#so into the spoilery section

[kiralamouse]

"I thought that was non-diegetic!" is now my VERY FAVORITE leaning-on-the-fourth-wall line ever.

[nebuladreamz]

So coming back to writing is going relatively. Well.

[goldenblu]

here is teaser #2 for the emotionless sanji au because i'm impatient and really want to start posting chapters on ao3 rn but i know i'm gonna regret it if i do that without writing out at least the first half of the fic. therefore this is what you get for now

(edit: link to the fic)

//

His peaceful mood evaporates the moment he passes by the swordsman dozing in front of the galley. Before he can wonder if he needs to mentally prepare himself for any topics from last night being brought up again, Zoro cracks his eye open and says, “Breakfast was cold.”

Sanji’s temper flares. Obnoxious bastard, he should have known. Dropping the three grocery bags, he skips indignation and goes straight to fury. “Maybe if you woke up on time instead of sleeping all day like a lazy shithead, it wouldn’t have been!” he shouts, his heel slamming down onto metal.

The asshole has the audacity to smirk at him from behind his blades. “Thought a cook is supposed to serve his customers.”

“Unlike you, I have a job and actual shit I need to get done, I can’t just wait hand and foot on your stupid ass.” One of these days, he’s going to kick the shitty mosshead all the way back to the East Blue. What a nuisance. He goes to ignite his leg before remembering the bags of highly-flammable food in close proximity. Damn. His anger dies down, and so he huffs and drops his foot, picking up the bags instead. “Get out of the fucking way, I don’t have time for you.”

Zoro stands but doesn’t move out of his path. Sanji is about to snap at him again when, to his surprise, Zoro takes the bags from him and goes into the galley. Sanji is too astonished to stop him. After a moment of staring at the door swinging closed in front of him, he breaks out of his shock and follows the idiot inside. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”  

“Putting away the groceries,” Zoro says, like it’s obvious. 

Sanji is going to break his nose. “Why?”

Zoro looks at him like he’s the one who’s stupid. Forget breaking his nose, Sanji’s going to strangle him with his own intestines. “You were the one who was just complaining about not having enough time.”

Sanji gawks at him in slowly growing horror. Is he—is he trying to help? What the fuck. Who is this man in front of him. Because it’s definitely not Roronoa Zoro. “Do you even know where any of those go?”

“Uh.” Zoro looks at the bags he’s holding, then around the galley, then back at Sanji. “I didn’t think that far ahead.”

Never mind, he changed his mind, this goddamn fucking moron is definitely Zoro.

[player1064]

@storyshark2005 suggested on the carraville discord that we do a game posting our notes for WIP fics, so here is a glimpse into the insanity behind the happy (???) beville fic:

because it's non-linear, I have set scenes but to try visualise what order to place them in I've been using a notion board bc it's easy to move them around

they are still shifting around literally every time I open this page so this is very much not set in stone.... not showing chapter 3's column bc that IS set in stone bc it'll be posted either tonight or tomorrow morning depending on how long my energy lasts to finish it 😅

[filet-o-feelings]

Seven Sentence Sunday

I can't seem to find my banner and I can't be bothered to look for it today...

Thanks for the tags @smblmn @lemonlyman-dotcom @hippolotamus @mammameesh and @jesuisici33 I appreciate the tags even though I've been bad at playing along lately ❤️

“I thought you had to help a student?” David says through a mouthful as Patrick walks in. “I did, and it didn’t take as long as expected, so I’m all yours for the rest of the period.” David smiles and stands up to greet him with a kiss. “Good, I’ve missed you.” “It’s been three hours since you saw me,” Patrick points out. “Yes, three long hours filled with moody teenagers, art supply mishaps, and the prospect of no cute boyfriend to break up the day before it all starts back up after I finish this lackluster sandwich.” “So I’m guessing it was a glitter mishap?” Patrick asks, looking at a particularly sparkly desk.

[vivacia-18]

Stumbled upon 2-Bit Explorer by fiddleing.... I am enthralled.

This was very much not how I planned on spending my weekend, and yet...

[koushirouizumi]

D.0.2 The Beginning SPOILERS

{DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT [LIGHT] SPOILER} NOTE: This is regarding a title of a review on A.N.N.

A.N.N has a MAJOR spoiler review already on the main page, and the caption IS mis-leading for the fan base.

Hint: If the 'review' talks {rants} about "ret-cons", IGNORE IT.

"When it comes down to it, if you're a fan who can accept the retcons and their implications, you'll probably enjoy this film"--

GOOD THING I DON'T CONSIDER T0EI UPDATING THEIR OWN LORE AS "RET-CONS" UNLIKE OVER 99 PERCENT OF THIS FAN BASE, HUH??????

