#i mean everything has tropes and tbh i think trope is a word that should be taken away and put on a high shelf for a while

[lazzarella]

Nothing funnier than seeing someone complain that a rom-com has too many tropes! Oh no! The genre is genre-ing too hard! D:

[lfcgirlie866]

The Girl Who Broke A Million Hearts ~ Jude Bellingham x oc

Ok so you guys really surprised me by voting for this fic the most in the poll! I was expecting this to be the least popular option tbh, and I feel like it's really badly written 😭 I apologise in advance if it is!

Summary: 'I know the baby in your belly isn't mine, but if you let me, then I'll love her like she is'

Tropes: Childhood friends, not realising their feelings until it's (maybe) too late, pregnancy, found family

Warnings: fmc mentions death of a parent, there may be smut eventually in the story but idk yet

Prologue

As I sit outside in the mild Spanish night air, looking out across the horizon, I simultaneously wish for the darkness to end and also for the day to never come. The light means I won't be left alone with my thoughts anymore, but it also means that I have to leave Madrid behind and book a flight back to England. It means I have to leave Jude and face up to what a disaster my life has become in the last week.

How could it have all gone so wrong so quickly?

Last week, I was engaged to the man I thought I would be with forever, six months pregnant with his baby, too. I thought I knew where my life was going.

Now I'm just pregnant and alone. I don't have a home to go back to. No family. Nothing. No one.

I'm slowly spiralling, worrying about what the hell I'm supposed to do next and regretting almost every decision I've ever made.

You're a failure, Sapphy. Your mum would be so disappointed in you, I think to myself, trying to hold back a sob. You're a loser. You're too weak to do what she did and raise a baby alone.

Maybe I should just suck it up and go back to my ex, Aiden. Give in and do what he wanted me to; Move halfway across the world with him. At least then I'd have a home again

But you wouldn't be happy, Saph. Not there, and not with him. Not after everything that's happened. After what he said...

'You'd do it for him, though. Wouldn't you?'

And the answer has been plaguing my thoughts ever since.

"Jeeze, Saph. It's almost 4AM. What 'er you doing out here?"

Jude's familiar voice startles me out of my thoughts, almost like I'd summoned him here with them. I turn around and drink him in. Lit only by the lights in the pool beside me, he looks just as beautiful as he always does as he walks over to where I'm sitting, and my stomach twists and turns at the mix of emotions he churns up.

Jude Bellingham. The boy I've known since he was eight, the one I grew up alongside of, the one who I watched become a world-class footballer right before my eyes. He is quite possibly the sweetest human on this planet, and I'll never, ever forget the truly heartfelt words he spoke at my mum's funeral. He means everything to me, but he's always just been a friend. Always. There was never a time when it could have been more. At least, it never crossed my mind at the time anyway.

But since Aiden said those words to me, I can't help looking at Jude differently. I wish I could stop, but now that I've seen the light, I don't think I can ever go back.

When his brother called me and asked if I wanted to fly out and watch Jude's game yesterday, I didn't hesitate. I jumped on that plane and then screamed my heart out watching him play. I forgot all the bad stuff for a while, but being in his home just brought it all back and I started drowning in my thoughts again.

"Jobe said he was worried about you yesterday. Now I am too, Saph." He says quietly, his fingers lightly stroking down my back, making me shiver.

I should tell him what's happened. I know I should, but at the same time, how can I?

He's THE Jude Bellingham. He's on top of the fucking world right now. I can't drag him down from that. I can't burden him with my own issues. These are my problems, I'm the one who has to deal with them. And, if I tell him I left my fiancé then he's going to want to know why. I'd have to tell him that I've become one of those girls, someone I never ever wanted to be; Just one of the millions who've fallen for him.

Some kind of dam shatters inside of me and as hard as I try, I can't hold it all back any longer. The story comes pouring out with a mixture of sobs and tears as he holds me tightly in his arms.

