#she had recently read annihilation

[blehhmm]

*watching the summer I turned pretty*

Damian (obviously very frustrated about everything): I SWEAR I'M GONNA BEAT THEM WITH A STICK

Jason *walking by*: That's so the biologist of you

[fideidefenswhore]

[Not every] evangelical held to the [same] points in equal measure. Anne Boleyn placed a particular emphasis on education which Cromwell seems not to have shared; but his commitment to the vernacular scriptures cannot be mistaken. Hugh Latimer was particularly scathing about relics and pilgrimage. If the evangelicals had a patron, whilst she lived it was Anne Boleyn. Had she not fallen in early May 1536, she would doubtless have been included by the Pilgrims amongst the heretics, for her patronage of men of heterodox views was well known.

The Pilgrimage of Grace & Politics (2001), RW Hoyle

[mixelation]

I recently read Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer! I was a bit skeptical of it because I really disliked the movie, and the reasons people said the book was far superior had very little to do with why I disliked the movie. However, I found the book pretty engaging. The prose seems a little rigid at first, but you get used to it as a stylistic choice to reflect the voice of the POV character pretty quickly. I thought the pacing was pretty good and sense of suspense well done, and as a result I read it in about two sittings (which is fast for me lol).

Annihilation is about a team of four women entering the mysterious Area X, a deserted zone of "ecological disaster." Their team's goal seems to be to explore the area, but as the story progresses, we learn a lot of information has been withheld and the expedition's true purpose is unclear. Area X is a sort of supernatural-meets-scifi area of strange occurrences: there's a strange wailing of unknown origin at night, the narrator character (a biologist) is constantly noting strange fungus-like growths, there's ~unknowable~ creatures wandering around. Oh, and it's also the sort of story where all the characters are slowly losing their minds for various reasons. I've seen the genre described as horror, although I'd describe the mood as vaguely unsettling rather than frightening.

My main complaint about the movie was that, IIRC, a lot of it leaned heavily on unknown-biology-as-horror and very poor biological explanations. The book isn't like this: the POV character specializes in "transitional environments," by which I think it's meant she's a community ecologist interested in ecological succession or else how environmental perturbances alter ecology. So there's a lot of prose of her describing ecological communities, both real ones and the almost-supernatural ones of Area X, but it's done without the infuriating attempts at an "explanation" which makes no sense, nor is discovering a new community arising villainized as being horrifying in how unknown it is. In some ways, getting to watch such a new community talk hold is portrayed as soothing to the main character. So in that regard, I enjoyed the novel.

Most of the negative reviews I saw of this book focused on the unreliability of the narrator or the lack of resolution for mysteries encountered. It is very true that the narrator is unreliable and she occasionally admits to withholding information form the reader, or in some places it's not clear if what she describes even really happened or was a hallucination. If you don't like that trope, you will hate this book. If you love unreliable narrators.... I wouldn't call this a stand-out or particularly interesting example, but it sure is unreliable.

Now, given this book is basically all suspense for a building mystery, I did feel throughout the whole read that the end would make or break it. And my conclusion upon finishing it is.... it's fine? I wasn't blown away by the ending, but I wasn't dissatisfied. However, I think you will be very frustrated as a reader if you expect clear-cut explanations, or for every detail to be resolved. The mysteries put forth by this book come in three categories:

the narrator - we get a full character arc with her, and in this regard I found the ending satisfying. again, it's not mind-blowing, but it does feel adequately resolved. you do have to be alright with some ambiguities and making your own conclusions, but i personally like this in a story.

the southern reach - this is the name of the agency organizing the expedition (and the name of the trilogy). Their purpose/goals are unclear, and we become aware rather quickly that they are sending people to gruesome deaths and outright lying to them about it. Personally, I didn't find them that compelling as a mystery, and didn't care to learn more than "they're a generic cryptic agency, you know the type." Some, but not all, of these mysteries will be resolved, and some of those resolutions will just open up more questions, which could be frustrating if you are interested in this element of the plot and are also the type of reader who expects all questions to be answered by the end of a story. Worry not, though-- there's two more books!

Area X itself -- like I said, there's very little attempt to actually explain WTF is going on here and why, although you sort of start to intuit the logic of this strange world. honestly, i feel that "solving" the mystery of Area X is beyond the point of the story (which is about the narrator being obsessed with ecological change but terrified and unwillingly to cope with change in her own life) and trying to shove an explanation into the movie was doomed to fail. it's unclear to me if the subsequent books will get into this or not.

Overall, a pretty good read, would recommend. I might read the other two books one day, but probably not for my next read.

[essektheylyss]

Ten Books to Know Me

@aboxthecolourofheartache reblogged her version of this from ages ago but she'd tagged whoever saw it and it sounds very fun and difficult so let's do it!

Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce - I had a habit as a kid of always picking up the second book in a series, so this was the first of Tamora Pierce's books I read. Emelan had an effect on me on a microcosmic level, I'm pretty sure. Anyway, the protag of a whole world of mine is named Tris now, in homage to Trisana Chandler, so. the particulate is still kicking around in my brain.

Ptolemy's Gate by Jonathan Stroud - Another childhood FAVE. This series as a whole started fucking with what I understood a book to be. Also the ending of it has a vice grip on me to this day, and it is probably why so much of my writing is very vibey and favors ambiguous endings.

Cyrano de Bergerac - This was the first assigned reading I had in high school that I utterly LOVED. I love this play so much, I love the tragedy, I love the quiet sorrow. This was also the first proper tragedy that I remember really loving.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan - This is a book of poetry and short stories by a Yale creative writing student who was killed in a car crash very soon after graduating, compiled by her professor after her death. I read it repeatedly in college; it is really quite lovely.

Underland by Robert Macfarlane - Apologies to Box who wanted reading recommendations, but she is who introduced me to this book if I remember correctly, and I have spent the two years since I read it habitually picking up Macfarlane's writing without even realizing it. Absolutely phenomenal writing.

Staying with the Trouble by Donna Haraway - @ professor Haraway I know you are a semi-retired scholar and also in the most expensive college town on earth but are you looking for research assistants cuz uh

The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing - I actually read both Staying with the Trouble and this book on the same weekend in the start of 2021. I compromised on not including Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake, which I felt was very cliche of me, by including this book, which had as much of an effect. Read those three and Pantheologies by Mary-Jane Rubenstein and you will have some semblance of an idea of what the spiritual portion of my brain looks like. In the interest of not writing the same blurb four times I left the latter two off but know they make up a little microcosm of 'you could make a religion out of this' for me.

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natskukawa - A Japanese novel about a cat who appears to a teenager after the death of his grandfather, a bookseller. I read it when I was very frustrated with trying to read contemporary fiction and it was a bright spot among that. (I am still very frustrated with the state of contemporary fiction and this book remains a light.)

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer - Okay I read this one most recently out of this list (over the summer) but it had been on my list for a long time and it really does live up to the hype because it is just so luminous in every sense.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer - I had to put this one last simply because HOLY HELL. Rewired my brain. This is the goal I aspire to, this is the dream I dream, this is the highest peak among the mountain range of writing aspirations that I climb. If I can one day write anything even akin to the Southern Reach trilogy I will be ready to die, but that is an utterly unachievable goal so God's just gonna have to let me live forever, I guess.

[fatehbaz]

Hey I thought you might appreciate a heads up that the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina) has been spotted in Savannah, Georgia. 😞

Nice. Well, not nice news. But glad that you thought of me. Thank you.

(For other people who have yet to fully embrace and explore their innate love of hornets, this Vespa velutina hornet is originally from Southeast Asia. This creature is closely related to Vespa mandarinia, the creature derisively referred to in the US as "murder hornet" or "Asian giant hornet", originally from South/East Asia, which is now apparently established near in the Salish Sea region near Bellingham, Vancouver, and Nanaimo.)

Here's a look at where the giant hornets now live in North America, along with the distribution of some other large hornets which might be mistaken as Vespa manadrinia/velutina:

The map was originally published in 2022 in American Entomologist, displaying distribution range of (non-native) giant hornet; (non-native) European hornet; (native) southern yellowjacket; and (native) eastern cicada killer. The article also identifies a few few other species which might be mistaken for "murder hornets": great golden digger wasp, bald-faced hornet, German yellowjacket, red-legged cannibal fly, and pigeon horntail. (Available to read for free online; article title in the source/caption beneath the map.)

I've had many memorable encounters with large (native) bald-faced hornets in dense cedar-hemlock rainforest-y places. And coincidentally, the Pacific Northwest is also now apparently the North American home/homebase of Vespa mandarinia. So here are some other PNW wasps/hornets in comparison, from Oregon State University Extension Catalog (2022):

From 2020 research on potential dispersal of Vespa mandarinia over a couple of decades (not necessarily a good or realistic representation, not inevitable, kinda just "potential"):

Apparently Vespa mandarinia haven't yet been encountered outside of the general Vancouver area during targeted samples:

I know that you too are fond of wasps/hornets, and are aware of their popular demonization, the way that they're feared, etc. In July 2022, the Entomological Society of America put out an online resource thing that explains why they don't like the name "Asian giant hornet" for Vespa mandarinia and Vespa velutina, instead adopting "northern giant hornet" and "yellow-legged hornet" (which you called the creature, too!) because of the racialized/xenophobic implications. ("Northern Giant Hornet Common Name Toolkit" available at: entsoc.org/publications/common-names/northern-giant-hornet) They say: '"Murder hornet" unnecessarily invokes fear and violence, which impede accurate public understanding of the insect and its biology and behavior. While "Asian" on its own is a neutral descriptor, its association with a pest insect that inspires fear and is targeted for eradication may bolster anti-Asian sentiment in some people - at a time when hate crimes and discrimination against people of Asian descent in the United States are on the rise.'

Which, for me, brings to mind this recent book from Jeannie Shinozuka:

From the publisher's blurb: 'In the late nineteenth century, increasing traffic of transpacific plants, insects, and peoples raised fears of a “biological yellow peril” [...]. Over the next fifty years, these crossings transformed conceptions of race and migration, played a central role in the establishment of the US empire and its government agencies, and shaped the fields of horticulture, invasion biology, entomology, and plant pathology. [...] Shinozuka uncovers the emergence of biological nativism that fueled American imperialism and spurred anti-Asian racism that remains with us today. [...] She shows how the [...] panic about foreign species created a linguistic and conceptual arsenal for anti-immigration movements that flourished in the early twentieth century [...] that defined groups as bio-invasions to be regulated—or annihilated.'

A lot going on at that time with insects, empire, and xenophobia. In the 1890s, the British Empire was desperately searching for a way to halt malaria, and mosquitoes had just been discovered as vectors of malaria. And from Nobel prize podium lectures to popular media newspapers and academic journals, there was all kinds of talk about how "bacteria/viruses/insects are the greatest enemy of the Empire" and whatever. The US was also expanding in the Caribbean, Central America, Pacific islands towards East Asia, etc. Tropical plantations were proliferating, not just in Dutch Java or British India, but also in US administered Central America. And so insects were perceived not just as a threat to the human body of the British soldier or American administrator; insects were also a threat to profits, as insect pests threatened monoculture plantations and agriculture.

That same time period saw the US invasion of the Philippines and exports of products from the islands; the US annexation of Hawai'i, and elevating rivalry with Japan; the 1882 passage of the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act; US control of Cuba and Puerto Rico; expansion of US fruit corporations in Central America and US sugarcane plantations in Cuba/Hawai'i, where insect pests threatened plantation profits; the advent of "Yellow Peril" tropes and fear of invasion in science fiction literature; the detaining of half a million (mostly Chinese) people at the medical quarantine processing center that the US Public Health Service operated at Angel Island in San Francisco; and US insect extermination projects, mosquito control campaigns, and medical policing of local people in Cuba and the Panama Canal Zone (where US authorities detained local people for medical testing).