[pedriscroquettes]

awww poor gavi being so stressed i was wondering is the only reason he pushes himself so hard for studying too bc he wants to compete with reader or are there other deeper reasons? you dont have to answer if its spoilery im just curious !

another academic rival!gavi blurb for y’all 🫶🏽

warnings. injury trauma & lowkey suggestive content.

a/n. guys i’ve gotten attached to them i’m afraid…

the bond that had formed between the two of you had caused the two of you to begin studying together. your dad has once walked in on the two of you staring intently at your professor’s old lectures trying to figure out what part of the solution method you had missed. he was so confused but you simply glared at him and he never brought up the topic again. to be honest even if he has asked anyways you wouldn’t have known what to tell him. you couldn’t just tell your father that you were hooking up with the boy next door because it was the only thing helping you from losing your sanity.

currently gavi was trying to finish his research paper for his sports medicine class. he was quite frustrated that his professor had also asked his class to not only write about the physical effects of an acl tear but the psychological effects as well. you were too engrossed in your own work that you didn’t notice how intensely he was looking at images he was using for reference. the picture of the player in pain brought back memories he had hoped to have forgotten about.

for his fifteenth birthday his father had gifted him lower section tickets to a real betis match. he remembered how excited he was to see his hometown team play, to see them on the pitch. he also was looking forward to entering the stadium and getting that fuzzy feeling in his stomach as he analyzed every inch of the stadium hoping to play a match in there in the future.

the game had started off slow with both of the teams not allowing each other to score. that is until things heated up between both teams. one moment the ball would be in real betis’s box and the next in the opposing team. gavi was excited that the game was building up, he just wanted to see someone score a goal already. then it happened a player from the opposing team had finally gotten fed up with the defense and how they couldn’t keep the ball away from their goalpost. so he did the job himself tackling the real betis forward.

the crowd immediately burst out into chants yelling at the referee to give him a red card, which he did. but gavi could only stare as the player lay on the ground screaming in pain. his screams replayed in his mind from time to time. he had never been able to shake off the image of the player being taken away in a stretcher. he thought that had been the worse thing to happen that night but then the next day he saw on the news how it was confirmed the player would never play again. the injury forcing him into early retirement.

that day he realized that if he did achieve his dreams they could always be stripped away from him. so he spent hours studying. he didn’t miss a single class from then on out. fearing that if one day his career was taken from him he wouldn’t have nothing to do. he’d just be gavi the failed football star with nothing to his name except a bunch of “what if’s?”

“pablo?” you called his name for the fifth time.

“huh? oh hmm?” he perked his head up noticing your concerned glare.

“what happened?” you sat up on his bed.

“nothing just daydreaming.” he was lying and you could tell.

you stood up and walked towards his desk. the cold floor making you tingle as you made your way towards him. careful to not cause a mess on his desk you slip into his lap. he welcomes you as he scoots you closer to his body. he doesn’t realize he’s grinning like a little kid until you tease him about it. his cheeks going pink at your teasing.

“nothing? pablo you’ve been staring at your laptop for like ten minutes without writing anything and you’re going to lie to me? yeah okay.” you playfully confront him about his lying.

“really it’s nothing! can’t a boy live?” he smiles up at you.

“okay fine don’t tell me.” his hand begins roaming your back trying to discreetly make its way to your ass. which you simply shove away. “no. if you can’t be honest with me you can keep your hands to yourself.”

“oh so it’s like that now?” he laughs but quickly stops once he realizes you’re being for real. “oh come on!”

“you can do whatever you want as long as you tell me what’s wrong.” you reply.

so he does. he tells you about his fears and you tell him about yours. you assure him that he’ll be fine and he assures you that you’ll eventually figure out what you want to do after school. his kisses change that night, they have feelings to them now. you even stay for dinner, the paéz family happily welcoming you. aurora teases his brother that night but she also notices the way her brother looks at you. with the same look she looks at her boyfriend.

[fast-moon]

Noragami Chapter 107

Lots of annoying text-on-image this time around so it took a while to edit. I know I said this was a "half-chapter", but next month is most likely NOT the final chapter, as I fully expect there to have been some kind of announcement in the magazine if it was. So either 107 is the final chapter ant it's going to be divided into 3-4 parts (since final chapters tend to be longer than normal), or there's another chapter after this one. Either way, I expect another 2-3 months.

Google Mirror Mediafire Mirror

Also a small note under the cut regarding the title that's spoilery to the chapter content.

Sample Images:

So, the title of this chapter is "白" with no reading attached to it. This is the character for "white" or "innocence", but the lack of furigana on it meant that it's unclear which of the numerous ways this character can be pronounced is intended.

And because there is no single reading being assigned to this character, I'm wondering if it's because Yato is going to name Hiyori by the end of this chapter and this will be the name he chooses, which will then have two readings. No matter what, the vessel name would probably be "Hakki". The Shinki name, depending on whether he gives her the "-ne" ending or not, could be "Shirone", or without the ending, it can be "Haku", "Kiyoshi", or "Akira" (I swear half of all kanji can be read as "Akira" on their own).

Or I could be totally wrong in my interpretation of the title given that nothing in this section of the chapter seemed to relate to it, aside from maybe the shinki's naiive thinking.

[fumifooms]

3 things: 1) i love the intensely deep posts you make about dungeon meshi, the characters, everything about it. thank you. 2) this means the wiki is immensely annoying to me because it isn't nearly as in-depth as your blog is. 3) i'm looking for visual reference of the black-haired male half-foot chilchuck is usually standing next to whenever he's at the guild. please help. is it the guy that shows up in chapter 95, with the freckles??

1) Thank you, that’s super nice to say and to hear 🥺 2) felt lol, the wiki is hm… Barebones and often off. I edited in the info about Chil being underweight because I crave everyone being painfully aware of it but otherwise fanwikis scare me I’m unlikely to touch it again— the gallery section saves my ass on the regular tho lol. As always with fandoms, community work makes the dream work!

