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adieutristana · 3 months ago

Note

Could you do a second part of the request for Sevica's niece x Jinx? I would love to know what happened with Reader and Powder

Please 💞

of course! thank you for the request <3

i’m no longer quarantined (yaaaay!) but that means back to regular posting pace, sorry :( hope u guys enjoyed 4 fics in half a week.

this is a part 2 to this fic! this will be the final part of this story, i hope it's not obvious but i was struggling with the direction

characters included; jinx, powder (act iii au), sevika (familial), ekko (platonic)

summary; you and powder make amends, though you know that you have to get back to your universe.

tags/warnings; fluff, hurt/comfort, s2 spoilers, mentions of drinking and smoking, powder majority of the story, angsty in the beginning, jinx at the end, brief arguing, universe hopping or whatever that's called, happy bonus at the end

men dni.

"all done,"

you smile, putting your hands out behind powder in a grand gesture that says 'ta-da.' pink ribbons adorn azure locks, carefully woven into both of her twin braids. a nod to the pink streak through her hair, and frankly- she looks beautiful. you don't want to stroke your ego, but you did a damn good job.

tension still hangs in the air, but seems to slowly slip with every second that passes. powder's jealousy is on the backburner for now as she looks over her hair in the mirror, her eyes curious. the sight is bittersweet. she looks happy, enamored with her new hair. a smile is tugging at the corners of powder's glossed lips, and those blue eyes are looking up at yours with such merriness. the braiding seemed to do the trick.

though the twin braids bring you back to jinx, your jinx. it's a delicate balance, a sort of tug-of-war in your mind. on one hand, this powder looks genuinely happy. she isn't the broken down girl you know and love. her cheeks are fuller, her skin has more color to it, she's taller, her smiles are more frequent, and they're real. the version of you whose body you're occupying clearly loves her, and she clearly loves this alternate you in return.

you love her back, at least you think you do. this is still jinx, just... less tortured. or rather, jinx is the distortion of powder. it's confusing, really, and you don't think you can spend too much time thinking about it before your brain starts to hurt.

you could grow used to this, if you allowed yourself to. but you knew you couldn't, not when jinx was waiting on you. probably worrying herself absolutely sick. you'd promised your girlfriend you'd be back soon, a few hours tops. but it'd been much longer than that by now, the next morning having come and gone.

you knew jinx and how she thought. she'd probably fully convinced herself by now that you were gone. that you'd disappeared into the lanes or maybe even piltover to find yourself someone better, just to leave her to wither. no matter how many times you swore to the girl that you would never, the insecurities still lingered in the back of her mind. they were likely at the forefront now.

"damn, i look... good," powder starts, pulling you out of your daze. she lets out a light chuckle, a mix of a gasp and laugh. "never thought i'd see you play hairstylist, but you did pretty great."

you give a gentle smile in return, situating yourself behind powder in the mirror and draping your arms around her waist. you place your chin on her shoulder her smile widens and she gives a satisfied 'hmm' sound, powder's head leading to the side against yours. a picture-perfect couple if you've ever seen one.

but it isn't real. at least, this iteration isn't. part of you wishes it was, wishes that you had something with the powder you knew as a little girl. in a zaun better than you could've ever imagined. you wished so badly that this is who powder became in your world, instead of jinx; as much as you loved her. but no matter. 'no use in dwelling,' your aunt would tell you in times like these.

though you knew that wasn't the case, and the other part of you felt that this was wrong. even though you're in her place, you're not the one powder loves- not really. a different version of her, sure, but you can't help feeling like you're lying to powder.

yet, what are you supposed to do? tell her the truth, that you'd somehow ended up in a parallel universe where things were remarkably better than the one you'd come from? that the version of her you knew and loved had been mistreated and neglected for much of her teenage years, only to go on to become a pyromaniac? that zaun had somehow moved backwards?

you nuzzle closer to powder's touch, the scent of strawberry shampoo and fruity perfume filling your senses. you supposed you could keep this charade going for a little longer, at least until you figured out how to return to your home universe.

the way powder is looking at you through your shared reflection and smiling, so at peace, you know that this isn't all bad. you may not be the one powder knows, but you can act the part. you can make her happy. you can indulge for a little bit.

"somethin' on your mind, babe?"

she asks, her smile unwavering. you shake your head in response, your grip around her waist tightening the slightest bit.

"no, just looking at you." you hum. "you look beautiful right now, you know."

"oh yeah? what about the rest of the time?"

powder reaches behind her to playfully poke your side, earning a short giggle from you. you shake your head in mock resignation, giving an amused huff.

"you look great all the time. i just happen to think i enhanced that beauty a bit."

you chuckle. powder rolls her eyes, her smile never faltering.

"miss humble over here. braided my hair once, and now her ego's off the charts."

she jests. you're quickly coming to recognize these playful jabs as a way the girl shows affection. it's not far off from jinx at all. but still, this moment of holding powder from behind, feeling the quiet warmth of her body against yours and seeing that smile in the mirror. you wish that you could freeze this moment in time, frame it even. capture it so that it never slips away from you. though again, you know this won't last. it can't.

✧.*

"any developments?"

"we've got... something."

ekko offers, his tone more resigned than you'd hope to hear right now. you let out an exasperated sigh, your gaze falling to the ground of the dank alleyway. though you raise your hand and wave off, a gesture to urge your friend to continue.

"heimerdinger and i are trying to work on a time machine. something that can rewind time a little, maybe even bring us back."

he says, though he sounds uncertain. you can't say you blame him, necessarily. this entire situation is so confusing.

"when will it be done?"

you ask, eyes wide and looking into his as a sort of silent plea. a heavy sigh escapes ekko, and he slowly shakes his head.

"i don't know. i'm sorry, just... these things take time."

"i don't have time." you plead. "jinx is probably back home, already convinced that i up and left. hell, she's probably figuring out some kind of revenge plot while we're talking."

any other time, those words would be a joke, but now your tone is anything but joking. you know deep in you that jinx is a wreck right now, even if you're not physically with her. not to mention your aunt, not to mention the way of life that you're used to.

"i'm sure she is. and the firelights probably aren't doing much better."

it's true, they're most likely not. no hextech here, no firelights, no jinx, no shimmer ravaging the streets. from the outside looking in, you two would be seen as idiots to have something so good, and want to throw it away for the fucked-up place you'd come from. but jinx was too important to you, ekko's work too important to him. you pause. you'd been sleeping at powder's, but with the absence of the tree and bases in this version of zaun, you couldn't help but worry for your friend.

"where are you staying, by the way?"

"on campus at the academy. the dorms are pretty nice, actually. there's a kitchen, laundry room, and lounge in the building, so i'm all set."

you nod slowly. you should've figured, with him being one of the academy's most esteemed inventors in this world. but still, it was nice to hear that he wasn't just sleeping on benzo's couch.

"you're staying with powder?"

"nope. i'm an apartment owner here, apparently."

"no shit," he breathes out, a bewildered expression on the boy's face. neither of you could've imagined having your own space in zaun of all places, so to know that it was possible.. wow.

silence hangs in the air for a moment, and you're not sure what else could be used to fill it. what else is there to talk about, really? the impending sense of dread both of you have, or the lingering anxiety that you'll be trapped in this reality forever?

"just... keep me updated, okay?" you sigh. "i just want to get back and tell jinx that everything is okay. no matter how nice all of this is."

"when we make progress, you'll be the first to know. we're getting somewhere, i promise. it's in the beginning stages, but i can't do anything when i don't have the means yet." he pauses. "you understand."

you do understand. you don't necessarily have room to not understand right now. he still looks uncertain, but he's giving you a gentle smile in an attempt to reassure you. it doesn't do much for your nerves necessarily, but it's a kind gesture regardless. now all there is to do is wait. gods, you hated waiting, but what other choice did you have?

you quickly exchange addresses in the case of developments or an emergency, before parting.

✧.*

powder had told you to meet her at her hideout, instead of her apartment. that's something that hadn't changed, at least. even in this universe, powder had found and made use of the wind turbine structure you'd see jinx turn into her home. it was different, of course, there were railings around the metal blades.

the decorations were easier on the eyes, much more inviting. although it was still very true to her usual chaotic manner, with messy decorations strewn across the space. her signature crude drawings decorate her dresser, her desk, old makeup palettes scattered around anywhere that'll house them.

but the most striking difference was the altar set up on one of the platforms, dedicated to vi. her big sister, who you'd seen alive and well just days prior. only in passing, but still. your girlfriend's relationship with her sister was strained at best, a near-fatality at worst. but something told you that if jinx knew her sister was gone in a parallel universe, if she was gone in your universe, she'd be utterly destroyed.

but not powder. powder was still fragile, you could see it in the way her jaw clenched at certain words, the way her eyes flitted when she got in her head. but powder could handle it. she didn't let it consume her, like jinx did. she didn't necessarily have a choice when it came to her state, but it was still an interesting contrast.

"hey, you!" powder beams, throwing her arms around you from behind. she presses a flurry of rushed kisses your jawline and cheek, then ending with a kiss to the corner of your mouth. "took ya long enough! what's with the hold up?"

"sorry, babe. just got a little sidetracked."

you hum, leaning into the touch. you turn around in powder's embrace, looking into those sapphire eyes that could make anyone weak. you capture the girl's lips in a chaste, yet sweet kiss. a fleeting moment, but you put all of the affection that you can into it.

"sidetracked? with what?" she asks. "you're always the focused one."

you purse your lips, and you try to think of a good excuse. you were with ekko is where you where, but you can't tell powder that. not after the outburst she'd had just a day prior. but what if she found out anyways? wouldn't it be better for her to find out from you directly, rather than being told by a bystander?

you'll tell her the truth. she knows you and him are just friends. she knows that.

"i was talking to ekko."

you mutter, and powder's expression immediately hardens. like a switch being flipped, her smile falters, and her grip around you loosens.

"oh."

"powder, we were just talking." you plead, your hand running through your hair.

"yeah. just talking, i know."

she says, although it's clear that she's not fully convinced. she shakes her head, a deep exhale escaping her.

"talking about what, though?"

she asks, and your heart nearly drops. you can't lie to her, not while she's in this state. you've seen it. jinx slips into it more often than you can bear- trying to hold herself together whilst her emotions are threatening to bubble to the surface and explode.

you'd sound like a mad woman if you told her the truth. but what other choice did you have?

"look, pow," you start. "i'm gonna sound batshit crazy when i tell you this. but you have to listen to me."

your tone is stern, a 'no-bullshit' air about you. powder nods slowly in agreement, and waits silently for you to continue.

