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nix-whythisfilm · 1 year

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10 Korean Fantasy Series to add to your list

Korean dramas are raging today, marking their beginning of fame in the 2010s. Today the industry caters to a global audience while also making shows for its people. Much like Korean pop culture and music idols, today the shows tackle issues deep-rooted in today’s world. Being a fantasy enthusiast, it was one of the first genres I looked for, and let me tell you, they have ingenuity. Another advantage is that most kdramas only have about 16 to 20 episodes, some even shorter.

Hotel Del Luna (2019)

With a captivating trailer and a novel concept, this series gained admirers from around the globe. Starring IU, nicknamed the nation’s sweetheart, as the main character who is the owner of a mystical hotel, this show was something that one could never come across before. While the series gives an impression of romance and comedy, there is a grim underplot with Man-wol fighting against her dark past. With a mix of modern and classic myths, this series captures the attention of any fan, no matter their genre preferences or their language biases.

With every episode tackling clients with different requirements and a fictional world beyond imagination, this show showed a perspective that felt so distinct in my self-perception. We often see ruined characters among males, but not often do we find shattered yet cheeky female characters that are fashionable and alluring. Having played feminine characters previously, IU was a well-known idol in the industry for her versatile skills. And with numerous famous actors playing cameos in this series, this show is an experience that cannot be recreated by any other.

Strong Girl Bong Soon (2017)

A cute and romantic show with a thriller subplot, it tackles an ironic protagonist. She is short, petite, and extremely cute blessed with the power of incredible strength in her that is inherited by the women in her family. But with great power comes great responsibility, which is why even with that secret, she cannot disclose it to anyone. Being unemployed and trying to figure out her place in the world, our protagonist meets a CEO who wants to hire her as a discreet employee. Anyone into kdramas knows the CEO and commoner romance, but this one stands out for being the cutest one.

A show that I purely pursued being an admirer of the actor’s skills, this show was unexpected with twists and turns uncommon to the genre. Something that surprised me after finishing the show was that the actor was an admirer of the actress who played the protagonist, Park Bo Young. A sweet show with friendships, humour, infatuations, and family tropes, it is guaranteed to leave the audience feeling good and wondering if they could be a part of it too.

Bride of Habaek (2017)

A show that is purely based on Korean-Chinese mythology, this show involves Gods coming down to earth in tales like the olden days. Gods and demigods are often rumoured to be in our realm for punishments, joy, and in search of something, and this show involves a story exactly like that. Quite similar to the history of Greek Deities, these gods here are shown to be all-powerful and yet make poor choices like any human being. This series is about Habaek, the god of water, coming to earth to find a powerful stone to help his accession to the throne.

In all honesty, I had neither heard of this kdrama nor was I intrigued at the beginning. It is old school, not using interesting plotlines and cliches to grab the audience. It does have an appreciable overall storyline and introspective concepts that quirk our minds. The romance attempted in the show is discreet, along with any other obvious archetype. All in all, I found it a muted series which is worth a watch once. It is riveting to fans of indigenous mythology.

Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (2016)

Infamous for the writer’s work, this show was a massive hit in Korea and outreached internationally. While the show is a romance with comedy, it has a tragic underplot based on high fantasy and Korean beliefs of life after death. This show addresses tropes of rebirth and curses in life. Commonly known as the second character syndrome, this show offers two significant romance tropes interlaced with immense history and twisted fates. Also known for the bromance between the two supernatural characters, the goblin and the grim reaper, it gives the audience moments that feel silly but also something to enjoy.

Sceptical as a romance nonfan, this show was a lot. The story was a little heavy for a casual watch, yet it kept me intrigued to watch till the last minute. The friendships were the highlight compared to the romantic journey of the protagonist, as I found it a little cliche and inane. It was endearing to watch the characters evolve through the show, tackling issues well above their daily dose of mundane. The action scenes and CGI are pretty convincing to not look ridiculous, all in all, the show is a good watch. Please do check out the main track of the show, it is a moving song by one of my favourite artists.

Sweet Home (2020)

Based on a post-apocalyptic webtoon of the same name, this show focuses on several characters surviving the apocalypse in their apartment building. While all the characters are human beings struggling with their humanity to stay the same as others are turning into monsters, the show focuses on the protagonist struggling with the same. Having lost his family in tragic accidents and having lived through high school through a traumatic experience, Hyun Soo is suicidal and finds himself trapped in a conundrum when the apocalypse breaks out.

It was a shock for me, having started the show with no idea of its genre or how visual it was. The show has plenty of violence, a theme broadly like zombies and monsters that are beyond mundane imagination. But the characters all grow on us despite their imperfections and make us root for them despite any circumstance they are thrown in. The show is appealing to youngsters and adults, showcasing concepts comprehensible to everyone. Revealing anything more would be spoiling the show, so do check it out despite any dubiety. But do look out for scenes that could be triggering to sensitive people with plenty of scenes where he talks of suicide and death.

Legend of the Blue Sea (2016)

Constructed on the myths of mermaids, this show places a romantic interest in the mermaid. The show starts with the protagonist making his way into the world as a conman when he accidentally rescues a mermaid, and she decides to follow him and adapt to this world, with more to their history and more to come her way in the self-centred human world. From learning about fashion from a homeless woman to meeting forgotten family members, this show charms anyone who comes it’s way. The simple humour displayed beyond languages is the essence of the story and the love beyond any language.

A sceptic of romance series by Lee Minho, this show was a surprising comfort where the characters were not toxic and actually found a family in each other. This show has concepts of soulmates and reincarnation that could be appealing, with modern twists and antagonists that cannot be predicted. The series really questions our perception of what we as human beings look like to other possible beings and how amidst all our human gifts, we all found ways to cheat each other and compete endlessly.

Korean Odyssey (2017)

A show with an antique narration style, this show takes us back to the 2000s for its approach towards fantasy and myths. Having built on the myths of the monkey king and other demigods this show involves other deities and ghosts living on earth. Quite unusual to this genre, this series is one of the few that is a mix of all possible genres and none at all. It has tropes that are not cliche, some friendships rare in today’s world, and people in love who are not desperate to burn the world over each other. Another thing this show focuses on is the grey characters with nearly no character black or white. The show reflects upon their individual actions and past experiences and how they would introspect and try better each time.

The show has a protagonist who has seen ghosts all her life, and it starts with her making a deal with a mysterious man. And ingeniously, the girl grows up to be a real estate agent, who buys haunted houses and sells them to potential clients. Much like any person with a mental health illness or a physical disability, it was opportune for her to take advantage of her situation. While I was not fond of the show midway for its slow pace, the overall story is not as bad as the initial episodes indicate. The show is a good watch with many fantastical tropes and diverse characters.

Tale of the Nine-Tailed (2020)

A popular show in the industry for its cliches and various scenes of CGI elements, romance and brilliant antagonists. Another show with prophecies, kitsunes, and other beings of fantasy, it is a show where they are all crafty and struggling with some version of reality. A kitsune searching for his reincarnated lover works with grim reapers through the years and ends up finding a girl who is exactly like his lover but with no recollection of her past life. But then, at the same time, his brother is here to stir things up. An ancient being is resurfacing now, and with so much to lose and not much to gain from the world, Lee Yeon must do everything he can to get to the bottom of his reality.

Avoiding cliches to avoid the repeated tropes, this was a show that I procrastinated on for a long time before finally watching it. With Lee Dong Wook as the lead, the show was interesting to see how they played with his age to make him look ageless and very old at the same time. The interaction between the brothers was entertaining, and a mysterious presence of something more was always itching at the back of my head. An ending I absolutely did not predict threw me off, but with rumours of another season, this show has much for the audience one can imagine.

Extraordinary You (2019)

A story completely unique, this show is based on a webtoon of the same name. The series has a plot like a Wattpad book, completely enthralling but scary to write a story around. The storyline goes that the characters are all part of a story inside a book, maybe a webtoon, when one day the girl wakes up from being the character. She quickly realizes there are moments where she does things or says things she does not mean like she was made to, and then there are moments where does whatever she wants. In those moments between being the character, this school-going girl learns of the person she is and the way her world works.

It is interesting to consider the perspectives of writing a story where the characters grow their voice and try to find their place in a world beyond their control. While it isn’t something that I have wanted to experiment with as well, this show is wholesome having numerous characters growing their own personalities and finding out that maybe they are not the only people having done that in this particular book. With two trios, one for the plot and one having found each other as individual characters, this show is sure to leave any audience perplexed and sentimental.

The King – Eternal Monarch (2020)

One of the works of a renowned screenwriter, this show gained a large-scale audience who all watched it for the fictional elements and the skilled work of the significant actors in the show. The plot is stupendous having worked with so many minor details and theories of time travel and parallel dimensions. This show houses three main characters, all challenged by the changes in the story. While the narration is personified for only one of them, the show also revolves heavily around the actions and decisions of the other two. Lee Gon, the King of his country; Jeong Tae-ul, a police officer; and Jo Yeong, the King’s closest friend and the Captain of the Royal Guard.

A show with far-fetched romance and relationships that defy odds and crimes that are beyond one world, this show brought the audience a series of a lifetime. While there are points in the story that could be better presented or written differently to avoid a periodic cliche, the show is still magnificently directed. With actors giving their all and so many characters coming into the play the plot, this show gives the audience so much more than one could have predicted.

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taegularities · 9 months

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Hi Rid, so you mentioned sth abt ‘evermore’ & since I wasn’t aware what you were talking abt (I’m very recent follower of yours) I checked your master post. And from the briefing of every story, I liked the concept of all members, there’s so different from one another. But I think I’m very excited abt Yoongi,Tae & Jk’s fics! If you can you elaborate on their themes I’d love that 💛🥹 also I wanted to point out that the fic that drew me in to your account were Not my fault & Ruined (i didn’t even realize it was a part of a series LOLz read Ruin You right after & that has so much potential to be made into a novel just sayinn) patiently awaiting the evermore series to drop by!!

hi love!! first of all, thank you for being here and welcome, i hope it's been fun so far 🥺 also, i'm so happy you're already excited for the evermore series!! once i'm done with joon's fic, we can finally dive in!! wahh please, the taegikook fics are what i'm most excited about, too!!

so cotton candy is a 90s au; tae, oc's childhood friend, is a photographer and model. this fic doesn't have a super detailed or deep plot, it's literally just slice of life and a story about a friendship morphing into deep love. very old school, nostalgic aesthetic. it's one of the most comforting fics i've ever written and i think i'll always be in love with it. hope you will be, too <3

then, run like a river is an ex2l fic about producer yoongi who returns to his hometown after retiring and finds his bubbly ex still there. they don't have a super painful or hateful relationship with each other as usual in ex2l stories, but they start finding their way back to each other with time. it'll be a soft, soothing fic, especially since this is how i imagine their hometown (that's darjeeling irl!! so pretty).

andddd i think timbre could turn into a reader fav. it's gonna be a trilogy! singer and brother's best friend jk who's always been in love with oc, but she doesn't really know or realise until he rises further in popularity and starts dating someone else. chaos ensues!! which is all i can say :')

really really hope you guys will enjoy these! i cannot fkn wait to have them out there, bc these stories are my everything fr. <3

#tysm for asking i like to ramble a LAWT lol sorry!!#also oh gosh not my fault and ry :')) my babies fr :')#ALSO WHAT DID U SAY ABOUT RY BEING A NOVEL 😭 you're so sweet truly thank you so much for saying that :(( definitely might work towards #publishing one day ty ily!!#notes for rid 🌹#anon #fic: evermore #fic: ruin you #fic: not my fault

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lovelovex · 3 months

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no x posts no announcements, kind rude p don’t you think cutting such a big amount of people who CARE about you guys is too much??? it is hard to keep up with all your updates via fucking RUMORS of all things for fucks sake

oh we’re right off w the accusations ok ok ok sometimes i hate being the spokesperson, P the diplomat, but here we go

i’m gonna use this post for the whole rant bc it’s all p much the same in my inbox:

if ‘rumors’ have been your only source of information for the past i dont rly rmbr how many months honey that’s intentional

sometime in july, before i made that post ab the healing process, we sat down and went thru every email subscribed to our mailing list, every account in every gc we used to have, decided fuck it and created all the new ones, rmbr when we had like 500+ members in one of them? well that’s not happening ever again, outsiders aren’t allowed anymore

did it hurt your feelings being left out?

well it hurt my feelings to find out how many of you were actually involved in the case behind my back, how many of you knew exactly what was happening in those two years and stayed silent or worse – chose to side w the person who wanted to take everything he could away from me

not just me, my friends, my family, the ppl i love more than anything else in this world, have suffered enormously bc of His actions and bc of Your support of those actions

i know exactly who you all are, i have a list of names i dont want to hear ever again in my life

the damage you’ve done is irreparable, and it’s beyond my imagination how any of you still feel entitled to anything, did you rly think i’d never find out? i thought it was common knowledge i always find out one way or another

we’re all grown up ppl, and it’s not my place to tell you who you can or cannot talk to, you’ve made your choices and we’ve made ours, and if you ended up on the outside of the circle, welcome to consequences 101, your actions actually do have an impact, what a concept

the case played a big part in the whole thing, but we’re way past that now, and the thing is – the real reason behind ‘cutting out such a big amount of ppl’ is we’re tired, the better part of our lives was dedicated solely to creating a safe space, and we did, only to realize we’re our own safe space, it’s the ppl, so the shows are still happening, the karaoke nights and the acoustic sessions, i say my thank yous from the stage and in emotional voice msgs at 3am bc my god do i love our space, my little sanity oasis, that part hasn’t and will never change

what changed is that we don’t have to subject ourselves to scrutiny, to any form of judgement anymore rly, what they dont know they can’t ruin i rmbr a post like this somewhere on this blog, i dont have to read your thoughts on every single detail of every single move we make, i only hear opinions from those ppl i actually want to listen to, and no, i dont only surround myself w yes men now, if i do smth wrong i still get called out, rightfully so

what i’m mostly tired of is those half-assed friendships, of ppl who only wanted me smiling and shiny, who would disappear the second things got a bit depressing, i dont know who hurt you, but it wasn’t me, or maybe it was, in that case that’s on you if you never had the guts to open your mouth and actually say smth

yk i’ve had to say so many goodbyes in the last two years, i’ll say some more if it comes to this, i’m getting better at letting ppl come and go, but i could never tolerate indifference or betrayal, and i’ve had enough of both of these things

you can still go off in my inbox, let it all out, i can’t rly stop you, just know it doesn’t make any difference to me

#would you look at that i thought i’d sound angrier but this is actually p respectful all things considered?#sit w it for a while we’ll continue later #ask

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA Chapter 324: Is There a Force Field Around Him??

