#she went through the most character development out of all the other characters and SUFFERED so much

[venussaidso]

Wait. I can barely find Hong Haein appreciation posts that focus solely on her as a character and her journey and her relationships with her family outside of her love story. What I'll find in the tags are posts about her love for Hyunwoo or just... Hyunwoo. And yet she's the one with the terminal illness. She's the one who's been through so much and was the most enjoyably complex character in the drama. Like where are those lengthy appreciation essay posts that center Hong Haein? I'm obsessed with her yet I feel isolated about it womp womp.

Edit: There needs to be Hyunwoo slander actually.

[11queensupreme11]

How would the yanderes react to the character and way of being of Piper and her relationship with Percy, I mean, I'm not judging Rick, but he went out of his way to make a Mary Sue and an icon for women with his way of being even at the expense of ruining his other characters (Annabeth, Percy, etc.) giving him powers that are not relevant in the previous books we had been told that the witchspeaker does not It worked with the gods and out of nowhere comes Piper and it worked when she manipulated Gai later with her attitude of "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite who doesn't like to be pretty, attract attention, be rich." I don't like that my father is a famous actor either, he knows how to fight and that makes me different from my mother's other children." What is this about? Aphrodite's children demonstrated several times that not only did they She worries about their appearance and that they know how to fight especially in the last hero of Olympus and most of the time Piper likes to be paid attention when she is with the 7 in the Argo I feel like Piper would be the type of character who has the script on her side and that's why things turn out well for her. While Rick gives Percy and Nico every character development that makes you think "stop Rick, he's one step away from breaking down," Piper literally said that he suffered a lot in his childhood because"Her father was not with her and he preferred to spend his time working" that is not suffering, your father spent his time working so he could take care of you Meanwhile, Percy's mother also worked and kept her away from him and she did not put herself in a suffering role, Nico Zeus killed his mother, Jason was abandoned by his mother, Leo had to see his mother Dying and blaming himself for it, But each one moved forward While Percy and the others, sorry, but I'm going to focus on my daughter in the books, it seems to me that sometimes Piper doesn't like Percy for the simple fact of being a competition.For Jason being the son of Poseidon

Sorry, I got excited and deviated from the question, what is it:

How would the yanderes react to Piper if she somehow didn't like Percy or treated her badly in the Argo when Percy tried to (as she did in most of the Mark of Athenea book) give orders

It may be a very unlikely situation according to some that Piper treats her badly but it is that in blue arsenic Percy adopted a personality that Piper and most feminists would not like.(Act adorable and like a helpless little girl)

(MY RESPONSE ENDED UP BEING SO LONG TOO LMAO, I'M SORRY)

so a long time ago i found this funny website about the types of mary sues, and here are the ones i feel like piper fits the bill for:

-> not just about piper's issues with her dad and being rich, but her whole thing with jason, which is ESPECIALLY prevalent in toa, where she bemoans about how hera and aphrodite FORCED her into a relationship with jason, when that was not the case at all. throughout all of hoo, we read about piper going through with the false memories even after being told that they were fake memories conjured by the mist, wishing that jason doesn't remember his past so he would stay with her, getting jealous over reyna, getting upset whenever jason thinks about anything related to camp jupiter, etc.

but rick was getting a lot of backlash over jasper/jiper, so he breaks them up in toa, but does it in a way to make PIPER look like the victim instead because, again, he really likes her and wants ppl to sympathize with her

-> someone on quotev mentioned this, but basically piper and annabeth lol. when piper first landed in camp, annabeth was spilling EVERYTHING to her and immediately became vulnerable, when annabeth was never characterized to be like that. she has always been standoffish at times, and after the war, she definitely wouldn't be spilling all her woes to a random girl. but again, rick wants her to be liked, and the best way to do that was immediately have her connect with a well-loved character from the first series

(i'm really sorry about these big ass adds that appear in the middle 💀)

-> piper out-charmspeaking drew, which was made easier for her since the aphrodite kids were given a massive downgrade personality and skill-wise. and like you mentioned before, her charmspeak working on goddesses even though it shouldn't.

-> piper has done a lot of stuff wrong. before they get to kansas, she gets visions from katoptris about jason having golden eyes (he and percy gets possessed by the eidolons and are forced to try and kill each other), REPEATEDLY gets a vision of her, jason, and percy DROWNING, and a dude with a vine hat (bacchus). and she only every speaks about the dude with the vine hat 💀. and after she, jason, and percy drown, she confesses that she had seen it before and apologizes for not saying anything because "i didn't know how to tell you guys 🥺" and she's immediately forgiven

-> honestly, it's not really just piper, but it shows more with her 💀 rick was trying to make her a feminist icon, but she reeked of internalized misogyny and it didn't help that all of her enemies or rivals were female characters who were comfortable with their femininity (they liked pink, wore makeup, liked dresses/skirts, etc.) and she triumphed over them every single time, which is basically proves that piper was RIGHT to think that way 💀

-> she was obsessed with jason bro 💀 like, almost possessive kinda yandere, but ofc it was never supposed to be seen that way, rick just unwittingly wrote her that way which is kinda funny

-> she's not exactly a villain (she's supposed to be one of the good guys) but she was DEFINITELY spoiled by the story for sure 💀

OKAY IM SORRY I WENT ON A TANGENT TOO, BUT I WANTED TO SHOW YOU THE SITE I FOUND LMAO 😭

i'm not gonna have piper and percy interact much, tho to be fair, they didn't interact much in canon either so i don't think anything will change. piper will definitely notice percy's more girly side and be like "ew :/" but she's mostly going to be daunted by her because YES, she's girly and a bit of a girlflop, but she's seen her fight and seen how powerful she can be. she's mostly just gonna be sus and jealous cuz i plan on fleshing out percy and jason's relationship

(i plan on making jason lowkey jealous and bitter about percy because percy is everything he strives to be: perfect, and it makes him insecure. plus, she's clearly well-loved not just by the camp, but by her father and other gods, and he feels inadequate and wants to be like her, but percy's gonna try and help him through with it 🥺💖)

daddyseidon obviously detests piper and is pissed that she refuses to obey percy's orders. in his eyes, his daughter has the highest status out of everyone there and every word she says should be law 💀

hades is put off by piper. he doesn't understand what her problem is LMAO. while he doesn't think it's right for percy to be in charge (she's just a wittle baby, she should be in the palace and chilling, not fighting for her life! 🥺), she's still of higher status and should be obeyed.

(imagine their shock when they find out that percy's actually NOT treated as a princess there and is just treated as One of Them, which she's perfectly cool with ofc, but they hate ittttt 😂😂😂)

apollo is disgusted. his whole thing is about loving yourself and with piper's blaring internalized misogyny, she clearly does NOT love herself and makes it everyone's problem in his eyes 😭😭 he's so worried about percy, what piper's her pissy attitude influences his darling?!?!?! 🥺

beelzebub would just want her dead 💀 his stress levels are high okay, this poor man is stuck watching the love of his life fight against giants, monster, and GAEA 24/7, he just wants them all DEAD ALREADY

loki would find her the most hilarious thing ever (in a derogatory way). she's so full of contradictions it almost makes him feel better about himself 😭 says she's not boy-obsessed and that her siblings are pathetic losers, but acts crazy when it comes to jason. etc etc. it's not until she makes her dislike to percy known that he sobers up and goes "ok that bitch has got to go 😤"

anubis (omg i think this is the first i ever got to write about him like this?!) wouldn't even CARE about piper. she wasn't even in his RADAR and she would've been perfectly safe!! ...but then she goes and does ONE wrong thing to percy and now all bets are off 💀 anubis would've been the only one who would've spared her cuz his only concern is percy, but once she goes after her, he's planning on killing her and using her bones as a chew toy 💀

[knchins]

Reunion - Mikage R.

Summary: To Reo, you were just his best friend's annoying, bratty little sister. When he realizes how much you’ve grown up, he can’t keep his eyes (or hands) off of you

Pairing: Mikage Reo x Nagi!Reader

Reader Type: AFAB - Female (she/her)

Rating: E+

Word Count: 4.6k

Warnings:  NONCON/extreme dubcon, aged-up characters, perv!Reo, Nagi is 100% oblivious, voyeurism, degradation, begging, dacryphilia, restraints, size kink (if you squint), cunnilingus, spit, mating press, unsafe sex, vaginal sex, multiple orgasms, overstimulation, praise, cream pie, no aftercare

The first time he met you, Reo thought you were the most annoying person on the planet. You were constantly fighting him for your brother’s attention, always wanting to join them on and off the field. You were clingy, whiney, bratty, a young teenager yet to fully develop. When your parents decided to transfer you to a different high school, he was elated. He couldn’t wait for you to be out of his hair and for Seishiro’s full attention could finally be on him. 

After high school came college, and Nagi informed Reo that you’d be leaving the city for university. You wanted to get away, explore the world and expand your horizons. Your once close relationship with your brother seemed to have thinned, and when you used to call every day now it was maybe once or twice a month. 

While Reo had grown during their time in Blue Lock, he was still almost always attached at the hip to Nagi. They remained close friends despite the tests they were put through. Reo heard less and less about you as time went by and you had become nothing but an old, faded memory. 

That is, until their mid-twenties when you had graduated and would be moving in with your brother temporarily until you got on your feet. You had just suffered a bad breakup and needed to get away from your current location. Plus you had missed being close to your family and it just seemed like it was time to finally come home. 

Today was your first full day in the apartment. Nagi had gone out to get a new video game while you decided to finish unpacking your things and giving the place a light cleaning. Nagi wasn’t the messiest of roommates but he wasn’t the cleanest either. You opened a window to get some fresh air into the small living area that you had been focused on getting straightened up. 

The summer heat was particularly bad today and as a result, you were in nothing but a thin-strap tank top and impossibly short shorts. You would have done without the pants altogether but your brother had warned you that Reo was probably going to come over later. Reo, the annoying rich boy that seemed to have stolen your brother’s attention all those years ago was somehow still in his life. 

Reo never really treated you kindly. His annoyance with you was often clearly read on his face. He would call you a brat and other names, trying to do anything to get you to go away. At first, Nagi was hesitant to allow someone to speak to you that way, but eventually, Reo had wormed his way into his head so that he too was demanding you give them some space. If you didn’t know any better, then you would have thought they were secretly dating. 

You had just finished vacuuming when the front door opened. The two boys were chatting about the new games they had bought and discussed what they should play first. You ignored them as you started to wind up the cord to the vacuum so that you could put it away. 

Reo didn’t notice you at first. Not until he heard the metal piece at the end of the cord hit the floor did his eye snap to your form. His ability to hear anything Nagi was saying seemed to completely disappear as his eyes raked over you, taking in every new curvature of your now fully developed body. The swells of your breasts were barely supported by the thin material of your top, and he could tell you weren’t wearing a bra simply based on the way he could see the outline of your nipples. 

Sweat beaded along your forehead and collarbones. You brought a hand up to wipe it away from your hairline, bringing the tank top up to expose your hips and lower stomach. Reo swallowed a thick ball of lust that seemed to be coming up. Who was this in his best friend’s house? Certainly, that wasn’t the same sister from ten years ago. 

Nagi seemed to realize that Reo was no longer paying him any attention. He followed Reo’s line of sight and mistook his expression for confusion. “I told you she moved in, do you not remember?” Nagi said before saying your name to get your attention. 

