#thrills 23 shenanigans

[sanctuarynurse]

Grin Grin and the advocates perform the Doctor Who theme while Gladwell contemplates their career choice and Joytide debates if it's worth losing their job over if they join in" - colourised 2023 and displayed with crispified quality of the highest caliber.

[s-henanigans-h]

Moments in the recent DAPG video that made me feel an emotion:

1. The Phil face stretch effect after dan says “couples” 0:42

2. Phil immediately saying “best buddy” and Dan’s lack of facial reaction

3. Phil chest hair - he’s so in a new era

4. Singing?!? 1:31 why are they actually good

5. “C’mon Phil get naked”

6. The spinning the wheel shenanigans

7. Them referencing drinking (again they’re old! They talk about it openly now!)

8. Phil’s face dropping a bit when dan calls himself not intelligent 2:50

9. Them saying “your partner” so casually (bc you know damn well they wouldn’t have said that pre-this era)

10. “Posh and confident” -> “posh and annoying”

11. The whole pet name thing

12. The idea of Dan walking into the kitchen and Phil saying “hello you stupid bitch” sorry what

13. “Two bros, being normal” zoom out effect

14. Just Dan’s laugh. Like it’s so different and less awkward then it used to be and you can tell he’s so comfortable just being himself

15. Phil not being able to think of anything mean to say about Dan

16. 7:11 we love responsive vocal stimming

17. The compliment section. “Compliment me!” Dan to being able to compliment Phil quickly is hilarious

18. The “ThEy ShaRed cLotHes” bit

19. The jump cut to switched clothes “are you thrilled”

20. LAMP

21. Wow friendship this guy

22. The tickling bit - talking about “the neck thing”

23. 11:02 whatever face Dan was making

24. Age jokes when they’re literally like 4 years apart

25. (Re:beard) “I can’t do that yet” felt.

26. *silly voice* “yes, yes I know you”

27. “turns out you do like me a bit”

28. “Or you’re married” - Dan’s face

29. *American accent” PaRTneR”

In conclusion, all of this is said with love. Also the editing is peak and contributes to the vibes.

[archivecon]

Announcing our Featured Guests!

Billie Hindle and Anusia Battersby!

ArchiveCon is immensely happy to host these two amazing voice actors for The Magnus Protocol's Alice Dyer and Gwen Bouchard. We'll be hosting a Q & A session, featuring your questions! So if you need to know some behind the scenes shenanigans, character beats, what it's like to work in the podcasting field, and more, ask away! Form here - open until June 12th!

"My name is Billie Lauren Hindle and I am the VA for Alice Dyer in The Magnus Protocol. I'm a Northern English gal and I use she/her pronouns. I am super excited to attend Archive Con as I have absolutely loved interacting with the fanbase who have been so welcoming since I joined the Magnus universe. I am very eager to interact more with the fans so we can know more about each other. "As well as TMAGP, I have a growing career in acting in theatre and film. I starred in the fantastic feature film "Secrets of a Wallaby Boy'', the hit play "Henry's End" and have more film and voice roles in the pipeline this year and next!"

Anusia Battersby is a Manchester-based actor, voice actor, and writer. She studied at the University of Oxford and ALRA North, and has spent the last few years working on a variety of projects within the realms of theatre, film, and audio drama. Anusia can currently be heard as Gwendolyn Bouchard in The Magnus Protocol, the follow-up series to the show from Rusty Quill that started it all. She is absolutely thrilled to be playing Gwen, and can't wait to see where the horrors (and voice acting more generally) take her next…

​[ArchiveCon is a free, fan-run, totally online convention dedicated to The Magnus Archives and The Magnus Protocol, running June 21 - 23, 2024. You must be registered and over 18 years of age to attend and participate!]

[thus-spoke-lo]

A chill in the air, the crunch of leaves under your feet, danger and romance around every corner--October is for kinks, creatures, and even a little bit of slimeball shenanigans.

Masterlist below will be updated as fics release; all works queued for posting at 9am PST (except on double-feature Fridays). Please review all content warnings thoroughly and read at your own discretion--all fics are NSFW/18+ and feature afab!reader unless otherwise noted. Management is not responsible for resulting thrills, chills, and uncontrollable fits of lust for 2-D men.

Praise, degradation, watching when you shouldn't be watching, playing doctor with your hot boyfriend--Fridays throughout October are for kinks, fetishes, and fantasies.

9/29: Dr. Feelgood // Portgas D. Ace Kink: Roleplay (doctor/patient)

10/6: Birthday Gift // Trafalgar Law Kinks: Cosplay + roleplay (hero/villain)

10/13: Double Feature Friday! 9AM Showing: Tables Don't Talk // Roronoa Zoro Kink: Forniphilia [human furniture] ***** 5PM Showing: A Firm Hand // Red-Haired Shanks Kinks: Spanking + daddy kink

10/20: Pretty Little Mess // Doflamingo Donquixote Kinks: p*ss + degradation + humiliation

10/23: *BONUS* Birthday Fic! Sins in Crimson // Doflamingo Donquixote Kinks: period sex + degradation + humiliation

10/27: Double Feature Friday! 9AM Showing: Let Me Help // Sanji Kink: Voyeurism ***** 5PM Showing: In Pursuit // Dracule Mihawk Kinks: Predator/prey + biting

Demons, werewolves, cannibals, and hayrides in darkened, spooky woods--Sundays throughout October are for the sinister, the scary, and the sexy.

10/1: What Big Teeth You Have // Freeloader!Toji [Slimeball AU] Synopsis: Your freeloader boyfriend is the Big Bad Wolf to your Little Red Riding Hood for tonight's Halloween Festival. A shortcut through the woods proves perilous, however--it's a full moon, and danger lurks even closer than you think.

10/8: A Hayride for a Hayride // Taxi Driver!Zoro [Slimeball AU] Synopsis: Your date to the Grimetown Halloween festival cancelled on you last-minute, leaving you with nothing to do. Luckily, a certain moss-haired taxi driver lifeguard hayride operator offers you a free ride to get your mind off things, and you're soon in for the ride of your life.

10/22: Are You Afraid of the Dark? // Usopp feat. the Strawhat crew [SFW] Synopsis: A night of scary stories around the campfire with your crewmates on a seemingly-deserted island leave you with goosebumps and the looming possibility of bad dreams. When you're tasked with fetching more wood to keep the fire burning for the night, brave Usopp offers to accompany you--and there's no telling what awaits you in the dark.

[snowxstormworld]

Jonerys Orgasmic October '23 - Master List

We are thrilled with the wonderful Jonerys Orgasmic October 2023 turnout and are grateful to all of you for reading, reblogging, and commenting. We're especially thankful for all of our participants; your creativity gave us a feast for the senses and made this the hottest, most satisfying Jonerys Orgasmic October yet!

Below is the master list for #JonerysOrgasmicOctober2023.

🔥 The Temptation by Voivode

🔥 Treat for your Eyes moodboard by Nikita_25

🔥 Corporate surprise by SaltyD3

🔥 Take me, I need you in my bloodstream by @miss-celestia13

🔥 Mr. Snow and the Principal by @rhaegarblackfire

🔥 black cat, long nights. by snowstormed

🔥 On all fours fanart by @emiliaclarkespersonalchair

🔥 Anal fanart by @emiliaclarkespersonalchair

🔥 Blue, Green, and Violet All Over by @littledancer9

🔥 Religion moodboard by @jupiterix

🔥 I want it to be hard by SaltyD3

👠 You're the King, baby I'm your Queen by @miss-celestia13

👠 Lingerie fanart by @emiliaclarkespersonalchair

💋 Teach me something by SaltyD3

💋 Home Sweet Daddy by @leesielex

💋 Public Sex fanart by @emiliaclarkespersonalchair

💋 Perfect for Me by @fierypen37

💋 The Rogue and the Fair by @rhaegarblackfire

💦 come and get a taste moodboard by @alwaysdaenerys

💦 JON GOES EAST fanart, fanedit by @evax3

💦 Our Secret by @libradoodle1

💦 The sweat in your eyes, the blood in your veins are listening to me by @miss-celestia13

💦 I am no bloody poet by SoloWingPie

💦 Tale of a Princess by @rhaegarblackfire

🍒 The Shadow Lover by Nikita_25

🍒 Do Me by Voivode

🍒 The Stranger by @moon-ruled-rising

🍒 a shadow for the splendor (let the profane tremble to ask) by @girlwithakiwi

🍒 Secret (Storeroom) Shenanigans by @jellybeanficwriter

🍒 wolf and flame by @magalidragon

🍒 Love has no age by @rhaegarblackfire

Edit credits go to @youwerenevermine

[buzzybee3]

I need help-

I have two au’s in my head atm and can’t decide which one too start on, kinda leaning towards greenhouse cause it’s like based on true event ft me. But I wanna see what some people think

Au 1: Experiment Au

Ships:

Y/n x sun/moon

Bonnie x Glamrock Freddy

Y/n parents:

Human: (tbd these are just filler names if anyone has suggestions) Sandra and Martin (younger siblings Reily and Alya)

Animatronics: Bonnie and Freddy

Y/n age: 17 when kidnapped, 19 during main story

Y/n Story: on family trip to the Pizzaplex with family, they are just leaving the area and she goes to the bathroom at a gas station across the street. Vanny happens to be around and kidnaps them on their way out. They wake up 3 months later in a laboratory, before being put back under again

Y\n behavior: Sassy, loves kids, nice, has an attitude when needed, calmer later on but still very jumpy, forgetful (thank god for tech), likes listening to music while in the daycare.

