#sorry the post have been a little lackluster

[sapnapthinkr]

[seo-changbinnies]

countdown to lixie’s bday

↳ d-6: a year of skz talker

[tbcanary]

category 100000 roy harper moment

[frantic-fiction]

Hey you.

Pic: Cuddlelion on steam

Astarion x gn!Tav

Summary: Young Arabella comes to stay at the camp during the trip through the Shadow-Cursed Lands. Her curious questions affect Astarion more than it should.

Based on this post by the-phantom-otaku

Thank you to my lovely friend Ayselluna for requesting this fic sorry it took me so long. Hopefully you like it.

Word Count: 1.5k

Masterlist

The camp is as lively as it always is. Gale is working away on the group's supper, Wyll giving him unwarranted pointers. Karlach is trying to sneak spoonfuls of the unfinished stew only to have her hand slapped away dramatically with a spoon. Shadowheart is in her evening prayer, and Haslin sits beside her in contemplation. Scratch and the owlbear cub are playfully wrestling in a mud puddle. The grinding sound of Lae'zel sharpening her sword echoes through the camp.

Astarion clenches his jaw, hands tightening against the leather binding of the book Tav had gifted him last week. He hated this time of evening the most when it was too late to keep moving on their journey but too late to hide away in his tent. Not that it would have stopped him before, but things have changed. Or maybe he had changed because he was waiting for them instead of tucking himself away.

Tav.

Because they should have been back by now, Tav had said they would only say hello to the skeleton. Something about 'Not wanting him to feel lonely.' It's a thing only Tav would think about because who cares about a reanimated skeleton besides Tav? But that was almost thirty minutes ago, and these woods left a sickly feeling lingering in the air. Astarion was familiar with darkness, but these shadowlands were filled with malice and evil, still not fully comprehended.

Astarion should find them. Ensure they're not trying to bring home an orphaned squirrel, stray cat, or whatever Tav seems to get up to when he's not watching. Make sure they're safe so he can quell the fire of anxiety that's eating away at him.

But as Astarion is tossing his book down to leave, Tav emerges from the red foliage. Their face is stretched into a soft, beaming smile, and the moon's glow cascades down in dim rays. Gods, they're always so breathtakingly beautiful that he doesn't think he'll ever get enough.

Tav shakes their head and speaks down. That's when Astarion notices the small tiefling child holding their hand. He recognizes her from the grove, Arabella. He smirked when he remembered her attempted robbery of that artifact from those testy druids. Then the images of her parents lying stiff in those dirty cots press forward into his mind, and he has to look away.

Now that he knows Tav is safe, he tries to focus back on the book. It wasn't anything special, just a romance novel about a dashing pirate and a blushing maiden. But Tav had gone out of their way to keep his collection filled with new material so he would not complain about the lackluster writing.

Astarion was halfway through the chapter by the time someone had approached. By smell, he knew it wasn't Tav, so he ignored them and hoped they would take the message and move along.

They didn't because soon there was a tug at his sleeve and a small clearing of one's throat.

"Hey, you!"

Astarion lowered the book and looked down to find Arabella looking expectantly up at him.

"Yes, hello," Astarion says cordially before pressing his face back into the book.

If he was being honest, children unnerved him. After being entombed for that long, painful year trying to save that young boy, he did everything in his power to steer clear of them. Astarion's hoping if he ignores the young girl long enough, she'll get bored and move on to bother the next party member.

However, the little tiefling wouldn't be swayed so easily.

"You look sick."

Astarion freezes and stares unblinkingly at the girl. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you're pale, sickly pale. You have dark circles under your eyes, and even your cheeks look kinda hollow. Are you okay?"

Now Astarion is thoroughly offended. Scoffing, he crosses his arms and sticks his nose in the air.

"I'm a vampire. I can't get sick." However, Astarion betrays his confidence by bringing one hand up to his face to prod at the skin under his eye.

"Really?" Arabella says in surprise, causing Astarion to snap his gaze down to the child. "Aren't vampires supposed to look young?"

Now fuming and outright pissed, Astarion sees the ghost of a smirk on the tiefling's face.

"Listen here, you little sh–"

"Astarion!" Tav interrupts, walking up behind and touching the girl's shoulder warmly.

"What? The little shit started it!"

Tav gives him a pointed look that he knows means he needs to calm down, or he will be in the dog house tonight.

"I didn't mean to upset him, ma'am," Arabella says, all sickly sweet, playing into your caring side. "I was just curious. I've never met a vampire before."

"No, the little devil-"

"Astarion," Tav warns, forcing him to bite his tongue. "Don't mind him, Arabella. Let's get you something to eat. Gale made a beef stew tonight."

Tav offers the young girl her hand, and as the two walk away, Arabella sends a smirk over her shoulder and sticks out her tongue, taunting him. Astarions hand twitches towards his dagger, wanting to teach the twerp a lesson, but he takes a deep breath and turns on his heel, storming into the tent.

By the time Tav retires for the night, Astarion is tucked away in the corner of the tent. He's glaring daggers at the hand mirror grasped tightly in his hand, willing the glass to show his reflection. Nimble fingers are poking and prodding and pulling at the skin under his eyes and around his face, trying to pick apart any details he could not see.

A deep frown pulls at his lips and creases his brow. Astarion's shoulders are slumped, betraying how much Arabella's words have affected him. It wasn't a secret the man was vain and took pride in his appearance. To have a child pick apart his insecurities left him upset and wanting nothing more than to see his face just once more.

Astarion is pulled from his brooding thoughts when he feels two arms snake around his middle and the soft press of kisses peppered up his neck. Instinctively, he melts into Tav's touch, still astonished by the simplicity of this new relationship.

"Hey, handsome," Tav breathes into his ear, pressing one more fleeting kiss just below before pulling away to get ready for bed.

He absentmindedly greets them, still too focused on his internal conflict. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Tav strip bare and move around, tossing random bits and bobs to find their night clothes. Once they're dressed, Tav stops and stands in the middle of the tent. He can feel them staring at him as he's transfixed on the empty mirror.

"Astarion,"

"Do I look sick?" He drops the mirror and turns to face Tav. "Do I look hollow and pale…old?" His voice trails off at the end, and he's unsure if he wants to know the answer, but it's eating away at him.

Tav's eyes soften. "Was that what Arabella said to you?"

Pity. He could see it in Tav's eyes, and he recoiled, disgust curdling in his gut.

Astarion scoffs." Please, Tav, I don't need your pity."

Tav grabs his hand and pulls him close. "There is no pity. Understanding yes. But not pity."

"It's all the same." Astarion looks down.

"No, but that's beside the point. Arabella is a child Star. They will say the most insulting things without realizing it or just because they know it will hurt. Do you want to know what I see?"

Astarion nods softly, holding onto the hem of Tav's shirt. He knows he's being foolish, but Astarion wants the reassurance that Tav is happy to give.

Tav cups his cheek, forcing him to meet their eyes. "Your face might look hollow to Arabella, but I see your high cheekbones and sharp jawline," Tav emphasizes their point by trailing a thumb against his jaw and pulling Astarion into a fleeting kiss. "Not to mention everything those lips and tongue have done to me."

Astarion smirked and chased after Tav's lips, pouting when he was denied.

Tav's hands trail down his chest and slip under his shirt, splaying against his cold skin. Astarion lets out a shaky breath. "Yes, you are pale, perhaps at times sickly. But I love it because after you've finished feeding, I see that beautiful flush covering your body."

"Maybe you have laugh lines and forehead creases that a little girl would consider old. But if you ask me? Astarion, when I see you smile and laugh, gods, it's the sexiest thing in the world. Because it shows me that you're happy and safe and here with me."

Tav has now thrown their arms over Astarion's shoulders and has pulled their body flush against his. Astarion is at a loss for words, especially when Tav looks at him with such love. Tav kisses him softly, and he tightens his hold, wanting nothing more than to meld into their body.

"So, who cares what a child thinks? You are beautiful, and between the two of us. I'm going to be the one worrying about wrinkles, not you, mister immortal vampire."

"Thank you, my love," Astarion whispered against Tav's lips, smiling into another sweet kiss.

"Let's lay down. I think it's time to cuddle, don't you think?"

Astarion's insecurities fade for the night because how can the darkness stand a chance when he has Tav as his guiding light?

Just something short and sweet while I'm in the middle of moving. Sorry if anyone felt ooc. Let me know what you guys thought of it.

Taglist: @heartfully10@ayselluna@marina-and-the-memes@anixson@canonicalchaoticneutral @toadsbitch @meulinkitten-blog @ambr4armr @lotusandcrystals @venussakura @synapticjive @skittleabyss @asterordinary @lariatbunny @whispering-depths @butchboi-chihuahua-slumlord @darkest-part-of-the-forest @queenofcarrotflowers-s @sessils @d20bunny @cherifrog @ophelia-ophelian @bgthree @darlingxdragon @mothynyx @completelyshatteredbrokenmschf @babyqnn @mmendez0124 @kokoyu-art

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[verspia]

Hi!! I would like to request a Kenan × jealous reader. The story can be however you like with whatever genre as long as they have a happy ending <333

THE BOY IS MINE • KENAN YILDIZ

( pairing ) kenan yıldız x reader

i’m so sorry i’ve been pretty inactive recently but college has been rlly busy atm! i’ll get to all your requests and write them as soon as i can!

this is literally the perfect request because i’ve been listening to the boy is mine nonstop and it fits the vibe yk?

If there’s one thing about you that’s commonly broadcast, it’s that you are the jealous type. Not jealous in the sense that you envy what others have, but rather it drives you up the wall when something that is yours is toyed with by another person.

The more accurate term would be possessive, and there’s no denying that you tend to get… territorial when it comes to Kenan.

