#obviously fantasy shite

[loverboy-hearts]

I sometimes think what would I be if this love didn't soften me. The pretty boys that I'd want to be their butcher. I can imagine laying together, pressing my head to their chest, hearing his heart fluttering like caged birds. I'd listen to your heart pump, a quiet and subdued moment. There'd be a tight feeling in my own chest as I'd imagine your precious heart in my hands. So red, the admiral weakening of trying to pump blood through is valves, I can imagine the soft texture of something so fragile as your organs. Snapping myself from my head, I'd wrap my arms around you and hold onto you, stuffing my head into your chest like hiding from my fantasies. Stewing in my love and swallowing my saliva, ignoring the mental imagine of standing alone covered in your blood and gore.

Imagining our time cut short makes the fantasy feel like nightmare, but only because of how I imagine you.

[werewolfetone]

My demands for the next big thinly veiled british history ripoff high fantasy tv show that gets popular after hotd inevitably ends:

Some sort of wales equivalent and some sort of ireland equivalent in the worldbuilding. I'm sick of worldbuilding where the main country is Just England and maybe some hint of scotland if the authors are feeling goofy... if you're going to make me sit through your world which is obviously just mediaeval britain with the labels filed off I am NOT also watching you pretend like england is the only place the exists again, especially since acting like british history would be even kinda the same without wales or ireland is ridiculous

More accent diversity. once again, there are other places that are not england that exist in the world. and more language diversity I'm not having the whole everyone ever speaks ~common~ shite again

More racial and religious diversity. put black people in there. if the sole significant religion is some sort of bland protestant xianity with catholic aesthetics again I'm killing the hostages

Codpieces

Those slut breeches they wore in like the 1500s that were like the puffier version of short shorts

Lesbian sex onscreen to make up for the fact that I don't think we're getting it in hotd

Ok that's it actually I can't think of anything else

[captainclickycat]

The thing about Black Tie by Grace Petrie is that obviously it resonated with me on some level as a former queer teenager (and also a former neurodivergent teenager who didn't have many friends and wanted to be liked for who I was and blah-di-blah) and also I really appreciated that it mentioned trans rights too since the UK government have decided to assign trans people as the Designated Scapegoat Minority right now and of course it's always good to see someone push back against that.

But also I think for me personally it was just really nice to hear this affirmation of "sometimes the adults in your life are talking a load of shite."

Because I do reminisce a lot about being this teenager who was in many ways quite headstrong in my mind but sometimes when an adult said something, like "school days are the best days of your life" or "you'll want children some day" or "that other complete bollocks some other adult said to you is absolutely true actually and you'll agree with it when you're older" and my mental response would be "well that's complete bollocks...

right?

I'm right to disagree with that, right? Right?!"

And I sometimes have this fantasy of travelling back in time and saying to my younger self: Yes. Yes, you are absolutely right, and you weren't wrong for being skeptical of these people just because they're adults and you were a kid. They were talking shite. Don't worry.

And I think that song was maybe the first time I'd ever heard someone else articulate that for me, and for the medium of folk music to boot, which is like my favourite type of music.

So actually it's not my fault I started crying in the train station just because it came on my spotify, and that's actually a very sensible response actually.

[shoujo-dump]

Manga recommendations for people who love Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai manga, dedicated to @aengelren and all the other readers that enjoy the series ❤️

I have listed some categories below that are similar to the genres & subgenres of Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai. Hopefully there might be some new series there that will be added to your reading list. Please note that not all series are obviously identical to Hikaeme, however I have used a ⭐ to indicate series that I think share most similarities with the series either in more than one genre or if the series have a similar atmosphere/general vibes to Hikaeme ni Itte mo, Kore wa Ai.

If you love the art style of Hikaeme, then I recommend checking out other series created by the same mangaka:

Hatsukoi ni Kiss (omnibus of 8 oneshots)

Kanjuku Summer End (oneshot)

Koi Wazurai no Ellie

Machiko wa Oborekake (oneshot)

Fast Romance:

Kare Kano (has anime adaptation!)

Koi no Mae ni, Amaku Hajimete. Hikaeme Elite-kun ga Watashi ni Dake Hatsujou shite imasu 🌶️

Museru Kurai no Ai wo Ageru ⭐

Ore Monogatari!! (has anime adaptation!)

Suki tte Ii na yo. (has anime, movie and live action adaptation!)

Delinquents:

Atashi no Banbi

Boku ni Hana no Melancholy

Five

I My Me Mine ⭐

Hajimete Koi o Shita Hi ni Yomu Hanashi (however doesn't seem to be an official nor fan English translation anywhere, the series has live action adaptation though!)

Hana yori Dango (has anime and several live action adaptations)

Hana Nochi Hare: Hanadan Next Season (has live action adaptation)

Haru no Ogawa wa Dokidoki Suru yo. (oneshot)

Iincho to Furyou-kun

Junai Tokkou Taichou!

Kimi ni Koishite Ii desu ka.

Kokuhaku Suru Aite o Machigaemashita

Megane, Tokidoki, Yankee-kun

Me no Tsukedokoro ga Deep Desho

Mikansei Demo Koi ga Ii

Mochizuki-san ka no Yankee ⭐

Raou-kun wa Watashi ni Kamau

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (has anime and live action adaptation!)

Webcomic: Kono Yankee wa Ubu Sugiru!

Love Interest Changes:

Futari de Koi wo suru Riyuu

Koukou Debut (has live action adaptation!)

Male Lead Falls in Love First:

Batsuichi ga Moteru nante Kiitemasen

Chorokute Kawaii Kimi ga Suki

Einheli no Hanayome 🌶️

Furare Girl 

Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai (anime adaptation is going to be released in 2024!)

Kanojo ga Kawaii Sugite Ubaenai

Kimi wa Kawaii Onnanoko

Mainichi Kiss shite ii desu ka?

Namaikizakari.

Sakura wa Watashi wo Sukisugiru ⭐

Slow Jet Coaster

Tsuiraku JK to Haijin Kyoushi (has live action adaptation!)

Webtoon: A Good Day to Be a Dog (available on webtoons.com)

Webtoon: The Fantasie of a Stepmother

Webtoon: As You Wish, Prince

Webtoon: The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke's Mansion (also has anime adaptation!)

Webtoon: Writer's Block of Romance 

Webtoon: Your Ultimate Love Rival

Straightforward Male Lead:

Hamuko to Gao-kun

Kuchibiru ni Kimi no Iro

Living no Matsunaga-san

Midori no Himitsu (oneshot)

Neko to Kiss

Takane no Ran-san

Unmei no Hito ni Deau Hanashi

Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki ⭐

Yubisaki to Renren (will have anime adaptation in 2024!)⭐

Opposites attract:

Beast Master 

Kimi ga Kirai na Koi no Hanashi 

Kimi ni Todoke (has anime, live action )⭐

Saruyama!

Webtoon: Midnight Poppy Land (read the official English translation on webtoons.com, it currently has over 100 chapters) ⭐

Kuudere Female Lead:

Akuma to Love Song

Webtoon: I Failed to Oust the Villain!

Webtoon: Villains Are Destined to Die

Warm Ambience:

Honnou Switch 🌶️⭐

Houkago, Koishita.

Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryo Joshi (has anime adaptation!)

Ojou-san to Yobanaide

Tonari no Stella ⭐

[anteroom-of-death]

After the Party

Synopsis: Malcolm and his wife are attending some book event. For now.

A/n: I am a writer. Occasionally. I'm sorry for being shite with the uploads. Love you all. Warnings for mild cum eating and Ollie's general existence. Hahaha.

You fanned yourself discreetly. The heaters were at full-blast inside the cramped room. You could feel the lining of the skirt you wore starting to cling to you. It was starting to squall outside. You had half a mind to go outside and stand in it.

It would be a relief.

Your husband was off, still clutching a handful of files necessary for his job. Dazzling and scaring the masses of government people from multiple parties. And the press. Followed by his dark shadow, Jamie. Whom you quite liked, but at the moment was the bane of your existence since he tried to coup the faith of your husband out of fear of change.

You didn’t understand why you had to come to this party. It was some nutter’s book launch.

A few spouses had also come but they were put off by you for the crime of loving the scariest man in the room. His reputation preceded him too much. Also, your “noticeable” age difference made people fear the worst sometimes.

You would have thought other scandals would have turned their heads by now!

The Reeder boy approached you. He was possibly hell-bent on ruining every time you saw him.

You clutched your glass of Coke tighter.

“Did your father let you out of the house finally?” Reeder mocked, pointing to Malcolm. The irony was he was younger than you.

You blamed jealousy. He obviously got off on whatever Judas or Brutus fantasies he clearly had coming to fruition slowly. He probably loved masturbating to the image of him getting fucked by your husband on top of a print-out of party manifesto or whatever.

You inhaled and breathed out slowly, “Papa let’s me out twice a year for good behavior!” You mocked his slick, posh accent, as you discreetly tried fixing the strap of your bra under the turtleneck you wore.

