#here’s to many more years with woh

[wanderingfandoms]

For Word of Honor’s 2nd Anniversary

Special thanks to the shl archive carrd

[zhongwans]

How ZZH's Instagram account was compromised

aka the question that's been plaguing us all since last year. But now we have enough info to put together a theory. (As always all this info is thanks to the hard work of QV and her friends. I'm just compiling)

During 813, Xie Yihua's son, Abner, said in a comment on Bilibili that ZZH's instagram account isn't actually his. It was set up by staff when ZZH was still under the management of his former boss, Yu Zheng, and that the phone number that was registered to the account doesn't belong to ZZH.

This means whoever has access to the actual phone number can reset the password and take control of the account.

Also how on earth did Abner know the details of the IG's account's security (or lack thereof)? Did his mother tell him? We already know Xie Yihua is ZSJ's handler.

On June 2020, ZZH posted on his IG after months of inactivity, and in the comments section he thanked a woman named Virginia. We can infer from their convo that he had lost access to the account sometime ago and that this Virginia helped him gain access again.

Based on ZZH's IG activity, he did stop posting for a few months and only started posted there again when he started filming WOH. That's when he thanked this Virginia person.

There's an interesting comment under Flora's tweet saying that when they first read this, their interpretation was that this Virginia helped ZZH gain access to his account by setting up a VPN for him. And I was the same. That's also how I initially interpreted it, that ZZH wasn't able to access his IG because of the Great Firewall. But with all the info that has come to light, it looks more like ZZH was unable to access it because it was set up by someone else, with a number that didn't belong to him. And Virginia probably helped him by contacting whoever it was that had access to the account in Yu Zheng's management.

So if all this time ZZH's IG account was under the control of someone from Yu Zheng's studio, how did it wind up in the hands of ZSJ's team?

Recently, Yu Zheng was seen promoting the hat from ZSJ's brand. (Photos from bluebird and QV)

It's worth noting that Yu Zheng doesn't seem to like ZZH very much. He interacted with a ZZH anti and implied that it's ZZH fault Zhao Ge did not air. So why is Yu Zheng promoting "ZZH's" brand if he doesn't even like him?

The person Yu Zheng interacted with literally has the username 'zzh liar' and is an active ZZH anti.

And for those who don't know what Zhao Ge is, it's the show where Yu Zheng asked ZZH to come back for additional shoots while he was still recovering from his knee injury. This is widely understood to be the reason why ZZH's knee was messed up for good. More details here.

Zhao Ge was already running into problems way before 813. The script had a lot of elements that likely got it into trouble with the censors, plus in December 2020 more than a hundred industry folks signed a letter calling for a boycott against Yu Zheng and another person for being notorious plagiarists and all around shitty human beings. If it's not the script that sank Zhao Ge's chances of airing, then it's Yu Zheng's awful reputation as a plagiarist amongst his peers. Even before 813, the chances of Zhao Ge airing were not looking good.

Yu Zheng was brought to court by Taiwanese author and producer Qiong Yao for plagiarizing one of her novels, and a Beijing court later ruled in her favor. He was ordered to pay her millions. So you know...Yu Zheng is quite literally a criminal. That along with the script is probably why Zhao Ge will never see the light of day. ZZH should actually be the angry one here because his knee was pretty much ruined forever just for a shitty drama that will never even air.

A document that was circulated amongst ZZH fans last year and associated with him can also be linked back to a lawyer that once worked on Yu Zheng's legal counsel. Coincidence? Maybe. But it's interesting how many times his name comes up in relation to ZSJ.

And this is just personal speculation but I wonder if Yu Zheng was pissed when ZZH blew up after he was no longer within his management, and he could no longer reap the benefits of ZZH's fame for himself. Remember during the WOH concert ZZH mentioned that a lot of old friends suddenly came up to him after WOH's success, asking for all sorts of favours and whatnot, and then him apologizing for not being able to attend to them all. Looking back on that, it's interesting that a lot of people involved in the scam had more or less a connection with ZZH in the past. The Chens from the teashop, Xie Yihua, Zhang Su, Xiao Chu Nada, etc. And now Yu Zheng.

So yeah this is it. Yu Zheng's involvement with ZSJ was the last piece of the mystery behind the compromised IG account.

[funishment-time]

Alright. Now that I know the questions, and forgive me if these have been asked before, 16, 19 (for Miu), and of course, our good pal, 17

whee hee hee!!!

16. Do you have any ideas for a Danganronpa murder? Share!

the series is lacking a good murder-suicide or Lover's Suicide. (i mean as an individual case/trial. you could argue that all of DR1 is a murder-suicide or Lover's Suicide)

beyond that, a high-temperature complete burning-to-death that results in ashes and little Evidence, or withholding important Medication that keeps a character alive, would both be Interesting

17. List five headcanons for your favorite characters!

special edition!! wee woo wee woo! for this one i will list 5 SFW ship headcanons, but if you're not into these Ships (or Shipping in general), i have 5 regular headcanons here too. double the value!

skip these if you don't like Ship dynamics:

KAEDE x. MIU: Kaede insists on being the little spoon, which flusters Miu for all eternity

FUYUHIKO x PEKO: they never have kids, but they do have a hundred thousand fluffy Creaturas of various sorts. dogs and cats and rabbits and chinchillas and maybe even a herd of Alpacas roaming their great Yakuza estate. "no one's gonna fuckin' take us seriously," Fuyuhiko always says, but he's smiling because his wife is

SAKURA x HINA: after scientific evidence shows that naps have a positive effect on the human body and its growth (see DR1's School Mode), Sakura tries to get Hina to take short naps with her daily. like, 20 minutes tops. unfortunately, this rarely Works, because no one taught Hina how to sit still for longer than a half-second, but it does give them cuddle time on a busy day

FUKAWA SYSTEM x KOMARU: neither of the Fukawas ever stop lusting over Byakuya. it's just that Komaru is their wife, the love of their life, their girl, their beloved. their crush on Byakuya ends up being more, uh, purely NSFW in nature. in the end, though, the Fukawa system would rather be with Komaru, because she's Domesticity, she's Love, she's Healing, even if she won't turn them into her own personal livestock or whatever it was Toko wanted in UDG (i black out during those scenes). anyway, Komaru perfectly understands this, and really doesn't feel Threatened by it at all, because it's not like Byakuya is ever going to give the Fukawa system what they want

MAHIRU x HIYOKO: after her growth spurt, Hiyoko gets intense stretch-marks, which knocks her self esteem down a peg. thankfully, Mahiru loves her terrible banana-headed gee eff Just As Much

and now for the regular headcanons:

Nekomaru is generally asexual. he's never felt shame in it, as it allows him to Focus on his athletes better in an increasingly competitive world

in a non-despair AU, Kokichi ends up on the student council every year, inexplicably, as Treasurer. no one notices when he's lifting money from HPA because no one notices when Jin Kirigiri is doing it, either

