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evenmoreacid · 4 months ago

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The creators of dhmis take five screenshots (one from each episode of the TV show) and explain the thought process behind them :)

There’s something quite unnerving about a lot of kids TV shows, whether that be the larger than life primary coloured creatures, the bizarrely off-kilter humour, or the often inexplicably surreal scenarios the characters find themselves in. And it’s precisely this premise that Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared takes and runs with.

Helmed by creators Becky Sloan, Joseph Pelling and Baker Terry – who also voice some of the puppets – the darkly comedic show first launched as a YouTube series back in 2011. Taking a satirically educational-cum-existential nightmare format, the short episodes quickly garnered a cult following. Starring Yellow Guy, Red Guy and Duck as the main puppet protagonists, Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared juxtaposes the apparent innocence of colourful kids TV with fever-dream horror, often switching between the two with hilariously unsettling rapidity.

Fast forward to now – over a decade since the show first etched itself into our minds – and Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared is back with a whole Channel 4 series. Expanding on the YouTube shorts, the six half-hour-long episodes amp up the charmingly unhinged reality and surreal situations that Yellow Guy, Red Guy and Duck find themselves in, learning about everything from jobs to family, death and more. Think Sesame Street as a warped acid-trip with a healthy dose of Cronenberg-tinged visceral body horror.

With the new Channel 4 season out now, Sloan, Pelling and Terry talk us through a series of snapshots from the series, giving some behind-the-scenes insights into the creation and incredibly crafted detail of the cult series. Read on for easter eggs, filming techniques and some, er, interesting fan art.

Jobs

Joseph Pelling: Even though this is the first image we’re going to talk about, it’s probably the last thing we shot. Some of these more stylistic images, where you have the backgrounds become graphic flat backgrounds, we shot them using back projection. Which is fun, because it’s quite an old-school technique but it fits. It’s very theatrical and doesn’t lend itself to realism in any way. So for us, it’s a perfect tool because we were lucky to be working with this format where things don’t need to look real.

Becky Sloan: These bits are probably one of the funnest bits about the show. It’s a chance to dive into these other worlds and other styles. You can go into any different medium – 2D animation, CGI – and be really playful with it.

JP: This is probably too technical, but we did this interesting thing where we had to whip pan into the shots. Because the sets didn’t exist past the size of the screen, we lit the screens with back projection as this illustration. We also had printouts of that same illustration in the foreground in front of the characters so that when you whipped over them, you’ve got this kind of motion blur, in camera, of the same image, but in the foreground. You can use it to extend the set and that kind of in camera Gondry style, [which] is the kind of stuff that we love. We always try to do as much of that as we can even if you can tell it’s quite shonky and fake. It adds to the weird handmade-ness.

BS: The ties they’re wearing all match the colours of the characters, which is pretty cool. The art director went out of their way to do that, which is a nice touch.

Death

BS: Me and Baker were on this set, because we have two sets up and running at the same time. We got really carried away dressing the set with loads and loads of fake silicone meat. Joe was on the other set and I remember hearing Joe over the walkie talkie saying, “We need to rein in the meat”. We were putting it everywhere – on the clocks, on the walls. This image was where we ended up, we needed to actually make it look like they’re cooking a shepherd’s pie not like they’ve like murdered someone in their kitchen.

JP: This was the end of the shepherd’s pie We‘ve Got to Get Things Ready song. Which was a fun sequence in terms of it being a bit in the episode where it’s not necessarily descending into something dark like in other songs or veering off into something more strange… but just becoming more stupid.

BS: That shot made me think of a typical last minute thing with the art department where we were like, “We need two chef hats quick, go find some! Or make one right now in five minutes”. There’s always so much stuff like that – where we forget what we need for a scene or think of stuff on the spot. We were shooting in a studio at Canada Water so luckily there were some nearby shops for people to go out on a mission to find all these random things we added to the list.

JP: I remember when we first started making these. Before we had a whole crew, we’d have maybe one person helping and everything had to be made prior to the shoot because obviously you spend your entire time on set just just trying to film it and puppeteer it. With this, half the stuff that actually needed to be made was being made in tandem with the shoot so we had this amazing workshop of of props and puppets being made right down to the wire.

BS: Every time the art department would be like, “Okay, we’re almost done”, it was a massive to do list and then never-ending stuff kept getting added to it. I remember being like, “We need peas! Punched out some felt peas and carrots”. “How many?” “I don’t know 100 peas?”. It’s quite mad on set.

Family

JP: As an image this sums up some of the scenes across the series where we had to write dialogue and build up character between the three guys. In contrast to the previous two images, we couldn’t just rely on loads of prop based or visual jokes or adding in lots of things, because it’s just too many props. We had to try and write some quite nice weird little claustrophobic scenes. I like this scene where they’re discussing their own TV show, and then Duck comes in and does the three guesses thing. It makes you feel that they have a really horrible dynamic.

BS: It’s nice that every episode starts in that way. A bit of calm before all the chaos, like a typical kid show. The sky outside the windows is real, it’s all in camera in case anyone was wondering. The fridge is riddled with Easter Eggs.

JP: Mainly, it’s just a nice moment between them. And that sets up the theme of the episode being about them. Not really understanding why they hang around together. Because if they’re not a family, then what are they? That idea came from us talking about kid show episodes where you’d have a generic kind of kid show where there’s a bunch of creatures that live together. It’s not really explained why they live together or how they know each other. We thought it was funny that they addressed that quite full on.

BS: Like that Candy and Andy thing we’re obsessed with, the Gerry Anderson show that never made it ’cause it’s so creepy. It features mannequin dolls called Candy and Andy and they have panda bears for parents. It was very inspiring for Lily and Todney… maybe too inspiring. There’s hardback collectible books you can get on eBay. And I bought a few and one of them had the scrawlings of a demon inside, all the eyeballs scribbled out in red.

Friendship

BS: It was fun working with the VFX guys who were doing all these animated bits and writing a list of objects that were a mixture of really random or mundane and a few easter eggs from the show for the people who knew the YouTube series. Some of them are so quick you wouldn’t really even notice it.

JP: It looks quite similar to what we did with episode four of the YouTube series where the digital world is this quite naff looking clunky gridworld.

Baker Terry: In hindsight, we shouldn’t have done that, because it’s very disrespectful to the digital world. It’s more important even than the real world at this point or it is the real world rather.

JP: True, I feel more real online. Another technical thing that we always have trouble with is that we can’t really use green screen or blue screen very effectively, because the characters are blue and green. So we end up having to rotoscope loads of bits which is probably not a problem that most people have on a regular shoot. Duck doesn’t work on green screen and Yellow Guy doesn’t work on blue screen and Red Guy wouldn’t work on pink screen so I think we had to have loads of different strips.

We kept changing all the little jokes in there, that don’t massively change the story, up until the last minute or even after we shot it. Because you can get away with really easily dubbing over characters, especially Red Guy, and we’d get tired of the jokes so it’s quite an irritating process.

BS: Looking at the script for so long, by the time it comes down to filming we’re like this is so not funny anymore. But then to someone who hasn’t heard it before they might laugh at it so sometimes it’s a bit dangerous to keep changing it and you lose some comedy gold.

Transport

JP: It only made sense for us to do this episode later in the series because it’s about one character getting tired of everything, getting tired of the format that he’s stuck in.

BS: This was Red Guy’s episode, wasn’t it? They each have one episode where the story is slightly more focussed on them. This was Red Guy trying to escape their world and failing.

JP: It’s a good example of why expanding the show so it was set within this whole little town of characters, which we had talked about before, wouldn’t work. This kind of episode wouldn’t have worked because the whole point is that he becomes aware that he’s only really able to go from room to room. It’s a good example of why we wanted to keep it claustrophobic.

BS: The train comes out of the fireplace. That still was probably one of the funniest moments for me, that little crappy remote control train coming out of the fireplace. It was going to come out of a mouse hole at one point.

JP: Didn’t someone ask us if it was a reference to a Magritte painting? There’s a Magritte where this train comes out of a fireplace. We were like, yep.

Electricity

BS: Originally they were all going to be rocking out with these colourful electric guitars but then we thought it’d be quite funny if Yellow Guy just has a really shit guitar that’s just made of cardboard and we don’t paint it or anything. I remember giving that task to Beattie [Hartley] in the art department: “you’ve got 10 minutes, I don’t want you to spend any longer on it”. She came back with that and it was perfect.

BT: Lots of the nicest almost unspoken details are from Beattie right? She did so much.

JP: Because we shoot everything with puppets we have all these rigs for the puppeteers. Which means we can’t move the cameras so that we can then get a clean version of the background and paint out the puppeteers. But if you add lighting, it’s such a dangerous thing to do, because you end up changing the background. I’m amazed that we managed to do it on this because it must have been quite a lot of post-production to clean it all up.

BS: Any wide shots like that, where you can see them standing, we have to rig them. It takes quite a long time. That’s one of the unique things about the show. In most puppet shows like Sesame Street it’s always from the waist up. We’ve always been keen to show the floor and do wide shots which is more of a challenge to shoot but that adds to the magic of puppetry.

This isn’t really linked but it’s just quite funny that all the fans are obsessed with drawing the characters as humans and shipping them – which is making them have sex with other characters and stuff. Really sexy drawings of Electracy, it’s so weird.

JP: No, it’s not. It’s great. We love it. Keep doing it.

BS: We love it, it’s bizarre.

JP: I love it. My family loves it.

BS: Yeah, that’s a whole rabbit hole of fun to explore.

