#it's always fun when the magic in a story leads to some REALLY interesting living constructs of creatures right?

[aniseandspearmint]

just having some fun with interesting fantasy imagery! Give it a reblog, if you play, please? And tell me WHY you picked what you picked if you want?

[kalena-henden]

Shows I finished in 2024 so far...

A Good Day to be a Dog - A woman accidentally kisses her co-worker and turns into a dog during the night due to a family curse. She has to get her co-worker to kiss her as a dog to break stay human full-time or she will permanently remain a dog after 100 days. The first two-thirds were fun hijinks and a cute romance. The final third with the past life curse origin was a drag. Still upset the mountain god didn't apologize after wrongly punishing the wrong people due to his misunderstanding.

My Demon - A high powered business woman becomes entangled with a deal-making demon when she saves him and his powers transfer to her. This show stole plot heavily from shows like Goblin and Doom at Your Service and failed to do make those concepts their own. However, I still enjoyed it to the end, mostly due to the chemistry between the leads. They had such a fun and lively relationship.

The Story of Park's Marriage Contract - A Joseon-era bride who is widowed on her wedding day is transported to the future where she falls for a man who looks exactly like her dead husband. The story was okay but I was mainly here for the chemistry between the leads.

Fixer Upper: Hotel - Chip and Jo work their magic on an entire hotel. I love seeing the process and the design is beautiful as always.

Memorist - A detective who can see people's thoughts when he touches them teams up with a genius profiler to take down murders. As mysteries unfold and truths are revealed, everything is not as it seems forcing them to confront their traumatic pasts. I binged this in 4 days. The first half is dark but, just when I thought I had the villains pegged, the story opens up to explore the various sides of people to reveal the good, the bad, and the morally grey. I'm still thinking about this months later. I especially loved our detective/profiler team. I really want to rewatch.

Be Melodramatic - This a satire on the entertainment industry, grief, motherhood, and love that is done with 100% deadpan humor which is why I thought the concepts were interesting but fell flat due to not connecting with the humor. This took me almost 9 months to finish.

Death's Game - A man kills himself and then is given 12 chances to survive in someone else's body or he will be sent to hell. It's an anti-suicide version of A Christmas Carol. It was okay. While a host of great actors shine in their guest roles, it was maddening that the man didn't seem to learn along the way until the last body. Where the story ended felt like a copout. If this were a movie where you don't have much time, I would understand, but I wanted to see what would happen next. We needed just one more episode.

Marry My Husband - A woman with terminal cancer is murdered by her husband and best friend who were having an affair, when she is transported back in time before she was married to change her fate and find the love she deserves. This was such a great revenge story. Some of the best villains in kdramaland. A cute romance with a man who adores her. Real friendships. And the OSTs will stick with you.

Queen of Divorce - It started off okay but went downhill quickly. Honestly, such a waste of a great cast.

Daisy Jones & The Six - An interesting look at a fictional 70s rock band as they rise to the top before flaming out. I had listened to the audiobook but I liked the series better.

Doctor Slump - Two young doctors who were academic rivals in high school find themselves grappling with depression and fall in love as they heal together. This was a solid, even keel show for me. I enjoyed their healing journey and their romance.

Live Your Own Life - An outcast chaebol whose parents died in a mysterious car crash falls for his hardworking trainer who needs to learn to become independent from her family. I watched this 50-episode family drama for Ha Joon. There were some interesting things that kept me watching but it was just okay.

Princess Hours - The crown prince and a young artist, who are both high school seniors, navigate the complexities of an arranged marriage and court politics in modern day Korea. This was a really interesting study in how people can change and grow and fall in love as they grapple with the expectations of a nation. It's an old school kdrama and alot is meant to be inferred. It's almost as much about what is not shown or said as much as what is which was frustrating at times. However, when someone explained things, everything started to click for me and I saw all the things that were implied increasing my enjoyment.

Wedding Impossible - A gay chaebol asks his best friend to marry him to hide his sexuality from everyone. His brother who wants him to marry someone else for his own good decides to break them up by seducing his brother's fiance. It's a ridiculous premise with a fun, bickering enemies to lovers couple. It lags a bit in the last part but I still enjoyed this romance. Moon Sang Min is a new fave.

High School King of Savvy - A high school hockey player is asked by his older brother to pretend to be him at his job as a corporate executive while he investigates something nefarious. The high schooler then has to juggle both school and work life as he unexpectedly falls for his brother's secretary. This is a crazy, age-gap romance with Seo In Guk. The only reason the romance works is because both the leads are so pure hearted and kind. Lee Soo Hyuk is doing his best sexy, self-sabotaging second male lead, who even smiles! It was a bit much but it settled down in the second half and I loved the big found family feel of the cast.

The Smile Has Left Your Eyes - The first half was interesting with many characters’ selfish and dark intentions mixed with a little mystery were set up in contrast to our optimistic, self-sacrificing female lead. However, the second half drowned in major events happening and then being dismissed as if they never happened, multiple secret keepers refusing to tell the secret multiple times an episodes even when asked point blank when the answers could stop so many bad things from happening, and the existential dread I felt about what the big reveal was going to be only for it to completely dismissed. I knew this was a tragedy going in but still I felt angry and exhausted by the end.

Vigilante - A police university student decides to take the law into his own hands after his mother's murderer is let back on the streets to avenge her and other's like her who have been failed by the justice system. A manhunt for him ensues, bringing together an unlikely and at times unhinged group who decides to reveal the truth and bring justice. At 8 episode (six hours total), it felt like it was just starting to gel by the end. Definitely set up for more potential seasons after Nam Joo Hyuk gets out of the military.

Love Me Love Me Voice - A newer voice actor and singer is one day noticed online by her secretive voice acting idol and a whirlwind courtship begins. These are the sweetest, kindest people ever. I love how the dramatic readings and song performances are seamlessly woven into the story. Multiple romances, great friendships, mouthwatering food, and beautiful locals. This is a feel good story of first love.

[carriagelamp]

Read some delightfully impactful books this month, it was a very satisfying assortment of stories! My biggest recommendation is Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books, I'm telling everyone I can to read that book. Funny, meaningful, and sort of lights a fire under your ass, makes you want to make the world better.

Doctor Who: Forever Autumn

My obligatory Halloween-y read. Like many Doctor Who books of this particular calibre it was a fine and entirely forgettable read. It was fun to have an autumn-themed setting and villain, and I always love when Martha’s around. They wind up needing to deal with “no no it’s not magic it’s definitely just science we don’t understand for sure for sure” and some pumpkin-headed terrors. It was a pleasant thing to have playing as an audiobook while driving to work amid autumn leaves.

A Lady for a Duke

This had so much potential but honestly failed to live up to it imo. This story is very deliberately tipping its hat to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the initial set up is really promising. Injured and presumed dead during the Battle of Waterloo, transwoman Viola Carroll seizes her chance to remake her life and live the way she wants. She becomes the lady's companion to her brother’s wife (the only two who know that she’s alive) and with their help begins figuring out how to fit into this new life. However when an old childhood friend, the Duke of Gracewood who had fought alongside her in Waterloo, seems to be in a bad state she finds herself being forcefully drawn out of her quiet, secluded life and put at risk of being recognized by someone who had known her before.

Excellent premise! The characters are fun, Viola is an enjoyable protagonist, Gracewood is a decent romantic lead, and Viola’s sister-in-law is easily my favourite character in the book, she’s a DELIGHT, especially when paired with her husband. The first half of the book is also pretty well done, with lots of mistaken identity and pining, very much in the spirit of Twelfth Night. Unfortunate the second half is where it loses all momentum. The dialogue becomes repetitive and the romance rather dull, the B-Plot is really the only thing dragging the plot along at that point. It also loses any real touch with historical attitudes towards queer issues — it was always a light touch, but it quickly becomes everyone repeating All The Right Things to each other ad nauseum, without any real exploration of queer identities in a Regency period. Which, to be fair, is probably what some people want, very low stakes and chill romance, but for me it took the wind out of the book’s sails, I would have loved more discussion. It would have made the sex more interesting at least.

