#trope de sept

[feelmyskinonyourskin]

Cure [Sex Pollen Trope]

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x AFAB Reader x Frank Castle

Trope de Sept Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Sex Pollen Situation 1. A fictional substance that makes the characters experience unbearable pain if they don't fuck. "You, Bucky, and Frank are exposed to a strange chemical in an abandoned Hydra warehouse. And there's only one way to make the effects wear off faster."

Warnings: SMUT/18+ (don’t interact if your age is not in your bio). No use of Y/N. AFAB Reader. Implied sexual assault of and by Bucky during his time as the Winter Soldier. Implied past/current casual sexual relationships between the Reader/Bucky and Reader/Frank. All the dubious consent circumstances that come with sex pollen. Unprotected P in V, threesome, breeding kink, creampies, multiple orgasms, pet names (baby, doll, sweetheart, honey). 

WC: 3,200

A/N: Trope de Sept order got a little shuffle. Don't worry, everything is still coming, I just wanted to space out characters, fic types, etc. now that I have a better idea of what the rest of the fics will be.

*I never give permission for my fics, manips, or any other original creation I post on this site to be copied, posted elsewhere, translated, or fed into any AI program. The only platform I currently post anything on is Tumblr. Thanks!*

How you and Bucky managed to get separated from the rest of the team, you weren’t sure.

The Hydra base was recently abandoned. Tipped off that the Avengers were on their way, they scrambled to make their escape, leaving miscellaneous papers, weapons, and other evidence of guilt behind.

You certainly weren’t going to take anyone in on this, but at least you’d have some clues that could maybe point to where they’d be next.

You and Bucky made your way into some kind of lab, the rest of the team raiding other areas of the base. Coms were down, but you weren’t too concerned as there seemed to be no threat that required back up. Hydra left this place abandoned and disheveled due to their hastened exit.  

“Shit. There’s no one here.” Bucky lamented, sending a set of empty beakers crashing to the floor in frustration

“Not no one, but sure as shit ain’t Hydra.” a gravelly voice cut through the darkness of the lab

You and Bucky turned to the source; a tall figure attached to dusty combat boots, vest dripping with white paint smears and long-ago dried blood splatters. He wore a scowl on his tired face, a bruise covering the left side of his jaw, and had a rifle slung over his shoulder.

“Castle.” Bucky nodded toward him

“Barnes. Sweetheart.” he nodded back to the two of you

“I’m sorry– sweetheart? How do you two…” Bucky asked, pointing between you and Frank.

“Remember when you said I should get a hobby? You know when weeks go by and there are no missions?” you said

“I meant like, take up pickleball or crocheting; not get sexually involved with vigilantes.”

“Hey, hey!” Frank rebutted

“Woah!” you also interrupted Bucky’s implication “Who said anything about me sleeping with him? No, I started taking on some– let’s just call them personal cases outside of work. You know, using my powers to be the everyman's hero. I run into Frank on rooftops sometimes.”

“So your hobby is being a superhero, when you’re not at work being a superhero?”

“I mean sometimes we also sleep with each other.” Frank added

Frank was lucky your powers didn’t involve laser vision, or else he’d be burnt to a crisp by the way you glared at him.

“Really, doll? Castle?”

“You know what Bucky, I don’t need judgment from someone who's dating pool includes all four of the Golden Girls. Wait, how do you two know each other?” you motioned between him and Frank

“A mutual friend of ours, Curtis Hoyle, runs a veterans therapy group once a week. It usually also turns into a poker game at my place afterwards.”

“Wilson joins sometimes too.” Frank added

“Didn’t think this was your scene, Castle,” Bucky said, bringing the subject back to the mission “Thought you worked alone. You’re not thinking of joining up are you?”

Frank scoffed. “Nah. Following a lead. Led me here.”

“To a world wide terrorist orginization’s base?”

“You’d be surprised how many of the street level scumbags I chase down are involved in shit like this.”

“So you came here to go all Punisher on them?”

Frank raised an eyebrow and nodded.

“Sure, the Avengers have been playing whack-a-mole with them for years, but the vigilante with a rage problem and a bunch of guns is gonna do it.” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“Fairness to me, didn’t know just what this place was til I got here.”

Bucky let out a deep exhale. He glanced between you and Frank, before returning his focus to the abandoned lab around you.

“Well you’re here now, might as well make yourself useful.”

The three of you looked high and low through the lab and turned up nothing of real value that could even be a glimmer of a lead on what Hydra was planning next or where they had scurried off to.

Bucky used his vibranium arm to bust open the door of a locked walk-in freezer, the last place it seemed you hadn’t searched.

Various test tubes and bags of medical supplies sat on the shelves, some full of odd looking substances, others spilled over and shattered from Hydra’s escape efforts.

Frank walked up to a shelf containing vials of cherry-colored liquid, picking one up in his large hand and examining it curiously.

“Don't touch that!” Bucky exclaimed, lunging forward just as Frank turned his head

Their bodies collided, sending the glass canister spinning into the air and crashing down to the ground. The red substance splashed all over the concrete floor and tiny fragments of glass flew in every direction.

“Castle, please tell me you didn’t just do that.”

“The hell you mean, me? You’re the one who pushed me!” Frank argued back

Bucky’s panic stricken gaze met yours and you had never seen fear quite like this in his eyes.

“Don't breathe.” he commanded

“What do you mean don’t breathe?” you asked, shaking off some of the liquid that splattered on your boot

“Oh god, no no no. It’s too late. We’ve all already been exposed.” Bucky lamented, sinking to the floor with his head in his hands.

“Bucky, what is that stuff? What is going on?”

“It’s a serum.”

“Like a super soldier serum?”

“Yes. But also no. This one’s effects are temporary. And highly potent. And very airborne.”

“Airborne. Like we all just breathed it in?”

“Yep.” he confirmed

“So what does it do? What’s gonna happen to us?” you asked, panic rising in your chest

“When I was theirs,” he motioned to the room around you, implying his time as Hydra’s prisoner “They realized all their sick experiments finally worked on me and they wanted more super soldiers, to replicate what they’d created in my bloodstream. The problem was, this was right around the time Dr. Zola got captured and arrested by the team that would become Shield.”

You glanced up and down the shelves once more, hoping something in here could be used for first aid in treating whatever the hell was about to happen to the three of you.

“So without their best scientist, no matter how many liters of my blood they took and tried to recreate the serum with, they couldn’t. In a last ditch attempt, they thought maybe it could be transferred genetically, They thought maybe they could use me to breed more supersoldiers.”

Your attention snapped back to Bucky.

“Breed? Wait, so they made you…? Oh my god, with who?!” you asked in horror as Bucky revealed yet another disturbing detail of his past

“Usually volunteers for Hydra’s cause. Sometimes other prisoners; women they also had been doing experiments on.”

“That’s disgusting.” you commented

“Believe me, I’m aware.”

“But what does that have to do with that stuff?” Frank motioned to the mess still splattered on the floor

“Zola’s prodigy, a real peach of a human named Dr. Whitehall, wanted to ensure the maximum possibility my DNA would take and the women participants would be as fertile as possible. I mean, after all this shit they did to me before, they thought maybe my swimmers would be pretty fried and they could create something to remedy that. So that stuff is a concoction he created in the 70s, basically it enhances all sexual urges to their most primal instinct, so those exposed are inclined to reproduce.”

“So it’s horny juice?” Frank asked

“Eloquent as always Castle, but yes. I’d say we have about ten more minutes before it kicks in. Once it does, it’s really painful until it’s out of your system or until you act on what it wants you to.” he turned to you “Okay here’s what’s gonna happen– Doll, you’re gonna go outside and lock Frank and me in this freezer so you’ll be safe from us.”

“Safe from you? What do you mean?”

“This stuff, it kinda alters your self control for a while. Like I said, it makes you run more on instinct, especially when the painful side effects hit. Once it starts kicking in, we’ll do anything to get rid of the pain. Frank and I won’t be able to resist you and you won’t be up for putting up much of a fight either. Get somewhere where our coms will work again and radio to the team, have them get you to Banner’s lab immediately. He might be able to concoct something to ease your symptoms for a few days.”

“A few days?!”

“Well it fades faster if you… ya know. But if you don’t, it could take a while to move through your system.”

“What about the two of you?”

“We’ll just have to… take care of ourselves here.” he said, making lewd gesture with his hand “Won’t be as efficient as the real thing, but it’ll help.” 

“I’m not gonna leave the two of you to just jack off and suffer.”

“Sweetheart, we’ll be fine. Just worry about you.” Frank chimed in, agreeing with Bucky

“If the solution is to… you know fuck it out. I mean shit, it’s nothing I haven’t already done with either of you.”

“Excuse me?” Frank inquired, now the one whipping his head to look between the two of you

“Remember in group a couple months ago when I said I got casually involved with a coworker, but broke it off cause it was getting in the way of our work? Well...” Bucky gestured towards you

“Unbelievable.” Frank grumbled with a shake of his head

You sat on the floor across from Bucky, tac suit suddenly feeling a bit too tight and itchy against your skin.

“This freezer we’re in… it’s still on right?” you asked

“Yeah.”

“Then why do I feel like I’m gonna combust at any minute?”

“It’s the serum. Shit, it’s already taking effect.” Bucky rushed over and crouched down beside you “Doll, you sure you don’t want to get out of here?”

“No. I want to stay. I want to help both of you and I don’t want to go through this alone either.” you said, unzipping your jacket and tossing it across the room without a thought, “Jesus it feels like my blood is on fire.”

You fanned yourself with your hands to no avail. This must have been how your mother felt during your teenage years when she’d lament about hot flashes.

Suddenly, you understood what Bucky meant by pain all over your body. It started small, almost like a needle prick, near your abdomen, but rapidly spread like ink on wet parchment.

Evidence that they were both starting to feel it too was showing; the way Frank’s brows were scrunched and how he was keeled over, hands on his knees with white knuckles gripping at his jeans. Bucky’s supersoldier powers combined with his previous exposures to this substance, he seemed reasonably calm compared to the two of you. His blue eyes were glazed over in a vacant stare as he sat on the ground across from you. Sweat droplets were beginning to form on his unusually pale skin. 

“P–please” you begged to both of them, pain suddenly unbearable as you pushed your pelvis off the floor, trying to find relief with friction against nothing.

You reached out to Bucky, but he shook his head no.

“Take care of Frank first.” he lulled his head to look at you “I’m more resistant to it’s effects. I’ll be fine for a while.”

“How many times do we have to… you know, to get it out of our systems?” you asked, still writhing your body against the air.

“As many times as it takes.” Bucky said

“Frankie” you reached a hand forward, beckoning him towards you.

He stumbled as he crossed the room, still slouched over slightly as he walked.

Frank’s cock was obviously strained against his jeans as he crouched down in front of you, deep brown eyes meeting your gaze.

“Sweetheart, you sure?” he asked once more, resistance to the serum fading quickly as he ran the back of two fingers down your arm, stroking you in reassurance.

As soon as his hand brushed your skin, icy relief washed over you, sending goosebumps along your flesh. You had the irresistible urge to press more of his skin against yours, to be as close to him as possible to quell the heat still bubbling beneath the surface.

All you could do was nod in response as you lunged forward, rubbing your hand along the bulge in his pants. Frank whined, a sound you’d never heard him make in the times you’d fallen into bed together, before crashing his lips against yours.

His kisses were fiery, full of tongue and teeth, like he just couldn’t drink enough of you in. Usually so patient and tender in bed, his large hands were now clawing at you, desperately trying to rid you of your clothes as quickly as he could. 

He tugged off your boots in one motion, allowing you to shimmy your pants down your body. Both of your shirts were quickly discarded as well. Fumbling to unbutton his jeans and push them down, Frank let out a relieved sigh as he finally freed his aching cock. The cool air from the freezer hit your sopping cunt, refreshing as another wave of heat rolled through your body as the serum was now fully in control.

You glanced over to Bucky as Frank laid you down on the hard concrete floor. His eyes were squeezed shut in a mixture of pain and pleasure, flesh hand down his pants stroking himself to quell the growing anguish as he listened to you and Frank. 

“Goddamnit doll, I can smell you.” His breathing was labored as he spoke.

Frank reached down, running a trembling finger through your folds.

“Shit Barnes, of course you can, she’s soaked.”

“P– please Frank” You begged again as Frank touched you where you needed him most, the action unknowingly teasing you into more pain.

“Shhh shh shh sweetheart. I know. It’s hurting me too. I’ll take care of you.” Frank reassured, sliding two fingers into you effortlessly

A strained sob slipped from you as he pumped in and out of you, relieved at the sensation but still in so much agony from not getting what you really needed.

“I think you’re ready.” he commented, barely restraining himself from just taking you roughly

You reached for his shoulders, guiding him fully on top of you. As he lowered himself he slid inside you in one motion, sinking all the way in easily. The serum didn’t allow him any pause, hips immediately snapping in and out with rough thrusts, primal need taking full control. His ample length repeatedly hit that perfect spingey spot inside you, causing you to cry out.