But there's one thing I don't mention: the fact that I might now have feelings for him, and maybe I always have done.

~~~~♡♡♡♡~~~~☆☆☆☆~~~~♡♡♡♡~~~~

A/n: Ahhh I'm so scared to see what you guys think of this 🫣 This is definitely just an introduction and the story will go back and explain how they met/ became friends etc etc.

If you're interested in reading more then please let me know ❤️

[annabtg]

I thought your answer on jily and whether or not they were in love or if it was abusive super interesting!

Personally I’m not the biggest jily fan but that has more to do with the main tropes being used that I tend to find tiring and outdated. But Ive been trying to get more into it recently and it’s been hard finding fics I enjoy because they are either too snape bash-y or feel anachronistic in how they portray the relationship. When im reading jily I actually prefer the writer to lean into the outdated tropes instead of trying to make it fit the modern readers ideas of appropriate courtship behavior, because otherwise it doesn’t feel authentic to me. Specifically it bugs me when they make James a super feminist that would never ask Lily out more than once (I don’t think he’d recognize that as sexual harassment as a teenager boy in the 70s). I get that this is popular fanon right now but it’s been hard to find a fic that doesn’t have this.

So my question is do you have any jily fic recommendations that fit this description (minimal Snape bashing and time period accurate)?

Hi there!

By your wording, I'm not sure if by "time period accurate" you mean fics where he actually asks her out a lot. The beginning of your post seemed to imply that, even though I would argue that it's not the only time period accurate headcanon. Indeed, there are plenty of reasons someone in the 70s may not have repeatedly asked a girl out - from his ego being bruised by her first rejection, to he actually took no for an answer and that doesn't necessarily mean he's a super feminist icon. Not everyone who takes no for an answer is. :p

You may have more luck with old-time fic, tbh - the "ask her out a million times" trope was much more prevalent then, and people were not as feministically aware :p though Snape bashing was much more common. I actually feel that in most newer Jily canon fics Snape is portrayed as a well-rounded antagonist, rather than bashed.

So I'm going to start with some oldies:

I recently read Commentarius by @bcdaily and, while I wouldn't say I got the perfect 70s vibe from it (more like the 90s - it felt very accurate to the way I grew up), I enjoyed seeing in it a portrayal of James that I think most people wouldn't dare write today for fear, exactly, of him not being feminist/respectful enough to Lily. I won't get into details to avoid spoilers. (Very long and incomplete, but considered a classic.)

I also hear The Life And Times by Jewels5 features an immature James who grows up throughout the fic, but I haven't read it so I couldn't tell you myself. (Also very long and incomplete and considered a classic.)

If you enjoy the idea of James being an outrageous little shit for comedic effect, you might enjoy Procrastinator-starting2moro's fics. I haven't read Obsessive Lily Disorder since 2006 so I can't say I remember it very well but the title should give you an idea of how insistently he asks her out in it :p though there may be some Snape bashing in it.

For more recent works, I will gladly recommend everything by @nought-shall-go-ill, who creates the most atmospheric depictions of 70s/80s UK, and also likes Snape and enjoys nuanced portrayals of Jily.

Other writers whose portrayals of James I thoroughly enjoy and who do a great job of presenting James as the little shit that he is include @annasghosts and @ohmygodshesinsane.

And to finish with some self-recs, anything in my James Potter Is A Little Shit tag should be a good bet. I would give a shout-out to my older fics Birthday and Fascination, and my newer ones Written In History and Drunk With Power as the ones you may enjoy the most. And I'll gladly tout readers' favourites The Great James Potter and Mistletoe Mishaps as examples where James is respectful to Lily in ways that I feel are natural and reasonable for the era, all while he's still a little cocky shit.

Hope this helps! Happy reading!!

[lost-my-sanity1]

I don’t know if it’ll ever happen, but one thing that excites me the most about Sky and Nani is the fact that they’re both pushing 30. You know what I mean—they’re mature enough to act on whatever roles they want. Plus, I wouldn’t feel awkward watching them if they ever did love scenes. 😂 I also think they’d absolutely kill it in a more mature type of plot. (Please, let them out of those uniforms already!)

Sometimes, I can’t help but think about how big Sky’s reach is—he was a Nadao actor, he’s debuted in films, and he’s worked with GDH. Not to mention GDH director even commented on his posts with Nani. Like, seriously, we could actually get that SKYNANI MOVIE! I just wish this could happen.

Honestly, I want to know what you all want to see from them because I have so many ideas for stories and tropes that would suit them perfectly. Like my MIND goes BRRRRRRR for them.

BESTIE WHEN I TELL YOU THAT YOU BOUGHT OUT MY SUBCONSCIOUS IN YOUR WORDS.

cuz I sometimes find myself thinking about their age and everytime I'm delighted at the fact that they're 26 and 27!! (infact I was surprised when I found out that dew was... younger than nani can you imagine my shock that palm tree is younger than this babygirl holyshit but ofc babygirlism doesn't have an age ok I think om going off the tangent)

i fucking agree like enough of uniforms. get them some other uniforms now. like y'know police lawyer firefighter doctor😔🤌

I wasn't familiar with sky before hsf but goddamn that man has some major achievements in his life holyshit!! and the director's comment got me dreaming gawd PLEASEE THE POWER OF IMINA LET THE SKYNANI MOVIE HAPPEN (we have to keep dreamin)

at this point I'll take everything they give me tbh like if the bromance is whatever hsf was who am I to complain and as you said earlier they are at the age where they can firmly choose what's good and comfortable for them and we would also feel comfortable to watch it. amd i fully trust their judgement & feelings ykwim no matter what they do i believe they'll be able to bring out the best out of each other 🥹

and about tropes holyshit (anon I'm walking on thin ice I'll drop soon and start writing like crazy i just need the push) they should really consider bodyguard × actor/mafia (because nani has that annoying idgaf attitude face card in him ok??!!!), would definitely eat up player from rival teams, or maybe something royal forbidden heart wrenching because have you seen them cry holyshit????? they're sooo so pretty whatever it is it should be angsty af

ANON TELL ME WHAT STORIES YOU'RE COOKING

[mechina]

Sending this ask because I feel like you're the one person who won't immediately think I'm splitting up chaggie because I ship charlastor, but with the introduction of Emily I feel like that's who should have been vaggie's partner.

We know vaggie has a white knight complex and doesn't seem to actually view Charlie as someone who can make her own decisions, or can be trusted to handle herself in certain situations. On top of that, I noticed something I thought was odd. Now I don't know the reasons behind it but if you closely watch, vaggie never refers to herself as Charlie's gf, nor does she refer to Charlie as her gf, or partner, or anything. Maybe it's a Pearl/rose quartz dynamic, but if that's the case then vaggie and Charlie shouldn't be together because they amplify each others worst behaviors. And to be fair to vaggie, she'll often give Charlie good advice and Charlie just kinda of ignored it? But then they never really have a conversation about this stuff, so neither can grow as characters.

So if they wanted to have a wlw ship where vaggie could be a protective girl without needing to help her partner grow as a person, Emily is right there. I especially feel like em would take offense at vaggie being punished for showing mercy and want to bring her back to heaven. Idk, I'm just spitballing but seeing welcome to heaven made me mad that this relationship feels so imbalanced but it'll probably be handwaved away when Charlie by all rights should feel super betrayed that this person who she's spent years with never told her a thing about this, leaving her blindsided in front of a court of other heaven dwellers. But I'm just rambling, I would love to hear someone's objective thoughts

As much as I WANT to like chaggie, I haven’t been able to. That’s not to say I think they should split, but the tropes with those two are INSANE. Sunshine x grumpy, overprotective x naive, gullible idiot x savior, etc. It’s just a LACK of story. What should’ve happened (in my own opinion), they legit should NOT have been together from the start. Their relationship should have taken time to develop and maybe even go into girlfriends if that’s what Viv wanted, but it was for a bonus star. Stories change all the time, though I just wish it developed better. Of course they were in a rush (the time constraint is crazy to me) so relationships haven’t had time. The songs literally fix everything??

Your words go back to my trope issue. savior complex with the girl who is naive about the world. It’s been clear that Vaggie is just stupidly protective of Charlie because Charlie doesn’t have it in her heart to be mean. Brings back the gullible idiot trope who needs to constantly be saved. Charlie lives in a box and Vaggie just HAS to be the one to save her from her own dumb decisions. They don’t talk and that’s another issue.

It magically gets fixed lol. In Vaggie’s song, she said “I’ll spend my life being your partner.” But we didn’t even get any “she’s my gf” until literally episode 5. Then she has this secret, which will again, be magically waved away if the trailer gave any indication. Their duet will be their grace I’m sure.

As far as Emily goes, that’s actually not bad tbh?? Vaggie gets cast out, Emily (the one who is ACTUALLY the embodiment of how an angel in Heaven should act) does not like this. It can resolve the power balance. Charlie does NOT need saving but because of her naivety, Vaggie has to save her.

Vaggie and Emily? They’d save each other.

And while Chaggie is canon and I’m not bothered that my ship never will be (Charlastor), I’ll never judge anyone for their opinions on certain ships until they start harassing people. Just because you like a dynamic doesn’t mean you want the w|w representation to go away.

We want the representation to be better. Sorry for the rambling and I’m not even sure I answered what you asked, but thanks for the ask. I’ve never had these before, lol.