A lot to consider.

[coldgoldlazarus]

Heyy so i've been enjoying a lot of the yuri things you post about a lot, are there any good shows that you recommend watching? Ive seen and enjoyed bocchi and witch from mercury a ton and i have a lot of time these next few days to burn :)

Oh, I'm glad to hear that!

Hmm, what are some good Yuri shows aside from Gwitch and Bocchi?

---

Admittedly, this is hard to answer as thoroughly as I'd like, since I generally have a hard time starting new shows and keeping up with them, so there are a fair few that I haven't actually gotten around to watching yet that I've really wanted to. Still, I'll mention a few of those since they do come highly recommended and I've had my eye on for a while, and then get into the ones I actually have seen.

-Kase-San and Morning Glory: Haven't seen, but did read the manga it's based on a while back; as I recall it's a very simple but very sweet slice-of-life sort of thing about a girly girl, a tomboy, and their shared love of gardening. Rather than a full series, I think it was adapted as a longer OVA or two? So I don't know how much of the story it covers, but it's also the kind of thing where, outside of the developing relationship of the leads, there's not too much in the way of like, a hard-hitting narrative to adapt. It's just super cute.

-Lycoris Recoil: In contrast to the last one, LycoReco is a recent anime-only sort of thing, and much more plotty from my understanding. It's basically the next thing I plan to properly sit down with in the near future, but until then I'll admit I don't know a whole lot about it; the main vibe I've gotten is that it is like, this action-drama about secret agents(?) first, yuri romance second, but it still does go out of its way to make the romance unambiguous and compelling, rather than trying to hide it behind subtext like older shows would have done. So at least based on what I've heard, it sounds worth your while, just I guess tread with caution since it may also get into some darker territory?

-The Executioner And Her Way Of Life: Another recent one that I haven't gotten to yet, but have read some of the manga for and so at least have some idea of what to expect. It's similar to Lycoris Recoil in being an action show first, but still very very clearly gay, so yanno, factor that in on whether you want to see it or not.

The premise is a sort of parody-taken-seriously of standard isekai stuff, taking place in a fantasy world that's constantly suffering from people reincarnating there from earth, growing overpowered and selfish, and causing radical, harmful upheaval. In response, an elite assassin's guild was formed to hunt down and eliminate these isekai "heroes" before they can get too powerful. The protagonist is one of these assassins, and the plot (and romance) starts when she's sent to kill a recently-isekai'd girl... who's special power is that she's seemingly unkillable, and immediately develops a crush on the assassin. Very much a slow burn enemies-to-lovers sort of vibe, but what little I read seemed promising.

-Wandering Witch: Another one I don't know a whole lot about, just that it's come highly recommended by some people whose good taste I generally trust. As the name implies, it seems to be a fairly slice-of-life-ish piece about a pair of witches? But beyond that, I don't really know much, so prolly worth looking into more yourself.

-Otherside Picnic: As I understand it, it's basically like the movie Annihilation, but gay? A pair of girls traveling through this uncanny sectioned-off region where all sorts of creepy supernatural happenings are going down, and it gets very existential. I've admittedly kinda dragged my feet on this one, since I have a complicated and inconsistent relationship with horror stuff, but it does sound very intriguing. Though I will say, from my understanding the yuri is very clear in the LN and manga, while the anime downplays that stuff into subtext? So it's probably more worth reading than watching.

---

With those out of the way, time to talk about the ones I do know! A couple of these I'll pair up because their vibes are similar, but I'll still try and discuss each with due depth.

-Urara Meirochou & Konohana Kitan: These two are cut from a pretty similar cloth, that I guess I'll just call "Historic supernatural cuteness"? Both are set in fantasy versions of olden japan, but the overall vibe is similar to modern-day Cute Girls Doing Cute Things shows. I considered leaving them off the list since they're also much more reliant on subtext than most of the others here, but I have too much of a soft spot for Urara Meirochou to be able to ignore it ^^; (I have half-unfinished fanfic for it, which given the scarcity of my writings these days has to count for something!)

Urara is about a group of girls seeking to become apprentice fortune-tellers in this mazelike city dedicated to the craft, though all coming at it from very different walks of life. It's pretty simple and episodic, but the main thing that made it for me was the dynamic between the main protagonist, a literally feral girl who's having difficulty adapting back to human life after being literally Raised By Wolves, and a prim and proper noble daughter who's completely befuddled but also enamored by her antics.

Konohana Kitan, meanwhile, I never got around to finishing just because Life Happened™ at the time, but it featured a bunch of Kitsune running a bathhouse; very Spirited Away in some ways, but a lot more relaxed in tone.

-Izetta, The Last Witch & Princess Principal: Another pair that came out around the same time, but that are tonally kind of the opposite of the last two. Both take place in kinda steampunky/dieselpunky parallel history versions of early 1900s europe, and feature spies and intrigue and action primarily, while, due to when they came out, the yuri elements legitimately straddle the line between subtext and just text.

Izetta is almost a precursor to Witch From Mercury in some ways? Just again, different settings. It takes place during a parallel of World War I and II, with the Germany analogue attacking a tiny border country as part of its overall war plans. The princess of that smaller country, though, winds up calling on help from (and falling in love with) the last witch in the world to help repel the invasion with magic. Izetta very much feels like a prototype of Suletta, and rides an anti-tank-rifle instead of a broom, which is awesome.

Princess Principal, meanwhile, is more focused on class divides and zeroes in on the spy theme more clearly. Basically, in an alternate version of London that's split down the middle Berlin-style, a group of teenage academy students who are actually plants by the opposing side, team up with a traitorous lower princess to sabotage the royal family... though one of the spies has a pre-existing history with her that makes everything even more complicated. It's a really interesting one, told in non-chronological order, that understands the less glamorous side of intelligence operations while still having a fair amount of dramatic action and twists, and alternates between feeling like a CGDCT show and an intense political thriller. And yanno, the gay. I also actually haven't finished this one because Life Happened™ and it's been a while since, but one of these days I want to rewatch and properly finish it. What I did see, was very very strong, though.

-Black Rock Shooter (2010 OVA & 2012 Series): This is another one I wasn't sure I should include, but eh, here we go. Basically, a sort of supernatural psychological slice of life? It alternates between a fairly straightforward school drama, and mysterious glimpses into this almost eldritch other world where monstrous humanoid entities are locked in endless, often rather brutal, combat. As things go on, the two seemingly disconnected stories wind up coming together in interesting ways. Being an older series, the yuri is very much subtexual, but still kind of a core element of the story anyway? It's difficult to explain. The OVA and the Series are basically different takes on the same premise; I favor the OVA as the more subtly-told version, but despite the series getting weirdly melodramatic in places, manages to expand on the concept in some cool ways, so I'd say both are worth watching if it sounds interesting.

(Sidenote, though: Don't confuse BRS 2012 with the more recent series, Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall. Dawn Fall is part of the same franchise, but other than some shared characters it's almost completely unrelated, with a wildly different core premise and tone. And while I did like a couple things it did, on the whole I just can't recommend it, especially in comparison to the original but also just kind of in general on its own merits. I'd steer clear of that one unless you're morbidly curious and able to stomache some frankly unnecessarily disturbing content.)

---

-Citrus: Something of a dishonorable mention before we move on to the big ones. Citrus is one I kind of have a lot of mixed feelings on personally, but I still feel like it's worth consideration, at the very least for the historical significance. TLDR; a boisterous gyaru moves to a new school and immediately winds up clashing with the school's repressed killjoy Student Council President, only for it to turn out that thanks to their parents remarrying, the two are now stepsisters. Cue lots of weird sexual tension and a revolving door of side character rival love interests.

A lot of people list the psuedo-incest nature of the two leads' relationship to be the big point against it, but to be perfectly honest, that aspect of it doesn't really bother me; I just didn't care for it because of basically the rest of the writing. There's a lot of what's basically sexual harassment in the manga, that the anime further escalates in adaptation to be as 'steamy' and 'torrid' as possible, and between that and the aforementioned side characters who (almost, there is one big exception and she's another reason I wasn't a fan) all have a more compelling (and respectful) dynamic with one or both of the leads, it failed to really sell me on the central pairing. I hear it does develop in a better direction later on, but that's after I lost patience to keep reading, and the anime basically only covers right up to the point where their interactions stop feeling so... uncomfortable.

At the same time, though, I will admit that Citrus does have its merits. There are a lot of people who do love it, so I'm not really speaking for a crowd here, and while I strongly dislike the student council president stepsister, the gyaru protagonist is a genuinely fun cinnamon roll who did nothing wrong and made what I did read/watch enjoyable despite my complaints. And like I said, I have heard it gets better, if you can get further in the manga.

And if nothing else, we do honestly owe Citrus, because the manga did help make yuri more popular and well-known, and the anime marked the shift from subtext being the only way to imply a relationship between girls, to more recent series being able to show it in full and not downplay the romantic or even sexual elements of a lesbian relationship. So, I guess despite what it took to get there, we probably wouldn't have it nearly as good as we do now without Citrus, so on that merit it is probably worth checking out.

---

And finally, there's my top three recommendations:

-Magirevo (or; The Magical Revolution Of The Reincarnated Princess And The Genius Young Lady): Another recent one, but that I actually was able to sit down and watch through entirely, huzzah! Genre-wise it's kind of a weird one, being technically an Isekai but only barely; the protagonist has vague and fuzzy memories of a past life on earth that do inform her decisions and drive to an extent, but she refreshingly still feels mostly a part of this world she was born and raised in. It also takes a lot of cues in terms of the setting and typical tropes from the traditionally (tragically) more het-oriented Otome/Villainess genre, so without as much familiarity with that, some of the metatextual twists to those formulas that I really enjoyed, may not land the same? But it's still pretty solid even aside from that.

The basic concept there is that the protagonist, a princess in a magically-strong royal family who herself lacks any magical capability, becomes something of a mad scientist in her efforts to find a way to use magic through other means, and abdictates succession to her younger brother. However, over time he begins acting more erratic, until a breaking point is hit when he publically disavows his betrothed fiance. And the princess, who's also a massive lesbian who's long held a crush on said fiance, takes advantage of this to swoop in and drag her into assisting with her experiments.

It's admittedly kind of an uneven series, veering wildly between slice-of-life hijinks and surprisingly in-depth amounts of intrigue, and so the overall tone is a bit messy. The big issue is that its commentary on the flaws of monarchism and royal politics winds up feeling a bit undercut/incomplete, by virtue of being an incomplete adaptation that the LNs and Manga continue past, but I'm still willing to forgive all that, because the romantic development is very strong. While I understand some of the other series above that I have yet to watch or complete also don't have to hide behind subtext like older shows did, this one feels like it really takes advantage of that freedom. Despite the main plot distracting from it at times, on the whole the girls' relationship feels wonderfully central and gets a really good payoff. If you're here for gay with a little extra something on top, this is my recommendation.

-Symphogear: This is a case where I simultaneously really recommend this, while not entirely being sure if it should be on the list. While most of the others I've listed are single-cour and thus pretty quick to blast through, (even if sometimes to their own detriment, more on that later) Symphogear has five seasons' worth of content, with possibly more on the way, (there was a recent announcement of something new coming in a few years, but whether it's a new season, a spinoff, or just some unduly hyped merch or something, is yet unclear.) so is more of an undertaking. It's also a bit more rough around the edges in some spots, so my recommendation does come with disclaimers.

