#Also it's up to you if you want to interpret the ending as Henry dying or not

[tryingonametaphor]

Why Will Byers?

An analysis and theory on why Henry/Vecna targeted Will first in season 1 and his plans for Will in season 5

‼️Contains The First Shadow (TFS) spoilers so please proceed with caution.‼️

This is going to be a little long but I’ve tried to give as much context as I can without actually being able to show snippets from the stage play. This is my interpretation of everything that went down as a member of the audience and not as someone who has read up any theories about TFS before. To understand why Henry took Will first in 1983, we have to start with -

Henry and Joyce

From all the times I’ve watched TFS, the one thing that has stuck with me is the final conversation Henry has with Joyce. It’s just before his last confrontation with Patty Newby and before he joins Brenner for good. Joyce is the last person (who doesn’t know about Henry’s powers) that he canonically talks to.

Throughout the entire play Joyce, Hopper, and Bob are investigating the animals dying at the hands of Henry and come to the conclusion that Victor Creel has been the one doing the killing. They get so close to solving the case. In her last conversation with Henry, Joyce tries to comfort him by saying that Victor will pay for his crimes - which makes Henry laugh because she’s so close yet so far from the truth. He gets a little frustrated and says “You don’t get it. But someday you will.” The next time we see Henry make a reappearance in Joyce’s life is during -

The Vanishing of Will Byers

Will is taken into the Upside Down (UD) by Henry. It’s not even a question anymore. All of the context clues from 1x1 lead us to believe that Will’s kidnapping was not by a demogorgon. Will - a 12 year old - miraculously survives a week in the upside down with no food or water. Will is even around the demogorgon a few times in the Upside Down. (Joyce communicating with Will through the lights and then the demogorgon coming after her immediately).

Barb dies the night she is taken but Will stays alive and also somehow manages to talk to Joyce through the wall. Joyce is led exactly to where Will was held at the end of s1 and he makes it out alive. It’s almost as if Henry knew all along that Joyce was the most capable of never giving up on finding her son. Like Henry took Will Byers because he was Joyce’s son. And like he was giving her just enough to know that Will was alive. Even when Joyce and Hopper find him at the end in a state of near death, he’s not injured by a creature. He was being prepared for the next stage of Vecna’s plan -

The Possession of Will Byers

The origins of Henry’s powers happen as such - As a kid, he is transported into the UD (originally coined Dimension X by the government) for a few hours because he touched something he wasn’t meant to touch. During his time in there, he came in contact with the Mind Flayer (MF). According to TFS this is the point in his life when he started getting “corrupted”. Brenner’s dad - who was one of the first people to enter dimension X - had mutated blood after but no powers. Henry was the first person to come in contact with the MF and it’s highly likely he got his powers because of this (This would also track considering how most of the party has been in the UD now but show no signs of having powers). The MF controls Henry for the rest of TFS and Henry grows more power hungry the more he kills.

In S2, Henry presumably sends the MF after Will - who has now had a year to heal from the events of 1983. Will is the only other person in all of ST to have had direct contact with the MF and survived it. Henry didn’t hesitate to kill Billy in S3, but he always gives everyone just enough to keep Will safe. Will himself tells Owens in S2 that the MF wants to kill everyone except him. Will once again survives the entire ordeal and is given a “break” for the next 2 seasons. Except I don’t believe he’s been just given a break. I think Will is -

Henry’s Sleeper Agent.

Ready to awaken in s5. I undoubtedly think that Will is going to have powers. And I don’t think they’re going to be the same as Henry and El. El and the other lab kids get their powers directly from Henry. Will’s powers will be directly from the MF like Henry. I believe this has been Henry’s plan all along and it’s further affirmed by what he tells Will in the recent VR game. That Will will be the key to Henry being able to infiltrate his friends’ minds. Jamie Campbell-Bower also mentioned during the S4 press that to get in character, he set up a display with all of Henry’s victims and targets’ faces on his wall(?), and Will was in the center.

