#sisterhood of the scorpion

[laismoura-art]

All Hail The Queen🥀

Presenting you my take on Jataaka as Queen of Netherrealm!

After the fall of Quan Chi and Shinnok, Jataaka decided she was done taking orders from outsides. Hell deserved to be ruled by one of their own, a true Hellborn, and if no one else would step up, then she would!

With the aid of her sisters, Sareena and Kia, and the support of other hellborn, Jataaka took over the throne of Netherrealm!

Under her command, Netherrealm is a free realm. They fight for their own interests and ally themselves only with those who will deem them as equals!

Bonus: Without the shadows:

Also, a thanks to the Hazbin Hotel for helping me realise just how deeply unsettling eyes can be!👁

@mikka-minns @thedragonholder

[ginsoakedgirl80]

Costume Cdramas I watched in 2023

My 2nd year with Chinese dramas as my love for costume drama continues.

The title links to where you can watch it (tried to find free legal watches where available)

The Blood of Youth (40 x 45min, filming started in Oct 2021, released Dec 2022) fun action drama with a good dose of comedy, not for people who want lots of romance because they are too busy (and the canon couples don't have enough chemistry, there I said it) to be making out. Good for bromance, ghost ships and/or ace character head canons. Xiao Se's fur collar wins fur collar of the year, Tang Lian is my blorbo of early 2023.

My Uncanny Destiny (24 x 30min, filmed in autumn 2021, released Jan 2023) My favorite comedy of the year. Don't get turned off by the toilet jokes, it's a gem that spoofs drama tropes, gives you a coherent plot, silliness, fun side characters, a ML that is not afraid of being silly and a FL that plays capable and silly well. This might be a low budget production but they put that money to work. Politics, cross-dressing, found family, sisterhood, enemies to lovers, third wheel bisexual who reminds me of Wen Kexing, over the top villain, himbo villain who works out shirtless all the time, it got it all.

Wulin Heroes (22 x 45min, filming started Nov 2020, released Jan 2023) I watched this for Li Hongyi and he is incredibly beautiful in this so props to his stylist and cinematographer. BUT it is a badly written and edited low budget romp. If you are not watching for any actor then do not bother. FL is bearable once you realize she is very much of a lets see where this goes kind of character. 2nd ML is a suffering captive prince turned whiny regent played by Zhu Zanjin. So if you want to see Jin GuangYao suffer, you might like his scenes?? It can totally be read as a throuple especially with the New Tales of Wulin Heroes mini series add on. The choppiness might also be a result of the dangai ban??

No Doubt in us (24 x 14min, 2021, donghua) saw this on netflix and it roped me in with the body switch trope. It's sufficiently entertaining. Though I didn't enjoy the animation style apart from the chibi scenes.)

Heaven Official's Blessing (season 1, 11 x 26min, 2020, Donghua) It's THAT story and the art style is so pretty. I haven't read the books yet but still got what was going on most of the time. Liked it a lot. Haven't watched the 2nd season yet)

The Journey of Chong Zi (40 x 45min, filming started in June 2021, released Feb 2023) This xianxia is a mess! But it gave Scorpion King Li Daikun another memorable role with being the FL's protector. Watching Wang Zhoucheng having a ball with his role was fun. Immortal turned demon Wan Jie is so handsome and tragic. It did draw me in but the main couple is just ick so every time they were apart it immediately got better. ML's refusal to take the antidote to ease his obsession was lmao, FL is naive but charming and her demon styling rocks (do not get the hate on the actress, she is selfmade and there are many bad pretty face actresses around but I guess antis attract antis). Oh and there is a bromance between two of Chong Zi's harem members

Till the End of the Moon (40 x 55min, started filming in Nov 2021, released April 2023) aka my brain rot drama of the year. Drawn in from episode 1 on. Bai Li and Luo Yunxi <3 Pian Ran, Ye Qingyu, Nian Baiyu and Si Ying. <3 I was spamming tumblr with my screenshots, it was a jolly good time to watch this epic tale of love and suffering and saving the world dilemma with a great cast, characters, costumes, sets and soundtrack with the cdrama ppl of tumblr. If this weren't too complicated for cdrama newbies I'd recommend it to all my friends. Do not skip the dream arc (I ended up liking it) or later stuff will make less sense. I'm still annoyed that we didn't get a good extra episode that wraps up some lose ends for the main side characters and that reunion of the main characters but Youku really went nah we better play it safe with censors not liking happy ends for morally grey characters.

My Queen (24 x 45min, filmed in 2020, released Jul 2021) An FL enters a romance adventure VR game drama that I watched because I needed some fluff between TtEotM episodes. Why pick this among any other sufficiently entertaining dramas that are probably better written and not as forgetable? Because I wanted to watch Hu Wei (rich nepo baby in The Blood of Youth) in another comedy role >_> and ridiculous overacting he did deliver

The Trust (30 x 45min, filmed early 2021, released Apr 2023) The life action adaptation of the manhua No doubt in us is based on. I dunno why I finished this, I guess I'm not a quitter and needed silly stuff to balance TtEotM angst. For some reason the director thought it would be a good idea to film this like a donghua and it is causing 2nd hand embarrassment. The ML cannot pull off being a woman in a man's body, not even a martial arts nerd like Xu Yu. Like Wulin Heroes it was filmed before the dangai ban but that didn't stop them from having at least two bromances.

Wanru's Journey (24 x 35min, filming started in Jun 2021, released May 2023) A mess. So IQIYI released this simply to ride on the wave of Ao Ruipeng's The Blood of Youth popularity. Because this got so chopped down because of the dangai ban and it probably wasn't good to begin with. Basically an actress transmigrates into a dangai screenplay and gets between the leads while also making money by writing fic about them (ok this is my reading but she DID release fic and drawings of them). Of course it takes an unnecessarily dramatic turn, instead of staying on the comedy side, cannot remember more of the plot, oops.

King is not Easy (20ep x 30min, released Aug 2017) I watched this for the body switch trope and Bai Lu. Nice to see her actual face before the fair skin filter got her, entertaining enough, badly written silly comedy with mind mindbogglingly contrived final 4 episodes. It's Bai Lu's drama debut so it's nice to see how far she got

Destined (40ep x 45min, filming started in Jun 2022, released June 2023) Highly enjoyable. Fell in love with Bai Jingting. What's not to love about a playboy getting put on his path by his wife and them becoming friends, sworn siblings and then lovers in the process? No this is actually about FL finding her thing (trade) and being wildly successful at it, then it's also political, revenge and more. The leads are extremely charming and have great chemistry (the drama suffers every time they are apart lbr) and the writing is good, though people are too perfect and I wasn't into the whole palace stuff.

My Journey to You (24 ep x 60min, filming started Dec 2022, released Sep 2023) Had me from episode 1 on. Made me buy IQIYI VIP so I can watch it in good quality. Fell in love with Zhang Linghe. Yu Shuxin needs to do all the wuxia while she is still fit. Why waste being able to do the splits on some modern drama? The director sent her mud wrestling and she went for it. Everyone knows she is pretty no need for her to be beautifully put together on screen 24/7. Love the style, the character introductions, the characters, the cast, the chemistry, the story, the way you expect something and something else is going on. While it started out gloomy and remained so for the most part, it surprised me with throwing in more comedy than I expected. The good old idle manchild gets thrown into a position of power story but it's a murderous martial arts clan against another murderous martial arts clan. It's giving you some information but often just enough for getting what's going on just to play with your expectations later, FUN! And I didn't even mention all the other characters because surprise! this is actually an ensemble drama with several intriguing characters. Do not expect for the two leads to be on screen all the time.

Hilarious Family (24ep x 45min, started filming in June 2022 (?), released Sept 2023) A fun ensemble comedy I watched for Jackie Li. A widow moves to another city to marry off her 4 daughters (a silly man-crazy one, a homely one, a scholar one and a tomboy one). No it's not Pride and Prejudice but yes of course this is a romcom and all women have a love interest. It kind of drops off later on tbh, but still good for the characters and side characters. The success of this in China hopefully means that Jackie Li will get to be getting more comedies to work in after the Queen Lau disaster and people having a problem with her artist alias in 2022.

Hello There (20ep x 30min, released Jan 2023) I stumbled on this on IQIYI while looking for a light fast watch that will let my brain relax. The ML's best acting moment is when he plays a wooden robot. FL is fun. There are some questionable scenes, standard low budget action comedy fare.

An Ancient Love Song (14ep x 30 min, released June 2023) A wonderfully written and executed grown up time traveling story, that shows once again that you don't need a big budget to tell a story that draws you in. Ended my palace politics blockade. All this time traveling and no reincarnation in sight. ;_;

Story of Kunning Palace (38ep x 45min, filming started in May 2022, released Nov 2023) Tieing 2nd with My Journey to You for brainrot drama of the year. The cinematography is questionable, the story is not for teaching perfect courting behavior but those two are just such a good cp in their awkward messy way. Their friends/sidekicks are fun too and bring some comedy to that story though crazy in love ML is serving some comedy too. Props to ZLH for actually trying to grasp the basics of playing qin and not just waving over the strings like other dramas deem it sufficient. Bai Lu is Bai Lu-ing, gathering her harem. Coming into this right after An Ancient Love Song the idea to defeat destiny this time around seemed hopeless to me but this is one of those they are good at making plans and they turn out mostly alright dramas. I hope those two's material for the next years is as good as the two dramas with them I watched in 2023, fingers crossed!

