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raining-dreams · 1 year

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Best Underrated Shows

Saving Me

Saving Me is about a lonely old guy who invents a time machine so he can go back to his child self and fix all his past mistakes. I learned about this show from this video titled Watch THIS instead of Hailey's On It by M!n!mal M!ss Art. Despite this video, I was still very excited to watch Hailey's On It. It seemed like a story with a cool premise and cute art style (and ultimately I do really like the show) But Hailey's On It wasn't gonna be out for weeks when I came across this video and this video really sold me on giving Saving Me a try. I never would have even heard of this show without that youtube video which would have been a real shame because Saving Me is fantastic! I hope this show reaches more people and I'm dying for a season 3!!!!!

House of Anubis

Mystery is my favorite genre and House of Anubis is chuck full of it. I used to be obsessed with this show back in high school. I had so much fun coming up with theories and live-blogging my thoughts and opinions about each new episode. Some of the acting & dialogue could be a little cringe sometimes but the story is just so good that it doesn't matter. I've heard that Het Huis Anubis (the Dutch version of the show that House of Anubis is based on) is even better, though I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Over the Garden Wall

Those of us who have seen Over the Garden Wall seem to agree that this show is amazing! Which makes it feel a little weird to call it underrated. But it seems like so few people have actually seen it. Maybe because it was a mini series, it couldn't reach the same level of popularity as other shows of similar quality. If you like Gravity Falls, you'll likely enjoy Over the Garden Wall as well. (Wirt is even voiced by the same guy who voiced Dipper!) I would highly recommend anyone that hasn't seen it already.

Dead End: Paranormal Park

I feel like it's pretty rare for animated series to exist in the horror genre for some reason. It truly is an untapped market. But if you love horror and animation, Dead End is the show for you! (Of course it's kid friendly horror since the target audience is children) The two main characters, Barney and Norma get jobs at a haunted park and work together to fight ghosts and demons. Dead End has a super cute animation style, in my opinion, and a very diverse set of characters. I encourage everyone to watch it!

Just Add Magic

Just Add Magic is based on a children's book by the same name. It's a show about three girls who love to cook and basically discover that they can use cooking to do magic. It's a pretty interesting take on how magic works in their universe. It's very fun to watch. All of the actors are also so talented! And one of those actors is Zach Callison (the voice of Steven Universe)!

The friendship between the trio is awe-inspiring! They have so much chemistry. It's a pretty fun watch.

The Last Kids On Earth

Based on a comic of the same name, this show is about a group of kids who have to survive on their own when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. And other various creatures start to threaten them (or even become their allies) It's basically a cute found family story. The premise is pretty simplistic but that's what I love about it. The animation style of The Last Kids On Earth is so beautiful as well!

I'm still waiting for a season 3!!!!!

Code Lyoko

I remember as a kid being aware of this show and thinking it looked kind of interesting (and I always loved the theme song!!) but I never ended up watching it back then because I let peer pressure get the better of me. I remember I met someone who brought up how much they loved the show. When I heard them express that interest, I was at first excited to ask them more but before I had the chance, everyone else started making fun of him for liking Code Lyoko.

I guess it was like the nerd show or something? I don't really know why it was considered cringe to like Code Lyoko but upon seeing my peers act this way, I decided I can't like Code Lyoko if I want to fit in. So, I avoided watching it. But earlier this year, when I was flipping through channels, they were showing old episodes of Code Lyoko! I was intrigued since I remembered it from childhood and thought I'd actually give it a chance this time. And it's actually a pretty good show! It can be slow at times but overall I enjoy it.

If you're like me and avoided watching this back then due to peer pressure, I highly recommend leaving that in the past and just letting yourself enjoy this show!!

Slugterra

Slugterra is honestly pretty similar to Pokemon, except it's slugs! And the entire series takes place underground. Basically, there's a whole underground world called Slugterra, home to slugs, trolls, moles, etc. And all the slugs have cool powers so the people collect & befriend slugs so they can use them as weapons ("slugslinging"). If you like Pokemon, you're sure to like Slugterra!

Detentionaire

I discovered Detentionaire randomly while I was searching through Amazon's library of cartoons. I was looking for a new show to watch and just stumbled upon this one. It looked pretty interesting and I was surprised to see it was a show from 2011. I don't know how I missed this show back then. Idk if maybe it only aired in Canada or something? (cuz it's a Canadian show) But anyways, Detentionaire is such an intriguing show where the main character, Lee, discovers some grand conspiracy and has to try to expose it to prove his innocence so he can get out of detention. It's such an interesting concept. And, as I mentioned earlier, mystery is my favor genre, so I had a lot of fun with this one.

The only problem though is, of course, it ends on a cliffhanger. The show got canceled before they had the chance to conclude the story in a satisfying way (or any type of way) so watch at your own risk.

Catscratch

I honestly don't even remember what this show was about but I do remember enjoying this show and being excited when I saw a new episode was out. I remember thinking it was so funny. I just don't think enough people know about this show.

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absolutebl · 11 months

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BL recs (from any country) that don't have any s*x scenes? I'm too ace to enjoy them at all. Happy ending preferred, angst v welcome:)

BLs Without Sex Scenes

Oof, this is a hard one. Is a dead fish kiss okay? I do have a heat sorting on the spreadsheet of doom, and there are some with no kissing at all, but a dead fish kiss is in most of the HEA ones.

BLs with No Kisses

21 Days Theory (Thailand, YouTube) - the only thing I didn't like about this pulp was the fact that they don't kiss, so... yeah, this is my first pick for you. Very YA first love angsty, fantastic queer rep and side characters. RECOMMENDED

My Esports Genius Brother (China, Gaga?) - it's hella odd censored bromance but enjoyable. No real angst tho.

HIStory My Hero (Taiwan, Viki) - basically a BL with no sex or kissing, but also body-swap so is it BL? I can't remember the end but I think it's happy?

Silhouette of Your Voice AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan, ????) - this 2017 yaoi adaptation is a full on BL just no kissing at all. The source manga (I Hear the Sunspot) is a favorite of mine and the casting was decent. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for you (but not in general). Grey only.

Love of Siam (Thailand, ????) ALL THE ANGST, I'm pretty sure the most they do is hug, I could be v wrong though because too sad for me to ever rewatch. Very formative to the Thai BL industry.

The Lover (BL cut) (Korea ????) sometimes you can find the BL cut on YT, it has slapstick comedic sexualized moments that are maybe a little homophobic (or something), no actual sex or kissing, but no angst at all. (Korea's working some shizz out with this early offering.)

Kabe Koji AKA Kabesaa Doujin Sakka no Neko Yashiki-kun wa Shounin Yokkyuu wo Kojirasete iru (Japan, Viki) - I watched this and I was excited about it before it aired, but I seem to have expunged it from my memory and kept no screen caps in annoyance, so that's all I got.

Love in Spring AKA Spring of Crush (Korea, ????) - a crossdressing historical that flew utterly under the radar. I decided it just wasn't really BL, but it has BL aspects and it's kinda a little queer... or something. Grey only.

