#also holy SHIT op you are an incredible writer

[its-jason]

i did like this post a lot. made me go a little bit bananas actually. I’m gonna add a little more onto Op because they have some RREEAAALLY great points URGH especially about hades.

I truly think it is absolutely wonderful that the main protagonist of Hades is genuinely such a Kind hearted person. Honestly, you just wouldn’t expect it from the aesthetics of the game and, like op mentions, how cold and unhappy everybody is when you’re playing the first few hours of the game. Zagreus is a snarky character with his quips but he never really displays actual distain to people he fights, even to theseus he’s just incredibly sassy lmao.

The only time Zagreus gets serious is with his father, but I always ALWAYS think about that one conversation with Zagreus and Persephone and how Zagreus can’t bring himself to Hate. It’s what makes him so fundamentally different to Hades, he’s not someone who can wallow in self pity, frustration, bitterness- he’s someone who actually Wants to change and improve. The game really makes it clear how much stronger Zagreus is compared to Hades because being kind is a CHOICE.

“Out of all the things your Father taught you, I’m glad he didn’t teach you to hate. For your sake if not his.” by Persephone followed up by Zagreus’ “Sometimes I think he tried” SERIOUSLY KILLS ME.

Hades trying desperately to get Zagreus to fit into the mold, the family is so broken- it’s so much easier to hate. Hades trying to teach him hate to give him a solution, because it’s the solution he’s been comfortable with all this time. Hades wants Zagreus to Hate him, because he is so fucking aware of how pathetic of an excuse he is for a father and instead of trying to fix himself, he wants his son to at least behave in at least One way that’s similar to him. To hate like he does.

(hades always pushing zagreus to do the things that he’s comfortable with, another example being doing administration but that didn’t work out either)

But Zagreus isn’t that kind of person. He resents his Father definitely but Zagreus is smart enough to understand that hatred will get him absolutely Nowhere. He wants change and to do that, it WILL hurt so much. But he’s so much stronger than Hades for being kind.

I just think zagreus is awesome and cool and the best. I fucking LOVE hades so much for making a genuinely kind character flawed and actually emphasising the hurdles it takes to Choose kindness. Normally, characters who are kind are reduced to being really precious when Zagreus is not. He can get his goddamn hands dirty damn it!!!! and OP explains this SO WELL!!!!!

Guys, I'm sorry that everytime I have a big thoughtᵀᴹ about something I come and spew it on here, it's in my blood to overthink (ha, get it?? in my blood? like the hades in the blood song, because I'm going to talk about hades???)

But among all the things I like about the game, it's Zagreus characterization. When it comes to the delicate and nuanced subject of having a character trying to either free themselves from a long cycle of suffering or, trying to break the cycle of suffering altogether (which they are both the objective of Zagreus), it's very easy to fall into the slippery slope of victimizing said character. I don't blame people who do this, it's very hard to build and pinpoint exactly what you want your character to do, while maintaining their personality in adverse situations you put them in.

But Zagreus is such a good example. He is kind, and polite, yes. But he is also kind of dumb sometimes, impulsive, he is hotheaded and stubborn. And that's fine. Like, it's fine. Zagreus doesn't have to be perfect to be lovable or to break the cycle that the House of Hades is suffering. All of them have their flaws and that doesn't make them any less of deserving love and second chances.

I really like the fact that the game emphasizes that breaking said cycle is going to hurt. It's going to be ugly, and gruesome. You're going to have to destroy somethings to build them properly. And that the truth hurts. To you and everyone else. Breaking cycles is not a kind little thing where everyone holds hands and says: "maybe the happiness was us all along". No, you're going to get your hands dirty. You're going to have doubts. You're going to ask yourself if you're even doing the right thing. Seeing everybody so comfortable in deep sadness nauseates you. Why do they have to live like this? It's not your job to save them, but maybe you can help them understand and look into themselves and forgive whatever ugly thing that they're ashamed of.

Not only that, but you're going to have to recognize that your actions influenced by said cycle hurt a lot of people, and that they're your own actions as well. There are going to be rocky, and you will say things that will hurt them, and they will say hurtful things back. But bonds are not perfect. Friendships and bonds are not pure or innocent. Sometimes they're going to be strained, but you can fix them with the help of people. If the other wants to help; you can both heal.

I'm not saying that you have to repair every single thing. No, you have to give them their own space, their own time to think and consider things. Maybe things will change, but that doesn't mean it's for nothing. When it comes to Zagreus, that has quite literally a lot of people against him (consciously or forced), he recognizes that he's going to have to fight back. That he's going to have to strike back. And sometimes we are afraid to show how gruesome it can be to shake the foundations of a cycle that we're so comfortable in. Because we are not alone in said misery, and nobody really tries to do anything but push forward.

Meagera being a constant enemy is not her being evil. She's hurt, and angry, and confused but also being pushed to this. She doesn't really want to, but she grinds her teeth. Your father doesn't understand you, and blocks your path. Not because he doesn't love you, but because he doesn't know any other fucking way. He doesn't like killing you, he doesn't like having you blood melting the snow, but how else is he going to protect both Persephone and you? How else is he supposed to keep peace? He was swallowed by his father, and then, you were born, and you were such a tiny, little thing. And his hands are big and rough, and he doesn't want to hold you because how is he going to raise you? He doesn't know anything about children or godlings. And he can't stop from biting at your spirit, and maybe he's just like his father. Eating you away. He is distant and close in the most horrible ways. He appoints Nyx to care for you, because she knows. And she can love you, in ways that he can't.

And you don't know how to change because you're knee deep in this black goop of stupid spirals of anger and sadness. And your son is so different, and you can't, you can't look at him. He's like her, he is just like her. And you feel the sting of tears in your eyes when you're alone in your bedroom looking at her portrait. He is just like her, and like you too. And by everything you want to understand him, but you have no fucking idea.

And Zagreus doesn't want to kill his father. He doesn't want to raise his sword and cut him in halves. He doesn't want him to fall on his knees and be swallowed by the river, you've been there, and you know how horrible it is. Washed up by the stairs, with emptiness of coming back. To crumbling walls and crying shades.

You don't want to kill your father, you don't want to kill Meg, you don't want to scathe Thanatos with your words. But you have to, you're going to have to stain your hands. And make them hate you a little, because that's how it is. You hated them a little, and then you understood.

Breaking cycles is ugly, and full of angryness and pain and wandering in circles. Stepping forward, stepping back. But when everyone understands, they all sigh in relief. The house is still the same; but it's a little warmer, a little better. And little more lovable.

You can talk to each other without biting back. Without stepping on glass. Without pulling out knives, waiting to parry an attack.

Sometimes there's going to be a second chance. Sometimes it's not. Breaking cycles it's not about forgiving everything and moving past it. In the game, they all have to gulp down the bitterness and sting of their own words. In the game they are still trying to coexist. It's not perfect, it's not pretty. Old hurtful habits come to us when it's all peaceful, because now that things are changing they creep out, trying to pull us back. But it really is beautiful how Zagreus is constructed. He is not perfect. He is impulsive, and sarcastic and he bites back, he can strike back and he will. He dislikes people. And he's also kind, and witty and funny and polite. And loves so so much. He is allowed to make mistakes and fail. All of us are. He doesn't have to be perfect to be loved. Nobody has.

Zagreus really is one of my favorite characters because of how complex he is. And how well balanced the bonds in the game are. I know it can be exasperating to have Thanatos say hurtful things or have Meg being cold. But you have to remember that they are all used to the misery. And they are not perfect either. They are kind too, and love and have their ways of expressing it, but they're also allowed to be sad, and angry. Everyone is. Sometimes you're going to fuck up, sometimes you're going to make a mistake and you'll have to swallow your own hurtful words and feel how they stung the other person. And that's okay. That's totally fine. That's life.