Currently watching: A Journey to Love and Taoism Grandmaster as well as 2/3 through a LbFaD rewatch that I started in summer.

I also watched a handful of modern dramas (made in Korea and Japan) and some mini-dramas, but that is for another post.

And yes my most watched actors are probably those uncles stuck in Hengdian, might look that up another day.

If I got the time to blog about a drama I usually do it with screenshots so my tag for those posts is excuse my bad quality screenshots. In other cases I just reblog and put my thoughts in the tags.

[wangxianficfinder]

In the mood for...

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1. ITMF growing up together/teen fics? Are there any fics which focus on the time before the characters all meet at the Gusu lectures? WWX and LWJ could meet as children on diplomacy visits, for example. The story could follow as they grow up and take on duties within their sect (like, how did WWX work hard and prove himself to be worthy of head disciple?), and then eventually catch up to canon when they hang out during the lectures. Thank you for any recs you can give!

the heartlines on our hands by occultings (microcomets) (E, 47k, WangXian, Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, First Time, Canon Divergence, Canonical Character Death) Starts when LWJ is 8 years old. It a beautiful story

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2. Hello! Do you have any recs for Wei Wuxian being raised as a servant, not as the head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang? He is treated as a servant by the Jiang family, maybe goes to the Gusu lectures as a servant (not as a student), in the Sunshot Campaign he is just another footsoldier/servant. Something along these lines, thank you!

The Myrmidon by Basingstoke (E, 33k, WIP, WangXian, SangXian, XiYao, WWX raised as a servant, spiritual weapons, gusu summer camp, Flirting, lots of flirting, they're young, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon-Typical Behavior, War) It was recced recently in another itmf and it was pretty good! WWX is brought up as a servant/bodyguard for Jiang Cheng.

Fangs of Desire by @museywrites​ (E, 39k, wangxian, JC/LXC, WQ/MM, JYL/JZX, SL/XXC, rape/non-con, graphic depictions of violence, vampire LWJ, hellhound/banshee WWX, dub con, sexual assault via vampire venom, addiction, recover, war, attempted murder, modern w magic) Vampire AU, but the rest fits pretty well :))

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3. In the mood for: a non-villainous Jin Guangyao and Wei Wuxian (and if possible, Nie Huaisang) working together? I read a great fic where the three of them put their sneaky brains together and they made some instant message boxes (I can't remember the name of that fic TT) and I would love to see more of them being smarty pantses! I love when brains are used over brawn. Thank you! @gloriousclotpole

scorpion, before the frog by Stratisphyre (T, 59k, NieLan, 3Zun, Canon, Dragons, Found Family, Pre-Relationship, Mutual Pining, Parental Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, warning for JGS behaving exactly as expected, sometimes a redemption arc is just dragons and kids and found families, allusions to noncon because of JGS, derogatory references to sex work, suicidal ideation and attempt) the focus is more on jgy and nhs than it is on jgy and wwx, but i think scorpion, before the frog by stratisphyre might fit the bill

Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association Series by Ariaste (M/T, 119k, WIP, XiYao, WangXian, Modern AU, Established Relationship, xiyao and wangxian are both already married, Family Feels, Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Slice of Life, Discussions of Past Trauma, wwx's canonical kinks, HOAverse)

Collaboration of Dangerous Minds by JustAWanderingBabbit (T, 14k, JGY & WWX, JGY & QS, canon divergence, unexpexted team up, fix-it, canonical sibling incest)

Alliance of the Traveling Pants by JustAWanderingBabbit (G, 112k, 3Zun, WangXian, WIP, Canon Divergence) Instant messaging is a game-changing element in Moxiang Tongxiu Crack and Drabbles, Chapter 11: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by JustAWanderingBabbit (M, 159k, Drabble Collection, tags vary per story), which served as the pilot for Alliance of the Traveling Pants; the women invent it, but Meng Yao quickly learns it and it spreads through Team Sunshot.

Bait and Switch by JustAWanderingBabbit (T, 14k, 3Zun, WangXian, Canon Divergence, body switch, whatif, Weird Cultivation, Mojo's post) WWX and JGY wind up bodyswapped in a Sacrifice Summons gone awry (WWX, comatose rather than dead, has been cared for in secret at Lotus Pier.)

Really? Me Too! by mercyandmagic (M, 59k, XiYao, WangXian, JC/QS, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crack Treated Seriously)

Ch.46 of Moxiang Tongxiu Crack and Drabbles by JustAWanderingBabbit (M, 159k, WIP, Drabble collection) Chapter 46 of Moxiang Tongxiu Crack and Drabble has Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangyao, and Nie *Mingjue* thrown into a conspiratorial bond when a talisman accident enables them to see each others’ chibified Inner Selves.

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4. Hihi! I've been on a 'secretly wealthy' Wei Wuxian kick after binge reading H_Belle's 💖 One Can Keep A Secret. I love those stories where Wei Ying becomes rich and famous by being himself. One of those ideas is that Wei Wuxian (canon timeline, not modern AU mostly) writes, novels. I have read a few but unfortunately I have been unable to find one of them. Basically, Wei Wuxian in the Burial Mounds Days writes novels that become famous and post Resurrection deciedes to take it up again. Any luck? @goddessa39

Chapter 14 of "WWX November Mayhem Prompts" by demoniqt (G, wangxian, one-shot, author WWX) But he's not rich.

💙 Away from Trouble by Ilona22 (M, 15k, WangXian, Not JC Friendly, LWJ/WWX Get a Happy Ending) might qualify. WWX is not secretly wealthy, but he does make a name for himself as both a cultivator and an artist under a pseudonym, and is living comfortably.

Come Around and Stay by trippednfell (M, 160k, WangXian, NieLan, Modern AU, Slow Burn, Kid Fic, Found Family, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, PTSD, Blood and Injury, Dissociation, Angst with a Happy Ending, POV Alternating, Yunmeng reconciliation (eventually), Friend Zoning, Literal Sleeping Together, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks) also has a secretly wealthy/successful WWX

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5. Fot the next I'm in the mood for... I'm in the mood for a fic where wei ying just decides to trust lan zhan and tell him about the core and his three months at the burial mounds after they meet again. So not lan zhan finding out by accident, but wei ying trusting him with it. Thanks! @ranfused4ever

Swordless by WithBroomBefore (G, 32k, WangXian, Established Relationship, Canon Divergence, WWX goes to Gusu, Golden Core Reveal, Trans Character, AFAB LWJ, philos)

Red Flower With One Hundred Petals; Smoke Carried on the Blue Dusk Air by carolyncaves (T, 32k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Post-Sunshot Campaign, Alcohol, Mental Health Issues, Angst, Tenderness, Golden Core Reveal, Hurt/Comfort, thoughts of death/dying, Marriage Proposal, Wedding Fluff, Family Feels, Literal Sleeping Together, Shotgun Wedding, angry wedding planner JC, Yunmeng sibling drama and fluff, physical affection, Terrible Parties, Happy Ending)

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6. hi! itmf fics that play up the effects of Wei Wuxian not having a golden core? He gets cold more quickly, needs to eat more, needs to sleep more, can't keep up with the cultivators as well, etc. Bonus points if Lan Wangji dotes on him to make up for it!

they who refuse to be blessed by sysrae (E, 7k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Canon Divergence, Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Whump, Golden Core Reveal, Developing Relationship, Bathing/Washing, Confessions, Sharing a Bed) I /suppose/ they who refuse to be blessed by sysrae would work? Definitely points how terrible conditions were in the Burial Mounds and what that physically would do to a recently coreless wwx

it rains, it pours by jublis (Not Rated, 38k, WIP, WangXian, Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Case Fic, Established Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending, Soft WangXian, Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Protective LWJ, Protective WWX, YLLZ WWX, Rogue Cultivator LQY, LQY & WWX Friendship, BAMF MM, Horror, wwx-centric, Friendship/Love, Ghosts, Junior Quartet Dynamics) there is a story by jublis that plays into this esp in the first chapter, its a wip in progress, also a sequel (the first story is also amazing!)

DanTian Series by ArchiveWriter (E, 150k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Happy WangXian, Slice of Life, Established Relationship, Fluff, Domestic bliss, Family fluff, Tags Vary per story) this is a persistent theme in DanTian, by ArchiveWriter. WWX isn’t getting a new core, and LWJ (who has renounced immortality to age along with him) tenderly pampers him to the extent their austere mountain retreat allows.

Like a Water-Worn Stone by meyari (T, 41k, wangxian, major character death, hurt/comfort, chronic illness, serious injuries, self-medication, disability, PTSD, depression, self-worth issues, implied/referenced child abuse, prisoner of war, identity issues, tw JGS) these two have a same theme: wwx has chronic pain and because he didn't have golden core, he is not healing as fast as normal cultivato.

