#that leads to happily ever after or the villain wins the end

[summer-fruits-and-cream]

Hilary Clinton won the popular vote in 2016, so blaming the voters is the last thing we should do. I'm also increasingly convinced that if the university encampments happened under Trump, we would have all been saying that the shutting down of protest was happening because Trump is president

The vote being our political power is exactly why threatening to not vote for someone matters. Declaring why we're voting or not voting for someone tells politicians what they need to do to get elected. And tbh it'd be more effective if instead of blaming voters, we blamed politicians for not doing the one job they're incentivized to do (getting people to vote for them).

to be honest it would make me a lot more comfortable if you guys would show a little concern about trump running for president again. Do not inbox me and say you don’t like joe biden omg i already know. but can we show a little concern. about donald trump. being the republican candidate for president. for the third election in a row.

[gwynrieldreams]

It just striked me so hard how boring Elriel is as a ship.

Or maybe it's because of what Elriels have invisioned. Elain is apparantly already very happy and content in the night court. Her family, the IC is with her and so is her second family, Azriel and the wraiths. Her and Azriel are already in love and the only thing that stands in their way of their ultimate happily ever after are 2 redheads. One who would accept rejection and the other who's literally just minding her own business.

Then there's the fact that apparantly you.. aren't allowed to be cold to Elain? No, you have to be very nice and soft with her! The wraiths are good enough to be friends with her cause they'd never challenge her, unlike Vassa and Jurian.

No Elain absolutely never did anything wrong! She's perfect and very powerful!

- they've made fun of gwynriel cause Azriel wasn't already so trusting with Gwyn in the bonus chapter. Laughing that he doesn't consider her a friend.. like??? Yeah?? Why would I want them to be already in love? Lmao it's not the end of the world that they aren't close?? It makes perfect sense that they aren't. I actually prefer it that way.

Same with Elucien. Because they aren't close it means it's a lost cause! Elain isn't comfortable with Lucien! (even though we don't know why and Lucien hasn't done anything to make her feel that way).

Maybe it's just cause they want Gwyn and Lucien out of their way, which is why those 2 could never win in their eyes no matter what. Azriel thinking nothing beyond sexual fantasies is fine and understandable but how dare Lucien breath the same air as Elain?! He's abusive! How dare he stay away 7 courts away from her?! He doesn't care about her!

Idk. I'm just not interested in reading a book about a girl who has everything she wants and everyone loves her and her obstacles very easy to overcome. Why does Elain's love interest have be a complete simp? Elriels can't even take the smallest inconvenience. Lucien giving her gifts on Winter solstice is enough to traumatize them I guess.

I want to read Gwynriel's whole progress. I can take Azriel being harsh or not trusting to her sometimes. I'm cool with it. I want them to go from 0% to 100% in a full book, ON PAGE. I want them to challange each other.

It's all over the place but I hope you get what I'm trying to say..

To be fair, I get why some people want to read a story about defying fate and god and say fuck to all of that, I will follow my heart BUT I don't think they will find that sort of thing in SJM's books, let alone in elriel.

Azriel, like the rest of the ic, puts her in a box. He constantly unknowingly contradicts her wishes during acosf. Elain wants to scry for the Trove, Azriel doesn't want her to. Elain doesn't want to be fought over, Azriel wants to fight for her. Azriel contemplating killing her mate just because he assumed she's not interested WITHOUT EVER DISCUSSING IT WITH HER! (I love Az but he made me so mad in this part). Even in acowar nobody acknowledged her part in killing Hybern, but Lucien. Lucien has done nothing but respect her wishes.

I've already made a post about it but I will shortly explain why elriel doesn't make sense to me. Their "romance" could end in like 5 chapters. Elain rejects Lucien, Lucien accepts it, they live happily ever after. There is not going to be any Blood Duel between them because if it did then sb would have to die. SJM can't kill her characters. Even if she did though, who would lead the next vassien book that all elriels like to claim will happen? If there's no conflict and everything is perfect how is that a good story? What would be the logic in making Lucien the villain in the elriel book and in the next we'd have to fall in love with him through Vassa's eyes?

The irony is that her stans also fight over her and baby her like no other. As if she so fragile, she will break if she faces any kind of inconvenience. I'm sorry to be the one to tell them but Elain in her book will probably go through shit -like any other mc- because that's what makes a good story. If you want to read about Elain frolicking in flower fields and baking go read a fanfic.

Let's not forget Azriel is never going to reject his mate. Gwyn and Az are perfect for each other in so many ways.

"He didn't consider her a friend, but..." First of all this happened in the Winter Solstice, when they barely knew each other. Second, I thought it was a wink wink monent as in he hasn't "friendzoned" her, so maybe they can be friends or sth more(?) I definitely wouldn't want to be best bros with the guy I liked. I don't know if SJM will go with the friends to lovers route, I wouldn't mind it. I'd personally prefer if they had more like a rivalry, constantly challenging and teasing each other (maybe because that's how I flirt 😅 but I also think that's more SJM's style).

[mulberry-leaves-yearn-for-envy]

Prompt Submission by @yiling-laozu-is-loml

Canon divergence, Wei Wuxian is an information dealer. Nie Mingjue is sent to kill him or bring him to heel for sunshot's sake

CANON SOURCE: Please only use novel and donghua as source material and avoid everything that has to do with untamed/cql. For appearances and outfits, please refer to the donghua.

Bottom Wei Wuxian only please! the number of children they have depends on you but I'd love it if they had at least 2!

Canon Divergent; a few months after Sunshot Campaign begins, the alliance receives news about a man called "Yiling Laozu". They have no information about him except for the fact he's usually seen in yiling, has no clan affiliation, appears to be a cultivator and sells intelligence to the highest bidder (they also assume he's an expert infiltrator because his intelligence is so detailed that he either has moles everywhere or spends time undercover, spoiler, its both). He's also known to have no love for clans and their politics and as such, is dangerous and detrimental for the fate of sunshot campaign. Nie Mingjue himself is dispatched to either kill him and end his network of informants or somehow ensure he's loyal to sunshot and will be helpful in ending the war in their favour.

What follows is a slow burn journey of meeting a mysterious man named 'Wei Wuxian' who claims to have been kicked out by Baoshan Sanren for practising demonic cultivation as a hobby (its true). Wei Wuxian claims to know how to find the renowned Yiling Laozu but it will take long. The journey is a patchwork of nighthunts, helping the needy and poor (fuck your clan rules, I am helping them so you can either be helpful or fuck off - Wei Wuxian to Nie Mingjue), solving various riddles and decoding talismanic hints left by the information dealer.

They grow closer, share a bit about themselves and their family, Wei Wuxian learns that not all people in clans are bad and the clans arent inherently evil, Nie Mingjue learns the same of demonic cultivation and from hints about the Yiling Laozu fellow, discovers that he may not be the villain people make him out to be. Why else would he be protected by prostitutes, street children, beggars and rogue cultivators if he was so evil?

Perceptions change, tides of war shift as Yiling Laozu remains missing and unhelpful to even the rich bitches and Wei Wuxian falls in love with Nie Mingjue just as the other does for him. When proposed out of nowhere, Wei Wuxian has no choice but to surrender the truth about his identity to test for loyalty or meet his end mercifully. That just prompts Nie Mingjue more and they soon elope in a small town, spend two weeks in newly wedded bliss, enjoying each other's company, sex and taking small nighthunts free of charge.

Married, they make their way back to aid the war effort after a solemn promise from his husband that they'll protect innocents and not misplace his trust, inventions and talents. The sunshot is won years earlier thanks to wwx's moles and cultivation genius (The winning war part should also be a slow-ish burn please and not just instant win after Wei Wuxian joins their efforts!) and they live happily ever after with their adopted and biological kids, renowned as ever. Wei Wuxian is the most popular war hero and figurehead for kids (he's so badass, multi-talented, breaks rules but is a good guy) and so he leads nighthunts comprised of juniors from various clans. All's well that ends well.

Do Not Wants: Nie Mingjue to have been in a past serious relationship, still having sex with someone else in the fic, children from other partners (aka Wei Wuxian is the only real serious commitment), miscarriage and unhappy ending. If you put Jiang Clan in the fic, please ensure they either have bare-minimum interactions with Wei Wuxian, are operating in the background and have no plot-related things OR outright Jiang clan bashing. I dont want JC/WWX reconciliation, nor do I wanna see Jiang clan positively please.

If its possible to be informed when this prompt is taken, I'll be grateful. I am SolnyshkaFedya on twitter, discord, retrospring, and insta and yiling-laozu-is-loml on tumblr :D

[fantasyinvader]

There's just something to Blazing Blade (replaying it since I finally got the Switch Online Expansion Pass) that just fascinates me, and I think a lot of it has to do with it being a prequel. Because it's a prequel, no matter what happens it's going to lead to the events of Binding Blade. It's going to lead to Bern trying to conquer the entire continent of Elibe because it's leader falls into misanthropy hard, with the secret purpose of wiping humanity out because mankind is just that awful in Zeph's eyes. This, and all the destruction that happens, is set in stone for Blazing Blade. And while Binding Blade can end up with a really optimistic ending if the player goes for the best one, that still sets a dark shadow over a story that is meant to lead into it.

In Blazing Blade, you can't stop the bigger war from happening and a LOT of your characters will be doomed to die by canon. They aren't going to have a happily ever after. There is no stopping that. You even save Zephiel from an assassination attempt, the guy who would start the war, and while there's hope things will work out at the end… it doesn't. Worse is the implication that in your attempts to stop the Black Fang, you set these events in motion. Eliwood's wife is going to die young regardless of who it is. Canus, Lucius, Nino, Karla, Rath and more are in similar boats and we see Hector himself die while Eliwood is too sick to fight.

Compare this to what happened with Gaiden, characters can have bad endings if particular units they have relations with are killed in battle. But here, nothing you do will stop this.

So Blazing Blade doesn't try to hide it. There's call forwards to the approaching tragedy, some pairings lead to worse results. Nils leaves, either with his sister or alone with the knowledge she doesn't have that long to live. Hell, if you play the game well enough you cause another war between nations looking to hire you. And, of course, unlocking the legendary weapons releases Jahn. Even if it was to save the world, your actions will feed into a bigger conflict. Like in Binding Blade, you also can't recruit everyone either as they are locked to various route splits or who your main lord is.

The game is hella bittersweet, borderline tragic… and I think that's why I love it so much.

Can't really explain it other than it makes things more weighty and grounded, which gives the game a more anti-war feel. Not just that fighting is bad, but that fighting leads to more fighting and the good guys winning isn't enough to stop that because actions have consequences. Nino reforming isn't going to stop something like people seeking revenge on her for being a member of the Black Fang. Even the villain Nergal ultimately had very human motivations before being consumed by his power. Something about this all though just hits me in the feels, making the game one I couldn't forget since it's original release.

Plus, now I'm sure the Runeblades are meant to be a shout-out to the Elric Saga considering they gave Lloyd Elric's White Wolf moniker.

[kibbits]

I want to talk more fluff about your Break a Leg!Boys (I’m having a bad time medically and I need more positive energy before I send myself spiraling). Late night movies become an eventual habit, not only for the boys to take notes on improving their skills. There’s something magical about watching Sun and Moon experience things outside of Fazbear’s control. Of course, they can only live vicariously through the scenes, but there’s times when you can genuinely see something that wasn’t just fabricated through lines of code. Watching them plaster themselves to the screen, vibrating with pure excitement as daring battles of good and evil play out. The way Sun’s frame tenses as the hero struggles compared to Moon’s growing intrigue. Movies with less clear villains don’t entirely go over their heads though sometimes they need clarification. Some may love the questions and some may not. As they grow closer to Y/N, they may request to watch a more of their favorite films rather then the original course of kid movies. Which of course leads them to more adult musicals, you can’t tell me there wasn’t a week that Y/N didn’t regret letting Moon watch Phantom of the Opera.

Hi Anon!!! Oh man, I'm sorry you're going through it -- sending you all the good vibes and sending you soup (and hugs if you like them!) mentally! 🍲💖💖💖💖💖

(also ough your asks keep making me draw stuff so I hold onto them but also I'm juggling a lot of things rn so I don't end up having the time to draw aa --i'll just answer them now, and then come back to them if I have art to add from now on haha)

But yes!!! Yes absolutely!! Y/N is pretty much given carte blanche to rehabilitate the boys. They might play it safe with management/the boys' morals and go for kids' movies at first, but Y/N definitely starts to sneak in their favorites pretty soon! I think Sun would end up liking things like Princess Bride a lot! > : ) Yeees Phantom of the Opera for Moon!! I think both would be happy as long as the battle of good and evil is grandiose -- they do love dramatics, and when the action leaves you on the edge of your seat! gfjkld

Sun likes a good heroic monologue, and happily ever afters --though he's the one that ends up liking when things are more morally grey and make you think deeply long after the movie's over.

Moon is very happy that Villain Songs tend to slap so hard dfdjklg He's aware that villains don't usually win unless it's horror, and he doesn't mind that -- he just wants to have fun. So he likes flashy villains ehehe.

I think Sun would end up going for complex or powerful, well-told stories, and Moon would end up very interested in like. The visual aspect? (Megamind voice: Presentation!!) since he also takes care of the light rig and stuff like that, he'd incorporate strong color changes and be interested in things like how people's placement on stage, color, and lighting give the scene a different vibe.

