#i like the romance as a center point. with family drama on the side

[atlas-affogato]

When starting this work I said to myself "you know what, not enough fanfiction explores family dynamics along side platonic and romantic ones, I'm going to really focus on the fact that they each have people they care about" and that has been BITING ME IN THE ASS THIS WHOLE GODDAMN TIME

[chkrschss]

Just went through my fam’s typical Filipino holiday party so I’m making up SVSSS headcanons based on what would characters do at a FilAm party. CAUTION: there is no rhyme or reason. Just based off my life and gut feelings.

Luo Binghe is my tita with unmatched baking skills. Would be employed to make desserts for the event. Alternatively, the aunts and uncles are extremely impressed with his culinary skills and would fawn over him. If he was the new boyfriend Shen Yuan was introducing to the family, LBH would succeed at getting everyone’s approval.

Shen Yuan will be debriefing Shang Qinghua on personal and family drama in a separate room from the party. Has stolen a whole 2L bottle of soda, two champagne glasses, and the charcuterie board for this debrief.

Shang Qinghua is with SY debriefing. Alternatively is whining about college papers/writing to Shen Yuan who is sassing him. I think he’d take most of the skin from the lechon. Takes the turon for later. He does do rounds to check on people just because someone will ask him to do something.

Mu Qingfang prolly is insane at Mahjong. Idk why. I just think that would be good for him. Also, Ning Yingying. I think she’d be insanely good at it.

Additionally, in this hypothetical alternate reality, Shen Jiu is here and is also playing Mahjong. He taught Ning Yingying the moves and now she’s as good as him. Also, Su Xiyan would be really good as well. I think Zhuzhi Lang is secretly really good too. Probably subs in for Su Xiyan from time to time. Mahjong would be so competitive.

Mobei Jun, Luo Binghe, and Sha Hualing are like the cool kid cousins. They’re just sitting on the cousins or are in a different room talking idly or on their phones.

At some point, a group of people would probably be playing some video games. Maybe like playing Super Smash Bros. Probably Shen Yuan is at the center of it all. Liu Qingge joins because he’s curious what SY is doing. Luo Binghe joins because he wants to be with SY and is jealous of LQG. Shang Qinghua would play and Liu Mingyan probably would too. Which probably leads to Sha Hualing watching along with Mobei Jun. Zhuzhi Lang gets invited to join and is lowkey really good.

Liu Qingge would be enlisted to help cut the lechon bc he’s a strong young man. Also, someone would sense that he’d just give up and help if it meant helping the family. Otherwise, he is off to the side chowing down. Probably checking in on his sister from time to time but Liu Mingyan is just vibing.

Of course, Tianlang Jun is here for juicy gossip tho. Also, I think he’d be on Facebook Live showing the fam back in the Philippines what’s happening. I think a portion of the party would include him on a call loudly talking with relatives.

I have a hard time imagining what Yue Qingyuan would be doing. Either helping clean while the party is happening or participating in Mahjong. Maybe just sitting and watching Shen Jiu play happily. Getting him whatever he wants.

Of course with the romance, titas would be asking Shen Yuan when he’s marrying his boyfriend and he’d be like “for the last time, Luo Binghe is just my friend!!”. In the background, Su Xiyan is restraining her husband from saying anything while Luo Binghe is sobbing. I think people would tell Zhuzhi Lang about their friend’s kids and be like “you need to go out and find someone”.

The cherry on top has gotta be karaoke, though.

Shang Qinghua would use it and wail Bruno Mars or Adele. He’s actually a decent singer but he’s here to be dramatic, not perfect. Additional ad libs and heckling from Shen Yuan ensue.

Someone would pressure Yue Qingyuan to sing and he’s pretty good but very little showmanship.

Shen Yuan would compliment someone singing and then Luo Binghe would snatch a mic and sing the most cheesy songs.

He would 100% sing ‘Marry You’ by Bruno Mars and the implication would fly over Shen Yuan’s head.

Sha Hualing would be insanely good tho. She would drag Liu Mingyan in and it would be a beautiful duet.

Mu Qingfang singing ‘Open Arms’ by Journey. That’s the whole bullet point.

ZHUZHI LANG WOULD HAVE THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL. Serenading the family. People would be crowing in joy at his voice.

Tianlang Jun likes hearing his wife sing and she obliges for a singular song. In turn, Tianlang Jun sings like ten songs all directed to Su Xiyan who also enjoys hearing her husband sing.

Luo Binghe finds it cringy when his dad sings but loves hearing his mom’s singing.

Again, take this with a grain of salt. I’m just rambling but I love making up hypotheticals of them all lmao. Feel free to add on your ideas of what they’d do.

[lurkingshan]

10 Things I Love About Khun Chai

I did it, y’all. I watched my first lakorn, and let me tell you, I had a fucking fantastic time doing it. Now that’s not a blanket endorsement of the genre, because I understand Khun Chai aka To Sir, With Love is pretty unique, particularly in that it’s a period queer love story with a happy ending. But as a different kind of Thai drama than any I’d previously seen, it was truly a great watch.

It has some flaws, sure. It’s a soap opera, so melodrama, repetitive story beats, overdramatic acting, and slow pacing are par for the course. If you go in understanding that, you’ll be fine. And the episodes are long af but don’t be shy about increasing the playback speed - I watched a lot of it at 1.5x and it was perfectly smooth. Now that I’ve finished it, I think the time investment was totally worth it (@bengiyo my final rec - worth going back to finish! It worked better for me when I broke it up in chunks of 2-3 episodes at a time).

Without further ado, the top ten reasons I loved it:

1. TIAN MY BELOVED

Look at him. Just look at his beautiful traumatized face!! I hold that it’s impossible to watch this entire show and not come out absolutely loving this man. He is so believably flawed but at his core he is good. He is generous. He is loyal. He is brave. And he looks very good in a three piece suit.

Honestly I could do a whole top ten list just about Tian but let’s move on and give some love to the rest of the show.

2. Did I mention this is a PERIOD ROMANCE??!! Something we get so precious little of in bl. I asked @absolutebl a while back if they knew of any other Thai period bls, and this was the entire list. So good thing it’s excellent!

The show is set in the 1930s and 40s in Japanese-occupied Thailand, and it centers on a powerful Thai-Chinese family (currently leading a cooperative partnership of five families) and the power struggle over who will be the heir (Succession, but make it Asian and queer). The show digs into really interesting family structure, politics, and class struggle stuff.

3. The brotherly bond is unmatched and undefeated. The plot centers on two brothers, Tian and Yang, who love each other so much, like I cannot emphasize enough how willing these brothers are to protect and die for each other. If someone was shooting at them they would both try to dive in front of the bullet. Their bond is so touching and provides an emotional through line when the plot gets wacky.

4. The classic soap opera plots are truly brilliant, all your favorite tropes are here. This show has everything - family secrets, nefarious schemes, murderous maids, mystical poisons, faen fatales, even sex pollen! As I believe @ginnymoonbeam put it at one point - everything is happening so much all the time. It’s truly a delightful romp, especially after the halfway point when the plot machinations really kick into high gear.

5. The queer love story is the main romance and emotional heart of the show. There are actually two romances in this show - each of the brothers gets a love interest. And both of them are lovely. But rather than the typical move where a het drama features a queer side pairing, here the entire story is driven by Tian’s sexual identity, the burden placed on him to keep it a secret, and how increasingly impossible that becomes once he meets Jiu. Over the course of this show, we get to watch Tian fall in love and finally live his truth and see how that changes him. It’s truly beautiful, and the romance between Tian and Jiu is so sweet (and a bit racier than I expected - the show does not shy away from the sexual aspect of this relationship). The romance between Yang and Pin is also very sweet - they are adorable tbh - but entirely secondary.

6. Every frame of this show is absolutely gorgeous. The scenery is lush, the costumes are beautiful, the tailoring is impeccable, the hair and makeup never misses. It’s truly a feast for the eyes.

7. There are so many good female characters in this show, y’all! Tian and Yang have not one but 4 or 5 different mother figures. They are all flawed, complex, and a little nuts. They get up to so much trouble and drive a lot of the plot with their scheming, hijinks, and prolific wielding of murderous sparkle dust (don’t ask, you have to see it to understand). Pin, Tian’s would be fiancé turned sister-in-law, is a total sweetheart, but she’s also smart and fierce with a steel core and not afraid to tell her man when he’s being stupid. There’s even a lady boss at the head of one of the five families.

8. Relatedly, there is so much complex family drama in this show, and so many interesting dysfunctional parental relationships. @waitmyturtles you will have a field day when you finally get to watch this. Both brothers have fraught relationships with their various parent figures, for very different reasons. The various relationships and resentments that form between the wives and the sons in a polygamous family unit (did I mention that yet? there are three wives in the mix here and the brothers have different biological moms) are absolutely fascinating.

9. The resolution to the succession plot and ultimate defeat of the Big Bad was so satisfying. I won’t get into spoiler territory, but let me just say that the characters went through a lot together and to see the way they ultimately had to come together and let go of their baggage to survive was very cool. It felt earned.

10. IT ENDS WITH A BIG OLD HEAP OF GAY DOMESTIC BLISS!!! I will get into spoiler territory here because you deserve to know that if you put in the time to watch this show you will be rewarded with a very happy couple forming a family unit and living peacefully on their own terms. I was so pleased with this ending, I can’t even tell you. The final scenes made me cry real tears, I was so touched. And they even put a literal rainbow in the sky at the end. A literal rainbow! Come on!

Watch it, friends! It’s worth your time.

[rantceratops]

I don’t like feeling so attached to a ship that it feels like my enjoyment of the show is deeply and intrinsically tied to that ship. It sucks. It narrows my field of view for all the amazing character dynamics and makes me feel like media is nothing without shipping. Like there’s no depth or fun to be had outside of romance. I generally feel that way sometimes and I hate it.

It’s like my brain thinks “Well, if I don’t write a romance fic, what is there really to write about? What will people even like about it if it’s not romance centered/heavy?”

I have spent my entire life of fandom nerdage being so obsessed with ships and romance that I can’t say for sure I’ve ever honestly written more than a drabble that was non ship or romance related. 98% of my art gallery is ships. And I personally feel saddened by this, putting it into perspective.

I’m not saying that I think it’s bad to ship, or that I should just never let myself enjoy couples in media. It’s okay to find joy in romantic narrative, however, if it’s at a point where I’m seriously asking myself the above questions and wondering if I would even still love YJ s1 so much if Wally and Artemis weren’t a thing… that’s really bad, imo.

Artemis and Wally are not my favorite characters because they are a ship. They’re my favorite characters because I enjoy them themselves first and foremost. I loved YJ before Artemis was even introduced, so it stands to reason I love the show beyond a romantic pair. I love superhero shows for the powers, the characters, the fights, the superhero drama, the fams(Batfam, flashfam, etc). I loved Teen Titans because I loved Beast Boy, and I loved the team dynamic, the silliness, the fights, the pseudo anime style, the tone. I enjoyed Terra/Beast Boy and Starfire/Robin, and it was a big “Finally!” when the latter got together, but I never ever felt my happiness or enjoyment of the show hinged on those pairings, even though the former ending sadly did break my lil heart.

