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fanmix_monthly fanmix challenge!
Title: Unknown Reciprocation (IGNORED OBSESSION)
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Characters/Pairings: Valentino/Vox (Staticmoth)
Notes: I think it's easy for the Staticmoth community to come up with a lot of songs to portray the toxicity of the relationship, which is definitely there, but I wanted a softer mix about the quiet desperation of their desire to have more than they have. Which they both want, but won't talk about. It of course still includes their obsession over each other, because even at their softest that can't be ignored.
Track List
fanmix_monthly fanmix challenge!Title: Unknown Reciprocation (IGNORED OBSESSION)
Fandom: Hazbin Hotel
Characters/Pairings: Valentino/Vox (Staticmoth)
Notes: I think it's easy for the Staticmoth community to come up with a lot of songs to portray the toxicity of the relationship, which is definitely there, but I wanted a softer mix about the quiet desperation of their desire to have more than they have. Which they both want, but won't talk about. It of course still includes their obsession over each other, because even at their softest that can't be ignored.
Track List
Once Upon a Dream - Lana Del Rey
I can't help but start with one of the first songs I attributed to their relationship when I started writing about it. It comes with a lot of headcanons about their beginnings and their separate lives on Earth, but I can't listen to this song without it being theirs.
Even without my headcanons, it touches upon the faint awareness they have of each other's true feelings, but how distant it is, because they refuse to allow themselves that sincerity while awake and talking to each other.
Lyrics
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, mmm
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
Abnormally Attracted To Sin - Tori Amos
At the moment, both are very unrepentant Sinners, with no desire to change that about themselves or each other. This song is soft and coaxing--likely close to how they both find it easy to indulge themselves in their baser wishes. Which includes the physicality of their relationship.
Lyrics
Impeccable peccadillo
You are off your guard
Pussy willow groves
There by the church
Don’t go in if you are
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
She may be dead to you
But her hips sway a natural
Kind of faith that could give
Your lost heart a warm chapel
You’ll sleep in her bell tower
And you will simply wake
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
Impeccable peccadillo
I know who you are
Tales of longing sway
Lost without a verse
Hymns of swing lay low
There by the church
Don’t go in if you are
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
She may be dead to you
Kind of faith that could give
Attracted to sin
To sin
To sin
El Mañana - Gorillaz
I had attributed this song to the two before Season 2, but after Season 2 it definitely fits them better. Vox was willing to die because his own obsession with revenge caused him to ruin everything he had gained in the public eye. Valentino (and Velvette, their best friend) was not enough to keep Vox from wanting to off himself when he lost everything else. No doubt Season 3 will show him furious, but there ought to be a soft despair as well to the knowledge that your friend, business partner, and love of decades was willing to die (and kill everyone else, including you) because of failure.
Lyrics
Summer don't know me no more
He got mad, tiresome
Summer don't know me
He'd just let me low in myself
'Cause I do know love
From you then
Just dying
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Don't stop the bud when it comes
It's the dawn, you'll see
Money won't get there
Ten years passed and now you'll flee
If you do that
I'll be sworn
To find you
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Fly on the Wall - t.A.T.u.
A song explicitly for Vox and his need to watch everything, everyone, but especially Valentino. Even when he is ignoring him in the finale, he has a camera focused on him. We don't know if Vox is jealous of everyone Valentino sleeps with, but we know he hates Angel Dust, and he doesn't have a problem immediately tossing a girl in Val's lap into his shark tank instead of sending her away. No doubt he can't always get rid of everyone Val is with, Valentino is a pimp and it's his job to seduce people into his employ, but Vox is always watching and wanting.
Lyrics
When you're naked in the shower
When you're sleeping for an hour
When you're big, when you're small
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
When you're with her after midnight
When you kiss her in the daylight
When you break Barbie doll
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
Wanna see who you are
Every inch, every scar
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah (Yeah)
For the drama that you're drinking
And the dark thoughts you are thinking
And the love notes that you scrawl
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
Silently, I arrive
You don't know I'm alive
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Ever closer, ever nearer
When you're looking in the mirror
I would know who you call
If I was a fly on the wall
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
What you do on your own
I could see all
When you think you're alone
I would crawl
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Black & White - Sarah McLachlan
A lot of the power of the Vees comes from them peddling things that the Sinners want. And in order to have gathered that, they had to be the sort of people everyone would come to. They are performers, celebrities, and their brand is perfection. Vox in particular has a huge fear of failure. One he hurtles toward very fast, which Val doesn't understand enough to stop. Because Val is said by his creator not to completely understand all of his own actions, such as not understanding consent completely. And this is likely to bring him close to his own destruction in Season 3, so can Vox put himself together enough to stop Val from making similar mistakes as he had?
Lyrics
Unravel me
A distant chord
On the outside is forgotten
A constant need
To get along
And the animal awakens
And all I feel is black and white
The road is long
The memory slides
To the whole of my undoing
Put aside
I put away
I push it back to get through each day
And all I feel is black and white
And I'm wound up small and tight
And I don't know who I am
Everybody loves you when you're easy
Everybody hates when you're a bore
Everyone is waiting for your entrance
So don't disappoint them
Unravel me
Untie this cord
The very centre of our union
Is caving in
I can't endure
I am the archive of our failure
And all I feel is black and white
And I'm wound up small and tight
And I don't know who I am
Everybody loves you when you're easy
Everybody hates when you're a bore
Everyone is waiting for your entrance
So don't disappoint them
Everybody loves you when you're easy
So don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't
It Should've Been Me - Really Introverted Producer
Continuing on the theme of the previous track, this song has more of a beat while still not breaking out of the softer vibe of this mix. And the wonderful thing is this song can also be seen as from either of their perspective: from Vox who desperately wants Val, but is haunted by the thought Hell doesn't even have friends, let alone love; to Val who saw that Vox was willing to destroy him for "that stupid deer" and now he has to take over the company he and Vox built together to clean up his mess.
Lyrics
Not too loud, not too quiet
Don't be proud, don't be shy
It's rude to stare, oh, do I dare?