God the sounds in the room were downright sinful. Frank, who had been incredibly verbal during your previous trists, now reduced to only groans and grunts being swallowed by your sloppily placed kisses. Bucky’s lewd moans echoed off the walls and combined with the sound of skin slapping and your mewling. The vulgar symphony only spurred you on. Your peak hit you surprisingly quickly, though you attributed that to the foreign chemical invading your system.

It was like no other orgasm you’d ever had, like those viral videos of a firework finale all accidentally exploding at once. It felt endless, like you’d just be there cumming on the floor for the rest of your life.

“Shit honey, keep squeezing me just like that.” Frank finally found his words, climbing his own summit to relief. His large hand gripped at your jaw, steadying you beneath him as his movements became more erratic, an improvised drum solo of a brutal pace.

His dark eyes met yours, pupils blown out as he watched you come apart beneath him once more. Another overwhelming orgasm washed over you, more intense than the last.

That was enough to drag Frank over the edge with you. He pulsed deep inside you, filling you to the brim so much that you could feel it running down your legs before he even pulled back.

“Goddamnit.” he groaned into your shoulder

Sprawled out on the floor, you were an absolute mess of your own slick and sweat and Frank’s cum, but you didn’t care. You still direly needed more relief and knew Bucky must’ve been in total agony by this point; listening and watching you and Frank go at it.

“How you doing sweetheart?” Frank asked as he rolled off you, now a little more clarity that he’d gotten one orgasm out. You could still see the strained muscles in his neck, his skin still a shade of red as his lust was not yet fully satiated. 

“Better. Still hurts a little but much more bearable. Bucky, you ready to take over?”

He was slumped against the wall, eyes still squeezed shut. His jacket and shirt were gone and his pants were undone. But he’d given up on touching himself, knowing it wouldn’t soothe his suffering in the way he needed. You crawled across the floor toward him.

“Hey Buck? Eyes on me baby.”

His eyes snapped open and looked at you, full of desperation and pity.

“Let me help, yeah?” you spoke sweetly

He nodded, watching limply as you fumbled with his fly and exposed his throbbing length.

A switch seemed to flip inside him as you straddled him and sank down, coming alive with an animalistic fervor as you rocked your hips slowly. He let out a hearty exhale feeling your velvety walls all the way down his cock, finally alleviating the anguish he’d been trying so hard to conceal. 

Every sensation in your body was amplified, every touch of Bucky’s skin against yours was exquisite, every caress of his metal arm up and down your back shot like lightning striking straight to your core. You could feel every ridge of his cock, every thrust, every exhale. Overwhelmed by it all, you collapsed against his shoulder, letting him take the reins as he began to pitch himself up into you. How different he was too in this circumstance than the times previously you’d had him. Long languid strokes to ensure you’d feel it all long forgotten in favor of dragging you down by the hips over and over to meet his pace, every slam punctuated by lust and fury. Muttering ‘oh god’ and ‘yes baby please’ into your ear.

A soft caress brushed along the back of your neck, Frank kneeling behind you placing tender, open-mouthed kisses across your shoulder blades as you and Bucky fucked it out. The urge must’ve been building in him again because his hands were all over you and soon enough you weren’t sure whose grasp was where, only vaguely aware because Bucky’s vibranium touch was cool and calm amongst the heightened temperature of your sweaty skin. 

Your orgasm with Bucky blossomed, rising from deep within your core and spreading like wings in the breeze. You cried into his shoulder as he did not relent in his pace, pulling your pelvises flush as he came inside you with a carnal moan.

But you still weren’t satiated and you could tell neither were they. Fuck, this was gonna be a long night. 

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Korea drops my favorite cameo ever & gives KISSES

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized sorta by favs in each category.

Sept 2023 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 4 of 12 - Well that’s one way to find out if he’s gay, see how he reacts to reading a het sex scene out loud. Yai is flirting so hard it’s like he knows everything. 

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 4 of 12 - Oh no! I love them. Also cohabitation trope! Also ALL the other ones: hair dry, meet in childhood... GMMTV going no frills with this one.

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - Zo’s drama over Pat helping Joke flirt seems awfully manufactured. I’m losing faith in this show. Could GMMTV PLEASE hand JoongDunk a decent script? 

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 5 of 10 - Sand & Ray are the only interesting couple, and I’m pretty much only watching for them. They gonna go south fast, tho, and they're already ruined by persistent singing. Ooo. When Sand said Top "stole his ex" did he mean Boston? How gay. 

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 2 of 8 - The pronoun conversation had a bonkers translation but I enjoyed the actuality of it. The reasons for Yi's trickery are very convoluted soap opera. But I suppose that is the amnesia trope for you. 

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 10 of 12 - Boys. We discussed this already. No sex in onsens! I found this one dull, until the end when LLS showed up. Happy to just have him in everything. Thank you Thailand. Looks like it is a classic ep 11 DOOM next week. Who cares? 

Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 1-2 of 10 eps - The usual Thai pulp claptrap this time a reunion romances in and around a convenience store between a boy who recently quit his job and his former bestie who is now a doctor. Mostly not great acting, plot, or production but the sound is okay and no bad effects or singing (so far), so that’s something. The gay brothers have a fun relationship. It’s vampy and campy but fun. I like it but not sure anyone else would.

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - The date was cute but I still don’t like the lead or the premise (we moved into Cyrano de Bergerac territory). It’s moving slowly but it seems like we might be over the crush/stalker part of the narrative, so that’s a relief. 

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I just can’t. The sound is too weird. With punch down humor and other issues incoming I may DNF this. You’ve been warned. This ep we got to see LLS with his shirt off. Did anything else happen? 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 8fin - No wonder he is everyone’s favorite hyung, boy can read the room like no one else. I love that we got to see exactly how clingy and demanding Choi Jun was always going to be. Only Lee Jun is easy-going enough to put up with him. Also I’ve never watched a KBL with more innuendo. For Korea this was… raunchy. I gotta say had Laws of Attraction not come along, Simon might have been my favorite character of 2023.

Final thoughts on Jun and Jun:

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. Others boys are sniffing around too. Operative word being "sniffing" as much of this romance involves smell. With a snappy script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching. With tons of rewatch potential (especially the last few eps), my only caution is this is for fans of the BL genre only, I don’t think it’ll work for anyone else. A solid 9/10 from me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I like that Korea is trying high heat, but Taiwan and Thailand are leaps and bounds better at it.

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 9-10fin -

Omg they so cute as flirty bf. Eeeeeeee! CAMEO!!!!! My fav guest couple ever! So exciting!!!! I love that they intersected with MY Strongberry couple (Private Lessons). I’m not used to this but Holy innuendo Korea, what with Jun & Jun and now this show? It’s a bit much for my gay little heart. The final episode was entirely unnecessary, but it was fun to see them being all domestic and stuff. Maru with his dumb lettuce leaves was hilarious. I feel like I need to rewatch this one to really understand it properly, so I will likely do that soon.

Summary of Love Class 2:

3 couples form within a semester of university: 1. a hyung romance reunion of exes, one of whom has a dangerous past, 2. a friends to lovers romance, and 3. a mature student and TA one night stand + complexities (many aspects of which had me laughing). I enjoyed the characters and dialogue of this show immensely. It was a little bit more breezy and friendly than I was expecting after the first installment, Love Class. I’m not entirely sure Korea can handle multiple couples like this because it definitely felt disjointed, especially the 3rd more mature couple (also my favorite) who probably should’ve had their own series. But it was definitely fun and something different from Korea. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

Also, Korea tried to give us higher heat... that was... interesting. I mean, you tried hon...?

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 4 of 13(?) - Everyone is a sad sack this ep. Ooooo. Teach/student my favorite. We never get this one. It’s messy. I’m not sure if there is a plot. I’m not sure they’re sure if there is a plot. But I am still enjoying it.

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 8 - Why is the Fighter character always so frustrating regardless of name or country? Ji Oh stalking his crush via IG is so relatable. He’s very first crush awkward, unsure, and sweet. They also gave a nice kiss - I love the backpack drop (kiss version of a mic drop?) I still hold that if you haven’t seen the original this might not make much sense. But I am enjoying it. 

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - Oh goody, another JBL where we have to pay attention solely to what they do and not what they say. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - Big fat sigh. 

It's Airing But...

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) ep 3 of 24 eps - I couldn't get hold of it and I'm not mad. I'm putting it on hold until distribution gets sorted, or icky get their shizz in order (like that'll happen).

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan Gaga) Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/15 Bump Up Business AKA Bump Up Project (Korea movie) suspected cinema release? I don't know much about what's going on. Last status update. Love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency. Kpop boy group OnlyOneOf has signed up to star in this idol-based BL (based on a webtoon). They’ve been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV series in this post. It’s from Idol Romance who will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You).

Still To Come In September

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/27 Bon Appetit (Korea iQIYI) - from 2022, 8 eps from GoGo Studio, romance between an office worker who lives off junk food and the man next door who cooks well.

9/? Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam YouTube?)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love him. And I love his version of this character better than Jimmy's.

I also love it when a show gets meta. (Both Why R U? Korea) Why they didn't just go for YRU? the world may never know.)

(Last week) 

[themousefromfantasyland]

A Fairy Tale Rabbit Hole

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the movie that it started it all for Disney Animation and it's the most influential fairy tale movie ever. Its tropes and its tone still inspires fairy tale media to this day, either as parodies, or homages.

But what less people know is that Walt Disney was inspired to make this movie because of a peculiar silent movie that he watched when he was a teenager.

That movie was Snow White from 1916. Its writer, Winthrop Ames, adapted it from his own Broadway play. An example of American fairy tale theater.

This kept me thinking.

The Wizard of Oz is one of the most iconic fantasy films of all time, and it was made in direct response to Snow White. What people don't know is that the scene where Glinda saves the gang from the deadly poppies with a snowstorm came straight from a fairy tale musical from 1902. It came from The Wizard of Oz, a fairy tale musical "extravaganza", with direct input from L. Frank Baum, only two years after the original novel.

Actually, stage musicals seem to take a slight part in the creation of Oz. The Marvellous Land of Oz, the sequel, seems to be inspired by this stage culture. General Jinjur and her army dresses like chorus girls, Ozma/Tip may be inspired by the crossdressing in children roles, and this was the book's dedication:

"To those excellent good fellows and comedians David C. Montgomery and Frank A. Stone whose clever personations of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow have delighted thousands of children throughout the land, this book is gratefully dedicated by THE AUTHOR"

These were actors of the 1902 stage show.

Two years later, on 1904 Peter and Wendy premiered. This play is also one of the most famous children stories ever. Walt Disney himself acted as Peter in a local production of it and Tinkerbell quickly became a mascot for the studio.

This all led me to think more about fairy tale theater specifically.

Since the ending of the 18th century and through the 19th century, a genre of stage show developed through Europe. It was mostly comedic and light-hearted, mainly inspired by fairy tales, and it was geared towards children and families. It involved lavish fantasy spectacles told through operas, ballets, and what we today would call "musical theater".

It had many different names and variations depending on the country.

On England, it evolved through the pantomimes and it became a Christmas tradition.

In Russian, it was mainly through ballet, called the ballet-féerie, often considered a lower-class, more commercialized entertainment than traditional ballet. Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker are among some of them. Sleeping Beauty would later inspire Disney's telling of the story.

In France they were called Féerie, and it was a mix of music, dancing, pantomime, acrobatics, and stage effects. It influenced the development of burlesque, musical comedy and film.

From Wikipedia:

With his 1899 film version of Cinderella, Georges Méliès brought the féerie into the newly developing world of motion pictures. The féerie quickly became one of film's most popular and lavishly mounted genres in the early years of the twentieth century, with such pioneers as Edwin S. Porter, Cecil Hepworth, Ferdinand Zecca, and Albert Capellani contributing fairy-tale adaptations in the féerie style or filming versions of popular stage féeries like Le Pied de mouton, Les Sept Châteaux du diable, and La Biche au bois. The leader in the genre, however, remained Méliès,[37] who designed many of his major films as féeries and whose work as a whole is intensely suffused with the genre's influence.[38]

Once you realize a huge chunk of fairy tale media has roots in family friendly stage shows from 19th century, a lot of it started making sense.

The focus on romance, the focus on damsels in distress, prevalence of lighter tones, the everlasting connection to music and dance.

They may be the main reason why some fairy tales are more famous than others. Some became source material for a continuous stream of operas, operettas, musical extravaganzas, ballets, plays, and others simply not.

And besides the Victorian Era storybooks that bowdlerized fairy tales for children, I think this whole genre of the theater was responsible to firmly establish fairy tales as a child friendly media, decades before Disney ever released Snow White to cash in that nostalgia.

If you have something to add or if I just got something wrong, feel free to correct me.

@ariel-seagull-wings @princesssarisa @adarkrainbow @the-blue-fairie @theancientvaleofsoulmaking @natache @tamisdava2 @thealmightyemprex

[flightlessangelwings]

Jeys top 5 fics of 2022!

I did this last year so I’m gonna do it again! Here are my top 5 fics of the past year and a short little commentary on them! I’m also gonna add a bonus fic at the end that has less notes but I personally love and think deserves more love! Thank you all for all the love and support this past year and I’m looking forward to what 2023 brings!!!

