#untamed passion

[goldencorecrunches]

wen ning really is an inspiring story when you think about it. like he used to not have a cool awesome chain spike weapon and now he does. yeah he still has anxiety and his entire family is dead including him but look at this sick ass chain

[captain-aru]

Inquiry on loop 24/7

[gureshinlover]

It's funny that nie mingjue always forced huaisang to focus more on blades and fighting but his own death could be prevented if he cared more about arts instead

[bokvshou]

I thought I painted a picture of heaven but it turns out it's just your room, just your room.

this song is SO jiang cheng/chengxian coded, dear god. im in pain.

[choicespride]

Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week 2024 Masterlist

Blades of Light and Shadow

aeruilir - f!elf!mc (Killian Clawthorne) - @inlocusmads

Crossroads - nb!OC (Nyx Selenastra) - @storyofmychoices

New Nyx Edit - nb!OC (Nyx Selenastra) - @storyofmychoices

Nyx Ask - nb!OC (Nyx Selenastra) - @storyofmychoices

Nyx & Nessa - nb!OC (Nyx Selenastra) & f!OC (Nessa Tidalheart) - @storyofmychoices

Crimes of Passion

Questionnaire - nb!MC (Kiira Rose) - @aallotarenunelma

The Elementalists

Atlas in Blue - Atlas Ernhardt - @storyofmychoices

SpreadJoy #858 - Zeph Hernandez - @storyofmychoices

SpreadJoy #861 - Atlas Ernhardt - @storyofmychoices

The Freshman

Maddison & Rin - MC (Rin Day) - @choicesmc

Somehow, I Never Got The Rose-Tinted Glasses - MC (Rin Day) - @choicesmc

Getaway Girls

SpreadJoy #859 - Maia Thompson - @storyofmychoices

The Haunting of Braidwood Manor

Questionnaire - f!MC (Hanna Watkins) - @aallotarenunelma

High School Story

Myra Khandaar but if she had a full body sprite for her casual outfit ft. an alt version - Myra Khandaar - @cadybear420

Questionnaire - nb!MC (Ilo Jordan Lee) - @aallotarenunelma

It Lives Anthology

Lottie Hamilton ASAW24 Edits - nb!MC (Lottie Hamilton) - @peonyblossom

SpreadJoy #860 - Amalia de León - @storyofmychoices

Murder at Homecoming

Questionnaire - nb!MC (Valentine Edelmina Stone) - @aallotarenunelma

Open Heart

Asks - f!OC (Aliyah), Bryce Lahela - @mydemonsdrivealimo

So I'll Just Paint It Chrome - Bryce Lahela x m!MC (Jensen Valentine) - @mydemonsdrivealimo

Perfect Match

Questionnaire - f!MC (Pirjo Park) - @aallotarenunelma

Untameable

Questionnaire - nb!MC (Virta "River" Ariel Aaltonen) - @aallotarenunelma

[flirting-with-psychology]

Choices MC Survey 2022 Results

Here are the results of last year's MC Survey. You can still take the quiz for fun to see how your MCs compare!

[stgroversfire]

long rant about yu furen

i haven't been able to put into words how i feel about her character so here's a long ass high ass rant

i think the reason i love yu furen/jiang cheng/jing ling so much is that i can see their insecurities and the complexes they developed and think yea, that would probably fuck me up too. but the younger each of them are, the more room for growth they have- yu furen is detested in fandom because she did objectively horrible things. she had gut wrenching circumstances that led to it, and ultimately (and <i>maybe</i> arguably) was never able to make the morally correct choice from it. jiang cheng is younger, he is filled with anger and hate, but he still has room to come back from it. he's on the cusp of being unforgivable, almost evil, but the story leaves a bit of hope for him to come back from it. (i am a yunmeng bros conciliation superfan). jin ling is objectively the most lovable, because he had awful circumstances, has taken on the personality of the uncle that raised him, and is so, so angry. but he's young enough that he hasn't harmed anyone or done things that cant be forgiven

like do not get me wrong. to me, yu furen is a bad person. when she made wei ying believe his life was worth less, when she blamed him for the destruction of lotus pier, when she whipped him, that solidly put her in shitty person territory.

but at the same time. i see her trying to protect her family. i see her watching her husband dote on the son of a woman he loved, neglecting their own children because they reminded him of her. that is a pain I cannot fathom. i truly hate jiang fengmian for how he treated jiang cheng and jiang yanli. i see yu furen doing everything for her children only for wei ying to take the spotlight and (inadvertently) cause trouble for the whole clan.

