#I love this franchise but FUCK if some things didn’t get messed up on

[is-your-name-anronpa-cause-dang]

So.

Either Shirogane faked the cospox thing, and this is her in the audition tapes. This makes some amount of sense seeing there was no flashback light effect on them when they watched it vs the other motives. (I guess this makes sense? It coulda just not been a brainwashing video?)

Or,

The set psychically being there disproves any idea of VR theory (goddamnit) because they all auditioned in the same building where they later signed up for the killing game.

(Having a blank audition set hidden in a cosplay stage makes perfect sense, especially if people are travelling to this studio[?] to audition for it. It’s easier to build and reuse the set as to not waste money. AND letting people tour the place they might end up before signing up for it does make an amount of sense.

It’s one or the other ;-; VR coma or Reality. I don’t like those options

I’m still not sure where the backwards Pinocchio-kiibo fits into any of this though..

[rinski]

SH2R Review

I don't usually do this, but we live in extraordinary times and I have Opinions.

So here is my review of the new Silent Hill 2 Remake. (tl;dr: when it's not bad it's... good? kinda?)

If you go into this game holding up the original and looking for all the ways the remake falls short, like that Bobvids reaction video, you will have no shortage of material to work with. The remake is inconsistent and I legitimately do not understand what they were attempting to achieve with some of the changes they made. This game is incredibly easy to make into something profoundly disappointing if that’s what you want to do. Like Bobvids points out, almost all of the most iconic or emotionally-powerful scenes from the original were fumbled. Not like “they tried to do something different and it didn’t quite work,” no no, no: They were fumbled. They dropped the ball and it shattered like glass upon impact. It's ironic: The game has what it calls "Glimpses of the Past," which are little shrines to iconic scenes and objects from the original game, with their own bespoke camera angle and a little jingle, but then they somehow manage to fail at preserving the scenes people care about most.

If you're reading this, we have both probably been passionate about this game and franchise for a huge chunk (if not the majority) of our lives on this dumb planet, and seeing someone botch something we’ve managed to hold precious for so long can be very painful to watch. 

But there’s also a lot to legitimately like about this game that using that lens will obfuscate. And I’m generally of the mind that we should try to scavenge for whatever joy we can find, wherever and whenever we can, because the world fucking sucks in general. And besides, it’s not like we haven’t had to endure other SH games over the years that ran the gamut from “aggressively mid” to “well at least it’s funny in a bad b-movie kinda way.” I think the best way to enjoy this game is to go in with the assumption that basically everything you care deeply about is going to be butchered in some way, so that you won't be hyper-focusing on those mistakes when the game actually manages to do something good. By all means jeer and throw popcorn at the screen whenever they mess something up—that's a lot of fun too!—but don't let the bad completely shadow the good, especially if it's only bumming you out.

To be clear: I'm not arguing that anyone should buy the game. Other people already have, and their playthroughs are free to watch.

The game is overly long, which leads to some pacing problems. They fill up some of the extra space with places and story beats that feel on point, but a lot of it is filler with only the faintest, somewhat-sour Silent Hill flavor. They do some interesting new things with the combat and enemy AI, but that also gets old quickly because combat is more mandatory, more frequent, and there's only like 3 different enemies in total.

The characters are all different enough that I think comparing them to the originals is just going to make everyone sad. I do not love most of the new takes on the characters. But I also do not hate most of them. At times, they’re even surprisingly good. 

I like the new James most of the time. He's different, sure, but he feels more like a pathetic worm man hiding behind a facade that he's only barely able to maintain. His voice cracks with exertion and desperation as he kicks downed enemies, and after he hears a spooky noise he asks a wavering, "hello?" There are times where his facial acting is incredibly well done and there are times where he basically doesn't react at all, like his "k bye" exit from Angela's final scene that's worse than if they'd just teleported you to the next room with no transition.

The first two Eddie encounters made me roll my eyes, because he feels like a caricature of the original. They made him look and act a lot grosser in the remake, like they imported the original into a character creator and pushed all the middle sliders to one extreme or another. But despite nothing about his design or initial characterization saying “this was made by someone who appreciates subtlety and nuance” he still managed to have some legitimately subtle and nuanced character moments that are their own thing, separate from the original version. When James asks him, "You're gonna go out there alone?" and he gives that slight smile and a distant, barely audible "yeh"? That's good shit.

I think my hottest take is that the new Angela is Good, Actually. I love the original Angela. I think she was perfect. This is not her. Trying to draw any comparisons between the two is a shortcut to feeling depressed and disappointed. There are several interactions with her that actually hewed too close to the original version, which didn’t work *specifically* due to these changes. And her finale is nowhere near as good. Despite all that, I like the new take. She stands on her own as a different (but obviously similar) character. I like her new VA, I like her new scenes, and the new Abstract Daddy boss fight is, I think, the absolute highest point the remake manages to hit. 

Maria is the one character where I legitimately don’t understand what they were going for. Even putting the original aside and letting the new Maria be her own thing… what… *is* that thing, exactly? To start, she’s barely in the game at all—she's absent during many of the scenes she was present for in the original. When she does interact with James, she’s so inconsistent that I can’t get a sense of what they intended her character to be. Hot, cold, charming, socially awkward—in any case it definitely doesn’t seem like they intended her to be “the Mary James fantasized about,” so then… what *is* she? James and new Maria’s overall vibe is “people who only barely tolerate each other because they have a shared friend group." In fact, one of the better interactions between Maria and James is the lead ring scene, where instead of being flirtatious, James dejectedly accepts the ring with a flat, “Oh… thanks...” like she just spat in his hand. So ok fine, they don't like each other this time around. But in the finale she still claims to be able to provide James with everything Mary couldn't, which... no? I don't get what she's attempting to provide, but whatever it is, James certainly doesn't seem into it.

Overall, the environments and music were amazing and on-point, but there were also times where neither was true. The non-otherworld hospital in particular struck me as generic to the point where I’d believe it was made from asset store prefabs. And the newer version of Promise (Reprise) that plays after the video tape is… weirdly up-tempo? Like, to the point where it undermines the tone of the scene (don't worry, it wasn't great anyway). 

Look: being a SH fan has been tough for *multiple decades* now. And I have no love for Bloober Team. They most certainly did not stick the landing here, and even if they did, I would be reluctant to give them credit for it.

I understand feeling passionate about the original. *I* feel passionate about the original. I understand how someone could experience this remake while hating every second of it. I believe I understand how Bobvids feels too, because he’s objectively correct: The remake does not treat any of your most precious memories with care.

And that’s why I wanted to write this. Because it’s very easy to view this game through a lens where it sucks shit, is disappointing, ruins your enjoyment of the original, and spells doom for the future. This game provides a scenic vista full of eye-catching trash fires where all the famous landmarks should be. But if you choose to look elsewhere, away from all the hot garbage, there’s a lot to see that’s perfectly fine or even beautiful. And it makes me sad to imagine all that going ignored because the trash fires burn too brightly.

And also: trash fires can be fun too, right? When they're not bumming you out, at least. Given the choice between "mid" and "trash fire," I'd choose the latter every time.

Silent Hill 2 came out in 2001. Since then we’ve had SH3 in 2003, SH4 in 2004, Origins in 2007, Homecoming in 2008, Shattered Memories in 2009, Downpour in 2012, PT in 2014, and, most recently, Short Message and Ascension. 

We have been scrounging for food and sustaining ourselves on dumpster crumbs for a very, very long time. So let’s not throw away this opportunity to eat a bite or two just because the chef is a piece of shit and the food is partially spoiled: A lot of what’s on offer is perfectly edible. It’s not the best food, no, but we're already used to picking through garbage for a few savory morsels. And within that context, SH2R is a smorgasbord for anyone willing to eat around the moldy bits. 

I recommend we eat what we can, while we can, because we're not likely to get a better meal any time soon.

[fancylala4]

Hi! I see where U reblogged my tangled crit posts 👀

I dont hate it, it just doesnt hit as well as it should. I prefer the barbie version. And I prefer Disney Rapunzel with ROTG Jack because not only they the same age but i find the parallels a bit more fascinating.

I remember seeing a arrow toy Rapunzel themed at Target, just recently I found out she was going to use a bow and arrow beforehand XD much much cooler than a frying pan!

Which begs to question! Why is the franchise so off with its girl characters? Gothel's entire motivation is staying young, Cass ended up a mess, Ariana is underwritten. And Rapunzel barely has another girl her age to hang out with. It's just Cass.

I get it. I disliked the movie at first because of the movie itself and how badly it was written but I started to hate the movie because of the rabid, racist fans and how badly they treated patf just to prop this movie up back in the day. The fandom is still pretty bad from what I seen.

The Barbie version is one of the best adaptations of rapunzel I have ever seen. It’s so good and it holds up perfectly well today except for the animation of course. If you get a chance, you should check out rapunzel’s revenge. It’s a great rapunzel comic and Disney took elements from that version as well.

I definitely agreed that Jack Frost and rapunzel would make a good couple. I liked them way better than him and Elsa and definitely would be way better than creepy dream.

Oh I saw that now in stores and I wonder why they made it when Merida is right there. I did hear that the series writers wanted her to have the bow and arrow but Disney didn’t like that idea. Probably because they wanted her to be helpless and didn’t want her to be taken seriously with a weapon. I remember looking at some Lego sets and I saw that rapunzel had a bow in a set for the series. So I think that rumor was true. Yeah, I would like the bow and arrow way better than that dumb frying pan. I guess it doesn’t matter since rapunzel wasn’t shown as a threat with the frying pan and it was more Flynn’s weapon in the movie.

Yeah, it’s so weird how this franchise is targeted towards little girls and all the female characters in it is just off and can be really offensive. Gothel is a walking outdated stereotype of many, rapunzel has no flaws, gets overshadowed in her OWN movie and couldn’t even drive the plot of the movie! It’s hard to believe this movie was made in 2010, it belongs in the 50s.

I have limited knowledge of the series characters but is cass the one who they made a villain and has blue hair like she’s some anime character? If so, It’s bad because I think I seen people say that she’s a villain because of how she looks and they turned a friendship into a bitter one just in a sake of something dumb. Do the writers think that girls have to be catty to each other or else it’s unrealistic? It’s a weird choice for a franchise targeted towards little girls. Ariana is the queen, right? I think I reblog a post about cultural appropriation in the movie and they mentioned her name. But really? They could have had a good plot point about rapunzel and her getting used to a good mother after what she’s been through. But they thought it was better just to focus on the king, have him be even more abusive to rapunzel than gothel was (reading her diary, following her everywhere and locking her up in a fucking tower after she just got out of one!!) and say that it’s ok because he’s doing it because he loves her.. I also “love” how the queen basically did nothing about this and just say supportive things rapunzel behind the king’s back like that means anything. Disney really needs to hire women for this franchise because this is just embarrassing and sad in this day and age.

[the-dyke-of-handsomeness]

I am going to watch all of the hunger games

Before the first movie:

I kinda know the plot but not really, girl gets chosen to fight weird tradition thing by a pink drag queen, older sister is like “fuck no” and some other shit happens.

My expectations for the rating: 7/10, really good but only the first movie so not amazing.

During first movie:

Why is this weird posh British (I think) person in pink drag?? Beauty full drag tho

It's not drag??

I didn't know Josh Hutcherson was in it T-T

Why is the solution to war to send a bunch of teenagers to fight to the death?? Instead of just resolving the issue like adults and talking.

The apartment Katniss is staying in is ugly as fuck.

Haymitch is kinda hot.

KATNISS DONT MESS WITH THE FUCKING BEES

Josh Hutcherson is also a bad actor..

I love Rue so much I just want to adopt her

NO RUE WTF

Why would they add two victors?? That's just dumb as fuck, it ruins the whole point of the games.

After the first movie:

I hated this. (/pos)

I Loved it but hated it cuz of Rue.

8/10 Better then I expected for a first movie.

Before catching fire:

I have no idea at all what this one is about sooo

During catching fire:

ooooo Kathrine? Kathleen? KATNISS (I forgot her name) has PTSD

Who tf is named *snow*???

NO MAGS

MAGS IS GONNA DIE AINT SHE

SHE DIDDDDD

Johanna X Katniss 4 life

After catching fire:

AMAZING DKDNDKD

THE GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND THE UPRISING AND JUST ARGHHH (/pos)

9/10, 1 point off because I really liked Mags and also cliffhanger

before Mockingjay part 1:

I have no idea what will happen other then a continuation of the last movie

during mockingjay part 1:

JOSH IS DEAD HAHA

NO WRONG DUDEEE

ITS THE SONGGGG GUYSSSS

after mockingjay part 1:

Pretty good, I didn’t peticularly like it though. It was kinda bland.

7/10 still pretty good but nothing really happened

Before Mockingjay part 2:

I really hope this one is better then the last but yk

during mockingjay part 2:

KATNISS IS DEAD??

NEVERMINDSD

KATNISS IS DEAD??? (Again)

NEVERMINDSD (Again)

team Finnick for life, screw Peeta and Gale

FINNICK DIED

NOOO PRIMMM

WHAT THE FUCK PRIMROSEEEE

THEY CANT KEEP DOING THIS TOO MEEEE

After mockingjay part 2:

Amazing movie oml much better than part 1

PRIMMMM

8/10, it was hard to follow and keep focus on but it was a really good film, 1 point taken off for Prim dying, that was just unnessecary.

overall:

8/10, amazing franchise but mockingjay part one really dragged down its rating.

great movies, very hard to stay focused on. I had to be doing something else while watching or else I would lose interest.

before snakebirds and songs:

I think it’ll be good

I know it’s a prequel

During snakebirds and songs:

WHO is this Wish.com Draco malfoy??

Holy shit Lucy grey…

HOLY SHIT LUCY GREY!!

Holy shit Lucy grey’s voice..

HOLY SHIT LUCY GREY’S GUITAR

Turns out I have a thing for southern accents.

after the ballad of songbirds and snakes:

OH MY GOD

I just, it’s amazing.

the powerful message underlying in it, everything about it.

I started tearing up in the theatre and I am going to sob into my pillow once I am done writing this. (/pos)

The fact that, that is happening in real life right now. The villain of a fiction story is happening right now in front of us. Just hurts so much.

And that there will be people who watched that movie and walked out of it all happy, as if nothing like that is happening in our world.

this movie made me better, and the direction was amazing.

ranking:

10/10, I don’t think I’ve ever given a movie a solid 10/10 before but this movie deserves it.

will/would I read the books?

probably, I think the movies were great and if the movies were a good representation of the books then I believe the books will be really good

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Is It Really That Bad?