Truly you can’t be faulted for your avaricious behaviour because Kenan is the sort of individual that can’t help but draw everyone’s eyes to him, and along with it, the desire of a plethora of girls.

It fuels you with an ugly sort of pride that you have what other girls can only dream off, a sharp glint of emotion that is slightly cruel and substantially domineering.

Another part of you feels enraged at the thought of anyone else besides you thinking of Kenan in ways that only you, in your opinion, should be capable of.

It’s not that you aren’t secure in your relationship, rather Kenan makes you feel as if you’re the only girl in the world. He goes out of his way to make you feel special, cherished even, and there’s more than enough clarity that proves, to Kenan, you are the only girl in the universe.

He always has you on his mind, in interviews he manages to mention you in some way or another, and even his celebrations are often dedicated to you. His online persona itself shows this, with you being the only girl in his following, and him being the first to comment and like your posts. Although you two aren’t very public, he has managed to get the point across that he’s yours, and some even say that he seems to orbit around you.

Nonetheless, there are consequences that happen when you’re in a relationship with a famous footballer who’s not only massively talented but also incredibly handsome.

This means that more often than not, some girl will be deluded enough to think she can rub her grubby hands on your boyfriend and blink her abnormally large eyelashes at him and have him wrapped around her nasty little finger.

You’re being harsh, but the green monster inside of you called envy is vicious, and well, Kenan is yours.

You watch with thinly veiled rage as the supposed interviewer brushes Kenan’s arms for the umpteenth time, giggling as she shuffles closer to him, and the next action makes your blood boil, pressing herself on to him.

It’s clear to anyone, in fact even a blind man would be able to tell that your boyfriend is uncomfortable. Kenan’s face is contorted into a permanent grimace that this interviewer seems oblivious to, and from where you’re seated, you can tell that even the camera man has grown to notice the awkwardness that permeates him.

Yet no one does anything, and you feel yourself begin to frown, you can’t help but think, “Is this not workplace harassment?”

Her movements carry a subtle confidence that makes you scoff, but it is evident that she’s clearly unbothered by the lackluster response from Kenan, and seems to show no intention of backing off despite the younger man’s obvious discomfort.

You remain seated, even though you desperately want to run up across the field and rip that interviewer into shreds.

You don’t want to cause a scene, but your patience snaps when she brushes away a strand of hair on Kenan’s face, who’s grimace has now turned into a scowl. Her gaze on him is predatory and you know if it was directed at you from a man, it would make you shiver in disgust.

You stand up, marching down the bleachers and across the freshly cut grass with determination, having had enough of this absurd behaviour.

As you make your way to them, the interviewer makes eye contact with you and you notice a glimmer of smugness flash behind her eyes, but underneath it, her expression bubbles with an annoyance that infuriates you.

Her intentions are clearly anything but innocent but the smile she flashes your way seems to mimic it with expertise. It’s so evidently fake, the sweetness on her face is overpowering and a far cry from the sultry tone she’s had the entirety of this interview, from what you’ve observed.

You have never felt more inclined to slap a person than now, but you keep yourself in check, if this girls wants to get bitchy? Well, you’ll show her bitchy.

Kenan’s expression, on the other hand, brightens at your presence, but his eyes widen a little when he spots the aggression behind in your eyes. The smile on your face is as ingenuine as it gets but before he can say anything to appease you the interviewer opens her mouth.

“Hey… We were just talking about you.” Her voice floats out and it drips with sugar, in a way that makes you want to vomit, your ears cringe as if you’re hearing nails on a chalkboard.

“Oh were you now?”

“Yeah I was just telling Kenan how nice it must be to have a girlfriend who doesn’t seem to care about what the public thinks!”

The backhanded compliment is abrupt and strange, and you’re confused, is that really the best she could come up with?

You almost want to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

One moment this girl is boldly rubbing herself on your boyfriend and the best she can say to you is this?

You’re about to retaliate with a response but then smirk as an idea crosses your mind.

You don’t leave Kenan even a moment to blink or process the situation, even the interviewer and the Camera Man are stunned, as well as the millions of viewers watching the live stream.

Your hand reaches out to grab the collar of Kenan’s jersey, your actions reckless and abrupt, as you grab him closer and pull his head down to yours.

A gasp escapes his mouth as he stumbles a little, surprised and taken aback at your actions, but responds in kind when your lips meet his.

Kenan’s reaction makes it seem like he forgets the events that lead to this moment entirely, melting into you as you cradle his head.

It seems as if you two are lost in another world, just the two of you as everything around begins to blur. You press closer to Kenan, softly kissing him as he responds to your actions just as gently, both of you exhibiting emotion that spells love.

You move your mouth against his, trying to show your adoration to the man in front of you, forgetting the purpose of your actions in the first place as you feel his arms wrap around you.

You begin to lose yourself in his touch, his kisses have your mind feeling hazy and stars cloud your eyes as you sigh into the kiss.

Your whole form begins to turn into puddle, and your mind only seems to echo the singular thought that crosses your mind primary when he’s touching you.

Kenan. Kenan. Kenan. Kenan. Kenan. Kenan.

Like a mantra.

All you can focus on his touch, his hands, his lips, only him.

The same effect seems to reflect on him, as Kenan seems equally as dazed, kissing you fervently like a starved man, as if you’re the first drop of water in an isolated desert.

Kenan drinks you up eagerly, holding you tightly.

You only break apart at the purposeful cough from the interviewer, and you realise where you are.

It takes you a moment to gather yourself and remember what your original motives were, and then a smirk graces your swollen lips.

“Is that right Kenan? Your girlfriend doesn’t care about the public eye” Your voice is smug and sarcastic, filled with pride and the interviewer seems embarrassed, put off by your very public display of affection and the clear response to her supposed insult.

It’s comical to see the snobbish expression on her face be replaced by a look of mortification.

“Huh” is the only reply he offers, and you can only smile at the boy who still seems to be processing the aftermath of your very steamy kiss.

His cheeks are flushed red and his hair is tousled. The look on his face extinguishes all your previous agitation at the moment the interviewer had touched it.

You beam at him, and it’s more than clear to perhaps the whole world now that Kenan is yours, and only you can make him feel and look like this.

You turn back to the interviewer, “Oh! I must’ve gotten distracted, I just came here to say… wait! what’s your name? oh nevermind, I just wanted to say I admire your confidence, walking around like that! Now is the interview done? I’d like to… speak to my boyfriend about something private.”

The interviewer looks even more flustered than you’d have thought possible, and if you were a nicer person, you’d have felt the tiniest bit of sympathy, or atleast pity, for her, but all you feel is a surge of self satisfaction as you watch her mutter something about wrapping up and squaddle away from the two of you.

Once she’s finally disappeared from your sight, you turn to Kenan, who still seems a little astonished, and you can’t help the fondness in your eyes as you run your eyes over him.

He catches the look and his cheeks grow warmer, but he reaches out to cradle your hand, concern in his eyes. “Are you okay?”

Confusion rises in your eyes as you look at him, “Me? I should be asking you that, someone from a mile away could tell how uncomfortable she made you.”

Kenan shook his head, “Don’t worry about me, I can handle myself, I’m a big boy you know” His voice is teasing and you chuckle at him.

“Seriously though, she just wouldn’t take a hint and I didn’t want to be impolite.”

You shake your head at him, tugging his hand a little as the both of you begin to walk out, “I could tell, but I guess we gave her a little show”

Kenan smiled at you, pulling you close as one of his arms comes to rest at your waist.

“Oh you gave her a show alright,” He whispers affectionately, “But i’m glad you did, I don’t mind letting the world know i’m yours.”

You can’t help but blush at his words, your heart flutters wildly in your chest and it’s insane how despite being together for so long, Kenan still has this effect on you.

“Mhm I don’t mind either” Your voice takes on a coquettish edge, as you lean over, your face only inches away from his.

Kenan’s hands wrap around your hips as he grins at you.

“Trust me I know.”

“I should just post a picture of you and I and caption it the boy is mine.”

liked by kenanyildiz_official and others

ynusername - the boy is mine.

comments

kenanyildiz_official - only yours 🤍

user09 - that kiss on live television wasn’t enough girl

↪️ user86 - nah she’s letting yall know that’s HER man

user12 - nah tbf i would’ve done the same if my bf looked like that

user3 - yooo we get it bro

user96 - the second slide??? bro calm down ain’t nobody gonna take her from you

user916 - plss you ended that interviewer with the “what’s your name”

↪️ user1 - lmaooo i would never show my face again

↪️ user123 - i just know she’s crying seeing this post

user - WHATS 4 + 4

user22 - damn.

user0 - yall need a third? pls pls pls 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

fin.

[mothwingwritings]

From The Heart

F!Reader X Taiju Shiba

HAPPY LATE VALENTINE’S EVERYONE!!! I meant to post this the day of but you know how it is. This one goes out to all my Taiju girlies, sorry I have been lacking on content for him. Please accept this as a token of my love to you and a sign that I miss him dearly.

This isn’t technically linked to There’s Just No One Like You, but I did write it in the same vein, so it can be considered a little bonus chapter of sorts. He’s not as much of a butthead in this-I wanted to mess around with a sweeter, more bashful Taiju. :3

Enjoy and as always, thank you thank you thank you!!!

WARNINGS: possessive behavior, Taiju makes you cry exactly one tear, some miscommunication but not a lot because I hate it and it’s my least favorite trope, Koko flirting with you even though he knows you are a spoken for woman, mentions of sexy stuff but nothing overly saucy, heavy petting.

“Happy Valentine’s day Taiju!”

Excitement laced your voice as you approached the man in question, a huge smile on your face as you brandished his present, eager to see his response.

