seijohsbabe

[holydramon]

i think a poll blog where people give increasingly complex situations for danganronpa case scenarios and have to vote whether this would even be considered a murder or who would be considered culpable would be funny because the precedent sdr2 chapter 5 sets drives me insane

like for example. let’s say there’s student A and student B. Student A is drinking an icy glass of water, and spills some of the water and ice near the top of a staircase. Student B walks by and slips on the ice, falling down the stairs to their death.

*note before voting, you are doing this based off if you think MONOKUMA would count this as a murder. Not if you think this would be considered a murder legally/by your personal moral standards.

**Accidentally didn’t notice while I was editing cause there were a few other options I removed and ended up messing it up, but option 2 should say “Yes, Student A technically killed Student B.”

[feartoxinjelloshot]

clipsverse SWAP AU! for fun! character elaboration under the cut because it gets kind of wordy:

selina's deal is pretty straightforward: she has the typical “saw parents die as a child" backstory, but she’s obviously not a millionare so she’s operating out of some kind of condemned underground parking lot... somewhere. authentic gotham grunge i guess. she’s a functioning alcoholic and i am obsessed with her. she's a hardboiled detective like batman, but tends to be a bit more cynical - sort of like if rorschach from watchmen was a normal person and also didn't hate sex. firefly is her "guy in the chair" similar to what alfred is to batman in canon, minus the surrogate parent part, obviously. public opinion is pretty split on if the bat is a man or a woman under there. i don't really have swap ideas for the robins ironed out, but i'm thinking that cass and stephanie are her robin and red hood equivalents (cass being dick, stephanie being jason). cass would have an allblack bird theme going on, so she might be "crow" or "blackbird" instead of robin. dunno what stephanie's red hood rendition is like. purple hood? i'll figure it out eventually.

bruce’s parents are alive, but he has a terrible relationship with them and with his own wealth so he mitigates the guilt complex by dressing up as a cat to steal and redistribute resources to people who actually need it. he could probably do that in daylight but there is something very wrong with him. i don't think his dumb slutty playboy persona is entirely genuine even without his parents' deaths, but he does lean into it more and incorporate parts of it into his vigilante persona over time. i think this version of bruce is just generally very lonely under the surface. he tries to be normal in his daytime life and he's very bad at it - theft aside, in a certain sense being the cat(man? woman?) is his own break for freedom; he felt a need to plunge himself far into the deep end of what normal society calls a 'freak'. ...writing it out like this, we're probably lucky he didn't start killing people. fortunately batman isn't really that kind of guy in any universe.

meanwhile on the other side of the rails: ivy! her deal is slightly unformed right now due to the fact that the hatter and the joker also swap places in this au - so the hatter is a dangerous, evil mastermind intent on controlling gotham to suit their whims, and the joker is... just a harmless silly little guy. yeah. i don't have swap-hatter's exact personality ironed out yet, so detailing his and ivy's dynamic would be difficult, but i can say that while she is his loyal second-in-command at his table of advisors, she is also plotting against him. ivy is a consistent loner in both mainline cv and here, and while she doesn't have the same tumultuous, antagonistic, emotional relationship with him as harley does with the joker, she is also frankly not interested in being his number one until the end of time. she wants to do it herself and she wants to do it right. this is an ivy who, in lieu of her own world-altering gift, is scraping tooth and nail to successfully supersede the most powerful entity she can her her hands on. the hatter is blissfully unaware of this - we can't all be perfect.

harley, for her part, is very tame in comparison. she mirrors ivy's canonical backstory pretty closely: an esteemed scientist studying stem cell relations who was denied funding, mocked, and forced to experiment on herself to prove a point, unwittingly connecting herself to a worldwide hive-mind of plantlife. this version of harley, while still dressed as a scientist, is far more surface-level emotionally volatile than mainline ivy, more impulsive and irrational, and probably willing to lean much farther into the classic poison ivy reputation as a villainous seductress, to varying degrees of honesty and success. it takes ivy an incredible degree of patience and control to maintain the mental and physical balance she strikes with the green, and this version of harley has far less of both. she lets it use her body as a conduit of earthly rage and she lets the poison infect her skin and organs until mottled and decaying. she's not unhappy, but she's not exactly stable, either.

jonathan is a mysterious, faux-sleazy lounge singer who lost his left arm to a snake bite infection as a child and thereafter became obsessed with the symbolism of the balance of life via games, tricks and questions - winning and losing, birth and death, etc. the ouroboros is a common symbol in his theatrics. he possesses a certain degree of social confidence that the mainline jonathan has never quite been capable of - while he doesn't have the same fervent need for attention as edward, he takes a compulsory delight in the mental influence he achieves on small crowds and will employ many avenues to get ahold of it. he's certainly not outgoing: he keeps almost entirely to himself offstage, uninterested in fame outside of his show persona. unlike mainline jonathan who views the scarecrow as a genuine self-inflicted diety, this jon sees his persona as more of a mantle or responsibility that he must take on in order to discover new truths about the world. like his canon counterpart he is asexual and uninterested in sex, but i imagine that he has less qualms about leading people on as an act to get what he wants from them. he's not terribly famous in his singing career, but he's become a bit of an underground legend for his resolute 1920s-inspired style and occasional genuine debonair charm.

edward in comparison is not nearly as ritualistically compelled as mainline scarecrow, but he’s far less cagey about his own machinations and his mental relationship to them: he lives in a tricked-out barn somewhere on the far outskirts of gotham, and he spends his time as a propmaster creating elaborate saw-trap-esque haunted houses and escape rooms to invoke panic in his “guests”. he wanders the halls of his own houses along with the guests, repairing and tinkering, or just scaring the shit out of them. he also makes a genuine living by making and selling cosplay props and other related objects online; he's developed a bit of an internet presence through this channel, though he's not as fixated on it as the mainline riddler would be. he still craves spectacle and attention, but he's more of a "quality over quantity" guy according to his own standards and is rarely happy with the work he creates, hence the endless roundabout of creation and reinvention.

[envy-of-the-apple]

I'm 99% sure it was called "Forever Yours" and it was a yandere oneshot series basically of a ton of popular anime boys from the time. The ones I remember were the Tokyo Ghoul dude, there were some Death Note guy chapters, there was the ML from Kamisama kiss, OH and the white haired guy from Psycho-Pass. There were like 50 chapters. It had probably a million likes or something it was INSANELY popular.

Ryntymy also had some other ongoing fics (and a ryntymny/reader crack fic, god, love them for that), but god it's soooo hard to remember.

i DID find a post about one of the fics i knew of that was actually REALLY GOOD that you would have LOVED (it was very similar to saltburn although it's quotev so this yandere was ofc pretty tame):

https://www.reddit.com/r/Quotev/comments/1b652gu/trying_to_find_old_x_reader_fic/

as for what's still up... hm. i do remember parallel ink, and also psychadelic peanut (they had this really trippy izaya fic):

https://www.quotev.com/story/9754667/Unfortunate-YandereIzaya-Orihara-x-Reader/1

AH parallel ink wrote kingdom of possession, which i DO remember:

https://www.quotev.com/story/6759314/Kingdom-of-Possession-Yandere-King-x-Reader

and there was this one series that was ACTUALLY quizzes, which was neat:

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/8085561/Out-of-Sight-Out-of-Mind

this one was a pretty fun sort of mystery style thing:

https://www.quotev.com/story/11260294/Seesaw/1

and this one was like. formative for my longing for pathetic masochistic men. i wasn't super into it back then but THE SEEDS WERE PLANTED:

https://www.quotev.com/story/8901227/Then-Came-You-Sadistic-Reader-x-Yandere-Character-One-Shots/2

SEESAW????? I lovedddd that fic so so much ahhhh it was amazing!!! the fic put me in so much denial cuz i was like 'its him! wait no its not him? wait it IS him? no wait-' very very entertaining

speaking of murder mystery yandere fics...there was this one where the reader was isekaid onto a train and quickly pieces together that all of the passengers resemble ppl from this book they read years ago...except they cant remember the ending aka they dont know who the murderer is. pretty sure the author deleted it but it was good!

its so funny you mention psychedelic peanut cuz i remember they got canceled???? actually...pretty sure parallel ink did too...as well the rest of their clique....and thats why i zipped outta the quotev yandere community!

actually that one aot isekai i was talking about was hosted on quotev! pretty much the height of literature, there's no competition. if i dont find it im just tempted to just rewrite it.

