#the chapter isnt over yet btw

[biggie-chcese]

Why I think Yomi Hellsmile should've died in Chapter 4

(this essay isnt what you think it is. spoilers for the whole game btw)

Alright so let me preface this by saying that this is not a Yomi Hellsmile hate essay. I like Yomi. He's my favorite peacekeeper. He's funny, he's entertaining, and he makes for a very effective antagonist. So why have him die? Well, for the same reason I wouldn't have Yakou live: I think it makes for a better story.

So here's the true title of my essay: A Critique of how Rain Code's Narrative Handles the Peacekeepers (and by Extension, Yomi) and their Downfall

Let's start with Yomi's downfall in canon. Yuma and Vivia find out his role in Huesca's murder and, ultimately, Yakou's death, and are angry beyond belief. But they're also helpless to do anything as they escape the labyrinth with vengeance on their minds. Of course, this gets shut down immediately, and then Makoto ex machina comes in with Martina in tow to arrest Yomi for his money laundering and bribery. And right then and there, in one fell swoop, the peacekeepers are completely eliminated as a threat in the story to be replaced by Makoto.

But okay... isn't that super underwhelming? The peacekeepers and Amaterasu corp have been the main driving force of the game's primary conflict, and yet somehow they are completely eliminated as a threat because Makoto grabbed a few files off screen. And also, this brings me to my first major issue I have with this ending:

Part 1: Why the fuck do they care?

No I'm serious. Why do the peacekeepers care? So what if Yomi bribed his way to the top? You mean to tell me that the cops who spent the entire game assaulting and antagonizing civilians give a shit? They're never shown to have any sort of problem with their corruption. They send people to be executed on whims and knowingly, regularly falsify evidence on murder cases. At best the peacekeepers are indifferent to the suffering they cause, and at worst they are gleefully complicit in it. So, again, why do they care about Yomi's money schemes? In fact, they only benefit from Yomi's rule because he gives them the power to freely instill fear in Kanai Ward's citizens. The game never, at any point, has an "are we the baddies?" moment from them nor does it ever even try to have at least one peacekeeper question Yomi's authority, even when he's throwing them under the bus. Throughout the whole game, they stand as a completely one-note, cartoonishly evil representation of police corruption.

So why the sudden heel turn? The resolution of chapter 4 feels so jarring to me because the game has zero buildup to it. This also applies to Martina's return. Actually let's also talk about her.

Part 2: So... Martina's return lowkey is kinda lame

Don't get me wrong, I was pretty hype when she came back. But also, the magic wore off pretty quickly for me because I didn't understand why she was suddenly a whole different character. I suppose her brush with death gave her some time to contemplate her actions, or perhaps she felt indebted to Makoto and asked him what she should do, or maybe Makoto held her life over her head and told her to change her act or he's letting her get cubed. Who knows? We get nothing expanding on this so it could be anything.

I feel like people kinda forget that Martina was just as corrupt as Yomi? Like, she is not his helpless victim. I'd even argue that their relationship isn't abusive. Martina is in it with her own interests in mind in addition to just being a massive sadomasochist. I cannot stress this enough: whatever tf she and Yomi had going on, she was completely into it. Even at the end of chapter 2, she was drooling over him and the idea of punishment... until Yomi crossed a line.

Y'see, Martina thought she was special. She thought that whatever punishment Yomi had for her Aetheria Academy blunder, she'd come out of it alive, because she's his beloved right hand. Yomi then showed her that she's just as disposable as the rest of his underlings by ordering her to be brutally executed. That is when she becomes a victim.

Anyway, I'm saying all this to make a point that Martina hasn't shown any interest in being an honest cop until chapter 4. It's completely out of nowhere, just like with the other peacekeepers.

"But Biggie," you may be thinking, "why would Yomi dying fix these issues?" Well I'm so glad you hypothetically asked!

Part 3: We love missed potential, baby!

Kodaka sometimes does this thing where he introduces an interesting concept that plays with the rules of the game... and then doesn't commit to it. Think like the double murder clause in Danganronpa V3 chapter 3, where they mention that if two separate murderers act in the same day then only one of those murders counts. Then they do nothing with this, and instead create a very weak chapter.

This is a similar problem I have with the tail end of chapter 4's mystery labyrinth, which is a really amazing labyrinth that introduces a really amazing concept: taking down a secret mastermind. After reaping the culprit's soul, they have this cool, brand new secret area that... does nothing. No, I'm serious. Nothing happens. All it does is piss Yuma and Vivia off and waste everyone's time. They find out Yomi's involvement in the case, but they still don't do anything with that. Sure it brings a whole new feeling of hopelessness, but doesn't that make Yomi's downfall literally five minutes later through the mundane actions of someone else off screen seem all the more underwhelming? From a gameplay and storytelling standpoint, I think this is just... a cop-out. I think it'd be cool if he was involved enough in Huesca's murder to count as an accomplice, then with Vivia and Shinigami at his side, Yuma reaps Yomi's soul. It's a decent payoff for the NDA and the player while supporting the game's message about the importance of finding the truth. And god does the game need support in that regard, because the Mystery Labyrinth almost never helps and Yuma instead gets saved by someone else (which would've been nice to expand on if we go this route bc there's something interesting about Yuma calling for the labyrinth to kill people for ultimately no reason, but they don't do anything with that and that is a WHOLE other essay lol).

But this is not my main reason that Yomi should've died here. I wouldn't feel so strongly if that was the case. No, my problem lies with a character that isn't Yomi, and what is part of the entire reason Rain Code's plot exists.

Part 4: Is Makoto fucking stupid?

"/lh" by the way. Makoto is my second favorite character in this game behind Yuma, and I adore him. His story, his motivations, his undying will to be a protector of a people that no one else will protect, by any means necessary... he is such an incredible character and antagonist and I genuinely adore him. But I have one eensy weensy, teeny weeny little issue with him:

Why did he need the detectives to oust Yomi?

Makoto claims in the ch 5 labyrinth that the reason the detectives were brought over was to oust Yomi, which leads me to believe the command for the detectives to come to Kanai Ward was his work, not Number One's, then Number One simply caught onto this and took advantage of the situation to sneak in. Though, that's just a guess on my part, mind you. So I suppose he was just desperately hoping at least one of them would take care of Yomi, but isn't that weird?

The detectives don't ever find the evidence of Yomi's money laundering and bribery. Makoto does. The detectives don't ever bring Yomi's corruption to light. Yomi... already does that without their help. Actually, why didn't he secretly team up with the Resistance for that? Too busy ignoring Dohya District's glaring issues, Makoto? Too busy turning a blind eye to your people's suffering?

Uh. Anyway, the only detective that actually does something beneficial for Makoto and kills Huesca is Yakou, who was already in Kanai Ward. And don't tell me that Makoto accounted for Fubuki and Desuhiko's fortes here because that part of the plan was all Yakou's idea. If Makoto could've predicted this, he would've just called the detectives necessary to this plan instead of luring in a bunch of them at once to get slaughtered.

Tons of detectives died coming to Kanai Ward to do... what? Distract Yomi? Could the World's Greatest Mind truly never come up with a better distraction for a guy who didn't even realize his Martina Cube™ order never came in? Yomi isn't shown to be some sort of hypervigilant supergenius nor is he nearly on Makoto's level. Could he truly not have outsmarted Yomi and led him astray long enough to grab a little binder of paper?

So, once again, you may be wondering how Yomi's death would fix this. Well, Yuma, a detective, is the one who kills Yomi.

Makoto is well aware of Yuma using the Book of Death at this point. So what better way to get rid of Yomi than to carefully manipulate the detective who has the Perfect Criminal Murder Tool™? Makoto can't just assassinate Yomi himself- that would make him the main suspect and he'd have to do a lot of PR maintenance to get the rest of Amaterasu Corp off his back. But Yomi mysteriously dying of a heart attack while Makoto isn't anywhere around... well, that's different.

