#-with the ability to do what she wants. as that's kind of her motif from the start isn't it

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

ouh... mm unicorn fabby?? ouh... and um? earth pony solaris? 🥺? and erm um maybe even dragon zor? hello can anyone hear me hello

[sitp-recs]

i bet you've seen this one plenty of times before, but:

can you rec some drarry fics where jealousy is an important motif? it can be infidelity if they're an established couple, or just getting with someone else while the two of them are dancing around one another. would be great to see recs both where harry is jealous and where draco is jealous. i prefer a happy ending, but i'll be grateful either way.

since i'm here let me also say i admire what you do, your incredible ability to recall and sort through so many stories. this fandom is lucky to have you! <3

Hello friend! Thank you for the kind words, I really appreciate it ❤️ here are some fics centered on jealousy. I did a few other lists for this trope over the years, you can find them here, here and here.

Jealous Harry:

Hourglass Heart by @bixgirl1 (E, 5k)

It only happened once — depending on how Harry counted.

Utterly Yours by @lazywonderlvnd (E, 6.5k)

Draco gets back at Harry for his late nights as an Auror by flirting with the new Arithmancy professor. Harry's not usually the jealous type, but he has his moments.

Intention by @the-sinking-ship (E, 7k)

Harry really ought to listen to whatever Ron is saying, but it becomes impossible to focus when a familiar figure across the pub curls his fingers around another man’s tie. And when that man leans in with a wolfish smile, Harry sees red, and all he can think is mine.

on the divine agony of longing by @flimsi (E, 25k)

Speaking to Draco is like poking a beehive - and Harry is a glutton for punishment. In which Harry makes some serious blunders and then tries to fix it. Somehow.

Around You Moves by ignatiustrout (E, 29k)

Harry knew Draco was gay when he invited him to move in. He’s never had a problem with this. So why does he feel so weird about Draco bringing men home all of a sudden?

Two to Lie and One to Listen by @fluxweeed (E, 84k)

It’s weird when Hermione announces that she and Ron have broken up. It’s weirder when this is followed by the revelation that she’s already moved on—and the new object of her affections is Draco Malfoy.

this heaven of mud by @garagepaperback (E, 94k)

A love story told in two somewhat unreliable parts, over six years. Featuring secret shagging, to friends, to the 'how is it fair for someone to say your name like that' sort of friends, to, finally, someone you could call a home.

Grounds for Divorce by Tepre (E, 122k)

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

Jealous Draco:

Packing the Flat by marguerite_26 (E, 6k)

Months after their explosive break-up, Draco insists Harry return to their flat to remove his belongings.

Don't Stop It Before It Begins by mischieviolet (E, 19k)

“I don’t understand how this is of any concern to you, Malfoy,” Harry said, crossing his arms over his chest. Draco blinked at the use of his last name, something that Harry only used with him in jest these days. “I’m merely spending time with my Auror partner, who is from another country, and has no one here. I would do the same if it were you.” “It’s not me though, is it?” Draco all but shouted, unable to stop himself.

The Partner, The Rival and The Very Big Case by oceaxe (E, 24k)

When Harry and Nott are paired up to go undercover as fake boyfriends, Draco is disappointed not to get the assignment. It's just professional jealousy that's making him feel so upset. Obviously. He's engaged to be married to Astoria, after all.

(The Piece) I was Missing All Along by lauren3210 (E, 30k)

Draco and Harry have been flatmates and best friends for years, and Draco thinks life is just perfect that way. But when something comes along and threatens to take all that away, Draco has to decide what it is he really wants, and just how hard he's going to work to get it.

Make Me a Headline (I Want to Be That Bold) by @dictacontrion (E, 31k)

Draco never expected to see Harry doing that again. Especially with someone else, in a grainy photograph that's landed on his desk one Monday morning.

Nights With You by @the-sinking-ship (E, 58k)

Draco is mortified when moments prior to departing for the most anticipated destination wedding of the year, he is cruelly dumped. But when he learns that Harry Potter has, at long last, split with his horrible boyfriend, Draco is certain his luck has changed.

[xinnamonbun]

THE TOONTASTIC TEAM!: A Dandy's World Superhero AU

(designs for all mains minus pebbles under the cut, as well as a poll for which design is the best!)

Basics:

Lore:

Basically, (after practically dragging Dandy out) the toons escape garden view. Determined to try and leave their pain in the past. However after a freak "accident" with the elevator they unknowingly made the Twisteds free as well, and unknowingly unleashed them to the world. Dandy and friends NEED to fix this! But in order to do that they're going to need some, or a lot, of help from a human...or humanS.

How do superhero powers work/activate:

Powers and abilities vary from toon to toon, but I can give a more broad explanation as to how they work. We have toons, those are the ones that you are used to, Shelly, Astro, Vee, ECT. But on the other side of things we have hosts! Hosts are the humans that the toons briefly possess while defeating twisteds. Yes, in order to activate the superhuman abilities the toons must find their way into a hosts bloodstream and let their ichor dissolve in it making them become one. It's easiest to do this with an open wound, but as long as they can find their way into the body they can find their way into a bloodstream. So basically they get powers by letting the toons go into their blood.

(superhero designs below the cut!)

Delilah:

Personality:

Delilah is a very bubbly and happy human. If anything from the most negative emotion she feels is usually boredom because that's what she finds her world to be, so when Danny came into her life and all of a sudden there was danger yet excitement around every corner, it weirdly felt like she was made for this...

Design elements:

Very much wanted her normal look to all in all look pretty average. Her superhero form though? Angel motifs EVERYWHERE, Dandy views her as their savior, the one that's going to get them out of this mess. Also has colors that represent obviously all, but mainly the main toons.

Ability:

Unlike other heros, she can shape shift and form objects from her hands at will, which is useful for generating weapons on the spot. This ability definitely proves to be useful.

Luna:

Personality:

Luna is a pretty timid and shy girl but that definitely does not mean that she's calm. She's a pessimist in most situations always assuming the worst will happen. Despite this she is still very kind, to the point she was actually willing to let the toons stay with her and Delilah. (since her and Delilah are roommates)

Design Elements:

She has clothes on these simpler side but they still have a bit more spice. Her main color is black with blues. Now when it comes to her superhero form, lots of moon and star stuff. Also some ponchos since I didn't exactly want her walking around with a blanket-

Ability:

She has the ability to instantly make someone feel rejuvenated after a touch, (however this makes her tired) and she can also summon a bright blue star shaped shield to either protect her or ride on. This means that they are very good when others are around since it makes them able to fight longer, and the shield also acts as quick transport.

Ethan:

Personality:

All in all, Ethan comes off as quite narcissistic. Cuz he is. He constantly tells reminds himself that everybody loves him. His real job is being a faceless influencer, because of the ridicule and mockery he faced when he was younger, he was too embarrassed to show himself. Now he finally has the recognition that people from all over LOVE him, and yet not a single one of those souls even knows what he looks like.

Design Elements:

I tried to make their head more square like, but I think it's hard to tell. I also gave them glasses to really make them stand out, and I even gave him a prosthetic! First of all for the robot vibes and second of all to make sure he's even more self anxious about every atom in his body :) And with his superhero form I made sure to make it very sharp and extremely precise. Kinda gives super villain vibes but luckily that's just not him.

Ability:

Their sight is heightened tenfold, letting them spot twisteds from miles away. This lets heroes know ahead of time what exactly they're dealing with so that a proper plan can be made. Unfortunately for Echo, a lot of our heroes dive into issues head first and barely care to make a plan.

Copper:

Personality:

He is the definition of a himbo, and yet he was smart enough to get a degree to be a zookeeper. When it comes to birds specifically he's practically a Wikipedia, anything else though? And he's as dumb as a rock. Despite his hard exterior he has a heart of gold.

Design elements:

All in all he's pretty simple, lots of browns, but despite this he still has stories of his own to tell! As evident from all of his scars. Most of them are from animals and such but they each still carry a story a story that deserves to be heard. And as for his hero form, I definitely wanted to lean into the dinosaur theming. Tried my best to give him big claws, big hands, feet, ECT. Just to emphasize his size and strength.

Ability:

Despite all of their bulk, they can actually go much faster. By connecting with the ground, both mentally and physically, so they can practically soar across it. Eventually, once more of their power is harnessed, they can use their speed and strength to bring absurdly large chunks of the Earth with them, to either throw at an enemy, or move a large crowd quickly.

Summer:

Personality:

Summer is one happy gal! She loves being in the sun and being active! And of course she loves being with her best friend Cass! (Take two guesses who that is-) She originally comes from the farm life, however was disowned after an incident, and now lives in the city working at a restaurant. But none of this holds her back from still being happy and living her life! Hell it makes her stronger. But even despite that, with everything she's already lost, she can't afford to lose anymore, which unfortunately makes her very protective over the things and people she loves.

Design Elements:

I went for a more country vibe with her for reasons stated above, but also because I thought it made her look cute! She still got a contagious smile and freckles to resemble seeds. As well as sleeves that resemble upside down strawberries. And when it comes to her superhero form, I pretty much just tried to make it look like a knight. Her top priority is protecting the people she loves, that combined with her loyalty and chivalry, a knight only made sense!

Ability:

If she collects enough Ichor, she can use the Twisteds ichor, and use it as a substitute for any blood that might have been lost by friends. A very similar idea to Sprouts except they're probably aren't tapes lying around on the street- so she instead recycles old ichor to give her friends a nice boost. She also can see how someone's health is doing at the moment, since overprotectiveness is the trait they share the most.

Now for a question...

(thank you for bothering to read to the bottom, I'm planning at making heros for all the toons, so don't be afraid to recommend which I should do next, I'd LOVE to know who I should do next!)

Also I'm tagging the moots that let me ramble about this and saw some scrapped designs.

@halastar05 @pencilgutz @infinite-ticking-clock37 @spiritmander13 @aroaceweirdos101

[crossdressingdeath]

Davrin: So who will it be? 1. Harding leads the distraction. 2. Davrin leads the distraction.