Ibuki has been the first kiss of many-a girl at HPA

in her own way, Junko felt threatened when Mukuro was pretending to be her, both in DR1 and in Zero. this factored into Junko kebabing her, but also into Junko's obsession with putting her down in Extremely Childish Ways, as well as her insistence that Mukuro was Gross and Nasty and Could Never Be Her!!! at the end of DR1. by the Despair Twins' HPA days, Junko was too far gone to ever deal with it or admit it, but so much of her final despair centered around her identity and her sister. she may not have gone full Killing Game if not for Mukuro

Sakura has dislocated bones, sometimes during a match, and then immediately popped them right back into place without hesitation or pause. this only makes local Lesbians more in love

BONUS: the Warriors of Hope do heal in their own way as they grow, but they always have a hard time patching up the wound named "Big Sis Junko." on a fairly Objective level, she did nothing but good for them and took them out of a Bad Situation when no one else did. so: while the WoH become as content as they can be as adults, they also have an exceedingly difficult journey understanding Junko as a Very Bad Person Actually

19. What kind of fantasy creature would you make Miu?

Miu is most definitely a goblin. gross, loud-mouthed little thing tinkering and tonkering, but extremely Lovable

[joylinda-hawks]

Tomorrow we will celebrate another anniversary of ZZH's mini concert, which took place in Beijing on October 18, 2020. It may not have been a big event in general, but it was certainly a big event for ZZH himself. He had finished working on the set of the WOH series less than a month earlier, and there were more challenges ahead of him. This challenge for him was ZZH's first and only public concert so far. ZZH was certainly very happy before the concert, but I also think he was stressed. Firstly, he had never performed in front of an audience alone at his own concert, which he was responsible for, and secondly, the event was held in a foreign city. ZZH, who had lived in Shanghai for many years, knew the city he lived in very well, and he only came to the capital, Beijing, for some performances, promotional sessions. Therefore, he must have felt stressed, which, as it turned out, was completely unjustified. The audience received his performance very well and that was probably the most important thing for him, not the presence of journalists, some of whom did not speak too highly of him as a performer. One can only guess why. In preparation for the performance, ZZH not only had to develop the program itself, prepare the songs and take care of most of the organizational matters. Of course, he did not do it personally, but he had an influence on many things. Among other things, I think it was the choice of the right outfit for the performance. ZZH chose two styles in colors that he had to feel best in. One style was black with white accessories, and the other was red. ZZH looked amazing in both styles. Today I decided on the black style. ZZH dressed here in black trousers, a black turtleneck with a white pattern and a longer black, probably woolen coat with an interesting texture, to which he matched a black belt, thanks to which he emphasized his slim waist. If I remember correctly, at one point ZZH got too hot in this style and the audience suggested that he take off his coat. Just as a curiosity. The photos of ZZH were taken during the concert and during the photoshoot. All of these photos are beautiful, and the ones taken during the concert show us how much ZZH enjoyed the event. Today, I decided to use a close-up photo of ZZH's face for the description. The photo was taken during the performance on stage, so we can see the concentration on ZZH's face when he sings, he is completely immersed in the music, because he wants to convey the emotions of his singing as best as possible. Looking at this photo, we admire his nice hairstyle and the amazing little gold hairpins holding ZZH's hair strands. You could say that this hairstyle has become almost iconic and will always be associated with this mini-concert. ZZH is wearing some makeup here, in addition to subtle lipstick, his eyes are nicely emphasized, the red eyeshadow applied to the eyelids further emphasizes his huge almond eyes. I believe that when ZZH gets justice and returns to official events, he will organize a concert that he will be proud of and that will fully show his vocal skills.

[olderthannetfic]

Escapade Dance Party 2023 Writeup 2/3

Here is the playlist I ended up with this year, plus my commentary:

First Half

Good Omens | Running in the 90's by Maria Morningstar

Good Omens is so tricky. On the one hand, there are a billion fantastic vids, many with editing that's better than this one. On the other, a lot of the preferred music is syrupy and slow, and GO fans are actively seeking out vids and have already seen many of the ones intended for cons in the English-speaking world.

I wanted something high-energy to open the dance with, and this ridiculous song fit the bill. It woke people up and got them noticing the music had started.

I don't know Maria, but her channel has a bunch of things with cyrillic titles, so I'm guessing she's Russian. That meant a higher chance of this vid being new to people at Escapade.

Tubthumping by Aaronantium

To be perfectly honest, I do not care about this anime, but I was chilling with Aaron at Vidders Chat and discussing my plans, and he offered to make me a vid for his vampire fandom.

I don't generally accept premieres because it means wrangling more people and dealing with uncertainty, but Aaron suggested this song, and it's always a crowd pleaser as is the vid everyone makes to it. This fandom is also unusually perfect for said joke, featuring as it does a repeatedly dying vampire who… well… gets back up again.

Actually, despite it not being most people's fandom, I think this vid got one of the biggest laughs and reactions of anything during the party.

Kirk/Spock | I Knew You Were Trouble by mogo nit

K/S is a perennial favorite with con attendees—more TOS but AOS too. I don't recall why I was specifically looking for it this year. Probably, it ranked best out of things people mentioned on their site profiles.

This is an old-ass vid from 10 years ago, so if people have seen it, they probably haven't seen it lately. It's also a song I love, cliched though it might be for vids.

Word of Honor - Wenzhou - Hit and Run by CelestialMoonDragon

I knew I wanted to include WoH, both for its many fans and for people still dragging their feet about checking out Asian live action m/m stuff. The fandom has a wealth to choose from from vidders all over the globe. The big issue was simply finding vids that weren't too plastered with show audio.

When I heard this song choice, however, I knew it was the one. WoH has some unusual genre elements for wuxia, specifically all the central government focus where wuxia characters usually stay away from politics. The song really highlights that aspect. Those lyric matches! Genius!

【夜访吸血鬼】【莱斯特】【Young and Beautiful】献给我最心中最美艳的吸血鬼——莱斯特 by 欧阳���右

Obviously, if I was going to celebrate the new IWTV, I couldn't leave out the old movie!

This is a brilliant song choice given what happens to Lestat. It's interesting to me how many Chinese vidders use music I know well. It's always fun to see what they do with a Western source and Western music, and I think bilibili is largely uncharted territory for most Escapade attendees.

【The Sentinel】【Jim/Blair】It's consuming me（Lash视角）美剧-哨兵 同人mv by ozakikaoru

The Sentinel still has monofannish fans, but covering it for a dance party is a pain in the butt. I generally end up scraping the depths of Bilibili, and this year was no exception…

So how excited was I to find this refreshing and freaky take! This audio is apparently from some short film and has become something of a meme amongst vidders, but I hadn't heard it before and I don't think anyone at the con had either.

It's always extra surprising and wonderful to find a more serious and darker vid for fandoms everyone associates with camp and retro cheese. The Sentinel fans I included it for were blown away too. It's apparently a pretty good representation of the episode in question.

Forever Knight Vampires | Darkness, Darkness | Gothic 90s by knightvision1228

Because I had the vampires theme, I made a huge list of vampire fandoms to try to include. Forever Knight was one of my fandoms of the 90s and very popular with het shippers and slashers alike. Finding a vid that didn't look like bad VHS transfer, however, was easier said than done.