Henry is going to use his connection with Will sneakily and midway through S5 he’s going to awaken Will’s powers (maybe in ep4 - which is said to be titled ‘Sorcerer’ and has young Will in it). Henry is going to try and manipulate his way into making an ally out of Will, and it’s not going to work because -

Will is the Perfect Character Foil.

Will is everything Henry could have been if he had a better support system. He is the perfect character foil. Unlike Henry, Will has a mother who loves him unconditionally and more importantly, believes him. Unlike Henry, the person who Will loves the most (the Patty to Will’s Henry: Mike) is going to love him back and stay by his side all season. No one is going to force them to be apart the way Henry was told to stay away from Patty. Will is not going to be easily swayed even though Henry has spent years crafting him into the perfect soldier. Sure, Henry has seen him heartbroken and sad, but that comes nowhere near to the amount of love and support Will is going to get from his people next season. And they’re going to quite literally defeat Vecna with the power of love and friendship. After that, Will Byers is getting the happy ending that Henry could have gotten.

[nhasablogg]

Tickle fics

Fandom: Red, White and Royal Blue

Characters: Henry/Alex

Summary: Alex reads a tickle fic about them aloud and Henry is having a totally chill reaction to it.

A/N: Soooo I do admit not a lot of tickling happens in this one (if any?). It's more of those fics with (the concept of) tickling that I love writing. BUT if you're nice maybe I will write you a sequel with the thing Alex mentions toward the end ;) Actually I probably WILL write it either way, although maybe I won't have the fics be connected. I hope you like this regardless!

Words. 1.2k

Alex finds it funny, and Henry likes watching him giggle over the phone, but, respectfully, Henry is about to die if he keeps it up.

Gripping the pillow he’s fighting against covering his face with, he tries to keep his features neutral, the opposite of Alex’s animated movements. He’s all hands and expressions, all laughter and voices. Maybe it’s Henry’s silence over the voice Alex has chosen to adopt each time Henry’s character speaks - too high pitched, not even the right British accent - that finally makes him look up from the phone, eyebrow raised, sentence dying at the tip of his tongue. “You don’t like this story?”

“It’s a great story.”

“But you’re barely reacting.”

“I was simply just enchanted by the descriptions. You know-” He sits up straighter, eyes on the back of Alex’s phone. “My interpretation of the story relies on how you read it to me. What words you choose to emphasize. What tone you adopt.”

“So you’re saying the way I’m reading is boring.”

“Not at all.”

“Hmm. Okay, look.” He shoves the phone in Henry’s face. “Read this.”

All Henry sees is giggle and tickles and it makes him want to scream. “Okay.”

“Read it aloud. I wanna see how you’d read it.” He leans back, grinning at him. “Since apparently I’m not a good narrator.”

“Oh my god, Alex, that’s not what I meant. I simply thought it was an interesting observation which was entirely on topic by the way-”

“You’re trying to get out of this.”

“I am not-”

“So read.”

They’ve done this before. Henry has never cared about the world of fanfiction, which Alex finds interesting since he is a man of letters and stories. Alex, on the other hand, was looking up fanfiction about the two of them the very moment they started sleeping together, sending him links and screenshots with lewd emojis. It was only after they became official that he started reading them aloud to him, sometimes as a joke, sometimes to see what Henry thought of certain, uh, activities. Henry has never called him out on it, mostly because it’s been quite effective.

“Look,” he said earlier that evening, tapping Henry on the arm. “I found a tickle fic of us.”

Henry nearly broke his own neck from how quickly he turned toward him. “S-sorry?”