Y/n appearance: nothing specific, but for self insert, long hair, freckles

Y/n likes: Chicken nuggets, gets along with Vanessa, like both sunlight and dark places, stickers, rock en Español(specifically la flaca, lives playing it and one day sun hears it and it goes as one would expect),

Y/n dislikes: fazbear management, rowdy kids(nothing they can’t handle), sudden changes in light, cherry flavoring,

Names for Venus- Sun: Morning Star, sunshine, sunspot, Moon: Evening Star, moonlight, starlight, star,

Au 2: Greenhouse AU”

Timeframe: post ruin

Ships: Y/n x sun/moon

Y/n parents: tbd but not mentioned. Godparents are, they are important to story(tbd if you guys have any name ideas shoot): aunt/godmother: Yelina uncle/godfather: Rafael godsiblings/cousins: Ulices and Maddy

Y/n age: 23

Y/n story: they always wanted a greenhouse, grew plants all the time. Their godparents had land in Arizona, and they had surrounding land that hadn’t been bought yet. Y/n decided to buy it once they were older, and they have the land now, 3 acres, plus the two acres from her godparents that she used to build her house on.In her house she had a ton of plants, it is somewhat small but cosy, she has a giant garage for robotics and stuff since she had always wanted to work with that, and they make small little guys similar to helpy. Once they begin construction on their land they start looking for workers, there was going to be the main greenhouse area which they would tend to, a restaurant in the center, a small daycare for kids of adults who wanted to go to relax, and a small cafe, all inside the giant greenhouse. They start looking when someone catches their attention, they went out on a ride with their cousins on ATV’s and found robot parts by the mountains, that seemed to be mostly intact, they looked like the sun almost, and considering every time y/n found machine parts they would take them, they decided this time would be no different, they place the animatronic in their lap and continue their ride as per usual, and going fast over the bumpy parts of the dirt makeshift road because that is always fun. Once they make it back to the land, they show their find to their godparents, who are thrilled! And their cousins are excited too. They take them to their garage with the help of their godfamily and get to work on fixing up some damaged wires and cables, and also cleaning up the shell and endo skeleton. The animatronic seems yellow, like the sun, it reminds them of something but they can’t place it. Then they turn it on and shenanigans ensue.

Y/n behavior: Nice, assertive, loves doing fun or dangerous stuff(ridding atv’s at 60 mph on dirt paths on the mountain) but also loves arts and crafts, is good with kids but never wanted them, which is why the greenhouse has a daycare, like to joke around a lot, and hanging out with their cousins even if they make fun of them sometimes, they have a ton of hobbies like sewing, crocheting, 3d printing, drawing, building crafts out of cardboard, 3d modeling, and building with legos.

Y/n appearance: is often seen wearing gardening clothes, a sun hat, or mechanic clothes and a bandana(that they made by crocheting it)

Y/n likes: doing crafts, dangerous things like riding the atv’s, having fun, relaxing, robots, sun/moon, learning about psychology, always 3d printing stuff, playing Mexican music over the greenhouse speakers(like la flaca) especially in the restaurant,

Y/n dislikes: karens, people destroying their plants in the greenhouse.

Y/n nicknames: Cabron(a), Sunshine, sunspot, moonlight, star,

Silly moments and memories: y/n is sitting with her grandma by a fire pit with their family, she notices she is eating peanuts, they ask if they could have any, and grandma pulls an endless well of peanuts out of her pocket, with some candy, surprise lol. The whole family just looks in shock at grandma, like how tf???

They had a piñata one day to celebrate Christmas and a hook was sticking out, so y/n gets a small gash on their hand (horizontal from the base of their thumb to the other side of the hand(no this is not very specific wdym)) while blindfolded and going at it on the piñata. (Yea y/n is sorta Hispanic I’m sorry but it’s so fun to write that stuff)

So what do you guys think?

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Five Fics Friday: Oct. 27/23 (Spoopy Edition)

Happy Friday everyone!! It's almost Spoopy Day, so I've gone through my MFL offline list, picked four random fics that came up in my "Halloween" term search, and I'm promoting them here for you today!

AND the boosted fic this week is a mystery, so it works!!

Happy Haunting!!

SIGNAL BOOSTING

Reichenbach Falls by VeeTheRee (M, 551,435+ w., 105/303 Ch. || WiP || Gravity Falls /  Multifandom AU || Alternate First Meeting, Gay Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Unilock, Summer Romance/Love, Fluff, Insecure Sherlock, Villain Mary, First Kiss, Slow Burn, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Canadian John, French Canadian Lestrade, Insecure Sherlock, Mystery, Domestic Fluff, Developing Relationship Summer Love, Light Angst, BAMF! John, Case Fic) – Two Canadians, two Brits studying in Canada, and an upkeeper walk into a Mystery Shack…. and live there. Summer holidays are here, and the step-siblings, Irene Adler and Sherlock Holmes, find themselves in a boring town called Reichenbach Falls, Oregon, USA. It isn’t as boring as it seems, however, once Sherlock stumbles upon a mystery journal, and the author is unknown. The journal contains ciphers, a strange colour wheel, and information about magical creatures that are said to be looming in the Northwestern forests. With mysteries to solve in hand, he and Irene set out to get to the roots of the town, and the abrupt disappearance of the author of the journal. But they’re not alone - John Watson, quite the handsome nephew of the Mystery Shack owner Greg Lestrade, is on their side to help out, plus mess with Sherlock’s feelings, in a good way. Shenanigans, romance, fun, danger, and deductions ensue. Oh, and there’s also occasional SuperWhoLock and two dorky Winchester brothers to spark up the action later on. Part 1 of the Reichenbach Falls series

MARKED FOR LATER HALLOWEEN FICS

One Good Scare by blueink3 (M, 17,386 w., 1 Ch. || Post S4, Holmes Family, Parentlock, Misunderstandings, Family, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Halloween, Happy Ending) – Mummy invites Sherlock, John, and Rosie to the country for her birthday, which just so happens to coincide with the annual Harvest Festival, an event Sherlock loathes. With John seemingly making the wrong move at every turn and with ghosts hiding in each of their closets, what will it take for their (Halloween) masks to finally come off?

the napoleon by darcylindbergh (E, 24,823 w., 4 Ch. || 1980′s AU || Halloween, Action & Romance, Costumes, Costume Parties/Masquerades, Mutual Pining, First Kiss / Time) – Halloween, 1989: John and Sherlock both have big plans for the night, but serial killers have the worst possible timing.

From a Well, Dark and Deep by Vulpesmellifera (M, 32,691 w., 18 Ch. || Post S4, Supernatural Elements, Horror / Milld Body Horror, Bed Sharing, Possession, Hand Holding, Whump, Hurt/Comfort, Friends to Lovers, Coming Out, Alternating POV, Nightmares, Caring John, Happy Ending) – Sherlock Holmes is desperately trying to reconcile his newfound memories and feelings within his transport—a transport that won’t quit with the nightmares and the strange, fiddly anxieties that crop up at the most inopportune moments. On the advice of his psychiatrist—not that he’s thrilled to be taking the man’s advice, but needs must—he's going to mark the anniversary of Eurus’ torments. That explains why he visits the well. What he finds at the well, though, is entirely unexpected. Meanwhile, John Watson has finally come to terms with something he’s ignored his entire life. He’s ready to share that something with Sherlock, except Sherlock isn’t acting himself. It's not the time for confessions, and John determines he must get to the bottom of his best friend's affliction before he can reveal anything. Part 3 of Vulpes' Halloween Johnlock

This Is Family by SaraStarchild (T, 39,840 w., 16 Ch. || Hereditary AU || Psychological Horror, Body Horror, Demonic Possession, POV Third Person Limited, Protective Mycroft, Cults, Mycroft Whump, Sherlock Whump, Major Character Death, Graphic Violence, Retelling) – When the Holmes family's secretive mother and matriarch, Ellen Holmes, passes away, the family she leaves behind – father Martin, sons Mycroft and Sherlock, and daughter Eurus – begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. This is, pretty much, a word-for-word retelling of the 2018 Ari Aster film, Hereditary. Part 1 of Sherlock Halloween Stories

[bolithesenate]

BOLI I'M HERE FOR YOU BOSS 7 for Sifo, 15, and 23 please :D

MY MOST TRUSTED SOLDIER

7: is there piece of clothing I think Sifo is very fond of

Uhhh, honestly, I haven't really thought about that at all. The low handing fruit would be to say some sort of shirt he stole from Dooku, but that's too easy.

both for me and for Sy.

So imma lean out on a branch here and say he actually has a pair of Jocasta's archivist tabards. She does NOT know he has them and he DEFINITELY wants to keep it that way. there's no way of telling what her revenge would be if she ever found out, but that's what makes having them all the more fun and interesting.

It's about the thrill of the unknown.

15: have you noticed your style change over time

HA

SURE

i mean, especially my drawing style changes with the stand of the sun, the constellation of the planets and with the way the neighbor's cat looks at me.

i think consistent style change is most evident in how I draw manga, actually. Something you lot here on tumblr might actually have not seen ever, now that i think about it. lol. there my style actually is rather consistent throughout mediums by now, something i cannot say about my style when i draw outside of that setting :P

But also with writing I think there was some progress. at least I like to call it progress (the main thing that comes to mind is that i've started using less brackets and more indents, but whether or not thats a good thing is up in the air lol)

23: has my favorite character/ship changed over time

changes with the moon, the sun, the way the wind blows.... most of the time I don't actually have a fixed favorite (shocking, I know)

like,I will say that Sifo and Rael are blorbos supreme, but that doesn't necessarily make them my favorite characters.

my favorite is whatever character works nicest for whatever shenanigans i am planning for my current project. I think that has always been like that.

same with ships, i actually need to change things up once in a while bc too much of the same thing grows boring to me and then I lose interest. (which is why my most recent fad is to just expand existing ships i am fond of into continuously growing poly circles XD It is turning into a bit of a problem) (yes, this is mud-fic relevant TT)

I think another thing worth mentioning here tho is that in regards to ships the most notable change is that I ship things at all. Initially when I started out I was very much a Gen baby and wanted more stories that didn't hinge on some romance for plot-furthering. Which is why my older stories also are all Gen.

I still think that a good story doesn't rely on romance, but I've since come to appreciate the character studies that come with romantic/sexual relationships and how they influence people. Also sometimes I just look at two (or more) characters and thin "ho, ho, wouldn't it be HORRIBLE if they fucked?"

[spectober]

Here is the Spectober writing prompt list for this year! There's no pressure to make something for every prompt, but for ease of access and planning, they're all listed here, and you're welcome to plan ahead.