Grease is a delightfully corny musical filled with 50s nostalgia (mostly the good kind) and helped shoot the careers of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John to new heights. There’s a little bit of values dissonance here and there, but considering when it was made and what decade it was about, it could honestly be a lot worse. It’s easily one of the most fun and enjoyable musicals ever made, and it should come as no surprise the Library of Congress deemed this film significant enough to add to the National Film Registry. Is it any surprise a film like this had a sequel?

Well, yeah, kind of. Paramount didn’t think the movie was going to be much more than a modest one-off hit when it came out despite the 50s nostalgia of the time, mainly due to the spectacular failure of Columbia’s musical adaptation of Lost Horizon being such a spectacular bomb. Why risk making musicals when it seems they’re on the way out, right? But then Grease unexpectedly became one of the biggest films of 1978, and the execs got little dollar signs in their eyes. Sequel time, baby!

One problem, though: None of the original cast was available. Or, I should say, none of the original cast you’d give a fuck about was available. Travolta and Newton-John were already off to bigger and better things, which is a shame since they were both interested before it took them forever to get a script. Only Didi Conn (Frenchy) and Eddie “Mandark” Deezen (Eugene) were coming back. And, look, I love Dexter’s Lab but that wasn’t going to be made for like twenty years or something, so Eddie wasn’t Travolta-levels of star power. Still, Paramount was dead set on turning Grease into a massive franchise. We’re talking spin-offs, sequels, a TV series, the works!

But then the screenwriter for the original died, and the original director went off to make The Blue Lagoon. Of course, they found great backups! The screenwriter is a Canadian comedian who wrote Airplane II (the less funny one) and the director was the choreographer of the original stage and film versions of Grease! How reassuring! And then basically all of the actors they actually wanted in this didn’t end up getting in. For the male lead they wanted Timothy Hutton, but when that didn’t work out they tested Andy Gibb… who failed. They then went with an unknown, Maxwell Caulfield, and casting an unknown is always a gamble. For the leading lady, Pat Benatar and Debbie Harry were considered before they ended up going with an unknown by the name of Michelle Pfeiffer. And guess what! Those two ended up hating each other.

Oh yeah and the final draft of the script was only finished midway through production, without Frenchy in it despite her actress being there, so they just tossed the scenes they’d filmed into the movie anyway.

The end result was savaged by critics and did not really make enough to warrant the massive franchise Paramount was hoping for. The careers of most of the actors involved were damaged pretty bad, especially Caulfield, though Pfeiffer managed to et out mostly unscathed. Overall, the film was just a mess that these days is relegated to lists of the worst sequels ever. Hell, unless you read lists like that you might be unaware this film even exists, because it’s relatively obscure.

Still, it does have its fans, including Andrew Garfield of all people. It’s something of a cult classic in some circles, so surely there’s something of value to be found here, right? Is Grease 2 really that bad?

THE GOOD

Michelle Pfeiffer is pretty in this.

...No. Really. That’s it.

THE BAD

This film’s biggest problem is just how overexaggerated everyone’s performances are. Like all of the dance numbers feature every single character mugging the camera and just making the most absurd faces and movements, like this is a live action cartoon. And look, I love goofy, campy silliness, but there’s a fine line between corny and trying way too hard and this is firmly in the latter camp. Every single number is just ruined by this insufferable desire to be silly.

The other biggest problem is the songs. All of them suck. All of them are also about sex, and that doubly sucks. None of the lyrics are very clever, but all of them are fucking stupid. This might just be one of the horniest movies ever made, and I mean that as an insult. I’ve watched pornos less obsessed with sex than this film. This is all the more jarring because the first film was just filled to the brim with fun and memorable songs, but here? They’re all forgettable crap with no clear identity.

Maxwell Caulfield is a terrible leading man, and I say this as someone who has a hard time believing John Travolta is a leading man. At least with Travolta he does exude a sort of movie star quality; Caulfield just feels to me like a cardboard cutout of a person, or an even more wooden Anakin Skywalker than what we got in Attack of the Clones. Caulfield is just an absolute void of charisma, and it’s no wonder Pfeiffer thought he was a stuck up little shit.

IS IT REALLY THAT BAD?

Uh, yeah. It’s fucking bad.

I really wanted to enjoy this. I really did. I love stupid, campy, silly musicals! This should have been perfect for me! And yet it was one of the most tedious, miserable viewing experiences I’ve ever had. I didn’t laugh. I didn’t smile. I was not once charmed or amused by anything I saw onscreen. As a matter of fact, there were times where I just wanted to turn it off because it was just such a slog. The extended cut of Dawn of Justice is a more well-paced and riveting film.

Look, if you like this movie, more power to you. Lord knows there’s plenty of trashy films I absolutely love that many people wouldn’t agree with. But in my opinion, Grease 2 just doesn’t work, and the reason why is because it’s Grease 2. If this film was just its own thing and not trying to coast on the fame of its superior predecessor, maybe I’d be a little more forgiving. But that’s not the world we live in. We live in a world where this film with tenuous connections to the original is allowed to call itself a sequel.

I’m gonna say that score is a little too nice, and this movie deserves something more like a 2. It’s not the worst thing ever and it’s sure to appeal to some folks, but boy is this just plain not a good film in my eyes. It really just feels like it's trying way too hard to be the original, and it's failing miserably at it at every single turn. It is one of the worst movies I've ever watched, but at least it's a bad movie where I can almost see the appeal. It just doesn't appeal to me.

[loopscereal]

I wasn't sure whether to ask you or Pía so maybe each of you can add your own commentary?? but I'm very curious about your OC Red :0 you've both posted about them a lot and I've been very curious about their admiration for Owynn and their feelings of being inorganic I think? (I might have misinterpreted idk sorry). Whatever the case I just want to know more about the lil guy

Hello!! Sorry for the late responseeeee. Thank you very much for being interested in them :D Also don’t apologize for presumably misinterpreting stuff it's not like we’ve explained him lol ToT It will be a bit of a really weird story to share though, so buckle up lol (Red uses any and all pronouns btw)

This is the capital weird part of our lore AKA programs which we already mentioned in our Pup explanation, but yeah for recap: when shadows interact with a video game that meets the requirements of 1) being kinda broken and 2) having a lot of care put into it (whether it’s how it was created or how the person that had it cherished it or whatever) as in the saying of “putting your soul into it” the shadow gets the idea or asset or whatever of a character or a concept within that game and becomes conscious, that good old trope of "The game becomes self-aware". Normally they get a body and that’s it, they incorporate to normal human society normally and also have mandatory therapy because you cannot come out normal from that ToT 

The exceptions to this are Pup and the now titular little guy!! Red. Red’s name comes from rival red from Pokemon! Red itself comes from a Pokemon copy, a really broken and busted down copy of the most broken Pokemon game everrrr Pokemon fire red: A really buggy and glitchy mess held by tape and raw will power, a start of a beloved franchise with tons of love put into it and also just busted. And That sort of brought Red into existence 5 years ago.

Red did not take over a character or an idea or a concept of a character, Red took over the literal glitches, every unused asset and every game breaking bug, this made it so that whenever he TRIED telling someone of its existence, it just read as glitching and nonsense and what you would think of when someone tells you “haunted game”, everyone with self-preservation is not going to entertain that and will just shut the thing off and sell it or something, programs are expected to emerge in a somewhat normal 4th wall break or something not screaming and static and the game shutting off on its own. He took the name red because among the scrapped nonsense there was also a scrapped trainer Red sprite in there and it was the only semblance of a face amongst that entire mess, and you take any face you can get when you don’t have any, and you take any semblance of an identity you can get when you also don’t have any.

So Red gained consciousness a hot second ago, 5 years ago from current timeline, but was not taken anywhere to become a real person because no one could tell she was one. A guy had his cartridge and just let it rot under his desk for those years because that thing is unplayable and also probably haunted!! Eventually he decided to sell it and you would not guess who got it (Owynn and Loon.)

Loon bought it because he’s just game obsessed, and at this point he was already dating Owynn so they were just hanging out and Loon wanted to play the thing. Haunted game screeching and screaming ensures and Loon was about to do the normal person reaction that is turning the thing off, but since Owynn is a weirdo he didn’t really care? Owynn is curious, not easy to scare at all, and he HARDCORE doesn’t believe in ghosts, so he was determined to fucking around with the thing trying to figure out if it what was wrong with it.

So a lot of Red’s inherent craziness towards Owynn and Loon comes down to the fact that they were the ones who actually got him out of that hell, Owynn fucked around and treated her as some sort of ARG like a loser and figured out what she was trying to say and what she was. Thisss is also badd and this is the moment where we tell everyone that they should never look up to Owynn OR Loon.

Basically, they figured it out! (Mostly Owynn) woho!!! Now they will take her to get a body and be normal right? (no). Owynn is a curious bastard and also inherently just morally skewed, and Loon is sort of a pushover and also an absolute dickhead to strangers and rlly low empathy (doesn’t seem people he’s not close with as real), so owynn just basically kept her in there?? for a few months??? They tried to frankenstein him a bit, tried to figure out what he was and how he worked and all that stuff. And it was obviously dehumanizing as hell and messed up how they were just playing mad scientist with his life, but also 5 years of being completely alone kind of warps your brain a little (a lot), and being seen as something “precious” or cool or interesting got her crazy attached to them 2. 

Eventually they talked and Loon got over his “if i don’t know you you aren’t real” thing because he DID know them now, and they EVENTUALLY after a literal hot second got Red to get an actual body. Took them long enough jesus. 

First of all, they had no idea how to even do this?? Because you need to fill out forms and that and Owynn couldn't on the basis of bad homelife, and Loon technically could but he was also incredibly out of it because he was taken to a part of town he didn’t even know at all and that just panicked him way worse. So problem number one is that, problem number 2 is that Red wasn’t even normal by program standards and was still just inherently glitchy. It all worked out surprisingly, Neither of them had the money nor the want to take care of Red or whatever, and in theory he should’ve ended up in the foster system but the woman who worked on his body saw that even with a body she is just inherently unstable and decided that she could take that responsibility given that she was an expert on the stuff.

So, Red has a really warped vision of those two because how do you not after that??? He sees them as sort of gods? which sounds crazy but then again how do you not after that. When Red is taken out of DS hell, two things are evident. 1) Her file was an English copy, so their “mother” language is English, most of the spanish he knows was acquired directly from hearing the real people out in the real world talk with each other over those 5 years, and even if that sounds like a long time to learn his cartridge was stuck and stored in a desk so what he could hear was limited and also muffled. So their Spanish is kinda bad, they tend to default to English but even then words are pronounced wrong because he never had the need to say most or any of them out-loud. 2) they have no animal. This is due to the scrapped Rival Red sprite having no animal traits. So he has to chose what type of animal person he will be, they knew they wanted to be an arthropod. Loon and Owynn are both arthropods, and she wanted to resemble her saviors, her gods. She chooses a cicada, a true bug! Actual bug! It’s a bit of a play on words on our part, since Red is an accumulation of all of Fire Reds bugs. Cicadas also represent rebirth, and new beginnings, and he was pretty much reborn into a new life by being taken out of DS hell. Another thing you may notice about their design is their eyes, one is a bar that you cannot see the end of, and her other small dot eye, this is also something he chose to have. Its the same eye disorder Owynn has! Xe also styles xir bangs like Owynn, wears stud earrings like Loon, and is in the insect subsection of arthropods with Loon. Generally tries to emulate them both. So, for the parts of themself that Red could choose in, he decided to look like the people he admires/worships.

Little visual help go!! :

Due to forming within an accumulation of glitches, and not a normal sprite like most programs, her physical form still glitches out. Things like chromatic aberration and actual spikes of distortion, which are all visual glitches but still hurt. This facet of how she exists is a lot of electricity, and messes with electronics, and with other programs, since their bodies, although made to be as realistic and human as possible, are still built things. machines and electronics, and therefore tamperable. Due to his glitchy nature, this means that he can bypass a lot of rules set inside of Programs that were made in fear of “machine uprising” nonsense.  Every program is able to re-enter electronics, they can go into the computer and chill there while their body is just sleeping/knocked out. They can do anything you normally can, but have a built in chip that prevents them from easily prating things, easily stealing people's information to make purchases, getting peoples ips, and in general messing with things for their benefit. These are all bypassable by Red due to her “inherently broken” nature. 

Speaking of being compatible with computers, programs have little items on them that their consciousness can retreat into if their physical body is too damaged, this item is sort of like a hard drive of their entire being? It holds them, and can be used to transfer their memories onto exterior hardware like a laptop, phone, or computer. Think of it as back ups to keep themself extra safe! Red is, again, glitchy, and have a terrible memory that gets erased and corrupted as they exist, and the longer they go without uploading their memory the more likely he is to have it become corrupted and forgotten. THey are reminded to upload it, and sometimes do, but even still the memory held within its own mind will corrupt eventually. They are left with watchable memories, thoughts and experiences that they don't remember doing or having. Undeniable proof (memory upload on exterior device) vs I Dont Remeber THat. 

Due to the fact that they clinged so hard to the image of the only useable face they had, and being baseline modeled after it, she has a bit of a thing with hats, since one of the key features of trainer red has always been having that iconic red cap and all of that it’s both a comfort and also something she hates. He doesn’t want to be trainer red or code or something that isn’t alive, but it’s also something that makes him feel less afraid and lost and stressed out because it's familiar, and she has very few things she can even classify as familiar at all. Which is why in some art she has it and in some she doesn’t. 

Xe also needs glasses given that xe willingly screwed his eyes up, but they tend to forget them a lot and having stuff on their face is just generally a foreign and weird feeling she hasn’t gotten used to, so she also may pop up with glasses or without glasses.

She has yet to really crack how to act like a normal person, has a hard time understanding social norms and the concept of lying in general. She’s blunt and sorta rude, she’s not used to moderating the volume of her voice so it tends to be either too loud or too quiet, and he’s horribly bad at lying and borderline cannot do it. They are very easily startled and scared, but she translates that fear into an immediate fight response, so they read as very easy to piss off and also very easy to hit things or hit people. 

