#which i am overall enjoying thus far but like….really? -

[bravernificationbeam]

cringe as fucking hell for a piece of media to be anti-vegan in 2024. hannibal is running circles over you. HANNIBAL.

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm Muddled, there is SO MUCH on, but also I have FEELS

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

July 2024 Week 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Goodday (Sat YT) ep 11 of 12 - Yak is such a demanding babygirl princess type. It’s kinda hilarious in a fierce boxer dude. I do adore the core brother friendship in this show. It’s so sweet. Also I guess Yak is out OUT now, on TV and everything. 

YES PLEASE GMMTV!!! This ship! Sail it!!!!

The Rebound (Weds Gaga) eps 4-6 of 12? - So it started out as a relatively simple sports romance: first love, separation, reunion. But then just went entirely off the rails: gay mafia orgies, kidnapping, druggie ex teammates with knives, I am Spartacus. All erratic Thai pulp mumbo-jumbo aside? MeenPing are doing great in these roles. Zen's hurt confusion, Ryu’s struggle with internalized homophobia that keeps hurting Zen as much as him. 

Am I wrong to ship FrankPing Just a little bit? I only wanna see them kiss. It’s not asking too much, is it? 

Not sure what’s going on with Gaga and their "ep 6 of 6" thing. Or why they bundle-aired them. Did they just get the rights for the first half? Where is the rest?  

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 5 of 12 - I always end my Saturday with these 2 simply because I love this pair. I also enjoy the show. It’s sweet and I giggle a lot. I like that they’re dressing (and letting) Lin be a bit femmey - with his pussycat bows, coco bag, and little heels. I’m not sure about the pet names but I’ll accept them if I must.

My Stand-In (iQIYI) ep 12 fin - I would like to watch an entire show about the older brother boss and his hot secretary. Bit of a bully romance? Please & thank you?

This was a good solid ending, less predictable than I expected, which I appreciat. I liked that they had a full conversation about forgiveness. But overall, I am left in a muddle.

The show itself? A summation? Oof, here we go...

Adaptation of Chinese novel "Professional Body Double" by Shui Qiang Cheng. Stars Up (Lovely Writer) and Poom (Bake Me Please) directed by the same team as KinnPorsche. Stuntman Joe dies on the job and wakes up in the body of another Joe with an entirely different life. But Joe just starts repeating the mistakes of his previous self - love, work, play. I enjoyed the experience of watching this show, I looked forward to it every week. I thought everybody did a great job with it and in it, and I liked that is was something substantially *different* for Thai BL. But I’m not sure I'll rewatch it or if it's bingeable. It left me feeling more sanguine than happy. Is there, objectively, anything wrong with it? No. But am I in love with it? No. I think that rests on the central characters, Ming in particular. I never liked him or warmed to them as a couple. I spent most of this show just very very sorry for poor Joe. Thus I was never rooting for their romance. I would recommend it, if you enjoy your BL more cerebral, with complicated unlikable love interests, and a downtrodden sympathetic lead. Is it, perhaps, more JBL that ThBL? Am I biased because it's a Thai production and I had expectations? What magical carnage could Japan have done with this IP? I'm left with questions, but I'm ultimately glad I watched this.

All this means that this show should, by all my own standards, get at 9/ 10. But I'm giving it an 8/10. So there.

We Are Cute (Weds iQIYI) ep 15 of 16 - It really is the antidote to Friend Zone. Like GMMTV just set out to make a nice little show about nice boys being very nice and kissing each other nicely. And it makes me very happy.

Century of Love (Weds Gaga) eps 1-2 of 10 - DaouOffroad are back, this time as fated mates in a quasi historical paranormal moment. Very much Director Who Buys Me Dinner meets First Love Again, hopefully better than both. I love this pair and think they can handle the premise, it's whether the storytelling is up to the challenge.

So far? I like it a lot. I love it when Thailand gets all up in its own historical business and reincarnation and bullshit like that. I’ve always liked this pair too (it’s not their fault I didn’t enjoy most of their first series.) Daou’s wushu is pretty snazzy. We got a fun meet cute. (Erm... Remeet cute? Meet cute 2.0?) And this is a very PRETTY show. With more comedy than I was expecting.

This Love Doesn't Have Long Beans (Fri iQIYI) ep 2 of 8 - I like the friendships, but so far I’m not sold on the personalities of the main couple. Of course I love the pair, and I know they can handle it, but I hope the story justifies their chemistry.

My Love Mix-Up Th (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 - They are so damn teen dramatic and over-the-top. To have really played into the impact of the counselor character's original casting, they should’ve had Krist play the role! (GET IT?) That’d be ridiculously ironic. Not that I object to GMMTVs #1 Daddy Papang. Never that. 

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Ah ha, I figured it out. This reminds me of The Devil Wears Prada. I’m finding most of the rest of the interns too caricature and thus annoying. But I’m still liking this more than I expected. 

Love Sea (Sun iQIYI) ep 5 of 10 - The bullying GL subplot is just bad. And I’m getting an overall squick from the fact that the two rich privileged characters are essentially taking advantage of the two lower class poor characters. Trash watch here.

Knock Knock Boys (Thurs Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - I’m coming around to Almond + Latte, but I’m not super sold on any of the other plot lines.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - It’s still good and it’s still sticking relatively closely to the mango. So I’m still enjoying it.

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I just don’t really like the dynamic of the younger, poor, country kid desperately chasing the older hot boy. It’s a bit too desperate or something. It’d be different if Takara were a nicer person, but he doesn’t have much going for him but a pretty face.

It's airing but...

Meet You at the Blossom

In case you missed it

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ???) 10 eps - It's ended. Should I watch it? right now 1 vote for and 1 vote against.

