#i just think it's really easy to make a character with her archetype Always Hopeful All The Time. and i think it's fun that she's NOT.

[drinkingdeadpeopletea]

relistening to the second half of midst 2.16 for like the eighth time. feeling really unhinged about the fact that one of the first things saskia says to hieronymous is "i didn't expect to see you again ever." they're clearly friends and clearly close but she still at least on some level expected their different roles in their shared mission was going to keep them apart forever, or that it was going to get one or both of them killed before they got a chance to see each other again! and she had good reason to think that! she watched sherman be nearly killed in front of her during a raid! she herself was nearly arrested, and now knows her position's been exposed and the trust could come back for her any day! she only survived the tearror by luck! not to mention what we now know about the specter of nick and maggie fleit's murder hanging over both their heads!

and yet by the end of the conversation what she says is "maybe someday we won't have to pretend we don't know each other." it's "maybe" and it's "someday" and it's a little wry but still, she didn't expect to see him again ever and here they both are! it's the choosing to still have hope it's the choosing to believe in the possibility of the best outcome or to at least say out loud you do even if you can't quite get there internally. but it's also about having the friend to whom you can admit you honestly didn't think you'd make it this far because you know he's risking just as much as you are and is just as committed to it. UGH saskia del norma the woman you are....

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - I'm having a GREAT time

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Aug 2024 Week 5

Ongoing Series - Thai

Monster Next Door (Thai Thurs Gaga ) eps 7-8 of 12 - I do love these 2 a lot. It’s such a slow burn sweet comforting quiet little romance. It’s not complicated, it’s not stretching my thoughts or imagination, but it is easy and absorbing. I'm entertained by it without being taxed. And sometimes that’s nice. It's what Thailand does best.

Addicted Heroin (Thai Tues WeTV) ep 3 of 10 - Oh I’m still enjoying it. It’s only episode three and they’re basically boyfriend’s palling around shopping together and hanging out on a bicycle. What’s not to love? Also he got to meet the in-laws. Well… eventual in-laws. Also the girlfriend character. I totally forgot about her. Good times.

Sunset X Vibes (Sat iQIYI) ep 12fin - Baby faints. Bad guys caught and beat up a bit. Lots of romantic moments, come checking in with ALL the sides, and it ends.

Summary?

Classic CEO meets ingenue archetypes make for a somewhat banal and simplistic romance. This could’ve come from an 80s Harlequin, except that they’re gay. It's... old fashioned. There was nothing meta about this, there was no subversion or commentary on anything BL, queer, or beyond. It’s just a straight up (okay not straight) romance. I was not wild about these characters for this particular pair, but that’s not the pair's fault, they did a decent job with their parts and I look forward to their next show - here’s hoping it’s a bit more meaty. I preferred the side couple because they were more complex and true to BL archetypes, even if they were also a bit miss-handled. A serviceable show if somewhat lacking in its convictions, but with some beautiful sex scenes, people, and fashion. I was a particular fan of Lin‘s gender bending femme style. It’s groundbreaking to see that aesthetic on one of the leads. There were multiple times they could’ve leaned into well established plot points, paranormal elements, and character tension, and instead just glossed over them.

This should probably get a 7/10, but I’m giving it an 8 because of that one oppa line at the beginning, Tenon's tatas, and the call back to Big Dragon with that iconic musical refrain in the final episode. It was a pretty fun ride, emphasis on pretty and ride. 

Battle of the Writers (Sun YT) ep 5 of 12 - Lots of kissing this episode. And lots of different kinds of kissing from the same two actors in various different forms and characters. I really liked it. It’s nice to see that this pair can mix it up a little bit, even if it's just with their lips.

I Saw You in My Dream (Weds Gaga) ep 7 of 12 - OK the leg care massage was so boyfriend I can’t even. Who are they trying to fool? I love the way Ing always knows exactly what is going on. Thank goodness for that confession! I’m very much looking forward to the next episode.

(The socratic method, is it?)

The Trainee (Sun YouTube) ep 9 of 12 - Still couldn’t care less about the hets. Yawn. Ah Jane’s ex shows up. (Is that Green? Hi baby!) Meanwhile, Jane gets worried and jealous. I loved Pah in this ep, and almost wish this were a show just about him. Like a grown-up Green Fictions. (Where tf did Poon COME from allasudden? He’s a killer actor. GMMTV better use him wisely.) Also, in that scene with Pat and P’Jo, they’re eating some of my favorite food. I got a little bit of linguistic negotiation with Khun Par Phi. Cuteness. And we end with some actual communication. Yay!!! It’s kind of hilarious to see OffGun in a tentative hug. I don’t think they’ve been that way for a years.

In fact, this whole episode was pretty much about communicating properly between ages and ranks within an office and social structure. I loved that. I’m liking this one more this week. It’s still not my favorite currently airing, but I think that mostly has to do with how much other good stuff is on right now.

SPEAKING OF...

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

The On1y One (Taiwan Thurs Gaga) eps 3-4 of 12 - Uh huh, a game of one-up-man-ship is it? I think not. That boy wants to jump his cute stepbrother’s bones so bad that big brain of his is starting to melt. I'm here for it. Also, said sunshine cutie is clearly a big old cock tease. Everybody is happy about this. They sure know how to end these episodes on cliffhangers too. I don’t know how I’m gonna wait until next week.

I’m legit mad about how fucking good this is. After Unknown too?! Taiwan is spoiling us this year and THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT ALL ALONG.

Sugar Dog Life (Japan Sun grey) ep 3-4 of 10 - Oh my goodness do I love this show. It makes me laugh, I adore the premise, I'm wild over the characters, and the acting is killer. I’m just really happy about this show, OK? I tend to sing and clap: Oh they so cute.

Baby got his first crush and he has no idea what to do about it. I ADORE how angry he is about it. Like... How dare I even consider falling in love with somebody? How annoying of me. It’s great. I even liked the girl in the confession and how cool and sweet they both were to each other over his rejection. Bang up job. This is fantastic BL of the newer modern style. (As contrasted to On1y)

These top two shows are neck and neck for best of the week, for entirely different reasons. But I love all my sons.

Speaking of...

Cosmetic Playlover (Japan Tues Gaga) eps 7-8 fin - Oh it’s so adorable with the drama and the little subordinate coming to their rescue, and them meeting each other’s family. "I want to become someone who is essential in your life" = peak romance.

Summation?

I loved this little show. It was a classic office BL about the older workaholic who loves his job and the younger upstart who unexpectedly loves his boss. It’s a hyung romance where everybody is extremely earnest and sweet and pretty about everything. Except our seme, who is slightly unhinged and a little obsessed in all the ways one likes best from Japan. Plus the kisses were good! I can’t ask for anything more, utterly charming unexpected gem of a show. What a great time! 9/10

I Hear the Sunspot AKA Hidamari ga Kikoeru (Japan Weds Gaga) ep 11 of 12 - The lack of communication between these 2 may actually drive me insane. But I still love them. Such a sad ep. 

Seoul Blues (Korea Fri? YouTube) ep 3 of 8 - Argh but also oooooo. I bet the uncut version was fantastic this week.

First Note Of Love (Taiwan Mon Gaga) eps 5-6 of 12 - I'm starting to like this better. I’m still not convinced, but I did enjoy watching it this week. I’m getting some chemistry off the leads. Admittedly. that’s because they both behave like 16-year-olds. Surprise MosBank cameo - looking handsome as ever, boys. (Honestly, Taiwan really wants that King of the Cameos crown.) And FINALLY our side couple. I’m looking forward to next week primarily because of them. And I don’t even have them yet!

Takara's Treasure AKA Takara No Vidro (Japan Mon Gaga) ep 9 of 10 - OK the lap cuddle was v cute. As was the handholding. But hiking with a metal griddle? Insanity. Might be the craziest thing in a BL this year. And The Sign aired this year. Meanwhile, not a dead fish kiss! Yay! 

It's airing but...

4 Minutes (Sat Gaga) eps 1-6 of 8 - Gaga picked this one up so we can watch it there. I'm waiting until the end, it seems angsty and confusing and full of awful people being awful. But also... high heat and I'm shallow. So we shall see which devil wins (and how it ends).

In case you missed it

Meet You at the Blossom (China) - I'm eating crow, binging the fucker, and live blogging. It's just taking me some time. This isn't really a bingable show, not for me anyway. It's A LOT to take all at once.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

Coming SEPTEMBER 2024:

9/? The Time of Fever (Korea iQIYI) 6 eps - HoTae & DongHee are back! Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names I an WILD for this.

9/1 Live in Love (Thai Sun Gaga) 5 eps - Short series featuring and online romance turning IRL.

9/3 Happy of the End (Japan Tues Gaga) - Based on a manga, longer than usual run time. A boy is disowned for being gay, dumped by his boyfriend, and ends up in a dysfunctional co-dependant relationship with his would-be kidnapper. We were due for another messy JBL. Here it is!

9/6 Kidnap (Thai Friday GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - Ohm Pawat is back for Frigays it's gonna be a blast.

9/7 The Hidden Moon (Thai Sat ????) 10 eps - This is a supernatural romance (my ghost boyfriend trope) ‘เดือนพราง’ by Violet Rain (I Feel You Linger)... A Bangkok writer is hired to write an article about an old mansion in Chiang Mai which is being converted into a café. He gets into an accident and nearly dies on his way there. After that, he sees the ghosts of people who died at the mansion, one boy catches his attention. Was substantially recast.

9/9 Jack & Joker (Thai Mon IQIYI) 12 eps? - Be gay YinWar, do crimes. Dehup gives us Yin, War, Mark and a few other familiar faces in a Leverage sitch, only queerer.

9/14 Love Sick 2024 (Thai Sat ????) ?? eps - Remake of the original. I'm scared too.

9/15 Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - Assistant to a player boss who is in love with that boss decides to quit to save himself. The boss then makes a move. (A gay What's up with Secretary Kim?)

9/17 Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 10 eps - Lawyer and a con artist meet at a bar, pair up, fall in love.

9/28 Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YouTube) ?? eps - oh I don't know just Ba Vinh doing his thing with pretty boys again.

Adventures in miss-captions

(been a while since we had one of these)

SNICKER "nail you" and a "nail you down" = completely different things. But this being Japan they might have met either or both. (Cosmetic)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Why yes, you do have the prettiest lips in the biz. No need to tease us like that. (Battle)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

Sigh, Tumblr in its infinite wisdom doesn't like too many tags.

[thesiltverses]

character writing tips??

Everything's subjective, but for me:

For character creation (as for plotting, as for worldbuilding), each of us ultimately has to find our own best practice and preferred method through trial and failure. There's a vast spectrum of tips ranging from 'create a bullet-pointed list of their favourite foods, make them a playlist of their favourite songs, make sure you understand every facet of who they are and where they've been before you sit down to write them' and 'discover the character as you write them!' and there's no objective answer. I like to give my characters a starting point, a starting goal, and starting principles, then toss them in the deep end and see how they react and change over time, but that's not for everyone. Try every approach and adjust to taste - does the character start to bore you after ten pages because you've already written them out as a straitjacketed profile and there's nothing left to find out? Or could you do with having a clearly defined arc, or more small personal habits or peccadillos?

2. For continuous character development (particularly if you're writing something serialised and longform like a podcast, particularly if you're writing for an internet audience), try and identify - and then be prepared to constantly out-think - the temptations that lead to calcification or Flanderisation of the character, because the golden fruit often ends up rotting the tree that birthed it.

Beware of your past successes, in other words, because they sway you and they corrupt the character. It's incredibly easy to find yourself straying towards 'oh, it was impactful when X came bursting in to save the day and they haven't really had a moment like that since, how can we recapture that?' or 'people really liked it when Y & Z had a big angsty argument about their feelings, maybe we should be giving them even more angsty arguments about their feelings' or 'the internet loves mean badass women, maybe A should be just incredibly mean and badass in all her interactions so we can get one million likes and be famous.' (I've caught myself doing all of these, and definitely haven't always succeeded in stopping myself.)