Elder, an Aesthetic by MarbleGlove (G, 8k, JC & WWX, fix-it, post-sunshot)

let the sun go down on your anger; let it burn you to sleep by enbysaurus_rex (Not Rated, 78k, WIP, WangXian, WWX & WQ, Narcolepsy AU, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, YLLZ WWX, Oblivious WWX, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Sleeping Beauty Fusion, tags at the beginning of every chapter, Body Horror) (link in #9)"let the sun go down on your anger; let it burn you to sleep" also works great here. WWX has been mitigating the effects of his undiagnosed narcolepsy with his core and has no idea how much his condition truly impacts him until he gives up his core

silt, or scurvy series by astronicht (M, 11k, wangxian, modern w/ magic, chronic illness, Podfic: The Silt or Scurvy Series by raitala) modern cultivation AU; the combination of corelessness and resentful energy immersion is causing WWX chronic illness and pain.

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7. A) So I was reading Keep Holding On by abCEE and it was amazing. There was a part where we get to know that Wei WuXian's father WCZ is actually a young master of a wealthy, famous and powerful merchant family. The whole arc was really really good.

So this is an IITMF request: are there any fics similar to this? Like WWX being loaded af. And only canon era fics please, 'cause I've read a few modern fics with this theme, but WWX was a lot older in them.

Thank you so much for your precious time 💜

B) Hey!! Give me some NMJ and WWX friendship please :)

C) Are there any fics where there is no Golden Core theory at all? Like what would've happened if there was no such theory written by WQ.

@utxqia

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8. itmf pov outsider fics that watch lwj fall in love with wwx or vice versa please 🥺

💙 Su She Eats his Heart Out by KizuKatana (T, 16k, WangXian, 3rd person pov, implied offscreen wangxian sex)

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9. in the mood for a fic where the golden core transfer is described in excruciating detail :3

let the sun go down on your anger; let it burn you to sleep by enbysaurus_rex (Not Rated, 78k, WIP, WangXian, WWX & WQ, Narcolepsy AU, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, YLLZ WWX, Oblivious WWX, Sleeping Beauty Elements, Sleeping Beauty Fusion, tags at the beginning of every chapter, Body Horror) this fic has a long core transfer description

Chapter 1 of Departure in Autumn by chomrafy (Not Rated, 6k, Angst, golden core transfer, Whumptober, Wwx and jc have matching scars, Food, Family, Cooking, Xuanwu Cave, Fall of Lotus PIer, Cynophobia, First Seige of the Burial Mounds, Hurt/Comfort, But also, Hurt No Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts) a detailed description of the core transfer from WQ’s POV; warning for torturous medical experimentation and moral injury.

Core-Thieving Hand by x_los (T, 5k, WangXian, WQ & WWX & WN, Body Horror, Fullmetal Alchemist Vibes, Nuclear Horror Vibes, Found Family, Neon Genesis Evangelion Vibes) showcasing WWX and WQ (and WN!) as Science Siblings; canon diverges in the middle of the operation, with the result that core research takes an even darker turn that nonetheless winds up saving more lives; an examination of the terrible decisions scientists face in wartime and thereafter.)

Family Ties by archipelago (E, 3k, WQ & WWX, NingXian, graphic depictions of surgery, Blood, Gore, Protective Siblings, siblings willing to do terrible things for each other, Pain, Emotional Trauma, Physical Trauma, wwx is awake for surgery, Canon Compliant, Golden Core Transfer, cql)

Glow by Quiet_crash (G, 2k, WangXian, Junior Quartet, JC & WWX) it’s fairly brief, but WWX recounts his corectomy (as well as his donghua-exclusive destruction of WZL’s core) to the Junior Quartet.)

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10. Hello! For one of your upcoming “in the mood for” posts, does anyone have any First Jade!Lan Wangji? @emrysmerlyn

The sea and sky and everything in between by apathyinreverie (M, 8k, WIP, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Manipulation, but in a good way?, Fluff, creature blood, Dragon LWJ, Siren WWX, First Jade LWJ, Possessive LWJ, Oblivious WWX, Possessive WWX, Romance, courting, Older LWJ, not Jiang friendly)

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11. Itmf fics where wwx gets to raise and watch a-yuan grow? It can be at gusu or the burial grounds, wangxian centric or not, I just want to read about him getting to be the best dad in canon setting

both of these fit to an extent but since wei wuxian isnt actually *alive* (not a spoiler, its ghost time babey) in either of them they may not fit what the asker was looking for.

the moon, grown full by Deinde (T, 22k, LSZ & WWX, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Spirits, Identity Reveal, discussion of war crimes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, Homecoming, reclaiming your name and identity, Names, Families of Choice)

Response by Aki_no_hikari (G, 12k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Love Confessions)

The Intervening Years by roserocksrapidly (G, 11k, LSZ & WWX, LSZ & LWJ, WangXian, Canon Divergence, LSZ centric, Parent-Child Relationship, Wangxian is background, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort)

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12. Hi there! I'd like to make a request for a future itmf if thats okay? I know you guys have the comps for parent wx but I was wondering if I could get some fics featuring pregnant wwx? Genderbend, mpreg, a/b/o, modern or canon au, I'm fine with anything! I've just been reading a few lately where wwx is pregnant and it goes through the months of his pregnancy and so I was hoping to find more like that. Hope this ask wasn't too weird 😅 thank you so much for all that you do!

We actually do have a Pregxian & Pregji Fic compilation! Though I am sure our followers will have plenty more recs for you ^^

A Mother's Love by FirefliesNLightningBugs (M, 152k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Unreliable Narrator, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, Miscommunication, Family Feels, PTSD, Post-Sunshot Campaign, POV Multiple, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Good Brother In Law JZX, Genderbent WWX, Intersex WWX, not a/b/o, Expanded Universe, Unplanned Pregnancy, Golden Core Reveal, WWX Has No Golden Core, Bisexual WWX, YLLZ WWX, Parent-Child Relationship, Getting Together, Protective Yúnmèng Jiāng Sect, MXY Lives)

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13. Thanks for all your amazing work! I’m in the mood for fics about wangxian sworn brotherhood. Maybe wwx is all excited about having an official(ish) family for the first time. Maybe Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli have feelings about it. Maybe exploration of "historical" marriage and how that is or isn't what they want.

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14. This is an a specific ITMF request; I'd love any fics where, post-canon, the Gusu elders give WWX so much hell that he decides to leave, and in solidarity with his beloved LWJ secedes from the sect to go with him.

❤️ Attempting the Impossible by Ariaste (T, 36k, JC & WWX, WangXian, Reconciliation, Adoption, Adopted Children, JC POV, Family Feels, Family Fluff, the Yunmeng Bros make up, Post-Canon, the Wangxian Need More Kids agenda, Original Character(s), Kid Fic, Family Drama, Fluff, and like a tiny dab of angst, [PODFIC] Attempting the Impossible by Ariaste by lunatique) its specifically lan qiren that is rude which causes lan zhan to leave CR

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15. Hiii!! I’m itmf doted on wwx. LIKE: imagine yanli…but make it wwx. Just basically most people actually like him and are protective of him (if he has a sorta weak cultivation, or has a delicate constitution, that would be a plus). Ty in advance!!! :D

some things go forward by everythingispoetry (T, 75k, wangxian, modern, hospitals, teenage drama, slow burn, hurt/comfort, fluff, happy ending) For 15! It's wangxian with both of them having cancer (it's a happy ending though! No sad!) But wwx is in remission but has days that are bad and he gets doted on and cared for by his whole family, including madam yu.

A Burning Cold by MountainRose (G, 29k, Chronic Illness, Pre-Canon, Nirvana in Fire Fusion, Character Study, Wen Bullshit, Suibian, Snow Beetle Poison)

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16. Hello wonderful mods! ITMF fics where LWJ makes bad mistakes? I recently read this incomplete 2 chapter one where he dated WWX on a bet. I was hoping for something like this. But generally, anything where the fight/break up is LWJ's fault. (All the better if WWX doesn't immediately take him back). Thanks!

(Un)forgettable by Edens_Cat, VividestList (E, 67k, WangXian, Misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kid Fic, teenage juniors, Teacher WWX, the juniors are the wwx protection squad, Amnesia!, Protective WQ, protective LSZ, Matchmaker LJY, A-Yuan is Wei Yuan, Single Parent WWX, Riding, Dirty Talk, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering)

The Architecture of Heartbreaks by tigersugargirl (T, 5k, wangxian, modern, college/university au, fake/pretend dating, break-up, panic attacks, implied/referenced abuse, rich LWJ, scholarship WWX, architect WWX, rebuilding, healing, found family, WIP) the story in #16 is the architecture of heartbreaks by tigersugargirl. Damn shame it hasn't been updated in a while.

🧡 Life as a House by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (T, 55k, WangXian, Modern AU, Post-Divorce, Father-Son Relationship, Reconciliation, Therapy, Angst with a happy ending)

Honesty is the Best Policy (Except if You're an Asshole) by piecrust (E, 22k, WangXian, Porn with Feelings, College/University)

the earthquake in the room by phnelt (E, 39k, WangXian, College/University, Modern: No Powers, Canada, Getting Together, Mentions of lwj/others, inter-faculty romance, strangers to lovers to frenemies to lovers, mostly book characterisation)

~*~

17. Hi, I guess this would be for the next in the mood for post but I was wondering if anyone knew any fics where LWJ points out some of the hypocrisy of the Lan or Cultivators in general. Or fics where LWJ helps Wen Ruohan? I have read a few fics where WWX goes back and time and sides with the Wen but none where LWJ does that. I've read some where he'll go back and side with the Wen Remnants but never the Wen as a whole. Thanks! @kasey1939

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

[pancakeke]

genuine question, what kinds of YA books with no hard words are the focus of recent book drama. is it like twilight-style YA, sisterhood of the traveling pants-style YA, or house of the scorpion-style YA*. or all of it in general?