The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer released to Korean theaters 5/25. HoTae & DongHee, side couple from Unintentional Love Story are back! Same actors, same character names. I love them. Devastated this hasn't had international distribution. I demand you tell me the moment you find it!

The Last Time (Thai Fri YT) - Got bumped to Aug 2. Convoluted story of loss and possible reincarnation or something.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

July Releases to Come

7/24 I Saw You in My Dream (Thai Weds WeTV) - Dee Hup is behind this one so I have high hopes. Younger boy chronically teased his whole life by the older boy next door suddenly starts having horrific prophetic dreams about his bully and must save hime.

7/26 4 Minutes (Thai Netflix or iQIYI?) - Great is a university student from Faculty of Business and the son of a wealthy business owner. Out of the blue, he gains the supernatural power to see four minutes into the future.

7/29 Battle of the Writers (Thai ????) - trailer here, TutorYim return and while I adore them, I really hope this is better than Middleman's Love. Won't be hard. However: that premise! Ugh. Something something authors fighting - save me. Why don't writers understand that nothing is more boring than writers?

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Such a Best Boy, not leaving his drink behind!

YES please.

Follow me here... these 2 in the Thai BL version of Tein Bromance X, which is to say: Mean assassin meets and falls HARD for snarky school teacher, they adopt a kid together. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO WATCH IT.

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in it's infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

There's these tricks, remember.

[electric-s0da]

Please note that; this post has showings/depictions of blood and strong language found within some of the drawings. @moonverc3x convinced me to join on in the @kirbyoctournament with their very persuasive words.

Bro got a really captivating vocab, how can I refuse? /pos Anyways, I am submitting Neko! Pronounced as Nico cause it took me over 3 years to realize that I was dyslexic and had been saying 'Neko' wrong the whole time. Created on SEPTEMBER 11th 2018 My oldest Kirby OC. Lil Man started off as a little cat with an absolutely horrendous design that was bleeding with the affection I had for the Kirby fandom and anime. Filled to the brim with cringe.

[OLD ART FROM 2018] Skipping over a few years, he was redesigned with any sanity I had to salvage them. Thus came this new iteration of Neko. Which is whatever you call this.

[OLD ART FROM 2022-2023] Which is still a cannon version of him but not the specific version of him that I'm submitting to this tournament. I got out of drawing puffballs and borbs in the fandom so if someone asks me to draw in the Kirby species format it may or may not look very good 👍 Coming to my last design of him that will be submitted into the ring to fight it out in brackets. His biker arc.

[ART FROM LATE 2023 TO PRESENT] This variation of Neko was made for an RP with a friend group I've been a part of since 2017 on the good ol Kirby Amino I know traumatized a whole lot of you that was on it during the prime and golden age of Amino. Therapy isn't cheap but I hope those affected can find comfort knowing the place has fallen into ruins, dusted with spider webs and rotting as the app burns from the inside. Anyways, this version of him grew up in an underground fight ring which was his home after living on the streets for his whole life, before it was discovered and the whole place scattered him and his friends across the region where the story takes place. I didn't write the story for this RP that was heavily inspired by TOTK, but that's the gist of his backstory. He's very laid back now that he'd older but was much cockier when in the fight ring. He very much mellowed out after his whole home got taken away. Learning to not treat everything like it was easily disposable in life. Neko is and has always been caring to his friends and family, doing his best to take care of them without letting his strong persona mask slip off. His ethnicity is Filipino. His current design across the board is based on my childhood cat named Jingles and his personality is based on another one of my cats that passed away last year at the age of 18. While some may thing this isn't important to mention I have to say those people are wrong as he really did shape Neko into the character that they are. So overall I hope to whomever read this far you enjoyed learning about Neko! Thanks for reading and good luck to the other bracket competitors, may the best OC win this :] Ciao~! Bonus: I don't have pictures of Jingles but I do of Spookie <3

[tmntkiseki]

I'd say it's been probably... almost two months since I became an active participant in the TMNT 2003 fandom? And while there have been some ups and downs, overall I have been enjoying myself.

The biggest adjustment is the size. Most of my previous fandoms have been relatively niche JRPGs and while TMNT 2003 isn't the most popular animated TMNT iteration, the fanbase is still much, much larger than what I'm used to. More people talking, more fanart and fanfic being posted, and definitely a lot more, ah, discourse. Not that discourse wasn't a thing in my smaller fandoms, but I stumble across it quite a bit when browsing tags, and there's also a lot more variety to it as well. It really is weird what kind of stuff people will get their underwear up in a bunch about.

As far as interacting with other fans goes, I try to keep a relatively open mind when discussing the show and characters. I know some people can be very trigger happy with their block buttons, but I try not to block people simply because they disagree with me/I disagree with them. If I were to block someone on the grounds of their opinion being different from mine, it would be because they were being aggressive of how right they are while I'm completely wrong to the point of literal harassment over whatever is being discussed. Which, you know, fortunately I haven't had to do something like that yet. Most people have been very kind to me thus far, even when there were disagreements.

I am pretty happy with how things are turning out, even though it was a bit rough in the beginning when I didn't know anyone and felt like an outsider. A lot of people have expressed thanks for the fact I've been posting the official model sheets and concept art from the show, and as long as people still want them, I'll keep uploading them until I've run out because hey, I can personally confirm that the turtles are fucking hard to draw, and even the lowest quality reference can do wonders. This is also the fandom that inspired me to dabble in video editing and gif making; still not the best at either of them, but much like art, it's a learning process and the most important thing is that I'm having fun. My brain hasn't been this entertained learning new techniques for making things in a while, even if it can be frustrating at times. (Those damn shells are the worst to draw, man.)

So.... Yeah. All I can really say at this point is thank you to everyone for making this fanbase experience enjoyable so far. I'll probably be around for a while yet!