Malcolm eventually saw you blanching and scowling as Reeder tried to target you more.

“Ah, noticed your glass was getting’ low, pet. Take mine…” He addressed you and swapped glasses with you. Quickly his tone changed, “You! Fuck nut, get your girl a fresh drink. Be useful! For fuck’s sake!” He said as he shoved the boy away from you. Hopefully towards the Tory girl he was apparently trying to honeypot and failing to do so…

You sipped the orange juice quietly and squeaked out a thank you.

“He likes you.” Malcolm hypothesized as he whipped out his phone and checked it. He sent a quick text and shoved it. You noticed Jamie pat his pocket and check it. He looked over at the pair of you.

He slung an arm around you and kissed your forehead.

“I need to use the restroom.” You confessed. “Can you walk me? I don’t want to deal with anyone looking at me like they did last time I got lost.” You stone-faced ground your jaw.

It was fairly easy to get lost in this place.

“Sure.” He shook his head, walking over to Jamie and whispering something in his ear before rejoining you and opening the door for you.

The hallway was empty. Thank goodness.

You exhaled as if you had been holding your breath for the entire time you’d been at the party.

He looked good. Too good. It was always such a sin for him to look like this on this lighting and in the stupid suits his job demanded him to wear.

You left him in the hall and went to the restroom. When you left the stall, he was in there with you.

“This is the ladies…” You rolled your eyes.

“Did you have to wear that?” He gestured to your simple turtleneck and faux leather skirt get-up. Not particularly sexy, the skirt was even floor length!

“I’ve been hard since you fucking got here.” He approached you, as if to illustrate the point. He fingers the fabric of your belt holding the outfit together. “I want to fuck you here.” He pressed you against the sink’s countertop.

He was right, he was hard. It was pressing against both of your abdomens.

His hand found it’s way to the hollow of your throat as he pressed you into a position where you had no choice but to sit on the edge of the counter now. He kissed your cheek and traced his tongue down the line of your jaw.

“What if someone catches us?” You reasoned, despite every fiber of your body wailing to let him take you then and there.

“Oh, let them. They’ll never speak again!” He laughed. His work persona leaking out. The soft sweet house-husband you knew was dead in these lands. Malcolm was dead, long live Tucker.

This is who he was outside the bubble of your home and what little personal lives you both had. Just a small facet of who he was.

You were quickly falling under his spell and were seeing how quickly you could at least slide your tights down and at least slide your panties to the side for this when you had the realization that you might, personally, be embarrassed if someone, especially one of those judgmental bitches that also married into this life walked in.

You pushed him off as he was just getting his cock out.

“Save it ‘til we get home? Please.” You batted your lashes. “I don’t want caught.” You reasoned.

He pulled back and sighed, “Fine. You’re in for it when we get home!” He smeared his face with his hands as if to manually compose himself into something recognizable. He somehow had gotten his belt undone in the brief time that this attack on your face had taken place.

You twisted your tongue and rolled your eyes as you fixed it.

Somehow you felt like this was just the beginning of a very long night. Longer than it already was.

Your social battery was already dead and gone, so this provided you an opportunity to go home anyways.

You washed your hands and exited, him following you like a bat out of hell. Back into that room…

He went back to talking. Seemed like he was making a graceful and acceptable exit from it.

He joined you as he gave you your coat.

The Reeder boy approached, “Awe, is it past curfew?” He shot you a look that seemed both in mocking and envy.

You balled up your fist and went to strike the annoying boy. A strong, familiar hand caught your wrist as you could see Reeder begin to flinch. You could feel your face twist from scowling and rage-filled to annoyed and put out.

“No, not now.” Malcolm ordered you.

“I’ll fucking deal with you on fucking Monday, walking syphilis.” He shoved Ollie into the corner a tad. “Don’t ever hit my wife again.” He spun the event around.

Oliver Reeder, hitting Malcolm Tucker’s wife would keep this gossip mills busy for a while.

You knew that much about your husband’s job. It was simple enough.

As you made your way through the halls and towards the exit, Jamie appeared, as if his leash was yanked by Malcolm’s invisible hand.

“Tell people that Ollie tried to strike (y/n).” Malcolm barked order at him. “He may have also hit on her and groped her. Your choice.”

"Aye, that's me, boss. Nae fuckin' worries. I'll make sure they all know what a sick wee fucker he is... Ta!” He slugged his beer, grasped so oddly in one hand and started whipping put his phone and texting.

You ripped off and chewed your right index fingernail.

The cold air felt wonderful on your sweating form. Too bad that it was shortly interrupted by the called car and driver pulling up. You could have stood there with the flakes hitting your face from that moment until the end of eternity…

Soon enough, you were home.

The minute the key unlocked the deadbolt, he pounced on the back of your neck, rough kisses with the faintest hint of stubble grazing down the back of exposed neck as teeth made purchase with the hollow of nape of your neck.

“You’re such a fucking tease.” He purred as he shoved you through your front door and shoved you into the entrance and parting your legs with his. “Making me wait while my balls are aching. Took me all not to pin you the fuck down and fuck you in the middle of that room.”

He groped your breast roughly through both turtleneck and bra.

So this is what everyone else got? This sharp, crude and dangerous man? You’d never been given of an inch of roughness by the man. He’d be soft and gentle from the first moment your eyes had met.

You flushed deeply and felt your clit throb and a familiar ache wracked through your core. You moaned and felt your body relax against the wall as he unbuckled his pants and bunched up your skirt, tearing aside your tights and underwear as he slid you down the wall. He steadied the two of you with one of his hands on both of yours. He shoved your butt up with his free hand and slid his cock in your increasingly-wet cunt.

“Christ, you feel so fuckin’ great. You’re so tight. Aren’t you? My tight little missus.” He went on as he gripped your hip with one hand and started pounding you frantically.

The words did something to you.

You felt your spine sink as you went rigid elsewhere.

“No, this won’t do.” You heard him mutter after what felt like several minutes. He went over to the sofa, dragging you along by your wrist, held only in his fingers. He clumsily sat as he slung you over his lap.

“Sit on my lap. Be a good girl.” He pulled your hips over and you onto his cock.

He began to bounce you as he pet your hair, his jaw locked as he pushed himself further into you with every bounce. You felt yourself start to grind down with every thrust.

“Such a fucking slut for me. Show me how you want my cock, angel.” His praise had you swooning over backwards as you felt your head roll back and moan.

He kept bucking his hips forward and up as you moaned more. You felt a guiding hand keep you on his cock and your walls get tighter.

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned as he shot his load into your aching, well-towards-an-orgasm pussy.

You complained, “No! Don’t pull out!” As he slipped himself out of you and let out a huffy little puff of air.

“Of course. You’re such a good girl for me.” His eyes had a strange glint in them. Debauched. That was the only way you could describe it. He was definitely debauched.

He pulled you down to the ground and tilted a pillow from the couch down and propped your hips up on it.

One of those deft, long fingers reached and stroked your lips and went down, wiping up the leaking cum from your hole, digging in slightly.

He brought the finger to your lips and parted them, cleaning it off with the wetness of your mouth.

He went down and dug out a tad more and repeated the process…

“Now, look at what you’ve done, pet.” He cooed. “Look what a mess you’ve made!” Tucker fading and Malcolm taking his place.

He kissed your lips with a feathery smile.

You would have passed out right then and there…

He slid his way to between your legs, where your cunt was fully on display. You couldn’t see but you could feel him breathing down your thighs as he licked and sucked on your raw, throbbing clit.

He steadied himself by pressing and pulling your thighs apart more.

You felt his teeth bite you roughly. Right at the top of your inner thigh, right where you were most sensitive and your flesh had rolled down into and you bucked your hips further. His face shoved directly into you. The slight stubble striking across the new marks as you felt his nose swipe into your hollows.

You groaned as you felt him commit to going down on you. Seemed like he was intent on cleaning up your mess. You failed upwards as you tried to find his hair to play with as he continued to suck and bite and nibble you to a pathetic moan.

“Please, please.” You felt yourself babble out.

You felt girlish and stupefied.

He stroked your folds and tutted. You groaned a tad more, slipping further from reality.

“If you insist, little one.” You could feel his smile from your vantage-less point.

He continued on until you came.

“Don’t wear that outfit again. I cannae focus. I may have leaked more than pre-cum.” He joked.

You nodded from your dumbfounded spot on the floor he had you in.

You still felt a little full of what remained of his load and like you has fully lost the plot here…

He joined you on the floor, yanking more pillows down and propping up both of your heads. He curled you into his chest and kissed your forehead. Both of you still partially still dressed in your clothes of your roles outside of this safe bubble you had; in that moment you couldn’t feel further from Mrs. Tucker. Just his (y/n).

His phone started buzzing off the hook. You swore you saw him switch it off, for the first time ever.

He pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa.

The snow squall outside raged on.

And you felt very safe and warm.

[archipelago-siren]

FUCK ME was the Umbrella academy a *HUGE* fucking let down. GAH. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

The *only* good things to come out of S4:

*The ending credits showed no pre-transition pics of Elliot Page

*Hazel and Agnes 3 second happy couple cameo

*Allison got to be a proper mother to Clare for a while, and Klaus a present uncle.

