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daswarschonkaputt · 2 years

Text

an incredibly subjective kinnporsche fic rec list

a few caveats before i get into it: i have probably missed fic. this is all my opinion, and if you disagree with it, that’s fine. i’m not giving these fics ratings, or picking out my extra special favourites because that’s just a dick move and inevitably results in writers feeling like shit. (i’ve been there.) if it’s on this list, i enjoyed it enough to remember it. which is saying something because i read a lot of fic. like, so much firefox fucking crashed when i was opening tabs from my ao3 history. i bsod’d my fucking laptop for this. oh and my fic is on this list because hell yeah i recommend it. i fucking wrote it.

these aren’t in any particular order, because they’re mostly in order of my ao3 history. bear in mind that a lot of these were written whilst the show was airing, so they’re not so much canon as canon-adjacent. where i can remember what they go by over on this hellsite, i’ve tagged the author’s in question. if you know any of the handles for authors i’ve missed, feel free to tag them too.

under a cut because there are quite a few here:

A Guide to Living a Mafia-Adjacent Life by puckbaes https://archiveofourown.org/works/39870123

What? Post-canon fic about Chay adjusting to his new life as a mafia-adjacent college student, and making peace with his relationship with Kim. WIP. 20k, 8/11 chapters posted.

Why? This story primarily makes me feel peaceful, to read. Chay’s just trying to get through his life, whilst trying to pick himself up and move on. It’s such a breath of fresh air whenever it updates. Also P’Bank is the best.

for you (i'd burn the world to the ground) by cuteandtwisted https://archiveofourown.org/works/40134927

What? AU where Porsche grew up with the Theerapanyakul’s, and has been Kinn’s faithful bodyguard the entire time. He and Kinn have a tortured relationship. WIP, 24k, 4/5 chapters posted.

Why? This one is not a peaceful read. This one rips out your heart and stomps on it. But unsurprisingly, I’m an angst queen, and I very much enjoy these losers ruining their lives (and each other). Also badass Porsche. We all love badass Porsche, don’t we?

but you’re everywhere (yes you are) by fortunehasgivenup https://archiveofourown.org/works/39221205

What? Canon-divergence where Porsche remembers the kiss on the pier, and talks to Kinn about it. Despite the summary, they are softer than canon. Complete, 90k.

Why? Reading this I kept expecting the other shoe to drop, and it didn’t. Kinn and Porsche fall into each other and figure each other out. It’s just a nice, long canon-divergence fic with low drama and high heat.

within the ablaze by lightshine https://archiveofourown.org/works/39897795

What? A/B/O mpreg AU. Check out the content warnings on AO3 before you brave this one, folks. Porsche gets pregnant, and has to figure out what he’s going to do about it. WIP, 9k, 3/16 chapters posted.

Why? Okay, so only a few chapters have been posted of this one, but what’s there has me intrigued. There’s some interesting worldbuilding here, but again, check the content warnings on AO3. It’s omegaverse, and some of the trope’s more dystopian elements are folded into the world here. This is one of the fic I am subscribed to and am watching to see how it develops.

You picked a dance with the devil, You lucked out by aby01 https://archiveofourown.org/works/39718185

What? A/B/O AU where Porsche is a feral alpha, terrified of being used as someone’s weapon, and Kinn is, well, Kinn. Porsche would like desperately to steer clear of him for forever – there’s just one problem: Chay’s dating Kim. Alpha!Kinn/Alpha!Porsche. Complete, 34k.

Why? Someone tags their fic with Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics and I am there so quickly, you have no idea. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding here. I followed it right from the first chapter and faithfully read every update – I vibed hard with it.

Where Power Resides by Laughsalot3412 (@laughsalot3412 on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/38407180

What? Canon-divergent AU circa episode 2. Vegas demands a steeper price for Porsche hurting his brother, and Kinn ends up going along. Somehow this results in them falling into a BDSM relationship. Complete, 65k.

Why? C’mon guys. This is a fandom classic for a reason. Laughs really knocks it out of the park. The BDSM stuff here is mostly non-sexual, and written really tenderly. It’s really clear what Kinn and Porsche each get out of the relationship, and the way they both come to rely on each other is really beautiful. Also I have a soft spot for Laughs’ Kim, who’s my favourite brand of feral.

The power in the taking by iffervescent (@iffervescent on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/29002584

What? Porsche and Kinn fuck around (sexually) and then find out (about feelings). Kinn’s a dominant asshole, and Porsche hates that that seems to do it for him. Written before the show aired, based on the Filmania trailer, and got a shocking amount really right. Complete, 17k.

Why? Iffy’s a fucking powerhouse, guys. This one is a little darker in tone than the show liked to keep it, but so, so fucking good. Obviously it doesn’t get everything correct canon-wise, but that’s to be expected. It’s still a really good fic.

playing with fire by acrobats (@fractured-ice on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39521733

What? Porsche character study through the lens of smoking. Complete, 2.5k.

Why? A short fic that looks at Porsche and his use of smoking as a coping mechanism. Damn good characterisation. Almost meta, really.

i'm the violence in the pouring rain by theleftboobgrabber (@histypeisnice on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39205392

What? Porsche has a side-hustle on onlyfans. Kinn has no sense of boundaries. Twisty and incredibly hot. WIP, 20k, 2/3 chapters posted.

Why? Um. I have no excuse? I saw a snippet of this posted on tumblr and was absolutely hooked. When I say I want these losers to ruin each other, I think of fics like this one.

tiny spark, mighty flame by BeStillMySlashyHeart https://archiveofourown.org/works/38828970

What? Soulmate AU where your first touch leaves a mark on your soulmate. Gee, wouldn’t it suck if the first time Kinn and Porsche actually touched was when Kinn strangled him in episode two? Wouldn’t it suck if that was how they found out they were soulmates? (Distant laughter.) Complete, 29k.

Why? This was one of the first soulmate AU fic I read that actually approached the matter that Porsche would need a security detail, once it was discovered. Which: I would recommend it just for that on its own. BUT, it’s also a neat fic. There’s a really cool use of the author’s worldbuilding at the end of the fic, which I won’t spoil, but I still think about it. It’s short, it’s sweet, it hits the mark.

Nosy, Nosy by snickerdoodlles (@thecookiemonster77 on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39562044

What? Tankhun and Kim character study. Incredibly in-character, and also incredibly funny. Complete, 13k.

Why? One of the first fic I ever read where the author seemed to just get Tankhun on a subatomic level. This fic is the Tankhun character reference, guys. Also Kim is just so funny to throw at the rest of the cast. Yes, Tankhun. Invade his space. Irritate him. Understand him.

Head.Cars.Bending by hotlemontea https://archiveofourown.org/works/39744693

What? Tankhun ends up halfway across Thailand after a wild night of partying. Porsche and Kinn go to pick him up, and Porsche’s driving puts the fear of God into Kinn. As it fucking should. Complete, 4k.

Why? You ever read a fic that just sets the tone and sticks to it? It’s a simple idea, very straightforward, and utterly sticks the landing. I really enjoyed it. One of the few fic I was able to recall off the top of my head by name when I wrote this list. It’s that good.

Assumptions about you by Sirvaria (@antique-forvalaka on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/38101582

What? Smut fic, Porsche likes being manhandled. Complete, 6k.

Why? Um. UM. I read it for the… character development? Yeah. We’ll go with that. Seriously though, this is the good shit.

gone fishing by snickerdoodlles https://archiveofourown.org/works/39384114

What? Post-canon social media fic. Chay takes over Wik’s Twitter. Complete, 1.5k.

Why? I didn’t realise until I put together this list that this is the same author as “Nosy, Nosy”. It all makes sense. Cute, funny, in-character, which I guess is snickerdooodlles’s trademark now.

A Stacked Deck by Patterpea (@winterberrysea on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/40217793

What? Time travel fic where Porsche is sent back in time after taking a bullet for Kinn. WIP, 39k, 4/16 chapters posted.

Why? It’s time travel fic with badass Porsche. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I was all over this the moment it was posted and will continue to be all over it until it’s complete and then probably for a few months after that. This scratches so many itches and I love it to bits already.

fake love and hennessy by yeetlegay (@yeetlegay on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39083298

What? Pretty Woman AU. Porsche is a prostitute, and Kinn hires him for a week. They have a lot of sex. WIP, 53k, 8/17 chapters posted.

Why? This is another one of the fandom juggernauts, and for good reason. The writing’s swell, everyone’s in character, and Yeetle works hard to maintain their title as the ruling monarch of the horny Kinnporsche fandom.

The King's Tree by LuckyDragon (@luckydragon10 on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39298218

What? Soulmate AU where prior to canon, Kinn got his soulmark removed. Porsche didn’t. Porsche is now faced with a reality where his soulmate was so opposed to his very existence that he had him burned out of his flesh. So, he’s not really best-inclined to letting Kinn in on the secret. WIP, 64k, 12/14 chapters posted.

Why? It’s so good. Like. It’s criminal how underrated this fic is, relatively. Whenever this one updates, I drop everything to go read it. You may know Nemi (the author) from the meta doc – but damn can she write. This one rips my heart out on a daily basis, holds it outside my chest, and then returns it, wrapped in cotton wool. I’m not kidding. It’s so fucking good.

Intent to Cherish by Iffervescent https://archiveofourown.org/works/40304811

What? A/B/O AU with shades of sugar daddy thrown in for fun. Porsche is an atypical omega, and hyperaware of that fact. Kinn wants him really fucking bad – but wants to spoil him more. Complete, 47k.

Why? It lures you in with the promise of scalding hot sex (Iffy’s trademark), only to sucker punch you with fascinating worldbuilding and Kittisawat feels. This fic is so fucking good, guys. This Porsche makes me absolutely lose my mind, and Kinn does too.

cover up, walk away by Ronan Vespertine (Akina1521) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39225051

What? Porsche character study, post-diamond auction. Canon-typical content warnings apply. WIP, 5k, 2/4 chapters posted.

Why? In the aftermath of episode four (and episode five, really, too) I had a lot of feelings about what had happened. In order to process these feelings, I went looking for fic, and cover up was one of the first I found. I enjoyed it a lot, and am secretly waiting for the author to finish it.

whiskey sour by cardamon https://archiveofourown.org/works/39632343

What? Post-canon, a little AU. Kinn and Vegas do business. Pete and Porsche come along. Complete, 1.8k.

Why? It was written before the season finale and it shows, but it’s still pretty fun. All very bloody brutal murder boys. I’d definitely recommend it, if you’re into that.

Tiger Tiger by LuckyDragon https://archiveofourown.org/works/38000350

What? Slight canon divergence, Kinn investigates Porsche and watches him at the fight ring. Small ficlet. Complete, 2k.

Why? I really love Nemi’s Kinn POV. Just a neat ficlet, with a slight AU to it. Could fit into canon.

A Little Wicked by midnightsurge https://archiveofourown.org/works/40197588

What? Canon-divergent AU. Porsche doesn’t sell the watch, and Kinn doesn’t kidnap him to recruit him. That doesn’t mean he’s prepared to leave him alone. Complete, 11k.

Why? I love canon-divergence. It’s one of my favourite tropes. And fics like this are why. They’re so soft in this one – wound-tending, bathing, all the hurt-comfort tropes. And Porsche’s confused horniness for Kinn is great and wonderfully in character – he really gets kissed once and goes, Okay, I guess I like guys now. Good shit.

All for Us by rebellconquerer (@rebellconquerer on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/40326297

What? Post-canon character study. Porsche gets a new tattoo. Complete, 3.5k.

Why? rebellconquerer writes these fantastic, short snapshots of character interaction. This is no exception. Wonderful fic, wonderful premise, wonderfully executed. If you want more where this came from, check their tumblr.

wrapped around your finger (is my ring) by kittysawat https://archiveofourown.org/works/40793439

What? Fake relationship AU. Kinn hires Porsche to be his fiancé, to dodge an arranged marriage. WIP, 7k.

Why? So I guess Kinnporsche has cured me of my burning apathy for fake dating because I am all over this shit, and it’s only one chapter in. Author-san I am looking with Both My Eyes for your next update.

Machine Gun Kick by majestictortoise (@majestictortoise on tumblr) https://archiveofourown.org/works/40501785

What? Post-canon fic where Porsche investigates the incident at Yok’s bar during the finale -- and his investigation leads him to Kim. Complete, 14k

Why? I live for the Porsche and Kim dynamic, which we didn’t get to see at all in canon. It’s so much funnier if they actually get along. It’s so good. It feeds us so well. Heartfelt, entertaining, well-written. I love this fic so much.

between the sheets by DasWarSchonKaputt (dat’s me) https://archiveofourown.org/works/39409224

What? Fake dating/bodyguard AU. Porsche is hired to pretend to be Kinn’s boyfriend whilst secretly being his bodyguard. Complete, 70k.