Previously on BnHA: Flashback!Rat Principal was all “please tell Midoriya that I spent a concerningly small amount of money upgrading U.A. into a wacky physics-defying funtime grid so as to make the final battle much more confusing for everyone.” Present Day!Mic (or Present!Mic, if you will) and Jeanist were all “if only somebody could deescalate this dangerously unhinged mob, we’ve tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas.” Ochako was all “LISTEN UP PEOPLE.” The mob was all, “god??” Ochako was all, “NO, IT’S ME, OCHAKO. I’M REALLY HIGH UP ON THIS BUILDING AND THE VISIBILITY IS LOW DUE TO THE RAIN, SO I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT MISTAKE. ANYWAYS, DEKU WAS OUT THERE RISKING HIS LIFE FOR YOU CLOWNS EVEN THOUGH HE’S JUST A KID, SO I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD ALL REMEMBER HOW TO BE DECENT HUMAN BEINGS, THANKS.” Let’s see if her Big Scolding Energy has any impact.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “so I have this speech planned out, and it’s really good, but it also only really needs about 6 to 8 pages, but I’m gonna see if I can stretch it out to 17 pages so I can kill time before we get to the next volume cliffhanger two weeks from now.” Anyway but it really is a good speech though. There are feels, and tears, and more talk about how Deku is so in need of a shower that just looking at him requires a tetanus booster, and more feels, and more tears, and bonus ship drama, and an iconic callback to the very first chapter which reframes the entire series in a new context in a totally epic and moving way, and it’s all very good. Except that Horikoshi is determined to never let anyone actually give this kid a hug. Who hurt you, dude.

omg we are opening on a callback to chapter 212, a.k.a. the chapter with by far the cutest flashback that doesn’t involve any baby Todorokis

baby Ochako is lethally cute. she could literally murder someone with her cuteness. I just want to scoop her up and play airplane with her until she accidentally activates her quirk while we’re spinning around and we both helicopter up into the air never to be seen again

“a child’s insistence” huh well that’s all well and good, but I sure hope this doesn’t mean we’re going to drag out the whole “sternly lecture the obnoxious citizens” plot for another whole chapter. no offense but I think we’re good

so page 2 is just continuing the whole happy/worried faces monologue, which of course is very important to Ochako’s character as it provides the context for why “who protects the heroes” ended up becoming her thing. and this is making me think we actually are in for a whole second chapter of this sob. when will my boy finally get to rest

OH MY GOD SUDDENLY THESE PEOPLE HAVE EYES IMAGINE THAT

HORIKOSHI: [reaches for a box of tissues while tearfully penning an homage to his beloved Spider-Man 2, specifically the train scene where the crowd sees Peter without his mask and they suddenly realize just how young he is]

HORIKOSHI’S HOMAGE SCENE: “COME TO THINK OF IT, I GUESS IT WAS KIND OF MEAN FOR US TO PICK ON THIS TEN YEAR OLD KID WHO WEIGHS 75 POUNDS AND LOOKS LIKE HE LOST A FIGHT WITH SATAN’S MOLDY OLD BASEMENT”

lol at this one guy who can feel the mood of the crowd shifting and is all “WAIT, NO, I WANTED TO KEEP BEING AN ASSHOLE DAMMIT”

as many pointed out last week, this man is wearing an All Might shirt. that’s some fantastic irony there

-- SDKFJWIGKS

“LITTLE GIRL, I HOPE YOU’RE NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE SHOULD ALL BE WALKING AROUND DRESSED LIKE A SOVIET-ERA BUS STOP.” heh. last week I said I was ashamed of BnHA being my favorite manga. that was a lie, actually

(ETA: in the original Japanese Ochako’s next two lines are basically “the only ones covered in mud will be us heroes!” followed by “please give us some time to get rid of the mud”, with that second line basically being the single funniest thing I’ve ever read rdslkjl. Ochako thank you so much for supporting my running gags. “YEAH WE KNOW HE’S DIRTY. WE ARE GONNA TRY AND CLEAN HIM UP, BUT IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, I’M JUST SAYING. I MEAN LOOK AT HIM. HE LOOKS LIKE AN ASBESTOS COSPLAY.”)

doesn’t the megaphone kind of look ever so slightly like an axe that she’s wielding maniacally here

easy there Lizzie Borden

also that’s a really bold claim to make there. and not one she necessarily should have to make, either. but as we all know, there’s nothing that shounen manga likes more than having its heroes bravely hoist heavy burdens of responsibility like good self-sacrificing citizens

p.s. lowkey loving how Kacchan is positioned here standing slightly behind Deku. not presuming to stand in front of him all overprotectively (because he would hate if anyone ever did that to him), and kind of being unobtrusive and letting others take center stage -- but still being close enough to Deku that he can catch him if he stumbles or passes out again

(ETA: or maybe not lmao.

DEKU: [falls to his knees]

KACCHAN: [glancing up from his phone a few minutes later] “someone just sent me the stupidest meme about milk crates -- oh. uh. you good...?”

really, son. “the burdens you can’t carry, we’ll carry them for you. ...later, I mean. right now it’s late, and we’re all cold and wet.”)

also lowkey loving this OchaTsu moment here

I was going back and binging Ochako chapters this past week for reasons, and I gotta say it really stuck out to me just how often these two are paired with each other. they do everything together. it’s a really sweet friendship that often goes unappreciated but it’s very cute

meanwhile, not to be outdone by the OchaTsu, Iida is staring at Ochako with open admiration talking about how she’s fighting too. it’s been so long since we’ve had any IidaRaka you guys. I was starving and I didn’t even know it

oh my lord IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING

THE LIGHT IS BACK. he finally looks like him again. what a cathartic fucking moment omg

ffklkdw

“I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SCARED, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE DEFINITELY CANNOT GUARANTEE YOUR SAFETY AND WE ARE ALL SCARED TOO!” good pep talk there kiddo

BUT, jokes aside, truth be told this is the exact right approach to take imo, and something that’s long overdue. I’ve said this before, but this new generation of heroes is shaping up to be much more transparent than the All Might generation. they’re basically abandoning the almighty, untouchable Superman “heroes as gods” concept in favor of the more nuanced “heroes as people” concept instead. and that’s a good thing. seeing their heroes as humans, with human limitations and weaknesses and flaws, will hopefully not only lead to more scrutiny and accountability, but also more awareness of how hard some of them are working and how much they’re sacrificing. that’s something All Might never quite grasped back at the start of the series -- that the weak, vulnerable, injured him could be just as inspiring as the mighty, invincible him -- perhaps even more so. there’s a power in seeing otherwise ordinary people show extraordinary bravery and compassion. it inspires others to try and do the same

SSDLHK AIZAWA SIGHTING AAHHHHHH

so he was still back at the hospital this whole time?? smdh at this disrespect. that feeling when your sexy self-insert character’s powers of rationality are too strong, and so you have to nerf him so that he doesn’t ruin your Deku Angst arc twice over by (1) immediately talking some sense into Deku and making him come home Right This Instant Young Man, and (2) not allowing him to leave U.A. in the first fucking place. excuse me, you want to do WHAT now, Midoriya?? that’s it, go to your room

also living for Katsuki and Hawks’s soft expressions. Shouto’s too, although his is tinier and harder to see. and Jeanist’s 12-foot-long neck. imagine Jeanist’s head with Mic’s hair. maybe Jeanist had a mohawk back in the day and that’s why U.A.’s doors are so big now

speaking of soft faces, Enji’s is also excellent

what could this random close-up possibly imply?? hell if I know. but Horikoshi truly fears no discourse and that’s what I love about him

OMGGGG

“smh my child is so dumb.” poor Ochadad. your child is cute af count your blessings

SDOFFHSMH

I’m telling you guys. lethally, catastrophically cute

this speech is still ongoing lol. Horikoshi you’re doing so good but I think we get the point now my dude. you gotta learn how to transition out of these things

UNEXPECTED TOGA WHAT

“there we go” Horikoshi says, crossing off the last line on his list of Ochako ships. “that’s all of ‘em”

poor Ochako is just repeating the same “LET HIM REST, PLEASE, WITH EVERYONE’S COOPERATION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, WE APPRECIATE IT” talking points over and over again hoping someone will throw her a bone and acknowledge her already. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP HER

literally they’re all just staring up at her silently omg. work with me people!!

now she’s saying it for the 56th time but more dramatically all of a sudden

they got so dramatic that for a minute I thought she had suddenly leaped off the building or something

look, not to rush you or anything Horikoshi, but I’m starting to get the feeling that this is yet another one of those “the volume is ending soon so I need to either hurry things up or slow things down in order to make sure we end it on my perfect cliffhanger ending” chapters where you go to ridiculous lengths to drag things out much to the exasperation of your week-to-week readers

(ETA: ftr, volume 31 ended on chapter 306, and I’m predicting that vol. 32 will end with chapter 316 (a.k.a. “you’re next!” [explodes]). I’m guessing vol. 33 will follow suit and likely end on chapter 326, so keep your eyes peeled for a big cliffhanger in two weeks’ time. Deku’s dad?? All Might in peril?? U.A. traitor at long fucking last?? we shall see.)

is Deku straight up falling in love with Ochako right on the spot lol what is happening

I know I just said that I enjoy when Horikoshi gives zero fucks about discourse, but shipping discourse is a whole different beast lol. I hope he’s prepared

(ETA: and for the record, I have no interest in shipping discourse either, as always. and I think this scene can be interpreted as platonic, tbh, with the context being that Ochako was literally introduced as someone who was willing to help him so casually without a second thought, and now here she is saving him again.

I don’t think it really fully hit Deku until this moment how much he needed saving. like I said in another meta somewhere, selflessness is basically just selfishness on behalf of others. and Deku is selfless to a fault, but that’s okay, and it doesn’t mean he needs to change -- he just needs friends who are willing to be be selfish on his behalf in turn. and I think the full emotion of what it means to have friends like that just hit him at last. everything his friends have done for him, how much he needed it and didn’t even realize, and how grateful he is. anyways what a terrible day for rain.)

-- son of a --

is he apologizing?? or pleading?? please tell me that’s not the case, because what the actual fuck. Deku you beautiful precious radiant selfless child, this is the exact opposite of how this should be. all these motherfuckers should be on their knees apologizing to you

DEKU WHY

I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS FREAKING BOMBARDMENT OF EMOTIONS GODDAMIT. OUT HERE ARMED WITH YOUR FREAKING TREBUCHET OF FEELS TO LAUNCH AT ME UNPROVOKED. WHAT’S WITH THAT

FREAKING CHRIST. THIS BOY IS CRYING HIS EYES OUT AND HORIKOSHI IS JUST ZOOMING IN WITH THE CAMERA, LIKE CAN WE JUST CUT HIM A BREAK ALREADY. ENOUGH OF THIS. HE’S SO YOUNG AND HE TRIES SO HARD AND I JUST NEED HIM TO FEEL SAFE, HORIKOSHI PLEASE CAN YOU JUST GIVE ME THAT ALREADY WHAT IS THE FREAKING HOLD UP!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY!!!

GIGANTIC FOX LADY PLEASE BE MY HUGGER BY PROXY!! SERIOUSLY GIRL IF YOU JUST HOLD YOUR UMBRELLA OVER HIM OR SOMETHING AND DON’T GO THE EXTRA MILE I’M ABOUT TO LODGE AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS NOW

!!!!

A KOUTA IS GOOD TOO!!! oh my god if Kouta hugs him I will seriously 100% straight up cry. go on and test me

FOR THE LOVE OF --

is this man expressly forbidden from drawing hugs in his contract or something. DO YOU DO IT JUST TO SPITE ME?? this is tyranny, sir

AND I KNOW, THIS PAGE ACTUALLY CHALLENGED THE VERY PREMISE OF THE SERIES ITSELF, AND HERE I AM COMPLAINING ABOUT HUGS, OR THE LACK THEREOF. “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes.” and just like that, he waves a polite middle finger at all of the Strongest Greatest Chosen One shounen protags of old, in favor of something much less conventional, much more interesting, and much more suited to Deku’s character. because if that one sentence doesn’t just sum up Deku to a T. he gladly relinquishes his Greatest Hero status in favor of acknowledging the hero in everyone. what a class act. that’s my protagonist

I love this kid so fucking much I swear. only just PLEASE. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. GIVE HIM HIS HUG

#bnha 324 #uraraka ochako #midoriya izuku #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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literaphobe · 2 years

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someone commented about sadf!george and how they were initially shocked that he’d tell sadf!dream he wanted him so let me illustrate the sequence of events esp for the benefit of those of u whose native language is not english (<- people told me this and how its harder to understand stuff sometimes) (<- there is a possibility i make this more confusing, in that scenario, pretend this is just a ramble) (<- the initial person reread and understood, i just wanted to talk about this bc i like talking about this stuff)

- sadf!george reveals to sadf!dream that he used to like him. this earns him a reaction that scares him into not wanting to reveal more, sadf!dream isn’t sharing his feelings

- sadf!george doesn’t want to say anything about his feelings unless sadf!dream verbally confirms his own. sadf!dream takes a dramatic step and says he is falling in love with sadf!george. this takes him by surprise, he cannot react in time

- sadf!dream expresses he does not want to be in love with sadf!george, says them dating is a bad idea, and this is something that sadf!george agrees with, but it is reinforced because of what sadf!dream says

(it’s like when u like someone you’re friends with but you don’t think they like you so you tell yourself you shouldn’t date them anyway bc it’s a bad idea and that it would ruin the friendship. but then they tell you they like you and for a moment you get lost and want to be with them but then they tell you that you two probably shouldn’t date. and you go Oh… Haha Me Too I Agree It Would Be Such A Bad Idea If We Dated… but something in you is crumbling)

- sadf!george goes along w sadf!dream’s desire to get rid of his feelings, because if it is making him suffer that much then george wants them gone too, he wants him to be happy

- sadf!george’s feelings are getting wilder than he thought, bigger than he ever thought they would be, and on some level he is complacent, thinks he could be happy with just a sexual relationship with dream + a highly fulfilling friendship. on some level if sadf!dream never told sadf!george he was in love with him and they just continued being best friends who slept together all the time and lived together forever he would’ve been content and happy not questioning anything ever

- on some level sadf!george thinks sadf!dream can just lose his feelings and they can go back to having sex, but as the days go by he keeps learning that this isn’t true, and it all comes to a head when he sees someone hitting on dream and when he finds out dream was going to reciprocate, he realized he could completely lose dream so he lost control and demanded what he wanted

- however, him losing his filter wasn’t permanent. he still has it ingrained in him that he isn’t good enough to keep dream or have dream, and that their friendship is too important to risk dating each other, something that could be unstable and volatile, something they weren’t as used to compared to their years long friendship. he expresses doubt in the concept of seriously dating sadf!dream, and sadf!dream expresses disappointment

- he then expresses something else: he wants it too. he thinks it is a bad idea just like george does and he wants to date george anyway, and that’s why sadf!george kisses him. it’s because they are starting to realize they aren’t that different, that sadf!dream can’t get rid of his feelings either, that they both really want each other entirely, in every way, even if they might lose everything they’ve built. and instead of thinking too deeply into that, they might as well… kiss

#sadf #i hope that gives insight #even if u already interpreted it similarly anyway :)#sadf spoilers #hope this makes sense LOL

