#to the whole 'if I don't remember then it wasn't really me -> it was someone/someTHING else'

[westanleovaldito]

Not So Bad

Summary: Reader cutting Spencers hair.

Fluff, scissors, mentions of mental illness and sensory issues.

Written with early seasons/autistic Reid in mind. Hardly proofread

Spencer was... Introverted, to say the very least.

He reluctantly let you into his life. He never really liked trusting people, but you felt different, calming, almost. Like he didnt need to break down his walls, because you scaled them with such quiet ease.

He took you on a few dates. Soon, you lost count of how many nights you spent on the floor, reading and waiting for the library to close, secretly hoping you'd be forgotten and be trapped in there for the night.

How many afternoons you'd spent in the corner of a coffee shop, buzzing with caffeine and letting him ramble every fact he knew, letting words sink into you so you could bounce back with equal enthusiasm.

All you knew, it was enough for him to know he wanted to bring you into his space. He took you back to his apartment.

It was a massive step for you two, for him to trust you in his space, to figuratively and literally let you into his mind and heart.

You didn't really know what to do. You took your shoes off at the door, stood awkwardly as he gave you the tour, restrained yourself from touching every trinket.

Eventually, he went off to the bathroom and you stood with your head cocked to the side, reading the book titles on his shelf.

"Ugh, I need to cut my hair again." He groaned. As you turned, you saw him messing with his hair in the mirror nearby.

"I think it looks nice." You say in response, humming as you shift over to meet his gaze through the mirror. "Your waves are really cute- I like them"

He pursed his lips and ran a hand through his hair before turning to look at you. "I never really learned to take care of them..."

Tilting your head, you reached out to touch him. Quickly pausing, you retract your hand. "Sorry- c-can I..?" Waiting for his nod before you ruffle his hair. "You cut your own hair?"

Spencer never liked barbers.

Never.

Too many sensations, touches, the talking? And the fact that a stranger was holding scissors near his hair? A stranger that never ever followed his instructions or systems- and almost always cutting it wrong?

Ok, that sounds horrible and rude... He just... couldn't stand it.

So, he started cutting his own hair at home. For a moment, it was nice. He liked the 'tssssip!' Sound, the feeling of cleaning the hair off the floor and sink, how sterile he felt- no feeling of the social setting seeping into his skin.

Then it started to become a chore. The ache his arms got from trying to reach the back, the fact that he never got it just right- ok. The back was the worst of his problems. And he never really trusted his mom with the scissors.

He also hated how people always touched him when they found out he did his own hair, inspecting him, likely judging him. You weren't like that- you were talking to him- shit

"I- uh- yeah" he nodded, bitting his lip. "I know it looks bad- I just-"

"I cut my own hair too" you interrupt softly, moving to look at the back of his head. "My mom hated it, but couldn't stop me."

"My mom never noticed..."

A sad hum from you, who was now analyzing him. He had seen that look before, from an artist who was looking at a blank canvas. "When did you start?"

After my mom's schizophrenia got unbearable?

"I don't remember..."

It wasn't a full lie. He didn't remember what age he started, but he didn't tell the whole truth either.

"Hm... want me to try?"

Spencer hesitated. Visibly thinking. Did he really trust you enough? Did he even need a haircut that badly?

The thoughts persisted until he was staring out the bathroom window, with you seated contently on his counter.

You had yet to start snipping. He could still back out- did he want to back out?

"Just- just a trim?"

Why did his mouth betray him?

"Just a trim?" You ask skeptically. "Not even a scalp massage? A kiss for luck?"

He turned around with a begrudging smile. "If you need luck, I'm not sure I trust you with my hair!"

"I'm kidding! I jest, my love!" You giggle, turning him back around. Pressing a kiss to the back of his head, you carefully take a strand, and cut it.

After he got out of thinking about the germs and the best, most logical way to do it... He... liked it. It was pleasant! You didnt talk to much, your touch was delicate, you had scrubbed your hands before you started, you even hummed along to some song he couldn't place.

When you turned him around to cut his bangs, you carefully brushed his hair behind his ear and cut it at the right length that he could keep it out of his face!

Every small snip was with him in mind. And when you were done? How you shook out his hair and then the towel, setting the scissors in a cup of alcohol.

