#but it's actually one of their better qualities and i kinda love the misunderstanding of it

[byanyan]

[sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤya that checks out i do kinda tap a lot [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤdon't even realize i'm doin it lmao [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤswishy sound is probably skirts, ya... surprised u can hear that tho, feel like that's a lot quieter than like my jewelry n shit [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤlmaooo the smell probably shoulda given u an idea at least, ur right [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤstfu lmao [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤit is something that'll be worth bragging about tho, i don't do that for just anyone [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤi mean its def for those 2 but arson is such a fun activity for a rainy day [sms: sk8er boi??]:ㅤu ever burned shit before? sooooo cathartic

[ text; byan ] Sometimes. Not always. If I have stuff I need to remember. [ text; byan ] I do hear the knives. I hear you tapping a lot too though that's obviously not just a you sound [ text; byan ] Sometimes a swishy sound? Those might be days you're wearing skirts though I don't know [ text; byan ] And then there's a very like. Cotton candy mixed with cigarette smell. Not in a bad way. [ text; byan ] Actually maybe I should have guessed the cute/punk thing sooner [ text; byan ] I definitely will do that. A wardrobe curated by a future fashion star? Like I could pass that up [ text; byan ] I always assumed it was for the cigarettes but my eyes have been opened [ text; byan ] Ha ha

[woominutes]

ko kyungjun as a boyfriend

he is THE hates everyone but you bf

bad boy with a soft spot for you kinda trope

just replace bad boy with bully

he doesn't go out of his way for anyone except you

princess treatment? you got it.

he'd make jinha and seungbin do the work when they are around lol

his love languages are;

acts of service

holding doors for you, buying you snacks, walking you home, helping you the week before and during your period. the things he does for you can erase any doubts that may arise in your head about his feelings for you.

he might hold back sometimes to not appear as a simp and maintain his reputation as the tough bully though.

physical touch

always has his hands on you in a way, mostly around the waist or shoulders. it is a sign of affection but also ownership as he wants to make your relationship known to other boys so they don't even dare to make a move.

also having you on his lap, he loves that. especially during recess at school, you can be found sitting on him while he zones out or talks with jinha and seungbin.

and quality time

asking you to hang out after school, inviting you to his place to chill, tagging along when you have errands to run if he is in the mood for it.

this guy literally walks away from people and situations when he doesn't care to be bothered so spending his time on/with someone definitely means something.

now about gift giving

i don't think he'd put a lot of thought into gifts. on specific occasions like anniversaries or trying to impress you, yes, but nothing too fancy otherwise.

however, you'd get little things; like a flower from a random garden he passed by from.

in my eyes, he's a casual sharer in a relationship

what is his is yours, his basketball sneakers being the only exception. food, clothes, his bed, his heart, everything.

you like his jacket? you'll share it back and forth, one week his and two weeks yours. you like his hoodie? take it. you like his shirt? wear it (but bring it back after a month and borrow another). you like his earrings? you can wear the right one and he'll wear the left one.

words of affirmation is not something he is good at

it's hard for him to express himself. he can throw a few playful sweet words here and there but rarely gets serious. he has his moments, especially after intimate situations with intense feelings, but they're few.

rarely says "i love you", he shows it instead.

he'd be the one to secretly need words of affirmation despite denying it

not too much praise though, he'll get cocky

bro felt love for the first time and his world changed #canon

such a show-off, especially with basketball

"this is for you" *misses the shot*

once threw the ball in hyunho's face because you were looking at the poor boy for too long and kyungjun got jealous

cue nahee running to help hyunho with his bloody nose

he eliminates your worries when he can

(we all know how I'm talking about)

tending to his wounds whenever he gets injured

insecure hence extreme jealousy

someone looks at you for too long? glares at them. someone talks to you? either waves them off or mocks them when they leave. someone confesses to you? they get threats as a warning. someone touches you? disappeared from the face of earth.

i could actually see him wanting to kill other boys out of jealousy but he'll hold himself back by giving them a light beating instead.

"me? jealous? ha! I'm better than that asshole"

yeah yeah sure

bro is so aggressive

you'd most likely have to witness a lot of outbursts of anger

but he apologises after, usually

intended empty words or not, you'll witness his wrath again because that is his reaction to almost everything that inconveniences him

he's throwing things and punching walls

BUT NEVER EVER hits you

even if he unconsciously shoves you, he regrets it immediately

many, mostly minor, arguments because of misunderstandings and lack of communication

he is not very confrontational when it comes to a relationship, either because he doesn't want to appear vulnerable and clingy or he doesn't know how to express himself and figure out why he is feeling the way he does.

when his hidden feelings of insecurity and discomfort bubble up, it's hell for the both of you. screaming, crying, him acting like he doesn't care to protect himself.

and his impulsivity makes it harder to make up sometimes

he might say hurtful things out of anger that will keep you away from him for a while but he rarely actually means them, it's just his defense and illusion of security.

possessive and slightly controlling

he cares too much when he considers his relationship serious and it's not just him fooling around.

unfortunately, he'll use manipulation when he wants something badly or to convince you of something. if you call him out, he'll drop the act and most likely get annoyed.

he needs a lot of work when it comes to the negative aspects of his personality for a healthy relationship to exist

he is not too much of a bad guy, he just has issues

and needs therapy

passionate makeout sessions

those big palms and veiny hands know how to grip. he's the dominant one and he won't have it any other way, wanting to have power and control over the pace and movements.

high libido, that's all i'm apparently allowed to say :P

learns and remembers a lot about you

especially your habits and quirks

if you smoke too;

he'll share his cigarettes with you

and steal a couple of yours when he is out of his

if you hate smoking;

LIKE LITERALLY CANNOT BREATHE AROUND SMOKERS

he'll make an effort to not smoke when you are present

brushes his teeth or eats a piece of gum before he kisses you if he meets you after smoking <3

can't have you thinking he is gross smh

if you're short;

he definitely teases you about your height

picks you up just for fun or carries you around like you weigh nothing

ties your shoelaces for you

playfully insulting each other and bantering all the time to show affection

you're the only one he actually listens to <3

you shove him or nudge him when he is being too mean to other people or crossing a line

still goes wild when you're not around

you are his lockscreen <3

not too much of a talkative texter

sort written replies but long voice messsages

oml that voice

sends you pics of himself all the time, expecting compliments and praise

shirtless mirror pics focusing on his abs? all yours. manspreading pictures? you got them. selfies in which he tries to appear tough but his cheeks and soft features make him look like the cutest boy you've ever seen? yep.

cares a lot about how you view him so he takes a lot of time to make sure he picks the right pics to send you.

let's not fool ourselves, he knows you love those muscles and he purposely puts them on display for you

cuddles with kyungjun are warm and tight, becoming one under a blanket

more of a motorcycle guy

buys you your own helmet <3

not one for fancy dates, maybe dinner here and there, but prefers casual hangouts

movie nights at his house, late night walks and rides, chilling at a convenience store after school.

just peaceful private moments.

pretends to not like cheesy couple things, such as matching outfits or pajamas, but they secretly warm his heart

he takes your gifts very seriously; wears them to please you or carries them around with him

get him a neck pillow

you have him wrapped around your finger no matter how much he denies it

jinha has gotten a good smack in the back of his head for voicing that fact multiple times

© to @woominutes on tumblr; do not repost or steal

[monochromeruby]

REWRITING DCAS???

if I rewrote DCAS like this who would read it be honest: (Reblogs Appreciated)

Here are my thoughts. There’s a lot, so sit down and get a cup of coffee:

The BIGGEST thing I would overhaul is the:

Trevek/Emily disaster.

Emily would still help Yul, but because Yul’s manager wants to see him be better and treat Grett better, so she accepts the payment and tries to get him to genuinely change, but gets promptly fired for wrongful assistance.

Instead of Trevor witnessing Kristal and Derek kiss, he could instead see them do something and misinterpret it as a kiss. But instead of being jealous, he wants to be supportive to his best friend, despite his heartbreak. He would be supportive of Trevor and Kristal and leave them alone so they could have “alone time”. Meanwhile, Derek is just like “???” Misunderstanding trope done correct ^^

Emily would help Trevor get closure with his feelings, as Trevor would vent to her about feeling guilty about not being supportive of their (non-existent) relationship. Emily also wants to talk to Kristal about getting her job back (instead of revenge) so the two of them work together to find out plans about the finale so they both have times to talk to Kristal and Derek separately.

During the finale I would want Kristal and Emily to actually have a talk and the scorpions would probably be the result of a freak accident (I’ll get to it if i actually write this) Derek and Trevor will have their closure moment and it WONT be at the expense of Emily. I really hated how Emily turned out to be because I really liked her and her relationship with Trevor… They ragged on my sister!!!! They did my sister dirty!!!!!!!!

If I’m gonna have Tess and Ashley make it further than Jake, Aiden, and Ally, I need:

Tess and Ashley characterization

I would give Ashley and Tess storylines that don’t revolve around the characters they give therapy to. While they can still have those qualities, I think they could just be their own people too. Ashley had a lot of undertones revolving guilt, so I want to explore that more. I also want her and Fiore to resolve their beef because she was fighting with a literal 8 year old… They could have a sister dynamic but like rivals sisters.

Tess I have less ideas for but she deserved better so my ROUGH draft for her would be: I feel like she could instead work with remedying her situation with Gabby that she never really got the chance to it was kinda resolved in a day. She could also POSSIBLY be the catalyst in Alec and Riya’s recoveries but idk too much about that one.

Next is:

Alec and Riya Redemptions

Instead of having a drunken kiss, I want to actually write out the dinner scene, where they both realize their personal flaws. Alec would realize that his lack of will for confrontation is what is killing his relationships, (Connor’s elimination, his divorce, etc.). If Fiore got hurt because of his lack of a backbone, it would be a huge way for him to start caring about his relationships more.

Riya’s acting in front of the cameras was already an implied flaw, I wish they did more with it. I would want her to push Alec off the horse instead of Connor, and instead of regressing to her villainous personality, I think this is when she begins to show actual care and compassion towards other people, instead of worrying what is shown on the cameras. I also believe Alec would understand that they were both at risk of elimination and she did what she had to to win.

I also want Riya, Alec, and Fiore to be a power trio because who doesn’t love a villain mother, father, and daughter dynamic.

In the final 4, I would change it so it’s structured more like Survivor. (Person wins immunity, they pick someone to join them in the final 3, and the last two would compete in a fire making contest.) I think a good end to Riya’s arc would be her helping Alec win the fire making competition, basically quitting. While she still has a LONG way to go, it’s a good start. It would also parallel how Connor quit for Riya, Riya would quit for Alec.

I want to leave romantic implications as just implications. I think Riyalec is a fine ship, but the show has enough romances as it is, so I can leave it up to interpretation. But I LOVE them as a power duo, so that’s why I want them to be that. Connor just tarnished that for me idk.

Jake Consequences

I am a Jake hater, that much is known. I’m not biased, and I want to give him his redemption too, I still think he needs to be given consequences for his actions that isn’t someone else getting eliminated because of him.

If I got rid of his jealousy spiral, he wouldn’t really have much of a story. So, I want him to get eliminated as a result of his bad behavior. So here’s what I’m thinking.

Ashley would’ve found a totem early on. (Wasn’t it weird how the totem was added to the game so late?) She overhears the villains planning to vote her, so she has to beg Jake to vote a villain so they can idol one out. Jake is stubborn and wants to vote Aiden (possibly because he believes it was Aiden’s fault that Tom got eliminated)

Ashley tried to convince Tess and Ally to vote Aiden (because Jake refuses any other logic), but because they’re both closer to Aiden, they stick to voting for Jake without telling her.

Ashley uses her totem and Jake gets eliminated from a 5-3-2 vote (3 for Jake, 2 for Aiden, 5 for Ashley that are nullified)

Now instead of Ashley getting eliminated as a result of Jake’s pettiness, Jake is eliminated because of his own actions. My soul is healed in the process.

So if he’s not in the finale, what will we do with:

TomJake

I don’t really like TomJake as a ship, as they both need a lot of work before they get into a relationship. But I think that the motel episode could plant the seeds they need to start reconciling, and I don’t think they should necessarily get together. I believe they should both talk about their issues and be able to get closure with one another and be friends, and eventually see where things would go down the line. I know, right, why would I make the motel about yaoi? It’s the trade off to eventually have Jake fix his issues instead of it being shoved in our faces in the finale. Sacrifices must be made, I fear. I COULD leave them apart and Jake unredeemed (and listen to my biased parasites) but I think everyone should have their closure and redemption if All Stars is the last we’ll see of them competing.

Let’s also fix:

The Purge

Ally would be the victim of the purge, but I want to fix it so it’s a little fairer. I think Ally being eliminated like this is best, because for my visions to work, she would need to be out of the picture (unfortunately), but then voting Ally logically makes no sense. So the purge is (unfortunately) in order.

I would change it where the duo who lost the challenge would be the only ones up for elimination. Tess and Ally could be a pair or maybe Gabby and Ally. Either case, I feel like they’d vote Ally over either one of the two. The golden watch will also be replaced with an idol.

ALSO GOODBYE TIKTOK CHALLENGE. INNER PEACE. JESUS WHAT WASSS THAT. I’ll replace it with them taking pictures of the beautiful scenery instead. Or maybe selfies. Ally could have an inner conflict with looking ridiculous and didn’t want more online drama, so she opts to retake the photos. But, when she realizes that it’s slowing her down, and that her and Tess may get eliminated, she decides to grit and bear it. Realizing that, she gets an inner awakening that what she does not mattering actually felt really good. It would help her realize that fan opinion didn’t matter and help her resolve that inner conflict. Perhaps with the help of Tess and Riya’s words, it would be the snowball with this challenge being the climax of her revelation.

Grett winning

MY GIRL WAS ROBBED.

I want her to still be a villain, but in the sense that she made logical and strategical moved. I have lots of ideas, including her, Gabby, Tess, and Ashley being an alliance and having a turf war with Riya, Alec, and Fiore.

I also want her to be the result of Yul’s elimination too once she realizes that he’s an ass thanks to Gabby. Once she starts playing the game for herself, she starts making outstanding moves and winning immunities, setting her up to be a great winner that deserves it. I also want her to help Gabby overcome her ‘evil’ persona, so she isn’t just a comp beast, and actually has more things to do in the story.

In Yul’s elimination, I’ll also have everyone vote for him, including Alec and Riya. In the show, while satisfying, Yul’s elimination was a blunder on Grett’s part, as she was again at a number’s disadvantage with the villains. But with the villains being the majority, Yul’s elimination could be done without it being illogical. I know it wasn’t supposed to be logical, but I think Grett would’ve been smarter to do the math and realize that Yul being eliminated when he did would be bad for her. Now she can do it without it being bad for her game!!! Win for everyone.