and while i think the actions she takes are wrong because of it, her character is one i can at the very least respect. she decided to slap the shit out of wang lingjiao at the suggestion of permanently disabling wei ying (which i can't say for sure wasn't entirely a product of her pride/thinking he had use for jiang cheng, but i want to read it as at least having the slightest care for a child she watched grow up, detested though he was).

when she tells wei ying to protect jiang cheng with his life... she obviously would not bat an eye if wei ying died a gruesome death, but at the very least, i don't think she <i>wanted</i> him to die, so much as get the hell away from her husband who doesn't love her and her kids that will never measure up in jiang fengmian's eyes. (wei ying leaving would never fix this, but i don't think she was raised to think about emotions like that.) she still saves wei ying along with jiang cheng, and even if it was more for jiang cheng's benefit, i can at least say that she didn't hold such hatred in her heart that she truly attempted to cause his death.

which. yes. low fucking bar. but i see a complexity to her character that entices me more any other character (except maybe nie huaisang, the motherfucker.)

i was gonna also talk about jiang cheng and jin ling but i think ill save it for another day

[playchoicesconfessions]

Sent by anonymous

‘I want the Untameable series to be connected to Crimes of Passion and High School Story. Someone from Crimes of Passion and High School Story needs to make a cameo in Unbridled: An Untameable Story’

POST/CONFESSIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE MOD’S PERSONAL OPINIONS!

[esbielle]

please forgive my most passionate disruptions, written by @pumpkinpaix and read by esbielle, is now finally complete! You can check the whole podfic now on ao3!

[choices-binglebonkus]

Every 2022 Choices Release – Rated on a scale of 1-10

Several people have said that 2022 has been the best year for Choices since 2018. And…as sad as that is, it’s pretty true. Like 2020, 2022’s releases had high highs and low lows. As I’ve said once before, the good books were awesome and the bad ones were really, really, REALLY bad. This post is going to be covering every 2022 book release and rating them on a scale of 1-10 because I haven’t done that on this blog and felt like spicing things up. It’s the new year, bitches!

 Quick disclaimer: to qualify for this list, a book must have been initially released to wide audiences (non-VIPs) in 2022, because we don’t do that VIP shit here. So, for example, Wake the Dead was released on December 29, 2021, so it doesn’t qualify for this list even though it ended in 2022. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

Ms. Match: January 28, 2022 – April 29, 2022

Ms. Match’s story itself was not terrible, but the general skeleton of the plot is super overdone. I am sick to death of the plots centered around rising to the top of the competition and blowing everyone else away, and that’s pretty much exactly what Ms. Match does. The idea behind it is cute, though: we join a matchmaking company and compete in matchmaking contests and challenges to determine who the next CEO will be. My biggest complaint is that the love interest is…not great. The Rival Matchmaker is far from the worst love interest, but my god, they’re so cocky, full of themselves, and overall annoying as hell, not to mention totally uninteresting. Quite frankly? The cutest couple in the book, as unexpected as it was for me, was Veronica and our character’s dad. 4/10, not a terrible book, but it was a chore to play through at times.

Surrender book 1: February 11, 2022 – June 10, 2022

There are a lot of bad books in Choices, but Surrender is definitely one of the worst. We play as a vulnerable divorce-seeking woman whose spouse has cheated on her, which got her into BDSM. As soon as I saw that that was going to be the plot, it was all over. It was not a great look for the BDSM community, which is already stigmatized enough as is. But it gets worse. Our love interest is Reagan Thorne, our billionaire lawyer who’s also into BDSM and agrees to dom for the MC and teach her about BDSM even though she’s a client, which already introduces an imbalance of power. Barring the shitty plot, terrible love interest, and horrible misrepresentations of BDSM, the dialogue is all sorts of fucked in the book. Reagan utters some of the cringiest lines in the entire app and calls us such embarrassingly bad nicknames like…ugh, little lamb. 1/10, horrible book, horrible story, horrible love interest, horrible everything. Some of the outfits were cute. That’s it.