I love Young Justice because I love the tone, the setting, the characters, the dynamics, powers, the over-arching plot. I enjoyed the covert ops style of the Team and found it a refreshing take on the superhero cartoon genre. I love how grounded the series is while still being wild and fun. I loved getting to see the Team as normal teenagers that happened to have very grand extracurriculars. I loved the animation and character designs.

Artemis is my favorite. I love her because she has such a great design. She’s cool, she looks cool. She’s snarky and kind of jaded, she takes no shit, she knows what she’s about and what she wants, and no one, not even Batman, is going to stop her. She’s a tough girl, she’s insecure and hides it with confidence she might not always feel. She’s one of a kind, she’s the white sheep of her family. I love her back story. Despite everything, she is who she wants to be, she never lost sight of that. I love her relationship with Jade, how she loves her sister despite being on opposite sides and Jade ditching her. She’s passionate and observant and smart and badass and she wants to love and be loved. That’s why Artemis Crock is my favorite. Not because she’s with Wally. And even though I enjoy her dynamic with Wally, Artemis would still be Artemis with or without him. Neither character is a half of a whole, they’re perfectly whole alone and just happen to work well together.

I just don’t like feeling so beholden to shipping, to the point it’s all I engage in and it feels like if the couple ends I’m just gonna fucking lose all interest. Blech. It’s something I want to get away from.

[unicorrrrrn]

what are your fav kdramas?

Yay! An ask on my main tumblr!! I have SO many favorite k-dramas that I love for different reasons but these are the ones that come to mind that I think about a lot.

Most of My favorite K-dramas:

Extraordinary You/ A Day Found By Chance (fantasy/romance): This magical k-drama has my heart. It plays with all of the predictable tropes and then just goes crazy! While not perfect towards the end, I give this show bonus points for being super creative AND inspiring me to read a LOT of fan fic. I think about this drama more than any other.

Fight for My Way (romcom) I love this drama! The couple is one of my OTPs and it’s really funny and a mostly lighthearted story of a group of friends. It’s down to earth and adorable - I’ve never had anyone complain about this one!

Melo Is My Nature (slice of life): This drama is by far my favorite slice-of-life drama of 2019. Found family, strong and complex characters, I laughed, I cried. Plus a gay character that’s an actual character, with the gay as a casual side note (classy k-drama!!) It was just a perfect show for me. There’s romance, but all of the stories are super interesting.

Extraordinary You/ A Day Found By Chance (fantasy/romance): This magical k-drama has my heart. It plays with all of the predictable tropes and then just goes crazy! While not perfect towards the end, I give this show bonus points for being super creative AND inspiring me to read a LOT of fan fic. I think about this drama more than any other and Eun Dan Oh is so special!!

Shopping King Louie (romcom): Ridiculously fun and lighthearted romp following a spoiled and useless chaebol with amnesia who is being taken care of by a country bumpkin in the city. Very low stakes, super adorable couple, and as many tropes as you can fit in your bag, this one is one of my favorites to recommend.

Just Between Lovers (romance/melo): Slice of Life romance between poor trauma babies just trying to live! The OTP is one of my favorite couples EVER and even as the years go on, very few couples have matched their love in my opinion. There’s a lot of comfort/healing themes with for me is just *chef’s kiss.* Lee Junho became my bias wrecker because of that drama.

The Eighth Sense (bl queer romance): This is the only 2023 drama to make this list! It's super atmospheric and has so much more character development than any korean bl I've ever seen. I loved it so much!

Run On: (rom com) This show follows four people in their daily lives: An athletic, a translator, a CEO and an artist. Soft soft couples!! Y'all know I love this slice of life rom com for so many reasons, but you might not know that Kang Tae Oh’s character (the himbo painter) is like one of my dream boys. BLORBO FROM MY SHOWS. Also there is so much bi nuance and an ace character, just saying!

The Best Hit / Hit The Top (romcom): A famous 90′s boyband dude travels into the future and meets up with his family and friends in this really cute drama featuring Yoon Shi Yoon. I LOVE Yoon Shi Yoon in pretty much everything but this role was made for him - he is hilarious. It’s a slice of life but features the k-pop music industry so the setting is unique.

Into The Ring (workplace/romcom): The perfect slice-of-life rom com! Goo Se Ra has trouble holding down a job due to her passionate personality so after she loses her latest job working for the ML, she decides to run for a small government office position because it pays a salary. Literally she does it for the money which is just *chef’s kiss.* The show is about her dealing with local politics and it’s SO FUNNY and smart and the OTP is the best! 

Flower of Evil: A psychological thriller centered around a jewelry maker who is running from his past, and his cop wife (power couple alert!)  who doesn’t know his original identity. The chemistry of the couple is amazing and all of the characters are nuanced and interesting. I was on the edge of my seat, AND sobbing! I’m going to be rewatching this in 2021 for sure. 

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes (psychological thriller): This drama has a lot of psychological thriller-y aspects but the style of filming is really interesting and the leads could not be more angsty (especially the guy). It takes them a while to get together and while not entirely pleasant, this show is one of my faves.

Healer: Everyone knows healer will always have my heart and it’s a super popular k-drama. Healer is played by Ji Chang Wook (swoon) and he gets involved with a feisty reporter played by Park Min Young (also swoon). It’s an action adventure with some very classic tropes: Rich people scandals, murders and hidden pasts. But it also has some of my favorite tropes: Beta Male Lead, childhood friends to lovers and traumatic pasts.

Cheating because it's a jdrama: Cherry Magic! (30-sai made Dotei Da to Mahotsukai ni Nareru rashii): I know this is a Jdrama but it’s the only drama that got a perfect score from me in 2020! If you’ve never felt like trying a jdrama, Cherry Magic is the one! Every episode was so endearing and sweet, and it even has ace representation, and does it well! I basically smiled the whole time and loved every second. Soft Romance and the best couple!

[jemsboner]

I read chain of thorns btw, it was fine but I have a lot of a lot of little complaints that just add up lol

- i miss the earlier books that centered around just the heroine and were almost exclusively from her pov. Now the povs feel like they change every two seconds because the main casts are just way too huge and all always needed something to do.

- in a similar vein, i don’t care about side couples and I never have. I end up skipping like 50 or so pages a book because every. single. character. has to be in love and I have to hear about every single trial and tribulation and make out for some reason. I understand romance is a big aspect of these and don’t get me wrong, i LOVE romance, but these books are so bloated with every teenager having to have one on one moments constantly that I feel like the group dynamics take a hit and even big plot moments feel rushed to make more room for side stuff. Your 800 page book should not feel rushed.

-the family tree being not correct has been a mysterious detail since cp2 and the answer being some lady just did it wrong cause she felt like it is so stupid 😭

-James and Cordelia being in a fight based on a miscommunication for half the book just for drama is infuriating. The reason James does not tell Cordelia about Grace barely makes sense and is only there JUST so he won’t tell her and make the drama last longer.

-the reasons for the adults to be out of the picture just so the kids can be main characters are getting so unbelievable. I was actually interested in Tessa’s trial but too bad we didn’t get to see any of it, and then they all just go to Alicante for a quick trip as if the world isn’t literally ending 😭

-similarly, the lengths tlh goes through to make sure that the tid cast does not steal any spotlight really hurts it I think. Obviously I’m biased and I just want to see Tessa but I don’t think that’s a crazy ask? Like the plot revolves around the fact that her father is a powerful demon and how that affects her kids, but we don’t even get to hear from her after a whole mob accuses her of consorting with Belial. In tmi the adults were not the main focus, but they were *there* and they did things outside of giving vague life advice and then being offscreen for 95% of the books. It’s just feels weird, not even in a stan way, but in these kids’ parents are NEVER around way lmao. Will got to be the designated spokesperson for all of the tid characters and everyone else gets to say nothing ever.

- I’m tired of the demon realms. I never wanna go to a demon realm again.

-Christopher was my favorite of the side characters and I don’t feel like that much weight was given to his death to the point where I was actually surprised when he stayed dead lmao.

Wow I sound like such a hater but i promise im not trying to be 😭 i found it fun enough to still read it within a day, like it’s fine. I just don’t feel a lot of love in the books anymore, they’re very copy and paste and follow a very specific formula but I guess thats what happens when you write at such a rapid pace in the same universe for over a decade. I say all of this but I’m still gonna read the next one lol. Until next time 🫡✌️

[consumeronionbulletin]

Hospital Playlist (2020, 2021)

This show was great! Some of the medical stuff was a little too real (for my taste), but the characters were the best! It's great TV, where you just get to follow around these interesting people with cool jobs for a year or two of their life. What's not to enjoy?

What Worked

The scenes with the band. All the friendships. Most of the romance stuff. The thoughtful approach to medical issues. The fact that they avoided most of the typical medical drama tropes. The cute little kids (especially the actor that played Lee Ik-jun's son). All the scenes with the five just hanging out!

What Didn't Work

The pacing was a little slow sometimes, which I didn't have a problem with, but I know bothered some people. Some of the medical stuff, but again that's more of a preference.

The Performances

This is a show with a huge ensemble cast and lots of guest stars. And the writers are good, so they make sure and give each of them a few moments, at least, to shine. There's no way to cover everything without writing a huge novel. So I'll stick to my favorites.

Jo Jung-suk as Lee Ik-jun. This guy was just so much fun to watch. All of the funniest moments on the show were centered around him. All of the cringiest dad jokes also featured him. I never got tired of watching him.

Jeon Mi-do as Chae Song-hwa. I loved this character, and this actress. The biggest "in-joke" this show ever did was hire an experienced musical theatre actor and make her pretend she couldn't sing for two seasons. And it was still charming to watch! She was the heart of the show, and we need more smart, goofy, nerdy characters like this on TV.

Yoo Yeon-seok as Ahn Jeong-win (Andrea). It took awhile for me to warm up to this character, because he felt too good to be believed. But once we got to know him, and saw more about his point of view, he became one of my favorites.

Junk Kyung-ho as Kim Jun-wan. It took longer for me to warm up to this character, but that was mostly the writing. By the end of the first season, I really enjoyed watching him be the grumpy straight-man for all the antics going on. I also really liked his relationship with Lee Ik-sun, even though the arc felt a little manufactured.

Kim Dae-myung as Yang Seok-hyeong. The show did really good on the medical stuff with this character, but less good with the everyday life stuff. He had to deal with some of the most sensitive and heartbreaking situations and the actor and the writers handled them all very well. Worth watching because of this.

Kwak Sun-young as Lee Ik-sun. I saw her in Encounter and she was really enjoyable, especially when they let her break out some of her comedy skills, but she wasn't particularly memorable. She was great in this role. Lots of good chemistry with both her romantic arc and with her family stories. Just charming and funny and the show did a good job of letting her shine. The romantic arc had a little fake drama added, but the actors still made it work.

Shin Hyun-been as Jang Gyeo-ul. The show took its time with this character, and didn't really bring her to the front until season two. But I liked her interactions with the other characters, and her romantic arc was really good too. She handled the family drama stuff in it particularly well.