Pulling back and cupping his face with such delicate reverence that he almost never felt. "I think I did a pretty good job..." you murmur, scanning every inch of his face.

It was such a soft, intimate moment between you two. He let you in, and you held him like a glass flower.

"I- I dont think it's bad..."

You look back to his eyes with a cocked brow.

"I haven't even seen it... you're in the way of the mirror" he chuckled reluctantly.

"Sorry~" you mutter in a mock apologetic tone before pressing a kiss to his lips.

He almost forgot about how much he wanted to see his hair, before you parted, and slid off the counter.

Maybe he didnt have to cut his own hair anymore.

[fascinatedscrawls]

Whatcha Got There, Danny?

It was an average school day. Starting too early for any teen to truly enjoy, the majority of students made their way to first period with all due enthusiasm.

Surprisingly, Danny was one of them.

"You're on time?" Sam looked to the window and squinted at the sky as Danny took his seat, rolling his eyes. "I don't think the world is ending, it's a bit too sunny for that."

That got Danny to pause as he reached into his bag. "Actually, it's pretty likely the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs burned off whatever weather pattern-"

"Hey, Danny," Tucker cut in a little nervously. "Did you forget to give Dorathea something back?"

Pulling his hand all the way out of his bag, Danny met the eyes of the small, vaguely transparent dragon that was clinging to his thermos and smothered a sigh before turning back to his friend to give the wrong answer on purpose.

"I don't think Dora likes my coffee, man."

"That is not what I meant and you know it. Is that her kid?"

Uncapping the mostly normal thermos and not even blinking as the little guy scrambled up his arm to sit on his shoulder (a little difficult as those tiny claws were sharp), Danny slurped a sip of his coffee just to be annoying only to choke on it a bit when Sam jostled his other arm trying to hurry along an answer. He managed to swallow the mouthful before coughing around his surrender.

"Alright, alright!" He coughed again. "It's not Dora's kid."

"Is it," Sam grimaced as she stopped mid-sentence, clearly unwilling to finish the thought of Aragon having a kid.

"It's mine." Danny assured her quickly, trying to keep his voice down so the other students in the room wouldn't start looking their way. Maybe too quickly as he heard it aloud and had to correct himself to his friends' shocked looks. "My dragon! Not my kid!"

The little guy sat up tall and proud, little wings flaring out as he gave what he probably thought was a mighty roar. Danny was too busy trying to not get smacked by the unfortunately tangible wing smacking his ear to snicker at the squeaking noise like his friends were.

"That's cool," Tucker managed to compose himself enough to look over his shoulder past some of their now curious classmates to check if Mr. Lancer was on his way. "But school doesn't seem like the best place to bring a dragon."

"It's better than leaving him at home."

"Your parents know about him?!" Sam leaned in to hiss, already looking ready to throw down if anyone hurt the foot long, ghostly lizard currently playing with his hair.

"He won't leave me alone," Danny explained, exhausted by having to go through this for Ancients who knew how many times since last night. At least he wasn't having to twist the story around like he had to do with his parents. "Did you know that all of Dora's Knights are dragon knights? Because I didn't."

He waited a moment as they both did their best to imagine the dragon turning into a similarly sized knight. Or, that's what Danny assumed they were doing as he tried to do the same when Dora first explained this, but it wasn't a transformation like she and her brother could do.

"So, it's protection?" Tucker asked, baffled.

"No, it's my dragon." Danny pointed to himself. "I'm the one who got knighted, remember?"

The dragons were companions.

"Honestly, not really. Too much stuff happens to you, dude."

"Fair." Danny didn't always believe he went through all of that either.

"How'd you get him past your parents? Do you need a place to stay?" Sam pressed, still focused on the biggest problem.

"I told them he's a blob ghost." He watched them both stare at him, then look to the little dragon that was determinedly reaching the peak of mount Danny via the footholds which usually found use as his nose and ear, then back. "I know, I'm not sure how I managed it either. Something clicked with them about 'post-human consciousness', ghostly shape shifting, and how I really liked dragons as a kid. After arguing about it for practically the whole night not going to question it. Hopefully, the little guy can learn to go invisible before they move on to experimentation instead of just observation."

