#but i have too many (read: like 2 and a half) characters that are kinda star-coded so ultimately i had to come to stardust hehe

[peppermint-moss]

(heads up I'm pretty busy this July so I probably won't be doing a lot this year orz) ✨ Let's go 3rd year doin artfight!!: https://artfight.net/~peppermint-moss

commission info || ko-fi (tip jar)

[wanderlust-in-my-soul]

Currently Watching - September

aka The Masterlist

Because I love a good little list - in alphabetical order! 😊

Regularly updated during the month, latest update 25.09.2024

A little link to my favorite bl-tropes-collection 💙

gif-requests are open, but you'll need to have some patience🌼

Here you can find all of my gifs.

At the end you can have a look at what we can expect in September with a MDL link and a link for a trailer (if avaible).

This is guaranteed to contain spoilers!

1. First Note of Love 🇹🇼 (8/12)

I need them all to communicate more. Not about each other but with each other. And really listen to the other one. Most of the episode was the side couple and one discuss why he thinks they would never work out and the other one tries to tell him why he thinks they could make it work. At least they're talking.

2. I Saw You In My Dream 🇹🇭 (11/12)

I love these two together. They just work and are cute and you can feel the love between them. Yu is a really perfect first boyfriend. He doesn't push and just accepts Ai as he is. I enjoy their relationship so much. And now I am really curious what will happen in the last episode.

3. Jack & Joker: U steal my heart! 🇹🇭 (3/12)

I could watch War looking at this ring for an entire episode and I wouldn't be bored. He really nailed this episode with his many personas he played. He is indeed a good actor and such a pretty one too. And I was screaming, when Jack gave the ring to Joker and let him get away. And next week we get some redemption work. Can't wait!

4. Kidnap 🇹🇭 (4/12)

These two are so cute. I know shit is going down soon, but until then I enjoy those two flirting with each other to the max. Min is already so smitten by Q and Q is realising, his feelings are a little bit more than just friends. I really like it.

5. Word of Honor 🇨🇳 (20/36)

Do you still believe I'll come back to this one? It is a really good series, but I can't motivate myself to dive into it right now 🙈

Finished in September

Series

Takara no Vidro 🇯🇵

We had our final today and I loved it! The fact both of them missed each other and communicated this. Taishin likes it when Takara opens up to him, because it makes him feel special and closer to him. And I get that. Takara is a person who doesn't talk much about himself, but who has so much anxiety and Taishin wants to share those burdens, because they are equal, because he wants to take care of Takara too. I started this series without any expectations and with mixed feelings, but it slowly became one of the gems of the week and I was so looking forward to this final episode! A really good 9 out of 10.

4 Minutes 🇹🇭

This was something else. You really have to pay attention to get this story. I like series with a not that sugar-coated ending and we definiteky got this with 4 Minutes. Not everyone got their happy ending. Even though Great and Tyme got their happy ending together, not everything was good here. That was kinda realistic in such a mystery series. But I must admit, I really liked Korn and Tonkla's ending. It was best for their story. I said what I said. This gets a good 9 out of 10.

Hidamari ga Kikoeru 🇯🇵

This series... I loved it with all my heart for the first half. And then I just got angry with it for multiple reasons. It is so hard for me to give this a rating. Damn. I bought the mangas because of this series and I read the first ones. The problem is, the story is really complex and that works for mangas and novels pretty well, because it gives the characters depth and well, a character. But it doesn't work like that in a series. Too many subplots take away the growth of the main characters. And if you throw in a new character in the middle of the show, don't make them that unlikable like Maya. She is way more likable in the manga. For me, the second half just doesn't work and it felt incoherent with the character development. They tried to stay too true to the source material. I wished I could love this series from beginning to end, but I couldn't. Overall I give it a 6,5 out of 10.

Seoul Blues 🇰🇷

I didn't like this one that much. Yes, they had good chemistry, but this whole cheating and evil ex plot was not for me. I don't know why. Usually I don't mind cheating plots and find them kinda entertaining, but here it was not that good. I give it a 6,5 out of 10.

The Trainee 🇹🇭

Fun thing, even though this was a slow burn and we got a bunch of side stories, I really enjoyed this series! It was funny and entertaining and showed a good character growth for all its characters. That is something we don't get that often in a series. Nothing felt like a side story. They were all important for the plot as for the company. And Jane and Ryan are just cute and precious. I give this one a 9 out of 10.

Happy of the End 🇯🇵

We got our happy ending. And a time jump, but I think it worked really well with this series. Because Haoran needed the distance to Chihiro. He needed to understand that he isn't the bad guy in the story and that Chihiro was truely happy with him. He needed to heal for his own sake and on his own. I really liked the series, even though it is one of the series with the most trigger-warnings. I am just happy to see them happy in the end, after all they've been through. A strong 9 out of 10 for me.

The On1y One 🇹🇼

This series gave me everything. A warm feeling in my cold heart. Butterflies in my stomach. A good laugh. Some tears. And a bunch of heartbreaks! Damn! This was such a good ride! Those two, Tian and Wang, are soon to be step-brothers and they're in love with each other. Tien knew this since the first time he saw Wang and we could whitness Wang slowly recognising his feelings for Tian. And we didn't get a happy ending. If you will, this is an open end, but there is no working through these feelings. We just end as devastated as Tian, because Wang has built up his emotional walls again to keep distance to Tian. Because they're will be brothers and that means they can't be lovers. This hurts so bad and good at the same time! And the acting is superb! I love this series so much! A 10 out of 10 for me.

Movie

Short Film

Dropped in September

Cityboy_Log 4.2 🇰🇷

This is too confusing for me. I don't get the episodes or the seasons and definitely not the plot. They are all friends and the whole cheating part from last season is just forgotten. I guess I will look into it from time to time, but for now, I drop it.

Looking forward to in September

Live in Love - Trailer (Sep 1st)

Happy of the End (Sep 3th)

Kidnap - Trailer (Sep 6th)

The Hidden Moon - Trailer (Sep 7th)

Jack and Joker - Trailer (Sep 9th)

Unlock your Love - Trailer (Sep 11th)

The Time of Fever - Trailer (Sep 12th)

Love Sick - Trailer (Sep 14th)

Bad Guy my Boss - Teaser (Sep 15th)

Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Sep 17th)

Chaser Game W2: Utsukushiki Tennyotachi (Sep 20th)

Uncle Unknown (Sep 20th ?)

[blackheart-6]

dess-ember day 31/31

very long thoughts below the read more!

hi yall

woo-hoo, ive finished another month of dess-ember!! it really has been fun, if very time consuming, but ive made many pieces over this month ive loved and had a great time sharing them all with yalls 😄😄😄

but anyways, lets get to the final entry! its a bit of an unusual one :D

its some pixel art!! i have only done 2 other pixel things this month (i originally wanted to do more, but i am very slow at it 😔), so i felt like ending with it wasnt a bad way to go!

i took dess, noelle, berdly, kris, ralsei, and susie and made some different sprites of them, which were taking the way i draw them and making them into sprite version, and also me making omori style versions as well

i had a couple different versions of the art, layed out in different ways, but stinky tumblr only lets me have 10 images. unfortunate 😔.

but anyways, now weve got the main part, each individual character! you can skip past this if you dont want to hear my thoughts i had while doing the individual drawings, its kinda alot :/

i put them all in a format like this, hopefully it isnt confusing!

we can go in order of how i have them in the very first image, so we can start with kris :D

kris was a very fun one to do, they were actually the second one i made, and them turning out so well is what led me to making even more. i feel like im pretty much entirety happy with them, the omori style turned out cute, and the deltarune style isnt half bad either! i did forget to give them bangs though, like i normally give them in my art, but i was too much of a bum to go back and fix it after i finished :|. i feel like they translated very well ❤️

next would be ralsei, but im doing him last actually, because he has the most to talk about 😤😤

now weve got susie! her hair in her canon form was tricky to translate into the omori style, but i think it was worth it, cause it turned out well! and i think her canon dark world omori sprite might be my favorite i made, her outfit turned out great!! im not as fond of my versions of her design, they didnt translate that well into sprites, but it could be worse lol. her face was a bit difficult to do, since the omori head shape is meant for a human, but i think she turned out good regardless 💜

next is berdly, and im so sorry for him, he turned out roughhh. if i thought someone like susie, with her head, was hard to translate into the omori style, it was nothing compared to trying to turn berdly into it. with his beak and his head feathers and wings and his legs... yeah, it was not a fun time 😔. i tried though, and i dont think its entirely bad! the legs are probably the worst part, they are kinda hard to see, but the rest of it came together... kinda. dont get me started on turning my version of him into a sprite though, i dont wanna talk about it 😫. sorry berdly, if i ever sprite you again ill make it up to you 🩵

next is noelle! she was the first i did, and i feel like she turned out so cute 🥰🥰🥰. her dark world, my version, deltarune style sprite might be my second favorite one i made, i think it actually translated well to sprite art. her fur is a bit rough, gradiants are tough in pixel art, but i dont think its that bad overall. but yeah, im pretty happy with her 🤎

penultimatly, weve got dess! gotta have her, its dess-ember after all!! hers was hard to do, trying to take my own design and alter it to make it more canon (mostly, i just simplified some things, but i dont think it looks enough like a canon sprite :( ill keep trying with it), but i think she turned out cute as well! im not entirely happy with it though, as i said, i might go back to fix up the deltarune styled ones at some point 💚

lastly, weve got ralsei. ohhh ralsei, how cute you are, but how difficult you were 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫. to start off with, i had a goal in mind for the deltarune style sprites. normally, when you look at the canon ralsei sprites, you might notice they look a bit different. obviously theres the hat, and the fur color, but its more than that.

theres so many differences, and yet my goal was to make the sprites lose all those differences, and be more consistent with each other. i didnt think it would be too bad, but it was a rough time. i made his hatless version easily, and i was like, oh, ill just add a hat, change his color, itll be easy!! ...it was not easy 😶‍🌫️. i did that and he looked so wrong, it barely even looked like hat ralsei at all 😖.