[yanderefairyangel]

*sigh*

Ok so I have two rants about two of my favorite character of all time Alear and Rafal.

I'll start with dragon blorbo first. I get that people are still sad that F!Alear wasn't choosen as the protag of the manga but I cannot help but laugh at people saying that "the manga would have been better/more popular with her" or "that Ivy getting captured would not have happened with F!Alear" because in case you missed it : THEY ARE LITERALY THE SAME CHARACTER WITH DIFFERENT GENDER. Like yeah, I could get it if it was the Robin because those two have been written with kinda distinct personality. But the Alears ?! Their dialogue is word for word identitical, Male Alear even use the same dialect as his female counterpart which none of the male avatar before did. "But the voice acting" The voice acting is the voice acting, Rafal too sounds pretty different from japanese to English even though both are the same character. Heck English Etie and Japanese Eite have more distinct personalities then the Alears.

What happened with Ivy would have happened anyway because it's not tied to Alear's gender, you are the only one reducing Alear to his gender, it would have happened because Alear is literaly Hope incarnated. And now I wonder if people would even mind that change had F!Alear being the one helping Ivy instead of M!Alear cause again, it didn't happened for M!Alear to look heroic, this is the manga where M!Alear constantly gets turned into a silly wet cat falling into cartoony gag and getting beaten up by a 14 year old girl into gothic lolita fashion !! Engage's writers always wanted to make Alear a down on earth protag that is nothing special except for their birth and whose whole journey is about to prove themselves, they even claimmed that they made Alear into such a coward that Nintendo stepped in and told them they overdid it... but apparently Dimitri's rampage are ok.... anyway. I think the manga so far has been respecting this concept as well I see 0 reason for it to try to make Alear suddently a giga chad. I did noticed that in the manga Alear got more heroic moment then in the game such as the fact he doesn't wanna run away unlike in game or the fact he goes to help Lumera instead of leading to her death, go to save Alfred, kill Nelke himself, encourages Alcryst and then defends Ivy. I stress it defends because Alear only helped her gain some time alive, they only delayed the inevitable because I bet you that the Brodian nobility will make it as annoying as can be. Alear didn't saved her since she still is gonna have a trial. And tbh I wonder if the mangaka didn't try to make it end on a cliffhanger to encourage more people into buying the manga since it was right after that that he admitted he needed more people to show their support to the manga.

Male Alear isn't a "male fantasy trope" at all, in fact, his sweet personality that he shares with his female counterpat gets him to be seen as "effiminate" or "weak" or " whim" because "this is a woman's personality to be a coward crybaby, not a man's". I quote. The Alear's strengh as a character comes from their kindness and undying determination that lead them in never giving up and even defying death thirce !! Trying to make something as natural as them defending someone they sensed wasn't evil about "harmul trope to female and male fantasy" just shows you don't get what is considered sexist about said trope and why. Again, it's not "female character gets help from male character in time of her being weak is sexist". It's when the female character gets nothing more then that. When her entire character is reduced to just that, that it's not explored/developped in a meaningful way. Women are humans, saying they should refuse help from anyone or help from someone if that someone is a male is completely insane. It's also reduing strengh as being good at everything, superior to anyone in anything and needing no help which is very ironic considering this mean you suscribe to... Sombron's philosophy. Engage's theme is that it's through connection that you gain true strengh, that strengh rely on compassion for other and in having a strong mentality of always been hopefull for tomorow and overcoming your difficulty and never giving up on dream, this is something that both Alear illustrate perfectly.

So by suggesting that Ivy is weak because in a situation where she herself told Morion to kill her Alear steps in and therefore blame it on M!Alear being male... you are showing you completely missed the entire point the game was trying to make.

Male Alear being the protag is literaly just because the manga is a shounen, he is the same character as his female countepart.

Now unto the other one, manslaughtering blorbo.

Ok, remember what I said about how I was worried that there would be 2 tips of the extreme in reading Rafal's character ? Yeah... it happened... Now, marks my word, I am not saying you have to like Rafal, I can understand why you wouldn't considering the crimes he has committed but... seeing some takes about him rubs me kinda the wrong way....

Some people seems to believe that he is a spoiled brat raised by Sombron as believing he is the superior of his children, having a superiority complex, having completely traumatized Nel, not understanding how Alear and Nel can forgive him, that he is a bloodthirsty monster... well, to put it short that he is pure evil. Which he isn't. That goes completely against the point of his character.

Rafal was never raised by Sombron with the idea that he was the best of his children, that never happened. What happened is that Rafal lost his twin when he was very young and grow up believing that he was a defect. I know I joked about him having superiority complex, I know, but that's what it was. A joke. In reality what Rafal has developped is an inferiority complex that manifest in him pretending to be or feel superior, he is just acting arrogant and cunning but in reality how he feels inside is inferior and incomplete. He always wished to be the person to make someone else happy and complete it. He wished it for Nil and then Nel. Rafal isn't a "spoiled brat", he was just as much as Sombron's victim as Nel was, in fact, I realized how much Rafal and Lyon had in common because it was precisely the fact that Rafal was much more weaker psychologicaly speaking then his sister that made him an easy prey for Xenobron, taking advantages of his own self acceptances issues and other to cast a spell on him and bribe him in promising him the acknowledgement he always sought. As for the fact he is a bloodthirsty monster... ok look. Rafal did kill all the people of this other world that weren't already dead, I am not gonna act as if he didn't do something horrible by doing this. But not only does he actually sincerely regret his action and desesperately tries to make amends for it, but he didn't do it out of bloodlust, it's not Valter. He did it because he was manipulated by Sombron into believing that he could finally end his sufering if he did that. I already showed it in many post I made but Rafal in the Xenologue isn't the real Rafal, Gregory too point that out. The face he is pulling in chapter 5 of the Xenologue is very different from the one he pulls when he fights. Rafal enjoys competition, that doesn't make him a sadistic monster

In fact there is several instance showing that he has a heart. The fact he literaly break into tears and speaks like a child when Nel offered her life to save his, the lines he has in Somniel about how he regret what he did, his line if Gregory dies about him hoping he will get something fluffy, about how Madeline died to young or him missing Zelestia's presence because it's too quiet now. His cold facade is what it is just a facade which he admits to Camilla he put in front of Gregory, Alfred and even a bit with Alear because he feels as though he doesn't deserves forgiveness after what he did and thus doesn't deserves to befriend others.

As for why Alear forgave him... remmeber that Alear offered him to come to Somniel after Rafal declared he would try to bring back Nel. Which means that otherwise Alear would have accepted to let Nel and someone who shown that they regretted their actions all alone in a world full of dead people. What did you wanted Alear to do exactly ? To kill someone for whom Nel gave her life to freed and that showed that he was clearly sorry and ready to change his way ? That is absolutely not how Alear is and you know that. The only reason why Alear cannot forgive the likes of Sombron and Zephia is because they showed they were ready to change. Sombron was gonna repeat the same mistakes over and over again because he is unable to learn from his past and become a better person while Zephia is so stubborn that only when it was too late to repair her mistake did she realized the extent of her sins.

As for Nel, the reason why she forgave him is so obvious... she said it in the DLC herself. It's because without Rafal's presence by her side, she might have gone mad. She knew he wasn't Nil but the fact that he was by her side no matter what and even pretended to be her twin just to not make her sad for 1 000 years was very important for her and she also sensed that Rafal wasn't truly evil nor was he being entirely himself in that moment.

And then there is the other tendency that is to go : "oh my adorable blorbo who did nothing wrong and is pure and innocent what do you mean he is messed up NO HE ISN4T!!" is... yeah, look I love Rafal too but I am not gonna act as if he was the purest angel who did nothing wrong. Rafal is a disaster, he is a mess of a character, his got 1000 of problem and commited several attroticities, after all he lead an entire world to doom and killed his own siblings. Yeah he was manipulated and his traumatized and all that but those are just explanation as to why he did what he did, that doesn't excuse him. I am not gonna lie, of course if you see a traumatized child that lost at least 2 important person to him and is in the middle of an identity crisis and all that and you shouldn't be surprised that he becomes this easy to manipulate. You can't really say that it's not easy to convince a starving kid to use the baseball bat you lend him and try to break the glass of the bakery shop you just pointed at and steal all the bread and pastries it sell. But does it change the fact he did what he did ? Nay. If even the character himself is saying he wants to own what he did and pay for it, you know that this mean he himself is aware of how much he screwed. In fact, I am the one person who insist he already was aware that what he was doing was wrong and would lead him nowhere but he still did it anyway because he was this far gone and hopeless. That's even what made him developp those suicidal tendencies and lead him to feel even worse about himself. People who suffer from deep trauma that goes unhealed or unspoken for years are very complex, and Rafal has been dealing with this for 1 000 years. Unlike Nel who had his support, Rafal always though he was all alone because he though Nel's love was directed at Nil rather then him, acting as if his trauma wasn't a big part of why he did what he did is ignoring a very important aspect of his character.