*I was in jr high/high school in the 2000s

[lunarrosespirits]

Rosemary the Brownie/Earth Elf [Mod Lilac]

Name: Rosemary

Species: Brownie/Earth Elf

Gender: female

Pronouns: she/her

Sexuality: bisexual

Alignment: Light

Personality: Rosemary is a kind, gentle soul. She is thoughtful about everything she does, and is careful to make sure she harms none. She is very easily excited and has a sense of childlike wonder. She loves to learn and is very happy to spout plant facts until she can’t talk anymore. She has a genuine zest for life and has a sunny and positive disposition. She doesn’t shy away from talking about serious subjects, however. She is a great listener and wants you to feel like you’re able to come to her with anything. She is a genuine sweetheart and wants nothing more than to bring joy, friendship, and sisterhood to your life. 

She has a big smile, an even bigger laugh, and has a habit of calling everyone "darlin," "baby," or "sugar."

Description:  Rosemary is about 5’7” tall, with beautiful deep brown skin. She has dark brown eyes that shine golden in the sunlight. She has a slightly crooked nose, and it scrunches up when she smiles. She has the youthful look of someone who is young, even though she is over a thousand years old. She has long, thick forest green braids that fall down to her waist. Her favorite outfit is linen pants, often dusty from gardening, a bright blue shirt, and a big straw hat.  Her smile is big, her laugh is bold and both light up the room. She is unafraid to throw her head back and laugh until tears are streaming down her face and her sides ache. 

Favorite color: a soft, pale yellow, deep greens, earth tones

Favorite animal: foxes, songbirds

Favorite song: Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Likes: gardening, landscaping, warm weather, apple pie, being outside 

Dislikes: storms, mean people, dead grass, scorpions

Companion requirements: Rosemary is beginner friendly, and would like a smaller family, of around 15-20 companions, including herself, based on past experiences. She would like a vessel in the form of a potted plant you two care for together, a gemstone, or another stone you’ve found in nature. 

Extras:  I met Rose in March in 2020 in the astral as she was traveling through the town I was visiting. We decided to sit and have tea and tarot, and hit it off and she stayed with me for a bit to take a break from her nomadic, wandering ways. In May of 2020 she stepped forward for a CC I was facilitating and went home with that companion.  Unfortunately, her companion ended up parting ways with Rose in a less than pleasant way. She came back to me, and after working through her fears and abandonment issues in intense therapy decided that she would like to try to find her true forever companion. She is still in therapy and her new companion must be respectful of that. She has made a ton of progress, but this is still something to be mindful of.

Furthermore, Rose was first posted over in Hallowed Conjurations - my Mod name there was Mod Banshee. Now that HC has closed down, she is pursuing companionship through Lunar Rose.

If you would like to apply for Rosemary you can apply for her here.

Price: $33.33, per Rose's request Mod Lilac

[roses-bel-air-darling]

Omg I'm sad that the mk beta is over. I had so much fun playing as Kitana, Li Mei, and Sub-Zero.

I wanna share my thoughts on the game and the characters. 😭

Even watching some of the trailers. I can't get over how gorgeous the game looks. The amount of details and designs. 😍

A cute detail I noticed with kitana is that she is wearing a purple sash around her waist. Which was gifted to her by her mom. Meaning that sindel is not evil in the new timeline.

Another hint is kitana saying a line when she beats an opponent. Shouting, "I fight like my mother!"

Hint: I know what happens to sindel in story mode due to story mode leaks going around but I only know of sindel's part. But that is all I'm saying cause I don't want to get spoiled or spoil any other details.

A funny thing I also caught one is with johnny when he talks to the crowd and a girl screams, "Johnny! I love you!"

And I think Sareena is evil in this game due to the fact in the banished trailer. Ashrah said that her demon sisters (I don't know if nrs is making sareena and her sisters being related to ashrah as they werent in the OG timeline or she meant by sisterhood as in bonds) are angry at her for leaving the netherrealm and choosing to become a force of good and hunt down demons. And she wants to either punish ashrah or bring her back.

And since Bi-Han is back and could possibly become noob saibot. Bi-Han and Sareena's path could cross. Since liu kang said to Bi-Han not to go to the temple of elements, where he meets Quan Chi and Sareena in a new intro. Plus, that mission is practically the start of the lin kuei cyber initiative and Bi-Han's internal struggle of his change of heart until he got killed by scorpion and resurrected and corrupted by Quan Chi. And I think Liu Kang is trying to prevent Bi-Han from becoming Noob Saibot. (But it's NRS. They are probably not going to give Bi-Han a break.)

My mains are probably going to be Kitana, Sindel, Sub-Zero, Kenshi, Li Mei, Havik, and Ermac (I can't stand his look but I hope he is going to have a different skin to choose.)

[cienie-isengardu]

I was awaiting your opinion and for a moment I was worried the new storyline frustrated you too much to finish watching. Glad you did, so I have companion to complain about Lin Kuei 🤣 

Yeah, watching MK1 storyline without classic Scorpion was weird, but to be honest I’m not really weirded by his absence but rather by putting Kuai Liang into his mantle. I understand Hanzo’s story wouldn’t work that well without Lin Kuei as an assassin clan - who in this timeline served as protectors of Earthrealm under Liu Kang’s orders not the cold-blooded killers but he still could be easily added to the cast, even as an antagonist, as he kinda started that way anyway. And then, if the game required Bi-Han to be evil, they could turn him into Noob Saibot (who at least makes sense as the evil reincarnation). The thing that pisses me off the most about Kuai in that game is that the authors tried too hard to make him into this wise, honorable Kuai Liang we know from the latest games while he in fact was a pretty angry and reckless/determined youth on the quest to avenge fallen brother when we met him in MK9. The wisdom, the experience, the seeking the right path despite his own pain and grief is what comes to him with age, when he was forced to face a lot of hard truth - about his clan, about Bi-Han’s corruption and even his own share of murdering. And sure, Kuai Liang always was presented as the more, hmm, caring? conscientious? out of the ice siblings but I feel like the game kinda killed his proper character development by setting him from the start as the pure good. Not saying MK1!Kuai Liang is a bad character or unlikeable but yeah, I’m missing the more flawed version of him. And nuanced Bi-Han. And classic Hanzo Hasashi, misled and corrupted by his own emotions and sorcery. 

(And Sonya. I miss her no-nonsense attitude and is that me, or do we not have any woman from Earthrealm as a fighter? Thinking more about it, almost all women ended up on the good side??)

But I agree, it is weird to think new players/fans who started their journey with Mortal Kombat won’t know the classic origin of Scorpion. Just weird. 

Oh, good points about Mileena and Tanya from the previous games. Personally I feel Mileena being blamed for her own sickness has something powerful too (and I guess, after the last few epidemic years we shouldn’t be surprised that Tarkatan species was changed into disease so Edenia has its own plague problem) and frankly, Tanya loving her still is pretty admirable too. I mean, she must have known Mileena before sickness, she can see how Mileena’s pretty face is changing and personality twisted into a mad, bloodthirsty caricature of her lover and Tanya not once rejected Mileena in horror or disgust?  Even though she could catch the same disease? I think there is some good ground for shippers to enjoy their new dynamic (though I admit, I’m a bit freaked by the whole umgadi system). I’m not sure if you had a chance (or will 😛) to check Mileena or Baraka’s ending? Spoiler ahead, Mileena got in touch with Baraka (on his request via Syzoth), visited the Tarkatan colony, aided them with food and other supplies and apparently publicly admitted she too is sick with the disease and I won’t lie, her ending touched me deeply. Shame, anything like that did not happen in actual story mode. 

Both versions of Mileena have (story-wise) good points and though I have never been much interested in her as a character, I will cherish the one timeline where she is happy and safe with family and friends around her. The girl deserves that. 

(Though it is fucking frustrating that Kitana and Mileena may have their sisterhood but Sub-Zero brothers were denied their bonds to be developed. Just… why??)

I would be pretty surprised if you were pleased with Bi-Han’s role. I start to think that when Bi-Han is presented in any way that imply there is honorable (as assassin could be) man under the mask, he always ends dead 🙁 Which is pretty surprising as he did not start as the evil character and Noob is supposed to be the bad version so why creators won’t let Bi-Han be neutral or the wild card but treat him so… blankly. If they wanted to make him evil, they could at least give him a serious role and not name his chapter BAND of BROTHERS then make them betray his companions and then, like, forget about him for the rest of the game? I’m not even that angry about arrogant/spoiled/frustrated Bi-Han in the first place, but how little he is in the story and how meaningless. 

