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greenthena · 5 months

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The Eldritch Ball or Aziraphale's Macabre Danse

I'm a huge sucker for dark classical music (I'm using the term "classical" broadly, not referring to the specific period. Music-y folks, please forgive.) As such, Saint-Saëns's "Danse Macabre" is one of my all time favorite pieces. It's spooky. It's intentionally dissonant. It's even got a jump scare! Like, literally, the perfect piece of music.

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The story behind "Danse Macabre" goes like this: Each Halloween at midnight, Death enters the graveyard with a fiddle. As he plays, the skeletons rise from the ground and dance through the cemetery, resurrected by Death's power and possessed by his instrument.

In S2 E3, the Bentley plays "Danse Macabre" as Aziraphale drives up to Edinburgh. "What do we do? We play classical music that stays classical music." (And the Bentley listens to him! Because the Bentley is an expression of Crowley's subconscious and wants to please him and make him happy...and I'm sure you can find lots of excellent metas to that end. Or maybe you have another theory about why the Bentley is so pliant toward the angel? I'd love to hear it. But that's not what I'm talking about right now. I'm just getting distracted.)

Why is this song so perfect for a bit of subtle foreshadowing and repeated metaphor? So glad you asked. I have reasons. And evidence. Please, peruse my wares.

In the A Plot of this episode, Aziraphale travels to Scotland to visit a pub called The Resurrectionist. (Ya know, like Death? Like how Death resurrects people in the song? Okay, just wanted to really hit that nail into the coffin.) The pub is, of course, named for a certain Mr. (not Dr., he's a surgeon) Dalrymple, whom Crowley and Aziraphale meet in the accompanying flashback minisode entitled (you'll never guess) "The Resurrectionist." The minisode plot involves Crowley and his the angel encountering young Elspeth, a grave robber who, like Death, releases the bodies of the deceased from their earthly bonds of soil and stone. My interpretation is that Elspeth becomes Death incarnate, first in the process of using her instrument (her shovel) to resurrect the dead, and later when she inadvertently brings about the literal death of her partner, Wee Morag. Rather than allow Wee Morag's body to turn to dust in the ground, Elspeth "resurrects" her, selling her body to Dr. Dalrymple (sorry, Mr. Dalrymple, he's a surgeon, not a doctor), who will use Wee Morag's body for research, which will in turn save the lives of countless others by furthering the field of medicine. A form of resurrection, indeed. There's also the plot thread of Crowley and Aziraphale providing Elspeth with a nest egg to escape the cycle of poverty into which she has been born. This, too, is another form of re-birth. Or, say it with me, resurrection. Alright, you're getting it now.

Okay, now I get to delve into the fun stuff. Let's talk about that cotillion ball, shall we? You know, that danse party where Aziraphale persuades all the shopkeepers on Whickber street to attend a Jane Austen-style ball?

I personally refer to this whole fiasco experience as the Eldritch Ball. On the surface, it seems fairly innocent. The shopkeepers need a little bit of encouragement to attend the Whickber Street monthly meeting, but the angel manages to convince everyone to join with the help of some coercion-via-bribery. When they show up, they're transmuted into Austen-esque characters, from their clothes, to their speech patterns, even to some extent, their perception of reality. This is where it starts to get a little uncomfortable if you peel back the layers. Mrs. Sandwich can't talk about what she does for a living, which is a great comedy bit, but also demonstrates that her speech is being significantly censored and altered by an outside force. With the exception of Mr. Brown (hidden agendas here, Neil? I honestly don't know), all the shopkeepers find themselves in new, slightly-period-appropriate garments. What's really weird, though, is that no one notices the changes. When the dancing begins, to the music of Mr. Anderson's piano and an accompanying string quartet (strings...as in violins...as in fiddles. Remember Death's fiddle?), Nina appears to be the only one who realizes that something is off.

Maggie: This is something new.

Nina: This is something completely bonkers. Are we...? Why is everyone talking like they've escaped from Pride and Prejudice?

Maggie: Just getting into the spirit of things, I suppose.

Nina: The spirit of what things? This is meant to be the shopkeeper association monthly meeting.

Maggie: Hmm. Yes. Now that you put it like that...

Nina: Are we dancing?

Maggie: Yes.

Nina: Did you ever learn the steps to this dance?

Maggie: It's just what we do, isn't it?

Nina: No. No, it isn't. This is something mad. This is their [Crowley & Azirapahle's] fault. They're doing this.

Something is definitely mad. One might even say it's macabre. Aziraphale has become Death the Resurrectionist. He has lured the shopkeepers of Whickber Street through a portal (as Death leads his flock from the world of the dead to the world of the living.) Aziraphale's instrument is his clipboard and pen, held almost as one might hold a fiddle and bow, as he invites the various shopkeepers to the monthly meeting. Once they all arrive, he miraculously gives them new clothes (as Death knits together the bones of the dead), and then proceeds to control their bodies and minds, as though they are merely marionettes. They dance and speak in the way Aziraphale imagines, fulfilling his fantasy of a perfect Jane Austen-style ball (quite literally, the Danse Macabre.)

The shopkeepers have become the dead and Aziraphale controls them until the spell is broken--or rather until the window is broken.

To be honest, I don't think Aziraphale is really aware of how much he is able to transfigure his environment, including the humans who happen to be close by. Or, at least, I don't believe he does any of this with ill intent. He's just a bit blind to anything outside his fixation of wooing Crowley, at the moment. As a result, he creates a situation that is profoundly problematic and unnatural. Just like the dead in the graveyard have no agency when Death plays his fiddle, the Whickber Street shopkeepers are possessed by Aziraphale's intricate romantic fantasy and must dance as long as the music plays.

It is, in fact, only when the music stops, that the shopkeepers begin to realize that something is most certainly weird. The diagetic music (Mr. Anderson & Co.) abruptly cuts off when an approaching demon horde tosses a brick through the bookshop window. Now the spell, or in this case, miracle, begins to break down. While the shopkeepers still appear to be somewhat under the influence of Aziraphale's persuasive aura, a few of them glance down at their clothes in confusion and look around the bookshop, as though waking from a dream. And at this point, after a little finagling, Crowley escorts the humans out of the bookshop and out of Aziraphale's Danse Macabre.

Once the demons attack the bookshop Aziraphale's influence on his surroundings really starts to deteriorate. Throughout the season, he's been able to structure and manipulate reality (sometimes with Crowley's help) to suit his needs: protecting Gabriel, altering the Bentley, organizing the Ball, etc. But once the bookshop, his safe space, has been breached, he loses control of the situation. From this point in the narrative, nothing goes according to Aziraphale's plan. Aziraphale wants to protect Jimbriel, but the former archangel insists on giving himself over to the demons. Crowley leaves and Aziraphale has to defend the bookshop on his own, when he'd expected Crowley to come right back and save him. While defending the bookshop, Aziraphale reaches his "last" resort not once, but twice: first allowing Nina and Maggie to use his books (!!!) as weapons and then blowing up his halo in a last ditch effort to fend off the invaders. This was not on the agenda for today!

Things just continue to go downhill from there, Aziraphale losing all control of the situation. And by the time the Final Fifteen wraps up, the angel has lost his bookshop and possibly his most important relationship. By the end of the season, Aziraphale is no longer Death the Resurrectionist, the manipulator and puppeteer. Now the angel has become the puppet, dancing to Heaven's music.

#good omens #aziraphale #aziracrow #crowley #go metas #good omens meta #danse macabre #camille saint saëns #the bentley #nina and maggie #eldritch ball #elspeth #wee morag #dark music #Youtube

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stardew-shitposterino · 10 months

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Stardew Valley Bachelors watching a movie/show with you

Sam:

-Is very excited

-will talk through the entire thing …

-…unless he falls asleep before you can finish it

-prefers action movies or animation , if you are watching that, then he’s all eyes and ears

-thinks movies with complex social commentary and little action are boring

-“I don’t get it, it’s 2 hours of them just talking ?! How is that enjoyable?”

-won’t complain if he can cuddle up to you and play with your hair though

Sebastian:

-likes Sci-Fi movies, but isn’t too into watching movies in general

-won’t be too thrilled to watch a movie as he’d rather play video games than sit there and do nothing for 90 minutes

-will probably scroll on his phone and occasionally comment on something happening

-will end up very invested in the movie regardless, but don’t you think he’ll admit it

-hogs all the snacks, you’re not getting one of those salted pretzels

Elliott:

-LOVES romance movies

-especially historical ones like Jane Austen stories (he loves pride & prejudice)

-but watches almost anything with you

-If you’re watching a movie with bad writing in it, he will complain about it

- will SOB through every heartfelt moment

-will react a bit too intense when the scene gets heated

-yes, he will point out anything he sees as symbolism for something else, no, he doesn’t care that it’s annoying

Harvey:

- someone call a doctor, because he’s in love…with cinema that is

-he doesn’t have a preferred genre, he likes the classics and that can range from 1950s old Hollywood to “newer” adaptations of novels and dramas

-though he has a soft spot for romances , so he will become all mushy and fluttery when you watch one of those 2000s rom coms together

-will definitely sob when the couple has their happy ending, wishing it was him (forgetting you’re married lmfao)

-if you’re watching a movie he already knows, he will info dump on you the entire time

-“did you know that in order for them to film that scene, they had to…”

-if you want to see him scoff all over the place, watch a medical movie/to show with him. He won’t shut up about how bad it is

Shane:

-by himself, he watches gridball on TV

-with others, he likes comedy movies and TV shows, even if they are very trashy…(especially if they are very trashy)

-if you watch some TV show like Love Island, he is all on board running his mouth at the stupidity of the contestants

-buuuut, no matter how much he likes what you’re watching…

-he’s a dad without having kids of his own, ok

-Shane will “rest his eyes” and is gone, take it or leave it

- will probably end up leaning against your shoulder, snoring (…is he…drooling ?!)

-mumbles some funny stuff in his sleep which makes you forget the movie/ show for a minute

Alex:

-like Shane, he loves sports and comedy movies, but also action movies and baking shows

-he watches The Great British Bake-Off with Evelyn, don’t you ever tell that to anyone else

-when you watch a movie or show together, he will cuddle up against you and try his best to stay focused on the TV and not you

-you probably end up doing some Netflix and Chill as this man is extremely horny for you and will make sure it’s reciprocated by rubbing your thigh and kissing you all over

-if you don’t want to, it’s fine, but it will be hard to resist

-if you make it through the entire thing, he will probably have fallen asleep in the middle 🤷🏼‍♀️ he doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to ever finish a movie

#stardew valley #sdv #sdv bachelors #sdv shane #sdv Alex #sdv Harvey #sebastian sdv #sdv sebastian #sdv Sam #sdv elliott #stardew valley headcanons #sdv headcanons

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belle-keys · 1 year

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My Hogwarts House book recs

Okay, ever since some of my favorite booktubers made posts like these many a year ago, I always wanted to make a book rec list like this because I still genuinely do like the Hogwarts Houses. Enjoy!

