miss_ingno: portrait by Jacey Chase (portrait)
Life & Health
CW for Health IssuesSo I and my family caught covid for the first time this Christmas. We've managed to avoid it until now by being extra cautious. The symptoms are mild to moderate, but I'm worried about how this'll interact with Mom's and my MCAS in the long run. Worse, my grandparents caught it from us over the holidays, and they're not in the best of health even without this virus on top. It's made for a pretty subdued Christmas overall. At least we had the positive rapid test before we went to visit my newborn niece over the holidays? Though my aunt made questionable decisions in that regard just because she was symptom-free (Without testing. Ugh. I love my family but sometimes you just gotta disagree with their choices.)

My parents, my brother and I have taken turns taking care of each other, so it's not the worst way to spend Christmas. But I don't like being sick, I've caught enough flus and viruses in 2023. Here's hoping 2024 will be better.

Exchanges
Due to above mentioned health issues, I haven't made it far through the Yuletide collection, and I doubt I'll have time to make a rec post before the new year. There's a couple tabs I've got open with interesting looking fics, though, like the Time Engraver one or the Detective L one!

My gift was pretty awesome, someone took me up on the Jet Rocks Lives Instead Of Ruby AU prompt for Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy. It makes for a good character study by seeing how the interactions between Saccharina and Jet differ from Saccharina and Ruby's canon drama! I'm curious who my creator is, this is the second awesome D20 fic I got in exchanges recently :D

crumbs enough for everyone, D20: A Crown of Candy, Saccharina & Jet sibling bonding, rated T, 7k

I've also signed up for [community profile] rarefemslashex and I'm pretty happy with my assignment! I got some ideas where to go with it, I'm going to sleep on them and see which one crystallizes.

Watching
Being sick always lends itself to binge-watching random stuff I hadn't considered before! Most of it was spend on catching up on Ninja Warrior Germany 2023, ngl, and I did the traditional family group watch of godawful reality tv dating shows. But I also spend some time catching up on Netflix.

One Piece (Live Action)I've got mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it's another nostalgia show and that wins it a lot of bonus points. On the other, both the manga and anime did it a lot better and with more emotional impact.

The streamlining in this one just didn't work for me, the pacing was way off. I get that they were trying to stuff as much crew-get-together into this with as many backstories as possible, and I don't fault it for that, but it hobbled the pacing something awful. The animanga starts slow and ramps up over time, whereas the Netflix show is much more constrained. And even then they spent a ludicruous amount of time on the stupid Marines subplot and ngl that just left me exasperated. They kept mixing up the message of what the Marines were supposed to stand for to the point I got whiplash inside the scenes. While I agree that Luffy's relationship to his grandpa is interesting, it just felt weirdly hamfisted and incongruous with the Shanks backstory. That's not even mentioning Ace and how he fits in! By giving Garp so much weight in the story, it felt like it muddled the actual message of the animanga and what Luffy stands for, especially since it needed to keep Garp vaguely sympathetic. If Garp is the authority Luffy is rebelling against, making him a sympathetic antagonist with wildly inconsistent messaging is... not the best choice. I appreciate the idea of Garp's character, but it just doesn't work, and imo it ruins Kobe's arc, too. Because Kobe is the good marine within a corrupted system - Luffy's counterpart in many ways, because Luffy is a Good Pirate amongst many Bad Pirates. And all of those great themes and comparisons were usurped because Luffy's grandpa was throwing a tantrum.

While I'm glad they cut Don Krieg's appearance short (he's such a borigng villain), I feel like the show didn't pull off the Baratie arc nor the Arlong Park arc. The cooks got too little screentime, especially for their relationship building with Sanji, and that undercut the emotional tension of Sanji leaving the Baratie behind to pursue his dreams. His fighting with Zeff also felt like it pulled the punches compared to the animanga. The whole "You should go." "Fine!" "Fine!" barely scratched the surface of their complicated relationship and made Sanji the weakest of the crew characters introduced, imo. And Arlong being suddenly interested in Luffy just because Buggy mentioned him bugged me. I don't recall it going that way in the anime/manga. Luffy should be beneath Arlong's notice until he shows up to punch his face in, but in an attempt to raise the stakes, Netflix had him attack the Baratie and it just doesn't work for me. Maybe if they'd cut out the Marines subplot, they would've had time for Nami's betrayal and fleshing out the tension and fights. The way it happened, Arlong didn't feel particularly dangerous, just another in a long row of minor villains.