[kirinda-ondo]

You know him, you either love or hate him (or are moderately confused by my sudden dive into this hyperfixation); we're talking about Orko because I have a lot of feelings.

As a disclaimer, I am not gonna claim to be some kind of superfan. I am not aware of every single iteration of the lore and all of its secrets. I don't know anything about the DC comics. I'm only halfway through the 2002 series as of me writing this. I am not someone you want to have discussions on the wider Masters of the Universe.... universe with. However, after watching Revelation, the entire Filmation He-Man (and some of She-Ra, cause he was there too), and going on a deep dive of storybooks, annuals, and minicomics courtesy of He-Man.org and the lovely people who submitted their scans there, I do feel pretty qualified to at least talk about Orko.

So, with all that being said, I'd like to get into a little bit of backstory, if only for my followers who came to this blog for completely different things and are wondering where the hell my love for this funky little wizard dude came from all of a sudden. Truth is, Orko is actually one of my earliest faves! Mind you, I only had limited access to Masters of the Universe as a kid, only seeing a couple of rented VHS tapes and later getting my hands on a small pile of the Golden Books from Goodwill, but apparently it was enough for Orko to  imprint himself into my brain. However, also due to my limited exposure, he kind of got shifted to the back of my head as I got deeper into other things. I still knew for a fact I liked Orko a lot though, even if I couldn't quite remember why anymore.

And then Masters of the Universe: Revelation dropped on Netflix. I'm not gonna get into my opinions of that show lest I open a flood of irrelevant discourse (for those uninitiated, it is a bit... divisive, to say the least). However my feelings on the matter did encourage me to go and watch the original and well, holy shit I love Orko more now than I could have ever comprehended as a kid. He is THE quintessential underappreciated comic relief character I tend to gravitate towards, and then some.

But before I get into that, let me back up a bit and explain. Orko is a Trollan, a race of magical little dudes that are basically floating sweaters with hats and covered up faces. Out of these Trollans, Orko is an incredibly fucking OP archmage. Like, they straight up call him Orko the Great, he's so powerful. But then, he gets caught in a freak storm that whisks him away from his home dimension and into Eternia. Immediately, he runs into a young Prince Adam, who is trapped in a swamp/tar pit and needs rescuing. Orko, being the upstanding lad that he is, uses his magic to save him but in the process loses the item that allows him to focus his magic to the swamp (in the 80s version, it's a medallion, but in the 2002 series, it's a wand). Worse yet, the magic (and dare I say the very laws of physics) in Eternia works pretty much the opposite as it does in Trolla, so he's been incredibly nerfed.

So basically, Orko is trapped in a topsy-turvy world away from friends and family, a world with magic he is fundamentally incompatible with. Ouch. He's not completely screwed, however, as he is rewarded by the king and queen for his heroism and appointed... the court jester. Double ouch. He surprisingly doesn't seem to mind though. He genuinely does enjoy entertaining people, even when his tricks only ever work like half the time because he's basically a Mac program trying to run on a Windows computer.

It's not all horrible though, as he does quite literally get adopted by the royal family  and thus sort of become the entire palace's weird son/little brother (despite being older than many of them. He's very, very child-coded largely for the purposes of being a stand-in and example lesson to the actual children watching). But also, more importantly, he becomes one of the very select few to know that Adam and He-Man are one and the same.

But outside of secret-keeping, he is actually a pretty valuable ally to have against Skeletor and his dudes because even though his magic is kind of screwed up, when it does work, he's still one of the most powerful mages on Eternia. In various materials, he's created floods, a second winter, and hell, he can literally explode himself and still be perfectly fine. He's also really clever and can weasel his way out of a number of situations. In one episode, for instance, he manages to convince someone that he's He-Man and Adam is his "assistant" in order to free him from captivity so the day has a better chance of actually being saved.  He's also got the ability to just be really frustrating and incomprehensible to the point that villains who capture him sometimes either don't want him or don't know what to do with him anymore, which is honestly really funny. In an episode of She-Ra, the villains tried to scan his brain but because the inner machinations of his mind are that much of an enigma, he got diagnosed a weirdo and broke the entire machine. Absolutely delightful.

However, there's a lot more to Orko than just comedy and bungled magic. He's actually surprisingly complex!

See, going into this, I expected Orko's whole situation be played entirely for laughs while the sadder implications of his existence go entirely unaddressed. Coming off the heels of characters like Cobalt and others I enjoy, I'm used to this sort of treatment by writers. But they actually don't do that. The depressing subtext is for once, actually TEXT, which was INCREDIBLY surprising to me. We actually get to see another side of him, a side that hates that he can't be taken seriously no matter what he does, a side that is well aware of all the trouble he causes and feels like a burden to those around him. He actually runs away on multiple occasions, fully believing that he's unloved and everyone would be better off without him, even if that couldn't be further from the truth (a point which the Sorceress hammers home with multiple straight up magical video presentations, and in the 2002 series, a literary adaptation, of why he is loved and important).

Underneath all the hyping himself up that he does, there's a lot of insecurity. He's someone who desperately wants to be loved and respected and feels that without funny magic tricks to entertain people, he has no inherent value (which is incredibly relatable if you are also known by people as The Funny One). At one point he agrees with the notion that he doesn't feel like much more than a pet, which is absolutely heartbreaking. Even when he gets the ability to go back and forth between Eternia and Trolla, his feelings of inadequacy now extend toward his family, worrying that his own uncle, the one who taught him everything he knows and greatly contributed to him being Orko the Great back home in the first place, wouldn't be proud of him. Being on Eternia highkey wrecked his shit, man.

However, even when given the opportunity to go back home for good, he always chooses to stay because he's loyal as hell. Even if he needs some reminders, he does know he's needed not just in the fight against evil, but just because his friends and newfound family genuinely love him. It's heartbreaking, but also incredibly wholesome. I did not even remotely expect a comic relief character like this to get this much depth and respect from the writers, especially not from the incredibly campy and cheaply animated 80s series. I am genuinely so unused to this.

But I think that's also what separates him a bit from his fellow Silly Kid Appeal Characters That Kids Fucking Hate ala Snarf Thundercats or Scrappy Doo. He not only makes a concerted effort to be an actually useful ally, but he's also in fact very self-aware of his status as one of these characters. He knows he screws up a lot but he actually tries to accept responsibility and fix it. It makes me wanna root for the lil dude. Now I understand if someone isn't a fan of the brand of humor he brings to the table, or feel like he's simply a distraction from the Cool Buff Dudes Fighting Each Other, but I hope you can see why he might also be a really appealing character to other people, both kids and adults alike. I mean, he was popular enough to be embedded into the canon despite originating from the cartoon and not the toyline for a reason, after all.

Orko is a fun, entertaining, but also complex, heartwarming, and relatable character. I know there is a faction of people that would disagree with me, but I don't think you need to change him all that much or make him a super serious character to be more appealing. He's already got a lot going on that a writer could easily work with. It all just depends on where you decide to focus. Take a lesson from the show and accept that he's fine just the way he is.

[shesasurvivor]

Knock knock! And also holy shit! Two cakes!! I am excited to read mermaid fics. And as a fellow writer, I always appreciate a bit of honesty if it’s at all possible when our ideas overlap. Sometimes it’s just not possible because we can’t all see everything everyone else is working on all the time buuuut… better to be aware than blindsided when someone posts something similar to an idea we’ve been cooking up. I know I would’ve preferred knowing when something similar happened to me. You and me, we’ve been here a long time and maybe Anon is new-ish and don’t know, maybe they’re not, but there was a huge fight in this fandom several years back that turned really ugly really fast, a fight that all got started when two writers posted stories with a similar premise within days of each other. So even if your FYI to the other writer was partially to cover your rear when you post your story, there’s nothing wrong with that. But you know all this, I’m just parroting to lend my support. Much love and appreciation to you for reaching out and hopefully preventing that kind of fighting from happening again.