Despite the gremlin tendencies he never moves away from, he's pretty meticulous and particular, and instead of Fazbear's 'more is more' approach to special effects and flashy additions, he'd learn to do subtle and unsettling changes well, as well as flashy but not too much. Now I'm picturing them using a system with cast shadows/'shadow puppets' to have an epic sword fight despite only being one body

The moment Y/N starts to see signs of how much they get into the movies -signs of the boys' actual, long-buried personalities - they get super invested. They make it their personal mission to show them as much as they can, and the duo/trio (since. Sun and Moon aren't separate. can you IMAGINE in this AU--) often end up more interested in the other one's reaction more than the movie (like say in your example where Sun is tense and practically glued to the screen, Y/N is probably staring at him way more than the movie, just as invested in his reaction as Sun is in the story.)

Y/N ends up looking so closely that they start to see more of their personality and preferences - probably even before the boys realize it about themselves (or, well, before they have the time to analyze and acknowledge it themselves) so they take notes and show them more movies they think will fit their tastes

On that note, Y/N totally ends up 1)Getting a library card to rent DVDs/An external drive to.... *find* movies/filmed performances pretty early on, and 2)having secret slumber parties with the boys ALL the time

I think Y/N should end up being handler and stage director, with a good helping of working on props and costume (or at least working with them on costume designs/helping with quick fixes) and they probably help the boys cobble together homemade fan merch/costumes when they ask ehehe or as a surprise! (They do and don't regret making them a very swishy cape during Moon's Phantom phase)

Thanks so much for the asks!!!! They make my day, every time!! I hope you feel better!!!

[honorarycassowary]

I’m in the middle of writing a different long post to which this subject is only tangentially relevant, but the single greatest flaw in several big rationalist fanfics is an unwillingness to engage with the actual text of canon and instead pre-rationalistizing it. What I mean by this is the canon, whatever it may be, contains some Thing, a premise or character or design, that doesn’t fit with Rationalism TM, so it’s discarded and the fanfic precedes without engaging with how a rationalist philosophy would need to address or adapt to this Thing.

1) Animorphs: The Reckoning is intensely concerned with hard(er) scifi-ing up the books. The Andalites’ centaur body layout doesn’t really make sense, so it needs to be redesigned. And so does their culture and psychology, since they’re a psychic species. And that has knock-on effects on Elfangor and Ax’s characterization. And Yeerks live in massive collective pools and possess, so that has to effect their psychology as well. Do these changes make more sense (from a scientific and/or internal consistency point)? Sure, I guess. I’ve been enthusiastic about some weird Andalite redesigns myself, and the ones The Reckoning proposes are genuinely neat. But all this is a significant worldbuilding project that needs to happen in addition to retelling the general plot of the books and on top of communicating some rationalist worldview, and it involves fundamentally altering the characterization of several key players. Which is IMO kinda defeating the point of writing fanfiction instead of plain old fiction.

And that’s really the sticking point here - the author describes the project as "Visser Three is competent, the Yeerks are moving rapidly, and the Animorphs are actually trying to win“. But wait. Visser Three is competent?

You see, I think it’s actually a serious misreading of the series to think that Visser Three is incompetent purely for children’s book villain reasons. (Though that is a bit of it.) Applegate clearly had serious thoughts on war going on, and I think it is important thematically that Visser Three sabotages everything by being a huge asshole. Primarily, it establishes that the Yeerk Empire devaluing host species has infected their views towards fellow Yeerks. Visser Three is someone who thinks he is more important than anyone else and will use force to make sure that everyone obeys him; literally the personification of empire. There’s also the skewering of real-life bureaucracies that value people with cool showy military victories like having a morph-capable Andalite body over people who can actually lead, how infighting among people at the same level is crippling for any large organization, how cruelty to your subordinates can be exploited to your disadvantage. (I also don’t think he’s inherently incompetent, he’s just a total asshole promoted well above his competency level.) It is not necessary for a rationalist retelling of this story to fix this, because it is not a problem. There is no conflict between exploring rationalist philosophy and showing how irrational assholes with way too much power are an obstacle. That’s an incredibly relevant lesson!

And the Animorphs, trying to win? What does it mean to win a war? Applegate wrote a whole letter to fans about this after the series ended. Her message is, flatly, “Wars don’t end happily. Not ever.” What do the Animorphs want? Why do they want it? It’s majorly thematically important that they are kids who want this whole thing to be over, and have to grapple with the reasons why they can’t back out. In rationalist terms, what are we trying to optimize for here? The fastest end to the war? The best end for humanity? The best end for all sapient species involved? The end that is most likely to lead to the longest period of peace? How do these options conflict? How do we balance competing needs between species? In smaller and less fantastical scale, this is a problem that people deal with all the time, and it’s hard! The power fantasy of ultimate rationalist effectiveness is in conflict here with philosophical exploration of rationalism in practice in the chaotic system of real irrational people.

(Anyways, if you want a story that talks about the Animorphs making effective use of resources and making hard decisions and trying to figure out the best and most effective choice to make among many, many parties who all have different goals, go read Daemorphing. It is much better in terms of smoothly integrating worldbuilding and seriously thinking about morality and how to practically achieve outcomes that satisfy people.)

2) One of the major messages of HPMOR is resisting death. If you want to do worldbuilding in regards to the afterlife and immortality, there’s some actually fairly interesting stuff about what’s going on with death in the actual Harry Potter books. Ghosts have their own culture (death-day parties! the Headless Hunt!) - how did it develop? Muggles can’t see or become ghosts - does that mean only wizards have souls? How do ghosts resist going to the afterlife? Can they move on? Why don’t spirits like being brought back via the Resurrection Stone? Can they tell us about the content of the afterlife? What’s up with the spirits who come out of Voldemort’s wand? How does the Veil in the Department of Mysteries work, and why don’t wizards have a Health and Safety Executive equivalent?

But Eliezer Yudkowsky doesn’t believe in the afterlife, so Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality can’t talk about any of that. He wants to end death, but ghosts are just “afterimages” so they can be discarded despite the very obvious parallels between afterimages and brain uploading and simulation in a transhumanist context. He knows the afterlife is fake, so he doesn’t even need to see the Veil in person to know it’s a fake, and he’s not interested in comprehensively debunking it for a public audience either. He’s a cryogenics enthusiast, though, so Harry can espouse cryonics as a method to preserve loved ones, instead of looking into enchanted glass coffins or transfiguring your loved ones into a magic music box that plays a song that sounds like heartache or sticking them in the Mirror of Erised. (Really just CRTL+F “HPMOR 39“ on this review website for a more thorough discussion.)

3) There’s almost certainly a whole section to be added here about Worm fic/fandom that really, really doesn’t want to deal with the whole “being actively sabotaged by extradimensional brain worms” but by the power of refusing to ever make a Spacebattles or SV account I have avoided so much of the fandom that it’s really a Plato’s cave situation here. I have no chapter and verse to cite so uhhh send post

[lavender-ages]

does jjk deconstruct, avert or subvert classic shoes tropes? the way this seems to be all going, it doesn't exactlyl seem to be your classic shone manga and anime and isn't exactly the happiest story

Hi anon! I would say jjk does a bit of all the things you said

It keeps some classical shonen tropes like the main trio + cool sensei, the crazy power ups you don't always understand and the complicated fights and maybe some other things I'm forgetting, but it also completely lacks other typical shonen traits like the focus on romance between the main female lead and the male protagonist; speaking of female characters, they're also not sexualised at all even if they're portrayed as good looking (and sometimes also show a lot of skin like Tsukumo), and they aren't centered around a male character

And jjk doesn't use the "power of friendship", or rather uses it to make the characters grow stronger and but their strength doesn't make them beat enemies and death. Speaking of villains, they often win and the "good guys" aren't 100% good either, and some villains aren't 100% evil either like Geto, there's a lot of shadow

At this point I doubt we'll get a happy ending but ever since chapter 1 I don't think there were high chances of seeing all the characters living happily ever after - having at least half of the current cast still alive would be a good result lmao (jjk isn't called "dark shonen" without reason after all 🥲)

[wiredlyrelatable]

Ramabanam movie review...

It's a 2023 tollywood movie

Like many people I saw the trailer and thaught it's same as the old telugu native movies which work on family sentiments where the villan tries to hurt the hero's brother who obviously is innocent and then the hero fights for him and at the end finishes the villan and all his side kicks.

In this movie the male lead, Vicky is a violent man, his idealogy is, "YOU HAVE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR SURVIVAL" but his brother Rajaram, is exactly opposite to him as he believes in non-voilence mode of fighting. Both of them get into a problem with a villain named GK who has a food business in which he makes all the adulterated products. Rajaram was against this and later even Vicky turns against this and at the end both of them win the court case against the villain and live happily ever after with their family, his wife, the female lead Bhiravi and their restaurant without any adulteration in food and relationships.

The fights, the bgm were okay. Though the sentiments and emotions were routine, the point they bought out was good as still there are many companies which supply chemicals in the name of organic and good food.

The name suited the movie as Ram and Lakshman are brothers in Ramayana just like the brothers in the movie. I watched it today on Netflix and enjoyed it not so much but the dialogues in the climax court scene will definitely make you think about what you are eating daily.

#not so unique

#one time watchable

#good message to the audience

[bloodymarsupials1]

Fell Star and BtSL @justpked (Fell Star, BtSL: Demo

BtSL

And so the prophecy is fulfilled. You’ve exceeded all of my expectations, as I always knew you would. Don’t cry… We’ll meet again beyond the spider lilies.”A prophecy and a lie.There is no difference between the two. Between the fables of the tales of the Old told long ago and the so-called ‘prophecies’ seen by the Oracles of the great deities, the two are always the same. No more than fancy words spun around to convince others to do their bidding. Some might claim otherwise, but the Accursed will prove it.Rather than dying to a fool who wishes to take everything from him, the Accursed has plans of his own. The young child who has nothing to their name will be his pawn. You shall be the one to end him. A false prophet Everything will move like clockwork. He’ll make it so. It would be best for you to listen to his words, oh lost one.Will you be able to fulfill the prophecy set out for you, or will you lead it astray?

Fell Star “Be wary of the Harbinger, for they bring either hope or doom.”After your fall, you awaken in a strange place. Buildings made of metal and steel, the iron and silver weapons used to strike you down have changed their form, and the magic that once flourished throughout the realm is no more than just a flicker.There is something else that is peculiar with your awakening. You are neither dead or alive. And the person who sits before you, covered in blood, is a child — rather, a child is putting it lightly, what sits before you is a Homunculus; a vessel who has your heart.Just what has happened during the past years of your death? What will you do, Harbinger? Will you bring hope to this new age you’ve awakened to or will you bring it all down and build anew?

Sinners @sinners-if (demo We all know how it goes - the hero wins the day, they get the love interest, and their books and movies end with happily ever after. But what about the villain? Could you fall in love with a sinner?

The Decoy @thedecoy-if (DEMO Life, for the most part, has been all-around uneventful. You work in Manhattan at a convenience store under a sleazy boss in order to scrape by and support your struggling family. Your dad is absent, your mom is too tired to parent, one brother is getting arrested while the other has detached himself from the life he once had. Still, while your days as a twenty-something employee are mundane, at least they're predictable.Meanwhile, in another realm, the magical dark world of Eterna is in ruin. A war against an entity and his bloodthirsty creatures is brewing, and after the powerful royal family is viciously murdered and the only living child--and now rightful owner of the throne--goes missing, that evil is one step closer to winning.But of course, that's not your problem. That's in a whole other universe, one you don't even know exists. Your biggest worry is whether you'll be able to take on a double shift tomorrow. Right?Wrong.Turns out the missing heir is your doppelganger. In a desperate attempt to save face and stop from losing a war before it even starts, you're kidnapped and taken to Eterna in order to play the part of the monarch, all while working behind the (bloody) scenes to find the true heir and get home.Stuck in a world of magic and fantasy you've only ever seen in movies, an entire country--and an impending war-- is now dependent on how well you can act.No pressure.

The Northern Passage @northern-passage (same arthor as @blood-choke and is an amazing writer) (demo It's cold, so cold - your head aches, your ears pop, water chokes your throat and nose, and all you can do is watch as the sky gets farther and farther away from you. Clawed hands grab at your ankles, your legs, your arms, pulling you down, tearing at your clothes and piercing your skin.You convulse violently, your body struggling to expel the water from your lungs as more floods in.Staring up into the fading light, you feel your body grow weak, giving in, sinking now, your blood churning all around you in the water. A hand grabs at your throat, caressing a thumb over your pulse, pulling you down as the dark water turns red.

The Night Abridged @zico-if (getting a rework which is super exciting) (DEMO

You were supposed to be a sacrifice in order to bring an eldritch god to your realm, a sacrifice that was never supposed to live. Instead of dying and summoning the god intended, you find yourself face to face with an ancient being that was chained and locked away for the horrors they once committed. 

Alzurahm is their name. A once revered god but now a pitiful creature made of bone and shadow. After finding themself free of their prison, they realise there is nothing to tether themself to, until you come into view.

They make you an offer. Become their host and allow them a taste of freedom and they will grant you power to ensure you bothlive.The catch is that their thoughts will become your thoughts, their weaknesses will become your weaknesses and their fears will become your fears. 

But things are never as simple as they seem. After the revelation that you are more than just human, The Court of Night decides to utilise the mistake they made by brainwashing you and shape you into something of their own that most would come to know simply as: The Vessel—someone who no one wishes to see at their doorstep.

After being sent on a mission to eliminate a traitor of The Court, a series of unfortunate events throw you off the planned course and onto another where you then find yourself hunting an evil much greater than the ones you were taught about.

Wayfarer @idrellegames (demo When your mercenary work backs you into a corner, you take the only option available and accept a contract: to travel to the city of Velantis and steal an ancient artifact said to be blessed by the gods. Simple, right?But Velantis holds more than you bargained for. Gathering a ragtag party of malcontents and renegades from across the city, you must navigate enemy factions, meddling guilds, and escalating political tensions. Your choices will ultimately determine the city’s fate – and the fate of every person who lives there.

Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian@defiledheartsblog (demo You are one of the last surviving members of your tribe destroyed by the Romans. In a desperate search for vengeance you enlist into the Legion under a fake name and a made up past. You were supposed to be dead, but now you are an Auxiliary of Rome - a foreigner fighting for the might of the Empire. You’re alone, surrounded by enemies. Also, there's a foreign voice in your head, urging you to kill. Can you fight its influence and find out who, or what, they are?Can you forgive your enemies, or will you stay on the path of hatred? Will you find love and friendship in the last place you thought possible? Can you heal from your past?

VENDETTA @vendetta-if (DEMO Ten years ago, your father was assassinated. They said it was a successful hit-job done by a rival gang or another criminal family and closed the case. But you know better… You were there during the attack after all, even though not exactly in his last moments. You know it’s not that simple.He deserves better. He was a vigilante, helping the citizens of Elysium City equally when its own superheroes were too busy maintaining their public image and reputation to even bother helping the ‘little folks’. But when they found out about his true identity as the heir of the infamous Morozov Criminal Family posthumously, they quickly closed the investigation as soon as they arrested the one surviving attacker out of the many that participated in that bloody night and considered that justice. There was no more fame or reputation to be gained for finding true justice for a long-retired vigilante who turned out to be a criminal as well, so why spend the energy and manpower? But you won’t accept it. You will seize the truth on your own and spit it on their faces. At least, that’s what you always tell yourself…For a decade you have been trapped and tortured in a perpetual hell of your own making, reliving that bloody night every year and furious at yourself for not being a step closer to finding out the truth. Every year, you promise your father that you will bring him the justice that he deserved. And you mean it. You won’t rest until you find the one who killed him. Even if you have to tear apart this rotten city from the inside out, you will stop at nothing to have your vengeance.This is your tale, Revenger, and you will decide how you will seize your well-deserved vengeance. Will you finally break the vicious cycle and rise above it all? Or will you become another part in the long blood-soaked cycles of vendetta?

The Abyssal @theabyssal(DEMO In The Abyssal, you assume the control of a powerful deity that was betrayed by their fellow gods. Imprisoned against your will for all eternity, you had a long time to plan your revenge.After you regain your freedom, travel across Hylaria and recruit acolytes to help you in your quest for retribution. Influence their future as you learn about their past. Cultivate the kind of relationship you want to have with your followers: make them fear you, or be a kind leader and inspire respect.Oh, and did I mention you are Death itself?

the midnight hours @evertidings (demo you are a bounty hunter.responsible for taking in rogue supernaturals, you work for IAOS—the international agency of supernaturals—where, alongside your best friend and partner, you two have quickly become the best hunting duo of the branch.after a particularly tricky hunt, you brief your boss, Caine Atheron, and come back to work the next day to find that he has mysteriously disappeared overnight, the company is now in the hands of his best friend, Sebastian Mai.and though no one else seems to question it, something tells you that there's more to the story.with bounty cases rising at an alarming rate and a second mystery unfolding, you and your ragtag team of allies set out to find the truth.but as you go further and further, the secrets you uncover begin to make you question: who… or what exactly are you fighting for?

The Bastard of Camelot @llamagirl28 (Demo Your child will be the undoing of Camelot.Born under an ominous prophecy, you are the incestuous bastard of King Arthur and Morgana Le Fay. Will you fulfill the prophecy, or rebel?Be the villain they expect you to be, or the hero they don’t- be remorseful or unapologetic, make your destiny or be Morgana’s tool of revenge.Arthur can’t have any more children, making you the sole Pendragon's blood heir. As a Pendragon, you have the power of dragons. It's the only dragon blood line out of four that has survived, bloodlines that started as a way to create peace between humans and dragons by allowing the former to speak and understand their language, communicate telephatically, summon fire and grow a scale armor.The Bastard of Camelot is a series of text-based interactive fiction inspired by Arthurian Legends, following Mordred as they become a Knight of the Round Table and shape the fate of Camelot.

Adoriel's Tears @adoriels-tears-if (a favorite of mine) (demo Adoriel's Tears are a gift.A light offered to the inhabitants of Terrybiël to end the conflicts that oppress the Four Peoples and eradicate the evil that was crawling on the continent.But every light has its shadow and sometimes gifts are poisonous. For if magic comes from the heart, it takes a soul to master it, and fortunate are those who manage to find it. Without a counterpart, without a familiar, a Tear is nothing.Just a curse. A child of madness. The darkness on Terrybiël. What must be destroyed before they destroy you.Adoriel's Tears are a gift. At least for the others.You're long past the point where your heart and soul should be singing together, and yet you're gifted. That's what made you lose everything you had as a child. Now, an opportunity presents itself. Should you take it, is it the right thing to do?Without a soul and with a magic you can't control, the journey will be a risky one.Especially since the smell of madness and blood is getting heavier and heavier on Terrybiël. Will you be able to fix everything, to find what you're looking for? Nothing is less sure.And yet, this voice is calling you, whispering : Come ! Come to me ! Come to me and don't be afraid.So…Shall we begin ?

The King's Hound @the-kingshound (very excited for this, quality is top notch) (DEMO You are the King’s spouse, his right and left hand, the unstoppable executor of his will. Your name is whispered by enemies and allies with fear and respect alike, some says it’s your arm that bears the weight of the entire kingdom.They call you the King’s hound. It started as a way to taunt you but it’s not that far away from the truth. Your loyalty is blind, your devotion absolute. The King’s vision is your vision.Your name will forever mark history alongside theirs.-But for now, you are being shipped to your betrothed, alone and powerless on your way to Camelot.As the seventh child of the Venegard House, you’ve always had little to look forward to other than an arranged marriage to achieve a political alliance. That’s exactly why, after your parents lost the rebellion against King Arthur, you were the one sent to him as a sign of newfound peace.You don’t know what awaits you now, but after you Camelot will never be the same.

A Tale of Crowns @ataleofcrowns (demo Their parents murdered and the previous Crown of Arsur assassinated, your character finds themselves on the run as they’ve been bestowed with the golden eyes that mark them as the new Crown. Unseen enemies at their heels, will they succeed as the Crown, or will they lead to the downfall of the Empire?

The Exile @exilethegame (Demo The gods abandoned the realm of Navara long ago— wykna, they were called. With them, they took their magic and their beliefs, leaving the realm to die a slow and pitiful death. Beasts of legend turned to mountains and sea water, living forests turned to graveyards of epic proportions. Without guidance, humans, magic-users, and mythosi were locked in a constant war for the simple right to exist.You were the most feared soldier in all the land— the attack dog of Queen Marcelle and her beloved Kingdom of Plaithus. Your name was known by all— a hero to some, a killer to others. You were a weapon. A beast. Maybe it only made sense that you would snap one day.One hundred lives, ten minutes: children, friends, family.You don’t know why you did it. Hell— you can’t even remember how you did it. All you have are flickering, waning memories accompanied by an all-consuming guilt and paralyzing paranoia.You, my friend, are an exile— and there’s something so very deeply incredibly wrong with you.Get it out.

Crown of Exile @ramonag-if (Demo) When your village is razed to the ground, you're left fleeing with an exiled prince. You can trust no one but each other. Your father's dying wish was to protect the prince, but can you really trust a man who was exiled from his kingdom?Journey across the borders in search of allies. But in this deadly game of treachery and deceit, there is more than just the prince's life at stake. Will you flee from the past that haunts you or will you embrace the fate that awaits you?The decision is yours.

Heroes Rise: The Prodigy (game, series Do you have what it takes to become a legendary Powered hero? "Heroes Rise" is an epic interactive novel where your choices control the story. The game is entirely text-based--without graphics or sound effects--and fueled by the vast, unstoppable power of your imagination. How high will you rise?

Werewolves: Haven Rising (game, series Rise up, werewolves! Throw off the shackles of a tyrannical military police state. Fight for your pack! Fight for your honor! Fight for your freedom!Werewolves: You are one of fifteen pups born in Haven, a government internment camp where werewolves are forced to live and work. Raised in this refuge since birth, you've never known the freedom of the wilds. You soon discover the elders have selected you for a mission that will put you directly into the cross-hairs of both the military and werewolf radicals alike!You're a new breed of lupine explorer, your hunting grounds an urban jungle of steel and concrete. When your expedition to a forbidden military base goes wrong, a startling discovery sparks an escalation of violence and tragedy that will lead your pack to the hungry maw of war.

Blood Moon (game You’re a werewolf. One night, a seemingly random encounter pulls you into the city’s paranormal underbelly, populated by witches, hunters, ghosts, and ruled over by vampires. You’re not alone. Your pack is with you. They’re your allies, friends…and perhaps more than that. The choices you make not only determine your fate, but theirs as well.

I, the Forgotten One (game) there is no sapphic romance th, which is incredibly disappointing when they made fxm and mxm The king is dead. The country is wracked by rebellion. And an old comrade from your past has returned to claim the crown for himself.You are the late king's eldest child and royal bastard. Disinherited and tossed aside, you were sent off as a child to fight in the distant frontier of the kingdom, to die forgotten and unknown.You, however, survived, and have been shaped into an instrument of war.With the realm now in turmoil, you have been called upon to once more bloody your blade.You must restore peace, by any means necessary.Even as you feel yourself slipping, deeper and deeper into a pit of despair.

Samurai of Hyuga (game, series) this series is truly astoundingly good Samurai of Hyuga is a brutal, heart-pounding interactive tale. Prepare to enter the land of silk and steel, where fantasy clashes against grim reality, and where the good guys don't always win in the end. It's a harsh world with tough choices at every turn. Good thing you're the toughest ronin around.

The Passenger (game Your eldritch existence is threatened when another abomination tries to feast on you. You flee, trapping yourself in human flesh, but will that be enough?

The Shadow Society (game )incredibly sad it got discontinued Faced with a dream that alters something within, you are forced to return to your abandoned childhood home. There you find a way to an unknown realm.

The Sword of Rhivenia (game) the arthur just poofed out of existence, like no trace whatsoever The War of Three Brothers, which took place ten years ago, changed the unknown fate of Rhivenia. The Sword chose Prince Charles to rule; however, his brothers dared to go against its choice. Prince Charles gained victory over his brothers, who were the victims of their greed. Executing all the traitors, he strengthened his reign and became the rightful king of three kingdoms. He's been living a peaceful life with his two wives and four children until an unexpected enemy shows up.You play as one of the heirs, who may be chosen by the Sword once King Charles dies. Are you worthy of the throne? Or do your siblings deserve it more than you do? What kind of heir will you be?

Zombie Exodus(game It starts with a daring escape from a zombie-infested city; it ends at Zombie Exodus, when a horde of zombies swarms outlying settlements like locusts.

Stained Devotion by EmptyStars ( here is the tumblr, again check em out it's great stuff @dottietheninth After your first year of working in Castle Dimitrescu, you happened by chance to find yourself assigned to the basement more and more through-out the rest of your second year. It took you the better part of the year to just barely adjust to the gruesome brutality that came with this job and you could only hope that you would last another year in this place.

In The Wolf's Jaws by EmptyStars (tumblr @dottietheninth this was probely the first fic i read and day one it got me, it is the onlly thing that actually made me want to read, not only beacuse of fucking good it is but it always deliverd. i cant thank you enough for what you have done to me your work is truly amazing and i cant wait to read more, please never stop. tied at 1st place Danika's dreams of working in and studying a castle quickly turned into a nightmare as she starts to see the horrors of Castle Dimitrescu unravel around her.

The Phytologist's Guide to Falling in Love by LucidMagic (here is the tumblr @lucidmagic You want to be selfish.Your fingers burn and twitch with it as her face continues to be shrouded from your eyes. All of your body is screaming to just do it and pull it back, finally sating your desire to see your old friend's face.(You idly wondered if her cheeks ever lost that baby fat she always complained about. If her face sharpened like her father’s or rounded like her mother’s. Did she inherit the latter’s pert nose? Or a straight one like the former?A thought enters your mind of you leaning in and kissing a pale cheek and seeing how she flushes, beautifully and enticingly. You grit your teeth at that and turn away.)But no. Donna may be an old friend, yes, but she is now your employer and you can't ruin the tentative companionship the two of you have at the moment with your selfish impulses.Or,Gardener!Reader falls in love with the mysterious Lady Beneviento, who was once a close friend when they were younger, but like many things in this world tragedy and life got in the way. Now they've reunited.

Everything We Failed To Be by Cecelina18 Six years after having your heart broken by the love of your life, you return to the place where everything began. Will you be able to mend what has been broken?

Amidst All Fury by Cecelina18 Everyone has a past at Castle Dimitrescu; some just do better at hiding their true origins. You have been a baker at the castle for over a year without ever meeting any of the Dimitrescus. Until one fatal altercation gains you the attention of the matriarch. The closer the two of you get, the more inconsistencies Lady Dimitrescu notices about you. How well can you truly lie, Y/N?

A Smoking Bouquet by nerdsarehot75 Hermione has been waiting to find her soulmate for as long as she can remember. Every message on her skin has gone unanswered, and not once has she seen evidence of her soulmate drawing on themselves, not even a note to remember milk at the shops. Until her flowers show up on an unexpected person's arm.