Why? Cards on the table, I wrote this. And I think it’s fucking great. I know that sounds arrogant, but I really do rate this one. If you haven’t read it, or even if fake dating’s not really your thing – give it a shot. For me?

#kinnporsche fic rec #this is all incredibly subjective #i don't like leaving comments on ao3 - gives me mad anxiety #so this is i guess my substitute for that #please give these fics and their authors a lot of love #i may have missed some bc i had like 30 ao3 tabs open after going through my history #also there's no vegas/pete on this list bc i do not read fic for them #even kimchay i'm picky about #kinnporsche #i tried to strike a balance between what i feel are fandom classics #and lesser known fic that i've stumbled across #also i had to plug my own fic bc if you don't believe in yourself who will #i've been reliably informed it's good tho #i did this instead of replying to comments bc i'm a rebel #edited to add an author tumblr tag i found upon rereading gone fishing #and also to add machine gun kick #because it was a crime i forgot that one

970 notes · View notes

lunanoc · 6 months

Note

Hey there! Your posts about heihua and xiao hua in particular have made me curious and I've only started book 7, so I didn’t get too much og book xiao hua (I have watched all the dramas though). Would you mind talking about him (and/or them) a little more? I'd love to read that!

And if not, then I hope you still have a great day :)

hi! i'd be happy to talk more about xiao hua and hei xiazi in the books if you're interested in my take on them (which honestly thank you i'm flattered you'd want it tbh 😂) so thanks for asking (sorry in advance for how horribly long this is)

before i say anything though, a few disclaimers:

while i do like him, xiao hua is technically not my ultimate blorbo (that's wu xie) so because the brainrot is less intense i'm not gonna pretend i'm an expert on all things xiao hua compared to some other people i can think of. same goes for heihua, which is a ship i do like but more passively, so again, not enough brainrot to be a super expert

i haven't read everything they're involved in yet, so for complete transparency, i'm currently about halfway through sha hai in my chronological order read of everything, and anything after that point i've read in bits and pieces only (like various extras, bits of yucun biji etc), so i notably haven't read flowery night. as far as heihua goes, the only thing i've read where they directly interact extensively is the beginning portion of what's considered restart part 2 aka the mute village storyline, but to my knowledge they don't really interact in real time before that point or barely. so i won't be talking about flowery night or the dragon vein trilogy that takes place after restart

any quotes will be pulled from merebear's translations of the dmbj books

i won't be avoiding spoilers so spoiler warning

NOW

with that out of the way, let's talk about book xiao hua and a little about book heihua. i'll be comparing to mostly ultimate note in terms of the adaptations but i'll try not to get too much into that, so the tldr of it is just to bear in mind their dynamic and xiao hua's character in that are significantly different in some ways from how they are in the books. if you want a good drama portrayal of book xiao hua imo the best by far is lost tomb 2 xiao hua even if even he isn't 100% perfect either. anyway i'm getting off track 🏃‍♀️

since you mentioned book 7, it's worth mentioning for anyone unfamiliar with the books that canonically xiao hua shows up for the first time fairly late in the story at the start of chinese volume 7, more specifically the xinyue restaurant auction, while hei xiazi briefly features in chinese volumes 4 and 5 as part of wu sanxing's double agent team along with xiaoge, but by comparison you don't get much about him besides that he's mysterious and competent on a scale wu xie equates with xiaoge. wu xie and hei xiazi don't interact much, so he's pratically not there and leaves you wondering what relevance he has to the story, which is only ever answered come sha hai. and more importantly at that point, there's no established connection between him and xiao hua at all, which is the major difference with the drama adaptations, namely ultimate note. you do find out later, both in sha hai and a thousand faces, that they're at the very least acquainted with each other to some extent, but that's information you only get much later. so essentially any heihua content pre sha hai is necessarily canon divergence au, and yes that includes ultimate note

xiao hua as a character then. it's interesting to note that he's fascinating in how eeriely similar he ends up being to hei xiazi in some respects, namely in how they operate, which is why i feel they get along as well as they do, but let's look at him independently first because there's a lot to say about him.

keeping in mind that the books are all, exceptions aside, from wu xie's perspective, xiao hua isn't named until fairly late into book 7. they meet by chance as they cross paths in xinyue restaurant, but he doesn't introduce himself to wu xie who calls him Pink Shirt until you reach a much later portion of the book that's never been adapted simply because ultimate note changed the story too significantly by introducing him early to keep that entire bit, which is terrible in some ways because it's such a fun scene, but we'll get to that later. in the meantime, here's xiao hua's first appearence, which establishes through frequent paralleled behavior that the reader is meant to preceive some degree of similarity between wu xie and xiao hua as well, which i'll also get to later:

Just as I was about to speak, the man saw Poker-face behind me and his face instantly changed. I thought he knew Poker-Face, but when I was about to start asking questions, I saw a man come out from behind Poker-Face. He must have followed us in. The man was dressed in a black suit with a pink shirt underneath and no tie. He was very relaxed. The man went up immediately and asked, “Young Master, the usual?” The man didn’t speak, but looked at me and stopped. I suddenly felt that he was a little familiar. I lived in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, so I honestly didn’t have a lot of chances to meet acquaintances in Beijing. At this moment, my mind was stuck, and I couldn’t remember who this man was, but I smiled reflexively. The man had obviously stopped like me, and was looking at me with a very surprised and puzzled expression on his face before he also smiled. (...) The both of us smiled pervertedly at each other for a long time, but neither recognized the other. Honestly, when I looked at him, I felt as if I had seen him somewhere before. But on closer reflection, that was all it was. I simply felt that he was familiar. (...) The two of us shared a look, but we really couldn’t remember, and were both a little embarrassed. The old fellow with glasses was amused. These old Beijingers were slick and had seen all kinds of things. He gave us a roundabout: “Do the two young masters know each other? Let’s not stand here blocking the elevator door. When you meet someone you know, you’ll remember.” As he said this, he invited the other party in. Pink Shirt shook his head as if it was inconceivable, looked at me thoughtfully, and then turned and walked into the inner hall. He had only taken a few steps when he looked back at me again. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 6 'Auction' & 7 'Auction Part II'

much like hei xiazi, xiao hua is established as mysterious and somewhat unfathomable in a way that niggles at wu xie who can't remember why it is he recongnizes this man he to all intents and purposes should never have met given they don't run in the same circles and live in areas quite far apart. he takes note of how apparently disinterested he is when he notices that xiao hua is sitting across the iron triangle on the upper floor of the auction house, seemingly on his phone utterly bored out of his mind or acting like he's above what's happening really:

I looked carefully and saw Pink Shirt in a box on the left side opposite us. It seemed that he was alone and playing on his cell-phone. (...) Basically, it seemed like this was the only item being sold today, so all these people had come prepared to win. Thinking that, I looked at Pink Shirt, who wasn’t far away. He was no longer playing with his phone, but arrogantly sitting on a western-style sofa, and staring at the ceiling with his arms crossed. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 8 'Feast for Collectors', 9 'Memories Part I

but of course he's very much paying attention, as pangzi points out:

He took no notice at all, and simply wiped it with his hand and continued: “It’s time for a break, and when the second half comes, I bet another two million gets added. Goddamn it, this Fat Master has learned a lot today.” (...) He pointed to Pink Shirt again. “This guy is also very good. He’s been playing with his phone the whole time and hasn’t even raised his head. He rang the last bell just before the break. It seems he’s determined to win and doesn’t even want to compete. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 11 'Lighting the Sky Lantern'

and this is where we come back to how in some aspects he and hei xiazi are actually quite similar in their approach, in a way that's markedly different from how ultimate note sets out to contrast them almost glaringly. both he and xiao hua cultivate a persona of nonchalence with a devil may care attitude, but behind the false ease and approchability, there's a calculating and efficient mind aware of its surroundings at all times. in a similar way, very quickly you also realize that xiao hua, far from the prim and proper young master he's presented as in ultimate note, is quite literally just as unhinged.

from the moment xiaoge jumps into action to fight the restaurant security staff for the qilin seal, xiao hua jumps to fight him too, except contrary to ultimate note, this isn't in an effort to save face and throw huo xiangu off because he's working with wu xie, and again, he shows himself to be calculating and cautious:

Between one thought and the next, Poker-face flashed like lightning from my side and jumped straight down from the second-floor balcony. His behavior left me stunned, and screams could be heard everywhere. I saw him make it to the ground and turn over swiftly before I heard another round of exclamations. I turned to look and saw Pink Shirt had one hand holding the railing of the gallery, while the other hand was in his pocket. He also jumped down and landed in front of Poker-face. On the other side, Fatty gave a loud roar, grabbed a stool, kicked down the screen, and rushed at the hotel staff who rushed in. The scene was a complete mess. (...) A man who rushed up was knocked down by Poker-face, and Pink Shirt was protecting the front of the glass cabinet. The two men looked at each other but hadn't yet come to blows. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 11 'Lighting the Sky Lantern', 12 'Wreaking Havoc in Heaven'

until wu xie finally manages to get downstairs with pangzi, at which point he finds xiao hua, ass handed to him by xiaoge because it's xiaoge, but instead of angry or surprised or any number of appropriate reactions at being beaten up, the maniac is smiling gleefully. and wu xie understandably thinks it's really fcking weird:

When I came downstairs, the glass cabinet with the seal had been broken and the thing inside had been taken out. Poker-face was looking at the seal carefully and had no intention of leaving. Pink Shirt was getting up from the ground, clutching his neck and coughing. It appeared he had already been beaten once. When we walked past him, however, we saw him coughing, smiling, and looking at us as if he were very happy. I went up to the stage and told Poker- face to take the seal and get away quickly. As soon as I turned around, I saw Pink Shirt approach me and say, “Hey, Brother.” Fatty and I looked at him. Fatty lifted the table and Pink Shirt immediately waved, “Wait, wait!” He took a business card from his pocket, handed it to us, and pointed to the imperial seal. “I won’t stop you. Here’s my contact information. When you want to sell the stolen goods, call me.” Damn it, I said to myself, definitely not a serious person. Fatty actually went up and took the business card, and Pink Shirt made a gesture of invitation. I was so anxious that I pushed them aside and rushed out. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 13 'Huo Xiuxiu'

it's at this point we also get introduced to huo xiuxiu (best girl who i could also talk tbh) who's also an absolute gremlin who teams up with xiao hua partly at huo xiangu's behest to test the iron triangle. which is where get into the entire portion of book that couldn't be adapted, and is the part the ultimate note actually changed significantly, because the iron triangle aren't on the run from huo xiangu, she's the one sheltering them. and so xiao hua's real introduction comes in the form of an elaborate scheme between him, huo xiuxiu, and huo xiangu wherein he disguises himself as huo xiuxiu thanks to the bone-shrinking technique, so successfully even xiaoge doesn't detect it until all three of them clue into something being very wrong, at which point he attacks them, gets his ass handed to him by xiaoge again, and once again finds it hilarious and the challenge has made him want xiaoge around clearly:

He staggered but didn’t fall to the ground. At the same time, I suddenly saw him pull a strange dagger from his sleeve, which seemed to be an antique. Holding it in a reverse grip, he rushed towards Poker-face. I immediately shouted “Be careful!” only to see that Poker-face was no longer in his original position. At the same time, a lightning-quick shadow flashed through the air and instantly knocked the man out with his knee. (...) I knew that the real malicious one was this guy, so I didn’t feel an ounce of pity for him as I helped Poker-face subdue him first. When “Xiuxiu” got up from the ground, his whole body suddenly stretched out in a strange posture. He suddenly got bigger, his shoulders widened, his height increased, and the mask was torn from his face. When I looked at him, I immediately recognized Pink Shirt. He was gasping as he laughed: “It hurts way more getting hit when shrunk to that size. No joke.” (...) Pink Shirt rubbed his joints, smiled, and then came up to me and patted me on the shoulder. He turned and nodded to Granny Huo: “Yes, you have a good eye.” Then he pointed to Poker-face and said, “This guy belongs to me." — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 30 'Get Down to Business'

so essentially, all this was a very long-winded way of showing that xiao hua, before we even know his name and identity, is established as unpredictable, ruthless, calculating, faux insouciant, and a particular flavor of playful that wu xie clearly finds unhinged and is extremely put off by for a hot minute, mostly because he's not aware (not is the reader at this point) that xiao hua's entire life has forged him into finding amusement and challenge in unorthodox things.

