#why would you do this to your protagonist :(((

[snugglyporos]

// Christ I wish I could go back in time and erase concepts like 'unconscious bias' from the world of popular lingo because people apply it to things that they don't apply to. No, most people do not possess an unconscious bias that working class people are worth less than rich people, that's your classist ideology being applied to things that you shouldn't apply it to. We might call that a conscious bias.

What is actually happening is a mix of tropes being blended together and not changing over time. Namely, the idea that the more individuals there are, the weaker they are. We see this everywhere; fifty ninjas? Weak. Not a problem. One ninja? Super powerful. Legend. This exists in everything from James Bond movies to comics to Power Rangers.

The reality is that, narratively speaking, the random cannon fodder between the protagonist and the final boss do not matter. They don't! In real life they would, but if you tried to give ever goon a backstory and explain it you would have a shit story because the audience does not care about the backstory of unnamed good #23. After they take the punch from the protagonist, the audience has entirely forgotten they existed.

Which means that, narratively speaking, the killing of the main villain is more important and more impactful than the killing of some random goon. Now, if you're a good writer this shouldn't be the case. But this too, comes from the blending of genres and tropes.

In the late 1980s, fiction became more violent and more visceral. This means that a lot more violence was happening! And yet, writers still wanted to have their protagonist show that they were the protagonist, because people were all in on moral relativism. People would be like 'well, there's no difference between the hero and the villain if the hero kills the villain.'

The response was a lot of heroes started adopting a weird kind of no killing rule; Batman will break your fucking spine but kill the guy who just blew up a building? That's too far! 'I'm not like you, a guy who kills people, I just cripple them for life!'

And again, this is what happens when genre conventions (the hero should be morally superior than the villain, or at least attempt to be) mixing with trope developments (everything now needs to be brutal and violent to reflect real life).

Now, the circle has completed itself, where we're once again back to 1985, where people are like 'actually no, the hero should fucking kill that guy.' You'll probably be a big fan of the Death Wish movies and The Dark Knight Strikes Back; you know, things that lots of proto-fascists really love because they reinforce the notion that actually, heroes should wield violence against their enemies and impose their will through abject terror.

The reality is, people aren't sitting around going 'my work should reflect the idea that workers are less important than the boss' it's that narratively, the random goons exist to be smacked down to prepare the audience for the big bad, because rising action requires that there be rising challenges. This is mixing along with personal tastes in media.

Now, you could, for example, turn this new trope on its head and ask whether the Punisher murdering every jaywalker and low level drug dealer with extreme violence makes him a villain, because his ideal is that any lawbreaker should be murdered instantly no matter how low the crime. You might also argue that the trope should actually be that the grunts shouldn't be killed by the hero, but the guy who organized them should, because he's much worse than they are.

You could also argue that, the reason why the hero doesn't just kill the villain is that murder is wrong? Even if you think it's morally justified? I think people forget, when they fantasize about an ideal French Revolution, that the most common crime people were executed for was pickpocketing, and every day they would execute the guys who got caught working the crowds at the executions the day before. More poor people got killed in the French Revolution than rich people; you should probably keep that in mind!

Because the core reason you probably want your hero to not kill people in general is that you then have to ask who deserves it and your answer will inevitably include a lot of people you might actually like! You probably don't want heroes taking vague concepts like justice into their own hands because inevitably that makes them into the Death Wish protagonist, deciding that what really needs to happen is for a white guy with a gun to just start shooting up inner cities.

You don't want your hero to start killing people because this is corrosive and it will inevitably result in comparisons between people who got killed.

So no, it's not some kind of unconscious bias, it's because we've melted a worldwide demand for bloodshed and violence with established genre tropes and if you removed one or the other people would complain and be very unhappy.

Or, I guess you could go on and say that Freddy Kruger is anti-marxist because he only targets teenagers instead of people who really deserve it.

[cheapshrimpysheep]

Hiii!! is it okay if I request a comfort(?) scenario/headcanons with Vil, Idia, Malleus and Lilia where a female protagonist feels self-conscious about having stretch marks and/or cellulite, thanks (Sorry if it's not spelled well, English is not my native language)

COMMENTS: So... even though I myself am a woman, I genuinely never saw stretch marks or cellulite as something bad or ugly, and I still don't. So maybe making the characters share the same vision as me would be accurate? The only exception to complete indifference is Vil, but not in the way you might be thinking.

Btw, I didn't see any point in writing this in a context other than an already advanced relationship given the topic. Fortunately, the 4 characters are 18 years or older so it doesn't end up being... you know, too weird.

I explain at the end why I couldn't write anything for Malleus or Lilia. But despite that, I hope you and all like what I managed to write. ❤️

CHARACTERS: Vil Schoenheit / Idia Shroud

TAGS: Fluff; Fem!Reader; Comfort; In a Relationship; Suggestive(?)

WORD COUNT: An average of 580 words per character

CONTEXT: I don't think it would make sense for two people to have this kind of intimate conversation outside of a romantic or even sexual relationship. So in that situation, he and you would be in a relationship.

This was an insecurity of yours from the beginning. After all, your boyfriend was none other than Vil Schoenheit. It would be worrying enough if he were a normal model, but he's not only a super model but one of the biggest in all of Twisted Wonderland.

He had already noticed that since you started dating you seemed more worried and less confident about your appearance and that was when he said to you:

“I am the one who needs to be perfect, not you. If I wanted to date a model I could do it, but my standards in romantic relationships are others. Different from some of my colleagues in this field. I will always help you to further improve your image if you wish and feel comfortable with it. Please don't see this as me wanting you to change your appearance, but as an attempt to make you as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside.” He pauses for a second. “However, for some reason, there's something that bothers me about the possibility of making you start living the same lifestyle as me.”

But he would only get the answer to why that bothered him later.

“The truth is: you are my escape. I don't feel the pressure to be perfect with you because... you know I'm not and yet you look at me with more admiration than anyone else. You are my escape from the superficial and futile parts of my professional life. When you live in these types of environments, you start to lose track of what really matters and what really does you good. Thinking about you being swallowed up by this... and losing your genuine smile... because of me... I can't allow it! Please know that no opinion about your appearance matters other than your own. And it wasn't just that that made me fall in love.”

This may have made you feel more comfortable and confident about your appearance again, but as the relationship became more serious and you became more intimate, eventually your problem with stretch marks and cellulite began to affect your mood again.

At home, Vil had massage sessions from time to time not only to help him relax but also for other healthy effects it had on his body. He thought that now that he was dating you, maybe it would be interesting for him to buy massage products and for you to start having these sessions with each other.

“You deserve a massage probably even more than I do.” He tells you, referring to the hardships you go through with Grim and the others.

And that's when he realizes from your hesitation that something about your appearance has bothered you again. He asks you to tell him and that you can trust him. After all, if you couldn't, what kind of boyfriend would he be? And you end up talking about your stretch marks and cellulite.

“I see.” He says understandingly. “I've never had them myself, but I've met many women in the beauty industry who talk about it to each other. Not to mention the advertisements for products for it. Do you remember what I told you when we first started dating and you felt less confident about your appearance? I am the one who needs to be perfect, not you. Furthermore, from what I understand, these marks are usually found on areas around the stomach, hips, breasts, and thighs.” He looks at you seductively. “You don't really think I would have any kind of criticism if you gave me the honor of seeing these parts of your body, do you? Why don't you let me give you that massage? I'll show you what I truly find beautiful about you.”

At first you didn't even think about it. It was only when the relationship started to get more serious and you started to sleep together from time to time that you started to worry.

Especially when Idia started having less of a problem walking around you shirtless. And giving hints about how he would like to see you wearing his shirts, without pants.

One day he says he wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room, but instead of asking why you hide your body so much, he asks if you still don't consider him worthy of seeing his girlfriend comfortably sexy.

“You never hid the fact that you like to see me shirtless.” He says while playing some game on the computer. “I also want to see you like that. Not necessarily shirtless, that's another level, but like, you know I don't like to embody the confident handsome guy who likes to walk around with little clothing on." His hair starts to turn hot pink.” But... I like how you look at me when I do. And what you say. Which I never understood ‘cause I don't even have good physics. But you do! You would be that character that every player simps for.” He sinks into his chair. “But I understand, getting that kind of look from me is disgusting...”