Also! Let me know what was your personal fav fic on mine this last year! What do you want to see more of next year? Who do you want to see more of? Any new tropes or characters? Any prompt lists I should use for requests at some point? Slide in my inbox and let me know!!! 💖

~

5. The Fire Within Us- Frankie Morales x fem!reader (887 notes, posted Nov 14)

This was a collab with the talantes @frying-panties and oh boy is the art for this fic hot!!! And who doesn’t love pining sex pollen?! The idea works so well with Frankie too so this was a joy to write!! I especially loved writing Frankie being a switch and showing the dynamic between him and reader and all their emotions there!

4. Steal my Girl- Joel Miller x fem!reader (920 notes, posted Jan 28)

One of my personal favorite fics! The dialogue just popped into my head one day and I heard it so clearly in Joel’s voice that the fic practically wrote itself! Short sweet and fluffy, it’s a good fic to read even if you’re not familiar with the character!

3. When Jealousy Strikes- Tasm!Peter Parker x gn!reader (921 notes, posted May 13)

This was a request from my love @rae-gar-targaryen for my follower celebration and honestly I didn’t even notice how many notes this one got lol! I loved this prompt so much and the idea popped into my head almost immediately!!! The ending personally made me laugh too! I really should write a part 2 to this one….

2. Weakness- Din Djarin x afab!reader (1423 notes, posted Feb 18)

It’s funny how 2 out of the top 5 fics are sex pollens with pining 😂 I definitely have a brand going here lol! But this fic was a big undertaking for me and I spent a long time on it. The sex is hot yes, but what I really loved about writing this was the pining and the feelings! And the ending was so fun to write too! I’m so happy people loved this fic as much as I loved writing it!

1. Let Go- Joel Miller x fem!reader (1435 notes, posted Sept 26)

Omg I’m so happy this one was so well received cause I loved writing it!!! Written for my dear friend @mattmurdocksscars follower celebration writing challenge! This one really focuses on that balance that Joel has between being rough and tough and being soft and tender. I love Joel so much and he is such a delight to write and I’ll definitely be writing tons more for him in 2023!!!

Bonus fic- La Estrella de mi Vida- Javi Gutiérrez x fem!reader (posted in Aug, 3 parts)

I love the idea behind this fic so much and I’m still super proud of this one! This fic is basically my love letter to Javi and is set pre movie. I’m still hoping at some point to continue this because I loved writing it so much. I still think this has some of the most poetic smut I’ve ever written too lol!

[maddiesbookshelves]

Six Crimson Cranes (#1&2) by Elizabeth Lim (February 2023)

Shiori, the only princess of Kiata, has a secret. Forbidden magic runs through her veins. Normally she conceals it well, but on the morning of her betrothal ceremony, Shiori loses control. At first, her mistake seems like a stroke of luck, forestalling the wedding she never wanted, but it also catches the attention of Raikama, her stepmother. Raikama has dark magic of her own, and she banishes the young princess, turning her brothers into cranes, and warning Shiori that she must speak of it to no one: for with every word that escapes her lips, one of her brothers will die. Penniless, voiceless, and alone, Shiori searches for her brothers, and, on her journey, uncovers a conspiracy to overtake the throne—a conspiracy more twisted and deceitful, more cunning and complex, than even Raikama's betrayal. Only Shiori can set the kingdom to rights, but to do so she must place her trust in the very boy she fought so hard not to marry. And she must embrace the magic she's been taught all her life to contain—no matter what it costs her.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Definitely, at least for the first book. The second I'd only recommend if you're particularly excited at the idea of a sequel. But if, like me, you were kinda disappointed to know there was one, then don't read it.

Level of (dis)satisfaction based on the summary and my expectations? The first book exceeded all of my expectations and the second ran them over with a 5 tons semi and set them on fire. In a bad way. I was not pleased by that sequel.

My thoughts on it? Six Crimson Cranes was a great story with amazing worldbuilding (like Lim's other series, The Blood of Stars) and compelling characters. The romance was actually very cute and 90% of that was thanks to Takkan (Best Boi of 2k23 probably). This is also the only story where the "evil stepmother" trope was actually done well.

However. What stopped me from giving it 5 stars. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A STANDALONE. (no spoiler mini-rant)

The Dragon's Promise was an unnecessary sequel could have just, not existed with very minor chanches to the ending of SCC. As such, it was a very disappointing read that kinda tainted my experience with its prequel. I'm not sure I'll ever trust Elizabeth Lim to write duologies again.

LIGHT SPOILERS BELOW FOR SIX CRIMSON CRANES AND THE DRAGON'S PROMISE YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

30% of the sequel was useless. The whole part with the dragons served no purpose to the plot, we just met one character who is... more or less useful later on? Honestly, I felt like he was just there for fan service since he's the love interest in The Blood of Stars. Shiori, our heroine, is strung along from dangerous situation to dangerous situation, which aren't really useful and actually have the opposite effect than the one intended: I was bored and found the book too long. The villain did not mesure up so it didn't help with my boredom (I think it was another instance of fan service, which is starting to make me think that Elizabeth Lim doesn't know how innovate).

And apparently, Elizabeth Lim doesn't know how to end a series with anything other than a deus ex machina, since she did it for Unravel the Dusk and The Dragon's Promise. When I read the last 10 pages, I literally burst into laughter because of the sheer ridiculousness that came out of nowhere.

Really, Six Crimson Cranes should have been a standalone. It could have been 100% possible by changing a few details at the end, and it would have been way more satisfying than this sequel that was frankly meh in my opinion.

I have thus decided to pretend this sequel does not exist.

French version under the cut

Une magie ancestrale et interdite coule dans les veines de Shiori, la plus jeune des sept enfants de l’empereur de Kiata.

Lorsqu’elle découvre que sa belle-mère, Raikama, la Reine sans nom, possède sa propre magie noire, cette dernière lui lance un sortilège : elle transforme ses six frères en grues et l’avertit que pour chaque mot qu’elle prononcera, l’un de ses frères mourra.

Exilée et sans voix, Shiori va devoir se battre pour briser le sort et sauver son royaume d’une terrible conspiration. Pour cela, elle pourra peut... 

Est-ce que tu le conseillerais à quelqu’un ? Totalement, du moins le premier livre. Je recommanderais le deuxième à quelqu'un particulièrement heureux.se d'apprendre qu'il y a une suite. Mais si, comme pour moi, l'idée d'une suite a été décevante, alors je le recommanderais pas.

Niveau de déception/satisfaction par rapport au résumé et tes attentes ? Le premier livre a dépassé mes attentes et de loin, et le deuxième les a écrasées avec un 5 tonnes avant de leur mettre le feu. D'une manière négative. Je n'ai pas été ravie par cette suite.

Avis sans spoiler ? Six Crimson Cranes était une histoire géniale avec un excellent worldbuilding (comme l'autre série d'Elizabeth Lim, The Blood of Stars) et des personnages intérerssants. L'histoire d'amour était mignonne à 90% grâce à Takkan (Best Boi de 2k23, probablement). C'est aussi la seule histoire où le cliché de la méchante belle-mère est bien fait.

Mais. Ce qui m'a empêché de lui donner 5 étoiles. ÇA AURAIT DÛ S'ARRÊTER LÀ. (mini-rant sans spoilers)

The Dragon's Promise était une suite inutile qui aurait pu juste, ne pas exister en apportant de légères modifications à la fin de SCC. En l'état, c'était une lecture très décevante qui a un peu terni mon expérience avec son prequel. Je suis pas sûre de pouvoir refaire confiance à Elizabeth Lim pour écrire une autre duologie.

LÉGERS SPOILERS POUR SIX CRIMSON CRANES ET THE DRAGON'S PROMISE, VOUS AVEZ ÉTÉ PRÉVENU.ES.

30% de ce livre n’a servi à rien. Toute la partie avec les dragons n’a pas du tout servi à l’avancement de l’histoire, on a juste rencontré un personnage qui par la suite est… plus ou moins utile ? Honnêtement j’ai l’impression qu’il était là juste pour le fan service vu que c’est le love interest dans The Blood of Stars. Shiori, notre héroïne, se fait trimballer de situation dangereuse en situation dangereuse sans que ce soit très utile, ce qui a finit par avoir l'effet inverse de celui recherché : je me suis ennuyée et j'ai trouvé le livre trop long. Le méchant n’est pas du tout à la hauteur donc ça n'a pas aidé mon ennui (je pense que c'était encore un coup de fan service, ce qui commence à me faire penser qu'Elizabeth Lim ne sait pas se renouveler).

Et visiblement Elizabeth Lim ne sait pas finir ses séries autrement qu’avec un deus ex machina, vu qu'elle l'a fait pour Unravel the Dusk et The Dragon's Promise. Quand j’ai lu les 10 dernières pages j’ai littéralement éclaté de rire tellement c'était rudicule et inattendu.

Vraiment, Six Crimson Cranes aurait dû être un roman seul. En changeant quelques détails de la fin, ça aurait été largement faisable et beaucoup plus satisfaisant que ce deuxième tome que j’ai trouvé franchement meh.

J’ai donc décidé de prétendre que cette suite n’existe pas.

[adowbaldwin]

Shit poetry, by me last night at like 3am.

It will be shit.

----------------------------------------

Baldwin is the good son, 

The one who doesn't know how to have fun,

He looks fine in a suit,

And has a sexy voice to boot.

He loves his little Cara,

Some might say he’s a little bit para, (noid)

He goes above and beyond for his family,

And slaps Matthew with Glee.

We all know he is my favourite De Clermont,

And to see him nakey nakey is all i want.

-----------------------------------------------

Diana's namesake is the Goddess of the Hunt,

Thank god she killed Peter the C**t.

Satu deserved the worst,

To be utterly stripped of her worth.

Gerbert is a piece of shit.

-----------------------------------------------

Poor little Jack,

Father H brought him back,

His blood infected,

He feared he would be rejected.

So he learnt some control,

To take on his brotherly role.

-----------------------------------------------

For Sarah, Fernando was always there,

When Em died and life was too hard to bare.

They share a similar pain,

For his own love was slain.

His heart still beats for no other,

Despite not being accepted as Hugh’s lover.

From sadness their friendship grew,

Sticking with each other like glue.

-----------------------------------------------

TV Domenico is one sexy fuck

I would definitely try my luck

I have nothing but smutty things to say

I would definitely roll around with him in the hay.

-----------------------------------------------

Steven Cree,

Was one of my favourites in season 3.

Though Eric's heart lies elsewhere,

Diana doesn't care.

Sorrow in his heart,

From the strained years apart,

One day we hope,

He finds himself in a typical love trope.

-----------------------------------------------

Ysabeau is the ultimate female boss

Well, that’s Gerberts fucking loss

Known general to Philippe

She makes the enemies weep

She let Diana puke in her Chanel bag

Legend.

-----------------------------------------------

Marthe is the bones of Sept Tour

She shows enemies to the door

No tea is too hard to make

She really deserves a break.

-----------------------------------------------

Now lets move onto Matthew,

Whose favourite brother was Hugh.

Raged like his son and daughter,

He almost eradicated it in the French Quarter.

He’s a family man

Doing the best he can.

He doesn't always get it right,

But he will never give up the good fight.

Catholicism washes away his sins,

And oh so many have there been.

-----------------------------------------------

Miriam Shepherd

How amazing is she

Putting up with Matthew and Marcus

Is hard wouldn't you agree.

Through thick and thin

She is always around

Keeping those two idiots in line

A Queen, she should be crowned.

[thunderheadfred]

Fred’s Fic Index

Sorted alphabetically by fandom, then from newest to oldest. See #fred writes for all writing posts, including WIP snippets.

Ace Attorney

Proxy — AO3

The truth is simple: Phoenix Wright no longer wishes to associate with Miles Edgeworth. Or: This is how, two weeks too late to do anything about it, Edgeworth learns of Phoenix’s disbarment.

Phoenix/Miles - found family Mature  - explicit sexual content 37,000 words - Mar. 2020 ✓

reunion scene  //  Phoenix/Miles - E - 1,700 words

The Arcana

riddles  //  G

cost  //  Asra+Muriel - T - 670 words

egg  //  Asra+Nadia - G - 970 words

aether  //  Asra/Julian - E - 3,750 words

stop that  //  Asra/Julian - T - 540 words

the cave  //  Asra/Apprentice - E - 1,420 words

memory  //  Asra/Apprentice - T - 530 words

first kiss  //  Asra/Apprentice - T - 790 words

letter  //  Julian/Apprentice - T - 370 words

stiff drink  //  Julian/Apprentice - T - 780 words

Avatar: The Last Airbender

stealing Appa  //  Aang+Appa - G - 880 words

sneaking  //  Aang+Gyatso - G - 270 words

BNHA

Todoroki x Reader Headcanons

Aizawa x Reader Headcanons

Shigaraki x Reader  //  HC’s  -  The Second Worst

Bakugou x Reader Headcanons

Hawks x Reader Headcanons

Kirishima x Reader Headcanons

Dragon Age

fraternizing  //  Zevran/Warden, T, 390 words

fireside  //  Zevran/Warden, T, 450 words

glad to have you  //  Zevran/Warden, T, 370 words

Good Omens

Incense — AO3 / PODFIC

Not you. I know what You smell like.