This one won out for featuring a rare song from the FK soundtrack that was never released. The vid also showcases the main trio instead of just being Nick/Jeanette het.

Megatron x Optimus (Song: Wrecking Ball) by Mellew

We have a lot of Transformers fans, and it's always so hard to find something I can play in the dance party… well… something that's not a 10-minute compilation of explicit fan art to horny reggaeton. Personally, I'm all about that reggaeton, but I've been looking for actual shipper vids that are a little more representative and a little less likely to make the fans combust in embarrassment.

When I heard the song choice… well… no other vid could compete.

But don't let the literalism and hilarious if one-note joke fool you: this is a fantastically edited vid that makes excellent use of the song's varying tempo.

And yes, I made sure to loudly say "WHY ARE YOU ALL LAUGHING? THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS VID" as the vid started.

BakuDeku AMV - Lucky Strike by caliowl 333

Do I watch BNHA? No. Do people at the con watch BNHA? No. Do antis hate this ship? Absofuckinglutely YES!

I love stupid shonen nonsense, and this fandom provides it in spades. It took a while to find an AMV that wasn't littered with not only show audio but dubbed show audio. (What am I, an animal?!)

I also just really love this song for dance parties.

Dancing on My Own - Robyn (Izzy Hands Edit) by auxiliarywardrobe

OFMD is another tough one. It's not due to a lack of vids: if anything, there are too many. But so many aren't suitable for a dance party and many are already familiar to people.

While I did find this on AO3 (honestly nearly a requirement for finding non-show audio vids in this fandom), it hadn't gotten any attention from people I recognized as an Escapade type crowd.

I loved the indignity of pairing Izzy with this ridiculous song. OFMD was a little anodyne for me in some ways, so the sleazy obnoxiousness of Izzy is a welcome antidote to all of the fluff and angst vids about the main ship.

At the same time, I don't particularly ship Izzy with anybody. I enjoy watching him be miserable, and the song is actually quite a good lyrical match for his impotent frustration.

Do You Wanna Touch Me? [Fanvid] by resurrecho

Okay, this one is cheating on my own rules. I'm sure people had every opportunity to see it… But it's also a femslash vid that is very, very horny.

This one's for you ladies tired of ~dewy flower~ soft bullshit!

Cult of Dionysus - Leverage OT3 - Eliot/Parker/Hardison by leverage brain worms

Leverage remains a perennial favorite and the new show had attendees talking,  but people often request the same tired old vid choice. I went looking for something that hadn't been played at every con over and over.

I liked that this vid was relatively recent. The song with poly lyrics was a fun touch.

HeiHua FMV~|| Hei Ye falling for the Thorny Flower by Black Flower

When I saw this vid, I said to myself: I don't know who they are, but I ship them!

AND GUESS WHAT? SEEING THE SHOW DID NOT CHANGE THAT OPINION!

Yes, this vid is directly responsible for me watching all these DMBJ adaptations.

I knew a lot of Escapade attendees were vaguely familiar with Reunion because of Zhu Yilong, but I didn't think most had checked out the rest of DMBJ, and this vid was so diametrically opposite of both that adaptation and the vibe of the big ship that I knew I just had to include it.

But seriously, this vidder actually has an excellent grasp of narrative. Now that I've seen the show, some of this stuff is repurposed and out of context, but you wouldn't know it from the eyelines.

Cover Me - A Fanvid by TinTurtle

Ah, Pros. The Professionals has the most dedicated fans at Escapade, hands down. They keep the con afloat and keep their fandom vibrant even after decades. Finding a dance vid to include for them, however, is a bit of a trial.

Realistically, I'm never going to find a vid they haven't all seen unless I make it myself, so I look for songs with a better beat than the typical old fandom vids tend to have.

The Fanged Four - Play with Fire (BTVS/ATS) by SlayerVid

People were talking about the Buffyverse again this year. Was it an anniversary of some kind? I can't recall, but it's a big nostalgia fandom for a lot of attendees, and it's one of the bigger vampire fandoms, so I wanted to include it.

While there used to be a billion vids for Buffy and Angel, only a fraction of them are findable online now. I went hunting for something not by a con regular and with visual quality that would play okay on a projector.

This is a great song for its grinding beat, and the vid is both recent and features a variety of vampire characters.

BL | Mobu ✘ Kikuchi S2 || So What by rosenana708

I suspect I found it by looking for Kei x Yaku vids, but as soon as I spotted it, I knew it was a must-have.

Yes, this is full of stupid show audio, but too bad: Nobody at a slash or BL con should be allowed to escape without knowing that A Man Who Defies the World of BL exists.

The Locked Tomb | Fences (SPOILERS!) by peachy 💕

This fandom was the latest hot flavor for many and f/f to boot. I was skeptical about finding a vid, but what do you know!

die for you / beyond evil by butillmissyou

After being pimped in by last year's vid find, I knew I wanted to include it again.

This music grabbed me by the throat. I'd never even heard of LÉON, but the soulful sound is perfect for this fandom.

Personal Jesus by killabeez

I desperately wanted a vid to this song. The cover isn't my fave, but I couldn't turn down the combo of a vampire fandom and this classic.

True, Killa isn't exactly obscure to anyone at Escapade, but this is a relatively less seen older vid and excellently edited.

BTS Vampire FMV | Bad Things (True Blood OP) by GoldenArmy7

I'm so clever.

Yes, this is mostly here so I can follow the True Blood vid with one to the True Blood theme song. Also to inflict BTS on people.

● Ichiro + Shiro | 'dope' (KeixYaku: Dangerous Partners FMV) by xXScarshadowXx

And now some BTS music, LOL

Sadly no longer online from what I can tell

WEDNESDAY | “Sweet But Psycho” Netflix Serie [HD] by SHIK

There are like thirty vids to this fandom using this song. This one blew the others out of the water.

I'll be honest, everyone was trying to push Wednesday/Enid around the time of the con, and that ship is the most boring thing you could possibly take away from this show. I wanted a vid that showcased what's actually fun here, which is not sucking all the creepy out of an Addams Family adaptation, for fuck sake.

ALIEN SUPERSTAR | Wanda & Scarlet Witch by LittleLaceBoots

MCU is still big with attendees, but it's so sprawling that knowing what to choose is hard. I found this music choice quite interesting for how it showcases the weird schtick of this particular show.

A Cowboy's Love by lilly_the_kid

If there's one AO3 vidder I will always play, it's lilly_the_kid! I wanted something for Star Wars, and I wanted it to be slash. This classic and ridiculous vid fit the bill.

Is it appropriate for a dance party? It is IF I SAY IT IS!

Boss Bitch | Lan Wangji (陈情令 The Untamed FMV) by slowparade

Everyone vids this song, but this example is particularly great!

I like aspects of The Untamed a lot. Sadly, those aspects do not include the central ship. I'm always on the hunt for vids that actually work for me. This take on Lan Wangji is hilarious.

Geraskier - Fine By Me by CainnetreIt delights me to find vids to other versions of popular canons. This is such a classic slash vid. It's not particularly danceable, but it's so fun that I wanted to include it, so it needed to go at the end of a section. It's the kind of song you wave your beer around to.