That being said, if you want a soft, pleasant, historical trans romance, I would honestly give it a shot. If nothing else the first half is REALLY quite good, I couldn’t put it down, and the last half isn’t so bad that it damns the whole thing. It’s worth it if this is what you’re keen on.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

Easily my favourite book from October, this book managed to hit on very topical subjects with both tact and humour. In a small town in Georgia, Lula Dean has spearheaded a book banning crusade, managing to get a number of “problematic” books removed from the library and has made a show of setting up a Little Free Library in her yard full of “appropriate” books instead. When Beverly Underwood visits her mother and hears about this she’s so exasperated with it all that she quickly hatches a plan. The night before she leaves for home, she takes the banned library books from where they’re being stored and swaps out their dust jackets with the ones in Lula Dean’s Little Free Library. The rest of the story is about various people in the town who borrow a book from Lula Dean’s library and how the book they got instead ends up impacting not just themselves but their town. The first story involves a penis cake. Can’t recommend it enough, starts out humour and quickly becomes something you want to rally around. 

My Neighbour Totoro

This was an enjoyable read just because I like Totoro in general, but it was not the best novelization I’ve ever read. Honestly I think it mostly suffers from a less-than-ideal translation… the whole thing comes across as quite stilted and I have a feeling the language was prioritised over the flow and intention. It was fine, cosy to sit and read, gives a couple scenes that aren’t in the movie that were interesting, but overall it won’t deliver anything the movie doesn’t do better.

Ogres

Absolutely fascinating novella, and a very rare example of a story told absolutely perfectly in second-person. If you’re looking for something a bit different and thought-provoking, this was a good read.

Ogres rule this world. They’re bigger than you. Stronger than you. Have magics you could never comprehend. The natural order of the world is for humans to serve ogres. However you, as the son of the village headman, live an idyllic sort of life… until the ogre landlords come to call and everything begins to go wrong and you're facing realities and secrets you never could have imagined.

The One and Only Family

I read this one mostly because I wanted to finish off the series. The One and Only Ivan is a fantastic novel that is a fictionalised account of a real silverback gorilla that was poached and brought back to the United States to live in a small cage in a roadside mall. The first story is about him, his friends Bob and Ruby, and his life in captivity. The second and third book are about Bob the dog and Ruby the elephant respectively, and this last book focuses back on Ivan, his new life in a zoo, and his growing family. Honestly all the other books in this series were fine for kids, had some good ideas behind them, but were otherwise somewhat bland. I’m glad I finished the series but they don’t hold a candle to the first book.

The Pushcart War

Now this was a fun children’s novel, recommended to me by my New York girlfriend who says it’s a staple in New York classrooms — and I can see why, it’s an incredibly fun read. A prime example of a well-done under-dog story, very satisfying! The book is a “historical account” of the “New York City Pushcart War”, in which the city streets are hopelessly congested and everyone is suffering. The worst offenders are the big trucks which just seem to get bigger and bigger, and pushier and pushier. The trucking companies hatch a plan on how to gradually push out all other competition: they’ll start with the little, old-fashion pushcarts, try to villainize them until they’re entirely removed from New York City... and if no one speaks up for them, then how hard will it be to push out the taxis next? Or the automobiles? However, the scrappy little push-cart owners fight back. It’s very much written to be an allegory for actual wars, played on a smaller scale which some delightful wit and an interesting narrative voice.

Series of Unfortunate Events 4-10

I continue to read A Series of Unfortunate Events. As a child I had only ever read up to The Carnivorous Carnival so it’s exciting to strike into new territory with The Slippery Slope. I really enjoy the slippery slope you see the Baudelaires beginning to get caught in as the series progresses, how they have to start making concessions and doing things they wouldn't have considered doing at the beginning, and how their views of the world is beginning to evolve. Austere Academy, Ersatz Elevator, and The Vile Village are my favourite of this set.

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System v3

I finished the main series of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System and I’m not ready for it to be over ;^; I’m in the process of reading the last book of bonus stories and trying to savour it. I was hugely judgemental about this series and was tempted to skip it entirely, but I’m so glad I actually sat down to read it. Out of all of MXTX’s series, this one has, in my opinion, the least palatable main relationship and I say that with deep and profound affection. It's passionate and complicated and slightly horrifying but I don't think you could write it any other way. Every single thing about this story is messy and I think that really works in its favour. 

Shen Qingqiu is an incredibly biased narrator, and it’s really interesting to read a story in which the main character tends to think of those around him more as characters in a book than as genuine people. You get to see how him viewing himself as a passive observer instead of an actual person with agency who can have an impact on others continuously trips him up, and how his actions have far reaching consequences that he fails to recognize. It makes this entire series a very meta exploration of storytelling and the impact people's personal narratives have on themselves and others. It really consistently shows how cruelty begets cruelty... but also how the choice to step away from easy resentment can break endless cycles. That's a common theme across her works, but the way its handled in this book particularly struck me.

Over all, it’s a fun, silly story with way more heart than I anticipated -- this last book really made me cry! I was so unprepared for the series to be over that I had to stare at the ceiling for a while to try to digest it all. If you were feeling debating whether or not to try this series, I’d honestly give it a shot because it brings way more to the table than the surface level plot would suggest.

This Census-Taker

Fucking weird novella. I grabbed this from the library because I quite enjoyed Railsea so I thought I’d try something else by this author. And I really liked it! But also what the fuck. Still don’t know if I absorbed everything that I was meant to absorb, but it’s obviously a book with a lot to say and did it through the most deranged and intriguing world building. China Miéville is great at creating unique worlds that feel alive and vibrant — this is the sort of world real people could live in, no matter how strange.

Goodread’s summary because gun to my head I’m not sure I’d be able to come up with a more functional explanation: “After witnessing a profoundly traumatic event, a boy is left alone in a remote house on a hilltop with his increasingly deranged parent. When a stranger knocks on his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation are over—but by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? Is he the boy’s friend? His enemy? Or something altogether other?” This doesn’t even scratch the surface but it does give a functional idea of the surface level plot. If you want something to sink your teeth in to and flex your analytical muscles, this one will do it for you.

The War That Saved My Life // The War I Finally Won

Absolutely stunning YA novel series, can’t recommend it enough. This series is centred on Ada, a girl born in the East End of London to an abusive mother who scorns her for her club foot. Ada is forced to stay in the apartment, is severely neglected and mistreated, and does her best to take care of her younger brother during all this. When news of WWII arrives though and people begin sending their children away from London to live in the country, Ada is determined to run away with her brother and get them both onto one of those trains, to find a better life far from the threatened bombs and their mother. The story followers Ada and Jamie finding a new home and contending with the trauma they’ve lived through during the throes of World War 2.

(* in regards to the queer content of this book: it is entirely subtext however it is such obvious subtext that I feel fine labelling it as queer, it's beautifully done -- very much a "haunting the narrative" sort of plotline)

The Warden

A “cosy fantasy” novel that was a fairly decent attempt at the genre. I find some cosy fantasies fail (for me at least) just because… nothing happens. This novel sort of straddles the line between cosy fantasy and standard fantasy in a way that I found quite satisfying and kept things from getting boring.

Aelis de Lenti is a newly graduated necromancer from the Lyceum who has accepted the position of Warden in the remote village of Lone Pines. Admittedly she had been hoping for a posting in an actual city with actual modern amenities but here she is. Surrounded by sheep shit and villagers who don’t trust her, in a crumbling wizard’s tower. Great. The story is about her gradually finding her space in this community, learning how to handle her position, and generally getting to kick ass and take names. It was a fun read.

[elizabethrobertajones]

5 and 11 :)

How do they feel about Wuk Lamat looking up to them as a mentor figure? Did this attitude change as the story progressed?

Frog's ended up with a LOT of mentees over time, from one off moments being shadowed for an afternoon in one discipline or another, to realising she's sort of accidentally helped shaped the twins' entire personalities for better or worse (moooostly better).

Wuk Lamat showed up at a good time when there was room for her emotionally and also time to care about such things. I think Frog was already drilling her on axe technique while she was still loitering around Sharlayan.