Evening Cafe (Thai pulp, YouTube) - No heat and no kisses, but a decent lead pair, about a boy who works in a cafe and the new employee who has a crush on him. That’s it, that's the whole story.

A Shoulder to Cry On (Korea, Viki) - Has no kissing and many people found it really good as @isisanna-blog reminded me, thank you). It certainly has ALL THE ANGST. (I did not like it at all, but I'm a terrible judge of this kind of BL.)

What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Japan ???) - this is such a lovely show, very warm and comforting and slice of life. There is very little angst, they too old for that shit, but little to no sexual content either. It's very warm and loving. A safe extremely yet queer show - and oh boy do we not get many of those. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Censored Bromances

So No Kisses (TM) for the gays but the hets might do stuff I didn't pay attention to. All these from China. Some happy, most not.

The Untamed

Word of Honor

Guardian

SCI Mysteries

Stay With Me AKA Addicted 2.0 (I never watched this so there may be rough play)

Mr CEO Falling in Love With Me

The Fairy Fox

Youth in the Breeze

Precise Shot

Advance Bravely

His Cat AKA His Cat Boyfriend

The Male Queen: Han Zi Gao

The "Ghost Boyfriend" series

Past Youth

I Go To School Not By Bus (Hong Kong short)

Recommended Shorts with no kisses, but cute & fun

The 8.2 Second Rule (Japan YouTube)

One Last Order (Korea, Gaga)

Love Advisor (Thailand, YouTube)

BLs with Dead Fish Kisses (maybe? only one, if any)

His the series: I Didn't Think I Would Fall In Love (Japan ????) - (NOT His the movie) this one has all the angst you could want in your whole life. ALL OF IT. Japan wins at emo, it's their THING.

Cherry Magic AKA 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard AKA 30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii AKA Cheri Maho (Japan ????) - there's sort of some bed tussling and implied sex but you could imagine them just being snuggles for the mains, the sides have dead fish kiss. In general there's some angst but not much. It's fluffy and great. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Bonus: overt ace representation for one of the side characters.

Meow Ears Up (Thailand Viki) - sides may kiss? I enjoyed this pulp especially at the start, the premise is fun. I think my biggest complaint was lack of kissing.

My Love Mix Up AKA Kieta Hatsukoi (Japan Viki), a case could be made for a demi seme in this BL. So much frenetic angst around bisexual identity crisis. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

My Ride (Thailand Gaga) - my favorite Thai BL pulp the sides have a good kiss and the mains do kiss but it's v dead fish, not at all sexual, and it comes at the very end. Otherwise extremely chaste, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this BL, queer and complex and engaging.

I Want to See Only You AKA Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai (Japan ????) - This is a beautiful piece of cinema well acted, about two boys who are opposite personalities and grew up together. The only kiss is the one pictured above, v dead fish. Full review here.

Nobleman Ryu's Wedding (Korea WeTV) - 12th Night goes BL in this cross dressing historical that ended up feeling like a Cinderfella fairy tale, lightly dramatic and utterly charming. Full review. There is one dead fishy kiss at the end but it's otherwise aggressively pure.

If you like this last style of KBL (with a kiss at the end being okay, I have quite a few more to recommend). Until 2022, most KBLs only had one dead fish kiss in them, so you are pretty safe with pre 2022 KBLs. They tend to be quite chaste and de-sexualized. Other good examples: Wish You, Light on Me.

That's all folx.

Some of the above I may be misremembering (since I don't rewatch this kind of BL and my memory is shit). And I may have forgotten some too, so I hope comments with jump in.

Others to consider:

(source)

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manipulatedstars · 1 year

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We'll Be Alright

Genre: fluff, slight angst if you squint, non-idol AU, office romance, coworkers-slash-friends-slash-idiots-to-lovers

Pairing: Mingi x gn!reader

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: Pink Mingi (a valid warning), symptoms of anxiety and panic but nothing serious, mentions of gambling ig, Wooyoung being Wooyoung

Summary: When Mingi overhears some colleagues talking, he realizes he has to finally make his feelings known - easier said than done.

A/N: Can you believe this bitch (me)? Apparently I write now?? This is my first ever finished fic, and I'm eternally grateful to @hobarine for being the greatest beta reader without agreeing to being one in the first place. I love your sexy brain. [clears throat and wipes tears] I'd also like to thank my dear friends who made this possible in the first place - check the end of the fic for what violently inspired me to write this. Feedback and reblogs appreciated! Also - this is not a song fic (well... I suppose it very much is, but not in that way), but I'll Keep You Safe by Sleeping At Last very much set the tone for this, so I highly recommend you check it out.

The first couple times your new coworker had poked his head around the side of your cubicle, it was all business - or at least as much business as it could be considering that new colleague was Song Mingi.

It had all started out with work-related questions when he joined the company and, being one of the company’s top salespeople, you were quickly tasked with showing him around and answering any questions he might have. Your boss had personally offered Mingi the position, so he wanted to make sure the newcomer was going to stay, considering he was a “natural at his job” and would “undoubtedly prove to be a huge asset to the team.” You'd learned not to question your boss's decisions after he'd proven time and time again that he had a gift for picking out new team members, despite his sometimes questionable and unusual methods.

You also didn't question why Mingi, even after he'd grown accustomed to his new work environment, kept sticking around you. He never addressed this but he was shy around other people and you were still the only one he sort-of knew. And you, having grown to enjoy his company despite him being borderline clueless and painfully clumsy at times, weren't gonna complain.

So what started out as, "I'm so so so sorry, could you please explain the printer to me again? I'm so sor-" quickly turned into deeper, more personal questions and conversations. Not in a weird way, of course, he just really enjoyed being around you and wanted to get to know you better. Or so he kept telling himself and others when someone pointed it out. Over time, he had become fairly confident that you two could be considered friends, and he couldn't be happier. So you got used to him just poking his head, adorned with his signature pink hair, around the corner and asking you about movies and books you’d recently enjoyed, your most hated color (because according to him, asking for a favorite everything was overused), and your go-to spots in the area. At times you'd even catch yourself thinking how cute his childlike nature was. The only thing that put a damper on his mood was when one day he was put in a cubicle on the side of the office furthest away from you, for “productivity reasons" - not that it actually kept him from coming over to you just as often. In fact, he claimed to need a rest at your desk from the “extensive workout” they made him do in order to come this way. You never commented on how he was the only one to blame for full-on sprinting through the office space instead of walking like a normal person.

His favorite days are measured by how often, and how loudly, he managed to make you laugh that day. He could get lost in the sound, and knowing he was the reason for it? He wouldn't be able to wipe the smile from his face if he tried.

If only he knew that his visits had started to become the best part of your day, too...

You were thoroughly enjoying each other's presence. Always having lunch together, and taking a little bit too long to walk to your respective cars after work.

It was a regular Tuesday when Mingi made his way to the break room to get his regular drinks - a green tea for you, and a coffee with an obscene amount of sugar for himself - something you’d chided him for, telling him time and time again it would kill him one day.

