Luomen: it was a great idea to tell those guys to kidnap MaoMao and send her to the imperial palace bc I was really worry about her - her being obsessed with poison and stuff and living in that kind of environment, I prefer her to work as a maid instead as prostitute.
Emperor and Jinshi, thinking: *don't wanna have the La clan as enemies*
Lakan, Lahan and MaoMao, thinking: *Luomen is the BEST!!!!!!*
This was something I imagined at the end of the show. It could have been cool if all the kidnapping thing was Luomen's plot to take her away from working as prostitute and at the end he was kinda the cupid who made both Jinshi and MaoMao being together
hey so i REALLY wanted to get to writing after that trailer.
nsfw below...
"aww, look at you. cat got your tongue?" lohen spoke condescendingly, slowly circling around your figure which was currently bound tightly to a wooden chair.
attempting to free yourself from the ropes by squirming around, you threw a sneer at his direction, "let me go, you bastard...!" he chuckled mockingly with a smile, "ah, ah, no can do, bunny." lohen stopped behind your form to lean down, "not unless you tell me where it is." his breath suddenly hitting your ear made you shiver with unfortunate delight, causing you to stutter, "w-what are you t-" he suddenly cut you off.
"you know what i'm talking about," he said, voice echoing ominously throughout the room as he sauntered over to the table, picking up a gun and twirling it around his finger.
"how about this? what if we play a niiiice, fun game?" he slowly walks over, stopping directly in front of you to drag the gun across your body in such a teasing manner—fuck, now's really not the time to be getting horny over this, but you just can't help it. the fear of what he might do had you frozen, shuddering in anticipation and slight want, no matter how shameful it felt.
you glared up at him when he tucked the barrel of the gun under your chin to tilt your head up. "hmm, a game of russian roulette, perhaps? you seem to be enjoying yourself, even while tied up and held at gunpoint," he scoffs with a mean grin, "you're such a dirty whore."
all you could do was stare to the side with embarrassment from his words that made your cheeks flush dark—you'd rather die than admit to the vice captain how you were enjoying this, but there's really no point if he's aware anyway.
"come on," lohen spoke, nudging the barrel towards the corner of your mouth, "open up. unless you want me to force that mouth of yours open." your eyes widened in disbelief and slight fear—this fucker really wasn't joking. reluctantly, you opened your mouth, giving small kitten licks as your senses were immediately flooded with the taste of iron.
"thaaat's it. get it all nice and wet for me," he drawled. a muffled whimper escaped your mouth as lohen suddenly shoved the gun deeper into your mouth, causing you to choke until he swiftly pulled it back out. the barrel glistened with your saliva and he paused for a moment to observe it. "ugh—you fucking freak," you spat out, a small line of drool dribbling from your lips.
"i'm the freak? have you even seen yourself? i bet you're sopping fucking wet down there," lohen giggles, reaching down to palm at your crotch. suddenly, he brings out his dagger to slice open your trousers, leaving you practically exposed for him to see. "h-hey, wait—!"
"oh? looks like all that bravado of yours is gone," lohen brings the gun towards your throbbing cunt, slowly dragging it up and down to coat it with your slick. before you knew it, he slowly inserts it into your wet hole, groaning as he heard a soft 'squelch.' letting out a loud moan, all you could do was babble incoherent words as you stared down at his hand in slight fear, yet excitement all at once—this entire situation was absolutely incredulous to you, though it's not like you could really think straight at the moment.
"oh, fuck! look at you, coming undone just from this? you really are some pathetic, dirty animal" he coos, quickly picking up the pace of his pumping hand as he berated you. "come on, i know you're close. cum for me, bunny," you threw your head back, immediately releasing all over the barrel as you let out a dragged whine, and all the shame of what just occurred flooded your brain.
all the thoughts left your head as you heard a sudden click. he turned the safety off.
there's no way. there's absolutely no fucking way. you glanced up to see a sadistic expression and a crazed grin on his face. "wait- wait, you wouldn't, please—"
"you've got a one in six chance, bunny. how good's your luck, hmm?" shutting your eyes closed, your soul practically left your body as—
click.