She wasn't quite so certain about the political side of things because she knew so little about Tural and knows how wobbly politics can be even when you feel like you're on the right side, so she was holding off any judgement about how Wuk Lamat really fit into all that until they got out there and had a lay of the land, and also she was banning Alphy from pontificating too much on the situation before he knew more XD She seemed far more frightened than she was letting on, and Frog couldn't tell if that was just Being A Teenager And Untested, or if there was some great evil lurking at the heart of all this that Wuk Lamat couldn't face alone or mention and the situation was much more dire than anyone was saying (Erenville being unreadable was completely unhelpful).

Once she'd met Gulool Ja Ja, Frog understood things a lot better and knew she just needed to impart the WoL magic sauce to Wuk Lamat and was really impressed that in many early situations she already seemed to know the right answer even if she wasn't confident in it (since we started with the Laser Eye Bird Boat). That made it a lot easier to just relax into the contest and lead by example of having fun and being yourself, mostly to help Wuk Lamat get over the yips rather than teach her anything substantial, because it was clear to Frog she had the right path already and just needed to be pushed onto it when she was uncertain, and courage in her convictions.

What was their initial impression of Sphene? How did this change as the story progressed?

.... does anyone have a WoL who didn't immediately distrust her? Listen to Alisaie :P

Once Frog got to understand the Endless concept she was immediately suspicious that it was what Sphene was since she was behaving so inhumanly (walking about in the pouring rain in a little shiny dress) and unaccompanied when there were beafts out there. And she had no retainers or obvious second in command, whereas every leader Frog's ever met who was worth anything had a squad of guys with personalities following behind them, guarding them and both advising them and letting them bounce ideas off them, as well as enacting their whims for them. Like. Normal human need for other people.

Sphene was obviously involved in her people's lives but she was doing it all by herself, like, individual house visits? The way she was a single shining saintly figure was so incredibly suspicious. Frog was worrying the regulators were doing some sort of mass mind control to keep everyone complacent and besotted with their ruler, at first, and then once she realised she was an Endless, she knew it was more that she was a mascot and the face of a much larger, worse thing: a terrible system that had all the living humans in its grasp. Oh well! there's always a trial named after the expansion! :)

I think part of her post-MSQ to do list is to read up on the historical Sphene and get a better idea of who she had been before, because she wants to know more about the actual person who she only saw little glimpses of, and historical Alexandria is really interesting, especially after seeing so many recreations of it and glimpses of what it had been, compared to the society in Solution 9. It's all SO weird even after the cyberpunk stuff and high technology she's already seen.

[anthurak]

Rambling about Perma-Death in Videogame Stories

So is anyone else just completely and utterly done with the trope of ‘If you die in the game, you DIE FOR REAL!1!1’ that we see in untold numbers of stories about characters getting trapped in video games?

Like I was just watching some clips from the Jumanji reboot and now I just can’t stop thinking about the same thing I thought when I saw it back in 2017: WHY does perma-death HAVE to be a thing here?

If you haven’t seen it, the premise of the reboot is that the magic board game of doom from the original 1995 film realized that board games are getting less popular and thus upgraded itself into a videogame cartridge/console to be more appealing to would-be players. And has now sucked in four unsuspecting teens for an adventure now parodying videogame tropes instead of a board game.

Now the big ‘threat’ posed to our protagonists is that they each start with multiple ‘Lives’ which allow them to immediately respawn when they die. But they only have three lives each, which of course leads to the implicit idea that if they can’t lose ALL their lives or it’s GAME OVER, ie; they’re dead for good.

But the thing is, nothing in the movie actually DEMONSTRATES to our protagonists that this is actually the case. They just… assume that if they die three times they’re dead for really realsies.

And while watching/rewatching the movie, I just kept thinking WHY did the threat of perma-death have to be a thing? And also the fact that it didn’t even make SENSE in this context.

Like the Jumanji game is clearly sentient to a degree and seems driven first and foremost to get people to play it. So I have to ask; WHAT sense does it make for Jumanji to outright, permanently KILL its players? After all, if the players are permanently dead, they can’t exactly PLAY now can they?

Furthermore, just look at the old-style sidescroller games that Jumanji clearly based its new form on. What happens in those games when you lose all your lives? It doesn’t permanently lock you out and keep you from playing ever again. Instead you lose your progress and are sent back to the start of a level. Or in those particularly hard games, you are sent back to the very START of the game.

So don’t you think that makes WAY more sense for how Jumanji would work?

Imagine in the film when the heroes’ fifth party member Alex, the kid who got trapped in the game twenty years earlier, starts to lose his last life, the rest aren’t able to save him. He seemingly dies… and then there is this bright flash.

Then all five of the players are suddenly back in the jeep with Rhys Darby hamming out exposition at them, right back at the start of the game.

I don’t know if that would make for a better paced film, but I definitely think it would make for a more interesting story that could explore some of the real underlying aspects and nuances of how playing a videogame actually goes. Because now this is no longer a challenge of luck or split-second intuition, but of trial and error. You know, like most ACTUAL videogames!

Now that our heroes know there ISN’T actually a threat of permanent death (because this is, you know, a GAME!), they can engage in one of the most FUN parts of playing a big, open-world sandbox game: trying any number of crazy, nonsensical ideas to see if one of them actually sticks!

And I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a great way to ratchet up the dark-comedy as the characters start trying all kinds of crazy ideas that get them killed more often than not. And if you think that wouldn’t make for a very entertaining movie, let me point you to a little-known flick called Groundhog Day! Not to mention the fact that story would still have stakes. The characters still have the goal of completing the game and there’s always the threat of them losing their progress and having to start over. Plus it makes for a great method of character development and bonding as the five are forced to learn how to work together until they’re functioning as a seamless unit.

This is really my overall point about how the threat of perma-death in these kinds of stories feels like such a crutch to needlessly generate generic drama and stakes. Not to mention kind of going against the very thing that makes something a GAME in the first place.

It’s why my actual favorite ‘people getting sucked into a videogame’ story is actually the anime Log Horizon. Because in that series the respawn mechanic of the MMO the characters are sucked into still works, and the story instead revolves around its characters learning to adjust, adapt and live in this new reality. Not to mention it still finds an interesting way of maintaining stakes and consequences to characters dying even if they can respawn: Namely that because the game’s respawning mechanic involved taking away a certain among of Experience Points from a player as a ‘cost’ for reviving, this means that players now lose pieces of their memory every time they respawn.

All in all, while I understand its appeal to writers as an easy way to generating stakes and danger for characters, this whole trope of ‘die in the game you die for realsies’ feels SUPER old and super cheap at this point. And I have serious respect for any story that subverts or averts it.

[khyann]

This is probably super out of nowhere, but for you scosage gargoyle au do you have any rough plot ideas (or at least ideas on who's human and who's gargoyle)?

hi there and dw, im always up to talk about my scosage art or scosage in general😁!

about the gargoyles au im sure i had some ideas back when i first drew that piece a while ago but i never wrote anything down. What little i can remember is that it used the empires cast. Unlike Elisa in the show Scott is not a detective but a journalist and thats how he ends up meeting Sausage after hearing some rumors about a billionaire putting a medieval castle on his skyscrpper and deciding to be nosy about it.

Scott and Sausage start dating way faster than the hell of a slowburn Goliath and Elisa have. Scott just saw this silly hunk of a gargoyle and decided he wanted a piece of that XD, Sausage also didnt have a mate from 1000 years ago nor as much inhibitions about a human/gargoyle relationship as Goliath.

Pearl and fWhip are both gargoyles. fWhip is Sausage's rookery brothers in a similar way to Goliath and Coldstone, while Pearl came from the next hatching. fWhip adapted really well to the modern day, instantly taking an interest in machines and technology, Pearl is just glad there are still baddies for her to punch.

I was really indecisive about Gem tho. I love me the roseblings but gargoyle twins are impossible unless they somehow hatched from the same egg and having them being different ages idk is missing something. So in the end i decided to make Gem an human and be friends with Scott in a similar way to Matt Bluestone with Elisa (tho idk what her profession could be, she could be a co-worker of Scott's or be a detective who helps Scott and the gargoyles), and just know i thought like Matt maybe she is interested in proving something is real but instead of illuminatis she is trying to prove magic is real. Eventually she meets the gargoyles and becomes really close to fWhip in a familial way.