He didn’t mind waiting for some coworkers to free up the coffee machine. He’d gotten used to it pretty quickly after the second one had broken some time ago. This just meant that the room was less crowded, since the majority of his colleagues had since chosen to head to the cafeteria downstairs instead of having to stand in line like he was now. But in his opinion, they were the ones missing out. He enjoyed getting to know the usual suspects of the breakroom a little better each time they happened to get something to drink when he did - which was the same time every day.

So it would’ve been just a regular coffee run on a regular Tuesday, if it hadn’t been for the conversation happening in front of him. He wasn’t one to eavesdrop, but nothing caught his attention quite like you did. Or, in this case, your name falling from one of the men’s lips. Mingi decided that he didn’t like the way it sounded coming from someone else, someone who probably didn’t even appreciate you in the way you deserved.

The men didn’t seem to notice him standing close by, or simply didn’t care whether they could be overheard or not, because their conversation didn’t seize.

‘’...I mean have you seen them lately?’’

He sure had.

‘’I’d be stupid not to make a move. They’re a catch.’’

NO! Well, yes..but-

’’Isn’t Song head over heels for them though? Kind of a dick move if you ask me…’’

They knew?

’’Come on, we both know he’s too much of a coward to actually go for it.’’

Mingi began to panic. He’d been so enamored with you since the two of you had been introduced that he’d never even entertained the idea of someone else possibly hitting on you. Of course he knew you were pretty. Gorgeous, even - he had eyes after all. He also knew you were the epitome of grace and kindness. Anyone would be lucky to be with you. But he’d been trying slowly and carefully to inch his way into your heart, and now realized that he was so focused that he hadn’t even considered the possibility of anyone else sharing the same end goal.

God he was so stupid-

He knew he had to act. Fast. Despite his insecurities trying to convince him that you’d surely be better off with someone who didn’t stumble over their words, someone who was confident and could sweep you off your feet, he knew he would forever regret it if he didn’t at least try.

Even if the chances may be slim, he couldn’t live with himself if he lost the opportunity to make you his, especially if he lost it to his own mind.

You were just typing up a response to Park Seonghwa from HR, who had once again asked you to consider joining their team, when suddenly, a loud BANG startled you out of your thoughts. You joined some of your other coworkers in getting up from their seats to see what the commotion was about, and you couldn’t help a bright smile from lighting up your face the moment you saw Mingi standing in the doorway. Though your smile dropped just as quickly when you noticed the look of pure distress on his face, his eyes scanning across the room rapidly. The second your eyes met, he started hurriedly making his way over to you, ignoring any of the worried and questioning glances and occasional comments that people were throwing his way.

What was going on?

‘’Mingi, what-’’ your question was cut short when he gripped your shoulders the moment he reached your cubicle. He was panting, eyes blown wide and never leaving yours, as if he was afraid you’d disappear the moment he so much as blinked.

As if he was only now noticing the stares and whispers directed his way, he glanced around the room timidly. His nerves seemed to catch up with him, because he turned and went to leave as quickly as he’d arrived - if it hadn't been for your quick reflexes and your hand curling around his wrist, stopping him in his motion.

It took you gently calling his name a couple of times for him to finally turn around to face you again - and now you could see the sheen of sweat covering his forehead.

He was also avoiding eye contact.

Now you were really worried. Was he sick? Did something happen?

"Hey, what's wrong?'' No answer. ''You look really pale... are you not feeling well?"

When he stayed silent again, you brought one hand up to his forehead - an instinctive action for you, but definitely not what he’d expected, because his face quickly went from looking sickly pale to flushing a deep scarlet.

Your eyes widened when you noticed how warm his skin was, placing your other hand on one of his cheeks. "Mingi, you're burning up. Do you need to see a doctor?" When again he didn't answer, you turned to grab your things, preparing to carry this man to the nearest hospital if need be, but now it was his hand around your wrist that kept you from moving further.

You glanced from where he was touching you with a gentle yet desperate, clammy hand and back to his face, noting the panic in his eyes that were still refusing to meet your own.

Any stranger passing by would've assumed you were approaching a stray kitten, desperately trying not to scare it off, but you knew how much of a flight risk Mingi could be when things got too much to handle. "Hey, you know you can talk to me, right? I'm only trying to help you," you said with the gentlest voice you could muster despite your racing thoughts.

Yeah, that was the main problem, he thought, you're the only person who makes this job bearable, and I can't lose you by messing this up. You bring both your hands up to cup his cheeks when you notice the tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to spill over.

"Hey, look at me.’’ you dipped your head trying to lure his eyes into meeting yours. ‘’You won't lose me. Why would you?’’ a gentle brush of your thumbs over his pretty cheekbones ‘’How could I make it through one day at this crappy office, with its crappy coffee and the crappy AC that’s broken more often than not, without you?"

Oh shit, his eyes widened even further. Did I say that out loud? Oh god-

He was about to bolt again, mentally calculating how long it would take him to make a detour to a wig store or a hairdresser on his way to the airport, determined to start over in a faraway country, when he involuntarily locked eyes with you. He never understood how you did it, and he was sure there was no possible scientific explanation for the effect you had on him, because the way your eyes, filled with nothing but kindness and understanding, always managed to calm him down instantly was nothing short of magical.

You had to be a heavenly being sent to look out for him - him, this mere human - and him alone. It was in this moment that he remembered what you'd told him time and time again. Realized that he really could say what had been running rampant in his mind for months now. Reminded himself that he could be open and vulnerable with you. You, who had never shown him anything but support and guidance, even when you were having a bad day yourself. Alright. You, who always managed to find a peaceful solution to any argument or tension that arose in the office… He'd be alright. You, who somehow didn't hold grudges even when people had wronged you. You'd both be alright.

You must've noticed the change in his demeanor, because your lips curled up into a small version of one of your beautiful smiles that he loved so much. Shit, he wouldn't be surprised if you could hear his pulse slowing down, his heart rate finally dropping to a point that wouldn't have sent an entire hospital wing into a panic had he been hooked up to a monitor, with news reporters flocking to his bed trying score an interview to find out how the hell he had managed to survive that.

So he closed his eyes, which were now stinging in protest to having been kept open wide for way too long, and took a deep, if shaky, breath.

That was all you, too. Your encouragement to face difficult situations despite every fiber of his being telling him to run. Your influence. You were the one who told him time and time again that things were going to be okay. You showed him that he was in control of his fate and his feelings, and that even when it felt like the whole world was against him, you'd be by his side. No wonder the HR department was desperate to get you to join them…

Mingi couldn't run away now if he tried. He owed you this much. If nothing else, he owed you an explanation, and honesty. He wanted to make you proud.

So with another deep breath, this one a little less shaky (the first one had you worried he might burst into full sobs at any second), he covered your hands in his much larger ones, pulled them from his face and intertwined your fingers with his between your bodies. When he finally opened his eyes again, they were full of determination.

This shift in tone, with him being calmer and more confident than you'd ever seen him, had you thankful for the grasp he had on you, needing his hands around yours in support as your breath hitched when you noticed the raw adoration in his gaze.

