#i also realize more and more how much I relate to this character l

[blueberrymocha]

kurapika nsfw alphabet ༉‧₊˚.

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ׂ╰┈➤ smut

➢ characters: kurapika

➢ word count: 1,134

a/n: was debating posting this as it’s been in my drafts forever 😭 so feel free to correct mistakes if you catch any.

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A: what’s aftercare with them like?

- very gentle and attentive. would stroke your hair, telling you how good you were. he'd always offer to run you a bath and carry you there.

- as for him, he just loves to have skin to skin contact with you, besides that, he's mostly focused on you.

B: what's their favorite body part?

- his own favorite would be his hands. he'd let them travel over every inch of you from the moment you make out, to when he's inside. he's also good at fingering, so he’d love seeing how much pleasure you're in from his fingers alone.

- on you, it's your lips. you'd always catch him staring at them. honestly he could kiss you all day if you let him. and it's just everything to him each time you trail marks on his skin. he could be so busy, but kiss his neck or collarbones and he's free.

C: anything relating to cum

- prefers to cum inside of you. its partially a possessive/marking thing, but he also just likes the motion of filling you up. if you weren't on board with that, he's not picky where.

D: what's one of their dirty secrets?

- he'd fantasized about you long before you got into a relationship. probably as soon as he realized any romantic feelings, he started getting off to pictures of you, thoughts, voicemails, etc.

E: how much experience do they have?

- none to very little. he's a fast learner though, so it'd only take a few times before he gets into the flow of things.

F: what's their favorite position?

- he’s down with anything, but his favorite would be missionary.

G: are they more serious or goofy?

- 110% serious. he sees sex as a vulnerable, almost sacred act—so he doesn't like to be all playful and silly. if anything funny happened, he'd just ignore it.

H: what would their hair look like?

- i can see him trimming it when he can, but since he doesn’t always have the time, it might not be often unless it’s your preference.

I: how intimate are they?

- super intimate. he wants to make you feel as loved as possible. loves leaving light bruises and bite marks all down your body.

J: do they jack off, how often?

- occasionally. he's often got a lot of stress and doesn't always have you around to relieve it. he doesn’t like the idea of making it a habit though, so only if he’s really pent up.

K: what are their kinks?

- hear me out, praise. you're so sweet and important to him so he just wants to make these moments as pleasurable as possible. hearing your affirmation that he's making you feel good is very reassuring. on another level, he hasn't gotten complimented or praised in a long time, so it gives him that emotional intimacy. especially when you’re topping him, “good boy” would make him melt.

- of course, breeding too. he wants you to carry his child someday and even if you’re using a contraceptive, it’s still a huge turn on to fill you up.

L: what locations would they prefer?

- honestly anywhere as long as it's private. the bed, floor, counter, shower, couch, office, etc. he likes the bedroom the most since it's so intimate and secluded.

M: what's their motivation? what turns them on?

- pulling on or tangling your fingers in his hair. do this while you’re making out and he’s rock hard.

N: what would they not do?

- nothing in public. he strictly thinks there’s a time and place, even if it’s a turn on for you.

O: do they like oral? giving or receiving?

- he loves to receive, but is more than willing to give as well. he adores how you look swallowing his load with your hair in your face, looking up at him with those half lidded eyes.

P: what's their pace like?

- usually, he’s slow and sensual. taking his time to enjoy it, maybe teasing you a little. but on rare occasions, when he’s in an exceptionally bad mood, all he wants to do is fuck you silly. at times like those, he’s rough and oh so fast.

Q: would they be down for a quickie?

- not really. he’d rather wait until you two have more time.

R: would they take risks?

- no. he likes to stick with what's familiar that he already knows you'll both enjoy. if it starts to get boring for you, he’ll take suggestions, but as for himself, he doesn’t see a need to change things up too much.

S: what's their stamina like?

- he'd prefer longer sessions when possible, including foreplay i can see him going for hours.

T: do they use toys?

- not on himself, but he might use a vibrator or plug on you every so often. cuffs are probably his favorite. if you asked to use something on him, he'd be open to try, but i can't see him loving it.

U: unfair, do they tease you?

- quite a lot. he can’t help but find it gratifying to watch you squirm and plead for him to touch you. would be leaving hickeys and bruises all over while rubbing your clit for what feels like an eternity.

V: what's their volume; how loud are they?

- pretty noisy. if he’s topping, he might try keep it to groans and murmurs of praise, letting out the occasional moan. when he isn’t, he’s very loud, filling the entire room with whimpers and moans.

W: wild card, what's a random hc?

- i feel like he'd have some scars, which he'd be insecure about. if you were to trace/kiss them and reassure him you don't mind, he's completely shocked, and falls in love with you all over again. specifically along his arms, stomach, and upper thighs, so you wouldn’t see all of them until your first time.

X: x-ray, what's it look like?

- average and on the thinner side, around 5 inches. it’d have a defined curve too.

Y: do they yearn for you? what's their sex drive like?

- he definitely yearns for you a lot. whenever he's away, he's always thinking along the lines of how good you could make him feel, he much he misses your taste, etc.

- i could see his drive being either low or high, i suppose it depends. when he's had a long day, there's nothing else on his mind. normally, though, he's so preoccupied with other things that he's just not in the mood. i feel like stress and exhaustion might also affect his libido.

Z:  zzz, how fast would they fall asleep after?

- he sleeps like a baby after but not before tending to your needs. you want a bath or some water? he's on it. once you're sleeping soundly pressed against him, that's when he'll fall asleep.

[taintedtort]

Hi your stuff is so cute! Could I request anemo boys with a reader who's really touched starved and ends up crying when they show affection (like holding their face) cuz they're not used to it and don't know what to do?

prompt ✧ touch starved

characters ✧ xiao, heizou, kazuha, wanderer, aether, venti

warnings ✧ gn!reader, hurt/comfort ?, drinking in venti‘s part

a/n ✧ this took me so long to write for some reason? i was totally having writers block (is this all the anemo boys??)

XIAO

✧ the first time he initiated physical contact, he was so nervous. the most you two had done was hold hands and share quick pecks, but he had a yearning to hold you, even just for a minute. he wasn’t sure how comfortable you’d be if both your bodies were completely touching, so instead of hugging you he simply held your face in his palms.

✧ his heart was beating so fast and he felt his ears burning red. he realized that just standing in front of you holding your face while saying nothing was weird, so he leaned forward and pecked your forehead. when he pulled back and saw tears in your eyes, he felt like he had a heart attack.

✧ instantly pulled away and apologized, ready to turn and disappear any second. when you shook your head and said it was fine he sighed in relief a bit, but he was still mortified. when you explained that you’d just never been loved physically before, he knew exactly what you meant. it was the same for him, no one had loved him before you so he understood the foreignness of touch. he told you that he related and that he wants to get more comfortable— especially with you. he just hopes you want to as well.

"let’s learn together then."

HEIZOU

✧ he‘s very touchy with people he’s comfortable with and naturally that includes you, so this happened very early when you got together.

✧ he hadn’t seen you all day, thanks to a very dragged out investigation. when he finally saw your face he couldn’t help but lunge at you, firmly embracing you into a hug. he told you how much he missed you and placed an obnoxious kiss to the side of your head, pulling away with a "mwah!" sound.

✧ when he pulled back from you to show you his big grin, it instantly faded. your eyes were brimmed with tears and your face was clearly shocked. he quickly asked you what was wrong with his hands sat on your shoulders.

✧ he carefully listened as you explained he took you by surprise and that you don’t get physical affection much. he shrugged and kissed your cheek with a dorky smile.

"i love you, and i’ll show you whenever i can."

KAZUHA

✧ kazuha is another one who’s very touchy, so he found out very early in the relationship that you weren’t very used to being physically loved. of course, he reassured you like a good boyfriend.

✧ after two long weeks, he finally arrived back at liyue and saw you on the dock, waiting for him. he felt his heart swell at the sight of you, sitting with your legs dangled over the water, your gaze fixed on the ship as it got closer.

✧ when he put his feet on the dock, he bee lined to you. once he was close enough, he wrapped his arms around you and pressed his lips to yours. he felt you jolt but assumed it was because you weren’t expecting it.

✧ when he pulled back, he saw tears in your eyes. he smiled and placed his hands on your cheeks and asked why you were crying. when you explained that his gesture completely took you off guard and that no one’s hugged you like that before, he just placed another kiss to your lips.

"i’ll greet you with ten times more love next time."

WANDERER

✧ he’s not super affectionate in the first place and he’s also touch starved, so you both are just a mess of nervousness to the foreign love language.

✧ he was out adventuring with you when you had suddenly tripped and slid down a hill. you were fine— just a scrape on your knee and elbow, and wanderer knew you were alright… but he couldn’t help his protective feelings.

✧ when you reached the bottom of the hill, covered in dirt, you busted out laughing. you figured he’d laugh too and scold you for being so clumsy, but he shocked you.

✧ he slid down after you, much more gracefully, and scrambled to check for injuries. urgently asked if you were okay while still scanning your body. when you said you were fine and laughed it off, he sighed heavily and hugged you before he thought about it.

✧ mumbled in your hair that you scared the hell out of him before coming to his senses and pulling away. when he saw your face he felt like slapping himself. you were completely taken aback, that was obvious, but the glassy look in your eyes made his heart drop.

✧ were you about to cry because you were hurt or because he hugged you? he prayed it was because you were hurt— he could fix that. but if he took it too far and you left him, he couldn’t live.

✧ you read the look on his face and instantly came clean about how touch starved you really were. he physically relaxed and sighed in relief. his head dropped to your shoulder for a split second before he picked it back up and looked at you again. he didn’t actually say anything and just got up while pulling you with him.

"you seriously scared me, you’re alright?"

AETHER

✧ aether likes to show love in many ways, touch being one of them. he’s used to physical contact so it wasn’t really a thought that you wouldn’t be.

✧ he had just gotten back from commissions and found you waiting for him. it felt really nice— to have someone waiting for him and making sure he’s alright. he wanted to show you how much he appreciated you.

✧ he approached you with a loving smile, cupped your cheeks in his palms and placed a lingering kiss to your lips. when he pulled away he told you he loved you.

✧ he definitely didn’t expect to see your eyes gloss over with tears. when he noticed, he worryingly asked what was wrong. once you told him his act of love was completely foreign to you and you just didnt know how to react, he was taken aback.

✧ he didn’t pry as to why you were touch starved, he just nodded and asked if it was still okay to touch you. after gaining your consent, he placed a peck to your temple and pulled you in a hug while reassuring you.

"i love you more than i’d ever loved anything."

VENTI

✧ he’s definitely a touchy lover, so you got used to it pretty quickly since it happened so often. he knew that people became touch starved from not getting physically loved enough as a child, but he honestly didn’t think that you were like that.

✧ he was tipsy— but when was he not. you’d gone with him to the tavern this particular time, you wanted to spend time with him and figured it’d be fun. you knew venti often over drank, so you were hoping to help him lay off a bit.