That’s Dandan! He does even have a wiki page. He used to work in gold-stripping along with Laios and Falin, and then was a part of Laios’ party, and eventually introduced Chilchuck to the party(and the marriage seeker mage?)! He has connections alright, and he sure is in the half-foot guild. He is a very minor character so panels of him are limited… Luckily I have a buddy obsessed with him so I have them on hand, this might be literally all panels of him out there idk atp

I recommend reading the extra on Laios’ party formation if you haven’t already, and since it’s pre-canon it’s not spoilery for anime-onlies. There’s also speculation that he may be related to Chilchuck’s wife or Chilchuck himself because of the black curly hair like Fler, the freckles and his heavy lids (his design does differ from appearance to appearance lol but he does generally have noticeably deep-set eyes). Plus the panel below, which may imply he’s always been a family friend… Speculation though as I said, more on it here in the hair section if you’re interested. But if this is right then baby Dandan <3

Alright that’s it for today hope it helped, ta-ta, bweh

[coeluvr]

since people are asking about magic again, and it's clear that MC is not a mage and never going to have magic powers, can you tell us more about the Arcane stat in a way that's not very spoilery? what is it for? I want to know more because I feel like if people deem it useless, they may skip on it and miss something interesting.

Hello! The arcane stat is under the knowledge section so it is more so about what MC knows about arcane and all that.

I'll say that it doesn't matter a lot which part of knowledge you focus on because the specifics won't be "tested" a lot but if your stat for knowledge (every time you choose your MC to study or read, the knowledge stat goes up along with arcane/history) are low your MC will be seen as kind of dumb/not book smart. 😭

So the more you pick to study or read the smarter your MC is in the eyes of the people.

It matters when someone brings up XYZ about arcane or history and MC can be like "oh yeah I know that" or they're like "lol what."

In my opinion, even if your MC is combat focused they should study a bit just so people aren't like "this consort is dumb as hell" but I'm just saying that because I'd feel bad for MC. 😭 If you however want to play as a dumb but attractive character then be free.

[gffa]

STAR WARS CONTENT CHECK IN TIME. Primarily focused on The High Republic for now, but if anyone's been reading any of the OT or PT or ST books or Legends books or whatever, please come talk to me about those, too! MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE I:

The High Republic: Light of the Jedi

The High Republic: A Test of Courage

The High Republic: Into the Dark

The High Republic: The Rising Storm

The High Republic: Race To Crashpoint Tower

The High Republic: Out Of The Shadows

The High Republic: Mission to Disaster

The High Republic: The Fallen Star

The High Republic: Midnight Horizon

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: Path of Deceit

The High Republic: Convergence

The High Republic: Quest for the Hidden City

The High Republic: Cataclysm

The High Republic: Quest for Planet X

The High Republic: Path of Vengeance

MAIN STORYLINE NOVELS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: The Eye of Darkness

The High Republic: Escape from Valo

The High Republic: Defy The Storm

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE I:

The High Republic (2021) - 15 issues

The High Republic Adventures (2021) - 13 issues

The High Republic: The Monster of Temple Peak - 4 issues

The High Republic: The Edge Of Balance - 2 manga volumes

The High Republic: Trail of Shadows - 5 issues

The High Republic: Eye of the Storm - 2 issues

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: The Blade - 4 issues

The High Republic (2022) - 10 issues

The High Republic Adventures (2022) - 8 issues

The High Republic: Edge of Balance: Precedent - 1 manga volume

The High Republic Adventures: The Nameless Terror - 4 issues

MAIN STORYLINE COMICS - PHASE III:

The High Republic: Shadows of Starlight - 4 issues

The High Republic (2023) - 6 issues [ONGOING]

The High Republic Adventures (2023) - 5 issues [ONGOING]

The High Republic - Saber for Hire (2023) - 1 issue [ONGOING]

MAIN STORYLINE AUDIODRAMAS - PHASE I:

The High Republic: Tempest Runner

MAIN STORYLINE AUDIODRAMAS - PHASE II:

The High Republic: The Battle of Jedha

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE I:

Star Wars Adventures (2020) #6 - “The Gaze Electric”

The High Republic Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2021

The High Republic Adventures Annual 2021

The High Republic Adventures: Galactic Bake-Off Spectacular

Star Wars Adventures (2020) #14 - “A Very Nihil Interlude”

The High Republic Adventures: Free Comic Book Day 2023

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE II:

The High Republic Adventures: Quest of the Jedi

ONESHOT COMIC ISSUES - PHASE III:

The High Republic Adventures: Crash Landing

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - PHASE I:

Star Wars: The High Republic: Starlight Stories

Life Day Treasury

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - PHASE II:

Star Wars Insider: The High Republic: Tales of Enlightenment

ANTHOLOGY NOVELS - ALL PHASES:

The High Republic: Tales of Light and Life

EVERYTHING ELSE:

Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures - 25 episodes

I'm this close to being finished with Phase I and II and being completely ready to start Phase III, be proud of me! I finished three different anthology books and, to be honest, they're not my favorite, they're about the non-Jedi characters primarily, aside from Tales of Light and Life, which had a really good Bell Zettifar story and a really good Rooper Nitani story. Mostly I'm here for the Jedi, I know what I'm about, etc. (Oh, Life Day Treasury was a very quick read but it had a great Stellan story that I am sooooooo eager to pull details out because CORUSCANT HOLIDAY INFO it will be super useful for fic writers!) SOME BRIEF NON-SPOILERY REVIEWS: The Eye of Darkness: I'm about an hour into The Eye of Darkness and I'm already loving it, it feels like each book that starts off any give Phase is usually one of my favorites and Mann's writing can sometimes be a little soft for me, but I feel like this one is hitting pretty hard. There was an immediate banger section on the Jedi saying fear is a natural emotion, it's just one they have to learn to master, which I definitely raced to transcribe so I can shove it at everyone who will listen to me, so that bodes well.