i mean, that doesnt look right, right?? so i had to keep editing, and changing both versions, trying to make them better. i spent so much longer on him than anyone else, but at the end, i think it was worth it! i feel like he ended up adorable, but boy was it work 😂

the omori sprites of his were pretty easy though, once i had all the deltarune sprites down i just omori-fied them, took barely any time. i did make his outline purple though, like the headspace denizens, since hes a darkner 🩷

but thats it for that! this is where youd wanna skip if you didnt wanna read all that lol. now for me to yap about this month, and dess!

i feel like this was a pretty productive dess-ember!! i definitely ramped up my art from last year, trying to do as few small drawings as possible. was that a mistake? maybe lol. it was certainly difficult, and led to pretty much every drawing being late because most of them took like 8 hours or so, but i suppose a couple hours late doesnt affect much, and i still did all 31 entries!

and id say while it was a struggle, it was a good thing i did it! i enjoyed my time drawing, and sharing all my art with yalls is always a fun time for me ^^ and i really do like drawing dess, i think i made a pretty good design for her all those years ago (like 2) 😊

there is the question though, of 'what about next year? will you do this again??' and to that i say... i dont actually know haha. i would want to, even if im busy i could always do a smaller one, but the real thing that could affect it is that, in 2025 we are getting more deltarune!!! im more excited than i could ever say, but if we see dess in canon, then i dont know if ill do another dess-ember. there would be my design vs canon design, which would be strange to reconcile with, and i imagine someone would probably do an official month for her of art prompts.

but thats all if she even appears. if she doesnt, well, expect me back next december to do this! if she does, ill have to think about it, so we will see then ^^

anyways, ive had a good month doing this! it may be a bit before i post new art, to give myself a break, but ill be back 😄

bye yall, and happy new year 2025!!! 🥳🥳🥳

[affluent-havoc]

Byakuya's Mom?

I find her fascinating with her non-existent ways cus, depending how one interprets Byakuya's backstory, she can be vastly different! Perhaps his mother is still around in his life as a duo with Kijo, maybe the two having a sorta connection despite Togami's not allowing to be wed cus screw the rules. They wanna live their Disney Villain fantasies. Or, maybe the two are still together but not, Byakuya's mom simply being another cog in the Togami Conglomerate's machine in which both Kijo and her just ignore each other's existence. Maybe, instead of that, Byakuya's mom just had a business like contractual obligation to birth Byakuya, either via the sex or with Kijo being the sperm doner. Then, she simply gave birth and fucked off, either staying in whatever country she's at or booking it somewhere else around the world after being paid off by Kijo. Perhaps, she's living a cozy life as a botanist. Furthermore, another interpretation, one I've actually seen a bit in fics is Byakuya's mom somewhat being in his life for about a couple years just to raise him before he went of with Kijo. Depending on the interpretation, she can be an actually sweet person who may actually miss Byakuya when he eventually is gone, maybe not teaching him too much of anything but at least introduces him to the piano (maybe the violin too). Or, maybe, instead of being nice, she honestly couldn't care less of a shit about Byakuya. It's also interesting seeing these different Momma Togami and how Byakuya feels about here. Or well, not really Momma Togami cus she's not a Togami but there is literally no information on this woman anyway. For all we know, Byakuya could have just been born in a lab with how he never talks about her in canon. Hell! Byakuya could have 2 dads and we'd never know. For the sake of simplicity though, I'll still blab about his hypothetical mother. Which, depending on the interpretation can depend on if 1. Byakuya even remembers her 2. If he has fond memories of her 3. If he even cared to any extent about her and who she is 4. If he gained anything from being in her care. It's safe to say that he didn't really care with his motive video but again, it's really fascinating thinking about this hypothetical character and how little they matter, how mysterious they kinda are, and the interpretations that can be brought from the fact that, for the most part, someone had to give birth to make Byakuya Togami be born. Additionally, cus I dunno how to squeeze this in... ALSO LIGHT SPOILER LANGUAGE HERE! it's also a bit interesting imagining the hypothetical of his mom living somehow after the tragedy. After all, the Togami's fell but it never said that anyone who is tied to them but not a Togami themself died. So, Byakuya's half siblings (or some of them) could still be alive along side his hypothetical mother. That's about it though! Hope this was an interesting ramble! Stuff like this fascinates me and, as someone who really likes Byakuya, many readings on his backstory, character, and family is just really neat!

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Happy New Year! I've been writing too many recaps lately so this will be brief. Anyway as usual, spoilers and opinions below, read at your own risk.

QL - Currently Watching

🇹🇭 Caged Again [9/10] - I don't think the poachers escaping and going after them again was necessary, and it certainly wasn't well executed.

🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name [1/8] - I love the visuals, it's all very deliberate, with the lighting , the colours and all the lines. I'm intrigued about no-name and the scheherazade of it all. She must be running from something, or someone. Probably the second. 🇹🇭 Fourever You [15/16] - I don't know why I'm still watching. I really don't. 🇯🇵Miseinen [9/10] - I think some of the changes they made from the source material really didn't help the story in the second half of the show. And this last episode just felt like they were more focused on continuing the visual metaphors than to actually move the story forward in a way that made sense. I'm kinda disappointed tbh.

🇹🇭 Perfect 10 Liners [11/24] - I really like YothaGun. Mostly because I really like Yotha, mostly because I really like Perth. But grumpy/sunshine pairings are a favourite of mine and they are really good in those particular boxes. I need to know what happened between Yotha and Wa, although I think he probably cheated on him which is why Yotha goes around breaking couples up.

🇹🇭 Sangmin Dinneaw [2/8] - Something was off for me this week besides the subs. Maybe it's just that I'm not crazy about this new love interest, ad by that I mean, I hate that dude. Or Maybe it's the sides. I don't know. But this episode lost some of it's charm for me.

🇹🇼 See Your Love [11/13] - It's like watching two shows in one. On one side we have the most endearing couple. They are completely in love with each other and helping each other through their individual issues. And the other...I don't really know what's happening.

🇹🇭 The Heart Killers [6/12] - I'm still watching quietly.

🇹🇭 ThamePo [4/12] - They are so charming and earnest. And Est is too beautiful for this world. More thoughts here.

🇯🇵 When It Rains, It Pours [1/7] - I'm very curious. I really like the setup, it feels grown up. Also I'm curious if the gay couple, is actually a couple, or if maybe they were once but now they stayed together for convenience or some other reason. We'll see.

🇹🇭 Your Sky [7/12] - They are very compelling to watch. So precious. But this last episode wasn't great. I hate what they are doing with Oh and really hope he just goes away. Great ensemble though.

QL - Finished

🇯🇵Love in the Air Koi - I appreciated the condensed stories, with less filler and the parallel kidnappings. And I preferred this version of the second couple.

🇯🇵 Love is a Poison - I adore them. Shiba is such a fascinating and original character. The actors did an incredible job, and I could watch them be battle husbands for 5 more seasons. Oh and the succulents. I will miss them most of all.

🇹🇭 My Stand-In - Final thoughts here.

🇹🇭 Spare Me Your Mercy - It's interesting in the context of euthanasia but not much else. The crime part of this was messy and the romance was practically not existent or otherwise not believable.

Others - Watched

🇹🇭High School Frenemy | 🇨🇳Fangs of Fortune | 🇯🇵Lion no Kakurega |🇰🇷 Squid Game 2

Coming in January: 05/01 - 🇹🇭 The Boy Next world 06/01 - 🇹🇭Ossan's Love Thailand 09/01 - 🇯🇵 When it Rains, It Pours - 🇯🇵 Call Me by No-Name 15/01 - 🇹🇼 Impression of Youth

I've finished my yearly recap by country. Korea | Thailand | Japan. I hope you all have the most wonderful year. As usual my ask box is open. 💜

[apostaterevolutionary]

So. Veilguard impressions so far (I’m about 13.5 hours in). Most of these are mechanical as I don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough time with the companions/story to have many opinions on it, but I feel like I at least have some opinions worth noting lmao (mostly no spoilers but like. Maybe a little so read at your own discretion)

Things I like:

I’m honestly still shocked my computer can actually run it and overall very well too

Character creator is super detailed, I love that

I keep falling off of ledges lmfao so I’m glad there’s no penalty for that

You can pet all the cats and dogs!!!!!

Also love that there’s no carry weight to contend with but I still get to pick up a ton of random items. It satisfies by urge to pick up anything that isn’t nailed down. This is great, especially after bg3 sksks (which I also enjoy as a game but pls why does gold have weight 😭)

So far I like the new companions a lot and I do enjoy these early game little almost… domestic? Or just small scale? Quests you have with them? Idk I dig it. I wasn’t sure about the ‘bond’ thing at first but on further reflection I like that you can gain approval-equivalent just by bringing them along. Makes things easier

I don’t dislike the vibes tbh like I’ve seen people say ‘oh it’s too happy and positive’ and like. Okay yeah 2 of the 3 companions you recruit early on are very bubbly but we also got blight horror all over the place so idk, maybe this is a complaint I’ll understand later but right now I don’t agree with it

Oh and I love the lantern system for when companions have dialogue - it’s a clever way of signifying when they’re all in different buildings

Things I don’t like:

I kinda get what people are saying about the handholding. Why do I need a little tip to tell me ‘[companion] has noted that you told them [thing you just said]’ 😭

Also while the new companions are fun, I do think Harding got hit pretty hard with ‘previous game lore dump’ duty cause damn. Admittedly I don’t remember her personality in inquisition super well but a lot of her dialogue just feels. Off in that way. I get it was necessary to do it somehow but. Oof. I feel bad for her cause it makes me less interested in her 😔