Keep it bold, don't be timid
Not too slow, make it quick
It's so unfair, I'm almost there
Lost in a fantasy, my very own Pandora's box
Swarmed by my jealousy
I hope that it doesn't show
Ire dipped in flattery, nobody's been as close as me
I spilled my guts and all for what?
It should've been me
You should have picked me from the start
And after everything I've done for you
You don't think it's bizarre?
It should have been me
Where do you think I got my spark?
I chiseled down my personality, 'til it's a work of art
There you arе, can't they see it? I'm in awe, could it be?
"It's rudе to stare" yes, I'm aware!
What a sight, nearly perfect
You alright? Does it hurt?
I will be there, you know I care!
Caught in my fantasies, don't look inside Pandora's box
Push down the jealousy
No, nobody needs to know
Please don't think less of me!
I'm but a lonely soul, you see
Oh, what a shame, I've gone insane
It should've been me, I oughta be there by your side
Just think of all the possibilities that we could bring to life
It should've been me, I think I need you to survive
So now it's your responsibility to make me stay alive
Trapped in this travesty, you've opened up Pandora's box
Struck by reality, it's time to wrap up the show
Yes, it is how it seems, I'm full of animosity
And here I am, where do you stand?
It could've been me, although I'm better than the rest
My polarizing rationality just couldn't pass the test
It could've been me
But I'm unsure of my intent
Surely my fragile hospitality would shatter from the stress
It shouldn't be me, and here I thought I was above
But now it's clear to me you saw that I'm unworthy of your love
It shouldn't be me, and I'm okay with that, because
I truly only want the best for you and I am not the one
It couldn't be me, it should've been me
Curses - The Crane Wives
It's shown in Season 1 that when even Velvette can't calm Val down, Vox can. And Val waits for him to do so. They both have problems, but while Vox's is implied to be more manic, Val's is an anger that he doesn't seem to bother controlling unless he has to show himself as the boss to his employees. Even then, we don't know how successful that always is.
Fire is also symbolic to Val, who has powers of typhokinesis (control of smoke). Sinner's bodies and powers often reflect the way in which they died, so a lot of fans assume Val might have died to some sort of "burning", whether literal or not.
Lyrics
There's a fire in my brain and I'm burning up
Oh my, oh my
Keep running for the sink but the well is dry
Oh my, oh my
Every word I say is kindling
But the smoke clears when you're around
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When my walls start burning down, down, down?
This house says my name like an elegy
Oh my, oh my
Echoing where my ghosts all used to be
Oh my, oh my
There's still cobwebs in the corners
And the backyard's full of bones
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When this house don't feel like home?
When this house don't feel like home?
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
The devil's after both of us
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of me
This tired old machine is a-rumbling
Oh my, oh my
Singing songs to the secrets behind my eye
Oh my, oh my
All my aching bones are trembling
And I may yet fall apart
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When the war starts in my heart?
When the war starts in my heart?
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
The devil's after both of us
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of me
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
Tell me I am good enough
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of
Within You - David Bowie
While Vox is very much the picture of a narcissist, it is shown that he does want to have people to share his success with, even as his enemy Alastor uses Vox's need to show Alastor he is better than him (to impress him) to push them away. With likely about 45 years of knowing each other and a partnership, all the effort Vox has done for his own power in this time would be done also for Valentino. Even when they occasionally treat each other badly.
Lyrics
How you turn my world, you precious thing
You starve and near exhaust me
Everything I've done, I've done for you
I move the stars for no one
You've run so long, you've run so far
Your eyes can be so cruel
Just as I can be so cruel
Oh, I do believe in you
Yes I do
Live without your sunlight
Love without your heartbeat
I, I can't live within you
I can't live within you
I, I can't live within you
Show Me Love (Extended) - t.A.T.u.
And to end with Val's desire to get Vox back to himself and the life they once lived before they started reaching for Heaven. It even appears that he goes to seduce Vox into making up after their argument, only for him to hear Vox say how he doesn't need him or Velvette to Alastor. This pain isn't the usual one they give to each other. Everyone else Val has a sexual or romantic relationship is replaceable (except for his own obsession, Angel Dust, which shall likely prove to be his downfall in Season 3 as Alastor was for Vox in Season 2), but he's losing Vox and he doesn't understand why.
This lack of understanding over Alastor's manipulation of Vox is why another obsession is likely to come close to tearing them apart in Season 3. Nonetheless, deep down they are closer than that. And we shall all see if it is enough to take them back to where they were, or actually bridge this lack of communication which has kept them both pining for years.
Lyrics
Аллё
This was an accident
Not the kind where sirens sound
Never even noticed
We're suddenly crumbling
Tell me how you've never felt
Delicate or innocent
Do you still have doubts that
Us having faith makes any sense
Tell me nothing ever counts
Lashing out or breaking down
Still somebody loses 'cause
There's no way to turn around
Staring at your photograph
Everything now in the past
Never felt so lonely I
Wish that you could show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Random acts of mindlessness
Commonplace occurrences
Chances and surprises
Another state of consciousness
Tell me nothing ever counts
Lashing out or breaking down
Still somebody loses 'cause
There's no way to turn around
Tell me how you've never felt
Delicate or innocent
Do you still have doubts that
Us having faith makes any sense
You play games, I play tricks
Girls and girls, but you're the one
Like a game of pick-up-sticks
Played by fuckin' lunatics
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Extra
Every Time We Touch - Daniel Avidan
I can't add this song to my playlist, but I definitely would if I could. It's a cover, but slower with a different intensity than the original. The lyrics fit Staticmoth, and this version fits the vibe of this mix.
Lyrics
I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me
I still feel your touch in my dreams
Forgive me my weakness, but I don′t know why
Without you it's hard to survive
′Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling
And every time we kiss I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heartbeat fast, I want this to last
Need you by my side
Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky
They wipe away tears that I cry
The good and the bad times we've been through them all
You make me rise when I fall
′Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling
And every time we kiss I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heartbeat fast, I want this to last
Need you by my side
I can't help but start with one of the first songs I attributed to their relationship when I started writing about it. It comes with a lot of headcanons about their beginnings and their separate lives on Earth, but I can't listen to this song without it being theirs.
Even without my headcanons, it touches upon the faint awareness they have of each other's true feelings, but how distant it is, because they refuse to allow themselves that sincerity while awake and talking to each other.