in the same way, it's directly because of this that contrary to ultimate note (and even any of the other early dramas like lost tomb 2) he's also absolutely not immediately ride or die for wu xie despite knowing very well they're childhood friends. he abandons wu xie, who as per his assessment was in all likelihood dead or dying, to secure his own escape before coming back to find him, which is the point where wu xie finally realizes the single greatest point of divergence between them. up until then, both wu xie and the narrative make a point of establishing parallels between wu xie and xiao hua, and here finally, what divides them is made clear, and the narrative establishes them as two sides of the same coin separated by this one split in personal code of ethics:

He apparently didn’t rush to check on my situation after I fell into a coma, but continued to climb inside instead. He reached the end of the crevice, completed his task, and then came out to see if I was dead or not. I couldn’t help but feel a little upset. I didn’t know whether this could be considered a ruthless or firm mentality, but he obviously didn’t feel burdened by it. I had finally found a difference between the two of us. But since I didn’t have the physical strength and didn’t want to break our tacit understanding, I didn’t bother expressing this emotion. I knew that when it came to this industry, the habit of desperately rescuing your companions didn’t exist. There seemed to be a kind of prior agreement where two people decided to save themselves if both parties were in danger. It was actually very fair if you thought about it. It was true that Xiao Hua was uncertain about my situation at the time, and even I would hesitate to go back and rescue someone if I were him. I couldn’t help thinking of Fatty and Poker-face again. If they were here, the black-haired corpse would’ve had his head cut off before he could scratch my back. Or I would have seen Fatty rush out from those pottery jars and screw everything up. But I would have been saved. At that moment, I felt an extreme sense of insecurity, more than I had felt before. Although we were three people now, I was really only responsible for myself. It was a very disconcerting thought. At the same time, I suddenly understood why Xiao Hua hadn’t been grateful but angry at me for going into the cave to save him. He was used to solving his problems by himself. Before he did these kinds of things, he had already accepted that there wouldn’t be any backup or help. He wouldn’t blame anyone for his own death, nor would he blame himself for others’ death. Was this the Mystic Nine’s mindset? I felt a chill in my heart. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 53 'Snake Bite'

and to be clear, this doesn't mean xiao hua is a bad person, nor does the narrative present him as one. it's simply the point where both wu xie and xiao hua diverge clearly when up until then they'd been presented as eerily paralleled. the difference between lies in where this mentality and stance is one that will eventually cause wu xie much grief and trauma when he's forced to adopt it during sha hai, it's simply one that xiao hua adopted too long ago to function without, and has stopped dwelling on if he ever did. similarly, xiao hua takes even longer to finally look at wu xie and see his use and welcome his presence genuinely, where before he'd still been cultivating the same easily approchable persona, though wu xie poked several holes into it before then:

Xiao Hua gave me a meaningful smile, “I found another reason why Granny Huo asked me to bring you. To some extent, you’re also a knowledgeable little shit.” I grinned, thinking that these words made it sound like he didn’t want me to be here before. — Daomu Biji Volume 7, ch. 55 'Unlock the Password'

from there, once xiao hua begins to truly open up to wu xie as a friend rather than a burden he's been forced into babysitting, he very quickly picks up on their similarities and what divides them as well, and in a show of almost uncharacteristic mercy, tries to spare wu xie from the ruthlessness he's accustomed to adopting to an extent when wu xie is forced to impersonate wu sanxing and confront just how ugly and lawless the underground business is. it's why this particular scene with panzi is incredibly touching in that despite confronting him with the responsability behind his choices, he spares wu xie from having to have literal blood on his hands, and in that way spares the version of himself he could have been had life not twisted him the way it has:

“Tonight is the key,” Xiao Hua said. “We just need a person to ‘cash’ in on our ‘achievement.’ Pan Zi has to come forward to determine how many people are on our side. Then, Wang Ba Qiu and Lao Liu will be eliminated later tonight.” I was completely shocked, “What do you mean?” “Never put something off until tomorrow. This is Master Three’s rule and Wang Ba Qiu knows it very well. He won’t wait for death.” As Xiao Hua spoke, he looked up at the sky. “It’s going to rain blood tonight.” I gave him a surprised look, “You can say such terrible words without batting an eye. How do you do it?” Xiao Hua smiled, “My grandfather said that sentence, and my mother relayed it to me. I was only seventeen when I heard those words.” As he said this, he sighed, “Stress is the kind of thing that when you talk about it, it’s gone.” I frowned and felt a sudden burst of fear in my heart. I never thought this kind of thing would happen again. “Must it happen like this?” I asked him. “Why don’t we call the police anonymously and have them kill him?” “Mr. Naïve is a fitting nickname,” Xiao Hua said. “If I were your Uncle Three, I might have found a way to keep you naïve, but I’m not. Little Master Three, let’s face reality. This was your choice.” I was silent as I looked at Changsha passing by outside the car window. I remembered that Pan Zi had said something similar to me before. Indeed, this was my choice. (...) While we ate, I asked Xiao Hua when the evening’s events would begin. He merely smiled without saying a word and kept making me drink. It was a kind of wine I couldn’t identify by taste, but I suspected it was mung bean roast, which was the kind of beverage grave robbers used to drink. Not only did it have some crystallized sugar and medicinal ingredients in it, but it had a spicy flavor and tasted like mung bean soup. After only a few drinks, I got drunk without warning and didn’t even notice when I became muddle-headed. When I woke up, it was already the next morning. Xiao Hua and Pan Zi were lying on the sofa in my room, both covered in blood and sleeping soundly. I looked out the window at the bright sunshine and knew that everything was over. — Daomu Biji Volume 8 Part I, ch. 10 'End of the Act'

looking at all this (and this is is my purely my own opinion, so take it with a grain of salt), my main issue with ultimate note xiao hua (and heihua by extension which i'll get into briefly) is that he's not only in some aspects a little to a lot OOC, he's mostly a lot more one-dimensional where book xiao hua is anything but

as far as heihua as a ship goes, they don't actually interact much if at all until much later in canon, even if you interestingly discover in sha hai that it's implied that hei xiazi is working with wu xie on the sha hai project at xiao hua's behest, and that much of his trust in wu xie and his plan stems from xiao hua's trust in wu xie:

It was really a heavy loss. Why did he encounter such tragic consequences every time he tried to emulate Lei Feng67 and do good deeds, while doing unethical things often made him a lot more money? Was he being cheated by partnering up with Xie Yuchen and Wu Xie? He found it very interesting. He seldom completely ignored the details and promised others he’d do something. If he was part of a certain plan, then he had to know every aspect very well— not only his part but the others’ parts as well This was the only time he was doing something he knew almost nothing about, and the only reason was: “You just have to trust him.” He hoped doing this wasn’t a stupid decision. If this thing failed, then he would blacken the Wu family’s and Xie Yuchen’s credit himself. — Sand Sea Part III, ch. 117 'Fleeing Cockroaches'

there's also a fun bit in part I where hei xiazi, before disappearing to retrieve wu xie and wang meng from beneath the sand in gutongjing, leaves li cu with a backpack and a phone with one number he tells him to call for help, and once li cu actually calls it, you understand it's xiao hua on the other end who's entirely nonchalent about it:

Li Cu trembled as he picked up the phone, pressed the call button on reflex, and put it by his ear. After a while, he heard a voice from the other side say: “Who is it? Who called me just now?” “Well…I’m a messenger.” Li Cu said incoherently. “Someone asked me to give you a message.” He thought that after hearing this, the other party would reply to him and say “talk” or “wait a minute, I’ll find a quiet place” in a very low, solemn voice, but the other party said indifferently: “I’m a little busy now, can you call me back in thirty minutes?” Li Cu paused for a moment and thought, you’re even giving me orders now, before he said, “But this message is very important.” “My business is also quite important. If he’s really in such a hurry, why not come to me instead of asking you to call and give me a message?” The other party continued, “I’ll talk to you in thirty minutes. It’s okay if you don’t call.” At this point, the man hung up. — Sand Sea Part I, ch. 40 'Unique Number'

and it's arguable that much of the vagueness stems from the very real necessity of secrecy that the whole sha hai plan demands, but while much of this reads as "oh? he's inconvenienced? that's too bad, also i'm busy at the moment please call back at a better time", given how his character has been established before, it's safe to say this isn't the genuine annoyance and exasperation you get from him in ultimate note wherever hei xiazi is concerned, he's far too enticed by chaos as a form of vaguely perverse amusement. it reads far more (again in my opinion) as how much of heihua's dynamic that i've seen play out in the books goes, that is to say them prodding at each other in a giant mutual game of chicken where they're both grinning inwardly or outwardly like the gremlin trashmen they are

the entire premise of restart part 2 is the iron triangle and the baby triangle needling xiao hua into gossiping about hei xiazi because he's late to their get together, to which he happily complies because oh boy that's this week's chance at getting a tally on the prod sheet.

i'm not entirely sure this is coherent or at all what you were looking for, and is definitely way too long woops, but uh. that's my xiao hua/heihua word vomit? i guess? book xiao hua and/or heihua enthusiasts are very welcome to add onto or debate any of this, i leave the rest to the real experts 😂

#how is it that the first meta i write is for xiao hua #and heihua #when neither are my brainrot blorbos #i clearly need to do this for pingxie #or general lore #or wu xie #or xiaoge #but those would be actual books atp #please send help #meta #xie yuchen #heihua #dmbj #dmbj meta

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oldshrewsburyian · 2 years

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I finished s1 of OFMD, and I have Thoughts. I am, of course, not going to inflict them all on you, but I do want to point out one place where my reading/reception of the show and its characters diverged wildly from other reception I’ve seen. And it’s here: I think Stede spends much (most) of the first season as a terrible person who hasn’t unlearned the toxic masculinity of the patriarchal structures he’s steeped in and benefited from. Moreover, I think this makes the show better and more interesting than it would be with the Naive and Sanguine Gay Man Runs Away To Sea narrative. Polysemy is cool and all, and this show is obviously into that, but here’s my case, put briefly in a series of responses to examined objections. [Spoilers, obviously, ahead.]

“He abolishes the plunder system in order to establish a kindlier, gentler piracy!” ...He abolishes the plunder system and reestablishes the salary system of the British Navy. I’m not saying he’s being disingenuous when he tells the crew what he wants to do. But what it amounts to is also replicating the only system he’s used to.

“He tells the pirates bedtime stories!” Hmm yeah. Put another way, he runs away from the patriarchal system in which he is such a signal failure, and from which he has been shown to be voluntarily disengaged, to recreate another patriarchal system in which he can have (or at least playact) absolute control. On the Revenge, in contrast to his household, he can be the patriarch who has supreme authority and who shows care (in ways of his choosing) to be rewarded with love in return. The fact that he recreates a gentleman’s sanctum (library, wardrobe, pantry) is also significant, I think.

“He likes marmalade, aww!” He’s not Winnie the Pooh. He increased the entire crew’s risk of starvation because he likes Seville marmalade on his toast. Here and elsewhere, he is shown to be stunningly self-centered (though not self-aware.)

“He just doesn’t understand how to cope with society!” Oh, I think he understands perfectly well; he just doesn’t want to. After all, he understands both the mores of the aristocratic class and how to manipulate them, as illustrated at the party. When he decides to unleash “passive aggression,” moreover, he does so in ways that are strikingly vicious. It’s a scene played successfully for comedy, of course; these are terrible, exploitative people who are a hairsbreadth away from tearing out each other’s throats in order to preserve respectability. But also: Stede is ready to destroy their lives and like it.

“He just likes drama and wants to make Ed happy!” He does want to make Ed happy, yes. He is dangerously, incorrectly confident that he knows what that means. The art of fuckery, for instance, is achieved despite Stede, with the crew on their own initiative using ideas he vetoed in his authoritarian snit.

For all these reasons, I think that the end of e7, where Blackbeard suggests co-captaining, is a really important moment in Stede’s character development. He is -- finally! -- relinquishing his need for absolute control. It is only in partnership with Blackbeard, in other words, that he can actually start moving towards a less hierarchical, less authoritarian, even queered (ahem) model of piracy and life.

After e7, in a non-linear fashion (!), we see Stede making progress. But it still seems entirely plausible to me that Blackbeard would decide that, when it came to a moment of crisis, Stede would decide on the comfort zone of familiar patterns rather than a high-risk sailing into the great unknown. There’s enough truth in Badminton’s nocturnal monologue to make it sting. (After all, it is Ed who is equated with Peter Pan, who thinks that even Death will be an awfully big adventure. Stede is equated with Pinocchio, who just wants to be accepted as normal in/by society.)