But fishing for a specific audience reaction or trying to stage-manage a narrative outcome is how you end up with zombie protagonists - stale archetypes acting out the same formulaic moments over and over in the hope of reliving the old applause, instead of characters that are still authentically capable of change or capable of surprising you.

[literaila]

Heyy so I've readed your fanfic A Typical Family and I can't stop re reading it because, well, let's just say that the manga is not at it's finest (Prettysureyouknowwhatimean.) and your fanfic is doing a great job helping me with my mental stability caused by Gege Akutami 😀 so thank you!

I love everything, I sure as hell needed that fluff. But one of the things I like the most is actually y/n's past, I like that you didn't went into details about what happened to her and it was just mentioned like two or three times. I like that a lot because it makes the character more intriguing and you give the reader the posibility of being as creative as possible when it comes to her past, I atleast came up with a few ideas of how she used to live.

But after Chapter 29 I couldn't help myself but wonder what really happened to y/n with her family during her youth. In details. Because I felt that there was A LOT going on-

So yeah, that's why I searched for you in tumblr, fell in love with you after scrolling down your account for a bit (which means hours) and decided to ask you if you could specify more about her past? What happened to her? How was her daily life living in a place where she was missunderstood by her own parents? How did her parents treated her? Did she always felt lonely? Is that why she's so insecure when she became a mother? I REALLY am intrigued.

Thanks again for everything and let's hope to find that annoying cat's hideout 😄🔪

(idoindeedunderstandexactlywhatyoumean)

ah. my dear reader.

she started as just an archetype of sorts, i suppose. like a person in my head but not enough of a person to interfere with the story in any particular way

the focus was abandonment issues so that satoru/suguru leaving could actually have some purpose.

but as i’m sure everyone is well aware—i don’t do simplicity, and i wholeheartedly believe that each and every character (in any media) should be a little… messed up? hurt? battling their own demons??

i think about things in the ways that it’ll improve or harm a story. and satoru leaving reader after being left by everyone else—that’s what i latched on to originally

(actually originally originally it was just a one-shot of megumi calling reader mom and being upset about it… ah how things change)

so i continued with that idea and im not sure when exactly i decided that her parents were awful, but they were. it made it easier for her to avoid talking to satoru about any issues, and easier to understand why she would care so much about these kids and them growing up with (no offense to gojo) a child for a father.

and at the beginning you can tell (or maybe only i can idk) that she is less self conscious about herself, and more worried about the kids. how are they going to react to this? how can a recently graduated person become a mother in under an hour? so it’s not that she’s insecure because she didn’t have a good childhood—that’s just how she is. too thoughtful, a bit anxious.

(mostly just to tie in satoru and readers relationship because i figured they’d need some balancing somewhere)

but then as the characters become more of their own, i needed more from her character. why does she care about these kids so much beyond just having morals? why do they trust her almost immediately?

and this began in the part where she’s consoling tsumiki—because i wanted to give baby a moment sorry not sorry. suddenly she missed her estranged parents and understood how sad miki felt. how much losing your mother matters.

but i’ve always made it fairly clear that tsumiki is just trusting. so easy one there.

but with megumi—reader is more worried that satoru is going to raise him under his wing. and obviously, that’s a horrible decision. satoru is barely a normal teenager to reader so… yeah she doesn’t trust him with megumi. who is obviously impressionable and easy to persuade.

plus the boy is rough for a six year old—needs a gentler hand than some people (ahem, satoru) can give him.

but unlike tsumiki, megumi was going to take time. so instead of a moment they have lots of little things—like the fact that she can read his emotions even when he’s trying to close them off, or that she watches him interact with both tsumiki and satoru very differently.

their trust is built on silence—but once megumi can depend on someone there’s really no going back.

and none of this has anything to do with reader necessarily—but her foundation is made from the two children, and satoru.

and then i had to push some more on the two of them. because—they are in love (they don’t say it ever, but it’s obvious), but they need a reason to hide it.

for satoru it’s because he has been raised to be the most important thing, and to not really trust anyone. and when suguru leaves he realizes that no matter what no one will understand him—he’ll always be a level ahead, a step too high.

so for reader it has to be different. some echoes of pain. and as soon as i realized how scared she was for megumi—i had to give her a reason to be scared. i imagine that she’s always been terrified of jujutsu, not because it’s difficult or because there was some nasty curses, but because it essentially ruined her life.

i imagine her parents to be average, run of the mill people. i think she depended on them when she was very young, and was naturally trusting (like tsumiki) as a child. she’s the type to believe that her parents are the best people in the world.

but once a little girl begins to see things that aren’t there—to scream and hide in closets, or cry while being dragged into the kitchen—things shift.

i don’t think it was bad at first, but when her cursed technique manifested, her parents understood that she was something other.

outwardly, they provided everything a child needs. food, home, clothes, education. but they refused to listen to her when something was wrong, they would leave the room when she entered—because she carried that negative presence with her.

so, i think to reader, they treated her like she was the curse.

and when yaga shows up, rattling about jujutsu high and these strange things that only the two of them would be able to understand, there was no returning back into the child her parents had loved.

she was different. too different for them to understand—or want to even try to.

i doubt they gave her a choice in going to school. if they could get her out of their house, get her curse out of there—they were going to.

(not to mention that there’s no reason for her to stay at home—not with two people who couldn’t care less about her).

so she was essentially sent away at fifteen and (like reader says) they were gone not too long after that.

(i think both the first and second years found out about this because yaga was trying to be nice and tell them not to push and accidentally revealed too much information. also he’s a gossip oops).

with the type of childhood she had—bad but not awful, nothing to run from—it makes it hard for her to connect with other people. and reader truly does believe she is the curse because that’s all she’s been taught.

but everyone at jujutsu high can understand, even if it’s the smallest amount. going there changes her life, simply put.

with at least five other people there to understand the things that she does—the burden is divided equally among all of them. she doesn’t have to hold it all alone.

so she connects with suguru, begins to realize she was just a child and not a problem. she learns how to control her cursed technique and is no longer scared that she’s doomed to forever push people away.

and she makes friends. friends make all the difference in the world, obviously.

plus, there’s satoru and he’s a burden of his own.

but at least she gets to choose it this time, no matter how difficult he makes it.

[izloveshorses]

I saw a post complaining about musical Dimitri so I want to know what is your favourite things about him in the musical?

sigh... musical dmitry... giggling kicking my feet twirling my hair thinking about him. i'm always daydreaming about him. if you saw me on the street irl i almost guarantee you'd catch me lost in some variation of musical dmitry thoughts.

there are so many things i could say here, anon. his redemption arc™ from a selfish liar to the most noble and self-sacrificing slavic sadboy i've ever seen? his angsty daddy issues backstory? his bewitching silly goose ways? how he lets One Woman completely change the trajectory of his life? how he falls into an emotional spiral about it? the way he Knows Who He Is and is very self assured in his identity, and helps anya do the same? how his identity is so intertwined with his home? his role as a Storyteller™? etc????

but for this ask today i'm going to focus on how gentle he is. i don't think gentleness is something that comes very easy to this dmitry. he lost his father at a young age, as we know. he was alone on the streets and had to fight to stay alive. he cons people for a living. by the time we meet him he's very cynical about the world and doesn't really trust anyone, other than vlad. mostly he just relies on himself and can't really count on anyone else. when he meets anya, a cryptic girl who is a bit off but in need of help, his first response is to scoff and send her away, since unstable people are too risky to deal with. he's capable of being charming, but he uses this skill to get what he wants.

a lesser character with an identical backstory would be gruff and unfeeling, but... this dmitry isn't. in spite of it all, he's so hopeful, though he buries it deep. his most treasured story is about a girl he met at a parade. he is known as the 'prince of petersburg,' has a relationship with everyone on the streets. in the hartford production he calls an older woman in the ensemble 'little mother.' he rescues vlad, a complete stranger, from a firing squad. and though he turns her down at first, he agrees to get anya to paris. he protects what's his own.

you can tell it takes him a while to learn gentleness. whether it's physical or verbal, especially around anya, he is still always on the defensive for a while. fight first, think later. she's really jumpy and skittish but he doesn't start changing his behavior until they fight the ruffians together. he flags all of his movements around her, making sure she knows his intentions first. he talks about his father. he gives her a music box because he thinks it'll make her smile. because she 'earned it.' when she's crying after a nightmare he tells her a sweet, simple story from his childhood.

the train scene is the best example of this shift-- when she cowers after the gunshot goes off, he is completely lost about what to do. 'calm her down,' vlad tells him, but how is he supposed to do that? she's sobbing into his shoulder and he's frozen, panicking, because what is he supposed to do here??? but he shushes her and holds her anyway. he does his best. and it works. in such a tense situation where they very well could be shot next he is so so gentle and patient with her. and by the time we reach iacot in paris, he knows exactly how to comfort her. he learned how to hold her gently and speak in a soft voice. how softness can ground someone in need.

to summarize: musical dmitry is... really soft? and softness/gentleness isn't really something you see in the conman archetype very often. he is so special.

[rosesfox]

✿ a short review about this woven kingdom & these infinite threads. ✿

❥ alizeh has already become one of my favorite protagonists. she is extremely smart, articulate, and very kind. she has a strong personality, but that doesn't stop her from being polite. she is also quite independent and knows how to make her choices clearly, even being empathetic the way she is. she's refreshing in a sea of cliched female character archetypes. (really, the way she can butt heads with all the characters, including her romantic partners, is amazing to me. she doesn't shy away from anyone.)

❥ kamran reminds me of adam, but he's like an adam with personality. i was able to be moved by his feelings and feel empathy, but he is one of the most realistic monarch characters i have ever seen. his vision of the things that happen to him is extremely limited and summarized in his privileged life. it takes him a LONG time to understand that he can act entitled, and even then he doesn't really understand. something that bothers me a lot about his romance with alizeh is how easily he discredits her even though he makes such passionate statements. he looks so volatile. although this is understandable given his position as a prince, his love is not convincing enough for me. he doesn't need much to say that he wants to kill her, he never has concrete proof and always gets carried away by the situation. alizeh's friends seem to have more affection for her than him, despite the intensity of his feelings and his passionate statements. (also, i think his feelings are almost one-sided since alizeh doesn't spend much time thinking about him and there isn't much romance in the first book.)

❥ cyrus is by far the most interesting character. mainly, perhaps, because we don't know what his motivations are for doing what he did, he's a box of surprises. he seems to have a lot of story to tell. and he's so incredibly charming, being funny and provocative at the same time. he's a pretty easy character to get attached to. his romance with alizeh, for me, is one of the best parts. in this book (as he only becomes relevant in the second book) alizeh reacts to him as intensely as he reacts to her. from the start, the two disarm each other with ease and it's clearly mutual and something that seems to want to explode. the way he truly suffers for her from the beginning, and for his own choices in life, is quite moving and makes me hope that he has a happy ending with alizeh. there's something of a forbidden romance here that is breathtakingly tragic, and i'm so excited to see what happens next!

❥ the mythology of these books was so interesting to me. the way tahereh developed it is cohesive and linear for me. i have always admired her writing, going back to the first shatter me books, but for me here it is just spectacular. although it is a fantasy book, it was very easy for me to understand the story and acquire a fluid reading pace. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the saga!

[choster33]

Bridgerton season 3 ep 1 reaction

First off, I'm super excited that it's Premiere day! I have been waiting months for this so I'm very happy to have new Bridgerton in my life. I am going into this season very excited because we the viewers are so invested in the Colin Penelope storyline from Season 1. We could smell that friends to lovers storyline a mile away and it's book canon and now here for our viewing pleasure! And talk about a glowup- Luke Newton and Nicola Coughlan are gorgeous!!! (Spoilers ahead!)