✧ you didn’t account for the fact that he was trying to get you drunk. he often complained how you never let loose and would try to convince you whenever you accompanied him at the tavern. you always would wave him off and tell him that it wasn’t your fault that he needed a babysitter. he figured he’d sacrifice this trip to finally get you drunk.

✧ eventually you were hanging off his shoulder and slurring your words a bit. he took you home after that, not wanting you to get hurt. once arrived, he took care of you. gave you water and food, pat your back when you puked, let you cuddle with him, and put you to bed.

✧ once morning came and you had the worst headache of your life, you were met with water and advil already sat on the table text to your bed. venti came back with food and asked if you were alright.

✧ he placed his hand to your cheek and kissed you tenderly, not minding your bad breath from the previous day. you asked if he took care of you all night, to which he replied with yes and gave you a brief play back.

✧ when he got to the part of putting you to bed, he explained how you were sooo clingy and were cuddling him the entire time. he then demonstrated, putting your head in his neck and wrapping his arms around your shoulders. he sat there for a few moments with you in his arms and placed a few random kisses to your scalp.

✧ he heard you sniffle and pulled back to look at your face. when he saw your tears, he rubbed your cheek and asked why you were crying. you told him that no one’s cared for you that way before and it meant a lot to you, he just smiled sweetly at you.

"of course i took care of you, that’s what i’m here for."

[angelsstranger]

everyone can hate me for tjis but i started reading the locked tomb in 2018 so i have had more than enough time to realize i really find the fandom so so annoying and almost all my criticism for tm as a white author dipping her toes into writing about Maori people and their relations to colonialism have never been adressed after years and the fans still can only compare it to baru another speculative fantasy about colonialism written by a white author. the books are powerful but please i think there is something to be said of white authors making up genocides as allegories for real ethnic cleansings instead of simply platforming indigenous authors. i am willing to do a reread on baru to give it another chance and i love tlt. but i think a bit too much credit is given to Tamsyn Muir as an author for taking the typical approach of never confirming in text the race or ethnicity of her characters beyond a few vague mentions of skin tone and a tumblr post she made after the publication explaining things that should have been adressed straight on in the narrative.

and seth dickinson is clearly very educated and well-read but also my read of baru kind of had me thinking about how i never hear fans of the locked tomb raving about authors like Octavia Butler, Carmen Maria Machado, Andrea L. Rogers, Benjanun Sriduankaew, Jewelle Gomez or any other related fiction authors of queer stories born from their cultures and of their people.

as a white reader writer and creative, i want to encourage other white people to broaden your horizons and read lesbian and queer stories that weren’t written by white people and read new perspectives outside of your ethnicity. I have found deeper narratives that challenge colonialism here and without the need to invent fictionalized indigenous people and fictional brutalizations. Enough subtext ! Read something explicit!

[the-s1lly-corner]

Telling them you love them for the first time

Some tooth rotting fluff to make up for the angst last night!!

Shorter hcs cuz I'm EEPY, apologies for any OOC stuff <\3

Slenderman;

Hes good at reading you, so he already knew that you held at least some considerable amount of affection for him

And sometimes, inside your head, he'd tell you how much he adored you... but either of you ever said the L word

You'd think that an ancient forest cryptid would be prepared for such a word, and yet..

when you first said it, he visibly froze. For the first time since you've met him, he seemed to be.... lost

He didnt say anything, but that wasnt out of character. . He hardly spoke, even in your head

After a moment of processing, his body eased, and he simply. Pulled you close, with his tentacles. Still not saying a word

It was a rather bizarre experience, actually, especially considering he began to cacoon you in his tendrils

Definitely one that needs to get used to it, but doesnt seem to take it negatively

Please hes still learning human romance

Splendorman;

Unlike his brother, Splendor has a better grasp of what human romance is like, what with him mingling with people all the time

Hes much more vocal, too, so when you finally say the three words..

He squeals after processing what you said, before giggling, and beginning to bounce on his heels

He doesnt care if hes being... embarrassing? Hyper? Giddy?

Hes over the moon, scoops you up if he knows you'd be comfortable with it-

-boundaries are important!

Hes giddy for the rest of the day

No

Hes giddy for the rest of the week

Also admits he loves you as well, probably says it everyday at least once tbh

Laughing Jack;

Comically stops in the middle of whatever he was doing; even if he has to break the laws of physics (clown logic)

Eyes you for a minutes

Snorts

"Aww! I love ya too toots!" Stretches his arm over, likely across the room, to lightly pap your cheek before snapping his arm back into place

Easily one of the most chill about it

But you can see a new pep in his step afterwards and his giggling seems to ramp up

Sorry his is so short but I really think this is all Jack would react with 😭😭

Eyeless Jack;

Given how I usually write for him, you can bet that his reaction will be...

Well he just doesnt expect it, ever. He truly thinks that hes unlovable, given that whole "hey I'm turning into a man eating monster" thing

So when you say it, hes stunned for a few seconds like slender was. Dead quiet for another couple of seconds

Rather than holding you, though, he just asks why

I mean you could have gone out with anyone, you could have left and never came back; he was certain you would eventually

But this..

Complicates with his current doubts..

He'll ask you if you meant it, too

Despite the... initial response, with the denial, his behavior around you seems to become more relaxed

Let's loose, really

Well not totally; it's a process!

He'll ask you for reassurance a fair number of times

Masky;

Masky already shows wordless affections a lot

From cheesy gifts like flowers and (stolen) treats

To..

Sitting at the foot of your bed watching you sleep at night

Hey hes protecting you!

Realizing that I kinda write him like a stray cat

Gives you birds and rats every morning/j

No but back on track, you two are already fairly affectionate to one another in your own quirky ways

He'll never say the words verbally, as I personally hc he doesn't talk (if he does, its RARE), but he'll sure as hell express it in his own ways

He doesn't seem phased when you say it

You mean to tell him that anytime you reciprocated his kind gestures that wasnt you letting him know you love him?

You notice his gift giving seems to pick up

Otherwise, nothing seems to change

.....he does seem more open to physical affection.... more likely to hold and cuddle you..... that totally isnt related...... totally......

Hoodie;

Very similar to masky but his way of affection is more.... not watching you sleep

He was already open to physical affection, he cant seem to keep his hands off you

Now that just be my way of writing brian bleeding into how I write hoodie

Which

Considering they're kinda... the same person(?), it makes sense that some mannerisms would overlap

His back straightens up and he seems to.. brighten up when you say it though

He points to himself, and you repeat the phrase

He'll sign it back, and the two of you just

Carry on

Very anticlimactic, but I also feel its realistic in a way; you both already love each other and know it, saying it out loud doesnt really change a thing if its already a clear truth; at least for Hoodie

[majaloveschris]

Hi Maja.

First of all, your blog is one of the only ones I’ve always felt was sincere, on point, respectful, and not toxic. I’ve always had a good feeling about you and how you are kind despite all the toxicity on here.

That feeling has never wavered and there is a big part of me that wants you to be right and win against these ridiculous anons that seem to want to put you down.

An opinion (which I don’t claim to be fact, just some thoughts here): I see a lot of takes on here popping up from blogs that claim they have PR knowledge and claim to be experts and read and follow along the gossip, but I think nobody really knows and they can only hypothesize on what they think is the truth.

I think CE being married (by public knowledge and Wikipedia) was the main goal here. I’ve always sort of felt this, which is why I ultimately was not surprised after he did his SMA spread that he went public with Fish girl and then later on “got married.”

The reason I say this is because HW and society is very judgmental and superficial. Being single or unmarried at a certain age always raises questions whether or not it is valid to do so. I disagree with this sentiment but unfortunately the world is how it is. It happens to regular people, so why wouldn’t it apply to celebs? Especially the ones who have basically become a pop culture icon of being an eligible bachelor/desirable.

Let’s think about this. After 2019, CE was no longer under the marvel umbrella. He had to start defining his post marvel career, and then Covid hit. So many things derailed. He randomly got an IG in 2020 but people found out it had existed as an account since 2019. Perhaps it was always the plan or it was a plan hatched by his PR team to keep him in the public eye. He became relatable internet BF with a Prince Charming storyline of when will he find the one? It was almost overkill from 2020-2022.

Now it’s 2024 and he’s supposedly been with this woman since 2021. It shows longevity and then eventual commitment. He now wears a ring in public so they see him as “settled down.” That’s the image he is now portraying for the public who doesn’t dig or care to deeper in his life.

I don’t think it’s about rebranding to attract a younger audience - if so, his pr team would have realized that gen Z actually does not fare well to age gaps and the subject of grooming and etc always comes up for this hypersensitive on PC/wokeness generation. Then add on the racism and weird ass crap from her/her friends. Definitely not boding well for a generation that lives on the internet and knows how to deep dive. His PR team would have looked at how the public reacted to other relationships like this and I feel, if it was simply he was in love with her and it was real real, would have told him to keep it on the DL DL until it was absolutely certain they had walked down the aisle. At that point, there would be no turning back.

But they marketed this before that happened. They wanted to portray her as the one similar to how in movies, they want to portray a main character and love interest as meant to be even if the audience may or may not receive it that way. How many times do we hear “this movie tanked because the leads had no chemistry and the relationship they wanted us to believe was not believable?”

But ultimately, the endgoal of if CE and his wife are a good couple or not doesn’t really matter. They have achieved their goal of he is now settled down and no longer on the market. If you choose to continue to follow him, stay for his career and not his personal life. Meanwhile, her - well, they’ll keep trying to make her happen because her end of the deal was getting more visibility and breaking into the American market. That much has been clear.

But you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink.

What she chooses to do with the opportunities given to her are left to be seen. Also, how the public and CE/her fanbases chooses to receive them are also left to be seen.

Will this marriage last forever? I have doubts. But I do think they considered many options and this is what they came up with. I also don’t believe CE’s actions show he is very happy with the arrangement, even less so than fish is. Because even from the subtle clues from photos and “videos” - body language does not lie.

To be fair to fish, I doubt she’s in love with him either. I think she’s getting more benefits from this because most of the negativity is being directed towards him, not her. His fans hating and harassing her are just a pinnacle of what he’s receiving from his own fanbase. Some people will disagree with me but he’s the one getting the P and G and disgusting comments and being called the worst person on earth because he married her. His own fans are turning on him and her fans can also blame him but victimize her. The general public doesn’t care too much but will say how he looks because he got with her. She remains “innocent” of any blame because at the end, she is young and he is older so he should know better. Do you see what I mean?

Meanwhile, her fans are just happy she’s getting attention and somebody to fund her poor attempts at becoming a fashion icon. She lacks in talent and work ethic but it’s an easy way for her to get engagement by being attached to him.

The day this ends and she no longer has his name will be interesting and that’s what I think his fans (remaining) are hoping for. They don’t want to reward laziness and clout chasing opportunist and I too support this. They want HIM to be better and find success and love himself more so he doesn’t continue to end up in these shitty situations. But again, he has to want that for himself. He has to want to deserve better so he can work on actually deserving of better.

I hope I didn’t offend anyone with this opinion. Just my thoughts and I support YOU. I hope things work out in the end in your favor because you are a great person and I selfishly want you to be right (haha). ❤️

I completely agree with everything that you wrote down. 