In a very satisfyingly classic dramatic move, Stede literally descends to the brink of death, in ways that are hilariously overkill: first Badminton tries to shoot him, then Mary tries to Jael-and-Sisera him (I support her), and then he finally does “perish” ...in a coup de theâtre that requires him to receive help from people he has previously ignored or despised or both. This, not e6, shows him as a full participant in collaborative fuckery. So Stede, having gone like Gilgamesh and Odysseus and Aeneas to the land of the dead, can finally return and start being a hero on the model he (with a kindly assist from the crew) previously deluded himself into believing he was. That’s what I call a season finale.

#ofmd #chock full of queer pirates #pirates #stede bonnet #this show is so silly and so smart and i like it so much

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cer-rata · 2 months

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Can we talk about Catwoman, Bruce Wayne and maybe a little about the concept of crime?

Just gonna get it out of the way: Yes Gotham war is bad for many clear, obvious reasons. It reads like like crack fic, though I personally believe that's more on editorial than Zdarsky, as this is perhaps one of the most clearly top-down, artificial, corporate plots since Civil War II.

But I'm not going to focus on the genuinely hilarious ideas here, and instead talk about the original sin: Selina's big idea.

It immediately falls apart under any basic scrutiny: How is she convincing all of these wildly different people to become cat burglars? That's not an easy skill set to teach, especially at this scale. If the whole issue is as simple as a lack of work skills, why didn't she teach them anything else? Literally anything? If she has this level of reach and status to be able to convince 75%(!!!) of the underworld to throw in with her why would she use it this way?

On a level Catwoman has always had her nose closer to the ground that Batman could ever. She lives in the gray areas of Gotham. She gets, on a personal level, the ways that society fails the little people and she's been pretty consistent about going to the paint to help people in bad situations. So her wanting to really support people and get them a better shake is very in line with her character.

But she's never been dumb or blindly idealistic and certainly not naive. In fact if anyone should be able instantly suss out the logical problems with this concept, it would be the woman who probably understands Gotham's underbelly better than anyone else. She understands how the business works and would know that you can't support an entire criminal economy on stealing from the homes of the wealthy. Selina has been so successful because she's the BEST at what she does, and because her style is uncommon enough that most people aren't expecting to get hit by her. Suddenly there are what, thousands of cat burglars just running around every night? Then the rich just increase their security, and then what? The idea that it worked at all is such an assault on the suspension of disbelief. And it implies a fundamental misunderstanding of crime and what Bruce/Batman is even trying to do.

See there's an implicit suggestion here that Selina is trying to take care of people while Bruce only cares about penalizing offenders, and that's just...a really bad fanon take honestly. It stems partially from the problem of using "criminal" to describe a class of people. The idea that some people are just criminals to be stopped because all they can understand is crime. That's not a helpful or realistic way to look at crime. I think we understand that people turn to crime for many diverse reasons. We flatten their narratives because there's no time to go into the complex motivations of each Two-Face grunt, but in better written works it's implied to be there regardless.

On numerous occasions, it has been made very clear that Bruceman understands this. How could he not? He's one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet, and his autistic special interest is criminology. Like, he knows, he obviously knows, especially at this point in his career. A lot of damage has been done by the idea that Bruce Wayne and Batman are fundamentally separate people. there's plenty of drama in the discussion of being torn between a normal life and the obsession, but the obsession is always there, mask or not. Batman isn't supposed to be some bizarre divergent personality, and no I am not going to talk about Zur and you can't make me! He has historically used his money and influence to support less fortunate Gothamites since always. He's not some out of touch uber-wealthy person who thinks that beating poor people is the only answer. He's been written like that before by people who wish he was Rorschach instead, but that is not the overarching norm of his character. It's a sin comparable with forgetting that Clark Kent is an actual investigative reporter. Bruce Wayne works to counter the structural inequality that leads to common crime, and Batman steps in to protect people from violence, and uncommon, existentially different criminals. Penguin, Black Mask, Falcone--sure Batman will stop a mugging, but he really exists to punish the people who are benefiting off of the suffering of others. Even then, he'd still prefer if they redeemed themselves and moved on.

This is from the 2004 The Batman cartoon tie-in, but I think it illustrates the point really well.

Like I've said before in other posts, violence is a tool in his belt, but he knows it's not the solution. Batman dissuades, Bruce Wayne offers support and options. Unfortunately, popular discussion on Bruceman has lost a lot of this plot, and focuses on the eye catching brutality that the movies and popular dark adaptations have championed. So what we get is this weird meta commentary that is supposed to make Batman look like a violent totalitarian punching down on people and missing the point when in reality, he gets the point! He super gets the point! The reason he doesn't kill is that he believes everyone deserves to try to be better, that concept makes no sense with a Batman who doesn't see criminals as people! Selina doesn't even have a point! She's supposed to represent a more socially conscious, compassionate, realistic perspective, but she's just not correct! It's an insane nothing-burger even before he completely loses his mind because of the plot. There are legitimate ideological issues to be pulled out between he and Selina. If she had become a crime boss like Jason tried to (and once did herself if I remember correctly) and used that to suppress the worse actors in a way he couldn't, you could really have them reckon with what they're willing to do to keep people safe and where the line actually is. Because they're all criminals in the end, what matters is where they draw the line. Batman works with plenty of dangerous and formally dangerous criminals actually, Harley and Ghost-Maker and Jason and Damian and--he's not some stupid inflexible hardliner cop. Stories where Batman is zealous about crime as like an amorphous concept are insane because they suggest that he doesn't recognize that his extrajudicial nature already complicates matters. That's another reason he doesn't kill by the way! He doesn't think he's the law! He's just a guy! Why should he get to decide the value of someone's life? But even then, the idea that the whole family would fall into civil war over Bruce and Selina having an ideological tiff is such an affront to all of them as individual characters. None of them are stupid enough to deal with things this way. It's not an exploration of character flaws if you're just making them stupid.

There's a problem about writers coming onto Batbooks and revealing that they have done no research into why people commit crimes and it creates narratives where Batman also doesn't understand the point, when he has and should!

Tldr,

Writers, stop pretending that Batman doesn't understand the social/systemic aspect of crime, and also maybe look into how it actually works yeah?

#dc comics #dc editorial answer for your crimes #batman #bruce wayne #selina kyle #bad writing #meta analysis

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plusvanity · 11 days

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First of all, hello!

I admire your strength to be able to carry on, despite the hate! You're a proud artist and you show it. That's really cool! If I were in your position I would've deleted my account because I wouldn't have had the mental stability to endure all of that!

Honestly, I'm not the shipping kind of person, but this regards any kind of ship. But if people like it - then what kind of person would I be to try to stop them? Live and let live.

I read your fanfic anyway because I find the dynamic between your version of Pelle and Varg interesting! I rather see it as a "what if", an alternative universe than anything else. Like seperating Burzum from Varg I separate this different interpretation of him from the real person.

Nevertheless, I'm writing this ask because I recenty bought Vargs book "My Burzum Story" (yeahhh you can judge me haha) and he mentioned that the song "Han som reiste" (He who left) was his "own little private and secret instrumental homage to Dead, the vocalist of Mayhem, who killed himself." I had you in mind and thought I might share it with you.

I don't know if it's true or not but maybe it can serve as an inspiration?

I actually wanted to ask as anon, but there is no reason for that. I mean we are all (mostly) adults who should be able to practice constructive, objective and fair criticism. People can have their opinions - I respect that - as long as they're not hurting anyone.

To round it up, have a great day/evening!

Greetings from Germany!

Hey there!!

Thank you so much for understanding my view. This doesn't mean agreeing with everything I have to say, and it's perfectly alright!

I felt the need to address this issue since the latest hate I've received accumulated, and it started to mentally affect me.

Everyone is free to 'love or hate' me, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, everyone can think for themselves their own truth (and I actually encourage that, it's good, it helps us evolve as individuals). I'm sure that the ones that I talked about yesterday think that I 'hate them so much', but I don't. I hope that the special person with a cute pfp who sent them my big post together with a few asks will be generous enough to send them this paragraph so they understand that there's NO ANIMOSITY from me to them.

People can block me if they don't like me or agree with me, I absolutely do not take this as a personal offence. (I hope they see this, too)

You're absolutely right about 'live and let live'. I moved on from yesterday's drama, and I hope that ebeyone else did.

I'm a big fan of Burzum, I think I know all of his discography on guitar, lol. So, yes, separate the musician from the music.

Thank you for giving my fic a try, even if you're not particularly interested in 'shipping'. It's definitely canon-divergent. It's probably the biggest 'What if' that I ever came with.

I don't judge you for what you spend your money on, bro. You're an adult, so no worries about it. I didn't know this particular detail actually! I don't read Varg's books, so I probably would've never come across this information 👀. So, thank you very much for sharing this with me! I will definitely use it in my fic!! 🖤🖤🖤

I agree with you again about practising constructive criticism. It's so easy to be spiteful, but it takes strength to be gentle and open to other's views. I keep an open mind even for the things that I fully understand, especially it they 'help' the individual in some way and they're not dangerous like art, for example.

Thank you so much for your message! Greetings from Pelle's beloved Transylvania 🖤

#ask response

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cielpansyhive · 6 months

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I haven't checked my stats on AO3 in a year or more. I know people rank things different ways. Some people go by hits, others kudos, some by comments, bookmarks, subscriptions, ect. You get the picture. Hits are tricky, I've heard of people getting hits by bots. Which throws everything off, you see 50 hits and zero kudos, like, "fuck, these people read and hated it?" Maybe, but also it could have been a bot. For me hits can be more discouraging than helpful. I go by everything other than hits. So, with that in mind, I want to talk about my most successful works. (This is in no way meant to be me boasting. I'm a small-time writer. My point is, if I can do it, YOU can do it.)

I believe my most popular work is Revamp, it has the most subscriptions and comments. It's the work I'm known for. It's a little on the lower end for kudos and bookmarks, but it's not finished. The very fic people know me for is also my first work. (Because of this I'm working on revising what I have before updating another chapter. No worries, it's not abandoned and never will be.) That said, I was terrified to post it originally. Not only was it my first but there were maybe ten other fics at the time with trans Ciel and that was it. I didn't know if there was a reason for that. Lack of interest? People getting hate? I was clueless. But I had a story to tell so I sucked it up and posted and I'm glad I did! I've talked to so many people and befriended some because of that fic. I take forever to update and people still get excited over it when I do update. It really means a lot! My life changed because of posting it and it gave me the courage to pursue writing and share my stuff.

My highest bookmarked and work with the 3rd most kudos is a smut one-shot (That Butler, Sensitive) that I was worried would be "too weird" for people. I know way more people who think hand kinks are weird than ones that are neutral or into it. It was another I was reluctant to post and bam people loved it. I'm still shocked by the feedback.

My highest kudo work, the first couple chapters were awful. They were quick little things I wrote for tumblr, I got enough feedback I decided to post them on AO3. Chapter 1 I wrote drunk, I'm not even joking. Did I have fun with it? Yes. Was it to my standard? Fuck no. I have since revised the first two chapters. The third chapter, Sebastian is so OOC, but once again I did have fun with it. The last chapter has figging, a kink I don't know anyone of really having...at least in my personal life. The work as a whole (Canon Divergent SebaCiel) is just fun debauchery. In the beginning it was difficult for me to post smut. It was difficult to write too, I'd get stuck in my own head. But if you write whatever thoughts flow out, it's so simple! Because I became more comfortable, I was able to write my second highest kudo work (Clathrus Archeri) that was inspired by a fungus. Yep, we get that freaky with it. My readers enjoy it, it's all good.

My fourth highest bookmarked and fifth highest kudo work (Relax) is one that I stated was "the worst smut I've ever written." It was extremely self-indulgent but at the same time I spent so long editing it that at the end I hated it. I thought in comparison to my other smut it was low level. It also had trans Ciel, so I'm glad one of my works with him made it in the top 5. Yet, I wouldn't have that had I not posted.

