#i don't remember her reaction but this was a recurring problem

[saguaroooo]

I was 7 the first time I watched lotr and used to confuse Legolas and Peter Pan.

[meanbossart]

Massive ask compilation time OH LORD

YES, her journals are a fun read. I somewhat wish there was more to her and The Dark Urge's interactions, too - she's wonderfully evil and clearly very attached to you if you're playing as that character, but I had hoped there was more of a reason for her obsession besides just "you were fun to cut up", haha. I remember reading her journal over a couple of times looking for something I might have missed.

His reaction was pretty in line with the Narrator's cues, just immediate rage over what she had done to him - DU Drow may be a masochist but that's reserved for people he cares about! So, her and her posse met a swift end. Also, despite the fact that the whole tadpole thing turned out being for the best, I think he's easily overtaken by resentment over his lost glory-days whenever faced with it so directly (he misses living in obliviousness) - not to mention his profound fear of vulnerability, and of feeling... Small. The way Kressa spoke to and of him would have absolutely shook him to his core, especially by doing so in front of the others.

[MORE UNDER CUT]

THANK YOU so much for your kind words first of all! As for the question, it depends a bit on the timeline; his dislike of female drow, especially at the start of his tadpole'd journey is pretty irrational and faith status wouldn't be of too much relevance, he just thinks It's in their nature to want to put him down and be conniving, and wants nothing to do with them.

Later, and especially post-game, he might at least give them a chance to prove they aren't "like other drow", though it would take him a lot to ever let his guard down entirely - UNLESS you seem like a complete fool LOL he's actually easy to trick into dismissing you as long as you don't mind playing the role of a dumb idiot.

But if not, he'd have an extremely short patience for any attempts to exert authority over him or his actions - or jokes at his expense, or any level of smugness or secrecy. Nymea would definitely feel kept at arms length because of the gender+race combo alone and have to put up with a lot of snideness. Basically, she'd have to treat this 6'4" feet tall freak with kids gloves to ever develop a rapport LOL

But also... The vampirism may "help"? He'd consider her a "lesser drow" for it. In that regard her attitudes toward Astarion would probably come to be relevant. I'm not sure about that aspect of it to be honest!

First of all, this is a hysterical scenario because he Would just fucking put the ring on without thinking about it LOL so thank you for the laugh that mental image just provided me with.

Oh he wouldn't care though. I mean, he dislikes drow in general, but he is a drow (up for debate, but you know, generally speaking) and he thinks he's pretty great. As long as he's still huge and strong he could wake up a woman tomorrow and not give a damn. And, frankly, his dick could turn into a pussy at any point in time and it wouldn't change anything about his character save for having to add a recurring UTI problem to his character sheet - he'd probably have fun with it.

TOTALLY FAIR, I'm very sorry it went past the point of enjoyment for you, but I'm glad you knew when to put it down!!! We're in our hand-holding and elf-smooching era now with the occasional visceral description of violence LOL SO YOU'RE WELCOME IN IF YOU'D LIKE. Thank you for dropping by!

Just putting this here because - I actually haven't decided yet, so that's pretty funny you asked LOL I'm leaning eyes closed though, nothing like a smooch to calm the big weirdo down.

HAHAHAH WELCOME BACK, I've been around this whole time! But I was hanging out on twitter for the most part. HOPE YOU'RE INTO THE DND STUFF LOL

DROW DURGES RISE UP I'll be honest with you friend, DU drow's lore has been as accidental as something like that can be, so much of it has felt completely organic in the way it came up - I guess that's what good RPG does to your brain. The rest of it has just been a wonderful opportunity to develop my writing that I decided to take full advantage of this year. Thank you so much for the lovely message!

---

Aaaaand I can barely muster something to say that feels like an appropriate response, but again I wanted to acknowledge all the sweet compliments people take the time to leave in my inbox. Some of you guys' comments about the things I create blow me away, I think I'm pretty confident in my art but... Damn, makes me so happy to know the stuff I create can hold a little special place to some folks. Thank you all so, so much for taking time out of your day to spread a little kindness around, and make mine a little better.

Again, thank you all for humoring me, have a lovely day folks!

[canonicallyobserving911]

So glad it wasn’t just me who noticed the lack of Eddie in that promo 😑 and the only shots focused on him were like old footage from s2 and 3. None of his s5 breakdown or hostage situation badassery or May Day cool moments (like smashing the glass with the fire extinguisher), not even any of his sassy faces from s6. And not a single line of dialogue from him. My motivation to watch s7 dropped about 10 points. The shot of buck and death doula didn't help either 😑

Thank you @blutterlie for the ask.

I noticed the lack of Eddie immediately then I watched the promo again to make sure I didn't miss him but I realized I was right the first time. I was pissed they didn't include any of Eddie's badassery from all the seasons he's been on the show. Let's check notes on how Bad Ass Cool Under Pressure "Sexy Eddie Diaz" is for a minute.

First and foremost, Eddie Diaz is the best dad there is. He's been raising Chris and he sacrifices EVERYTHING for him!

He removed a live grenade from a man's leg and everyone who doesn't remember should realize EDDIE WAS GOING TO GO INTO THE AMBULANCE BY HIMSELF!

(I can't find the GIF I made of him doing the damn thing but if anyone wants to see it, they can watch 2x1 to see sexy Eddie do it because he's the one who KNEW THE ORDINANCE.)

The man was trapped in a well and swam to safety on his own while the team was above ground trying to figure out what to do to save him.

He was shot by a sniper.

He was held hostage by an escaped convict.

He had a mental breakdown and went to therapy to get better.

He climbed a 70-foot ladder to rescue Buck after he WAS CATAPULTED OFF THE BASE OF THE TRUCK WITHOUT BEING HARNESSED IN!

But the season 7 promo didn't include any of that.

What else does Eddie have to do to get some damn respect?

It was my main issue with season 6 and it looks like they're going to repeat history and it appears Past will be Prologue for them because they continue to ignore Eddie, Bobby and Chimney. They weren't in the promo that much either but you know who was, Buck's ridiculously short-term love interest ND who's been around for like 2 minutes. It's season 5 all over again, ND is the new TK and I'm not here for it.