Gryffindor

Graceling by Kristen Cashore - she walked so these new fantasy girlies could run, fantasy kingdom with assassin main character, the original ya high fantasy killer girlboss imo

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin - all of the sympathetic leads are classic heroes (dany, jon, arya), adventure and politics and battle and dragons, nuanced outlooks on honor

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah - ww2 novel, deals with the french resistance during the occupation, hit every spot in my cold black heart, emphasis on sisterhood and endurance

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - what is bravery if not a broke woman telling a rich man to get a grip, og strong female lead overcoming many challenges, criticisms of polite society

Hufflepuff

Crave by Tracy Wolff - big on found family, paranormal romance shenanigans in a boarding school, somewhat satire, unserious and just very wholesome, steeped in nostalgia uwu

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir - unapologetically written to heal and explore trauma, cathartic, wholesome and pure relationships, emphasis on self-growth and overcoming abuse and pain

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali - historical, about the value of relationships in war and hardship, themes of growth and acceptance and promises, beautiful story

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic - what happens when you let a bunch of mentally ill kids play a made up sport, angsty but feels like a big hug, contemporary fiction, just genius ok

Ravenclaw

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake - very slytherclaw, philosophy and physics as the basis, dark academia urban fantasy, character-driven, multiple POVs, morally grey academics

Babel by RF Kuang - this book has been likened to a history textbook, by a nerd girlie for the nerd girlies, linguistics and languages, super well-researched, condemns colonization

Disorientation by Elain Hsieh Chou - witty and sharp narration and dialogue, set in academia and deals with east asian literature, satire and black comedy, explores racial fetishization

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - only a ravenclaw could appreciation its complexity, so many literary references, stylistically immaculate, lots of room to debate its message and themes

Slytherin

Vicious by VE Schwab - perfect moral quandaries demonstrated here, everyone is morally dark grey, supervillains, very angsty and also profound at times, dark academia

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - my man makes a deal with the devil for eternal youth and beauty, everyone here is morally dubious, murder and orgies and philosophy

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - exhausted woman does what she needs to do, female rage book, does some interesting things with pov, justified evil, amy dunne is insane and it's great

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao - tired chinese woman does what she needs to do and kills men, very unhinged queen behavior, ambition and god complexes, pacific rim but in china

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suzannahnatters · 4 months

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I've cranked through the first half of Love Like the Galaxy in under a week and I REGRET NOTHING: how fast can I put myself outside this gloriously mature and well written Jane Austen style comedy of manners with intermittent murder. Reactions to the first 12 eps under the cut because wow I verbose when I happy

I'm 3 eps into Love Like the Galaxy and while "becoming thoroughly absorbed by Chinese Jane Austen" was not on my bingo list I'll take it.

I have trust issues with cdramas after watching GOODBYE MY PRINCESS which was the drama equivalent of the kind of dude who says 'heh heh I like a girl with spirit' but I do really love what they're doing with Niao Niao and how she's had to survive her awful aunt and grandmother (who are like Mrs Norris and Mrs Bennet, respectively) by becoming calculating, distrustful, selfish and utterly devoted to her own cause

LOVED the moment in ep3 where she tries to show her mother, who's this strict Confucian parent, the sort of nonsense she's had to put up with for years by subjecting her to the evil wiles of Aunt Norris and Grandma Bennet, she just outright pointed out the double standards her mother is operating by

anyway we shall see how things turn out! I'm finding the grounded visuals very nice too - everyone's not caked in makeup and jewels all the time, they look very comfy and believable.

oh my the softly besotted look on Torture General's face when he sees her carriage going by

he hasn't seen her face yet, he just knows she's cold, unfilial, and utterly calculating and he's fallen for her for all the reasons that everyone else reproaches her for

episode 6 of LLTG: a dispute over a writing desk has made me cry. what

This whole scene with the dreadful mother holding court and Niao Niao defending herself - so ably that she beings her brothers and cousin to take her side against her mother - GAH this is AMAAAAAZING

I adore that they don't have anyone fingerwagging at our girl to tell her that actually her mother is doing these toxic things because she deep down cares about her (aHEM, My Journey To You) - they're just being really clear that it's all dreadfully unfair.

I also love that the toxic mother is a sword-wielding warrior woman. She's so heroine-coded??? while also being a terrible person? amazing! I love the unexpectedness of it!

snerk I love this celebrity scholar deciding to Bestow a Mark of His Favour upon our girl and she tosses it right back at him

this Prince Xiao enters twirling moustaches he doesn't even have, wow

laughing my head off at the Big Romantic Rescue complete with cape SWOOOOOOOSH

this is great. I feel like I'm watching a faintly swoony BBC adaptation of a lost Jane Austen novel

also I take it back, Niao Niao isn't selfish at all - she's just realised that if she doesn't fight for herself then no one else will. But she's not making it an excuse to be unfair or horrible to her perfect cousin, even though it would be the most understandable thing in the world

I love her, she deserves the world

ep7: I've only known Wan QiQi two minutes and I would die for her

is it just me or is this smug scholar precisely the type of man we've all come across??? NN not giving him the time of day is EVERYTHING

Third Aunt giving Third Uncle a shave: what a scene. God bless cdramas. Also, the extent to which there is a whole epic romance cdrama happening somewhere in the backstory here is AMAZING

Also: QiQi is a showy kind of BFF to have - showing up late to the party in a bright red dress and instantly pillaging the birthday gifts she brought the princess to deck you out in earrings? chef's kiss - but I'm also SO appreciative of how they're treating Yang Yang! That moment at the banquet early in the episode where Niao Niao, who can't even read, says, somewhat hurt and pettish, "I don't need to learn ANYTHING! I'm good just as I am!" and Yang Yang says, "Yes, you are!" despite being a bookworm since birth? I LOVE THEM

ahaha NN gives a speech shaming the snobby aristocratic girls for looking down on the daughter of a general, and being extravagant, and don't they know all this bounty is due to the emperor and his generals? feels like the show is buying the right to critique filial piety by kissing up to the state

the statism is the one thing I've disliked about the show so far (also didn't think much of NN snitching on her great-uncle) but that's pretty much a constant in Chinese media except for one wuxia novel I read years ago (BaiFa MoNu Zhuan/Legend of the White Haired Maiden), so onward…

"I'm Eleventh Young Master who has admired you for a long time" sHriEKing

he looks so happy too

GO NIAO NIAO BITE HER

Deeply enamoured of the way General Wan has the features and mannerisms of an animated Disney villain

"why is that unlucky person still here? he seems like a lingering ghost" impeccable "Lizzie Bennet wonders why she keeps bumping into Mr Darcy on her daily walk, after she specifically told him this was where she walked daily" energy

well I did not think the show could make me sympathise with the toxic mum, but it did, by dint of showing that the dad is intentionally playing good cop so he can enjoy his daughter's adoration while he encourages her mum to beat her???

I really hope the cruddy dad experiences the consequences of his actions here but even more than that, I'm amazed that the show has found a way to make us sympathise for the bad mum as a person without trying to make her less bad

I'm just in awe of the writing here - it's SO deft and able.

ah, this must be the bamboo forest where they store action scenes - and I LOVE that the band of lady bodyguards gets to stomp the bandits when a lesser show would use this opportunity to bring on the hero and his army of goth henchmen

aw yess! our girl is strategising their way out! It's so delightful to me - this is precisely the kind of leadership/strategy role asian dramas rarely allow to their female characters

now she's getting to command a siege!?!?! all on her own?

and then castigating herself for not being able to save everybody! BABY

on to ep12, which I have heard people cite as the Point Where The Show Gets Good, and given the fact that I've already been elmo on fire dot gif for eleven episodes I'm not entirely sure what everyone else has been drinking but sure! let's see what lies herein

oh this is the GOOD stuff

yes yes, the big rescue, the arrow pulling, all good…what really gets me is that when our girl wants to see the mass execution and Murder General holds her back, it's not bc he's patronising her, it's bc he knows she needs to hear that AhMiao's death was not her fault

this show is justifying tropes I didn't even know COULD be justified…inCREDible

Third Uncle has two braincells and my whole heart

the only thing better than the look of sheer naked yearning on Murder General's face every time he sees Niao Niao or anything tangentially related to her is his determination never to let on how he feels to his two henchmen, who have known since episode two and are eager to help

Murder General hoarding hankies, bits of string, and pencil-ends that belong to Niao Niao like Harriet Smith hoarding Mr Elton memorabilia in EMMA

#love like the galaxy #cdrama #lltg #asian drama #ling buyi #cheng shaoshang

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bethanydelleman · 4 months

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What do you think Austen encompasses when she refers to “taste” and “manners”? I’m trying to think past the obvious but I don’t really know what these concepts meant in the early 19th century, but they were clearly important descriptives.

Thanks for your thoughts!

This is a big question, as Jane Austen's works are often described as a "comedy of manners" and the concept of taste comes up a lot! There are certainly nuances in the way she uses these words. I'm going to do taste in this response and manners in another post because this got long.

Taste comes in two forms, natural and educated. Lady Catherine in Pride & Prejudice snobbishly describes herself as having the former:

There are few people in England, I suppose, who have more true enjoyment of music than myself, or a better natural taste. If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient.

While this is most likely a jab at people who claim natural taste while being uneducated, and a display of Lady Catherine's misplaced pride. In Sense & Sensibility, Elinor defends Edward by claiming he has natural taste:

“What a pity it is, Elinor,” said Marianne, “that Edward should have no taste for drawing.”

“No taste for drawing!” replied Elinor, “why should you think so? He does not draw himself, indeed, but he has great pleasure in seeing the performances of other people, and I assure you he is by no means deficient in natural taste, though he has not had opportunities of improving it. Had he ever been in the way of learning, I think he would have drawn very well. He distrusts his own judgment in such matters so much, that he is always unwilling to give his opinion on any picture; but he has an innate propriety and simplicity of taste, which in general direct him perfectly right.”

Now "taste" doesn't seem to only be "the ability to discern what is of good quality or of a high aesthetic standard." it also speaks to execution, as we see here in Northanger Abbey:

Her taste for drawing was not superior; though whenever she could obtain the outside of a letter from her mother or seize upon any other odd piece of paper, she did what she could in that way, by drawing houses and trees, hens and chickens, all very much like one another.

This sentence would suggest the definition of taste to be something like "skill". Etymoline gives this definition:

Also from c. 1300 in English as "to touch, to handle." From early 14c. as "have experience or knowledge of" (of bliss, bitterness, etc.). The meaning "exercise the sense of taste" is recorded from late 14c.... The meaning "aesthetic judgment, artistic sensibility, faculty of discerning and appreciating what is excellent" is attested by mid-15c... The sense of "fact or condition of liking or preferring something, inclination" is from late 14c.

Henry Tilney talks about taste as something like skill as well:

“I should no more lay it down as a general rule that women write better letters than men, than that they sing better duets, or draw better landscapes. In every power, of which taste is the foundation, excellence is pretty fairly divided between the sexes.”

Austen also makes a bit of a pun about taste, would not disgust a young person of taste, when talking about the merits of novels.

We see taste associated with education again here:

They were viewing the country with the eyes of persons accustomed to drawing, and decided on its capability of being formed into pictures, with all the eagerness of real taste. Here Catherine was quite lost. She knew nothing of drawing—nothing of taste... her attention was so earnest that he became perfectly satisfied of her having a great deal of natural taste.

Similar to Pride & Prejudice: Lady Catherine continued her remarks on Elizabeth’s performance, mixing with them many instructions on execution and taste.

And then of course, we have Elizabeth's admiration of Darcy's taste when she sees Pemberley:

Elizabeth was delighted. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste... The rooms were lofty and handsome, and their furniture suitable to the fortune of their proprietor; but Elizabeth saw, with admiration of his taste, that it was neither gaudy nor uselessly fine,—with less of splendour, and more real elegance, than the furniture of Rosings.

And again, the association with education:

She listened most attentively to all that passed between them, and gloried in every expression, every sentence of her uncle, which marked his intelligence, his taste, or his good manners.

Mary had neither genius nor taste; and though vanity had given her application, it had given her likewise a pedantic air and conceited manner, which would have injured a higher degree of excellence than she had reached. Elizabeth, easy and unaffected, had been listened to with much more pleasure, though not playing half so well; and Mary, at the end of a long concerto, was glad to purchase praise and gratitude by Scotch and Irish airs, at the request of her younger sisters, who with some of the Lucases, and two or three officers, joined eagerly in dancing at one end of the room.

So, to sum up this massive litany of quotes, natural taste seems to be an inclination in the right direction, which can be honed with proper education. Real taste comes from a place of education. There seems to be a suggestion that one type of taste can be correct, it is not just a matter of opinion. Jane Austen argues that novels should be a part of that "correct" taste. I imagine that taste changed with movements, such as Romanticism and the idea of the picturesque.

#question response #taste #jane austen #word use #word definitions

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wangxianficfinder · 1 year

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In the mood for...