YAY DUCKS!

I really didn’t meant to kick up anything by this. I think that @mrspeetamellark should write her story. I think everyone in the fandom should write a mermaid au, because mermaids are the best (along with ducks). But you’re right about what can happen if we don’t just let each other know we’re working on a similar idea. I thought my tag saying that we’d still write different stories, even with similar ideas, would cover the fact that I was aware we would still be contributing different stories, but apparently I was wrong.

I think one of the pitfalls of social media is that it’s incredibly easy to read someone’s post or message in a way that’s different from how the OP meant it. It’s not something wrong, it’s just human nature. That said, I do think that over this last year in particular, there’s been a LOT of blatant nastiness posted on the internet at large that’s impossible to misconstrue. I don’t mean in this particular fandom, in the grander scheme of the internet. I think that fact colors all our interactions to some extent, and I try to be cognizant of that on here, but clearly I’m not always successful.

Sometimes I’m accused of being too blunt. It bothers me, because I feel like people are saying they want me to lie more, and I don’t like that. I’ve learned through hard lesson after hard lesson in my life that being upfront about things is always better in the long run. But when I enter discussions, I just want everyone to know that I never come at it from a nasty place. That’s just not who I am. It’s important to me that we balance having open discussions about topics with a healthy respect for each other as human beings. We can disagree about something (my post about disliking Jennifer Lawrence from yesterday comes to mind), but it matters more to me that people are treated with dignity and respect than that they have an opinion that differs from mine.

Anyways, I’m kind of done with this. I hope we can put this issue to rest now. But thank you for your support!!

[latin-dr-robotnik]

Soooo, it looks like Zippo's leaks are false or contain mostly incorrect information according to Tyson Hesse (you can find post about it on Gaming Leaks and Rumors subreddit). What are your thoughts on the situation?

Hesse:

Me:

Seriously though, I never liked Zippo’s post and I can’t understand why there are so many people and so many Sonictubers in particular taking it like it was some sort of holy word, and that we’re now screwed because it could be fake.

Yeah, I know Hesse didn’t specify which “notable leakers” he was talking about, and that could include more than just Zippo’s leaks, like the supposed GamerGuyd sources talking shit about Zippo and defending Adventure Remake and Sonic: Rose; but let’s be real, I think this is mainly about Zippo.

And I find that to be a good thing. Did any of you guys really think we would be getting a Sonic Collection with shit like Sonic Advance, Sonic R or fucking Sonic Pocket Adventure of all things? That shit sounded fake since day 1, and that edit Zippo did after Colors Remastered was leaked, adding “oh yeah that’s something I’ve heard too” was the final nail in the coffin. Anon, you mentioned r/gamingleaksandrumours and I’m a regular there as well. You and I both know that when leaks try to pull something funny like that, 9 times out of 10 are fake (the other one is the leaker being fucking dumb or scared of giving away too much info and having lawyers up their ass.) To me that dumb edit killed whatever “credibility” Zippo had left, which was pretty little after the Adventure Remake fantasy story. 

Also, at first Zippo said Sonic 1 and 2 would be included, but not the Taxman remasters... but now he says it’s actually the Taxman remasters? In any case, surprise surprise, we’ve been saying that shit every single damn year. In fact, we predicted those ports would be announced back in the 25th anniversary party, so, go figure.

And that’s my problem with the whole situation: Zippo speaks vaguely and incredibly broad, any of his predictions could become true in the next 5-10 years and that won’t mean he was right. This is particularly true about his “3D game prediction”; betting for Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Shadow being “possible” playable characters is broad enough to be able to update and confirm/deconfirm names as something else leaks or the game gets revealed. And don’t get me started on the “it’s not a boost game, it’s a fully 3D one” claim, that’s the most vague thing you can say about the next game, do you have any idea how many 4chan “leaks” have said this in the past 4 years? Yeah. No one is going to claim otherwise unless it’s a clear troll or someone with very close sources (op sweet talking Iizuka every night) to confirm Sonic Team would be doing some shit like a 2D Boom game.

About Zippo’s 2D game prediction... yeah, no way in hell. There’s a lot of discussion in the fandom surrounding a new 2D game and what could Evening Star (ex-Mania devs new independent studio) be doing, and Zippo just goes and talks about a 2D Advance/Rush type of game, developed by “someone” (spoilers: Zippo does not know), and when he alluded to Dimps possibly being involved, Sonictubers went apeshit insane and Zippo had to come and edit that bit adding “guys, I have no clue who’s developing it, chill.” Way to go, “leaker”.

You know what kind of leak had the cojones to bet on things and not be too vague about it? Codename Sonic: Rose - the first one, not the two follow-ups that are most likely fake (I came to this realization very recently, which also means the name “Sonic Unlimited” is fake, the only codename mentioned by the first post was Rose). Even if it turns out being a fake as well, at least that 4chan post went ahead and called shit like VA re-cast, Pontaff leaving, the new series writers probably involved (may I remind everyone a friend of mine went ahead and asked, and one of the Sonic Prime writers could not confirm he was involved with something else or not) and the new game being a soft-reboot leading into Prime’s plot (let us remember the first Rose post is from the 18th of January, Prime wasn’t fully revealed, apart from the December leak, until February.) I repeat - if that post is fake, it’s a damn good fake, because so far it’s been pretty spot-on with things currently happening, there’s a chance we could be headed into another change of direction for the series starting next year, and that post was there to call it.

Anyway, sorry for the extended rant, I’ve been building up all of this since February, and even my own Spanish Discord server is tired of me saying this, they won’t listen to me when I start talking about leaks and rumors anymore lol Zippo’s track record is hit or miss, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his post gets one hit out of all misses, considering he tried to cover up so many bases; but once again, you’re allowed to believe in whatever leak you want to believe in, but always take things with a grain of salt.

What do I personally think/want of the 30th anniversary?

Boost Ultimate Collection - not just Colors Ultimate, but Unleashed Ultimate, Generations Ultimate.

Sonic 3D game, either in late 2021 or 1st half 2022, just in time for the series and/or the movie. Personal bet: Codename Sonic Rose.

If we’re super lucky, maybe a 2D Evening Star game. the always rumored “Mania 2 but not really because it’s something completely original and different” (I don’t have much hopes for this one though, I have this feeling that, if Evening Star is working with SEGA at all, they could be more of a support studio to Sonic Team or do stuff like ports.)

Sonic 1 & 2 (2013) being a card in the deck like every single year.

Do I have any basis to support these claims? Nope, not at all. But I know I have some blind faith in this lineup and I have no trouble sharing it loud and clear until we get official news.

[chariflare]

end of work week so No Brain Energy for a “full post” so here’s just like. a brain dump of stuff i liked and disliked about 7 deadly sins (s1). pretty spoiler-y

dislikes (so that we end the post on the most tasty part of the meal)

they give melio.das a flaw of “repeated sexual offender” with the same level of gravitas and plot-irrelevance that ya authors make their self-insert protagonists “clumsy” (i.e. it’s written as a “flaw” but doesn’t affect the plot and is often used for ““comedic effect””). unlike clumsiness though, repeatedly groping women should get a person arrested. thanks

elizabeth is still a damsel

jericho. not the feminist take that the author thinks she is. awful

ultimately the cool female villains turn out to be not that strong or important, and also get love interest’d with members of the main heroic cast (& both’s motives depend on a man)

depending on how her character arc ends up diane’s obsession with wishing she wasn’t a giant is kinda uncomfortable

i don’t mind that elaine looks young-ish but i find it uncomfortable that she has an anime kid voice to top it all off (in jp...?)