[pastelcheckereddreams]

Four Seasons Manor (四季山庄): Set Layout, Part Two!

I found it. I finally found the second set. I'm so ridiculously proud of myself 😂 All details will be revealed and broken down shortly, here and in a third part, but first let me recap my Siji Manor drafting progress so far:

If you're stumbling over this post in the wild - hi! I draw architectural drafts of cdrama sets, as accurately to the show as I can. A huge amount of research goes into creating my art, and so far no set location has been as elusive as this one. All of my set design projects start with a lot of research and resource gathering, to ensure that I am drafting the sets as accurately as possible. One element of each of my finished pieces is, as you may know, a birdseye view of the set. I include this to show the spatial relationship of the architectural elements I draft, and to give the fictional location cohesion and comprehensibility as a "lived space," further enriching - I hope - your experience of my art and of the show itself.

This process, however, becomes incredibly complicated to achieve when 1) the set I am trying to draft is split across different film locations, especially if 2) I can't find one of the sets.

At the time of my last post, linked here, I had located the set used for the front courtyard of Siji Manor in Hengdian World Studio's Spring and Autumn Tang Park, (what I have begun to call the "exterior set"), and had ruled out the wider set as locations for the main "interior" set - the inner courtyards of Siji Manor where the majority of the scenes in episodes 24-29 take place.

Well friends, just over a year later, I have confirmed that my suspicions in my very first Siji Manor draft post were, in fact, true. The second shooting location for Siji Manor was inside one of Hengdian's film studios. It was filmed in the "Mansion Scene" set, in Huaxia Shed #2:

My journey to finding this set lead me through two other dramas, and to the discovery that this set was also used for part of the filming of WOH episode 5, in Sanbai Manor. By cross-checking all of these scenes, I've been finally able to identify all relevant buildings and map the main set for Siji:

(First part of an insane, dizzying breakdown under the cut. It's long. It's confusing. Godspeed.)

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

project list | kofi | prints

I will begin by saying that, although I am confident of this layout as you see it above being Siji Manor, I am not certain that this is the full Mansion Scene in Huaxia Shed #2. This is because my only source for the photos above comes from this article, which also includes three photos I've been unable to place in relation to the above map, despite clearly being from the same area. Moreover, because of the lack of wide camera angles or even full use of this above set in WOH itself, my scale/placement of buildings in relation to each other is still a little off. I've also given myself some artistic license with minor parts of the landscaping. That being said, let me break down this set layout for you, and reveal Siji Manor to you all:

WKX and ZZS's rooms

Buildings 1 and 3 are used as WKX and ZZS's rooms respectively. My confirmation of this fact - and many more to come - comes from the drama Mysterious Lotus Casebook (MLC), in which we see a clearer view of the courtyard between the rooms itself, where the kitchen in WOH resides (labelled 2):

Firstly, how do I know that the kitchen where Chengling has his chicken showdown is outside WKX's room? Because we can see it outside in this screenshot:

And how do we know that this room, WKX's room, is the one on the left side of the screen in the Mysterious Lotus Casebook screenshot? Because that room, belonging to Yun Biqiu, matches the layout of WKX's room:

(Note that WKX's room is used as the Princess's room in episode 1 of WOH, and despite significantly different set dressing/modification, her room - WKX's room - bears the same structural layout as Biqiu's. But you probably just have to trust me on that latter point because they like to move walls and floors in the film studios.)

To verify building 3 as ZZS's room (which is likewise used as Li Xiangyi's from MLC), and to show that you can walk straight through this room from the kitchen (2) courtyard into the formal courtyard (5), I'm going to have to let these door panels do the heavy lifting for me:

Did you follow that? Don't worry, I've mapped the route on a copy of the main birdseye view below. Hang in there!

Formal Courtyard

The snowy screenshot above brings us to what could be considered the "formal" courtyard of this mansion - the QHZ snow scene! It is the fact that this scene occurs with ZZS's room to the right (note those door panels) that makes me headcanon ZZS took up residence in QHZ's room on his return to Siji (and that WKX took Qin-furen's....).

There isn't much to say about this courtyard itself, but enjoy these screenshots from MLC:

Now, did you remember those other door panels? In MLC, Li Xiangyi walks from this courtyard around the side of his old room (again - note the door panels) past a small, private seating area for his/ZZS/QHZ's room - labelled as area 4.

This brings him, and us, along the walkway dividing the kitchen courtyard, and the main courtyard of this set. If you're struggling to follow along (as even I am at this point😵‍💫), this is the route I have taken you on so far:

I'm about to divert you into Sanbai Manor, WOH episode 5, for a look at area 7, and then we will dive into the main area of this Siji Manor set in part three.

So, surprise! This set is also briefly used for Chengling's room in Sanbai Manor. I thought I was crazy for this, but damn it, I was right. Here's a view of his "room" which is actually the side of the main hall (6):

It's at this point that I concede it might have just been easier to start this breakdown with the main courtyard and main hall. Whoops.

Anyway, I hope this first part has been an interesting, if chaotic, read. Let me know your thoughts so far! Have you been able to follow along okay? Do I need to clarify anything? What do you think about the revelation of all these sets colliding? (Particularly if part one and the first set is fresh in your mind.)

As always, if you'd like to support my research madness and help fuel my many artistic endeavors, please consider donating to my kofi or checking out my print shop:

project list | kofi | prints

Now, click through to part three below, where I will take you through the main area of Siji Manor. See you there!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three

[simplegenius042]

Music Monday and WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @g0dspeeed @josephseedismyfather @socially-awkward-skeleton @inafieldofdaisies @direwombat @cassietrn and @adelaidedrubman

Tagging @shallow-gravy @strangefable @chazz-anova @josephslittledeputy @jillvalentinesday @wrathfulrook @poisonedtruth @voidika @strafethesesinners and @minilev

Got a snippet of The Years In Hope County (my almost slice-of-life September prompt collection fic that I'm still working on). You get to meet Silva's younger sister, Elsa Omar, and a special addition of Persephone. And a song for Elsa as well!

Additionally the chapter's almost done and might upload it either this week or next... so yay!

WIP below:

Sylvester’s brows creased at the word. She took a glance over to a group of men sitting at a table, one in a three-piece suit, a professional choice that matched his stoic disposition, while the other man, one she could only see the back of, was wearing a blue shirt and vest. Blue-shirt’s two companions had clothes that were shaggy, plain and they seemed less well-kempt.

She didn’t know many of the words they were saying, so she chose to move on. She listened to more conversations, writing down as much words as she could, until she heard the familiar call of her precious hermana and hija.

She looked up from her notebook and saw Elsa at the front counter of the diner, making idle and practised conversation with the clerk, her blonde hair locked into a course style that laid at her left shoulder, though there were still bangs that unavoidably stuck to Elsa’s forehead. Sylvester noticed she was wearing a regular blue checkered blouse with a plain green skirt, which wasn’t consistent to the eye-catching wardrobe Sylvester knew her young hermana had at her lodge. Even her leggings and flats were tame in comparison to Elsa’s usual… promiscuous tastes.

