#this was one of the most complex book I have ever seen. The plot was something else

[fedwren]

i'm baffled by the discourse surrounding daemon this episode. he's not out of character, he's probably the most in character we've ever seen him. why are we surprised that DAEMON TARGARYEN of all people has an oedipus complex? and of course you can argue that daemon in the book would never, but you have to remember that fire & blood is the unreliable narrator book where everything interesting in the story is predicated on the fact that what's written on the page may or may not be true, the reader is relied upon to piece together bits of information presented by multiple narrators who are biased in various conflicting ways. it's a loose collection of plot points lacking in any meaningful characterization; arguments that any characters strayed from "book canon" are absurd. they strayed from one specific person's specific interpretation of the information given, and in this case, the information given is that daemon willingly groomed at least one family member, gleefully orchestrated the murder of at least one child, and fucked off to harrenhal for most of the war, culminating in him dying in a murder/suicide with yet another family member. maybe i'm being disingenuous and unfair to the source material, but i don't think an oedipus complex is far off from the characterization we've been provided

[heybabyricecake]

I would have to say my favorite character of all time is Andrew Minyard, my favorite *main character* of all time is Neil Josten. There’s an important distinction.

Andrew is one of the best characters I’ve ever seen written. His moral compass is skewed but it also makes perfect sense once you understand him. He’s deeply complex and layered and for someone always portrayed as strong he’s also kind of a mess. His past is so disturbing but it makes his values in different relationships clear and healthy and he communicates that well. He’s violent and dangerous and GOOD to his core, he protects everyone and he had an impossible hand dealt to him in life but somehow he makes it work. He has major trauma and ptsd and touch aversion and he works to better himself, he has one of the best relationships with the team psychiatrist and one of the most interesting sibling/family dynamics out there. Add to that the fact that he’s funny and he’s the best goalkeeper in his sport without even trying and you have one of the most thought provoking and beloved characters of all time.

Neil as the *main character* was absolute perfection. He’s a liar and a fraud and he has little to no remorse for his actions especially at first. He loves one thing so strongly (Exy) but has one of the best character developments ever written as he learns to trust the Foxes and Andrew. Watching him fall in love was comedy gold given his obliviousness and demisexuality. He’s so lovable right from the start and he’s FUNNY as fuck. He’s also brave and he grows so much over the course of three books as he learns to protect others and stand up for himself. He’s such a great narrator and his character is so consistent and simultaneously unhinged. His backstory pulls you in and makes you keep reading long past any plot holes or timeline inconsistencies. He’s so instantly lovable and was the perfect pov to experience these books from.

Rambling but these are my thoughts

Don’t even get me started on Kevin

[whoishotteranimepolls]

In Defense of Nami and Robin (Off Anon for the pics)

So, yes, Oda's way of drawing women is...not great. But they are written beautifully, and to be fair, Toei (The anime) makes the design issue even worse than it is in the manga. (Also, the way in which they ugly cry is amazing, full snot, tears, wobbly lips, red face).

Nami and Robin are some of the best written, well rounded female characters I've seen. They have similar arcs, with tragic backstories that shaped how they see the world and affects their actions and relationships to others, and they have to learn to rely on others, and ask for help and put their trust in others. They are integral to the plot, Luffy will never be able to achieve his dream of being the Pirate King without them.

So first of all, Nami

Yes, this is probably the best picture of Nami's waist in the series, at least, post-time skip

Nami is the Navigator of the Strawhat Pirates, and an officer of the grand fleet. Unfortunately, the same face syndrome does start with her, a lot of the female characters will have her face. But design aesthetics aside, she is a wonder, complex, and dynamic character.

She was adopted by a marine women and raised on a tangerine farm with her older sister. They were poor, Nami always got her sister's hand-me-downs and their mom often skipped meals to make sure her girls had enough to eat. Nami, was an average 8 year old brat who did resent not having enough money to eat, or have clothes, or to buy navigation books like she wanted. But she was loved. So, of course, pirates attacked her village. They demanded a fine from each of the families in town based on adults and children in the household, and her mom was killed because she only had enough money for the girls. The same pirate, Arlong, made a deal with Nami, she could buy back her village for 100,000 belli, but in the meantime, she had to join his crew and work for him creating maps, where he preceded to work her until her fingers bled. She also became a thief and stole money from other pirates to add to the funds to buy her village back. This is where her catch phrase "I only love money and tangerines!" comes from. She intended to betray the Strawhats, but realized that they were the only people to ever show her love and kindness, and when Arlong betrayed her, she learned how to ask for help, to ease her burdens and rely on others when she needed it. Her scene where she was trying to cut her Arlong Pirate's tattoo off before asking Luffy for help remains one of the most profound moments in anime. While she was saved from Arlong, I wouldn't say she was necessarily a damsel in distress, she tried everything in her power, and part of her arc was accepting she didn't have to be alone. Luffy also never insisted on helping her because she was a weak girl or anything, he didn't care at all about her backstory, he just wanted to hurt whoever made her cry.

Apart of Nami's character is her love of money, desire to create maps and navigate the world, and how much she loves her friends/family and is willing to sacrifice for them, as well as the amount of forgiveness and kindness she is capable of and her love for children. She forgave one of the pirates that kept her as a slave, and when his friend, Camie, was almost sold into slavery, Nami didn't hesitate to spend all the money they had to buy her freedom. She discovered children were being experimented on by a crazy scientist and nearly went scorched earth.

When Nami came face to face with an enemy she couldn't beat, despite being a coward and thinking of herself as weak, she didn't back down because she refused to dismiss her captain. She showed incredible bravery and integrity, refusing to lie and break her ideals.

But she can also hold her own as well, she doesn't always lose or need to be rescued. She fights with a Clima-Tact, a weapon that allows her to summon lightning and use weather phenomena to her advantage. She beat Kalifa, a government assassin, Miss-Double-Finger, one of the strongest assassins in Baroque Works, Hotori and Kotori, and various other pirates. She also is particularly agile and has pretty high endurance. (Bonus points, in an anime filler arc, she is the first character with on-screen confirmed kill)

She also is a very skilled navigator, thief, liar, can predict weather phenomenon, maintains the crew's money and budget, a con artist, and cartography (including sea charts which are very difficult). She loves fashion, money, shopping, and is vain. She also somehow maintains her mom's tangerine trees while on a sailing ship.

The fandom widely considered her to be a lesbian, but of course that is only coding/head canons. But she has had very close relationships to other women in the series, including Vivi, and has expressed that she "has a soft spot for strong marine women."

Nico Robin

Her introduction to the series was strong, as she is one of the strongest members of the enemy faction Baroque Works. She was a serious threat, managing to infiltrate the Strawhat's ship and steal Luffy's hat and living to tell the tale, but she was also very mysterious and compelling. Despite being an enemy, she saved Luffy's life, and expressed amusement over his antics. When she tried to commit suicide in the tombs below Alabasta, after betraying her boss, Luffy saved her life, despite her protests. In return, she snuck back onto his ship and made herself his problem.

Like Nami, she has a tragic past that cause her profound trauma, sadness, a distrust in others, but ultimately, she found hope in the Strawhat pirates, and in Luffy, learning how to rely on them, and in return, being relied on. She can ask for help from them, but they ask for help from her as well.

When she was a child, her mother left to sail the seas and become an archaeologist. She was outcasted by her aunt, and her village, but she was accepted by the scholars who lived on her island. The island's name was Ohara. Against the other archaeologists wishes, she learned how to read the mysterious poneglyphs because she wanted to learn the true history of the world. Her first friend was a giant who washed up on the island and taught her how to laugh. But the World Government outlawed the language of the poneglyphs and learning about the true history. And so, they wiped her island clean off the map in an act called a Buster Call, and every single person but Robin was died. Desperate to capture her, they placed a 79,000,000 bounty on her head when she was only 8 years old, dubbed her a "devil child" and claimed she destroyed several marine battleships. For nearly 20 years she ran from organization to organization, only for all of them to betray her and try and turn her in.

While sailing with Luffy, it was the happiest she had ever been. Despite being an enemy just weeks earlier, they accepted her. Even when she was injured by another enemy, Zoro was pissed on her behalf. SO when the World Government finally caught up with her and blackmailed her into helping them while threatening to enact a Buster Call on the Strawhats (and an innocent island) she agreed to go along with them, even trying to sacrifice her own life so that the Strawhats can escape.

Of course, Luffy declared war on the Government and made Robin admit she didn't want to die, she wanted to live.

Robin is smart, capable, caring, funny, and strong. She just wants to learn history and have a family, and she suffered for years before she was finally able to be free enough to do so. She is a strong fighter because she had to be, and she is completely willing to became a monster and protect her friends. She hasn't been in many fights, but she won all of the ones she was in. She wasn't fooled by mind games and magic of enemies in Wano, and kept a calm and collected head. She is a skilled historian, archaeologist, osteologists, assassin, espionage, linguistics, and was a popular geisha. For most of the series she held the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, highest bounties in the crew. When an enemy threatened the crew, a different enemy pointed out that, (at least, With Luffy not there) Zoro and Robin were labeled as the strongest and most threatening members of the crew, capable of killing an enemy before the rest of the crew were even aware of the threat. Oh, and she has a demon form.

Other Female Characters: Kiku/O-Kiku/Kikunojo of the Fallen Snow

A canonical transgender women who is also a samurai. She is completely accepted for who she is by everyone in the story, and is another strong and capable female character. She is shy and tries to keep a low profile (despite being 8 feet tall), but is more than willing to defend the weak and win back her home island.

The original ask mentioned healers, and there isn't a whole lot of female doctors/healers in One Piece but there is Dr. Kureha. Kureha is the oldest human character, wears crop tops in winter, and will beat Luffy with a rubber chicken and an axe for calling her old. She taught Chopper everything he knows. She is crotchety and stingy, but an amazing doctor and a professional.

Boa Hancock:

Yes she is the most beautiful woman in the world, and yes, her design leaves some to be desired. But she is also a rape victim and a former slave, she hates men, and runs an empire of female pirates. She shows kindness to Luffy once he establishes he holds no sexual desire for her and wanted so save the lives of people he just met.

Other Notable Female Designs

The first mermaid we meet is Kokoro:

Dadan is Luffy's adopted mom who raised 3 feral boys and is the leader of a band of mountain bandits:

Big Mom is one of the strongest female pirates in the series and has dozens of children:

Vice Admiral Tsuru is one of the strongest female marines:

Boa Sandersonia and Marigold, Hancock's sister with the same backstory :

Lola, one of Nami's friends:

Other Gender Stuff:

Ivankov and Inazuma who are genderfluid, and Ivankov is the Queen of an island of queer people

Bonclay who is genderqueer, refered to as both male and female

And Morley who is also transfem

Despite the character designs, One Piece has some of the best written female characters, even if at first glance they may seem like stereotypical shonen women, they hold much more complexity to them. They aren't all damsels in distress, but their strength goes beyond just being able to kick ass. They are kind and compassionate, and they kindness are rarely seen as a weakness. They are smart and experts in their fields of study, which is wide and varied, from history, cartography, science, and medicine. There are several female rulers of their countries, including Hancock, Vivi, and Big Mom. There is a variety of body types and faces, even if they are lacking in compared to male characters. All of their backstories are unique, fleshed out, and has an impact on their characters and their character arcs.