Ahn Eun-jin as Chu Min-ha. I feel like the character is kind of a mirror for her romantic interest in the show (Seok-hyeong). She got a ton of character stuff and was forced to stand to the side in alot of the medical stuff. Ahn Eun-jin basically carried the romance arc for season two (which is partly on the writers), but she made it fun to watch.

Ha Yoon-kyung as Heo Sun-bin. This was one of the actor's earlier roles, but she did a good job with what they writers gave her. You can see why they started giving her bigger roles later on (especially Extraordinary Attorney Woo), though she was definitely a minor character here.

Everyone else: Again, there are so many people and the guest stars / "patients" show up occasionally later on, which is nice when you can remember who they are. The two med-student twins were fun to watch. The old people antics were enjoyable, and the actors for them did a good job with the drama when it was called for. There were lots of adorable child actors that rarely got annoying. Just alot of good talent showing up when needed.

TL; DR:

I'm not usually a fan of medical dramas. The last one that really hooked me was maybe ER and that was such a long time ago it may as well be the stone age. But I loved this one. The actors were great, the show was serious when it needed to be, but was not afraid to joke around and that created a really good balance.

[playboythekiller]

pairings :

- MxM

- MxF(only comfortable playing female)

- FxF

genres :

- drama – : ♡

- romance – : ♡

- angst – : ♡

- fluff / comfort – : ♡

- sci-fi – : ✖

- horror / gore – : ♡

- fantasy / alternative universe – : ♡

- mystery – : ✖

- thriller – : ✖

- crime - : ♡

tropes :

- forbidden romance – : ♡

- arranged marriage – : ✖

- enemies to lovers – : ♡

- friends to lovers – : ♡

- lovers to enemies – : ✖

- second chance – : ♡

- found family – : ♡

- love triangle – : ♡

- anti-hero – : ♡

- rags to riches – : ✖

- snowed in – : ✖

- fake dating – : ✖

- love hate relationship - : ♡

- childhood friends - : ♡

- single parent - : ♡

- toxic relationship - : ♡

rules :

- i’m a semi lit to novella writer depending on the point of the story, but i’ll never do or accept one liners. i just don’t find it motivating to continue the rp.

- life comes first, but after 2 weeks of not responding with no heads up i’ll drop the rp. i can be iffy with responding due to my mental health so i don’t hold it against anyone

- i only write in third person, please do not control my character.

- i play versatile roles, sub and dom, and like to be vers throughout the rp. i’ll make exceptions for strict tops if i like the character, but no strict bottoms

- all my rp’s involve romance and nsfw themes are pretty much a must but it’s never the center of the story. i’m open to a lot of nsfw themes expect anything with feet, bathroom stuff, armpits, vomit, huge age gaps, and race play

- i mainly play oc’s, majority of my oc’s are people of color and i don’t hold back with their background and culture as a person of color myself

- please share your interests and triggers with me as well so we can have a fun time writing on both ends

- i love world building and playing side characters that have depth to them, little and huge details make the rp fun so please be open to that

[goddamnwebcomics]

Mr. Hare Comics

Just to be quick, I’ll put these ones together.

Ms. Rabbit and Mr. Hare:

It was a simple romantic porn comic by a user named Tail-Blazer.

Taking place in the Victorian era of London, the comic centers around Mr. Hare (a handyman, painter, and descendant of the landowner Hare family owning a majority of land around the town of Woodburrow) and his lover, Ms. Rabbit, doing various romantic and sexually intimate activities together. Basically, each page just goes from normal dates and gifts to heavy sexual intercourse immediately afterwards.

It’s a short comic (with a bonus comic on the side) that I’m only recommending since it’s sort of important for the next comic.

Mr. Hare:

It’s a romantic pornographic webcomic by Tail-Blazer (artist) and Jessica “Star” Estrella (writer).

After his old lover, Ms. Rabbit, breaks up with him, Mr. Hare tries to move on with his life. He ends up running into Lady Fox, an attractive and wealthy heiress of the strict Fox family, who begins going through heat and needs some satisfaction fast. Conveniently, that satisfaction walked right into her, and Mr. Hare, being the gentleman that he is, indulged in “fixing” her problem. From then on, the two start growing an intimate relationship together that they’ll need to keep on the down low due to the stuffy, reductive beliefs and racism of their era. Privacy is especially important when there are certain individuals trying to benefit from the growing gossip in order to gain more land and riches from both of them, mainly from Mr. Hare.

As you can tell, this comic is more narratively focused compared to MRMH. It has more drama, romance, and a sprinkle of comedy that coincide with the porn than just being the focal point. I will say it does feel like the relationship and sex come in more sooner than later, and, depending on who you are, the sex scenes will feel dragged out for one’s liking. You definitely might get something out of this.

This is funny. The first comic is about how Mr. Hare and Mrs. Rabbit lovey dovey eachother and in the second comic, BAM, divorce.

The artstyle looks good, like despite having human as hell proportions the characters don’t look too uncanny. I wouldn’t riff it if it wasn’t for the porn stuff.

[squeakygeeky]

From what I've picked up, true lakorns are generally over an hour per episode, air a few times a week, and air for a few months. They're generally meant as family viewing, not in that they're kid friendly exactly but that they won't offend grandma and it's fine if the kids are in the room. In general, One31 makes lakorns, GMMTV makes series and series are aimed at more specific audience, generally younger, more western in outlook. Unlike To Sir With Love, Laws of Attraction was marketed as a series (Film called it one), but I think in this case it was more the shorter runtime and focus on the BL romance, rather than the vibes. I'm assuming they wanted to get something JamFilm out quickly to capitalize on the success of TSWL, especially with the BL audience.

Lakorns almost always center around a het romance although some are more suspenseful or more purely family based. Lots of drama, lots of emotion, villains scheme and are eventually punished or reformed. Queer characters tended to be on the side and comic relief, but obviousy that's changing. Miracle of Teddy Bear was a lakorn.

LoA did very well on television with a 1% rating for the last two episodes which is pretty typical for a lakorn but way higher than any typical BL partly because even the BLs that air on broadcast TV are marketed towards a demographic that prefers to stream. Lower than TSWL though, which I think peaked at 4 point something. I'm pretty sure the tiger balm was product placement if that tells you anything about the target demographic of LoA.

No heat kisses may be common in lakorns but someone else would need to chime in on that, it could be that they were being extra careful no one could object to the gay. TSWL also featured the same sort of kiss, while the het side couple were only allowed a nice hug, so it may not actually be the gay.

Film is an experienced lakorn actor and I think both he and Jam are being careful to preserve their solo careers within the lakorn space. They're doing plenty of joint promo, but they're not out there doing fanservice. They very much emphasize the professional mentor-mentee aspect of their relationship. Film has also discussed his approach to playing Tien in To Sir With Love specifically in context of him being heterosexual. I also think Film is in a position career-wise to easily say no to things that make him uncomfortable or that just don't interest him as a part of acting.

Genuinely this show felt like the team watched only Manner of Death and was like, yep, we can make a BL now. Similarly to ABL I don't really feel yaoi in it, and I've been thinking a lot about how that plays into things like how little the camera cares that the height difference is in the wrong direction (you know what I mean, right? Right??) and that the queer characters seem queer even though in no way did this series aim for realism.

Okay, I just finished Laws of Attraction and I have some questions. Why does it seem so stylistically different from all the other shows (kind of like Manner of Death which I know you've mentioned is like, not really a BL)? Is this a lakorn (Also what is lakorn? Thai soap opera?) Or is it just that the setting was like with actual grown ups so it feels different to the usual high school/university shows? But it was so low heat! I felt like it should have been more mature. And it seemed a little higher quality but like...also not. Clothing? Great. Acting? Pretty good. Fighting and special effects?...meh. Is it the production company? Or are there actually lots of shows like this, I just don't know about them because I get my info from a little Tumblr BL bubble? Next, I LOVED pining bodyguard/pathetic rich bb. Those gazes went to my SOUL. WHERE CAN I GET MORE OF THIS? It's a little reminiscent of the whipping boy trope which you've covered (at least their power dynamic), but Tan wasn't really cruel to Thee. I guess I'm looking for Tall Quiet and Deadly x Broken Babyboy? Also I would like to vote for Chan as Best Dressed. Especially his wedding cloak? Fabulous.

Why does it seem so stylistically different from all the other shows (kind of like Manner of Death which I know you've mentioned is like, not really a BL)?

Because it's more a gay romantic suspense drama than a BL.

So MOD, Trapped, Laws, probably I Feel You Linger, 3 Will Be Free, Not Me. These kinds of shows, owe more DNA to the suspense genre than to BL. They use BL trappings but their narrative backbone isn't actually yaoi dependent.

Is this a lakorn (Also what is lakorn? Thai soap opera?)

Yes, mostly. Not quite. Their first show: To Sir, With Love, is a TRUE lakorn and it's WILD.

Technically lakor means just "drama" in Thai but in reality it has evolved to imply melodramatic soapiness, a lot of similarities to telenovelas.

But it was so low heat! I felt like it should have been more mature.

That's the pair. Max Tule the are not. I think of them on a heat spectrum

MaxTul - 3/3

KarnNut - 2/3

JamFilm - 1/3

And it seemed a little higher quality but like…also not. Clothing? Great. Acting? Pretty good. Fighting and special effects?…meh. Is it the production company?

That's just Thailand.

Next, I LOVED pining bodyguard/pathetic rich bb. Those gazes went to my SOUL. WHERE CAN I GET MORE OF THIS?

It's a little reminiscent of the whipping boy trope which you've covered (at least their power dynamic), but Tan wasn't really cruel to Thee.

It's whipping boy, attack dog + spoiled prince pairing.

I guess I'm looking for Tall Quiet and Deadly x Broken Babyboy?

You know who loves this? @heretherebedork they might have more suggestions here's some of the top of my head.

Never Let Me Go

Where Your Eyes Linger

Golden Blood

My Beautiful Man

Also I would like to vote for Chan as Best Dressed. Especially his wedding cloak? Fabulous.

RIGHT?!!!

[halcyon-hyacinth]

toh fanfics to keep you busy during hiatus, a thread.

A/N: If an author has a (*) by their name, PLEASE check out their other works!!! After combing through the toh archive, I now follow the skilled writers I've found rather than checking ao3 tags. This list could be longer but I really wanted to highlight these writers.

Finding Home Amongst the Infinite by DontDoHeroinKids * Multichapter, ongoing. Adventure/Action, Canon Divergence, Found Family, Friendship.

Mini Summary: Luz is a planes walker, and has spent years stumbling across the multitudes of realities, desperately searching for a way to return to her abandoned home with little success. She winds up in the Isles where she'll find answers and allies to help her on her journey.

One of the best multi chapter fics I've had the pleasure of reading. Luz's dynamic with all the characters is handled extremely well. Unlike other multi chap fics I've read, this is almost entirely done from Luz's POV.

Holding You Back by @FoolsSee *

Canon-Compliant Character Study, completed.

Recommendation in honor of Yesterday's Lie. Pre-season 1 one shot that captures Camila and Luz's relationship really well + strong characterization. Fools has written 27 other toh fics- PLEASE check out the authors other works!!!