They didn't even show Karen, Denny or that much of Ravi in the promo. Or Josh or Linda and these ARE ALL RECURRING CHARACTERS WHO'VE BEEN ON THE SHOW FOR YEARS!

I'm so sick of this BS. They never treat Eddie right and they've been sidelining him for too long. And for those who always holler, "Eddie had a big storyline in season 5" the amount of screen time he receives shouldn't have anything to do with that and if we're being HONEST, all of Eddie's scenes are made to be about Buck and his reaction to Eddie being hurt. Also, Eddie's scenes are usually crammed into the last 5 minutes of the episode and are rarely given the attention they deserve.

HE'S A MAIN CHARACTER BUT THEY KEEP SIDELINING HIM! But they sure don't have a problem giving Buck a lot of recurring characters for his gazillion storylines. Hell, he had 7 in season 6 alone but all they gave Eddie was some raggedy dating storyline and set him up with a chick who's more in love with her brother. 🙄

It would have been better if they would have included ONLY THE MAIN CAST AND LEFT ND OUT OF IT. SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN INCLUDED AND I'LL KEEP SCREAMING IT AND NO ONE IS GOING TO STOP ME!

FREE EDDIE DIAZ FROM 9-1-1'S RIDICULOUS SIDELINES AND GIVE HIM THE SCREEN TIME HE DESERVES.

Thanks again for the ask and I know my response is long but I'm still pissed off by the lack of Eddie Diaz in that damn promo.

[felixcloud6288]

Higurashi: Festival Accompanying Chapter 22

This chapter reveals that it is June 16th, 1983 - three days before the Cotton Drifting Festival.

After Irie and Tomitake reveal everything about the Irie Institute and Hinamizawa Syndrome, the group begins discussing what they can all do to face the situation.

There's something funny and kind of sad that Ooishi is told to leave and not get involved. It's funny because he's been a recurring source of problems for the cast and the one time he's trying to genuinely help, they tell him to go away. It's sad because he's so close to finally solving a case he's spent years on and he's being forced to not be able to be involved in it.

Ooishi's greatest motivator has been his desire to know the truth behind his friend and father figure's death. A big reason why he has always been so aggressive with his methods is because 1983 is the last chance he has to try solving this mystery before he retires.

But now that the truth behind the series of murders is so close and there's a whole government organization tied to it, it's too risky for him. The Sonozakis are influential, but the best they can hope to do is kill him and hide his body. Tokyo has the reach to have the rest of Ooishi's life ruined instead.

Ooishi asked for time and Hanyu granted it.

Hanyu has power over time. During this moment, she likely has frozen time so she and Ooishi can talk and he can have the time to think. Just like when she spoke with Takano though, I expect that Ooishi will not remember this conversation, but the feelings he had will be etched into his heart.

Hanyu gives him the one assurance he needs though. Both decisions are right. It's just a matter of making sure he does not regret which one he makes.

When he's come to his decision, Ooishi thanks Hanyu as "Little girl I've never met." It reminds me of when Rena addressed her as "Little girl whose name I don't know" in Massacre.

Hanyu has been here this whole time acting as merely an observer. In Massacre, everyone managed to see her and understood that she'd been there all along but they didn't know who she was. But this time, she's a more known entity. She knows Ooishi and maybe after all the years he's spent, he somehow knows who she is too. But this is the first time they've ever met.

So Ooishi decides to walk away from this case. He at least has the consolation that the Sonozakis have had no involvement in anything and he can be rid of the hate he's held for years.

The "old lady" Ooishi mentioned in chapter 19 was his mother. So he's not married.

As for everyone else, they need to figure out how to keep Rika safe. They decide that they should have Rika hide out with the Sonozakis but they still need to make it look like she's home.

Hanyu makes a suggestion and it causes such a tonal shift. She looks at Rika with a serious look to her face...

then you turn the page and she does this:

Wow. I didn't know Rika was bisexual. I thought she only had eyes for Satoko. But she also has a crush on Akasaka.

Also, Hanyu didn't freeze time when talking to Rika so everyone got her live reaction to being teased.

When Rika brings Akasaka to her house, Satoko reveals that she's already packed their things and is ready to run away with Rika. Satoko reveals that she seen Rika outside the grounds with Akasaka and the others. I would assume Satoko realized that Rika's whole "I'm writing a manga" bit was a lie and Satoko needed to know what was actually going on and just happened upon their conversation. It would be funnier if she spotted Ooishi and Akasaka sneaking through the woods and decided to tail them and that's how she stumbled across the conversation.

Satoko, you should not be getting friendly with your romantic rival.

back

[mikwaa]

Pairing: Zhonglix f! Reader

Warnings: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, graphic descriptions of blood and violence, enemies to friends to lovers.

Lenght- 3,587

Here is the masterlist of this series!

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"I have heard that some villages are suffering from a plague, do you know what is going on?" Bosacius asks.

"It is an outbreak of Reuca, I am already trying to get around the situation. But it won't be easy." You say with a tired sigh.

Bosacius looks at you with a frightened, pragmatic and worried expression all at the same time.

"I think in a few days I can contain it, don't worry too much." You say trying to sound confident, because frankly you felt quite apprehensive about the situation.

"I can help you with whatever you need. You know I can handle things here and anything else you need. Don't overwhelm yourself." He says gently advising you.

You nod.

And today, besides having to take care of Reuca's problem, you would have to get some more medicine. Currently you had not made any progress in the recovery of your companions, Bosacius seemed to have been a case apart, maybe some specific component helped him to wake up, but that unfortunately was not a pattern. Indarias had moved and had small reactions, but nothing out of the ordinary, or out of what you had seen over the years.

And as expected, it would take you a lot longer to figure out how to get them to wake up, but there was something you noticed that bothered you. Maybe because of the close contact you had with them, you had passed on some kind of disease, like Reuca, for example. You were not immune to it, the thing is that it was just some minor effects, at least none of the Yaksha got sick because of it. The same little marks that were characteristic of the disease were appearing on the others, which could easily become a big problem just because they were incredibly fragile.