Premise-wise, it's kind of a weird mashup of genres; Magical girls, super robot mecha anime, and idols being the big ones. In a near-future world that's regularly afflicted by incursions from deadly entities called Noise, there are a group of girls wielding Symphogears, music-powered magitech devices that allow them to transform and fight back. However, there's a whole lot more going on beneath the surface, as the mystery of where the Noise are coming from is tied to a web of conspiracy involving alchemists, monsters, enemy symphogear wielders, and ancient sumerian myth.

It's definitely an action show first and foremost, but part of what both makes it interesting (and somewhat difficult to explain conceisely) is the way it evolves over the course of its run. The original season just started out as like, one of the wave of edgy grimdark "being magical girl is suffering" Madoka-clones that came out after Madoka, (so yanno, if you watch it, go in prepared for it to go some dark places) but it fairly quickly found its own identity and direction in being deeply, unapologetically maximalist about everything it does. Maximum edgy darkness! Maximum awesome hype! (And resultingly, maximum weaponized mood whiplash!) Maximum music! Maximum conspiracy! Maximum violence! Maximum comedy! (For better or worse, maximum fanservice!) Maximum gay! Maximum gay drama!

So like, it's just... A Lot,™ for both good and bad, and best taken at a measured pace rather than binged all at once. Also, while it's technically just subtext in its yuri until the last season, as with everything else about the show, it's so blaringly, gleefully unsubtle about that stuff that it may as well be text anyway.

So yanno, I personally like it, I think it's a great show that more people should watch, but I'll also readily admit that while it probably has at least something for everyone, it also probably has something that might turn people away, with either the plentiful fanservice, or the more oppressive grimdarkness of most of the first season being the two biggest concerns. It uh, goes some places. But, all that being said, it's still a pretty great ride on the whole? So if you think you could deal with those aspects, I do think it's worth taking a look, and the payoff is very much worth it.

And finally...

-Bloom Into You: In terms of just pure yuri, this is one of my favorites, and a pretty popular one for good reason. It hits a really nice balance between the chillaxed gentleness of most slice-of-life stuff, and the angst and drama of some other series; I feel like the best word to describe its tone is thoughtful. It's very well-written, and very sweet while still giving more to chew on. (Also helped me realize I was demiromantic, so that's also a point in its favor.)

A girl entering high school has always dreamed of and idealized romance, but after actually getting confessed to and feeling nothing about it, winds up kinda reconsidering and uncertain of what she actually wants. She meets an upperclassman who seems completely disinterested in romance and tries to connect with her over that, only for the upperclassman to fall for her instead; while aknowledging it's unrequited, she regardless asks her to enter a sort of one-way semi-romantic, semi-platonic relationship. As it goes on, and more context comes to light, she starts to realize there's a lot more emotionally complicated stuff going on, that I'll let you find for yourself.

Very very good series, but with one major flaw, that being that the anime only covers the first half of the manga and cuts off before everything can really properly resolve. They did tweak things a bit so the last episode does serve as at least something of a conclusion, but it's still just not quite there. Unless they do a second season to cover the rest, (which at present seems unfortunately unlikely) my recommendation would honestly just be to read the manga on dynasty scans, or watch the show and then read the rest. It is at least a very faithful adaptation, so I don't think you'd be missing too much if you choose the latter route. But yeah, either way, if you only do one thing off this list, this one is what I'd suggest.

---

I hope this helped! Went bit overboard here, whoops ^^;

[eternalflashh]

i give up. i've been thinking about the fontaine lore too much to not put my thoughts somewhere.

no, this is not at all going to be organized, because i hardly have it all together yet. but i've been trying to get a gist of fontaine's prophecy, and i'm just trying to put the pieces together after what we've learned of fontaine's history (albeit not much, and neither is the theory the best. i'm just thinking on paper here.) this is going to be *very long* by the way. very, very, very long.

naturally, beware of spoilers, particularly: fontaine AQs and world quests (narzissenkreuz, elynas (the melusines) — including the canotila side quest, institute of natural philosophy, khvarena), artifacts (nymph's dream, marechaussee hunter), weapon (fleuvre cendre ferryman)

also, disclaimer: i may be wrong. i am not a genius—kind of an idiot, really. i'm just thinking. thinking. read this as someone's journal, not the wiki entry.

here's a brief recap of the three fontaine world quests, because we're going to need them:

in the narzissenkreuz adventure team quest, we accompanied the tiny oceanid ann in order to save a "princess lyris", only to find out that she never existed and this was all a fictional tale—one, though, that has its roots in the real narzissenkreuz institute.

in the elynas quest, we saved mamere from getting her paintings stolen, and found out that she was painting with elynas's blood. a man named jakob ingold has been trying to collect this blood, and now, apparently tries to revive the dragon itself—for a cause that is beyond even the abyss's plans.

the quest with the institute of natural philosophy wasn't quite as plotful, aside from the fact that we simply were led to the institute thinking it was the narzissenkreuz institute, and found plenty of old records. it's also where the narzissenkreuz ordo's quarters was buried inside, and where we managed to unite ann and seymour to continue their story.

now, from the many ancient texts and artifact/weapon descriptions i've managed to piece a rough idea of what happened 500 years ago, which i will try my best to summarize coherently according to my understanding:

the narzissenkreuz institute, which had an oceanid as its director and basil elton as its vice, was a special unit founded with the purpose of protecting fontaine against the evils (of khaenri'ah, presumably). that being said, they housed orphaned childen. these included the mary-ann we see in "the real annapausis" (whose consciousness was transferred to our oceanid ann), alain, rene, and jakob.

it was said that "the director and her sisters went off to fight the evil at its source" (nymph's dream), which i'm assuming is khaenri'ah, while the vice director set off for the seas in the Sponsian ship where she eventually passed. shortly after, the institute was disbanded. before the vice director (basil elton) set off, though, she had entrusted the children of the institute to her close friends: emanuel gullotin and karl ingold (marechaussee hunter).

alain guillotin and mary-ann guillotin, taken up by emanuel, became marechaussee hunters; rene de petrichor and jakob ingold, in the meantime, headed for sumeru's girdle of the sands with karl ingold to research the remmants of the lord of amrita. (if you did the quest, you would've had "rene's investigation notes" in your inventory—which essentially describes what they've been researching; rene appears to have recently turned into a young adult, while jakob is still "a child", but they both sound... young.) it also seems that before this, they infiltrated elynas—in the investigation notes, they seem to be hiding their condition from karl; later we find that jakob seems to be surviving on elynas's blood.

sometime after this, alain guillotin is enrolled into the institute of natural philosophy where he researches (i assume) the mechanics of arkhe and pneuma-ousia annihilation; rene and jakob are also enrolled in there some time later. at first, they were working on the same research (alain's), until rene and alain eventually broke off their working relationship (noting that they, including mary-ann, still hung out together as friends), apparently having disagreed on something.

now we saw jakob ingold— which clearly means him having absorbed elynas's blood (and all those research) has somehow given him the powers of immortality, which rene and him had been researching in the desert; although it appears that rene has found a different way of implementing immortality. rene, in his "memories" as told in the book of revealing, discovered a way humans could surpass death by dissolving in the waters, their consciousness preserved even as doomsday comes (i assume this is how the water from the primordial sea came to be rediscovered after ages), and chose himself as the first test subject to be dissolved. alain, meanwhile, went off to establish the fontaine research institute that studied clockwork and created the meka we see roaming around fontaine now—i personally think the specific use of clockwork was intended to allude to the underlying goal to surpass their time. but yk, that might be overkill.

mary-ann's end, though, was never quite explicitly told. and in fact, the "mary-ann" we see in annapausis described the place in the book as her tomb, even though the story (whether the one we were going through, or the literal story you find in the fountain with the "statue of princess lyris") was unfinished. she might not have been a particularly "important" character in the history, but she was significant to each of the other childen— the various notes always expressed joy whenever they see mary-ann, may it be alain who was said to care for his sister (so much that he made her seymour), rene, jakob, even carter (alain's assistant).

this is important because, coincidentally, it resembles ann's role in the narzissenkreuz adventure team fairytale. ann was described to be their leader, a sort of mascot, among the team fighting against the fell dragon. and in fact, each of the characters we met resemble someone in reality: 'al' is from alain, 'ney' is from rene, 'jak' is from jakob, and 'mori' from seymour. (the others are... a bit complicated and i cannot yet discuss them because I'm Still Thinking, and that'll go besides my current point.) basically, the fairytale was literally told with the children as real life inspiration. (even though, of course, it was cut off quite annoyingly.)

then, it's worth understanding the tale to understand their true motives as well. the tale talks of the adventure team's existence essentially to help princess lyris to protect her realm and fight against the big bad evil, the fell dragon narcissus. narcissus was fighting her for "a treasure of hers that he did not have", and in order to help fight against this evil, princess lyris shared her time with her friends, time that allowed them to be ahead of the dragon's attacks. but in the end, the dragon still had the upper hand; eventually she trapped herself in the high tower, entrusting a treasure to the adventure team: a bright pearl of water.

common sense tells that this princess lyris alludes to the archon of their nation, egeria; the adventure team being the narzissenkreuz institute, while the fell dragon narcissus is the khaenri'ahn invasion. judging from this, then, it appears that the archon left behind this "bright pearl of water" as the last thing before she trapped herself in the high tower. and that's it— that's the end of the story, so we don't know how the rest of history went. well, except for the fact that the former hydro archon is, in fact, dead, and now we are left with a most ominous prophecy: of the original sin, of why it's exclusive to fontaine, of why the oceanids do not recognize their current archon, of why furina is exempt from this prophecy—and what she is waiting for.

i have so many questions, and no idea of how to approach them in a methodical manner—so i will first point out all the things that bother me.

i wondered why this problem is exclusive to fontaine. regarding there is a problem of exception mentioned in rene's notes, where the children's constitution are different from karl's; i still have no idea the nature of this distinction, only that rene and jakob's bodies are like the power of the sacred lotus (i.e., the former archon's power). at first i thought that this distinction may be the reason for them being susceptible to the primordial seawater's effects, but without understanding the distinction, it doesn't help in answering the question.

then, again, i wondered what their real motives was. neuvillette says that the former archon left furina with the prophecy—but it doesn't sound like a problem so much as a statement of what's to come. we don't know what egeria actually believed. but i went back to the final feast teaser, and found that egeria actually had some narration:

the original sin is the fairest: everyone sinks. make the most of the final feast, because for the sinners, the curtain call has come.

which certainly does make it sound like she sees them all as sinners, and that they have always been bound to sink.

the interesting thing is— this might not necessarily be a bad thing, no matter how we see it as a crisis. even the victims of the disappearances case regard dissolving into the waters as "relief" (vigniere from the AQ); even the people say this is just like returning to whence they came from, and mary-ann of the sunflower annapausis says that together, as one body of water, they can become strong. in line with this, perhaps rene's act of dissolving into the seawater doesn't seem so much as a radical act anymore.

i always come back to this line at the storybook:

"So, in Narcissus's story, I'm the evil villain?

it may sound like an innocent question, but a fairly odd one for a child to be asking. and i believe it says more than it seems. for one, i'd like to point out that narcissus is another term for the flower daffodil, which symbolizes rebirth—the narzissenkreuz also means "narcissus cross", aka, death of rebirth. which makes sense when you think that they're enemies of "the fell dragon". but why would they be fighting rebirth? perhaps because the narzissenkreuz institute were fighting the prophecy, which they, including egeria, perhaps, believed at the time to be a good thing.