gil.thunder’s side-switch wasn’t appropriately established and his og character sucks. years of acting as a moustache-twirling bishie villain don’t appear to have affected his psyche in a meaningful way, and it’s impossible to come away knowing what he’s supposed to act like now

final villains of the first arc are BORING (i think they get more characterisation after they come back to life lmao)

usual shonen bullshit that is both a draw to the show and also makes threat levels kind of ridiculous and non-existent after a certain point (getting bogged down in endless fights, people coming back to life, refusal to acknowledge that maybe their society’s awful power structures are the problem, rapidly changing definition of “the most powerful villain EVER”, etc.)... all encompassed in one pig death fakeout

the weird fatphobic king thing

tiddy outfits. (though i don’t mind didane’s actually?)

more generalised misogyny

the most important hetero ships this season are mediocre

if you know king arthur shit you will know that everyone’s loosely based off of characters from arthurian myth. if you don’t know you will be so pissed when king arthur the 16yo sports anime character shows up to be like “YOUR NEXT ARC IS HERE”

holy SHIT the second opening song is so bad. it’s so bad y’all (the the first op for comparison)

likes

all the characters are adult colleagues (above everything else) and they act like it. (they’re... kind of found family nakama but there’s a bit more there.) they’re all unique, respected, practiced masters of their craft from the beginning of the story

gula & jericho for the when they were threatening were REALLY cool. i am so psyched at the thought of a random minor young female villain who is so badass & dedicated to the evil cause she’s willing to enter a near-death state to chase some random losers into hell. gula’s outfit slaps

(cw: suicide) ban is a really neat character. he’s like... an interpretation of a “vampire curse”. he was never really happy before he achieved immortality (seeking it only because ”if you live long enough, something good might happen to you eventually, i guess”), and getting it (by accident) only made him Worse - more self-destructive and more isolated from the people around him. he often can’t bring himself to care about much of anything, other people don’t care about him, and ultimately his existence is so fucked up and he’s laden with so much guilt that he doesn’t care about himself either. but he’s also a fun guy! incredibly powerful! will help you beat up your abusive dad! probably bi! also he has his tits out at all times and who am i to say no 2 that

personality: part of the reason that he’s isolated from other people (and othered) is his social class... but a main part of it is how his childhood kind of, created his personality. he doesn’t really connect to social norms (or laws), has niche interests, and has a “weird”, disconnected personality (again, made way worse by living 100 years past his lifetime). that being said, he’s not emotionally unintelligent, has interests outside of fighting, and is ultimately a good person

(maybe don’t read this one if you’re interested in watching? it’s all spoilers) Depression: ban willingly runs head-first into danger not just bc it’s a valid fighting technique for someone who can’t die but bc he’s... too ready to give up. but this reveal is only interesting bc it comes after like. a period of getting along with the group, being friends and having fun. ultimately hanging out with them hasn’t solved his problems - it’s just made him able to put them aside for a little while... until his trauma gets brought up, at which point he’s willing to take the first hint of an easy exit, despite how unlikely it is that it’d achieve his supposed goal, if it just lets him relieve himself of his guilt and existential suffering by letting him believe for just one second that he can fix all of the things that he “broke” with his own death (note: killing melio.das would have broken his heart and probably have been suicide by proxy). (this causes a lot of trouble and is not framed as positive, but it’s also not framed as all his fault. and he has to deal with the consequences of this? he realises in retrospect that it was an incredibly unsound idea? and lEAVES THE GROUP BC HE REALISES HE HAS TO TAKE A BREAK???)

comparing ban to a traditional vampire arc: unlike with vampires (who are often an allegory for a group of people, e.g. rich people or oppressed groups) there’s only one ban. and therefore instead of having a group with the same trauma he just suffers alone

meaningful conflict between the main characters. i don’t think i’ve ever really gotten this in a shonen show? there’s a LOT of unresolved trauma. the characters still work together bc they’re Adults... but it’s simmering

ban <-> meli: meli is the only person besides elaine who ever really understood ban... but that doesn’t mean that ban’s ok, now (in fact, the resentment about only being understood by one person kind of makes him... worse). (e: meli also has connections to the rare fantasy creature which started ban’s life hell). ban has too much damage to the point that he becomes a liability

ban <-> king: resolved early, but still good. king is convinced that ban is the cause of all of his suffering partly bc he’s too jealous to admit that smo else got close to his sister when he couldn’t; ban has enough guilt that he just Takes It. even afterwards their personalities are kind of incompatible so it’s fun to see them hang out

meli <-> (king <-> diane): relationship drama but it’s not a frustrating bc it’s relevant to each character’s flaws and Baggage (and the plot doesn’t bother to pretend that diane will end up with melio). king has a lot of guilt over accidentally (?) ghosting his family and SOME of it’s valid (but not all). king is jealous of meli for being the target of diane’s affection but also kind of lowkey thinks he doesn’t deserve her bc of the pain he’s caused her

meli <-> elizabeth <-> diane: diane KNOWS she’s not going to be in a relationship with meli but she still desperately holds onto hope. diane’s fears about being unlovable feed into her lack of self esteem as an oppressed (or at minimum, villanized) minority

elizabeth (the princess) is firmly a member of the team and her determination and character improvement is taken seriously. she DOES get badass moments BEFORE she’s revealed to be a reincarnated angel child or whatever

diane (the only female member of the 7 sins who has a big role this season) is consistently taken seriously (by the writers & other characters)

elizabeth & diane get to INTERACT!! and BE FRIENDS!!

i love elaine. first show i’ve seen that (unintentionally? & through fantasy tropes??) nails Older Sister Disease, i.e. the oldest female sibling being left to deal with all the family business, emotional and physical baggage, while all the male/younger siblings just fuck off. caring for your family members but also lowkey resenting them. they don’t invalidate her feelings even after relieving king of a little of the responsibility for her suffering. (i liked the romance prequel manga a lot - i p much only picked up the anime bc i bought into the romance b/w her and ban)

(despite everything) meli.odas acts like a proper leader for his squad. he takes his responsibilities seriously and treats his colleagues as his equals

ngl the twist with gowther disguising himself and his protagonist hair as a disposable marked-for-death npc was really funny

aesthetic is unique and distinct from the overdone isekai dnd fantasy that’s popular atm

the first ed song by flow & granr.odeo cheers me up every time

the feeling of going on an adventure with your buddies. it’s fun!

[rokutouxei]

TIL i can write smut in 2 hours if i’m thirsty enough + get enough motivation out of being excited of pulling a reaction out of people! i’m honestly super surprised at the sheer amount of support this got both here and in the Drained Dry server, and i’m really excited where this fic might go!

kneel at the altar, confess your sins [tumblr] [ao3]

@op-peccatori​ reblogged your post and added:

You know, towards the end of it, I’d just been reduced to a stunned mess screaming WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? Over and over again 😵

I mean, you had me at jealous s*x with Theo. The intensity, his relentless, punishing ways, I’m just gasping for breath over here. You’ve reduced me to a puddle of mush and thirst 🤣😩 AND AT THE END? IM STILL SCREAMING. OH MY GOD WHAT???????? AAAAGHHHHHH 🙉🙉🙉🙉🙉

Thank you for sharing!! 💕💕 AND!!!

Happy Birthday, @assomoir!! 💗💗 I hope you have/had a wonderful one ✨✨💕

@ohno-0tome​ reblogged your post and added:

Y’all I think I died and went to heaven 💀😭❤️

The imagery is so vivid, you’re an incredible writer! Is there by chance a sequel? 👀

@tanzen-neko​ mentioned you in a post

@assomoir I am wholeheartedly both wishing and thanking you for your birthday. If these are your kinks, then you and I will great along great. Haha. @rokutouxei You, you are Amazing! Theo is my life, and you have fed me. Thank you for the food!!!