Curse of a Broken Promise is still up there and i think it still holds up! its a yandere kaneki ken fic and the writing is so....whimsical? idk how to explain it but it whenever i read it i always felt so sad. good read!

Imperishable affection (yandere!mafioso x reader) is ALSO written by the same author. basically yandere mafia boss guy threatens you into loving him or else your family dies yada yada so ofc the mc does. for a quotev yandere fic its pretty dark actually.

You Need Me (Yandere Manipulator x reader) THIS was the fic that brought me into the yandere thing. and the author used to update EVERY day so this whole this was an event. and the TWIST i remember being 14 and gasping like 'omg he did EVERYTHING???' very very good

If you want a izayax reader fic whos author WASNT wierd might i suggest Twisted Obsession. Beautiful writing. Its better than most ao3 writing actually and wayyy above mine. I love the way this author characterizes Izaya in this and the backstory for why hes so strange is pretty believable. like i fully believe it should be canon.

Savior Complex is an aot isekai where the mc gets whisked into a yandere sim where Petra is the love interest and the rest of the aot cast is obsessed with her. but we can all guess what happens. pretty good tho!!!

BUT EVERYONE GO READ PRETTY its a gojo x LATINA READER AHHHHHH YESSSS. i just LOVE LOVE LOVE the way this author writes. its so poetic and there's so much left up for interpretation.

[roseykat]

can you maybe possibly hopefully write kitty reader with other members..? I'm more curious about your thoughts on hyung line

thank you anon! Here is hyung line and I might do a maknae line at some point to follow this one up.

(these are nsfw so read with caution)

I've mentioned Chan before with this idea but to reiterate, Chan can usually deal with her whenever she goes into heat - to a certain extent. He can tame her whenever she misbehaves such as by telling her off or setting up soft rules for her to follow - nothing harsh or drastic. But, my hard thoughts about kitty!reader and Chan are here x

Minho is a cat magnet and just has a lot of knowledge about them, their nature, behaviour, habits and whatnot. So when he and reader first met, and after she told him about her complexes to do with her anatomy, he just instantly knew and understood. There was no judgement whatsoever.

Now, Minho is physically articulate with how to 'deal' with her especially when it comes to her heat. He can't comprehend how exhausting it is for her to go through it and tries to make it as comfortable as possible and tends to her needs as much as he can - as much as his stamina can.

At times she wants to stop, to stop cumming whenever she needs to use dildos or vibrators to satiate her primal needs. Then again, Minho knows she can't help it. This is literally how she was designed. Now if it's kitty!Minho and kitty!reader, he would have her heats covered. He'd be able to handle them every day of the week, no sweat. He gives her his seed when she wants it - breeds her when she asks for it and would never get tired.

Changbin is a very observant person and every day that goes by, he learns something new about his kitty!reader. He discovers that she won't let others play with her tail, but when it comes to him it's fine. He knows that she likes being scratched lightly behind her ears and prefers to rest between his legs whenever they both get the chance.

Then at times, she can be so stubborn and doesn’t listen to him. Changbin notices that this is usually the case three or four days out from the first day of her heat to which he does his best track. She gets aggressive. Won't let him touch her, won't let him go near her space, becomes a bit irrational - but the second her heat hits, she’s all over Changbin.

He can keep up with her for a certain amount of time each day of the week and eventually gets worn out. But that still doesn't stop him from helping her. At the end of her heat, she's run to the ground and completely exhausted. That's when Changbin will pull out the best self-care methods such as running her hot baths, giving her massages to relieve her tired and sore muscles, feeding her well, and relaxing with her - all so she can come down from an incredibly tough week.

Hyunjin just loves, loves, loooooves teasing his pretty kitty!reader. He thinks she’s so cute when he does something annoying to make her hiss. For instance, he knows the most sensitive parts of her body, in particular her neck and ears, so sometimes he will just come up behind her and start kissing her neck to which she can’t help but submit to the feeling and starts melting in his arms. It’s in her nature after all.

In saying that, when it comes to her heats, Hyunjin is just as annoying if not slightly sadistic about it. He finds it interesting how antsy, clingy, handsy and horny she can get during the days where she has to claw at Hyunjin to fuck her. He makes use of her being in this state by overstimulating her until she’s crying and begging him to stop even though, anatomically speaking, she needs him to continue.

Every day throughout the week, Hyunjin has new ways of subduing her primal needs. On the occasion, he will use toys to help her. But he finds that making her cum himself, whether it’s with his fingers, mouth or cock, is much more rewarding.

[icycoldninja]

Hello! I have a request for Dante, Vergil & Nero - their s/o has a Shadow (the dmc1 version or kind of like how V has one) as a pet. How would the guys think about if that makes sense?

Thanks in advance if you write for it :3

You're very welcome, hope you enjoy! 💜💜

Sparda boys x Reader with a Shadow headcannons

¤ Dante ¤

-He would be pretty indifferent, seeing as he comes across beasts like these nearly all the time.

-However, the fact that it's tamed is a testament to your strength--not everyone can get these wild creatures to obey them.

-Treats your Shadow like a regular housecat, scratching it behind the ears, petting it, and so on.

-Just like any other cat owner, Dante gets scratched a great deal and considering the sharpness of a Shadow's claws, often has to use a few green orbs to recover.

-He still loves your Shadow; he's just a bit more wary when playing with it.

-100% allows it to come along with him during missions, and occasionally buys it treats on the way home.

■ Vergil ■

-Vergil would be interested to hear how you managed to tame such a ferocious beast, let alone keep it as a pet.

-Of course, he'd never admit any of that aloud because of his damning pride and massive inferiority complex, so he decides the best way to address the situation is to stab himself in the chest so V can pop out and do all the talking for him.

-You and V end up bonding more thanks to your pets' shared species; V will give you tips on how to get your giant demon cat off your lap while you're working and you'll give V advice on how to keep your Shadows' coats shiny.

-Both your Shadows also get along quite well, and since they're identical in shape, size, color and sound, passing pedestrians think they're seeing double, or that there's a glitch in the matrix.

-Vergil himself hates your pet demon, but that's probably only because it loves him. Your Shadow is always leaping into his lap, purring, and nuzzling him.

-The old grump will warm up to your monstrous fur-baby eventually, just give him time.

□ Nero □

-Is genuinely afraid of your Shadow but refuses to admit or show it.

-His fear does not stem from the fact that your pet is some spooky, ethereal demon panther, but because it scratches him all the time, both unintentionally and intentionally. While the scratches themselves are light and usually aren't all that painful, they're not pleasant and therefore should be avoided.

-If Nero is ever required to touch your Shadow for any reason, he will only do so with his prosthetic arm to minimize damage.

-Still, your pet is a powerful battle ally, and Nero is willing to set aside his fears in order to cooperate with this demon cat.

-Eventually, he finds himself growing less afraid of your pet, his fears finally melting away in favor of fondness.

-Soon, Nero and your Shadow become the best of friends; your pet is now more attached to Nero than it is to you.