His voice, beautifully airy and deeper than you swore you'd ever heard it before, sent shivers down your spine. There was everything yet nothing as you got lost in his gorgeous, warm eyes, and now his voice too. You weren't in your office anymore. You were standing barefoot in a forest, surrounded by majestic trees and vibrant wildlife, a gentle breeze almost calling out your name. You were on a beach, the warm sand comforting between your toes, the waves softly crashing behind you, a pair of strong arms wrapped around your shoulders. You decided then and there that his eyes' gorgeous shade of brown was your new favorite color.

It took his voice calling your name softly to bring you back to the present moment, a bashful smile on his stupidly handsome face. Had he always been this pretty?

"Please tell me you heard what I just said?'' he asked shyly, knowing full well you'd completely spaced out.

"Uh..." You grimaced. At that, he couldn't help but turn his face downward as he murmured to himself, but you were so focused on him now that you had no trouble making out the words. "Oh my god, I can't believe you're making me do this again". He would've buried his face in his hands had they not been occupied with the much more important job of holding the world's greatest treasure.

He hadn't missed the way you'd gotten lost in his eyes, and it only fueled his confidence. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, it was the same way he’d been looking at you more often than not since he'd met you.

He took a deep breath. "I said..." he paused as he brought one of his hands up to your cheek, his other hand easily holding both of yours in their previous position.

You felt yourself blushing. Hard.

Stroking his thumb over your cheek gently, he continued "...that I like you. I like like you. No, scratch that -’’ a gentle shake of his head ‘’-I'm crazy about you.’’ His gaze dropped again as he started rambling. ‘’I hope this doesn't make things weird between us, and I'm so sorry if I read things wrong, and if y-" he started mumbling, nerves catching up to him again, insecurities trying to invade his mind and win back precious land. But you noticed. And you smiled at him in adoration, and squeezed his hand in reassurance. This made him look up at you again. You're going to be alright, you tried to convey with your eyes, we're going to be alright.

Another deep breath, followed by a lighthearted chuckle at his own antics.

"The point is, I really like you, a-and I would love to take you out on a date? O-only if you want to of co-" he couldn't finish the sentence, because you promptly freed your hands and grabbed his face again, pulling him down to you (what they fed him as a kid to get him so tall, you'd really have to ask his parents one day) and pressed your lips to his in a firm and reassuring kiss.

His eyes widened again, cheeks heating back up, but he melted into you as soon as the first shock wore off, arms wrapping around you almost on instinct. As if holding you was their only job, and what they were meant to be doing all his life. He pulled you up to his level seemingly without effort before getting lost in the next kiss. Feeling your fingers running through his hair, he groaned inwardly. Mingi could do this forever, and he would if you let him. He'd figure out a way to survive without oxygen. If not, he decided the team would be fine without him.

You only pulled apart when you noticed the cheers and clapping that had erupted around you, even the occasional wolf-whistle coming from your coworkers, most of who'd gotten up from their seats again, if they’d even settled down after the shock of Mingi’s arrival. You hadn't seen them this lively since the day your boss had ordered a coffee and snack truck to the parking lot in celebration of sealing a deal everybody had worked hard to finally make happen. The majority of them had their headsets still attached, and had you not been so ecstatic you would've felt bad for whoever was getting their ears damaged on the other end of their lines.

"About damn time, Song..."

"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!!

"He finally grew a pair!"

These were only some of the lines being thrown at the two of you that had you blushing furiously, and Mingi hiding his face in the crook of your neck.

You could've sworn you saw a few fist bumps and some money being passed around, but you decided not to dwell on it for your own sanity’s sake...

After the noise had mostly died down, Mingi put you back on your feet just so he could press his forehead to yours, both of your breaths mingling. Maybe oxygen wasn't so bad after all if he got to share it with you.

You almost missed the signature fake gagging sound of your most obnoxious co-worker, but before you could chase him off like you usually would when he started to tease you about the way you, in his words, "spent more time staring at Mingi than actually working", the telltale sound of a palm making not-so-gentle contact with the back of someone's head (and the dramatic pained yelp that followed) made you realize that your boss had already taken care of Wooyoung himself. You swore he kept an extra set of eyes on the mischievous man-child just so he wouldn't miss an opportunity to reprimand him.

The same boss who sent you a curt nod and a small smile, before telling “the two lovebirds" to get back to work. Though you knew that he’d want to have a word with Mingi later, seeing as how the force with which he’d slammed open the door must’ve left at least an indent on the wall behind it.

It was safe to say you didn't get much work done the rest of that day, but you also never had to eat lunch alone again, or walk to your car without a strong, loving hand holding your own...or drive to work yourself, really.

Even years later, with your left ring finger now permanently occupied, you loved to remind him how proud of him you were.

✨Lore time✨

Here's how everything started:

Bonus:

(I was, in fact, not almost done)

A loving shoutout to my dear friends for planting this idea in my head. And thank you to everyone who read through it and left valuable feedback - you know who you are 💜

©manipulatedstars 2023 - do not steal, copy, repost, translate or otherwise plagiarize my work. If you do, I'll eat all your cereal and pour milk in your shoes.

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swtnrcmnt · 2 years

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୨୧ — s.r x singer!r; headcanons (1)

pairing: post prison!spencer x singer!reader

feeding into my daydreams..

also, this was prompted by scrolling through radiant-reid's spencer x famous!reader posts which i love because they simply fuel my daydreams even more :)) enjoy !

probably met on a case or something of that sort. he also studied in la at one point so they possibly could have met through a mutual friend but tbh her being a target is most likely!

penelope is obviously a very big fan. like out of all the people on the team, she's probably the one who listens to y/n's music the most, maybe even went to one of her concerts

oh my god just think about the sweet little love songs. :'(( ugh imagine spence getting all flustered when it gets released and the whole team is just playing the song 24/7 to tease him

most likely didn't have any social media beforehand. but after dating y/n he decided to get instagram or maybe twitter just to see her posts and literally only post her on his feed because she's just so pretty and cute to post

oh my.. imagine the fans the first time y/n ever posts a photo of spencer in a photo dump !! and his reaction to all the comments and tweets, he's just so confused why people want him to hit them with a truck he's like ??? "that would be fatal, why would they thank me for that?"

also yes this is post prison reid because he was just 10x hotter than he already was once he was released. argue with the wall.

guys !! award shows with spencer !! that would be everything !!

he would be so supportive of every win too :(( even if you were only nominated or just there to perform he would still be so so proud as if you did win something

he's for sure for sure the first person to hear every song. unless it's about him. those one's are usually a surprise.

ugh imagine putting a soundbite of him somewhere in a song. maybe at the end or beginning and it's just a small bit of a voicemail or video that you two filmed together just having fun. or possibly something spicy but... shhhhhhhhh

comes to every fitting, every rehearsal. hell, maybe even on tour as well if he gets time off from the bau. especially since he would already be used to the whole 'flying around every other day' thing from cases.