"But wait," you may be thinking, "doesn't Makoto want to keep Yomi alive because he's a Kanai Ward citizen, and he loves Kanai Ward?"

Good point! But doesn't that also apply to Yakou, whom he also had a hand in manipulating into that crazy sui-homocide of Dr. Huesca? Or, what about Fink? Remember him? Makoto killed him for "knowing too much." I know that information is missable, but it's there. And don't tell me it's just because he's a hitman and has killed other Kanai Ward residents, because Yomi has sent many residents to their deaths without trial... not a huge difference. So a body count isn't really on Makoto's "should I kill them" conditions, it seems.

If Fink gets killed for "knowing too much," then Yomi shouldn't be exempt from this, especially when he was leaking homunculus information to the outside world. That goes far beyond "knowing too much." It just doesn't make sense.

But you know what does? Makoto actually using the detectives to wipe his hands clean of Yomi's mess. Yakou is used to take care of Huesca, Yuma is used to take care of Yomi, and Makoto gets to sit back, relax, and watch everything play out just as planned.

And later, in the next chapter, when Yuma learns about Makoto using him like this, he realizes that he's truly been had.

Part 5: How I think it should play out

I'm not being a hater. In fact, I deeply love this game and have a lot of respect for Kodaka and the writing team, so please don't take my little rant as some sort of effort to bash on my favorite video game because that's not what this is. I'm not gonna prop myself up as a better writer than anyone on the team because I'm not, but I'll still try my hand at rewriting this scene to fit my personal taste. So I would like for you to imagine with me, the end of chapter 4...

Yuma and Vivia find the secret area of the labyrinth and find out that Yomi has been masterminding Huesca's murder. Shinigami points out that, hey, that's why the labyrinth is falling so slowly: we haven't finished it off! Vivia stands by Yuma's side, and all of them, driven by their rage and desire to see justice be done, reap the soul of the true mastermind through one final strike of the solution blade. Labyrinth collapses, snap back to reality, oop there goes gravity, oop there goes Yomi, who collapses on the ground.

The peacekeepers are surprised and approach the body. They find that Yomi is dead. They're shocked, and as this is happening, Yuma isn't sure what to feel. Is he glad that he managed to avenge Yakou? Not quite, because Yakou is still gone, the hitman is still out there, and everything still hurts. But a part of him feels... vindicated. Vivia seems to have equally complicated feelings about this. For once, it was... kind of worth it to find the truth, even if a bit messy.

Well now the peacekeepers confirmed Yomi is dead, but now they're accusing the detectives of this. And they're honestly kinda right. Yuma and Vivia realize that they're in kind of deep shit, but the sound of Martina's voice comes from off screen asking what on earth is going on here, making everyone freeze.

Enter her, Makoto, and Seth (I'll say why he's here too in a moment). They're surprised at the sight before them, but Makoto only pretends to be. Then you see it... Martina and Seth go from visibly suprised... to relieved. And there's something oddly triumphant, yet a bit chilling about Makoto and the two people we've witnessed Yomi throw under the bus standing over his corpse. It feels thematic now, as if righteous judgement has come. And... it also solves the "what happened to Seth" question, lol.

Makoto shakes his head and sighs, stepping over the corpse and approaching Yuma and Vivia as he comes up with an excuse: "I always told him that those temper tantrums weren't good for his blood pressure. I guess his heart couldn't take it anymore."

He then nods to the others. Seth instructs the peacekeepers to clean up the body, as they rot quickly in this city. There's this foreboding feeling in the peacekeepers' obedience and efficiency, and Yuma begins to wonder if he did a good thing. Did his actions change the peacekeepers for the better, he asks himself, or did he simply shift the power over to someone worse? Shinigami tells him she doesn't know.

Makoto approaches them with good news: they found and arrested the hitman! Yuma, frightened, does not address that and instead asks him why the other high ranking peacekeepers are here. Makoto says that they... owe him a favor. Martina expresses her gratefulness for him stopping her execution order and asks if they can do anything else, to which Makoto replies telling her no, they're doing an excellent job. After some more conversation, Seth, Martina, and the peacekeepers then leave with Yomi's body to let Makoto talk privately to Yuma and Vivia. Makoto apologizes for their loss of Yakou and offers some faux sympathy. They're both... still conflicted about this conclusion, but Makoto tells them they're free to go, so they'll think about it later. Oh, but before they leave, he gives Yuma a little gift: a suspicious black box. Of course, Yuma can't open it just yet- it's a surprise!

Then the rest could play out pretty much normally (though an encounter with zombie Yomi chapter 5 seems inevitable and also awesome).

I think this alone would solve every issue I addressed before. The peacekeepers do not change out of nowhere. They simply reallocate power and there's still this feeling of them being a threat as they're now directly connected to the game's true antagonist. There's now a theme to Martina's return with Seth's presence as well. There's now a narrative purpose to that final section of the mystery labyrinth with proper payoff. And, most importantly, Makoto's motivations to use the detectives make more sense.

By the way, if any Yomi lovers think that he should stay alive for a potential return in the sequel... isn't it such a blessing that Yakou's DLC introduced this pretty neat little pill that could still make that possible? Just saying.

So yeah. Yuma, for the sake of narrative payoff and character writing consistency, please kill this clown. Thanks for reading <3

[angy-grrr]

btw, im not waiting a whole week just to see izu///ocha confession, and tbh I dont think hori would spend that energy in it -he didnt before after all. I just think a platonic interpretation opens up the possibilities for closing more arcs -for example, the whole control your heart, the future of heroes and villains, etc.

Doing a confession would actually be too abrupt in my opinion, considering she is here crying over Himiko, this isnt about him and loving him.

EDIT:

btw this doesnt mean im dropping bnha. Im just saying I dont think it makes sense to wait two weeks for a confession of a ship that has not that much development in the first place -and this isnt about time spent with them. Its about emotional investment. Ochako and Himiko dont have the spotlight that much when thinking about all the manga chapters and arcs, however it got a loyal fanbase because the times they are together they are impactful. We didnt even know she was this invested in Toga in those ways, like the lovely smile and liking it ever since she saw it for the first time, until she said it. After only two chapters, they felt like a very beautiful and tragic ship because they care for the other in ways incomparable with others, and their dynamic feels extremely romantic. In another hand, izu//ocha doesnt have that feeling at all even if they have more panels together -there were many ways to connect them in a relevant way, but their moments arent as emotionally charged.

When Ochako jumped to defend Izuku for example; it could have been like that but instead we have her thinking about who saves heroes when focusing on him -this isnt emotional for them together-, and when she talks about smiles, her mind jumps to Himiko crying -this is personal and emotional at the same time. If we had her thinking "who will save villains" for Himiko, it would come out as way less romantic for canon; and if we had her thinking randomly about Izuku like she did at the beginning, with drawings of her face with an embarrassing expression or starting accepting it, it would be more romantic*

Its not that they have nothing in common, or dont care about each other in a meaningful way, its just that Hori decided to focus on other relationships instead of them together. The togachako confrontation in comparison shows us how he can focus on mainly the pair without forgetting about other important characters or feelings -she thought about him, and confessed she fell in love with him, yet it hit me way harder when she remembered her sad smile.

They just are... casual? It doesnt get me invested in them because none of their moments are intimate, I think (I mean Himiko and Ochako feel way closer than Izuku and Ochako even when they share goals and have cute moments, maybe bc some of the themes that hori seemed to introduce in the beginning for them got dropped after Katsuki was chosen to remain as a supportive pillar for Izuku. I hope the phrasing comes out as I intended!)