Cataclysm: I enjoyed this one so much more than I thought I was going to and I think part of that is that Zoraida Cordova's writing focuses more on romance than I'm interested in. Her Black Spire book (the Batuu tie-in novel) was very focused on the main couple, Convergence was very focused on the Xiri/Phan-tu relationship and leaned heavily on the Axel/Gella flirting and she's a perfectly good writer! Just that her id doesn't match up with mine all that well. Meanwhile, Lydia Kang was writing all this crunchy stuff with Axel and his mother which oooooh that was much more my jam. The plot felt more hard-hitting and continued the characters' story arcs nicely, I felt like it really earn its punch. Honestly, this one felt like it packed more punch for me as an ending for Phase II almost, that's how much I liked the way it felt like it earned its ending with me.

The Edge of Balance: Precendent: I also read the latest manga volume and I think it's my favorite of the series because it felt like it really tied into everything that was happening both in the major battle on Dalna and while Starlight Beacon was falling. The previous volumes are prettier and Lily Tora-Asi is the best fleshed out character from the series, but this one had this tiny little grandma Jedi who was BADASS and I want her and Jocasta to meet up in the Force one day and sit around drinking tea and reminiscing about all the dumbass villains they kicked the ass of while being little old aunties. It also had some very solid backstory for a character that I know will show up in Phase III, making it feel more connected to the main plot, which I liked. It's a very quick read, but thoroughly satisfying, I highly recommend it if you're interested in the Phase II stuff. Which reminds me, I had a lovely question asked the other day, about how important the comics are to the story, or if it's fine to just read the novels? My answer: Bare minimum, you can totally get away with even just reading the adult novels. It won't be the full experience, but the context they give you will be enough to have a satisfying read, if that's what you're really into. And if you read just the adult novels + YA novels, you'll be really good. For me, I think the comics are fun, but almost all the Phase I comics are reasonably self-contained and are great additions (Keeve Trennis is a great character and I would recommend The High Republic 2021 series just for her), but aren't directly part of the story. You could probably even skip the audio drama Tempest Runner if you're going to stick to just the novels (it's the story of where Lourna Dee came from and what happens to her after she's caught, but I don't think I'd say it impacts the books' storyline much--it's very good! just not vital to the books' storyline imo), but that changes for me once getting into Phase II. All the Adventures comics have been really fun, but not vital to understanding the main story, they're sort of off doing their own thing that occasionally intersects with the books, so if you really don't like reading comics, you don't have to. But I do think The High Republic 2022 series (the Phase II one) is really helpful to getting a good feel for the battle that takes place on Jedha and for understanding a lot of the tensions and battles in the story. The audiodrama The Battle of Jedha is pretty vital to the main story as well imo. Basically, I would say you can skip most of the comics, except The High Republic 2022 and Shadows of Starlight and Edge of Balance: Precedent. The mini-series comics and anthology stories books are fun, the Adventures series are fun, they're really useful if you want to feel a sense of the world being fleshed out and giving a better sense of all those moving parts, plus they generally go pretty quickly, but if you're pressed for time or really don't like reading comics, those can be cut out. I would personally recommend reading them, but I'm trying to be objective about how much time anyone has to devote to a project like this. I can't speak to much about Phase III, but Shadows of Starlight felt pretty important (maybe not vital, but important) to doing connective tissue work, Tales of Light and Life is important for learning the fate of some of the characters post-Phase I, but as always, this is just one person's opinions and is trying to make this as easy for people as I can. (Seriously, don't be afraid to read things out of order, I've been doing a ton of that and it's pretty easy to keep track of what goes where. As long as you generally read in order of the novels' progress, you shouldn't have any problems.) How's everyone else's progress on Star Wars stuff going?

[demonicputto]

An overview of my fanfiction series so far, with short blurbs about each section. (They get a bit spoilery in the later sections, if you care about that sort of thing.)

To be continued in Part 11, at some point.

[lyxurious]

So you like Luo Yunxi: A drama recommendation list

So you watched "Till the End of the Moon", and all you got is heartbreak, brainworms, and a shiny new lowkey or highkey obsession with Luo Yunxi (perhaps other people from the amazing cast too, but we're focusing on him here)? You want to see more of him, but you don't know where to start? Fear not, for this list is here to hopefully help you out with that.

Here be some (non-spoilery, but might mention if it generally ends well or not) spark notes on all his past dramas with him in the first male lead role, that are currently available with English subs (+ 2 very important supporting roles + 1 bonus). In chronological order, from most to least recent!