[cyvonix]

Cyv Reads Homestuck - Act 3 Wrapup

where doing it man

where MAKING THIS HAPEN

Holy SHIT, where do I even begin? Act 1 was fun. I enjoyed it. Act 2 intrigued me. It kept me wanting more. Act 3, by all accounts, has latched its hooks all the way into me. I am IN, dude. While this act retains the quirky and random interactions that made the previous ones so casually enjoyable, the astonishing leap in the density and frequency of narratively interesting content here is undeniable. And now, at the end of it, I'm the most excited I've been to see the next turns these insane plot threads will take, and how these characters, who have fully endeared me by this point, will develop.

All of the characters have been left in a place that leaves the story ripe to explore so many things. Starting with John, who has now reached the first gate. I have no idea what that even means for him. I know that it was the goal, and that apparently each will be more difficult to reach, but we haven't been told in any way what the journey to those other gates will actually entail. The side story with his dad trapped in the dark kingdom has also been fun to witness, and I'm sure we'll be getting more of that soon enough.

With Rose, it leaves the most obvious cliffhanger. Now that she has also entered the Incipisphere, what happens? We've only seen one character in this environment thus far, so who's to say what adding another one to the mix will even look like? Dave has obviously been tasked with being Rose's server player (the ways he fucks with her game even in the face of imminent despair was absolutely hilarious) so that leaves me to wonder if he will also be transported into this world at some point, but also how Rose will be able to simultaneously manage John's game now that she has a client world of her own to take care of. The other interesting thing with Dave is his relationship to his brother, which clearly hints at the parental figures in their lives being absent in one way or another. With Dave also so clearly seeming to look up to his brother in an immense way, I think that could lead to some really great storytelling.

And then, there's Jade. Oh lord. What can I even say about Jade Harley, other than rambling off the many ways in which I was bewildered by her constant disregard of every "normal" aspect of the three other kids. My point being that she is a total and complete mystery. She seems extremely sweet, and almost aloof, but has by far the most compelling narrative implications of any of the cast. Not only does she not have surviving family at all, instead being cared for, or at least assumed to be, by some sort of magical dog creature of unknown origin named Becquerel, but she is also living on some sort of secluded island littered with ruins that seem to beg the reader to ask their purpose. As if that weren't enough, we now know that she is capable of using her dreams to see into both the past and future, to reasons that are unknown even to her. And as we've already seen how this can drastically affect the events of the story, including in the thread we've been following surrounding the odd denizens of the post-apocalyptic future, I have no doubt that this will play a large part in things going forward.

Finally, the mystery of Sburb continues to deepen, as several of the characters keep finding control rooms, symbols, and various other interfaces that so clearly resemble the iconography of Sburb. Just what the hell is this game? What is its true purpose? How does it tie in to the overall balance of light and dark in the world that has been proclaimed to us? I have a feeling that these questions will not truly be answered for a long time, but the breadcrumbs are enough to keep me fully engaged. Even the lore of this world itself, the idea of the Incipisphere, Skaia, and the two kingdoms in constant conflict for eternity, and all the things that this cosmology implicitly allows the exploration of, is so exciting to me.

Whew. So yeah, I guess that's about as condensed as I'm going to get my thoughts on this one. What a wild ride. I guess here are some other miscellaneous things to mention:

I read the entirety of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. What a horrid, crusty, amazing archive of media.

Of course I know that the trolls will eventually enter this story, but I have zero spoilers for the context or even who they are as character; just that they exist. Thus, I've kept track of which trolls have appeared in Pesterlogs so far, and those are: carcinoGeneticist, grimAuxiliatrix, and adiosToreador. So we'll see how that goes in the next act.

The concept of Jade's dreaming mind/dreambot and the golden city, including the sleeping John Egbert, is clearly important. And clearly has something to do with whatever species is roaming the deserted future. But I have such little idea of how to begin parsing that at this point that I don't have much to say about it. But I am absolutely keeping it in mind

If you actually read all of this: Damn. Thx for inexplicably caring what I have to say despite being an irrelevant poster and like a decade late on this shit :P More (much smaller) updates to come soon as I move forward with this story

[calamitaswrath]

Cal Lucia plays Fire Emblem Path of Radiance: Chapter 8

Just two stray thoughts before I get to the actual chapter - one, for as much as I enjoy the game overall thus far, I have to say that music isn't really all that remarkable. The track that plays on certain maps when they are almost cleared is nice, but it's the only song I really enjoy (which is probably not surprising given that it also made it into Smash). The track that plays when Daein generals like Petrine are on screen meanwhile is just. . . silly.

Not to constantly compare the game to the modern FEs, but with Greil in particular, I feel there's def a comparison to be made with Jeralt in Three Houses. To be more precise, I just feel that Greil's death has more weight to it since the first seven chapters (plus prologue) of the game really took their time to not only set him up, but also his connection to the mercenaries, and how they play off of him. Jeralt, by contrast. . . he doesn't really interact that much with anybody, and since Byleth is functionally mute in 3H, the impact of his death solely hinges on the connection the player forms with him. It really works just better in PoR, and not just because Ike isn't mute.

Ouh, case in point! A flashback (that seems to take place in the exact spote where Greil got killed), a CG illustration of Ike and Mist at the tombstone. . . that's the good stuff.

Ahhhhh and Titania putting her own grief aside the moment she notices Ike showing up! Ike apologizing to her and Soren, thanking them for sticking with him!

And exit Shinon and Gatrie. Shinon was just about expected, but I am lowkey surprised that Gatrie left with him. From a gameplay perspective I can understand it, since he also was a pre-promote, but from his writing, he always seemed more onboard with Ike than Shinon did. But then again, given the 🏳️‍🌈 vibes between them. . .