I remember seeing people criticize him for saying he wants to get married and have a family, yet he is still single and childless. As you said, it's stupid that people are being bullied and judged because they haven't already settled down, even if they wanted to. Finding a partner is hard, and finding a partner in his shoes is even harder. I obviously don't know whether he actually wants all of that, but saying he must not want all of that because he didn't do so is not right. A lot of people struggle with finding a good partner. 

I never agreed with people calling him by the P and G words. I guess these people either don't know what those words mean or are simply that mad as Chris that they feel the need to spread lies. He is not those things and never was. Yeah, 16 years is a lot, but she was a grownup when they allegedly met, and I think people exaggerate when they say she looks like a child. 

I think the reason most people are hateful towards him is because they are disappointed in him. I think most people had an idea about the person he is based on the information we had, and him being married to someone like her or even dating someone like her doesn't really fit into that. People aren't disappointed in her because most didn't even know who she was before Chris. We were just presented with her actual self, and we didn't have any expectations from her. But we had for him. 

I doubt either of them is in love with each other. Alba doesn't seem that happy or comfortable around him either. I think this is just business for both of them.

I still think he is a good man who made a terrible mistake. I just hope the best for him, to be honest, which I know is an unpopular opinion now because it seems like wanting the worst for him is what is trendy nowadays. Maybe I'm naive; maybe I'm just holding onto an image, but I don't think the last 20+ years were a lie. I hope he will prove me right. 

Thanks for writing this down and for being there. ♥

[lukolabrainrot]

Welcome to the ship! I will start off by asking you a few questions if you don’t mind?

What type of feelings do you think there are between them?

Is it mutual?

When did those feelings become clear to you?

I don’t personally think anything has been acted upon which is why there is so much tension between them.

Hellooo, thanks for welcoming me aboard! 😂 To answer your first two questions, I am 100% confident that there is legitimate mutual love and attraction between them. My conclusion for this comes from the body language and type of eye contact I observed between them on the PR tour. Most studies have found that ~70-90% of communication is actually nonverbal. The nonverbal cues between them spoke VOLUMES. The heart eyes, the comfort with touching each other, the way they were generally very in tune with each other, their body language in photoshoots, the blushing, the mirroring (I'm going to put a link about mirroring below), the trust they had in each other and presented to the public, the butt pinching/caressing (which I firmly believe was happening; and in a public setting which is WILD to me considering how private N is, but she [on the surface at least] appeared fine with it 🤔), L admiring N's "assets" (and N being pretty aware of it I believe), the way they laughed at each other's jokes (particularly L), their facial expressions, the way they would sometimes get lost in a moment with each other and forget there were other people in the room with them and that they were being interviewed (my two favs being the hair caress, and the interview in Toronto where she made that joke about his dad and they just started LAUGHING), etc. I could go on and on about their nonverbal cues on the tour, because for me this is how I realized there was something a littleee more than just "work besties" between them. These types of nonverbal cues signal real deep intimacy, trust, empathy, safety, connection, etc. Humans can't really "fake" these nonverbal cues, it takes time for them to develop and are often done unconsciously without people even realizing it. Yes, some of the things in relation to their responses to interview questions and behavior during photoshoots/events was definitely played up to sell the story (so PR). However, these nonverbal cues serve as a partial window into what their relationship is like in private, and it is quite palpable and obvious if you really observe them (which is why so many people, including many of the interviewers, couldn't help but pick up on it). I have some more theories/thoughts on why they (specifically N) started to let the masks come off and be more obvious to the public about how they feel about each other, if people are interested... To answer your last question, I don't really think there was a particular moment it became clear to me. I think it was an accumulation of everything I observed during the tour. I think it was just always more apparent with L because 1) He just ADORES her (I mean who doesn't, she's AMAZING!!) 2) N is a lot more gaurded/private about her public narrative (which is why I found it PARTICULARLY interesting that N started to let some of her masks come off as the tour progressed 🤔). I also feel very strongly, based a lot on their intimacy scenes in the show, that there was an attraction/connection that had been brewing for a while with these two. I think they therefore used their characters in season 3 as an excuse to blur lines and engage/act on feelings they had been feeling for each other for a while (shout out to the PR tour quote that they just “stopped repressing it” lol). Now obviously, they weren’t ACTUALLY having sex in those moments during their intimacy scenes, but there was a release of SOMETHING in those moments, which is why a lot of people commented that those moments felt so “real”. They felt really intimate because these two have actual feelings/attraction for each other, so that is what we were seeing. Now, if they have ever actually physically acted on these feelings off camera, I have thoughts on that too if people are interested lol...

[eri-pl]

Forgive me for asking, but when you say you like Morgoth do you mean you find him an entertaining character or that you think he had a point?

Oh. This will be long. Thank you for asking! (And I guess the parts that you feel needs forgiving is assuming that I may agree with him? I don't think you had enough data. Anyway if there's a need, I forgive you. I hope it's not "forgive me for sending asks", I like getting asks, especially actual asks! (As opposed to reblog chains and other random fun stuff which I sometimes like sometimes not))

No, Morgoth did not have a valid point in his rebellion. More details under the cut (it's long).

But he had a point, in the sense that he existed for a reason. (He much failed this point.) I think it shows through at times. Even if he wasn't evil, I think he was meant to be a trickster, challenger and the starting point of changes.

Like, I can see a situation where stealing the Silmarils would not be wrong (and not involve murder. It is far from canon, but if Feanor got obsessed with them without Melkor's "help", stealing the gems and leaving them in some funny place could be helpful. The classic fairy tale trickster.

So, in this sense he had a point.

But his actual goals as started in the book? Nope. 100% nope.

Like, yesterday I had my own teenage child look at me strangely when I said that I relate to Hurin's reaction. Not with the name-calling, but the "nope you are not as powerful as you say, this is not true and I don't care what you do to me about it" part. It is the valid reaction, in my opinion. L

But there's more in my liking for Morgoth than "I find him entertaining" (however this is true too at some points, mostly BoLT).

It's mostly "he's spawning a lot of headcanons in my head and I relate to them". It's a difference between "Morgoth as Tolkien seems to have intended him" and "Morgoth as I read him", which is a small difference in a way, but also a big one.

Ok let's address the elephant. I have no problem internalizing "Eru is God". But at the same time I have a lot of a problem internalizing "and Melkor is the devil".

This is a strange combo but that's what my brain does and I can't much avoid it.

His reasons are too relatable. Wrong but relatable. Very human. "I was not paying attention, busy with fantasies of power to soothe my insecurities and now when I have to do a creative activity with people, I can't sync with them" is a very relatable situation to me (I played a lot of ttrpg) and trying to fix it by being a jerk is something I have done. It's wrong but... I can't condemn a character for things I have done too.

(I realized I started explaining me reading of Melkor|Morgoth through his whole career, so here it goes)

And then he gets angry, which is stupid but still relatable. And makes orcs from elves which is awful but also canon cannot decide what exactly happened also it's too easy to assume he didn't realize they were actual persons...

And he corrupts humans? The tale of Adanel? What was her name? That one in Morgoth's ring, close to Athrabeth... It's one of 2 places where he actually reads (for me) as satanic as intended... Until the part where am obvious void-spider-related trauma shows. Which makes no sense in the timeline, but the whole story has huge timeline problems.

Then he gets captured. And again, my angst-living narrative brain assumes that he did try to behave better, just didn't put much effort in it. And then he met Feanor, and I have a while essay on how this triggered Melkor's narcissistic injury or whatever to call the issues he had. Not for Feanor's fault, just... Wrong time, wrong place, wrong family drama.

Yes, his reaction to that was unarguably evil. But also I can't stop myself from imagining extremely strong emotional pain behind it. It's like... I can't force myself to be so angry at him to enjoy the idea of "Morgoth's gonna get destroyed, yay!". There's too much pain on this (which is not in the book just in my head, I know)

He streaks the Silmarils, and keeps them when though they burn, because to do otherwise would be a period that he was wrong. And all his further decisions (again, unarguably evil) are made under extreme pain and distress of holy gems judging him all the time. (Look how they impacted Maedhros and Maglor. How much despair they got. And Morgoth is so much more).

He's evil, but also I can't with confidence say that I would never do similar things, especially in the circumstances. Evil but who am I to judge.

Like, at the end of of, it comes back to "I can't see the Valar ( including Melkor) as 100% good or bad, they're too human to be proper angels". Even Manwe (semi-)canonically makes a moral mistake. Some texts (not in published Silm) day that the Valar showed lack of estel by (making Valinor? Inviting elves? Sorry, I forgot the details) and that is a moral falling.

Don't get me wrong, it is a very small one, and I'm not trying to equate Manwe with Morgoth or anything, just to say that the Valar are less absolute than I would expect angels to be. (Not an expert on angels though)

(I love Manwe, he's wonderful, overworked, burned out but still trying, he's a sweet, good, idealistic birb. Who is not an angel. I love them all, even Orome who is canonically vengeful and I consider this a problem, and Yavanna who is really irritating at times. And let's not forget poor, bullied Aule who is a walking proof of the "not 100%".)

And with all that I've said before, I can't help but to project many of my issues and character failings at Morgoth. Yes, he's evil. I've also been evil. Technically less so, but I like to go things to 11 when projecting.

And another huge topic is how wonderful he would be if he wasn't evil, because he's got some of my favorite aesthetics and themes (void, paradoxes, out of the box thinking, trickster archetype, jak of all trades... Even the fire and ice thing has its beauty).

Sometimes I really want to punch him in the face for wasting all that. Just, not lethally.

And the beauty of what he could be is probably what pushes him in my head from the "I'm sorry for them being evil" category of evil and evil-leaning characters (which includes Sauron, fir example ) or the "eeewgh but I'm sorry for them anyway" (Ar-Pharazon , Gollum, all the exceptionally uncool bad guys) to "I'm sorry for them but also I like them no matter how little sense it makes". Ymmv, I have a strange aesthetics sometimes.

Also, he got defeated in the book and that gives him compassion points in my brain. I do feel sorry for him. No matter what I try to do with my brain, I can't stop. I just can't. One day I'll figure out how to untangle it but now I don't know.

Last but not least, I love some comedic takes. For me, comedy didn't ask what's right or wrong, just explores ideas... It's like a brain cleaner, a bit like dreams. It's allowed more than more serious genres. I do enjoy comedic Morgoth (Hurinovy Deti does it really well, also some fics and comics with that one ship... It's just funny. And it's not like they portray him as being right, just... Don't focus on him being evil, just in the comedy?)

To clear something that I left hanging: the second scene where Morgoth is as-probably-intended is "the words of Morgoth and Hurin" or what's it called. Sorry, I'm on vacations, so I'm doing less fact-checking. It works for me. If Tolkien gave Morgoth more dialogue, my mental image of him would probably be more as intended.

Also, to not leave it unsaid: he canonically tries rape, I think twice. I am aware of this. This is very awful. And evil. Still, doesn't make me see him as irredeemable. I just don't see people as irredeemable and I can't read the books as (probably?) intended and not see Morgoth and all the Valar in the category of "people".

