAIT BREATH' SOO RIGHT. both danny and his mom playing him HAHAH hes so dumb. or rather, I think he thinks with his emotions too too much and is...actually pretty gullible? lmao he believed danny was ready to give in SO fast. (which is sad hes that hopeful, like you have SO MUCH MONEY YOU COULD EASILY GET ANOTHER GIRL WHO HAS A KID. AND WOULD WANT TO BE WITH YOU AND BE SUPPORTED. GET OVER THIS (1) WOMAN ALREADY IM GETTING SECONDHAND EMBARRASSMENT AAAAH)

-GHOST BEAR GHOST BEAR GHOST BEAR. it was also in the title card, but I still got very excited. we love bears here

-SAM'S BAT SWIMSUIT COVERUP!!! her outfits are simply iconic.

-'i'd tell you to go to the mens room, but I don't think you qualify' top paulina transphobic moments. :( and him wearing a tanktop to the swim park? hmmm! (actually I think she was overshadowed by then, so, KITTY top 10 transphobic moments??)

-kitty just piloting paulina around makes me feel SO bad tho, paulina's gonna wake up and be like 'wtf do you mean I was dating this rando' like youre leading danny on to make johnny jealous, and also just POSSESSING POOR PAULINA. dude take your relationship problems ELSEWHERE. last time we saw them, they seemed like such a cute couple!! wtf johnny!! I mean, she sucks for trying to make him jealous, he sucks for looking at other girls...maybe they need a break, but Not Like This. or, you know, just. better communication...

-and the A-listers having a full packet and a stamp system. who organizes this. kwan fucking owning being the new danny though, this is hysterical. THE TUCKER/KWAN FLOWER FIELD TWIRL. UNIRONICALLY ADORABLE. and him giving it his all for the poetry slam. bless his HEARTTTT.

-Star owns. actually, all of the extra characters are shining this ep and I love it.

-INVISO-BILL??? NOOOO THEY DID HIM SOO DIRTY. DANNY SWEETIE IM SO SORRY.

-johnny and danny bein friends and staging a fake fight (which danny takes too seriously, once again this child has aggression he NEEDS TO WORK OUT) I hope these three stay friends, I said it before but danny needs more friendly ghosts to hang with.

-at this point, Danny's ghost enemies are a lot like, I dunno, batman's rouge gallery is the first thing that comes to mind. they all have their own gimmick and unique designs, but most of them are easy to beat after learning the Moral Lesson. I still get excited when any of them show up again, though. 18 is another valerie episode!!!! :D skulker really said you two will get along if I have to handcuff you together <3 and the gym teacher really said, youre married now, have a flour baby! ngl, I'm not really watching this show for the shipping stuff (which I am very scared to look at the fandom for after I finish this watch through- I feel like there's probably discourse/arguing about ships...) but. I'm gonna put my opinion out there. valerie/danny > sam/danny. maybe I just really love the enemies to lovers trope. And the secret identity stuff adds Extra Flavor.

-SKULKER JUST HAVING THE BOX GHOST AND DANGLING HIM BY A STRING. HILARIOUS. and him watching them with binoculars and making his silly little commentary. AND MAKING THE SACK BABY CRY. LMAO. THIS DUDE IS A BABY KIDNAPPER. skulker is super fun

-danny, you just...collapsed the water tower. and then attacked the nasty burger machine...mascot thingy...out of anger..I KEEP SAYING HE'S GOT ANGER ISSUES BUT. HE REALLY NEEDS A LESSON IN MANAGING COLLATERAL DAMAGE!!! So does valerie!! They're both pretty focused on each other. I mean it's good of Danny to say he's trying to make sure PEOPLE don't get hurt, but... (I mean I guess it's not something 14 year olds WOULD worry about, but as an adult im like, who's going to fix that? how much money will that take??)

-TUCKER MAKING BANK. and sam and tucker being super emotionally attached to their flour baby and being pretty good parents. that's cute...also him just straight kissing her and being like. WAIT. O_O JDSKAFHD. his mom baking them into cookies was the funniest possible result. tbh I dont feel like this is on tucker, if anything the other kid's shouldve been more responsible! He was just taking an opportunity to get that $$ which I respect

-Danny being more understanding of Valerie's situation in the end (helping her at her job, too, and trying to keep that a secret for her!!!) And seeing them work together this ep, and also her letting phantom get her out of the ghost zone...was very sweet. LOVE that. more valerie eps pls

-me when I realize vlad's big stupid house exploded because of his own carelessness with changing the ghost portal ectofiltrator or whatever: *pointing and laughing*