"But in the Xenologue he told Alear to kill him because else he would committ the same mistakes again !" You know who else said that to Alear ? Ivy. In chapter 9, Ivy who was captured by Alear and Diamant after losing, told them to kill her, to which Alear refused to which Ivy told them that they should else she would go back to her country to attack them again. She said that just so that Alear would kill her. Likewise Rafal said that because he wanted to be killed since he kept alluding to it when he said he wanted the pain in his chest to finally go away. Besides it was literaly inevitable because what other punishement was left for him exactly ? Considering how many people I saw saying he would be better off dead, you and Rafal seem to agree on that, that death was the only punishement he could have. While imo it would have broken Nel to have killed someone she held as dear as Rafal that she would sacrifice her own life to free him from her father's influence.

Rafal is not a demon nor an angel. He isn't a good person, but he isn't evil either. He is in the "grey" zone one would say, I would say he is just a humane character : he is someone who did awful things because he felt awful about himself and decided to atone for his crimes. Like Ivy, like Hortensia, like Mauvier, like Veyle. And even like Alear. Case you forgot Alear had to kill many people and even member of Lumera's family because of Sombron. That's how real life works. No one is perfect, everyone commits mistake but no one is irredeemable. The only people who are irrdeemable or unforgivable are the person who refuses to admitt that they are in the wrong and to learn from it and grow as a person like a certain man with purple skin walking bare chested.

Truly evil people are people who cannot redeem themselves because they don't want to. The sole fact that Rafal wanted to pay for his crime and then vows to atone and better himself shows that there is at least some little tiny good in him. Again, if Rafal was just evil, he wouldn't be here at Somniel honoring his promise to Alear...(I am literaly quoting Alear, oh God)

If you don't like Rafal, I can respect that 1000%. You don't have to agree with me, but the main reason why I love him as a character is because he isn't someone you can sum up as being either pure evil or just a pupper of Sombron that in reality did nothing wrong and is just a tsun-tsun who likes sweets. This is erasing all the complexity he has as a character. What makes him fascinating is that he is not truly evil but not truly innocent either. Reading him only in one side of the spectrum is a great disservice to his character, when he is being much more complexed and nuanced then character evil just because. And woobiying him just because he is hot is even more unfair to his character. I repeat what I like about Rafal is that he committed 1000 of attrocities but that he still tries to atone for his crimes and that he cannot be reduced to any of the tip. In short, because he is a well written character and an interesting one.

The reason why I dislike comically evil character that have as much personality as a carboard is because they have as much personality as a cardboard, not because they did evil things. They are character, not real people. I can hate a character for being evil and like another for also being evil depending of how much appeal he has aka how well written and complex it can be. If Rafal was just " super evil guy who became good just because" he would be boring and also his narrative would make 0 sense... in short he would be Aversa. Likewise Rafal being this very innocent lad who did nothing wrong when he commited 1000 of attrocities is just as boring.

I am not asking you to like him, just to not reduce his character.

[alister312]

You should TOTALLY think about Gregstophe in soulmate aus... do you have any favorites you think would suit them well 👀

I SHOULD, SHOULDN’T I….

tbh I don’t know that many though! @/cheesymorgue has some art that’s like “you can always hear what your soulmate is singing” and Christophe grows to hate les mis from how often Gregory sings it lol, I find that one cute. ofc there’s the classic red string, but I don’t think that’d quite work for gregstophe bc I think Gregory would be extremely determined to find who was at the end of his. It’d be hard for Christophe to hide and deny that it’s him and denial due to weird personal guilt and restraint is very vital to me when it comes to gregstophe. This also rules out any AUs where you realize your soulmate instantly (i.e. seeing color for the first time)

I think an ideal gregstophe soulmates thing would have to be like… a bodily mark of some kind. not a name or word, but tattoo or imprint where your soulmate first touches or something. I imagine Christophe would’ve convinced himself from a young age that this would soulmate system is stupid— very dictating/controlling, kinda playing God w people’s love lives and we all know how he feels about God. He’d probably refuse to buy into the whole thing and maybe do stuff like try to get rid of/hide the tattoo on him or REFUSE to ever touch or be touched. And YES this would also go with his denial that he should get to be loved (i.e. “the system is a stupid bitch which means everything it claims is wrong and therefore I can’t possibly actually have a soulmate out there”).

Gregory, on the other hand, would believe so strongly in the soulmate system and be actively searching for his soulmate. I want to believe he’d remain optimistic for his whole life, but I also feel like he’d develop a bit of anxiety every birthday like “How have I not met them yet?” He’d constantly go to parties to mingle and hope, very social butterfly, but always to no avail. Maybe he’d even come to believe that he’s actually destined to be soulmateless and start helping others find theirs instead with the wide network he originally built for himself (the martyr in him).

The reveal would have to be very dramatic, maybe one of my classic beloved tropes of “Christophe is lowkey dying from wounds and Gregory bandages him up”, which is one of the only scenarios in which I could see Christophe’s inhibitions lowered enough to not remember to fight this soulmate thing. Gregory might get mad afterwards that Christophe’s damn hang ups and hatred of the system are why it took this long, but in the moment he’d just be too happy and relieved to do anything but fall in love. And then ofc they would kiss <3

[the-demi-jedi]

Luke reads The PROX Transmissions

So the main hero is apparently some kind of genius scientist, but also an absolute trainwreck. Off to a good start.

Stephen must look so absolutely ridiculous walking around with, like, a window shaved in his hair with a number tattooed on his skin. Man should have shaved both side of his head to just look less like a madman, but I also understand that at this point, he doesn't give many fucks about what people think.

This makes me think whether Stephen is based on Dustin or if Dustin is, like, a separate entity in the lore.

The amount of profanity is rather... excessive for a book that presents itself as a sophisticated sci-fi novel.

Seriously tho. There's something so funny about the fact that Starset has exactly 0 curse words in their entire discography while this book has at least one F-bomb per page on average.

"Aston Wise was a drunken asshole." Well, I'm not sure if you're in a right position to judge, Mr. "has sex with students" Browning.

Aston Wise is like Elon Musk if he was as cool as he thinks he is (but man he's indeed an asshole)

TBH I never really understood that "pathetic sopping wet dog man" meme, but I think it could apply very well to Stephen

I like how both Aston and Steven are supposed to be some kind of geniuses yet they seem to share a single braincell

This book can be pretty campy sometimes. And I definitely do NOT mean it in a negative way.

Evil CEO, aka. the most realistic villain

Motherfucker pays his people 37K per year and then [shocked Pikachu face] when they betray him

Regretfully, I have to inform you that not even this book is immune to the "breasted boobily" trope.

So Dana's daughter is Sarah? For a second, I thought it might be Sarah the Sarah aka. the BMI influencer from the "Icarus" video, but that's not consistent with the timeline.

It's incredibly in-character for Aston Wise to think like "What would be the best way to introduce people to a message from the future about the collapse of civilization? LET'S CREATE A KICKASS ROCK BAND AND THEY'RE GONNA PLAY IN SPACESUITS"

One of the book's most bonkers qualities is that it regularly and fluently oscillates between "pulpy, campy thriller feat. suited thugs with guns" and "the deepest, most profound, most thought-provoking shit you've ever read with your two eyes"

It's so funny how Dustin describes himself as kinda politically neutral and yet. The villain is a CEO of a megacorporation. The shady villainous organization is called "Collective of Industrialists" and they're like 0,1% away from being those comical cartoon capitalists with top hats and twirling mustaches. The Message, the very thing Starset is about, can be basically boiled down to "unchecked capitalism can and will cause utter, irreversible collapse of the society". While there are phrases used like "healthy capitalism" (which I'm not sure can exist), the book overall is more left than beef on pizza.

"Jay Bezie, the owner of a major internet retailer" LMAOOOO

"Partick Walman" the author just fucking GAVE UP on being subtle

I'm feeling weird about the concept of the Everything Machine being able to print, like, fully functioning humans. What makes it so that it doesn't just print a lifeless body? Then there's this whole debate about soul / some "spark of life" that can't be replicated. I know the Order are all scientists so they don't give a damn about it, but what if they didn't colonize PROX, but only filled it with some lifeless flesh drones?