You may have your insecurities, but he has them too. And finally you feel the need and the comfort enough to reveal to him that that isn’t the problem, that you would also like him to find you hot as you find him and that the problem is your marks.

“What marks? Like scars? Don't tell me you have cool battle scars, like doesn't that make a person even sexier?”

You say you're not talking about scars, but stretch marks and cellulite.

“... Yah... sorry, I think I rolled a natural 1 in intelligence for this. What was that again?”

You say they are marks, irregularities and dimples in the skin and that he can search them on the internet. He does that.

“It says that these are natural things that don't do any harm. But they can impact self-image.” He researches a little more. “Wait! Are you trying to tell me that you find these strips and irregularities ugly enough to the point that you have to hide them? THIS?” He smiles mockingly “Oh no! How horrible! Your skin looks like... skin! What a tragedy!”

He will be very happy if you can laugh with him.

“As if I would even notice that. It says here that these marks are usually found on areas around the stomach, hips, breasts, and thighs. Do you really think that if I saw these parts of your body it would be little stripes and dimples that would catch my attention?” The pink in his hair becomes more intense. “I may be a shut-in but don't lump me in with those worms who define their standards based on adult videos. I can assure you that's not what you'll have to worry about if you take your clothes off in front of me.”

He finally looks at you with a seductive look and smiles confidently when he sees that you are flustered.

I really really really tried to imagine scenarios with Malleus or Lilia, but I couldn't think of anything very meaningful.

Malleus wouldn't understand the problem even if you tried to explain it to him because... it doesn't make sense to him. They're just marks. He also has marks, like, on his forehead. Is there something wrong with this?

And Lilia would just laugh for you thinking this is a problem and just tell you to forget about it.

They wouldn't understand, because it wouldn't make any difference to them at all. And that's it.

With Vil and Idia I was able to think of something because they are, like, from this generation, and because one is in the beauty industry and the other is, probably, chronically online, they can see where your insecurity comes from. But for someone like Malleus or Lilia, this type of insecurity has no basis whatsoever. I really don't know what to write with them.

Sorry. 🥺

If you dropped in here out of the blue and want to read more from me, you can find it in my pinned post: INDEX

[thewertsearch]

Anonymous asked: just read through your entire liveblog and wow. what a place to catch up. do you have any predictions about what the postscratch versions of the guardians will be? what about the guardian versions of the kids?

So.

Mom Lalonde, Grandpa Harley, Nanna Egbert, and Bro Strider, reborn as the story's protagonists, and thrust into a Playerdom I never expected them to bear. The consequences of this reveal are likely to kick in on the very next page - and since that's a page I'm clicking on tonight, this is my last chance for some blind speculation.

There are an absolute mountain of angles I could potentially cover here, and it's impossible to address all the implications of this twist, so I'm just going to touch on a few key questions that Act 6 will need to answer sooner rather than later.

Without further ado, let's dive into our first question.

Who, exactly, is raising these kids?

The simplest solution, of course, would be a one-to-one exchange between each Player and their Guardian. That certainly seems to be the case for Jade and Grandpa, who have been directly swapped. This would imply that Rose raised Mom, Dave raised Bro, and John might have raised Nanna. (More on that later.)

Still, that's not the only possibility. There's no reason why Dave couldn't raise the adolescent Mom instead, for example, with Rose adopting the younger Bro in his stead. That particular configuration has a lot of character potential, actually, because Bro Lalonde would undoubtedly be an unholy terror, and Mom Strider might just be one of the coolest characters I've ever conceived of.

This aesthetic, with those shades? Come on.

...all that said, though, I'm fairly sure we are just getting a one-to-one swap. That's how it appears to have worked for the trolls, and the one post-Scratch Player with a confirmed Guardian already matches this pattern.

Plus, swapping the kids with their own parents is just so interesting, on a character level, as it'd add a whole new dimension of analysis to the fucked-up relationships between Bro & Dave, Mom & Rose, and Grandpa & Jade.

Seeing how they all treat each other, now that the roles have been reversed, would be incredibly illuminating, and might shed some light on the thought processes of the pre-Scratched Guardians, as they were raising their own respective charges.

Anyway - now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk about each individual family.

The Egberts

Astute readers will notice that I only mentioned the Guardian-Player parallels for three of our Players above - and that's because when it comes to the fourth, there's a slight complication.

Namely, Dad Egbert no longer exists.

This means that Nanna's home life can't parallel John's, because the man who raised John was never even born. It's possible, then, that John will simply raise Nanna himself, as her grandfather.

Honestly, that's the scenario I'm hoping for, here. Out of our four original Players, I think that John would be the best parent by far - he's sweet, resilient, and has a natural talent for nurturing the positive qualities of the people he loves. If a baby lands in his backyard, he's going to rise to the challenge, octogenarianism be damned.

...now, here's where I'd speculate a little about Nanna's personality, but she's the one post-Scratch Player I can't really get a bead on. We only ever interacted with her Spritesona, whose personality was obviously corrupted by the presence of the jester doll.

As a result, I don't really have a clue what Nanna will be like. The only thing I'm sure about, if John's the one raising her, is that she'll be loved.

The Striders

First of all, I have faith in Dave.

I think he's more or less guaranteed to be a better Guardian than his brother ever was. Granted, I don't think Dave would be particularly paternal, but I also think he'll be able to refrain from beating Bro's ass with a puppet, which is progress.

I think Dave would be a laissez-faire type of guardian, who allows the younger Bro a lot more agency and autonomy than other kids his age, but also struggles to be the adult in the room when his kid needs guidance. He's not going to be as traumatized as his younger self, but I bet it's still borderline impossible to have a serious conversation with him. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kid Bro turned out to be the more mature of the pair.

In a nutshell, Dave was born to be a cool uncle, but was forced unwittingly into a parental role instead. He's doing his best.

Quite frankly, I'm very worried about Kid Bro.

If we assume that every Paradox Clone keeps the same Veil item as last time - and there's no reason why they wouldn't - then Bro will be coming down with Lil' Cal, the cursed puppet created by Gamzee's Chucklevoodoos.

I'm still convinced that long-term exposure to this abomination was the main reason Bro was so batshit insane, and while the younger Bro won't have been around it for quite as long, he'll still have thirteen years of an evil Juggalo's Rage miasma being beamed into his brain.

I think Kid Bro will be a little batshit, but not completely batshit. We'll see a child with the potential to become the deranged ventriloquist who tormented Dave, but one who can still be saved, if we can just get that hell puppet away from him.

Separated from Cal, I still think Bro will be a memelord, and I'm sure not all his interests came from the puppet. I think this guy was always destined to be a pretty bizarre dude - but with luck, this iteration of him will be a little more pleasant to be around.

The Lalondes

Rose... could go either way, honestly.

Just like Dave, I don't think she's the type who'd willingly choose to be a parent. Rose doesn't want a baby, she wants a library full of cursed tomes, a coven of witches to scheme with, and to live in an enormous gothic castle with her wife, Kanaya Maryam. Her ideal lifestyle couldn't handle a kid, and I think she's self-aware enough to know that, and adopt a hundred mutant kittens instead.

That said... if she had to raise a daughter, I think she'd try her best to do right by the girl. I think some part of her would absolutely resent the fact that she's a background character in someone else's life - especially if, like the Sufferer, she remembers being a Player - but she'd do everything she could to keep that resentment to herself.

Rose would be an alright mother. A little cold, maybe, and more than a little distant, but she'd still love her Roxy.

As for Roxy, I can only assume she's a gigantic fucking badass. Even among the Guardians, her barehanded combat feats were always astounding, and I think she and Kid Bro will be the primary combatants of their session.

I also think she'll be one of the most analytical, scientifically-minded Players we've ever seen. Her adult self was experimenting with Ectobiology even outside of Sburb, which suggests to me an intense curiosity about how all this shit works, which isn't present in most of our other heroes. Like Rose, she'll be a researcher, and maybe even a Seer - but while Rose searched for the truth via magic and mysticism, Roxy's research will be entirely scientific.

Honestly, the most exciting thing about finally meeting Roxy is the milestone it'll represent. I'll finally, finally have encountered every character I knew about prior to starting the comic.