i say "at the time" because, look at what became of the children. in essence, they became "villains". rene, for one, founded a source of the primordial sea, which was certainly what led to the current problems—and, hence, what would lead to the realizing of the prophecy. jakob is out here trying to revive elynas in order to use his blood to strengthen human lifespans, so that they can overcome the surmised cataclysm that would come? to turn everyone immortal? meanwhile, alain's deviced a way to subvert the usage of celestia's elements by making work of pneuma-ousia power. essentially, they are each fighting for rebirth, instead of fighting against rebirth. perhaps not precisely rebirth, but a way to preserve humanity, to subvert the crisis. even mary-ann, in a sense, had managed to attain this goal, by preserving all her memories—despite it being unfinished—in that storybook.

and in fact, perhaps that's also why the story ended there—because it was that point, when the cataclysm occurred, where the story's moral had shifted, and they had each lost their original intention to fight. because they then realized that they needed better ways of handling this crisis, only to have one of them revert to that crisis itself. tl;dr: the prophecy ceased from being a crisis, instead becoming rene's perceived solution. which is.... interesting, to say the least.

again, it sounds radical, but it may very well hold water. one interesting thing i noted from the canotila quest was that where we saw the dark power of the abyss in "the end of things" as predicted by the world-formula, canotila instead saw a nice place with flowers, etc. and when we were talking to elynas, he noted that "the things they (the primordial dragons) enjoyed were not things that humans valued". it's similar to this situation—two different viewpoints may see the same thing to be two very different things; either salvation or destruction. which then brings a lot of suspense toward the resolution of the AQ—what, truly, will become the best solution for them? would being dissolved save the people of fontaine? or would they find a way to subvert both the dissolution and the destruction? (obviously, it's probably the latter—the question, as always, would be how? to answer that, we need to know more on why they are subject to this sin, and that is not a question i can answer, despite this Very Long Rambling. i am most stressed)

but if nothing else, at least i've figured that the foretelling of this disaster is something that's originated far before the cataclysm, from egeria's time. perhaps it'd be something like rukkhadevata & nahida, where rukkhadevata had her own way of solving the issue with combating forbidden knowledge, but it led to a whole other issue, and nahida had to find her own solution.

one thing still perplexes me, though— furina's perspective in all this.

at first i thought she may be the "pearl of water" referred to in the storytale, since it would make sense that that's where the next archon comes in—but since furina is supposed to be older than nahida (as said by neuvillette in nahida's introduction), it seems unlikely. though it's always possible that this happened several years before the cataclysm, it wouldn't align very nicely; one would assume the princess trapping in her tower to be an event that took place during the peak of the cataclysm, so the life born out of the pearl must be sometime after that. but the possibility remains.

or perhaps one shouldn't take the story too literally, and assume she was simply handed the gnosis after egeria's passing—but why? who is she to begin with? and what then is the pearl of water that the princess left to the narzissenkreuz? it must bear significance, if it was left in the story at all (and something the storyteller felt important enough to be named after the child she was telling the story to, lyris). perhaps the pearl thing was only an expression, and it was meant to allude to the passing of her gnosis to the next archon. but of course, this is only conjecture.

furina's behavior... is perhaps simply a consequence of her original personality, under her circumstances. her personality aside, though, what would her woes we hear in the fountain mean? what does she mean when she say "interminable"—what, exactly, is she waiting for in unbearable loneliness? it doesn't make much sense for her to be waiting for the prophecy to come; otherwise, she'd have no reason to research it for so long, gathering intelligence, when she hardly cares for the nation's affairs. surely she wouldn't be waiting for divine intervention to come save her from her business? lyney and lynette note that she always appears to be "acting"—so what is she acting for? why does she aim to judge other gods? if she wants to prove that other nations are also at fault for "sinning", then wouldn't she need more time, instead of being impatient? nothing seems to add up with her. perhaps she wants to save everyone, but perhaps she is tired as well. perhaps she doesn't feel like she's capable of it, and wishes for release to come instead. is that what it is? who knows. who knows. it's impossible to tell, with someone with so many faces.... it's very interesting. furina is certainly a very interesting archon.

anyways. that was long and this doesn't hold much water to it (get it) but. i had to dump my thoughts somewhere. i'll get back to it when i find more information, when more thoughts come to hound me,,,,,, yeah. anyway.

[geekgirl101]

I hope sending in an ask is okay

I haven't been keeping up with everything post Young Avengers that involves them, all I remember was the Empyre run with Teddy and Billy, but I didn't read it yet either

So far I've read YA vol 1, 2, all the "mini-stories" {I guess u could call them??} like siege, crossover with runaways, dark reign, and of course Children's Crusade

I wanted to know what else to read that involves them/what you'd recommend bc it's been a while and I really wanna get back into it

I say while I'm literally struggling to read the recent she-hulk comic bc of my short attention span and adhd, but we won't talk abt that

Anyway, hope you're doing well, and thank u if u end up answering this

Hey. Thanks so much for your ask. When I saw this, I had to dust off the cobwebs of my empty ask box. Asks are always welcome as long as they are kind and respectful. This is a great example of a good ask.

To answer your question. I do recommend New Avengers v4, Empyre and Empyre Afrermath Avengers (the latter is a one-shot. But it's the wedding issue). There is the Last Annihilation Tie-in Wiccan and Hulkling that's good.

Marvel's 75 Anthology brought back Heinberg and Cheung for this:

There is also technically Death's Head and Strikeforce, and King in Black tie-in. But frankly, if it involves Billy and Teddy, and it's written by Tini Howard, my personal suggestion, is to just skip it. There are also the Infinity comics, but they're also just...not good.

There is, of course, also Marvel's Voices Pride Anthology which has one story each for Billy and Teddy. Marvel's first pride anthology also had this: also by Heinberg and Cheung.

Tommy appeared in a couple of issues of X-factor's last volume. So if you're into the Tommy/David ship, it's good to check out, and if you're not, then you can skip it, or look up the panel of Tommy bantering with Norstar.

Oh, Billy and Tommy did also technically appear in Trial of Magento, but that was also really bad, and very poor characterization. Billy and Tommy have more recently made appearances in Scarlet Witch, and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver comic, and Billy and Teddy also appeared in a few issues of Captain Marvel. These have been decent appearances.

As for the other Young Avengers, Kate had her own solo mini, which wasn't too bad. She was in West Coast Avengers, but I wasn't a fan. Cassie's done some stuff with her dad in Ant-Man comics, I think. But I don't remember.

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

jinx x reader who's another adopted kid silco took in. The two are close sisters always looking out for each other. Then the day of the deal with jayce and silco comes and jinx overhears them offering to take full blame for everything take the fall if it means Jinx stays safe and their dad gets his dream.

(Hey! Sure I can, but I didn't really include the her overhearing part. There will be another part to this bc I had another idea! Enjoy!)

A Sisters Love

You had always been close to Jinx. You knew her since you and her were taken in.

You were both raised together through everything.

Without you there was no Jinx.

Without Jinx there was no you.

Jinx needed you to function and you needed her to live.

Silco knew this, so he didn't even have the heart to send either of you separate ways.

You were both his kids. 

You were more involved in decisions with him as you were more "sane" as people would say.

But everything slowly was burning to ash.

Vi was back. She wanted you and Jinx to come back to her but you couldn't.

The council knew of you and Jinx, hence why Talis wanted your father to meet up with him.

You knew you and Jinx were bad people but so what? 

You did your crimes together.

So that's how life was now, walking side by side to meet Wonder Boy Talis.

"Perfect place for an ambush." Silco mused as he and you smirked at Jayces expression.

"And you without your hammer." Silco hummed and almost laughed as you circled Jayce.

You weren't doing it to install fear, which you certainly did to Boy Wonder, but curious to what he wanted.

"Did you lose it?" You asked, Jayce backed up as you stood in front of him, almost in his face for laughs.

"(Name)." Silco beckoned, watching as you hid your laugh behind your hand.

"What? Have some fun, Dad." You shrugged, returning to his side.

Jayce looked between you and your father, horrified at the thought of this man having a daughter.

Jayce decided to mask his feeling, shaking his head and calming himself.

"I was reminded recently of what brought us together in the first place." Jayce finally spoke up. 

"And what was that, exactly?" You asked, not really wanting to hear him out.

"The threats beyond our wall." Jayce stated.

"This city has a short memory." Silco said simply.

"'Progress.'" Jayce put.

"Far be it from us to stand in the way." Silco said, holding out his hand as you placed a paper in it.

Silco put the paper to Jayces chest, the council member taking it before it fell.

Jayce opened it hesitantly, reading the words on the paper carefully.

"'Free trade routes, blanket amnesty, unrestricted access to the Hexgates, sovereignty.'" Jayce read from the paper in shock.

You yawned, was it really that hard for him to comprehend words on paper?

"Do you two really think you're in a position to demand all this?" Jayce asked in bewilderment.

"Your stunt was…okay, who knew the pretty boy of the Upper City could pull it off?" You shook your head with a smile 

"But your display followed by a request for parley, you're tipping your hand." You finished quickly.

Jayce finally looked away, his eyes meeting the floor.

"You're afraid." Silco stated, seeing the look on his face.

"I am afraid." Jayce stated quickly, no chance in hiding it.

"Today, I got a glimpse of what war between us might look like." Jayce said solemnly.

"Wasn't pretty, was it?" You asked, Topsiders didn't have to stomach what the aftermath of war was like.

"Your people wouldn't stand a chance." Jayce finally found confidence.

Silco tilted his head, lifting an eyebrow at his words of fake confidence.

"We have been through war before with your city. Your people didn't have the stomach to finish the job." You retorted.

"The council couldn't care less." Jayce tried. 

"They never have." You shrugged.

"I'm trying to save you and your people from annihilation." Jayce still tried to convince.

"Trying to play the hero, are we now?" You shrugged off. 

You couldn't care less.

"Not the fresh-faced Academy pledge, are you?" Silco asked in amusement of his and your argument.

"You want peace, this is the price." Silco stated, nodding at the paper.

Jayce seemed to sigh, but only out of anger.

"You'll discontinue the production of Shimmer?" Jayce finally asked.

"Half there already." Silco stated.

"Your little stunt made that happen." You shrugged.

"Return the Gemstone." Jayce demanded, then stunned as you pulled it out of your bag.

Jayce studied the Gemstone in your hand cautiously to make sure it was real.

Jayce then seemed to hesitate, conflicted on his next words.

"And I'll need Jinx and your surrender." Jayce finally spoke, halting you and Silco.

"You're pushing your luck, Talis." You glared at the man in front of you.

"You two have to pay for what you've done." Jayce shook off, trying to return your glare but faltering.

"They weren't their crimes. They were working for me." Silco stated.

"Believe me, if I had my way, it'd be you rotting in Stillwater," Jayce dismissed Silco.

"But we can't make a deal with a snake and cut off its head."

"No way is Jinx willingly going to surrender." You almost laughed at his attempt.

"Then we'll take her by force." Jayce tried.

"Good luck with that." You dropped the Gemstone back in your bag, seeing the way Jayce followed it.

"We all have our shitty parts to play." Jayce stated, placing the paper back to Silcos chest.

"You two surrender. And I'll give you your nation of Zaun." Jayce confirmed to you both.

Jayce began to walk away, halting as you grabbed his shoulder suddenly.

You knew it was a reach. And you knew it was risky.

But no fucking way were you letting your sister be taken.

"How about we meet you halfway?" You offered, Silco and Jayce looking at you curiously.

"You get your wishes, the Gemstone and the Shimmer discontinued," you spoke, Jayce listening intently.

"And my surrender, only mine. You tell the council Jinx is dead." You finished.

Silco looked at you shocked as Jayce didn't move at the offer.

"(Name)-" Silco tried, grabbing your shoulder but you shook him off.

"Only me. You tell them you saw Jinx die or she will give you a reason for war." You threatened, your face close to Boy Wonders.