While most of my works are obviously Kuroshitsuji, I do have works for Voltron too. I have almost zero interactions with the Voltron fandom. I will reblog things and read (kudo, bookmark, subscribe), but besides comments on my own fics I haven't talked to anyone. A big part is that I'm shy. Another is that I'm too old for fandom drama, ship wars, and what have you. If someone wants to chat with me, I'm glad and I will talk, but I'm not putting myself out there. The same will go when I start posting Vanitas no Carte fics. I'm very ship and let ship and that will piss off some people. It's easier for people to approach me rather than me trying to figure out if someone will hate me for my ships or not. Okay, very long intro for my next point. My third highest subscribed work (Atlas Ocean Rescue) is for the Voltron fandom. They don't know me from anywhere, exception the kuro people that also like Voltron, but apparently my work has readers. This fic is super self-indulgent, I love mermen okay? I'd say overall my Voltron works aren't doing too bad considering I basically just post and run. As anxious as I get to post anything, posting for another fandom was really hard. There wasn't the pressure of people knowing my work, but there's the very real feeling of, "oh fuck, this could flop terribly." A few Voltron works have already surpassed my "worst" Kuro works...so success? I think so!

For anyone who read all my nonsense, you get a gold star. I hope you also noticed the patterns here. That is, write for yourself and your audience will find you. Don't censor yourself, be true to you and go with the flow, have fun! Write characters how you want to write and read them. Indulge in your kinks, I swear you aren't the only one that has them. Step out of your comfort zone every once and a while. If you post a fic and it flops, so what? It's not the end of the world. What if the fic you think will fail ends up being your best one? You'll never know what will happen unless you post it, it might surprise you. As your skills improve it's okay to go back and revise and edit. But don't let your skill level hold you back from posting in the first place, we all have to start somewhere. You can engage with fandoms as much or as little as you want. (I do encourage reblogs, kudos, bookmarks, ect.) But if you are too shy to talk or don't know anyone in a fandom, don't let that stop you from creating for that fandom. If you only have one work in you for a fandom, do it! If you have multiple? Do it! Rarepair? Go for it! Someone else will probably thank you for it! Vent writing? Dead dove? Extremely therapeutic for you and for others that are more so readers than writers. (Note writing dark stuff just for exploration and entertainment is fine too!! Horror is a well-loved genre for a reason. Fiction is fiction.) Bottom line: don't let you get in the way of yourself.

Will you get hate? You might, I won't lie. That said, people troll everything, any hate you get just shake it off. Odds are it's nothing personal or about your writing, it's they don't like the ship, or any AU, or the dynamics with smut, or the kink, or they're phobic, or if you write intense stuff it's too dark of content for them. If you tag things, it's on the reader if they ignore the tags or they purposely expose themselves to content they know will upset them. I highly recommend if you are concerned about hate, only let registered users leave comments. That's what I do with all my fics and I have had zero negative comments. People are less likely to leave nasty comments if they have to show their face, it's so much easier for them on anon. Some hate I've got on here (tumblr) could be from AO3, but I honestly think it's mostly just other tumblr users that have never read anything of mine.

I'm not as active as I once was on here. It's been years since I updated or posted a kuro work on AO3. I don't have the spoons (energy) to do as much one-on-one as I used to, but know I am cheering on all the creators, new and old. I am here if anyone needs some extra encouragement. But honestly, just write. Even on the off chance you're the only one that likes your work, you have at least one fan. If you don't write for yourself, then who are you writing for? I swear readers can tell the difference when you write something you're into verses something you think will be good, but you don't care about as much. Your best writing is the writing that YOU would read. Don't focus on what you think others will think. Your people will find you.

We all start as that person that's afraid to post our works, it's natural. Tackling that fear was one of the most difficult but best thing I've done for myself. If you want to post, do it! 💖💖💖

#personal #AO3 stats #writing pep talk #fuck do I ramble or what #this is directed at writers but can be said for all creators #do what makes your heart happy

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lia-land · 19 days

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House of Sky and Breath

4.5/5 stars

*Spoilers by House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas.

I should mention that I’m obviously aware that these books are meant to be basically fairy porn with a plot and not analyzed as if it’s Shakespeare, but then this blog wouldn't exist. SJM has become one of my favourite authors and this book is one of my new favourites, but I also love analysing, so let's get into it.

Do Danika’s secrets ever end? This series feels like Pretty Little Liars at this point and Danika is Alison.

The prologue was very long and boring. I can see how it was relevant for the rest of the book, but while reading it, it just dragged on. Not a very strong start. It could have been shorter.

Ember seems like such a toxic parent. I’ve yet to enjoy a single interaction between her and Bryce. I understand that she is protective, but she’s outright rude and brings things up at the most inappropriate times. For example, at the ballet. I don’t think she was supposed to seem like this, but that’s how her character has come across so far.

My favorite line from this series so far is “Can we go back to how the Prince of the Chasm was sitting on my lap?” which is actually even funnier when it turned out to be Rigelus. He really just showed up, dropped a bunch of important info, caused some drama, and left. He seems a bit like a copy of a certain High Lord from A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I will not digress as to not spoil that series. My Aidas (I suppose Rigelus?) and Bryce ship continues to thrive. Him dropping the info about Cormac being a secret agent was gold. Although, somehow, Cormac got less interesting after that. SJM has a tendency of turning ‘evil’ characters into good ones and making them boring in the process. I miss the “see you at the altar” Cormac. He was more fun to read about than rebel Cormac. Just to add, I listened to parts of this book on audible and the narrator gave him a thick Scottish accent that I could not stand because it felt so out of place and I’ll probably never stop associating Cormac with it, so maybe I’m biased.

Strangely enough, the ending of this book reminded me of Divergent. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book where the plot leads to the city/world being some sort of experiment or having some specific purpose. I didn’t expect this from SJM, but I’m really liking the direction so far. Hel actually being good was such a great twist. I think a lot of why I have enjoyed this series so far is because unlike ACOTAR and Throne of Glass, social media isn’t full of spoilers yet. I’m getting to experience most of the story with no idea of what will actually happen. I did know that Aidas was actually Rigelus, but it was still interesting to see how it would end up that way.

It was way too convenient that Ithan and Bryce found the college papers when they did. What if she’d found them a year ago? Or the year before that? Or never at all? Unless there’s some bigger force at play, this was far too specific and was lazy writing to drive the plot forward. Ithan just happened to want to have a little sword fight with himself and breaks that specific table? Conveniently when they’d hit a dead end on the emails? The ‘explanation’ is “Urd must have sent her back to the apartment just now. For this.” No, it wasn’t the Urd. It was just lazy writing. It could have made more sense if these papers were discovered in book 1 and Bryce just wouldn’t have thought anything about them until now. Unless later on it turns out that the Asteri or Gods or some bigger force has been guiding these characters into specific situations in order to advance a specific agenda, this was lazy. But I would consider using that as an excuse to also be lazy.

I also had to roll my eyes at the mystic being the Fendyr heir. That just felt like it was thrown in for the sake of being a plot twist and making Ithan’s character have somewhat of a storyline. I actually don’t see the point of Ithan’s character at all to be honest. We’ve had him in two books now, but for what reason other than his one liners? Shoutout to “that sounds medically dangerous!” I assume he will finally have some purpose in the final book, but so far, he’s been in two 800 page books and I have no idea why. Unless we count the very convenient breaking of the table so that Bryce could find those documents. In that case, thank god for Ithan! Where would the story be if he hadn’t talked to that journalist, pissed off Sabine, got kicked out of the pack, ended up at Bryce’s apartment, played with the sword on Bryce’s coffee table, and broken it to reveal the papers. Personally, I feel like this story could have been exactly where it is now without Ithan’s character.

I can’t decide if I like Tharion or not. He gives me the ick sometimes, like why are you putting your bare feet on someone else’s coffee table !!! Good thing the coffee table broke a few chapters later. I feel like I should dislike Tharion because he’s quite awful to Sathia and literally admitted to lying about agreeing to marry her just to sleep with her. He also ditched her at the mating ball to go and fuck some shifter in the gardens. Him kissing Bryce while she was teleporting was also weird. I actually think he’s the closest character to the men I tend to be attracted to and then look back and think what could I have possibly seen in him? The answer lives in that part of my brain that tries to justify the behavior by thinking that Tharion is a good guy deep down and is just misunderstood and had to stay in the engagement because the alternative was the wrath of the River Queen. Then I’m thinking he put himself in that situation and deserved it. And then I’m thinking maybe he didn’t deserve such harsh consequences. I go back and forth about how I feel about him. He’s exactly the type of guy you’d have a one night stand with and then fall for and try to change while you ignore his red flags because you think he’s the one and that his confidence is hot, only to realize later that you wasted your time and he’s actually just a massive ick. He pretty much just thinks with his dick, but I really enjoy reading about his character and I find him more interesting than Cormac and Hunt. There’s a lot of potential for him to grow as a character and I hope we see that in the next book.

I have to admit that I have no clue what Sunball is and I just assume it’s baseball. I didn’t pay attention to it in book 1 because I didn’t think it would come up as often as it does and now I’m too lazy to go back and find it’s description. This applies to a lot of my world building knowledge in this series. I’ve only recently noticed that CBD and CCB are not the same thing. No clue what the difference between Lunathion and Crescent City are. Confused about how the humans are still at war with the Asteri if they’re meant to be super powerful? Are the Asteri purposely letting it continue so that “the Vanir have something to rule over” or was this never explained? I don’t even really know who the humans are at war with to be fair. Is it even the Asteri? There was so much of an info dump at the start of book 1 that it all got muddled. SJM knows how to world build well so I don’t know why it was done differently in this series. I love the detail of this world and it’s general vibe, but it could have been introduced better. For example, has it been explained yet why Fury was at the Summit? What does Jesiba actually do? There are things that I don’t know if I forgot from the world building info dump or if we’re purposely not meant to know yet. The problem with this is that I can’t google it because it might be a spoiler until after I’ve finished the series, but it could also be something that I should know and just skimmed over, so it’s a cycle. I’d especially appreciate a map of the entire world, rather than just CC. Additionally, all three books have been released at the time of my reading, so I’m reading this series back to back, but I can’t imagine how I would have kept up if I had to wait at least a year between books because I definitely would have forgotten most of it. When Rigelus asked Bryce if she knows what the star on her chest is and she said “let’s assume I know nothing”… I felt seen.

I did know prior to starting this series that there was an ACOTAR crossover, but I wish I didn’t know that because that would have probably been the best cliffhanger ever. I don’t know how people waited so long for book 3 after reading that.

tldr; I love this book for what it is: an easy to read romantasy book with hot sex and a fast paced plot. It wasn’t written to be picked apart like I’ve done here, but I tend not to include the things that I liked in these reviews as much as what I thought could be improved. This was one of the most immersive books I’ve read and I’m actually enjoying it as much as I enjoyed ACOTAR, which is very high praise from me.

#sarah j maas #book review #crescent city #house of sky and breath #house of earth and blood #bryce quinlan #hunt athalar #ruhn danaan #house of flame and shadow #ithan holstrom #danika fendyr #tharion ketos

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gillianthecat · 1 year

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I decided to watch the beginning of SOTUS based on @waitmyturtles' reactions as part of her Thai BL education, and the conversations that inspired. I'm definitely not watching the whole show! Probably not even the whole first episode, I'll only go as far as I can stand it for, but I was finding myself desperately curious for context.

Well, 25 seconds in and we're already off to a good start 🥴

I kinda like this theme song, ngl.

Wtf how is 2016 seven years ago already. What even is time.

Baby Off in the credits! Hello!

Actually this credits montage is making the show seem kind of appealing. Perhaps I will surprise everyone and myself by being a SOTUS fan.

I don't know if it's just this opening sequence, but the colors are so de-saturated compared to more recent Thai shows. Kinda makes it look like 90s home video.

This name tag table makes me miss Fighter and Tutor. 😢

But also, pre-Covid they could get HUGE casts of extras. That room is full!

So far the show is successfully building drama and intrigue! I'm more hooked than I suspected.

Arthit makes an excellent insecure petty tyrant. Unfortunately I'm having trouble imagining how they're going to transition him to love interest.

Brave Kongpop!

Seriously, there are like 500 extras in that giant room!

Baby Off!

Oh yep. And here comes the femme characters as comic relief.

Ah, Kongpop is the other lead. Of course. For some reason I assumed he was a side character?

I like this smiley girl who does the grilled chicken dance!

Aww, I think I might really like Kongpop as well.

Oddly enough the hazing stuff isn't bothering me (so far). I think because a) it's SO over the top ridiculous, and b) I came in expecting the worst. (But of course, it can always get worse.)

Maybe if I stop here I can pretend the show is a dystopian future romance (á la Divergent) about M and Kongpop falling in love as they rise up against their oppressive seniors. I'm kinda digging their chemistry.

However I'm predicting a het romance between M and the chicken dance girl (my beloved) [May] instead.

I can see from whence the Singto fandom. What a charming smile. He's already bringing a welcome groundedness to the role.