Prompts are rewritten below the cut:

Max was still new to being a spectral, and had a nagging feeling he’d forgotten something important.

2. Johnny has managed to steal Max’s bat again, but runs into an unexpected guest while trying to make the bat do “mutant things” - Scrapdragon.

3. Every year, the corny Mayview Maze gets set up, but this Halloween, any who enter are forced to face their greatest fears in order to win a huge prize.

4. Collin, in a fit of anger, asked for just one day where he could be alone. Now everybody’s frozen in time except for him! (Time)

5. Every year the Puckett family rewatches the Shred Eagle Halloween special.

6. Cody finds unruly vampires while on his jaunt and must dispatch them when diplomacy doesn’t work…while in his Wolverine costume.

7. A spirit attack while the entire school is gathered in the gymnasium switches the spirits bound to the spectrals-some to other spectrals, and some to those otherwise unaware…

8. Isabel had never gotten along well with her dad, so why was he suddenly volunteering to chaperone a spooky story event?

9. With the thrills of Halloween and an unexpected new power upgrade from Rules, the Sphinxes are able to get into hijinks otherwise unavailable to them.

10. Violet had bought a fake knife for her costume ages ago at a thrift shop; it wasn’t supposed to be dripping blood like this.

11. The worst case scenario happens on Lake Mayview when a speedboating accident leaves RJ drowning.

`2. Mysterious ruins that suddenly appear in the middle of Mayview sounds like the perfect thing for the Activity Club to investigate.

13. Angel is used to doing business with all sorts of quirky customers, but he has no idea what to do when Peter enters his store.

14. Vendors at Mayview’s Fall Markets can have eccentric ways of paying for their wares. If Dimitri is to get his prize, he must win the weirdest game of chess he’s ever seen.

15. Stephen’s latest plan to get evidence of cryptids - via making a giant leaf pitfall trap and seeing what he caught - goes awry when he finds something else in his trap instead.

16. Alex is convinced that she's been trapped in a glowing cage of energy by aliens. The activity club knows that the culprit is a particularly mischievous poltergeist.

17. Suzy’s newest “exaggerated” news piece about the Princess of Mayview causes odd visitors to show up at her doorstep.

18. Zarei’s search for the Ghost Train’s Lantern takes unexpected twists and turns during a fall festival.

19. Serge and the Student Council are DETERMINED to let absolutely nothing get out of hand with the fundraising hay ride this year. (Everything gets out of hand.)

20. It’s a race against time to move the rotted pumpkin Tool out into a safe area before the spirit within is able to break out of it entirely.

21. Spender wouldn't consider himself an ideal guardian, but he's pretty sure that allowing Isabel's Halloween plans to proceed would count as child endangerment.

22. Ollie tends not to believe in the supernatural, but as he encounters more and more things he can't explain, he ponders an earlier hypothesis from the group that they've been hexed.

23. Usually Isaac was excited for Halloween, but this year he just felt a nothingness in his heart.

24. Shenanigans ensue when Penny returns to the shop with her newest find, a Tool….that’s a corpse.

25. Death cults and creepy go hand in hand, but Ms. Baxter is just trying to use it to find love.

26. When Jeff starts getting bullied by a new Academy student calling himself “The Demon”, an unlikely group of kids rally together to take him out.

27. During their usual romp around the woods, the Jang finds a weirdly large skull.

28. Jean finds an unnatural being in the woods, the living dead, and has to take it out before it reaches town.

29. Lisa is framed for poison ending up in people's drinks, and she's going to make the real poisoner have a taste of their own medicine.

30. Ed’s glasses get stolen, prompting a chase that quickly and hilariously escalates.

31. PJ doesn’t remember his birthday, so Max throws a Deathday party for him instead and it winds up being crashed by everyone.

[sleepingdeath-light]

s/o who has a lot of cats hcs ; shining glitter cookie

requested by ; anonymous (16/07/23)

fandom(s) ; cookie run

fandom masterlist(s) ; hub | specific

character(s) ; shining glitter cookie

outline ; “Black Lemonade and Shining Glitter (separate) with a s/o who has like 10 cats”

warning(s) ; none, just fluff!

shining glitter cookie is very much so an animal person — not any specific animal, mind you, just any that won’t actively attack her if she gets close to them — so she’d be absolutely thrilled the moment you told her about your feline army

always asking for pictures of them before she goes over to your house for the first time, saving every picture and openly cooing over them — memorising each cat’s names and quirks off by heart until she’s able to give them all very fitting nicknames that you can’t help but smile and chuckle at

once she’s finally able to meet your pets, it’s honestly like she loves them more than you — showering them all with love and affection and toys and (veterinarian approved) treats and the like

and, equally, your more social fur-babies warm up to her immediately and always seek her out when you get home — seeking out the new mum who spoils them rather than you sometimes (hurtful, but you get it)

she has burst into tears before when she’s been unable to provide all of your cats the amount of attention that they deserve because she ‘doesn’t have enough hands’ and can’t pet them all at the same time — there’s so many of them and only one of her so she gets a bit emotional

she has an entire folder on her phone dedicated to pictures and videos of your cats and will happily cat sit for you whenever you ask her to — sending you frequent updates on their shenanigans whilst you’re away

if any of your cats have a particularly ‘grumpy’, ‘mean’ or ‘antisocial’ disposition then this poor woman is going to be worried that she’s done something to offend them — asking you what she did wrong, even — but despite that she does give them their space and only really does what’s needed to keep them healthy if you’re away (making sure they eat and drink, if they’re seniors or have other needs making sure they get their meds, etc.)

[mindmeltonabunaosblog]

Alchemy of Souls Part 2: Theories & Analysis (Ep 27-28)

Hello Readers,

Quite frankly I'm beyond thrilled this show is finally coming to a close. Part 2 was an utter mess and the script was horrendous. I felt like I was watching a hormonal teenage drama or something. The Hong Sisters had 30 episodes to tell the story of the three main characters (Seo Yul, Jin Bu Yeon, and Jang Uk), but they ended up mainly focusing on just one character (Jang Uk). They could've easily given the three mains 10 episodes each, but chose not to.

The Hong Sisters tried to connect the stories of what happen 203 yrs ago to 23 years ago to the present, but ended up failing miserably. When it came to Jang Uk, his clan didn't become important until his dad decided to swap with the King 23 years ago. Otherwise his story wasn't as interesting in comparison to the Jin's or Seo's. The only link Jang Uk has to what happened 203 years ago is that he's a King Star. And that's about it! I can totally see the Hong Sisters trying to make Jang Uk's connection to the past stronger by having him be the reincarnation of Seo Gyeong. However, if they choose to do this I'll know the Hong Sisters were scrambling to find a quick fix. Bear in mind, the notion of reincarnation has never been introduced within this show.

In this week's episodes, the past came back to haunt us. The problem with all of this is that the Hong Sisters didn't give us enough of a backstory as to what happened 203 years ago. In particular, the stories of the Choi's, Jin's, and Seo's....you know the three families involved in the first Great Chaos. It's like the Hong Sisters saw a wild fire was happening and they tried to cover it up with romance. No matter how many smut scenes they threw at me, I just wasn't having it. Romance in this show was secondary to the plot, not the other way around.

I'll be making my T&A posts (Eps 21-28) available to the general pubic after the last episodes of Part 2 ends. For Eps 29-30, I'll probably not make a T&A post available to the pubic. Why? Because AOS fandom is toxic af. Never in my life have I ever seen so many people plagiarize my work up until now. It has truly disgusted me. I know they'll be here lurking around hoping that I'll release my T&A post for Ep 29-30, but sorry I won't be!

Thinking caps on! Time to analyze and theorize.

Disclaimer: There’s probably many grammatical mistakes in this post! Also, I won’t be answering questions regarding Eps 29-30 just because I know there will be people who will use my answers and portray it as their own wherever.

Phoenix Shenanigans

This is one of the most annoying things about the Hong Sisters especially in Part 2, they keep introducing new things without really expanding upon them. How the hell are we suppose to figure out anything if they don't give us more information????! While I love the whole firebird concept, I don't think we'll have time to see it all play out. Meaning, I don't think we'll get to see the phoenix hatch. If by some miracle we do, I think it'll probably take 10 minutes at best. However, I'll still discuss about the firebird just in case! Below are just some things we know about the firebird:

1) Born from a volcano 2) Carries spirit of the dead 3) Able to be healed with a flower 4) When hatched it causes a severe drought 5) Causes Ice Stones to fall from the sky 6) Jin Seol Ran and Seo Gyeong built Jinyowon to contain the bird egg 7) Barrier that surrounds the egg is made with energy weighing 30,000 nyangs 8) Conflict causes the egg to hatch or "awaken"

Some interesting things about the firebird is the energy needed to keep it contained. Hong Sisters really love the number three lol. Cumulatively, Jang Uk has killed a 30 soul shifters. For each kill, he receives 1000 nyangs. Therefore, he has conveniently earned 30,000 nyangs, the same amount needed for the bird egg barrier. Another way to look at it is that the firebird barrier is equivalent to 30 souls! I smell Master Lee's hand in all of this haha. I bet you Master Lee had planted all these soul shifters for Jang Uk to kill so he would have enough to save Seo Yul's life.

Now Mama Jin said something interesting about the firebird, arguing or conflict will cause the firebird to wake up. I do wonder if the firebird will wake up if there's a large war or clash in Daeho. In the preview, it looks like Songrim will fight Cheonbugwan...could this be the event that inadvertently wakes up big bird? I'd also theorized that maybe Jin Seol Ran had developed some sort of psychic connection to the bird and her descendant (Jin Bu Yeon) is connected to it too. We know an internal conflict is about to arise in Jin Bu Yeon and this could also cause the bird to wake up if it is indeed linked to Jin Bu Yeon.

The Seo Family

This storyline had so much potential, but it was squandered away in favor of romance in Part 2. Back in Part 1, I'd wanted to know more about the Seo clan just because they were one of the original mage families involved in the Great Chaos. Other than the room where the Seo Lanterns were kept, we barely saw any of Seoho Fortress. I was also very curious to know if Seo Gyeong's lantern had been as kept there or somewhere else in an undisclosed location in Seoho Fortress. Such a piece of information would've been helpful to solve the mystery of what happened to Seo Gyeong following the events 203 years ago.