*Victor got to verbally annihilate Reginald and then get a smidgen of healing before RIP from existence

And now the SHITE things:

*Diego's character arc - obliterated. Five's character in general - obliterated. Lila was wrote from a badass independent woman to whatever the fuck that was. Klaus, holy shit Klaus. Way to fuck over anyone with addiction issues UA.

*The other 35 individuals born due to Marigold were just, completely written out of existing, Including the Sparrows except when Lila and Five came across the Phoenix academy?? Wtf

* does nobody own a fucking mobile phone??

*Reginald didn't give a shit about his 'kids' but kept 'apocalypse walking' Jennifer alive??

*Ray left Allison. I'm sorry what?! I get if the actor had other obligations- but he walked out?! RAY walked out?! I'm sorry but no.

Actually I'm not sorry. Just No.

*and so many other things which I'm too angry to write about and process but just, fucking hell.

I am all for tragic endings, I think 'and everyone was well and saved' for dystopian fantasy is not often the solution and goes against the political point of dystopia's - they're shit and not everyone gets a happy ending. But this? You didn't have to destroy every character before you then erased them from existence?

What. was. the. fucking. point.

[overfraught]

Like almost every young male in the Western Hemisphere, my daily fantasy was to swap lives with a Beatle. And there was no question as to which one. Paul, a year my senior, was the most obviously good-looking... If the adolescent female frenzies that engulfed them had any rational focus, it was the left-handed bass guitarist whose delicate face and doe-like eyes were saved from girliness by the five o’clock shadow dusting his jawline.

He parted from Asher, who had seemed so perfect for him in every way, and took up with an unknown American photographer named Linda Eastman. On their sudden wedding day in 1969, millions of heartbroken young women weren’t the only ones to feel let down. Dry-eyed young men like me, who’d lived his life vicariously since 1963, also wondered what on earth he could be thinking of...I shared the media’s feeling of offence that he should have started another band–adding insult to injury by putting Linda in it in place of John–and resolution to give it no encouragement.

The main criticisms of Shout!, by the lyricist Sir Tim Rice among others, were its over-glorification of Lennon and bias against McCartney. I replied that I wasn’t ‘anti-Paul’, but had merely tried to show the real human being behind the charming, smiley façade. Actually, if I’m honest, all those years I’d spent wishing to be him had left me feeling in some obscure way that I needed to get my own back. The pronouncement that John had represented three-quarters of the Beatles, for instance, was (as Tim Rice pointed out) ‘mad’. Paul himself hated the book, so I heard, and always referred to it as Shite.”

Philip Norman, “Paul McCartney.”

I know I'm late to the party but really, Philip Norman? In your intro? "I hate him 'cause I ain't him. It's rational to be attracted to Paul McCartney's delicate face and doe like eyes. I was mad at him because he broke up my ship and married Linda." I know he wanted that sweet sweet authorized biography credit but this is still so fucking funny.

[theliterarywolf]

On youtube someone made a video why old IPs are being used for these new pretty fucking bad series. It's probably painfully obvious, but it's because even the people whom it's for, don't watch it. They showed it quite well, basically old (Popular/liked) IP's will obviously be watched the most, but with New IP's, the ones who got the highest score were those that "just did their thing", which included all kinds, while stories that felt like they "We have to tick ALL THE BOXES!" did the worst.

Eyup.

It's also why mainstream film is so stagnant: studios are so hyper-focused on making sure they get the highest fiscal returns as possible that the only thing they look at is 'is it based on something that is popular/has just reached nostalgia-status', 'is it a sequel to something that made a bunch of money', or 'is it a passion-project from a celebrity that is known more for their popularity than any kind of actual talent'.

It's honestly amazing that we even got things like Everything, Everywhere, All At Once or The Shape of Water a few years back because, again, mainstream film is so stagnant that it's gotten to the realm of being self-destructive.

And I know someone will say 'Well, we got stuff like Hereditary, Midsommar, X, and Pearl! Those are unique!' But the thing about that entire list is that all those movies are classified as either Independent or Arthouse Horror. Horror films exist in this weird bubble of people outside the mainstream doing unique stuff and studios within the mainstream giving us shite like M3GAN or Wish Upon or that beyond shitty 'dark reimagining' of Fantasy Island.

Not to mention how, despite the lead actresses in Hereditary and Midsommar absolutely KILLING IT, the Academy hates horror as much as they hate animation; hence why big studios feel like 'we don't have to try'.

I know people are getting tired of hearing 'Go Indie' as if it's some sort of guaranteed Hail Mary, but it's really getting to that point where the only way to get unique, strong stories is looking at Independent creators.

[ghost-writer29]

The isekai genre but interesting

Ok I know isekai is overrated and all yada yada but there's been one specific idea that someone close to me proposed an just stuck.

So, what if the main character had dissociative identity disorder?

Like, think about it. The body dies irl and gets transported to a fantasy land with demons and witches and whatnot, and the alters are scattered across the country. They can still communicate due to their souls being LITERALLY connected but they don't recognise the landmarks they give each other; implying how they're all in different cities, states, kingdoms, etc.

So you'd at first follow one of the alter's journey, and as the alter finds the rest of the system the story switches povs to that alter that was found

And when the whole system is complete they all gain this extra ability that makes them able to 'front', where one alter can be seen while the others are able to hang out in their headspace and stuff.

And for the plot I was thinking of like a system's body dying in the real world, and their souls get transported to another world, but they all get separated. The system is small, consisting of 4 people. A 16 year old boy, a girl 3 years younger than him, a shapeshifter that prefers to stay a blob with glowing green eyes and a young demon with white hair.

The storyline follows the 16 year old dealing with the fact that what he considered his family (the system) is far away from him, and the fact that he can't see them. He's happy that he's in his actual body (being in the body of a girl a few years younger than him back in his past life was REALLY uncomfortable at first) but he misses easily slipping out of the world and talking to the other alters. He comes from a poor family and helps his parents (who are not abusive like the ones from his past life) out with work and ends up signing up to be a butler for one of the nobles.

He befriends the younger son of one of the nobles and manage to get a scholarship to a prestigious school thanks to being the younger son's butler and meets the first alter after 16 years of separation, the girl 3 years younger than him. I can just imagine the girl running up to him and hugging him from behind and when they both turn to look at each other they basically cry together since it's been so long since they've last seen each other.

They both would meet the shapeshifter and young demon later on when the two of them gets captured, with the shapeshifter basically throwing a hissy fit as the students gawk and try to poke the both of em. The chapter could end on like a cliffhanger with the 16 year old hearing about the shapeshifter and demon and then it switches povs to the shapeshifter.

Now obviously since the two non-humans had essentially been kidnapped the shapeshifter tries their best to try and protect the younger demon and basically chemically burns anyone who comes remotely close to them. Since it's in 1st person pov you could see the desperation and overprotectiveness of the shapeshifter to the demon and how theyre basically on the verge of a panic attack when the 16 yr old and the girl waltz into the room and basically makes the blob freeze.

And yknow typical isekai anime style everyone wants to kill the eViL bAd dEmOns and shit until the 16 year old claims that the demon's life is connected to both him and the girl. This kickstarts a mystery/thriller plot as the now-completed system try to figure out just why demons are so hated, while trying to deal with how the hatred of demons makes the system a target for bullying and shite like that. Only to find out that the reasons all of the magical species (like elves and furries I guess-?) united with the humans to destroy the demon race was to shift the blame of humans to another species that was AT FIRST, innocent. After some human intervention, demons had became what they are today, aka bloodthirsty war-mongering beasts who are brutes and such (if the rumors are to be believed).

The only reason the non humans of the system (the shapeshifter and demon) aren't like that is cuz theyre not from the world. So watch as the system basically force their asses in difficult politics and shoehorn world peace because 'goddamnit our last life had too much of that bullshit'.

Also to make things spicier: idk if this is just me torturing the first mc or the guy I'm basing the 16 yr old boy being persistent but the 16 year old and the noble he's working under are def fucking-

[fzzr]

What I'm Watching, Winter 2023 Anime Season

New Stuff:

Ars no Kyojuu (Giant Beasts of Ars) - A show with a concept of "let's use waifu powers to kill raid bosses" didn't need this much worldbuilding effort. I am very interested in how this goes.

Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku (Handyman Saitou in Another World) - Comfy no-plot isekai don't have the best performance with me, but this one is endearing enough that maybe it will break through.

Koori Zokusei Danshi to Cool na Douryou Joshi (The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague) - It's Wotakoi meets Interviews with Monster Girls. I like both of those things, and I'm liking this too. Very slow, and both protagonists are perfect cupcakes. Sometimes that's all you need.

Ningen Fushin no Boukensha-tachi ga Sekai wo Sukuu you desu (Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World) - I usually can't deal with the "what if this genre but being realistic means things suck" shows. Somehow this one didn't set off my cringe detectors yet. It might not make it through the whole season, but I'm in for now.

Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsunomanika Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken (The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten) - Ah yes, a fusion of the "perfect girlfriend you will never have" and "perfect school idol is actually a normal and sometimes sarcastic person" microgenres. Maybe it will get exasperating, but for now let's do it.

Revenger - Who knows, maybe some dark over the top samurai violence will keep my list for the season from being oops all comedy.

Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu (Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement) - Yes we get it, the only way anyone today will save up for retirement is going to a literal fantasy world. This one is superficially far on the light and fluffy side, but it's also openly wearing a black armband of unexpressed grief and I'm wondering where they're going with that.

Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu (The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady) - Is this lesbian V for Vendetta? Is this Utena with less incest? Is this no-boys-allowed magical Dr. Stone? I don't know, but I'm here for it. A possible show of the season dark horse.

Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko! (Tomo-chan Is a Girl!) - Will some teenagers figure out their feelings? How will this love directed graph resolve? Spin the wheel of twists - the main girl is a tomboy! Yeah this show is for me personally, probably. This is the frontrunner for show of the season.

Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endou-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san (Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte) - The Villainess genre is definitely going to be overloaded soon (it's been popular in the non-moving pictures space for some time). However it ain't yet, and this twist on the genre is wild. Another potential show of the season candidate.

Sequels:

Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu. 2 (BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense. Season 2) - Bofuri is one of the great comfy/funny power fantasy shows. Obviously I'm back for more.

Maou Gakuin no Futekigousha: Shijou Saikyou no Maou no Shiso, Tensei shite Shison-tachi no Gakkou e Kayou II (The Misfit of Demon King Academy II) - Misfit is one of the great awesome/funny power fantasy shows. Obviously I'm back for more of this too.

Carryovers:

Boku no Hero Academia 6th Season - it's HeroAca, by now you're either watching it or you're not.

Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! (The Eminence in Shadow) - Sorry Bofuri and Misfit - this one might be THE best takedown of the isekai/power fantasy genre. I'm going to have some things to say about this when it's done.

Urusei Yatsura (2022) - This modern take on one of the ancestors of every romcom shenanigans series today is a jolly good time.

Hall of Shame (things I already dropped after one episode):

Buddy Daddies - This is going to be the easy winner for people who are in it for comedy and feels, but I don't think I'll be able to deal with the kid. Sorry, I'm sure it's good, it's just not for me.

Dog Show - I'm not going to link it and you shouldn't look for it. I watched one episode to see how bad it is and it turns out to be softcore hentai with something that is definitely not my fetish.

Kaiko sareta Ankoku Heishi (30-dai) no Slow na Second Life (Chillin' in My 30s after Getting Fired from the Demon King's Army) - It's just so mid, and panty shots we don't get to see and grotesquely oversized anime tiddy can't make up for that.

Spy Kyoushitsu (Spy Classroom) - How can we take spy vs spy mind games and make them mindbogglingly boring? I don't know why you asked to do that but you did. Congrats. Skip.

Trigun Stampede - I don't need Trigun again but bad. Pass.

[girl4music]

So in my search for characters from TV shows that I believe provide the most significant characterization, representation, development and evolution, I've found the character Willow Rosenberg, and of course there's always been Gabrielle from Xena. But I need more characters that undergo incredibly strong and substantial character development throughout the entire life-span of the TV show and I'm asking for recommendations because you guys know your television shit on Tumblr and I don't watch much TV.

Here are the requirements:

1. (most important) This character has to go through a huge transformation mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually to the capacity where I will disagree with them or feel dissonant towards them and I would feel the need to insert myself in the TV show to call them out or slap them across the face at some points. I want them to SHAKE me. If I don't feel that towards them, they're not worth my time or attention. And believe me, I have a high threshold for this because I like to LEARN.

2. I would prefer cisgender female since that's what I am and I want to be able to relate to and resonate as much as possible but it's not that big of a deal so can be of any gender identity or sexuality or fluctuating.

3. The TV show must be a DRAMA or a dramedy (drama-comedy). Reason for this being I often find pure comedies to have shite writing and the characters can come across annoying or even insulting because of this. So TV shows like 'Glee' is no go for me. Not that that has shite writing. It's just I've already seen it and I wasn't particularly interested in any of the characters from it. Can be any other genre along with DRAMA too. (action, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, thriller, romance, ect.) Suprise me so long as it's not a pure comedy.

4. In order to have significant character characterization, representation, development and evolution for ALL the side and recurring characters and not just the main (I. E. the protagonist/hero of the TV show), the TV show must last longer than 2 seasons. And I don't want no cancelled and left on a cliffhanger bullshit. Full shows with a conclusion.

5. Give me somebody to root for. Meaning can be an antagonist/villain who has a redemption arc of some kind and joins up with the protagonist/hero at some points to help them out or even is the flawed protagonist/hero of the TV show themselves that needs to do some growing. Think of characters like Xena, Spike, Zuko, Ares, Callisto, Korra.

Or an underdog for whatever reason that doesn't recieve the attention or credit they deserve and gains leading ground with more and more screen-time given to them to flesh out their arc with this. Think of characters like Gabrielle, Willow, Katara, Toph.

6. Can be any TV show from any point in time. 80's, 90's, 2000's or recent. Whatever. But preferably something that isn't dated before the 80's so the picture quality is somewhat watchable on a 55 inch screen TV.

7. Can be either live action or animation or a mix of both (I. E Lizzie McGuire) but not a show that's for toddlers. So that leaves teenagers/adolescents/coming-of-age or just all out adult. I have no issue with sex/violence/gore/addiction themes. In fact I'd prefer it for the sake of the character dealing with heavy shit that causes them to go on a roller-coaster ride of emotions often. Remember the point is for me to relate to or resonate with it. I am 28 years old. So unless it's family-oriented like Lizzie McGuire, I don't want Disney/Nickelodeon/Cartoon Network TV shows. And I've seen most of them anyway.

8. If it includes Black/POC or LGBTQ+ representation (which I would prefer it to do so), I must absolutely attest that there be NO QUEERBAITING, NO RACISM, NO HOMO/BI/TRANS/QUEER/XENOPHOBIA within the writing. While I realize that the latter is a good confliction and compelling storyline, understand that I am absolutely fed up of tropes like Bury Your Gays, Man-Inserted, It-Was-All-A Dream/Mental Illness or anything where it makes you percieve any of the characters as complete fucking dicks surrounding this. They can still be complete fucking dicks in other ways.

9. Depending on how dated it is, I want decent graphics, special FX and clever use of environment/props. Anything of a CGI or anime style cannot be lazy because it takes the human realism away from it. I like characters to look HUMANOID. No animal-hybrid shite.

10. Does NOT have to be English or of an American/Western production. Can be of any language or culture whatsoever. I am trying to get more into watching something beyond my own backgarden as far as languages/communications go. Obviously, it needs to have English subtitles or text of some kind though because there'd be no point to me watching it if I can't even understand it. I only speak/read English.

That's my lot for requirements and the dos and donts. You have free reign with everything else. Somebody please answer this post. 🙏

[pacifymebby]

as a fellow writer, what advice would you give for books/imagines? I know as a songwriter that I channel life and experiences into my songs and i try to in my writing aswell but where do you draw inspiration from?

I feel like I'm genuinely really not qualified to give advice here so u should take it all with a pinch of salt because I never plan and I make everything up on the spot and I don't even think I can spell but,

Everything I've ever been told about writing is to write what you know, which is difficult in a fic because its obviously fantasy to some extent however your characters and some of the scenarios they end up in don't have to be entirely fictional.

My best characters are based on myself or people I know, I'm always taking things from my life or stories I've heard and slipping them into my fics.

I think empathy is really important too, when I'm writing a conversation between two characters I have that conversation in my head so that when I write it it flows naturally and sounds like something someone would actually say?

With fics I try to like picture how the person talks and their mannerisms and stuff to make it feel more like a fic about that specific person instead of just a generic fic.

Research!!! For Pacifier I had to Google so much random shite to make that fic more believable, I was there googling how to stitch up a knife wound and like sutures and all sorts of shite. I think I had to Google how long it takes to die from bleeding out, and types of guns and things? But it makes it better and it also often leads to inspiring the story to go on too? If you're writing about somet that is dramatic and far fetched then research the shit out of it!!

I guess the simple things are like, pick a tense and a person youre writing in and stick with it. Some fics work better as a y/n fic where you're doing you did/ you went/ you said. Some are better as first person, I, me we. I don't think I've written a third person fic before, that's not somet people tend to do cause its less personal I guess?

Honestly beyond that Idk, I like to make moodboards if character aesthetics and things, or write descriptive words that remind me of each character. It helps u really know who ur writing?

Idk though, hope this was helpful.

I like what u say about using personal experiences though I think that's the best way to write!! You can really write a character well when you tell the truth and people will tend to relate to it too.