"That almost explains how you can keep him at home, but what about-"

"Dragonriders of Pern, Mister Fenton!" Mr. Lancer sounded somewhere between aghast and resigned. "What is that?"

"It's my, er." Frowning, Danny put one hand up to keep the dragon from falling and reached down to pull out the form his parents filled out for him this morning to ensure the school wouldn't stop this 'experiment'. Holding it out, he read the reason off the page, "my emotional support ghost-dragon. I need him. For reasons. Sir."

Mr. Lancer's sigh was almost as long as Jazz's was when she heard.

Well, that was settled. Now he just had to figure out how to explain why the dragon was going to follow Phantom too.

Wes was going to have a field day.

--------------------------------------

Sooo I missed all of Phic Phight due to personal, real life reasons (most good, some not) but the ideas I started cooking up in that first week still need to be written down before they eat me from the inside lol Also, I guess this could count a little bit for Dannymay day 1, though I'm late for the dragon prompt there too haha

I maybe made the dragon a little younger and less capable of speaking than the prompt called for, but I like him anyway. Even if Danny refused to name him.

I hope you like this interpretation!

I put this on AO3 as well, but I'm still recovering so I'll put the link here later.

[princessofghosts-posts]

I kinda wished we saw the demigods more in the mortal world than the mythological one. Most of them go to school and some of them live with their parents in the winter,but other than a couple of moments with Percy at the start of a school year (that goes wrong) we never saw anything. I'm not talking about the time he got attacked while in school or in pubblich places,I'm referring to seeing them having mortal friends and everything,while trying not to blow up half of their existence to them.

Percy during lunch period: So,do you guys have plans for this summer?

Dude n.1: Me and my family are going to the beach,mom rented an house for a bit there.

Dude n.2: Cool! I'm going to travel for a couple of days in Europe,dad wanted to see some monuments there so we are all going together.

Dude n.1: Remember to buy souvenirs for us too! Percy,what about you? What are you plans?

Percy: I'm going to my usual summer camp this year too. Hoping it will go better than the others time.

Dude n2: Why? Something bad happened last time you went?

Percy: Not really. One of my acquaintances there pushed me off the climbing wall last time,my arm kinda....broke? But another guy fixed my bones right after so it wasn't a problem. I just hope she doesn't try to do that again,it's starting to get annoying.

Dude n.1:....Did you just say that she pushed you off a wall? And did that multiple times-?

Dude n.2: And that a guy fixed your bones? You need a surgery for a broken arm–

Percy: Nah don't worry,he got it covered,trust me. You know how a summer camps are.

Dude n1: I went to those a couple of times and I don't remember ever having a climbing wall?? You sure it's safe?

Percy: Pretty much,beside,the climbing wall isn't that bad. We also have horse stables,an arena and–

Dude n.2: A what now–

Percy: An arena. You know,those where you go and– *stopping abruptly because he realized he started to say to much*

You can't tell me this didn't happend at least twice,and not only for Percy. They are so immersed in their demigods life that sometimes they forgot that there are normal mortals (not like Rachel that can see through the mist or think/know that something is up) too and they can't talk too much and freely around them.

I can totally see Percy and Annabeth hanging out with some non-demigod friends and while they are all in the middle of a conversation those two start to to divert from the main topic,totally forgetting about their friends and talking about the time they were in trouble. And those people are concerned and a bit spoken because they can't understand and didn't know half of what they are talking about.

Annabeth did you just said you got stabbed a couple of weeks before school? Percy,did you just said that a crazy aunt of your kidnapped you for almost the whole summer? And you had amnesia half of the time?? What do you mean your mother sent you on a trip Rome's undergrounds?? And she also disowned you??

There is so much potential here that's hilarious. And this can be applied to any demigod in the books.

[katblaze]

Cinderella's Castle slight long post!

Something I really admire about Cinderella's Castle is how it executes getting you attached to characters so affectively within it's time restraints. Especially since, unlike w/ Hatchetfield, the audience is unfamiliar with this universe or its inhabitants. Not only that, but the show establishes it's perspective on it's relationships extremely well.