However, the initial giddiness you felt was quick to dissipate when you noticed the resentful expression that had settled on his face. Taiju eyed the gift box that lay in your outstretched hands as if it were full of insects, the home made chocolates you had spent all morning slaving over met with a look of revulsion. His piercing gaze drilled holes through the cutely wrapped box of treats you enthusiastically presented to him, his animosity palpable the longer he stared.

A thin layer of sweat began to coat the back of your neck as he continued to turn his nose at the box, his unamused scowl unflinching as he gawked at the gift in complete silence. You swallowed, shifting your feet where you stood. A blush crept to your cheeks as the seconds crawled by, his lack of verbal response making the atmosphere oppressively awkward.

“… Chocolate?”

The word sounded as disgusted as his expression looked, and you flinched when his sharp eyes directed themselves your way.

“Y-yeah,” you stuttered, tightening your grip on the box, “I made them for you this morning. I was going to make them last night but I ran out of time…” You looked down at the misshapen lumps in the box, suddenly feeling very self-conscious.  “Um, I know they aren’t the prettiest, I kind of rushed to make sure they would be done in time… They still taste pretty good though.”

It was true that the presentation was a bit lackluster, the simple red box that housed the chocolate was just something you had lying around and you didn’t have any molds or fun sprinkles to turn the candies into cute shapes or otherwise decorate them. The time constraint didn’t give much oppurtinty to focus on the aesthetics of your gift, so to make up for that you made sure the taste would be incredible. You typically weren’t one to brag, but when they cooled enough to taste you were impressed by your hard work, truly proud of them despite how wonky they appeared.

But looking at Taiju’s sneering face scrutinizing your creation made any feeling of accomplishment wither away and die. A nervous pit expanded in your stomach, dread overtaking the joy you felt in gifting them to Taiju. Maybe he didn’t like chocolate? You knew he wasn’t super huge on sweets, but you figured gifting him something traditional, something made from the heart, would at least garner a smile or a thank you.

You felt like an imbecile as he snatched the box from your hand, huffing as he turned on his heel.

“I’ll see you tonight,” he called over his shoulder, “wait for me.”

A deep frown settled on your lips, your eyes following him as the distance between you grew. Eventually he was entirely gone, his exit causing a single tear to slide down your cheek. You were quick to wipe it away, sniffling as you attempted to compose yourself.

You’d just have to try harder next year.

~

“There she is!”

The unmistakable voice of Kokonoi rang out behind you, causing you to sigh in annoyance. The day was half over and you considered yourself lucky to not have been bothered by him up until now. You had hoped your luck would continue through the whole day, saving you from his smart comments or weird insinuations. But that seemed to be too much to wish for on a day you were already struggling to get through, so here he was to add another trial to your trying holiday.

And you were just starting to feel better, too.

You turned around to greet him, but shot him a puzzled look as soon as you locked eyes with him. He stood before you, hands cupped in front of him as they reached out towards you, posed like he was looking for some kind of handout.

“Well?”

His question only confused you further, your brows furrowing as you cocked your head to the side. He sighed in frustration at the gesture, slumping his shoulders in mock dramatics. Your ignorance had apparently deeply wounded him.

“And here I thought you had made enough chocolate for all of us,” he shrugged, shooting you a teasing look, “Guess I was mistaken.”

“Chocolate…,” Confusion still permeated your features as you spoke to Koko, “What are you talking about?”

It was his turn to look puzzled, “Yeah, your home made ones? The ones you gave to Taiju?”

Noting the look of realization dawning on your face, Koko continued.

“The boss hasn’t shut up about them all day. The way he’s been going on and on about them made it sound like you had toiled over them for days, becoming a veritable chocolate factory.”

A deep blush settled over your cheeks, “He… Wait… What?” You struggled to find the right words, thrown by the fact that Taiju had not only acknowledged the gift you thought he had hated, but was gloating to others about it.

Koko frowned, “Why are you looking at me like that, did you not make him chocolate? I doubt he would accept them from some other chick, and it seems like a lame thing to lie about.”

“No I made them it’s just,” you shook your head, trying to pull yourself back from the shock, “Is he really bragging about them? When I gave them to him he seemed less than thrilled.”

Koko gave a sharp laugh, “Maybe he was just trying to play it cool in front of you or something because trust me, he’s been borderline obnoxious with how much he’s been enjoying them,” Koko took a step towards you, leaning down so that he could look into your eyes, “Made me a little jealous, ya know? I was hoping maybe you had some left over for your old friend Koko~?”

Your face settled into an irritated expression, garnering another large sigh from the raven haired boy. “I guess not. Though it makes me sad, it’s probably for the best. Boss looked like he was damn near ready to kill one of the other guys when they jokingly asked for a taste.  If I got my own directly from the source he’d probably kill me.”

He lowered himself even closer, causing you to take a step backwards to create some distance. A blush flitted across your cheeks at the proximity you shared, nervous that someone may walk by and misconstrue the scenario they saw before them.

“Though maybe someday I’ll get lucky,” his voice was low as he spoke, his eye contact unwavering as he held your uneasy gaze. He raised his hand to his mouth, placing his index finger across his lips, “if you ever feel like making me a batch in secret, I promise not to tell Taiju. I’d never turn down goodies from you, even if you were just using me as a taste tester for some other man.”

Koko gave you a knowing smirk, causing you to blush harder.

“Stop joking around,” you frowned, pushing past him to continue on your way, “I’m sure you’re not hurting for chocolate from girls today, Koko. Go bother one of them if you want something.”

He laughed once more, this time sounding slightly less jovial than previous.

“Guess you’re right. But still, offer stands if you ever need a sampler.”

~

You felt Taiju’s arm around you before you even sensed him.

Your body lurched, startled by his sudden appearance. Having been so engrossed in the show you were watching you didn’t hear him come through the door, nor did you notice him sneak up behind you.

“Did I scare you,” he smiled down at you, pressing a firm kiss to your head, “You need to pay better attention to your surroundings, what if I was some burglar come to haul you away?”

You gave him a wry smile, relishing the feeling of his closeness, “I wouldn’t be too worried for myself, but I would feel bad for the burglar. Once my boyfriend catches wind of my kidnapping, I don’t think it would end very well for the man trying to cart me away.”

You felt his chest rumble as he laughed. “True enough, but I wouldn’t be too happy with you either, letting some other man touch you so easily.” Goosebumps littered your arms as he placed a lingering kiss on your neck, “I’ll let it slide this time, but if you let me catch you like this again I’m going to have to punish you.”

Before you could comment further, Taiju lifted his left hand before you, revealing the vibrant bouquet he had been concealing. Your eyes widened at the colorful array of delicate pink roses and round white peonies beautifully clumped together, delicate baby’s breath placed along the edges as a lovely finishing touch. The flowers smelled as amazing as they looked and you happily accepted them, a smile illuminating your face.

“Thank you Taiju,” you exclaimed, taking a moment to bask in their beauty, “They are so pretty! I love them!”

He gave you another kiss on the head, “I’m glad you like them. I could have waited until white day, but I would have felt bad accepting such a great gift today without showing my appreciation in return.”

You turned back to him, a nonplussed look on your face. “You mean… You really did like the chocolates I made?”

It was his turn to shoot you a look, “Yeah? What man wouldn’t love their girl making them chocolates on Valentine’s Day?” You swore you saw a slight tinge to his cheeks as he lowered his head, nuzzling his nose into the crook of your neck before he spoke again, “It was cute as hell. And besides, they taste amazing.”

You placed your hand to your chest, breathing a small sigh of relief. “I’m so glad to hear that, I’ve been worrying about it all day.”

“Worrying?”

“Yeah,” you huffed, “You seemed so mad when I gave them too you! You had this look on your face like you were grossed out the moment you laid eyes on them.”

“Idiot,” he mumbled against your skin, “You completely misunderstood. I was pissed off because you spent the whole morning away from me. I had a Black Dragons meeting for most of the day so I was worried I wouldn’t get to see you, on Valentine’s no less.”

He sighed, detaching himself from you slightly, “Then I found out you were doing some adorable shit like making me homemade chocolate and I didn’t know how to react. I was still mad you weren’t by my side, but…”

You cocked an eyebrow at him, “But?”

He sighed again, scratching the back of his head in vexation. “I was also really happy. No one has ever made me chocolates before and I never really cared too much about receiving them from anyone previously. But getting them from you today, knowing that you made them with your own two hands…” His blush returned, this time much more noticeably, “I don’t know, it was exciting I guess.”

You laughed, enamored by the rare bashful expression plastered on Taiju’s face. “Good to know after all this time together I can still excite you with such a small surprise.” You nudged him gently, garnering an almost sheepish sounding grunt from him in response.

“You know you could have chocolates all the time if you wanted, all you have to do is ask.” You mused for a second, before adding “Well, only if you promise not to look at me like I am some kind of gross bug again when I hand them to you.”

He smirked, taking the flowers from your hands to place them on the table beside you. You remained fixated on him as he walked around the couch, gasping as he pushed you back against the soft cushions. Before you could question his motives, he crawled atop you, latching his mouth to yours in a searing, needy kiss.

“Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you?” His voice was husky as he broke the kiss, “You should know by now if I want something I won’t ask, I’ll just take it.”

He crashed back into you, working his mouth against yours with increasing ferocity. You whined as one of his hands gripped your thigh, the other snaking its way up your shirt to fondle your chest. His tongue slid inside your mouth, moving against yours as he groped you, your body growing hot each place he connected with you.

He caught your bottom lip between his teeth, gently biting down as he pulled away, licking the taste of you from his lips when he disconnected. Staring down at you with a lust crazed look in his eye you felt your sanity begin to waver, a shiver of anticipation coursing through your body over what was to come. Noting this, Taiju smiled, baring his teeth in an animalistic grin.