I think she would not only be a deserving winner, but a satisfying one, as she made the game moves that are required. Above everything, all I want in a winner is someone who PLAYED THE GAME and that’s what she’ll do.

How Would I Do It?

The challenges will stay the same, (aside from the TikTok one), so how I’ll do it is:

In the earlier episodes, I think I’ll take the transcripts from YouTube and only change minor details (example: Emily’s initial motivations). I’ll also not include the very first episode, since that can stay as it is.

So the earlier portions will look exactly the same. The dialog will look like a script, while the actions I’ll write in.

But once I start changing more about the story, I’ll start actually writing it LIKE a story. So it’ll look less and less like a transcript as we continue and more like a book. Once I’ve overhauled everything, it’ll look completely like an actual story.

As to where I’d post it, I was thinking AO3 but to be honest, I’ll put this anywhere. In the end notes, I’ll also include all of my changes to the transcripts so readers know what tiny changes I made. Once I start changing more aspects of the story, the end notes won’t rlly be necessary.

I think these changes would help fix everything I hated about the season.

I have a lot of ideas, but unfortunately I’m very busy, and I also am writing my own things. But, if people think I should right the world’s wrongs, then maybe I’ll do it.

I really do want to know the public opinion, so reblogs are appreciated so I can get some sampling data.

If you think my ideas are fire and possibly want to help with this hypothetical mini-project, include your own thoughts on how to rework my ideas (I listen to criticism DONT worry) or want to share your own ideas, or if you think I’m the zodiac killer and only wish for my public execution via burning at the stake, then my messages are open. (I think). I would really like to hear critics/inclusions. This is our house. Let’s share it.

That’s all >_<

[arklay]

i didn't really talk about it cause i think most mutuals know. but the reason that fic causes me so much pain is because they've been together for over ten years at that point and have never had a fight where they need a break from each other... they've never even had a fight where they yell

[romanceismycallingcard]

As a follow up to this post, I'm going to list the ones I'm looking forward to.

Never Let Me Go

I'm really excited for this one. I just think it's going to be really good. Also I'm excited to see this pairing again.

I think this is the main one I'm actually excited for.

Vice Versa

I'm very curious about the world switching and all of that.

Also, the actors.

Cupid's Last Wish

Body swap stories aren't usually something I really like, but this one looks interesting to me? Idk

Also, the actors. I didn't watch atots so I haven't actually watched EarthMix together before.

P.S. I Hate You

I don't usually do drama, especially very back-stabby ones, but idk, this one just looks really entertaining and like there'll be a lot of red herrings and plot twists.

Plus there's a bunch of actors/actresses I really like in this one. That helps.

^Those are my top 4 I think^

But others that I think I'll probably watch:

Star and Sky

Looks really good actually! I mean, it looks kinda mediocre but in like the usual kinda way of thai bls. But it looks cute. And!! Joong!!!!!!!! 😱 So I gotta!

My School President

Same as with Star and Sky - like it looks like it'll probably be kinda mediocre at least in the quality of making it. But it looks cute. It looks really fluffy and just fun.

Midnight Motel and Moonlight Chicken

Both look really intriguing!

Idk how I feel about the Dirty Laundry one tho. Idk if I'll watch that one.

10 Year Ticket

Looks intense and emotional. I'm definitely going to eat my own heart out I'm sure. But- but- but, it looks so good??? Murder?? Family friends turned enemies?? Misunderstanding? Mystery? Abusive relationships??? Idk. I really don't know.

3 Gentlebros

It's fake dating and standing up to an overbearing mother! And with Luke, Tay, and Gun! What's not to love!??

Good Old Days

You Are My Favorite

^my mental health hasn't been great lately so I don't really want to talk about these too much bc I'm scared people are going to bring up Krist. I understand why people don't like him, I do, but my personal feelings towards him are very "whatever". (And I want to allow for the possibility that he may have grown as a person.) And the plots of these shows are intriguing enough to me that I do actually want to watch them, or at least try an episode or two. I'm going to mention again that my mental health has been bad, so please just leave me alone.

Good Old Days looks really cute and sweet but very possibly emotional. But it's nostalgia like story and theme hits all my favorite things, so I want to watch it.

You Are My Favorite is a time travel bl. Um. Yes please. It's someone pursuing one person but inevitably falling for and ending up with another no matter what they do - aka fate? So yeah, I'm also here for that. It looks good. And I have a feeling gmmtv will end up pouring more time and money towards it than others so it'll probably end up being one of the better shows of the year.

[tobeornottotc]

Close Friends the series (another Thai hope for new stories in BL) ideas

What is up with these mini series Y destiny, Close Friends where they have a short storyline for certain known pairings and leave me devastated that they didn’t make it into a full 12 episode or more series? Why are we stuck with the engineering, university repetitive motives when we’ve had outlines and ideas right in front of us for how to make new groundbreaking Thai stories in this genre??? Unique, Romantic, Fun and great potential to explore new dynamics and characters. Please Close friends choose a series to make into one full series. Anyway here’s how I’d do them starting from my most favorite and desperate want for a full tv series plot, to the ones I can’t be fussed about. 

1.   KimCop

Are you kidding me? We could have had a celebrity/fanboy trope this whole time from Thailand? Why haven’t we gotten yet this idea?  Man this needs to be a series, this needs to  be fleshed out and give me a full storyline. Like have a spoiled/ arrogant celebrity who wants to go undercover away from his label (feeling bored/frustrated with the environment he’s in and sneaking away when he finally gets out) and meets his number one fan boy who works as cafe barista (cafe shop au damn it)  who he knows because he’s been having secret conversations with him through a VR app that he monitors for research on how to create more. Let him pretend he doesn’t know said fanboy but find a way to spend more time with him, let said fan boy not be okay with his attitude and arrogance on the surface but be confused about the other version of himself he speaks to in VR, let us have this. It would be so good, between secret identities, contract living/cafe shop au tropes, we could have something that can be great, with longing, misunderstandings, having the fan boy pretend he’s not affected by the celebrity (due to annoyance by his spoiled persona) when we and the celebrity both know he’s different when he’s speaking to his VR version. Just so much to play with, with this.  We need this storyline as a narrative like this is closest to the kinda risks Korea BLS do with their plotlines for BLs and with Thai we know the episodes would be allowed to be longer and properly played out. Plus KimCop are fantastic; they’re made for this, they need the directing, the stellar budget and production but I want this now. Damn you Close friends for laying this  in front of me!!! 

2. Mii2

Please can I get a coming of age series for this perfection? A coming of age that ends happily and show cases these two’s journey to being together through their pen pal relationship. Can we get self discovery, exploration, acceptance and more. Can we get finding your purpose, your struggles in highschool to fit in, to have friends, to be socially accepted. Can we get that with these two who clearly live opposite lives and find solace in each other. I want my BL answer me 1997/1984 Kdrama!! Like you can have it all! Give it to me 😭 let me learn about Thai history during these times. Let me watch this soft friends to lovers premise  Please? I’m begging? From the aesthetic, the time period, the wholesome characters and the potential with this plot, we can have a great unique Thai Bl series that’s still about highschool but show cases a different era. With inside jokes about that time period, with references, and opportunities for nostalgia for certain Thai folks, it’s a win win to me and it’d be BL! 

3. JaaFirst

You heard it here I want them because of their chemistry. I couldn’t help feeling so teased and upset that this wasn’t a supernatural thing about a cat who turns human or something (we’ve had mangas based on this, lol even Mew Mew power has a play on this with the main het couple at a time, common) like I would have wanted this synopsis with these two a magical race of people who are able to turn into animals, one of them who loses his memory/ has to find something that will help his race in a certain time frame  and finds himself having to stay stuck with Ja’s character who he falls for because he watches and learns about him as a cat. Maybe he stays in his cat form to discover why he was found in Ja’s place with no memory, trying to discover about himself, But there’s times where his human form can roam around depending on certain world building rules. Meanwhile Ja is a cute cat owner who’s  unaware. But something is bothering him, it’s making him spiral, he is intrigued by a boy he keeps bumping into at odds times around his area but he can’t find the boy anywhere, and each time they meet he’s a bit standoffish and refusing to let Ja get to know him or help him, he can’t find the boy unless he appears at a certain time and place. And he spends time pining trying to find and get this person not knowing he’s living right next to him moping about his circumstance about not being able to stay human all the time, Like a play on Little mermaid or kdramas like My girlfriend is a gumiho you know these dramas with supernatural beings who have to stay in a contract situation with someone with a time limit (a month/100 days normally) to stay together and get to his goal.  Like weird animal supernatural trope but it could work 😭 One it’d be supernatural so unique to this genre, it’d explore a requited but they don’t know trope with a lot of barriers and misunderstandings :( Like damn it why can’t we be having all this Thailand.

4. MaxNat  😭

A Karate Kid reboot but with BL 😭 Yes you heard me, between watching Nat fall for the sport and prove to whoever he needs to that he can be a champion due to the help of his headstrong tutor who takes him in, like we’ve got another plot, we’ve got another theme to explore, a new world of learning about the world of Karate competitions, and training to be a champion. Character dynamics that can be fleshed out to have another sports based BL series but this time Thai like yess 😭 let’s stew and stay longer in this I don’t want to do this energy with Nat’s character probably being forced to do the sport because he has no choice, to impress someone, to get revenge on  a rival who hurt him but slowly realizing that karate is his talent and what he loves to do authentically. A fish out of water experience, as he falls for his strict gruff, cold, and robotic tutor who he learns more about as time goes about why Karate is his all😭 Like yes please.... Haters to lovers, going in with wrong intentions, learning about self worth and finding your purpose/self. Like a chosen one narrative let me have this!!! 

See what I mean when I say all these mini series just leave me sad, that Thai BL genre isn’t risky enough to do new things, all you have to do is branch out a bit, try and create stories without the need to get Bl adaptations all the time from novels with the same themes and tropes. Let’s get new themes we see in other countries, let’s have these actors be put to use more and given stories that aren’t just the same old same old. I dunno, watching Y destiny and Close friends, have made me sigh because if people actually put thought and effort into how to improve this genre, and make it more than just a money thing, we could have great stories for Thai BL that actually will shock us, and make us refall in love with the genre. Dunno if what I’m saying makes sense, I just want new stories from Thai BL (don’t get me wrong IPYTM and GMMTV are trying) but I sometimes get frustrated at this explosion of quantity of BL that never has quality, it’s either repetitive or just awful in terms of storytelling. Why? Please Thailand branch out a little, these two series have shown you new plots, and ideas you can play with and create something more interesting and better than the typical lazy plots. Let’s expand Thai BL more. That’s all. Do you guys have your own ideas on these storylines and how to make them into longer series. I didn’t mention the other two because I wasn’t as connected to their plot (Love TalayYoon though) but I really enjoyed Close friends, and I’m sad it’s over now. 

[konaizumi]

A Tale of a Thousand Stars ep 6 thoughts/reaction

the juxtaposition of the kites vs the cars, and what really makes the kites more fun is that its’ group activity whereas he’s alone with the cars

god, phupha is so fucking in love, i love how explicitly clear their affection for each other made even if they have a hard time saying out loud

i wanted nam to scold tian a bit more but im also glad that the scene was pretty soft bc i feel like tian would prob respond better to gentleness and if the dr had been really harsh that would’ve just made tian feel worse

but i love the conflict in this scene bc he knows dr nam is prob right but he can’t express the entirety of why he needs to be there and why he can’t return to his old life

phupha sensing that tian doesn’t really want to talk about what happened and not pressuring him with questions even tho he clearly wants to ask

the way tian’s voice cracks a bit when he’s talking about torfun

poor longtae tho finding out the news in that way

i’ve been waiting since ep 1 for the scene of tian braiding the girls’ hair

kinda torn bc i love the character growth of tian realizing that his actions have consequences that he cant solve with his dad’s money but at the same time it’s very frustrating to watch

not phupha being jealous over tul

poor tul must be so confused

phupha not being able to hide his smile when he smells tian’s hand

“it smells nice” the sachet or his hand

i am living for the longtae x tian friendship

tian lowkey trying to flirt his way into selling the sachets, then using longtae to flirt his way into selling the sachets

okay but the parallel between the kids asking about torfun when tian first got there to the kids asking about tian when he’s gone

character A asking children what character B thinks about them is such a high quality trope

also the kids asking phupha to ask tian to stay is so pure, also them lowkey threatening phupha so that he wont scare tian away

also how much does tian gush complain about phupha to the children lol

hey what is the ring that phupha wears on a necklace?

the image of phupha with the children climbing on him

tian “he’s a hot guy you know,” referring to how popular longtae was with the shopkeepers and phupha misunderstanding

i also really liked the jealousy for longtae this ep bc it wasn’t necessarily targeted at longtae (like it wasn’t personal) it was more the fact that it played into phupha’s existing insecurities that tian would be better suited with someone his own age that he connects with, plus longtae goes to college in the city and can relate more to tian in that sense

cant tell if tian is actually that dense and didn’t realize phupha meant himself when he said he wasnt alone or if he was just teasing phupha

i love how much screentime the children had this episode, they’re so precious

lol tian realizing that tourists would go nuts for bags with names of poor children who made them

im so proud of tian for coming up with this idea and helping the villagers

phupha’s cute little thumbs up

phupha’s smirk when tian turns around, he’s so proud of himself for his little joke

someone needs to make a crack video using that audio that’s like “a love story told entirely in stares...and more stares...and even more stares”

god tho, just they way they stare at each other and start smiling then start laughing, it’s so sweet and intimate

tian and longtae: *discussing serious things like torfun* phupha: really? flirting? right in front of my salad?

phupha is one of those rare well written tsundere characters

phupha getting excited about another date with tian then disappointed when tian isn’t coming with him

phupha is such a child and i love him

sakda need to leave tian tf alone

we love some product placement (but i will give them a pass bc it was pretty cute)

i am also living for phupha x nam friendship, that whole interaction where phupha is trying to stop nam from embarrassing him but trying to do it discretely so no one sees

kinda random but i enjoy the little details like the signs on all the boxes with the sachets were written by different people bc there’s several different handwritings

the fucking fondness in tian’s gaze literally every time he looks at phupha this ep

tian is literally telling you to tell him your feelings phupha, please just end all our suffering

also the way phupha subtly alludes to some of his insecurities and tian shuts it down saying he likes the way phupha is

phupha, are you really the same person who blatantly smelled tian’s hand then gave him that hand massage earlier?

okay but the way tian gets so hopeful when phupha asks him to stay and he keeps trying to get phupha to say he wants him to stay

yod, i love you so much, but i really want to strangle you right now

but that scene really was so good, earth and mix did a really good job bc they conveyed so much without words

but damn i really did think they were gonna get somewhere this ep (but no worries bc they’re going somewhere next ep)

“they will know that your heart has come back to them” is such a poetic line and i really do like the meaning behind it, i just wish tian didn’t mean it in such a self-deprecating way

not me crying at the way phupha cuddles the fucking tea sachet

tian, don’t run into the fucking burning building! think about your heart! think about my heart!

but poor tian bc this building is really his new home as much as his hut is and to see it being burned down

but damn this is really the third time he’s collapsed in phupha’s arms

at least they include a cute fluffy scene at the end of each ep to make up for the angsty cliffhangers

where do i even start with the preview for next week

i really hope they kiss but im worried tian will ruin the mood by bringing up torfun (but also i hope he does finally talk about torfun and get it out there already)

i really can’t wait for next week

anyways, this was such a good ep (like always), quality character development, quality phutian moments, we’re really starting to get into the conflict now

[jbbuckybarnes]

We need to talk...