Hm, yes, who do I want to send on this discreet mission to get behind enemy lines and distract our opponents while my team moves in? The trained scout who I know from DAI has been taking on tasks that require her to get behind enemy lines without getting caught for over a decade, or the Warden who every darkspawn in the place will immediately be able to sense and whose only justification for why he should go is "there will probably be darkspawn" (there will be darkspawn no matter which team he goes with)? Why the fuck would I send Davrin.

No seriously, I didn't know whoever I sent would die at this point (I knew something bad would happen but I managed to stay spoiler-free enough that I didn't know about the sacrifice), I wasn't choosing based on "who do you want to sacrifice" reasoning. Based purely on in-universe knowledge Harding is the better choice by a pretty significant margin. And that's not a knock against Davrin, to be clear! He's great at what he does! But stealth is Harding's forte in a way it really isn't Davrin's; basically this is a job for a rogue, not a warrior, and him being a Warden doesn't make up for that. If he's going to get sensed by any darkspawn present either way I'd much rather have him with me so I have a Warden at my back fighting Ghilan'nain; if I wanted to avoid him getting sensed by darkspawn entirely (which... I mean I kind of do, but his skills are more valuable than the team's ability to move undetected and it's not like Rook's team is particularly subtle once they get going anyway) I would've left him at the Lighthouse. Sending Harding as the distraction is just the smarter play.

Also Harding dying is more narratively satisfying to me, her arc and general demeanour suits that sacrifice way more than the "I choose to live" vibe of Davrin's arc and especially if you also sacrifice Neve Rook going into that final conflict having lost everyone who started this mission with them is delicious. It's wild to me that Davrin is even an option (he shouldn't be, and aside from any race-related reasoning I suspect part of the reason he is is that they wanted to kill a companion off but didn't want it to always be the same one—if only so that there wasn't one romance where the LI always dies, which would piss off anyone romancing them—and most of the others wouldn't be suited for the distraction mission at all or have nothing in their arc suggesting noble self-sacrifice, while Davrin at least has the Warden viewpoint pointing him towards that), but I really don't think the game is encouraging you to kill him like I've seen some people argue; I think it's very much encouraging you to kill Harding. She makes more sense to send as the distraction, her arc and dialogue bring up that "whatever it takes" motif way more than Davrin's do (Davrin's kind of has a strongly opposing theme of living and moving forward when you survive what should've been your final sacrifice; having him use this second lease on life to sacrifice himself again is just weak), the narrative impact of losing your first companion—the one you started this whole quest with! The only other person who travelled with Varric for any length of time!—is stronger than losing your fourth (fifth if you count Varric, but either way Davrin is very much middle of the pack in terms of order of acquisition), and Assan is a consideration; he absolutely isn't and shouldn't be the only reason to spare Davrin, but the fact remains that people really don't like seeing cute animals die even in fiction so knowing that Assan will die with Davrin will be an incentive to sacrifice Harding over him for a lot of people. Basically sorry Harding but I'm probably going to sacrifice you in every run where I don't romance you. It's just a stronger story.

[waffowo]

While Donna Noble will always be my favourite companion in NuWho, Clara will always be the most multi-faceted and complex (as of now). I think that a lot of divisiveness surrounding Clara stems from 5 common criticisms:

1. Clara’s characterisation in 7B and how Moffat treats her mostly as a mystery box first and character second.

2. The length of Clara’s tenure and how some may have been fatigued due to the many times “she should have left.”

3. The emphasis on Clara’s flaws in Series 8 and how it kind of paints her as unlikable over her Series 7B depiction as at least kind.

4. Clara’s departure in Hell Bent as something that ruins her ending in Face The Raven.

5. The belief of Clara as the most important character in the Doctors life inherently devaluing other companions.

I think while I can understand the reasons leading up to these criticisms, I also think that it does help to look back throughout the Moffat and RTD era as it does help explain a lot of these points imo.

Actually, the character Clara most prominently echoes is Rose. Rose, like Clara, helped the Doctor through a time of extreme emotional vulnerability (for 9th, Time War trauma) and developed a relationship of co-dependency with him (as 10th) which never really went away even after Doomsday. Clara had the luxury of time however, and has undergone more events with the Doctor (Impossible Girl, Trenzalore, 50th Anniversary etc) but also how 12th was undergoing an extreme identity crisis of figuring out whether he’s a good man post-Trenzalore and saving Gallifrey. Clara was the one who facilitated his character growth through the turbulence of the arc in instances like Dark Water, Death In Heaven, Mummy on The Orient Express, Kill The Moon, Last Christmas etc and would naturally result in the Doctor developing an extremely unhealthy reliance on Clara as being his “carer,” his anchor to being The Doctor (refer to her whole “Be A Doctor” spiel in the 50th Anniversary). Series 9 already heavily implied the Doctor’s willingness to engage with destructive measures by choosing to separate Clara and The Doctor almost every episode (Magicians Apprentice/Witch’s Familiar) as the stakes rose and cumulated in Face The Raven.

RTD has also once said when paying tribute to Moffat:

“And nestling at the heart of the show is Doctor Who's very own problem category, the Companion, a title inherently subordinate to the Man. Until Clara comes along!”

Imo, while poorly phrased, I think does also hit another nail on the head to explain how Clara can be so compelling to someone like me but also extremely polarising. RTD is talking less about the companion being “weaker” or “submissive” but how Clara is the NuWho companion that wishes to obliterate the boundaries between the power dynamic of companion/doctor. Series 8 for instances plays on the recurring motif of, “Do as you are told” which the Doctor firstly uses to threaten Clara to keep her safe. However, Clara actively retaliates by parroting the phrase back in an attempt to attain parity. This escalates to the events of Dark Water where she attempts to maintain control of her circumstances by forcing the Doctor to be on equal ground with her. What is so fascinating is that Clara while changing and emulating more of the Doctor’s heroism, she equally begins to absorb his flaws which intensify throughout Series 8-9. Clara becomes more deceitful, egotistical, reckless and cunning as she begins to become more and more like him. The means she lies to Danny, her ability to think more and more like him.

However, what people (fans and haters) also ignore is how nuanced the circumstances are. While Clara’s flaws become more heightened, it is also a fact that she wants to be like the Doctor because of his kindness and heroism. Episodes like Robots of Sherwood, Last Christmas or even Rings of Akhten reveal a lot about how Clara reveres the Doctor as a mythic and heroic figure. Clara’s attitudes towards the children in Forest Of The Night, Name Of The Doctor and Into The Dalek reveal that in spite of her ego and selfishness, she is someone who desires to help people. Thus, her desire to become the Doctor becomes more explainable. What a lot of people can’t really accept is that she can be both egotistical, reckless and kind at once. Her actions in Face The Raven were driven out of the fact that it came from a place of ignorance and impulsiveness (not stupidity, the Doctor would do something similar, it’s just that Clara did not have all the clues) in what she believed would be what the Doctor would do and that she was confident she could match the trickery of the Doctor, and yet it was also driven by her compassion towards Rigsby and her while impulsive, sincere desire to save her friend.

Clara is punished because of this, she forgets that she’s far too human. The Doctor is less breakable. She pays for it and as Ashildr says in Hell Bent:

“She died for who she was and who she loved. She fell where she stood. It was sad. And it was beautiful.”

She died due to her physical fragility, her ego, her ignorance, her impulsiveness/recklessness and yet she also died because she was too brave, she died like the Doctor, who she loved (literally look at how her arms were outstretched as though she was mid-regeneration and how the black smoke parallels the orange glow of regeneration). However, this leads to the fourth main criticism I prior stated, so how does one answer that in relation to her character?

The answer is what Clara does and what the Doctor says towards the end of Hell Bent. Clara after being extracted and is with the Doctor in the TARDIS, spies on him because she is instantly suspicious of his erratic behaviour. Again, Clara shows how much she has become like him, she immediately picks up that he is hiding something because she has begun to think like him. Of course, the Doctor was planning on wiping Clara’s memories similar to what he did to Donna. But what does Clara do? She immediately reverse the polarity of the device that the Doctor was going to use on her and challenges the Doctors actions. Clara states:

“Tomorrow’s promised to no one, Doctor. But I insist upon my past. I am entitled to that. It’s mine.”

Clara’s language indicates her assertiveness and also a kind of last hurrah in her game of parity. She is refusing to submit to the narrative of being reduced to merely a companion that the Doctor moves away from. But more importantly, the Doctor after pressing the device and is losing his memory, states:

“Run like hell because you always need to. Laugh at everything, because it’s always funny (…) Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends (…) Never eat pears. They’re too squishy. And they always make your chin wet. That one’s quite important. Write it down.”

I think on initial viewing when the show was airing, this wouldn’t make much sense but this really shows the crux of how Hell Bent completes Clara’s arc and the necessity of her resurrection. In Face The Raven, the Doctor tells Clara that she’s more breakable as she questions why she can’t be as reckless as him. However, now the Doctor is instead telling her what would later be repeated in Twice Upon A Time, his regeneration speech. In his eyes, Clara has succeeded in graduating from the Magicians Apprentice and into becoming the Magician herself. He’s instructing her how to properly be The Doctor. As I said, Clara was also motivated by her desire to be kind when she engaged in her reckless gambit but what is so wrong about the desire to be kind? And why should Clara be punished for it? Thus, while Clara MUST die, her final act of kindness at the end of her arc enables the Universe to allow for Clara’s final transformation into the Doctor.

Clara is still dead, it is an unchanged historical event. However, to challenge the status quo and allow for Clara’s ascension, Clara becomes a fairy tale herself. Her body is caught in a permanent form of stasis, signalling her departure from the limits of her physicality (subverting her physical fragility) but also as seen through her last words to the Doctor:

“You said memories become stories when we forget them. Maybe some of them become songs.”