Okay so overall, the book ended in a very satisfactory way, but also left enough cliffhangers and loose ends to make you HYPED for the sequel. Also... it raises some questions about the lore revealed in the Divisions/Horizons era. How did Aston become "The Architect"? Does it mean he's evil now, or just a persona non grata for the Order? And what about the takeover of the Starset Society by the Order of Teslonia (which signalled the release of "Horizons")? Does it mean they are one entity now? And what role does Stephen Browning play in all of this? So many questions.

Overall 10/10, a must-read for every serious and self-respecting Starset fan.

[leohtttbriar]

7, 12, 16, 18, 20 - that's a lot so take your pick, I just always like seeing your opinions

right back at you! was secretly hoping you would reblog the game :)

7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

never really encountered this phenomena before cobra kai except for the vaguest hint of an aversion to samwise gamgee after everyone kept calling him the "real hero," but that aversion never took, and i'm ashamed to admit such weakness even now.

johnny lawrence was one of my favorite characters in cobra kai season one and then i logged onto tumblr and now i just Do Not Get It. a feeling i think from pre-season 3, even, when he was still a good and consistent character in the show. another character was robby. predictably, he was a bit babygirlified and he got soooo much more attention than sam and tory and even miguel and tbh, that made me pout massively. like. i don't care about him :(

i could be intellectual about this (and, okay, clearly the root of this petty hate is that particular sort of frustration that comes over a girl when all the boys in her fourth grade gym class get mad at her for being faster than them and then they refuse to let her play in their recess soccer game even though she's the best player--and it then sticks with her for the rest of her life) but in a vacuum i probably wouldn't feel the way i do. like, my ire is definitely in response to how other people feel about the bully character from 80's sports movie karate kid.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

you can bet that any female character that has ever been called annoying is at the top of this list. feels like girls like that are always popping up and torturing pop-culture consumers. the only one i can name right now is sam larusso, since that's the most recent model.

but also i read pride and prejudice in seventh grade. didn't get a single word of it, but i did understand that mrs. bennett was extremely annoying. then i read it again a few years later and have been her fierce defender ever since. female characters with high-pitched voices and anxiety: i adore. if you don't like those characters, in my head im thinking you're only as intelligent as me at 13.

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

any sort of portrayal of spock as someone who is violent and angry and just holding it back constantly bc he hates being half human--i do Not Get It. any sort portrayal of an alien species on star trek in which the aliens learn to embrace their humanity, or something. like, i can't stand it.

i want spock to be super-duper logical and stoic. i want that to be a good thing. i want all alien characteristics to be embraced and explored. i want the weirdness. new trek just isn't doing weirdness enough! and if human morality and social structures are so universally important, stop being cowardly and explain whyyyyy.

this also applies to fanfic which is, in fact, disastrously worse on this subject. especially fanfic based on the 2009 star trek movie.

but okay it's like---the roswell conspiracy is really fun and stuff cause it is really just the government stoking some nonsense so the russians can't figure out all the special-stupid weapons and spy-equipment they're making. and then it means that everything in roswell, nm is alien themed: little green faces everywhere, three-fingered hands waving at you on billboards, "greetings earthlings," 50's era space-art, and so on. I am very into that aesthetic, especially in the middle of nowhere southwest desert with not a mountain or forest for hundred of miles. of course people were looking up and being like "there must be Something out there. look how big."

all good, yes, and silly. but people really believe it and they really believe that the aliens look the way they do! the way the "witnesses" described little looking men with big ol eyes in a big ol head and extra long arms. sweeties! that's a primate! that's an earth-creature! there's no imagination! there's no weirdness! what if the aliens didn't have a face. what if they didn't have eyes! what if they were made of a chalky substance that molted every few minutes to maintain a needed basic pH and their way of observing electromagnetic radiation was not light projected thru a lens but like little pores of mucous all over their body like the one's on sharks (ampullae of lorenzini) that absorb electromagnetic radiation and also give the creature poles which means they can block all visible light with special mind powers and maybe photosynthesize or something.

i realize that fanfiction is largely concerned with two attractive men going at it, but for all that people claim to be "monster fuckers," that really hasn't borne out in star trek fanfic. explore eroticism with the weird, with the actually alien. i want that. that'd be great. i know octavia butler and others already Did That but i want to see a star trek go boldly, you know what i mean. also, i want something more like eroticism for the sake of the erotic--not as metaphor about feminine subjugation or something (no offense ms. butler).

even if that doesn't happen, would love to read a fanfic or watch a tv show in which, for example, spock's journey is not about how oppressive being a vulcan is, or whatever.

[wolfstrong]

ngl id want to hear all your answers to the choose violence ask game about buffy

hehehe why not... i couldnt answer all of these cuz idk I'm not like in in the buffy fandom but here

the character everyone gets wrong everyone already knows what I'm gonna say... say it with me now yall... XANDER!!!!!!!! also I feel like a lot of people don't have the soul connection I have with tara. not that they don't get her I just know they don't get her like id do okay.

a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom sorry I don't care about this kinda stuff

screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr yeah anyway I'm not gonna put the image here cuz it will burn your eyes but the photoshopped picture of spike and angel duo sucking Rileys dick like girl. i don't even know if that's a take but it is to me. the take is that spike and angel would suck riley off. worst take ever and worst image ever

what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person? I don't have anyone from the buffy fandom blocked.... smile.

worst discord server and why someone invite me to a bad discord server id love to join and be tortured. is there even any buffy discord servers? please let me know

which ship fans are the most annoying? obviously spuffy. very very obviously. spuffy fans are some of the most annoying ship fans of any ship

what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them? answered

common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about there are a couple episodes that are regarded as some of the worst buffy ever that are actually some of my favs... "I robot you jane" "go fish" "bad eggs" all good and "beer bad" IS NOT THE WORST EPISODE. in fact I actually kind of liked it so there. xander/willow is a good ship you are just not ready for that conversation. Angel isn't THAT bad okay.

worst part of canon what isn't the worst part of canon. actually I'm only on season 5 so I think I have yet to get to the WORST PART. btvs has so many fucking issues

worst part of fanon it bothers me that there is like NO FANART for the show and pretty much 50% of btvs content is about spuffy naked sex bat sex crazy naked tits and ass penis sex

number of fandom-related words you've filtered zero!

the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them answered

worst blorboficiation answered

that one thing you see in fics all the time I don't read enough btvs fic

that one thing you see in fanart all the time CLOTHES CLINGING TIGHTLY TO BUFFYS BOOBS AND ASS AS IF THE FABRIC WAS FUCKING LIQUID!!!!!! STOP DOING THAT TO HER.

you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

there should be more of this type of fic/art on god we need more core scooby appreciation like please please more fanart of just files buffy xander and willow hanging out and smiling and being silly. i never have seen like any fanart of xander ever

it's absolutely criminal that the fandom has been sleeping on... RAT AMY

you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like... .... i already kinda said it earlier but erm.. season 3 willow/xander cheating arc when they kept making out. sorry. oh also kinda horrified I like spuffy but like that's normal everyone likes that.

part of canon you found tedious or boring tbh most the time I think the season plot shit is boring. i much prefer monster of the weak stuff. the initiative stuff was SO FUCKING boring most the time and any scene with Riley I literally would fall asleep

part of canon you think is overhyped I mean I haven't FINISHED season 5 yet but I'm getting to the end and I feel like I see lots of hype for this season arc but so far the way its wrapping up is kind of awful. erm

your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores SCOOBIES FRIENDSHIP. SCOOBIES EVERYTHING. CHILLING AMD BEING BEST FRIENDS AND LOVE BETWEEN FRIENDS . AND WATCHING TV AND BRADING EACH OTHERS HAIR

ship you've unwillingly come around to I really didnt wanna like spuffy but I do. i don't want to like spander but I saw yaoi for a second idk maybe something is there. .. maybe.. xander and anya? though its more just like I don't hate anya anymore. i still kinda hate them as a couple.

topic that brings up the most rancid discourse defs spangle vs spuffy and also whether or not Xander is good.

common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing SHUT UP ABOUT JOSS WHEDON BEING PROBLEMATIC IM SORRY TO BE THAT BITCH I DONT CARE. SORRY . BUT I DONT. its like literally all anyone has to say

[hyuckmov]

and tbh that's not ambiguous to me. at least not anymore. lmao in my head there's never a forgiveness my boo's way smarter than that. she deserves sooooooooo much better than that. if anything Jaemin definitely deserved that rejection and should have been more brutal

NNDHDHDHDHD his character def made my blood boil

HI i'll be responding to this ask and the previous one here under the cut!!!

prev. ask

SO..... i was the one who requested the jaemin angst. ok ok ok ok ok soooo