Lyrics
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that look in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
Ah, ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah, mmm
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream
I know you, that gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam
And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem
But if I know you, I know what you'll do
You'll love me at once
The way you did once upon a dream
Abnormally Attracted To Sin - Tori Amos
At the moment, both are very unrepentant Sinners, with no desire to change that about themselves or each other. This song is soft and coaxing--likely close to how they both find it easy to indulge themselves in their baser wishes. Which includes the physicality of their relationship.
Lyrics
Impeccable peccadillo
You are off your guard
Pussy willow groves
There by the church
Don’t go in if you are
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
She may be dead to you
But her hips sway a natural
Kind of faith that could give
Your lost heart a warm chapel
You’ll sleep in her bell tower
And you will simply wake
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
Impeccable peccadillo
I know who you are
Tales of longing sway
Lost without a verse
Hymns of swing lay low
There by the church
Don’t go in if you are
Abnormally attracted to sin
Abnormally attracted to sin
She may be dead to you
Kind of faith that could give
Attracted to sin
To sin
To sin
El Mañana - Gorillaz
I had attributed this song to the two before Season 2, but after Season 2 it definitely fits them better. Vox was willing to die because his own obsession with revenge caused him to ruin everything he had gained in the public eye. Valentino (and Velvette, their best friend) was not enough to keep Vox from wanting to off himself when he lost everything else. No doubt Season 3 will show him furious, but there ought to be a soft despair as well to the knowledge that your friend, business partner, and love of decades was willing to die (and kill everyone else, including you) because of failure.
Lyrics
Summer don't know me no more
He got mad, tiresome
Summer don't know me
He'd just let me low in myself
'Cause I do know love
From you then
Just dying
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Don't stop the bud when it comes
It's the dawn, you'll see
Money won't get there
Ten years passed and now you'll flee
If you do that
I'll be sworn
To find you
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
I saw that day
Lost my mind
Lord, I'm fine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Maybe in time, you'll want to be mine
Fly on the Wall - t.A.T.u.
A song explicitly for Vox and his need to watch everything, everyone, but especially Valentino. Even when he is ignoring him in the finale, he has a camera focused on him. We don't know if Vox is jealous of everyone Valentino sleeps with, but we know he hates Angel Dust, and he doesn't have a problem immediately tossing a girl in Val's lap into his shark tank instead of sending her away. No doubt he can't always get rid of everyone Val is with, Valentino is a pimp and it's his job to seduce people into his employ, but Vox is always watching and wanting.
Lyrics
When you're naked in the shower
When you're sleeping for an hour
When you're big, when you're small
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
When you're with her after midnight
When you kiss her in the daylight
When you break Barbie doll
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
Wanna see who you are
Every inch, every scar
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah (Yeah)
For the drama that you're drinking
And the dark thoughts you are thinking
And the love notes that you scrawl
Oh, I wish I was a fly on the wall
Silently, I arrive
You don't know I'm alive
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Ever closer, ever nearer
When you're looking in the mirror
I would know who you call
If I was a fly on the wall
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
From your head to your toes
I would be there
From your bed to your clothes
I'm the air
What you do on your own
I could see all
When you think you're alone
I would crawl
When you think you're alone
I'll be down the hall
I could see it, if I was a fly on the wall
What you do in your room
I could see it all
You undress, I wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Wish I was a fly on the wall, yeah, yeah
Black & White - Sarah McLachlan
A lot of the power of the Vees comes from them peddling things that the Sinners want. And in order to have gathered that, they had to be the sort of people everyone would come to. They are performers, celebrities, and their brand is perfection. Vox in particular has a huge fear of failure. One he hurtles toward very fast, which Val doesn't understand enough to stop. Because Val is said by his creator not to completely understand all of his own actions, such as not understanding consent completely. And this is likely to bring him close to his own destruction in Season 3, so can Vox put himself together enough to stop Val from making similar mistakes as he had?
Lyrics
Unravel me
A distant chord
On the outside is forgotten
A constant need
To get along
And the animal awakens
And all I feel is black and white
The road is long
The memory slides
To the whole of my undoing
Put aside
I put away
I push it back to get through each day
And all I feel is black and white
And I'm wound up small and tight
And I don't know who I am
Everybody loves you when you're easy
Everybody hates when you're a bore
Everyone is waiting for your entrance
So don't disappoint them
Unravel me
Untie this cord
The very centre of our union
Is caving in
I can't endure
I am the archive of our failure
And all I feel is black and white
And I'm wound up small and tight
And I don't know who I am
Everybody loves you when you're easy
Everybody hates when you're a bore
Everyone is waiting for your entrance
So don't disappoint them
Everybody loves you when you're easy
So don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't disappoint them
Don't
It Should've Been Me - Really Introverted Producer
Continuing on the theme of the previous track, this song has more of a beat while still not breaking out of the softer vibe of this mix. And the wonderful thing is this song can also be seen as from either of their perspective: from Vox who desperately wants Val, but is haunted by the thought Hell doesn't even have friends, let alone love; to Val who saw that Vox was willing to destroy him for "that stupid deer" and now he has to take over the company he and Vox built together to clean up his mess.
Lyrics
Not too loud, not too quiet
Don't be proud, don't be shy
It's rude to stare, oh, do I dare?
Keep it bold, don't be timid
Not too slow, make it quick
It's so unfair, I'm almost there
Lost in a fantasy, my very own Pandora's box
Swarmed by my jealousy
I hope that it doesn't show
Ire dipped in flattery, nobody's been as close as me
I spilled my guts and all for what?
It should've been me
You should have picked me from the start
And after everything I've done for you
You don't think it's bizarre?
It should have been me
Where do you think I got my spark?
I chiseled down my personality, 'til it's a work of art
There you arе, can't they see it? I'm in awe, could it be?
"It's rudе to stare" yes, I'm aware!
What a sight, nearly perfect
You alright? Does it hurt?
I will be there, you know I care!
Caught in my fantasies, don't look inside Pandora's box
Push down the jealousy
No, nobody needs to know
Please don't think less of me!