Did I spend two hours typing a 2000+ word essay on women and started to lose steam? Yes. Am I passionate about female characters in One Piece? Also yes. Can you tell I'm very gay for these characters? Probably. Am I sorry to the mod/followers for the long post? Eh, y'all asked for this lmao. Did I catch all the spelling mistakes in my frantically written essay. Maybe

For context, they are responding to this post about Nami and Robin

I don't have anything else to add other than great work

[lakesbian]

i have had like 10 friends rec worm to me but nobody’s given me a good like, gist of its vibe and what its abt because ‘its best blind’, could u please give a like brief summary and vibe check of it 😭 it’s so long i dont wanna try and invest that much time without knowing much abt it

so, worm is a 1.7 million word long webserial written in 2010. 1.7 million words seems like a lot, but it was also written over a relatively short period of time, which means the writing style is very easy to parse--the ideas aren't without complexity, but the language itself isn't intimidatingly dense. you can get through it at a very decent pace. i agree with your friends that there are vast portions of worm that hit best when you're unspoiled, but the thing is that worm is long enough that giving you the basic plot pitch is in no way spoilers for any of the things that i wouldn't want to see spoiled for someone. i'm actually kind of baffled they're not telling you Any Thing, because it is in my estimation one of the best books i've ever read, but it also Needs a briefing before you get into it for like five different reasons. which i will now provide. i swear to god this is brief by my standards it's just that i am very thorough

worm is a story about superheroes and supervillains, set in a world where superpowers are traumagenic--rather than appearing randomly or innately, some people gain powers after a traumatizing event happens to them. the protagonist is taylor hebert, a 15yo girl who has the power to control insects and desperately wants to be a superhero. and then accidentally finds herself scouted by a team of teenage villains instead. who's to say how she's going to react to all that!

one of the most compelling things about worm is that the superpowers in it serve as visceral, hyper-literal metaphors for the trauma and traumatized coping mechanisms of the characters with those powers. each power is incredibly specific and thematically relevant to the person who has it, and it's incredibly interesting and evocative. it feels so natural and well-done that it comes off like how superpowers are just meant to be written.

the fact that superpowers stem from trauma also means that worm is fundamentally a narrative about trauma. specifically, about traumatized teenagers and the relationships they form as they cling together while struggling through growing up traumatized & mutually coping with an increasingly intriguing, intense, and far-reaching escalating plot. worm's depictions of trauma + mental illness--including unpalatable trauma responses, including traumatized characters who are allowed to be complicated and nuanced and messy while still receiving narrative respect--are deeply real-feeling and impactful, and they're placed in the context of a well-spun + engaging story.

i really do have to stress how excellent the character writing is. worm is fully deserving of being as long as it is. over the course of 1.7 million words of character development, the average reader's reaction to the main characters goes from "sorta interesting" to "okay, i want to see where this goes" to "augh...really likable" to "i am now on hands and knees crying and these characters are going to stick around in my brain forever." wildbow has incredible talent for efficiently conveying complicated, real-feeling, and viscerally evocative characterization. many of the interlude chapters (chapters written from the perspective of different characters other than taylor) are so interesting, fleshed-out, and emotionally affecting that they make you wish you could read an entire novel about just the side character being featured. with that level of characterization for just the side cast, it's not surprising that taylor (& co) are genuinely just downright iconic. and i do not say that lightly--taylor is truly one of the best-written protagonists i've seen in anything. ever.

the other main pitch-point for worm is that it's a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction/examination of the conceits of the superhero genre. it answers the question of--what would the world have to be like, for people with superpowers to act the way they do in classic cape media? and it does this well enough that it's interesting even if you have only a passing familiarity with cape media. i am not a big superhero media fan, but worm addresses virtually every aspect of cape media that was under the sun around 2010 in a way that's so interesting i still find it incredibly engaging. the approach it takes makes the narrative very accessible even to people who aren't usually cape media fans.

and speaking of the narrative: the end of the story is coherent and satisfying and deeply thematically resonant*. the way worm follows through on all of its main mysteries & plot threads is excellent. you don't have to worry about getting thru 1.7 million words and being dissatisfied by the author shitting the bed at the end, or anything like that. he does an amazing job of weaving together plot events in a way that makes each successive one feel rationally, thematically, and emotionally connected to what came before. there's really only one part where i feel the story stumbles a bit, but i think it was the best option he had for the narrative, and it's by no means a dealbreaker. it's in fact really impressive how cohesive and satisfying worm is for such a long webserial released over such a brief period of time.

*this is subjective ive seen some people who didnt love it but ive never seen anyone who downright Hated it who didnt also demonstrate egregious misunderstanding of literally everything worm is about. so thats a good sign

as for the downsides of worm/things that might put you off:

there is a very long list of trigger warnings for it. if you have any trigger warnings you want you should ask your friends to let you know about the relevant parts, because the fact that it's About Trauma (& about typical cape media circumstances presented very seriously) means that traumatic and violent things & their realistic aftermath are constantly happening and/or being discussed. i would not classify worm as needlessly dark or spiteful to the audience by any means, but it is intense and covers a lot of heavy topics. i do assume if your friends are all recommending it to you, they think none of the material would be too much for you, though!

worm was written in 2010 by a white cishet guy from canada. it's typical levels of 2010-era bigoted, it has a deeply lesbophobic stereotype character, it has some atrociously racist stereotype characters, the author really hates addicts, It's Got Blind Spots. i think worm is generally fully worth reading despite these, but very fair warning that it can get bad. i think what exacerbates this is that worm is generally extremely nuanced & sympathetic regarding ideas such as "crime is a result of systematic circumstance vs people just being inherently evil" and "mentally ill people who are traumatized in unpalatable ways are still deserving of fundamental respect as human beings" and so on and so forth, so it's extra noticeable and insufferable when you get to a topic the author has unexamined biases on and all that nuance drops out. the worst part is that a lot of this is most concentrated in the early arcs, so you have to get through them without being super attached to any of the characters yet. it is worth it though.

worm like. Does have a central straight relationship in it. and it's a very well written straight relationship for the most part and i like it quite a lot. but worm also passes the bechdel test with such flying colors that it enters 'unintentionally homoerotic' territory. which means a lot of people were shipping the main character ms taylor hebert with her female friends while the story was being released. which caused the author to get so mad he 1. posted a word of god to a forum loudly insisting that all of the girls are straight and 2. inserted a few deeply awkward and obvious and out of character scenes where he finds an excuse for the girls to more or less turn to the camera and go "i'm not gay, btw. this is platonic." This is fucking insufferable, and will piss you off immensely, but then you will get to any of the number of deeply emotionally affecting scenes between them, and at that point you will be too busy sniffling piteously and perhaps crytyping an analysis post on tumblr to be mad about all that other shit. also they're only a couple tiny portions out of an entire overall fantastic novel

overall: if those points don't sound like dealbreakers (i hope they aren't they're really massively outstripped by the amount of devastatingly good moments in worm, worm still has a thriving fandom over a decade later for a reason), you should absolutely give it a shot and see what you think. my final note is that you have to read up until the end of arc 8 to really see where what makes worm Worm kicks in, so aim for at least there to see how you feel about it if you're just thinking about dipping your toes in vs fully committing. i hope that was helpful and not too long :)

oh and don't go in the comments section on wordpress if you don't want spoilers. or anywhere else in the fandom at all. you will be spoiled. quite possibly for things you could not even have imagined were topics to be spoiled on.

[insanityclause]

EXCLUSIVE: One year ago we told you that a second season of John le Carré adaptation The Night Manager was quietly being developed under the codename Steelworks.

Now, Deadline can reveal that the BBC and new co-pro partner Amazon have gone big on a supercharged two-season order of the thriller, with Tom Hiddleston returning to lead, Hugh Laurie coming back as EP and with a new director in I Hate Suzie’s Georgi Banks-Davies. A third season has also been greenlit. David Farr returns as writer and Stephen Garrett is showrunner.

The Night Manager Season 2 will begin filming later this year and will pick up with Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine eight years after the explosive finale of Season 1, going beyond the original book, which was written by the celebrated British writer in 1993. Additional plot details are being kept under wraps and there is not yet confirmation as to whether EP Laurie’s Richard Roper, who was last seen in the back of a paddy wagon driven by arms buyers who were not best pleased with him, will return to star. Hiddleston will also EP and will discuss in more depth on tonight’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Produced by The Ink Factory in association with Character 7, Demarest Films and 127 Wall, and in co-production with Spanish partner Nostromo Pictures, The Night Manager Season 2 was sold to Amazon by Fifth Season. The first was co-produced with AMC.

New director Banks-Davies, a BAFTA-nominee who takes over from Susanne Bier, has credits including I Hate Suzie, Garfield and upcoming Netflix series Kaos.

The Night Manager Season 1 was a huge success, watched by millions and winning multiple BAFTAs, Emmys and Golden Globes including best actor for Hiddleston. Also starring Tom Hollander, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki, it followed Pine – who ran a luxury hotel in Cairo – as he attempted to infiltrate the inner circle of Roper’s crime syndicate after being hired by Foreign Office task force manager Angela Burr.

The first season was commissioned more than 10 years ago and the show has since been remade in India, lapping the UK version by swiftly having a Season 2 greenlit for Disney+ Hotstar in May last year.

Simon Cornwell and Stephen Cornwell, le Carré’s sons who run The Ink Factory, said Season 1 proved “a landmark moment for the golden era of television – uniting on-screen and behind-the-camera talent at the top of their game – and an audience reception which was beyond our wildest imagining.”

They added: “Revisiting the story of Pine also means going beyond the events of John le Carré’s original work: that is a decision we have not taken lightly, but his compelling characters and the vision David has for their next chapter were irresistible.”

Amazon MGM Studios Head of Television Vernon Sanders said: “We are elated to bring additional seasons of The Night Manager to our Prime Video customers. The combination of terrific source material, the wonderful team at The Ink Factory, a great writer in David Farr, an award-winning director in Georgi Banks-Davies, as well as the talented cast truly make the series the full package.”

Hiddleston said: “The first series of The Night Manager was one of the most creatively fulfilling projects I have ever worked on. The depth, range and complexity of Jonathan Pine was, and remains, a thrilling prospect.”