~*~

1. I'm in the mood for a fic where WWX leaving after the main events of the show goes badly. I've read Rotten Work (shanastoryteller) which was a fantastic example of this, but I crave more! There is no way WWX leaving with a donkey, an empty purse, a bolstered abandonment complex, and a barely-recovered reputation went well. Thank you for all that you do!! @kirk-spock-in-the-impala

the roots by thelastdboy (E, 17k, wangxian, major character death, graphic depictions of violence, post-canon, post-untamed, MDZS/CQL combination, transmigrator LWJ, dimension travel, time travel, parallel universes, desperation, WWX pov, LWJ pov, heavy angst, mental health issues, giref/mourning, abandonment, depression, suicidal thoughts, hurt/comfort, getting together, rogue cultivator WWX, WQ lives, found family, cottagegore, it gets worse before it gets better, WIP)

💙 feel better love by Anonymous (T, 8k, WIP, WangXian, implied WangXianXian, Post-Canon, Crack Treated Somewhat Seriously, in a haha jk…unless? way, Light Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Crack, Crossover)

I Will Find You Again by Hidenka_chan101 (M, 19k, wangxian, LSZ & LWJ, LSZ & WWX, LSZ & LJY, canon divergence, mentions of death, angst, crying, LWJ is a petty bitch, typical LQR, unsuppportive LXC, gusu lan junior dynamics, wangxian get happy ending, fever, tender loving care, some smut, WN flexing his healer knowledge, hurt/comfort) slightly AU but still has WWX going off on his own

like mayflies wandering Series by RoseThorne (M, 12k, NHS & WWX, wangxian, post-canon, assassination attempts, introspection, regret, travel, WWX pov, ghosts, reconciliation, exhaustion, pining, feelings realisation, illness, found family, hurt/comfort, emotional manipulation, manipulative NHS, friendship, qi deviation, resentful energy, WIP)

Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics) The series (and all their stuff) is great. It has a similar opening premise - in that jc kinda realizes wwx will never come back on his own and sorta tricks him back to lotus pier. Tho I don't think his traveling being unsafe was a primary motive, it'd work, and nhs is great, similar vibes to mayflies in a respect.

Story-Shaped by lingering_song (T, 13k, WangXian, NHS & WWX, Post-Canon, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Inventor WWX, Found Family, Mentioned Character Death, Alcohol, Protective NHS, WangXian Endgame, Not JC Friendly, Not particularly gentry sects friendly overall tbh)

Judge Softly by Chrononautical (E, 32k, wangxian, LSZ & WWX, LQR & WWX, accidental voyeurism, non-consensual mind reading, oblivious WWX, bamf WWX, genius WWX, post-canon Fix-it, angst w happy ending, LQR tries)

~*~

2. Hi!!!! Itm for fanfics where Jyl kills Wwx after the ambush of Quingqi pass.

regret by wqngji (Not rated, 8k, wangxian, JYL & WWX, canon divergence, canonical character death, temporary character death, fluff & angst, hurt WWX, hurt/comfort, past character death, JYL lives, domestic wangxian, golden core reveal, good sibling JC)

~*~

3. Hi! Bit of a long shot but I just finished the bridgerton spin off on Netflix was wondering if there were any regal or royal wangxian fics❤️ @red-spacekitten

Half Agony, Half Hope by queenklu (T, 105k, WangXian, XiYao ChengQing, XuanLi, NieLan, Jane Austen Fusion, persuasion au, Pining, Broken Engagement, Secrets, Espionage, Child Injury, Terrible Parents (Madam Yu and JFM), Past Child Neglect)

My Sun One Early Morning Did Shine by tangerinechar (T, 4k, WangXian, Regency, Secret Relationship, Marriage Proposal, a very tiny bit of epistolary)

The Extremely Self-Indulgent and not at all Serious Pride and Prejudice AU Series by Suspicious_Popsicle (G, 16k, WangXian, Regency, Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Crossdressing, Pining)

Royalty AU Compilation

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4. Hello! I hope you're doing well.

It's an IITMF req : WangXian being murder husbands. Something like the series " You & Me Baby, We’ll Eclipse The Sun". Thank you for your time:) @utxqia

💖 The Way You Tremble by themunchking (E, 6k, wangxian, murder husbands, vampires, blood, violence, supernatural elements) perhaps not quite what you’re looking for but might enjoy still

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5. ITMF: Sentient sword spirits, spiritual tools, and all that's similar! Sentient spirits everywhere!!! (Yes, including the good ol' tiger tally if you have it)

there's the sentient sword comp But if you want specifically /just/ sentient objects, @/zeldacw has an absolute brilliant comic staring both Wangxian's swords AND instruments And then @/rmoonberry has some artistic depictions of sentient twins Yin Hu Fu

@/zeldacw seems to be this fandom’s originator of the Anthromorphic Weapons trope; those comics can be found under the tag 忘情隨塵 (WangQingSuiChen) and post on her Tumblr and on her Twitter @/zeldacw; inspired Kindred Spirits by EstelweNadia (Not Rated, 2k, WIP, Bìchén/Suíbiàn, Chénqíng/Wangji, Humor, Angst, Eventual Romance, Drama, Slow Build, Slow Burn) (from our Daemons / Sentient Sword Comp - Mod C)

~*~

6. Hi! Hope everyone is well and thank you for your godly work as always! So for the next itmf I collected some requests:

A) WWX blurting out his feelings for Lan Zhan on accident/for example in a casual talk or something like that/bonus (great but not needed,everything is welcome): angsty because people don’t like him talking that much, exept for Lan Zhan of course

B) WWX showing of his swimming skills/maybe saving Lan Zhan from drowning/preferably not as an modern AU, but if that saving thing does happen there too I would be happy to try that out too

C) WWX being great with kids and Lan Zhan loving it, going to horny jail, whatever. But like, not just A-Yuan or the other Juniors but in general, maybe as a kindergartener or idk but u get what i mean hopefully.

D) WWX being genius in reading ppl, as in Sherlock Holmes Niveau

Thank you so much! @desperation-is-my-middle-name

6A)

spoke like we meant it by BlackWiresOnHerHead (T, 10k, WangXian, Modern AU, 5+1, Fluff, oh my god they were roommates, Friends to Lovers, Getting TogetherP, ining, Cuddling, Accidental Confession, Humor, Abandonment Issues, Light Angst)

new phone, who's this? by uchiuchi (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, Fluff, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Accidental Confession, Friends to Lovers)

6B)

Last Feather by Solmae (M, 33k, wangxian, canon au, drama & romance, mythical beings & creatures, fairy tale retellings, LWJ stays at the burial mounds, married wangxian, bottom LWJ) features a nearly drowned Lan Wangji saved by Wei Wuxian, though it's not the focus of the fic

6C)

🧡 paint smears on sunny days by SnowshadowAO3 (E, 53k, WangXian, Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Everyone Is Alive, Modern AU, Dadji, Mutual Pining, Happy Ending, Brief Alcohol Mention, Masturbation, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, Accidentally co-parenting with your son’s art teacher, Fatherhood)

~*~

7. ITMF Medical au which is not modern.

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8. I cannot find any wwx centric fic which is lwj bashing or not lwj friendly. I i see are jc centric or tian ah! Poor jc !! Kill wwx and lwj! No no please give me many many wwx fics which are lwj bashing/ lwj critical/ not lwj friendly.

Anon from #8 of recent ITMF post, yes I've searched already for lwj bashing tags and all the fics centre around jc. Honestly i don't mind reading wwx with others too. Suggest some?

我的皇后是農民 | sowing seeds in the cold palace by sweetlolixo (E, 57k, WIP, WangXian, Imperial Palace, Emperor LWJ, Imperial Consort WWX, Farmer WWX, Angst, Romance, Wingman LJY, Wife-chasing-LWJ, Arranged Marriage, Best Boy A-Yuan) Has the asker tried the lwj bashing tag on Ao3 yet?

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9. ITMF wwx being in an abusive relationship like his husband is a wife beater.

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10. Hello hello! I’m finding myself curious if something has ever been explored so if you have an available spot l - I’m in the mood for a fic where JFM gets therapy (or mind healing) (modern or canon is fine).

Like - what is his deal? Why can’t he communicate with his wife and why are his children invisible to him? What would happen if he breaks these cycles and truly TRIES?

Thank you for all you do! @rogue-90-em

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11. hello lovely mods. an itmf request for competence kink wangxian please and thank you

You and me/Won't be unhappy by x_los (E, 22k, WangXian, Female WWX, Case Fic Aftermath of a Case, Gender Changes, Accidental Marriage, mentioned canon-typical domestic abuse, mentioned canon-typical sexual violence (implication of minors),(not depicted just discussed as possibility), First Kiss, First Time, Loss of Virginity, Politics, Horror, Murder Mystery, Road Trips, Bitchy LWJ, Dirty Talk, Mutual Pining, Always a Different Sex, Competence Kink, Misunderstandings, Miscommunication, Self-Sacrifice, Battle Couple, Episode 7)

My chain hits my chest/When I'm bangin' on the radio by x_los (T, 2k, WangXian, Case Fic, Modern with Magic, Competence Kink, Yiling Laozu)

~*~

12. Hey, we've got two non specific fic quests for you! A) the first is focused on the juniors, specifically like sizhui embodying rules lawyering of wei ying and malicious compliance of lan zhan and just being the politest little bitch about things? B) the second; if there's any that are 3zun raising huaisang (preferably fluff/modern, but at this point we just need a starting point). Thanks!! @captainkaithr

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13. It's mermay, so I must ask for merfolk aus! (I'll also accept selkies)

oceans, drowned in starfire by stiltonbasket (T, 30k, WangXian, Modern AU, Novelist LWJ, Merman WWX, Accidental Baby Acquisition, (of the xiao-yu variety), Near Death Experiences, Family Secrets, Domestic Fluff, Happy Ending, The Little Mermaid Fusion, Inspired by Ponyo (2008) )

For #13 mermay request- I forget the title off the top of my head but it's on ao3. Jiaoren (mer) wwx gets trapped in a shallow stream, mistaken as a drowned fierce corpse, and stabbed by a Lan disciple on a group hunt. They feel bad and nurse him to health (carry him in bath tub) and he's immediately smitten with lz, and speaks broken human. There's another where lz is a cop? Modern au that busts a trafficking ring and rescues mer wwx and builds cool tank system in his house & adopt bby mer mxy (Haven't located these two yet ~Mod L) / I found the jiaoren mer-may fic I reccd. It's "Secrets of Yunmeng's Lotus Lakes" By Cy_anne on ao3. Its currently a restricted work? But its Spanish translation "Los Secretos de los Lagos de Loto de Yunmeng By Cy_anne" by VicoMejia733 can still be read on ao3 (I'm not fluent in Spanish but I'm like 90% sure this is it), "Something so precious" series by Elara_Moon on ao3 was the other one I reccd I'm pretty sure, the one where cop lz saves mer wwx from a trafficking ring

Secrets of Yunmeng's Lotus Lakes by Cy_an_Blue (M, 73k, WangXian, One-sided SS/WWX, A/B/O Dynamics, Omega WWX, Mermaid WWX, Cultivator LWJ, Younger WWX, Younger LWJ, teenage WWX, teenage LWJ, No War AU, Non-Traditional A/B/O Dynamics, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Awkwardness, Injury Recovery, accidental injury, Accidental Stabbing, Cultivation Accidents, Near Death Experiences, waterborne abyss, Kidnapping, Non-Explicit Torture, Mentions of major injury, Fluff, Attempted Sexual Assault, Courtship, Courting Rituals, Los Secretos de los Lagos de Loto de Yunmeng By Cy_anne by VicoMejia733)

Something So Precious Series by Elara_Moon (T, 25k, WangXian, Modern AU, Romance, Mutual Pining, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Some dark themes like um, Slavery, but it's not super dark i promise, Police Officer LWJ, Merperson WWX, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, Minor Violence, Child Neglect, Minor Character Death, Mind Control, it's not as bad as some of those tags make it sound)

in the deepest depths by lazy_lousy_lizy_jane (T, 3k, Female WangXian, Modern AU, Lighthouses, Selkies, Minor Violence, LWJ Has Feelings, Soft WangXian, bichen is a cat, heist (minor), Cisswap, Gender or Sex Swap)

One for Heaven and Earth by cerbykerby (T, 7k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Supernatural Elements, Angst with a Happy Ending, Madam Lán Lives, inspired by wangxian selkie au, Getting Together)