Though I have to say, the show did a good job of highlighting the kindness of each crew member and how Luffy notices and values that trait. It's the most important theme of the Straw Hat Pirates, and that's one message the show managed to nail. They did surprisingly good with the outfits and crew banter, too - I wish we'd gotten more of those quiet crew moments, those were A+ - and the CGI and creature customes worked really well. They sold me on those fishmen being weird half-fish creatures rather than cosplay, e.g.

Yu Yu Hakusho (Live Action)It's been ages since I read the manga, but watching this felt like it absolutely nailed everything: the characters, the plot, the vibe. I guessed that it had been streamlined from the common shonen animanga meandering in early episodes, and I thought they did a great job of tying the first season together into one singular plot. The one change I could tell immediately was the whole escaped demon insect thingie, to give us stakes quicker, but I thought it was all really well done.

And then I went to watch (rewatch? I cannot for the life of me remember if I ever watched the anime. I know I prefered reading the manga back then, but fuck if I can recall) some of the relevant anime episodes and I was blown away by how much unnecessary detritus they cut out. The Netflix series did a great job setting Yusuke up as a reasonably misunderstood but well-intentioned protagonist, and I'm *relieved* that they skipped over the typical shonen anime comedy of up-skirt shots and female violent responses. Making Keiko and Yusuke childhood friends and centering that relationship worked much better than having Keiko be the class president in charge of Yusuke.

And despite all the changes, they stuck surprisingly close to the original canon, as far as I can tell. The major shift was a fantastic bait-and-switch in having the bad guys pretend to be Hiei when kidnapping Keiko, rather than have Hiei actually kidnap Keiko. It set up Hiei with a different start to his character, but I am honestly glad they skipped the villain-demon characterisation for the more emotional stakes and motivations of a kidnapped Yukina. Imo, that did a lot to smooth the early team-up, and changing the dark sword into a way for Hiei to gain his abilities rather than turn humans into demons was a clever choice. It makes sense to streamline the story like this and it worked really well for me! The Hiei we see here resembles his later incarnation in the manga more than his earlier, what with being more of an anti-hero.

The one thing about the Three Thieves mini arc that could've used another draft was the explanations (or lack thereof) of those three teaming up to steal the artefacts from escaped yokai (???) that were supposed to be Yusuke's next enemies. Nice way to raise the stakes, I guess, but it just falls apart the moment you take a closer look and doesn't do shit all to explain what the items are and why they're so dangerous to be lose in the human world (aside from Goki's orb, they do a good job showing that). Unlike the rest of the plot, that all just felt to be very out of nowhere.

My major complaint is that they did done dirty to poor Kurama with those wigs, both of them lack the proper flair Kurama deserves. Mostly it's in the bangs, imo, the straight fringe just does *nothing* for him. At least make it an uneven or fluffed up fringe!

And a minor complaint, I honestly would've preferred if they'd dropped the pacifier. Koenma's actor is hot af and I get the comedy value and wanting to stick close to the source material, but c'mon. Just let him be a hot teen, it's not like Enma-sama was even mentioned as plot pressure and thus irrelevant.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with this reimagining of a favourite old fandom. Maybe it's nostalgia goggles, but it was fun to watch old, beloved characters go on adventures again. The CGI was decent, too, and the plot and stakes surprisingly emotional for what I mostly fondly remember as a fight-centric manga with interesting characters.