Members of this family seem to hold great power even if they don't have the King Star. For example, General Seo Il. Everyone in Daeho seems to fear this man yet we didn't even get to see him. Do people in Daeho fear General Seo Il because he has a large army or is it because he is a powerful mage like his ancestor, Seo Gyeong? I don't know. I'd thought with the appearances of Uncle Seo Yoon Oh and Queen Seo Ha Sun in Part 2, we would've at least gotten a chance to know more about this powerful yet mysterious family.

Seo Gyeong

In this week's episodes, we learned something new about Seo Gyeong. According to Jin Mu, Seo Gyeong chose to move his clan far west to Seoho Fortress for the sake of unity. To the Royals, Seo Gyeong appeared threatening because he had the god like power of Hwansu which could be used to usurp them. Maybe Seo Gyeong actively chose to move his family to Seoho Fortress so they could thrive and grow. If Seo Gyeong hadn't moved his family to Seoho Fortress, the Royals probably at some point would've found some sort of justification to kill them all. And then there would be no more Seo clan. Additionally, maybe Seo Gyeong decided to move far away to Seoho Fortress because he was planning on eventually bringing Jin Seol Ran there to protect her by hiding her (maybe everyone was hunting her).

What I don't get though is why the creation of Songrim didn't appear threatening to the Royals? After all, Seo Gyeong was leader of Songrim and therefore would've been in close proximity to the Royals. In addition, I didn't get why the Seo clan weren't allowed back into the capital following the death of Seo Gyeong. From my understanding at least, the Royals only feared Seo Gyeong and not so much his family. Therefore, the only reason I could think of is that the Royals know Seo Gyeong is still alive. Overall, there are still so many unanswered questions when it comes to this man and his family.

Water Wick

Does anyone else think the Seo Water Wick looks like a soul ejector? Or maybe it's just me. In terms of functionality, the Water Wick is the opposite of the soul ejector. Instead of ejecting souls, the Water Wick is able to house the energy of souls. I know many will say, the Water Wick does not contain souls. Yes it does! Recall from one of my previous posts, the word "ki" means soul/energy. On Netflix, they translated "ki" to "torrent of energy" which was funny. They could've simply translated it to Seo Yul's soul or Seo Yul's energy...oh well. In regards to the appearance of these Water Wicks, maybe Seo Gyeong decided to copy Choi Cheol's soul ejector design. I also find it interesting that these Water Wicks connected to lanterns…weren’t lanterns a Jin thing? Hmmm Seo x Jin connection?

Seo Gyeong may have created these Water Wicks as a preventative measure to safeguard future generations of his family from becoming soul shifters. For example, Queen Seo Ha Sun. Her ass got caught for being a soul shifter because of these Water Wicks which were connected to her Seo Lantern of Life. Guess Seo Gyeong did not want his family to dabble in "sorcery".

Other things I wonder is if you were to place placed someone's soul/energy inside these water wicks and then placed them into a dead body, what would happen? Would the dead body be revived? If so then these Water Wicks are like alternatives for soul ejectors. Maybe one wouldn't experience the nasty side effects of soul shifting if one were to use one of this water wicks in a dead body. Had the Hong Sisters done a better job at pacing, we could've known more about these interesting marbles!

Turtle

Turtles...what more do I need to say about these creatures? Well, in asian culture, turtles are symbolistic of longevity and power. They're considered one of the four celestial animals (phoenix, white tiger, and azure dragon) in Chinese mythology. Additionally, shamans back in the day used to use their shells for divinations.

In the context of AOS, turtles can also refer to people who are at risk of dying (i.e. Seo Yul and Jin Bu Yeon). FYI, when the Crown Prince said, "we saved a turtle together", he meant Seo Yul.

Going back to turtles in Chinese mythology, they're associated with the winter season, north cardinal direction, and water element. Jang Uk is basically the black tortoise. Just Google "Black Tortoise" if you're curious to know more. You know what star typically guides people when they're lost? The "North" Star otherwise known as "Polaris". This star is actually part of the "Little Dipper" constellation. What I think will end up happening is that Jang Uk will eventually sacrifice himself to save Jin Bu Yeon and everyone else. In return for his sacrifice/life, the skies will make him into an actual star in the night sky to forever guide people.

In the wrap up cake, there are two turtles seen on the ground while 1 turtle is in the sky which indicates 1 turtle is no longer on physically living on earth. If you look at the placement of the turtles, you can see they're in the direction of south, west, and north. The south turtle is Jin Bu Yeon (south/phoenix/summer season) while the west turtle is Seo Yul (west/white tiger/autumn season).

The Truth Hurts

I've seen so many people hating either Seo Yul or Heo Yun Ok and I'm like y'all they're doing or saying the crap that no one else wants to. When it comes to Jin Bu Yeon, she wants to live in ignorant bliss. One really shouldn't live this way. Fact of the matter is that Jin Bu Yeon has many responsibilities and she can't keep ignoring them forever. For example, she will eventually have to take Mama Jin's place as leader of Jinyowon and protect the world from the relics. She will also have to deal with the firebird situation and ongoing drought among other things. And all these things require her to have full usage of her divine powers. Jin Bu Yeon can't come into her divine powers if she remains an ignorant pathetic love struck puppy who stays by Jang Uk's side all the damn time.

I seriously don't know why so many viewers are hating on Heo Yun Ok. Maybe she shouldn't have splash that stuff in Jin Bu Yeon's face, but at the same time I'm glad she did. Why? Because otherwise Jin Bu Yeon would've kept ignoring the truth and continue to live in a bubble of ignorant bliss, never striving to become something more of herself. Heo Yun Ok and Seo Yul have different approaches when it comes to telling someone the truth. Heo Yun Ok is more brutally honest while Seo Yul sugarcoats things. For me personally, I would be more like Heo Yun Ok. I prefer to give it straight to people instead of beating around the brush. No one have got time for that! Overall, I think Heo Yun Ok genuinely cares for Jang Uk and truly doesn't want to see him get hurt again. As mean as Heo Yun Ok was to Jin Bu Yeon in this scene, it ultimately forced Jin Bu Yeon to face reality and go to Danhyanggot by herself to find out the truth.

Jin Bu Yeon and Naksu Crap 2.0

I'm pretty much done with this whole mystery. Naksu is Jin Bu Yeon and vice versa. They're the same soul. Essentially, the scene below is just Jin Bu Yeon talking to herself. At the end of the day, "Naksu" is just a period that Jin Bu Yeon had gone through. Up until Jin Bu Yeon was 10 years old, she was herself then she got amnesia as a child and swapped bodies and became "Naksu" as an adult. Following this, she went back to OG body, but she didn't recognize it as being her own because she had been away from it for so long, making it seem foreign to her. Imagine if you lived in AOS and experienced what Jin Bu Yeon had and then went back to your OG body 10 years later. How would you even know this body was yours to begin with? You wouldn't. Bodies change especially from childhood to adulthood. Adding to this, Jin Bu Yeon was blind so how could she even know what she looked like as a child let alone an adult?

I still can't believe the Hong Sisters had stretched out this crap until the last two episodes of this entire series. If there's one question I want to ask the Hong Sisters it's this: "What was your reasoning for why you couldn't have Naksu remember her real childhood memories (Jin Bu Yeon childhood memories) back in Part 1?".

Gwido

Before I start this section, I just want to say I seriously hate how the Hong Sisters are introducing new things and/or new pieces of information at the very last minute. What it feels like to me is the Hong Sisters completely forgot about things they introduced either in Part 1 or in the beginning of Part 2 and are now trying to hurriedly wrap them up by introducing new stuff. How does that make any sense? If you already know you are pressed for time to wrap things up, do not introduce new concepts. It's that easy! If you decide to do so, you're going to run into some problems such as making simple mistakes. For example, the whole 200 years comment made by the Crown Prince. Specifically, the Crown Prince said, "A Choi mage also died 200 years ago in there". Anyone see the error? I also made this same mistake in an earlier post, but recognized the mistake and fixed it when I tweeted on my Twitter account. Anyways, I'm allowed to make these mistakes just because I'm only a viewer and not the writers themselves. The Hong Sisters seemed to have completely forgotten 3 years had passed. Therefore, it should've been 203 years ago not 200 years ago. Little mistakes like this makes me believe the whole Gwido stuff was something made up at the very last minute. As you read further down, you'll begin to see how the introduction of the Gwido door/prison ultimately leads to more questions than answers. How can we solve current mysteries if we were not fully given information about the past?

I'm just going to briefly summarize what was said about Gwido. Within Cheonbugwan, there is a prison called Gwido. Jin Seol Ran was the one who created the door that led to the prison. The prison held those who performed sorcery. A Choi mage died in this prison 203 years ago. Once you enter this prison, you can never escape even as a ghost. What this means is that even if you die in this prison, your soul cannot travel to the sky or afterlife, you're trapped there and become a "wraith". In the context of AOS, wraiths are souls of those who performed sorcery and are trapped/unable to move on.

Though they’ll probably not mention it, I do wonder who created the prison itself. We only know Jin Seol Ran created the door, but we don’t know who created the actual prison. Other questions I have is why build this prison in Cheonbugwan of all places? Why didn’t they choose to build this prison in Jinyowon or Songrim? I understand they probably didn't want to build this inside of Seoho Fortress for logistic reasons, but with Jinyowon and Songrim, they seemed closer to everything.

Other things to point out is there were three magical schools, Jinyowon, Songrim, and Cheonbugwan and three great mages/priestesses (Seo Gyeong, Choi Cheol, and Jin Seol Ran). If we know Jin Seol Ran was leader of Jinyowon and Seo Gyeong was leader of Songrim then it must mean Choi Cheol was the leader of Cheonbugwan right? Therefore, maybe it was Choi Cheol who built the prison. Putting everything together, maybe at one point Choi Cheol and Jin Seol Ran were friends given how she did build the door of the prison. So many questions remain though. Were these three people all friends and one of them (Choi Cheol) turned evil?