I'm but a lonely soul, you see
Oh, what a shame, I've gone insane
It should've been me, I oughta be there by your side
Just think of all the possibilities that we could bring to life
It should've been me, I think I need you to survive
So now it's your responsibility to make me stay alive
Trapped in this travesty, you've opened up Pandora's box
Struck by reality, it's time to wrap up the show
Yes, it is how it seems, I'm full of animosity
And here I am, where do you stand?
It could've been me, although I'm better than the rest
My polarizing rationality just couldn't pass the test
It could've been me
But I'm unsure of my intent
Surely my fragile hospitality would shatter from the stress
It shouldn't be me, and here I thought I was above
But now it's clear to me you saw that I'm unworthy of your love
It shouldn't be me, and I'm okay with that, because
I truly only want the best for you and I am not the one
It couldn't be me, it should've been me
Curses - The Crane Wives
It's shown in Season 1 that when even Velvette can't calm Val down, Vox can. And Val waits for him to do so. They both have problems, but while Vox's is implied to be more manic, Val's is an anger that he doesn't seem to bother controlling unless he has to show himself as the boss to his employees. Even then, we don't know how successful that always is.
Fire is also symbolic to Val, who has powers of typhokinesis (control of smoke). Sinner's bodies and powers often reflect the way in which they died, so a lot of fans assume Val might have died to some sort of "burning", whether literal or not.
Lyrics
There's a fire in my brain and I'm burning up
Oh my, oh my
Keep running for the sink but the well is dry
Oh my, oh my
Every word I say is kindling
But the smoke clears when you're around
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When my walls start burning down, down, down?
This house says my name like an elegy
Oh my, oh my
Echoing where my ghosts all used to be
Oh my, oh my
There's still cobwebs in the corners
And the backyard's full of bones
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When this house don't feel like home?
When this house don't feel like home?
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
The devil's after both of us
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of me
This tired old machine is a-rumbling
Oh my, oh my
Singing songs to the secrets behind my eye
Oh my, oh my
All my aching bones are trembling
And I may yet fall apart
Won't you stay with me, my darling
When the war starts in my heart?
When the war starts in my heart?
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
The devil's after both of us
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of me
Oh ashes, ashes, dust to dust
Tell me I am good enough
Ooh, lay my curses out to rest
Make a mercy out of
Within You - David Bowie
While Vox is very much the picture of a narcissist, it is shown that he does want to have people to share his success with, even as his enemy Alastor uses Vox's need to show Alastor he is better than him (to impress him) to push them away. With likely about 45 years of knowing each other and a partnership, all the effort Vox has done for his own power in this time would be done also for Valentino. Even when they occasionally treat each other badly.
Lyrics
How you turn my world, you precious thing
You starve and near exhaust me
Everything I've done, I've done for you
I move the stars for no one
You've run so long, you've run so far
Your eyes can be so cruel
Just as I can be so cruel
Oh, I do believe in you
Yes I do
Live without your sunlight
Love without your heartbeat
I, I can't live within you
I can't live within you
I, I can't live within you
Show Me Love (Extended) - t.A.T.u.
And to end with Val's desire to get Vox back to himself and the life they once lived before they started reaching for Heaven. It even appears that he goes to seduce Vox into making up after their argument, only for him to hear Vox say how he doesn't need him or Velvette to Alastor. This pain isn't the usual one they give to each other. Everyone else Val has a sexual or romantic relationship is replaceable (except for his own obsession, Angel Dust, which shall likely prove to be his downfall in Season 3 as Alastor was for Vox in Season 2), but he's losing Vox and he doesn't understand why.
This lack of understanding over Alastor's manipulation of Vox is why another obsession is likely to come close to tearing them apart in Season 3. Nonetheless, deep down they are closer than that. And we shall all see if it is enough to take them back to where they were, or actually bridge this lack of communication which has kept them both pining for years.
Lyrics
Аллё
This was an accident
Not the kind where sirens sound
Never even noticed
We're suddenly crumbling
Tell me how you've never felt
Delicate or innocent
Do you still have doubts that
Us having faith makes any sense
Tell me nothing ever counts
Lashing out or breaking down
Still somebody loses 'cause
There's no way to turn around
Staring at your photograph
Everything now in the past
Never felt so lonely I
Wish that you could show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Random acts of mindlessness
Commonplace occurrences
Chances and surprises
Another state of consciousness
Tell me nothing ever counts
Lashing out or breaking down
Still somebody loses 'cause
There's no way to turn around
Tell me how you've never felt
Delicate or innocent
Do you still have doubts that
Us having faith makes any sense
You play games, I play tricks
Girls and girls, but you're the one
Like a game of pick-up-sticks
Played by fuckin' lunatics
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Give me all that I want
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love
Show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till you open the door
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm up off the floor
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till it's inside my pores
Show me love, show me love, show me love
Show me love, show me love
Till I'm screaming for more
Extra
Every Time We Touch - Daniel Avidan
I can't add this song to my playlist, but I definitely would if I could. It's a cover, but slower with a different intensity than the original. The lyrics fit Staticmoth, and this version fits the vibe of this mix.
Lyrics
I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me
I still feel your touch in my dreams
Forgive me my weakness, but I don′t know why
Without you it's hard to survive
′Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling
And every time we kiss I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heartbeat fast, I want this to last
Need you by my side
Your arms are my castle, your heart is my sky
They wipe away tears that I cry
The good and the bad times we've been through them all
You make me rise when I fall
′Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling
And every time we kiss I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heartbeat fast, I want this to last
Need you by my side
yourlibrarian
March 1 is just weeks away, so that means the kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge will be taking place soon! The challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation, plus there will be some prompts for creating new meta.
Feel free to ask questions here about the challenge, locations, etc. Otherwise subscribe to
marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!The Goes Wrong Show: A Primer
Jan. 26th, 2026 10:39 amrionaleonhartI originally wrote this primer for tv_talk, and a friend said I should also post it here! I apologise to anyone who's seeing this multiple times.
If anyone's in the mood for something silly and fun, I'd like to recommend The Goes Wrong Show, which I discovered recently and absolutely fell in love with.
What is The Goes Wrong Show?
