#i literally called their getting married the promise arc

[nhaneh]

Miqo'March 10 - Promise

- "It is my promise to you. That so long as you carry it, a part of me will always reside with you. That, no matter how far apart we are, so long as I still have life left in me to spend, I will always strive to find my way back home. To you.

[sherrysgirl]

spaeve rant??

season 8 spoilers !!!

i just finished watching zugzwang last night and i’m on my first watch so my thoughts might change anytime (i doubt that)

tbh i don’t know how to feel abt the maeve arc. overall, i think maeve and spencer had a lot of potential. they’re super cute, both very smart people and share a bunch of the same interests but their storyline was so horribly written.

first of all, she just appears out of nowhere? and we’re told that they’ve been in contact for a long time when spencer sent her his mri scans (to which she said his mri looked so interesting she just had to get to know him????)

they first start out with sending each other letters for three months but once it gets serious between them they switch to talking on a payphone every sunday. which is basically what their entire relationship is (worse than edating tbh) because she has a stalker and doesn’t want them to know abt spencer.

and not only that but they have absolutely no clue how the other person looks like. maeve knows his full name and the fact that he works with the fbi but for some reason she refuses to look him up (could not be me!)

she has been terrorized by this stalker for so long, she literally had to end things with her fiancé (who she never told spencer abt btw), quit her job and hid at home for several months. yet when spencer offered to help find her stalker with his team she said no and for whatever stupid reason spencer let her be, knowing damn well from his job as an fbi agent that most stalkers don’t just “disappear”. how did these two even want to continue their relationship?? get married and have kids over the payphone?

and once they think the stalker is gone and arrange a date, spencer panics and thinks a random man (who turned out to be the ex fiancé) is the stalker so he calls maeve and tells her to go back home. two minutes later he figures out that he’s not the stalker and just moves on with his day when he could’ve just called her again and told her to come back i promise you she probably didn’t even get into a taxi yet 😭

but hey!!!! they actually ended up seeing each other 🙈 only both of them were held at gunpoint and he had to tell her that he doesn’t love her because the stalker told him to. then she was pretty much killed in front of his own eyes and entire team. fun!

i’m honestly after whoever thought of this entire arc because while i appreciate trying to give spencer a love interest this was horrible horrible writing from start to finish. i get that’s what mgg wanted. but we saw her alive for a good three episodes? and zugzwang was a mess tbh. i was underwhelmed and confused. you’re horrible at your job and the twelve year old wattpad writers could do him more justice than you mfs.

[shrinkthisviolet]

8, 9, 10 for the Choose Violence ask game?👀

8: common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Caitlin did not “kiss back” in 1x19 due to romantic feelings, she was being assaulted and was forced into both kisses. Using it as shipping fuel is disgusting—you can make ship content without it, I promise. Plenty of fanon ships manage just fine

Same for the KF/Barry kiss. Killer Frost was literally trying to kill Barry! She uses this same trick to kill a guy in s2—it’s literally her MO as a character (even as far back as the comics, which is literally where she comes from)! I don’t see that used as often for shipping fuel, but I still see it enough to be annoyed by it

9: worst part of canon

…you know, between the Forces arc, the Godspeed arc, the Cobalt Blue arc, the Negative arc in s8, and the whole plotline with Khione and Chillame (also Frost/Blaine in general tbh), it’s hard to choose. I think the Forces arc takes the cake, but man, there’s so much about s7-s9 to hate

(honorable mention goes to the Mirrorverse arc for having Barry be canonically raped, as confirmed by Mirror Iris’s gloating (“sharing your bed”), and then 5 minutes later having Barry cradle his rapist in his arms and sympathize with her. While also encouraging us to sympathize with her. And then never mentioning the rape again)

10: worst part of fanon

The fact that hating on Iris and wishing death on her, in tandem with shipping Barry with a white woman (no seriously, the Iris hate always goes in tandem with “it should’ve been Caitlin/Kara/Patty” + “Savitar should’ve finished the job*”) is such a common fandom opinion that you are incredibly likely to find it outside of Tumblr even in a video that doesn’t even have Iris in it…so frustrating. You have to look to find Westallen shippers and carve out a niche…and you have to weigh “can I trust this Flash clip to have normal comments?” (The answer is usually no). It seriously pisses me off (I've found one channel that reliably does not have Iris hate in their comments, but...*sigh* those comments have their own problems)

Also, even some SB shippers who don't outright hate Iris still have such a microaggressive way of talking about her. Calling Iris “annoying” while saying Caitlin is perfect, criticizing Iris and then laughing it off as a joke, saying she’s a “strong independent woman who doesn't need a man”...ugh. Saying that about a WOC is not as progressive as y’all seem to think (it plays into the Strong Black Woman trope, actually)! Say it about Caitlin more—girl kept getting trapped in mediocre (post-Ronnie) love stories until Danielle Panabaker had to put her foot down in s5 and say no. Oh, but y’all don’t wanna say “she doesn't need a man” about her? Interesting...

Also, on that note, I guarantee that if Caitlin had been the one to say “you are not the Flash, Barry. We are”, it would be incredibly beloved as a line. Even in canon with them not being an actual couple, I’m sure that line still would’ve been used as “proof” for the ship (and if Caitlin were in Iris’s place, married to Barry? No one would’ve dared question her right to say that, even the people who wrongly mock Iris for it!)

*usually if I deign to respond to comments like those, I like to remind them that Iris shot Savitar with a normal gun, and that killed him. He got erased after being shot by a normal gun. And that's after he literally melted at Iris’s touch! He wasn't gonna kill her after that 😂

choose violence ask game!

[eri-pl]

on Elu Thingol

No, I'm not going (at least: I'm trying not to) engage more in the debate of Feanorians vs Sindar, because it has the levels of hostility I try to avoid.

Anyway, thanks to my husband, I think I finally got a coherent mental model of Thingol that explains all his decisions without assuming he's just stupid, and even gives him a character arc. Which is nice, because before I never could conceptualize him well. (long post under the cut)

It starts with Elu being one of the elven emissaries to Valinor, so this would eman he was open-minded, adventurous and had a good insight/vibe-check. Oh, and also he is friends with Finwë. Then he returns and falls in love with Melian, which confirms the concept of him as open-minded and not avoiding a crazy adventure (marrying a Maia).

Then they marry, he builds a beautiful kingdom, and, I think, gets complacent. And (for reasons that would make sense later) I think he gets a little sanctimonious, too. A literal divine being married him, that surely must mean he is morally spotless, right? Doriath is a mini-Valinor in a way, shielded and locked from any external influence. From any corruption, any evil, any mpurity.

I'm sure he (at this point, at elast) is very worshipful about the Valar and listens to Melian's counsuel with great fervor.

At some point, the Sindar meet the Petty Dwarves and start hunting them and later it turns out those are actual people... Hearing about this may be the first breaking point for Thingol. But that whole story semi-canon, I think?

Then everything shatters in a short time — Melian (surely) has some terrible premonitions, Feanorians come to him not willing to explain a lot, they say the Black Rider is back, he's called Morgoth now, and he killed Finwë and the Trees of Valinor, and all that. also, other Finwëans come and there is some terrible secret they aren't telling him—

And eventually Thingol learns that Feanor rebelled against the Valar and his sons (+ other Noldor) murdered Thingol's kinsmen, and since Feanor has turned his back on the Valar, he, and everyone who agrees with his agenda, is no longer welcome, no longer valid, no longer a kin of Finwë, they are blasphemers.

Galadriel and others are fine, they are Finwë's grandchildren, they are welcome, they are pure enough. But not Feanor and his kin, with their blasphemous oath,

(And don't get me wrong, it legit was blasphemous. But yes, I give to Thingol here the kind of general attitude which I really dislike, sorry, he'll get better. Also, he does have good qualities too )

And of course it must be the fault of Feanor, and likely of him making the Silmarils (who the Noldor say are holy, but who knows? capturing the Light sounds a little blasphemous) that Finwë died and Morgoth returned to Beleriand. It is a logical conclusion from Thingol's point of view.

Then Beren comes and he dares to ask for Luthien's hand, and how blasphemous is that, A filthy mortal wanting for a half-Maia, what's next, he's try to capture a Silmaril? hmmm, that's an idea (since I promised Luthien to not kill him *directly*), and my crazy rebelious daughter will be kept safe.

...

(I think this is his lowest point in the "sanctimonious hypocrite" thing. It is influenced by strong emotions, too. also, one of two low points in general, the other being influenced by a curse.)

And then he realizes, gradually that a) he ignored his Maia wife's advice on that, b) it's going to end badly, c) he's not as great and faultless as he thought. Also, at some point someone points to Thingol the irony of him having married a Maia and him now objecting to Beren marrying Luthien. And he realizes how much he'd changed, he'd grown stiff and close-minded and that is not good.

(I suppose his relationship with Feanorians might have improved at this point, if C&C didn't do all the things with Luthien.)

Then Beren returns, Thingol has a change of heart, he realizes that Men have a beauty to them. He remembers his youth. He's beautiful again and, generally, I assume he's pretty cool at this point.

(And, yes, he keeps the Silmaril and doesn't try to contact the Feanorians and give it to them. Because he believes it belonged to the Valar more than to Feanor? Because in general medieval/Silm rights of ownership work differently than modern concept of ownership rights? Because Beren more or less died for the gem? Because it reminds him of his daughter? Because he wants to spite those who tried to assault her? Because he still has a bit of that moral superiority thing and thinks he deserves it? Because Melian says it is important and it will save the Beleriand at one point and they need to keep it? I suppose it was a mix of reasons.)

And then they're gone away from everybody and then he adopts Turin, and Turin— well he does what Turin does...

…and the thing with Dwarves. Oh, the thing with Dwarves.

I think it has to do with Nauglamir and Hurin(?) cursing it, and... i don't remember, but there was some cursing there in general. It does make Thingol more impulsive and greedy.

The house is empty, his daughter gone, adopted son ran away and then died, his marriage is great but it has lasted for so long already and Thingol needs something new… to be even more beautiful, to make his kingdom even more beautiful, to erase the sorrows… he's going to wear the Silmaril, common sense (and Dwarves) be damned.

And so he died.

[ladyloveandjustice]

Anime Overview: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

Whew, not typing that again! We’re calling it Magirevo. If you couldn’t tell from the trademark long title, it’s a light novel adaptation, but most importantly, it’s a yuri light novel adaptation.

(And yes, technically an isekai, but the isekai element isn’t focused on a lot. It only comes into play at the last minute, in a surprisingly emotional way!)

The story centers around two extraordinary girls- Anisphia, nicknamed Anis, and Euphyllia, nicknamed Euphie. Anis is a rambunctious princess who’s given up her claim to the throne. Royals are expected to be able to wield magic, and Anis was born without the ability. So she’s developing her own field of study, “magicology”, and inventing tools that will allow anyone access to the wonders of magic. Since magic was restricted to nobles before this, Anis making it easily accessible to the common people naturally threatens the gentry, and Anis is branded a heretic. On top of all that, Anis has openly declared if she ever did get married, it would have to be to a woman, and she’s not interested in continuing the royal “bloodline”.