Programs are sorta normal by now, and there’s other students who are programs, Red absolutely loathes all of them. It’s mostly just crazy strong jealousy at the people who claim to be “like him” to live so much better than him. Aside from the glitching, Red’s origin has made her have bad memory, be sort of physically numb to a lot of sensations aside from pain (can’t feel cold all that well, can’t feel light touches and stuff), and have an awful time with a lot of motor skills. And none of the other programs have to deal with any of that and it drives him crazy. Other programs also have memories from inside their world, since they are usually “character gains sentience” types, but Red has none of that, They are not a character, not even the MC, they are the glitches. Super jealous, sad, but overall mad. So he just messes with a lot of them, due to being glitchy when he touches other programs he makes THEM glitch and therefore hurt, and he tends to not get into a lot of trouble for it given that Owynn is vice president and plays devil's advocate. He tends to stick to just touching them to mess them up that way but he does have one guy he specially hates who he straight up gets into fist fights with, and it’s the guy who used to have his cartridge. Who is also a program!! how unfair!! he got to live those 5 years completely normal while Red was stuck! Xe wants to absolutely kill that guy.

Speaking of her body and the issues that come with it, They have a hard time doing a lot of stuff and are inherently clumsy due to not being used to any of this. They've had a body for about 6 months? So everything is still insanely overwhelming, scary and stressful; and such emotions of instability heighten her glitches which hurt and make her more stressed and it’s just a mad man’s cycle.

She also just has a really hard time even seeing her body at all, he has dysphoria because he’s nonbinary and her body was made to be male so they look masculine, they have a broad back and a square-ish face and a deep voice and it makes her feel gross. And he also has body dysmorphia, so he just looks fundamentally wrong and it cannot click in her head that the body in the reflection is actually hers at all, it doesn’t feel real in the slightest and it tends to make her derealization and her feelings of not being a real human worse.

They tend to have a really hard time feeling real, mostly when they’re alone because it just plops them right back into that crushing loneliness of being completely on her own for 5 years. When it’s on its own a way they ground themselves often tends to include biting, biting his fingers or a pen or chewing hard candy, likes the pressure in her teeth and likes exerting any force at all and it having a clear effect, this also means that her jaw tends to be super tense and that they grit their teeth a lot, also just bites her nails off and tends to pick off the loose skin around the nails with her teeth which just ends up in messed up fingers.

He has a fixation or proving his own realness, by experiencing as much as he can. Doing is living. Theyll try anything once except they will actually do it, unprompted, anything. Impulsive thought to eat something that by all means no one should consider eating? It's already in her mouth, sorry. Uh she learns about her cicada biology through Owynn (freak) and learns that she can process liquids a lot better than anything else. Soooo her best friend is the blender in her kitchen. They will blend up bread, insects, and meat. Think of that funny scene where Town explains his juices except 100 percent serious that is what she is drinking. It will also drink blood, in some hope that it will make it more of a living person. “how would drinking her own blood make him more of a person if he's having a hard time thinking of himself as one?” Who said it was their own blood? checkmate.

They are mostly not good at school, which makes sense given her background, but she’s freakishly good at math. This isn’t a robot thing, it’s not because she’s has a calculator built in or anything. It’s  because in those 5 years she spent completely alone there wasn’t really anything else to do other than thinking, because doing much else broke the game and therefore threatened to break them. But after a bit she just ran out of things to think about, and then she just started counting to entertain herself, counting up and down, making up operations and then solving them, and doing anything at all to keep himself (somewhat) sane. Numbers click into place and make sense, numbers tend to be constant and expected, a multiplication between two numbers no matter how big will never vary, counting is a way to keep herself entertained. Fun fact, Owynn also counts when he feels trapped, smiley. 

He outright despises the idea of trainer red, the literal character, because a part of his brain tells him that he’s not really a person, nor is he that beloved character, they are a scrapped version of it, a literal error that just happened to present itself with that well known face. And yet he clings to it, because if he doesn’t have that face and that name then he has nothing at all, and she has changed her body enough to resemble other people so it shouldn’t matter, and sometimes she wants to look like the character to feel as if he was a normal program at all. Just don’t bring up that character in front of her, lights a fire in her head.

Despite how Red may feel about their “game counterpart”, they don't harbor any resentment toward the overall Pokemon franchise. This is mostly because Loon really does like Pokemon, I mean, he was interested in the Fire Red cartridge for  a reason. Red has this mental system about how they feel about things, naturally you'd assume they hate Pokemon bc resentment for their source material, but since Loon is someone they consider above them, it “overrides” that. Her emotions toward people she would otherwise be indifferent to is easily and sharply shifted by the people she considers herself to be “on the side of”. extra thing we didnt know how to transition to: 

While Loon is unable to see strangers as real living people, Red has a tendency to see strangers as just inherently more alive than her, more deserving of being called living beings and all of that, everyone who isn’t a program is an actual breathing person, while programs are a cruel mockery and none of them are alive, including her.

AND THATS ALL THANKS FOR READINGGGG

Never ask us anything ever again we WILL send the bible every single time without fail /J

thank you so much for being even a littlee bit interested in our beloved oc Red, we really do love him alot. Uh! you can always ask either of us anything, we share one braincess we have a bluetooth connection… Uh uh iiii do suggest if u were to ask pia ask it oh his not-art-blog @3point14a <- that blog, if you would be so kind

[rottenbrainstuff]

Star Wars rant:

Oh you guys

I watch documentaries while I do stuff - I’ve been watching Disney documentaries recently. The things I’ve just seen! You guys! You guys! You are not going to rewrite history that I still remember.

I am hearing people say all kind of crazyass things about what Disney did with Star Wars and where it made mistakes. You guys this wasn’t that long ago. I have heard someone say the reason that the rise of skywalker was bad was because the last Jedi went so weird with the writing that the third movie had nowhere to go - what! I don’t buy that for five seconds. As soon as TLJ came out, fans were discussing ideas for what we thought was going to happen next and no one had trouble creating outlines and ideas that all sounded a million times better than the shit we ended up getting. Please don’t blame TRoS on anyone but JJ Abrams and Chris Terrio! I even saw the Trevorrow script and look, it’s not amazing, but even that is better than what we got. (Slightly)

I heard someone say Star Wars fans were disappointed in TFA when it was released and we were just waiting to see what the next movie was going to be like. Y’all are trying to act like you knew what was going to happen in the end and you were smart and skeptical. That is completely fucking wrong. There WERE some hardcore gatekeeper fans who were disappointed it wasn’t down to their exacting checklist of things they wanted, and some folks wanted the new trilogy to follow the EU books. (And guess what happened when they made a movie to try and please the gatekeeping fans? We got TRoS) By and large, the fans were NOT disappointed. Are you kidding me??? We were ecstatic. Everyone at the cons wanted to talk about that movie, and everyone suddenly loved Star Wars again.

And I have actually heard with my own two ears some say that ohhhhh George Lucas had an outline of ideas for the sequel trilogies, but Disney threw them in the bin and didn’t use them, if we had just followed George’s master plan, we could have had a good sequel - my god - I knew it was only a matter of time before I heard someone say this. You are either: absolute goddamned hypocrites! You are the same people who sang “George Lucas Raped my Childhood” after the prequel trilogy came out! You cried louder than anyone that George Lucas ruined Star Wars, and NOW you want to walk that back and pretend like you actually liked him this whole time? Or else: you are too young to remember the absolute franchise killer that the prequel movies were, how utterly scorned they were at the time, you never read George Lucas’ original script for a New Hope (and btw that movie was a mess - the only reason it is as good as it is is because he had a great editor), you have never read any of his other outlines for things and realized how fucking stupid they are and how lucky we are he did NOT end up making anything more. The whole problem with the prequels was that George had too much control and not enough input from other people to keep things sensible. Oh my god no. No, no, no. Can we not say that? Ever? That’s like being served a dog turd for supper and saying that instead we should have eaten the moldy month old Kraft dinner in the forgotten Tupperware. Let’s not pretend the moldy Kraft dinner isn’t also nasty.

I can’t believe I’m hearing this, people just making up junk years later. Did you all seriously forget already? It wasn’t even that long ago!

[lazysublimeengineer]

electric touch

Summary: All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life.

Set during the staged honeymoon period of Reo and Isagi in Hawaii. Expounding on some missing scenes from my finished multichaptered Reosagi fic, “Betrothed.” Of how Reo and Isagi gotten closer to each other and blurred the lines between their bogus relationship and what their heart is yearning for.

Characters: Isagi Yoichi & Mikage Reo

(A/N: This is not the one-shot sequel I was speaking about in my last author’s notes in my finished fic, “Betrothed.” This is merely a one-shot fic depicting some of the missing scenes between Reo and Isagi’s stay in Hawaii during their staged honeymoon for the media. I wanted to expound on some missing scenes to show on how they gradually fall in love with each other as their days passed by in that lovely island. This is also inspired by one of vault tracks from Speak Now TV which is Electric Touch. For those readers who have not read Betrothed yet, if you want to get the gist of this story, I highly suggest for you to read Betrothed first then start reading this afterward. But you can also read this as a standalone fic if you want. It’s your choice to do so. So, without any further ado, here is this short finish fic dedicated to my fellow Reosagi shippers in the fandom. Hope that you enjoy this as much as I did when I wrote it. Lastly, I don’t own anything from this franchise except for this fic of mine. This wonderful manga belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura. And this lovely song belongs to Taylor Swift feat. Fall Out Boy).

Just breathe, just relax, it'll be okay

Just an hour 'til your car's in the driveway

Just the first time ever hangin' out with you tonight

I've got my money on things goin' badly

Got a history of stories ending sadly

Still hoping that the fire won't burn me

Just one time, just one time

Isagi tried to calm down his stuttering heart as he waited for Reo down in the hallway.

It wasn’t the first time that they stroll along the beautiful and picturesque views in Hawaii.

But this was the first time that they’re hanging out normally. Like without any preconceived notions of just throwing off the paparazzi or the other people around them for a show.

Was this considered as a date?

Isagi immediately shook his head. No. He shouldn’t get ahead of himself.

Just because Reo had asked him casually the other day if he’s free to hang out with him at the Hanalei Bay in Kauaʻi beach to have a picnic with him to watch the sunset doesn’t mean anything to him.

He shouldn’t put any meaning behind it.

Isagi knew that he’s threading on a dangerous line if he didn’t stop his heart from having these stubborn notions of something meaningful that’s been happening to the both of them.

‘Calm the fuck down Isagi and get your head out of the gutter you idiot.’ His mind scoffed at him and he was tempted to bang his head against the wall just to make his brain shut up sometimes.

His breath hitched inside his throat and his heart leapt wildly inside his chest when his eyes finally spotted on Reo approaching his direction.

When their eyes met, Reo gave him one of those smiles that he’d usually see in the pages of society magazines but it never failed to take his breath away.

He found himself smiling back and giving out a simple wave of recognition.

Isagi ignored the way his heart would stubbornly cling into hope.

Clinging into a hopeful thought that their bogus relationship would end and turned out for real this time.

Isagi was in a clusterfuck of a mess when it came to Reo.

But he found himself being pulled into his orbit foolishly and he couldn’t rein his stubborn heart this time.

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life

And I want you now, wanna need you forever

In the heat of your electric touch, mmm

A soft moan escaped from Isagi’s lips as Reo’s mouth latched into one of his sensitive nubs and gave it kitten licks while he bounced on his lap like a spinning top, his eyes rolling back and drool slipping out at the side of his mouth in pleasure as the other’s throbbing cock reached deeply into him and hit all the right places inside of him.

“Ngh… Ah… Reo… Reo…! ‘S good…! I-I can’t…” Isagi mewled helplessly as his hands gripped his shoulder tightly for leverage and support as Reo reciprocated his actions enthusiastically and grinded harder in return, making his legs trembled like a leaf and his body shivered deliciously against him.

“You can my dear husband. You’ve taken it before…” Reo whispered seductively as he held his hips in a vice like grip and controlled his motions, making him jumped on his cock faster and harder in return which made the other cry out in pleasure. His amethyst irises gleamed lasciviously and let his tongue took a hungry swipe at his torso.

The movie was still on the television and continuously played on the background but the sounds that were coming out from it were drowned out by the salacious moans and erotic noises that were coming out from their mouths with the loud creaking of the bed against their wild movements on the mattress.

What should be a simple movie night between the two of them to pass the time inside their room turned into a wild night of carnal embrace as it started out as a simple brushed of their hands together at getting popcorn inside the bowl or how their legs scraped innocently with one another when they moved on the sofa because of the cramped space between the two of them.

No words were spoken between the two of them as they let their traitorous bodies communicate with one another, getting pulled into a magnetic haze and slotting their lips perfectly with each other like pieces of a missing puzzle.

Isagi knew that they he shouldn’t continue this kind of set up with Reo but with a just a simple gaze into his lustrous orchid irises alone, his resolve would crumble down and knees weak like a jelly.

Despite their animosity with one another, Reo continued to awaken something within him that left his mind and heart in a chaotic mess and completely enamored by the charming yet enigmatic man beneath him.

Reo’s touches and passionate kisses sent an electrifying sensation inside his veins and made his body trembled like a leaf against his arms. He was at the mercy of the young heir and he let him toy with his body as he pleases because he was on the receiving end of the sinful yet delicious pleasure and ecstasy which turned him into a whimpering mess of a paramour on top of him.

“Ah! Ah! Ah! If we keep going like this…. I’m gonna…!” Isagi moaned out loudly as the other hit his sweet spot and abused it repeatedly which made his eyes rolled back and drool cascaded down from the underside of his lips.

“Gonna what baby hmmm?” Reo asked in a sultry voice as his mouth busied itself on showering every inch of his skin with his fiery kisses while Isagi couldn’t stop his body from riding him like he was in a horse race even if he was already reaching his limit.

“I’m gonna come Reo…! Ngh… Wanna come please…! You’re just too big I c-can’t…!” Isagi whined needily, tears of pleasure streaming down his cheeks as a helpless mewl escaped his lips when he suddenly reached his peak and came untouched on top of him, splashing their chests with the hot streaks of his cum.

Reo licked his lips as some streaks of his cum landed on his mouth to which Isagi could only stared down on him dazedly, his cheeks flushed and weak moans slipping past his lips as Reo continued to grind down harder underneath him while he chased his own release.

However, the next few seconds came out in a blur as Reo suddenly flipped their positions on the bed and Isagi found himself being pinned down on the mattress by the other who was now situated on top him.

“Now, you’d be a docile and kind husband to me if you will let me come right? I haven’t even come yet so I hope that you’ll be kind enough to let me…” Reo whispered seductively as he licked at the shell of his ear which made the other groan out in delight and anticipation.

