#no other drama this season is making my brain actually work work

[cheriladycl01]

You're a dick Stroll! - Lance Stroll x Engineer! Reader

Plot: You created the best car for the 2024 season however after some harsh comments from Lawrence Stroll about a female engineer having been the reason his son crashed out in Bahrain turns out after investigations from the FIA people owe you an apology!

A/N: Obviously this is fanfic so its dramatized so in no way does this portray anyone in a realistic light and is just for the drama and the vibes.

"You innovations have been amazing this year Y/N all thanks to that brain of yours!" Mike Krack the team Principle for Aston Martin tells you, holding either one of your shoulders shaking them in delight at the new car in front of him.

You had been at Silverstone working as the lead mechanic/ designer on the new car throughout the last half of the 2023 season.

"Thank you, but you know it was a team effort right?" you smiled back, it really was a team effort.

"Well, we actually wanted to offer you a promotions of sorts!" he exclaimed a look of shock crossing your face.

"Excuse me?"

"We figured that you know the car the best and we want you travelling with us to make adjustments as and when needed. Last year was a struggle when we didn't have you here, you are the quickest we've seen and having you on the road with the team would really help.

"This is amazing, yes I'll do it!" you exclaimed happy that you were finally able to travel around the world with Aston Martin.

A month later and you were in Bahrain for pre-season testing of the 2024 year, everything was looking good on both the car, they were running well and the data figures looked good to you and your team.

You'd stayed late with a few other team members making sure everything was ready for the most important Sunday of the year, this race was the one that usually set the drivers mentality for the year. Nobody wanted to crash in the first race and no-one wants to not make it into the points.

You left, once you'd finished your checks on both cars, some people still working around.

"Okay, I'm off guys and ill see you for the big day tomorrow!" you smiled at them before heading back to the hotel that Aston Martin had placed you in. It wasn't a long ride, and you splurged on an Uber considering how much overtime you'd just done in the garage.

You did share a hotel with the drivers, as one of the lead engineers in Aston Martin you got the privilege of the nicer hotel compared to some of your colleagues.

As you entered, you could see some of the drivers sat in the bar, Lando Daniel, Max and his girlfriend Kelly were all sat together taking pictures, obviously for the .jpg accounts.

Charles, Pierre, Carlos and Lewis were also there sat at the bar, drinks in hand. However, with your attention directed elsewhere you felt yourself bump into something.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry" you exclaimed looking towards the person you had bumped into that was now holding your forearm as if to steady you so you didn't fall back.

"It's er okay, you seemed distracted are you... okay?" you hear the person ask and look up to see your teams youngest driver.

"Oh Lance I'm so so sorry!" you say noticing it was him.

"It's okay" he says awkwardly before shuffling off. You watch as he walks up to Alex and George who were also sat with one another. You continue up to your floor before showering and passing out in your bed.

The next day your alarm was set extremely early, you came straight to the track having gotten ready in a record speed time. Your hair was whipped up in a ponytail and you'd nearly put your green Aston Martin team top on back to front.

You got to the track for when Mike told you to meet him there, he wanted you the radio engineers and the strategists to all talk before the race. Considering it was only 7.30 in the morning there were already loads of people in the paddock, from all different teams.

Where it was your first time you didn't know the protocol or anything for greeting other teams, so you just stayed your typical friendly self sending a smile and wave to everyone that you passed and made eye contact with.

Once you'd got into hospitality Ben Mitchell, Chris Conin and Peter Hall were all there, Peter held a coffee out to you with a small smile.

"Thanks" you smiled before you all started to talk about the race ahead, you guys checked the weather patterns and the track temp before trying to plan the race for both drivers.

By the time you'd done your final checks it was time for the race. Lance had placed P7 the day before and Fernando had placed P10 which was an amazing start to the year for Aston Martin.

"How's the car looking?" the social media girl asked, she was looking at the screen of data rolling in from the car but not understanding what the figures actually meant.

"It's performing phenomenally. Its definitely better than last year. Its also original and completely initiative, I've heard Horner and Vasser talking about it!" you explain having heard them interviewing about the grid and a little season preview.

She nods, and you talk a little before she leaves to go and try and film some social media stuff while there isn't too much excitement on the track.

However only 2 laps later Lance was reporting his breaks being stiff, which from the figures looked to be impossible. Before his race engineer could even ask for your advice, Lance went into a turn too quick skidding off the side taking Gasly with him. You looked up at the screen in shock, a hand covering your mouth.

Lance's car had gone sideways before flipping over Gasly's car. Lance and Gasly were both out of the race.

"What the hell happened!" Lawrence screaming coming over to you, all the pit crew who had just pulled Fernando's car in stopped what they were doing and came over to you.

"Sorry?" you asked pulling the headphones off genuinely not having heard him.

"What happened! Your the engineer who was here late last night. What did you do to my sons car, he's an impeccable driver and he has DNFed because YOU cant do your job" he screamed and you flinched taking a wide step back.

"Look i didn't do anything, I wasn't even the final engineer here last night. I think he was just unlucky sir" you tried to explain, but his face like thunder had you a stuttering and stumbling mess.

"Yes you did! Just admit you either sabotaged the car on purpose or your so damn incompetent at your job that you didn't build the car right! You know you should be fired for this, its completely unacceptable and I'll be speaking to Mike about having you removed because you clearly" he starts but one of the crew members behind decided enough was enough and stepped in front of you.

"Hey, sir with all dew respect there are camera's everywhere in here recording so just think about your image" he directs and Fernando having finally got out of his car and having seen what happened to you.

"Lawrence, i think its best that you take a step back" Fernando advises seeing how close he had gotten to you.

Instead he just storms out of the paddock, you release a breath you didn't even realize you had been holding in everyone swarming round you take make sure you were okay.

BREAKING NEWS: FIA LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO HEAD OF ENGINEERING AT ASTON MARTIN AFTER STROLL CRASH VIDEO OF LAWRENCE STROLL RIPPING INTO Y/N Y/LN HEAD OF ENGINEERING AT ASTON MARTIN INTERVIEW WITH LAWRENCE STROLL AND MIKE KRACK GETS HEATED AFTER INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED

It only took 4 hours for the public to find out who you were and your social media handles as you had a few people following you. One of which was McLaren who you had worked for under an apprenticeship scheme.

The only thing you really wanted right now was have a drink, so the hotel bar where you were certain would be safe from the public eye. You came down from your hotel room, you weren't in anything fancy and felt out of place the minute you sat down at the bar. Most of the drivers were there celebrating wins, or drinking away the loss.

It was like you had this beeper on you, as when you entered the room and walked to the bar all the drivers seemed to notice you. I mean it wasn't hard, your hair was thrown up in a ratty bun and your eyes were red from having read all the hate messages sent to your inbox.

"She's the one they're investigating because of Stroll's crash! His dad went in on her after the race"

The whispers all around you from people in the bar had you shrinking in your seat.

"So your the one that made me crash!" Lance exclaims from behind you, you turn round seeing his face, angry and upset and expression nobody liked.

"Look, I didn't do anything to the -" you start but are slowly interrupted.

"No you did, you know nothing and you shouldn't be in this job! Everything they are saying about you online is true, you could have killed me and Pierre because of that accident. So careless!" he shouts, which shocked the other drivers as Lance wasn't really one to raise his voice.

"Please Lance, I've already had enough..."

"No, you haven't had enough! You shouldn't be in this sport if you cant build a car properly, it's shit! It's not powerful and you clearly cant build a car like Andre last year!" he says, you could tell he was getting frustrated and it made you take a step of your seat.

"You're a dick Stroll! Andre didn't build the car. I did that's why i took the position this year as he wasn't performing as Head Mechanic so yeah. I didn't do anything to the car, the data was fine maybe you just are as good as a driver as you seem to think you are" you say before storming out of the bar.

Two weeks later, where you'd lazed around all day at home was when you'd got that expected call. You were currently on suspended leave where you were still under investigation. Mike had been facetiming you on and off asking for help to try and speed up the pace of fixing the car before Saudi Arabia GP.

It was in fact Mike calling again, however this time he was telling you to open up any socials and see what the FIA had posted.

CHECKS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED INTO THE ASTON MARTIN CRASH SHOWING HEAD ENGINEER IS NOT LIABLE AND HAS SERIOULSY BEEN MISSTREATED - FIA FIA COME OUT WITH EVIDENCE THAT ASTON MARTIN HEAD ENGINEER IS NOT TO BLAME FOR STROLL'S SAKHIR CRASH - SKYSPORTS CLEARED FOR DUTY Y/N Y/L/N TO MAKE RETURN AT JEDDAH - F1

"Are you serious?" you say, the first piece of enjoyment in your life in the last few weeks has just occurred.

"Yes, we need you on the first flight out to Saudi, someone's waiting for you at Heathrow to bring you" he exclaims, you jump up cutting the call short and start to rush, packing a bag by slinging clothes in it not bothering to fold. You make sure your uniform is all packed as well as the essentials before running out the door and running to the train station.

You came into the terminal, shooting a text to Mike, not knowing who to be looking for. You look around to see if you can see one of the other mechanics or maybe Mike's personal assistant but you come short.

"Come on Mike" you whisper to yourself looking at your phone.

"Y/N?" you hear from behind you. You knew that Canadian voice all to well.

"Lance?" you ask with a slight sneer to your tone, you were still angry and upset with him and his father for jumping to such outrageous conclusions.

"Mike wants you there asap, so I suggested you come with me" he says guiding you down a secure back path to where it leads out to the jets.

"Your kidding me right?" you ask as he walks you out onto the den where his dad's private jet is waiting.