#dhmis #wanted to save this #don't hug me i'm scared #dhmis meta

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intocleanness · 1 year ago

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getting bungiepilled

I just discovered a guy on youtube called Mandalore Gaming that has done a review of Pathways Into Darkness, all the Marathon games and both Myth games and driven himself slightly insane in the progress. I’m now relating the below in my most unhinged Henry Zebrowski voice

Halo is the far future of the earth of Myth, where the impact of the Wrkncacnter created the Great Devoid they throw Balor’s head into to destroy it. Pathways Into Darkness is that earth’s equivalent of the 90s where they were contacted by the Jjaro and protagonist that killed the Wrkncacnter embedded in the planet was later converted into the Mjolnir prototype, one of 13, aboard the Marathon after death. The conflict with the Pfhor that led to humanity becoming aware of aliens and prepared for conflict with them even in an insufficient capacity by stepping up the Mjolnir program resulted in Halo. And the Jjaro and the Precursors are the same guys.

Destiny? i dunno. probably some bullshit going on there too.

I’m not crazy, you’re crazy.

#halo

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elegantwoes · 2 years ago

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After getting familiar with the Percy Jackson franchise for the past few days by binge watching updates for the tv-show on Youtube and reading Lightning Thief I want say that this might be a great addition to one of my hyper fixations. I am getting hyped for this. Also, perhaps I am talking too soon, but I think the main protagonist - Percy Jackson may become my favorite. Partly because he gives me massive book Jon: dark coloring (bookwise), hotheaded, sarcastic as fuck, rebellious to the system, fiercely loyal, gets more unhinged with each book, has some dark moments. All of this hints he may become a male fave. Which says something, because those who know me know I don’t easily become attached to male characters, but once I do, they are with me for life. And I think Perseus Jackson might become just that for me…

#he’s going to be my fave #i just feel it in my bones #perseus Jackson you are my baby boy

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thatlexplays · 1 year ago

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Friday the 13th: Ranked

She's on Tumblr again? LONG POSTING? What is this, 2012?

Hi Tumblr. It's been a bit. But I decided it was the best place to talk unhinged shit that wouldn't make sense on other sites, so here we go again I guess. Last time I was here, I was straight. Now I'm uh...not.

ANYWAYS. Today's Friday the 13th, and it just so happens to also be OCTOBER (aka Halloween season). So y'know. Extra spooky.

I feel like there's only one REAL way to celebrate this day. To talk about the slasher of Camp Crystal Lake himself, Jason Vorhees.

I've had a fascination for horror movies since my edgy years from late 2009 through...honestly most of high school (I wore fingerless bike gloves to school every day--I didn't bike to school. I was CRINJ CITY). I remember watching the major slashers like Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, one of my most cringe moments was making a YouTube video about the 2010 reboot of Nightmare on Elm Street and talking about how good it was (15 year old me, for the record, was an idiot).

I know for a fact that I remember watching the original Friday and Friday Part 2. But I'd never seen the other TEN films in the franchise. So earlier this year, I got together with a friend and over the course of a few weekends...

We watched every Friday the 13th film that currently exists (as of posting) and ranked them.

Our Rating System

This was our first time doing a ranking for horror, so we didn't come up with a fun system at the first go around, save for an exception.

For the purposes of consistency of our lists, we're going to use the following rating system: Actually Good. These are the movies that are actually genuinely good watches, with fun characters, good writing, and good sequences. These are the best of the best.

Fun Time 🎉. The movies in this category might not be amazing, but they are still a fun time and are still pretty good watches for the type of horror we're watching.

A Movie™️ . These movies range from almost fun to not boring or bad enough to be lower on the list. We'll explain these as we go.

Why? 🤷. There are movies that take things into confusing territories and make things more convoluted for one reason or another. If it makes us say "Why?" then it's here. No 🙅. These are the worst ones--reasoning will explain.

Caveats

I think it's important to note that while my friend and I love watching horror, we don't think the Friday the 13th franchise is particularly scary. But we were interested becuase the 80s slashers are known to be just fun, and that entices me more than anything. So while these aren't scary when you compare them to modern horror like Barbarian, we were looking for fun times.

Also, should go without saying, but these are subjective opinions.

So with that out of the way...let's do this in order from top to bottom.

Actually Good

Jason Lives! Friday the 13th Part VI

If you watch any of the Friday the 13th movies, make it this one. Part VI is not just a solid slasher movie with great production values, but it's also just a good movie in general.

Tommy Jarvis and Megan are the best duo protagonists we have, with great chemistry. The group of teens we have here are also just fun to watch. People are mostly likelable!

Also the guy who went on to be the voice for Disney's TARZAN is in this movie. Neat.

There's also a ton of great references to other Horror Media because Director Tom McGloughlin is a damn nerd and we LOVE IT. Watch the Dead Meat Kill Count on these. Ya learn a lot.

Friday the 13th Part II

So when it comes to the original canon (aka up through Part IV), this film is the strongest out of all of them. Mostly because of the fact that even though Jason Vorhees doesn't have his iconic hockey mask (which he gets in Part III), the film has straight up the best group of camp counselors/teens in the whole franchise. They're fleshed out more, more sympathetic, and it's just fun.

The only real reason this doesn't top the list is that Part VI is just a better movie overall. There are some weird shot choices, and the cold open is weird and has no pacing.

A Fun Time 🎉

Jason X

Ok, so hear me out. I know the conceit of this movie is WEIRD. It's literally Jason in SPACE. This should be ridicously bad, right?

It's absolutely wild, but the thing about this movie is that it FULLY commits to the crazy concept and it honestly just works. It truly has no right to be as good as it is.

It's not a masterpiece, and it's still objectively wild, but it's a good time.

Friday the 13th (the Original)

It feels weird that the original Friday the 13th movie is in this team, but while this movie is still very good, and still a fun time with great iconic kills; it's still a little anticlimatic and the other films have stronger thru-lines.

Still a good movie, and one that I'd argue that you should still watch because it's the original and iconic, but it's not the best one.

Friday the 13th (2009 Reboot)

So I remember as an edgy teen harping on this movie for being bad (had I seen it? No. Did it matter? Also no). But this is actually a VERY strong reboot. While it doesn't entirely meet the bar of the other movies thus far, it's a fun time that does act as a "best of" of the early films in the franchise.

The characters are also kinda fun.

A Movie™️

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (Part IV)

This is the technically the end of the main story arc of Jason Vorhees--he does die here. Every movie from this point on has a Zombified Jason.

Part IV is higher than the other movies on this list mostly because of the kills themselves--someone gets stabbed while they're holding a banana -- it's wild.

Everything else is kinda meh. Most of the characters here are kinda sleezy and high key horny af, and they're all kind sex pest energy. They kind of suck.

Friday the 13th Part IV: A New Beginning

So Jason isn't in this movie, at all. There's someone else imitating Jason

It's aggressively sleezy and almost pornographic, which isn't

The one main positive this movie has is that it has some very solid characters that very much feel more interesting than most of the characters in the franchise. The kills aren't as good as Part IV, but it's still fun.

Freddy vs. Jason

So I was expecting this movie to be a lot better than it was (for what its worth, it's one of the better Nightmare on Elm Street Movies). It's fine. Not overly worth writing home about per se.

Friday the 13th Part III

So this is an important film that brings us the iconic hockey mask and was also in 3D (because we love gimmicks). Unfortunately, this movie recycles a few kills and the characters are way more one dimensional, and annoying, and there's also some fun problematic racism thrown in.

Why? 🤷

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood

This was one of the first movies in the Friday the 13th franchise that BAFFLED me and my friend when watching. According to Dead Meat, they tried to reach out to New Line about doing someting with Nightmare on Elm Street; they refused. So they went, "Ok but what if Jason vs. Carrie White? This slasher franchise needs telekinesis."

Part VII tries to be both a Friday the 13th film and a Carrie film at the same time. It fails at being good versions of both. The teens are forgettable; the telekenetic plotline is interesting but that's kinda not really the point of Friday the 13th, so it's just baffling.

Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (Part IX)

Woof. This one is real rough.

This was a movie we kept pausing to see how long we had so we can say "We have NO IDEA WHAT IS HAPPENING".

The movie tries to streamline things but make things more complicated.

The effects are cool, the kills are ok, and the characters are fine. But the structure is bad.

No 🙅

Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Out of all of the Friday movies, this one is straight up bad. All of the characters are terrible and have no redeeming qualities. Half the movie doesn't take place in Manhattan, and once there, there's also a fun scene that's essentially SA and it's straight up upsetting. When you manage to make Jason look like a good guy, you know you've got a bad movie.

Final Thoughts

I'll go on record and say that Friday the 13th has more good movies than bad ones in my opinion. You don't watch these movies to be scared, you watch them to have a good time.

So go have fun and watch these movies!

#friday the 13th #I spent way too long writing these #maybe I should do this for every horror franchise i watch so we have a running list #horror movie #slasher movie #tier list

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ravenkings · 2 years ago

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youtube

from le roi danse (the king is dancing) (2000)

#honestly tumblr should be all over this movie #it's decadent and the protagonist is an unhinged bisexual and it's all on youtube #le roi danse

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indigo-flightly-falls · 9 months ago

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@residences-of-the-darkforest I already know for a fact that I cannot fit my ramblings into the comments so you get this lol (edit, i was right)

Newsies is a movie/musical produced by Disney based on the real life newsboy strike. Personally I perfect the musical (i do theater so that's probably why) but the movie is also really good. If only for Spot being on screen more.

ANYWAYS. The general plot is you have the newsies, they're going about their day, theres some new kids, a pair of brothers. This is Les and Davey. Les is almost 10 and Davey is an unspecifced age as far as I remember. However Davey's probably around 17 like Jack.

Jack Kelly is our protagonist. he's 17, kinda the leader of the newsies, he REALLY wants to go to Santa Fe, and in the musical, he's an amazing artist.

anyways back to the plot. there's some chaos, you meet Synder the Spider. we all hate him. fuck him and the refuge we don't like abusers in this fandom.