“F-fuck… R-reo… Please… Slow down… Ngh…” Isagi gasped lightly as Reo pulled away suddenly before slamming back into him ferociously that had Isagi screaming and keening out in pleasure and ecstasy.

“Fuck Isagi. You feel good around me! Like you’re made to take my cock! If you can look at yourself right now…!” Reo chuckled lowly only to be interrupted by a series of moans as his walls clenched around him and feeling the other’s nails raking down on his back which sent a delicious sensation across his spine.

“There! Right there please! Reo! God! Harder! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Isagi mewled like a helpless kitten beneath him as Reo continued to plow him on the mattress with avid ferocity that had the bed shaking back and forth.

“Fuck I’m gonna…!” Reo cursed out under his breath as he could feel his impending release and his body almost reaching at his limit.

“Fuck! Yes! Reo inside please! Inside! Wanna let you fill me up until I’m full! Fuck! Feels good! Don’t stop please!” Isagi babbled incoherently as his entire being operated on need and want, moaning and mewling beneath him like a bitch in heat.

With a loud moan leaving his lips, Reo reached his climax and spilled everything inside of him, painting his walls white with the hot splashes of his cum until it dripped down on his legs slowly.

A weak moan left Isagi’s lips as he felt full of being filled up to his brim instantaneously, his grip loosened on Reo’s back as he let the other fell of top of him, breathing raggedly against his neck. He could feel the loud beating of their hearts inside their chests.

For a moment, nothing can be heard except for their heavy breathing until a light gasp slipped past Isagi’s lips as he felt Reo nipping on the crook of his neck which was still sensitive from their activities.

“Reo… W-what are you d-doing…?” It came out as a groan when he felt Reo’s hand started to roam on his body once again.

“Hmm? What does it look like my dear husband? If you don’t me to continue then tell me to stop.” Reo replied huskily as his face was a few inches away from his until he leaned down and captured his lips in an invigorating kiss that set their nerves and bodies on fire once again.

Isagi wanted to tell him to stop this madness but his heart and body was always weak for him and unable to see reason.

He’d let him make love to him that night several times and let him claim his heart, body, and soul repeatedly in throes of passion and lust.

Reo was his sweetest downfall in a lifetime.

I've been left in the rain lost and pining

I'm tryin' hard not to look like I'm trying

'Cause every time I tried hard for love, it fell apart (whoa)

I've gotten used to no one callin' my phone

I've grown accustomed to sleepin' alone

Still, I know that all it takes is to get it right

Just one time, just one time

His mauve irises looked over at the horizon beyond him as he sat quietly in a chair at their balcony.

Even in a moment like this, his body was used in waking up early in the morning due to his hectic lifestyle at work as the new CEO of their corporation.

Reo stared at the rising sun as it brought out a soft tinge of reddish hues across the sky and painted the ocean with a golden halo for a moment.

In a rare moment like this, he got to relax and stared peacefully at the beautiful scenery in front of him without dashing out of the door as if he was chasing his time to get into his office.

And…

…

His eyes drifted over at the bed which was covered slightly by the curtains but he could see the silhouette of his husband who was still in deep slumber with blanket covering only the lower part of his body and revealed his naked chest which was littered with faint love bites and marks that he made when they made love last night more than once that he lost count of how many times it was as they were going at it until the ungodly hours of the night.

He instantaneously looked away as his eyes settled on the sky above him. Reo didn’t want his gaze to linger for far too long because he knew that his traitorous body would react on its own and succumbed again to the swirling haze of want and desire for the other every time he saw his ravishing looks or when their gazes meet and how he could easily drown into the depths of his ocean blue eyes.

But could he say that they had made love last night when it was clear as a day that there were no feelings involved between the two of them and it was just a moment of weakness to indulge in their own pleasures amid the pressure of keeping up their façade of this marriage which was born out of necessity and convenience?

It had been so long since Reo had felt like this.

He wanted to take control of his emotions because he knew that it was only way he can squashed away these confusing feelings that were swirling and causing havoc inside of him.

He’s trying his very best not to fall without having a parachute because he knew that if he did and if no one was there to catch him, his heart will shatter into tiny, little pieces for the second time again.

Reo grew accustomed to being alone and with no one to greet into when he got home after a long, grueling day at work. Or no one talk into just because he wanted to…

…

And he didn’t want to be back to that world where he had fallen apart because he was so done with that.

He knew that it was difficult but he needed to reign his foolish heart in the cold reality of their situation and let his commonsense win because if he let his emotions prevailed him…

…Reo knew that he can’t let Isagi go or slipped away from his grasp ever again.

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life

And I want you now, wanna need you forever

In the heat of your electric touch

Scrolling down on the screen of his phone, Isagi read his newsfeed mindlessly as he was lying on the couch in silence.

He was inside their hotel room all alone upon waking up since Reo was not in there except for a simple text message on his phone that he had to hit the hotel’s gym on the 15th floor to do his usual routine of morning exercise.

Apparently, Reo didn’t wake him up as when he woke up from a deep slumber, it was already 10 in the morning.

Even though he was sore all over, he’d notice that he was freshly dressed in plain white clothes and the sheets were crisp and clean.

A small blush formed on his cheeks at the thought of Reo cleaning him after having several rounds of sex last night to which he received the brunt of it.

Isagi immediately shook his head as if he wanted to banish the thought away.

Suddenly he saw something on the screen of his phone that caught his attention.

“Meiji Takenoko No Sato Chocolate?” Isagi read out loud before an idea popped into his head which made him rose from the couch with a slight wince on his expression because his hips were still hurting like hell from last night. Damn. Reo didn’t hold back from fucking him voraciously last night.

He checked the calendar on his phone and there was a note on that day.

It’s Reo’s birthday today.

It shouldn’t bother him but the thought of not being able to give something to Reo on his special day made his heart twinge slightly at the thought.

“Well, it’s not like it matters because he’s rich and he can have all the good things he wants with just a swipe of his card.” He scoffed lightly to himself before he sighed and went back to the site of the convenience store again nearby.

He just stared at the object in front of him in silence before he decided to click on adding it to cart and proceeding to check it out.

Hopefully, he’d made the right decision and won’t embarrass himself in the measly present that he was about to give him later this day.

I was thinking just one time (just one time)

Maybe the stars align (just one time)

And maybe I call you mine

And you won't need space

Or string me along while you decide

And just one time (just one time)

Maybe the moment's right (the moment's right)

It's 8:05 and I see two headlights

The faint rustling sound of the footsteps coming from the doorway caught Isagi’s attention and snapped his head towards his direction to find out that Reo went inside, his hair was freshly damp from the gym showers that he hit on after his morning exercise.

“Oh, good morning Isagi. You’re finally awake. Have you eaten? We can ring the hotel staff to bring us some lunch here.” Reo greeted him as he made his way towards his direction.

“We can do that. I’ve only had some coffee earlier anyway.” Isagi replied before he paused, a look of hesitation crossing his features.

Reo took noticed of this and looked at him expectantly.

“Well got something to say Isagi-kun?” He couldn’t help but to ask teasingly, seeing his hesitance and confoundment cute and amusing.

“Stop that…” Isagi grumbled under his breath, looking away as he brought out something from the under the table and handed something to him.

“Hmm?” Reo blinked a few times before he took the offered object on his hands and stared at it in silence.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s just that it’s your birthday today and I don’t know what else to give you. But I did remember that you love bamboo shoot village chocolates so I decided to just give it to you as a birthday gift… So yeah, happy birthday I guess...” Isagi muttered.

“How did you know that it was my favorite?” Reo asked, staring back and forth from Isagi to the box of Meiji’s bamboo shoot village chocolates on his hands in wonder.

“That’s because you’re my husband.” Isagi looked at him as if he asked him a nonsense question. “Even if we just got married out of necessity and will divorce soon, it’s only prudent to still getting to know the person you’re marrying into.” He added.

Reo grew silent for a moment, there was look on his face that Isagi couldn’t decipher. It was one of those rare times that he had a hard time guessing what’s on his mind from his expressions alone as Reo can be a closed off person even though he was always an exuberant, outspoken, and charming person most of the time.

Unable to withstand the growing silence between the two of them, Isagi finally stood up and was about to leave him in peace.

“Oh well, would you want me to ring the hotel staff from the phone to or—.”

His words died in his throat as Reo suddenly caught his wrist and spun him around, pulling him against his chest and capturing his lips in a captivating kiss which made his pulse skyrocketed and heart leapt wildly inside his chest.

“R-reo…” He murmured against his lips and gasped lightly as Reo’s arms encircled around his waist firmly as if he never wanted to let him go.

Reo was about to deepen their shared kiss before Isagi pulled away abruptly to catch his breath and glared at him weakly, his face flushed and eyes glittering with unshed befuddlement and anticipation at the same time.

“Hmm? You did say that it was my birthday, right? But you didn’t ask me yet on what I really want for my birthday.” Reo whispered seductively, his hot breaths fanning against his skin which sent a shiver across his spine.

“W-well what do you r-really want for your birthday t-today?” Isagi inwardly cursed at himself for stammering like a lovesick idiot in front of him.

“I want to have a taste of my dear husband for today. Would you allow that? I’m curious about that sweetness you portrayed earlier.” Reo replied huskily as his mouth descended on the pale column of his throat and let his tongue lick at the sensitive skin which made Isagi moaned out softly under his breath.

“Ah fuck… Reo… if you keep doing that… I can’t refuse you…” Isagi groaned out.

“Why? Do you want to refuse and tell me to stop? You can’t be that cruel to your own husband on the day of his birthday, right?” Reo mumbled hotly against his skin.

The addicting sensation crawled into his veins and Isagi found himself leaning closer and removing any gap between the two of them as his body reacted instinctively and encouraged Reo’s mouth to shower his neck with heated kisses and love bites, his hands entwining themselves around his neck.

“Fuck you Reo… You need to give me a massage later for this…” Isagi breathed out before a surprise moan erupted from his lips when Reo suddenly carried him from the ground going to the bathroom.

“With much pleasure.” Reo laughed huskily as he brought him inside the bathroom and place him in the tub gently. He didn’t waste his time as he discarded his own clothes and joined him on the tub, turning on the faucet to let some water in.

A scintillating sensation shot right through him when Reo claimed his lips once again in an invigorating kiss, tugging on his shirt idly while he slowly undoes his pajamas from his legs.

Isagi’s mind was in a limbo and he found himself naked later with Reo on top of him in a tub full of water and showering his body with enthusiastic kisses and eager caresses of his hands in every fiber of his being which left a trail of fire underneath his skin.

“Ngh… Ah… Reo…” Isagi moaned out softly as he felt his fingers making its way to his entrance which was still sensitive because of the numerous times they had sex last night.

“Hmm? Still soft and easily slipped in… You must be excited to be filled once again my dear husband.” Reo chuckled lowly under his breath.

“S-shut up you asshole…” It came out as a breathy moan which made Isagi burned out in mortification and Reo grinning wickedly at him.

“You’re saying something?” Reo asked silkily before he pulled his fingers out and situated himself on top of him, taking ahold of his legs and wrapping it securely around his waist and gave a one, swift thrust which stole Isagi’s breath and made them both groaned out in unison.

“Fuck! God! ‘S too big… Ngh… That feels good…!” Isagi mewled helplessly beneath him as Reo started to thrust harder and faster in return.

“You’re still fucking tight… No matter how many times we did it Isagi… You’re still tight… Fucking hell… God! You feel good around me!” Reo groaned out loudly as he couldn’t stop his body as if it was having a mind on its own and was operating on instinct and lust, pistoning Isagi’s insides with his voracious thrusts that made the water splashed in and out of the tub because of their wild movements.

“Reo fuck… Too much… Ah! Ah! Ah!” Tears of pleasure streamed down Isagi’s cheeks before Reo leaned down and licked the salty tears away from his face and finally reached his mouth and captured it in a wild kiss.

Isagi returned his kiss enthusiastically, panting and moaning against his mouth before he reached his peak and came untouched beneath him.

Reo continued to chase his own release and railed him recklessly on the tub before he moaned loudly into his mouth and reached his climax, painting his insides with his cum and cascaded like a waterfall between his legs.

“Fuck… I swear to God Reo if you want one more round, I’ll kick your ass.” Isagi moaned out weakly as he pulled away from his embrace and breathed heavily.

“I can assure you that there won’t be unless…” Reo trailed off suggestively before Isagi punched his chest weakly.

“Fuck off.” Isagi grumbled out without any heat to his words.

It made Reo laughed heartily and raised his arms placatingly. “I’m just kidding of course.”

Isagi just rolled his eyes playfully in return.

For a moment, no words were spoken between the two of them until Reo wrapped his arms around his waist and rested his head on the crook of his neck.

“Thank you for the Meiji Isagi. But most of all thank you for taking an effort for bringing something simple yet meaningful on my birthday. It’s been a while since I’ve got one of my favorite confectionaries handed out to me simply without going out of my way to just buy it…” He whispered softly against his ear.

It made his heart do an erratic flip flop inside his chest and a faint rosy hue coating his cheeks.

If Reo was always like this, how was he going to able to separate his logic and emotions when it came to him?

“You’re very much welcome my dear husband…” Isagi whispered back softly and carded his fingers through his damp locks.

They let themselves be ensconced in this moment where the reality stopped existing for them temporarily and let the world fell around them.

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

Got a feelin' your electric touch (oh)

All I know is this could either break my heart or bring it back to life

Got a feelin' your electric touch could fill this ghost town up with life

And I want you now, wanna need you forever

In the heat of your electric touch, mmm

(A/N: When I first heard the song Electric Touch, it automatically made think of this ship especially in the Fall Out Boy’s part of the song since the lyrics really resonates with Reo’s thoughts and feelings towards Isagi at this fic. I should probably make a playlist for them in the future seeing that they have several theme songs already starting from my fic, “Betrothed.” Stay tuned for the one-shot sequel of Betrothed and short spin off sequel for Nagi which will come out soon. Lastly, I know that Reo’s birthday is a few days away but I’ve seen a cute official art of the boys celebrating Bachira and Reo’s birthday online so it also contributed to the inspiration of this fic aside from the song itself. Review and kudos are much appreciated).

[karama9]

Responding to Anonymous Reviews

A bit of context: I’m currently writing a Legend of Zelda fanfic where Link is a non Hylian black guy and Zelda is a transgender woman. I knew going in some people wouldn’t like either, but it’s gotten to the point I feel like Link in Tears of the Kingdom, where nobody recognizes him except the bunch that absolutely hates him.