"We needed you there as soon as possible the car is in literal pieces without you there!" he exclaims, having heard from his father than things had been slow in the garage.

"Well, do you now trust me to build you an effective car?" you ask halting your steps, you didn't want to work with him anymore if you didnt have his trust. Throughout your suspension you had both McLaren and Mercedes reach out to you offering you a job with them once it all blew over.

"I do trust you, I just got angry when i crashed the car in the first race of the season, my dad blamed it on you and to me that seemed the most logical. I am sorry for what its worth" he says awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"For what its worth... you're still a dick. But i think i can put up with that" you smile, before following him over to the pane ahead.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc

[pookie-mulder]

July 2024 fic roundup

Here are the highlights from this month! I really love doing these. It helps me be more engaged with what I’m reading and actually remember individual fics once I’m done with them (rather than stuffing them in the collective “fic soup” in my brain, where they’ll combine together until there’s no hope of remembering details). Anyway, I highly recommend doing some sort of fic journal! I’d love to know what you guys are reading.

🦆👧 Temporum VI by Emily_M1013

This is the third installment of a wonderful Emily AU, The Mallards series. I love how it puts its own spin on canon events, and I’m delighted every time I see an update in my inbox!

🤫🪪 Snakebitten by @onpaperfirst

My favorite thing about this fic is the way it adds to canon without rehashing what we’ve already seen in the show, building on season 5 so seamlessly. (The motel scene is 👌)

👰‍♀️🤵‍♂️yesterday’s future by @thursdayinspace

This fic answers the question I posed in this post: What if Mulder and Scully got married right after William was born? I loved it so much! The angst and the longing and the overwhelming love were just perfect.

👓😩 spectacular by @thursdayinspace

Scully has a thing for Mulder in glasses. Mulder has a think for Scully in glasses. They bang about it. (And who can blame them, really?)

🌳☕️ Suncadia by @sisterspooky1013

A banger from the great sisterspooky! It’s a casefic set in the weird post-Millennium era where they kiss sometimes but haven’t established the terms of their relationship yet. Pining and yearning abound!

🏥👰‍♀️ Something blue (and something pink) by @sunflowernyx

Mulder and Scully get married during the cancer arc. It’s sweet, angsty, adorable, and tender. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

🐶🪤 A Change of Seasons by Jo-Ann Lassiter

Still making my way through @lilydalexf’s survival fic recs! This one is a one-shot; perfect for when you want a bit of hurt/comfort without all the peril and drama.

🌨️🌲 Frozen by @dashakay

Classic, cozy, cabin-in-the-woods fic where our two favorite agents get snowed in and finally admit their feelings for each other.

🏥👻 Finding Rokovoko by prufrockslove

An instant addition to my holy grail list! This is the first fic I’ve read by this legendary author (I think?), and BOY HOWDY do I see why they’re so revered. I finished this fic in one sitting, reading late into the night (yes, I was very tired at work the next day).

I think it’s best if you go into this one mostly blind. All you need to know is that MSR are teetering on the knife’s edge between UST and RST, there’s plenty of cancer arc angst, and they go on a spooky adventure that will give you the creepy crawlies.

📝📱 Belphegor’s Prime by prufrockslove

Another absolute banger from the legend themselves. This fic is as close to perfection as humanly possible. The way everything comes together is just incredible. If you haven’t read it yet, do it now! Shirk all other responsibilities and devour this fic in one sitting!

One of my favorite things about this fic is how ruthless Mulder is. I don’t think I’ve encountered a version of him quite like this anywhere else. His intense love for his family and his innate sense of duty are intensified to the point where he skirts the boundaries of what’s morally acceptable. He’s so desperate to protect his loved ones and fix the world that he will do anything, even if he risks becoming his father(s). It felt so organic and natural for him to become that version of himself under the extreme circumstances.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of time travel, DILFs, or characters whose greatest strengths become a curse, this is the perfect fic for you!

🎪🎡 More Than a Feeling by @sisterspooky1013

A s6 casefic where M&S go undercover at a traveling carnival. I love how fleshed-out the OCs were — it really raised the stakes of the story and made you care what happened to them. Such a fun read!

🐞���� Inspection by @ingridgradient

Our favorite agents use tick checks as an excuse to touch each other. Need I say more? Things get hot! (Thanks for the rec, @is-on-its-way!)

P.S. If you like this one, check out let’s have a look by girlfromnowhere (thanks for finding it for me, @randomfoggytiger!)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿✝️ Hiraeth by prufrockslove

This is one of those fics that leaves you gobsmacked that someone wrote this for free and posted it online for anyone to enjoy. The amount of detail in this story is truly unbelievable. I don’t even normally like total AUs, but this one won me over!

Mulder and Scully’s medieval counterparts are so far removed from anything in canon, yet they still feel exactly like the characters we know and love. This fic is an absolute master class in characterization. I am now a prufrockslove stan account.

———

Special shoutout to @skelavender’s latest installment of fall into place, which isn’t out yet but I had the pleasure of beta reading. Guys, you are in for some serious shrimp emotions. It’s got everything you could ever want. I can’t wait until everyone gets to see how awesome it is!

[sylvienerevarine]

Sylvienerevarine.tumblr.com's Extremely Sexy And Glamorous Fic Rec List

2024 was a banner year for me specifically in terms of both reading and writing a boatload of TES fanfic. With the New Year fast approaching I wanted to give a little love to some of my favorite writers on here (many of whom have also been unbelievably supportive of my own work as well because they're just great people). This list is not 100% comprehensive because I read a lot this year but is a broad overview of some of my faves!

So LET'S GET INTO IT! First, a couple of series-es:

the Every Star a Sign series by @wispstalk

this series makes me feel more emotions than there are emotions to feel. I would kill and die for Tanis Irathi and I'm heartbroken he and Marty didn't get to settle down in a nice cottage with a few cats. That said, Tanis' trip to the Shivering Isles was pretty sick (good sick)

The Seasons of WinterCloak series by @thequeenofthewinter

I'll confess to having been an Ulfric Stormcloak disliker in my time. This series did so much emotional labor to fix that in me. Winter's Dovahkiin Dahlia is a relatable queen, and Ulfy is astonishingly sympathetic (and a little sexy, rowr). I adore that this series takes place AFTER the main events of Skyrim as well!

The Threads of Blood series by @oblivions-dawn

Like every sane person, I love Serana and want her to be happy while also going through plenty of drama first. This series scratches that itch in my brain so beautifully. And I know our other heroine Vigdis would hate my guts (because I'm a person who is not Serana) but I love her anyway. Sorry Viggy!

The Ebonsong series by @stormbeyondreality

Our loveable bard hero flees an arranged marriage in High Rock and boops around all of Skyrim while meeting scary vampires, Maran priests, wacky theater kids, and family ghosts. Utterly delightful, no notes.

The Illusionist series by @dirty-bosmer

Nim, a delightful Bosmer urchin, avoids solving the Oblivion crisis and rises to the top of the Mage's Guild while also joining every criminal organization in sight. If that doesn't make you squeal with delight I'm afraid there is no hope for you. I love you Nim.

And some individual fics that made me laugh, cry, and explode:

Fire and Blood by The Severed. If I had a nickel for every time a Serana/angry redhead story made me cry this year I'd have three nickels.

The Imperial City Irregulars by @nostalgic-breton-girl. Everything this author writes is amazing, actually, but ICI made me laugh like a banshee at the dentist's office so it wins.

Age of the Dragons: Blood Upon the Snow by @spinchboli. The Dragonborn DLC meets marine biology documentary meets terrifying existential rom-com that we all want, nay, deserve. I love it so much.

Thicker than Holy Water by Vhokken

Werewolves. Vigilants of Stendarr. Forbidden tragedy-gay romance. I'm sobbing already, excuse me.

There are probably quite a few more I'm forgetting but for now, this is your 2025 reading list. Get to it, darlings!

[showsandstuff]

Am I the only one who is disappointed with Caitvi in season two? When I watched the first season I had the biggest caitvi brain rot because they actually gave me SUCH a fun dynamic with them. Buddy cop Caitvi was hilarious, I loved that so so much!

And season 2 started of strong imo but then it rushed through everything. I loved the scene in the cell, obviously, but it was misplaced. Your sister is about to kill herself girl what are you doing this is not the time!! And other than romantic and sexual tension there wasn't all that much left of their previous dynamic aside from the brief scene in episode six...

Idk, I think I'm just annoyed. Usually when I see a non canon gay ship get more traction than the Canon lesbian couple, I just assume it's misogyny or lesbophobia, and move on with my life. But I can't even do that here because Caitvi was WAY more popular in season 1 (as they should).

Jayvik isn't getting somewhat more popular in season 2 because people don't like lesbians, but because their arcs are connected so strongly to each other. (Also I'm not saying that Jayvik is now more popular than Caitvi, but it's like a graph where the super high stocks caitvi are still even while Jayvik is skyrocketing rn)

Wanna know why Jayvik wasn't all that popular in season 1? Because (after act 1) their arcs were mostly separate, safe for a couple of moments. Viktor worked on his body and Jayce was doing politics.

Caitlyn and Vis arcs intertwined more, they actually did shit together and it was beautiful, funny, romantic, EVERYTHING!

Also a fun opposites attract buddy cop dynamic is also just more fun than men who do science together (in my personal opinion)

Now let's look at Caitlyn and Vis relationship in season two.