Light Chaser Rescue

Type: Modern, rescue missions, human drama, romance

Episodes: 40

Available at: WeTv, YouTube, viki

What's the deal? Jaded and cynical lawyer meets cute and icy doctor lady who is not here for his bs, and discovers the joys of love and most importantly, volunteer rescue work.

On the one hand: Detailed and extremely realistic scenes of all sorts of natural disasters happening. The production team collaborated with a real life team where anyone can volunteer and get training as a rescuer. They built a wholeass glacier for the final episodes and you could never tell it's fake looking at it even on HD. The side characters are mostly likeable (which is something you can't say for every drama), although flawed and human. FL is a cool-headed independent grownup woman who bottles up her feelings like a fine vintage.

On the other: The pacing is rather choppy and makes it feel like they planned out the disaster scenes/rescue missions first and everything else was added later to link said missions together and give the characters stuff to do in between. Since this is a drama and they have a limited cast, the team's abilities are a bit exaggerated at times (they turn up for everything that happens anywhere, doctor FL is a swiss army knife of specialties). Ending feels a bit abrupt.

Watch it if: You enjoy seeing Luo Yunxi suffer physically, you like stories with ordinary people being heroes while also remaining very much ordinary people.

Lie to Love

Type: Modern, romance, office, suspense

Episodes: 32

Available at: WeTV, YouTube

What's the deal? Local woman is convinced her one night stand during a mountain hike killed her father, so she returns after 2 years to go undercover in male nerdy Paris Hilton protagonist's glitzy hotel business and cancel his entire existence. Spoiler alert (but not really because this is actually not even the first 6 eps): he is a good guy and didn't do it and they fall in love and together they set out to uncover the truth and take down his shady uncle.

On the one hand: Objectively speaking, the plot for this is on the better side for a drama of its type. It's got suspense, it's got plot twists, it's got fluff, it's got drama, it's got more communication between the main CP than one would expect on a regular day, misunderstandings don't last long, the nice side characters are likeable, and 2nd ML is doing an incredible job at being a 2-faced creep. LYX is serving many a great business wear look in the 2nd half especially.

On the other: The FL is Cheng Xiao. A severely miscast Cheng Xiao in a role that is core in the plot and on paper, challenging. For fans, winner winner chicken dinner. For the rest of us, it's up to each viewer to decide if overall as a drama, the points in the above section are strong enough to balance this casting out.

Watch it if: You have a thing for men in suits and glasses (that makes two of us), you prefer ignoring the FL in dramas so you can make elaborate headcanons shipping the ML with the psycho stalker 2nd ML or the goofy rockstar 3rd ML instead.

Broker

Type: Modern, office, medical research, suspense, romance

Episodes: 42

Available at: YouTube, viki

What's the deal? Spy is ordered to infiltrate a lab and lowkey honey trap his way into stealing female scientist's multi-million research, is uno reverse carded when she fixes his broken heart and trust in humanity.

On the one hand: The rare case where he is a morally grey character in a modern setting. The other rare case where he gets to do action sequences in a modern setting. There's a shower sex scene (sit down, implied and partially dressed of course, this is still a cdrama), and one where he gets whipped on a table. There is a very badass sidekick girl who is just as broken as him if not worse, and very shippable with the FL's perky and spoiled little sister.

On the other: The premise is cool but sadly, there's way more filler office drama (in the lab) and 2nd CP being a frustrating snoozefest than spy activities. It's a drama that was held up for a long while in censorship limbo, and a considerable chunk of the ML's backstory and scenes were left in the editing room, which unfortunately throws the show off balance by a lot.

Watch it if: You are a diehard Luo Yunxi, Victoria Song or Xu Kaicheng completionist (in which case you have permission to come cry on my shoulder), you find yourself trapped in a cave, the rescue team is 48 hours away, and the only thing in there with you is a device that has no other data on it but all 42 episodes of Broker.

Love is Sweet

Type: Modern, romance, office

Episodes: 36

Available at: iQiyi, YouTube, amazon prime

What's the deal? Local woman applies for a job in huge investment banking company where she runs into her childhood friend -slash- nemesis after 10 years, they both gradually discover time makes people grow and occasionally fall deeply, ridiculously in love.

On the one hand: Sugar and fun and shoujo manga tropes aplenty! God tier CP chemistry! Some of the most epic makeouts to ever slip under the nose of the review committees. Characters that have actual profound growth under the "every romcom ever" cheeky banter. 2nd ML also offers shirtlessness and angsty backstory if you cannot live without those. There's even an adorable and very plot-relevant corgi!

On the other: The tremendous main CP chemistry has made this drama the exception for many who otherwise avoid both modern dramas and romcoms, but if that doesn't carry the show for you, I'm afraid there's not much else to see here. The 2nd CP is fuel for the "2nd CPs are annoying and waste screentime" complaint fire. (although, protip: even on the first watch you can probably skip their scenes without missing anything of value). The tear allergy is a bit of a ridiculous premise, but it's a real thing (who knew!), and it's not addressed much after a point.

Watch it if: You need something sweet and cute to fill the gaping hole Till The End of the Moon left in your chest, you love the tsundere overbearing CEO archetype but you also prefer it when he is more than a dry irredeemable asshole, you love romcoms because you enjoy both the "will they won't they" and the cute "we're an item now" domesticity.