You turned to look, noticing how much more toned and refined Reo looked now. You put a hand on your hip, eyeing him suspiciously. You waited for him to say something rude or offputting, tell you that you couldn’t hang out with them or had to stay in your room while he was there. “Don’t worry, rich boy, I won’t take him away from you.” 

Reo snapped out of his daze, hearing the same voice of the young teenager made the idea that this wasn’t some stranger in front of him really solidify in his mind. He scoffed at you, “brat.” He muttered though he couldn’t pull his eyes off of you.

Nagi smiled and the familiarity with the situation before starting up his console so they could play. “Are you done cleaning?” He asked you, to make sure they wouldn’t be in the way. You gave him a nod, taking the vacuum to put it in the closet before going to take a shower. 

The entire time you were in the bathroom, Reo couldn’t stop thinking about what you looked like wet and naked. He imagined licking the water droplets off your chest, your stomach, your cunt, anywhere his tongue could reach. He kept losing his matches to Nagi and Nagi could tell that Reo’s concentration just wasn’t there. He just couldn’t figure out why. He had been talking nonstop about this game for a week and now he seemed like he didn’t even want to play. What gives? 

“Wanna play something else?” He probed his friend in an attempt to see what was on his mind. While he didn’t want to ask outright, he was curious about what had taken his attention way so suddenly. 

Reo shook his head, “No, sorry I don’t know where my head is right now.” It was a half-truth. Reo knew good and well that his thoughts were stuck on you but what he couldn’t fathom was why. 

Another match went by and he found himself getting more into the game again, thoughts of you lingering somewhere in the dark depths of his mind but out of the way for the time being. He finally started becoming a worthy opponent, pleasing Nagi and making him forget any doubts he may have had about his friend. 

Half an hour later you finished your shower, cutting off the water and drying yourself off with a clean towel. You wrapped it around you securely, not caring about walking around in nothing but the fluffy piece of material. It wasn’t as if your brother would ever pay you any attention and you figured Reo would just complain about your actions being uncouth like he did when you were you were younger. 

Besides, you didn’t want to put clothes on yet, wanting instead of dry off a little more. You exited the bathroom and walked back into the living room, double-checking that the towel wouldn’t fall with any movement. You took a seat between the two boys who hadn’t really noticed you yet, they were both too into the match they were in. Nagi didn’t even call out when you crossed in front of him which was only when a game had his full concentration. 

“What are you guys playing?” You asked, getting a grunt in response from your brother while your voice seemed to fully snap Reo out of his current stream of thought. The smell of your soap met his nose, a light and pleasing smell that had him again thinking thoughts about you naked. 

Without turning his head he looked at you, seeing your eyes were glued to the screen. He tried to keep up with the match but lost completely when he realized you weren’t wearing any actual clothing. Heat crept up the back of his neck as he wondered what it would take to make the towel come off. Would a slight accidental pull be enough to untuck? Would you notice if he tried? 

Nagi told you the name of the game as the match ended. “It’s a battle royale style game, you wouldn’t like it.” He said and the way you scrunched up your nose at him was so incredibly cute that Reo found his blush growing even darker. 

A loud growl rumbled in Nagi’s stomach, “Why don’t you cook us some dinner, sis?” He asked before realizing you were wearing, “and put some clothes on! You’ll catch a cold.” 

“Since when do you get to tell me what to you?” You replied with a huff.

“Since I was born first,” Seishiro replied as if it were obvious. You rolled your eyes and stood up, Reo getting a perfect look at your smooth back, the towel exposing your shoulder blades perfectly. More wild thoughts infiltrated his mind as he thought about what it would be like to kiss your shoulders as he railed you from behind. 

His eyes drifted downwards to your legs, the towel coming just below your ass. His teeth sunk into the inside of his cheek, the sharp pain didn’t do much to quell the boner he was growing at the idea that your unclothed pussy was right in front of him, obscured only by the current position he was in. 

He couldn’t even hear you bickering with your brother before you stomped off into your bedroom. Reo looked to Nagi who was giving him a puppy-eyed look that Reo knew the meaning of. He reached into his back pocket, took his wallet out, and handed Nagi a few of the bills inside. “Go pick us up something.” 

Nagi stood, stretching out his long limbs before tucking the money away. “You want your usual?” He asked and Reo nodded in agreement. “Maybe you can practice the game so you don’t such so much,” Nagi said in a joking manner. 

Reo ignored him, waving him off before standing up, “I’ve gotta piss, hurry up and go get our food.” He made his way to the one bathroom while Nagi left quickly to pick up some takeout from down the street. 

Once he heard the door close, Reo moved to go to your bedroom instead of the bathroom. The door was opened just enough for him to peer inside, just in time to see you drop the towel onto the floor. His hand immediately went to his pants to palm at his hard-on as he watched you rifle through your dresser drawers to try and find something to wear. From his angle, he could see your ass perfectly, and he got an even better view when you bent over to grab a top out of the bottom drawer. 

“Fuck,” He breathed out as he looked over your cunt, still somewhat moist from the shower. You were oblivious, about to redress after grabbing a pair of underwear when you heard the creak of a floorboard. 

“Sei? Is that you?” You asked, quickly holding the shirt up to your chest to conceal it. He recognized it as one of Nagi’s old ones from high school. You had taken it to sleep in, and it was long enough to cover the entire front of your torso. 

You paused, before quirking an eyebrow at the door, “Rich boy? You spying on me?” 

Much to your surprise, the door swung open with Reo standing there with a dark haze of lust pulled over his features. A look you’d seen before on your ex's face anytime he was turned on. He took a step toward you and you took a step back toward the bed. “Reo?” You asked, voice wavering in a way that had his cock throbbing in his pants. 

“I didn’t realize you had grown into such a slut.” He said, taking another threatening step forward. You could feel the back of your knees hit your bed, eyes glancing to each side to look for some sort of weapon you might use to defend yourself if it came to it. Certainly, Reo was just playing around, right? He wouldn’t actually be stupid enough to do anything to his best friend’s sister, would he? 

“I’m not,” You said, your voice trembling as he closed the gap between the two of you. His predatory gaze and twisted smile had your legs quaking. With his long arms he could easily box you in, yet you still dared to dart around him, only to find your upper arms being gripped tightly by his strong hands. 

You attempted to keep some form of modesty by clinging to the dingy yellow shirt, hoping your brother would come home soon. “Seishiro would never forgive you,” You said, a feeble attempt to persuade him to not do what he was clearly thinking about doing. “He’d kill you.” 

“You really think money can’t buy everything, huh?” He asked, a sharp laugh coming from him after the question. The idea of Sei being bought off had you sick to your stomach. You could feel the bile churning and held back the urge to dry heave. It was true that throughout their friendship, Reo had spent plenty of money on Nagi. He bought him the latest console so they could game together, he’d pay for games and food and sports equipment.

Reo’s pockets ran deep, incredibly deep, and you found yourself doubting the idea that your brother would care if Reo were to take advantage of you here and now. Tears filled your lower lashes, collecting there in tiny droplets before slipping down your cheeks. “Still a little cry baby,” He said, letting go of one of your arms to cup your face and wipe a tear away. In any other context, it would have been a sweet gesture. 

“Please, Reo?” You said softly, trying to blink more tears away as you looked up at him through wet lashes. You sounded just like a young kid again, begging to let him let you play games with him and Seishiro. The downright innocent expression on your face mimicked the one you held back then, tears and all. 

A look flashed in his eyes but you couldn’t place what it was exactly. Pity? Longing? A carnal desire to wrap you up and keep you in his arms forever? This vulnerable thing in front of him so ripe for the taking had his mind reeling. “Get on the bed.” He said firmly, letting go of you. 

Unsure of what he might do if you disobeyed, your own thoughts tried to calculate any possible outcome it may bring. You swallowed hard, the lump in your throat was painful as you got onto the bed, still clinging to the fabric in your hand. Reo grabbed the hem of the shirt and tugged it hard enough to pull it from your grasp, tossing it behind him so it was out of reach. 

He licked his dry lips as his eyes took you in again, this time the front which he hadn’t been able to see from the doorway. The beautiful curvature of your breasts, the carefully groomed hair on your vulva, skin still glowing with the after-shower cleanliness. Lastly, he looked into your terrified eyes, the hunger in him growing even more fierce as he took off his belt and maneuvered your wrists above your head to secure them to the headboard with the strip of leather. 

You struggled against the restraints, trying to find a way to possibly break them or the bed frame. Reo watched with a curious expression as you wiggled and writhed to try and get free, but none of what you did was of any help. All it did was put more strain on your shoulders, creating a dull ache in the joints. 

��Look how pretty you are now,” Reo said in a condescending tone, his words biting at you as you squeezed your eyes shut. He climbed on top of you, hovering as he pressed his hips against yours, “All grown up, bet that ex-boyfriend didn’t know how to really satisfy you. Could he even make you cum?” 

Embarrassment burned on your face. No, you wanted to say but you knew the truth would only fuel his desires. No, he could never satisfy you. Despite your suggestion to change things up in the way he fucked you, he would never listen. Always pounding away to fulfill his own needs. You had to fake an orgasm every time because he’d blame you if you didn’t cum. 

Your silence answered Reo’s question for him. A small frown tugged at his lips, the little sniffle you let out made him almost regret what he was doing. That is until you shifted and brushed against his straining pants in a way that had him groaning. The painful ache in this dick made him forget all about what flutters of regret he may have been feeling. 

“Poor thing, no wonder you didn’t last.” He said flippantly, hands trailing down your sides. “Don’t worry, darling, you’ll be cumming multiple times tonight.” 

His words sent a zing of pleasure through you and the idea that you’d be getting off in such a situation made you want to cry even harder. His feather-light touches along your ribs and grinding of his hips had a faint sensation of arousal pooling in the pit of your stomach. 

Goosebumps cropped up on your skin and Reo leaned closer to whisper into your ear, “Don’t tell me the little slut is getting excited by this.” He hissed as he sat up to take off his shirt, revealing a perfect set of well-defined abs from years of being an athlete. Your eyes lingered on the perfect V shape that lead into his pants and he let out a laugh when he caught on to what you were staring at. 

“Like what you see?” He teased as he took off his pants and boxers in one go. “What about this?” You couldn’t stop yourself from looking farther south, eyes widening at the size of his flushed cock, the perfect cropping of purple hair around the base. Words left you then, having never had sex with someone that was so well-endowed with the exception of your own dildo that stayed tucked away in your underwear drawer. 

He placed his smooth hands on your thighs, spreading them wide for him to get the view he’d be anticipating most. Reo dipped his head down, licking a stripe from your ass to your clit. He swirled it around the bundle of nerves, causing it to stiffen and engorge with arousal. Your jaw tensed, teeth clenching to keep from making a sound as his bright purple eyes watched your face. 

You attempted to shut your legs in a feeble attempt to push him out, but his grip on your inner upper thighs was too strong. The struggle only emboldened him, making him pick up the pace of his tongue as he pressed his lips against your sex to add suction. 

He pulled away with a sickening pop, the sound making your stomach drop and panic rise. “Keep resisting, sweetheart, it only makes me harder.” You couldn’t stop the shudder that ran up your spine at his words, wondering if it would be better to just lay there and take it instead of trying to fight. Maybe if he stopped enjoying himself he’d just leave you alone. 