Clara has successfully become what she admired, a myth, a fable. She has become a symbol in a story, a story that would go on to have an infinite number of other stories. She has become the leaf she raises to the monster in the Rings of Akhten, she sails off into narrative ambiguity but also infinity. Clara is so polarising because she challenges the definition of what it means to be The Doctor on a pure metatextual level. It’s a logical progression from the introspection of the question from the Doctor himself in Series 8. To want to resist, I argue, is natural.

I could explore further about her adrenaline addiction in Mummy On The Orient Express or these traits I raised explored in Flatline which I may do another day, but I hope I have provided a new perspective on Clara Oswald.

[realuity]

an entirely biased review of all of the original killers in dead by daylight

okay so I don‘r play DBD. frankly, I’d rather shuck myself like a cob of corn than subject myself to whatever nonsense rhe game’s playerbase is up to. the lore’s not my thing and some of the character choices make me wrinkle. but I like horror things and I have a vague understanding of how they play. and I have some opinions. so i’ll throw them here.

thsi only includes the original guys made for the game. no liscensed visitors! (If you are wondering though I like myers and pig for their gimmicks and xenomorph because I love women)

evan macmillian - the trapper

i am excruciatingly neutral on this guy. he is kind of John Killer, which makes sense for how much I dgaf, but still. his mask is cool as fuck, but his lore really doesn’t resonate with me. trapping is a fun gimmick but apparently he lends himself to a lot of campy playstyles, which doesn’t sound too fun. he just exists to me.

philip ojomo - the wraith

this guy’s just really downright miserable. he doesn’t even wanna be here. he just wants to work at a Denny’s and live alone with a cat or whatever. invisibility is neat and the big stupid bell ring for whenever he does it is really funny though. cool guy I just feel bad for his existence

max thompson jr - the hillbilly

iunno this guys concept and lore just rub me the wrong way. just feels tone-deaf. much like wraith i think we should just leave this guy alone and let him farm in peace. he’s had a rough go of it. letting him be just some normal guy would make everything feel less. ew.

sally smithson - the nurse

how does she see out of that thing.

jokes aside she’s another i don’t feel strongly about. apparently she’s pretty meta due to her teleportation shenanigans, but otherwise she doesn’t catch my eye. I’m sorry women

lisa sherwood - the hag

really strong design-wise. really neat looking fungus plant lady. another one that really doesn’t wanna be here. like holy hell ma’am. maybe she and billy can go grill things together away from killing people for a big spider demon. otherwise I’m neutral on her too.

herman carter - the doctor

oh YEAH baby. this guy’s my MAN. he’s a complete SHITHEAD and is TERRIBLE and he’s very fun to watch. Electroshock Andy over here is the giggliest guy on campus and has some really funny builds and gimmicks and is also unreasonably complicated. jumpscare doctor is so fucking funny plus electricity themes are cool even if it is the endlessly fucked up existence of electroshock therapy and military-funded abuse, but what is horror without being a little slice of messed up reality? I never want to go near this man in my life.

anna - the huntress

I like her!! she’s pretty and fucked up. i like predator/prey motifs and she’s got a nice voice. my fav thing about her is the existence of orbital huntress. hilarious as hell. you can just cross-map bean someone with a hatchet to their skull. fuck yeah.

jeffrey hawk - the clown

he’s not even the cunty jester or joyous giggler kind of clown. he’s a freako with a thing for fingers that drugs people. i don’t want to be anywhere near this man in my life. fun short film though. damn good horror villian I just. ewwwwwwwwww

rin yamaoka - the spirit

she should be allowed to kill people actually. literally just some kid as far as I know. i’d be pissed off too if my dad got so fucked over by a company that he started killing people. living in the scary dimension and stabbing people sounds like a way better time than that. saw someone cosplay her once at a convention too and that was pretty neat.

the legion

genuinely wonderfully funny concept. these lot are just some kids that kill people as a hobby. they have a logo and listen to mixtapes while doing it and all. they’re spy mains that think they’re hot shit. the title is unreasonably cool for what they are. the fact they just have to like lie down and take a moment to go wheeze after using their ability is great too. they forgot to pack an inhaler or four to the scary dimension

adiris - the plague

frankly unreasonably badass design. ancient mesopotamian preiest that just like.vomits on people. i'm not too invested in whatever she's up to religion-wise i just think the fact she horfs up blood as a projectile weapon is sick as fuck. the censer as a melee is cool too

kazan yamaoka - the oni

this is the spirits great great peepaw or something aparently. i do love the aestehtic of traditional japanese masks i just wish the mask here had the big ol' eyes and bigger teeth. he hits people with a big club too i guess. neutral on this bloke.

caleb quinn - the deathslinger

IRELAND MENTION LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

otherwise this is a sick guy. old freak who got fucked over by capitalism so hard he decided to build a gu and shoot people with a harpoon about it. plus he's a cowboy. consideirng my biggest interest right now is great god grove, i am predisposed to liking cowboy motifs. also he's really funny in the 2v8 gameplay ive seen you literally just go fishing

talbot grimes - the blight

his main gameplay loop involves ramming into walls like an idiot before hitting someone with a big stick. i guess thats what the infection from hollow knight does to a guy. my only other strong opinion is that they shuould make his rushing running scream be the scotland forever voice clip

charlotte n' victor deshayes - the twins

can this game be normal about facial differences for two fucking seconds . anyway te concept is neat i guess and i like how kicking the infant is so tempting within this game that theres apparently entire meme playstyles based aroud baiting people into kicking the baby, thus getting them out of position for you to go hit them with your scythe

ji-woon hak - the trickster

shame that yet another title that couldve been used for a cunty jester has been taken. oh well. at least we have this guy who's pretty neat. a whole thing based on the k-pop industry is a rlly oddball choice for a horror game, but i dunno i've heard that said industry can get pretty fucked and exploitative. also i like neon colours a lot. the whole bit with him making his synths out of samples of his victims which he goes on to put into his work is really neat i think. hes kinda just some guy though

carmina mora - the artist

alright. her design is really neat and i like all the ink and strong red and black colours and her weird claw hand she turns her hand into. but she is possibly the funniest design slip-up ever. she's chilean and from chile and her major thematic throughline is crows. apparently, chile is like, one of the only countries to not have crows in it. lmao

the dredge

dredge!! dredge my friend dredge!! one of the three Creatures Buddies, dedge is like so fucking cute to me. thats a puppies dog. sure this puppies dog was formed from a dark fucked up ritual spawned from a jonestown situation and is the amalgam of hundreds of people stuck in a high-control cult enviornment, but consider that they're a puppies dog. i think if igave them a sugar cube things would be ok

tarhos korvács & the wacky bunch - the knight

i mean, cool ass concept of a murderous knight and his buddies all being played at once. i'm otherwise neutral. not really a medeival fan, but they're cool i suppose.

adriana imai - the skull merchant

alright she was definitley spawned from the result of a gaggle of designers throwing concepts at the wall and trying to shove them into a pile. a cut-throat millionare who kills ceos for fun, a comic book hero brought to life into a villian by the author's daughter, and a sci-fi high-tech conniving surveillance master murderer. i can respect that mish-mash design philosophy a lot but i'm otherwise also neutral. her little claw arm contraption thing is fun though

hux-a7-13 - the singularity

i really, really like hux! i'm a sucker for evil AI, especally one that's also getting into bioengineering and meaty mechanics. for a heartless killer who's hellbent on the kinda cliche goal of becoming the ultamite lifeform by assimilating others genetic info, he's actually kind of a smug snarky cunt. he calls people worms for no reason. he literally calls people annoying for screaming in pain. i think he and p03 would get along disastrously.

the unknown

one banger to the next. unknown here is a wriggly strange mass that's a love letter to creepypasta, urban legends, found footage and perhaps even the more recent development of analog horror. a squirmy fella who steals voices and fucks over anyone who comprehends them. doesn't even wanna be in the scary spider dimension if i recall correctly. i love the disjointed voicelines that come across as them mimicking whatever they've heard, but they're definitley like.. sapient. i think they have a dashing smile and a lovely crawl.

portia maye - the houndmaster

um. hi. hii hello ma'am. hellou. hi.

this is the newest addition, and she's a doozy. scotish pirate lady with a big ol' dog she loves very much. i don't know much about her.. but apparently her dog's breed is like, a notably loyal and strong one used as a guard dog/ and the lady herself? oh my god she's so fucking pretty. the gold and red on the coat. her badass knife cane. im quaking in my boots for a variety of reasons. i don't find her scary, don't find any of this lot traditionally scary, but yknow. she/s still sick as hell.

[lakesbian]

🎭 Taylor

🎭 A headcanon about what they lie about

oh man there are so many good Taylor Liar Moments. my favorite is without doubt when theo is like heeey whatcha got there and she's like [standing next to tarp covering a Fate Worth Than Death Body Horrored guy screaming in eternal agony] "a recording :)." she lies about a lot of shit obviously but i particularly love this nasty habit she has where it's like. she's capable of doing and witnessing terribly violent things for her Greater Good, and she's aware that many other people are not, so she drags them into doing those violent things by lying to or manipulating them. & the thing is that she genuinely views this as a kindness--she decides that the shit needs to get done no matter what, and then takes the stance that (and i'm paraphrasing something she says as weaver here) it's kinder to manipulate people into doing it instead of arguing them into being on-board so they can still have a cleaner conscience after. or she decides that it's kinder + more effective to hide aspects of the violence from them (e.g sundancer not knowing there were ppl still in echidna and never having to find out she committed a few more murders, theo not knowing that a gray boy victim was under the tarp and being spared the demoralizing horror) to reduce some of the trauma of the event & enable them to complete their part of it more competently.

as the book goes on she gains increasing reputation and respect as someone you want to put in charge if you want to get everyone out of a situation alive--not out clean, or out without some incredibly ethically questionable shit happening--but out alive. the undersiders immediately put her in charge during the s9k chase, the wards immediately put her in charge during behemoth, she's requested by the prt for her "administrative abilities" (wildbow is NOT subtle with the QA motifs towards the end it rocks) during khonsu, etc. and it's very textual that the reason she's such a capable leader--often a miserable one to be around, but someone who will drag you all through the muck and blood to crawl home alive--is because she's manipulative as shit! she lies about So Much! she's explicitly acknowledged as being useful in this really fucked up driven way, with this uncanny ability to want something So Bad that she finds a way to drag everyone else into cooperating for it whether they want to or not. forgot the exact context but at one point she's literally compared to having some cult leader ass capabilities for shoving people into doing shit. it rocks. the PRT keeps pointing her at problems and then being utterly unnerved about how she solves them. she's like if cauldron was a weird girl that everyone acknowledges is super fucked up but keeps around anyway because Someone has got to be fucked up enough to do what needs doing.