"i'm not... from here," you begin.

"huh? you've always been in zaun."

she's tilting her head in that confused way, and it's adorable- but you have to focus.

"no, no. i know that," you say, scrambling to find the right words. "i mean... this world. i came from a parallel universe or whatever they call it, and i have no idea how to get back. it's the same with ekko. everything is the same here, but different."

you sigh, pausing to catch your breath as you ramble on. powder's eyebrows are furrowed, yet she doesn't interrupt you. she's listening intently. that's a good start, you suppose.

"i mean, zaun is somewhere livable. people whose corpses i've seen are standing right in front of me, and there's none of that fucked-up tech there is where i come from. and you're different. you're happy, and you're healthy. the version of you that i know is someone i don't think you'd recognize."

your shoulders slump, and you're growing more restless as you talk. it's a word-vomit of sorts. you know you probably sound out of your damn mind to the girl in front of you, but you just can't stop now that you've started.

"and i love her. i really do. and i love you, but it feels like i'm lying to you, because i'm not the me that you love. i'm just in her body right now, and i'm trying to figure out how to give it back."

it’s odd, baring your feelings like this to a girl you simultaneously know like the back of your hand and don’t know at all. if powder was looking at you before, she’s looking through you now.

“…please say something.”

you breathe out. powder presses her lips into a thin line, her gaze finally parting from yours.

“say i believe all of this. say it’s true, and you’re not making up some crazy story to shut me up. if i asked ekko what you were talking about, would he have the same story?”

“yes, powder. he would.”

she lets out a heavy sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. powder’s expression is unreadable at best, though she doesn’t seem angry. just… confused. shocked. in disbelief, maybe even denial. though before you can say much more, there’s a knock at powder’s door.

“i’ll get it,” she mutters, turning over her shoulder. she makes her way to the door slowly, turning the knob and opening it to ekko of all people.

“what are you doing here?”

“here for your girlfriend.” he says, hoping that’ll suffice. you’d told him that powder was jealous and he’d need to tread lightly, hopefully placing emphasis on the word ‘girlfriend’ would leave a good impression on her. “we just need a minute to talk. i’ll give her right back, i swear.”

powder pauses for a moment, scanning over his expression for any hints of deception or trickery. but as usual, there is none. just someone who wants to have a conversation with her girlfriend, even though that certain someone is one she’s been wary of. she sighs.

“babe, ekko’s here for you!”

she calls out. you make your way to your feet, striding towards the door while your friend comes into view. his demeanor doesn't give anything away, but he typically doesn't just... show up at people's doors. not the ekko you know. so this must be something important. powder steps aside, allowing ekko into the hideout and turns around.

"i'll be here when you're done," she says, glancing over her shoulder before returning to her desk.

ekko gives one more cautious look to the girl, before turning his attention to you.

"right."

you purse your lips, anticipating his next words.

"we've got something. it wasn't easy doing it, and it won't be easy to get back, but we can do it now." he says, his sentences rushed. "we can do it whenever you're ready- now, if you want."

you quirk an eyebrow.

"now?"

"only if you want to."

you shake your head slowly, wordlessly, crossing your arms in contemplation. you'd definitely prefer to get back to jinx as soon as possible, but now you're having second thoughts. god, after all that you'd done and thought about this entire time, now you're having second thoughts? you confuse yourself, you think. but none of this situation makes much sense to begin with.

"i... yeah. sure." you pause, drawing a sharp breath in. "but what happens to the other me? like, the one that's here?"

ekko's eyebrows knit together, and he takes a moment to consider your question. mentally going over everything that he'd gathered, and everything heimerdinger had told him.

"i think we'd go back to how we were- our other selves, i mean. it was just.. us in their bodies for a while, but they'll go back to normal. they should, anyways."

"what if they don't?"

"listen. do you wanna go back, or not?"

god damn, he's right. this is what you've both been wanting from the start, and while you worry for your other self, you have to put this first.

but still. powder. you barely know this version of her, but you know that she's a good person. a smart girl who loves and gives. she deserves to be happy, she deserves the version of you that she knows and loves so dearly. you can only hope that she'll return to powder after you're gone.

"...yeah. let's do it." you murmur. "but i want to say goodbye to powder first."

he nods, and tilts his head in the girl's direction as if to cue you to go on. you manage a weak smile in his direction, before walking over to powder. your heart's beat in your chest is akin to a war drum, ringing in your ears and making your hands shake.

"hey, pow." you sigh, prompting her to turn her head towards you from... drafting blueprints? what exactly is she doing?- doesn't matter right now. "i'm going back. to where i came from, i mean. i'll be gone for a little bit, but.. everything will go back to normal. you'll have your girlfriend back, your real girlfriend, and i'll be in a place i know."

her blue eyes flit downwards, and she frowns. but still, she manages to slowly nod in acknowledgement.

"okay."

is all that she can manage, and she sounds defeated. it breaks your heart, seeing her like this. you step forward, cautiously wrapping your arms around the girl's shoulders in a gentle embrace.

"everything will be okay." you whisper, feeling her arms encircle your waist. "you deserve to be happy, powder."

✧.*

you're back.

oh, shit, you're back.

you spring to your feet, having been planted smack in the middle of a busy zaun street. passersby speed past you, vendors are loudly shouting to advertise their products, and loud music can be heard in the distance.

all that occupies your mind in this moment is jinx, jinx, jinx. anything else- the fact that it feels like you haven't eaten in days, your muscles are sore from whatever the hell that time machine had done to you, or the fact that you feel like you may collapse at any moment from exhaustion are of no significance to you. you have to find you, you have to see her and know that she's okay, tell her that you're okay.

your first stop is jinx's hideout. she's almost always there, running around while tinkering with some new weapon or conspiring her next big job. but as soon as the door swings open, a deafening silence hits you. one that's uncharacteristic for your girlfriend, the only time she's ever quiet is when she's sleeping- and she doesn't get much of that.

you scramble through the different platforms, looking under large structures- lifting up blankets, looking in her cot, her beat-up couches, but there's no trace of the girl.

so you make your way to the lanes, where you figure jinx may be causing destruction. all you find is shimmer dealers and street rats scrounging for scraps.

your last hope is the last drop. jinx doesn't tend to venture much. she wouldn't be in piltover for anything right now, she doesn't walk through zaun's streets to window shop or sightsee. she sticks to her areas of interest, occasionally venturing out to tag walls, fight, or look for materials. if she wasn't there, you couldn't begin to think of where she would be. you didn't want to think of that.

you push the heavy door of the tavern open, immediately struck with the smell of liquor and stench of smoke, the sound of patrons chatting away and playing card games in the company of friends.

you scan the bar counter, the tables, the bits of the kitchen you can see, but she isn't here either. you can hardly believe what you're seeing. nine times out of ten, jinx is somewhere within the confines of these locations you've searched, but it's as if she's vanished.

however, you do see a familiar face- that of your aunt. tucked away in a dark corner of the bar at a small wooden table, filling out a stack of paperwork.

"sevika."

you start, a brow quirked and your arms crossed.

"not even an 'aunt' at beginning?" sevika jests, not looking up from the papers in front of her. she's scribbling something away, likely to do with the late silco's businesses, but no matter. you don't have time to ask what she's up to, and frankly you don't care either.

"where is she?" you demand, taking a seat across from the woman. "i've looked in the hideout, the lanes, and now here, but she's nowhere."

"where were you?" sevika bites back. the flips to another page, the pen scratching against paper almost obnoxiously. you wince at her tone, slowly shrinking into yourself- though you can't exactly explain that to her.

"that's a long story. a lot happened."

you sigh, bracing your elbows on the wood before you.

"spare me no details," she says, sarcasm lacing her words. "she's worried sick. jinx was asking me all yesterday and the night before where you were, what you were doing, because she'd heard nothing from you. but i didn't know anything, and i still don't. you're grown now, and you can handle yourself. but as your aunt, i'm supposed to know these things. by the way," she pauses, her gaze lifting to meet yours.

"walking out on a girl like jinx isn't a good idea. she's not in a good way."

"i didn't walk out on her, auntie."

she huffs, placing her pen down on the stack before her. she's got an eyebrow raised in that way she does so often, but there's still a softness to her gaze. you're family. while she's not particularly happy with you right now, especially since she's the one who has to take care of jinx in your absence, she's still forgiving.

"i don't have a clue where she could be right now, kid. but she'll be back at that hideout of hers soon enough. i'd just wait."

it's not the answer you'd like to hear; you've got a one-track mind focused solely on jinx right now. but it'll suffice. she's right, she always does eventually return there.

"...thanks, auntie sev."

"yeah, yeah. i've got work to do. go be with your girlfriend."

she concedes, making a 'shoo' motion with her prosthetic hand.

✧.*

you jump to your feet off of the torn plush couch the moment jinx steps into view in her hideout.

"jinx."

her head nearly snaps in your direction, and she runs over to you with alarming speed. she's always been a swift girl, but you don't know if you've ever seen her this urgent.

"baby? is that you?"

she breathes out, standing directly in front of you. wide magenta eyes look into yours, and you nearly begin crying on the spot. your arms throw around the girl's slender frame before you can think. you hold her tight to you, as if you're afraid that she'll disappear if you let go. usually it's her holding you like this, shaking like a leaf and struggling to keep it together, but there's a first for everything.

"yes, yes, it's me. i'm here."

"what happened? i... thought you left." her voice cracks on the last word, afraid and insecure.

"i would never. trust me. a lot happened, i'll explain later, just..."

there's a pause for a moment as you pull back slightly, before closing the distance to press your lips to jinx's. your lips move together in a slow, gentle, desperate rhythm, and you try to put all of your current feelings into them.

i missed you.

i'm sorry.

i'm never leaving.

i love you.

you slowly pull back, your eyes welling with tears threatening to spill at any moment.

"i didn't mean for any of this to happen, i promise you. i never meant to leave you, i told you i'd be back in a few hours and i wasn't." you whisper, a tear spilling and slipping down your cheek. your arms tighten around jinx, and you can tell from the way her breathing is growing labored. she's not upset, just so damn overwhelmed. "i love you, jinx, so much."

another chaste kiss to her lips to emphasize your words.

"are you okay?"

"i... yeah. i'm okay. i just didn't know if you were coming back." she trails off, voice raspy and weak. those words hit you like a punch to the gut, no matter the fact that you'd seen them coming. you hate seeing jinx so torn up, and you hate being the cause of that.

"i'll always come back, babe." you whisper, holding jinx's gaze. you slowly move your hands to rest atop her shoulders. "let's go do something."

"do what?"