Jimmy is also a human and Scott's ex but they are in good terms. He is part of law enforcement (something something sheriff? XD) and is trying to figure out if the gargoyles are risky or not (not because he wants but because of his job, he's never seen them do anything bad so he doesnt think they are a menace), and Scott has quite some fun leading him to dead ends.

The rest of the empires crew im not so sure about.

Shubble could take a role like Angela, being a younger gargoyle from the Avalon clan, raised there with the other eggs from Sausage, Pearl and fWhip's clan before the massacre and wanting to see the modern world (but not she is not related to Sausage).

Katherine could be a child or even a grandchild of Oberon.

Pix could perhaps be Scott or Jimmy's boss. Or he could be a gargoyle and the leader of Sausage's group.

Lizzie and Joel idk beyond being Jimmy's sister and Jimmy's brother-in-law, so human but thats it.

And Joey im drawing absolute blanks😅. (he could be the billionare in question, lol would be fun if the equivalent of Fox in this au were Xornoth and Scott no likey his brother marrying some rich fuck)

As for the plot i dont have any concrete story beyond the basic plot of Gargoyles but sillier. So Sausage, fWhip and Pearl (and maybe Pix) were gargoyles living in a medieval castle 1000 years ago but they were betrayed and 98% of their clan was massacred and they were put in a stone sleep until their castle was put on a skyscraper by some billionaire and the spell was broken, now they need to learn to navigate this strange new world, making new friends and allies along the way

[razmerry]

Drawtectives: Orc Lore... 2!!!!

My first Drawtectives orc lore post that I made 2 years got over 600 notes, and I always intended to compile one for the second season. I just needed to rewatch all of it first! This one includes more general information about the Drawtectives world than the first did, cause it’s really fun. 

Part 1

Episode 1:

- York has become a male model! Good job, king

- Extra world lore: Boogle, Bamerica (where engineers drive the train)

Episode 2:

- Common knowledge in the orc tribes is that the one thing you can’t fight is death - it gets you in the end

- “There’s always time for the east” - a classic Northern tribes quote

- Extra world lore: Pollywood, gredit cards, Zac Giraffe, Belp, Bi-Fi, Halloween is canon!

Episode 3:

- No one has ever reported back after confronting a wild train

- Reconfirmed: the roughly cuboid shape of wild cats, including tigers which have a Garfield-like appearance

- One of the only comics in the Northern tribe was Cashews by Barles Pört, featuring Sneppy 

- Things York can write: eat my butt, wow now thatsa potata, Sneppy

- York doesn’t talk about his #1 and #2 weirdest days: “too weird”

- York is “a very social creature” according to Rose; all he needs are friends and food

Episode 4:

- Confirmed for the third time: York is a math guy

- York is big enough that he has a high drink tolerance

Episode 5:

- The “Ren Faire Las Vegas” is a story in the Northern tribe told to children, about a magical place with heroes and knights and glitter; York hoped to see it someday

       - Which included the hero “Belvis Breseley” and his many disciples

       - Interestingly, the Benaissance appears to possibly be etymologically linked to this “Ren Faire”, when the famous turtle painter Michaelango lived

- A classic game from the Northern tribes called “Lift It”: where you have a heavy object and see if you can lift it

Episode 6:

- It takes York a few seconds to transform between “Fight Mode” and “Show Mode”

- More Cashews lore: the lead character is Barley Brown

- Another newspaper comic: Beefcliff, which is apparently spelled differently in other locations

- BC also exists: unclear if this is our world’s or simply a coincidence

- Wild trains enjoy bones: new, old, yours, doesn’t matter to the train

- It’s speculated that trains evolved from wild bikes, with some diverging evolutionary lines including trucks

- Wild trains have feline ears and tails; if the ears are in the alert position, the train has now targeted you

- “Life is a railroad, and I’m going to ride it ‘till my stop”: a line from the hit group Bascal Blatts

- An interesting thing to note: synthetic trains are built in the image of wild trains

- York lost 17 of his cousins to wild train attacks; so York has approximately 35 cousins according to him (and I trust his math)

- Wild trains have a “burning inferno” as well as a mouth-eye, and the tail can be used somewhat like a blade

- Stripes on the side of the wild train help it blend in with tallgrass environments

- Horse Pope: holy figure? Into gambling? Oversees soups?

- York: sometimes known as “The Terror of the Northern Tribes”

- York has a net worth of about 6 million bones in his bank, although it’s unclear what the exchange rate is to Bamerican dollars

Episode 7:

- Bibby Joey: creator of the famous song “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”

- BUNO!

- Eugino, a popular card game (Eugene-Oh?)

- I’m not writing down the rest of those board game puns

- The only game played in the Northern Tribes was “rock hit”, where you threw rocks at another rock in the air and see which rock survived; perhaps Lift It was more of a personal challenge

- There are no tables in the Northern Tribes

- Eugene’s favorite karaoke song is “I Need A Villain” by Donnie Byler, featured in Grek 2

Episode 8:

- York is the smart one, according to Rose: “he thinks the loudest”

- He’s also bad with faces and voices according to Rose; reconfirmed from S1E5

- I just really like that he was 100% convinced that Alm and All were different people

- Phone-bone, apparently

Episode 9:

- I enjoy the two-part confirmation that Northern Tribes orcs have southern accents

- “Joe Beans” is not a traditional orcish name

- Not everyone knows that the Northern Tribes have a monarchy

- “Orcish size” drinks are in a bucket, evidently they are literally sand buckets

- Jancy came to York’s first modeling show :,)

- York once tried to arm-wrestle a snake

- Wonderful film by Studio Jiggly: Ghosted Over There

Episode 10:

- No lore just solving the case!!

Episode 11:

- York’s favorite action hero is Ben Ception, who enters people’s dreams

- List of the months: Febicember, Smarch, Mapril, Junary, and Bachtober

- York’s powerful… stream gives him time to get his arms warmed up for a fight

- Another social media app; Binstagram

- “Lofty goals do lead to existential horrors” - daily quote by Rose

[asleepency]

Fionna & Cake Ending Theory

Alright so since this is the last night before Fionna and Cake comes to an end, I thought I would try my hand at some honest to god Media Analysis™ on the themes of F&C and what that could mean for its ending in 3 hours

My thesis statement is that the theme of F&C is that you must make happiness with what you have, and not cling to the happiness of the past. This is supported by the protagonists' motivations/stories as I'll explain below.

Fionna's wish and surface-level motivation over the course of the series is to bring back the magic to her universe, it is established very early on that her reason for wanting this is because she is depressed with her boring normal life and she wants adventure and excitement, and just to get away from mundanity in general.

Simon's wish and surface level motivation is a bit more complicated. Obviously he wants Betty back, but if I were to guess where the series is going and the overall message, I would say that this is only his surface level motivation. Not to say that his love for her is surface level or anything, but if I were to wager what his true motivation is, I think that he wants companionship and a sense of normalcy contrasting Fionna's desire for the abnormal. Especially considering the fact that the show is clearly going for the angle that Simon and Betty's relationship wasn't all that healthy, and that Betty is basically dead and Simon needs to grieve and move on.

So with Fionna, as she's starting to learn, magical adventures may not be as simple as she thought, and she will probably discover that she doesn't need to live in a magical world to find adventure and excitement, she can make both in the world she lives in. As for Simon, looking back at the original series, and even within this series, Simon is always happiest when he has someone to take care of, even as the Ice King the earliest moment we see happiness from him is the episode where he "fathers" NEPTR and sheds a tear thinking about having a son even if it's a short-lived moment. Then of course there's Simon and little Marcy. But even in F&C itself, he seems calmest when he's being a father figure to Fionna, talking to the Farmworld kids, or cradling baby Finn calmly even when Bubblegum has a knife to his throat. So much so that people have picked up on it and pointed it out. I think he will find his companionship by having a child to care for. I don't know if it'll be baby Finn or maybe Astrid, but if I were to put money on it I would guess that's the end of his arc.