It starts of strong. I momentarily thought that Caitlyn was uncharacteristically mean to Vi when she refused to become an enforcer, but she apologized for it later and I recognized the fact that Caitlyn was grieving. Then once we get to episode two and three I could already feel their relationship being a bit more odd. The kiss (though I cheered) didn't feel right. I felt like something was missing, and that was their chemistry from season one. Also I feel like we glossed over too many decisions that Caitlyn made, and I think Vi should've put a stop to it sooner. But overall I was okay with them in act 1.

Then we had a timeskip and the two were fully separated. Act 2 literally started with Caitlyn in bed with another woman, like we can see they're not together anymore. Caitlyn has obviously changed, there is not much of the sweet cupcake left that we had come to love in season 1, and Vi is boxing and getting drunk.

Then they meet and like... Vi calls Cait cupcake, and Cait switches sides IMMEDIATELY? GIRL WTF?!

I get that Caitlyn wasn't entirely on Ambessas side the entire time, but I had hoped for more drama first. So you're telling me the very next interaction the two have after their heart wrenching falling out is them making up again? Come on.

Then we had act 3 and overall it was better I think but the timing of their hot scene in the cell was just odd, like what about your sister about to kill herself? I was very happy and hyped in the moment but then I realized how rushed this was. Why? Why make em fuck right here? And in the final act, the two weren't together because again, their arcs were not as connected. And that's actually pretty cool to have a couple who do their own things! But it doesn't help their relationship when they, in turn, aren't given enough time to develop as a pair!

I feel like season 1 did this incredible job of setting these characters up, showing us why they work so well together and why they would fall for one another. And season 2 gave us pay off for it but with very little set up, which was needed because of how Cait changed throughout the season. I don't mention Vi here because she did not change. She had her drunk boxing phase, which we got nothing but a montage off, but everything else is basically season 1 Vi aside from very few things here and there. Like her becoming an enforcer wasn't a character change for Vi, her finally letting go of powder and calling her sister Jinx, wasn't a big character moment for Vi, they were pay off for a set up we didn't get enough of.

SO TO GET TO MY POINT:

S2 was rushed. We should've AT LEAST gotten 3 seasons, like minimum, because there was a whole lot of plot and very little moments in between for characterization. Especially for Caitlyn and Vi and their relationship to each other.

I still generally prefer Caitvi to Jayvik, but only because of season 1. Season 2 gave me the two things I wanted most (a sexy scene and a kiss) but forgot to give me the things that made me fall in love with this ship in the first place.

Which was the hilarious buddy cop dynamic of rich girl cop Cait, and broke butch prisoner Vi.

[beastabyss666]

The Season 2 Episode 8 of Helluva Boss recently was published quite spontaneously, so I'm writing the review while being very sleepy. First of all... It was weird to start the episode with some cheap musical. Blitzo's solo was especially... fair to middling. I'm sorry, but I think Brandon Rogers can't sing, his voice isn't actually made for singing(that's just my opinion tho). And also hey, they remembered the cherubs! Wow. Though they made them some utter idiots, much like the other characters, I mean.. So the plot is about Blitzo going shopping for a sex toy which(in his opinion) will really rejoice Stolas. Meanwhile, the cherubs are seen living on Earth and robbing humans to "redeem themselves and return to heaven"(I won't ask how it's supposed to work). They get caught by the D.H.O.R.K.S. folk(wow, you also remembered them too, nice work Vivzie), where the agents tell the cherubs that they built a portal to Hell and made high-tech robotic suits imitating the main IMP gang. The cherubs wear them and enter the portal, ending up in the Lust Ring, where Blitzo goes shopping. The main gang attacks them(though it wasn't shown that they even were there), and OF COURSE defeats the cherubs, throwing them through the portal. The episode ends with Blitzo finally visiting Stolas and talking to him. But I'll mention it later. So... I found this episode quite weird, nothing much to say about the visuals, though some frames look like they're from another show. How some characters(especially humans) are drawn looks like they're also from another show. But I guess they don't really organise anything normally, so it just is. I also find the tone of the episode too chaotic, but the whole show switches rapidly from "Edgy black comedy" to "Unserious absurd trash comedy" to "Drama/whining/'we care about characters and their development'" stuff. Another weird thing I found about visuals is that the creators put many overly cartoonish expressions to characters, to the point that it look just ridiculous, not even saying it's out of the general style.

Some of these expressions look kinda crooked, and the other are cartoonly, but not in a way that fits the whole show. It's not a slapstick comedy, and I don't understand why the writers pretend it is. Most of the time(and it's seen in this episode) it's just lazy and poor attempts at satire on our stupid and hypocritical society, but it just doesn't work mainly because the protagonists don't seem to have more brain cells than usual humans in this universe. Earth here, although, really seem to be a thing to relieve Vivzie's malice at... everything, I guess. There is no exact satire/mocking of someone or something, so I guess Vivzie just hates every living thing in general(especially kids, for some reason). That's why the humour in this episode also seems odd in a bad way. I don't like that HB sometimes pretends to be South Park, or Family Guy, or... a typical CN show, perhaps? It just doesn't look right, it's like the writers try to copy other better works instead of making their own vibes/special tone.

Also they could use some more imagination

And about the ending... Stolas doesn't seem satisfied by Blitzo's behaviour(who acts overly sexual towards him which seems OOC), and starts... basically complaining about him being too sexual and not sensual. Guys... do you remember how it all started? Does Vivzie remember it? Literally in the 1 episode of 1 season it's shown that Stolas only uses Blitzo for his sexual pleasure, not caring about his comfort etc. He even calls him while he's on a dangerous mission. And there are lots of other moments where Stolas practically h*rasses Blitzo and makes him uncomfortable with his comments. And even since pilot doesn't seem to be canon(so Stolas didn't threaten Blitzo with r*pe), there are enough red flags about this mf. Yet in this episode he literally complains about receiving not so much love and care? That's... idk, that's shitty to say the least, and I don't know how the writers even managed. A literal abuser complaining about their partner being "not affectionate enough", that's fuckin' hilarious(sarcasm), and I say it as someone who had few abusers in my life. I still remember the previous episodes so I kinda don't buy it, but many people do, and that's sad. After that Blitzo [rightfully] angers at Stolas for complaining about lack of love while disrespecting him for being a lower class and using him as some object. Stolas only answers with "I think so very highly of you, I didn't realise you think so low of me", and kicks Blitzo out of his palace.

So... that's the episode. I have nothing much to say about it more, but I'm genuinely wondering does Vivzie even understand what she's doing and where she'll push the whole Stolas x Blitzo pairing(not that I fucking care, lol). These two are obviously in an abusive relationship, and the more they try to understand what even happened between them, the more confused they become. I personally think there's nothing to talk about with a guy like Stolas(though Blitzo too is a huge red flag), but idk, maybe Vivzie thinks that r*pists and abusers are changeable and are good deep down. Anyways, it was surely an odd episode, and I didn't really like it.

[nyerus]

Hello! I'm really sorry to bother you with some stupid questions but I'm a little bit confused. Can you tell me about the TGCF revised version and what to expect from it? I made my research a little bit but I'm not sure I get the full picture. I just finished reading all the novels in official EN translation and it bugs me a little that I just got everything settled in my brain and now...smth will be changed in the revised version? What does it mean for canon?

I'm sorry it I make no sense, just a little bit disoriented. Thank you for answering in advance!

Hello Anon!

I totally understand how confusing it could be! I'll try to help clear it up, so no worries!

There are two main versions of TGCF now:

Original/Serialized

Revised

The original webnovel was released in a serialized manner, and this is the one all existing printed translations are based on. Including the official EN translation! This is also what the manhua and donghua are adapting. It was never released as a printed version in mainland China.

The revised version was released in early 2023, in mainland China only (thus far). It has significant changes here and there such as: removal of some minor characters, revision of certain characters' backstories, fleshing out of some inter-character relationships, expansion of existing Hualian-centric scenes, several additional scenes (mainly Hualian-centric), modification of some arcs/plots (e.g. the Bloody Banquet is quite different -- all the way from the lead-up to the ending -- though the broad strokes of it remain similar to the original). Plus just a lot of general streamlining! However, the overall structure of the story and the main plot remains the same.

The printed revised version that was released in China is also a censored edition (for obvious reasons). There is no publicly available uncensored edition available for us to read. That being said... the audio drama is actually working on the uncensored revised version (which they got from MXTX directly, it seems)!

The AD is absolutely fantastic, and if you're interested in checking out the revised version, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's easily my favorite adaptation, by far. This is an old guide on how to purchase + listen, but it still mostly works (you can purchase the entire season with google pay now too). Follow this for enabling EN subs (MTL). There are folks doing fanTLs, but those are not yet complete and still in the very early episodes as of now.

Additionally, there is a fan translation for a few select chapters from the printed revised version, done by Clearnoodle256. Though while yes, it's censored, the plot stuff and extra scenes are absolutely amazing. There's a lot of extra insight into Hualian especially, but also other characters like Lang Qianqiu! Check it out here!

If you'd like more information, I also made a twitter thread about the different versions, but it's similar to what I have already outlined here!

MXTX has said that both versions are just as "canonical" as each other, and fans are welcome to pick-and-choose aspects of both. Personally, I adore what I have seen and heard of the revised version thus far (though there are a few parts where I prefer the original ver). It doesn't feel like a whole new story, but more like seeing the same story with fresh eyes and getting a lot more details! It's very exciting to be able to somehow experience TGCF all over again! 💖

[thefantastickatinator]

maybe the ~discourse~ happening just as the show ends is a coincidence, maybe the most recent leaders of the shit stirring purposefully timed it that way, who knows. (judging by a couple brain dead comments about not addressing the issue in the finale i wouldn’t give them that much credit. they aren’t intelligent enough to even realize these shows were taped months ago, perhaps more than a year in some cases)

i do think it’s ironic that the drama going down happens just as a finale that condemns the very behavior these dolts are displaying airs

the basis of the season was to grow from the oppressive system that previously existed, to create love and happiness and positive change in the world. to address the things that weren’t good and hurt people. and to look inside and see how you as an individual can and should move into a healthier space of being

but actually let’s just be keyboard warriors replicating the concept of social justice without doing any real work about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There’s a little bit of XxBroken_DreamxX in all of us, and also a K Tanaka in all of us. The lessons K learned in the finale are things we can all consider.