"This is the best way. Or, your people will die."

Jayce looked between you and Silco slowly before he finally nodded.

"Fine." Jayce agreed. "(Name). You don't have to do this." Silco tried to convince you.

"It's all right, just tell Jinx goodbye for me." You told Silco with a knowing smile.

Your father tilted his head confused at you before he finally understood.

Jayce, surprisingly, had handcuffs on him.

You could only guess Incase you or Silco went too far.

You grabbed the Gemstone out of your bag, handing it to Jayce before holding out your hands.

Silco watched Jayce put the cuffs on you, Silco hesitated before he kissed your forehead goodbye.

He will see you again.

You couldn't say or do anything more before you were dragged away by Jayce by the cuffs.

When you looked back Silco was gone, causing a smirk to spread across your face.

You and Jayce walked in tense silence before he spoke up.

"You and Jinx. That was you two on the bride, wasn't it?" He asked, snapping his head to you as you laughed.

"Wow. Just putting two and two together?" You mocked his anger.

"Why?" Jayce asked, watching as you simply shrugged.

"Your sheriff shot an…old friend of mine. Plus, the guy was an asshole." You stated.

You then watched amused as Jayce realized you were talking about Marcus.

You weren't wrong. The guy was always an asshole. Ever since you were a kid.

You then looked as you saw a truck with enforcers surrounding it, holding up their guns as they saw you.

Guess Jayce did prepare Incase of an ambush was needed.

You were quickly put in the back of the truck with at least five enforcers.

Each one kept their eye on you, some even looked scared to be around you.

Guess that came with your crimes.

But you weren't there to stay.

So, you closed your eyes, tilting your head to rest against the wall behind you.

You then slowly fell asleep, might as well rest for what was to come.

[mana-jjk]

jjk manga and future spoilers !!

if you haven’t read anything from the recent exhibition or seen some manga panels out of context, this is a spoiler xoxo

anime only and fellow fans living in delusion look away and choose happiness

.

.

.

.

.

.

me getting ready to forcefully drag characters into the afterlife because i physically cannot handle the thought of nobara sitting alone, waiting for her friends:

y’all don’t understand, she’s been lonely for so long and now that she finally had people who loved her SHE GOT RIPPED AWAY !! i am on my hands and knees, how DARE YOU GEGE !! i have been living in denial since that dreaded chapter but confirming it?? no.

i am the type of found family crazy that if one person dies, everyone needs to die so they can reunite in the afterlife and be happy together. living on?? i don’t think so. i stg if any of the second years get taken out, i’m annihilating the rest of them, just watch me.

thinking about how maki, toge, and yuuji might have been with her in purgatory for a split second before being revived.

thinking about toge not wanting to leave her alone because that’s his little underclassmen and she shouldn’t be alone IM CRYING IN THE CLUB

thinking about how yuuji might have felt a split second of relief to be with her and junpei, only to get dragged back into the reality where the blood on his hands never dries.

thinking about maki having to leave mai and nobara waiting for her while she tries to finish what they started and she’s in so much pain i physically cannot.

the other adults getting ready to pass on but nobara is waiting because everyone she loves is still on the other side. At the very least she never has to see another funeral.

SHE DESERVES TO BE IN A SLICE OF LIFE ANIME !! these kids make me so sad, i think about how tired they must be. they’re so little and they’ve experienced nothing outside of blood and death, i need them to be happy.

[twinclownsoflotuspiers]

On Jiang Cheng and whether what he did was “redeemable” (why is this even an argument?)

DISCLAIMER: While I am cross-posting this from Twitter from when I wrote this in the wake of a discourse there a while back, small note that I DO NOT APPRECIATE MY META TO BE USED FOR FANWARS be it for speculations re “who is better between jc and wwx” OR “jc stan vs wwx stan”. Let’s just have fun conversations like mature people please.

Regarding whether Jiang Cheng is sensitive and an asshole sometimes, yes he is (and I love him for it) but is he only just that and not a compelling character of his own with layers? I’d argue there by saying as “questionable” as a lot of his decisions feel, he actually never went the wrong way or took wrong decisions despite everything. Controversial take? Hardly if you judge it according to the setting and the circumstances.

Was his part in the siege "problematic" and difficult to reconcile with? Yes. Is it difficult to love him for his grudge against the Wens? Maybe so. Did he hurt Wei Wuxian, whether willingly or impulsively? Also yes. Did he hate Wei Wuxian? It's more complex than hate but let's say he did. But did he also love and mourn Wei Wuxian in his own way? Absolutely. There have been several meta in the past on how Jiang Cheng’s hatred of Wei Wuxian is directly proportional to the amount of love he holds for the man so I shall not go into more detail on just how much Jiang Cheng actually loves Wei Wuxian. You guys should get it already.

Not taking into account the "morality" arguments of his actions because that's a discussion for another day, I'd say he had his reasons for what he did. Don’t know why people forget the fact that Yunmeng Jiang was the only sect to have its root clan completely annihilated AND their sect entirely plundered in the Wen attack. He LITERALLY BUILT THE ENTIRE SECT FROM SCRATCH and I'm not talking about the structure alone. I'm talking people, reputation, fighting power, making cultivators out of non cultivators, financial alternatives blah blah. A reminder that Jiang Cheng also mostly did it all alone. 

Jiang Yanli while a Jiang is ultimately a woman (always read a book according to the period it's set in). She will be married into the Jin household and will be called “Jin Furen”. Wei Wuxian during the bulk of that time was stuck in the Mounds & unable to assist in the rebuilding. Jiang Cheng had to rebuild both recruits, gather enough funds to rebuild the sect structure or merely only for enough food for all perhaps, teach them the Jiang martial arts because he is literally the last Jiang standing AND somehow convince the rest of the great sects to allow Yunmeng Jiang into the war. If we look at it from the war perspective, the Sunshot Alliance also had no reason to necessarily trust a recently destroyed sect so easily when Yunmeng Jiang literally had nothing to offer apart from one battered Jiang heir who was determined to fight, one Jiang daughter who wasn't a cultivator and a missing head disciple (more on war politics some other day because I personally love the Sunshot Era and want to discuss it in detail). 

And you'd think Yunmeng Jiang would miraculously suddenly become rich overnight right after the war? No. The Sunshot campaign continued for an approx. 3 years. That means much more resources and manpower used up. More deaths. Which also means the death of even some of the new Jiang recruits because Yunmeng Jiang was the weakest during that time, the only sect with an uneven motley of new recruits - possibly more non cultivators than cultivators because how many people even take up cultivation. Jiang Cheng would have to continue rebuilding and garnering support even after the war for the sake of his people. And Yunmeng Jiang wouldn't be credited majorly for the Campaign either - the main credit went to Gusu Lan, Qinghe Nie and Lanling Jin who ALSO formed an alliance along with the Venerated Triad (there is also geography factors in play here). Yunmeng Jiang was literally left alone and fighting to even exist.

We can have morality based arguments regarding Jiang Cheng’s participation in the Siege, but politically it was the best decision he could have taken because it was either that or waiting for a second annihilation of Yunmeng Jiang. Had he decided to stand by Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian chosen not to defect? They would've branded Yunmeng Jiang the next "Wens" and in want for power and crushed them. Jiang Cheng had to make a choice between saving one person and saving the people he looks over and he made his choice as a GOOD leader. And Wei Wuxian understood that, which is why HE also decided to defect on his own accord.

Jiang Cheng spoke, “Wei Wuxian, have you still not realized what the situation at hand is like? Do you really need me to say it out loud? If you insist on protecting them, then I won’t be able to protect you.”

Wei Wuxian, “There’s no need to protect me. Just let go.”

Jiang Cheng’s face twisted.

Wei Wuxian, “Just let go. Tell the world that I defected. From now on, no matter what Wei Wuxian does, it’d have nothing to do with the Yunmeng Jiang Sect.” [GDC Chapter 73: Recklessness. Cr. ExR]

There is also a bit in the lower paragraphs in the same chapter where Jiang Cheng demands if Wei Wuxian has a savior complex and Wei Wuxian doesn’t answer instead insists on cutting ties so whatever he does wouldn’t affect the Sect which is followed by an inner monologue where Wei Wuxian can’t even guarantee what he himself do. (Very cool foreshadow). TL;DR: Wei Wuxian defected by his own choice because he wanted to PROTECT THE SECT TOO.

Wei Wuxian stayed quiet. A while later, he answered, “So that’s why we should cut ties right now, in case anything I do affects the Yunmeng Jiang Sect in the future.”

Or else, he really couldn’t make any guarantees on what he’d do in the future.

DESPITE it all, let me remind you, Jiang Cheng did in fact try to defend at least the Wen siblings.  He didn't have to because that could actually put Yunmeng Jiang into an awkward position yet he did. Jiang Cheng wasn't privy to the core exchange so he didn't know what they'd done and hence had no reason to be grateful to them. The most he knew was, the siblings helped shelter them and got back his parents’ bodies and he does show gratitude for it or at least tries to explain why they owe them a debt but he is cut off before he could even complete saying how and why they owe gratitude. Quoting once again:

“.....I apologize to all of the Sect Leaders. Everyone, I’m afraid you don’t know that the Wen cultivator whom Wei Wuxian wanted to save was called Wen Ning. We owe him and his sister Wen Qing gratitude for what happened during the Sunshot Campaign.”

Nie Mingjue, “You owe them gratitude? Isn’t the Qishan Wen Sect the ones who caused the Yunmeng Jiang Sect’s annihilation?” [GDC Chapter 73]

(Small addendum, but I personally believe Jiang Cheng doesn’t have to be grateful for the golden core sacrifice either but that’s a discussion I shall not touch here because MDZS fandom is not capable of nuance regarding this subject at all, and I’d just spark either Wei Wuxian hate or Jiang Cheng hate, neither of which is my goal and both of which I think is absolutely stupid. On to the rest with no more tangents.)

As for the "Jiang Cheng went around killing demonic cultivators", literally the only source is from an INN KEEPER. And MDZS at its core is a novel that talks about how the truth is so often distorted to fit the popular narrative. Did he go around killing demonic cultivators? Who the fuck knows, we headcanon as we like. But the fact remains that IT WAS NEVER CONFIRMED. I have also seen people use in argument the lines from the first Jiang Cheng appearance (I forgot the scene exactly) where there is a small POV shift and Jiang Cheng is thinking to himself “It’s alright, I have done things like this before.” which, okay, valid point and argument but it can also easily allude to atrocities done during the war. I personally find it interesting that Jiang Cheng has to personally soothe and convince himself before capturing a demonic cultivator like this at all. But anyway, my first argument still stands - it was never CONFIRMED. (I’d love to meta, albeit GOOD FAITH, on this subject just saying.)