So, pressing play and immersing myself back in the world- it looks beautiful and the music is still sublime. I think the Francesca storyline is going to be very interesting this season and I'm glad that they are doing right by Francesca especially if they plan on centering a future season on her. She is the perfect antidote to Eloise in that she is composed and above the drama. I read somewhere else that she's emo and I think that's apt. She's very cerebral I think and I can't wait to see what makes her tick in the coming episodes and seasons. I like that she's kind of a mystery.

Colin is here and he looks HOT! Giving us gratuitous topless shots, yes, yes, yes! He's always been a favorite of mine because even in Season 1 and babyfaced, he was so charming. He is still the charmer and I love that this year is all about him! He's out here flirting with all the other girls, but he's still such a cinnamon roll that you can't help but rooting for him.

Penelope's glow up. Penelope looks gorgeous! Nicola Coughlan is so pretty and she's really representing out here for the curvy and petite girls! She is still super awkward and will have to get over that and thus get assistance from Colin, but even Colin acknowledged how good she looks now. And I saw somewhere that her glow up was like the My Big Fat Greek Wedding makeover in that it was self-directed and desired and not based on revenge or whatever, which I love. She got a glow up, but it's for her. A little desperation for not wanting to stuck at home, but for her, for her future.

I think this season is going to be juicy because I like Lord Debling. He's not in the books and there is no book precedent or archetype that he is filling and I had no idea what to expect, but even in their brief exchange at the ball I like him. He seems to appreciate and admire Penelope right away which I love for Penelope. I know it's not endgame, but I think it's good for Penelope to have someone aside from Colin attracted to her. She has been a wallflower for so long that without another love interest, Colin would have things way too easy this season and that would be boring. Plus, is it wrong for me to think Lord Debling is pretty hot?

Cressida. Ok when I saw the Eloise and Cressida friendship pictures in the promos I hated it. I have been sort of Team Penelope lately because I think that Eloise of last season was a bit too tedious and strident, but I still hated the dissolution of the Pen-Eloise friendship and turning to CRESSIDA? But then that conversation with Cressida about being less frank and not being so mean to Penelope makes me kind of get it. I hope that Pen and Eloise make up, but I can get behind making Cressida a full fleshed out character instead of just a villain. It is so much more modern and girl power to move from predictable tropes of evil girl to one that acknowledges the past and can change. I'm only on ep 1 and watching slowly week by week so this might come back to bite me with a tiger not changing his stripes but for now I am going with it.

Last but not least, KANTHONY! Sooo much Kanthony! I loved Season 2 and I am so glad the actors chose to come back even if they are not the main characters. Even if they are just side characters giving us Kanthony happiness and sexiness all season, that is great for me and I'm here for it. They don't even need a storyline or conflict in my book, I just want to see them together giving me Kanthony cuteness.

I am going to see if they put any Colin angst in the season because I think that was really interesting in the books of him wanting to be seen or accomplished aside from just being a Bridgerton and Penelope and Colin coming together with their love of writing. We shall see how the season plays out!

[steveharrington]

your will ask reminded me that ive been wondering what ur ranking for the yellowjackets girlies is! i started watching yj bc of the post you made about the challenge cameo in the show lmao, so thank you for that! 😁

omgggg i’m so glad you like it!! i think they may have gotten a few new viewers for including the bananas backpack which is So funny and amazing to me. anyways! i’m gonna rank them keeping in mind both their teenage selves and the adult selves

1. misty <3 she’s just my babygirl. both teenage and adult misty are, imo, the most interesting and compelling character in the show and i am literally never bored when she’s on screen. i genuinely think her smashing the black box was one of the best tv moments i’ve seen in years

2. lottie!! again she is just So fascinating to me and i always want to know more about her. i think teenage lottie esp is sooo nuanced and complex like. it would’ve been so easy for the writers to make fall into that archetype of like a Malicious Cult Leader who hungers for power or whatever but it’s so obvious that she’s still unsure of her role and she second guesses herself and doesn’t feel comfortable being worshipped… love her

3. nat!! first of all i think sophie thatcher is probably the most talented actress on the entire show period like she just Kills me with her performances omfg when she’s talking to jackie’s bones…. GOD and i feel so much empathy for her as a teenager and the fact that she’s literally the only one doing fucking anything and i really wish so much of her adult storyline wasn’t centered around travis

4. van!! i love characters who are unkillable. steve harrington type beat. i’m also very intrigued by her allegiance to lottie this season and i think it’s (again) a very smart subversive choice to have van be a believer like idk i didn’t expect it for her character! also adult van running a video rental store…. stuck in the 90s perpetually…. recommending landmark gay cinema to young lesbians …… so meaningful to me

5. shauna okay it’s kinda crazy that shauna is this low because i Love adult shauna she’s one of my favorite characters but i think honestly a lot of that is just. melanie lynskey. at the end of the day while i do really like shauna’s whole deal of yearning to go back to the woods, i’m not super compelled by her teenage storyline and i enjoyed that shauna/jackie stuff for a moment there when she ate her but now i’m bored with it again 😭

6. taissa ONLY because i feel like the writers are just going in circles with her plotline. i feel like we aren’t getting Anywhere with the sleepwalking and the visions like it’s been going on for two seasons now with literally no end in sight and as much as i enjoy tai’s personality and her rationality there’s only so many scenes of her sleepwalking and then waking up and getting scared that i can watch before wanting something new :/

7. jackie sorry i was never super fascinated by her and i didn’t feel much sympathy when everyone pointed out how she doesn’t help. like. SHE DIDNT so idk her death was obviously a very monumental moment in the show and her … consumption was sooo well executed but that’s not really Her yk

8. mari. mean to misty. hope they spike pit her ass

[veryspecialfungus]

Since you answered question about classpects and interns and Aquatos

Now question is what are classpects of Psychic 7?

I'm less sure about these than I am of the Interns and Aquato kids largely because we mostly know how their lives are screwed up? Like I know a huge part of Psychonauts 2 is about how it's never too late to start over, and a huge part of Homestuck is how easy it is to fall into ruts and destructive thinking. They seem complimentary but in a way I don't really like? Like Homestuck is a pretty cynical story to my eyes, whereas Psychonauts 2 is very much optimistic? An angry young man story vs a mellowed out old man story? I don't remember where I was going with this, I had some point about the Dancestors but I don't like and barely remember those characters so I'll just cop to, yes, having completely lost the handle on this sentence.

Ford: Thief of Time. Am I cheap enough to rub Ford basically stealing the lives of his friends through the same actions that created Maligula by making him the Thief of Time? Yes. Yes, I am. And c'mon this is exactly what he did.

Otto: Heir of Void. Mysteries? The unexplained? That's Otto all over. I do get the impression that he shares Ford's idea that the human mind should be explored fully no matter what the consequences end up being, and Otto in particular thinks it's his birthright considering how smart he is.

Cassie: Seer of Heart. Cassie seems very self-obsessed, though I don't mean that as the insult it might imply? I just mean I don't think she could do the archetype thing if she didn't have a clear idea of who she is...but her ideas of her friends are really unflattering and shallow in a lot of ways. I think making her a Seer might make her look ALL the way at herself, including the ideas she has of other people.

Compton: Knight of Mind. Honestly? I just think it's funny that the Booles tend to have to protect people from their own minds. It's an interesting way to turn the Knight class on its head. Also "They are very concerned with remaining rational, and they have such a firm hold on the constant conjunction of their thinking that it's easy for them to see the multitudes of the choices laid out before them, which often leaves them frozen and unable to act" seems very Compton to me.

Bob: Page of Life. Another one that seemed pretty easy: I got the distinct impression that Bob didn't feel like he had much of a life before or after Helmut and the Psychic 7...He defines himself by who he is to others. I know that's not quite what Life is supposed to be as an aspect, but I feel like it could theme well to his hangup and help him learn that people don't always need healing, but that doesn't meant they don't want him around.

Helmut: Mage of Space. Honestly, I had trouble pinpointing a flaw that having a specific Classpect could help him with, so I gave him basically every power? No, for real, Mage of Space encompasses such a huge amount of power I thought helping him figure out what to focus on was as good a theme as any?

Lucrecia: Prince of Hope. I mean...The Psychic 7 lived in what was basically a paradise away from the world for so long, and I'm sure there was a point that they believed or hoped nothing would ever change. Maybe something needed to drag them into reality...maybe the pandora's box always needed to be opened...

[mint-yooxgi]

Inseparable - Slight Yandere!Haechan X Reader

Slight Yandere!AU

Genre: Horror, Angst, Mature

Pairing: Donghyuck X Reader

Words: 4,763

Warnings: I switch between Haechan and Donghyuck too often in this scenario lol. Also, based loosely on a dream I had so some parts may not make sense, whoops. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: This is dedicated to a close friend of mine who actually appeared in this dream of mine as the OC!! Hehehe, so I wrote this with her in mind. You'll probably be able to tell which character is based off of me when you read, too. Also, for those wondering why I label this 'slight' yandere even though it is full on yandere: it's because it's not as long as my usual yandere fics, so since it doesn't have the same plot development, I call it 'slight' lol. I do not believe Haechan would ever act like this, this is just my interpretation of the archetype. Anyways, I do hope you enjoy this little fic! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated!!

There will not be a part two to this.

There’s something off about Haechan.

Normally, Donghyuck is a pretty outgoing guy: loud, borderline obnoxious, and always (well, maybe not always) whining for your attention. Only, he’s been quiet lately. Too quiet.

And you’re not the only one who’s noticed.

This trip was supposed to be fun, a chance for you and a few of your friends to get away for a few weeks and just relax. Forgetting about your stresses called life was going to be easy, or at least, that’s what you had all thought. It was, for a time, but everything changed in the blink of an eye.

Really, you had seen this coming, as had Jeno and Chaesun, both of whom noticed Donghyuck’s odd behaviour towards you lately. Of course, you wouldn’t really consider you and Haechan to be close friends, not like Chaesun and Jeno are, but you’d still consider him someone whom you could easily hang out with and talk to.

In fact, this trip was originally meant to be just you and Chaesun, but somehow both Jeno and Haechan tagged along with you two. Now, you’re starting to think it was Donghyuck’s idea, especially with how he’s been acting.

Autumn is beautiful in the midwest this time of year, and there’s a special harvest festival happening in the area you chose to stay in. Seeing as this event only takes place once a year, you decided it would be a great activity for the four of you to partake in, even if where you really want to go is about a fifteen hour drive away by car. Perhaps next time you’ll be able to go.

When you had first suggested the festival, Haechan had been a little too eager to agree. Honestly, it was the first time on this trip you had seen him look enthusiastic about something, shocking all three of you.

For someone who had been so adamant to tag along, he sure wasn’t acting like he was having a good time. At least, that’s what you had overheard Jeno telling Chaesun.

Of course Haechan would want to go with you, he’d follow you anywhere. Hopefully, he’d even get some alone time with you and actually do what he came here to do.

When he had first heard you mention this trip, the four of you had all been hanging out at Jeno’s place. Seeing as how both him and Chaesun are really close, he had invited the both of you over since he wanted to get to know her best friend better. Haechan, being Jeno’s best friend, practically invited himself over after learning you were going to be at Jeno’s place.

If Haechan’s being honest with himself, he’s never really liked Chaesun. Ever since he realized that you’re perfect for him, and that the two of you are meant to be together, he’s hated her guts. She takes your attention away from him, and he can’t stand how close the two of you are.

That should be him.

Soon, it became a regular thing for the four of you to hang out together, since wherever Jeno went, Haechan was sure to follow since he knew you would always be around Chaesun. It was a win-lose situation for him, though, but seeing you always makes up for being in Chaesun’s presence.