This was all the more reason to try some drug that could make them better before it was too late.

"I remember Verr Goldet said he wanted to talk to you. You should come see her.”He says, patting you on the back in a comforting way. Funny how he could sense that you were worried about something.

You then head for the reception desk where Verr Goldet spent most of her time, and as soon as she saw you, she said. "I was just looking for you, I remember you had ordered some sweet flowers.They arrived this morning.” She says pointing to a package beside her.

"Thank you, how can I pay you?" You ask her.

"Don't worry dear, what you do is already enough. Since you are leaving, I will leave them in your room." She says with a kind smile.

You thanked her, and as soon as your back was turned she added. "Oh, I almost forgot, Baizhu is waiting for you downstairs."

It was not a good sign, Baizhu would not come here in person for nothing. And from the bad news that was already circulating, you didn't expect him to be the provider of a good one.

"Did something happen?" You ask him cautiously.

"I needed to talk to you personally, I suppose you are already aware of the recurring situation we are going through.” From his tone it was already possible to understand the gravity that things were taking.

"About what specifically? Do you mean Reuca?" You'd rather let him get started than misunderstand him.

"The cases are already spreading to the smaller villages, but I have already detected some in the city. I would like to know if you are already aware of the situation.”Baizhu asked you, and you noticed that he had some dark circles under his eyes and a tired look on his face. An indication that things were not good indeed.

"Yes I am, I just found out a few days ago. I asked Zhongli to talk to you about it, I don't know if he said so. But I'm already trying to fix the situation, don't worry.” You say, sitting down next to him.

"I wish I wasn't upset by this situation, however things are already more critical than you can imagine."

"Do you already have a solution? I mean, something partial. I remember that before there was no way to combat this.”

"Getting some medicine, along with herbal remedies that can at least minimize the effects. But I still don't know if it's going to be enough to keep the patients alive, but I'm doing my best.”He says in almost a way of consoling himself and standing his ground. Still you could sense that he was nervous about the situation, you could imagine the pressure he was under.

"So it's an experimental method? I can try to help you, at least to find some components. I can't make them because it would be lethal, you know that anything I make is too strong for humans.” You said upset with yourself, not that it was your fault, but surely with the knowledge you had you could help in some way.

"I think you'd better handle this situation first, things around town are already overloaded enough as it is. We're already having to set up some emergency clinics, and this took me by surprise."

You gave a light sigh, it's not like you didn't expect this to happen, but it was still a redundant situation. But on top of all this, there was something or someone who was spreading the disease even further, and even with your investigations you hadn't found an adequate answer to that, with so many problems at once it was difficult to focus on just one.

"I have to get back to my work, I have many patients to see today. I just came to see if you were already aware of the situation.” He says getting up and preparing to leave.

You nodded and he said goodbye, you remained seated while pondering some things.

You had thought about going to the Harbor to contact Liyue's Qixing about the situation, it might make things easier since they could properly warn people about what was going on. But at the same time telling everyone might not be the best idea, besides causing a buzz among the people, it might drive away the real person responsible for the situation.

However, people would have to take the necessary precautions not to make it bigger and more problematic, you yourself had already noticed that the mining activity had increased in the last few days, precisely because of the stones that had a high value. Even if there were warnings, or even old stories about the evils of Lumiar stone, most didn't care, because they thought it was just stories to scare children. A pity they thought that way, because of human frailty, they should be much more careful.

Even for you it was something dangerous, you felt exhausted just by spending a long time near the stone, imagine the effect it would have on even weaker beings. What you could do to prevent at least a little bit the situation from getting worse, is to use a portion of your power to prohibit many ordinary civilians from getting close to dangerous areas, by doing some manual interventions.

Making some stone piles or even creating an unpleasant atmosphere so that people would move away quickly. In the short term it worked, but then everyone came back. Besides, it wasn't as if only one area was the source of the problem, there were many places, and this made it easier for events to spread.

Your first decision was to go after some herbs to try to help Baizhu, as well as to see if the situation was under control at certain points. You headed for the Guili plains, after some Violetgrass. It didn't take long before you reached the place, but instead of going to get the plants, you saw the same red-haired man who used to talk to Morax, this Fatui.

He was talking to some of his subordinates, and you sneaked closer to try to listen to the conversation. It wasn't every day that you could get any kind of relevant information that easily. You managed to hear a thing or two, but they were more frivolous things than anything really useful.

"Well, well, look who we have here." Childe turns to you with utter contempt.

He ordered the others to disperse, and they did. Soon there were only the two of you.

"You're the stranger here. What are you doing here?" You return the question to him.

He laughed cynically and then answered, "I'm just a citizen of Liyue, there's nothing wrong with me.”

Before you could answer him, your eyes were fixed on the package he was holding. Apparently some medicine bottles, but what was he doing with them?

"That caught your attention? Want to see what it is?" He picks up a bottle and hands it to you.

You accept it a little suspicious, make a quick evaluation. On the package insert it said it was a specific treatment for diseases that were not so common, and one of these diseases was Reuca, followed by a few others that affected various regions of Teyvat.

"So? I can be a kind person and give this to you, and a pretty easy solution to your problems, isn't it?" He says pridefully.

Automatically you realized what he was talking about, selling a solution like that, when you were almost certain that the Fatui were to blame. How do you make a problem and give the solution? It doesn't make any sense.

"But will you give it to me for free? Don't try to make a fool of me, I know that you have your price." You say.

"Now, how hard is it to accept an act of kindness coming from me? I just want to help." He says, alternating between an offended and a kind tone.

You looked him up and down with narrowed eyes, there was nothing suspicious about him. Other than the fact that he was a Fatui, but nothing more aggravating than that. It was obvious that he didn't want to help just because he wanted to, there was something more to it all, although it was still too early for you to make an opinion about anything.

"Come on, are you going to accept or not? Remember that you have a lot at stake if you don't accept." Behind the common tone, there was an open threat.