And The Winner is Love

Type: Costume, wuxia, romance

Episodes: 48

Available at: iQiyi, YouTube

What's the deal? Dashing, elegant, fan-wielding dreamboat young master falls in love with girlie burdened with the heavy responsibility of leading a sect with bad rep and protecting a very powerful and thus dangerous cultivation manual. Supposedly.

On the one hand: Luo Yunxi looks like this:

for the whole drama. Every novel writer who ever wrote about a flirty and sophisticated young master whose beauty made flowers bloom along his path and women as well as men fell in love with him at first sight and all that purple prose-y stuff, has actually written about Luo Yunxi as Shangguan Tou whether they were aware of it or not. He is The Archetype and his popularity among bilibili fmv editors is proof. There's some great wire work in the first half. The soundtrack is pretty solid.

On the other: If you're looking for plot, run away and don't look back. I've watched the whole thing and I could not tell you how the story goes. I went in with a "idc about plot, i just want to look at Luo Yunxi in costume for 40 hours" mentality and I still struggled, make of that what you will. Chen Yuqi is the FL, saddled with a poorly written role and a choice of VA who arguably wasn't the best fit for her or the role. Chemistry is passable depending on your standards, but for most of the 2nd half of the drama it takes a nosedive together with the plot. Luo Yunxi got injured while filming this so they had to cut action scenes by a lot, so in the last 3rd or so it's wuxia without the wuxia. It's the only recent case where he also had to be dubbed (covid didn't allow him to get in the studio and do it himself, as he usually does).

Watch it if: You are a yumejoshi and need material to self-insert into a costume drama FL's position, you are more determined to watch lyx look pretty in costume, all else be damned, than Samwise Gamgee was determined to make sure Frodo throws the One Ring in the flames of Mount Doom.

Princess Silver

Type: Costume, court drama, romance, some wuxia elements

Episodes: 58

Available at: YouTube, viki

What's the deal? Princess RongLe wakes up one day with amnesia (no, hear me out) to the news that she is to be sent to another kingdom and marry a prince she's never met for political alliance reasons (no, hear me out!). There, she is faced with unexpected revelations and finds herself looking for the truth while she gets embroiled with the aforementioned haughty prince, a shady general, and her (sometimes a bit too?) caring and overprotective brother.

On the one hand: (mild spoiler alert?) His character ends up stealing the show. FL can act and has good relationships with other female characters (arguably better than with any man in this, even in the chemistry department). Story and plot are quite decent. It's one of those rare cdramas that builds up as it goes instead of deflating in the last stretch.

On the other: LYX is 3rd ML in this, so if he's your main motivation to watch, be prepared for limited screentime, especially in the 2nd half of the drama (until the final 8-10 episodes where it's all about). If you're not into the FL with either 1st or 2nd ML, the first half can be a drag, like, personally I started appreciating this drama for real after episode 25-30.

Watch it if: You are patient, you like getting emotionally sucker-punched, you love a good, earthshaking final plot twist.

Ashes of Love

Type: Costume, xianxia

Episodes: 63 (or 60, depending on the version, content is the same either way though)

Available at: Netflix, YouTube, viki, WeTV, amazon prime

What's the deal? Bottom of the food chain grape fairy who was deprived of the ability to feel romantic love and her life was honestly better and carefree like that, trips and falls into a love triangle with overconfident golden boy Heavenly Prince Phoenix, and his older brother, abused wallflower Heavenly Prince Dragon. Things go very great and not complicated at all from there. :))

On the one hand: Xianxia 101, it hits all the items on the checklist. The lavish costumes, the sprawling sets and world building, the entanglement over multiple lives, mortal arc, immortal arc, demon realm arc. CG that still holds up well for the genre 5 years later. The epic and emotional OST (someone has yet to surpass Sa Ding Ding's 左手指月 for the title of "best cdrama ED song", i don't make the rules). Arguably, The most iconic 2nd ML in a cdrama, responsible for a significant chunk of its long-lasting chokehold on the audience. Even if you've never seen the drama, if you're in the asian media adjacent internet, you've most likely seen this:

On the other: Xianxia 101, a double-sided coin. All the clichés are here, and if you're not here for them you get aboard the struggle bus. The show's views on romantic feelings can be a bit, let's say, old fashioned, even for the genre's standards. If you're not into the main CP, you're in for an uphill battle of frustration. If you're Team Runyu prepare to hate almost everyone for there is no justice in this land. (In AoL one is either Team Runyu or Team Xu Feng, no middle ground, and if you're reading this, especially because you liked lyx as Tantai Jin, I don't see how you could end up Team Xu Feng, so I'm gonna run with this assumption). (in theory you can also be Team No One, but in practice if you're that, sitting through this entire drama must have been as fun as having a tooth pulled out with no anesthesia)

Watch it if: if you're any degree of a lyx fan, period. Runyu is a mandatory class.

Children's Hospital Pediatrician

Type: Modern, medical, romance

Episodes: 42

Available at: YouTube

What's the deal? Aspiring surgeon -slash- frustrating disaster girl makes a huge blunder on her first day of her hospital residency, and can only stay as a pediatrician. She hates it and makes her literal saint of a secret husband's life miserable. We watch as she gets to grow as a person to the detriment of everyone else's mental health. Secondary cast has subplots of various dating entanglements.