At least he didn’t have to worry about Jeno taking you away from him and all that crap. Which is exactly why he intends to keep it that way.

The next time you had mentioned the trip, you had all been at your shared apartment with Chaesun. Jeno had been sitting on one of the side chairs while both you and Chaesun shared the one end of the couch.

Haechan nearly had a conniption when he walked in with Jeno to see you leaning against Chaesun’s side reading a book. It bothered him even more when you barely spared him a glance when he came in and sat on your opposite side, too enraptured in your book to greet him properly.

For a brief second, his lips had tightened into a thin line before he was able to plaster on a fake smile and greet the two of you. Obviously, his greeting to you was a lot more warmer that his not so friendly greeting towards Chaesun, but no one seemed to notice. Well, except for her.

Haechan had been smooth, angling himself towards you with his arm rested on the back of the couch. Having his legs stretched out in front of him, he could easily lean back and observe the room, keeping an eye on you the whole time while remaining inconspicuous. Every expression you make while reading, every small furrow of your brows, has him captivated; he could watch you for hours.

Which is what he practically does every time you’re in the same room together, only, he makes sure to remain subtle. Last thing he wants to do is creep you out from staring for too long.

It had happened so naturally. Chaesun had to get up to use the bathroom, so you had reluctantly sat up, letting out a small grunt in the process due to your slight annoyance at having to move. Except, what Haechan wasn’t expecting for you to do was spin around slightly and begin to lean the opposite way on the couch now. Which meant you were doing exactly what he had originally wanted.

As soon as your back had hit him, you had jumped slightly. Only, your momentum prevented you from recoiling from him fast enough to sit back up, giving him ample time to slide his arm from the back of the couch and onto your shoulder, wrapping his arm around you and holding you securely to him.

Finally, you had put your book down for the moment and paused your reading.

“Sorry if I startled you,” you say, squirming slightly at the position you now find yourself in, catching Jeno’s mildly amused gaze from across the room. “I forgot you were there.”

“No worries,” Haechan chuckles, hoping you cannot feel the way his heart is absolutely pounding in his chest. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Good,” you stop moving, settling into his side comfortably, almost like you’re made for each other, “cause I wasn’t planning on moving anytime soon.”

Donghyuck wouldn’t have let you, anyways, but he’s just glad you stayed of your own choice. He smirks. He’s making progress with you, and soon, you’ll be inseparable.

As soon as Chaesun had come back into the room, you had closed your book, reaching over to slide it onto the coffee table beside you. The best thing, though? You immediately settled back into Haechan’s side afterwards.

Oh, how smug Haechan felt at seeing the questioning look Chaesun had sent you at your new position on the couch. Finally, he felt like he had something over your best friend. You.

Sitting back down on the couch, you and Chaesun had begun talking about your upcoming trip, what you had planned and what you still needed to do in preparation for it. Luckily, the two of you didn’t seem to notice Haechan’s sudden interest in all the little details as he, along with Jeno, asked you both some questions about the trip. He’s just glad Jeno’s own curiosity was seemingly able to cover up his not so pure intentions behind his own questioning.

It was Haechan that had suggested the idea of them tagging along with you to Jeno after they had left that afternoon, practically begging him to ask if the guys could go with you. Not that Jeno needed much convincing, anyways.

“It’ll be fun!” Donghyuck had said. “A good way to bond with them, if you know what I mean.”

Of course the other knew all about their own crush on each of the respective friends, being supportive in any and every way they could. If only Jeno realized then and there just how deep Haechan’s obsession went for you.

Two weeks later and the two boys were all set to tag along on your little adventure, much to your surprise. Even after talking it out with Chaesun, you were still a little shocked to learn that both Jeno and Haechan wanted to come along, considering she’s told you Jeno doesn’t really like the midwest all that much. All that dry air, or something like that. Either way, having the two guys come meant splitting most of your costs in half for food and the rentals, so you weren’t going to complain.

You don’t know how it happened, but you managed to be sitting next to Haechan for the entire flight there instead of with Chaesun. Funny, you could have sworn you bought the tickets for your seats right next to each other so that the two boys could also sit together. Perhaps she just wanted to sit next to Jeno, but the least she could have done is tell you. Or asked.

The whole flight, Haechan had talked your ear off, much to your distress. All you wanted to do with your twelve hours stuck on the plane was read, maybe listen to some music, and then nap for the majority of it, but you couldn’t. No, you’re too nice to ignore the way Donghyuck is passionately talking about his favourite video games, or ignore the way he asks about your favourite books in return. He’s really not that bad of a guy, once you get to know him, and he’s managed to make you laugh a few times, so maybe you should just let him ramble and them catch some ‘you’ time once you make it to the rental house. You’re sure you’ll have plenty of time to do the things you’ve planned to do once you’re there.

Well, you had been half right.

Between Chaesun pulling you out of the house for a few ‘best friends only’ outings, and Haechan seemingly always wanting to be near you, you could barely find a moment to yourself. Having to share a room with your best friend didn’t help, either, for every time you wanted to hide away in the secluded recluse of the bedroom, she’d pull you back out again to hang out with her or with the two guys. Luckily, you managed to score a few peaceful moments to yourself for a few days near the beginning of the second week there.

On the other hand, Haechan was beyond frustrated. Every time he wanted to plan something with you, Chaesun would beat him to it. That, or the four of you would all go out together.

So badly did he want to have some alone time with you, that Donghyuck could feel himself going crazy. Of fucking course Chaesun would be getting in his way, stealing all of your attention away from him when that’s all he wants most. Then, the few times that her and Jeno went out on their own, when he finally had the house to himself with you, you wanted space.

Reluctantly, he gave it to you, but every time you retreated into yourself, it felt like you pushing him away. Haechan thrives off of attention, and when he’s not getting yours, he feels like he might just die.

No matter, the two of you will be together soon enough. Then, you’ll be inseparable.

So he got quiet. Maybe this way, you’ll realize what your missing when his attention isn’t fully on you. You’ll be running into his arms soon enough, he’s sure of it. Besides, he needs to plan for the festival anyways. What better time to make his move than when both Jeno and Chaesun will be distracted the whole day?

Preparing for this day took a lot out of him, especially the not talking to you part, though his jealousy helped with that. If you could be so comfortable around Chaesun, then you obviously could be that comfortable around him. You just needed time.

The day of the festival, both Jeno and Haechan decided to surprise you both by renting two motorcycles. The weather was just warm enough for a final ride in the autumn air, and what better way to be close to each other than you gripping onto his back as he shows you just how badass he can be. Besides, he’s never lost a girl he was trying to charm as soon as he brought out a motorbike. Even if the idea originally took Jeno some convincing, he eventually agreed to it, and so the four of you were off, making your way towards the festival with the wind nipping at your skin.

When you all arrived, you managed to park a little ways down the road in an empty cornfield which had been plowed for the occasion, a corn maze in the process of being made sitting off to your right. There weren’t many cars in this makeshift parking lot, and you didn’t have to pay for a spot, so you considered yourselves lucky.

Hopping off the back of his bike, Haechan nearly lets out a huff of annoyance at no longer feeling your touch on him. Oh, how he revelled in the fact that every time he sped up a little bit you seemingly clung tighter onto his back, only making him more excited for what is to come. You’ll be his, soon enough.

Walking around the place for a bit, the four of you explore some of the stands, grabbing some food and simply enjoying your time out in the countryside. There’s lots of different little activities for you to do, so by the late afternoon, you’ve pretty much seen all there is at the festival. Except, there’s a few things that both you and Chaesun still want to do, but each stall is at the opposite end of the festival.

“How about this?” Jeno suggests. “We can always split up and then meet back here in an hour or something. Just in time for the fireworks.”

“What a great idea!” Haechan’s entire face lights up, eager to finally get you alone after such a long day. Leave it to Jeno to unknowingly set his plan in motion.

“Sure,” you agree with a nod, and Donghyuck’s heart warms. Do you want to be alone with him as badly as he does with you? “Whoever gets back to this area first rents the picnic blanket and buys the snacks.”

“Sounds good.” Chaesun nods, and with one final wave to each other, you’re all heading off in different directions, Jeno following close behind her while Haechan is not too far behind you.

Surprisingly, he remains silent as he walks beside you, the sun slowly creeping downwards in the sky as you make your way to that little stand you saw all those antique books at when you first entered the grounds. If you remember correctly, there’s a little barn not too far away, too.

Making it to the little stall, you greet the kind old woman sitting behind it, carts of books scattered all around for you to peruse at your own leisure. Haechan makes sure to stay close by you the whole time, fiddling with the keys to the motorbike in his pocket the whole time.

To say he’s anxious would be an understatement. There’s no guarantee his plan will work, or that you’ll even agree to come along with him. He just hopes his failsafe comes through. After all, he’s doing this for you.

Thirty minutes later and you’ve just finished purchasing two books from the kind lady who’s managed to chat your ear off about classic literature for the last twenty minutes or so. How unaware she is of the glare Donghyuck sends her way as he leads you away from the stall with a hand placed on the small of your back. The fact that you even let him do this warms his heart. He’s making even more progress with you than he thought, and maybe, he could suggest you reading while leaning against his chest again. Besides, he wouldn’t mind that at all, especially if it meant getting to wrap you in his arms and getting to place kisses along your neck the whole time.

“Haechan, where are you leading me?” Your voice manages to just pull him out of his thoughts as he realizes the direction you’re heading in.

“Oh, I wanted to show you something cool I saw earlier when we first got here.” He replies, seemingly nonchalant despite the way his fingers tense against your lower back.

You notice.

Furrowing your brow slightly, you see the small barn getting closer with each step you take. From the looks of things, the place looks abandoned, run down even. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” a singular nod as he spares you a glance form the corner of his eyes. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

Pursing your lips slightly, you shrug, “I don’t know, you’ve just seemed off lately.”

“Have I?” He hums.

So you have noticed his change in behaviour. Leave it to you to be this observant of him. He knew you cared.

Your only response is to quirk a brow at him as he leads you inside the old barn. The only light you’re offered is the last golden rays of the setting sun, casting a warm, yet eerie glow through the spaces between the wooden boards of the barn.

He slides the door shut, the sound echoing around the place as your brow furrows even more.

“Finally, we’re alone.” It almost sounds as if he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Haechan, what’s the meaning of this?” You clutch your two books tighter to your chest.

“You know, I didn’t realize how impossible it would be to separate the two of you.” he begins. “You and I aren’t going back to them though. You’re coming with me, whether you like it or not. I’m sick and tired of waiting. I want you, and I’m going to have you. So, we’re getting out of here. Tonight.”

“Excuse me?” Your mouth practically falls open. “Look, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re freaking me out.”

Unfortunately for you, he’s blocking the only exit in or out of this place, and at the shaking of his head, you know he’s not moving any time soon.

“That’s what you’re not understanding,” he chuckles, “you’re not going anywhere without me.”

“Donghyuck, this is ridiculous,” you let out a huff. “Just let me through.”

He shakes his head, hand still fiddling with the keys in his pocket. “Not until you agree to come with me.”

You pause. “And if I don’t.”

“You won’t like the answer.”

“I think I’ll take my chances,” you go to brush past him, shooting him a pointed look, “thanks.”

Only, before you can take a single step to open the door, Donghyuck has spun you both around, causing you to drop your books as he suddenly presses a small blade to your throat. Your eyes go wide at the crazed look he now gives you.

“No.” His voice is firm. “You’re not leaving me, and that’s final.”

“Donghyuck-“

“You’re coming with me, whether you like it or not.” He continues, cutting you off as he presses closer into you against the side of the barn, his one hand coming up to cover your mouth. “Don’t even try to scream, just follow my commands, and we’ll both be happy. Okay?”

You nod, your heart racing in your chest as you wait for the opportune moment to escape.

Slowly, he removes his hand from your mouth once he’s sure you won’t scream.