[neyafromfrance95]

I really don’t understand why people are so divided on Celeborn. Like he’s always just been there and I never expected TROP to change that. Sure he’s boring but I can acknowledge that for Galadriel he makes sense and that she does love him. It doesn’t effect the intrigue of her relationship with Sauron which already existed well before TROP. It’s just that the show was smart enough to realize that and flesh it out. I think some fans have a provincial view on love and don’t understand that various layers of it can exist without detracting from the other. I can believe that Galadriel is in love and happy with Celebron and STILL feels a cosmic soul connection to Sauron. I think the writers understand that this is the meat of this adaptation because there’s a reason certain tropes are classics; the whole dark/light, good/evil push and pull. On a different note it also makes me wonder why people feel the need to whitewash Sauron’s character as this man who wants to try to be ‘good’ in order to ship him and Galadriel. I think s2 makes it very clear that he is at his core a dark and evil entity who at the very most finds human morality an interesting curiosity and warps ideas of goodness for his own gain. And monsters can still feel love, like I think he definitely feels connected to Galadriel and will only ever feel as deeply as he is capable for another being, for her. But because he is what he is, he has no problem manipulating her for what he thinks is best for her and ultimately what serves himself. They are on totally different ends in how they perceive the world and yet they see each other so clearly. This is what makes it interesting for me at least. Anyway let me stop rambling now lol

yeah, i agree.

i see celeborn as this emotional support husband who (unlike many other male characters in lotr) doesn't "dominate" his wife and is rather her follower. there is a good malewife potential for him, lol. and he is pretty much just a background "husband" character, not taking away the spotlight from galadriel.

and yes, just bc galadriel ends up married to celeborn and they might have a nice soft relationship doesn't mean that she doesn't have a far more special and deep connection with sauron, more passionate and poetic even.

but the reason why they can't be together and the whole tragic beauty of sauron x galadriel is that her gaze is fixed on the light while he is the darkness incarnate. and the fact that sauron is this irredeemable evil yet still loves galadriel and her only but in his own twisted way is what makes it more fascinating!

i wish we could allow female characters to have complicated, complex and flawed relationships instead of trying to limit them to the simple wholesome and easily digestible ones.

that being said, i don't really think it's gonna be interesting to focus on galadriel's relationship with celeborn in trop. we know their story already, we've seen them together in other media. this is the story of galadriel x sauron and taking the focus away from this relationship by introducing celeborn would be far from compelling or satisfying development. that's the reason i don't really want to see him until the end of the show.

(also, again, the reason for celeborn demand and discourse is that a lot of incelbros want galadriel to be this tame wifey and they think celeborn is going to come and take away her sword, and a lot of moralists want us to stop shipping "taboo" ships such as sauron x galadriel.)

[wishcamper]

loving acovav and your family systems posts, it puts into words and pulls together so many problems that exist within the ic and relationships in the book xx

though i just have to say it absolutely KILLS me that sjm somehow accidently created such interesting and complex character dynamics (even though there is still a fair amount of inconsistency)

Thank you so much! I was glad to find I wasn’t alone in being baffled/infuriated by the books lol

I think sjm does have the ability to identify the conditions for conflict, but kind of all of us do. Blending families can be hard, involved power struggles. Entering a new world creates cognitive dissonance and grief. People react to trauma differently, and don’t always understand others’ reactions. Romance inside a friend group creates tension. These are things we all know if you think for a moment. But her weakness is that she’s often bad at predicting how people would react to these conflicts, and she definitely doesn’t understand why and how people change.

On the whole, the “themes” she explores are pretty universal. That’s why her premises have so much potential but don’t go anywhere emotionally satisfying. And universal stories are satisfying, that’s why we tell them over and over a la the Hero’s Journey. ACOTAR is Beauty and the Beast. ACOSF is essentially The Taming of the Shrew with more push-ups. But where a different telling like 10 Things I Hate About You says something new about that story- that we are more than stereotypes and can find authentic connections when we transcend them - her conclusions are straight up weird. Like, ACOSF says: be who everyone wants you to be and life gets better. Uh?? In what world is that a hopeful takeaway??

That’s why even her own characters seem out of character, because the inciting events and the reactions they elicit don’t make sense half the time. I think it’s because she doesn’t have equal compassion for her characters (some none at all) so the ones she likes get every motivation for their actions upheld as worthwhile, and the ones she doesn’t like are either two dimensional or have to suck up to the characters she likes for redemption. But she doesn’t recognize that this communicates something, even if it’s unintentional. It’s like she doesn’t realize there’s a subconscious story underneath the surface one, that we can see her thought process through the choices she makes AND the ones she doesn’t.

I know she’s talked about how she puts a lot of her own experience into the books and I think that shows but mostly through her internal and external biases, unfortunately. She only ever affirms her own beliefs through the text, and ultimately says something obvious or straight up distasteful without meaning to (I hope). Other people have detailed her misogyny more thoroughly than I can here, but the disdain for her female characters is so obvious. And that’s not even starting on the racism. There’s a very clear thread of personal responsibility that ignores all the systemic, identity, and cultural factors that make us feel, think, and behave in certain ways.

All this is to say: agree, it’s so annoying because it’s like she had all the ingredients for a cake and somehow made a pizza instead because she likes it more. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t know how you got from there to here Sarah, and you seem happy but I still want cake!

Anyway, thank you for the ask, and letting me indulge in affronted literary criticism, which is my favorite thing to do 🤓

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC Review: Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha

4.25/5. Releases 11/28/2023.

Vibes: a complex love triangle, handmaiden/princess, arranged marriage, dragon heroes that fuck, and enemies to lovers with actual stakes.

Princess Sachielle is betrothed to the Dragon, a god feared for killing his previous consort a century prior. What the Dragon doesn't know is that she's been charged with killing him--and her own life is forfeit if she fails. He also doesn't know that Sachi's handmaiden and lover, Zanya, is much more than she seems. And neither Sachi nor Zanya expected their very different connections with the Dragon--or his determination to win both of them.

It's not easy to find FFM menage romances, and of course, it's therefore even harder to find good ones that don't treat the women as side dishes next to a hero entree. But this? This is really fucking good. And it's really good fantasy romance, at that. If the other dragon romance book (which I personally liked as well) was too light or tame for you--this uh... will not be that. This one is wild, and it is the beginning of a series--while this isn't exactly a cliffhanger, it doesn't end in a fully resolved manner, and I'm excited to see what comes next.

Quick Takes:

--Menage romances often favor one bond over the other; while I love them in general, I find many that do not... work. Here, it's pitched perfectly--and I suspect some of that has to do with the fact that we still have some story to tell, and development to watch unfold. Zanya and Sachi have a very established, loving, and passionate long-term relationship, and that is never in question in this book (despite the necessity of them keeping it a secret, initially). Sachi and Ash (of course the Dragon goes by Ash) have an immediate chemistry and physical attraction, which puts a real wrench in the "I'm here to kill him" thing. It only deepens into something more as they spend time together, with Zanya looking on--not quite un-jealous, but not really threatened either.

Zanya and Ash's interplay might have been my favorite, though. She is determined to keep Sachi safe no matter what, and she is vicious. Ash? Loves and relates to both of those things. The very literal sparring scenes between these two? So hot. And while I feel very sure about the dynamic between Sachi and Zanya and Sachi and Ash, these two still have a ways to go. Zanya is a hard character, with many emotional walls (and her reasons are super valid). Ash, on the other hand, is all heat--and while he's initially determined to make nice with Zanya because of his feelings for Sachi, over the course of the book you feel him become more interested in her, and excited to get to know her better and be with her for the long term. Zanya? Still needs some convincing. I am pumped to see how he wins her over.

--The way sexuality is handled in this book is so casual, and I fucking love that. Really, the main obstacle to Sachi and Zanya being together in public is related to class and Sachi's duty to marry Ash. The gods they meet are pretty much universally bisexual, and Ash's previous consort was a prince, not a princess, which doesn't seem unusual or remarked upon.

--I think it would be very easy for Ash to come off as a "just happy to be there" guy, because Zanya and Sachi have such a strong love, and such an established relationship. But he's really so lovable, so patient with both of them (well, Sachi has to be more patient in their case--he's very worried about hurting her) and so charmingly teasing. Like, he's a protective dangerous dragon guy (and to be clear: for most of the book, Ash is totally this big hot man dude, he shifts separately into a dragon form) but he's also just? A good guy?

--I loved the world of the gods and their mythology. It's fun, it's hedonistic, I identified several cool characters I'd love to see find love in their own books, and it feels like they're both... above humanity and sweetly emotional. It's a hard balance to strike, but I think they got it in this one. (Fun fact: Kit Rocha is a pen name for two friends.)

--In terms of "how fantasy is this and how romance is this" it's a romance novel, despite the fact that it doesn't end on a totally resolved note (I trust that will come in the future). But the fantasy is strong without being too hard to follow. I feel like fantasy purists who are Very Vocal On Twitter may complain about the level of fantasy in this but like. The world was very much solid enough for me. I got it. It was the right balance for me, as a romance reader, and I refuse to accept romantasy as a thing unless it defines itself better, because it feels like fantasy romance is all I really need to know about.