"If I don't want to accept, what will you do? Don't threaten me, because if I were you I would think twice before doing it." You threaten him back, it wasn't as if you had forgotten that if you wanted to finish him off here and now, you could safely do so.

He laughed and ran one hand through his hair, then put his hands around his waist and looked at you strangely, as if he were watching a competition before his eyes. It wasn't a simple contest, but one that he would do anything to win, and obviously he wouldn't hesitate to use force if necessary, because that was exactly what he wanted to do.

"I'm here in a good mood trying to offer you help, if you don't want it that's your problem. But I'm not leaving here empty handed either." He posed in a more withdrawn manner, as if ready to attack.

"Be honest and I won't do anything against you, I just need you to tell me why you are helping me. You know that's not your job, on the contrary."

And he laughed out loud, as if he had heard an extremely pleasant joke. It was intriguing how he seemed to enjoy the situation. And instead of speaking he opened the bag he was carrying, allowing you to see how many medicinal herbs he had, besides several ready-made remedies. There were also many flowers that could help in the manufacturing of remedies.

"I guess that speaks for itself, doesn't it?" He says proudly, even smugly.

You dared to touch things, and looked deeper into them. You had not heard of this type of medicine, the components were clearly from other regions, like Inazuma or even Sumeru. Besides the other materials, some were regional but most were not, everything seemed perfectly elaborate. It wasn't as if there was anything strange about the compounds, but it was also unusual for the very people causing the problem to come up with the solution. Which left you with a bad feeling about the whole thing.

"I accept." You say calmly.

He even opened his mouth to speak, possibly to provoke you, but closed it immediately and looked at you a bit dumbfounded.

"I'll keep this, I hope you really aren't up to something, Childe." You say, collecting everything and getting ready to take it with you.

"You're just going to take it? No complaints or anything?" For some reason he sounded disappointed, and you don't understand, isn't that what he wanted from the start?

"Don't tell me you're giving up now? Wasn't that exactly your purpose in coming here?" You ask him.

He looked a little disconcerted, but soon returned to his normal posture. "Of course, that's exactly what I came here for." He seemed to be trying to find a way to speak without sounding frustrated.

"Good. I'll take this with me, and I'll still keep an eye on you. I hope we don't have any kind of problem." You say authoritatively, as a way of reminding him who you were.

He didn't respond, and you didn't wait for him to respond either. Then you turned your back and walked away.

You can't help but think that this could easily be something to trick you. It's not as if that possibility is out of the question, you would still have to see the components of the medicines and test their effects, and if this really was a solution, you would take them to Baizhu immediately.

But again, that would take at least two days, or someone with the stamina to withstand the effects if it was something bad. And as crazy as it sounds, you could only think of one person, Morax. Maybe he wouldn't accept it, but it wouldn't hurt to try, since it was Liyue's people who were at stake, there was a good chance he would let it be.

You just had to find him and explain this situation, and also talk about the strange interaction you had with Childe. For sure he knew something else, he had many acquaintances there, so for sure he knew something else.

So you took the packages to a safe place and picked up some copies of the medicine.You were going to head for the port of Liyue, but ended up meeting Morax there in the vicinity of the Guili plains. He didn't see you, he was collecting a few things on the ground, like some minerals. You slowly walked up to him, with a certain curiosity to see what he was doing.

"It's such a surprise to find you here, I thought you used to avoid this place." You say to him, who quickly turns and looks at you.

"I have no reason to avoid coming to this place. What happened before doesn't matter. Although I am more interested in the fact that I found you here, besides the fact that you came to talk to me quietly.” He says with a certain sincerity in his tone.

You decide not to beat around the bush and get to the point. "I need you to do me a favor." You say to him, and try not to use a tone that might cause strangeness.

"What specifically?" He asks quite curious.

You looked at him puzzled while still thinking of a way to say it that didn't sound so adverse.

"I got some medicine, and I'd like to test it. And I would like to be able to test it on you.” You say softly and quietly.

He looked at you grumpily, and took a moment to process what you had said.

"Are you kidding or what? You don't think I'm just going to ingest something you have done, do you?”

"That's not it, these remedies could be the cure for Reuca. But I'm still uncertain, and I need to do it as soon as possible.” You try to make it sound less worse. Not that Morax would suffer any major consequences, but of course he needed to take precautions.

"Where did you get this?" He says, pointing to the vial you were holding in your hands.

You didn't think now would be the right time to say who gave it to you, so it was easier to say you had worked something out with the help of some alchemists. It would be easier for him to believe you.

"I did some tests, and this was the best I could do. And like I said, I can't use it directly on people, I don't know what side effects it might have. So to speed up the process I thought you could help.”

He looked at you analytically, you hadn't responded the way he wanted you to. And to make matters worse you were a terrible liar, and he knew it. He gave a hearty laugh, and took the medicine you had in hand. You didn't react, just stared at him with astonishment, he didn't seem offended now.

"You can be genial when you want to be. I can't even imagine where you got all that stuff to make this medicine.” He says as he passes the vial between his fingers, looking at it cautiously.

"I have my ways, being honest it wasn't hard to find." Your voice intoned in an unsure way, even you didn't know why you was nervous about lying. It's not like anything serious was going to happen.

"I know you, I know well that you must have worked it out on your own."

You wouldn't tell him the origin of the remedy because you yourself didn't even know if it was really functional, besides Morax and Childe were incredibly close, which caused you a certain aversion. So you wanted to try to play a double game, trying to get information from both sides.

"So? Are you going to accept or not, we can solve this very quickly.” You take the medicine from his hands.

He didn't answer but reminded you of an important point that could help. "Actually, do you remember a blessing that was left long ago? In the vicinity of Qingce Village."

And quickly you remembered the events, an ancient Goddess who when she died left a blessing in the Qingce lands. When gods were killed they could use the remaining power for something good or bad, but this goddess chose to use it to benefit Qingce village, the place where she was born and raised. It was the reason that the land there was so productive and fertile, and there was a rumor that those who were sick could recover from the aura that emanated from the very place where the goddess died.