“I’ve wanted you for a long time now,” he sighs, free hand caressing the side of your face. “You seriously don’t know how long I’ve waited for this moment.”

“Where are we going to go now?” Choosing your words carefully, you might as well play along to whatever game he’s started for the moment. Better to lure him into a false sense of security than get yourself killed.

“Well, a little birdie told me you wanted to drive to someplace fifteen hours away from here.” He smirks. “Finally, our first trip as a couple without any annoying disturbances in our way.”

“You’re planning to drive all night? On a bike?” Your fake concern is enough to convince him.

“Don’t worry baby, I planned ahead.” Grinning, he takes a step away from you, convinced you’re going to come willingly with him.

Oh, how wrong he is.

The first chance you get, you’re kicking the knife out of his hand, managing to catch him off guard. Quickly, you land a punch to his gut, grateful for all those kick boxing classes you take on the weekends. In thirty seconds, Donghyuck is on his back, nothing but the cold, hard ground offering him comfort as the heel of your foot digs into his gut in order to pin him down as you reach into his jacket’s pocket to pull out his keys.

“You fucking psycho, of course I’m not going anywhere with you!” You hiss, giving his stomach another good stomp to keep him down.

Turning as quickly as you can, you push open the door to the barn, sprinting out in the next second. You need to find Jeno and Chaesun, and fast.

Sure enough, you find them sitting together on a picnic blanket already surrounded by snacks as they wait for both you and Donghyuck to show up to watch the fireworks. You manage to gather some strange looks as you run up to them, stopping just short of the edge of the blanket as you hunch over, hands on your knees as you attempt to catch your breath.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Immediately, Chaesun is on her feet, worry creasing her brow as she looks you over.

“It’s Donghyuck,” you manage to get out between breaths. “He’s gone crazy.”

At this, Jeno stands to his feet, “did he hurt you?”

“Not yet,” you shake your head, “but he tried.”

“Let’s get you out of here,” Chaesun is already leading you back to the field where you parked the motorbikes, Jeno following close behind.

“What happened?” Jeno makes sure to stand on your opposite side, keeping you in between both him and Chaesun for your protection.

Quickly, you explain to them everything that’s happened since the time you parted ways. As soon as you’re done, they both share a look, the field just in view.

“I knew he’d been acting strange lately,” Jeno frowns, scanning the area to see if Haechan had already made it back. “I still see his bike, so I don’t think he’s here.”

“It’s not like he could go anywhere even if he tried,” you laugh breathlessly, pulling out his keys to show the both of them.

“Damn,” Chaesun grins, “look at you! Badass!”

The two of you share a smug look at each other as a wind blows over the field, sending the remaining stalks of corn swaying in the first rays of the moon. A moment passes by before you see the first signs of the fireworks display starting, the loud booms resounding in your ears in the next moment.

“We should be careful, it’s getting harder to see,” Jeno says above the noise.

“Yeah, he could have already made it back here and could be hiding in the maze.” Chaesun nods as there’s a break in the fireworks, her own eyes scanning the stalks for any sign of movement that’s not from the wind.

“You’d be right about that.” Crunching can be heard from the corner of the field as Haechan steps out from the maze, eyes trained directly on the three of you. “Now, give her back to me and we’ll all be on our merry way.”

Cautiously, Chaesun pushes you behind her, standing in front of you protectively as more colours light up the night sky.

Haechan scowls, “you’ve always been a pain in my ass.”

“What else is new?” She scoffs, motioning for Jeno to make his way over to his bike so that he can make a quick escape with you following closely behind.

Slowly, Donghyuck begins stalking towards you, closing the gap little by little. That is, until he breaks out into a sprint, lunging at Chaesun since she’s the closest.

“You won’t keep me away from her anymore!” He hisses, pulling out his knife once more and pushing it towards her throat.

You gasp as he manages to nick the side of her face just as she manages to throw him off of her. Only, before she can stand back up, he grabs her by the hair, pulling her head back so he can place the blade at her neck.

Jeno, who had been prioritizing leading you to the bikes which now stand mere feet away from you, freezes. He meets Chaesun’s gaze, and you know she’s telling him to prioritize saving you first, and not her. Normally, you wouldn’t worry about her handling herself since you both take the same kickboxing classes, but it’s a lot different when you’re forced to your knees with a blade pressed against your throat from an attacker behind you.

Haechan smirks. He’s got them.

“You,” he motions to Jeno with his head, “back away from my bike slowly unless you want this one-“ he tightens his grip in Chaesun’s hair, causing her to wince, “to get a slit throat.” Immediately, Jeno does exactly what he’s told. “And you, baby,” you nearly cringe at the term of endearment he calls you, “get on my bike, start the engine and walk it over to me.”

Hesitating for only a moment, you meet Chaesun’s eyes. You’d know that look anywhere. The look that tells you that she has a plan, and to trust whatever that is about to happen. So, you do exactly as Donghyuck says, making sure to walk over to him extra slowly once you’ve started the engine.

Pulling up just beside him, you watch as he stands both himself and Chaesun up, quickly shoving her away as he swings onto the back of the bike behind you. With his arms encasing you, you have nowhere to run, him caging you in one either side.

However, what he doesn’t expect is for Chaesun to pop up right in front of the both of you before he can kick off and leave. In an instant, you make eye contact with her, and you turn the ignition off, pulling the key out as she grips Donghyuck’s wrists. Immediately, you flatten yourself to the bike as much as you can while maintaining your balance, sliding out from under Donghyuck’s right arm once you feel Chaesun lift it ever so slightly.

Hitting the ground and managing to drop the keys in your hands, you hear Jeno’s own bike slide up beside you as both Haechan and Chaesun go crashing to the ground in the opposite direction.

Again, you hesitate, looking back to see Chaesun wrestling with Donghyuck in the dirt, him trying to get to you before you even so much as get on the bike with Jeno.

Seeing your hesitance, Chaesun meets your gaze, “go with Jeno!”

Not having to be told twice, you slide onto the back of Jeno’s bike, wrapping your arms around him as he kick off from the ground, riding off into the night.

Sparing one final glance back over your shoulder, you just manage to see Chaesun holding off Donghyuck by pinning him to the ground, hearing him let out a feral cry as you disappear from his sight.

Stopping only momentarily once you’re about seven minutes down the road, Jeno finally hands you a helmet that he’d kept dangling from his wrist this whole time. Thanking him softly, your slip it on, finally able to catch your breath after the events of this evening.

“I hope Chaesun is alright,” you murmur, hearing the click of the buckle snap into place as you settle behind Jeno once more.

“I’m sure she will be,” you hear Jeno mutter, kicking back off the road and continuing on your way once more.

You tilt your head back, looking up at the night sky, the stars twinkling aimlessly as the moon glows above. You sigh, finally allowing your shoulders to relax.

For the moment, you’re safe. “What a crazy day.”

“Yeah,” Jeno hums. “Crazy.”

Little do you know of the smirk that begins to tug at the corner of his lips.

[moonlit-sunflower-books]

writing female villains

[@/moonlit_sunflower_books on ig]

we're all simps for women with swords, and I love a good female villain. but there are some ways that i think female villains can be really great and certain tropes that i think can be harmful.

this is just based on my personal opinion and amateur experience - i'm not a professional writer, so always do your own research! i'm also always open to friendly debate and constructive feedback :)

also, @/bluebxlle_writer on instagram also has an awesome post on writing female villains and their account is generally wonderful, so go and check that out too!

make them flawed

i have another entire post on this, but writing Strong Female Characters often means that your women are completely flawless - they win every fight, they don't let themselves be tricked, they see every obstacle coming. not only is this unrealistic, it makes for an incredibly flat character.

making your female villains flawed proves that women can be strong and still fail, and gives your protagonist the opportunity to succeed sometimes as well.

make them emotional

i included this specifically for female villains, because once again, while creating strong women it's very easy to make them emotionless and stoic. but when your villains feel love and despair and hope and excitement and sorrow, it makes them more human. it also again removes expectations that strong women need to have no emotion in order to be perceived as strong.

a three-dimensional backstory

just because your villain is a woman, her backstory doesn't have to be losing a significant other. let them be driven by emotion, but don't let that emotion be approval from men or love for another man. a female villain can have as complex stories and motivations as male villains, such as revenge, immortality, power, or even greed - not just love.

"femme fatale" characters

"femme fatale" is a character archetype of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman ensnares her lovers and leads them into traps. she essentially hypnotises them with her beauty and takes advantage of their attraction to her.

the hyper-sexualisation of female villains is something that really bothers me, and while i make many jokes about being attracted to women with swords, this once again comes under the idea of women being solely made for love and/or sex.

make your female villains diverse. let them be ugly and gory and ruthless and maybe aro/ace and let them have more skill than just seduction, because women do not exist for male pleasure.

make sure they're not subservient to male villains

lastly, almost all female villains are subservient to male villains, which diminishes their agency and individual power. let your female villain be a villain in her own right, without serving men!

[shihalyfie]

Hi! I've been devouring your Digimon meta lately, and I was hoping I could ask you a (hopefully simple) question. I think there's a general fandom perception of Mimi as boy-crazy, but I can't actually come up with any canon that states she's romantically interested in boys. The closest I have is the Mini Drama 2 CD, where she just fantasizes about boys being interested in *her*. However, there are definitely gaps in my Digimon knowledge, so I put this one to you. Does Mimi canonically like boys?

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for stopping by, I hope you're enjoying the meta!

So for clarity's sake, I'm going to be assuming we're talking about the Japanese version of Mimi and not the American English dub version, because although I still have general familiarity with it and its major changes enough to be able to roughly describe the changes, I can't remember things to the level of detail I do with the Japanese version, and to be honest, if said dub did have a line like that, I wouldn't be surprised. But as far as the Japanese version goes, you are correct: Mimi does not express romantic interest in boys, or in fact anyone, at any point, and in fact you have a better case for her not being particularly on the hard lookout for a partner at any time we saw her. Elaboration under the cut!

There are a few reasons why I think that fandom perception might have happened, but the first one is simply cultural. Mimi’s archetype in the Japanese version is recognizable as one you’d call the “parents’ spoiled little princess” kind, where the emphasis is more on her being sheltered and pampered and generally growing up in comfort (especially since her parents were upper middle class). So in other words, while it’s easy to see her as “shallow” based on her actions of complaining often in the beginning parts of the series, it’s more in the sense that she wasn’t used to dealing with hardships or having to physically get around everywhere, and she was otherwise a very insightful, polite, and empathetic person. She’s also one of the most adherent to proper honorifics among the entire cast, so, again, you see her a bit like a “proper princess”. In fact, it’s probably because of this slight sense of distance and formal respect she treats everyone with that it often becomes difficult to interpret her actions towards others as romantically loaded, and it’s presumably why Koushirou/Mimi became such a dominant ship on the Japanese side to the point of nearly every other Mimi ship being rarepair there (because Koushirou is just about the only person you can really make that argument for when they had no less than three major interactions -- Adventure episode 10, Mini Drama 2, and Diablomon Strikes Back -- that entailed Mimi getting a bit petulant about the idea of not getting Koushirou-kun’s attention).

However, I think a lot of people on our end of the fanbase have a tendency to want to pigeonhole Mimi into a very textbook “cliquey materialistic girly girl” framework, which of course was helped along by said American English dub definitely assigning many of those associated tropes to her character. Things like “lacking in common sense”, “looking down on others”, “judging everything by appearances”, “constantly making everything about shopping”, you know the package -- whereas Japanese version Mimi always erred more on the side of polite, any concept of being fixated on appearances only showed up very rarely, even her variety of clothes in 02 was portrayed more as her being open-minded to experimentation rather than materialism filling her head, and she was borderline incapable of being particularly condescending, being rather empathetic and insightful instead.