Lanterns To Guide You Home by cuttlefeeeeeeeeesh (T, 7k, WangXian, Mutual Pining, Mythology, Selkie, Fisherman LWJ, Selkie WWX, Sorta Established Relationship, Fluff, Soft (tm), A touch of horny because this is wangxian)

never love an anchor by tardigradeschool (T, 31k, WangXian, Selkies, No Powers, Historical, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Pining, Angst, Happy Ending, The Inherent Eroticism of the Sea, PTSD, Presumed Dead, Drowning)

bring you home by Alasse_Irena (T, 27k, WangXian, Selkies, Modern with Magic, Pre-Slash)

brave new world by Quixiote (T, 33k, WIP, WangXian, Selkie AU, Modern with Magic)

Do not waste your pearls for me by moonwaif (G, 9k, WangXian, mermaid!LWJ, Fantasy AU, Trauma, Abuse, Healing, Unresolved Romantic Tension)

Frog, Beast, Fish, Idiot by Attila (T, 3k, WangXian, Fairy Tale, Dumbasses, Starring in:, The Frog Prince, Beauty and the Beast, The little mermaid)

you're a bird in the water / i'm a fish on the ground by plonk (Not Rated, 8k, WangXian, Merpeople, Canon Era)

A Drop of Water by Cat_Noir (T, 45k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Mermaid AU, H2O: Just Add Water AU, Platonic Intimacy, Cuddles, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort)

The Pirate of Lotus Pier by antebunny (G, 55k, WangXian, LSZ & JL, JC & WWX, XuanLi, Pirates, Folklore, Fantasy, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Action/Adventure, Found Family, Angst, Misunderstandings, Secret Identity, Inspired by Pirates of the Caribbean, Miscommunication, Fairy Tale Elements, Soft Magic)

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14. I¨m in a mood for genius WWX fics from this year if possible ^^

there is no limited dimensions by Stratisphyre (M, 27k, WIP, WangXian, NieLan, MianQing, WN/Other(s), Star Trek Fusion, Slow Burn, Friends to Lovers, Assumed Character Death, Minor Character Death, Tags on Each Chapter, references to non-con, references to canonical slavery, (The Orion Syndicate is just really bad okay?), bizarre space mpreg, Implied Future Pairings, Implied NHS/Others, POV Multiple, Accidental Child Acquisition, Found Family)

~*~

15. Hiiiii! Itmf for a fic that's about other people's view on wangxian. Like outsiders pov on the relationship. Thanks

pay no attention to what’s behind the curtain by glitteringmoonlight (T, 7k, Emperor LWJ, Concubine WWX, Mutual Pining, only the bare bones of a plot, a little bit of outsider pov, Love Confessions, Happy Ending)

Everything’s growing in our garden by like_a_bird_that_flew (T, 3k, WangXian, LXC & LWJ, Modern AU, Coming Out, Supportive big brother Xichen, Family Feels, Established Relationship, Xichen finds out on his own, meaning he finds photos of them kissing, Oops, referenced fear of homophobia/rejection, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor)

looking through a window by glitteringmoonlight (T, 5k, WangXian, Modern AU, POV Outsider, College/University, Fluff and Humor)

new messages from Lit 1011 by yellowcarnations (G,36k, WangXian, LSZ & WWX & LWJ, Modern AU, POV Outsider)

pitfalls of greed by glitteringmoonlight (T, 3k, WangXian, POV Outsider, BAMF WWX, Kidnapping, Violence, YLLZ WWX, not exactly but the vibes are there, Post-Canon)

The Misunderstanding by kisahawklin (T, 9k, wangxian, modern, misunderstanding, outsider POV)

💙 Su She Eats his Heart Out by KizuKatana (T, 16k, WangXian, 3rd person pov, implied offscreen wangxian sex)

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16. Hello, I’m in a mood for your favorite fics of the month!

Jin Ling and Demonic Cultivation by ImNobody122 (Not rated, 8k, JC’s torture of demonic cultivators, aftermath of torture, serious injuries, angst, character study, not JC friendly, JL pov, child JL, JL is a brat, non-graphic violence, JC’s 13 years of serial killing, WWX’s terrible reputation)

A Sip of Chrysanthemum by Placeformysins (T, 127k, JGY/WWX) Itmf #16 - didn't actually read it this month but thought of it when read this ask. There is a jgy/wwx fic on ao3 (rarepair so should be easy to filter for) set immediately after sunshot campaign where right after MY becomes JGY jgs forces an arranged marriage between jgy/wwx, to get rid of jgy and thinking he might get a spy out of it. This makes jgy realize A LOT sooner the truth about jgs. Jiang sus and don't trust (Let me know if it isn’t the right one, I went with the fic summary again ~Mod L)

most barren peak and bleakest winter by WhatTheOwlHears (E, 23k, wangxian, aftermath of sex pollen dubcon, guilt, suicidal thoughts, misunderstanding, angst w/ happy ending, past top WWX/bottom LWJ, undernegotiated kink, healthy communication, angt, fluff, smut)

Meet Your Storm by kianspo (E, 15k, Jadecest, Sibling Incest, Modern AU, Pining, Jealousy, Rough Sex, Twin Jades of Lán Incest, lxc/denial, lwj/others, there's triggery stuff, more warnings in the notes, Anonymous Sex, Get Together) hope this one still counts, it’s a bit over a month old :)

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17. Do you have any non-WangXian fics but focus on the nonexistent WangXian aspects of it (a.k.a. the reason why they're not to begin with)? Like a break-up and then get a new lover type, falling out of love, infidelity, "A resents B because B did [insert reason]", or even for political reasons?

Would prefer WWX to have the good ending but anything works for meHopefully this is understandable, because my English is not fluent😅

Resent & Blossom by manaika (T, 26k, NMJ/WWX, LWJ & WWX, JC & WWX, NHS & NMJ, NHS & WWX, canon divergence, love triangles, pining, arranged marriage, angst & feels, strangers to lovers, implied/referenced murder attempt) #17 itmf - there is a nmj/wwx fic on ao3 (forget title but not many in that ship) where nhs brokers an sorta arranged marriage between nmj and wwx in an effort to save wwx and the wen from the burial mounds. Nmj agrees cause he trusts his brother and doesn't expect to live long anyway. Meanwhile nmj gets worse and a little more erratic/mean. Wwx and nhs look into it and problem solve. Wwx & nmj fall for each other, not wangxian because nmj acted, and wwx wants to honor this man he cares for&home (Let me know if I found the right one, I went mostly with the summary of the fic ~Mod L)

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

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

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absolutebl · 1 year

Text

10 BLs With Bad First Impressions

BLs that sounded terrible in their synopsizes or trailers or in the first few episodes but really are worth watching.

1. My Lascivious Boss

Vietnam (202) YouTube

Not that we got much of a synopsis (Vietnamese BL isn’t listed on MDL) but from the trailer I was very suspicious. It’s now one of my favorite VBLs with fantastic queer rep. Yes, the seme is a drunken idiot most of the time, so you have to be okay with that, but it’s totally worth it for the uke character and his hella gay besties. They are beyond adorable. Full review here.

2. He's Coming to Me

Thailand (2019) YouTube

I hugely dislike the my ghost boyfriend trope because China (and now Korea Peach of Time and Thailand Something in My Room) has made me expect it to be sad. HCTM is one of the few exceptions from GMMTV with two heavy hitting actors and one of BL’s greatest coming out sequences. Full review here.

3. Gameboys

The Philippines (2020) NetFlix?

Pinoy BL is not my thing. Also I didn’t want to watch anything about quarantine while in quarantine. But everyone said I should, so I did, and I loved it. (*whispers* I do like See You After Quarantine? even better, tho.)

4. My Esports Genius Brother

China (2021) Gaga

A strangely cute somewhat incomprehensible censored magical realism BL micro series about fated mates who balance each other out and must find the courage to stay together. Way more gay than I thought China could get these days. Full review here.

5. Great Men Academy

Thailand (2029) ?

I HATE body swap. I love this show. Is it BL? That’s open to debate. But I liked it despite the premise and that’s real rare for me.

6. We Best Love

Taiwan (2020) WeTV

I read the synopsis for this and I was like, really Taiwan? Have you NO imagination? Just stuffed with classic overused tropes. There is literally nothing unique about this show. Yet it worked out GREAT because WBL is a poster child for pair chemistry carrying a BL and it’s now one of my favorites of all time. Full review here.

7. DNA Says Love You

Taiwan (2022) Gaga

Terribly weak first 3 episodes but stick with and you’ll be glad you did. As expected from Taiwan the acting and intimacy is on point it’s just the initial paranormal investigation arc is off - fortunately we switch focus to Amber and then it becomes and gloriously queer show. Full review here.

8. Secret Crush On You

There cringiest cringe to ever cringe (and I watched 90s Japanese comedies, so I should know). Look this one was really hard for me to watch all along (I started and stopped 3x), but most watchers felt like it got substantially better after the 4th episode. The support cast is amazing, the queer rep unprecedented, and the chemistry is fantastic. But the cringe never really stops. Perhaps this is a case of “in knowing it better the cringe is better understood” (sorry Austen). Full review here.

9. My Tooth Your Love

Taiwan 2022 Viki & Gaga

Look the pitch was this is a “romance involving a dentist and dentistry,” and that’s true, which is hella weird. For many this was (and is) a turn off but I don’t have that phobia, and I enjoy medical dramas, AND I like Taiwanese stuff even when it gets odd. And ya know what, this is an absolutely wonderful show. My highest rated Taiwanese BL of 2022.

10. Be Love In House I Do

Taiwan (2021) Viki

Apparently Taiwan really isn’t great at beginnings because a lot of them ended up on this list. The whole premise of this show is absurd and the incoming boss with his rubber gloves is creepy, but it becomes such a romantic bit of business once it finds it stride: ridiculously saccharine, domestic, and hella hot. Trust me, just watch it. This is peak Taiwanese BL, if you wanna know what Taiwan does well, this is it, this is what they do. Full review here.

(source)

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rohirric-hunter · 3 months

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A phrase that basically revolutionized my online interactions is, "It's the Lord of the Rings to them."

Let me explain. The Lord of the Rings is very important to me. So important, in fact, that I've kind of lost my sense of humor about it. Satire that plays off of it is at best uninteresting and at worst offensive; congratulations, you noticed the low-hanging fruit and bad pun that is Bored of the Rings, a pair of smarmy comedians long since beat you to it and their sense of humor sucked too, let me block you real quick. A lot of jokes regarding it strike me as distasteful, when in reality they're just jokes made by someone who casually enjoyed it, instead of shaping their entire personality around it like I did. Often when I express these frustrations people mistake this as me perceiving these people to not like it; this is not strictly true. I understand that they like it, but am bothered that they don't like it enough, or in the right way. "Tolkienesque" is a terrible word, as are other words that are on the surface level based on ideas from Tolkien's work but actually describe very different concepts from the ones they claim, such as "treant."

I'm working on my behavior with regards to these perceptions but that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is that the root cause of these perceptions is an overwhelming obsession with LotR that ends up inserting rather absurd bias into the most innocuous of interactions surrounding it. Mind that by "the most innocuous" I do not mean all interactions. I mean the most incidental interactions. Ones that involve low-effort jokes, questions about the story's logic that indicate a surface-level reading of it, dumb parodies, and people borrowing concepts from it simply because it's a behemoth in fantasy that most people are at least passingly familiar with.

A number of years ago I encountered a series of posts on here wherein someone was ranting about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (a book they had, by their own admission, not read). They tore apart the whole concept, swore up and down that it was the most disrespectful thing ever to disgrace Jane Austen, it was horrible, trashy, disrespectful that anyone would ever even think of turning such a great novel into a cheap horror story like that. (It's actually a genre comedy but I digress.)