whenever they have a case in california he always always makes sure to stay behind a few days to hang out with you especially because him being in dc and always travelling for work would mean long distance

and if you're not on tour you decide to stay in dc for a while or even move there (while still having property in california) so that you get to be with him anytime he's home

having a concert in dc !! ofc he invites everyone (as if garcia wasn't already planning on going anyway lmaoo) so they could all see and probably meet you

if this is pre prison!reid, and hotch was still unit chief, he would for sure give spence a whole lecture about how careful he has to be with dating somebody with such a high profile profession, because he knows how high risk celebrities are to stalkers and home invasions

the whole team is very very supportive of them though, even if it's long distance because they find a way to make it work.

also best believe she gets spence an actual iPhone as a gift so that they can facetime when either one of them is away

him playing the piano in one of your songs awhhhh :( and he has writing or producing credits on it

you already know that whoever is driving puts on y/n's music just to tease him. ESPECIALLY IF IT'S A SPICY SONG ehehehe

ugh but if it's a really sad song for example "decode" by sabrina carpenter (which is absolutely heartbreaking lyrically but i highly recommend u listen to it) he gets all sad because he knows exactly what it's about and remembers when you first wrote it

ok i have to stop myself before i go absolutely ham on headcanons. i have so many thoughts about this trope.

hope u enjoyed !

part two | part three

#swtnrcmnt ۵ #spencer reid #spencer reid headcanon #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x singer!reader #spencer reid x famous!reader #i am so in love with this man #i need him

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coldgoldlazarus · 1 year

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

Oh, I'm glad to hear that!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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And finally, there's my top three recommendations:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And finally...

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

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

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

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

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sophia-sol · 6 months

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Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi), by Ryoko Kui, translated by Taylor Engel

I decided to read Dungeon Meshi because I kept seeing people on tumblr posting about the new anime adaptation, and it looked fun and cute. And although I don't watch much tv, there was an entire manga I could read instead! So I did.

The basic premise: in a world where adventuring parties going on dungeon crawls is a thing that happens, one guy has a dream: to be able to cook and eat all the different kinds of monsters in the dungeon, to be able to find out how they taste!

And because his party needs to be able to head deep into the dungeon to rescue a party member who was left behind, and they don't have the funds or the time to collect supplies, all of a sudden they have REASON to need to eat monsters. They're going to forage and hunt for all their meals as they make their way down.

So using that as the basis, the manga goes on to explore the worldbuilding, the interrelationships of the characters in the party, everyone's backstories and reasons for being there, a developing plot, and of course, the ingredients and nutritional composition and flavour of every meal they eat.

I absolutely adored every bit of this!!! The main characters are all a delight, and it's the kind of story where the author sees and shows you the inherent personness of all characters, including antagonists. And the world created to make sense of the dungeon's existence is fascinating, as are all the ways the ecosystems within the dungeon are expanded upon to make sense of the creatures living within it.

And it's a story that knows what its themes are, too, and is able to tie them all together in extremely satisfying ways in the climax of the narrative!

I had this moment leading up towards the ending where I was like:

[thematic spoilers below the cut]

ohhhh it's about….everyone being part of a balanced ecosystem of life and death where everything sustains everything else! the various human species included! and I was filled through my very soul with this feeling of connectedness myself.

Anyway it was amazing and I had a lot of feels.

And as well as enjoying all of that, I also just really loved our main characters! We start out seeing them all fairly shallowly but over the course of the story as more aspects of them are revealed they're all just…..I love every one of them.

I did struggle with a few aspects of the manga, but none of it significantly affected my ability to enjoy the read:

It kept adding more and more characters, and I got rather lost occasionally trying to keep track of them all. But ultimately it's not vital to remember every tertiary character to get a good read out of this, so it's not as bad as it could be.

In the mid to later parts, it became a lot more plot focused and actiony than I'd really been expecting, in a way that made it harder for me to follow, since fight scenes in sequential art are challenging for me. And occasionally it drew back more than I wanted from its focus on food. But it refocused eventually!

It turned out to be pro monarchy in the end, which isn't my fave, but it's not like a major theme of the manga or anything so I could overlook it.

I kept expecting it to have at least a little bit of textual queerness, and there wasn't any as far as I could see! Even various background relationships or depictions of people's attraction was m/f. But uh. Falin/Marcille, anyone? There are some powerful vibes there. (I'll also accept Laios/Kabru)

In conclusion, I highly recommend it, and if you want to read it, you can read the whole thing online for free in English translation here: https://dungeonmeshi.com/manga/dungeon-meshi-chapter-1/

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #ryoko kui #book thoughts #sophpost

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weirdducky17 · 11 months

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Doing a small review for June’s Observation Log on The Ssum by Cheritz!!

Please note that:

• I have not played Teo or Harry’s routes yet, June was my first ever match and plan to stick with him!!

• I am an extremely new player (only on Day 3 on him so far whilst writing this post) so please be aware that I don’t know much on how the routes go.

Onto the review!!!

June’s introduction:

When I got June as my match, I was unsure at first cause I usually don’t go for the first choice but said ‘why not?’ cause you never know with a character that was recommended to what you like! To be honest, I’m pleasantly surprised that I’m enjoying him so far!

Him being introduced as a person who’s been waiting for almost 2 years for their match, it’s enough to intrigue you as to why he’s been on this app for so long! Also having the description that he has a lot of secrets makes you curious to dive into what he’s been hiding from us.

June as a Character:

Personally, I love June’s personality. Always so polite and respectful yet also having that braveness when it comes to dealing with his mom, he’s such a baby boy 🥺

His excitement is conveyed extremely well through his texts, very expressive and carrying out that he’s high on this new relationship that has potential, it’s clear that he’s looking forward to a better relationship than his old one with his ex. His voice actor does an amazing job at voicing June, making him soft spoken and sincere in every word, keep up the amazing work!!

I also love the small bits at the bottom of the chat that give the small indications of his mannerisms when we’re waiting for a response from him, I thought that was a neat and cute way to show how much thought is put into the character!

Character Mysteries:

I’ve been wanting to look into more on June’s family background as he tends to brush off his mom cause it’s apparently very interesting so far, figuring out that Carolyn is Jumin’s mom as well which makes Jumin and June half-brothers!! A connection I never expected to say the least but it spices up the characters and ties into Mystic Messenger which gives the clue that we’re definitely from the same universe.

Also June’s biological dad not being supported by Carolyn? I wonder why he’s not more concerned about his dad but I’m guessing it’s cause he hasn’t been around much for June to get a close connection with to get a more expressive reaction when we talk about his dad.

Carolyn is also a mystery in of itself as she’s the only parental figure in his life and basically his caretaker, his life revolves around her but it also makes it relatable for me because of June’s experience with having an overbearing parent (which is borderlining on abuse) which has me worried for him :(

My overall thoughts:

I love June and I love his character so much, thank you @cheritzteam for making this special Ssum-one! He is a nice introduction to the game and would highly recommend picking him as your first ever route if people ever see this post lol. Thank you for reading this review and again, thank you for making June!!

#TheSsum_June_ObservationLog #the ssum #the ssum x reader #the ssum june #the ssum teo #the ssum harry #cheritz #TheSsum

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lilareviewsbooks · 1 year

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Books for Good Omens fans!

Are you emotionally scarred by the ending of season 2? Is the wait for season 3 going to be excruciating for you? Are you looking for something that’ll fill those voids? Look no further, Good Omens fan! I have some media for you to consume!