Grimm (re)Watch with [personal profile] trobadoraIt's still fun! We're getting into the Hexenbiest!Juliette arc now and I'm very excited to see how that goes (and how things go wrong for Nick/Juliette). I love Theresa, she's a fun apprentice character. Sean's mother was a nice surprise, too, I love how Renard is such a momma's boy :D I'm sad she had to go again, though I understand the plot reasons, she was fun in how she interacted with everyone. The Wesenrein subplot is scary but fascinating for worldbuilding, poor Monroe and Rosalee deserve better. I wish they'd handled Adalind better, and I can't believe the show runners chose to ship her with Nick later, like wtf. After all these lies they told her about who took her baby and all the gaslighting that's happening and honestly they all handle that baby subplot horribly, no wonder Adalind blows up at them. (Not that Adalind is a cinnamon roll herself, I get why they distrust her, but jeez. The show runners clearly present our protagonists being in the right and so clever for doing it this way, I'm flabberghasted.)
miss_ingno: Dreamcatcher's Sua from BEcause, holding a white mask (Dreamcatcher)
Open to Treats, including different mediums <3

General DNWs: breaking up requested ships, genderswap, anything related to cannibalism, body horror, graphic gore, zombies/undead, hanahaki, sickfic, permanent character death for requested characters (Deja Vu excepted), mundane AUs, de-aging, incest;
nsfw DNWs: underage-under 16, watersports, scat, vore, sounding, enemas, fisting, ageplay, crossdressing, injured sex

General Likes:
  • what ifs/canon divergences, alternate identity reveal, time travel (fix-it), canon aus where the canon setting remains,
  • fluff, domesticity, banter, found family, family dynamics, friendship, developing & established relationships, intimacy,
  • UST, misunderstandings, miscommunication, character conflict, conflict-rich dialogue, (emotional) hurt/comfort, secret identity, secrets and the slow reveals thereof,
  • fealty & loyalty, devotion, protectiveness, protective possessiveness, mutual possessiveness, (public) claiming of some sort (jewelry, bitemarks, verbal, etc.)
  • characters being competent at their jobs, Battle Couple, teamwork, nonverbal strategy communication,
  • casefic, canon-style plots, mystery, action/adventure,
  • outsider PoV, first/second PoV, epistolary, multimedia and experimental formats (fictional socmed, letters, snippets from history books, text books, mission reports, etc.) that fit the canon setting
  • The intimacy of your lover being able to kill you but choosing not to: knife to the throat (for shaving or during a fight enemies-to-lovers style), human!partner being vulnerable in monster!partner's grasp, strong person who trusts no one being vulnerable with their partner, etc.

NSFW Likes: D/s, bondage, begging, enthusiastic consent, undernegotiated kink, kink negotiations, dirty talk, praise kink, happy sex/banter during sex, clothed sex, foreplay, aftercare, plot-relevant sex

Granting You A Dreamlike Life

Fandom-specific DNWs: The spy plot towards the end of the series, please pretend none if it happened. Also, the (imo unearned) canon redemption of Xu Xingcheng, Hong dad, Lin dad, Duan Tianci, and Hong Family's 3iC (tho I'm open to fic exploring potential redemptions where they actually make up for their wrongs)

Character Subsets: feel free to write about just two of these characters or all three together, I'm interested in each dynamic between the three of them.

Ships: I enjoy Luo Fusheng and Duan Tianying's relationship both platonically, romantically, or in an in-between state (one-sided unrequited pining and awkwardness included). For Luo Fusheng and Hong Lan, I generally prefer for Hong Lan's crush to remain unrequited and her to grow out of that level of selfish egocentrism - but I'm open to being convinced what a more matured, experienced Hong Lan might bring into a relationship and how that dynamic might evolve :) For Hong Lan and Tianying, I enjoy them as both enemies-to-rivals or enemies-to-friends. Open to femslash vibes, as long as Hong Lan's terrible actions against Tianying within canon are dealt with somehow (an aside of her having grown up and apologized or otherwise made up for it would suffice, tho <3). All three of them together as a triad could be fun, too!

