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My fave recent art of JinMao by @/lacampanule on twitter

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Fish think this kid is the coolest thing ever, 10/10, best Poseidon creation since the horses

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Okay, all those who do not accept Henry Tilney Supremacy, so in this chapter we learn that Henry was sent ahead by his father to find lodgings (which makes sense because we later learn the General is super picky). So Henry comes to Bath for a few days we can assume to look at places, and what does he do in the evening? He attends a ball. And what does he do at that ball? He asks the master of ceremonies to introduce him to a girl who isn't dancing and then is just so freaking friendly and charming.

What do you want women? Do you want a man who was dragged to a ball, is so profoundly rude that people don't even care how wealthy he is, and then calls you "tolerable"? Or do you want a man who goes to a ball by himself, for fun, and then does a comedy bit on the spot, requests that you write about him favourably in your diary, and then discusses fabric washing with your chaperone?

I know whom I'm picking!

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i know i am biased to hell but this guy is quite literally one of the greatest talents this sport has ever seen and it's so unfair we only get to see glimpses of this every once in a while because ferrari can't build one competent car

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i am supposed to have the energy… to do stuff...?

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actually my disability IS an excuse and it’s a damn good excuse

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Maomao could do whatever the fuck she wanted forever in the palace like

If a court lady won’t let her, most—if not all—of the top concubines at a given moment would have her back

If the concubines don’t have jurisdiction she just has to think about the concept of family dinner in the vicinity of her bio dad and he’ll abuse his major political power to fit her whims

If it’s beyond his political maneuvering she could link pinkies with the crown prince and he’d beg to move mountains for her

And at the end of the day if none of that worked the emperor would pardon her for whatever she does bc he’d think it’s funny

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Dive right in

Kingdon Microfic Challenge | August 1st: Pool | 499 words | General Audiences

My first ever posted Kingdon fic! Thank you @kingdonmicrofic for the fun challenge! Find it on ao3 here

From his position on the shady lounge chair, the summer sun dances over the water in a thousand tiny sparkles. It’s tempting, really, and Frank has always been the one to jump in head first. The bigger the splash, the more people covered in patchy water stains afterwards, the better.

Today he’s still dry to his bones and his stare is locked in on Mel, who’s dipping her toes into Dana’s pool. Despite her swimsuit (sky blue, nothing fancy, everything he’ll daydream about for weeks), she lingers on the edge. She never dives in. No surprise there. The thought leaves a worse aftertaste than the cup of Kombucha Santos handed him at the makeshift bar.

Maybe Mel never wants to dive into anything. Maybe he’s making it worse with his relentless stare, his inability to let go. She hasn’t said a single private word to him since last Wednesday. God, he shouldn’t have kissed her, not without asking. Definitely not in the goddamn breakroom. He should leave her alone, or even better leave this stupid party for his even stupider divorcee apartment.

He can’t stop looking at her, though. Her open hair, shining like gold in the July sun. Her little nods as she listens to Samira, relaxing in a unicorn pool float. Those lips he’d relive rehab for if only she’d… no.

Mel isn’t like him: impulsive, reckless, taking and taking and never asking first.

Fuck it.

He pulls his shirt off and tosses it on the chair. A few long steps, a big splash, the welcome wet chill all over his body and short silence in his head. Air again, warm, clean. Frank shakes his hair like Winnie after bath time. At the other end of the pool, Samira laughs.

“You sure you don’t want to join us?” she asks Mel.

Mel sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. Her eyes meet his. Her mouth twitches into a smile. She doesn’t reign it back in. Suddenly the taste of Chlorine washes through his mouth. She’s never looked at him like this before, and he’s never seen so much of her pale skin either. He’s pretty sure there’s a constellation of moles on her left thigh.

Swallowing hard, he pictures the fight bite at the end of yesterday’s shift, infected and gross and unsexy.

“I think I’m ready,” Mel says, still smiling at him, cheeks slightly pink. “Frank, can we jump in together?”

Oh.

Oh.

The pool stretches into an ocean as he swims over to her. She waits on the stairs, hands twisting around each other. He stops right in front of her.