This, incidentally, is why I find that you really need to be careful when buying into fandom rhetoric about just about anything, and not necessarily listen to everything the fanbase treats as truth just because it’s been circulating for 20 years or so, because while the series itself of course has some aspects that haven’t aged well, there are many ways it was ahead of its time and intent on not forcing its characters into certain boxes, but -- to be blunt about it -- the fandom that formed 20 years ago was far more guilty of internalized misogyny, heteronormativity, and stereotype/trope forcing in regards to its characters than the actual series was, with said takes based on those still circulating even now just because so many people have treated it like longtime fact. (You have no idea how much it irritates me that I still have to hear discourse accusing Sora of “friendzoning” Taichi in this year 2021.) Again, not really helped by the heavy impact of the American English dub even on non-dub discourse and the fact it was rather guilty of forcing the characters into the trope boxes itself, but even then, the longtime fanbase has a penchant for absolutely taking things way farther than even said dub did. So while I wouldn’t put it past said dub to have inserted a line or something about wanting to chase after cute guys, I think it’s more likely to simply be a byproduct of the general stereotype that the sort of “cliquey materialistic girly girl” must also completely lose her mind over cute boys, resulting in a lot of people in the fanbase attempting to cram Mimi into that stereotype.

So in regards to how Mimi herself is portrayed in regards to relationships and romance: well, in general, Adventure and 02 were the kind of series that wanted to portray its children with an extra touch of realism from how media tropes would usually do it (case in point, it’s meant as an archetype subversion that Mimi is of the sheltered princess archetype but is also genuinely empathetic and insightful). In the end, the kids were only in elementary and middle school, and it is kind of prominent that things like Daisuke and Miyako’s crushes on others are very much treated as the sort of somewhat shallow, didn’t-seriously-think-through-this kind of mild attraction (no commitment to anything) you’d get out of eleven- or twelve-year-old kids, and the one “prominent” relationship of Yamato and Sora involved two fourteen-year-olds who treated it as a hookup (no dramatic romance plot, just one person asking the other to try out dating) and kept their relationship as a footnote in public. In the case of Mimi, she was certainly depicted as being somewhat of a social butterfly by the time of 02, but there’s no indication she was interested in anyone in her periphery as anyone but friends -- in fact, in Armor Evolution to the Unknown, she very casually refers to getting chocolate for everyone around her in the form of “social courtesy chocolate for friends”, which is explicitly drawn as a contrast to Sora getting the more romantically-loaded kind for Yamato (her boyfriend). In fact, I would say that Mimi’s attitude in that entire scene arguably says a lot about her -- she brings up the comparative gender egalitarianism of Valentine’s Day in the US compared to Japan without making a big deal about it, and she’s also the one who takes a minute to analyze Sora’s relationship prospects with Yamato, so I would say it’s actually more likely Mimi’s own potential pursuit of a partner would involve being thoughtful about whether she’d want to spend a long-term relationship with them rather than just casually clinging to anyone she finds attractive.

Now, there is one character you could call “boy-crazy”, and that’s Miyako, although even then Miyako also plays with the trope by being less so “boy-crazy” and more “a twelve-year-old girl who has absolutely no filter whenever she finds someone to be attractive” (especially since Miyako’s own self-esteem is utterly shot, and so she’s not the type to feel up to trying anything besides just being a bit too blunt about complimenting and gushing about the other party). It’s understandable that Miyako and Mimi sharing a Crest might make one inclined to compare them, but in fact, 02 episode 14 has Miyako explicitly compare her own tendency to judge by appearances and shallowness negatively and in contrast to Mimi, meaning that Miyako acknowledges that Mimi, whom she admires, does not have those traits of shallowness and handles everything much more maturely. So Mimi really can’t be described as that kind of archetype at all, and Miyako spends the episode constantly recognizing that Mimi is much more thoughtful and capable of getting to the heart of things than she is.

Moreover, while the stage play came after 02 and may not be considered applicable Adventure universe canon to many people, I find it to be an interesting case study of an example of a writer studying the series very closely (there is some very good attention to detail with the original series, and Tani “showed his work” very well with it) without preconceived notions from the fandom. The stage play has Mimi admit explicitly that she’s not interested in anyone at the moment, having only momentarily lied about it in the hopes Sora could open up about her own love life -- which Mimi explicitly contrasts with having lied about not being interested in her future, when in fact she wants to do so many things she can’t commit to one. So it reinforces the idea that something like a relationship would be something Mimi would treat with gravity and as something she’d want to have proper commitment to, but she won’t when it’s a time in her life she’s having a hard time figuring out commitment to anything.

And, finally, as you mentioned, there’s Mini Drama 2, but as you say, it’s Mimi joking that all the boys must be into her (because she’s attractive) and that “all of the boys in the world will be kneeling before me before long” -- and the reason she throws a fit is that Hikari indirectly implies that the love letter Koushirou’s writing could not possibly be for Mimi, which Mimi interprets as Hikari indirectly trying to pick a fight with her or insult her by acting like it’s such an impossibility. Knowing that Hikari is well-known for being capable of passive-aggressively trolling, and in fact is very heavily implied to be doing so in this scene, it’s not like Mimi’s entirely wrong, either. (Also, the Adventure mini dramas are infamously full of fourth wall-breaking and characterization-irreverent crack -- it wasn’t until the 2003 drama CDs when actual “serious” drama CDs would become more of a thing -- so it should be taken with a grain of salt.)

[thevindicativevordan]

On Lois Lane

Figured it well past time I got to the matriarch of the Superfamily, especially since I already wrote about the other major "LL" in Superman's life.

Hardest part of writing about Lois is what more can be added that hasn't already been said? She's The Love Interest when it comes to female supporting characters, so iconic and successful that like Superman himself, she's inspired countless copycats: Iris West, Vicki Vale, the current video game version of MJ Watson, if your hero has a love interest who is a reporter, they're drawing on the archetype that Lois established. She was there from the very beginning, before there were Krypton, Smallville, the Kents, the Rogues, before Superman could even fly Lois was there.

And my God is she such a fantastic character in her own right.

Whereas Clark himself is pretty damn different if you compare and contrast his Golden Age incarnation with his modern incarnation, Golden Age Lois is pretty recognizable as Lois Lane. Feisty, independent, scornful of danger and of cowardice (especially in a "peer" like Clark), a bit in awe of Superman while also eager to press him for information about himself, willing to throw herself into danger if she can get that exclusive scoop. Her personality in the early comics is much more like her modern incarnation than the lovestruck wanna-be housewife she became in the Silver Age. Lois is one of the few characters who basically came into comics perfect from Day 1.

I love the Rucka idea that she somehow has everyone's number and can call up anyone from the lowliest criminal to the highest politicians. I like when writers show that she herself is able to wear a variety of disguises, something I'm sure she and Clark can bond over once he reveals his identity to her. And I love that she is basically waging a one-woman war against corruption and evil in Metropolis long before Superman shows up, something the Superman & Lois show highlighted.

It's easy to see why Clark would fall for her. Even putting aside that Lois is hot as hell, she's a great foil to him personality wise. They both are committed to rooting out social ills and taking the fight to crime and oppression wherever it rears it's head, from the Lexcorp boardroom, to the darkest underbelly of Metropolis. They both are kind and compassionate, but have explosive tempers if you piss them off. They both love to snark, although Lois has more bite whereas Clark is more deadpan.

The biggest contrast, and honestly the biggest turn on for Clark, is that Lois is free from doubt. Clark is constantly second-guessing himself, worrying about how others see him, worrying about whether he's making the right choices or if he's approaching his heroics/journalism the right way. Lois? Lois never second-guesses herself, never allows the doubts or opinions of others to affect her course in life. She knows her dad is disappointed and upset with her and she couldn't care less. She knows others think she's a bitch and that only amuses her. She's confident and self-reliant and those are attributes Clark wants desperately to posses himself. How could he not fall head over heels in love?

Why Lois would fall in love with Clark is a bit trickier. It's easy to see why she would love Superman, which is part of why Clark wants her to love the "whole" of him and not just the public persona. Superman is confident, Superman is powerful, Superman kicks ass, he's kind and intelligent, he's a huge celebrity, who wouldn't love him? Clark? Eh he's easy on the eyes but he doesn't really have much of a presence. That's how everyone else views Clark. Lois, I think, would start off viewing Clark as a dweeb who will be gone in a week, the big city too much for him. That he sticks around and toughs it out impresses her. That he manages to outscoop her multiple times infuriates and intrigues her. That he manages to live in Metropolis and see how rotten it can be beneath the shiny gilded exterior, yet doesn't lose his sense of optimism, his faith in other peoples inner goodness, his "naivety" so to speak? I think that's what would make her fall in love with him.

Lois is at heart a "cynical idealist" in my estimation. The cynical side is she's someone who will always fight for the truth, for justice, but I don't think she believes that peoples inherent goodness will win out in the end most of the time. She's seen how selfish people can be, how uncaring, and I think before Clark shows up there's a part of her that thinks she's just bashing her head against a wall trying to change things. The idealist part of her is that she will continue to bash her head against that wall of public indifference anyway. Lois will always fight even if nobody else will fight alongside her, she'll keep writing articles and investigating long after a lesser woman would give up, because it's the principles that matter damnit, even if only to her. That Clark is someone who will join her in that fight while still believing that the rest of the public can be swayed to join them is what I see as the reason why she finally gives him a chance, that optimism remaining in Clark is refreshing and uplifting to her. That he's also hot and can trade banter with her doesn't hurt his chances any.

Lois becoming a mom has been really interesting, even if I haven't always been wholly satisfied with how they've handled the relationship between her and Jon. I haven't seen enough of Lois traits in Jon to really buy him as her offspring, I hope that changes. While I'm not the biggest fan of Tom Taylor to put it mildly, I liked that he emphasized Lois' importance with regards to Jon becoming Superman in interview leading up to the first issue, and I hope we get lots of Lois/Jon interaction in Superman: Son of Kal-El that really flesh out their relationship. At the very least I want to see Jon get some of that Lois patented verbal bite to him.

One last thought with regards to Lois: how the hell was Tom King the first one to realize that Lois and Selina would immediately hit it off?

They're both so similar when you think about it: Brunettes who are willful and independent, who flaunt the rules to get what they want, who outright laugh when their male significant others try to order them around, yeah I totally can see the two of them becoming friends. I really hope that gets continued under someone else, since I don't think anyone other than King has really played with it, but I love the idea of Lois having a "gal pal" that's also caught up in the insanity of life with a superhero.

If not Selina I'd like to see Lois being shown to have a friendship with her copycats such as Vicki or Iris or the rest. Definitely with Cat (even though Cat Grant can drive her up the wall sometimes). More girls' nights out/double dates for Lois, that's all I'm saying.

[ethernetchord]

lets talk: popular iwwv criticism

(disclaimer: i know criticism is subjective and thats why im doing this, i wanna look at some common points made against iwwv and dissect them just a little bit in the opposite direction. also none of this is directed at any individual- it’s all based on the general talking points i’ve seen surrounding the book.)

SPOILER WARNING !!

lack of exploration into james and oliver (+ gay characters feel performative)

i’ve seen loads of people say that oliver and james’ relationship felt very performative, a way of including the queer romnce which clearly is very important to the plot but not actually giving it any space in the novel, nor developing it to the same extent which meredith/oliver was.

oliver and meredith had a very strictly physical relationship and while he did love her, he wasn’t in love with her the way he was with james. the juxtaposition in the way that oliver/james is delivered and the way meredith/oliver is delivered is, i believe, far too repetitive to not be intentional. i actually realised upon re-reading how much focus there really is on meredith’s sexuality, even in subtleties in the book. meredith and oliver get more blatant sex scenes, get more physical parts because oliver was (to an extent) using his attraction to meredith to distract himself from his infatuation with james.

we also have to remember that oliver and james didn’t get their real moment of honesty about their relationship till extremely late into the book. i’d honestly see it as more ‘performative’ to then after or in the middle of kind lear throwing in some wild sex scene between the two. it wouldn't have fit.