Alex took his spluttering in the wrong way and nodded eagerly. “I know! Apparently that’s a thing. Listen to this.” He cleared his throat. “This is in the middle of the fic, it doesn’t start like this. Henry managed to call out a panicked, “No!” before Alex had switched spots, fingers curling over the area and making Henry howl with laughter, much different than June’s quiet pleading, but nowhere near Alex’s yelling. I don’t yell by the way. Also it’s a little weird that June’s in here. But oh my god, I need to read you the whole thing, it’s glorious. It’s about me compiling a list about my favorite things about you and putting you being ticklish on there, which I guess is kinda true. The author’s this weirdo called N-”

Henry grips the phone tighter now, scanning the screen. “Where did you stop?”

“About here.” Alex points and Henry tries to breathe.

“‘I should pin you before you fall off,’ he said, and Henry positively whined- I don’t whine.”

Alex waves his hand. “You do. Keep reading.”

“‘You liked that?’ ‘Let go of me, you brute.’”

“It does kinda sound like you, doesn’t it?” Alex has his cheek pressed to Henry’s shoulder, eyes on the phone. He can probably feel the heat radiating off of him and Henry tries to calm down, he really really does. “You’re certainly just as ticklish. Not sure if you like it when I tickle you, though.” He turns to grin at him, all cheeky innocence and Henry deserves a prize for the way he doesn’t look away.

“Right.” The prize should promptly be taken from him due to the way his voice wavers.

Alex sits up, as if he only just now realizes how not chill Henry has been during this entire interaction. “Wait, do you?”

“No.”

“Baby.”

It’s so unfair when Alex baby’s him. “I don’t.”

To Alex’s credit he seems to be trying very hard not to smile now. “You’re blushing.”

“It’s very hot in here.”

“Come to think of it, you’ve been blushing this entire time.”

“I have not.”

“Did you write this fic?”

“What? No!”

“But it’s not far off, is it? You don’t mind when I tickle you.”

Henry finally covers his face with that stupid pillow. “Please god, what did I do to deserve this.”

Alex is laughing as he pulls at the pillowcase. “Come on, don’t hide. It’s cute. I swear I didn’t pick this fic to embarrass you. I hadn’t connected the dots until literally just now.”

“There are no dots.” Henry gives up on the pillow and lets Alex take it. “This fic is simply not good.”

“Oh, come on now.” Alex makes a move as if to touch him and thinks better of it. “You almost never protest when I tickle you. You always seem to be in a better mood afterward. You don’t have to be into it or anything to not mind it.”

Henry whines - stupid N being right - and shuts his eyes. “I- okay, fine, I don’t fully mind it. Not when you do it.”

“Baby, that’s so cute.”

“I will literally murder you.”

“Tell me.” Alex is suddenly closer. Henry can feel his breath at his neck, but he refuses to open his eyes. “Did it do something to you to hear me read that fic?”

“Alex-”

“Did you enjoy it? I certainly like watching you squirm.”

Henry opens his eyes and Alex is right there. “I won’t answer that.” A breath, and, “You already know the answer.”

“Oh, that I do.” A fingertip on Henry’s thigh. Henry imagines it moving further in, touching his most delicate skin. He rarely allows himself to think this - shame and guilt always gripping him - but sometimes, when he’s alone in bed or has Alex sleeping beside him, he imagines what it would be like to fully lose control to teasing fingers.

He’s never thought this fantasy will play out. He doesn’t know how to approach it now.

But Alex is there, so certain with it. So nonjudgmental.

“Tell me,” he says now, finger still but still touching. “What would you want me to do to you, if you could have me do anything? Pin you? Tie you up? Tickle you so gently you nearly scream? Or maybe you’re more into the playfulness of it. Maybe you like it when I’m quick and brief.”

“I don’t know what I like.” It wasn’t a lie.

“Oh. Well.” Alex grins, all teeth and glee. “Maybe one of those fics can help us figure it out. Combined with some experimentation, of course.”

Henry doesn’t know if he should curse N out or thank her. Maybe both.