Oh, the way Ike assumes responsibility. . . it definitely reminds me of Chrom taking over as exalt in Awakening. And, given that Ike doesn't have to share the protag status with two other characters, I hope that unlike Awakening, this gets properly resolved and developed

Soren is pretty humble here, huh? That's some of the basis for their chemistry then, I take it

Ahh, finally stuff like the convoy, buying items and supports get introduced. . . really rather late for my liking, but at least it neatly ties into the story here

Only got one support unlocked so far, which is the C support between Ike and Oscar. Good found family content in that one, though! And lol @ Mist's cooking.

"Info". . .? Not quite sure what to make of that menu point. But Aimee and Muston! I've definitely seen Aimee before, in one of those "Ike doesn't care about affection from women" posts. I'll gladly take her affection though

Jorge and Daniel. I have no comment. ...No, literally. They don't stand out enough in any way

Huh. . . the more I look at it. . . is this "Info" point just little bonus scenes? Just saw Titania's. . . woof. That's good content.

Ahh, bonus experience! I've heard a bit about that gameplay mechanic. . . and also already learned that I missed out on a lot on that escape map when I had Ike escape first. I hope that future chapters actually tell you what these bonus objectives are. . .

I levelled up Mia once with this and she got stats on everything except for resistence???

Well, doesn't that just look like another defend map!

Mist's medallion is glowing again. How unimportant.

Why, an enemy unit who's a cute girl and not the boss? She's definitely not important.

Three clear chokepoints, and enemies that just approach you one after another. Pretty doable. The cleric with the fire jewel tried to escape, but I managed to track him down with Titania and get the thing.

Mist talking about wanting to die alongside Ike?? Holy shit, that's dark

Oh my. Big buff cat man Mordecai. . . I remember a post about somebody wanting to fuck him, and then needing to clarify that they didn't mean a cartoon bird by the same name

Lethe! Honestly surprised that it took this long for them to introduce a catgirl. And she doesn't immediately trust Ike and the others. . . that's neat.

Ah. Soren does a racism. I did wonder why he's more divisive among some people, so I guess that'd do it

You know, for how antagonist Lethe was just a moment ago, she did calm down very quickly here, mission or not

[justmybookthots]

The Prisoner's Throne

This is THE book. The book that's been consuming my every waking thought since I read its prequel in May last year. The book which, if I didn't manage to read any in 2024, would be the only one I read this year at all. The Stolen Heir was among my favourite reads last year, possibly even more than The Cruel Prince because of Oak's characterisation. 

The last few days before the book release was agonising. Sheer, skin-flaying agony. When Ann Liang's 2024 release let me down after I'd spent months hyping it up—as did I with Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands—I have to confess I was terrified the same thing would happen with The Prisoner's Throne. Ann Liang is one thing, but this is Holly Black. The Prisoner's Throne is on a much, much higher pedestal for me than any other book in existence thus far. If this hurt me like the others did, I might really go into the worst kind of depression. (Yes, I'm one for histrionics… only I'm being perfectly serious.)

After a night of poor sleep—I am still very grateful that I managed to sleep, albeit fitfully, most of the hours away—I started reading this book at 7AM. (I'd downloaded the book at 2 in the night.) And then I didn't stop until I was done at 10AM. 

First thoughts: THANK THE FUCK IT WASN'T A MASSIVE LETDOWN OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT. Was it as good as its prequel? No. But it didn't end up anywhere as bad as my jaded, paranoid self had secretly feared, and for that I am grateful. Overall, I enjoyed it!! I saw quite a handful of negative reviews on Goodreads but I don't feel the same way. Granted, the book definitely has a few issues, but being too slow or character-driven was not mine.

Let me talk about some things I liked and did not. Beware: Spoilers abound. 

Things I did not love:

I'm going to start with my most major disappointment. Oak, who is the highlight of this duology to me, wasn't as alluring as I found him in the first book. I think that Oak's character is written best when his POV isn't the entire book. I definitely LOVED reading his POV and welcomed it, but I also felt that having the entire thing in his perspective dulled some of his mystique. This is my personal preference, because I don't generally love stories that have too much of the hero's POV. I think Six of Crows is a good example of finding balance with Kaz's perspective and the other characters'. Also, because the story is in Oak's head, we don't see much physical descriptions of him. I miss all those parts about his adorable marigold hair and his golden eyes 🥺

I also miss his cleverness. He was very manipulative in the first book, and it was easier to feel impressed back then because you weren't in his head and you didn't know what was coming. In this instalment, he thinks a lot about playing the fool, over and over. It gets wearisome because I'm constantly being told but not often shown. In the first book, I was actually shown without being told at all—which is why it hit so much harder. Moreover, I don't think he did anything specifically very clever in this book? I guess he did use the wedding ruse to prevent a war, and he did find out what Wren was hiding, but he found that out too late and that was less cleverness than the plot being in motion.  

There's a running theme in this book about being accepted and loved for your truest, darkest self, but… I don't think it was conveyed very well. In the end, he says that Wren is the only one who can love him for who he is, but it isn't convincing to me because it's so clear to me how much—and how unconditionally—his family loves him. A lot of his inner turmoil felt very contrived and self-inflicted, whereas I thought Wren's own self-loathing was a thousand times more convincing and understandable. 

I was also quite confused by how much he loved Wren when their feelings seemed to be only gradually building in the first book. But he's completely head over heels for her at the start of this book and I wonder about the transition. I'd been hoping for some clarity because he mentioned in Book 1 that he'd loved a lot of different girls, so what made Wren The One here? I suppose it's because he didn't play the fool with her and she "saw him as himself"? I wish the writing was more convincing in this regard.

Genuinely a little baffled by the plotline about the Ghost. I'd thought we'd already covered his part in Liriope's murder in the Cruel Prince series. (I may need to reread the OG series to be sure.) But it's being rehashed again like ripping open an old wound. And I never knew Oak cared that deeply about his biological parents. My point is: Leave the Ghost alone! 