BBC content boss Charlotte Moore added: “After years of fervent speculation I’m incredibly excited to confirm that The Night Manager is returning to the BBC for two more series.”

The Night Manager series two is created and executive produced by Farr, based on the characters created by le Carré. Additional executive producers include Garrett for Character 7, Banks-Davies, Laurie and Hiddleston; Joe Tsai and Arthur Wang for 127 Wall; Stephen and Simon Cornwell, Michele Wolkoff, and Tessa Inkelaar for The Ink Factory; Adrián Guerra for Nostromo Pictures; William D. Johnson for Demarest Films, Nick Cornwell, Susanne Bier, Chris Rice for Fifth Season and Gaynor Holmes for the BBC.

[deirdra-hearts-nadia]

I've been thinking about the fandom for The Arcana, and I have come to the conclusion that it's weird as hell. In my 20+ years participating in online fandom spaces, I've never seen a fandom quite like this one. I've seen drama, sure, but the core of most fandoms is a large community of people who love the same media and come together to celebrate it.

The Arcana fandom is not like that. From the very beginning we're more fractured, more factional, more fragile than most. You just have to look around at all the posts lamenting the death of the fandom every 2 weeks to see that something is really wrong here.

And I think a lot of it has to do with the nature of the canon. I am not saying this to criticize The Arcana, the devs, Dorian, or my fellow fans. I have just noticed that, as a piece of media, this game occupies a very unique space that is reflected in the way its fans interact with canon and with each other.

Welcome to the TED talk ain't none of y'all asked for.

Part of what makes this fandom unique is the evolution of fandom as a whole in the face of new types of media. As gaming becomes more mainstream and games themselves become more complex, the way we engage has necessarily changed in response.

Books/ movies/ shows are slightly more static in terms of canon than video games; canon is what it is and how you interact with what is there is largely to do with who you are. Everyone has the same base material to engage with, and that results in a certain amount of constancy. You can't interact with The Princess Bride in a way that changes the movie, only in ways that change your own perception. There isn't a whole lot of room for OCs without rewriting canon, so fans tend to consume OC-based fiction and art with the assumption that it's likely to be self-insert wish fulfillment fantasy time. That isn't always true, but there is a reason the term Mary Sue was coined.

Otome games and other choice-based video games make a very different fan environment, because the way you interact with canon is completely different. You have to build a character in order to interact with the story, and your choices directly impact your experience of canon.

But most western choice-based games are in the context of a larger RPG universe, e.g. Fallout or Dragon Age. There is a lot more to the story than the romance plot and so there's a lot more world to experience, contextualize, and build upon. There's certainly plenty of unhinged ShepxGarrus erotica, but there's also an abundance of fanworks that engage with the plot, the worldbuilding, and the canon characters with relatively little of the player's character needing to be on the page at all.

By contrast, most otome games that make it to English-speaking fandom spaces are Japanese. The romance is the point, but we also start from a place of wariness of our fellow fans. Because there's a huge difference between "harmless weeb" and "orientalist fetishizing creepo," and you know going in that both ends of the spectrum are possible, there is an amount of caution. We curate our space, looking for the creators who align with our expectations and values before we ever begin to interact.

The Arcana falls in a very unique and odd space because it is an otome, but made by Americans, with an attempt at a diverse fantasy cast. It's intended to be for American/ English-speaking audiences and is marketed as such. But making a romance game in America is challenging. Our way of approaching online media, especially smartphone-accessible media, is super fucked up, right? We are constantly trapped between the dichotomies of moral duty (Must Protect The Children) versus appealing to the customer base (Boom Anime Babes with Tig Ol Bitties). Because this is a mobile game, the developers can't make money if the game is removed from the app store, so they want it to be rated teen at the most. But the enticing bit, the thing that captures a potential fan's attention, is the flirtation and sexy implications. So from the jump they're in a weird space purely because they chose to make a mobile game instead of an indie video game released on Steam or similar.

So now you have an inherently split audience: mature adults who know they're getting into a potentially explicit romance game, and young adults/teens who have grown up in a more insulated internet culture where normal words are replaced with Orwellian doublespeak, like "unalive" and "spicy time".

THEN you add in the fact that the developers tried to build a diverse fantasy world, which is a fantastic idea both from an inclusionary standpoint and a broader audience standpoint. But because they didn't employ any actual sensitivity readers (did they think they didn't need them because fantasy can't have racism? Did they justify it as not being in the budget? Would love to know what's going on there) they fell right into a lot of the classic traps. We've been over these time and again, so I won't get into them here. Suffice to say, there has been Discourse. The presence of those issues means that more experienced fans will see those things and call them out, and that criticism causes even more of a split: the zealous apologists versus the critics. And critics can fall into two further categories: those who love the canon and want to see it do better, and the bitches who just love having something to bitch about.

Unfortunately, this combination means that there are inherently factions to this fandom, with staunchly opposed approaches to the media. So even before you enter a fandom space, it's already wildly fractured simply because of the nature of base canon.

THEN add to that the fact that this game is a dating sim. And to engage with a dating sim, you have to build a character and make choices based on that character. Some people will approach this work as storytelling, and some will approach it as an escapist expression of self. Neither of these ways of engaging with canon is wrong. Enjoying a dating sim as Me But Better is fun and completely valid! Engaging with a dating sim as a storyteller collaborating with the developers is fun and completely valid! But the two approaches are opposed in purpose, and that can make it difficult for the two types of fans to engage with one another's work.

Storytellers will well and truly invest in building a character. They may even build out communities, countries, cultures, and languages to make their world all the richer. They are investing hours of blood, sweat, and tears into Their Craft, pouring themselves into an opus of quality fanwork. Unfortunately, this can sometimes lead to big feelings. Fan artists and writers may feel underappreciated if all they get out of their hard work is 2 likes and a gif of a wolf making AWOOGA eyes. They may feel that critique of their work is unwarranted, or that there's no point creating if no one will engage.

The romantics will engage with canon and fanwork from the perspective that "this is my fantasy romance time". Their OC isn't so much Original Character as Optimized Characteristics--that is, their perfect self. They are here for wish fulfillment fun times in the relative privacy and anonymity of the internet, and good for them! But that may mean that criticism of canon or their fan work feels excessively personal--it is very hard to detach the ego from the OC when that OC is a projection of your best self. They may view any critique as a personal attack as opposed to a good-faith attempt at engagement or conversation. This can lead to defensiveness, or to leaving the fandom outright if it feels too hostile.

Unfortunately all of these factions cause rifts in the community. This sometimes turns into fandom vigilantism, where people begin to see any fan who doesn't wholeheartedly agree with them as an enemy. I've seen friends experience bullying and cruelty over their OCs and their art. I've seen predators use the isolated nature of the fandom to further isolate and prey upon already vulnerable individuals. I've seen some really shitty stuff.

But I have also seen beautiful community flourish. I've made friends who feel more like family than my actual relatives. I've seen people work through struggles and overcome deliberate attempts to tear us apart, finding forgiveness and friendship along the way. I've seen myself and others grow because of the community and inspiration we found here. And I saw all of that because I found my people. And I hope, Arcana fandom, that the rest of you can find your people too.

[20kmemesunderthesea]

AMC's Nautilus

Action, political intrigue, plot twists and a healthy amount of sea monster skirmishes:

These are just some of the many reason why even those unfamiliar with the works of Jules Verne will find "Nautilus" to be an engaging SciFi adventure series.

Here are my (spoiler-free) thoughts on the show.

Note: as I write this, "Nautilus" is airing only on SVT: This is How I Watched it Living Outside of Sweden

When I heard that there was going to be a TV series about Captain Nemo's backstory, I was mightily aprehensive. The main reason for this apprehension was the mere fact that Captain Nemo's past is so dark and tragic. Thankfully, the series begins after the horrific events of the 1857 rebellion and just as the Nautilus is launched. What happened to Nemo's family is shown in flashbacks which explain the events without being graphic.

When I began the show, I honestly had very low expectations. I didn't really expect to like it. To my delighted asonishment, it turned out to be one of the best film tributes to Jules Verne I've ever seen - no hyperbole.

Throughout the series, there are fight scenes, periodic depictions of people bleeding and a couple "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" innuendo jokes, so I wouldn't watch it with a small child, but I think it would be appropriate to watch with most young teenagers (13+).

I believe both well-read Jules Verne fans and those who've hardly heard the name "Captain Nemo" will enjoy the intriguing storyline, likable characters and aesthetic scenery. There are many other factors which made me fall in love with "Nautilus" as well:

The Man of the Seas

The character of Captain Nemo has always facinated me. I was blown away by how perfectly and accurately Captain Nemo was portrayed in this series. Shazad Latif, in my opinion, is an immaculate Captain Nemo and he really brought the character to life with all his complexities. Out of all the film portrayals of Captain Nemo I've seen, I'd have to say his has been by far my favorite.

Tributes to Indian History and Culture

I'm American an my husband is Indian. He and I were both very impressed with the way in which Indian culture and history were presented. I want to see more shows like this to teach our son about his heritage. 

Many of the action scenes reminded me of South Indian cinema. In one episode there is a scene where the Nautilus crew is playing cricket against some Englishmen, which may seem a little disconnected from the rest of the story, but Bollywood fans may recognize it as a delightful tribute to "Lagaan."

The Writers Were Well-Verse in Vernian Lore

Although the story wasn't 100% accurate to the book, the writers obviously had read Verne's books and knew the nuances of Nemo's story and background quite throughly.

There were certain details which made me excited, such as when Nemo has an enigmatic exchange with an Englishman in which they greet each other warmly and seem to be thanking each other for...something. Nemo ends the conversation by saying, "Give my regards to Phileas!"

In Verne's other classic, "Around the World in 80 Days," Princess Aouda is the widow of the Raj of Bundelkhand. Since Jules Verne often dropped little hints that his books existed in the same universe, I always wondered if Aouda and Nemo were distantly related, since Bundelkhand is Nemo's kingdom of origin.

A question is posed: in this conversation, was Nemo thanking the Foggs for saving someone he cared about? This is the first time I've ever seen anyone address the detail that Aouda and Nemo might be relatives.

Tributes to the artwork of Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou

I noticed several shots which were obvious tributes to the first-edition illustrations of Jules Verne's classics, such as Captain Nemo standing on the submarine deck with his spyglass, and the map of Lincoln Island on a cave wall. Those details absolutely thrilled me! 

Everything I've Ever Wanted in a Verne-Inspired TV Series - Except for That Cliffhanger!

Everything about this show absolutely floored me. It was everything I could have hoped for in a Captain Nemo TV series...and then it ended.

Such a well-done series ending with fairly significant loose ends felt like a punch in the gut more forceful than the maelstrom itself. I've been trying not to let it overshadow the rest of the show. I wish with all my heart that there could be a season two!