Crowley/Aziraphale - gender, magical realism Mature - explicit sexual content 16,000 words - Sep. 2019 ✓

—

scent //  T - 500 words  //  [podfic]

sleep  //  Crowley/Aziraphale - T - 675 words

Mass Effect

Double Blind — AO3

Professor Solus was curved the same way scalpels were: not rounded for safety, but precisely honed, so sharp that Shepard wouldn’t feel the edge until she was six pints lighter. The promise of so much gratuitous blood loss made her dizzy. Dizzy… and something else.

Femshep/Mordin - Omega, PWP Explicit - BDSM, violence, blatant disregard for canon 14,000 words - Sep. 2018 (WIP) #tagged  -  playlist

a new toy  //  E - perfect 100

werewolf girlfriend  //  M - 234 words

a kiss for luck  //  M - 485 words

smile  //  M - perfect 100

sharp  //  M - perfect 100

weakness  // M - perfect 100

cupcake  //  M - perfect 100

hair   //   M - perfect 100

—

In the Yellow Time of Pollen — AO3 / FFN

Velocity and time make for curious bedfellows, especially when Kallo Jath flies out to meet his biological imperative.

Sara/Kallo - unreliable narrator, non-chronological Mature -  sex pollen trope, awkwardness 15,000 words - Mar. 2017 (WIP) #tagged  -  playlist

height difference kisses  //  T - 725 words

a kiss to give up control  // T - 228 words

washing machine  //  T - perfect 100

another lifetime  //  M - perfect 100

a kiss meant to be gentle   //  M - 1.8k

—

A Pretty Taste for Paradox — AO3 / FFN

After being resurrected by Cerberus, Shepard is a raw nerve, a stranger in her own skin. Why else would the never-ending nattering of Professor Mordin Solus send a shiver down her spine?

Femshep/Mordin - asexual romance, vignettes Mature - angst, violence, suicidal ideation 10,000 words - Jan. 2017 (WIP) #tagged  -  playlist

casual, in joy  // T - 620 words

the end of the world  //  T - 420 words

jealousy  //  T - 370 words

a kiss to shut them up  //  T - 240 words

juggling  //  T - 370 words

balance  //  T - perfect 100

unable to open their eyes  //  T - 0.4k

topaz // G - perfect 100

date   //  G - 300 words

routine kisses   //  G - 0.7k

kisses meant to distract  //  G - 1.8k

mordin solus   //   G - perfect 100

—

Red Streak — AO3 / FFN

During the surrender of Shanxi, ex-Marine Hannah Shepard agrees to parley with the fleet captain of the invading turian Blackwatch. Two decades later, Hannah’s daughter Jane lives in the shadow of that infamous truce.

Shakarian- first contact, novelization, shifting POV Mature  - excplicit sexual content, violence 100,000+ words - Sept. 2016 (WIP) #tagged - Red Streak Index

Shakarian:

passionately, in a rush of adrenaline  // T - 350 words

a kiss on a scar  // T - 330 words

drunk message  //  T - perfect 100

window  //  T - 200 words  

a gentle “I love you” whispered after a soft kiss //  M - 1.4k  

breaking the kiss to say something  //  M - 1.2k

synthetic insights  //  M - 800 words

Hannah/Albacus:

a hoarse whisper  //  M - 875 words

lazy morning kisses  //   M - 320 words

throwing their arms around the other person  //  M - 1.2k

when one person’s face is scrunched up  //  G - 500 words

Jane + Albacus:

growing pains  /  T - 3k

—

Misc. ME Drabbles

Zombie AU   //  T - 380 words

Citadel NPCs   //  T - 730 words

Tattoo Parlor AU  //  Shakarian - M - 500 words

Even More Bullshit

Rigor Mortis // Beetlejuice / 2010 / 4.9K / explicit Sex with a dead guy is hard… get it? AO3 / Tumblr

Shine On You Crazy Diamond // Cowboy Bebop / 2010 / 4K / mature Grown Ass Ed + Spike / post-series, and not as stupid as you think AO3 / Tumblr

Sublimation // Half-Life / 2011 / 8.4K / explicit It is his turn now, he realizes, his half of the conversation. AO3 / Tumblr

Lacuna // Historical Fiction / 2012 / 2.6K / mature A pornographic exploration of Austrian fin de siècle composer and conductor Gustav Mahler, which is probably not the sort of thing a person sees every day. Tumblr

Nebenstimme // Historical Fiction / 2013 / 3.7K / explicit Nebenstimme (Ger) under part; i.e., a secondary contrapuntal part, always occurring simultaneously with, and subsidiary to, the Hauptstimme. Tumblr

[marvelundercover]

As someone who knows nothing - since its September, how does this work? Is it too late to join? What do I do?

Hello! Thank you for your interest! And no, you are no too late! Brief explainer: this anon prompt-based fest and every year we change themes.

This year we are doing trope wars so previously people polled on their favorite tropes and the winners were Hurt/Comfort, Supernatural/Fantasy and for a wild card, we have Mutual Pining.

From now until Sept 12th you are collecting prompts for all three of those tropes from any Marvel fandom, character, or ship. You don't have to give your name when you prompt and you can also give free use prompts (meaning claimers choice in characters/ships).

On Sept 13th you can claim a prompt (or if you have your own idea from our tropes you can sign up using that!) We accept fic, podfic, traditional art, edits, moodboards, etc.

Submitting prompts doesn't mean you have to create! From October 25th to October 30th, creators will submit to our anon collection (they will still post as normal only the name will be By Anon) and we will promo. Then on the 31st we reveal with our masterpost and de-anon the collection!

Sorry, that wasn't so brief but for a more in-depth explanation you can check here.

If you have any other questions please let us know! :)

[x5red]

Five frequently asked Supergirl CW questions...

...and possible answers from the comics

Check social media. Read the forums. Scroll through the Subreddits. There are some questions that just refuse to go away. Time and time again fans of the CW’s Supergirl show keep asking the same old questions: How does she hide her costume? Who is stronger? Why does nobody recognise her?

Likely the questions will continue to be asked long after Melissa Benoist has hung up her cape on the final episode, but just for fun it might be interesting to take a meander through the 60+ years of Supergirl’s adventures in print, to see how successful the comics were at addressing the tv show’s most quizzed quirks.

Covered herein:

How does Supergirl fit her costume under her everyday clothes?

Why does nobody recognise that Kara Danvers is just Supergirl with glasses?

Is Supergirl more powerful than Superman?

How did Kara get her ears pierced?

How come nobody connects the name Kara Danvers with Kara Zor-El?

It’s roughly a ten minute read, peppered with interesting Supergirl pictures. Enjoy...

#1 -- How does Supergirl fit her costume under her everyday clothes?

The modern tv incarnation of Supergirl seems uncertain as to whether Supergirl’s costume uses a futuristic (and budget depleting) nano-tech solution, or a classic (and cheap) costume-under-clothes trick. Traditionally, with the exception of Matrix’s brief shape-shifting stint in the job, the comicbook Supergirl has tended to favour the latter tactic, prompting fans to ask how her costume fits under her street clothes. The first such query to reach the DC letters pages was from reader Helen Silberman of Irvington NY. In Action Comic #263 (March 1960), Helen wrote:

Dear Editor, I like SUPERGIRL very much. She is my favorite feature. But I often wonder how she conceals the long sleeves on her costume when she wears a short~sleeved dress as Linda Lee.

Acknowledging that this was a common question, editor Mort Weisinger explained that Supergirl’s super costume is super flexible.: “She merely keeps the sleeves rolled up.” This was confirmed inside the strip itself when Action Comics #342 (Oct 1966) saw Linda referencing the costume hidden under her t-shirt, and an editorial caption handily adds “Linda has rolled up the long sleeves of her super-flexible costume.”

But, respond the fans, what about her boots?

Since the Silver Age, Superman has adopted the practice of stashing his Clark Kent attire as a super-compressed parcel inside a hidden pocket in the inner lining of his cape. Various stories confirm that Supergirl does the same, and visual proof of this came in The Daring New Adventures of Superman #5 (May 1983), when she is seen reclaiming her dress from the pocket. Presumably the same pouch could hide her boots when dressed in her everyday identity?

Okay, so the boots are super-compressed inside the cape, but what about the cape itself?

This is where things start to get a little problematic.

There’s plenty of mid-transformation frames stretching back as far as Supergirl’s early Silver Age antics depicting her wearing her cape underneath her regular clothes. How she does this seems never to be explained, so we probably have to chalk this one up to a comicbook trope that readers (and now the tv viewers) just have to accept.

#2 -- Why does nobody recognise that Kara Danvers is just Supergirl with glasses?

Supergirl has adopted various means of masking her true identity down the years. The tv Supergirl hides behind a pair of glasses; her comicbook counterparts have variously used wigs, special molecule-rearranging hair dyes, shape-shifting, and advanced DEO technologies. None of these, with the exception of Matrix’s ability to shape-shift into Linda Danvers, really stands the real-world credibility test.

The problem here is that the comicbook superhero genre has its origins in a more simplistic storytelling age, were the application of just a pair of glasses, or a wig, or a fake moustache, was sufficient to create a false identity. There’s countless examples from Superman’s early decades of Lois Lane fooling the Man of Steel with just the application of a wig, and indeed the epic Silver Age tale that first revealed Supergirl’s existence to the world hangs on evil Kandorian scientist, Lesla Lar,successfully fooling Superman into believing she is Kara Zor-El by just rearranging her hair.

One can argue that Kara’s use of a wig is potentially a better disguise than Kal-El’s glasses and change of posture, but ultimately both methods have severe limitations. Research conducted by the universities of York and Huddersfield (UK) suggested that while some disguises (makeup, wigs, etc.) are effective at hiding a person’s identity, the effectiveness drops if the subject is known to the person doing the identifying. As such, in the real world, neither Clark nor Kara would stand a chance of fooling their friends and colleagues.

In Superman #330 (Dec 1978) there was a half-hearted attempt to address the problem by suggesting that the Kryptonian glass used in Clark’s eye-wear boosts a subconscious super-hypnotises power, projecting an image of Clark as feeble, but this created more problems than it solved. What happened when Clark anchored the WGBS News on tv; and how did Linda Danvers get by without any Kryptonian face furniture? So, sadly, the comics don’t really provide much of an answer -- we must write the problem off as a relic from a bygone storytelling era, that modern audiences just have to accept as part of the established baggage that comes with superheroes.

#3 -- Is Supergirl more powerful than Superman?

Although both Superman and Supergirl have Kryptonian origins, their route to Earth was markedly different. Kal-El arrived as an infant, while Kara didn’t arrive until her teenage years. Fans (at least those who have wont to obsess over such matters) have therefore speculated about how this affected their power levels.

When Supergirl first appeared in comics it became clear early on that Kal-El and Kara Zor-El had identical superpowers. There isn’t a direct comparison of the two cousins -- they never went head to head -- but DC’s writers certainly seemed to adopt the principle that any super-feats that Superman could do, Supergirl could do just as well.

That said, during Supergirl’s long history there have been periods when the power balance has clearly shifted. For example, it is reasonable to assume that the Matrix Supergirl (both pre and post merger with Linda Danvers in Volume 4) was less powerful than the Man of Steel. Indeed in the latter part of Volume 4 -- the period when Supergirl sported a white t-shirt and gloves -- she was significantly de-powered, even losing the ability to fly.

Likewise from Adventure Comics #402 to #423 (Feb 1971 to Sep 1972) the Girl of Steel had intermittent issues with her superpowers, thanks to the effects of a drug concocted by super-villain Starfire. At inopportune moments her powers would fail her entirely, resulting in Kara relying on various gadgets developed in the Bottle City of Kandor as a backup.

But wait a moment... because the balance of power hasn’t always shifted in favour of Superman.

During this Bronze Age period Superman also had issues with his powers. As part of a shake-up of the character, editor Julius Schwartz instigated a story running across Superman #240 to #242 (July to Sept 1971) that saw Superman lose a third of his power levels... permanently(!!) This was part of Schwartz’s plan to curb some of the silly excesses of Silver Age. Some fans have noted, however, that the Girl of Steel’s power loss was only intermittent, and eventually the effects of Starfire’s drug wore off entirely, so in September 1972 she technically became 50% more powerful than her cousin.

#4 -- How did Kara get her ears pierced?

Since the tv show began fans have been asking about how Kara could have pierced her earlobes of steel. It is clear from the opening moments of the pilot episode that Malina Weissman’s young Kara doesn’t appear to have any piercings when departing the dying Krypton, yet when the episode skips forward a decade to Melissa Benoist’s twenty-something Kara, she clearly does.

Show creator and producer, Ali Adler, responded to a fan’s tweeted question by suggesting that Kara had her ears done “At the mall on #krypton”, which is a fun answer, but doesn’t seem to concur with the pilot. So is there an explanation from deep within comicbook lore?

Yes. (Probably!)