A blessing from Jannah, she supposed, considering Persephone was clutching at the hem of her tía’s skirt. Her hija's green eyes surveyed around the diner with intrigue, the three-year-old searching for source of the smells of hot food and warm beverages that tickled her small nose.

Once Persephone spotted Sylvester, the toddler's head perked up, then giggled as she ran over to her madre with a bright smile creased across her face, red curls bouncing. Sylvester got out of her seat to kneel down and catch her hija in a hug, nuzzling her little girl.

She saw Elsa cut her conversation with the clerk short, and made her way from the counter over to Sylvester and Persephone.

And here's a catchy song for Elsa that I believe somewhat describes her well enough:

""I fell in love with you 'cause you made me feel" "I fell in love with you 'cause you kept it real" "Man, you done changed up on me, you changed your flow" "Now I been hating on you everywhere I go", um, hold up

No, "I ain't too flawless" and, no, "I ain't the best" And no, "I don't say sorry" and, no, "I ain't perfect" But I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) Shots fired!

(La di da di da di da da da! La di da di da di da da da da! La di da di da di da da da! La di da di da di da da da da!)

...

I am the man, no, I ain't aim for no crown (Woh! Woh!) But when you mention them, no, don't leave me out (Whoooooaaa!)

No, "I ain't too flawless" and, no, "I ain't the best" And no, "I don't say sorry" and, no, "I ain't perfect" But I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) I am the man (DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO DOO) Shots fired!"

[chaos0pikachu]

tldr: censorship fucking sucks and word of honor and xena are mlm/wlw solidarity 

okay this was a random thought that came to me during a combo of rewatching of Word of Honor and reading a post that declared Word of Honor “didn’t count” on their BL list of whatever the fuck and here’s the thought, here’s the vibe, Word Of Honor has a lot in common with Xena: Warrior Princess

Hear me out

Everyone kinda knows that Xena - and by extension Lucy Lawless - as a bisexual/queer woman icon, and that Xena/Gabrielle is probably still one of the most prominent wlw ships in western canon. That’s a huge part of the shows iconography in pop culture. But like, if you rewatch the show, things between Xena and Gabrielle are kept pretty ambiguous but in that ambiguously totally gay way (like WenZhou!). 

The network was actively against Xena and Gabrielle being more than, what fans would probably call nowadays, bait. An executive told producer Rob Tapert that by making Xena and Gabrielle explicit there would be a surge of interested followed by a sharp decline. 

It should be noted that Xena was already a controversial show for it’s era - not just for the gay subtext but under fire from religious groups, anti-feminist groups, and others. 

The showrunners and producers also didn’t intend for Xena and Gabrielle’s relationship to, eh, blossom the way it did. Fans ran with it. Ironically, the intention of the show was to push Xena’s men of color love interests which also made the network gun shy (remember folks racism exists alongside homophobia!). 

Xena and Gabrielle operated in a highly censored space (that still exists in American media btw!! Take it from someone who knows first hand) that was beholden to network hand-wringing, capitalism, and societal homophobia at large.  So their relationship could only live within an ambiguous space. Ironically enough, just like WenZhou, Xena and Gabrielle are also referred to as “soulmates” in the text of the show. But ya know, sometimes soulmates are platonic, sometimes romantic. Which are WenZhou and Xena/Gabrielle? Well that’s up for the viewer to decide b/c the production teams hands are tied. 

Even so, even with the censorship, we all still view Xena as legitimate queer representation within the pop culture space. Why? Why Xena and not Word of Honor?

For me, they both count, especially WoH because it’s source material IS queer. But the filter of censorship snipped and cut the text away so everything would be forced to live within that ambiguous “up to the audience aka gotta make the advertisers comfortable” space. 

I don’t think it’s fair to throw WoH out because the production couldn’t, like they were not allowed, to showcase text on screen. Similar to Xena queer fans knew that her and Gabrielle were in love, soulmates (romantic) by the end (where Xena dies, like literal for reals death she’s ashes carried on by Gabby at the end btw spoiler alert for a 20 year old show at least WK got silver hair and immortality out of his death experience). 

Queer fans appreciated and cultivated what Xena gave us because, no offense but what the fuck else was there? Not a lot, and even less in the fantasy space. Hell, there’s still not a lot of queer representation in the fantasy space we’re only just now going “hey maybe Tolkien’s ultra white British view of things is not the only way to do things?" And now House of Dragon has Black actors in terrible wigs (they’re so fucking bad rip) in 2022. Woooo~ most queer chars in western fantasy media are mainly found in kids cartoons - which, fucking aces there but also - probably why there’s so many adults in those spaces in fandom (not my bag personally) and why I think the popularity of danmei, c-dramas, and k-dramas is on the rise. People are hungry for epic fantasy content, epic romance content, and queer content. 

but like, I think about queer folks who live in China, who watched WoH (ya know, the intended audience, not Americans) who are probably feeling the same thing people felt when they watched Xena. Yeah, Mr. Advertiser Xena and Gabrielle are soulmates (platonic) wink wink, Yeah Mr. Network ZZS and WKX are soulmates (platonic) wink wink

and I think that’s still valuable. idk I just don’t think it’s right for foreigners to be like “no you’re queer media doesn’t count actually because I deem it so” when the reason for the relationship being subtextual is literal censorship. And yet the text is hella gay anyway!! like at the end of the day we’re all battling the crushing weight of homophobia but not everyone’s fight is exactly the same especially country-to-country and I think that should still be respected. given how damn gay WoH is anyway I imagine the producers fought really fucking hard to give audiences what they did. Just like the producers of Xena fought against the network to do what they could. 

anyway, thoughts and shit

[variouspolltournaments]

Note: Character does not have to be the main protagonist, just a protagonist. Can be any kind of villain, including (but not limited to): just straight up evil, former and "because the narrative says so" villains.

Submissions for this tournament are still open, I'm just getting as many prelims out of the way as I can before they close.

Propaganda: Ok so his villainy is kinda downplayed in Word of Honor/Faraway Wanderers (especially in WoH) cause like the whole point is that he wants to retire from being a villain but like I think he still fits here. Like ok episode 1 opening scenes are him leading an attack to wipe out a whole household of an official for opposing the crown prince, being told that he's on the evil side, him going to the official's daughter and telling her she needs to commit suicide, having the last remaining member of his martial sect request a torturous 3 year execution that he invented basically because he can no longer serve under him, and then the reveal that he also picked the 3 year torture execution thing in order to quit and also because he thinks he deserves it. This is like the first half of episode 1 in the show where they downplay some of his more evil stuff!