"i don't know. anything," you say, your eyes hopeful. "i just need to be with you. i'll tell you everything, and we can do whatever you want. i just missed you."

jinx purses her lips for a moment, a little 'hmm' coming from her as she thinks over the possibilities. she thinks of things in her hideout, but she senses that you want to go out into the city right now. there's a lot of shops, but she's never been one to frequent them. an abandoned warehouse with fireworks.

"i know a place,"

she declares, taking your dominant hand from her shoulder and holding it in hers.

"shall we?"

✧.* bonus!

"oh, screw you!" powder giggles, flour dusting her cheeks.

"i didn't mean to!"

the alternative you is back in her body. she's got no memory of what happened the past two days, all she remembers is waking up in powder's arms to the sight of tears running down pale cheeks. you hadn't sustained any injuries, no scarring, but you were just... gone. you couldn't recount anything.

"it said put the flour in the mixing bowl, not on my face, you goof!"

you're together in your cramped kitchen trying to figure out a recipe, one of vander's that he'd written down for powder. strawberry shortcake, one of her childhood favorites that vander claims she used to beg him for. she vehemently denies this, and you go along with her whims, but you can't help inwardly laughing at the thought of a little powder begging her dad to bake for her.

"it was a mistake, pow! i swear!"

she rolls her eyes, but the hysterical giggles coming from her girlfriend tell you that she's not really angry. she shakes her head, taking the paper in her hands again to reread the instructions. she plucks a wooden spoon from one of your drawers, keeping her eyes focused on the paper.

"so it says to mix the dry ingredients, then we get started on wet."

"yeah, that's usually how it works when you bake things."

powder grunts, and a light smack lands on your shoulder, prompting another fit of laughter from you.

"my bad for not having experience with this! you said you were gonna make it, so we're making it."

you snort in response, gently taking the recipe from her hands and looking over it yourself. you set down the paper on the counter as she begins mixing the dry ingredients in the bowl- a pink and blue clay one that she'd made especially for you. it wasn't the ideal size for most of your baking endeavors, but you'd never tell your dear girlfriend that. it was perfect, because it was hers.

"i'm happy to make whatever you want, babe. just say the word." you hum, planting a gentle kiss on her cheek before striding to your fridge to retrieve a few wet ingredients.

"anything? anything, anything?"

she asks, looking back at you. her hand is still working.

"anything you want."

"i've heard macarons are really hard. would you make those for me?"

you chuckle lightly, placing a carton of eggs, milk, and strawberries on the counter.

"they wouldn't be pretty, i'm sure. but i'd make them for you."

powder lets out a happy squeal, before turning to you and stepping aside to show you her work.

"i think i'm done mixing." she smiles. "i didn't mess it up, did i?"

you shake your head lightly, a playful lilt to your tone whilst searching your overhead cupboards for a second bowl.

"you did great. it's just dry ingredients, not hard to mix those. the wet ingredients can get a bit tricky, though."

powder rolls her eyes and groans, prompting a laugh from you.

"it's not that bad. come on, let's get started on that. as soon as we're done, you'll have that strawberry shortcake."

#jinx x reader #powder x reader #arcane x reader #arcane x you #reader insert #sapphic #i am not proud of this one sorry

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poorsallystitches · 23 days ago

Text

A newbie's guide to The Lost Tomb franchise/Dao Mu Bi Ji/The Graverobber's Chronicles

I have seen people all over the internet asking questions on posts about DMBJ such as, where to start, what it is, and who are those cutie pies? You may have seen images similar to this

I, as someone who has watched a lot of the franchise and read at least half of the books (which if you knew how many there were, that would be impressive), I want to take a moment, or many, to explain to anyone who wants the answer to these questions. This will take a while, I cannot shut up, especially about them.

Spoiler free!

Now, first things first, what is Lost Tomb/DMBJ/Graverobber's Chronicles?

Lost Tomb is a Chinese Franchise comprised of a multitude of dramas and movies over the course of a decade that were all made by different people and actors to tell the story written in the novel series, The Graverobber's Chronicles, or its original Chinese title Dao Mu Bi Ji, written by Nan Pai San Shu.

This means that popular characters people will refer to will have many different faces. Such as all of these being Wu Xie

You may recognize any of those actors if you watch popular Cdramas, 1st Zhu Yilong who plays Shen Wei in Guardian, 2nd Zeng Shunxi who plays Xiao Bao in Mysterious Lotus Casebook, and 3rd Hou Minghao who was recently in Fangs of Fortune as Zhu Yan.

But, what is it about?

Lost Tomb as a franchise is loosely about a man named Wu Xie who is the last in a family line of graverobbers, but he himself has been kept out of the loop by the family. He has had his grandfather's journal since he passed away, which makes him take an interest in the family business. This leads him to force his uncle to let him tag along with him on tomb raiding adventures.

I feel it is important to tell people what they may encounter just in case they have sensitivities, so this franchise as a whole contains supernatural themes of ghosts, zombies, gods, etc. There will be blood, BUGS, and some body horror in a lighter portion, if you have any questions about specifics feel free to ask.

Now, let's skip to who those cutie pies are before telling you about the options for where to start.

The characters you may have seen around that got you interested may be

Wu Xie, the main character who is played a little differently in every iteration of the story but mainly think of a man with a high level of intelligence, but the worst luck in the world and some bitchy attitude (said with love) and you'll have him. You saw some of the most popular actors to play him up top.

Zhang Qiling/Xiao Ge (young master)/Menyouping (Poker-face), one of the main characters who is the strong, emo, silent, tatted sweety of the story. He is mysterious on purpose; you're not meant to know much about him at any given time. Him and Wu Xie are very close and with the next character, they form what is widely known in book, show, and fandom as the Iron Triangle. Just meaning the three are a package deal and won't be separated.

Wang Pangzi, the chubby, stylish, tough, bitchier than Wu Xie, lovable bastard. His name actually translates to Fatty, so that is what you will see everyone call him. It's not mean, just accurate. Pretty much everyone has real names and nicknames they go by. Remember, they are doing something illegal.

It's less likely, but you may have seen my personal favorite boys Hei Xiazi or Hei Yanjing (black glasses or black blind, you'll see why) and Xie Yuchen or Xiao Hua (little flower). They are the black/pink dynamic of the century for me. Hei Xiazi is a merc for hire and Xiao Hua is Wu Xie's cousin who has become the patriarch of his family at a young age.

Now, last question that people ask the most, where do I start?

There is no right or wrong answer, you can start chronologically with Mystic Nine, release order with Lost Tomb 2015, a mixture of both, leave out the ones you aren't interested in (*cough* Time Raiders movie), or just jump in in the middle. Each adaptation is aware of the fact that people will not have seen the others, and they will try to speed run the story to you, which can confuse people, but if you just want to experience the story with familiar faces, it won't be too bad.

To share my experience. I started with the Lost Tomb 2015, continued with Lost Tomb 2 2019, skipped Explore with the Note 2021 because I didn't vibe with it, Ultimate Note, started the prequels with Mystic Nine, which is a prequel with our character's ancestors, watched The Hei Xiazi and Xie Yuchen movie, started Reunion, watched a prequel movie and just started reading the books. I was never super confused because I had the set-up of the first 2 to build upon.

If you are a completionist like me and want to read the novels go to Merebear's blog. She is phenomenal and she has translated pretty much everything for your reading pleasure and laid it all out in an easy-to-follow way. I cannot give her enough gratitude. I absolutely adore her and all of her efforts as well as all her helpers along the way.

Now just a little gay propaganda about Lost Tomb franchise. The novels and shows are not canonically gay, but I mean... they are giving something.

#dmbj #dao mu bi ji #graverobber's chronicles #lost tomb #wu xie #zhang qiling #wang pangzi #iron triangle #hei xiazi #xie yuchen #xiao hua #cdrama #bromance #I hope I helped someone #If anyone wants to ask any questions feel free #anyone want a post about the novels?

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absolutebl · 24 days ago

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hi abl! I'm a huge fan of korean and japanese bl dramas and have devoured a bunch of them, but then I decided I wanted to try a thai drama and started lovely writer on a friend's recommendation. I only made it halfway through the first episode! it felt so overacted and oh my god the SOUND EFFECTS. they were driving me CRAZY. I know that's a common problem with thai bl, but I don't want to give up yet. any recs of more "toned down" shows for me to try? happy endings only, please! my favorite k/jbl series are semantic error, cherry magic, and love mate, if that helps! thanks so much!!!

Oh for sure, happy to help. I thought I already answered this one somewhere. Lemme check spreadsheet of doom...

Looks like not, so here we go.

10 Great Thai BLs with no (or few) BAD Sound Effects

Additional criteria: toned down, HEA, comps = Semantic Error, Cherry Magic, Love Mate (so you don't need high heat, slow burn is okay, and a little aggressive seme is fine too, got it!)

NOTE: If the GMMTV show is no long on YouTube it is likely on Viki or iQIYI.

1 A Tale of Thousand Stars

2021 GMMTV

With great casting and cinematography this drama nods at BL tropes but manages to elevate them (and itself) with a strong mature story concept about a spoiled rich kid who gets a heart transplant and becomes a teacher it order to pay out survivor’s guilt. On the way he falls in love with a local park ranger and contends with his own classism and escapist tendencies. Everyone seemed to perfectly suit their roles and GMMTV made the most out of its stable. Combined with excellent production (and post production) values, 1000 Stars is without question GMMTV’s most mature, charming, and smart BL series. I think it should go down as one of the top BLs of all time. I feel safe recommending this one to friends and non BL watchers.

I chose this first for you because it has no sound effects and a mature concept, it's very very classy. But it is a SLOW burn.

2 Cherry Magic

2024 GMMTV grey (sadly, with any luck Viki will eventually pick this up, but...)

A soft charming warm hug of a show about crushes and mind reading and self worth that really worked for me. With no-fuss execution from a consummate team (at GMMTV) and an OG lead pair (proving why they remain eternal and deserve to grow up).

Look, here’s the thing, Cherry Magic is a great Thai BL in its own right - not comparing it to any other iteration. But even when I do compare (and I've seen all the Cherries and read the manga) it stands strong. I, personally, like the Thai BL slightly better than the Japanese live action yaoi, but I think that’s because I just really enjoy Thai BL's style and I LOVE TayNew. Also all the kissing was both present and better in this version. As it should be from Thailand.

Now, even if your heart is lost to the original live action yaoi, this is a good way to understand what Thailand can do, and why it is the undisputed king of BL. But you do need to understand that is is a different take, an adaptation, if you will.