I just posted chapter 4 and I have no comment on AO3, and 4 reviews on fanfiction dot net. Of the four: one (1) is nice, two (2) are hate and one is sort of neutral in a ‘don’t like it so far’ kind of way.

The two hate ones are anonymous, so I thought I’d answer here to get the answers out of my system.

First one: Guest chapter 1 . Nov 12

This is disgusting...

Response:

You posted this in response to the prologue, where all that happens is the characters being introduced and a bit of world building. If you find that disgusting, you're projecting.

Second one : X from Aumsville chapter 1 . 2h ago

And as long as Link refuses to accept he's a male instead of forcing himself to be something he isn't the master sword will forever be cursed knowing Link is messed up in his heart. He is no longer worthy of even breathing in the same space as that sword which knows better.

Response:

(sigh) The fact you didn’t read the story is not surprising, you’re obviously a transphobe. What really elevates this to another level is how you managed to read a very short summary that explicitly states that Link is a person of color and Zelda is transgender, and come out of it thinking this is a story where LINK is transgender. Congrats, not only are you hateful, not only do you devote time to expressing that hate to random strangers, you also can’t read.

More context, and a request:

This story came about because of two things.

One, I found out at some point that white supremacists were trying to use the Triforce as one of their symbols. It got me thinking, and I realized, like many other people, that Nintendo was not doing a great job of representing other races than white coded Hylians in Hyrule. I say this with a lot of love for the franchise, but although things have improved with the two most recent games, both the lack of color and how the other races are treated are notable flaws in the franchise. I wanted to make a story that addressed that with a Hero who was NOT a white Hylian. I made him non Hylian so it would be a significant thing for the in-story characters, I made him black so it would be a significant thing for the readers.

Two, JK Fucking Rowling. I have a loved one who is transgender, which maybe is making me more likely to notice things, but I think unless you’re really not paying attention, it’s pretty obvious that transphobia is on the rise. Several years back, the trend was improving. Things were getting better, people were becoming more accepting, at least in our neck of the woods. Now? Now that a ridiculously famous and rich author has been devoting time, money and energy to making people hate transgender people more and reject their identity? Everyone else who feels the same way feels more empowered to speak out and act out, the feeling is becoming normalized (more so) and things are getting worse again.

I was inspired by a trans female character in Supergirl, who inherits powers that ONLY go to female members of her family, because I loved the idea of the magic, the universe, unequivocally saying that YES, she is a woman. I wanted to do the same for Zelda, so I made her transgender, and she’s a Princess of Destiny.

So, basically, this story came about because I wanted a fix-it fic for Hyrule since I can't fix reality. I’m putting a lot of time and effort in it in the hope that it will eventually catch on and actually circulate enough for people who would get some joy from it to find it.

So far it’s not working.

SO, I have to ask a favor of my followers and mutuals. Please help me spread the word a bit about this story. Getting pretty much only negative feedback is disheartening when you’re trying to do a good thing. Don’t get me wrong. I am personally enjoying writing the story. I like the characters I created, I’m happy with the plot, etc. But unlike some other stories, the idea was never to write this one just for me.

Please reblog this, or when I post a chapter, and help the story get some visibility.

Links to the story:

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/51450898/chapters/130021738

fanfiction dot net: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14296946/1/All-That-Hurts-Us

[its-the-zcu]

Long post ahead

The MCU constantly showing time and time again that they do not give a flying fuck about Sharon is the main reason I’m starting this blog. The way they treat her also made 2019-me realize that they don’t give a fuck about the source material like I thought they did when I was younger.

The whitewashing/lightwashing, important storylines meant for one character in the comics being given to someone that barely had anything to do with it in the MCU, having a character act nothing like how they are in the comics to the point where they might as well be an OC, etc. Basically, diving deeper into the comics made me realize how much cooler the MCU could’ve been if Marvel Studios actually respected the source material.

Before I became a comics stan in 2019, I used to be like “Oh, Sharon? I know of her. She’s cool. The movies didn’t develop her or her relationship with Steve well, but they are cute together. I hope they’ll bring her back eventually. It sucks that the fandom hates on her and her actress so much.”

After I became a comics stan and learned more about her, how great her relationship with Steve is, the friendships they could’ve given her in the MCU, how the mfs over at Marvel Studios kept writing her out of shit and/or giving things meant for her to Natasha, Peggy, and Maria, I became a Sharon Carter warrior! She was literally supposed to be the female lead of TWS, in the airport fight in CW, and still dating Steve in IW! Imagine how much less MCU stans would hate on her and SteveSharon if that happened!

She disappeared from the franchise for 5 whole years till they decided to bring her back in FATWS! The writers promised us some great things for her and promoted the show as SamBuckySharon being a trio and taking down some bad guys.

Us Sharon stans were so happy and finally seeing her again in the show made us even happier! But that was before the last episode came along and ruined everything… By making her a damn villain… Like, after she finally came back in ep.3, she started to feel more like a glorified cameo and her saying she was the Power Broker really twisted the knife…

Sharon Carter is the leading lady of the Cap comics, the love of Steve’s life, besties with Sam and Bucky (they’d die for her and vice-versa), one of SHIELD’s top agents, and a god damn HERO in the comics, but you’re telling me that all y’all could do in the MCU was sideline her, write her out of the franchise for 5 years, bring her back for a new show, sideline her AGAIN when she was marketed as a LEAD, and then randomly make her a villain at the last minute of it?!

Secret Invasion was the PERFECT opportunity to fix this mess! All they had to do was say that FATWS-Sharon was a Skrull and it would explain her crazy character switch and give MCU-Sharon a soft reboot like they did for Peter in NWH. But nah, instead they made Ross and Rhodey the Skrulls… Two characters that literally didn’t need to be. Especially cuz if Rhodey and Ross got taken right before Endgame, FATWS, or Wakanda Forever, that means the emotional scenes they’ve had with other characters hold absolutely no weight now! And Sharon was RIGHT THERE!

I get they didn’t reveal EVERYONE that was a Skrull in the last episode of SI, so there’s always a chance she could be one in future projects, but this show was THE moment to do it! The build up was there, it would’ve made perfect sense, and Sharon’s character could finally have a do-over! But of course that didn’t happen…

I’ve spent 4 years hoping the MCU would do right by her and I can’t imagine how the people who have been her fans since before she first joined the MCU must feel. We’ve had to deal with so much shit from Sharon/Emily haters over the years and I’m honestly just over it.

Of course fancasting Sharon in my personal Marvel universe wouldn’t erase what happened, but it would feel like it’s a fresh start with one of my favorite characters of all time 😌

If the MCU reveals Sharon as a Skrull or that she’s undercover for SHIELD/SWORD some time after SI, Emily will be Sharon in my universe again, but for now Tracy Spiridakos is my Sharon Carter!

[quietwingsinthesky]

Pssst! I sent an ask about this a while back, and I'm not sure if you haven't gotten to it, or the ask got eaten. If you haven't gotten to it, I'm sorry for the repeat ask and I understand, take your time :) But in case it got eaten, I'm curious: what are your fave parts of the star wars franchise? Like, which movie, characters, ships, etc?

alsofjfkfk im not gonna lie, anon, i saw it and went ‘oh cool i’ll answer that in a minute’ and the second i closed my inbox, my lack of object permanence kicked in and i forgot it existed. and then i repeated that process. many, many times.

but i will not allow it to happen again. we’re answering this now, damnit.

okay, see, the thing about me is i am an extremely basic star wars bitch. i have seen all of the movies. i have not read any books or comics. my friend in high school made me watch 1 episode of the mandalorian, and i went ‘haha cool! baby yoda!’ and then never watched more of it. (the fact that i don’t have disney+ contributed to this, but really, if i had tried, i’m sure i could have made do. i did not try.) i tried very very hard at one point to get into the clone wars show, and i remember only that there was some sort of small jabba the hutt and yoda telling some clones that their lives were meaningful in the force or something, so i have no idea how far i made it but probably not very. i have played exactly one game, jedi: fallen order, which my playstation tells me i 100%, but for the life of me, i can’t remember a single thing about it other than ‘robot buddy cute’ and ‘fun 👍’, which either is my incredibly small brain showing off its inability to store information or really doesn’t bode well for the quality of whatever story was in there lmao.

BUT. i love the movies. i’m a stupid sucker for the joy and hope of the original trilogy. i think the prequels are so fun and people are mean to them for no reason, like yes, they’re a mess, but you know how sometimes you look at a product and go ‘oh this is so corporate and soulless that nothing about it is worth seeing with my eyeballs?’ the prequels are not that. people cared about making these movies, and i can always be charmed when i can tell that there was love there, even if it didn’t work as perfectly as it wanted to.

which is probably why i’m so fond of the force awakens despite it all, because watching it feels like everyone there cared so so much about the new potential star wars. i remember watching behind-the-scenes when it first came out and seeing them talk about how they mixed practical and cgi effects for a bunch of the aliens, and i fell in love with finn because his character was basically catnip for me. my traumatized cat who was abducted and brainwashed and raised a soldier and still his heart was too big to be destroyed by the first order. poe was fun for the little screentime he had, and rey was aloof and fierce and hurt underneath it all, and kylo ren had so much fucking potential as the villain and foil for rey & finn that it actually causes me physical pain knowing what happened next. and han was there! until he died! i was heartbroken about it! it was a well-executed death! leia was there, and i could never shake the tragedy that this war she’d fought so hard to win in her youth had never really ended, that now she had to fight it alone again when luke left and han ran away. luke was not there, but this was pre-the last jedi, so i could actually be excited about what he might do when he showed up! the force awakens is a good movie.

the last jedi is a very pretty movie. the rise of skywalker feels like what everyone thinks the prequels are like. i do not watch those movies. i just mentally replace them with the utterly fantastic fic have you heard by peradi and pretend that we did get a stormtrooper rebellion <3 (if you haven’t read it, you should.)

what else, what else. i am incredibly boring when it comes to favorite characters in each trilogy, it’s just The Main Guy. i already talked about finn, but. anakin and luke. my little dudes. anakin has everything ever wrong with him, and i do not blame him for going of the rails. i mean, he did kill a lot of children and help install space facism but have we considered that the jedi were mean to him. and also that palpatine’s been grooming him since he was nine. and also that there is actual literal slavery happening in star wars and the response of everyone around him was to go ‘oh well anakin, guess u gotta let go of the fact that your mother will never be free. and if you can’t, that’s your fault.’ sorry. nope. feeling emotional about how one of the first things baby anakin asks qui-gon when they meet is if qui-gon is here to free them all, because that’s what jedi are supposed to do, they’re supposed to be heroes, and qui-gon tells him they aren’t. and then he does free anakin, and he’s got a fucking lazer sword and magic powers so who the hell would have been able to stop him from at least bringing shmi too, but instead he just takes anakin away. insane choices. george lucas im at your doorstep explain yourself.

and anyone who says they don’t love luke skywalker is a liar. u don’t like luke? luke who wants to see so much more of the universe than his little farm? luke who wants to believe in the force so strongly, his only connection to his father and soon, to obi-wan? luke who blows up the death star because he feels the force so strongly? luke who is such a shining star of hope and goodness and loyalty that han freaking solo turned around and came back to save his ass? and all that just in one movie. luke is so powerfully good, you know? and it had to be that way, the movies just wouldn’t work without him at the core of it. i love him so so much.

ships. well obviously im a c3po/r2d2 stan. as we all know, tragic love story for the ages. im a believer that r2d2 is unmemorywipeable, that trash can is too stubborn to let anything he stores be deleted, so really, we’re looking at the world’s shortest and rudest rebel spy and his overly polite amnesiac husband. im joking but im not.

taking it more seriously, i’m very easily convinced to see main character trios as poly ships. number 1 proponent of padme/anakin/obi-wan over here, a fate sealed by many good fics that i’ve read confirming this. if i may suggest one of my favorites, Queen’s Gambit by bedlamsbard, truly a fantastic star wars au work and it has an incredible podfic by reena_jenkins that inspired me to begin podficcing in the first place. following that, i also love han/leia/luke, in whatever configuration that comes, if it’s just han getting two skywalkers on his arms or if it’s luke and leia also following up on their kiss in empire strikes back. (‘i knew all along’ my ass, girl, either you didn’t or you did and you went straight for the lips alsjfjlssjkf.) From Orbit by gh0strobin is a favorite of mine for them, as well as a bed of daysided gold by lotesse.

and finally, most obviously, i was onboard with finn/poe/rey from day one of the force awakens. the reylos never got me. i was too busy thinking about the main trio kissing. (and i was a ‘rey & ben solo are cousins at least or somethjng’ truther back during force awakens, which for once, meant i had zero interest in shipping them and far more interest in using their possible backstories to explore this fascinating dynamic they had vis a vis the legacy and/or lack of one they inherited, what they were owed as children of legends. and well. i mean, i was kind of right by the end but by god i wish i wasn’t!!!) (and terrible news, i’m realizing that the majority of my post-force awakens reading on ao3 happened before i was bookmarking fics, so i don’t even have recs!!! >:( i need to rectify this immediately. but know that there are many fantastic fics for that trio and you should go looking for them.)

okay, one last round of fic reccing and i’ll leave it be, but there’s some great ones I’d be remiss not to mention. Double Agent Vader is a brilliant Vader character exploration series and it will hurt you and make u love him so so much. The Fires is a Mustafar groundhog day loop that Hurts (and fun fact, was the second fic i ever podficced for myself :( but the files are long gone. still have my first ever podfic though.) And The Force Breathes Once Again is a short and interesting fic about the force being Weird And Fucked Up. And Intertwine is a Padme Lives AU that’s just lovely. so many brilliant fics in this fandom, i swear.

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE,BLOOD Vol.01 Sakamaki Ayato [TRACK 9+10]

Original title: 痛みの中で & 極限の吸愛 (デスエクスタシー)

Source: Diabolik Lovers More, Blood Vol. 1: Sakamaki Ayato [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Midorikawa Hikaru

Translator’s note:

Track 1+2 ll Track 3+4 ll Track 5+6 ll Track 7+8 ll Track 9+10

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

TRACK 9: AMIDST THE PAIN

*Rustle*

“Come on...Open your eyes. Keep them only on me, ‘kay?”

Ayato continues to kiss you passionately.