*I guess the closer to this would be her wishing him to give his best when she was at the helicopter, but personally I dont count it as random because everyone was feeling the same -and Iida is the link to this, narratively speaking. It wasn't her in the helicopter in a different scene with nobody else discussing these topics, neither it was Izuku thinking of this aspect of her on his own. So it doesnt come off as impactful.

[qualityrain]

i am thinking. about firefly wedding and being a tool v a person. rambling abt satoko and shinpei and throwing ideas at the wall. (some chapter 28 spoilers btw)

they are all tools to something. satoko being a tool to her family and shinpei and kotaro being a tool to her(albeit in slightly different ways).

initially satoko uses shinpei as a means to leave the island and shinpei uses her as a way to feel needed. this ofc changes over the course of the manga and theres alr this post abt how shinpei doesnt see satoko as an object considering the different reactions to her scar i think more obviously is the talk he has with her on the boat as they are leaving the island in chap 16 where he says i want to know more abt what kind of girl you are.

he wants to get to know her more as a person. understand her better. know why she is like this. what kind of girl is she. her likes?dislikes? and its mutual in chap 28

ever since chap 24 there is this explicit mutual commitment because this relationship isnt a short time thing on the island anymore. they’re stuck together now and its ok to have this mutual curiosity abt one another and they’re both able take the time to know more abt each other now. they’re not tools to each other anymore but somebody to have a long term relationship with

which makes me think abt kotaro. kotaro who brings satokos medicine and brings her favourite sweet. he learns these things abt her and obviously sees her as a person but encourages satoko being a tool to her family. its not his fault because its what satoko herself thinks she wants. i wonder if satoko knows kotaros likes and dislikes too. satokos whole dilemma of marriage for her family or for herself. does she want to be the tool or her own person. i think this is something shinpei(and kotaro) have to address in the future too since shinpei thinks of himself as a tool and it hasnt been addressed yet. lots of things to think abt and see what happens this year

[thatcheeseycandle]

//I WAS ABOUT TO EAT DINNER- BUT I REBLOGGED THE DAMN CHAPTER LMAO

TIME FLIES SO FAST AND YET IT FEELS LIKE CHAPTER 38 CAME OUT YESTERDAY, AND I AN NOT COMPLAINING!

AAND FUCK GIVE ME A MOMENT TO SPARE-

AANDDDDD YOURS TRULY IS BACK

“A Parasite takes it’s host after decades of waiting.” PARDON? Well shit BLUE OETER IS FUCKED, INCLUDING THE TAGS ON THE TUMBLR POST

BLANK?? WHATA WHAT WHAT IM SORRY?????? YEAH NO SHIT OF COURSE ITS A MONSTER.

“His face plate began to cave and buckle, the right side suddenly buckling as a monstrous black cloud burst forth like a swarm of bees.” WHAATAATKAHAH

NONOOOOOO

MAYGLOWER RUNTHE FUCK AWAY DOMT NO DONT HURTHER NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

NLUEPERTER SNAAP OUT PELAAASJ

Ay AY WHO THE FUCKS THIS???? WHO US THIS??????

Insert me just laughing my arse off, cause with how the tension was building up I NEVER EXPECTED THOMAS THE DAMN TANK ENGINEGAGAKAHHA

pAUAE PAYSE. PAUSE MUNA CAUSE I CANT HANDLE THIS SORRY

THOMAS YOU CHEEKY FUCK BEHAALAOSSHAO THIS WAS SO RANDOM IMSORRY

Just got back up from grabbing soemthing downstairs, oH GOD THIS IS GONNA BE AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER IM CALLING IT

Woah WOAH THEFUCK AY AY WAS GOING what's going on what's going on no no no no this is not happening wait wait

MALLARD?????????? WHAT

“This one, this one welcomes us and we feast upon decades and decades of anguish, pain and torment. He shall be better with us… He will be our toy.” PARDON ME?????

Either Black smoke struck him and he managed to push it back for so long but since all those emotions started fading this is why the black smoke is takjng over OR Blue Peter sold himself to the damn Devil. I DONTKNOW

Insert me yelling “DO SOMETHING” at the screen cause SHIT THOMAS WHY ARENT YOU TRYNA DO ANYTHING????? THE BLACK SMOKE IS RIGHT THERE. RIGHT THERE.

“We are the shadow to your light and we will not be denied!” I FUCKIN CAAAALLEDD ITTTTT YESSS

“I may be little, but little engines can do big things!” HE SAAAIDD ITT YEAAAHHHHH GO THOMAS GOOOO FUCK EHM UP YEAAAHHHHH

I FELLOFFMY BED. HOLYGOD. SCOT WHATTHEFUCK ARE YOUDOIGN THERE???????

“But to Scotsman, he was always just an arrogant fool with delusions of grandeur.” You wont be saying that WHEN YOU SEE WHAT THEFUCK HES BEEN UP TO YOULITTL

I’ll give him credit for shitting on North a bit, cause, well, Norths not been the greatest as we all know LMAO

“North had died and taken so much knowledge with him. It irritated Scotsman” ME TOO. ME FUCKIN TOO. YOU ARENT ALONE ON THIS SCOT

hHEHJWAIHAHA ABASHED TEENAGER IS THE RIGHT DESCRIPTION NGL

Okay GADWALL SMOOTHEN YOURSELF OUT A BIT

And fuck LMAOO

Woah. WOAHWOAH

ICUOKEDICHOKED ONMYSELF SEC

SO THERE IS INDEED MESSENGERS FOR PROTEUS. That actually MAKES SENSE, HES A GOD OF COURSE HE WOULD HAVE MORTAL MESSENGERS

Oh. Merlin, right, RIP to him btw.

Gadwall what the FUCK are you implying, cause if its what I theorize it to be Im opening a new doc

Ah. So those who accept death, follow into the realm of Proteus and stay there for eternity once they’ve accepted their fate. And those who havent are silver souls or/and souls who can be revived, that makes sense. It actually makes a lot of sense AY WAIR-

Sigh, well I mean at least Mallard is given that chance (I am praying he uses it right as well cause hes been through too much SHIT)

No NONONONOO LOOK MORE FURTHER- SHE IS INDEED IN THERE DONT STOP BELIEVING

HOLD ON TO THAT FEEEELINNGG

WHATOWHAAOWHAPHS

IFELL

OKAY

WHAT??????

LMAOOAHAHAAKHXTHROW HANDS???

What theufcj. WHATAHATAJAOAJAIAOA JACQUELINE?????

WAIT. SO NORTH’S COTTAGE ISNT HERE. WAIY FUCK WIAT-

DID NORTH MIX UP THE COTTAGES SO THAT HIS IDENTITY WOULDNT BE REVEALED OR SOMETHING?? OR REVEAL MERRY’S IDENTITY???

Wait. WAIT SO- QUICKSILVER. WAIT WAIT I JUST REALIZED. AHFUCK OF COURSE IT WAS THAT

WHAT???? SHES GONNA SAY IT RIGHT NOW AND THERE??????

WJAAATHAJ

SHEFUCKINISSSSSSS YEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSSS

MWYAJAOAHAAHAHAJAJHD UEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS YESSSS

BEINGEXCITED AND HAPPY IS SO TIRING LMAOO BUT FUCKYEAAHAHHHH UESSSS YESSSS

WE MUST CELEBRATE THIS CAUSE IT WAS ABOUT DAMN TIME AWKDHAKA YESSSSS

CRY ALL THE TEARS, THERE IS HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD FOR NOW, IN THIS MOMENT

IMGONNA FUCKIN TEAR UP JUST CRY ALL THE TEARS THAT WERE HELD BACK

TONIGHT WILL BE A GLORIOUS NIGHT

IMSMILLING SO WIDELY RN ICANT HSHALAHDKDH

SPOTIFY IS NOT HELPING ME EMOTIONALLY

GreyGREYY AYYYYYY GREY AND GOLD LETS GOOOO

AAnndd right THE GOLD DUST THING.. WELL FUCK

“Well- a little bit of trouble she’s a heavy girl- but that’s not the point-”  LMAOO GREYSHSJALAH

AT LEAST YOU DID ITTTT YOU FUCKIN CONQUERED THAT INCLINE!