Some odds and ends that I couldn't really fit into this theory includes what's up with Cake? Because like, I feel the direction the show is going is leading to F&C's universe staying normal, but that doesn't seem fair to turn Cake back into a housecat. And the other thing is Winter King. When Winter King is reminded of Betty by Simon, he recalls her as not that important. Which itself seems to be an important detail for the writers to have included. My guess is that WK, like Simon, has a need for companionship. Still, instead of obsessing over Betty and getting her back, he focused that energy on Marceline, and that led him to create ice Marcy out of his inability to move on from Marcy not being in his life, similar to how our Simon can't move on from Betty being in his life.

I could be completely wrong though, thats the fun part, I just thought I'd take a crack at some media/character analysis. I was thinking about making this into a video, but it spiraled into a whole character analysis of Simon/Ice King. If anyone is interested in watching that, maybe I'll finish making that and post it here.

[ciaossu-imagines]

rayne ames (because he’s your fave character) + numbers 1, 4, 5, 6 and 11 from the character ask game 💙

You are definitely spoiling me, my lovely, and it makes me so incredibly happy 😊 I’m a lucky girl, having wonderful readers like you, so thank you for that reminder! I loved, of course, writing for Rayne and hope these are interesting enough to read!

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Okay, so as is obvious from just how this ask is worded, I’m definitely answering as to why I like Rayne so much. One of the main reasons is that he was unintentionally hilarious to me in the manga when I read it. He never failed to make me laugh – his stoic demeanor contrasted with his love of cute things and bunnies just always worked as a joke for me, which is just personal preference. While he seemed harsh to Finn, I also saw a lot of protectiveness and worry towards his brother and I liked their little story and how Rayne eventually did open himself up to collaborating with Finn and recognizing Finn’s own powers. The fight between Delisaster and the Ames brothers was one of my favourites. I really enjoyed Rayne and Max’s friendship as well. On top of that, I admit to some personal bias here as I really enjoyed both his character design and his power. Partisan was really cool but I was completely hooked by his Summon, not going to lie.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Just for the goof, I want to throw Rayne into a stereotypical, really cutesy, really romantic shoujo manga. I want him to be the protagonist because good god, there’s no worse shoujo protagonist than Rayne Ames and I feel the whole situation would be comedy gold. I also feel like a Rayne Ames Ikemen style otome game route would be both hilarious and something that could have real potential, just saying. Either that, or I want a magical girl anime (though I guess it would be more magical boys, ala Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!) with Rayne and all the other Mashle boys, including Wahlberg because yes, that would be amazing, hilarious, and so much fun.

5. What’s the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Complete crack answer – Little Rabbit Foo Foo. Serious answer – The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan.

6. What’s something you have in common with this character?

I really don’t think me and Rayne have too much in common, actually. If anything, we’re complete opposites in a sense, especially in how we show ourselves to the world, how we show and experience our emotions, how we approach life and such. I think the only thing I can think of is that, when we truly love or care for people in our lives, we’ll do anything we can think of to make their lives better (at least in our minds), even when it hurts us or takes away from our lives to do so. Oh, and we can both have a tendency to completely miss jokes. So many jokes go woosh – right over my head.

11. Would you date this character?

I would say yes, because I do love him and again, think his character design is very attractive. But in all honesty, I probably wouldn’t. I like to think we’d end up being close friends, in that kind of opposites attract and balance each other out sort of way, but overall I think we’re just too different to successfully date each other. His ways of showing affection aren’t going to jive with how I need romantic affection shown to me and that would likely cause me to feel neglected or not appreciated in the relationship, which leads me to become clingy and needy, which would wear him down and make him angry. It would just be a vicious cycle of fighting and making up and the relationship would be unhealthy.

[vorish-wonderland]

It's me the anon who doesn't play twisted wonderland! I have a request, could you please write something very cruel with Jade? Maybe some sort of scenario where he toys with a tiny reader and is overall extremely mean. Kinda like your story "Serves you Right" where the Floyd broke the readers arm, like cruelty similar to that! And also plz have an ambitious ending!

Despite me not knowing much abt twisted wonderland I am obsessed with the way you write for that guy 😭

Includes: soft/safe-ish vore, biting, blood, ambiguous ending

★✦A Midnight Snack✦★

☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

You live a very quiet, usually peaceful, life in a building far too large for you. You find it quite nice, despite knowing your life could be in danger if you mess up at all and get seen by the... other people who reside here.

They're much bigger than you. They're basically giants, at least compared to you. Those people... don't take too kindly to people of your size. They seem to think of people as small as you as pests...

But that's fine. You deal with it just fine. Or at least, as well as you can. You often find the remains of people like you scattered about the place you call your home. It's hard to see that... but you deal with it as well as you can...

You only go out when you're sure those giants are all asleep...

But tonight...

Tonight was... different.

When you went out to get food, you saw... him.

"Oh my, what a surprise..." He kneels down in front of the counter to speak with you. "How small you are... I thought we had gotten rid of all of you... but you seem to have proven me wrong. Hello there, little one. Who might you be?"

"...(Y/N)." You decide to cautiously respond.

"Interesting, my name is Jade." He suddenly grabs you. "(Y/N) really is a lovely name... it really suits someone like you." He suddenly smiles, showing off his serrated teeth. "It's a shame no one will remember you."

Well... this was bound to happen sometime. You couldn't have kept hidden forever...

You're trying your hardest to stay calm... quite unfortunately, it doesn't work out too well.

"A-alright, hey, l-listen, y-you're not actually going to kill me, r-right-?" You nervously ask.

"Kill you?" Jade laughs boisterously. "Ahh, you're mistaken, little one. I'm not going to kill you, no, I'm going to eat you! And sure, that very well may lead to your death, but I assure you, it is not my intention!" He smiles politely.

"I-I'd really rather you not do that, r-regardless of what your intentions are..."

"Oh, if only I cared."

Jade gently lowers you down into his mouth, biting down on one of your legs. He applies pressure, slowly, slowly, slowly, as you struggle to escape his grasp.

It starts off feeling like a small prick as the tips of his sharp teeth poke into your calf... then, as the pressure increases, you begin to panic more and more.

Blood trickles out from the spots he bites down on... it runs down his teeth and drips slowly down onto his tongue. He smiles wildly and the pupils of his eyes dilate as he tastes your blood.

Then... he bites down on your leg as hard as he can, severing it from your body.

You scream out in unbearable pain as he sets you back down on the countertop. He quickly pulls out his magic pen and casts some kind of healing spell on you, almost instantly healing your leg to the point where the severed point is no longer an open, bleeding wound.

"Oh, do be quiet, little one. As much as I love hearing your screams and cries..." He closes his eyes, and swallows the part of your leg he just bit off. "Mmm... fufufu... we wouldn't want to alert anyone else to this fun we're having, would we~?"

Panicked thoughts race through your head, not a single one of them being coherent. There's only one real thought. Run. But you can't. You can't move even the slightest bit, all you can do is stare upwards at him in fear of this... predator.

"I have an idea, (Y/N)... I do so enjoy it when my prey decides to run from me... it's always so fun, seeing them think they have a chance of escaping me..." He smiles, and reaches for you. "Of course, I doubt you'll be able to get very far in your current state... but it would be so fun to see you try and escape. You know what? I'll give you a head start. You can have 10 seconds before I start chasing you! Go on, little (Y/N)~"

He begins to count down.

You can't move.

You can't bring yourself to move.

You're paralyzed in fear, even though every cell of your tiny body is SCREAMING at you to get out of there as fast as you can...

But you just can't move.

"...3... 2... 1..." Jade pauses for a moment, staring down at you. "Hm. What a shame. You didn't move at all. Oh well, that just makes it easier for me, I suppose."

Jade picks you up once more as you try to say something, anything... all you can let out is a pathetic whimper, however. How unfortunate.

He places you into his mouth, almost sucking on you like a hard candy before he swallows you down whole...

You're terrified. It's warm and dark and wet and you keep getting squished and squeezed as you're slowly pushed downwards...

His voice is muffled by the layers of flesh between the two of you... but you still hear him.

"What a wonderful midnight snack you were, (Y/N). And you were so cooperative, too~"

The air stings your eyes... it's hard to breathe...

"You know, you were quite fun to play with... maybe I'll let you out... maybe I'll let you live, just so I may play with you again sometime..."

You try to regain your balance, but you can't hold on to any surface without it stinging your hands and having your hands slip right off the walls you tried to hold...