The most likely explanation is that Kara used her heat vision and a mirror to burn the holes into her own earlobes. Since the early Golden Age era it has been established that Superman is strong enough to piece his own skin with his fingernails, allowing him to give a blood sample. Editors initially responded to inquiries about how Superman shaved or cut his hair and nails by suggesting that these parts of his anatomy didn’t grow under Earth’s sun. But eventually, as Superman spent more time on alien planets, they devised more creative solutions -- the heat vision haircut was one of them.

In the comics, Injustice 2 #21 (May, 2018) finally let readers see Supergirl (at least a version of Supergirl) using heat vision to cut her hair. Meanwhile the tv show had already treated viewers to Kara giving a super-trim to Mon-El’s mop in episode 2x05 - “Crossfire” (okay, so he was a Daxamite not a Kryptonian, but hey, same difference!) This suggests that Kara’s invulnerability can be defeated by her own powers in the tv universe, just like the comics, so a piercing blast from her eyes rather than a trip to the mall is probably the most satisfying answer.

#5 -- How come nobody connects the name Kara Danvers with Kara Zor-El?

It may be a small problem, but it’s one that clearly bugs some viewers. Kara Danvers not only has the same first name as Kara Zor-El, but she also pronounces it in the same distinctively European way -- “Kar-ah” not “Care-ah” (despite what Cat Grant may want us to think.)

How does she get away with this?

In the comics this generally hasn’t been a problem. Prior to the Melissa Benoist tv show, Supergirl had been known as Linda (Linda Lee, Linda Lang, Linda Danvers), or as Mae (short for Matrix), or briefly as Claire Connor. Only Kara Kent, the Supergirl of the cartoon show, Superman: the Animated Series (1996), had stuck with her Kryptonian first name. This changed in 2016, however, when DC adopted many of the tv Supergirl elements into its comicbooks, including the Kara Danvers secret identity.

Up until the tv show’s fourth season it could be argued that Benoist’s Supergirl had been very careful never to make her birth-name public, so there was little opportunity for anyone to link her two personas. But that changed in episode 4x14 - “Stand and Deliver”, when Kara can clearly be heard announcing herself as “Kara Zor-El, citizen of Earth” at a public protest, as a crowd watches. So very likely, after that incident, the Maid of Might’s Kryptonian name was plastered all over social media, and given Kara Danvers’ high profile as an award-winning journalist, we’re no closer to explaining why an army of armchair sleuths on Facebook or Reddit haven’t connected the two women.

Sadly the comics can’t really answer this Kara conundrum, because it is a problem largely of the tv show’s own making. Perhaps the only solution is to ignore episode 4x14 and assume that everyone in National City (aside from the regular cast) live in blissful ignorance of Supergirl’s Krypton name.

Conclusion

So it’s a mixed bag of success and failure. The comics provide answers to some problems, but come up empty handed for others. But perhaps we shouldn’t be too disheartened. Sure, it may be fun to devise answers to the quirks and oddities of the tv show, but ultimately it won’t stop fans from asking the same questions time and time again. The sillier aspects of superheroes are part of the genre’s charm, and trying to devise clever ways of explaining away the wackier elements is all part of the fun.

Hopefully you found the above an entertaining and informative read, but the five proffered answers shouldn’t discourage anyone from dreaming up their own explanations -- after all, these questions aren’t really properly answered until the tv show’s writers choose to answer them.

Until then, we can all have fun speculating.

[not-a-fever-dream]

siennarossi’s fic recs: July 2019

It’s a short list this month, but here it is. Don’t forget to reblog the fics you enjoy!

CHRIS EVANS

Imagines/Blurbs

De-stressing - @my-emotional-self​

Certainly helped me de-stress a bit. 

HARRY STYLES

Imagines/Blurbs

Fairy Godmother - @meetyourmouths

What to do when Nick wants his best mates to be together? Not act as subtle as possible. That flirty tension, the little prank, the morning after. I loved every bit of this.

OTHERS

Imagines/Blurbs

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(2) - @phi-lophobic

A short one but packed filled with emotions.

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(3) - @phi-lophobic

There’s magic in being able to say so much in so few words. And this is just magical.

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(5) - @phi-lophobic

I love fics that explore vows and I was a goner by the time we got to “I am not hopeful, but I am sure. I am steady.”

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(6) - @phi-lophobic

Well, that broke my heart.

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(7) - @phi-lophobic

I’m not okay. This is not fine. It’s beautiful, but it’s not fine.

Excerpt from a book I’ll never write.(74) - @phi-lophobic

I’ve loved every one of these. And this isn’t any exception.

SHAWN MENDES

Imagines/Blurbs

a lazy beach day while ur sun drunk together - @pastelshawns​

Sami doesn’t have to hurt my like this. But she does. And I love her for it. 

Bad dates - @crowdedimagines​

I mean if you get the cute best friend at the end of it, then I say yes. That confession part? Loved that.

Be my someday - @softboyshawn

This feels as warm and cozy as the sweaters she put in the laundry.

Cuddle - @softboyshawn

Just a nice little cuddly boy wanting the affection of his crush. CUTE.

Coin toss - @princeshawnn

There are so many tropes here that I love. And I’m eating it up like really good cake (lol). But I love the realization she comes to when she wakes up. It’s cute and sweet and I enjoyed reading that.

Figuring it out - @softboyshawn

Nothing like a best friends turned lovers story with a little mischievous kitty thrown in.

Silver - @pastelshawns

It's both just poetic and hot. Is it possible to be drunk in lust? Because I am drunk in lust. Welp. That’s as succinctly as I can describe how this makes me feel. It leaves me a bit dizzy, to be honest.

Spark - @pastelshawns

A tender supposed-to-be one night stand that could be more? Yes, please. I want a bit more of that.

Mini-series/Series

Chapter Two: Changes - @rosesfool

I’m so excited for this series. I like reading their interactions in the elevator and Charlie as a kinda cheeky character intrigues me. I want to see where her story goes.

I’m baby + You’re baby + Spoiled baby - @softboyshawn

This sweet little series is mushy and cute and makes me feel very cuddly.

SIENNAROSSI’S FIC RECS 

Jan-Feb ‘19 | Mar ‘19 | Apr-May ‘19 | Jun ‘19 | Aug ‘19 | Sept ‘19 | Oct. ‘19 | Nov. ‘19 | Dec ‘19

[feelmyskinonyourskin]

Where We Begin and End [Misunderstood Breakup Trope]

Pairing: Frank Castle x Reader

Trope de Sept Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Misunderstood Breakup situation 1. One person thinks the other one has broken up with them due to a misunderstanding "Frank comes home injured and it shakes you to your core, the next morning he’s gone and you think he’s left you"

Warnings: Angst into a happy ending. No gender or pronouns specified for reader. No use of y/n. Established relationship. Nicknames sweetheart and baby. Blood/description of a bullet injury and the repair of it. 

WC: 2,033

*I never give permission for my fics, manips, or any other original creation I post on this site to be copied, posted elsewhere, translated, or fed into any AI program. The only platform I currently post anything on is Tumblr. Thanks!*

Your fingers trembled as you worked, the silver tweezers dropped from your shaking hand and fell into the porcelain sink under you with a clang. 

‘Shit” you mumbled under your breath and retrieved them, the metal tool threatening to fall from your slippery, blood-covered hand again.

“S’ alright sweetheart, take your time.” Frank said softly

Usually his reassurance in a dire situation calmed you. But tonight there was an edge to his voice that had your fragile nerves teetering on an already thin tightrope.

You went back to the task in front of you, hesitantly plunging the tweezers into the flesh of his lower back, attempting to remove the bullet that had ricocheted and lodged itself there.

Repairing Frank after a long night out wasn’t an unusual occurrence for you. The sight of his blood didn’t typically phase you, having spent countless nights tending to his wounds as an act of love. But tonight, the injury in question had you fearing for Frank's life. 

You were by no means a medical professional, but you knew enough basic anatomy to know this bullet was dangerously too close to his spinal column and one wrong move by either of you could at best leave him with permanent nerve damage and at worst paralyze or even kill him.

“Almost got it.” You weren’t sure who you were trying to reassure more, him or yourself.

The dulled copper end of the bullet finally poked through amongst the crimson flooding the hole and the marred skin around it. You pulled it out, sighing in relief and releasing a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

Frank, always so stoic and calm, faced away from you sitting on the edge of the bathtub, elbows on his knees. His nostrils flared and his lip twitched, as the pain threatened to creep past the barrier against it he had plenty of practice building up. You were too busy threading the needle to stitch the hole closed that you hadn’t noticed his subtle signs of weakness.

Getting the bullet out was the hard part and an invisible weight lifted off your shoulders knowing if your mediocre medical repair hadn’t gone awry yet, it probably wasn’t going to from this point forward.

Your skin felt damp. God, how had you not noticed until now? You were sweating buckets from nerves and knew there was some of his blood on your face as well. Probably from unconsciously trying to wipe the sweat from your brow as you worked. Oh wait. There were also tears there. When did you start crying?

The silent air between the two of you felt heavier than a led balloon as you stitched the wound, neither of you daring to speak as you wiped the area down with an alcohol swab. 

“Okay um…” you sniffled, not wanting to let the flood gates fully open until you were out of the room 

“I cleaned up the blood surrounding it pretty good, so try not to get it too wet in the shower.” You finally commented, your work finished. 

Frank nodded his head. Typically a man of few words, especially after coming home from a job, he remained unnervingly quiet as you disposed of the bandage wrappers and gauze in the small plastic trash can under the sink. 

He leaned forward as if to speak, but decided against it, and instead turned on the spigot in front of him, letting the warm water splash against his feet. 

Avoiding his gaze, you washed your hands in the sink. The water ran down the drain in a river of scarlet, then a rusty orange, then eventually clear, the colors increasingly blurring in your vision as more tears filled your eyes. 

A soft thump behind you jolted you upright, adrenaline still buzzing and anticipating whatever might happen next. You relaxed a little again as you realized it was just Frank removing his jeans and tossing them on the floor as he changed the knob from the lower faucet to the shower head and stepped in to clean himself of the blood and grime of the evening. 

You never ask about what happened. No matter how severe the injuries he comes home with are, you never want to know. But tonight shook you so to your core, you can’t help but be curious. 

How did he make such a large miscalculation? Was it because he was getting old? Too distracted by his home life with you? Why had his bullet-proof vest not done a better job at protecting such a sensitive area? Your brain swirled with a million questions. 

He grunted in pain from behind the shower curtain and it made you jump once again. As the hot water hit the plethora of other wounds he came home with tonight, he knew you were still uneasy behind the shower curtain. 

“S’ okay baby. Really.” he reassured again

You proceeded into the bedroom, pacing in circles and not knowing what to really do with yourself, still unable to let yourself fully cry. 

A few minutes later, Frank emerged in a cloud of steam, a towel slung low on his waist. 

“You should be resting sweetheart.”

“Wanted to make sure you were okay before I laid down.”

“C’mon, I’ll lay with you.”

Gingerly, Frank laid on his stomach, not wanting to irritate the wound by sleeping on it. You curled into his side, resting your head on his shoulder, no longer able to hold the levee against your tears. They ran down your face in streams, soaking his shoulder and your pillow case.

“Pl.. please Frank. I can’t. I can’t do this anymore. I’m not asking you to change who you are but I can’t keep loving someone who constantly puts themself in a position where I could lose them. I can’t lose you Frank.”

“Sweetheart, you know this is what I do though. You know it’s dangerous. It’s just part of the job.”

“Don’t make me go through what you went through with Maria.”

Frank didn’t respond, only rolled on to his side to pull you against his chest and comfort you with his calloused fingers running soft lines against your skin until exhaustion finally won out and you fell asleep.

The pounding headache was the first thing you noticed in the morning. The heaviness of your eyelids as you attempted to open them was the second. 

You reached out for Frank, but your hand only met empty space and crumpled sheets.Not unusual for him to be up before you.

A dull ache radiated through your body as you slowly rolled out of bed. Frank was nowhere to be found in the kitchen, not making coffee as you suspected he might be.

“Frankie?” you called out, voice still small and croaky with sleepiness

But there was no answer.

You looked at the front door. Frank’s boots, coat, and keys were gone. He always let you know when he was going out and when he’d be back. You checked your phone. No text. 

Everything else seemed to be in place in your apartment but the feelings from last night still gnawed a pit into your stomach.

You remembered how scared you were and how you’d begged and cried until you fell asleep.

You’d asked Frank to do the impossible, something you’d never ask him, to give up being the Punisher. 

And he seemed he’d made his decision. He was gone. Walking out of the life you’d built together like it was nothing.

Getting ready for work was a chore you struggled through. Any sane person would take the day off after everything you’d been through in the last 6ish hours. But you needed the normalcy and the distraction, not wanting to sit around the apartment wallowing, waiting for something to happen that you knew wouldn’t - Frank coming home from wherever he’d gone.

You grabbed his hoodie from the hook in the entryway on your way out. You always wore it on days he was away, when you were missing him extra badly. God, how sick it was that the thing you were grieving was also the only thing you knew would bring you even a little bit of comfort.

You spent most of the day just sitting at your desk, staring at your computer, not really getting any work done. 

“God you look awful.” your coworker Kate commented when she popped her head into your office around lunchtime

“Frank and I, um… we broke up.”

“Jesus. I’m sorry. What happened?”