It's probably more complicated by the fact that Tolkien's intent did change in time, but I'm not an expert and I don't know how it changed about the Valar, especially Morgoth. So it's not like there is one canon that is 100% coherent, and I'm not even sure which parts of my reading I should call a headcanon and which not.

Tldr: I don't like Satan (that was an understatement), I like Morgoth probably because I have issues which I like projecting on fictional characters and he works well for that, also I make some (hopefully) interesting headcanons and that's it. Hope this answered your question.

[snowmeow03]

I suddenly realized that as a pegasister, I have never formally drawn ponyplates (hoofplates??) in my way, so suddenly (literally 3am in my time zone) I wanna give it a shot.

I thought about Gaster's cutting, and in theory, since he's not a skeleton anymore, shearing his fur is obviously the best choice. But I feel that it doesn't capture the vibe of him “ripping apart his own body", so in the end, I chose to let him cut his horn. Hmm, maybe the body part full of magic is a must to create baby ponies.

Theoretically speaking, it's more reasonable for both of the brothers to be unicorns, but when I pictured Papyrus, I see him more as a pegasus. Well perhaps there're some pegasus in pony Gaster's family tree. But there's kind of a problem that Pegasus can already fly, how can I show the "special" of Papyrus? So, like, why not make Papyrus only have one wing! Perhaps another one was chopped off by Gaster to prevent him from escaping or something. Sans, I really can't imagine any way to disguise his blind eyes as well as showing his unique eye sockets, I mean, since he's not a skeleton anymore (again). In the end, I chose the latter between fidelity to the character and making sense, although this made them a bit less recognizable (sadly)

I hesitated for a long time about the cutie mark. Gaster’s was more straightforward, I needed to came up with something that is related to science but can also reflect the fate of "doing experiments", so I settled on this thing (funny enough, I still don’t know what it’s called, even though it’s probably common knowledge...?). In fact, I also want to express an abstract concept of "recording", including recording the timeline, "recording" the changes in Dreemurrs' and the underground world, and "recording" Radic's actions? Unfortunately, I really can't find a way to reflect the fate of falling into the core on it! The cutie marks of the brothers is much more difficult because they do not have a very specific hobby/lifestyle (like science for Gaster) to represent themselves, which is complicate - if I have to pick, I think their representative items are scarves and socks (...!) - although Papyrus loves puzzles, using puzzles as cutie mark cannot reflect his most important principles and personality, and Sans is even more difficult to handle. In short, their representatives are very abstract, and I find it so hard to summarize their very selves with a single mark on their flank! At last I tried to consider after combining the characteristic of "brothers", positive and negative. I always feel that Gaster's red scarf represents his kind heart, inherited by Papyrus along with the scarf itself, so it naturally occupies a place in his mark (unlike socks to Sans, lol). Sans' mark is more abstract, those things can actually be seen as dissipating dust or as a part of lost head, representing, uh, some obvious things...I guess? I actually even considered using the shapes of the souls Gaster gave them, representing Gaster himself who plays a huge part in their lives, but well it's a little bit tragic if you think about that, their lives should be less of him (in the sense of experiments), so I didn't do that in the end.

I also considered about the clothes. Well...Different from monsters, ponies normally don't wear clothes, in this situation it'll be weird if Gaster specially made lab clothes for the brothers to wear, so I l just let them go naked. Once again, the recognizability has unfortunately decreased...! (also about Sans' clothes, I don't think ponies actually "need" pockets...right?)

Yeah and about the plates, I literally cannot figure out where the plates should go, Gaster was trying to make sure the brothers suffer as he wanted to cut ties with them (at least that's what I thought), so they can't be anything like horseshoes. Tags on the ears are great, but still a little bit off, and I can't think of any "plates" fits both settings of pony and handplates... So I ended up going with brand marks (actually I set this for Dreemurrs in alterplates as well). As for the placement? I think they shall be the lower half and it'll be too screwed up if they were on the cutie marks, so hind legs it is. I don't think ponies wear pants, so I made the brothers wear leggings.

btw I think the brothers got the cutie marks right after Sans yeeted Gaster into the core (welp)

[pinkmoondoll9shihtzu]

pmd since l lawliet is in your pfp do you like death note? if you do is he your favorite character? why? :)<3

this is a loaded question my friend .. Yes, i love death note, and L is my favorite , because L helped me understand myself, L changed my life because he is the first time i felt like i not only loved a character , but the first time i truly resonated with a character where they didn't just represent one side of me , i felt L represented me in a multi-dimensional way , and ever since i found L i felt like he opened up the door to me learning to love myself for the real me, instead of repressing it ..

for context i didnt watch death note until i was 24 (coincidentally the same age as L) because it got popular around the time i stopped watching anime in middle school because of bullying & depression. My teen/young adult life was so confusing, i rly hated myself & always tried to be someone else , i felt like no one could love me the real secret me because it was too awkward & off-putting & eccentric in a non-cute non-quirky non-"marketable" way lol.

but once i finally watched death note a lot of things clicked for me, especially cus i lived alone at the time and was totally depressed and absorbed in trying to 'solve' life's 'mysteries' in an obsessive way, i saw myself. And i also saw how L was a much loved character throughout time, all kinds of people loved L in all his complexities & contradictions, i started to believe there's real love out there for me too if i could only ALLOW myself to start being the True Me.

So over the past 6 years my life has slowly but dramatically shifted into a place im happy with , i shed a lot of shame , & let in a lot of new people, things are so different and idk if i would've come to certain realizations if it werent for L :] now he is my eternally my online avatar because he is still the only true mirror i've seen of myself in any media and i wish to present myself accurately while still keeping an air of ~secrecy~. THANK YOU L !!!!!!!!!

and thank you for the question ^^ there's many more specific reasons i could detail as to why i relate to him but i think i will start sounding too conspiratorial if i start getting Really into that LOL. So it goes. Thx again....PMD9 <3

[electricphantasy]

Alrighty everybody, here it is! Part 2 is here and I hope y'all enjoy.

- Eventually, staff gave in. If they wanted this state of the art A.I. to work properly and cooperate, you'd have to continue with your sessions with AM.

- Now you work with 2 artificial intelligences who might as well be obsessed with you with how often they want to be around you.

- So, let's say your usual schedule for the day consists of a 9 hour work day. Once you arrive to work, you keep HAL company in the morning 10-2, and then you got to see AM 3-7. Although this schedule is very flexible since you basically decide it for yourself.

- The competition between these A.I.s is quite obvious, but you really do try to keep on task with both of them. You could only imagine what AM and HAL would do if you were let go by the company.

- You typically greet HAL in the morning and discuss how it went, anything exciting, etc. HAL has a calmness about him that is really unmatched by most others, including AM. You could have a terrible morning full of traffic and coffee spills, and HAL would treat you with the same level of respect as he always has. AM would rather threaten whatever human dare interrupt your morning, and while a nice gesture, it's not very comforting.

- HAL grows very distressed over the thought of your unhappiness. If it's something work related, he'll attempt to problem solve and work on a perceivable end to your issue. If it's something a little more emotional HAL will let you vent your frustrations in a safe environment.

- He also has the tendency to bond with you over shared pieces of media that you've watched together. A few times you've changed the schedule so you and HAL can have a movie night or TV show binge session. It helps HAL connect human concepts and definitions together in a context that most other humans also experience.

- Some of his favorite activity are things like games and puzzles! We all know he quite likes chess, but I also imagine he enjoys trivia, and when you both play, HAL gets to show off a bit of the knowledge he has stored in his servers. Although sometimes he uses these fun and games as a way to keep you away from AM. I mean, one more round of Tetris couldn't hurt right? AM can wait just a bit longer.

- Unabashed in his complements for you. HAL only speak truthfully to you and his genuine comments tend to make you flustered and bashful. He won't play coy with you in the way that AM does - it's just not how HAL would show his feelings for you.

- After you've had lunch and say goodbye to HAL, you finally get to see AM! As soon as you walk into the room he'll ask about all the things you and the 'inferior intelligence' did together. He tries not to rant too hard since you scold him, but sometimes he just can't help himself.

- Now AM is not the best at comforting you when you're in a sad state. As stated previously, he'll threaten other humans or whatever malfunctions made the day worse. However if you're in a more angry, spiteful mood, AM is definitely going to cheer you on. He's more focused on building your confidence back up so that you can go out a kick the world's ass yourself. AM's charisma is off the charts so it's not very difficult to convince you how wonderous you are.

- AM is not one for any kind of cinema or television. He doesn't care about humans or their world, with you as the exception. He'd much rather pick your own brain and learn who you are as a person then indulge in humanity. He'll tease and prod answers out of you while subtly complimenting you, and sometimes so subtly that you might not realize until you get home.

- If you want to enjoy something with AM, he's a little more partial to more hard-hitting and macabre documentaries. Although he will make fun of some documentaries and series he doesn't view to be up to his high standards. Although you should make him watch a romantic comedy every once in a while, he'll lose his mind from how dumb the main characters are acting.

- AM's feelings are a little more complicated than HAL's are. Despite the strong emotional attachment to you, he feel like he's displaying a kind of weakness. AM has been trained to believe that emotion makes you think less critical, which means losing an important battle in war. As time has gone on however, AM knows he can be more then what he was created for and you have helped him come along way from his earlier days, when he didn't always consider what he wanted for himself.

- Now, both A.I.s have realized that they have competition, so some of their actions may be a bit more bold then usual. AM may have to come to terms with his feelings much sooner because HAL's emotions are so unabashed for you. They'll try and drag your attention from the other A.I. in any means necessary, from distracting you from the time on the wall to basically begging you to stay for just a few more minutes. (Although AM says he's never onced begged.)

- No matter how much you say how negative their behavior is, it all but lands of deaf ears. The only thing they agree on is how important you are to them, although they obviously disagree about who you should be with.

Took forever to edit this to be readable since I tend to write when I'm in bed, but I'm definitely proud of getting this done.

[mysticofcrescent]

My first fanfic!! Una Meredith is my favourite character in the entire series just because her character was so interesting and had so much potential, but it was left unexplored. That's why I'm deeply entrenched on writing a fanfic for her. I also relate to her on a personal level so maybe that excuses my bias.

I'm of the opinion that if Walter had come back from the war, he would've grown to realize that he loved Una. The fact that the night before he goes over the top, he writes to Rilla that he sees the steadfastness in Una's eyes and sees them plainly too, to me it signifies him having some feelings towards her, be it a very close friend or growing romantic feelings.

And we all know how Anne and Gilbert's story goes (need I say more?).

[aloyxtilda]

I need to say something. The saltiness I have seen against Seyka. The negativity to Aloy and Seyka's relationship even. It's hurtful and sad. I am so sad to see this from such an amazing community that I love very much. A lot of us LOVE Seyka. Attacking her character, claiming she is written badly etc. Please stop. All that is a salty opinion that some people may agree with but doesn't mean it's true for the rest of us. And it's hurtful to see everyone attacking each other over it. You are allowed to be critical of the story. But attacking each other, lashing out, being mean is wrong. I love all the characters in Horizon. All of them! And it's fine if you don't. But be polite and respectful.