If anyone's curiosity gets the better of them, I compiled a list HERE of questions I desperately want to know the answers to. I hope someone may be able to answer my questions one day!

I want NEED more!

While I'm still coping with my post-series let down, I find myself pining away for more shows like this; shows based off of classic adventure novels which honor the spirit of the origional author.

I want shows which are imaginative, exciting and engaging, but have snippets of real-life science, culture and history woven in. Incidentally, I daresay these are the same elements which make the stories of Jules Verne himself so timeless.

[trustywukkiii]

Im such a SUCKER for the characterization of Dungeon Meshi. Ryoko Kui and her editor Hiroi Masaru are incredibly great at subverting character tropes and archetypes with a perfect balance of strengths and weakness.

LAIOS to a bystanding viewer could easily seem like a himbo. He’s strong, a little bigger than average with his BMI at 26, and capable at fighting, but his lack of social skills is a BIG weakness. The thing is, that doesn’t make him unintelligent. Whereas himbos are just handsome goofs, his autistic coding is written so maturely. Although he can’t pick up on social cues, what makes up for it is his knowledge on monsters. His book-smarts sets him apart from the himbo spectrum. Regarding his past as revealed by the Winged Lion, Laios is a fairly flawed man who has complex desires. He just happens to be incredibly appealing. I love Laios.

FALIN, admittedly can be seen as a beacon-of-hope-damsel-in-distress that centers the entire plot and conflict. But what deepens her character is the additional conflict and consequence of resurrecting her, turning her into a Chimera. Her time as a Chimera can place her as morally gray, since she’s not actively thinking on her own accord during the confrontation with Laios’, Toshiro’s and Kabru’s parties. (Should also mention that scene where she doesn’t care where she teleports the crew as long as they were safe, even if it meant at the cost of hurting others.) She may be a beacon of hope, but only to the main cast. During her childhood, she wasn’t praised and treated like a princess by everyone. Falin is a fairly beloved woman in need of saving AND stopping, for she is capable of many scary things.

MARCILLE, oh Marcille is my favorite subversion. So easily can she be seen as the clumsy fanservice nerdy lady who complains about every single thing. But no, she’s metal as all hell. First off, she may be clumsy as is established by Chilchuck, but thank god she’s not sexualized. No fanservice in SIGHT. The only attractive thing I see is her strength in magic. She’s incredibly smart but in a way that is not universally approved. Her ancient magic and selfish nature to resurrect Falin through whatever means makes her so mature and powerful. Plus, her complaints with eating monsters are pretty valid. They’re not out of childishness, and she eventually gets used to it anyway. She is so so so complex in nature. She’s a scary elf lady but also incredibly endearing towards the people she loves the most to the point she can’t EVER comprehend the idea of losing them. Marcille is the epitome of “whatever it takes.”

CHILCHUCK very carefully bypasses that “small but a million times older than you expected” trope in lots of shows/animes. Being a half-foot, he’s usually babied by Marcille and Senshi. Despite this, that man so blatantly acts his age as a father of three: he has a habit of drinking, cusses a lot, acts the most reasonable out of the party, and he’s overall just so.. questionable, considering that “other plans” joke he did about Toshiro towards his party. Despite all these flaws, Chilchuck is just trying to do his job. He’s quite knowledgeable and responsibly when it comes to his work and adventuring with party members. He just happens to be a divorcee father.

SENSHI surprised me the most. He’s set up to be such a knowledgeable father figure to the cast. He’s incredibly caring of the dungeon and the habitants, and he cares for the “young-ins” like a good father should. He could easily pass with that trope, it’s not a bad one, but they decided to dig him deeper with his traumatic past. I’ve read another’s blog that describes him as just another kid at heart who is happy to have friends and it wrecks me. He may act overprotective and help guide the others, but he certainly doesn’t knowing EVERYTHING. Senshi is a man with the sincere intentions of protecting his friends, he just has a misguided sense.

IZUTSUMI I’m sure has been covered already by someone on here but she incredibly stomps away from the catgirl stereotypes of acting cute and cuddly. She’s aggressive, mean and loud. Only time she acts kitty-like is subtly— she likes sleeping on top of Chilchuck. Besides, she doesn’t really want to be a beastman. It’s her whole arc. You would have expected so much fanservice from her if this was a completely different show. Thank god, that’s not the case. Izutsumi is just a kid who knows what she wants albeit not gently, but she’s still a caring individual who is in the journey of exploring her freedom.

And KABRU is a funny case. His first introduction has a beautiful way of setting him up as a perfect leader, y’know, just that average “I’m effortlessly strong and witted and will rid of all evil” trope. Reality is poor Kabru lacks experience. He may have perceptive abilities, but throughout the early parts of DunMeshi, his party is shown to be easily taken down by monsters. Regarding how he and Laios are meant to be each other’s foils, Kabru’s strong advantages come at the price of his lack of knowledge in monsters. He just HATES them. Social cues are his own special interest. Kabru has the valid motivations, he just unfortunately doesn’t have the power to execute them.

This is my own little love letter to Dungeon Meshi. I love the characters so much, and I wanted to give praise to its writing that I can easily tell came from love and care. If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking around! I love rambling about this beautiful world. I’m sure I’ve missed a few facts here and there, so let me know what you all think!

[thereisnolumos]

darklina thoughts: I wanted to get into the shadow and bone Fandom(books and show) because of the amazing gif set of the darklina kiss I saw

Like who are these two that are sharing such a beautiful kiss. And look so aesthically pleasing together with the darkness and light vibes. I was so excited to find out who these two were because these kind of ships are my everything. Than I find out and 😨😱😤😠🤬!!!!! It was like running full steam a head with tons of excitement and crashing face first into a wall when I find out everything about this Fandom. Both about the books and show. The author and this beautiful ship. And I'm like God why do authors do this ship. Tease us with everything we want and the full potential. But than do a completely one 80 and waste are time on things we don't care about, or find insulting or toxic, and tells us are tastes are dumb and toxic. So now I just read fics and look at beautiful art of Darklina and the potential they could have been. It's just so annoying because this stuff happens all the time!!! And don't get me started on what I heard about the author. I don't know if their true. And wish I could find out real stuff about her. But if it is. God she is so messed up for doing this to us.

I only got in the fandom bcs I randomly saw a teaser for the first season and Ben Barnes was there in all his dark glory. I knew nothing about the books, but the way that show was promoted I was expecting the epic dark romance, villain who’s not really a villain gets the girl all the vibe. Plus cool world build and complicated detailed story overall.

I got none of that.

That show was interesting and hopeful for the first 5 episodes (we will always have 1x05🖤). It wasn’t as detailed and complex as I expected, but it had potential and the main pair - the one they based THE ENTIRE promotion on by the way - was having one of the most fiery and spark inducing chemistry I’ve ever seen on the screen, so I kept my hopes up for the overall plot and focused on them. And then… then they backpedaled SO HARD on everything that made that show interesting for the broad audience, I wonder how they didn’t give themselves a whiplash… though considering the horrible quality of s2 they probably did

Though I didn’t like the way s1 ended, I still thought there is hope, and “we need a conflict for our main pair, I guess”. I truly, wholeheartedly believed that creators and writers of the show are not complete idiots and know how to read the room and what the most of their audience is there for, so that’s what they’ll deliver. But oh my, how wrong I was.

The second season is downright unwatchable with how horrifyingly terrible it is. I only suffered through the entire thing for Ben, who, bless his heart, tried his hardest to deliver the complexity and depth of his character, who he only agreed to play if they “won���t make him a cardboard villain”. And they did exactly that in s2, or tried to, bcs Ben Barnes and his talent didn’t let them, despite all their efforts. The rest of the cast I guess didn’t have enough experience to fix the worst writing imaginable with their acting, so most of the characters became absolutely bland and uninteresting and SO IDIOTICALLY STUPUD, I yelled at them constantly, scaring my cat the entire time.

Also, as much as I understand it from exploring the fandom, the creators and writers of the show are die hard fans of the Crows, and they don’t actually like Alina’s trilogy at all. So… why didn’t they just do the books they wanted I’ll never know. Instead, they forced the Crows in the plot they were never a part of (making all of them okay with selling a girl to slavery in the process. Despite one of them being the former slave and the other one being the one who got her out of it… make it make sense, I beg of you), in the second season they wasted SO MUCH time on their plot lines that 1)didn’t matter one bit for the overall story, 2)were absolutely uninteresting to everyone who isn’t the Crows fan beforehand. In the end we got half-assed Alina and Aleksander’s story with half-assed Crows’ story. They should’ve just made the Crows show, without touching Alina and Aleksander

I haven’t read the books, but from what I gathered in the fandom, though still committing the same sin of putting all the promotion and marketing into the Dark romance trope without actually delivering on it, and force feeding the fans one of the worst and most toxic pairings ever with Malina, at least Alina and Aleksander’s characters weren’t made so cardboard and stupid, and there was tragedy in their story, not the shit that they gave us in s2. Though I absolutely DESPISE the fact that Alina looses her powers in the end and goes on to live Mal’s dream life… Like WHAT THE FUCK?? What levels of internalized misogyny do you need to have as a woman, to write this plot line for your female protagonist???? I can’t.

On Mal’s toxicity: at least that made him a fleshed out character in the books. Absolutely horrible one, how could the author make him “get the girl” is beyond me. But at least he had a personality, however terrible one. In the show, I guess understanding, that no one would root for that asshole, they removed his toxicity almost completely, but that made him as bland as stale porridge. There wasn’t ANYTHING left on his character. At all. How anyone could’ve rooted for him I absolutely refuse to understand. Any woman deserved better than Blade😈

I don’t know anything about Leigh Bardugo, except for the fact that she butcher my native language and makes me furious. If you don’t know the language at least on a medium level, perhaps don’t use it in your books. Or at least hire someone who does. The way she butchered it, I’m not sure she even used Google translate…

So yeah, I’m with you on only reading Darklina fanfics and admiring fan art. I’m not at all sad that they cancelled the show, and I’m even giddy that those creators and writers didn’t get their wet dream of the Crows spin off. They didn’t deserve it after the shit they pulled in the second season. I do hope that they won’t ruin any other shows in the future. I am sad for the actors, who deserved much better and who were actually good at their parts, while the writing was okay. Poor Archie Renaux suffered the most, his character didn’t have good writing at all, not for a single scene. I hope we’ll see more of all of them.

And we need Ben and Jessie to do a film together. Preferably a rom com, but I’m not picky. Just that their characters are together. Such chemistry can’t be wasted

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card Trivia 2 ~ Alice in Clockland and its meaning in Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

"But in the end...what the heck was that 'Clockland' ?"

Raise your hand if you have thought so at least once! If you did, then welcome to one of the posts of my Clear Card trivia series, an unexpected one I have to say, because I had scheduled to write other posts before tackling this one, but today I suddenly realized, thanks to a conversation in a community, that probably this aspect of the series takes precedence over other things.