I knew that this topic of interactions will come up again, because it has never been talked all the way through, so I had this drafted for a while. So much of this old draft still resonated with this permanently unfinished discussion that I just had to edit it and post it, because I feel like it has to be said and put into one post. We can’t keep starting this conversation and then make it so dramatic that there is no conclusion or compromise. The only reason this time is more mellow is because people have better standards for this stuff due to a pandemic going on. This is written for the MCU fandom, but I’ve seen this go down in different fandoms, so here we go:

Things that are NOT at fault for readers not interacting:

The Readers. Should be clear after asking them again and again. And nothing changing. The readers at large are not at fault for a couple people being demanding or hateful. Neither are they at fault for this website and other social medias automatically putting writers at a disadvantage. They do their best with the time they have in their life (just like writers). And after asking them over months to try and reblog more and not much changing, it should be obvious that it isn’t where the problem lies. At least not 95% of it. NOW:

Things that ARE at fault for readers not interacting:

Pushing them, thinking they owe you stuff, while you tear other writers down saying that nobody owes them stuff. That happens time and time again. To me, to friends, to writers I check in with. Don't expect community to come to you when you don't come to them.

Not putting anon asks off when demands and hate get too much. It’s literally THAT easy when people get nasty. It’s sad for the nice anons, but they will understand. Save your mental health! Save the mental health of people reading that hate on their dash. I don’t know how many people constantly answering to hate I have unfollowed and I’m sure people have unfollowed me for doing the same.

Ego and hypocrisy. You can't say numbers aren't a problem and then say they are. In the same post. AND then also deny it later in some of the cases we’ve seen in recent months. Yes, that happened. In several fandoms where this topic comes up semi-regularly. And that might also be the reason people are tired of this stuff and speak out against it.

The fact Tumblr is only used approximately twice a year by most people. And has a shitty tag system. And a shitty algorithm. You are at an automatic disadvantage.

The fact some of you can't understand that 3-5% of your following interacting is a good and normal rate on pretty much all social media. The bigger you get in followers, the bigger the gap gets between followers and interaction (and demand and hate). There are literal statistics on that. 1% interaction at 10k is still good for a platform you have no power over!

The fact some of the people here call anons *haters* for pointing out that you interact w the same 10 people, making that speace seem excluding, when it's literally true what those people say!? Nothing wrong with only support the same 10 people on your blog, but then don't say that you practice what you preach (cause you don’t). You can’t demand more interaction when you don’t interact more yourself. That is how it works, for anyone, not just people of a certain follower count. If I reblog more fics, my blog gets more clout. Logical conclusion. Works for everyone. You have no time for that? Then don’t expect more back. It’s called SOCIAL media for a damn reason.

Telling people asking for Tumblr advice to interact more to make new friends but being the most defensive/indifferent person once they talk to you in DMs. Yes, that keeps happening and I know it from either my own experience or from others sharing their experiences with me. It’s kinda sad. It’s more of a minor factor in people not interacting, but I’ve seen it enough to mention it.

Making shitposts and personal posts all day and then saying you don't have the time in your life to interact w peoples' writings. Like, drabbles exist on almost anyone's masterlist. 5 minute read, easy support for a writer that might be losing motivation. Not every work has to be written like a novel to be great as hell or “quality proven.”

Oh, and there hasn't been a MCU movie in a while, making most of our readership probably currently not care about the fandom as much. Especially after Endgame ended up being a total opinion splitter.

Bonus: The misunderstanding that pushing shy readers to interact does the exact opposite. Not to start about the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic at the moment. That means they may not have time to read and you may not have time to write. Normal. Logical. The same reason lots of people currently don’t publish. Don’t expect anything predictable and controlable out of current times.

Bonus: Check how you connect interactions to self worth and worth/fun of your writing hobby. Define what success means for you in this space, otherwise you will never be satisfied. It won’t matter if a post has 1k reblogs, you’ll always want more, because you chase an infinite metric.

Bonus: Maybe take a month to concentrate on community, getting outside of your bubble that you deny but very likely have (I’m not excluding myself from this), and actually improve interactions. Some people seem to have forgotten that when you interact with other writers, they probably interact back. Surprise! Your followers already know your tried and true fanfic friends, they want some new stuff without searching for it. Basic Marketing knowledge, know what your audience wants. If you do this for the interactions you gotta look at it from a marketing standpoint and not a pure passion standpoint. Oh: And maybe they find you interacting in the notes of someone else’s post and become an active follower. Win-Win-Win situation.

Bonus: Community is a loop, a net of interactions. Some people here have clique behavior, sound defensive and/or simply don't practice what they preach. That is not me or anyone else hating on specific blogs (I’m also no complete exception), it’s people trying to tell you that you can’t ask for shit you don’t practice yourself. Nothing wrong with supporting your friends only, but then don’t go around expecting new people to find your stuff. It’s literally THAT simple. You can’t have both!

Bonus: Ignoring some of the ride or die readers that are already there. Some of the people on here wish they had that and it’s deadass taken it for granted by some. Meanwhile I'm sitting here with Serotonin levels like christmas when someone I know reblogs my stuff and my fic gets some clout. Imma repeat myself: If you do it for the numbers, you gotta look at it more like marketing and less like pure passion.

And again: You are on a social media platform that will always put you at a disatvantage. That is not the readers' fault. It's how social media works at this point. If you want as much interaction as you can without putting in more interaction work yourself, simply share your works on here, AO3 and Wattpad simultaneously. Problem solved.

Bottomline: If you want more love on your work you gotta go beyond what you currently do, since it’s clearly not working for you. Reblog stuff from people you don't know. I don't give a sh*t if it's a 5k or a 100 follower blog. Hell, there is the whole 366 reblog challenge and some of you deadass went on reblogging the same people when that’s not really what this was made for. I, personally, haven't run out of new people to reblog, so this shouldn't be hard. Actually take time to talk to people in DM's, it takes 10 minutes in the evening to write a few people a message asking how they are or sending a cute gif. If you want stuff, you have to give it. Not leave it. People have come to me before, telling me "the community doesn't owe you stuff", no, they don't, but they do owe if they wanna be owed something back or even demand to be owed something back. Community is about back and forth. You give, you get. It's work, cause it's a big hobby. If you don't have time, that's cool, but then don't be sad about lower interaction. It’s logical that low activity from you leads to low activity from others in the long run, unless you do something worldshakingly new. You don't wanna look beyond a circle of friends or your go-to writers much? That's fine, but don't be upset about barely new people interacting cause they feel excluded or simply don’t find your work because of the same people seeing the same people reblogging the same works. What's not fine is not seeing how readers are NOT THE PROBLEM.

I haven’t talked to a single person about this that DIDN’T find the posts surrounding it demanding and completely ignoring the arguments some others had...repeatedly. Every single time it came up. Not just once but time and time again, whenever this topic comes up. You want interaction? Interact. You don’t want hate? Don’t give it a platform. As harsh as that sounds, I’ve never felt better on this platform since I put anon asks off, even when I miss the nice anons. They probably understand. PS: Again, this was written a while ago and edited to fit into a more general context now. I hope people can discuss this in a civil, non-judgmental way, because that is how I tried to write this. This is not again a specific person or group, it’s pinpointing what I see repeating for two years on this platform now, in all corners. I’d also like to mention that we are still in a pandemic and lives have never looked so vastly different, so you can’t demand anything normal in this very not normal time. Even if you do it all right, your interactions dropped in the pandemic cause people likely stay away form this platform for mental health reasons. There is so many layers to look at, these clearly aren’t all, but I hope it makes some people think about what and when they complain. Numbers will never satisfy you, they will always leave you wanting more if you don’t know why you do what you do and for what. Anyway: Be nice to each other and me in the notes in case this gets shared! No drama please! Ignore any grammar and typo mistakes, lol. Love ya!

[hongism]

Hyello, okay so. I don't have the emotional energy to take in and discuss everything in that chapter so imma just gush over the info cause I am a ✨whore✨ for world building.

So obviously MOC SPOILER

hi bestie HELLO guess WHO!!! finally ANSWering!!! altho im gonna answer separately and space everything out all Neatly bc im all over the place so strap IN we’re going on an moc RIDE!

THERE'S A WHOLE SIREN COMMUNITY?! AND YN AND IT MUST BE WOOYOUNG WERE FRIENDS? SIRENS HAVE A FULLY FLEDGE COMMUNITY WITH PRIESTS AND SCHOOLS AND MULTUOLE CITIES TO SOME EXTEND??? MAYBE EVEN AN ENTIRE PLANET WITH SIRENS MAYBE THEIR ORIGIN PLANET? HOW MANY TYPES OF SIRENS ARE THERE AND IN THE COMMUNITY HOW DTRICT ARE THE DIFFERENT ROLES?!?! ALSO DOES THE SIREN COMMUNITY ALLOW FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF SIRENS TO BE TOGETHER? OBVIOUSLY THEY SHOULD BUT ARE THE CHILDREN THEN HYBRID TYPES, LIKE WHEN WE GET BLUED DARK SKIND BABIES OR CAN A SKREN ONLY BE ONE TYPE. WHAT POWERS DO SIRENS HAVE AND DOES THE POWERS REFLECT THEIR PERSONALITY AND DO THE DIFFERENT TYOES LEAN TOWARDS CERTAIN JOBS. LIKE WE JUST LESRNED THE OCEAN GOTTA BE PRIESTS BUT MOON ISNT STRICT WHAT ABOUT FIRE. AND IS YN INSTIC TO PULL OUT A HEART CAUDE HER PERSONALITT, TRSUMA OR IS IT RELATED TO THE MOON. ALSO CAUSE ITS A RED MOON WHICH IS COMMONLY A BLOOD MOON, IS YN THEN A SPECIAL MOON SIREN AND THATS WHY HER POWERS ARE STEONGER OR HER INSTICTS TO USE THEM ARE STORNGER BUT THEN THE MILITARY FUCKED HER UP. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

now this is the thing im biting my tongue on SO HARD bc it’s my favorite aspect of the world building and the universe and everything involved in it bUTIHDFKJG THERS SO MUCH I WANNA SAYYYYYYYYYY in short that one dream sequence holds more hints and information than ANYTHING from previous chapters, i think that it’s probably the MOST IMPORTANT dream to date. while we’ve seen some crazy ones in the past, this one is both the biggest hint and the biggest window into y/n’s past by FARRRR. even tho that whole scene was dialogue i think there’s so much to pick up on from it and so much to see and learn from it and it’s one of my faves bc there’s so much to unpack from it !!

Like yes the story and the development is freaking ✨yes✨ I love it. Genuinely think moc should be released as books. But I just cannot deal with the emotions rn.

But also now all I'm going to be thinking about how many sirens are actually out there. And if yn knew her parents and wasn't just an orphan the military found in the streets... How the fuck did she end up in the military grasps. What happened to her parents what happened to the community, is it still out there? Guess I gotta go back and reread the galaxies and the backstories, obviously I must have missed or have forgotten something. Ugh how the puzzle pieces are puzzling (or something). Moc is a drug and I'm not going sober anytime soon

(obviously you don't have to respond to my questions, this is more just an insight into the spiralling of theories going on in my mind)

releasing moc as books? a dream and a half, i can say that much slkjdlgkjlkf but back to the sirens... how many are out there? we heard early on that hongjoong was looking for ‘the last five’ but then seonghwa debunked that and said that was a mistranslation over time that was passed down and such, but beyond that, we don’t really know much about sirens as a whole? there are some hints in the galaxies and planet descriptions but if that dream sequence is a puzzle, i would say we have a handful of pieces that can be put into place based on what we’ve learned so far!!!!

Okay I lied, I am ready to unpack a little of the ✨emotions✨

When hongjoong explained that hwa tried to stop San only for San to detain him and in a sense make him watch the scene unfold. And then realising hwa had to go through that again, only being even more helpless. I don't doubt hwa loves San, but to see the events happening again, with someone he clearly loves as much as he does yn even if he also loves joong, and to see the desperation and determination must have been just. Horrible. Just absolutely soul breaking horrible. I can imagine him vowing to himself after San that he would never let something like that happen again. That of any of the crew got out of control like that, that he would fight harder to stop them. That he would would do absolutely everything in his power to stop it. And then being helpless as he watched yn do it. Just pure heart wrenching pain. And it must have been beyond terrifying to see someone you love ready and determined to kill themselves partly from rage and partly from desperation. With the backstory, that scene becomes almost as cruel as the warehouse scene with San. The only redeeming quality is no one needing life saving surgery in a time crunch, otherwise they would be the same level of ✨never again✨

honestly i think the two crew members i torture the most are san and hwa bc i just keep putting them thru all this shit and hurting them so much but really this was the defining point of why seonghwa was so afraid. before we kinda just knew he was afraid of yn and hongjoong was mad about it. in this revelation we get to see the source of the trauma and how it was amplified by it being someone he loves as dearly as he loves yn. and for sure when first reading that scene of yn and jisung in the brig, it’s meant to evoke a sense of anger and rage like yn is so angry to a point where she would do this sort of thing, but my hope with that scene was also to show that desperation. that when looking back at it after having already seen the rage and the aftermath, that reading it again shows how desperate and hopeless she was in that moment. which is exactly the same emotion that was evoked back in that warehouse scene with san, except it was relayed differently because the warehouse was a more immediate sense of desperation. this brig scene was meant to emulate that but in a slow burn kinda way where the veil of realization is pulled off after the fact and not in the moment!!!

Just to make sure you don't misunderstand. Those asks were compliments. You are an absolutely incredible writer. And the fact that you aren’t afraid of hurting your characters *cough cough* SHOOTING SAN?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? *CLEARS THROAT AGRESSIVELY* just makes the story much better. No one gets plot armour, making it more realistic (?) and really draws in the writer and sorta imitates the fear and desperation the characters feel

PLS don’t worry, i live for every moment and i live for these open and raw and genuine conversations i didn’t take any as an insult i PROMISE!! i think part of the nature of this whole trope of space pirates and criminals is that hter is no guarantee of safety! i don’t wanna have to cut corners to make sure everyone stays unharmed and undamaged throughout the story when the nature of the world i’ve built thus far is a wildly dangerous one!!! i always say that i try to be as realistic as i can, all things considered, and i think that’s the biggest thing that adds to the ‘realism’ in my mind so im so happy to hear that you see it and appreciate it and enjoy it!!!