The Sex:

Um, one of the hottest books I've read in a while. It takes a bit before you get to the first sex scene, but once it gets going it's going. Most of the sex scenes involve all three parties in one way or the other. Sachi is absolutely a brat with both of her partners, and frankly, we love to see it.

One thing I really loved was the evolution of Zanya's role in the sexual aspect of the relationship. We see that she and Sachi have very defined roles in bed, they know each others' bodies so well. Ash is respectful of that, as he is respectful in general--and he's willing to learn from both Sachi and Zanya (and I get the impression that while both of them are clearly bi, neither has much or any experience with men due to their longstanding, presumably monogamous involvement with each other). He's such a great example of writing a romance hero who's like... an animal where it counts, but so respectful of consent and so willing to be taught. So, as time passes, you see Zanya's more dominant side come out with Ash as well, and the way in which she begins to shift her focus from just Sachi to Sachi and Ash. Which of course, very much aligns with the fact that she's catching feelings. Oops!

I can't give away too much, but--there is one sex scene towards the end of the book that is just. Beyond.

Like I said, it's kind of hard to find FFM, and I jumped on this book because I was so excited to see that--and of course, I want to read more fantasy romance. I'm really happy with where it's going, and I look forward to the next book.

Thanks to Montlake and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[randomvarious]

Today’s compilation:

Bääärenstark!!! Frühjahr 2000 2000 Schlager / Pop / Adult Contemporary / Europop / Pop-Rock / Latin

Alright, well, this is one of the worst things I've ever listened to, but let's at least try to make this post an educational one, shall we? Schlager, translated from German to English, simply means "hit," as in "hit song." And schlager isn't so much a genre as it is a style; this double-disc has regular pop, pop-rock, dancy Europop, traditional folk-pop, and even some country and Latin on it, and all of it's schlager.

So I think the best way to properly explain schlager then is to compare it to something else: are you familiar at all with those schmaltzy adult contemporary pop ballads of the 80s and 90s, like "I Swear" by All-4-One, "Save the Best for Last" by Vanessa Williams, or any number of Celine Dion belters? All that over-the-top, edgeless sentimental cheesiness? That's sort of what schlager is like. You take all that ballad goo, apply it to a range of different popular genres, and then you sing it all in German.

And essentially what you end up with is the most boring, basic, and anodyne music imaginable that’s far worse than any of those aforementioned adult contemporary tunes. Like, I really cannot believe that there's something of a robust industry for this pure and utter crap. None of these songs have any pretension of trying to be cool or progressive, or even ironic, and there's no intention of trying to ruffle any feathers either. Older folks in the US, by default, prefer to listen to the music of their youth, which is tame now, but at least it was viewed as either controversial, newfangled, or cutting-edge at some point.

Plus, the acts that were popular with each successive generation, if they're fortunate enough, get to live on a nostalgia circuit until their dying days, performing their songs that were once perceived as cool or hip for the generations in which they flourished.

But these songs, all of which are contemporary, are never going to go on that journey from cool to tame, because they're simply not remotely cool in the first place. And they have no inkling to be. There is not a patina of rebelliousness or hedonism or adventurism to be found within a single split-second of either of these discs. And as an American, the idea of not even making any kind of attempt to appear cool to any generation from the outset feels so far removed from what we know draws so many people to music in the first place. And I am just so genuinely gobsmacked here by this style of music's continued existence and the fact that there is still a palpable demand for it. It simply does not compute with my American brain. Who has ever willingly listened to music that could never objectively be regarded as cool, or, at the very least, impressive, in any tangible way? Schlager heads, it seems.

But then again, I guess this is like the German music equivalent of watching movies made by the Hallmark Channel: poorly and cheaply made productions in which nothing very interesting happens in them at all, but the simplicity and overall lack of tension is actually the selling point. I guess that's why the mascot for this release is a big, blue, cuddly cartoon bear attending a carnival, with chocolate-covered fruit on a stick in one paw and cotton candy in the other. Like, you'd actually think this was made for kids, but it really just seems to be an overt appeal to those seeking something truly so saccharine and banal that'll allow them some brief escape from this complex and changing world that they appear to grow more and more alienated from with each passing day.

So, with the adult contemporary industry all but pretty much dried up in the US, Americans, as they age, tend to turn towards what they grew up with, rather than latching onto something current that's been tailored to them. But German-speaking countries appear to not have as much of a problem with keeping their adult contemporary industry afloat, and part of that success, it seems, can be chalked up to the self-lobotomizing awfulness that is schlager.

No highlights.

[absolutebl]

Time to rewatch Colour Rush??????

Also, (at risk of asking a controversial question) what do you think the most over and underrated BLs are?

I think Tharntype is probably one of the most overrated (love MewGulf but the story is a bit 👀), and We Best Love is definitely underrated imo. You?

It is ever not time to rewatch Color Rush?

The eternal question for the universe.

Also, (at risk of asking a controversial question) what do you think the most over and underrated BLs are?

Oh noes, very controversial. Okay... here we go, get ready to be mad at me.

I'm going with MDL rating & comments, amount of attention gifs etc on Tumblr, and amount of MVs and attention to the fandom on places like YouTube. 

10 Most Overrated BLs

Ossan's Love original (Japan 2018) - why do people like this, WHY?

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Japan 2020) - oh it’s hot I just... don’t like it 

The Untamed (China 2020) - yeah, sorry not sorry? Not my jam, not my toast, not my fandom, not interested in arguing about it. I respect your kink but its a hard limit for me.  

Love By Chance 2 (Thailand 2020) - nope didn’t like it, have never bothered to rewatch it 

Where Your Eyes Linger (Korea 2020) - look people like it and I get it, but the total fan obsession with this one goes right over my head 

2gether & Still 2gether (Thailand 2020-2021) - possibly the one I find the most overrated on this list, oh I like it, but the amazing fan reaction? I don’t get it and never will. BrightWin are fine, it’s fine, its a serviceable romcom with some questionable content and uneven chemistry, but that’s all. I think maybe because it was a lot of people’s first BL? 

KinnPorsche (Thailand 2022) - I do not want to argue about it, for me it felt all over the place tonally, inconsistent in characterization and filming, and had a poorly executed plot that never lived up to the promise of that first trailer. The chemistry was fine but, guess what? I’ve seen better. 

Enchanté (Thailand 2022) - am I bitter, yes I’m so bitter. I wanted to like this show so much. The chemistry was good, the team was good, the production values high. Chalk another one up to GMMTV squandering talent on a terrible script. 

To My Star 2 (Korea 2022) - TMS original is one of my favorite BLs OF ALL TIME, I hated season 2 and I’m still upset about it. Oh yes I understand why they did what they did, but I am not happy about it, I don’t think the story was the right direction for the characters, and while actors stretching their shops is pleasing to watch, no matter how clever or beautifully filmed or meaningful I didn’t want to watch my boys done dirty like this. This was just another nail in the coffin of NO SECOND SEASONS iN BL. 

Fish Upon the Sky (Thailand 2021) - nope nope nope 

10 Most Underrated BLs

1. He’s Coming To Me (Thailand 2019) - for my money probubly one of GMMTV’s best BLs. Clean concept and flawless execution, good mystery, complex characters and one of the greatest coming out sequences ever put on screen. Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder. Peak pining but also pretty tame, features my favorite sweet but important coming out sequence. The third in my precious triumvirate of unbeatable Thai BLs, that are only nominally BL because the story, acting, and production values are so good. (Together with UWMA & 1k*). 

Find it on GMMTV’s YouTube channel. 

2. Just Friends? (Korea 2009) - just so cute and hot and fun and no one knows it exists. Boyfriends, one of whom is on military leave, trying to decide on coming out and the future. 

Find it on GaGa and also YouTube sometimes. 

3. Seven Days (Japan 2015) - the best BL as a pure unsullied yaoi sourced piece of sweetness, I will eventually convince every one of my followers to watch this if it’s the last thing I do on tumblr. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses.