“And right now, I want something much sweeter than chocolate,” he rasped, pressing himself ever closer, “I’m gonna take all of you, and I will give you all of me in return.”

He kissed you once more, this one decidedly sweeter despite the desire that hung heavy in the air.

“Happy Valentine’s sweetheart, let’s make it one neither of us will forget.”

[ddejavvu]

so i see on titkok a lot of women authors saying that when writing the woohoo scenes they play it out with their partners to make sure it’s realistic, can you imagine asking aaron to do something like that? i feel like he’d be so confused and flustered but just go along with it to make you happy while you’re just moving his limbs about in random directions lol

i think i accidentally swapped this dynamic babe i'm so sorry... she's more flustered and he's more teasing about it!! i hope you still enjoy :')

this post is 18+, minors dni.

Aaron's a little worried when you gently push against his chest, rearing your head back so that his lips break away from your own.

"Aaron?" You peer up at him through your lashes, and your voice sounds unsure. He's instantly backing off, bracing his hands on the mattress instead of on your hips and giving you some room to breathe where he'd been hovering over you on the mattress.

"What is it, honey?"

"Can we try something new tonight?" You fiddle with your fingers in your lap, "Like- like a new... activity?"

That's not what he thought you'd say. Really, he was worried he'd overstepped, that he was pushing and you were pulling away, but the thought of you having a new fantasy you'd like to try with him makes his head fill with heavy static.

"Oh? What kid of activity?" He leans in to trace his nose along your jaw, then he presses a kiss to its hinge, "Something fun?"

"Uh," You hesitate, "For me, probably. Can you be my model?"

He pauses and frowns where he's lingering by your jaw, pulling away to peer at you, "Your model?"

"Yeah, uh-" You try to avoid his eyes, staring down at your lap with burning cheeks, "I'm trying to write... well, a steamy scene." You confess, and laughter threatens to quake his chest.

"I see," He hums, "And you need to see if your idea works?"

"Exactly," You nod emphatically, glad he's filled in the embarrassing blanks for you, "Are you okay with that?"

Aaron nods, backing away to sit by your hip, "Go ahead, honey, pose me."

You shimmy your way down the headboard until your back is against the sheets. Your head hits the pillow and you reach for Aaron, fingers brushing softly over his skin as he leans over you.

"Okay, head here," You put a gentle hand over the back of his neck, guiding his face down to be level with your chest. Your cheeks are burning so hot you think you might combust, and Aaron hides his amused smirk against the skin between your breasts.

He hums soft and low, kissing the slightly dewy skin there, "Okay, now what?"

"Uh hand," You reach for his arm, nudging his hand down until it rests between your legs, "There."

"I like this," Aaron decides, ghosting a finger over your clothed slit and feeling his touch reverberate up your spine. While you're deciding what you want next, he occupies himself with kissing at your right boob, dotting a trail around its underside and up to the nipple.

Just when he's finally about to reach the quickly stiffening bud, you tap at his chin.

"Can you kiss me?" You ask, curious, not demanding. He experiments, keeps his finger hooked in the leg hole of your underwear and cranes his neck up to kiss you. It works. It's a tiny bit of a stretch, but it's worth it when your lips meet again.

"Mm," You hum, speaking even as he continues to kiss at your lips, "Thank you, Aaron. That's- that's it," You struggle to speak, suffocated by the array of smooches he's sticking to your mouth, "You can- we can do whatever you want now."

"I wanna do this," He urges, finally snaking his hand down the waistband of your underwear, "We haven't even checked to see if it feels good, honey. I think it would be irresponsible of me as your model to give you a lackluster service. So what do I do?"

"Um," Your lashes flutter in time with your chest, your breathing heavy and your lips dewy.

"Uh, finger me," You mumble, cheeks ablaze, "Please. And- and you can swap between here and- and there."

You nod down at your chest, and Aaron nods back up at you.

"Take notes, sweetheart, okay?"

"Okay," You nod breathlessly, letting him kiss at your lips one last time, chasing after him as he parts to sink down towards your chest again.

"And, uh, afterwards?" He glances up at you through dark, hooded eyes, fingers paused just before your sex that's aching for his thick digits, "I think I should fuck you. Just for more research, y'know? I can't leave you with inconclusive data."

[miss-anachronism]

I posted something yesterday throwing my hat into the ring of Merlin and Valen relationships, and people seemed to like it! These guys are best buds to me, im glad yall see it too. It inspired me to write a little drabble, so here ya go <3 this is Valen and my (fem) Merlin, so it gets kinda specific at parts lol

…

It’s been a long day.

And as much as Valen wishes it were the easier type of long day: boring and uneventful, where he has to drag himself from task to task; it was quite the opposite. Exhilarating, exhausting, and deadly; now he was sinking into a sofa chair in the Mystical house, nursing a spiked drink and a sprained ankle.

It wasn’t even a mishap- he’d launched the attack perfectly, but that godforsaken golem had grabbed his leg at the last moment and slammed him back down into the ground. Lucius said he was lucky to have avoided a concussion. But what does Lucius know, anyway.

All this to say, the entire ordeal has left him grumpy and secluded. He’s tucked into the library, where the din of the bar can’t touch his slowly receding headache. It’s lovely in here, quiet and serene, fresh air drifting through the large open windows on the south wall. The smell of old books mingles nicely with the outside breeze, stopping just shy of being overwhelming. He would have never thought himself a library person; the one in Holistone was lackluster. But Merlin, as she often did, had flipped his conceptions upside down, and provided Valen one of his favourite spaces in her impressive library.

It’s a little ridiculous to expect privacy and solitude from a house that isn’t your own, especially one housing at least five others, but Valen still finds his every muscle tensing when he hears the library door open and close with a soft click.

He exhales slowly through his teeth, trying not to make his disappointment too obvious. He sends his farewells to his peaceful rest, and a quick prayer that whomever has entered isn’t in a talkative mood. He really doesn’t feel up to playing up the charm.

The soft pattering on the floor and the long exhale that come from behind him, however, chases those fears away. The momentary panic slips from Valen’s body, and he glances to the side, grinning when a green, eerie eye catches his gaze.

Merlin grins back at him, though she looks just as tired as he feels. “Hey, sorry. I know you’re hurt, but it’s winding down out there, and I wanted to do some research before I turn in. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Valen chuckles, “It’s your home.”

“Well, yes, but you’re my guest. And if you want me to shut up and leave you alone, say the word and I’ll be gone, no harm no foul.”

“It’s alright, Merlin,” he confirms, slightly surprised that he doesn’t even need to lie, “your company is appreciated.”

She grins at him and sets her own drink down on the small coffee table, and pulls another chair up. “Thanks, Val. I’ll keep it down, promise.”

She’s true to her word, shuffling through a few eclectically stacked books around the floor of the library before settling with three in hand. She puts the biggest one between them, and opens it up to reveal a collection of beautiful woodcuts, depicting various temples across the globe.

Valen lets out a low whistle and leans in, watching as she flips through a few illustrations, and then spins the book around to show him a full two-page print. It takes him a moment to recognize.

“The Moon Temple?”

Merlin nods, her eyes never leaving the paper. “Back in its heyday. We were talking about it, and Dolly mentioned that I should have an old book of prints in here somewhere. I’m lucky I found it so quickly.”

“How old is this book?”

“Four hundred years, give or take.”

Valen half gasps and half laughs, staring at the book in wonder. He’s shocked Merlin even has the balls to touch the thing, let alone open it.

“I can’t believe you just have ancient scripture lying around.”

“Hey, this is far from ancient,” she teases, glancing up to wrinkle her nose at him.

“You’re right, you’re right. It doesnt hold a candle to the oldest artifact in this room: you.”

Merlin sticks her tongue out at him, and Valen returns in kind, before they both return to the book.

The Moon God had been dead for a thousand years or so before this print was made, so the Temple isn’t exactly in perfect condition. Still, it’s a far cry from the decrepit ruins that it’s in today. Beautiful pillars surrounding the pouring, majestic fountains, each flaw and imperfection dutifully recorded… Valen finds himself being drawn in by the skilled execution of the print itself, scanning over the evenly spaces hatching and intricate detailing in the stonework, the water, the attention to values… it’s a beautiful recreation. Valen can even make out the carvings on the pillars themselves.

There’s a little blurb of writing at the bottom of the page, in a language Valen can’t identify. He reaches out to tap at it, stopping just shy of actually touching the book.

“Can you read this?”

Merlin hums in assent. Instead of flipping the book back around to face herself, she stands and moves over to Valen’s side of the table, kneeling next to his chair.

“It’s not much. ‘The Moon Temple, for the greatness and majesty of Nakalig the many-faced…. Cast a moonstone into the divine spring… a chance for divine lunar enlightenment…’ yeah, we know all this already.”

“It’s still interesting,” Valen contests, watching as Merlins finger drifts over the words. “You’ll have to teach me how to read this.”

Merlin scrunches her nose again. “The language is pretty dead, Val. I think you’ll only find Celestials who speak it fluently, nowadays.”

“So? If it’s spoken by Celestials, I’m sure it’s gorgeous. And mysterious. All the more reason to learn it.”

Merlin scoffs. “If you received a love letter written in the old, dead language, would you actually go on a real life date with the sender?”

“A date? I’d bed them on the spot,” Valen jokes, and Merlin throws her head back and cackles.

“Gross, ugh.” She sneers, giggling. Valen grins.

“Thousands of years old, and you still have the humour of a teenager.”

“Shut up,” she huffs, lightly punching him in the shoulder, only for her eye to immediately widen in concern.

“Ah, shit, that didn’t hurt did it? You’re hurt, I shouldn’t be jostling you around.”

“Merlin, babe, do you really think you can push me around?”

“You underestimate me! I could totally beat you up.”