The hard work is often boring and it feels good to win over random other people online who we don’t know and have never met. In times where it feels helpless, exercising control through morality policing or moral grandstanding is the only way we can feel that we are making a choice about our ethics. It’s important to recognize that in the grand scheme of things these online arguments are mostly meaningless and offer nothing to the wider world. Being nasty to randos online will not change anyone’s mind or create the change you want to see.

Unfortunately that involves going out in your community, or phone banking, or volunteering your time and money, in whatever capacity you can within whatever limitations you have.

A reminder to everyone that you are not a bad person for enjoying things, that you do not have to engage in perfectly moral behavior at every moment, and that pure thoughts mean nothing. What matters is your behavior and your actions.

And finally, just to make sure everyone knows my position:

Dropout should hire more trans women.

[itsanidiom]

The problem with *some BL office dramas is they seem to think that I care about their business success.

Like let me give some examples:

We Best Love: Fighting Mr. 2nd knew how much I as an audience member cared about both the company our boys worked for and the project they were working on. How much? Not much. Except when it relates to their romance. Zhou Shu Yi having to work with Gao Shi De again because he works for his dad's company and they're doing a merger. Classic forced proximity. Love it.

This is the shit I wanna see. Their romance. The company could crash and burn for all I care. All I know about their work is that they are in an office and making some kind of software. That's it.

Here's another example. Cherry Magic! They work somewhere that make pens and stationary. Sometimes they have to do lots of unexplained paperwork. Do I care about the details surrounding the pen company paperwork? No. I don't. They know this and respect my time by not having a character spend an episode walking me through the pen company audit paperwork.

When a character has a big project, it is brief and has a clear connection to the romance arc. In season 1 and 2, work project moments just create big "reasons we cannot be together" crisis moments to be overcome.

*Step By Step, on the other hand, forced me to sit through employee training sessions and about one full length boardroom meetings per episode about products and marketing campaigns. I felt as bored watching those scenes as I would have if I was actually a member of a marketing team sitting in on a meeting that could have been an email.

Apart from the meeting where they first decide to use Put, there's no clear romantic drama or stakes in many of those scenes. It's literally just business. I do not care about Forge, they were just a client, and yet that client's name is now burned into my brain. I do not care about Olive and Pearl (?) or how their karaoke night marketing is gonna be amazing because look we got Put in it again. In fact, get that guy out of my face! All I care about is our main characters and their romance. And yet I must sit through board meeting after board meeting after...

[chaifootsteps]

My explanation of what happened: They put in as little writing effort as possible, couldn’t stick to one idea, were too under confident in their own abilities and relied on fandom and the work of other people to make a jumbled messy story.

Viv and Brandon were writing helluva with only random pitches like harvest moon, but not a overarching narrative, she was also focussed on Hazbin. Maybe there came a time where she got less leadership with that project and decided to dive into writing helluva totally solo. So—I say all these based on the fact that stolas personality does a massive shift between the pilot and murder family vs LooLoo land, and an even bigger dramatic 180 turn between truth seekers and Ozzies. Then he was just a brand new character in The Circus.

Pilot and Murder Family stolas, were his original character before anything else. But at some point. She saw how popular the kind Instagram stolas was and said “shit. Let’s do that instead” It was also said that she wrote season 2 while LooLoo Land was airing. Maybe after seeing the positive response to You Will Be Okay she became enamoured with Broadway star Pinkham and decided to rewrite the character for season 2 with him as the new glorified protagonist. With most of the Instagram account artists work being used by her as a “free script” for his new character (she is known for ‘adopting’ ideas) This was also the time she saw Erin Frosts childhood friends fanart. And said “let’s do that” Then for whatever reason started projecting on this character way too much in a ‘he is literally me’ sense. In this new direction—Keeping the characters soft side reserved only for his daughter, and now transplanting that loving behaviour onto his imp toy. Not seeing that a soft side exclusively for his child contrasting with his cruelty to everyone else, makes him a more interesting character.

Problem is. It was too late. Season one was already fully written storyboarded and voiced, the ashtray scenes, face grabbing scenes, sexual harassment, the chain illusion, all ready to go.

What an insane disaster. Broadway fanaticism strikes again. I can’t help but see a parallel between the instagrams and pilot VAs/hunicast. Just throw the owl in a deep fryer and start over at this point. Maybe stolas was just a social experiment! Love him or hate him man he is fun to analyse and pick apart cause he represents all the drama and the mess of the project.

This all sounds pretty plausible to me, and if we ever do learn what the story behind this trainwreck was, I wouldn't be surprised to discover it went something close to this.

There's only two things I'd point out.

Stolas's character shift into a softer character predated Bryce; in this leaked storyboard of Harvest Moon, Brock's still voicing him, and he's actually a whole lot more respectful of Blitzo than he is in the final cut. This is one of those mysteries that gnaws on my brain, just how in the world he ended up becoming worse.

The childhood fanart that started this all wasn't, to the best of my knowledge, drawn by Erin.

[lurkingshan]

My Journey to You Final Thoughts

Time for a big old brain dump, let's go

What a strange ending!! I am trying to shake it off because before this last ep I was feeling plenty of positive feelings about this show but... what a bizarre place to end the story. Even if a season 2 was guaranteed I would have found that an unsatisfying ending. Blech.

ANYWAY, until it went weird on me, I liked this drama overall. They started to lose me a bit with all the double/triple/quadruple crossings in the final stretch (I really just never need a plot to be that complicated, I find it disorienting rather than exciting and it makes me disengage emotionally) but I liked the overall arc of the story a lot.

I really liked that Ziyu found his own way to be a leader, that he and Shangjue worked together and made peace with each other, and that he brought the whole Gong family together. His way of being the sword wielder might not look the same as those before him, but that doesn't mean he's not suited for the role.

Which is probably the thing I like best about this drama--it has really strong character arcs, especially for the Gong men. I found the emotional arc of Ziyu and Shangjue coming to understand each other the most satisfying of the plotlines, and I really loved Yuanzhi and Shangjue and the way they overcame Lang's shadow to solidify their own bond.

The female characters were... less compelling (starting to pick up on a theme with this writer/director), and I found both of the romances underwhelming in the end. I liked that Weishan was granted freedom and came back by choice, and that she was part of the Gong family scheming, but they really never sold me on her returning the intensity of Ziyu's feelings. I think in the end her temperament was just too mild for me to feel like I understood her true feelings or for her to stick with me as a character.

And Qian was just a mess of contradictions. I didn't feel like I really understood the reason for many of her choices, aside from the narrative wanting to keep her motives and loyalties obfuscated throughout. But not understanding why she was doing anything meant I didn't really care. I definitely did not believe her claim to be pregnant, or that Shangjue fell for it. They never sold me on his being so entangled with her, either. Maybe if they'd let me actually see some of that sex they supposedly had.

Wuji was perhaps the most interesting of the female characters, but I found it hard to believe she was so easily manipulated with the tease of her brother being alive. It was kinda weak for me.

I can't believe we actually made it to the end of this show with all the main characters alive, and I'm not actually sure that's a good thing?? But my fav Jin Fan survived so I will not complain further. Actually I lied I will complain about one thing: did we really need to spend that much time on memory montages for every single minor side character who died? I don't know these men like that.

I ended up rating this the same that I did Fangs of Fortune, but for different reasons. FoF has more stunning visuals, but this has a more coherent story. FoF has more compelling characters, but this has better character arcs. FoF is more of a mess of a wild ride, while this is more of a steady build. I like different things about each of them, in the end.

[angie-likes-to-art]

Fic Recs (Stranger Things Edition II)

I wanted to share my favorite series/ one shots while I work on my own, please show some love to these amazing writers! All fics are fem!reader Did I watch the most resent seasons of Stranger Things? No Do I have severe brain rot? Yes. Definitely. Absolutely.

Marvel Fic Recs One Two Three Harry Potter Fic Recs One Two Stranger Things Fic Recs One Specific Characters Tangerine Masterlist

Like a Virgin by @usedtobecooler (18+ Only)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington x Reader Request: “(I know you don't write for Steve but this just came to me) What about Steve teaching virgin!reader how to blow virgin!Eddie?!”

We Got A Lovin’ Thing by @sanguineterrain

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson x Reader Summary: “Eddie, as it turns out, is the only one with a brain cell among the three of you. (Or: the time you didn't know you were all dating).”

Dealer’s Choice by @ohcaptains (18+ Only)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader Summary: “your dealer’s always been a bit sweet on you -- giving you deals and letting you try out new shit. he even lets you make house calls! and pick the music, and sit on his lap...and... ”

Bruises by @imjuststeddietrashatthispoint (18+ Only)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Reader Summary: “Working the bar in an underground bare knuckle boxing club, reader meets the new fighter on the block, a wiry, charming metal head.”