He dove back in, licking and slurping so loudly that the lewd sounds rang in your ears. Dread mixed painfully with the pleasure that arose from his actions, his sloppy kisses and thrusts of his tongue bringing you close to the edge sooner than you’d like to admit. 

First, a whimper escaped, then a gasp as his teeth grazed your clit, a whine for release when his tongue dipped into your core again, and finally a cry when the pressure snapped and relief filled with endorphins washed over you. You bathed in it, head swimming as you languished in the idea that your brother’s dumb asshole friend made you cum harder than any other man ever had before. 

Reo began to kiss a wet trail up your body, dragging your cum up with it. He met your mouth, tongue forcing its way in as you tried to turn your head to the side, only to have his hand grab you by the chin and force it still. He pulled away before spitting into your open mouth, enjoying the look of disgust on your face despite the haze of orgasm still present in your eyes. 

“That’s a good look on you,” He replied as he pulled away to maneuver your body by placing his hands behind your knees and bringing them back towards your chest. It gave him perfect access to your pussy, his head rubbing against your folds as he groaned from the small amount of stimulus. “Gonna fuck you so good, princess.” He said, clearly not all present as his eyes rolled back when he rut his hips to grind his cock against you more. 

He let go of you long enough to guide himself into you, bullying his large cock into your tight hole. Another whine of protest left you as you tried to push him out, knowing it was of no use and instead urging him to thrust in deeper. “F-Fuck,” he breathed as he bottomed out, balls nestled against your ass as you found yourself wanting him to move.

Not just pull out and leave you alone, but move. Another intense wave of sickness came as you shifted your hips in an attempt to feel him rub against the spot his head was currently pressed against. Reo’s eyes snapped down to look at you, a faint look of surprise buried somewhere inside of them. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” 

“No!” You protested loudly, too loudly in fact. That same cruel smile curled on his lips, showing how obvious it was that you were lying. If only your body would listen to your heart, then maybe you wouldn’t be finding any sort of enjoyment in this. 

“Your mouth can lie all it wants, but the rest of your body says otherwise.” He replied as he gave a shallow thrust, one that left you whimpering as he bumped your sweet spot again. “That’s it right there, isn’t it?” He said as he repeated the motion of his hips, “I’m going to hit that over and over again until you’re screaming my name.” 

Your eyes narrowed into a glare, “I’ll never do that, asshole.” You spat as he pressed your legs into your chest even more to change the angle slightly at which he was entering. He was able to press in slightly deeper, just enough to kiss his cock against your cervix in a way that had your toes tingling. 

You bit your tongue, hoping it would snap you out of the fog that kept trying to overcome your mind. Giving in now would just prove his words right, wouldn’t it? Reo watched you, curious as a cat watching a mouse writhing beneath its paw. 

He pulled almost all the way out before slamming back in and you tasted blood from your teeth sinking into your tongue as a cry of surprise caught in your throat. Reo let out a chuckle, enjoying watching you struggle with yourself. He was actually more amused at your attempt to fight him and it urged him to go at an agonizingly slow pace that had you only wanting more. 

“Come on, pretty, say it.” He said as he began to move even slower. “Say you want my cock and I’ll move like you’re begging me to.” 

“I’m not begging,” You replied in a tone that was white hot with anger. “I’m not enjoying this you disgusting pervert.” 

None of your insults landed on him. He was enjoying the way you kept squeezing around him every time he spoke. You were soaked, his throbbing dick pulsating in the warm wetness that allowed him to glide in and out with ease. “Then why are you so. Fucking. Wet.” He emphasized each word with a sharp thrust. 

You all but keened, back arching and hips aching. This back and forth just wouldn’t do, your brother would come home and think you wanted this. You knew Reo would somehow twist this situation into him being the victim. Your once close bond with Seishiro had long evaporated with distance and the passage of time. Even if he did believe you, Reo made it clear that his attention could simply be bought back. 

Swallowing your pride and what little dignity you had left, you began to speak in a soft tone, “Reo, please?” You hoped he couldn’t hear you, hoped he would pretend you didn’t just give in. 

You had no such luck. “Little louder.” He commanded, stopping his movements altogether. 

A frustrated look passed across your face as you tried to squirm to feel something, anything. He had you trapped beneath his weight and what little movement you managed did nothing to quell the desire. “Reo please fuck me,” You groaned as he moved outward only to piston back in as a way of encouragement. “Please fuck me with your big cock, rich boy, I need it.” 

“That’s a good girl.” Reo cooed as he started moving at a steady pace. Your mind was once again swimming as your eyes rolled back from the fast movements of his hips. Even if you could pretend that you weren’t turned on by all this, the wet slapping sounds made it all too clear that you were gushing for the purpled-haired menace. His needy moan brought you even closer to the edge, as you tried to stop the knot in your stomach from reforming. 

Reo looked down, watching his cock disappear into your cunt over and over, amused by how well you were taking him. Your tiny whimpers and whines of his name fueled his ego as he picked up the pace while pressing his thumb to your clit, rubbing tight circles around it. 

Seconds later the knot was tightening rapidly before snapping completely. The orgasm was enough to knock the breath from your lungs as you cried out for your assailant and a new flood of cum coated Reo from the tip to the base of his penis. 

“Sh-Shit,” He muttered, reveling in the fluttering of your walls that had him fucking you madly as he chased his own orgasm. The pumps of his cock make you feel raw and overspent as he soon coated your insides with a spray of white seed. 

Reo was lost in his own mind he caught his breath. You finally relaxed beneath him, feeling slightly overstimulated from his last bought of aggressive thrusts. He slowly pulled out, admiring how you gaped from his length and globs of white spilled out. He kissed the inside of your leg before pulling away and quickly getting redressed as the heard the front door open. 

He turned his back, ready to eat now that he had finally satisfied his desires. “What are you doing?” You whispered to him, “untie me!” 

“I don’t think so.” He replied, voice calm despite the almost sadistic look on his face. “I’ll come back for you when I’m ready again.” 

“Ready for what?” You asked, dread once again spreading over you like a cold winter frost. “Reo you have to untie me!” 

“Until I’m ready to fuck you again, of course.” He said as he finished pulling his shirt over his head. “Try not to miss me too much, princess.” He added with a smirk before winking at your shocked face and walking out to greet Nagi in the kitchen.

A/N: I reworte parts of this three or four times so hopefully it came out okay. I wasn't very pleased with a few of the scene progressions but it is what it is. Blue Lock is now on my fandom requests lists! Link to request rules is on my pinned navigation <3

[sahonithereadwolf]

Can I tell you about the very queer game I made this Pride?

In A World That Hates and Fears You, Living Becomes an Act of Rebellion.

Exceptionals is a game inspired by X-Men about and for the spaces and communities marginalized peoples make for themselves. Play as a Geno, one of little less than 0.5% percent of the population that has gone through a mysterious process called Claremont-Simonson mutation, as you try to navigate a world that won’t make room for you. Exceptionals is a game about what the mutant metaphor means to you and the different lenses through which we view it. Punch back and build something of worth together in this narrative tag-driven tabletop role playing game. 🧬Features Open-Ended Character Creation🧬 Mix and Match between (23) open-ended but guided protocols. Answer questions to create high concept and unique super powered characters where the only real limit is your imagination. Get invested in who you make as a whole person, and not just a set of powers. Build a Community 🧬Create a living and dynamic community space full of colorful characters. 🧬 Grow your base as an anchor for other geno and help fill it with the resources they and you need. Understand how your actions effect others and gain trust through the bonds mechanic. It’s a game where you get stronger by growing your community and heal by being part of it.

🧬Comic Book Storytelling 🧬 Play as a creative team of writers and editors working to tell the best version of the story you can over time and storyline-based experience to model changes of the status quo and creative direction. Enjoy panel based action pacing and the ability of characters of all power levels to coexist and carry the same amount of story weight.

🧬Not Pain Tourism 🧬 While Exceptionals offers a number of places to push back, we understand and recognize that the most important part of a punching bag is that you choose to hit it, even if it’s not at all. We recognize not everyone gets to set the issues that the mutant metaphor is used to talk about down when they leave the table and offer many ways to tell stories outside of a lens defined by pain. We also put an emphasis and mechanical weight on the importance of joy and celebration. 📚You can buy the Core Book here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals 📚You can buy the Expansions here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals-expansion-bundle 📚You can buy the bundle with everything here:📚 https://bramblewolfgames.itch.io/exceptionals-expansion-bundle I didn’t go out with the intent of making this a very queer game. Not explicitly. I started making games because  I got frustrated waiting to feel seen or acknowledged. Another game got me mad about using my peoples stories to be transphobic, to be racist, to be ableist. Nevermind my people have more than two genders traditionally and faced a genocide. That was too much for me. I said this was enough and the quite indignities I suffered to feel included wasn’t worth it. I could do better myself.  So I set out to make a superhero game. I hated just about every comic book game on the market. It never seemed to capture what I did like about big hero comics with high concept storytelling and powers and couldn’t care less on a mechanical or narrative level about who this person was outside the mask. More focused on bashing action figures together and golden age pastiche that doesn’t really reflect the decades of character and genre developments that have happened since then. I later found games that do it better, but I was dissatisfied... I chose x-men for the homies. I’ve always been an x-men fan. A lot of people my age were. My first action figure was one of rogue I got at a garage sale, where she then went on to fight many a play-dough monster. But for many of us it was the first place we were allowed to be heroes. There are no natives on the 90′s x-men team. But I had uncles and older kids all too eager to tell me about Forge and Warpath (I hate that name) and my favorite Dani Moonstar (I ain’t the biggest fan of that name either, but she’s the closest thing mainstream hero comics have to a good NDN).

After that, things just kinda flowed from there. The X-men have such a focus on community. It’s “comics greatest soap opera”. It can be messy, complicated, beautiful and life-affirming all at the same time. They take the time to play basketball, go to the mall, and have birthday parties as they grow. Two of my favorite x-men comics aren’t about fighting at all. One is framed around a sleepover some students have, and another is about a wedding and framed around everyone filming their part of the wedding tape.

So I started thinking about the communities I’ve been a part of. A big core of the game is informed by my time and the people I met in these sort of spaces. As a native, as a queer person, as a disabled person I’ve been both someone who needed them and someone who gave back.

Which suited x-men just fine. X-men has cared about that sort of thing from about X-men #3 with the first appearance of The Blob, establishing it’s tone of sympathy and mutants as a minority analog.

I just kept going and I didn’t stop. And apparently I did a good job. Someone out there has been using my game as game-therapy and community outreach in a gender health center out in California. I got a lot of kind words for the game too (which is good, because I spent 3 years on it).