This is minor but I don’t like how when you load a save, it’s not actually where you saved. It’s at the last fast travel point. So it’s like. I found this hard-to-find spot last night. Saved. Planned to continue the quest the next day. Except! I have to find the spot again! And I forgot where it was! Why!!! This is absolutely a remnant of when it was a live service game but woof, why keep that in

Also bringing back the 100 save limit - actual worst feature of inquisition, why the hell would they keep it 💀 if anyone knows a mod to fix this, pls let me know, I need to have like 800 saves per run or I’ll die okay

And this is the big one tbh. I’m sorry but I really don’t like the combat 😶 like. Every boss fight is just the arishok fight except with help. Getting Lucanis has given some improvement cause now there’s at least another melee target on the field but at this point, I’m looking for a stealth option on that giant skill tree (why is it so big! I have no idea what I’m doing with it!!!) so I can go full skyrim (stealth archer) lmao. I’m hoping when I actually get to recruit a warrior (why is this the last class you get, that feels backwards), it’ll get more playable cause I’ll actually have a tank. Right now I just cannot understand why everyone says this is fun, I have had pretty much no fun in any of the fights (I’m becoming the person I was poking fun at before when I said it’s weird to play games if you don’t like half of it skskdk. Also ngl I would not be powering through if this were not a game I already had a vested interest in). Also how did anyone play a mage and make it through the first 10 hours, like I have NO idea. I’m very glad I didn’t, it’s hard enough with a rogue

Neutral observations/thoughts:

I’ve decided to play rook as like. A discount version of hawke? Cause I feel like that’s the kind of person varric would seek out, like a spark of the familiar is what drew Varric to them. And that’s adding a bit of fun headcanon flavour

(Also I have some suspicions that things are not as they seem with Varric but. We’ll see on that I suppose)

Also it’s funny cause I’ve always been a Solas neutral person (like him well enough but never understood why he was such a big deal to either the lovers or the haters). But I do find him more annoying here lmao. Maybe cause I’m rping too hard and Rook finds him annoying but I just think it’s funny

Also genuinely could not imagine this being someone’s first DA game sksks they are going to have no idea what’s going on lore-wise

[arliedraws]

In the books, Sirius's devotion to Harry is of course very deep, but it never translates to something physical. He only shakes Harry's end when he leaves his bedside in book 4, and in book 5 there is something resembling a hug, like twice...? As a dog he stood up his hind legs and front paws on harry's shoulders and a half hug after Christmas. Idk it sort of drives me crazy, because in the movies Harry and Sirius are so affectionate! That first hug when Harry arrives in Grimmauld!! Gary and Dan had an amazing chemistry that other actors were jealous of, they mirrored the book characters, so it palpable on screen, the few scenes Gary is in at all at least.

So, what do you make of this? Do you in musing for art imagine a more affectionate relationship between Harry and Sirius? Maybe if Sirius survived the war? Molly's hug in book 4 was a poignant moment but imo that should have been a moment between Sirius and Harry. Sirius already says he expected something catastrophic to happen to Harry in the third task, that's what he stutters when Harry comes in with Dumblebore. So he is literally afraid of his godsons life and it still shows of course, Sirius staying at Harry's side was very beautifully written, like the devotion is clear, but I am foaming at the mouth for more affection between them in canon? Platonic, not shipping. So between the movies and the books Im just kinda torn what's better

It's more a rant than an ask, sorry lol, but if you have any input I'd he so stoked to read it. Not many peeps in the fandom even give Sirius and Harry any time of day, nvrmind even understand what they had (which also drives me kinda nuts but ok)

Ohhhh, anon, you’ve come to the right spot! Mostly because I love them. I would say that 80% of my fandom interest is just Sirius being a dad to Harry.

To your question, I don’t think one is better than the other. Each has their purpose. Let me share my thoughts:

1. I am soft for movie Sirius and Harry’s affectionate touching. However. The dynamics of their relationship were NOT mirrored from the books, which…is fine. Honestly, I just don’t think it was a priority for the filmmakers. This particular bit doesn’t bother me because the movies are not supposed to replace the source material—they are an interpretation. To me, watching the movies is like reading fic—fun to watch but not canon. Also, the filmmakers removed so much of their relationship in GoF that they HAD to make Sirius and Harry physically affectionate in order for movie audiences to see what losing Sirius would mean to Harry. Their complexity is completely unexplored in the films, and they had to do SOMETHING to get the audience to feel sad when Sirius died. This started in PoA when they really downplayed the context of their relationship. (Lol, see my rant on PoA. I really don’t like that movie hahahahaha.)

2. In the books, Harry and Sirius are not physically affectionate with each other despite their intense love for each other, and I think this is an effective way to show characterization. As I tell my students, this might have been intentional by the author, but it could have been an instinct that she followed (what feels right for the characters).

Here’s what I think: both are so terrified of losing the other that they won’t allow themselves to get too close, and, crucially, they both fear showing vulnerability. Touching someone and reaching out for a hug or comfort is an extremely vulnerable thing to do. If you reach out for a hug, you are showing your true feelings. To be rejected physically is sometimes more devastating than someone telling you to just “go away.” It’s a sign of trust to touch someone—you are trusting that they feel the same way about you, and you are trusting that they won’t pull away. Both Sirius and Harry understand rejection, and both avoid it. How do you avoid rejection? You distance yourself.

I’ll put the rest under a cut because I think this might get long…

Sirius and Harry, for all that they love each other, fall out of trusting each other by OotP. Part of this is trauma, but it is also miscommunication. Harry is worried that Sirius will do something stupid—either out of concern for Harry or because he wants to get out of number 12–but he’s worried he’ll lose Sirius. So by withholding affection (which I’m not sure if he knows how to give physically), Harry distances himself from Sirius which will, theoretically, keep Sirius safe (of course, it backfires). Sirius is…you know…going through stuff in OotP. He is already vulnerable—he perceives himself as being emasculated because he’s not allowed to leave his childhood home and he’s relegated to performing ‘uninteresting, domestic work’, and he must be inactive when he’s a man OF action.

When it comes to Goblet of Fire and the odd handshake… I think Sirius is reeeeeally holding back. Harry does NOT want him to go, and Sirius knows this. (Why DOES Dumbledore send him away? Literally anyone else could have “alerted the old crowd” and NOT the convicted murderer. This is clearly the author’s excuse to get Sirius away from Harry—and, I’ve spoken to this before, Sirius is too much of a miracle character—too smart, too loyal, too loving to support the story that the author wanted to tell.) Sirius, if he had stayed, would have been the emotional support that Harry needed. So if Sirius holds Harry, what if Harry doesn’t let go? What if Sirius himself can’t let go? A handshake will have to do.

So Sirius leaves Harry with that bizarre handshake. That Sirius leaves at all damages their relationship—it could have been repaired with time (if they’d been allowed time), but this moment makes Harry realize that he cannot rely on anyone, not even Sirius. This leaves Harry to be isolated in OotP, and it leaves him to feel like he cannot trust anyone. I’m not blaming Sirius for leaving, but I believe this action causes a rift between them that carries into the next book.

My point is, I HATE that they don’t touch but it is very important that they don’t, at least when it comes to the story that the author wanted to tell. I think it was the right move when we look at the story as a whole. Do I like it? NO! But it’s interesting, and it DOES feel right for them. Is it devastating? Yes!!!!!!!

TL;DR: I don’t think either interpretation is necessarily better than the other, but they both have their purpose. Both are effective!

Touch is…huge in HP. Consider Voldemort’s “I can touch him now” and causing Harry pain. Touch is a privilege, and to be touched without permission is a violation. Harry kills someone by touching them. He is only touched by his family when Dudley beats him up or he gets shoved in his cupboard.

Weirdly, one of my absolutely favorite moments when Sirius and Harry touch is in PoA when the Dementors are closing in on Sirius, Harry, and Hermione, and Harry, as he’s about to faint, reaches out to grab an unconscious Sirius by the arm, thinking something along the lines of “the dementors weren’t going to take him” and such. And this is about two seconds after Harry has accepted that Sirius is telling the truth! Harry physically tethers Sirius to him—this touch-starved teen reaches out to this man who is now everything to him, who is now his only real family, willing to risk death (or worse) to keep it. BUT THEY JUST MET!!!!! Devastating!!!

Also…another thought: the first time Sirius and Harry touch is the first time Sirius has been touched as a human in twelve years. And Harry is beating the absolute shit out of him…and then Sirius nearly strangles him…

Also, also, not to like…self-promote, but if you want some Sirius & Harry family feelings and a wee bit of affectionate touching, I wrote a one-shot where they talk about their feelings in OotP.

Anyway, this got longer than I thought. Thank you for the prompt!!

[rexlroze]

𝟐 — 𝐃𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐭

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Hobie Brown / SpiderPunk x Fem! Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 4.5k

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Use of Y/N, No physical description of reader other than mostly height comparison. Swearing, Mention of alcohol, drinking, vomiting, Fluff.

𝑁𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑔𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡

A/N: I honestly had to rethink this over and over again so many times even though I was like half way thru the damn chapter so that's why making this took me long, also the fact I have the attention span of a child. I was really not sure about this whole thing cuz it kinda felt too sudden but hopefully, it turned out fine? for me it did tbh but like. *blink* yk? Or maybe it's just because I'm not confident in my fucking writing skills and need validation for every damn step I take<3 But anyways, I made half of the notes for this chapter during math class and the teacher caught me so that too (Spoiler Alert: I got sent to the principal's office :3) but that's besides the point. Also if some of the characters were a little OOC, I'm very sorry- I tried my best to make them as accurate as possible (some inaccurate shit tends to get on my nerve, mostly if it's produced by me) annnnd I need to stop ranting💀. I don't take requests nor do I plan on doing so in the future. Happy reading! 😉

Chapter 2 >>> Chapter 3

Each Stroke of paint is smooth, filling the wall with a little more color than before. The bristles of the paint brush gently swipes over the wall. Music flowed into your ears and through, making you hum.