I've seen countless of people confused over this matter ever since the play started in the plot, and everybody knows that usually when things get unexpectedly complex, they are quick to be labeled as "useless" and "nonsense".

No, Alice in Clockland isn't just a flex on CLAMP's outstanding drawing skills, it isn't useless, it is very much connected to the plot and DOES have a meaning.

Now that the main story is over, I would like to tackle this issue. I don't presume to have the Big Truth in my pocket, especially cause Ohkawa-sensei was quite eloquent in her recent public speeches: a motto she's going by is "If you think so, then it's surely true....for you", but I feel like the way I understood and reconnected the whole play and the consequent events inside Momo's book do work out pretty well, so I'll just do what I usually do: I'll write my own interpretation out here, hoping that people reading it will find it useful, will find the right angle to look at all this part of the story, and have some of their frustrations with this arc sedated. And maybe share it around to help other people too.

I just want to get my voice out there so that no one can say "no one understood it".

Of course the text below is full of spoilers if you haven't read the chapters from 64-ish / volume 13, also I will talk assuming you know what is Kaito's plan and what feelings moved him to think such plan.

Then, if you're ready, let's proceed to see in details what this is all about, starting from the play.

The Alice In Clockland Play

Let's start from the fact that the play is based on Alice Through The Looking Glass, and that is because….well, Alice in Wonderland is Ohkawa's most beloved book, so she really feels connected to it (and as you might know, this isn't CLAMP's first title inspired in Alice in Wonderland). It's just a preference, but for example many other books are referenced in this arc (as you might know from my other post in the Clear Card Trivia series) particularly "Momo" by Michael Ende (yeah, Akiho chose Momo's name from that book!).

The play (first called "The Two Alice" and then at last minute "Alice in Clockland") is undoubtedly the focal point of the second half of Clear Card. It's during the play that Kaito starts the final stage of his plan (and succeeds). But not only that, the plot of the play itself offers a good foreshadowing to what's going to happen to a certain someone later on. CLAMP used the "parallels" structure a lot in this arc, because it enhances the feeling of interconnection between the characters. "I understand what you're going through because the same happened to me". Sakura is an extremely empathetic character so that fits her and her world perfectly.

So the plot of the play Naoko wrote is quite simple: there are these two twin sisters who get separated by supernatural reasons and one of them ends up lost in another world, becoming Queen of it and forgetting completely about her family of origin. In the play they're both called Alice because of the imagery that twins are initially one same being that gets divided in two… Even the family of origin forgets about the lost daughter, but somehow their feelings for her never get erased, and they keep a chair (which stays empty) at their table. It's like they're feeling that someone is missing and are waiting for her to return, even if they don't really know it. One day, a magical black cat gets to meet the Alice who stayed in her world and ends up guiding her to a magical land: his goal is to lead her to meet her lost sister and reunite them. After wandering for a while. Alice finds her sister/Queen of that land, and touching her hands she suddenly remembers who she is, and what she herself came here for, which is to bring her back home. The two go back home together and we reach the happy ending of the play (which we could only see in the rewritten world, but surely followed the scenario Naoko had written). The most important message of the play is that even if we forget about someone, feelings cannot be erased and those will lead us back to the person we forgot and to remember about them. (Does this ring a bell..?)

The Actual Clockland

It might be useful to remind you that we're currently dealing with two major magical tools shaped like books, at this point of the story: one is the Book of Time Momo is guarding (to which Akiho gave the title "Alice in Clockland" and which will inspire the title of the play), a magical book capable of recording someone's life and, activating the so-called "Forbidden Magic", rewrite it completely. Another one is the magical artifact, shaped like a book, that was engraved into Akiho's body by her Clan and the Association of Magicians, where any magical book that Akiho reads gets "written down" , to store its magical power for use and consumption of those criminals. There's just one "tiny" problem: the more magic gets written on it, the more the book consumes and suffocates Akiho's soul, till the point of no return where the soul will get destroyed. The Clan and Association prefer this outcome as it would be easier for them to manipulate Akiho as an artifact, devoid of any conscience.

In the middle of the school play, Kaito brings Sakura and Akiho to Clockland, which is a "dimension" existing inside Momo's book, to prepare them for the rewriting of the world that he's going to perform afterwards. This world is built using Sakura, Akiho and Kaito's memories (you can see many elements that appeared in past chapters and that come from their memories, like the botanical garden where they had a double date, or the rose garden where Kaito met Akiho the first time). Another thing to be noted is that Hitsuzen (the force of inevitability that rules CLAMP's manga) facilitated Kaito enormously, so much that many things went exactly as he wished and how it was convenient for him (which isn't a good thing, since this led to a big big mess). So following the school play's roles, here Akiho is the Queen of this land, she's the most important character and it makes sense seeing who Kaito is doing all of this for. Sakura keeps being Alice, just like in the play.

In Clockland, Kaito removes Sakura and Akiho's memories and stores them in the botanical garden. He needs to do that for two reasons:

‐ just like the play, he hopes that Sakura and Akiho will follow along their roles and recognize eachother as sisters ‐ as such, this Clockland works as some kind of "primer" for their brain; ‐ he needs to change and rewrite those memories to make them become sisters later on, so he needs to have them collected in one place.

It is to be noted that Syaoran here is an intruder, Kaito didn't initially account for him to join in, and wanted to take on the role of the cat himself. In the play the cat is the one who leads one of the Alices to find the other one and make them recognize eachother as sisters, so this is the one thing Kaito wants to do and the role he wants to take on for himself. While it's true he takes Syaoran's appearance during the first part, his only goal the whole time was to take on the role of the Cat of the play. If the role had gone to, say, Yamazaki, he would've taken his appearance instead. This is clarified by Momo's "I wish I could've seen you interpret a funny character" line, instead of the cold and serious behavior of the Cat. And his reply, "I would've worked hard, as far as I could" is further confirmation that he would've played any type of personality as long as it was the Cat. This doesn't even affect Sakura, because while being under the effect of his spell, she doesn't recognize Syaoran in him (as she should, since it's not really him). So fundamentally it is to be excluded any intention to "manipulate her" or ease her in with Syaoran's appearance (as I had erroneusly written in a previous version of this post). Realizing the real Syaoran got in, and not wanting to be hindered in his plan, Kaito uses the Mirror Sakura Card as a red herring for the boy. Syaoran, in that regard, even as an intruder ends up achieving a result very in line with his "Cat role", which is to make someone remember (Sakura remembers her identity when he shouts her name). The Clear Cards are inside Clockland because Kaito soon will need to use them to power the forbidden spell. As we know from later events, not all of them are there, and some follow his orders (like Shade), some don't (like all the Cards with appearances of Sakura's loved ones, which are trying to give her hints along the way to wake her subconscious up ‐ this is exactly their role and it worked well because Sakura starts to free herself from the spell Kaito casted to keep her subconscious dormant and to keep her in her "in role", symbolized in the manga by a change of fonts used in the dialogues, a thing that those who have read it in English couldn't recognize because they didn't respect that aspect in the translation).

Another thing that Kaito hopes for, while the two girls interact in this "fairytale" (it is very much considered a fairytale by Kaito, since he calls all of them "characters"), is that Sakura will end up creating the Card he needs to operate the exchange of artifacts between him and Akiho (exchanging his pocket watch for the artifact book inside of her). As we said above, Hitsuzen shamelessly favors him and Sakura does end up creating Exchange at the last minute. Once that is done, Kaito doesn't need to keep them in this Clockland anymore, and by the contract they have, Momo starts to activate the forbidden spell on his request, rewriting everyone's memories to satisfy Kaito's wish to turn Akiho into Sakura's sister after he removed the artifact from her with Exchange.

Now, we know what happened after Kaito activated the forbidden spell. Everyone's memories were rewritten following his wish, and he was turned into a dragon and imprisoned by effect of the Seal of D., which was imposed on him by the Association like some sort of "trap", should he ever mess with Akiho's artifact.

But it's here that the play from above comes back in from the "backdoor", to bring the unexpected parallel: Kaito ends up being the character who's lost in another world and whose existence is totally forgotten by a loved one.

But that loved one got a "memento" of him (the pocket watch, which parallels the role of the chair in the play) and that object causes Akiho to feel strange, to feel like she has to fix it, she's extremely attracted to this pocket watch even if she doesn't know why. In the end, just like in the play, Akiho and Kaito reunite and despite not remembering anything about him, and not even having his true appearance in front of her (cause she meets him as a dragon first), Akiho knows perfectly well that that is the person she loves the most, because her feelings weren't erased (just like in the play).

Sakura's role in the finale ends up being similar to the one of the black cat, making everyone remember who they really are and their connections.

So this is roughly the "significance" of both the play and Clockland in this story. It is to be noted that what happens in Clockland is extremely abstract and full of riddles because Alice in Wonderland + Through The Looking Glass are exactly like that. Have you tried to read the originals by Lewis Carrol? It's quite difficult to follow along and nothing seems to make sense….when actually, with a different reading key, it does. I've had to pause my reading of Through The Looking Glass (that I had started in hope to understand the Clear Card story better) multiple times because it's quite difficult for me to stay focused and understand what's going on. I guess Ohkawa‐sensei wanted to go all out on the references to this story, and give the same narrative vibe. The references of course don't stop at the narrative structure, you can read the others in my post about the literary references that I had linked at the beginning of this post, in the section about Alice in Wonderland.

Kaito's True Feelings

Another thing to be noted about Clockland is that since it's playing a lot with the subconscious of the characters, Kaito's true feelings end up appearing here and there. The Queen's Castle, the most important place, is built on crystals, a reference to his true name (something that Sakura points out immediately and Kaito doesn't reply to, while showing a pensive face). Their memories together are protected and stored inside the botanical garden, once again made of crystals. Sakura hits the bull's eye particularly when she says that the rose garden (where Kaito met Akiho for the first time) feels extremely important to someone (that someone is Kaito, of course), and Kaito (disguised as Syaoran) looks away and urges her to move forward. The "someone" could be interpreted as Akiho too, of course, but the Cat/Kaito's reaction and the fact that the Cards told Sakura that this place is strictly interconnected with someone's "wish", makes me lean more toward Kaito. The garden pavillion appearing with the Repair card is another important place because it's where Lilie told him "you'll find something/someone you'll like, one day". It's quite telling that Sakura, despite not even remembering who she is, is guided by her infinite empathy and recognizes immediately those parts of this land that reveal Kaito's true heart and the core of this whole matter, through the continuous questions she keeps posing to everyone, in a desperate attempt to make sense of what's happening and subconsciously fight the spell that's keeping her in her "role" (she'll do that with Akiho too, later).