[cowboysanddragons23]

Arthur Morgan has been training to fight Dutch during his whole arc and doesn't even realize it, as all of the antagonists he fought against, all represent an aspect of Dutch:

-Colm O'Driscoll: Colm O'Driscoll is an outlaw who cares only about causing chaos and destruction, with no sense of idealism or loyalty towards his men, seeing them only as expendable numbers, focusing only on the quantity aspect instead of quality. He rules his gang with a cultistic mix of fear and adoration ("He's..uh..uh.. wh-when he talks to you nicely is like the sun is shining, and when he is mad at you, it's like the devil's gonna be upon you"). This parallels how Dutch would behave during Chapter 6, leaving Arthur and John to die and regarding the rest of the gang as expendable numbers and leads them with a cultistic mix of adoration and fear.

-Leviticus Cornwall: Leviticus Cornwall is an industrialist who, despite his delusions of gentlemanliness and eloquence, he robs, kills and destroys everything on his path, showing utter lack of concern about the destruction he leaves on his wake ("Business doesn't give a damn about feelings."). He is also obsessed with getting more power and will betray the law he claims to uphold so he can get what he desires. This reflects how Dutch threw away the ideals he cherished so much the moment pressure started mounting him at the drop of a hat, but also that despite dressing elegantly and speaking eloquently, he is a criminal hiding under a mask of sophistication.

-Andrew Milton: Andrew Milton is a Pinkerton agent determined to make his vision of the world a reality, starting out with a noble intention (which is up to interpretation), which is to clean up the West, yet ends up descending more into savagery and uncivilization, yet retains a sliver of honor. This mirrors how Dutch started out wanting to build an utopia using brutal and relentless methods, yet ends up descending more and more into insanity, dying a violent death.

-Tavish Gray and Catherine Braithwaite: Tavish Gray and Catherine Braithwaite are the heads of the Gray and Braithwaite families, who despite the times advancing, they still remain stuck in the past, wallowing about the "good ol' days" where they could hurt and kill with impunity. This is a parallel how Dutch refused to stop being an outlaw and had no intention of retiring at all.

-Angelo Bronte: As already explained in my earlier post, Angelo Bronte is a mobster who rules Saint Denis as a king, who has both the police and mafia serving as his knights. Similar to Cornwall and Colm, Bronte is not only supported by society, but is also a criminal who has no delusions about the nature of his business, treating others as dirt and manipulating them into doing what he wants. He also takes orphans into his thrall in order for them to serve him as criminals. This parallels how Dutch treats the gang at heart, with a compassionate way, but in the most condescending and arrogant way possible, but also how he adopted Arthur and John, grooming them into becoming his personal weapons.

-Alberto Fussar: Alberto Fussar is the dictator of Guarma, who he rules as its ruthless autocrat, claiming to work for the glory of Guarma, yet being utterly uncaring and apathetic towards the people inside it, working them to death and outright importing slaves for him to use as workforce in order to satisfy his own endless greed. When his right hand man, Levi Simon, was shot, he left him to die and only cared about saving himself and his pride. Fussar is also ruthlessly intolerant of any viewpoint other than his own. This parallels with how Dutch rules the gang, as the title of the mission "A Kind and Benevolent Despot" can be also applied to Dutch as well, as he gaslights on numerous times the members of the gang the moment they start questioning him and is willing to kill them himself.

-Henry Favours: Henry Favours is a colonel in the US Army who after an undistinguished career, hatches a plot to "reclaim" his "lost glory" by manipulating the Wapiti into war, eventually becoming one of its casualties, while being regarded as an incompetent moron. This is a reflection of how Dutch manipulated the indians in order to both make his escape and to cause chaos and his delusional belief about being a mastermind, yet having in reality an abysmal track record.