There are a few great examples of this, but one I find particularly fascinating is the fact that the first time around I completely and utterly did not care one bit for the prince kissing Ella's hand. Like, at all. I actually forgot it happened, and was suprised by the fact I didn't remember it while rewatching the second time around. The reason I think I was so shocked by this was because I was absolutely enamored, the first time watching, by the little affections between Tadius and Ella. The prince's kiss meant nothing to me because it meant nothing to the prince, we know it was hollow flattery because of his pre-established character and values. But Tadius looking at Ella like she hung the stars toward the end of the play genuinely made my heart swell.

Similarly, when Ella sat next to the prince, at his command, during the ball, their closeness had no emotional weight. Ella is uptight, straight posture, hands on lap, politely listening to the prince ramble but obviously physically displaying that she is not particularly enjoying it (again, I completely forgot they were so close in this scene the first go round). But when Ella, VIA HER OWN DESIRE, elects to sit right next to Tadius, she is undoubtedly comfortable. She slouches, sits "un-lady like", verbally opens up and speaks her mind to another person (for the first time in the show! the only other examples of her speaking her mind so comfortablely and w/o fear is to a frog and a goddess). Its maybe the most relaxed we see her in the whole musical. And that has immense emotional weight! It immediately stuck with me!

more personal review, less analysis, under cut ->

I was hesitant going into Cinderella's Castle because, knowing myself, I thought I wouldn't be that into it because it wasn't apart of the hatchetfield trilogy. I worried they wouldn't be able to endear me to the characters or plot in the time allotted, especially since I don't have any particular attachment to the Cinderella story. Boy was I so, so wrong and for that I'm very glad. For any of cc's short comings, this is something that cannot be faulted to me. Whether it was the wonderful acting or good character writing that achieved this, I do not know. But I am forever in reverence to the great writers and actors !!! (semi-unrelated but I (and my friend who is known for not crying at shows) genuinely got very emotional when we thought sir hop-a-lot was dead. teared up. fuck you nick & matt lang 🖕 /j /lh)

[confusedhummingbird]

I'd heard a lot about Dickkory before I started to read NTT for myself, and honestly from what I was hearing I was expecting the Karras/arranged marriage arc to be worse?

I mean, it certainly wasn't my favourite but people were talking like Dick was being irredeemably nasty. He didn't really seem that way to me? Also it's revealed later on that he was literally brainwashed?

I thought when I got to the arc that Dick's main problem would be Kory cheating on him with Karras. But that wasn't his issue at all, really. He seemed way more concerned with the fact that after Kory's dad sold her to their enemies to be a slave for twelve whole years of horrific torture and violation, as soon as she comes back he is ONCE AGAIN essentially selling her to someone else. No regard for her autonomy or anything like that at all. And Myanmar is acting like he's the one doing the sacrificing, both times! And I thought Dick was right to be upset about that!

If Dick's upset about cheating, maybe I'm remembering the arc wrong but it was less about Kory cheating on him with Karras, and more Kory cheating on Karras with him? Because they would be the ones married? I think i saw someone sum up the arc as "Dick broke up with Kory because he doesn't understand how polyamory works" but, A) Polyamory is not for everyone, and B) Kory and Karras didn't want to be married either? They were both only doing this because they were being forced, either by circumstances or in Kory's case by her father.

Anyway Dick is not as bad as people make him out to be and if Myand'r can't stop sacrificing his daughter than he should at least stop acting like he's suffering more than the actual sacrifice.

Yeah Dick was under brainwashing so much of his words are a result of that but I do think he has some real anger it's just that the brainwashing made him more aggressive and yell when he'd probably try to have a conversation with her.

I think Dick was angry she'd be marrying someone else but part of it does stem from her listening to her father again and not even trying to say no even after he sold her to slavery. I understand that Kory had to do it to save her planet but I completely understand Dick anger.

Also saying Dick doesn't understand Polyamory is very much just brushing off the events. Dick himself admits he doesn't believe in loving more than one person and honestly I understand. I understand poly and open relationships can work but they aren't for everyone and I wouldn't want one either. Plus think about it from a political perspective. What if Kory was expected to have a child with Karras to create an heir. Would Dick be expected to just grin and bear while raising his girlfriend's husband's child? What if she had to be with him more as a result of the marriage? They basically went their own ways after the marriage but what if this wasn't the case and they were expected to spend some time with each other?