[ultravioart]

First bit: So why did Overwatch allow a mispronounced "Emre Sarioglu" in the comic reading. For a character that is important to Freja's lore you would think they would get Emre's full name right… :< or maybe it was the music being too loud? But Sarioglu was mispronounced as far as I can hear. Like... just take the few minutes to learn how to pronounce the name??? It's not hard.

My thoughts on Freja:

Her visual design doesn't fit her character with the nonsense fanservice genshin impact style outfit (her arteries and heart are shown… she is a bounty hunter from a frigid area? Where is her armor like Cass and Ana lol.), she should have had like… a circular blade copter jetpack to tie into her search-and-rescue past with a 'perch turkey hunter' twist, or at least have a batman style cape that acts like a hang glider to tie into her wind motif instead of a…. high-fantasy cape? Like it looks cool, but it isn't very 'overwatch' because there isn't enough of a tech focus. And if they wanted to go the magical route, at least give her a proper Freja mythos falcon feather veil (but techy, so like hard light or something)? I was surprised her necklace had nothing to do with her lore as it looks like a glowy rune AND both Freja and "GEFN" in Norse mythos have stories about Loki trying to steal her necklace. As of now, Freja is veering too close to Illari's silhouette for my liking (plus the 'woven' visual motif would have much better fit Solar threading for Illari imo), and her head features are not distinct enough to not look like a Widow or Ashe skin from afar. Her face is like a combo of Brigitte and Widow ig? They should have maybe given her an eyebrow scar or something to tie back to her history in the omnic crisis (would have been cool to have the blue symbol over a scared portion of her face). I am sure Freja will get a more so tactical skin that better fits her someday, but I think her base visual design was a miss. I DO like her hair and her distinct accent. I was worried she may sound too close to Brigitte (Freja's effort sounds sound similar) but the accent chosen works great and her tone fits the serious bounty hunter archetype. She looks better in more tactical gear as seen in the comic read out video. I did notice one thing, the belts on Lara Croft's design are the same areas that Freja has a boob window and thigh highs, so maybe it's a stylization? Freja does feel kind of like Overwatch's take on a "Lara Croft" archetype, and I honestly really like the idea of her being a bounty hunter instead of tomb raider.

Gameplay wise she's pretty… simple? And unless I was shown a guide on her skirting roof angles infinitely, I wouldn't have guessed that was her play style. She's like… mechanically Pharah movement but with a Tracer movement mindset, in that her movement is her "interaction" with the environment. I can't say it's really all that exciting beyond the cool cinematic moments of the slowed down scoped shot. She doesn't interact with her environment like widow (mine/grapple launch/team wall hacks) or Ashe (dynamite/coach gun boops you and others/BOB launch) or Hanzo (sonic arrow, wall climb, dragon) unless you get the Freja perk that slows enemies. She has a much simpler kit than Sojourn in that regard, but with more mobility skill ceiling. Even then, I think high mobility 'as the heroes interaction' focused characters work better when grounded horizontally (Tracer, Reaper, etc) OR you have to have some kind of interaction with the environment (Genji deflect and wall climb, even fliers like Pharah interact with the environment via boops, or Echo with sticky bombs and versatile ult). As of now, I honestly think double jump could have been Freja's dash key instead of shift. She doesn't really have any "wind" powers beyond her upward jump. Illari boops feels more "windy" than Freja's kit. I was expecting a wind gust cc ability or something? Her bolas ult also isn't really what I think of when I think of bolas (I would expect it to hit a target and slow a target over time, damaging those around the target into a final KER-KLUNK marble clackers burst damage to all in the AOE to match her scoped shot double hit, not be a tracer bomb with a hinder), but it's a decent ult. Her scoped fire is also what I would rework one shots into, a chunk of damage, then a burst damage or DOT. So idk… I feel they could have cooked a BIT more on her kit? bc her scoped shot is literally what I want Hanzo and Widow one shots to be as to meld better into teamplay.

Also whoever is saying "they want less visual clutter" is lying 100%. Freja launches a whole arrow in you that covers part of the screen. Her ult has a bunch of effects. Hazard also has visual clutter, so does Juno. Mei can definitely have a Frozone style perk, because both Venture and Ashe have to look down to use abilities. Saying visual clutter/not wanting players to look down is not a valid excuse.

Not to mention, I will not trust anyone that says they made the skin basic because they wanted to "preserve the silhouette" when Toxic Venture skin has NO jacket and NO goggles, yet the Avatar collab refused to change Venture's goggles and hair to better match Toph. Same with the OPM Kiriko skin… we had Kriko skins that changed the silhouette out already so. Just admit the budget wasn't there. It's not laziness by the devs, it's mismanagement forcing this, but don't tell obvious lies. People can see through it.

Story wise for Freja: idk why there is discourse, she's meant to be an anti-villain where she did good things for the wrong reasons (thrill of the hunt, to feel useful) and ended up just as corrupt as the "few bad people" she blamed for Overwatch's downfall. As an ex-overwatch agent she knows omnics are sapient yet she STILL chooses to be anti-omnic. The writing was done in such a way where the viewer can empathize with Freja and understand how she came to these incorrect conclusions (she was a child who was traumatized by the first omnic crisis and saw tons of death), without it feeling like Overwatch's narrative is actually endorsing Freja's viewpoint. Freja is a very biased narrator, painting herself as a good person that was abandoned by everyone just because a few bad people ruined it all ("just a few bad apples" is very copaganda-y), and I like that the writing respects the audience's ability to discern Freja is NOT a good person. I also like that Overwatch is exploring more of Overwatch's corruption. Like finally, an anti-villain with no excuses, she instead personally rationalizes away her responsibility with bs logic--THIS is why Overwatch fell. Not just the outright corrupt people, but the people that were complacent. Emre saw Overwatch's malpractice and left, but Freja stayed and kept her head down. (Most likely rationalizing the civilian deaths because her mom had to make hard decisions during the first omnic crisis. But this isn't the first crisis anymore, and Freja knows that.) Freja should not have stayed and kept quiet. She should have left, or whistle blown. But she didn't and she rationalizes this to make it out like she's the 'good guy' everyone turned on. As a viewer you SHOULD be uncomfortable and dislike Freja's outlook of things, that is the response the writing is intending. You are not meant to root for Freja, you should dislike her.

I am curious about where the story with Emre will go, as well as Freja's views on Genji considering that one hero trailer showed that she grouped Genji up with the omnics. Why does she dislike him? Is it because he was involved with blackwatch? or is it because he is a cyborg? What about Sojourn, they must have interacted right? What does she think about members that told the truth about overwatch like Sojourn, is she bitter about that? I want Moira to roast Freja for essentially becoming Widow without any brainwashing needed lol. And I would love to hear Ashe roast Freja for being anti-omnic. I also wonder if Freja will try to go after LifeWeaver because he has a bounty on him…

[pterobat]

A few Hellaverse things, Helluva Boss version:

**It might be a hard sell for your adult cartoon to star two single gay nomhuman dads, and I’m glad Helluva Boss went for it.

**But while I enjoy Helluva Boss becoming the Stolitz Show, I don’t like the slide towards making Stolas virtually innocent; it’s just not necessary for making a character sympathetic. I’m still keeping the faith that Stolas is also meant to be at fault for how rocky things became between him and Blitz but the show’s execution has made me paranoid that it will take the path of least resistance, as it did with Stella.

**I knew Stella would be a shallow antagonist from her first speaking scene, but I expected her to be enjoyably bitchy. I didn’t know how hard they’d go, where not only is she evil, but she’s also incredibly stupid, not at all fun, and has her brother pulling the strings—even Mammon is at least fun.

I really hope that the intention is not what that the fandom has latched onto: that Stella’s relationship to Stolas is a powerful expression of the way men can be abused and that everything between them must be viewed with utter seriousness.

**In fact, a major problem I have with Helluva Boss is that you can never tell when a one-off comical moment is going to be retroactively taken seriously despite the initial comedic framing. Like, just with “Ghostfuckers”, Blitz’s visions of trauma included the nutkick from Loona in “Seeing Stars” which it was framed for comedy initially. The fire in “Loo Loo Land” was played for laughs but now a vision of toasty Millie haunts Blitz.

With all that happening it’s no wonder people have, say, the interpretation of Stella mentioned above, or, say, Stolas’s butler getting tossed around as weighty evidence of Stella’s abuse instead of a Looney Tunes gag. Who knows, it might be.

It also kills a lot of the momentum in Octavia’s anguish, if all she has to do to improve her life is to understand Stella is irredeemable and Stolas was 100% justified. Not all of the momentum, but most. I’m still holding onto the faith that Stolas won’t be a creator’s pet, but my interest in Octavia’s story is tanking.

It still works in the Hellaverse sometimes—the foreshadowing with RoboFizz was a good example, and in general it’s a good beat to strive for. Comedic moments should often derive from characterization and perspectives should shift with the telling. But again, when it’s done badly it feels overindulgent.