Unshaken by Thethemis Castle Dimitrescu gets shipments of criminals on a regular basis. Most are used for wine, while others are given positions within the castle to work/replace staff members. Valen is fortunate (or perhaps unfortunate) enough to be given a position in the kitchens.Prior knowledge, though very little, about the castle and its inhabitants have her thankful for another chance at life; even if that life is threatened constantly. She has a plan, however: Stay quiet and mind her business. A chance encounter with a mouthy maid changes that, and she is far from living under the Dimitrescu’s radar now.OrThief!Reader weasels her way into a certain someone’s heart by accident

In All Your Horror and Beauty by RosePolaris (here is the tumblr @rosepolaris You've run from all you lost: your home, your family, your love. When your wanderlust carries you to a remote and eerily time-frozen village nestled in the Carpathian mountains, your only concern is finding a bed and work. Something that — you are assured by the local carpenter and his fearful daughter — can be found among the vast array of turrets casting a watchful eye over the shambled houses below. You quickly discover life at Castle Dimitrescu to be a waking nightmare, gruesome and shrouded in mystery. Why do the villagers accept the horrors within? Why are only women permitted entry? Who are Lady Dimitrescu's strange and lethal daughters — and why has the towering, beautiful and tyrannical countess taken a frightening interest in you?

The Lady's Laundry by Cookiekitten (here is the tumblr @cookiekitten91 they are and amazing artist as well! You are Lady Beneviento’s newest and only maid, and through a series of clothing-related misunderstandings you manage to accidentally convince the entire village that the two of you are lovers.

Blood on the Vine by JE_Talveran @jetalveran (an incredablly well written and original piece and just fucking perfect really. if you have any common sense youll read this becuse i cant actually putt in words how great this is. again 1st place. Six months into a year-long contract Isolde Ardenlane finds herself in the middle of a horrific comedy of errors when she accidentally convinces Daniela Dimitrescu that they're Meant to Be. Surviving Daniela's idea of romance quickly turns into a battle for Isolde's mind as the relationship dredges up secrets that everyone would prefer to stay buried. And that's before the complication that is Lady Beneviento.

sooooo, i wanted to make this because i apparently cant reblog and i have no idea why. (i'm referencing the little...challenge? however you want to call it by @drinkyourvillainjuice.

anyway here it is, i also added a few fanfics just cause.

The Second Sight @spoiledblog (demo) You’re an urban legend in a county full of them. When you were thirteen, you were found passed out in the road by one of the local cops. No missing persons report. No fingerprints on file. No memories. Just a name.Oh, and some bizarre psychic powers.You're content with simplicity. You like your isolated cabin and helping Carter track down missing persons. You know that in theory there are more people like you out there, but you've never wanted to look behind the curtain to find out.However, with the disappearance of a local teen named Casey Powell and a recent attempt on your foster father's life, your serene, isolated life comes abruptly to its end and a new chapter begins.

After The End @albywritesfiction (demo)

Your former fiancé and heir apparent of the Aurelian Kingdom, Prince Ædan, has married the love of his life, the fair Saintess Helene. As the nation celebrates their union, you are left alone to pick up the pieces of your broken heart... until you receive two letters. One is an invitation to the office of Prince Ædric, the crown prince's younger brother and rival for the throne. The other is a letter filled with concern from your childhood friend and secretary-in-training, Cyfrin, who is currently assisting your father at your family’s ducal estate in the countryside. Each letter contains a proposition that will change the course of your fate forever.

Which one will you choose?

God-Cursed @wings-of-ink (Demo)

you were found as a newborn, clutched in the arms of your dead mother at the base of a tree. No family came to claim you, but the men who came to your rescue adopted you as their own and became the only parents you’ve ever known. Growing up in the village of Stonebrook, you never want for much, until the day you first fall ill. Life plagues you with a mysterious condition that no one can diagnose or cure. You never know when it will strike or if it will eventually kill you. Living between fear and hope as you age, you try to come into your own as an adult with the ever-looming threat above you. As years pass, your condition seems to improve, until a mysterious mark appears on your body and opens up new questions.

It appears that you’re marked for death with no answers as to why, and your only chance to survive is to go out and seek them.

Journey through the land of Iroda, a fantasy world where the gods have abandoned their people and magic no longer prevails as it once did. Something is brewing that may change this world forever, and you’re in the middle of it, though your role is a mystery you must solve. Wanted dead by some and alive for mysterious purposes by others, you just want to survive. With the help of a few friends, find the answers that you need, and make your choices.

Before We are Ghosts @anjiefiction (DEMO) When a powerful villain threatens the safety of Metamora, you and the city’s heroes go to great lengths to stop him, and ultimately you are forced to pay the biggest price of all.(Against all odds, the heroes win. The victory is hollow.)The doctors are professional, if not sympathetic. They tell you that your body is in the process of slowly shutting down. No, they aren’t sure why. No, there isn’t a cure. When you ask how much time you have left, the faces grow dark. Perhaps a year, they say. Two if you’re lucky.(You thought you could rest. You thought wrong again.)For as threats resurge and the past rears its ugly head, you can only wonder: Do you have the strength to see things through? Will there be enough time?And when the end comes, can you find the courage to say goodbye?

more than me @ryanstillwrites-if (Demo) On a Wednesday morning, you leave your doctor's office with the diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumour and the knowledge of an estimated four months left to live.Suddenly left without any direction in your life, you find yourself in a support group for the terminally ill. Where you expected to find sadness, melancholy and a looming sense of dread at thought of a fast approaching death - all the same feelings you harbour - you find smiles and laughter instead.You're drawn in by the people you meet there, curious and confused by their carefree attitudes. They're kind to you, they take you in, they turn your frown upside down - literally and figuratively. And just when you think you might be beginning to accept your fate; they decide to throw all caution to the wind and whisk you away on the adventure of a lifetime.You don't know what will come of the next four months but with your new friends at your side, you're excited to find out. After all, this is the only life you've been given, and though it may be ending soon; you might as well live it to the fullest.

Omen of Ice @omen-of-ice (no demo) The North has been all that you’ve known your whole life— residing within its icy landscape as part of House Eirlys; Wardens of the North. You’ve never thought you’d one day leave to head south to Vela’thian— the kingdom of the elvhen— much less that you’d head there due to your betrothal with the king himself.What will await you once you arrive? Is everything as it seems? Or is there something more brewing beneath the surface of the seemingly pristine nation?Will you find your way back home? Or will you find something, or someone, worth staying for?Let’s see how your story unfolds…

Mons Immortalium @mons-immortalium-if (DEMO) Mons Immortalium is a fantasy romance interactive story. Human MC falls into the magical land of the faeries, a mountain island that has been secluded from the rest of the world for over a millennium. Break curses, fall in love and beware of  wicked faeries. Whatever you do, never give them your true name!

In the Cards @inthecards (demo)

You've always had psychic powers. Reading auras, speaking with the dead, and channeling spiritual energy through runes - these number just a few of the things you're capable of. It's not an unusual gift in the kingdom of Khepris, though it's uncommon enough that you've only met a few other people with such abilities in your small hometown.

After a plague sweeps through the kingdom, unrest bubbles up in the realm known as the Beyond, home to fae and spirits alike. A group of fae who call themselves the Butterfly Court are testing the boundaries between your worlds, and they don't seem to care what harm they may be causing along the way.

With a deck of tarot cards imbued with mystical powers in your possession, you're pulled into the struggle against the Butterfly Court. You must join one of two organizations - the King's Guardians or the Hounds - in order to fight back against this mysterious court… or risk losing everything.

Parasitical @parasitical-if (DEMO)

His flesh, our sustenance. His blood, our drink. His bones, our foundation, His body, our haven.

Five hundred years ago, the Earth was dying. Water polluted, dirt infertile, forests and meadows crumbling to the wars of steel and fire. And so the Order called His Grace, the Lord of Communion, down from where he rested before and He allowed humanity to rest inside his body.

Or at least, that's the story the Order tells.

You grew up under the masked faces of their Exalted, under the stories of Earth past. Rusted metal and cracked plastic; His bone and His flesh. Conflicting worlds, conflicting times, and soon, it might all come to a head.

crown of ashes and flames @coeluvr (demo) The war had taken everything from you.King Luceris had taken everything from you.You were just nine years old when all of this happened. One moment you were in your room sleeping and the next you were walking through smoke and ash trying to find your parents.Love, he said, was the reason he started the war. Ironically, you lost everything you loved but you also lost yourself when he let you survive and dragged you away to his home.In a new Kingdom with no one on your side what choices will you make to survive? Who will you become?Inside of you, there’s something burning for revenge and there’s only one thing I want to tell you. Let it out.

Bleeding Heart @bleedingheart-if (Demo) Congratulations, you got engaged. Whether that is good or bad is ultimately up to you.Shortly after your engagement, your fiancé sets out on a journey to the distant lands of Transylvania, a real estate opportunity that proved too irresistible to decline.With your wedding temporarily on hold, you don't hesitate to respond when your childhood friend Lucy implores you to pay her a visit, seeking your company and counsel with an urgent matter concerning her very own future.The strangeness begins as you arrive in Whitby, a charming coastal town where the Westenra's estate resides.

checkmatein 3 moves @checkmatein3moves (DEMO) YOU are the heir; the child of one of the most powerful women on Oracle Island. When she’s accused of murdering her sister almost forty years prior after the revelation of a suspicious anonymous tip, her power falls to you — but so will her reputation.Many questions present themselves: is your mother a killer? Who wants to see her fall for it? Who will make the next move in the inevitable game? Can you play as well as the rest of them?The Elite Class are full of blood and schemes. Your generation carries the scars of those before them, and thus you all must join the game or face the consequences. But dark intentions are cloaked in silk and diamonds, and the heady taste of power corrupts like an infection.

The Abyssal Song @ri-writes-if (DEMO) In the underworld kingdom, where demons fight for survival against the abyssal monsters, you are just an Oracle. In the distant past the Oracles were at the top of the demonic hierarchy, but those golden days are long gone. You did what you were most afraid to do and now sit under arrest in the royal palace.When the Abyss sends you a vision of a terrible disaster that will happen in the future, you make an inevitable “deal” with the Sovereign to try to change the future and improve your abilities, not only to become stronger and learn more about the coming disaster, but also in an attempt to achieve mind stability.However, what has been happening to you since you received the vision makes you think that you are already slowly but surely losing your mind.Will you be able to maintain your sanity and help others protect the kingdom, or will you become just another name in the long list of Oracles gone mad?

the lonely shore @thelonelyshore-if (DEMO) Meet me at the cabin. Please.You weren’t sure what to make of it. A cryptic late night text sent from your younger sibling, begging you to meet up at your family’s old lake home. The plea for help was as concerning as it was confusing. As far as you knew, neither of you had set foot in the cabin in a decade. You had your hesitations, but Willow seemed desperate. You couldn’t help but oblige.Everything goes downhill fast when Willow's research into childhood ghost stories lands you in a town that doesn't exist. A town where people go missing at an alarming rate, where things that aren't quite human run businesses with hungry eyes, where time runs differently.A town you can't leave.Something about Easthaven is wrong. A supernatural fog permeates the town, so thick you could choke…but you’re one of the only people who seems to notice it. You’re quick to realize the fog keeps the residents ignorant, keeps them passive, keeps them trapped. When people who have long since gone missing start coming back home, you realize Easthaven’s mysteries go deeper than you could have ever imagined.

Kenneski @devilishmango (here)You were ripped away from your home, your life- all because you were accused of using magic. Sent away on carriages, bursting full of others like you, being brought to Kenneski Prison. It’s a prison made specifically to hold those that can wield magic, making it so you are powerless. It’s a death sentence for most that go there. But not for you.

stagnation @stagnation-if (DEMO) It's the year 2524, and you're a defeated God/Goddess/Deity in a place and time where your kind is rarely needed anymore. After being locked away and thought to be dead for nearly a millennia, you wake up.

The Fall of House Black @endemise (DEMO) The fall of House Black, your house, was an imminent thing. A name had never been so cursed that all it could do was bring about death.First, your younger sister in a swimming accident, then your older brother in a case of mistaken identity. As the rest of your family sought to grieve and bring justice to your brother, your older sister was killed in a hunting accident at the end of your father’s bow.The three of you, mother, father, and child, became inconsolable. Broken beyond repair. Your mother unable to bear the weight of life any longer took her own while your father disappeared, gone into the night. When you remain the sole survivor of House Black, you know you must leave, and on the night of your decision, your home goes up in flames with you inside.Then, you awake, dazed with no recollection of anything, and when you look down at your body, you scream. It is wrong. So wrong.

Drink Your Villain Juice @drinkyourvillainjuice (demo) Everyone knows that superpowers come about through three distinct methods.One can be born to their abilities, see them emerge in a moment of great strife, or acquire them through extensive cybernetic augmentation.Everyone is wrong.You’d know. If only that knowledge—and your snazzy slash horrible powers—didn’t come with a host of strings attached. Too bad that was an offer you couldn’t refuse.Did I mention one of the strings was supervillainy?Thrown headlong into a life of crime, balance conflicted loyalties, personal scars, and navigating a web of secrecy and deception, all while maintaining your cover.Above all, remember to drink your Juice. Your life depends on it.

The Gilded @the-gilded (Demo v1.2) Your younger brother, Leo, went missing three days ago. Your parents called the police, and they started investigating quickly. They were too late. Leo had already disappeared into the deepest part of the forest, where the mortals have vowed never to return. The police have offered to contact your family if Leo crosses the barrier back to the mortal side, but their investigation can’t go any further without inviting the wrath of the Fae.The winter solstice is approaching fast, which means that the High Fae are likely gathering mortal children for their great feast. The only way to get your brother back is to follow him into the forest and steal him back from the palace of the High Fae… If you can get there in one piece. The Fae forest is full of tricksters and killers, and you'll likely need some allies to help get you both back home.