“Mmh...Nn…”

*Smooch*

“I won’t make it hurt...It’ll only feel good…”

You frown.

[00:31] “Aah…? You’re scared regardless? Hahaha. It’ll be over before you know it once the pleasure kicks in.”

You continue to protest. 

“What if you won’t be able to walk anymore, you ask? Good question...Then, I’ll just carry you ‘round instead, Chichinashi. Mmh...Nn…”

*Smooch*

*Rustle rustle*

[01:06] “...Ah. Hah...Fuck...This is startin’ to get seriously dangerous...I’m havin’ a hard time findin’ the strength to twist off your leg as well...Damn...Whatever...I’ll just suck from whichever spot I can reach…Haah...Right. Hahaha...This place might not be half bad…”

*Rustle rustle*

“I haven’t bitten you here yet, have I? ーー Your heart. I’ll give you my fangs here.”

*Cling cling*

*Sluuuuurp*

“I’m sure it’ll be scrumptious…”

You seem skeptical. 

[01:57] “Aah? You wanna know if I can even plunge my fangs inside your heart? Fool! I’m gonna thrust them in really deep. Fortunately, I should just barely be able to reach it even with these chains holdin’ me back. If it turns out to be impossible, there’s still the option of twistin’ off your leg regardless. However, I don’t think that’d be enough to calm my anger, so I’ll chop off your hands as well.”

Your eyes widen in fear.

“Hahaha…”

You beg for his mercy.

[02:35] “What? Don’t start cryin’ already when I haven’t even done anythin’ yet. It’s hella annoyin’...I’m sure it’ll feel amazin’ when I suck from your heart. I’m sure you’re happy as  well. Not only do you get to experience pleasure, but you’re given a chance to offer something precious to the man you love. You might just rank up from bein’ just prey.”

*Rustle rustle*

[03:06] “Hahaha...You’re shiverin’? Don’t worry. You won’t die even if I suck blood from your heart. Well, it’s fine if you’re scared. Just scoot a lil’ closer. I’ll hold you in my arms. Not that you’re particularly soft or cozy to the touch.”

*Rustle rustle*

“...Here I come. Just entrust everythin’ to me. Relax, and accept my fangs.”

*Rustle*

[03:44] “Exactly...Just like that...I’m goin’ straight for the heart.”

Ayato latches down.

“Hahn...Nn...Hah…Keep still!”

*Cling*

“Succumb to me...and don’t resist!”

*Sluuuurp*

“Mmh...Nn…”

*Gulp*

[04:18] “Hah...Haah, haah...This is bad...What’s with this taste? ...Fuck! Hahn…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Haah, hahn...Mmh…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Hahn...Nn...Nnh…”

*Gulp*

[04:46] “Mmh…Haah, haah...Dammit...At this rate...I might just tear apart your heart with my fangs...But still...I can’t stop…”

*Rustle*

“Hahn−!”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah…! Chichinashi...You don’t mind, do you?”

You tell him it feels good.

“Hahaha...Exactly. It’s amazin’ for me too…I also feel as if I’m ‘bout to melt...Hahn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

[05:34] “...Haah? Harder? Hahaha! You damn nympho! Don’t come cryin’ to me afterwards if you lose your mind for real. Hahn…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Hahn...Mmh…”

*Rustle rustle*

“Hahー! Mmh...Nn…”

*Gulp*

[06:08] “...Shit...My stomach’s on fire...I don’t know how to describe this sensation as it coats my tongue...Haah…”

*Rustle*

“The one thing I can say is that your blood really is the best...and somethin’ very special to me. Haah, haah...Exactly...Give me more...More!!”

He continues drinking your blood.

“Hahn…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Mmh...Nn...Hah...Hahn…”

*Gulp*

“Hah…!”

*Rustle*

[07:04] “Oi! Don’t go faintin’ on me now! We have to get rid of these chains to escape this place. It might hurt, but you can push through it, right? ...I’ll give you another intense one. I’ll thrust my fangs all the way in at once, so you won’t be able to feel anythin’ but pure bliss. Okay?”

You nod.

[07:35] “Here it comes...I’ll pierce you even deeper…”

*Rustle*

“Ughーー!!”

Ayato bites you aggressively.

*Gulp gulp*

[07:55] “Hahn...Nn...Don’t thrash ‘bout…! It makes it difficult to suck! Hahn…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Hahn...Nn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

“Nnh…”

*Gulp*

[08:12] “Hah...Don’t worry...We’re almost there...Just focus on feelin’ my fangs…! Hahn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

“Hah...Mmh...Haah…”

*Gulp*

“Nn...Nnh...Hahー! Hahn...Haah…”

*CLING*

TRACK 10: THE ULTIMATE BLOODY LOVE (1) ( DEATH ECSTASY)

“Haah, haah...Ugh…”

*Cling cling*

“With this...We’ve finally been freed from these vexin’ chains, huh? Hahaha…”

*Smack smack*

“Oi, Chichinashi. You still alive?”

You whimper.

[00:20] “Hahaha...Guess you no longer feel the pain. Seems like the pleasure was just too intense, you can’t even respond. Oi, Chichinashi. Look this way.”

*Rustle*

“Your face’s a mess.”

You ask him about the chains. 

“Haah…? The chains? They came off. It didn’t hurt, did it? Even though realistically speakin’, the pain should have been almost unbearable. Hahaha…”

*Cling*

[00:54] “Ah, speakin’ of which...Reiji did mention once that people lose their ability to experience pain when pushed to their utmost limit. However, I guess the same can’t be said ‘bout pleasure, huh? Humans are seriously fascinatin’...Actually, this might not be a human thing...Chichinashi, you’re the only one who is like this. You’re such a funny chick…

[01:26] Anyway...You’re covered in blood, huh? Well, guess that’s to be expected. You’ve lost all strength in your body as well. Still, while I don’t feel as worked up as before, I’m still thirsty. The fun has only just begun...Thanks to those guys, we’ve got plenty of time on our hands as well.”

*Cling cling*

[01:56] “Hehehe...Guess I should be grateful to them for that at least. ...Say, Chichinashi. We’re in no rush, are we? For starters...It’d be a shame to let this blood gushin’ out go to waste, so I’ll drink it all up.”

*Rustle*

“The heavy scent of your blood…is nearly makin’ me choke… I can’t get enough of it…Haah...It’s makin’ my head spin…”

*Rustle rustle*

[02:31] “Haah...I can’t...The smell is too strong...It seems like it’s meltin’ my brain...Haah...I can’t...think...straight anymore…”

*SPLATTER*

“Fuck...My body’s goin’ numb...Chichinashi...Show me your leg...Haah, haah…”

*Rustle*

[03:10] “Hahaha...Ahahaha! I’m sure this must be quite the horrifying sight from an outsider’s perspective. A blood-covered human female and a Vampire, entertwined in each other’s embrace while bathing in a pool of even more blood...Mmh…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Mm...Nn…”

*Sluuuurp*

[03:46] “Hah...It’s fulfillin’...How do you feel, Chichinashi? I bet you’re happy? I’m covered in your blood from head to toe.”

You fail to reply, merely whimpering in response. 

“I guess you’re too happy, you’re at a loss for words? Hahaha...Guess I can’t blame you. I’m sure you’re strugglin’ to even breathe after losin’ so much blood. ...Ah, from the wound...What a waste.”

*Sluuuurp*

[04:29] “I can’t let it go to waste...Mmh…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Nn...Nnh…”

*Rustle*

“Just lappin’ it up with my tongue doesn’t do the trick. I’m sure you feel the same? You want to feel my fangs even more, don’t you?”

*Rustle rustle*

[05:00] “Oi, Chichinashi. Gimme some sort of reaction. ...Did you faint? Come on!”

*Smack smack*

“Fuck…! Guess it can’t be helped. I guess this might wake her up…?”

Ayato bites you.

“Hahn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

[05:26] “Haah...No use, huh? Did she lose too much blood after all? Hahaha...But I still haven’t had enough. I’m beyond parched...Mm…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Mmh...Nn…”

*Rustle*

“Hahn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

[05:59] “Hahー! ...Even if I were to suck you dry, I’d become thirsty again soon after. Hahn...Mmh…”

*Gulp*

*Sluuuurp*

“Mmh...Nn…”

*Rustle*

[06:22] “Hah...You finally gave some sort of reaction, huh?”

You mutter something.

“...Aah? What didya say? Speak a lil’ louder!”

*Rustle*

“Fuck...What a pain…”

He leans in close.

“What’s wrong? What did you say?”

You repeat yourself.

[06:49] “Haah…? You want me to kiss you? ...Haah, fine. Didn’t I tell you earlier? I’ll kiss you as many times as you want. Although as you can see, you’ll end up covered in blood as well as a result.”

*Cling cling*

[07:11] “Haah, haah...Well...I guess you don’t give a damn ‘bout that right now. Now that we’ve walked right into their trap, we can’t turn back time, no matter how much we struggle. In that case, we might as well…”

*Rustle*

“Go as far as we can, pushin’ ourselves to the very limit.”

He kisses you.

[07:47] “Hah...Nn...Chichinashi...Stick out your tongue...Yearn for me...Just like I do for you. Mmh...Mm…”

*Smooch*

“Now that we’ve come this far...You can no longer escape me, Chichinashi...Mm…”

*Smooch*

“You can’t even get out of here without me. ...Right. Should I just tear off your arms as well? Hahaha...Mmh…”

*Smooch*

[08:48] “...Seems like you’re quite into this as well, huh? Yeah...Just like that...Crave me...More and more…! Let’s show those guys exactly what kind of relationship we have...You are my prey. Forever. A special one too at that. Right? ...Come on, lemme suck more. That’s the only way we can enjoy ourselves down here. Besides, I’m still thirsty...Hahn…”

*Sluuuurp*

“Mm...Nnh…”

*Rustle*

[09:41] “So sweet...Haah...More…! I need more…! Hahn...Mmh…”

*Sluuuurp*

*Gulp*

“Hah...Nn…”

*Rustle*

[10:00] “I won’t let anyone else have you. Understood? Exactly. Even if you were to die right now, you’d still belong to me. Mmh...Nn…”

*Gulp*

“Nnh...Nn…”

ーー THE END ーー

Translation notes

(1) 吸愛 which is pronounced ‘Kyuu-ai’ is a word often used within the DL franchise, which actually doesn’t exist in the Japanese language. It’s a combination of the characters for ‘to suck (blood)’ and ‘love’. It’s meant to refer to sucking one’s blood as a metaphor for showing your love for someone. I’ve always translated it as ‘bloody love’ myself in the past, so I will again for the sake of consistency.

[taetaespeaches]

“I didn’t think you’d care if I came back.”

yoongi x reader (or oc) genre: angst; fluff word count: 3.2K

a/n: Finally we have some fluff again! I mean, the angst is still here, but we’re getting to a resolution. This drabble is inspired by “this is me trying” off of Taylor Swift’s album, folklore, and it takes place after, “You know that I would ruin myself over and over again for you.” This also includes a hint of crack for some comic relief, and because where Jin and Poopsie go, crack follows. I hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading! :)) 

STEPPING into your apartment, returning home from work, your eyes scanned the small space with distaste. You dreaded coming home to your empty sofa and your empty kitchen and your very empty bed. Even more so, you hated the disappointment you felt in yourself for letting another person get so close to you that they started to feel like home.

Dropping your bag at the front door, you kicked your shoes off carelessly before making your way straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Your showers had been doubling in length, perhaps in hopes that the heat of the water would scald the past couple months right off your skin. Or maybe it was just to feel something other than the hurt.

It was just two months of your life. Why was it having such an impact? It had only been three days since Yoongi walked out, so you hoped it was just the newness of it all that had you feeling so hollow.

Yoongi was just stopping by the dorm for a change of clothes and then he was heading back to the studio. He had spent three days straight in his studio, not even returning to the dorms after leaving your place. Whereas his fans would probably think he was working hard on the second Agust D mixtape, he was mostly just sulking.

He did what was best right? You said you were ruining yourself over him. He was ruining you. So, he left. He didn’t try to work it out, he left. For you. That way, you would have a chance at happiness with someone else. Someone more suitable for you. Someone who could give you what you deserve.

Walking toward his bedroom with his overnight bag in tow, the sound of his roommate’s squeaky laughter echoed through the hallway. Yoongi was suddenly very thankful for the isolation his studio provided, as he remembered Jin saying his girlfriend was visiting family for a few days so he wouldn’t get to see her right away upon returning to Korea from Japan. She must be back now.

“I don’t care if the whole game and franchise is named after Mario, Yoshi is hands down the best character in the Mario realm, and that’s just a fact,” her ranting sounded through the closed door, Jin interrupting her with overdramatic sound effects. Yoongi’s hand was on the doorknob and he had half a mind to ignore his need for a change of clothes and escape back to his studio before anyone noticed he was there.

“There wouldn’t even be a Yoshi if it weren’t for Mario because there would be no Mario franchise,” Jin shouted back, Yoongi’s motions still stalled as he stood on the other side of the door in disbelief. Fucking Mario? Really?

With a sigh, Yoongi opened the door, clearing his throat to alert the two idiots of his presence. Jin’s head popped up off the pillows, greeting Yoongi with an, “oh, hey,” his girlfriend sitting up from her spot next to Jin on the bed.

“Oh, Yoongi, thank god you’re here,” she exclaimed, Yoongi flashing her a surprised expression. “Tell Jin that Yoshi is the best Mario character.”

“That’s ridiculous and you know it,” Jin shouted with wide eyes, his girlfriend turning to look at him. “Yoshi can be your favorite character, but you can’t argue he’s the best.”

“Why can’t I?” She complained, Yoongi quickly losing all interest as he escaped to his side of the room, separated from the bickering couple by a large bookcase.

“Because it’s not called Super Yoshi, or Yoshi Kart,” Jin informed her. Yoongi hurried around his belongings, shoving some clothes into his bag so he could get back to this studio without being dragged back into the couple’s pointless disagreement.

“You’re so annoying,” she huffed, Jin laughing at her attitude.

Zipping the bag back up, Yoongi started toward the door, anxious to get out of the dorm, away from everyone.

“Aw, but I got you something in Japan,” Jin told his girlfriend. Her silence piqued Yoongi’s interest, for reasons unknown to Yoongi, enough for him to look back. She was looking at Jin with her eyebrows raised as Jin pulled out a Yoshi figure from his pocket. “It’s Yoshi!” Yoongi watched as the girl held back a smile, trying to keep up her challenging glare. “I may disagree with you, but I support you and your poor judgement,” Jin teased the girl, lowering himself onto his knees on the bed.