Whether Jiang Cheng hunted demonic cultivators to find Wei Wuxian in order to "kill" him again, I don't think that's it. Or at least, I don’t think it’s so simple. Grief is multifaceted and different people deal with it differently. Lan Wangji indulged in self-destructive behavior (Branding himself with the Wen brand) in grief before gradually beginning to accept. Jiang Cheng did it in other destructive ways like being in denial of Wei Wuxian's death and masking his grief with hatred when in fact he was mourning too. The reason why he gives Chenqing in the end and the fact that Chenqing is sleek and new and obviously well cared for is symbolic to Jiang Cheng's underlying care and grief that continued to stay despite how much he tried to pretend he absolutely despises Wei Wuxian. And his "giving away" of Chenqing is symbolic to his final acceptance of things as they are. If Jiang Cheng truly hated Wei Wuxian, he would've done everything to expose his identity to the world and get him killed or killed him himself in that inn instead of questioning him about things and telling him to apologize to his parents. Quoting because I think this bit is actually pretty significant:

Jiang Cheng interrupted, “It’s just what? You can’t say it? Don’t worry, you can go back to Lotus Pier and say your excuses while kneeling in front of my parents’ graves.” [GDC Chapter 24. Cr. ExR]

THIS BITCH, FOR ALL HIS DRAMATIC INSISTENCE ON HATING WEI WUXIAN, TELLS THE VERY MAN HE CLAIMS HE HATES THAT HE WANTS EXPLANATIONS FOR WHATEVER HE DID IN THE PAST AND THAT WEI WUXIAN CAN “GO BACK TO LOTUS PIER AND KNEEL” AT THE ANCESTRAL HALL. If that isn’t just the Jiang Cheng way of saying “this is me giving you a chance. Just tell me why you did all that you did” then I don’t fucking know what else is. (He is so pathetic and has such an ironically huge heart I love him)

Jiang Cheng is bad at feelings. He’s bad at being honest with his feelings. I made another meta long back on how Jiang Cheng always addresses the hurt of people close to him but never his own hurt because he is second to even his own self but that’s for another day. It even actually took him until nearly the last chapter (102) to admit verbally he was hurt, so goddamn HURT that Wei Wuxian left him so the above quote IS in fact Jiang Cheng genuinely wanting explanations from Wei Wuxian. Quoting once again on the chapter 102 bit:

He choked, “....You said I’d be the sect leader and you’d be my subordinate, you said you’d help me your whole life, you said you’d never betray the Yunmeng Jiang Sect....you said so yourself.” [GDC Chapter 102. Cr. ExR]

A small tangent because I just think it’s interesting again but in the reveal scene in Jin Guangyao’s basement/secret room, Jiang Cheng was actually given an opportunity to directly expose Wei Wuxian yet again where he is directly addressed but he just teethered and debated with himself because “yes I already knew Wei Wuxian is back” and “I can’t agree with Jin Guangyao or else I will expose my idiot shixiong” AND “I can’t oppose him either because MY IDIOT SHIXIONG JUST PULLED OUT SUIBIAN IN FRONT OF EVERYONE”. See, that particular bit could have just easily stuck to “Jiang Cheng decided to stay silent and hence agree without agreeing outright” or any other vaguer wordings for that matter but the narrative makes it a point to show that he is in fact fucking conflicted because he still wants to protect Wei Wuxian. Quoting:

Jin Ling suddenly shouted, “Wait! Uncle, wait! D-didn’t my uncle hit him with Zidian back at Dafan Mountain? His soul didn’t get whipped out, so it must mean that he didn’t possess this body, right? And so he can’t be Wei Wuxian right?!”

Jiang Cheng’s face looked very dark. He didn’t speak as his hand pressed onto the hilt of his sword, as though he was thinking about what to do. [GDC Chapter 50. Cr. ExR]

This is turning out too long, pardon the tangents. But regarding Shuangjie’s bond, breaking and tale in its entirety, it's way more complex than deciding who is the true villain between them or who is more redeemable between them. Heck their temple talk ENDS at the fact that who should truly apologize when they both hurt & got hurt.

Suddenly, he said, “I’m sorry.”

Wei Wuxian hesitated, “....You don’t need to say sorry.”

At this point, it was impossible to figure out who should apologize to whom. [GDC Chapter 103. Cr. ExR]

To end on whether Jiang Cheng was right or is he “irredeemable” for all he did; Jiang Cheng is as much a victim as is Wei Wuxian. He was hurt as much as Wei Wuxian was. He has as much valid reasons for his actions as Wei Wuxian does. Whether or not Jiang Cheng is a good or bad guy depends on perspectives and your tastes. But I can say with confidence that he isn't irredeemable, nor is he unreasonable. And more importantly he is very deeply human in a very raw and poignant way. And humans are flawed and that's the beauty of them. Besides what is the concept of “redemption” anyway if not an extremely personal one?

Jiang Cheng was right to grieve. He was right to choose to save Yunmeng Jiang. He was right to be hurt and not pretend otherwise. Jiang Cheng is complicated and morally grey but ultimately very much relatable and understandable as a character but if only you choose to look at him without the bias that comes with the narrative perspective.

End meta/rant, OMFG THIS WAS TOO LONG.

[morelikeravenbore]

How to Make a Villain - Sebastian Sallow x FMC

✨ Ao3 | Wattpad ✨

A comprehensive guide on how to turn the good guys bad.

Seventh year mostly soft!seb but he's got the ✨trauma✨ | slooooow burn | idiots in love | mutual pining | hurt comfort | villain arc | that one trope where the fmc has to either embrace her special magical ability or be destroyed by it but I don't know what it's called specifically.

18+ No smut (tbh there probably will be segs eventually but it'll be geared more toward the emotional end of the scale rather than the explicit), lots of fluff, lots of angst. TW: Mentions of parental loss, family trauma, implied murder, sexual references and mild violence.

A Hogwarts Legacy fic that explores how grief & trauma can fundamentally change the course of a person's entire life.

THE BLURB:

Aurélie Collins wishes she were invisible. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts to be normal, there are a great many unusual things about her. She's the only transfer student Hogwarts has seen in recent memory, she has an absolutely abysmal sense of direction, and - though she desperately wishes she couldn't - she can wield an ancient and highly unstable form of rare magic.

When a tragic event rips her from her life of opulence at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Aurelie is unceremoniously thrust into the freezing cold Scottish highlands to finish her final year at Hogwarts, where the castle's floor plan is impossible to navigate, obsession with blood status runs prevalent among the student body, and it's freezing bloody cold - all the time.

Worse still, she finds herself unable to escape the unwavering attention of Sebastian Sallow. Tall, handsome and infuriating, the Slytherin Quidditch captain is convinced he's the greatest thing to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts, is best friends with a Gaunt, and, to Aurélie's endless irritation, does not want to let her out of his sight. Ever.

Read chapter one under the cut.

If Aurélie Collins had to choose one word to best describe herself, she supposed it would be - to put it as delicately as she could - completely and utterly overwhelmed. Granted, that was four words, not one, but as she trudged down yet another unfamiliar corridor, she was just relieved she could string together a coherent sentence at all. After the last few months of hell she'd endured, Aurélie wasn't her usual eloquent self, to say the least.

She hadn't always been that way - overwhelmed, that is. In fact, if asked only a few months ago to describe herself, she would've said she was dutiful, quick-witted, and, if not brave, then definitely unafraid of facing challenges head-on. She'd been a confident girl once; she got good grades, always did as she was asked and never stepped a toe out of line, and everyone - from her parents and teachers to her friends and peers - knew that Aurélie Collins would go on to achieve whatever she set her mind to.

Now, though? Well, nowadays she was too exhausted to set her mind on anything. Since she'd been forced to start a new school in a new country - in the seventh and final year of her magical education at that - Aurélie felt that the only substantial thing about her was the crushing sadness that pervaded her every waking thought, as if every other part of her had been utterly annihilated by grief. Not that she allowed herself to feel any of that grief if she could help it - but it was always there, pervasive and relentless, weighing her down like a heavy wet blanket as she tried to swim through the rapidly changing currents of her new life.

Breathe, Aurélie, she told herself as she trekked ever deeper into the immense stone castle that was her new school. You've handled worse than this.

But this was a lie; she hadn't handled anything worse than this. The truth was that she was adrift in a perpetual ocean of grief that constantly threatened to consume her. She had no anchor, nothing to tether her to anything solid.

And this new school of hers certainly wasn't doing anything to improve her situation.

Bloody Hogwarts.

Of all places she'd ever imagined herself living, the freezing cold Scottish highlands was absolutely not one of them. But, then again, she wouldn't have believed that she'd be an orphan at seventeen either, yet here she was.

Hogwarts was famous, of course. Heralded as the pinnacle of magical education and the top school in the wizarding world, most witches and wizards were honoured to attend such a prestigious establishment. But Aurélie Collins was of the opinion that every bloody thing at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was confusing, unnecessary, or just downright nonsensical. From the ever-changing floorplan to the myriad of talking portraits - all of whom gave wildly conflicting directions to her classes depending on which ones she asked - nothing about Hogwarts made any sense.

Aurélie was almost in tears by the time she reached another dead end. It was simply impossible to find one's way around a school like this; there were too many floors to navigate, too many disused classrooms and far too many staircases that led to absolutely nowhere. Not to mention, beyond its confusing floorplan and unbearably draughty rooms, the ancient hulking castle was rather ugly - by Aurélie's standards at least. The monolithic Gothic castle was so far removed from the elegance and charm of Beauxbatons that it seemed almost cruel that she should be forced to endure it at all. She could almost hear her best friend Céleste's reaction if she were with her now. 'Ugh, it's so awfully medieval,' she would say. 'Stone Gargoyles? And all those uncouth English boys? I don't know which I find more barbaric!'

She almost smiled at the thought. But only almost - for thinking of her best friend only made her sad.

Aurélie shook herself mentally, shifting the heavy weight of her books from one arm to the other. She did not like thinking about her old life, least of all on her first day of school while she was lost in the labyrinth of never-ending corridors and endless classrooms. She had the distinct and slightly alarming sense that she was headed in completely the wrong direction as she tried to find her first class of the day, but, having never set foot in Hogwarts until the night before, found herself without any point of reference with which to correct her course.

'Which Merlin-forsaken floor is this, anyway?' she muttered to herself in French as a group of first years skittered around her, giggling obnoxiously as they hurried down the long corridor. They were wearing the green and silver colours of Slytherin house. She knew of Slytherin house only because her father had attended Hogwarts in his youth; though he'd been a Hufflepuff - a badger, not a snake.

Aurélie's heart gave an awful lurch at the thought of her father. Oh, her wonderful father: patient and good-humoured and endlessly curious and -

Dead. He's dead, Aurélie. Stop thinking about him.

She swallowed down the hard lump in her throat and trudged on determinedly, descending what felt like the hundredth set of stairs she'd already followed that morning. She could feel disappointment and embarrassment roiling in the pit of her stomach; she wasn't used to failing at anything let alone something as simple as getting to class on time. Even the bloody first years knew where they were going, for crying out loud, and they'd been here for just as short a time as she had.

When at last she found herself facing yet another dead end, she finally conceded defeat. Trying very hard not to cry, she adjusted her unflattering black robes (oh, to be dressed in fine blue silk again) and began to seriously consider how much trouble she'd be in if she just went back to bed. Or, more tempting still, how badly she'd be punished if she fled back to France and never returned to Hogwarts again, graduation be damned.

But no, she couldn't leave Hogwarts; it was the safest place for her since her parents had died, and Professor Weasley, the deputy headmistress, had evoked the power of Merlin himself to secure her a place here at such short notice. Apparently, it had not been an easy feat convincing Headmaster Black to take on a student with her reputation.

Aurélie sighed and squeezed her eyes closed. 'It's just for one year,' she muttered under her breath, repeating the phrase that had become her mantra. 'Just one year, that's all.'

'Unless you're trying to break into the Slytherin common room,' said an unexpected voice behind her, 'I'm going to assume you're lost.'

Aurélie whirled around so fast she whipped herself in the face with her long auburn braid. She hadn't always been a jumpy sort of person, but losing both parents at the same time had a way of making one rather fearful of unexpected voices in unfamiliar corridors.

The boy who stood before her had his wand held aloft; its tip glowed brightly red in front of his face, casting an ominous-looking hue over his pale skin. Aurélie's mind immediately conjured visions of dark shadows and searing red pain, and for one dreadful moment, she thought he was about to curse her. Her palms tingled; a telltale sign that the forbidden magic that flowed through her veins was still very much alive - and very much wanted to be used.