Again I get why Kory had to do it but I also get Dick's complaints. I don't think it was just him being an asshole. Was he very mean about it? Oh yeah. But again brainwashing. But still he's allowed to have his feelings. And I don't blame him for having an issue with the girl he loves suddenly having to marry someone else.

But the important part is they were both able to move on because Dick just wanted to be with Kory more than he cared about Kory's marriage. He honestly handles better than I feel many of us would. I know I wouldn't know how to handle this situation.

Overall it was mostly made to create drama but it is a very complicated situation and I understand both sides. Kory did have to save her planet. But to expect Dick to not be upset his girlfriend is just marrying someone else is unfair to his feelings.

[witawwy-ponyboy-curtis]

I know everyone is like, "We need a Finnick POV!" genuinely, I think we do. I'm gonna go on a whole rant under the cut because this is gonna be kinda (not really) long. (Be aware, mentions of child prostitution/sex trafficking)

I can't remember which book, it was either in Mockingjay or Catching Fire that Finnick talks about being sold out by Snow. It's also implied that had happened to Johanna as well. Except Finnick and Johanna handled it differently. Finnick, instead of asking to be paid, asked for secrets about The Capitol/Snow. Johanna had tried to say no, and everyone she loved was taken away from her.

We know how horrid of a person Snow is from the original trilogy and SoTR, but neither Haymitch nor Katniss were sex trafficked by Snow (They had attempted to perform breast enhancement surgery on Katniss to make her more appealing(?) but Haymitch had stopped them from doing so which makes me wonder if they were considering selling out Katniss). We also already know how The Capitol exploits people for entertainment and pleasure. If we get a book from Finnick's POV and it goes through his games but ALSO him being prostituted and we see his interactions with the people he's been sold out to, we'll learn more about Snow and the things he's done that way. Yes we've learned a lot from TBoSaS and SoTR but we don't know the full extent of things Snow has done. And in Chapter 12 of Mockingjay, Finnick says this about the things he'd been told ".. And this is where you'll want to stay tuned, President Snow. Because so many of them were about you." (I think that's what he'd said.) Which now makes me curious about the things Finnick had been told about Snow and how much it could contribute to Snow's character. Maybe even things about him that we weren't told in TBoSaS.

I know a lot of people have said "We need a Finnick POV!" Because he's just a character they really like and want more of him, but I do think if we get his POV it'll tie so many things together and it will bring so much to light about The Capitol and the kind of person Snow is.

Additional notes that I didn't know where to add:

I think it was said that after he had won, he wasn't immediately sold out to people? If I remember correctly, I think they'd waited until he was sixteen.

It was also (implied or said I can't remember) that Cashmere had also been sex trafficked by Snow.

Knowing the Capitol, I'm assuming it wasn't this entire underground business and that it was like an infomercial that was just "Hey, do you really like this victor? You do? Boy do I have some great news for you!" And people ignored the fact Finnick (or any other victor) was a minor because if they're sending kids in an arena to kill each other, why would they care about children being sold out?

I also think a book like this would be good because I'm still seeing people show sympathy for Snow and I think young Snow and Finnick are like, people's top two favorite characters so if you show the people who are still sympathetic for Snow what he did to Finnick, I think they'd immediately turn on his character. (Hopefully).

If you have anything you'd like to add to this at all, please go ahead I love seeing other people's ideas and theories.

[wemlygust]