OHOHOHOHOHOH ALSO

YN GRIPPING SOMEONES HEART??? YOU WRITE THAT SO FUCKING WELL. LIKE ENIGUH DETAILS THAT WE KNOW WHATS GOING ON, BUT ALSO NOT SO MANY DETAILS SO IT GETS DETACHWD FROM THE STORY. LIKE THE LACK OF CLEAR SUPER MANY DETAILS REALLY MADE IT THAT *YOU ARE EXPERIENCING THIS, NOT JUST READING IT* LIKE IT MADE IT WAY MORE EMOTIONAL AND OERSONAL AND THE READER REALLY GOT IMMERSED IN THE MOST HORRIBLE WAY THAT KUST MADE IT ALL RHE MORE BETTER. ALSO JOONG AFRAID????? JOONG REALISING HE GOT A FULLY FLEDGED HEART RIPPER SIREN WHO CANT CONTROL HER BODY TO MOVE THROUGH A HARMLESS DOOR BUT CAN DEFINITELY KILL IN A HEARTBEAT (OR TWO 👀) ALSO THE CONTRAST OF REMOVING RHE BLOOD COLOURED WHITE OLASTIC AND HAVING A CLEAN HAND UNDERNWATH. THE SYMBOL OF IT ALSO BEKNG A TRASH CLEANERS SUIT. LIKE SHE WASN'T SUPPOSED TO ACTUALLY USE THE TRASH PROTECTION DUIT FOR ITS INTENDED PURPOSE. ALSO THE OART WHERE SHE SAYS SHES FINE EVEN TJO SHE ISNT. AT FIRST I READ IT AS HER TELLING HERSELF TO LIE BUT THEN I REALISED ITS HER ADMITTING SHE VERY MUCH ISNT. AND SAN NOT KNOWING???? AND KISSING HER HAND AND UGH AND SEONGHWA KNOWING. I BET HE'S LOWKEY GETTING MORE AND MORE AFRAID OF HER. LIKE YN IS READY TO KILL HERSELF AND ANYONE AROUND HER TO KEEP SAN SAFE. AND SHE INSTICTUALLY GOES FOR THE MODT AGRESSIVE METHOD POSSIBLE. IHHHHHHHHHHHHH I FUCKING LOVE YOU AND YOUR WONDERFUL WTITING AND YOUR TWISTED MIND THAT CAN CREATE ALL THESE FUCKING SCENES THAT GOT ME THUNKING AND FEELING ✨EMOTIONS✨

truly one of the HIGHLIGHTS of the chapter simply bc of how shocking and sudden it is!! for me, that was one of the easiest scenes to write in the chapter, oddly enough? it was something that when it came time to write it, i knew how i wanted it to be and was able to just sit down and write it out the way its written in the final draft of the chapter. i really love playing with those aspects of fiction and storytelling. tangible to a point, without spelling it out. i think it’s obvious that i really love delayed realization in writing, but i really like playing with how the brain processes information and for me personally, i don’t pick up on things right away! i can realize them in a snap or it can take me a bit to go ‘oh god that’s what happened’, and i like playing with that in y/n’s character a LOT.

and in that same vein of thought, there are some layers to that scene as well when compared to the door scene. in the door scene we saw hongjoong clearly tell y/n ‘you need to do this to save san’ yet she wasn’t able to do it despite trying and believing hongjoong. then in the heart scene we saw y/n clearly tell herself ‘you need to do this to save san’ and she did it then. so there’s a lot at play in that parallel alone too. and with that internal monologue she has of im fine vs not fine, then san kissing the hand that touched a literal real actual beating heart for me that was a sort of self indulgent scene and i was really worried about it coming across as too cheesy or something like that, but that is something that’s gonna impact y/n as a character and her relationship with san when they have the conversation of ‘oh hey i put my hand through a man’s chest for you’

i think part of why this chapter was so difficult to construct and write as a whole definitely is because of all the undertones and nuances throughout, and in a lot of ways it’s so so much to even think about that it’s almost too much packed into one chapter alone, but even if you don’t pick up on all the nuances throughout, i’m hoping to revisit them and bring them back around in that delayed realization style again bc that’s one of my favorite things to do ofc :3

[sophfandoms53]

So, would you Sonic Boom is when many VAs like Roger Craig Smith, Cindy Robinson, and Kirk Thornton really started to hit their stride as their characters?

I definitely believe working on Boom helped them a lot.

I know for me, Boom helped me see Roger as his own Sonic and allowed me to enjoy his performance as the character from then onwards, and I’m super grateful for that because some of Roger’s best work as Sonic comes from Boom.

Cindy’s performance as Amy I feel got better during Lost World but Boom’s writing and directing helped her come into her own as Amy, similar to Roger, and she has just become Amy for me in the recent years, I absolutely adore her voice. It’s kinda funny looking back at her voice during Free Riders and Generations because sis almost sounds like a completely different person. Definitely love Cindy’s performance for sure.

Kirk is a different case, while I do really like his performance as Shadow during his season 2 appearance, I can’t really say I like his performance as Shadow in general.

I’ve recently learned this is a rather common opinion, and that honestly makes me feel better, that Kirk’s performance has been lacking the charm that both David and Jason were able to give him. I don’t fault Kirk for this at all, it’s the writing and directing that’s responsible for this dip in quality of, not only Shadow as a character but, Kirk’s performance.

The only game where Shadow sounds like Shadow under Kirk’s voice is Forces and that’s because, despite his whole episode being a DLC, his prologue episode is written moderately well. The way Shadow was written in Forces is how you would expect Shadow to be written, he’s on a mission, working alongside Omega and Rouge and has his normal chemistry with them like he did in Heroes and ‘06.

He’s cocky and confident that he can handle the mission on his own, to which Rouge teases him about it as Omega said the same thing about himself, but he isn’t the arrogant asshole that SEGA seems to believe he is, he goes on the mission to help Omega out while keeping contact with him and Rouge. When Omega starts talking weird and malfunctioning, Shadow’s immediately concern for his friend and he and Rouge are trying to figure out what happened. Shadow’s friendship with Omega and Rouge is something Infinite uses against him when sending him into that distorted Green Hill level.

There’s a part where Rouge tells Shadow he needs to fall back on the mission because things are getting too out of hand and he won’t be able to handle it all and Shadow listens to her and retreats. He doesn’t cause a fuss or act as if he’s impervious to damage or anything, there’s no comment on how retreating makes him a coward, he takes Rouge’s word for it, because he knows she has his best interest at heart, she’s his partner, and follows her instruction.

Even in the regular story, once Shadow appears and joins the resistance, he helps Sonic and everyone else along the way, he’s there in the final battle, and worked with everyone without a problem.

Overall, Shadow in Forces is the bare minimum for how the character should be and, considering how much SEGA misunderstands Shadow nowadays, that’s actually a good thing and it’s refreshing considering how poorly Shadow’s character has been handled in the games before and after Forces. This good writing is complimented by Kirk’s performance, admittedly he does have a few lines that are misses, but in Forces he captures the type of Shadow a lot of fans and players enjoy seeing.

Despite his rather loud design, black and red are very distinct and noticeable colors, Shadow doesn’t usually speak unless something is directed to him or if it’s something he’s well aware of. So whenever he does speak, he’s rather direct and sharp with his tone and word choice. Looking back at both David and Jason’s performances for him, I’ve come to notice that, despite his very intimidating nature and not being very talkative in general, Shadow speaks rather politely and properly to whoever he’s interacting with unless they’ve angered him, obviously. I think that’s something worth noting and keeping in mind when choosing a voice for Shadow.

Shadow’s a very smooth, direct, soft-spoken character. That’s the type of tone David created for him, that’s the type of tone Jason nailed for him, and that’s the type of tone Kirk CAN reach and HAS reached before and that’s the type of tone for Shadow that needs to stay.

With all the recent changes being made on SEGA’s end w/ writers and VA’s, it’s possible one of those upcoming changes may be Kirk leaving as Shadow, so these are all things to keep in mind, but we shall see.

[atomicfilm]

hey, so I'm gonna ask about INTP stereotypes. I'm doing research about some MBTI types to my story, so I would like to know what should I avoid in order to create a reliable female INTP character, are there any common misconceptions? if you want to add anything about INTPs, like weird stuff they do, what do they like or very random things that nobody talks about, I would love to hear about it!

Awesome! If you ever need someone to read it, I’m open to that. I think one of the main misconceptions is how cold we are externally A lot of types might look at us and think we’re standoffish. However, I can actually warm up quite quickly with the right encouragement. The best approach is not to compliment me, it will make me feel awkward and probably slightly avoidant even if I don’t consciously intend to. I don’t really like to be observed in that way when I’m not trying to be. A better way is to tell a few jokes, make really random references, and get me used to the idea of you being in my physical space in a non-creepy, non-confrontational way (a fist bump or high-five will do). 

There are a lot of nuances I would say. I am very insecure and very confident at the same time. Generally, I’m very confident in my academic abilities and very insecure about my social interactions. 

INTPs aren’t all math all the time. I’m certainly not an engineer, even though I admire engineering from afar. I’m generally the most willing person to shut down people who are being assholes in class (i.e. those really loud kids that exist in every math class) and also contemplate other people’s ideas. However, some INTPs I know are actual engineers. This is very cool, but I’m also aware of the fact that they too get insecure about their math-skills as well because math is cool but not always conducive to the way we think. We’re kind of sporadic thinkers and not algorithmic as much. We can be really talented but are also generally at least a little unstructured (but a lot of types won’t see that, i.e. ENFPs typically think we have our lives figured out). 

Everyone likes different things, it’s certainly not limited to type! I only know two other INTPs and they are both guys. I actually am pretty sure i know one other woman INTP but I haven’t spoken to her in four years. I don’t think any of us have a super-strong affiliation with gender and certainly not gender stereotypes (although we all are huge feminists). Perhaps the main misunderstanding is how much we care. Just because we may not outwardly respond does not mean that we didn’t hear the rude thing someone said to us or we aren’t furious about something happening in the world. 

Another common thing for us is just being misunderstood. My INTP friends and I call each other aliens and it feels very true a lot of the time. Being an outsider is evident, even if we are well-liked. 

I can be seen as sarcastic, snarky, blunt, and I am to an extent, all of those things, but I am not mean. I am very, very intentional about the boundaries I cross and often map out what will upset certain people to avoid hurting their feelings. When I do hurt feelings, it is generally because I have hit the end of my human feeling knowledge (i.e. what do you say to someone whose dad died if you are not religious, they are not religious, they didn’t know him and he was a bad person, but they are crying). I think now I would say “I am here for you, you can cry it out, let’s get you home”. But five years ago when I was in that situation, I didn’t say anything, just let my friend cry on my shoulder and when people came up to us, I told them that she didn’t want to talk. I was trying my best to be there emotionally, but I didn’t have the right schema yet. 

My Ne/Si is a cause of a lot of my fights, actually. I tend to build schemas a lot (as most people do) but I am strict in my predictions of what I think people will do. Usually, people do not stray from my predictions but sometimes they do. When that happens, I’m either laughing my ass off and super excited about being surprised or I feel like I have betrayed myself by not being able to predict every outcome. 

To write a good INTP character, you ought to give them a lot of comforting things. We like the friends we’ve had for many years, we like to wear the same jacket every week, we often order the same things off menus and say the same jokes and try to keep things quality-controlled. (I’m 19 and I still make pillow forts.) Then, to write a good book, you should mess everything up for your INTP.

If you need some emotional conflict, give them an Fi user. I personally fight with every Fi user I have ever known because there is always eventually a conflict that goes like this: 

Fi:“YOU HURT MY FEELINGS. I’M SAD, WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN TO ME?”

Fe: “Your feelings do not make sense in this logical construct I have programmed to understand human emotions.”

AND/OR

“You are hurting other people’s feelings.”

OH, and another large misunderstanding. INTPs talk more or less like normal people. I have an incredibly colloquial style because formal writing is alienating and often misused. My INTP friends typically love memes as well as puns, bad jokes, and writing texts in stanzas like a drunkard poet. So yeah, we’re not all like “wahhh, you don’t speak in Python, my computer-brain doesn’t like this” (but also we kinda do just in different vernacular).

I also think that INTPs are not incredibly skilled at understanding who they are, even if they appear to be. I can analyze myself all day bebeY but if you ask me what my name is or what I’m doing I’m often like “yeah, idk, who am I? What is the purpose of existence?”. Actually, one of the easiest ways to identify an INTP in my personal belief is to shout very loudly “SO I WAS READING THIS EXISTENTIALIST BOOK THE OTHER DAY-”. 

INTPs have a nice dichotomy of wanting stability but getting very bored once they’ve figured something out. If I am not planning something, I am depressed point-blank. Another cool dichotomy is disliking conflict but being sensitive and standing up for people (learned skill).

Hope this helped! Feel free to ask me about how I would respond in a certain situation too. 

P.S. Why can’t I add tags to asks until after I’ve posted them? Extremely inefficient. 

[pastelsapphy]

Why does Sylvian hates himself?

(This ended up being really long whoops)

*cracks knuckles* time to talk about my boy

[All quotes taken from the Fire Emblem Fandom Wiki, so there may be some slight inaccuracies]

Okay so first off Sylvain grew up in a shitty environment, to say the absolute least, and that fucks with your head.

First: his brother. He attempted to kill Sylvain on multiple occasions as kids because Sylvain had a Crest. And Sylvain just like, accepts that??? You can see that a lot in his A support with Byleth. He talked about being shoved in a well and being left on a mountain in winter by his brother, and almost immediately followed up with “I have no right to complain” because he, in theory, got lucky: he got the Crest.

And you figure, he would’ve grown up apologizing and made to feel guilty just for existing. You can see in his dialogue against Miklan, in chapter five:

Miklan: Hmph! Hurry up and die already. If not for you… If it hadn’t been for you…

Sylvain: Shut up! I’m so tired of hearing that. You’ve always blamed me for something that isn’t my fault.

He’s definitely been saying that since they were kids. That kinda stuff really fucks with your sense of self-worth after a while.