-me when I realize it means he's gonna go make danny's life hell for it somehow: >:(

-SCOOBY PARODY!!! I feel like there's gotta be some scooby doo/danny phantom crossover stuff, right? also, 'guys in white' men in black wishes

-'oh, that's right! dad married the love of your life! you're bitter and alone!' DANNNNNYY GET HIS ASS ONCE AGAIN WE ARE POINTING AND LAUGHING AT VLAD

-'jack, you captured the ghost boy!!' UMM. he did nothing <3 'we have a weapon's vault??' YOU HAVE A WEAPONS VAULT??? and jack didnt put a handle on the inside. of fucking course he didnt! why would you leave that to your son!! or expect him to clean YOUR LAB when its where you work with probably dangerous chemicals and weapons and hes 14!! give him normal chores, like, I dunno, vacuuming, laundry, dishes...CMON. I hate it here. But I'm glad Jack is more chill about danny while he's a ghost, and willing to work with him for this ep. AND. I DID ENJOY JACK PUNCHING VLAD IN THE FACE. AND GENERALLY JUST OWNING HIM. the ghost punchy fists are actually amazing. like yeah, just punch a ghost in the face. that rules.

-ep 20 opens with the coolest fucking ghost lady design. her tattoos can come off and fight. MA'AM. I like ur nose ring and your cape maam hello 👉👈😳

-sam's grandma is hilarious and the most valid member of her family and I love her. thats my grandma now. and tucker covering for sam by dressing as her. thats true friendship <3 also skipping school to go to a goth circus. just bestie things! sam's parents are haters but for all the wrong reasons.

-'my family has controlled ghosts with this for generations!' WAIT. WAIT FREAKSHOW /ISNT/ A GHOST? I didn't expect that...he's just a fucked up guy controlling ghosts? anyway watching danny shoot at police cars and rob banks while mind controlled. its like, the most stereotypical 'bad' things lmao. (tbh an evil ghost circus troupe is a sick concept)

this gives off big deviantart emo edit vibes

(I'm going to assume evil circus reaper danny has a lot of fan content. people love an edgy au, except this one is canon (even tho its via mind control...having the protag go evil otherwise might be hard, I guess?) but au where he stays with the troupe...that has to exist, right?)

ANYWAY. excited to start s2!! lowkey surprised by how many notes some of these posts have gotten. I've gone back and tagged them all with 'dp thoughts' so they're easier to find on my blog! ^^ and I will probably possibly do (more) fanart on my art blog after I finish the watch of the whole show, so like. @sanchoyodraws follow my art blog :)

[mammoney-honey]

Summoning Circles: What to Offer the Brothers GN!MC

MC doesn’t need to set up anything to summon them since they have their pact but sometimes its just nice to add a bit of drama. It’s also a good way to get the brothers to accept Just Because gifts. So what would would MC lay out as an offering for their favorite demon in their pentagram?

Lucifer

Lucifer is hard to get gifts for because hes a man of few words and fewer guilty pleasures

MC does their best to keep an eye out for things he does like and finally sets things up when they feel that Luci needs a bit of a break

They mostly offer things that would make for a good date night but with one small exception: special gourmet dog treats 

He won’t admit it, he says Cerberus is just a well trained guard dog, but that big boy gets only the best and MC knows that Lucifer will appreciate the gesture

The rest is all about setting the mood so Lucifer couldn’t possibly say no to staying

The first thing to accomplish this is the finest bottle of hellfire aged wine, a special request put through to Diavolo for whatever he thought Lucifer would like most

And to accompany a good drink you need some good food as well. A charcuterie board supplied with recommendations from Barbatos and Luke. The little guy should be called a mouse rather than a dog with how much he loves cheese. It took a long time for him to stop talking about it

One of the things that MC looks most fondly on of their time with Lucifer was quiet nights in listening and dancing to new music. They didn’t always share the same tastes but they were always willing to give it a go

So MC would find a vinyl, the only thing Lucifer would listen to the purest that he is, of their most recent favorite song or band so that they could share it with him

The last thing offered is that which Lucifer would want above all else as his own, MC

They can think of nothing else that would gain Lucifer’s attention more than offering their full and complete self. His pride could never allow him to deny taking MC when they offer themselves so willingly

He appears in full demon form, he can’t think of who would be ballsy enough to try and summon him and he has to pull back on his full power once he sees its MC

“MC, my dearest love, the pageantry is appreciated but overall unneeded. All you ever have to do is call my name, all I wish is to hear my name on your lips. But now that I’m here lets make sure you are screaming it”