In like episode 10, we also get a flashback scene that confirms he killed children in service of his goals, but also like his main regret/thing he has the most guilt over is that he lead all of his martial brothers to their deaths by bringing them along with him. He only felt bad about killing Princess Jing An cause she had been Jiuxiao's lover, not cause like he falsely accused her father of treason for not going along with what he was doing. When he does good stuff, he says he's trying to take a couple years off of his punishment in the afterlife. The only reason he's not actively hated by the martial arts world when he returns is cause they don't know he was the leader of Window of Heaven. He meets Wen Kexing, the Ghost Valley Master, who is considered one of the worst evils of their era and is like "yeah we're soulmates I guess." When Xie Wang sees the two of them together he says "why are those two devils together." He's invented some of the cruelest torture techniques of their time too

Again, I'm just pulling these from the show where they tried to make him a better person!!!! That's not even touching on the stuff in Qi Ye, where they show more of him from before he quit. He doesn't get redeemed, he just retires

[hexitca]

So I've been staying at my friend's place watching her apartment and dog while she's on her honeymoon. I offered for free (as a wedding gift other than the glasses I bought them bc I love her and also a win for me bc this has been a nice relaxing vacation lol) but her husband being awesome buys the DMC5 game for me to play while I'm here!!! I was so blessed he just offered and I was like "woh! you don't have-" Him: "I don't mind! You're doing us a big favor! :)" omg so sweet ToT so I finished it last night and here are my thoughts:

Warning: a lot of rambling lmao

TLDR: 10/10 best game overall

10/10 on plot, characters, game design like it was just perfect!! I loved the whole game and while I had to play it on human mode in order to just get through the game for my short time here, I would love to play it on the harder modes and explore more. I can't wait to get a gaming computer so I can do that lol.

Obviously I'm bias bc I love DMC but having played all the DMC games at least once (never finished DMC2 and DMC4 but I at least played enough to get a sense of the games) DMC4 was my fave in game play, plot, and characters. That's not to say DMC1 and 3 are lesser like DMC3 is RIGHT behind DMC4 for me (I just loved Dante's character in DMC4 more and of course Nero and Kyrie with Trish haha). I hope to finish DMC2 next but I think that's gonna be the least liked but we'll see.

Anyways,

Looking at the time line of DMC and having it wrapped up pretty decently in DMC5 was amazing! I haven't played many series with continuous plot lines often but this would be top of the list. Even with something like DMC2 where it is the odd one out from all of them, how they handled it was very well done. When I saw that the game included a recap of the other games/plot I thought that was a nice touch. Especially since the games exist across different consoles (DMC 1,2,3 all being on PS2 and DMC4 PS3 and DMC5 PS5 (I know they are on other consoles but I'm a Play Station girlie haha I never played any of the game on PC but I never had a computer strong enough) like it's hard. I got the first 3 on PS2 and on the Switch for portable play but that's it. I hope they put all on switch but I'm gonna end up getting it for PC in the future lol)

ANYWAYS,

It was nice of them to include that in DMC5. I do encourage ppl to play all the games once bc obviously a recap doesn't stand up to actually playing the plots of the other games. I think due to my past plays of the other games it really made me appreciate the wrap up in DMC5.

I know we all want a DMC6 (trust me I want to see Nero and Co. again plus to see the twins back from hell) but if the series ended now it would be a perfect end. Obviously again I never want this series to end I love it and the characters so much but again compared to most game series it's rare to have a clean wrap up.

Some personal gripes that is more on me than the actual game/characters/etc:

I wasn't happy with Dante's character it felt really mean spirited but in the whole context of the plot/his history it fits. I guess going from DMC4 Dante to DMC5 Dante (yes 5 years had passed and depression etc I totally get that that's why I'm like it fits honestly) but Idk. I just felt that it could have been more...smoother? if that makes sense? His lines/actions etc make sense but were choppy at times. AGAIN Idk how to explain it it MADE sense (trying to protect Nero, the drama/trauma between Vergil/Dante, the actual chance that the world is ending) but idk threw me off a little. Just a major asshole lol but not the loveable asshole that he usually is. Again like yes in the whole context of it all he was gonna have to kill his brother (again) but again I wasn't a huge fan.

I wish we got more of Lady/Trish/Kyrie. I LOVED that Lady and Trish were used as mini bosses like that was perfect but I also think they should had have some gameplay/more than just that. Of course the story is about the Sparda kin and there's time constraints etc but idk...I always felt that the DMC games could have had the ladies featured a little more lol. ESPECIALLY WITH KYRIE. She is Nero's love, voice of reason, his tie to humanity and she only got mentioned/a voice call that wasn't that long. Idk I just need more Kyrie love dammit

Not a lot of gripes lol again just 10/10 and the gripes are just my personal hang ups but everything was amazing despite those gripes.

[beevean]

hi, i set out today looking for fellow haters of the netflix castlevania show and it was honestly so tough, but amidst all the "why do people hate castlevania?? it's so great!!" circlejerks i finally found you. and thank god for it. i never played any of the games, so it's good to know at least that they make more sense in terms of characters and plot than that netflix shitshow

a friend who really loves it sat me down about a year ago and we watched the first three seasons or so together before i could finally escape it and never touched it again. i do like the animation and some of the fight scenes, but none of it comes even close to balancing out the corny dialogue, the lackluster character dynamics, and oh GOD the cultural faux pas. like?? why did they not google a single one of the romanian names they very frequently say? i heard at least three different mispronunciations of "târgoviște" and "greșit", and "țepeș" they somehow managed to get approximately half right (it's pronounced "tzeh-pesh", not "teh-pesh"). it's absolutely mind-boggling to me. wikipedia includes standardised phonetic spelling and google translate can just read it out to you. idk how it is in the games, but considering how big on alleged wokeness the netflixvania production team seems to be, they could at the very least have looked up these very basic and frequently used words once or asked a singular romanian for a pointer here and there

i am romanian, so obviously these things tick me off much more than they would someone who isn't. i just think that if they weren't going to pronounce anything right anyway and wanted to use a very generic western european backdrop (note: romania is in eastern europe), they could just as well have set the whole thing in a fake fantasy world and spared themselves some trouble. the houses look german. the priests and churches look catholic. there are way too many blonde people, especially for southern romania. i just don't like it at all

i hope you have great day btw 💞 thank you for lending me some new faith in humanity

Oh 🥺 I'm glad you sent me this ask <3 I feel that there are very few people who outright dislike NFCV (for the right reasons, at least), because you hear left and right about how not only it's excellent on every front, but So Much Better Than The Stupid games, Best Adaptation of All Time, and it kills me inside every time because am I stupid for not buying the hype? So yeah, thank you <3

I'm vindicated that you didn't like the show even without playing the games. The most common rebuttal against antis is "wah you just want the adaptation to be 1:1 with the games!" (or "wah you're just a bigot!", which drives me mad), but I always insist that the show fails on its own product as well. It's exactly as you say, and yes, I was also bothered by how every "foreigner" has an appropriate accent, but the Romanians speak in perfect British English. It wants to be inclusive but it ends up being confusing and lowkey xenophobic - what, Romanian doesn't sound sexy enough for you?