just wna say...oh my god thank you so much for the detailed detailed review 😭😭😭🫶🏻 this assured me a lot especially because YOU're the one who requested it so your opinion kind of matters the most !!! it was such a happy surprise to receive this ask thank you for making this so much more rewarding for me to write

1. icb you were really so so close to scrapping this off and you not really liking it that much ..... but. OH. MY GOD???? it's actually really good. now, when i requested and thinking right away " ok i want angst i want to hurt myself even more " it never occurred to me (OF COURSE BECAUSE HOW RIGHT LMAO THIS BITCH (ME)) that a trope/plot like this could hurt me so fucking much it's like it's happening to me irl. 2. when i saw the lil synopsis i was thinking it's actually him proposing forrealz (like it might've started as a lil jokey joke joke until it gets serious and serious (... probably pretty close but the way it went was different sorry DONT MIND THIS u dont have to understand this one lmao)

I KIND OF GET IT actually i was kind of working backwards with this fic because the image i wanted to end up with eventually was with jaemin in the car proposing with you, but not in the way you wanted...."i thought you wanted to me to propose to you" "not like this" that was the central scene i wanted to end up at. so working backwards from the idea of jaemin proposing to you...kind of just thought of him saying it casually but never meaning it like you want him to. and then i kind of just made the ending scene 10 times crueller

3. PAIN. PAIN. AND EVEN MORE PAIN. i know if i were in the mc's shoes specifically by that end i would still be probably stupid enough to consider giving him a teeny tiny bit hope that i would forgive him (eventually) BUT HONESTLY. not only does he know ALL ALONG.... but the fact that he doesn't truly care about his so called best friend but he has the guts to say those words. and to blame her for everything. who cares if he knows her well if, i thought hard about it, it's like,,, it's mostly him just asking for her help most of the time (given the context available in the fic) don't get me wrong i know it's also a bff kinda thing to have a wing bestie, to always offer advice, help, and everything but come on. he totally lost me at that fact. it's so cruel. diabolical. there's that excuse that the person in the know just can't hurt the other's feelings even more so they can't tell them they know BUT. jaemin here is just on a whole other level. can't convince me otherwise. lmao. whole friendship thing completely thrown out the window. 4. YOU HONESTLY THREW ME OFF WITH THE PLOT. as already mentioned, I really thought he has feelings for her ...as time went by at least. like the moment the question was asked for real this time they would realize neither is actually prepared for it and everything bec let's face it i requested ANGST. 5. as much as I'm in love with this gem, it is super painful it made me stop and think. longer than i should have.

oh my goddd I CAN'T BELIEVE something i wrote made you think so hard omg i hope that's a good thing 😭😭😭 to answer this and the ask above, the ending is completely completely because of me and the person i am because forgiving jaemin is just the type of shit i would do 🤭  projected a little bit here because i am sooo baaaad at cutting people off even when i literally have so many reasons to, so to me just that lingering sentimentality from being around jaemin 24/7 for a year would be good enough reason for you to think twice about his apology. so i left the possibility of a friendship (which would probably never be the same) in there just as an ambiguous-ish ending hehe </3 but seriously it's so amazing to me that this made you think so much and you felt for these characters so much so thank you 😭😭😭

6. you made me love and hate this fic oh so much I'm cursing this jaemin so hard rn AAAAAAA you are so good at what you do 🥹 7. honestly looking forward in the future if ever you feel like writing about jaemin again :)) fluff ? mixing it up? or another angst? I'M ALL HERE FOR IT. BRING IT ON.

i loved writing about jaemin so thanks for sending in this request <3 decided to pick a marriage theme bc something about jaemin just gives me mad fiance vibes (and also childhood best friend vibes but we'll cover that another day in another request)...because he's such the perfect man to take home to your parents but also there's something sharp and almost wicked in his eyes and smile that makes you giddy with the possibility of forever. i'll definitely write more for himmm i still think i can do a lot with his character if i had more practice

8. it actually scares me a little bit for the fics you'll share with us.. because if this isn't even something you're so fond of, how about when it's already the one you are soooo proud of. super love, and excited for. AND YOU ALREADY HAVE THOSE HUGE GEMS HERE. you're so talented and your mind is just so. SEXY.

AAAAAA thank you so much love love love 🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️ this is actually endlessly encouraging i'll treasure your words so much and keep coming up with better and better things to show youuuu 🫶🏻 hope you have a great dayyyy thanks for making mine !!!

[incorrectquotesconaisseur]

SO GUYSSSS I JUST FINISHED READING RULE OF WOLVES AND WHAT THE HELL???? I am a MESS

(so here are my thoughts that I had while reading it)

❗❗RULE OF WOLVES SPOILERS❗❗

• Lol Nikolai has a horse named Punchline, I love him so much

• Sankta Zoya Y E S

• Nina is sooo badass I love her - Brum needs to die btw

• Fjerda is a little shit

• "If not for Nina, their blessed termite eating at the heart of Fjerda’s government" - did I mention I love Nina?????

• Nikolai is a freaking mastermind and I love him

• OMG THEY HAVE AN ANTIDOTE FOR PAREM NOW???? HELL YEAH take THAT Fjerda!!!!

• Nina adopting Kaz's mindset when back at the Ice Court is what I live for

• UGH THE APPARAT

• Nikolai is soooo in love with Zoya I AM GOING CRAZY

• Zoya's "you forget that in Kerch greed is a virtue" gave me MAJOR Kaz vibes... I miss my crow babies

• Maybe it's an unpopular opinion, but I don't really like Ehri

• ZOYALAI NATION, HOW ARE WE??? ARE WE CRYING?

• I just REALLY love the found family trope and seeing everyone gathered in Zoya's rooms and Zoya curled up on the couch next to Genya I just AAAAAAAAA

• I absolutely adore the whole concept of the Darkling's prison and the CONSTANT sunlight he has to face HA - Alina vibes

• OMG "bring me Alina Starkov" WHAT THE FUCK I have literal chills ESPECIALLY after seeing the S&B trailer:)

• Nina being so confident in everything she learned from the Crows gives me so much serotonin I WANT MY BABIESSS

• Oh my god... I like prince Rasmus, he gives me major Nikolai vibes

• I draw immense satisfaction from Kaz and Zoya using "podge" as their preferred curse word :))))

• NIKOLAI CAN SEPARATE HIMSELF FROM HIS DEMON???? King behavior

• HOLY SHIT ALINA AGREED TO THE MEETING here we go again, fam

• I'm seeing Nikolai talking a lot about accepting his death and being undisturbed by the prospect of it and it feeaks me out - if he dies, I die with him

• Random, but: they need to get the thorn stuff from the Order of Sankt Feliks or whatever, right??? Maybe they have to steal it... and they would require expertise... MAYBE SOME CROWS PLS???????? (I am such a clown)

• Okay wait... so the letters that prove Nikolai is a bastard are in the druskelle sector... PLEASE TELL ME NINA HAS TO BREAK IN THE ICE COURT the fact that she is back there ALONE makes my heart clench so hard... I MISS MY CROWS

• FUCK ALINA SHOWED UP (also Oncat apparently and now I want to cry about Harshaw again)... AND MAL I can't take this I AM HYPERVENTILATING

• I AM LEGIT ON THE FLOOR Yuri is still there FINALLY understanding that the Darkling is evil AND NOW MY MAIN MAN GOT HIS POWERS BACK oh, I love the chaos

• NIKOLAI FUCKING CARRIES ZOYA'S RIBBON IN HIS POCKET nobody fucking touch me

• THE WEDDING IS FOR GENYA AND DAVID????? I AM SOOO CONFUSED what the heck

• Nikoali is the most fucking badass amazing cunning freakishly intelligent idiot I have ever seen in my entire life, my love for him is immesurable, I cannot put into words just how awesome his awesomeness is TAKE THAT MAKHI YOU BITCH

• OH HELL NO the demon is trying to escape SMACK THAT BITCH NIKOLAI BABY

• Oh wow, Rasmus is crazyyyy af he isn't anything like Nikolai my perfect boi SORRY

• OMG Nikolai's dad us a good guy??? I feel so sorry for him... SO NIKOLAI WAS RIGHT TO BE A ROMANTIC huh

• FUCKING HELL again with the nichevo’ya???? Darkling bby, what the HECK

• Nononononooo NO NOOOO NOT DAVID WHAT THE FUCK LEIGH

• "This is what love does" one of the most powerful quotes tbh

• Wait... they want to???? STEAL??? titanium from the Kerch??? .... DOES THIS MEAN.... C R O W S?????

• Okay but... the Darkling's POV? POWER MOVE I love it!!! And the fact that he uses Aleksander as his name with zero reticence now is just *chef's kiss*

• I'm sorry but... I don't like Mayu's chapters I AM SO SORRY I DON'T

• Nina is my badass queen STEP ASIDE PEASANTS

• All these SoC Easter Eggs and mentions are driving me insane

• Idk why but imagining the Darkling drinking beer is sooo funny to me

• I AM LOSING MY SHIT they are in Ketterdam KETTERDAM does that mean ....DOES THAT MEAN ....I better see my Crows or I am throwing hands

• The Zoyalai conversations in this book are KILLING me

• OH MY FUCKING GOD so Kaz took the Emerald Palace over and renamed it THE SILVER SIX???? LIKE???? I AM LEGIT CRYING???

• Ummm...Zoya, honey, WHY do you want to VOLUNTARILY stay away from Nikolai, HUH?????

• THE ONLY REASON HE AGREED TO HELP NIKOLAI WAS BECAUSE HE GUARANTEES INEJ'S PROTECTION if that's not L O V E idk what is YAAASSS KANEJ

• FUCKING SHIT JESPER!!!! IT'S JESPER!!!! WYLAN!!!! I AM FAINTING MY BABIESS

• The Crows' banter is WHAT I LIVE FOR

• Kaz is the most cold, badass and calculating motherfucker on the planet, I love him soooo much

• No NO NOO JORAN IS THE ONE WHO KILLED MATTHIAS????? HOLY SHIT I am sooo scared LEIGH WHYYYY

• Kaz's reaction to Nikolai's demon is legit the funniest shit ever

• Kaz and Nikolai are bffs - THIS IS HEADCANON LEAVE ME BE

• Queen Leyti has severely disappointed me

• I am having waayyyyy too much fun reading about the Darkling among blindly faithful monks - this is the stuff of sitcoms

• (I know the Crows only had a cameo and they won't pop up again, but I can't help desperation wanting to see Nina reunite with them and PLEASE GIVE ME INEJ!!!)

• Honestly, it's pretty cool getting to have a look in the Darkling's head - it's SUPER fucked up

• OOOOO the blight vs the Darkling = the only confrontation I want to see