The next day, the newspaper owners raise the price of papes (newsies talk for newspaper) by 10 cents more per hundred. however, this is 1899 and the newsies are poor (mostly orphaned) children. This does not good over well.

So what happens? Jack implisvly launches a strike. Davey is dragged forcibly into being his right hand man. the newsies are 100% on board with this, probably a bit too on board. the children crave violence. good for them.

now this is where the plot diverges slightly between the movie and the musical. Namely on weither or not the reporter is Katherine (musical) or Brian Denton (movie). both are cool, but Katherine doubles as the lover interest and honestly isn't the worse one I've seen. She's delightfully anxous and has little idea what's going on. Denton is cool and pays for lunch.

things happen, the romance plot in both versions advance by the bare minum in the movie, and there's some mild conflict over some scabs at work. Depending on the version, the newsies either beat them up or get the scabs on their side.

Now from here on out, a few things change. The overall plot is the same, with mostly the same story beats: The rally at the theater, Jack getting forced into scabbing (technically he has a choice but it's either that or get all the newsies thrown into the refuge which is. Bad. not much is said but the fandom has degreed based off what we get in canon that there's some messed yp stuff going on), davey is dragged into becoming more of a newsie, Medda is a good newsie ally, Spot Conlon scares everybody and he's short af, and things will work out in the end. one way or another at least.

However the fun is when you start interacting with the fandom. I'm still in the shallow end (mostly just on youtube or ao3), but there are two kinds of newsies fans: A) the casual fan or B) the unhinged fan. I'm the second, as are a lot of people I've seen.

However it's pretty chill for the most part! There's a fair few ships, most of which I don't fully get but hey, good for those people. there is found family galore (listen the newsies call each other a family in canon the stuff writes itself), and Racetrack is a chaotic menace and I love watching him.

Also the broadway soundtrack hits hard. with a brick.

Seriousally, Seize the Day and Santa Fe are both just.. sighs. Seize the Day is the song sung to inspire the newsies to actually go ahead with the strike and Santa Fe is both the opening song and the act 1 closer. Seize the day starts out slow, reminding everybody that they have to act now (glances at the 'and say to the others, who did not follow through: you're still our brothers, and we will fight for you' line. it cannot hurt me (<- lying)), and yet grows into a triumptant song because they have the upper hand for at least a second. And Santa Fe hurts. it's a despirt plea for freedom, for the pain to stop, for a dream to be real, so Jack doesn't get his life sucked out like his father. those two songs are right after each other btw. and then you get the chaos of King of New York, which is just *makes hand gesters* very newsie. They're in the papes and they're having a ball. they've crowned Katherine the king of new york. Racetrack leads a decent part of this song when it comes to singing and has top tier energy.

anyways to sum it up, top tier musical, decent movie. the movie's main flaws is that it was not originally a musical in planning which uh. has effects. also the songs aren't as good. the musical fixes those problems :D

at the very least I recommend listening to the broadway soundtrack, which holds mild/implied spoilers for a plot twist in 'The Bottom Line Reprise' but other then that, it's literally just banger music.

Me, in denial: I am completely normal about my interests, especially compared to other people!

Also me, 90% of the time: thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies. thinks about Newsies-

#to let you in on a secret; raceglint and spotgrowl are based off canon newsies characters (Racetrack and Spot respectively)#and magpieleap was an oc who grabbed my brain and decided on his own story (he's name is Sparrow. he's got a tag on my blog)#also psss if you wanna watch it... i got a link for the broadway version and i know where to get a movie link...

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wangxianficfinder · 2 years ago

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In the mood for a Fic...

~*~

1. Hello, Mods! Thanks for all the amazing work that you do, and I hope you’re all well! I’ve been in the mood for WangXian social media AUs lately. Would you have any good ones to share? Thank you!

episodes by kasunn (M, 34k, WangXian, Modern AU, Fluff, basically all fluff, Youtuber WWX, Social Media, Actor LXC, Artist JC, Chef JYL, Babysitting, lowkey kidfic, Surgeon LWJ, Canon typical feels, Taiwanese WWX, Copious amounts of Chinglish, pets!, Secret Relationship, kind of bad pet names, Established Relationship, LSZ is a wen)

🧡don't threaten me with a good time by livinginaworldofnoise (G, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reality TV, The Great British Bake Off Fusion, Fluff and Crack, gbbo au, content warning for absolute unhinged nonsense, Enemies to Lovers, by enemies i mean BAKING RIVALS of course, the last two chapters are the twitter reactions to the show so, Social Media AU)

Circles Pt. 1 by cicisears (M, 173k, WangXian, Modern AU, Mutual Pining, Rare Pairings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Academic Fraud (Please Do Not Commit), Alcohol, bed sharing, Closeted Gays Working Through It, mentions of abuse, parent death mentioned, Car Accident Referenced, Social Media, And More Social Media, Typos!, But Not Many Typos, Arranged Marriage, Homophobic LQR Homophobia, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort)

like, comment, share & subscribe by detectorist (T, 22k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, YouTube, Social Media, Flirting, Humour, Banter, Getting Together, First Kiss, Texting, so much texting, Youtubers For Social Justice, The Gang Gets Political, Competitive Flirting Via The Medium Of Youtube, it's about the yearning, YouTube Rivals To Lovers)

不忘 | Don't Forget by dragongirlG (E, 50k, WangXian, Modern AU, Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Reincarnation, Fix-It of Sorts, Identity Porn, Social Media, Reunions, Family, Angst with a Happy Ending, Light Bondage, References to Canon, Artist WWX, Sexual Content, Pining, POV Multiple, Additional Warnings In Author's Note)

Wangxian Tax Universe Series by adrian_kres (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Americana,Family Dinners, Dysfunctional Family, Family Feels, Crack, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sex, POV WWX) has social media aspects

Some of You by tangerinechar (M, 60k, WangXian, Modern AU, Social Media, Actor AU, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Fluff, Love Confessions, Matchmaking, Light Angst) twitter

a baby rabbit is called a kitten and other fun facts by aurora_chiroptera (G, 11k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, Modern AU, this is really a kid fic in a lot of ways hidden in a youtube/social media au, Mutual Pining, JZX is a trans lesbian and uses she/her pronouns, Child LSZ, Long-Distance Relationship, (kinda?), Fluff, and bunnies, Good Parent WWX, Single Parent WWX, Getting to Know Each Other, Getting Together, Nonbinary NHS, LWJ Has Friends, set in the US)

to see your face (your smile) by sunflowersfield (T, 2k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Fluff and Angst, Domestic Fluff, Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Snapchat, and they were ROOMMATES, Declarations Of Love, Social Media, Pining, Set somewhere where Snapchat exists, Fluff) snapchat

Rating: General Audiences by Mishaa (T, 17k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, everyone shows up at some point, you don't really need to know them, Meta, Fandom Allusions & Cliches & References, Fans & Fandom, Social Media) Modern AU (in an alternate universe where Lianfang-zun and Zewu-jun were the protagonist and ML of the fictional work “The Untamed”); legendary genfic author WangJi and notorious kink artist Wuxian wind up collaborating on a Big Bang—and shipping the villainous Yiling Laozu with the righteous Hanguang-jun! Featuring most of MXTX’s characters and fandom red in tooth and claw.

No boys allowed (except Lan Wangji) by allollipoppins (M, 118k, WIP, WangXian, QingLi, MM/QS, Q/OZ, ChengSong, NingYangYu, Male-Female Friendship, Modern AU, Crack Treated Seriously, Mathphobic LWJ, Fluff, Slow Burn, Adult Humor, Mutual Pining, Drunken Shenanigans, Identity Porn, Mild Angst, Polyamorous WN, discord fic, Background Madam Jin/Madam Yu Drama, Like soap opera level drama, No Incest, Sexting, Implied Sexual Content) Discord-style chatfic among the female characters (as well as everyone’s favorite brother-in-law); graphics-heavy; the author advises, “For more comfort, this fic is best read on a computer or on a phone/tablet's landscape mode. Don't forget to enable Creator's Style!“

Inflexible by yeaka (E, 3k, WangXian, Modern AU, PWP, Anal Sex, Semi-Public Sex, Established Relationship) livestreaming gamer WWX’s neglected husband picks the middle of a broadcast to exact his Everyday

~*~

2. Any non explicit fics where nmj notices what is up with wwx during sunshot/post sunshot and is like whoa this dude needs help, and actually helps him? With like character development for both/world building. & nie cultivation being resonantly similar to wwx's. Possibly mingxian but not necessarily. And/or nmj recruiting him or slow burn allying with him during this time? Thank you for all you do! :D

Lynchpin by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 103k, WangXian, JC & WWX, Time Travel, Fix-It, Lynchpin [PODFIC] by Opalsong) Not sure that is quite it, it's wangxian and JC POV, but there is NMJ support of wwx and discussion of Nie cultivation.