“Mhmm,” Valen chuckles, taking another sip of his drink. Merlin gives him a wry smile.

“Seriously, though, you okay?”

Valen pauses a moment, taking stock of himself. Yes, his ankle still aches, but the spinning pain in his head has thankfully receded. The exhaustion still runs deep in his bones, however; he thinks if Merlin asked him to stand up, he’s simply collapse.

“I’m alright, all things considered,” he settles on, “but tired. Exhausted.”

“Hey, bright idea here! Maybe you should go to bed!”

“A genius, you are.”

“They don’t call me Merlin for nothin’.”

He chuckles. “It’s nice here. I don’t get much time to relax. And the sun’s only just setting,” he waves a hand towards the window, bathed in pinks and oranges, “let me have an hour, at least.”

“Fine,” Merlin conceded, resting her head on the arm of his chair. Dutifully, Valen proceeds to use her head as an armrest. She huffs in amusement.

They stay like that for a few minutes, Merlin lazily flipping through the book, pausing every time Valen leans closer to inspect a print. Eventually, she complains about her neck, and Valen lets up to allow her a slightly more comfortable position.

“I don’t know how to teach languages,” Merlin says suddenly, startling Valen out of his concentration, “but I think, with Hammie’s help, I could teach you a couple phrases and see where it goes from there?”

Valen blinks in surprise. “You don’t have to do that, Merlin.”

She shrugs. “I want to. Gives me something to do. If you want to, of course.”

Valen pauses, thinks it over, takes another long sip of his drink.

“…sure. We’ll see where it goes.”

Merlin nods, and flips the book closed.

“but if I’m a bullshit student, you can’t be mad at me.”

“I’ll never believe you are,” Merlin sniffs, scooping the book up and standing with a grunt. “Deep down, you’re a nerd like the rest of us, Mr. Playboy Solitaire.”

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Cameos & Familiar Faces

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized by favs in each category. No numbered lists anymore, tumblr be buggn'.

End of Aug Start Sept 2023

Ongoing Series - Thai

Laws of Attraction (Sat iQIYI) 8fin - Oh the DRAMA. Why does the insane ex (my true love) remind me of the cartel leader from Romancing the Stone? Even the sides got HEA! It was fucking great!!!!! Charn remains a bonkers spoiled evil murderous brat with a cruel smile beloved by his one true paladin. Also: post it love note trope! Been a long while my old friend. NO SINGING!!!!! I do love that wedding jacket frock coat cape thing Charn wore. 

In conclusion: This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. Charn may be my favorite lead character of 2023. However, this show is not entirely BL, more on the fringe, like Manner of Death. Add that to several "singing incidents" and pairs being a little weak in the chemistry arena, and this lands safely in 9/10 territory. It’s tons of fun tho: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. 

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Sat grey) ep 3 of 12 - This show is getting more and more lakorn each ep. Apparently the straights are having a class divide arranged marriage crisis. Who cares? Our boy is ALWAYS in trouble. Crazy that he has to save the people who betrayed him in a previous life - but I guess he chose revenge! That's unexpected.

Had to switch to grey and couldn’t find a working rip. It was frustrating and I wouldn’t have bothered except I like this show so much. Still, it means no screen caps because the rez is naff.

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 3 of 12 - Uh oh. Kang wants to save Sailom and be his hero. The fact that K’s Pa puts no pressure on him whatsoever, makes me wonder if K's Ma committed suicide or something? It’s definitely the opposite parental dynamic we normally see in BL. I have to say, the pacing is great in the show. And the acting is on point. It’s really great. 

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 8 of 12 - these two just kiss well. I mean not "rip your clothes off Taiwan-style," but sweet young boyfriends-esk. Joke wants to be claimed so bad. It’s great. I enjoyed this ep, unfortunately it looks like we have a manufactured angst drama drop in the next episode. Is this a 10 episode arc? I thought it was 12. It’s odd to have doom happening next episode already.

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 4 of 10 - Back story time! Ray and Mew are HARD to watch. Incestuous friend group gay is the worst. Omg I got such QAF vibes from this ep. Nick Boston Sand chats = very throw back 90s gay soaps. 

Location game moment: Top's hotel room is also Chan’s apartment in Laws Of Attraction. 

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 1 of 8 - Ooo. Est is back! Hi handsome. Head of security suits you. Please lead out the new Waterboyy remake? You’re perfect for the role. (If it must happen.) Yi’s Pa is GREAT. Please give daddy a nice boy? Could that be our secondary couple for this series? 

Meanwhile, with the leads (sorry I was distracted by daddy) we got us an arranged marriage, run away bride, and an amnesia trope. Put in a secret baby and it's squarely 1980's Harlequin. Will there be Vikings? Sex herbs? Pirates? Dub con?

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 9 of 12 - Again with lovely sex scenes, it’s just the plot stringing them together is frayed. Also don’t fuck in an onsen. Both yech and ouch.

That goes for all y’all.  

Wedding Plan (Wed YT & iQIYI) ep 7fin - Trash watch here! Honestly this was an okay ending, I’m not mad at it. If you can tolerate Mame and liars (kinda the same thing) you’ll be fine with this show.

Summation: An innocent wedding planner falls haplessly and hopelessly in love with a groom who relentlessly pursued him, even though he’s about to marry someone else. A somewhat lackluster mame offering with less of the usual stellar chemistry, but all of the usual lies and manipulation. 7/10

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - I skip everything to do with Tammy and it’s fine. There’s only about 20 minutes of fine but that’s more than enough. On the bright side. So far. No singing.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) ep 2 of 24 eps - Cassanova Begins Part 2. Aw. It was sad. Another variation on the “my ghost boyfriend” trope (usually sad). 2/10 I don't do sad BL.

Next up is Merry Go Round featuring the pair from Destiny Seeker (we likey) who want to marry each other, but end up fake engaged to the same woman. Beard squared? Looks silly.

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 1 of 10 - There are 2 things I like about this. I bet you can guess what they are.

Lee Long Shi

The whipping boy trope

There wasn’t enough of either in this first ep. ALSO the captions, sound effects, and voice over are truly next level bad. Utterly atrocious.

The 2 leads fucking around in the end credits was the funniest part of the whole show. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 7 of 8 - I am confused and frustrated about what the communication delay is between the two Juns. It feels artificial and narratively manufactured. But since this is a short form KBL and I know it will be resolved quickly, I’m not as annoyed as I would be if this were Thai BL. Still it feels audience manipulative. I also feel sorry for Simon. BUT it looks like it’ll be a sweet boyfriends final episode.

Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 10fin - Omg they’re so cute!!! Taiwan the purveyors of ultimate sappy gay domesticity. I am going to miss having these to nonsencing all over my dash.

This show was an interesting take on the "ghost boyfriend" trope. About a boy who is tormented by hearing the dead, except when he is around one other boy - desperation+proximity = love. Unfortunately, the story was erratic and waffled about. While the leads turned in solid performances and the sappy domesticity was off the charts, it never really had the strength of the narrative convictions such a strong concept should have supplied. Highly rewatchable and enjoyable for that sappy domesticity but not a whole lot more. Still I always give extra credit for the diabetes-inducing sugar content and rewatch capacity. 8/10 

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) eps 3 of 13(?) - I love the punching thing - there is a lot of violent flirting in this show. I’m not mad about it. Ugh, poor thing has real abandonment issues. And now trust issues. I see why we’re getting 12-14 eps. This gonna be MESSY.

Meanwhile, does EVERYONE have a guest cameo? Not that I’m complaining. Hi BLIHID boys! Now I need to rewatch that show. 

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 7-8 of 10 - Oh my God the next morning w/ couple 2 was so darn cute. They are all such terrible flirts with each other. Honestly, this show makes me laugh more than any other BL currently airing. I’m not sure it is meant to be as funny as I find it. While couple 3 (the mature characters) is by far my favorite, I actually think they don’t work with the other two pairs, they feel superfluous to the show. I like the show better because they’re in it, but it feels like two different BL‘s stuck together. KBL certainly can’t handle more than two couple threads at the same time. 

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 3-4 of 8 - Ugh. I am such a sucker for the FighterTutor dynamic. Why so good? Uh oh. Real kiss! KBL you're spoiling us. But, isn’t sad-seme-hyung dating some chick? Argh. Poor Sunwoo. This show is even worse at repping Fighter's character sympathetically. Who knew that was possible?

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - The date episode! Even Japan is doing it now. And these two who have been living/fucking together for ages still dance around each other like junior high kids. I gotta say, I watch this one twice because Vicki has different subs from Gaga. I feel like it’s easier to understand if I watch two different translations of the same script. But it’s still quite a taciturn piece. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 8 of 12 - Sides are great. It was mostly a cute ep with tiny bits of Progress and a proper Confession. I miss Shin’s siblings. And then… the much loathed amnesia trope. Really?

Everyone say it with me: Must you, Japan? 

Stay Still (Hong Kong Tues YouTube) ep 5fin - It ended happier than I was expecting. Optimistic for one couple, and most likely optimistic for the other.

Summation: What to say about this offering from Hong Kong? It’s different, a mix of early CBL, Taiwanese shorts, and Pinoy visuals. It felt like the story was 2 independent shorts that had been lengthen and then stuck together, and I wish they'd been approached as separate and tighter entities. Nevertheless, this was a complex little piece,  interesting in a sweaty grungy way, with a certain aura of queer authenticity that made it simultaneously tense, unpredictable, and refreshing. I’m not sure I would necessarily call it BL, but any county’s early foray into the genre usually starts out this way, so perhaps nascent BL? Worth watching, especially if you enjoy stuff from the Philippines and Taiwan. 7/10

In case you missed it

Dinosaur Love ended its run but the final 2 eps are behind a paywall. Word on the street is they aren't good anyway (shocker) so I'm marking it as DNF and moving on with my life. If I can find em grey I'll watch 'em merely so I can give it a rating, but I can't imagine it will get more than 5/10. Seriously, do not bother.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Coming September

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan Gaga) Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/15 Bump Up Business AKA Bump Up Project (Korea movie) suspected cinema release? I don't know much about what's going on. Last status update. Love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency. Kpop boy group OnlyOneOf has signed up to star in this idol-based BL (based on a webtoon). They’ve been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV series in this post. It’s from Idol Romance who will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You).