The atmosphere was calming, like nothing could ever—

“Whatcha listenin’ to?” A teasing voice appeared beside you making you jump and your shoulder tense up.

Right. You forgot he was still here. Pushing your headphones off, “a song.” You answered flatly, turning away from him, your back facing Hobie as you dipped your paint brush into the thick minty liquid that was within the metal bucket and slid the brush across the wall.

“Really? I'll have to check it out when I get home.”

You scoff at the sarcasm in his tone.

After yesterday, he helped you with a little cleaning. You thought he was probably going to dip and disappear from your life after that so when he returned the next day (today), it did surprise you a little. He's been just hanging around. You don't know why, he doesn't owe you anything. “Why are you helping me again?” You turned to him with a quirked eyebrow.

“Mate, you've asked me that like 4 times already.” 

“And each time, I haven't gotten a proper answer.”

This time, he's the one to scoff. “Is it that bad to want to just help somebody?”

“You're dodging the question again.” You say in a sing-song voice.

He holds his hands up in surrender, “aight aight. I'm just tryna help out a friend of a friend, y'know? Plus. I ain't' hurtin’ anyone, right?”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

“Exactly what it means, love.”

You sighed, your arm falling to your side. Your other hand coming up to pinch the bridge of your nose, “okay. I'll admit, I'm being a little… douchey.” You say, biting your lip, “But I can't say that I don't appreciate your help, and company.”

“Little's an understatement.” Hobie quipped, snickering to himself which made you throw a side glance in his direction. An innocent smile spread across his face. 

You rolled your eyes turning back to the wall to continue what you were doing. Hobie took it as a sign to pursue his side of the wall.

A small spot was left just at the top of the wall making you push yourself up on your tiptoes, trying to get to the empty white patch on top of the wall.

Hobie, who was distracted by his own work, took a glance at you when he heard a few groans of frustration. Seeing you so frustrated over such a small thing brought a small smirk to his face. He settled his brush down into the paint bucket and made his way to you, your head turning to him when you caught a glimpse of him in the corner of your eye extending his hand, beckoning for you to give him the brush you held.

You raised your eyebrow but gave in, settling the brush into his extended hand, your fingers grazing his palm before you quickly withdrew your hand to your side.

He stepped forward closer to you and the wall, making you step back away, giving him space as he took care of the last white spot on the wall. 

“Thank you,” you gave him a small smile and a nod.

“No problem.” He returned the smile. You two stood there holding eye contact. His eyes were as pretty as they were in the poster. No. Prettier. You thought, why? You didn't know. 

You quickly cleared your throat and looked away to look at your progress the two of you had made whilst he sunk the paint brush back into the depths of the mint paint after filling the small white spot with paint.

The two of you had already completed three walls, the last wall was just about half done. The only other thing left to paint was the closet, you'd get to that later.

“You wanna go get a drink?” Hobie suddenly asked, turning his head towards you, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his leather vest.

You rubbed a hand over your jaw, the thought of a break was very enticing right about now since you'd been busy for about a solid 4-5 hours. You answered after a second or two of silence. “Sure. I could use a little break.”

“Good cuz I know an awesome pub around here.”

“Lead the way.” You said extending your arm towards the door.

—

The two of you walked side by side, Hobie’s gaze fixed on the rock he kept kicking in front of him during your walk, yours lost in the sky that was split into hues of yellow and pink.

“So, I haven't really seen you around here before.” Hobie suddenly spoke up after his rock companion got left behind, a small pout formed on his face which disappeared as quickly as it appeared when it did but obviously he wasn't going back just to retrieve a rock.

“Just moved here about a few days ago, used to live in York with my parents.” You answered, crossing one of your arms behind your head.

“Hm.” He nodded before silence fell over the two of you again, seems neither of you knew what to say. Your eyes lingered on the sky, watching the purple mixing into the pink and orange.

This time, you decided to break the silence. “So, where are we going?” Your head turned towards him, tilting your head a little.

“It's a surprise.” He answered, shrugging his shoulders.

“It's a bar.”

“Your point?”

“I mean, how ‘exciting’ can a bar really be?” You snorted.

“Depends, you ever been in an underground pub?”

“No— say what now?” You gawked, turning to Hobie with wide eyes who just smirked and lifted his chin. When he didn't continue elaborating further, you decided to poke at the subject. “Wait, c'mon. You gotta tell me more.”

Chuckling, he let out a low whistle. “No, I don't.” 

“You can't just tell me we're going to an underground bar then shut up. Like- what if I get kidnapped or sumn?” You exaggerated, throwing your hands up in the air.

“I'll be right there beside you, love, won't even let anyone lay a hand. Good?” He proposed, playfully tilting his head a little.

“You're torturing me.” You groaned.

“Maybe that's my plan.” He shrugged, flicking invisible lint off his jacket.

“...”

“How do I know you're not the one who's trying to kidnap me?” You narrowed your eyes at him. “Doesn't it seem oddly weird you just randomly appear at my parlor, offer me help and now you're taking me to a very secret underground bar.”

As Hobie heard you ramble on, he couldn't help but start to chuckle. His chuckle twisting into a flown blown laugh as you threw a playful punch in his shoulder.

“Tell me. You have trust issues or something?” He chuckled, wiping an unshed tear from his eye. “Just have a little patience. It'll be worth it, I promise. I mean, you can always go back if you’re too paranoid.”

“Hilarious.”

“I'm being serious, I can walk you back right now if you'd like.” He offered, slowing down.

Your lips parted as you thought about it for a quick second before shaking your head. “Nah, no thank you. I'm coming along.”

“Hm, suit yourself.” He shrugged looking back to the front of the street. Your footsteps falling in sync with one another once more.

Silence taking over, punctuated by the honking motorcycles and cars and the birds chirping.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

Twelve minutes later, the both of you stood before an abandoned 2 storey office building. It looked like it hadn't been used in decades with its cracked windows which reflected the creamy moonlight. Graffiti turned the concrete structure into a riot of colors, doodles, swear words and penises with overgrown vines that clawed their way up the sides. 

As Hobie strode towards the door, his hand inches away from pushing the door when you suddenly spoke up, “it's in there?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” He said turning his head towards you, “I know it don’ look it but I promise it's on purpose. Keeps the coopers away.”

“Ehh… I don't know. I'm starting to believe the whole “you're trying to kidnap me” thing.” Skepticism traced your voice.

“Oh, c’mon. Just trust me.”

“That's what I'm scared to do.” You scoffed. “This looks like a place where serial killers would stuff their victims in.”

“Dunno, never tried digging around. Two bodies at best?” He analyzed jokingly, covering up his laugh with a cough as he saw you pale a little. 

“You're not funny.”

“Dunno ‘bout that, love.” He snickered. “You comin’?” He didn't wait for you to answer before he disappeared into the building.

You crossed your arms tapping your foot, not wanting to follow him in because of your stubbornness but something about standing alone sent chills down your spine.

I'm gonna kill him. You quickly sprinted into the office-like building following Hobie's direction, running away from something you don't even know.

You find yourself walking behind Hobie who walks up to an elevator across the room. The walls were crumbling, chairs laidon the floor, tables flipped upside down “Why the hell is this place so run down?”

“It's a meeting ground made by the government, basically all the corrupted and secret shit that they wanted no one knowing happened around here but word got out. Eventually punks started graffiting the grounds, protesting, sneaking in and eventually drove them out to who knows where. Started using it as a club and a speakeasy after cuz it was spacious grounds. Coopers don’ blink an eye towards this direction cuz they're bloody cowards.” He casually explains (leaving out the part where he whooped their asses and corrupted all their data with a chip he made as Spider-Punk but you didn't need to know that.) 

He pressed a few buttons which opened up the elevator doors. Wordlessly, he gestured to you to get in.

“And you know this how?” You lifted an eyebrow climbing into the elevator, he followed suit.

When you asked that, it brought a proud smile to Hobie's face, “I was one of the punks.” He answered nonchalantly without glancing at you, the pockets of his leather vest stuffed with his hands. The elevator door slid back together locking the both of you in.

“Of course you were,” you said it like it was one of the most obvious things in the world for which you got a little nudge in the shoulder from his elbow. He pressed a button on a small keypad beside the door making the elevator flow down.

The elevator finally stopped making a small chiming sound after what seemed like minutes but in reality. It had been barely more than 40 seconds. Guess time just slowed down when you're in the presence of awkward silence… or Hobie.

The doors opened up letting bright neon lights seep in and illuminate your face. The ‘bar’ (which looked more like a rave) was more lively than most bars you've gone to. Vibrant blends of pink, blue, and yellow casted over you.

“W'dya think?” A voice shouted over the blasting songs, Hobie's voice. You just stared at him wide eyed, unable to make up a coherent response. “You'll get used to it.” He nudged you before stepping out the elevator, signaling for you to follow him.

You shook yourself out of your daze and promptly caught up with him. You swore to god you've put way too much trust in someone you met a day ago. Maybe not even a complete 24 hours yet but you're too deep in and too stubborn to turn around.

“You come here often then?” You arched an eyebrow in his direction, his gaze straight ahead but he tilted his head a little to meet yours.

“Occasionally. Usually—” He was cut off by someone who called out to him in the crowd. “Yo, it's Hobie everyone!”

People glanced in your (his) direction, waving at him and cheering him on. Said man waves back, winking in the direction of a few gals who probably fainted with how excited they got but you didn't bother checking.

“Mr.Popular, huh?”

“That's one way to put it. I come here to hang out often so I know people.”

“Do you usually take all your girls here?” You suddenly blurted out, heat clawed its way up your neck when you processed what you just had said. He raised an eyebrow, unable to suppress the shit-eating grin that came onto his face. “Shut up, I didn't mean it like that.” You grumbled, turning your head away from him. 

“I didn't say anything,” he shrugged, feigning obliviousness. 

“You implied it.”

“Did I?”