She took an automatic step backwards, clenching her fists tight. Thankfully, the boy made no move to attack; instead, he simply stared at her. No, that wasn't right, he wasn't staring at her - he was staring through her. It was then that Aurélie noticed his eyes; milky white and translucent, they gleamed like ghostly orbs in his angular face.

The boy was blind.

'Sorry,' Aurélie said, a little breathlessly. 'I'm trying to get to my Defence Against the Dark Arts class, but I'm afraid I have no idea where I am.'

The boy laughed, and though the sound was pleasant enough, it was undoubtedly more incredulous than amused. 'Oh my, you are lost, aren't you?'

A small badge engraved with the words Head Boy was pinned to the breast pocket of his immaculate robes. Even bathed under the red glow of his wand light, she could clearly make out the tiny snake etched onto its gleaming surface. Another Slytherin. She'd known very little about the four Hogwarts houses before coming here, but when the sorting hat had asked her if she had a preference, all she could think was that she didn't want to be part of a house whose emblem was a snake.

When Aurélie did not reply, the boy heaved an impatient sigh.

'You're the new Ravenclaw,' he said matter-of-factly. 'I must say, I didn't expect to find you all the way down here.'

The boy had a rather aristocratic air about him - haughty and vaguely displeased as all aristocratic types were loath to be, with silvery hair slicked back from his face, high cheekbones, and a sharp jawline that screamed of fine magical breeding. Aurélie wondered vaguely which noble family he was from, for she certainly knew a wealthy pureblood when she saw one; half of Beauxbatons was full of old ennobled wizarding families.

As she opened her mouth to ask him how he knew who she was - being blind and all - he spoke again.

'I recognise your accent,' he explained as if he'd read her thoughts. 'There aren't any other French students at Hogwarts.' His sharp, clipped voice was a stark contrast to his delicate features, and yet, there was something strangely ominous about it that stirred something inside her. Something familiar. Something... unpleasant.

'Half French,' she corrected him, pushing the thought away. 'My father was English, mother was French. But - er, yes, I suppose I do sound different to everyone else.'

Having been duo lingual all her life, Aurélie spoke both English and French perfectly - but apparently, her French accent wasn't as undetectable as she'd hoped. She smoothed her clammy hands down the front of her awfully drab robes, acutely aware of how the boy's unseeing eyes seemed to be looking right at her with surprising intensity.

'Yes, well,' he drawled in a tone that suggested that he didn't particularly care about the finer details of her heritage. 'You're absolutely nowhere near the Defence floor. In fact, you're almost in the dungeons. Frankly, I'm baffled you managed to make it here from the Great Hall all by yourself. Why weren't you following your classmates?'

'Oh. I wasn't in the Great Hall. I came straight from my common room.'

Not entirely trusting that anything she ate would stay down for long, she'd opted to skip breakfast in the hall with the other students that morning and head straight to class instead. Though the few Ravenclaw's she'd met so far had seemed friendly enough, their interest in the new foreign transfer student made her uncomfortable. One particularly brazen Ravenclaw boy - whose name she couldn't remember - had ogled her like she were some sort of exotic beast and told her that Hogwarts never got transfer students - not ever. 'If I'd been made to be sorted in front of the entire school as a seventh year,' he had said, 'I would have died of humiliation.'

Inwardly, Aurélie had agreed with him, for she certainly didn't count the sorting ceremony as one of her favourite life experiences. Outwardly though, she had only smiled politely and told him it hadn't been so bad before excusing herself to a quiet corner of the common room to sit alone.

She had no intention of making any friends during her single year at Hogwarts. In fact, she'd made a promise to herself that she wouldn't. After all, she was planning on heading straight back to France the moment she graduated, and the thought of saying goodbye to any more people she cared about was an ordeal she wasn't sure she could handle. But beyond that, she also feared that should anyone find out why she'd transferred in the first place, their interest in her would only intensify.

As a seventeen-year-old witch who hadn't achieved anything particularly extraordinary, Aurélie didn't think herself interesting by any stretch. But unfortunately, having your family murdered by dark wizards certainly was - and that was not something she wanted to be known for. Better to be invisible than be a source of gossip and speculation.

The boy tilted his head, his translucent pupils a little unnerving under the red glow of his wand. An inexplicable shiver of fear skittered down the back of Aurélie's arms and settled in the pit of her stomach.

'So you're telling me you managed to get yourself from the Ravenclaw common room - one of the highest points in the castle - to the very lowest depths of the dungeons, and you didn't at any point stop to think that perhaps you were headed in the wrong direction?' he said. 'Nor did you think it prudent to eat something before you start studying for your N.E.W.T.s, the most important and difficult exam in a witches educational career?' He shook his head in exasperation. 'And here I was thinking Ravenclaw's were supposed to be intelligent.'

Aurélie didn't know how to react to this outburst but rather thought she'd been right to not want to be in the snake house. When she made no reply, the boy heaved another heavy sigh, clearly annoyed.

'Very well. As Head Boy, I suppose it is my duty to help you - even though you ought to be old enough by now to look after yourself. Come along, then.'

With a small shake of his head and a mild sneer, the boy turned on his heel and strode purposefully down the empty corridor. Despite her chagrin, Aurélie couldn't help but marvel at the way his wand seemed to act as a proxy for his sight; pulsing like a heartbeat, it lead him effortlessly through the maze of corridors that even she - with her perfect vision - couldn't seem to navigate. She hurried after him, silently chastising herself for being so useless that she had to be led to class by a blind boy.

'Ominis Gaunt, by the way,' he said once she'd caught up to him; he was rather a fast walker for someone who couldn't see where they were going.

'Oh, er - hello, I'm Aurélie -'

'Collins - yes, I know who you are. Now, do pay attention, won't you? Defence Against the Dark Arts class is on the third floor, not in the dungeons. Even I can tell this isn't the third floor, and I'm blind.'

Aurélie flushed. Perhaps the sorting hat had made a mistake putting her into a house whose members were valued for being clever.

'So... you're Head Boy?' she asked timidly.

'That is what I said, isn't it?' came his sharp reply. 'And I'll have you know that I've quite enough to be getting on with today without needing to rescue stray Ravenclaws from the dungeons.'

'I didn't need rescuing,' she muttered under her breath. Ominis only ignored her, and after a very tense silence and several staircases later, they came to a stop outside the correct classroom on the third floor.

'Do try not to get yourself so embarrassingly lost again, won't you?' he said tersely. 'I don't have time to babysit seventh years, I've enough first-year drama to deal with as it is.'

And with that, he was away again, muttering darkly about Ravenclaw's and incompetence as he went, leaving Aurélie standing dumbfounded in his wake.

[monocytogenes]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @theluckywizard!

This is from the same WIP I referenced last time, where Pravin and Theron are working together; since this is loosely based on SoR, Theron's been disavowed by SIS and had a notice put out for his arrest. Here, Pravin realizes something's off while they're sharing intel at a diner and gets the better of an assailant.

Fun fact: I wrote this before recently reading Annihilation and was like "omg, Drew Karpyshyn and I were on the same wavelength here" so. Backstory shoutout!

“You know what that reminds me of? This story—” He passed the device to Theron, who skimmed the onscreen message. I’ll leave first. Wait, then go. Find an isolated area; I’ll have eyes on you. “Yeah, where they tried to pin it on the Exchange!” he exclaimed, pretending to scroll. “Shit, that was huge. The rumors going around—” They coordinated with ease—Pravin claimed to have an upcoming business meeting, departing in good cheer, and Theron poked idly at his datapad for a few minutes before following suit. He strolled past a windowed storefront, weaving between two twi’leks and a gran, and thought he saw a tailing figure in the reflection, a murky smear set against flickering neon. Resisting the urge to look back, he walked a few blocks, then ducked into an alley, stepping across rusted junk and an overturned trash can, making a show of fumbling in his jacket as though to place a call. A memory rose to mind: a miscommunication-induced fight with a fellow agent in a similar, stinking alley. He’d gotten distracted, bickering with Trant; hadn’t heard the agent approach. The crunch of a footstep—he spun— With a yelp, the falleen from the diner crumpled, body jerking uncontrollably. Pravin watched her convulse on the pavement for a moment, the stun pulse arcing through her limbs, then, when she’d gone still, bent and withdrew his knife, clicking it off and wiping green blood from the blade onto her leggings. Theron rushed to his side. “One of yours?” Pravin asked, as Theron took a knee. Theron scooped up a holdout blaster from where it’d tumbled from her hand and looked it over. He recognized the model—the sort of thing SIS gave to undercovers as a concealable weapon. Nodding, he gazed up at Pravin in surprise. “How’d you clock her?” “Saw her staring at you, and she was eating steak with a fork. Locals eat it with their hands.” “Damn,” he said, genuinely. “Great catch.” “It’s called ‘being observant’ and ‘using your brain’; things you ought to start doing.” Pravin reached down to rifle through her pockets, withdrawing a wallet and peering at a stack of credit chips. “Things she ought to do as well. Carrying five hundred unsecured credits is an excellent way to invite a mugging.” “Oh, look at that.” Theron snatched it from him. “My unused PTO.” “Congratulations,” Pravin deadpanned, hooking his arms beneath the woman’s shoulders. “Now, help me move her.”

[dramashii]

This is Enemies to Lovers; CW: Till the End of the Moon

Youku is on a roll with its fantasy dramas. Earlier this year, The Starry Love aired and that was a hit. This time, I have watched the first 10 episodes of the recently premiered Till the End of the Moon and this is really exciting so far.  

Till the end of the moon is a 40 episode drama starring Bai Lu and Luo Yun Xi. The pair have starred previously together in a modern drama called Love is Sweet and I found them great together there. In here, they play star-crossed lovers. Bai Lu's character, Susu is tasked to go 500 years back in time to kill Tantai Jin, the Devil God/Lord played by Luo Yun Xi to prevent him from annihilating the world. Because of this, a 3-lifetime love story starts.

Everything about this drama just screams budget. The costumes, the CGI, the set designs, the styling, all have been invested on which makes this show visually stunning.

The plot has been moving really quickly, but not to the point that it confuses its viewers. The first episode, itself was jam-packed. The show has been utilizing the constraint of 40 eps. There won't be a part 2 anymore, rather the watching time has been increased from 40 minutes to 55 minutes. I do not know yet if this is going to benefit the drama in the long run. To me, there are dramas that are better suited to have more episodes because of the complexities of their plot lines. I haven't read the original novel which this drama is based on, but I know it was long. Hopefully, they chose the best parts for this adaptation. This is going to be really angsty based on the trailers released. There is an enemy-to-lover situation going on which I'm definitely here for.

There are no boring moments when the main leads are on the screen. There are 2 other couples whose love stories are told in this drama. I will admit though, I do not care about them. For me personally, they're not interesting enough. When these other couples have screentime, usually I'm just counting down to the next moment when Bai Lu and Luo Yun Xi appears, because they're both literally the best part of the show.

This drama is a feast to the eyes, but the main highlight for me is definitely the portrayal of the main characters. Luo Yun Xi especially is a scene-stealer. He just fits playing Tantai Jin so much.

The eyes. That menacing look.

Tantai Jin is such an interesting being. The first few eps have really built the motivations of this character and viewers get to see a glimpse of understanding as to why he acts the way he does. He kind of reminds me of Dongfang Qingcang; he's the villain you want to root for. I do think Tantai Jin is more evil. He was literally born with an evil bone. Just when you think he can be redeemed, he does something absolutely sinister and he's not even sorry about it (unless of course if it's with the female lead lol). I've always believed that villains are the more fascinating love interests because they always do the extremes. Love for them is synonymous to obsession. I cannot wait to see how Tantai Jin go crazy for love.