3 Bad Buddy

2022 GMMTV

This was GMMTV’s flagship BL and it started 2022 on a BANG (okay no actual banging but you know what I mean), starring heavy hitters Ohm & Nanon in a pitch perfect university Romeo & Romeo masterpiece that will give you domesticity meets pain whiplash throughout and jet lag at the end. Some of the friendship and family dynamics are overworked, but it has great production values, killer acting, and some conscious effort to correct for half a decade of Thai BL’s anti-queer mistakes.

This is the enemies to lovers BL to end all BLs. I chose it for you because of your love for Semantic Error, this is in a similar vein.

4 My Ride

2022 Gaga

Thai BL grew up with this pulp (the first ever to make my end of year top 10). It’s a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine (AKA a cinnamon roll couple) plus mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles. Kindly, overworked doctor meets broken-hearted motorcycle taxi driver in an “other side of the tracks” slow burn romance. The support cast is excellent, making for great friendship groups and family dynamics. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede, the story, and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. In other news, I am a sucker for a single dimple.

This is one of my "under appreciated gems" and if you can forgive it some of it's low production roughness I think you'll like the grit that comes with the sweet.

5 Step By Step

2023 Gaga & Viki

This was Thailand’s answer to KBL The New Employee, and everything I loved about that show I loved about this one. This office romance between a stern boss and sweet subordinate felt more authentic to cubical work than previous Thai BLs of this ilk. That authenticity added tension to the narrative and its characters' development (how novel). I also really enjoyed the charming side characters and the brothers' relationship to each other (although I could have done without that brother's side BL).

I chose this one specifically because of your Love Mate call out, although different dynamic.

6 ThamePo

2025 GMMTV YouTube (for now, I think this will move to a pay-to-play platform soon tho)

The boyband idol romance I've been waiting for from Korea, only Thailand did it instead. Quintessentially Thai and very GMMTV with good production values, great chemistry, and a solid support cast. It also was a hung romance mostly driven by external conflict and a found family reunion trope so I didn’t mind (too much) when that romance thread felt secondary. I loved it (except, of course, the singing).

I chose this because the visuals are on point (and your KBL addiction can only be explained in part through shallowness - solidarity) but also it's one of the better more recent BLs to fulfill your criteria. You want to know what Thai Bl is best at right now? This, this is it.

7 Wandee Goodday

2024 GMMTV

A charming modern Thai BL about a doctor and a boxer who start as a one night stand and then fall in love. Great rep for everything from Muay Thai, to safe sex, to FUN sex, to ace, to bisexuality, to smiley kisses, to the first legal gay wedding in a Thai BL. It’s a delight and I enjoyed (almost) every single moment of it. Without question its best traits are active positive representations of green flag boys, communication, and grown-up relationships but the chemistry is on point too.

Highly recommended as one of 2024's best pick-me-ups. Turn off your brain this is just a fun show. In fact, I think it might be time for a rewatch.

8 The Heart Killers

2025 GMMTV (iQIYI & Viki)

Jojo directs this action romcom about assassin brothers meets tattoo artist ex-booster & very flirty mechanic conmen. I dithered over how to rate this. It felt like an 8 show wearing a 9’s britches. There were dropped threads, forgotten characters, and unfinished plot lines even with a particularly long run time. And, for me, it doesn’t have significant rewatch potential. But it was fun (when one applies no expectations or logic) and I enjoyed the wildly unhinged relationships and, weirdly, music.

I mean nobody claimed that we needed Taming of the Shrew only with gay Thai hitman, but we really needed it. And no one asked for Petruchio as the gayest brat ever to strut his perfect skin and copped-top across our screen, and yet we loved him for it. Sure it didn’t make sense, was utterly absurd, but it was terribly earnest and sexy about it. In the end this goes hand-in-hand with all these other absurd crime pieces we’ve been getting since KinnPorsche, and frankly I like this one the best of the lot.

I'm not sure how you'll like this, it's a wildy soapy ride, and a bit EXTRA but the chemistry THE CHEMISTRY. Still, no skin if you drop it for reasons other than sound effects.

9 Your Sky

2025 iQIYI

As pulps go this is right up there with my favorite if all time, My Ride, but for different less complex reasons. This is a relatively simple yet endearingly old school story of a fake relationship between a sunshine sweetie and an older reserved rich kid who slowly fall in love. It's soft gentle low stakes leans on everything I love best about Thai BL. It’s a warm fuzzy robe of a show that will not hurt you.

Because you're used to shorter form BL you may find this slow, but that's okay. Get yourself a tropical drink or a bowl of ice cream and just... relax, enjoy. It'll all be alright in the end.

10 We Are

2024 iQIYI

I loved show, but it's last on this list for... reasons.

It was slow to find its stride (I didn’t get into it until ep 6) but I’m so glad I gave it a chance. It’s a soft ensemble piece with multiple couples (you will be introduced to most of GMMTVs pairs) and very little plot, but I didn’t care because it’s not trying to be anything more substantial. Essentially this was a series of vignettes covering one year of uni for a queer friendship group finding love, new friends, and laughter. Did it blow my mind? No. But it left me smiling and made me belly laugh quite a bit.

This one may be too MUCH much Thai BL muchness for you. So deifnately see if any of the others work first, especially Your Sky. This is more in that vein than others.

If those last 2 do end up working for you then you might also try Oxygen (2020 YouTube). Oxygen uses every BL trope in the playbook for one of the gentlest lowest angst BLs ever made. It’s a hyung romance (younger boy courts older boy) but very very earnest about it. Am I biased? Sure. This is probably one of my biggest comfort watches. But no one else ever seems to love it as much as I do.

I Thought About it But...

Okay so I took high concept and genre off the table because you didn't mention anything like that but I tend to rate those kinds of shows highly and it's one of Thailand's strengths in the BL sphere these days. So these are BLs I would ordinarily recommend but they are not JUST BL.

Until We Meet Again (YouTube) - my #1 top favorite Thai BL (the only one to have a 10/10 from me). Occasionally my all time most favorite of them all. May be a big dark for you, but if you could take The 8th Sense than you might like this.

Century of Love (Gaga) - If you don't mind some time travel-esk genre in your BL you might enjoy this one.

He's Coming to Me (YouTube) - this one has a strong paranormal element, but it is great. Boy and ghost boy fall in love, must solve ghost’s murder.

I Feel You Linger in the Air (grey) - an exquisite BL, from filming techniques to narrative framework (much like Until We Meet Again). But the ending is not entirely happy.

La Pluie (Viki ) - This BL takes to task the fated mates trope and what it means to have love chained intimately to predestination.

The Sign (YouTube) - This show is the opposite of toned down, it's literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, PNR, fated mates, police procedural, fantasy, mystery, suspense, and slasher. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it. Was it a crazy unhinged mess +1 roll for damage? Yes. Yes it was. Did it manage to hold all those tangled threads together? No it did not. Was it also a charming, sexy, engaging, non-stop piece of entertainment? Sure thing. Is it perfect? No. But it was balls to the wall FUN. Emphasis on balls.

Other's that you might like but I'm not confident on because of your comps and "toned down" preferences.

Laws of Attraction (iQIYI)

Triggers for violence, beatings, death and torture depicted on screen. This is a great gay suspense thriller with several solid couples, fun plot, killer characters, queer rep, and a happy ending. It is, however, not at all toned down. Charn may be my favorite lead character in all BL. However, this show is not entirely BL, more on the fringe, like Manner of Death.

My School President (GMMTV)

You didn't name any high school BL and I can't remember but this may have a few sound effects and it gets and little frantic and angsty. GMMTV gave us a classic high school set Thai BL with tropes like messy boys singing their feelings. Who let my BL be this wholesome and funny? This show was fantastic, it’s only flaw was the singing (and that’s my baggage). One of my favourite GMMTV BL offerings of all time. And yes, I've watched them ALL. But you have to like high school angst.

Not Me (GMMTV)

How do you say antidisestablishmentarianism in Thai? + hot boys kissing who probably shouldn't be and convoluted soap opera identical twins plot... someone at GMMTV thought it made sense, we just here for the tattoos and the the Pride scene. GMMTV gave us a dark disestablishment narrative (in a time of civil unrest) with established queer award-winning director Anucha and starring the biggest guns of BL, OffGun and THIS WAS AN AMAZING THING to get to experience at the time - nerve racking but remarkable. But was it ACTUALLY BL? It certainly has a lot of BL elements, but in the end romance was not what this show was about, or even what it was genuinely trying to be as a performance piece. Still a remarkable moment in Thai cinema, certainly worth your time. Don’t worry, it all ends happily.

I gotta say I feel the same way about Lovely Writer. I think I dinged it a whole point because of those sound effects. (And I actually really loved that show.) The bad effects slow (but never stop) in the second half, but it is possibly one of the worst offenders. And there are A LOT of offenders.

Also here's me trying to explain why those sound effects.

(source)

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amerricanartwork · 1 year ago

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RW Headcanon: "Pebbsie Privilege"

Here’s a headcanon I’ve had in the works for a while, and now I finally want to share it! It's shorter than some of my others, but I hope you'll still find it amusing!

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So firstly (and I plan to expand on this more later) I headcanon Five Pebbles is someone who cares a lot about his appearance, though not in a prissy or snooty sense and more in a “likes being the smartest and most sophisticated one in the room” sense. That means, more so than the average person, he generally doesn’t like being teased, ignored, belittled, condescended to, or otherwise disrespected, and very understandably so if you ask me! But it also means there exists a very special ability when it comes to interacting with Five Pebbles that almost no characters have.

It’s no more than the ability of someone to refer to Five Pebbles as “Pebbsie” while he’s in earshot without getting death-glares from him. Looks to the Moon, who first started using it, affectionately calls this ability “Pebbsie privilege”, and she ends up being one of the only characters who has it (besides Innocence, who in my portrayals eventually gets it too). Though even so, Pebbles originally got rather flustered when she called him that alone, much less in front of others, considering it's definitely a very cutesy nickname. In fact, poor Pebbles really didn’t like being called “Pebbsie” because one of his least favorite ways of being treated is like a child (which includes being thought of as "cute" in any way). This unfortunately happens to him a lot though since he’s part of the newest iterator generation and tends to have lots of uncommon ideas rarely taken seriously by the older models, and this treatment only amplified as he grew more stubborn and arrogant.