I wasn't invested in Tiernan and Hyacinth's story. I skimmed a lot of their screen time together, but their fans will probably receive quite the treat. 

Lady Elaine, fuck off!!! (That said, I do understand her role in the story, especially the climax.)

OAK TRYING TO KILL WREN AT THE END, SIR, SIR, PLEASE. DO NOT. 

We didn't need the sex scene being SO IMPLICIT –- GIVE ME DETAILS, DAMN IT!! Now I feel empty.

Things I liked: 

One thing I predicted when I'd read the exclusive first few chapters of Prisoner's Throne months ago: Wren's power came as a cost to her health. I was right. And I loved it. I'm not the biggest fan of overpowered heroines and her limitations were a great story point to me. Holly always does such an exemplary job in making her heroines, including Jude, badass and yet so human (more a figurative phrase for Wren since Wren is fae) and grounded. Also, in general, I liked Wren a lot in this book. My heart broke for her over and over. I JUST WANT WREN TO BE HAPPY AND I AM GLAD SHE GOT A HAPPY ENDING.

I had COMPLETELY forgotten about her connection to her mortal family and I am so, so happy we managed to resolve that in this book. The fact that Wren would do anything to protect her sister Brex moved me immensely. Holly did well in tying that loose end up, and hurray that Wren finally got to spend time with her family at the end of the book. 🙂

JUDE AND CARDAN!!!! Especially Cardan. He was such a gem and so intriguing in this book. Once I'm done writing this review, I'm going to reread all his scenes. No one can complain that Jurdan wasn't in this book—they were very, very involved in the plot here.

Holly Black's prose is still one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. It's my favourite prose of any author, period. It's succinct and poetic at the same time. It scratches an itch in my brain that I never knew needed scratching. 

The ending where Oak goes to find Wren and he proposes was so lovely. Ahhh. I will always have a special love and fondness for them. Bless their baby hearts.

Oak supporting Wren when she was ill will NEVER not move my stone cold heart. The way he held her weight to keep her from falling while they danced...

Before I sign off, I want to say one more thing: WHAT IS HOLLY PLANNING WITH NICASIA'S STORY? Is she going to write / create a male lead for Nicasia? What's going on?? Holly pretty much confirmed that she's going to write something else in this universe, and I must KNOW what she has in mind. Nicasia was so unlikeable in the original series that I wonder how it would be like to read her as a heroine of her own story. 

Holly, I'm right here, waiting for whatever you might throw at us next. 

[ang3lwithapen]

Hey so first of i wanna say that i really enjoy the setting you've got going on here, not many IFs where you are with nobles, but are not a noble yourself.

Also really liked meeting the sibs.

There is just one thing that i am kind of curious about gameplay wise, and that would be if there is the chance, for you to implement that we maybe be able to choose the genders of the ros in the beginnig of the story?

Reason subjectiv: Cause there is one ro that i personally really like, but i can't imagine them beeing a different gender which i imagine them as(of course depends on the readers preference), but i also don't like having only one gender for all ros, if i want to get this one specifically. That kinda feels wrong...i mean there would be a lack of diversity, like we have in rl.

Of course this is only my opinion and you are not in any means obligated to change or implement anything. So please don't feel pressured or anything.

P.s on a side note, maybe turn anon on so that people who would like to comment/send asks, but want to stay anonymous, can do just that, if you want to of course.

Hello!! Glad you enjoy the setting, and I’m happy you’ve had an overall pleasant experience thus far.

I think letting the reader choose each gender individually might give me some trouble down the line, I’d rather have them fixed to make things easier on myself. I don’t know if it can help in your specific case, but if you play as bisexual (like both men and women option) it will mean that:

if your gender is female or non-binary, the siblings will be: Arlen, Rowan, Sabrina and Helena.

If your gender is male, the siblings will be: Alice, Rose, Sebastian and Hector.

I will turn on anon now! I hadn’t realised I needed to turn that on myself lol.

Thank you! 💕

[gainesha]

still at Season 1 with my current BSG rewatch, going slower than I wanted, but

stray thoughts:

I have seen a lot of the episodes many many times, and I had one complete rewatch years ago with my family, but it is very exciting that I committed myself to do a full rewatch again. enough time has passed so that I can kinda see it with a new eye, even though most of the show etched myself into my mind and soul forever.

she is a big deal, but i still feel like we underappreciate Katee Sackhoff as an actor and Kara Thrace as a character in the show. she is just ELECTRIC. possibly my favorite fictional TV character, give or take a Nora Durst.

the David Weddle & Bradley Thomspon scripts sing like no others. Michael Taylor is going to be my go-to writer on the show later on, but they are indelible throughout, and the first ones to truly get the wavelength of RDM

i know many purists would rank the first season as the best, and i enjoy the very classical standalone structure and small-scale feel of it, but for me it's still probably at last place, even considering some rock bottoms of later seasons. also, I love the spiritual and theological rabbit holes the writers will write themselves into, and the show gets better for all the weird detours and strange turns of the worldbuilding and the narrative. I am very curious how the dead-ends and messiness of the overall arc will feel this time through, though.

Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down is by far the worst episode of the show thus far. I don't think EJO handles the screwball rhythms well as a director, and the characterization of Ellen this early in the run does not sit quite well with me, considering how they deepen her story later, especially in the New Caprica run. here it's just a crazy scheming bitch and a bros before hos posturing - her dynamic with Saul could (and will) be great and complicated, two people who get the very worst out of each other, which is spelled out in the episode, but isn't really depicted in an interesting way just yet.

also, can't wait for Tricia Helfer to really shine in later seasons. she is already amazing in her limited role of HeadSix temptress, and you can already sense the complexities behind her purr and anger and frustration.