Not only this, but it was also said that herbs and remedies had a stronger and more effective effect if used in the benevolence that the Goddess had left. But this rumor disappeared over the years, as her power weakened. But the elders still talked about it, at least that's what you heard the last time you went to the village.

"Maybe I can rekindle her power?" You ask him.

"I believe so, but it might be dangerous. There are high chances of having some maleficent power coming from it." It is even if it had some risk, still in a strange way you did not feel that you could be seriously hurt if Morax were around.

Even though there might be some remnant of Karma, you were the only one who could deal with that problem, since Morax was not able to solve it. This was the main difference between you and him, and the reason he needed you to remain in charge of this kind of situation.

"If that's a solution, I think we can try."

Maybe if the power left by the Goddess was strong again like before, the medicines could become stronger, even more effective. And if things worked, people could usurp it to their advantage.

"Can you still do that kind of thing? I thought it was outdated for you.” In the background of his voice there was a certain amusement.

"What are you implying? If you're not even outdated, why would I think that?” You say, sounding mischievous.

And he gave you a sincere little smile, you could imagine that he liked these little interactions. Because you always returned his teasing.

"I accept your proposal. You can do whatever tests you want with me.” And you couldn't feel a hint of insecurity in his voice.

You gave a low chuckle, who knew that someday you would be able to do that sort of thing with him freely. But at the same time you were surprised that he accepted it so easily. In the end you agreed that you would go to the village at nightfall, which would still take a while to happen. But you couldn't deny that you had a certain anxiety to see what this situation would provide.

What was left was to wait cautiously, and use the time you had to prepare properly.

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This fic is also posted on Ao3!

[aotoreiki]

What made you pick up this character?

Which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

Questions for muns of canon muses

1. What made you pick up this character?

the (half) joking answer is the whims of autism brain

This unlocks my unskippable cutscene because I never get tired of telling about it. The reason I started rping Ice was an accident on my part and the result of me trying to pull a joke on my sibling.

When I was maybe 12 or 13ish me and my sister and our best friend would live-rp pokemon stuff. I started drawing a bunch of silly comics about our ongoing plot, us, and the characters involved. Now I actually didn't care much about Ice or Pokemon Ranger back then, that was my sister's thing.

For some reason Ice really annoyed her, so as a joke, I added him to the comic. It was just to get her reaction and to use as a recurring gag (since our self-inserts were characters, hers reacted the same way, angry every time he showed up). Then, because we were live-rping this out and my sister disliked him and naturally refused to do it and our friend hadn't played Ranger and didn't know anything about him, that meant that I had to play Ice's part in our weekly games. I actually didn't especially want to do it though lol I remember that.

He went from being included as a joke to playing a bigger and bigger plot role as I got more and more invested in him. I cannot explain WHY this happened. I honestly don't remember or know. My brain just latched onto him. He basically took the place of a self insert, it went way beyond our larp stuff, I began putting him into EVERYTHING in my head. Every day I was making up scenarios with this guy. I cared more about rping him in our games than any of my other charas. I was drawing a squillion terrible pictures of him. He had become the Main Character of my Brain.

This went on for years and years until it carried over when I got proper internet access and got into fandom spaces that had rp, and then eventually when I started with tumblr rp and discovered the Pokemon rpc was a thing, of course I was going to put him here too.

There have been patches where he fell back into the recesses of my brain for a time, but he's never actually gone, and I don't think he will. I picked Ice up out of a thoughtless consequence of a prank years and years ago and he stuck to my hands. I can't put him back down.

21. Which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

I'm partial to this English cover/interpretation of Reason Living.

It's about striving to figure out and grasp your purpose, as you live now, despite what may have happened in the past (a core theme in BSD where it comes from, and one that I like).

Why can’t I find the shining light? The reason for me to live my life Only yesterday, I went astray and My mind began to fade away

Reaching out as I look above Up to the clouds I will never touch With my tainted hands

You can listen to it and pretty much all of it can be imagined from Ice's perspective. He's insecure, he's made poor choices, he lacks a solid sense of purpose and doubts and has little proper faith in himself because of things he's done that had a poor outcome (with lesser or greater problems attached). Still, he wants to find that purpose.

I learned to feel my pain And I realised how to start again And depart on my journey to be saved Go on, take my hand!

I reference the song on the blog theme and in Ice's main verse tag! I also had it set as the blog title until just a few days ago.

[aeondeug]

Her dialogue is so bland in the Japanese that I literally do not remember what she was making beyond a cake. I believe the beef jerky shakes were tea? Our War Game is a very emotionally potent film but it's not nearly as funny as the version of it seen in the Digimon Movie.

The scripts of the three specials in general were punched up with humor. Some of it even to cover for things like the very real limitations in time the feature had. Like no we don't have time for Willis' entire story or Davis' reaction to said story but you know what we can cut instantly from Davis crying to him standing up and smiling and going "Ok!" when he is told "Why are you crying? I'm the one with the problem."

It ends up making it this case of...I do genuinely think that all three of the specials used to make this film should be watched. They are good pieces of Digimon media and are heartfelt things. And Omegamon showing up is so fucking cool. But the Digimon Movie is such a different and goofy beast that it also deserves a watch. Because it has shit like the recurring gag with Tai's mom's cooking and Izzy's dramatic "YOU. GOT. MAIL!!!"

[yano2519]

One of the first blogs I found on Tumbl was @denise-alwaysuselove. I like the nature of her posts and her calm and matter-of-fact way of looking at things from the beginning. It made me all the more thoughtful, when I read her last post and the many reactions in which longtime fans distance themselves from SC.

I've only been here a year and didn't know the books, DG or any of the actors before watching Outlander. I've never been to a fandome and probably won't be, when this is over because I have no interest in the personal lives of other actors.

Someone wrote to me yesterday, that it's totally sickening to be a groupie of a person you don't even know personally. I wouldn't call myself a groupie, as I have no interest in the individual CB or SH. What brought me here, probably like most here, was the fact, that I saw a chemistry between two actors that was so convincing, that I just couldn't imagine an actor being able to convey such emotions so convincingly without being privately involved (and I don't mean the sex scenes now). This image has been confirmed after seeing SC's joint performances in the early days.