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/? Venus in the Sky (Thai iQIYI) 10 eps

9/? Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam YouTube?)

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED).

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

Hidden Agenda hitting us up with a hug + lap + kiss. Very nice.

I think these two might be GMMTV's best cuddlers.

Boys, I think your JoongDunk is showing.

(Last week) 

[oneshotnewbie]

hellooo! how are you? could you write angst carina x maya x reader where they have a fight over something stupid and r drives off in anger, which leads to them crashing. Eventually r is brought to the hospital and carina is paged to the er and she sees the condition r is in. After that a scene with maya at your hospital bed pls?

⚠️Trigger Warning⚠️ This one-shot includes the topic of suicide and the plot is presented. If this triggers you too easily or you just can´t handle the subject, I urge you NOT to read this work. I am NOT embellishing this topic under any circumstance. Read at your own risk.

I have to post this request in two parts again because I wrote too much. Also I let out a small detail because I didn´t know how to write it. I'm sorry! ♥

The caustic stabbing feeling in your stomach, which had been creeping up all afternoon, became more intense the louder the discussion between the three of you got. "I am not overworking, I am fine!" you screamed at Carina and Maya as they watched you start throwing the dirty dishes into the sink in a rage.

The blonde, who was sitting on the couch and nervously fumbling with the thread of her jeans, was protecting herself by silently enduring the consequences of the dispute that had arisen. The brunette on the other hand, tried to address the issue by placing a hand gently on your forearm, trying to calm you down while you unfolded wildly about the latest suspicion that the two had thrown into the room.

You knew exactly, what they were getting at.

For a few weeks, you were hardly at home. Working late into the night and studying hard at the library for your graduation simultaneously, you oscillated between stressful things and barely had any time in between to provide your body and mind with the care it needed.

Of course you knew what you were doing was not healthy, noticing it clearly from the lack of sleep and the resulting dark circles that adorned your tired, lackluster eyes. Throbbing headaches stretching from your temples to your neck, mixed with accompanying dizziness and reduced performance, became commonplace.

"Maybe you should think about quitting your job at the station," suggested Maya, who had spoken up for the first time in this argument. She did not want to see you leave the team, you were an important link that held it together and enabled good cooperation. But she knew from your behavior and your manner how close you were to a breakdown.

Dismayed by the statement thrown in, you tossed the sponge into the sink and braced your lower back against the metal tub. Arms crossed strictly under your chest, you furrowed a brow and pressed your lips into a thin line.

"If you would spend a little less time on the treadmill and instead help get the vehicles back in shape for the next call, I probably would have time to relax between those since you are so worried about my health" you complained immediately.

You were getting tired of having these conversations that always ended up with a discussion. The topic was always present and got on your last nerve. Of course you understood that they only wanted to protect you and keep you safe, but that was absolutely not necessary.

Before the blonde could begin to protest your argumentation, a loud whistle cut through the commotion and ripped through your eardrums. "HEY!" the brunette yelled, making you wince next to her. With a wave of her hand, she indicated that you both should remain quiet before taking up her word once again.

"Stop that crap, arguing does nothing but upset us further and make the situation even worse by one of you both being angry and saying something that you can not undo!" At the end of her announcement, Carina raised her voice a bit while examining you both. You glared at Maya and had to control yourself not to go ballistic.

"Mhmm.." you mumbled and left the room of action to disappear in the direction of the door. You quickly pulled your keys and jacket from their places before you turned back and addressed your last words to the blonde. "Maybe you should consider that your support would also be helpful instead of telling me through the flower that you want me out of your territory"

With these words, the front door slammed shut. Hastily, you ran down the stairs of the apartment complex to your parked car around the corner, which you got into and drove away with no real plan of where to go.

Loud music blared around your ears as you drove through the streets of Seattle, your mind hanging deep into the clouds. The traffic lights were on your sides, allowing you to drive through without hitting the brakes or using the clutch.

It was liberating to experience a moment without any real task, but this feeling did not last. As soon as you crossed the middle of the intersection, you could only see a black jeep from the corner of your eye, which was heading straight for you and had no chance to dodge.

All you could hear was the screeching of the rubber-coated tires on dry asphalt, subsequently, the crushing of heavy metal when your car flew over the intersection and came to rest in a nearby garage. Dust swirled through the air. A frighteningly shrill sound in your ear and throbbing in your right temple were the first things you consciously perceived.

With great effort, you managed to keep your eyes open, though your lids were heavy as lead. You carefully felt the back of your throbbing head with your right hand, while the other managed to support yourself on the console between the two front seats.

You flinched as your fingers slid over the wound. Distraught, you brought it back in front of your blurry vision as you raised your forehead from the steering wheel and looked at your fingertips, dark blood dripping down them.

What had happened?

Your gaze wandered away from them, following the blurred figures rushing wildly around what was still recognizable as a car. A hot wave of panic made its way through your body and made the sweat of fear break out of your pores.

Frantically twitching eyes, scanned the entire environment while your brain tried to process the unfamiliar images. You desperately tried to focus and organize your thoughts, but your awareness has been miserably limited by the darkness looming ahead of you.

It only took seconds for your eyes to close and the world around you to fade away with voices echoing in your ears.

ᕚ---ᕘ

Carina hurried down the hall. The imagine that presented itself was terrifying when she took the first step into a trauma room. "What happened?" she cried through the frantic attempts of desperate help as she disappeared into the crowd that had gathered around you in the small room and reappeared next to Miranda. "Car crash, somebody hit Y/n"

Her light brown eyes scanned the battered body of the woman she truly cared about, which lay still like a statue. Most of your clothes appeared to be covered with clotted blood while your face had bruises and scratches all over. Fleetingly, she perceived the information given by the attending physicians. "Extensive superficial injuries, broken ribs, possible craniocerebral trauma. Internal abdominal injuries,"

She nodded understandingly and leaned towards your face, whose otherwise glassy eyes were closed. Your pink, plump lips were dull and sallow, and matched the pale color of your graying skin. Carina´s breath caught in her throat, she could not breathe. She bit back a cry of horror, only to cover her mouth with her trembling hand.

"Is she..?"

Nobody answered her right away, finding it tough to offer her a promising answer while they fought for your life. Pressing her palms together in a praying gesture, she hoped some higher entity, that she did not necessarily believed in, could hear her and keep you alive.

"Got a weak pulse, she needs to go in. Now!" As soon as those words left the Chief Surgeon´s mouth, Carina scurried to the side with considerable effort to let go of you, letting out a stiffed moan.

She watched as your limp body was rolled out of the room with hurry, blood dripping from your hand onto the floor. The brunette looked after you and frowned, concern and worry washing over her face.

Carina knew that you were a fighter, but she also knew that she could do nothing but hope.

[hyperfixationstation128]

character: mr of waterdeep of course. (sorry. professor dekarios i mean...) 😘💜

Ahh! I love getting these asks! Gives me the perfect opportunity to ramble on and on about my favorite subjects! Thank you! 💖

I think it's safe to say that I relate myself quite closely to Gale. Not just because of the fact that he's Autism coded, but because of the loneliness he felt growing up. I never had a lot of friends as a child. I was the weird kid, the loser who wrote and drew too much. So, I feel very deeply connected to Gale on that front.

Well, aside from the obvious Tav pairing, I really like the thought of Gale and Shadowheart together. I feel like they'd bond over their shared experiences of being abused by their respective goddesses, and also, their banter just gives them good chemistry. My opinion, ofc.

I adore Gale and Wyll's dynamic. They just seem like two bros just broing out. They seem the types to spend an evening drinking and ending it by sobbing in each others arms. Gale x Wyll = mega bros.

My unpopular opinion? Not sure that I have one outside of Gale not being quite the arrogant, pompous jerk people see him as. Autistic people tend to miss social qeues and often say things that are unintentionally too blunt, too mean, too arrogant. I see a lot of people complaining that he talks like he knows everything about magic and I'm just like... he does?? He literally fucked magic, of course he's gonna talk that way!

Oof, I have a LOT of gripes with Larian when it comes to things I wish had been in the game. But one thing regarding this character is the quest to receive the Annals of Karsus. Idk it felt lackluster and a little boring to me. Like, wow, no beasts? No difficult puzzles? Maybe others disagree, but that quest deserves more. I also wish we had been given the chance to post up to Mystra, or at the very least, have Gale stand his ground with her a little more. The only way he challenges her is if he's convinced to take the crown for himself. I just wish he'd been a little more firm with her, y'know?

[fanaticsnail]

Hi there, I’m not trying to be mean when I ask this, but do you have permission to use the fanart you post with your fics? I don’t see artist credits and know many Japanese artists do not like their art to be reposted, especially not without credit.

Hello lovely anon! Thank you so much for asking about art in my fics. I appreciate you starting this conversation, and am very happy to have this reopen again.

When I began my journey of writing fics, I used to use gifs already premade on this site and have them as the title image. As my interest in the characters spread further into characters not in OPLA, I began to seek out art on other platforms.

The art I use, I find on: Reddit, Pinterest, or a good ol' fashioned google search. I have asked creators on this platform for permission to use their art in fics, and have respected their wishes whether permission is given or not. So far, I have been told "no" only one time, and have respected that wish.