Something about his tone just wanted to make you sink into the floor and become one with the secretundergroundbarraveparty (whatever it was) or maybe punch that stupid smile off his face but you didn't do either. Instead you continued making your way through the crowd with him until you reached a bar. Several drinks lined up on several shelves behind the counter. You could tell that it wasn't just some cheap liquor crap either. It made you wonder where they had gotten it from.

He sat down on one of the stools, locking eyes with you before patting the stool beside him. Before you could say anything, your body moved on its own, settling yourself on the stool. Nobody else was really seated near your guys, most of the people were already drunk and partying.

Hobie leaned back against nothing but the air particles, his eyes resting on you when you stirred a little, turning to face him, “what?” you tilted your head.

“Nothin’, just thinking.” He gave you one of his small smiles before his attention averted to the raven-haired girl that walked through one of the doors that was hidden behind the counter. Her eyes fell on the two of you making them pop open, “are my eyes deceiving me or are those my most favorite people? Y/N, you didn't tell me you were in town!” She beamed.

“Yuri?” Your eyes harmonized hers. “I was gonna surprise you but… wait, what're you doing here?”

“Me? I work here, babe. The real question is what are the two of you doing here, hmm?” Yuri gaped, leaning against the counter. Her arms crossed over it.

“He dragged me into this.” You said pointing your thumb at the man beside you, making him gasp dramatically, “nah nah, I see how it is.” He drawled, turning his head away from you.

“Drama queen.” You accused, punched him in his bicep. The two of you acted like you had known each other for years by now.

“Ooh, you two must be close.” Yuri cooed, tilting her head, her cheek squished up against her hand as she watched the two of you interact.

“We met yesterday,” you scoffed, turning down any further suggestions that she could blurt out.

“Is that supposed to make a difference?” Yuri sassed, wiping a glass mug down with a cloth that was under the counter.

“Yuri.” Your eyebrows knitted together making her smirk, “what? I'm being serious.” She smirked.

“If this is you being serious, I don't wanna know what you being unserious is like.” Yuri snickered, placing two mugs in front of the two of you. Her body twisted around pulling out one of the alcoholic drinks out of the shelf and shaking the bottle before pouring it into your glass. “So darling, how've you been, how's Camden treating you so far?” She asked, pushing the two mugs across the counter towards you too.

“It's been alright. I've been working on my parlor recently. Otherwise… nothing special. Oh, Spider-Punk also saved my brain from spewing out like three days ago so that's something,” You shrugged when you suddenly heard Hobie choke on his drink, his beer going down the wrong pipe making him cough harshly. You and Yuri raise an eyebrow in his direction.

“Bloody hell. Sorry, this- this drink is really strong,” He sputtered, clearing his throat. He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, tears stinging his eyes.

“Okay…” Your tone contained skepticism in it, “you good now?” You asked to which he nodded. “Fantastic.”

You nodded, turning back to Yuri. A silence washing over the three of you even with the blast of music and chitter chatter in the back.

Yuri opened her mouth to say something but quickly closed it when she heard the door squeak open. A brunette walked through, his face flushed as he stumbled towards the counter. “Hey!”

“Flash!” Yuri squeaked, her eyebrows knitting together. “You're not supposed to drink during your fucking shift!”

“Bloody hell. Chill, mom.” He rolled his eyes, voice awfully slurred leaning his hip against the counter but miserably failing after almost falling.

“Ay,” Hobie lifted his head in a greeting while you sat beside him thinned-lipped.

“Oh my god. Hobie, is that you my man?” Flash exclaimed, throwing his arms out in a hug but unable to reach him due to the counter that separated them so going for a high-wave instead that he missed by a head.

“The one and only,” Hobie snickered, grabbing Flash's wrist and guiding him through the high five properly.

Flash clicked his tongue, turning his head towards you, “Ooh, and who's this pretty little thing?” He smirked, grabbing your hand that laid atop the counter and pressing a kiss to your knuckles. You gave him a polite smile, retracting your hand. You opened your mouth to introduce yourself but Hobie beat you to it. “Y/N Y/L/N. We met yesterday.”

“What he said,” you dipped your chin in agreement.

“A pretty name for a prettier lady,” Flash winked at you when Yuri pushed him away with her whole hand pressed up against his face, “don't mind this idiot. He always gets like this when he's woozy.”

“‘m not woozy.” Flash grumbled, pushing her hand off his face and crossing his arms over his chest like a child who didn't get what they wanted.

“Sure you aren't.” Yuri rolled her eyes, wiping the black marble counter with gold veinings etched into them with a scruffy cloth tinted a light brown at hand (you assumed that it used to be white once.)

“Just a little bit, alright?” He grunted.

You tune in and out of the conversation thinking about what you could do back at the parlor, what you still need to do and improve, how you're going to start developing and promoting your work. Making a website could do me goods, never hurts to try. Maybe I should make a Facebook page— You jumped out of your twilight zone when a pair of fingers snapped right in front of your face.

“Welcome back to earth, love.” Hobie's voice was the first one you processed. 

“Sorry, just got some things on my mind.” You ran a hand over your head till the nape of your neck, letting it settle there.

“I can see that,” Hobie took the empty glass of beer in your hand and replaced it with a refilled one. Your eyes lingered on his hands, watching them with precision before your eyes found their way back to your glass, staring at the foam floating at the top of the glass. You brought the glass up to your lips letting the liquid burn down your throat.

Hobies eyes lit up with amusement, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Calm down, love. The drink ain’ gonna run away from you.” He quipped, his fingers gently wrapping around your forearm pulling the drink down from your lips. Your body slightly tensed up as his warmth seeped into your skin and throughout your body, your eyes meeting his.

Hobie's amused smirk seemed to drop into a line when he noticed the change in the atmosphere. His eyes stuck on yours, yours on his.

The tension suddenly drowned out by the cackle of Yuri who was watching Flash flirt (and fail miserably) with some gals that sat a few seats away from the two of you. His hand quickly untangled itself from your arm finding its way back onto the counter. You let out a breath of relief thankful for brief distraction.

Flash trudged back to where the three of you were, his shoulders slumped with a small pout planted on his face after the girls left with scowls and disgust etched on their faces.

“No luck?” Yuri teased.

“Shut up.” Flash huffed, snapping his head away from her to which Yuri hummed smugly.

Hobie reassured Flash by giving him a small pat on his back whispering some words into his ear that seemed to lighten him up. 

“Hey, up for some dare or drink?” Flash beamed suddenly, his movement more animated than before.

“What?” you tilt your head quizzically. 

“Dare or drink, do the dare or chug a beer.” Flash summarized with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

“Oh no, I should probably get back in a couple of minutes,” you interjected, waving your hands in the air dismissively. 

Yuri frowned, “c'mon babe, my shift is almost over. It won't hurt you to have a little fun, y'know?”

“I really shouldn't-” You protested but quickly folded with Yuri's small pout the alcohol in your system. I'm so gonna regret this later.

—

“Chug, chug, chug!” The three chanted while your hazy eyes tried to focus on the mug of beer in front of you. This might've been your fifth drink of the night, but could you blame yourself? You were definitely NOT texting your fucking ex that you missed him (given by our dear Flash). Not in a million years, but it was more tempting than chugging another beer and inevitably using the next person near you as a vomit bucket.

“Fuck, 'm gonna vomit.” You slurred, putting the glass mug down on the marble counter. Somehow, even with four and a half beers in your system, you could kind of think properly.

Kind of.

“It's the beer or the dare, babe.” Yuri reminded, wiggling her finger.

“Mhm,” you pinched the bridge of your nose trying to rub the blur out of your eyesight. “I-I’m going to find the bathroom.” You shook your head, standing up clumsily. You swallowed the saliva that had built up in your mouth but it didn't help with your slurring at all.

You just whipped around and showed yourself the way towards the bathroom which you had no idea where the fuck it was simply disappearing into the crowd.

“That's not even the direction of the bathroom.” Yuri murmured, sighing defeatedly.

“So… who's going with her?” Flash raised an eyebrow, his eyes bouncing between Hobie and Yuri. The two stared back at him, making him raise his hands in the air defensively, “not it.”

It made both Hobie and Yuri roll their eyes. Yuri turned towards Hobie, opening her mouth to say something but Hobie interrupted her before she could.

“I'll go, ya both enjoy. If we don't return, we left, ‘ight?” Hobie gave them a curt nod and small goodbyes before he headed your way quickly just in case you were about to do something stupidly stupid and wouldn't be able to take it back.

Hobie strutted through the packed room, hands in pocket, eyes searching for a certain (h/c) headed individual. His height an advantage as he could see over the array of people. His nostrils taking in a whiff of the sweat and alcohol mixed in with the air, dancing bodies bumping against his.

Where did she go? He bit the inside of his cheek, eyes wandered over the room, skimming through the crowd but unable to spot you. You went in the complete wrong direction so you couldn't possibly have made it to the bathroom.

Should he call your name? Probably not, as tempting as it was, you weren't really a lost child.

He caught a glimpse of you – your back turned to him whilst you talked to two other girls. He doesn't remember introducing you to them. Maybe you knew them already? He pushed the thoughts aside, walking over towards you.

He tapped your shoulder, “Y/N-” only to freeze in his stance when he saw ‘you’ turn around.

“Huh?” The amber-eyed woman looked Hobie up and down, her eyes sparkling. “Sorry, can I help you?” She spoke softly, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“Sorry love, thought you were somebody else.” He explained noticing her smile slip a little.

“Oh.” She murmured melancholy, plastering a fake smile on her face. Hobie nodded and quickly left before she could say anything else.

Something – Someone – suddenly slammed into his side, his hands reaching down and grabbing their waist to steady them.

He looked down, finding your hazy eyes melding with his, “you good?”

“Just a little… light-headed.” You reassured, rubbing your eye with the heel of your palm unable to ignore the uneasiness in the back of your throat but you didn't see why he had to know that.

“You wanna get outta here?” Hobie suggested, watching you narrow your eyes at him before nodding and mumbling something he assumed was a yes.