I also do wonder what the order of when all three schools were built. I am guessing Cheonbugwan was built first. Why? Because there had to be a place to read the stars to know a King Star would be born to end the chaos. After this, Songrim was built followed by Jinyowon. Below is just a brief summary of the purposes of the four places:

Cheonbugwan: Protect Daeho from chaos/destruction by seeing the future and preparing ahead of time Songrim: Place where people could gather together to learn regardless of their background Jinyowon: Protect the world from dangerous relics Seoho Fortress: Protect Daeho from enemies to the west and to provide unity by not being threatening to the royals

Ultimately, all these places were suppose to protect Daeho from any possible treats (both current and future) and maintain peace. What ended up happening though is one of these people decided to turn against the others for power.

Ice Stone, Seo Water Wick, Tracker, or Something Else?

When I'd initially saw the orb thing in the skeleton, I thought it was an Ice Stone. However, when comparing the orb to the Ice Stone, you'll realize they're not the same thing. The Ice Stone has uneven edges giving it a stone like appearance while the orb has completely smooth edges. The Ice Stone also has a white tint to it while the orb has almost a blue/turquoise tint. Now, the only spheres we have seen in AOS are soul ejectors, Seo water wicks, and stone in the Jinyowon bracelet.

What we haven't seen is what an Ice Stone looks like once it's in someone's chest for a long duration of time. Could it be that once an Ice Stone stays in someone for a long time, it changes colors and becomes smoother? It could also be that if you have an Ice Stone within you and swap bodies, the Ice Stone will follow you to your next body and this is what causes Ice Stone to physically change its appearance. I feel like the color associated with the Seo family is blue and the color associated with the Choi family is green. When you combine those colors you get a turquoise color like the Ice Stone we see in the skeleton. In all honesty, the Ice Stone looks like one big uncut diamond which hasn't been processed while the blue orb seen below looks like a processed diamond. The blue orb may just be a variation of an Ice Stone.

Another idea I have is that this is a water wick containing Seo Gyeong's soul/energy. Maybe when Jin Bu Yeon touches it, she'll be able to see what happened 203 years ago. Anyways, who knows what this orb really this! For all we know, this orb could be a completely new concept the Hong Sisters decided to introduce at the very last minute to plug up some plot holes. For the remainder of this post, I am just going to assume this is an Ice Stone!

Identity of Skeleton

This section will be messy y'all just because the Hong Sisters didn't really provide us any background story of what happened 203 years ago. Anyways, let's get some things straight first. Up until this point of the series, the only person we knew who died is Jin Seol Ran. We didn't know what happened to Seo Gyeong or Choi Cheol. In Ep 28, we were told a Choi mage had died in Gwido. Since we live in the world of AOS where soul switching is possible, we should always ask ourselves whose soul is in any particular body.

Some say the skeleton is probably Choi Cheol, while others say it is Seo Gyeong, Jang Uk, Cho Yeong, or Jin Bu Yeon's skeleton. In regards to the last 3 possibilities, how would any of these bodies get transported inside Gwido in the first place? For this reason, I don't think this is Jang Uk, Cho Yeong, or Jin Bu Yeon's body. This leaves us with two body identities left....Choi Cheol or Seo Gyeong. Going back to what the Crown Prince said about how a Choi mage died in there, I think it's safe to assume the body at least is that of Choi Cheol. So whose soul was in this body? Choi Cheol or Seo Gyeong? I really don't know just because the Hong Sisters didn't give us the full backstory. Also the Hong Sisters didn't really elaborate whether the whole Ice Stone being inside someone is something exclusive to King Stars or can anyone have the Ice Stone within themselves as long as they're willing to sacrifice everything. In addition, they never told us what would happen if you decided to switch bodies while you initially had the Ice Stone within you. I'm just going to assume that because the Ice Stone is a soul stone and not body stone, once you switch bodies, the Ice Stone will follow you to your next body of choice.

In order to connect what characters said to what we saw, we have to consider the possibility there was some soul switching between Seo Gyeong (SG) and Choi Cheol (CC). Below are the two possibilities which could fit the two statements (Choi body died and Ice Stone inside of body).

A) SG Soul + CC Body and CC Soul + SG Body Escaped B) CC Soul + CC Body

Let's talk about choice "A". If this is true then the skeleton we are seeing here is Seo Gyeong's soul in Choi Cheol's body. Some might ask why would Seo Gyeong choose to do such a thing? Because he wanted to die. His lover was dead and the Ice Stone within himself became too much to bear. When Jin Seol Ran died, Seo Gyeong's option to die also went down with her. Meaning Seo Gyeong could not die because Jin Seol Ran was the only person who could remove the Ice Stone from him. However, maybe Seo Gyeong did figure out a way to die without Jin Seol Ran and this is where Choi Cheol comes into play.

Maybe these men were able to come together to save their future descendants. Given the Choi's were associated with divination, Choi Cheol could've be able to see the distant future and informed Seo Gyeong of this. These men then devised a plan to swap bodies with Seo Gyeong making the ultimate sacrifice by staying in Choi Cheol's body and dying inside of Gwido. Some will ask well if Seo Gyeong's Ice Stone followed him to Choi Cheol's body, why did Seo Gyeong still die? It could be because the Ice Stone needed to become activated (you can read further down to see how Ice Stones can become activated once in someone's body). The swap probably reset the Ice Stone that was attached to Seo Gyeong's soul so it became dormant. What was the whole point to all of this? To leave an extra Ice Stone for Jin Bu Yeon to find. Following this, Choi Cheol in Seo Gyeong's body could've escaped through some sort of backdoor only Seo Gyeong knew about. Maybe Jin Seol Ran had told Seo Gyeong about an escape route and then Seo Gyeong told Choi Cheol. Therefore, this would mean Choi Cheol is Master Lee Cheol and Seo Gyeong died a long time ago.

Moving onto option "B". If this is Choi Cheol's soul in his own body, how did he ended up with the Ice Stone within him? Again, I am not sure if the whole Ice Stone in your body is something that is exclusive to King Stars or anyone can have the Ice Stone within them as long as they're willing to give up everything. Remember that Jang Uk only had the Ice Stone within him because he had been willing to sacrifice all of his energy to break the Ice Stone barrier to save everyone. Subsequently, the skies rewarded him for his bravery by placing the Ice Stone within him. If we are going with this is Choi Cheol's soul in his own body then maybe the story was that in the end Choi Cheol saw the errors of his way and tried to destroy the Ice Stone and for this honorable act, the skies placed an Ice Stone within him. Recall how in Ep 7, it did look like Choi Cheol was trying to destroy the Ice Stone since it was becoming vapor.

So if Choi Cheol had the Ice Stone within him, why did he still end up in the prison and dead? Probably because he still had to be punished for performing sorcery in the first place. As for the second part of the question, maybe Choi Cheol died because his Ice Stone did not become activated. Recall there are two ways to use the Ice Stone's powers once it's inside of you. The first being that you can train again to be able to use the Ice Stone's power. The second is to be killed and then burned. In this case, fire was the catalyst that activated the Ice Stone within Jang Uk. Going back to Choi Cheol, he may have been killed by the wraiths inside Gwido and without anyone to burn his body, the Ice Stone never became activated. With this option, there was no soul switching and Master Lee Cheol is Seo Gyeong.

Do y'all see how complicated it is to try and figure this crap out with the limited amount of information we are given?! Even after analyzing everything, I'm still not completely 100% confident the identity of the skeleton or who Master Lee Cheol really is (Seo Gyeong or Choi Cheol). The only thing I'm certain about is that between these two men, only one lived.

I also think it was Master Lee who told Jang Uk and the Crown Prince about the secret back door of Gwido which allowed them to enter to rescue Jin Bu Yeon. Another thing that's throwing me off about Master Lee is his clairvoyant ability. He obviously can see the future which is why he's always 30 steps ahead of everyone else. Just from this trait alone, I would say Master Lee is Cheol Choi. However, this doesn't really explain why Seo Yul also has this ability. Either Seo Yul has this ability because his ancestor Seo Gyeong did too or Seo Yul has this ability because he is also a Choi. By this I mean after Choi Cheol swapped into Seo Gyeong's body, the descendants of "Seo Gyeong" inherited abilities of both Seo Gyeong and Choi Cheol.

Master Lee

Here's some other random things I want to talk about when it comes to Master Lee. When he told Seo Yul to "feign ignorance", I found it absolutely hilarious just because this is what Master Lee has been doing this entire time. This man has been parading around pretending he doesn't know anything when he literally KNOWS EVERYTHING. Also in this scene, Master Lee uses more reverse psychology on people. He told Seo Yul not to tell, but Seo Yul ended up blabbing anyways. Master Lee wanted Seo Yul to do this haha. Everything is going accordingly to Master Lee's plan. As I said previously, Master Lee wanted his two chess pieces to realize their destines and he can't accomplish his goal if people are constantly trying to kill them. Therefore, this is why Master Lee has been telling certain people different stories (i.e Mama Jin, Park Jin, Seo Yul, and Jin Bu Yeon).

At the beginning of Part 2, I thought it was Jin Mu who had made the soul shifter run towards Jinyowon so Jang Uk could find Jin Bu Yeon, but now I'm pretty sure it was Master Lee all along. Master Lee was pushing these two together not for romantic purposes, but more for work related purposes. Jang Uk was instrumental to Jin Bu Yeon realizing her destiny. And before y'all say Master Lee is a Jang Uk/Jin Bu Yeon shipper, I don't really think he is. I think he's molding these two to separately become protectors of peace in Daeho. Keyword...separately. He wants these two to be at the top of their game and sure, they can help each other to grow as work partners, but not as romantic partners. These two have already proven to Master Lee they cannot balance love with work if they're romantically together. To help them both realize this, Master Lee chose to not intervene and allowed Jin Bu Yeon to stab Jang Uk in Part 1. Haha...."it is better to die than do nothing".....they did nothing so they died. Harsh Master Lee...so freaking harsh. These two are imbued with great powers to help save the world, not to sit around lazily doing nothing.

Summary of Final Predictions/Thoughts/Other Random Things

War will break out between Songrim and Cheonbugwan. General Seo Il will finally show up to help with the war.