OHGOLD NO OF COURSE THERES STILL USE DONTSAYTHAT

AEDJDDHSJ ME HEARTS MELTING GIVE ME A MOMENT

BAHAKAUAGSSHDAH

IVE LOST MY VOCAL CORDS AT THIS POINT, TODAY IS A GRAND NIGHT I SAY, A GRAND NIGHT IT WILL TRULY BE FOR ME

PURWLAHAIDHD

PURPLE

THIS SI THE MOMENT

WAJDHDSKD

YEESSSS THEYVE MET

LOUD EXTROVERTED ENGINES WITH THEIR INTROVERTED TAKEALONGS LETS GOOOO

AWWESHSH

AYYYYY ROOSTERS HERE LETS GOOOOO

BWHAJAJAH LMAOOO YET AGAIN, NOT SCOTTISH HWKAKAGSSK

Sparks of JDGAKAUS RIGHT HES HALF HUMAN AND HALF CONSTRUCT OHMFYAP THEYRE HALF HUMAN AND HALF CONSTRUCTS

A FAMILY OF HYBRIDS

Wait left? TRURO YOUFKCING KNEW?? Okay wait yeah OF COURSE HE WOULD KNOW THAT

Wait wAIT WAIT GREY??? Okay so the phrase “your the reason for me greying” is true in this context, stress could be the reason.

Or is it Lady or/and Proteus seeing North’s fate come hence why his construct was unpaused from it’s immortality and was left to properly age a bit before dying?

No. ROOSTER FUCKING TELL HIM PELASE

FINAAALLYYYYYYY FINALLY YOU LOT REALIZE IT FUCKING FINALLYYYY

WHAT THE FUCK IS THE LEY LINES???? WHAT.

Wait. The heart condition was made from blacksmoke, it was cold iron sleep, but North made a wish to Lady TO KEEP OLIVIA ALIVE RATHER THAN KEEPING HIMSELF ALIVE. HOOOOOOLYGOSH.

MALLARD???????? AMLALR DHWTA THE FUCK DOYOUMEAN

MALLARD YOU JUST GOT GOOD WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS TO YOURAELF GOD PLEAAASSEE.

No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO9OOOOOOOOOOOOO

RHOMAAYOUFUCKITHOUGHTYOUWOILDSAVEHIM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[weirdcat1213]

AJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJAJ HAPPY DAYS AJJAJAJAJA :D YEY TRIGUN BOOKCLUB :D

THOUGHTS :D

chap 1:

-happy days and everything is going to shit...yeap thats trigun

-i just noticed they have separated rooms and that makes me sad for some reason

-i love to see that rem was nice to everyone but was also getting annoyed by that guy, shes not perfect and I LOVE HER

-ngl, im not sure if the other guys did something

-its so cool to see the scientists joking around for a bit but then getting to see them in silence cuz IT IS a weird situation to be in. you are alone in space and something happened "on its own"..... It makes the situation more serious

-LMAO HER FACE I LOVE HER SM

-it hasnt even been that expanded in 98 (im sorry for the spoiler ig) or stampede (YET), but rem is so funny. shes more than a living saint and im glad we get to see more of her here. shes the only mom ever

-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO RIGHT

-also i thought knives *fixed* the thing, i forgot he caused it lmao

-arent they adorable? :3 pls dont touch them :3

-"it could end in disaster" you dont say....you dont say....

-NOT THEM SAYING YES IMMEDIATELY I WILL CRY

-BABY KNIVES WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU (ik what happened to him)

-"if you can love someone with all your heart then its alright".........im gonna take so time to think about that cuz....yeah, i guess thats true isnt it?

-oh that doesnt age wel...not even story wise but life wise....if we could only talk with each other

-ok so...is that a fucking ghost? and if it is, did she really appear when knives's faith in humanity was at its peak? really :c?

-OH ITS MY TIME TO GET SICK :D

-OK NO THATS SO INTERESTING CUZ HERE IS VASH WHO IS CURIOUS ABOUT TESLA AND WANTS TO READ THE REPORT BUT IN STAMPEDE (spoilers coming im sorry) IS KNIVES WHO WANTS TO READ IT. DID HE LOSE THIS FAITH *WAY EARLIER* THAN TRIMAX KNIVES??? HOW TF IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?????

-great....scientific....discovery.....you say......... so the scientists were ready for another tesla situation....

-pls no pls no pls no. you teach her how to speak and then you do that shit. stop

-by looking at the pictures and descriptions we can say that the scans began on her 13th day of life (multiple scans as the chapter mentions), and 87 DAYS LATER they started to ask themselves if that was correct to do from a moral standpoint...87 days. and just after they started to question themselves she started dying. just 10 days later...fuck

-"we have no desire to rest" WHAT ABOUT YOUR "SUBJECT" THO ASSHOLES

-its never not gonna make me sick how they killed a child in 100 days. thats all it took.

-ajjjj :c im fucking sick

chap 2:

-same vash same

-ily rem but no, thats too fucked up to forgive

-knives, my poor baby :c

-"i wish i could cut myself from everything too" oh mood, i mean what

-ok but rem trying to pick vash up and he refusing has to be so fucking heartbreaking for rem cuz thats her fucking child no matter what

-imagine your child who loved you so much rejecting you like that. i would literally shatter

-"you can continue the experiments with us" vash stfu i swear. catch me actually crying over that line btw im not ok

-INTERESTING how rem says she felt powerless (and i get why) but during the whole thing the crew had so much power over her life

-it fucks me up this is a one year old trying to die of starvation. yeah he looks older and etc etc but hes still less than 2 years old. life is pain. why nightow.

-also idk if im interpreting the panel right but i think he *was* going to eat but saw rem in his room so he stopped

-or are those different days? idk

-alright, today you are eating you sick son of a bitch :]

-NO STOP THAT YOU FUCKING CHILD

-the panel being blurry on purpose, 10/10

-hes sitting the same way rem did- oh im ending it all

-i feel kinda weird saying this but i just fucking love that story: the metaphor, how she tells it. it really feels like a parent trying to teach a kid something. its sad but feels comfy. i could literally read/listen to her telling that story of the train in her dreams over and over

-[pause for crying]

-its "separated ways" cuz that talk with rem lowkey divided rem i think. knives would be way different if he had heard what rem said. damn it why did he had to faint

chap 3

-"king of loneliness" pls i want to stop crying

-i know he didnt block the memory, i feel it

-yey creepy knives is here....yeyyy....