@jenodecaf​​ reblogged your post and added: 

i- i may need a moment or two or three because Holy. Freaking. Shit.

intense is an absolute understatement??? i literally feel like i was pulled under without any warning but i’m honestly not complaining because, tell me, who in their right mind would say no to THEO VAN GOGH??? actually throw his brother in there while we’re at it because that ending oh my god

this is incredible, i think i may have died and gone to heaven.

thank you so much!! that ending was really a surprise for the birthday girl because she won’t stop talking about it coughs and i really didn’t expect so many people would be into it alskdjfkalsj i’m so glad it was a hit to all you guys! theo deserves all the love in the world because he gives all the love he gets back~ thank you for joining us in hondje hell (or...heaven) LOL

to everyone i have (prematurely) sent to heaven, i am very sorry but also i hope you enjoyed your way there anyway HAHA

i am thinking of a sequel and the rest of the sandwich... i hope (cough) someone like @assomoir​ will (cough) help write it with me, huh

[captainj2]

My TorCon Experience

So I went to TorCon 2017 last weekend. If you’re at all interested in finding out how it was for me read below the cut. I’m just going to say it is long. I am not a writer. But I needed it to be documented somewhere. 

Supernatural Weekend It's starts with me skipping out of work early (a work day in which I took on two classes for lack of spares). Which means literally dropping my students off at their gym class and booking it. It is an hour and ten minute drive to the airport. I left at 2:20 for a 4:00 flight. Got there at 3:34 and the lady says " the plane is only arriving at 6:30 and you're lucky because otherwise you wouldn't have made it" but hey. Luck was sort of on my side. Because it meant I would miss my connect flight in MTL. Finally we take off and an hour flight of me telling the plane to "hurry" we land and I have 10 minutes to make the late connect ( I had missed my original connect by a long shot).  I made the connect and headed for Toronto. Friday: Arrived and registered and explored vendors room pretty early in the morning. The vendors room is fun but dangerous for your wallet! So many wonderful SPN and generally nerdy stuff to buy! (It really is important to give yourself a budget with the excitement of it all you could spend too much money)  Then I the saw opening with Rich and Rob .  Rich is extremely smart comically and he is such a good host. And well, rob is just too precious. Followed by Julian's Q&A, Emily' Q&A, and Bri and Kim's Q&A. Julian is such a fun interesting man. He clearly loved being in his home town and answering all the questions. He appeared to have a lot of fun. Emily's panel completely took my by surprise. She plays such a dark character, well literally the darkness! But she is the complete opposite. She is so bubbly and energetic. All smiles and positivity. Bri and Kim are great. There panel is so dynamic in that they have lots of fun but can also  really get deep and emotional. It's so beautiful that they are so open and comfortable with the SPN family and confident I themselves. They're such strong beautiful individuals and inspiring.

 I went home for supper but went back for Karaoke night. It was such high energy. Rich is amazing. Emily was in an adorable Tiger Onesie. Bri and Kim were smoking hot in their costumes (all circus themed) and then there is Matt Cohen. That boy is too damned fine. He had a blow up doll that we (the crowd) named Doris. Someone in the crowd was making balloon penises for people to wear on their heads. Rich and Matt's  reactions as they slowly began to notice the penises in the crowd was priceless. Matt makes amazing eye contact with every person in the crowd. It's an incredible talent and I personally think ruins you when it happens to you!  Everyone picked fun songs for karaoke and everyone sings along. I didn't get a chance to sign up but I highly suggest doing it. Into the evening Matt threw Doris into the crowd to crowd surf. It was a rather violent affair for Doris but then myself and a new friend, Kelsey, and my karaoke neighbour got the idea to stick a balloon dick on Doris.  Matts reaction was priceless. There are many videos. Rich wanted nothing to do with it. Good luck at having a voice at the end of karaoke. While waiting for my über I saw Matt step outside a side door with his handlers for some air. I thanked him for such a fun evening and asked for a photo  but wasn't allowed. Matt said "aww I would but she will fire me" which I quickly teased him about then continued on my way. I completely understood and think it's awesome that they are so sweet with the fans. The karaoke goes till about 12:30 so it's a late night! Saturday: Seeing as it was Canadian Thanksgiving I had family engagements to be at also. So on Saturday I went to con around 2:00 to see Marks panel. Mark was sick so I am thankful he still came! Mark is amazingly blunt and forward and sarcastic. If that kind of humour or style isn't your thing you make take his panel harshly but I loved it. He is so rude (but in a loving honest way). It was comical to see people struggle with his responses. He loves talking about his children. Most other things he answers short and sweet. But such a good panel just the same. After the panel I had a Mark Misha photo op. It was my first ever photo op. I was not prepared for how fast it goes. The music is loud ( to keep people from telling stories to the actors). First time photos is definitely intimidating. Mark said hi to me and I stood next to him ( as Misha was still seeing the person before me off) and by the time I realized Misha was there beside me the picture had been taken and off I went, no hug or hi! to Misha!! It was still great and the photo is great. I'm glad I got the chance to experience photo ops before doing it with Jared and Jensen. Then I had to leave for family obligations. I didn't even have time to pick up my photo ( it takes about 1-2 hours for them to be printed and placed out for the taking). Luckily the SPN family really are family and my new friend Kelsey picked my photo up for me. 

I returned for the concert at 9:30. The concert is difficult to describe to do it justice. I HIGHLY recommend going. The SPN cast has unbelievable musical talent. Louden Swain are amazing. Both their original songs as well as their covers. Seeing as Rob had his stroke in TO some wonderful fans organized everyone with a small pink candle. When Rob sang "She Waits" everyone lit up their candle in the air. It was so fucking beautiful. When Rob looked up and saw it he got very emotional and was very emotional after the song and thanked the crowd. It was an amazing moment for every one. One I will never forget that's for sure. Unfortunately Jensen was not able to make it to SNS but Emily sang ( Gimme Shelter) and nailed it.   Jason Mann's joined them. Bri and Kim both sang. Chris Shmelke played bass and the Creations organizer played keys. It really is everyone and it's so much fun. Because Tom Petty had passed away the week before there were lots of Tom Petty covers which was awesome! The concert finished around 12:30 also. Not a lot of sleeping happened on my con weekend. Sunday: Where to begin.... I hardly slept because of how excited I was. Made to it the convention center around 9:30 am. Met up with Kelsey and just hung out around the vendors room. Then went to my seat in the main hall to wait for my Jensen photo op number to be called. Luckily they allow you to have a friend in line while waiting for photo ops so Kelsey hung out with me while in line. And then... there he was in all his glory. Jensen Ackles. Holy hell. Chris Schmelke keeps the music pretty loud in the photo op room so conversations don’t take up time so you could hear Jensen’s voice. Next thing I knew it was my turn. Luckily I had had the photo op practice the day before so I knew to go slow. (I’m re-freaking our thinking about this moment..). Ok so he just looks at you so sincere and right into you and everything goes blank. I asked him for a hug with his biggest smile and he pulled me in and Chris snapped the photo and then I was off. In a daze of bliss. I didn’t even have time to absorb the musk!  Kelsey was waiting by on the other side and I stepped out of the room and just was SO happy! We had time to kill while the photo was printed and I needed fresh air post experience so we took a walk. Then back into the center yo pick up my photo. MAN oh MAN was I not disappointed. Jensen gave me exactly what I wanted. The picture is perfection ( I’ll post it when I get the JPEG) I returned to the hall and my seat and texted everyone a picture of the picture while I cried with joy about it. 

Then Louden Swain we’re doing autographs so I went to that line. While waiting Jason Manns was at his table so I popped in and got a selfie with him ( have I mentioned he is the sweetest man on earth?) then got to talk The National (great band you should check them out) with Rob Benedict and all the band signed a CD for me. Then returned to my seat to freak out again over the convo I had with Rob. (Sunday is a very highly emotional day. I’m just saying).