Then we have the rest of his family. We don’t hear anything about his mother, or much about his father, but we can infer some things about the latter: Margrave Gautier disowned, abandoned, and cast aside his first son in favor of the one with a Crest. Considering the dialogue about “everything being taken away” from Miklan, it’s possible that he was being raised to be the next Margrave, because someone had to inherit–with Crests becoming less common, who knows how long it would’ve taken to get a kid with one, if they got one at all? They needed a backup plan. And then Sylvain came along, with the minor Crest of Gautier, and suddenly Miklan didn’t exist. That’s fucked up, and it shows how little Margrave Gautier cared about his kids. I honestly doubt he showed Sylvain any kind of affection or attention growing up, and probably only interacted with him for inheritance- and Crest-related reasons. To him, Sylvain was a walking Crest, not a person (Sylvain’s fear of people only ever wanting him for his Crest, and not as a person in any respect, had to come from somewhere).

(And, if I can add a bit of an aside, I feel like this is the root of his philandering. Makes me think of the whole “even negative attention is better than nothing” kinda thing. You figure, Little Sylvain would have been incredibly touch-starved and desperate for attention. Humans are a social species and we literally need attention and affection to live well. I mean, he flirted with Ingrid’s grandmother when he was eight. I can only imagine what he said/did if Ingrid remembered it, considering she would have been five or six at the time. And kids that young don’t really know any better yet. Poor kid probably just wanted attention.)

(Additional aside that came to mind while writing this: I wonder if seeing the arrangement between Ingrid and Glenn affected this at all? Like yeah marriages in that kind of setting were purely political and such, but Ingrid was engaged to Glenn because (a) House Fraldarius was a powerful, well-to-do noble family and House Galatea really needed the resources, and (b) Ingrid was desirable as a wife because she had a Crest. Of course, we don’t know the exact circumstances of the arrangement, but we can infer from her other prospects. Sylvain still would have essentially seen Ingrid being used for leverage because of her Crest.)

So long before the events of the game, Sylvain is already pretty fucked up, emotionally. Trauma does that to you, especially when you have an “everyone else has it worse and I, actually, got lucky, so it doesn’t count and I’m not allowed to feel bad about it” complex. Survivor’s guilt is a hell of a drug lemme tell you. Sylvain has already internalized that,

He’s only good for his Crest

Any negative feelings about his Crest don’t matter, because those without have it worse.

No one will ever truly see him as a person–he’s just a Crest.

Already, that’s a pretty fucked up view of oneself.

By the time he gets to Garreg Mach, he has a carefully crafted persona set up: He’s an asshole, a liar, a serial flirt and cheater, dumb as a box of rocks, and a self-proclaimed “good-for-nothing.” In his B support with Dedue, you hear that people describe him as “indefensibly worthless,” which is followed by,

Sylvain: Indefensibly? Heh, that’s a bit harsh.

Dedue: I already knew your reputation concerning women. But these new rumors deprive you of all redemption. I did try to correct them. But I doubt I was believed.

Sylvain: Well, thank you all the same. Listen. You don’t need to worry what people think about me. As you well know, it’s not easy to correct misunderstandings or change people’s minds. And if I’m going to behave so badly, it seems misunderstandings are inevitable.

He doesn’t even argue, just kinda brushes it off and accepts that’s just How He Is (listen, Sylvain can definitely be an asshole at times, but I have to agree with that being harsh). He doesn’t want people to expect anything from him (well, not anything good). In his supports with Annette, he’s shown to be pretty smart, but admits he hides it because the pressure it puts on him is suffocating. He kinda goes out of his way to hide his more redeeming qualities like that. Also on that point, we have this bit from his B support with Ashe,

Sylvain: […] My advice on the whole thing is just to follow your instincts. That’s what I do. If someone’s in trouble, I help them. You don’t need to be a valiant knight to know that. Doesn’t matter if the person is an ugly old man or the cutest girl you’ve ever seen, you help ‘em.

Ashe: So, you’re saying…

Sylvain: Everybody’s the same, deep down. It’s our job to help anyone who needs it.

Ashe: Ah!

Sylvain: What? You’re looking at me funny. Did I say something wrong?

Ashe: No! No. I’m just surprised, that’s all. You’re actually a much better person than I thought.

“You’re actually a much better person than I thought.” Several of his supports have some variation of this line. Usually after he does something kind. And I mean, Sylvain is a kind person, under the philandering. Most of his supports involve him helping others out somehow.

He helps Dimitri with the girl situation (he kinda got him into it in the first place but I digress)

His whole C with Dedue is pretty much “racism is stupid and I’m going to be your friend, fuck what everyone else says.”

In his supports with Felix and Ashe, he helps them out in battle, at a detriment to himself (You can also throw Byleth in here, during their A support, but he was a jerk in their C and B).

In his Annette supports, she calls him out for going easy on her during training. He admits he was, but only because he didn’t want her to feel bad because she puts so much effort into her work while he “sorta gets by on [his] wits”

Okay I need to say how much I love his supports with Bernadetta???? He does genuinely try to compliment her work, and when he sees speaking to Bernie face-to-face won’t work, he goes out of his way to write a nice and well-worded review (a fairly lengthy one, according to Bernie) and compliment of her work–which Bernadetta takes to much better than she did talking in person. And this is one of the few supports where he doesn’t try to flirt. He’s just trying to give her genuine compliments on her writing and goes out of his way to do it without upsetting her.

His support with Hilda could go a few ways, but he did return the books for her and he did apparently get yelled at for something he didn’t do and didn’t even try to deflect that. And it seems that’s not even why he confronts her later: it’s because of how her actions were detrimental to other people (”And those books you left in your room for so long? Teachers and classmates needed those. So stop lying, and maybe stop being quite as selfish too.”). It’s not until she asks if the librarian said anything that he’s like “Oh, yeah, they yelled at me.”

And a fair amount of people still see him as “indefensibly worthless.” Sylvain often goes out of his way to help people, but he tends to brush it off and keep it lowkey.

I got a little off track here, but my point for this is Sylvain projects an outward appearance of being a really shitty, deplorable person. Almost everyone he has supports with is GENUINELY surprised when they realize that no, he’s not as bad as all the rumors about him imply. Sylvain just doesn’t really want people to know. And, as much as he plays it off like he doesn’t care, that kind thing gets to you after a while. So everyone except a handful of close friends seeing him in such a negative light? It filters in eventually, even if you’re not already emotionally fucked up.

Another thing I want to point out: A lot of times, it seems like Sylvain does not give a shit about what happens to him. A few of his support conversations involve him taking a blow in battle to protect someone else (and his attitude afterward is “better me than them”). Reading his A+ with Felix, “…protecting me like that. You’re so weak and yet you always… always…” this is definitely something Sylvain has a habit of doing. Additionally, we have one of his goal requests: “The best way to impress people is to save them by diving into harm’s way. That’s what a Great Knight does, yeah?” In true Sylvain style he covers it with “I just want to impress people” but he’s still devoting his training to being the guy who jumps in front of everyone else to tank the hit. Fully committing to that kind of thing takes more than just a shallow want to “impress people.” Then there’s his Monastery line to Byleth, toward the end of Verdant Wind I believe?, where he says he fights like he wants to die. Which…. yeah.

Another line of his that sticks with me: “burn until we meet again,” after defeating an enemy post-time skip. A friend of mine pointed out it might just be dramatic, but I think about that a lot. Does he think he’s going to the 3h equivalent of hell??? Does he think he’s that terrible of a person??

Uh this turned out to be a lot longer than i thought. So I guess to sum up:

Sylvain grew up internalizing the idea that he doesn’t have any worth as a person. Everything he is and has is related to his Crest. Everything that people feel towards him is related to his Crest and not who he is as a person.

He internalized the idea that because he has a Crest, that he’s not allowed to be upset about any of this, because he got lucky.

Growing up with Miklan’s abuse, he was definitely made to feel guilty about simply daring to exist. So he grows up hating himself.

He developed an outward persona that only reinforced these ideas–he makes and lets people believe he’s a piece of shit.

His attitude in battle shows how little he seems to care about himself.

tl;dr: Sylvain grew up without any love or affection, and was severely emotionally fucked up by his family, which complicated his relationships with other people and his view of himself as a person and his worth. He purposely projected an image of himself to support this, letting people believe he’s a shit person and doesn’t argue back because he feels it’s well-deserved. He doesn’t seem to think he’s actually worth anything. Sylvain, of course, like all people, has negative traits–that’s just part of being human. But his sense of self has been so warped and twisted over the years that he can’t seem to do anything but hate himself.

[missholland]

“Shouldn’t I hate you? Can’t I hate you?”

“Why do you treat me like a fool?”

Jiang Cheng tearfully asked his adopted brother, and we could all feel the pain in his voice. He must have held on to these wonders for a very long time, even beyond the past 16 years when WWX was presumably dead.

JC grew up with WWX, and despite a rough start of having his puppies sent away, the two truly became close as a little JC promised to chase dogs away for WWX. I don’t have a brother, so I can’t personally relate to what it’s like living with one. I guess the fact that JC and WWX are same age supposedly make them best friends too. Male friends rarely sit down and talk about their feelings, let alone young men like these two. 

From the very beginning, we get to know JC as the more disciplined one and constantly looks out to make sure WWX does not cause any trouble. That makes a lot of sense, since JC bares the heavy responsibility of being the next Jiang clan leader, on top of enduring his father’s tough love and his mother’s unpleasantness toward WWX. For those who instantly fell in love with WWX’s free spirit, JC comes across as a massive killjoy.

Just think about it, the two did quarrel quite often growing up, as boys do. I’m not sure when it started, but WWX eventually develops a habit of not telling JC things. He could be seen regularly dismissing JC whenever the latter asks him a question. We got to see this several times during their studies at Cloud Recesses, and it’s likely JC justified it as WWX’s newly developed attention to LWJ. JC’s envy cannot be anymore obvious - from his rolling eyes every time WWX is around LWJ to snarky comments like ‘You’re so close to LWJ now, just stay in Cloud Recesses and don’t bother coming back to Lotus Pier’. As much as we all ship young WangXian, wouldn’t you be really upset if you were in JC’s position?

JC has a lot more to lose than WWX - his family, his clan’s reputation. Considering how his father tended to maintain a passive position whenever it comes to clan politics, JC would follow through with the stay-out-of-trouble mindset and prefer as least attention as possible during chaos. Unfortunately, that’s not how WWX operates. He simply cannot stand idly by when someone is in trouble. There is no such thing as ‘those irrelevant’ to him. If the weak is being bullied, he will step in to help in a heartbeat. This is why WWX is MUCH better off being a free agent like Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan. Once you live that major clan life, every step you take and every move you make represent your sect, not just yourself, no matter how many times you keep saying ‘Hey, you can slander me, but not Yunmeng Jiang clan’. JC knows this very well, and in his head he has to be the adult/bad cop to WWX as there is really no choice.

There is nothing wrong with having that ethos. JC just has completely different priority comparing to WWX, and that’s what he based on when making decision. JC’s intention has always been about protecting WWX, even after the event in Qiongqi Way. The reason for the downfall of their relationship comes from both sides: JC doesn’t know how to ask, and WWX doesn’t want to answer. Maybe because JC keeps go on and on about WWX better not bringing trouble to Jiang clan, WWX finds it more difficult to confine in him with his problems and eventually not tell him at all. Or, deep down, WWX already knows JC treasures completely different values. Hence, it is no use to share this sort of thing with him. That is obviously different from his experience with LWJ, as they made the same promise in front of Master Lan Yi in the cold cave and under the rabbit lantern. All of the above, in addition to JC not being conversationally gifted, keep the brothers further and further away until their misunderstanding becomes too deep to resolve.

I’m not team JC, but I feel for him when it comes to holding on to things. He remembers stuff and doesn’t let go easily. So when his adopted brother said ‘I will be your subordinate and assist you for life when you become clan leader’, that promise meant a lot more to him than the person who made (and broke) it. Besides, JC already lost his parents. With his sister getting married, he was practically all alone in rebuilding Lotus Pier and WWX’s help was supposed to be his greatest asset. 

But all he received in return is a flaky assistant who became depressed, drank all day, nowhere to be found when needed and just seem to give up life in general. JC probably considered him already having too much go on, and it’s just easier for him to scold others instead of holding back for one second to think ‘What happened to him? I need to find out and sort him out!’. We all know how everything went down after that, and it really echoes what JGY said to JC in episode 49: ‘If you had treated WWX better, none of this would have happened’.

Honestly, JC doesn’t deserve to be treated like a fool, which was what WWX kinda did to him. He started telling all of his burdens revolving WWX, from how WWX had always been winning in everything - from talent to chivalry, from the affection of their father/sister to the cost of their own lives. But that’s not the point. JC was aware of all that, but he was definitely never jealous of WWX’s qualities in a negative way. JC did not care about any of that, as long as WWX remained his loyal best friend/brother. 

This is where his actual deepest frustration unfolded - ‘What hardship could you not tell me’ is the most haunting question I’ve heard. JC knew there was a reason, but could not figure out why he was not the one WWX went to for help. He was getting to that point when capturing WWX in Qinghe, asking why WWX went elsewhere rather than Lotus Pier once he was resurrected. As ridiculous that question might be (I mean, would your first point of contact after coming back to life be the person who wanted to kill you before?), it was the confused and desperate little brother inside Jiang clan leader’s hard ass cover crying for answer from his former best friend/brother.

If there was ever any jealousy inside JC, I would think it gotta be toward LWJ. Sure, the closeness with WWX is one thing, but it’s weird to compare your brotherhood to.... you know, romantic/spiritual soulmate-level bond. I might be stretching this, but it just seems to me JC is somewhat envious of how LWJ can confidently (maybe, in his head, blindly) stand by WWX post-resurrection. 

The whole ‘oh you’ve been everywhere for 16 years looking for someone’ comment - I mean really JC, weren’t you doing the same too? The dirty look he gave LWJ when he took out Bichen and pointed toward Jin Clan’s guards to protect WWX at Jinlintai, when LWJ stood next to WWX against the cultivation world at Burial Mounds, when LWJ remained by WWX at Lotus Pier’s doorstep and even willing to wait OUTSIDE with him, when LWJ was taken to offer some incense to his family, and when LWJ still fiercely shielded WWX while having his spiritual power sealed at Guanyin Temple.

Deep down JC never stops loving his brother, but he’s just not willing to let go of the past. And sadly, he has probably never really believed in WWX anyway. A lot of people may not be able to stan JC, but it’s still heart-breaking regardless thinking about how his relationship with WWX deteriorates through time. I guess the only comforting thing is that by the end of the series, both of them can move on with their lives. And hopefully, whenever they think of each other, it’s only with the good memories of sitting together eating shijie’s lotus soup.