He moved his hand up wrapping around your shoulder and leading you towards the elevator.

—

Ding.

The Elevator had reached the top, the metal doors sliding out revealing how the dark blue had taken over the sky, multiple glowing specks adorning the sky. What time was it? Where were you two going now? You wondered, your thoughts racing from one to another. At least they hadn't gone completely blank… yet.

Your body moved on its own — with the help of Hobie, of course. Otherwise you'd probably still be tossed around the crowd like a colorful toy among a group of children.

You'd rushed over dipped your head over a plant pot that busied the wall right next to the elevator when you reached it. Gagging and retching, expecting your half-digested lunch and almost 5 beers to make a quick reappearance but it never did.

“You feelin’ better?” The voice snapped you out of your musing.

“Nope,” you answered with a pop of the p. “I think… I think it's probably gotten worse actually.” Your answer was slow, trying to comprehend each syllable you spit out of your mouth.

“Eh, should've known better before dragging ya into a bar and making you chug beer.” He sighed, feeling you lean against him while he continued to steady your movement.

“Probably.”

“Definitely.”

“Did you enjoy at least?” Hobie asked, trying to make some good of the situation.

“Mhm.” You crooned, stumbling over your own foot but never making it to the floor. He twisted the door knob that probably would've broken down if the breeze of air was too fast. “So where do you live?”

“Eh… my apartment.” You answered.

He chuckled at your ominous answer, “and where would your ‘apartment’ be?”

Huh… your apartment? It was on street… Your thoughts went blank. Did you just forget where you fucking live? yes. Yes you did. But if you think hard enough– nope. nothing. Maybe you shouldn't have drank that much.

With how long you were silent for, Hobie realized the problem. “Ya forgot?”

“I forgot.”

𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @the-kr8tor @missshelleyduvall @hobieszeze

Banner(s) by @/cafekitsune

[stardustpr1ncess]

This may be slightly insane to say, however, did anyone else think season 2 is kinda mid so far? Like slightly act 1 but predominantly act 2.

The most all encompassing issue being it's moving too damn fast. Shows having under 10 episodes is hella annoying generally but season 1 felt nowhere near rushed. So many elements feel thrown in that will either get no explanation, we didn't even ask about, or will have an incredibly quick conclusion in act 3.

The entirety of the Ambessa and Mel storyline feels like it both came to a crawl, while also going in the most crazy direction. With the introduction of REAL WITCHES, Mel being part witch (?), and Ambessa just generally being fucking annoying. Like her daughters been kidnapped (once again by fucking witches) and yet she's just bounced to manipulating Caitlyn instead, fighting her goofy ahh war with Zaun, and trying to develop a technology that is essentially impossible to do without the inventors, who are missing from her perspective. When she could be... Looking for her daughter that's like her #1 priority?

The new characters are dummy uncooked. There's the fish enforcer, WHO WAS NOT EVEN NAMED OR GIVEN LINES BUT WAS THROWN IN THE MAIN GROUP ANYWAY. That's like all the info on him. The shield enforcer, please refer to the fish enforcer.

Then Maddie who gets her own paragraph because I know ppl will have quite the reaction to her lol. For the very, very surface level info we have about her, she's cool. She's snatched Caitlyn when Vi wasn't looking, I would've done the same. But once again... Besides that... She doesn't serve the plot besides 1 conversation with Vi, and fucking Caitlyn (which once again, mad respectable, I feel her grind but not like how Caitlyn did-ANYWAY). They only gave her like 2 scenes in act 2 as well 😭. Maybe she'll get 3 in act 3 who knows.

You may have noticed I didn't mention Isha in with the new characters. That's because she's more related to jinx' story than her own character, which in this case is fine. She's essentially what Milo and Clagger were to Powder, but now Isha with jinx. Kinda just a catalyst for act 3 character development. Not much else to say, at least rn, and by me.

Vanders (no, I'm not calling him Warwick. The only time the show says that's his name is in the subtitles. His name is Vander.) arc is moving at the speed of sound, if he's even still alive. He's turned into The Hound of the Lanes (way cooler name fuck you) essentially to see if Singe can, destroys a prison, Jinx and Vi find him and reunite as a familyish. Makes sense so far. They take him to Viktor, who then has a montage of trying to help him, he seemingly has a break through, until the spooky military lady pulls up and Jayce "kills" Viktor and the spooky magic makes Vander a lava monster and the kid shoots him with the spooky magic gun-WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?! HALF OF THAT HAD NO DIALOGUE. No interaction with jinx, seeing the person she became. No reassurance for Vi, who feels like she's failed at everything. Just turn into a lava monster lol. The flashbacks were cool if not unnecessary since Vander and Silco's reasoning for revolution was never in question.

We're just gonna hope Jayce and Viktors story gets more development in act 3, which seems to be the main arc act 3 cared about.

So yeah, turns out I was much more passionate about the season than I thought, lol. Oh, and if there's something I didn't mention, it was either peak fiction or so miniscule it didn't feel worth mentioning.

Thank you for reading.

[ooojudithooo]

Go watch Star Trek Prodigy, it´s awsome

Here be spoilers, I guess

With everthing going on at the moment I really needed a lot of distraction and binged Star Trek: Prodigy season 2.

And it is awesome. Really good. Story wise the best Star Trek I have seen in years, if not ever. It masks as a childrens show, as many good shows do, and it certainly is fun for (older! Those monsters are scary!) children, they just can´t appreciate the details of it all.

This was made by hardcore fans. They watched every show, read every book, comic, leaflet, fanfic that was ever written, they played the games and assembeled the models. Then they put it all together, wrote an amazing script, hired every Star Trek actor they could find and animated it with an obviously much higher budget than season 1.

There are so many easter eggs, you have to watch it three times to even scratch the surface. I certainly didn´t get half of it (which is mainly because I pretty much stopped watching after voyager and only kind of sampled the new shows). There a obvious things, and there are things like naming the new vulcan character Ma´jel. I only got that after looking for fanfiction (as one does) and saw it written for the first time. Speaking of names, theres a humpback whale on the new Voyager, and their name is Gillian (I got that one)!

There´s Catherine Janeway. I love her. There´s Janeway and Chakotay being lovey-dovey like in the series, before it went all to shit in the last season (I was so mad. They were my OTP before I even knew what that was. Seems I was not the only one).

There´s Wesly Crusher. I had a crush on him when I was 17 and I still have a crush on him now when I´m 47, and it´s "just" Wil Weatons voice and an animated character in a cableknit jumper. With me being aro ace that is really an accomplishment (mind, I have a crush on Wesley, not on Wil). His story arc is great!

The story is really good. It´s so tight-knit, that you kind of jump in at the beginning and come out dazed and delighted at the end. The young protagonists are exactly that - young, enthusiastic, sometimes brilliant and sometimes very dumb, carrying the plot with ease (they are also very much traumatised from their life before, but doing their best in all circumstances).

Of course there are also thing I did not like that much, like the Vau N'Akat, who got a bit too much spotlight (kinda like the Klingons in DS9), or the animations, which were, as said, much better than in season 1, but still weirdly clunky sometimes.

But still, a very good series. It´s the kind of Star Trek I want to watch - lovingly written, well acted, weird and funny and sad. And full of hope. No, not just hope, certainty, that it will get better.

Go watch it, I want season 3.

[olderthannetfic]

You know what obnoxious thing I keep seeing in fandom I wish would stop? This absolute need some people seem to have for their ship to be Representation in some way. Shipping is just imagining scenarios between two characters! You don’t need it to be a Special reason or whatever? I have a ship that is popular and people make weird vague comments about how the fandom is racist because both of them are white and there are other ship options that have poc so the white ship being big is a reflection on how racist the fandom is but the thing is…

Look I’m going to be real with y’all the fandom is for the game Detroit: Become Human and let’s just say the two major black characters are basically stereotypes written by a neocon lib boomer in a story that itself is imho…let’s call it tone deaf and corny af rather than overtly racist but yeah. Black folks on twitter regularly mock this game for good reason. It is very much a boomer white man’s idea of the civil rights movement but with robots. The robots sing actual slave hymns. The main character is essentially a light-skinned Martin Luther King Jr (dubbed Markus Luthur King by blktwt lol) and the religious allegories of him as a savior figure are very on the nose. It is bad lol. It’s not that I wouldn’t want to explore the black characters but the fandom is full of young white people singing the praises of this writing while patting themselves on the back about it which is genuinely uncomfortable to be around. Just my 2 cents but the virtue signaling and insane policing around those two characters makes it unbearable to interact with their content it is deeply sanitized and you WILL get death threats if you attempt any nuance or are critical of the (kinda racist imo) way they were written in canon.

The worst part of this is that Markus has a popular ship with a character a lot of people read or interpret as a more soft or femme gay man and you know what zoomers hate? Femme gay men. So obviously this is made to be ‘problematic’ in some way because these people can’t just admit to being femmphobic/homophobic themselves.

Sometimes it’s easier to stick with the boring white characters in the background because they aren’t being closely guarded by stupid reactionary people who are used to flashing their favorite fictional poc characters as tokens of their own goodness and virtue.

--

The pinnacle of this game is that moment when the black lady lectures her son about why they need to run the robot underground railroad to Canada.

I watched some playthroughs. Unsurprisingly, I liked the buddy cops with the good development, not the cringey activism plot with too many foils and not enough development of any single relationship and not the the Women Care About Babies plot.

But if I were going to do something fannish with Markus, I'd write him having a fucked up relationship with his mentor's son post game—the surrogate son who thought the guy was great and the estranged son who knew he wasn't but who has also done a bunch of shitty stuff himself.

It's especially hilarious when tryhards think the problem is not enough people shipping Markus with North as if the slashers are going to be into 1. het and 2. yet another unnecessary traumatic sex stuff backstory for a lady.