Euphie, in contrast, is entirely focused on fulfilling her role as a proper noblewoman. She’s arranged to be married to the future King, Anis’ brother, Algard, and is determined to live up to expectations. But then Algard betrays her and publicly destroys her social standing.

That’s when Anis steps in to save the day. She takes Euphie’s hand, quite literally carries her brother’s girlfriend away, and promises Euphie they’ll discover the root of the conspiracy brewing against her. So their partnership- and blooming romance- begins.

Sometimes just I want to watch girls fight dragons and save kingdoms and use cool magic. And sometimes I want to watch girls be gloriously joyously gay. I want to watch them fall in love, kiss, dance grandly, and team up to defeat enemies with swords and sparkles! I want to see layered, powerful queer protagonists in fun fantasy adventures! Magirevo delivers wonderfully on all those fronts, and (easy mark that I am) that alone would probably have been enough for me, but that’s far from all the series has to offer.

Anis and Euphie are great protagonists. Anis is chaotic and passionate with her love of magic. She’s bold, openly queer, and charming right off the bat. Meanwhile, Euphie is a girl struggling with the fact she spent her whole life trying to fit into the mold of perfect lady, perfect prodigy and perfect future queen. Every choice was made for her, but now that life has been ripped away. She’s free to make her own choices now, but all that possibility is frightening and overwhelming, and seeing how other people live makes her feel empty aside. The care that the show puts into representing Euphie’s depression is one of the best parts of the early arcs. The sharp direction really lets the viewer feel Euphie’s sense of loss and melancholy, as well as the hope she comes across when she realizes there’s a power in making her own choices, and when she finds inspiration in Anis.

Both girls are dynamic, easy to root for, and have a strong rapport with each other. They also both go through some nice development. The story starts off with Euphie as the vulnerable one who’s burdened with expectation and Anis as her confident savior, only to completely reverse the roles near the end of the story. We get to enjoy the journey of watching Euphie grow bolder and more self possessed, meanwhile as the story goes on it becomes clear that Anis’s sunny nature hides some aching insecurities and royal traumas. She’s not unscathed by how others denigrate her for not having magic, or from the pressure of her role. The character arcs are simple to follow, but the development is satisfying.

Yuri adaptations are often cursed with scant resources and middling-to-poor looking animation (sobs in Otherside Picnic) but Magirevo is thankfully a glowing exception to that. The animation is slick, and the show delivers some punchy action scenes and great emotional moments. When Anis and Euphie wield dangerous magic to fight an attacking dragon, it’s just as fun and hype as your average action shonen, and it’s great to see lesbians get to go feral and do ridiculous OP fantasy shit.

Magirevo also has some really fun side characters, like the cynical goth gremlin Tilty and Anis’ charmingly snarky maid Illia. There’s a few fun surprises in store- like a compelling hints of another wlw side romance, involving a vampire! It would be nice to see these characters get a little more attention, but the anime can only cover so much.

The second episode has a few hiccups that might stick out to some viewers- Anis’ father reacts badly to her antics and her declarations that she loves women, and his reaction is played in a goofy anime slapstick violence way that’s very tonally weird (it's even weirder in prose, believe me). There’s also jokes made about Euphie feeling initially uncomfortable about Anis’ flirtation and this includes Anis “helping her get her clothes off because they’re too complicated to do on her own” and Euphie being obviously unhappy with this. In the light novel, since we see Anis’ POV and there's not much of a negative reaction from Euphie, so we know she genuinely did just want to help Euphie with her clothes and wasn’t being a perv, but it doesn’t quite come off that way in the anime. Though at least the whole thing is much briefer and less skeevy than it's manga counterpart. (And Anis never repeats this behavior again).

There’s also some brief scenes of Anis at the bath later on, and an even briefer scene where Anis touches a girls boob as part of an examination and said girl is super embarrassed (this one goes by quickly enough and Anis’ expression is detached and clinical enough it doesn’t make much of an impression- it was so much worse in the manga). In the area of things that are unsettling on purpose, there’s a pretty well-done scene where Anis has to listen to a bunch of old nobles talk about her like she’s breeding stock, and a lot of emphasis is put on her disgust, fear, and discomfort. It delivers the message well, but might be upsetting.

The other caveat of the show is that while making magic accessible to commoners and upsetting the outdated hierarchy is a clear theme of the show, it’s far more focused on Anis’ and Euphie’s relationship. I think that’s for the best, though it might make one feel like the show glosses over some things. You shouldn’t expect super complex political intrigue or a rigorous, detailed examination of oppression- the show’s more into romance and cool fights. (The ending of the anime also makes it clear the fight to reform the kingdom is ongoing, so we might get more in the novels, for what its worth).

The anime also manages to condense three light novels into 12 episodes. This leaves the last arc feeling a little cramped with all the big emotions and ideas its covering, but after reading the light novel I discovered that the anime didn’t cut out much of value. The anime is by far the best way to experience the story, as the light novels are incredibly repetitive and full of exposition dumps. The anime wisely cuts all that out and focuses on what matters, the emotions and the characters. I do wish there was one more episode at least, since judging by the care the anime team shows I think they would have capable of adding good original content, but overall I’m very impressed with all the adaptation decisions. The anime turns an uneven, dragging novel series into a tighter, jam-packed story with a satisfying finale.

And what a finale it is!

When I say joyously gay, I really mean it- the Magirevo finale is one of giddiest celebrations of queer romance I’ve seen in anime. You will happily drown in rainbows.

It’s so rare to see a yuri adaptation get far enough with the source material that we get romantic catharsis, and Magirevo goes for every inch of it! Even the early moments of Euphie’s shyness and Anis’ pushy flirting become more meaningful as the roles are reversed in a truly fun way.

We even see the isekai concept used for meaningful emotional drama I always wish more stories would go into! It’s stellar all around.

Magirevo is a fairly simple story at its core, treading on some well-worn fantasy archetypes and tropes. But the loveable characters and jubilant execution of the romance make it a treat to watch. Who cares if it’s not super deep? Queer viewers deserve something shiny and fun once in a while, and Magirevo truly has a magic of its' own.

[sunflowercider]

Do you know the timeline for all of lloyd's accomplishments? When and what he build? And if possible the titles he achieved?

LOL @lloydfrontera come get your anon 😂

Hi nonnie! I cant promise I can give you everything, since 1) thats. a big fucking ask for a 400+ chapter novel and 2) i actually havent finished it yet (im reading the Yonder chapters). That said, here's my Arc List I made for myself (up to ch 360ish), spruced up for other's readings:

Arrival / Ondol construction

Lloyd duel with Sir Neumann

Coal mining/Ants defeat

Icehouse(Seokbinggo) for the orcs / Necromancer defeat

Wetland Reclamation

Water poisoning / Aqueduct construction

Cremo (underwater concrete pillar construction / defeat of Gigatitan)

Magenta Capital suspension bridge construction / Meet Julian

Queens Assassination Attempt

Locust swarm defeated

Monster domino reversal / Recruiting Bibeong

Refugees arrive / Apartment complexes begin construction

Elf Woods (lloyd makes a contract with a group that has been actively avoiding humanity for literal centuries)

Sewer construction / Solitas acquired (lloyd hires a fucking dragon. This might not ever be known in the future? It was a secret between lloyd, javier, and solitas himself)

Zombie Mastodons barely defeated by lloyd

Namaran’s Wall (lloyd beats up 30 necromancers, javier and lloyd take down Hell's Knight, lloyd constructs a support system for the crumbling foundation of the city)

Sultan Kingdom / Water tunnel (Qanat) construction

Julian and Sheherazade get married :)

Royal garden construction (lloyd only partially helps with this one, focusing mostly on the central canal with a lock system to raise and lower the water level safely)

Bone Dragon defeat

Hell / Train construction

Dragon King patronage / wake up calls

Third Ending Spoiler

Mermaids (another infamously hard-to-get-along-with race lloyd contracts with) / Jjimjjalbang construction

Heart of Winter

Centaurs / Colosseum construction

Tyrannus

Return to Seoul

Finally home / Rebuild Jewel of Truth / Swordmaster Syndrome

Angel Interference (lloyd and javier beat up a whole-ass angel) / """"Solution""""" to Destiny

Tears of Summer “prophecy” (lloyd has the angels make up a prophecy and appear before the House of Peers to say it. It was rather flashy)

Mountain switchback train construction (lloyd uses time magic so not only is the construction of a train on a mountain impressive, but he did it in what looks like a few days too)

----------------------------------------

Let's see... as for Titles, thats a little harder since I wasn't keeping track of those... I'll list what I can remember/find, but I must note that the "titles" Lloyd receives are from the system, not ones officially provided by the people of Lorasia.

System Titles

[Exemplifying Punisher] (ch 101)

[Builder of Dead Estates] (ch 101)

[Honored Warrior of the Barbaric Tribe] (ch 101)

[Guardian of Cremo] (ch 101)

[Magentano Carry] (ch 101)

[Bell Saver] (ch 109)

[The Eldest Son of the Frontera Family] (ch 119)

[Hell's Singer] (ch 177)

[Top Gun from the West] (ch 197)

(I feel like im missing a few here...?)

[Upper Abdomen! Upper Abdomen! Upper Abdomen!!] (ch 271)

(huh, maybe missing some here too?)

[Hell's Top Talent] (ch 359)

[maya-matlin]

Okay, so I had to send you a third (fourth?!) Degrassi ask today despite promising I'd limit myself to one...yes, I'm hopelessly addicted to both the show and your thoughts on it :) How would you rank all of Clare's canon romantic ships from your personal favorite to least favorite? Same questions for Maya and for Emma! (The 'protagonist/final girl' Degrassi types tend to have every male character into them at some point or other lol, so you'll have a lot of choices when ranking ships for Emma and Clare!) I love you for sending me asks and will answer when and if I can formulate a coherent thought!

Clare Edwards: (Fair warning, I'm going to disappoint you with my answer):

1.) Clare/Drew (In all honesty, I don't think any of Clare's romances were completely right. But I genuinely think Drew came the closest to being what Clare needed. Clare is a very serious person who can easily get lost in romanticism and logic without allowing herself to take a breath and just enjoy the moment. Everything always had to be "all or nothing". But with Drew, things could be fun and lighthearted and just.. normal without needing to be some "epic love" or larger than life thing. I loved the close friendship that developed between them and the opposites attract dynamic. It really sucks that they were robbed of having a real relationship and that her baby wasn't his. If nothing else, they would have made healthy co-parents)

2.) Clare/Jake (Controversial choice, I know. It's not the best relationship or even the one with the most depth, but this is another relationship where everything didn't need to be so serious all the time. Obviously, they weren't compatible and could have never lasted due to wanting different things for a relationship. That's before you factor in that their relationship ended for good because their parents got married and it was really awkward)

3.) Clare/KC (It's the nostalgia. They were very sweet in season 8. I hoped for an embarrassingly long time that the two of them would get back together, up until season 12 when KC unexpectedly left the show. In hindsight, their chemistry wasn't the strongest and KC wasn't anywhere near ready to have a real relationship during his time on the show. But I preferred KC for Clare over the next guy)

4.) Clare/Eli (I'm so sorry. I genuinely think Eli was one of the worst things to ever happen to Clare. Their relationship had both extreme highs and lows but at the end of the day, I think Clare put up with a lot of disrespect and maliciousness from her self-imposed soulmate. I realize that early on, a lot of Eli's behavior could be attributed to his undiagnosed bipolar disorder and continued grief over his first girlfriend. But then, this behavior continued for the rest of his time on the show. When things went badly for Eli or Clare did something he didn't like, she suffered the brunt of his worst behavior. Coldly calling Clare a whore for sleeping with Drew while she was single was the last straw. I'm happy you were able to enjoy them. It would have been a lot easier for me if I felt the same way. Clare had grown so much over the years, yet her spine wasn't strong enough to realize her worth.