Duan Tianying/&Luo FushengI enjoy Luo Fusheng and Duan Tianying’s developing relationship, how they grow from the early misunderstandings and mistakes into each other’s greatest support. Having to work through the early mistakes and assumptions they made leads to a sturdier basis for their subsequent romantic relationship, imo. Tianying starts with understandable misgivings about Luo Fusheng and his job as a mafia enforcer, she takes him at the mask he presents to the world and has to learn how to peel those layers back. Luo Fusheng, meanwhile, is someone who will put everyone he cares about before himself, he will give everything he has and more to make the people in his life happy, but hides this behind a cavalier mask. Tianying is good for him, imo, because she sees beyond his pretense and can take care of the injured soul behind the mask, and Luo Fusheng can support her loyally and unequivocally without ever worrying about her letting him fall (unlike everyone else in his life :/) I love that her voice can bring him enough peace to fall asleep without nightmares, and that he's always willing to protect her.

And let's not kid ourselves, Luo Fusheng is a service sub and Duan Tianying would rise perfectly to the occasion of being his kind mistress.

Duan Tianying & Hong LanI like the rivalry between Hong Lan and Tianying. I would love for them to develop a friendship from there, or at least an appreciation and understanding. I like how condescending Hong Lan is, how much she abuses her power over Tianying, especially when she’s later forced to acknowledge Tianying after the Lin Ruomeng reveal as an equal. I would love something that focusses on Hong Lan’s character growth in this area, growing out of her selfish love for LFS and recognizing that LFS deserves happiness, even if it isn’t with her.
Similarly, I would love any fic that focusses on Hong Lan growing into and taking responsibility as the head of the Hong family after her father’s death, and how that affects her relationship to Tianying/Luo Fusheng. E.g. taking LFS back in as second-in-command and giving her blessing for him to marry Lin Ruomeng – what would lead her to something like that?

Luo Fusheng & Hong LanI like the complicated relationship between these two. Having grown up as childhood friends, but with the inherent power imbalance of Luo Fusheng being slightly older, yet subserviant to the Hong family, while Hong Lan is the precious daughter of the family head... nevermind Hong Lan's crush on Luo Fusheng and her selfish desire to own him, disregarding his feelings on the matter entirely, even as she is engaged to his then-best friend. Luo Fusheng never considers her as more than a sister he loves to spoil during canon, and this clearly frustrates her when she wants to be seen as a grown-up woman in her own right. All the more frustrating when she figures out that Luo Fusheng is crushing on Duan Tianying, a nobody (or so everybody thinks at first) who also has her fiancé wrapped around her little finger (not that Hong Lan minds about that, she has zero interest in marrying Xu Xingcheng).

I would love for the relationship between LFS und Hong Lan, whether platonic or romantic, to develop further from where the show left off. Hong Lan growing up, taking responsibility for her family after her father's death and learning to lead, learning to consider other people's needs - and Luo Fusheng, loyal Luo Fusheng, respecting her as the family head and helping her keep the family afloat and through these new dynamic realizing she's grown up from the little girl she once was (probably helped by the fact that she's no longer focussed day-in day-out in convincing him to date her).


Prompts:
  • I love how Luo Fusheng/Tianying's relationship is one of mutual care and respect and protectiveness, especially in contrast to their relationship with other characters (especially for LFS, who is always there for everyone else in his life, but none of them are there for him, especially Lin Qikai and Xu Xingcheng)

  • How do Luo Fusheng and Tianying square their respective morals with LFS's job as top enforcer of the Hong family? Tianying scolds him several times in canon, but I would love to see how she can keep her morality and yet learn to accept why LFS is loyal to his mob family, how he does his best to keep his people safe and protect the weak. Possibly with Tianying realizing that the world is more than black and white along the way.

  • Hong Lan & Tianying's hate-rivalvry slowly turning into a friendship
  • Hong Lan growing into her Head of the Hong family responsibilities

  • Tianying kicking martial ass/Battle Couple with Luo Fusheng. Maybe some rival mafia decided Luo Fusheng's girlfriend would be an easy hostage to force his hand, but she ends up rescuing herself/LFS only shows up as she's already kicking ass.
  • Hong Lan growing out of her crush for LFS or at least learning to take his needs into account (the latter ideally in a LFS/DTY/HL OT3 way)


Deja Vu by Dreamcatcher (MV)

link to canon - 3:46 minutes MV

Fandom-specific DNWs: using the Real People's full names, please stick to either stage names (Yoohyeon and Jiu respectively) for the characters or a title (e.g. The Betrayer and The Princess)

Character Subsets: While I want to have both characters featured, I'm fine with one of them being already dead at the hand of the other character.