Kuai, Tomas and Bi-Han were pure gold, shame it lasted for what? 5 minutes? Ten, maybe? And yeah, I agree with you about the vocabulary. The same as Bi-Han wanting spoils of war. Like, sure, it makes sense he as a son of Grandmaster has a different personality than assassin Bi-Han but dunno, maybe if we could see more of his character before the betrayal it would feel different. Generally, I’m not sure if Bi-Han brought anything important to the story? What we should be is the Champion Sub-Zero that the player could pick in the last chapter. Damn, I’m glad there is out there good Bi-Han but why not in the current story? Shame, just shame. 

I’m heartbroken by thinking we could have for fucking once Bi-Han and Kuai Liang brotherhood presented on screen to cherish but nope. Like you said, Bi-Han walked out of the narrative and did not come back. But then looking at the story mode, I would walk out too if I were him. No respect given, no point in staying.

(And there was no Bi-Han and Sareena interaction? CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY I TELL YOU ALL, CRIME!)

I too can’t imagine Bi-Han being into Cyber Initiative but maybe he and Sektor are gonna build more droid-like warriors than force anyone to change into machines? I agree with what you say, it is hard for me to see Sektor willingly agreeing to change into a machine without the pressure of living up to the (too high) exceptions. Kuai Liang and Smoke endings seems to be more focused on the upcoming Lin Kuei vs Shirai Ryu conflict than any original Kuai Liang and Tomas run from C.I. project. So I will let myself be a bit hopeful there.  But only just a bit, of course. Also, it was so nice that someone finally praised Sektor for his technology knowledge. Thanks Bi-Han, shame you couldn’t say anything nice to your brother(s), lol. 

The next game better bring Cyrax and Sektor for good!

JOHNNY AND KENSHI SURPRISED ME IN A VERY GOOD WAY! And no, you are not biased, Kenshi truly looks good there. Is it just me, or did Johnny look similar to the MK movie 1995 version? And damn, I always think Johnny is the heart of the group and I love how he was taking care of Kenshi. On other hand, it too adds a salt to injury that everyone can have some good friendship, whether between actual family members or strangers, but nope, not our Lin Kuei boys beside Kuai and Tomas. 

Hands down, Shang Tsung was fabulous. I think we may agree he is the best part of the whole game (is the voice and mannerism, isn’t it? Also pretty face XD). Though why Liu Kang would give him such a shitty life while Shao Kahn was made into an Outworld general is beyond me…

Ah, Syzoth. I’m grateful for the game to bring him back and give him this nice reptilian shape with a tail. I’m not so sure about his human appearance, not really disliking it but something was lacking and he didn’t have the “ssss” speech pattern anymore? Reptile did not annoy me in any special way but I wish they dropped the “dead family” courtesy of Shang Tsung and focused solely on Syzoth being the bullied outcast as this is what always drew me to his character. I would like his storyline more if he was with Shang Tsung on his free will as the only place where he isn’t treated as trash, not another dead wife and kid(s) (though I’m thinking it was said in character into and in the game only unspecified family?). I’m not sure if this is the right term, but Syzoth felt woobified? I always felt sorry for him for being outcast and treated shitty by almost everyone but now there is the oh so sad tragic loss that… didn’t feel that affecting him? I’m also a bit sad that Shang Tsung was involved (and why did he even tell Syzoth the truth, when he could keep lying about his family being alive to keep him under control?). Sure, Shang is a bastard but he always striked me as a man using “pragmatic kindness” and dunno, maybe I need to refresh my memory, but he and Reptile worked well so this new take on their relationship was pretty disappointing, especially since both were outcast trying to survive on their own? The old Shang Tsung being a cold bastard is understandable but why the young version couldn’t feel some sympathy for fellow “failure”? He just started his evil path, that does not mean he must be already heartless and I won’t lie, I would like more if Reptile was loyal out of gratitude or something like that than another (cliche) tragic story of a man with a dead wife and kid. 

So yeah, my main complaint (as yours) is the Lin Kuei though character intros at least give me some stuff to think over, especially how Kuai Liang and Tomas won’t cooperate with other when it comes to dealing / hunting Bi-Han, but sadly, the good stuff like always happens outside main story mode.

Btw, who are your fav characters?

Some MK1 thoughts

Since Mortal Kombat 1 cutscenes are now available on YouTube (and me watching it up to 4 a.m.), here some thoughts under cut:

This is the most pro-Mileena game and I’m glad for the girl to finally have supportive family and friends. Generally I’m very touched how much the Edenian female cast was bonded with each other, that Li Mei and Sindel turned out to be the best friends, Tanya and Mileena were in happy relationship (as much as it could be due to Umgadi laws), Mileena and Kitana for once did not need to fight for throne. Good stuff.

However, the game that advertises itself with “Fight through a brand new story featuring your favorite Mortal Kombat characters like you’ve never seen them before” can’t apparently give us a storyline in which Bi-Han & Kuai Liang are from start to (bitter) end brothers in every sense of the word. I guess, it is my own fault for hoping too much but the frustrating disappointment stings double so, because Mileena and Kitana got their happy family. And look, I don’t mind Bi-Han being so done with everyone and everything and wanting to combat / challenge authority of others while not caring much for Liu Kang’s godly status and all, but is that really so much to ask for having at least one game he is on brother’s side to the bitter end? I’m not even asking for a story to keep Bi-Han relevant to the final chapter, just him being (sort of) a good brother. 

I know I was foolish, but the plot twist of Lin Kuei only playing the thugs to test Kung Lao and Raiden from first chapter raised my hopes - supported a bit by the fact that Bi-Han was jerk to Smoke only to few scenes later asking both Kuai Liang and Tomas are they unharmed after he defeated Nitara. Because the Sub-Zero chapter (Band of Brothers!) was the best for another plot twist. We could have Bi-Han playing the role of a traitor so he and Kuai Liang could learn more about enemy’s true goal / weapon and if game creators didn’t want keep Bi-Han in the story (or couldn’t give him anything relevant to do in later chapters) they could kill him and I’m glad they didn’t or capture him or whatever. Like I said, I don’t need heroic Bi-Han per se, just him and Kuai Liang having the brotherhood we hear about since the original series. It is about damn time!

On another note, Sektor being loyal to Bi-Han and being shown in the Sub-Zero ending was such a nice addition. Though I’m still mad, that brothers are divided into Kuai Liang & Tomas vs Bi-Han & Sektor/Lin Kuei. The Lin Kuei storyline did not impress me at all.

At least, in the final fight between good and evil timelines, there is plenty version of Bi-Han and the fact that game allows the player to choose the character on their own (including Sub-Zero) warmed my heart so much ❤

I’m surprised in a good way by Johnny Cage, he was witty and great, but I’m truly touched how helpful and nice he was to some characters (and is it me, or did this Johnny felt so much like Johnny from MK movie 1995?). Him and Kenshi was pretty funny interaction but also him inviting Syzoth and Ashrah to come with them to Earthrealm AND THEN STAYING WITH THEM WHEN THE REST OF TEAM ALREADY WENT TO REST TO PROPERLY INTRODUCE THOSE TWO TO LIU KANG that is, this is the best of Johnny and I love they keep showing him like that ❤

And of course, Shang Tsung ❤ Though I do not understand why Shao Kahn was allowed to be Outworld general while Shang Tsung was given such a pitiful life? Sure, he is dangerous and all, but I would argue who was the worst person in previous lifes. Anyway, every time Shang Tsung works for the good guys, it is frankly my favorite thing. 

In general, the game looks gorgeous, the characters are cool, though I would love for some to have more screen time and some, like Bi-Han, to actually have a proper, meaningless relationship and part in the story. But I guess, Bi-Han is just fated to doom since the first game…. nothing new.

[hallowedconjurationsshop]

Rosemary the Brownie/Earth Elf {Banshee}

Nickname: Rosemary

Species: Brownie/Earth Elf

Pronouns: she/her

Gender: female

Alignment: light/neutral good

Favorite color: a soft, pale yellow, deep greens, earth tones

Favorite animal: foxes, songbirds

Favorite song: Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles

Likes: gardening, landscaping, warm weather, apple pie, being outside 

Dislikes: storms, mean people, dead grass, scorpions

Sexuality: bisexual

Personality: Rosemary is a kind, gentle soul. She is thoughtful about everything she does, and is careful to make sure she harms none. She is very easily excited and has a sense of childlike wonder. She loves to learn and is very happy to spout plant facts until she can’t talk anymore. She has a genuine zest for life and has a sunny and positive disposition. She doesn’t shy away from talking about serious subjects, however. She is a great listener and wants you to feel like you’re able to come to her with anything. She is a genuine sweetheart and wants nothing more than to bring joy, friendship, and sisterhood to your life. 

Physical description:  Rosemary is about 5’7” tall, with beautiful deep brown skin. She has dark brown eyes that shine golden in the sunlight. She has a slightly crooked nose, and it scrunches up when she smiles. She has the youthful look of someone who is young, even though she is over a thousand years old. She has long, thick forest green braids that fall down to her waist. Her favorite outfit is linen pants, often dusty from gardening, a bright blue shirt, and a big straw hat.  Her smile is big, her laugh is bold and both light up the room. She is unafraid to throw her head back and laugh until tears are streaming down her face and her sides ache. 