Seaweed snacks! Now I want some. Your advertising is working on me. Also, one thing I think SOTUS does well is camera angles and editing; they really build the drama.

Also the sound recording (and mixing) quality is not terrible. What happened after this? Was Covid to blame? (Or perhaps GMMTV has always been better at it.)

I don't think I'd be that into this if I was watching just for pleasure, but I'm actually quite enjoy the experience of watching it for historical curiosity.

I like this girls at the table too! The women in this show are much more solid than I was expecting, and actually seem like real people [gasp!]

Honestly I'm not even looking at Arthit or the subtitles, I'm just watching Off in the background.

God, Arthit is so annoyingly awful. The only way to get through this may be to ignore his existence as much as possible.

I don't know if it's because Off is the one actor I recognize, or if it's because he just has that much charisma, but my eye keeps getting drawn to him on screen. (Even if he is aiding and abetting the evil guy.) I love the way he keeps snatching things from Arthit's hands.

Like, I can see how this COULD work, if Arthit wasn't such a stupidly petty tyrant. Enemies to Lovers! It's aiming for what FighterTutor managed to do so well. But. Well. The bully character has to have some redeeming feature. (Although perhaps he will win me over in the end.) As for their chemistry, I haven't seen enough to venture a firm opinion yet, but it's certainly not jumping off the screen.

Oh great, now we have homophobic bullying 🥴 But Singto really is very good as Kong.

Are you all sure this show isn't really Kong/M? Because that's still the story I'm creating in my head.

Umm. How on earth are they going to make this homophobic bully into a passable love interest. Help. I don't understand.

oooh, I could ship Kongpop with Wad as well. There is potential in this scene about the shirt exchange.

Ok! We've got M in the tight fitting tshirt! Show off those muscles, babe!

Like, I don't think Krist is bad in this so far. He's playing a petty tyrant bully perfectly. But I believe y'all when you so he doesn't manage anything other than this one note.

However, Singto is managing to single-handedly create something out of their scenes anyway.

Yes rebel Kongpop! I feel like my dystopian version of the story would be so much better than whatever we actually get.

However I do appreciate if it has to be bully romance that the target is not in the least a passive victim. (I ❤️ Kongpop)

This hazing is just so dumb. It's so silly it doesn't even bother me really, just makes me think about how young and dumb these engineering seniors are. Actually mostly it makes me mad at the school administration for sanctioning it.

I do love the way Off stands (and sits).

And I love May and this wavy-haired girl! Interesting female characters in my BL?! Who have a life outside of "shipping" their classmates or having crushes on impossible gay boys?! My goodness!

Rebel Kongpop my beloved! And such a smartass 😍 Love his little smirk.

Okaaaay. Still struggling to see how they can possibly build a romance out of this. Like, in Semantic Error and Why R U?, there was bullying yes, but even from the beginning there were hints of connection and attraction. And I am simply not seeing any of that here.

Well. I finished the whole first episode after all! And despite all expectations I'm kinda hooked.😲 I can see why SOTUS was so popular; the things it does well it does very well. And Singto is elevating it far beyond what it deserves.

It helps that bullying and hazing, while they annoy me, aren't a Yikes Nope 😬 I'm Outa Here for me the way rape is (which is why I couldn't make it past the first episode of TharnType). And cringy slapstick humor, while objectively less of a problem, for some reason make me even more uncomfortable (which is part of the reason I couldn't make it through 2gether). And it's not boring me, at least as long as the camera isn't on Arthit. (My problem with some other OG Thai BL that was so boring I can't even remember its name now. [edit: it was driving me crazy so i went through world-of-bl's list and finally figured it out... it was Nitiman. Maybe I'd find it more interesting if I tried again, but it just could not keep me engaged, sorry Nitiman lovers.]) And it's helps that my expectations were basement level. (Thank you @waitmyturtles for preparing me. And I'm sorry for your suffering in the process.)

So I will probably continue! Although I don't know how soon or how regularly, or if I will do such detailed reaction posts for the rest. The only reason I started this one is I didn't expect to last more than 10 minutes.

#sotus #come on a *journey* with me #waitmyturtles i'm stealing your tag idea #gillianthecat gets a BL education #that sounds like either the title of a porno or a subsection of the japanese parody series Absolute BL #but eh i'll keep it anyways #sotus the series #kind of like liveblogging #gillianthecat reacts to bl #tumblr why do you keep fucking up my italics?

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partystoragechest · 9 months

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A story of romance, drama, and politics which neither Trevelyan nor Cullen wish to be in.

Canon divergent fic in which Josephine solves the matter of post-Wicked Hearts attention by inviting four noblewomen to compete for Cullen's affections. In this chapter, Trevelyan applies for a job.

(Masterpost. Beginning. Previous entry. Next entry. Words: 3,570. Rating: all audiences.)

Chapter 7: Recommending Herself

Trevelyan had not stargazed that night.

Instead, hidden within the covers of her bed, she had read by light of a small fire in her palm—held at a safe distance from the pages, naturally.

“Was your book any good?” Baroness Touledy asked the next morning, at the Ladies’ usual gathering in Montilyet’s parlour.

Trevelyan glanced up from her tea—she was actually drinking it, today—and nodded. “Yes, thank you. Very informative.”

“I saw you reading out in the garden. What book was it?”

“In the garden…” Trevelyan took a moment to recall. “Oh, at that point I was reading The Tale of the Champion.”

“Varric Tethras, yes. I read the Tale, when it was en vogue. Now the courts are enamoured with his other work, Hard in Hightown.”

Trevelyan was familiar. She’d heard of the book, for starters, even before Skyhold. However, having finally glimpsed a summary of it yesterday, she had found it lacked the sort of knowledge which interested her.

“I’ve read that!” Lady Erridge piped up. “Lady Orroat, my very dear friend, was kind enough to lend me her copy. She even read some of it to me last summer. It was a lovely day. We sat beneath the cherry tree in her garden, for the shade.”

“I only managed a few chapters,” Samient commented. “Not my sort of thing.”

“I admit it wasn’t really mine, either—I’m much more for romances. But I enjoyed it regardless. Oh!” Lady Erridge sat forward in her seat. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all read the same book while we’re here? And then, during teas and lunches, we could discuss it.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Barones Touledy acknowledged, “though for today, how about we discuss Lady Samient’s meeting with the Commander?”

“Oh, yes!” Erridge clapped her hands. “Let’s!”

Lady Samient set down her tea on the table before them. “And what is it you would like to know?”

“How did you find him?”

Lady Samient smiled. She crossed one leg over the other, and glanced across them all. “Oh, he was utterly charming. A true gentleman.”

There was no hiding the the widening of Lady Trevelyan’s eyes. By the Maker, he had to have a twin. Or an envy demon, trotting about the place and trying to woo Lady Samient.

Unless the real Commander was the one wooing Lady Samient, and it was the envy demon who was attempting to scare off all the other Ladies. Or perhaps… he had already made up his mind? Lady Samient was certainly a beautiful woman. One could definitely fall in love with her upon first sight, if they were so inclined.

But if that were the case, why not just tell them? The rest of them—why not just tell them they were not wanted?

While she ruminated upon this conflict, the conversation had moved along without her.

“Oh, we spoke of many things,” Lady Samient said, “Samient, the Inquisition, shared interests… I could have spent many hours more speaking, but we had to end at the allotted time, of course.” She began to push her hair back behind her ear—but stopped midway, and let it fall aside her face again.

“Perhaps then his mood the day prior was a temporary ill,” the Baroness told Lady Erridge. “Once I have seen him, we shall have a more accurate picture.”

Erridge nodded. “Yes, of course. I hope you do find him as agreeable as Lady Samient did.”

Trevelyan, too, hoped the Baroness found him as agreeable as Lady Samient did. Because if Lady Samient was lying, flouncing out her encounter despite the extinguished look in Lady Erridge’s eye, then Lady Trevelyan would not be held accountable for her response.

“Well,” she said, rising from her seat, “I think I must go. I have someone to see.”

Lady Erridge’s head tipped. “Other than the Commander?”

“I believe Lady Trevelyan has been busy making acquaintances,” the Baroness said. “Lady Erridge informed me you had met with the mages. It must be pleasant to have such company again, in more open surroundings.”

Trevelyan nodded. Interesting emphasis. “Feels like home, almost.”

“Enjoy your time, your Ladyship.”

“Thank you.”

Lady Erridge waved. “Do tell us what you discover next!”

“Of course. I hope to bring you many things to talk about, Lady Erridge.” Trevelyan curtsied to them all, and said, “I will see you later.”

Their farewells exchanged, she made her way out of the parlour, and into the Great Hall.

The keep was already busy at work, today. No rest for the wicked, nor the Inquisition. Stalwart guards posted at every door—and two beside the throne of the Inquisitor. One of this pair was having a sidelong chat with a runner, likely just passing by. A couple of servants had a ladder up to a guilded statue; one climbed shakily to the top, and dusted the head of the figure to a shine (the other joked about letting the ladder go). A few nobles gathered around the fireplace. They seemed to have their own hushed discussion, akin to that of Trevelyan and the Ladies.

Trevelyan wondered what the Ladies might be saying, without her there. She had kept her planned meeting vague—a little bit of intrigue was like catnip, and would keep them at play for a while. Better them to speculate upon her mystery acquaintance, than spend another moment talking of the Commander.

A man emerged from the rotunda door to her right, and the flash of red on his jacket and blond in his hair had Trevelyan worried for a moment—but when Varric Tethras caught her eye, he put on an easy smile, and gave her a wave. She waved back. He mouthed something in question, hands gesturing as if turning a page. Good book? She nodded.

Satisfied, he moved on, and so did she. Through the various peoples of the Great Hall, she made her way to a door at the very back. It was somewhat hidden, tucked down to the right of the throne—the chattery guard paused his conversation to watch her approach. A nod of acknowledgement had him relax again.

Trevelyan fell in behind two workers headed on the same path. They carried between them a large wooden crate, that looked like it needed at least one more set of hands on it. Trevelyan skipped ahead a few steps, and heaved open the door. The workers thanked her as they passed her by. She watched them descend.

The steps were dark, dank, and narrow. They curved somewhat—Trevelyan could not see the bottom. The smell was exactly that of the storerooms at her Circle. Fire, cinders, magic. The clanging of hammers against steel. The barking of orders. A smithy with a taste of something else.

She crept down the last few steps and watched the workers head for another door. This one, quite fortunately, was open.

Trevelyan stepped through, and gasped.

The room immediately opened up. A wide cavern spread out before her, filled with people and contraptions and the sound of rushing water. The raw rock opened at the opposite end, into what stalagmites made look like the maw of a beast, with a view beyond it of the valley far, far below.

Trevelyan tore herself from gazing out, to watch as the workers she’d followed set their crate down beside a workbench. A dwarven woman emerged from her nest of machinery, and wandered over to greet them. Dagna.

With a breath of cool mountain air filling her lungs, Trevelyan strode down the last few steps from the doorway, and landed upon the cavern proper. This was it. Time to—

A face appeared in her periphery.

“Welcome,” said the man, bowing. He straightened—and Trevelyan’s eyes latched upon the mark of the sun burnt into his forehead. “I have not seen you here before. Is there something we can do for you?”

One of the Tranquil. “Yes!” she told him. “I am Lady Trevelyan, formerly of Ostwick Circle. I am here to see the Arcanist, Dagna.”

He nodded once. “What business do you have with the Arcanist?”

She had not expected this, but that did not mean it was not helpful. Good practice, in fact. She could rid herself of her nerves with him, see if he thought her reasoning for being here valid.

“I, ah... wished to discuss her projects. Regarding red lyrium.”

“Very well,” he said, “I will inform the Arcanist you have arrived. Please wait here.”

Perhaps it was valid, after all. He wandered off towards the Arcanist’s lair, and waited as she finished her conversation with the deliverers.

In the moment Trevelyan had to herself, she gave the place another look, and attempted to make sense of what claimed to be a workshop. Half of it was easy; she knew what a forge looked like, and the right side of the cavern looked like one. It was the more magical half that confused her.

There were few of its mechanisms she could imagine a use for. Some were taller than her, metal structures with rib-like framework. Others were small, boxes and trays rimmed with enchantments. Around and over them, tubes and clamps and vials in a spiderweb of iron and glass. They made some intriguing sounds.

Her eyes caught, however, on a familiar pile of scrap that had been abandoned nearby. Very familiar. She didn’t need to read the runes to know they’d been half-burnt.

Two figures stepped through her line of sight, and broke her concentration. They were already out the door, before she had realised who they were. The deliverers. And if they were gone—

She turned to find the Tranquil man approaching, Dagna in tow. “Arcanist,” he said as they arrived, “your visitor.”