“I'm in love with you, so you may be on to something with the poor judgement thing,” the girl teased right back, taking the figure before cooing at it. “It’s so cute, thank you,” she told him, Yoongi quickly exiting the room.

Part of him found the two lovers cute. A much bigger part found them annoying and gross. Shoving their love in everyone’s faces. He felt like a bitter old man as he shuffled out of the dorm angrily. Why was it that Jin could manage a relationship? How was it that Jin could have his shit together, but Yoongi couldn't? And Hoseok for that matter. Hell, even Namjoon was seeing someone. Why couldn't Yoongi do the same? Making his way out of the building, you overtook his mind. You would have called him out on being a bitter old man. “Jesus, Grampa Min, stop being so grumpy,” he could hear you saying with a giggle. You’d probably even press a kiss to his forehead, flashing him a warm smile. All anger and bitterness dissipated from his body, leaving him sad and frustrated with himself, even more so than before.

Another addition to the list of things you were growing to hate about your living space: it was cold. Bundled up in a large sweatshirt, baggy sweatpants, and colorful fluffy socks on your feet, you waited in the kitchen for your water to boil. All you wanted to do was have a cup of tea and plant yourself in front of the TV to waste away while watching the next Netflix series in your queue. Your still wet hair only made you colder, a shiver moving through your body, causing you to let out a groan.

You resisted the urge to check your phone. He surely hadn’t texted, and you didn’t feel like dealing with the pain that struck your heart every time you saw no notifications from him.

As you mindlessly played with the ends of your damped hair, a knock suddenly sounded on your door, and your heart dropped into your stomach. It had to be him. No one ever visited you at 6:30 pm on a Thursday night. You thought about not answering it, but when the knock sounded again, you convinced yourself you could be wrong. It could be someone else.

Then you caught yourself hoping it wasn't someone else.

Hesitantly, you opened the door, and if you weren’t so angry you would have cried at the sight in front of you.

Yoongi stood in your doorway, dark circles just as prominent as three days ago, eyes puffy and slightly red, one of his hands shoved into his pants pocket, the other hanging by his thigh as he held onto a bouquet of tulips.

Your eyes lingered on the flowers for a moment, not because you really cared about the gesture, but because the appearance of the man who had always been so composed before now looking so completely broken on your doorstep was almost too devastating for your heart to bear.

His eyes scanned your features desperately, though neither of you spoke. It was hard to find the words.

It felt like minutes passed by before Yoongi finally opened his mouth to say something, though he struggled to get the words out. “Kid, I-” he started, tears forming in his eyes.

“I don’t want your flowers if they come with disillusions,” you told him bitterly, holding onto your anger, despite the bubbling feeling of wanting to wrap him up in your arms.

Your eyes followed a tear as it slid off his plush cheek, the cheeks you adored so much, landing on the side of his hand. “If you want me to lay out all my mistakes right now, I will,” he told you sincerely, the comment taking you by surprise. “For starters, I shouldn’t have left. I should have fought with you, I should have stayed to finish that fight,” he said in frustration, partly to himself.

Maybe the words should have confused you, but you understood exactly what he was saying. For you both to express your frustrations with each other and with yourselves, the fight needed to happen. With Yoongi leaving, you didn’t get to the point of discussion following the anger. Instead, he walked away, as if you weren’t worth fighting with, or for.

“Why did it take you three days to come back?” You asked, a strange mixture of anger and sadness and hope swirling around your stomach.

“I didn’t think you’d care if I came back,” he admitted sadly, wiping his face with the back of his hand to get rid of the tears, the bouquet messing his fringe as it made contact with his forehead. He avoided eye contact, keeping his stare directed to your fuzzy sock-covered feet.

“Of course, I care,” you told him, taking a step back to allow him space to enter your apartment. His eyes followed the colorful fluffy material as you moved aside. “Now get in here so we can fight.”

You barely noticed the quirk in Yoongi's lip as it curved just slightly into the tiniest of smiles. He entered your apartment tentatively, and his presence already made it feel more like home again. You felt certain in that moment that no matter what room he walked into, it would feel like home.

Turning toward you, still avoiding your eyes but raising his gaze to your waist, he weakly held up the bouquet. "These are tulips," he told you dumbly, finishing the statement off with a sniffle.

You stared at him for a moment but he didn't continue. "I know," you finally said.

Another beat went by as you faced each other, a feeling of awkwardness enveloping the room. “They symbolize-" he started, just as the teapot started screaming in the kitchen.

“Hang on,” you told him, rushing to the kitchen to remove the pot from the stove, turning the burner off. For a moment, you thought about sitting in the kitchen for a moment to gather your thoughts, but with a vulnerable Min Yoongi standing just a few feet away, you found yourself hurrying back to him.  

“Sorry, what were you saying?” You asked, Yoongi looking to the side of the room.

“Tulips symbolize-”

"Yoongi,” you breathed out. “I don't care about the flowers right now, what are you doing here?" You cut him off, getting straight to the point.

"I want to fix this," he told you sincerely, lifting his gaze to meet yours.

You shrugged. "And how?" He stared at you for a moment, so you decided to continue. "I'm sick of feeling like I'm not wanted."

Yoongi quickly negated the comment, shaking his head. "I always want you."

"Then why do I feel unwanted by you?" Your volume raised as you asked the question, Yoongi appearing to hold his breath for a moment. Letting it out in a shaky breath, he looked back to your feet. "You say you want me but your actions say different, Yoongi. And you can't tell me how I feel, I feel unwanted."

"I'm sorry," he apologized quietly, lifting his gaze to meet your eyes. "I'm not trying to tell you how you feel, I'm just coming to terms with the fact that I made you feel that way," his voice broke.

"I don't want to hold this over your head, and I don't want you beating yourself up for it," you told him. "I just want you. But if I can't have you and feel good about myself and us, then I need to you to leave and I need you to stay gone." Speaking the words added cracks to your heart, but it also lifted a weight off your shoulders.

"I deal with a lot of shit," he suddenly said, your eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "Mentally. And that mixed with my work- I'm afraid of putting you through hell just because I'm selfish and want you," he told you with tears in his eyes. That’s what he’s afraid of? Putting his burdens on you? "I get so stuck in my head and I was in Japan and all I could think of was you and,” he sighed, looking into your eyes. “Fuck, Kid, I wanted to call you every moment I was gone. But that's for me, what am I giving you?" He shrugged hopelessly.

"You," you told him, your tears threatening to fall. "You're giving me you."

"And what's that worth?" His question shattered your heart. What's that worth?

"Baby, that's worth everything to me," you told him. "When you’re actually giving yourself to me, I feel more like myself. I feel braver and happier and-" looking back at the bouquet in his hands, you asked, "why tulips?"

He stalled for a moment, surprised by the question. "Right now?" Nodding at him, you bit back a grin. A faint smile appeared on his face, scoffing at himself. "Tulips can mean rebirth and forgiveness and true love, and I'm not saying we're in love,” he quickly backtracked. “I mean not yet, but we could be some day, and," he spoke slow but he was lost in his words, panicking over bringing up love, and the sight of him trying to find his way was enough to make you crack a smile. His speech faded out as he watched your face brighten just the slightest bit, a blush overtaking his plush cheeks. "I don't know what the fuck flowers mean, I don't know what I'm doing."

"That much is obvious," you teased, Yoongi letting out a single breathy chuckle at the comment.

"All I know how to do is care about you, Kid," he shrugged.

Tears forming in your eyes at his confession, you shook your head. "Then care about me."

"I'm trying," he told you, staring into your eyes. For a man who usually avoided eye contact, you were surprised by the sincerity he was trying to convey as he held your gaze. "I really am trying."

"I know," you nodded. And he was.  

"I wanted to protect you from me," he added, his orbs scanning your face. "But fuck, Kid, I can't stay away from you." You watched him thoughtfully as he spoke. "But when I saw the hurt in your face-" he paused to compose his emotions. "When you said you thought I left that morning," he shook his head. "That's when I first realized what I was doing to you."

"But you don't have to do that to me," you reminded him. "You don't have to protect me from you, I've told you I'm prepared to be with you regardless of your lifestyle and your work." Yoongi stared at you as you spoke, and you cocked your head at him. "I'm ok with the time apart and the late-night dates and the days where we can only fit a few texts in.”

“But are you ok with me? And everything that comes with me?” He asked. He was really asking, he needed the assurance.

“Of course, I am,” you told him definitively. “I want all of you. You don’t need to wear this mask around me, you don’t need to shield me from you. And you’re not the only one with demons,” you told him. “I want you and everything that comes with you. I’m just not ok with feeling like I'm always about to lose you."

"Baby," he whispered.

"I can't keep being afraid that every time you walk out the door, you might not come back," you whimpered, a tear falling down your cheek. "I need assurance too, I need to know you're in this with me as much as I am with you." Yoongi nodded quickly.

"If you want me here, I'm here," he assured you, sincerity coating his words.

"I want you here," you told him. Yoongi suddenly tossed the bouquet onto the table before approaching you. His arms wrapped around your body before you could react, your arms slowly folding over him, holding him close to you as he buried his face in your hair. You felt a kiss on the top of your head, your body responding by relaxing against his frame, turning your face to nuzzle it against his neck. "I'm sorry for the shit I said," you mumbled against his cool skin, still slightly cold from the night air.

"Don't apologize," he whispered into your hair.

"I didn't mean the mean shit," you added, Yoongi chuckling at the obvious pout on your lips.

"You were hardly mean, Kid," he told you, pulling away just a bit to look down at you with a soft smile, his eyes glistening in emotion.

“Well, I’ll never mean the mean shit,” you said with a small smile.

"I missed you,” he told you as he wiped the fallen tears off your cheeks.

"I missed you too," you whispered. “We were supposed to fight, you know,” you added teasingly.

“That wasn’t a fight?” He questioned in feigned surprise. “We still can if you want,” he playfully responded, his eyes widened humorously.

“You came in here trying to explain flower symbolization and I just couldn’t get mad at you,” you giggled, Yoongi smiling adorably just before pushing his lips to yours, giving you a sweet kiss. Before you could deepen it, he pulled away again.

"Yoshi or Mario?"

"What?” You questioned in utter confusion. “Min, I'm trying to make out with you," you complained with a look of dissatisfaction, Yoongi smiling fondly at the expression. With a sigh, you said, "Yoshi, obviously, what do you think I am, an idiot?" Yoongi laughed fully at the comment, his shoulders shaking as he flashed you that adorable gummy smile you were so obsessed with. "Why?" you asked through a small laugh, "what about you?"

"Honestly, I could not care less," he smiled, now your turn to laugh.

"I love that about you," you told him through your big grin.

"My roommate, Jin, thinks Mario is better," he told you, you raising your eyebrows in response. "I think you should come by the dorm to put him in his place. Maybe meet all the other guys too?"

You smiled widely as you nodded. "I'd love to," you said softly, Yoongi nodding before leaning in to kiss you again. "I mean, for Yoshi's honor," you whispered right before his lips pressed to yours.

"Of course," he giggled against your mouth. Pulling back just slightly, Yoongi stared at you for a moment, his eyes appreciating your every feature slowly, taking his time, as you did the same with him. Wrapping his arms around the back of your neck, he tugged you closer to him to hold you against his body once again. "Jin's a moron but remind me to thank him one of these days," he whispered against your temple.

"I will," you giggled. "But for what?"

"For having his shit together."

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

April 2021 Part 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Second Chance Ep 1 - living up to its name since it looks to be a series of redemption arcs. Launched with a college confession and a broken friendship, then a flash back to them as seniors in high school. Pairings include friends to lovers, nerd/jock, and maybe cafe boss/employee. There’s a lot going on, but it’s still... quiet and sweet. The script is pretty pat but it’s still WAY more watchable than Cupid Coach or Brothers and most of the acting is solid. Ep 1 tropes included: he’s in engineering, wound tending, fast & bicurious. This could turn into what I wanted My Gear & Your Gown to be. Fingers crossed. 

Love Poison 2 Ep 1 & 2 turns out I did watch and report on season 1 (8 eps), season 2 seems equally unmemorable. Thai countryside setting, strong dialect, incomprehensible plot, camp side characters, and ghastly singing. 

Y-Destiny Ep 1 (eng subs?) - opened with the sports romance enemies to lovers (they aren’t going in the teaser order). When the couple got over fighting, the flirting was v cute, but the flipping SPONGE BATH trope had to rear its ugly head. Still, this series is shaping up to be less coy and more frank than most BL, better than expected. It feels, I don’t know, gay-er or something?  *** Sources were correct that each couple is getting (at least) 2 eps, and MDL has been updated to say this is a 15 episode series (not 7). 

Cupid Coach 12 fin - The new Nite was great and should have been a main all along. It felt like we got a tiny nugget of what could have been in about 10 minutes worth of this last ep. It was way too slow with terrible editing and a criminally bad script, but at least it ended happy. Mostly, like Friend Forever, I’m just disappointed that these two actors were done dirty by the series. Bad Cupid Coach, no screen caps for you. 

Lovely Writer Ep 6 - breaking news, there’s a het couple I like: toppy bi femme + soft boi = such a good pairing! I know, but this NEVER happens. Meanwhile, Sib’s secret is out, Gene is a bit of a drama queen, and the plot thickens. We half way through.  

Brothers Ep 9 - Kaow had a serious moment of advice giving that was truly lovely. Lots of family dama made this a superior episode to... well... any of the others in this series. Which isn’t saying much. 

1000 Stars Ep 10 fin - at the start this series didn’t grab me the way GMMTV’s last BL, Tonhon Chonlatee, did. But boy did it end 1000x better. Might have given us 2021′s best forehead kiss. I enjoyed the ultra romantic cliff-top reunion kiss, and I LOVED the stinger flirting scene. That was an absolute gift we had no right to expect. This drama is a poster child for finishing on a high note (always focus on that dessert course). Final thoughts? This was FAR more a classic romance than it was BL. There were some BL tropes used but not many and most of them originated in the romance genre not yaoi. A picture perfect ending bumped 1000 Stars much higher up my best-of list than expected. Not sure how often I’ll rewatch it as a whole, but this last episode? I’m probably rewatching it right now. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 3 fin - I guess that’s it? Okaaaaay  

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 3 (AKA Ep 5-6) - we got actual legit gay culture not just BL (always appreciated) from XingSi. I’m starting to find LiCheng’s “show them we fucking” hijinks hilarious rather than annoying (not sure why, maybe I just love a rubber chicken, or maybe it was the STUFFED CORN WITH THE TASSEL that did it). 