Crimes of Passion book 1: April 6, 2022 – July 20, 2022

Crimes of Passion is one of the best books we’ve seen in a while. Sort of like Most Wanted, it has us teaming up with a love interest (in this case, Trystan Thorne) to investigate and stop a string of murders tied to a serial killer. Unlike Most Wanted, however, the murders in this book are much, MUCH grislier and more visceral, and are tied to a cult as we come to find out. The plot was very gripping and every clue we uncovered was exhilarating. I cared about pretty much all of our friends/coworkers: Mafalda, Ruby, Luke, and Trystan. I wasn’t totally sold on Trystan as a love interest, though, and I’m still not. 9/10, really good story, crazy fucking shit, love it. One point off for Trystan because I’m not really into the whole cocky/flirty and stubborn partner pairing, and I think we should’ve been able to romance Ruby and Luke.

Untameable book 1: April 15, 2022 – August 5, 2022

We return from college to help out on the family ranch which has been barely kept afloat by our controlling misogynist of a brother. We spend the whole book sneaking around with Kit Jackson, our bland-ass cowboy/cowgirl love interest because we don’t want to upset our brother. The ranch is on the brink of failure and we also have to deal with that too, but we’ve already had this same plot a whole bunch in other books, so it’s not super noteworthy. That’s it, that’s the book. 1.5/10, no interesting characters, plot is uninspired, dialogue is SUPER cringey, and goddamn it, stop reusing cowboy shit, PB! You’re never going to make it happen!

The Princess Swap: May 13, 2022 - September 2, 2022

The premise of this story is that our character studies abroad for a semester in the kingdom of Monterre, where she accidentally stumbles upon another girl, the princess, who looks just like her. Spoiler alert: they’re twin sisters and don’t know it until much later in the book. The two switch places The Prince and the Pauper style: the princess takes on the role of college student and sorority girl while our character takes on the role of princess. Both grapple with challenges unique to each other’s lives and navigate them as best they can. Yes, the story was cheesy as hell, but you know what? It was a really pleasant read. I liked Devin all right, but only as a friend for the princess, and I didn’t care for Clarke at all. Otherwise, The Princess Swap was a lighthearted, feel-good book. 6.5/10, by no means is this book amazing, but I’m a sucker for princess stories, and like I said, the book was pretty light and enjoyable.

The Cursed Heart book 1: June 8, 2022 – September 14, 2022

Let me preface this by saying that I did not like Kieran at all. They were ugly, creepy, and possessive, and yes, I’m aware they eventually change for the better, but they really left a bad taste in my mouth. The plot was centered around us being claimed by Kieran and eventually trying to find their missing heart pieces to cure them of their beastly form and general hollowness. That being said, I love the rest of the book. The outfits, backgrounds, character designs, and music are all gorgeous. No joke, The Cursed Heart, in my opinion, is the most aesthetically beautiful book in the app. Not to mention, we meet Leaf, who is absolutely precious. 5.5/10, the rating would be MUCH higher, but Kieran really takes away from the book since the plot is centered entirely around them.

The Nanny Affair book 3: June 24, 2022 – November 4, 2022

The only good things about this book were Carter, the twins, and the fact that this was the last book in this wretched series. We deal with Sam’s former wife coming back from the dead and contend with forced, trashy interpersonal conflict with her while we plan our wedding. Sam and the MC’s relationship continues to be toxic as hell, unpleasant to watch, and impossible to root for. Even worse, Jenny and Aditya start their own affair because Sam and the MC have enabled them, and unsurprisingly, we’re forced to continue enabling them. I can’t even do the horrid quality of this book justice so I’m not even going to try. 0/10, yes I know it’s a 1-10 rating list but fuck it, this book is just that bad. As I said, the only redeeming qualities of the book are Carter and the twins, but not even they can get this book any points. Speaking from experience, falling into a hole is more fulfilling than engaging with this content. This book and series as a whole are so transcendently bad that if they were an actual real-life book, it would be a Worstseller, and I’m so happy this two-year-long nightmare is finally over.

Immortal Desires book 1: July 6, 2022 – October 12, 2022

Immortal Desires is kind of a weird one for me. On one hand, the beginning to early middle is so slow and such a huge chore to play through, but on the other hand, the rest of the book plus Gabe and Cas are so awesome. The premise of a vampire serial killer and cult is honestly kinda metal as fuck, but Gabe and Cas are where the book REALLY shines. They’re each other’s perfect foils and I love interacting with them and seeing them interact with each other. Plus, my parrot loves M!Gabe. And, full disclosure, Gabe and Cas were the only love interests I actively wanted to pursue since Tom Sato from It Lives Beneath. 8.5/10, the story’s pacing was kind of fucked but Gabe and Cas are priceless.