To elaborate on the origin, Moon developed the nickname pretty much on an impulse — quite a rare thing for her to act on actually — of wanting to hearken more to her role as “Big Sis Moon” and show love to her little brother. Soon after she started using it though Pebbles would pull her into private chats and urge her to drop it to save his dignity. Not wanting to hurt her brother in any way, it didn’t take long before she apologized and stopped using it, and basically got her "Pebbsie privilege" revoked. In the current time she secretly still likes calling him that in her mind, but knowing how much he dislikes it she always feels pretty guilty afterwards, despite them being no more than thoughts at that point. While not a major issue in-and-of itself, this situation was actually a small step in worsening a long-time fear Moon has, though that’s a headcanon for another day…

On a (marginally) more positive note however, after Moon’s collapse and the worsening of Five Pebbles’s rot, along with him generally reminiscing about the things he used to have (as part of yet more character headcanons I’ll elaborate on some other time), he actually began to grow fond of the nickname more and more. Yet he also couldn’t also shake the growing heartache the memories brang, as he came to see it as a reminder of his sister’s never-ending love for him and the better times he now regretted taking for granted and trying so hard to escape. While I headcanon he handles it differently in Downpour’s canon, in the worm-off-the-string AU story I’ve got so far, Moon slowly regaining her “Pebbsie privilege” and Pebbles appreciating it and no longer taking it so seriously (though he still forbids its usage in public) could serve as a small, yet sweet indicator of character growth for both of them.

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Aaaand another RW headcanon done! I wanna mention, though, now that I’ve got more of an idea for the aforementioned AU I really want to start posting more of my headcanons for the Local Group, since the character interactions, histories, and ultimate character growth is perhaps one of the most important elements of that story so far. I’ve spent at least a couple weeks creating almost 40 pages worth of character notes, and while this particular one started out as just a little side-headcanon, I ended up tying it into all of that. Hopefully I can start sharing the main parts of these headcanons soon!

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neokamui414 · 4 months ago

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CLAMP's legacy as originally starting from doujinshi circles is really fascinating and makes a lot of sense when you understand that a lot of their manga are just straight up loose adaptations or spiritual reinterpretations of some of the most iconic pieces of 20th century japanese fiction, especially literature.

In many ways a lot of their storytelling is best described as "derivative" but I don't really like using that word because it has such a negative connotation. I think CLAMP's genius is actually their ability to iterate on the themes and ideas and character types and other inspirations that they derive from, especially in their ability to translate those elements to a visual/aesthetic format and to add themes of queerness into those stories or highlight the already present elements of queerness.

Like Tokyo Babylon is inspired by Teito Monogatari (and also Peacock King but that in of itself is a subject for a whole other post). And it's not just limited to the quick one-off comedic reference to Yasunori Katō that we see in the beginning of the manga. The title itself is a reference to the first manga adaptation of the Teito Monogatari. And that title choice for the adaptation was itself probably a combination of a deliberate reference to the Book of Revelation which was culturally relevant in Japan at the time for reasons I'll explain in a little bit, as well as the fact that the author of Teito Monogatari based Katō in part on Aleister Crowley. But Teito Monogatari and Tokyo Babylon are fundamentally stories about the exact same subject matter, that is the City of Tokyo itself.

X aka X/1999 is pretty self evidently a loose adaptation of the Digital Devil Story novels, the ones that would go on to be adapted loosely into the Megami Tensei video games. An apocalyptic battle for the fate of the entire world fought in Tokyo between two ideologically opposed groups of super powered beings, one of which is literally called The 7 Angels. There is a magic sword associated with the death of a female loved one, there are references to a whole bunch of religious and occult concepts from both the east and west, and one of the key locations for the plot is an elite private high school. X and DDS/ Megaten are both quintessential examples of media born from the Japanese Occult Boom. Bad Japanese translations of the prophecies of Nostradamus in the '70s that inspired the Book would become mixed with the social and economic chaos that was the Japanese asset price bubble and other late stage capitalist nonsense and then the financial collapse in the '90s is why you have in both Tokyo Babylon (and by extension the manga adaptation of Teito Monogatari) and X this weird obsession for the Book of Revelation in a ostensibly non-Christian cultural zeitgeist. Tokyo was both "Babylon" as in Rome or any sort of other hypothetical city / civilization that represented decadence and degeneration, and it was Tel Megiddo in the sense that it was the place where the end of days and the battle heralding the Apocalypse would commence.

And then Gate 7 is literally just one of dozens upon dozens of fanfic/ rip-off / adaptations of / works inspired by Makai Tensho which came out in the '60s and sort of is kind of the cultural grandfather of novels like Digital Devil Story, Teito Monogatari and the Onmyoji series. It's the modern source of basically every piece of Japanese pop culture that treats the notable historic figures of the Warring States Era as more than just badass warriors but literal demigods, sorcerers and super powered beings. Mirage of Blaze(which also has some pretty clear inspirations from Tokyo Babylon and it sort of exists in a trifecta with TB and Yami no Matsuei in their relation to the Onmyoji novels by Baku Yumemakura but again, that is the subject for another post), Samurai Warriors and Sengoku Basara, pretty much all of the Fate series but especially the original Stay Night and especially especially Redline/ GudaGuda and Samurai Remnant, and a whole bunch of fighting games and Ninja OVA'S are all examples of Makai Tensho's influence.

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courtingchaos · 1 year ago

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Bully Masterlist

Eddie Munson x Plus Size!Fem!OC (written in 2nd POV you/your)

Summary: Third time’s the charm, right?

On his third and final senior year, Eddie is ready to coast as far under the radar as everyone will allow. Between finding a new leader for Hellfire, keeping his grades just above water and maybe finally getting a date with his longtime crush Chrissy Cunningham, he barely has time to breathe.

To get to his ultimate goal of scoring the Prom Queen he’ll need help, and unfortunately that means enlisting you, the bane of his senior year. Both thorns in each other sides, it’s only a matter of time before you tear each other to shreds, or maybe find out that you have more in common than you thought.

Series Notes: This is a pretty low stakes story. Typical high school drama, enemies to friends to lovers. I don’t do non happy endings, but I do love putting my boy through the wringer.

Series Warnings (will be regularly updated as new chapters are posted): Substance abuse, absent parents, incarcerated parents, drug and alcohol use, smoking, language, sex in all its iterations (either discussed or depicted), era appropriate insults.

August- In the Garden of Wonder and Worry TBA

September- The Morning Star Is a Teen Girl

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

Bonuses

Tryouts

#Eddie Munson #Eddie Munson Fic #Eddie Munson X OC #Eddie Munson Fluff #Eddie Munson Smut #My Work #My Fic #Bully Masterlist

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vorthosjay · 1 year ago

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Hi Jay. Not wanting to sound mean, but I really think it must be commented and that there's no softer way of doing that: the company's statement of Thunder Junction being an inhabitated plane prior to MoM is not a honest way of capitalizing on a sellable trope without touching its uncomfortable issues. It's even disrespectful. They have done it in a less flagrant way with Kaladesh and both Ixalan iterations, but now they've gotten too far with Thunder Junction. Colonialism is too big an issue to simply being put under the carpet as it never existed and we could just enjoy the sunny part of the history. I really hope Hasbro as a company acknowledges this and changes its way of dealing with the theme. Thanks for letting me pointing this.

Look, you caught me on a bad day, so I'm going to be as polite as possible but let's start with the foundation that this is not a complaint to direct at me. I have no control over any of this. Mark Rosewater exists and takes feedback on Tumblr.

But, let's talk about it, because I've seen some folks take this to extremes.

First off, I've seen a lot of well meaning folks speaking up on behalf of hypothetical indigenous americans, but I'd love to get takes from folks this actually impacts. I'd love for Wizards to post something about their work with cultural consultants, for sure. But the only actual thing I've seen so far is a great story from Magic's first indigenous american author. And when you're speaking on someone else's behalf, you tend to miss things. Like, Kaladesh is not the great representation of south asian culture that you might think when you jumped to it, and it's okay if you didn't know that, but it sort of proves the point that it's very difficult to actually protest on someone else's behalf. And I just haven't heard from anyone who has also mentioned they speak from authority or are impacted by this. That doesn't mean you're wrong, necessarily.

But here's the thing. Thunder Junction isn't history. It takes cues from the American West, sure, but it's a fake world. And sometimes it's okay for a fake world to ignore the bad things that happens in real life and create something more aspirational. Magic does this all the time. Magic doesn't have homophobia, but that isn't really realistic or representative of the real world, is it?

No one, and I mean literally no one, came to me and said that people of color needed to be ostracized and not allowed to work alongside the white people in the demon mob families of New Capenna. That racism was real, it was systemic, and it was violent. But did it need to be tackled in a fantasy crime drama based on america in the 20s? Should it have been? I don't think anyone would have enjoyed it as much. Sometimes it's just fun to play gangster.

Similarly, the colonization and manifest destiny that was the reality of the American West was tragic, but does that need to be our only depiction of indigenous peoples - being colonized? If they were erased completely from the narrative, that would be awful, but can't they just have fun being cool thunder slingers? The Atiin were developed with a consultant, and if you want answers ask Wizards to talk about it.

There's a reason the Oltec were depicted as being sealed off from the Immortal Sun drama that had happened on the surface. To have an aspirational mesoamerican culture that wasn't affected by the Dusk Legion and Azor and all that.

To put it in another perspective, does every period piece featuring black americans need to feature systemic racism to be respectful? Is Bridgerton disrespectful (I mean probably but not for that reason)?

The reason I've framed a lot of this as questions is because I don't necessarily think I know the right answer, especially not for a fantasy card game. I've worked with tribal governments in my emergency management career and spent a week on the Navajo Nation, and talked a lot about perspective on things, and I would not presume to know what the right answer to all of this is.

Edit: to be clear, Could it have been handled better? Probably. I will never deny that. But also it’s a complicated and fraught topic and I’d love to hear from the people wizards contracted who actually know what they’re talking about.