Maya Matlin:

1.) Maya/Zig (I can't be objective about these two. They're my all time favorite couple in any work of fiction. I loved their development and what they brought out in each other, for better or worse. Easily the best slow burn or friends to lovers arc ever attempted on Degrassi)

2.) Maya/Cam

3.) Maya/Miles

Emma Nelson:

1.) Emma/Sean (Honestly, most of Emma's relationships are either terrible or forgettable. Even though I believe Emma and Sean were incompatible in the long run, they were really cute in the early years. I'd like them even more if they hadn't gotten back together in season 6)

2.) Emma/Spinner (They had cute moments and would have worked way better had their romance not been shoehorned in at the literal last minute. Unfortunately, choosing to have them get married and declare their eternal love all in one movie turned most fans off)

3.) Emma/Chris (I thought this worked really well as a rebound romance, but it was never going to last. I also hated the slut shaming after Emma's fling with Jay)

4.) Emma/Kelly (Inoffensive, but mostly unnecessary. Liberty was right there and had been single since JT, yet they felt Emma needed another love interest)

5.) Emma/Damian (See above, but even worse. That guy clearly saw Emma, Manny and Liberty as interchangeable. No one asked for this)

6.) Emma/Peter (Emma compromised her morals and threw away her loyalty to Manny because she thought Peter was cute and felt more empathy over his tiny bedroom than Manny's revenge porn floating around the internet directly because of Peter, who took advantage of and attempted to blackmail Manny into a date)

You're welcome, by the way! I'm still trying to answer your last ask. I'm not ignoring it. I just need more time to get my thoughts together.

[mmx-code-crimpphire]

Not much a Headcanon but a post about: What the Alternate Ending route, MMZ Connected Eternity, will consist of

Since I just got a comment on my recent post/chapter regarding if X and Zero's love child would survive to the MMZero era, it got me thinking I should briefly talk about it. Plus for the fact, I haven't really talked too much about Connected Eternity ever since I started making art for it. So You'll finally get to see what I have in mind for this portion of the AU~.

I do wanna touch up on it as its own mini fic at some point, so I'll try not to spoil too much.

NEW CHAPTER ON AO3

But basically, the route is just called "MMZ" not an abbreviation of "Megaman Zero". Just literally "Megaman Z". I kinda wanted that since, yes, this part of the AU does still focus more on Zero, but it still involves the darker story and Xev is way more involved like he should be, in my honest opinion.

I'll disclaim that I do appreciate Megaman Zero for what it is, I just prefer the X series more. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to demote it and point out the problems I had with it. Especially since some of my friends have heard it multiple times already and I don't need to personally beat a dead horse with how much I talked about it. So I'll just get to what I wanna add and if I'll add in a comment on something I don't like, it'll be more for trying to make sense of the purposes for movement, meaning of depth, or what just makes the most sense in general to me.

So basically, the story just consists of Elpizo Germain and rising into power. He's the one promises of a peaceful utopia, but in a way more twisted and sick point of view. I'll touch up on his backstory when I get to it, but to put it simply, his mind develops a very warped perception/reality of what peace really means. Especially when it comes to humans.

Basically, he looks down on them very lowly, and wants to kill the "useless" ones, along with any reploids that aren't just maverick, but also "useless". Pretty much, again, his own messed up view of a "perfect" world. Much like how Lumine saw it before things calmed down, but still on a much larger and very messed up and legit insane scale.

Of course, with the power he gains (dunno how that will be handled yet), he instills fear into the inhabitants of their continent of the Ageless Dominion.

This is all happening when Zero goes to sleep, and makes that decision to do so on his own instead of X doing so with him. I'll have to touch upon that briefly, so there's a time choice that affects X and Zero's future. If they sleep in a pod together to help get rid of Zero's virus, they won't be sleeping for 100 years. They'll be sleeping for less than ten. Once they wake up, all their friends are waiting for them and they have a peaceful time together. They obtain Cain's old house, get married, Zero maintains repairs to the ruins of Abel City and make it as prestigious as it once was before Sigma's initial start of his rebellion (pretty much after Day of Sigma Arc), while X officially retires so he can become an artist, but will help if Zero needs any assistance, and of course, they have a child. Although previous events may suggest something more to the latter of everything previously mentioned. But I won't spoil that~.

Anyway, if Zero insists on sleeping alone in his pod, leaving X to fight with everyone else, he sleeps for the 100 year period, and doesn't wake up again until that time has expired. He finds X is dead, but roams as a Cyber Elf, and only a select few of his friends are still alive after Elpizo's eventual deadly purge plagues the world all because of his impatience to get rid of the ones who he thinks are the most "useless". Maybe I can find a term for that that he can use for it, but I'll have to think about it.

Anyway, upon waking up, Zero realizes what's going on and pretty much everyone is upset he left them all behind, but mainly because he left X behind and it's left him distraught yet determined, and the latter got him killed. But after seeing how X isn't really all that mad with him, just happy Zero's back, they get to spend time together a little bit while Zero reconciles with his poor decision and wants to make it right.

And from then on, it's a struggle with war against the now all powerful Emperor Elpizo Germain and regaining the continent back from his clutches.

Now, I'll get into what won't be in the AU, what will stay, what will be added, and what I'm still stuck on and if those aforementioned things will work story wise.

Copy X and Dr Weil will NOT exist in the AU. I feel Copy X will be a bit redundant for what I want accomplished, and Dr Weil just doesn't fit, and I don't vibe with him as much as I do Dr Wily.

Cyber Elves will still exist, as well as the Reploid's God of Creation named Xiddall. They are the god I wanted implemented. They aren't created by man, but of data of the good wishes of Reploids within Cyberspace.

I'm still unsure about the four guardians being in it. At worst, they may not exist at all or at least make a small cameo and never be seen again. I do love the guardians, but idk what purpose they'll serve for this portion of the AU. Unless after X dies, and his soul not only gets heavy with all his love and memories of Zero, but also his soul gets broken and split into four, and thus, results in the four guardians!! Okay, so I just answered my own question on how I'll handle the guardians now lmao.

As for Elpizo, well… he's the main villain of the story. Period. No other ones take his place. I just feel he would make it all difficult for our protagonists and other characters that made it throughout the Crimpphire main story. Maybe Dr Weil will at least make a cameo and try to take Elpizo's throne, but that's about it. He won't get very far with how much he wants to achieve his goal of "perfection".

Anyway, that's pretty much the summary of what Connected Eternity would consist of, and it serves as the darker alternate route opposed to the canon good ending of Code: Crimpphire.

Hope y'all enjoyed my rambling lmao.

[firelxdykatara]

If you're looking for a serious answer, it's because the vast majority of the problems with the way Katara is mistreated and ultimately disrespected in canon boil down to how she is effectively reduced to nothing but The Avatar's Girl/Wife/Mother of the Avatar's Children.

Katara is given almost nothing to do in the comics but be Aang's girlfriend and Yes Man, accepting any decisions he makes with little to no pushback and no arcs of her own (plus wildly out-of-character moments like encouraging Aang to agree to promise to murder Zuko if he starts 'going bad' like that wasn't a clear cry for help from a deeply traumatized friend that Katara should've seen from a mile away). This gets so much worse in LoK when we hear nothing about her own life and accomplishments outside her status as Aang's wife and the mother of his kids (mostly Tenzin, cause the Air Acolytes who worshiped Aang didn't even know he had other children)... except for her allegedly getting blood-bending outlawed single-handedly (which we only hear second-hand, because she's nowhere to be found at the one bloodbending trial we see on screen). The one major exception is the North and South comic, where, yeah, Katara gets her own arc... but it's to learn the lesson that the North recolonizing the South is fine actually and the people who were fighting against it were wrong and she was just being stubborn and resistant to Good and Necessary Change.

Other than that, she's a set piece. In the comics, she gets to look scared a lot and call Aang 'sweetie' and otherwise do nothing of any particular note (not even during The Search, which you'd think she'd take more of a major role in given its parallels to The Southern Raiders and the fact that her first true connection with Zuko came because of empathy for the loss of both their mothers), and in LoK she gets to be old and sad and a widow who only ever talks about Aang and never her own views on her life or the things she accomplished. This meta series goes into detail, working backwards from the end of LoK, and it isn't ship-focused--but the fact is that Katara's identity heavily revolves around Aang in a way that just doesn't make sense from her personality and portrayal in the original cartoon.

(I don't care how old she gets, you will never have me believing that the Katara we got to know in AtLA would just let her people tear themselves apart, or let her family be annihilated without lifting a finger to help or save them. And there's no way she was too old to make it to her granddaughter's Air Master ceremony, literally the most important moment of an airbender's life, are you kidding me? But no, the only losses she ever gets to talk about are Aang's. The only traumas she ever talks about in any detail are Aang's. The only experiences that matter in her life are Aang's, so I guess it makes sense that nothing that doesn't have to do with her relationship to Aang would be important enough to motivate her! -heavy heavy sarcasm-)

And even though her life completely revolves around Aang, she doesn't even get the respect of being widely known to be the one who knows him best. She was married to the man for fifty-odd years, and still, when Korra meets Zuko she tells him you knew Aang better than anyone. Like she didn't spent her whole life being raised and trained by his wife. It's just one more layer to the disrespect sundae--Katara's entire life is Aang, but the same was never true in reverse!

Which is really the crux of the whole thing. And it's not that the problem is inherently the ship--it's the writers, and it's highly likely that if zutara had been canon we would all have regretted it--but the simple fact is, these problems began with the way the ship was written in AtLA, and the disrespect shown to Katara as a character and as a core member of Team Avatar in the comics and LoK is an extension of that. Especially when we consider that the biggest problems with the ship can from it being mandated by the showrunners, who went on to have creative control over the comics and LoK and were not joined by several of the writers from the original show's team who had made early changes to characters and story that made the show so much richer. If zutara had been canon, I have no doubt that Bryke would've fucked it up--in no small part because there'd have been an added element of bitterness at being strongarmed into making something other than their pet favorite ship endgame--but it wasn't, so they couldn't. (Even though they tried ruining their friendship in the comics.) So "society if Katara ended up with a better relationship arc" often tends to involve "society if Katara didn't end up shackled to Aang for the rest of her natural life".

so i'm not in the atla fandom but i sometimes go on this tag called "katara deserved better"

and tell me why 90% of posts in this tag are about which man katara should've ended up with than about her actual character?

like do you guys care about katara or are you just upset your ship didn't become canon?

[daily-rayless]

Natalia!