[calliecat93]

ST: The Next Generation Season 3 Watchthrough Episodes 4-6

Who Watches the Watchers: Picard is God now, or at least an alien species believes that he is. Whoops. While I disagree with the Prime Directive preventing the Federation from saving lives when there are no other options… yeah when this kind of things happens, I can understand why it’s a thing. So it was alright. I’m not a big fan of how ST sometimes protrays religion, but I also can’t sit here and pretend like there aren’t issues that do need to be addressed. In this case there’s the danger of introducing superstition to a non-superstitious race which quickly causes chaos. The way that Picard convinces the leader that he and the crew are mortal was depressing, but effective. The episode certainly raises plenty of philosophical questions, though again I’d like it if ST was a bit more nuanced about belief in religion or the supernatural (obviously it’s a sci-fi nto a fantasy but still) but it could have been worst. But the people are clearly not evil or insane and it certainly has a point about not enforcing beliefs of a false God or the dangers that com with it like… y’know, almost sacrificing Troi (loved her and Riker’s costumes BTW) for what was ultimately an accident/misunderstanding. Otherwise it’s an alright episode. 3/5.

The Bonding: The theme of the day is grief! We have a very rare occurrence here: an officer dying in the line of duty and leaving her child, whose father is also dead, behind. Since TOS didn’t have kids on the ship we couldn’t really do this plot, but TNG can. Actually makes me understand why Picard doesn’t like kids on the Enterprise and I have complained more than once on them letting Wesley, a kid, on active duty when untrained so I’m glad to see this kind of episode. I liked all the reactions and the concerns for Jeremy. Worf feeling guilty because he lead the mission as well as his parents being dead and wanting to help Jeremy as a result, Troi being understandably concerned that Jeremy isn’t grieving properly, Picard clearly hating this part of his job, and even Wesley talking about how it was when his dad died and how even though he’s gotten through the grief, it’s still difficult. I think it’s the first time he’s been able to express it in an episode, it’s the kind of thing his character needed. Jeremy’s response isn’t exactly abnormal, but it’s certainly not healthy to keep it suppressed and things only get more when his mother magically reappears alive, but it’s not at all as it seems. The choice between the harsh reality of grief, or living a lie but where the ones you love are alive and well. Which one would you choose to believe? I think this really helps show the more mature writing this season cause they handle the topic maturely and very thoughtfully with a ST twist to it. Like Data and Riker talking about how human nature causes us to feel pained when we lose one close to us like they did with Yar but one we don’t know as well or even a while group of those nameless to us doesn’t quite provoke the same response. Kinda like the confrontation Spock and McCoy had in The Immunity Syndrome, only far, FAR less heated. It’s not at all subtle with the message, but with this kind of topic especially with a kid character involved… maybe bluntness is the best way to go. I just wanted to give the poor kid a hug at the end, but I’m glad that he’ll be okay and now has a family in Worf. Also there was a kitty (not Data’s cat, that BETTER be coming soon though!), yay~! 4/5.

Booby Trap: Ah love, it can be so hard to find that special someone. IDK why Geordi’s having a hard time aside form maybe trying too hard cause he’s adorable, but hey I’ve so much as never even made romantic eye contact with someone in the 28 years I’ve been alive so who am I to judge? At least he can get a date. Anyways, after finding an ancient ship, the power starts being mysteriously drained which is bad. Turns out they’ve been caught in a trap, well no one can say that the title is misleading. Anyways, it’s okay. We have a crisis where Geordi going through the personal log of one of the Enterprise designers to find a potential fix… only to end up causing the computer to create a holographic version of the engineer, Leah. So we have Geordi trying to save them before they get blown up while falling in love with a hologram… welp. So did ST create the whole virtual lover trope? Or at least predict it? Welp. So… is he more or less flirting with the computer of the Enterprise? Or essetially the Enterprise itself? God I can see him and Scotty really getting along haha. But yeah I’m glad to have some Geordi focus… but IDK if the romantic part was necessarily needed, makes it feel more like a Season 2 episode. The next episode is another Geordi one that sounds very interesting so we’ll see if that’s a bit better. Otherwise, no real strong feelings for this one. Probably the weakest thus far but there are still 20 episodes to go and we’ve already had five quality episodes. Very least Levar as Geordi is a blessing XD 2.5/5.

[slytherin-team]

I thought it would just be easier to put this in it’s own post - some bullet points for why I unironically ship Snape and Petunia:

- the potential set-up is irresistible! Also, who wasn’t shocked when it was revealed that Snape and Petunia of all characters knew each other as kids?! I see Snape as an ultimately good person. I can’t say the same for adult Petunia but I have a lot of sympathy for child Petunia, and frankly I think adult Petunia should have been written more grey and nuanced like Snape. The Dursleys overall were a little too cartoonish and bland. It’s been said that “there’s more to Petunia’s character than meets the eye,” and that should have been shown more.

- speaking of the potential set-up - it allows for so many avenues to explore in fanfic! For example, stories where teen Petunia and teen Severus get together in Cokeworth, or the two of them coming together as adults, or stories of them raising Harry together instead of Petunia and Vernon, etc. Like there’s just so many different ways it could happen and it could range from a really, positive enlightening relationship to a really toxic or torrid love affair, and all of those could be great and interesting stories.

- we don’t get any on-screen muggle/wizard romances and that would have been interesting. I also like the idea of Petunia being with a wizard and feeling more included in the magical world and I like Severus with a muggle, maybe living a quiet life away from all the death eater stuff, kinda returning to the muggle world but in a new, positive way

- Petunia and Snape are both extremely insecure as kids/teens. Petunia never feels good enough compared to Lily and Severus never feels good enough compared to wealthy pure-bloods like James Potter. Petunia claims that her parents neglected her and favored Lily. Severus was neglected by his parents (my personal headcanon is that his mother loved him but was so beaten down by Tobias’s abuse that her health and state of mind prevented her from being a good mother). Petunia and Snape look down on each other when they meet, but actually they have more in common than Snape and Lily. Petunia can probably understand him better than someone popular and loved like Lily.

- In the movie Snape has that line about Petunia being jealous because Lily is special and she’s ordinary. This gets at the heart of Petunia’s insecurities. But here’s the thing - Snape and Petunia, who both feel that they’re not special- could be special to each other. Snape is attracted to power because he wants to be in control and not weak, which leads him down a dark path. He didn’t need the death eater stuff - he needed someone he could confide in. I always imagine him as domestic and a homebody at heart - just brewing potions in his basement or reading books in his armchair. He wants to regain a sense of control over his life but he doesn’t seek prestige to the same degree as Lucius Malfoy and has nothing but contempt for showy people like Lockhart. Petunia is also very domestic. I like the idea of her cooking and humming to herself while Snape brews his potions.

- they both suffered a lot in their youth and I just wish both of them could be happy as adults. They’re two of the most bitter, regretful characters in the series and I’m a sucker for shipping two bitter assholes together and seeing them bring each other joy lol

- They both found James Potter to be arrogant and off-putting and nothing brings two people together like the hatred of a third party.

- Again, I like how it’s easy to imagine them in a secure, happy, domestic partnership or in a really fucked up torrid affair. There’s not a huge amount of fanfic about these two but of the ones I’ve found, writers usually create either something really romantic between them, where they come together and are special to each other, or something really toxic that makes for a terrible relationship but very fun reading

- Pride & Prejudice/ “the folly of first impressions” - if you like this sort of thing, well then, you can see how this ship is appealing I’m sure

- I love it when two characters seem like opposites on the surface (Snape is greasy, unkempt, a wizard, has dark hair and dark eyes, meanwhile Petunia is neat, clean, a muggle, has blonde hair and blue eyes) but are actually really similar (both of them are precise, have a lot of pride, hurt the ones they love in order to protect their own egos, seem to love the home and the hearth, take pride in their work, have a complicated relationship with Lily, Petunia feels she’s not as good as Lily, Severus feels like he’s not good enough for Lily, are spiteful, in the DH memory scenes, they are both shown to spy and snoop around a lot, they grew up in the same town, etc)

- I love Snape and Lily as friends but I have never been a snily shipper. I don’t see them as compatible in that way. Also, I’m personally not a fan of friends -to -lovers, give me enemies-to-friends-to-lovers over the former any day.

- If any atla fans are reading this - I ship Zutara, not Kataang, so this might explain a lot as well.

- the potential Snape and Petunia romance just has so many classic elements. the folly of first impressions/ pride & prejudice thing mentioned above, two misunderstood people coming together, or two people who misunderstand each other at first then come together later, the romeo and juliet potential because of the war, etc.

- They remind me of Xellos and Filia from the anime Slayers, which was the first enemies-to-friends-to-lovers ship I really fell in love with, and they even physically resemble these two as well. Filia is a prim and proper blonde, always drinking tea and acting self-righteous. Xellos has long hair that falls into his eyes and is thought to be evil by nature yet we only see him do good in the series. Although he has a sharp tongue. This relationship is not canon either and never comes to fruition in the series but it’s heavily hinted at.

- it’s super corny and cliche but I love the whole beauty and the beast parallel, and also the hades/persephone vibe that this ship evokes

- If Petunia was a witch - she’d totally be a slytherin and I have legitimate reasons for this that have nothing to do with her being a “villain” character. Self-preservation and protecting the in-group while being cautious of outsiders are important slytherin qualities. The defensive, on-guard way Petunia acts when Snape first appears, shows her being protective of her little sister. The snobbery she exudes is reminiscent of Narcissa’s Malfoy’s snobbery, looking down on outsiders to protect or maintain the in-group basically. Petunia’s pride and the way she protects it, insisting she really didn’t want to go to Hogwarts after all, shows that self-preservation and preservation of her dignity are important to her. Pride, pride, pride! We see this in how she painstakingly tends to her home and family as well. She always wants to make a good impression and be the best.

- Nothing against Dramoine shippers but I’m not a fan of that ship. I don’t like putting the racist bully with the person he’s racist towards. Okay, so then why Snape and Petunia? Petunia can pretend to hate magic all she wants because of her jealousy but at the end of the day, she’s Lily’s sister and has magical heritage even if she’s not a witch herself. Likewise, Snape can call people with muggle parents “mudbloods” all he wants but that doesn’t change the fact that he himself has a muggle parent and literally wouldn’t exist if not for that muggle parent, as awful as he is. So, this is different to me from a pureblood supremacist and a muggleborn or muggle romance, because I don’t see either Snape or Petunia as racist, but rather, as self-loathing, and while it may not be healthy, I’m a sucker for pairing two self-loathing characters together. Also, I think character growth for both of them requires accepting the two worlds - muggle and magical- and their relation to them, and I feel like being together could keep them from going down dark paths (with Severus, Petunia can stop resenting the magical world and feel more included in it, and with Petunia, Severus can appreciate the muggle world and stop seeing every muggle as his awful father)

I can’t believe I just wrote all of this but I’m super into this ship recently and have a lot to word vomit about it. enjoy.

[shay11a]

New Rules, an overly long review

Alright, let’s do this.

I’ll just start with a little disclaimer that english is not my first language and although I’m usually fluent-ish some of my sentences might not translate very well from french, so please bear with me. Also this i like barely edited so sorry about the mistakes.

I’m here to talk about my favorite fanfiction, not only in this fandom, but in all fandom (and trust me, I’m a part of a lot of fandoms), and of all the fanfictions I’ve ever read (and trust me I’ve read a lot) : New Rules by the amazing @tayegi

The first time I read, I binge read it, but make no mistake, I don’t mean that I rushed though the story in one day, oh no, I mean I couldn’t do anything else, every minute of my day that I wasn’t in class or adulting, I was reading it, but it’s one of those rare fictions where I knew I was reading something just that good that I needed to make it last as much as possible. Imagine my struggle, balancing the need to know what was going to happen next and my visceral need to make it last as much as possible because I knew I could never experience this first reading again. 

That’s how much I love this story.

Unfortunetaly, there came a time I caught up.

So I re-read it.

Again.

And Again.

To this day, I often come back to it, re-reading entirely or picking up at any point to enjoy again a moment that I particularly like. I do this often with fiction I particularly liked, but one thing that I find amazing with NR is that, contrary to most fic, no matter where I pick up, I know what is happening, what happened before that, because the plot is just so wonderfully crafted that everything has consequences, every character is relevant and their actions have consequences that they are held accountable to by the plot (dunno is this makes sense but it does in my native language sorry) I regret not posting a review under every chapter as I read, it was selfish on my part, but I needed to continue, I have some notes from this review at the end but they lack the specificity of first impressions, I apologize for that. 

I also have to mention that this review is NOT spoiler free so if you want to read it please, PLEASE New Rules before that there is absolutely NO way that you won’t thank me (and Tayegi of course) afterwards, and don’t ‘I don’t mind spoilers’ me this story DESERVES to be read spoiler free.

Alright, buckle up kiddos, let’s do this.

I. The writing

The way the plot unveils is downright cathartic. I recently re-read it entirely to make this review and going back to the first chapters and seing how everything just MAKES SENSE and how a small thing happening has consequences over everything later. Just HUH brilliant. (I’m thinking about OC’s crush on Jimin here and how through the prism of Mijoo we later see that her crush was her projecting // Jin, now THAT’S WRITING) 

The smut, how do I put it, is bomb but it doesn’t feel like smut smut, it feels like actual sex described, not idealized and in my opinion it just adds to the quality of the story, because sex is an essential part of the story, not something added to satiate the hormones of horny readers (as an ex-horny teenager, I want to thank people writing this kind of smut and say that there is nothing wrong with writing this kind of smut) or just for the sake of it because apparently having sex is the culminating point of a relationship. Sex scenes tell a story as much as argument scenes, if not more. First, because as a sex friends to lover AU (smh) it is inherently part of the story but also because the characters don’t just stop having a backstory, emotions and emotional baggage when they have sex, all those things are still present and they influence the way they act in bed. And THAT is satisfying to read.  

On many occasions, in the fanfic writing community, you can hear (read?) people saying, « this fiction could / should be published like an actual book » I’m not here to further the debate on real literature, fanfiction and so what not, but this fiction is one that, more importantly than it being published, I feel like I could study in english class, take an extract and study the amazing characterization, how the scene furthers the plot, what are the literary devices used to do so. I feel like I could study the running metaphors, the sub plots and how they correlate so well to the main plot and further the characterization of a character, the plot itself or something else. Everything feels like a neatly knitted masterpiece. 

In that aspect, one scene that I particularly liked was the one where OC is hidden listening to JK and Hyejin, and as she hears what he says, she crushes the rose in her hand. It’s such a simple and yet telling idea: her bourgeoning love and hope for a romantic relationship symbolized by the ultimate romantic symbol : a rose, and JK’s words make her try and crush those feelings, but she hurts herself doing so, because the action itself is a painful one — trying to refrain hope / trying to suffocate feelings — but also because love, just like roses has thorns that may hurt, that’s why JK is so afraid of committing it seems, and the irony is that he is doing exactly that to someone else. (My explanation is so messy plfnmesdmflfmqf sorry)

One recurring idea/plot device that I have noticed is the one of misunderstanding / misreading each others. OC and JK constantly misread each others (I’m thinking about the scene in the bar where she rubs his back affectionately and he interprets it in a sexual way) and idk but something about this really hits me hard, because it’s human, so inherently human, this makes the characters feel like human beings not fictional archetypes. Because in real life, we can’t take a step back and have a view of the bigger picture the way we can as an omniscient reader who remembers very well what one said or did earlier that explains their behavior. In real life we dont know and cannot guess why people act a certain way based on some hinted at tragic backstory that would explain their commitment issues.