**So do the many instances of comical Hellaverse characters having secret angst, witj all their quirks being tied to their tragic backstory. While this is delicious when done right, it’s difficult to *get* right and often feels like wanting to tell every kind of story with only one character. Blitz is the most successful example. Not 100%, but in the lead.

**I’m still against the fan theory that Blitz is part incubus—because Tilla was tall and he banged Verosika and has Stolas pining—because not everything in a story needs to have a detailed explanation and boy do I hate fantasy bio-essentialism.

Especially when the show is trying to push back against that, sort of. If Blitz has a "special" genetic background then his ability to run his own business from Hell’s lowest tier turns bleak.

Besides, only “Apology Tour” shows Blitz had a lot of bedpost notches (and it doesn’t prove his heritage and if it offers insight should have been mentioned before).

But then again, I didn’t think Striker was a hybrid because imp appearances are so varied that I expected the artists had just further bent the rules and stylized one of them to fit a western motif/make a Rango reference. I still think it might undermine Striker’s issues with class and superiority but maybe they’ll surprise me.

(And Striker wasn’t nerfed, because it’s not a surprise that the guy who sang "Sweet Victory” has a statue of himself with a boner. And pretty much no Hellaverse character is played entirely straight.)

…and I also didn't want Moxxie to secretly “not” be from Wrath because not fitting in where you’re born is a solid story beat, but look how that turned out. Thanks for keeping the clarification confined to tweets by the way, love that.

**Also, much as I love Richard Horvitz, he doesn’t make for a threatening mob boss.

**And I have to say that evil dads bother me less than sainted, dead mothers.

**Though I think his mom enjoyed Moxxie learning to shoot--and *I* enjoy it when Moxxie shows he has ego to spare instead of being a woobie. I stick to my interpretation that he’s fine with the shooting and killing as long as it’s the right people, and the contrasting parts of his character make him more appealing.

**Shame about the Millie problem. I’m glad she's finally getting focus, and I hope it’s not because the fandom had to point it out, though production time makes that unlikely

**I wish we could have directly seen Blitz and Verosika’s dating life and breakup. You can infer all of it, but if it’s such a big thing, well…

**”Succubi” becoming a gender-neutral term in the fandom is very odd, unless it’s the inverse of “mankind” and refers to the collective species as well as the women alone, but then you have people saying “male succubus” and uh.

**I love Asmodeus' design, and how it translates the artwork from the Lesser Key of Solomon into the series’ style.

But it’s hypocritical of Ozzie to say lust isn’t about force when he’s got succubi and incubi around, and because Helluva Boss often takes the path of least resistance he probably isn't intended as hypocritical, or even a Screwtape Letters bit where things are still sinful even if there’s no immediate or overt damage.

HOWEVER, I’m reluctant to come down too hard on the issue because of my Being genuinely upset at Ozzie's line and that the Hellaverse demons aren’t “demonic” enough brings out my inner contrarian because of the moralistic dimension to their feelings: that the concept of demons and the danger must be treated with respect and fear or it’s somehow immoral. If Ozzie’s words make those sorts of people mad, then I can't be too put out at the softening of demons.

Yet, it was oddly satisfying for “Ghostfuckers” to include a demon who was actually torturing humanity when it couldn’t be written off as "fun" (like Verosika's crew) or adult cartoon shenanigans (like IMP).

(Though it was kinda goofy to theorize that Leviathan, leader of the Envy ring, would suddenly be the antagonist of one sleazy hotel just because said antagonist was aquatic.)

(Stolas in “Truth Seekers” perfectly represents how satisfying it is to show these goofy abrasive characters can be actually scary hellspawn, but the other full-demon forms are a bit of a letdown.)

**Meanwhile, Beelzebub is great. The unapologetic self-indulgence of making her both a sparkledog and a homage to the creator's own Die Young video is just incredible. I don't think there's meta-commentary involved in choosing Gluttony to do this with, but it's a pleasant coincidence.

**And yeah, Mammon is a hate sink and the most sinful Sin in a way that sticks out, but he’s _fun_, and way more effective at being both a comedic character and also a personal threat to the characters/ representative of a societal ill than Stella is or might be.

However, “Two Minutes Notice” would be more satisfying with a few more episodes making clear how shitty he is to work for and how insecure Fizz is. Introducing and then solving the problem in the same episode is too rushed.

In general, the newer sinner designs of HB, following the generic Ohio sinner and Ms. Mayberry, are better at communicating the idea that a sinner’s form suggests their past life and death. Rita is a particular favorite.

**Each Ring having a color theme and themed species is also great stuff, and so is the choice to have so many hybrids and make Hellhounds resemble all domestic dog breeds.

**The imp variation and trans imps are also neat, though I still am confused why viewers think AFAB imp horns have "thin white stripes" rather than those "stripes" suggesting goat-like horn grooves as they do in every other cartoon.

**I realize the Hellaverse is a place where all nonhumans act like 21st century Americans, but I love it when it flirts with xenofiction, like the redneck imps of Wrath looking down on the use of guns.

[androxys]

Androxys Reviews... "I Know What You Did Last Crisis"

Okay, I don’t normally do reviews for these sorts of specials, but I love Halloween so I thought I’d give it a go. I think my two favorite stories were “Dearly Departed” and “God’s Chosen Man,” and my two least favorite were “A Constant State of Healing” and “Crisis Obscura.” I think that as a Halloween special, some of these stories did a better job of playing with the theme–there were a lot of good horror movie homages and trope acknowledgement! And then there were stories that didn’t really engage with that. Full spoilers for "I Know What You Did Last Crisis" below the cut.

Batgirl in “What Kind of Hero?”

Set during Crisis on Infinite Earths #4, featuring Barbara Gordon as Batgirl! As the wall of antimatter progresses, Barbara goes to save a family from Killer Croc. Over the course of the chase, however, it comes out that Croc is lashing out because of his fear, and Barbara comforts him. 

If DC is so deadset on putting Barbara in a Batgirl outfit, I have to admit, this is a good way of doing it. It's Barbara, and it's appropriate. She was a good Batgirl! I just hate how much of the desire to see her as Batgirl comes from a place of wanting to move past or erase Oracle. Seeing the old costume is fun too. I love the blue and grey and yellow. In terms of other contextual calls, Barbara wonders about the sewers being a job for Supergirl, but comments “Linda’s busy,” referencing the fact that 1) this Supergirl is Linda Lee, and 2) they’re friends! If this is set during the events of COIE #4, that means Babs and Linda were talking not too long ago. I think it's a sweet callback to their friendship.

Ultimately, it’s a nice notion to suggest that Batgirl is about not being alone, but I’m not sure that’s what Batgirl is specifically. I wish this story had one more page, but so it goes.

Dr. Light in “A Constant State of Healing”

I’ll confess, I don’t know the Millennium event as well as the other Crises represented here. Mahunters came down, pretended to be humans, etc. I certainly don’t remember them being so gory and… evil.

One of the Manhunters has taken an interest in what’s inside humans, in a spiritual sense, and tries to find it by taking them apart in a literal way. Dr. Light defends STAR Labs by powering through her own pain (and fear of the dark) to defeat the Manhunter. This story is much more interested in the horror motif of the anthology, with the Manhunter being a ripped-from-the-slashers killer taking the skin of his victims. I don’t feel this one required being set during Millennium, but it’s ultimately a decent horror story.

BoP in “Dearly Departed”

The Final Night! The Birds of Prey! This is an era with which I am very familiar, and it is delightful to see Dinah in her mid-90s costume. Black Canary is tracking missing people as Oracle is coordinating things during the Final Night, and she comes across Scarecrow and Silver Banshee. Canary gets doused with some souped up fear gas hallucinates Ollie’s corpse chasing her, begging her for help. She ends up working through her fear and takes down the Banshee, sending her to hell or something. That part wasn’t totally clear.

Okay, I really liked this one. And it’s tooooootally definitely biased. Whereas I didn’t think the previous Dr. Light story had to be set during Millenium (and to an extend, the Batgirl Crisis story didn’t have to be Crisis, but rather any general big threat during Barbara’s career) I think this story takes good advantage of the timing. Ollie had only been dead for 13 real-life months when Final Night first came out, so it’s very recent for Dinah! He’s a reasonable thing for her to hallucinate. It’s not incredibly Halloween-ish, but there is a bit of a horror thread there. Pairing her up against Silver Banshee is a good matchup as two “sonic screamers” but Dinah’s fighting ability and situational awareness are the way she wins. This one was really solid. 

JSA in “At the Point of Vanishing”

This is a JSA story about Zero Hour, so some of us already know where we’re headed. The JSA heads to the Vanishing Point, the place where time ends, to try to help. Extant is there and does what he does, giving his Zero Hour fight with the JSA a Halloween inspired flair. Extant is the monster that can’t be stopped, has the fakeout death, all the tropes of the scary movie monster.

This one is sweet for how it features Sandman’s internal monologue–he’s reflecting on whether the JSA still has a place, or whether they’ve still got what it takes, and they ultimately do! But this one lands somewhere between bottom of the barrel or cream of the crop. This one didn’t do anything for me, I don’t know.

Nightwing in “Crisis Obscura”

Ugh. I saw the author and felt the bad attitude seep into my body instantly. I got way too heated from a single story in an anthology by a man who would kick his heels to know he made a hater mad. Anyway. TL;DR, this story is Dan DiDio being petty, It isn’t even scary for the Halloween theme of the book.

Here’s the gist: Nightwing is tracking someone who doesn’t exist. He sees shards of reality depicting the events of Infinite Crisis. It’s revealed that Superboy–Conner Kent–lured Dick here because Dick was supposed to die during Infinite Crisis, subsequently uniting all the heroes and putting an end to every future Crisis. The problem is, Dick didn’t die. So the universe keeps having Crises to try to kill Dick and set things right. Conner throws Dick into the shards of reality (the ones Superboy-Prime punched) to die an infinite series of deaths and make everything perfect. The story ends with reality having changed–Superboy is now in a relationship with Cassandra Sandsmark again, they’re in domestic bliss, and Batman!Tim has dropped by for a visit. Conner regrets what he did, but ultimately feels it was necessary.