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

You don't really know how much longer you can keep your eyes open... it gets harder and harder to breathe...

"I'll think about it. But of course, don't count on it. For now, get comfortable, because I don't know when or if I'll be letting you out. Have fun, little (Y/N)~"

...

You slowly close your eyes, hoping he decides to spare you.

[starwalker03]

imagine if you'd mixed a soulmate AU into WMLP. Who would be soulmates? What kind of soulmate au would fuck with the characters the most?

oh boyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. soulmate AUs are so fun to mess with, because you can change the parameters for what a soul mate is. like are they destined lovers? are they the perfect pair? or are they simply two people who are always going to meet, be drawn together, are cursed to share their stories, regardless of feelings?

what I'm saying is: WMLP with Dick and Slade as soul mates.

oh my god that would fuck Dick up SO BAD.

especially if he didn't find out until Slade was running a sword through his chest. and it would make his struggle to fight back against Slade's manipulation so much harder. His complicated feelings as he mourns Slade and yet despises him? dialed up to the max. it's so juicy.

Additionally: When Bee forces M'Gaan's mind open, it overwrites her own soulmate and essentially makes Bee her soulmate in M'Gaan's mind. like any association with her real soul mate is wiped away and redirected to Bee, so even though they're not soul mates her brain still reacts to Bee that way.

you know there was a short while when I started writing this fic when I considered doing aquabird (Dick and Kal) instead of birdflash. purely because when I started writing this fic is when I fell into aquabird shipping lmao. it would be interesting if they were soul mates in this fic, though, as the leader of the team and the assumed future leader of the team. like a captain and right hand man. Kaldur's horror and grief would be so much worse, hearing Dick was killed under his leadership, if they were soul mates. i mean that can be said of the entire team, but especially if it were Dick. Dick is the youngest, so Kaldur probably wouldn't pursue anything romantically (at least not until they're both older) so he'd have to live with the fact that he never got to have a relationship with his soul mate. then on top of that, his failure leads to one of the best child heroes, assumed to be a future leader, to fall into a new role as an assassin. Kaldur would feel responsible for ruining his potential.

There is, of course, the other possibility: one of the manta soldiers being Kaldur's soul mate. I have had some thoughts on Kaldur's relationships with the soldiers and whether any of them go beyond friendship (I actually started touching on it in the chapter I'm currently writing lmao) so imagining the added piece of them as a soul mate? delicious. held captive by them, the power dynamics, the inherent toxicity? nom nom. the fact they'd have to hide it from everyone? so good. and the soldier wouldn't be able to do anything without looking like they're trying to sleep their way to the top. and Kaldur can't do anything without the possibility of incurring his father's wrath upon an innocent soldier.

oh also if it was Zatanna, with what Kaldur has done to her... that's also a thought. both of them being the magic users of the team gives them a fun duality, and they both have daddy issues.

Conner and M'Gaan being soul mates would work i guess. I'm meh about it because I'm meh about them as a couple. the show really just... meh. and after season two it's like BRUH Conner LEAVE HER. but anyway. in this fic it would have that tragic lovers thing of being torn apart, watching your lover slowly degrade and knowing you can do nothing about it. meanwhile they watch as you are unchanged, and they hate you for it. mmmmmm. yeah. that'd make them interesting to me.

other than that, there is the possibility of Conner not having a soul mate, because he's a clone. or him having a pre-programmed soul mate which is whoever Clark's and Lex's soul mates are, which is disturbing and the worst and I should really write a fic of that. or someone should because the potential for all kinds of horrible nonsense is very compelling.

I haven't considered any kind of romantic subplot for Artemis to be honest. I mean, canon wise she only really has Wally. other than that there's the comics, where she was with icicle junior. i mean the joy of finding your soul mate, being with him for such a short time, and then the grief of losing him so soon would be interesting, I suppose, but no mor interesting than it already is for the two of them to have been together as normal. Artemis forcing herself to move on and falling out of love with Wally only for him to come back would be heartbreaking for her, especially if she couldn't find it in herself to regrow those old feelings and try again with everything going on in her life. especially because Wally probably wouldn't have had a chance to fall out of love while in the speed force. it is a bit depressing, but not very compelling to me.

I guess there's Roy. she could have some kind of strange platonic sibling-esque soul mate bond with him. it would have made her joining the team, so much more difficult, and then being forced on an opposite side to him only to chose to stay against him once free because your friends are more important. and then for her to hear Dick kicked him off a roof and almost killed him and see Dick be so blasé about it would be an interesting spin on things. but it's not interesting enough that, given the scenario of rewriting the fic with soul mates, I would add it in.

mmmmm these were some delicious thoughts thank you for giving them to me.

[lumilasi]

Fitting I post this on women's day I guess. I've had her on my to-do list for months, and finally I figured out her updated design. I also wanted to give her kind of a fun, playful sounding surname, and landed on Duffy. I think its Irish/Scottish? She's supposed to be from British isles anyway, or at least lives & works in Scotland currently.

More info below:

Name: Scarlet Duffy

Nicknames: Letty

Age: 25

Family: birth family unknown, honorary big brother figure Mihail Câine, kind of a surrogate parental figure Thalia Swanson

Friends: Harrow Araknos/Blackthorne (Soul eater & her boss) Aiden O'Kelley (their gardener) more tba

Love interest: none

Occupation: Housekeeper of the Blackthorne mansion/former pickpocket

Abilities:

Sneak 100: She's super sneaky, able to even creep up on Harrow and Mihail, both beings with hyperaware senses naturally. (Though there is debate if Mihail just let's her catch him off-guard)

Lockpicking/Pickpocketing: She's a true rogue thief if she wants to be

Street smarts: She generally knows how to survive in dangerous situations in urban settings, like how to de-escalate a fight, or when its the best to run, and generally how to defend yourself etc.

Angy Dog Brother Whistle: She can whistle in a manner that only Mihail (and dogs in general) can hear, which'll help lead him wherever she is.

Language skills: She has learned Romanian from Mihail, and also knows some Japanese given her boss' wife is Japanese.

Weaknesses:

She's kind of overtly impulsive and curious that can lead her to sticky situations. She sometimes takes Mihail's help for granted, and that has led to situations where she's almost gotten badly injured or worse when he wasn't able to show up. (Typically saved by either Thalia or Harrow)

She sometimes wishes she had magic powers too because of the previous situation described, and does feel frustrated when she can't get out of something on her own anymore, like she used to before getting involved with the world of mythical and magic.

Personality:

She is very upbeat, extroverted and curious young woman, who is always up for mischief and trickery. She loves to learn about the world of magic and mythical beings, eagerly listening to Harrow's stories from his youth and about his family. (whether she believes all of them is another matter entirely)

While Scarlet has a very friendly demeanor, she is very cautious and distrustful of new people at first, having lived a rough life as a child and a teen. Probably the only people she truly trusts at this point are her found family, and even among them the only person she has 100% faith in is Mihail.

She's the type of person who, due to her difficult earlier life, really wants to help any stranger kid who seems to be in trouble, which can sometimes lead to tricky situations.

Fun Facts

Out of all of Harrow's family members Scarlet has met, she likes little Hitomi, his granddaughter, the most as she can tell Hitomi is a troubled kid but is doing much better now, just like her. She can relate, and enjoys being able to be the big sister for once.

She was initially kind of scared of Mihail once she found out he had a human form, but after couple months of tension she concluded he had no ill intent in hiding this, and its just what the mythical folk do for their own safety.

She teases the absolute SHIT out of Aiden for crushing on her big brother.

Scarlet is a Demiromantic Lesbian

Her personal style is typically fairly simple plain clothing with some sort of statement piece, like the pink leather jacket/hoodie that Mihail got for her a while back. It does also always have a slightly girly vibe to it too, with laces or frilly bits.

Scarlet loves detective stories and murder mysteries

She really looks up to Thalia, who almost acts as her mother figure in a way. She does find Harrow cool too, but not as cool

Scarlet had a fancrush on Avane Faydream, the employee of her boss' son Jurou/Alistair, that visited them alongside the aforementioned man.

She also actually really liked Avane's boyfriend as he reminded her of her big brother Mihail, just much friendlier and sweeter by default. That, and she could tell Mihail and him had history, so she was naturally curious of Roman.