-amazing transition btw, gives me the yibbies every time

-HES RIGHT THO MF, YOU ARE AFRAID

-why he looks so cool while being creepy stop it knives stop it

-idk if im understanding it right, but i think knives did the thing he did in the first chapter but for all ships. it comes full circle

-god i hate when hes right

-im sad to say he looks beautiful and epic. also for the life of me i could not say if that plant agreed with him or not

-yknow what i think she didnt agree to that

-age of chaos wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii :D

[i took a one day break cuz the volume made me too sad BUT IM BACK BABY]

chap 4

-yeah ig my baby has been to so many funerals if you think about it

-YEAH TO THE RESCUEEEEE

-wolfwood: you dont wanna mess with this guy he will break you

the guy in question: :c

-aw his cute little and stupid face :3

-i love to see vash having a good time :') god he needed that

-oh man we're getting sad again

-also yes they take those people who did whatever they did but the bartender is also taking vash in, even the demons get to drink there huh, nice

-why tf is this guy so wise, why is he saying what vash (kinda) needs to hear? amazing, im devastated

-wait so the feathers or whatever hurt??? because of the face he made. SO DOES IT HURT???? NO :C

-knives can you not-

-ITS HIM IN ALL OF HIS FUCKED UP GLORY :D

-SHUT UP VASH, GEESUS

-the final panel its so cute and then there's the fucking speech bubble that says "dumbass" its true tho xd

chap 5

-NOT THE FUCKING FEATHER i dont want to go there

-he looks so tired :c

-oh shit i forgot about that panel of his face wth

-OH SHIT WOLFWOOD NO

-OH THATS CREEPY AS HELL YO WHAT

-"the last thing i want to do is be a burden to him" STFU WOLFWOOD AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

-SHES HERE OH SHIT OH SHIT

-"youre the one who needs to be careful" I WILL CHEW GLASS

-FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

-OH GOD OH NO ITS HIM GET OUTTTT

-elendira ily sm

-thank you wolfwood for saying trans rights lmao

-HES ASLEEP. KILL HIM VASH KILL HIM

-oh no his glasses :c

-ah fuck hes awake noooooooooooo

chap 6

-LEGATO IN THE METAL HANDBAG :D WHAT WILL HE DO

-dont you bring tesla into this >:[

-idk whats happening but KILL HIM

-*sigh* i hate when knives is right

-DONT YOU DARE SAY THAT AFTER STAMPEDE MF :C "if they come for us lets just run as fast as we can" YOU ARE MAKING IT SO HARD TO READ THIS MAN

-also yey he regained his eye :3

-:cccccccccccccccccccccc im so happy that talk was in stampede

-also yeah vash hates knives with a burning passion but EVEN THEN he still was willing to give him a chance and live together with him, i cant do this anymore really

-im picturing legato kind of jumping in his metal handbag to move around as if he was in a sleeping bag cuz i think thats way funnier lmao

-:cccccccccc vash pls

-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :c his armmmm

-oh geesus oh god no OH HELL NO

-ohhhhh i see. look at legato being useful lmao /J

-THE ARK IS HERE WOOP WOOP

well that was certainly a volume

[laesas]

For fanfic ask game 👀, 🌝 and 🖊 please!

OMG I ended up writing so much for these that I'm gonna have to put the long answers under a readmore! But short answers:

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

KimKen dubcon interrogation... 👀

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

Weirdly as of late: Chan! - I'm entering my Dilf 4 Dilf divorce era someone give me pre-canon ChanGun I'm begging.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

Chay + Tankhun hours under the cut!!

Thanks so so much lovely!!

✨📝 Writers Ask Game 📝✨

💌Send me one here!💌

👀 Do you have any WIPs that you would never let see the light of day? If yes, what are they about?

Soooooo. I there's only one fic that I've actually written up that won't ever see the light of day and that's the 4k or so of the initial ideas and concepts for the KimBig - Kim ended up coming across as more distrustful of Big than he is (because it's Big POV we dont get to see inside his head), and it ended up coming across as a little too "Vegas". While he's rude to Big in canon he isnt actually hugely distrustful; he's banking on Big serving Kinn over Korn to get information on Porsche and the potential mole(s).

I love the energy but it felt very 2-dimensional and I couldn't wrangle the context it to make it work. Plus I absolutely love the emotional vulnerability I've created in the KimBig 2.0 from Kim's perspective - it feels a lot more realistic. I realised if I wanted to use the first dynamic I'd definitely have to make it happen with someone Kim didn't trust at all (cue Ken).

So in short: The rework where it's KimKen - Kim suspects that Ken is the mole and goes all knife-to-throat femme fatale while accusing Ken of sleeping with Vegas. Which he is btw. But that's beside the point lol.

🌝 Who is one character you haven’t yet written for that you would like to?

Considering the rest of the content of my blog you absolutely could not guess this but yeah! Chan...........? the last few weeks I've suddenly been gripped with a bunch of swirling thoughts about his relationships with the three main family boys, with Big who also grew up in the household and how he's not allowed to pick a favourite bodyguard (big) or a favourite sibling (kim). Plus all the nuances of his loyalty to Korn and interactions with the minor household as well.

Chan + Vegas' dynamic particularly fascinates me! Vegas often uses english as a show of status: to include his family and exclude lower ranking bodyguards who are primarily thai speakers (eg. speaking english with macau at the dinner table, speaking english to Porsche and using weird idioms to throw him off balance). In ep 14 he pointedly says 'know your place!' in english to Chan. To any other bodyguard it would be another layer of pulling rank but Chan is acting on Korn's behalf and completely fluent in english so the effect is competely different, as is his response. There's a kind of implied superiority that Chan is immune to, both because of his proximity to Korn, AND because of his fluency in english. IDK if I've explained that well at ALL but there's something super interesting there ✨ Point being: Chan's english fluency vs Vegas' pointed use of english my beloved.

Also I joke about him and Gun giving "divorced" energy, but I feel like ChanGun has the exact same energy I love from KenBig but with even more hatefucking and complex ranks and loyalties. I am entering my Dilf4Dilf divorce era it seems. Rotating them in my mind as we speak.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

I'm currently reworking the first chapter of my KimChay which starts with Tankhun and Chay bonding hours! Chay's trying to get Tankhun to let him learn self defence and Tankhun is deflecting.

“What-?” Chay says, momentarily distracted. Khun pounces. “Yes! Robots, I helped him build them, you know! It was like a video game! No need to learn fighting when you can shoot with the computer or make explosions from the safety of your safe room! They were so helpful when- Owh. I don't want to talk about it actually.” “When what?” “I’m bored of this topic now, it’s not interesting to me anymore.” “P’Khuuun,” Chay whines, hopping up onto the dresser and trying more and more ridiculous angles to lean himself into Tankhun’s eyeline as he dips and dodges around Chay’s encroaching face. Chay eventually gives up and grabs hold of his wrist, the way he does with Porsche, the way he did with-  Khun startles and tenses, wide eyed, milliseconds from snatching it away.  “Sorry-” Chay starts, removing his hands, but Tankhun’s arm stays frozen in mid air for a moment before he comes back to himself. Chay watches in the mirror as Khun settles his expression, when he’s satisfied he turns to look up at Chay. Level. His smile is soft but his eyes are blank. Chay’s seen that mask before. “It's fine,” Tankhun says quickly, it sounds clipped and strange. His smile is bright as a camera flash and gone just as quickly. “Could you- in my closet-” He frowns, “You should swap the jackets. You forgot one. I picked it out for you and you forgot it and now your outfit is all wrong. Go and fix it-” he clicks his fingers “Pol. Help him fix it now.” Pol nods, smiling at Chay and walking them back through the wardrobe doors. He beats Chay to the jacket and crouches to pick it up from where it was slumped on the floor. Chay reaches out to take it, suddenly desperate to leave and go back to Tankhun, to fix things, to apologise and tell him he was right and that the jackets do look better the other way around. Pol doesn’t let go. “Hold on, he needs a moment sometimes,”

It all ends up ok in the end! Tankhun is fine really!

In my mind Chay has very much latched on to Tankhun as a stabilising presence (which Tankhun has revelled in because very few people trust him that way). Tankhun is able to support Chay because he just inherently understands a lot of what Chay's going through, but because Khun is so overwhelmingly supportive, sometimes Chay forgets that the root of the understanding is that Tankhun is still traumatised too.

BUT it is fine. And crucially after he calms down, Khun doesn't let Chay shrink and go all apologetic and pliant the way he does when Porsche feels bad. Chay is allowed to feel bad for hurting Tankhun without that requiring him giving up all his autonomy and reasonable requests. I think that's a pretty important thing for Chay to learn - and that theme of autonomy becomes important in his conversations with Kim later!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ASKING LOVELY LOVELY EGG!!

[fraugremlinreads]

These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

✰/5

TW: Casual Mentions or discussions of Rape, Torture, Slavery and Dubcon sex work, especially in regards to women.