On a lighter note, the writing is just so freaking FUNNY, like I can’t count how many times I cackled like an idiot reading. + Tayegi has a way of cutting from scenes to scenes or from dialogue to dialogue that is just so FUNNY (if it was a movie I would talk about editing because it’s exactly how it feels, like when you got A saying ‘I will never do that’ and it cuts and the next frame is A doing exactly that)

More on the writing in the notes for every chapter further below.

II. Feminism, social justice and me relating to everything 

Ok this part is going to be a bit more personal but I had to address how much main girl and her struggles resonated with me. As a feminist myself I VERY often struggles with the same problem : that is when my beliefs come brutally crashing with the social constructs I have internalized and have yet to deconstruct as well as the people surrounded me who don’t necessarily share the same belief. And the way Tayegi portrayed this is spot on not to say borderline genius. 

Her mixed feelings when facing Hoseok « not like other girls » comments or the conversation where she struggles to explain why she is fucking the notorious fuckboy despite her talks about hook-up culture were punches in the guts to me, because feminists are always the ones to be criticized the most easily (I am aware that my phrasing here is horrendous but I don’t know how to word this differently again sorry English is not my native language) and the slightest slip-up will be pointed at by people who aren’t even feminist but see an easy way to gaslight them. So, to read this, to read another woman facing the same situations and being as utterly upset and sometime powerless as I felt, god was it cathartic. 

And don’t get me started on the way she always ALWAYS sticks by her principles of sorority, even to the women that have been nothing less than mean to her and how hard it is to support other women when we live in a society that always pit women against each others. I FELT that. But nevertheless main girl tries to, she compliments Somin on her dress, Hiejin as well even though they both have been openly hostile (and even mean sometimes) to her. I truly felt this, all theses little moments, just a sentence here and there, but I felt them in my guts.

III. The characters 

The characters, oh god, the characters. OC ? Marry me. JK? Marry me (also I want to slap him but it’s another story). Taehyung ? Marry me. Mijoo? Marry me.   

The relationship between OC and her BFF is in my opinion one of the best thing about the pic and one that really remarks it from other, the twist about twist alsmot made me believe it would be like every other pic where oc ends up with virtually no friend (especially female ones because like everyone know girls cause drama riiiight ) but it happens so early ? How could it ooooh it’s not like that, OC and her BFF and mature enough to discuss it, it still has  consequences, the scene where OC accuses BFF of pushing her onto Jk to make herself feel better about jimmy still gives me chills because, yeah, it makes sens that she would, and it kinda feels like she did with how insistant she has been, but again, we are told the story from OC’s perspective, so obviously she feels bad when BFF insists that her and JK are meant to be bc she knows that JK wouldn’t date her, but again, as readers, we can kinda see from BFF perspective, they indeed look perfect for one another and only misunderstanding and insecurities and Jk’s past seems to be in the way (okay granted when you say it like that it seems like a lot), but in the end, Mijoo also seems genuine in the way she pushes them together, even though, yeah she might have, consciously or not done it for that reason.

i don’t know if I want a happy ending for OC and JK, I want one because they are so good and sweet together and after everything they’ve been through I feel like they sort of deserve it, but after everything they’ve been through, especially the way JK has behaved, it seems hard for a happy ending to happen. I feel like it’s going to take a lot of time and talking (including his backstory that has been hinted at a few times wink wink) for them to work things out, if they work things out.

I’ve mentioned that before but : THE SORORITY oh lord where do I start? OC standing up for Hyejin and Somin even when they had a few rough patches, sign me the fuck UP. OC not turning totally on her best friend Mijoo (my girl btw) and overlooking their friendship and what she had done for her in the time of Jin because Mijoo made a selfish mistake ? Yes please, MORE.

Hoseok is, in my opinion, spot ON. It took me some time to exactly pin point who he reminded me of but then I realized he is exactly what I call the 'apolitical guy’, who is convinced to not have controversial opinion and would deny ever having prejudice when he clearly has (i.e. the scene where Oc calls him out on his misogynie

I have to admit that Hyejin and Somin are amongst my favorites because even though the plot (and the fact that we are basically supposed to be on OC’s side as the story is told from her perspective)  makes them very unsympathetic, your writing allows us to understand their actions and empathize with them. Learning about Hyejin’s past with JK makes her look like the character of a fan fiction where she could have been the main character unfortunately for her, this is OC’s story so Hyejin can’t get the guy in the end. But truly, her backstory feels like an entire other ff in the story and to be honest basically every other character’s backstory as well as the subplots feel this way. And Somin, well Somin is basically going through the same thing as OC but with Hoseok so how can we mock her for it while crying for OC ? That’s impossible and that’s why your writing is so powerful, there is no clear ‘bad guy’ (appart from J*n but who cares about that roquefort face) and everyone is in that gray, humane area. 

Every character has so many layer (I don’t count JK and OC in this because at this point we can’t talk about layers anymore it’s a damn millefeuille) and getting to discover more about them is amazing. 

Basically, every side character reflects something on OC and JK and further the plot, the themes while feeling like their own individuals with their own complex thoughts and problems and I think that’s fucking brilliant. 

And now onto my notes for every chapter (it’s low-key very messy sorry)

Chapter 1 :

Lord to thing that it started with a simple friend request :’)

I love how in the very first line, OC telling Mijoo how she knows JK instantly characterizes him to the reader, it’s smart BUT also characterize OC as someone quick witted and serious/professional but also very sarcastic, funny and taking no shit from anyone. Incipit done well here. I mean, so much exposition is crammed into the very first lines but it just feels soooo natural!

I also love how the dynamic between Mijoo and OC can appear « basic » but will later be revealed to be so much more complex and profound and that’s basically how everything in this fic just keep getting better and more complex as you read.

Also, I love how OC and JK’s first encounter is because they are both trying to help their best friends, I missed it in the first reading but it’s so telling of their characters. Also I appreciate OC not hating on JK just because she hates him from afar and he suddenly notices her and gets turned on by that (like in a lot of ff let’s not lie, I love myself some bad boy!AU but it’s getting redundant), she genuinely seems to not give a fuck about him and it’s so funny to me somehow, my girl just minding her business, getting her straight A’s and doing charity work, we stan. Also, the entire part where they complain about Jimin and Mijoo is downright hilarious 

I really like the way JK says the poetry assignment is easy, hinting at the fact that he is, in fact, not a stupid fuckboi cliché (+ what happens with their presentation and him working his BUTT of)

The entire part where OC and Jk act like they are together is so DAMN FUNNY but at the same time it just shows that they have great chemistry from the get go and I love that. (But seriously it’s so f*ing funny)

I love they way OC’s crush on Jimin is brought up, it’s not outwardly said, but the way he is described form her pov makes it obvious and her helplessness when looking at him and Mijoo is just so heartbreaking (+ getting to me on a personal level since I’ve been in a very similar situation for years so :))) like, you can feel that she doesn’t want to be feeling this way, and is obviously trying to help her BFF and be selfless but cannot help but feel jealousy.+ JK immediately catching up on her crush, showing he is more observant than you’d think.

JK and OC being dumb & dumber AND partner in crime is everything I’ve ever wanted

The description of the feeling of loneliness post-parties is so accurate, and the way she feels is so relatable and heartbreaking. 

The part about anguish and the way she feels suffocated by her feminine attire got to me and honestly I got really close to cryingThe end of the chapter upsets me in the best way, to see JK be so oblivious to how vulnerable and lonely OC is, man it really makes the entire thing so much more gutswrenching.

Highlights (basically lines that made me laugh or that I find particularly well written) :

“then I don’t know why he’s friended you”

“should I block him too?” 

“can you get you get more obvious without tattooing ‘Park Jimin’ on your ass? It’s obvious he owns it anyways”

“why does this kid has so many shirtless selfies”

“it’s like this boy is like a walking cliché of the world’s most basic fuckboi” I see what you did here ;)))

“Ah… you knew?” The way I laugh EVERY time at this line

“Would you be really mad at me if I poured this all over your boobs?“ alkfnenfmefnkgjh Mijoo is my queen

“try her ass instead” JK you absolute moron genius

“Mijoo as been trying to get you laid since freshman” I looove how this just sounds so random and plays into the cliché of the extroverted BFF trying to drag OC to parties and get her laid but with OC’s backstory // Jin it makes SO much more sense

“I won’t feed you lies” he, said, you know, like a liar.

“Your worth as a woman isn’t defined by your purity or whatever bullshit” love the hint at the later reveal that JK is, indeed, a woke king. We stan

“But unfortunately, you aren't the altruistic saint you wish you could be. You suffer from the same human emotions that plague everyone. And they aren't pretty.Despite what the artists and poets claim, the world works in a logical way. It's a simple mathematical formula. Girls like Mijoo end up with their princes. And you remain a bitter stepsister, helpless but to watch their happily ever after from a distance. One that you'll never achieve.” God that part.... 

“Here is a man who actually wants you. Not you, but your body, a little voice in the back of your head reminds you. But it doesn't matter. All that matters is that someone might actually desire you…  ... He feels so thick inside of you that for a moment, the hole in your chest is filled”  This is what I mean when I say that the smut in this story makes SENSE

“You wish you could cling onto this feeling forever so you'll never feel empty again.” The way this scene is supposed to be all smut sexy time but it is actually one of the most emotionally packaged and heart wrenching scene, really I can’t with your writing </333 

“He grins at that, "I thought you knew me better than to take anything I said seriously?“Jk you manipulative mf I hate your fuckboi ass

"Ugh, please don't tell me you're a cuddler," you grumble as you twist in his embrace. "I'm not," he denies, but the way he buries his nose in your hair says otherwise, "And don't think about asking me to stay the night, because I'm not that kind of guy." The dynamic of the entire duo summed up in one paragraph

Chapter 2 :

The moment she reassures Mijoo and see what she is missing is :((

I remember than the first time I read new rules and feminist JK came clean I was honestly shocked (years of being guarded around men’s misoginy and fake feminism I guess) but re-reading it, it’s so nice to see the hints everywhere that he genuinely is and it warms my heart.

The convo JK and OC have about relationships and meaningless sex is not only such a good foreshadowing of the problems they will face later when it comes to coming clean about both their feelings (looking at you JK you moron) but also such a relatable feeling of ‘I know I said men are trash but I’m still vaguely heterosexual and would really like to believe that some aren’t and I know it sounds like I’m reassuring myself and honestly I am because it’s starting to become hard to really believe that’

The twits oh god the TWIST!!! The heartbreak it gave me, I was going to put some sentences in the highlights but honestly I almost ended up putting the entire scene so I gave in but it’s just so well written and nerve wracking to see what could have been and to realize that the friend that OC has been putting so much effort into helping betrayed her.  Like, I can emphasis enough how much I cried reading this, considering I have been in a very similar situation, and that’s probably why this struck a chord so powerfully but wow. 

The blowjob scene is simply another brilliant double meaning smut scene, the way OC is trying to regain control over something, someone, even if it’s not the one she wants, the way she makes him beg to hear compliments, heartbreaking (I know I’ve said this word like a million time and we’re just on chapter 2 but your writing really is something else) 

The scene where she confronts Mijoo is in my opinion one of the BEST I have ever read, the way you can feel her heartbreak and her powerlessness but also the maturity she exudes, the way she tries to be the bigger person and do what’s right, lord I see myself here and it fucking hurts.

“He really likes you, Mijoo. Don’t let him slip away… You’ll only regret it.”  The double meaning that applies to OC here is killing me  

“On any other day, this is the kind of party you would protest, running around with a half dozen other of your feminist friends as you collect signatures for a boycott.” <3

“Wait… what makes you think that we’re supposed to be the hoes?”  <3 <3

“Yeah. You really do.” Jk sometimes I really like you 

“No, sweetheart. You’re the childish one for not being able to accept grown up emotions. Why is falling in love and caring for someone outside of their physical appearance so shameful to you? You need to grow the fuck up and realize that feeling for another human being does not make you weak.”<3 <3 <3

“Frat brothers are despicable…except this one, of course.” Absolutely love how first reading makes it sound like her crush is speaking and second reading shows her idealization of him here 

“You swallow the lump in your throat. It would be one thing to see them wildly making out or grinding in the mosh pit like all the other horny kids. But to see them so enveloped in each other, content to just hug for the rest of the night… It hurts you more than you can express. You’d rather walk in on them fucking. This display of the purest affection… No one has ever held you like that before.You’re jealous. It’s shameful how horrendously jealous you are.”</3

“You need me?” you repeat in a small voice.” OC baby I get you I love you and you deserve th world ;(( </3

“You feel like such a villain, grilling this angel and making her upset. It’s such an irritating feeling, but you can’t choke it back.“It’s not like I liked him anyways…” Lord what have you done to my heart and I think it’s my favorite sentence in the entire story !

Chapter 3 :

OC protecting and looking out for Yerin is just so adorable I CAN’T

The discussion with Hyejin, the foreshadowing!!!!!!!

The way OC is self-aware and thinks JK only wants her body (and at the time it was highly likely) just makes the scene that much more heartbreaking, which makes me realize that all the smut scene up until now have been that way. 

The entire chapter feels like a BIG call out to me thanks for that I guess. (I’m kidding it was wonderful and actually got me reflecting a lot on my habits and self deprecation)

“the ugly cage around your heart loosen a bit”

“Wow, your fungal cream is so nice. I hope you get that infection checked out." We love a considerate and caring man

“You would take this over the hollowness in your chest. You would gladly take the meaningless sex, the hard pounding of your pussy without a single gesture of affection. Who needs an emotional connection when you can have the pain beat out of you? Who needs someone to like you when you have someone to use you?”  No words.

Chapter 4 :

I don’t know if I said that already but I just looooove the way you sprinkle hints here and here about everything ! Foreshadowing events and future revelations it’s just so nice to read and makes second (and third, and fourth) reading sooooo much more entraining and satisfying <3333. Like Oc and Mijoo are drunk and we get a snip at what happened freshman year, there were other hints previously but this just makes the reader WANT to know what the f* went down. And it makes up for Mijoo betrayal, it’s a nice way of explaining why OC « brushed » over her betrayal, we know that she was there in such a hard time for OC and yes it really builds the suspense around that whilst portraying Mijoo as more than the fake BFF who betrayed, I love that.

I love the way you use the word ‘ugly’ and how it’s very often associated with jealousy.

I want to address how much I adore your side characters and sub-plots. Like all of them are so likable (even Somin) and feel like genuine people with their own complex thoughts, seriously your characterization is out of this world! (special shout-out to Yoongi who is spot-ON imo). Like, I want to hangout with these people and be their friends. 