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neovrse · 3 years

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— TEASER

“dude, it means i have a crush on you”

genre — fluff, angst, mark lee being his regular cute self

warnings — swearing, sexual themes, sexual tension, smut, exhibition, oc is pretty harsh to mark at times, she is a literal ice queen. mark not knowing how to talk to girls

word count — tba (somewhere inbetween 13k-20k

songs to listen to — i like u by niki and ordinary love by park kyung ft park bom

summary — mark is not your friend. you would even consider him a senior because you guys are the same age. you had no problems with mark, until your group’s comeback got pushed back because of a collab you have to do with sm’s golden boy. now you have to spend every waking day with the boy in order to get your work out faster. there is absolutely no room for a friendship between you and mark. it’s strictly business in your eyes. mark on the other hand cannot help but wonder where this arrangement could take the two of you

release date — sometime next week, will clarify as i get more done

an — if you want me to tag you when it is released just send me an ask

you would hardly consider mark lee to be your friend. colleague, senior if you really had to watch your honorifics around the staff but friend would be an exaggeration

interactions with him when you were a trainees together were limited and short. he was a shy boy he barely met your eyes or anyone’s for that matter as he was still getting accustomed to the new country he was continuing his life in. as soon as mark arrived he threw himself into practicing at a young age which to assumed was to cope with the new changes in his life

all the late nights you walked passed the dance practice room or the studio and saw the boy practicing himself to the bone, seemed to pay off as mark debuted a whole year before you

there was no sense of resentment as you knew the boy worked hard without ever telling him to his face, you were happy for him

though none of the events in his life impacted yours as you continued with your daily lessons and dance practices. seeing all of you fellow friends who debuted before you just motivated you to work harder

it was finally your turn, a few trainees you became close to were finally given the opportunity to debut. you could easily say there was nothing like the preparation for your groups debut

majority of the stuff you have done in the past to prepare yourself were individual so you were stepping into foreign territory

you moved away from your parents and moved into a dorm with your members. the five of you ate together, practiced together and recorded together, which was crucial to build the relationship with one another

after spending so much time together, you could confidently call them your best friends, something you never experienced since moving to korea

after debut you rarely saw mark, he was a busybody even when his group was not promoting, he was almost always doing other schedules and promotions

for the entire year, you almost completely forgot who mark lee even is

well until now

you were told to dress nicely by your manager. to meet her downstairs for whatever reason while all you members remained asleep from the long night of recording an ost for a drama, you couldn’t careless about

while hoping the backseat of the van, your manager sat beside you and looked at you with tired eyes. you felt bad for her, she was always there. always punctual and never failed to set you guys straight. what a lot of you guys forgot to realize at times was the she had a life too and a family outside of the group

she deserved better than babysitting a bunch of 20 something year olds

“honey, just a heads up, you are gonna have a meeting with the creative team today” she finally spoke as she sent you a weak smile

“why just me?” you sat up as you placed your airpods in your ear but held back from playing anything

“i am not too sure, i am sorry” manager lim apologized with her face already flushed. you raised your hand lightly telling her it's fine

“its okay, a surprise wont kill me?”

that was your first wrong

when you walked into the room, all eyes were on you as if you were late. you noticed a man who looked much older than manager lim stand up first as he bowed. next to him was a brown haired boy who you instantly recognized as mark. why was he here anyways?

“ah, you are finally here” you met with the eyes of the man you knew as mr. hong who was the head of the creative team that usually worked with your group as well as nct. The questions were still floating around in your head, why were you and mark the only one present? with the curiosity still lingering in your thoughts, you bowed to the staff that were in the room

when you got to mark, his head was already tilted downwards, you barely even got a glimpse at the boy before bowing quickly and slipping into the seat closest to you at the table

“i am sure the two of you are curious as to why it is just you and not your members?” mr. hong smiled obviously trying to ease up the stiffness that was clear as day

mark and you nodded respectfully awaiting the answer for their long lasting questions, “we have been planning for you to start your solo career later this year. we have been working really hard trying to think of ways to get you started” he spoke towards you as your expression remained unresponsive

“yeah, we really appreciate your time and effort” manager lim bowed, her eyes widened as she noticed your stiff figure, she pinched your thigh roughly, have some respect, she mouthed to you as you quickly ducked your head while rubbing their throbbing stop on your thigh

“of course, uh” mr. hong cleared his voice, why did he look so nervous anyways?, “mark, you have been our ace for so long and in my opinion no one is a better rapper than you” mr. hong praised the boy across from you as mark quickly became flustered. he never did know how to take compliments.

mark muttered a quick thank you before looking back down at his hands, “both of you guys are very talented so we came up with the idea that the both of you should collab together” you stopped all your movements as you heard the last word fall from mr. hong’s lips, collab?

you sat up straight in your chair, opening your mouth to decline the idea right way until you felt manager lim grab your shoulder and guide you back into your seat

“collab? i thought vixen were having a comeback soon” manager lim spoke up, taking the words right out of your mouth

“sooyoung-ah, it's still early in the year. the kids will have plenty of time to resume their comeback preparation” mr. hong quickly said as you felt manager lim sigh lowly from her spot next to you

you felt your blood boil and it was clear that you were seeing red right now. after all the preparation the five of you and manager lim have done. the endless dark nights at the studio and early morning win the dance practice rooms for the last two weeks are all stopping all because of mark lee?

the more you thought about it the angrier you became. they care so much about their precious that they have to mess with my girl’s comeback? you turned to manager lim with a attonshed expression painted all over your face

looking at the pleading expression on manager lim’s face was enough to tell you that you had to hold your tongue and refrain from saying all the things that were racing through your mind

you let out a breath before looking up at mark who still refused to meet your eyes, was he some sort of coward? how could he avoid your gaze after he single handedly ruined your group's chances at an early comeback this year? not only that but trampled all over your solo activities being well solo

“the two of you are the same in age, so why not drop honorifics” mr. hong chuckled lightly still trying to slice through the tension in the room. to your horror, mark nodded and you followed suit

“ah great to see the two of you get a long already” mr. hong clapped as he patted his hand on mark’s shoulder but knew better than to come near you with that deadly expression your face

“when we were thinking of a concept we came up with something like a new and young love concept. the two of you are so young and mark has his adorable boy-ish charm” you recognized the voice came from miss kim. you almost gagged at his words direct towards the brown haired boy

“also it would be good for you to do a more soft concept for once to show your fans your duality” she winked at you, it was true your group were more use to darker and sexier concepts

you had no words so you settled on a simple nod, for the first time since you came into the room you were one avoiding marks eyes they fell open your figure

he hasn't had a good look at you since god knows how long. your hair was short, contrasting the lengthy black hair you had when he first met you. was it seven years ago already? he lost track of time as soon as he became a trainee. it was like he was introduced into a whole new world

mark suddenly remembered the little conversations he had with you in the past. he could barely even let out one word to you at school or at training classes because at that time girls were an unsolved mystery to him. you were just teenagers back then. ironic that the two of you see each other for the first time in so long, on terms such as these

“the two of you are very talented so we want you to be a part of the songwriting process” bait. almost everyone in the agency knew you were a songwriting junkie, but to write a song with mark? about love? even that did not seem possible

“oh okay” mark finally chirped in. your head shot up as you looked at him like he was a madman, why would he agree so quickly?

“great! I hope you guys become good friends during this process. lets work hard!” mr. hong collected his papers that were scattered across the desk and made his way out the room. you stood up and bowed to him respectfully and the rest of the staff as they exited the room

without giving mark another glance, grabbed your phone from the table before walking out with pure rage. you heard manager lim’s heels clacking from behind you as she tried to catch up to you

mark sat there for an extra moment before his manager patted him on the shoulder and told him it’s time to go back to the dorm

mark was so out of it he couldn’t stop thinking about your actions and body language while you were in the room. you seemed upset, no you seeemed angry

was it because of him? what did he do do make you so mad at him?

he would make sure to ask you sometime along the road, considering this would not be the last time he would see you

the two of you had a lot of work to do together, starting now

#mark soft hours #mark lee scenarios #mark lee angst #mark lee au #nct u #nct 127 fluff #nct fake texts #nct au #nct dream scenarios #nct dream fluff #nct imagines #nct dream blurbs #nct 127 blurbs #mark lee smut #nct smut #nct scenarios #nct 127 scenarios #mark lee fluff #— my love🤍🤍

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steve0discusses · 2 years

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S5 Ep 27 Part 2: Yugi Gets Robbed

A shorter part than the last one because I have no idea where to split this without a card game smack dab in the middle of the episode.

Last we left off, Grandpa has finished his story about how he used to be hot in Egypt and tells Yugi that despite everything he just said, Yugi is NEVER allowed to be hot in Egypt. Which will be relatively easy for Yugi to do since he does not have Young Grandpa Swagger.

Which is when Yugi reveals that he fell asleep halfway through the story

Now that all of the pieces of the show have been talked about so we, the viewers, remember what they were, it’s time for Yugi to go the hell to bed.

(read more under the cut)

If it weren’t for the creepers that have been spying on this entire situation.

I cannot believe I have to suffer Rex and Weevil yet again, but they are consistently the first miniboss of like every season.

(also if you’ve noticed there’s a black bar on the side of everything. I figured I should recrop it, until we got to this dream sequence where, you’ll notice, they put the white gradient ON TOP of the black bar, which means this was the original dimensions. This was how it looked out of the box. HOW does this happen? You MADE it. You made it too small? What? HOW? what HAPPENED here?)

Because we’re not done with exposition, Yugi and Pharaoh decide to gush about what jobs they do for the other. Just in case no one has ever turned on Yugioh before, which, honestly? Probably likely. Kids and teens have goldfish memories and very little reading comprehension.

Like you ever realize how weird it was that we used to have classes where all we did was we read a book and then were tested on if we actually remembered it within moments of reading it? How wild is that concept? And how wild was it that we super didn’t remember a majority of anything written by Steinbeck?

Like you get to college and lit classes change from “do you remember this?” to “OK but can you write about this?” and that’s such a huge shift that we only expect from adults. The brain is freakin weird. Also High school English classes kind of suck.

Which is when Yugi brought up this plot point from Season Zero I thought would never ever come back in a billion years:

Like he didn’t say “hey remember how I think all my friends became my friend because I wished upon a haunted necklace?” they didn’t bring up the curse thing. But, he did mention how he had zero friends and didn’t talk to anyone before Pharaoh showed up.

Which like, this series started with Joey and Tristan and Tea already at Yugi’s side. They were already his friend. This is completely new information if you didn’t watch Zero.

Tag yourself, I’m Duke Devlin.

Also, this might be a problem with composing too many people in one shot but I’m personally a little offended that Mokuba isn’t here. Seto is, but ehhh not Mokuba who’s saved their ass multiple times, he’s too short to fit. Also not Rebecca? Who owns the freakin friendship card? That whole arc with Rebecca in it just 10 episodes ago does not matter?

Bakura is also not here but that just makes sense (and would also confuse new viewers a lot.) I personally thing Bakura made that a choice, he’s got a lot of personal ghost related issues and probably doesn’t want to be around people if he could murder them unintentionally (or intentionally, depending on which half of Bakura you’re talking to)

Now that we are all reacquainted with the plot and overarching cast of Yugioh (minus Mokuba), Rex Raptor picks up a rock and smashes it directly through this window.

The most asshole move.

This window is on the ROOF. This is an ATTIC window. Yugi lives in an ATTIC. Their house is SCREWED. The game store is screwed! Skylights already leak a bunch, everyone who’s had a skylight has dealt with leaks, but damn. Imagine if you just had some asshole ruin your skylight during a heavy rainstorm. Good luck trying to find a big enough kitchen bowl to catch these drips. Good thing your store isn’t full of priceless paper cards.

Grandpa’s poor Blue Eyes White Dragon is soon to be soaked as well as already being ripped and covered in tape. Just a miserable time for that card.

Also, you may think that I forgot a thing I said I would do, and no, I did not forget.

This was way easier and quicker to do than I realized, because I am like a professional pajama drawer, and I should have done it from the beginning of the episode but I had some tech problems that we’ll get to in a little bit and I was like “I just need to publish this thing.”

And then a very good ironic moment happened when Rex and Weevil opened this tiny travel tote, and much like the bag of winds in Odysseus, took about half a second to realize they were absolutely dead.

This horrible bag is full of every single millennium item except for that damn puzzle. And also the ring which decided that Rex and Weevil were nasty boys, but it wanted someone nastier.

And in case you were like “Isn’t Bakura’s font different now than it was earlier this episode?” Yes. It is. I’m not fixing it. This is his new font now. It’s been a day.

Also, fun fact, I’ve mentioned before that as a middle schooler I was basically a Bakura cosplayer and had no idea, well when I got to High school I wanted to make some ~Changes~ to my wardrobe, so I got myself a long black trench coat from Esprit. It was my first big clothing purchase of my life, a birthday present, and I wore it nearly every day with my casual striped t-shirts and khakis JUST LIKE THIS.

I hate this.

I can’t believe I was cosplaying Bakura not just in middle school but also in High School and had no freakin idea it was ever happening.

Also I still own that coat because 1.) I haven’t grown any taller and b.) I’m just waiting for matrix coats to come back. The new movie is coming out on HBO or whatever, maybe we’ll all get into long black coats again. That coat is rad. I kept the coat.

Like...this is a good coat, this is a great glam up on Bakura, I dig the coat.

So, before Rex and Weevil could enlist in the Bakura army, Bakura just kinda offs em (They’re not on the deathcount yet because I don’t know if they’re dead yet). And Bakura, who remembers dying and being dead the last time he touched a God Card, was like “wow, who the hell wants a stupid God card, I have a millennium ring” and down they went. Which is about when Yugi showed up in his pajamas and no shoes on.

which like...slightly not intimidating way for a Pharaoh to introduce himself to his nemesis, but it is 4 AM.

So, next episode we get to see a pretty wild stand off. Does Yugi even have cards right now? Does he keep them in his pajamas?

Like how nasty are Yugi’s feet right now? Kid didn’t even bring his house slippers with him. Maybe the streets of Japan are like really clean but I can’t imagine walking through any major city without shoes because of how much broken glass there’d be from trash cans that didn’t quite make it into the trash truck.

Man what if Rex and Weevil are finally dead? What a wonderful way to start off this arc, honestly. A good episode. I heard the quality is going to be hit or miss the rest of this arc, but that’s pretty normal for this show. This was a nice episode. Nice job, Yugioh.

Anyway, if you want to read these from the start, here’s the link to read these in chrono order:

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

#yugioh #YGO #Yu-Gi-Oh #Yugi Muto #Grandpa Muto #Ryou Bakura #S5 #Ep27 #Photo recap #episode recap #Rex Raptor #Weevil Underwood

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accidentalrabbit · 2 years

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KIETA HATSUKOI

(series)

Japan 2021

RANK: S

A-pairing: Aoki x Ida

B-pairing: Hashimoto x Aida

Other character(s) i enjoyed: N/A

Overall review:

This show hits incredible heights of earnestness with good acting and production quality, and the character-focused writing and compact length of the series makes the fairly small core cast really shine. I need nothing more. Get into it.

Let's start with Aoki and Hashimoto, the most perfect relationship in the show. I love the centrality of this friendship to the early episodes and the way it plays out through the rest of the series. The way they communicate (and don't communicate!) their complex high school feelings, the way Aoki wants to help Hashimoto when she's feeling anxious or stuck, the way she returns the favor when he's sad or lonely. (And lest we believe they are too perfect: the way they both completely fail at physical challenges and survival skills.) These two have excellent characterization and very good comedy when they play off of one another.