❤️

[terreisa]

Love Down the Line: Chapter 11

The last thing Indie musician Emma Swan needs is a gigantic wrench thrown in the workings of her biggest tour to date weeks before its launch.  When her backing guitarist that caused the problem says she has the perfect solution Emma is skeptical but left with little choice but to accept.  Unfortunately she isn’t really prepared for said solution to be former Rock Star and leading man of Emma’s teenage fantasies, Killian Jones.  With no other options and a month of performing across the country ahead of her Emma just hopes she doesn’t come to regret letting Killian onto her stage and into her life.

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, AO3

~*CS*~

Vancouver, May 30th

Emma stared out at the large, empty space in front of her feeling exhausted and exhilarated.  She was sitting with her feet dangling off the edge of the stage, her heels drumming against the wall without any discernible rhythm.  Her hair was still damp with sweat from the show and her arms ached from the intensity that she’d played but she didn’t care.  Even the roadies working around her barely paid her any attention, they all knew she was merely basking in the moment.

Her tour was officially done.  Seventeen cities in a month and every one of them had been amazing but there was always something extra special about the final show.  It was as though everything and everyone had come together to create a perfect moment in time that they capitalized on to give the best show possible.  Her playing had been spectacular, the others had been just as great, better even, and the audience had loved every second, sang every lyric, cheered their hearts out.  They’d ended up doing two encores.

As her gaze swept across the thousands of empty seats she let out a contented hum.  They had sold every ticket for every show and each venue had been just as big.  It boggled her mind that every person that filled those seats did so because they loved her music, connected with her lyrics, and appreciated what she was trying to communicate through her art.  She only wished she could have personally thanked each and every one of them for it.

The bustle behind her continued on as she soaked it all in.  She took no notice of the footsteps approaching her until a pair of familiar, well worn boots stopped beside her.  Looking up at Will with a smile she patted the stage next to her.  Lowering himself next to her she noticed that he’d taken a shower, the smell of his body wash still strong.  With a pang she realized that Killian had used the same brand.

“‘Nother one in the books, eh?” Will grinned, knocking her shoulder with his.

“Yeah,” she sighed happily, “Tonight was really great.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Clearly.  You haven’t done two encores in ages.  Then again, you haven’t been too keen on doin’ the planned one lately.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, frowning as she adjusted herself so she was facing him.

“Well-” he leaned back and gave her an unimpressed look, “Ever since LA and the shit with Killian you’ve been phonin’ it in a bit.  Tonight was the first show you actually looked like you were havin’ fun.”

“I haven’t been phoning it in!” She protested a little too loudly, some of the crew behind her stopped to look over at them.  Blushing she gave them a wan smile before glaring at Will, “I played my heart out at every show, asshole.”

“Not possible,” Will negated, his grin unfurled again, “You left that thing back in LA.”

She felt a pang of longing and regret again, even as she scrunched up her face in distaste, “That was really cheesy and absolutely not true.”

“Oy, you’ve put cheesier lines in your songs,” he accused. “Besides, I’m just the purveyor of truth in these troubled times.  Admit it, you’ve not been givin’ it your all.  Especially in Oakland.  That was a rough one.”

She opened her mouth to refute and couldn’t.  Will was absolutely right and she kind of hated him for it.  Oakland had been more than rough, it had almost been a disaster.  It had taken an intense pep-talk from Ruby and Tink combined to just get her to the venue.  She’d been able to put on a convincing enough show but the second she’d stepped backstage between the main set and the encore she’d nearly had a complete breakdown.  More than once during the show she had looked over expecting to see Killian grinning back at her and found Ruby instead.  Every little thing she’d pushed aside had hit her as she’d moved offstage and it had taken everything she’d had to get back out on stage to finish the show.

“Yeah, well...  Why didn’t anyone say anything?” She asked accusingly. “Regina didn’t even bring it up and you know she loves to find something to critique.”

“Eh, the shows haven’t been complete shite,” he said with a shrug. “No one’s posted a rant or got a new hashtag trendin’ and you know I’d tell you ‘bout those.”

She snorted, “I don’t know why you’re so fixated on social media.  Hasn’t Belle broken you of that habit yet?”

“Ah, but she loves me for all my charmin’ qualities,” he said with a wink. “I’ve her almost convinced to join Instagram.  Told her other nerds’ll love to see her books and all those plants her dad’s given her.  They like seeing all those uninspired posts you do of your piano after all.”

“It’s the only thing I’m comfortable sharing,” she mumbled.

Will stared at her for a moment before nodding and looking out at the empty seats.  She waited for him to finally say what he’d stayed behind to say instead of going back to the hotel with Belle.  He loved to tease and stir up trouble but she knew that when he got serious that it meant something.  There was no way he’d waited until nearly everyone else had left just so he could not so gently criticize the last few shows.

Instead of saying anything he began humming.  Emma rolled her eyes and focused on watching the last of the equipment being packed up and cleared off the stage.  It wasn’t until Will began singing under his breath that she recognized the song.

“Backstreet Boys?  Really?” She asked with a raised brow.

“Show me the meaning of being lonely,” he said instead of singing, “So many words for a broken heart.  Right, luv?”

She recoiled, “My heart’s not broken.”

“Could have fooled me and everyone else ‘round here.  Even Belle noticed somethin’s off with you.”

“She did?”

Instead of answering Will looked back out over the empty seats, leaning back on his hands as he did so.  He continued to recite the lyrics of the song, as though it was a masterpiece in verse instead of a late nineties pop song written with the sole purpose of being a hit.  She watched, impressed and amused by his unabashed performance, spoken in a voice that carried to an audience of one.

Just as she was about to press him about what it was about her, that definitely wasn’t a broken heart, that Belle had noticed he fell silent.  His mouth quirked up at the corner as he tilted his head to look at her.

“Have I ever told you how I met Belle?” He asked, his gaze soft.

She blinked, “Uh, no?”

“Broke into her shop,” he said proudly, the other side of his mouth ticking up into a boyish smile.

“You broke into her shop?” She asked slowly, not quite believing him.

“I was quite pissed at the time.  That’d be drunk to you, you bloody yank,” he teased and she rolled her eyes, “Had the bright idea that a certain book was all I needed to set things to right.”

“You broke into her shop,” she repeated, “to steal a book?”

“Never said I was stealin’ anythin’,” he said with mock innocence. “I’m not sure I like what you’re implyin’.”

She huffed, “Fine, you broke into her shop to not steal a book. Did you meet her when she knocked you out before she called the cops?”

“Not exactly.  You know those squishy little settees she’s got round the children’s nook?”

“You mean the beanbags?  Yeah,” she said nodding.

“Well, I tuckered meself out picking the lock, findin’ that bloody book, and drinking far too much whisky.  Decided to take a little nap before movin’ along,” he said with a nonchalant shrug.

“So you passed out and Belle found you in the morning?” She surmised.

“The cops found me first, not fifteen minutes after I’d set off a silent alarm.  Belle was livin’ above the shop then.  She had no idea anythin’ was amiss until after they’d cuffed me and had her come down so they could explain what’d happened-” he ducked his head at that.  When he continued his voice was fond, “The constables were telling her what I could be charged with and she just kept lookin’ at my sorry ass.  Drunk as all hell and mouthin’ off, as I’m wont to do.  When they finished their little spiel she calmly told them that I was a friend and she’d forgotten that she’d offered me her couch to sleep on.  Mind you, I’d never even stepped foot in her store before that night.

“Well the officers didn’t take too kindly to that.  Blustered and threatened but she never backed down.  I was at least sober enough to go along with her tales, who was I to ruin a perfectly good lie on my behalf?  Finally, they removed the cuffs and took their leave, not without dire warnings and some more threats.  As soon as the door closed behind them Belle invited me up for tea.”

“And you fell in love.  Cute,” Emma tried not to sound bitter but failed completely.

“Nah,” he said with a click of his tongue, “That took a while yet.”

“Okay… so why are you telling me this?”

Will eyed her, “You’re askin’ the wrong question, luv.”

She frowned.  There were a dozen questions she could have asked, least of all why Belle put up with him.  He watched her patiently which only pissed her off.

“I give up,” she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “You’re obviously trying to tell me something so just spit it out.”

“You should have asked why I thought I needed a book that bad in the first place,” he stated, as though it were obvious.

“Fine then, why?”

“To broaden my horizons, of course,” he said cheekily with a wide grin.  When she glared at him he grew serious, “Books always have the answer, yeah?  Thought I’d find a way to win back my ex in one of them.”

There was only one ex Will could have been talking about and she’d done a number on him.  The poems he’d written about her were terrible but the broken heart he’d suffered and lashing out he did was worse.  She was still surprised he hadn’t ended up in jail from the stories he’d told her over the years.

“Ana.”

He nodded solemnly, “This was about a year after she’d ended things.  I’d already started playing with you lot but I was still hurtin’.  Probably didn’t help that we rehearsed across from her new husband’s office.  Used to see her stoppin’ by to see him every few weeks.  Couldn’t escape her, even if I wanted to.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” She asked softly.