Mammon

He is another one who is hard to gift things to but for the opposite reason as Lucifer. He likes too many things, wants everything and so it makes it impossible to tell what would actually mean something to him

MC tries their best to lay out things that will show how much they love and appreciate their favorite demon

Money of course is the first thing that is set out but not just spare Grimm or human cash

No, MC will put gift cards out for Mammon’s favorite places or for a date that they can have together. It feels more personal that way and they hope it shows that they pay attention to the things he likes

Mammon has a wardrobe to rival Asmo’s but he insists that it all has to do with his job as a model. Gotta keep up appearances and all that yanno. Hes just a label whore though and everyone knows it

He also just melts at the idea that MC might be thinking of what he would look good in so if they put out a new outfit or accessory, even if its just new sunglasses or a belt, he just about explodes

He will scoff and say that hes not sure if human styles are really his thing but of course puts whatever it is on quickly

Next would be a very special edition of the TSL dvds, a directors cut that even Levi couldn’t get his hands on. He has watched it with MC so many times he could practically recite it but they were always borrowing from Levi so it was about time to start wearing out their own copy

The last two things are more personal, something that shows just how much MC thinks of and misses being with him

The first of that is MC’s favorite set of pictures they took with Mammon, a silly photo booth strip that captured their first kiss. MC had surprised him on the first snapshot and it showed a progression of him getting redder and redder before finally kissing them back

Lastly is a page from their diary, as intimate an offering as they can possibly give. Its from a day where the longing for Mammon was at its strongest and filled with sweet words of how much they miss their first man

Mammon is freaked out at first thinking he is being summoned by another witch and is confused to see MC before taking it all in

“H-hey you don’t have to go through all this. I mean of course The Great Mammon won’t say no to the the things he deserves but ... b-but you only ever need to say my name, there is no where I’d rather be than with you”

Levi

Levi has a bad habit of just buying whatever he wants but considering that he has so many fandom’s its not hard to find some piece or another he doesn’t have 

MC feels like his brothers don’t give much thought to his gifts though, just typing in a name they know and getting whatever they find. They want to give him something more personal and can’t just be bought and shipped in two days

MC starts to watch a lot of craft, cooking and cosplay YouTubers to try and put everything together themselves. It felt more genuine that way at least to them

MC tries to keep things diverse, hitting a couple of Levi’s favorites but mostly avoiding anything Ruri related since they are afraid of messing it up lmao

Instead they focus on the anime’s and games that they watched and played together. Almost like a collection of inside jokes that they are using to summon him

The first thing MC sets out is a prettily decorated plate of macrons, doing their best to replicate the colors and flavors described in the one bakery time management game they always played

MC also went through Levi’s super secret fanfiction accounts I will fight you he is totally a fic writer because he has so many self inserts and fix it fics  and wrote out comments for every single thing he had written. They printed them out not because they didn’t think he read them but to show that they were the ones that left them

Along with the comments MC also created art for Levi’s most beloved OC, creating cute enamel pins of them in chibi form with the cannon character he paired them with

 The last two things came as a sort of combo, a couples cosplay from the romance anime they had watched together. The protagonist had been a shut in otaku who had found his soulmate when they were reborn into his world and Levi had latched onto him immediately 

It had taken a lot of blood sweat and tears trying to get both of the outfits cannon perfect but damn it MC was not going to settle for anything less

At one point they forgot they were making it for Levi and just got caught up in the the drama that was finding the perfect buttons and trim color

Overall they were so proud of the sewing skills they just wanted to call on him the moment they were done so he could see but they got a hold of themselves so they could set up what they had planned

Levi was summoned into the circle still wearing his headset and fingers tapping at a controller that had been left behind

His demon side comes out at having been cost a serious match from the sounds of it but his anger turns to confusion at seeing MC and then into wide eyed amazement at all of the things in front of him

He started to gush about every single thing he saw before he realized that MC was there beaming at him 

“You went through all this trouble to prove that you aren’t a normie and yet you summon me this way?? J-just say my name like you’re supposed to! I kind of like hearing you say it anyway ...”