Better Things to Do with a Flute in Wartime by Anonymous (E, 365k, MingXian, WangXianJue, Sunshot Campaign, Fix-It, Magical Healing Cock, Dual Cultivation, mild Dom/Sub, Undernegotiated Kink, Golden Core Reveal, Breathplay, Choking, Painplay, Subdrop, Topdrop, Major Character Injury, Canon Divergence, What-If, Temperature Play, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Fisting, Spanking, PTSD, Trauma, Self-Harm, (in the pursuit of cultivational badassery) )

The River Runs Forever by Cerusee (T, 129k, wangxian, JYL & WWX & JC, NHS/JYL, WWX & NHS, character death, BAMF WWX, inventor WWX, sect leader WWX, WIP) has some strong friendship/alliance going on btw wwx and nmj during the ssc

~*~

3. hello!! for the next in the mood for, is there any fics where the personality of the yunmeng sibs are swaped? or maybe their ages and dynamics?? like wwx as jyl, jc as wwx, jyl as jc? i don´t know if i explained right but i hope you understand it?? thank you <3

Burying the Hatchet by pearliegloom (T, 9k, WangXian, Body Swap, Comedy, Post-Canon, Brother-in-law (Derogatory), Fluff and Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Family Bonding) these 2 fics have JC and WY switching bodies

A Day in Your Shoes by Blueflower740 (T, 3k, WangXian, Bodyswap, Canon Divergence, Comedy, Possessive LWJ, Angry JC, WWX is a Little Shit, Mentions of Sex, One Shot Collection, Post-Canon) these 2 fics have JC and WY switching bodies

a decade off your shoulders by loosingletters (T, 1k, WIP, JC & JYL & WWX, Older Sibling JC, Younger Sibling WWX, Younger Sibling JYL, Hurt/Comfort, Family, Humor, Fix-It of Sorts, Bad Parent YZY, eldest daughter syndrome, Protective JC, Age Reversal, Non-Chronological, Yúnmèng Siblings Feels, JC-centric)

You & Me Baby, We'll Eclipse The Sun Series by 2501987 (M/E, 130k, WangXian, XiCheng, Modern AU, Canon Divergence, Mafia AU, Gangsters, Murder husbands, Younger Sibling WWX, Older Sibling JC, Torture, Hurt/Comfort, domestic fluff, Murder, Blood and Gore, MIND THE TAGS)

~*~

4. Hello there!!!! I hope that you’re all having a lovely day. Ah, for the next ‘in the mood for’ , can we have some MXTX crossovers??? Especially if it’s Hualian or Bingqiu adopting WWX (cos those are adorable)

💖 Hua Xianle by Tiffany_Guinne (Not rated, 27k, hualian, wangxian, canon divergence, WWX adopted by hualian, not Jiang friendly, madam lan lives, selective mutism, WIP)

💖 Song of Joy and Regrets by HelloKitten (Not Rated, 125k, WIP, hualian, wangxian, Angst, Self-Harm, Child Abuse, Time Travel Fix-it, characters watching the show (mdsz))

💖 echoes from across the void by Nilaic (G, 20k, hualian, wangxian, dimension travel, wangxian adopted by hualian, demonic cultivation, PTSD, hurt/comfort, fluff & angst, families of choice, WIP)

💖 Where the Chaos Is by martyr_syndrome (E, 38k, wangxian, hualian, post-canon, crossover, case fic, accidental voyeurism)

💖 The Red Ribbon by Xiao_Hua (M, 20k, wangxian, hualian, ghost city, cultivation partners, immortality, fluff, supreme ghost king WWX)

💖 For Whom the Bell Rings by DawnCloud (G, 24k, JYL & XL, JYL & HC, fix-it of sorts, calamity!JYL, TGCF/MDZS)

💖 when you’re ready, we’ll turn the page together series by merthurlin (T, 33k, TGCF/MDZS)

💖 Atlas by etymologyplayground (M, 12k, wangxian, hualian, TGCF fusion, getting together, friendship, grief/mourning, smut)

💖 Farmer’s Almanac / 情雨濛濛 by Irrelevancy (T, 13k, WQ/YH, fix-it, TGCF/MDZS)

💖 Hello, Neighbor!!! AU by Dragon_Scribe (M, 70k, bingqiu, wangxian, demon WWX, found family, dimension travel, angst w/ happy ending, mystery, mind control, love confessions)

~*~

5. Hihi! For iitmf - can we get fics where wei ying and lan zhan were betrothed as children?

sweet chaos by eachandeverydimension (G, 86k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Arranged marriage, Fluff, Romance, Light Angst, Falling In Love, Different First Meeting, Qīnghéng-jūn’s A+ Parenting, Night Hunts, Chinese Language, Good Sibling LXC, Good Sibling JYL, POV LWJ, Getting Together, Love Confessions, First Kiss, Chinese Culture, Slow Burn, No Homophobia AU)

seldom all they seem by Fahye (E, 24k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, or rather Arranged Betrothal, followed by Weapons-Grade Thirst)

Neatly Arranged by thunderwear (T, 45k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Angst with a Happy Ending, lwj’s mother is here but only briefly, RIP, Shenanigans, Fix-Itof sorts, Canonical Character Death, but not all, did i forget to tag pining, because this fic is like 90 percent pining, Hurt/Comfort)

the river and the sea by sasamelons (T, 7k, WangXian, Soulmates, Arranged Marriage, Misunderstandings, Angst with a Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Falling In Love, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Mutual Pining)

sweat for me by silverclaw (M, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha WWX, Omega LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Friends With Benefits, kind of, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Bites, LWJ owns a perfumery, Secret Relationship)

Hope Series by RoseThorne (G/T, 52k, WIP, WangXian, Transmigration, Time Travel Fix-It, Illnesses, Family, Scars, Memory Loss, Angst, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Good Parent YZY, Referenced Sexual Slavery, Blood and Gore, Sexual Tension, Arranged Marriage, POV Alternating, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Good Parent LQR, Clairvoyance, Butterfly Effect)

~*~

6. Hi ! Can you recommend me some long or completed fics containing A) Wei Wuxian being the loved and coveted and previous person as he deserves. Or B) Wei Wuxian as a scholar everyone (lans) looks up to . I mean him being a very respected cultivator. Also if the word count could be more than 2 or 3k. Preferably very long fics like more than 10k @whateverweilanlovechild

6A)

a waiting warmth by hauntedotamatone (M, 1k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Bathing/Washing, Non-Sexual Intimac, yImplied Sexual Content)

make your good love known to me (tell me 'bout your day) by glitteringmoonlight (T, 6k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, Married WangXian, Fluff, a dash of angst, in the form of thoughts about the past, Implied/Referenced Sex)

Littlest Miracles by Vrishchika (M, 5k, WangXian, Dragon LWJ, Dragon WWX, Established Relationship, Dragons, Mpreg, Sort OfTenderness, Non-Explicit Sex, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, supportive families, Not JC Friendly)

Decorate by Vrishchika (E, 4k, WangXian, Smut, Soft WangXian, Possessive LWJ, Established Relationship, Post-Canon, Porn with Feelings, PWP, Married Couple, Clothed Sex, Nipple Play, Tender Sex, Dom/sub Undertones)

Love in all forms, something tender by Vrishchika (T, 4k, WangXian, Post-Canon, married wangxian, Established Relationship, Fluff, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Family Feels, Sickfic, Sick Character)

Proximity To Knowledge by ChilianXianzi (T, 7k, WangXian, Juniors & WWX, Post-Canon, Married WangXian, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Teacher WWX, Inventor WWX, Not LQR Friendly)

Trust by FlyingMachine1 (G, 8k, WangXian, Juniors & WWX, Junior Quartet Dynamics, Junior Ensemble Shenanigans, background WangXian, BAMF!WWX, Humor, junior quartet is the wwx fan club)

no smoke without fire by glitteringmoonlight (T, 12k, Wens & WWX, WangXian, YL WWX, Angst and Humor, this was meant to be crack but feelings got involved, not technically outsider pov, Burial Mounds Settlement Days)

6B)

Worth of a Good Man by Vrishchika (G, 6k, WangXian, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Not Jiang Sect Friendly, Not JC Friendly, Tumblr Prompt) kinda

one of our own by glitteringmoonlight (G, 7k, WangXian, Post-Canon, wangxian is mentioned but not the focus, this is just the lans being a wwx defense squad, people being nice to wwx, people being mean about wwx but immediately getting shut down, POV Outsider, 5+1 Things) kinda

~*~

7. Hello, dear people!

First of all, thank you so much for your amazing work! Found some real nice fics thanks to you :)

Secondly, do you by any chance know of some fics where Wei Wuxian becomes the Chief Cultivator, either post-canon or in his first life? In not a cracky way and with happy ending for wangxian? Thank you again! @themorrana

Lies and Truth by parodismal (G, 14k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Fluff and Angst, Pining, Protective LWJ, chief cultivator wwx, Sect Leader WWX, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, WWX Lives, Out of Character, Original Character(s), Communication, supportive families)

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8. Iitm for a fic where the juniors or one are protective of wwx or a fic where sm happens and they seek out wwx for comfort or sm along those lines pls. Also i cant beging to explain how this site saves my ass

Proximity To Knowledge by ChilianXianzi (T, 7k, WangXian, Juniors & WWX, Post-Canon, Married WangXian, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Teacher WWX, Inventor WWX, Not LQR Friendly) (link in 6A)Juniors undertaking a campaign of civil disobedience in protection of wwx.

Rotten Work by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 63k, WangXian, WWX & JL, Post-Canon, Protective WWX, Protective JL, Yunmeng Bros Reconciliation, Reluctant Matchmaker JL, [PODFIC] Rotten Work by sakizar) Jin Ling being protective of wwx and basically reverse adopting him.

🧡 the stone-filled sea by yukla (T, 9k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX, Post-Canon, senior wei defense squad, a study of the way prejudice and injustice and anger trickle down from generation to generation) Sizhui dealing with how the world sees WWX.

🧡 The One-Body Problem by metisket (T, 28k, WangXian, LJY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Possession, Cohabitation) (link in 16B) Jingyi being very protective of wwx.