KUDOS

-As featured on; io9/Gizmodo, Kotaku, Listen to Theses Nerds, Team-Up Moves, Yes Indie'd Pod, Team-Up Moves, and The Voice of Dog -#1 Best Seller and Popular on Itch.io in both Analog & RPG Games, Sept 2021

Listen to the Team-Up Moves AP Here!: https://teamupmoves.com/runs/exceptionals "Exceptionals is a beautiful, brilliantly designed superhero RPG. It's truly a masterpiece, and if you haven't checked it out, do yourself a favor." -@PartyOfOnePod

"This thing COOKS, Sahoni doesn't just tap into the queer/minority readings of mutants, but also ties in the weirdness that really gets my mind racing when it comes to X books." -@froondingloom 

"A refreshingly different game, that strikes a good balance between unlimited player freedom and solid guiding handrails. Really gets at the full potential of what the ;mutant outcast heroes' genre should be about: found family, building communities, and lives lived to the fullest despite being lived in defiance." -@guywhowrotethis 

"The whole game oozes love for its inspiration while also going further than they dared...." -@Phoenix24Femme

"Astonishing! Uncanny! All-New! And all other X-Adjectives available. This book gets why one would want to play the Mutant Metaphor in an RPG. It cleverly weaves the power fantasy of powerful individuals with the drive to do good for one's community. It's well-researched, well-written and, well, so much fun to play! This is the superpowered game I've been wanting for a long, long time. I can't wait to tell an Exceptional story of my own!" -@Kokiteno Team-up moves even made a recommended comic reading list. It has some of the best x-men has to offer and then some. It even includes that  New Mutants comic with the sleepover. They read me for filth and I love it.

I hope you play my game too. I hope you like it. I hope you tell queer stories and build community around you. I hope it’s messy, complicated, beautiful and life-affirming all at the same time. Thank you for reading this. Please reblog if you can as well as share it with x-men and rpg fans in your life.

[nalyra-dreaming]

I’m a long- time reader of the VC - read the first 4 books in 1994 at the ripe old age of 12 and then eagerly kept up after that. I did the message boards thing and the live journal thing as a teen and young adult. I’ve been in this fandom a long time, and it’s interesting to see how show-only viewers see things.

One thing I’ve enjoyed with the show are the little ripple effects of the changes they’ve made to the time period, and to some of the characters races, ages, and origins. For the most part I’m in love with how these changes enrich and expand the story, lending new thematic weight to different aspects of the story.

I am having trouble processing the implications of one change, though, and wonder at your thoughts. One impact of changing Claudia’s age and origins is that her death no longer truly feels inevitable or necessary. Claudia of the books is trapped in a five year old’s body with a five year old’s cognitive development. No matter how long she lives or what that changes within her, she can never be free and independent. I think the core tragedy of Claudia is this inevitability. She must die. Lestat and Louis fail her by extending her life and rendering her into this unnatural, helpless creature of unquenchable appetites. Her death is tragic but also a mercy. It makes sense when you consider the loss Claudia’s character was born from. I think Anne wrote her the way she did as a way of letting go of her daughter. She wrote a story where eternal life as a child was a misery to be released from. Claudia’s end is tragic but also merciful. I have a five year old son; I would not want such endless suffering for him.

But Claudia in the show absolutely can survive and find fulfillment and meaning. We see that with the glimpses of her short life with Madeline. Even if they eventually parted ways, she could absolutely continue on. The audience feels this even more acutely because both Bailey and Delaney look like grown women. It’s hard to suspend disbelief enough to see them as young enough to be doomed. This fundamentally changes what Claudia’s story means. It ripples onto all the other characters as well. The way we read them and their arcs and involvement is deeply impacted by the implications that Claudia didn’t have to die. It changes the nature of the tragedy, and though I think her character has provided interesting insights into womanhood and growing up, I don’t know that this thematic change benefits the overall story. Still processing it, but feeling rather divided. And I can feel the new, show-only fan discourse barreling towards us like a boulder speeding down a hill.

Hmmm. So I get what you mean (also high-fives you, I'm a handful of years ahead but also went through all the "old fandom" stuff.)

Claudia's tragedy ... is changed, true. But she is still failed. By everyone who was supposed to take care of her. Her mother died, her father failed her, her auntie, too. Her "adopted" fathers failed her, too, though not really for lack of trying, but for the simple reason that they used her - they wanted her as something to bind them together, and she simply could not be that. The other vampires fail her, both in malicious and also pitiful ways. Armand - as the leader of the Parisian coven - should have protected her, after she joined.

They all fail her. Because Louis and Lestat, and Armand (and Santiago and the coven)... use her.

And I feel that the tragedy of her life is made all the clearer here, because she never stood a chance.

She found her "x", she found a way out, on her own devices, despite everything.

But she is pulled back, and used again, for a mock trial, a mock purpose. (Another parallel to Lestat here, who is also used throughout the chronicles.)

I would not want book!Claudia's fate for my child either. I can understand why Anne had to change the original book fate (which was her getting away!) to the one we have now. I get it.

But the show added more possibility to Claudia's fate. More... opportunity. In theory.

But she was never able to really take that opportunity, because she was locked into her existence by them. Not only into a teenage body, but also into the vampiric existence.

As soon as she gets away... there are machinations to pull her back. Literally in s1. More subtle in s2.

She cannot get away... because others use her - again.

Personally, I find that even more bitter.

[violent-darkness]

It's time for my random thoughts regarding season 4 in no particular order:

The ending made me sad. It looks like the bad guys are winning. The Boys are separated and captured for the most part. And on top of that we have to wait at least two years for the last season. So it's two years with the knowledge that they are in a bad situation. At least everyone is alive (so far).

As I already mentioned this was the season of suffering for me. Every single character went through hell. This makes me all the more happy for Frenchie and Kimiko's story. I was desperate and confused about them the whole time. I have always envisioned their story as involving romance. I was wondering throughout the whole season what is going on. So when they kissed in the final episode I was overwhelmed with joy.

Another positive moment is Kimiko finally speaking (albeit only one word). I was waiting on this moment to happen for so long that when it actually happened I almost didn't register it, lol.

Contrary to what some people seem to think I don't see Butcher as having turned into a villain or on a path of no redemption. I mean it was always his agenda to end all supes and he has always hated them all. Let's not forget that Hughie ended Translucent after all. He didn't kill anybody else in that scene besides Victoria. Not even her daughter and he was totally capable to do so. And let's be honest Victoria wasn't exactly innocent – she executed the attack at the congressional hearing among other things.

Hughie really suffered this season. I as many others am also not particularly happy about how they portrayed the sexual abuse against him, although not entirely outraged tbh. The finger in the butt stuff was absolutely tmi for me and now I can't stop thinking about it every time I see his character on screen, lol. Everybody has some preferences I guess and I am the last person to judge, just look at the fics I enjoy.

I may be a bad person but I am so happy that Grace Mallory is dead. She totally deserved it. She has been annoying me almost since the beginning, but s3 and s4 were the peak of it. Ryan had every right to defend himself.

I am curious to see what will happen with Ashley. They kinda left us on a cliffhanger there.  

I have never been a huge Starlight fan. She has always been a bit annoying to me (sorry). But her story got a tad bit more interesting this season. Turns out she is not such a saint after all.

So yeah I am curious how Butcher's story will develop. It's almost certain death for him, but there may be also some attempt of a redemption arc, I don't know. Perhaps something to do with Ryan and a scene between the two of them and an internal fight to reject Kessler. We'll see.

[greenqueenhightower]

Anon back again with more rumours/leaks from twitter to make (un)substantiated claims🫡

Okay so one of the people that went to the premiere in NYC was answering some questions also in regards to Alicent. They said it is implied that the first sex scene we see between Alicole is not the first time they have sex, but they made clear that the implication don't seem to be that it was something that happened pre-Viserys death. Which would put their relationship starting after 1x09 and before 2x01. That would make sense to me.

This also lines up with some other leaks I heard where they said Alicent and Criston's first scene of the season was a sex scene, so it is more an established thing that is happening. The same previously mentioned leaker replied in regards to Alicent's character that mainly she seems confused, which we know as she is looking for a sense of self.

Some people theorized that the large number of sex scenes (3 rumoured for first two eps) and the fact that Alicent's story seems to start there in s2 (also Olivia mentioning sexuality as something that is explored) could be written as hypersexuality as a response to her trauma manifesting after Viserys' death. Others theorized that it could be comphet and her figuring out sexuality in a place that is so deeply repressed. It could also simply be that she is having sex because she wants to (good for her) and then because it happens during B&C that the guilt of that is so great she simply represses it all again and the relationship falls apart after that. In any case I can see various routes in which this could be explored in a way that makes sense for Alicent's character.

Now for Criston's character: we saw some leaks and early reviews (watched either ep 1 and 2 or 1 through 4) saying that he gets more "bitter" as the season progresses and would become "the most hated character on tv". Now I take the second one with a grain of salt because people tend to dislike him way more than for example dae/mon who is uhm worse idk. But the common conception seems to be that he gets worse as the season goes on. So seeing as ep 1 starts with Alicole together and then B&C happens at the end of ep 1 start of ep 2, it seems like they skip the getting together stage and instead show the falling apart of this relationship. This would make sense if they are paralleling rhaenicent (as Ryan said) because at the same time dae/myra also seems to be slowly breaking apart.

For now to me it seems this relationship is mainly to show Alicent's headspace she is in of being confused and feeling purposeless. An Alicole rift after B&C as a result of this would make sense and would leave Alicent even more alone (save my girlie). We'll have to wait and see. Also glad you like my thoughts I'm just spitballing here and honestly need the episodes immediately.

Thanks, anon, for keeping me updated! 💚

Okay, actually the idea that Alicent and Criston consummate their relationship some time after Viserys' death and before the Dance of the Dragons sounds good to me. Again, I would have liked to have seen the entire pathway of their relationship that culminated in that, but hey--as long as it is well-written I won't mind.

Your comment about hypersexuality manifesting itself as Alicent's post-traumatic response to her marriage is very interesting! I also see it as a manifestation of agency in the sense that she no longer has to be summoned to perform a sexual act upon request, but she can seek it and want it herself. It most definitely can be comphet too, because she is not as free as per Westerosi patriarchal and heteronormative standards to contemplate and realize any relationship apart from the norm.

When it comes to Criston's character development in S2, your theory that the writers might have Alicole parallel Daemyra to showcase how the Dance has devastated all kinds of relationships: familial, conjugal, erotic, etc., is quite plausible. Watching Alicent and Criston's relationship suffer to the point of breaking would be heart-wrenching but angsty and spellbinding at the same time. I just wish we get to see more of them together before that happens.

And as for Alicent's battle with guilt and her quest for agency and self-worth, I am all for it as long as the show does not victimize and wh!rify Alicent. I assume that Alicloe will break up after B&C, but will at some point get together again (maybe after Aegon is injured at Rook's Rest?). And for all the time they are apart, I hope we see more of just Alicent crying and being miserable and Criston being ruthless in war and battle.

[naeldeus]

jjk 251

Megumi is a background character to his own tragedy

Chapter 251 dropped, and a certain character is not coming out unscathed. Our cast is trying to seperate Sukuna and Megumi, and after a few tries, Yuuji finally reaches Megumi. But Megumi denies Yuuji's help, having lost the will to live, allowing Sukuna to launch a counter-attack once more. For this, Megumi is called a bum and slandered all over the internet. Yuuji and Megumi's suffering is pitted against each other by the fandom. Part of it is memes, sure, but it's clearly more than that.

Realistically, Megumi and Yuuji are going through very similar events. Megumi lost his sister and teacher while under Sukuna's possession. Yuuji lost his friend, his mentor right in front of him in the span of minutes. Sukuna killed an untold amount of people in their bodies. Both went fetal after it happened. So why is the response so contrasting?

Yuuji's trauma in Shibuya is front, right, and center. His relationships were developed on-page, the reader is just as shocked by the loss of his loved ones, we're grieving right along with him.