Tahmoh Pennikett is not the greatest actor on the show, but he is amazing at giving a protector / big brother energy for Helo. he is just so rock solid. makes Helo a much better character than on paper, I think.

Flesh and Bone doesn't hit as hard any more (it was the episode that truly hooked me the first time, and one of my faves to revisit at earlier rewatches), but it is still the episode that has the first true glimpse of the thornier political and theological stuff that make the show reach next levels of greatness in terms of the cylon-human relations. Callum Keith Rennie is alluring and next to Tricia Helfer, the most un-human of the cylons.

the costumes in BSG are PERFECT. from the shiny chrome-silver flightsuits in the Caprica arc (both Helo and Sharon have such cute asses in those pants) to the standard blue uniform and the dogtag-sleeveless-tanktop combo of the pilots... so so so cool

the handheld camera shots really pay out whenever they zoom in a close-up of adama's pockmarked face or starbuck's trembling mouth. a huge reason of why Galactica (the ship, the crew) feels so lived in.

quiet moments like this one always make me cry:

[alderwoodbooks]

Alrighty. I’ve got a few reviews ready to post but I can’t seem to get over the ‘first post anxiety,’ SOO,

here is what I’m currently reading and my current thoughts and opinions on it thus far. I may get crucified for it but that’s okay. (Red rising fans, y’all are a different breed)

Current Read: Red Rising by Pierce Brown, am about 18% of the way through it, in chapter 10. *slight spoilers in my little ramble here*

So far, I’m really enjoying the story, the world that the characters live in and the political complexities, but it does feel like a few other stories I’ve read (just overall lacking in originality, can’t exactly pinpoint what stories feel so familiar though so maybe I’m just being overly critical here) and oh my GOD is the main character sooo insufferable. The man would benefit greatly from some therapy, but what male lead in a fantastic/science fiction novel written by a man wouldn’t to be fair. The dialogue feels very clunky and weird and unnatural in some parts, especially when the main character talks to his wife (rip, although part of me wonders if she’s gonna pop up again sometime). SPEAKING OF HIS WIFE, not loving how women are portrayed in this book so far, but haven’t seen enough examples to fully form an opinion on that one yet, hoping it gets better, but from what I’ve heard, I’m not expecting greatness.

These are mostly just first impressions though, I feel like I haven’t gotten to the “meat” of the story yet, the main character just found out the difference between the lower reds and the upper reds and is going through a bit of shock because woe is he, his whole life is a lie, which as a reader, no shit buddy.

As a whole, I feel like this book is gonna be a book I finish out of spite or with desperate hopes that it gets better as it goes along (similar to how I felt with fourth wing, which I will be writing a review soon, good lord I don’t understand why so many people love that hot garbage of a book.) BUT sometimes those books are my favorite to read and to review because they’re fun and I usually have a lot to say.

Anyways. back to reading, hoping and praying it gets better as we go along.

[yanderederee]

Clarification Post/Poll !

Im honestly not sure where I am about writing right now, but I’ve been thinking of organizing my Masterlist better because it’s kind of ugly… I was also not doing a good job of fixing typos, so i plan to revisit old posts and fix all grammatical errors.

I also wanted to quickly mention the reason why I color code/indent the dialogue in my writings is simply because it makes it easier for me to read long lines of text, as someone who has a difficult time reading, sometimes.

So while I’m on the subject… for my Baji Keisuke x Tutor!Reader series, I was struggling between a few different possibilities and timelines in my head.

Where the series progresses in posts like Nerd in Shining Armor and I’m Rooting for you, I portrayed Reader’s home life in a “overly-strict father, nonchalant mother, overall bleak and uncaring family” light.

I also wrote a spin-off prompt(Delinquents are Cute) that also entertaining the idea of a “facade of a picture perfect family, father dabbles in illegal methods of financial income, abusive/negligent family” kind of light.

In terms of which one I enjoyed better, I liked the original idea better. But thinking of reader enjoyment/being less cringe about my writing, I went with the less dramatic idea.

this is probably also why I’ve been so hesitant to continue storylines like Fragility/Aftermath … I know they’re very dramatic and harsh subject matters. It’s just been something I’ve been wanting to write for a very long time.

I was interested in which concept my readers actually liked? I can’t really change what I’ve already written, but I’m just curious.

…

If you have ANY THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, or IDEAS you’d like to share about my BajixTutor!Reader series thus far, PLEASE feel free to interact at this time!!!!♡

Thanks for your continued support everyone!♡

[muninnhuginn]

for the ask game, spy x family 🕶💣

Sorry for the delay! I got ambushed by rl and then ambushed myself for several more days and-- anyway, I had to put this under the cut because it got long. Thanks for asking!

my favorite female character

yor yor yor. I like her for a few reasons, but I think the main thing is just generally her main emotional arc thus far. how she wants to 'belong' but how she also needs to 'fit in' and how it also circles around the idea of normality. she thinks she wants to be normal when what she wants is to be accepted. and she knows she needs to be *seen* as normal for safety reasons (sth sth societal commentary even outside of the cold war backdrop) but she doesn't understand *how*. what does it mean to be a mother and to be a wife and what aspects of that does she want to fulfill for herself and which is she just doing because it's part of her cover.

she has all these needs and wants and hasn't yet figured out how to even begin untangling them. and despite that, she's still one of the most emotionally intelligent characters in the series.

my favorite male character

loid. he's the obvious option but still. I always tend to appreciate the anxious types and whilst technically all of the main three have their own little anxiety spirals, loid's way of overcomplicating things is my favourite. he's a very intriguing mix of anxiety, denial, and competence.