ALso I feel like we are really starting to see Jk and OC’s chemistry (unrelated to being evil little matchmaker) and it’s SOOOOOO good, it feels so natural and seeing them slowly slide into a romantic relationship (don’t tell Jk) seems like the most  natural thing (+ everyone thinking they are actually together and honestly they are)

"Hey so you like kick around a ball or whatever?" I love your humor I genuinely laughed at this 

"Balls?" he says pointedly.” Same here

"Who are you talking about?" Jungkook asks in confusion, "I don't have a—ah you mean ___?" You sure didn’t think for long jk 👀👀and you didn’t even deny it 👀👀👀and you came as soon as being asked 👀👀👀👀👀👀sus 

"Beats me," he whispers back, "I didn't even know we had a soccer team until this week!"LMAOOOOOOOOO

Chapter 5 :

The foreshadowing with Bang telling JK he is worried about his performance !! That’s why I love this fic so much! EVERYTHING is here, nothing happens out of the blue, you just have to pay attention to things to see things coming and not in a predictable but rather gratifying way.

The scene where OC hugs JK ? a masterpiece. I don’t know what more to say about it, it’s one of those things that touch on such a level that deconstructing it feels impossible and would break the spell, the intimacy I felt between the two of them and the stark contrast with Hyejin are perfect to characterize their relationship. Feels natural behind closed doors but lacking the words to clarify what they are, especially when faced with other people, and themselves. I L O V E it.

“you watch Taehyung roll around in the grass with his high-tech camera” don’t know why this is so funny to me but it is 

"Are we not speaking the same language right now?!" Jungkook barks into the receiver, "Are you fucking high?" The fact that he barks it makes it even funnier

Chapter 6 :

Oc’s conversation with Taehyung about hookup culture (and her behavior at large) just SCREAM ‘I have had such a terrible experience with love before that I cannot even begin to think about letting it happen again otherwise I will never love again’ and it HURTS. But! The way she approaches things with such maturity and is so in touch with her feelings is simply admirable. 

When OC is caught between Hoseok and JK at the party !!! It’s so frustrating but in the best  way possible because they got soooo close to actually talking things out clearly and making things better but their pride and whatever got in the way and we know it! JK and Oc I love y’all but also you’re so stupid. (Also it’s exactly what I was talking about in my ‘misunderstanding each others’ part. I feel like this is during this chapter that they really start to fuck up the communication because that’s the chapter where it becomes abundantly clear that feeeeelings are starting to get into the mix, they both try to distract themselves (unconsciously or not) with someone else, HYejin and Hoseok, and miserably fails. 

Also the domesticity!! That’s cute and fluffy and I’m blushing like I’m 12 year old again. 

“You’re right, » he says « I have to get more creative” I have said that Taehyung is hands down the funniest character here ?

"I want someone to choose me," you admit in a small voice, "I want someone to fall for my personality—to love me because of my hot temper and annoying disobedience, not in spite of it. I want this person to be surrounded by prettier, nicer, sweeter girls, but still seek me out… I'd rather them fall for my personality first, then settle for superficial traits like my lacking appearance… Is that really too much to ask?" Once again, thanks for calling me out also I’m crying this is one of the best paragraphs you have written

“He's like a character from a 1950's romance novel stepped off the page” Oc sweetheart remember something else about the 50’s 👀👀 Like ... the sexism ?

“The moon is high in the sky at this point of night, not shrouded by dark clouds for once, and illuminating the entire rooftop with its luminous silvery gleam. But for some reason, it seems like all the moonlight concentrates into a single beam on Hoseok, surrounding him in a brilliant white halo. You swallow tightly and drop your gaze as though burned.” The imagery here is beautiful and I like that you associated him with the moon when he is usually the sun 

"Oh, honey… You don't have to pretend to be strong in front of me." And there goes my heart.

"Did you think I was going to let her sleep on the streets or something?" is his sarcastic reply.You roll your eyes, "Thanks, Yoongi." We love character development (their friendship is so endearingly funny)

"Right… But um… what happened after the game on Saturday… uh…" A blush suddenly suffuses his cheeks, coloring his skin a lovely shade of rose, "I… I just wanted to—""Ah, that's right. There's another game next week," you hastily steer the conversation away, terrified by what he might say. "Don't worry, I'll be there too. I really need to start writing this article.""Oh, right… That's exactly what I was going to say," he says, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.” I want to slap some sense in these idiots’ heads 

"Yeah, but the problem is that I don’t want to." I am S C R E E C H I N G

Chapter 7 :

The scene where they wake up together and he smiles and calls her pretty and the misunderstanding scene makes me want to slap them you belated idiots

SO MUCH things happen in this chapter and I think it’s one of my favorite!! I have to say that the scene where OC protests against the date auction and faces the resistance of her sorority hit close to home. It’s always so heartbreaking to see fellow girls complying to sexism. 

Also also, feminist JK keeps me up at night. Fuck yeah. (You know the lisa simpson meme with the orange juice, that’s me with feminist JK, give me MORE of that. 

Also, her performance : I C O N I C

"You're just exclusive fuck buddies… Even though you don't do casual sex and Jungkook doesn't do exclusive. It totally doesn't feel like you're hiding your feelings." My thought exactly Mijoo

“Staying so guarded might protect you from pain… But it'll also protect you from any happiness." *Slow clapping*

“Why would you go for someone who doesn't see your worth? You deserve to be with someone picks you out in a sea of people. Who likes you the best." 👀👀👀

"…Do not resuscitate… Got it," you solemnly note.” You’re so funnyykekzldk

“You aggressively bid from backstage, even as Taehyung motions for you to get lost” I laughed out loud at this

« sold » HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIfhehfqenfoneqlfnqdkfncqefnlmzfkbnrdbfksvm kjnefkenfe hAAAAH ????!!! flefnekf HIIII ç!!!!ç!uj

Chapter 8 :

I’m sorry there is not much commentary about this one but I can for the life of me read it with a critical eye since I’m too caught up in the suspense and the fact that a million things are happening, the only thing I can think about is that your fiction, although it is a college AU is so versatile and you touch on so many other genre (here : sport) and manage to successfully make every single one enthralling and further your plot!

“Maybe if I had lost, you would've hugged me again." HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJZKELMLDIZPEKDLEBDLLDKKEJ 

"Please, ___. Please don't go."But sheer panic flashes in his eyes when you attempt to shake him loose. "Don't leave me," he croaks out in desperation, "Please, ___. Don't leave me…"Not like she did." Don’t think I’m not seeing what you’re doing here 👀👀

Chapter 9 :

I feel high-key stupid because that’s like the 6th time I read New rules but I just realized that there might be a parallel going on between Jk and OC’s story, it’s obvious with the hints that you’ve sprinkled that something bad happened with JK’s past girlfriend but it’s just now re-reading Oc’s backstory with Jin that I realize that JK might have been in the ‘fucking around to get back/over his ex’ stage of his breakup like OC in the summer Freshman year, which led to him having his fuckboy reputation despite not ‘really’ being one (i.e. him saying that he hates hookup culture when Oc talks about her story)

Also, empathetic, feminist and understanding men make me w*t. 

"Yes," he says, a smile tugging at his lips, "Yes, you did." I sEE YOU 

"I don't know what goes through that fantastical imagination of yours” This might be my favorite line ever

“But you don't move one inch. Because you know Jungkook better than that.” Aaaawwwwwwww

Chapter 10 :

This is some greek tragedy shit right here. Mijoo trying to push OC and Jk because she feels guilty about JImin (she way you write it makes it seem so believable but I can’t decide if it’s true or not because we are seeing Oc’s perspective here and she knows she actually crushed on Jimin while Mijoo doesn’t, which would be a huge factor in her pushing OC towards JK) and also because she is the only one with a brain? Oc refusing to believe it and opposing semi-logical semi-bullshit arguments to convince Mijoo and even more herself that this isn’t happening because she heard JK talking to Hyejin ? Jk saying that because he’s an insecure asshole (and also very probably because of his ex girlfriend wink wink) whilst acting like the most belated man, ever ? Na a TRAGEDY!!!!!

Also, the entire speech that Mijoo gives, everything she says ???? A punch to the GUTS! ! ! 

THEY NEVER UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER THEY CONSTANTLY THINK THE WRONG THING I WANT TO TIE THEM TO A CHAIR AND FORCE THEM TO ACTUALLY COMMUNICATE THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING (in a oh god HOW are they going to fix this and finally come to an understanding of each other kind of way)

He finally breathes when she says his name I’m :(((((((((

“it wasn’t fun” Love how this simple line implies that Mijoo and Jimin have problems and arguments of their own and makes them feel like human beings who have a life outside of the story.

“Or was your image of him so perfect and unrealistic that you couldn't tolerate these humanizing details?" Ouch!

"You're only pushing Jungkook on me to ease your guilt for stealing Jimin away from me!" I don’t have the words to explain the way I felt when I first read this line except : oh fuck. Goosebumps. Literal goosebumps.

"I like him," you abruptly confess, your soft voice breaking through the tense silence the same way the brilliant meteors abruptly burst across the darkness of night. "I like him so much." Masterpiece 

“It's equally horrifying and an absolute relief to finally admit this deeply harbored secret after so long. After all these months of repression, it feels like a dam has burst with the way your emotions come tumbling out, threatening to choke you and sweep you underwater.” I said MASTERPIECE ! !

“Mijoo," you gasp, "What do I do?" Im crying. This isn’t a figure of speech. This isn’t an exaggeration. I’m crying. This entire scene is so powerful 

“You know your role. You're just the side character—the best friend or comic relief. You have no right to even dream about a life by Jungkook's side—much less to feel this amount of pain and jealousy seeing him with another girl” .... talk about being relatable 

“The loud electronic beat is pulsing through your veins with the same painful intensity of the tequila beating against the soft tissue of your brain. You feel like you’re being consumed by the powerful sensations… and yet, it's not enough to protect you from the helpless thoughts drifting across your mind, no matter how much you try to ward them back.” You really shine when it comes to making me cry 

"Can't you just let me be petty and sulk for once?" Baby :(

“How could you have misinterpreted the situation so horrifically?” Well we have this saying in French that goes : love makes you fucking blind 

“At this point of night, the moon has fully risen overhead, and its silvery rays cast down across the ocean, illuminating everything in white-gold. Awed, you can't help admiring the way the moonbeams kiss the top of Jungkook's black hair and the angles of his face, sheathing his figure like a cold halo.The waves continue to beat against the sandy beach like clockwork, and you  sway with them, as though lost in a rhythmic dance lulled by the force of the moon. Your thundering pulse acts as a metronome in this dance, pounding away at a dozen beats per each drag across the shore. You are cold. So cold that you've lost all feeling in your hands and legs. But for some reason, you don't feel the need to shiver anymore.” <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

“Could it have possibly been a defense mechanism? Was he just trying to protect himself in advance?” We are making PROGRESS

"Why is everything about sex with you?" HE SAID! AS IF HE WANS’T ABOUT TO DO WHAT HE IS AVOUT TO DO AND MAKE IT ABOUT SEX I HATE THIS MF

Chapter 11 :

My heart is non existent.The way Oc swallows her feelings to protect Yerin and stands up for her ❤️

I want to thank you for introducing a gay character in your story also Yoongi is one of the most interesting character in the story.

The way everything is slowly coming to a conclusion and every piece of the puzzle settles in the right place is so damn satisfying UGH

The scene where OC confronts Jk is so fucking satisfying, a masterpiece, 10/10, everything I wanted to hear come out of her mouth, my girl knows what’s up and won’t let this fucker get away with it.

"I've told you since day one that I'm not that kind of guy. God, can you even imagine me in a relationship?" he says with a derisive snort that feels like a punch to your stomach, "Did you honestly think that you could trap me into one with sex, ___? Or with a kiss? Come on. Get real." Your insecurities are showing asshole

"I hope you get over this soon, ___," he tells you in a sincere tone, "So we can get back to the way things were." Fight me in a parking lot salopard de merde

“Well, at least you've learned your lesson now.” I had to take a pause after this part 

"What if they were my parents?" he asks in a quiet voice, "My siblings? My community back home? The people I love most in this world? What would you have me do then?" As a closeted bisexual this one hit close to home

“But Yoongi turns to you with an incredulous look, "You can't be serious. Anyone with eyes could tell that Kook is completely whipped for you. Where is this coming from?” Yoongi is my man 

"You're a fucking coward." My thoughts exactly

Chapter 12 :

Getting through this chapter without crying is genuinely hard..All the girls standing up for themselves and not taking shit for the shitty men in their lives ???? YES PLEAse. And thank you for not only that but also including the girls that the story pushed us not to like that much up until now like Hyejin and Somin when really they were going through the same things as the holy trinity of best girls OC, Mijoo and Yerin. 

I have… mixed feelings and I feel like these feelings are exactly what OC has been feeling all along with the conflict between her beliefs and her heart. I wanted them to go through this and by being « willing » JK would have eventually just realized everything and stuff  because I love romance and shit. But I also want OC to get what she deserves, and it’s not that. I want them to have this happy ever after end but I feel like we won’t get that before long because as Hyejin pointed out, JK clearly needs to grow the fuck up.

"Oh, ___," she sighs your name.” Don’t mind me I’ll be crying over there 

“For a split second, you consider feigning ignorance. It would be so damn easy to laugh along with him and continue living this lie of being the cool, sporty tomboy who doesn't care about stupid "girly" things. After all, Hoseok isn't a bad guy. He's so handsome, popular, and kind. And he likes you. Someone actually likes you. Isn't that better than being alone? For a split second, you're tempted to grab his hand and flash him an award-winning smile. For a split second, you contemplate giving up all your morals and living a life of comfort with this lovely, charismatic man.” I love you so much for writing this

"Sexist?" he repeats in horror, "The fuck are you talking about?! I'm no sexist!" You’ve perfectly channeled the  and OC’s entire speech to him should be taught in school 

"We're just in different places right now," you inform him in a small voice, "It'll never work out, so please don't make this harder than it needs to be." I’m dying but also proud, producing

"I think I'll channel Somin and cut the toxicity out of my life." Attagirl 

To wrap up this overly long review, I want to say thank you to Tayegi for writing this piece and feeling generous enough to share it with us, reading this story and seeing the plot unravel, characters be introduced and developed was a true privilege. I rarely connect with the « reader » in reader fics and just say a random name in my head (or even 'your name ») but here, here… Never have I been so close to actually feeling like I’m the one in the fiction, not for the romance but for the way she is portrayed, for her ideas and how hard it is to stand by them sometimes, for her past and traumas. New rules is a masterpiece, and the fact that I connected to it on such a personal level, which, arguably could cloud my judgement, doesn’t make it any less.