Scoops Ahoy! Steve by @loveshotzz

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader Request: “Hello, hello, so, I love Eddie (don't we all?) But I know you take requests for Steve too...I just rewatched season 3 and I'm just craving some nerdy/naive Steve? I feel like we've all made him out to be this suave and dirty man, but I need Steve falling in Nancy's window, Steve playing a fake trumpet, Steve yelling too loudly, "Ahoy ladies! I didn't see you there!" So maybe something where Steve is just absolutely clumsy and dorky, knocking things over and flustered by readers charm and confidence? Needs to be told what to do and will gladly do it, but he's going to make you laugh while it's happening. If you're not into writing it or have NYE and other WIP that are filling your time, thats a-okay, I just love your style of writing and thought I'd throw it out there! Sending love, good writing vibes, & all the Eddie/Steve thoughts your way! 💕”

Vickie’s Friend by @idyllicwillowtree

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader Summary: “Robin isn’t the only one chatting up a lady while volunteering at Hawkins High. ”

Never Could’ve Seen You Coming by @supernovafics

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader Summary: “in which a mutual wingman situation forces two strangers to talk to one another. both you and steve are only doing it to help your friends, but it surprises you how effortless talking to him is. simply the idea of love or even deeply liking someone has always made you nervous and scared, and would usually lead you to running away rather than facing your feelings. but, maybe it’s this unfamiliar comfort you find yourself quickly having with steve that can make you finally want to do the opposite of run and actually dive headfirst into what you’re feeling”

More Than Just Friends by @schoopsahoy (18+ Only)

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader Summary: “you and your best friend have gotten into the habit of making out, as long as there's no touching. but that's easier said than done.”

Hard Times (Series/ Ongoing) by @bimbobaggins69 (18+ Only)

Pairing: Roommate! Eddie Munson x Reader Summary: “after getting your electricity and water shut off, you and your roommate are desperate for money, so desperate that you’re willing to have sex with each other on camera, but will your 10+ year friendship be able to withstand all the drama that comes along with shooting a porno?”

Sweeter Than This by @sanguineterrain

Pairing: Steve Harrington x Reader Summary: “you and Steve take the gang apple picking.”

[rantceratops]

So here’s my thing: I personally don’t care if those that think Wally dying was a great decision that had so much meaning and sacrifice think he should stay dead.

I personally will never be okay with the decision, and frankly if that’s just because I’m an irrational Wally West fan and Spitfire shipper, then so be it, I won’t claim otherwise and I’ll hang onto my irrationality. Wally West shouldn’t have been killed permanently. The show feels weird to me without him, and to be honest it just makes me think of the Justice League episode where the League basically turned evil because Wally was killed. I don’t have any real good argument against him dying from a narrative standpoint right now other than we know for a fact he was chosen just because it would hurt the most, but as I said, I’ll fully admit I’m simply forever pissed such a beloved character was offed. If someone has actual good insight on his death being bs, feel free to share. (Even if it’s not narrative bs, I still think it’s bs.)

All this being said: I don’t think I actually want Wally to come back anymore at this point in the series if it were to continue with a s5. I think they wasted too much time and now it would just be far too much misery. Wally would be so far out of everyone’s lives it would be almost impossible to reconnect and re-insert himself back into life(which would likely cause him severe mental health issues, yay), and I don’t think he and Artemis would be able to get back together(not that they have to, but as a shipper I’d have ideally wanted this outcome eventually). I just feel like they wasted their chance. S4 should have done it, it felt like the final opportunity, but they didn’t, and so I’m sadly off the train for him coming back, unless someone has a convincing argument that any of this could still work out.

I feel at this point that nothing short of time travel, dimension hopping, or a full ass reset could fix it, tbh.

Like, is it even worth it for him to come back at this point? Would he be able to be happy again?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Wally truther and a Spitfire shipper through and through, but I just finally got tired of it when s4 ended and nothing happened.

At least we have our brains, fanart, fanfic, aus, etc.

(And for the record, as much as I love YJ I promise any grievances with the show post-season 1 go beyond feeling cheated out of Wally existing.)

(Edit: Wanted to add that the angst, drama, and eventual fluff that could have happened if they’d brought Wally back sooner/at all could have been delicious. Him working through his trauma, he and Artemis being so unsure of where they stand, so much time has passed, but eventually slowly coming back together and realizing they still have feelings, even if they’ve changed, they still love each other and they want to try and let things happen how they happen, etc. RIP)

(Edit 2: Am I talking about this in 2024? Yes, yes I am.)

(Edit 3: It kind of pissed me off that s4 has such a huge issue of pretending to kill characters off, but then they wind up being fine (Conner, Dick, Rocket, everyone on the ship when it crashed) but somehow Wally MUST stay dead. Why, exactly? No one else fucking does. (Not that I want anyone to stay dead tbh.) It just kind of felt like a slap in the face. Wally died and Artemis was heartbroken? Haha but Conner gets to be okay and he and Megan get married, because fuck you.)

[cheesecakeislazy]

Disventure Camp- All Stars! Rewritten and Revamped: The Call

(Artist Credit To: @yourwworstnightmare )

Krystal knew that it was a little stupid to make the third season of the show she ran an “All Stars” season, but she couldn’t help it.. her brain was overflowing with possibilities of interesting scenes and drama for the TV to show off to the world. Krystal put more than the budget allowed for this season, so it had to be better, brighter, and more entertaining than any other season imaginable!

Krystal hired a new intern, Emily, perfect for the job… a woman to put in the gentle seeds of drama and distrust… amazing for reality TV. Paired with some new… less useful interns, Trevor and Derek, the show had some extra help and sacrifice when needed. She just hoped Nina didn’t want another ritual…

Canada. Chilly, lovely, Canada. Jake had been living with Miriam for a while now. Nothing crazy, Jake helped her with chores and dinner, Miriam helped him through life with comfort and advice. Exactly what the two needed. Especially since Tom never answered the damn phone anymore…

“It isn’t worth it, Jake dear.” Miriam spoke softly as she grabbed the chocolate chips out of the cupboard.

Jake’s eyes darted downwards, staring at the phone in his hands. “I know, but what if-“ Jake began to speak, but before continuing the phone rang.

Without taking a moment to look, Jake immediately answered the call, expecting Tom’s handsome voice on the other line. However, it ended up being another voice he unfortunately recognized..

“Hey! Krystal from Disventure Camp here! This is Jake Hamilton, correct?” Jake sighed in disappointment, begrudgingly answering her with a yes.

“Great. I assume you and Miriam are still in close touch, so just tell her for me, would you? Anyways, Season 3 for our little project has been in the works for quite some time! However… we do need a cast for it to work out. I think you know what I’m asking you, correct?”

Jake couldn’t believe this. Already? A season 3? How the hell did the show profit so much, it was honestly kinda shit in his opinion. Although, he did suppose season 2 was decent. That Aiden guy was cute… and his relationship with James seemed sweet.. and that Riya looked like a bitch. Jake sighed before finally responding, “What the hell would be in it for me to join the cast of that hellscape?! It ruined my life! I met a dude who ghosted me! My parents practically disowned me! Why would I do that to myself and Miriam?”

Krystal simply rolled her eyes, knowing that the drama king himself would make a scene of this. “It’s quite simple actually, the reward has been tripled. That’s right! It is now $3 Million.” Krystal smiled, hearing the way Jake’s breath hitched in surprise. Perfect. If Jake joins, so will Miriam. That’s how the two function.

———————————————————————-

Traveling the world wasn’t so bad, he guessed. But.. sometimes Aiden just wanted to stay home. Away from social media, away from a bunch of eyes, away from… him. Aiden still cared about James, just like how he cared for Lake! The… exact same way he felt for Lake..

Aiden hated to admit the fact that the spark between them was gone. James was still very attractive and sweet, but his romantic attraction towards him just… slowly began to fade. Yet Aiden couldn’t get the courage to break it off, to tell him how he truly felt.

Aiden constantly felt like whenever he was with James, he needed to pretend. Even when there wasn’t a phone in sight. He was honestly begging for a moment to talk to his best friend in person, Aiden’s anxiety had been getting worse about all of this. James would never search through Aiden’s belongings to see if there was something amiss, but what if James did? Aiden couldn’t call Lake, what if James overheard him? Aiden tried so hard to rationalize his brain, James wasn’t some abusive asshole.. so why did his brain treat this possible break up like Aiden would end up dead?

“Aiden? Are you alright?” James looked into Aiden’s soft eyes, concerned for his lover.

Aiden was startled, oh gee.. how long was he zoned out for? “I’m fine! Sorry! You know me,” Aiden laughed nervously, “I just zoned out for a moment is all, promise.” Aiden smiled, hoping that James didn’t think of anything much more than that.

“No worries, love! I do that all the time!” James smiled back as Aiden had to resist the urge to cringe. The petname used to make Aiden weak to his knees, now it made him feel uncomfortable and awkward. James wanted to take a selfie of the two of them relaxing in the sun together, Aiden just agreed, quite honestly just wanting to get this trip over with…

Suddenly, the phone rang..

“Hello? Is this James Costa and/or Aiden Brooks? This is Emily from the Disventure Camp show. I was wondering if the two of you could come in for an interview with me! Oh- and in order to be interviewed… you have to join the show..” The female voice sounded.. manipulative? Aiden didn’t really know how to put it. But her voice reminded him of when a siren lured in poor sailors to their deaths. Except this time it was a phone call to lure them back into a shitshow.

Aiden spoke up, “Why on earth would we join the show? My boyfriend already won! Plus, we’ve already been on! Why would we do it again??” Emily simply sighed, perhaps she’d had to explain this multiple times already today.