The Harleys

Grandma Jade was still the Witch of Space, and was clearly aware of that fact.

This tells us that:

John, Rose and Dave also retained their Titles, even if they don't know it.

Grandma Jade was probably aware of Sburb and its secrets, especially if she was living near the Frog Temple.

Grandma Jade was the Witch of Space. She's gone.

...and I have a theory about what happened to her.

I think that when Grandpa was a baby, Jade travelled to Anachronism Island, just like her predecessor did - but this time around, it wasn't Bec who greeted her at the Temple.

No, I think Jade had a fatal encounter with the new First Guardian of Earth - a corrupted First Guardian, spliced with the same HONK code that created Scratch. Kid Grandpa clearly survived whatever happened next, and I think it's horribly plausible that the new First Guardian is a pseudo-Guardian to him, the same way Becquerel was to Jade.

In other words, this kid might be completely compromised, manipulated by English's servant since infancy. Let's not forget that he's the one who suggested making the bunny to Jade, which is the reason Jack was able to ascend in the first place...

...but someone suggested it to him, first.

Anyway, those are my high-level thoughts about the new timeline's key players. We'll be starting Act 6 in an hour or so, and I've got a feeling that we're about to see Nanna standing in a very familiar room.

After all, it just so happens that today...

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I have been wondering do you think we would ever get a playable female character in the next Halloween events?

I don't know why but I want to see a twisted character from Captain Hook in the next events but I want the character to be female and I don't even know why I just think it would be cool to have playable female character for the first time lol.

Love your work!!

Thank you for enjoying my work ^^

I mean 💦 Listen, I won’t say the chances are zero (because there are a few exceptions in this genre), but given the nature of joseimuke games (which Twst is), the chances of having a playable female character are very slim. I’ve heard people say this is “sexist” and demand for more female representation, but it’s really not intended to be that. It’s simply the nature of joseimuke, which are typically idol raising games featuring a female or gender neutral protagonist training a bunch of guys. All the playable characters tend to be guys because that’s what sells to the target demographic, which is women (most of whom are straight). I think part of it is to sell the fantasy of being surrounded by and friends with pretty boys that differ a lot in their looks and personalities.

This is the same reason why the vast majority of otome games have all male love interests. You’re just risking appealing to a smaller demographic if you pivot to something the genre doesn’t normally do. But again, there are some exceptions, though very limited. I’ve seen at most one female love interest being introduced, and typically in indie projects, not mainstream ones. Other times, female routes are provided but they’re kept strictly platonic and you can’t actually date them.

[for-hunger]

This was the WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN (and I watch ~10 movies per month)

Literally everything about it was offensively bad, and I have to write this out somewhere.

Despite it being a "musical," there was not one single moment that someone sang in tune. Instead, it was this strange singsong rap-like speaking, often seemingly intentionally off-key. The lyrics were google-quality translations and inexplicable turns of phrase ("free like her scent"?). I've heard a few reviewers describe this as "operatic" in style, which is frankly a huge insult to opera. This has nothing in common with sprechstimme or any other actual musical forms.

The lead character's "redemption arc" as a former cartel boss was having her start a nonprofit that found victims of the cartels, funded by corrupt politicians. For anyone who has read even like, one thing about the complicated nature and history of the drug trade, disappearances, and femicide in Latin America, it's deeply offensive to imply that this shit could be solved so simply, and with the involvement of the government, and wild that you would choose the character of a former cartel boss (with no character development or holding her accountable) as the one to do it.

THEY HEAVILY IMPLIED THAT EMILIA SOLVED ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS CRIMES IN MODERN MEXICAN HISTORY, THE AYOTZINAPA DISAPPEARANCES. This is where I started yelling at the tv. A woman comes up to Emilia in a market and tells her about her missing son who was a teenager training to be a teacher and went missing on a school trip and then it cuts to Emilia's workers digging up a mass grave

They presented Emilia post-transition as a woman who has her angry man self living inside her. When she gets angry at her ex-wife, she "regresses", yelling abuse at her and physically attacking her. She lapses into her strange husky pre-transition "man voice" and facial expressions. She continues this affectation for the next handful of scenes. Btw the actress does not pull this off because she's obviously a glamorous older bougie Spanish lady

The narrative was deeply uninterested in the characters, to the point where it felt like the movie was just a series of expositionary plot points. For example, when they gave Emilia a girlfriend, there was no information on why they came to be involved, either of their lesbianism, etc.

Emilia meets her girlfriend because her nonprofit finds her husband's body, but he was abusive, so this woman shows up scared and ready to defend herself. Just kind of wild to be like "oh yeah but some of the people disappeared weren't innocent either lol"

When they presented Emilia pre-transition, they put these strange prosthetics and fake beard on her, seemingly partially to make her look less white lmao

The "cartel" scenes were of all of them partying outside, children playing in the dirt, couch outside in the middle of the desert??, despite the boss having unlimited wealth. It was very like, Hollywood Al-Qaeda

No one spoke Mexican Spanish. Selena Gomez slurred her words unintelligibly whenever she tried to act emotional. Really adding insult to injury when it comes to the lack of Mexican involvement in the film

When Zoe Saldana finds a doctor to do Emilia's surgeries, he's randomly transphobic and she has to talk him into doing them by making a speech about "society"?

Emilia gets top, bottom, and FFS, all at once, and in Tel Aviv. Which first: that's not how you do that, and second: given the timing, I'm pretty sure this was sponsored by the Israeli government

I'm not even going to go into the vaginoplasty song. That was honestly the most fun I had the whole movie.

The movie ends with Emilia dead in the trunk of a car. She's locked in there for the entirety of the last scene and says basically nothing of substance before that. Just really bothered me that you throw your protagonist out like that.

To be fair, after the scenes of her nonprofit started (2/3 of the way in) I mostly watched like the first 30 seconds of every scene and then skimmed through because it was getting physically painful

The fact that people actually think this is a movie worth watching is really evidence of how fucking BAFFLINGLY stupid people are. I'm glad the backlash is already starting to ramp up, but I need to see this shit buried.

SAY IT LOUDER FOR THOSE IN THE BACK 🗣️

[mainalias]

repeatedly in datv rook will just say things with no player input. I just watched an entire back and forth occur with a companion in which I had no dialogue choices. I'm far enough into the game that this is obviously A Thing. not having agency to roleplay in this roleplaying game is already incredibly annoying, but the prewritten version of rook that I have limited ability to deviate from is also garbage. all of your dialogue is immature and annoying. it's terrible! if they were railroading the players into being someone interesting it would be at least more bearable, everything about this sucks. and I don't understand why give rook a set personality but then not give them a set backstory? giving you variable faction backgrounds but then not integrating them into the world or story in any meaningful way (one of the many ways this game has cut writing and costs in this allegedly narrative focused final installment of a 15yr franchise) just means that rook has no place in the story despite being the protagonist. in da2 hawke has a set backstory due to time constraints in the development, and that was controversial, but it really works with the narrative. you have a backstory and background npcs with relationships and stakes and you are rooting for the hawkes and leandra's death scene is absolutely gutting, while still giving you options to RP hawke differently. I would rather they have just done that again then give us the false choice of backgrounds and factions that DO NOT MATTER. give me a set character that's interesting if you want to cut off all our RP options because you're paring down dialogue into nothing

[kikyoupdates]

Changing Plotlines ⭑˚💞⭑ 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

yandere!ocs x f!reader

yandere, reverse harem, yandere reverse harem, original characters x fem!reader, slowburn, isekai

A desperate cry on your deathbed leads to you being given a fresh start at life. You're overjoyed at having finally obtained a healthy body and a real chance at living normally, only to discover that you've been transported into a yandere game, where danger lurks at every corner. Determined to protect your new life at any cost, you vow to stay as far away from the major characters of the game as possible. But things don't always go as planned.

previous | story masterlist | next

When you arrived back at the manor, it was clear that you needed to get your shit in order.

The situation was crazy to begin with, but this newest revelation was something you just couldn’t wrap your head around. It was one thing to reincarnate into the past, or even in a separate world, given the very high likelihood of multiple galaxies existing. But this was just a game. It wasn’t real. So then, how was this possible?

Obviously, you didn’t have the answer to that question, and you weren’t even sure if you ever would find the answer. But that was really beside the point. It didn’t matter how you ended up here—what mattered was what in the hell you were going to do.