The Tea Dragon Series, starting with The Tea Dragon Society, by K. O’Neil

71 pages (first book)

Contains: tea magic!; a cute sapphic romance; queer rep all around :)

If you like Good Omens because of how fluffy it can be (though that season finale was not fluffy), I highly recommend this series! The Tea Dragon Society is a comic book trilogy following Greta, who is swept into the world of caring for tea dragons, tiny little creatures that grow tea leaves on their foreheads.

As is the case with Good Omens, this trilogy includes a lot of queer representation. It’s written by a non-binary author, K. O’Neil, who introduces us to queer characters of all identities. Also much like Good Omens, there is no discussion of homophobia or transphobia. There’s also a sapphic romance between Greta and her love interest, which is very sweet! This is perfect if you need a pick-me-up after season 2, and if the fluffier aspects of Good Omens are your favorites!

The Greenhollow Duology, starting with a Silver In The Wood, by Emily Tesh

112 pages (first book)

Contains: the fae!!; enchanted woods; middle-aged gay people!!

If what brings you joy in Good Omens is it’s middle-aged leads, I give you Silver in the Wood, and its companion Drowned Country. These two stories are quite episodic – much like Crowley and Aziraphale’s little adventures – and feature a pair of middle-aged men who fall in love against the backdrop of supernatural things afoot.

Apart from representing the older portion of the queer community, The Greenhollow Duology is also brilliantly written and very atmospheric. It will place you inside the cottage where most of the action happens, and you will be able to feel the magic in the air. Both of the books are novellas, and so are quite short reads you can enjoy whenever!

A Series of Unfortunate Events, starting with The Bad Beginning, by Lemony Snicket

176 pages (first book)

Contains: adults that are incompetent; children that are very competent; quirky writing!

If your favorite aspect of Good Omens is its quirkiness, I give you: A Series of Unfortunate Events! This middle-grade series follows a trio of siblings as they are passed from distant relative to distant relative after their parents’ mysterious death, all the while being chased by the evil Count Olaf.

This series reminds me of Good Omens for its tongue-in-cheek humor. Mr. Snicket is a master at metatextual comedy, that is, making jokes about the text itself. I’ve always had a lot of fun reading his writing! A TV show adaptation of this series has been made, and it’s on Netflix, but I haven’t watched it all the way through and can’t speak to how good it is, but it’s worth a shot if you’re feeling like watching something! Though I have to warn you: no gay people here :(

A Master of Djinn, by P. Djeli Clark

438 pages

Contains: alternate history; a steampunk Cairo; muslim rep!!

A Master of Djinn is for those among you who want to see gay people save the world. I give you: gay people saving the world. This one follows Agent Fatma of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in an alternate, steampunk-y Cairo, where magic was brought to life by mage Al-Jahiz, many years ago. Fatma is faced with a mysterious murder and must join forces with her lover Siti to find out what happened – except it’s waaay more complicated than it seems…

I think this reminds me of Good Omens the most because there’s a very cool dynamic between Siti and Fatma. Much like Crowley and Aziraphale, they have opposing views on a lot of things, religion for instance, and must reconcile that with their love for one another. They’re also very much ride-or-die for each other, and go on many supernatural adventures together, just like our favorite couple in Good Omens! It also features elements of fantasy being woven into a “normal” world, in this case even affecting history as we know it, to build an alternate reality!

But, be warned: there is discussion of homophobia and sexism in this book!

This is part of larger universe, namely the Dead Djinn Universe, which includes two other novellas. You can read them in this order, or choose to start with A Master of Djinn. The novel is self-contained and will explain everything you need to know!

The Mimicking of Known Successes, by Malka Older

169 pages

Contains: a murder mystery; a second chance romance; humans living on one of Jupiter’s moons!

Another one for gay people who just like a nice couple they can follow around as they unravel some intrigue, and who were desperately infatuated with “detective Aziraphale”: The Mimicking of Known Successes is a Sherlock Holmes-like story following Pleiti and Mossa, a couple of ex-girlfriends whose paths cross again when Mossa begins investigating a mysterious murder. This one takes place on a human colony in one of Jupiter’s moons, but, apart from that, is not very hard sci-fi. There’s not really any science-y bits that I can remember. Mostly, it’s just a murder mystery, but set in space!

It’s perfect for Good Omens fans who love following a couple with a long history. Not to mention, it also has an almost grumpy/sunshine dynamic that kinda reminds me of Crowley and Aziraphale. And since I know most of us Good Omens fans were once deep in the Sherlock trenches, I thought I’d add this one to cure your heart’s many, many wounds (oh, Steven Moffatt… One day, one day you will pay…)

This is not currently part of a series, but a second novella, The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles, will be published in 2024.

That’s all I got, everyone! If you’d like some more books that, just like Good Omens, don’t delve into homophobia or transphobia, I have a whole list of books that fit the bill! :)

#good omens #good omens 2 #queer sff #sff books #fantasy books #sci fi books #queer books #book recommendations #book reviews #the mimicking of known successes #a master of djinn #the tea dragon society #the greenhollow duology #series of unfortunate events #lila's themed lists

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waitmyturtles · 1 year

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Fuck. I have more on The Eighth Sense. (I’m gonna get all Moonlight Chicken-meta on this show!) (First big meta here.)

1) I loved the scene in episode 6 of the two guys having roadside snacks at the rest stop. There was a LOT going on in those scenes at that stop, but I particularly liked their conversation on the bench, because it indicated a lot of the pressures that Jae Won faces. Lines like: “We are always living in other’s [sic] frameworks in this world.” “Don’t try to get out of the box.”

And then Ji Hyun takes a bite of the sausage-and-rice-cake skewer, the very food they were criticizing a moment before as being stereotypical of that “box,” and clearly enjoys it.

What does that say to me? It says to me that Jae Won is putting a lot of WORK to be IN the box that I think he’s in -- the chaebol-influenced box that his life is being directed towards. That pressure is driving him so insane that, again, I think he’s having dissociations because of that pressure.

But I love how gently this scene indicates that pressure, that reality that Jae Won is burdened under. And that at this moment, he has no choice but to live in the box. And pretend to enjoy it.

2) And (eff Viki for not allowing screenshots), please enjoy this shitty-ass photo (lol) of the bench the guys are sitting on, because I think that this bench shot was brilliantly done.

That ghostly person always by Jae Won’s side.

3) The man operating the roadside stand. Giving things away to the two guys because he thought they were cute.

I wish I could parse more the meaning of the trot soundtrack that the guys were given. I know very little about trot, except that it’s considered in many ways, “old folks” music, although there are many new artists today who are popular trot singers. I wonder if the trot soundtrack is meant to indicate to the guys a remembrance of happier times.

And the roadside guy himself. He also serves as evidence (to me, at least) that the entire episode was a dissociative experience, becauuuussee: call me a cheap auntie, but what’s this guy doing, giving stuff away?! Lol. Fireworks are expensive!