Meanwhile, the events Megumi goes through aren't given the same care. Ever since he got fed the Finger Special, at no point does the narrative slow down so the reader can digest what's happening. Megumi's plot and struggles gets glossed over, skipped, or is a complete tonal disconnect to what's actually happening.

Tsumiki wakes up: the only on-page interaction is Megumi telling Tsumiki to go back to sleep, even though she woke up from a nearly two-year coma. She doesn't show up the entire Culling Games arc even though Megumi's participation was to save his sister

Tsumiki turns out to be an incarnated sorcerer: Megumi's reaction to his sister being dead and possessed is practically non-existent because Sukuna takes over Megumi right after

Tsumiki gets killed by Megumi's own technique: This is the worst one, imho. Yorozu is completely in control during this fight, we learn nothing about Tsumiki. There is almost no acknowledgment on how horrifying this situation really is. The narrative focuses more on Sukuna trying to kill Yorozu, creating this disconnect where Tsumiki is seemingly already dead but she has to die again for Megumi's angst. Does it really matter that Tsumiki's body needs to be killed by the 10 Shadows? Isn't the fact that Megumi will forever remember her dying by his own hand not enough? There is accidental pseudo-incest in this arc and it's completely unacknowledged. The tone is just all over the place.

Megumi takes the damage of 5 Domain Expansions: Is he brain dead? Was his soul damaged? Is he fine? What are birds? We just don't know

Gojo, Megumi's guardian, gets killed while possessed: Megumi and Gojo's relationship is a hotly debated topic amongst fans. Is Gojo Megumi's father figure? Are they even close? Did Gojo hold back from trying to kill Megumi or did he think Megumi was a lost cause? Is Megumi even aware of what's going on?

And the ultimate kicker to all of this: Megumi has shown up for a handful of panels for most of the events described. His story is absolutely horrifying and would cripple any man, but it's all off-screened or shrouded in vagueness.

But to large parts of the fandom none of that matters. If Megumi's friends put aside all their pain, why can't Megumi? Setting aside that Yuuji very definitely did not when it was him, I believe this is a direct consequence of the lack of character work. For months now, character after character dies, and no one reacts to it. Gojo, the biggest hope to most of the current cast, died and the story moves on to the next contender in the same chapter he kicks it. They all just jump into the fight like they're swapping party members in an RPG. It's no wonder Megumi gets disrespected for being the one guy who breaks down to the shit he goes through like a real human being. Why should the fandom care when the story itself does the same thing?

There's a lot of parellels Gege could have drawn between Yuuji and Megumi, and while that might still happen, the way Megumi has been treated as a plot device makes the entire experience incredibly unsatisfying.

[azure7539arts]

Re: being blind and in the dark—a side-by-side look at TtEotM and Black Moonlight

I have a whole draft about this but it's so long, and idk if i should post it, so here's the gist:

The fact that the show shifted the narrative of person-trapped-in-the-dark from Li Susu/Ye Xiwu to Tantai Jin is very important to me. (The show and the novel are companion pieces, you can't convince me otherwise.)

In the novel, Li Susu went blind and partially deaf because of the curse from the Qingshi Flower. Basically under house arrest in the Cold Palace with no human contact for an extended period in such a state, Li Susu was left deeply traumatized because freedom and the ability to see are both very important to her and her quality of life. The trauma carried over after she'd left Ye Xiwu's body, which culminated into a scene where she had to go into a dark cave in search of something and ended up having a panic attack due to the subsequent onslaught of bad memories. Tantai Jin, shaking with realization that Susu had developed a fear of darkness because of what had happened in the past, rushed in to her aid, and upon finding Susu, he dug through his belongings to find the most reliable source of light he had on hand before helping her out of the cave. Once out, she had an epiphany about confronting the traumas of one's past in order to move on and become a stronger person for it, then she immediately retreated from Tantai Jin, leaving his side to finish what she set out to do.

A lot can be said about this character development on Susu's part, but what I find most compelling is how the show took this and asked, in return: what of Tantai Jin?

In the show, Susu never developed a fear of the dark. There's a couple of reasons for this: one, she never went completely blind and was still able to see a little of the approaching thunder right to the end of her life as Ye Xiwu; two, she was less concerned about her own freedom and sight, and was more dead-set on attempting at righting the wrongs that had transpired between her and Tantai Jin—in doing so giving him another chance at life. Li Susu in the show is a little more mature than in the novel, and she possessed more self-reflection in all the things that she went through as Ye Xiwu with Tantai Jin, which contributed greatly to their developing relationship at the time as well as her own perception of him. Bo're Fusheng Arc, therefore, became a cornerstone of even greater importance in the show than in the novel, imo, because through Sang Jiu's story, Li Susu saw what kind of enduring suffering and hopelessness would push someone to the brink and down into the precipice. This was where she learnt that she didn't necessarily have to agree with someone's actions to have compassion for them, which is an amazing lead into her eventual argument with Tantai Jin after their wedding where he told her that he'd been lost in the dark for the 20 years of his existence, stumbling through that void like a blind man until he'd thought that he'd finally found his one light in life—her.

This is a direct parallel of what was depicted in the novel. A great reversal of a question to illustrate Tantai Jin's pains, even if his experiences didn't justify the viciousness of his retaliations, and how they had both pushed themselves into this corner: their inability to see beyond the frames of references they had operated on throughout their entire lives. She was unable to see past her prejudice against him, and he also was unable to see past the perceived betrayal from her, and in their blindness, they ended up torturing each other until there was barely anything left to salvage. The moment Susu, in the show, realized what had actually happened in regards to the poisoned congee and the death of Ye Xiwu's grandmother, all the previous set-ups from the showrunners were paid back in full: if she had ever had any misgivings about her initial assumptions of this, living through Sang Jiu's life with all of its trials and tribulations left no shadow of doubt in her heart that everyone had a breaking point no matter how resilient they seemed. A series of unfortunate tragedies had been enough to turn a once optimistic, naive, and softhearted princess (who had a great, if not spoiled, upbringing) into a cold-blooded murderer, then what of Tantai Jin? Tantai Jin who had never had anything in his life?

After all, "to become a god or a devil. It all lies in one single thought."

There was no taking back everything that they had done to one another, but "some people in darkness do not deserve light" had been the cruelest thing she could have told him, and Li Susu knew this. That was why she used whatever was left of her life at the time to exchange a new existence for him—to once and for all be that light in the dark that she had previously, continually denied him time and time again. So he could hopefully see a way out somehow, even after she'd gone, and do whatever he could to begin again.

(sighs.)

Truly convinced the novel and show are each other's companion and should be both read and watched for a full experience.

[ceriseisland]

Can you talk about what exactly blue’s (f) arc was in FRLG?

I have two thoughts on her "arc" in frlg: that it's conceptually interesting and that she also suffered from a nonsensical personality change

FRLG opens with Silver stating that Green has recovered from her trauma with the help of her friends. This is the logical next step to take her development after GSC, but Kusaka decided to essentially remove her personality to show that she's grown as a person. Like, her personality was formed from trauma so we're just taking the whole thing away to show that she isn't traumatized anymore, which isn't how people work. This is similar to how Yellow's bravado and denseness has been slowly replaced by softness and shyness ever since she was revealed to be a girl. It doesn't feel like a logical progression like other dexholders have, but instead she just feels like a new version of the same character

Some things about Green in FRLG are completely different. Why does Red say he doesn't want to involve her in the fight? The arc acts like her parents disappearing in front of her is the most traumatic thing instead of, like, just another traumatic event on the list of shit she's been dealing with since she was five. Her response doesn't make sense when we know that her cheeky personality is a response to growing up having to take care of herself, so completely dropping that especially in the face of stress feels weird. I assume she would revert to her old coping mechanisms under stress, but instead she's more open and vulnerable than we've ever seen her despite the rawness of the situation (compare that to how Ruby keeps reverting to his bad coping mechanisms despite his efforts to change). And Red has seen her overcome her fear of birds by capturing the legendary bird trio and showing up to fight with them, so wanting to keep her out of the fight doesn't make sense either. And why does professor oak insist that she's the most sensible kanto dexholder? The girl he publicly humiliated for stealing? She's definitley not more level headed than them enough to justify only giving her vital information. It really does feel like her personality was yanked out and replaced with Generic Girl personality. It doesn't feel like a realistic next step for her development as a person

On the other hand, her "arc" fits really well into the theme of FRLG (though some of it is just speculation). FRLG is a story about these one dimensional characters in a simple shonen universe growing up and realizing that the world is more complicated than they thought, and suffering because they dont realize it at first. For Green, she starts out in new clothes sitting pretty and proper under an umbrella, waiting for her parents to arrive and everything wrong with her childhood to be righted. But since this is FRLG, it isn't that simple, and her parents get abducted by Deoxys. Then later on we get this exchange

where she admits to her parents that she's changed because of what she went through and she can't go home just yet. It seems to me like Green thought she could make everything go back to the way it was before she was kidnapped. That's why the first full shot we get of her is this

where she's sitting all ladylike waiting for them, and she definitely isn't a ladylike person. I think there's some delusion there about a simple world, like other dexholders in this arc, where she thinks if she just acts like the child her parents lost, they'll go back to being the family they were when she was little. But she changed because she was kidnapped, and it's impossible to go back to who she was before all the bad things happened. I think that's what Kusaka was getting at with her here, that just like with Silver the ending is tragic and bittersweet. It feeds really well into the theme of FRLG, even if it isn't focused on much

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group J Round 3: #J4 vs #J7

#J4: Kids conquering dungeons to change the world

#J7: Lecherous young man gets engaged to an alien princess

Details and poll under the cut!

#J4: Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic

Summary:

A Magi is a magician whose inclination toward magic is so immense that they can be said to shape the world. With their significant influence, each Magi chooses a worthy candidate to become a king, then helps them conquer strange labyrinths called "Dungeons" and acquire the power of mythical djinns within. Above all else, the Magi supervises their elected representative as they build a country that might one day bring the world to its knees.

Aladdin is a young Magi wandering the world in search of his true self. However, his journey is not a lonely one, as he is accompanied by his friend and mentor Ugo—a djinn he summons using his flute. On his travels, Aladdin also befriends Alibaba Saluja and guides him to a nearby Dungeon. With this newfound friendship, they begin an epic adventure across the world, witnessing various irregularities that seem more frequent than ever.

Propaganda 1:

Imagine characters from Arabian Nights/1001 Nights coming to life in an anime. Even though it is loosely inspired off of the tales, it is a unique time and place from most anime settings. It has action, humor, and deep concepts. One of my favorite parts about Magi is how well-developed the background characters are.

Propaganda 2:

This anime has a lot of philosophical takes on what fate is. Basically, is everything that happened to you caused by a force you can’t control or is it what you make of it? Is there something or rather someone pulling the strings on what should or shouldn’t be? Is the person you are because you were lucky or unlucky to be born in the wealthy family or not? Why are things the way they are? Why was I dealt with a shitty hand in life? Is it because I’ll never amount to anything, or is something doing this to me? Why are we here just to suffer kind of deal, but you know not the meme version, the really sad and real version. Then you have the side of the people who may have not had the best life, but found a way out of it. Why do some people get to feel the light when you went through the same thing, but still lost and in the dark?

Trigger Warnings: Partial nudity and slavery. One of the mains is a slave in the beginning, but the other two mains help free her from that.