I am very much enjoying the length of time it's taking to wear him down. we only got full confirmation he's actively compromised as of the mole arc which is super recent but for me the pacing is just right. he has to earn that character development and be dragged through kicking and screaming.

my favorite book/season/etc

volume 10 (starts with [redacted] arc and has some good handler moments (though I *think* my favourite handler chapter is later on))

my favorite episode (if its a tv show)

genuinely not sure. I do think the very first episode has a really good mix of comedy and earnestness with a hint of the underlying tragedy in growing up during wartime. it spells out everything to expect down the line in a very nicely balanced way

my favorite cast member

I... don't know? I think for Yor's VA this is my favourite role of hers whilst Anya's VA I prefer most as Frieren but like. IDK tbh. Can I skip?

my favorite ship

Not super into shipping in this fandom, but overall, I'd say twiyor. the fact that it's a 'fake' relationship but they enter into it on honest enough terms that they actually make something really healthy for both of them out of it. they each mutually get something out of it too.

yor wants to be useful. she's grown up providing for yuri and now he's gone all she has left is her job, but this 'relationship' and her new family give her the opportunity to *do* something. to defend and protect her people. and to give her someone to confide in, where she's never had that before.

for twilight, he's always been planning and preparing for all possibilities. always acting, never letting anyone see what's beneath, until he had forgotten even himself. one of my fave twiyor moments was in the recent chapter where twilight gets home and immediately his legs give out, because he feels *safe*. he's let his guard down with yor and even if he's worried about being compromised, he let it down because he trusts in her character. the remedy for someone so full of masks is someone devoid of them, and for all that yor is the thorn princess, she has never faked *who* she is.

and tying back to what I was saying about yor and normality before. the fact that loid knows what it's like to pretend means that he's in the position to tell yor that she's good as she is. she doesn't *need* to fake her whole personality to fit in. sure, they both have their covers, but for the large part, what's beneath is genuine.

a character I’d die defending

I think nightfall's character may not be as developed as most people would like at this stage, but the way she's written is very deliberate. she's a compare/contrast with yuri (and also to some extent, with twilight) and she shows how love and obsession intertwine. how *obsession* can be dangerous. the mole arc to me is waving a big red flag above nightfall's head and saying that if she doesn't change something, if she keeps metaphorically diving headfirst in front of twilight, then she's going to end up the one riddled with bullets.

a character I just can’t sympathize with

not that we're likely supposed to but donovan desmond

a character I grew to love

handler! it's not that I ever disliked her as such, but for a long time she just seemed a kind of girlboss-esque character with a neat character design. she had her moments (bond arc speech and also propaganda chapter my beloved), but it wasn't until we had her focus chapter where we followed her day that I was like "oh." Like, I knew that she'd lost her family, but I was falling for the facade that she was on top of everything. And the realisation that she wasn't? That she was deep in depression, but you know who might dig her out of it? Her pet dog and a little girl. Definitely got to me.

my anti otp

anti otp is a bit strong a feeling for it, but I think the way I read damianya differs from a decent chunk of the fandom. I tend to see it as one-sided and am perfectly happy for it to stay that way or for them to just end up becoming better friends down the line, but I know what I'm against here so I'm not going to place any bets.

[damnation-if]

So I just played ur if and like... one this is a very intriguing game thus far and despite the whole "Haha gotta fuck to survive" thing I can genuinely feel the weight and stakes that would be made from such a traumatic experience on both MC and quite possibly our demoness friend that may or may not be in us right now and her friends. So I am very much invested already

Two, this is also a very funny game holy shit, it's very fun too! MC is already on the verge of a breakdown (if their not already there) and poor dude doesn't even know they have to have sex once a day or they'll croak, which I'm very curious on what exactly that means and the technicalities of such a thing so I'm also very excited to see that

Overall! I just wanted to say I think ur game is really cool so far and I can't wait to see what u decide to do with it :)

thank you so much for your ask! i kept it in my askbox for a while because it made me smile :) i'm really glad you're enjoying the game! and don't worry... Suchebh will be more than happy to go over technicalities with mc in the rest of the chapter haha

sadly even the sexy among us have insecurities... but hopefully in the end they will come out the other side of the story feeling like they achieved a net benefit lmfao

[dylanthescientist]

I am doing Veganuary this year, (for those that don’t know it is where you try to go completely vegan for the month of january) and so far I am really enjoying it. Though I want to come on here and voice some of my opinions of things i’ve noticed thus far in my journey. so far i have noticed that much of the vegan rhetoric and discourse is surrounding animal rights activism. while i’m not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, obviously we need dramatic change in the animal farming industries, i don’t notice nearly as much conversation surrounding climate activism or human rights. one major example i want to note is that once i made the switch from vegetarian to vegan i was trying to find some dairy substitutes to use in my cooking. on my hunt i was looking for a vegan butter alternative, but so far every single one that i have found is made with palm oil as its primary ingredient. and though they some companies claim that it is “ethically sourced” (some don’t even bother to mention that at all ) i did some digging and the “certifications” some of these companies received were from non legitimate companies and organizations. i want to ask, how is this more sustainable than just regular dairy butter? palm oil has significant negative environmental impacts just like the dairy industry. which brings me to my next point which is the reliance upon cashews and almonds for dairy substitutes. almonds are the least sustainable of any dairy alternative available. they use so much land and excess water that it’s almost laughable how much the almond cultivation resembles the land and water requirements necessary for dairy farming. not to mention the thousands of underpaid migrant workers who are abused in order to harvest those almonds. i think within the vegan community there needs to be a much larger conversation about sustainability and environmental ethics that focuses the same amount of attention that we do on animal rights activism.

i don’t want this to come off as knocking vegans nor am i trying to offer a solution everyone must follow and i do firmly believe that eating a plant based diet is overall much more beneficial for the environment than not. i am more just trying to bring awareness and open conversations within the community

(side note: i typed this out on my phone at work so apologies if it’s a little rambly or has any errors)

[lastoneout]

Talking critically about about One Piece below pls feel free to ignore me completely I just have to get this Out Of My Head or I'ma go insane

So I've reached the "Sanji is transphobic" part of the comic, and while I can't deny that is a very accurate description of his behavior, I must say I'm a little miffed that up to this point I have seen this framed as if it is entirely a problem with Sanji as a character and nothing more when like...THIS is how Oda is choosing to depict trans women:

I have been told that things get better and that there is a trans character in one of the latest arcs, and tbh this is very frustrating bcs I actually quite enjoyed the way the drag queen/gender liberated characters were portrayed in the previous chapters, it wasn't perfect but it was far more nuanced and sympathetic and progressive than what we typically see in anime, so yeah seeing this INTENSE backside directly into what looks borderline indistinguishable from a transphobic political comic is just.....it's not great.