Breaking Point by SquirrelWriter *

Canon-Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, completed.

My favorite Luz and Amity oneshot. Not a lot of writers can effectively capture what makes their friendship work and this one knocks it out of the park.

Your Name by SunshineChildx

Multichapter, Slow burn, Friends to lovers, ongoing.

lumity fic based on the move of the same name. Not yet completed, but this is one of the most well written fics I've ever read. The prose and narration are beautiful and I've cried reading it.

Eda Clawthorne's Pro Skater by A_Big_Old_Skeleton

Series, Skateshop AU, Fluff, Angst, Humor, ongoing.

This is the only beta fic I support tbh. The characterization is off the charts and I adore how the author handles everyone's relationships. The comedy and storytelling are superb.

Postcards from a Place Named Threshold by incoherent_icarus_works *

Series, Character Study, ongoing.

A collection of standalone character study oneshots each centered around a different character from The Owl House (atm Luz, Willow, Boscha) . Luz one shot was inspired by @woozywonder art!

Curse Me Goodbye by Lumitations *

Canon Divergence, Comedy, Urban Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Romance. Multichapter, completed.

One of the most fun fics I've ever read. The mystery/intrigue is INCREDIBLE as are the kick-ass action scenes. Lumity centric.

Heir of the Jedi by @whatisurowlpolicy *

Multichapter. Ongoing. Action/Adventure, Star Wars AU, Angst, Fluff, Humor, Enemies to Lovers

I don't know shit about Star Wars and I am begging anyone who is dissuaded by the AU tag to READ THIS FIC! Green is extremely good at handling the ensemble cast of toh along with writing top tier development for every character. It's also lumity centric, and I think y'all will enjoy their take on them.

Our Stories Burn Bright, Hung Like Stars in the Sky by AtticusKaine*

Series, ongoing. Action/Adventure, Romance, Found Family, Humor.

What the hell are you doing with your life if you haven't read this series? Hands down my favorite toh canon divergence, it fleshes out every single character in ways you wouldn't believe.

make my heart your home by @tiredandjaded*

Ongoing series, found family, hurt/comfort.

Takes place in between s1/s2, I take it as canon. The relationships between Luz, Eda and Lilith post YBOS are handled beautifully-- the character dynamics and found family vibes are off the charts.

Hold Me Close by @the-lone-witch-and-secret-room

Oneshot. Completed. Jerbric Hurt/Comfort.

She writes the well-known Locked Out ALONG WITH several god-tier one shots y'all HAVE to read oh my god. This is one of my favorites. The characterization of Jerbo and Edric's relationship is super sweet.

learning how to be (with you by my side) by uniqeusernamegenerator*

Multichapter. Completed. College AU, Romance, Comedy

Atm you can only view it if you have an AO3 account and if you haven't read this masterpiece already YOU MUST! It's easy and free.

This is one of the best lumity fics of all time. The slice of life feel is otherworldly, as is the author's INCREDIBLE prose. Hits you right in the feels along with their skarscha fic windows up, walls down.

Transcendence by rhysanity

Oneshot. Soulmates AU. Completed.

This is what I like to call a ship conversion fic. If you've never considered skarscha before, read this fic. It will hit you in the feels and have you rereading over and over again for eternity.

Golden written by @whatisurowlpolicy / story by both of us *

Multichapter, ongoing. Golden Guard Amity AU. Action/Adventure, Found Family, Drama, Comedy, Hurt/Comfort

Shamless plug, this is one of my favorite ideas I've ever thought of and I am beyond hyped to be co-creating it with Green. We're doing a role reversal following a lot of the same beats of season 1 but putting our own spin on it. You'll see a lot more of the dynamics we haven't seen a lot in season 2 like Amity and Lilith along with Willow and Gus. Gonna go ahead and @anguigenus because Gus and Amity's relationship is one of the major focuses of the fic.

[translations-by-aiimee]

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chapter 18

Original Title:  二哈和他的白猫师尊

Genres: Drama, Romance, Tragedy, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 18 - This Venerable One has Begged You Before

Tianwen has a deadly killing move. The name was very simple, just one word: "Wind". Once activated, no piece of armor in the surrounding area could withstand it.

Mo Ran was naturally acquainted with the power of "Wind". He also knew Chu Wanning's strength so there was no need to worry. He glanced at the pale man whose robe was dyed red with blood. He threw away the rest of his talismans to buy Chu Wanning some time, then flew away to the edge of the fight. He grabbed Shi Mei with one hand, Madam Chen with the other, and took two unconscious people, hiding a far distance away.

Chu Wanning endured the severe pain and reluctantly moved his other. Suddenly, Tianwen burst out with a dazzling golden light, and Chu Wanning violently jerked it back.

The Master of Ceremonies Ghost went berserk. It jumped up and rushed towards Chu Wanning with a distorted face.

Chu Wanning's robe waved like a flame in a violent wind, billowing and flying. His eyebrows were furious, half of his shoulders soaked in blood. He quickly raised his hand, Tianwen's golden light became more and more intense then it took off by Chu Wanning's flying spin.

The willow vine stretched for several tens of feet and whirled into a golden spiral. Like a whirlpool, it engulfed the surrounding ghosts, dead bodies, golden children, and the roaring and twisting Master of Ceremonies Ghost into the center of "Wind". The fierce image that was created by Tianwen was then shattered in an instant!!!

"Wind" smashed and destroyed. Not even the surrounding grass and trees, being ripped up from the ground, were spared.

The huge storm centered around Chu Wanning let out a dazzling golden light. The sky grew dark, covered by flying sand and rocks. Whether it was a coffin or the dead, they were like grass fluttering in the wind.

She was sucked in and was cut up by the rapidly spinning Tianwen.

Sliced into tens of thousands pieces of debris. . .

When everything calmed down, there was no grass around Chu Wanning, a desolate and empty wasteland.

Other than him standing alone in his bright, auspicious clothes that resembled a blooming red lotus and a begonia blossom, there was only a ground covered in crushed white bones, and the horrible hissing of Tianwen's golden light.

From this point of view, Chu Wanning did the world a favour pumping out so many disciples.

Based on his performance today, if he wanted to, even if every disciple on Life-Death Peak were defeated, it wasn't impossible for him to keep fighting. . .

The golden light faded away.

Tianwen turned into flickering dots like stars, blending into Chu Wanning's palm.

He breathed a deep breath and frowned. Enduring the sharp pain in his shoulder, he slowly walked towards his disciples in the distance.

"How's Shi Mei?"

Coming to their side, Chu Wanning pushed through and asked.

The ink burned down to look at the unconscious beauty in his arms. He still wasn't awake, his breathing was weak, and his cheeks felt cold to the touch. This scene was too familiar, it was a nightmare that Mo Ran couldn't get rid of.

As Shi Mei was lying in his arms like this, as time went on, he wasn't breathing anymore. . .

Chu Wanning placed his hands on Madam Chen's and Shi Mei's necks. He mumbled out: "Hmm? How could the poisoning be so deep?"

Mo Ran's head snapped up: "Poison? Didn't you say they were okay? Didn't you say that they were just being compelled?"

Chu Wanning frowned: "The Master of Ceremonies Ghost relied on the fragrance powder to compel them. That was a kind of poison. I thought it was only superficial, but I didn't expect the poison to be this severe."

". . ."

"Send them back to Chen's house first." Chu Wanning said, "It's not difficult to expel the poison. It's fine as long as they don't die."

His voice was cold and unwavering. Although Chu Wanning normally spoke like this, at this moment, it really made people feel like he was uncaring and downplaying things.

Mo Ran was brought back to that year of heavy snow. He was knelt in the snow and in his arms was Shi Mei whose life was slipping away. With tears on his face, he hoarsely begged Chu Wanning to turn his head, look at his disciple, and pleaded for him to raise his hand to save his disciple's life.

But what did Chu Wanning say back then?

It was also in such a light and calm tone of voice.

Just like that, rejecting Mo Ran the one time he knelt down and begged.

In the heavy snow, the person in his arms gradually became as cold as the snow falling on his shoulders and eyelashes.

That day, Chu Wanning killed two disciples with his own hands.

One was Shi Mingjing, who he could have saved but didn't.

One was Mo Weiyu, kneeling in the snow mourning the death of his heart.

There was a sudden panic in his heart, a brutality, a snake-like flow of resentment, rage and viciousness.

There was a moment when he suddenly wanted to rise up and strangle Chu Wanning. Wanted to shed his kind and pleasant disguise, revealing the hideousness of a malevolent ghost. Like a fierce ghost from a previous life, it viciously tore into him, questioning him and demanding his life.

He claimed the lives of the two helpless disciples in that snowfield.

But when his eyes flicked up, they suddenly fell on Chu Wanning's blood-covered shoulder.

The beast's anger was suddenly cut off.

He didn't say another word, just stared at Chu Wanning's face with poorly-masked hateful eyes. Chu Wanning didn't notice. After a while, he lowered his head again and stared at Shi Mei's haggard face.

His mind gradually went blank.

If something happened to Shi Mei this time, then. . .

"Cough cough cough!!"

The person in his arms abruptly coughed. Mo Ran was stunned and his heart trembled. . . Shi Mei slowly opened his eyes, and his voice was extremely hoarse and weak.

"A-. . . Ran. . .?"

"Yes! It's me!" In his ecstasy, the haze disappeared. Mo Ran's eyes widened. The palms of his hands were pressed against Shi Mei's cool cheeks, and his shining eyes trembled. "Shi Mei, how do you feel? Does anything hurt? "

Shi Mei smiled lightly, his eyebrows still. He turned his head, and looked around: ". . . How are we here. . . How did I faint. . . Ah! Shizun. . . cough cough, this disciple is incompetent. . . this disciple. . ."

"Don't talk," Chu Wanning said.

He gave Shi Mei a pill: "Since you're awake, take this poison dispersing pill. Don't swallow it right away."

Shi Mei took the medicine then was suddenly taken aback, his colourless face appearing even more transparent: "Shizun, how did you get hurt? You're covered in blood. . ."

Chu Wanning still had that faint, calm, irritating voice: "It's nothing."

He got up and glanced at Mo Ran.

"You, find a way to bring both of them back to the Chen's residence."

When Shi Mei woke up, the gloom that was deep in his heart suddenly vanished. He nodded quickly: "Okay!"

"I'll go first. I have something to ask the Chen family."

Chu Wanning said and turned to leave. Facing the vast darkness of the night, the fields covered in decay, he finally couldn't supress a twitch in his eyebrow, revealing a painful expression.

The entire shoulder was pierced by five fingers, the tendons and veins were torn apart, and the Master of Ceremonies Ghost's claws even pierced the bones deep in his flesh and blood. No matter how he pretended to endure it calmly, no matter how he tried to stave the bleeding, he was still be a human being.

It still hurt. . .

But so what if it hurts.

He walked forward one foot after another, the hem of the wedding dress flying around.

For so many years, people respected and feared him, but no one has dared stand by his side. No one cares about him. He has long been used to it.

Yuheng of the Night Sky, the Beidou Immortal.

No one liked him. No one cared whether he lived or died, whether he was sick or suffering.