Why I like them:

I love Natalia's humility, her willingness to admit when she's wrong and apologize. I love that she's brave, even imprudently so, running off ahead even when her friends are calling her back. I love that she's kind of a ditz and gets excited over ghost stories and dressing up like an elite thief. I love her dedication to her family, and that while she's a competent fighter, she's also emotional and vulnerable. I love that she's a princess in a fancy dress, but for her the priority of being a princess is to serve others, and you see evidence of it.

Why I don't:

Like many fans, I can get impatient with the way she just pleads with Asch to acknowledge her early on, and of course in her first scene she's insufferable. But more personally, it took me literal years to like her character design. She's very frilly, and I didn't like her big puffy sleeves, and her curly blond hair, and overall Tear was more my style. Once I figured out that her design is supposed to give off a princess meets musketeer adventurer vibe, I learned to appreciate it more. But I still like her princess and Peony outfits better.

Favorite scene:

There are lots of little moments, like her scolding Luke for claiming the people of Akzeriuth are “dirty”, or her insisting to Luke that he's as much part of her family as Asch is. So many of her scenes with Asch, of course, and I love her running across the battlefield. And then there's her lighter moments, like her telling Peony “Please give us the sword” or the little bit where she believes Peony wants to marry her. Oh, and her confronting Largo, those are some really good moments.

Her flight from Baticul is definitely a great section, but I'm going to say everything from when she and Asch renew their promise in Sheridan to her returning to Baticul to urge the king towards peace. She's vulnerable, but she shows her personal strength and dignity, even in the face of possible execution. People sometimes criticize Natalia for her arc being “all about Asch”, but it really isn't – it's about family, and this section highlights that so well.

Favorite line:

It's an optional scene, and you only get it when you have Natalia lead the final fight against Van: “Even if the Score has made my fate go wrong, I will change that fate myself!” Honestly, that whole scene is so good.

Favorite outfit:

Like I said, not her default. Her princess gown, especially the long version from the anime, is probably my favorite. But I'm also a fan of her two wedding dress designs they've released in escort titles.

OTP:

Oh this is no secret, Asch and Natalia. Along with liking both characters on their own, I find the angst of their relationship very interesting. There's this sense that things could be okay for them, but because of circumstances (and their own choices), they're in love but they fail to actually meet as a couple. So it's a relationship that's canon, but never realized – there's no I love you, there's no reconciliation after all their past arguments, there's not even a chance to say goodbye. So on one side, you have both the tragedy of their love never being fulfilled and the two of them ending the game while still in conflict. But at the same time, there's also these moments of sweetness and support, glimpses of what they could have without all the baggage. There's room for differing opinions of course, but I think Asch and Natalia could be a really strong relationship – if they'd just allowed it to happen.

BROTP:

I love both her relationships with Luke and Guy, so maybe what I should answer here is a BROT3. Guy is so warm and understanding with her, giving her the emotional support she often doesn't get elsewhere Asch. But Luke gives her that close familial relationship we see her craving with Ingobert and Largo and Asch. The Luke relationship is especially strong because you realize that Luke sees himself in her – when she suffers from being rejected by her father, he knows exactly what she's feeling, and when she's hurt because of Largo, you can see he's hurting right alongside her.

(Going outside the game, I also love the friendship that develops between her and Estelle in Tales of the Rays. I could see her and Estelle becoming super close, bonding over being princesses and loving books and having to deal with the diehard tsunderes in their lives.)

Head Canon:

When she becomes queen, she begins to gradually dismantle the monarchy and turn Kimlasca into a republic. Whether or not this succeeds in her own lifetime varies with what fic I'm writing, but I feel like it's a logical conclusion to her promise with Asch, wanting to empower everyone in Kimlasca, not just the nobility.

Unpopular Opinion:

Earlier in the fandom, it felt kind of unpopular to like Natalia in the first place, but I think that's mostly died off by now. I don't know if this is particularly unpopular, but I'm not a huge fan of Stephanie Sheh's voice work for her. Some scenes work well, but Natalia's is one of the voices I wouldn't mind seeing recast if we ever did get a remake.

A wish:

I mean, if asking for both Luke and Asch to come back is too much, then I wish she'd at least gotten her chance to see Asch one last time. I don't know that she would have taken the opportunity to declare her love, but they could still have had their chance at reconciliation.

Please-don't-ever:

In game, pretty much the worst thing does happen – Asch dies. Actually, while a lot of people like the Lusch interpretation of the ending, Luke and Asch being fused into one being with both of their consciousnesses intact, I think that could potentially be more devastating than either Luke's or Asch's outright deaths would be. It's an intriguing concept to speculate about, but I'd never want to see it canonized.

5 words:

courageous, devoted, idealistic, naive, emotional

My nickname for them:

I don't think I have one...? Nat, maybe?

[arandomeroacher]

I still think about The Pale Horse (Manhwa) and its beautiful art and amazing story, and I am still salty that the ending chapters have not been translated

Like Seriously, I don't think I can articulate how much I love it; it's been almost an exact year since I last read it and it is the exact type of story I love and want, a story with massive amounts of angst and pain mixed with complex characters who you hate at first but then sob over when you learn more about them and massive character development mixed with vampires and abuse.

oh yeah, spoiler warning, along with mentions of SA and abusive relationships

Like, I cannot express how amazing it's written, especially Benjamin and Rose's relationship, with Benjamin's obsession with her and Rose's sort of indifference and hatred towards him that turns into fear and desperation to get away from him and then going back to him because she's scared but also her manipulation of Benjamin that seems almost second nature to her and let's not talk about the codependency between the both of them and the flopping between hating and loving each other while refusing to leave each other alone at the same time honestly, it's a whole mess.

Also, I hate Benjamin so much; he's just like that, all fucked up and shit. Sir literally demanded Rose take off her clothes because he wanted to baby-trap her, and I- Sir step away from her STEP AWAY

And Marie seeing it and going, "Imma kill this man," is such a girlboss move. Then Pierre and Marie's solidarity when hating on Lemon (another name for benjamin) is such a mood but also kind of sweet in a fucked up way because they finally made amends again after hating and trying to kill each other for years since Pierre became a hunter and Marie became a vampire whatever the fuck the story wants to call them. Two childhood friends reuniting to kill a bastard is my favorite dynamic between enemies to bestie arcs

I also have a love-hate relationship with Rose too because bestie 😭 girlie has done so much to hurt those around her, and for the plot to go "she didn't do anything wrong!" is fucked up. Missy threw her children into a lake I- not to mention all the other things she's done, like marrying a man, making him kill animals for blood so that he can feed you, then brutally killing his children and village 😁

I feel bad for her, though; she's been through hell and back, jumping from one abusive relationship to another girlie has bad taste in men, and she's been SA'd multiple times and has been imprisoned for no reason other than existing, she's been misunderstood by literally everyone who meets her, she's described as a monster who can kill towns however they never really know what she's been through that made her one.

That being said, she's still a bad person, someone who can kill others without remorse and plays with people like toys, manipulating them and then eating them, then abandoning them when they get brought back because she doesn't like that they remind her of her sins and being put on the pedestal of "Mother" by them.

She did this with Marie. She loved Marie because she was her first friend other than Pierre Rose lost her memories and was living as a human child; however, when she reawakened again, she killed and turned Marie into a vampire, bringing Marie along with her to live with her and Benjamin only to ignore and abuse Marie. Marie clung to rose like she did as a human and loved Rose and Rose promised to be with her; Marie became obsessed because her becoming a vampire amplified her love for her and added "Putting Rose on a pedestal" to her love.

Marie did some questionable things afterward, but I can't blame her that much. Rose only clung to Marie because she loved the human Marie, not the vampire one, and was surprised when the vampire Marie loved her to the point of obsession, claiming that it wasn't what she wanted. I feel really bad for Marie. She became the way she did because of manipulation from Rose and the fake Adelaide, and I'm not really surprised. Marie got her redemption, though, and I love her. She is so silly and goofy I will gently kiss her forehead, tuck her into bed, and read her bedtime story.

Also, Marie is a child like she died and was brought back as a child. While she has matured a lot, she is still very immature and doesn't have the same reasoning as an adult. She is known to be very trusting and gullible, even in high-stress situations, and she clings to people despite being manipulated many times.

All the characters in the story are bad people and have done bad things, but I love them all (except for Lemon, hell has a saved seat for him). I'm just miffed about the story trying to excuse her actions a bit; though I understand where those actions came from and how those actions could connect in her brain, I just- I'm a sucker for the victim becomes the villain stories.

[dadvans]

ok, submitted for the approval of the midnight society (@drunktuesdays, @rubdown, @rcmclachlan) here is how i would write Season 6 of Queer as Folk:

Justin burned out quick in New York. The art scene there is both too big yet too intimate to really get his foot in the door anywhere. His work isn't abstract or avant garde enough for any exhibition or art show, but it's too abstract or avant garde to get a commercial job as an associate art director. After several years living his romantic dream squatting in warehouses, at 41 he's renting a bedroom in an apartment he shares with 8 other creative types, is a shift manager at starbucks, and draws online furry porn commissions to make ends meet

Michael Novotny has, unknowingly, been paying Justin's rent for years by commissioning furry art.

Ben is stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to understand Michael's new identity as a furry and dealing with the tempting offer he got at the gym to star in a series of high risk breeding porn

Gus comes out as a trans lesbian. Lindsay is thrilled and loves rubbing it in Brian's face that her lesbian genes were stronger than his gay man ones, but Melanie falls into an online TERF community and doesn't immediately accept her daughter. Mel ends up cheating on Lindsay with a TERF in a local book club, but realizes the error of her ways when her new girlfriend tries to bomb a hospital that performs gender-affirming surgeries

Emmett finds himself most often in New York after marrying a billionaire venture capitalist and joining the cast of Real Housewives of New York. While he's super popular on the show, his marriage has suffered, and he's really tired of hanging out with Andy Cohen, who thinks they are best friends

Brian's media empire has grown after Kinnetic turned into a digital marketing firm in the mid-00s. His home office is Pittsburgh, but he's regularly in New York and Los Angeles offices on at least a monthly basis, and maybe he has an office in London too, because he even Brian Kinney is a simp for a British accent

On a business trip to NY, Brian comes into Justin's coffee shop. Brian is still hot hot hot. Totally salt and pepper. He grew out a quarantine beard during the pandemic and it totally works for him. Justin recognizes him immediately, throws off his apron, and pretends to be a customer so Brian doesn't see him working at Starbucks

They talk. There is still chemistry! Brian is warm, and funny, and he still says, "See you around, Sunshine" when he leaves, even though he didn't give Justin his number, so how is he going to see Justin around? But it's the push Justin needs to quit his job and move back to Pittsburgh, back in with his mom, so he can seduce Brian Kinney and regain what he's lost

Justin moves back to Pittsburgh, only to be devastated to find out that Brian has been happily married in an open relationship for the past ten years. And his husband is really hot. After years of being a starving artist, Justin literally cannot buy himself a clue, and decides to become a homewrecker. He's terrible at this. Brian and his husband think he's adorable. They end up having a life-changing threesome

Michael is able to tempt Emmett back to Pittsburgh with the promise of a dream event-planning gig. Emmett, tired of stardom and his failing marriage, comes as called only to find out that Michael is trying to organize a furry convention

Ted opens a sex club on Liberty Ave, but it's been hit hard by gentrification, and he struggles with how many of the club members are straight

Debbie is forced to put avocado toast on the diner menu. This is at least a five episode arc.