You have to haunt YouTube and grey sites like dramacool or this one, but I promise it’s worth it. 

4. Long Time No See (Korea 2017) - high heat, violent, hella gay mafia hitmen falling in love even though they are on opposite sides of a turf war. Honestly WHAT MORE DO YOU PEOPLE WANT? You are not allowed to even mention KinnPorsche to me until you have watched this. I will accept no arguments on this matter.

This is on GaGa (sometimes) and I think you can pay to play on Vimeo too. 

5. HIStory 2: Right or Wrong (Taiwan 2018) - everyone loves Crossing the Line but I also really like the companion piece too. This is a teacher/student power dynamic, tsundere/sunshine pairing, plus cohabitation with themes of self acceptance and family domesticity. It's a slow burn but high heat (and that heat is good). The uke is out gay, the seme is unapologetically bi, and it's the first time Taiwanese BL flexed its marriage equality muscles. Triggers includes some verbal and physical gay bashing (not from the seme) and child abandonment/neglect (yes from the seme). The second half it a lot better than the first. Ending is VERY happy.

The whole HIStory series is on Viki. 

6. Dark Blue Kiss (Thailand 2019) - I adore PeteKao okay? This is probably my favorite GMMTV product. Bite me. This is classic Thai BL with a university setting, great acting and complex characters, one of my favorite friendship groups, friends to enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, multiple angsty af coming outs, including a long stretch of a secret relationship. Early GMMTV high production values, good chemistry, BL side couple, lots of classic tropes and some great domesticity.

It’s all on YouTube however, you do need a watch guide for PeteKao, and that’s here.

7. My Day the series (Pinoy 2020) - kinda the definition of underrated, it’s a fun campy high heat pretty boys being hot messes and I love it and no one else is with me on this. The set up on this one is enemies (also boss/employee) and they don’t like each other to start. But that gets resolved pretty quickly. And then they are some of the cutest, hottest, and best boyfriends ever. This is an under-appreciated BL, IMHO.

You can find My Day on YouTube. 

8. Wish You (Korea 2020) - one of my favorite Korean BLs and it is quiet and sweet and earnest. Crickets. Set in the music industry featuring a talented singer and the pianist who falls in love with him (and his music), subtle and achingly adorable. High production, low heat, short run, very tame, and Korea, so more of a western style. It’s not the most logical story though. No coming out, exists in the “Korean BL bubble universe” where everything is just fine and dandy with the gays. 

You can find this one on Viki & Netflix, you definitely want to watch the movie version. 

9. Nobleman Ryu's Wedding (Korea 2021) - our first actual gay kisses in a historical BL with crossdressing! OMG why didn’t anyone love this as much as me? 12th Night goes BL in this cross dressing historical, that ended up feeling like a Cinderfella fairy tale, lightly dramatic and utterly charming.

In some parts of the world you can find this on WeTV, otherwise gotta go grey for it. 

10. Hay Rival, I LOVE YOU! (Vietnam 2021) - it’s short, I love it to pieces, basically no one has seen it. Two boys (jock & nerd) learn that they are both dating the same girl. At first they hate each other, but then they decide to get together and take revenge. In the process they fall in love with each other instead. 

Frankly a lot of Vietnamese Bl could go on this list including You Are Ma Boy and My Lascivious Boss.  

VBL can usually be found on YouTube. Hay Rival is here. 

Most Underrated Bromance?

S.C.I. Mystery (Hong Kong 2018) - honestly why does no one talk about this? Why chat about Guardian and Untamed and such and NEVER once does anyone mention S.C.I?

It was the first bromance I ever watched. This was how I learned bromances existed because I spent the whole time being like: wait are they married? Or are they cousins? No, they’re married? WHAT IS GOING ON? Then I looked up the origin. 

(source) 

[wri0thesley]

Well shit. The pet talk has me thinking about turning into a neko because of a curse gone wrong... would you like to write headcanons for the jjk men reacting to their crush befalling that fate? Who'd try to reverse it, who'd want to keep them that way? Who would use the chance to get closer or even turn it into pet play?

ahh to be a neko and be owned by a handsome jjk man.....

warnings: not sfw, afab reader implied, cat/neko hybrid reader, petplay mentions, master/pet dynamics!

♡ —-> below the cut: gojo, nanami, geto, toji, sukuna, mahito <—-  ♡

♡ Gojo probably immediately figures out how to reverse it - but the thing is, right away, he doesn’t much want to. You just look so cute with the neko ears resting on your hair, your hands curled like paws, your tail curling around you so cutely. The light purr in the way you speak, the way your eyes keep contracting as you get distracted by a loose thread on his clothes or the light reflecting off his sunglasses. 

He’s going to take a lot of pictures of you; partly to make fun of you with later, partly because he just can’t help it. You’re adorable! As part-cat now, too, you’ve gotten a lot less good at hiding your affection. Gojo is suddenly being subjected to you batting your head against him, rubbing your face against his to mark him as yours - and he’s not complaining about it at all. 

He will very much use this as an opportunity for petplay. He’s got a bit of a power complex about being the strongest; you being a cute little pet at his knees, all helpless and mewling, is something he didn’t realise he’d want so badly. And you’re so sensitive, when he touches your ears or your tail. He kind of wants to get you a collar, to leave you like this forever - but he’s not going to, because at the heart of it, he’s a good man who wants the best for you.

It won’t stop him bringing this up all of the time afterwards, showing you the pictures, and buying you a cute tail and ear set to wear for him when the two of you are spending some alone time together, though. 

“Aww, kitty - that’s right, smile for the camera - say ‘nya~’!”

- ♡ -

♡ Nanami is more concerned than anything else. His first instinct is to protect you, and his second instinct is to be frustrated with himself for not protecting you thoroughly enough. He takes you back to his place before Gojo or anyone can see you, knowing that most of them won’t let you live this down and preparing to organise things himself. When it turns out Shoko can’t have a look at you until the next day, citing the fact that you’re not in any real danger, Nanami resigns himself to having to spend the night with you in this state. 

He tries to make you a bed in the spare bedroom but you crawl onto his bed anyway, nesting at the foot of it, curling yourself in covers. When he doesn’t pay attention to you, you sigh, rubbing your head against his leg, as if to say ‘well, go ahead, pet me’ - unfortunately, if you want Nanami to do that, you have to open your mouth and ask. He doesn’t want to take advantage of you.

When you finally do ask him with your words, he presses his lips thinly together but he also knows cats - you’re not going to let him rest until he does it. He finds himself soothed by petting your ears, the soft rumble of your throat, the way that his touch seems to make you relax. He hadn’t realised just how comfortable you must be with him. 

Nanami will not do anything to you in this state, even if you try and initiate it - when he gets to take you to bed for the first time, he hopes there will be no cursed nonsense present - just you, and him, and the beating of your hearts. But at least this little experience has given him some courage to push forward with his crush.  

“You really want me to stroke you? Well . . . I suppose I could . . . is this alright?”

- ♡ -

♡ Geto does not want to like the sight of you with your eyes big and wide and cute cat ears on your head and a tail extending from your backside as cute as he does. You’ve always been one of his favourite curse users, and perhaps he’s been nursing a crush on you for longer than he’d like to admit - but this just feels rude. You’re so cute with your head tipped to the side, sticking very close to him, fair brightening up when his hand so much as brushes your arm. 

He does want to fix you, of course - he doesn’t want anything to dull your sharp knife-edges, the cleverness thrumming beneath your skin. He thinks of the people he surrounds himself as family, and you as - as more than that. But he indulges in it for a little too long. Liking to watch your tail swish as you walk, your ears twitch - liking the noise you make when he runs his palm over your face. 

Geto, too, will indulge in a little petplay. How can he not, when you were so obedient and good for him even before this unfortunate occurrence? He soothes you with pets and kisses as you sink onto his cock, calling you his good kitten, asking you to purr for him and groaning when your slightly sharper than usual teeth nip at his neck and you mewl so prettily at the touch of his hands on your spine. 

Out of anyone, Getou is the most likely to tie a ribbon around your new tail and get you a cute collar with a bow and a bell on it. When you’re sat on his lap with his cock inside you, he murmurs softly not to let the bell jingle, be a good pet and stay exactly where he puts you - and for Geto, you’re a very well-behaved pussy-cat, and you do exactly what he asks you.