Not Recommended. My disappointment was immeasurable. With names like "Seelie" and "Unseelie", I already went into this with some relatively low expectations, but I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT IT NEEDED TO BE LOWER. The sins of this Book (and the series as I took the time to also read book 2 and my criticisms hold up but I wont cover it bc its not worth it) are these 3 things; The terribly bland yet übermensch FMC, The horrible exposition and info dumping to peddle the plot, and the constant plot holes created to try any form of "plot twist" because of both point 1 and 2.

Spoilers and Vicious n depth review that I beg you to read ↓↓

Female MC is your average pretty ugly not like other girls who is constantly agonizing over how any MALE can be attracted to her while also asking for pants every five seconds because "UWU I DOWNT WIKE DWESSES." When she isnt complaining about how boring and bland she is (rightfully so, i mean she is basically a plank of wood with a red wig) everyone in the world is obsessed with her and how important she is.

ALSO SHE HAS MAGIC POWERS BECAUSE SHE IS THE CHOSEN ONE OF DESTINY. this is also clarified very early btw even if our FMC was too dumb to understand because we basically get lore dump info in the first 6 chapters that clarify this so painfully obvious that I genuinely think you would need to be lacking a brain to not realize this is the case. Every single plot twist is disclosed to you via chapter 1-6 btw. you basically have everything you really need. From there you get a random child who info dumps on future plot things for FMC because they have mysterious visions!!!!!

Perhaps the reason there is so many characters who basically hand deliver the entire plot that FMC is too dumb to make the connections to herself is because. heaven forbid she actually have to think about anything other than which of the two princes she wants to f*ck first! Her sister has been sold into slavery and she is more preoccupied with which spoiled brat prince who is fighting over her like children she should give herself to first, all the while saying "teehee nobody could ever want lil ol pants wearing me UWU".

An example of a plot hole is in the first 5 chapters where FMC Sister gets sold into slavery. this is on the back summary of the book btw so we know it happens. in Chapter 1 she finds a contract with her sisters name on it when robbing some guy, yada yada it expires tomorrow and shes like oh no i cant think about this. she goes home and oh no one of her friends, whom we will never see again, daughter also made a contract and will be taken away and become a slave and so our heroine, with her big kind heart, gives her money away to her friend. She goes home to reveal she is basically CINDERELLAxROBIN HOOD LMFAO WITH AN EVIL AUNT AND TWO EVIL COUSINS (because female characters can only be good if everyone in their life hates them and wants to abuse them, amiright fellas!) and she also has a contract to pay off with them in debt, and also her sister has not one, but two contracts of debt i guess. but its ok that she is late on her payments bc she always is. Next day comes and the aunt sells her sister into slavery for being late on payments.... why? WE HAD A VERY CLEAR POTENTIAL CANIDATE WITH THE GUY SHE ROBBED. which is never brought up again. It was a pointless GASP PLOT TWIST when we already knew it was going to happen, its just the aunt did it first?????? bc she was bored??????????????? This literally only happens to make sure the aunt, whom will also never be seen again, is painted as comedically evil as possible to make us think bohoo poor Ariebella (why the fuck does she have such a stupid UWU SPECIAL name anyways. at leaast its not Violet or Raven but still. It doesnt really flow off the tongue nicely.)

And then there is a whole portion of the book where FMC is basically drugged and it exists for no reason other than to make her flirt with love interest #2 because there is nothing that comes of it. she just acts drunk and tries to sleep with him and hes like "No sry ur drugged" AT LEAST THE AUTHOR HAD THE DECENCY TO DO THAT I GUESS???? NOT HAVE HER BE DRUG RAPED. My expectations are so fucking low that i am proud of Lexi for this.

If anyone ever tells me again that Male authors cant write women as well as Women, I will show them a long list of incompetent female authors who use romantacy as a power self insert fantasy to have studs fawn over them and ill make sure Lexi Ryan is in the top 10 of this list. Though i am not surprised considering the cringe of her other works.

[sonic-bloodmoon]

Sonic BloodMoon [Chapter 1 Page 11]

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[Patreon]

[boyfriendyke]

i know yall are focused on the tumblr sexymanification of albert and vincent and victor but IM focused on tumblrsexywomenification. i think we can make it happen. unrelated but i think zalmona and vanora are lesbians

[suckishima]

can someone just... write my wips for me

[asexual-levia-tan]

oh hey

wonder if that was intentional

[xplrvibes]

Not Sam the literal guy who told us not to put so much energy into vacations & time off, crying over his life “feeling like a job” now. Wasnt this the same man who has been posting about expensive meals, and amazing friends, and amazing parties, and woo hoo this and woo hoo that?? So it’s all been for show you say? And he really wasnt or hasnt been “having the time of his life?”. I think instead of buying self help books for dummies, this man needs to take a crash course on sociology, and human behavior/social environment to really understand where most of his followers are coming from because he does not present himself to be relatable at all. Its like me reading one history chapter and calling myself a historian. He works for himself and complains more than someone like myself with a grummy 9-5 would, and not saying he isnt allowed to complain but why write bullshit think piece after bullshit think piece telling fans that vacations and relaxing arent all thats cracked up to be. He goes back and forth. Why not be real and show who you really are rather than pretending shitty music being played by a boombox is making you have the time of your life with “friends” who come and go yet always seem to be the best people ever for 2.5 seconds.

Sorry for ranting but this kid is really getting on my nerves, and i think you always give real raw opinions on them instead of sugar coating everything.

I will say this: for better or worse, his speech on snap yesterday was probably the most real I've ever seen him be. No bullshit, no trying to sell us a bill of goods about how great life is...nope, it was just, "Things are really hard and I'm very stressed about it."

I appreciated hearing that more than some "working all day, everyday, is the only way you'll ever achieve true greatness and happiness," bs.

Sam is hard to figure out and relate to, because he's so damn focused on building a persona of himself instead of just being himself that it just comes across sometimes (to me at least) as someone who is just playing a part in a one-man show that we all didn't know we bought tickets to, and that's the thing that can sometimes be grating about his little "think" pieces. They aren't always genuine, they aren't always true, and I don't think they are truly him- they come off as the him he wants to be perceived as, and not the person he is inside.

I also think a lot of his posts about loving the job and the grind and the "party life" is all part of that- he wants to be perceived as a fun guy with a great life and an internal library of great stories and life lessons because of it, and sometimes he has to alter the perception a bit to make the reality he's presenting fit the narrative he's tryjng to present, you know what I mean? I believe they call it "smoke and mirrors."

Now, does that mean he isn't always having a grand time in life? No, he does have a unique and high adrenaline, fun life and I'd love to hear all about it- but I can never tell with him when he's genuinely having fun and having a good day vs when the smoke and mirrors are out in full force and hes trying to justify a way to continue to live at as fast of a pace as he's living, or trying to sell this made up perception of himself. Whats real and what's a bill of goods? I don't know. I don't even know if he knows anymore, which is a little sad.

The food posts, btw, are them just trying to use payola to their advantage to get a free meal, which I have no issue with- if I had that kind of juice, you'd best believe I'd never pay for food again lol.

Anyway, for once, he wasn't sugar coating shit yesterday. He wasn't trying to sell anyone (at least on snap) on how great life is. He's stressed, his life choices are starting to cost him strain in places he didn't realize he couldn't afford to have strained (primarily relationships) and he's approaching burnout.

And btw- I said they would burn out eventually, if they had to do their own editing. I said this back when their fandom bullied them back into doing their own editing again, and look where we are, right on cue. Sam's crying in the parking lot of the post office, Colby's turned into a self help guru on snapchat as a way to try and avoid his own issues, they've got two mansions and no furniture in either one and that is somehow a great symbolism for how empty their lives are right now.