If you hover over the little "alt" button, that's where I paste my sources to give credit to the artists, and implore you to seek out their work and look at it for yourself. It's the little box on the left-hand side of the image (or the three dots that come up when you hover your mouse over them). I have used text links in the past to send people to their sites, but I thought the alt text box felt better: like a little watermark to send those looking for their work.

I've responded to an ask like this in the past, but I am very much open to continuing this dialogue. I am constantly learning about how to best be respectful and give credit where credit is due. I never claim this art as my own (if you've seen the art I do on here, it's lackluster to say the least), I use it to inspire the words I create.

Thank you again for opening this dialogue, I appreciate your concern and rallying to the defence of artists and creators on here.

Edit

I have been informed that this is not what the alt box is for, and am going through each post I've made with art and added links to where I've found them via collecting them from the alt box and pasting the link for easier access. I honestly thought that was what we were meant to do, and I apologise for my misunderstanding.

Going forward, I will be no longer be using art found on Pinterest or Google because I've been made aware that some of that art is reposts by people who did not get permission from the original artists to reupload and share it. Another misunderstanding from my part.

I am truly sorry for the way this was handled on my part. It didn't sit well with me, and I am trying to do better.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Hello. I've been binge reading your meta post an I loves all of it. I have one question, though I don't know if you had the same question or not. If you had I'm sorry feel free to ignore this but if you hadn't, this is my question. Many people said Adrien as sentimonster is a good plot and the other said it's also good metaphor for abuse children. But what do you think about the senti plot? Is it necessary? And what do you think the writer is trying to achieve with the plot if Adrien doesn't even allowed to know about what he is?

Thank you! I'm glad that you've been enjoying my rambles! I don't think I've touched on those aspects of the sentiplot, so here goes!

Is it Necessary/What's The Goal?

I don't think that the sentiplot is even remotely necessary. My two cents is that it reads like something that was added relatively last-minute in order to add some cheap drama to draw the plot out because they didn't have enough content to organically fill seven seasons. Part of the reason that I'm comfortable saying that is because we've seen the writers do this type of move many times before. I don't wanna get too into the weeds on this, but a good example is the love triangles with Luka and Kagami.

Luka and Kagami are never treated as real alternate love interests. They're just road blocks on the love square highway that allow for seasons three to end on a cliff hanger. The fact that season four opens on two episodes meant to reassure the audience that Lukanette and Adrigami are doomed to fail is proof of this. No one is actually supposed to ship those ships. There's no Team Luka vs Team Adrien. It's just cheap drama.

The other reason that I feel comfortable calling the sentiplot cheap shoehorned drama is because the sentiplot has no teeth. A big reason why I refused to believe that it was going to be a thing was because it's an extremely serious plot that has no place in a Y-7 show. The wielder of raw destruction can have his free will overwritten at any time! The show has made jewelry theft a common teenage past time! This is bad!

And yet, once it's introduced, it goes nowhere. Gabe gives the most lackluster commands humanly possible and Nathalie undoes every one of them before they have a chance to meaningfully impact the plot. The biggest fallout of the sentiplot was that the Adrienette kiss got delayed a bit. How terrifying.

If the sentiplot had the weight it deserved, then it would have destroyed Adrientte in a big, dramatic fashion. Gabriel would have commanded Adrien to date Kagami and Tomoe would have done the same for Kagami re Adrien. But that's too serious, so we don't even get Gabe telling Adrien to break up with Marinette. He just tells Adrien to not see her and Marinette never has any clue that something went wrong there because Nathalie undoes the command two minutes later.

The Sentiplot's and Emilie

You may have read the previous section and thought, "But wait, doesn't the sentiplot give an explanation for why Emilie used the peacock? Didn't we need that?"

No, we didn't. Felix's little play and Gabe's memory of the night they used the peacock both heavily imply that no one knew that the peacock would kill you. It's why Felix exists! His father did not willingly give his life to have a kid and neither did Emilie. It was an unknown side effect.

Imo, it would have actually been better if Emilie hadn't used the peacock for such obviously selfish reasons. I mean, is anyone really saying, "Oh no, the rich lady used forbidden magic (and possibly killed some people?) to get a designer baby, then faced unexpected consequences! How awful for her! She didn't deserve that!"

Wouldn't it have been a far more interesting and complex story if Emilie used the peacock because she wanted to help someone else? If she was an unambiguously good person who suffered for doing the right thing or even just a morally gray thing? Wouldn't that make Gabriel's quest feel more righteous and less like a temper tantrum by a rich, entitled white guy who used his wealth in a morally dubious manner and paid for it?

The Sentiplot as an Abuse Metephor

I don't think that the writers meant for the sentiplot to be an abuse metaphor. In fact, I sincerely hope they didn't because it's a terrible one! Or, at least, a depressing one.

Abuse - especially childhood abuse - is something that sticks with us. A lot of victims will be forever scared by what they went through. But just because they bare scares doesn't mean that they're trapped by their abuse and can never break free. This is true even if the abuse caused mental health issues like PTSD or CPTSD, conditions that can never be cured because you know what they can be? Controlled and mitigated to the point where the victim is no longer ruled by their condition.

There's also the fact that abuse victims - especially child abuse victims - can and often do reach a point where their abusers no longer have any power over them. I have personally seen a child abuse victim go thought the process of realizing that their parent is just another adult now. All the power that the parent once held is gone. The child doesn't depend on them for food and shelter anymore. If the abuse starts up again, then the child can just get up and walk away.

That's not true for a sentimonster. Sentimonsters don't grow up and get more agency/power. At any point, their abuser can get ahold of their amok and override their free will, taking away the sentimonster's freedom even if the sentimonster is on another continent! There is no means of true escape.

No abuse victim will ever be that powerless. Abuse victims can escape abuse and they do have true free will. Sentimonsters will always be sentimonsters.

Is the Sentiplot Good?

No. It's too serious for a kids show. In fact, now that it's canon, here's my two cents: all of the sentikids are massive liabilities to the team who need to give up their miraculouses immediately because they can never be truly trusted. Felix has shown us time and time again how easy it is to steal an amok and replace it with a fake, so we must always assume that the sentikids are compromised because to assume otherwise is to invite the miraculouses to fall into the wrong hands. It's just not worth the risk to trust a senti.

Along the same lines, the love square should never be canon unless Marinette gives up Guardianship because Adrien is a liability to the safety of the miraculouses even if he didn't wield on himself. The only way to get around this issue is to use the wish to make the sentikids human, but Gabe failed to even do that one kindness for his son, so here we are. Season six will either drive this point home by having Lila use the amoks to mess with Adrien or it will drop the sentiplot forever, proving just how cheap and poorly thought out it was.

Other issues I think I've already addressed in other posts, but that are still a problem that make the plot bad:

a sentimonster's creator defines the sentimonster's worth, thus there being no issue with Felix making sentimonsters and then killing them or the heroes destroying them, but it would somehow be wrong if we did the same thing to any of the sentikids

any command you give a sentimonster can be overwritten and sentimonsters can't resist even if they know they're being controlled, so there's truly no hope to free them

giving your leading lady anxiety issues and a boyfriend whose free will is constantly in jeopardy is cruel and unusual punishment

an insane number of lore issues like why is it impossible to destroy other sentimonsters, but Adrien can be destroyed in akuma fights? Cataclysms are pure destruction! It makes no sense that akumas can do what a cataclysm can't. And is Adrien able to die a natural death? What happens to his amok when he does? Will his children be able to be controlled by his amok too since they're part of him?

the lore around Gabe & Emilie finding the miraculous makes no sense and should not be possible. That's another rant, though.

[mirageofadesert]

So I watched most of Luo Yunxi's (allegedly) mediocre filmography ... here are some thoughts.

⭕️Ashes of Love (dropped it, will come back for it later) ❤️ ✔️Princess Silver ❤️❤️ ✔️ And the Winner is Love ❤️ ✔️ Love is Sweet ❤️❤️❤️ ✔️ Broker ❤️❤️ ✔️Lie to Love ❤️ ✔️Light Chaser Rescue ❤️(❤️) ✔️Till the end of the moon ❤️❤️❤️ ❌ Immortality 🤡🤡🤡

First off, the words (allegedly) mediocre and "TTEOTM" or "Love is Sweet" are not allowed in the same sentence. That's why I wont discuss them here. These dramas are talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique ... next question.

As for the rest... I have some thoughts and I'm willing to share them:

First of all, I enjoyed all of them and that came as a surprise. I had seen fans joke about his filmography with one smiling and one crying eye, voicing that they hope he would soon be a position to pick better scripts. However, on paper I think the scripts weren't bad per se, but the execution is a bit questionable.

The kind of roles he picks ...

... are actually really great. He seem to gravitate towards deeply conflicted and complex characters, that allow emotional and nuanced portrayals. Non of them are perfect, but they try. Sometimes, the script or directing doesn't allow the characters to be as convincing, as they could be. In other cases, the actors he share a scene with, are utterly unconvincing in their performances.

I appreciate that all his chosen dramas have actual plot besides the romantic story and I didn't have to sit through something as boring as a pure romance without any substance (looking at you, Hidden Love). I also would guess, that he chooses his show based on the roles he plays, because those are often considerably better than the script overall.

Trapped by lackluster writing ...

... is a serious problem, especially when it involves cringey lines as well as wattpad level backstories. I think "Lie to Love" had the weakest script, "Broker" had some really over the top and cringe backstories, while "Lightchaser Rescue"'s biggest problem lies with the directing and production. "Princess Silver" was great overall and I wish he played a bigger role. I'm still not sure what went wrong with "And the winner is love", but I guess it's a combination of everything. Kudos to the actors, that pull off these bad or cringe lines with the same level of dedication and passion... I'm sorry, that I had to skip them anyway.