It's interesting to note also just how much Hitsuzen played on Kaito's side, guiding Tomoyo's instinct to re-do the outfits for the two Alices and ending up giving to Akiho a serious, dark outfit with a black veil. I remember how me and some friends commented that more than a queen, she looked like a mourning bride. Considering what happened afterwards, the imagery CLAMP chose was pretty spot on. Not only that, but the black veil also served as a metaphor for Kaito keeping Akiho's subconscious dormant, making her act like the role of the play required her to. Needless to say, Akiho was able to slip away from the grasp of that spell basically on her own, without even needing magic, only relying on her strong feelings for Kaito (she didn't even remember her name, but lifting the veil up - a very powerful imagery - she remembered that she had someone she loved, and also Sakura's name. This gets once again conveyed in the Japanese version by the change of fonts in the script). The rose headpiece is also another quite interesting part of the outfit, as Sakura asks to the Cat/Kaito why the roses in the garden are all white, despite being this the Red Queen's land... For sure, that place was referencing the real rose garden where Kaito and Akiho met the first time, where the roses were all white, but that also means that the only Red Rose in that land is....Akiho. I also remind you that the rose headpiece was featured in the color page of chapter 69, with Kaito cradling it in his arms with a sweet smile, as if he were holding something very precious....we could read the color illustration as "that's the only thing he got left of Akiho".

This is the reason why Momo, in a moment where the Alices are on their own, tells Kaito that no matter how much he tries to hide himself behind the Syaoran disguise, his true nature shows up anyway. The whole place is full of elements making reference to very important things in his heart, and his true wish. That is only normal because the whole place is made up of their memories. This is also why Momo says that Kaito gave "all of himself" for the activation of the spell.

Another very interesting part is when Sakura, before meeting the Cat/Kaito, meets her friends Rika, Chiharu, Yamazaki and Naoko in the shape of the corresponding Cards (Appear, Synchronize and True & False). The Cards tell her that what appears in this world depends on what Sakura wishes, but her reply is "This is the Red Queen's land. Shouldn't she be the one to decide what appears here in this world?" which works wonderfully on a metaphorical level to point at how Akiho should be the one deciding what happens from now on, since this place is hers and was built for her alone. Seeing how mad Akiho got at Kaito afterwards for deciding her happiness on her behalf, yes, Sakura's question was pretty legit.

In Clockland we have also lots of meaningful interactions between Sakura and Akiho and words said in conversation that will become absolutely essential to help Sakura reaching the truth in the rewritten world (especially the whole discussion about "memories" and "records"), since they stayed in her heart even with the activation of the forbidden spell.

And I believe this is everything regarding these two parts of the Clear Card plot, a way for CLAMP to undoubtedly experiment with a different kind of storytelling, and to ask their readers to dedicate a little bit more of attention to the story, trying to get out of the logical approach to things, and thinking on a more abstract and metaphorical level.

[normal-thoughts-official]

i don't think i've ever said this about choices before but wow this really was the ladies' chapter and i for one am thrilled. we didn't get a lot of imtura as usual but what we did get I was very happy with. i've said this before but i'm loving seeing imtura growing more confident (more than she was in book 1, even) and stepping into the leadership role she was always perfect for but never confident enough to really take. of course she was the wraith's captain but i think this is the first time we're seeing imtura really plan in detail what they're going to do, take charge of the group. she's not asking and she's not apologetic but not imposing either, listening to ideas and adjusting accordingly. she's a great leader and it's so nice to see her really grow into that role, especially since her main conflict in book 2 has been about feeling like she's not good enough to be anything other than the brawns. she has 100% been the brains of the team these last few chapters, and she doesn't even seem to realize she's doing it. it's great to see. i'm also liking seeing her slowly repair her dynamic with mal. i've written before about how mal and imtura have always been the only ones who get each other in the group, and how falling out must have been devastating to both of them. and now we're starting to see them slowly fall back into their groove, teasing each other but still with a lot of respect, and slowly starting to get over the hurt they both put on each other. although i wish it was being addressed more directly, i'm still loving it. and of course, their consistent reminders that her most important value is equality - you share the wealth, share the food, take care of each other. that's the kind of leader she is, in direct opposition of her mother who wished to centralize everything and institute hierarchy. imtura is an orc to the bone, free and strong but caring and believing in equality, and i love seeing that being consitently shown these last few chapters. also, her dancing scene was so fucking sweet

valax is simply the love of my life. and we got TWO separate chances to make out with her. the world is a beautiful place. but more than that, we are getting to know her better, and reconcile the valax we first met with the valax we saw at ironbreach. i like how they're not at odds, and although there's the obvious, well, brainwashing aspect, she is violent because she's kind and cares about her people. by which i mean lines like this:

it's not at all unlike what MC is doing. as much as everyone MC kills or incapacitates or whatever is some faceless rando, they're still essentialy waging war for what they believe in. and i like that. as i've said before, my favorite thing about blades 2 is how it's been unraveling all of the myths from book 1, showing the other side. history is written by the victors and all that, and i think book 2 is really showing how it's important to question those nationalistic myths where everything on your side is good, the other is bad, etc. and valax telling us about how the Light Realm fucked the Shadow Realm over adds to that, which makes valax an important part of the plot not only as a villain or potential love interest but also as an important source of information about the worldbuilding and what the other side is like. at the same time, we got to see her being conflicted - admitting that she's naive, starting to question the state of the army, betraying MC but also apologizing for it - and just overall a complex person/villain. we got more backstory, more of her motivations, more glimpses of Shadow Realm history, truly we got everything from valax this chapter

i also love how her betrayal was not only inevitable but also due to a fundamental flaw in nia's plan: assuming valax would choose self-preservation over completing her mission and helping her people. it'd be a safe bet to make with pretty much anyone else, but we've seen enough of valax to know that it definitely doesn't apply to her - she has never lived for herself, she doesn't exist for herself, and so she was always going to bid her time until she could go through the pain to complete the mission. that might be the most fundamental part of her character, and it is both shown very well and given even more important narrative weight in this scene

and at the risk of sounding like a hater, this was the first chapter where i truly felt like they were going somewhere interesting with nia's arc. i have a lot of sympathy for her book 1 arc - realizing she has been groomed, trying to reclaim her faith - but she still has always kind of felt one dimensional to me. this chapter was the first time we got to see more of nia; we even had it be implied that at least part of her always being cheery and put-together is a facade. more than just turning her back on the temple this is the first time she is turning her back on the shitty parts of what they taught her - that she doesn't matter, that she lives only for the light, that she can't have needs and desires of her own. all in all, she needs catharsis, and if it's the shadow form that gives her that, then cheers! but regardless of how you feel about shadow!nia i think we can agree that it's giving us more and better glimpses into nia as a character who feels a lot of pain and immense pressure to be good while also trying to figure out which parts of her upbringing she needs to unlearn and which she gets to keep, deal with the grief of losing MC and watching her friend group fall apart, and trying to be a rock for them through it all, then immediately dealing with another world-shattering threat while also trying to hide a part of her for a good portion of it. i've seen a lot f people complain about how no one noticed shadow!nia before and MC was forced to keep that secret but i think it's a good analogy to how there are parts of nia that no one sees, that she tried so hard to suppress they were bound to take over her eventually. nia is more than a bubbly born sexy yesterday sweet girl and i'm delighted to see that being acknowledged

so, yeah. the ladies' chapter. loved it

[bettsfic]

goooood morning betts! do you have any advice for developing a better grasp of syntax and comfort with sentence complexity? like, REALLY long sentences. i admire the prose of writers that can enfold clause after clause without sounding structurally repetitive; one of my writing pet peeves is when the same sentence structures are used over and over. a lot of my own sentences tend to be shorter and "to the point", and i think getting better at longer ones would help my prose to be more flexible.

in very loose rhetorical terms, this is called hypotaxis (compared to parataxis). what i would do is pick up Lydia Davis's translation of Swann's Way (Proust), open it up to any random page, and pick a really long, meaty paragraph. read it. read it again. then transcribe it either by handwriting it or typing it out. give yourself the physical sensation of creating the sentences you admire most.

repeat with Woolf, Nabokov, Henry James. any book, any paragraph. you don't even have to read the whole book, in fact it's probably better if you don't, if you read it divorced of the tension of the plot.

i actually did this recently with a passage from The Ambassadors:

“What I hate is myself—when I think that one has to take so much, to be happy, out of the lives of others, and that one isn’t happy even then. One does it to cheat one’s self and to stop one’s mouth—but that’s only at the best for a little. The wretched self is always there, always making one somehow a fresh anxiety. What it comes to is that it’s not, that it’s never, a happiness, any happiness at all, to take. The only safe thing is to give. It’s what plays you least false.” Interesting, touching, strikingly sincere as she let these things come from her, she yet puzzled and troubled him—so fine was the quaver of her quietness. He felt what he had felt before with her, that there was always more behind what she showed, and more and more again behind that. “You know so, at least,” she added, “where you are!” “You ought to know it indeed then; for isn’t what you’ve been giving exactly what has brought us together this way? You’ve been making, as I’ve so fully let you know I’ve felt,” Strether said, “the most precious present I’ve ever seen made, and if you can’t sit down peacefully on that performance you are, no doubt, born to torment yourself. But you ought,” he wound up, “to be easy.”

the first time i did an exercise like this was in a workshop with Claire Messud, who printed out a copy of a single paragraph of Sebald, from The Emigrants i think. and we spent an hour and a half dissecting it word by word. at the time i was irritated by it; i thought it was a pedantic exercise. but it wasn't. it helped me learn how to close read, and i've more or less made a career out of my ability to do that.

for those who don't subvocalize when they read, i think reading aloud is important so you can internalize the rhythm of sentences. if you do subvocalize (most of us who learned to read via phonetics subvocalize when we read, which means we "hear" the words in our heads; those who learned to read without phonetics or before phonetics had been introduced to them can just take the meaning of the words in mental silence), start snapping out the rhythm when you find a good phrase or clause. i mean physically snapping. using the above example, "interesting, touching, strikingly sincere" -- find the emphasis of each word: INteresting, TOUCHing, STRIKingly sinCERE. if you repeat it over and over, it starts to become a song. you can hear the drumbeat in it.

and then you have the alliteration of "quaver of her quietness" and "the most precious present." and the paratactic "that it's not, that it's never, a happiness, any happiness at all, to take." and then there's "the wretched self." i don't have a rhetorical device for why that's such a banger, it just is.

if you transcribe a couple hundred sentences that you really admire, then take the time to comb through them and pick out what's beautiful about them, your writing will definitely improve. it's worth it to develop the habit of close reading everything you find beautiful.

[mouseinamushroomhouse]

Here's the thing: I don't quite read Gregor and Laisa's marriage as a marriage for love.