Even worse, half the whining isn't even about that Nines fanon nonsense being more popular than Markus: it's about how Markus/Connor would be better than Hank/Connor because old people are ew.

Sorry, children, a lot of people are here to thirst for Clancy Brown and because they'll turn up for any Caves of Steel ripoff. Other Connor ships were never in the running.

[jinkiezzsstuff]

if you don’t mind me asking, when are the next installments of the transmigrated reader series coming out?

So sorry it’s taken so long! It’s been a wild couple of weeks and I’ve been jumping from fic to fic tryna get each one complete! I hope this is a satiating enough! Hopefully when life lets up a bit i can write the longer shit i like to do teehee

Transported (3)

Hazbin crew x male!reader

characters featured: Emily, Sera, Lute, Adam, Vaggie, Charlie, Sir Pentious,

part: [1] [2]

words: 1.3k

warnings: swearing, sera is implied to be kinda bad kinda a hater, adam calls you big balls little dick, male read btw, goat reader, readers implied to be tall, shortish, sir pentious is gonna be a lad, not proofread!

Standing alongside Vaggie and Charlie in the courtroom, you guitily tuned out the entire ordeal, you’d seen the scene many times before and lietened to the song on repeat, that actually was a problem as you starting singing along with the two of high made Vaggie give you a confused look. You however simply shrugged that off like it was nothing.

You waited for the scene to be set and for the three of you to be forced into the portal Adam would create and be good onto the next. However that didn’t happen, instead Sera, Lute, Emily and Adam came down in front of you Charlie and Vaggie, the other angels flying away. “So big dick goat boy, what’s the shtick with you?” Adam clicks his tongue, hands on his hips as he looks up to you, inwardly you panic but hold together, giving a quick glance over to Sera who looked quite menacing at the moment. “What do you mean?” Charlie stepped in, exhaustion lacing her tone, understandably as she just found out her girlfriend is an ex angel.

“Well it’s just that big balls little dick here is outta place, even Sera said-“ Sera promptly cut the first man off with a stern call of his name and a glare. He sulked crossing his arms and sticking his tongue out, however he kept his mouth shut. Charlie didn’t seem like she was in the mood to question what Adam was going to say, thank goodness, but Sera didn’t seem to be done. “You know, some of us were born to be, and others made to be, but none of us just appear out of thin air we all have a purpose in heaven, or hell.”

Charlie crossed her arms shrinking back, probably making the assumption the comment was about the hotel, however Sera had her sight set on you, her eyes glowing with meaning. You glanced over at Adam and Lute, Lute seemed to giving you a hard glare, but Adam didn’t seem to care scrolling through his phone. “We do all have a purpose than, even the ones who appear out of thin air may serve a purpose.” You claim wearily, yet attempt to keep your ground as your eyes bounce from person to person. Your hands shoved in your pants pockets you stood tall, horns sticking up high past your head.

“Yeah, cool, whatever-bye bitches! we’re coming straight to your hotel this extermination!” Adam broke the silence butting in, now this is what you were familiar with as the portal opened, Adam shoved you three through, Charlie freaking out and trying to get at Adam. You caught one last glimpse of Sera’s cold gaze as the portal closed, and you just know things aren’t gonna be good from here.

~

Vaggie was downstairs at the bar, not drinking but just sitting. She wish you didn’t see the way things played out, and she was embarrassed you found out she was a fallen angel too. Walking up to the bar, your hooves clopping against the ground alerted her of your presence before you slid into the barstool beside her. She didn’t bother looking up at you, or even saying anything to you, just at quietly.

She half expected you to sling out questions one by one about her being an exorcist, however you just sat quietly with her. In your mind you wanted to comfort her, but after today it would be too suspicious for you to act in a way that is too out of the ordinary, like giving the impression you’re an all knowing fortune teller. Instead you gave Vaggies back a few comforting pats, when she looked toward you, you offered a small smiled.

Vaggie seemed to appreciate the gesture smiling back and giving a nod, you’re hopefull things lighten up soon. As Vaggie went to open her mouth an inquisitive look taking over her features, the hotel doors slammed open, and in walked Angel with Alastor. “Weird there coming in together.” You mutter, giving Vaggie a look, she hummed in agreement. Angel plopped himself down on the couch, meanwhile Alastor lingered creepily in the back, close enough but still far. “So how’d things go with the holy? What’s the plan?” Angel asked lounging across the sofa, Vaggie nervously looked around scratching the back of her neck.

“We don’t…. Charlie will come up with something a big plan is going to happen.” Vaggie affirmed, out of the corner you watch Alastor fade into black goop, you already knew the plan was going to go down… but should you really intervene? It seems your presence in the show has already caused disturbances in the way things are playing out, if you stop the deal from happening who knows what crazy twist things will take.

But… you know the angels can die, which is what Alastor wants to make the deal for. In the middle of your inner battle the green shot through the room making you tense. “Too late,” You mutter watching as Vaggie run off. “What did you say bad boy?” Nifty creepily asked breathlessly, hugging the bottom of your leg. You grimaced watching as Angel gave you a look, Pentious slithering into the picture. “Nifty, invading onessss perssonal ssspacce issss very rude,” Pentious reason hissing out his words, you smile at him genuinely, watching as he tried to poke the little devil off.

She hissed like a demented animal, and clung tighter to your leg. “Don’t test her, I saw how she can be with Val.” Angel muttered, Husk who entered behind the bar not long ago spat out his drink. “Angel!” You tilted your head confused, oh right, they went to the bar, and you’re not supposed to know that. Acting confused, you attempt to save Angel the lecture of keeping his mouth shut, instead you simply bent down and tore the cyclops off you. “Hey, Pentious?” You questioned plopping Nifty down, her cackling and running off. “Yessss?” The snake hissed tilting his head, you wrapped your arm around his back guiding him away from the others. “I was curious about your inventions, and you would know better than anyone..” You trail off your hand making a circular motion as you try to find the words.

“You think Id know better than anyone?” Sir pentious said in astonishment sparkles in his eyes. You smiled at him and nodded. “Yeah, i want some scientific advice.” He clapped his hands together happily, ready to help. “Do you think it’s possible to move between like universes? Like falling into a wormhole?” You questioned as nonsuspiciously as you could, however Sir pentious was used to his egg boys madness and didn’t mind it at all. He perked up hands tapping on his lip as he though.

“I supposssse? We’d have to confirm the existenccce of other universsesss firssst.” He said matter of factly, you hummed, trying to figure out how you could question him further without him questioning you back. “I’m just really interested with theories of other life and realms, especially since finding out hells real.”

The snake nodded understandingly as he listened to your explanation, it seemed like he was trying to figure out what to say. “You know that isss quite interessssting! I’m alwayss ssso focussed on killing machinesss! I’m going to do sssome sstudying!” Pentious proclaimed finger in the air, you chuckled at his over the top reaction, but pat him on the back bidding him ado as he slithered off. Fiddling with the cuffs on your suit you wandered aimlessly back over to where Angel and Husk stayed situated.

“Heya babe~” Angel whistled at you dragging your attention away. “Yeah?” You say a little air headed like, you felt weirdly about everything especially after seeing Sera and the angels, you wonder what they saw in you that the demons couldn’t? “Wanna play a card game until the others come down?” Angel guestured over to Husk who had the cards between his claws.

Might as well relax a bit, after all it’s only a matter of time before the battle.

[a-girl-in-neverland]

Hii TSH fandom

I just finished the book (literally an hour ago) and i have many feelings and questions and a insatiable need to ramble, so buckle up if you want to

Maybe upon reading this post, you might think that some things are a bit dumb or that i could have worked out on my own. So let ME be the first to admit, that i AM a bit slow and that sometimes i become so invested in a story/book that i do not take a step back and analyse the characters, symbols, metaphors, reading in between the lines etc.

So without further ado:

Warning for The Secret History SPOILERS!!!!!

• Somewhere in the first half, its mentioned that Bunny takes medicine for asthma and that could be the reason for him putting in weight and being irritable, but Richard says that he later found that was for another reason. What was it? By the time this is mentioned i dont know if the farmer has already been killed or not

• What happened between Francis and Bunny? I read a theory that Francis may have tried something but i dont think that Bunny would still want to be friends after

• Why did Francis, Henry, Charles and Camilla put up with Bunny? He doesn't seem like a good friend, uses them for their money, doesn't seem interested that much in greek or classics (actually i got the feeling only henry and richard were more interested)

• In the beggining, Richard sees Henry and Julian talking. And Henry kisses him. And the stuff they were talking. What was that about? Was Henry just Julian's favorite or was something else there?

• In the second half, it has this whole drama and tension between Charles and Henry. I get why Charles is pissed. I don't get why Henry is tho. That scene which Camilla tells about this meeting with a lawyer, Henry is furious with Charles but I dont get his reasons. Was it just because Charles wasn't accepting his manipulation anymore?

• Kinda off topic but has anyone suggested Luther Ford as a fancast for Francis? He's the only one i could picture in my head

Kinda off topic part 2, i read the book in brazilian portuguese and the translation was... well, it could be better. Has anyone else thought so too?

Also, this is the second Donna Tartt book ive read (first was the goldfinch) and i still cant put into words how these books made me feel. The characters are insane but so compelling. The book is lengthy but every single part is important. I cant just say it was a good book, it doesn't feel right or does justice to how i felt

Anyway, if anyone has made it this far, thanks for the patience and for letting me ramble. Hope you have a great week and dont do cocaine in the burger king parking lot <3

[0nyxvesper]

OBEY ME REDESIGN/AU? KINDA? -PART 2-

Art -> Part 2 -Lucifer- (Art at the end)

Here's part 1 - (RAD fonctionnement rewrite + satan's character sheet) read this first for context please !

Hello (again)! My name is Onyx and I'm an artist with too much free time and a lack of sense of priority which unables me to draw important stuff for my personal projects and makes me create or redesign silly little characters instead :)

Today, I wanted to explain how I view devildom's hierarchy and what makes certain demons more ''powerful'' than others

START OF MY RAMBLING !