“We… something happened last night and when I woke up this morning he was gone.”

“Wait? Did you guys actually have a conversation about breaking up?”

“Well no but…”

“Did he take any of his stuff with him? You know like someone leaving would?”

“Well no but…”

“Did you, ya know, text or call him to see where he is?”

“Kate. Look. I just know Frank and after what happened, I just know this is it. He’s gone.”

Kate took pity on you and offered to take you to lunch to take your mind off of it. As you exited the office and walked to your favorite Thai place on the corner, you decided to take her advice and text him, knowing that you wouldn’t get one back.

Frank. I’m worried about you after what happened last night. Please just let me know you’re okay.

You must have checked your phone 30 times at the restaurant, with no notification of him texting you back showing up.

The walk back to the office was silent, Kate giving up on inventing one sided conversations to keep your mind off things.

A bouquet of peonies sat on your desk when you got back, as well as a pair of dirty combat boots attached to a very tired looking Marine, appearing as though he could use a nap, lounging in your office chair with his legs crossed and up on your desk. 

“Frank.”

“Hey sweetheart. You know your office needs better security?” he said casually as if he was just commenting on the weather and hadn’t just walked out of your life mere hours before

“You’re here.”

“Yeah.”

“But you left.”

“Yeah. Sorry to run out so quick this morning, but something came up.”

“But you didn’t text me back. Let me know. You always let me know.”

Frank sat upright, removing his feet one at a time from your desk and walking across the room to stand in front of you. He reached into his back pocket and held up his cell phone between you. The device, cracked across the screen and smashed in the one corner, looked entirely useless between his calloused fingers.

“What do you think the bullet ricochet off of?”

You weren’t sure if it was a chuckle or a sob that escaped your mouth, but it finally broke your resolve and you threw yourself into his arms.

“It was in my back pocket and the bullet hit it and it flew up between my back and my vest. Was gonna get a new one today, but Madani yakked my ear off all morning.”

“Madani?”

“Last night had me pretty spooked too. I didn’t sleep. Thinkin too much about what you said. You were right. My biggest fear is you getting hurt, losin you like I lost them. Didn’t even stop to think that losin me might hurt you too. But you remindin me how it felt when I lost my family… made me realize what you go through with me and all my bullshit.”

“So why were you with Dinah?”

“Remember when I told Madani I’d start working for the CIA when hell froze over? Well guess the devil better buy a coat…”

“Pfft I’ll let Matt know next time we see him… God, you scared me Frank. I thought you left me. That we were done. When I didn’t hear from you and you weren’t home. After last night…”

“You ain’t getting rid of me that easy.”

“That so, big guy?”

“Yeah gonna go be a CIA man. Wear a suit and work in an office and shit.”

“You look good in a suit, Frank.”

“Think I look like a dork”

“But you’re my dork?”

“Damn right baby.”

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - New & Old Tropes Galore

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized sorta by favs in each category.

Sept 2023 Wk 4

Ongoing Series - Thai

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 7 of 12 - occasionally I forget that Yai is like 20 and this is his first love affaire. That poem bit gave me very Goethe vibes. Lots of doomed lesbians in this ep. Doomed love in general. Frankly? I was hoping for more oil less sad. Also, these two are making some v stupid mistakes. Also: MORE boys dancing.

Finally... who was it wanted a rain kiss? You got your rain kissing here, okay? No umbrellas to be had, apparently.

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 7 of 12 - I love them so much. They are so darn adorable. I like how forthright Kang is. Boy has no game and is such a dork but at least he's enthusiastic. I love the “my boyfriend smells good” trope that BL is into these days. I’m into it, too. The bff enemies drunken bathroom shenanigans was v funny. Also @heretherebedork your boys are couple dancing all over the damn place this week.

I guess we get the boyfriends ep next week?

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 12fin - The conflict really kind of wasn’t in this last ep. But I guess it was a fine, if not a particularly strong, ending. I wish we’d had the family conflict threaded throughout the series. It would have felt like a deeper more honest drama and the actors could have handled it. They’re ready. How pretty were Joong’s single picturesque crystal tears? Honestly, it's been lovely, boys. Not at all memorable, but lovely.

Quick pitch Hidden Agenda: 

A relatively simple and harmless old-fashioned style university Thai BL, that started out Cyrano de Bergerac style but then drifted away into forgetfulness. It felt like it could have fit into the En of Love universe, except that it was high quality GMMTV with very pretty makeup. I enjoyed it for what it was, it's just that wasn’t much. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 5 of 8 - Am I mostly watching this for Est and annoyed he doesn’t have a pair? Yes. (Am I writing a whole revenge plot in my head: "seduced to the good side by my enemy's hot bodyguard" with him and the Tem character? Yes. Yes I am. But that’s way too KinnPorsche for this show.) That said, MaxNat really are a great pair. Nice that Dio is figuring out how evil his own family is. Weirdly, I kind of like this speculation that if gay marriage were legal rich families would use it for arranged-marriage power plays. Can you imagine what China would do with this concept if they had access to it? 

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 7 of 8 - The morning after was sweet, I do like it when we get these scenes in BL. FYI no one misgendered Bojji except the caption writer. The screaming "discovery" scene was adorable. And I am very much falling in love with all of the side characters. I also love how aggressive Yang is, like he stepped out of a 2016 Chinese BL into Thailand. And I adore the main brother relationship.

I have to say, this is going to be a difficult BL for me to review. I didn’t like the first 4 episodes but it seems like I’m going to love the final 3. I’m actually really looking forward to the finale next week. Boy, do I feel strange about this. In other news, is it just me or is it weird to get a gay kiss from Ngern almost 10 years later? How late is too late for smooching a boy? 

Never too late...

Absolute Zero (Thai Weds iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally brings us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance based on the novel of the same name. I think we can expect this to be sad (so it will likely slide down my list as I become more confident about this). Mix is a great actor, so I’m not worried about that aspect, but I am warning you this won’t be your classic fluffy Thai BL. It’s a bit slow moving for me so far. Meanwhile, a revelation:

Thai high school BL is all about the hands. I blame Love Sick.

FYI the outdoor movie they watch is Love of Siam Thailand’s first real queer movie, also featured in My Only 12%.

I'm in trouble, Ongsa is such a sunshine cutie and Sansoon is so lost and sad. Pretty sure I won’t have the patience for 12 episodes of this, but I’ll stick with it for now because a pair like this is yaoi-induced catnip for me.

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 8 of 10 - Ah, Ray, baby, you can’t get what you want if you want the wrong thing. Also, corruption charges much? Is Ray turning into Ton or is that just me? I still hold that Jenny’s is the only story I actually wanted. Although, I did enjoy the two bi boys bonding over Freddie. GMMTV sure is making good use of Title now that they got him away from Wabi Sabi and I’m NOT mad about it (4 shows & counting). Under ordinary circumstances, I probably would have dropped this show by now. But something keeps dragging me back.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Right Time Right You ep 6 - This couplet ended up feeling like an amateurish short. It was interesting in that way shorts can sometimes push into unusual territory, but very slow. My favorite so far, but that’s not saying much since we've only had 3. Kinda amorphous ending. 5/10 watch it if you have nothing better to do. Next week's looks pretty but silly: You Are My Soulmate.

Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 5 of 10 eps - I don’t understand the bit with the girl, car & eyebrows. Was that all just ad copy? This show is so bad I’m mostly fast forwarding now. I mean the leads are cute and earnest but that’s it. NO SINGING! And... nothing happened this ep. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 7-8 of 13(?) - Buckle up I got A LOT to say. Ep 7 was the boyfriends ep! Look there’s a a lot of problematic going on here by western standards: age gap (FYI age of consent in Taiwan is 16) + teacher+student, but if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you should know that Taiwan likes both high heat and taboo content (and so do I) plus (unlike Mame) they just lean lube into those kinks. And I, for one, am delighted. I talk about taboo in terms of age gap here and stepbrothers here. I’ve never done teacher/ student because we don’t get it often enough (insert sad face). These are not things that I’m going to complain about or rehash, so, moving on...

I found a lot to love about ep 7: tie grabs, smiley kisses, communication, being held down, younger aggressor, AND preliminary research= all good things. They even brought in morning aftercare, and shared trauma! I love a show that’s both unexpected yet entirely classic Taiwanese BL. I love that the family appeared as a plot device and then disappeared again. It’s all highly amusing.

Gaga dropped ep 8 a week early, I’m assuming this was a mistake since they skip next week. But hey! 

Ep 8: def uhaul lesbians. Also cute queer fam moment. Ring finger biting = v hawt. Then of course it all goes south. Tres romantic means of taking the rap, gotta say. No one does gay sappy quite like Taiwan. Also, now we know why he loses his memory and Ai Di has to go in after him. Honestly, I’m not pleased to see yet another amnesia trope raise its ugly… head (why so many this year?). But it seems to be this year's trend. 

And I know there is more trauma coming, but in classic Taiwan fashion it’s all gonna be fine in the end even if that HEA is chaotic and entirely unearned. Don't worry, all. We good.

You Are Mine (Taiwan Fri Gaga) eps 4 of 10 - Oh noes, sunshine has a cold. And not from the rain... just, like, a normal cold. Amazing. But then when baby gets kidnapped, daddy gets v mad. Honestly, I am charmed by the show. It is very old-fashioned "domineering CEO puts little lady up against the wall" and it’s Taiwan, and thus I am not mad about it. This is what we would be getting from Mainland China if China we’re still making pulp BL. I am disposed to simply enjoy the utter "80s bodice ripper but gay"-ness of it all.

Bon Appetit (Korea Weds iQIYI) 1-2 of 8 - from 2022. If you have premium icky VIP you can binge it all now. I don’t, so instead I’m watching it 2 new episodes every Weds. Struggling heartbroken loser-ish office worker who lives off junk food + sunshine neighbor who loves to cook (from his past with a long-held crush). Also there is a "love class" element. Why does Korea like this conceit so much? Do their universities really engage in socialization training? Gotta say I’m getting whiffs of stalker... but only whiffs. Basically, this show is going poster child “way to a man’s heart is through his stomach“. Bit too much flashback, but I like that our chef is open about liking a boy, and I like that they remember things differently and in alignment with their own egos. And I like that we got a confession already. Ah KBL, it is nice to watch something that MUST move plot quickly. 

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 6 of 8 - Jealous weatherman is ridiculous. Japan = queen of “why don’t you guys just talk?” 

Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 2 - Ba Vinh & Minh Thao reprising their roles as Dung & Khoa what do we think? 8 eps? 10? We got the stepbrothers (or whatever they are) backstory. Also My Prettiest Cat-boy does certifiable nutcake v well. Psychopath looks hot on him.  

It's Airing But...

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - The sound. No. DNF 

I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan Tues Netflix-Japan & ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be.

Unfortunately I Cannot Reach You, in classic JBL fashion, could not be reached. 

In case you missed it?

Viki dropped Our Dating Sim the movie. I didn’t notice any extra footage and they took out all the in game/high school flashback stingers. At first, I didn’t really miss them but by the end of the movie I really did. So this is going to be one of those rare KBL instances where I recommend sticking to the original series over the repackaged movie.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming October BL

10/1 Can I Buy Your Love From A Vending Machine? AKA Sono Koi, Jihanki de Kaemasu ka? (Japan cinema release in-country only) - This one is a movie from Japan so in customary fashion who tf knows when (or if) it will get international distribution. Salaryman Ayumu Koiwai just can't tear his eyes away from the strong, muscular man as he checks on the stocks of the vending machine in his office.

10/5 If It’s With You AKA Even If I Fall In Love With You AKA Kimi to nara Koi wo Shite Mite mo’ (Japan Gaga) - from MBS a live action adaptation of Kubota Maru’s manga ‘君となら恋をしてみても. Amane has stopped loving people due to trauma until he meets Ryuji. At first Amane just wants to play with Ryuji but… feelings. I am assuming 8 eps and rumored to be taking Weatherman's spot so that date is likely wrong.

10/6 What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) - 4th installment in this series (1st series, 1 special, 1 movie prior) about a lawyer who lives with his boyfriend, a hairdresser, and cooks for him. Season 2 will follow the couple as they enter their 50’s. Slice-of-life drama adapted from a beloved manga series of the same name.

10/6 My Beautiful Man: Eternal AKA Utsukushii Kare Eternal (Japan movie Viki & Gaga) - This is the 3rd and final installment the series. The 2nd season didn’t blow me away the way the 1st did, but I still liked it. I'm looking forward to the finale. I hope we get character growth for a change.

10/31 SHADOW (Thai VIU ????) - this is a horror BL featuring ghosts and other paranormal elements in a high school setting. I'm not wild about Thai horror (or horror at all, but if it must be done in BL let Japan do it). It features Singto (who did paranormal BL He's Coming to Me) opposite Fluke N (who's done a couple horror's before). Also Fiat. Dan suffers from sleep paralysis, and in his dreams he sees a shadow that suffocates him. It gets worse when he transfers schools.