He seemed to be born without the need for the support of others, no need to rely on anyone, no need for company.

So there was no need to shout out in pain, and crying was even more unnecessary. Just go and dress the wounds, cut off all the festering flesh around the tear and apply ointment on it.

It didn't matter if no one cared about him.

Anyway, that's how he came to be alone. He's survived all these years. He can take care of himself.

When he came to the door of the Chen residence, before he entered the courtyard, he heard an ear-piercing scream.

Chu Wanning didn't care about aggravating his wound and immediately rushed in - only to see the old lady Chen with a disheveled hair, her eyes closed, but chasing her son and husband all over the house, only ignoring the young daughter of the Chen family. She stood beside her in panic, huddled tightly, shaking.

Seeing Chu Wanning enter, Mr. Chen and his eldest son screamed and rushed towards him: "Dao Master! Dao Master, help!"

Chu Wanning held them back. He glanced at Madam Chen's closed eyes, and said angrily: "Didn't I tell you to watch her and keep her from falling asleep?!"

"I can't help it! My wife is unwell. She usually goes to bed early. After you left, she was still holding out at first, then she fell asleep, and then she started to go crazy! She started screaming. . . yelling. . ."

Mr. Chen shivered and ducked behind Chu Wanning. He didn't notice that he was actually wearing an auspicious outfit, nor did he notice the hideous wound on Chu Wanning's shoulder.

Chu Wanning frowned and said: "What was she yelling?"

Before Mr. Chen spoke, the mad woman rushed over with her teeth bared, screaming mournfully. It was actually the voice of a young woman—

"Spineless liar! Pathetically fickle! I want you to pay with your lives! I want you all to die!"

Chu Wanning: ". . . This evil spirit stoops low." He turned back and sternly shouted at Mr. Chen, "Does this voice sound familiar?"

Mr. Chen’s mouth was trembling. He rolled his eyes and swallowed nervously: “I don’t know, I don't recognize it, I don’t know! Please help! Please help!

Just then, Madam Chen rushed over. Chu Wanning raised his uninjured arm, pointing at the sky above Madam Chen, and a lightning bolt slammed down, trapping Madam Chen within a barrier.

Chu Wanning turned his head with an icy gaze: "You really don't know?"

Mr. Chen repeated: "I really don't know! I really don't know!"

Chu Wanning didn't say anything else. He whipped out Tianwen and bound old lady Chen in the barrier.

He should have tied up the rest of the family outside, it would be more convenient and easier to gauge the situation, but Chu Wanning had his own rules of conduct. It wasn't easy using Tianwen to interrogate abnormal individuals. So he abandoned the soft approach and instead questioned the ghost in Madam Chen's body.

Interrogating ghosts wasn't the same as interrogating people.

When Tianwen interrogated people, they couldn't fight it and would speak.

When Tianwen interrogated ghosts, it would form a boundary where only Chu Wanning and the ghost would exist. Ghosts would regain their original appearance in the boundary and pass on their message to Chu Wanning.

A flame ignited on Tianwen. It snaked along the vine, burning from his end straight to old lady Chen.

The old lady let out a scream, and suddenly began to twitch. The original scarlet flame on the willow vine instantly turned into a blue ghost fire and burned back to Chu Wanning's side.

Chu Wanning closed his eyes. The fire burned up the willow vine onto his palm, but the ghost fire couldn't hurt him. It just burned all the way along his arm, down his chest, and then went out.

". . ."

The Chen family looked at the scene in horror. They didn't know what Chu Wanning was doing.

Chu Wanning's eyelashes trembled lightly, his eyes still closed, but a white light gradually appeared in front of his eyes. Immediately afterwards, he saw a small, white, jade-like foot step out of the light, and a girl about seventeen or eighteen years old appeared in his field of vision.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

[teaespensonawards]

2022 TEA Nominations Open!

It’s 2022 T.E.A. Nomination time!

Not sure where the last year has gone, but the time has come once again! It’s time let us know which fics and artwork you enjoyed (and that helped you survive) over the past 12 months. Go back, re-live the joy, and tell us which of those fan creations you want to see on the 2022 T.E.A. ballot!

Nominations begin January 2, 2022 Nominations are due by January 23, 2022, 11:59 pm (CST)

Just in case you need a refresher on T.E.A. Rules, there’s a link to them

Here is the Submit Page, freshly cracked open, where you can send in your nominations. Don’t forget to include the work’s title and its creator when nominating fic and art! And please be sure you have the creator correct. It would also be super helpful if you would make sure that the works you nominate are eligible, as the mod cannot verify each and every one of hundreds of nomination. 

Keep in mind that during the nominations phase, you can submit as many nominations as you like. You’re not limited to one nomination per category. Nominate out the wazoo, if you feel like it! And if you forget something, you can come back and nominate more creations all the way up to the due date.

Hit up our Ask Box if you have any questions!

((Apparently tumblr is having issues with anything showing up in tags. What a shock. At this point, please just reblog to help your fellow Rumbellers see this post, I don’t know. *sigh*))

And now, the categories for the 2022 T.E.A.s! Below is the list you’ll copy and paste into the blank on the Submit Page to send in. Please click through the read-more here to see the full list of categories for which you can nominate fandom creations for this year. Look out below!

(Note: we are aware that some categories might not apply this year, such as events that didn’t take place in 2021. That’s okay. Just skip them where needed.)

2022 NOMINATION CATEGORIES

FLUFF

Family

Comfort

Fix-It

Reunion

Best Child Fic (fluffy fic centered on children in the Rumbelle family)

SMUT

Kink

Romance

Comedy

Threesome

Best First Time

Best Afterlife Smut

PWP

BDSM

ANGST

Why?

Death

Oops

Hurts so good

ROMANCE

Best Date (Overall)

Best Hamburger Date

Best Courtship

Best First Meeting

Best RomCom

Best Bathing Scene

GENERAL AWARDS

Best One-Shot

Best Drabble

Best Post-Ep Fic

Best Comedy Fic

Best Movie AU

Best Book AU

Best TV Show AU

Best AU Inspired By Other Media (including but not restricted to video games, musicals/plays, and graphic novels)

Best Historical AU

Best AU

Best AU!OUAT

Best Series

Best Novel Length Fic (does not have to be finished, but must be a minimum of 40k words to qualify)

Best Holiday Fic

Best Remix

Best Crossover Fic

Best Dark Castle

Best Storybrooke

Best Travel (taking place outside of Storybrooke or Dark Castle)

Best “Missing Years” Fic (taking place between Gideon’s birthday party and That Thing that happened in ‘Beauty’)

Best Argument (Angst)

Best Argument (Fluff)

SPECIAL CATEGORIES

Best Golden Lace

Best Woven Lace

Best Woven Beauty

Best Rumbelle Poly Ship (ex: Golden Swan Beauty, Mad Golden Beauty)

Best Background Swanfire

Best Side Pairing

Best Afterlife Fic

Best Crack!Fic

Best Drama

Best Supernatural

Best Sci-Fi

Best Horror

Best Creature AU

Best Unexpected Twist

Best Dark One Lore Fic

Best Bobby Squared (a fic featuring more than one Bobby character, including multiple instances of Gold and/or Rumple)

Forgotten Gem (a fic completed more than three (3) years ago, that you feel has been overlooked)

Best Pandemic/Quarantine Fic

Best Trope

Best Trend

Best Meta

Best Prompter

EVENTS

(All fics in these categories are limited to 2020 events only.)

Rumbelle Secret Santa

Rumbelle Christmas in July

Rumbelle Summer Gift Exchange

Fluffapalooza

Monthly Rumbelle (Non-smut)

Monthly Rumbelle (Smut)

Rumbelle is Hope

Rumbelle Monsterfuckers Ball

Rumbelle Big Bang

CHARACTER AWARDS

Best Belle

Best Dark One!Belle

Best AU Belle

Best Lacey

Best Detective Weaver

Best Dark One

Best Mr. Gold

Best AU!Gold/Rumple

Best Spinner!Rumple

Best Woobie!Rum

Best Wish!Rumple

Best Baelfire/Neal

Best Gideon

Best OC Rumbelle Child

Best (Worst) Villain

Best BFF/wingman

ART

Best Fan Art

Best Cover Art

Best Graphic Art (GIFs)

Best Graphic Art (Still Images)

Best AU in Art (encompassing traditional art, gif sets, still photo sets, etc.)

Best Fluff Art

Best Angsty Art

Best Smutty Art

Best Comic/Graphic Novel

Best Dark One Form

Best Use of Color

Best Video

Best Artist

Best New Artist

- BEST AUTHOR

- BEST NEW AUTHOR

- BEST RUMBELLE FIC

- BEST ANYELLE FIC

- BEST ANYEM FIC

- Rumbelle Fandom Lifetime Achievement Award Awarded to a person who has done something spectacular in the fandom. Either by making people feel welcome, organizing events, or simply embodying the Rumbelle fandom as a whole.

- Newbie Spotlight This award goes to people who began contributing to the Rumbelle fandom since the last T.E.A.s. Those eligible include new writers, artists, gif-makers, etc. Anyone who creates content for the fandom. This category is not voted upon - every newbie whose name is put forth is added to the Spotlight list so that older members of the fandom can get to know them and their work!

[captnjacksparrow]

I just got into the fandom and I love it so much. However, there are parts where I just cringe. I’m going to be completely honest when I say I can’t see SS being a thing, a healthy one at that. A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him. I just... find it utterly bullshit. Hell, even I do ship narusasu, I tried to be open minded and not fall too far off canon or the characters. I don’t understand how Sasuke had those feelings for her when all he did was shown the opposite and it felt genuine. He seem always annoyed and pushes her away. She kept forcing her feelings on him when he makes it clear that he’s not interested. I don’t hate the ship because it’s not my ship but because it’s extremely toxic. It feels one-sided (Sakura’s side) more than anything and it’s makes it hard to believe he had those feelings for her. I mean, on the second episode of season five, she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive. She’s just like every other fangirl expect she’s on his team. I’m trying my best not to hate her but Damn she’s really pushing it. Anything that annoyed me was that she made it seem like they were dating, again making it about herself and her feelings. She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.” I just can’t with this ship. I’m still wondering why the hell is it even a thing? Also find it beyond pitiful how she stayed with Sasuke in Boruto when he left for 12-13 years?! No note. No checking up. Nothing. Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP. If that’s what true love looks like (good thing it’s not), then I’d die single. I can’t be the only one who thinks this ship is just as bad as Harley Quinn x Joker.

First off, Thanks for this lovely ask @larrycherry04 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ I've always wanted to write about this and your ask is the perfect timing.

Disclaimer: SS shippers, Sakura fans!!! Don’t read  this post!!

Me being an SNS shipper, I am just going to write this from a non-SNS perspective. Meaning, I am going to consider Naruto and Sasuke are just friends or rivals. 

Bear with my lengthy answer.

Where do I even begin?

A rumor said that Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.

I think this rumor is from a light novel called Akatsuki Hiden or whatever shit. But for me, it looks like a pathetic attempt to convince those horny women shippers who would pay any money to read a romance which mirrors their own love life where they desire an ‘unreachable & handsome’ man who has this ‘cool & overbearing’ aura and carries this ‘bad boy badass’ vibe. They would do anything to get the attention from this boy. Until this point is where the reality ends. 