#J7: Urusei Yatsura (2022)

Summary:

When aliens known as the Oni threaten to invade the Earth, they promise to leave under one condition—a randomly-chosen human must win a one-on-one game of tag against Lum, the beautiful daughter of the Oni leader. The “lucky” person selected happens to be the lustful and unlucky high-schooler Ataru Moroboshi. Given 10 days to attempt to grab Lum’s horns, Ataru realizes how impossible the challenge is as he is faced with Lum’s extraterrestrial powers.

Motivated by a promise of marriage from his childhood friend Shinobu Miyake, Ataru manages to catch Lum off guard. He mistakenly grabs hold of her bikini top first, but he eventually achieves his true goal. Although the game is over, Lum misunderstands that she is the one whom Ataru wants to marry, and she decides to move in with him. The poor student constantly tries to shake off the clingy Lum while doing his best to reconcile with his desired fiancée. After Ataru's heroic feat results in such a disastrous outcome, it is questionable whether luck will ever be on his side.

Propaganda:

This anime is actually a reboot; the original came out in the 80s. It honestly does the manga justice compared to the 80s anime. I absolutely love the animation, it really does stick to Rumiko Takahashi’s art style. Though the pacing is a bit different, overall it stays true to its manga counterpart. (It’s honestly too bad the series isn’t very popular in the west, it’s a great comedy/harem type show. And the thing is, it’s not your traditional harem where “the basic guy gets all the girls” which makes the show so much more enjoyable.) Everything about this show really captures the essence of the series. It’s able to be funny while still having its more serious moments. I just really love Urusei Yatsura, it’s so good.

Trigger Warnings: The art style is very colorful and could cause eyestrain

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

[icey--stars]

Stories To Be Told: PART 10

Series Index

A shadowsinger, a warrior, an Illyrian, that's what she was. Trained by one of the most formidable female warriors. Escaped the Illyrian camps and her clipping when she was barely sixteen and is now the holder of 6 siphons. What happens when she tries to sneak into the City of Starlight? And starts down a whole new road of chaos?

A/N: and WELCOME BACK! thank you all so much for your support. it truly means the world to me!! and remember- its every other day posting now, besides weekends because thats my break days lol

ps. i am way to lazy to write the entire time y/n was at her brother's and mother's place. so just imagine a lot of sucking up and pissing y/n off. (in other words, i dont need more characters to show development with lol) AH i can't wait to make you all suffer in anguish and wait after wednesday's post.

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

I was buzzing with anger as I flew back to the House. My mother and brother had tried so, so hard to get me to like them. They just made me hate them more by how desperate they were. Extra food, tours (which I blatantly refused) and all sorts of things. Gifts from my mother in the form of dresses. Knives from my brother. I hated it. I absolutely hated it. There wasn’t any escape either, unless I wanted to winnow away. I wasn’t willing to brave going into the camp. I stayed where I was, or I snuck into the forest for an hour to cool my anger down.

I flew through the better part of the day, rain starting to come down from midday. I ignored it, pushing through the wind and storm.

I landed on the balcony, soaking wet. I stalked inside, taking off my boots before I went into my room and set them by the window to dry. My leathers soon joining them.

I had just changed into a dryer set of clothes when a knock on my door made me flinch.

“Who is it?” I called.

“Azriel,” the male replied from behind the door.

I sighed, still feeling as if I was running on pure spite and then shook off my wings before opening the door.

“Yes?” I prompted, leaning against the doorway.

“How did your trip go?” He asked.

“It was fine,” I replied.

“Where’d you go if you don’t mind me being curious?”

“Illyria.” I looked back over my room for a moment, seeing if it was clean enough to open. I was startled to find my shadows curling over me still. They’d been silent mostly, for the entire flight and visit. I opened the door, pulling my shadows in to disappear.

“I went to visit people who aren’t my family anymore. Nothing big,” I said.

“You have… family?”

“Not really,” I sighed, opening the door to work on scrubbing my leathers dry and cleaning them. “They’re quite manipulative in my experience.”

“Ah,” Azriel sighed. “I can get that.” He didn't elaborate, and I didn't need him to.

“Did you need anything, or did you just want to know why I was gone?” I asked.

“Well, I was confused why you were gone, but I figured if you arrived during this storm, you’d like a couple clean towels.” He pulled a small pile of towels from behind his back.

I eyed them suspiciously before taking them and setting them on the bed. “Thank you, I suppose.”

Azriel stood there awkwardly for a few more minutes before he finally said, “I’ll see you later.”

As he walked off, I took one of the towels and used it to dry off my head and neck that was still dripping water, looking out the window at the moon and the stars beyond it.

Luckily, I didn’t get sick from my fly through the rain. I managed to dodge that bullet.

-----

“Y/N!” Nesta greeted me as I landed near them for training the next morning. “How have you been?”

“Fine,” I replied. 

“Where’d you go, if you don’t mind me asking?” Emerie questioned.

“Illyria. My… old family asked for my presence. I’m not going back,” I replied hesitantly.

“Good. They don’t need to be in your life,” Emerie said. I nodded in agreement.

“Alright! Come on ladies!” Cassian called. “Glad to have you back Y/N, hope you’ve been practicing for the past week.”

I rolled my eyes.

The training was hard, but it also was a relief to be back, doing what I’d been doing the past months. Spring was nearing and the air was getting warmer, which was nice. Around this time I would settle myself in the middle of the forest instead of near a town to buy food. Spring was when all the critters started to come out.

During lunch, Nesta said, “so, does anyone have any plans for Starfall or are we all going to stare at the sky like last year?”

Starfall. The most beautiful night of the year. I remember watching it at the camps and missing it dearly in the Winter Court. I’d been watching it hanging onto the tops of trees recently, but I’d heard that the best place to view it was in Velaris. 

“How about you Y/N?”

I realized I’d zoned out the conversation and shook my head to clear it. “I’ve no plans. I’ll enjoy seeing it from here though.”

Emerie smiled. “It’s beautiful. Do you plan to wear anything nice?”

I pursed my lips. “Not a dress,” I replied. “I’ll probably find something a bit different though so I don’t stand out.”

“Cassian always ends up wearing just a nice black dress shirt, so you could get away with that,” Nesta offered.

“It is hard to find dresses that work for wings, so I get that,” Emerie chuckled. “Everything tends to be harder to get on. I might be able to help if you need it."

I nodded in agreement. “I’ve never been the type to wear dresses. Never have actually. I wore a skirt in the Winter Court once, but it wasn’t to my liking, just too limiting on movement. And I might just take you up on that offer Emerie."

“Makes sense,” Nesta replied. “Though if you ever want to try, let me know because I am so going to be there.”

I chuckled. “Will do Nesta.” I finished up my food, standing up. “Alright I have work, see you all tomorrow.”

They waved me off as I walked off down the hallways.

Azriel met me on the balcony and I almost groaned. What did he want now? At this point, all he did was worry over me. Or act all awkward and weird. I prepared myself for a snarling match.

“Y/N, Rhys would like to have a word with you after work. Just at the River House by the Sidra,” Azriel said.

I eyed him a little big longer before replying, “Alright, I’ll make sure to meet with him. Anything I should prepare?”

“He didn’t tell me anything.”

I sighed, a little disappointed about not knowing what to expect. “Alright then. Anything else?”

Azriel shook his head. “Don’t end up in the harbor again,” he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes before flying off toward the docks.

I wasn’t tasked to use my wings luckily. It’d become a habit of my boss to exploit them. Instead, I lifted boxes and carried them onto ships just like the rest of the dock employees.

I managed to find the River House without fail, landing outside as I passed through the wards. The House of Wind had wards, I knew, but I’d gotten used to them. These were… different. Stronger somehow and more reinforced.

I knocked on the door and it opened to reveal my High Lord.

“Ah, Y/N. Great to see you. I had a couple things to discuss with you if you’ll come with me?” Rhysand asked.

I nodded, and he held the door while I walked inside and then led me through the halls to a smaller room. An office. It had papers scattered everywhere, while some remained neatly stacked. Others were ripped. But there was ink on the desk and a bookshelf, which made it less intimidating in a way.

A stool magically appeared at a snap and as Rhys took the one at his desk, I took the stool, facing him. My wing twitched with nervous energy. What was he going to ask?

“So,” he began. “I’ve heard from your brother that you visited him recently, yes? And your mother.”

“Not really my family, but yes. That’s where I left to visit. Faxon and Merle.���

Rhysand nodded. “Alright. It seems that Faxon, the head guard there, has made a mistake. He mentioned you to the lord there, Ambroz.”

I shivered at the name, holding back a snarl. Oh, for so long I’d wanted to tear that male apart. The one who tried to clip me. The one who ruined everything. My plan, my life, my memories, my mind, and so many other little parts of me.

“I understand you have some not so pleasant memories with him, but he’s offered to apologize to you, wanting you to visit. I want to know if I should be concerned for your safety.”

My leg started to bounce and I held it down with my hand. 

“Ambroz isn’t the type to apologize. He’s the type to act irrationally. I barely knew him during my time in Ironcrest, but you learn a lot about a male who ruined your entire life. You don’t have to be concerned about me, but perhaps just a bit concerned for how things may fall out if I don’t visit. If I do, which I can, it probably will end in bloodshed on both parties.”

“I see. I don’t have a particular liking for that male. And because he hasn’t committed any outright crimes, I can’t condemn him. No matter how much I want to. I was wondering if perhaps you’d be willing to visit and find a way to… make him come clean about something or commit a crime. He’s causing problems all across Illyria. I’d rather like to kill him if I could. Clipping would warrant that.”

“If anyone is going to kill him, I’m doing it. Or any female in that camp that I knew,” I said, holding back the growl in my voice.

I paused, and then observed, “So you want me to manipulate him into coming clean.”

“Should you want the killing blow, it’s yours. And yes. I do,” Rhysand spoke. “I’ve been trying to have Azriel do it, but Ambroz doesn’t particularly think he can manipulate Az. He does, however, with you.”

I closed my eyes for a moment, my knee bouncing against my hand, even despite the strength I put forth to keep it down- “I’ll do it,” I said loud enough for him to hear. “If only to get the opportunity to kill him.”

Rhysand nodded in understanding. “Faxon offered housing. Though I have an inkling you don’t exactly want it, so I’m offering for you to stay two hours north, in Windhaven. My mother’s old residence is there.”

I nodded. “That would be great, but I don’t really know where that is exactly.”

“That’s why I’m sending Azriel with you. He will stay out of your way, but act as some sort of body guard, while doing extra work for me,” Rhysand explained. “That isn’t an issue, is it?”

I tensed but replied, “not an issue my lord.”

That bastard had lied about knowing nothing. He knew.

“It’s just Rhys, but I’m glad you find that agreeable. How soon do you think you could leave?”

“Anytime,” I replied. “Just give me tomorrow morning and I can leave whenever.”

Rhysand smiled. “Leave tomorrow then. The sooner you finish, the sooner it’s done. Azriel has a mental link with me he can use to tell me when to come down. That will be when Ambroz finally fucks up.”

I dipped my head. “Sounds good.”

I flew out of that house feeling rage boiling my blood slightly. “You knew,” I deadpanned at Azriel, who was standing on the balcony, quietly observing the city below us.

“Yes,” he sighed.