Satan

Satan surprisingly doesn’t like being the center of attention and thus doesn’t really like surprises or receiving gifts. He also doubts that anyone understands him enough to give him what he wants cocky ass that he is

The idea for the things to set out in his summoning circle came to MC when discussing love potions with Satan and Solomon one day. They were talking about how smell plays such a strong part and Satan let slip some of the things he might smell after MC listed some of theirs

So while MC doesn’t have much, well any, experience in magic or potions they do want to try to stir up those feelings those smells produce in Satan

The first thing he had said came as a surprise to no one, the smell of parchment and ink

MC used each of them as their own separate offering on the pentagram. They used a fancy new calligraphy quill dipped in green ink that matched his eyes to write a long love note for him

The ink was still wet on the parchment that they set down and left the quill and remaining ink as the second gift

The next thing he mentioned was another one MC expected: tea leaves

So MC just walked into their local tea shop and let their nose lead the way. Anything that caught their attention or made them want to keep smelling they bought, creating their own special blend just for Satan

It wasn’t necessarily something that Satan would say for himself but MC had started to burn different candles in their room when he would come to rant when he was angry, trying to find a scent that he could associate with being calm when they helped him work through the anger

Whatever candle seemed to work the best is the candle that MC sets out for him. Probably something woodsy, pine or balsam or even sandalwood. It brings back good memories for MC, kissing all those worries of his away and hopes it does the same

The last item is one that made MC blush when they heard Satan admit it, he had liked the scent of their shampoo

He hadn’t said that specifically but he had closed his eyes and described a scent that he couldnt place but that he adored and when MC was taking their shower that night it clicked 

It might have been a little lame, leaving a bottle of shampoo out for Satan but MC knew that when he realized what that scent he loved so much was that he would get the cutest blush

They weren’t disappointed when they summoned Satan. He hid his shock of being summoned this way well, taking his time to walk around the circle and examine each offering. He immediately knew where they had gotten the inspiration and teased them about being such a sap

He stopped when he got to the shampoo though, not sure how that fit into the equation until he smelled it. It dawned on him and there was that blush that he tried to hide by turning his face away

“You always did like to make things difficult on yourself didn’t you? I’m only ever a call away for you kitten. Now come here and let me really breath you in, you’re simply intoxicating to me and I can’t stay away.”

Asmo

Asmo is never shy about when he doesn’t like gifts that people have given him but he has only ever cherished what MC has gotten him. Every small trinket and gift he has on full display in his room and he will wear something that MC got them when he misses them the most

He also will do it when he wants to bother his brothers and show off that MC simply lavished him in gifts (Mammon and Levi are the only ones who fall for it lmao)

So MC decides to offer Asmo things that will allow him to parade around their love for him, things to keep them close when MC isn’t there

The first thing that MC gets Asmo is new nail polish, a color that they agonized over finding because they wanted it to match his eyes perfectly

Asmo has a very organized planner, its how he keeps track of all the events he is invited to, when he has dates, who hes slept with, who hes going to sleep with and everything in between

MC commissions custom made stickers for him so he can decorate the pages of his planner even more. Specifically a whole sheet of cute stickers of them together he could use for when they planned date nights

The next thing was something for Asmo’s room which he was always changing and refreshing so it looked forever interesting for Devilgram pics

MC gets a large print of Asmo’s favorite picture of them together and puts it in a beautiful frame that perfectly matched his favorite decorating style. Perfect to show to the world that Asmo was their favorite demon and that they looked so good together

And so they can take even more pictures of themselves together MC buys a Polaroid camera for Asmo. His phone will always be his favorite thing to take pics on but this way they could have them printed instantly and it continues to let him be trendy

Lastly MC gets Asmo a necklace. A dainty rose gold chain that he can wear with practically everything and with a diamond accented heart shaped locket that could easily be tucked away if needed. It was an enchanted locket, thanks to the help of Solomon, and it warmed when MC was thinking of him

Its the first thing Asmo grabs and quickly puts on, showing it off for MC

“Oh MC you are simply the cutest thing I have ever seen~ I’m sorry I don’t have something to give you in return. I hope the fact that my heart beats only for you will make up for it, now come here I’ve been without kisses too long.”

Beel

Its SO hard not to just grab whatever is in the kitchen at the time and throw it in the summoning circle and call it a day for Beel

But he is more than just his hunger and MC is always striving to show him that they understand that 

It was harder than expected, just because asking anyone what Beel might want always got them food answers. They thought Belphie might be helpful but only got told “he probably just wants a nap ... its what I would want”

MC starts to think of all the most special moments they had with Beel, trying to think what about them made them so memorable and they knew for a fact that it wasn’t the food

The first thing they come up with is a banner that MC made to cheer him on at one of his games. It had gotten a little tattered and torn because it had rained that day but they just couldn’t let it go