I actually started to type up a response to them, that went something along the lines of: Hold up. You're taking this way too personally. You haven't even read it. Yes, it's overbearing and dumb in the first few chapters but let's be fair, so is Pride and Prejudice. It doesn't really pick up until after the Gardener's ball. You can't judge any book by the first few chapters. And the genre shift is actually really well done and emotionally satisfying as well as funny; the characters remain well characterized throughout and the different situation they find themselves in just shines a different spotlight on the themes of the story. As you get well into it you can really see how the author loved the original, and yeah it started an annoying fad of P&P genreshifts, but you can't blame it for that any more than you can blame the Hunger Games for modern YA. Sure, it has a few more dick jokes than I would like, but --"

And that's where I stopped, because suddenly it occurred to me that whoever this person was, they weren't going to care about any of those arguments. Nothing I could say would persuade them that it wasn't a big deal, actually, because to them it was. It was the Lord of the Rings to them. Pride and Prejudice, or perhaps Jane Austen's work in general, meant to them the same thing that the Lord of the Rings meant to me, and some idiot on the internet who read and enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, of all things, was never ever going to convince them of anything at all with regards to those works. And, like, I disagree of course, but I get it. Where the thought is coming from. How can you improve on perfection? Why would you want to? The actual disconnect is whether or not any individual thinks of Pride and Prejudice (or the Lord of the Rings) as "perfection," but, like, why would you even want to get into that argument? Best case scenario, you're being annoying. Worst case scenario, you're actively trying to make someone hate something that they live and breathe.

So I deleted my response and moved on with my day and honestly I wasn't even mad about it. Sure, whoever this was could probably do with a little bit more self-awareness with regards to their own bias, but I certainly wasn't going to be the one to give them that. They'll come to it on their own. Or they won't. Either way, I can only make the situation worse by engaging. And since then I honestly try to live by that every time I see someone online taking something way too personally. I don't always succeed, but I try. It's stupid, it's bizarre, they're making mountains out of molehills, whatever, who cares. Take a deep breath. It's the Lord of the Rings to them. Let them have it, move on.

#i think a lot of people could stand to learn this #just see someone being annoying and taking everything personally and just repeat it like a mantra #'its [whatever hobby or interest forms the most foundational aspect of who you are] to them. let them have it'

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vocallywritten · 2 years

Text

I need to give the cast their flowers 💐

I love Dimension20 and all their seasons hold a special place in my heart, but there is just something extra in A Court of Fey and Flowers. I don't know what it is exactly.

The cast is all amazing on their own, but everyone also has such incredible chemistry and it was so instant.

Lou Wilson is the BACKBONE of this season. He understood better than anyone what a Regency Fey story would be like (equal parts being horny and causing problems on purpose cause you're bored) and he fucking WENT FOR IT. In a story like this you need a Squak. You need a rich, powerful guy who's just here to fuck shit up and do things he specifically will think is funny because he's the idle rich among the FEY. And having a genuine connection with his cousin just makes it so much better. Everytime Lou slips and calls Chirp his sister instead of his cousin I cryyy. Lou understood the assignment and I truly mean it when I say that all the cast did. They really nail the genre. All of them in different ways. But this season would not have been able to reach that perfect balance of Regency and Fey without Lou's character specifically. He's an antagonist, he's an anti-hero, he's a little bit of a villain as a treat, he's here to get in your way, but he might help you out if he thinks that's funnier, he has a cousin who can do no wrong and everyone else can leave. I LOVE him.

Emily as Chirp is amazing as well. Emily Axeford has a bit of a reputation for wrecking DM's shit and causing chaos wherever she can and she is in fine form in this one. What I love about Emily is that even though she IS chaotic at the table, it's almost always with purpose (even if that purpose is "I think this will be funny" she makes the things she does count, in the story, in the fight, whatever she's doing) and she never uses that chaos to take over the table. She's so mindful of the other players and always wants to do things that will make the game fun for everyone while also coming in with this great energy for herself. Her and Lou, like I said before are incredible to watch together. They have such Team Rocket meets Henry and Mary Crawford energy. They play off of each other SO WELL it is a delight to watch every single time they interact. Emily has great range. She's an incredible comedic actor and is also a very strategic player and these two things make for amazing character choices. ("Ostrich chariot pulled by birds!" She prioritized bird puns in her character build when picking spells!!) She is AMAZING.

And what can I say about Brennan Lee Mulligan that hasn't already been said? He's one of the best DMs in actual play. He's incredibly talented and intelligent and he uses humor and comedy as a foundation to create such emotionally rich and resonant stories in a way I really admire. And as a player? He is incredible to watch. His ability to go wherever the story takes him while remaining staunchly in character is great. And I ADORE his dynamic with Aabria. There is truly so much trust and respect there and even though they're really good both as players and as GMs I think Aabria being the GM brings something extra to Brennan being the player. Like I don't know if they just have really good communication, or if they just have great instincts that let them play off each other so well (probably both) but whenever they work together the work is immediately elevated. Brennan as Hobb is such a stand out performance among 5 other stand out performances. Brennan is always very good at nailing whatever genre he's in and my God did he bring his A game here. The serious, dutiful captain pining for someone above his station is like... PEAK Jane Austen. And he didn't even PLAN hitting that archetype. It literally just happened naturally. The power. The skill. I am in awe of that ability to find the most interesting story for a character and make it happen. His desicion to let the dice decide important choices for his character because Hobb is being pulled in two different directions all the time is INSPIRED. He's just great. We all know it.

Okay now we get to the people new to the dome and don't worry I have A LOT to say about them, they're all so talented and amazing and I want them all to come back.

Oscar is playing his first full campaign in THIS SEASON??? ARE WE SURE??? He is out here making huge swings immediately and they're all paying off! It's so satisfying to watch him play. He has chemistry with literally everyone at the table and like this whole table has amazing chemistry, but he is so good at zeroing in on the other character's motivations and figuring out the best way for Rue to engage with and connect with them. I love the way he's so RP focused and every move he makes is always with Rue's motivations in mind. Literally everything Rue does is highly motivated, even if we don't understand their reasons yet and that is SO GOOD!!! Like when Rue didn't sit down at the meeting with the Lords of the Wing I thought that was Oscar metagaming a little bit to mess with Emily and Lou because they were trying so hard to fuck with Rue and it was funnier but NO. They had a reason the whole time!! He's so good at this. And the way Rue had one moment with Hobb and Oscar was like, "I am now the romantic lead in a regency pining fest." is amazing. The way he has developed Rue's arc and their romance with Hobb is just so incredibly well done and he has just done such an amazing job in this season. Another person who absolutely understands the assignment.

Omar next. OMAR! OMAR !!!!! IS KILLING ME!!!! The juxtaposition of his character being a socially awkward loser and also the Hottest Catch at the Bloom is amazing and what he does with it is so fun. And the way he's such a comedic character at the beginning (and yes D20 is a comedy show but he is REALLY playing Andhera as like a comic relief character trying to break into being a main character and not really knowing how and it's so fun) but then he hits us with just some of the most emotional shit known man with a friendly little smile on his face and you're like "WAIT NO GO BACK. What was that???!!!" I have said it before and I will say it again, Andhera is the most capital R Romantic character in the whole show and I just can't handle it because he's also just so funny and can turn on either the tragedy or the comedy at a moment's notice. He's hot! He has a fake voice! He was deeply neglected as a child! He has a creepy grandpa face dog! He's so bad at talking! He has a shard stuck in his neck and it's the saddest fucking thing you've ever heard!! Omar has some RANGE and Andhera is such a fun character. (Also his whole thing with Binx may actually lead me to an early grave. I have not been so obsessed with a dynamic in years. Like platonic, romantic, I don't care I just want them to be devoted shell pals starting revolutions and finding a home in the Court of Craft forever and ever. And I would also like them to hug before the season ends, please and thank you.)

Surena!!!!!!! Is!!!!! AMAZING!!!!!! I've probably called every cast member amazing but Surena especially deserves the title. They are so incredible. She had a hard job coming in, playing someone pretty separate from the rest of the group, an outsider playing a role they were uncomfortable in and really just knocked it out of the park!! And her character is so essential to getting the plot moving and the connections their character made have really done a lot in making the whole story of this season so engaging. All her reveals and her secrets!! And leading that to them finally letting down her walls and trusting people. I am at the edge of my seat whenever Surena/Gwyn/Binx does basically anything because she's so embroiled in the main mystery. Like other people came ready to party and make matches but Binx is spying and ready to tear down the institution from the inside and I LOVE that. So many great stakes in the show come with their character and her choices. Like Lou is the backbone of the show in terms of tone and setting the right scene, Surena spent half the season carrying the whole plot on their back (not that the other players didn't move the plot forward or have interesting things going on. They ABSOLUTELY did! But this story would just not be the same without Surena doing some brick laying from the beginning). Her characterization of Binx is also just so charming and I love watching her reactions when other players are doing cool things. (And also Surena has a great smile. That also can be said. It's sort of relevant to what I was saying 🤣) Binx is a great character and watching how Surena plays them as both a spy intent on justice and a socially awkward outsider is just such a joy to watch.

And finally Aabria. @quiddie. Can I talk to you directly for a second about what a talented and intelligent and empathetic and AMAZING GM/DM you are?? Because you are absolutely incredible at what you do. Whatever extra spark this season has I think is down to Aabria and her ability as a GM. She's so GOOD at finding the things her PCs care the most about and making them happen so organically. She is always just SO prepared and ready and willing to roll with whatever punches the PCs might throw her way. And the way she hypes up the players and wants to make sure everyone is having a good time is very wholesome. Her entire vibe is both exactly what I aspire to be as a GM and also exactly the kind of person I would want as my GM. She has such an eye for detail and I love how she weaves the important stuff into the story with so much grace you don't even know she's setting something up until she brings it back a couple episodes later and punches you directly in the face with it. Aabria knows how to tell a good story and she is so good at working with her players to make sure that story is fully collaborative. And as someone who loves a good romance subplot, I really respect her coming into D20 and being like "This is great, but what if more characters kissed?"

In conclusion I love everyone involved in this project. It's just so well done and well acted and well made all around.

I need a season 2 with the Pack of Pixies. One season is just not enough.

#a court of fey and flowers #acofaf #dropout #d20 acofaf #dimension 20 #aabria iyengar #surena marie #omar najam #oscar montoya #brennan lee mulligan #emily axford #lou wilson

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cto10121 · 30 days

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Hey so I read your "What is a Romance" post and found it very informative so thank you lol. I was confused about one part tho:

Can a romance focus on a beta couple as well? Generally no. In American romance novels, authors do set up the couple for the next installment, but that is not quite the same as page time and development. Romances focus on one couple at a time—once that couple’s love story is done, writers can move on to another couple’s romance. Stories that have more than one couple tend to be something else entirely.

I wanted to know how this related to works like Much Ado About Nothing (Hero and Claudio) or Pride and Prejudice (Jane and Bingley) (though I suppose that last one is a marriage plot so it might not count anyway).. Isn't Much Ado About Nothing a romance that focuses on more then one couple?

I also wanted to know this because I'm working on a romance novel and there was a side couple that i wanted to give attention to.

…I’ve been waiting for someone to ask this question, ha. Knowing all the while that I’d have to give my very unpopular opinion. Well, here it is (and thanks for in advance for being the one to bring it up!)

So no, I don’t categorize Much Ado About Nothing and Pride and Prejudice as romances, not so much because they have a beta couple, but because of their plots and thematic concerns. Much Ado is social comedy/satire and Pride and Prejudice is a wedding plot. Let me explain.

Much Ado About Nothing

Ah, Much Ado. I know people adore Beatrice/Benedick (ditto, they’re great) and feel very uncomfortable with Hero/Claudio (with good reasons). But ultimately neither of these couples constitute a true romance. Their love in the play function as social satire/commentary on the battle of the sexes. Beatrice and Benedick’s respective sexism (Beatrice’s scorn for men and Benedick’s sexism toward women) make them refuse to entertain marriage/romance and shield their obvious attraction for each other. Ultimately, though, their sexism stems not from ideology, but from personal hurt feelings and/or insecurity, so the moment they hear that the other likes them, then they are eager to cast off their previous convictions. Shakespeare even hints that B&B had been a couple before, so their realization that they actually love each other is not really true romantic development. Claudio’s actual sexism, in the meantime, actually does lead him to reject Hero. Though framed as romance plots, these two strands are part of the satiric commentary on sexism and misogyny.

Pride and Prejudice

So yeah, Pride and Prejudice is almost purely a marriage plot. Austen sets up the stakes very early and very clearly: The Bennett sisters must marry or else their estate is entailed to their cousin. But wait! Elizabeth grows to love Darcy, right? She learns she was mistaken about him, right? Isn’t that romantic development?