For the time being, you decided to lock yourself in your room and try to rack for your brain for just about everything you could remember. Thankfully, you’d just recently finished the game, so most of the details were still relatively fresh in your mind.

The most pressing issue was obviously that the game you found yourself in was by no means a happy one. It was marketed as a dark fantasy for a reason, because the love interests were dangerous and hardly good people. The yandere genre had become explosively popular over the course of the past decade. It was particularly enjoyable due to the strange thrill it provided people with, the mystery and suspense, but yanderes were far from desirable. The game had both a good and bad ending for each of the love interests, with all of the bad endings being remarkably messed up, and even the “good” endings were plenty concerning in their own right.

Which is why it was quite a bitter irony that the game was called Zodin’s Benevolence, given that there was nothing truly benevolent about the twisted challenges the protagonist was forced to undergo. She repeatedly found herself tangled up in all sorts of sinister plots after being adopted into a baron’s family and acquiring a noble status.

The good news was that you hadn’t been reincarnated as the protagonist, which meant that so long as you kept your distance from the main events of the storyline, there shouldn’t really be any reason for you to get dragged into that mess.

A grimace fell upon your lips. Thinking about it like that, it sounded a bit selfish to intentionally ignore a poor woman’s suffering, but you’d finally been given a chance at a proper life. The last thing you needed was to suffer a gruesome death at the hands of yanderes simply because you’d interfered with their twisted obsessions.

“I will do absolutely nothing,” you stated determinedly. “There’s no way my character even existed in the first place. When I woke up in this world, it sort of created a little slot for me to fit in. In other words, I’m a side character, and my actions should have no effect on the story so long as I don’t get involved.”

Yes, that was the plan. Do nothing. You could do that. You were very good at doing nothing.

The rules of this “game” you found yourself in—both literally and figuratively—were rather simple. Actually, there was only one rule at all, and that was to stay as far away from the protagonist and yanderes as possible. Which, given that you’d accidentally run into Cassius today, meant that you already weren’t off to a very good start. But a simple bump-in shouldn’t be reason enough for him to go after you with a vengeance. Apart from deliberating angering him, the only thing you could of think that would incur his wrath would be to prevent him from interacting with the game’s protagonist.

Speaking of... how far into the game am I at this point?

The game began with the protagonist being adopted by a kind baron after dutifully waiting on him during one of his trips to the countryside. She then proceeded to move into his estate, getting acquainted with her new life, and promptly beginning lessons at the renowned academy in Zodite’s capital city, as per her adoptive father’s wishes to grant her a formal education. This was the catalyst that set the plot in motion, because it was at the academy that the protagonist met the first yandere—none other than Cassius himself.

As far as you could recall, Zodin’s Benevolence began sometime early summer, because the baron encountered the protagonist while in the middle of a leisurely seasonal trip. Given how warm the weather currently was, summer was either peeking right around the corner, or already here. Which meant that there likely wasn’t much time left until the official plot was set in motion.

Although you had no concrete benchmark as to when it would officially begin, one thing was for sure. If you wanted to avoid an early death again, you would need to keep your eyes peeled for the protagonist’s appearance and keep her away from you by any means.

You frowned, nibbling on your bottom lip.

It’s okay. I can be selfish. No, I have to be selfish. It’s the only way.

Dying from illness was one thing, but the things those crazy bastards were capable of... you had a feeling that dying by their hands would be a million times more painful than anything you’d ever endured.

This new life had been placed right in the palms of your hands, and you’d be damned if you were going to let go of it.

“Mom, dad. Do you think it would be alright if I stopped going to the academy?”

After having discovered that you were in a yandere dating sim, that was the question you chose to ask your parents the very next morning.

Naturally, they were completely flabbergasted.

“Is this another one of your jokes? You wanted to go to school so badly up until now. Sorry, we’re just struggling to understand where all this is coming from.”

It had been your hope that in not attending the academy, you could prevent any run-ins with both the protagonist and the yanderes. But truthfully, you did want to go to school, because your sickness had prevented you from actually attending college back in your old world. It sounded like the version of you in this world was interested in pursuing an education as well, so perhaps it was for the best that you went. You couldn’t stand to see your parents’ disappointed expression once more, even in this reality.

From what you recalled seeing in the game, the campus was quite large, so if you were cautious, there was no reason for you to get wrapped up with the yanderes.

That being said...

You still didn’t want to be ill-prepared for what this world had to offer. There was only so much that had been outright stated in the game; you would have to find out the rest for yourself. One of the key points that you wanted to look into was the usage of magic. In this world, magic was mainly used through magical ores, which helped to supply certain buildings with things like electricity, heat, and even reinforcing walls with something akin to a barrier. Some people were blessed with magical abilities themselves, although it was exceedingly rare. The topic of mages had been briefly touched upon in the game, and it seemed as though with every passing generation, fewer and fewer people found themselves capable of such feats. Dwindling bloodlines, or something like that.

It did make you curious, though. Was it at all possible that you might be fortunate enough to be a mage yourself? If so, you could train your abilities to make sure that you would be able to protect yourself from harm in the event that something really did go wrong.

You didn’t really know how to use magic, though. After all, the game didn’t exactly expand on this detail very much.

So, you tried various methods to see if you could channel some hidden power. Reciting cringy incantations, straining your body so hard that it made you feel like you had to rush to the bathroom—you even drew a horribly misshapen pentagram on the floor of your bedroom, with leftover jam from your breakfast, and Lizbell nearly fainted when she saw the mess.

Needless to say, none of it worked, so you decided to just come out and ask.

“Can I use magic?”

For the second time that same morning, your parents gaped at you.

“My dear, what’s the matter?” your father chuckled. “You’ve been going full throttle since yesterday. Your mother and I can hardly keep up.”

“Does that mean I can’t use magic?”

“Of course not, good heavens. You know very well we don’t come from a family of mages.”

Despite their immediate dismissals, you knew that it was possible for people to potentially grow into their magical powers. Magical ability was traditionally passed down by blood, but it could just as easily manifest in an unsuspecting individual. Hopefully, that individual was you.

“I haven’t been able to use magic up until now, but something may have changed recently,” you persisted. “That’s what I meant. I’m wondering if my abilities have awakened by now.”

Fortunately, your parents had always been the patient sort, so they merely shrugged their shoulders. “If you're really still holding out hope for a thing, then you can always go and get tested at the Bureau of Magic.”

You decided to do just that. The Bureau of Magic’s central headquarters was a large, impressive building. You didn’t really know anything about this organization, but you were tickled pink by the thought of being magically gifted on top of having perfect health. You could already imagine it, shooting fireballs from your hands and creating geysers out of nothing.

You were going to be the best mage ever—

“Zero magical affinity,” the man testing you stated. “Although there are cases where people may develop magic over time, by looking at your mana reservoir, I can tell that there is absolutely no chance of you ever becoming a mage.”

Well, that was certainly a short-lived dream.

The man then frowned, peering closer into the strange device he was measuring your aptitude with. “Come to think of it though, this is really strange. Even average citizens have very trace amounts of mana in their system. Mana is present in all living things, whether or not they can actually manifest that mana and convert it into magical energy. I’ve never seen a case like yours before, not in all my years of working here. You’re an anomaly. Almost as if you aren’t meant to be a part of this world...”

Uh-oh. It sounded like he was starting to get suspicious, so you hurried to wave him off. “Your machine must be broken,” you dismissed flippantly. “Anyways, I’ve already lost interest in becoming a mage, so I’ll just have to take your word for it.”

“What? Miss, if you could just—”

“Gotta go, bye!”

Since magic was clearly a no-go, you figured you should at least have another plan to fall back onto. You were weak and sickly back in your previous life, but you had a perfectly healthy body in this one. There was no reason you couldn’t pick up a weapon and learn how to protect yourself. For instance, sword-fighting!

“You want to do what?” your parents blanched. It was the third time today that they were confused beyond belief, though they looked particularly horrified in this instance.

“Sword-fighting,” you repeated calmly. “I just think it’d be neat.”

“Oh, [Name], but why that of all things? Those blades are seriously dangerous, you know. You could hurt yourself!”

“Well, not if I’m good at it.”