Bird egg will start to crack because of the chaos

Jin Bu Yeon will need the Ice Stone from Jang Uk's chest to bring back the rain or prevent the bird egg from hatching

Naksu=Jin Bu Yeon and Jin Bu Yeon= Naksu; Istg the Hong Sisters better not have Jin Bu Yeon become a weak human being that never does anything with her life. I'll be so disappointed if the Hong Sisters does this to her character. Anyways I’ve already explained it so many times now why Naksu and Jin Bu Yeon are the same soul. There was no two souls in one body. It was just one very confused soul in that body. You can refer to my previous posts where I’d explained how Jin Bu Yeon and Cho Yeong had swapped as kids and then swapped back as adults.

The Naksu/GYJ face disappears and the JBY/JSM face appears. Once JBY fully returns, she will have mastered Hwansu (the method of returning). JBY will testify against Jin Mu and he will be put into Gwido.

Jang Uk will die and become the North Star in the sky that guides people forever. Another theory is that Jang Uk and Seo Yul will swap. Meaning Seo Yul would die while Jang Uk's soul resides in Seo Yul's body. ISTG HONG SISTERS YOU BETTER NOT DO THIS!!!! Or they could make things even crazier and say Seo Gyeong's soul had split into two souls (Jang Uk and Seo Yul) and are brought together in Seo Yul's body.....um no...HONG SISTERS DO NOT GO DOWN THIS ROUTE EITHER!!!

Master Lee Cheol is Choi Cheol (Tbh I'm still on the fence about this..Master Lee Cheol could also be Seo Gyeong); I’m like 65% confident Master Lee Cheol is Choi Cheol. It’ll also be crazy if Seo Gyeong wasn’t the real King Star, but Choi Cheol was (parallels to how CP isn’t the real King Star and JU was).

Seo Yul x JBY endgame (YuBu couple); They’ll have twins and name the boy, Seo Uk and the girl, Jin Sol (My Korean friend came up with this! It goes with Seol and Seoyul pattern and “soul” sound). Maybe JBY will finally teach Seo Yul how to make pine pollen tea cakes (ref to Ep 18).

Other endgames: CP x Heo Yun Ok, Jin Cho Yeon x Park Danggu, and Kim Yeon x Park Jin

Houses and leaders: Jinyowon/Jin Bu Yeon, Songrim/Park Danggu, Seoho/Another Seo and Cheonbugwan/Seo Yul; If by some off chance Jinyowon gets destroyed (I really hope it doesn’t) then Jin Bu Yeon should be leader of Cheonbugwan.

One last super crazy and absolutely far fetch theory I have is this: Master Cheol Choi has been trying to resurrect SG and JSR. SG’s soul split into two (JU and Seo Yul) and JSR’s soul did the same (CY and JBY). Ultimately JU’s and Seo Yul’s souls merge and become “SG” and CY and JBY’s soul merge to become “JSR”. Then we get SG soul in Seo Yul body (MH body) and JSR soul in JBY body (JSM body). Everything would then come full circle…connecting events from 203 yrs ago, 23 yrs ago, and present time. This would be freaking crazy bc the Hong Sisters had never introduced the notion of reincarnation nor soul splitting in AOS. However, this theory would fit in line with the unity and unpredictable theme present in Part 2 while wrapping up all the loose ends. Probably won’t happen, but it would be a cool idea for someone to use to write a fan fiction haha. I’ll seriously laugh if the Hong Sisters decide to take this route.

The water wick kiss scene between Seo Yul and Jin Bu Yeon is probably a reference to gumiho’s fox kiss. Hong Sisters’ first big hit was “My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho”. In MGIAG, the FL gives her fox bead to the ML to save his life which is similar to what JBY did. Jin Bu Yeon’s character is almost like a mix between Phoenix and Gumiho. Also in MGIAG, the FL has blue eyes similar to JBY. Hong Sisters also borrowed some things from TOTNT.

Ok I'm pretty much done and dead haha! There are probably things I forgot to discuss....oh well!

[markwatkinsreviews]

BOOK REVIEW: JUST BACKDATED by Chris Charlesworth (2024)

Melody Maker debuted January 1926, and its 36 pages were mostly dedicated to the (then) big band sound and jazz scene. For many decades it left all the rock & roll shenanigans to it's greatest ENEMY, the NME.

By the 1970's, things were much different. Prog rock (fading) and Punk (rising) had elbowed Trad jazz out of the way. By the decades end, if it was old, grey and whistled, this music paper was no longer interested - INSTEAD - fully embracing the pretenders of the New Wave. After all, it was MM journalist, Michael Watts, who "bombed out the bailer" (BBC Radio 1's Bob Harris) in 1978.

JUST BACKDATED is from Michael Watt's colleague - staff writer/ editor, Chris Charlesworth and uncovers his SEVEN YEARS IN THE SEVENTIES at "The Maker", from humble writing beginnings in Slough onto a New York news-desk!!

By now, Chris has many music books to his name, including on David Bowie and The Who, but this latest hardback (published by Spenwood Books) is his own back catalogue; his own back pages:

"My infactuation with pop music came out of nowhere, creeping up on me from the age of ten, perhaps as a way out of the convrentional future expected of me, perhaps because it offered excitement absent from the Yorkshire market town where I was raised, perhaps, like many boys who pick up a guitar, as a way to meet girls.

All three turned out to be true."

Written in a friendly, open style, Charlesworth shares his stories, such as on Steely Dan (Can't Buy A Thrill LP being on heavy rotation in the MM offices), being photographed with the delectable Debbie Harry and receiving a personal postcard from John Lennon. Maybe Lennon's green card was always blue, as the author sagely summaries: "He was no saint, it's true, but never pretended to be either."

JUST BACKDATED is a good work, with occasional sinning.

Rating: 9/10

Just Backdated - Spenwood books

Mark Watkins, 23 September, 2024.

[swynlake-rp]

OTMS

MUN: K AND S! Both K and S stepped up in a major way for Capture the Flag during the AU, and their teammates noticed! Whether it was team strategy or causing some Agent of Eris chaos, members shouted these two out for bringing their A game to the AU. Honorable Mention: B! Of course, our members also had to give Ba shoutout for all her amazing assistance during the AU as well. 20-page-lore-doc? Yeah, all in a day’s work for B! CHARACTER: AURORA! Anavigated a difficult month for Aurora, and began exploring some of the after-effects of her cursebreaking. And she’s working on opening a business! We can’t wait to see what Aurora does next.  Honorable Mention: Stella & Banzai Props to C and G for jumping right into the AU fun with brand-new characters with an epic Greek tragedy! Euripedes is quaking!  THREAD: ONCE IN A SUPER BLUE MOON & IT’S TIME TO GO! Both of these threads got shoutouts for their thrilling plots, high emotions, and moments of tenderness, too. We’re on the edge of our seats to see what happens next! TASK: WHAT’S IN MARIE’S BAG! B went above and beyond for this one, even making gifs to go alongside it! And we loved learning more about this absolute icon. Luckily she has purse <3 Honorable Mention: Everyone’s AU bios! We always love to see the creativity when it’s AU time, and this month was no different. Nice work to everyone who participated!

BOARD UPDATES 

PASSED! LITTERING PETITION

PETITION: AURORA’S APOTHECARY

ELECTION SEASON!

Election Applications due Sept. 30!!!

Also! During election seasons, petitions are ON HOLD (Starting October 1st)

TASKS

DO YOU REMEMBER? PLAYLIST: Do you remember dancing in September? Make a playlist that brings your character back to a significant night or moment– the 21st night of September or another important date along with a graphic. Include a short (or long) blurb about each song. AUTUMN PAIRED THREAD: The seasons are changing, pick a fun fall activity and do a thread with a character played by your assigned partner. Some ideas to get you started: back to school! The carnival!

EVENTS

SEPT 4-11: FRESHERS WEEK: Kick off the start of the university fall semester with an epic rager hosted by none other than Ed and Phineas!!!!!! Canonically on Sept. 7

SEPT 8-15: FALL CARNIVAL: It’s the 69th Annual Swynlake Fall Carnival! Rides and games and treats, galore! Happening on Discord – but also we encourage dashboard shenanigans. Canonically runs through the same dates.

SEPT 11-18: HAUNTLEY INN REOPENING: The Hauntley Manor Inn is throwing a  cocktail party in honor of being reopen for business-- and for Friday the 13th! Canonically on Sept. 13. 

SEPT 18-25: MIGHTY WEDDING: Martin Ambrosius and Renard Dubhuir are getting married! There will be a private ceremony at dusk on September 22nd with a late reception lasting throughout the night open to the public at Town Hall.

BIRTHDAYS

Characters:

Gregory Eeyore – September 1

Dian Morey – September 3

Vishaka Chakraborty – September 8

Atta Flutterwing – September 9

Lucian "Lucky" Doyle – September 12

Li Shang – September 12

Remy Gusteau – September 12

Phoebe "Pepper" Doyle – September 12

Anastasia Tremaine – September 13

Kiig'nc 'King' La'ornh – September 14

Krish "Copper" Russell – September 18

Hugo “Chief” Slade – September 18

Babette Durand – September 20

Su Qin – September 20

Mazhar Morey – September 21

Alana Triton – September 23

Willis Tibbs – September 29

[crowdvscritic]

round up // NOVEMBER 23 + DECEMBER 23 + JANUARY 24: CROWD vs. CRITIC vs. CHRISTMAS!

November and December push me to the limit—how many movies can I fit in before the end of the calendar year? In 2023 (plus a few bonus days), the answer was more than 130 new releases. And who wants to skip all of their favorite Christmas movies? Because I extend my holiday viewing into January, I fit in almost 90 this year, adding a few more to my all-time must-watch list. Once the Oscar noms were announced, I was already back to my usual shenanigans and had watched my 400th unique movie on Turner Classic Movies. Whether these statistics are cool or pathetic (erm, don’t tell me), I’m grateful for the slowness of Dump-uary and the depth that comes with thinking about the same Oscar-nominated films for several weeks. (Too bad we need to revisit Melissa Villaseñor’s Oscars snub song from SNL.)