Season 6 of Queer as Folk would open on a gray-haired, handsome AF Brian Kinney wiping his mouth after blowing some intern at his ad company’s satellite office in New York and going out for a black iced coffee only to run into Justin Taylor, artiste and Starbucks shift manager

[shijiujun]

[END 2020] My Top 9 Danmei Novel Picks of the Year

As a part of my Round Up post for the year, here’s my pick of favourite danmei novels, that I’ve read! This is sort of an accompaniment to my previous danmei rec list over HERE, so there may be one or two overlaps, but I’ve read WAY MORE after that and am prepared to like give more options here 

Note: There should be English translations for all via novel updates if you do a search of the English name, but I don’t think most of them are completed.

If you wanna see my full reading and queue list (it’s all in Chinese tho, for my own records), it’s here.

I’m leaving out the usual MXTX and Priest ones, because they’re already good and we all know that and there’re many carrds and posts dedicated to them.

I am also a sucker for fainting but smart men, and not too overly angsty/complicated storylines, just putting it out there first, which is why I haven’t read a lot of some of the ones on my queue list.

-------

1. 一剑霜寒 | A Sword of Frost by 语笑阑珊

Summary: Jing Yan Ran is the Emperor’s brother and wields military power in the novel, and it starts with an object being stolen from the palace. Jing Yan Ran has to retrieve the item secretly, and so enlists the help of Feng Yu Sect’s Sect Master, Yun Yi Feng, who heads the martial arts world’s one and only information trading post. Yun Yi Feng does not deal in business that involves any royalty, but Jing Yan Ran offers him something he cannot refuse - the Blood Red Lingzhi, a rare and mystical herb that is rumoured to be able to treat his life-threatening condition. 

Yun Yi Feng was used by his shifu when he was younger to test out all kinds of poisons and cures, and since then, his body flushes dangerously hot and cold frequently, with bouts of severe coughing fits in between. Throughout the first mission where he spends time with Jing Yan Ran searching for the stolen object, he allows Jing Yan Ran to take care of him, and they fall in LURVE pretty much like 10 chapters in.

Of course, they have to uncover a plot and conspiracy against their enemies who are plotting to dethrone the Emperor, and also reveal the secrets of Yun Yi Feng’s birth.

My Thoughts: AN ABSOLUTE FAVE AND GEM, I’d say this is my favourite danmei novel ever. This is both hilarious and tears-inducing, to be honest, because for most of the novel YYF knows he doesn’t have long to live and so in the beginning he knows of his own feelings for JYR and JYR also shows him that he loves him, but he is unable to officially reciprocate because he knows his body is like weakening day by day. Halfway through the fear that he’s literally about to die as they are JUST about to find the cure is real, and damn I cried so much at that. Some highlights:

YYF falls asleep very easily in baths and everywhere actually, and pretty much within the first 10 chapters he gets used to JYR carrying him around (even naked from the bath, he’s like oh well, okay cool) and taking care of him, and JYR ALWAYS makes sure he is warm and toasty under his cape

YYF LOVESSSS RICHES, PLAYING THE ZITHER AND COOKING - He’s good at gathering the first one, but he FUCKING SUCKS AS THE LAST TWO - It’s so funny because he’s so beautiful and handsome right, and when he sits down at the zither everyone is like OH DAMN WHAT A DREAM- and then he plays, and everyone’s fantasies is shattered, he’s ABYSMAL at it, and the same goes for cooking

JYR doesn’t actually have the Blood Red Lingzhi, and throughout the first arc, he feels SO DAMN GUILTY because YYF even carved out a pendant that looks like what he thinks the herb looks like, and like carries it with him everywhere LMAO

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

2. 高能二维码 | High Energy QR Code by 青色羽翼

Summary: CEO Xing Ye’s brother Xing Shuo has just passed away at the age of 24, and nothing will make him believe that Xing Shuo died of natural causes despite autopsies and experts telling him that he really died simply of a heart failure. Xing Ye, who has impeccable memory, suddenly recalls the last time he saw Xing Shuo. His brother called out to him just before Xing Ye left for a business trip, and looked as if he had something to say, but ended up just wishing him a safe trip.

At that moment, there was a QR code on Xing Shuo’s phone, and the phone screen was strangely turned out towards Xing Ye, and Xing Ye, with his incredibly high IQ and memory, realizes that Xing Shuo wanted him to see the QR code. Quickly, he reproduces the QR code by pen and then scans it, and finds himself in a game world.

There he meets a narcissistic but also cute mirror which can speak, and finds out later that his name is Lu Ming Ze. Xing Ye’s mission is to clear the game missions in each round that is set by the black and white cubic game system, a system that continuously tempts its players into giving in to committing sins such as killing someone else, stealing and other things. He soon realizes that if he cannot stay on a path clear of these sins, he will never be able to triumph over the game system and return Lu Ming Ze back to his body in the real world. 

At the same time, he gains new teammates and friends for life, and also finds out what role his brother played in this game. 

My Thoughts: MY GOD I LOVE THIS. I LITERALLY JUST FINISHED READING THIS YESTERDAY, and honestly it’s one of my faves. I don’t like game systems very often (I’ve read three others so far, and this, and KOD are the only ones I’ve liked) but this one is *chef’s kiss*. So LMZ was born like with a really handsome face, like SUPER HANDSOME, and that’s why he’s like a harmless narcissist that cannot bear to look at ugly things LMAO, but he’s not spoilt, he makes sure that Xing Ye stays true to himself, and help him keep his head clear. 

THE ONLY THING ABOUT THIS FRICKIN NOVEL IS THAT LU MING ZE STAYS A MIRROR, LIKE DIFFERENT KINDS OF MIRRORS, in the first TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY CHAPTERS. I KID YOU NOT. I FRICKIN KID YOU NOT. I swear I was sooo touched starved at the end of the novel, because they couldn’t even kiss?!! Like Xing Ye kisses the mirror, and then uses his thumbs to like hi-five mini LMZ in the mirror back, they can’t even hug. Do you know how empty my arms felt when I read this book?!! And my arms have never been filled!!!!!!

I really like this one because each game world is set up in such a brilliant way, but it’s not so unnecessarily complex that you literally don’t know what the fuck is going on. Xing Ye’s intelligence as he outmanoeuvres every single one of his enemies and convinces his would-be loyal teammates to trust him is so satisfying, world after world, victory after victory.

Humour is also absolutely ON POINT. A lot of it is centred on Xing Ye getting caught in the real world kissing his handheld mirror (LMZ) by LMZ’s parents (who cannot see him in the mirror) and LMZ’s parents going like ???!!!!!!!! 

Available: Novel Online | Physical Novel is coming out on 10 Dec (freebies are, you guessed it, a mirror)

3. 妻为上 | The Wife is First by 绿野千鹤

Summary: This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

My Thoughts: OKAY BEFORE YALL GO INTO THE ‘WIFE’ terminology discourse and everything, in this case they do use the term ‘wife’ literally, and it’s a position, that while men frequently fall into (there are a lot of male ‘wives’ in this story), is also used to cut off like sons from inheriting the family and the fortune, and even titles. Male ‘wives’ aren’t looked down upon in this setting, in fact, Han Zhang gets a lot of leeway as one, and in his case he was also able to rise up the ranks to be an actual official later on, but the sad thing comes from sons who are most of the time forced to marry a male ‘wife’ for whatever reason, and then they are neglected as the son goes and find concubines, women he actually wants to sleep with - this is sad af yall. I don’t know, on one hand, yay for equality in marriage in this setting, but on the other hand like, damn, must you use same-sex marriage like that argh.

ANYWAY THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVES TOO?!!! I mean, especially when Jing Shao literally just goes into doting mode 200% and Han Zhang is totally like wtf why is he so nice to me is he scheming or something? And then he realizes that Jing Shao is really, really gentle towards him despite his reputation as a cruel, dark military commander, and Jing Shao always smiles at him. In any situation, especially in the beginning, when Han Zhang thought Jing Shao would not stand with him, Jing Shao literally just protects him no matter what, gives him everything, and cries, I love it. 

Especially because Han Zhang is the son of a concubine and he was bullied a lot in the Mu family, and the official Lady Mu married him off to Jing Shao in hopes that he would be unhappy for the rest of his life, and I suppose that came true in the first life, but in the second, Han Zhang gets all the love, respect and support he never got before in this family with Jing Shao and that makes me WEEP.

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Kuaikan

4. 死亡万花筒 Kaleidoscope of Death by 西子绪

OOOH I intro-ed KOD here in my previous rec list. Still one of my faves and all-time re-reads, especially under the covers in the dark hehehe.

5. 你的距离 | Your Distance by 公子优 

Summary: Ting Shuang is a student at a German university, and has this handsome professor Bai Chang Yi who he swears kind of hates him. He’s just broken up with his longtime boyfriend, and then goes on this dating app that matches a profile with him based on distance. The app can also show the matched profile’s distance from him once they enter the same area, and Ting Shuang starts chatting with this Chinese guy on the app, who he finds out later, is 36 years old, 187cm in height and wears glasses. 

The guy is a little aloof and cool, very mature in his replies on the app, and somehow Bai Chang Yi finds out who he is later, as Ting Shuang starts complaining to him about his professor to Bai Chang Yi. Instead of getting angry and offended, BCY is pretty much amused and finds Ting Shuang cute. A few days later Ting Shuang finally realizes who it is he’s been texting, and after getting past the initial embarrassment and fear, they start dating for real, and they really fall in love!!!!! 

My Thoughts: This is sweet and also hilarious af, if you need to like satisfy your sweet tooth, this is definitely one for you. It’s really funny because Bai Chang Yi runs in the same circles as Ting Shuang’s dad, who he’s estranged from because the dad doesn’t want to recognize a son who is gay, and then BCY convinces him later in the funniest of ways, and there’s a small subplot at the end in which Ting Shuang is pretty cool, and yep, short and sweet! BCY in the manhua is handsome af too guys ;-;

Available: Novel Online, Audio Drama on Maoer FM and Manhua on Bilibili, 

6. 神木挠不尽 The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post by 绿野千鹤

Summary: Mo Tian Liao, a weapons forger and master who ruled the Demon Tribe, was hunted down and killed by other righteous sects in the region when he managed to forge an incredibly destructive weapon that could end the world. Before he died, he placed the only thing he loved, a white cat, into a hole in the tree behind him to protect it. The only thing he was grateful for was that he did not create a blood pact with the cat, Xiao Mao, because if he had done so, when he died, Xiao Mao would have died along with him as well.

Right before he dies, unbeknownst to him, Xiao Mao who is no simple demonic cat, wraps part of his consciousness around Mo Tian Liao, and MTL’s spirit ends up floating about for 300 years, until he finds a suitable time to return with a body made out of a special tree and its wood. The first thing he does, of course, is to find his white cat, but he’s poor, and the body he has isn’t powerful, so he joins Wo Yun Sect, the only sect that did not hunt him down that day hundreds of years ago.