“Mm, that’s right - good kitten. You feel so right there. You’re such a pretty thing, so well-behaved--”

- ♡ -

♡ Toji should want to do something about this. He hates the idea of all of this cursed energy clinging to you - but he also knows there isn’t much he can do, and he isn’t willing to lower himself to ask for help from anyone who can do anything about it. So, welcome to your new life - you’re Toji’s cute little kitten now. He likes his kitten to lie on his lap, to nest in his bed, to eat off a bowl on the floor and wear their pretty collar--

He likes his kitty to be well-behaved, but honestly, Toji’s treatment whether you are well-behaved or not is much the same. He likes that you’ll sit and listen to him like everything he says is the most important thing in the world - likes that, now you’re his good little housecat, he is the centre of your universe. He’s rough with you no matter what, but you grow to absolutely love that sensation - love digging your claws into his back when he fucks you, love it when he groans ‘good kitty’ into your ear, love it when he stretches out beside you and lets you nuzzle into his chest, purring at him. 

He secretly likes it when you act up a little bit; if you spill your milk or if you purposely ignore him. He loves having an opportunity to tame the brattiness out of his kitten - to tug on your tail a little meanly, to remind you of who exactly you belong to.

“Aww, kittycat-- you’re really pushin’ my buttons today, huh? C’mere - lemme remind you who your owner is--”

- ♡ -

♡ Sukuna . . . if you’ve ended up like this and you’re Sukuna’s object of affection, we can only assume that Sukuna himself is the one to have engineered it. No other curse would dare to touch his property, after all - and if you are Sukuna’s, you are his property. You being a cute little kitty now doesn’t change the fact at all; if anything, it reinforces in Sukuna’s mind that you’re his pet. He owns you. You ought to be on your knees, your head bowed, practically quivering if he deigns to pet you or lavish you in affection--

You will be staying this way.

You’ll be learning exactly how a good pet behaves; how and when to use your tongue, how to respond to your Master’s petting of your ears, how to learn to roll over and present yourself when your Master wants to take you. Heaven help you if you go into heat, kitten - Sukuna’s deeply amused by your whimpering, by the way you keep nuzzling against his thighs and telling him that it hurts, please fill me up, pleasepleaseplease.

If you’ve been very good, he’ll reward you by filling you up fuller than you even realised you could be. If you’ve been very bad, you’ll be sobbing and clawing into his sheets and begging to be touched with your own need streaming down your thighs. Either way, in the end, you’ll be mewling into Sukuna’s kimono with tears on your face from the stretch, secure in the knowledge that you’re owned. 

“A good kitten walks on all fours, hmm? A good kitten obeys their Master. A good kitten knows to do it immediately when I tell them to open their mouth--”

- ♡ -

♡ Mahito wants to find out everything he can about this interesting new development. Chances are, if he has a crush on you, you already know it - subtlety is honestly not one of the curse’s strong points. Chances are, too, if he has a crush on you and you’re still around, you’re okay with is - but this is probably going to push it over the edge. His hands are all over you, petting and tugging on your ears and your tail, probably trying to see how they attach to your skin and laughing when you flinch or blush or a certain rub of his thumb across your tailbone makes a purr thrum in your throat.

He’s telling you how cute you are through it all, laughing - he’s talking earnestly about the way humans keep pets, how he’s always wondered about it, and now he’s had one dropped into his lap, and isn’t that just fortuitous? At first, he wants you to be as much of a pet as you can - on your hands and knees, purring, mewling, the whole nine yards! But once he’s exhausted that option (Mahito’s moods tend to be whimsical and over in a flash before he’s moved onto the next one), he wants to explore your new additions and how doing certain things to you makes them feel. Expect to be fucked from behind by Mahito pulling your tail - expect him, too, to be very interested in the concept of cats going into heat! You’re an endlessly fascinating new toy, until you’re not quite as fascinating--

And then Mahito is shifting his soul to have his own cat ears and tail, to be mess around with you some more and see if your reactions are any different when he’s made himself your cat-boyfriend! Eventually, he’ll get bored of you being part cat and he’ll figure out how to get you back to your normal self on his own, but by then the damage has probably already been done and some part of you is just conditioned - to purr when your head is scratched, to docilely sit at Mahito’s feet and paw at the front of his trousers.

“You’re so cute! Humans like to play with their pets, right? Let’s play, then! Purr for me, koneko-chan~”

-  ♡ -

[sailorstarr-chan4]