• FATHER AND SON REUNION

• I don't care much for Hanne x Nina, but I have to admit that they make a very cute couple

• FUCK THEY BROKE STURMHOND'S BLOCADE FUUUUCK

• WAIT NO it was their plan all along HOLY SHIT electricity RULEZZZZ who knew physics would prove THIS useful???

• UUUGHH FUCK THE APPARAT I am so sick of this guy - Zoya was right, they should have killed him

• I am really pissed at the Darkling- YOU FUCKING ACKNOWLEDGE HOW MUCH RAVKA NEEDS YOUR HELP, YOU SEE NIKOLAI'S BRAVERY, YOU KNOW YOU CAM HELP, AND YOU DO NOTHING??? BRO WHAT THE FUCK

• HELL YEAH ZOYA IS A DRAGOOON fuck some shit up sweety Y E S

• MY SKIN IS CLEARED AND MY CROPS ARE WATERED BY THE DARKLING RAISING A MOB TO CALL ZOYA "SANKTA"

• Also... the Darkling winking at Nikolai? FLERT

• WHAT THE FUCK???? HANNE DIED??? holy shit, why???? WHY CAN'T NINA BE HAPPY???????

• Nikolai is an absolute SAVAGE in a debate

• Idk what to think abt Rasmus... he was kinda badass for standing up against Brum

• SOLDIER. SUMMONER. SAINT. slap me and call me a hoe I SCREAMED WHEN I READ THAT

• ZOYA AS QUEEN, SIGN ME THE FUCK UP

• Okay I stan the Darkling again

• ZOYALAI IS CANON I REPEAT ZOYALAI IS CANONNNNN

• OKAY WOW HANNE IS A FULL-ON BADASS yep, I stan

• I really???? LOVE??? this ending for the Darkling??? Idk but it is VERY fitting

• ALINA!!!! AT ZOYA'S!!!! CORONATION!!!! my life is complete

• FUCKING SHIT INEJ!!! INEEEEEJJJJ my queen my love AAAAAA

• The conversation at the end between Alina, Zoya and Genya DESTROYED ME

• STEALING THE HEART OF SANKT FELIKS yes please BRING THE CROWS BACK!!!!! I NEED ANOTHER CROWS SEQUEL!!!!

• I fainted, I ascended, I DIED at the last page

• NOW I NEED A SEQUEL!!!

• Leigh, you ARE goig to write what happens next, right? RIGHT? RIGHT????

[bookofmirth]

Idk what to say every time I see headcanons and artworks of Elain being a family with Nuala and Cerridwen. We know BARELY anything about them. They weren't even there in acosf? I think in the whole acotar series there are only like 2-3 small scenes of those 2. Elain knows them for 2-3 years and the only thing we know that they did is just being friendly to each other and bake. They are also getting PAID BY RHYS to do that. We've never see them act like Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie or Feyre, Mor and Amren. Never.

No, I don't want to hear any "that's because we'll see that in Elain's book". I can't see how after 2-3 years of only being nice to each other, they're going to act all sisterly around each other all of a sudden? This "friendship" isn't the type of friendship that Sarah usually goes for, yk? We all know Sarah LOVES the trope found family. Key word: FOUND. Elain, like Feyre and Nesta, should find her own people that she would call "family", not the kind of people that literally bonuses if they go on a walk with her. Not the kind of people she has to wait years to finally call them family. Even Cassian has found Gwyn and Emerie and made the realization that they’re his friends to. But I can't see Azriel doing that with N&C. Especially after centuries of knowing them. It would look like he only befriends with them because of Elain. N&C don't seem like they have personalities.. I mean yeah we barely see them, but Vassa also has just like 3 scenes in the entire series and yet she has a big enough personality.

God- I remember the days where some el/riels were suddenly claiming that gwynriels would want N&C to leave Elain and be with Gwyn and gwynriels were like "🤨?! They’re barely mentioned in the series and Gwyn has Nesta and Emerie"- tbh, I even forgot that they existed 💀

The BoE seems to be the kind of family that Sarah would go for. Like they're everything that Elain could need. Elain would fit so well in the BoE and i just have a thousand headcanons of how she would meet them. Perfect.

I lost track of when this was sent and when the other one was sent, but was this the discourse in July?

I think it's funny that it's gotten to the point where we have arguments about characters who didn't even show up - not even a mention - in the last 800-page book. idk, something about it amuses me. Like the shitstorm that happened last year when someone dared suggest Elain have friends outside the Night Court lmaoooooo Good times.

Side note, are these things that we're going to see in her book, or have they already happened? Because I'm confused on what people think is going on with her.

[heretherebedork]

Episode 2 (and more) of Triage in which Time Loops continue to Not Be My Thing but I place trust in @absolutebl and know that I can definitely cringe my way through a few episodes without any issues.

This one... I'm gonna try to talk more specifically about the show and not just ramble because I'm gonna do at least two or three episodes.

Episode 2

lol of course he's a rich model sporty smart boy who loves cats that's amazing.

You know, I think I have an issue with thinking Tae = Phap and overlaying my dislike of that man onto Tin's characters. Because. Yeah. The more he does slightly goofy things the less I like him.

oh I'm in for a rough time. I already want to skip this episode.

The music that plays when he sees him amuses me on multiple levels. Far more than it likely should.

"Never drive again" yes that's realistic advice and it's totally normal to just tell people they're going to to die. Seriously. Tin. Really? This is such a common time loop trope that I knew it'd happen but I don't have to like it.

I already like Sing.

Jinta is my favorite and I love him so much and I wish Tin would listen to him better because telling him directly is obviously never going to work.

Tin is an idiot. Just... an absolute idiot. Telling people you're in a time loop never works because who would believe that?!

Awww, Gap is new and young. I do like the side character. Gap, Sing and Toy have all gotten my affection without hesitation.

"Butterfly Effect"

bwuahahaha he got punched

Mmmm, side characters. I seriously love Sing and Gap. And that they're getting a chance to grow despite the time loop.

This is an interesting idea of how fate works. Shaking a string at any point does shake the entire string but typically not like this. It's a very different idea of how timelines work.

Awwww. Zebra!

At least he's figuring out how to make the time loop longer, even if he's not totally understanding.

Episode 3

Choking! And random arrivals! Welp! This is already off to a slightly better start. Though why wander around randomly in your scrubs?

I do like Tol already though this is one of those romances where I'm like 'he already has a girlfriend, though?'

But Tol is looking at Tin adorably I cannot deny.

I also love Art. Can I just keep all the side characters in this forever? I love them all.

Aww, Tol being worried for his stray kitty! OH NOES HURT KITTY. And Tol all covered in blood is a baby. And Tin giving him a clean shirt and also proving he's absolutely a stalker by knowing his class schedule? And the chest glance! Bwuahahaa.

The idea that he just... jumps into the ambulance and goes with them is slightly wild to me. But tiny baby Rit is a baby and I just wanna see him saved.

Why yes I am already more dedicated to the side characters than the main characters. No. Shock.

Oh, something is up. Oooo. Very nice. Also... yeah, this all adds up and I look forward to seeing where this goes. I love Sing deeply, tbh. I really do. He's adorable and darling and so, so worried. And, of course, Gap has a crush on Sing. It's great.

The idea that Art can already recognize the scent of the doctor is so amusing to me I can barely put it into words. Like... what?

Also, everyone is connected. Everyone. This might be more about illegal organ donation than the good stuff that Dear Doctor is talking about.

Seudam and Zebra will be besties forever and so will their owners. So be it!

Dude, being friends on facebook means nothing.

Oh, the pain of living in the house your sister designed and then knowing that she died and you couldn't do anything about it and still living there... oh, Tin. Oh, baby.

Boys with kitties and power ranger figurines! I love them so much.

I already love them as a pairing. This episode sealed the deal because Tol is adorable and Tin is hopeless and useless and I'm thrilled to say that.

"For you, everything is okay" is the least comforting phrase ever.

Oooo, Tol and Mai's relationship isn't so simple and straightforward. Dun dun dun

"Fine, fine, I'm hitting on him" fgjhlfkhf well at least no one is judging Tin for being into boys?

Stop trying to just tell him! It's never going to work! You can't just tell him not to drive around. Jinta made that clear, damnit. It won't work!

Oh, Tin. Poor Tol just trying to live his life and Tin having no idea how to handle this whole thing at all seriously. I mean, it is a time loop so it's rather hard to handle but still.

End of episode 3! More in a bit.

[uweiy]

I'm intrigued by Love is Science? but know nothing about it. Can you give me a run down on what kind of thing to expect and who it might appeal to? Thank you!! 😁

Ooooo boi *gremlin smile* I'm glad you asked. You've entered the dragon's den, broken the dam and thus this post turned out to be a monster so I'm gonna link here another post from @accidentallyadramablog which imo gives a nice (and short) overview.

That said let's get into

Love is Science?

Summary :

Yan Fei is a the CEO of the Love is Science marriage agency, that matches people based on scientific data. Hsuan Yu, 8 years younger than her, is a promising young hairstylist who has been in love with her thoughout their entire childhood when she has only ever seen him like a little brother.

Unexpectedly they meet again. Between the way they've each built their lives and how Yong Yan Fei's ex husband still looms over Yan Fei's life, how will their relationship develop this time around ?

Now,

just reading that summary I know what you're thinking.

Indeed, if you have some experience with dramas, you might recognize some TYPICAL TYPICAL tropes – let's get them out of the way :

love triangle (though we all know who she is going to end up with don't we)

childhood friends

'noona romance'

And they are every bit as present and as trope-ey as you would expect.

However, as they say, the devil is in the details.

And particularly, in the side characters. Let me give you a quick rundown of the lot of them :

As such, we follow the stories of multiple relationships that develop parallel to one another.

The relationships

• Yan Fei/ Hsuan Yu : Not much needs to be added I think. Their storyline might be the most predictable but they are pretty sweet and heartwarming. pining for like 12 years though poor Hsuan Yu. Anyway you can enjoy it or find it boring or but you can't hate it.