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dingodad · 2 months ago

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genuine thought what do you think of jane's writing for all of postcanon? i feel like its been a big missed opportunity on both timelines to make her go down incredibly similar paths (really weakening a lot of themes about nurture > nature that homestuck previously loved doing), and i feel like everything involving her still is something that dogs the narrative when i read new updates. that could just be me though, i try not to read much opinion on hs2 outside of a few people i trust to post analyses of it LOL

it wouldn't be right of me to comment on this with any confidence or in any depth until i've done my Epilogues reread at the very least, and ideally reread Homestuck proper to get a real grasp on jane as a character, but i have already commented on how easy it is to see jane's descent into fascism as a pretty logical extension of her liberal-conservative leanings in youth.

the bit about both janes being largely the same character is, i feel, part of a completely different problem, which is that since the Epilogues' conclusion the continued story has struggled to make good use out of the two-epilogues premise. only a handful of characters really are meaningfully different across the two epilogues; and within the Epilogues themselves this works perfectly okay! because I don't think "nurture > nature" is really a fair simplification of Homestuck's philosophy; the characters' intrinsic natures are significant driving forces behind the story, and from what I remember of my initial Epilogues-reading experience we were never really meant to think of the two epilogues as different stories. rather, they weave together and echo and reflect each other as they show us how characters with the same nature respond to slightly different stimuli, just like different iterations of the same characters do in Homestuck proper. Jane maintaining a similar presence in each version of the narrative is one way it cements that connection.

it's unfortunate that for Jane it had to come together in such a way that dredged up all these implications about girls getting in the way of yaoi, but ultimately and without a doubt making some of the established human characters into the new villains was the most interesting direction the story could have gone in, and after all the spotlight Dirk has got I think it was about time one of the girls got a chance! and i think that's such an important consideration; if one allows oneself not to be bothered by sentimentalities about which characters they like, and which characters they think would or would not agree with their political opinions, evil Jane is a COOL development for her character. and my personal thoughts on the matter, which are largely echoed by Homestuck's sensibilities as a whole, are that female characters should always be allowed to develop in ways that are COOL, even if they are controversial.

the thing is that by the end of the Epilogues the two stories have truly diverged, and the sequel is given the unenviable task of continuing to give these two radically different takes on Homestuck equal reverence - immediately, the concept of two evil Janes becomes not an anchor keeping two similar worlds together but a redundancy keeping them from meaningfully exploring their differences. put another way, something just isn't COOL anymore when you have to do it twice. hence, I can only assume, the decision to grant one Jane the grace of Redemption while the other only spirals further into villainy.

the two takes on the sequel have taken radically different approaches to solving this quandary; HS^2 dedicated itself to a strict schedule of alternating meat and candy stories, which gave us a lot of variety in the kind of stories told but also contributed significantly to its overall really unfortunate pacing issues. Beyond Canon meanwhile has shown open favouritism to one particular storyline, which has allowed us to really immerse in and engage with that particular world but has all but sentenced the other versions of the characters to languishing in irrelevance the rest of the time. that being said, the glimpses we've seen of the other timeline have been able to set up some really intriguing hooks for future story developments, so it might just be too early to make any real judgements about Jane's treatment in this new medium. "good" Jane was put in a really awkward position by having her arc delegated to an exclusive patreon spinoff with no real place in the main story, but Beyond Canon has communicated a clear intent for this arc to pay off, so i fear we janeheads may just have to cross our fingers and be patient for the time being...

#hs2 #did i answer the question at all here. sorry. i ended up thinking about something completely different

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anyplaceisparadise · 26 days ago

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The Use of Colour in Gladiator II: Black, Part 1

Once again before I get into it, here's my copy and paste from previous iterations of this: I referred quite a bit to some of my favourite books, The World According to Colour: A Cultural History by James Fox, The Secret Lives of Colour by Kassia St. Clair, and Emperor of Rome and SPQR by Mary Beard while working on this. I highly recommend all of them! These are definitely not mind blowing ideas here, just stuff that came to me because this movie has given me a severe case of brain rot. If you disagree, that’s cool. If you’ve mentioned any of this before, I love that we’re on the same wavelength. If you think this is ridiculous and I’ve gone off the deep end, you are correct.

Past Colour Posts: White Yellow Purple Brown Black Pt. 2 Red Blue Green Honourable Mentions

Black can be used in Gladiator II to represent exposure.

Black is most obviously associated with darkness, with hiding, with secrets, or evil. It's often the colour we connect with villains, or the "bad guys" in stories.

James Fox writes, "Just as we can only 'feel' a hole by touching the edges around it, so we 'see' black by observing the lightness that surrounds or precedes it. Black, in other words, is made by light" (The World According to Colour, James Fox, pg. 24). When characters wear black in Gladiator II, I argue that they are exposed, either for what they truly are deep inside, or their thoughts and ideas.

The first character we see in black is Geta, at Thraex's party.

One thing that is interesting to me about the twins wearing black is that every time they do so, it is combined with a metallic colour. Geta, with the silver here, and Caracalla with gold. Other characters that wear black do not get that same colour combo, and I'd argue it's because the twins are emperors, with gold and silver being used to represent wealth and power.

Arguably, Geta's outfit here is more silver than it is black. But I think that works well here, because at Thraex's party, Geta draws attention to himself after the fight by standing up, walking around, clapping, yelling out. All eyes are already on him and Caracalla, but he brings them even more attention, even more exposure. This is where the silver comes in. He's an emperor after all. He's flashy, he's important. However, he doesn't anticipate Lucius embarrassing him in front of everyone by reciting the poem. Geta's shortcoming's have been exposed for all to see. He is not the great, scary, imposing emperor he portrays. And this is where the black comes in, his weaknesses and failures peeking out for everyone to see.

Geta also wears black (and silver and gold) in the deleted adoption scene.

Geta and Caracalla ask Lucilla to adopt them, thus securing legitimacy for themselves and connecting them to Marcus Aurelius. Their weakness, their lack of authority, and their tenuous position as emperors is exposed in this scene, and it's a shame it never made it to the final film.

Lucilla also wears a black cloak when she meets with Lucius for the first time and exposes herself as his mother. Her vulnerability is on display, and she is open to hurt. And she is hurt, Lucius isn't receptive, he's angry, he denies her. But her secret is out there, and she speaks it aloud for the first time while wearing black (the blue dress is for another post).

Lucius and Acacius both wear black as well.

It's definitely a practicality thing (as I wrote about in the post on brown), to wear dark colours while in battle, but for the sake of the post, let's look at it again. In the opening of the film, Acacius is wearing dark armour to capture more land for Rome and for the emperors. He is exposing his role as general and conqueror, but he also exposes how he truly feels about it all with the rather sad way he speaks about his actions.

It's fitting that Acacius wears that same armour in his final fight. He is fighting Lucius, who even if we ignore the entire coup plot, is from the place Acacius just raided and captured. This is the first time Lucius and Acacius have spoken or even really been close to each other, and Acacius' actions in the raid are exposed to the very person that was impacted by it.

He is doubly exposed in this fight, as the entire point is that the coup plot has been revealed and his transgressions against the emperors is exposed to the entirety of Rome (or at least, those in the colosseum).

Lucius wears black armour that belonged to Maximus at the end of the movie. The symbolism is pretty obvious, it's a full circle moment here. His true identity is exposed, his birthright is right there for the taking, and he wears his deceased father's armour to defend his mother. The cat is full out of the bag by the time Lucius puts this armour on.

Caracalla also wears black (and gold). The first time is at the second round of games:

This entire scene is super interesting to me, mostly because of Geta. At this point in the movie, Geta is seen as in control, the more stable twin and emperor. However, he is really losing it here. He rubs his gums, he rocks in his seat, and is generally twitchy and fidgety. In other words, he acts the way we are meant to view Caracalla.

Caracalla wearing black and gold here exposes him via Geta. He looks to Geta in this scene for reassurance. He fiddles with his fingers and straightens up in his seat as he looks at Geta. His role as an emperor is on display because Geta is acting so much not like an emperor here. Geta becoming a little unglued shows Caracalla's usual behaviour, but also exposes their lack of control. If Geta is rocking in his seat, where does that leave Caracalla?

This is also the scene where Lucius shoots an arrow into the emperor's box seats. No one is hurt, but it's a direct display of how their roles have impacted everyone in that colosseum, even themselves.

Caracalla also wears black once he is sole emperor.

This is his darkest outfit. We know that he doesn't remember what happened to Geta, nor does he realize the implications or consequences of what is happening. He is ill, he is mad, and while Rome probably already knew that, he doesn't have Geta to hold him back anymore. He full exposes his illness in this scene by naming Dondus as first consul.

He is also out of Geta's shadow. Throughout the film, Geta has been the one to make decisions and to speak for the two of them. Geta holds Caracalla back from gutting Lucilla and Acacius in the night scene (where the darkness of the night exposes the coup). Geta is the one that makes the mercy/no mercy decisions (although he does ask for input the first time around, I'll give him that). Geta is running the show because it is necessary; Caracalla is ill (does Cara even realize he is ill? Debatable). We also know that Geta has been this way their whole lives as mentioned in their final moments together. It was Geta that took the blows from their father to spare Caracalla.

But here, dressed in black and gold, Caracalla is in the driver's seat so to speak. He's the one in control. He's sole emperor. And when you are sole emperor, you also become the sign of the times. There is no one else to shift the blame on to, no twin left to shoulder the consequences for you. Geta protected Caracalla all their lives, till the very end, but he can't protect him anymore. It's all on Caracalla now.

So ends part one. Part two is a piece of absolute brain rot that is related to the idea of exposure but it veered off course so it gets a separate post.

#gladiator ii #emperor geta #emperor caracalla #fred hechinger #joseph quinn #gladiator #lucius verus #paul mescal #marcus acacius #pedro pascal

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sublimati0ns · 24 days ago

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What's your current stance on Starscream's trine (considering you have chosen to keep this fanon due to its value in potentially justifying Starscream's lack of paint as another point of his misery) in terms of how they (and their... tragic absence) affected the current Starscream we see in the Prime continuity? In Aligned Universe canon he is kind of responsible for the rather brutal deaths of both (as it is normal in most TF continuities) so probably very few warm feelings intended but like. I rather liked the Crawling Back to You's large revelation and how it crashed on Starscream and how it almost spelled out the undercurrent "It was your own fault you were left alone in this pit" he seemed to conclude under the layers of hurt and anger (and there were ways this sentiment was not incorrent...).

To preface, I have not consumed any of the other Aligned works beyond TFP, so I can’t give an informed opinion about anything present in the comics, games, or novels! I only know the Prime team was given the freedom to contradict previously-established lore if they felt it would serve TFP’s story better, which has resulted in conflicting information between works in the Aligned family, so I’ve been treating Prime as a standalone this whole time 🙇

Once I get through more of the Aligned family I’ll probably have more robust things to say about how they connect to each other, but for now I can’t comment ahaha.

Anyway, yeah, I enjoyed Transformatron’s take on Starscream’s story in Crawling Back To You! When I made my previous post on my thoughts about what Knock Out and Starscream’s backstories might be, I had adopted their headcanons as well—but now that I’ve read more of the IDW 05 comics, watched more TFA / G1, and caught up with Skybound, I’m not sure 🤔 I haven’t seen much of Thundercracker or Skywarp at all, let alone what rapport they might have with Starscream…

I do enjoy them both in the Skybound run—Skywarp being a trigger-happy goon (as in henchman, not—you know) and Thundercracker having morals that conflict with the comically deranged nature of other Decepticons—but I feel like DWJ’s writing is a bit too shallow for me to sink my teeth into? Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing—a story doesn’t have to be deep to entertain, and I definitely find the Skybound comic entertaining! But neither of them have much going on, so I can’t turn them around in my head or extrapolate how those iterations might behave in other scenarios or settings without taking ample liberty.