Companion requirements: Rosemary is beginner friendly, and would like a smaller family, of around 5-7 companions, including herself, based on past experiences, outlined below in the background info.  She would like a vessel in the form of a potted plant you two care for together, a gemstone, or another stone you’ve found in nature. 

Background Info:  I met Rose in March in 2020 in the astral as she was traveling through the town I was visiting. We decided to sit and have tea and tarot, and hit it off and she stayed with me for a bit to take a break from her nomadic, wandering ways. In May of 2020 she stepped forward for a CC I was facilitating and went home with that companion.  Unfortunately, her companion ended up parting ways with Rose in a less than pleasant way. She came back to me, and after working through her fears and abandonment issues in intense therapy decided that she would like to try to find her true forever companion. She is still in therapy and her new companion must be respectful of that. 

If you would like to apply for Rosemary you can apply for her here

[peterstanslizzie]

Reacting To: Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Season 2 Episode 2)

Episode Title: The Goat Cheese Prophecy

Spoiler Warning: Kindly proceed if you’ve already seen the episode or are able to handle spoilers.

1. The episode begins with a flashback to when Kipo was just a baby and her dad, Lio is trying to bottle-feed her. They are above the surface; So perhaps this took place at a time when there wasn’t a clover burrow? Or maybe Lio came up with Kipo to do something? Anyways, a Mega Scorpion pops up and starts chasing after him; Lio reaches a dead end and is cornered by the scorpion but cute baby Kipo reacts all of a sudden and uses her giant jaguar paw to slash its pincer. 

2. This buys Lio some time and they manage to escape and hide out somewhere in a forest. But he then hears some heavy stomping and gets charged at by a giant boar, I’m guessing. What can’t nobody catch a break on this show lol?

3. Back to the present; Our heroes arrive at a decimated Ratland. Again, I hope Amy and Brad are still alive. Looks like my prayers are answered because both rats pull up right in front of them in their van! Yay! They ask the group if they need a ride somewhere to which Kipo says that she needs to see the Chevre Sisterhood to help her control her transformation. According to Amy, they are very mysterious blind goats and she can only get them close to where they live but not exactly. 

4. They arrive at the area known as “Eyeball Woods”, which appears to be the place where Lio was attacked by that boar-thingy several years ago. After getting dropped off by the rats, they are suddenly attacked and eaten?! by 2 of the same creatures, except for Mandu (who kinda looks like it belongs to the same species as them except for the horns). I’m pretty sure that they’re just in their mouths...

5. Meanwhile, back at Scarlemagne’s Court, our main villain had just a painted a portrait of himself and he ends up hating it and tearing it apart. This guy has some major issues. Lio, who is now dressed up in court attire is taken by Scarlemagne to see the construction zone of his new city, Aurum. And the city is being built by the mind-controlled humans. Scarlemagne reveals to Lio that he’s running out of pheromones and he plans to use him to make more of them. 

6. Back to the two pigs/boars with our main characters in their mouths; They eventually spit them all out and they hear three of the Chevre goats chanting the names of 4 different cheese repeatedly, including Chevre, which I actually didn’t know it was a type of cheese made with goat’s milk. Now I know lmao. Since they’re goats, I guess my prediction about the mysterious cloaked individuals who appeared at the end of the first episode being the Chevre sisters is wrong. 

7. One of the goats whose name is Florabel realizes that they have visitors and because she and the rest of them are blind, they need to rely on the cheese to tell them that. Weird but okay. They start slobbering cheese all over the group’s mouths, which is once again, very weird. They also reveal that they use their pigs, Bornak and Webber to travel by hiding in their mouths, keeping them safe and hidden. Kipo lets them know of her plan to get them to train her to control her powers but they don’t seem to know what she’s talking about. Well, these goats seem kind of not all the way there in the head; So I’m not surprised. 

8. Scarlemagne wants Lio to reproduce his pheromones in a chemistry lab. We also get more context on the prior relationship between these two. From what I could deduce, Lio did something to Scarlemagne to make him “this way”, What does that mean? Like make him crazy or evil or what? Anyways, Lio obviously refuses to help him but it’s too late because he gets sprayed with the pheromones and has no choice but to do what he’s told. 

9. After explaining her plan even more to the goats, they seems to agree to help her but first, they want to make more cheese. I guessing the cheese is more important than I what initially thought. Kipo agrees to help them but she must do it alone, which makes Wolf feel highly suspicious of the goats. 

10. Kipo is led into a room with a bunch of stuff that is used to make the cheese. The sisters hand her a couple of herbs to put those into the mixture slowly. The recipe seems easy at first but it went from 0 to 100 real quick because they begin to speed through the instructions, which makes Kipo even more confused. To make matters worse, these crazy goats are all over the place and spilling/dropping things everywhere. They are so annoying. 

11. One of them (Bev) even accidentally tosses ghost peppers into Kipo’s eyes, which stings her face. It also seems like her transformation is starting to take place gradually at the same time because her left arm is now growing fur on it, just like her right arm. Back to the mixture; These goats are reckless AF! And Kipo is trying her best not to get stabbed or burned by them. 

12. Meanwhile, Wolf is trying to get past the two giant pigs and she manages to sting them with Stalky; Although, they end up falling asleep in front of the exit to the room Kipo is in. But with Mandu’s help, they manage to get past and reunite with Kipo, who ends up looking like this now:

13. Even though Kipo is frustrated that she isn’t a full-on jaguar yet, I’d say a lot of progress has been made. I mean, look at her! The goats then reveal to Kipo about how they met her father and her a long time ago. They tell her that Lio had just lost her mother and had to abandon the burrow Kipo was born in. I wonder why he had to abandon that burrow? Maybe it would bring a lot of painful memories for him?

14. He asked them for guidance to which they tell him that making cheese would help. We also see that whenever Kipo feels safe, she will transform herself more towards her human form and vice versa if she feels unsafe, which is pretty much whenever she’s on the surface. Basically, the goats advise Lio to keep her safe in another burrow to keep her human form as her dominant one. And when it’s time for her to be a jaguar, he can bring her back to the woods. 

15. After hearing the story about her dad, her jaguar form is starting to dissipate but only a little. They tell her to think about the safety she feels when she’s around her dad whilst doing the “herbs out” motion. And it works! All her fur is now gone!

16. So all Kipo has to do to is to feel at peace by imagining herself with Lio in order to maintain her human form and if she wants to transform into her jaguar form, she needs to do the “herbs in” motion as well as thinking about needing to use that form. So that’s why the goat sisters were acting all crazy just now. And Kipo is practically mastering this technique. But we still don’t know if she will be able to FULLY transform into a Mega Jaguar.

17. Back at the lab, Scarlemagne discovers that Kipo is actually Lio’s daughter. Hmm, I really thought he already knew given the prior relationship he and Lio had. He then tells Lio that he plans to capture Kipo and use her Jaguar form for his own benefit. 

18. We then see the Chevre sisters doing their cheese chant again in order to find out if Kipo is ready to take on Scarlemagne with her Mega Jaguar form. Their eyes start glowing blue and they reveal to them that if Kipo becomes the Mega, she won’t be able to turn back into her human form and she probably will lose all of her human essence to it. But there is still a chance for her to stop it and it’s by finding an object that can bind her to her core and guide her out of her jaguar form. 

19. Kipo figures that she could go back to the burrow she was originally from and was born into, which isn’t the clover burrow. She asks the goats if they have any idea where that burrow is or if her dad has given them any info on why he had to abandon the place to which the sisters say they don’t have the answers to those questions. So, the episode ends with a new mission at hand. 

20. Hope you all enjoyed my review of episode 2. Stay tuned tomorrow for when I will be posting my review of episode 3. Thanks for reading! Bye y’all!

[marypickfords]

Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (Shunya Ito, 1972)

“These women captives, while remaining complicated and sometimes downright villainous, are ultimately bound together by a gendered understanding of how they are treated by the world. In the sequel, Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41, Scorpion passes a blood stained knife to a woman and she in turn passes it on to someone else, like a family heirloom, embodying the power of sisterhood that W.i.P cinema can posses if wielded correctly. [...] Meiko Kaji's determined glare and her castrating reaper made sure genre cinema would never be the same again. With the prowess of her mere sight, Kaji granted a space where women could control the image and push back at cinema's longstanding poisonous gaze.” (x)

[lady-annaya]