Okay. So. For those who don’t know, Dan DiDio wanted Nightwing to be the one to die during Infinite Crisis instead of Conner Kent. This is him getting his way, two decades later, and I found this whole story incredibly petty. Narratively, how is Superboy moving without Oracle seeing him on any of her monitors? Maybe it’s super speed or vibrating, who knows. How does she not see him tear the warehouse open? Maybe it’s the reality shards, who knows. How does Conner know it was “ordained that [Nightwing’s] death would unite all heroes,” make the Trinity step aside, and end all future Crises? Also, since when does Conner talk like that? And, my big question, DOES DAN DIDIO HONESTLY THINK THAT CONNER KENT WOULD KILL DICK GRAYSON? The answer may surprise you. Meta-narratively, DiDio seems to be relishing in reminding everyone that he wanted to kill Dick and finally gets to do it. Cassie gets to say “None of this is your fault. You were never meant to die.” Conner ends the story by saying that we should all just move on. Neither of these strike me as particularly subtle, but they sure are passive aggressive! 

I take issue with the idea that killing Dick makes a perfect world. It sure wouldn’t be perfect for Bruce! Or Barbara! Or Tim! Or Donna! Or, or, or… the list goes on. If the argument is hinging on the idea that Dick dying makes the Trinity step aside and new heroes step up… that’s not exactly in line with DiDio’s feelings towards legacy characters. That’s why he wanted to kill Dick in the first place. And if Dick dying is necessary to end all future Crises… that’s pre-emptively setting up Dick’s death to be undermined and cheapened when the next Crisis inevitably rolls around. This story, so smug in its meta-commentary, handily ignores that there will always be another Crisis. Those events sell comics! DiDio was a DC exec, so it’s not like this fact is exactly lost on him. Of course, all of this is in the bottle of this single story, so it’s not like it matters, but. God. I hate this story.

And besides. We all know that any world with Batman!Tim is decidedly not a perfect one.

Scarecrow in “Jump Scare”

Okay. My pulse is back down. I’m normal again. I’m back to reviewing. This was a good Scarecrow story! It’s set during Blackest Night, but it’s just about Scarecrow terrorizing a couple who saw a horror movie together. He reflects on the nature of fear (as he is wont to do) and is chosen by a Yellow Lantern ring for his ability to instill great fear.

I don’t think this one ties into Blackest Night all that well, if I’m being honest, but it is a solid Crane story. He’s doing his thing, it follows the formula, bing bang boom. I liked the artistic depiction of showing the guy hallucinating as being in black and white while the rest of the world was still in color–it led from the classic horror movie motif well.

Lex Luthor in “God’s Chosen Man”

Okay. I’m writing this now before I’ve read it: I have high hopes for this one just by looking at the art of the opening page. I want this to be good.

This one is set during Final Crisis, and is reflecting on Lex Luthor’s doubts about Libra as he tries to get the Secret Society to swear allegiance to him and his power. As Lex ruminates, talking with the other villains, a hallucinated Superman follows behind, serving as Lex’s inner voice. Of doubt? Of conscience? As Libra and his masters conquer the earth with Anti-Life, Lex has the realization that Libra serves Darkseid, putting the pieces together that his Superman has been trying to spell out for him. Lex decides that he will be the one to defeat Darkseid, and Superman begins to laugh at him, wearing Lex’s face and mocking him for his arrogance. Lex admits that he needs Superman’s help to defeat Darkseid, and begins to work with Sivanna to plan their betrayal.

Okay, there’s a lot I love here. I love the art. I love that in his mind, Lex is dressed like the Silver Age. I love Lex stating “I don’t believe in gods. But I know plenty about aliens pretending to be divine.” But mostly, I love that this is good character work! It gets into the way Lex thinks, and it plays off his obsession with Superman, his intellect, and the fact that he’s smart enough to reflect on his obsessions with Superman. It provides greater context for what was happening in Final Crisis (which is always appreciated) and sets the stage for his heroic turn against Libra. It’s not especially Halloween-y, so far as these go, but I think it’s good comic work.

Midnighter in “Violent Tendencies”

During Flashpoint, in the world of Flashpoint, Lucas Trent is watching as the Amazonian/Atlantean war continues to devastate the world. Rather than stew on politics, Midnighter goes out to a Halloween party! There, he overhears talk of a serial killer with a victims list including some of DC’s best fighters (at least in the real world) and ignores it. At the party, Pyg roofies Midnighter and takes his home, ostensibly to help him. Of course, it’s Pyg, and he starts trying to kill Trent to turn him into a doll. However, Midnighter reveals he was faking inebriation, having actually been hunting Pyg himself. He kills Pyg, declaring that people can make the world a little better with blood on their hands.

This was a good Halloween spin. It had Midnighter hiding from the knife wielding serial killer, and it even had the classic connection between sex and death that these sorts of slashers trade in. Of course, Midnighter subverts it, but so it goes. I think it’s interesting that they set this during the Flashpoint event–Flashpoint #5 was the first time we saw Midnighter in a main DC comic, having previously been in the Wildstorm universe/Earth-50. I think this is a case of wanting to use Midnighter as a character but not wanting to play off any Crises outside of the New Earth era (1986-2011). Which, this accomplishes, but raises my bigger question… why are all the Crises in this era? I personally, as a fan, am served by this decision. I love New Earth! DC seems to recognize that fans like New Earth, given how much of Rebirth and Infinite Frontier were about bringing some NE stuff back. 

I think it must have been a conscious decision to limit the scope like this–I’m sure there are horror opportunities in events like Convergence or Forever Evil or Dark Crisis. Didn’t we have like one million evil Batmen ripe for horror? Maybe DC thinks we’re too close to these, or burned out (or just burned) from those events. Who’s to say.

[spindle-girl]

Daybreak 1.5

One villain down. Five more to go

One of the issues of being a parahuman was that there wasn’t a history to build on or a peerage to draw from.  We had powers, yes.  Some of those powers were similar to the powers others had, but there were almost always tricks and caveats, strengths one person had that another didn’t.  I couldn’t copy Alexandria’s old tactics and style because my invincibility worked differently.  Timing was so much more important to me.

this is probably one of my favorite aspects of parahuman powers. even the second gen capes don't get the same power, even if the theme is there

I caught a glimpse of one by the gun he was holding, and moved around the corner.  They all moved the same way when they moved, pistols held up, gripped in two hands that were dotted in drops of drying blood, pointed at the ceiling.  I saw the gun before I saw the rest of him.

really great power to do a zombie movie with, especially since a halfway moral person wouldn't be able to do the typical zombie movie style of mowing them down

i'm getting reminded of Bloodwork from DC. i'm pretty sure he had the whole blood motif and taking over people with his, though it was never done in an explosion of viscera that got rid of Bloodwork as a punchable foe, so that's already cooler

No, wait, that had been a few days after Dean had reminded me of the brute rule.  I’d been studying it with more interest because Dean was turning eighteen before long, and we were worried he’d get moved to another city, even with his family situation being what it was.  I’d seriously been considering joining the Wards and then the Protectorate, so I could follow him.

do Protectorate members lose the Wards thing of it being difficult to move them? that was a Wards thing, right? also, i can't imagine Piggot being willing to lose the one kind-of-thinker cape they have unless she really wanted to be able to keep fining the Wards their entire yearly paycheck without Gallant offering to pay it

I heard wet sounds.  Throughout the hazy altered space, the meaty squelching started to overtake the background hums. I stopped in my tracks. Things moved beneath the blankets.  She still hadn’t budged. I turned around and ran. Fuck this.

fair enough

As someone with the ability to control emotions, I was supposed to be harder to read and affect.  It was why I’d deflected Crystalclear earlier. <...> Maybe that resistance came into play. Maybe it turned Snag’s power from an emotional uppercut to a mere slap. Negative emotions poured into me like liquid from a syringe. But a slap on an open wound could be enough to bring someone to their knees.  The walls came tumbling down, the memories flooding in, and my last coherent, present thought was that I hoped I wouldn’t maim or kill anyone in the meantime.

i'm sorry Victoria, but that sounds like cope. this may just be affecting you because it can affect you. even if her power grants her some immunity, it could just be to specific powers

End Notes: guess we're getting the Wretch already. funny thing, i got reminded of Sveta in that moment. i'm hoping we'll get her and the others at the end after all the fighting, or as the calvary

[drmobiusvanch]

shadows of the erdtree spoiler meta

I think fundamentally Shadow of the Erdtree-as one could guess from it focusing on Miquella-is about love. Specifically, the Remembrance bosses.

Miquella is a truly altruistic person. He really wants to help the downtrodden, to atone for the Golden Order's wrongs, and is deeply empathetic-on a societal scale. On a personal scale, he does love Radahn and very possibly Malenia as well, but he uses people, violates their wills to make them do what he wants, and cares absolutely nothing for Radahn's consent or what happens to people after he's done with them.

Miquella, IMO, is set up very pointedly as a foil to Messmer in his relationships. Messmer doesn't have as much focus as Miquella, but what we do know appears to put him in direct opposition. He's a sadistic, bigoted war criminal-admittedly, doing the war crimes as a literal order to do his mother's dirty work so it wouldn't be associated with her-who also genuinely mourns the loss of his comrades in arms who turned on him and cared for Radahn and Gaius as friends to the point that it's mentioned Radahn saw him as an elder brother. His relationship with Rellana is also something of a foil to Miquella/Radahn-while Miquella forced Radahn into the relationship, Rellana was the one who chose to join Messmer even though there was no gain in it and her blades and the description puts them on a paired, equal level as opposed to Miquella riding a zombified Radahn.