Speaking of their friendship, the inciting incident of the plot leads to an exquisite unravelling of several tropes in just the first few episodes. The "Ida <3" eraser Aoki borrows from Hashimoto reveals that his crush on her is going nowhere and immediately establishes Ida as the third (very puzzled) member of a love triangle, who now believes Aoki has a crush on him. (A proper love triangle with all three legs represented is a rare thing already!) Of course, i was worried that these two disasters were going to ruin her life in order to get together, but this surprisingly doesn't happen either. First of all, Aoki develops his rapid onset crush on Ida while trying to be a good wingman and see if Ida has feelings for Hashimoto, which is already incredible care given to a girl character in a BL series. But THEN in a stroke of comedic genius, Hashimoto reveals later that she had used up the front of an eraser that originally said "Aida <3" which is so funny that i had to pause the show and cackle. The dramatic irony of these two panicking that they might have to fight over their mutual crush, the sudden blowing-up of the love triangle into a love square that includes Aoki's only other friend, the fact that Aoki's bisexual awakening was caused by a mistake…it has layers! I love a well-written comedic plot beat.

The (non-interchangeable) Ida and Aida are fun characters in their own rights. Ida is defined primarily by his cool (read: stoic) hypercompetence and his gentle bafflement at the concept of puppy love and possibly friendship, which initially makes him difficult to read, but he's fun actually and i don't think we appreciate him enough. He's literally serving neurodivergent-and-a-minor realness. Aida is cool (read: charming in a very high school way) and kind of a goofy slacker archetype, but the writing and acting elevate what could have been an empty shell of traits in a serviceable heterosexual B-plot into a dynamic and caring friend/love interest who grows in his own right.

A detour to a point that cannot be overstated: Adult actors who more or less pass as young enough to be in high school, aka the Ben Platt Test. Between this and the remarkably unremarkable hair and makeup, we've come a long way since Seven Days (2015). The character who comes closest to looking like an adult man in a sea of children is the stoic and serious Ida, whose actor nevertheless injects enough naïveté and adolescent self-doubt into the performance to make a believer out of me.

The romantic relationships are chaste and sweet, and the central conflicts of Kieta Hatsukoi are almost entirely internal. For Aoki and Ida, the struggle is to figure out what each of them want from their relationship, and they navigate their stark differences in personality in fun and sometimes painful ways. Aoki, who is suddenly aware of his latent bisexuality and Big Feelings, is such a sweetheart and strikes a fine balance between comically pathetic and sympathetic. Ida, for his part, seems to have a handle on everything except for the way Aoki's feelings make him feel, and there are good moments when we see his less guarded side break through in ways that conflict with or complement Aoki's vulnerability. Hashimoto and Aida are the rare chaos heterosexuals that i am rooting for 100%. She learns to be vocal about what she wants and stand up for herself and her emotions, and he learns how to drink respect women juice and think about the feelings of other people. Their interactions are more farcical and lighthearted than our main couple, but the actors bring no less energy to their characters.

A central theme of this series that i think gets overlooked is the idea of kindness as aspirational masculinity, and all three of our male leads embody this to varying degrees at times. The scene i think most clearly exemplifies this is when Aoki volunteers to take the role of Cinderella in the school play to protect the stage-shy Hashimoto, opposite Prince Ida. (IT'S A PLAY WITHIN A PLAY!) In lesser shows this would be played as a joke about his sexual proclivities or gender in some way, and there is an extent to which men crossdressing is inherently kind of a comedic trope in film, but just when Aoki feels he's been made the object of a joke he doesn't fully understand, Kieta Hatsukoi affirms that there is nothing wrong with what he did, that his queer feelings and feminine performance do not make him lesser than Ida, and that the reason he went onstage in the first place was noble. Selflessness and empathy are an integral part of Aoki's character, and those qualities are also important to the character arcs of Ida and Aida as the show progresses. It feels good to see our boy protagonists be lauded for their kindnesses and not punished for showing what are too often gendered vulnerabilities. (And on the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Hashimoto praised for her apeshit outbursts of righteous anger, which are more directly framed as jokes but are also encouraged by the narrative as positive for her character. Debatable, but it's there!)

Finally, this show typifies (what i like to call) the soft gaze in its camerawork and overall visual design, which is very apropos for a such a gentle high school comedy. This gaze, with its lingering but unobtrusive shots of tender moments and refusal to objectify the characters, supplements the themes of kindness as aspirational masculinity and all forms of love, romantic or platonic, as worthy of cherishing.

I had a good time, but:

Aoki and Ida (and the whole friend group really) could have had like 3% more time being cute together in the finale, even if it were just a mid-credits montage. I didn't want to say goodbye to these characters so quickly!

Character(s) entitled to financial compensation: N/A. Go forth safe in the knowledge that no fictional high schoolers were harmed in the making of this series.

Conclusion: There is not a hint of cynicism in the writing of this show. Kieta Hatsukoi is almost indulgently sentimental, with just enough comedy and surprising thoughtfulness to keep it interesting. Often, the series feels like a nostalgic love letter to the concept of the high school crush, but it also updates its narrative to revamp tired tropes and center the feelings of bi boys and shy girls, two of our most important natural resources. Neither too understated nor totally over-the-top, Kieta Hatsukoi is an earnest and refreshing take on the Japanese BL genre. And we stan.

Come back soon to see if i can say anything interesting about See You After Quarantine? (2021)

#kieta hatsukoi #S tier #japanese drama #mine #reviews #my love mix up #vanishing my first love #aoki x ida #hashimoto x aida #trying to do these in the order i watched them #and realizing i'm remembering more than i thought i would #MINOR EDIT FOR PLAY WITHIN A PLAY

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chili-aux · 3 years

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Im honestly so done with aot fandom wars really. I now let people spew whatever shit they want. It gets toxic in the end. I started hating so many characters because of this irritating fandom till I realized that a bunch of teenagers dont have the right to steal my love for this story away from me. Theyre so ridiculous really it looks like a bunch of kids decided to watch AOT and miss the point entirely. Yams wrote a beautiful story that gets more interesting when you reread it. I wasnt even aware of shipping wars till I finished the manga only to realize its hellfire here. I just assumed oh Erwin loved Marry but chose the corps how sad. Shadis had a thing for Carla. Bittersweet. Oh Ymir and Historia loved each other. Tragic. Reiner is a historia simp great. Oh Levi and Hanji are closeted lovers who just cant accept they're into each other. And thats it. But I went online just to see wow manga discussions yaaay and I ran into middle school children shipping Levi with Eren/Mikasa I mean are you ok? Are you not unhinged? Do you need therapy? Seriously guys wtf? Levi/Erwin? WTF? They're literally brothers wtf? Hange/Moblit, WTF? Are you even aware of the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army? Do you think everyone in the army is in love with each other wtf is this logic Im sorry Im so done with this fandom. AOT deserved better fans who'd appreciate the story and its depth. Apart from a few plotholes that made no sense. (Especially hanji's useless fking death, dude she could've lived ok its so unfair. Anyways) I also can't stand it when people start making Yuri and Yaoi ships of two clearly straight characters. I don't mind if you ship characters within a show that have some sort of legitimacy FROM THE SOURCE MATERIAL. But literally changing everything about characters just so they can fit your idea of a stupid ship is pathetic. A character is so much more than someone you ship with someone. Grow tf really.

hi anon, thank you for sharing! i am tired too. i honestly cannot wait for the time i will get over this anime, but if that time comes, i will still ship levihan and probably continue making fanfics about them. at this moment though, I still hyper-fixate on this ship.

I agreed with some of your points, like that with a bunch of kiddos ruining our experience cuz damn, I've seen it a lot after I joined the fandom but I just stayed on my place and blocked a lot of them for peace of mind. And really, at first, I don't have any ship in aot not until i rewatched it for the 2nd time, that's when I have noticed levihan's bond then boom, I'm riding this ship forever. But when I dove through aottwt, I discovered that eren-levi and those ships that involved a veteran and a 104th member exist, damn I just wanna cringe so hard (or i did cringe hard) cuz why? that's fukcing illegal, my brain can't even comprehend why some people ship those characters who obviously treat each other in canon in a parental-child way.

and hange's death? so true! it's just useless when falco will have the ability to turn into a titan and fly by the later chapters -_- they're just one day away from the end of the rumbling but... fck I'm sad again.

however, i do not agree with some of your points.

disclaimer: I'm not mad anon!

eruri and mobuhan aren't illegal. people can ship them cuz of the exact reason that you said - the concept of friendship and loyalty that runs in the army. i admit I cannot see levi/erwin and hange/moblit in a romantic relationship too like how you perceived it, they're just more like superior-subordinate for me that I can't affiliate their relationship to bud in something that will surpass that. but the loyalty and friendship between those characters, i think, are enough for other people to ship them. why? because there aren't any spoken rules in shipping so we don't have the right to dictate what they ship (proshippers aren't included. stop.)

and babe, what's wrong with yuri and yaoi ships?? aot characters' genders aren't mentioned in the source material (though i see hange as nonbinary cuz of the searches that i made before when i kept on seeing gender wars that always involved hange.)

the case is, there's this term called 'projecting'. people are often doing this in the fictional characters that they love - projecting their identity or what they headcanon about this certain character that, whether we like it or not, often diverge away from the source material. i believed that there's no harm in doing so. they see erwin as gay? let them. they see nanaba as nonbinary? let them. they see levi as pansexual? let them. they ship mikasasha? let them. they ship ererei(erenxreiner)? let them.

it's pride month babe. and even if it's not pride month, people can ship yaoi and yuri. people can project their identities that they cannot express in real life to their favorite characters. and you can't stop them from doing so no matter what. that is their decision and we don't have a say on that. it's not pathetic nor dumb.

but yes, do not reduce any character to ship material. that's downright stupid. and as anon said, grow the fuck up.

thank you for sharing still. and as I've said, I'm not mad! i just want to clear some things that i don't share the same sentiment with you.

#ask #anonymous #levihan #snk #eruri #mobuhan #aot #attack on titan #shingeki no kyoujin #fandom problems

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dwimpala-67 · 3 years

Text

Whatever Happens....

My two cents on the whole Prequel-Gate ...

Warning: The opinions expressed are purely personal and have no bearing on any person and if they do it’s merely coincidental and are without intention. If you choose to read this, it’s solely at your own risk and the writer is not responsible for any consequences thereof.

Jared and Jensen have been at the heart of Supernatural for past fifteen years. J2 - along with the show have been the source of joy for everyone in the fandom. We’ve seen them grow up, seen their friendship evolve and seen the way they interact with each other. We fell in love with them, with the beautiful friendship they share, and their compassion and empathy and strength and understanding. These two beautiful individuals weaved their way into our hearts. Somehow, they’ve become a part of our lives. And we trusted them, like we do with any individual that is close to us in real life.

The end of Supernatural was bitter sweet for many of us, especially the J2 shippers. We could see our beloved show being ruined and we all thoughts perhaps, it was time to end it but secretly still wanted a miracle to happen and the story line to be back to its true canonical nature without the OOC story line that was being fed to us. Then came the announcement that Supernatural would end with season 15. Even if we knew the it was inevitable, it was still a shock. We have a saying back in my culture: “Whatever has a beginning, has to have an ultimate end.” And true to that, it was time for Supernatural to end. It doesn’t mean we had to be happy about it. After all, this was the show that meant a lot, personally to many of us. To see it coming to an end was painful, shocking, even heartbreaking. But we accepted it eventually because life must go on.

With end of the show, we had to accept another reality. To watch our lovely pair - Jared and Jensen- go their separate ways. For 15 years, there never has been a moment where J2 weren’t in each other’s pockets. We saw them refusing to acknowledge personal space, saw them making heart eyes at each other, saw them going on dinner and lunch dates, saw them living together, getting married the same year, saw them grow their family together, saw them living in Austin together, saw them doing campaigns together, saw them golfing together, saw them being there for each other, making each other smile, saw them having each other’s back. We practically saw their love blossoming - for some it was a unique friendship and for some it was more than that. I don’t mean to point anyone out here, but the bottom line is that everyone of the J2 fans saw an ideal relationship between two people we loved the most. We choose to believe in what we saw. And for us to suddenly see them being away form each other was hard to digest. It still is!

But we chose to believe everything was good, because we believed what our eyes saw. The way Jared and Jensen talked about each other in interviews even after the finale, the way they spoke at the virtual conventions, the way they interacted on social media and even the few instances of fans seeing Jared in Colorado exactly the time it was Jensen’s birthday, the way Jared knew about Jensen’s Soldier Boy suit before anyone else, and I could mention countless such instances that made us believe that the relationship these two idiots share was special and perfect. The kinda thing that can be called “made for each other.”

One fine day, we came to know not everything was as we believed it to be. It turned out Jensen did something by not telling Jared anything about it when the latter has been an integral part of the original concept. Everyone was beyond shocked. Each one of us felt betrayed, angered, pained at the way our beloved pair had a public fallout. Some chose to take sides and some decided to leave the fandom while others decided to be angry and disappointed in Jensen. There was despair all around and no one knew what was going on behind the closed doors. The only thing we knew was Jared was hurt and Jensen was the reason behind it.

I won’t go into the what, why and how of the whole fiasco, because by now, everyone has their own theories as answers to these questions. I have mine too. I see these theories as some sort of “justification” from our side to make sense of the situation. It’s not wrong because we’re searching for answers. We’re also searching for answers we will never get. (Unless either of the J’s decide to speak on it.) But there are a few questions that I feel are important to be addressed.

Do we have the right to feel angry and hurt over the issue? Absolutely Yes.

Do we have the right to take sides? Of course.

Are our feelings of hurt and pain that we resonated with Jared valid? Hell yes.

Everyone has a coping mechanism and the initial emotions or reactions were absolutely valid. However, it’s what happened later that has me thinking.

1. Do we have the right to know what happened behind the scenes? Probably but we would never. There lies the uncertain feeling of “how should I proceed from here?” and “How do I feel about it?”

2. Do we have the right to demand an explanation or an apology from Jensen? Absolutely no.

3. Do we have the right to throw vile words at/abuse the people involved? Hell no.

I would like to look at the whole thing in perspective. This has affected many of us and perhaps woken us up with a hard slap of reality.

For all of the 15 years, we’ve been fed with the “happy couple” image and for us, maybe the boys became the image of the “perfect couple with no issues” and when there was a very public spat between the two, there was a serious damage to our perception. This is where people didn’t know how to react. Many spoke out their emotions clearly, many were sad, confused and scared and many decided to be bitter. Few decided to leave I have no problem with it, I don’t judge, as I said earlier everyone has their own coping mechanism.

I feel like the issue is, as fans we are here to celebrate and have fun and not become entitled to know the truth or demand answers from the celebrities. Sometimes we forget entitlement is a delusion based on self centeredness. The demand to know what happened or the demand for Jensen to apologize in a particular manner cannot be the way we deal with the situation.

We need to consider the fact that the people we idealize, in this case J2, are also that - “people” or “Humans” to be more precise. Humans make mistakes. Just like we do in our everyday life. the problem with celebrities is, anything they do feels like “more than life” size. Even a small compliment makes us go “aww” and a disagreement/misunderstanding makes us go “Omg! They’re enemies.” It’s normal reaction because we hold them in the highest regard like “celebs/fan favs can do no wrong.” So, when this happened with J2 everyone had a reaction like this was the end or it has ruined it for me, or I’m done with this fandom. There were also a few reactions like anger and entitled demands. I always say false sense of entitlement always brings you doom rather than happiness.