EM'S FANDOM/AU LIST

PREFERRED GENRES

apocalypse

zombies/zombie apocalypse

school/college/university

runaways

western

horror

future

royalty

shakespeare

politics

thriller

soulmates

period settings

crime, law, detective

soap opera

mythology/folklore

fairy tales

spies

counterfactual history

rom com

utopia/dystopia

modern au

western

famous historical couples/families

the olympics

noir

supernatural

murder mystery

mob/mafia/gangster

sci fi

TV SHOWS

gossip girl

heroes

the big bang theory

the walking dead

once upon a time

reign

the tudors

the 100

game of thrones

parks & rec

one day at a time

criminal minds

scooby doo

teen wolf

how to get away with murder

orange is the new black

sons of anarchy/mayans mc

glee

brooklyn nine-nine

riverdale

pretty little liars

stranger things

the office

pokemon

supernatural

mindhunter

h20: just add water

the magicians

the vampire diaries

the originals

legacies

lost

grey's anatomy

altered carbon

the carrie diaries

izombie

jane the virgin

umbrella academy

dead to me

white collar

suits

the good place

unbreakable kimmy schmidt

the good wife

hannibal

UnReal

chilling adventures of sabrina

the secret circle

the resident

new amsterdam

the bachelor/bachelorette/bachelor in paradise

big little lies

swat

seal team

friday night lights

one tree hill

the real housewives franchise

bones

the mindy project

veronica mars

agents of shield

full house/fuller house

chicago pd/med/fire

station 19

the bold type

the fosters/good trouble

younger

this is us

survivor

marvel's the runaways

the walking dead/fear the walking dead

blue bloods

elementary

empire

ncis

fbi

hawaii five-0

scorpion

bull

magnum pi

arrow/theflash/supergirl/black lightning/legends of tomorrow

dynasty

agent carter

scandal

the mandalorian

aquarius

the night shift

parenthood

sweet/vicious

bosch

switched at birth

the lying game

orphan black

scream

you

house of cards

daredevil

jessica jones

luke cage

iron fist

the punisher

quantico

degrassi

buffy the vampire slayer

4 weddings and a funeral

schitt's creek

harlots

make it or break it

nashville

america's next top model

top chef

project runway

how I met your mother

FILM

pirates of the carribean

star wars

marvel cinematic universe

twilight saga

the hunger games

mean girls

the harry potter series

disney

dc

mama mia

hairspray

grease

les mis

the sound of music

the wizard of oz

phantom of the opera

titanic

the fast and the furious

BOOKS

a series of unfortunate events

the hunger games

twilight saga

a song of ice and fire

the harry potter series

percy jackson/heroes of olympus

daughter of smoke and bone

a court of thorns and roses

the mortal instruments

divergent

matched

little women

graceling

vampire academy

the sisterhood of the traveling pants

gallagher girls

the fault in our stars

the selection

MUSICALS

come from away

wicked

once

hamilton

natasha, pierre, and the great come of 1812

spring awakening

rent

oklahoma

beautiful

anything goes

jersey boys

les mis

phantom of the opera

annie

mama mia

oliver

into the woods

once upon a mattress

cabaret

how to succeed in business

[laismoura-art]

Ok, consider:

Jataaka as Queen of Netherrealm!

[phynxrizng]

OK LADIES, HERE'S AN EXPLAINATION FOR ALL THE CRAP THAT'S GOING ON....

Reposted from Sisterhood of the Golden Phoenix page.

Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio- The Unraveling of Masks, Past Secrets That Haunt, The All Seeing + Knowing Eye

On October 31st, the day of Halloween/Samhain, Mercury, the planet of: the mind, contracts and communication, turns retrograde at 27 degrees of Scorpio. Scorpio, the 8th zodiac sign, is known to be: secretive, powerful, trans-formative, sexual and deal with the darker sides of life. Trick or treat... here we go!

Retrograde Mercury in Scorpio, will bring up the "skeletons" of the past and there is no hiding or running from these revelations. Mercury retrograde time tends to bring the past back to be re-examined and these won't be just former plans or ideas but could also be people(yeah I know). Mercury retrograde in the Scorpion's den will ignite a re-call into our deeper, more hidden subconscious patterns. We will be asked to go to the "dark side" whether we want to or not. Secrets and repressed thoughts will rise up and we won't be able to ignore or run away from them.

Mercury's retrograde phase has likely already begun, as his pre-shadow began on October 11th. Since then, major truth bombs and spiritual epiphanies could have been brought to the surface. Scorpio energy is no BS and this Mercury retrograde will be brutal for those not willing to face the truth and nothing but the TRUTH. Electronics and travel plans could go also go bonkers, so make sure to take extra time in planning excursions and purchases. Issues surrounding shared assets and joint en-devours could also run amok. This is a great time to go back and finish old projects that were put on the back burner. As per the Scorpio way, we might become obsessed with getting to the bottom of things and have an insatiable appetite for completion. "Leave no skeleton unturned" could well become the mantra for this transit.

Mercury retrograde in the deepest, darkest sign of Scorpio, is here to awaken your past mental struggles but also your greatest mental strengths. There is no other sign that will dig deep and conquer their demons quite like a Scorpio. The power and transformation that is possible during this Mercury retrograde cycle could be life changing. Mercury retrograde in the Scorpion's den, wants to bring these mental tests back, not to torture you, but to show you how resilient and far you have come in your life. Get ready to face your shadow side with humility and honesty. There is no escape... that illusion will become very clear during the next 3 weeks. Mercury retrograde in Scorpio is here to bring: the skeletons of the past back, authentic and no BS truths and the ability to conquer any and all demons. Mercury will begin his retrograde phase at 27 degrees of Scorpio on October 31st, before turning direct again on November 20th at 11 degrees of Scorpio.

Image: Jon MacNair Art

[egsapress]

[adhoption]

GAME OF FINALES

There were many things to love about the finale:

Seriously, the aesthetic of that whole start, a broken city of ashes, the Targaryen banner slung over the ruins, that shot with the dragon wings, Dany’s zealous speech... nice. 

She’s been getting away with being a power-mad, egotistical, vengeful white saviour for years, killing anyone who dares to even disrespect her, and it’s been presented as WOO STRONG FEMALE CHARACTER and fans encouraged to believe the hype about her destiny to save the world and right to rule as much as she does. It’s nice that they did the twist of ah, actually this kind of person is bad news, it’s only a matter of time before they cross the line and start killing innocents. It was coming. 

But at the same time, it wasn’t really coming when it did? They didn’t lead up to it at all, and if anything she’d been more tamed since meeting Jon and friends than in the early days. They could have shown her arc going towards madness, not in the opposite direction. They could have shown her grieving, being consumed with a need for vengeance, rather than go from a speech about mercy to massacring children with no reason. They could have made them collateral damage as she tried to go for Cersei who was using them as human shields and Dany decided she didn’t care, or have the newly orphaned children try to defend their city and throw rocks or toy horses at Drogon and Dany burn them just seeing them as enemies. That would have been a way to cross the line, rather than winning the battle and then deciding to go for an impromptu barbecue.

What’s weird is that they spent the first half an hour of the episode explaining how it was actually inevitable and reminding us of the bad stuff she’d done before, like the characters were actively trying to justify the way the plot had turned in retrospect, like the opposite of foreshadowing, the opposite of build-up. These episodes were filmed at the same time, but it felt almost like this was a weekly show and the writers were responding to the criticism of last week’s. Outrage that Jon didn’t say goodbye to Ghost? Quick, reunite them and make him tickle him behind the ears (I was on my edge of my seat chanting Ghost Ghost Ghost the moment Jon went north again, I was so afraid they’d forget about him again). Laughter that a coffee cup was left on a table? Quick, tuck a plastic water bottle under a chair.

It’s also important that whenever the atrocity was mentioned it was explained that poor Dany lost her best friend and her dragon, whereas Cersei was just pure evil and hadn’t, say, lived her whole adult life under a prophesy that she would see her children dead and a young queen would come and destroy her, then watched all three of them die, seen her parents die, her whole world come crashing down, lurch from an abusive relationship to co-dependent incest and alcoholism and grief, and then simply decide to give no quarter to prisoners just like Dany burns them alive.

There’s a lot of things like Mad-Dany that which would have been nice and fitting if they weren’t rushed. Varys went from servant to traitor to bonfire in one poorly-lit, mumbled minute where you had to guess what was going on. Jamie went from ‘I’ve decided to stay with Brienne, the culmination of my years of character development’ to ‘actually no’ in a minute of her blubbing as out of character as him losing all moral fibre. This used to be a show of elaborate over-lapping plots, and characters who grew year-on-year. So yes, Dany-goes-bad, Jon-kills-her, Jon-has-to-go-back-to-Night’s-Watch, all nice and fitting ends to their stories. Nobody-sits-the-throne is a good resolution, symbolically melting it and starting afresh, electing somebody who wasn’t one of the main leaders. Gendry would have been nice, a fitting end to the story which began with the mystery around Robert’s bastards and Ned saving his life exactly like he did Jon, two children in danger as secret heirs to dynasties, and the irony of Dany having legitimised him only for him to usurp her as his father did hers. 

But not Bran. This isn’t Bran’s story. Bran’s war was the Great War. He spent years of character development journeying beyond the wall to meet his destiny, learning from and becoming the Three-Eyed Raven, clashing with the Night King, gaining the ability to see through time and space and weirwoods, gaining the ability to warg into direwolves and ravens and Hodors. But he has zero of the aptitudes needed to be a king. He is barely even human any more. He has no strength or compassion, no steel or charm.

Here are some particular points that I loved:

I loved the way how, after years of patiently watching Bran crawl around in the dark to gain the ability to go back in time and influence past events, or the power to take over the mind of a dragon, he didn’t just... use none of those powers in the pivotal moments of the last couple of seasons apart from to do a few seconds of raven-scouting and volunteer himself as bait. It was important after all that build-up that there would be a pay-off, that the gun Chekov’s character had spent the whole play building would actually be used.