Scarlet loves singing Karaoke, and she's actually a pretty good singer, able to do some amazing duets with Mihail.

[kalena-henden]

Destined With You Final Thoughts

THE GOOD

Rowoon - Every new role I see him in (Extraordinary You and Tomorrow), I feel like he's grown leaps and bounds as an actor. Here he got to be literally be EVERYTHING. He was an arrogant emotionless jerk, a lovesick puppy who says the cutest most ridiculously things, a serious no-nonsense professional who's great at his job, a man struggling with his feelings and choices, a devoted protective lover, gutted and sobbing over life or death circumstances, respectful patient attentive boyfriend, an impulsive and passionate lover. I know we say ALL THE EMOTIONS sometimes but he literally when through them all.

Jo Bo Ah - Hongjo was a hard character for me because she was so passive and let everyone walk all over her again and again. Her saving grace is she always stood up to Shinyu and eventually learned to stand up to those around her. I could easily be annoyed with this character if it was played by a less competent actress.

Ha Joon - I enjoyed his turn as a suave lawyer who's actually a total dork in his personal life so much so that I started watching his new 50-episode family drama, Live Your Own Life, where he's finally the male lead with his own romance. Jaekyung came as Hongjo's sage guide when she needed him and happily exited when she was settled. Honestly, not a bad arc for a SML.

Shinyu's mom, Shinyu's lawyer friend, Hongjo's Landlady, Uram and his grandfather, and Shinyu's assistant - These characters were alot of fun and added to the depth of the story. I wish we had actually gotten more development from them which would have filled out this story a bit better.

Symbolism & Magic - This show is rife with well thought out symbolism. Love all the flower/plant stuff around Hongjo (Bloom) and Shinyu (Groot) equating to a blossoming and thriving relationship. The magic is actually pretty well explained and is there if you're interested in it.

THE BAD

Dropping the Magic Halfway Through - I am EXTREMELY disappointed in a show billed as a FANTASY ROMANCE that went to painstaking care to introduce the spells and curses to be like oops! don't care if the spells worked or not but we kinda care if the big curse is real cause we want to keep Shinyu in perpetual danger. Like I have ZERO respect that the FANTASTY aspect was dropped (and no the reincarnation plotline doesn't count). I feel hoodwinked and things make even less sense now. It's basically a JJ Abrams Mystery Box level of non-sensical bulls*t which is one of the main reasons I stopped watching most Western shows. It also leaves MASSIVE holes about how and why the Gardener and Nayeon started working together as well how did they learn about and come to believe the curses would even work. It was just she's a backstabbing two-faced bully and he's an insane murderer but zilch on their motivations. I really wanted a mini-montage of the black magic curses that were so well foreshadowed. I'm unsure if this was a writing call or directing call because in Korea the directors have final edit rights, not the writers. What got left on the cutting room floor?

Hongjo's coworkers - Why were they so terrible and unfunny the entire time? They were also irrelevant to the plot. The only good thing was her boss stopping the others from bullying Hongjo. It wasted time that could have been given to the side characters l liked (see above).

Noble Idiocracy & Repetitive Danger - I'm not sure which is worse that they repeatedly put themselves in danger time after time (even when bad things kept happening to them) or they broke up or stayed apart for the other person's 'benefit'. *face palm* If it was a great story, I can forgive some of this but...

The Pacing/Editing - If they had done a big reveal of the magic and other stuff at the end that really brought things to a climax, I would be like yeah it was slow at points but look at the payoff! Instead, I'm looking back at this going, if this is the story you wanted to tell, it could use a serious overhaul in HOW it was told. Even though there was stuff I liked about this drama, I wasn't that emotionally invested.

VERDICT

I would only recommend watching this to see Rowoon act his heart out and be in a ridiculously cute and sexy romance. That's it.

I'm sad because I really loved deep diving into this show. It could have been so much more like Goblin, Doom At Your Service, or Alchemy of Souls.

[alexsfictionaddiction]

Alex Recommends: August Books

I hope you're all having a wonderful summer. I have been wholly consumed by my dissertation but I'm happy to report that it seems to be going well. I am really enjoying the process and I don't know whether that's normal or not! I'm definitely going to miss being a student once this is handed in at the end of next month but it's not like I don't have plenty of other life things to keep me occupied.

Work is going well. We have recently had a new library management system implemented and we're all still learning how it works. It's nice being as confused as everyone else for once! It definitely has its teething problems but I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually.

Mark and I are settling into our home and slowly acquiring furniture and accessories to make it our own. As its a rental, we can't do much to it in terms of decor but it's a lovely comfortable house with everything that we need in it. We also love the town that we're in and at the moment, we're planning on staying here long term. So, I guess I am starting to feel quite settled now. Mark is getting ready to start his first year as a teacher and I couldn't be more proud of him. I think he's equally nervous and excited but that's to be expected, of course.

I've also managed to enjoy some time away with some family members in Cornwall, which is one of my favourite UK holiday spots. This means that I've also been able to read some great books while juggling my dissertation deadlines, so good news for you -I've got some recommendations for you. I'm sure there's something here for you to enjoy! So until next time,

Love, Alex x

FICTION: Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo

Flor can predict the exact day that someone will die, so when she announces that she wants to hold a living wake for herself, her family are suspicious that she knows something about her own death. It turns out that her sisters also have their own secrets as do the next generation of Marte women. In the days leading up to Flor's wake, the family's past and present interweave and teaches everyone how to cope with the future. I have really enjoyed Elizabeth Acevedo's YA verse novels, so I was really intrigued to see she had written an adult novel in prose. Family Lore has a large cast of interesting female characters and the book really is a trip through their history, giving them an authenticity that means you can't help but really care about them. Acevedo is a master at scattering generational magic and wisdom through the chapters of this story of migration and sisterhood. Issues such as fertility and sexuality are touched on and unlike the author's YA novels, there are some graphic descriptions of bodily functions, which some readers should bear in mind. A fantastic, intricate, well thought out literary novel with more than a sprinkling of magical realism.

ROMANCE: The Situationship by Taylor-Dior Rumble

When journalist Tia's long time crush returns from a trip abroad with a new girlfriend, she decides it's time to try dating apps. She's surprised when she immediately clicks with Nate, a handsome photographer. However, the dating game now requires couples to have 'the talk' about what they are. Are they friends? A couple? Or simply a situation? My favourite thing about The Situationship were Tia's friendships. She has some of the best friends ever and I really enjoyed the commentary on how Black women are treated in journalism. Both of Tia's love interests are trash, so I had great fun hating both of them! The ending was very satisfying indeed and not at all expected. I've got to a point now where I feel pretty sure I always know how a rom-com will wrap up, so to be pleasantly surprised by this one was a real treat.

MIDDLE-GRADE: The Best Sleepover In The World by Jacqueline Wilson.

After the events of Sleepovers, Chloe is desperate to win her friends back by throwing the Best Sleepover in the World. With a swimming pool, professional makeovers and guest appearance from a huge social media star, everyone is invited except Daisy. But Daisy's sister Lily also wants a sleepover party and Daisy is determined to make Lily's sleepover the actual Best Sleepover in the World. I have been a huge fan of Jacqueline Wilson since I was very young and I love that I am still such a fan of her new releases. Sleepovers also happens to be one of my favourites, so I was insanely excited to learn about the sequel and I'm delighted that it lived up to my expectations. It's a quick, light-hearted read that is brimming with nostalgia. I enjoyed it enough to dismiss the continuity issue of it being somehow set immediately after events of the first book and yet also having very contemporary elements! Wilson still manages to depict girlhood friendship struggles so well and it really illustrates how some things really don't change. It was also fantastic to see disabled representation in children's fiction through such cool, kind characters like Lily and her friend Natalie. These girls are included and treated exactly the same as able-bodied characters and it was such a joy to read.

YA: Bite Risk by S. J. Wills.