There, he is chosen by Qing Tong shizun to be his direct disciple, much to the astonishment of other shizuns in the sect, and Qing Tong’s shixiongs. MTL has never seen a person as beautiful and gorgeous as his shizun, and if only he could find that cat (who’s actually his shizun, who recognizes him and protects him, even if MTL doesn’t actually need much protection).

My Thoughts: This was hilarious as well, and so romantic?!!! Qing Tong/Xiao Mao waited for MTL to come back, and the moment he came back, Qing Tong was there ready to grab him, and then before he went to sleep that night, Qing Tong thought to himself, “I’ve gotten my person back, I can sleep well now” and AHHHHH at this point they weren’t even like a couple yet? MTL ‘kidnapped’ Qing Tong when he was a young demon cat by accident because he likes pretty things (like his shizun lmao) and Qing Tong is attached to him because MTL never forced a blood pact on him, and gave him everything he wanted as a younger cat before MTL died. Gosh, a mirror in #2 and then a cat now with this one. XD

Available: Novel Online

7. 破云 | Breaking the Clouds by 淮上

Summary: Three years ago, Captain Jiang Ting and his team of the Narcotics division perished in an explosion due to a wrong call of his, and he returns three years later under a new identity ready to deal with the people who set him and his team up. He’s caught in what seems to be a simple murder case almost immediately and meets Yan Xie, who’s Vice Captain and in charge of this case. Yan Xie realizes who Jiang Ting is shortly after, and begins to unravel the huge mystery surrounding the events of three years ago, and falls in love with Jiang Ting along the way as well.

My Thoughts: Okay out of the FOUR crime/detective/thriller danmei novels I’ve read, the poyun and tunhai (below) series is the one that MIRRORS actual narcotics division and undercovers the best. It has the complexity and depth of the drugs/narcotics world, and both this one and its sequel focuses a lot on the position of an undercover and mole. I liked this one a lot because there are SOOOO many twists especially in the last arc, like you honestly won’t see any of them coming until it hits you? And Yan Xie is such a confident, rich-ass narcissist, and he keeps asking Jiang Ting if he can “just touch” him ONCE lmao, he’s thick-skinned af, but that’s why he and Jiang Ting are so compatible ;-;.

Available: Novel Online, Novel Print, Audio Drama and Manhua on Bilibili

8. 吞海 | Swallowing the Sea by 淮上

Summary: Sequel to Po Yun. Yu Wu is a young-looking new detective under Captain Bu Chong Hua’s narcotics team. Bu Chong Hua is Yan Xie’s cousin by actual relation, but brother in relationship because BCH’s parents died early and Yan Xie’s parents have been taking care of him mostly. He cannot stand Yu Wu, who seems to want to coast through at work and keep to a 9-5 work schedule. 

It’s only after an altercation and Yu Wu dumping his nonchalant facade to snarl at BCH that he realizes that YW is actually more interesting and mysterious than he thought, and he begins to try to get close to him, understand him. It turns out that Yu Wu is a famous undercover who nearly died a year ago during an operation, and due to various reasons, he was assigned to BCH’s team by higher ups so he can peacefully live the rest of his life out there. However, his past catches up with him quickly, and his enemies turning up forces him to rely on BCH. 

With BCH, Yu Wu’s resentment of having to be an undercover in the past and being so easily discarded by his team’s leaders, and of him being forced to be in the shadows while others can announce their achievements to the world, is slowly erased, because BCH sees him, knows him, and understands him more than anyone else.

My Thoughts: I actually liked this one better than the first one - Yu Wu is such a pouty, angry little thing?! And for good reason (there’s a bit of cannibalism in the book, not by choice when he was younger and in a poor village in Cambodia, where some militants forced survivors in the village to eat the meat of boiled corpses of other villagers, so YW is a vegetarian, like if he eats meat he gets really sick) and the twists here are even more amazing?! BCH really, really, devotes himself to YW the moment he realizes how much he likes him, doing a 180 degree turn. Instead of Yan Xie’s flamboyance, BCH is much steadier, grouchy, like an old uncle, but also looks at things even more clearly than Yan Xie does sometimes. Yu Wu is understandably bitter about what he had to go through, and BCH is the ONLY person who can calm him down, whom he listens to, which I LOVE. Some highlights:

Yu Wu grew up in a poor village and thus loves money, and he fights in underground betting rings to earn more money - The stash of hidden money he collects I think is half for his escape money, but if he happens to never need it, his dream is to donate the money to his village so they can open up a school there - ANYWAY because Yan Xie’s parents, and technically BCH’s ‘parents’ are soooooo rich right, Yan Xie’s mom shows her approval to her son-in-laws (Jiang Ting first, then Yu Wu), by giving them winter pants. It’s kind of like inside warmers, and usually meant for older ladies to wear LOLOL so Yu Wu was like staring at the pants when he finally got them and looked soooo reluctant until Jiang Ting told him it costs $6,000 AND HE WAS LIKE :333333 okie

He acts a lot like a kid?!! He likes eating like some snack but it’s really unhealthy for him, and BCH the mother hen keeps catching him in weird places like the toilet, where he’s hiding from BCH so he can eat his fave snack?! And the whole police station knows not to give YW what he wants in terms of snacks and smokes because once BCH finds out, he makes life very difficult for them HAHAHAHA

9. 穿成反派如何活命 | How to Survive as A Villain by 伊依以翼

Summary: Rich and handsome CEO Xiao Yu An finds out he has a terminal illness (cancer), and dies while he’s reading this online novel, where a king mistreats the crown prince from a neighbouring state which sent him over as hostage after losing a war, and ends up being killed by the crown prince years later (SVSSS much?!). He wakes up AS THE KING, and afraid of dying, he immediately goes about befriending the prince, Yan He Qing. Yan He Qing falls in love with Xiao Yu An while being his friend/hostage/bodyguard, and Xiao Yu An tries to avoid all the deaths he read in the book, while making sure Yan He Qing manages to find his three/four wives, including Xiao Yu An’s sister.

Of course, because Xiao Yu An showed him warmth and kindness, Yan He Qing ends up falling for him instead, and Xiao Yu An is an absolute oblivious idiot because he REALLY doesn’t realize until much later. Yan He Qing ends up declaring war on Xiao Yu An’s kingdom because he is duty bound to do so, but doesn’t hurt Xiao Yu An, wanting to keep him by his side, but YHQ’s scheming uncle drives a wedge between them, and XYA leaves, breaking YHQ’s heart.

They meet again a few years later, where XYA is training to be a physician in a small village and chances upon a severely injured YHQ. There, he realizes that it was all a misunderstanding, and that YHQ actually LIKES, LIKES him, but before they can enjoy this short period of happiness, disaster strikes again.

My Thoughts: THIS WAS really enjoyable, and with the manhua visuals, it is *chef’s kiss*. I think this transmigration version actually delved into the part where XYA is unable to change everything, and if he saves one person, someone else is destined to die, and that moral dilemma devastates him a lot. In this novel he actually transmigrates TWICE, once into the king’s body, and the second time into a neighbouring state’s prince/king’s body, who looks exactly like his modern self after. YHQ is real sweet to him istg, and I like that the epilogues are SUPER EXTENSIVE, including an arc where YHQ and XYA transmigrate back to the real world and everyone who died is alive and close to them, and gets their happy ending ;-;

Available: Novel Online and Manhua on Bilibili

[diivergence]

I’m honestly never one to get like really angry at the idea of someone having a different opinion when it comes to media that I particularly love. At most, I get hella annoyed, rant about it and continue on with my day. I don’t have the time or life energy to fret about someone having like a different opinion about something. So that being said, it really just... butters my biscuit when people say shit like this about Corpse Bride.

"Victor van Dort Sucks!!" "He should've had married Emily" "Victor is a jerk"

Like, I’m sorry bitch, but did we watch the same damn movie??

First of all, people making Victor out to be just as bad, if not worse than Barkis. Kindly stop. Victor deadass had the most realistic reactions to pretty much the entire situation. Like you’re gonna sit there and tell me that if you accidentally married a dead woman when you’re kicking it with someone else, you wouldn’t freak the fuck out and try to get back to the one you love no matter what? If you say yes, I’mma look at your ass sideways. Victor loved Victoria. He wasn’t just gonna drop her for Emily. I’m sorry. He stayed loyal to her till her heard she was marrying someone else and instead of trying to win her back, he lamented, but respected that, and agreed to marry Emily just to make her happy. He was going to throw away his happiness and his life so that he could make Emily happy, because he felt bad for hurting her feelings. He’s a good dude, dammit. Y’all leave my boy alone. He didn’t do anything wrong.

Ya know, on the topic of Victoria, STOP CALLING HER BORING. Kindly check your misogyny at the door, please and thank you. Victoria adored him. Their initial meeting, she fell for him playing for the piano and instead of interrupting him; she let him play. She tried to help and support him during the practice ceremony. When Emily takes him back to The Land of The Dead, she tries to rescue him, and escape so she can save him. She loves Victor to death (pun intended) and would do whatever it takes to protect him. I could honestly write pages about her as a character, but we’d be here all damn day... Point is, stop dissing her. Honestly, Emily's simps are like, so fucking annoying, and this coming from someone adoring the ground Emily walks on...No. He should not have thrown his life away to marry her. Victor should’ve had a happy and healthy marriage with a lovely woman that he adores.

“Victor and Emily had such good chemistry!! They should’ve gotten together!!” ...Yeah no. Not the point of the movie. Emily wanted to be a bride, but she also wants peace and happiness. Victor gave her that by keeping his promise to her. She doesn’t need marriage and a romantic relationship to be happy or have peace in her afterlife. Victor cares for her, and Victoria has sympathy and care for her as well by the end of the movie. Her memory will live on through platonic love from a happy couple that’ll get to live the dream she never got to have. Honestly? I would argue that Emily didn’t really want a relationship or marriage. She wanted happiness, she wanted freedom, and through her character arc she found that by herself. She found closure. The man that destroyed her is dead and won’t hurt any other woman again. The people she cares for a safe and will live a long happy life. She can find peace. The implications of slapping a forced love interest on that character would give them "happiness" is so allo it hurts....

“Emily DESERVES!! Victor!! Victor didn’t DESERVE Victoria or Emily!!” Shut the fuck up and stop acting like people are prizes. Holy shit, I hate this argument. So Victor is a bit of an anxious and nervous wreck. Some of y’all ain’t any fucking better, let's be honest! At worst, he’s clumsy and a coward, and the worst man in this movie literally prays on innocent and vulnerable women in order to still all of their money. Victor isn’t perfect, but he’s a decent guy who deserves to marry the girl he loves. Y’all stop being hateful. 

So yeah. Stop misrepresenting the main three please. The literal tag line of the movie is, “There has been a grave misunderstanding.” The key word being, “misunderstanding.” Emily, Victor & Victoria deserve better than their shitty parents gave them, and I want nothing but happiness for my babies.