Hear me out:

First, Gregor's personality up through Memory doesn't really lend itself to the "love at first sight" trope. Up to the point Gregor sees Laisa, he's characterized as gay quiet, extremely repressed, and, in the later books especially, very compelling when he decides to play up the Emperor persona. Extremely devoted to Barrayar, but also aware of its flaws and historical complexities, and determined to make it better. Not one for making rash decisions about who to put into power in the Imperium - he's too aware of how badly that can be abused.

Basically two points: determined to enact change in the Imperium, and repressed/overthinking as all hell. Neither of those things, to me, lead to a Gregor who sees a woman on a dance floor and immediately falls for her.

Also, I have a hard time believing Gregor never saw a curvy woman in his life before 35. Wouldn't he / Alys have had that particular revelation sooner?

When you assume that Gregor's "love at first sight" story is some form of dissembling, I at least think it makes their entire relationship in Memory way more compelling. Because if Gregor didn't meet a nice curvy woman and fall in love at the sight of her, it means he met Dr. Toscane, a whip-smart, well-connected Komarran political radical and realized she could make changes in his government that he couldn't.

Gregor meets Laisa - Laisa, who came on Galeni's arm and isn't thinking about romance, starts discussing trades and Komarran business with Gregor because she certainly isn't going to waste having the Emperor's ear for a night - Gregor immediately respects her for the combination of intelligence / not angling to be empress or gain power - Gregor starts planning how Laisa, or someone like her, could change the Imperium for the better. I don't know, I find that a much more interesting choice for him. Also he's a self-sacrificial bastard and I truly don't think he's seen marriage for love as in the cards for him since Vor Game era.

So basically, a few days later Gregor invites Laisa to the palace, and Laisa is obviously flattered (I mean, it's the Emperor), but Gregor doesn't seem to have any interest in pursuing her. Instead, he spends the entire afternoon quizzing her on how she would enact change in Barrayaran/Komarran relations and the changes she wants to see in the Imperium. And then he essentially offers her - this, again, incredibly smart woman who knows how to manipulate social networks to get what she wants - the power to make that change and springs the idea of marriage on her.

Essentially, my headcanon is that Gregor and Laisa's entire public whirlwind courtship that Miles and Alys observe was something the two of them cooked up together that first afternoon - knowing that everyone in Gregor's government, Alys most of all, would be so happy Gregor was showing an interest in anyone that they wouldn't look too hard. And wouldn't consider how powerful of a Komarran advocate Gregor was installing in the palace.

(Also, I'm not saying that Miles being back on Barrayar was a contributing factor in this, but I'm not not saying it either. Because a Miles on Barrayar as third in line to the throne is probably in a lot more danger of being hate-crimed by traditionalist Vor than a Miles off with the Dendarii, so if Gregor wanted Miles involved with his government longterm, he'd have to solidify the succession, wouldn't he?)

So yeah. Laisa and Gregor - friends, intense mutual respect and sense of duty, several children, but actually romantic? Eh. I'm picturing the Barrayaran media swooning over their romance - meanwhile, cut to Laisa and Gregor sitting on the floor in their newborns' nursery with like 16 spreadsheets open across 6 screens plotting how to improve representation in the Council of Counts.

(I don't know whether Miles ever caught on to Gregor and Laisa's dynamic. Ekaterin, on the other hand, figured it out the first time she met Empress Laisa.)

[sciderman]

sci! Do you have any recommendations for some good Deadpool comic books? I've read basically everything from New mutants #98 and stopped during reading Agent X. Tried to read chronologically but I gave up on it and I REALLY wanna find some solid Deadpool story that is balanced between comedy and his character growth and that is sometimes hard to find. I really like Kelly's run. He makes the story clear from the start and well sets up the finish goal. Then writers started constantly changing and the plot didn't seem to really stick together that well because of that. And I'm stuck now because I really don't feel like reading Agent X and I don't know where to find a long and consistent Deadpool story. Do you know where to find diamonds in that pile of books?

diamonds? deadpool's definitely not the place you find diamonds, my darling. but if you're looking for a longer series that balances comedy and character growth... well, i don't know. i always sing praises to the cable & deadpool series, even though i know there's a lot of mess and it can be a little bit of a slog, too. i love it for the most pathetic wade wilson you've ever seen but - also kind of the most consistent. he's got the most clear-cut insecurities, and he definitely evolves over the course of the series. he's complex, and he's messy. and he's stupid. but also he's not as stupid as he acts.

but also, he is so, so stupid.

i think a long-haul deadpool story that you could get invested in but inevitably frustrated that they bungle it up so badly towards the end is duggan's run - it's probably the longest "chapter" of wade's career, and it makes the effort to reinvent wade wilson into a more grounded character, i guess. he gets married. has a kid. (the two are non-related). i kind of feel mixed on duggan's run. i like a lot of the elements it introduces to wade and they kind of - they take wade seriously. but that's also the problem. they take wade way too seriously. so you forsake a lot of the goofy fun for a lot of manpain. like, a lot of manpain.

wade wilson's depression era.

i know wade's kind of always been sad, deep down but - i think it's usually very dramatic and comical in nature. and duggan's - duggan's take is probably the most mundanely depressed wade we see. like, it's a mundane fact of life, and wade's not doing anything ridiculous and stupid to distract himself from it. he's kind of just quietly moping. he's getting old. he's dwelling in his misery, in quiet acceptance. and i kind of don't like to see it. i like to see a wade wilson who's tirelessly trying to fight back against misery. whether he wins or not.

i can't really recommend the newer stuff - i don't know, wade's gotten so very watery lately, and not only that but the runs have kind of been so short that i can't even develop an attachment to those deadpools.

i can recommend uncanny x-force (2010) for being that book where wade steals the show and is everyone's favourite. he's the beating heart of the story, and we love him. we love uncanny x-force wade wilson.

i can't really recommend way's run, if consistency is what you're after - and it's - well, it's a hot mess. but it has moments. i think it's interesting, but it's all over the place - but sometimes the only thing consistent about wade is his inconsistency. his brain is ridiculous, and his allegiances are always changing. but - buuut - way's run isn't really one i'd recommend, until you finish all the better stuff: see above.

that's all i've got for you, on terms of good longer-form deadpool stories with consistency and character growth. i'm so sorry there isn't more. i wish there were more.

[venusrising91]

The Demon Prince

Pairing: Demon Wonho x Male reader

Genre: Fantasy/horror & Smut 18+ (thinly plotted, just something fun, twisted and dirty for the spooky Halloween season 🎃)

Summary: Broke and down on your luck, an encounter with an ancient artifact brings you an otherworldly opportunity to change the hand of fate, but at what cost?

Word count: 2,685 (about 4 pages)

T/W: Dub-con, Bondage

PROLOGUE: You didn’t expect the pages to start glowing. First mind is usually the right mind and you should have followed yours. But curiosity had gotten the better of you. 

Times had been tough. A lay off at work followed by an eviction notice taped to your apartment door was the perfect recipe for desperation. Plenty of it filled you. 

In less than two weeks, you needed to be out of your complex. Most of your belongings were in boxes. You’d cleared out the place and had every intention of moving all of your things into storage since you didn’t have enough money to pay for a security deposit (and no landlord would accept a newly evicted tenant). In short, you’d resigned yourself to homelessness thanks to your overdrawn bank account. 

While you packed it was all you could think about: how little your life amounted to, how little you owned. 

Pessimistic tears sprang to your eyes as you cleaned out one of the closets in your bedroom. When you reached to the back for the last few items against the wall, a panel came loose. It fell straight out with a soft thud. Great, damaged property. There goes my security deposit.

But something else had fallen too. A book. It was large, and its cover appeared to be made of solid gold. No wonder the panel had fallen down—without the weight of the items you usually kept pressing against the wall, there was nothing to keep it upright.

You jammed the panel in place, then peeled back the book’s heavy front cover. Its design seemed intricate, ancient. The entire face was inlaid with jewels of the finest quality. One alone would probably fetch you enough money for an entire year’s worth of rent. You should’ve tried to pry one of them out, but it was too late for that. Curiosity had taken hold of you. 

The pages of the book began to glow hypnotically as you gazed at them. Faint embers at first, then brighter, bright as the sun almost. You’d never seen anything like it. When the light grew so intense that it felt as though it would blind you, it began to fade. Slowly ebbing away, bit by bit until it was gone. In its wake there remained an inscription. Written in a thick, dark red ink were the words:

“An Emêl-fëy requests an audience,” you said the foreign sentence out loud. As soon as you uttered it, a searing pain throbbed in your left wrist. You stared at it in disbelief, teeth clenched as the inscription Emêl-fëy burned itself into your flesh. “Stop!” you shouted, “Please, make it stop!”

“As you wish, little human.” The pain ended and you whipped your head in the direction of the voice. Standing behind you, right in the center of your bedroom, was the most formidable being you’d ever laid eyes on. You rose from the floor of your closet and cowered against the door frame, leaving the book inside.

“Who a-are you?” you stuttered, trembling. The being came to stand before you. His skin seemed carved of porcelain, and his face, though menacing, was rather beautiful. Your eyes met and you gasped. The color of his irises glowed red, sparkling in their sockets like rubies. He wore robes of deepest black, and atop his head  sat a many horned crown. Midnight black hair rested beneath it. He smiled and revealed a set of long, bone-white fangs.

“You should be flattered that I came when you called, little human. It is the greatest honor to be graced by the presence of the High Daemon Prince of the Seven Hells.”

“I-I didn’t call,” you said.

“But of course you did. The incantation presented itself and you spoke it. You summoned me, Emêl-fëy.”

“That’s not my name.”

“It is now.”

“What does it mean?”

He laughed. “We’ll come to that. What do you desire?”

“I don’t understand.”

“As part of the agreement that binds you to me. What would you have in exchange for becoming my Emêl-fëy?”

Why does he keep saying that word?

You scratched your head and looked around. There was no escape. You wouldn’t make it to the door in time. His legs were too long, and his muscular frame towered over yours. He had to be at least six foot seven in height and you were a lot shorter than that. He'd catch you in an instant if you tried to run.

“Please, I don't understand. I need you to explain.”

He raised a dark brow and sighed. “Very well. Ignorance will cost you. I’ll add it to your debt.”

“My debt?”

“Mm, to be paid in servitude for what all I shall grant you. Consider yourself lucky. I killed the last one that beckoned me. He was not to my tastes. But you…” he dragged a sharp, pointed nail along your jawline, “You I very much like the look of, my little Emêl-fëy. Not just any human can turn the head of an Incubus. We are a race as ancient as time itself. I have seen many wonders. Few have captured my interest as thoroughly as you have.”

“And who are you, exactly?”

He showed his fangs again and your heart raced. “I am the High Daemon Prince Hö-Suk. Now tell me, What would you have of me? I will grant you anything you desire.”

You widened your eyes. “Anything?”