“Because the season we’re doing is an “All-Stars” season. A.K.A. You, along with some others from season 1 and 2, can rejoin the show for this season to get a chance at $3 Million Dollars.” Aiden could hear her extenuate the amount of money they could win this go around.. he began to sweat… if he broke up with James, he might need that money if James gets sour with him.. Aiden looked over to see James’ eyes widen with the prospect of that much money.

Aiden and James locked eyes, before they both said yes to rejoining the show simultaneously. Aiden prayed that this wasn’t some horrible mistake…

[sephirthoughts]

The Ghost of Shinra Manor 👻

It's still spooky season till after Día de los Muertos so it's not technically late!

summary: It's been two years since the events of Dirge of Cerberus. Cloud visits his hometown, and investigates a rumor of a ghost, haunting Shinra Manor. If you're surprised by who it turns out to be, you are beyond my power to save, comrade.

tags: g-g-g-ghosts!!! sefikura, sephiroth x cloud, sane!sephiroth (sort of), post advent children, post dirge of cerberus, canon timeline, delusions, intermitten amnesia, low drama, enemies to…whatever the hell they have going on

NOTE: i was raised by outdoorsy, log cabin, roughing-it parents and there will be a lot of details about this type of living because that is what i like

warnings: references to death, PTSD, past abuse, etc. all of hojo's greatest hits, mention of animal death in the context of ethical subsistence hunting/fishing, canon-typical violence, technical nudity but i didn't describe anything so you'd have to imagine it yourself which is not on me, pervert

rating: teen and up [for now]

Part 1: Reunion

A big, black, Fenrir model motorcycle roared up the dirt road, leaving clouds of dust in its wake. Its golden-haired rider adjusted his goggles and pulled his black scarf up, over his nose and mouth. It was late spring, which was still mid-winter in the Nibel region, and as he drew nearer to the mountain, the wind grew colder and sharper, till it felt like it was full of tiny, icy needles.

He had a little hunting cabin, up there, that no one else knew about. They knew he went somewhere, it was just that he didn’t specify the location to anyone but Cid and Vincent, who had helped him fix the place up, and were sworn to secrecy.

Why didn’t he tell the others where it was? Why would he? He went there to be alone. To decompress, when the weight of people’s lives got too heavy to carry. When their voices began to cut into his skull like buzz-saws, and he felt the thread of his tolerance strained to the snapping point.

Even for a person with a normal brain and no life-altering trauma, things would have been claustrophobic, in their little house. Marlene and Denzel were underfoot every minute of the day, and their continued presence meant that when Cloud wasn’t out on long deliveries, he and Tifa had to share a bedroom. He couldn’t fall asleep, with another person in the room, though, so they didn’t use it at the same time. He was a night person, anyway. 

She tried to act like she wasn’t hurt by his refusal to share a bed with her, but she was a shit actress. He had attempted to make her feel better by explaining that he didn’t have those kinds of feelings for girls—or for anyone, really—but he could tell she didn’t really believe it. Or that she at least thought of it as something they could work on.

Everyone (except Vincent) thought that. That something was wrong with him, and that he’d get better, if they persevered in telling him so. The way he was didn't make sense to them, therefore it wasn't normal, therefore it was a problem that needed to be solved. Hooray for the neuro-typical majority.

No one ever asked Cloud what he thought. They just told him what he should think, and then made decisions for him. Most of the time, it was easier to just go along with it, especially since he didn’t want everyone to be mad at him. Them being mad at him meant they’d talk to him even more, and use louder voices. He hated that.

He should have insisted on getting his own place, a long time ago. He and Tifa had been playing house from necessity, at first, but there was nothing actually keeping them together, now, aside from habit. Habit and guilt.

Who knew when she started to think of it as a real family. As if she and Cloud were a mother and father, with a couple of kids. As absurd as that was. They were barely more than kids, themselves.

When Cid and Vincent got married, people got even more obnoxious with the hints and "jokes" about when him and Tifa were going to tie the knot. She’d act all embarrassed and explain that their relationship wasn’t like that, but she’d glance at him, with that look in her eyes, when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. 

He sighed, as he rounded a long curve in the road. He knew himself well enough to know that he’d probably wind up giving in and just marry her. Didn’t seem like a very happy ending, for either of them, but who got one of those, these days? 

It did seem like an especially shit deal for her, though. Marry the kid no one liked, from your backwater hometown, live in a shithole two-bedroom over a bar, slinging booze and taking care of two adopted kids, while your asexual husband spends most of his time away, for work. 

Asexuality was a spectrum, though, and Cloud was somewhere near the middle. It just wasn’t the heterosexual middle. He made an earnest effort, once, but he couldn’t get it up for a woman, no matter how hard he tried, and it just wound up being awful and making the girl cry.

Fucked a couple of guys back when he was a trooper, but that was rare. Not that there weren’t plenty of interested troopers and even SOLDIERs, it was just that he had never wanted any of them. What he had really wanted was Sephiroth. 

Cloud was nine years old, when he fell in love with the perfect face, that he saw on television and the recruiting posters, that were always plastered all over every vertical surface, in town. The obsession only grew stronger, as he grew older. 

He joined up as soon as they’d take him, at age fourteen. The training was miserable and grueling, but he gritted his teeth and worked his ass off, keeping his idol firmly in his sights. Whenever the opportunity came up, he applied to the SOLDIER program. For all his diligent efforts, he met with rejection after rejection.

Several years passed, that way, with disappointment weighing ever more heavily on his heart. But just when he was losing hope that he’d ever meet the object of his worship face to face, he was assigned to a mission with the silver soldier himself. Wouldn’t you know it, that mission was to check on the reactor, in his very own hometown. 

They say never to meet your heroes, but the implication is that you’ll be disappointed. Cloud was not disappointed. Sephiroth was everything he had ever imagined, and more. Ten times more beautiful, and a hundred times stronger and faster. His legendary height was one thing to know logically, and another thing entirely to experience in person. He was literally superhuman.

And yet, despite his angelic appearance and godlike strength, he wasn’t arrogant or demanding, at all. He was thoughtful and soft-spoken, and obviously cared for his subordinates. He asked their opinions, and actually listened. Encouraged them, rather than berating them. He even learned and called them by their first names. It was the most humanely Cloud had been treated by any superior, apart from Zack.

Following those two around, on that mission, Cloud fell more hopelessly in love with his silver-haired deity, than ever. He loved Sephiroth with his whole young soul. Right up to the moment he watched that famous blade pierce his mother’s heart. 

Cloud Strife died, that night, as surely as Claudia had, and whatever this thing was, that he had become, was born. This thing capable of killing gods and monsters. This thing that survived years in a mako tank, being tortured by that bastard Hojo. This thing that had absorbed Zack’s memories, and remembered everything but Zack. This thing that hated Sephiroth, with every fiber of its being. Hated him as much as Cloud had loved him.

The sun was low in the sky, behind a blanket of grey clouds, when he finally pulled up to the clearing, where his unassuming cabin was tucked away.

He swung his leg off the saddle, then he winced and clutched his chest. His heart had been aching more and more as he approached Nibelheim. Not in the metaphorical sense, because of the tragedies he’d been through there—it was actual, physical pain.

He wasn’t exactly sure when it started, though, bcause he was so used to pain, it just got shoved to the back of his mind. Which it did again, now. It wasn’t bad enough to incapacitate him, so he ignored it, and unbuckled the leather panniers, which he slung over his shoulder.  

The cabin was locked up tight, just like he left it, with all the traps and wards in place. Not surprising. No one came up this way, anymore, since the reactor shut down.

Fortunately, the cabin didn’t need the reactor, for power. He’d bought an old, Wutaian, nuclear generator, to heat the water and supply electricity, and hooked it up with Cid's help. Thing was expensive as hell, but it was quiet, reliable, and would last literally forever. 

He stepped inside and typed in a code on a wall panel. When the generator hummed to life, he switched the electric lights on, and took a look around. The place was a little dusty, since he hadn’t been there since last summer, but otherwise, everything was just how he left it. 

It was a simple, single-room cabin. Nothing fancy, except he and Cid had redone the insulation and added the electrical wiring. Water came from a dedicated well, deep enough to take advantage of the Nibel region’s unique geothermal situation, and not freeze.  

There was a bed in one corner, with a frame of roughhewn logs, and a cedar trunk at the foot, where the blankets and pillows were stored. The bathroom door and the kitchen were on the other side (just a stove, small refrigerator, a few cabinets, and a sink), and the fireplace was central. In the opposite corner to the bed, there was a steel camp table, with two folding chairs, as if he’d ever have a guest here.

He tossed his panniers on the bed and went right back out to carry in firewood. Supply was getting low. The cupboards were pretty barren, too, but he’d go into town tomorrow to stock up on canned and dry goods. Those were just a supplement to the main source of food, up here, which was hunting.

When he was a kid, hunting was a long and grueling ordeal, with uncertain payoff. Now, augmented by Sephiroth’s cells and whatever else Hojo did to him in that lab, it was as easy as a trip to the grocery store. He left and returned with a brace of rabbits, within half an hour. It was late spring, so they were already nice and fat, too. 

With the ruthless efficiency of a seasoned survival hunter, he skinned, cleaned, and washed them, and set them roasting on the iron spit, over his little hearth. He was out of anything resembling spices, but the meat was good enough roasted, with just a little salt. 

That night, as he lay in bed, that ache in his chest seemed to grow worse, and made him toss and turn restlessly. When he finally drifted off, he dreamed of being impaled on Masamune and lifted into the air. Sephiroth’s green cat-eyes, staring up at him, with that deranged smile on his beautiful face. Black feathers fell like snow all around him.