Like I am really desperately trying not to be a Sanji apologist here, bcs his behavior sucks and I will fully acknowledge that, but I think framing this as a "Sanji" problem and not a problem with the comic overall is maybe minimizing the issue.

I will say I think given that the previous depictions of genderfluid and trans characters has been good that Oda isn't trying to be transphobic outright, I doubt he would write cool trans characters if he genuinely hated trans people, and I understand that he's added another trans character, plus the manga has 1088 chapters and this stuff is around chapter 600 so they came out a long while ago and I don't like holding old stuff against people, but yeah it's just weird to me that so much blame is placed on One Single Character as if the manga otherwise is very progressive when again, the narrative and thus the author seem to be validating Sanji's opinion or at least are completely comfortable making a painfully long and very transphobic "creepy predatory man in a dress who others find revolting" joke.

And that's not even getting into the sexism and racism and fatphobia(which ones weird to me also that none of the other characters are labeled as problematic for saying or doing bigoted stuff, it's only Sanji who gets that treatment?? I get he's easy to hate but this inconsistency is bugging me) and like...guys at some point we have to acknowledge that Sanji and all the other characters are behaving a certain way not because they are real people with agency, but bcs they are written by a human who has flaws and biases and yes, uninformed, bigoted opinions.

Plus like...idk imo framing it as a Sanji problem also rings hollow to me bcs again he's not real. It feels like letting the people ACTUALLY responsible off the hook when they're the only ones who have the power to change anything. Sanji didn't decide to be that way on his own, he's incapable of such an action, and he can't change his behavior or the writing of the comic, he isn't real. Oda wrote him and the others like that, and he can change things too.

So maybe just put the blame on the correct shoulders pls. That's all I'm suggesting.

Edit: Also maybe just me but imo there's nothing about Sanji's characterization that signals to me that he would obviously find trans women disgusting?? I know there are plenty of slutty men who love trans women!! And while he is a creep, them writing that the character who most openly loves basically every woman he meets could obviously never find a trans woman beautiful or arousing is like....IT'S A CHOICE.

[starstruckpurpledragon]

Super curious, if you're willing to share, about what your favorite Dr. Who relationships (platonic, romantic, whatever) are. DW is such a huge canon that there's so many options for what people love! (I am admittedly a sucker for mixing eras and placing companions with Doctors other than their own incarnation. Particularly Modern/Classic pair ups, but I also definitely have my favorite canon dynamics.)

Donna and the Doctor are definitely my favorite platonic ship and favorite DW ship overall. I may not have had the language for describing a QPR when I first encountered them, but that's the vibe their ship has to me. I just want Donna to keep showing up to randomly traveling with the Doctor once a season going forward from here on out. Don't care who is playing the Doctor, I have faith that Catherine Tate can forge an instant connection with any actor. (So obviously I've been super pleased by this year's specials.)

I have really enjoyed the one-sided Jack/Doctor ship too. Jack and the Doctor's relationship has been messy, but the Doctor does care about Jack (as a friend) and Jack's accepted that as enough. Him being devoted to someone without feeling entitled to having romantic attraction return is a sort of love story that doesn't get told a lot so... I think maybe that's precisely why it means so much to me.

Ace and any version of the Doctor. That is her father figure and even when she's pissed off at the Doctor for being a cagey jerk, she loves them very much. And the Doctor, no matter which version, always loves Ace as their daughter.

I really like the Doctor in mentor/mentee relationships, though obviously Ace in the father/daughter dynamic is my favorite. But Bill is definitely a close second. I would have loved for Bill to meet other versions of the Doctor and having to grapple with finding her weird grandpa hot as the two lady Doctor versions we've seen thus far would have been funny. Like, Thirteen and The Fugitive Doctor are still very much her weird grandfather person, but... Twelve would also be annoyed by this but only because Bill is making it weird and definitely not because the Doctor can't ever get along with themself. (Really, he'd be the one making it weird, let's face it.)

Sarah-Jane and Luke are a wonderful mother/son relationship and it's so lovely how quickly she comes to love this kid as her own. And then she also not-quite-adopts (but totally would if they needed it) three more kids and actually adopts one more. She is an excellent mom and mentor and I will forever be a little sad about what could have been with the show if Elizabeth Sladen hadn't passed away.

So clearly my favorite Whoniverse ships are platonic ones, but I do have a soft spot for Any Doctor/Rose as a romantic ship because they really were very cute together. They did not always bring out the best in each other, but Rose was very much someone the Doctor needed in their life, especially after the Time War. While these days I personally see the Doctor as being aromantic (or arospec) and their relationship with Rose as being a sort of romantic-coded QPR, I do enjoy it written as a straight up romantic ship when I read fic.

Ianto/Jack is my overall favorite romantic ship in the Whoniverse though. They're just adorable and I wish we'd gotten more of them instead of a nonsensical death in a third season I prefer to pretend didn't happen. (It's not so much that Ianto died that bothers me about it either. It's that it was such a poorly written death, especially after how Tosh and Owen's deaths were handled in S2.)