• Mark/Ouwen : Noooow we're getting to it. Their dynamic is so... Refreshing and unique. Confident gay with a soft heart and dumb disaster bisexual I mean *chef kiss*👌delicious

After the disasters of their first meetings, it's a cat and dog relationship where Ouwen is the hsssssss don't touch me– cat and Mark is the golden retriever trailing after him not really realizing the rampage he's creating in Ouwen's heart. while Ouwen is like "Remind me why the FUCK I caught feelings again ?".

IDK it just has everything 'Enemies' to friends to lovers, (not actually) unrequited love, pining, sweet moments, jealousy, feelings realization, snarky banter... What more could one want.

• Cho Nai Hui / You Fu : they are. So. So sweet. Both are older and have experience, and as such they are not so naive or stupid as the youngsters. Them sharing their life experiences and going on dates like typically teenagers (in movies or TV shows anyway) would is refreshing to see and really really heartwarming.

• Liu Sheng Ying/ ??? Her ex ? : The show hinted at a wlw storyline and this arc seems to have JUST begun. Basically Sheng Ying's ex comes to Love is Science as a client and requests Sheng Ying as an advisor, while Sheng Ying still seems heartbroken over her. I can't WAIT to see how it develops.

The friendships :

Something I greatly appreciate is that both the romantic relationships AND the friendships have a great importance in the drama.

• Joanna and Yan Fei : Jo, queen Jo 👑. She's just here to gossip, get all the gossip and be the voice of reason and we love her for it. You can see how comfortable they are around each other and how they were there for each other during tough times and still are. Kudos to the actresses because I believed the characters were besties in a heartbeat.

• Hsuan Yu and Mark : they are honestly... Such polar opposites you kinda wonder how they became friends but they are and it works perfectly.

Hsuan Yu still hasn't gotten he maybe shouldn't take Mark's advice, and Mark still hasn't gotten that he, definitely should take Hsuan Yu's. It also enables to develop a more playful and mischievous side to Hsuan Yu, giving him more depth?

• Ouwen and Sheng Ying: rivalry to reluctant solidarity to friends-but-i-will-deny-it-if-asked to just friends. IT'S GREAT

I also ejoy the fact that these multiple storylines are allowed to coexist. The romantic ones, the friendships, older, younger, m/f m/m and f/f like take your pick !! And tbh a WLW storyline ?????? These are so scarce I will take anything.

The recurring themes :

The show more or less subtly touches on some topics/issues, to which the dating aspect contributes to.

A non exhaustive list would be

Divorce, and how divorced women can be viewed as failures for some reason

How successful men over 30 are sought after but successful women after 30 are somehow deemed undatable

Preconceived notions and homophobia

And beyond the topics, there's just things like... Joanna not being interested in long term relationships nor wanting to get married, reporting sexual harassment, older people going on dates.... I'm not saying it's a groundbreaking activist drama –which is not really what I was looking for– I just appreciate the fact that it is a pretty mainstream drama and that these things are there.

Mad respect if you've made it up to here ! but we're not quite done yet.

The cast and crew :

The other element that made this drama stand out for me besides the side characters is the cast.

It might be weird that such a meta thing impacts the appreciation of the show but it did, for me at least.

📣📣TMI WARNING 📣📣

For me what happened is I stumbled onto Mark and Ouwen cuts on YouTube, then somehow onto the behind the scenes. They weren't subbed at the time so I could barely understand a word of what they were saying, thus I'm not sure what but something about how the rest of the actors, the director and the crew were interacting just told me it was a show worth watching or at least checking out.

📣📣END OF TMI📣📣

The cast honestly seems to have a blast and to have, how to say it, come together really well. It seems like most of them have become genuinely friends, or despite differences in personality have truly enjoyed working with one another and with the rest of the crew, and it shows.

Where it's lacking

In my opinion the show does have some aspects where it underperforms.

As previously mentioned, the main plot is kinda tropey, furthermore, in a drama typical fashion when something is about to get resolved, immediately something else happens. Nothing unexpected from a drama though.

The pacing : Some moments of the main plot especially dragged on, so I admit I skipped through some parts.

Because I feel so strongly about all the characters though, I don't really mind the previously mentioned points. I just think it's a shame because I feel like if it had been crafted a little bit better it could have made the show go from an 8/10 good drama to an 11/10 friggin amazing drama easy.

Lastly, there is a pretty unequal time distribution so Yan Fei and Hsuan Yu do tend to occupy the most part of an episode. However some episodes are more centered on some pairings (like ep 11 that will probably have an important Mark/Ouwen part).

Overall

it's a drama that warms my heart, as simple as that. It's not that deep, it's pretty funny, the acting ranges from good to excellent and I have taken a liking to a lot of the characters, which is what I think fuels my interest for the drama.

And I feel like it managed to attract a wide range of audiences because the romances and relationships are so diverse. Whether you watch the show for its entirety or for one aspect/storyline/character is entirely up to you and I feel like the creators of the drama are aware of it as well : and you can easily find subbed compilations about each specific pairing on Settv's official YouTube channel.

Take that aspect that you like–if you find one of course–and enjoy it, that is all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

What's left to say besides.... 🎉🎊 Congratulations for making it to the end of this lengthy post !

[cqlfeels]

Forever thinking about Wen Ruohan, Nie Mingjue, and Meng Yao.

It's very arguable whether you could say the same about the novel version, but in CQL, they really play up the shippy aspect of the throne room scene, and by they I mean Meng Yao. And what I find fascinating about that is that the whole thing is essentially a performance for Wen Ruohan. I can tell it is, not because I believe Meng Yao wouldn't hurt Nie Mingjue, but specifically because Meng Yao would never go for what amounts to a femme fetale act if he had other choices. That scene is literally the only time in his life he's portrayed as overtly flirty ("flirty" isn't quite the right word btw but I can't seem to come up with a better one) and there's a reason for that - the last thing he wants is to give credibility to all the whispers that follow someone who's famous for being the son of a sex worker.

What is interesting, though, is that the whole nieyao thing follows a well-established Chinese literary trope: the pretty and hypercompetent young man who becomes the favorite of a powerful man, and by "favorite" you should probably read "right-hand man ✨with benefits✨." And I mean, that one Nie commander who bullies Meng Yao not only fails to recognize Meng Yao's authority in any way, but also says to his face that instead of meddling in military matters he should be doing what essentially amounts to managing the household. Which is probably something that falls within Meng Yao's duties, but is also very much something a wife would be expected to do. So you know. I'm sure in-universe a pretty sizeable part of the population is gossiping about how exactly did this pretty boy go from a no one to second in command in a day - oh look did you hear he's actually the son of notable womanizer Jin Guangshan and a sex worker, that explains everything for sure.

Now, the "favorite" trope I mentioned rarely ends in "and they lived happily ever after." There are many variants for the ending, but one of them is that the favorite falls out of favor, often in a very "don't ever appear in front of me" way.

So all of this is to say... Did Meng Yao play up this trope for Wen Ruohan? The Nie are a threat to the Wen since Nie Mingjue hates the Wen so much more than all the other sects put together. It'd be so, so easy for Meng Yao to present himself to Wen Ruohan as a jilted favorite who's 100000% willing to share secrets to take down the Nie for revenge. More importantly, Wen Ruohan would assume Meng Yao has info on Nie Mingjue, not just on the sect as a whole. That, combined with Meng Yao's seemingly endless talents, would explain his meteoric rise to power and why Wen Ruohan trusts him so much. I don't think Wen Ruohan would like, trust Meng Yao unconditionally, but he probably doesn't really question the narrative that Meng Yao is in this war specifically to ruin Nie Mingjue's life.

This is all pretty interesting because given how gossip-prone the cultivation world seems to be, I'm sure whispers about Meng Yao going from being Nie Mingjue's favorite to (seemingly) Wen Ruohan's favorite would be plentiful, regardless of how true or untrue that was. Even if Meng Yao has never in his life been alone with either of them, that's not what the rumors will say. Of course there weren't really witnesses to the throne room scene in particular, but just the fact JGY quickly earned a high position both under the Nie and under the Wen would be enough gossip fuel.

In that context, it's interesting how immediately after Sunshot, you can practically FEEL the distance Jin Guangyao - not Meng Yao anymore, so a little more respectable, surname-wise, in this classist society - puts between himself and nielan. Which is counterintuitive! They've sworn brotherhood, you'd think it'd be beneficial to him to act close to them! But he doesn't. He's aggressively formal, more than he is before or long after Sunshot.

So anyway. Of course no one would openly badmouth the Chief Cultivator's son like they did with "this servant who's here in Gusu with Nie Huaisang" but at the same time... Can you imagine what was being said behind closed doors? What kind of reputation the son of a sex worker turned favorite turned evil guy's favorite turned spy would have? I'm sure it's the exact opposite of whatever image-conscious Jin Guangyao tries to project tbh.

There's a lot more to be said about this and I'm sure lots of people have talked about it much more eloquently than me, but nevertheless, I'm surprised it's not talked about more often because for me it seems like a pretty big deal, you know?