The fact remains, Jensen disappointed all of us. A huge blow was dealt to the “happy couple” image and we all were left floundering. I was observing the reactions and I suddenly realized I’m far too much invested into the lives of two actors whose lives are already complicated. I mean, after the entire chaos, I too felt sad, angry and disappointed. It was upsetting me more that it should. Fandom is a space where I come to escape from real life. But if Fandom starts affecting my real life so bad as to make me upset, I felt like there’s something wrong. It shouldn’t be the reverse of what I would rather have the fandom to be, which is a happy place or the place where I go too relive my stress. And if the apparent relationship status of two actors affects me this much, it’s time to take a step back, evaluate and then proceed.

the other day, I was reading a twitter thread full of theories and according to the fans who was right and who was wrong and etc, etc, etc. I found, it shouldn’t matter to me to judge who was right and who was wrong. I’m in no position to judge who felt what, because in no way am I the party involved in the conflict. It’s a conflict between J2, who had some issues obviously and they manages to talk about it and even let us know that they are good. Now, I personally, felt like if the J’s claim they’re alright, then why should I doubt or even theorize about how their friendship has taken a toll. If someone tells me they’re fine, I usually believe them to be fine, unless I see something contrary to the fact. In this case, either of the J’s didn’t comment further on the matter and just as I was watching everyone calm down, other elements decided to jump into the muddy waters and splatter it everywhere.

The interesting thing about Kripke’s tweet was “assumption.” This word “assumption” is a very interesting word and has the capacity to blow up even the most calming waters. So, Kripke assumed, and then based on Kripke’s assumption, everyone else assumed. I’m just pointing out what happened, in no way am I justifying any of the J’s behavior. Just a thought. So assuming Kripke was right we assumed Jensen deliberately kept Jared out of the project and the issue escalated even more. Everyone was jumping the gun and then as miraculously Kripke has tweeted, he also deleted those tweets. Then came the damage control.

When Jensen and Jared had tweeted about the “truce” I thought the matter was supposed to be put to rest. Perhaps Kripke deleting the tweets and then Jensen going back to promoting his prequel was their way of brushing off the conflict and focusing more on what was more important to them: The Winchesters prequel. Another theory to add to the already existing million ones..lol.

Does this mean we should be hateful and abusive towards Jensen? No.

Our feelings of disappointment are valid but it doesn’t mean I have aright to be abusive at Jensen. No matter how he acted nothing gives me the right to throw abuse at anyone unless I’m the one who’s directly involved in the conflict. They way I see it, as a fan, I was hurt and caught off guard but I am in no position to judge either Jensen or Jared, especially when they say they’re alright. I decide to trust them. I choose to trust them, just I chose to decide they were the made for each other friends in the past.

There’s this another saying that I remember “To Err is human, to forgive is Divine.” It’s not as if either of the J’s have been flawless as a person. Everyone has some shortcomings and so do they. As a fan, I need to find the same level of “acceptance” that I do when I’m in the similar situation in real life. As a fan I need to accept that Jared and Jensen too are going to have some issues going ahead in life. Just because they are actors doesn’t mean there won’t be miscommunication or misunderstanding. They’re not perfect. They are bound to make mistakes. Just think that because this was a very public fallout, we came to know about the disagreement, try to think that in past 15 years how many times did the J’s had these disagreements and had to deal with them without telling us? No matter how huge fan you are, no one can ever claim that they now what goes behind the scenes in the celeb’s lives and same goes with J2.

We know what kinda place Hollywood is, and the J2 tinhats already have theories about bearding and stuff, and yet the J’s have remained positive throughout. There must have been contracts and papers and the “powers that be” who are involved in regulating their lives. It’s one of the many countless possibilities. We don’t know many things about their lives (even we’d like to claim otherwise). The information we get is just a 0.01% of what actually is happening. All we do is “assume” on the basis of their SM interaction or the way J2 appear in public. It’s all imagery.

They’ve been a source for inspiration for many. So, a public fallout doesn’t mean we should overlook the past. But we choose to look at it in a way that is suitable to us. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that. If some of us feel like siding with Jared, it’s all good and if some of us feel like siding with Jensen, it’s all good. It’s their personal opinion and no one has the right to judge them or call them out for that.

For me, I’ve come to a conclusion that the secured bubble that I was living in has finally burst and given me a chance to look at things objectively. No matter what happens in future, I’m here to stay as long as I enjoy the fandom. If I let it affect me more than is plausible, perhaps then it’s time for me to rethink about the power I give the Fandom over me. Because it’s my choice. I alone have the choice to either let the negativity affect me or see the positive side. There’s a saying that goes, “You yourself alone are your own enemy and your true friend. The choice is yours.”

If J2 claim to be alright with each other, then I choose to believe them. Reason is simple. Because it helps me find some peace. It helps me cool down my emotions and helps me go back to enjoying the little things in fandom that bring me happiness.

Don’t get upset with people and solutions because both are powerless without your reactions.

Let the drama continue....

After this, if you fell like unfollowing me, the door is always open.

In the end, whatever happens, happens for good. If it’s meant to be, then I’ll be the happiest and if it’s not, well, it��s beyond my control.

I love them both.

Peace and Love.

- A J2 fan.

#j2 #winchester prequel #my opinion #j2 tinhat #I believe j2 are going to be fine #supernatural #spn #my thoughts #no hate

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mego42 · 3 years

Text

Shamelessly stealing @foxmagpie’s monthly rec thing without the ability to get my life together to do these on a monthly basis so, seasonal recs! So excited to see if I manage to do this again with anything remotely resembling consistency but i’ve been keeping the notes for approximately 43 years (or since ~september, whatever that means) so by god i’m gonna use them.

found my thrill - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe

Turner POV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

guys turner is SO OBSESSED with Beth and Rio

both canonically and in this fic

it’s gr9

also features a weirdly soothing and relatable cord untangling moment as a metaphor

truly disturbingly relatable turner pov tbh

relentless boomer disdain, always a plus

led to the creation of this monstrosity, not sure what kind of a monster would do that

War In My Mind - mintletters16

Backread!!!!

post-213, gorgeous character study

guaranteed to make you feEl stUfF

I really love the like, cyclical, fractured pattern of Beth’s internal monologue, it gives the whole thing a really affecting at times dreamy, at times haunted vibe

the end twist is *chef’s kiss*

mourning bells - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet

Backread!!!!

Later s2 era, Rio’s at a funeral, gets drunk and calls Beth

V short, kind of…..mmm, not sweet, but almost? Idk

It’s got a wistful sort of almost/i can be quiet with you vibe that i go extremely bonkers for

delinquents - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Lol are any of you actually not reading this yet?

g o d ch 8 where do i start

First off how ABSOLUTELY VERY DARE for the tragic angst that is delinquents!beth boland. This poor baby, this precious bean. MUST PROTEC

SHE’S TRYING HER BEST AND I LOVE HER

zero percent deserves dean’s clammy hands, no i have not forgotten, tattooed on my brain, will never forgive

I also love love love love LOVE the ruby/stan subplot happening

(and ruby’s mom!!!!!) (seriously though you write the best moms)

oh god and baby beth starting to have confusing feelings about rio?????? *chef’s kiss*

p sure i was just like, straight screaming the entire end of the chapter

the dugout is like, pure serotonin

I can’t even talk about the closet

tHe teNsiOn

thank you i will take eleventy billion

don't give it a hand, offer it a soul - medievalraven / @medievalraven

am a desperate heaux for any fic that features rio and mick friendship

you are all incredibly shocked i know

still would not be mad if this swerved into rio x mick fake dating but beth x rio is cool too i guess

Speaking of things i am a desperate heaux for: DIANE!!!!!!!!

and DATING ANNIE???????????? Blessed

honestly this fic is worth it purely for the assertion that mick watches queer eye

Why don't we go to Venus? - watermelonriddles / @bensonstablers

another grief study!

apparently i was working through some stuff in september, idk, that was like 4 years ago

considering it’s the premise of the fic, i don’t think it’s a spoiler to say this fic is canon divergent and working with the premise that rio killed beth in 302

he is uh, not coping well

extremely haunted you might say

lots of marcus and rhea which is a delight!

rhea is to good for him tbh

i said what i said

truly top notch dream (nightmare?) sequences

the conversation at the end is extremely uncalled for

drop the game - Ejunkiet / @ejunkiet

Backread!!!!

Am going to die mad Beth and Rio didn’t hook up in 211 but luckily this fic scratched the itch

(temporarily, it’s a fairly permanent itch)

Bonus rec: missing scene series i wanna do bad things to you featuring 2x02 and 2x04

Viva Voce - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx

Whoops we woke up married Vegas shenanigans!!

So cute!!!!! So sexy!!!!!

What more do you want?

am desperately obsessed with how beth can’t help stalking rio

feels right, feels organic

this makes me feel a lot of stuff about how they could be without their canon garbage between them

🎶 we could’ve had it aaaaaaaaaaall 🎶

you showed me colors (i can't see them with anyone else) - gild_fire / @gild-and-fire

really into the use of color to illustrate beth’s emotional state, i feel like there’s a word for that but idk what it is

UNIMPORTANT

really nice job capturing beth’s inner vulnerability balanced by her outer stubbornness

am DESPERATELY into Mick playing matchmaker

more please???????

Both Sides of the Law - JoeyLee / @joeyjoeylee

LAW SCHOOL AU! I suuuuuuper love Beth and Rio here (alt pov!! a gift!!!!) I love how initially prickly they are, I love how it’s evolving into a grudging respect, I love how INCREDIBLY AND HILARIOUSLY OBSESSED WITH EACH OTHER THEY ARE and neither one of them seems to see it

listen I know we’re all already foaming at the mouth over this one but as it’s gonna go down as one of my all time favorites it bears repeating/rereccing

cannot stress enough how masterful the use of POV is here, both voices feel completely true and distinct and I love how the alternating chapters revisit, reveal and emphasize pieces of each other

i can’t talk about this fic without hyperventilating

I LOVE IT SO MUCH YOU GUYS

the slow burn is going to ACTUALLY KILL ME

rip, no regrats

Earned It - wakeupflawless / @wakeupflawless

spanking

that’s it that’s the pitch

H O T

living for beth’s exit in the first chapter, rio and i are both incredibly into it

second chapter also features violently possessive Rio who cannot deal with anyone messing with his girl so if that’s your thing boy howdy get on it

shake, baby, shake - openhearts

backread!!!!!

according to my bookmarks this was a reread but ???????

must’ve read it in the fugue state that followed reading for a moment we were strangers which is gr9 and I believe I have recced it before. If not, horrible oversight, reccing it now

beth and Rio POV lead up to the bathroom break, beautifully done, low-key feel bad reccing it bc the end point of both chapters makes me want to throw things but it’s super worth it for the tEnsiOn. ENJOY

What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have - flashindie / @pynkhues

I’m assuming all of y’all are already reading this

If not OH MY GOD FIX YOUR LIVES

P I R A T E A U

I’m sorry maybe you didn’t hear me piRaTE aU

meticulously researched, brain-meltingly vibrant, already painfully sexy slow-burning PIRATE AU

god where to start okay so first off, the world-building here straight up breaks my brain, sophie’s put in the work and it SHOWS

second, the atmosphere. i’m generally a pretty like, vague mental picture sort of reader but the sensory detail here grabs you by the throat and like, forcibly hauls you in whether your brain’s wired that way or no

and hey speaking of throats if you, like me, go a little funny about the knees at the idea of beth holding a knife to rio’s throat (he’s fine, calm down), there’s a v excellent beth-in-a-barrel moment for you

oh christ and the sexy tension

it’s gonna be a race to see which slow burn takes me out first, this or law school

Stunner - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Another high school AU, this time with baby Rio absolutely head over heels for his older sister’s bff

stunner!Rio has an emotional earnestness about him that I feel like delinquents!Rio has already outgrown and it’s so SWEET I can’t get enough

Desperately cute!!!!!!

alL he waNts iS foR beTh tO bE hiS girL

also unreasonably angsty???????

ANN ARBOR IS NOT THAT FAR MEGAN

A Heart's A Heavy Burden - tooshyforthis / @bathroombreaks

Howl’s Moving Castle AU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Howl’s!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect opp to roast Rio for being a Dramatique Heaux

and it’s gonna be 9 chapters?????? H Y P E

author’s note boldly presumes I did not know I needed this AU when the reality is I did in fact know I needed this AU, I just wasn’t expecting anyone to deliver

so blessed

author also claims to not be team nose stud and yet it features prominently in all its magnificent glory

what is the truth dot gif

A Bit of a Stretch - septiembre / @septiembur

SO????? CUTE?????????

would be on this list for Rio calling Beth E alone tbh

really really really really really love this Rio POV of being settled into a relationship with Beth

It manages to be sweetly domestic af while still holding the edge that makes brio brio which is a neat trick

@septiembur may be a witch

beth’s approach to getting rio to do yoga with her is hilarious and exactly right, canon-typical amounts of subtlety

1000000/10

Post Break-Up Sex - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs

stg this was called Hit Shuffle

no matter

h O T

with a side of damn i’ve made some questionable choices in my life haven’t i introspection

(no regrats tho)

(esp not with this fic)

not the point of the fic by a long shot but i’m also extremely obsessed with Weed Eddie, so real

She drains my soul... she drains it not - niham87 / @niham87

ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED WITH THIS CONCEPT

am a complete sucker for paranormal world building that satirizes bureaucracy

Is that a trope? If so that’s my favorite

I did it. I’m picking a single favorite. You know what that is growth dot gif

ANYWAY i love the concept, i love the humor, i love beth instantly clicking with annie

I love her and mick’s sort of grudging professional courtesy

Love beth as a champion of environmental responsibility and all of the underworld being like …...okay??

cannot wait to see where this goes

Nine-Tenths - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

sometimes i think about rio putting beth’s hair in a ponytail and have to go lie down

science please explain why this rUinS mE

wait hold on i skipped ahead

HEY KIDS DO YOU LIKE UNBEARABLY CUTE DOMESTIC TENDERNESS

opens with rio sleepily holding beth’s hand to his heart so that’s the kind of thing you’ll be dealing with

uGH theY’RE sO CUTe

idk why precisely but rio adding hair ties to his bracelet collection is my undoing every time

Missed Call - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Rio doesn’t come home from a job when he’s supposed to. Beth (and I!!!!!!!) slowly loses her mind

Truly a masterpiece of rising tension

Will literally never forgive her for calling this light angst

I was SO STRESSED OUT

The first person to point out there was an author’s note at the beginning I obvs didn’t read is getting blocked

crush - foxmagpie / @foxmagpie

Listen even though this is centered around two OCs, they are OCs FROM a (n iconic) brio fic AND Beth, Ruby and Rio all make cameos (I mean, Rio’s pretty present since he lives in Mar’s mind rent free bc they are THE SWEETEST MOST ADORABLE BEST OF FRIENDS so idk if i’d call it a cameo but whatever)

and even if it didn’t feature any official GG characters I’d still rec is bc that’s mY SON AND this fic is TOO CUTE