He gave a bow, and moved away. Dagna’s attention flipped straight to Trevelyan.

“It’s you!” she said, her face alight with curiosity. “Welcome! You’re… uh oh. You are... Nope! It’s gone. Sorry, I think your name rolled under one of these tables, ‘cause I can’t find it. You were from Ostwick, though! I know that!”

“I am,” Trevelyan told her. She was hardly offended; to expect Dagna to remember her name after a chance meeting two days ago was a little much. It wasn’t as if it was a quarter hour after meeting her at a party specifically intended for meeting her. “Arcanist Dagna, my name is Lady Trevelyan.”

“That’s it!” Dagna did something between a curtsy and a bow. “What can I do for you, your Ladyship? Herzt said something about red lyrium.”

This was it. The big moment. What all three seconds of practice had been for.

“Yes, ah… um...”

Fantastic. The practice clearly worked.

Trevelyan steeled herself, and tried again: “I had some… ideas.”

Dagna smiled. “That’s great, I love ideas! What kind of ideas?”

“Just some… basic ramblings regarding that project you were working on the other day. The explosive?”

“Oh!” Dagna jerked her thumb toward the nearby scrapheap. “That one?”

“That one.”

Dagna’s smile grew even wider. “Let’s hear ‘em.”

“Well, I didn’t know what you’d already tried…” Trevelyan dipped her hand into a pocket, and pulled some folded sheets of vellum from within. “So, um…” They were not unfolding well.

Dagna filled her pause: “That was actually attempt number one,” she explained, “so you’re kind of looking at everything I already tried.”

“Oh! Oh. Well, um, then”—the vellum finally came flat—“I did some research into red lyrium yesterday. A witness informed me it exudes a noticeable heat that ordinary lyrium lacks, a fact which was corroborated by Varric Tethras’ account in The Tale of the Champion.”

Trevelyan glanced up from her papers to examine Dagna’s face. She worried it would be boredom, or academic disappointment, that she saw before her—but instead, she saw a gentle interest. Potentially even… fascination.

“This means,” she continued, “also as noted by Varric Tethras, that the body heat of a Red Templar is much higher than that of other people, and their surroundings. I was wondering if you could… possibly use that?”

“Maybe—how do you mean?”

“Well, for example, I have this here…” She pulled one sheet free, and held it out to Dagna. “It’s a ward, usually utilised in kitchens, to prevent fires. It triggers a cooling effect when the heat reaches a certain height. The spellcraft could be repurposed for an enchantment, which, at a specified level of heat, could trigger—”

“The explosion!” Dagna finished. Her eyes were alight with wonder, and flicked from the paper she’d been handed, to Trevelyan’s face. “I was so stuck on the idea of using lyrium against lyrium, I didn’t think about the other properties! Might not be as poetic, but results are what we need. This is perfect!”

An emotion Trevelyan hadn’t felt in a long time was summoned from the depths of her spirit. She stood a little taller.

“Really?” she asked. “You think it could be of use?”

“I think I want to get started on it right away!”

Of all the ways Trevelyan expected this to go, this certainly wasn’t one of them. “Oh! Well, ah, before you do, I did wish to consider one possible sticking point…” She flicked through to a different sheet, confirmed to herself (twice) that it was the right one, and paraphrased the notation upon it: “Red lyrium seems to have an anti-magic presence, say eyewitnesses. I wondered if that might have an effect on enchantments, perhaps even preventing them from triggering?”

“I had thought of that!” Dagna said, apparently delighted by Trevelyan’s mention of it, regardless of it being old news. “I was hoping to work on some kind of amplification as a fall-back for that exact circumstance, but that required me to get the enchantment itself working first. And you already know what happened there!”

Trevelyan laughed. “Yes.”

Dagna handed back the vellum, and tipped her head. “So, you were at Ostwick Circle, right? What did you do there?”

“Oh, I worked in the storerooms—cataloguing, organising, running errands. Nothing so exciting. I was starting to teach basic creation, too, before… everything. Bit of study and research, here and there. The usual sort of things.”

A sly little smile crossed Dagna’s face. “Sounds like you’re pretty useful.”

“Oh! I hope so. I would be glad to help with the project, if I am needed.”

“That would be great!” But Dagna’s face fell. “Though, aren’t you kind of supposed to be, uh, you know—the Commander?”

So, even the Arcanist knew. “Well, I am supposed to, but… I have plenty of time otherwise. I know I am only here for the month—but with your assistant away caring for her newborn, that is a temporary gap I could quite neatly fill.”

“Very true! There’s just one more thing I think I need to know first, though”—she pointed at the sheaf of papers in Trevelyan’s hand—“did you do all of that research into red lyrium just because I mentioned it in the tower?”

Oh. Hm. Hindsight was full of revelations, wasn’t it? Spending a full day of reading and note-taking on the subject a stranger had mentioned in passing was indeed perhaps quite… odd. “Yes,” came Trevelyan’s reluctant answer.

Dagna’s eyes shimmered more than the stars in the sky; her beam shone brighter. She stuck out her hand, ready to shake. “Well, then we gotta get you on the payroll!”

***

Trevelyan had never had a real job. She was either too much of a noble, or too much of a mage, to have a real job. Technically, her work in the Circle could be referred to as a job, but she wasn’t really paid, and had little choice in it. It wasn’t like, say, being a baker.

(Oh, being a baker would have been nice.)

Nevertheless, the process felt familiar to the Circle, in the beginning. After their excited chatter had ceased, Dagna decided that it would be best to give Lady Trevelyan a tour of the facilities, during which, some of the mystery of her machinery was explained. And some was made more mysterious.

But Trevelyan at least had an idea of what she would potentially work with. The lyrium tools she wasn’t to touch, but the Tranquil she was introduced to would be happy to carry out any tasks in that direction for her. It seemed her focus would be on assisting Dagna, with research, theories, spellcraft, and general errands. Which was perhaps something like baking, if one looked at it sideways, through a telescope, and from one continent away.

The tour concluded; just one more matter to attend to.

Dagna led Trevelyan up the stairs, talking all the while. Unsurprisingly, there was much to consider in the creation of a magical explosive.

Their conversation hushed as they entered the Great Hall, and passed by the nobles lounging within, and the servants hurrying to and fro. They weren’t to know what was being planned beneath their feet.

There was only one who needed to know, for now. They reached the door of Lady Montilyet’s parlour, but stopped, as the guard in front held up her palm:

“Just a moment, your Ladyship; Arcanist. The Ambassador is speaking to the Commander.”

Was there really no escaping this man? Skyhold was surely large enough.

Trevelyan glanced towards a window. Afternoon. If she had it right, he ought to have just finished his appointment with the Baroness Touledy. Small wonder what he might be meeting Lady Montilyet about.

As she and Dagna stood back from the door, Trevelyan thought it about time she engaged in the sport of nobles, and eavesdrop. She did her best to filter out the hum of the hall behind her, and listened only to what words slipped from the crack beneath the door.

The Commander was audible first. “You said…” Muffled speech. “And yet!”

“...what I said!” Montilyet had definitely had this door reinforced, or something. Understandable, for not wanting your diplomatic conversations to get out. But annoying. “…have patience.”

“And that’s…” Was that movement? “Fine, but I... the guilt.” His voice was getting louder. Or… closer. “We’ll speak on this tomorrow.”

The door rattled, and was pulled open. The Commander appeared on the other side. In the suspended moment before all composure was regained, Trevelyan made certain to note the scene.

The Commander’s face was like thunder, until he had seen her and Dagna, and it had turned to shock. Behind him, a glimpse of Lady Montilyet stood at her desk, her face the most ferocious Trevelyan had ever witnessed it. Like the Commander’s, it settled the second their eyes connected.

“Excuse me,” muttered the Commander, shuffling past. He slipped toward the library door, and as quickly as he appeared, was gone.

“Lady Trevelyan, is that you?”

Lady Montilyet’s voice pulled Trevelyan’s gaze back towards the parlour, wherein Montilyet still stood. There was an airy smile on her face that had not been there seconds ago. “Oh, and Dagna! Please, do come in.”

Dagna grimaced at Trevelyan, but followed the direction; Trevelyan followed her. Together, they strode for the Lady’s desk—where the Lady herself was taking a seat, and pushing a frayed hair back into its usual perfect place.

“Ambassador, I was hoping for a teensy little favour,” Dagna began. “I’d like to bring Lady Trevelyan on board as my new assistant. Temporarily! While she’s here.”

Lady Montilyet blinked. “What?” She looked to Trevelyan.

“Well, um, I met the Arcanist in the tower the other day, and I was intrigued by her projects,” Trevelyan explained. “I wanted to be of help to the Inquisition’s efforts, so I researched the topics involved, and brought my theories to the Undercroft.”

Dagna translated: “She got Dorian and Varric to tell her about red lyrium.”

“Only Dorian,” Trevelyan clarified, “Master Tethras suggested I read his book.”

“She did it in a day! And she’s got some great ideas, things we could really use. With her help, we could make something that would be able to protect encampments, towns, patrols—anyone, from Red Templars.”

Lady Montilyet’s eyes took part in a placid smile, but Trevelyan could quite tell they wanted to widen. “I see,” she said. “It is wonderful for you to contribute this way, Lady Trevelyan. Of course you should be able to, but… what about the Commander? This may conflict with your ability to spend time with him, as he is on a very specific schedule, and I doubt your work would have you cross paths.”

Lady Montilyet could have said nothing more delightful than that. She ought to have known not to threaten people with a good time.

“Oh, I care very little about the Commander,” Trevelyan said, honestly and confidently—the most confident she had felt saying anything all day. “I am much more interested in assisting Dagna in developing this project. For the good of the Inquisition, and the people of Thedas.”

Trevelyan thought she had offended Lady Montilyet with this. At first. Yet there was something in her face that Trevelyan had not seen her express before. She could not aptly call it anything. Not anger, not curiosity, not confusion. The closest thing Trevelyan could compare it to was… recognition.

“So?” Dagna asked. “Can she?”

Lady Montilyet stood, and smiled. “If this is truly what you wish, then I will not deny you. Lady Trevelyan... welcome to the Inquisition.”

#cullen rutherford #cullen x trevelyan #commander cullen #unwanted #unwanted fic #fic #i kept redoing sections of this chapter even though it's FINE it's FINE as it is i dont need to keep adding paint the picture is DONE #could've had it done three days earlier if not for self doubt

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amuseoffyre · 1 year

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Fyre’s OFMD fic masterlist - Anniversary edition :)

Well, it’s been a year and the pirates still have my whole heart and brain. 560+k later and still going strong.

SERIES/COLLECTIONS

Immersion ® - 13k A series of short soft scenes of Stede and Ed being soft, featuring the clothing swap, Ed’s introduction to the lavender soap, some shaving and bath time

Toxic (E) - 7.3k Izzy has an urge and Calico Jack knows just how to scratch it, whether Izzy likes it or not. (Please heed all warnings and tags if you venture into this series)

Penetrative Gays (E) - 13k A silly series following every post-e3 stabbing incident in the smuttiest possible way :)

Turning Tides ® - 81k My novel-length speculative season 2, picking up immediately after the end of S1, featuring everyone, multiple POVs, drama, shenanigans and fuckeries galore.

Storm Surge ® - 62k My second novel-length series and my speculative S3, following on directly from Turning Tides. Even more POVs and far, far, far more fuckeries than you can shake a stick at.

Our Flag Means Death - JanAUry (Mixed) - 17k A series of 1k one-shots based on the Jan-AU-ry prompts list

Write It Through As a Crew (Various) - 12k A collection of 1k prompts/one-shots/missing scenes from Turning Tides and Storm Surge

ONE SHOTS

The Biblical Sense (E) - 2.6k The first time for the lads, written before David Jenkins dropped 9 & 10 and irreversibly hurled me into pirate hell.

Ties that Bind ® - 3.3k Stede has an extensive ribbon collection and Ed realises it’s a way for him to feel vulnerable. Shibari-with-ribbons.

Bit of a Clothes Horse (E) - 9k Written in collaboration with Aivelin - the missing scene where Stede helps Ed get ready for the fancy party boat. And all that comes after ;)

Type ® - 2.3k Mary Allamby Bonnet gets a bit of a fright when she finds a scary-looking man with a sword in her front room.

Magnolia (E) - 5k When Ed - no, the Kraken - catches Stede Bonnet, he wants to use him and ruin him, but it… doesn’t quite go to plan.