VANGUARD @vanguard-if (PLAY) As a faering, you should want to keep to yourself. Your home is a safe haven where your dragon kin people reside; a place of true neutrality. There are no allies to the Midlands, nor are there enemies. Your people simply are, and this will not change.But you were never one much for rules, were you? With whispers of a certain prince in the Northlands allegedly receiving death threats from your docile leader, Cirrus, you could only slip away into the depths of the North to go see for yourself. It's so hilariously outrageous that your peace-loving ruler has such rumours teeming about them.You did not expect to find a bounty hunter bleeding out from her abdomen. And most of all, you did not expect her to know you by name, even through her raggedy breaths. And most of all, you did not expect her to have leads on the one you seek: the Northern Prince.

TWISTED GOLD @icaroif (DEMO) In the wake of an attack on your village that left your father dead and everybody you had ever known missing or the same, you are given one option; find your uncle in the Capital or else run for the hills and never look back. It was never really a choice anyway.

NINE BLOOD DANCES @nineblooddances-if [DEMO] You were a gift. Now to whom? No one knows.All that matters is that you are a gift and not like any of the others of your species. Uniqueness and importance oozes from every fiber of your being. You're important. Everyone says you're important. But why you're so important?Who knows?You must figure out what makes you so special and different. You must figure out what drives you through all circles. And you have to figure out why the nine commanders of Hell all have their eyes upon you and wish to have you by their side.All before the fall of the ninth moon.

Trouble Brewing @troublebrewing-if (Demo) it's all fun and games until someone loses a head!Quinn, your best friend, has brought you some awful news: your illustrious parents, having run out of potential mates for their brood, have set you up with the worst person you know -- Devon Bainbridge. Your intended is uncouth, self-indulgent, and ten years your senior.Of course, if no one can find you, the wedding's off, right?Make daring escape from your family's castle, get pressed into joining a rebellion, and find yourself fighting alongside a plucky bard, a brooding bandit, a naive idealist, and a fool-in-training. Escape marriage, join a rebellion, and find love… or sabotage it all.

ANECDOCHE @anecdoche-if (Demo) You wake up chained to a chair by one of the most notorious gangs in the country, only to be saved by one of the most famous hero organizations only a few moments later. Who wants you so badly that they would hire an entire gang to abduct you, and can you really trust the Supers that have been put in charge of your protection?

Blood of Morana @blood-of-morana (demo) You are one of the people, cursed with Morana’s magic, which gives you power over both winter and death. You can imagine that being one of the White Deaths hasn’t exactly made you the beacon of hope or the icon of popularity among your people. Worse yet, some of your magic has been sealed, making it impossible to witch away the inquisition.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - An affair of the heart @doriana-gray-games (demo)

Play as your version of Sherlock Holmes in this romance detective game!

Make an enemy of a friend and a lover out of an enemy. Solve the case of boredom. Have a pet bird—and best of all, play as a romantically and emotionally stunted genius detective!

nemisi @elegy-if (demo) The struggle between cosmic deities — now worshiped (or abhorred) as gods — tore its way into your planet not long before you were born. Unlucky for you, you were one of the first generations to be born exposed to Excinate, the name given to the radioactive-like sickness that comes from being exposed to magic not of your world. As you've built up a bit of an immunity to the more dire consequences, you were promptly ripped from your family after a doctor's visit when the Excinate got a bit too close to your childhood home. Since then, you’ve been shipped around and transported from facility to facility to be poked and prodded at.Until now. No, now you’re free.Aside from that lingering hunger for flesh you’ve had since becoming infected, of course. Just a little side effect from the radiation, along with a mouthful of jagged teeth and a jaw that can unhinge like a snake.

Burning Academia @burning-academia-if (Demo) You never thought you'd go to college, due to your circumstances. But you especially didn't dream you'd be forced to attend the prestigious Vales Grove University after being attacked by wraiths in their library. What started as a visit to a long time friend, ended with your hands burned, your innocence questioned, and the startling realization magic is real.To apologize for what's happened to you, or more accurately, to keep an eye on you, the Headmaster himself offers you enrollment with all fees waived. With no real choice in the matter, you become a student, and try to ignore the suspicion everyone throws your way. Besides, you have worse things to deal with.Like how you've started to attract ghosts and other dead things, or the fact that there is a very living thing inside your head, waiting for you to lower your guard and take control. And most pressing of all, managing your obligation to a family that hasn't been such a thing in years.Tread carefully, if the ghosts don't devour you, the university certainly might.

lightweaver: Chosen @lightweaver-chosen-if (DEMO) A world where elemental deities share a fraction of their powers to their chosen, bringing upon the age of weavers; humans with the ability to manipulate the elements of their patron.You have been chosen by a mysterious lightning deity—blessing you with the power to weave lightning. But with a troubled childhood haunting your every step, your new abilities present a double-edged sword.The choices you make, the support you receive, and the inner strength you harness define your journey—a journey fraught with anguish, but one that promises a life outside Mother’s grasp.Two divergent paths lay ahead.Will you let yourself heal and grow, or will you fall deeper into the void?

Talon's End @asheepinthenight (DEMO) You were never destined to marry for love.As the third child of the Earl of Eastthorn, your purpose is to marry to your family's advantage, but after one failed engagement already, your prospects are less than promising. So when the Crown calls upon you to infiltrate the lair of an Elven sorcerer in search of a powerful magical weapon, the offer is too good for your family to refuse.But leaving your respectable home to marry an immortal being of immense power quickly puts you in uncharted territory. Between your secretive, disagreeable spouse and their labyrinthine spire infested with strange creatures, your mission to uncover their secrets is risky from the start. But as you come to know both your partner and your new home at Talon's End, you discover terrors and wonders unlike anything you've known–and the true price of your mission.

Leas: City of the Sun @sailingshellsgames (demo) Enter the city of Leas, where humans dwell in safety behind city walls while strange and powerful Fey roam the wilds. Play as one of a rare few skilled enough to explore the outside world, an agent of Den Zarel.After making a dangerous discovery you are sent on a mission that unfolds into an adventure that will unearth more than expected, and more than you alone can handle.Fortunately, you’ll have help along the way: a lifelong friend hiding a dangerous secret, a mysterious and taciturn rogue, and an eccentric and charming mage unite under your banner to help save your city, and possibly, the world

[cherchersketch]

# Cher Reviews Manhwa

I’ve been reading an insane amount of manhwa recently so decided to compile a list of what I’ve read so far so that I can peer pressure encourage my friends to read some of these with me.

Grouping everything by ranking (and just plain alphabetical order in each rank) These are all my own opinion please feel free to like/dislike what you like/dislike. I also have a separate list for the meh to the DNF-ed since this is purely the good stuff.

Here’s a list of some terms I use in these Please mute “manhwa live reactions” if you don’t want spoilers to the ongoing ones since I occasionally have to scream

The ones in italics are completed series. Yes, most of them are ongoing ;w;

Loved this so much I spent real life money Another Typical Fantasy Romance Father I don’t want this Marriage First Night with The Duke For Better or For Worse June Peach Just Leave Me Be Leveling up my Husband to the Max My Secretly Hot Husband The Soulless Duchess The Villainess’s Days are Numbered Under the Oak Tree

Yes PLEASE READ THIS Amina of the Lamp Author of My Own Destiny A Villain is a Good Match for a Tyrant Beware the Villainess! Falling for the Enemy Flirting with the Villain’s Dad Here comes the Silver Spoon! His Majesty’s Proposal How to Win my Husband Over I became the Hero’s Mom I found a Husband when I picked up the Male Lead I’m all out of Health I didn’t mean to Seduce the Male Lead I’m the Tyrant’s Secretary I will be the Matriarch in this Life I will change the Genre I will Seduce the Northern Duke Karina’s Last Days Love Lies Marriage of Convenience My Mom entered a Contract Marriage Not-Sew-Wicked Stepmom The Male Lead’s Little Lion Daughter The Reason why Raeliana ended up at the Duke’s Mansion The Villainess Lives Twice This Villainess Wants a Divorce Villains are Destined to Die

I enjoyed my time reading this A Business Proposal A Royal Princess with Black Hair A Wicked Tale of Cinderella’s Stepmother As you wish, Prince Becoming the Dark Hero’s Daughter Cheerful Countess Sisters Daisy - How to become the Duke’s Fiancee Duchess Crow Even though I’m the Villainess, I’ll become the Heroine! From a Knight to a Lady I am the Real One I confessed to the Boss I got Married to a Villain I raised a Black Dragon I raised the Beast well Into the Light, Once Again Iris: The Lady and Her Smartphone My In-Laws are obsessed with Me No More Nice Sis Observing Elena Evoy Perfect Marriage Revenge Priscilla’s Marriage Request Princess Shuden Raffine’s Plan: Save My Favorite Character Sica Wolf Side Characters Deserve Love Too Sixth Sense Kiss The Evil Lady will Change The Maid and the Vampire The Monster Duchess and Contract Princess The Newlywed Diary of a Witch and a Dragon The Northern Duke needs a Warm Hug  The Villainess is a Marionette The Villainess is Retiring Villainesses Have More Fun Villainess in Love Virtues of a Villainess What’s wrong with Secretary Kim Wicked No More When the Count’s Illegitimate Daughter gets Married When the Villainess is in Love Who made me a Princess Writing my Male Lead’s Happily Ever After

[justzawe]

Zawe Ashton, the star of new must-see period drama Mr Malcolm’s List, is the October cover

Wowee, Zawe! Miss Ashton is ripping up the Regency rule book in Hollywood’s Austen-esque Mr Malcolm’s List. Just don’t ask her about her own A-list Mr Darcy…

By Louis Wise

On a sweltering Friday night in London, The Soho Hotel is a surprising hive of big names. While the Booker Prize-winning author Howard Jacobson is in the doorway, Aquaman – aka Jason Momoa – passes around the back in a jaunty white beret. And, sitting in a corner of the restaurant, there’s Bridgerton’s Jonathan Bailey, whom Zawe Ashton waves to giddily when she walks in. ‘I do actually know Jonathan,’ says the 38-year-old actress once she’s plonked herself on the banquette next to me, ‘in case you think, “Oh! She’s bold!”’ She is wearing a black wrap dress, her hair simple and straight – all very low-key, except for the enormous ring, liberally encrusted with gems, on her wedding finger. This comes, I assume, courtesy of her equally starry fiancé – and father of her soon-to-be-born baby – actor Tom Hiddleston.

I had wondered which Ashton I’d get tonight – panicked that, what with an A-list partner, a superhero franchise job and a Broadway stint under her belt, she had been ironed out by the Tinseltown machine. But the smiley, huggy woman who has just swept across the restaurant, starting to say ‘Hiiiii!’ from a full 10 metres away, hardly seems to be some Garbo-like recluse. To be honest, the Hackney-raised star is always hard to miss. She can be monosyllabic, like Vod, her gloriously deadpan character in the cult sitcom Fresh Meat, or angsty like her ‘gallerina’ Josephina in Netflix’s Velvet Buzzsaw. Or she can be just a normal, serene, very adult adulterer, like her Emma in the recent West End and Broadway revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal – yes, the one where she met Hiddleston. But large-eyed, large-laughed, larger-than-life, she certainly can’t be ignored. Even less so when you consider that she is an actor-writer-director-activist – everything but the kitchen sink.

Ashton’s first ever job was on the kids’ TV show Jackanory when she was six. Since then, she has written several plays, including For All the Women Who Thought They Were Mad; she has directed short films and developed TV series; she had a phase of doing performance poetry (‘before it was cool’); and she has inevitably published her own book, Character Breakdown, which details her many travails in the showbiz industry. This summer, you’ll have spotted her in Maryland, a harrowing BBC drama by Lucy Kirkwood, exploring violence against women. And next year sees her in her biggest role to date, playing the (as yet unnamed) villain in the ultra-feminist new Marvel instalment, The Marvels. If she doesn’t always take the easy route, if she’s always fought to get her voice heard, you get the impression she generally tends to win.

‘I’ve been saying no to work that I didn’t feel was right for me, or right for the world, since I was about 12,’ she says, halfway through a dinner of fish and chips with mushy peas followed by a summery posset. This seriousness is offset by a very daffy and Tiggerish enthusiasm: ‘Excuse me,’ Ashton later says over the posset, beckoning a waiter. ‘I’m just triple-checking that I can eat the flowers on this.’ ‘Oh yes,’ replies the waiter happily – a relief for all of us, as Ashton has already scoffed them. ‘Do you see how I asked that after eating them?’ she sighs. ‘Other personality types would wait for that guy to come along first. I’m like, “Er, am I gonna die shortly?”’ It would obviously have been awful if Ashton had died, mid-interview, done in by a decorative flower garnish – but I rather think she would have relished the drama.

We’re here first and foremost to discuss Mr Malcolm’s List, which has clearly benefited from the Bridgerton effect. An adaptation of Suzanne Allain’s 2009 novel, it’s an Austen mash-up, where the two main romantic leads – Sope Dirisu’s Jeremy Malcolm and Freida Pinto’s Selina Dalton – have a Darcy-and-Lizzie-style romance, while Ashton’s character, Julia, comes across as a particularly hoity-toity post Emma Woodhouse, whose machinations and manoeuvrings end in a sweet self-reckoning. The familiarity of the tropes is offset by the casting, which, as in Bridgerton, is exhilaratingly diverse. Julia is, Ashton smiles, ‘a little Regency terroriser’. She is also, for long stretches of the movie, the baddie, as she strives to punish Jeremy for cold-shouldering her.

Is Ashton on a villain trip right now? She cocks her head. ‘I think that’s probably a phase I’ve always been in – certainly the outsider phase.’ She then tweaks her answer: ‘I’ve always played outliers, and that’s great. I think it’s where you can move the needle the most.’ Yet when pressed as to why she tends to play an outsider, or outlier, she demurs. Perhaps it’s too on the nose.