❤️grow by cafecliche (T, 14k, wangxian, post-canon, de-aging, character study) (link in 16B)

Tragedy is Not the End by Hobbsy3 (T, 358k, WangXian, Time Travel, Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Golden Core Reveal, Canon Divergence from Qiongqi Pass, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con)

~*~

9. So I just started reading "the twin demons of mo", and now I really wanna know if there are A) any other fics where mo xuanyu wasn't just passingly known at koi tower, but like directly involved with raising Jin Ling, even a primary caregiver. B) Also any fics where mxy isn't the one to bring back wwx, dying from the mos' abuse instead (or happier ending is in a coma or something) but mxy's ghost ends up showing up to protect jl (and possibly solve crimes/prove innocence)?

9A)

Different Paths to the Same Route by JustAWanderingBabbit (T, 184k, WangXian, 3Zun, Canon Divergence, What-If, Implied Necrophilia, At least they’re talking now, Medicical science in a cultivational world, Magical Genetic Testing, Family Issues) MXY is rescued from his shack at Mo Villa to resume cultivational training; he winds up developing a healthier relationship with JGY and becoming a loving uncle to JL (whom he serves as combat talisman support) as well as JRS (who survives).

@guqin-and-flute's and @littlesmartart's AUs have all JGS’ children surviving and joining forces against Daddy Dearest; MXY is close enough in age to JL, LJY (here the 3Zuns’ adopted son), and Xuanli’s OC kids to be more of a cool big cousin than an uncle—and often the instigator of mischief.

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10. Hi, for the next In the Mood For post do you have any recommendations for fics where yanli and xue yang are friends? I’ve just read Silk over Steel by LadyRachael which is the kind of vibe I’m looking for. Thanks!

I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Lunarwriter75 (T, 4k, JYL & XY, grief/mourning, demonic cultivation, demonic cultivator JYL, JYL centric, implied/referenced character deaths) not 100% sure if this can be counted as friends?

~*~

11. Hellooooo~~ for itmf i'd like fics where wwx and jgy are friends please :D

The Kids Are Okay (I Think) by GossamerGlint (Not Rated, 47k, WIP, WangXian, MY & WWX & XY, Royalty AU, Prince WWX, prince MY, Prince XY, Burial Mounds, Yílíng Wèi Sect, more like yiling xue sect, its... complicated)

Really? Me Too! by mercyandmagic (M, 59k, WangXian, XiYao, JC/QS, WWX & JGY, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crack Treated Seriously)

The Wild Geese's Tomb by The Feels Whale (miscellea) (T, 56k, WangXian, XiYao, Time Travel AU, fixit, Temporary Character Death) their friendship isn't the main theme but it's a great part of the story

Renewed Hope by Fortune_Maiden (T, 5k, MY & WWX, Canon Divergence, First Meetings, Pre-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, fluff and friendship, MY Makes A Friend, Birthday)

One Good Turn by ShanaStoryteller (Not Rated, 3k, MY & WWX, CSSR and WCZ Live, Lore Drop, WWX is Friend Shaped)

Meng Yao vs. the Board of the Homeowner's Association Series by Ariaste (M/T, 119k, WIP, WangXian, XiYao, MY & WWX, Modern AU, Frenemies to Friends, Established Relationship, xiyao and wangxian are both already married, Family Feels, Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Slice of Life, Discussions of Past Trauma, wwx's canonical kinks, HOAverse)

Collaboration of Dangerous Minds by JustAWanderingBabbit (T, 14k, JGY & WWX, JGY & QS, WangXian, 3Zun, Canon Divergence, Timeline What Timeline, An unexpected team-up, Making friends while on 'vacation', Waking the Dead, Fix-It, Canonical Sibling Incest, Mojo's Post) JGY, sent by JGS to spy on the Burial Mounds, learns of the actual situation there and befriends WWX and the Wen Remnants

Enfant Perdu, Jouet du Destin by JaenysBloodcourt (T, 15k, WangXian, Prostitution, Brothels, Child Abuse, YZY Being YZY, YZY’s cannon issues, JFM and YZY bad parenting, Found Family, Misunderstandings, Angst and Feels, Family Feels, Parent-Child Relationship, Ghosts and Yiling Patriarch feels, Time Skips, WWX half-grows in a brothel, Bittersweet Ending) shows WWX and JGY as childhood friends, and is canon divergence.

~*~

12. I have an itmf request! Any fics where wwx dips out when people tell him he's unwanted or annoying? Like "sorry for the bother, I've taken too much of your time/attention/food it's clearly better for everyone if I leave." Like this tweet thread (but preferably finished) @tess-is-elated

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13. for the next ITMF!!! do you have any recs for wlw wangxian?? preferably works similar to ao3 user 74243’s fics - i’ve consumed all of them in one sitting cause they are that good 😂. i love the way they write wx’s dynamic ! doesn’t have the be rated E or anything though, and can be any AU! thank you in advance ❤️

We have a new F/F & M/F WangXian comp, if you want to also look through that ^^

~*~

14. Do u have any mcd or very angsty modern or canon anything wangxian fics??? Preferably 50k+ long. I'm in mood for very angsty or sad fic and I can't find anything

salt to the sea by starmins (M, 31k, WangXian, Modern AU, Grief/Mourning, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Road Trips, Additional Warnings In Author's Note)

总有一天; a place to hide (can’t find one near) by yiqie (E, 76k, WangXian, Modern AU, Pianist, Getting Together, Mental Health Issues, Suicide Attempt, Suicidal Thoughts, Depression, Hospitals, Overdosing, Eventual Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Additional Warnings In Author's Note)

~*~

15. Hello! Sorry if this has been asked before but do you know of any fics where jc does manage to drag wwx to lotus pier post reserection? Preferably jc unfriendly. Thank you! @feeny

~*~

16. Hey!!! A) Can you recommend something where wwx of different time period meet if possible in only a one shot... B) something with the juniors povs as a focus (post-canon) C) something where wwx doesn't give up his core. (It doesn't matter if there's the Jiang's bashing or anything)Thank you!!!!!

16A)

Wei Wuxian’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good First Meeting With His Future by Enigmatree (T, 3k, WangXian, Time Travel, Cloud Recesses, YL WWX, POV Outsider)

How to Deal with the Conundrum of Your Past Self: A Case Study by anatheme (E, 16k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, YL WWX, Established Relationship, Pining, Sexual Tension, alpha!yiling laozu/alpha!lwj/omega!mxy!wwx: the fic, ft. soft married wangxian, Threesome - M/M/M, Bottom LWJ, Switch wangxian, Knotting, time travel of sorts, Happy Ending)

Crazy Little Thing Called Time by kippalittlefox (T, 11k, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Established Relationship, Angst with a Happy Ending)

16B)

grow by cafecliche (T, 14k, WangXian, Age Regression/De-Aging, Character Study, Post-Canon, [Podfic] Grow by jellyfishfire)

green flame, black flute, red ribbon by Fleetling (T, 3k, WangXian, POV LJY, Hurt/Comfort)

A Dramatic Reading by pupeez4eva (Not Rated, 5k, WangXian, Humor, Post-Canon, Public Confessions, oblivious wangxian, The Juniors accidentally write Wangxian fanfiction on a cursed scroll, Everyone suffers the consquences, Getting Together)

The Full Form of Press by Vamillepudding (G, 12k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Comedy, Wherein the juniors found a newspaper, [Podfic] The Full Form of Press by jellyfishfire)

Life is Very Long by Vamillepudding (T, 12k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Comedy, Protective JC, Protective JL, Misunderstandings, Oblivious WWX, Protective LWJ)

The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (T, 19k, In-Universe RPF, Romance Novel, Post-Canon Fix-It, primarily drama-canon with cameos from novel-canon, The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli [Podfic] by Rhea314 (Rhea) )

🧡 The One-Body Problem by metisket (T, 28k, WangXian, LJY & WWX, Canon Divergence, Possession, Cohabitation)

16C)

The fault in my core by luckymoonly (M, 16k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Drama, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mpreg, Pregnant WWX, getting together early, First Time, LQR and his tragic backstory, Fluff, jealous lwj, Oblivious Wwx, Unreliable Narrator WWX, Mildly Dubious Consent, Miscommunication, Miscarriage (not WWX), Attempted Sexual Assault, Matchmaker NHS)

Never Again by Hauntcats (T, 67k, WangXian, WQ & WWX & WN, Canon Divergence, Angst, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Time Travel Fix-It, Not JC Friendly, BAMF WWX, mentions of abuse, Canon JC traits)

Return to Sender by Thesaurus_with_no_words (M, 72k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence BAMF WWX, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, YL WWX, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, canon JC characteristics, Temporary Amnesia, Partial Memory Loss, Literal Emotional Manipulation, Unreliable Narrator WWX, Burial Mounds Settlement Days, Slow Burn)

~*~

17. For the next ' i'm in the mood for ' is there A) any good fics in which wwx is just so obviously gay/bisexual? B) also, any fanfictons of wangxian where wwx is just your hot dom top?