Character Guide
  • Yoohyeon Yoohyeon in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu" Yoohyeon in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu"
  • Jiu Jiu in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu"
  • Sua Sua in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu" - Siyeon Siyeon in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu" - Dami Dami in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu" - Handong Handong in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu" - Gahyeon Gahyeno in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu"
  • The two timelines: the one in which Jiu kills Yoohyeon First timeline? in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu"
    the one in which Yoohyeon kills Jiu second timeline in Dreamcatcher's MV "Deja Vu"


While my own interpretation shines through here, I'm interested in other people's interpretations, too! What stood out to you in the MV? What vibe did the characters give you? What sense of the world they inhabit?

Prompts:
  • What if Yoohyeon and/or Jiu are stuck in a time loop, forced to kill the other or be killed until they find a way to break the cycle?

  • What if it's Jiu having the Deja Vu experience of having killed Yoohyeon and that's why she drops the sword during the second timeline?

  • What if the first timeline is all in Yoohyeon's head, nightmares and paranoia of secret hints of a conspiracy... What if Jiu's secretly planning to propose to Yoohyeon, and Yoohyeon only learns of it with Jiu's blood cooling on her hands?

  • What if these are two separate timelines with a role reversal? What happens if Jiu and Yoohyeon meet their alternate selves?
  • Something based on the lyrics: As long as I can breathe/I can’t let go of you again/We'll be together for every moment and/or Even if I bet all of me for you/And the painful wounds deepen/As though every moment is a dream/I won't move away from you — to me, these lines read as if one timeline happened, and the person remembering (Jiu? Is this why she drops the sword?) cannot go through the same again, clinging to the other no matter how much the other hurts the one who remembers


Vision by Dreamcatcher (MV)

link to canon - 3:10 minutes MV, link to prequel - 3:09 minutes MV, link to sequel - 3:33 minutes MV

Fandom-specific DNWs: detailed descriptions of body modifications (mentions & plot relevance is okay, just don't get graphic about the biology or how it's integrated), using the Real People's full names, please stick to stage names for the characters!

Character Subsets: Any combinations or solo

Character Guide
  • Jiu Jiu from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" leader, pink lightning
  • Sua Sua from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with black crown and clouds/sky, red-orange-green lightning
  • Siyeon Siyeon from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with victory pose/statue, pink lightning
  • Handong Handong from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with red flowers and flag-bearing
  • Gahyeon Gahyeon from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with flag-bearing and seeing double, pink lightning
  • Yoohyeon Yoohyeon from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with thunder (members only gain lightning abilities after she calls it down), blue lightning
  • Dami Dami from Dreamcatcher's Music Video "Vision" associated with technology and surveillance


While my own interpretation shines through here, I'm interested in other people's interpretations, too! What stood out to you in the MV? What vibe did the characters give you? What sense of the world they inhabit?

Prompts:
  • Is Dami an antagonist? Or is she on the side of the group? She launches that energy shield to cover the Earth, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? In the Maison behind the scenes, Dami speculated about her character being a double agent - which side does she fall on, in the end? Is she betraying the group or the evil corporations?
  • Yoohyeon and Sua seem to be distant from the other members in some way - they seem to me as if they represent supernatural forces/are goddesses of some kind. We see Sua in the pink clouds to start with, and then she "comes down to earth" in her next scene. Yoohyeon is visually distinct from the rest of the group, the only one in blue and with very different style of clothing, and she's the one to call down thunder, possibly giving everyone else their lightning powers.
  • On that note, the ones fighting (in what to me looks like some sort of reator core?) are Yoohyeon, Jiu, Siyeon, Gahyeon, and Sua; but not Handong nor Dami. Possibly because they are fighting Dami, if she's the villain.
  • In light of the sequel Bon Voyage in which Sua escapes from a Facility TM (with notably Siyeon's help) I can't stop thinking of them going into the reactor in Vision to purify the contaminated goddesses. Especially since Sua is presented with a black crown on red clouds, and there's a lot of green poisonous fog all around, she always struck me as an avatar of Pestilence or Pollution. An exploration of their fight to get inside the facilities and/or the process of purification would be A++