[swanqueensalad]

Is your question thingy still on? if so, would you rate top10 episodes to watch if you want swanqueen :)

ahhh this is such a good question!! and my ask box is literally always open for anything, i love chatting with y'all <3

this is Not a comprehensive list, just ten great ones that come to mind (plus two bonus ones and a lot of rambling bc, as always, i got carried away).

i've tried to put them in chronological order for the show!

1. a land without magic (1x22)

don't get me wrong, there's a lot of incredible swan queen episodes in season one (the pilot, desperate souls, that still small voice) but the content in finale just does something to me man...

emma pinning regina against the wall, the intensity of the confrontation and regina admitting everything, the way they're instantly a TEAM despite all that fury and heartache because henry comes before anything else, the literal entire sequence paralleling charming fighting maleficent and saving snow to emma fighting maleficent and saving regina, i -

2. broken (2x01)

feel like this a bit of a rogue one since, again, s2 has lots of good stuff, but there's a LOT going on in the premiere! emma promising to protect regina for henry (which we know develops into this kind of sacred oath she fulfils at her own peril over and over throughout the years) and being so attentive to her, saving her from the mob, helping her to her feet, human-shielding her, and the look on regina's face when emma's touch restarts her magic and opens a portal to another realm - the literal requirements for 'true love'. so, so good.

3. the cricket game (2x10)

a classic. emma starting to not only see but fight for the woman regina really is. this strange developing trust and respect, the desire to not be enemies for a brief second before it goes wrong again.

4. and straight on til morning (2x22)

i will never be able to scream enough about the sq development in the s2 finale. regina being the most vulnerable and herself in front of emma, begging her to let her die as herself because she knows she's the only one who could understand and grant her that - and emma not letting her, emma jumping in and finding their shared magic together for the first time to save each other and everyone else. emma speechless, seeing everything regina feels for henry.

also "you might not be strong enough but maybe we are" is one of my favourite swan queen lines, because i think it just sums up the whole ship!

5. going home (3x11)

jumping to the 3A finale, what can i say? once again, as always when it comes to henry, they are a team above all else. the group hugs, henry calling them 'mom, mama', emma being a human shield again, regina whispering her name as she wakes up, ready to give emma everything she ever wanted for herself and their son.

the incredibly intimacy and intensity of their goodbye and all those things unsaid and unfinished between them. *chefs kiss*

6. breaking glass (4x05)

ok so despite the stupid frozen arc, season 4 is actually one of my favourites for swan queen content, bc you have emma promising to give regina a happy ending in the premiere and seeing that all the way through to sacrificing herself for her in the finale. and that's what dreams are made of.

i specifically mention breaking glass bc there's so much sq screen time. emma is gutted that regina thinks she'll never have her back, literally follows her around all episode trying to prove the opposite (in the same way hook follows her around lmao), elsa telling emma not to give up on her.

and there's that gorgeous scene where emma is so honest with her about the two of them having something special and unique and different from what they have with anyone else, and that hopeful 'it's a start' ... i ...

7. operation mongoose (4x22)

what would be a list of top tier swan queen episodes without the climax of all that 'fighting for her happiness' - the saviour sacrificing herself to the darkness to save regina. this was truly the peak of ouat i swear to go d

also lots of nice stuff in the alternate reality with emma, henry and regina!

(before i move on from season 4 i do have to mention bonus episode: lily - emma's super gay fucking backstory, regina telling her she needs her, the first (?) swan queen road trip!, regina talking emma down from shooting lily/beating up that dude because she believes so strongly in emma's goodness)

8. dreamcatcher (5x05)

i remember after this episode came out, there was a post circulating of a bunch of c$ fans saying they were literally worried sq was becoming canon/getting undeniable.

so yeah. everything in this episode is pure gold. the swan mills family dynamics, regina trusting emma with her most painful memory, emma crying over the dreamcatcher, and that deliciously tense argument on regina's porch that was so electric it made sq feel inevitable. ('don't miss swan me, we've been through too much' is another favourite line!)

9. only you (5x22)

swan queen road trip, them being married af the whole time plus regina once again being her most open and vulnerable with emma? what more do you need

10. wish you were here (6x10)

this is another episode i don't think i can ever scream about enough - there's just so much to unpack! firstly, emma becoming enfuriated and attacking the evil queen because she's upsetting regina. secondly, regina thoughtlessly wishing to be sent after emma to get her back. thirdly... emma swan waking herself up from a curse and remembering who she is, sparking her own magic back to life, because even in her most cursed unknowing state she had to save regina mills.

how do you ever get over that (also they're so soft together once emma's awake, i...)

honorable mentions go to

enter the dragon (4x15) - for regina's gay backstory with mal, emma being insanely protective of regina and literally following her around all night super unhappy about her being in danger ('if i see anything i don't like i will come in blazing' oof) all the while regina is doing it to protect emma in return, jesus christ -

birth (5x08) - purely for the scene at the well where regina begs emma to tell her why she's hanging on to the darkness (aka begging emma to admit she loves her, while emma is being super repressed but they both know that's what they're talking about)

i'll be your mirror (5x08) - for all that good married sq teamwork content in the mirrorworld, regina admitting she's scared to raise henry alone and emma promising to always be there and never let anything bad happen, and the softness and tenderness of them watching him dance with violet and realising they've done such a good job together... i'm so weak bruh

[a-secret-bolton-vampire]

Daenerys Stormborn, Part 2: Wake the Dragon

Oh hey, I have part 2 already! Guess my brain is really focused on Dany now. In part 1, I talked about Dany's arcs from AGOT to ASOS, exploring the narrative and thematic purpose of her journey. However, the most important part of her journey occurs in ADWD, and sets the stage for some incredibly exciting developments to come in TWOW. For part 2, I'll be talking about the gradual transformation of Daenerys into a slightly different, darker character for the future.

Breaker of Chains & Mhysa

Slavery has been an important background element throughout Dany's time in Essos, even in AGOT, but it becomes front and centre in ASOS. She accepted the Dothraki, a society that uses slaves for many things, and wasn't too perturbed at the use of slaves in Qarth. However, it is in Astapor where she finally realizes just how bad the institution is, as she tells Xaro:

"Whence came this madness? Should I count myself fortunate that you did not free my own slaves when you were my guest in Qarth?" I was a beggar queen and you were Xaro of the Thirteen, Dany thought, and all you wanted were my dragons. "Your slaves seemed well treated and content. It was not till Astapor that my eyes were opened."

As mentioned last time, ASOS is when she begins to take control of her destiny, and she does so by beginning a revolution to free the slaves of Slaver's Bay. She believe she has a greater destiny lying ahead of her, that there is a reason for her dragons, the red comet. She also has great empathy for people and sees this disturbing injustice being played out with nobody to stop it. But she has the power to do so, and thus she begins by going fire and blood at Astapor, killing the Good Masters and freeing all the slaves. Afterwards, she leaves the city with a ruling council of a priest, a scholar, and a healer and moves to Yunkai.

She does a different approach with Yunkai, negotiating with the Wise Masters to surrender their slaves and to leave them in peace. And then when she arrives at Meereen, she decides to stay and rule as its queen. This is where things begin to get difficult for Daenerys. The ruling council of Astapor is overthrown by a butcher named Cleon, who said the council was conspiring to bring back slavery, who declares himself King of Astapor, enslaves the children of the former Good Masters to make new Unsullied, and tries to ally with Daenerys against Yunkai, who has resumed slavery.

Daenerys is not interested in any war with Yunkai. The reason she stays in Meereen is exactly because she learned what happened when she left Astapor. The fire and blood approach didn't work. You can't just dismantle such a deeply engrained system so easily. So instead she opts to rule, and protect the people she can. While a lot of readers view Dany's actions in Meereen as pointless, the whims of a naive girl, and poor leadership, I actually think it's the opposite.

For starters, Dany realized that she can't simply burn the slavers to end slavery, but she needs to stay and instill changes. While King Cleon repeatedly begs for Daenerys to join the war against Yunkai, she refuses, and warns Cleon to not do such a thing. She turns out to be horribly right, as Cleon is killed, Astapor is sieged, before being slaughtered, burned, and sacked, to be reinstated as a slave city once more. Likewise, the Yunkish siege Meereen, first by creating a blockade in the bay with ships, and then by having armies amassed outside the city walls.

In addition, refugees from Astapor begin to pile up outside the city, and a deadly plague called the pale mare (for the horse from Astapor that arrives at Meereen) begins to sweep the starving Astapori freedmen, who begin to resort to cannibalism to survive. Dany blames herself for leaving Astapor a mess, but does not wish to have the same thing happen in Meereen. She wants to protect the people she's freed, not just from the Yunkish, but herself as well.

When a sheepherder brings the burned bones of his daughter, Hazzea, who was killed by her dragons, Dany has Rhaegal and Viserion chained in the dungeons below the Great Pyramid to prevent them from causing any more harm. However, Drogon is still loose, unable to be found. In addition, when the sons of the harpy, a terrorist group opposed to the emancipation of Meereen, begin massacring freedmen, Dany decides to raise a tax on the Great Masters and have all families of suspect loyalty send a child to serve as a hostage and cupbearers. Yet, as the killings continue, she has grown close to the children and decides not to have them killed.

Now, some of you may notice that I am taking a lot from the Meereenese Blot essays written by Adam Feldman. That's not only because they are really well written essays, but ones that GRRM himself has approved of.

"I read those when someone pointed them out to me, and I was really pleased with them, because at least one guy got it. He got it completely, he knew exactly what I was trying to do there, and evidently I did it well enough for people who were paying attention."

So I am retreading some of the ground Feldman has laid, but it's important to do so if I am to build up to what I think is going to happen in the future of Dany's story.

As Feldman notes, Dany's own actions (or in the case of the cupbearers, inaction) actually made a peace possible, because the Yunkish saw that she was someone who is capable of mercy and not a (in their eye) violent mass murderer. Knowing what happened with Astapor, and seeing what happens when her dragons are unleashed with Hazzea, Dany decides to make peace with the Yunkish and marry Hizdahr.

Under the peace, Meereen itself would remain a free city, but the Yunkish would continue to sell slaves. They even sell them in markets outside the walls of Meereen, which displeases Daenerys extremely. In addition, slaveowners could bring their slaves into Meereen without fear of them being freed, and the Yunkish promised to respect the rights of the freedmen in Meereen. Yet, despite the peace and the progress made, she feels as though this is a defeat.

This is peace, she told herself. This is what I wanted, what I worked for, this is why I married Hizdahr. So why does it taste so much like defeat?

The thing is, Daenerys has had to sacrifice so much of herself and her morals to get to this point. Yes there is peace, even if it is tentative, Meereen would not be sacked by the Yunkish, but slavery is still going on, and she thinks that she has let herself and other people down by agreeing to peace and allowing the Yunkish to continue slavery. She has agreed to peace to people she loathes and thinks are despicable, she has married a man she does not love and does not love her, she has chained her dragons in the pit below, she has allowed the fighting pits to reopen. This comes to ahead at Daznak's Pit when she is at the height of her discomfort.

The boar buried his snout in Barsena's belly and began rooting out her entrails. The smell was more than the queen could stand. The heat, the flies, the shouts from the crowd … I cannot breathe. She lifted her veil and let it flutter away. She took her tokar off as well. The pearls rattled softly against one another as she unwound the silk.