Let these boys have editors.

Anywho, Sam, if youre out there in tumbrland (please dont be out there in tumblrland): I'd appreciate it greatly if you were more honest and direct, not just with us, but with yourself more often. Not everything needs to be a Ted talk, a teachable moment, or a self-help quote. Sometimes, life is awesome and sometimes it's balls. Be honest and raw and not preachy about it all, and for fucks sake- stop trying to sell that more work = more happiness, cause you, Sam and Colby, are a textbook example of that not always being the case.

Also, please don't ever tell people again that vacations aren't the bomb dot com, as we used to say way back in the 1990s. Downtime is a necessary tool for anyone looking to not burn out completely.

[camencanto]

im loving your fic so far keep it up :D btw im curious! what does rico look like in your mind? any specific features that you could list out or envision on him :O i know there isnt really a great way to write out a character description in a story without it being jarring or too overdescriptive so i figured it would be good to ask here! idk why i always imagine him in a leather jacket and him letting camilo borrow it LMAO thank you!

i love the leather jacket idea, he definitely gives off those vibes!! in later chapters i promised he's described better, but i picture him with just very dark features, dark curls cut short, dark eyes, dark fingertips pressing too closely to camilos soul. to me, he's midnight bus rides, rain beneath street-lights, bloody knuckles, bruised cheekbones, over-worn flannels and neck chains and empty beer cans. theres a lot more to him we have yet to see the depth of, and i cant wait to share it all with you :)

[dogstarblues]

the problem with fanfiction is that its mostly funnel cake. its to satisfy a craving. you dont eat it for nourishment. theres a stunning lack of character work and an over-reliance on source material which results in a lack of attention paid to craft. you already know what the characters look like so they dont describe it outside of defining characteristics. you already know what their homes look like and their clothes. theres nothing to ground the stories and and thats because of a lack of detail work. youre expected to worry about the characters and cry over manufactured tragedies because you already care abt the characters. youre coming into it invested. so the authors tend not to rely on their writing eliciting worry and sadness, youre supposed to feel it because of the tropes and the already-present investment. which doesnt work if youre not invested. this is what i mean by a lack of craft. especially on ao3. fanfiction is cupcakes. its a sugar rush. a craft-minded writer's writing should make you invested. it should draw you in.

im noticing this now partially because of my own developed skill in writing and because im no longer a fan of anything or in fandom. i enjoy things but i dont get obsess anymore. so i dont read fanfiction too often because it doesnt draw me in after the first few chapters really. there were a few fanfics that have done it but its been years since something tragic in a fanfic has made me cry. its like, okay, the character is dying of hanahaki disease. one of my favorite concepts and the author never makes me feel it. the author expects you to feel sad because the character is dying but the writing itself doesnt lend to tragedy. i recently read a hanahaki fic and it was decent but. like what about the pain of a chronic cough? what about the sensation of something in lungs? what about the effects of a chronic illness on the characters mental state? on the characters ability to function on everyday tasks? what about the insecurity that comes with chronic illness? how does it affect the characters relationships with people outside of who they love, even if they dont tell people its hanahaki. all i get from hanahaki fics is the focus on the characters pain from unrequited love. but thats generally not described too. what about insecurities? how does the character think about their actions? does the character change the way they talk about certain things? how are the character's thought patterns changed? i usually dont receive that in fanfiction. i havent read a fanfic yet in all my years of reading it (since i was 13 btw). youre just expected to go along with it.

im not saying their isnt good fanfiction, there certainly is like i read one this morning. an immortal character and his love cursed to be reincarnated and die shortly after meeting him. very poetic writing. meandering in an enjoyable way and actually inspired me to write a short story abt an immortal. but. im saying it lacks nutrients inherently. it doesnt improve your digestion. its indulgent. it tastes good but what else is there?

[alatismeni-theitsa]

anti LO anon opinions

(1) Hot take: Anyone can make a comic where the characters are different colors and have a lineless style. I feel like because of how popular it got, if you even try to do something with monocolor schemes, LO fans will think you're copying.It's a lot easier to make characters one color and a completely valid way of making art/comics. No one owns a lineless art or monocolors tho.I'd love to see comics that use colors like LO does but in a way that makes more sense.

(2) R.. Rachel knows Demeters a fertility goddess- right??? She knows that there's like a billion fertility goddesses in greek mythology right?!

(3) LO Ouranos' design is just confirming once again Smythe can only think of these gods in a Abrahamic fashion instead of their actual ancient context and society. That's why the Maidens are seen as regressive prudes, why there's such an emphasis on "purity", why men hold more power/status, why Minthe, who is the evil lustful woman compared to the good virginal Persephone, is designed literally like a devil/succubus, why sex outside of marriage/several partners is seen as bad, the list goes on.

(4) So why does Ouranos have 6 eyes in the recent chapter? Does it signify he will have 6 sons (plus 6 daughters, but unlikely the daughters are included) who will eventually overthrow him?

I noticed that both Gaia and Persephone both have hair that sometimes look like leaves, so I guess both Hades and Ouranos have a thing for women who will never "Leaf" them (I'm a language major, sorry for my weird puns)

PS, a friend of mine joked that "if Ouranos has 6 eyeballs, does this mean he also have 6 male reproductive organs? 😏" (And also Aphrodite was born from the Sea foam of Ouranos bits and pieces so...)

(5) Read the latest LO chapter, and they sure did my favorite goddess Demeter dirty by making her an overdramatic laughing stock and a quacky (whacky) mother to boot.

I think it's very disrespectful to turn a mythological wonderful loving mother who has a very healthy mother-daughter relationship with her children (Persephone) and a very dedicated and responsible Godess who is in charge of the four seasons be reduced to a laughingstock and a boss whose employees throw a party/sleaze around when she's not at work.

(6) Obviously Demeter and co. are being drawn this way in preparation for everyone to deal with Henson Co. adapting it. they only deal with childish designs like that (barring the gross puppets they like to do too. prepare LO to be full of fart and barf jokes) and it'll be much easier for them to design if the comic does the same (this is sarcasm btw. It's more likely RS has just gotten lazy and know they could spit on paper and the fandom will eat it up. why put effort into your work, right?)

(7) The only unique design LO ever does is random splotches of color, white lines for scars, pointy ears, and extra eyes, and that's at the absolute most. You could say Punderworld also suffers some same faces (especially the women) but you can also tell who is who by their outfits, props, and variations in features.

(8) This is a minor complaint but LO Hecate's design is so ugly 😭she looks like an edgy moodboard take on Edna Mode. She's supposed to be this badass witch yet looks just as boringly business as everyone else. Also wasn't she not involved with Hades until after Persephone is married? Wasn't she Persephone's companion first in myth? Why is she Hades' best friend instead and only interacted with Persephone for a study abroad semester?

(9) God, the pilot line in LO is so stupid. Are they telling us fertility goddesses are the only source of power to try and be like HAHA SEE PERSEPHONE DOESNT NEED HADES! HE NEEDS HER! Because 1) that means it’s setting up HADES to take over olympus/overthrow Zeus which is so!!! Ugh!!! Why are you messing with literal religion now?! Hades is a shit king in the underworld but she seems to want him as the head one too?! But also 2) shouldnt DEMETER be the most powerful and desired godess then? Seeing as she’s literally the fertility godess?? Why did Smythe literally skip over her to make Persephone more special?

Metis was included despite no fertility traits but the literal goddess who controls nature and the earth ISNT? How does that work?! Demeter literally made Persephone all by herself in comic but shes not in this special lineup? Not to mention it once again is making the women props for men and their games! Cant we just read a stupid romance without it being a shallow political game too?