-- H4 Moment of RANT --

Tropes included beach trip, there’s only one bed, cook for him, baby is a floppy drunk, carry baby to bed, and.... drunk non-con. Whoopdedoo. Here we go again. Did TharnType teach us NOTHING? (Apparently it taught us if the chemistry is good enough, I have no morals at all.) At least H4 seems to be taking us out of cheese into serious when it comes to assault. Or is it? 

I take back what I said last week about XingSi & YongJie being codependency + salvation trope, that only works if YongJie is the uke. He’s NOT. So we got us an obsessive predatory villain with a possible redemption arc. That’s more common in crime dramas, mafia romance, and epic fantasy than BL. It’s real hard to redeem a sexual predator in a reality-grounded universe like contemporary romance (See Kla in LBC1&2). 

Next week is gonna be a test of the whole damn franchise. Imma remind both me a you that this was ep 3 of 10 so we got a ways to go yet... but ooof, what have we wrought, BL? (I ended up doing a whole post about the stepbrother trope because of this sub plot.) Taiwan is killing me.

-- RANT ended --

Word of Honor (China) Ep 19-21 - over half way point so we got ALL the back story (in a classic 4 act story structure midway reveal). Now we know who WKX really is and his lineage. We also got some cute hugs and hand holds. Moving along at a nice clip despite being 36 eps total. Still gayest thing to come out of we-not-gay China since Advance Bravely. 

Most Peaceful Place (Vietnam) Ep 2 - takes them a while to get eng subs together and ep 2 didn’t drop until late. So I’m putting this in a Thurs time slot going forward. Miscommunication already cleared up and a 2nd couple has been introduced. The pacing on these Vietnamese BLs is always a bit... off. But it’s still better than most of its ilk, enjoyable. I’m thinking it’s a 6 ep arc. 

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 5 - after the initial drama DRAMA of ep 2, the current external crisis at work is much quieter, giving this whole season a top heavy feel. Taken along side the first season, I think it’s fitting nicely into a 4 act structure, but that might be my bias. I hope I’m not wrong, we’ll find out next week. Shi De puttering about being domestic with Shu Yi on his back was the best execution of the piggyback trope EVER. Meanwhile, our little D/s side couple of codependency, salvation trope + mental illness is becoming weirdly appealing. I don’t know. H4 done mess with my head. 

Stand Alones 

Absolute BL AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko  (Japan) Ep 1-4 mini series. Found subs under A Man Who Defies The World of BL. IT’S HILARIOUS. It’s Japan making fun of us, but also itself for having started this whole BL nonsense - from yaoi roots to present day. It’s parody goddamn gold. Utterly cheeky unto the very last line. We are not worthy. 

Apparently the most powerful tropes of all time are: baby is a floppy drunk and the piggyback fo nobility. Oh and chocolate. {Full review here.} 

Honestly, this show may have been made with only @heretherebedork and I in mind. I don’t know if you’d even understand half of it if you don’t have a history with the manga source genre and an obsessive interest in underlying narrative devices. I haven’t seen much chatter in the blog’o’sphere on this one because, in the end, it’s not a romance at all, it’s social commentary. 

The ending line was a masterclass in lampooning a genre. I’m going to rewatch the whole thing just to catch all the digs I missed first time around. It is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. 

Thank you Japan. I forgive you all your hair-styling sins of the last decade. 

Breaking News 

Spring Line Up:

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) April 15th 

Close Friend the series (Thai trailer) April 22. 

2gether the movie (Thai trailer) April 22 to Thai theaters.

Nitiman (Thai) May 7 on One31.

I Told Sunset About You 2 (Thai) May 27 on LineTV

Ossan’s Love (Hong Kong) June to Viu 

Gossip 

Bad Buddies released its first promo op via Arm Share, which means GMMTV is at least *thinking* about filming it. 

Fun behind the scenes gossip sesh with eng subs for Tell the World I Love You (that Perth Bas movie we are maybe getting someday but will likely be sad). 

New Thai BL Bite Me (adapted from novel Grab a Bite) dropped a teaser. It stars Mark Siwat (Kla in LBC) as uke character Ake, a delivery boy with special foodie powers, and chef Eua (seme played by Zung Kidakorn) who discovers him. It’s from the same author as Manner of Death so we might even get some actual plot. Since it’s an established BL actor who I happen LOVE, a known author, and a plot about FOOD, I could not me more excited for this one. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons. Some are dropping multiples at a time but just started so I’m not sure on numbering. 

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

[vanquishedvaliant]

So there’s this trend I’m seeing on social media about people boycotting / encouraging people not to buy the upcoming Mass Effect remasters.

The reasonings being somewhat varied, some valid, others not, but mostly centering around one thing in specific; cut content relating to same sex relationships that didn’t make it into the games.

Now, I understand not being interested in the product being offered; I’m probably not going to buy it myself for a lack of specific features like multiplayer and... just not needing the buy the game for my fifth or sixth time. It’s completely valid to think the remasters are just not doing enough for you to justify a purchase, or that their faith in the company doing it properly in their current state isn’t there. I get that.

But the mood that’s come up lately isn’t just disinterest; it’s downright outrage. Violent, ideologically charged opposition to even the concept of the remasters because of a perceived failure to meet their extremely specific and often high standards and notions of progressiveness.

Now it’s not exactly news that Bioware has had a rocky relationship with inclusivity over the years, with queer characters flitting in and out of recognition and prominence, appropriation of queer archetypes, and less than stellar execution of what characters they do include. I’ve had my complaints with these myself from time to time, though it’s still always struck me historically as a generally positive, if clumsy attempt at progress that I appreciated despite the flaws; remember that the original Mass Effect 1 came out in 2007, and was the focus of a major media scandal about even including romantic relationships at all in the game, nevermind same sex ones. That’s 14 years ago! The most recent game in the series is 9 years old!

We can talk about the social standards of the times and the progress we’ve made, and we can also talk about the merits of restoring and improving media as it was, or recreating it to more closely reflect the values of today and which or both of them is a worthwhile pursuit, but I don’t think that’s what’s being sincerely argued here.

What we see instead is some protestation that failure to make the exacting changes that they see fit according to their personal ideology is some kind of radically regressive statement, as if it’s a conscious, malicious decision and not either one made in good faith or not at all. This movement has collectively decided that the remaster needs to contain exactly the changes that fit their fleeting whims or the entire thing’s at best a wash and a wasted effort, and in some cases a ‘homophobic’ statement of hatred, or cynically callous laziness. 

Let’s remember; the focus of this argument is the presence of available simulated dating options in a 14 year old game. The arguments posits that some of these alternative options are ones that were cut from the release of the games, notably the first one, and have some or numerous assets that exist in various forms within the game files that with some work can be accessed in the game with user-made modifications. Some of this is true; though much of it is exaggerated or misconstrued in terms of its scope or viability.

Many of these people just assume that this cut content that someone else has restored in a mod somewhere is just some sort of simple toggle done in moments without effort, ignoring the work those modders did on their own time and money to introduce those features. 

Even if we just hand wave any standards of quality or continuity or polish and integration these mods have, you have to consider the dozens to hundreds of volunteer man hours of labor these fans put into many of those mods to make them viable that a company paying it’s employees a fair wage and time to do without overworking has to budget. Which I should mind to you is something also incredibly topically relevant in game dev these days. Adding new content costs money. Restoring old content, still costs money.

Even then, the viability of many of those original assets is at question in itself; the 'ingredients’ used to create the content are not equivalent to the ‘cooked’ content found in the game files, so some of them are difficult to work with or lacking in features or quality. Hell, we know for a fact that half of the god damn development data for ME1 is just fucking gone, which is why the DLC isn’t making an appearance in the remaster at all; it just doesn’t exist anymore and would need to be remade from utter scratch.

Now there’s a dozen reasons undertakings like these would or wouldn’t make their list of priorities for remaster given the other work they are doing re; texture and model uprezzing, gameplay updates, etc. It’s not exactly strange for them to recreate the game largely as it was with a more limited scope of changes. Perhaps the decision was made to preserve some parts of the game largely as it was; with mostly minor cosmetic changes to things like Miranda’s camera angles; things that don’t have much overhead or ripple effect. Perhaps restoring the content was considered, but didn’t make the cut- maybe for the same reasons it didn’t make it into the game in 2007. Maybe for different ones.

Only the people involved know.

Now, would I like to see some of that content restored and improved? Sure! I think it’d have been a great thing if they’d promoted the series as having new or restored content; if they’d promised us such things. But they haven’t, and while it’s one thing to praise taking an initiative like that if they had, I think it’s completely unreasonable to be outraged that they didn’t.

We can celebrate that kind of outstanding and excellent steps forward in inclusivity, but we have to understand that while someone not being ahead of the curve may not be exciting or even disappointing; it is not in itself an act of directed aggression. And treating it like one is a waste of time and energy that we can direct to protesting actual aggression, or celebrating those outstanding steps.

But here’s the major thing that kills me; all those mods they love and praise aren’t going anywhere.

The remaster will come out and unless Bioware is so completely tone deaf and media blind from the past year they pull a WC3, the old versions of the game will all still be available. All those user made mods they cite in these arguments about “how easy” it is to add content to the game will still be there, ready to play as they always were. Some of them might even work or be easily made to work with the new versions!

All of that will still be there! And we’ll have access to a new version of the trilogy that is far more accessible to new players who haven’t yet been exposed to so much of the games content that they are desperate for more of it.

Just look at Mass Effect 1; that game has not aged well, and it was kind of a sloppy mess even when it came out! How many new players can we get to enjoy all the good things the series has to offer with an easily accessed, more enjoyable package to play through the entire series without issue? I’ve done numerous replays of the trilogy through the years, and Mass Effect 1 is always a huge stumbling block. It’s just a pain in the ass, straight out. Don’t you want at least the option to fix that?

And if not, you don’t have to buy it and no harm is done to you! Enjoy your existing version with your mods and familiar features and flaws.

And if you truly, genuinely care so passionately about Bioware improving their record of inclusivity; look instead to the new game that’s coming out and look forward to that instead. Every game in the franchise has been better than the last at this; ME1 cut the same sex relationships, but ME2 had some. ME3 had even more, and then Andromeda had yet even further than that after patching!

How many will the new game have?

Look forward to that and make it clear to bioware you’re looking for that in their games; just.... ease off this ridiculous vitriol in trying to get people to avoid the remaster because it’s not good enough for you. No one needs to have this bullying done to either the developers themselves or the players looking to buy the game for themselves or others. It’s simply not productive.

Especially with this franchise’s sordid history with excessive media outrage and entitlement that’s been absolutely exhausted.

Just... relax. And have some perspective.

[honourablepopcorn]

A ramble about Kingsman

I need to post this somewhere because I didn’t know what the Kingsman movie franchise was about until I watched the two movies consecutively yesterday. AND I NEED TO RANT BUT I HAVE NO ONE TO TALK ABOUT IT TO!!!!

Based off of the title of the first movie (Kingsman: The Secret Service), I assumed it was about the behind-the-scenes of royalty conspiring against the people they are supposed to look after. I thought, ‘Hmm… this seems like it’s dramatic, and I’m not really on the mood for drama so guess I’ll put this on my “to watch list” and disregard it until further notice.’ Upon reading the movie synopsis, I realised it was actually about gentlemen spies so I knew that I had to watch it.

I think the movies are adapted from a comic franchise(?). I’m not 100% sure on this but whoever the original creator is, they are an absolute genius. It was a mixture of comedy, drama, action and so much more. It’s also one of the most quotable movies I have seen this year; from “Manners maketh man” to “there’s a reason aristocrats developed weak chins” to Eggsy simply adding “fuck” in every other sentence he says.

I don’t usually enjoy comedy films these days because I feel like the humour is forced, the jokes are overused and overall, just doesn’t flow well with the scenes. But in Kingsman, they don’t overuse humour and it doesn’t feel like you have to force yourself to laugh at the jokes they make. The movies are like… a friend? It feels familiar and you can really just sit and enjoy. At times I found myself laughing because the amputations and headshots were so unreal but was obviously added humour.

It’s also very educational and shows sides to politics that is somewhat easier to understand. I still struggle understanding climate change sometimes because statistics are always stacked on top of each other… no matter how much I try to educate myself there’s always more to find out. Kingsman provided another explanation that was easier for someone like me to understand. The analogy of the earth being sick and climate change being the fever to get rid of the virus?? *chef’s kiss* (also thanks to my bio teachers for helping me understand that reference ig lol). The Golden Circle educated me further on the war on drugs, which I’m thankful for. IT ALSO SHOWED just how big a mess politicians always are. It’s very admirable, I think.

As much as I loved “Manners maketh man” as a quote from the movie, followed by the flawless fighting from the gentlemen, my favourite favourite quote was the one about the aristocrats I mentioned earlier.

“…there’s a reason aristocrats developed weak chins.”

I had to google it initially because I didn’t fully grasp the idea of a ‘weak chin’ but basically weak chin = weak character. I thought it was maybe how powerful, wealthy people grow bigger because they don’t work as hard as the people they pay to do their dirty work. Weak chin meaning that they have a rounder face and an undefined chin because they are just consuming their money’s worth of food?? Maybe it’s another, more complicated way to think about what I literally googled. I’m not really sure how to explain my thought process but anyway.

THERES A REASON WHY ARISTOCRATS DEVELOPED WEAK CHINS!!! ITS BECAUSE THEY EXPLOIT PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO DO THEIR WORK FOR THEM, WHO ARE MORE CONFIDENT AND THOSE WHO NEED EMPLOYMENT TO GET BY IN LIFE. ARISTOCRATS ARE USELESS BECAUSE THEY DO NOTHING THEMSELVES AND LIVE OFF OF PEOPLES HARD WORK YET STILL HAVE THE LUXURY TO ENJOY LIFE.

Okay this has gone on for way too long, I’m even boring myself at this point. Some final things before I give up on this: the characters are well-done, the acting is great (they have undoubtedly done so well with the casting), the plot is a solid 9/10 just because there’s always room to improve, the cinematography was also consistent! I can’t wait for the prequel which is supposedly coming out this year (2021) I probably won’t ramble about that one though so farewell to this post for now I guess.