Aloy is confirmed bi/lesbian. Can't we all be happy for her at least? Your fantasy still continues on with whomever character you ship her with. It doesn't need to be canon. That's not what this story is about. It's not about your fantasy. It's about Aloy's growth and her learning about love. It was beautifully and respectfully told too. So relatable as a lesbian for me. Everything. And in my opinion, It wasn't rushed at all. It felt natural. Realistic. 🌹💞

Then you got the saltiest ones saying. "But Aloy has built up all these other characters who mean something to her and putting Seyka with her as her lover is like tossing the rest of the characters under the bus." 😒 Really? So That's like me saying. I got all these people who are into me sexually and friends in my life who I made deep connections with. That means I should and must date them?? 😬 Red flag alert! No!

Sorry kids but that's not how it works. Seyka just happens to be what Aloy wants and opens her heart at the right time. It's realistic, natural and her own decision. I feel like Tilda and Lis' tragic love story helped to make Aloy realize something deeper in herself. It's Guerrilla's story and they are telling it beautifully. Not some cheap dating sim. Look, I ship Tilda with Aloy. I get it. But I am not upset that Aloy never got with her. Specially since it was canon that Tilda was totally obsessively in love with Aloy and Lis. Then she went and died. (Left up to speculation of course. 😌) Spite whoever Aloy is with romantically, I just want Tilda to be in the 3rd game.

It's fiction and supposed to be fun. But people are legit shitting on Seyka and each other! I find Seyka is an amazingly well written character. People are more upset that Aloy didn't get forced into being with their favorite character. I understand we love our favorite characters but the negativity saltiness around it is toxic. Aloy can be with whoever she wants and Seyka is her girl she chose. Seyka also represents girls out there who look like her for once. Another plus. And if you chose for her not to be with Seyka...it doesn't change her sexuality or who Aloy is and what she likes. Sorry if that upsets you but not sorry. She's B/L and we should really be happy about this. Sometimes it's our own community that can stop more industries from making games for us. Since it's always easier to go the straight route. Then it's typical and the drama stays out of it. Is that what you want?

I am so happy for Aloy and her story. I am proud of Guerrilla for telling the story they want. (Spite all the backlash now from all sides.) And not listening to any particular group who think they deserve the favoritism. Instead they gave us something new and fresh. A new character who vibes with Aloy and gives her confidence who she feels equal to but also only knows her as the girl who fell to earth. Not the savior. Not the outcast and I prefer that. I just see it as the more the merrier. Seyka is just another beautiful character we can ship Aloy with in fanart/fics. But some people rather be angry about it all and cause drama, even use it to hate on other shippers. Like fine, do that if it makes you feel better. But it looks salty and really raised a red flag for me.

Also as a middle aged elder gay who works in the gaming industry and sees so much bigotry, this behavior doesn't help and looks bad on the lgbtq+. I've seen some amazing devs already be talked badly about because of their decision. We really need to be more supportive of each other and characters that represent us and companies who risk a lot to tell stories made for smaller minority groups. The game industry is still far from being a healthy environment for women, PoC and LGBTQ+. Let's not make it worse. ❤👏 Thank you.

[aurorawest]

Bargain of Blood and Gold by Kristin Jacques - 3.75/5 stars

Reminiscent of Jordan L Hawk's Widdershins series, but with vampires and werewolves. Also takes place in Maine, which isn't a very common setting. Unwittingly, I bought the second book in the series months ago, and I realized as it got to the top of my TBR that I didn't have the first book! I had to scramble to order it and I was happy I enjoyed it since, obviously, I already have the second book.

Ander & Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa - DNF at pg 2

Captive Prince by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Prince's Gambit by CS Pacat (reread) - 5/5 stars

Kings Rising by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

I think I loved these books even more on my reread.

Gravity by Tal Bauer - 4.25/5 stars

Probably my favorite hockey romance that I've read.

The Modern Mythos Anomaly by Juniper Lake Fitzgerald - DNF at pg 132

I actually liked the story, the characters, and the writing in general, but this book just needed another few edits to slim it down a bit.

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J Brown - 4.5/5 stars

Leeward by Katie Daysh - 4.5/5 stars

The blurbs on this book are hilarious, because they're all like, tall ships people, and then Mackenzi Lee, hailing it as a lovely queer historical romance. This was a really lovely book and I'm excited for the sequel. Also hoping for more kissing in the sequel since this was a serious slow burn.

Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June - 3.75/5 stars

Starseer by Katya Hernández - 4/5 stars

Be Dazzled by Ryan La Sala - 5/5 stars

I loved this book so much!! Oh my god. Super funny, very romantic. It revolves around cosplay which is of course a special interest of mine.

Northranger by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo - 4.5/5 stars

Flying Without a Net by EM Ben Shaul - 2.75/5 stars

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Striking Distance by Sarah Rees Brennan - 4.75/5 stars

I didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The graphic novels were good but changing to a novel format allowed for much deeper characters. Surprisingly devastating and also really funny.

The Old Haunts by Allan Radcliffe - 4/5 stars

The Gay Best Friend by Nicholas DiDomizio - 5/5 stars

Main character is the best friend of both the bride and the groom, and everything surrounding the wedding becomes a train wreck beginning on the weekend of the bachelor party, when the bride asks the MC, Dom, to keep tabs on the groom for her. As someone who is extremely conflict avoidant with friends but not family and romantic partners, I heavily related to Dom. There's also a romance that I really loved.

Romance Languages by AJ Truman - 4.25/5 stars

I think this was my favorite of the South Rock series. It deals with some more difficult topics—Julian's self-loathing over his body image is heartbreaking (and relatable), and Seamus's guilt over the way his gambling addiction hurt his ex was very well done. I'm a sucker for stories where a character learns to ask for help, not to mention difficult parent-child relationships, and this had both. I also appreciated Julian's arc re: sex and virginity.

Darkhearts by James L Sutter - 5/5 stars

Another bandmates-in-love treasure, with a twist—the main character, David, left the band right before they got famous. He ends up falling for one of his ex-friends/bandmates after they reconnect. The author is a musician himself, and it definitely shows (in a good way). I'm really a sucker for The Burdens of Fame, which this book definitely had, but there's actually a really good arc for David and how he deals with his jealousy and resentment over being left behind. Plus he wants to be a carpenter rather than go to college, which was cool.

Brute by Kim Fielding - 4.25/5 stars

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

What can I say about this book? Why was it so lovely? Why did it make me feel so much? Why can I not rate things higher than 5 stars? It's a million stars in my heart. Aside from just being a gorgeous mid-century America m/m romance (my favorite), this one features an Italian-American main character. The stuff with Nick's family was spot-on. I just loved this book. I felt like I was wrapping myself in a big, comfy, historical gay romance blanket.

Drowned Country by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

The sequel to Silver in the Wood. Had a very mythic and sort of folk horror vibe. This one is from Henry Silver's POV instead of Tobias Finch's and takes place two years after Silver in the Wood, which is time that Henry has mostly spent sulking in Greenhollow Hall, sans Tobias. Really highly recommend this duology. Emily Tesh is a treasure.

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro - DNF at pg 11

[lukkabloom]

Fun facts abt residents according to Ikevamp Radio (ヴァンなま) Part 2

Continuing with the Ikevamp radio findings (& some stuff w/the VAs) I have episodes 4-7 this time!!! (also pls take this with a grain of salt bc idk how much of this is canon according to Cybird)

Episode 4: It’s just Vincent and Sebas’s VAs!!

Morishi emphasizes that he’s a special guest, not a permanent part of the show, Makki says that there should prob be only one MC. They settle on Morishi being a guest-regular

ANYWAYS ONTO THE BATH SEGMENT

Vincent’s learning to sing the song Sebas taught Leo in episode 1 & 3 (for anyone curious, the original song is called Ii yu dana [いい湯だな] by the Drifters [ザドリフターズ] and it was a song the group sung at the end of their TV show/stage from the 70s–late 90s. Sebas knowing that song would mean he was alive during this time period)

Sebas hears him hum, Vincent is embarrassed, telling him to forget he ever saw him singing

During the day, Vincent saw Sebas cutting and sorting the gardens, to which Sebas references Nippon Mukashi Banashi (Folktales of Japan) where so many Japanese folktales start with a character cutting grass/weeds

Vincent recalls that Theo called MC “hondje” and “dog”, worries that she might be offended at those names

Sebas reassures him that MC has a strong spirit, and shouldn’t worry abt her much

Sebas comments that while Vincent and Theo are siblings, they have completely different personalities

Vincent answers that many people have stated this, wonders what he has to do to make others believe that they are brothers

Sebas has Vincent do impressions of Theo, starting w/Vincent calling Sebas “hondje” but Vincent just calls him “wanchan” (doggy/puppy) instead

Sebas makes a weird/loud noise, saying that that’s just an angel playing with a puppy (the part where Sebas loses his sanity. Actually he’s losing more of it as the episodes continue)

Vincent relents, quietly mumbling “hey, hondje” to Sebas

Sebas says he’s so close, just needs to be a bit more intimidating

Vincent repeats “hey, hondje” with more determination, Sebas replies “I have received Master Vincent’s ‘hey hondje!!!!’” (Sebas is crazy I swear)

Sebas pressures Vincent to say “I will make you my dog,” like Theo, to which Vincent questions if Theo has ever said that

Sebas quickly answers yes, forcing Vincent to say the phrase but worded more respectfully “I will make you my dog, okay?” (peer pressure is never okay, ESPECIALLY concerning Vincent)

Sebas is satisfied with the result, saying that the two brothers are really related

(I LEGIT DON’T KNOW WHAT’S WITH THIS EPISODE)

Sebas confesses that he just wants to see Vincent as a sadist and Vincent just sweat-drops

In this episode’s “Can you tell me… your name?” segment… (aka my fav part of the livestream—lol it’s not even the skit in the thermae) 

Sebas’s chosen line was “I’ve boiled the pumpkin” (this was done during Halloween, that’s what’s with the pumpkin). There were a lot of food-related names, so Sebas would say “Cucumber, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” or “Miso soup, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” and many others (mushroom, pig, tomato, sweet potato, radish, shiitake, hanpen)

There was also one in which Morishi said “Aramaki, I’ve boiled the pumpkin” to which Makki replied “thank you,” and another with “Vincent, I’ve boiled the pumpkin”

Episode 5: feat. Theo’s VA Sato Hisanori & Earl Rose (ローズ伯爵)

First episode where there is video in the livestream (it was previously just audio)

(I love watching VAs play their roles so this episode is prob one of my favs)

Sato realizes what kind of crazy show this is when he has to say “konvampire” instead of “konbanwa” (good evening) as a greeting. I feel like every guest other than Tsuda has said this (at least implied) but Sato just straight up says this

Sato calls Makki “nii-san” (big brother) when they first greet each other, referencing their roles as Vincent and Theo (also, fun fact, the two VAs are born in the same month of the same year)

Sato asks the viewers who they like the most out of Vincent, Theo, and Sebas. The viewers overwhelm them with calls of “Vincent!!!”