Zawedde Emma ‘Zawe’ Ashton was born in Hackney, to teachers Paul and Victoria: Paul from Britain, Victoria originally from Uganda. She is the eldest of three and her first name means ‘princess’ in Swahili. The young Zawe sounds particularly precocious, always encouraged to read and express herself; she recalls devouring Margaret Atwood’s The Robber Bride aged 11, which, she admits now, was probably far too young. (‘Is there arson? I remember there being arson.’) During her teenage years, Hackney rapidly gentrified. She does not view herself as part of that wave. ‘I remember when it happened,’ she says. ‘When lots of people who looked like they worked on The Big Breakfast descended on your postcode. They’d be knocking on people’s doors, looking through windows, asking when they were thinking of moving. We called them the Shark Fins because they all had that little shark-fin haircut – remember?’ (The capital remains her true home, although she’s light on current specifics, settling on the description: ‘I’m London-ish.’)

Her parents always supported her artistic ambitions. She signed up for acting classes at the illustrious Anna Scher Theatre in Islington and was soon working professionally alongside her school studies. But the standout family tidbit is a nugget on the internet that says her grandfather Paulo Muwanga was the president of Uganda. ‘Oh gurl, don’t go there,’ she mugs, full Drag Race-style. ‘He was actually acting president [for a few weeks]. I’m not like one of the Obama girls.’ Ashton mostly remembers him as ‘a very old, lovely grandpa’, who died when she was young. But, as a child, Ashton spent many summers in Uganda and still feels close to her heritage. ‘There’s a lot of strength in having a duality,’ she muses. ‘We’re finally seeing that more and more now as something to be celebrated. When I was younger, that wasn’t the case.’

Ashton has spoken about being ‘badly bullied’ at school when acting work gave her a profile. ‘I was this tall, skinny misfit who was unapologetic about the things I was passionate about. I had a sense of who I was and what I was into – and you’re not supposed to have that. You’re just supposed to blend in,’ she told The Daily Telegraph in 2019. The feeling of being targeted as an outsider continued when, as a young adult, she signed up for drama school in Manchester. ‘It was rough,’ she says. ‘They break you down.’ Why? ‘I think they saw my keenness, my enthusiasm…’ Her fashion sense, for starters, was ‘experimental’, she grins. ‘Carrie Bradshaw on acid. I remember, for one of the first club nights I went to in Manchester, I found this long, oversized, stripy silk dress with a massive bow on the side, and I had a huge yellow visor with another bow. Basically like I was going to Ascot in the 1980s.’ It went down ‘amazing’, she promises. ‘Sometimes I’d go to college dressed as a cheerleader.’ A pause. ‘Did I go as Snow White one time?’

She sighs. ‘I don’t know why, but sometimes they really want to wash you out.’ This continued even when she started working full-time. Right after Fresh Meat, Ashton had in mind to create a show similar to HBO’s Girls, which Lena Dunham wrote, starred in and directed, but instead she got lost in ‘developmental hell’. ‘There was just this weird resistance. And bullying. Bullying, demeaning, gaslighting… I was yelled at by one producer because I was questioning something about my own work.’ I venture cautiously that, to some, Ashton might just have been too much of a multi-hyphenate. ‘Yep,’ she says immediately. ‘We didn’t do that kind of thing here until the success of things like I May Destroy You or Fleabag.’

All this has made her extra eager to help others. During one episode of Fresh Meat, she struck up a conversation with a young bit-part actor. ‘I could see he was committed, clear-eyed about what he wanted to do,’ she says. ‘And so I gave him my number.’ Not long after, the actor texted Ashton to ask if she would write him a recommendation letter for his American visa, which she did. ‘And then, 10 years later, I turned on Bridgerton and…’ The actor was Regé-Jean Page. Ashton doesn’t take any credit for that (and she has texted him to check he’s OK with her telling the story) but she does think people should give each other a hand. ‘We don’t fuel the fire of genuine enthusiasm in the UK,’ she sighs. ‘It’s like, “Don’t get ideas above; stay calm; it’s not that good.” I appreciate that, because I’m London through and through – I love that acerbic quality and I love that edge. But it can be really damaging.’

Six years ago, Ashton moved to Margate to focus on her book, Character Breakdown, which is a play on words: a ‘character breakdown’ is the short description of a part an actor tends to get with a script – but it also means, obviously, a bit of personal disintegration. Unsurprisingly, during more than 30 years of pretending to be other people, Ashton has experienced both, as she details grimly and hilariously in the book, listing encounters with lecherous directors, callous agents, scary celebrity stylists and more. We laugh several times about how miserable she makes the industry sound. She also calls the book her ‘novel’ a lot, which I raise my eyebrows at a little sceptically. ‘Well, it’s a fictionalised memoir,’ she admits. ‘“Unconventional memoir” is what the publishing house recommended we call it.’

Margate was, she says, a conscious step back from acting, a way ‘to write myself out of the toxicity’, as she puts it. ‘I didn’t want to audition, I didn’t want to have lattes with people that went nowhere. I just thought, “I have to go and live by the sea and see what all the people who don’t act have been doing for a long time, and how they’ve been making themselves happy.” And then of course it didn’t work out, because I got bloody Velvet Buzzsaw.’ Dan Gilroy’s art-world horror satire, where Ashton’s Josephina ends up in a twisted romance with Jake Gyllenhaal’s cold-fish art critic, is exactly the kind of offbeat work Ashton wanted to do. So she went to LA to film it, published the book, and then got offered Betrayal, which came about after ‘Tom and I had done a reading together of the central scene, at a gala for Harold Pinter’s birthday’. Cut to four-or-so years later: here she is, engaged to Hiddleston and pregnant, too. But that’s pretty much the only time she’ll say his name.

Ashton and Hiddleston rarely speak publicly about their relationship, and reports suggest they got together during the play. Their first red carpet as a couple was last September, then in March this year to signal their engagement. But for the Mr Malcolm’s List premiere in June, Ashton appeared alone, visibly pregnant, and glittering in an embellished tulle dress by Sabina Bilenko. Recently, Hiddleston offered a full three words on the subject: ‘I’m very happy.’ Today, Ashton offers a few more, to the same effect. I congratulate her on her big news. ‘Thanks,’ she beams. ‘It’s wonderful.’ I’d read somewhere that she’d always wanted children. ‘I know,’ she acknowledges, grimacing. ‘I used to talk about it all the time in interviews – it was really unsuitable.’ Has she learnt the art of discretion now? ‘I’ve got to learn it,’ she says, with a groan.

Having a baby is another knotty decision in the life of an actress. ‘You’re told, “Don’t get pregnant” but also “Don’t leave it too long” because then you’re going to be an old maid. I’ve been prehistoric in this industry since I was 25,’ she says drily. ‘The mixed messaging is rough and has to be addressed.’ She hadn’t felt stressed by her biological clock ticking: ‘It was just suddenly this self-permission comes over you that goes against all that messaging.’

I ask about her red carpet announcement, but the drawbridge comes up. ‘I don’t want to talk about my personal life,’ she says, politely but firmly. ‘I didn’t feel like I had to do anything,’ she clarifies, but ‘it felt like [the pregnancy news] happened in the right way. [It is a] really, really, vital moment where we’re talking about women and their autonomy when it comes to their bodies.’ The Roe v Wade reversal had been announced just days before, and she had no desire to ‘be cute’ about it. ‘I’m not into “announcements” or “reveals”,’ she adds. ‘I’m into trying to carry the narrative as much as possible myself, rather than anyone else feeling like they have an exclusive on my body.’

At Anna Scher, Ashton says, ‘you were never allowed to use the words “fame” or “star”. They were swear words.’ She plainly approves – so she’s not a star in any way? ‘Gimme a break!’ Is she a bit like Adele, who has famously kept her privacy quite well? ‘I cannot put myself in the same privacy conversation as Adele. But…’ She pauses. ‘I think it’s like any choice. You make it and then do it as much as you can.’ I conclude by complimenting her ring. ‘Thank you,’ she smiles again. ‘And the wedding plans?’ I tease. She cringes. ‘Please don’t.’

On Broadway, Ashton pursued what she jokingly calls her ‘Zawessance – which no one asked for, by the way’, she honks. She signed with new acting reps she felt more aligned with. ‘I said, “Look: just send me the names of fledgling directors who are from under-represented backgrounds.” I felt that’s where I’d be of most use.’ And she has apparently followed that to the letter, with Maryland, The Marvels and, yes, Mr Malcolm’s List.

Growing up, Ashton loved Austen but there was always an assumption that she would never feature in those stories. ‘You just accept the status quo,’ she muses. ‘There’s this very strange acceptance that is definitely tinged with sadness.’ It’s weird, she says. ‘You don’t necessarily realise how long you’ve been locked out until you see the pendulum swing.’ There is certainly a swing now, though – and when I ask if she worries it could be a trend, she is categorical: ‘This is where Bridgerton comes in – because the language this industry understands is money.’

She recently went back to her old drama school in Manchester to address the students. ‘I can see that opportunities for so many under-represented students are suddenly there. I don’t worry about them the way I worried for myself – and that’s really lovely. Systemic racism isn’t going anywhere fast. But they can imagine themselves in huge franchises, in the new Netflix show, in the lead in West End theatres.’

Persuasion, by the way, is Ashton’s favourite Austen to read. She also adores the Emma film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and Clueless, its ’90s Californian cousin. But ‘I’m not really a Pride and Prejudice girl’, she frowns. Not into Darcy? ‘No, too austere. People love that. I know friends who are like, “I love how emotionally unavailable you are.” I’m like, “Oh gawd!”’ Those seeking a tidbit could read in that a hint as to what she likes in Hiddleston. But it could also apply to her relationship with the acting industry, which has long been her Mr Darcy: infuriating her, misunderstanding her, undervaluing her worth. She seems to have a handle on it now, although she has said she’ll quit acting a few times. She chuckles sanguinely at this.

‘It’s the same as with marriage, isn’t it? You divorce multiple times in a long marriage: as long as you never want to do it at the same time, you’ll probably be all right.’ She’s clearly in it for the long haul.

[princeescaluswords]

Forget vague fanfic asks, I have a hugely specific one! I recently MAINLINED one your fics, the name escapes me, but it was an alternate universe where Scott goes with Deucalion, and needs help escaping the Alpha Pack. I am so curious about how you came up with the idea for Stiles's character in that fic. It was so original to me, and consistently unnerving as he referred to himself/Nogitsune as "we." Please also say the name of the fic so I can scream at anyone who sees this ask to READ IT READ IT READ IT.

The story you are referring to is The Last Part of Me, which is one of my earliest stories. I can tell because after your glowing praise I reread a chapter and realized how much I needed to revise it. I'm still glad you enjoyed it though. Thank you very much.

I had three goals when writing this story. First, I wanted to underline what sometimes gets lost in the fandom, that the villains in Teen Wolf were ultimately defeated not because of 'plot armor' but because of a theme consciously embraced by the writers: the morality of compassion and resiliency, exemplified by Scott, would be able to overcome the vengeance-driven strength of the villains in the end. Yet, for the sake of dramatic action, the narrative could never act as if it were a foregone conclusion that Scott and his pack would win. One critical incident going a different way, and things could have ended quite differently. Fandom, to their detriment, tends to extract individual scenes from their context and then evaluate them in some sort of pristine blank space. Of course, that's going to make certain people look worse or better than they are.

Second, I wanted to reinforce the idea that Scott and Stiles (and Allison and Lydia and Jackson and Isaac and so on) are teenagers in the show, and thus have only a limited amount of skills and resources to draw upon when confronting the horrors that they do. That is not to say they're incompetent; they're young! When Scott gets distracted by Allison (something that happens though not near as much as fandom implies), he's a 16-year-old feeling romantic love for the first time, not a 30-something social worker ditching his responsibilities. When Stiles mocks people's abuse and disabilities, he's a neurodivergent child coping with stress by projection, not a professional politician who should know better. The reason Scott and Stiles end up as they do in my story is because they're teenagers going through hell who simply don't have the life experiences to cope as oppose to, say, veteran first responders with access to training and support would.

Third, I wanted to write a dark story that actually explored the dimensions of defeat. In this tale, Scott and Stiles suffer mental and physical violation and social exclusion to such an extent that they can't possibly be okay at the end of it. Outside forces -- adult forces -- make deliberate decisions that leave the burden of consequences on these two characters. (To be clear, in this story it's the Hales and the Argents who make those decisions). I hope I got through to the reader at the end of the story while Scott and Stiles aren't dead, they're not in a good place and they won't be any time soon.

What I usually find when I read supposed dark stories is what I call exploitation stories. These stories are where characters commit rape and/or murder, indulge in torture and/or sexual abuse, or espouse tyranny and brutality as a lifestyle and yet the end result could be summed up as "and they lived happily ever after to the end of their days." For example, do you know how many stories I've read where Peter or Stiles murder Scott for the crime of not kissing white ass yet there are no emotional consequences for Stiles, all their friends and families either agree with the result or don't care, and not a single authority makes even an effort to investigate. Not only is the story they created morally repulsive, it's incoherent. Scott may have been the lead protagonist, but if Stiles truly believed that Scott should have submitted to the Hales, the story would have been different.

But that's academic. The point of these particular and so-called 'dark' stories isn't to explore the consequences of the break down of society and individual morality; it's about indulging in the darker aspects of the writer and the reader. I'm not arguing anything like the censorship of exploitative fiction, but it's not the same as a thoughtful exploration of a dark topic, and I reject conflating the two genres.

So I tried to write one of my own. I'm glad that someone enjoyed it.