Not much happens in Tremorglade, other than the monthly night where all the adults turn into werewolf-like creatures called Rippers. It's up to the town's teenagers to keep their adult relatives caged and safe and it's been this way since the Disruption, which happened before Sel was born. But strange things are happening and Sel and his friends start to suspect that there's a reason no one ever seems to leave Tremorglade. Bite Risk is a unique werewolf dystopian, which straddles the line between middle-grade and YA. I think the violence and strong horror aspect probably tips it towards the younger YA point but it is definitely suitable for mature 12-year-old readers. There are some tense scenes and some big twists, while the writing is very engaging and the world-building is really interesting. It's the first in a series, so I'm intrigued to see where the story goes next.

THRILLER: The Only One Left by Riley Sager.

In 1929, 17-year-old Lenora Hope was accused of massacring her family in their home. The police could never prove it but the locals widely accepted that as the sole surviving family member, she must have been responsible. Lenora has never spoken about the murders or left Hope's End, her ancestral home since that night. In 1983, Kit takes up the job as Lenora's nurse after her predecessor left suddenly. Kit finds Lenora paralysed and mute, only able to use her left hand to communicate via a typewriter. One night, to Kit's surprise, Lenora uses it to express to Kit that she wants to tell her everything. I have read almost all of Riley Sager's books and I have to say that The Only One Left is my favourite so far. It's highly addictive and atmospheric with some gorgeous Gothic Agatha Christie vibes. Hope's End cast such an ominous shadow and held so many horrific secrets that it took on a life of its own as I turned the pages and became very much a haunting, chilling persona. Even at the very end, the crazy twists kept coming and I was thoroughly consumed by the lives of these characters. A deliciously, dark mystery.

[enriquemzn262]

Have you guys ever checked back on the webcomics you used to follow? Back in the day I had a ton I was actively following, when I was in deep denial about my weebness, and the other day I decided to look back on some of them.

Raccoon Girl: It’s still active, I actually ended up going back into it, a fun little comic about a bunch of idiots trying to be superheroes, lead by the titular RG. It’s been doing a slow but steady shift from just funny moments into a more serious story, with the art improving alongside the shift.

Miss Melee: It stayed on hiatus for almost 2 years, but it recently came back, a kickass story about a mom superhero and how her personal life starts to get mixed with her superhero one, in the form of her daughter.

Poppy Opposum: A once fun adventure comic about a mom living in a magic world where her possum race is heavily discriminated against. The world building proved too much for the author, and after a short sting at turning it into a sort of light novel to try and tackle the overly complex setting, he finally gave up and dropped it for good.

(He was always kind of a dick too)

The Meek: A once promising adventure story with three different perspectives, all apparently meant to come together eventually. Author was more focused on selling the shit out of the few chapters produced rather than actually working on the story, so it quickly stagnated with literal years between updated, today currently standing at 3 since the last update.

Skadi: One hell of a fun ride about a barbarian princess in a quest to eat from every animal, and the only webcomic in this list that actually had a proper ending. Sadly the webpage where it was hosted no longer works, so it seems to be lost media.

Endtown: A weird but interesting anthology comic about former humans living in a post-apocalyptic world. The current arc has been ongoing for years, and, at least for me, proved so convoluted I dropped it altogether. May return to it one day if said arc actually ends.

Paranatural: A coming of age story about kids fighting supernatural beings. It used to be really fun but then it suddenly began to focus less on the main cast in favor of these bully characters I never liked, and that plus a constant string of hiatuses made me drop it. It’s still being actively worked on, but now as a light novel. Author always seemed like a pretty cool guy.

Prequel Adventure: From the height of popularity of Homestuck came this interactive comic about the unluckiest cat lady that ever lived in the world of Morrowind(?). Used to be really creative, but the author’s refusal at ever breaking away from “now let’s make our hero fuck up again for no good reason” finally got to me so I dropped it. It seems to still be active, albeit at a very slow pace.

Fanboys Online: The only videogames webcomic I’ll ever admit to follow back in the day (the other one I’ll take to the grave), what started as another painfully unfunny (in hindsight) gamer humor webcomic slowly evolved into a witty character study on the three protagonists it had, not to mention the art kept improving as it went on. One day the author quit cold turkey, and now it seems every page that once hosted it is now gone.

Man, looking back, I honestly had a preference for webcomics with female leads.

[dysthanasia-series]

Writblr Summoning Circle Intro

Hello and welcome to my shrine place of power writing blog. I'm Ceph, they/them, and despite the ghostly username I am, in fact, a regular human adult with a job, college homework, skin, blood, etc. Video games, houseplants, and buying books faster than I read them are just a few of my hobbies.

I write different flavors of fantasy mostly, with sprinkles of horror and romance/spice thrown in for pizzazz. If you're interested in...

Vampires, werecreatures, necromancers, merfolk, and/or passive-aggressive poltergeists

Resourceful protagonists in terrible peril who sometimes make choices that change things forever, for better or worse

Enemies becoming forced allies and maybe more in some cases

Themes of solidarity, the myriad facets of love, and people fighting for a better future

Slow burns

Worldbuilding that I definitely don't make up on the fly

Mortals becoming deities and vice versa

Telepathic monsters that could devour your soul -OR- become your best friend

Liminal spaces like roadside diners at 3 a.m

...you might find my WIPs tolerable. Possibly even fun.

Follow this blog @dysthanasia-series and/or @the-primrose-path-story to get notifications for new chapters and other neat story-related stuff. Or just ask to be put on a taglist for a WIP you're interested in. You can also read for free on Patreon and AO3.

I welcome asks, prompts, writblr events (Worldbuilding Wednesday, etc.), and any interactions that lead to transmutating Internet strangers into friends. Do tell me about your characters and lore. I want to devour know all of it. Yes, even the obscure facts that never really make it into the story despite hours of research poured into them. Especially those.

My reading habits include a steady diet of fantasy, horror, whump, and smut sometimes all four rolled into one but I'll happily consume a wide variety of works and styles. Check out @coven-archives to see what I'm reblogging from fellow writers.

That's pretty much it. Feel free to reblog or like this post or invite me into an object you own at the stroke of midnight if you want me to give a follow.

Below the cut you'll find a list of WIPs and links to read them which will increase my power every time you click one. Content advisories are at the top of each work and chapter.

Genre(s): Urban/Paranormal fantasy, vampires, post-apocalyptic, whump-ish

Apophenia

Original rough draft version is here

Status: Redraft in progress

At a Glance: Trauma, captivity, enemies to forced allies, secret magical societies, everything goes wrong despite the MC doing the right thing

A researcher of the supernatural, Isaac Soto, stumbles across an unregistered bloodborn in the Broken Coast region. When he reports the creature, hoping to prevent someone from being the next victim, he finds out that maybe he should have been more worried about himself.

Phagophobia

Genre(s): Urban/Paranormal fantasy, vampires, post-apocalyptic

Status: Rough draft complete, redraft in progress

At a Glance: Trauma, enemies to forced allies, secret magical societies, questioning authority, MC makes a choice that affects the rest of his life

Living isn't always a mercy, but Isaac Soto will take what he can get. Storm season makes fleeing from the Broken Coast and the bloodborn he met there difficult. Said bloodborn somehow knowing his every move makes it nigh impossible. Hiding in one of the few western cities to survive the break, Isaac makes a stand, a deal, and ultimately a decision that will shape the rest of his life.

The Primrose Path

Genre(s): High fantasy, romance/erotica

Status: Rough draft in progress

At a Glance: Eventual deity/human relationship, sexual themes and NSFW chapters (will be individually labeled), trans relationships, questioning faith and beliefs, discussion/effects of war, cultural clashes/misunderstandings, fantasy racism (challenged throughout)

When his village is taken captive by an enemy nation, Illuminator Ân's priority is to make sure his people survive to fight another day. Faced with everything he's stood against as a priest of Cyanos, god of light and life, Ân prays for the strength to overcome and do what he must. It's not long before he receives signs that his petitions have been heard. Just not by the deity he serves.

Beyond & Between

Genre(s): High fantasy, portal fantasy, whump

Status: Infrequent, out-of-order updates

Sail beyond where the seas turn red, until the sky is filled with unfamiliar stars, to the lands between realities. Magic and the power to leave one's old life behind awaits for those brave enough to seek it.

Whumptober 2022

Each prompt followed by the story series it's set in and the MC. Content guidelines at the start of each story.