Fancy (E) - 7k Written in collaboration with Aivelin - After a successful raid, Stede and Ed find some unexpected enjoyment in some interesting items of clothing.

Co-Captain Duties (E) - 3.5k After the treasure hunt, Ed tries to use bath time as a way to drop a less than subtle hint that he wants to… push forward their relationship.

Maketh the Man (E) - 6.6k When Blackbeard is captured by Hornigold, Izzy Hands is forced to turn to the only person who might be mad enough to be able to save him. Naturally, Stede rises to the occasion.

Sweet/Tart (E) - 4k When Stede returns to the Revenge, he brings a little sweet treat to try and win Ed over

A Beginning (M) - 2k Sometimes, you meet a nice girl and you get along and you start to think maybe yeah, this one might be something special.And then she murders your boss’s favourite husband.

In Slumber (E) - 15k When Stede admits he might find Ed attractive, even asleep, Ed encourages him to pursue that train of thought with his full and enthusiastic consent.

Regulations (PG) 1.2k “It had to go”

Accord (R) - 2.6k Crossover with Black Sails - James Flint comes seeking an alliance with Blackbeard

Adrift (R) - 7k Canon-divergence AU where Chauncey catches Ed instead of Stede at the academy

Bits (R) - 4k Ed Teach’s not-good very-bad week after he hears about Stede Bonnet’s demise

NON-SERIES LONG FIC

Thunders of the Upper Deep ® - 4.4k - WIP Started as part of mermay. Only this is were-mermay and Ed is the kraken :D

Renaissance (E) - 26k What if Ed heard that gunshot in the woods that night?

Bark and Bite ® - 75k Vampire & werewolf AU - take s1 and sprinkle in a generous dose of supernatural nonsense and that’s this fic.

A Good Impression (R) - 17k WIP What if Stede had accepted Izzy’s invitation to the Queen Anne’s Revenge?

Lady Trouble (R) - 23.5k WIP The runaway wife of a wealthy landowner, Stede Bonnet Allamby set out to find adventure and freedom on the high seas. Things did not go as planned…

Don't Tell Mama (E) - 93k WIP Drag/Burlesque Social Media AU - Stede Bonnet runs off to be a cabaret Emcee and crosses paths with the bone-weary Drag Impresario Lady Blackbeard

Wonder of Infamy (R) - 3.3k WIP My anniversary fic :) It’s already 20k written and rising rapidly.

#ofmd fic #our flag means death fic #long post

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mscribbles · 1 year

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We may have went on a recruiting mission and managed to fit 10 of us Dunks fans in the trench coat. Our 3rd joiner Mak(only the first 3 letters) would love to know your Dunks opinions and/or headcanons

BAHAHA oh I love the account name its super fun!!

and ahaa I’m sorry I’m not good at coming up with this kinda stuff on the spot but uh. I’ll take a stab at it, I feel like it might disappoint some of you guys but I gotta stick to my guns on how I view their characters 😭

(SPM SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT)

On one hand I love the comedy of it and I think it’s got a lot of potential. It’s the “weakest” character (ochunks) paired up with the “strongest” (Dimentio). The “smartest” character (Dimentio) paired with the “dumbest” (ochunks). These are the stereotypes fandom (and the characters in the game) tend to assign them though, but are they really true? Taking a deeper look, you sort of begin to see they tend to contradict these stereotypes. For example O’chunks is quite observant and caring, he’s SO much more than a dumb meathead. and don’t get me into some of the downright silly impulsive and dumb stuff Dimentio does in the game 😭 They complement each other in weird ways, so I wanted to explore them more. They’re both foils, in a sense!

then the other hand I’m a big fan of angsty headcanons and exploring their relationship in canon.

To me Dimentios got a lil crush but he has no idea how to deal with it so he messes with ochunks a lot. He sees no need to be genuine and thinks he ignores his feelings (cause uh. Evil plans and all) but it just comes off as him acting REALLY fuckin weird to ochunks. Sorta like unconscious flirting but in Dimentios own weird way. To me the FUNNIEST part of their dynamic is that he thinks he’s just galaxy braining and entertaining himself by manipulating ochunks or whatever he tells himself but Dimentios definitely the one who has it bad. But him thinking he’s above things like that all comes to bite his ass in the end, putting genuine friendships and relationships below his self-centered plans. Tragic! Does that make any sense? Dimentio is hard for me to verbalize how I think he thinks. Ochunks on the other hand, is definitely confused/flustered by Dimentio (he canonically calls him a weirdo but do not let me get into their ch 5 interactions it’s too interesting) I also think ironically enough he’s the one who’s the most suspicious of Dimentio. However he also wants to protect everyone on Bleck’s team and that includes Dimentio. Bro would do a LOT for his comrades/friends. Ochunks being the observant/caring guy he is, I think he does pick up when Dimentio accidentally lets his facade slip, and Dimentio’s (very rare and lmao) positive traits are genuinely endearing to Ochunks. I wanna explore that more

I don’t write it as unrequited but Dimentio being…. Well. Dimentio. I think really keeps them from getting officially “together” to me (in canon only, I think aus and canon divergent stuff could be great opportunities) it’s got that unresolved yearning to it that interests me. Anyways that’s all delicious delicious drama to me but probably not what you might wanna hear cause it is, unfortunately, not the happiest of endings 😭

like I said I’d love to see someone do a fluffy take on dunks though

#Omentio #Dunks Spm

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ouyangzizhensdad · 1 year

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i don't know if this is the place to drop this but i feel like you have an objective view of both mdzs and cql (as objective as a human can be) and do you think there's something the show will offer me that i have not already got from the novel? i have binged the official translation of mdzs last month (still waiting on book 5 and the conclusion bc i don't want a different narration voice) bc i was so excited to watch the show but anything i see about it doesn't really draw me in at this stage. i'm a huge fan of the story told in mdzs with every character on varying shades of grey, the hard-to-define dynamic of wangxian rather than just bffs, and the themes, but especially i'm a huge fan of the structure of the novel. i feel like a lot of my enjoyment came from the simultaneously unreliable and omniscient pov and how every information revealed severely adjusts our guesses at the nature of these characters and dynamics, so the last thing to kill my excitement for the show was learning it's told linearly and your post about the technical failings. is there anything the show offers other than sanitized visuals (this is where i'm inclined to watch the animation instead) that are not even technically that interesting/competent? bc the vehicle in which a story is told can be very interesting for me personally when it comes to adaptations that i can forgive changes to the story and themes but i feel like it might just leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Hi anon,

Based on your ask, I think you will get precious little from the live action except frustration. At least you would not get extremely spoiled since the show diverges in many way from the book.

I guess that the main actors had good on-screen chemistry? But if you want to scratch the itch of seeing what it looks like in action, you'd probably be better served by a scene compilation.

If you want the chance to experience the story through a different medium, I cannot recommend enough that you give the audio drama a listen. The performance of Lu-laoshi as wwx is 👌👌👌.

#anon ask

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dapper-nahrwhale · 8 months

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if youre planning to watch riverdale because you like the comics i suggest not because they are very very different.

Thanks for the suggestion but. Well, it is a little too late. You see I have actually seen some of it before. I watched a few seasons of it a few years after it initially came out, then immediately forgot everything about it, like this was way back in 2019 or 2020, long before I even got into the archie comics and other various shows and started this whole thing of watching and reading every single archie comics and adaptation I can possibly find.

(Oh boy this is going to be a long one huh.)

And one consistent thing I've found in my journey is that archie comics, adaptations, and spinoffs, is that it's a mixed bag of quality. And theres always so much going on in them all the time. You've got some good ones, some bad ones, some in between, and the really strange ones.

And boy howdy has there been some strange ones. The 19 issue 70s spire christian archie comics. There was a 2 part collaboration with Barack Obama and Sara Palin in 2010 for some reason. A sharknado crossover in 2015. A live action Archie's tv pilot in 1964 that never really went anywhere for good reason. Many more low budget early 90s live action films. The controversial end to the life with archie 2010 series, wherein we follow parallel universes where archie marries veronica and archie marries betty, and both have the exact same ending: archie gets shot and dies.

Its wild. WILD.

And riverdale as a show fits into that sort of nonsense... surprisingly well tbh. Yes, there things I dislike about the show diverging from the comics and it taking itself way to seriously, but I cannot deny the fact that riverdale does fit with just how bonkers the rest of the archie comics and shows get, no matter how much it differs from those comics and shows.

TDLR (I go into more depth as of why under the cut) riverdale is a fascinating archie adaptation and I need to watch it soon. adaptations that are different than the source material can still hold value. There has never been an entirely accurate archie adaptation because even the comics themselves are inconsistent with each other. But the one thing every single archie comics, show, movie, adaptation has in common is that they're always always just kind of dumb and ridiculous. Can't be an archie adaptation without that. And I'm on a quest to watch and read every adaptation so I kind of am going to watch riverdale regardless.

And I'm not entirely sure of my opinion on the comics is anything more than neutral at best really.

I havent read enough of the old ones to form an opinion on them yet. I cant say I really like all the comics, some sure but. Like the real early stuff, from the 40s and 50s, can be sort of hard to read. As always, the early Archie's do not stand up to the test of time it seems. And some really weird choices made in the 70s. The sabrina the teenage witch and the josie and the pussycats spinoff comics are pretty interesting tho.

I'd say the very cream of the crop (for me so far) is the post 2015 complete rehaul of the series as a whole, in a fresh light. Definitely worth reading the road to riverdale volumes, the archie volumes, and the jughead volumes (I'm biased what can I say), even though they have absolutely nothing to do with the show riverdale itself, or even the storylines in the earlier archie comics. Their it's own thing entirely.

And truthfully, I don't actually mind how different of an adaptation something is. I think a darker, more drama focused tone is a fine thing for an adaptation. In theory. Like afterlife with archie comics started in 2013 where zombies take over the town. Because in practice with the riverdale show, oh boy. The issues I have are real. Like, ok its objectively a kind of ridiculous show that I just can't take seriously. It sure is entertaining to watch it crash and burn though. But. Thing is, I just straight up don't even remember anything that happened in it, went in one ear out the other. So it's going to be a surprise for me either way once I get around to it.

Anyways, an adaptation being inaccurate from the source material but still good (howls moving castle, who framed roger rabbit) and being badly written but still enjoyment can be found in it (the black cauldron), and being a somewhat accurate adaptation but still unbearable (the live action avatar the last airbender and percy jackson movies) are all separate things. And riverdale falls into it's own separate category all together, where it is not an accurate adaptation by any means, where the enjoyment of it is entirely dependent on the individual, where it does genuinely bring up some interesting things and compelling plot points, but at the cost of character assasination, plot inconsistencies, and alot of really really awkward dialogue. And thing is, that's just how most shows are anyways. I don't think any archie show is fully good or fully bad, they're all a mixed bag.

Where as in the past there have been adaptations of archie that dont follow the plots or characterizations of the comics as much, but still keep more of the tone of the comics, Archie's weird mysteries 1999, and there have been some that follow the comics somewhat, but change up the tone to be something else entirely, the new Archie's show 1987, and it really just depends on the writers.

I genuinely dont know if theres ever been an entirely accurate archie adaptation, even with how all the comics and shows do have some sort of consistency, whether it be character traits, the places and people in town, plotlines. But theres also the fact that they had so many people making and writing archie comics and various spinoffs all at once, that there is going to be discrepancy between even the comics themselves. Theres no real one accurate archie. Theres how it started out, and how it has changed, evolved, and morphed over time and decades, into an amalgamation of 80 some years worth of recognizable characters and places and plotlines. And riverdale is just one of many bizarre choices in the long and strange history that is archie.

And it's like the last part of my journey, you know. I don't think I can stop even if I wanted to, I'm in too deep now. I gotta know it all. Everything. The good, the bad, the questionable.

(Quick sidebar but also. Theres this live action movie called the archies coming out on Netflix soon, and it looks really interesting, set in 1960s india. I don't know till I see it if it's good, but that alone sounds like an adaptation worth watching, even if it isnt so accurate to the source material, it certainly has the tone of the 1960s shows and comics down it seems.)

Oops! Didnt mean to make this response this long, riverdale is a fascinating mixed bag of just everything to me. I have a lot of thoughts about archie adaptations as always.

Anyways thank you for the ask anon! I'll take any excuse to talk about archie adaptations.

#b.text #archiethon #is anyone going to even read this entire thing? probably now. oh well i enjoyed writing it.#yeah... at first it was not very long but. i have so many thoughts abt this oki #b.asks #fiiiiiiiiiiiine ill main tag it whatever #riverdale #archie comics #this is 1k of nonsense. but <3

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