(also count your blessings that you managed to escape S4. Some of the plotlines enraged me like I can't convey in written word :) )

Eh, if incorrect pronunciation bothers you (and as an Italian who has seen what the English language does to their native tongue, I fully sympathize lmao), the games don't do much better. In one game the translator of the manual didn't know that Wallachia was a real place, they thought it was the fantasy town of Warakiya (which is how it's spelled in Japanese), and in another it's pronounced "woh-LAY-sha" lol. The chapels also look very Catholic for the aesthetic, even though the Orthodox Church exists (I'd wager that in Japan they're far less familiar with it). Overall, the settings in the games tend to be vaguer than in the show, rarely namedropped, except for two games set in Wallachia (the ones the show takes "inspiration" from) and two other titles set in Japan. The show tries a little harder, but hardly hides the historical inaccuracies and just went for the aesthetic as well :P

Same to you, anon 💕

[fictionkinfessions]

HIIII JUNKO HERE TO WISH MY TWIN, MUKURO, A HAPPY BIRTHDAY THIS DECEMBER THE 24TH!!! I know some of you may not be happy to hear that from me, though personally my canons are all pretty canon divergent, and I only ever shift into non-mastermind or non-despair Junko shifts now that my mental health is better (it's been a few years of this, now). I do acknowledge that in some of my canons I definitely hurt Mukuro, which I feel very bad about now, but I don't want to weigh this ask down with regrets, so I won't dwell on that. Instead! I want to express my love and pride for all the Mukuro's out there!!! You're doing amazing!!! I'm so glad you've survived another year!!! Happy birthday, sis!!! Your existence is a gift and I hope you don't let anyone (including me/other mes) make you feel otherwise.

For that matter, I want to extend my Christmas well wishes to any Mukuro's who celebrate it, as well as any Yasuke's, Makoto's, Mikan's, or Monaka's! Yasuke, I still remember celebrating this time with you and your mom, and I will always look upon those memories fondly—you will always be my best friend in my heart, my childhood sweetheart, even long after we've parted, and I really wish you the best. Makoto, you made my sister happy, and I will always be grateful for that, too—you're a good dude, and in a lot of my canons, you gave me a chance even when I maybe didn't deserve it, and I'm grateful for that as well. Mikan, my sweet little orange, what can I even say? You're the light of my life, my love, and I miss you everyday. I love you, beloved, and I hope you never, ever doubt that you are loved, wherever you are. I hope you are doing well, that you have a loving family that you're celebrating with, this time. Just the thought of you keeps me going, love, and I can only prey I'm a similar source of strength for you, too. And Monaka, my dear little sister, it is not your birthday, but I hope you also know your existence is a gift, no matter what the neigh sayers might say, and that your big sister misses you, too. I hope you, as well, have found better luck with your family in this life than your last. I love you, little sis.

Merry Christmas to any other DR kins out there, too! There was so many more I could mention - the Imposter, Ryota, Chisa who was like a mother to me, Nagito, Chiaki when she existed in my canons, the other WOH, who while I wasn't as close to as Monaka, I did love dearly, and so many others, but I'll leave it at that for now. Even if I didn't mention you, please know I hold you in my heart even now.

- Junko Enoshima <3

box

[baek1nho]

2022: a summary

Post your favourite or most popular edit from each month this year (it’s okay to skip months!)

i saw @moonlightsdream do it, so i wanted to do it!

january — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is the rain scene from ep 2 of beyond evil that i swear someone reblogs almost at least once a day. my favorite one is zishu being threatening, he didn’t get to do it enough. 

february — most popular // my favorite

both are wen kexing sets, i love word of honor anniversary month! both are my favorite.

march — most popular // my favorite

both sets are from twenty five twenty one. both are beach scenes! the beach eps were so pretty!

i had so many sets in march, so here are some honorary mentions: one / two / three. 

1. for seo kang joon!; 2. am still thinking about yao & zong gazing at each other was insane of them, 3. i made this as a joke but zishu really goes slow blink like a cat and i love it very much!

april — most popular // my favorite

both are twenty five twenty one sets again! 

may — most popular // my favorite

a solid word of honor wenzhou month! both sets are some of my top faves. i’m still really proud of the color masking & the blending on my pink one.

june — most popular // my favorite

my most popular set was a scene from alchemy of souls. my epilogue comp set I really liked how the typography & blending worked together. 

this was also another big giffing month for me so here are more honorary mentions: one / two / three

1. the pretty scenery of our blues, explains itself. 2 & 3. my rainless love sets i’ve very attached to.

july — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is porsche & pete, no surprise everyone love them. my favorite set is the aesthetics of insider ep 1. they really hit it hard with cinematography in the first ep and it came out so well!

august — most popular // my (2nd) favorites

my favorite set of the month is my most popular one, but the other 2 are also some of my favorite wenzhou scenes sets too. 

september — most popular // my favorite

my most popular is my dfqc derogatory / affectionate set. which is also my most popular set of the 2022. everyone loves a romantically unhinged man. speaking of romantically unhinged my favorite set was my comp set of jang uk & mu deok. 

I did also i like these: one / two. both woh sets but i do like my dfqc & kexing parallel set a lot! 

october — most popular // my favorite 

both are lbfad sets that are also my favorites! 

november  — most popular // my (2nd) favorite

my most popular set of november is one of my top favorite (wenzhou) sets i’ve ever made. i’m also proud of the other set it was my first time using custom shapes with a clipping mask. i’ve wanted to do a sun/moon set for seonho & hwi for so long and it came out well.

december — most popular // my favorite 

ended the year right with wenzhou & kang yohan! i realized the last set i made in 2022 was kang yohan, i love that a lot. 

anyone who wants to do this tag and haven’t, do it!

[joylinda-hawks]

Who was the one who put the poison on his sword? WOH, episode 11, part 10. ZCL talks to ZZS wanting to give him back the Glazed Armor, WKX asks the boy why he's in such a hurry. He adds that the boy should be careful with his words and give himself more time to get to know someone. He explains that ZCL's father was cautious because he guessed that even if he made it safely to his uncles from the Five Lakes Alliance, they would search the boy thoroughly. WKX adds that it seems that ZCL's father lost trust in his brothers a long time ago. ZCL replies that it's true, explaining that people don't know about it but they've been at odds for many years. Curious, WKX asks the boy if he knows why their relationship went sour. The boy replies that he does. He says that his father gave him a letter. WKX asks where the letter is. ZCL says that he hid it under a Buddha statue in an abandoned temple. ZZS, who had been silent until now, says that he thought the boy was a fool and who would have thought that the boy was so clever. He states that even in such a situation, the boy managed to hide the letter. ZCL further says that his father said that apart from the recipient, no one else could get the letter, adding that he didn't know what to do so he hid it. The boy explains that in the worst case, he could tell the recipient everything in person. WKX asks who the recipient is and if he remembers what was in the letter. ZCL replies that the letter was addressed to the Immortal of Changming. The letter said that the Five Lakes brothers: Gao, Zhao, Lu, Zhang and Shen were friends with Uncle Rong Xuan. He adds that RX went crazy because of the mistake the five made. He tells that once, the six of them had a sword fight after an argument about the Six Cultivation Method Combination. In the background of ZCL's story, scenes of this fight appear, and the boy explains that RX won the fight, but was poisoned and went mad. The boy adds that someone put poison on the sword. ZZS asks what happened next. The boy says that RX was possessed and went mad, explaining that all five of the other martial artists should feel responsible, but no one stood up for RX when he was attacked by the other martial artists. As the boy speaks, scenes of the masters fighting RX appear in the background in a flashback. ZCL adds that his father intended to go to Qingya Mountain and fight RX to the death, but his master broke his legs and imprisoned him until it was too late. ZCL says that his father could only regret being alive. Surprised by ZCL's story, ZZS asks who put the poison on his sword. The boy replies that he doesn't know, but the sword belonged to GC. The boy's answer also surprises ZZS, WKX also tries to understand the essence of the whole story. ZCL no longer has any qualms about telling everything to ZZS and WKX, even though WKX himself also warns him not to trust strangers. ZCL has been silent and ignored for so long that he needs to open up to someone. Now he knows that both men are worthy of his trust and reveals that his father stopped trusting his other brothers a long time ago and was at odds with them. Information about the letter addressed to YBY causes WKX to start questioning the boy. Both men learn about the cause of the conflict and that ZCL's father wanted to help RX, but his master stopped him. WKX is surprised and probably moved by this. There is no reason not to believe this story, because ZCL and ZZS do not know who WKX really is. This little piece of information is important to WKX and now he knows that he must do everything to protect the boy. ZZS is not yet aware of how important this information is for WKX, so he listens to it a bit indifferently. However, the information that ZCL's father wanted to save RX makes an impression on him. We still have a beautiful performance by ZZH and GJ here.