"hah. looks like you really did get lucky," he laughed loudly upon seeing you suddenly pass out. was it from the exhilaration? the fear? he'll find out soon enough, don't worry.
yeah so if anyone ever sees me tied up in a chair with lohen holding me at gunpoint do NOT help me im genuinely where i want to be. Please i know its been hours sicne his trailer released but im still not over it
"Taryn doesn't deserve all the hate. Cardan was way worse". Taryn absolutely deserves the hate. It was never about Locke. Nobody blames her for falling for his games. It's the fact she willingly let Jude take all the torture and blame for the wrong SHE (Taryn) did. That she chose a man over her own sister over and over again. And people compare that to Cardan's actions as if bullying some random classmate at school is worse than betraying your own sister. Jude knew fae are cruel. She knew Cardan was a terrible person and she couldn't trust him. She never even trusted Locke. She trusted Taryn tho. Over and over again despite everything.
Let me preface this by saying: I loved The Auction. Devoured it. Sobbed over it. Unironically saved quotes in my Notes app. So I went into Rose in Chains not just hopeful—but rooting for it. I wanted this book to succeed. I wanted to hold it in my hands and say, “Yes. This is the version we can all recommend to our non-fandom friends without a 30-minute lore explainer and a nervous laugh.”
Unfortunately… Rose in Chains is not that book.
Once I removed the scaffolding of The Auction, I realized there wasn’t much left to hold the story up. Briony and Toven are supposed to be our emotional core, but without the Harry Potter context (and all the character work that fanfic readers brought to the table), they’re more like shadows than people. Who are they, really? What are they fighting for? What do they want, besides each other and vague, sanitized notions of freedom?
The worldbuilding, too, felt like a faint sketch. The head vs. heart magic dichotomy could’ve been fascinating—but it’s never fleshed out. There’s no history, no ideology, no real reason they hate each other beyond “vibes.” It feels like the author was trying to come up with something far enough removed from the original IP, landed here, and is going to force it to work no matter what. In a story this dependent on its magical system, that lack of clarity is a dealbreaker.
When your two rival magical factions are not only schooled together but actively intermarrying as part of treaty negotiations, it kind of undercuts the whole point. I’m sorry, but “my parents don’t love your government” doesn’t exactly hit the same as “I was raised by genocidal purists who think your existence is a stain on magic.” In The Auction, the tension felt earned—the emotional stakes were centered around legacy and shame. Here, the backstory to the main plot doesn't hold its weight. No bloodshed, no real fear, just awkward political vibes. I never got the sense that Briony and Toven had truly risked anything to want each other, which made the central romance feel weirdly safe. For a book that was born from something so raw and high-stakes, that’s a major downgrade.
I was also stunned by how many emotional beats got introduced and then immediately deflated. There’s a subplot from the original fic that absolutely wrecked me, and I was excited when it was introduced into play in this version. Instead, it was dropped like a hot potato within the next few chapters, and I realized that it was entirely because a mainstream audience would likely be offput by the level of depravity the Death Eaters were up to in the original work. Where The Auction lingered in the ache, Rose in Chains skips right past it on the way to the next plot point.
And I get it—it’s an adaptation. It had to strip away the HP IP, rebrand the characters, and make the world new. But it didn’t replace the scaffolding it removed. It didn’t do the narrative heavy lifting to make Briony and Toven feel like full people instead of off-brand Dramione. The Auction was devastating and dark and unapologetic. Rose in Chains feels like it got sent through sensitivity edits and came out emotionally declawed.
To be clear: I’m not mad that it’s different. I’m disappointed it’s not better.
This book wanted to be epic. It wanted to be searing. But it pulled its punches, and what’s left is a beautiful idea that never quite makes it past the outline stage. I wanted to love this. But without the backbone of fanon, it just didn’t land.
I think the other problem I have with Rose in Chains is I am supposed to believe FL finds ML attractive when he’s hot yes, but he’s been non stop low key awful and bullying to her.
I know she’s a teen and teens have a lot of hormones but realistically, most people do not find people who continuously mistreat them attractive and appealing, however objectively good looking they may be.