To be honest I think most of my memory of that game is vibes. It's atmosphere, and little details, and the feeling of it. I loved the game, but I truly don't know which part of the plot you're referring to. I remember whodunit and how at the end, and I remember the political situation, and the union, and the racism everywhere, and the cryptid hunters, but I think I've forgotten a lot of the details of the "main" mystery plot (especially the middle of it) because that wasn't what I was playing the game for, really. The murder mystery was a motivator, but I was busy reading every book and getting encyclopaedia history dumps from the little encyclopaedia voice in his head (I don't remember what skill it was that gave that, but yeah), do a million side quests, and talking to everyone and their dog. Plus so many times the voices in his head would argue, and I'd be thinking about whatever that topic was. I do remember that the world was sexist but... Compared to the politics and the racism and substance abuse, that never felt like the overall focus, to me. It felt famililar to me, from all the times I've seen that kind of sexism depicted in just that kind of setting, and, apart from one character, I don't remember feeling like the game was dwelling on that or getting into details about it. It was familiar just becauseI'm used to seeing sexism depicted like this, but I'm less used to the other things that game depicted, especially to the extent that it did, so I was far more interested in all those other aspects. And the women in the game felt like real people to me (something I do remember and appreciate); the sexism felt like a part of the world, depicted in all its ugliness alongside all the other ugliness of human society, and not like it was sexism belonging to the narrative or to the creators, so I was steamed at the creators in a way that would make me remember either. I do remember feeling like there weren't enough women vs. the number of men to be realistic/well balanced, but, well. I'm unfortunately just used to putting up with that in games. That's a whole other bucket of worms though. If you had asked me to describe the game and its themes in my own words, I don't think it would have even occurred to me to mention sexism. Even though I am a person who tends to notice and mention sexism first thing, when I'm reviewing a game or a book or a movie. It's certainly ruined many a story for me before. I've loved media that explored it well before, too. This one just... didn't do that for me. It is a game that allows a shocking amount of variability between playthroughs, though. I only have played it once, so it's possible I just happened to miss a lot of the things you encountered and remember from the game? Just, the sheer volume of different dialogue and mental voice arguments you can get depending just on the stats you pick and the choices you make is bonkers. So maybe if you play one way, you can find a lot of mysogyny themes that I just didn't run into because I played a different way? But I felt like I understood the murder mystery plot fully, and I don't remember it as being something that happened because of mysogyny. Major spoilers under the break. For anyone who hasn't played the game, please don't read after this point.

In my playthrough, I remember there was a moment where I could have pinned the murder on a woman (the first one you encounter in the game) who was a red herring, rather than the actual murderer (the sad communist sniper); is it possible to do that, conclude she was the murderer, and have the game end on that note? I guess it must be? If someone ended the game thinking she was the murderer, then I could for sure see why that would be what you would be left thinking about after the credits roll. But I also wouldn't be surprised if the explanation for our different experiences is something else/different choices and dialogue/description seen through the game instead. Granted... If this is a game that genuinely lets you pin the blame for a murder on a woman who didn't do it, and let's you be wrong... Just the fact that the world setup creates that situation that allows that to happen supports your argument re. the importance of mysogyny in the game. To be clear I'm not saying people would be mysogynist for getting that ending, what I mean is that the game in that case could arguably be saying something about how hard it is to extract yourself from your own culture/society that is mysogynist. The characters can have the best of intentions, but still draw the wrong conclusions because their entire society is set up to push blame on the women, or to villainize women, and they can only manage to see outside the box if they happen to have the right combo of skills and choices at a crucial moment. Maybe? This is literally the first time I am having this thought about this game, though, so. Unbaked hot take disclaimer here. I also feel like I'm not explaining what I mean very well. And I'm not even 100% sure if the game even DOES allow the player to end with blaming the wrong person; I never looked up if there were alternative endings.

Anyways... Perhaps I'll try another playthrough soon, and see how different it ends up.

literally what is it about disco elysium that inspires so much genderbend art. there are many women and girls who are important to the narrative. there are canonical gay women. the story falls apart if harry is a cis woman. the entire murder mystery—the objective of the game—happens largely because of misogyny. what is going on

[moongothic]

Madoka is the promise you won't turn from a child, full of hopes and dreams and the wish to save the world, into a bitter adult who just wants to hurt others and ruin people's lives

Madoka promised to be there for you to remind you of the person you wanted to be and to stop you from becoming what you sought to destroy

Madoka made that promise and became the very embodiment of it

[maeryuu]

As someone with issues recognizing my self, listening to the whole SELF-iSH album it's a religious experience.

[optimisticmiraclefest]

I love all the gestures the characters do, it's so smooth, even the Princess just sauntering around feels elegant.........

Also the focus on all their faces reminds me of all the Indian serials I have watched lol so dramatic.......