Anime Update: Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple

Episodes: 50 Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Favorite Characters: Miu Fūrinji, plus every single Master living at Ryōzanpaku (yes, even the old pervert, Kensei Ma. Every shounen anime's gotta have one >.>) Favorite Pairing: Kenichi x Miu (predictable, but I'm a sucker for Friends to Lovers) Pros: Great action, hilarious dub acting, just a good ol' fun romp. There's a lot of laugh out loud moments, and the majority of annoying tropes are either short-lived or subverted. It's just so entertaining, it's not hard not to binge-watch. Cons: If you're not a fan of shounen cliches, this won't be the series for you, because it is VERY by the numbers. If you're a sucker for this kind of thing, it's a perfectly fine example of a martial arts anime, if not downright underrated. That said, the writing is definitely of its time and is Low-Key Misogynistic, yes, even with several kickass ladies. Strong women does not equal feminism. Recommended for: Shounen/martial arts anime fans who are not snobs. Or really, any anime fan who isn't a snob lol.

~~~

This is just such a fun series. It's not original, deep, or complex in any shape or form, but I highly enjoyed myself with every single episode. It helped that the actors were clearly having a BALL with their characters and scripts, and there were so many lines that lived rent-free in my brain and continued to make me giggle days later.

Fun fact: for nearly a decade, I knew of one hilarious scene that basically summed up Cat People and was often shared among anime fans in a "this is YOU" way lol.

(Seriously, even without context, it's still hilarious AF)

For years, the clip was posted as "The Greatest Scene in Anime" or something along those lines, but after it was taken down, it took me forever to hunt down another version of the clip, let alone the anime title. Then, last month, I felt the urge to finally provide context to one of my favorite out-of-context anime scenes, and started watching the series.

And just like that, I was hooked.

I haven't completed an anime that was more than 26 episodes that fast since the first season of Shugo Chara! in 2017, or the entire Black Butler anime franchise (including OVAs and movies) in 2019.

Be warned: the fanservice is fairly shameless. Tame compared to some other titles out there, of course, but what's there is pretty..... in your face. Plus, there's a lot of.... confusing ideas about fighting women. On one hand, Kenichi (our protagonist) has a principle against fighting girls EVEN IF THEY'RE ACTUAL FIGHTERS, which is annoying/sexist enough. On the other hand, his love interest, best friend, and housemate, Miu, kicks his ass on the regular whenever they spar during training sessions together. Like????? I can't tell if Kenichi is just an idiot, or if he respects Miu's abilities so much he puts on a whole level than "other girls" (which is also Problematic, but in different ways). It's weirdly confusing and is never really addressed, other than angrily by the other women trying to fight Kenichi, and that can painted as Crazy Strong Man-Hating Women shit..... *siiiiiigh* Ohhh, the early 2000s..... >.>"

With all that in mind, do I still recommend this series? Honestly.... kinda??? But only if you're just looking for mindless entertainment. Do not expect deep revelations or nuanced characters. This series knows its audience, and knows its style, and is all the more refreshing for it. It doesn't try to be anything other than what it is: a fun, kickass series about martial arts, fighting to protect others, and the Power of Friendship.

Don't think too hard about it, and just enjoy the ride.

[alectology-archive]

I’ve seen some anti Catradora people say they don’t like the ship on the basis that Catra and Adora have the same mother and are sisters and—ignoring how much of a reach that is—I feel like it plays into the “these two girls can’t be love interests because they’re family” trope? Like I also saw this with Wolfwalkers. Taking the story at face value—a British girl learns that Irish myths are real when she meets a Wolfwalker (people whose souls becomes a wolf during sleep)—is nice. There's some 1)

2) the movie has a clear anti colonialism theme and a condemnation of the church. But it’s enhanced through a queer lense, when you view the British girl and the wolfwalker girl she meets as love interests. The ideas of conforming to a society that doesn’t accept you, undergoing a transformation that doesn’t fit in said society, and coming to embrace your true self mean soooo much more when you view the girls as lesbians. (The quote “the city is no place for a Wolf” also takes on deeper meaning)

3) Even the clear anti church theme, with the evil christian guy wanting to “get rid of the wildness of the forest” and begging god to “help him tame it” and him trying to force the british girl and her dad to conform to his rigid ideals mean so much more if you view her as a wlw and being a wolfwalker as coming out of the closest. (10/10 recommend, btw) But even though the movie is enriched by looking at it from that lenses, people still view the girls as sisters!!! It’s a big problem.

4) Viewing women in love as sisters, both in Wolfwalkers and in SPOP, cheapens the complex stories. But people keep doing it!!!

Okay diaclaimer: I feel really uncomfortable shipping robyn and mebh because they have a pretty significant age gap and they end up becoming stepsisters by the end of the movie. But I definitely feel the queerness in the movie is undeniable when you discuss its themes so I prefer to think that they're both individually queer without being in a relationship with one another.

I just generally feel that the trend of fandoms aggressively pushing for two kids from animated shows to be shipped together is not a good thing since they tend to be so young (and this is why I generally hate every single person in the atla fandom and have all of its tags blocked).

Legend of korra and she-ra are a different story in the sense that their characters are aged 17-21 for both based on the season and feature an age gap of less than a year so I feel a lot more comfortable with them.

But wlw relationships definitely have a tendency to be sidelined and demonised and picked apart and cancelled in ways that mlm ships never are. I think with lok and spop people also tend to forget that both of them were very heavily censored (although spop somehow managed to sneak in so much queer subtext that on a rewatch it didn't really feel like it) which is why the interpretation of THEY ARE SISTERS and THEY ARE FRIENDS exist in the first place, often originating from the homophobic crowd. And akdaksjdk yeah unfortunately all two men have to do is interact politely to get a massive shipping subfandom but even if women literally kiss on screen there'll be a lot of discourse over it and they're eventually forgotten and mocked for not being As Good as the rep in the shows that follow although they laid the foundation for them.

[fabdante]

Ok, last one. The Kat and Artemisia post. Incase you missed them, this is part of a trio of posts on Baroque art and the DmC reboot trio and a separate post on the DmC reboot and the Baroque as an art movement.

The other posts if you want to check them out: Dante and Caravaggio, Vergil and Benini, DmC and the Baroque

Today for the final installment in this little mini series, we’ll be discussing the artist who won the Baroque, Artemisia Gentileschi, and her painting Judith Slaying Holofernes, featured below. 

Analysis of this painting, why it’s such a bop, Kat, and the devil may cry reboot below the cut!

Content Warning: discussion of abuse as it relates to Kat.

I guess we start with the beginning and the beginning is who Judith is. 

Judith is a biblical character. Upon impending invasion, she is unsatisfied with the response of her people and decides to infiltrate the enemy camp with her maid, intent to stop the enemy army. After gaining the trust of the people there, she eventually seduces general Holofernes and is invited to his tent. Then she beheads him with what I am left to assume is his sword. I suppose given the painting that part’s a little spoiled. 

A lot of paintings focus on the beheading or Judith posing with the decapitated head in victory. But a lot of them don’t have the impact of Artemisias, as seen above. 

Judith, as painted by Artemisia, is full of rage. She is not serene or delicate. She is not posing or unsure. She is angry, certain, and out for blood. Everything in her expression and her movements is full of force and intent. It’s the little details like his hair between her knuckles from where she’s gripping it and the forceful twist of her wrist on his sword that she’s taken. To her rolled sleeves in her incredibly fancy dress. And it’s not afraid to be gory to. Perhaps this is tame by modern standards of blood and gore but for the time it’s very bloody and violent. Supposedly the violence was too much for the first owner who kept it hidden for some time (allegedly). I think it’s important that while the focus is Judith doing the act, her maid is not passive in the violence. She’s holding him down with just as much force as Judith. And unwavering to, despite how we can see how Holofernes was trying to throw her off before he died, his hands still limply in the air. The maids full of as much determination as Judith is. Judith’s dressed up for this to, in a fine gown with her hair done up. This is likely part of the ruse Judith set up before she got Holofernes alone, but I like the detail none the less. That she’s dressed up for this murder.

The key to why this painting fits Kat so much to me is how it is not only full of anger and femininity and violence but how in Artemisias hands, the image feels like a bloody catharsis. There’s something personal in Judith's glare, in her rage. Something kind of interesting to in how she��s forced Holofernes to look away from her, like he hasn’t earned the right to see her victory even if by this point he is surely dead (I mean, the sword is nearly through his neck). Or like she doesn’t want to look at him at all, like he’s not worth looking at.

Likewise, for Kat, hunting demons is personal. The Order is personal. Why she’s here doing this is personal.

It’s personal because Kat killed her abusive foster father. I don’t think how impressive this is truly gets conveyed. It’s almost a throw away statement. It’s just that one line, ‘I killed the bastard’, and that’s that. Like it was easy or something. In the reboot universe, though, she’s not even in the same dimension as her foster father. We don’t get a lot of information about how much a demons human form impacts their demon form. We are told Mundus is fused to his human form, but we’re also told this is because he’s been in it so long and also there’s the matter of his relationship to the hell gate. We’re not even told how long he’s been in this form. Has it been years, decades, centuries? How long is so long that it led to this fusion? So, I don’t think we can base the average demon to this. As far as we know in canon, it’s Kat against a being in another dimension. A dimension she cannot engage with physically and to which he can escape to at any time. 

And yet she kills him anyway.

She is the only human we know of in canon who’s done this, to. To be fair, she is the only human mentioned at all in the reboot canon but by how Dante positions himself as human savior and by how certain Vergil seems to be that humans cannot take care of themselves, this must be rare.

I cannot express enough how important it is that Kat is the one who kills him to. It’s not Vergil. She doesn’t say it was Vergil. It’s also not her and Vergil, she doesn’t say that either, she doesn’t say ‘we killed the bastard’. Kat says explicitly that she killed him, ‘I killed the bastard’. It’s Kats kill. No matter how much Vergil helped her, she did it. She killed her abuser despite the odds against her. 