“Someone in your position will never have to worry about their safety,” they insisted. “We can hire more guards to keep watch outside the manor if it’ll help you feel better. Come on now, what use have you for a weapon like that?”

“It’s not that I’m worried about my safety.” That’s a lie. “I just want to challenge myself and see if I can do this. Plus, I think it’d be pretty amazing if I could pull something like this off. I’d be bragging about it constantly.” Okay, that part isn’t entirely a lie.

Their reluctance was plain as day, but as expected—they just couldn’t seem to say no to you.

“Very well,” your father sighed. “But we’ll at least be hiring an instructor to ensure that you have someone watching over you and making sure you’re safe while you train. Please allow us at least this much.”

“Yeah, that’s fine!” you beamed. “I’ll learn faster with a teacher, anyways.”

So far, things were looking good. You had your plan to stay out of everyone’s way and make sure you didn’t become a target, and in the event that it all failed, you would at least have some way of fighting for your life.

“Oh, and uh, the sooner the better,” you said. “I’d like to start learning as early as possible, since I’m just so excited! Okay? Okay!”

You proceeded to skip out the room before they could mutter a protest.

It was actually incredible how much your parents loved you. They were parents from a different reality, but your parents nonetheless. In spite of their visible concerns to allow you to wield a sword, they’d managed to secure you a personal instructor in less than twenty-four hours.

Currently, you were out in the courtyard, eagerly awaiting your guest. You were dressed in a loose tunic and comfortable pants that were perfecting for working up a sweat in. It was a shame you couldn’t wear clothes like these more often, though you had to admit that your collection of dresses was rather delightful.

It was hot out. Definitely summer, you were sure of it now. It was a good thing you were starting your sword-fighting lessons so early on. Even if you never ending up needing your soon-to-be lethal skills, you would definitely feel more at ease knowing that you had them.

Your personal instructor was apparently a knight, so you were already inclined to trust that he had hands-on experience. You wondered what he’d look like. Knights in fantasy settings like this one were always so damn attractive. Hopefully he wasn’t much older than you...

Ah, focus, goddammit! What does it matter what he looks like? The most important thing is staying alive.

You lightly slapped yourself upside the head. Right. No distractions. You were no longer the same weak person from your miserable previous life. You were a living miracle, and a future sword-wielding badass.

Hardly a minute later, your tortuous wait seemed to have come to an end, and you were able to get a good look at your new instructor.

Wait, is that...

“Good day, Lady [Name],” the knight greeted, bowing his head courteously. “My name is Sergei Garin, member of the Cavalry Brigade. I am humbled to be in your service.”

You couldn’t quite seem to hide the shock on your face. Sergei Garin. You knew this character. Fortunately, he wasn’t one of the yanderes—otherwise, you would’ve probably feigned a heart attack to get out of this situation. No, he was nothing but a supporting character, although a character that you admittedly had a soft spot for.

Why did you have a soft spot for him? Well...

Probably because he was fated to die.

More chapters are available on Quotev!

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💞 main masterlist ♡ character appearances

[the-two-of-clubs]

A r/limbuscompany Reddit thread titled "Why do people refer to Dante as a boy?" had a lot of answers given that frankly depressed me, so I wrote a huge essay. And because it's huge and the Redditors are definitely not going to listen, I'm going to repost it here. For non-Limbus fans, Dante's the game's speaking protagonist of indeterminate gender.

People will just straight up say "I just don't want to use they/them pronouns, it's either he or she and I get to pick, sorry!" and be the top upvoted comment in this thread.

When I encourage you to use they/them pronouns for Dante that's not even because they're nonbinary, it's because it's what Dante is always referred to in the game they're from, and it's because it's a less clunky standin for "he or she" as well. "They" can refer to anyone, that's why it's the single best fit of any common English pronoun for an ambiguous character like Dante. They/them is the only way to refer to Dante without making up a headcanon, whether that be a fan theory that they're Ayin or Benjamin or whatever, or a self insert projection.

They/them is something you (yes you! the reader!) could be getting used to being able to use, for multiple reasons. One of which being for nonbinary people, and another reason being not constantly being forced to assume everyone's gender all the time. To smoothly be able to use language that doesn't constantly exclude women. For example, hearing someone talk about a doctor and immediately leaping to "he/him" is a microaggression, because female doctors are constantly confronted with the assumption that they're either men or nurses.

The more you use they/them pronouns for others, the more natural to you they/them pronouns will seem. And Dante could be a great starting off point for some of you to start doing that. Using they/them pronouns can make somebody's day. It would be real self improvement that matters. You probably know a trans or nonbinary person, whether you know that about them or not.

Some of you are 100% telling on yourselves that you couldn't handle being around a nonbinary person who uses they/them pronouns in real life with this thread. The pronouns are so alien and unusable to you you're performing mental gymnastics specifically to get out of using them. Yes, nobody can stop you from using he/him for Dante, knock yourself out I guess. But also, what is your actual reason to do that? And not just some casual excuse that you're throwing out, like "you can't prove Dante's NOT a man" (why not use she/her then, hm? what if she's a woman? at the very least the correct pronoun for this would technically be "he or she", right?) Or "Dante is a male name" (the entire Limbus main cast has male names and you don't see people "he/him"-ing Faust. Seems like a specific issue you guys have with they/them and Dante.) Really ask yourself why. Why ARE you so convinced Dante is a man? No really I'm serious.

And when that question does get asked by OP here, people are arguing in this thread that men are the ones who play Limbus Company, and that of course everyone's calling Dante he/him because almost all gamers use he/him, with the whole self insert argument. Which is dismissal and erasure of women, who apparently don't exist and it doesn't matter if the game's self insert mascot represents them, despite showing up in this thread to tell you that they and their presumably from context also female friends play Limbus. This self insert argument will never make Dante a binary man, it would make Dante another type of nonbinary which is pangender or genderfluid, because Dante represents all players that play them or whichever specific player is playing them, and to refer to Dante as the concept, the gestalt, the infinite-mirror-worlds Dantes that exist on each of our phones, they/them still suffices in a unique way, to pay homage to other players with different genders than you and their Dantes which would match those genders, I think.

Calling Dante "he" is an active choice you're making, going against the way the game refers to Dante.

Using the pronouns that the character always gets referred to in the entire game they're from is the norm. You guys never don't do that, except in cases like this where it's so you can ignore they/them pronouns. You do have an actual reason, conscious or subconscious, to actively change which pronouns you're using. Some of the people referring to Dante as he/him here absolutely have biases that make them unwilling to refer to Dante as they/them and therefore they're going out of their way to contradict the source material, namely transphobia. That might not be you, but it's some of the people you're sharing this take that Dante uses he/him with.

I am under no illusion that Dante is necessarily intended to be nonbinary representation. However, some of your reasons for "he/him"-ing Dante are very much trans exclusionary. "Dante has a masculine frame"... People who look like men to you sometimes aren't men. Heck, sometimes they're cis women. And if this is the first you're hearing of it, yep! That's always been true and you should keep it in mind. We live in a big weird beautiful world. People who look like men to you might be nonbinary and use exclusively "they/them" pronouns for example, and being referred to as "they" rather than "he" might go a long way to their happiness and comfort because of a thing called dysphoria, which can be medically dangerous for people if they suffer too much of it from being misgendered too often. These people can't somehow get a different skeleton structure and look even more androgynous than Dante does in order for you to refer to them respectfully. Training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of the width of someone's shoulders can do real world good just like training yourself out of jumping to pronouns because of somebody's career. It all helps you act respectfully and challenge your assumptions. And that can start right now right here. You can just refer to Dante or any nonbinary video game character you've been neglecting as they/them, sound it out in your head, nothing is stopping you.

And yes, before someone starts whining that I'm making "too big a deal of this" because I dropped the dreaded T-word that will get me downvoted, Dante isn't real and can't have their feelings hurt by the fact that people keep referring to them as he/him even if they turn out to have been a woman this whole time. I know I am aware. You should know that nonbinary people are reading the posts you're making and seeing how casually and thoughtlessly you're willing to dismiss even the concept of using they/them for a CLOCK who doesn't even have a human FACE let alone an obvious gender, and I for one know that were we to meet, you wouldn't gender me correctly either. You'd take one look at me and thoughtlessly assume you're always right.