First of all, in this rewrite, the royal family is still the head of the devildom. They own and control the lands as well as assure the demons living there's well being, but it's not a monarchy, as in, they don't have the power to do anything they want.

When the og! game's MC arrives, Diavolo and his father are the only royal's left (even tho daddy's too busy sleeping to care about his kingdom and his son)

But the fact that they own the kingdom does not mean that they're the strongest demons there, in fact there's several demons that could be a big threat for them, which is why sharing the powers that come with being the ''main'' ruler is very important to the royal family as it ''protects'' them from harm (it's like a political agreement, don't ask me how it exactly works I'm far from being an expert. I'm just a little dude with a lot of imagination.)

Basically, here's a little chart to explain how power is distributed (the main things, not everything) (from most to least powerful):

1)

The devildom's king is sleeping so Diavolo temporarily has his powers as well as his duties

Privileges:

-Can use the devildom's funds for whatever he thinks is a good thing for the kingdom/demons, for example, the RAD (BUT: at least half of the dukes have to agree with the project for it to happen)

-The devildom's inhabitants technically have to follow his every orders ( Some exceptions can apply)

Obligations:

-Ensure the citizen's safety and wellbeing

-Organise all of the devildom's celebrations/events

- If there's a war or a conflict, has to ensure the citizens safety but doesn't control the devildom's army himself (He can give orders but someone else decides if the army will follow him or not, the army is only obligated to protect the citizens, they decide if they attack or not basically)

2)

The dukes : they each control a part of the devildom's economy and use it in one sector each (i don't want to decide how many they are but like, there's one that ensure the food stocks, one for the healthcare, one for the entertainment... That kind of things)

As previously stated, if Diavolo starts a big project thats going to cost a lot, they'll have a meeting to talk about it and vote if they agree or not, Diavolo has to get at least half of them to agree to actually start the project

3)

The avatars (our babygirls)

Each of them basically controls one of the ring of hell according to their sin (the lowest ring is Belphie's, the reborn demons have to got through all of them to get to the devildom, see it at climbing a big moutain of suffering before getting to the long waited rest)

Also demons that commit a crime (or multiple) can go back to the rings as punishment, starting at a different height depending on the intensity of the crime

In extreme cases, some demons are doomed to stay there forever

4)

The army (Levi plays a big part in there but we'll talk about it when I'll redesign him)

5)

The newspaper club (surprising, I know, but they're actually so infuencial that they became extremely powerful)

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

Now, as for the demons themselves, they're different kinds of demons! (Mainly 3)

1) The reborns are the least ''threatening'' kind : they're basically humans/demons that passed and came back because of their sins, they all go to RAD at least the first time they're reborn so they technically all know about ''regular'' magic but its extremely rare that they get a connection to an element. They usually then get assigned to a job and have to work until they pass (which is usually a long time)

2)Then we have the hellborns, they're regular demons but that were created and born in the devildom. Same as the reborns, they go to RAD, then they can either start a working life or stay at the academy for as long as they'd like. As they didn't ask to be born here and technically did nothing wrong, they have full freedom over their life and aren't assigned to a specific job or anything (they still have to follow the rules and are punished if they do bad things)

3)And finally, we have the fallen angels! Even tho it's extremely rare for an angel to fall, it still happens and the brothers aren't the only one. They also have to go to RAD to learn the devildom's ways even tho they already know ''regular'' magic. It's extremely rare that they DON'T have a connection to an element. They don't have to go through the rings of hell since falling from heaven is already a huge punishment.

END OF RAMBLING, THANK YOU FOR READING Y'ALL ARE AMAZING <3

As for the redesign.... here's Lucifer!!

I know, I know, I took a lot of liberties and it's difficult to see him as the same character as the og!Lucifer, but hear me out:

WHY. IS. HE. RED. IN. THE. FIRST. PLACE.

Because red is a ''menacing'' color?? Why does he have red eyes to begin with, he's an angel!!? They all have designs more or less related to their sin BUT PRIDE IS IN BLUE??? AND EVEN IF IT WAS BECAUSE HE DENIES THE FACT THAT HE'S A SINNER, RED ISN'T BLUE'S OPPOSITE!!!!!

I'm okay.

BUT WHY.

Anyways <3

ABOUT THIS REDESIGN

As stated on the drawing, Lucifer is bound to light and wind, although his connection to wind is pretty recent and is due to him refusing to use his fire powers since the fall. His connection with fire was becoming so thin that another element connected itself to him : wind. So he's basically one of the first person in the three world bound to more than two elements, even if he refuses to use one of them.

As for ''regular'' magic, he's especially skilled at counterspells and unbinding curses/hexes (probably mainly due to his siblings's fuckery) but also excels at most types of offensive spells.

He also makes sure to always wear blue in public but rarely wears it in private, I think that wearing blue reminds him of his duties and image as an avatar and that not wearing it makes him feel way more comfortable (that's why he doesn't in the comfort of his house or with his close friends)

ALRIGHT that's it for today, tysm for reading, I hope my rambling was enjoyable to you ;)

But before leaving, shoul I call the player ''MC'' or is it okay for me to use my own name (I don't want to break your immersion) (Said name would be Onyx)

Much love!

[zhoudadudugongjin]

what is favourite all time 5 cdramas are.....? im currently looking for recommendations on what to watch

girl i simply cannot pick my 'top x amount of anything' because i immediately start considering too many variables and my head explodes, but really it depends very much on what you enjoy. so far i have only watched costume dramas (though i'm still staring longingly at the next station is marriage (2015) and crying at the lack of english subtitles) but even those that i've seen vary drastically in terms of style and genre. take the starry love (2023) and three kingdoms (2010) for example and they are as different as chalk and cheese, but i loved both!

from an entirely objective point of view, i think the one drama which is a must see, on the basis of its strengths in regards to storyline, costumes, music, characters and overall design is nirvana in fire (2015). the plot is quite complicated and you might still have no effing clue who half the characters are 20 episodes in (like me) but it's still SO worth it my the end and everything ties up perfectly. so if you haven't seen it, that's my no. 1 recommendation.

if you're the right kind of insane and interested into a gritty, deep-dive into real history, and aren't put off by a show that's:

25% crusty old men riding around on horses

25% crusty old men stabbing and killing each other with fire

25% crusty old men sitting around in rooms discussing the merits and drawbacks of stabbing and killing each other with fire

25% crusty old men forming borderline homoromantic devotions/obessions with each other, holding hands every 5 seconds and crying buckets of manly tears

then i recommend the three kingdoms (2010). i'm very silly about it and i love it to pieces. also some of them aren't even that crusty and old, and are actually kinda pretty. there are also a couple of women on screen once in a while.

if you enjoy history but want something that's even more dedicated to homo-eroticism abut also more palatable to the wider fandom tastes regarding overall aesthetic, then you should absolutely watch the advisors alliance (2017). i made a whole-ass power point about that the other day which you can read here!

if you insist on all your romance being subtextually gay, then there's always the untamed and word of honor, but they're already super popular within the cdrama fandom so i'm sure you're probably already familiar with them, and i just don't feel like talking about them right now so i won't. like don't get me wrong they are good i was obsessed with them back when i first saw them but idk, i just feel kinda over them both atm.

(p.s if you really wanna see boys kiss there's always meet you at the blossom (2024) which was made in thailand specifically so the boys could kiss. it was ok i guess, but it was too short and romcom-y at the time for me to really get into. literally the only character i cared about what su yin).

another show i watched recently that i really enjoyed was the sleuth of ming dynasty (2020). it's another one that has a bit of everything - great characters, found family, gorgeous costumes, subtle bl undertones, humour, a solid plot. 10/10 would recommend.

if you need yuri in your life then sadly there's not a lot, but legend of yunze s1 and 2 (2021) plus the subsequent special (2022) is a nice little watch. the format is kinda jarring as the episodes are all like, 4 minutes long but if you have a spare couple of hours one day you should give it a shot!

finally we get onto aggressively heterosexual high fantasy, of which i have seen three:

love between fairy and devil (2022) - i really enjoyed this, and not just because i was simping hard over dongfang qingcang and the tang dynasty hanfu lmao. the female lead is a bit too gratingly cutesy at times, but it's still a great sweet story with an alright ending and it also made me cry.

the starry love (2023) - the one i forced my mum to watch with me, and is probably the corniest, silliest c drama i have personally seen - but in a good way! one of the female leads starts off kinda annoying but she mellow and grows up as the story progresses. meanwhile her twin sister is a precious cinnamon roll who has never done anything wrong in her life (linguang qingkui my beloved i'm not good enough for you but please marry me)

til the end of the moon (2023) - confession time: i remember basically jackshit about this drama because it failed to hold my attention and it just kept jumping around the place. i also hated the ending, but i know a lot of people still rate it highly.

so yeah that's basically every c drama i've seen so... go wild i guess?

[flaneur001]

Ashe!! I saw your ask game and now it’s my chance to learn more about you 💕💕

2. What is your go to comfort show?

30. What do your hobbies look like?

Hellooooo Mystieeee💜

2) Hm, this one was a hard pick because I was debating between Goblin/ The Guardian (The kdrama) and Itaewon Class (another Kdrama) I have watched many shows, but for me none come close to these. If I’m feeling particularly low, I’d rewatch Goblin for the umpteenth time (again kinda counterproductive because it’s a bittersweet story) Itaewon class is something I can watch on loop and never get sick of. I guess I can relate to the characters and their stories a tad too much.

30) As much as I’d like to tell myself that I’m put together, in reality I’m a very scatter-brained individual, so my hobbies largely depend on what I’m feeling like that day. But mostly they boil down to either Reading, Writing, having movie nights with my brother (complete with popcorn and a whole array of snacks because we don’t half ass movie nights, they’re sacred lmao), drawing, or singing (to myself)

Thank you for your questions I had fun answering them💖