“why didn’t james and oliver get together earlier then >:(((“ because the slow burn between them, the subtext, the subtle-ness, the yearning, they were all crucial to the decision which oliver made at the end. the fact that they burned so bright for each other but (oliver particularly) were so desperately repressed, that was what made this such a tragic romance. yes its tiring to read stories about queer people being repressed, yes its tiring to see the bury your gays trope. but like oliver says, it goes beyond gender.

if oliver’s second love interest was a girl, and treated this way, we’d be a lot more on board with these tropes- but the fact that james is a man, and this therefor becomes a queer relationship, makes it feel performative. i can’t convince you of anything- but i like to believe that their relationship being treated like this not only makes it so much more “heart wrenching because why! why couldn’t it work out, why couldn’t it be better!” - not because its a queer relationship but because they were soulmates.

alexander wasn’t performative. not in the slightest, rio just didn’t make being gay his entire identity. same goes for colin. just because they’re queer doesn’t mean it needs to be the only thing about them. this isn’t a lgbt novel- characters dont have to be gay just for plot. they can just be gay.

i’ve also seen people complain about not just making oliver bisexual. guys. did you read the book? he was bisexual. he was emotionally and physically attracted to both meredith and james. guys that’s literally what bisexual means.

i'm totally on board with the coming out scenes! and realisation of feelings and all that stuff- but again, not an lgbt centric novel and also- these were things oliver probably did and realised far before this book. remember that its set in 4th year, at an art school. he knew he was fruity ok. not every queer character in every queer book have to have these grandious coming out scenes or realisations. the lack there of doesn’t equal performance.

the ending was rushed and bad

believe what you will, but i don’t think james is dead. there’s a little too much ambiguity in that ending, in the extract he leaves oliver, in the “his body was never found.” so if your main quarrel with the ending is that “bury your gays” situation- please know there’s a chance- and that giving it that chance opens up so much more discussion and reader response.

yes, the ending is sad. but it’s not rushed. “but that is how a tragedy like ours or king lears breaks your heart- by making you believe the ending might still be happy until the very last second.” doing king lear, doing macbeth, doing romeo and juliet, the plays are chosen not only for reader convenience (they’re plays readers will most likely be familiar with) but also because they all, so very deeply, foreshadow a “bad” ending. killing james, makes sense. as much as people don’t want to hear it, from an authorial perspective- from the reader’s perspective and as a human being it makes sense. why do keep arguing that he “should’ve stayed alive for oliver” or that “if he really loved oliver he wouldn’t have done it” - why are we limiting a character’s entire existence down to their love interest. yes, they were best friends, yes they were set up as lovers but that doesn’t mean that that would be enough to keep james around. james was a fragile character- he was always checking with oliver if he had upset him, he was always worried, overthinking, james wasn’t strong minded- and he was suffering. the only person he had left to depend on was in prison, he was plagued with the guilt of causing the death of a classmate and letting oliver take the blame, if he did kill himself, it sure as hell doesn’t have any reason to sound forced.

“its not nearly as good as the secret history!!!!”

to be honest here buds, why the fuck do we keep comparing them so insistently. they are not the same book. iwwv wasn’t trying to be tsh 2.0, yes there are similarities because hey! guess what! books in similar genres tend to do that! always comparing it tsh when they have different motives, different plots and vastly different execution makes no sense. the only reason that they are compared is because tumblrtm dark academics like to group the two together. and yea- makes sense, but stop trying to belittle iwwv because it isn't as grandiose as tsh, because it’s a little more literal, because it’s not as intertextual as tsh. half the people saying iwwv isn’t as good as tsh are practically just subtly going “shakespeare isn’t as complicated as ancient greek huehue” stop forcing the two together and let them be separately appreciated.

the characters were flat/archetypes/etc

sigh. okay.

these characters are actors. this book shows us their transition from themselves entirely into a conjunction of the roles they’ve played and the stereotypes they’ve portrayed.

“we were so easily manipulated - confusion made a masterpiece of us.”

“for us, everything was a performance”

“imagine having all your own thoughts and feelings tangled up with all the thoughts and feelings of a whole other person. it can be hard, sometimes, to sort out which is which.”

“far too many times i had asked myself whether art was imitating life or if it was the other way around”

“it’s easier now to be romeo, or macbeth, or brutus, or edmund. someone else.”

are you seeing it now? this focus on their archetypes, this focus on the character they are; the way they see themselves not merely as human but as a walking concoction of every character they have turned into and out of. they depend on their archetypes to give them meaning. rio uses these archetypes to remind us of the submersion of her characters. they weren’t flat, their intentional lack of dimension due to their pasts is what makes them so intricate. furthermore, there's an evident subversion- the tyrant becomes a victim, the hero becomes a villain (they all become villains really), the ingenue becomes corrupted. like mentioned before, i think we forget ourselves easily reading this book but there is a great deal of emphasis on this being their last year- which is so important. the damage has been done and a lot of the issues people have with the content (or lack thereof) in this book has to do with the fact that it’s all things that would have occurred in books focusing on previous years at delletcher.

“it didn't live up to expectation” (also leading on from read tsh to this and being ‘disappointed’)

i cant argue this because its entirely subjective. whatever expectation was created for you, i cannot know that and appropriately respond however- if you liked the secret history and understood the secret history then there's a good chance you also liked and understood this book- even if not to the same extent but you must be able to recognize the authorial approach and its significance. i think a lot of ppl read iwwv (and a lot of “dark academia” texts and films) and hope to be able to romanticize the aesthetic or the concepts and then are disappointed when they are presented with mildly unlikeable and overwhelmingly human characters who aren’t easy to romanticize.

a great majority of these books are criticisms of the very culture you’re trying to romanticize, and the only time you’re willing to admit that is when boasting about the ‘self-awareness’ of the people indulging in them, and then a moment later complain about those same qualities because they don’t serve this idealized expectation.

bad rep for arts/liberal arts/ humanities students as being pretentious/cultish

as a humanities student with a great love for eng lit- all of these things are indeed pretentious and cultish. not all the time and not always and not every person- but it is a common theme. academia is overwhelmingly obsessive and extremely white-washed. people become so fast to believe that they are indulging in finer arts and are therefore a higher standard of person. academia is problematic. and the recent influx of people interested in it is good, very good because hopefully, we’ll be more diverse, more open-minded, more accepting. that's what i hope at least. if you know, as an individual, that you’re not a pretentious academic who places themselves above non-academics then that's wonderful- but there are dangers and negative sides to academia that need to be understood so that we can see to not perpetuating them.

i cant refute all points, mostly because there's a lot of good and well-explained criticism because no book is perfect. and my intentions are not to belittle anyone's opinion. these are merely opposing arguments, food for thought and to be fair- a critical look into why not everything is always going to be what we expect of it and why every ‘problem’ can be assessed.

[londonalozzy]

Don’t Tell Bucky 1/2

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Drama

Summary: The reader arrives home one night after drowning her sorrows, thinking she doesn't stand a chance with the guy she loves most, Bucky Barnes. She is so out of it that she ends up revealing all of her feelings to the first person she sees. The man himself.

Masterlist

I've been teased my whole adult life about what an old fashioned, hopeless romantic I am.

Yes, I'm an Avenger. Yes, I can kick ass when the occasion arises. But the rest of the time, the usual place to find me, is curled up on the couch with my head buried in a Jane Austen novel.

A couple of years ago someone came into my life that I thought was the key to it all. He was destined to be the Darcy to my Elizabeth, the Edward to my Elinor, the Mr Knightly to my Emma. Oh, how wrong I was!

When Steve first brought Bucky to Avengers HQ it was like a modern day version of when Bingley introduced Mr Darcy to the people of Meryton at the ball in Pride and Prejudice.

He was the archetype of the aloof romantic hero. Tall, dark, handsome, brooding and quiet. He kept himself to himself, observed everyone with eyes of an eagle, and only spoke when spoken to. I was well and truly hooked.

As weeks turned into months, Bucky and I came to an understanding, a friendship that only got more complicated as time went on. After everything he had been through, it was hard for him to open up to people, to let his guard down. What he did yearn for though, was companionship, someone to sit beside, someone to just be there if and when he needed them. I became that person for him.

Every time I decided to sit silently with a book in hand, it wouldn't be long before I had a certain super soldier at my side, just embracing the company, not having to worry about putting on a show for people he didn't feel comfortable with.

The complication in our relationship came when I realised how much I had come to depend on him being there for me.

My aching for him first made itself known when he started going out on missions that I wasn't apart of, when he went on all day training sessions away with the guys, and whole nights out when his confidence finally got a boost. I missed him. I missed him with every fiber of my being.

"So, I'm guessing you've heard the latest gossip on Barnes?" Nat asked me one morning over breakfast, her eyes not leaving her plate of blueberry pancakes as she spoke.

"Gossip? What are you talking about?" Any news on what Bucky was up to was music to my ears. I'd barely seen him these last few weeks, and it was seriously messing me up in more ways than I'd like to admit.

"You mean he's not told you? You? Princess Y/N?"

To say Nat was surprised by my ignorance was an understatement. This must be something big if she is shocked about it. When did it change to others knowing more about Bucky than I did? I thought we were best friends. He calls me Princess for Christ's sake.

"Maybe you should ask him yourself," Nat suggested, reaching across the table and rubbing my forearm. "I just assumed he would have told you first."

Now I'm seriously freaking out. "Nat, please just tell me what the hell is going on."

"You know Theresa down in medical?" Oh, shit. I've got a bad feeling about this.

"Yeah. What about her?"

"They're dating." Oh no!

It felt like my heart had leapt into my throat. I couldn't think, never mind know what to respond with. I knew it would happen eventually. I knew he'd end up with someone. I just assumed it would me. How stupid could I be?

"Y/N, you need to tell him how you feel." Why does Nat always have to be so good at this observation stuff?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I choked with a traitor tear in my eye, and a jump up from my chair when I suddenly felt the need to escape.

Nat followed me down the hall to my room, putting herself in front of me as I tried to change into my running gear. I had to get out of there. "You can't pretend this isn't happening Y/N. This is Bucky we're talking about. Your Bucky. You'll regret it if you don't tell him."

"Yeah, well I'll regret it a hell of a lot more if I do tell him and then lose him completely."

Nat grabbed my arms, stopping me in my tracks. She was one of my closest friends for a reason. She knew what made me tick, what scared me, what mattered the most to me. It's just not a risk I can take though.

"If you don't talk to him, all of this will get bottled up inside and it will ruin your friendship anyway. Y/N you need to get this out."

She was right. This was Nat. She was always right. My head and heart couldn't handle all of this new information. I didn't know how to deal with it, how to react.

So much for that epic romance I thought I was destined for. Looks like, for me, I'm only meant to be the friend, the side character in someone else's love story. I'm Eponine and not Cosette.

Deciding to lay off of me for the rest of the day, Nat rounded up Wanda and a few others and we headed out for a few drinks. Well, what started out as a few drinks anyway.

By the early morning I had at least 10 too many tequila shots in my bloodstream, partnered with a sore throat from overly emotional karaoke renditions of some of the best known heartbreak songs. I was a mess. A mess that could barely remember her own name.

"Are you drunk?" A random voice echoed through the hall as I stumbled around, trying and failing to get into what I hoped was my room at 2am.

"Why would you think that?" I replied to the swaying figure as they moved closer to steady my feet.

"Probably because you're trying to unlock your bedroom door with a lip stick. Plus the fact that the door doesn't have a lock on it anyway. What's up?"

Ignoring the nosy stranger, and giving up on getting into my room because the handle kept moving all over the place, I went in search of the nearest soft thing I could find to park myself on. Standing up was over rated anyway.