I will never be a memory…

In the morning, Cloud went into town. Despite the reactor being shut down, Nibelheim was more lively than ever. With no Shinra, there was no one to pay mortgages to, so the residents weren’t eager to leave the homes which now belonged to them, free and clear. Then the WRO came in and added infrastructure, opened a school and clinic, and paid subsidies to local shepherds and artisans and the like, so the little town was actually prospering. 

“Howdy, Mr. Strife!” the round-faced, balding man at the general goods store said cheerfully, when Cloud brought his purchases to the counter. “Been nigh on a year, since I seen ya. Stayin’ a while?”

“Little while,” Cloud answered noncommittally. “How are things, in town? Anything needs looking into, while I’m here?”

The man scratched his chin. “Nothin’ particular. Just the usual rumors, is all. Monsters in the woods. Creepy things goin’ on at the old manor. That kinda thing.”

“Let me guess. The vampire, again?”

“Nah, nah, ain’t heard nothin’ about that fella in a long time. These days, it’s a ghost.”

“Fiends, or something else?”

“Folks are sayin’ it’s the ghost of a woman, with long, white hair. Don’t do nothin’ but wander around inside the manor, wailin’ and moanin’. They say if you go over there, at night, you can hear her, but if she catches ya snoopin’ around, she sucks out your soul.”

Cloud snorted. “Sounds like the usual bullshit.”

“You ain’t kiddin’!” the man laughed. “Folks got too much time and not enough to do, these days, so they get to tellin’ tales. Y’never know what they’ll say, next. Maybe devils or goblins.”

“Well, if it keeps kids away from the manor, the ghost stories are probably for the better. It’s a dangerous place,” Cloud said, taking his full grocery bags. “I’ll be heading over there, tonight, to clear out any monsters that may have got in, over the winter. I’ll be sure to look out for the ghost.”

“Haha, you do that! Have a good one, Mr. Strife!”

Despite his reticence and flat indifference to overtures of friendship, Cloud was rather popular with Nibelheim’s current residents, because whenever he was in town, he’d deal with any local wildlife problems. Even if no one had anything pressing, he always checked Shinra Manor, since the ruins attracted a lot of monsters, and if they started establishing nests, they could pose a real threat to the townsfolk. 

He spent the rest of the day chopping and stacking firewood, fishing using a thundaga materia and a net (which was technically cheating, but he was fishing for food, not sport), and scouting around for signs of dens, near the town. When the sun got low, he strapped on his sword and began the short, two-mile hike to Shinra Manor.

When he emerged from the woods, on the bumpy, neglected dirt road, it was already dark. The hulking ruin of the house loomed like the desiccated corpse of some titanic beast, off in the darkness, behind the bent and rusted iron fence. Cloud kicked the creaking gates open and strode in.

The property was overgrown with brambles and sedge grass, and ugly, grey vines, with huge thorns covered much of the half-collapsed structure. The front doors had long fallen off the hinges, so the entrance was just a yawning, black hole, like the mouth of a tomb. 

Cloud faltered and clutched his chest, as he approached the house, but not for any fear of the supernatural. He’d killed too many supernatural creatures to care about even the biggest and vilest ones. Besides, he knew firsthand that the scariest thing in Shinra Manor had been a living human being, named Hojo. 

It was just that the pain in the area of his heart had gotten steadily worse, on the walk here, and now it was throbbing insistently, aching so badly it was getting hard to ignore it.

What the hell could it be? He’d chopped wood and done other physical labor all day, without noticing it. Why was it getting worse, now, after a relatively light walk? 

He was thinking about this, in mild annoyance, when he heard a noise inside the house. In the blink of an eye, his sword flashed out and he shifted into combat mode, all senses on alert. 

As he stepped inside, the stench of dry-rot hit him in the face, like a wool blanket. He paused and surveyed the area. It was pretty dark, in here, but he had excellent night-vision, so it was more like dim twilight, to him. 

The noise was coming from the upper level, somewhere. A rasping sound, like dry corn husks scraping the walls. Every once in a while, there was a burst of creepy cackling. His lip curled. He knew exactly what that was. 

The main stairwell had collapsed, so he leapt lightly up to the landing on the next level, and stalked down the hall. Around the corner, the doors to all the rooms (which were miraculously intact), were closed tight. The scraping sound was coming from…pretty much all of them. How did those things manage to get into the rooms and shut the doors behind them?

“Dumbshits,” he grumbled, and kicked the first door open. 

Sure enough, a bunch of floating fiends, with markings like stupid jack-o-lantern faces on their balloon-like air-sacs, were bobbing around the room cackling at each other. When the door exploded inward, they shrieked and rushed at Cloud. With a casual swing of his sword, he obliterated all of them at once. 

Their dying howls riled up the ones in the other rooms. Apparently they couldn’t figure out how to get out, though, so they just rasped and thudded around, cackling like idiots. Cloud kicked the next door down and blasted those ones, too. 

He repeated this process, for each room, making his way down the hall, till he reached the room with the secret passage, to the basement levels. There was no noise from this one. He tried the knob. It clicked easily, and the door swung open, with a hollow creak. 

No fiends in here, but the passage to the basement was open. He’d better go down there and clear out anything else, that might be lurking. Monsters loved dark, dank places like that.

Slapping his sword back onto the magnetic holder, he hopped down the black hole, and landed on a stone floor, three full stories below. 

The impact of his boots was still echoing in the stone-walled chamber, when he heard it. A low, eerie moan, that seemed to come from somewhere far off. At the same time, that pain split through his chest like a crack of thunder, making him grab his heart and gasp for breath. 

The moan stretched out into a wail, rising in pitch and wavering, before it dwindled again. The sound sent chills racing up his spine. Things like ghosts and monsters held no terror for him, but this was different. He wouldn’t even call it fear. It was more like…a rush of numinous awe.  

He threw a firaga burst, to light a couple of the torches on the wall, and surveyed the crypt. Vincent’s coffin was gone. The others had been tossed about and smashed to bits. Bones littered the floor.

Step by step, he descended deeper into the basement. Toward that old library. Toward that horrible place, where he was stuck with needles and probes, cut open and sewn back together, had his eyes blinded with chemicals and his lungs filled with burning mako, till his throat was too scorched and raw, to even beg for death.

His stomach churned and cold sweat was beading on his forehead, but he kept going, compelled by that ghastly moaning and the splitting pain in his chest.

He passed through the library, still scattered all over with heaps of old books, smelling heavily of their musty scent. The door was open, on the other side. The moaning had turned into a low whimpering, punctuated with choking sobs. It didn’t sound like a woman’s voice, though.

Drawing his sword again, and clenching his teeth against the agonizing ache in his heart, he stepped into the next chamber, all his hyper-tuned senses on high alert. There were collapsed pillars and scorch marks, and slashes made by huge claws in the stone walls, from their fight with Vincent, in his beast form. 

Along the far wall, were several heavy, steel doors, with locking bars on the outside. The one the noise was coming from was ajar. It wasn’t the lab he’d been confined in. It was on the opposite end of the long chamber—the one with those strange vats, labeled Project-S, which Vincent had taken umbrage to them entering, back then. 

Cloud pushed the door the rest of the way open and scanned the room. In the inky, underground darkness, even his night-vision was pushed to the limits, and he could only see very dimly, but it was enough to spot the source of the noise. 

It was a naked, ash-white, human figure, curled up in the corner of the room, trembling and whimpering. Its pallid body seemed insubstantial, almost transparent at the edges, like it was fading out of reality. That was probably just an illusion, brought on by the heavy darkness.

He used a materia to summon a little ball of light, and as the white glow filled the room, the figure gave a hoarse cry and curled up tighter.

Cloud squinted at it. This must be the ghost, people claimed was haunting the place, but why would they say it was a woman? Its back was to him and its head was down, wrapped up protectively in its arms, but he could see that it was a man, from the broadness and muscularity of the shoulders.

“N—no, please,” the ghost stammered, in a weak half-whisper. “Please, don’t hurt me. I’ll be good. I won’t…I won��t ask about her anymore, I promise. Please.”

“Hey. What’s wrong with you?” Cloud said. 

His own voice startled him, sounding solid and very loud, compared to the feeble murmurs of the ghost, which were muted and distorted, as if Cloud was hearing them through water.

“No, g—go away! Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!” the thing wailed, as Cloud stepped closer. 

“Will you shut up and listen to me?” Cloud said, keeping the sword trained on the huddled figure. 

The ghost’s piteous pleas cut off abruptly, but it kept trembling and cowering. 

“I’m not gonna hurt you,” Cloud soothed. “Calm down, ok? What are you doing here? Did you get lost?”

Hesitantly, the figure lifted its head. 

Cloud’s heart stopped.

Time seemed to stop.

Long, silver hair hung over the ghastly-white face, and cascaded to the floor, pooling around its bare feet, like water. From between the moon-colored strands, pale-blue eyes peered up at him, with slit, catlike pupils. 

“Who…who are you?”

next chap

ao3

[floatingcatacombs]

Teekyuu and Hubris

12 Days of Aniblogging 2024, Day 7

Chronic illness begets a certain amount of magical thinking. Having to deal with your own body attacking itself at random intervals leads many down the path of desperation and conspiracy. That’s is why it’s important to instead channel that energy into little rituals that don’t provide any physical aid but do help establish a sense of control. In my own struggles with sickness, I’ve gained exactly one such ritual related to anime. For whatever reason, my consolation prize for particularly bad health days is shotgunning an entire season of Teekyuu.