“You lied,” I observed, seeing if he was going to argue.

“Yes, I did. It was Rhys’s job to inform you of the mission. Did you accept?”

“Yes, we leave tomorrow.”

Azriel nodded. “We’re traveling by shadow to Windhaven. You can get out your nerves during the flight to Ironcrest. To send a message like daemati, tell a shadow a message to repeat to me. Only we can hear it.”

Azriel was in full spymaster, planning mission mode it seemed. It made it slightly easier to talk with him. Without all his... interesting behavior

I nodded, despite having a spike of anxiety about using my shadows. There was no telling how long this trip might take, and I’d have to have my shadows out the entire time just to make sure I was intimidating. I had to make sure people took me at least partly seriously.

Distantly, I wondered where the hell all my pissed off energy towards this male had run off to.

“Keep the negative from flowing into your power. That’s the best way I can describe it. Create a wall, similar to a mind shield between it and your shadows,” Azriel explained. “I’m going to trust that you can hold your own against the males in the camp should things go south. Can you winnow very far?”

I knew what he was talking about. The hard thing was doing it. But at least I had an idea on how. 

“I can winnow to the human lands if I wanted to,” I replied.

“Good. And if there are wards, pray to all the gods that you don’t die,” Azriel finalized. “I’ll see you in the morning.” He walked off without another word. He was clearly focused and prepared for a mission like this. Unlike me, who was just trying to do whatever the hell I was being told to do.

I sighed, and then walked to my usual area for dinner, sitting down with a huff.

There was always one thing I neglected to tell everyone about my shadows. Something I'd avoid telling anyone until my final days if I could.

Wards… wards usually don't matter to me. I can feel them, and I can pass through them, but if there are wards that stop me from doing things, most often, under intense pressure, I can indeed still use my shadows. I didn’t know if Azriel could as well, and it might very well be a “me” thing, but if there are wards and I am trapped, I can escape still. Maybe alone, but there are worse things in life. After all, I'd escaped alone without Rainne. Losing someone I was pissed off at would be easier.

My shadows were my secret, I told myself. I wasn’t obligated to share what I could do, especially when angered. There was more I could do, but I didn’t know if Az could do them as well. But I knew the ward winnowing, slipping in between undetected, wasn’t normal. And someone might just kill for that power, to control it, or extinguish it.

↢ 『 ☾ 』 ↣

TAGLIST: just comment to be added! in the future, i'll work on a taglist for all my works, but for now, its just this story. if i've already posted the next part, the notice will be a reply to ur comment and you'll be in the next one <3

@mis-lil-red, @bunnymallowo, @judig92, @biblophilefox82, @azzydaddy, @thegirlintheshadows101, @whatupmydudes01, @feyres-fireheart, @elizarikaallen, @xenlynn, @panzees-bizarre-adventures, @starswholistenanddreamsanswered, @baebeepeach

[pureiceblue]

Queer Gaming History- Caper in the Castro

We are thankfully in an era where there are more openly LGBT characters in video games than ever before. Just looking at the list of known queer video game characters on Wikipedia shows how much progress we've made with the early days being organized by decade and recent times being organized by individual year.

Since it's Pride Month, I'd like to talk about one of the earliest pieces of LGBT representation within video games and just why it was created.

This is 1989's Caper in the Castro. You can now play it for free here.

Just as a warning, the language used within the game is very much dated to the 80s. I don't mean this with just 80s slang, I mean that you're gonna see words that are considered slurs nowadays.

Caper in the Castro was developed and released during the height of the AIDS epidemic. While it was released for free, it was considered a piece of software known as charityware. Unlike other freeware, charityware is distributed as a method of encouraging downloaders to donate money to a certain cause. In this case, Caper in the Castro was made to raise money for those suffering from the AIDS epidemic.

We'll get more into how the AIDS epidemic influences the game in a bit. I think I should also show you guys what the game's about.

The above screenshot sets the scene pretty well. It's a short point and click adventure game where you have to save your friend, Tessy, from the evil Straightman. It's about a fifteen minute playthrough with a few fun ways to get yourself killed or arrested (as is the adventure game tradition).

You're limited to the few buildings on the city streets, but you can mostly tackle them in any order you want. You don't have to pick up specific items, just notes which last even if you die. The death screen is pretty iconic by the way.

Deja Vu? Who is she? There is no Ace Harding, just Tracker McDyke.

Tracker McDyke is wonderful by the way. Yes you can pick locks, but you're gonna solve most of your lock problems by just shooting them. Gunshots are just background noise in this neighborhood, nobody gives a shit and neither should you.

You can also look at a lady showering and she'll say a happy "hey~" to you!

There's no reason for this. Sometimes it's just nice for Detective McDyke to look at a sideboob and butt.

It's not all butts and boob however. While the story is short, the surroundings tell a true reflection of what the queer community went through during that time (and sadly still does on a different scale).

We're going back to talking about the AIDS crisis now, because the very idea of the game was based on the cruel reality C.M. Ralph experienced. It was normal for many in the queer community to just have friends disappear and never be found. Many families wouldn't claim those who were found and same sex partners weren't given spousal rights.

In Caper in the Castro though, you can save your friend.

Tessy is found unharmed toward the end of the game and it's easy to free her. You get to be a badass and shoot her chains off before burning the whole place down.

As I type this, I think about what a lovely role you get to play in this game. You play as a gun toting lesbian that takes down the evil Straightman, save your missing drag queen friend, then burn down all of Straightman's supplies.

If this game came out today, people would say it's inciting violence against straight people- Wait a minute! There was a censored release!

C.M. Ralph did put out a commercial release for Caper in the Castro called Murder on Main Street! It takes out everything queer in order to appeal to a publisher. I can't be mad though because you do what you have to in order to get that bag and let's be real.

There's no way in hell a publisher would've taken this.

Caper in the Castro itself is named after San Francisco's historically gay neighborhood, the Castro. While many have found a community among their queer peers, many places within were under threats and violent acts.

The scenario presented within the game can only be solved by members of the community. The police can't help you, only a lesbian with a gun can. We as a community need to support each other, especially with how things have been going in 2023.

I wanted to talk about this game for pride month not just because it's an important part of gaming history. To me, it represents the reason we celebrate pride.

Because there's a scene in the game where you walk into a diner and see two gay couples just having a comfortable late night meal.

And I think about how we deserve this comfortable happiness for many decades to come.

...and this game also gives us the "fantasy" of burning down the establishments of those who want to kill us.

Happy pride everyone. I hope you're all safe and surrounded by people you love and also love you in return.

[muthaz-rapapa]

Hirogaru Sky Final Impressions (5/5)

Honestly, what were they going to do with those two weeks after 48 episodes? Have us wait until WonPre's broadcast? Yea right, lol

So the 20th installment of Precure is now officially finished and it feels both great and a little bit sad to say that since the bar has been readjusted quite high, we will probably need the 25th anniversary to get another season as awesome and well-written as HiroPre. [/harsh]

But that will be for something to worry about in the next five years.

So first, that finale!

Pretty much 5(ish) of the 6 last episodes was a whole arc dedicated to the most engaging lore Precure has ever given us to date.

Cure Noble is definitely entering the league of legacy Cures and perhaps as the one with the best story as well. How she went from princess-sovereign to becoming the very first Precure (in this universe, anyways) to helping pave a way for peace with her nemesis to laying out the foundation for the Cures who will succeed her in the future.

Yeap, Ellee-chan may have gotten a nice age-up bonus so that we can see her embrace her destiny and actually converse in something other than baby talk.

But it's more accurate to say that Ellee-chan/Cure Majesty's character arc is really Princess Elleelain/Cure Noble's instead.

Which is totally fine with me. Not only was Elleelain super interesting as a hero/protagonist in her own era but Kaiserin was...dear god.

Dear god, when have we gotten a twist that was this good and this dark by the series' standards? I felt we haven't touched this level of grim writing since Heartcatch and that was my first Precure season ever.

But seriously, it's impossible not to sympathize with Kaiserin and appreciate how much she contributed to the plot as well as this season's message that power is not what makes a hero, but the strength of one's heart that does.

Even her traitorous tutor, Skearhead, said she had what it took to become a hero (and maybe even Precure? oooh~), which just makes her fall into darkness more tragic.

But thankfully, she never lost her kindness and compassion, which was what ultimately allowed her to not only be saved but her wounds to finally heal after hundreds of years of suffering from the pain of betrayal Skearhead had inflicted on her.

And that her generals, who all turned over a new leaf, came back to the Undergu Empire to loyally serve her and make sure she isn't alone...

Good! This is so satisfying, I couldn't have asked for anything better! Kaiserin deserves her happiness after all she's been through!

But of course, that's not all because no Precure finale is complete without the last episodes dishing out the best combat scenes of the entire season and did it deliver, alright.

Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-HUH!

The animation was absolutely stellar and not so overdone that it'd look more gaudy than cool. coughDeliPaPrecough

Moreover, the teamwork is what really sold the animation. As it should because Precure is all about that team effort brought on by personal growth, not a one-man show.

I loved how Wing, representing wisdom, was the one everyone trusted to get that barrier back up because it is a mechanism that he researched and developed to help everyone. It proves that boys don't need to fit into a specific mold of masculinity or genius to be a hero because in the end, those things don't matter. It's being true to yourself, your beliefs and your dreams and what you choose to do with those abilities that counts.

I loved how Butterfly, who is physically the strongest in the group, always takes on the tougher tasks such as facing the army of tedious mooks to let those younger than her forge a path ahead. She never forgets her responsibility as an adult to protect the kids but she also encourages them to move forward because she fully believes in them like a good adult would.

I loved how Majesty comes to understand that though she's meant to inherit Cure Noble's will and power and position as Skyland's princess, it's not her destiny to inherit Elleelain's loneliness. And the whole reason that she started out as a baby but was able to grow and become Precure was because she was surrounded by the right people who brought out that potential in her. For Ellee-chan, being with her friends and fighting alongside them was the bigger, more important destiny than her duty was.

Finally, the star duo of the show.

Sky was given stronger MC vibes than the other cast members but you can't deny that she wouldn't have gotten this far without Prism by her side.

Sora's idea of what it means to be hero expanded a lot because she became friends with Mashiro.

She has come to treasure Mashiro so much that when she was on the brink of losing her best friend, she let Skearhead corrupt her in order to have enough power to save that best friend. She was willing to sacrifice herself for someone important to her, which in a way, can be seen as an act of heroism (but only as a last resort, plz do not attempt).

And even then, Sky kept resisting from being taken over. Prism didn't even flinch when Sky aimed a punch at her. That's how much Mashiro believes in Sora, in the hero that Sora is. That even if Sora accepted darkness into herself to do the right thing, she won't ever let that darkness consume her into doing the wrong thing.

And the fact that it was Prism who had the ability to not only purify Sky but also heal Kaiserin's centuries-old wound. She's come a long way herself from the girl who used to think she was talentless, who didn't believe she had anything special going for her.

"You are good as you are now, Mashiro-san."

What Sora said was true until the very end. Mashiro didn't ever need to change. She was already good enough and she was always going to become even better than how she started out because she was always being inspired and supported by those around her and challenging herself to do things she initially hesitated on doing.

Now she's continually drawing new stories, even winning an award for one. Even her Prism Shot evolved and multiplied as an attack and it's all because she learned to believe in herself because all her friends believed in her.