But again-while these themes of relationships and love are key, doomed relationships are an ongoing motif. Obviously, there's the Mohg->Miquella->Radahn doomed triangle, where someone with the ability to compel love never really knew what it was, but loved as best as he could the man who treated him with kindness-but there's also Rellana knowing that Messmer is a terrible person and doomed to eternal suffering and choosing to throw away her birthright to follow him even knowing that she can never give him succor, Midra forcing himself to continue living in absolute agony solely because it's the last thing that the woman he loved asked of him, even Onze and Labirith, two minor bosses who give on defeat the spirit ashes of the people who loved them-in Onze's case, the apprentice who refused to leave him in solitary confinement even when Onze ordered him to; in Labirith's, the fellow warrior whose loss drove her into despair.

Very fitting for a DLC where Miquella is the main character.

[orionsangel86]

Subtext Glorious Subtext! A Dreamling on Netflix analysis in The Sandman - Part 6

1889

What love story is complete without a dramatic break up in the rain?

In the Sandman comic (and therefore also the Audible audiobook) this century starts the same way as the show, with Dream being accosted by Lushing Lou and that hilariously historically accurate yet mildly disturbing line “give us a hard ride on your cream stick”.

In the show, Hob overhears this and comes to meet Dream and to “save” him from Lou by giving her money to buy herself a drink. He apologises to Dream for her behaviour towards him.

This doesn’t happen in the comic. Dream simply walks past Lou and meets Hob where he is already sat in the tavern.

A minor change, but one that adds to the scene in a few ways:

It indicates that Hob was paying greater attention to the door waiting for Dream - in the show, he was more eager to meet him again.

It shows a level of care on Hob’s part to ensure that Dream has a comfortable visit. He overhears the run-in in the comic, but makes no effort to get involved. In the show, he takes a greater interest in ensuring Dream is not insulted or met with aggression - a follow on from his clear concern and care for Dream that was first implied in 1789. Basically, he has once again come to Dream’s defence.

He apologises for Lou’s behaviour. Which indicates that he feels a level of responsibility towards Dream and anything that may happen to him whilst he is visiting Hob.

All these minor elements add up to indicate that show!Hob at this point already sees Dream as someone to care for, defend, and feel responsible for on their visits. He has placed himself in the position of protector and companion to Dream. This is an easy interpretation to get from their dynamic in the show, as evidenced by the thousands of fanfictions on AO3 in which Hob is portrayed as rescuer, liberator, saviour, knight, or simply carer of Dream (all roles that I find difficult picturing comic!Hob taking on, because he is such a selfish hedonistic character in the comic).

The conversation in the show takes an interesting diversion from the comic, in which Dream defends Lou from Hob's joking insults about her. It shows a level of care for people that comic!Dream doesn't have (at least at this point). It also indicates an ability which I can't recall comic!Dream ever using. He reveals the tragedies of her past prompting Hob to once again ask about Dream. Where Comic!Hob is too self absorbed to even bother to ask more about Dream at this point, instead going off on tangents about other immortals he has met, Show!Hob is entirely focused on Dream. Show!Hob is persistent here, he doesn't let Dream change the subject, we can tell that by this century, he is getting fed up of being kept in the dark about the identity of his mysterious stranger, someone it is clear he is growing feelings for even without knowing his name.

When Dream once again changes the subject to talk about Lady Johanna and the task she did for him, unlike his comic counterpart, Hob is wistful and sad when he says "That might be the only thing I've learned after 500 years."

The show uses Hob's desire to know more about Dream as a repeating motif throughout their meetings, in a way the comics never did. It makes us as the audience root for Hob and want Dream to reveal who he is. This is another clever way the show is encouraging the audience to invest in their relationship. The show is telling us this is important. Watch how Dream holds back, how he refuses to reveal anything. There is a subtextual message here which encourages the audience to expect an eventual reveal, even if we do not see it. As I mentioned in part 5, Dream revealling his name to Hob has become a Chekov's gun of a kind, and Hob will get his name in the show, even if we as the audience don't see it on screen.

Hob comments that "people are always better than you think they are." and then jokes that he's not like that, that he is still the same as ever. and he winks at Dream as he says it, causing Dream to smile and state that he thinks Hob has changed. It's subtle, but the exchange shows how they have grown at ease with one another, and arguably this could be considered flirting, depending on whose watching. I quite like the change here not to bring up the slave trade again. I think the way Hob lets out that shuddered breath and talks about the mistakes he has made is enough in this version of the story. We aren't forgiving him for this. But the tone isn't right in this particular scene, which instead keeps the focus on the building buds of friendship that are clearly growing between these two extremely flawed people, before it all comes crumbling down.

There is a brilliant meta with full gifsets from @mimisempai here which breaks down all of the subtle expressions as Dream and Hob have this conversation, where for a tiny moment Dream appears to relax and look almost proud of Hob for growing into a better man. They exchange gorgeous shy smiles and for a moment the scene becomes intense, as if the characters are standing on a precipice waiting for something to happen.

But then it all goes wrong. The preceding scene, and the preceding centuries, have clearly had an impact on Hob, and he views Dream as someone important, someone special to him. It is on the foolish hopes of an overt optimist that he pushes Dream beyond his comfort levels. He proposes that they are friends, he dares to make an assumption about Dream, he calls him lonely.

He is, of course, totally correct.

But Dream is not at a point yet where he is ready to hear such things. In the comic, this plays out slightly differently. Hob rambles as follows:

But in the show, the conversation goes like this:

Dream: I think perhaps you've changed.

Hob: Well, I may have learnt a bit from my mistakes, but it doesn't seem to stop me from making them.

Dream: *Smiles proudly giving Hob some extra confidence*

Hob: I think its you that's changed.

Dream *smile immediately drops because the thought of changing is something he is soooo not ready to accept* How so?

Hob: *Leaning in, going for it* I think I know why we still meet here century after century. It's not because you want to know if I'm ready to seek death, I don't think I'll ever seek death. By now you know that about me. So I think you're here for something else.

Dream: And what might that be?

Hob: Friendship? I think you're lonely.

Dream: You dare...

Hob: No, look, I'm not saying-

Dream: You DARE suggest one such as I might need your companionship?

Hob: *with shakey breath because this clearly means so much to him* Yes. Yes I do.

Dream: Then I shall take my leave of you and prove you wrong.

Sorry for writing out the whole transcript here but its important to see how the conversation was changed to be much more intimate and personal. In particular I find it veeeery interesting how instead of Hob saying "I've seen people, and they don't change, not in the important things." we get both Dream AND Hob stating that they believe the other HAS changed.

I know its only a minor line, but given the grander changes to the netflix show and the tone of the show in particular, this particular line change feels very intentional.

I love that as Dream goes to leave, Hob tried to move closer, to reach out to him, it indicates just how much he wants to build a connection with Dream and how much he cares, and it makes it all so much more intense than the comic.

In the comic, its interesting that Dream focuses on the "you called me lonely" part as the main insult here. It is the show that gives bigger weight to "you dared to suggest we may be friends, therefore I am going to PROVE YOU WRONG." Which at least on a subtextual level, can be read to indicate a fear of developing feelings and forming relationships. It's also worth noting that the show removed any indication that Dream considers Hob to be "mortal" now.

Then we get to the most dramatic moment in the entire MoGF sequence. A classic romantic trope that we have all seen done countless times before in countless love stories between countless couples, and yet here it is again between Dream and Hob.

As Dream storms off, of course Hob runs out to follow him (I particularly love how in the show, Dream doesn't grab his coat or hat when he leaves like he does in the comic, which leaves it open as to what happened to them - and I love how in fanfiction its revealled that Hob kept hold of them over the years as the only items of Dream's he had along with the picture from 1689). In the show, the rain falls heavily over both of them further emphasising the heightened emotions and dramatic situation - we all love a dramatic rain soaked break up after all! :P

I brought this scene in 1889 up in this meta which is a collaborative analysis of Hob and Dream's relationship, and it is also emphasised in this meta by @academicblorbo, but it is worth mentioning again because of how much of an impact this particular change has:

There's a big difference between a fairly nonchalant lean against the door in the comic and the visually upset, rainsoaked Hob from the show shouting out "FUCK" as he watches Dream storm off.

That final "FUCK" isn't in either comic or Audible book, because Hob in the comic/Audible book isn't nearly as bothered by Dream's leaving.

The way show!Hob is so very different from comic!Hob blows my mind once you break it down, but it is his interest, care, and concern for Dream that really speaks volumes and makes it so easy to interpret his feelings for Dream as more than just platonic.

Next up, the heartbreaking missed 1989 meeting and how the timeline change has given Dream and Hob's relationship far more romantic implications in part 7.

[melonchanverse]

It just hit me, this was an ask I wanted to send a few days ago but I forgor dkhsskhssj your answer for my emoji ask made me think of S13 similarities, but for the other two possible pairs in this wonderful quartet! (edit: omg it ended up so long, I yapped sm...anyway--- *sends*)

First, we have KanaDeko, who are both skilled practitioners of swordsmanship, have aesthetic preference for traditional japanese things and as well as liking (japanese) sweets! Kinda spoiler on a wip I'm working on, but it seems like they're both gonna be kind of a masked duo too (it's oni mask kana with kitsune mask nadeko 🤝🤝🤝). My first thoughts are instantly like, they'd get along so well in professional settings (esp in the efficiency factor). I wonder about in other settings as well, since they're both class reps 🤔🤔🤔

Then we have RumiRuka, who both have a huge butterfly motif/theme going on with them it seems 👀✨ For Kurumi, the motif leans more on its symbolism for change(metamorphosis), which is something she's apprehensive about. But what about for Ruka? Besides her love for nature hehehe 👀✨ (<-digging for more Ruka lore/info) Needless to say, Ruka would be very much in Kurumi's cutie list hahaha I wonder if she'll(Ruka) find it strange since Ruka thinks of herself as someone average.