Does referring to Dante as anything at all matter directly? No. It's fiction. However, words inspire people. Everyone is just referring to Dante as he/him because everyone else is and it's considered normal. A creative thinker, a leader rather than a follower, is someone who questions what everyone else is doing, and comes to their own conclusions. Coming to your own conclusions is what you will have to do with what I have written here.

For the Tumblr audience this is probably just an unsurprising PSA that Limbus fan Redditors are being weird about they/them pronouns and a bunch of weird arguments they're using to do so. I'm not trying to come after any queer person's he/they or she/her or any pronoun set Dante headcanons in particular here either, you can tell by the explanation of what dysphoria is that's not the target audience. If you headcanon characters having different pronouns when it's not just because you can't be assed to use they/them we're cool that's very cool of you.

[blood-starved-beast]

I never got the impression in league lore that Piltover could stand up against Noxus. It was a place of scientific study and international trade, without a standing army. It's not about an "underdog story" (simplification if you asked me) so much as it simply a consequence of the worldbuilding it has. It is a city state, not a even something like the United Kingdom during the heyday of imperialism. Much smaller. Noxus doesn't need to bring in the full force of its entire army to defeat it if it really wanted to. And I don't get the impression its current leadership does. Ambessa was a lone actor under specific circumstances and acted accordingly (she even lost some of her holdings according to Elora.) Hence why Piltover/Zaun was able to defeat them. If there was more of an army with a longer term plan (Ambessa's plans over the course of s2 fell through, and she became desperate at the end) P/Z both would fall easily unless the General(s) in question were incompetent/overconfident.

Piltover was a rich nation but from s1 it was establish it got even bigger thanks to the hexgates. Nations from all over used Piltover as a way to speed up their shipping. Either way, "locking interesting political dynamics behind regional plots" was always going to happen. The lore is largely going to be via shows unless they continue more books on the lines of the Ambessa novel or reopen Riot Forge or get comic book deals. And even if so, that would defeat your argument there. Stories are always in stasis until they are touched upon again. This was the same deal pre-Arcane. Many champions were and still are frozen in time in their stories and we have no clue where that's heading for them.

"[T]here can be no Piltovan spies whatsoever prior to the events of 2 months ago." We have no evidence that this isn't the case. Piltover was dealing internationally. They likely do have spies. The problem here is that Ambessa was a recent arrival and a fast actor and established players including Cassandra Kiramman were killed or lost (Mel in s2). Caitlyn, Jayce, these are comparatively newer players in the game. And Caitlyn got under Ambessa's thumb. What networks existed, if they did, were likely disrupted or compromised.

"Camille being an inteligencer for over 60 years gives weight to her actions and character and more importantly weight to Piltover as a region." We don't know if she isn't though. Just cause she doesn't have hextech with her doesn't mean she doesn't deal in intelligence. Ferros doesn't seem to join the Council until the end of s2, so likely her intelligence would come at a price or be personally limited.

Anyways those are potential explanations to say - a lot of League onlys are limiting one's imagination by being stickler to the lore. The problem with League lore I've found is it tries very hard to make everyone the protagonist which is impossible to do in a cohesive stroyline. Case in point - Warwick and his reception amongst his playerbase. Any story cannot touch upon every detail or worldbuilding - or it losing sight of the plot/themes/etc. It simply isn't possible. That doesn't mean those things do not exist, however. Like people saying certain champions do not exist cause of s2 or whatnot. Just cause they weren't focused on doesn't mean those champions don't exist. They just haven't gotten to that part yet. The ball is on Riot's court to keep expanding, and they slowly are.

Jayce s1: Today I got a glimpse of what war between us might look like. [Zaun] wouldn’t stand a chance.

S2: *Piltover nearly gets completely rolled by a single Noxian house using chemtech, has to be saved by Zaun*

[mai-komagata]

a (not) short little rant

This isn't about shipping but about people complaining about rings of power, but i need to explain a thing about shipping first. The actual rant is short.

look i have repeatedly said i have nothing against shipping. I love shipping, i multiship, etc. *fandoms* can sometimes be toxic when people are insulting, but like, the transformative act of shipping is great.

I am even in support of meta/textual analysis about how the subtext needed for shipping is a great addition to interpreting a work, and how you are able to convey emotions in an understandable fashion to the audience using sexual/romantic cues, because most people have experience with romance, with sexual abuse, with lust, with breaking up with someone, with romantic betrayal, and you can use the imagery of such to imply very strong feelings via simile that you can't if you can only draw on the audience's experiences with workplace acquaintances. (Like how do i explain fealty worth dying for by comparing it to my lunch buddy jeff?)

I am also in support of there not being a single interpretation of a story, like if in your head in the scenes we didn't see the characters they fucked nasty, well i can't say you are wrong. You can watch and have fun with the medium that way, and if it makes the work richer for you then its valid.

What I have found amusing is then people sorta feel the show is *only* about their interpretation? Not like "Oh i think frodo and sam might have been gay, and it actually adds to the story to interpret it this way" but "frodo and sam ARE GAY and if you don't think so you don't understand the show" or "if they focus on rosie cotton too much they will be ruining the whole point of the Lord of the Rings". Like, even if they were "canon" that isn't what the show is about. (This isn't about sam/frodo, i just think they are very uncontroversial and hit all the beats im talking about. Apologies if there are actual sam/frodo ship wars going on.)

But that isn't what this rant is about. What I find funny is not shippers thinking this way. That is understandable, if you love a thing you want to see it everywhere and it's frustrating when you don't get everything you want and you want more of it.

What i have seen is people who *HATE* a ship then hate a show because of that ship. A NON-CANONICAL SHIP. They refuse to watch the show because they think the show is just about that ship. Which they hate. WHICH IS NOT CANON. It's like Reverse shipping, you interpret the ship as canon, not because you love it, but because you HATE IT and it gives you a reason to hate on the show. They hate that the show is a cheesy romance now and that the show made the protagonist a romantasy protagonist with no motivation but romance. WHEN IT ISN'T. They ignore all aspects of the canon that contradict that ship, just like a shipper would. EXCEPT THEY ARE INTERPRETING IT THAT WAY TO HATE IT.

Like, dude. You have complete freedom to interpret a piece of art in ANY WAY YOU WANT. Why would you ever choose the way that makes you hate it the most? (BTW, this isn't the fault of shippers.)

It isn't just with shipping, but I've seen a few complaints about Rings of Power like this. Just interpreting a scene or an event in the way that MAXIMIZES how much they hate it.

[frostfires-blog]

Hello, it's MXTX Ask Game :

1.) From the 3 works by MXTX, who is your favorite (canon) couple? Why?

2.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any non canon fav ships?

(FYI, I have at least 10 non canon ships from those 3 series, sorry)

3.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any favorite quotes (from each series)?

4.) Who is your favorite love interest in MXTX three novels (luo binghe, lan wangji, mobei jun or hua cheng)? Why?

5.) Who is your favorite mc in MXTX three novels (shen qingqiu, wei wuxian, shang qinghua or xie lian)? Why?

6 a.) Which do you think is more tragic, Yi City arc or BeefLeaf arc or the Fallout between Shen Jiu - Yue Qi? Why?

b.) Can I ask your opinion on the comparison between bingqiu, wangxian, moshang, and hualian (their plus and minus sides)?

P.s 1 If you have not read SVSSS, it's okay, then you can answer based on TGCF & MDZS. But if you have the time, please read SVSSS, too. It's so funny. Yes, they're not as deep as TGCF or MDZS, but still have depth in the story.

P.s 2 As Jiang Yanli fan, do you love the canon ship of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan? For me, she is too good for him, and I'm not really the biggest fan of JZX.

P.s 3 As Yushi Huang fan, too, I'm so happy and excited that you include her in your top 5 fav characters in TGCF. You're the first one that I know of that include her in top 5 favorite. Until now, I thought it's just me (and I have been TGCF fan since 2020). Also, who do you ship her with? I ship her with Pei Ming (sorry, please don't be mad). It's just funny that playboy like him meet a woman that he can't seduce like her. Oh and in the new revised version, it's canon that Pei Ming have a crush on Yushi Huang.

Sorry for my long ask.

[Hey! Once again, thanks for sending me this! Sorry, it took me so long to get around to it. To avoid offending anyone, I would want to stress once more that these are just my personal opinions.]