[a-very-fond-farewell]

tagged by the lovely @danhoemei , here’s a little tag game:

Getting to Know You meme:

favorite time of the year: i like early autumn. for some reason i think that should be the time the year starts anew rather than early winter;

comfort foods: bread, yakisoba, poke bowls, pasta;

do you collect anything: … too many books on chinese theatre apparently. i do read them for research tho! so i’m not an inconsiderate hoarder i promise!;

favorite drinks: coke;

favourite music artist: muse is a happy constant in my life;

current favourite songs: well i’ve been getting back on my kpop train as of recently, so i would say Generation by a sub-unit from gg TripleS. it just brings me joy when I’m studying and it’s pretty repetitive so it activates the adhd brain enrichment mode;

favourite fics: ah, i haven’t read much from word of honor in a while (too busy working on my woh fic tbh..), so i would say i’m still stuck on how heart-shatteringly beautiful this harbored deluge for you and i is; BUT there’s also the on-going beauty that Who Holds The Devil is, truly a pearl of the devil judge fandom. both are highly recommended! (but also, secretly, I am losing my marbles over this house of the dragon wlw fic bc.. well, ladies).

favourite video games: uuh, i don’t usually play, but my IRL friend E. was talking to me about a game called Potions Permit the other day and it sounds super chill? also there’s another two my equally IRL friend R. suggested me and that I enjoyed in the past to relax: Plant Daddy and Tiny Islands. both are pretty nice!

- anyone can join this! just tag me so I can read your answers and I will be able to get to know you more that way! :D

[mistresskayla-blog1]

Queen of the Forest

Characters: Richard Armitage x OC Cara Ambrose

Warnings: non-con sex, oc assault, intimidation, imprisonment, effects of being drugged,

Chapter 4: Aftershock  (May 2nd)

Cara sprang awake from the noise. Her eyes wild and large, she looked around and saw William and Joshua leaving through the balcony doors. There was shouting.

Richard lifted Ajay by his throat and pushed him against the railing, leaning him over it, backwards. Joshua and William stood in shock, not knowing what to do. Ajay gripped the railing and yelped, “Your crazy” Richard’s eyes gleamed in pure power, “No more than you, my boy”. Richard pushed Ajay a little further over the edge, Ajay whined.

Richard, “I think we should make an example of you (teeth shining)”

Richard set Ajay back on his feet and shouted down to the party of dancers. “This boy” shouts (the drumming stops) just raped the Queen. What is the fair punishment my people?”  Shocked voices gathered quickly and the drumming stopped immediately, Palal, calling out a “woh, woh”, to the drummers, like a coach driver to horses.

---

Cara gathered herself up from the bed, there was commotion outside and the drumming had stopped. She heard Richard commanding a crowd, her head is throbbing, and she is still fighting dizziness. Cara pulled the coverlet around her shoulders and made her way to the balcony. William sees her first, and goes to lead her out further, where Richard can see her.

Cara stumbles out, “Richard, My King, please. (pause) Be merciful” Richard turns to Cara, dropping Ajay to his knees, “he was only following his heart”.

Richard smirked at Ajay, letting go of his shirt collar “No he was following his lust (darker tone)”

Richard moved effortlessly towards her, and grabbed her up in his arms, holding her tight. Richard  looked back to Ajay, “She just saved your life. Thank her and leave, you are not welcome here”.

Ajay nodded, “Thank you my Queen, for your mercy”.  Cara buried her face in Richard’s chest and would not look at him. Rejection red hot and swift flooded Ajay’s heart and he lunged at both of them, a dagger in his hand. Joshua yelled, as Richard dodged the movement, seeing it coming. Richard moved himself and Cara away from the assail. Ajay spun again and tried again. But A large burly man, named Jed, clubbed him on the head and Ajay went down in a heap. Richard looked up at the tower of a man, “Ahh, Jed. Just when I needed you. Good man”. Jed nods and picked up Ajay without hesitation, slinging him over his shoulder and walking off with Joshua, down the plankway.

Richard speaks out to the party; while holding Cara against his chest, the vibration soothed her, and her arms wrapped around his waist tightly to steady herself, as he spoke. His voice boomed down through the trees as the crowd fell silent. Ajay was being escorted out of the encampment between the throng of onlookers as Richard spoke, by Jed and Joshua. Ajay had been set down on the ground and had regained consciousness. William stayed on the balcony with Richard and Cara.

“I do not think I need to tell you all again, but it seems I must. We have been a colony now for a few years. I count many of you as friends and neighbors. But the Queen belongs to me. She is your matron, and therefore must be protected by all of us” The people nod and whisper.

“Her essence built this village, her energy keeps it safe, let’s all work to keep her safe”. Cara cooed into his chest, her tears staining his shirt with dampness. He cradled her head, against him again, sighing.

Richard looked up again, as some started speaking in his pause, “What are you going to do to him?”

“He will be banished from our lands, and charges will be brought to the authorities,” Cara flinched in his arms, and he kissed her forehead again. He made quick soothing noises against her head.

Kia shouted up at him, “Is the Queen well?” Richard eyes flicks to him, “You may need to intervene, she is unwell”. Kia moved quickly up the ladders to the main house. Murmurs started to climb as well towards Richard’s ears. “The Queen will be well shortly. But please remember that she belongs to me. There is no person that can replace me in this village, no matter how young, or strong or, (Ajay turns towards him, still on William’s arm) similar you find yourself to me. She is mine”.  Cara’s eyes wept in gratitude, her face still buried in his shirt, his words burning into her heart even deeper than before.

Taglist:

@richard-crispin-armitage @richardarmitagefanpage @riepu10 @evenstaredits @legolasbadass @lathalea @louk419 @enchantzz @sweetestgbye @richardarmitageshands

If I forgot anyone, sorry. I will update the list soon.