Dimension 20: A Crown Of Candy

Fandom-specific DNW: shipfic, focus on Cumulous Rocks and his whole order

Character Subsets: Saccharina & Amethar, Solo Saccharina, Saccharina with other Rock family members, or Amethar with other Rock family members and/or Cruller

SaccharinaSaccharina's backstory is a tragedy, and her introduction to the Rocks Family even more tragic: she shows up in time to be their solution, to replace their heir - and with their grief over Jet's recent death, it's the worst possible time. Saccharina of course has no agency over this fact, and in rubbing her blood family wrong, she loses the last hope she has to build proper bonds with them. I find the final decision she and Ruby had to make, whether or not to kill each other, incredibly satisfying in how close a shave it was. Things went nearly catastrophically wrong, but in the end, Saccharina has a chance to prove herself and build those bonds over time after all.

Jet & Ruby (& Saccharina)The twins are a fascinating character study of irresponsibility, growing up in comfort and freedom. They enter the political sphere of Calorum naive and unprepared and have to grow up fast when their dad is nearly killed. It's interesting how there's never any jealousy between them about Jet being the heir, but once Jet dies, Ruby has trouble accepting Saccharina in her place. Ruby's feelings on Saccharina are imo guided by how Saccharina is a mirror of both twins: the heir, the responsible one, the leader - but also the sorceress, with a skillset very similar to Ruby's.

I'd like to think that Jet would've reacted differently, if still feeling an initial thrust of rejection because of how similar Saccharina is to Ruby on the surface. But Jet doesn't want to be the heir, necessarily, she just has no choice. So when Saccharina comes along, there's suddenly another option. It would be fascinating to work out how Jet handles this - does competition for the crown suddenly make her want it? Or does relief that this might save their people overwhelm her? Jet also has a slightly different relationship to Amethar, so how does she feel about there being a love child? She wouldn't doubt his love for her, I don't think, but Jet puts a lot of weight on Amethar's feelings.

Amethar & CaramelindaI love the twisted web that is the relationships within this royal family. Amethar, the spare who was never meant to rule, ends up king in the aftermath of the tragedy of his sisters' death and is very uncomfortable in that role, only coming to life when it's back on the battlefield for him. Amethar, who married the love of his life and then never managed to find her again, forced into a political marriage with his sister's wife. Like, speaking of awkward.

Caramelinda was in love with Lazuli, but forced to marry Amethar after the war, and then forced to take on the reins of the kingdom by herself in the face of his incompetence. But at the same time, there are hints that while Lazuli loved her just as deeply, she was constantly distracted by the time stream she had access to, juggling multiple hot potatoes at once, regardless if past, present, or future. What is it like, to be in a relationship with someone like that, whose projects take priority?


Prompts:
  • Canon AU in which Amethar's Sister(s) lived. How does it change the war? How does it change Amethar's happiness? Does he get his happy ending with the Dairy Maid and raises Saccharina in the castle? What if Lazuli doesn't survive, who has to marry Caramelinda?
  • Saccharina gets found in the nunnery/orphanage and brought to Castle Candy as a child. How does everyone react to her? How does Amethar deal with a secret love child but his lover still gone and probably dead? How do the political problems shake out (and how does Cruller take advantage of this twist)?
  • What if Ruby dies instead of Jet and Jet gets to meet her crazy talented witch half-sister that reminds her of her lost twin so much? How does she handle a new claimant to the throne when she only recently decided to take being heir seriously?
  • Post-Canon fic in which Amethar reaches out to Saccharina and tries to bridge the gap between them. Saccharina using political excuses to avoid or force meetings with her dad, still yearning for acceptance and love but burned by the family's initial reaction?

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miss_ingno: chibi!Missy by squigglysky (Default)
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