I have so many feelings over mar and rio growing up and not knowing how to cope with girls becoming a Thing in their life and how it affects their friendship and mar feeling left behind but (SPOILERS) at the end of the story rio starts feeling that too and it’s so poignant knowing how that’s going to continue in delinquents

while mar may be my son, i also claim elena’s #1 stan status

before you’re like meg you’re only reccing it bc it’s a bday present ask yourselves do i really strike you as the kind of person that wouldn’t be equally obnoxious about this either way?

truly cannot fathom how hard i have fallen for these OCs i don’t normally do that

@foxmagpie is definitely a witch

The Ottoman - Niham87 / @niham87

look i will be the first to admit that i don’t go near as bonkers over the ottoman line in 308 as y’all do

(don’t get me wrong, i love it!!! I love that he laughs and i love that she’s pleased it just doesn’t hit my lose my whole mind button like idk, the dubby or the 306 convo, idk why)

BUT i v v v much love the context this delightful Rio POV pwp gives it

am also absolutely feral for 209 missing scene fic

and anything that captures the complexity of Rio’s s3 feelings for Beth and how twisted they’ve become

so this scratches a bunch of itches, is what i’m trying to say

Bet On It - zetuslapetus / @querenaxx

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

That’s what my brain does when I think about Beth and Rio meeting in ch 1

am DESPERATELY OBSESSED WITH the tension between the two of them in this fic

I love how it plays with the ways they have to rely on but don’t trust each other

plus FAKE DATING and BED SHARING (fair warning hasn’t happened yet but the set up is there)

originally supposed to be 2 chapters, already up to 4, prayer circle it goes on forever

do you like drugs (tonight) - s_t_c_s / @sothischickshe

v important focus on hydration, other fic should take note

extremely about the use of cut to and then flashback to enhance the ‘we were on drugs’ vibe

speaking of, beth and rio absolutely would take ecstasy to prove they are fun bc they are the exact kind of idiots that would peer pressure themselves

so glad beth kept her purse, got a bit stressed there for a second, clutches in that kind of circumstance are A Risk

not that i would know

FLAWLESS USE OF VOICEMAIL TBH

really love the ongoing denial that they are remotely into each other while proceeding to demonstrate how they are in fact, extremely into each other, great vibe

rio dances

I know my brain broke too

mmmm bacon

Navigate A Broken Path - flashindie / @pynkhues

*INCOHERENT PTERODACTYL SCREECHING*

I have a long standing tradition of getting unreasonably obsessed with side characters so i’m not like, entirely surprised by how obsessed i am with both Mick and Mary Pat but i never in a million years considered them as a ship

AND Y E T

they fit????? so perfectly?????? It’s amazing how she developes them individually enough that i look at them together and think ah yes this makes perfect sense for both characters

and they’re such an amazing foil to Beth and Rio?

can ships have foils? do i know what a foil is?

unimportant

GUYS you dON’T uNDERStAN d

hell i don’t understand

how absolutely very dare you make me care about YET ANOTHER set of gg ‘verse children

do not read this fic if you have no interest in feelings you zero percent asked for

wHA t hAPPeNED iN aLASkA?????????

A Moment’s Silence - femalegothic / @bethsuglywigs

*makes sign of the cross*

y’all are gonna make me rediscover religion

extremely appreciate the author’s note approach to backstory top notch prioritization

listen it’s basically 3k of beth deep throating rio idk what more you need me to say about it

it is…..good stuff

bless the kinkmeme or fest whatever we’re calling it

praise - civillove / @blainesebastian

I mean you had me at “three times rio calls beth a good girl and one time he really means it”

ephemeral rio

I left that note for myself in here in the middle of the night and haven’t the foggiest what i was thinking but i stand by it none the less

okay okay i think i know what i meant, this fic (as do all of my fav civillove brio fics) has this sort of like, liminal, in the quiet moments feel to them that makes the moments and feelings somehow feel like i’m catching a glimpse of something secret and precious???

idk i just really like it okay

Heart and Soul - riosnecktattoo / @riosnecktattoo

oh look more unbearably sweet domestic tenderness, this time to music

thank you ma’am for my life

rio remembers beth used to play piano and gets her one and revoltingly cute shenanigans result

also hilarity

and sexiness

this fic has it all, truly

shout out to mick who sees no reason to keep rio’s feelings to himself

good girls tumblr fic - prettylittlementirosa / @hypermania

cheating and reccing a whole series

It’s my list and i can do what i wanna

stop crying about it, it’s four fics and they’re all AMAZING absolutely impossible to pick a fav

truly flawless characterization, next level ability to capture evocative mood, cannot get enough

three’s a crowd: who knew ballroom dancing while dean watches and grinds his teeth could be so sexy

(trick question everything about that premise sounds A++++ and boy howdy does it live up)

feel it on the way home: rio tries to break up with beth, it goes about as well as you’d expect

(thE angSty tenSioN)

i want to play the game: [from the floor] i’m still not ready to talk about it

(rio/turner, missing scene, 10000000% a taste of what went down in that hotel room)

june after dark: pitch perfect annie pov, really really love the take that Annie is the baby whisperer, can’t fully explain why but it feels incredibly right

(ANNIE X NANCY COULD WORK SO WELL YOU GUYS)

#fingers crossed these links are right i did not double check #i like to live on the edge #truly mind boggling amount of fluff on this list i surprised myself on that one #no i will not at any point get my shit together enough to write out thoughtful commentary this is a shit posting blog first last and always #fic recs #gg fic #nbc good girls #i'll come up with a tag for these if i ever do them again #check back 37 years from now #or ~~~~~~march #whatever that means

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lunar-magnolia · 3 years

Text

@honestlyshamelesscollector thank you for asking me this!! I'm really happy to share my thoughts, I hope to answer your questions in the best way possible akdjsk

I absolutely agree with you about Xie Lian. He does indeed grow a lot, even though he does so in a traumatic way.

***A little disclaimer: these are just my thoughts here, first impressions having read the novel once, plus watched the donghua and read the manhua a couple of times. I'm no expert at all, but I have lots of feelings about this akdjskfmf

**Putting a read more because long lmao

Young Xie Lian's dream was to become a god and save the common people. And present Xie Lian does it everyday, as much as he can. The biggest lesson he got growing up was probably the fact that he can't save everyone at the same time, but saving (or helping) even just one person was enough. He might be a god, but he is still one person. Having godly powers doesn't make him omniscient or give him the ability to suddenly work on a bigger scale than he could when he was human.

Book 4 in particular highlights just how much the present Xie Lian has changed from the Crown Prince that Pleased The Gods, filled with the idealism of a young man and maybe just a little bit spoiled, to the kind and humble Scrap Immortal that does everything in his power to help the people he comes across.

We see him starting to change as soon as book 2 though. When he tries to both save the Imperial Capital from being invaded and save the Yong'an people from the draught, it's the first time Xie Lian faces the limits of his godly status and power. He divides his time to keep it going for a bit, but in the end he's exhausted and overwhelmed, and he can't do it anymore. Even though he is a god. The inevitable consequences of his own actions and the fall of Xianle challenged his idealism and destroyed his heart so hard that he almost gave in and took his revenge on innocent people. But one person is enough, right?

One could argue that Xie Lian never really had it in him to do it, and I'd probably agree. The whole waiting for someone to help him before releasing the curse, and then trying to sacrifice himself when it eventually was too late to avoid it was enough of an indication for me. It only took the kindness of one person to make him change his heart. If he truly sought revenge, one person wouldn't have been enough. And damn if that didn't ruin Bai Wuxian's plans wonderfully lolll

Xie Lian knew in his heart that the people of Yong'an didn't deserve to pay the price for what happened to Xianle. Even though Bai Wuxian tried (and for a while succeeded) to make him believe it.

Straying from the path that Bai Wuxian wanted him to walk was not as easy as it seems. Bai Wuxian carefully paved all the paths for him, pushed Xie Lian in the directions he wanted him to go with the most violent methods I've ever seen, but Xie Lian always found a way to avoid it, also thanks to Hua Cheng's presence, even when he didn't know it was him (I have so many feelings about that imma cry skfjkefj). Hua Cheng always believed in him and knew what Xie Lian was truly capable of, and boy was he right gdi.

When Xie Lian went through the betrayal of Jun Wu, Hua Cheng's presence reminded him of who Xie Lian is and what he's become. The doubts Bai Wuxian put in his mind, the danger of the Human Face Desease threatening to be freed again, and the resolution to not give in into grief and pain and staying true to the person he had become were again overcome thanks to one person. Xie Lian could have never actually become what Bai Wuxian wanted him to, no matter what he threw at him.

In the end, Xie Lian learnt how to save the common people for real. And he realized that didn't have to do it alone! Instead, the common people themselves were part of the solution (the human array to contain the resentful spirits yknow). It does send an important message, and it's probably the most important thing that Xie Lian learnt: that one person alone cannot save all, if all don't want to be saved. It's a group effort, it takes time and heart and not everyone has it in their heart to risk their lives for the sake of others. Godly powers can only do so much, and a god cannot change fate from above. A god must instead support and protect the people, work with them, give them a boost, and in the end the people will save themselves.

It's a really nuanced and complicated process, I don't know how to explain it properly ajdkfjdl.

It's also worth mentioning that the relationship with Mu Qing and Feng Xin had all the potential to prevent much of what happened to Xie Lian. But just as Xie Lian was young and inexperienced, so were they. And despite all, until Xie Lian stopped thinking of them as servants, he couldn't grow. He had to lose them to truly understand the depth and worth of people believing in him. Which doesn't make it any less painful or sad... Things could have indeed gone differently, but the outcome would have never been the same. I'm glad in the end they kind of sorted it out though.

And the fact that Mu Qing and Feng Xin still cared for Xie Lian when he ascended for the third time was so evident in hindsight. Made me smile when I realized.

Also I liked that in the end Xie Lian didn't go rule the heavens or even go back to it, and instead stayed in the mortal realm to continue doing what he did for the past 800 years. Considering that young Xie Lian said clearly that he wanted to become a god, it's an important thing. It shows that in his mind the concept of gods and their role has changed, and he will stick to his new views despite the possibility of achieving what his young self wanted. Though this isn't just a consequence of book 5, it was shown even earlier when he first visited his palace in the heavens. Xie Lian didn't want to enter it, it made him uncomfortable, and instead sat outside waiting for Shi Qingxuan.

There are so many things to say about Xie Lian but idk if I have the competence to express them all akdjskfj I love his character to bits. His development was not banal in any way, and even though we didn't see all the 800 years it took for him to change, we do feel how gradual that was. Just think of when he met Banyue.

He was still a bit idealistic, telling her that his dream was to save the common people, but he already grew enough of a thick skin to understand when it was worth to pick a fight or not, and he wasn't picky on food (even cooking it himself in his helmet, with outrageous results). It might not seem much, but all things considered, it was a change.

In his first banishment he learnt how hard life was without his Crown Prince status, but he still picked fights with people and refused to eat some things because they weren't as high quality as the food he used to eat at the Royal Palace.

During his second banishment, he learnt to be humble and how problems couldn't be solved with just the right idea. He learnt the grayness of morality and life, how right and wrong are not absolute concepts. He experienced the worst fortune (by his own choice) and learnt how to not let it get to him, how to grow enough of a thick skin to get up each time and not take his frustration out on others.

Truly, Xie Lian is a great character. I have read the novel only one time so far, but I'm planning to reread it soon. So who knows, I might notice more things next time around! This was just my first impression Ahah

As for things I wish that were better explored in the story, I'd say Pei Ming's growth and maybe Ling Wen's motives (though I might have just blinked and missed this last part, because I was still reeling from the Black Water arc lmao).

About Pei Ming, I think he went through a considerable growth since the first time we see him, when he tries to save Little Pei from banishment. At first he gave me the impression of being the usual arrogant womanizer, who would do anything to avoid having his reputation tarnished. But blinking to book 5, we see that he's... Idk, it feels like he's taken that shameless arrogance and put it away, especially after interacting with the Rain Master. Their story is extremely important to his development imo. Their shared past held a place in his heart, and it resurfaced when he met the Rain Master again. I think he was deeply signed by her actions in the past, and he never forgot her.

It's shown when Pei Ming refuses to be saved by the Rain Master and refuses the sword she wants to give to her (which incidentally is the same sword that, yknow, she used to sacrifice herself in front of him back in the days). He says (or better, the people around him say) that it was out of pride, because he couldn't accept that a woman saved him. But he never confirmed or denied it, instead he ran after her "to help".

At the end of the story Pei Ming is not as loud and proud of his reputation as he was in the beginning, instead he seems humbled.

I think the Xuan Ji case also had an important role in his development. Considering how we see her dissolve having found peace after talking/fighting with Pei Ming during the Mount Tong'lu arc, I do think that Pei Ming himself must have reflected on himself a bit too.

He also lost his two best friends, Shi Wudu and Ling Wen, so... Yknow, my hualian ship captain must have had some changes.

Especially when it comes to the Rain Master, I feel there are good basis for a good friendship between them, despite the past. The Rain Master never showed open animosity towards him, instead she helped him. It seemed to me that Pei Ming is the one who believed she hated him, but it was never confirmed.

And maybe if you squint there could be more between them, if you're into that ahah. I wish we could have seen more of his grown version, though I do understand that it happened in the epilogue and the book is already as long as it can be ahaha. So really I'm not that sad it didn't happen, I'm happy that there are signs in the background that "hint" at that instead (if they can be considered hints, idk ahha).

About Ling Wen, ehhhh I want to reserve the right to reread and reconsider. Right now I feel like the Brocade Immortal thing was almost unnecessary? I like her background, how she became the biggest civil goddess of the heavens, but I didn't get why she created the brocade. Again though, I might just go back and reread that part later. Tbh I was reeling really hard after the Black Water arc, so I just blanked on some things akfjskf

Did the Brocade serve any purpose in the end? Aside from being the catalyst of Ling Wen's story arc and being one of the two mighty ghosts in Mount Tong'lu (and also giving that nice hualian scene where Hua Cheng was trying so hard to get kissies from Xie Lian ahaha). Idk, I'd like to hear your thoughts about this!!

I think I rambled enough, if you got to this point wow you're amazing! And thank you for going through this long rant Ahah. I hope it makes some sort of sense! Thank you again for the questions, talking about tgcf made me really happy!

#Tgcf #heaven official's blessing #tian guan ci fu #Xie Lian #Thoughts #I have lots of feelings and I can't wait to reread the novel #Gosh truly a masterpiece #So many good points made here and there about so many things #Also Xie Lian my beloved #He deserves everything in the world and he got it in the form of Hua Cheng #I love them so much y'all #Long ass post #Tgcf spoilers

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petekaos · 2 years

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정 (jeong); a commentary

Now, at eighteen, he swears to himself this will be the time. If he waits any longer, the clock will signal the end of their youth, the beginning of something new. In that upheaval, Jung Hwan isn’t sure if love will manage to fit in.

During the winter of nineteen eighty-eight, amidst a torturous Secret Santa gift exchange and the end of their youth, Jung Hwan comes to terms with himself and his relationships.

Read the fic here. Keep on reading for my commentary!