Acting circles around other actors...

... it's not a regular thing, but it tend to happens with some of his FL. It's not even that they are bad actresses per se, but often written with so little character, that there isn't much anyone can bounce off of. Su Xieyi (Cheng Xiao in "Lie to Love") and Chong Xuezhi (Yukee Chen/Chen Yuqi in "And the Winner is Love") are particularly guilty of this. It's also not something that can be blamed on lacking chemistry between the lead actors, as those two did not convey any chemistry with anyone in their perspective shows. A lot of the female characters in cdramas are hard to watch - and it's the main reason I have not been able to watch Ashes of Love yet.

I recently read a reddit post, that pointed out that Luo Yunxi always has good chemistry with his FL, but that those don't necessary give back the same energy. This leads to his characters always seeming more in love with their romantic partners. Luo Yunxi sells every love story... I really wish he would be paired up with more emotive actresses portraying well written characters.

His strengths ...

... lies in costume dramas for sure. He just looks like he came right out of a painting. This is also where his dance background shines the most. His wire and fight scenes are always excellent. However, I do understand that those are strenuous to shoot, particularly in the summer. In addition he excels in portraying suffering and a storm of conflicting emotions. He is a great actor, with exceptional facial expression and good voice acting. As an audience, you can feel his commitment to all of his roles. This becomes even more obvious, once you find out how often he was injured on set and still pulled through. I wont forget that one leaked clip of him doing wire stunts with his wheel chair waiting on the side ...

What I want to see him play in the future....

... is a more comedic costume drama. "Love is Sweet" but with long hair and fight scenes! I also would love to see him as a villain (again), but I guess he has outgrown these roles - at least in dramas. I also need another show similar to TTEOTM, that is more mature than most dramas of this genre and doesn't focus on the romance. Lastly, a 3rd drama with Bai Lu would be great!

What I learned from this going forward ...

... is to give less popular shows a try. So far, some rather popular or loved dramas (Hidden Love, Ashes of Love, Immortal Samsara etc) failed to impress me. I also learned that I need at least one character to latch onto, while starting a show or I will not get into it. A lot of shows sadly lack these convincing and obsession-worthy characters.

[kat1nkulta]

Writing a masterpost of my silly fic as a trick to make myself want to finish writing the thing

A summary post about a nameless doll and the fanfic ”Fish inside a birdcage” they star in

(Genshin Impact OC)

Tags:

OC & Scaramouche, OC & Nahida, OC & The Traveler (+Paimon)

Hurt/Comfort, Blind character, Pre-canon/ canon adjacent, sibling bond, identity discovery, very unfrequent updates Im so sorry

Link to the blasted thing I forgot to include originally

Summary:

”Fish inside a Birdcage” is a fic inspired and named after a song of the same name by a band of the same name as well.

The story stars a nameless protagonist stuck in a dream realm where time is stationary.

The character in question is a (yet unnamed in the story) prototype for Ei’s archon project. This prototype is one of the earlier ones, and as such is much cruder work. They are missing parts, and were never meant to wake/ gain a soul at all. Just a test on how a wooden vessel would withstand an Archon’s essence; a forgettable hallmark amongst ”the countless attempts” in creating a worthy vessel

This test was successful, but by error and unbeknownst to their creator, that essence trapped the poor thing in a singular moment inside a dream. Luckily for them, they aren’t alone and soon meet another unfortunate soul in form of their successor: another nameless puppet going by the title Kabukimono

.

.

.

This fic was largely based on Ei’s second character story talking about the building of the Raiden Shogun, as well as my then very time consuming fixation on Scaramouche.

The nameless doll (OC):

As the story is incomplete and is focusing on the OC’s self discovery, I will keep the name to myself for a little longer. It has been decided a good while ago however, and is mentioned in post fic art dump chapter

Disclaimer: This character uses they/them pronouns, however in the first chapters, they, as well as the narration refer to themselves with it/its pronouns as a form of self objectification. This could be a sore topic for some, so I want to specify this now!

(Looking back I probably chose too many heavy topics to tackle in my first ever writing, so please feel free to let me know if I handle this or the disabilities I represent in a lackluster way! I will be eternally grateful)

Moving onto design

This is the closest thing to a character sheet I have drawn, it’s what I use as my drawing reference. The no eyes look is based on dolls of course, as often eyes are the last things glued in for the doll head. Working eyes are hard to craft even for an archon, so many of these ”meant-to-be-souless” prototypes lack eyes or other harder to craft extremities. The second artwork is what I use as a reference for their hands so I included it here

Interractions with Kabukimono (Scaramouche for the unitiated)

These two had a nice bond before the Tatarasuna Incident, so whenever I’ve drawn them together in the past, I focus on the time before that.

All of these drawings are quite old (outside one), I feel bad but I have not drawn this poor thing since them so they will suffice🥲

Aand that’s all for now!! I think!!

This is more for myself than anything so if you are reading this, thank you? And feel free to drop any comments, I don’t bite (anonymous asks are welcomed as well)!!

Back to regularly scheduled Loop slop see you next time

[what-in-the-gloobie-glob]

Heavy mw3 spoilers (tagging bc its only been a day since full access) soap/interactions characters had with soap

Before the rest of the post I just want to say that I am aware that news has been going around that the game ended up getting rushed due to activision pushing dates(?) Or whatever (idk I haven't read into it)

I have an actual problem with soap's death. And I mean, I feel like it might have been more acceptable for everyone (including die hard cod boys or whatever) if there was more purpose to it. Or even if it was just... more cinematic (?)

It was so lackluster, and I understand the whole "It's supposed to be realistic" but it's a game. The entire point of it is to be entertaining, it doesn't matter if it isn't realistic, because it's supposed to immerse and entertain the viewer,and catch their attention. This death... was not that. Infact it was any thing but that.

It didn't even feel like there was an out of game purpose for it. If it had been at the beginning of the game, at least then the game could have been "revenge" driven. You put it from anyone's pov and (without even making it gay) you could have an emotional drive for revenge. (Of course I AM going to make it gay because that who I am). And if it's kept at the end of the game they could just play up the cinematics a tiny bit, and boom, payer satisfaction. But nope

Now lets go back to if it was the beginning of the game. I'm only gonna focus of the remaining main 3 of the 141.

If soap died at the beginning, the game could be largely price's pov. And we already know in the original price saw soap as a son figure. So just copy+paste character dynamics, and oop, you've got a more immersive emotional connection that draws the players in. It gives the character (price) a motivation, which can also explain some of the OOC behaviors that are exhibited in the game. Because Price is supposed to be this confident, level-headed leader. And the entire game he feels off, unsure of his own decisions, and he makes decisions that arguably are illogical for someone of his rank to make.

Onto Gaz. He seemed too stoic, and cold for this game. If soap had died at the beginning, it could be explained by him being angry and vengeful, and shutting off his emotions. Think about it, he lost a fellow Sergent, whom he'd thought of as a brother. That does things to a person. But they didn't do that so we just got what feels to be an ooc gaz, with minimal interaction with soap who he called a brother. Now I realize that calling soap his brother could just be a term of endearment or whatever, but it anything it felt like a desperate grab to make a last connection between the player and the character by showing a "deeper" connection (which wasn't there). As a side note, when I say gaz feels ooc I mean that in mw it seemed (to me) that he thought about his actions more and their impacts. He didn't just follow orders blindly like a good little soldier, like in this movie. In mw he was more self-righteous (if that's the right word) and he seemed to care a lot more for how his actions would have an impact on the world/people that he was fighting for.

And then we have Ghost. And sorry to sound repetitive but the interactions with him and soap were lackluster. We can start with the fact that there was very little interaction between the two, much less than in mw2 obviously, but I just want to point out that it ALMOST feels like Shepherd had more screen time than the two did together (to me). I know that that isn't true but that's how it feels. And we have even less meaningful interactions. Sure we have ghost and soap interrogating milena but they didn't interact all that much, and we have SOME banter but not a lot. We also have ghost claiming soap to go with him before they drop onto the island, and them pairing up after the vidcall with Shepherd and graves. But that's basically it, aside from soap's death scene (not including the flashvack because they didn't really interact much/the same way). Also I don't know if anyone else felt like this but to me it felt like their banter/interactions were too stilted/formal for the level of acquaintance that they are. Especially after Las Almas, and the game implies that they have fallen into a routine of going on missions together since then, and their conversations/interactions don't feel like they're at that level of knowledge of eachother that they should be at.

I'm putting soap's actual death and aftermath here since I have misc. thoughts.

I want to point out the parallel between laswell and hew wife disapproval with smoking, and Ghost with johnny (i know it's veen pointed out before) but it basically confirms soapghost/ghoap

Also ive seen it pointed out that ghost checked soap's pulse to check if he was alive, even after he was shot in the head, he also pats soap chest like he's teying to confort him.

I also want to point out that at no point between soap dying and the bomb does ghost say anything about the bomb, nor does he go gelp gaz stop it. I get that the point is to force the player to stop the bomb, but they could have added it as a non-canon ending where he was too late or off time with gaz and thus the bomb still blew up. But no. He just says by soap's body the entire time...

Ghost was also apparently the one in possession of soap's ashes, AND the one to spread his ashes, which seems too intimate if activision was trying to stomp down ghoap.

Also I thought soap was catholic, so in my mind, I would have expected maybe a small (possibly unmarked) grave, instead of cremation (im not entirely sure on catholic funeral rituals, so don't come at me if this is wrong). And to me soap's character seemed like it should have been buried instead of cremated and forgotten to the wind (personal preference) but I think he should have had some spot on earth that was his to remember him.

And I'm not gonna say the ashes scene was lackluster, or rushed. Because it wasn't, but it did feel like it was an emotional grab. And it just felt off in general.

Ok that's all I have