Well, no. Romantic development would entail mutual attraction on both sides, foiled by obstacles. While Darcy is canonically attracted to Elizabeth, Elizabeth doesn’t even begin to catch feelings until after she realizes that Mr. Darcy was the victim in the Darcy-Wickham scandal and finding out he was the one who forced Wickham to marry Lydia. Oh, and seeing his beautiful estate Pemberley. 😑 Real romantic. Austen even lampshades this by having Elizabeth joke about it!

So yeah, that is not a romance between two people attracted to each other and struggling with their class hang-ups. This is story of a woman learning that this seemingly snobbish rich dude is actually not that bad once you get to know him and his £10,000 a year manor home.

Yes, Austen was obviously inspired by Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Benedick subplot when she wrote Pride and Prejudice. But while Shakespeare focuses on sexism as the obstacle between these lovers (and the mutuality of their attraction), Austen replaces the sexism with classism and class resentment that both characters need to overcome. All well and good, but there is no more mutuality; Mr. Darcy starts to give her 🥺 from the second he notices her fine eyes while Elizabeth flirts with Wickham and still thinks he is a rich asshole for over half the book. Her change of heart is genuine and humbling, but it does not follow that she should start liking Mr. Darcy romantically. She actually doesn’t until at least the Lydia affair.

The fact that Austen gave little consideration to romantic development (there are few if no courtship scenes between the two) leads me to conceive P&P as more of a marriage plot than a romance one. That is the true goal here, not the love. It is merely enough that Mr. Darcy is established as truly a worthy man to marry. Hence, a marriage plot.

(As for Jane/Bingley, it basically functions as 1) a softer iteration of the classism theme and 2) an obstacle to Elizabeth/Darcy. Again, a marriage plot, and not a romance either.)

#much ado about nothing #pride and prejudice #cristina metas #kaleb-is-definitely-sane #ask #cristina has an unpopular opinion #yeah this is going to go over well #but i’ve never been convinced by elizabeth’s love for darcy #homegirl was barely even bothered by her dislike of him #she only truly hated him when she learned what he supposedly did to wickham

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princesssarisa · 2 years

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It's very interesting to notice how Disney's Beauty and the Beast draws inspiration not just from other versions of the fairy tale or from Disney's earlier fairy tale features, but from other love stories in classic Hollywood films and literature that were created for adults.

@starberry-cupcake's post on the ways that Disney's BatB changes the tale's core narrative parallel from the Cupid and Psyche myth to Pride and Prejudice is genius. It's slightly astounding that no one on the creative team has ever cited Pride and Prejudice as an influence: but maybe Austen's novel has become enough of a modern myth and influenced so many other love stories and comedies of manners that Disney's creative team really did write the parallels unconsciously. Of course the similarities can be overstated; Belle and the Beast are less mutually flawed than Elizabeth and Darcy, for one thing, and the Beast changes more while Belle changes less than their Austen counterparts do. (I might argue that Belle and the Beast more closely resemble pop culture's simplified ideas of Elizabeth and Darcy than they do Austen's actual characters.) But in terms of plot structure, the parallels are spot-on.

Even if the Austen parallels were accidental, though, the movie's creative team has freely admitted to other inspirations. Screenwriter Linda Woolverton has stated that there's a lot of Katharine Hepburn in Belle. That her characterization in general was strongly influenced by Hepburn's portrayal of Jo in the 1933 film version of Little Women (albeit with her tomboyishness toned down), and that her snappy arguments with the Beast in the dinner-invitation and wound-tending scenes were inspired by Hepburn and Spencer Tracy's similar bickering in their romantic comedies. The animators have also admitted to modeling Belle's appearance after such iconic Hollywood beauties as Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, and Natalie Wood. Photos of those three ladies were kept in the studio for the artists to literally draw inspiration from.

Then there are the other obvious parallels with other movies, which I seem to remember the trivia page of IMDB.com pointing out. For example, there are some obvious parallels with The Wizard of Oz. Belle's iconic blue and white peasant dress looks similar to Dorothy's iconic blue and white gingham dress, and like Dorothy, she's a dreamer trapped in a mundane workaday world, who longs to escape and have new experiences. The Beast's brief "stupid" hairdo during his makeover scene, with its curls and ribbons, also looks like the Cowardly Lion's mane after his makeover, while Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts can respectively be viewed as counterparts to the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion themselves. A likable, helpful trio of sidekicks, with Lumiere as the unofficial leader who has all the bright ideas (no pun intended), Mrs. Potts as the kindest and gentlest one despite being made of a hard, cold substance, and Cogsworth as the comically nervous one who nonetheless proves to be braver than he seems. Meanwhile, a shout-out to another classic movie occurs when Belle stands on the grassy hill and sings "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere": an obvious homage to Julie Andrews' Maria at the beginning of The Sound of Music. Appropriately, we could argue that the plot structure of Disney's BatB mirrors The Sound of Music just as much as it does Pride and Prejudice. A free-spirited heroine doesn't fit in with her community; then she unexpectedly goes to live in a new household run by an unhappy, aloof master; at first she clashes with him, but soon she brings warmth and joy back into his life and softens his heart; their growing love for each other culminates in a romantic dance scene, after which she briefly leaves him and runs back to her old home (although for different reasons); but ultimately she goes back to him and they end up together. Fortunately, there are no Nazis in Beauty and the Beast to darken Belle and the Prince's newlywed life.

IMDB.com also notes some parallels with the 1958 Leslie Caron movie Gigi. The young male lead played by Louis Jourdan in that film is named Gaston. Like Disney's Gaston he's a playboy with a cocky attitude, and Gigi refuses to be his mistress just like Belle refuses to be her Gaston's wife. The characters go in completely different directions, though, since Gigi's Gaston redeems himself and gets the girl in the end, while the Beauty and the Beast Gaston... not so much. Lumiere's characterization is also clearly based on Maurice Chevalier, who plays a major role (and sings his most famous song, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls") in Gigi too.

Then there's the Beast's "death" in Belle's arms, which seems to draw strong inspiration from two romantic death scenes in earlier Hollywood classics. First of all, the camera angles are nearly identical to those of Tony's death in Maria's arms in the original 1961 version of West Side Story, as I remember IMDB.com pointing out. The fact Belle's appearance was already partly modeled after Natalie Wood probably helped to bring that scene to the animators' minds. But I also think they drew inspiration from another famous Hollywood death scene: the death of Greta Garbo's Marguerite in 1936's Camille. I've never seen anyone else notice the similarity, probably because the characters' genders are reversed, but I've noticed it ever since I first saw the Camille scene in the 1982 version of Annie. The dialogue has clear parallels, with the dying character resigned to their fate because death will set them free from their life as an outcast (the Beast's "Maybe it's better this way" echoes Marguerite's "Perhaps it's better if I live in your heart, where the world can't see me"), while their lover urges them "Don't think such things"/"Don't talk like that" and tries to convince them that everything will be fine. Then the moment of death is conveyed by Marguerite and the Beast's eyes, as they roll upward and then drift closed, and the reactions of Belle and Robert Taylor's Armand are very similar, as they both pause in horror, then plead "No, no... don't leave me..." and bury their faces in their beloved's chest in anguish.

In all these inspirations and homages, I think it shows that with Beauty and the Beast, Disney set out to create not just another children's movie, but a movie in the spirit of a Golden Age Hollywood classic that adults could enjoy too. In particular, they set out to create a genuinely romantic picture, which adult couples could enjoy as a "date movie" just as much as their kids would enjoy it as a fairy tale. And as we all know, they succeeded with flying colors!

@ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland, @the-blue-fairie, @thealmightyemprex, @littlewomenpodcast, @adarkrainbow

#disney #beauty and the beast #1991 #fairy tale #animated film #pride and prejudice #katharine hepburn #spencer tracy #little women #the wizard of oz #the sound of music #gigi #west side story #camille #classic hollywood #romance

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churutu · 4 months

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The Science Behind Great Storytelling

(Photo by Pereanu Sebastian on Unsplash)

Why do you write?

There’s probably no easy, straightforward answer to such a question. Some people write to express themselves, some to share their stories or opinions, some to inspire other people, some to educate, some even find it therapeutic. It’s a question that has both no answer and multiple, complex answers, all at once — we all write different things, for different reasons.

Nonetheless, whatever your why might be, there’s a common denominator among them all: As writers and story-tellers, we aim to transform our why into written words, in order to elicit a certain array of feelings and emotions in our readers.

What we write certainly plays a big role here, but in my humble opinion, how we write it is what makes the difference: The way you describe a murder can make the whole scene go from tragedy to comedy; the way the reader feels about a character depends on the words you use while presenting it; different punctuation can give completely different meanings to the same sentence. In other words, by learning how to write you are able to control what your audience feels while reading your work — this is why learning, experimenting, and practicing are crucial steps towards great writing and story-telling.

No surprises here, right? Everyone knows the more you write, the more you learn, and the more you learn, the better you write. It’s the well-known practice makes perfect cycle that has repeated itself throughout history and, paired with talent, has churned out some of the greatest writers of all time.

So, I could tell you to practice everyday, to read more, or to join a writing course. I could also tell you that Jane Austen’s literary style relies on a combination of parody, burlesque, irony, free indirect speech, and a degree of realism. I could tell you how Hemingway stood out from the crowd thanks to his concise, straightforward, and realistic style. If we wanted to get even more technical, I could also tell you that Shakespeare used a metrical pattern consisting of lines of unrhymed iambic pentameter, called blank verse — in short, I could tell you things you’d find in your English literature book, or things you’ve already been told a million times before.

But that’s not what I’m going to do. Instead, I’ll tell you about the science behind our readers’ emotions, the effect our words have on them while reading, and how to make them work for you:

The science

It’s all about neurotransmitters.

Technically speaking, a neurotransmitter is “a chemical substance which is released at the end of a nerve fibre by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, effects the transfer of the impulse to another nerve fibre, a muscle fibre, or some other structure.”

In simple English, neurotransmitters are chemical messengers: To keep it simple, all you really need to know is that external stimuli get them fired up, and according to which one is stimulated, a certain chemical is released inside your body, provoking a certain feeling or emotion.

Unfortunately, since there are way too many different kinds of neurotransmitters, we won’t be able to cover them all here. If you are interested in the topic you can grab yourself a copy of Marco Nigrini’s book “The Brain: A User’s Manual” — reading the book, I came to the conclusion that, when it comes to writing and story-telling, there are three main neurotransmitters that we can exploit: Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphins.

The storytelling

It’s still, all about neurotransmitters.

Dopamine

As Nigrini puts it in his book, “dopamine is the superstar of neurotransmitters”. You have most likely heard about it at some point in your life, and for a good reason. Most people know it as the pleasure and reward hormone, because it plays a major role when it comes to experiencing happiness, our well-being and that rewarding feeling we get after doing certain things — take social media for example: Instagram likes, Facebook messages, and Twitter retweets all stimulate the release of dopamine in our brain, which is why they all become so addictive.

For us, as writers and story-tellers, the addictive properties of dopamine are perfect if we want to keep our readers glued to our work. So the logical question now, would be how do we do it?

Suspense and expectation. These two elements alone are enough to flood your readers’ neural highways with dopamine, and get them hooked to your story — creating shorter sentences, revealing vital information that the characters don’t yet know, and building anticipation, are all simple yet effective ways to accomplish this.

Oxytocin

As writers, specially when it comes to fiction, we want our readers to fall in love with our story and our characters, we want them to bond with us and our work — this is where oxytocin steals the spotlight.

To give you an example of what exactly is this neurotransmitter’s role, imagine a mother and her newborn. As we all know, the bond between the two of them is pretty much unbreakable, but why is this? In part, it’s because of oxytocin — while nursing her newborn, oxytocin is released in large amounts, thus creating a sentiment of generosity and trust between the mother and the baby.

For obvious reasons, we can’t rely on nursing our readers, so we have to stick to the next best thing: In order to stimulate the release of oxytocin in our reader’s brain, we need to create empathic characters or narrate touching stories.