1.) Some of you will call me predictable for this... I'm sorry, but it has to be HuaLian. They are the epitome of enduring love and devotion to me. They embody so many tropes I love while remaining so refreshingly impactful. Their journey, their struggles, their aesthetics... I just adore everything about them. I've mentioned this before, but their relationship feels so authentic and sincere because their affection for one another is built up so steadily and meticulously. Their affection for one another is truly palpable through every held glance, melodic sigh, and subtly delicate touch. Undoubtedly what makes them not only my favourite MXTX ship but also my favourite ship of all time is that they embody the concepts of loving someone without expecting anything in return and loving someone at their worst; that sort of unadulterated, unconditional love is something I aspire towards but will likely never find.

2.) Regarding non-canon couples, I support many fan-favourite ones, but I am not as passionate about them as most other fans are. In fact, I partially understand MXTX's decision not to make any more side ships canon. The ones I'd say I have positive feelings about are the following...

⚬ BeefLeaf: They're my favourite non-canonical side ship in the MXTX universe. Admittedly, I didn't take much note of them on my first read-through (which is my attitude towards most side couples). I wanted to feature them in my side edits earlier this year, but sadly there wasn't enough material for them. ⚬ Pei Xiu x Ban Yue: Underrated but pretty cute ⚬ Pei Ming x Yushi Huang: I'll expand on them at P.S. 3 ⚬ FengQing: A classic. ⚬ QuanYin

⚬ SongXiao: Another classic... I've heard that the Yi City arc was supposed to be a separate story entirely, so I feel like this makes sense. They remind me a lot of another ship, but I can't put my finger on it.

⚬ A lot of you are going to be mad at me for this, but I really like LiuShen—as in Liu Qingge x Shen Yuan (aka our Shen Qingqiu). SVSSS is the only MXTX novel where I ship the protagonist with anyone else other than the main romantic interest. While I could see certain characters having one-sided feelings for Xie Lian and Wei Wuxian respectively, I can't see either of them returning those feelings at all. Shen Qingqiu is just so shippable for some reason—so I totally get why he is shipped with a lot of other characters. As for LiuShen I just like their easy dynamic—namely the trust they place in each other and them being on almost equal footing. Also the tension, the denial, the pining...

3.) Honestly, there are a myriad of quotes I like—but for the sake of keeping this brief, I've picked out a few that I found impactful. Since I've only read SVSSS once—and haven't done a hanakotoba analysis post on it—I didn't have a list of quotes at hand like I did for TGCF and MDZS...So there are fewer quotes listed for it. Additionally, the tone of SVSSS is very different from that of TGCF and MDZS, so finding fitting quotes was more difficult... Everything Shen Qingqiu says and thinks is especially hilarious, but I didn't want to post anything crude or too colourful here...

+ Bonus: My favourite non-serious quote from each series...

4.) Definitely Hua Cheng (surprise surprise). I just love how sincere, charming, and straightforward he is compared to the other male leads. I think he has the coolest design out of the four as well. While he might not have as complex of a backstory as the others, his sheer commitment and charisma more than compensate for that. His sassiness and snarkiness is really endearing as well. I really do like Lan Wangji, but I have complicated feelings about Luo Binghe. Somehow I always forget about Mobei Jun—he just doesn't have much presence, though his awkwardness and stoicness are entertaining in their own way.

5.) I truly like all the MCs though, which makes this choice a lot more difficult. Shen Qingqiu is so funny and relatable—as is Shang Qinghua. Wei Wuxian is so multi-layered, charismatic, and inspiring. Xie Lian is so profound and endearing. In the end, I'd have to say Xie Lian is my absolute favourite, though. What sets Xie Lian apart for me is that his kindness stems not from him being unable to see the bad in people, but from him actively choosing to believe in their goodness. Despite being subjected to tremendous adversity, he continues to be resilient and virtuous. Even so, he is not a perfect character and has made mistakes—but he has learned from them and has grown immensely from his experiences. This makes him not only incredibly captivating but also immensely inspirational. Furthermore, his awkwardly blunt humour is both relatable and endearing.

6a.) Damn, this is a tough one. They are all impactful scenes in their own ways so I'm going to go by process of elimination... The "fallout between Shen Jiu and Yue Qi would probably be in last place. This isn't to say it's not tragic but rather that I wasn't as emotionally invested in either character as I am in the others. It was a necessary part of the plot and I can understand both of their situations. That is to say, I couldn't see things turning any differently. Next would probably be the Black Water/Beefleaf arc. This arc didn't really hit me on my first read-through because I was mostly focused on HuaLian. Also, I was very suspicious of Ming Yi so his betrayal felt a little anti-climatic—not to brag, but I have a pretty good eye for that kind of thing. That being said, I still was somewhat taken aback by his motives. On my second read-through, I started becoming more invested in all of the side plots, and it all hit me much harder. What pulls this down to second place is that I can greatly sympathise with He Xuan. While Shi Qingxuan didn't deserve to be punished for something, he had no active part in—He Xuan's feelings were justified. Given that their respective conclusions in the series' final volume have left room for a possible reconciliation—I selfishly and delusionally hold onto the hope that they will.

This leaves the top spot for the Yi City Arc, which gripped me from the first time I saw it. This hits me so much harder since, by its end, 4 lives are irrevocably changed. Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan and A-Qing truly deserved better. While this arc is often overlooked and criticised, I think it's one of the most complex and powerful arcs in MDZS. The dynamics between Xiao Xingchen, A-Qing and Xue Yang are incredibly complex—with the latter's motives being much more complex than simple revenge. A-Qing's strength and bravery truly stood out to me while Xiao Xicheng's compassion and selflessness were truly moving. Although the arc mostly consists of flashbacks, it still ties in well with the present storyline. The parallels drawn between the main cast and the Yi City group are very clever and add depth to the series. What truly makes this arc heart-wrenching is that its conclusion leaves no room for any hope whatsoever. It's truly a heart-wrenchingly beautiful story.

6b.) In all honesty it's difficult to compare them given their respective complexity and differing circumstances... While I'm not sure if I answered this in the intended format, I did my best.

i) BingQiu: ➜Pros: ⦁ Binghe's assertiveness complements Shen Qingqiu's evasiveness and willful ignorance well. Considering that Shen QIngqiu would likely never be honest about his feelings unless prompted. ⦁ They are the most complex MXTX pair, as both characters are grappling with numerous actual-life problems (such as comphet and abandonment issues, respectively), which lends them a sense of nuance and authenticity. ⦁ Shen Qingqiu shows commitment to learning to be more accommodating of Binghe's relationship needs towards the end of the series while Binghe is learning to make necessary compromises. ➜Cons: ⦁ They have differing values, with Binghe caring only about Shen Qingqiu while Shen Qingqiu cares about other characters, which is a source of contention between them. ⦁ Sometimes, Shen Qingqiu doesn't respect Binghe's agency or personhood and makes high-handed decisions on his behalf. While this is not done maliciously, it nonetheless hurts the latter. This stems from them never truly stepping out of their roles as student and master. ⦁ Oftentimes, Binghe's possessiveness and jealousy terrify Shen Qingqiu (and me)—this causes him to flee from Binghe, aggravating the latter's abandonment and control issues. ⦁ Shen Qingqiu's lack of transparency with Binghe—and himself—is another issue. While the system prevented him from being transparent for a long time, I was disappointed that we never saw him come clean to Binghe at all.

ii) MoShang: ➜Pros: ⦁ The trope of an author's love for their character being reciprocated is very indulgent and gratifying. ⦁ They gradually bring out the best in one another—with Shang Qinhua becoming more standoffish and bold while Mobei-jun becomes more expressive and compromising. ⦁ While they face many of the same issues as BinQiu, I feel like they efficiently subvert many of them. For example, the uneven power dynamic of Mobei-jun being much more powerful than Shang Qinhua and the latter's fear of him is subverted by Shang Qinghua being the creator of PIDW and thus having a degree of omniscience over its characters, setting, and plot points. ➜Cons: ⦁ The physical violence and master/servant aspects of their dynamic are off-putting. ⦁ The lack of straightforward communication between the two results in many misunderstandings. ⦁ In comparison to the other main pairs, they are not as noticeable, defined, or developed due to their limited screen time and prominence in the series.