October? Bump Up Project AKA Bump Up Business (Korea ????) - BL staring OnlyOneOf that released(??) as a movie in July but is now being recut and reissued as a series. Stars NineMill and from Idol Romance bulled as a love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency (based on a webtoon). OnlyOneOf have been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV work in this post. Idol Romance will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You) but I don't think we will get any in this. After that OmegaX Shoulder bullshizz buisness I am very wary of this show.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

There was a ton of truly great stuff in this week's Kiseki, but this was hands down my favorite. (Pun intended.)

Oh and the neck kisses of course.

I LOVE HIM your honor.

GMMTV's ongoing love affair with the scent trope.

Calling out out new couple's dance trope. (Both Dangerous Romance)

(Last week) 

[trinuviel]

Winterfell’s Daughter. On Sansa Stark (part 16)

I’ve previously written a series of essays that analyse Sansa Stark’s narrative arc in Game of Thrones - during season 1 (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6) and during season 2 (Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10) and now during season 3 (Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15). This post is the 16th installment in this series.

The central aspect of Sansa Stark’s season 3 arc is her political importance as Robb Stark’s heir apparent. This makes her attractive and valuable to a number of different power players in King’s Landing where she’s held hostage at the royal court. After a lot of secret plotting by Petyr Baelish, Lord Varys, the Tyrells and Tywin Lannister, it is Lord Tywin who secures the Key to the North by wedding Sansa to his son Tyrion. In my previous post, I analyzed the wedding ceremony itself. However, a Westerosi wedding involves more than a ceremony in the sept - so in this post I’ll take a closer look at the wedding feast and the wedding night, both events that are awkward and unpleasant for Sansa.

THE WEDDING FEAST

The wedding feast at the Red Keep is a merry affair – for everyone but the bride and groom. Sansa appears numb and Tyrion proceeds to get thoroughly drunk.

After Tyrion displays an astonishing lack of table manners, Sansa leaves their table. When Joffrey notices this, he immediately leaves his chair and proceeds to corner Sansa and threaten her with rape.

Joffrey: Soon you’ll have a Lannister baby. (…) I suppose it doesn’t really matter which Lannister puts the baby into you. Maybe I’ll pay you a visit after my uncle passes out. How’d you like that?

Sansa doesn’t respond.

Joffrey: You wouldn’t? That’s all right. Ser Meryn and Ser Boros will hold you down.

This is yet another example of the numerous rape tropes that appear in Sansa’s narrative arc (x). This one is called Droit de Seigneur:

Droit du seigneur, literally "the lord's right", also known as ius primae noctis ("law of the first night") and other names, is an alleged legal right that the lord of medieval estates or fiefdoms has to take the virginity of his serfs' maiden daughters (or at least gets first refusal). It is a popular trope in fantasy or medieval European settings, especially of the Crapsack Worldflavour. Usually invoked by the Feudal Overlord as one of his many Kick the Dog moments.

Subtrope of I Have You Now, My Pretty and a way to establish that Aristocrats Are Evil. If it's the Dung Ages, expect the lord to say "Bathe Her and Bring Her to Me." (TvTropes)

After issuing his threat Joffrey leaves Sansa and immediately calls for the traditional Bedding Ceremony where the bride and groom are stripped of their clothes by the guests and carried to the bridal chamber. Joffrey does this to humiliate Sansa, just like he threatened her with rape in order to scare her. Tyrion may tell Joffrey that Sansa is no longer his to torment but in reality his ability to protect Sansa against the King is rather limited.

Tyrion refuses the ceremony but Joffrey insists.

Joffrey: Get rid of her gown. She won’t be needing it any longer.

Now Sansa crosses her arms in a defensive gesture. Tyrion reiterates that there’ll be no bedding ceremony and when Joffrey once again presses the issue, Tyrion threatens to geld him. Total silence reigns until Tywin diffuses the situation. Tyrion then proceeds to make vulgar jokes about his upcoming wedding night while Sansa remains silent. He and Sansa leave while he continues to make a drunken spectacle of himself.

THE WEDDING NIGHT

After this rather embarrassing exit from the wedding feast, the camera cuts to the bridal chamber, which Sansa and Tyrion immediately enter. Sansa fidgets nervously whilst the visibly inebriated Tyrion makes straight for a flagon of wine. An awkward silence reigns until Tyrion begins to talk about Sansa’s astoundingly long neck. Then he asks how old she is, to which Sansa replies that she is 14 years old.

Let that sink in for a bit. She is only 14 years old and several characters have previously stated that she is a child! Yet Tywin has pressed it upon Tyrion that he needs to get this young teenage girl pregnant so that the Lannisters can claim Sansa’s home through a Lannister-Stark child. This displays Tywin’s ruthless nature as pregnancy is dangerous for both mother and child for girls that young. It is actually a poor investment to get a child bride pregnant as the risk is high that both mother and child may die – and that is poor use of a politically important heiress.

Tyrion: Well, talk won’t make you any older. 

Sansa has been visibly nervous, even scared, ever since she entered the bridal chamber, which is primarily expressed in the way that Sophie Turner fidgets with her hands that she keeps firmly clasped in front of her chest. 

I have a lot of issues with this entire scene but I mainly object to the way the show frames this scene is the fact that it is primarily centered on Tyrion, especially on his inner struggle with the attraction he has for Sansa. This is primarily conveyed through the camera work, which almost exclusively focuses on Tyrion’s gaze. The scene is very much about Tyrion looking at Sansa and desiring her - and thus Sansa’s experience of the wedding night is almost entirely suppressed though it is her that is the victim in this forced marriage and that a physical consummation would indeed be a case of marital rape since Sansa doesn’t want to have sex with Tyrion.

Since the camera work and the editing carry a LOT of meaning, it would be instructional to view a video of the scene before I begin to dissect it. 

After Tyrion’s quip about “talking won’t make Sansa any older”, he states:

Tyrion: My lord father has commanded me to consummate this marriage.

This prompts Sansa to reach for the wine. Then she walks to the bed and start to undress. It is at this point that the camera work and the editing shifts the focus almost entirely onto Tyrion and his act of gazing at Sansa as the visual expression of the fact that he is indeed physically attracted to his child bride.

This particular sequence is completely devoid of dialogue and it starts with a shot of Sansa before the bed with her back towards the camera.

This is immediately followed by a reaction shot of Tyrion, looking on.

When it comes to cinema and television, the camera functions as the eye of the audience but reaction shots like this one serves to anchor the audience within the POV of Tyrion. 

Then the camera slowly pans left, across Sansa’s body (in an extreme close-up) as Tyrion walks across the room, still not taking his eyes off her as she undresses. He moves to stand behind a perforated screen, still observing her.

Then we get a close-up of her back, partially seen through the screen that Tyrion stands behind, which once again serves to anchor the camera and the audience within Tyrion’s POV. 

We are seeing what he’s seeing, hidden behind the screen, which put both him and the audience in a voyeuristic position. In fact, filming a character looking at someone/something through a perforated screen/or a transparent fabric is a common visual technique to lend a voyeuristic aspect to a scene - and the voyeurism is really marked here since Sansa is in the process of undressing. 

Then the camera slowly pans up over Sansa’s body, followed by a close-up of Tyrion’s face. 

Once again, this reaction shot grounds the eye of the camera in his gaze – and thus the audience is inhabiting his POV, making Sansa the object of the gaze of both Tyrion and the audience. This focus on Tyrion’s gaze effectively silences Sansa in her experience of the events of this scene. She isn’t presented to the audience as a subject of her own experience but solely as an object for Tyrion’s desiring gaze. This is something that I’ll return to later in this post.

The camera lingers on Tyrion’s face here until he begins to step back, then we get another close-up of Sansa’s upper body, still seen through the screen before the camera slowly pans right as Tyrion moves across the room again - still with his gaze firmly fixed on Sansa while she undresses.

The we get a medium shot of Sansa as she finally removes the wedding gown, leaving her standing in her white shift.

This shot is followed by yet another close-up of Tyrion’s face, capturing his reaction to the sight of the partially unclothed girl. 

This shot is then followed by the a close-up of Sansa’s face.

The first close-up of her Sansa that isn’t anchored in Tyrion’s POV since she began undressing! This is the first opportunity the audience is given to empathize with her experience rather than Tyrions! The sequence that I’ve outlined above is 40 seconds long! That is a very long time in terms of cinema and during these 40 seconds Sansa has been positioned solely as the object of Tyrion’s (and the camera’s) gaze. Her individuality ignored in favour of her status as an alluring object for Tyrion’s desiring gaze. This close-up of her face is accompanied by an audible exhale on her part - and this is the first time that we get any kind of insight into her state of mind during after she started to undress! 

This is a deeply uncomfortable, even frightening, experience for her - but the show pays more attention to Tyrion and his attraction to her than her state of mind! 

On her exhale, she lifts her head and her eyes flutter a bit - and then she hesitatingly lifts her hand to draw down the shoulder strap of her shift. Sophie Turner makes the most of this incredibly brief moment to wordlessly express how utterly nerve-wraching this experience is for her. 

Then the camera immediately put the focus back on Tyrion with a OTS (over the shoulder) shot that once again anchors the audience within Tyrion’s POV - as he tells her to stop undressing.

Tyrion: I can’t. I could, I won’t.

Sansa: But your father…

Tyrion: If my father wants someone to get fucked, I know where he can start. I won’t share your bed.

After this very clear rejection from Sansa, we get a close-up of Tyrion, looking slightly hurt. This is followed by an OTS shot of Sansa which includes the blurry outline of Tyrion’s and as he raises his goblet.

Once again, the audience is firmly anchored in Tyrion’s POV as he salutes Sansa with the words of the Night’s Watch who famously swear to remain celibate:

This is a marked change from the books where Tyrion responds to Sansa’s word by saying “that is why the gods made whores for imps like me” (ASoS, Sansa III). By changing this line, Tyrion is made to look nobler than he really is and the implied celibacy of the words is plainly ridiculous since Tyrion keeps Shae as his mistress. 

After this line, Tyrion turns around and crashes drunkenly asleep on a chaise-long, leaving Sansa to her own devices.

A DISSERVICE TO THE SOURCE MATERIAL AND TO SANSA

In the books, Tyrion and Sansa’s wedding night is represented in a vastly different manner. Not only do both of them strip naked but Tyrion actually gropes Sansa’s naked breast as well as bluntly telling her that he desires her to which she responds with fear. 

She climbed onto the featherbed, conscious of his stare. A scented beeswax candle burned on the bedside table and rose petals had been strewn between the sheets. She had started to pull up a blanket to cover herself when she heard him say, "No."

The cold made her shiver, but she obeyed. Her eyes closed, and she waited. After a moment she heard the sound of her husband pulling off his boots, and the rustle of clothing as he undressed himself. When he hopped up on the bed and put his hand on her breast, Sansa could not help but shudder. She lay with her eyes closed, every muscle tense, dreading what might come next. Would he touch her again? Kiss her? Should she open her legs for him now? She did not know what was expected of her. (ASoS, Sansa III)

Tyrion only makes his offer of staying out of their marriage bed because he cannot bring himself to rape a child when he is directly confronted with Sansa’s intense fear. However, for some reason the show decided to downplay just how terrified Sansa actually is during this scene in the book. While she IS visibly nervous, nothing in Sophie Turner’s acting choices don’t convey the sheer terror that Sansa experiences in the books. This serves to make Tyrion look especially noble when he eventually refuses to consummate the marriage.

One of the the main reasons why the show changed the wedding night scene is the fact that Sophie Turner was a minor at the time of shooting and any kind of nudity between the two actors/characters would have been illegal!

That, however, doesn’t explain all of the changes. The really insidious change is the fact that the show visually frames this entire scene from Tyrion’s POV. This means that the scene is primarily about him and not about the child hostage that has been forced into an unwanted marriage. This is especially galling since in the books, the wedding night is described SOLELY from Sansa’s POV.

When the visual language of show anchors the POV in Tyrion’s unspoken feelings, the show effectively suppresses Sansa’s experience because the audience isn’t really given an opportunity to assume her POV, to empathize with her feelings. 

Sophie Turner makes the best of the extremely brief moments where she’s allowed gets to convey Sansa’s experience of that night - but these moments has a lesser narrative weight compared to the time and the visual focus the show gives to Tyrion’s experience. The show changes a scene that originally was about Sansa’s fear and helplessness - and rewrites it to primarily focus on Tyrion’s sexual attraction to his new child bride, feelings that he’s been trying to suppress and deny when other characters have accused him of being interested in Sansa. Shae is becomes incredibly angry when she thinks that Tyrion is sexually attracted to Sansa - both out of jealousy but also out of love for Sansa (x). In a later episode, Bronn crudely suggests the Tyrion does indeed want to fuck Sansa to which Tyrion responds thusly:

He’s essentially blaming other people for the fact that he is sexually attracted to her. It is other people who “put evil notions in his head”, not him being sexually attracted to a child. This is a marked change from the books where he very bluntly tells Sansa that he desires her:

She covered her breasts with her hands. "I've flowered." "A child," he repeated, "but I want you. Does that frighten you, Sansa?" "Yes." (ASoS, Sansa III)

Not only does the show suppress Sansa’s experience of the wedding night in direct contradiction of book canon where this whole ordeal is described SOLELY from her POV. It does so with the express purpose to portray Tyrion as being much more noble than he actually is in the source material - and that impacts Sansa’s story and character negatively because these changes prop up his character at the expense of hers.