It just doesn’t work. It is one thing if you were exes and now he’s a jerk (because you are clinging to past feelings or something) or even if you know some tragic thing about it so there is some pity or something. But if someone is low level non stop mean to you from the start and there is nothing else, I don’t care if he’s good looking, it ain’t gonna make sense for you to lust and desire. I mean maybe if you were shown to have serious psychological traumas which for some reason made this your baseline but not if this isn’t the case!
It makes me dislike both the ML who is a snobby jerk AND fl who makes no sense and does not respect herself.
Thank you!!! It really pisses me off that the ML is a jerk but because he is good-looking, it´s ok how he treats her and it tries to cover it as a dark and enygmatic character.
I think the other problem I have with Rose in Chains is I am supposed to believe FL finds ML attractive when he’s hot yes, but he’s been non stop low key awful and bullying to her.
I know she’s a teen and teens have a lot of hormones but realistically, most people do not find people who continuously mistreat them attractive and appealing, however objectively good looking they may be.
It just doesn’t work. It is one thing if you were exes and now he’s a jerk (because you are clinging to past feelings or something) or even if you know some tragic thing about it so there is some pity or something. But if someone is low level non stop mean to you from the start and there is nothing else, I don’t care if he’s good looking, it ain’t gonna make sense for you to lust and desire. I mean maybe if you were shown to have serious psychological traumas which for some reason made this your baseline but not if this isn’t the case!
It makes me dislike both the ML who is a snobby jerk AND fl who makes no sense and does not respect herself.
Let me preface this by saying: I loved The Auction. Devoured it. Sobbed over it. Unironically saved quotes in my Notes app. So I went into Rose in Chains not just hopeful—but rooting for it. I wanted this book to succeed. I wanted to hold it in my hands and say, “Yes. This is the version we can all recommend to our non-fandom friends without a 30-minute lore explainer and a nervous laugh.”
Unfortunately… Rose in Chains is not that book.
Once I removed the scaffolding of The Auction, I realized there wasn’t much left to hold the story up. Briony and Toven are supposed to be our emotional core, but without the Harry Potter context (and all the character work that fanfic readers brought to the table), they’re more like shadows than people. Who are they, really? What are they fighting for? What do they want, besides each other and vague, sanitized notions of freedom?
The worldbuilding, too, felt like a faint sketch. The head vs. heart magic dichotomy could’ve been fascinating—but it’s never fleshed out. There’s no history, no ideology, no real reason they hate each other beyond “vibes.” It feels like the author was trying to come up with something far enough removed from the original IP, landed here, and is going to force it to work no matter what. In a story this dependent on its magical system, that lack of clarity is a dealbreaker.
When your two rival magical factions are not only schooled together but actively intermarrying as part of treaty negotiations, it kind of undercuts the whole point. I’m sorry, but “my parents don’t love your government” doesn’t exactly hit the same as “I was raised by genocidal purists who think your existence is a stain on magic.” In The Auction, the tension felt earned—the emotional stakes were centered around legacy and shame. Here, the backstory to the main plot doesn't hold its weight. No bloodshed, no real fear, just awkward political vibes. I never got the sense that Briony and Toven had truly risked anything to want each other, which made the central romance feel weirdly safe. For a book that was born from something so raw and high-stakes, that’s a major downgrade.
I was also stunned by how many emotional beats got introduced and then immediately deflated. There’s a subplot from the original fic that absolutely wrecked me, and I was excited when it was introduced into play in this version. Instead, it was dropped like a hot potato within the next few chapters, and I realized that it was entirely because a mainstream audience would likely be offput by the level of depravity the Death Eaters were up to in the original work. Where The Auction lingered in the ache, Rose in Chains skips right past it on the way to the next plot point.
And I get it—it’s an adaptation. It had to strip away the HP IP, rebrand the characters, and make the world new. But it didn’t replace the scaffolding it removed. It didn’t do the narrative heavy lifting to make Briony and Toven feel like full people instead of off-brand Dramione. The Auction was devastating and dark and unapologetic. Rose in Chains feels like it got sent through sensitivity edits and came out emotionally declawed.
To be clear: I’m not mad that it’s different. I’m disappointed it’s not better.
This book wanted to be epic. It wanted to be searing. But it pulled its punches, and what’s left is a beautiful idea that never quite makes it past the outline stage. I wanted to love this. But without the backbone of fanon, it just didn’t land.