But also. I got this feeling (PLEASE feel free to NOT roll with me on this one, because it was ONLY a fleeting thought) that maybe that guy was meant to be a reflection of Jae Won’s father, IF Jae Won’s dad accepted him for who he was. (THIS IS ONLY A FLEETING THOUGHT, NOT EVEN A THEORY -- just something that popped in my head as I was watching the episode. Don’t quote me on this one! I don’t think Jae Won’s dad would give away free fireworks, lol!)

Why did I think that? The guy had no reaction when Jae Won said he was traveling with his “boyfriend.” It made me wonder that Jae Won wanted to live in a world where he could say that so easily. That he could speak to people, to older men in his life, who would accept Jae Won for who he was/is as a queer man.

4) Last thought. I don’t know the reality of Ji Hyun being a part of the Sea Cadets, but something that REALLY worried me in the first episode was Joon Pyo saying to Ji Hyun, upon peeping the Surf Club’s website on Ji Hyun’s computer — that Ji Hyun couldn’t swim.

If Ji Hyun had been a part of a school team called the Sea Cadets that exposed him to the ocean, then… okay. But that was revealed in what I think was the dissociative episode 6.

So I feel like I can only go by what Joon Pyo said in episode 1, and think that Ji Hyun isn’t familiar with ocean swimming.

I surfed for like, a mini-season once in my twenties (it was RADDDDDD, but expensive, and I am not a morning person to get up so early to catch waves). (But I highly recommend trying it, because catching a wave even on a longboard can be such a high.)

Anyway, during that time, I basically only swam and lifted weights to train. I can’t quite remember the rule of thumb for how many meters you needed to be able to swim in a certain amount of time to be considered a safe surfer, but I know I had to practice for a solid week, every day, to get to that goal, because I didn’t swim regularly before then. And then I spent the summer only swimming as cardio. Surfing — with all the paddling out, the fight against the waves as you paddle out, the balancing on your board as you wait for a wave to come in — is EXHAUSTING. You burn maaaajor calories with surfing and training. (Jae Won not being hungry for ramen after that first session is suspicious.)

Not a single surf instructor in the world would let someone who couldn’t swim anywhere near the longest longboard you could find. An instructor wouldn’t let a non-swimmer surf on a fucking mattress. At least, the instructors I knew back in mah day. I don’t know how it is now, if you were to take lessons at like, a resort. But I know I couldn’t have hired a teacher back then if I couldn’t swim.

One rule you have to learn is how to dismount the board when you wash out — the boys do it correctly on the show, you kind of tuck in and jump off the side with your butt splashing down first.

But anything can happen. A common occurrence is you washing out first, with your board flying above you (it’s connected to your ankle, so it’s bound to slam down near you), and possibly smashing the top of your head.

So putting all of this together: if Ji Hyun did indeed drown? It may have been because he didn’t have the strong swimming skills he needed to surf properly. It’s interesting that we didn’t see the Surf Club vet for that prior to the first surf trip. And I gently wonder, if anything happens to Ji Hyun in the “reality” part of the show, if Jae Won blames himself for not knowing that Ji Hyun might not be able to swim.

Damn. This show is doing it to me. GAAAAAHHHH. @lurkingshan.... you were so right about this show.

#the eighth sense #the eighth sense meta #this show is already going to be in my top 10 of the year maybe even my top 5 #ji hyun x jae won #jae won x ji hyun

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headfullofgalaxies · 10 months

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Recently watched Sasaki and Miyano.

tl;dr: highly recommend, very cute and fluffy and a rare instance of a romance I actually enjoyed. 100% understand why this is so many people's comfort anime. So if you're interested or looking for a comfort watch, give it a shot!

More thoughts under the cut.

Disclaimer before I get into the review: I tend to dislike romance stories. They're just not my thing. I'm aro/ace, so I have trouble understanding some of the decisions characters make while they're pursuing/in a relationship. So, if the author doesn't handle the relationship very well, it really breaks my immersion. Now, that's not to say that I never enjoy romance, just that it's rare.

That being said, I did have fun watching Sasaki and Miyano. The characters had actual chemistry and their story was cute and fluffy.

All of the side characters felt like people of their own, even if they didn't get a lot of focus. I know that the author has written other stories in this setting (Hirano and Kagiura is the one I know about), so it makes sense.

The romance felt very grounded and realistic. The characters respected each others' boundaries and there weren't any of those common romance tropes that border on uncomfortable. The two main characters had an extremely healthy relationship the entire way though, which I appreciate.

The references to the fujoshi/fudanshi culture was also very interesting. While I myself am not a fujoshi (for obvious reasons), I've been online long enough to know a bit about the culture. It was nice that it humanized it instead of making it seem weird or "cringy". Sure, there are some people in the hobby who take it to an extreme and cross boundaries that shouldn't be crossed, but I don't believe that is the majority.

One of my least favorite tropes in all of fiction is miscommunication. This story did use it a few times, but instead of brooding on it and letting the situation spiral out of control, the characters actually addressed the situation like reasonable people. Imagine, characters who do their best to communicate, instead of just sulking and expecting their partner to read their minds. Innovative. Now if only more stories used miscommunication like this one.

Unfortunately, an aspect of romance stories that I don't like is very present in this story- the "will they won't they". It was inevitable, I suppose, and really shouldn't have surprised me, but here I am. Surprised. Despite my own feelings on the matter, the reason for the holdout was realistic and understandable, and it never detracted from the story, so I honestly can't hold that against it. Though Miyano's denseness was frustrating at some points.

Overall, I did genuinely enjoy watching this show. It is very well-written with easily relatable characters. Even if a few of the romancisims got a bit annoying, they were never bothersome enough to break my immersion, unlike so many other romances. While I personally won't be rewatching it, it will definitely be something I recommend to friends!

#anime #anime review #sasaki to miyano #highly recommend #star*speaks #really glad I decided to give this show a chance #the respect these two characters have for each other and their genuine love is so heartwarming #it's so fluffy I'm gonna die #added to the list of things that almost make me wish I could feel attraction like that too #almost #if anyone has any shows like this to recommend please do so!

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pluckyredhead · 2 years

Note

as someone looking to get into the Supergirl comics, what titles/runs would you recommend? I started reading Tom King's Woman of Tomorrow and didn't think it was that bad (though I never finished it) but seeing people's anger about it makes me think that my enjoyment might be because I'm not familiar with her character before this and thus don't get why it's a bad take on her like what I've seen.

Well, first I should disclaimer that my very loud opinions on Woman of Tomorrow are opinions, lol. I firmly believe that I'm right but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it! You're allowed!

But here are my recs for comics to get into Supergirl that feel...more in keeping with the spirit of the character, imo.

In Continuity:

Supergirl (2005) #34-59: After dying in Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kara came back to the post-Crisis DCU in 2004. For the next four years, she was treated very badly by DCU, who positioned her as a jailbait sexpot "bad girl" who was maybe evil but also totally wanted to date you, 45-year-old cis guy in the audience! Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle's run changed all that, letting Kara be three dimensional and human (well, Kryptonian, but you know what I mean) and not miserable softcore porn 24/7. (They put bike shorts under her skirt and it was wildly controversial.) She gets to smile and be friends with women! It was a breath of fresh fucking air, I tell you what.