I can’t imagine the sort of catharsis Kat must have felt in that moment. We don’t know how she killed him, she never says. The greatest crime of the comics, in my opinion, are how they take this kill away from Kat and give it to Vergil instead. Which means no further elaboration there on what went down. But I can imagine her in that moment after, unsure how to feel with the rush of adrenaline and power and newfound safety. She’s done it. She’s done something she must have thought was impossible. And she tells us in game how this made her feel emboldened to handle the rest of demon kind. She doesn’t tell us in that many words, I suppose, but she says that she wants to deal with them all because she killed her foster father.

To Kat, this is personal. To Kat, mankind is something worth saving that she is willing to do everything to save. We don’t see her violence in game, but we know she’s willing to kill for this freedom. We know she’s willing to die for it to, given the aftermath of the Orders fall. It’s personal. And Kat sees it as something far bigger then her.

Often Kat I think is written off as someone who is naïve and weak and in need of saving. I’ve complained at length how I feel about her being called naïve. In game we see a very interesting, complex person in Kat I think. I’ve said before that it’s kind of fun to just watch her in scenes. Like really watch her. She has very deliberate body language that often betrays this calm she’s fighting to display, particularly around Dante for the first half of the game or so. It’s little things like how she physically contains herself after the ‘I like it rough’ comment, shutting her eyes and taking in a deep breath, but things that are there. She’s someone who, despite everything, is fighting to be a softer, kinder person even if she’s still got a lot of anger (Vergil does compare her and Dante, after all).

And being soft and kind does not make someone weak. Existing in a world where you are at a disadvantage to the things that aim to hurt you is not weak. Entering into your enemies tent armed with nothing but an elaborate gown and your anger, waiting until you spot a sword and an opportunity is not weak either.

I think something about Kat that is so often forgotten in the drama of the twins and everything else (because lets face it, no matter the media, female characters tend to get side lined for...everything else really), is without her the twins would have failed. It’s Kat who gets Dante and safely brings him to the Order. It’s Kat’s spells that bridge the human world to Limbo. It’s Kat who saves Vergil in the server room by way of bringing Dante to him. It’s Kat who ultimately gives the twins the final plan to get to Mundus. It was her. Dante says so at the end, to. The game recognizes that without Kat, the boys have nothing. And it's still Kat at the end who saves Vergil, and saves Dante from the guilt of killing him.

With Kat taking so much into her own hands despite her disadvantage, despite just being human, despite her softness, despite this rage boiling under her skin (or perhaps because of it), she is so much of why the world is free from demons. 

I mean Artemisia herself got that treatment, largely left out of artistic canon until very recently despite her success during her time. I also debated for a very, very long time across the many, many iteration of this essay on how much I talk about Artemisia’s personal life. I suppose if you made it this far you’ve seen that I’ve chosen not to, despite how it could be relevant to this discussion. But I think her work stands on it’s own without me having to justify the anger Artemisia may have personally felt and conveyed here without bringing up her personal life in depth. Though, if you want to know, I assure you that pretty much any information you look up on Artemisia will go into detail on her personal traumas and how that might impact her work. And it could definitely be relevant angle in discussing Kat and Artemisia, I just felt it overall did not add to this essay.

I often wonder, if she was in a different game or a different medium or a different story, if Kat might get more love. So often she’s called weak for the crime of not having a big weapon and a trail of dead demons behind her. So often she’s reduced to a love interest or a damsel despite how she is really the thing that saved the day, despite the fact her relationship with both twins is much more then ‘potential love interest’. And how many times have you  guys seen a post on your dash about wishing a character picked to enact revenge on an abuser? How they fought to be soft despite their trauma and pain? But I suppose, as is often the case with women in any story, she might have gotten this treatment anyway.

So, here’s to Kat. The brain cell, the Nephilim baby sitter, the girl who wanted to throw Vergil off a cliff, the hero Limbo city got who will never get enough credit, and forever the girl who deserved more. 

Those of us who love you will love you enough for the whole fandom, it’s alright.

[inventors-fair]

Epic-thets

Congratulations to our winners! @Deg99 with Master of the Bridge wins best reinterpretation of an epithet, @arixordragc with The History of Kamigawa with coolest card, and @abzanhero as overall winner with The Promised End!

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Master of the Bridge

This card would have won for best flavor, but instead I’ll give you best reinterpretation. That flavor text is awesome, and the complete 180 from the originator, Tezzeret, is endlessly amusing. This card is a little complex for an uncommon, but I think it could work so long as the rest of the set is rather tame. I don’t know if I like or dislike the first ability saying “without flying” despite it not having reach. On one hand, it’s redundant, and confusing on the first read (even to me), making you think you missed something. On the other hand, it’s flavorful as hell. I think the fact that you can ignore it after the first time you read it helps. Though if he does get reach, it’s going to get awkward. I’ll assume you can block one with flying and an infinite number without, but it still feels weird. But yes, the rest of the card. The last ability is, again, flavorful as hell, but also really really weird. It almost says “whenever a creature without flying attacks, you get a treasure” since you can block stuff for free, but there’s some risk because they could always say no and try and kill your troll. Also, despite it feeling weird, making treasure is perfectly green. It’s ramp, and green does ramp. The fact that they choose makes it feel white, but it’s a downside, and downsides can be in any color. So what’s my final verdict? I think this card is pushing the complexity of an uncommon, but it just has so much flavor and makes the board so interesting that I just really want to see what happens when it sees play. It would be a perfect fit for a return to Eldraine.

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The History of Kamigawa

This is a funny card to pick for this challenge, because it really doesn’t sound like an epithet, but does sound like a saga (if a very broad one). The card you’ve made feels awesome. I only know a little about Kamigawa lore, but I know that something was taken (though the name of it escapes me), and someone tried to become a god or something. All of those feel perfectly represented here. You also had a really difficult decision to make, here. The more flavorful and set-appropriate counter to use in the last chapter is a divinity counter, but then you’d have to add in extra text for the indestructibility. Instead you did the safer and in my opinion correct choice: an indestructible counter. It’s pretty obvious what it does, it’s shorter so it fits on the card without too much squishing, and it's more friendly to new players. That gets a huge pat on the back from me. The first two chapters are good as well. It’s a little too similar to King Narfi’s betrayal maybe, but the exact way it pans out I think would be different. One less card, but you get a tutor instead of a random hit. You also only get one turn to cast it, so you’re encouraged to wait until you know it’ll hit instead of just playing it for value. If anything, the one strange part of this card is the green in its cost. It couldn’t just be mono-blue because of the counter, and technically green works (though it rarely grants indestructibility permanently), it just feels strange. If you wanted it to represent “spirits vs. humans,” then blue works great for spirits but white or even black would have fit Konda or an Umezawa. Beyond that, great card, I love it.

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The Promised End

This is a really awesome card. The name feels like a perfect fit. No flavor text because it’s really unnecessary here. A minor touch I really love is that nothing here is optional after it’s suspended. It really is a promise (maybe more of a threat). You have to put counters on something no matter what, so if you’re the only one with a creature out, it will end your own. Put you can still stack them on the same creature, so you’ll never lose more than one. Part of me wants to say that I don’t like on-board wraths, since it makes it really hard for opponents to play things into it, but because of how predictable this card is, it doesn’t feel that bad. If you spend four turns putting doom counters on stuff, they don’t really care, and they can always just go for a flunge the last turn since they know their creatures are about to get exiled. They can also keep cards in hand, since they know they’ll be safe afterwards. Heck, they can clear their own board if they want just to force you to exile one of your own creatures after removing the last counter! I really like how this plays and how creative it is. Really a great job on this one.

~

And there’s the winners! Sorry the commentary is really long for these, I just had a lot to say. I should have the runners-up post coming out fairly soon, and hopefully the commentary, too. There were a ton of entries this week, I think the theme was really fun for a lot of people.

[aquariusshadow]

Sigh, okay, I feel like I should address this...

Oh good god here we go again with our good pals over at Screen Rant. I thought this particular article might be tame and or interesting cuz there are a few articles I’ve read from this site that are pretty decent and this one was going well so far. It listed some of Katara’s best qualities and a few of her character flaws...but then I get to this one.

Excuse me, where does Katara act like she’s the only one who experiences grief on a bigger level than anyone else?

Katara: the girl, who in this article when talking about her best traits, is praised for her compassion and empathy towards everyone...acts like she had the most grief out of everyone and is selfish?

Is it when she empathizes with Haru when he tells her his father had been taken by Firenation soldiers?

How about when she empathizes with Jet when he tells her the Firenation killed his entire family?

What about when she’s in the catacombs with Zuko and she yells at him that the “Firenation took my mother away from me” and when Zuko says “I’m sorry, that’s something we have in common”, Katara IMMEDIATELY apologizes for yelling at him.

And. How about. The many times she helps Aang with his own grief/struggles, including when he found out he was the last of the airbenders? “Sokka and I, we’re your family now!”

Not once. Did Katara ever say or act like she had more pain than anyone.

I can already see it now. “She yelled at Sokka. She said he didn’t love her mom the way she did.”

Look, I know what Katara said was very hurtful. It’s such a shitty thing to say and hear and I don’t want to downplay that. Plus, I do wish we saw an apology/bonding scene with her and Sokka after she and Zuko came back.

But, it’s not completely out of nowhere she would just snap like that. Think about it; Katara finally gets some info about who killed her mom, she wants to go find him, she’s fueled with so much complex emotion that she herself is still trying to sort through--then, here’s her brother, someone who SHOULD know how she’s feeling the most, is siding with Aang, the other one who’s been actively trying to push “forgiveness” on her and just approached the situation in a way that was not helpful FOR KATARA (hence why there was conflict between Katara and Aang in the first place in that episode).

I’m just tired of seeing a huge variety of the fandom and articles continuously showing how they don’t understand Katara as a character and the complexity of grief.