And I think I prefer the novel plot in the competition arc bc there she knew she was targetting the Princess Wanning from the beginning and almost shot her during the archery competition (it did hit her shoulder- it wasn't even a direct shot she redirected her opponent's arrow into shooting her, so the Princess didn't vent her anger in her)

She was smart enough to not paint too much of a target on her back but here I kinda understand why she had to bc in the drama, she doesn't even know any details where in the novel, the Princess was the one who murdered her (she had this whole monologue about how she wanted fl's husband for herself), not the husband......

Like the drama has a whole arc with the Shen dude feeling bad about burying his wife to the death, but he is barely a passing character in the novel as far as I remember, Jiang Li was focusing on the Princess, her blood-thirstiness was so much that Duke Su noticed......

And Duke Su also managed to figure out her identity as Xue Fangfei when she was literally in a different body (it was so cute when he starts calling her a-li bc her little name had the same character? So intimate), her helping her father by taking that case to the imperial court and visiting her brother's grave helped, sure but still, in the drama, he feels a bit incompetent????

Don't get me wrong, I love how the drama has more romantic scenes between our leads but he hasn't really done anything significant with his actual job yet???

But then again the novel's entire thing is that he gives off mystery play-watching vibes, he just plays people instead of being one of them...........the drama did a good job of them having actual chemistry bc he was too distant in the novel (as far as I have read)

I get why in the drama they have this arc where everyone thinks fl is not Jiang Li bc she literally replaced her, but the novel is a transmigration one so the story itself changed a lot (not entirely bc the Ye uncle were smart enough to notice she treats Yue Fangfei's father as 'her father' but not the Jiang dad)

Damn "The Double" is on point with "Jiang Li" and her revenge schemes-

Like at first I wasn't sure it was a good adaptation bc Xue Fangfei transmigrated into the Jiang daughter and the scheme to leave the monastery never involved Duke Su at all- but honestly, her giving her ex husband (and his family) psychic damage every time they see her is extremely epic-

And Duke Su's whole thing was that he only looked at the fl's "performances"- he never participated in them- in the novel, her forcing him to be a 'player' was a big deal- but I love the adaptation's take on it as well, he is still just as dramatic (and I guess all the description of his handsome appearance with his handsome red mole is replaced by all the dramatic entrances and exits- so cool)

And the way she smiled at her 'husband'- aaa I love that actress

I forgot some of the novel plot points so I can't make more of a comparison but it's still good!!

[totheidiot]

bro one thing i just constantly think about is just how life just goes on. especially for me as a kid, the fact that i lost my best friend, that was such a detail that was so glossed over for a moment. because i remember that she died on a friday, which in bangladesh, is a weekend (weekends are friday and saturday). the first final exam of that year was on that sunday, meaning two days after her death. and all of us, meaning me and my classmates, all just. simply pulled up to the exam room. as if nothing had happened. as if we literally hadn't been notified of the death of our classmate, someone we had known for three years and was quite popular too, that friday. she was supposed to have taken the exam as well.

i don't remember anything that happened during the exam but i do remember what happened before it. before the exam started, the invigilator was taking our attendance, making sure that everyone was here and present and taking the exam. eventually, the invigilator got to her name, she was the twentieth on the list. i am assuming that she didn't know the name of the girl that had passed away so she still called her name and found that she was absent. so, the invigilator asked around the classroom, asking why she hadn't come, it was a final exam after all. and. all of us, having been told the news that friday, the day it happened. none of us wanted to be the person that told her.

eventually, someone did tell her and the invigilator had an expression that i would never forget. like the most harrowing expression, so embarrassed about it, her eyes all wide. like she knew that a girl had died that weekend but she didn't know she was from this class. and looking at her expression made ME want to cry all over again. because. God. it was real.

[mackthecheesy]

rip to the person in my dream last night who i was in a time loop trying to save </3 woke up before i ever could

[imwritesometimes]

I just want a life where my mom isn't so much of an asshole that on like a bi-monthly basis my eyes hurt by the end of the day from crying so hard cause she's such a fuckin giant dick

[kumakuma-circus]

everyday i want them to remake p4 more than the last.

[a-god-in-ruins-rises]

tbh that last ask reminded me...

[blissfulstatic]

i started all of these games at wildly different times, took varying levels of breaks partway through each of them, and then finished all of their achievements in the same two days

i don't know what to do with myself now