17A)

See all this and more for just ten dollars a month! Series by ScarlettStorm (E, 382k, WIP, WangXian, Modern AU, Getting Together, Pining, Porn, like in the writing and also as a plot point, onlyfans au, repressed lwj, sex worker wwx, Minor Angst, major shenanigans, hornt(tm), mental health, therapy is good actually, Nonbinary NHS, Gender Exploration, Hurt/Comfort, past trauma, genderfluid wwx)

reports of my heterosexuality may have been exaggerated by sysrae (E, 8k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Getting Together, straight boy lwj, disaster gay wwx, demisexual lwj, the mildest of kink explorations, Heteronormativity, Hockey player WWX, wwx in drag)

Walk, Walk, Passion, Baby by westiec (E, 3k, WangXian, Modern AU, Fantasy, Fashion & Models, Dragon LWJ, Phoenix WWX, Semi-Public Sex, double dragon dick, Frottage, LWJ is a biter, Shameless Smut, Getting Together)

Many happy returns. by orange_crushed (E, 25k, WangXian, Modern AU, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Grief/Mourning, Loss of Parent(s), Implied/Referenced Suicide, Past Suicide of a Parent, References to Depression, Anxiety, Therapy, References to Anti-Depressant Medications, Escort Service, Loneliness, Everybody's Abandonment Issues, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Moving In Together, Oral Sex, Penetrative Sex, LWJ Likes Mess Actually, Hopeful Ending, Recovery, References to Escorting/Sex Work but No Actual Escorting/Sex Work)

please forgive my most passionate disruptions by pumpkinpaix (E, 65k, WangXian, Modern AU, Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Modern with Magic, Modern: Still Have Powers, stripper!WWX, Graduate School, psych it's stripper au AND grad school au AND cloud recesses AND modern nonsense, Internalized Homophobia, lwj is repressed and sad)

just between you and me by starknjarvis (E, 14k, WangXian, Modern AU, College/University, Public Display of Affection, Party Kissing, frat party, Mutual Pining, First Time, Alcohol, blackout drinking)

A Sure Thing by vesna (mrsronweasley) (E, 95k, WangXian, Modern AU, Sugar Daddy, Sex Work, Light Dom/sub, Aftercare, Semi-Public Sex, Exhibitionism, Bondage, use of sex toys, boundary setting, Relationship Negotiation, many baths, Barebacking)

🧡tear out the thread one by one from your skin (’til your bones feel embarrassed by all the attention) by lightningalwaysreturns (E, 40k, WangXian, Modern AU, Holidays, Getting Together, Professors, Pining, Spring, Fluff and Smut, Family, single dad lwj, so many novel refs, Explicit Sexual Content, service top lwj/power bottom wwx vibes)

Ticket to Ride by mistresscurvy (E, 18k, WangXian, Modern AU, Online Dating, Road Trips, Service Top, Phone Sex, Dick Pics, Wedding Banquet)

leave all your love and your longing behind by ScarlettStorm (E, 14k, WangXian, Modern AU, no magic, Meet-Ugly, Panic Attacks, autistic lwj, neurodivergent wwx, the neighborhood asshole dog, if you've met one then you know, Hurt/Comfort, Pining, Minor Angst, major shenanigans, Happy Ending, for everyone including the asshole dog, Eventual Smut, switch rights, Sex Toys, horny yearning, Masturbation)

17B)

We have a Dom Wei Wuxian Comp that you might find some good fics in ^^

~*~

If you didn’t get an answer to your ask here, don’t forget to make use of @mdzs-kinkmeme and MDZS KINK MEME on Dreamwidth. Authors actually do use them for ideas. You may get what you order!***Your prompt doesn’t have to be kink! Fluff, crack, whatever - it’s all good!***

#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic recs #i'm in the mood for a fic #the untamed #wangxian fic search #wangxianficfinder #long post

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hopeymchope · 2 years ago

Text

2022: The Rise of the Sneering, Manipulative Protagonist!

...and I mean that in the BEST possible way.

Based on my other writings on this Tumblr, you might read that headline and expect this to be a teardown of the characters I’m referring to. After all, you might think that a certain purple-haired lad with a checkerboard scarf could be described with the same words. But I say thee NAY! I come not to condemn the heroes of Tomadachi Game and Trapped in a Dating Sim, but instead to praise them!

So: Over the past couple of months, I’ve fallen in love with two boys who have truly embraced the notion of being the hero people need even if they’re not the one people want. Not only are they really compelling characters in their own right, it’s also interesting to see how their attempts to “playing the bad guy” contrast with somebody I’ve previously ragged on in this blog quite a bit.

But we’ll get there. First, let’s talk about these two guys with their somewhat-similar solutions to problems as well as their obviously-similar hairdos.

We begin with Yuuchi Katagari, the protagonist of Tomadachi Game. (Which should really have been translated as “Friendship Game” for English audiences, but I guess someone in localization did precisely 1/2 their job and then rolled over for a nap or something.) Tomadachi Game is about Yuuchi and his friends getting trapped in a series game “rounds” where huge amounts of money are on the line — and unfortunately, huge amounts of debt are given to them from the outset. The kind of amounts that could destroy them and their families. I’ve given a VERY spoiler-free shout-out to it before. (And dont worry. I’m not gonna spoil either of these anime/manga/light novels beyond their setup details.)

The rest of the jist is that it soon becomes clear that the game is rigged towards making them all lose, and Yuuchi? He’s not going to let his friends destroy their lives. But he’s not going to let whoever’s behind the scheme get away with it, either. He wants justice.

A face you can trust. Clearly.

So, although Yuuchi starts off seeming pretty wholesome, once the titular game gets underway and shit begins to get real, he is soon looking a lot more... unhinged. He starts using his intelligence to manipulate everybody around him in such a manner that will lead to exposing more and more information about the game and its mastermind. Yuuchi is willing to act like an absolute maniac if that’s what he thinks the people in charge will want and need to see. He’ll embrace the role of villain externally, but at the same time, he’s working to keep his friends from suffering for their involvement — that is, provided their involvement is innocent. In the course of his actions, he appears to be manipulating all of his friends at times. And sometimes, it’s true. But even that manipulative appearance might be a maneuver in itself in certain cases — cases where, in reality, he’s being totally being upfront and honest with some of them while fronting for other people’s sake.

It can sometimes be hard to figure out when he’s legitimately winning a game and when he’s legitimately losing one, because he just fronts so goddamn well. He’s easily one of the smartest characters I’ve seen in an anime — I’ve seen one YouTuber compare Yuuchi to the likes of Lelouch from Code Geass or Light from Death Note. And who doesn’t enjoy watching these sorts of master manipulators? .... Especially when they get to unload on people who’re much, much shittier. Having to act like a douchebag to other decent people? That may be necessary at times, but it kinda sucks. The complete jackasses though? Those are always the highlights.

Sure, he’s probably not gonna do it, but I mean... he’d be pretty justified if he did.

Even as things get tougher/darker for Yuuchi and he questions his own morality, starting to think that he really is a bad person at heart... the audience at home never has much reason to doubt his goodness. Even when he reveals some dark secret about his past, it inevitably seems to lead into a context that is actually NBD. And even when some of his friends seem to turn against him, he’s quick to forgive and bring them back under his protection — which they readily embrace. The result is surprisingly heartwarming.

Aw, see? He’s just an innocent lil’ fluffhead.

It just takes a little bit of honest communication to make his manipulative “villainy” into twisted teamwork. And sure, he stumbles a little bit — at one point he’s mean to one of his friends just because he wants to drive her away from him so she’ll be safe. But that same damn night, he rushes to be there for her and makes it all up to her. So even when he’s legit acting like an asshole, he can recover from those events pretty quick. Just because he’s playing 4D chess and acting like a psycho for external observers doesn’t mean he’s being a selfish dick about it for those who matter to him, and I love that.

I might love Leon Fou Bartfort even more, though — it’s hard for me to say. I just *might*.

Claims to hate “hot guys.” Is actually kinda hot though?

Leon’s the protagonist of Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs. YEAH, it’s one of those overlong titles that tells you “Oh, this is based on a series of light novels.” And it’s even a dreaded isekai story.

Historically, I don’t care for isekais much. Not only are they WAY overdone these days (and even when I write it in all caps and/or bold it, “WAY overdone” feels inadequate to explain just how fucking much isekai is out there currently), but I’ve found precious few of them do much with the conceit that feels unique. I do think Konosuba is pretty funny overall (though it has its obvious downfalls), and I adore the reverse-isekai The Devil is a Part-Timer! But in truth, I think I got more deeply invested in TiaDS than either one of those. This damn thing is something special.

The setup: Leon finds himself reborn in an otome game in which the matriarchical society allows noblewomen to attend an academy in their young adult years. Said academy is ostensibly about academics and etiquette, but it’s really about the men trying to impress the women that they’d make good husbands. Leon’s sister made him play this otome game to completion back in our world, and now, Leon hopes to use his knowledge of the game’s world and events to avoid any danger or drama. Initially, that seems like it’ll be easy because he’s just a background NPC of lower birth. But naturally, he soon finds that he’s going to face a horrible fate if he doesn’t achieve some level of nobility that will get him out of his predicament. And when he swiftly pulls THAT off, he’s forced to attend the same academy as all the game’s central characters. So once again, he tries to stay away from them and avoid their problems. And once again, he predictably cannot leave well enough alone. Both his moral code and his extreme irritation with the school’s highest nobility make him unable to stand aside and let things play out. That’s when he realizes that if he wants to both monitor what events are coming/what “route” the game is on AND also give some comeuppance to those who treat others as “lesser,” he needs to embrace acting like a douchebag. He must vilify himself to become the hero this world deserves.

“Do you ever wonder why there are so many treasure chests throughout these dungeons? Like: Who put them there, and why?” “Nope. Sure haven’t.”

Leon is nowhere near as smart as Yuuchi, though. Even as he attempts to manipulate events through his behavior, his plans seem to backfire almost as often as they succeed. Sometimes he self-sabotages by acting impulsively. Leon is also probably a worse person than Yuuchi because he lacks Yuuchi’s self-doubt and self-awareness. It’s not too surprising when Leon starts to genuinely enjoy his cruelty on occasion, turning him into something of a “toxic gamer” type who verbally abuses others as he takes them out. (Yes, this supposed otome game has combat in it. Combat with mechs, even. Go figure.) But honestly, if gloating over people he beats in combat is his biggest sin? I think we can handle that. .... Though it is pretty rude, tbh.