[bakugohoex]

- 𝐌𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎 𝐀𝐂𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐀 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓

◤ currently write for

most popular posts are in bold

↞ back to masterlists 

⤷𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝟏𝐀

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐊𝐈 𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

➶ coming soon

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐄𝐈𝐉𝐈𝐑𝐎 𝐊𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐌𝐀 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“you could never last no nut november” | 1k event (0.9k) ↠ nsfw

in which bakugo bets kirishima he could never last no nut november, but in the last hour of november he finds you in bed all pretty and he just has to have you, even if he does lose the stupid bet

“i’d do anything for you” | 1k event (1.9k) ↠ fluff

in which kirishima helps you throughout the day and you finally ask him why he’s always so nice to you, gaining a response you’d never had expected

☆ headcanons ☆

“how do you expect me to not fucking love you, when you come in looking like that” | requested (1.1k) ↠ fluff

in which you have a cow quirk and in a relationship with kirishima

“if you win, i’ll take you out tonight” | requested (1.2k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re performing at the ua pageant and get a surprised visit from kirishima with a proposal in mind

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐀 𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐎 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

➶ coming soon

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐈𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐔 𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐘𝐀 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

➶ coming soon

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐊𝐀𝐓𝐒𝐔𝐊𝐈 𝐁𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐆𝐎 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“that’s literally the definition of jealous, you dumbass” | (2.5k) ↠ fluff

in which bakugo finds y/n and todoroki getting closer than normal, the more he sees them together the more rage he builds up over someone who he thought was just an extra to him 

“when he put the what, in the where...” | (1.3k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re in a secret relationship with bakugo until one fateful night in the dorms 

“probably married to this dumbass” | (2.5k) ↠ fluff

in which you and bakugo get interviewed on a talk show on what it’s like being pro hero, what turns into a simple where do you see yourself in five years leads to your relationship being announced on live tv 

“look bakugo you’re surrounded by extras” | (2.7k) ↠ fluff

in which you and bakugo are both pro heros and it’s work studies, what bakugo thought would be a pain seemed to have the benefits as he saw you in a better light  

“they’re are what?” | (2.8k) ↠ fluff

in which you and bakugo sneak out for a late night date and meet two kids, confused and lost, you take the kids back to the dorms trying to get help, the thing is they looked strangely familiar 

"you want to sleep on the floor”

part one | (3.4k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re neighbours with pro hero katsuki bakugo, one night your roommate and her boyfriend get a bit too loud, with no where else to turn you end up in the apartment of bakugo’s, sleeping beside him you both realise the hidden feelings between one another

part two | requested (5.4k) ↠ fluff and nsfw 

in which bakugo takes you on that date he promised you and leads your roommate to be the one to hear all the moans and screams

“what’s 6 inches long, 2 inches wide and makes everyone go crazy?” | requested (2.3k) ↠ nsfw

in which you and bakugo are studying together and after being interrupted by kirishima who tells you mina wants to study with you, you go out and help mina study but instantly get threatened by mina to go back, you realise you’ve got a long night ahead of you

“y/n just tell me the fucking truth for once” | requested (5.2k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which you were raised by villains, by being saved by the heroes, the trust issues and lying you were brought upon reflects you now, bakugo grows ever more frustrated at your lying and all your truths come out

“you really think i wouldn’t recognise you” | requested (1.2k) ↠ fluff

in which you have a transformation quirk and whilst trying to find information from bakugo about his crush, he reveals his love for you but most importantly how easily he could see past your quirk

“really? you wanna have sex...here? now?” | impatient collab (2.1k) ↠ nsfw 

in which you arrive at a pro hero event and with bakugo unable to keep his eyes off of you, you end up doing a lot more than catching up and drinking with your friends 

“i hate your old friends” | (2.5k) ↠ fluff

in which bakugo gets a visit from some old friends, making remarks about you and the other girls, a much more angrier bakugo realises that his past friends never grew up in the past months and he as sure as hell wasn’t letting some idiots talk about his girl in that way

“we’re you two...from the future” | (3.8k) ↠ fluff

in which you and bakugo sneak out intending to go see some stars but are met with the unlikliest of people, explaining their situation, you end up fighting alongside them, and realising just how far your relationship will go with the blond  

“i’m not sick, i always look like this” | requested (2.0k) ↠ fluff

in which your bakugo ends up getting sick, being the loving girlfriend you are you happily look after the angry boy who’s adamant he is not sick 

“becuase i’m fucking in love with you” | 1k event (2.5k) ↠ fluff

in which bakugo watches you get too close with another man and can’t help but let his anger take over seeing you with anybody other him

“that blood, it’s not yours is it?” | 1k event (1.5k) ↠ angst

in which villian!bakugo comes to your apartment, confessing to his sins before finding himself surrounded by pro heroes after your call for help, with nowhere else to go, his only option to take you down with him

“good girl, spread your legs more, you want me to make you feel good?” | corruption collab (4.0k) ↠ nsfw

in which bakugo has always been infatuated with the pure guise you put on, when you come to his office late at night, how can he not resist the temptation of ruining something so sweet?

"you promised...” | (0.7k) ↠ angst

in which you see the first time you and bakugo fell in love

“you think that waiter could make you cum the way i do” | 1k event (2.0k) ↠ nsfw

in which after having a dinner date with bakugo, his irritation at how the waiter seems just a bit too close to you, he can’t help but take you right back to his car, ready to show you who’s really in charge

☆ headcanons ☆

“she’s doing what?” | requested (1.5k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re seen as the mom of class 1a, the boys got to spy on the girls sleepover and what they didn’t expect was you to confess your crush but also for you to have hidden talents that makes bakugo realise he needs to have you

“if you win, i’ll take you out tonight” | requested (1.5k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re performing at the ua pageant and get a surprised visit from bakugo with a proposal in mind 

“how am i supposed to protect everybody if i can’t even protect you” | requested (1.5k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which you and bakugo are the ones to go against each other in the final of the sports festival and after you win, he makes it seem like he let you win, after confronting him he finally gives you what you wanted.

“you’ll never be a fucking hero if you keep acting like a dick to midoriya” | requested (1.4k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which after seeing bakugo continue his bullying with midoriya, you take it upon yourself to stick up for the boy and bakugo get’s a lot more than he expected, finally realising that his act cannot go on for any longer 

“you bought more, didn’t you” | requested (1.1k) ↠ fluff

in which your sweet tooth becomes the bane of bakugo’s life, finding out you house even more sweets in your pockets, his only way to finally get you stop seems to be a bit more different than his initial plan

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐎𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“your ability to remain silent really pisses me off” (1.1k) ↠ fluff

in which you go to a haunted house with the class and get stuck partnered up with todoroki

“i thought you hated me” | (3.1k)  ↠ fluff

in which todoroki has a crush on you, and whilst trying to get closer to you his social awkwardness kicks in, making it harder and harder to not mess up whilst talking to you, but in the end he finally confesses after a whirlwind of a week

☆ headcanons ☆

“i want to talk about it now” | (1.0k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which at the sports festival, you finally talk to the boy in your class who seemed to always keep to himself, you both unveil your own trauma that you went through

⤷ 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒 𝟑𝐀

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐉𝐈𝐊𝐈 𝐓𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“if you ate pussy does th-” “y/n do no finish that sentence” (2.5k) ↠ fluff

in which you had been shot by a quirk that makes you say your thoughts aloud, the big three come to class 1a, you’re long time crush and friend tamaki gets made to answer questions and you stupidly raise your hand

⤷ 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“you guys did it where” | requested (2.1k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re in a secret relationship with shinso until at his party celebrating his first day in the hero course, he can’t keep his hands off of you

“why aren’t you scared of me?” | requested (4.0k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which shinso joins class 1a and whilst everybody seems to be scared of him out of fear he’ll use his quirk, you try to befriend the boy and he develops feelings as soon as you talk to him

“one more word out of you and i’ll leave you tied up with no release” | 1k event (1.2k) ↠ nsfw

in which after teasing shinso all day he can’t wait to get his revenge by overstimulating you until your crying, begging to cum

“i want you to have me...all of me” | corrupt a virgin collab (5.3k) ↠ nsfw 

in which shinso finally takes the next step with his sidekick after being unable to confess he finally works up the courage finding out your own secret as you both decide to take the next step in your newfound relationship

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐍𝐄𝐈𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐀 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“who ruined you, go on, say my name” | 1k event (1.7k) ↠ nsfw

in which after an encounter with your ex boyfriend, monoma makes sure that everybody in the restaurant knows who you belong too

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐘𝐎 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐎 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“what else can vibrate?” | (2.8k) ↠ nsfw

in which you meet a pro hero who can vibrate and things get a lot personal 

⤷ 𝐏𝐑𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐀 𝐀𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐖𝐀 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“did he steal two babies?” | requested (3.0k) ↠ fluff

in which you’re aizawa’s secret wife, aizawa gets a call in the middle of class that you’re going into labor and eventually leaves, the class being noisy pricks follows him to a hospital, feeling worried they continue to follow until they see him holding two babies with a smile at his new family

“i’ll always support you” | requested (1.0k) ↠ platonic relationship and fluff

in which you confide in your teacher about your sexuality and he brings you the support your parents never gave you

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐊𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“you really have got nothing to do on a friday night” | (4.4k) ↠ fluff

in which your friend keigo invites you to a pro hero event as his plus one, the event leads to a lot more than you expected 

“you’re going to show the whole world who you belong too” | 1k event (1.0k) ↠nsfw

in which you find yourself in a hotel room after your dinner with keigo, pressed against the glass window for the whole world to see

☆ headcanons ☆

“where the fuck did you learn how to do that" | requested (1.1k) ↠ fluff

in which keigo hears you rapping in the shower and even though it was a shock he can’t help but to join you showering 

⤷ 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐕𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“i tried to move on, but nobody was you” | (1.4k) ↠ angst and fluff

in which you find yourself in front of the league of villains base as nobody could compare to how your ex made you feel

“we’re you” | (3.3k) ↠ fluff

in which you and dabi go out to get food and find yourself meeting some familiar faces with destruction arriving with them

“your boyfriend is going to kill us” | 1k event (2.2k) ↠ nsfw

in which dabi finds himself at your apartment seeing an upset you, how could he resist not comforting his girl even if your boyfriend arrives half way through

“you don’t remember me?” | 1k event (3.0k) ↠ angst

in which after losing your memory in what seemed to have been a week, the capture of shigaraki is the only thing on your mind but when you meet face to face with a distant memory, the reality of the torture the heroes inflicted on you finally comes to light

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝐓𝐎𝐌𝐔𝐑𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐊𝐈 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

☆ one shots ☆

“keep moaning, go on” | 1k event (2.0k) ↠ nsfw

in which after a loss to all might, all shigaraki needs is a relaxing bath with you which ends up turning into a lot more

[princesssarisa]

Cinderella September-through-November: "Cinderella Monogatari" ("The Story of Cinderella") (1996 anime series)

Here we find something particularly unique: a Cinderella series. Not a Cinderella episode of a fairy tale anthology series, but an entire animated series based on the story.

Co-produced by Japan's Tatsunoko Productions and Italy's Mondo TV, this 26-episode shoujo anime is far more than just an adaptation of the fairy tale; that goes without saying. Its first episode sees 16-year-old Cinderella forced into servitude by her elegantly cruel stepmother Duchess Dalbin and her pretty yet obnoxious stepsisters Catherine and Jeanne after her father the Duke sails away on a long business trip (once again this is used as an alternative to having him either be dead or a henpecked husband). But the familiar storyline with the ball doesn't appear until the third-to-last episode! Beforehand, we follow Cinderella on a wide array of other adventures. Her fairy godmother, here named Paulette, masquerades as an ordinary woman who teaches art to the town's children, but all the while she secretly uses her magic to help Cinderella, having promised Cinderella's late mother that she would watch over her. First and foremost, she grants the power of speech to four animals who from then on become Cinderella's constant companions: her dog Patch, two mice named Chuchu and Bingo, and a bird named Pappy. Before long Cinderella gains a new human friend too, when in the village she meets a mischievous young man who at first annoys her with his fibs and forwardness, but soon wins her over with his kindness. Little does she know that this boy is Prince Charles (of Emerald Castle, thankfully, not Buckingham Palace), who enjoys escaping the rigors of court life by wandering the town disguised as a commoner. Nor are Cinderella's stepmother and stepsisters the only antagonists. A "greater-scope villain" is introduced in Duke Zaral, who schemes to take over the kingdom by marrying his daughter Isabel to Prince Charles... or, if that should fail, by arranging for the prince's murder.

Some of the episodes' plot line are slice-of-life (e.g. Cinderella is wrongly accused of stealing grapes from the royal vineyard; Cinderella and the disguised Prince Charles help a young circus acrobat conquer her stage fright; Cinderella gets sick and the Duchess forces the visiting Charles to do all her chores, not realizing he's the prince). Others are adventure stories (e.g. Cinderella and Charles help two star-crossed lovers elope; Cinderella is captured by bandits and Charles has to rescue her; Cinderella is shrunk to a few inches tall by Paulette to search through the grass for a lost ring). Some are such dark, epic fantasy adventures that they hardly seem to belong in a Cinderella retelling at all (e.g. Cinderella and Charles are threatened by a wicked artist who traps his subjects' souls in his paintings; Cinderella searches through a terrifying haunted forest for an herb to save her sick stepmother's life). But at long last the series culminates in the classic tale of the royal ball and the glass slipper. Though it doesn't end there, as on the royal wedding day the dastardly Zaral makes a last attempt to seize the throne, leading to a final epic battle before "happily ever after" can occur.