If you've heard of The Play That Goes Wrong, this comedy series is from the same theatre company, Mischief Theatre. Every thirty-minute episode is a new short play, performed by the determined but deeply unfortunate Cornley Drama Society. Every play goes as wrong as humanly possible.
In addition to being very funny, the plays are startlingly impressive technical achievements. These are genuine stage plays being filmed in front of a live audience, and making things 'go wrong' convincingly requires incredible pinpoint timing. So much hard work goes into messing everything up; it must be so much trickier than performing a play that goes right!
If you like Taskmaster, you might also enjoy this; they have a similar sense of people desperately struggling on with their mission while everything falls apart around them.
( Character overview below the cut. )
How much of The Goes Wrong Show is there?
Just twelve episodes of thirty minutes each. The Goes Wrong Show was dropped by the BBC after the second series, but the episodes are largely self-contained and satisfying in themselves, so there's no sense of an overarching story cut short.
If you watch and enjoy the show, there are two one-hour television specials you might also want to seek out: Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, both of which predate the show itself.
Where can I watch The Goes Wrong Show?
There's a good chance you'll be able to watch it at no cost! If you're in the UK, it's on BBC iPlayer (or DVD, if you don't have a television licence).
If you're outside the UK, I believe The Goes Wrong Show is officially available for free on the Lionsgate YouTube channel; this YouTube playlist should have all twelve episodes. I've heard from a couple of people based in the US that it's also on Amazon Prime there.
If I only ever watch one episode of this show, which would you recommend?
I love the whole show, and I think the first-listed episode ('The Spirit of Christmas') is a solid starting point. If you only ever watch one, though, the episode '90 Degrees' is a genuinely insane, extraordinary feat of performance. If you're wondering, they're not using CGI; they actually did that.
tv_talk, and a friend said I should also post it here! I apologise to anyone who's seeing this multiple times.If anyone's in the mood for something silly and fun, I'd like to recommend The Goes Wrong Show, which I discovered recently and absolutely fell in love with.
What is The Goes Wrong Show?
If you've heard of The Play That Goes Wrong, this comedy series is from the same theatre company, Mischief Theatre. Every thirty-minute episode is a new short play, performed by the determined but deeply unfortunate Cornley Drama Society. Every play goes as wrong as humanly possible.
In addition to being very funny, the plays are startlingly impressive technical achievements. These are genuine stage plays being filmed in front of a live audience, and making things 'go wrong' convincingly requires incredible pinpoint timing. So much hard work goes into messing everything up; it must be so much trickier than performing a play that goes right!
If you like Taskmaster, you might also enjoy this; they have a similar sense of people desperately struggling on with their mission while everything falls apart around them.
( Character overview below the cut. )
How much of The Goes Wrong Show is there?
Just twelve episodes of thirty minutes each. The Goes Wrong Show was dropped by the BBC after the second series, but the episodes are largely self-contained and satisfying in themselves, so there's no sense of an overarching story cut short.
If you watch and enjoy the show, there are two one-hour television specials you might also want to seek out: Peter Pan Goes Wrong, and A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, both of which predate the show itself.
Where can I watch The Goes Wrong Show?
There's a good chance you'll be able to watch it at no cost! If you're in the UK, it's on BBC iPlayer (or DVD, if you don't have a television licence).
If you're outside the UK, I believe The Goes Wrong Show is officially available for free on the Lionsgate YouTube channel; this YouTube playlist should have all twelve episodes. I've heard from a couple of people based in the US that it's also on Amazon Prime there.
If I only ever watch one episode of this show, which would you recommend?
I love the whole show, and I think the first-listed episode ('The Spirit of Christmas') is a solid starting point. If you only ever watch one, though, the episode '90 Degrees' is a genuinely insane, extraordinary feat of performance. If you're wondering, they're not using CGI; they actually did that.
vriddyI've fallen into a new manga head-first, and hope to maybe entice some of you out there to check it out, if it seems like it might be relevant to your interests :D If you enjoy OT4 ships, it can work as a mini-primer on them♡ too, but no need for shipping goggles to enjoy this series, it's really really good as it is! Crossposted to my journal.)
It was hard for me to figure out how to even start a promo post, because it only took one picture to get me to try it out:
...I didn't really ask any more questions after that. Bonus impact for stumbling on it in Japanese because the "kept pet" implied in the verb is lovely, and obviously plays with the K-9/"police dog" title.
Anyway, meet Oboro on the left - he's great - and Ren on the right - she's great. The art is beautiful, and everyone is very pretty.
This seems pretty simplistic at first glance, but that slowly changes as we drill deeper into the worldbuilding and learn the nuances of these abilities and how they manifest. The implications are deeply fucked up, with often devastating consequences that I'm totally here for as my heart gets shattered again and again.
TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME! More specifically, crime related to sin users. But they also get their asses kicked and handed over to them quite a bit, haha.
( A bit more on the story and on them )
It was hard for me to figure out how to even start a promo post, because it only took one picture to get me to try it out:
...I didn't really ask any more questions after that. Bonus impact for stumbling on it in Japanese because the "kept pet" implied in the verb is lovely, and obviously plays with the K-9/"police dog" title.
Anyway, meet Oboro on the left - he's great - and Ren on the right - she's great. The art is beautiful, and everyone is very pretty.
About the world
Some people have special abilities, most of which are not well understood. Only one thing is known for sure: these abilities manifest after someone commits a crime. For example, the criminal from the first chapter is an arsonist and can control/become fire. (Somewhat unrelated, but this is pretty fun coming in from the Boku No Hero Academia world, because it's like a universe in which only bad guys get a quirk.) Here, these abilities are called "sins." In the Japanese, it's simply the kanji for crime with "sin" written in katakana beside it.This seems pretty simplistic at first glance, but that slowly changes as we drill deeper into the worldbuilding and learn the nuances of these abilities and how they manifest. The implications are deeply fucked up, with often devastating consequences that I'm totally here for as my heart gets shattered again and again.
The story premise
Our plucky detective Ren is selected to join Division 9, a newly created division that pairs a detective with a sin user in order to fight fire with fire -- what could possibly go wrong?! I love her. She kicks so much ass.
So, who's our main cast?