Even with that character flaw, however? Leon waffles on his ability to fully play the villain role he’s assigned himself. Yuuchi is much more dedicated; Leon can’t help but make moves behind the scenes to help his enemies out so they don’t suffer overmuch for his actions. Even when he’s in the midst of a fight for his life, he refuses to kill anybody — something which his A.I. companion notes could definitely come back to bite him in the future.

That’s right, Leon has an A.I. companion: Luxion! Luxion was once housed within a robot that attempted to kill Leon. After a simple bit of reprogramming and a transition to a far less intimidating body, he now serves Leon with politeness that only barely masks his grumpiness and loathing. Their back-and-forth is really funny, and it’s cool to see how they gradually come to like each other at least a little more with time.

Leon gives Luxion the privilege of naming his mech suit.

Even better, though, is Leon’s personal growth as he learns things about himself and how to treat others by comparing his behavior to that of the people around him. You see other characters in this world who first appear one-note come to show FAR more nuance, too.

Plus, as I’ve said before, the English dub for this show is just insanely fucking good. Top-tier.

As much as I think Leon is great? I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how cool Angelica is, too. By the end of the season, she was my second-favorite character. Angelica is the otome game’s ostensible villain — the girl who has it out for the protagonist and tries to prevent her from getting with any of the various pretty-boy nobles. She is also, like many of the characters in this show, deeper than she appears on the surface. Viewing the scenario from a different angle gives Leon a new perspective on her whole deal. The same goes for us viewers, presumably.

“Evil” is in the eye of the beholder, my guy.

But let’s get down to business (to defeat the huns): You might be inclined to wonder why I love these guys but despise Kokichi Ouma. After all, isn’t Kokichi ALSO publicly playing the part of the villain in order to draw out a mastermind and end a game — which sounds just like Yuuchi, who I claim to love?

To some of you, I bet the difference is already obvious.

Yuuchi and Leon are both keeping people in the loop on what they’re doing, and they avoid unnecessary cruelty (plus they try to make up for it with quieter acts of kindness). Yuuchi does try to do the “convince his friends that he’s evil” thing a couple of times, but he swiftly backs down on it in less than 24 hours. Because as soon as they need someone, he can’t help but be there to stand up for them. And Leon? Leon never tries to push his friends away. His initial pals at the academy, Dan and Raymond? They are ALWAYS in the loop on his plans. HIs newest friends, Olivia and Angelica? Even though he just met them, he’s still constantly open with them about what’s going on and why he’s doing it. His performance is only for the people he doesn’t know at all or just doesn’t like.

Part of the fun is in watching them maneuver other people by pretending to be evil and/or psychotic while simultaneously being good-hearted people who show obvious care for others. Yuuchi and Leon are never going to be relentlessly cruel to the people around them without swiftly making up for it, and they’re never going to withhold information that could save lives for personal amusement. That’s only Kokichi’s jam, see?

Be Warned, Though: Neither “Tomadachi Game” or “Trapped in a Dating Sim” are currently a complete story as an anime. Both animes end with the door wide open for future seasons. But if you wish to keep going, the option to explore the source material IS there. Tomadachi Game’s manga is widely available in English online, and the series of Trapped in a Dating Sim light novels even has an official English publication that will take you far beyond the limits of the show. I don’t believe either of those source materials has wrapped up, however. So at some point, you’ll have to hit that wall.

Personally, I’m going to start digging into those light novels first.

#tomadachi game #anti-kokichi ouma #anti-kokichi oma #yuuchi katagiri #leon fou bartfort #trapped in a dating sim #trapped in a dating sim: the world of otome games is tough for mobs #anime #anime reviews #anime gifs #personal essays #essays #danganronpa

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thegreymoon · 3 years ago

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Killer and Healer

He really needs to stop pointing his gun at people 😅

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I am watching this show for purely intellectual purposes 😋

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The villain appears! And of course he’s religious.

Also, the sound on YouTube is very wonky. Does anyone know where else I can watch this?

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Yuelou is seriously unhinged. His temper tantrums come out of nowhere and they are so fast and violent, I can’t even screenshot them. Poor doctor Chen.

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How did this drama ever get past the censorship board? What happened to not allowing morally ambiguous protagonists on screen?

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Aww, my unhinged baby is falling in love 😆😆

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A certain somebody got caught in a lie 🧐

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Really? That’s all you want? Just that?

Getting close to the apparent head of the Hong Kong underworld is not a tall order at all! No way that could get dangerous 🙄🙄

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The way these three are doing surveillance, they couldn’t be more conspicuous if the tried.

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This show is a riot. They just started shooting in the middle of a busy street, in broad daylight, with innocent bystanders everywhere.

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Ah, and the good doctor got kidnapped. Considering how braindead this entire scheme was, I’m not shocked at all.

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When you have to agree with the antagonist 🙄

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LMAOOO, sorry baldy, I don’t think he cares much for girls 😆😆 Your buddy here has better observation skills.

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This will end well 😆😆

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LMAOOOO, when your love interest won’t do as you tell him and follow you home, just incapacitate and kidnap him. Nobody will stop you!

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Cackling 🤣🤣

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LMAO, baldy is my spirit animal 🤣🤣

I too am always hungry!

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Whether they find her or not, things don’t bode well for a trafficked 13-year-old 🙁

#killer and healer #kah spoilers #kah ep03 #kah ep04

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gamer2002 · 2 years ago

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The Sandman (2022) – Review2002

The Sandman is a TV adaptation of a comic book series written by Neil Gaiman. The story focuses on the titular Sandman, also known as Morpheus, also known as Dream of the Endless – a supernatural being that rules over the dominion of dreams. The first season covers two first arcs of the series. The first one is about Dream being imprisoned by a wizard, and having to escape and reclaim his stolen magical tools, and the second is about a dangerous phenomenon known as a dream vortex.

The adaptation does make some bigger and smaller changes to the story. Some are really good, like the expanded role of the Corinthian – a homicidal rogue Nightmare, that originally was just a second arc only minor villain with an incredibly cool design, and not much else. Here, the Corinthian is the season’s overarching villain, that intelligently and proactively tries to sabotage his own creator, who can easily undo him in a direct confrontation. Other changes I like is making Rose Walker, arguably the protagonist of the second arc, a much more competent and aware of her situation. I also like changing comics Lucien into Lucienne. Lucien was a magical spin on Alfred Pennyworth type of character – an intelligent and loyal servant, which Lucienne is as well. But he was just only that, and pretty much just existed in the background. Lucienne is a more emotionally compelling character, as she is more conflicted over Dream’s flaws, and hopes for him to change, which is tied to the themes of the main story. All those changes add to the story, make it more focused, and allow you to care more about the characters.

Some other changes are understandable. DC comics characters got removed, due to legal reasons, and similarly Constantine got replaced by a female version of him. Lucifer is now a woman, played by Gwendoline Christie, who perfectly delivers a scary angelic being. Still, she is not the charismatic and guile comics Lucifer, that can get out of any situation, if he only can open his mouth. That characterization was more present later on in the series, and actually most of it was in Lucifer’s own, but it’s something Gwendoline will have to compete with. John Dee, a villain from the first arc, is also changed. His backstory had to be altered, due to him no longer being an Justice League villain that was locked in Arkham Asylum. This version of him is more sane and sympathetic, even if he is still a dangerous mad man that has to be stopped. I say he was a pretty good take on the character, with more expanded relationship with his mother - up until the episode that adapted his most iconic story from the comics. Adaptation of 24 Hour Diner is the most disappointing episode in the series, it’s outright bad. I will expand on this in the spoiler section, but for now I’ll tell just two things. TV John Dee is unable to be comics John Dee at his most unhinged, which turns original twisted horror into a snore fest. Second, the episode is a pinnacle of nasty, hypocritical, self-indulgent writing of petty LGBT-obsessed identarian hacks. A YouTube fan adaptation did that story much better.

And here we reach to the most controversial changes. Comparing to the original, a lot of race swaps have occurred. The most notable one is Death of the Endless being a Black woman, instead of a goth girl. One side of the camp calls this unnecessary pandering. The one, including Neil Gaiman himself, sums up the other side as bigoted white guys, that insist on the Sandman not needing properly sizable PoC representation. What about me? Well, I’m here to mock the original bigoted white guy that have insisted on the Sandman not needing properly sizable PoC representation – Neil Gaiman himself.

In the original comics, the most important recuring Black character was Nada, and the first season does cover one of hers about four-five appearances in the whole 75 issues spanning story, that has also spanned for 8 years, from 88 to 96. During and before that period, we had numerous films and comics that had PoC representation in prominent roles. X-men, Blade, Lethal Weapon, Police Academy, Texas Ranger, Captain Planet, A Team, Dungeons & Dragons cartoon (from 83!), Luke Cage (debuting in 72!), Jonny Quest (64!), and so forth. Various titles, that have ranged from more comedic to more serious, from more entertaining to more political, had at least one PoC character in a prominent role. But the left-wing darling known from being progressive in his writing, for 8 whole years, didn’t bother with anything more prominent than a one-shot wonder with couple of appearances here and there. Quite ironic. And while I understand Gaimain compensating now for his own past disregard of PoC representation, he should come clean about his reasons behind it, before bashing his fans for not seeing the importance of change. Speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye, plank in your own, and all that jazz.

Now, do those race changes are a big deal? They only affect the visually otherworldly design of the Endless, with them originally having colorless skin. Among all the Endless, only one of the two most human ones had a human skin*, and you could wonder if the other one wasn’t just wearing goth makeup. It’s a detail with significance, but a one I can live without. I would gladly have all the Endless be Black, if they just haven’t messed up with Dream’s characterization so much.

* And you can tell he is going to be Black in adaptation, because originally he was a ginger. Brits like Gaiman need their Irish erasure, nowadays they just call it woke. This is why Lucienne is Black.