1) the origins & how secret santa is something that can actually be so personal;

while i was rewatching reply 1988 and crying about every single little thing that happened on screen, i had a momentary flash of brilliance (or insanity): what if jung hwan and taek had drawn each other for the secret santa, instead? from there, this fic was born. actually, to be honest, i just wanted to write a fic about jung hwan and taek falling in love and dating. the fics i have written for reply 1988 so far are more focused on individual development or familial dynamics. while this one is getting closer to a dating fic, it seems i just cannot write about jung hwan (and taek) without writing about something more. so it very quickly became an effort of mine to imitate the episodes of reply 1988 in writing. this proved to be as difficult as i thought it was, but more fun than i anticipated.

as i was writing this one, it took on a new form. i think it’s because i’m simply too obsessed with jung hwan and the idea of cracking his brain open and studying him. because he grew up in the 80s, i think jung hwan would have a hard time accepting his sexuality. i never mentioned it explicitly apart from mentions of him feeling dirty or needing to keep it a secret, but i think it is very much in the undertones of the writing. how he has to keep everything furtive, how he draws a line between himself and sun woo and dong ryong and yet simultaneously knows that childhood is ending. so, it became something else, too. it became jung hwan coming to terms with his friendships and finally pursuing the relationship he had yearned for all his teenage life. i feel that was probably able to be seen in this excerpt at the beginning:

Instead of waiting for a reply, he just musters up a smile and pushes past him, keeping his hold on Taek until they reach the gate, stepping outside of the school premises and waiting for their friends to catch up. He doesn’t realise he’s still holding Taek’s wrist until Sun Woo stumbles over the exit, frowning at their joint points of contact. Jung Hwan drops his wrist immediately, skin burning where he’d touched Taek.

vs. this excerpt at the end:

Jung Hwan doesn’t ask how he knows. He doesn’t ask if it was the fact that he never even looked at a girl when they were growing up together, or if he was always the first to be at Taek’s door when they heard he was coming back, or if it’s just because Sun Woo and Jung Hwan grew up together like the tangled roots of a tree. Everything, everything. Jung Hwan doesn’t think there’s one thing he doesn’t know about him, one thing he doesn’t feel with him. He just swallows hard, and doesn’t shift away from Taek’s touch.

we love growth!

either way, i think the promise of a secret santa exchange was a good way to funnel this narrative. having a secret santa means either one of two things: a) you want to get to know people better or b) you know them so well that the gifting comes easily to you. this was a mix of both: jung hwan talks about how he was unsure on what to gift taek at the beginning of the fic, but throughout it, he recognises exactly what taek needs. it speaks a lot to jung hwan’s character and the things he notices.

2) the concept of jeong & how it ruins me;

정 is probably my favourite korean word. 정 (romanised: jeong) is a deeply korean concept that basically describes the warm bond that just develops between people who are close to one another as well as the desire that these people have to do something that expresses this bond for each other. it’s probably translated as attachment or affection but i like to think of it as an unspoken bond which can happen even between strangers, but in this fic it’s with people who have known each other all their lives. i knew as soon as i set out to write this one that it is frankly impossible to write about one of these characters without writing about all of them, and i didn’t want to force myself to do that. one of the best parts of reply 1988 is the sense of jeong that is present in every action there is and i very much wanted to capture that in this work. it became apparent to me while writing that in the end, i was writing about the jeong these people share with one another.

because this fic is from jung hwan’s perspective and my man is a very emotionally constipated little boy, it was definitely challenging at times to truly write about how much he cares for them. i still feel i overdid it in places, but jung hwan is very quietly caring towards his friends in canon. he puts friendship and his jeong with them above everything and it’s very interesting to watch. i hope i translated that in a nice way in this fic. instances where i thought the friendship was quite good were for example this excerpt:

“For real? Holy shit, why did this bastard think this would be a good idea?”

Sun Woo sighs, pinching his nose. “What an idiot,” he says, lightened by the fond note in his voice, before putting up a hand. “Hey, Taekie!”

Taek—who for some reason has shown up here and now and is being hounded by boys from the younger classes for autographs, heaving a heavy bag across his shoulders—looks up at the sound of his voice. A relieved smile breaks out across his face, waving back. He bows quickly to the remaining boys and hurries down to where they’re at, coming to a stop in front of them.

“Hi,” he says, eyes sparkling in the low light. Jung Hwan bites down anything he’s about to say and holds out a hand instead.

“Give me your bag,” he demands, and Taek obediently hands it over. “What are you doing here? Doesn’t your match go on for a couple more days?”

it’s about jung hwan taking taek’s bag without a thought, the friendship and the hivemind that allows him, sun woo, and dong ryong to drag taek out of that situation without much thought.

“How,” asks Deok Sun flatly, “did you manage to do that?”

Jung Hwan gazes forlornly at his leg, wrapped in bandages with an angry, welting scar running down the side of his shin. He’s propped up on his bed, his mother having spent the better part of an hour yelling at him—what are you doing playing football on an icy pitch, didn’t you notice the broken glass, you should take care of yourself—before passing the torch onto his friends, who are now gathered around in his room and scowling at him.

“I’ve literally never met anyone so stupid in my life,” says Dong Ryong from where he’s commandeered Jung Hwan’s chair, swiveling around to face Deok Sun. “How is this idiot at the top of our class?”

“Watch it,” sighs Jung Hwan, “it’s Sun Woo who’s at the top of our class.”

Sun Woo slaps his comic against Jung Hwan’s leg, ignoring his yelp of pain. “Stupid,” he mutters. “Go on. Explain it to her. How did you get yourself into this situation?”

this was a fun scene to write because i wanted to write about jung hwan getting hurt. we all already know he’s in pain because of the feelings he’s been hiding for so long, whether that be his attraction to men, the fact that he likes taek, or just generally his bottled up emotions about everything. this is going to sound incredibly wrong but this dude needed to feel some physical pain too! a) so that people around him can recognise that pain easier and b) so he can heal from it and heal from all the pain he’s feeling inside as well.

“Why isn’t he happy?” asks Deok Sun, pressed flush against his side. “He won.”

“It’s baduk etiquette,” answers Sun Woo. His mouth is pulled down around the edges. “He’s not allowed to be happy. The winner has to show sportsmanship and the loser has to show respect.”

Dong Ryong pushes against him, trying to dodge an overeager cameraman. “That’s bullshit,” he declares. “If he wins, he should be allowed to be happy.”

Jung Hwan pulls himself up to his full height, cupping his hands around his mouth. “Hey, Taek-ah!” he shouts, loud enough to be heard over the din of the press’ questions. Taek glances up, eyes skimming over the crowd before he meets Jung Hwan’s own. “Congratulations on winning, genius!”

this scene was solely to serve the true essence of this fic: five eighteen-year-olds being teenagers. as my friend ellis says, nothing happens fics are good. sometimes we need them. and this is very much a nothing happens and everything happens fic all at once. nothing happens as in this is just another episode of reply 1988, showing us the jeong between these friends and how much they care for one another. everything happens because jung hwan feels everything, all the time.

3) sa bang ji & other cultural influences;

as said: i wanted this to feel like an episode of reply 1988. this show is chock full of culture and music and so much love that it’s insane, which is obviously a great challenge to tackle in a fic like this. luckily, i was pretty determined, and i know a surprising amount about 80s south korea for different reasons.

the most important reference i made throughout this fic was sa bang ji. oh, i squeezed every metaphor out of this movie and this person that i could. the 80s were generally not a kind time to gay people, south korea even less so as political upheaval was more crucial at the time. but sa bang ji... i think that is a film that would have resonated deeply with jung hwan. yeah, it’s not exactly the most non-problematic movie and it is a little brutal but the idea of jung hwan finding himself or parts of himself in someone was something that i wanted to explore.

“Sa Bang Ji was one of those… you know, those people who have both male and female sex characteristics.”

The first thought that springs to Jung Hwan’s mind is something so asinine that he tucks it away for later—people like that existed during the Joseon dynasty, too? He swallows hard, and doesn’t meet Sun Woo’s eyes. Meeting Sun Woo’s eyes would mean knowing, immediately, what he’s thinking. Growing up with someone is both a blessing and a curse: there is no need for words. Things happen, and you know, and you never talk about it again. He sneaks a furtive glance at Tae Hyun, who’s still packing his things up, and wonders if he knew what Sun Woo does. People like that existed during the Joseon dynasty, too? If you have both: how do you know who you are? If you have both: how do you know who to love?

this isn’t a very progressive way to think about intersex people but i don’t think jung hwan would completely nail that with his first thought. right now, he’s thinking about how he isn’t the only one by a long shot and how there have always been and always will be others like him. sun woo knowing who sa bang ji is before jung hwan was a very conscious decision. the sun woo and jung hwan dynamic is probably one of my most favourites on the show; you could argue that they’re the closest with one another. i think jung hwan would worry a lot about his validation and i think sun woo is both a book smart and emotionally smart guy. enough to notice that his friend is a little different, at least. i picture sun woo soaking up every piece of information he can about sa bang ji in an effort to understand parts of jung hwan more.

The son, closed off, lets the walls crumble down as he grumbles about the flimsy, lousy piece of fabric he’s created. He holds it between his hands with a kind of reverence he’s held nothing else apart from his friend’s little sister before. It’s flimsy and lousy—but it’s his. He’s the one who’s spent the last few hours slaving over the sparkling aqua blue fabric, hoping against hope it would work out.

Impossibly, it reminds him of Sa Bang Ji.

sa bang ji returns! this was a lovely moment to write. jung hwan working with fabric, something as old as time, and knitting all of his emotions about taek into it. at the same time however, this is a connection to everyone before him. a thread into the past, it serves as a way for jung hwan to honour everyone who lived their true lives before he did, making it just a bit easier for him.

it wasn’t only sa bang ji that was an influence in this work, but other 80s things that take a bit of a back burner! the most important famous personalities i mention in this one are lee mi yeon, lee moon sae, and lee sun hee. the first two do have some sort of appearance in the show, with lee mi yeon playing older deok sun and also being a source of obsession for the boys and lee moon sae having sung one of the original tracks featured in the reply 1988 ost. i can’t remember if lee sun hee was name-dropped in the show, but it could be. more on her in the music section!

another thing to make this authentic was homi’s art shop, for example. it opened in 1975, became popular in the 80s, and is still one of the most famous art supplies/stationery shop in hongdae! little things like that live in my brain and made it into the end draft of this fic.

4) tae hyun my poor little meow meow;

tae hyun i really do love the man that you are but that is not obvious if you are an outsider reading this fic. tae hyun really acted as a fellow gay dude (subtext) who externalises jung hwan’s emotions and feelings and doesn’t reduce them to just him. i needed jung hwan to have somewhat of an lgbt environment so this doesn’t become an inner angst fic as well as give him a gateway into the world of being lgbt (that tae hyun unconsciously does by asking if he wants to see sa bang ji).

that being said, tae hyun doesn’t really actively act as a gay yoda or someone that jung hwan has one-on-one conversations with. that’s because a) jung hwan is not the kind of person to open about things like this easily, b) there are already four other friends i’d rather focus on than a random oc because it’s difficult to feel for them and have them not act like a plot device and c) i just hate the trope in fic where a character doesn’t realise they’re gay and needs to be told or somehow find out through a throwaway side oc before coming back to the real ship. all the conversations jung hwan and tae hyun have (the one) take place in front of jung hwan’s friends, which is fitting.

“Are you free this weekend?”

Jung Hwan looks up at that, momentarily distracted by the tip of Sun Woo’s pencil cracking against his paper. He doesn’t seem to have noticed it, looking at Jung Hwan instead with curiosity settled between his eyebrows. Jung Hwan lets it roll off his back like water and turns towards Tae Hyun, instead. “I think so,” he says, “it just depends on when Taek’s back.”

Tae Hyun hums. “Okay, just let me know,” he says, grin perking up. “Let’s go to the movies together, if you want. There’s an interesting one on, starring Lee Hye Young.”

it was also fun to see sun woo realise tae hyun’s crush on jung hwan before jung hwan did. i’d like to think that’s because so much of jung hwan’s sexuality is tied up in loving taek and that was his thing to untangle. sun woo never prodded apart from teasing, and that’s all the signs of a good friend. poor tae hyun though, this man saw taek and was like “...okay. my chances with jung hwan are gone.”

“Heard a lot about you,” says Tae Hyun, zipping his mouth about the fact that Taek’s on television every two days, the fact that the radio never shuts up about him. Sometimes Jung Hwan has to switch through all of the stations just to find one playing generic music—because hearing about Taek all the time (“Choi Taek, eighteen-year-old from our very own Seoul, is going head-to-head against baduk grandmasters today in Tokyo!”) yanks out thoughts that he doesn’t want to ponder further upon. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Taek tilts his head. “You like Lee Moon Sae, right?”

Tae Hyun laughs, like he wasn’t expecting it. “Yeah, something like that.”

he’s just a stand up guy :( one of these days i’ll write him into another fic and give him some more agency! as nico said:

5) jung hwan & his forever-waiting cowardly ass;

in canon, we see that jung hwan is just a little coward boy. he likes deok sun for so long and says absolutely nothing about it because he’s scared of vulnerability. i wanted to translate the fact that this man is constantly waiting into this fic in multiple ways, but the explicit thematisation of it happens only in the penultimate scene of the fic.

as already teased in the blurb, this is the winter where jung hwan finally squares up and confronts the feeling he’s been carrying all of his life with the looming sense of their youth and childhood ending. i think this is what truly propels him to take the reins and live his life out of his own hands rather than just letting things happen to him.

As they turn onto their neighbourhood, the roads going from known to deeply familiar down to the pebbles overturned by the side of the pavement, Jung Hwan can’t help but sigh, a wisp of air escaping his mouth as he does so. This will be their last Christmas before Suneung—the last Christmas they can spend without that blade hanging over their heads. Jung Hwan looks at the dip in the pavement where Dong Ryong had raced his bike over when the concrete was still wet, back when they were six years old and the days seemed endless, and swallows against all the time that’s left them in the dust.

When he turns to look at Taek, he wants to say: Can I walk you home tomorrow? He wants to say: If I wasn’t so afraid, I’d look at you when you look at me. He wants to say: The days we’ve spent together have been the best of my life.

He reaches out to knock Taek’s shoulder with his hand. “Come inside,” he says, “I’ll make you some yujacha for your voice.”

here is probably the first time that jung hwan realises that childhood is slowly giving out. it’s on its last leg, the engine is sputtering fumes, and he can’t walk home like this with taek forever. everyone grows up and goes their own way, and that’s devastating, but you just have to push through it. even here, we see that jung hwan is hesitant to say anything he truly feels, rather transforming that into an offer of food or drink, which happens a lot in this fic. he just keeps waiting for the right time.

Jung Hwan swallows. “I don’t know. Just wanted to know. Isn’t it scary? Don’t you have to find the right timing?”

“Timing?” echoes Sun Woo, shaking his head. “Dude, what are you talking about? Jung-pal, there is no right timing.

Jung Hwan blinks. “Of course there is.”

this scene was fun to write because it’s a conversation i wish jung hwan and sun woo would have had in canon. about how there is no right timing and things could go wrong any time. in a way, jung hwan’s injury really served that theme. things don’t go the way you want them and he can’t keep waiting forever.

“Oh, absolutely,” he reassures, watching her potter around trying to roll snow up into a ball. He knocks Taek’s shoulder and says in a lower voice, “Where’s Sun Woo?”