“Do not make me repeat myself, little human.”

Money. You needed money. And a lot of it. You had no job, no place to live anymore. But money would change all of that. “I need wealth,” you said, heart racing. “I want to be rich.”

“Done. I grant you riches.”

Your phone vibrated against your thigh. It was a text from the landlord thanking you for your backed rental payments. But you hadn’t paid her any rent. Not in months. 

You checked your bank account. It was in the negative the last time you opened the app. Now, over eight-hundred million dollars sat in the account.

“Holy shit,” you gasped. “Did you do this?” 

The High Daemon nodded, half chuckling. 

In an instant all of your problems had vanished. You could move anywhere you wanted, do anything you desired with your life.

“Onto your hands and knees. Now.”

You looked at the High Daemon Prince with furrowed brows. “Excuse me?”

He grabbed your wrist and smoothed his thumb over the tender flesh, reminding you of the branded inscription. “It will be a long night. One of many as my Emêl-fëy.”

That word again. You tried slipping your hand from his wrist but he refused to let it go. “What does it mean? Emêl-fëy?”

“In your language? Fuck toy. The incantation you spoke was an agreement. I have granted you a desire and in return, you will be mine, little human—little Emêl-fëy. For as long as I want you. And I have an appetite as deep as the oceans for pretty men.” He waved his hand through the air and your clothes disappeared. The next instant something cool and hard slithered between your legs, caressing the back of your thighs. Cupping your buttocks. You peered down and realized it was the High Daemon’s long, thick tail—hairless as a python, smooth and pulsing. 

The High Daemon had shed his clothing too. He was carved of pure muscle—so hard bodied that he appeared to be made of stone. His tail coaxed its way between your cheeks, circling your rosebud. He forced you onto your knees.

“Open your mouth. It is mine to use, little Emêl-fëy.”

His cock was immense. His skin burned as warm as a furnace. You looked up at him and saw a smirk on his plump lips. Something about the sight of it made your cock stiff as a rock. His tail probed your entrance and you opened your mouth to let out a moan. 

As he shoved his tail into your hole, you took the High Daemon’s rigid length to the back of your throat, having little choice in the matter.

“Good boy,” he growled as you sucked him off. “Shall I give you a reward for this?”

Before you could answer, the appendage inside you began to vibrate. Your eyes rolled back as his tail buried itself deep inside you, oscillating against your prostate. “This is the spot, yes?” the High Daemon asked, shoving both his cock and tail deeper inside both your entrances. 

At the back of your throat was his large cock, and stuffed between your tight ring of muscles was the smooth pleasure of his tail, quivering inside your cheeks. Tears spilled from your eyes as he slipped his cock from your mouth and slapped it against your face. “You did not answer me, little human, little Emêl-fëy. You leave me with no option but to punish your insubordination.” 

“Yes, yes it’s the spot.”

“Address me as master, henceforth.”

“Yes master, it’s the…aahh,” his tail went deeper, vibrated harder, you couldn’t speak.

“Too late.”

He yanked the tail from your hole and the force with which it ripped from the space drew out a rope of come. It shot from your tip, long, fast and hard. You whimpered as the jet of milky semen left you. No one had ever made you come that intensely. Your entire body convulsed as the hot streams left you. Your knees would be weak if you weren’t already on them. With a mewl you collapsed to the floor, chest and stomach flush against the carpet as you struggled to regain your breath after the orgasm. The High Daemon seized both of your wrists. 

In an instant, a cord wrapped around them.

“What the—”

“Do not speak unless spoken to. And do not bother trying to free yourself. These knots are forged of darkest Daemon magic. You will not be released unless and until I unbind you.”

The High Daemon lifted your body from the floor.

“Wait, please—”

He clamped a hand over your mouth and sank his fangs into your neck.

“What did I tell you about speaking? About addressing me?”

“Sorry m-master,” you whispered, hands behind your back, chest heaving.

“That is more like it. Quiet now. Only your moans are allowed from this moment on. It is the only sound I wish to hear leave your lips. Is that understood?”

“Yes master.”

“Good boy, good little Emêl-fëy. Now. I am going to make you come for me again. Many times.”

He lowered himself onto the edge of your bed and sat you in his lap. His muscular thighs felt hard as steel beneath yours. In seconds his cock was pressing against your hole, still stretched wide from the girth of his tail. 

His cock gaped you even further.  It was twice the size of what had previously penetrated you and you gasped as it slid inside your opening. You squirmed but he held you still, hands securing your chest and waist as he fucked into you.

Your cock had hardened again in spite of your earlier orgasm. You looked down at it, slapping wildly against your abdomen. The High Daemon’s tail slithered across your body. It wrapped itself around your hard length like a fist, then began stroking. Your head fell back, lolling against the High Daemon’s shoulder as he worked you, pumped you, fucked you.

He kept your body pinned in place while he thrusted his cock in and out of your hole. His length seemed familiar with all your deepest wants. He kept the pace you liked in the back and in the front. The pleasure from each was almost unbearable.

“M-master I’m going to c—”

“Come? Not yet. You do not have my permission.”

“Master?” 

“Only after I have filled you.”

“Yes… master, but—”

“Silence. I will hear no bargaining. Only moans.”

You shut your eyes. He was bringing you dangerously close to the brink of climax. A few more strokes from that tail of his and you’d shoot like a fountain. How could he expect you to resist coming when he fucked like a god?

You tried to obey his orders, but his tail constricted even tighter around you. It gained speed and stroked your cock with an unrelenting rhythm. And to make matters more precarious, you were stuffed full of him. With each stroke he ran his cock through you like a sword, from base to tip. He fucked you faster, and a bead of slick spilled from your head. You fought against the restraints that tied your hands as your peak began to build. If you had access to your fingers, you could pry his tail off your cock and reduce some of the pleasure he was giving you.

But it was impossible to drive back the sensation of orgasm when he was fucking you so expertly. The high washed over you like a wave and you moaned.

You lost your load in a thick hot rope. It covered your chest, and trickled onto the High Daemon’s tail and thigh. He growled, wrapping a hand around your throat. The strangling made you come even harder.

“You disobeyed my commands, Emêl-fëy. I said only after I have filled you and yet…” his tail unraveled itself from your softening cock. This orgasm left you weaker than the last but the High Daemon didn’t care. He laid you on the bed and rolled you onto your side. “I shall have to punish you again.”

“Master, please.”

The same magical restraints that had bound your wrists now secured your ankles. He’d linked them together, tying you like a hog to be roasted on the spit.

“You will learn to follow orders, little human. And if I ruin you during the process, all the better.”

He laid you on your stomach and mounted you like a knight mounts a horse. Now both his cock and tail were inside you. Working you to an ecstasy you were sure would wreck you beyond repair. Nothing existed except the pleasure. You forgot your name, your age. You forgot about the High Daemon riding you. All you could see were stars as the tail vibrated in the depths of your hole alongside the cock this hadean prince of the underworld had stuffed there.

For the third time in one night, you hardened again, feeling the beginnings of another round of shooting ropes. But you didn’t have to hold them off this time.

Hot semen filled you as the High Daemon emptied himself inside you. The feeling alone triggered your release. Your cock was trapped between the mattress and your stomach but that didn’t stop you from soiling it with your come. A harsh grunt escaped the High Daemon, drowning out your shrill moans as your third orgasm rippled through you.

While you shuddered there, the bonds on your wrists and ankles disappeared. You rolled onto your back and tried to recover.

“Good little Emêl-fëy,” the High Daemon said, running his hands along your slick abdomen, “You took me well. That little hole of yours is…exquisite. Quite rare for a human to withstand the stamina of an Incubus as ancient and strong as I. You quenched but an inkling of my thirst—my lust, but I can already tell that you will make a fine servant. Soon you will learn my tastes.”

In a flash he dressed himself again. 

“Master,” was the only word you could manage.

“Find yourself a better dwelling. You have riches now with which to do so. When I return again to fuck you senseless, I expect to be met with luxury as fine as the orgasms I have given you. Do you understand?”

“Yes, master.”

“Good.”

The High Daemon Prince of the Seven Hells disappeared like mist and you let out a contented sigh, still feeling tender and sensitive from being used so extensively. Despite the brand on your wrist, and the agreement of indefinite servitude, you smiled. Three orgasms and being the High Daemon’s Emêl-fëy was a small price to pay for becoming a millionaire. Already, you were craving another high, another night spent serving your new master.

[thewiglesswonder]

Oooh what are your thoughts about toh finale 👀 bring on the salt 😤

Alright everybody, buckle your fucking seatbelts.

First thing's first, I think that this show was suffering from major story-related issues that started as far back as mid-season 2. My problems start officially with Elsewhere and Elsewhen, because this is where I feel the show dropped the ball on one of the most important elements of any piece of media: its villain.

I firmly believe that a story is only as good as its villain, and up until this point, The Owl House had been doing an amazing job with Belos. The audience was kept in the dark about the true nature of his backstory, but, crucially, with enough material and hints provided to extrapolate the nature of it before it was revealed.

And many, many people came to the same conclusions. Luz, our lovable protagonist since day one, has had to come to her own grips with her weirdo-hood, the fact that she's not a Chosen One, that this world doesn't operate by the laws of her fantasy books. What better way for our villain to be than to have him directly foil this? Prior to Elsewhere and Elsewhen, this was the main thought about Philip Wittebane. Someone just like Luz, ostracized from his community in a much more visceral and potentially violent way, who also found sanctuary and some kind of acceptance on the Boiling Isles, before something causes him to become the Emperor we know today.

Elsewhere and Elsewhen and Hollow Mind essentially took this idea and spat in its face. The villain they gave us had absolutely zero depth, and was outright stated in the finale to be just that: only evil and deluded.

Even with the look into Philip and Caleb's life provided in Thanks to Them, the finale still took this and did what? Absolutely nothing with it. I just have no idea why they would put that much effort into giving Philip a backstory that's as potentially sympathetic as what we see, only to write him off as evil and only evil.

I've seen other people lauding this choice, because "good for them for showing us that not everybody has to be redeemed!" I am not saying that Belos could have or should have been redeemed, in fact, I had been rooting for him to die since the early seasons, a good death befitting of a good villain. Actually examining his backstory and fleshing him out as a character does not mean he would have been redeemed! If the Owl House's moral is that "people are complex", this would have aided in the delivery of that message!

Instead, what we got was three specials full of nothing but hot air, a gigantic amount of screentime devoted to a character that always felt like a shoehorn-in at best with the Collector, and the most disappointing, anticlimactic villain defeat I've ever seen in my life. And yes, I know there are people who loved it and think that this series can do no wrong. I acknowledge that this show is incredibly important culturally and that it was unfortunately limited by its cancellation. But this does not protect it from any and all criticism, especially when said criticism has to do with the integrity of the plot and the overall message of the show.