To help sum up these three packed months, I’m resurrecting Crowd vs. Critic vs. Christmas: five crowd-pleasers, five critic picks, and five Christmas treats. Who says you can’t make these holiday recommendations part of your February entertainment?

Holiday Crowd-Pleasers

1. SNL Round Up

Studio 8H is making up for lost time after those strikes: 

“Question Quest” (4906 with Emma Stone)

“Beep Beep” (4907 with Adam Driver) - #SoMidwest

“Weekend Update: Chloe Fineman’s Save the Last Dance Holiday Gift” (4907)

“Tiny A** Bag” (4907)

“Christmas Awards Cold Open” (4908 with Kate McKinnon)

"North Pole News: Killer Whale Attack” (4908)

“ABBA Christmas” (4908)

“Yankee Swap” (4908)

“Please Don't Destroy - Roast” (4910 with Dakota Johnson) - As one who still has yet to understand the appeal of the PDD guys, this resonated with me

“The Barry Gibb Talk Show: 2024 Election” (4910)

“Weekend Update: A Guy Named Ethan on the 2024 Oscars Snubs” (4910) - I am...probably only a few years away from turning into Ethan?

2. Triple Feature - Big City Crime Thrillers: No Way Out (1987) + Cop Land (1997) + Widows (2018)

The stars aligned on all of these! In No Way Out (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), Kevin Costner is assigned to investigate the murder of his secret lover (Sean Young) in Washington D.C. The twist? The person who assigned him the case was also her lover, Secretary of Defense Gene Hackman. In Cop Land (9/10 // 7.5/10), Sylvester Stallone sheriffs a New Jersey town that houses a corrupt batch of New York City cops (including Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and Robert Patrick) that Robert De Niro is investigating. In Widows (8.5/10 // 8.5/10), Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, and Michelle Rodriguez are completing the heist that killed their husbands (including Liam Neeson) in a corrupt Chicago run by Robert Duvall, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, and Daniel Kaluuya. All are twisty, gritty, and thrilling.

3. Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Oh no, there goes Tokyo—but at least it’s going to a spectacle as fun and well-crafted as this one. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

4. Double Feature - ‘90s Matt Damon Dramas: School Ties (1992) + The Rainmaker (1997)

Because Matt Damon has always been good! Though he’s not always been the good guy: In School Ties (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10), Brendan Fraser must hide his Jewish identity to survive at a prep school in the ‘50s, and bullies like Damon are who he’s most afraid of. In The Rainmaker (9/10 // 8.5/10), Damon is the good guy as a baby-faced lawyer who wants to protect Claire Danes, Teresa Wright, and Mary Kay Place from villains like slick lawyer Jon Voight. Here’s hoping Damon has another coming-of-age movie (as a teacher) and legal thriller in his future.

5. The Jerk (1979)

Not every moment of this movie would fly if made today, but Steve Martin’s episodic adventures in his first journey away from home gave me some of my biggest laughs in months. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

More Holiday Crowd-Pleasers: Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) reminds us how much fun it is to let three charismatic movie stars (Ted Danson, Steve Guttenberg, and Tom Selleck) cook // The Mrs. Doubtfire National Tour is fluffy fun // Maggie Moore(s) (2023) is a true crime story that makes me wish Tina Fey and Jon Hamm could become the new Myrna Loy and William Powell // Quiz Lady (2023) lets Will Ferrell live out his Alex Trebek dreams // John Mulaney in Concert Tour is making me count down till his next special is released to get memes about his grandfather, his bus driver, and his son // Reacher Season 2 is the perfect action show to watch with my dad // I’m not sure if Man of the Year (2006) was prescient about the future of politics or if it just understood human nature well enough to anticipate the populist movement and election fraud conversations we’re having today, but this Robin-Williams-as-Jon-Stewart comedy is underrated // The real-world implications of V for Vendetta (2005) are…confusing, but this literary-inspired adventure is still thrilling // Desperado (1995) is an over-the-top, shoot-'em-up Western

Holiday Critic Picks

1. The Best of 2023

2023: a year of products, greed, put-upon employees, and artificial intelligence—and not just in the actors’ and writers’ strikes! It was also a great year for movies, which is why I couldn’t narrow down my list to just 10. Read my top 10 picks for 2023 movies, as well as 28 honorable mentions at ZekeFilm, and then check out the accompanying list on Letterboxd.

I also dug deeper into some of the films mentioned in my Best of 2023 in these reviews:

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes - ZekeFilm review

Maestro - ZekeFilm review

Priscilla -  ZekeFilm review, KMOV review, Do You Like Apples discussion, updated Letterboxd Sofia Coppola rankings

2. Double Feature - New Baseball Documentaries: It Ain’t Over (2022) + The League (2023)

I am not a Yankees fan, so who would have guessed that the Yogi Berra documentary It Ain’t Over (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) would make me cry? And my baseball history knowledge always has room for improvement, so The League (8/10 // 9/10) is a phenomenal fix to many of my blind spots. Both are now inducted in my Baseball Movie Hall of Fame.

3. Triple Billing - Come From Away + Tina: The Tina Turner Musical + Funny Girl National Tours

Looking for a true story turned into an excellent musical? Try Come From Away, which captures the chaos of flights rerouted on 9/11 with the pathos you expect (and the comedy you don’t). Or try Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which is one of the best—if not the best—jukebox musical I’ve seen because the songs are integrated into the story instead of just as a musical revue of a a well-known career. Or catch Funny Girl, which captures comedienne Fanny Brice’s life with the help of a powerhouse singer channeling Barbra Streisand’s powers. Better yet, I recommend not skipping any of them when they come to town if you can swing it.

4. Happiness Falls by Angie Kim (2023)

What do you do when your dad goes missing in the middle of a global pandemic and the only one who was with him when he disappeared is your non-verbal brother? That’s the central mystery of Angie Kim’s latest novel. Instead of an edge-of-your-seat-thriller, it’s a story that propels us forward with the questions that plague its characters.

5. Hollywood Victory: The Movies, Stars, and Stories of World War II by Christian Blauvelt (2021)

The Turner Classic Movies Library has yet to miss. Hollywood Victory doesn’t just provide an in-depth overview of Hollywood from 1933 to 1945. It’s an exploration of Hollywood’s inextricable relationship with American politics, its contributions that helped the Allies win the war, and a unusual but informative lens of movies and the war itself. It’s also a long set of additions to my watchlist—of the 260+ films referenced, I’ve only seen a quarter. Thank goodness for TCM and a DVR with unlimited space!

More Holiday Critic Picks: American Symphony, Chevalier, Fallen Leaves, Freud’s Last Session, and Master Gardener were all films in consideration for my Best of 2023 // Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl short film adaptations Poison, The Rat Catcher, The Swan, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023) are bite-sized, beautifully manicured delights // Debbie Reynolds paves the way the way for Kathy Bates’s Titanic role with her charismatic starring piece in the musical The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) // Barbara Stanwyck is wonderful as always in the melodrama All I Desire (1953) // Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) is filled with some of Preston Sturges’s most fun mixups and hijinks

Holiday Treats

1. Ken The EP by Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson

I don’t care if these are barely Christmas songs—let’s give Ryan Gosling seasonal updates of “I’m Just Ken” for all of 2024!

2. Mixed Nuts (1994)

Hot take: Steve Martin has not been in enough rom-coms. A kookier—but nonetheless delightful—brand of Nora Ephron stars Martin and Rita Wilson as co-workers at a crisis hotline who are clearly meant for each other. If only they—and Madeline Kahn, Juliette Lewis, Adam Sandler, Liev Schreiber, and Garry Shandling— could get out of their own way. Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6.5/10  

3. Fitzwilly (1967)

Christmas Ocean’s Eleven! Dick Van Dyke is as charming as ever and the vibes are as ‘60s as ever as he tries to pull off a heist at Gimbels on Christmas Eve. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

4. Metropolitan (1990)

Before Chris Eigeman was Jason Stiles on Gilmore Girls, he was essentially playing the same character in Whit Stillman’s comedy riff on The Great Gatsby. A young, bougie group is attempting to survive debutante season (also the Christmas season), debating the pros and cons of wealth and falling in and out of romance. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

5. The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek (1944)

Hollywood Victory informed me I’m not the only who can’t believe this was allowed to play for audiences in 1944! Betty Hutton marries a soldier on a whim, but the next morning she can’t remember which one. Her BFF with an unrequited crush (Eddie Bracken) is the only one who can help her figure out who her husband—and the father of her child—is before the scandal gets out and destroys her reputation. Because this is a Preston Sturges feature, it’s actually a hilarious quest. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

More Christmas Treats: Klaus (2019) is a hidden gem on Netflix // Okay, the ick factor in Susan Slept Here (1954) is real, but Dick Powell and Debbie Reynolds are just so darn charming! // 8-Bit Christmas (2021) is a better-than-it-needed-to-be update of A Christmas Story featuring a Nintendo instead of a BB gun // How did I never see Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) all the way through before this year? Once I realized I’d missed some scenes in my umpteen cable watches over the years, it shot up on my John Hughes rankings // Pocketful of Miracles (1961) is a delightful Cinderella tale that proves Bette Davis always had it 

Also this Holiday Season…

I reviewed even more new movies, including Next Goal Wins (ZekeFilm), The Marvels (KMOV), and the new Mean Girls musical (ZekeFilm)

The St. Louis Film Critics Association nominated and voted on our Best of 2023 films. You can see every winner and every film we nominated on Letterboxd, and you can read my summary of how I voted here on Crowd vs. Critic. Keep scrolling if you’re on the home page to my last post, or read it here.

Photo credits: Funny Girl, Happiness Falls, Hollywood Victory. All others IMDb.com. 

[ask-the-almighty-google]

The Phantom Apprentice

A Star Wars AU featuring Ghost Mechanics from Danny Phantom

Eventually this will be posted to Ao3, but that is a long while off, so I figured I’d let people begin to enjoy it on here. Additional Chapters will appear on this post as a reblog because I’m not too concerned with making this look pretty.

Based on this continued thread of rambled nonsense…

follow the tag #phantom apprentice au to recieve all updates promptly!