Endorphins

Chocolate and sex both release endorphins — this should give you at least a vague idea of the role they play in our body. To clear up what it is they actually do though, just know that, much like dopamine, these neurotransmitters have a massive impact on your feelings of well-being, and this is what we should take advantage of: If we give our readers a more immersive reading experience, while making them feel more at ease, comfortable, and relaxed (which are all effects that endorphins have on our body), chances are they will enjoy whatever it is we put in front of them.

The good news? Stimulating the release of endorphins in our readers is way easier than you’d think — just make them laugh.

Conclusion? As with every other aspect of life, the way we experience reading massively depends on the way our brain perceives and processes information. If we, as writers, are able to understand the mechanism behind it, we can get one step closer to mastering our craft.

So remember, use science and neurotransmitters to your advantage, and develop your writing according to the feelings and emotions you want your story to elicit in your readers.

#science #writing #article #information #people #neurotransmitters #dopamine #oxytocin #creativity #creator #writer #psychology #write #science backed #endorphins #storytelling #story #telling

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nataliescatorccio · 5 months

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Hello, Becca! I hope you're doing well! Bit of a random question perhaps but since you are a woman of great tastes, I am curious: What are your top 10 favorite shows?? Feel free to add what you like most about them! Thanks for indulging me and keep being amazing <3

hello phoe! hope you're well too<3 i'll be honest, whenever i get this kind of question my mind immediately goes blank and i forget any show i've ever watched, so this is by no means a 'definitive list' because there are definitely things i love that just slip my mind, but here are more shows i've really enjoyed this past year:

the witcher: for the women who take shit from no one and kick ass, but also for the found family vibes. the witcher will always have a special place in my heart, the characters are both fantastic on their own and interacting with each other, and this show will always feel like home to me

shadow and bone: just because i've giffed it a lot this week and it brought back all the feelings. comedy mixed with action, it was just an adventure and a joy. shadow and bone brings back the young adult fantasy nostalgia my brain craves, but injects a freshness of sarcastic comedy into it with the addition of the crows (my beloveds)

yellowjackets: rewired my brain chemistry. it was the biggest surprise of a show for me because i actually thought i really would not vibe with it as it's marketed towards horror and i am a scardy cat who does not vibe with anything horror. and yet, from the first episode it completely grabbed me. the wanting to know what happened next of course, but mostly just getting to see the intricate relationships between girls. there is nothing out there quite like yellowjackets, and for that reason it really is a special one

house of the dragon: divorced lesbians let's go! i love a show that's a tragedy. i love a show where i know the ending and it's inescapable. i love watching everything crumble whilst knowing there is no way out, and yet begging at every second for something to somehow change. just fantastic worldbuilding, fantastic characters, and fantastic relationships to watch burn. if you like angst and pain this one's for you!

our flag means death: i don't think anything exists quite like our flag means death. it's a breath of fresh air in the tv world. there's a character for everyone to love, whatever archetype you fall for. and it's guaranteed to be a rollercoaster of emotions: this show has made me laugh and cry but most importantly it never disappoints

the last of us: show of 2023 for me. i knew very little about the last of us game watching this, and for that reason i was hooked the second i started watching because i just had to know what happened. i still have to know what happens, the wait for 2024 may kill me. just a great action-packed show with the most beautiful acting in existence

good omens: good omens was just a little bit of light in my life this year. where a lot of shows in the currently tv world rely on heavy action sequences, or gore, or even sexual content, good omens challenges that perfectly. it's a light-hearted relief, even silly at times (in the best way possible), but also knows how to make you think and make you cry. i just adore how the plot is done, with a 'present day' storyline but also several stories that run in the past to see how the characters got to where they are now, it's a trope that i very much enjoy

bridgerton: i absolutely love a good period drama. i grew up watching many a jane austen adaptation with my mum, and so there is something incredibly comforting to me about adaptations set in this time. bridgerton is just a good vibe, i know it will make me feel warm and fuzzy inside no matter what drama it also serves on the side. plus kate and anthony? rewrote the definition of chemistry

the umbrella academy: honourable mention to my little superhero show of chaos. if you like superhero shows, watch the umbrella academy. if you don't like superhero shows, watch the umbrella academy. it's a chaotic mix of found family and time travel and trying to save the world and that makes it perfection

merlin: shoutout to this classic because i've been rewatching it lately and damn, they just don't make tv like they used to in the mid to late 2000s. at times it's cheesy, at times it makes you want to bawl your eyes out, and you know what? you'll never know which one it's going to be. it's absolutely ridiculous but entirely fun. once you accept that the bad cgi is hilarious you'll be guaranteed a wonderful show, just take your tissues with you for the sudden gut-punches of emotion it provides

#takaraphoenix #i hope this helps and isn't just me rambling as i often do anyway lol

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cicaklah · 9 months

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I watched good omens 2 and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings and I am going to write them under the cat.

so first up I did not like it, so if you loved it and don't want anything to harsh your vibe then thats fine please don't read it. but.

I didn't like good omens 1 all that much as a book fan. I thought it lost a lot of what made the book good i.e. the sense of humour. It wasn't funny. I did however like all the new parts and I LOVED the new ending. I always thought the ending was the weakest part, and the new ending was much more narratively satisfying. So there's no reason why I shouldn't enjoy GO2.

but GO2 was an incoherent mess that felt like it needed at least another revision round?? episode 6 felt like a payoff to a story that hadn't happened in the previous 5 episodes.

The head angel and the head demon are in love. the coffee shop woman and the vinyl woman aren't in love but maybe are MFEO. These are great threads that at the end should have been tied up into a big bow that is our heroes realising that they are in love, but tragically cannot be together because they want different things and aren't willing to compromise. That's great. Add in a couple of pastiches and you'd be golden! Have our heroes interact more and be all screwball comedy? Have them actually go to Edinburgh together in the car and talk?? Have there actually be 10,000 demons rampaging through London and it be a threat to the world?? Or play up the tension between heaven and hell both wanting an armageddon?? Have Aziraphale be sad about no longer being the official angel in London? Have him yearn for heaven? Have Crowley make the case for Alpha Centuri again? All of these things were there in the plot, but not in any really tight or obvious way?

The only reason I was anticipating the kiss was because I saw the posts about it a month ago when it was leaked. There was no romantic tension between them. But it was possible! We just needed some parallels?? Why weren't Crowley and Aziraphale caught in the rain under an awning, to echo that they were sublimating their relationship onto Nina and Maggie? The whole Jane Austen dance thing felt like it just didn't work and should have been scrapped rather than forced through.

ALSO and this is something that irked me from the very start, Maggie should have had a CD shop, not a Vinyl shop. Nina should have had a cool trendy cafe that also sells vinyl, that paradoxically would be doing very well. Vinyl is popping off. Soho is full of shops selling it. The whole fucking conceit that Maggie's shop is failing because she's selling vinyl makes no sense unless it was written in 2002 not 2022.

I'm just disappointed. This could have been good. Instead it was just meh. And we didn't even get a good kiss out of it? Was this a covid thing? I don't even know.

Either way I'm sure that there will be some baller fics come out of it but argh, what a waste.

#good omens 2 #go2 #go2 spoilers

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suzannahnatters · 4 months

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My final Love Like the Galaxy reaccs!!! the tl;dr: I loved it and it's the sort of show that probably demands to be seen twice because TWISTS and HINDSIGHT so IDK, one day maybe! Anyway it's either on Viki or on YouTube for anyone who wants to see what happens when Jane Austen comedy of manners meets The Count of Monte Cristo, but, like, in Ancient China, featuring an epic romance between a naive sledgehammer engineer girl and the terrifying murder general who cannot help looking utterly besotted with her every time she drifts past: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZZZLpfFwcBprNI6msl3NWt3pdX6F-eGs And now: for the reaccs for episodes 43-56, including the famous Murder Party (TM), check under the cut!!!

If Yang Yang ends up with Smug Scholar instead of her sweet little marquis I WILL throw things (thankfully, the sweet little marquis is getting actual screentime with her)

oh I LOVE this: the Empress apologises to Consort Yue for stealing her husband, and Consort Yue points out that if it's anyone's fault it's the Emperor's, and why should the Empress apologise? it's the little things, you know?!

I love that in amongst all this scowly strategising and betrayal and people's families in mortal danger…there's a whole running joke about whether the armour Niao Niao made her beloved makes him look more like a chicken or a mandarin duck

cdramas asking the real questions

wow they really kept like 90% of the action budget for this episode and money well spent say I

once again murder general is rushing off to save our girl, only this time he guesses precisely where she is and what she's doing, and knows she's probably doing a great job of it :')

GASP we are suspicious of Elder Brother Snacks now???

I've got a bad feeling about him and the crown princess turning out to be bad eggs - almost as though we're building up to a BIG BETRAYAL between our babies

Wan QiQi swaggering into prison in a wedding dress is the energy I aspire to

Hmm… Lou Ben feels very very foreshadowy of an obsessive man making a self destructive choice to grab what he wants no matter how it hurts the woman he loves

All the foreshadowing is REALLY mounting up now - Snacks still caring about NN but not wanting to see her after what she's done, NN observing of another couple that they were birds on the same tree but flew apart when trouble came

Anyway we are all headed for a heck of a third act breakup aren't we

is zisheng,,, allergic to almonds

what an absolutely bonkers twist

poor little Wang Ling! how terrible does her family have to be that she is trying to save her murderous traitor of an elderly husband, just because he treated her better than anyone else in her life?

"he even had a flower garden planted in my courtyard to please me, although he has life-threatening asthma! which means that he can't visit me very often! he's the best husband, Niao Niao!" okay Mrs Charlotte Collins

"Cheng Shaoshang, it seems you really don't know anything about Ling Zisheng" OOOOOOHH

Smug Scholar: a voice of reason. a stickler by the rules. an indefatigable drama queen who is quite ready to beg murder general to go right ahead, be his guest, do crime, because then Smug might get to marry Niao Niao instead

torture is always wrong, revenge kids! that said, it's very funny that murder general has been busy with hot iron and boiling oil all night and found out nothing, while NN has put herself fully abreast of the situation armed with nothing more than…a conversation with a female acquaintance

"wait - all that stuff you did in my name was ALSO in pursuit of your revenge plot? who are you really?" this show keeps serving the best stuff

matching bite marks on the arm is a way cooler idea than matching tattoos tbh

why are you not telling her, zisheng, she already knows!!!

she's sworn up and down (with bitten arms!) that she won't mind, it's keeping this from her that she can't forgive, get a clue!!!!!

ooooo - we have been cordially invited to a MURDER PARTY love the gearchange from Jane Austen Romcom to Jacobean Revenge Tragedy

OK LET'S GO, WHERE'S THAT MURDER PARTY I WAS PROMISED

Glad that we were given this scene of Marquis Chengyang being delusional and Chunyu being Justly Terrified that the young man obsessed with revenge has finally agreed to come to his father's birthday party, it doesn't quite explain how nobody realises this is Very Bad News but at least lampshades it

Since filial piety is the norm in this society, I guess it's hard for the elders to realise just how at risk they are from someone unfilial!

I LOVE that Chunyu (sp? the stepmother) gets a whole speech to point out the hypocrisy of HER continually bearing the blame of "climbing into the master's bed" after so many ppl in the show have ridiculed her for it as though it wasn't a decision made by the marquis

oooooooooooohhh this is amazing: Yang Yang is disturbed that NN's farewell before the wedding sounds like she doesn't ever intend to return home. and from NN's response, she KNOWS murder general is about to do something crazy and is fully prepared to suffer the consequences alongside him

it's…really amazing that during the stretch of the cdrama when the male lead traditionally starts Machinating and Scheming and lying to the female lead about it, THIS show keeps the heroine's agency intact, she sees right through his lies, she is still front and centre. Chef's kiss.

she knows where it's happening; she knowns when it's happening; she's sending someone for news. she's amazing and so are these writers.

meanwhile: murder general refusing to enlighten the marquis as to his true identity is Irene of Athens-level pettiness and I love it

the way this show keeps this whole episode focused on the story's main character even though she has little to do with -

oh wait never mind she has decided to involve herself anyway!!! now we get the entire Cheng family charging into battle? with NN at their head on a black horse? EPIC?????

well THAT was the best of Jacobean revenge tragedy

shocked to discover that Zisheng has Always Known who was really behind the fall of the lone city - he's just been quietly, methodically working through the destruction of all the perpetrators, COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO style

I love a protagonist who holds cards so close to his chest that not even the audience knows what's going on

more than that, it really adds nuance to the show's themes about revenge. Sometimes the system is broken, & even in a good system people will sometimes get away with murder. What to do then?