I'll admit that some of the more outlandish episode plots feel slightly contrived. Nor is there much sense of a cohesive narrative in this series, or perfect continuity. For example, the Duchess, Catherine and Jeanne repeatedly have moments of seemingly learning moral lessons and gaining respect for Cinderella, only to go straight back to abusing her in the next episode, until the series finale with its abrupt, fairly forced reconciliation between them. But as a whole, this series is an enjoyable fresh twist on the classic fairy tale. For the most part, the adventure elements are blended well with the more traditional Cinderella-like elements, and while Zaral is a standard "evil advisor" type of villain, he's still nicely sinister and he effectively adds higher stakes to the story. The rest of the characters are well-written too, the animation is pretty with its stylized blend of Renaissance and 19th century aesthetics, and the presence of Paulette secretly helping Cinderella from the start is a welcome choice for those of us who wonder why the Fairy Godmother usually waits until the ball to come to her aid.

The series' greatest appeal lies in the characterizations of Cinderella and Prince Charles themselves and in the slow-burn romance arc they share. Cinderella is the classic kind and innocent ingenue we expect, yet proves herself capable of great courage too, while Charles is both a charming prince and an endearingly roguish teenager, whose experiences with Cinderella teach him responsibility, and whose own courage and combat skills are revealed as he defends her from danger. (I might have liked to see her rescue herself more often, though.) Cinderella starts out as a bit of a tsundere, masking her insecurity by being aloof and short-tempered toward "Charles the Fibber," as she calls him. But gradually they form a warm friendship that ultimately blossoms into love.

While far from a traditional or straightforward Cinderella, this series provides a creative and enjoyable expansion of the classic story. I definitely recommend it to fairy tale lovers.

@superkingofpriderock, @ariel-seagull-wings

[bonbonbunny]

Do u have any good lady's isekai falls-in-love-with-a-prince-from-a-novel type webcomic recommendation? I read 2 and now im hooked

Do I EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most of these I find on Webtoon. If you join webtoon and read regularly, you'll see them suggesting more things you might like, and new stuff on the main page, and you'll discover more and more of them, too. 💖

Happily Ever Afterwards - The heroine is reborn AFTER the epilogue of her fave novel, after her favorite character has been exiled from the kingdom due to the story’s events (he’s a tragic, sympathetic character).  She sets about traveling to the cold, difficult kingdom of his exile to try to convince him to marry her, so that she can give him the happiness he deserves to have after all of the sad events from the book!  This comic is SOOOOO sweet, cute, and fluffy-fluff! ☁️

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The First Night With the Duke - Starts out with a lot of comedy, but has gotten much more serious as the chapters have progressed, with some intense scenes that I haven’t been crazy about.  The heroine completely derails the plot of the novel by being born as a random, unnamed side-character who accidentally seduces the male lead, and no romance between him and the actual female lead ever even has the chance to happen. 😅

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The Matchmaking Baby Princess - The heroine is born as a tiny baby princess, who uses her super cute charm to influence the characters around her so that things turn out better for them than the way the novel goes.  This one is still fairly new, so the episodes haven’t shown a whole lot about how she derails the story yet, but, it is REALLLY CUUUUUTE!!  And has very beautiful scenes of palatial gardens and such.  Also obviously the heroine herself is not the one that the romance happens to lol.

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His Majesty's Proposal - This one is a bit similar to The First Night With the Duke, with a rando side character getting proposed to by the prince after spending a night with him.  A fun twist with this one is that the heroine is reincarnated from a crotchety old woman in her previous life, so she uses all kinds of old person slang (like calling people “whippersnappers” and stuff like that lol) and is kind of rude and grumpy lol.

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Every Rose Has a Death Flag - Pretty typical isekai where the heroine is reincarnated as the villainess and knows that all of her ends are bad ends, so she tries to remove herself from the attentions of the prince and the other main characters, but through the process ends up endearing herself to them instead.  Good stuff without any weird quirks or gimmicks. 👌

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Tricked into Becoming the Heroine's Stepmother - The protagonist is actually one of the AUTHORS of this novel, so she is familiar with exactly what will be happening to all of the characters!  She is reincarnated as a rando townsperson though, and doesn’t have much influence, until she appeals to the prince and just spills the fact that she’s the author and knows everything that’s going to happen to the princess (his daughter) in the future lol?!  And he believes her??  And employs her to his household in order to prevent any of the princess’ suffering???  Also did I mention that the princess is the most adorable little toddler ever, with fluffy hair like a chestnut? 😭😭

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The Male Lead's Girl Friend - Again, the heroine is reborn as the villainess of the story, and attempts to distance herself from the male lead as much as she can (endearing herself to him in the process).  Some of the interesting quirks here are that she ships the male and female lead SUPER HARD, and is trying everything she can to hook them up together, but they both only seem to fall for her harder with every attempt. 😄 There is also a cool school/academy setting to this one to set it apart from the others with similar plots, as well as BIG YURI VIBES between the protagonist and the female lead.

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How to Survive a Romance Fantasy - This is the most comedy-intensive of everything on this list.  In fact, it just kept getting sillier as its chapters went on, and I actually dropped it from my reading list because it wasn’t making me laugh as hard anymore as it was in the beginning.. 😅 In this one, three normal-world folks are reborn in the fantasy world, as the heroine, the prince, and the villainess, and ALL THREE of them hate it and want nothing to do with the plot, so they run away as far from the plot as they can, and are also keeping their identities as the main characters secret from one another.  It is very, very silly.

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Non-Webtoon Webcomics

These have not been officially picked up & translated.  To read them in English, you will have to find them online where they are posted by fan translators.

The Villainess is a Marionette - This is for real probably my very favorite comic on this whole list, and can you believe how beautiful the art style is???  The tone of this one is totally different from any of the others here.  The protagonist is reborn as a malicious villainess with particularly cruel endings in her future, and she sets about to avoid them by using her power, influence, and wiles to manipulate the royal intrigue happening around her.  She’s... RELATIVELY kinder than the original villainess was in the story, and several characters that were her enemies in the original story are endeared to her now, but she’s still got her claws sunk into the royal family’s shady dealings.  This is a “bad boss b*tch” kind of heroine lol, and it’s super satisfying to see her come out ahead of the other villains with her crazy 4D chess manipulations.

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Sincerely: I Became a Duke's Maid - A super snuggly, sweet, and fluffy story where the protagonist is reborn as a maid during the tragic antihero’s childhood.  He is afflicted with a painful curse, and the protagonist, knowing that only more pain is ahead for him, does her best to befriend him and make his youth a little bit lighter.

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Who Made Me A Princess - Yet again, a tragic end awaits this princess that the protagonist is reborn as in her childhood, so she uses her cute charm to change the king’s attitude toward her (he was neglectful in the original story).  Some interesting original-plot-derails happen in this one, where her innate magic power is much stronger than it’s supposed to be, and she needs the help of a magical pet creature and a very handsome wizard to sustain her life in this world.

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Seduce the Villain's Father - This one wins the award for having the most hilarious title in this list. 😆 It’s much cuter and lighter than it sounds!!  This protagonist derails the original plot by allowing herself to be kidnapped by the villain’s kingdom instead of the intended character (her sister).  She is reborn among characters the generation before the events of the novel, so the villain himself isn’t here yet - but his handsome dad is!  And if she can convince him not to marry the woman that would become the villain’s mother, then the storyline is saved!  Probably!

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Special mention:

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Roads Lead to Doom! - This anime is probably the main “reincarnated as the villainess” isekai that introduced most of us to this concept. 😅 I’ve linked to where you can watch the anime for free on Crunchyroll, but there is also a manga if you’d prefer to read it!  While there are many, many comics that use this plot hook, this is the only one that made it to anime form, so it’s like, required watching!

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To close this long list up, all of these recs are JUST ISEKAI!!!!  If I were recommending my favorite webcomics in general, there could also be Cursed Princess Club, The Remarried Empress, The Princess’ Jewels, and Men of the Harem in this list...

There are so, so many comics with beautiful art styles featuring gorgeous princesses, it’s crazy!! 😭😭 I could for real spend my whole life reading them probably?? 👌👌  Those millions of women that read romance novels about dukes falling in love with noble women are suddenly extremely relatable.

[abrokenherocomplex]

A continuation of this: Part 1 requested by @keloyle

Long story short, the hero got a room at the villain’s place.

It was just the guest room, nothing special really - grey walls, a standard dresser and, the hero’s favorite, a little bookshelf alongside one of the walls filled with battered novels, memoirs and the like.

It was the hero’s own room and, despite the villain’s constant check-ins, it was more privacy than they’d had in a while.

The hero sat on the bed, back against the headboard, reading one of the tattered books. A classic fairytale - the prince goes on a harrowing quest, dodging death and rescuing the princess damsel-in-distress from the monster, all to live happily ever after. Once upon a time, the hero had imagined their life to end up that way - surrounded by family and friends, their team, maybe even a lover - winning fights against the villain to keep order to their city and the surrounding areas. But real life wasn’t a fairytale, clearly. Or at least the hero hoped it wasn’t, or else they’d be the damsel in distress. Captured by the villain.

The thought made them grit their teeth when a knock came at the door and the hero jumped. They’d been absorbed in the novel and hadn’t even heard the footsteps coming down the hall.

The hero forced themself to calm down, carefully placing the book on the comforter and pulling themselves into a seated position, pulling their knees to their chest.

“Come in.”

Villain stepped into the room, closing the door behind them. They didn’t say anything, only leaning against the doorframe.

The hero frowned, taking the moment to study the villain. Their clothes were pristinely pressed, each crease perfectly ironed for nine o’clock in the morning. The picture of a put-together villain would have been pristine if not for the eyes, which gave them away slightly. Grey circles adorned their under eyes and dark smudges, probably from yesterday’s makeup, were still present, as if they’d tried to wash their face but were too lazy to finish the job. Even their hair seemed more mussed than normal, if only slightly.

The villain’s dark button up rustled as they crossed their arms.

The only sound was the hum of the radiator, somewhere in the basement of the house, heating the building even in the midst of winter.

Hero broke the silence, frowning again. “Do you always have to wear black? Is that like a rule for villains or something?”

“I see you’re feeling better, if you’re up to questioning my fashion choices.”

“I’m always up for questioning your fashion choices.”

The villain nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of their mouth. “I do recall you commenting on my outfit in the midst of our fights. Once you broke my nose and got blood all over my uniform and you said -”

“It did look better that way!” The hero protested. “A little color won’t kill you.”

This time the villain did laugh, once. It unnerved the hero, seeing them like this, a regular person. Well, a regular person with superior fighting abilities and a weird proclivity towards healing magic.

“Seriously, though, you are looking better.”

“Thanks?”

“You do realize you can leave this room, right?”

“Uh…” The hero had indeed realized that, about two days ago when they were able to walk the length of the room without wanting to pass out, or without needing the villain’s help. The door had been unlocked, and had opened into a long hallway, with a staircase at the end leading to the downstairs floor they hadn’t yet seen. There was a bathroom connected to their own room, and the villain brought up their meals, so there didn’t seem to be any reason for exploring. Besides, they hadn’t walked further than the length of the room, and they didn’t know how much they trusted their legs after…

“Why don’t you come downstairs and we’ll get some breakfast?” The villain said.

“I don’t know…”

The villain seemed to know what they had been thinking. “I’ll catch you if you fall.”

The hero looked at the villain, trying to decipher the meaning behind their words. There didn’t seem to be anything scathing, or patronizing in the villain’s tone. In fact, they seemed to truly mean it. They’d catch the hero.

The hero shook their head slightly, thoughts swarming before they could stop them.

The past few days had been… confusing to say the least. Their former nemesis was being kind, like a friend, and their former friends…

The villain interrupted their thought, crossing the room before the hero could protest. “C’mon. Up you go.” The villain took the hero’s hand, helping them off the bed. “Doctor’s orders.”

“Somehow I don’t think you have a doctorate,” the hero grumbled and the villain laughed again.

They’d left the room, the hero’s legs surprisingly holding up better than they’d thought, and began to make their way down the stairs, the villain hovering a distance behind them as security.

They’d made it three steps down when the hero’s foot went out from under them, they began to stumble forward. They wouldn’t have been hurt by the fall, but the villain surged forward, grabbing their wrist, then their arm to steady. Their touch shouldn’t have hurt, but the hero’s vision swam in and out, memories of pain swarmed with the villain’s voice, calling their name. The hero’s breath came out in pants, their vision dizzy as the villain’s voice faded into the background noise and a voice that froze the hero’s blood came to the forefront of their mind. Almost as if their team member was standing right in front of them

“(Team member’s name)-” The hero gasped.

The voice snarled at the hero. You failed. You put the whole team in jeopardy.

“No-” the hero’s voice came out a whimper. They could vaguely feel the villain shaking their arm, trying to snap them out of it.

You are the weak link. The voice continued.

A punch to the gut, a knife sliced across their midsection. The hero’s inability to defend themselves. They’d pressed themselves up against the wall of the team’s headquarters, knowing no one could come to their rescue.

Unwanted and abandoned by your family. The weakest of the team.

“I’m not weak-”  

“(Hero’s name!)”

Their former team member’s voice faded into the background. The villain had let go of their wrists, snapping the hero out of it.

The hero and the villain were still on one of the staircase’s landings, the hero pressed with their back to the wall, the villain on their knees, opposite them, hands out in a placating gesture.

“Hey,” the villain softened their voice. “Are you still with me?”

The hero nodded numbly. “I-” They swallowed, but couldn’t seem to stop their whole body from shaking. “What happened?”

The villain’s voice was soft, concerned. “I was hoping you could tell me that.”

“It was a flashback…. My team… They hurt-” The hero choked on the words, but realization dawned on the villain’s face.

“Hero,” they whispered in shock.

A sob formed in the hero’s throat and they crumpled forward, cries wracking their body. The villain held them as they cried.

The hero wasn’t alone this time, and despite everything, that mattered.