Chapters:

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 

Summary, tags, and warnings under the cut!

[]=======[}———————           ~<^>~           ———————{]=======[]

Rating: Teen

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: Jedi Apprentice Series - Jude Watson & Dave Wolverton, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types Categories: Gen

Relationships: Qui-Gon Jinn/Tahl, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker

Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Feemor (Star Wars), Tahl (Star Wars), Xanatos (Star Wars), Bant Eerin, Dooku (Star Wars), Force Ghost Thame Cerulian, Satine Kryze, Bo Katan Kryze, Korkie Kryze, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Ahsoka Tano, Bail Organa, Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Asajj Ventress, Darth Maul, CT-7567 | Rex, CC-2224 | Cody, Torrent Company Members (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Ghost Company Members (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), Plo Koon, Mace Windu, Luminara Unduli, Barriss Offee, Shmi Skywalker, Merrin (Star Wars), Nite Owls (Star Wars), Keelyvine Reus, Komari Vosa, Yoda

Additional Tags: Force Shenanigans (Star Wars), Force Ghost Obi-Wan Kenobi, it makes sense trust me, Danny Phantom AU, The Force, Force Visions, Graphic Depictions of Violence Because War is Messy, Obi-Wan Totally Not Being Korkie’s Father For X Number of Chapters, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Anakin please take a chill pill, Not Yoda Friendly, No Yoda Bashing Though, He is a Gremlin and Makes His Own Mistakes Without My Help, Yoda’s Disaster Lineage, The Disaster Lineage,  Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Obi-Wan Kenobi Gets a Hug, the thrilling sequel, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Tragedy, I think we can all agree there’s a lot of Angst, No Beta we die like Qui-Gon, which is ironic because he lives in this SUMMARY

“It’s alright, it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s okay, you’re not a monster, just a human, and you made a few mistakes… It’s alright, it’s okay, it’s alright, it’s okay, you’re not a demon, there’s a reason you’re behaving that way…”                                                                                     -“It’s Alright,” Mother Mother []=======[}———————           ~<^>~           ———————{]=======[] When Obi-Wan Kenobi agreed to help his friend Garen Muln complete his project for class a few months before his thirteenth birthday, he had no idea what the ramifications of that decision would be. Now, caught between Life and the Living Force, Obi-Wan must navigate the pros and cons of being part ghost…

…A Danny Phantom inspired Ghost AU. DISCLAIMER: ALL RIGHTS GO TO STAR WARS, LUCASFILMS, DISNEY, AND ANY OTHER KNOWN AFFILIATES. THE JEDI APPRENTICE SERIES WAS WRITTEN BY JUDE WATSON. THE THEMATIC ELEMENTS DERIVED FROM DANNY PHANTOM BELONG TO NICKELODEON AND ANY OTHER KNOWN AFFILIATES.

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Light Novel Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess

A stunningly profound, entertaining, and queer title that eclipses other isekai and Yuri series

There are few titles the general public seems to be as excited about as Inori and Hanagata's I'm in Love with the Villainess, as it has been sitting at or near the top of Amazon's LGBT Manga list for months and Twitter is consistently abuzz with the latest news on this isekai Yuri series. I was somewhat more skeptical, as I have had relatively poor experiences with isekai and fantasy Yuri. Still, my excitement went through the room, and I eagerly boarded the "hype train" upon the cover reveal for the third volume. Yuri families, where two women raise children together, are one of my greatest desires and something I rarely see portrayed in the genre. However, I still had mostly low expectations for the series going into the first volume. I looked forward to some light meandering comedy and typical boring trope-filled isekai shenanigans. However, I'm in Love with the Villainess more than exceeded my expectations. No, even this statement is far too moderate to describe how utterly stunned and blown away I was by Inori's creation. I'm in Love with the Villainess is completely shattering and easily one of the greatest light novels I have ever read. Thus, I have no choice to award a perfect 10/10 score, my first ever for a light novel.

After waking up in the world of her favorite otome game, Revolution, protagonist Rae is ecstatic to be faced to face with Claire Francois, the game's villainous rival. However, Rae never played Revolution for the thrill of romancing any of the three attractive young princes. She was always in love with Claire. She attends the academy and studies magic in the fantasy world alongside Claire, the princes, and various other supporting characters. Using her skills from the modern world and her encyclopedic knowledge of Revolution, Rae manipulates the situation to be close to Claire, becoming her maid, and garnering status and money along the way. As an inevitable conflict looms closer, Rea begins to enact plans to protect herself and Claire, many of which are not fully understood or explained until the finale fantastically reveals the reasons for her actions. There is a natural and steady pace to the narrative that awards readers’  predictions and attention to detail.

I'm in Love with the Villainess has some excellent supporting characters, all of whom have unique personalities, histories, and abilities, some of which are revealed by Rae's exposition and others naturally throughout the novel. However, the stars of the show are the central couple, Rae and Claire. Claire is an elite aristocrat and extremely bratty. She often sneers at commoners and makes her disdain of Rae very clear from early on. On paper, she sounds like the perfect villain and someone all readers would despise. However, Rae's utter devotion and infatuation with Claire is so sincere that we cannot help but be pulled in and adore Claire and all her tantrums. Rae is a delight herself, continually flirting and poking fun at Claire, which gets her verbally berated, much to her masochistic pleasure. However, she is also exceptionally cunning and intelligent, and some of the light novel's greatest joys are listening to her analyze a situation or watching one of her plans fall into place.

“Ah, I’m… Well, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s irrelevant to cuteness—because, Miss Claire, you are cute.” “Huh?!” She pulled away. It was perfect—such a pure reaction. “Miss Claire, you hate me, right?” “Of course!” “That’s fine. Please keep teasing me. I love it.”

The beginning of the book does not immediately clue one into its brilliance. Sure, Claire and Rea get some great one-liners as they bully each other, and the scenarios are authentic and fun, but it is nothing shattering. I was feeling pretty relaxed and having a lot of fun with the characters, their relationship, and the various slice-of-life style scenarios they encountered until one section, I remember the exact page, 81, as it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was flabbergasted and briefly frozen before shooting up out of bed, shouting expletives as I ran to my office to immediately record what I had just experienced. It all begins with the line, "Hey, Rae. Are you what they call gay?" What followed was one of the most thoughtful, condensed, informative, and nuanced discussions of gay and queer identity (both terms used in this scene) I have ever seen in Yuri. Everything from representation in media, the perceptions of and prejudices against gay people, and the role gender plays in romance for bisexual and gay people are analyzed. Its commentary is succinct yet so respectful and forthright that it could have only come from genuine experience, thus selling the book and its characters so much more.

"Queer people were still overwhelmingly closeted in this world, which was rife with prejudice and nurtured little understanding. As I noted, the queer people depicted in the story were either the sex fiends Claire imagined or the free-loving sort Lene had in mind. Diversity and acceptance were a long way off.”

Thus, Inori's writing's beauty exposed itself, and the book opened itself up to a delightful cycle. The narrative masterfully integrates isekai slice-of-life hijinks, like running a cross-dressing café or battling a giant slime with nuanced and challenging moments that dissect complicated topics. The latter mainly consists of a growing rift between the aristocracy and common people, mirroring real-world wealth gap issues, but the novel also touch on matters such as unequal prison sentencing and segregation. Every scene helped further the complexity of the characters and their relationships or else built onto the world of Revolution. Speaking of which, I'm in Love with the Villainess has some of the best worldbuilding ever seen in a light novel.

Initially, brief exposition establishes much of the world, which is adequate if not exciting. I will mark up to a casualty of the light novel's serialized nature, as it must present readers its setting immediately. However, Inori does not stop here. Through the narrative, new elements are established, such as a magic system and the kingdom's politics. Rea notes and describes how the world, while clearly based on medieval Europe, has many modern Japanese attributes, as Japanese game developers created it. Her pointing out the intersection of the two is fascinating. Furthermore, A great deal of time is spent establishing characters and organizations all have their own wants, agendas, and methods, many of which are not even directly involved with the story. Instead, they act as a background and help further contextualize others. For example, the Church publicly appears to lean towards supporting the commoners in their efforts for equality but has its own agenda of superseding the nobility. While they play little role in Rea and Claire’s adventure, they are one of numerous factors contributing to the unrest of the lower class. All these additions are interesting, and it never feels like the story or characters suffer for their inclusion, quite the opposite.

“The Bauer Kingdom had started a step behind other countries when it came to magical research. They dominated the surrounding countries in military strength, and this had made them complacent, leading them to underestimate the value of new magic technology until the best researchers had all been enticed to other countries. Even after the king came up with his magic-focused meritocratic policy, Bauer lagged behind.”

I can only make complaints by scraping the very bottom of the barrel. Hanagata's beautiful art is too infrequent to add much to the light novel, and many scenes crying for illustrations are left to the readers' imagination. However, Inori so wonderful writes the story that one hardly cares and can easily picture every moment with delight. Besides, the manga adaption will nullify this issue. Where I cannot complain at all is the spectacular translation by Jenn Yamazaki and Nibedita Sen, one of Seven Seas best (which is high praise considering the competition). Sure, I was slightly disappointed at first to see the adaptation left off honorifics, but the more I thought about the setting, the more sense it made. I am sure people much smarter than I gave the issue much more consideration, and I am happy with their decisions.

I'm in Love with the Villainess left me reeling with how pleasurable and powerful it was. The story and characters are such a joy, and I cannot wait to see Rea and Claire bully each other again in the next volume. Astounding worldbuilding and powerful, thought-provoking politics surround their antics and the high stakes plot. Every moment of their journey will enthrall readers as they squeal with glee at its hilarious set pieces or are shocked by its commentary of society's most significant challenges. Inori has created one of the most delightful, heartfelt, complex, profound, and genuinely queer light novel series ever. If you only read one thing I recommend this year, let it be I'm in Love with the Villainess.

Ratings: Story — 9 Characters — 10 Art — 5 LGBTQ — 10 Sexual Content — 2 Final — 10

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment

Purchase I’m in Love with the Villainess in digitally (9/23) and in print (11/10) today: https://amzn.to/32NEyG1

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