Morpheus, played by Tom Sturridge, who does his best Twilight vampire impression, does not just lack his otherworldly star-eyed design. He not only lacks the original grim visage of a pale mysterious black haired man in black robes, that was contrasting with his status as a Lord of Dreams - it got replaced by an appearance of an emo graduate of Slytherin. But we’ve lost something even more crucial. The original story is also about Dream’s issue with being detached from humanity, despite his own role being so important for the human nature, and his inability to change that. Original Morpheus could be cruel, just like cruel and backward barbarian tribes of the past have imagined their gods to be. Here, his disproportional punishment of his captor’s son is toned down, his other cruel deed is undone later on (to show his character development), and he is overall nicer in the adaptation. If TV series is going to go same direction as the original, and it does set things up towards it, I’m not seeing how they’re going to sell the necessity of the original, drastic resolution. Original Dream was unable to change, that was his tragedy. Netflix Dream is just sometimes a petty stuck-up prick that learns his lesson, not tragically trapped in his own scary nature.

More than that, Netflix Morpheus is also dumbed down. As much I like the idea of Lucienne being a loyal servant that wants her master to change for better, as much I see that the more emphatic chancellor could better gain the trust of subjects of their scary and cold king, Dream has his competence reduced to make Lucienne needed to figure out the dream vortex related stuff for him. Again, Netflix turns a being that is older than humanity, that originally had the situation with the vortex under his control (excluding things that happened due to a third party’s meddling), into an arrogant, reckless fool. Comics Morpheus is not a fool, far from it, and this is strongly related to the conclusion of the story. Netflix Morpheus needs to eat a humble pie and see Lucienne as better at organizing things in his own kingdom.

Again, if Morpheus was more cruel, like the original, this could work due to Lucienne not horrifying his subjects. I could get behind his lack of empathy causing problems with Rose, which would’ve required an aid of Lucienne. And if Dream had trapped Alex Burgess in an endless nightmare, like he did in the comics, the Corinthian could’ve been able to call him out for this – for all the big talk about Nightmares having a duty towards their beneficial role for the mankind, Morpheus has used them for the sake of his own, personal revenge. That’s how the main issue of the story could be properly established as a serious deal, not as a material for a He-Man like moral we already have covered.

Overall, the show is a mixed bag. I really like some changes. I like more active and sympathetic Rose, I like the Corinthian being the cool villain his design deserves to be used for, I like the idea behind Lucienne being tied to the theme of change. But this Dream cannot sell his own original tragedy. His original tragic flaws were replaced with ones that are lame, and exist for the sake of giving Lucienne prominence - when the original ones could’ve allowed for that as well, without turning him into a moron. And the 24 Hours adaptation turned a great nightmarish horror into a boring wet dream of people that are clearly insecure with their own gayness. I say that, while overall the comics is an 9/10 story, the covered portion is 8/10, but the adaptation only gets 7/10 – it can be fun and engaging, it has its moments and good ideas, but it misses important points of the original. And, in case of 24 Hours, it drops the ball hard, for the most petty and awful reasons. In the spoiler section I will expand on this subject. Waring, I will be more explicit there with spoilers for the whole original story.

Spoiler section warning

Making a nightmare nightmarishly boring

The original 24 Hours is a horror story about a DC supervillain from Arkham Asylum becoming even more powerful and unhinged than he ever has been, so he uses his power to make the world go crazy, while personally terrorizing a bunch of civilians in a local 24/7 restaurant. Because he can, and nobody can save his victims. So, even when the world is saved, everybody in the restaurant ends up being murdered.

Original John Dee spends first couple of hours slowly using his power in more and more unsetting way. First, he just observes his prays. Then, he manipulates them into remaining in the restaurant. Then, he manipulates a children TV show, to tell kids to kill themselves. Then, he starts playing with the guests. During each hour, he changes the cruel madness he affects them with, doing more and more horrible stuff with each change. While trapped with him random civilians suffer torture, the world outside goes mad and starts collapsing. It was a truly scary display of damage that a mad supervillain can cause, both on a macro and micro scale. A true nightmare scenario.

But Netflix John Dee, while mad in his own way, is not a murderous and sadistic supervillain. Instead of causing creative tortures, he just stick to keeping civilians with him, while forcing them to be honest about their thoughts and feelings. Instead of creative and sick horror, where we jump from one mad scenario to another, we are stuck with a boring relationship drama of a throwaway horror characters, that are meant to die anyway. And sure, John at the end does finally force everyone to do horrifying stuff, so they all die (and nobody cares). But John doesn’t kill them in a cruel way because of being sadistically mad, but because he is senile and autistic, in the most uncharismatic way, about the point he wants to make. It felt to me like the writers just rolled with the original outline, where all the civilians die, despite not really building well towards it. Like the conclusion was afterthought, for the sake of obligation towards the original, without even showing much of the damage to the world that John has caused. In result, the world crisis story, that focuses on the people that will die horribly regardless of the crisis being averted, does not have much of the crisis, and just ends with Morpheus and Matthew doing their recreation of the SpongeBob has saved the city meme.

It really shows that the writers didn’t understand what made the original story so impactful. Can this be blamed on their decision to humanize John Dee? I don’t think it’s impossible to have 24 Hours be true to the original, while having more sympathetic John. He is unstable, under influence of a dangerous artifact, and has obsession with improving the world. Instead of having him torture civilians, he could’ve tried to help them in various ways, but have that all go wrong. A human with a power he is not meant to have, trying to use it for good, but that all getting corrupted due to his limits and the dangerous nature of the Rubin’s power. With time, John could grow more and more angry, making his actions more and more horrifying. He finally lashes out, kills the civilians, causes great damage, and becomes horrified of what he has done. Dream enters in, John lashes out at him, and blames him for how everything has turned out. Which is why John shatters the Rubin, in an attempt to destroy the power of dreams, that has brought suffering to him and his mother.

It could’ve been tied to Morpheus’ dilemma about being too cruel to be the Dream that humanity needs. A well meaning John Dee, that only ends up causing disasters with Dream’s power, would serve as the other side of the coin for Morpheus. Morpheus lacks empathy, but he is disciplined, and doesn’t lose his hold over the power of dreams. John is nicer, but his fragile human mind cannot be trusted with such enormous power. This is why Morpheus’ successor must be Damian, born human and turned immortal, to have both empathy and discipline. That’s how 24 Hours could’ve contributed to the main point of the story.

But writers weren’t interested in making this point. They wanted to make another one, and it was completely a hypocritical one.

Don’t write straight people wanting gay sex, if the lesbian won’t blow a guy

Netflix have taken two straight characters from the original, and decided to turn a nightmare story into their dream of gay conversion. Sure, the writers will say that gay conversion isn’t real, and Netflix versions of those characters always had gay in them – alongside other phrases of gaslighting. The truth is, had that those writers read a story about women, straight and lesbian alike, discovering their desire to have sex with an self-insert of the male writer, they would be repulsed. And they would lecture us that fictional women are robbed out of their agency, for the sake of a male fantasy of them being slutty. The reason why those characters became secretly gay, was because the story was turned into a fantasy of the people that are challenged about loving those that are fundamentally different due to having an opposing sex. So, alike to the Joker, they dream that straight people are one bad straight relationship away from becoming gay. But doesn’t that make gay people incels with more desperation to get laid? Go figure.

Anyway. Supposedly, questioning one’s sexuality is, at best, ignorant and insensitive, at worst, cruel and abusive. This is how the Netflix writers have presented it, when their lesbian got their sexuality questioned. This is how Gaiman has presented it, when that has happened in the original version of the story. Is it hypocritical to question straight sexuality, claim they are secretly gay but dishonest about it, without having your lesbian character being revealed to be dishonest about her not wanting to have sex with a man? Yes, but Netflix writers and Gaiman don’t care, apparently. Perhaps, they know their nasty and abusive audience will eat this up.

Perhaps, the reason why Gaiman didn’t originally think of making prominent PoC representation for Sandman, is that he was too wrapped up in his “change or die” progressive message, to think of PoC people. Perhaps, it never was about liberal values, empathy, and valuing other people. Perhaps, “change or die” was always just as abusive and hateful as it does sound. I do not change, I’m gay, there is nothing wrong with me, you are just dishonest about your own sexuality, and this is not abusive when I say it. So, kill yourself, if you cannot change to suit me. Oh crap, I’ve underrepresented PoCs I’m supposed to care about. Gotta have an adaptation where the white guy kills himself to be replaced by a brown guy, and also acknowledges a Black woman as better at his job, and has another Black woman lecturing him about it. That will make up for it.

I’m willing to take Gaiman for his word, if he explains why he has originally handled representation so badly, that he had to change it so drastically. Insisting that times were different back then is nonsense, plenty of titles from 60s and 70s were more progressive about their representation of PoCs than the Sandman. Gaiman did not even bother with a single prominent token, which is an abysmally low bar for an outspoken progressive. If he wants to say that the fans that criticize the change are wrong, he has to say why he was wrong himself first. It’s human to err, and that can be forgiven. What cannot be forgiven is judging others harsher for the same mistakes you have committed.

That won’t change the awfulness of the 24 Hours adaptation he has greenlighted. It’s an 3/10 episode. It’s boring, wastes time on throwaway characters, treats their deaths more like an forced occasion for a lecture than a tragedy, ruins the original concept, removes its creativity, has adapted moments that translate laughably bad on the television, and makes all its changes to push hypocritical and abusive message.

And that hypocritical and abusive message also includes telling people that have killed in self-defense that they did it only because they wanted to kill somebody. I wish all writers that preach such a set of values an occasion to live up to it.

#the sandman #sandman #netflix #netflix adaptation #review #neil gaiman #review2002 #tv review

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