And then Drogon arrives, and in the chaos of him attacking the boar and being attacked by the soldiers in the pit, Dany tries to calm him, but he spits fire at her, and she tries to tame him by whipping him into submission. Here, Dany is quite literally fighting herself. She herself in this moment represents the Queen of Meereen, someone who desires for peace. Meanwhile, Drogon represents the dragon inside her, who wants to unleash blood and fire on her enemies. In the end, Dany climbs onto Drogon and they fly away together, which foreshadows and symbolizes Dany's later decision to choose being the dragon.

Despite her frustrations in Meereen, the peace was a good first step. Not to say that it solved every issue, it didn't, but that doesn't need to be the end of it. Daenerys could forge new peaces, new agreements, and if she stayed in Meereen, she could implement great changes throughout Slaver's Bay. But what is done is done, and cannot be undone. The peace that was forged is now gone. Next comes war.

The House with the Red Door

Before we move on to Dany's final chapter and what that means for the future, we must take a look at a very important part of her backstory which is one of the main elements of her own story. Sure, destiny, greatness, prophecy, power, and identity are themes with Daenerys, but at the center of it all is the desire for home. Dany was born on Dragonstone, but was whisked away to Braavos, and there she lived in the house with the red door, with Viserys, Ser Willem Darry, and their servants.

To Dany, the house with the red door was the only place in her life she called home, and she has very fond memories of it, of Willem, or the lemon tree. But after Willem died, they were kicked out and forced to become beggars on the streets, selling off their possessions and travelling the Free Cities. The red door was closed and gone forever after, but the dream of having a home hasn't.

Daenerys has a desire for home, for love, for family. Throughout her childhood, Viserys would tell Dany all about Westeros, how they need to take back the Iron Throne, that the Seven Kingdoms were the most beautiful lands in the world. And sure enough, soon, Westeros represents the idea for home and belonging to Dany.

"I pray for home too," she told him, believing it. Ser Jorah laughed. "Look around you then, Khaleesi." But it was not the plains Dany saw then. It was King's Landing and the great Red Keep that Aegon the Conqueror had built. It was Dragonstone where she had been born. In her mind's eye they burned with a thousand lights, a fire blazing in every window. In her mind's eye, all the doors were red.

Although she takes on the mantle as the new head of House Targaryen and carries on Viserys's dream of taking back the Iron Throne out of a sense of duty, she also does so for desire to belong in a place she can call home. It's a nostalgic feeling she gets of the old days, that she wants to relive again.

But then other ambitions get in her way. She frees the slaves of Slaver's Bay, and decides to stay in Meereen to try to ensure that her revolution succeeds. Thus, her quest for home is put on hold. Throughout ADWD, she gives up parts of herself, to try to become one with the Meereenese; marrying Hizdahr, reopening the fighting pits, chaining her dragons, dressing in the Ghiscari fashion, and making peace. But in the Dothraki sea, hundreds of miles outside Meereen, she finds that she wasn't being her true self, that she can never be the Queen of Meereen, or become a true Meereenese.

I must keep walking. Water flows downhill. The stream will take me to the river, and the river will take me home. Except it wouldn't, not truly. Meereen was not her home, and never would be. It was a city of strange men with strange gods and stranger hair, of slavers wrapped in fringed tokars, where grace was earned through whoring, butchery was art, and dog was a delicacy. Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy.

The series is all about the human heart in conflict with itself, and Daenerys in ADWD is one of the best examples of that. She was struggling with her two competing titles of Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, but in the end she was not comfortable with being the Breaker of Chains. This final transformation she undergoes in the Dothraki sea really sets the tone for what she will do in the future, and how she will change as a person and character.

Mother of Dragons

Daenerys X is one of the more bizarre chapters in the series, since it follows only one character alone with her thoughts, but it works extremely well as a character study, and the development over the course of the chapter is one of my favourites in the whole series. Through all the hallucinations and visions and dreams Daenerys has during this chapter, it's important to remember that they all (apart from possibly Quaithe) are her, so the discussions she has are with her own internal thoughts directly.

The topic of Targaryen madness reoccurs throughout the series, but it's ADWD where it is brought up the most. Now, the topic of Targaryen madness will be another post i will do in the far future and won't discuss in depth today, but the matter is that Dany is aware of some of it, even if she hasn't fully accepted the truth of her father. She fears that she is succumbing to the madness at points.

"Your Grace?" Missandei stood in the door of the queen's bedchamber, a lantern in her hand. "Who are you talking to?" Dany glanced back toward the persimmon tree. There was no woman there. No hooded robe, no lacquer mask, no Quaithe. A shadow. A memory. No one. She was the blood of the dragon, but Ser Barristan had warned her that in that blood there was a taint. Could I be going mad? They had called her father mad, once.

Later, she implies this fear again to Barristan.

I lived in fear for fourteen years, my lord. I woke afraid each morning and went to sleep afraid each night … but my fears were burned away the day I came forth from the fire. Only one thing frightens me now." "And what is it that you fear, sweet queen?" "I am only a foolish young girl." Dany rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. "But not so foolish as to tell you that. My men shall look at these ships. Then you shall have my answer."

But in an early version of Daenerys III, the answer Daenerys gave was "myself". She fears what would happen if she "woke the dragon", as Viserys put it. She's afraid of succumbing to the madness that consumed her father and probably was consuming Viserys. She's afraid of what would happen if she unleashed her dragons, how many innocents they would kill. But in the Dothraki sea, she begins to question her decisions, starting when she woke up after finding blood between her thighs:

"I am the blood of the dragon," she told the grass, aloud. Once, the grass whispered back, until you chained your dragons in the dark. "Drogon killed a little girl. Her name was … her name …" Dany could not recall the child's name. That made her so sad that she would have cried if all her tears had not been burned away. "I will never have a little girl. I was the Mother of Dragons." Aye, the grass said, but you turned against your children.

The importance of this quote cannot go unnoticed. She thinks about Hazzea all the time throughout the book, feeling deeply guilty about what Drogon did to her. But here, at the end, she cannot remember her name. The in world explanation is that, of course, she is delirious from being in the wilderness eating berries and being sick, but thematically this is her slowly turning away from the people she freed. Next comes a dream with Viserys (long quote incoming):

She dreamt of her dead brother. Viserys looked just as he had the last time she'd seen him. His mouth was twisted in anguish, his hair was burnt, and his face was black and smoking where the molten gold had run down across his brow and cheeks and into his eyes. "You are dead," Dany said. Murdered. Though his lips never moved, somehow she could hear his voice, whispering in her ear. You never mourned me, sister. It is hard to die unmourned. "I loved you once." Once, he said, so bitterly it made her shudder. You were supposed to be my wife, to bear me children with silver hair and purple eyes, to keep the blood of the dragon pure. I took care of you. I taught you who you were. I fed you. I sold our mother's crown to keep you fed. "You hurt me. You frightened me." Only when you woke the dragon. I loved you. "You sold me. You betrayed me." No. You were the betrayer. You turned against me, against your own blood. They cheated me. Your horsey husband and his stinking savages. They were cheats and liars. They promised me a golden crown and gave me this. He touched the molten gold that was creeping down his face, and smoke rose from his finger. "You could have had your crown," Dany told him. "My sun-and-stars would have won it for you if only you had waited." I waited long enough. I waited my whole life. I was their king, their rightful king. They laughed at me. "You should have stayed in Pentos with Magister Illyrio. Khal Drogo had to present me to the dosh khaleen, but you did not have to ride with us. That was your choice. Your mistake." Do you want to wake the dragon, you stupid little whore? Drogo's khalasar was mine. I bought them from him, a hundred thousand screamers. I paid for them with your maidenhead. "You never understood. Dothraki do not buy and sell. They give gifts and receive them. If you had waited …" I did wait. For my crown, for my throne, for you. All those years, and all I ever got was a pot of molten gold. Why did they give the dragon's eggs to you? They should have been mine. If I'd had a dragon, I would have taught the world the meaning of our words. Viserys began to laugh, until his jaw fell away from his face, smoking, and blood and molten gold ran from his mouth.

The dream terrifies Daenerys, but once again, Viserys (really herself here) is telling her she is stalling in a place she doesn't belong, that she needs to go home, that she should embrace being a dragon. The climax of this comes right after she realizes Meereen would never be her home, where she argues with Jorah (again, herself):

Meereen would always be the Harpy's city, and Daenerys could not be a harpy. Never, said the grass, in the gruff tones of Jorah Mormont. You were warned, Your Grace. Let this city be, I said. Your war is in Westeros, I told you. The voice was no more than a whisper, yet somehow Dany felt that he was walking just behind her. My bear, she thought, my old sweet bear, who loved me and betrayed me. She had missed him so. She wanted to see his ugly face, to wrap her arms around him and press herself against his chest, but she knew that if she turned around Ser Jorah would be gone. "I am dreaming," she said. "A waking dream, a walking dream. I am alone and lost." Lost, because you lingered, in a place that you were never meant to be, murmured Ser Jorah, as softly as the wind. Alone, because you sent me from your side. "You betrayed me. You informed on me, for gold." For home. Home was all I ever wanted. "And me. You wanted me." Dany had seen it in his eyes. I did, the grass whispered, sadly. "You kissed me. I never said you could, but you did. You sold me to my enemies, but you meant it when you kissed me." I gave you good counsel. Save your spears and swords for the Seven Kingdoms, I told you. Leave Meereen to the Meereenese and go west, I said. You would not listen. "I had to take Meereen or see my children starve along the march." Dany could still see the trail of corpses she had left behind her crossing the Red Waste. It was not a sight she wished to see again. "I had to take Meereen to feed my people." You took Meereen, he told her, yet still you lingered. "To be a queen." You are a queen, her bear said. In Westeros. "It is such a long way," she complained. "I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl." No. You are the blood of the dragon. The whispering was growing fainter, as if Ser Jorah were falling farther behind. Dragons plant no trees. Remember that. Remember who you are, what you were made to be. Remember your words. "Fire and Blood," Daenerys told the swaying grass.

And here is where everything changes. She has spent time trying to protect innocent lives, to make peace, not war, to be loved and accepted by Meereen. But here, she decides that it is time to do away with that. Meereen is not her home, Westeros is, and it's time to wake the dragon and burn Yunkai. No longer will she be burdened by the idea of a cost of innocent lives, no longer will she fear herself, and no longer will she linger. When the time comes, she will burn her enemies and leave for Westeros.

I need to make a few things clear here, however. For one, I don't think she's mad now, this is just her resolving her internal conflict. For another, I don't care what she does to the slavers. They deserve what's coming for them. She will still care about the innocent, but she's now going to go full-blooded Targaryen and burn cities to the ground, and this will mean massive collateral damage she will try to rationalize away.

Daenerys has now transformed into a different, much darker character, which I feel will continue to define her for the rest of the series. She is now the Mother of Dragons, in her entirety, and Essos is about to bleed and burn. I really appreciate how GRRM put this together, and that she didn't stay fire and blood after Astapor. His character development is realistic, and sometimes the development is not linear. In part 3, I will be discussing predictions about Daenerys's arc and story in TWOW, more specifically what she will do in Essos.