So it was satisfying the way that after the Night King won and conquered Winterfell, walked into the Godswood and reached out to claim Bran, Bran touched the heart tree and his eyes went white before they were brutally turned blue. Then, after we watched the army of the dead sweep south with a terrible inevitability, the last stand of the living as Cersei realised her mistake and all the forces of King’s Landing were similarly overwhelmed, scorpions aimed at the White Walkers on dead dragons, confused Night King coming face-to-face with the reanimated Ser Gregor, Qyburn staring in fascination as the dead tear him apart, wights of Jon and Dany and Arya and Sansa and the Hound coming to claim their living enemies, the living finally fall and the Night King sits the Iron Throne, it fades to black... and we are in the weirwood with Bran, making a crucial change in the past, perhaps in that vision of the creation of the Night King, perhaps in another pivotal moment in the series. Then the next episode opens and the dead are bearing down on Winterfell again, but this time, something small has changed, making all the difference. This time, they won’t win.

Or perhaps it was revealed that Bran had gone back and become the Night King, and that was why he was able to control the dead, using his warging and Three-Eyed Raven powers, and then Jon or Arya had to kill him. Or perhaps he was able to warg into one of the dragons and fight the way that Jon and Dany riding them couldn’t. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I do remember how satisfying it was that the skills he’d learnt actually meant something. It would be disappointing if he only came back to sit making cryptic comments from the corner for two seasons, saying he was no longer Bran Stark and couldn’t be Lord of Winterfell because he was a bird now, only to then randomly be chosen as a king of a distant city on his first visit. 

It would then be especially weird if, after being named the first ever Stark king and uniting the north with the other six kingdoms as rightful king of both, the north then decide that they can follow Ned and Sansa as Starks but not him because as someone who was previously Lord of Winterfell and just left the north for the first time in his life they aren’t going to follow him as a southron king, whereas they will follow Sansa who grew up in King’s Landing.

In the same way I love the way that, after patiently watching Arya crawl around in the dark to learn how to see without eyes, learn how to wear other people’s faces and become them, she didn’t use any of those skills in the last two seasons, only stabbing with a dagger which she already knew how to do. It’s exciting watching Chekov’s character bludgen an intruder with a rolling pin, but a bit strange when you know the gun is hanging on the wall. 

After years of hearing her list recited, it was satisfying that she ended up crossing off the final name and killing the people she was supposed to kill, rather than just claiming the person that Jon and Dany and Bran and Beric were destined to kill and had built up their character arcs around, and making it look easy, thus derailing not only her own narrative arc but theirs as well.

Similar to Bran, it was also important that she had a fitting end that matched her character development to date, like how she spent the last episode building up motivation to avenge the innocents Dany had just burnt, and to protect Jon who she knew was rightfully the first in line but would never have the heart to move against Dany, so she bravely went to kill her herself, moving in darkness or wearing a face as a disguise, and was killed by Drogon, but not before taking him down at the same time, proving herself a dragonslayer and assassin worthy of legend, which finally gave Jon the heart he needed to do what he needed to do and kill Dany to avenge the little sister whose hair he used to ruffle and whose sentences he used to always finish, finishing her final act for her instead. 

Or did she go back to the riverlands and take up the mantle of Beric and the Hound who had saved her life, becoming the leader of the Sisterhood without Banners, a protector of the smallfolk and innocents everywhere against the tyranny of lords and soldiers whose atrocities she had witnessed at Harrenhall and The Twins and across the riverlands (and now at King’s Landing), riding around on her white horse and delivering the justice that Beric and Thoros used to give with their hanging ropes, or she and the Hand had given to the likes of Polliver, or that she had given to the Freys. There was that poignant scene where a little girl came to her with the names of men who had done unspeakable things to her village, and Arya calmly added the names to a list. There was that scene where she found Nymeria again, leading her pack of a hundred wolves around the riverlands, and joined forces with her to ensure that evil had refuge in the towns or in the trees, and turned to her and finally said “Yes. This is me.”

It was important that she had a satisfying, fitting end that matched her path and her background and her newly earned skills, like Bran, rather than say, him becoming king, or her randomly deciding to become a sailor having previously shown precisely zero inclination or aptitude for a life on the seas. It would have been especially ridiculous for her to start her nautical career by heading out with a single ship across the open ocean, which the books tell us has been tried before by whole fleets of ships and they have been torn apart by storms, and just doing it immediately with no real planning, in a jarring contrast with a scene where everyone else is talking about how they have no ships and are about to start building the sort of fleet that might be able to support her.

I loved the way the writers remembered they’d left Ellaria Sand to be kept alive in a dungeon beneath the Red Keep and had her released as leader of Dorne to take part in the council, rather than just replacing her with some randomer and not even acknowledging if she was dead or not.

I loved the way Brienne got over her rollercoaster emotional journey from stoic professional to sobbing teenager after one night of lovemaking and took the time to ensure Jaime’s memory was honoured correctly, such as by writing his biography with all the things he’d told her, and especially remembering to correct the single most important thing he’d told her (that he’d only killed the Mad King to save the whole city which was about to be blown up), and not just... leaving it written in his biography that he’d infamously broken his vows and killed the king and was known as Kingslayer since without providing any of the vital context, which she was one of the only people in the world who knew. It’s also a nice end to her character journey, which is based around her oath to protect Sansa and Arya, that she just leaves them both to take on huge risks and responsibility on her own and gets a new job wheeling Bran’s chair around.

‘Bran the Broken’ was definitely the best name they could come up with to describe a disabled character who definitely couldn’t have gone without an epithet (because all the others had to have one, like Cersei the Sassy and Joffrey the Juvenile Delinquent and Tommen the Timid and Dany the Deluded) and who had no other qualities, such as literal super-powers, which could have lent themselves to better ones. Bran the Raven had a ring to it.

I loved the way that the most teased and important plot twist, R+L=J, which they spent ages having characters explain to each other in hushed, important scenes, turned out to be important to the plot in any way. It would have been a bit disappointing if, say, only a handful of characters ever found out about it, or if the whole story could have happened in exactly the same way without it ever having been mentioned (beyond one episode where Jon rides a dragon and crashes it after achieving nothing).

[lettertothedead]

apple tree

i'm two enemies in an elevator

with walls made of skin --

if you wondered why my blood is always boiling

if you wondered why i'm picking again.

why i'm always rhythm or collateral

why i'm always running on something visceral

if you were wondering why i'm always high and cyclical

if you were wondering why i always have to be physical even if i'm a good actor

if you were getting any delusions about the "real me"

if you were wondering why i'm shrieking in a kiddie voice and becoming

a freudian parody of myself

why i'm shamelessly licking the ice cream cone

why I'm overdrawn by 1000 dollars in a brand new benz

why the mattress still has no sheets

if you wanted to ask, then let me have it

why i'm still a lightweight after all this time at the bar

why i'm still a heavyweight wrestling madly with God -- MY God -- in a purple spandex luchadore mask

snapping the fabric against my buzzing skin

snacking on apple cores. always Lilith. always rotting.

making firewood out of the tree of life.

and one sided bridges from the tree of knowledge that reach like ballerina arms to nowhere.

because apple wood isnt sturdy enough to support my curiosity.

always feeling too much or too little

seeing too much or too little through peaky little blossoms

why i'm making scorpion corpses in the swimming pool

why i'm frying ants and eggs on the sidewalk

why i'm still breaking in my human suit and calling it nostalgia

i'm reaching, reaching, almost there but i never made it to the top of the apple tree

why the orgasms are never enough

why i'm boiling under your scrutiny

why i'm reeling in my last remaining fleck of sense

til sense comes down, down splattering my chest

why my arms stopped working

my legs stopped working

why i'm a libra sun and rising

and why did i spent the night awake sucking astrology down my gullet like a frightened kirby

when i felt the scales almost tipping in your favor

you wanna ask me why i'm still bowing to idols

you want to ask me why I've changed again?

you want to ask me if lycanthropy is contagious?

you want to know if its genetic?

you want to read the wood burner graffiti in my family tree like

X hearts Y

and so and so

call X for a good time and

RIP, you will always be remembered

i see you, uncle Scott, high and queer as me beneath the window

i see you in my rearview, my vanity, and my binoculars

i see you like a bobble head jesus on the dashboard

a track marked guardian angel

i see you, uncle Scott, hanging from the branches

still bobbing for apples in your designer noose

and on to the apple core where

the first bite is sweet but the aftertaste

like iron

my brain is rootless

my branches fruitless

and my leaves they fall in spirals

i know you want to ask me why i stopped taking Abilify

i know you want to ask me why i stopped taking Lithium

i know you want to ask me why I've changed again and when i'll stop and if we can pull out the calendar with the red Xs

so you can know when I'll be down again

so you can know when I'll be fun again

so you know when i'll stop eating glass and the yin will beat the yang up

with tear drop bruises

head in hands

waiting in the foyer, hand and foot

so you want to know what it's like to feel sisterhood with a weapon

so you want to capitalize on my potential energy

so you're already planning a side hustle using my bipolar as a blueprint

so you wanna know what it's like to star in a freak show

so you wanna nibble on my dangerousness because it tastes so sweet in doses

because it tastes so good before you hit the core