“Why didn’t you tell us about what happened with Jones?” He shot back, though not unkindly.  Shrugging he pushed himself forward and set his elbows on his thighs, his hands dangling between his legs, “Self preservation mostly and, yeah, a bit of enjoyin’ the wallowin’.  Then Belle invited me for a cuppa instead of pressin’ charges.  She’d seen my blusterin’ for what it was because she’d had a bit of a rough go of it herself.  A couple of abusive exes will do that to ya.”

She nodded.  Belle hadn’t told her much about her romantic history but what she’d told Emma was enough.

“Anyway we drank the tea, I sobered up, apologized, and that was it.  I went on my way expecting nothing to come of it but another tale to spin for people over a pint-” the soft look returned, “Then a week later I ended up back at the shop.  When it was open of course.  Looked around a bit, chatted with her and then left.  Kept doin’ that a couple times a week for a month or so before I realized I was stoppin’ by every time I’d seen Ana visitin’ her husband.  Stayed away for two weeks after that.  Belle took it all in stride, of course, welcomed me back with another cuppa and a book of poems.”

Emma smiled, knowing exactly when that was.  He’d suddenly stopped writing his own poems and started reading them instead.  She’d noticed that he’d seemed more settled, less angry, and she’d written a song about it.  Will had demanded a writer’s credit as a result.

“That’s when I realized I was fallin’ for her.  Thing was, I had always believed I’d love Ana forever, even if it meant I spend the rest of my days pinin’ after her like a lovesick fool.  Had a real close look at what I was doin’ with my life.  Only stayed away a week that time and asked Belle out to dinner before the door to her shop had closed behind me when I went back.  She said no.”

“She said no?” Emma gasped, having fully expected a cutesy story of their first date to follow.

Will’s smile was enigmatic, “You see while I was having my little crisis of faith Belle was havin’ one of her own.  All she knew about me was I was a terrible thief who played in a band and had an affinity for poetry.  That was enough for any woman to be wary of trusting me and with the number both of her exes did on her she had no trust left to give.  She wanted to say yes but couldn’t bring herself to put everything on the line if there was even the smallest chance of it shattering beneath her.”

She shifted uncomfortably, dropping her gaze to her hands that were perched in her lap.  Unless Ruby or Regina had blabbed no one else knew exactly what had happened with Killian.  All she’d told Will and Tink was that things hadn’t worked out, end of story.  They hadn’t pushed for more of an explanation and she’d thought that was that.  Clearly she was wrong.

“Does Belle know you’re telling me all this really personal information about her?” She asked accusingly, unable to keep herself from lashing out before he prodded a really vulnerable spot.

“Like I said, luv, she noticed there was somethin’ off with you-” he pointed a finger at her, “and before you go accusin’ me of blabbin’ about you to her I haven’t said a word.  I can be a wanker but I do know how to respect a person’s privacy.”

“Why didn’t she say something?”

He sighed, “You two are friendly but you’re not exactly the sharin’ type are ya?  She didn’t feel it was her place to butt into your life.”

“Oh, but it’s yours?” She asked harshly.

“We’re a horse of a different color, you and I,” he said with a conspiratorial air, “Seein’ as our love of music unites us.”

She smacked him in the arm and he gave her a wink in return.  He wasn’t wrong.  When they first met they got along like oil and water but she’d needed a drummer and he genuinely liked her songs.  It had taken a slew of dive bars and a cramped van to tolerate each other and a little over a year before he was one of the few people she considered a tried and true friend.

“She could have talked to me,” she said petulantly.

“And she still might if this-” he waved his hand between them, “here doesn’t take.  But I haven’t finished my story yet.”

“Sorry,” she said, feeling anything but, “continue.”

“Where was I?” He asked cheekily, chuckling at her glare. “Right, I’d decided to woo Belle and she’d wisely decided to protect her heart.  Let me down gently, of course, my Belle.

“I was a bit disappointed but I also knew why she’d said no.  Stopped goin’ round the shop, thought it’d be best to take a step back.  She didn’t need me hangin’ around makin’ things awkward.  Surprised the hell out of me when a month later she showed up at one of our gigs and asked me to dinner as soon as the set was done.  She said that no one had actually listened to her or respected her decisions before, especially her exes, and that even if she didn’t know much about me she was willin’ to give me a chance.  Celebrated three years back in March.”

“I know, you posted it all over Instagram,” she said with only a hint of the frustration she was feeling, “Is that it?”

“Almost,” he said with a chuckle, “Long story short-”

“Too late,” she muttered.

“Belle knew somethin’ was off with you ‘cause she’s been there before and she wanted me to tell you ‘cause she thought I could get you to see what’s in front of your face-” he said with a touch of impatience. “If you broke things off with Jones because he was bloody awful or your personalities didn’t mesh or whatever that’s one thing.  If you did it because you’re scared then that’s somethin’ else.  Okay, now I’m done.”

Emma sat, stunned, as Will stood up and stretched.  He gave the few crew members still clearing the stage a genial wave before offering her his hand.  With a scowl and some reluctance she grabbed it and let him haul her up beside him.  She gave him a wary look, girding herself against more pointed jabs at her emotional expense, but he just spun on his heel and started walking off stage.

“That’s it?!” She called after him, a bit disgruntled.

“I said my piece, luv,” he parried back without turning around. “Besides I’ve my lady love waitin’ for me back at the hotel.  She’s a rare one but I don’t think she’d be too forgivin’ if I spent the whole night with another woman.  Even if it’s you.”

She rushed after him, “You’re not going to try to convince me to call him or… or tell me about how much of a great guy he is or something?”

“I ain’t gonna tell you what to do, luv.  You’re the one that has to decide if you want to keep bein’ miserable or not-” he pulled his phone from his pocket, “I’m orderin’ a Lyft, you wanna ride with?”

“I’ve got a car waiting,” she said absently, still trying to figure out his game.

“Excellent, you got anythin’ you need to grab?” He asked without looking up, tapping away at his phone, “I can wait.”

“No, Ruby grabbed it all for me-” she grabbed his elbow and swung him around to face her, “You’re really not going to say anything else?”

He sighed, “You’ll do what you want and if you actually listened to what I’ve told you then you know there’s nothin’ else I could say.  Now, do you want to stay here until we’re kicked out?”

She looked back across the stage but the magic of the moment was gone.  Now it was just a big empty space with the last of the equipment being rolled out through the wings by the sweaty road crew.

“Fine, let’s go.”

The ride to the hotel was quiet.  Will had clearly said everything he’d wanted to, spending the whole ride furiously texting someone.  For her part she was too pissed off at him while trying desperately not to think too much about what little lesson he’d been trying to get her to understand to say anything remotely close to nice.  When they reached the hotel he stopped her from leaving the car with a hand on her arm.

“One last thing-”

“Really?!” She snapped. “I just want to go up to my room, drink the champagne that I know the label sent, and not think about the emotional vomit you dropped in my lap tonight.”

“It needed to be said,” he stated without a hint of remorse.  Then he squeezed her arm gently and sighed, “Look, I’m gonna send you somethin’ and you need to promise me you’ll look at that first.”

“First?” She asked warily, pulling her phone out of her back pocket.  She’d never taken it off silent and saw that there were way more texts and calls than she’d expected to be there, “What is it?”

“Nothin’ too terrible,” he hedged.

His gaze darted over her shoulder.  When she looked she saw a few paparazzi waiting by flanking the front doors of the hotel.  She turned back to him and saw his jaw ticking.

“Will-”

He ignored her and leaned towards the driver, “Hey, mate, mind pullin’ round the back so we don’t get ambushed?”

“Of course, sir,” the driver said with a nod, immediately pulling away from the curb.

“Will,” she put every ounce of frustration she could into his name.

“You’ll thank me later,” he said absently, back to tapping madly on his phone, “And you know what, don’t look at it until you’re in your room.  Can you do that?”

Just as she was about to grab the hand that was on her arm and twist it until bones cracked the car stopped again.  Looking outside she saw they were at some kind of loading dock and one of the doors was propped open.

“Brilliant,” Will said happily.  He let go of her and fished in his pocket, pulling out a couple of bills that he handed to the driver, “Cheers, mate!”

“Thank you, sir,” the driver said with a nod.  He caught her gaze in the rear view mirror, “Ma’am.”

“Thanks,” she said weakly.  Will was already out of the car and she scrambled out after him, “Wait, you can’t be all cryptic and then just leave me like that.  What the hell is going on?”

“I know you want to punch me in the face-” he squinted his eyes at her, “Nope, you’re ready to murder me on the spot.  Just trust me, luv.  Besides, it wouldn’t do to make a scene out here and bring ‘round those vultures we made a point of avoiding.”

“Fine,” she huffed, pushing past him. “But you’re so on my shit list right now.”

“I’m always on it, luv,” he said with a laugh.

The hotel was five star but the door that had been left open led to a not so pretty hallway.  She’d worked plenty of shitty jobs to know what a service corridor looked like.  There were several stacks of empty milk crates and egg cages lining the walls and from the delicious smells wafting towards her it wasn’t hard to figure out that they were near the kitchens.  She turned back and gave Will an unimpressed look.