( Short character profiles )
TOGETHER THEY FIGHT CRIME! More specifically, crime related to sin users. But they also get their asses kicked and handed over to them quite a bit, haha.
( A bit more on the story and on them )
Where to read? How many chapters are out?
( 37 chapters, 3 volumes. Totally possible to catch up in a reasonable amount of time! )Bonus scythe, for fellow appreciators of the Rule of Cool
stepnixI'm going to tell you about a bunch of games by Jenna Moran!
FOR FANTASY FANS: These are games with complex symbolic landscapes, a million little glimpses into larger stories, and they're literally designed for building OCs with strong personal aesthetics.
FOR TTRPG FANS: These games are largely diceless, with strong narrative infrastructure, and plenty of fuel for drama that can't be simply be solved through combat
You WILL have extended philosophical debates during play. This is a significant appeal for my particular circles.
Nobilis and Glitch
( These are the stories of the Age of Pain, and the war between Creation and the void... )
Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, and the Far Roofs
( These are the stories of... what comes after. )
The Community
The Apocynum Press Itch collection gathers homebrew and fan materials that get posted to Itch.
Karma Chameleon is a pillar of the community. As well as their lovely art, they've made the Quest Set builder for managing Chuubo's and Glitch quests, and an interactive overview of recurring miraculous traits.
Here on Dreamwidth, we have the Jennafans Community!. On Discord, there's the Ninuan fan server.
Jenna Moran herself can be found at her personal site, Tumblr; and on Patreon, where she sometimes posts draft or preview material for the games mentioned. Her older fiction can be found at the Hitherby Dragons wiki
Finally, The Flood is not set in any of these worlds. It's a game about something else entirely (poetry farming). But it does feature its own version of the recurring Arcs scaffolding, so it may be worth a look.
March Meta Matters Challenge 2025
Feb. 3rd, 2025 06:54 pmyourlibrarianThe kickoff to this year's March Meta Matters Challenge is just 4 weeks away! As usual, the challenge involves identifying and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. There will also be several prompts for creating new meta. ( Read more... )
Feel free to ask questions about the challenge, locations, etc. at our announcement post and then look for our opening post on March 1!
muccamukkWhat Is the Canon?
Babylon 5 was a military science fiction/space opera TV series that ran from 1993 to 1998 (plus or minus a variety of spin offs and TV movies, which are not relevant to this manifesto). It followed a space station in a neutral area of the galaxy, which was built to be a diplomatic and trading hub between various galactic empires. After about one and a half seasons of trying to keep the peace, the plot moved on to several inter-planetary wars and attempts to build a new order.
The special effects showed off the very finest of computer-generated images from the 1990s, and the plot showed off one guy manically writing almost the entirety of five 22-episode seasons. It will spoil you for all other science fiction arc plots, and is also awkwardly earnest a lot. I've seen it short-handed as "The Lord of the Rings in Space" which is... fair if you forget that the Hobbits were the main characters in LotR.
Here's the opening credits from season one, to give you an idea of the tone:
(Also, every season redid the credits to match where the arc plot was, including with different music, which was really cool. Also, also the music throughout the series was great!)
Show Me the Space Ladies!
( Read more... )
Is There Much Shippy Canon?
This is admittedly more of a "two great tastes that taste great together" type ship, rather than a "Wow! It's practically canon!" situation. Because they both have separate romance plots, and Ivanova tends to be in charge of the station when other characters are off doing stuff, Delenn and Ivanova don't interact whole lot. However, here's a handful of jumping off points. ( Read more... )
So What Do You Like About Them?
( Read more... )
What's the Fandom Like?
Small. The fandom is small. There are, as of posting, forty two works on AO3, and a handful in older archives. However, what fic one can find is great quality, and the fandom's very welcoming and enthusiastic about new people joining in.
(Big thank you to
kanadka for helping me put this together, to nenya_kanadka for beta reading, and to cap-that for the images.)Game Primer: ZENO Remake
Jan. 18th, 2025 03:58 pmmarinehaddock
ZENO is an RPGMaker horror game originally released in 2015 and remade in 2021. It's only available on PC but is available in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese and English. It can take 1-3 hours for a playthrough but it took me about 8 hours for all the endings I got.
I can't speak for the quality of the Korean, Chinese, and Portuguese translations, but the English translation is... a bit lacking. My Japanese speaking friend suspects it was almost entirely machine translated; I suspect it's because the translator is Chinese and was either translating from the Chinese version or from the Japanese into English (which would be two non-native languages) and wasn't quite as fluent as people may be looking for. That said, the story is coherent except for some confusion with the localisation of "nii-chan"/"nii-san" but it's most notable for the choice to have Tsugino occassionally talk in chat speak and "something" is consistently written as "sth" (which, as a smth truther, took me a bit to work out). Also dead people are referred to as "unconscious", which makes it seem like Maeno is just in denial about the corpses. I've played through the game multiple times and while the translation issues definitely jumped out at me the first time, on subsequent playthroughs I found they weren't actually that prominent and there were no points where the translation prevented me from progressing.
( The Brief )
( Content Warnings )
( Characters )
( Endings )
( Why I Like It )
yourlibrarian
It's less than a month until the kickoff for this year's March Meta Matters Challenge! As usual, the challenge involves locating and copying over meta you've created to a second site in order to ensure its preservation. There will also be several prompts for creating new meta.
Check out our FAQ or ask questions about how to participate. Or just subscribe to
marchmetamatterschallenge and look for our opening post on March 1!cmdonovannFirst things first. Quantum Break: What The Hell Is It?
Well, it's a video game. If you've heard of Alan Wake (2013) or Control (2019), you're already familiar with Remedy Entertainment. They also made Quantum Break, and while it's not the same genre of weird as their other, more popular titles, it's got some weirdness going for it that I really enjoy.
So what's the appeal? To me, it's the combo of characters who are all flawed in various ways, a focus on relationships and interactions between those characters, and the epic drama of closed loop time travel wherein nothing can be changed and no tragedy can be prevented because everything that's going to happen has, for all intents and purposes, already happened.