Slow Burn: August 19, 2022 – November 25, 2022

Not much to say about this one. Generic and repetitive contest/competition plot, bland MC, uncompelling Big Bad. I didn’t care about Julian/Julia, and Everett/Yvette had absolutely ZERO chill and always got on my nerves. 3/10, super boring and uninspired, Chef Flynt Stop Losing Your Fucking Temper Challenge 2022.

Murder at Homecoming: September 14, 2022 – December 21, 2022

This one really got my attention when it was announced: our character investigates a murder at homecoming, but I bet you couldn’t guess that from the title. Our character is sort of a busybody and they’re absolutely not perfect in any way, but I truly do think they’re the best MC we’ve gotten in a very, very, VERY long time. Also, they’re named after Valentine from The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and I am a shameless sucker for Shakespeare. I also like all the love interests, and I love the non-binary rep we got. The love story between Gabbie Navarro and Joanna Morgan was incredibly tragic and really made me stop and think for a while. But unfortunately, as is the case with most modern Choices books, the ending was very…lackluster, to say the least. 8/10, I love a good murder mystery and the high school setting actually made it considerably more interesting. The ending was a letdown, though.

Laws of Attraction book 2: September 30, 2022 – present

I was originally very worried about this book, because the cliffhanger at the end of book one made it seem like it was going to be an us vs. Martin book. In a way, it is, but Pixelberry really threw us a curveball when we, Aislinn, and Gabe left McGraw-Byrne and formed our own firm. We spend the book uncovering a conservatorship conspiracy which runs all the way up to the mayoral candidate of New York City. I’ve always loved the MC, and they only get better in this book. My only complaint is Joaquin. As someone who has repeatedly hooked up with him in diamond scenes, he is creepy as hell to people who aren’t interested in him. Otherwise, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the book so far, and though it still has one chapter to go, my rating isn’t going to change unless they REALLY fuck it up somehow. 9/10, likable cast of characters, interesting plot and mystery, badass MC, Sorcha fucking Flannery.

The Phantom Agent: October 19, 2022 – present

Not much to say about this one either. The Phantom Agent is basically an amalgamation of Most Wanted and Crimes of Passion. Agent Gray is an incredibly dull love interest and I can’t stand their dynamic with the MC because it’s that super boring cocky/flirty and stubborn partner pairing again. I also can’t stand the MC either because they’re so goddamn annoying. I find myself very bored and unimpressed as I progress through the book and at this point, nothing can save it for me. 3/10, everything is boring. That is all.

Surrender book 2: December 28, 2022 – present

I hate that we have to have TWO Surrender books on this list, but this one unfortunately barely meets the date cutoff. Solely based on the two chapters I’ve read so far, this book is shaping up to be just as awful as the first. 1.5/10, all the same reasons as the first book, but that extra half a point is because I think this book has the potential to improve on the original material. Because let’s be honest here, I don’t really think they could make the book worse.

[travelersrest]

🪽🌺🪽

[rsephys]

I'm so curious about your chess set project! Have you thought out who/what will represent the different pieces?? I'm assuming the WWX and LWJ will be a king and queen of one side? What about the other side?

oh boy… have i ever…

so on the red side-

lan wangji and wei wuxian will be king and queen respectively, bishops: lan sizhui + lan jingyi , knights: jiang cheng + wen ning, rooks: jiang yanli + wen qing, pawns: rabbits

on the gold side-

jin guangyao and nie huisang will be king and queen respectively, bishops: lan xichen + jin ling, knights: xue yang + nie mingjue, rooks: xiao xingchen + song lan, pawns: butterflies

i have a myriad of reasons for this formation but i think probably the easiest way to condense it all is just that i want to reflect the way the narrative groups the characters and the roles that they play , but also their limitations yk … but im very open to suggestions given that this will be a Long labour of love and i want it to be the best it can possibly be !

thank you for asking 🫶

[touchlikethesun]

do people know that not every character needs a romantic subplot? do people know that sometimes - sometimes - a romantic subplot actually detracts from the character's arc and the story being told?? do people know that relationships that are not romantic can matter and carry as much weight or more in a narrative??? do they fucking know??????

[luminouslumity]

[remythologise]

You mentioned C-Dramas / K-Dramas that scratch that homophobic gay drama itch and, well, I'm shamefully a sucker for those tropes. Could you share which of those mirror that type of media?

LITERALLY SO SO SO SO SO GLAD YOU ASKED. ABSOLUTELY BLESSED ASK ANON THANK YOU.