“It was this or the paps,” he said unapologetically.  He pointed ahead of them, “That way and then the second right will get you to the lobby.”

“And where are you going?” She asked suspiciously.

“Got a mate that’s holdin’ a bottle of champagne for me that way-” he hitched his thumb to the left. “I’ll let him know you said thanks for sneakin’ you past those vultures.”

He strolled past her, with his hands in his pockets, whistling the damn Backstreet Boys song he’d been singing earlier.  She was torn between wanting to strangle him or begrudgingly thank him.  In the end she settled for glaring at his back and muttering obscenities until he turned a corner and disappeared from her sight.

Twenty minutes later she was finally holed up in her room, freshly showered and wrapped in one of the hotel’s fluffy robes with the bottle of champagne in her hand.  All should have been well except for the litany of messages she had.  Will’s wasn’t the most recent and she would have ignored it if he hadn’t said anything but she had a feeling that whatever he had sent her was the reason behind all the other texts and calls.  Her thumb hovered over his message, calculating how much it was going to ruin her night if she ignored it, before she scoffed at herself and tapped on it.

Scarlet: whatever you do don’t kill the messenger ie me

There was a second message, which was a link to YouTube.  She hesitated again, even more so with his ominous message.  When she tapped on the link she felt a momentary flash of panic, nearly closing out the app, because she knew without a doubt that watching the video was going to destroy any semblance of finishing off the night on a high note.

Her panic quickly turned into longing and heartbreak at the sight of Killian on her phone screen.  He was sitting with his guitar in a room she’d never seen before but knew without a doubt was from his place in Boston.  If pressed she wouldn’t have been able to explain how she knew but from the small bits of decor she could make out in the background and his sense of ease in the space were big clues.  Her attention was drawn back to him as he cleared his throat and addressed the camera.

“Er, hello all,” he began sheepishly, his fingers nervously scratching behind his ear as the tips of his ears turned pink.  His hair was in disarray and there were slight shadows under his eyes but he looked good, she would have even said great if there had been anyone around to ask her.  He gave a rueful smile, “I’ve never done one of these, honestly never thought I would seeing as I seemed to have missed the metaphorical boat with this whole video blogging thing-”

Emma snorted in amusement despite herself and muttered, “It’s like he’s three hundred not thirty-three.”

“Aye, I may be belying my age but as you can see I’ve retained my youthful glow,” he said with a cheeky grin, his blue eyes sparkling with mirth.

The quip seemed to bolster him, the tension in his shoulders disappeared and he seemed to breathe easier, but it only lasted for a moment.  His smile faded and he dropped his chin, his chest expanding as he took a deep breath.  When he looked back to the camera the look in his eyes made her own breath catch in her throat.

“As many of my fans-” he paused and then gave a mirthless laugh, shaking his head, “Well, let’s be honest, a lot more than just my fans know my story.  My exploits, my tragedies, missteps and extended stays in rehab are just cannon fodder for the gossip mongers that dwell on the internet.  All of that led to my taking a much needed step back from the spotlight that’s lasted a good while.  In that time I’ve continued to play, the creative soul in me would never stand for me not to, but I never thought I’d put pen to paper with the intention of writing a song ever again.

“The accident, yes that fucking accident, took more from me than just my brother and my love that night.  It took the part of me that knew the right words to tease the desired emotion from an audience, how to hook them with a few notes and reel them in with lyrics that sprung from my heart and soul.  Without that-” his voice cracked and he paused again, closing his eyes.  After a few deep breaths he opened them, looking straight into the camera, his pain bare to see, “Without that it’s a wonder I didn’t drink myself to death within six months.”

Her phone screen went blurry and it wasn’t until a drop of water fell onto her hand that she realized she was crying.  Impatiently brushing away the tears she focused back on the video.

He had begun idly picking at the strings of the guitar, “Getting sober was the first step to getting my life back.  One of many.  It’s been a hard road and every day is a struggle in one way or another but it’s a battle I’m willing to fight.  My life, quite literally, depends on it.  Next was getting serious about playing music again.  I’ve spent the past few years not doing much more than recording backing tracks for what seems like every artist under the sun.  I was in a rut and my agent convinced me that it was a sign that it was time to return to the recording booth.  This time as the headliner, as it were.  With no true argument against it I agreed, thinking that if anything I would enjoy a middling solo career out of it.  What I hadn’t counted on was it leading to something that would turn my middling life upside down in the most unexpected of ways.

“You see, I had thought that I would be hoisted off on a producer and bundled to a cabin to write as many songs as possible before being shepherded back to a recording booth.  Handled but not inspired.  Before that could happen, though, another much more appealing opportunity presented itself..  A friend called needing a favor.  One that my agent and the label approved of, though I would have done it regardless”

His finger picking continued as a wistful smile played at his lips.  She couldn’t figure out what he was playing.  It seemed somewhat familiar but his playing was too slow for her to catch the tune.

“In doing this favor I met someone-” he focused on the camera and gave a slight shake of his head, “You know, I never thought I’d be capable of letting go of my first love, of my Milah... to believe that I could find someone else... until I met her.”

Emma nearly dropped her phone in shock.

“For the first time since I thought I’d lost everything I felt like there was a possibility for me to find it all again.  I found myself wanting- no, needing, to write again.  I think I filled the first notebook within a week.  She inspired me in a way I hadn’t been before.  Then, I was privileged enough to become a part of her life.

“Unfortunately even before we met I had decided that there was no need to share with her what was to be a fairly big change in my life.  I figured, why tell her about making a return to music when I hadn’t truly wanted it to happen in the first place?” he scoffed.  He stopped playing, clenching his hand into a fist, “It was a selfish decision on my part, wanting to bask in the simplicity of what we had for as long as possible before I had to give myself over to the machinations of creating an album.  What I failed so spectacularly at was considering her feelings, her expectations and hopes as to what we could be.  By omitting that truth from the beginning and trying to shield her from it, even believing that I was doing the honorable thing, hurt her far more than telling her from the start.”

She could see the frustration and self loathing in his gaze.  It made her want to soothe him and shake him at the same time.

He blinked, seemingly remembering that he was being filmed and gave a brittle smile to the camera, “It should come as no surprise that it all came ‘round to bite me in the arse.  I’ll admit that I spent a good amount of time as the living embodiment of a Morrisey album.  Listened to a few of them ad nauseum to boot.  It took a good friend knocking some sense into me and a few words of advice Liam had given me long ago: ‘A man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets’.

“I deserve every second of her silence, every ounce of her anger, and I will respect her decision regarding us, whatever it may be, but I have one final plea to make.  She may never see this, the bloody idiot that told me to do this will also be editing this and might cut this all out, but I’ve laid myself bare so that she perhaps might come to understand why I’d done the things that hurt her so.

“Sw-” he cut himself off, looking down as his jaw ticked in frustration before he took a breath and looked back to the camera, his gaze sincere and open, “Love, I’m sorry for lying to you.  I’m sorry for making you feel used and unimportant and as though you were dupe in a scheme designed to benefit everyone but yourself.  It was never my intention to make you feel that way but my actions and my lies did so all the same.  I’m sorry, love, for everything.”

Her tears were falling freely but she made no move to brush them away.  They were too quick and numerous for her to bother.  In the video Killian had started playing his guitar again, his fingers plucking out the notes of a tune she still couldn’t place but that he seemed to know very well.

“I wrote this after an eye opening night in Chicago.  This is my truth, love, it was then and it is now.”

With that he began to play in earnest.  She could hear echoes of the songs he’d written with Milah and Liam, a distinctive style that even the chasm of a decade couldn’t erase.  There was something more to it though, a longing in his voice she’d never heard before but it was far from melancholic, she could almost feel a wellspring of hope bubbling within it.  Then she actually listened to the lyrics he was singing.

And all of the steps that led me to you

And all of the hell I had to walk through

But I wouldn't trade a day for the chance to say

My love, I'm in love with you

The phone tumbled from Emma’s suddenly numb fingers.  The video kept playing but the audio was muffled in the folds of her robe.  Scrambling to pick it back up and muttering curses while desperately trying to hear the rest of the song she fumbled with the phone for what felt like minutes before it was back in her hand and facing the right way.  With a shaking finger she scrolled back until the point where he started to play and began watching again.  When he played the final note she scrolled back and watched it again.  After the fourth time she let the video keep playing, though she could barely focus on it through the sobs she was holding back.

Killian gave the camera a pained smile, his hands folded over his guitar.  He seemed on the verge of saying something and she held her breath.  Instead he shook his head and leaned forward, reaching towards the camera.  The video ended there, an emotionless black screen with links to a few of the more popular music videos that Realm of Jewels had made.  Emma sat staring at the thumbnails in a stupor, her mind whirring with too many thoughts to even begin to process what she was feeling.  It was only when her screen went dark from inactivity that she made a decision.  Unlocking her phone she brought up her contacts and tapped on the name of the person she’d been avoiding talking to for days.  They picked up on the second ring.