What they really wants to happen and fantasize is somehow that handsome man, one day, will look only them and recognize their love and becomes a ‘soft’ guy who would bring the heavens for them and treats her like a princess. That fantasy led them to buy these novels and believe everything while completely disregarding the canon material. And those novels are aimed at these type of women.

You must have been wondering now, ‘I have seen these type of shit somewhere’!!!!!

That’s right.

50 Shades of Grey, Twilight, Beauty and the Beast, 100′s of K-Drama, C-Drama follow this shit romance trope and it’s regrettably fucking popular. 

In other words, Don’t believe anything apart from the canonic resources. 

Let’s dissect the canon materials about SS.

TEAM 7 

This is how it all started

Does anyone see anything positive here???? 

Well, I am not.

Sakura wanted to impress Sasuke. Since, Naruto always picks fight with Sasuke, she badmouthed Naruto in the hopes that Sasuke will recognize some common ground with her which may develop into a friendship. But she shot her own foot. 

[Regardless, I hated her here and she never redeemed herself, for her being completely insensitive & oblivious towards Sasuke’s life, the boy she loves]

Technically, Sasuke should have said ‘You’re Annoying’ towards Naruto for kissing him before the class and tying him up later. Here, Sakura is simply badmouthing another guy. He, somehow, find this very annoying than anything Naruto did earlier. 

Sasuke always had feelings for Sakura but he didn’t know how to show them because hatred blinded him.

Am definitely not seeing any feelings here.  

ZABUZA ARC

Alright, much later, somehow Sasuke started to integrate into team 7 and started to see them as a Family. No denial here. He started to care about everyone in his team at some point. Which was evident from the way he thought to himself, ‘That was Sakura’s voice... What is Kakashi doing?’

But does it means he hopelessly fell in love with her??? Nope. 

It’s just a team camaraderie where he was worried about his teammate. If he has special feelings towards her, he should have said ‘I must go save Sakura’ or something along the line. 

But, later in that episode, he went on to die for Naruto and even at his dying moments he didn’t think about Sakura or Team 7. It was all about someone else.

Even seconds before falling into Naruto’s arms, Sasuke was smiling with no regrets. 

It was funny very later that after he got up from his temporary death, rather than consoling her like ‘Sakura, Don’t cry. Am alright’ or anything, he was asking ‘Where’s Naruto?’. LOL.

Even much later, when Sakura was asking him about a date, he bluntly said ‘I refuse’.

So, you’re telling me, throughout this arc, a boy blinded with hatred can able to pout, play childish games, train and die for a boy but when it comes to Sakura he can’t show his feelings???

Sorry, I don’t see romance here. Not in this arc.

Whether you agree or not, every parent has their favorite child, every child has their favorite parent. Even within your family, you always have a special person.

For Sasuke, Itachi was that person in his real family. Sakura was not that person in his Team 7 family. It was Naruto.

CHUNIN EXAMS ARC

This arc is where those SS shippers celebrates a lot and I know why. Remember earlier I talked about that shitty 50 Shades of Grey romantic trope??? The following scene vaguely falls under that pattern.

A guy loses his control because of a cursed seal and beats up the guys who hurt one of his teammates which happens to be a girl and calms down after seeing the girl. 

That Infamous back hug. 

I understand why SS people lose their mind with that scene. And I don’t blame them. I am going to throw their own proof at them.

So, this First databook, tells us that he finally sees both Naruto and Sakura as comrades and his heart softens from the path of revenge, a little bit.

Definitely, Sakura’s tears or love towards him stopped his rampage. But nothing says about whether Sasuke loves her back.  

Much later, Sasuke also stops his cursed seal on his own after thinking about worried Sakura and a screaming Naruto (Who don’t know about this seal thingy at that time). 

Well, whatever. That databook has another funny fact, that too in the same page. 

LOL. Weird!!!! This accidental kiss unravels Sasuke’s heart ❤️❤️???? 🤣🤣🤣

So, influencing Sasuke’s heart can be attributed to both his teammates,according to this databook. Atleast upto this arc. There are no special feelings for Sakura alone, guys. 

Proof?

If Sasuke really considers her in a romantic light (this is after that back hug), he doesn’t have to do this at all. Believe me, Love is all about subconsciously or purposefully enjoying or feeling little touches. Those touches can be through eyes, memories or physical. Sakura is delighted with his touch because she loves him but Sasuke just see her as a comrade and keeping his distance but this time very politely.

If Kishi really likes these couple, he doesn’t have to make this scene at all. It’s not just this one instance, he rejected her twice very bluntly before this saying ‘Don’t cling to me!!!’, ‘Sakura, you’re heavy!!!’. 

If you say her back hug is a token of romance, then I can say ‘this’ kiss is also a token of romance. You can’t ignore one while keeping the other.

Anyways, at the end of the arc, Orochimaru is the best judge to identify who can change Sasuke’s heart. And that person is not Sakura.

DEPARTURE

she confessed and poured out her heart and he blew it off. I cringed hard and was beyond disappointed because she’s making it about herself. That’s literally how I feel about their damn “relationship”. She made it about her and her only. When he’s hurting, it’s about her. It’s so annoying and it makes me see how self-centered Sakura. When she said she understood Sasuke, I wanted to scream (I nearly did but my family is sleeping and I don’t need a lecture.) She doesn’t know Jackshit about Sasuke besides he’s the only survivor of his decease clan, he’s a loner who cares only about himself, and he’s attractive.

You know what, Larry??? You are 1000% right. 

But, atleast, I thought she was genuine in the first part of the proposal, like saying ‘Revenge is not good’.....bla bla.. Because, Revenge will never satisfy a person completely and I agree. Then she took a 180 degree by saying ‘Take me with you, Sasuke-Kun. I’ll make you happy’. This is where I lost it entirely. ‘Alright Bitch, So you really don’t care about his revenge or health. As long as you have the chance to get inside his pants, you are okay with it. So you are okay with Sasuke going to Orochimaru as long as you are with him..... Fucking Shit!!!!’  This is not okay at all. 

How did Sasuke respond?

“Why should I have to tell you anything”

“I’m telling you to keep your nose out of my business”

“Stop bothering me over everything I do”

Ummm..... where I come from, this screams ‘Irritation’ to me. Added to it, throughout the whole conversation he never saw her face. There was evidently no pain or anything from his face. On top the cake, here comes the cherry

“You really are...annoying”

This is where he saw her face throughout that painful confession before knocking her out. Umm... When you love someone or atleast feel for someone, you will look in their eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave. Or atleast show some pain??? There’s visibly nothing from Sasuke’s face. 

Alright, I know what SS wankers will pull out here. That Databook 2 with some vague words. I am going to throw this at them. 

Again, like I acknowledged before, he considers her as a comrade and part of a family. So, her existence also eased his loneliness. But you have to look at the word choice here. “The one that filled his lonely existence was Sakura”. It’s not the ‘Only’ person. Before he left he said ‘Thanks’. Meaning, Thanks for all these days. That’s all between us. 

This piece was about the Team 7 picture. So he acknowledges, he was not alone during his genin days because of his companions and Kakashi (so it’s not just Sakura to ease his loneliness). Whatever he said to Sakura was real. 

So can we safely confirm “You’re annoying” is real????

But what’s really interesting is the way Sasuke projects himself before Naruto. I am going to refrain myself from attaching all those rollercoaster of emotions flowed throughout the fight in VoTE 1. Otherwise, it will become an SNS post. 

However, this particular scene caught my attention.

Ummm.... Initially Sasuke walks without looking at Naruto. Then he looks back and answers him. 

Naruto was pretty much asking the same question as Sakura. “Why does it come to this?”

But Sasuke pauses and surprised for a moment and asks him pretty much “Why do you care about me?”

Why couldn’t Sasuke do the same with Sakura???? Kishi can pretty much make a panel or two rather than making some insulting panels.

Anyways, If they throw the databook, then I can also throw the same.

Alright, can someone explain the highlighted sentence for me???? Because I want to confirm whether I have a blurry vision.

Here, Sasuke is trying to punctuate Naruto as a different person from the rest of his companions. ‘his companions as well as that with Naruto’, I mean, Come on!!!! Naruto is also one of your companions along with Sakura. Why differentiate????

‘The village, companions, Naruto,....’ . Again....He is differentiating his home (village), companions (his friends), and Naruto. So who is Naruto for him? What is the need to make exception for Naruto? It’s very clear he is placing Naruto at a high pedestal for some unknown reasons.

Before this Databook dissection, remember I said something about saying Goodbye, ‘ When you love someone or at least feel for someone, you will look into that person’s eyes and speak some farewell words before you leave‘

Sasuke is doing exactly that here in this scene without saying anything.

Am sorry SS shippers, you can scream all you want about Sasuke knocked her out and left her on the bench. But there was no emotional distraught when he left her. Sasuke seemingly spent a longer time staring at Naruto than looking at Sakura when she confessed. 

OROCHIMARU HIDEOUT

Well, there is nothing I can say about here for SS. He pretty much saw her and said, “Sakura, huh?”.. And that’s all. He didn’t give two shits about her. 

His attention was completely on someone else. 

UNDER THE BRIDGE

She sent Naruto to get Sasuke for her benefits, so she can keep him. Again, disregarding Sasuke’s feelings and what he wanted. Naruto should’ve said “I’ll bring him back because HE wants too, to keep HIM safe, not for you.”

Naruto pretty much said the same thing in this arc, Larry. Naruto, in part 1, was happy for Sakura feeling the same about Sasuke as him, that is ‘To bring him back’. And also sad that his crush really loves someone else. But after Sakura gave up on Sasuke and faking her confession, Naruto decided, ‘Alright, I want to save him personally. I don’t care about our promise anymore”. 

This is where, SS ship goes into a crazy ride and it’s not a positive one.

Sasuke was on a rampage. He lost the ability to differentiate between his friends and foes. He stabbed Karin. And when he find her alive, he was about to Chidori her. 

And then comes the pink princess, full of lies and deceit. And Sasuke being impatient and disgusted with her lies, he does this

Well, in part 1, she had a degree of power to change his heart. But not here. He, instead, got riled up more and even tried to kill her without a warning and that too by not looking at her face. Pathetic!!!!

This scene screams ‘Trust issues’ from both sides. 

Did it stop here???

Fucking Shit!!!!!! Is there any people who still ship this nonsense?. If you are a Sakura fan, you should hate her for the lack of trust and backstabbing the person she loves, 

If you are a Sasuke fan, errrrmmm.....I have nothing to say. You know what to do. 

There is nothing positive here, that can make me ship them. He is killing her like a Mosquito.

If you truly loved someone in the past, even in your darkest moments, you will be honest and you cannot fake before that person.   

Proof??

Here, Sasuke had a clear resolve to kill his brother, Itachi. He lived for this moment for about 8 years and immersed himself in Darkness for 3 years with Orochimaru. He could have run away, dodge or look away from Itachi. But Sasuke simply couldn’t!!! You know why?? Sasuke loved Itachi once more than anything in this world. At this moment, he is letting all those defense loose and embracing the moment and see what Itachi was about to do. Because somewhere in his heart he trusts Itachi. 