Then it was time for all the main panels. JDM had cancelled so we had Sam Smith and Jim Beaver and  the J2 panel.  Sam Smith is so quiet and shy and adorable. Jim is just perfect and so good at being Jim but keeping a bit of Bobby in his ways too. And J2 panel was just as expected. Perfect. Soooo funny (Talk amongst yourselves). The boys together is too good. I couldn’t wipe the giant goofy smile off my face. I never took my eyes off them. And one hour is WAY to short. Two actors should be given two hours on stage.  Immediately after was my J2 photo. My number was in the first 50 so I didn’t have to wait to be called. They were a little behind schedule so we had to wait a bit but if you are ever bored  at a con just sit outside the photo op room and watch people come out of photos. It is such a joyous thing. Then it was time for J2 photo. Luckily all the people I had met ( in seats around mine) had the same photo op times and so we all got to stick together. And Kelsey stuck around too. I always let the others go first because it meant I got to watch them get their photos and watch their joy. It truly is a beautiful thing. Once you get into the photo op room you can see the boys and it’s amazing. ( I can’t think of any original words. I’m not a writer!) Jensen was dancing and singing with the music and Jared just beams with happiness. He is such a big adorable puppy. Because they are so tall while waiting I couldn’t see them around the flash umbrella thing (aka lighting) so I just squatted down to see them for that 30 more second. I gave no shits what people thought. Jensen does this thing we’re he scans the line with his eyes...and talk about making your heart beat faster when he looks right at you ( with your giant smile plastered to your face). Next thing I knew it was my turn. I don’t remember saying hi... I remember saying “Jensen I gave you a hug earlier so I am going to hug Jared this time. But I still would love your super big smiles!” And then Jared grabbed me (I’m crying while writing this btw) and hugged me and just as Chris is about to snap the picture Jared somehow squeezes me tighter and I take big breathe in and fuuucckkkk I smell the musk.... No way to describe it. And then I’m sent on my way. Shell shocked. Walking up to them is just something else. You’re surrounded by giant man and it’s somewhat overwhelming but so good at the same time. It’s just Jared and Jensen is all you can see and they are both coming toward you. It’s truly something else. Anyhow...Kelsey and I step out and meet up with the others and we all just squeal at each other with joy and exchange experiences and share the happiness. 

Then in the shock of it all I head back to my seat for the King of Con panel. Rich and Rob are so quick and fun. Definitely don’t miss their panel(s). Everything ran late but I had a plane to catch and  started to get nervous I would miss autos! The boys came up an hour late and this is where my love for the SPN family comes in really hard/more (somehow). The people I was sitting with told me to just go in line when they called VIP and gold so I did. The wonderful people of creation and spnfamily heard that I had a plane to catch and everyone was like “ya no problem step in line”. And so as I am talking to the creation volunteer when I feel someone move me aside so I step out of the way and they walk past me and then I realize it’s is Jensen’s security and right next to me walking by is Jensen himself. I die. Then I live again and am fourth or 5th in line for my Jensen auto but all I can do is focus on Jensen’s voice. The couple in front of me are on their honey moon (#goals) and so sweet. Then it’s my turn and I give the handler my object to be autographed. I tell Jensen that I love Supernatural but I have been a Pearl Jam fan for much longer and that I have seen them 9 times. And he says “no way!” Then he looks more closely at what he is signing and sees it says ‘Just Breathe’ and he says “ this is my favourite song of theirs” and I respond “ ya it’s a great one. Eddie Veddar is great. Thanks”. And am on my way. Then I quickly scoot over to get in line for Jared’s autos. Jared has Kaleo playing and there is a girl freaking out over meeting him and he is just so smiley and like “ aww no problem at all it’s  all ok” to the girl like he is so damned sweet and a precious human being. He talks to the honeymooners congratulating them. My turn comes up and I repeat the exact same thing to him as I did Jensen ( it’s important to rehearse what you want to say otherwise words won’t happen properly I’m convinced). He smiles and says “ No Shit! that’s awesome.” When I tell them how many times I’ve seen them. (Insert I can’t remember what happens.) then I say bye and thank you and he says thanks and I say “love you Jared” and off I go. At this point I need to get going to catch my flight but I still had autos for Sam Smith so I quickly popped into line and of course again everyone is so kind. I was standing  with Lynn Zubernis (FDEWB editor / @fangasmSPN) in line and she is just so sweet. It was great talking to her. Then a quick auto with Sam Smith where we discussed how all dresses should have pockets ( the dress she was wearing had pockets) then I was off. 

It was the end of the con and I was so sad. But it was an absolutely AMAZING weekend. I was exhausted and got home and cried with joy and emotions but I think that’s normal. I wish/ hope everyone can experience a con! The end.  

Love,

Hannah

(my photo op pics will be posted eventually) 

[pjxmin]

I just read proposal yesterday and thought it was so sweet! I was wondering if you have any fics you could recommend? Jimin is my bias but I'm pretty open to any members with the reader. Thanks and keep up the good work! Kep jarng! 😁

Aghh thank you so much, sweetheart! I’m so glad you enjoyed Proposals and I’m really flattered that you’re asking me for recommendations! :D Okay, here’s a list of my fave fics that you should check out if you haven’t already. So you aren’t confused, the stuff in italics is the synopsis/description the writer provided and the indented bit is me being incoherent and lame as always.

Sin City (Jimin x reader) by @btssmutgalore: After a run of bad luck, you can go back home and admit defeat or step out of your comfort zone and look for a job at Sin City.  

Hands down the best stripper au I’ve ever read. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this fic because you never know where stripper AUs are going to go, but holy moly am I glad I gave this a chance. You will be addicted to this fic. Jimin’s character has so much depth, but he’s such an enigma at the same time and I’m dying to know what the heck he’s thinking/what his background is. The tension is so drawn out and the sessy scenes are all so different, which is really refreshing to read and you don’t know what’s going to come next. ALSO, I feel like there’s a lot of empowerment and respect in this fic, which makes me so happy. Love love love this fic with my entire being. 

Monster (Jeongguk x reader) by @btssmutgalore: You sleep with an obnoxious fratboy who used to be your friend.

This fic is perfection. It doesn’t have a complicated plot, but it’s still so interesting to read and the smut is A++++. Jeongguk’s character has so many facets and though he has a lot of issues to sort through, I’m rooting for him and the OC so much. 

Purple Jewels (Jimin/Jeongguk x reader) by @jiminniemouse​: When you fall in love with Jungkook and he isn’t there to catch you, a sudden surprise shows up to give you a little bit of help.

GENIE!JIMIN. AKLSDJFKLAASKDJFLK (I really tried not to keyboard smash but fuck I lose my shit because of how much I love this fic). Oh man, where do I even begin with this?? It’s my absolute favourite Jimin x reader fic and one of my absolute fave fics in general because it’s written so well, it’s creative, the characters are interesting, AND THE TENSIONNNN. I come so close to combusting with each part and I’m dying for more. Also Jimin’s character is so sweet and I love him so much (where can I find myself a genie Jimin???). Please please please read this!

Hiraeth (Jeongguk/Taehyung x reader) by @jungkxook: A world full of dwindling hope and lost loves and yet you and Jungkook are all the other needs to feel at home. 

This is the first member x reader fic I ever read and IT IS THE BEST THING EVER. EVER. It’s a zombie apocalypse au and it’s so angsty and sometimes it feels like my heart has been punched out of my chest and it’s such a wonderful feeling even though it hurts like hell. The world is constructed so believably and there are so many well thought out details to it, so when you’re reading it feels REAL. All the characters are different and you never know what’s going to happen next. I can’t recommend reading this enough, it is freaking incredible (and the love triangle is fucking me up so bad).

Philophobia (Jimin/Jeongguk x reader) by @minsvga: sex has its consequences, always; whether for better or for worse, sex always has its consequences. and the drunken rendezvous you have with your best friend is not an exception.