Will say that it’s really not exactly the same vibe because you will get a SHARP CONCENTRATED DOSE of even more homoerotic shenanigans in the following shows, they are much more intentional (to varying degrees, although I feel undeniably so in every instance) than the western instances BUT it will scratch that itch because none of these shows have “canon” gay romance. This is very hard to explain properly because some of it is very canon, just censored. But I will use my old terminology — it is unmarketable gay media. To me. Despite at least four of these being created and marketed TO appeal to fujo trash like myself… it is unmarketable gay media TO ME!!! Sorry you’ll just have to take my advice that Vibes on censored gay dramas are Tremendous.

I will say because literally all of these dramas have the central relationship ‘censored’ in various ways do not go in expecting a Happy Gay Ending, though most (not all.) of these do have about as happy an ending as they could under the But-Not-TOO-Gay Circumstances. (Much like. Supernatural or House M.D. Shall we say. Journey not the destination…) ALL of the following shows are on Netflix, though it’s probably a better viewing experience with the subs to watch on Viki.

IMO you should also watch the shows in the following order. Also I could harp on about these shows for YEARS but I tried to keep it brief (I could talk more.)

THE DEVIL JUDGE — girl I love this show so much I don’t know what to do with myself. It is SUCH camp fun everyone is so gay in it (despite the canon het romance). I don’t even KNOW how to adequately describe this show it’s literally What If There Was A Dystopian Korea (Basically The Same Korea) And They Made A Reality TV Show For The High Court But Also It’s Mostly A Gay Gothic Romance Complete With Old British Mansion. 11/10 had such a fun time. THIS SHOW IS SO UNDERRATED ON THIS WEBSITE COMPARED TO—

BEYOND EVIL — VERY similar in cat-and-mouse homoerotic vibes to the Devil Judge but Up To Eleven on the cat-and-mouse thing. Literally was awarded best drama and actor award of that year. It’s not just a gay show, it’s also a VERY good show! A detective from a small town and a detective from the city get paired up to Solve A String Of Murders. Both of them think the other is suspicious/untrustworthy. 12/10 would yell ‘KISS’ at my TV until my voice was hoarse again.

THE UNTAMED — someone on anon told me to watch this show in like 2019 and it took me THREEEE YEARRRSSSS to watch it. I really struggled to adapt to the CDrama tone/format at the beginning but I’m SOOOO glad I did. You really have to get into it and flow with it but once you’re in you’re IN you are LOCKED into What If Game of Thrones Was Camp and Gay and Actually Good. SUCH good writing, character, relationship and world building. I laughed, I cried, 13/10 this show has been popular enough that you have all heard of it!

WORD OF HONOR — So you watched the Untamed and this was the thing everyone was recommending to watch next but wasn’t ‘as good’ as the Untamed. Well. Wasn’t as good TO YOU. I’M HAVING A BALL ON THIS BITCH! Literally of all these shows this one is my favourite PURELY because I love these stupid flirting assholes so much. Shut up. Sorry this post is incoherent. The plot is not as good as the Untamed but the banter/relationship is even more in focus and just chef’s kiss dynamic to ME. So 14/10 gay it probably was the biggest reason gay-vibes drama is now banned in China. Girl I am not literally not joking. All the danmei is in unreleased development hell. Help.

GUARDIAN — For the true die-hards (not on Netflix/Viki and got purged from the legal internet but can be found. In places.) SO YOU WATCHED WORD OF HONOR AND YOU’RE LIKE GOD THAT ENDING RIPPED OUT MY ASSHOLE EMOTIONALLY WHAT IF I FOUND AN ENDING THAT WAS QUALITATIVELY WORSE. DO I HAVE ANOTHER PRIEST (AUTHOR OF WORD OF HONOR) ADAPTATION FOR YOU. Production values ZERO acting values MIDDLING gay values FUN AND SEXY. This show is literally what if Torchwood was better and worse at the same time. The reason the string of danmei adaptions started I believe, because this one was so popular. I haven’t watched all of this yet I’m savouring it. Don’t look at me.

HEAVEN’S OFFICIAL BLESSING — not quite the same vibes as what you’re going for with this ask (not a live action; very much an anime and not finished yet) but would be remiss not to mention the VERY PRETTY AND GREAT adaptation of the series by the same author of the Untamed. Also on Netflix.

[peonyblossom]

idk when i'm actually going to write/post it bc i'm so busy rn but i wanna know which one i should work on when i do have the time :)