But killing Sakura doesn’t make Sasuke feel anything. She is just another victim like Danzo or Karin or all those Samurais or a fucking mosquito!!!!

So you are telling me that Sasuke had feelings for her but kept it hidden all along and still tried to kill her like a pest???

Give me a fucking break!!!!

And you all know, who changed Sasuke’s heart here in this scene. It was not Sakura. There’s absolutely no reason for Sasuke to listen to that person and what’s more, Sasuke even made a promise (despite being in darkness, he had it in his heart to listen to that person) to destroy Konoha only after killing that person .. 

WAR ARC

Well, this is the arc where Sakura behaves like a rabid dog on heat waiting for Sasuke and shamelessly trying to wag her tails. But Sasuke didn’t give two shits about her, not once or twice but multiple times.

MOMENT 1

An explosion was about to kill the whole shinobi alliance and this dude wants to save Jugo, his companion and Naruto, the person who will challenge his Revolution, his rival and the one whom he wants to kill. Why only Naruto??? Why not Naruto and Sakura???

Pink cherry Queen doesn’t even crossed Sasuke’s mind.  Because he already threw her away in part 1. 

MOMENT 2

Alright Bitch!!! The entire shinobi alliance was dying on the other side of the battlefield. And this asshole is doing a clownshow before Madara just to get inside Sasuke’s pants????

I mean, Come On!!!! 

Well, if Sasuke truly likes her, he should be the one to have catched her or atleast should have asked her, ‘are you alright??’ 

I am sorry, where are the romantic feelings???

MOMENT 3

ROFLLLL🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

For the first time, Kishimoto is trolling those Sakutards through Sasuke’s words, what we, readers were right about all along. He is calling her useless here. And still these fake feminazis trying to ship her with him???

Don’t you guys have any self respect??? If so, this should be the moment to jump out of this trash ship.

MOMENT 4

Geez!!! You are still on this ship????? 

He clearly doesn’t want to save her at all. The hawk can clearly lift 3 people. Sasuke is not even making an effort here. 

And you are still yapping that he is blinded by darkness??? 

MOMENT 5

This is the moment SS calls it as ‘eyesmex’... While in reality, he was just looking at her and silently thanking her for helping him out. Do you know what is a real ‘eyesmex’??? I will attach it at the end.

If you guys pull this as true love, then he should have stayed in the same love till the end. But Sasuke has other ideas. 

This is the one of the funniest thing in this arc. LOLLLLL

Instead of being relieved that Sakura was saved, Sasuke was wondering about Kakashi’s Susanoo.....and Sharingan. 

Do people still think he cares about her????

MOMENT 6

Am cackling here, while dissecting the sorry state of this ship guys 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!! If something good happens to me because of SS , it’s just the way you guys are making me laugh by making a clown out of yourself!!!!

Do you guys know something? There was a man named Itachi. Before massacring his clan, the very first person he killed was his ‘supposed’ Girlfriend, named Izumi. I wouldn’t say Itachi loved her like a lover boy. It was just one sided on her part. He just talks to her when he finds a spare time and considers her a good friend. 

Do you know how he killed her? 

By putting her in a ‘Tsukuyomi’. And what kind of Tsukuyomi, you ask?

Can you see how he fulfilled her dreams gracefully before he was going to kill her???

Why didn’t Sasuke do this???? Why particularly select a murdering genjutsu????

MOMENT 7

He said it, finally.

He don’t love her at all. There was no hidden feelings. He admitted from his own mouth. 

One day later, after the final VoTE battle ends.... After exchanging some intense feelings and even crying tears of happiness with Naruto....

Sasuke tells Sakura, ‘Sorry’....

Ummm.... That’s all???

All those negative shits happened before cannot be solved by just simply saying ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thank you’. If someone has an ounce of self-respect, they should know this is not OKAY at all...🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️

Am Sorry, but Sasuke was just being politely blunt, kind of insincere towards Sakura and turned his attention somewhere else in a matter of minutes. He was not even bothered by Sakura’s tears here. Instead staring at someone on his left. Remember I talked about touching the person physically and visually?

Sasuke is subconsciously or purposefully touching someone on his left through his eyes. Definitely it’s not Sakura. You know who it is. Remember SStards’ infamous ‘eyesmex’... I seriously believe this is a perfect example of ‘eyesmex’.

All these intense looks and feeling pain still doesn’t serve Sakura, even after pulled out of darkness. If there is a moment, where SS wants to shine, then this is where it should be. He should have told her, how he missed her all along, how he felt about hurting her, should have wiped her tears and some corny shit. But instead, Sasuke went for a long ass monologue for his friend and talking about sharing his pain. 

What about your kween’s pain???? 

You don’t have to ship SNS. But you should know where Sasuke’s priorities are. 

It’s not Sakura. 

Sasuke said ‘Sorry’ to Karin too. ‘Thank you’ to Kakashi as well. 

And what’s even more pathetic is, still Sakura wants to get inside Sasuke’s pants by accompanying him. Bitch, you can help your village, console your best friend Ino who lost her father, try to surpass Tsunade, improve your skills or whatever... Why bother him???

So, if you really think ‘Thank you’ as a token of love, then I can’t help it but term Sakura as a rabid dog who waits for her master to come home and throw some bones whenever he finds time. Your standards for a romantic love is piss poor and you will suffer just like Sakura in Boruto with just emptiness. All Sasuke did was poke her forehead just like Itachi which symbolizes keeping someone at a distance. He also said the same words to her just like Itachi said to him many times ‘Mata kondo da’ meaning ‘Maybe next time’. And we all knew that next time never came for Sasuke. 

Now all we see is a Sasuke as an absentee father in Boruto for which I don’t blame him. He was never a marriage material in the first place. Sakura and the Manga Editors forced him and she is paying for it. 

Hell, Sarada doesn’t know how her own father looks like or the truth of her mother. Both of them were miserable and I find it absolutely ridiculous when SS shippers still say “they’re in love” or they’re OTP.

All I want to say to SS shippers is, Your Ship Has Sailed Already. You cannot expect Sasuke to go lovey dovey towards Sakura with a 12 year old daughter around and for fuck’s sake, this is not a romance manga, it’s a battle manga. So stop dreaming about this kind of non-existential romance and pull yourself altogether.

[matan4il]

Thank you for the meta pieces, they are increasingly becoming the nessesary part of experiencing 9-1-1 this season for me!

(sorry for the incoming rant)

Now, my own read of Buddie leans more towards the "Bromance excellentos"-side, and I usually comfortably ship long-established pairs (Bathena forever, and looove me some Hen and Karen). The way Buck and Taylor's "romance" is developing so far, though... I'd say, "uncomfortable and disconcerning" is the best way to describe it.

Last week, I had given it yet another go, as in "OK, 5.09, show us some damage, some good acting from Megan in a meaty backstory scenes; some emotional family/courtroom drama and maybe even some cool resque parallels, heck, SOMETHING to make us feel for Taylor". And I know, people would've complained that there's too much unrelated drama again. But honestly, if we were to become truly sympathetic to Taylor and/or to come on board with BT as a potential endgame r/s we kinda really needed something like that right there.

Instead, what we got was that measly wooden "tell not show" bit at the bus stop, and then the unearned and weirdly ominously shot ILUs after. Yeah, nope. At best, I'm still seeing a self-centered frenemy who had been ready to exploit and throw the entire 118 under the bus; someone shown throughout the seasons to not be a good match for Buck in terms of values and needs and too similar to the worst version of himself both. Still not making amends, not creating any connections to the firefam besides Buck himself, nor doing anything to balance out the scale even slightly (if the cringe-inducing "I'm going for the truth" bits earlier in the series were supposed to retcon the character and endear us to her, they failed miserably).

Idk what 5.10's got in store for us yet, but this lazy approach, cutting corners, and the general lack of care from TBTB make BT r/s feel cheap, inorganic, and hollow. If it's meant to come off that way—fantastic job, FOX, 10/10, mission accomplished. But if it's to be the endgame—man, will it be a tonedeaf one.

Hi Nonnie, thank you SO MUCH for the kindness! I'm so happy my meta posts are bringing you joy and enhancing your 911 experience! *hugs BIG* And I think in a sense, especially because you lean towards reading Buddie as a bromance, I appreciate your kindness and openness in reading my posts!

And for that same reason, I'm so happy you shared your own take on B/T, because it means your view of it is less hindered by the Buddie goggles. And you're confirming exactly what I suggested in my 509 meta, that the way this r/s is being told is unsatisfactory in and of itself, even for people who aren't heavily invested in Buddie as a romantic ship.

I especially wanna highlight what you said about the way Taylor got her backstory revealed to us: we had a screen showing her dad's story (yeah, I zoomed in as soon as I had the ep downloaded, read the 'article' and guessed its subject was her dad), then like you pointed out we didn't get even one scene that was just about her (a scene with her and her father excluding Buck would have been that, but instead all of her scenes were about what would Buck say and do in reaction to her. Which is why her backstory fell flat, because it was never about her), plus add to that the fact that since her return in 408, not once has 911 so much as dedicated a single set just to her (even Ana got that one scene in her living room in 408). So what I'm trying to say is that usually getting a Love Interest's backstory is a sign of how they are becoming a character in their own right, not just being a LI, and endgame couples tend to be the ones where the audience cares about both characters in their own right. Yet everything about Taylor so far shows that even after we got her backstory, she's still just a LI. It's a part of what makes 509 feel off and not hit the emotional marks that are supposed to be reached when a couple faces a challenge together. So yeah, in conclusion, I just find it hard to believe she will be Buck's endgame when she's barely a character.

Thank you for the ask, lovely! I hope you continue to enjoy my meta posts for 510 and in season 5B! xoxox

To anyone else who sent me an ask, I am going through all of them, thank you so much for your patience! If you wanna check whether I've replied to yours yet, you can have a look at my ask tag. xoxox

[kiribaku-queen]

The Blood King and his Queen [7]

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Romance, Angst, Drama

Word count: 2.4K

Summary:  From being a mere servant girl to marrying the scariest prince in existence, your world changed right before your eyes. Exchanging places with the princess, you knew, wasn’t going to be easy. But could you have found love on the way? Or was it never meant to be?

A/N: I hope you guys really enjoy this chapter because I think its my favorite chapter so far! FYI, if I don't update this series in a while, it'll be because I am working on an 18+ oneshot for a collab for Bakugou's birthday. So if that does happen, the regular uploads will happen after Bakugou's birthday. And let me tell you, its going to be S P I C Y~

But I can't express how surprised I am by all the love I'm receiving! I really wish I could respond to all your comments, but again, this is my side blog so I can't comment! If ya'll want to follow me on my main... please dont. LOL not to be mean or anything but I don't use my main at all and I don't post ever so there's no point in following me there :)

PLEASE ENJOY AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED TO THE TAG! JOIN THE FAMILY!