On the one hand: Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, hmmm..... well... there's a scene where lyx takes off his shirt for a physical exam, if that's a bonus (ep40, 27:13-28:05, you're welcome)? Queen Zheng Li is in it? I am scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

On the other: It's way too long for absolutely no reason, the FL is the most frustrating and irrational baby I've ever seen (which is by no means a low bar), 90% of characters who are not the FL get their development butchered to make her look better, 2/3rds of the cast are incompetent at acting and the other 1/3rd is being wasted in this mess. I am trying to be as objective I can in these, but I've got nothing for this one.

Watch it if: You have chronically low blood pressure that no medication can fix, you have watched literally everything else on the list and having a manic episode where you will chew on the walls if you don't look at Luo Yunxi's face in something you have never seen before, you want to watch some other mid drama, so you want to watch something worse first in order to appreciate the other drama more.

Fox in the Screen

Type: Costume, xianxia

Episodes: 22

Available at: YouTube, viki, amazon prime (as The Screen Foxes)

What's the deal? Orphan girl wins by drunken mistake a magical screen that houses 3 fox demon guys, they help her with her screen shop and also with crossdressing to pass the exam for the position of palace screen painter. She earns a grumpy boyfriend with a tragic past in the meanwhile.

On the one hand: It's short and goes fast, and in all honesty, considering it was made on a budget of 3 paperclips and a piece of gum, the story is much more concise and watchable than I, at least, personally expected. You get to witness the caterpillar stage of lyx on this path to guzhuang drama godhood. If you're one for tragic love stories there is one hiding under the DIY production. White Fox and the prince are a solid ship.

On the other: It is very much made on the aforementioned budget of 3 paperclips and a piece of gum, and it very much shows. Everything is rough, the costumes, the makeup, the editing, the acting for the most part. Having even half an expectation is the wrong way to approach this drama.

Watch it if: you have the heart of a mother watching her kids at the school play and admiring what a great job they are doing or if you are like Marie Kondo and love mess in an affectionate way.

Bonus: PhantaCity

PhantaCity was a tv show back in 2018, whose concept was making short plays and having actors perform them live in a single, do or die take for a studio audience. Luo Yunxi and Wu Jinyan, both with a background in ballet, are paired up in a short musical, acting as the hands of a newly repaired clock. If you ever wanted to see him dance, sing and act all in one thing, don't sleep on this. It's short and beautiful, and the official upload embedded above is subbed in English!

[darlingofdots]

Because I’ve seen people getting confused, here’s a spoilery rundown of who’s who in the Jod Sections:

It’s important to note that their pre-Res names are clearly not the same as the ones we know them under, but we have to assume that the initials and relationships are broadly the same as the Lyctors’, because that is the smart editorial choice if you want to confuse your readers while still letting them figure things out if they pay attention.

Obviously there’s Ulysses and Titania, and then:

A - Augustine. He’s a scientist and he argues with M. One of these days I will reread the bit in HtN where John says something like “the man you used to be would hate you for saying that” and properly detangle it and then I will have to sit in an empty bathtub for an hour.

M - Mercy. Same as above, also the slight edge of hysterics. Their pre-Res relationship has me eating drywall, I’m more obsessed with them than ever.

C - Cassiopeia. I’ve seen people say it’s Cytherea, but we know that Cyth wasn’t first generation and was only born a couple of centuries post-Res. C’s closest relationship is with N, who is:

N - Nigella, because her closest relationship is with Cassiopeia. There’s also John saying, pre-DA minor, that while Nigella was prettiest you could never get a look in with Cassiopeia around, which matches up with their relationship in the Jod sections.

G - Gideon Original Flavour. I love knowing that he and John were friends growing up.

P - Pyrrha, who was a cop, which makes sense considering that she went on to run the intelligence network post-Res. What we learn about their relationship to John and each other in the Jod sections is delicious, actually; G1deon never knew who to pick between John and Pyrrha, Pyrrha was only there because of G1deon, good stuff. Also, Pyrrha apparently knows G1deon’s pre-Res name, which???? cannot wait to find out how (although I have ideas).

“the nun”/”M’s nun” - Cristabel, because her closest tie is to M, and everything we know about cav!Cristabel is about how devoted she is to God, Augustine calls her a fanatic, and “the nun” killing herself so John figures out souls is eerily similar to the suicide pact Cristabel seems to have had going on with cav!Alfred, who is in NtN as

“the hedgefund manager”/”A’s little brother” - Alfred, because we know who Augustine’s little brother is, and he and “the nun” were kind of teaming up at the end again in that mirror of how they forced Augustine and Mercy into Lyctorhood.

These two are referred to by nicknames because they have the same initials as two other people (Cassiopeia and Augustine, obviously) and it would be even more confusing if you had to figure out which C is talking on top of who C is in the first place.

Hope this is helpful!

[fullmoonfireball]

Pikmin 2 Personality Quiz Translation

quick disclaimer: I am not especially fluent in Japanese, I'm just some shmuck trying their best, so take these translations with a grain of salt. especially since there's some i'm really unsure of here.

feel free to play along with this link! or just scroll all the way down to the "results" section at the bottom if you just want to see the descriptions

Thank you for Accessing [This Page]

Ahh, thank you! You came right away. I'm so happy.