“I know it’s late but I need a favor.”

[isis-astarte-diana]

woman complains about CAOS and then goes off on a tangent about Buffy (finale spoilers but.... it’s been 17 years)

hi I’m gonna rant about CAOS even tho I’ve never seen it and I might be talking complete shite so if I am..... just lemme do it

but I think I know what my problem is with it, on, like, an instinctual level

because

from day 1 of the promo stuff before it ever started, it was Obviously trying to channel Buffy the Vampire Slayer

come and look!!! at our powerful women!!!! look at em!!! they’re so sick!!! so strong!!!! check it out!!!! grrl power!!

and then uh..............

they just abuse the fuck out of them all the time and never let them process or heal from any of the trauma???? of which there is So Much????

and okay. let’s be real. BtVS is really not a perfect show. really not. at all. but jeez!!!!! Buffy and Willow??? And Anya????? And Tara???? And [so on]????

okay they definitely DON’T all get the endings that they deserve but fuck, man, at least they all get to HEAL!!! they all get to GROW!!!! none of them are used as whipping boys by the writers in the way that [checks notes] uh....... all of the women of CAOS except Sabrina seem to be?????

so I hate it

I hate it because their strong female characters are just there to take punishment and for fuck’s sake man I’ve seen enough brilliant women getting knocked down by shit men in real life!!!!! I don’t want it in my fantasy!!!!!!

and look. I know this is important. I know it’s important to emphasise that powerful incredible strong-willed people can find themselves being abused. of course that’s true. but it’s not entertainment. it’s emotional torture porn. at least when you watch Hostel you hate the fuckin backpackers and kind of enjoy them suffering.

CAOS advertises itself on the idea of old-school, pre-Christian, pre-Trad. Gender Roles “feminine” power and then proceeds to Not Fucking Have Any?????

I have absolutely no interest in watching powerful women who are owed better getting thrown around by shit men for three fucking seasons. sorry. nah. and maybe there’ll be good vengeance!!! maybe it’ll pay off!!!! but if we’re gonna talk about Buffy again (we are)

Chosen was not a perfect series finale. it got some things wrong. but this fucking speech. is not one of those things.

“From now on, every girl in the world who might be a slayer, will be a slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up, will stand up. Slayers. Every one of us.”

I teared up watching this 2 minute clip before I linked it to the post btw

CAOS could never

[gabuex]

Granblue Fantasy Side Story: Memories of Arshivelle (Chapter 3)

Hey, everyone!  Have another chapter. :)

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Translator Notes:

There are a few localizations that I had to do here that I should talk about briefly, just for transparency.

The first relates to Annette’s accent.  Her Japanese word choices (when not casting a spell) are decidedly masculine, expressing that her personality is pretty strongly tomboyish, and that she should be written with a brash demeanor.  She also has a tinge of Kansai dialectic choices in her words, though it’s not nearly as pronounced as someone like Yuel, which implies that she’s intended to come across as somewhat low-class, but probably not so far as to appear as a country hick sort of person.  I thought about what sort of accent would convey this sort of demeanor and personality in a natural fashion to a Western audience, and ultimately concluded that an Irish accent would probably get the job done.  Obviously, this is a complete creation from whole cloth on my part, but given that I can’t exactly literally convey “a slight Kansai accent with a masculine tinge” in English, I figured this would be the next best thing to keep the effect on a native English reader the same as the original script would’ve been on a native Japanese reader.

On the other hand, when Annette is casting a spell, she uses somewhat archaic word choices like waga and attaching the particle yo directly to a subject, which are completely unlike her normal speaking tone of voice.  I followed suit by having her speak in Shakespearean English for those sections, and I translated the yo attachment to a subject as “I beseech you” - not at all a direct translation, but my approximation as the intention of emphasizing her address towards the element she’s using.

The second relates to the way Pommern first talks to Annette that upsets her, and then how he corrects himself after that.  In Japanese, there are three different auxiliary verbs you can use after the -te form of a verb to talk about doing that action for someone.  The standard verb is ageru, which is typically used in a neutral setting where the social hierarchy difference between the speaker and the listener is either equal or unknown - for example, to speak of telling someone something, one might say oshiete ageru.  However, there also exist two others, the first of which is kudasaru, which is used in cases where the speaker’s status is lower than that of the listener’s status; and the second of which is yaru, which is used in cases where the speaker’s status is higher than that of the listener’s status.

In the original Japanese, Pommern first says to Annette, Owari ni shite yarou, which literally means, “Let me bring this to an end for you,” but contains two things that offend Annette - firstly, the fact that he uses a form of -te yaru, implying that he thinks she’s at a lower social status than he is, and the second is using the auxiliary verb in the first place, which implies that he believes that resolving things would be doing her a favor.  Then, after the conflict, he amends his statement to, Owari ni shiyou, which literally means, “Let’s bring this to an end,” with both of those previously mentioned aspects now absent from his words.

In English, there’s no direct way to translate this, so as a stand-in, I had Pommern use somewhat belittling language the first time in a way that would indicate that he’s not treating her as a serious equal, and then had him use much more polite and respectful language the second time.  Hopefully, that has the same sort of effect for an English audience as the original would’ve had on a Japanese audience.

[facelessxchurch]

oh my god yes im glad you mentioned how weird it is that everyone speaks english! like, Where Is Mev From? sure, im shite at dates, but if mev made everyone speak english despite being "irish" he was probably from an area in ireland that, at least when he was growing up, had a primarily english/plantation-descendant population? which, if it was in dublin and he was rich, would actually make a lot of sense. huh. maybe?

I don’t really know that much about Ireland/Irish history so correct me if I’m wrong, but while English is the ordinary language, I think Irish is still the administrative language, so all the state servants still have to be able to speak, read and write Irish to this day. Apparently in some enclaves they even still use Irish as the ordinary language.

According to Wikipedia: “English was brought to Ireland as a result of the Norman invasion of Ireland [1169–1175] of the late 12th century. Initially, it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with mostly Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country. By the Tudor period [1485 - 1603 ], Irish culture and language had regained most of the territory lost to the invaders: even in the Pale, "all the common folk… for the most part are of Irish birth, Irish habit, and of Irish language" [...] However, the Tudor conquest and colonisation of Ireland in the 16th century led to a second wave of immigration by English-speakers, the suppression and decline of the status of the Irish language, and marked a forced decrease in the use of Irish. By the mid-19th century, English was the majority language spoken in the country.”.

According to the Skulpedia the Great Mage War was  around 1700's - 1930's.

So he would have needed to grow up in the Pale/near Dublin (which I think is likely bc he made Dublin his home in the Leibniz Dimension) between the late 12th and the 15th century or between the 16th and 18th century putting his age at around 600/700 years at the oldest and 400/500 years at the youngest bc Skul was 433 in the first book and I doubt that Mev is younger than him).

Even so, Irish should at least be Mevolent’s second language given how common it was until the mid-19th century and how it is still the administrativ language at this point in time. And regardless if Mevolent himself was rich/part of the aristocracy, as an student of the Unnamed I would expect him to get higher education which I think would include learning Latin (and maybe Greek).

I’ve reread the part bc maybe I misremembered and it was ‘all languages Mevolent spoke’ as in plural. But nope, it’s singular.

It bothers me so much tho bc it’s such a cartoonishly evil and narrow-minded thing to do. It’s maybe something Landy would do if he were ever to become the tyrant ruling the world, but Mevolent has been shown as highly intelligent and I just don’t view that as something an intelligent person would do, regardless if evil or good.

Maybe the Unnamed was English and Mev was the son of a powerful Irish family and the Unnamed took the first borns of all the ruling mage families he conquered with him back to England and made them his students/loyal to him instead of loyal to their own families, which of course would include cutting their ties to their roots? So Mev was forbidden from speaking Irish and forgot it eventually. Tho I think that is highly unlikely considering, unless stated otherwise, all of Landy’s important character’s are usually Irish, plus, Mev is stubborn, he would have definitely made an effort to relearn Irish after killing the Unnamed, even if it’s out pure spite.

But even the Leibniz Dimension itself makes it weird that Mev forbid all languages apart from English. ‘Tahil Na Sin’ and ‘Tahil Na Kurge’ are not English names. I think it’s pretty obvious that ‘tahil na’ means ‘city of’ and I was wondering if that might be Irish/Gaelic. But in Gaelic that would be ‘baile na’, meaning ‘place of’. I mean, the ‘na’ part is correct at least. And the Irish word for city is ‘cathair’ or ‘cathrach’. I tried to look up what ‘tahil’ means/what language it is but the only result I’ve got is that it means ‘grain’ in Turkish, aaaand that doesn’t seem right given the context. My best guess is that the language used to name the mage cities is a fantasy language based on on Gaelic? Maybe?

I mean ‘old (magic) languages’, have been mentioned in SoW.

Which btw also directly contradicts there only being one official language as there are obviously still other languages in use if you even use them to name cities.

TL;DR: Mevolent having banned all languages apart from English make no sense, not logically, not historically and not even in-vers.