And since I’m the type that likes to play as close to the source as possible (to the best of my ability; we all have different interpretations, and I know mine can run niche), I don’t like stretching things too much… But I’m going to be digging into more of the canon whenever I can, cuz the trine is so popular in the fandom and I want to know why! TC and SW have screentime in G1 and IDW 05, so I hope I can see them in action more soon :D

On the note of stripped paint, lately I’ve been rotating two alternatives to trine grief, though:

Playing with the canon lore for aggressive depigmentation, which could have manifested in Starscream as the result of his many near-death and / or psychologically-traumatising experiences, or

Starscream stripping his paint after he thinks Windblade dies rather than Thundercracker and Skywarp, cuz I love their interaction in the IDW 05 run///

The latter moves more into “making sh*t up” territory, though, ahaha. I just think it could be neat to take a similar angle to Transformatron with the trine—Starscream and Windblade were close, but as the war warped him, she made the decision to leave for both of their sakes.

#asks #lacetalks #on TFP!Starscream #on seeker trine

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jesncin · 1 year ago

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The Potential of Asian Lois Lane. Pt 1: Girl Taking Over and American Alien, a comparative analysis

Lois Lane has had many iterations over the years. But specifically in the last decade, Lois has been reimagined as an Asian American woman in both the comics and recently in the animated show My Adventures with Superman.

I believe making Lois Asian is a very inspired choice for the Superman mythos! I would like to take a moment to analyze these versions of Lois from an Asian perspective, seeing what works, what doesn't, and what I'd like to see more of. We'll start with the comics first, as MAWS is going to need its own post.

Usual disclaimers: I'm just one Asian perspective, I do not and never will claim to cover every Asian person's opinion on a thing ever. We're not a monolith, we come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. I'm simply a fan who enjoys media analysis and believes it's valuable to have my perspective in this topic. Secondly, this discussion covers the comic run American Alien, which is written by Max Landis. He's an ultra creep and while I think the comic is worth a read for what it is, I leave it up to you whether you'd like to buy the comic. You can always arg-arg-ahoy otherwise.

I'd like to start with Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story written by Sarah Kuhn with art by Arielle Jovellanos. This is a self contained YA graphic novel about a young Japanese American Lois dealing with the ups and downs of breaking into journalism as a career in National City. When her dream internship at Catco gets a corporate take over, Lois seizes an opportunity to write an exposé on a shady art director. But when her story is turned down, Lois does some out of the box things to get the story of marginalized performers shared with the world.

Girl Taking Over is a fantastic story and I happily recommend it to anyone looking for how an Asian American Lois could be reimagined (with fabulous art by Arielle! The fashion especially is on-point). This story isn't just a diverse coat of paint on a Lois Lane story, being Asian informs Lois' experiences and choices. Both she and her frenemy roommate Miki, are ambitious Asian women yet have hidden insecurities where they still made themselves small to their respective white male bosses. They played into model minority in different ways, and it's only by working together that they're able to foster a community for their stories to be told.

Lois and Miki don't just "have a diverse friend group", that friend group is actively being taken advantage of and suppressed by white gatekeepers. By extension, Lois' friends from work find solidarity in each other. Lois looks up to Cat Grant, a Filipina-American journalist, because seeing Cat succeed made Lois feel like her dream as a journalist is possible. I love how Lois' mom (a character so rarely expanded on in DC canon) acts as a voice of comfort for Lois in the story. All these characters feel holistic and whole, going through their own unique struggles.

It's clear from interviews with both the writer and artist that they care for the history of Lois, and saw an opportunity to reimagine her in a way that aligns with her character but also revitalizes her for new readers of color who aren't used to seeing themselves reflected in media. It's taking Lois' ambition and fearlessness and channeling them into the need to be a model minority, and the insecurities that can come from the desire to succeed constantly. It's taking a character historically frustrated by sexism and disrespected by her male peers- including Clark Kent (who got better treatment than her as a man), and expanding her to be a Lois that has to deal with both sexism and racism in the workplace. It's humanizing Lois' excellence into something painfully specific and relatable for many Asian women.

The only thing I feel I want from this version of Lois is... honestly more of her! I want to see what Japanese Lois does when she moves to Metropolis and works at the Daily Planet. I want to see how her experiences in National City informs her adulthood. Girl Taking Over sets up an incredible groundwork for stories to be told in the Superman mythos. How would Lois react to Superman, a fellow immigrant? Would Superman see himself in Lois? Since she's someone who, in the American context, is perceived as the perpetual foreigner? What would their relationship be like? Out of all the Asian Lois' in media we have so far, this Asian Lois' story has the most rich potential in my opinion.

Up next, we have American Alien written by Max Landis. This 7 issue series swaps artists for each issue, as a means of reflecting different milestones in Clark's life. I will be focusing on issues #4, 5, and 7 since those have the most prominent Lois appearances. With that, I'd like to celebrate the artists for those issues: Jae Lee (issue 4), Francis Manapul (issue 5), and Jock (issue 7). All these artists did a fantastic job, their art styles are energetic and fun to look at. Lee and Manapul are both Asian artists (Korean and Filipino respectively) and I love how they draw Lois- who looks undeniably Asian in their art styles.

American Alien is a modern take on the Superman tale. It expands Clark's story to be connected to Batman, Green Lanterns, Green Arrow, and more. We see Clark grow from his days in Smallville to a city boy in Metropolis, coming into his own as Superman. It's a bold and pretty divisive take with some standout story moments. From what I know, this is likely the first time Lois has been reimagined as Asian- and continues to influence Superman media like MAWS (the producer specifically calls out this comic as inspiration).

In issue #4, Clark moves in to his Metropolis apartment and talks on the phone to his mom about "some bigshot guy named Louis Lane". The reader, likely familiar with the Superman mythos, knows Clark is coming in with biases and a preconceived notion of who he considers a promising student reporter. Once we meet Lois Lane however, the comic turns the reader's expectations on their head:

Lois Lane is an Asian American woman (it's not specified what her exact ethnicity is)! This is a fun moment where the comic metatextually challenged the reader's own biases, showing it's not just Clark who had a different idea of who Lois Lane could be.

Lois' introductory panel is my personal favorite part of her characterization in American Alien. Lois proudly stands as a wall of text behind her recounts how she was considered as a winner for the Daily Planet's Charlton Memorial Laureate Program. When asked why she deserves a place on the program, Lois snaps back that the very question itself is loaded. She's listed her credentials and looks professional- so she's either already been rejected and is just being made to "at least had my say" or she's been accepted and is "meant to garnish my success with eloquent affirmation" to which Lois refuses to do either.

This is a great defiant introduction to Lois, showcasing how jaded she is with the way the world perceives her- but is very confident in her self worth as a journalist. By the end of the issue she reaches out to Clark to combine their exclusive interviews into one story to make a big impression on the news. Her words inspire Clark to seize an opportunity to make a big change in the world as Superman.

Afterwards, the comic plays the classic Superman and Lois dynamic straight. Lois is initially suspicious of Superman, but eventually comes around and is inspired to hope through him. There's a great back and forth between the two where Lois' words initially inspire Clark to be Superman, then Clark assures Lois that Superman is probably just a good guy, and when Clark loses hope from a bad day of heroism, Lois gives him hope again. In the end, Lois realizes her love for Clark Kent over Superman and they share a passionate ending kiss.

Overall American Alien nails the Clark and Lois dynamic and understands their relationship. I consider this Asian Lois "just okay". I like that we get to see an adult jaded Asian Lois meet Clark Kent and Superman, and see them get together. Similarly to Girl Taking Over, I'd like to see how this Lois and Clark would play out. My only issue with American Alien's Lois is a sense of missed opportunities.

The writing overall leaves room for plausible deniability over Lois' Asian identity. The artists (particularly Lee and Manapul) are doing the heavy lifting delivering Asian Lois. If she was drawn as a white woman, none of the writing would need adjustment. Sure her introductory panel implies that people judge her based on her appearance- but that could be just sexism instead of the intersectional experience of Asian Lois going through racism and sexism. Clark did assume she was a man after all- it's never specified if he assumed she was a white man. The only thing you'd lose is the metatextual shock value of Lois Being Asian This Time. That's really what this Lois boils down to, initial shock value with no specific writing to follow through. Her marginalization and identity is written broadly enough that it could be attributed to general sexism and womanhood. It's not specific to being an Asian American woman.

However, because of its broadness, there's room for Lois' Asian identity to be built on in the world of American Alien. The story centers Clark's experiences, but I can easily imagine a continuation of the story expanding on Lois'. The basic groundwork is there. I think it's telling that in a comic called American Alien, we get a more diverse Superman cast system. Jimmy Olsen is Black, Lois Lane is Asian- when Clark moves to the city it feels expansive compared to Smallville. It's a world that feels ready to tackle themes of racism if it was ever to continue (and probably in the hands of a writer with that kind of life experience!). In the end, there's room for this Asian Lois to be something special. Clark isn't the only American Alien in American Alien, if you catch my drift.

You can see how Girl Taking Over has a huge piece of what American Alien is missing. The characters aren't just diverse for shock value, they're not an aesthetic change over historically white characters. They have a story to tell that is inseparable from their identities. Whereas in American Alien, the art is doing the heavy lifting with the reimagined diverse characters- Girl Taking Over has both the writing and art carry the representation. Lois can't be changed into being white in Girl Taking Over.

Both of these stories have potential- but if I had the choice to pick which story should continue, it would easily be Girl Taking Over. This graphic novel works for what it is: it makes sense that this is a younger and idealistic Lois that hasn't met Clark or Superman yet. It's a YA book and Lois can absolutely carry a story on her own. What I want as an Asian fan, is for the potential of Asian Lois Lane to be seen through to the point it's considered the definitive version. As of right now, Girl Taking Over is a fun twist on the Lois Lane story. Not something that is seen as inseparable from the Superman mythos. However! If those themes of marginalization and immigrant identity are tapped into for both Superman and Lois Lane? I feel that has the potential to radically strengthen the overall themes of Superman. It's certainly been touched on before.