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes: During those years DC was treating Kara like shit, we could at least escape to the future, where Mark Waid and Barry Kitson let her be her best self. This is an ensemble book so it's not totally focused on her, but the whole ensemble is pretty great.

Supergirl (2011): Honestly, I thought the New 52 run was pretty solid. Or maybe it's just less bad than every other New 52 comic I've ever read? Either way, it's an easy jumping-on point. And there are actually female writers and artists involved!!! AMAZING! (In the interest of full disclosure, the 2005 series had a couple of female creators towards the very end - Kelly Sue DeConnick and Amy Reeder each got a couple of issues - but they sadly didn't have a lot of time to do much with the character.)

Supergirl (2016): Cute! Cheery! Too good for this world! This takes a lot of inspiration from the TV show, which was on the air at the time.

Kids Comics/AUs/Elseworlds:

Adventures of Supergirl: This is a tie-in comic to the TV show, but you don't need to be super familiar with the show to read it. And Sterling Gates is back!

Supergirl: Being Super: This is a standalone graphic novel in which Kara, who doesn't know about Clark or that she's an alien, discovers her powers after her friend dies in a tragic accident. It's definitely on the angsty side but in a way that feels relatable and compassionate to me, rather than gratuitous. And it's by Mariko Tamaki and Joelle Jones, so it's fucking stunning, of course.

Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade: This is for kids but it is SO STINKIN' CUTE. Highly recommended.

Superman Family Adventures: Also for kids and I cry happy tears at how precious it is every day.

Not Actually Kara:

Supergirl (1996): So after Kara died in 1985 and before she came back in 2004, there was a completely different Supergirl named Linda Danvers. She wasn't from Krypton, she was a mortal girl merged with a protoplasmic being from an alternate dimension who was also an angel. YES, IT'S BONKERS, AND IT'S GREAT. This series is 80 issues long and it's the best Supergirl comic ever published. I know it's not Kara, but if you only read one Supergirl comic, make it this one.

#supergirl #kara zor el #linda danvers #comics recs

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absolutebl · 2 years

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This Week in BL

Nov 2022 Wk 2

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Between Us (Sun iQIYI) 1 of 12 - It got hot and heavy way faster than expected. With DeanPharm the side couple, I just want more of them like I did with WinTeam in UWMA. But yeah, it’s VERY good, thank fuck. WATCH ALONG HERE.

Big Dragon (Sat Gaga) 6 of 8 - How can this dumb little pulp be so good? Also P’Nine? I will heal your broken heart. The brother zone is rough, baby. The thing about this damn drama is all of the characters are honestly motivated and act in accordance with their personalities. I think that’s mostly why I can’t stop watching. Loved the scene with Yai and his ma-in-law-to-be. Also, nice stinger! That’s one way to come out. Look this was a REALLY engaging ep.

My Only 12% (Fri iQIYI) 14fin - I really did not expect this show to end on this note. Ah Earth with the crying. I did expect the final episode to be family drama-llama, but this kind of drama didn’t work for me under the context of a BL. I do love the siblings. (There’s a part of me that wanted Prem’s character to be Team. This could work as Team’s back story.) All in all? I found it disappointing. Conclusion: This is a strong little BL romance (tailor made for SantaEarth) about holding onto first love and childhood, but it’s buried under waffling family drama and formless side characters so that it took a lot of digging to get to - still, RECOMMENDED. 8/10

Ai Long Nhai (Mon iQIYI) 7 of 10 - Nothing continues to happen and exactly nothing will and yet I keep watching. Probably because the nothing keeps getting shirtless.

Ghost Host, Ghost House (Weds YouTube) 6 of 8 - Cute bfs are cute but... NO SINGING. Adorbs but sad GL side plot AKA dead lesbians got a nod.

Remember Me (Sun Gaga) 5 of 12 - JaFirst are just great on screen together, I am very invested in their couple but, yeah, no one else. The stuff with Name was really difficult to watch, but Title is a GREAT little actor.

Love in the Air (Thurs iQIYI) 13fin - Ultimately? Sky needed a therapist not a stalker lover, but whatever Mame. DUMPSTER FIRE TRASH WATCH COMPLETED HERE. I gave it a very reluctant 7/10, recommended only if you know you like this kind of thing. Look you remember in high school drama class where they make you “envision a basket, and put all of your worry, bad mood, and anxiety into that basket, and leave it outside the door”? Well, in order to enjoy this show, you have to do that, only with your morals. Some people have bigger baskets than others.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Tooth Your Love (Taiwan Fri Viki) 6 of 12 - I do like a little jealousy from the dentist. Yet another installment in this week”s “please get that uke to a therapist” only this time (unlike LITA) our seme actually gives it an honest try. I might be completely and totally in love with the dentist. I adore how stern he gets, plus he has a very strong white knight tendencies. Also baby boi wanna-bartend with the big-ass crush is giving me life.

Eternal Yesterday AKA Eien no Kino (Japan Thurs Gaga) 4 of 8 - Am I the only one who JUST realized the actor playing Koichi is Komiya Rio who played Tanaka in Takara & Amagi? I’m so slow. Look all Japanese BL (even the most fluffy nonsense like Kabe Koji) is a little bit emo and exists in a sideways state. It’s gonna go into uncomfortable and uncanny spaces. It’s what it does. This one, given its psychological horror elements, is even more uncanny, to the point of creepy. I’m not a big fan of creepy, and yet I like this show. Japanese zombie incubus? Yes please. Look, I’m utterly unable to back away from the pun, and so: I see seme stiffie can get a stiffie. Puns aside? This was a killer first-time sex scene for something relatively low heat. I’m reminded of Shin’s tongue. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, no one does thirst like Japan. Korea and Thailand can have a winsome yearn-off, and Taiwan is great a pining, but Japan? Japan brings the Thirst.

Choco Milk Shake (Korea Strongberry Tues YT) 3-4 of 10 - I love this show so much. It made me tear up and then in the second part I was laughing my ass off, because the cat was trying to teach the dog how to stare properly. So funny. Then Pets being worried about their sick human, is so accurate. Is anything funnier than the idea of a cat in a service industry job? I really don’t want this to be sad. Please don’t be sad. In Strongberry we trust is my mantra!

Kabe Koji (Japan Mon Viki) 6 of 10 - I like it more and more as it goes on, but I still don’t think I actually, ya know, like it.

It’s Airing But I’m Not Watching It

War of Y (Thai Gaga) 20 eps - it’s just all too much for me.

My Roommate (Thai YT) 32 eps of 2 minutes each + terrible production values? - I’m not bothering.

Fahlanruk (Thai Sun GaGa) 12 eps - I cut my losses at ep 5. DNF

To Sir With Love AKA Khun Chai 28 eps - dito

2 Moons 3 (Thai Mon ??) 10 eps - Possibly a future binge watch. Rumor is it’s banal.

SELF (Thai Thurs YT) - DNF

Love Bill (Vietnam Sat YT) - Bah Vinh is back but I’m too distracted. Also there’s a lot of fund raising and stuff going on. I’ll wait and binge.