“Out on some errands,” replies Taek. “He asked me to look after Jin Joo for a while. Will you wait for him with me?”

i think taek probably knows jung hwan better than jung hwan thinks he does. i think jung hwan likes to think he’s an enigma, but taek has him all sussed out. we see that in the beginning of the fic when taek immediately knows that jung hwan wants the new lee moon sae record without even batting an eye. here, too, he asks if he’ll wait with him. jung hwan is very good at waiting, and taek knows that. it’s an excuse for him to ask about the injury.

“I hope we don’t have to wait for ten hours,” she says. “How can someone sit still for ten hours? Taekie is insane.”

“Just because you can’t,” says Jung Hwan, trying to squint through the keyhole. “There’s a reason that Taek’s the national baduk champion and not you.”

this was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek way to highlight how jung hwan has always been good at waiting. he’s not patient, he’s just repressed. this one ties in with the next motif, which is looks and glances. i think the waiting really became explicit in the penultimate scene, where i deep-dived into jung hwan’s history with taek and how that has always translated to some sort of insecurity and a willingness to wait and find the right time to tell him, even if that time would never come. my jung hwan :( someone needs to unrepress you :(

6) the power of one look or a hundred;

if you look up the word ‘look’ or ‘glance’ or ‘see’ in this fic, you’ll get fifty-eight, twenty-three, and forty-seven results. i felt as if every second sentence, i was writing about jung hwan either looking or looking away from taek. going into this fic, i wondered how to properly write about their relationship. in my first reply 1988 fic, i found my voice in this echo chamber (twenty-four & checking off) i was in jung hwan’s head. coming fresh off my first watch of reply 1988, my feelings about jung hwan and his potential love for taek were pretty raw. there, he was way too worried about himself and what people would think than being able to look at taek. i think teenage jung hwan would be less restricted about that, which was somewhat visible in i’m home tonight, been waiting up (come home too) and sort of went, especially in the last scene, into the domesticity that would be inherent in a jung hwan x taek relationship. however, this work is neither of those. and so i decided jung hwan would look at taek a lot, never being able to do anything else.

When he manages to meet Taek’s eyes again, he knows he’s been looked through, flayed open. If Taek can read him so well—know what he wants before he knows it himself—why is it so hard for him to read Taek?

me writing this like: two boys in love in the 80s... this is the only way they can love each other. clenched fist and closed mouths! i really vibe with the idea of taek being able to see through jung hwan’s bullshit more than anyone.

“if i wasn’t so afraid, i’d look at you when you look at me.” is basically the mantra for this whole fic. they’re both sort of aware that the other might like them back, but they’re never on the same page until the end. instead, it’s all furtive and secretive glances.

“A scarf?” repeats his mother. “Why a scarf?”

Jung Hwan shrugs. He wants to let it roll off him like the translucent water back from two years ago, when they all went down to the beach. “He doesn’t have one. He looks cold all the time.”

this is the thing! when you look at someone so often, you notice things about them that nobody else does. and jung hwan notices that taek doesn’t wear a scarf and shivers a lot throughout the course of this fic. and that ties in beautifully to the story his mother tells him about his father buying her gloves without her even needing to tell him that she’s cold.

Jung Hwan slings the bag around his shoulder, frowning at the way he’s dressed. Winters in Seoul are bitter and devastating, much like the ones in Tokyo. Taek doesn’t even have a scarf on, his neck exposed to the chilly air. He shivers.

this is the first instance where jung hwan notices that taek doesn’t wear a scarf and how that makes him cold. here, he almost offers him his own scarf, but sun woo interrupts before he can.

He glances at Taek, who shivers when a gust of wind rolls around. Jung Hwan frowns, about to untangle the scarf from around his neck to offer to him instead. His hand even goes as far as to tug upon the end, but then he stops. His parents—what would they think?

here, again, he wants to give taek his scarf. i didn’t want to thematise homophobia too much in this fic because that would have been a whole other work and also way too sad for this one, but there is this underlying current of tension. because it’s difficult for jung hwan to even accept his feelings and for him to not think about what his parents would say about this whole thing. which is why that jung hwan accepting that vulnerability, opening up to his mother about wanting to make him a scarf, and gifting him something he made is so pivotal and lovely. it’s not his scarf, something that’s already loaded with memories, but something new that the two of them can create new memories with.

“You know,” murmurs Sun Woo, elbowing him, “you’re always looking at him.”

“What are you talking about?” says Jung Hwan, elbowing him back. His eyes are still trained on the doors, chin resting in the shell of his hand. “Shut up.”

Sun Woo hums. “It’s not like he’s going to disappear if you take your eyes off him. He’ll be fine.”

SO TRUE SUN WOO! but also that’s how jung hwan loves. by looking and noticing things nobody else would, and by manifesting that into real things that ease the burdens of the people around him.

7) my niche passion for 80s korean music;

this was absolutely incredibly indulgent. i’m a big fan of trot and of 80s korean music, especially of lee sun hee and lee moon sae (both of who pop up in this fic) as well as other greats like kim wan sun. i knew i wanted to tie in some culture from the time, but i also wanted to tie in some music because we know the kids love their music in canon. so we have jung hwan and tae hyun and their love for lee moon sae (a little fruity of them but we love to see it) for example.

but we also have the one song that’s thematised in this fic, which is to j by lee sun hee, her debut and also one of the most popular songs in south korea. here is a video with the lyrics translation, here’s one of her singing it way back in 1984, and here’s one of her singing it in 2020. she’s still got it!

to j is a song i listen to probably obsessively? and looking at the lyrics, especially the ones that are mentioned in the fic: ‘J 아름다운 여름날이 멀리 사라졌다해도 / J 나의 사랑은 아직도 변함없는데’ or ‘j, even if the beautiful summer days are long gone / j, my love remains unchanged’ ... i just felt that these fit the essence of reply 1988 and therefore also this specific work so well. youth is fleeting, as mentioned, and so are the summer days that the kids spend together. yet not only is the love between jung hwan and taek unchanged, but also the love between all five of them.

His youth in this neighbourhood—the days sprawled out of him that he spent chasing after his friends and laughing with his face tilted up to the sun—has been warm. From where he's sitting right now, he can see Deok Sun and Dong Ryong squabbling over the last piece of pickled cucumber stuck to the bottom of the banchan dish. Sun Woo is rolling his eyes at them, smile tucked away in the corner of his mouth as he lifts a glass of water to his lips. Taek is too busy trying to peel some seaweed away from the heap with his chopsticks to notice anything, so Jung Hwan reaches over to help him—Taek grinning at him and Jung Hwan caught in momentary vulnerability, smiling back.

actually, these ending paragraphs are some of the first i wrote for this fic. this one specifically was written to me listening to ‘to j’ and realising that their youth is finite and that these days will be over soon. but that doesn’t always have to mean that they’re going to drift apart. i love 80s korean music and i just needed to incorporate that in here somehow.

8) day6 & how jung hwan would totally be a myday;

self-indulgence incoming! i was actually talking about this with dawn and we both think that this dude would be the biggest myday. he would have gone to every concert in 2017, he would be that rare myday who knows the lyrics AND the song titles, his bias would totally be wonpil, etc. because day6 make so many songs about bittersweet love but also about youth and growing up, i listened to a lot of their songs during the writing process of this fic. some of them snuck their way into the way i phrased things.

this was loosely inspired by the lyrics in colors by day6: “i try holding out my hand to catch you / but you get farther away” which i think is very much taek’s perspective in this whole deal. taek is a simple guy, which is why i almost never write from his perspective. he doesn’t get caught up in all of the angst that jung hwan does. he just waits, patiently, until jung hwan is ready.

When Jung Hwan glances at Sun Woo, who refuses to meet his eyes—that’s when it hits him. Hospitals nowadays are overrun and Jung Hwan vaguely remembers a traffic accident causing the ER to flood, people piling up on the beds next to him. Still, he managed to squeeze into a spare room with Sun Woo cursing him out by his side, pain shooting off in his leg and staring up at the ceiling, tracing the tiles in his mind. Things like that don’t just happen. Things like that don’t happen unless you grew up with Choi Taek, 6-dan and the world’s heart, on the same street. Things like that don’t happen unless you’ve sat shoulder-to-shoulder with him with your back against the wall in his room with your pictures tucked away into his bookshelf, eating ramyeon out of a pot his father owns and helping him peel off some kimchi from the rest. Sun Woo still refuses to meet his eyes. Deok Sun is twiddling her thumbs, strangely quiet, and Dong Ryong is swallowing and tapping his foot against the floor over in his chair.

They’ve known each other for a long time. Enough to know that they love each other without ever having to say it. In those moments where it becomes obvious, feelings too big to ignore, they all fall silent.

100% cried writing this while listening to day6′s beautiful feeling. specifically dowoon’s part where he goes ‘being under the same sky as you / each moment we breathe i can’t help but like it / the word ‘love’ can’t be enough.’ that really describes the way that these kids love each other. just relishing in the beautiful feeling that soaks the room when they’re together and knowing that their love for each other is so all-encompassing that they can’t even put it into words.

He drinks in the beautiful sight of his friends, captured young. The last snow of winter flutters down the trees outside, before it melts away and eases into new spring. But there are still a few days left until then. There are still a few days left before their youth, too, fades into memories left in the crevices of these streets.

Until then—all of it was beautiful.

would it even be a ramble about day6 without mentioning one of their most iconic songs? i wrote this last part while listening to you were beautiful, which is a more angsty version of thinking about the past and your youth than beautiful feeling. ‘you were beautiful / your eyes that looked at me / just the voice that called out to me / everything, everything / to me, everything about you.’ i imagine jung hwan would listen to this song and reminisce about his friends now being the people who they are and not the people he still sees as six-year-old kids sometimes. it’s difficult to grow up and come to terms with that, truly. until then, everything was beautiful.

9) food is how we love;

i don’t think i’ve ever mentioned this much food in a fic. the thing about reply 1988 is that it is very much grounded in the idea of food as a metaphor for love and being loved. okay, maybe your parents don’t tell you that they love you in those words, but you always have a plate of steaming hot food when you come home. and that just needed to be in this work because a) food as a metaphor for love is one of my most favourite things in love and b) it’s just so realistic.

“Yeah, I think so,” says Taek, humming as he walks around the wispy camellias blooming despite the harsh winter. “Remember when she made those Western noodles? She made enough for all of the neighbourhood and more—she didn’t have to do that, but she did anyway.”

“Oh, right.” Jung Hwan remembers those noodles, slimy and leaving a strange bitter tomato taste on his tongue, and how the entire neighbourhood had gathered in the entrance of their house to blink, wide-eyed, at all of the plates. He and Jung Bong had had a pretty good system going, one of them dumping noodles onto a plate and the other passing them out to everyone, the pot seemingly never-ending. He remembers how Taek had been squinting at his plate in the corner until Jung Hwan had sidled up to him, handing him a fork he could scoop the noodles up with. He remembers how his eomma had sent him out as evening let its tendrils dangle over the sky to get more, so nobody would have to go without. “Yeah. I guess that was nice.”

the qualifier for being nice that taek defines is making food. and that truly is a quality of a nice and kind person ... maybe jung hwan’s mother seems cold, but both in the show and in this work, she is someone who is giving beyond all means. she gathers everyone and makes these expensive meals like corvina an spaghetti because she wants everyone to have experienced it at least once. jung hwan realises that in this scene. just how much his mother truly has done for him.

He reaches out to knock Taek’s shoulder with his hand. “Come inside,” he says, “I’ll make you some yujacha for your voice.”

Taek brightens at that, light spilling from within. “Yujacha?” he echoes. “Thanks, Jung-pal.”

this is another instance of jung hwan noticing things because he looks at taek for so long and in a way other people don’t. on the way home from the association, taek had been coughing and shivering. jung hwan doesn’t mention it or say he should take care of himself better, neither does he say all of these very sappy things that he’s thinking. instead, he offers to make him yujacha, which is korean tea made from the yuja fruit, and that somehow means the same thing as all of the things he wanted to say. because this is him taking care of him without any qualms about it.

They’re sitting around the table in the living room at their house, squashed together on the couch and half of them spilling out onto the floor. Jung Bong is standing over them with his hands curled together, as if he’s about to deliver the speech of his life, while all of them clutch gift bags and wait anxiously. Half-eaten plates of tteokbokki lay strewn on the table in front of them, opened bottles of soda and a steaming pot of ramyeon cooling down enough so they can eat it accompanying their meeting. The cold air wisps in through an open window. It was difficult to find a day around Christmas where all of them were free, but somehow Sun Woo had managed to drag Bo Ra in—grumbling and rolling her eyes—and now they sit together with enough food to feed an army surrounding them.

eating is a deeply communal activity and i probably mention food every scene that everyone is together. i just love the idea of all of them finding time to eat together and share these presents with each other. it speaks to a love, as already mentioned, that is hard to put into words.

“I like you,” he says. Two birds chirp in the distance, branches rustling as they fly away. “You don’t know the crazy things I’ve done because of it—listened to you winning on the radio and counting down the hours you’d be home again, practiced making ramyeon in secret so it was just the way you like it. You really don’t know all the crazy shit I’ve done because of it. Because all I thought about was you, still you. I’m saying it now—I like you.”

Taek’s jaw is slack, watching him with a barely-there smile. Jung Hwan clears his throat and blinks away the ebb of tears. It doesn’t matter now. Now, it’s out there. It’s not his secret to carry anymore. “Anyway, forget that,” he says, eyeing him. “Have you eaten?”

Taek steps closer. Suddenly, Jung Hwan’s back hits the alley wall. “I was hoping you’d be waiting for me, because I wanted to eat with you tonight,” says Taek, and leans in to kiss him.

this is probably the most tender thing i’ve ever written. first off, jung hwan slaving away to make ramyeon the way taek likes it so he can take care of him and make him feel at home, but also him pushing his feelings away to ask taek if he’s okay, if he’s eaten. i really wanted to portray the deep-rooted love the two of them have together, this need to take care of one another. if i think too much about this scene i will cry.

10) closing thoughts bc i’ve rambled too long;

while i don’t think this fic was perfect, i do think that it helped me improve some of my writing techniques. i set out to make this fic very authentic. i do think that because of that, my dialogue and the characterisation became much better in comparison to my other reply 1988 fics and i’ll be taking that with me into next projects. this definitely was a passion project and it means a lot to me ... i may have put a little piece of my heart in this one. it was nice to write a nothing happens yet everything happens fic, and it was nice to dissect jung hwan’s character again.

once again, thank you to my partner (even though he’ll probably never read this) for putting up with my rambles! and of course to my mekvictors chanonpomers and future jungtaekers (apart from dawnie who came up with this slogan) as well as my gaslight gatekeep girlboss transkateers: nico @lovingtrans, dawn @inkpha and ellis @tipnaree ... could never do anything without y’all’s support. you make me want to keep writing.

if you read 정 (jeong), then do leave me a comment or send me an ask, i’d love to hear your thoughts about it! and if you read this unnecessarily lengthy dissection of my own piece until here, then i truly appreciate it <3

#정 (jeong)#this was a dooooozy to write omg it got so long #i do think this is fairly insightful and that you will enjoy reading this if you've read and liked the fic btw!!#either way i think i might be doing things like this for all my fics bc it's a fun way to let go of it after you're done #rahul writes

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