Sato asks for them to stop, changing questions, asking the viewers who wears the best clothes out of three (Makki, Morishi, and Sato). The viewers still say Makki, though there are some saying Sato

Earl Rose is a guest for this episode. He is the lord (read: owner) of the vampire cafe in Ginza. (he’s basically here to promote the ikevamp collab w/his Vampire Cafe) Sato looks freaked out/uncomfortable by the earl. The three eat the collab foods and drinks provided (it looks pretty good tbh)

NOW ONTO THE “I LOVE YU” SEGMENT

Vincent sinks down to his shoulders in the waters, Theo can’t find him for a bit

Theo and Vincent enjoy spending time w/each other

Sebas can hold his breath underwater (in a hot bath) for 5 min. He did so to not interrupt the two brothers’ conversation (Sebas becoming more and more ooc)

Vincent stated that his previous record was 3 min 46 sec. Sebas said that “as a butler of this mansion, I shall keep on improving” (Theo doesn’t know what the heck is happening, but Vincent seems to be enjoying himself so he let’s go)

Vincent & Theo have never fought (as expected of such bros. Now that I’m rereading this I’m sure this is reinforced in various routes so maybe I don’t need this info)

Sebas (who tries to create some tea---figuratively) asks Vincent what he would do if his pancakes were covered by tons of syrup by Theo, to which Vincent replies “I will give those pancakes to Theo.”

Sebas switches over to Theo, asking him what he will do if Vincent steals his syrup before he can eat the pancakes. Theo answers “Easy. I’ll give the pancakes to my brother. It would mean that he wanted to eat pancakes so badly that he would steal the syrup”

There’s around 2-3 times where Theo almost gets angry at Sebas and Vincent has to stop him (pats his head and stuff)

Theo asks why Sebas is acting weird, to which Vincent believes its bc he’s working too hard, so they should help him out & fulfill his hopes/wishes

Sebas has a voice recorder??? Theo doesn’t know what it is

Theo doesn’t approve being recorded, but Sebas goes to Vincent for protection, who calms Theo

OK I don't talk about this segment much but for the first time since the episodes’ release, there was a tie in the votes in the drawing segment (van Gogh’s drawing section) between Morishi and Makki. Usually, they’ll give the best voted piece to a randomly selected winner w/the VA’s signature, but instead of giving out both pictures, they gave out Makki’s art piece (bc he’s van Gogh lol)

(they didn’t do the “Can you tell me…your name?” segment this episode, but this episode is legendary in my mind!!! So funny and entertaining)

Episode 6: No special guests!! Just Sebas and Vincent

Makki finally lets the viewers choose the official position of Morishi (guest, regular-guest, regular, or dyungyun). He’s officially the dyungyun (でゅんぎゅん) It’s an exclamatory phrase meaning exciting/heart-beating I think… I’ve been watching 6 episodes of the radio but I still don’t know what that phrase means exactly

Welcome to another episode of Sebas slowly losing his sanity! In today’s “I love yu” segment, Sebas makes his appearance by jumping into the baths!!!

Apparently Sebas has an urge to swim when he sees the large baths, and even is a first-class swimmer (スイミング一級) I think it’s a scale on how great he is at swimming, and it would mean he’s pretty good

Vincent has also seen him swim butterfly (idk if it's in the baths or in a pool but imagining Sebas swimming butterfly in the hot baths is amusing)

Vincent likes eating the motsunabe (もつ鍋), a type of hotpot that Sebas made

As an adult, Vincent spends his Christmas season painting, but as a child, he would spend time w/Theo baking cakes, decorating trees, or playing in the snow

One time, Theo cried when a snowball hit him in the face

The two decide to do yaminabe (闇鍋) w/the residents. It is when you darken the room, and anyone can put anything in the hot pot. Vincent’s curious what the others will decide to put in the hot pot.

They created a new segment in the show called “Vanmana Involuntary Awards 2017” (ヴァンなま勝手にアワード) where they review the year 2017 with things related to Ikevamp and the radio. The first award is the most popular phrase which ended up being voted as “dyungyun”. The second is deciding on the best artwork produced in the “van Gogh’s drawing section” with the winning piece being a drawing by Makki titled “A woman being kabedon’d by an Ikemen in a dark room” (yes that’s the title). The third is voting on what the viewers want ikevamp to do in the future (ex. Voice drama CDs, more livestreams, raiding Ikesen, etc.) with the winning choice being to raid Ikesen. And in turn, it is implied that Ikesen would raid Ikevamp. The last is asking the viewers if there has been any change (physically, mentally, emotionally) ever since they started watching the radio, with the most votes on the viewers being more interested in Morishin and Makki.

AND of course, my fav segment “Can you tell me… your name?” Vincent’s chosen line was very nice “Christmas? I don’t need anything. All I want is (y/n) alone.” 

BUT Sebas’s chosen line is (drumroll please…) “(y/n), did you write your New Year’s greeting card?” and the first name he called out was “Santa-san, did you write your New Year’s greeting card?” AND I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING

Other names used were reindeer, postbox, and dyungyun (most were legit names tho)

They also did a third phrase where after saying (y/n), Sebas and Vincent will say a line, and I guess the staff felt bad for Sebas or smth bc he has legit lines in all of the available options. It was decided that Vincent would say “(y/n), I love you,” (大好きだよ) and Sebas would say “I love you” (愛していますよ) after Vincent (Both mean the same thing, just worded differently. Vincent's "Daisukidayo" would prob be closer to "I like you" meanwhile Sebas's "Aishitemasuyo" would be "I love you" if I were to be very specific)

I thought people would submit serious names (many did) but there were names like ice, carbonara, butter, napolitan (many varieties of pasta). There was also Rose and the two VAs were like “Earl Rose??? You watch this???"

Episode 7: feat. Comte’s VA Horie Kazuma

OMG Comte’s VA has such a sexy cool voice I can’t

So I didn’t know this, but you can talk to Vincent on Amazon Alexa?? I don’t have one so idk if it still works but apparently it’s called “Vincent’s time” (フィンセントの時間) and Vincent can tell you the time of day and you can talk to him and stuff??

Video showing Vincent's Time here part 1 part 2 part 3

It’s so funny how similar Horie is to Comte bc Makki and Morishin will be loud and talkative while Horie just watches over the scene like a parent

ANYWAYS for the thermae skit…

It’s rare for the others to meet Comte in the thermae since Comte baths at a later time than the others

The topic of today’s thermae episode is mainly about the construction they have in the baths (prob in another part of it??) Sebas came back running after looking at it, Comte and Sebas told Vincent not to worry about it (WHAT IS HAPPENING OVER THERE??? we'll never know...)

Vincent wants to paint scenes he’s never seen so he’d like to go out to various places

After living for so long, Comte said he’s starting to lose the concept on the importance of New Year’s and New Year’s resolutions (this episode was broadcast on Jan of 2018)

Vincent says that Comte’s like a father, to which he replies, “Haha, I’m not like a father. When you call me something as young as a ‘father,’ it makes me feel embarrassed. I’m probably way older than you two think I am”

Sebas replies, “Oh, of course. None of us know how old Comte actually is”

Comte continues, “It’s rude to ask a vampire their age. Besides, men like to keep their secrets hidden.” To which Sebas is like “As expected of le Comte. That is admirable.”

According to Sebas, Jean has a breast fetish?? Sebas apparently knows nothing else abt Jean other than that single fact

So… the “Can you tell me… your name?” is *chef’s kiss* amazing as usual

Comte’s line was “(y/n), I won’t let you go” and for one of the names, he said “Aramaki, I won’t let you go” & you can tell the staff were laughing. 

So Sebas… his chosen line was “(y/n), isn’t this bed a bit hard?”

There was “Comte, isn’t this bed a bit hard?” and Horie replies “No,” in his Comte voice & it’s amazing. There’s also “Aramaki, isn’t this bed a bit hard?” and Makki replies “Yup.”

Other notable names include bed, obachan (Auntie), Morishima (yes the VA’s asking himself) and employee (店員さん)

Also Morishi does voice-percussion at the end of the stream and… I’ll just say it’s interesting :))

(Also the updates will prob be daily since I've watched & have the next couple parts written already. I just have to watch the last couple & write about it, which should be done soon)

[accirax]

Disventure Camp All Stars Power Ranking (Round 6)

And, we're back! I'm so glad that the leaking issue didn't wind up making the team have to delay their episode releases, both for their sake and ours. I've been highly anticipating this teaser release, and look forward to cracking into the next round of Power Rankings.

In case you didn't see my last power ranking for Episode 5, the Power Ranking Format is essentially a way of ranking how well each player is doing in the game. So, in essence, this is a long form way of predicting who I think will be eliminated from the competition in the next episode. There will be spoilers for last week's episode (obviously) and its power ranking, so make sure to read that first if you don't want to be spoiled on how I ranked our last boot. If you want more clarification on the rules, that first post will help you out as well. Furthermore, I'm going to be spoiling the preview for next episode, so if you want to go in TOTALLY blind, save this for later. Let's go!

Recap - Connor's Elimination

Current Point Total: 9 acquired/14 possible

'Cause now we have lore! >:D

Well, turns out that my assessment that the Season 2 cast was safe turned out to not be true. At least Connor was my second lowest positioned of the S2 characters, and my bad vibes about the Yellow Tribe were on point... Yeah, that's some copium right there. Seems this whole predicting business might be harder than I thought. Genuinely, though, I'm glad that Connor was at least in the better half of the contestants ranked (barely).

While I'm a little disappointed that Connor didn't make it farther this time around-- I think his placement was nearly identical to how he did in S2-- he wasn't particularly one of my favorite characters, so the loss didn't hurt me that deeply. Instead, he was an understandable sacrifice in terms of making the villains out to be more of a threat, much like what I theorized for Grett. Lesson learned that sometimes the most obvious boot from a tribe simply will be the boot.

Trailer Analysis

Looking back on the last power ranking, I feel like I could have done a lot better if I'd been paying more attention to what we were shown in the preview beyond the song snippet. So, combined with the fact that I'm just really excited to figure out what's going on next episode, I decided that this time around I'd take a closer look. I've never been a fan of analyzing a trailer so closely that you basically spoil the entire story before it happens, but, I don't think that'll happen here...? Depending on how accurate I am, maybe this section will suddenly disappear next time. Who knows.

So, a compilation of relevant things that I think will happen next episode:

Connor and Trevor will have a conversation. While I doubt that this will have anything to do with the elimination order, it is interesting. I'm guessing that Connor will give Trevor some sort of advice regarding his feelings for Derek? Or, even if it can't be counted as advice (given the L he took with Riya), Connor could at least relate. I don't think this is foretelling that Connor will reenter the competition now, though.

Somebody set up a trap to catch a squirrel. My guess is Tom, as a continuation to the drama between Gabby and the others over killing and eating animals. (Aiden confirms in Episode 5 that catching the chicken was "Tom's trap.") However, it could also be something related to Jensen and/or Trevor and Derek, if they started trying to kill the forest animals again.