Mostly because Beel after winning had ran up into the stands and kissed them for the first time. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t ever kissed but they had always been the one to make the first move but this time Beel had come to them. Of course in the biggest gesture possible

It was cheating a little bit offering a cookbook, it was still food related, but it felt better than putting in actual food 

This particular cookbook was special to MC too, they had spent several months trying to recreate one of the recipes from it down in the Devildom when MC didn’t have it. Even their D.D.D had been no help in finding the human world dish they were trying so hard to recreate

It had finally been Beel who had found someplace that sold the food they had been craving. He had even been able to bring it back completely untouched just so that they could have it all though he didn’t complain when they offered him several bites from their fork

MC pulls the next thing from their own shelves at home, a well read copy of Lord of the Flies. The spine cracked and little notes about their favorite parts scribbled in the margin

It was one of the human novels that Satan had and one of MCs favorites from school. Beel had caught them reading it and thought the title was ironic but the more he watched MC get engrossed in reading the more curious he got

He eventually asked MC to read it to him, he actually liked books even if most didn’t take him for the type it was just that he had a hard time actually reading himself. He always got distracted by food but audio books always worked well for him when he was working out, it turned out to be even better when MC read to him when he was eating

It was the best of both worlds for him and he found the story actually pretty funny, slightly worrying MC but they figured they couldn’t blame a demon for getting enjoyment out of a story like that. He did find their lack of food concerning though so at least there was that

One of the things that Beel often complained about when MC was living in the devildom was that when he went to go eat they weren’t always there. Sure Beel would ask them to tag along whenever possible but it didn’t always happen. He would call them from the kitchen at times and tell them that he missed them

MC was sure the other brothers would have something to say about it but knew that Beel would genuinely enjoy the next thing MC offered. Amagnet with his favorite picture of them. It was MC caught in a candid he took, mid bite in a dessert he had made them and his hand could just be seen wiping some whipped cream off MC’s cheek

It was a way that Beel could have MC with him at his favorite place every time

The last thing that MC laid out was something that was inspired by Beel. He had once given them a coupon for a free meal by him and they had thought it was just about the cutest thing ever

They made him a whole coupon book of favors ranging from cooking any meal he wanted to recording his workouts for him and of course lots of coupons for hugs and kisses

Beel isn’t used to being summoned at all so hes slightly disoriented when he finds himself suddenly in the human world. As soon as he sees MC though its nothing but smiles and he doesn’t even notice the gifts until after

“MC did you know I was thinking about you? Sometimes I just say your name and hope you will appear ... so if you ever think of me just say my name. I want to be here, even if its during dinner” 

Belphie

Belphie is not one to beat around the bush at all. He is a creature of habit and just wants more of the same things that he already has. Dont fix something if its not broke right?

So its fairly easy to fill his summoning circle with things that he loves, just adding to his ever growing collection of happy nap time things

That isn’t to say that MC just grabs whatever blanket or pillows they have laying around, they still want it to be special for him

So yes the first two things they offer to Belphie is a pillow and blanket, there was never going to be anything else but MC spent a long time putting their love into finding just the right ones for him ... and still couldn’t find what they wanted

MC used this as an excuse to create something themselves for their sleepy boy. They dived deep into youtube and pintrest and spent more money than they care to admit on materials until finally they made what they wanted

The first was a quilt large enough for three cause the twins like to make MC a sandwich in a cow print pattern that matched his pillow and demon form marks, lined with the softest fabric she could find that was the same purple as his eyes 

His pillow was another quilted design, this time of a cloudy night sky with a sleepy cow jumping over the moon. MC stitched his name in pretty gold thread on the back long with a sweet ‘I love you’

There was one last fluffy thing to give to him, this one MC knew he would probably scoff and tease them about but they couldn’t help it. They saw the angry looking cow plushie and just could not walk away 

They have actually been sleeping with it when they miss him most and even if he doesn’t like the plushie the fact they have slept with it so much will make him a bit fonder of it

Even though they were pretty sure that Belphie knew every star in the sky MC couldn’t help but get a book with stories about the constellations. He might already know them all but they thought that he might still enjoy hearing them read to him as he drifted to sleep

The last thing MC has to offer him is also star related. A star map of the day that they made their pact. It was the day that MC had fully forgiven everything that had happened before and their relationship had truly began

When Belphie was summoned he was half asleep but knew who it must be even in his sluggish state. He gave a big yawn and looked around at all the things around him 

“At least things are already set up for the perfect nap, including having you. MC next time just say my name alright? Its much more of a drag this way ... and I want to know when you are dreaming of me”