(TW/CW: racial slur mention in below image)

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Yang with art by Gurihiru is a retelling of the Clan of the Fiery Cross arc in the classic radio show The Adventures of Superman where Superman faces off with the Klan who had been terrorizing a Chinese American family. The graphic novel adapts the story to center the Chinese American characters, and makes it a point to show that Superman relates to them. If that dynamic was applied to Asian Lois, that feels like a definitive love story waiting to happen.

The classic two person love triangle with Clark and Lois is that Lois loves Superman and is indifferent to Clark Kent. She thinks Superman is this ideal macho man and Clark is a cowardly fumbling guy at work who rivals her. What happens when you take that dynamic and made it so Lois identified with Superman- the more othering identity? How complicated would that make Clark Kent feel? How would he navigate that when his marginalization isn't always visible? That's a whole new depth to the love triangle we're not used to seeing. I feel so far, none of these versions of Lois have touched upon this potential dynamic. The perpetual foreigner, Lois Lane and the ultimate alien foreigner that is Superman. The jaded city girl meets the alien farm boy who gives her hope. They inspire each other to be more of themselves in a world not ready to accept either of them.

Up next, we'll be discussing My Adventures with Superman's Korean Lois Lane in pt 2. It's well. You can probably guess how I feel about it from what I wrote here but welp. We'll talk about it.

#ramblings #media criticism #lois lane #once again please be nice!!#i have many many feelings about asian lois lane so i may as well write it down and share it with you #jesncin talks maws #(a little bit anyway! like a precursor)#jesncin dc meta

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rosykims · 6 months ago

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ok i have avoided talking abt my datv thoughts but now ive finished and slept on it here it is. this is huge btw and really just a way to process my thoughts for my own peace of mind. and get out what i need to say. so yeah word salad below

2 disclaimers before i start. firstly i think im going to be SUPER blunt and clear about my thoughts on this post but then i will mostly be putting the matter to bed in my heart bc i am not someone who delights in being a hater nor do i take comfort in it. i will take from this the things i enjoyed and keep my distance from the rest. second disclaimer: ultimately i think i will still enjoy being a part of the fandom and seeing other people enjoy the game, because it will endear it to me and maybe take away the pain im feeling right now, so this isnt a long rant to make you feel bad about enjoying the game if you do like it! in fact quite the opposite. it comforts me that there are people who find value in the game and i hope in watching you play it i may be able to eventually be able to say the same

that being said . obviously i didnt like the game

which is an extremely difficult thing for me to say. i went into this game thinking "i will at the VERY least enjoy the game. not love it but at least like it. but im sure ill love it". it really is quite distressing for me that it didnt even really reach that bar for the most part. i TRIED to like it. i begged this game to give me ANY handhold at all that i could cling to, to forgive and like this game. i think the things i liked err more on the technical side. the graphics i loved, the character DESIGN was *fantastic*. the art. the pacing. the vague vision of what they were obviously nebulously aiming for. and honestly, i mostly enjoyed the main plot although i wish it had been more disciplined and constrained with the lore it was trying to expand on. act 3 was fantastic and naturally i am happy and fulfilled for the most part by the conclusion of solas's story, who i still believe was and is the best written "villain" of dragon age. sorry logang and meredith nation but i do still stand by this.

but thats really about it. as a disclaimer i am not an origins puritan or a da2 diehard or anything like that. i have loved (almost equally) EVERY single iteration of dragon age which has been released. i am one of the few people who sees equal value in inquisition and origins. i love them both so deeply. i couldnt pick between them.

for me what i love the MOST about dragon age - and which every single previous game has always nailed despite other flaws - is the characters. right under that is the world's capacity for introspection. and unfortunately nothing in this game provided that for me

regarding the characters: i do not care about a single one of them unfortunately. or at least i do not CARE about them the way that i have CARED about the other previous games companions. companions i would write banter about !!! just for fun when i was bored!!!! i would say my only exception is harding, but even then i care about her only because i care about her due to inquisition. overall i just found them all so ..... shallow. and devoid of any of the conflict or nuance or ethical quandries that make biowares stories so compelling - and sure, usually controversial! i would give ANYTHING for this game to have been controversial. for a unforgivable RO, or a problematic fave, or a cancelled wife. did bioware forget that their most beloved or at least enjoyed characters are people like anders, merrill, mordin solus, blackwall, sten, loghain, SOLAS??? i dont understand HOW they could have forgotten that, because solas is literally right there in game and handled (in my opinion as a fan) well. love him or hate him or dont care about him, he is such a hallmark of great bioware writing (in dai if nothing else) - characters who are not EASY to like. characters who are not SAFE to write and who WILL generate criticism from all sides because they are written boldly and unapologetically, strengthened by a foundation of consistent ideals, clear objectives and beautiful faults. characters that do not NEED you to like them, but instead invite you to engage with them critically. solas, even to someone who hates him, is nuanced and morally complex enough to muse and fight over for 10 whole years. hes IN this game, just as ethically murky as ever, but the morally grey hallmark of biowares writing really does kind of live and die with him alone. the rest of the companions feel like they barely made it out of their concept phase. what are lucanis's flaws??? genuinely asking. other than being a murderer who exists in an organization which buys and trains literal child slaves of course, but i'll get to that in a sec (because bioware sure as fuck didnt). um, i guess you could say hes broody?? and emmrich too. what actual flaws does he have?? he has a fear of death, as we're TOLD, but it does not really reflect in the overall convesations we have with him over the course of the game. mostly hes just.... a little bumbling i guess. bellara's flaw is being a scatterbrain. harding's is that shes..... angry??? but shes not???? fucking come on. i really felt the lack of actually being able to TALK to these people at the end of act 2, when i realized i still felt like i havent really MET any of them. and yet here rook is talking about found family and being a team. ok

and then there are the romances. which from my perspective - having romanced taash - and my friends who have romanced lucanis, neve and davrin..... WHAT romances. davrin's full romance is 20 minutes in a 30 PLUS HOUR GAME. solas had the least amount of content out of any companion in inquisition and was a last minute unintentional RO and still had like easily 50 minutes of content. so why did these romances feel like nothing. actually nothing. i was so excited for taash, but their romance straight up felt like neither rook nor taash even wanted to be there. i forgot they were technically together at certain points. zero chemistry. zero intimacy. all TELLING zero SHOWING. if you had told me that i would be saying these sorts of things about a writer like trick weekes a month ago i would call you fucking crazy to your face. i cannot reconcile that taash was written by the same person who wrote solas. i cannot reconcile that mary kirby - who wrote the fucking chant of light - wrote lucanis. its so dire. its devastating actually.

lastly i want to talk about my other point - bioware's famed emphasis on introspection and ethically quandries. again, i'm genuinely experiencing a sense of profound whiplash because when it comes solas's character you can still see it. its still there. they actually doubled down on making him worse than he was in trespasser which i LOVED and thought was so incredibly promising. they could have caved to solavellan fans and uwu-ified him but they didnt. thats great.

but where was that energy for literally anything else. everything has been defanged - even minrathous, the capital of the tevinter slave trade, does not even ADDRESS the elephant in the room of slavery. and i know because i played a shadow dragon. so tell me why i as a shadow dragon am happily allied with the crows, who solely exist to assassinate politicians and BUY SLAVES. THEY BUY SLAVES. THEY BUY SLAVES AS CHILDREN AND TRAIN/TORTURE THEM TO MURDER. HELLO??????????? there is no commentary made about the mages/templars. there is no discussion of the treatment of the elves in the north or Anywhere. there is no discussion of why exactly blood magic is or isnt acceptable - they simply tell us its bad. all the theories of the last 10 years were answered with handwaved comments or bare bones codex entries that honestly stripped so much nuance away from so many things (the blight, my BELOVED) that i dont know how im going to go about fixing it or making it right in my head. the introspective nature of dragon age always went hand in hand with player choice, but there really WAS no choice in this game as so there IS no real capacity for other interpretations or schools of thought. it is so..........................bleak.

i think the thing that finally made it click in my head that this game had fundamentally let me down was the gloom howler quest. and i know im not alone on this. for those of you who dont know - the gloom howler, "isseya" was the protagonist of the dragon age novel "the last flight". i would HIGHLY recommend you read it, especially if you're an origins fan. super bleak, super political, not flashy at all in terms of magic. it was set 500 years pre origins, during the 3rd blight. isseya is very similar to characters like loghain and solas in a way - a richly complex, beautifully intricate, terribly thought provoking character who did HORRIFIC things for the most NOBLE reason you could imagine, under the most traumatic of circumstances. im tearing up just thinking about her story, and how the title "the LAST flight" foreshadowed that her story had a definitive, bittersweet, finite and peaceful ending.

and then this game did THAT to her. turned her into a grotesque caricature of what she was. stripping her of her nuance and her capacity for atonement or forgiveness. and once again, i do not fucking get it. she was obviously brought back because she is a parallel to the solas dilemma. so WHY is she not afforded the same opportunity for empathy that he is. why is bellara's brother not either. its insane. its literally insane. i cannot begin to imagine the oversight or laziness or WHATEVER IT WAS that occured to have this game turn out this way.

there are innumerable other problems with the game that im not going to get into because what ive said above is the main crux of my problem. introspective and character. those are all i really wanted from this game, and like..... i thought we would get that. because the game centered around solas. and i know people dislike his fans for very fair reasons, but i hope those who know me know that i enjoy him not because hes hot (he is though) but because he is terrible. i love him because they made a character who was TERRIBLE, and then gave you the task of using your head and refelcting on your own morality and values and deciding and arguing and meditating over whether he is worth loving anyway. to me, solas is the person i point to when i want to describe why i love dragon age. its complicated, its nuanced, it is terrible and wonderful and everything in between depending on the angle you look at it from. and so having the writer of a character like THAT in charge of the whole game filled me with hope and dissuaded so many of my fears for this game. but i was wrong apparently.

so now im left with a feeling akin to survivors guilt. genuinely. because at the VERY least, despite me saying all of these negative things, i at least finished the game crying happy tears and being overjoyed that my favourite character was handled well and got an ending i enjoyed. and yet that happiness *i* got to feel and that glimmer of good writing was paid for at the expense of literally everything else. i feel almost personally responsible in a way, which sucks. im sorry to all the people who did not enjoy or care about solas, im sorry that you really did get nothing out of this game. i hope we can all be comforted by the trilogy we have and will always have, and i hope we can all take what good parts we enjoyed out of veilguard and make peace with the rest

leaving this youtube comment my friend sent me which is unfortunately a summary of how i feel about the game as a whole.

#tay plays datv #datv #datv spoilers #datv critical #nobody needs to read this but fgdjkfgjk if you do #i hope it is clear that i write from a perspective of profound love for this series and all its characters.

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