In fact, nothing is left of this natural appearance of the early years, and only very rarely does one see this special connection between the two of them shining through, at public appearances.

But I don't think their appearance today has anything to do with the fact, that they've changed as a result of success, but rather with the path they took at the beginning of OL.

I've always been of the opinion that Starz let them loose on the "pack" completely unprepared in the early days and SC had no idea, what they were in for and what a snowballing system it would develop into. And quite honestly, Starz was only too happy to use the affectionate appearances of the two, the S&M banter and all the stupid questions from journalists to fuel interest in the series.

The problem is that from the beginning an image was created that chained SC to each other and to OL so much, that even all the attempts like IFH, various Blondies, EFG, WFH, etc. could not change this image. For example, if Starz had stopped the recurring questions from journalists about the sex scenes (which were still being asked in season 5) after a certain initial period, we wouldn't be where we are today.

With a CB and her PR desperately trying to change the image created in 2013 and distance herself from her co-star and OL.

From the point of view of a business enterprise, I know how difficult it is to change an image or reinvent oneself. It takes years and even then it doesn't always succeed.

And CB has several problems here: she works in an entertainment sector in which women over 40 generally have a hard time. All her roles outside of OL were small roles, tending to always be the mother role, and that probably won't change. Furthermore, the end of OL is foreseeable, a fixed guaranteed employment is no longer given and so far the big roles are waiting.

Thus, Belfast and a possible award is the only way for her to be remembered by producers, film studios, etc. for further roles outside OL.

In the promo appearances and interviews she has given with the rest of the Belfast cast or with JD, the journalists' questions have always been factual and largely related to the film and not the stars' personal lives. And here she didn't do a bad job.

It's a different story when her PR was on the line. This is not a new issue though, her PR has never really done a good job in my opinion.

It remains to be seen whether her approach, to push a part of your fans in front of the head, or to instigate a fan war on SM and to protect your baby by not naming it (which I can fully understand), but otherwise mentioning it in every interview, will be successful in the long run. But for me, one thing is relatively certain: if she doesn't get rid of her OL image, it will be hard for her to get role offers in the future. After all, how many series stars have really managed to land roles in big movies after a series ends?

And I'm sure that she and her PR are also aware of that and that's why they act the way they currently do.

[coraniaid]

So, at the risk of having an unpopular hot take about an episode of television that aired more than 23 years ago ... I'm not sure I like Doppelgangland.

(Actually, I'm pretty sure that I don't.)

There are plenty of things I like about it, sure. I get why it's a popular episode. Vamp!Willow is a fun character, Alyson Hannigan seems to have a lot of fun playing her, and everyone's reactions to meeting her for the first time are well done. The scene where the gang think 'their' Willow has died is very good, veering from genuine pathos to comedy really nicely, and there are some other very funny moments later on too.

It's nice to see Anya brought back as a recurring character (even if this version of the character is still a little hard to reconcile with the Anya of later seasons). I do like the fact the episode establishes the idea that a vampire's personality is a definite reflection of the person they were when they were alive (or confirms this idea, really -- this is something that's been implicit for a while before this). And obviously there's some (in hindsight) important foreshadowing going on for Willow here as well.

So yes, that's all good. But on balance the episode as a whole doesn't quite work for me.

This is largely just a gut reaction, I think, but there are a couple of specific things I can point to. One of these I'd freely admit is ridiculous, the other is -- I think -- a little more serious.

The silly one first: I don't think this episode is particularly consistent with The Wish in terms of the mechanics of how the 'Wishverse' itself works.

As depicted in that episode, Cordelia unwittingly changes reality when she wishes that Buffy had never come to Sunnydale. There's no suggestion that she's been transported to another reality which already existed: indeed, Anyanka explicitly tells Giles that 'this is the real world now [...] this is the world we made'. Then Giles destroys Anyanka's amulet, undoing Cordelia's wish and returning everything to how it was before (except that Anya is now human and powerless).

OK. That's fairly consistent, I think. But now, in this episode, the 'Wishverse' is just some alternate reality that it's possible for characters to move between via magic. So, uh ... that makes the end of The Wish kind of hollow, right?

I mean, what did that other Giles actually accomplish, if the 'Wishverse' actually still exists as some alterate dimension? He certainly didn't send our Cordelia 'back' from it. She died in that world, and after Anya's amulet is destroyed Cordelia doesn't remember the events of the episode at all. And he didn't cause that timeline to never happen, either, the way he was trying. If it did, how is it possible for Willow to magically access it? So it seems as though, on the surface, all that that Giles did was change which reality was the 'real' one for the purpose of the television-watching audience. Which is pretty unsatisfying as far as metaphysical nonsense goes.

Now, as I said, I realize this is pretty silly. because Buffy is not (and isn't trying to be) hard SF, or even something like Fringe or The X-Files. The monsters and the supernatural threats in this show are there to be metaphors and to move the story forward, and internal consistency is not particularly important, or even desirable (see also: pretty much everything the show has to say about souls, I guess). But it bugs me, anyway.

The more serious problem I have is with the ending, in which Buffy is persuaded to let a vampire go free to (as far as she knows) kill and torture any number of innocent people, simply because said vampire looks like a friend of hers. This ... doesn't feel remotely in character, to put in mildly. (Explicitly, she's giving her "a chance" ... to do what, exactly? She's not even pretending to be remorseful!)

Yes, sure, the episode actually shows us that vamp!Willow doesn't survive for more than a second or two back her own reality. So there aren't any 'real' consequences to this decision. But ... so what? None of the characters making the decision to return her to where she was from knew that at the time, or suspected it was going to happen, or ever find out later. It's simply not a factor in their decision making process. And in any case, it's pretty intellectually lazy for the show to suddenly adopt consequentalist ethics just when it's convenient, after rejecting this worldview so strongly in earlier episodes (and continuing to reject it in future episodes).

And ... okay, yes, this episode is part of a trend of the show increasingly treating vampires as people in their own right rather than just monsters to be slain. I get that, even though it's honestly not a trend I'm hugely thrilled by.