"You don't normally drink like this Princess," the randomer observed, leaning over me as I started making rug angels on the shag pile in the common room.

Why is this guy talking like he knows me? Who the hell does he think he is calling me that? "I've just got a lot on my mind. And don't Princess me. Only Bucky gets to call me that."

"Noted," the randomer laughed with a shake of the head, then joining me by laying at my side.

Staring at the ceiling as the silence engulfed us, I decided to confide in this handsome newbie. "If I tell you something, can you promise you won't tell anybody?"

"I promise," he responded without hesitation.

"I mean it, nobody can know. Especially Bucky. He can never find out." I pulled him into a sitting position and put my hands on either side of his face, trying to stress how important it was that he keeps this to himself. He really was pretty.

"I swear, Bucky will hear none of this from me."

"Ok. Here goes," I jumped up, frantic all of a sudden. "I want him to break up with his girlfriend, and it's seriously stressing me out."

"Why would you want him to do that? She's a nice girl isn't she?," pretty boy questioned in confusion, getting to his feet as well. Why did he care so much? Where the heck did he come from anyway? I swear, if this is one of Tony's robo experiments again I'm gonna flip.

"I'm sure they're perfect for each other," I groaned. "I just know that I don't want him with her. At first I had no idea why. He's one of my closest friends. I should want him to be happy right?"

"Of course," Mr Blue eyes confirmed with a furrowed brow and by gripping onto my now clammy hands.

"Then I started thinking about it. Why was I feeling like this? Why was it bothering me so much? I realised, it wasn't just this one girl I have a problem with. It's all girls. All except one."

"Who?"

"Me."

"Wait? What?" He bellowed, leaping backwards and pacing the floor. "You want m...I mean Bucky to go out with you?"

"Yeah. I mean, I think so."

"Y/N, you can't just come out with something like that and respond with I think so," he screeched out in loud exasperation, so much so that I burst into flood of tears.

"Why are you shouting at me?" This guy is such a meanie.

When he saw how upset I was he immediately calmed down, placing his palms on my face and wiping the salty drops away. "Y/N please don't cry. This is just a lot to process."

It took me a while to calm myself down, hiccups escaping my lips as the crying finally subsided. Slowly, the angel man, stranger, person, thing walked me over to the couch and sat us both down. His eyes were boring into me, beautiful azure pools that looked slightly familiar. Maybe it was those bath bombs Steve keeps buying from Lush. I don't know.

"Why do you even care about all this? It's not like you know him or something?" I enquired, now looking at anything other than in those beautiful bath fizzer eyes.

"Just try to explain to me what's going on in that crazy little head of yours," he pressed.

Oh well. I may as well carry on now I've started.

"I've been with the Avengers for a long time. They're my family, my home. And don't get me wrong, I know they care about me, love me even. It's just easy to be sidelined, you know? To become an after thought when you're part of something so big. Bucky changed that. When I met him, it was like everything shifted. He became the reason I smiled every day, why I looked forward to getting out of bed. For the first time in my life I felt like I was at the top of someone's priority list."

"So are all of these feelings because you think you're gonna lose that? You think you're gonna lose him? I swear to you it won't happen." If it only it were that easy.

"I wish it was that," the tears building up once more as I eventually decided to look at him properly. "It would make all of this way less complicated."

"What is it then?," he pressed in urgency.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm head over heels in love with the guy."

[itsclydebitches]

The thing that feels disingenuous about Miles answer about Ironwood is that he was part of the writing staff that framed the general as a cool character to start with. I do think that the signs about Ironwood's evil were clear since V2 and in V7 he was an outright dictator from episode 1. Nonetheless, he was still consistently framed as a cool character, someone you can trust and rely. You don't get to blame the fans for liking a genocide if you was the one framed him as cool in the first place.

I actually don’t think being cool is the problem. If we’re satirizing and/or making a  statement about the toxic masculinity that leads to something like a dictatorship, then being “cool” is a crucial part of that. People don’t leverage the power they have by looking lame, they do so by appearing desirable, enviable, awesome. Being in the military is supposedly “cool.” Being a white guy with a giant gun is supposedly “cool.” Having power over an entire nation is supposedly “cool,” etc. If you only make such characters look revolting  — even when they are  — then you miss one of the main recruitment tools for this kind of rhetoric. Any version of Ironwood that’s meant to make a point about the dangers of following someone like him needs to make him look “cool” and then deconstruct that, pointing out the ways in which this cool veneer is a lie meant to pull you in. To do otherwise is to claim that evil people are always easy to spot. Making your villains “uncool” implies that the people who do appear cool in real life must be fine then. That good looking, charismatic leader is great. Why would I look critically at his actions? He’s too cool to be evil. 

My personal problem is not that “They made the dictator look cool and we can’t possibly expect the audience to tell the difference between someone who is truly good and someone who is just using various Cool Points to skate by” because that would be the point of such a character  — the work the show needs to do. My problem is that RWBY didn’t do that work. At least, not to the extent they needed to. Rather than making Ironwood a truly heinous character (prior to Volume 7 ‘s shooting, I mean) and allowing the audience to learn how appearing cool can’t hide that, they just made him good person. Straight up. Flawed, absolutely, but no worse than any of the other character on screen, particularly post Volume 6 when our heroes are frequently putting people in danger, seizing power, telling lies, keeping secrets, and generally acting in the ways we’re supposedly meant to condemn Ironwood for. Since talk of Miles’ vid last night I’ve seen three separate “Ironwood was always bad, idk how people can miss the signs” posts and those people are half right. There 100% were signs we were meant to pick up on. The problem is RWBY then went and deconstructed those signs. Ironwood didn’t just bring an army to a peace festival, he brought an army to an event he had good reason to believe wasn’t peaceful  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t wrest control from Ozpin (using a series of checks and balances that exist for this very purpose...) because he has an obsession with being in control, he did so because he honestly believed Ozpin was putting people in danger  — and he was right. Ironwood didn’t step up post-Fall because he arrogantly believes he’s the only one capable of saving Remnant, he did so because he’s actually the most qualified: a fully trained huntsmen leading an Academy (like Ozpin) with an army and knowledge of this secret war. What, was Ironwood supposed to read the script and wait for the group of dropout teenagers to arrive and save the world instead? To say nothing of how his power and responsibility are framed as sacrifices, not something he sought out. Ironwood doesn’t want to be the sole ruler here. His desperate relief at having allies again proves it. Good setup for the rise of a dictator would have been Ironwood being cagey with his information and exerting control over the group... not telling them everything, not giving them more power, not letting them keep the Lamp, not taking arrest off the table so as to keep them in line, and generally doing the opposite of everything he did do to share that responsibility and power. RWBY got very good at giving us the first half of these red flags  — he has an army, he’s stubborn, he’s hurting Mantle, etc.  — but then time and time again introduced a context that changed that flag dramatically: they are fighting literal monsters, he’s no more stubborn than our title character, hurting Mantle is a consequence of a plan he thinks will help the whole world and our heroes back this. Those who insist that Ironwood was 100% a villain in the making (or a villain already) prior to shooting Oscar are working from their assumption of what his archetype represents, not what RT actually put on screen. Because RT is just really bad at writing a dictator character. They didn’t have the skill to manage someone who only appeared good on the surface, let alone a character with the complex nuance of wielding “coolness” to their advantage, which is why in Volume 8 they had to resort to cartoon villainy with literal, evil spotlights. It’s not that the audience is too dumb to pick up on those red flags, it’s that RT couldn’t manage to plant them without continually introducing valid justifications. You can’t say, “Bringing an army is a bad thing. Look at this dictator coding!” without me going, “Yeah, except in the fictional world you created an army does not represent the problems it does in our real life societies. This isn’t a guy amassing soldiers to go after oil, he’s trying to protect people from monsters. Not even metaphoric monsters acting as stand-ins for a minority group. Literal, evil monsters!” RWBY ignores its own context and a good chunk of the fandom ignored it too. 

The problem with that (besides the general frustration of someone ignoring parts of canon to forward a particular reading) is that the fandom’s go-to claim is that everything is meaningful  — and it’s a reading the writers very much support. Fans do not, as the above attests, push for a simple reading of, “Don’t think too hard about it. Just take the surface reading and run with it” which, while still frustrating, would have at least been a valid stance. Rather, they insist very strongly that nuance and depth are what drive the show. From the song lyrics to a tiny detail in the opening, everything is important and if you don’t accept that then you can’t appreciate RWBY’s complexity. 

“Okay,” I said. “Then in that case Ironwood coming around to Ozpin’s position is meaningful too? Glynda  — one of our best and most faultless characters  — supporting him is meaningful? Flipping his gun, defending Weiss, Qrow writing to him, the group working with him for months on end... all of it is meaningful to his characterization? You said so yourself.” 

“No, no, no,” comes the reply. “He’s just bad. But he’s also nuanced. He’s tricked you into thinking he’s a good person by acting kind sometimes, by getting support sometimes, but none of that is true. His actions are what matter and his actions are simplistically bad.” 

“Ohhhh. So then does that mean this story is really about the creation of a villain?” 

“Huh?” 

“Well, Ruby. She’s ‘nuanced’ in the same way. She acts kind sometimes and gets support, but her actions are terrible. She endangered an entire city because she couldn’t wait to see if Ironwood got his letter. She condemned Ozpin for keeping secrets about Salem and then kept those same secrets just two days later. When the kingdom was under attack she sat around drinking tea, crying on a staircase, just hoping someone would come fix things for her  — all while actively sabotaging the one person who was trying to save people, even if that action seems silly to us (let’s fly really high). So if we’re looking at the impact of someone’s actions outside of their intent, as we just did with Ironwood, then she’s a bad guy too, yeah?” 

“No! She’s the hero!” 

“... these characters don’t know she’s the hero from a meta perspective. If we’re supposed to judge the meaning of RWBY based on these details — ” 

“But it’s not just the details. It’s also the allusions. Everyone in RWBY is based on another person or character. It’s very complex and that inspiration drives their story, so if you don’t have that information it’s no surprise you’re confused. For example, this is why Penny had to get a human body. That’s what happened to Pinocchio!” 

“Oh! So then Ironwood is destined to be a good guy!” 

“What?” 

“Well, you just said the allusions drive their stories, right? The whole point of the Tin Man is that he always had a heart and just needed to realize that. So clearly — “ 

“No! He’s supposed to be a classic dictator, he’s only bad!” 

And ‘round and ‘round we go. RWBY’s writing is atrocious yet the fandom pushes this narrative that it’s all a complex, multi-layered story that requires taking every part into account to understand the “real” message... but when you try to do that with certain characters like Ozpin and Ironwood it’s, “No, actually, they’re just simple archetypes of Bad Men.” Nuance exists for the bees, but not other ships. It exists for the characters fans like, but not the ones they don’t. And RWBY’s inspirations have to predict the ending for this character... but not that other character. It’s a nonsense grab bag! 

Fans are right that Ironwood had a lot of red flags to set up this downfall. Fans are also right that those red flags were severely undercut, thus reversing their impact. Fans are right that Ironwood becomes a 100% bad guy who kills because he can and threatens to bomb a city. Fans are also right that this characterization feels absurd for Ironwood, both in terms of his morality and his intelligence (how does bombing Mantle help you now??) Ironwood is badly written. He was badly written in 7 and 8, if he was always meant to be a dictator in the making then he was badly written in 2-6, and he’s conclusively badly written when it comes to lacking a backstory and a canonical semblance  — two things are are supposedly driving all of this characterization. That’s the answer: not that he’s good, or bad, but that RWBY can’t write a consistent character, let alone a nuanced one, so it’s no surprise the fandom can’t decide on anything. What’s there to decide on? It’s that nonsense grab bag. In a different show I think making the dictator appear cool would be a crucial bit of commentary, but RWBY doesn’t have the skill to pull that off.