This may sound like a huge endeavor, but these are two-minute episodes we’re dealing with, and that's counting the opening. Teekyuu is a moe gag anime about girls in a tennis club who only rarely actually play tennis. Everything plays out at a staggeringly fast speed, like it’s cramming four minutes of jokes into half that time. This works heavily in its favor! Even if only half of the jokes ever hit at best, the whole thing plays out so fast that the failures don’t really stick around in your psyche, but the hits can really add up. Fuck it, I’ll just post an episode, it'll fit within Tumblr's file size limit.

So, what did you think? Actually, don't answer that, just imagine twelve of those back-to-back. That’s the kind of shit that I’m on during the days where my gut has decided in advance to kill me. It is absolutely the kind of show that boils your brain, but sometimes you need your mind simmered for sanity’s sake. And for that, it is my ideal show. If watching Lucky Star is like basking in CGDCT moe, then Teekyuu is like getting slapped with it, repeatedly.

I could honestly end the writeup here, but Teekyuu actually has a surprisingly serious production history surrounding it, which I would be remiss to leave out. Also, I really like the idea of making you spend so much time with this essay learning arcane industry drama that you could have just watched a good chunk of a Teekyuu season. Now then....

MAPPA is a big studio! They took on adapting Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen and the later parts of Attack on Titan and a million other high-profile anime, and are renowned for their fights and animation quality. Of course, they’re also notorious for paying terribly, taking on way too many projects, and absolutely grinding their workers into dust. They’re a company of extremes, but in a way that makes them extremely emblematic of where the anime industry is at right now.

It wasn’t always this way, though. MAPPA started out in the early 2010s with some lower-profile but mostly well-received projects, such as Kids on the Slope, Ushio & Tora, and an original titled Punch Line which one of my friends from high school insists is peak. And during this early period, they were also churning out season after season of Teekyuu. Shin Itagaki is something of a D-tier auteur when it comes to Teekyuu, acting as the director, character designer, key animator, in-betweener, and sound director for almost every episode. Itagaki’s actually got a pretty cool resume – he helped out on Princess Mononoke’s animation, contributed to a few Gainax shows, and wore quite a lot of hats on the underrated stupid comedy brawling anime Ben-To. But Teekyuu is his real brainchild, and it seems to have garnered enough of a following to justify continued releases (of course, the production costs must have also been pretty low).

Anyways, in 2015 Itagaki quits MAPPA and founds his own studio called Millepensee, with him as chief director and his wife handling the business operations.  With this newfound and total creative control, he goes on to make…four more seasons of Teekyuu, as well as two spinoffs. The dude knows what he wants. But that’s his pet project. His wife has greater ambitions, and is steadily growing the studio in order to try and take on a larger project. They manage to get Berserk.

It still baffles me that someone looked at Itagaki’s resume and saw his seven nearly-consecutive seasons of high school girls getting up to rapid-fire antics and decided that he was the one for this job. I guess he had enough cred from his past projects like Hajime no Ippo and Ghibli contracting that they decided he could take a turn at adapting probably the greatest fantasy manga of all time.

It wasn't just going to be his studio, thankfully. This was organized to be a co-production with the 3DCG studio GEMBA, who up until then had only contributed background VFX to various shows, and had never handled an adaptation on their own. So Itagaki's job as director and key animator in pre-production was to handle storyboards and guide the artstyle of the adaptation, making sure it mapped well to the 3D models and animation techniques the studio was using.

When Berserk 2016 was announced, a lot of people were worried that Itagaki’s recent near-exclusive work on moe anime would pose a problem with the Berserk artstyle, but it turned out to be the other way around. He wanted to stay extremely faithful to the original artwork with techniques that the 3D software of the era simply couldn't render in real time, such as cross-hatching that Berserk is known for. Instead Millepensee had to add 2D textures and effects over the completed renders, taking on the laborious and messy task of fixing it in post. That’s why the texturing looks so janky and inconsistently applied in the final project, a lot of it had to be done by hand against a strict deadline!

The information in this section is mostly taken from a very good ANN writeup.

In between seasons of this Berserk adaptation, and right afterwards, Itagaki released Teekyuu 8 and 9. I guess this was his way of letting off steam.  

You’d think that this experience would deter them from CG productions, but in 2020 Millepensee purchased a 3D animation studio, and most of their productions are now in a hybrid 2D+3D animation style with Itagaki directing. Granted, they're all low-rent isekai adaptations, but at least they're still getting work after Berserk.

The saddest part about this failed Berserk adaptation is that it could have gone way better had they just tried a few years later! Hybrid 2D + 3D pipelines started getting really good in the late 2010s, with Studio Orange and his old bosses at MAPPA both mastering the craft on shows like Dorohedoro and Land of the Lustrous. Nowadays it’s absolutely everywhere, and you hardly see anyone complaining, especially when it’s used for a striking artstyle or to adapt something that would be near-impossible to do right with traditional animation. It's probably the only way you could animate the later parts of Berserk sanely, but nobody wants to try again after the 2016 attempt went so poorly (and also Miura's fucking dead). Also sad is how MAPPA really came into prominence just as Itagaki was leaving, with hits like Yuri on Ice and Kakegurui and Zombieland Saga coming out year after year. Though I don’t know if he would have been assigned to any of those had he stayed, and he probably gets a much bigger paycheck now even though he's working on stuff ten percent as popular.

We have drifted far, far, away from Teekyuu, so I’ll just loop back by saying that Teekyuu changes a person. It is kind of evil on some fundamental level. And yet, it is occasionally load-bearing on my psyche, like pushing a reset button somewhere in my synapses. I’ve still got a few late seasons stashed away for when I need them. With the last one coming out in 2017, I think it’s safe to say that there’s no more Teekyuu on the horizon, but what we’ve got is plenty. Its total runtime is almost as long as a standard 12-episode season, even! Someone should just bite the bullet and make a hell-on-earth video upload or torrent that stitches them all together. It might have to be me.

[yanderefarm]

Love Letter One (The Meta Version)

Dear Yanderefarm,

I LOVE EMIL HIS CHARACTER CONCEPT IS FANTASTIC. The idea of being in a hierarchy were you are a lower rank in the system, but a higher ranked individual basically scruffs you and sits you on top of that hierarchy bc they love you? Top Tier.

I also sincerely appreciate your total lack of specification regarding the time period Emil rules. In one story, there's a old timey merchants guild, but photographs also exist?? Peak. The ability to put him in scenarios where both magic and technology can exist is perfect, especially for horn contexts.

You want feminization? You can put him in a slutty dress but add magic and Bam! Tits and pussy to match, baby!

You want hypno or dumbification? Substitute a pocket watch for a magical artifact that drains the brain, or a sci-fi brainwashing visor that can lock unto his face!

You wanna punish him? Pick between a high tech fucking machine, or a good old time in the stocks being a free use toy! Maybe even both?

Pet play? Magic that bitch up some ears and a tail! (Bunny Boy Emil, Anyone?)

Anyways, the possibilities are endless, and that's a good part of why I like Emil so much. Another part is just his demeanor. Literally only Ajax has anywhere NEAR as much ego as Emil, and even then, Ajax gets nervous and flustered pretty easy once you starting coming on strong.

Emil though, Emil stays smug. He's got the ego, but he also knows and accepts the fact that he'd like nothing more than to service you all day every day. He enjoys being dommed, and while you can get him flustered and crying, it takes work; it takes effort.

That, or it takes nothing at all. And that dichotomy enraptures me . He's so proud, but he's on his knees for you in front of the whole court the second you ask. He's so vicious, but he can handle you so gently. He's so strong and stoic that it can make him brittle, prone to snapping. He's so egocentric that he thinks you'll never pick anyone else, but seeing other people around you makes him jealous.

Anyways, all this to say you write amazingly complex characters and I love them. Can't wait for the Season 2 Boys!

(P.S. Actual love letter to Emil himself coming soon)

-🎠 Anon

this is so sweet!!! ur so nice thank u 😘

if you like emil try: romantic fantasy manhwas bc you will immediately see that he borrows a lot of tropes from them. the mad tyrant thats actually a big softie for his wife is an entire trope itself.

im a big fan of the political drama in rofan manhwa like yes give me trade disagreements and noble factions vying for power and ridiculous crown prince nonsense. i know that if i had the will to write a whole novel with emil that it would chocked full of all the ramifications of marrying a lower stationed prince of a kingdom known for neutrality. the short term ramifications like homophobic old noblemen "you can't marry a boy what about your heir!!!" and more politically powerful female suitors who hate you for getting in the way of them grabbing more power. and the long term ramifications like your kingdom being forced against it's will to give up decades of neutrality with a king woefully unfit to be in charge and despises you for saving his life and the theocracy next door ready to knock down the doors and behead your husband for daring to claim some divine origin and blaspheme their God's name. this kind of thing lives in my brain rent free i love it.

also yeah!! its a fantasy world so time period accuracy is unimportant. i was going to have it be more accurate to a medieval time period but like. that's not fun. so i decided there's magic so you can have modern things but they're all just powered by magic. magic communicators, magic teleportation, magic cameras, magic aphrodisiacs.

honestly all of my work has a certain level of magical realism for the sake of horny. like aphrodisiacs and drugs don't really work the way i want them to but because i want them to work a certain way they do. surely if you actually did the things to achilles that are fun he would die but he doesn't because i don't want him to. like idc if it would probably kill a man irl its fun and horny so it doesn't.

emil's ego makes him so fun. like ajax wouldn't immediately proudly declare that he's the best dick sucker. emil would. he's proud and haughty. he's the greatest king. but being proud makes him more fragile because his heart is more weak. he falls in love much easier than he pretends to. like i love when his pride falls and he's just desperate to keep you close to him even if that means completely degrading and humiliating himself. he's cute.

im glad you like him so much he's really fun to write and i love his tropes