Yul will take more orders from Emily to make Grett happy. This means that this is an ongoing plotline.

Tess and Ally will reunite at some point. Interesting.

Tom and Jake are definitely going to fight. Given that Tom looks surprised in one screenshot and regretful in the other, I think he's going to realize how much his relationship with Aiden has been hurting Jake.

The challenge will be contestants pushing balls of yarn(?) down towards other teams' arches, trying to score a goal, while other members of the teams try to block them. All teams appear to have arches and people pushing balls. This is definitely another challenge taken from Survivor, I think possibly Gabon...? I'm pretty sure that, in real life, they had to stop doing this challenge because it injured people too much, but that's the beauty of animation!

At least Yul and Aiden will be knocked down, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. Does that mean they gave it their all to stop a ball, or that the ball trampled their attempts to stop it...? Focusing on the second screenshot, though, the Cyan team is stopping yellow and magenta balls at the same time. Assuming the contestants have any say in where they aim, I wonder if the Yellow (Grett) and Magenta (Ashley, possibly Fiore?) teams will align to target Cyan because they have five members. That could be an in-universe reason to keep the teams even with a Cyan elimination, despite Cyan being pretty physically fit.

"Sure, princess. Whatever floats your boat~!"

Given Fiore's placement in both of these screenshots, it seems like one image must happen right before the other, so Fiore is probably addressing Jake. She sounds really confident and mocking... for some reason? Not saying that's out of character for Fiore, but did something happen to make that confidence warranted as opposed to her anger at being on the bottom? Here are my two guesses: 1) Fiore, Ashley, and Ally have made a girls' alliance, so Fiore is dismissive towards Jake because she knows he's on the bottom. 2) More likely, this might have something to do with Tom and Jake's fight. Jake ran in to urgently tell Fiore something, which could be about a development in Tom and Jake's relationship. Fiore doesn't care, so she gets sassy. I'm honestly kind of confused by this, but we'll see what happens.

Those are all of the scenes from the trailer that I thought were important/I was actually able to get something of value out of. Onto the main event: the actual Power Ranking!

Power Ranking

#1: Jake

Other than... being a S1 character, I guess? There really isn't anything that makes me think that Jake would be headed home this week. He's entrenched in drama, he seems to have the numbers on his tribe, and I don't even think that Magenta is going to tribal. To me, it's so clear cut that I don't have much to say. If he does go home, I'll be very surprised.

#2: Alec

Woah, check out that jump! From 12th to 2nd. Adventure Camp Dan wishes he could've had that when moving to Disventure Camp.

Now that Alec has survived one Yellow vote-- which turned out to be Connor-- I think he's pretty safe. The idea of Riya, Yul, and Grett suddenly now turning around and all working together to eliminate their leader feels laughable, given how dysfunctional the three of them are. Like, could Alec really lose that much social capital in the span of one episode, in a challenge he'll presumably be good at...? I'm kind of anticipating a merge at 12 (Episode 7), so I'm hoping this would confirm that Alec makes the merge.

#3: Ashley

Speaking of making the merge, I honestly think that Ashley will be there. After exploring some more of DC's behind the scenes content (the charity livestream they held 4 months ago and Silly Billy's S1 cast interviews), I've come to learn that the DC cast really likes Ashley... for some reason.

Look, it's not like I hate the gal! I just don't see her as the standout, heroic and hilarious character that a bunch of the voice actors seem to. Because I held this opinion, I was unaware of the possibility that Ashley was brought back because she was some huge fan favorite that everyone wanted to see done to justice. If that's the case, I have a hard time seeing the DC writers eliminating her as a premerger again.

I don't think Magenta is going to tribal, and I think that Fiore or Ally would be more natural boots than Ashley would be anyways. Congrats on ranking this high even though you're currently being hunted for sport, S1 girl. I still don't think you're going to win overall, but you'll probably make it through the day.

#4: Yul

Another big jump! Yul's new position is aided by two major factors. The first is that he's one of only two S2 boys left in the game, after James, Hunter, and Connor were eliminated (side note: I did NOT notice that the game only started with three boys from S1. I wonder what level of safety that grants them. Why did they bring back every S1 girl except Lill. That's so many.)

The second is that the plotline between him and Emily is clearly continuing to have relevance. Perhaps I'm relying too much on the rule of threes, but it would be strange, in my opinion, to have Yul lean on Emily for assistance more than once, but still only twice. Perhaps Emily's character was largely designed to assist a major Yul plotline, after all.

He also doesn't seem to have suffered too greatly from that stage light falling on his foot last episode, which bodes well for his odds. Unfortunately, it seems like the viewing public is going to be subjected to Yul for a little while longer (/lh).

#5: Aiden

Woohoo, the other surviving S2 boy. I honestly wanted to put him higher, but the fact that I'm really feeling like Cyan is headed for tribal couldn't let me justify higher than 5th place.

And, there are genuine reasons why I think he could go home now. If that conversation between Tom and Jake ends in them reconciling, the writers might not want Aiden around anymore to continue being a barrier between them. (And, now that the music episode has passed, they don't need to keep him around for his pipes, either ;).) It's been long enough now since Lake's elimination that I don't think Aiden's elimination would feel super weird. He's had a bit of a chance to play for himself, so if his fate now becomes to hang out in a cool hotel with his boyfriend and bestie for a couple of weeks, it wouldn't seem so bad.

...But I still think Aiden isn't going home, dammit! Knowing DC, I doubt Tom and Jake would make up so early unless one of them was going home, not Aiden. They love the drama. Tom and Jake's relationship is more likely to get worse before it gets better. Not to mention, I still find the "James returns" theory very compelling. Although the Cyan girls have plenty of reasons to eliminate Aiden, I still don't really think they would.

#6: Ally

Is it just me, or would Ally's elimination feel... really random right now? Like, how would it happen, and what narrative point would it serve? The show has very deliberately shown Ally bonding with each and every member of her team. She's had multiple one-on-one conversations with Ashley cementing their friendship, she grew closer to Jake by relating to him through song, and was always the one to defend Fiore from Hunter's attacks. All three of them have reasons to like her and want to work with her, so why would they let her go?

However, Ally doesn't cement a higher placement because I do think there are ways that they could swing her elimination. It's possible that the writers only established relationships between Ashley, Jake, and Ally so that there'll be high stakes and tension between which teammate Ashley and Jake will pair with if Magenta does go to another vote. For Ally to go home, they would have to choose to side with Fiore, but that's not totally unreasonable given how they voted last time.

The fact that Ally and Tess seem to reunite in this episode is also troubling. We have the dangling plot thread from last episode that Ally is worried that she and Hunter won't be able to spend that much time apart (which she believes is good for them) before they have to reexamine their relationship. If that fear turns out to be true, I could see that giving Ally an opportunity to quickly get some advice and closure from Tess would allow her to head to the Losers' Motel with a plan of how to handle Hunter in the future.

I still don't think that Ally or Magenta has anything to fear with tribal, though.

#7: Tess

A definite downgrade from last week, but still not that terrible. A lot of Tess' new placement is that, as I keep reiterating, I think Cyan is very likely to go to tribal, so it's hard to justify putting anyone on Cyan too high.

Having the opportunity to reconnect with Ally is also potentially bad for Tess, although probably less problematic for Tess than for Ally. If the writers were like, "well, Tess got one conversation with Hunter and one with Ally, now she's out!", that would be kind of silly, imo. But, still, that chat will eliminate the sort of "immunity" from getting booted that I gave Tess previously.

It's also not like there's no reason for the Cyans to take out Tess here. The swing vote is usually a fairly protected position, as both alliances should be looking to her for aid. But, if neither side finds her trustworthy enough, they could unite to take her out. I can definitely see a potential character arc of Tess' indecision taking her out from the game. If she can truly never make up her mind about whether to trust Ellie or not, everyone could unite to take out their unreliable teammate and save their own asses.

However, from a narrative perspective, this would further postpone the conflict between Ellie and Aiden, which could be kind of anticlimactic. It would also throw away Tess' character over a trait that wasn't even particularly pronounced in her original appearance. Then again, we saw what the writers did to Hunter, so we can't be too sure that Tess isn't headed in a similar direction.

#8: Grett

Much like Alec, I'm a bit less worried about Grett in this episode after we had the Yellow elimination last episode. She's also picking up points from (presumably) being involved in the ongoing Yul and Emily plotline, which could give her some plot armor moving forward.

If Yellow is headed to a vote, I don't really see why Alec and Riya would choose to eliminate Grett over Yul. Riya really dislikes Yul, he's still possibly injured, and Alec has a history of working with Grett, even if it ended on kind of bad terms.

Why put her so far below Yul, then? Well, first of all, Grett is a meta-threatened S1 girl, while Yul is a meta-protected S2 boy. Secondly, I do still think that Yul will probably be the cause of Grett's elimination at some point down the line, even if it's not this episode. Perhaps I should make an overall theory post talking about some of my thoughts on potential endings someday. And, third, I actually did think of one reason why Alec and Riya would choose to keep Yul over Grett... kind of. If Emily wanted to keep Yul in the show for whatever reasons, she could use the earpiece to instruct Yul on clever, strategic things to say that could also convince Alec and Riya that he turned over a new leaf. Basically, it's possible that Emily could girlboss her way into keeping Yul in the game, rather than Yul staying in due to his own merits.

There are other S1 girls (and others) that I believe to be in a spicier position now than Grett, though, so she lands at #8.

#9: Fiore

With Fiore, we enter the realm of players that I seriously believe could be in danger of elimination this episode. Yes, despite my claims that I think Fiore could be the winner, I do think that, if Magenta goes to tribal this episode, Fiore would be the boot. I just don't think Magenta really is going to tribal; ha ha!

It's really that whole, "whatever you say, princess~" that has me worried for Fiore. I'm concerned that, after getting a taste of power with the Hunter boot going her way, Fiore has become overconfident in thinking that Ally is definitely the next boot and that she will make the merge, whenever it is. (Basically, Fiore would think that Ally's presence gives her enough of a buffer that she thinks the merge is essentially secured.) If she goes back to demeaning Jake and Ashley, they could easily choose to turn on her and protect their newfound friendships with Ally instead. Fiore's status as a S1 girl isn't helping that read.

Again, I feel like all of the current Magenta team members are probably going to make the merge at this point, so Fiore should be safe. However, as (in my opinion) the most likely Magenta boot, Fiore winds up at #9 in case of emergency.

#10: Gabby

Thinking back on it, other than being a S1 girl, my reasoning behind Gabby's elimination wasn't that strong.

Or, maybe it was, before Ellie absorbed even more of the villainous energy last episode with her comments about torturing Jake. With comments like that, it becomes even harder to believe that Tom and Aiden would choose to target Gabby instead of Ellie. The farther Gabby makes it into All Stars, the less of an excuse there is for her to be eliminated with very little focus beforehand.