This is discontinued but it’s still worth reading because it’s so freaking hot and I love the plot and just??? I don’t usually read fuckboy fics because fuckboys are the bane of human existence, but this fic is amazing and the smut is awesome. Also be prepared to not know who you’re rooting for. One second I would want Jimin to win the OC’s heart and the next I wanted Jeongguk to end up with her, so brace yourself for conflicting feelings.

Company (Namjoon x reader) by @fireheart-namjoon​: Sometimes all you want is a bit of company.

OKAY before I scream about the sessy stuff in this fic, I really want to say that I fucking loved Namjoon’s characterization in this and it’s so nice to read an OC who is strong and independent. The writing style is absolutely fantastic and the thigh riding was 100000/10.

Retrograde (Jeongguk x reader) by @remembeo​: fantasy!au

When I read this I feel the way I do on rainy, dark days when I’m reading a book and just slip away into the world on the page. The details and the way this is written are so mesmerizing and I want to know more. You’re so swept away by everything that you completely forget about the reality for a little while.

A Roadtrip (Jeongguk x reader) by @taeinmycup​: Jungkook makes your planned roadtrip to Busan a bit messy.

Road trip fics never get old and neither does the childhood-friends-to-lovers plot either. This was a wonderful fic to indulge in and um the frick frack is pretty damn nice. Just saying.

Sutures and Stitches (Jeongguk x reader) by @hayjeon​: hitman!jeongguk and medstudent!Y/N bestfriends!au; Jeongguk always shows up to your place or hospital whenever he gets hurt because you guys are best friends and you patch him up, but he has no idea that every time you stitch up his wounds, it tears open new wounds in your own heart.

I recently read this and I am OBSESSED. I refresh the OP’s page daily just to make sure I didn’t miss an update. The writing is so detailed and Jeongguk’s character is so interesting, I just want to know what the heck happens next + how Jeongguk ended up with this kind of life.

Chrysalism (Jimin x reader) by @workofteaguk​: Bookstores have always lured you in with the promise of the quiet, the serene, and, most recently, him.

THIS IS THE SWEETEST FREAKING THING AND I WISH IT WERE LONGER. It made my entire day when I read it and I was smiling the entire time. Where do I have to go to find a cute boy like this???

It’s All Fun & Games (Jeongguk x reader) by @workofteaguk: In which you and Jungkook attempt to fake a relationship for revenge and end up with a lot more than either of you expected.

When will fake relationship AUs not be the best thing in existence? The answer to that is never. I don’t care how many times people write this concept, it will always be so fun to read because of the angsty feels. So if you’re as trash for this as I am, then absolutely read this.

Sounds of You (Jimin/Jeongguk x reader) by @vivacioustae​: As a young girl you dreamt of hearing the bells, the ones that signaled you had found your soulmate, the missing piece everyone was so desperate to find. After falling in love with Jimin you abandoned the search, hoping you would come to never hear the bells, preferring to continue your life with him uninterrupted. You’d soon come to learn the harshness of fate, and that it doesn’t care about your hopes, feelings, or you.

Listen, from the very first sentence of this fic, I was completely hooked. From the get go you know that it’s going to mess with your emotions, but it’s worth it. I love this concept so much and my heart is aching reading this. After reading the first part, this fic is all I could think about and my heart ached because I wanted to know what was coming next, but also wasn’t prepared for it. Love love love this.

Teamwork (Taehyung x Seokjin x reader) by @sugajpg​: Peculiar events occur when the two best volleyball players of your college decide to take competitiveness out of the courts.

Best threesome fic I’ve read so far. I’m just. :’’’’’)) I’m still screaming. Fml this is too good and I feel the flames of hell licking my feet but screw it. Where do I sign up for this?

Like Crazy (Jimin x reader) by @war-of-hormoan​: This story is based off the film by the same name.

Because I don’t care about my well-being in any way, I started this fic and I love it so much so far. The film Like Crazy is incredible, but it feels like you’ve been punched in the gut twenty times by the end, and it made me sob… like crazy. So this fic will probably end up doing that too and as nervous as I am for that, it’s so worth it. Everything is written so vividly and the relationship between Jimin and the OC is so sweet to read. I’m really excited to see how this progresses.

Grey Area (Yoongi x reader) by @blushoseoks: And just like that, your fate was sealed - because Min Yoongi was absolutely going to destroy you. But hell, if you weren’t going to let him, or bask happily in the flames as he did so. And sadly, at the time, you didn’t think that your thoughts would become so literal.

THIS IS SO WELL WRITTEN. SO. WELL. WRITTEN. Ohmygod, I’m in love with this writing style and THE CONCEPT IS AMAZING. The ending of part one left me feeling like I’d been kicked in the gut or something and you’re all ???? wtf is going on??? and you’re completely hooked so you binge read the rest. This fic is perfection.

Until Next Time (Jimin x reader) by @taeverie: Who would have guessed that a stranger you met through an online game would quickly escalate into a cyber fuck buddy?

OK OK OK UM LET ME GATHER MY THOUGHTS HERE. First off, how can I be the OC?? Second off, HOW CAN I BE THE OC???? I wouldn’t have the balls to actually be this forward in real life but still, this just kept escalating and they didn’t even really do the hanky panky but it was still hot as fuck and 10/10 would recommend.

Not So Honest (Jeongguk x reader) by @wonhopes: Jungkook has got a pretty big problem, and he desperately asks you for your help. 

Hi hello yes be prepared to explode ok this was TOO good oml. I’m also a slut for sub!jeongguk because that sinful man deserves to be tortured the way he tortures us so this was a glorious find (though the roles do reverse in the end but whatever THIS WAS GREAT).

Obey (Jimin x reader) by @sugasgrowl

sub!jimin. Must I say more? I spontaneously combusted like ten times while reading this and would gladly undergo that again because it’s so nice to read fics where the roles reversed and I would give up a limb to see Jimin in such a debauched state.

All To Myself (Jimin/Yoongi x reader) by @mint-tape: “It’s hard to be a vlogger when half your subscribers care more about your hot friends than you.”- Y/N, from her April 23, 2016 vlog titled ‘Jimin shows his stupid abs 8 times (not clickbait)’

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST CREATIVE FICS I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE. All the ‘videos’ and the ‘comments’ and just everything about this is absolute perfection. The characters are all diverse and the OC is really likeable. Just. I’m glad I found this fic, it’s so unique and all these extra goodies make the read even more fun.

The Blue Notebooks (Jimin x reader) by @inktae: time travel au

Honestly, I don’t even know what to write about this because I’m still speechless. No words can capture how beautiful the writing is (all her work is beautiful) and how well emotion is captured in this. Everything is so thought out and all these little details come together to form the bigger picture. Do yourself a favour and read this as well as all the rest of the OP’s writing. She is so freaking talented and we are all blessed to be able to read her work.

…Sorry, that got ridiculously long. @_@ For member x reader fics I tend to read Jimin/Jeongguk focused stuff, if it’s not incredibly obvious… Oops. Am I Jimin biased or jiguk biased? Anyway. I hope this list helped and I’m sorry it took so long for me to respond, I just wanted to get through some of the fics I had saved in case I wanted to recommend them. Enjoy!