I've already written a couple of posts on Dreamwidth about Quantum Break, so you can always check those out if you want a straight-up elevator pitch for why this game is good. But right now, I wanna talk about why this game is worth your time. I wanna talk about the parts of it that I've invested my time into. Fair warning, I'm gonna say some spoiler-y things in here.
( A Quick Summary )
( The Pitch: Why You Should Play It Yourself! )
So! If you've been looking at my other Quantum Break posts and thinking "wow, I think I'd like to play that game, but I'm not entirely convinced it's worth my time and/or money yet" then here's your excuse! There's so much to dig into in this game, and while Let's Plays and walkthroughs are great, they're not quite a replacement for playing it yourself, if you can!
In short: Quantum Break is a good game! You should play it!
Well, it's a video game. If you've heard of Alan Wake (2013) or Control (2019), you're already familiar with Remedy Entertainment. They also made Quantum Break, and while it's not the same genre of weird as their other, more popular titles, it's got some weirdness going for it that I really enjoy.
So what's the appeal? To me, it's the combo of characters who are all flawed in various ways, a focus on relationships and interactions between those characters, and the epic drama of closed loop time travel wherein nothing can be changed and no tragedy can be prevented because everything that's going to happen has, for all intents and purposes, already happened.
I've already written a couple of posts on Dreamwidth about Quantum Break, so you can always check those out if you want a straight-up elevator pitch for why this game is good. But right now, I wanna talk about why this game is worth your time. I wanna talk about the parts of it that I've invested my time into. Fair warning, I'm gonna say some spoiler-y things in here.
( A Quick Summary )
( The Pitch: Why You Should Play It Yourself! )
So! If you've been looking at my other Quantum Break posts and thinking "wow, I think I'd like to play that game, but I'm not entirely convinced it's worth my time and/or money yet" then here's your excuse! There's so much to dig into in this game, and while Let's Plays and walkthroughs are great, they're not quite a replacement for playing it yourself, if you can!
In short: Quantum Break is a good game! You should play it!
Primer: Petscop
Sep. 21st, 2023 06:24 pmjellyfishloverPetscop (Pronounced: Pet-scop) is an horror un-fiction* and “This game I found”** type web series (notably: NOT an ARG***, although it was believed to be so for a while.) spanning from 2017 to 2019 with 24 episodes (ranging from a couple of minutes to half an hour long) and a soundtrack. The plot follows Paul playing through a game he found while slowly uncovering the secrets of said game and what, exactly, the developer of the secret portion is trying to say or re-create.
Due to the nature of the series, this primer contains some spoilers in order to get a fuller idea of what this web series is about.
( Primer Continues )
Due to the nature of the series, this primer contains some spoilers in order to get a fuller idea of what this web series is about.
( Primer Continues )
yourlibrarian
The March Meta Matters Challenge is focused on not just new meta, but making sure older meta gets a chance to be read and remain a part of fandom history. Join us in March to start archiving your work!
Participants will be locating past meta work and copying it over to a secondary location to ensure its preservation and improve its access. Everyone will work at their own pace and set their own goals for the month. Prompts for new meta will be offered and check in posts will encourage participants to keep going with their older work.
Visit the community for more information and join in on March 1!
Game Primer: The Caligula Effect: Overdose
Jan. 4th, 2023 03:37 ammarinehaddockLinks
Steam Price Tracker | Steam | GOG | Humble Bundle | Playstation Store | Nintendo eShop | Deku Deals Price Tracker
The Caligula Effect: Overdose
The Caligula Effect: Overdose (Known as Caligula: Overdose in Japan) is the definitive version of The Caligula Effect (a 2016 PS Vita release). It was released in 2018 for PC, Playstation 4, and Switch with an international release in 2019. It's a turn-based JRPG.
( Name Drop Everyone Who Worked On This )
( Give Me The Brief )
( Content Warnings )
( Let's Meet The Cast )
( Some Tips )
HIStory 3 - 圈套 (2019)
Apr. 20th, 2022 02:49 pmcorvidologyThe HIStory series are Taiwanese, featuring canon M/M couples. Each year they've released two short run series and we're now up to HIStory4. But enough of this completely inadequate explanation. :D
I'm here to talk about HIStory3: Trapped (2019), which centres around two couples, both cop/mobster. ( The description from MyDramaList is under here )
I love that this show isn't just about the relationships, much as I love them but that it actually fleshes out the other characters and the background story which can't all be tied up in a nice little bow. It's surprisingly funny at times, sweet, violent, flirtatious and complex, featuring all different kinds of love, including friendship and found family. I really cared about what happened to a bunch of characters in this show, not just the main couples.
While the show doesn't have great production values so it's a little creaky at times, the relationships between Meng Shaofei/Tang Yi and Jack/Zhao Lian are compelling and oddly believable given where they all start out from. They don't manipulate the characterization, in that all of them remain the men they are to begin with it's just that they find ways to make it work between them!
Also, y'know, the manhandling, wall slamming (well lots of uses of walls *g*) and partner worry just enhances the whole thing!
Let me tempt you with a few gifs:
( Two more under here )I also love the secondary couple:
( Two more under here )The 10 episodes with English subtitles can be watched for free here on Viki
One of the other HIStory series has been given a sequel so I have everything crossed that we might get one for Trapped as well. :D
MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS: ( I'm also going to tuck a couple of fanvids under here, because I can! :D )
成化十四年 | The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty
Apr. 3rd, 2022 01:50 pmcorvidology
48 episodes, available on Viki and iQiyi.
In 15th-century China, a quick-witted, low-ranking government official named Tang Fan (Darren Chen) who writes romance novels under a pen name, gets pulled into investigating a murder, teaming up with an Imperial Guard/military veteran Sui Zhou (Fu Meng-Po) in the process and crossing paths with Wang Zhi (Liu Yaoyuan), the palace eunuch wunderkind the Emperor put in change of the Western Depot when he was only 17 as one of the only officials he felt he could trust... and we're off!