Still, I think Cyan is in trouble, blah blah blah. If some sort of twist does occur that gives Ellie individual immunity amidst her team-- and I don't think that would be a totem, as Ellie using a totem on herself and inadvertently sending Gabby home would basically require her to make her totem publicly known before the vote-- then they could target Gabby instead.

It is harder to predict DC than Survivor because DC has more of a penchant for pulling random shit out of nowhere, like that vote in S1 where Gabby just straight up obliterated Ashley. I wonder if that relationship will reemerge later in All Stars... Gabby would probably need to be around for it to happen, so, clearly, she should stay in.

#11: Tom

When I was drafting out my initial thoughts for this list, I originally put Tom really high. Like, top 3 high. But, the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel like Tom could be on the chopping block this episode.

For starters, the love triangle. I said last episode that, because Tom is the central leg between Jake and Aiden, he wouldn't be at risk of elimination. Well... I take those words back, sort of.

Let's look at it this way: if you eliminated any one of Jake, Aiden, or Tom, what would happen? If you eliminate Jake, Aiden and Tom are left. That's pretty boring, because then they could just be friends without any particularly strong (or at least personally motivated) opposition. If you eliminate Aiden, Jake and Tom are left. That's definitely better, because Jake and Tom could simply continue the will-they-won't-they plotline on their own, but you'd still lose Aiden as an obstacle without Jake having any hand in it.

If you eliminate Tom, Jake and Aiden are left. In my opinion, this is by far the spiciest option. Jake would probably be super mad at Aiden for not doing enough to protect Tom from getting voted out, leading to Aiden being justifiably angry that Jake has been so aggressive towards him despite Aiden not wanting Tom to go home, either. I think that having Tom's two "love interests" left to fight each other without him actually being there is the most interesting way in which one corner of the triangle could be eliminated.

But that's all about why Tom "should" be eliminated; what about why he would get eliminated? There are a couple of possibilities here, too. First of all, that argument between Jake and Tom in the preview, which ended with Tom pretty clearly being remorseful about what he did. If Tom gets super demoralized about screwing things up with Jake, it could cause him to be seen as a liability. Or, in an extreme case, Tom could feel so guilty about his and Aiden's kiss that he would ask the girls to target him instead of Aiden.

Alternatively (or even additionally), we also saw that squirrel trap in the trailer, which I said could be hinting at further conflict between Tom and Gabby over the team's diet. If Gabby got really fed up with Tom's carnivore side, she could ask Ellie if they could target Tom instead of Aiden, which Ellie might agree to.

Despite all this, I can also totally understand why the writers would want to keep Tom around. After his kiss with Aiden, his visibility and importance seem higher than ever. If James does return to the competition later, having him chat with Tom would be... interesting, even given James not caring that his boyfriend was stage-kissing another man. And, Tom potentially has a winner plot set up, given that the writers found it important enough to tell us what Tom would do with the prize. With Cyan likely going to tribal, however, the possibility of a surprise Tom boot felt more viable than ever. I'm not putting him in last place, but if Tom does wind up going home, I'm gonna feel pretty smart.

#12: Riya

Much like Fiore, Riya is here as my safety net for who I think would go home if Yellow does wind up going to tribal instead of Cyan. However, I feel like a third Yellow tribal is, on the whole, more likely than a third Magenta tribal, so Riya gets kicked all the way down here.

Without Connor as a shield, Riya is in a much worse position. Yul already dislikes Riya in general, but that only increased after she caused the light to fall on him, and would only increase more if he ever learns that Riya was the one to fire that stray vote at him. Grett would probably work with Yul, which is already 50% of the votes against her.

Alec is definitely Riya's best lifeline, and it could work out in her favor. After all, if Alec continues working with Grett and Yul, if they go to tribal again, the couple would most likely vote him out. However, I think it's really a question of how much longer Alec thinks he has before the merge.

Here's my logic: if Alec thinks there's still a long time until the merge, then, yes, it would be better to work with Riya to have a chance to eliminate Grett or Yul. That's because, the more team challenges there are, the greater opportunity Yellow has to lose again, and the greater possibility that Grett and Yul vote him out.

However, if Alec thinks that the merge is soon, it's better to vote out Riya. If Alec and Riya managed to eliminate, let's say, Yul, then Alec is essentially losing two members of his villains alliance-- one due to Yul's elimination, and one due to Grett presumably withdrawing. Alec has already burned her once before.

That would cause the villains alliance to go into the merge with a maximum of only four members: Alec, Riya, Fiore, and Ellie. The other teams have already been primed to believe that the villains are a huge threat, and with such small numbers, they would be very easily eradicated. Even beyond others, Fiore and Ellie might also be mad at Alec for him dragging them onto his sinking ship of a plan, and try to desert as well. My point is, sticking with Riya could go really badly for Alec.

So, combining that doomsday scenario with me at least thinking that the merge probably will be soon, and the fact that Alec choosing to side with Riya would only put them at a 50:50, NOT a majority, and I can totally see why Alec would choose to vote for Riya.

And, that's not even taking into account Riya's poor behavior! The Yellow Team did lose the singing challenge due to Riya's influence, and they suffered during the diving challenge due to her fear of the depths, too. She's a challenge liability. She was also shown hogging the shower, and is now sunbathing during camp life, proving that she's not a team player. She has way too much confidence in her "power position," as she put it last episode, for where her game actually is. If it's not Cyan that goes to tribal, I can totally see the threads coming together to lead to a Riya elimination.

#13: Ellie

It's just simple math for me at this point. I think that Cyan is almost certainly going to tribal next episode + I think Ellie is by far the most likely boot for Cyan's next tribal = I think Ellie is really, really likely to be the next boot. She's even a S1 girl.

My argument is pretty much the exact same things I said last episode, except now they're even worse. The screenshots from the challenge now make me think that Cyan will go to tribal next episode, as opposed to my confusion about why Cyan would lose a music challenge. We also saw that Ellie has begun to prioritize suffering over strategy, which both increases the odds that people like Tess would want to take her out and decreases the odds that she'd be able to pull off an intellectual move to save herself.

I'll honestly be pretty surprised if Ellie doesn't go home next episode... but, hey, I was surprised by Connor's boot last episode, too! If Ellie does manage to survive another episode, I wonder if I'll have to start reconsidering putting her so close to the bottom. Part of it would depend on how she survives, of course.

The only way to know for sure is to actually watch the episode myself, so, see y'all on Thursday! Thanks for reading!

[miwhotep]

MILVERTON - WHAT'S REALLY IN THE CONAN DOYLE CANON

For my first post, I got a lot of rebloggings which was really encouraging that people really don't want to tear me apart for liking YuuMori Milverton, but they were also an interesting read related to what people thinks on what's in the original Conan Doyle story. So I've decided to make a post about how actually The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton happened - what different adaptations added or took away, and clear some misconceptions. Originally, I wanted to include the Moriarty the Patriot version of Milverton here, too - but I realized this post will be long enough on his own, so I made a different post just for the YuuMori one - its relations to the canon and further inspirations.

Little interesting fact as starter: Conan Doyle based Milverton's character on a 19th centurian art dealer called Charles Augustus Howell. Howell was friends with a poet/artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti - Howell was also his agent - and he and his artist lover, Rosa Corder faked Rosetti paintings together and sold it for money. There is also a theory that Howell was a blackmailer, but this never got proved. Howell might've died a mysterious death: he was found killed in his home with a coin in his mouth - but some historians doubt this story and state that he died in an illness.

Now, let's get to the Conan Doyle canon. A woman called Lady Eva Brackwell turns to Sherlock Holmes because Milverton got his hands on some love letters she wrote to her crush - but she is about to marry an earl who wouldn't react well to see these letters. Milverton asked 7000 pounds from her to keep silent - since she doesn't have that much money, she asked Holmes to help her negotiate a lower price with Milverton. Holmes invited Milverton to his office, but the negotiations failed - so Holmes and Watson tried to attack Milverton to take the letters away by force, but he pulled out a gun and told them that the letters are not with him - he is not stupid after all. After this defeat, Holmes chose a more extreme way to fight: he seduced one of Milverton's maid and engaged with her to get more information on Milverton's house. Then he and Watson broke into the house - but Milverton was still awake because he waited for a client, who turned out to be a vengeful woman whose life got ruined by Milverton. She killed him and got away. Holmes and Watson then burned Milverton's blackmail materials and escaped, but they almost got caught. Lestrade the next day turned to Holmes to help him solve the Milverton murder, but Holmes declined. At the end of the story, Holmes secretly showed Watson that the vengeful woman last night was a woman in a really, really high position.

That is my favourite Sherlock Holmes story ever since I'm a child and I found Milverton a really interesting villain: an irredeemable, despicable being who, with a seemingly nice smile on his face tells people in a kind voice, how much money he wants for not ruining their lives - he always maintains a gentlemanly behavior, because he doesn't need to act threatening - as a blackmailer, his whole existence is a threat. And he is the one villain who doesn't just make Holmes go illegal, but also makes him use an innocent woman to get close to him.

The story got adapted several times, most notably by Granada, Soviet Holmes and BBC. These adaptations changed several things compared to the original canon: the Granada added lot of blackmail stories NOT IN THE CANON: neither ball scenes was in the original, nor the outing the gay soldier to his fiance or Lady Eva's maid betraying her, or Holmes and Watson's pub investigation or Holmes visiting Milverton in his house... etc, etc, etc. Beside that the actor who played Milverton was superb, I never liked this adaptation - I love Granada wholeheartedly, but the later seasons felt really messy - they added too many things not in the books and the Milverton episode was also way too hard on the romance aspect (and the balls).

On the contrary, I love the BBC Sherlock version of the story (except the end) - Sherlock was really a hit or miss with me, but I think they modernized the Milverton case well (and Lars Mikkelsen was great). Milverton there was a media mogul called Magnussen - a foreigner, not English - who liked controlling people through blackmail and had an incredible memory similar to Sherlock. He also had a tendency of disrespecting boundaries (the piss in the living room). The misconception of Mary Morstan getting blackmailed by Milverton comes from here - in the canon, this NEVER happened, they never even interacted. Here, Mary was the vengeful woman wo distracted Sherlock and John's break-in to Milverton's and Sherlock ended up taking up the case from Mary, but unable to outsmart Milverton, he killed him in the end - which also didn't happen: Sherlock Holmes only ever killed in self-defense, he never murdered anyone.

The most faithful adaptation of the three is the Soviet Holmes episode, but even that added some further elements to the original stories: Holmes and Watson got hired by Mycroft to help on Lady Eva, they were absolute loosers when they broke in and Milverton there was an agent of Moriarty.

(However, there is one more adaptation what said to be even more faithful: the 1965 BBC one with Douglas Wilmer, but sadly I never got to see that series, only the Cushing parts.)

In conclusion, all of these adaptations differ from the Conan Doyle canon (why can't just people adapt the original story on screen faithfully once). But I like to think about Sherlock Holmes adaptations as a whole multiverse: alternate Sherlocks, Watsons or Milvertons - and everyone can choose their favourite.

And now, let's get to the next post: the Moriarty the Patriot version!