“Anything you want, Mel,” he replies, hopefully (but probably not) only for her to hear.

They don’t dive in head first.

But her hand fits perfectly in his, and when he blinks the water out of his eyes a few seconds later, the brightest smile greets him from her face.

“This was nice,” she says.

And isn’t that better than jumping in all alone?

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A tiny and messy Maomao in Ming dynasty (inspired?) hanfu because this anime is consuming my brain.

(I haven't drawn anything in sooooooo long, omg. I had almost forgotten how)

Reference picture:

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I think it’s easy to forget how Ah-Duo and the Emperor’s relationship haunts the romantic narrative between Maomao and Jinshi.

It’s not addressed often, but based on what little we’re told, it’s very likely that Ah-Duo was (and still is) the love of his life.

She was the Emperor’s childhood sweetheart. She was his only consort for over a decade. Ignoring how rare that is—how it would have been encouraged for a prince to take more than one concubine—he refused to take on any other consorts for the first ten years after Jinshi's birth. He only accepted other concubines after the former emperor passed away, and he ascended the throne.

For as the current emperor, he could no longer avoid the obligation of taking other consorts, producing heirs—especially since he knew Ah-Duo could no longer bear him children.

Despite losing her womb, the child Ah-Duo gave him is the only one that has survived into adulthood. A child he dotes on, loves dearly, and who he deeply wants to be his heir, despite Jinshi's clear objections. And it makes sense why he'd want Jinshi to succeed him. He's the only child he bore with the woman he loves most, who bears such an uncanny resemblance to her, who shares her intelligence, charm, and cleverness.

He loved her so much that he kept her—a woman who could never get pregnant again—in the rear palace for over eighteen years. It hurt their relationship to have her caged there. The one solace they had was being able to be near Jinshi as he grew up.

And by the time the Emperor gives in to the political pressure to replace Ah-Duo with a younger (fertile) consort, he does something that we haven't seen any other emperor do so far: he allowed Ah-Duo to leave the rear palace. Not only that, he gave her the Southern Imperial Villa: an entire compound (comparable to a small palace itself) to call her own in the royal capital, where she can live her life comfortably and privately. It isn't true freedom—not really—since she doesn't have jurisdiction to travel the world as she's always wanted, but it's a hell of a lot more freedom than any other consort has ever received up to that point.

And he leaves the palace often to visit her there. This is extremely uncommon; in theory, an emperor should have no further reason to interact with a former consort if the woman cannot serve the baby-making purpose she was chosen for. He gave her a residence in the royal capital because wants to keep her close. He wants continued access to her, even after she's comfortably installed in her new life outside the palace.

Jinshi knows all of this, and is painfully aware of how easily history could repeat itself with him and Maomao. Jinshi knows how trapped and stifled Ah-Duo felt in the rear palace, knows it strained her relationship with the Emperor, knows that it ultimately pushed her away from him, emotionally. It did not affect the Emperor's love for her, but it did affect Ah-Duo's love for him.

Jinshi watched his own parents' romantic relationship fall apart due to the absolute power that came with his position. He wasn't able to avoid claiming his title as the Moon Prince; he'll do anything he can to avoid making Maomao feel the same way Ah-Duo felt.

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this is, as the kids say, frying me (a glasses wearer)

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Don't get me wrong, I've been loving this show and it is honestly so damn good, and I adore the main leads, but getting through the last 6 episodes has been so hard because it stresses me out so much (⁠*⁠﹏⁠*⁠;⁠)

Like, I just want things to go alright for them but everything is falling apart and it genuinely hurts me 😭

Cannot watch more than one ep a day because it's too much lol

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Blossom 九重紫 Text Posts 1/2 (two)

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My favourite trope in the world is overpowered main characters who think they aren't that great at whatever they're doing and they're just scraping by, meanwhile they're the devil incarnate from everyone else's pov

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Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite | Please use me.

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If you wish for it, even the rain gives away to the sun.

Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite 私の夫と結婚して (2025) dir. Ahn Gil Ho

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I love you. I love you so much. And I always will. Wataru, will you be my husband?

Watashi no Otto to Kekkon Shite (2025) dir. Ahn Gilho