This is essentially what sets Precure apart from the others, what makes it the major name it is in modern day mahou shoujo.

I cannot begin to describe how glad I am that the staff at Toei reinforced those aspects of friendship as well as the celebration of individualism in a milestone year. But I can definitely say with confidence that we can expect to see more well into the franchise's 30th anniversary as long they don't forget these two very crucial things.

As for me, I think this will be the last time I blog Precure on a "regular" basis.

I'll still continue to watch cuz hey, there's no reason for me to stop yet.

(and all the more reason to not stop if Satoru and Daifuku become the next two male Cures in WonPre OMGI'MSOGONNAJINXTHISAREN'TIBWUAHAHAHAHA!!!)

But my priorities have shifted so I gotta tend to those foremost. And as much as I enjoy the show, I feel like I'm always saying the same stuff over and over again anyway, just in different variations of it.

(also, something about WonPre tells me the next four years will be filled with hit-or-miss seasons so meh, I'd rather just follow it leisurely than get too invested and then disappointed)

On another note, I do have some personal rankings that I'd like to post some day. I was going to do it for the 20th anniversary but didn't have time to cuz life got way too hectic and busy but yea, eventually I'll have them up.

Just for fun, y'know.

Ok, that is all.

Thank you, my hero girls and boy! You made this season so wonderful hahahaha, good luck, WonPre for me and I can't be grateful enough for it.

Thank you for a beautiful anniversary! Let's aim for the next!

25th year with 100+ Precure!

Let's gooooooooooooo!!!

[bomberqueen17]

caught up

Ha so i managed to watch all the episodes of the new Witcher season this weekend, so now i can -- let's be real I wasn't avoiding spoilers before, but like, I've read the books right, it's like, there's only so much they can do to surprise me. (below discussion is not in-depth or spoilery, more general and I don't have a ton of time so not meant to be anything profound)

I see they've taken Cahir's character in a delicious other direction-- book!Cahir is a dutiful young fanatic whose youth and relative inexperience is kind of critical to his character (and kind of parallels Ciri's contemporary journey, as she goes from being an idealistic child through all the things she goes through, he also is humbled and shamed and loses his idealism and his fanaticism gets a layer of tarnished desperation and then he finds his humanity etc-- chefkiss), but the Netflix version is an older, more deeply-committed fanatic, more intimately and personally tied to the ruler he serves so faithfully. They've also done some worldbuilding for Emhyr's missing years that I think is very interesting. It's funny, Cahir's actor is too old (but a great actor), and Emhyr's is too young, they've tried to age him up but he's like. Well he's like thirty. It hits weird. But, television, that's how television is.

I was using my sister's television since i had the house to myself, and could not figure out how to get subtitles on, so any of the lines that were whisper-growled-- that is to say almost all of them-- were largely unintelligible to me. But many of the ones I could make out were also just-- word salad, pretty things strung together for the vibe, so I don't feel like I missed out. You just had to get the gist, and sometimes it was an incredibly impactful book line that they crammed in there kind of unearned, but if you recognized it you could imbue it with the correct meaning yourself. This is not really a criticism. The whole thing was so rushed because they had to cover like 20 episodes' worth of material in eight, so it was just cruising on vibes and did so I think admirably, conveying a lot of worldbuilding complexity without having really a moment to get into it, and shorthanding character development in snappy one-liners that were pretty effective if you just. Suspended disbelief about literally any kind of logistics.

I did like some of the details they did choose to give us. Cool themes with Ciri, which I think convey the entire message of the book extremely well. And like-- when she's exposed to a bunch of sunlight, they showed her suffering with sunburn. That's a great grounding little bit of detail, even if it went away by the next scene because there wasn't time-- such a good detail, really eloquently conveyed by the framing and the actress and the props.

It's like.... an incredibly abbreviated art form, where they're doing grand gestures of vibes to get the story across.

Absolutely perfect for fanfic, LOL. There's really no well thought out detail to contradict so you've got a largely blank canvas. I also have deep regret that I don't think I can retcon my fic Keira into the Keira from Netflix who was both hot and had like, the perfect earthy practical personality, fuck she's good. Relatedly I loved the detail of how in the books Margarita Laux-Antilles was described as the most beautiful women in the world, and they cast a fat Black woman to play her, an absolutely gorgeous fat Black woman, and there in every scene of the sorceresses being beautiful were several fat women being beautiful too. It's something, ok.

I kept being like "omg woman hot" as i was watching, which was funny. I was by myself though, so it was fine, no one was there to witness my incoherence except the discord channels i kept typing into the wrong ones of.

one tiny sort of spoilery bit: i loved the delicious scene with Ciri confronting Cahir, but it was so rushed it was awkward, instead of showing us much they just had to have Cahir say it, and it was-- well the vibes were fucking delicious, but the execution kind of clumsy. But as I don't plan to rewatch, have zero fear that in my head I will rebuild this myself into something absolutely fucking perfect and id-tastic. Alas that we lost the book vibe where she clearly hadn't really realized he was a person until she knocked his helmet off and saw his stupefyingly blue eyes etc., and his terror and such, but i'm just gonna go ahead and fold that back in there in my mental recreation of it, don't worry. LOL if it worked for you as shot I Do Not Blame You.

oh also i'm in love with Philippa and now i feel bad i was so careless with her in my fic. Maybe I need to give her a bit more depth. I used her game characterization, I admit it, and Netflix did so well by her I'm sort of ashamed I didn't think of her like that.

[bugeyedfreaks]

Hi, hello! I have something to say.

For the fandom and the rowdyruff boys. I went through your page and found myself agreeing hardcore with a lot of your opinions about the fandom and ppgxrrb.

First of all, I have absolutely no idea of who came up with Butch growing up to be a massive pervert. Going off the show, wouldn't technically all three of the boys be massive perverts? They are all misogynistic slime balls who see girls as inferior.

Some things I think the fandom gets right; the boys are pretty. at least cute. For two reasons, 1; they are splitting images of the girls, so if the boys are ugly then so are the girls. 2, canonically, Bubbles has admitted that she finds Boomer "cute." Also despite the ass kicking handed to the girls in the first appearance of the rrb, Blossom and Bubbles fawn at the prospect of having kissed a boy.

Then again they kissed Harry.

Also, I think a good argument is kid rrb IS cute, but they get that sort of golden child treatment where all 3 of them just eventually end up burning out. They don't care to keep up with themselves and with how gross and mysoginistic they are, they become very unattractive very quickly. They rot, basically. Also if they were discord mods, they'd have kittens they brag their rrb title too.

I will also argue that there is nuance in the boys. Boomer atleast, which is funny because he is the least popular rrb. There are many instances where he is depicted as "naive", "child like" and even "gentle." Like yeah, he was the guy who wrote "Flowers are pretty... dumb" but when he was revived from Him, he was waving at butterflies and being taken advantage of by his brothers. If you wanna go deeper, in the comic the boys actually team up with the girls in one instance.

Still, I see the rowdyruff boys in the same vein as the gang green gang. It's like trying to defend Billy because he has that one episode where he saves the girls after setting them up, but it's like people forget that the girls still had to pummel him because... in the grand scheme of things, the guy is a shitty person! The rrb suffer from major pretty privellege and being the hetero counterparts of the girls, age included. Forget all the other side characters like Elmer, Mitch, Robin even mike! No the gorls grow up to want the boys because, 'they can change them!' Oh my gosh Bubbles suffers drastically from this.

And "the reds" are so toxic it's sad. It's like every fic with them is angsty and incredibly shallow. I never get why Blossom spends so much time running back to Brick. Oh yeah! It's because he's so big and hot now, with fiery red hair and a masculine jaw line, and is cunning and calculative and he suffers from severe mommy issues. He needs a woman like Blossom to show him how much of a prick he is! To put him in his place and tell other women off who have interest in him, because how could a woman lower her standards so much for a punk, Blossom would never (#FEMINISM). Then arranging "private visits" with him so they can make out and talk about how arrogant they both are because "ooh. We're so bad for each other but it feels soooo good. So deep. so bad."

I love how the fandom pretends Blossom is above it all, but still some how succumbs to him. "She can fix him guys! No really! We just have to make Blossom into an absolute self-contradicting prude and have Brick loosen up because... convenience!"

And people seriously bend the hell out of Butch to get him to work with Buttercup, more than 90% of the fics basically make him into a Mitch stand in with powers but this one is hotter2.0. bUTCH LITERALLY HAS NO CHARACTER AND HONESTLY, Buttercup has been repulsed by him many times. She'd yeet that guy so fast, and yet, somehow, the greens are the most popular couple I CAN NOOOOOOOOOT. Like how... really. Why does Butch get so much fanon development? The fandom tries so hard to make him into this character he simply is not! Like even going to the city of clipsville episode, the most salacious thing the fucker has done is "looked at a magazine and whistled!" But like how come Buttercup is so smitten by this that she never, once, snaps out of her "attraction" to the guy? Was this not the same issue Buttercup suffered from ACE.

Wouldn't the idea of being taken advantage of by a villain, turn Buttercup off!?

I just can not imagine Buttercup tolerating Butch- unless he is super hot now and she's internally attracted to him, because nobody gets her like this deprived fuck boy who is misunderstood, and actually a romantic guy who cares about her under it all and blood thirsty- excpet when Buttercup is around, because Buttercup can fix him and "he knows not to mess with her!"

It was so funny seeing the push back for the cw's take, when literally reading that script reminded me of all the fanfics I have had to dig through for YEARS now. I was just thinking "but isn't this what you guys WANT?" And some people were even fretting that it'd attract unwanted parts of society to the fandom. Um. I don't know if the ppg fandom is aware of this, but the fandom is already FLOODED with unwated fans, from fetish artists, to those Pintresest face claim boards that remind me of RIVERDALE, the games have already started!

That one slip of a comic, that was supposed to be a joke, of the boys handing the girls flowers and asking to be their boyfriends is way too meta.

Oh, wow, I didn’t know a lot about how some of the pairings are portrayed (obviously, since I don’t really explore that side of the fandom often) but… well, some of that certainly gave me psychic damage, especially the Blossom stuff. 🤢 I can’t even begin to express the pain I felt from reading all of that but this is the closest I can attempt to describe it with:

I agree that all of the boys would be huge pervs, but I think Butch at least being the perviest would track. If, being Buttercup’s counterpart, he also expresses extremes in his primal emotions, that would just be another primal emotion he’d express to the extreme. Just in super gross ways no girl would ever find appealing.

As for Billy, I will sort of defend him because, out of the entire gang, he has a peanut brain (affectionate), and I think, without the influence of the other guys, he would be a good boy. He still definitely needed to get punished for what he did to the girls though. 🤣 But yeah, I think the main difference between the GGG and the RRB is that, if separated, the GGG could… potentially… be good, and have been shown to have varied nuance, whereas the RRB are Pure Evil and Like That no matter what, and there’s like 100% less nuance to them.

But you’re so right about the CW thing, it really did feel a bit like the kind of stuff people have been writing for years. Also, yeah, wow, despite PPG fandom being rather fractured, it has unfortunately already suffered from a lot of, to put it politely, unpleasantness. If “unwanted” fans flooded in… well, what else is new? 😮‍💨

…man, there was a lot here, and I appreciate it all, and agree with a lot of it. Thank you for the ask! 💖