Persephone is being used as a literal political chip and whoever “gets” her is now, essentially, holding the nuclear codes and can overthrow whoever they want.  we know it’ll be Hades, so he’s not only getting a super fertile wife to give him babies, he’s also getting a wife who never questions him, who does whatever he wants, and is now his tool to literally rule everything if he wants, which who knows, he might do so poor Hera is free of her loveless marriage because he’s just SO caring like that. Also, Apollo never wanted to overthrow Zeus?! Athena, Hera, and Poseidon did! 

Does she know this is a romance comic and the jumping between stupid romance and earth-ending drama does not mesh well? God I’m mad. This is so stupid. The damn Disney movie showed more respect than this. 

[zhuhongs]

Upon rereading tgcf, one of the biggest complaints I have is how lackluster all the extra chapters were. literally none of them were good and all contained rlly gross and harmful sentiments (like the amnesia one which.. yea.. or all the things implying xl should get pregnant for hc thus equating gay relationships with hetero ones and playing into the wife thing and just GOD I HATE MXTX) 

There were a lot of little plot points i wish that had been further elaborated on more in the extras as opposed to hualian being ... like that. I had enough. Like mdzs had actaully good extras (minus the incense burners) that were nice side stories that elaborated more on the characters. Like the hook one with the juniors was so cute and i loved seeing them grow more. Or the lotus pod extras omg.. im such a lotus pod extra stan. those were so cute and gave us a lot of good insight into just how lovestruck lwj was during the times when he didn’t see wwx. mxtx should've stuck to those sorta extras in tgcf but NOOO. SO I have a list of so many other more interesting things those chapters couldve been spent on like:

A resolution on He Xuan’s revenge and his character arc. Bc its implied He Xuan is still hanging out and watching over sqx and that taking revenge didn’t fully satisfy him bc ok.. yea shi wudu is dead but he xuans family will never come back. Now what does he have to live for?? i wish we couldve seen a look into his life during the entire ordeal. like a chapter from his perspective while he was posing as Ming Yi  and maybe a look at a conversation btw he xuan and the real ming yi or a chapter after SQX was banished to see what he’s doing now. Also what did he xuan owe hua cheng money for anyways?? Like ik not every little thing has to be explained but I Want to Know. PLEASE more goth boyfriend content now I just wanna see him :,((

a better resolution of yin yu and quan yizhens storyline. im still mad abt how that plot point was split btw books 3 and 5  when it was rlly out of place and  there were other more pressing plot matters and it just rlly deserved more time. Also i thought yin yu died!?!?!? but apparently one of the extras says he’s alive and man... i;m not reading any more of the extras to see that, give me a full yin yu and quan yizhen chapter.. fuck.

a day in the life of the guoshi fangxin or general hua PLEASE especially like one where hua cheng was SO CLOSE to meeting xie lian but had no clue that xie lian was there at the time but the two did smth that inadvertantly helped the other and they still were connected even though they hadnt met omg pls that’d be so nice. like imagine Hua cheng catching a glimpse of the guoshi in public in yong’an while he’s trying to follow some lead that points to xie lian or maybe following a lead to capture qi rong bc he said he knew qi rong was a part of the yong’an stuff and originally thought the guoshi was one of qi rongs pawns. like can you IMAGINE him getting so close. but at the last second he did smth small that impacted xie lian. like they bumped into eachother on the street or smth. god i’d go crazy

OR vice versa.. like a day in the life of the young ghost king hua cheng. Like again, one of my biggest issues was that hua cheng just knew everything and its never really explained how he got all of that info. like yes he’s been alive very long and has eyes and ppl working for him everywhere but like... how did he build that network?? I’d love to see a chapter of young ghost king hua cheng travelling around trying to learn as much as he can abt the world and how it can help bring him to xie lian. and the two maybe are in the same kingdom for a bit and they don’t meet exactly but hua cheng stops some fight or something and helps xie lian indirectly or maybe xie lian is performing on the street in some costume and hua cheng doesn’t recognize him and smiles and gives him a coin or smth. idk i’m just dying for any sorta extra chapter or fic like that. i’m honestly so tempted to write my own but i cant write

also!! we’ve seen how xie lian picks up people down on their luck near him and show them kindness (like banyue, lang ying, xiao ying, he tried to with san lang but we know how that ended lmao) so i’d love to see another little vignette of him doing that on his travels and how every person he meets teaches him smth about life and being a good person and idk, i just think it’d be rlly sweet. i love this facet of his character and feel like we didn’t see enough of it towards the end.

ALSO hua cheng only seems to respect one heavenly official besides xie lian and thats yushi huang.. i assume thats mostly bc she was the only one to help xie lian and let him use the rain master hat to bring water to yong’an. I was thinking maybe when he was a new supreme he had run into trouble and maybe was picked up by the rain master and helped him heal and in return he promised to help protect her village from harm in the future. Like i know a heavenly official wouldn’t cooperate with a ghost like that but yushi huang is different and doesn’t really care about the heavens so i think she would protect him if he could do something to benefit her village. ik this is kinda far fetched but when he first became a supreme I’m sure a bunch of ppl probably tried to mess with him and didn’t rlly believe him to be undefeatable bc he hadn’t proved himself yet also i doubt all his power came overnight. he had to learn how to use it once he escaped the kiln. and some group probably thought they could weaken him somehow. I’m thinking maybe a rlly well formed group of ghosts actually caught him off guard once and he had to retreat and was picked up by the rain master and stayed with her and learned from her a bit. i think it’d be a cool concept also i just rlly want more yushi huang content and i’m on their friendship agenda bc he rlly did seem to actually respect her when she first appeared and i think it’d be cool if the two had some history together.

Also idrc if this was addressed I couldve missed it But!! Did xie lian ever tell Hua cheng that the reason he got the curse shackles and was banished again in the first place wasnt bc jun wu wanted to punish him, but because he requested it. And specifically requested it bc he felt guilty abt letting wu ming take the human face disease and disperse for his sake. So he took the shackles and descended to atone for that?? Bc I dont recall hua cheng learning that bc his soul was already dispersed at that point so it didnt follow him and xie lian didnt say anything so uhhh... someone should tell hua cheng that. Like I dont think xie lian rlly said how much hua cheng meant to him and didnt show him he was loved in grand ways. Like xie lian did always care for bc in other ways but I think if hua cheng learned abt this on screen it wouldve been such a great moment and I'm rlly surprised mxtx didnt address this iirc!?!? Like imagine jun wu telling Hua cheng this in the kiln bc xie lian wouldnt say it himself. Imagine how cool that would be.

Also a small thing adding into the whole young ghost king Hua cheng stuff. Its implied and p much stated that hua cheng isnt his real name. That he likely doesnt have a real name bc his parents died? (It's not clear. I'm still mad at mxtx for not making his childhood clearer). So I'd like to see when and why hua cheng chose that name for himself. The new tgcf ending song kinda hints at its meaning with the lyrics "for you I'd fill a city of flowers" as xie lian is the flower wielding martial god so it's probably inspired by that. Also xie lian saved hua cheng from leaping off the city walls but I'd love to hear him say it bc the implication of his name didnt dawn on me for quite a bit and I dont know if everyone made the connection. Again I sure as hell didnt. So itd be cool to see a chapter that takes place in his past after just ascending as a supreme

Overall I rlly think tgcf had a lot more potential to be even better and a lot of that comes down to fleshing out the side characters and letting hualian have more of a storyline independent of one another. like i know the appeal and message of tgcf is that through love, people can overcome anything, but fuck man. i just wanna see what these two (mostly hua cheng) where like in the absence of each others presence. Part of what I really liked abt mdzs is that we got to see that longing develop btw wangxian when the two weren’t together and how they thought about each other and did things in thei others spirit bc they knew the other wouldve done the same thing. but whatever, mxtx was too consumed by her own unhealthy idea of what devotion and true love looks like but still. i rlly think the extras couldve helped the story be better rather than be fujoshi fuel that i try to bleach from my mind -_-