I can't support the vindictiveness of the leads (& I'm not sure I'm meant to) but as revenge plots go, I like the weightiness of the themes - how to fight for yourself in a world where laws and manners tell you you shouldn't? - better than Dumas' more superficial take.

where did these two henchmen come from, because they are NOT being paid enough to be part of this absolute disaster

also WHEE Niao Niao gets to swoop in and save HIM for once! Well done our girl!

oh what an idiot. what an absolute peanut.

I was pulling for you, murder general, but I'm not sure how you'll manage to come back from doing the One Thing (abandoning her) she asked you not to do

she's still calling him by his false name T_T

something something she only ever knew him by his false name and identity not his true one

moment of silence, please, I'm experiencing an emotion

well, duh - of COURSE Third Prince is here to collect NN to go help him plead for murder general, who has obviously been quietly helping him all along. even better: we don't know if NN is just figuring this out now or has known it for months but she understands it perfectly, just like we do, the moment she sees Third Prince's face

!!! murder general has been deceiving everyone in so many other ways too???????

it's not just that he knew all along who was responsible for the lone city's fall and has just been working silently to gather evidence on them: he ALSO has been playing four dimensional speed chess with palace politics, supporting a totally different faction to the one he was supposed to be aligned with?

IT WAS HIM IN THE PAGODA ALL ALONG????

I just love the sort of character who plays certain things SO close to the chest while also being utterly open and vulnerable about certain other things. like, as long as we trust their judgement for hiding the certain things and know it's not for purposes of control. and while NN does interpret his secretiveness as control, due to her upbringing, it's also easy in hindsight to see things from zisheng's POV: he is playing not one but several high stakes political games, treading a tightrope between the prince he is supposed to be supporting versus the prince who would clearly be a better choice, and now suddenly thrown into the middle of all this is a naive and well-meaning sledgehammer fiancee who is an absolute force of nature but who is not yet quite insightful enough to see and understand where the deep waters run; she's simply driven by personal loyalty to protect her empress' son. and she keeps forcing choices on him: protect her, or serve the Third Prince? and he makes tremendous sacrifices, as with the Tiger Tally, to save both of them. so is he going to take the risk and tell her and trust in her, or is he going to keep her in the dark just about this, until the game is over (it's so close to being over) and he can be as candid about these things as he can be about everything else?

but at the same time, he was so frustrated with her for not being candid with him, for not telling him when the mean girls tried to KILL her, for lying to him about choosing to help the crown prince - he should have known better than to reproach her about this when he was doing exactly the same things to her all along.

I love that the show just doesn't support him in this. for two people who both say they want to work as a team, these two both spend an awful lot of time keeping things from each other. and it's only after going away and thinking about it that I start to see his side of the story at all, because she is so totally front-and-centred in the way the story is told.

oh wow - now she gets a whole speech and thesis statement about how just because she's a woman she shouldn't be shut out of her husband's confidence, and ends: "Ling Buyi is my most beloved person in the world. But I am still me."

I love this show so much

It's really wild that murder general, who everyone knows went on a murderous rampage to kill the entire Ling clan, goes from being condemned to death to the apple of the emperor's eye based on his surname changing

no doubt it's historically accurate and murder uncle, at least, deserved it - but for me it's just another sign of how irretrievably this system is broken, that bloodline so clearly outweighs right and wrong.

I'll be chewing over the question of whether this last-minute aversion of filial impiety ("it's ok! he was doing it to avenge his REAL father!") undermines NN's previous point about the right to filial reverence depends on a parent's conduct, or whether it's an author's saving throw to secure a HEA

"but I can never forgive him for abandoning me - he even swore it was for my sake" aha! How To Critique The Break Her Heart To Save Her Trope (Without Actually Using The Trope??????) this show didn't HAVE to hunt down and kill every bad Asian drama romance trope like this but is that stopping it? no

Empress telling NN that whatever decision she makes, she will support her in - hits like a punch because the only person who's told her this till now is murder general. On the other hand it is comforting, and underlines the themes of NN being a whole person without him, bc she still has love and support!

as an aside, I also like how the show has handled NN's terrible parents. by the end of the show, she's fought for, and won, their respect and support, & has come to understand the pressures they are under. but she will never love them the way she loves the Empress, bc they haven't earned that love. I feel this consolidates the filial piety critique.

we finally get to hear murder general's side of the story - and it's fascinating to hear him say that he failed. he did everything to bring ling yi to justice - and couldn't. the murder party was his failure.

I'm finding the murder party less problematic at this point than the Censorate beating

whoah, the empress is sailing in to admit that she spoiled her children until they were useless, so she's not upset about the crown prince being demoted? seems a rather unfortunate theme if children are only ever bad because of bad parenting

NN still taking absolutely no prisoners in the romance, though: "oh, I understand you perfectly. the problem is that you never understood ME" that's quite a burn

The Empress is now requesting to be deposed, and it's a complicated scene - is she blaming herself, or voicing regrets? I think she's regretting not fighting for herself: as she points out, her accepting a menage a trois has not spoiled Consort Yue's life so much as it has spoiled her own chance at love.

while the show has sometimes been finger-wagging, it's saved here bc she also blames the Emperor for going along with the flow, too, and tamely accepting a three-way marriage.

meanwhile at home, everyone's like "Niao Niao is so mature now!" and I'm sitting here like NO SHE'S NOT, SHE'S HAD ALL THE HAPPINESS CRUSHED OUT OF HER and…….along comes Not-Quite-So-Bad-Mum to say that precise thing, and confess to having been wrong all along???? This show just keeps hitting.

Love that NN's 3rd brother is completely on her side at this moment. he understands the assignment ("break up with murder general and send him away with a flea in his ear") and executes it with prejudice.

oh…mum has repented too late. I'm not sorry for her, but I AM sorry for the way NN chooses to spend the next forever - when there were so many things she wanted to see and do!

and now: five years' worth of mutual pining in excruciatingly aesthetic slomo, thank you

meanwhile everyone in the Cheng family is getting married? Yang Yang is getting married? Mum's warrior maid is getting married? Good for you warrior maid!

Smug Scholar, otoh, has remained UNmarried for our girl, and I actually love the choice he's presenting her - NN doesn't much care who she marries if it's a business arrangement; she just won't marry the man she loves knowing he was willing to lie to her and abandon her

is it really weird that I suddenly want to write the story about the coldly pragmatic fake marriage of convenience between NN and Smug Scholar

!!!! she IS going to get engaged to him??? murder general is going to come back from five years of picturesquely scruffy suffering to find her engaged to Smug Scholar??!?!?!!!??!

oh this will be GOOD

"thanks, but I can ride without stirrups these days" I love that this show is allowing the heroine to establish a life of her own apart from the hero - they have to be complete on their own before they can be good for each other.

and now: a break from reality for an absolutely bonkers carriage chase, which, because this is a cdrama, comes complete with one of the parties trying to extort a proposal of marriage from the person chasing them

I swear this is the third time this exact same cliff has cropped up in this show, one would think that people would know better than to gallop madly down the DEAD END CLIFF ROAD

Empress pays her last respects to the emperor: "I know that if it wasn't for Emperor Li's tyranny you would have asked nothing more than to live a simple life" LIESSSS this man requires a constant stream of drama to live, how would he have survived as a gentleman farmer?

"if you are truly filial, don't exchange your life for mine. Live well." while this show has come down in the end in favour of filial piety, I think that for the most part it keeps filial piety where it belongs: subordinate to ethics - and that's something I can get behind.

With NN decided that murder general is not the man for her and murder general determined to accept her decision, I really don't see how this will get believably sorted out in the next…3 eps. Bc she's absolutely right, he had his chance and he blew it. That said, I was really worried the show would blame her for being unreasonable, but only the recent antagonist has done that

even NN's mother is now telling him: we don't need you to perform guilt for us, we also had our chance with NN and blew it, now we can only defer to her conscience AND YOU SHOULD TOO

so, I guess we're headed for an "undeserved grace" ending, and I hope they make it a convincing one and not cheap, bc it's too late to show him doing any work to prove his repentance.

oh I love this scene: she tells him she forgives him but cannot trust him, and he without defending himself, vows to live well and take care of himself (because quietly protecting the people she cares about is the one last thing he can do for her)

and he won't ever tell her that he's been doing this because he knows it would only make her despise him more!!!

time for the bad family to apologise, the grandmother in particular for trying to control her children, and Niao Niao to decide no longer to carry resentment, but to dwell on the people who love her instead

I love that the themes have largely to do with resisting control, even when it's from family members, and fighting for yourself. Even more, I love that the highest expression of this theme comes in the trust there's supposed to be between husband and wife. Sometimes, lack of communication IS an attempt at control - although on thinking it over I'm not sure it always has been that on murder general's side. but if there's one thing the past five years must have taught him, it's that he's going to have to be be particularly open with this particular woman, because her family HAS tried so hard to be controlling in the past, and she can't take even the appearance of it from him.

somehow, yet another of NN's old enemies has an overly complicated plan to kill her sigh

loving how murder general jumps into this trap and promptly becomes useless and it's time for the lil henchmen to save the day

stop shouting his name and figure out how to open the trapdoors Niao Niao, smoke inhalation is no joke

murder general looks amazing for someone who was just blown up

TEARFUL RECONCILIATION SCENE

ahaha Snacks has fallen in love with his wife, we love to see it

Smug Scholar, meanwhile (exact words): are you all done flaunting your love?

EXPLODING PICKLES

flailing I love it NN is deploying her secret weapon….the family Cheng

"you can't be in two places at once, General!"

maybe not, but wifey and he can

"i'd like to see who interferes with my best granddaughter's marriage!"

*smash cut to the emperor having a hissyfit because he can't interfere with the marriage *

it's over? pokes couch cushions for spare episodes

OK I LOVED that murder general's grand gesture in the final ep comes in the form of a dilemma. should he go rescue his beloved as everyone is telling him - or should he stay on task, submit to everyone's ridicule for not protecting his woman, and risk her thinking he's abandoned her again?

his answer shows that at last, he has come to truly understand her (five years after she told him he'd never understood her). it's not physical abandonment she truly fears. what she fears is not being trusted & allowed to act as his equal. So he leaves her to protect Guo village while he stays on HIS task. His grand gesture, after so many rescues, is not to rescue her at all.

SCREAMING at that moment when Third Prince is like, seriously, mate, you'd better not abandon her! she needs help!!! go on I'll be fine!! and Zisheng VISIBLY WAVERS and then pulls himself together and shouts GUO VILLAGE HAS NIAO NIAO! GUO VILLAGE WILL BE FINE!!!

since the root of the contention between them was always him not treating her as an equal, this is probably the best proof of change we could get in the screentime. and the show is very insistent to tell us that if NN bends to take him back, it's because it's what SHE wants, not bc she can't survive without him.

the show does give her that moment of fright during the explosion to rush her past her abandonment issues, but since the real issue was always about control, I can make my peace with it. Similarly, she taught him a 5-year lesson about not consulting her. He knows - & her family makes it explicit - that he can never pull something like this again.

final overall thoughts: I have rarely seen such a well done romance in Asian drama, especially cdrama. The show was long & got repetitive, especially in the 2nd half, even though it had some of my favourite stretches as NN starts fighting for respect & equality within her marriage.

The themes about family, state, and fighting for oneself got fingerwaggy at a lot of points, many side characters were brutally humiliated and many of the numerous female characters became nonsensically villainous just to give NN antagonists. So, I would say the show is quite flawed.

that said, what this show does well, it does SO WELL. I was absolutely invested in this romance to an extent that is very rare for me. I was delighted by the way the show critiques asian romance tropes, there's a wonderful Dumas-level revenge plot, the fight scenes while rare are terrific, the show remains laser focused on its female protagonist all the way to the end, and if you are not delighted by the utterly besotted looks murder general serves up five times per episode, I don't know what to do with you.

#love like the galaxy #lltg #ling buyi #cheng shaoshang #cdrama #asian drama

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