But Buffy is still the Slayer. She's still the person who stayed up waiting by Ford's grave after he died to stake him. She didn't wait up to say hi and tell him "oh, you can go and murder people because you used to be a friend of mine; please do it out of town though :)". And in later seasons, when Buffy doesn't stake Spike or Harmony, you can at least try to justify that on the grounds that Spike has a magical human-detecting chip in his head, or that Harmony is too incompetent to be dangerous. (I mean, you can try, anyway.)

(I guess, relatedly, it also bothers me that Anya gets off consequence-free from trying to assist said vampire in killing a whole bunch of people, simply because ... well, I don't think we even get offered a reason for that.)

The whole thing just makes Buffy's character seem ... inconsistent, I guess (or perhaps something worse: flawed in a way I don't find interesting). I mean, Buffy blames herself for all sorts of things that clearly aren't her fault. That's a pretty key part of her character, across the whole show. (In this episode alone she blames herself for Willow's apparent death because she called her 'reliable'!) Yet she doesn't seem to have any real problem letting a soulless vampire go back to a dimension where she has admitted to killing and torturing people? Really?

Are the deaths of all the people that this vampire might kill somehow not the fault of the people who let her go? Are we meant to think that Buffy would have let the 'real' Willow go if she really had been killed and turned into a vampire? Or that she'd let any other vampire she's ever staked go, if she could do so by teleporting them to another dimension (one where they'd still be killing people)?

Circling back to my earlier point, it really does seem like the audience is meant to be reassured that this is all okay because vamp!Willow doesn't actually get to hurt anybody else later. But again, none of the characters in the show ever know about this, and it seems so glaringly at odds with the morality the show advocates elsewhere.

Actually, thinking about it now, I think that this episode bothers me for reasons not entirely unrelated to my dislike of Season 6's Normal Again. In both, there's a scene at the very end of the episode, that only the audience is ever privy to, which is supposed to influence what we think of the rest of the episode . In the case of Normal Again, that scene exists to suggest that Buffy might 'really' be delusional. In the case of this episode that scene exists to try to demonstrate that Buffy didn't 'really' let a vampire free to harm innocent people. And in both cases, I think this doesn't work at all.

(Incidentally, I'm not saying that the episode would be better if Buffy just staked vamp!Willow and everyone was fine with that. I do at least vaguely understand how narrative parallels work. I understand that there is a reason why the episode immediately after Consequences introduces an evil shadow version of one of the main characters; one who is "kinda gay" and obviously attracted to the character she's a shadow of, no less. I understand why the show then makes the point that the character in question might sympathize with and be conflicted about killing her shadow self, even to the point that she can't bring herself to do it yet. I do get that.

I just think there were better ways to execute that idea than the episode actually manages.)

[pocketfulofrecs]

It's Friday and we're here with another Author Spotlight!

It’s impossible for you to be in this corner of fandom and never have heard of Vir_Abelasan. She has written some of the most interesting Wangxian fics we have read, a shade darker than usual, but so engrossing. When we want to read something a little savory, we go back to this author.

She has written 49k words in 5 fics, and we can’t wait to see what else she will come up with.

Her fics:

It’s we that you are for - [explicit | 2.5k | LWJ/WWX/LXC pwp]

to be wielded by your hands (our post) - [mature | 3k | competence kink]

Visitations - [mature | 18k | wip | modern au - corporate espionage]

Like stones on an unseen board - [not rated | 11k | dark lan wangji]

Symmetry (our post) - [mature | 13k | dark sizhui]

Dee’s favourite: I love Symmetry but my favorite happens to be Like stones on an unseen board. I have a special fondness for dark LWJ who is just as devoted to WWX as canon LWJ is. This fic has the potential age difference and teacher-student relationship but they don’t really get together in it. I like that, I like how LWJ recognizes how Jiangs are dimming WWX’s light and does things to get WWX away from them, even if it involves manipulation and subtly widening the divide between the Jiangs and WWX. Dark in a way that eventually benefits WWX.

Ju’s favourite: Ohhh I loved Symmetry. I loved to see JC getting his just deserves by Sizhui. The fic is very dark, and in many moments I was completely blown away and so angry. I love when reading makes me feel things, and I felt a lot of things reading this one. But as dark as it gets in some points, it makes sense in the story. And then we get a happy ending that is so good and perfect. Made me cry.

The Interview:

Q. When did you start writing fics? Did you have fandoms before this one?

A. Somewhere around the early 2000s with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom, and BtVS was very prolific with crossover, which just led to more fandoms, mostly Western TV series. I wrote a lot of the Dragon Age trilogy afterwards, and a lot of Pacific Rim before finding MDZS.

Q. What made you start writing for MDZS?

A. Honestly at first I was here for the porn, because the Wangxian porn is bountiful and tender and exquisite. But then I read the novel and was enamored with how much more nuanced everything was, especially the many recurring themes and motifs related to social classes and personal vs familial/communal responsibilities, which as an Asian person you don't often get to dig into in the oftentimes Western-leaning fandom spheres.

Q. What’s your favourite fic you’ve written?

A. In the MDZS fandom it's Symmetry, because it's literally the fic I wanted to read upon completing MDZS but was not able to find. One of the saddest thing in canon for me is the lack of consequences for any of the gentry cultivators' actions in the past, and while it's realistic to the world building, I just really want an alternative where someone could go around an inherently broken system and make it so perpetrators actually pay for their crimes and less people in general becomes collateral.

Q. What’s your favourite type of fics to read?

A. Smut, because I'm just really bad at writing it. And oh, how the MDZS fandom delivers - Pure smut, sad smut, painstakingly tender smut, existential smut, it has everything! But Wangxian smut in particular is almost always a treat because there's just always that undercurrent of trust and having a person who's just for you in every sense of the word despite everything else happening. It's such a good, affirming feeling.

Q. What’s your favourite comment? Or type of comment?

A. Any comment is always a delight! From just incoherent screaming to details of which lines spoke to them the most, every comment is a reaction and stories are out there to create conversation in the first place.