WAKE UP NEW ASK FROM EIN JUST DROPPED as usual I love your thoughts thank you so much for them!! 💕💕💕💕💕💕 hope you will love my thoughts too ahhaahah

you hit the nail on the head with the similarities between kanadeko! i love the idea of them as a masked duo with their oni and kitsune masks, it's super badass and cool to think about (also can’t wait for your wip!! 👀👀👀) about japanese sweets, I like to think how they can just sit silently and eat japanese sweets hahahaha nadeko know a lot of good places in namimori with the best japanese sweets so!! or how she passes kanako sweets through kurumi

and yeah the second thing that comes to mind for me is definitely kanadeko doing their duties as class rep haha. both of them are very capable and can hold their ground. kanadeko will try to get things on task and done quick because they’re both efficient like that. i can also see them spending time in the council room doing their work

about rumiruka and ruka connection to butterflies! haraha i’ll try my best here. ruka's butterfly motif is actually linked to her introspective and observant nature. butterflies are known for their transformation and change, much like ruka's ability to absorb traits of different people and blend into different environments. the butterfly motif not only represents freedom but also a sense of being an outsider, constantly observing and adapting to the world around them.

and yeah! ruka being on kurumi's cutie list would probably throw her for a loop a bit. ruka's self-perception as average contrasts with how lurumi sees her. ruka might find it endearing yet a bit strange to be considered "cute" by kurumi, given her lowkey and unassuming personality. ruka would be also like “oh yeah you are cute too :)” she would appreciate the kind words but might also wonder what exactly makes her stand out in kurumi's eyes??? kurumi it’s your turn to be in the list!! observing list!!

[unxdeadly]

incoming 1, 3, 10, 12, 13, 14, 19

1.) when did you start writing on tumblr?

had to check way back on my personal tumblr for the answer to this and.........13 years ago. what business I had rping on here at age 14, i'll never know, but here I am.

3.) who are your longest rp friends?

there's a lot of you now, honestly! not so many are still here in this group, so I won't name names, but you know who you are! very crazy that some of them have been my friends for over 10 years!

10.) would you be friends with your muse if they were real?

...no! I mean, she's....fun, I guess, but I would fear for my safety at all points in time. I'm not super eager to be a zombie and even if she didn't have her powers, she's just...mean. I would cry

12.) answered! 13.) what's one random headcanon about your muse that people might not know?

Giselle has gotten hurt and "killed" so many times now that her body just doesn't register pain like most people's do anymore. She used to, so the early days of having her abilities were kind of rough, but the sensation has left her now. I don't think it's just some "oh I'm a hard to kill villain from a shounen manga" thing, but something genuinely related to her powers, death motif, and familiarity with getting hurt. It's why she can get nearly cut in half, have her neck broken, and get stabbed or shot in the abdomen without flinching.

14.) who is an author that inspires you?

Scott Lynch, of the Gentlemen Bastards sequence; Patrick Rothfuss, of the Kingkiller Chronicles; Ryogo Narita, of the Baccano! and Durarara!! series, to name a few. there, uh....seems to be a funny trend with these, actually. iykyk

19.) do you listen to music while writing? if so, what kind?

not often, actually! I love music, but it can distract me pretty easily, so I don't usually have it on. I can have it on if its something instrumental, but lyrics make me want to sing along, which doesn't really help the writing process LOL

[mashithamel]

Episode 3 spoilery thoughts below (lots of spoilers for the books).

I really love how, even though the show is so changed from the book in many ways, it also feels so true to the books.

- I am really looking forward to the soundtrack release. Amazon will take all my money.

- I didn’t mind “be steadfast” not being included? I noted it, but didn’t really care?

- Nynaeve’s parents!

- Crinsomthorn again, huh. Gonna be a repeated motif this year?

- This has shades of Aginor and is a horribe touch (affectionate)

- Elnore is awesome! As I would expect!

- How on earth would she manage to memorize that long Old Tongue passage after hearing it once?

- Elnore watching her daughter as she is brutally stabbed to death is really overkill. My sister is invested in watching now but can’t handle, like, any violence, so I have to tell her when to turn away. I’m going to have to mute this bit—even I have a hard time with it, and I’ve enjoyed GoT and a couple seasons of Vikings.

- I kind of like how shocking the water dumped over her head is everytime they use it. It seems as much a violantion as the arches themselves. And “washed clean” just seems like wishful thinking.

- Tam!

- Nice to see Natti sober. She’s speaking all of Nynaeve’s worst fears right now.

- I forgot Nynaeve had seen Healing and that it’s been established she can copy any weave after seeing it once. Of course, she isn’t upset enough right now to channel, but it was also spelled out she wouldn’t be able to channel anyway in the arches. I am so ready to see Nynaeve the Healer.

- “How is Rand?” Knife straight to the heart. Invited to stay with Tam until he dies. “I can’t tell you how good it is to see your face.” Wisdom Nynaeve was pretty cool too.

- The fact that she sees the arches as a means to get her people a cure—she isn’t choosing the Tower over them, just what they can do. But Tam calling after her to not leave is even more poignant than Marin in the books, imo.

- Zoe going into the third arch 😭

- This is very a very trippy scene. Rosamund says they are filming something really psychadelic for S3. That’s gotta be Snakes and Foxes, right?

- The lines from Lan here are my absolute favorite from that passage. The “I will hate the man you choose…” is fine. But telling someone she’s as beautiful as a sunrise, as fierce as a warrior? I am fully swooning.

- Red is just not Nynaeve’s color, I think. (Zoe can rock anything, but Nynaeve is not going to wear much red ever)

- Just how empty “you are washed clean of your sins” sounds. “It’s alright, the blood isn’t yours” is not exactly what she needed to hear. It’s properly horrifying.

- A bloody hadori

- I don’t blame her for walking out at this point, and I would have been disappointed if she hadn’t.

- “You’re going to be a woman who’s actually worthy of that title.” Not a fan of book Egwene (actually, she’s my least favorite character—the fact that we share many traits in common has nothing to do with it, I’m sure!), but I look forward to seeing show Egwene come into her own.

- How hard must it be for her to return to the Two Rivers, without any of the kids, and no ability to use Healing?

- I love that Daniel likes filming Lanaeve as much as i enjoy watching this.

- I’ve watched this scene obsessively through gifs as soon as they were available

- “I could come with you.” Taken right from TSR, with the response we’d all like to see in an AU

- They way he holds her, and she just relaxes into him, and he rests his cheek on her head. Swooning some more.

- The pitchers are white, black, and swirl

- See, Darkfriends aren’t entirely evil. They feel bad about things too.

- Aww, Liandrin is legitimately upset. I think she sees a lot of herself in Nynaeve and wanted a mentee.

- They named the girl who gets dragged away by the Seanchan. So we’ll see her in the future?

- The Southern accent is amazingly good. Also some of the soliders have baseball bats as weapons. Will they do anything else to drive home the colonizing invaders are American?

- I wonder who this Seanchan guard is who selects Uno? Egeanin, maybe? I mean, they didn’t have to show her face. Maybe she is a named character?

- UNO!!!!!!!!!!

- The side shot of Uno impaled is deeply disturbing. They split the skin from his lips almost to his ear, and both his mandible and maxilla are fractures. It’s accurate, but holy cow that’s intense.

- I didn’t remember Logain had the Talent to see ta’veren, so it doesn’t bother me at all that he can tell men can channel. Quite frankly, it’s a good excuse for him to be out of the Black Tower later, recruiting.

- Again, I like Rand seeking out help wherever he can find it (Errol with the sword, Logain with the OP). I mean, what else is he going to do?

- Gleeman in a cloak! Branding! Hunt for the Horn!

- Lanfear is remakably up to date on the local lore for someone who was asleep for the last 3000 years. Does Ishy have a crash seminar for them on waking?

- “Your grief is your own.” Too bad the only psychiatrist in the series is evil.

- “Someone I respected.” Liandrin does feel guilty.

- I look forward to Mat rising up and proving Liandrin wrong about every word.

- “It’s not always the most powerful women who write history, it’s the ones who survive.” Ooo, chills. This show is actually going to make me care about Egwene isn’t it?

- The Cairheinin party! I love they included this, and the invitations, and him burning it! And, of course, the red coat.

- This hunt for the horn lie is a great way to showcasse just how horrible upper Cairheinin society is. “One less poor mouth for the rich to feed.” I remember the Tairan Lords are terrible toward poor people, but geez, these guys too!

- Naturally, Selene finds this plot amusing. At what point do you think he’ll catch on that she’s evil?

- Asmodean is going to teach Rand, that’s my prediction. But that doesn’t mean Rand has nothing to learn from Logain. He’s willing to learn from anyone who can teach him, no matter how unconventional.

- Ishy kept trying to get the boys to drink in TAR, right? Is this referrencing that?

- Ishamael making Perrin afraid of the wolf side is genius. A much better reason to be reluctant than in the books. “The more wolf you are the more you’re mine.” Chills.

- Hopper!

- I don’t have a problem with Min being made to work for Liandrin. She’s clearly reluctant. She also has no reason to care about Mat, really, and at least show Min comes across as someone who does what she needs to do to survive. I assume the EF5/Rand will eventually show her something worth staying and fighting for.

- Oh, she is crazy crazy.

- I like how they show the taint on the male weaves.

- And the inn gets set on fire too. They did read the books! Guess that’s the end of the red coat, huh?

- I am in love with Elayne. Seriously, how did that happen??

- I note Nynaeve is wearing mostly blue and green. Lan’s favorite colors on women.

- Fancy Mat and happy Perrin!

- Also nice that it seems Lan may do most of the cooking? Wise choice.

- That hair is…um…a look.

- Mat’s left eye!

- I love that Nynaeve saves herself.

- What more can be said about that ending? Definitely more devastating than in the books. Zoe is amazing. All excellent changes to make sense with the show story/character and move her along, give her the “why” she needs to be at the Tower. Amazing and such great storytelling.