I honestly hate the way this marriage is framed in the show because the changes that the showrunners have made to the source material only serves to prop up Tyrion’s character in order to make him more sympathetic than he is in the books where he IS seduced by the thought of being Lord of Winterfell, where he sexually desires a child (she is 12 in the books!) and where he never even bothers with telling Sansa of their upcoming marriage - and she has to find out when she’s in her wedding dress and on her way to the sept.

The entire way this marriage is framed in the show does Sansa’s character a great disservice! From the suppression of her POV during the distressing wedding night, to the way her distaste for the marriage and her groom is presented as shallow (x), to the the clumsy bonding scene in between Sansa and Tyrion in episode 10 – not only does all of this her character a great disservice, it is also designed to prop up Tyrion’s character, which I find absolutely INFURIATING! 

It is incredibly gross to suppress her POV during a terrifying experience since she is a not only a child too young for marriage and sex but also a political hostage forced into a marriage that she never consented to. The fact that this marriage is not only designed to rob her of her home but is also predicated upon the violent extermination of her family makes the show’s framing of the marriage and Sansa’s reaction to it absolutely INFURIATING! 

In short:

To be continued...

(GIFs not mine)

[lecturesdefemmes]

L'ère des cristaux, 1&2, Haruko Ichikawa

Les héros de cette histoire ne laissent pas de marbre ; et pourtant il s’agit de… cristaux. Atypique, un manga qui vaut le détour de par la singularité de son univers et graphisme.

Seule espèce à avoir survécu sur une planète déserte, les gemmes ont une forme humanoïde et androgyne. Ils se battent, jour après jour, contre des envahisseurs éthérés qui veulent s’emparer des plus précieux d’entre eux (ce sont des cristaux : on en fait des bijoux ! Ou autre chose…?). Immortelles, ces gemmes ne se blessent pas, mais se brisent. Certains sont plus fragiles que d’autres.

Je suis séduite par l’originalité du concept, moins par l’histoire. Je trouve dommage notamment, dans un univers aussi singulier, de retrouver des tropes classiques, comme certains arcs relationnels et sentimentaux. Parce qu’ils arrivent très tôt, ils me donnent parfois l’impression d’avoir à faire à des lycéen.ne.s de shojo plutôt qu’une espèce radicalement différente. Pour autant, après deux tomes, on commence à sentir un arc narratif lié à une quête des origines et de l’HIstoire de cet univers qui peut prendre une belle ampleur.

Côté graphisme, si j’ai des réserves sur l’apparence des personnages, je trouve très réussies les compositions des planches. Il y a une beauté épurée dans l’usage du noir et blanc par aplats tranchés, qui stylise la narration. La dimension géométrique abstraite alterne avec des personnages très organiques, aux formes souples, contribuant à la singularité de l’univers. Les adversaires, de leur côté, évoquent des divinités sereines démultipliées à l’infini - étranges Bouddhas souriants et menaçants. L’ensemble créé une étrangeté intrigante.

Je suis curieuse sans être complètement emportée ; si les personnages m’enthousiasment peu pour l’instant, l’étrangeté du monde, l’originalité du graphisme et le fonds de l’histoire ont piqué mon intérêt.

G.C.

L’ère des cristaux, Haruko Ichikawa. Traduit du japonais par Anne-Sophie Thévenon. Glénat, 2016.

Haruko Ichikawa est née en 1980 dans la préfecture de Chiba. Diplômée de l’université de l’éducation d’Hokkaido des beaux-arts. Elle débute sa carrière en 2006 avec le one shot Mushi to Uta (L’Insecte et la Chanson) qui remporte en 2006 le Grand Prix du prix Shiki de Kôdansha et le 14e Prix Culturel Osamu Tezuka dans la catégorie Espoir. Entre 2007 et 2011, elle publie sept one shots dans le magazine "Afternoon" de Kodansha. Le 25 octobre 2012, elle débute L’Ere des Cristaux, qui compte actuellement cinq volumes, dans le magazine "Afternoon" des éditions Kodansha. Le titre fut classé 10e dans l’édition 2014 du classement Kono Manga ga Sugoi et fut nominé dans pour le prix Manga Taisho de 2015. Elle habite actuellement à Sapporo (Hokkaido).

[uzushi0]

August Events!

Hey there, shinobi!

We will have six (6) Events for the month of August! One will be spanning the entire month, and then five separate week-long events within that timeframe.

The timeline will look like this!

Timeline

The whole month of August: Event: Summer Fun (August 1-31) Week 1: Event: Obito Week 2018 (July 29-August 4) Week 2: Event: Founders Week 2018 (August 5-August 11) Week 3: Event: Missing Nin X Konoha Week 2018 (August 12-18) Week 4: Event: Time Travel Week 2018 (August 19-25) Week 5: Event: Focus on Naruto’s Generation (August 26-Sept 1) (And then we will launch directly into Event: Sapphic September, TBA)

I don’t care if you start writing before the ‘Week’ in question starts, but do not submit early. I.e. you can start writing Time Travel fills now, but don’t!!! Submit them to me!! Before the 19th of August!!!!

Month of August: Summer Fun Event

August 1- August 31

The Event: Summer Fun will be going in the background while we have the week-long events. You’ll be able to submit Mission fills for this Event for the whole month, regardless of what week it is, and be rewarded by unlocking the achievement Achievement: Invincible Summer.

Week 1: Obito Week 2018

July 29-August 4th

For this Event, we are going to accept gen fics. No rarepair needed! It just needs to be Obito-centric. The Mission Ranks guidelines will still determine what Rank your fill will be.

From July 29-August 4th you can write Obito-centric fics/make fanart of the Bad Life Choices Boy. Fics will get the +1 Event Bonus. Pretty simple.

Achievement Unlocked: Trash Baby Babysitter

Week 2: Founders Week 2018

August 5th-August 11th

For this Event the rules are pretty simple. It is a shipping week but I’ll take genfics. (as always, non-rarepair ships will get the -1 Penalty, which the Event Bonus cancels out). 

One half of the pairing has to be one of the founders for the Villages, or the fic as a whole has to be set in that Era. Preferably before the founding of the village, or at the very beginning of it. Alternately, if it’s character specific, any time works. (I.e. Tobirama thrown into the future, would technically qualify.)

Achievement Unlocked: Dinosaur Wrangler

Week 3: Missing Nin X Konoha Week 2018

August 12-August 18th

One half of the pairing has to be a missing nin; the other half has to be a Konoha shinobi. You could take a page out of @blackkatmagic​’s book with Kisame/Genma, Kakashi/Zabuza, Hidan/Asuma, etc. Or you could make your own! Note that Missing nin X Missing nin will be it’s own Event probably in October, but for these purposes you could make the second half of the OTP/ot3? a missing nin, as long as they’re from Konoha. Doing so technically violates the spirit of the event but, eh, KakaObi and KisaObi are too much fun. Also, Konoha breeds crazy.

Rarepair rules apply.

Achievement Unlocked: Drive Sarutobi to Drink

Week 4: Time Travel Week 2018

August 19-August 25th

Use the trope: Time Travel. This is a rarepair thing or a genfic. If you use a a non-rarepair ship, it cancels out the Event Bonus. That’s actually the only rule. Late fics don’t get the Event Bonus, so try not to pull some Backslide/Reverse nonsense. Although if we inspire that, fuck yeah.

Achievement Unlocked: Loop de Loop

Week 5: Focus on Naruto’s Generation

August 26-September 1

Write some rarepair with a ship from Naruto’s generation. They’ve got to be within 3 years of the sunshine son. It doesn’t actually have to include the Boy, just focus on someone Suigetsu/Chojuro/Haku/Gaara/Konoha 11′s age group. (You can age them up, I don’t care, just: the canon generation.)

Achievement Unlocked: Fighting Dreamers

A reminder about Mission Ranks

Ranks

A rank: 15 to 25k words. B rank: 10 to 15k words. C rank: 5 to 10k words. D rank: 3 to 5k words. E rank: 1 to 3k words

Event-Only Ranks

These ranks are not subject to the +1 Event Bonus

SS rank: 50K words or more. S rank: 25 to 50k words. A+ rank: An Event A-rank (15 to 25k words)

Rarepair Ranks

S+ rank: No fics on ao3. S rank: 1 fic on ao3. A+ rank: Less than 5 fics on ao3. A rank: Less than 10 B+ rank: Less than 50 B rank: Less than 75 C+ rank: Less than 100. C rank: Less than 150 D+ rank: Less than 175 D rank: Less than 200

For more questions our ASKBOX is always open!

[opedguy]

Biden Pushes Netanyahu to De-escalate

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 19, 2021.--Harangued by his party’s left wing over the latest war between Hamas and Israel, 78-year-old President Joe Biden showed his weakness, pressuring 71-year Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate the violence.  Biden, and his Israel-bashing left wing of his party, know that Israel didn’t ignite the latest skirmish, now fending off indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas terrorists.  Biden lived through four years of a tumultuous relationship with NetanyahU under former President Barack Obama, who’s views of Israel were aligned with Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only member of Congress of Palestinian with ancestry.  Tlaib routinely calls Israelis “Zionists,” using the same anti-Semitic tropes as 88-year-old Chicago-based National of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan. Rashida likes to call Israel an “Apartheid” state, twisting a term from South Africa’s old extreme segregation days.    

         Tlaib knows that no Islamic countries runs pluralistic societies, banning multi-ethnic or multi-religious participation in governments and major institutions.  Yet Tlaib and her squad including, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) think nothing of bashing Israel, all because they think the country is run by a bunch of rich Jews. Their prejudice toward Jews and Israel knows no bounds, taking the Palestinian side, why, because it’s the right Marxist thing to today.  While pressuring Biden, none of the squad comprehends the strategic importance of a strong Israel in the Middle East.  Their knee jerk instincts are to cut Israel’s military funding, thinking that’s the way to get leverage over Netanyahu, a totally failed strategy.  Now that Israel leveled the Associated Press offices in Gaza, AP has gone on the warpath against Israel.    

         Truth be told, Biden, most likely a one term president, doesn’t need to placate the squad or anyone else.  He gave his friend “Bibi” the latitude to continue military operations against Hamas in Gaza.  Media organizations suddenly take the Palestinian side, despite reporting Sept. 11, 2001 Palestinians in Gaza jumping for joy after the World Trade Center and Pentagon were decimated by Osama bin Laden.  No matter how much seamless intel or military accessibility Israel provides the U.S., the squad would pour all U.S. military and humanitarian aid into Palestinians.  Forget about the fact that Palestinians are divided between Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.  U.S., U.N. or EU have never negotiated anything with Hamas because they’re branded a terror organization.  Yet if you listen to Tlaib, Ocasio-Cortez, Omar or Pressley, Israel’s the terrorist state.       

      Israeli doesn’t have much more to do in Gaza even with Biden asking his friend Bibi to de-escalate the current bombing campaign.  Netanyahu has no problem de-escalating as long as Hamas agrees to stop shooting rockets into Israel.  When it comes to Hamas’s recent demands to (a) suspend evictions of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and (b) keep Israeli police away from Al-Aqsa mosque, Bibi also doesn’t have a problem.  So when the squad heaps pressure on Biden, it’s superfluous because, as Secretary of State Tony Blinken said May 18, intense diplomacy has been going on under the radar.  “With every passing day we are striking at more of the terrorist operations,’ capabilities, targeting more senior commanders, toppling more terrorist buildings and hitting more weaponry stockpiles,” Netanyahu said.  Unlike the squad, Israel takes it obligations to end terrorism seriously.      

       Unlike what’s reported in the anti-Israel press, Netanyahu has close working relationships with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf States.  Israel shares intel and technology with its Arab partners, despite the vitriolic rhetoric heard from 67-year-old Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, both whip up old hatred against Israel in the Arab world.  But savvy Arab leaders have already made peace, either overtly or covertly, and have long since passed the squad’s anti-Semitic rhetoric.  Smart Arab leaders know that trying to beat Israel militarily has been tried-and-failed over the last 70 years and would fail again.  Nothing is more ironic than 66-year-old Egyptian President Abel Fattah El-Sisi brokering a ceasefire, when there’s no bigger enemy of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas than El-Sisi.  

           Whatever the chatter in the media, Biden, Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh are busy working out a ceasefire.  Hamas knows that they’ve already wreaked more havoc on a dilapidated Gaza Strip, where citizens barely live with a few hours a day with electricity and running water.  Hamas continues to brainwash Gaza residents into thinking they’re one rocket, one tunnel away from conquering Israel.  Haniyeh knows the “big lie” to the Gaza people, that Israel isn’t going anywhere.  Biden understands the strategic importance of a strong Israel to the United States, especially in a post-Sep. 11 world where the U.S. has many enemies in radical Islam.  Putting some overt pressure on Israel plays well to the press and leftist elements in the Democrat Party but doesn’t deal with the basic facts on the ground.  U.S. needs Israel to remain a dutiful U.S. satellite now and into the future.

 About the Author 

John M. Curtis write politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.  Reply  Reply All  Forward