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Your heart physically dropped when he said that. You felt sick. Your palms were sweating and shaking. The air around you grew dense and you felt like you couldn’t breath. You couldn’t move for that matter.

Ruin?

What would he do to you if he found out that you weren’t really a princess? That you were a fake lying to him this whole time. It made you sick, just imaging every cruel thing he could do once he found out. But then you remembered, he wasn’t like all the rumors you heard. He was different. He was kind and understanding. He wouldn’t really ruin you if he found out, would he? You shook away the thought. The more you think about it, the more you were likely to get caught.

You were completely exhausted from all that labor you produced in a week’s time. Town after town, you were able to help his people even if it was just a little bit. But it sure depleted a lot of energy out of you. You don’t know if you’ve ever been this drained before in your entire life. It’s not like you had to do hard physical labor back at the palace. This experience was hard on you but also gave you insight on the prince and his kingdom.

Completely drained of your energy, you sat down on one of the tree trunks his soldiers brought for you at the camp not far away from the village you were at. The impoverished village didn’t have enough shelter as is, so you were left with no option but to set up your own shelter. It wasn’t a big deal to you anyway since that’s how you’ve been spending your nights so far.

All the soldiers had gathered around to take a breather for the night and drink away the stress. You weren’t a drinker, but enjoyed the atmosphere the soldiers created: fun and rowdy, like they didn’t give a care in the world. They were dancing on tables, clinking their drinks together, singing songs while hooking their arms around each other’s shoulders.

You laughed at the sight and stretched out your arms. How you wanted to continue the night away but your muscles were soar and aching. A physical exhaustion that you weren’t used to and didn’t want to get used to.

Bakugou was watching his crew from the door, arms crossed and enjoying his crew have fun. He was never the one to be center of attention, so he had his own fun from the back. He saw the way you extended your arms, faced wincing from how sore you were. Cute. It was your last night of volunteer work, why not end the night with something special?

You felt the Blood Prince’s breath sneak up behind your neck, sending chills down your spine.

“Tired?” he asks.

“Maybe just a little,” you admit. You look up at him and he’s giving you those soft yet piercing eyes. He goes to sit next to you and everything is just… peaceful. In that moment you felt content. You felt free. If this was how life was out of the palace, if this was more to life than just serving a spoiled princess, then you didn’t want to leave.

“I am impressed, princess,” Bakugou spoke. “This whole trip, you never, not once sat out. You helped the whole time. Are you sure you’re a princess?” he side eyed you.

“If I am not a princess, then what am I?” you asked back. (y/n), what are you doing? You could expose yourself and everything would be ruined! But for some reason, you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to know his reaction and how he would respond. Maybe you would give up your whole mission for him.

“An innocent and hardworking beauty that is not a princess. She is my future queen who will help me restore this kingdom.” He came closer to you, meaning every single word. Your eyes softened and you got emotional, almost to the point of tears. He’s smiling at you, but suddenly gets up. But gestures for you to take his hand. Of course you did.

“I want to show you something,” he says and leads you away from the crowd of people and into the woods.

You two were walking for a while, your hand in his the whole way. He hadn’t told you where he was leading you to but it had to be something special if he was dragging you to what seemed like all across the country to get to your destination.

“Your highness, are we almost there yet?” you asked, fatigue hitting you once again.

“Almost,” he responds, continuing to look ahead. You huffed and held on tight to his hand so you didn’t get lost or left behind. After a few more minutes of walking, you felt the air get hotter and thinner. Bakugou smiles in front of you, looking excited.

“We’re here,” he announces. He pulls back these huge leaves, revealing a natural hot spring. The water was clear enough that you could see right through it, steam rising from the water, and rocks surrounding it, creating this gorgeous, peaceful atmosphere. Your eyes lit up and a loud gasp escaped your lips.

“How did you find this place?” you asked, getting closer to the hot spring.

“You like it? None of my men know about this place,” he says.

“It’s beautiful!” you continue to gasp, feeling the water with your hands. The heat of the water made you giddy and you couldn’t wait to hop in.

“You deserve it,” Bakugou comes up to, whispering in your ear. His statement made you blush, but this time, you didn’t hide it. He smirks behind you and you heard something falling to the floor. You dare turn around to see Bakugou shirtless, discarding his clothes one by one. As if your face wasn’t hot enough, steam was coming out of your ears with embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” you freaked out, turning around immediately.

“Getting in,” he said in the most obvious tone of voice.

“Together?”

“You’ll be on one side and I’ll be on the other,” he points out a huge rock, separating the hot spring into two pools. That seems a little better, but the idea of soaking in a hot spring together with the prince was nerve wracking.

“Princess, you can enter first, if that makes you feel better,” he suggested. When you turn to look at him, he already had his back turn out of respect for you.

So you undress and enter the heated water, noticing that all your muscles relaxed and the aches started going away as soon as you hit the water. You lean the back of your head on the rock and allow yourself to fully relax and destress. You could hear water splashing from the other side of the rock, indicating that Bakugou had also entered the water. Humming in satisfaction. You grew deeper and deeper in the hot spring until your nose was sitting on top of the water.

“Princess, I realize that I don’t know your name,” Bakugou spoke. Your name? You stayed silent. Was it wise to use your own name or should you continue to play as the princess?

“(y/n).” you decided.

“(y/n),” Bakugou repeated, elongating your name as if he stopped saying it, it’d disappear from him forever. The way your name left his lips felt like butter to him. He couldn’t help himself from repeated your name over and over again in his mind. You giggled and looked over the rock, arms crossed and head resting over them.

“Your highness, allow me to scrub your back,” you offered. Bakugou waved his hand while shaking his head.

“Nonsense. You shall not attend to me. We’re here to relax,” he had to remind you. But you insisted.

“But I want to, Prince Bakugou,” you pouted, jutting out your bottom lip.

“The high and mighty princess wants to wash the blood Prince’s back?” he questions playfully. He glances back to see you resting on top of the rock, giving him your big doe eyes.

“If you insist,” he gave up. He turns his back again, making sure to give you the privacy you needed to be able to come over to his side. You make your way over to him, covering your breasts in case. When you got settled behind him, you started washing his back.

You expected Bakugou to have scars from his many battles he’s had, but you didn’t expect his back to be covered in decolored and deformed wounds. Unknowingly, your hands went up to caress each scar.

“Does that frighten you?” he asks.

“Not at all,” you tell him honestly. “I think it makes you very brave.”

A comfortable silence fell upon you. Only the sound of water running and insects in the background could be heard. That was until you felt poke your butt. The hairs on your body hiked and you screamed as loud as you could, rising from the water in panic.

“Princess!” Bakugou instinctively put protection mode on, shooting up from his place to see what the danger was. You immediately clung to him, Bakugou wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you close. What Bakugou saw wasn’t an enemy but rather, a wild Japanese macaque monkey poking his head out of the water.

“Shoo!” Bakugou scared the monkey out of the water and back into the forest. Bakugou grunted and relaxed his shoulders. “Damn monkeys. I thought they only came out during the winter season. Are you okay, prin…cess,” he looked down at you only for you to look up at him with your exposed chest fully pressed against his chest. Now this could easily be the most embarrassing moment of your entire life. Your face heated up with embarrassment and you let out another scream, using all your force to slap him across the face. Bakugou wasn’t expecting such a reaction and it caught him off guard. You put for much force into the slap that Bakugou flew back and fell into the water. You ran out of the spring, covering up as fast as you could.

Bakugou had never been so flustered in his life. He was a blushing mess and now the image of your naked breasts on him could not escape his mind. He needed time to calm himself down and a certain friend from getting too excited.

When you both had returned back to the rest of the crew, everybody had been knocked out cold from the alcohol. Thank goodness, because they couldn’t see how awkward you two were at the moment. That night, you slept in the tent again while Bakugou camped outside.

But you couldn’t sleep. How could that situation happen to you, out of all people? You weren’t sure how much he saw of your naked body. Maybe he didn’t see anything at all. But you saw the expression on his face, he definitely saw something. You covered your chest and closed your eyes. To think that a man saw your body and it wasn’t even your wedding night.

You felt the wind enter your tent, the chill making you shiver. If it was cold inside the tent, it must be extra cold outside. Bakugou was sleeping outside. You bit your lip in confliction. You wanted him to be warm but that means you had to confront him. Ah, fuck it. You opened your tent and saw Bakugou resting on the grass with his cape wrapped around him. And it wasn’t doing a very good job because you could see him shivering. He couldn’t hide it no matter how hard he tried.

“Would you like to come inside?” you invite him in.

“It’s for you, princess,” he reminded you.

“I understand. But it’s too cold to be sleeping out here. Please. I insist,” you urged. He opens one eye and sighs.

“As you wish, princess,” Bakugou gave in. You scooted over to make room for the large man to sleep next to you. Bakugou made himself comfy but he was a tad too tall for the tent that he had to have his legs hanging out. The opening of the tent revealed the big, bright moon overhead.

“I’m sorry for hitting you,” you apologized. Bakugou just lets out a breath.

“It’s whatever. I didn’t see anything, by the way,” he reassures you. Embarrassed again, you unconsciously covered your chest.

“You sure?”

“Erased from my mind,” he says as he closes his eyes and moves his hands around his head, as if he was erasing his memory. You laugh at his antics, more comfortable with the mood that was created. Bakugou laughs with you and turns to you, meeting eyes. This is the nth time that his heart leapt when you stare at him with those innocent, childlike eyes. He clears his throat and all of a sudden, his ears got red.

“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it?” Bakugou professed. You blinked in confusion. You weren’t sure why he said that. Glancing up at the moon, you guess you could say that it was beautiful. It was a full moon, and shone brightly above your heads. You weren’t versed in the poetics so you couldn’t comprehend the message the Blood Prince was trying to get at you.

“The moon is especially beautiful tonight. But isn’t the moon beautiful every night?” you responded.

Bakugou looks are you in mortification. Fuck, did he just get rejected? His ears got hot and he covered his mouth with his hands.

“Yeah… yeah it is,” he agreed, embarrassed. He took a deep breath in and back out again to calm his beating heart. You look over at him to see him a little distressed. You softly smiled, another side you got to see of him. It was cute. You could feel your heartbeat starting to pick its pace up and that’s when you realized. Gathering up all the courage you could muster, you leaned over to kiss him on the cheek you slapped.

“Good night,” you quickly say, then turned over to face away from him. Bakugou stops everything in his tracks and is frozen. He couldn’t help but smile and fall asleep next to you.

The moment you made the decision to kiss him was when you knew that you wanted to be selfish. You wanted to become his queen and rule his kingdom together. You were going to forget your past life. You were going to forget this mission you were on. You were the princess now. That was his truth and you weren’t going to change it.

A/N: For those who don't know, the phrase "the moon is beautiful, isn't it" or 月が綺麗ですね is a more poetic way of saying "I love you" in olden Japanese. And then the response to that would be "I can die happy" or 死んでもいいわ. Just for reference.

As I said before, I absolutely love this chapter and I really really REALLY want to know your reactions and thoughts!

Spoiler: drama starts in the next chapter :)

If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know in the comments or DM me! and if you'd like to be tagged when my 18+ oneshot comes out, let me know too! I love you all!

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