Frankly, what's not to love here? It's got a beautifully complex plot, the sort where you'll find yourself thinking back over it and still not being quite sure how they managed to pack so many interwoven cases and stories into only 48 episodes. Within this plot, the character development is believable and consistent as are the relationships, often between characters that had very good reasons to dislike each other to begin with. A lot of this is down to the script but frankly a lot of the credit should also go to the fantastic acting across the board which makes it all come to life. Plot wise, it manages that hardest of all things, to convince you a character is doing 'X' which is just stupid, only to find out they were doing it for all the right reasons - People, I'm trying to avoid spoilers here! Honestly, I don't remember the last time I was rooting for so many characters while hoping so many others would die in a fire and all at the same time. This series has it all. Partner worry, FOUND FAMILY (yes, it's a bit of a thing with me), loyalty, treachery, sacrifice and love in all its forms, not just the usual romance you see in dramas. It even throws in a few fandom tropey things for good measure like tons of hurt/comfort, whump, moving in together, random child acquisition, evil twins, one of the main characters being disguised as a woman and undercover as a couple. Even the emperor is only a bit of a bastard on the 'Emperor Bastard' scale (probably a 3?), cares about his people, loves and admires his noble consort and is mostly likeable. It was produced by Jackie Chan and the fight scenes are brilliant! Ultimately, these characters care so much about each other and their society and its citizens that you can't help but care about them as well. It took us ages to watch all 48 episodes and I'm already sorry we've finished.
The most popular ships are Tang Fan/Sui Zhou, Tang Fan/Sui Zhou/Wang Zhi... and another one I'm not going to mention because *spoilers*. Personally, I'm here for the Tang Fan/Sui Zhou and Wang Zhi & Dong'er. If you don't love Dong'er, I'm afraid it's pistols at dawn!
( Two fun gifs, trailer, fanvids )
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Leif & Thorn
Apr. 1st, 2022 11:24 amsilveredeyeLeif&Thorn is a fantasy drama/comedy webcomic about a knight trying to have a romance in his second language.
The premise: Sir Thorn is a magic knight assigned to guard a foreign embassy where he meets (and falls in love with) Leif, a gardener working for said embassy. It gets complicated from there.
It is ongoing, with a new page every day (main plot on weekdays, bonus art and shorter side stories on weekends). The entire main archive is available online. There are Patreon-locked side stories and more NSFW comics, but they're nice extras, not an obligatory part of the experience.
The comic has a large ensemble cast, most of whom get some time in the spotlight (and the majority of whom are queer). It’s mostly a lighthearted comedy, but does not shy away from the darker moments – some of the characters are in very unpleasant situations or have pretty fucked up pasts. Darker storylines get content warnings in the beginning, so they’re not just sprung on readers.
Well. You may like this comic!
The premise: Sir Thorn is a magic knight assigned to guard a foreign embassy where he meets (and falls in love with) Leif, a gardener working for said embassy. It gets complicated from there.
It is ongoing, with a new page every day (main plot on weekdays, bonus art and shorter side stories on weekends). The entire main archive is available online. There are Patreon-locked side stories and more NSFW comics, but they're nice extras, not an obligatory part of the experience.
The comic has a large ensemble cast, most of whom get some time in the spotlight (and the majority of whom are queer). It’s mostly a lighthearted comedy, but does not shy away from the darker moments – some of the characters are in very unpleasant situations or have pretty fucked up pasts. Darker storylines get content warnings in the beginning, so they’re not just sprung on readers.
Why should I read it?
Do you enjoy some combo of- earnest and smart knights,
- queer romance,
- magitech fantasy world,
- people trying very hard to communicate across language barriers and massively different starting assumptions,
- iron woobies with awful pasts,
- mysterious secret agents pursuing mysterious secret agendas,
- extremely hate-able vampires in the background,
- worldbuilding that’s a combo of “because that’s cool” and well-reasoned (magical girls and knights with Utena-style magical heartswords are both reasonable career choices in this world; and the author certainly has thought about its influence on the society over the centuries),
- occasional pointed social commentary (Sønheim is shown to share some of the United States’ more interesting viewpoints, and that is not a good thing)
Well. You may like this comic!
( characters with pictures + a little about the plot )
Manga Primer: Mother Keeper
Mar. 28th, 2022 01:49 pmmarinehaddockLinks
Volumes 1-3 (Official Translation) | Mangadex | Sense Scans | Official Manga from Kaili Sorano
Mother Keeper
Mother Keeper by Kaili Sorano was a shounen manga running from 2005 until 2014. While the series was technically localised, the localisation was digital-only and at a time when that wasn't something typical of the manga industry. It was also shortly before the company shut down for good, with only 3 volumes having been translated and released. IP rights for series that were hosted on the service have a rather complex goings-on that make it difficult to know how rights will progress in the future.
( Wait, go back to how I read this )
( Content Warnings )
( What's The Story? )
( Cast! )
( Some Notes )
( I Get Into Fandom For Shipping And That's Okay )
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I am so desperately lonely in this fandom, so please talk to me about it.
大唐女法医 | Miss Truth (TV)
Mar. 15th, 2022 10:45 amcorvidology
NOTE: If you're into Korean Pop, you may recognize Zhou Jie Qiong in the middle here, who under the name Kyulkyung performed in I.O.I, Pristin and Pristin V and possibly some other groups.
It's 36 x 45 minute episodes and is available on youtube and Amazon Prime (included in subscription). It's also available on some iterations of Netflix and Dailymotion though you have to track down the individual episodes on DM.
Miss Truth centres around Ran Yan (Zhou Jie Qiong), a Tang Dynasty (yes, you read that right) forensic coroner. Disowned by her family in childhood as a jinx who brought about her mother's death (she grew up in a house in the yard of her parent's house), she was informally adopted by a coroner who taught her everything he knew. Her focus is on finding her mother's body so she can find clues to who murdered her. However, her family has decided it's now time to marry her off in a fashion appropriate to her family's station in life. Needless to say, she's against this idea. :D
That proposed marriage, however, is definitely the 'B' plot. The 'A' plot is totally focused on solving a series of mysteries some of which link into a far bigger mystery although not all of them. The Ancient China forensic work is fascinating and the mysteries have a nice complexity to them without the series cheating us out of the necessary clues. Also, there are various subplots of shenanigans involving different groups.
I'd have to say the first half is stronger than the second half after a location change but it's still one of my favourite Cdramas. :D
( More truths, more piccies and a trailer under here )
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