[lilietsblog]

Strike Witches episode 1: first impression

so im gonna try strike witches: the unknown anime i chose to not familiarize myself with the premise beyond 'something like fighter pilots i think?' that i picked up by osmosis

oh hey look a discarded doll. def war is hell vibes here

cant say im a fan of the visuals from the first several seconds, the color scheme and everything seems kinda bland? the only reason im making this observation is bc i had to pause to let it load tho

oh look Very Noticable CGI

(i have a headache and am vaguely nauseous and basically am Very Cranky as a result)

man, there aren't even characters yet. it's been almost two minuets and there still aren't people for me to relate too that's a crime by which i dont mean that literally but just 'this might not be the thing i want to watch right now'

oh hey monsters okay this is better than just straight up war is hell between humans omfg in 1939 subtle 'we wanna play with ww2 era toys but without bringing up the fact japan was on the side of nazi germany' i assume sure im onboard if thats the premise

magitech??? magitech!!!

that's. their legs. in those things. are they evoking Baba Yaga and her travels in a stupa bc thats okay panty shots i think imma quit at the end of this episode

oh i. just realized this is the movie that actually makes it a bit better and gives me more hope lets try the actual first episode first

ok the first shot is of the sky and not a discarded doll that's already better

holy shit whatever this video player is it allows to load external captions from pc or url. technology progresses at an incredible pace

i love that the fighter planes are clearly shown attacking the vortex first 9u9

opening has so many girls wearing shoes but no pants. im just. this entire device's entire point is clearly to fanservice that does not mean this is bad character-wise yet ofc. i watched and liked fucking rosario+vampire. this show has a chance yet. lets see what its got

the op song is nice its also very straightforward about aesthetic of this show being 'girls without pants in absolutely non-sexual situaitons' and i can respect that

and oh look it actually does start with characters interacting right after exposition that's what im talking about

okay so now might be a good time to mention that the first context i heard of strike witches was uh. misogynist porn. like the kind that doesnt go for 'look at these relatable characters being kinky' but for 'consider: what if powerful girls got hurt instead'. so thats the context in my brain and i want to fucking overwrite it

military uniforms+panties are definitely an aesthetic and im incredibly amused by it okay every single girl here doesnt wear pants sure that actually looks like a swimsuit rather than panties and thats nice

also they are characterizing the protagonist! like i know thats not much to ask for but im going into this straight off blogging about madoka and this is just such a relief! she is kind and brave and plucky and talks gently to a scared kitten and I love her also she Does Not Think Things Through shes like the typical shonen protagonist but a girl. im in

Yoshika her name is Yoshika

and her motivation is her dad but eh sure whatever I kind of like the touch of 'it was classified military information' not sure why

theres nothing about Yoshika that qualifies her other than her personality and magic powers huh

yep thats a swimsuit aww shes a healer!

I love that the military observers rush to help as soon as they see something is off theres work and then theres helping emergencies

oh!!!! her mom and grandma are around!!! and teaching her!!! im happy!!!

Yoshika why is all that a 'but' to 'you should learn to control your power' i dont think there was any subtext of 'you shouldnt even try' there? or was it? maybe i should just trust her for now

awww Yoshika actually doesn't want to go to war <3 but this woman thinks she will because she wants to help people and she'll help people the most there I I like this ;~; I'm so happy I like this I love Yoshika's 'fuck war' instinct I love her drive to help everyone and in fact the trope of magical healer almost killing themselves to help a patient (despite it being professionally inadvisable) is actually the thing i made my very first rp character sooo :> you know. stuff something is fishy about that letter. its no coincidence it was sent just now... I love Sakamoto and her A+ social skills HA HA HA HA HA also huh... she's not in on whatever's up with that letter

Yoshika so uh alright she'll take her without enlisting her huh interesting but uh what about school I guess military and witches can override all that and it kind of makes sense to me thematically

'Britannia' gee how familiar that name sounds and i dont mean geographically

so hm could Yoshika be a military doctor without actually enlisting? how do the formalities work there i like that Sakamoto doesnt question her dislike of all things military like its unexpected but mostly bc Sakamoto's got a one track mind that has a hard time expecting anything other than what she wants to happen and beyond that its like 'sure ok a conscientous objector got it' even though its weird how there would be conscientous objectors to fighting MONSTERS its not like theres an alternative to not fight I mean also clearly Yoshika is a kid and theres room left for that in other characters' treatment of her opinions and I love that they dont get Offended that she doesn't understand and Have Proper Respect well Sakamoto doesn't at least not sure about how other people will react

man that raccoon on the road sure was convenient though. like i first thought it was Sakamoto's deliberate tactic to gauge Yoshiko's powers. she was opening her eye to i guess do just that visually and then the raccoon appeared and it just felt very natural that one follows from the other? is this foreshadowing or are the writers of this anime just unfamiliar with the concept of 'subtle' i dont mind if its the latter tbh

(im writing a ton of reflection bc the episode broke after i tried to rewind a little and i decided to download it after all, and its doing that)

so far, this show seeems nicely straightforward and fast paced. like, really straightforward. yoshiko's introduction? saving a kitten. making a ww2 era anime without difficult shit? monsters attacked in 1939. motivations and revelations are handled with all the subtlety of a hammer to the face, from the raccoon to the letter. even fanservice has the same charming quality that makes me actually be okay with the entire point of their outfits being gratuitous panty shots. making sense and having pretense is for the weak. this anime knows what it wants to be and is going straight for that. i respect that approach

also its p clear that what it wants is to be character driven and its been Delivering on that since its only half episode one and i already Love two characters personally and also some supporting cast (Yoshiko's entire family)

and like you know that in some other show GASP MIGHT MY DAD BE STILL ALIVE would be a reveal saved for like. the halfway point. but here its literally the starting point spurring everything into action bc all other motivation was just too slow to get the character where she was supposed to go. good job yo

there's this trope where the main character doesn't want to go into the main conflict (Refusal of the Call)... and very often it's handled by either 1) letting them wallow until everything goes to shit showing how wrong they were or 2) immediately conveniently wrecking everything so they have no choice now I uh. am really glad this show went a different way if just joining the conflict isnt a good enough motivation GET A BETTER ONE and IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE ANGST (and it doesn't have to be romance, either!!! why are those two the only things writers seem to be able to think of jfc)

...okay I was more like two thirds through the episode rather than half but my points stand

okay so I think what just happened was Yoshiko realized the parallel between herself and her dad leaving and got scared and her response was to comfort other people and I love that <3

I love that Sakamoto doesn't have a doubt in her mind that Yoshiko isn't going to be useless and will definitely help and also comes to her to discuss this explicitly <3

man I love Sakamoto and her absolute lack of social graces and sense of when enough is enough

and the fact that Yoshiko is working chores now and seems to enjoy it too <3

and it's when it's established that she's part of the team that Sakamoto starts showing off <3 she clearly has a dedicated well thought out campaign of convincing Yoshiko going on and its borne out not of manipulation but of clear conviction that she is right and she just has to show the girl what she doesnt know yet <3

ahaha of course showing off worked <3

so I paused and imma make a bet with myself on whether Sakamoto is going to tell her 'if you liked that you can join' right now or leave that unsaid subtly my bet is that she is, bc subtlety is an entirely foreign concept to this wonderful human being, and if i lose im going to make my bed right now not even waiting for the end of the episode let's see

oh she starts with education huh, this is not widely known? i had no idea anyway lets see if she says the thing

I love that it's her dad and it's this kind thing of 'this is what he said he was going to do, and he did' <3

huh so that was slightly more subtlety than I expected, she offered her to try them rather than trying to recruit her directly so I lost the bet gotta go make the bed now

BAM DONE YAY GOOD SELF CARE

hey more main characters!!!! I love all of you already!!! you have personality and discuss things that make sense!!! including their outfits!!! I love them!!!! the parasol girl is my favorite but also the tiny girl and the red-haired girl they are all my favorites!!!

omfg a month of travel and half a day early Yoshiko gets impatient I love her

YOU ARE A NONCOMBATANT she said with the steely confidence of a commanding officer <3

I love so much that Sakamoto respects Yoshiko's boundaries re: fighting???

OMG THE ENDING SONG I LOVE IT

I love the upbeat and airy tone this show manages to have despite the premise??? like I had trepidations at the start bc I dislike doom&gloom-heaviness of 'war is hell' narratives and I'm not a WW2 affictionado. but instead of shiny boom boom toys and angst it's all character adorableness and so much sky??? even the lack of pants ends up feeling like freedom this is the anime we all deserve