Q. What motivates you to write?

A. Writing has always felt like problem solving to me, and fanfics in general has always been really interesting to write because there's the inherent conflict and problems written into canon, but also the matter of the fandom's perception of the source material to play with and solve.

Q. Who’s your favorite author?

A. There's so many fanfic authors throughout the years who are just amazing and hit a lot of very profound places a lot of published works didn't go to, so it's really hard to choose just a few. But thank you, every single fan author out there, you've really made a lot of people's days (and lives) better with your writing.

Q. What is your favorite trope to read and/or write?

A. I'm particularly fond of the trope of characters who are normally amicable or accommodating just going apeshit, both literally or figuratively. Because both in fandom and in real life, kindness and compromise in someone are often mistaken as a free pass for others around them to be terrible.

Q. Do you have any advice for new authors?

A. Write what you feel strongly about, I guess? And it's sometimes helpful to have an objective to the whole thing, for the times when it seems the story is going nowhere or you get stuck in a particular aspect of it. Sort of like a thesis statement, so whenever you fumble you have something to refocus on.

Q. What do you think is the most important element in writing? Plot, characterization, relationship?

A. Characterization carries you a long way since they're the vehicle to bringing the readers to where you intend them to be, but I also feel like structure helps a lot with stories too. Just the way you scaffold a narrative, like laying down the kind of path you want your readers to follow and experience along the way to the end.

~

Check out their stories on ao3 and remember…

Comments and kudos feed the author’s soul.

[kaicko]

@recurring-polynya OMG THANK YOU I think about this all the time !!! I remember rewatching that scene with my sister and she went : "that's... literally the worst possible lie he could have come up with..." and she was RIGHT !! But why though?

Why would Byakuya, who had a whole year to prepare a suitable lie, thought this was  the best thing to tell her when it was so painfully obvious that, even if you ignore the fact that it's super creepy, it's not a credible excuse.

Like, he's the Head of the greatest noble clan and the only justification he gives her - a random peasant from the worst district who tries to go through the academy - to justify her adoption as his own sister is "you look like my dead wife".... No disrespect Bro, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't defy the law you usually work so hard to protect just for that, it's pretty obvious there's something you're not telling.

So I thought about it a lot and that's what I came up with:

First, for those who don't know, I'd like to point out that the reason why Byakuya had to make up a lie was because he wanted to respect one of Hisana's wiches: she didn't want Rukia to know that she was her sister, for the 3 following reasons I've gathered for you and only you :

- Knowing your only family abandoned you sucks and she didn't want Rukia to feel worthless;

- She didn't think that she was worthy to be called her older sister anymore;

- She wanted Byakuya to consider Rukia as his own little sister and not just his sister-in-law (and by that I mean she wanted them to really be a family MY HEART).

He couldn't just tell Rukia the truth , but he could have simply chosen something more standard, right ?

Weeell...the problem is that there isn't a lot of things that legally justify an adoption in a noble clan, from what I've concluded, there's actually only 4 of them (thanks Wikipedia) :

-to extend the family name;

-to extend the family's estate;

-to extend the family's ancestry;

-to gain a nonconsanguineal offspring in case the family doesn't have an heir.

And none of these make sense in Rukia's case. So no, he couldn't.

Ok, so Byakuya had to find a less common explanation, but he could have come up with something less weird and random, no? Also, wouldn't it be wiser not to mention Hisana at all in this explanation?

Well that's true but here's my theory: he used this as a solution for 2 different problems: to justify her adoption, and to justify the fact that his wife looked just like her:

Hear me out : Byakuya could hide the fact that Hisana was her sister from Rukia, but he could certainly not hide Hisana's whole existence from her:

What if he had told Rukia something else ? What would her reaction have been when she eventually stumbled accross a photo of Hisana ? Would he tell her it's a coincidence that has nothing to do with her adoption?

That would be pretty hard to believe and Rukia would most likely think that Byakuya is some sort of twisted creep who lied about the reason behind her adoption AND/OR that she's related to Hisana (because she knows full well that she lives in a world where families get separated after they die and as a consequence, she may have family members she isn't aware of) .

And that's the last thing Byakuya wanted. So he went for a 2 in 1 solution.

I mean, Byakuya probably realised telling her that he took her into the family because she looked like his dead wife sounded downright shady but at least, by saying that openly, he avoided letting her figure it out by herself, think too much about it and confront someone about it later, instead, she probably thought it was weird but ended up brushing it off as a questionable grief coping strategy that no one questioned anyway.

So my conclusion about all of this is that either Byakuya didn't think this through or he really thought this through.

(I do realise this is a very bad conclusion but I'm sleepy it's 4am)

Side note:  I think Ukitake knew. Like, you can't convince me that the man wasn't in the first row at Byakuya and Hisana's wedding, so he probably figured it out or went to confront Byakuya about it when he saw Hisana's spitting image join his division and introduce herself as a Kuchiki, a year after she passed away. That would also add a new reason as to why he was so pissed at Byakuya for not doing anything to help Rukia.

Do you think B every stopped to think about how much creepier this is than just telling people that he was taking in his wife’s sister? Do you think Byakuya has read Wuthering Heights, and was just like, “Ah, yes, a normal book about normal people”? I’m a little confused about the phrasing “everyone in the family” also– is it general knowledge to everyone *except* Rukia that she’s secretly Hisana’s sister (awkward) or just, like, the close household knows the truth, and the public at large thinks Byakuya is pulling a V. C. Andrews (super awkward)?

I have to assume that Rukia was told this after she was already adopted, otherwise, I feel like the conversation with Renji would have gone more like:

Rukia: I’m to be adopted into the Kuchiki family.

Renji: THAT’S GREAT!! THE KUCHIKI ARE AN IMPORTANT AND NOBLE FAMILY!! YOU’LL NEVER GO HUNG–

Rukia: That incredibly powerful guy with dead eyes that just walked past you? Apparently, I, a teen girl with no family or money, look just like his dead wife.

Renji: …

Renji: Have you thought about joining the Secret Remote Squad and changing your name?