Bai Lu's character is okay. Personally, I find her too cheerful sometimes for someone who literally had to go back in time to murder the perpetrator of the world’s destruction. I think she's not suspicious enough, but then again who can resist a villain with a tragic backstory (I can't.). So, can't really blame her. Bai Lu's portrayal of her is also fine. I really like how they style her. The headpieces are so pretty. I have read comments criticizing her use of a dubber. This is not really off-putting for me.

This drama isn't perfect, but overall, this drama definitely has potential. If this drama stays consistent as it is now, with it’s great CGI, styling, promise of an epic romance, and acting, this is going to be a fun and angsty ride. Can't wait!

[darcyfangirlsfrequently]

She Will Be Loved - chapter 3: New Beginnings

Work summary: After bonding with a teen girl, the daughter of the victims of a BAU case, Luke and Penelope decide to consider adoption as their path to parenthood.

Chapter summary: Luke and Penelope start their adoption journey with Vivian. It's going to be an adjustment for everyone involved, but they all have faith that they'll make it through.

Total word count: 8429

Chapter word count: 1454

This chapter goes out to @lklvz for giving me the names for some background characters, as well as @bacchicly for reminding me way back when i started this story that Emily tried to adopt a daughter of case victims, which is relevant in this chapter

Can also be read here on Ao3

“Oh, it’s definitely possible.”

Luke stared at Emily. “Wait, really?” He’d just pitched to her the idea of him and Penelope pursuing adopting Vivian, wanting to know if it was a conflict of interest in any way.

“Oh yeah. I mean, you hear stories in the news all the time of cops adopting kids they helped save. I almost did it myself, years ago.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. There was a team of family annihilators, and by chance, one of the girls happened to survive. She was taken in by family, but I was prepared. When I suggested it to Hotch, he told me he needed to know that I would be able to focus on the job and not let my heart get tugged every time. Granted, he didn’t know me very well by that point. I was new to the team. I told him I needed to know that I could be human. I know you, I know Penelope, I believe that this would be a really good opportunity for you two. If you can do it, go for it.”

That was the last piece of encouragement he needed. When he got home that night, he told Penelope about his conversation with Emily. The two of them had a lengthy talk about it, and they decided that, yes, this was what they were going to do. Vivian or not, they were going to adopt a kid. They were going to have a family.

The process took them a long time, months, and that was with the help of the connections they had. There were endless forms, and they had to be approved, and their house had to be approved, amongst other things. It was a long process, but they knew it would be worth every second if they got to make a kid’s life better because of it.

They had done the process through the group home Vivian was at, so, as soon as it was done, they could come in and meet with social workers and kids. 

Obviously, they already had one in mind.

***

Vivian and Claire sitting close together on a couch in one of the loungerooms, scrolling through TikTok on Claire’s phone, when one of the staff members came into the room and gestured for Vivian to come talk to her. 

“One, sec,” she whispered to Claire. She walked over to May, the staff member who’d called her over. “What’s up?”

“There’s a couple here who recently got approved as foster parents, and they’d like to talk to you, to see if you’d be interested in going home with them.”

Vivian’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “What? And these people are fostering with intent to adopt, right? Those are the only parents who come here. Without intent get the kids before they come here.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“So, why me? I’m fifteen, I’m halfway through High School, normally parents want a baby, or at least a little kid.”

“I think if you come out and meet them, it’ll make sense.”

Vivian turned back to face Claire, shrugging at her, before following May out of the room. 

She’d never been in the meeting room before, she’d only been there two years, and people didn’t tend to want teenagers all that much. Upon entering, she saw Bella, one of the other staff members of the home, a blonde woman dressed in bright and colorful clothing that she’d never seen before, and…

“Agent Alvez? Er… Luke?” She hadn’t seen the kind agent who’d saved her in months, but there he was, right in front of her, and, apparently, interested in adopting her.

He smiled warmly at her. “Hi, Vivian.”

Vivian turned to Bella. “Is this a prank? This feels too much like a YouTube video to be actually happening right now.”

She laughed. “No, it’s not a prank. I’ll give you three a minute to chat.”

Vivian awkwardly sat down across from them. “So. Uh. Hi.” She cleared her throat. “Sorry, I’ve just never done this before.”

“Neither have we,” the woman said comfortingly. “Also, hi, I’m Penelope, Luke’s wife.”

Vivian instantly adored that woman. Kindness seeped out of her, and her voice was so soothing. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Penelope smiled at her. “It’s nice to meet you too.” 

“I don’t even know what to talk about in these kinds of meetings,” Vivian admitted with a laugh. “I never bothered asking. I never thought it would happen for me.”

Luke smiled at her. “Neither have we.”

“We know a bit about you,” Penelope said. “Do you want to know anything about us?”

“Why me?” Vivian blurted. “I mean, most prospective parents want little kids. I’m fifteen.”

“And therefore less worthy of parents? A family?” Luke questioned.

“Well…”

“I’m sorry if this at all made you uncomfortable,” Luke said. “That wasn’t our intention.”

“It didn’t!” Vivian rushed to say. “It was just surprising. But honestly, I’m really excited.” Truth be told, she had wondered over the past few months if the kind agent and his wife had ever adopted. She found herself irrationally jealous at the thought.

The couple’s faces lit up.

“So you’re interested?” Penelope asked. “In staying with us? Giving it a trial run?”

Vivian nodded. “Yeah, for sure!”

Luke grinned. “Great. We’re really glad to hear that. I’m guessing you probably have some things you want to pack and bring, so while you do that, we’ll work on the paperwork.”

Vivian bounced up from her chair, beaming. She barely saw Bella as she ran to her and Claire’s room.

“Woah, where’s the fire?” Claire teased. “What’s going on?”

“Remember the FBI Agent I told you about? The one who picked me up and was really kind to me? Luke?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?”

“He and his wife are here for me.”

Claire’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh my god, are you in danger again? Did something happen?”

“What? No! Claire, they’re here for me.”

Vivian watched as the realization dawned on Claire. “Wait… so they’re fostering you? Potentially adopting you if all goes well?”

Vivian nodded, some tears rising in her eyes. She hadn’t felt wanted in years.

Claire threw her arms around Vivian. “Oh my god! That’s so exciting! I’m so happy for you! Okay, let me help you pack all your things.”

“The only part of this that sucks is that I may be leaving you for good this time.”

Claire’s smile dropped. “Yeah, but at least this time it’s not because your life may be in danger. We’ll be able to visit and hang out. And we’ll still text all the time. You’re not getting rid of me.”

Vivian grinned at her. “Like I’d ever try to.”

***

About an hour later, Vivian re-emerged with her bags and a girl roughly her age trailing behind her. 

“Claire, these are Luke and Penelope, the couple I told you about,” she introduced. “Luke and Penelope, this is my best friend Claire.”

Luke cast a glance at Penelope. He knew this would be the biggest adjustment for Vivian, living without her support system, Claire. He’d told her as much. “It’s nice to meet you, Claire,” he said.

“You too.”

“You know, Vivian,” Penelope said. “You’ll probably want a hand unpacking and getting settled, plus we’ll probably go shopping for things for your room, does your friend want to come with us and help you out?”

The smiles that lit up the two girls’ faces showed that Penelope’s suggestion was a very welcome one.

Claire turned to Bella, the staff member. “Can I?”

“You know the rules, be back by curfew. Have fun, ladies. We’ll miss you, Vivian.”

Vivian smiled at her. “I’ll miss you too. Thank you, for everything.”

The four of them spent the rest of the day shopping, setting up Vivian’s room, making sure she was comfortable and had everything she’d need. Luke and Penelope decided to take the girls out for a nice dinner before dropping Claire back off at the home.

They watched from the car as the girls embraced tearfully.

“I’m so excited for this, but it breaks my heart to separate them,” Penelope confessed.

“I know.” Luke reached over and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. “This will be an adjustment for all of us. But I really think we’ll be okay.”

She leaned into his touch. “Of course we will, we’re us. We’ve overcome worse.”

Vivian got back into the car then, wiping a stray tear from her face.

“How are you feeling?” Luke asked as they commenced the drive home.

“Bittersweet? Terrified and excited all at once? And a little sad.”

“I think all of that is perfectly normal.”

“Mostly excited, though.”

Penelope smiled at her in the rearview mirror. “We’re excited too.”

[bestworstcase]

Can you elaborate on what Salem meant with the "[...]when we could replace [these humans] with what they could never be?" bit of your recent post comparing her with Ruby? Because I feel like you either didn't address that or the point sort of flew over my head. Like, what else does she mean by replacing them?

my reading of the line is “why spend our lives trying to redeem these humans [before the gods] when we could replace [the gods]”—ie her proposed alternative to fulfilling the divine mandate is rebellion.

this is something i’ve talked about a lot before (<- if you poke around in my archive you’ll find it pretty easily) but in the essentials my argumentation for this reading is:

first, that “replace the gods” has much stronger congruence with salem’s characterization than does “replace humans.” she founded her rebellion upon the idea of humankind usurping their “old masters” in order to “perfect their own design” and told ozma very directly that they could supplant the brothers. this has been her driving ambition for quite literally millions of years!

in contrast, even now, salem thinks of humanity as “strong, brave, and resourceful,” recounts the discovery of dust as proof of human “passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity,” calls the capacity for hope humanity’s greatest strength, etc. and she also doesn’t seem to value ancient magic, particularly: she spends V4-5 coaching cinder to “remember that [magic] comes with a cost,” she used dust rather than her own magic to make monstra fly, she leverages her power over the grimm expansively but we can count the number of times she’s used ancient-human-magic on one hand.

the first time ozma came back, he found her living alone in a rotting hovel with a fairly well-maintained path leading right to her doorstep. he heard frightened whispers about a witch who “commanded dark powers” and lived in the wilds, but this was also an era when faunus were hunted down and kept in cages—that’s important context to hold in mind when we evaluate where those stories about salem came from. everything we see in the lost fable suggests that salem just kind of… existed on the outermost fringes of civilization and mostly wanted to be left alone.

so, for salem to express a sudden interest in… what, genocide? some kind of fucked up breeding program using the one of their four daughters who ended up with magic neither salem nor ozma expected her to inherit at all? strikes me as startlingly out of character.

second, that grammatically the line does make sense to read as salem stumbling over her words. the verb ‘redeem’ implies a subject to whom the verb’s object is redeemed. in order for redemption to occur, there needs to be a debt owed to somebody; in this case the creditor is the gods. ozma’s mandate is to redeem humanity on behalf of the gods. reading salem’s meaning as “replace the gods” requires only that she have the implied antecedent of “redeem […] before the gods” in mind. (in much the same way that ruby clearly had jaune’s usage of the phrase “make-believe” in mind when she spat that in his face!) given her long-standing, passionate hatred of the brother gods, i find this much more plausible than not.

and third, salem is profoundly upset in this scene. she’s rattled from the second ozma says “this isn’t what she asked of me.” and while he reveals everything he’s been keeping from her—reveals that the cause she supported on his behalf for years was all secretly in service to the gods who cursed her to eternal suffering and annihilated humanity out of spite—she curls in on herself (arms tightly folded, face tense, leaning back into the desk) but hangs on his every word. she’s upset! she’s pressing it down as hard as she can, but it’s clear that this hits her hard—so it makes sense emotionally that she’s not able to articulate herself with perfect clarity in the moment. and then of course ozma just walks out without asking for clarification or giving her a chance to explain herself, so if she did misspeak it’s not as if she has the opportunity to elaborate.

and then ozma either took her literal words at face value or (i think more likely) heard what she really meant and, forced to choose between staying with her and remaining true to his mandate, chose the mandate.