Hey... If you don't mind... I could examine your personality!

View Content

(note: there's some usage of katakana in the paragraph where it typically wouldn't be, notably for the pronouns 'watashi' and 'anata', so I decided to bold those.)

Pikmin Personality Quiz

Q1: What is the most important thing in your life?

Friends

Money

Family

......

Myself

Q2: Of the following 5 colours, which do you prefer?

Red

Purple

White

Yellow

Blue

Q3: Who can you not say no to?

My parents

My lover

My boss

Myself

There isn't anyone (None)

Q4: What word best describes your lifestyle?

Fearful

Perky

Heart-pounding

Voracious

Impulsive

(note: these are all onomatopoeia in the original, so an exact translation would be impossible, or at least unreasonable. hopefully this does the job fine.)

Q5: You're flying in a spaceship. What happens to you next?

I crash

I sleep

I explore an undiscovered planet

I fall

I go back home

(note: "I fall" could equally be "I fail". it's hard to say with so little context, but either way it's not good.)

Q6: How much money do you have saved up?

No more than 100 yen

No more than 1000 yen

No more than 10,000 yen

No more than 100,000 yen

More than that! I'm rich!

(I'm here for translations, not currency conversions, but this would be (in USD, since I'm pretty sure most of you are American even though I'm not): $0.67, $6.67, $66.72, and $667.21 respectively. the fact this was probably made for children really shows here.)

Q7: What's your favourite game?

The leisurely Animal Crossing.

Pikmin, of course.

As expected, it's Zelda.

Obviously Mario, right?

Actually, it's none of these.

Q8: What's your favourite creature?

Pellet Posy

Iridescent Flint Beetle

Bulborb

Waterwraith

Pikmin

Q9: What's your LEAST favourite creature?

Beady Long Legs

Titan Dweevil

Bulborb

Breadbug

Bumbling Snitchbug

(note: this quiz seems to specifically be related to the New Play Control version of Pikmin 2, so the inclusion of the Titan Dweevil isn't QUITE as spoilery as it seems on first glance)

Q10: What's your favourite place?

Valley of Repose

Awakening Wood

Perplexing Pool

Wistful Wild

Inside the Onion

Q11: During a space trip, you're met with an accident, and end up shipwrecked on an uninhabited planet. What kind of planet is it?

A jungle planet

A sandy planet

A mechanized planet

A planet of bugs

It's actually Earth

Q12: If were shipwrecked on an uninhabited planet and could only bring one thing with you, what would it be?

My secret safe

My Game Boy Advance

My passbook

Lunch

A novel

Q13: If you were to start a family in the future, how many children would you have?

None

One

Two

I don't know

A lot

Q14: How would you describe your interactions with others?

Passionate

Cool

Devoted

Easy to get carried away

I don't care

Q15: Seriously, how old are you?

10 or less

20 or less

40 or less

60 or less

What a rude thing to ask!

Check your personality!

(note: if you click this button before answering all of the questions, you will get a popup saying "Q[earliest unanswered number] has not been entered.")

RESULTS

Your personality is [most like]...

The President.

Your strength is that you are honest about your feelings. Your energy as a leader is undefeatable.

However, you should maybe consider other people's feelings at least a little bit.

THIS → is the perfect partner for you!

Your perfect match is...

The President's wife.

She's straightforward about her feelings, more so than you.

She always toys with you.

However, that's because she believes in you.

→ Back

(note: I have absolutely zero confidence in that middle sentence.)

Your personality is [most like]...

Olimar.

A hard-working man who loves his family. He is popular among the Pikmin for his leadership.

However, he's a bit unlucky.

THIS → is the perfect partner for you!

Your perfect match is...

Olimar's wife.

No matter how destitute, she will always support you with great love.

There can be no secrets (such as a certain safe) between lovers or husband and wife.

You two can keep it together and not let the recession get to you.

→ Back

Your personality is [most like]...

Louie.

You're not so good at communication. People tend to misunderstand you, and have no idea what you're thinking.

Maybe you should voice your feelings more often?

THIS → is the perfect partner for you!

Your perfect match is...

Louie's nana.

Her narrow eyes make her look like she can't see anything. But trust me, she definitely sees the real you.

Even if it's hard, please indulge her as much as you can.

→ Back

(note: another really hard phrase to translate on the partner pages, yowch. this time, it was the last line of her description.)

Your personality is [most like]...

The Hocotate Ship.

On the outside, talkative to the point of being a blabbermouth.

But on the inside, actually a bit dry.

THIS → is the perfect partner for you!

Your perfect match is...

Mr. Beady Long Legs.

A strong personality that will really shake your heart. Whether it's out of fear or love, your heart will keep thumping.

Once you get over these feelings, a new you awaits...... Probably.

→ Back

(note: because "さん" is gender neutral, this could equally be Ms. Beady Long Legs. hocotate ship yuri, i GUESS.)

Your personality is [most like]...

The Pikmin.

Serious and hard-working. Your strong suit is cooperating with others. The type to thoroughly devote yourself.

But maybe you could assert yourself a little more?

THIS → is the perfect partner for you!

Your perfect match is...

Mr. Bulborb.

It will lead you with a WILD personality.

A big maw awaits you.

Please look forward to some wild kisses.

→ Back

(note: again, could be Ms. instead)