iii) WangXian: ➜Pros: ⦁ Their natural chemistry is exemplary with each of them supplementing the shortcomings of the other. ⦁ Despite their opposing dispositions and approaches to things, they share similar values and priorities—which enables them to respect and trust each other and collaborate effectively as they mature. ⦁ The extras highlight how, after getting together, they continually work to understand each other's boundaries and learn to accommodate each other's needs. ⦁ Their adaptability is another one of their strong points as a couple. Although they are both pretty headstrong, in Wei Wuxian's second life they gradually learn to make concessions for one other. ➜Cons: ⦁ Their differing communication styles caused a lot of miscommunication and distance between the pair in Wei Wuxian's first life. Although I feel like they've considerably worked through this by the end of the novel and balance each other out nicely now. ⦁ Lan Wangji's limited expressiveness and directness are another point of contention. While Wei Wuxian's obliviousness is legendary, if Lan Wangji had been more transparent, Wei Wuxian wouldn't have misconstrued things to such a large degree. If not for Lan Xichen's intervention, Wei Wuxian might never have realised the extent of Lan Wangji's affection for him. However, over time, Wei Wuxian learns to better read Lan Wangji overcoming this obstacle.

iv) HuaLian: ➜Pros: ⦁ The age-old trope of "even if everyone abandoned you, I would still stand beside you" is unmatched. Hualian embodies the sentiment of loving someone not just at their best but also at their worst; which is an unparalleled depiction of unconditional love. ⦁ Their relationship was founded on a good friendship centred around mutual respect, open communication and sincerity. As such their interactions in the present time always feel comforting and natural as opposed to the other pairs. ⦁ Hua Cheng is very respectful of Xie Lian's agency and supports him in his endeavours. That being said he will step in when Xie Lian is being careless with his own wellbeing which is something the latter needs. ⦁ They greatly complement one another and have both helped each other overcome their respective issues. Namely, Hua Cheng being strong enough to help shoulder Xie Lian's burdens and continue believing in him even when everyone else abandoned him. In the same way, Xie Lian gave Hua Cheng a reason for existence and a place to belong—this not only gave the latter direction but also helped him to value himself more (since someone cared for him). ➜Cons: ⦁ They are sometimes perceived as dull in comparison to other pairings because most of the trials they face are of an external nature, which means they rarely deal with disagreements with each other. ⦁ Hua Cheng's lack of well-developed friendships with anyone other than Xie Lian is somewhat disconcerting.

P.S.1) I have read all three MXTX novels, though I rarely speak about SVSSS. This is mostly because I'm not the biggest fan of BingQiu and Binghe in general. This isn't because SVSSS is a bad book, but rather that I went into it with very high expectations and it was very different to what I thought it would be like. I'm not the biggest fan of the teacher x student trope or large age gaps, so that threw me off as well. Someday I want to reread it and take more time considering it as I do—since I feel like I've greatly misunderstood some characters' intentions midway, especially Binghe. Maybe I'll come to appreciate more someday after becoming more open-minded...

P.S. 2) I do like Jiang Yanli x Jin Zixuan (I would've mentioned them at #2 but you only asked about non-canonical ships). That being said, I totally understand your feelings—especially since I used to feel that way too. I only started appreciating the ship after having watched the live-action and rereading the novel. During the intial arcs, Jin Zixuan doesn't have much respect or care for Jiang Yanli—which was really upsetting. However, judging by the context given one can slighly empathise with his discomfort. After all, no one wants to be forcibly married off to someone they barely know, especially when your peers don't think highly of that person. The disolution of their enagement was something I think was totally necessary at that time. After the war, he grows up a bit—he realises how compassionate Jiang Yanli is after the Soup Incident... This is when his feelings start to shift and he starts pursuing her. Yes, his mother is encouraging him—but at the hunting tournament, he states that he is pursuing her out of his own volition. Added to this, the fact that, even as prideful as Jin Zixuan was, he was willing to put aside his beef with Wei Wuxian and not only invite him to Jing Ling's One-Month Celebration but also go to Qiongqi Path to fetch him to make Jiang Yanli happy really moved me. The live-action's added scene of him having lotuses planted at Golden Carp Tower so Jiang Yanli wouldn't get homesick was endearing as well. Ultimately, Jiang Yanli deserves to be happy, and she was happy with him, so I have no issues with their relationship. They both deserved to see their son grow up...

P.S.3) I'm glad you like Yushi Huang too! She's incredibly underrated—I fear most MXTX female characters are as well... I do ship her with Pei Ming as well—but I'm not too disappointed that MXTX never made them official. I also like the idea that Pei Ming for once wants what he can't have. Xuan Ji's curse on Pei Ming has indeed turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts... How awkward he is around her is incredibly amusing. As prideful as he is, he respects her. Somehow he consistently finds himself being saved by her despite his male chauvinism, which humbles him. I quite like their dynamic and wish we had gotten more scenes of them—hopefully, the donghua will expand just as they did with the Fangxin Arc. I've heard about the revised version but haven't checked it out yet. I'm quite attached to the original, and the bits and pieces I've heard about it have given me mixed feelings. I do like that MXTX expanded on Pei Ming's feelings towards Yushi Huang and hope to find time to read that part sometime soon.

[ Ahhh! Sorry for rambling so long...I wanted to make sure I covered all my bases, and ending up getting ahead of myself again... ]

[qualityrain]

call out my name when you need me again

if you know who I am, why won’t you call my name?

[thenationofzaun]

It really is crazy how much they defanged Jinx this season. Season 1 Jinx went out of her way to murder enforcers. The kills were methodical, brutal, bloody, and Jinx showed no remorse for the violence she committed against Piltover's goons. Because why should she? Meanwhile, Season 2 Jinx only knocks them out and splatters their home with paint. Yes, I'm aware the paint was mixed with the Gray and she essentially blew their attack right back at them which is cool and definitely something Season 1 Jinx would do. But then that turns out not to be a big deal - one kid is shown with a mask and red eyes, no one else is shown with injuries, there are no casualties, and then the story moves on to other things and the Piltover vs Zaun war is forgotten. Fishbones is a much smaller deal than it should be too - only 3 minor characters get taken out and then Fishbones is destroyed before Jinx can do anything else with it. It's also likely the next Act will have her helping Piltover fight Noxus. All her hatred and brutality against Piltover has been toned down. They've made her completely toothless this season.

[shannonsketches]

[minzart]

A thing I want to include in the story is something I see lacking in most media I consume, and it's the lack of conection with someone who is supposed to have been present in your life but isn't since the beggining... and it genuinely does not bother you

I understand why the protagonist cares so much about the "lost father/mother", it's a story, it needs conflic and the angst of "why did you leave me? >:(" is a feeling many can conect

But I genuinely won't buy these feelings if the supposed parent NEVER interacted with the protagonist in a formative age. Like is it making sense to anybody what I'm saying? The parent doesn't want to conect day one and shows no interest afterwards(they are not isolated or kidnaped nor dead etc) and the child never knew who they were and grew up fine with the other role models and guardians during their life, why the fuck would they want to personally conect with a stranger besides the "society demands it" aspects of it?

It can generate conflic with the parent who fucked off and now wants to conect but the child doesn't care(and honest to god i want more petty endings, no they don't make up, live with it), or outside conflic that is outraged these two doesn't want to conect

[sonknuxadow]

knuckles series spoilers like actual spoilers not just me vaguely talking about my feelings

i cant believe they put iblis in the sonic movies before amy . what timeline are we in . sorry i was gonna hold out for a litlte bit on saying anything that could be an actual spoiler but i literally cant stop thinking about Giant Iblis Puppet Jumpscare . also for people who didnt actually watch it and are reading the posts about it this happens when wade is knocked out and sent to the magic ghost dimension and meets pachacamac and theres a musical number where wade is in a knuckles costume acting out knuckles' life so far and the giant iblis puppet shows up because apparently knuckles has fought iblis before??? and the iblis puppet is holding a laptop singing about facebook marketplace. im not lying i couldnt even make this up if i tried

also when i say "damn cant believe iblis got in before amy" i understand that amy would have been harder to incorporate its just wild that this happened. does that make sense. idk