[undeaddollz]

HENRY BOWERS ANALYSIS!!

btw this is long as shit as it was a ramble to my friend on discord. this is how i interpreted henry, not including the obvious parts of his personality like the racism and much more. thats obvious and everyone knows that, heres something i picked up as i love psychology! i also have a patrick one if you guys would like!

and you can always ask for me to do another IT character as well and i'll try.

so henry is such an interesting character!

it's so obvious he replies on being perceived as masculine and strong because even though he hates his dad he still wants butch's approval and to finally be good enough.

it's part of why he's such a fucked up person and bullies others because it makes him feel stronger and powerful which is something he craves since he is beat at home which makes him feel weak.

bowers gang is a very interesting group of boys, henry is friends with them cause they're kind of like him. we dont get a ton of insight on victor and belch but we know they just think its all in good fun, they dont get as much of a kick out of bullying as patrick and henry. but more or less they're all pretty similar, which henry thrives on. it's obvious he doesnt rely on them or gets emotional with them, belch and victor seem to want henry to but he screams at them every time so they're used to just ignoring the abuse henry goes through.

How henry has a problem with anyone who isnt like himself is an extremely deep rooted problem and the one to blame for this is butch, he beats henry over anything he can, even just little reasons. butch definitely puts some gender roles into henry's head and told him to "stop having a smart mouth" (a reason he hates richie.)

The reason pennywise chose to possess henry is pretty apparent, while it could've gone with patrick i feel like there isnt a lot in patricks mind to break to make him become a mind slave, which is why he just killed patrick instead, using his corpse to manipulate henry. while patrick can be strong he's so mentally fucked up with so many disorders he would've probably just thought his family dying was funny. which makes him a not so great target since he wont be broken like henry could. Henry was having problems at school, home and in his head, there were still parts of him that could be broken as he was not past the point of no return. deep down henry had a lot of fears, one of those fears even being patrick, patricks killing of animals and his own little brother scared henry. while henry could only wish his dad dead, patrick was able to make things like that happen and get away with it and have no guilt, even brag about it.

Henry was still a fairly normal kid until the rock war, thats when i believe he started to go crazy and when pennywise started to get a hold on henry as patrick died shortly after. While henry is scared of patrick that doesnt mean they werent friends, patrick was part of henrys routine, i think having a bit of a routine kept henry sane but the clown started to disrupt that and put henry on edge.

It continues to add shit onto henry's plate to break him. A friend goes missing, he's continually beat at home and it's getting worse. He gets embarrassed in front of his friends, just more and more is added on.

He's then forced to kill his father and then his two closest friends, then made to go back home with evidence planted in his room that he killed all the missing kids. usually he would end up in jail but pennywise knows it will need henry again so it has henry sent to a mental hospital where he endures more abuse and never recovers from having his mind broken as 1, the staff are awful 2, pennywise visits him every night in the form of his dead friends. He mostly takes the form of victor as victor was henry's best friend. the movie isnt fully accurate and uses patricks corpse only when it was actually victor who meant the most to henry, patrick is used as a scare factor.

Although patrick is the one who stuck around to the end and got the same kick out of making people suffer like henry did. he always supported crazy ideas unlike belch and victor. grief is one of henry's huge motivators and pennywise took advantage of that as grief is one of its specialties

[princesable]

hi welcome to my post. my post of charlie game plot summary. because i realized no such post exists. so like. here we are. charlie game has a plot. you wouldnt know this because i keep forgetting to mention it as i have a horrible habit of just assuming people know. for some reason.

so the story starts as all memorable stories do. someone fucking dying. i could not think of any other way to open this. basically sherwin ends up causing a freak accident that ends with twitch's best friend getting killed badly. he then immediately goes into hiding as you do.

twitch kind of assumes he also died because he just vanished without a trace so like. what else would have happened. one day sherwin makes the brilliant decision to leave his house for the first time in like a year or so (i have not decided on how long ok. its long enough) and twitch almost immediately spots him and is like Oh i need to kill him right fucking now. they start chasing after him but due to his abilities (being relatively fast) he gets away. and twitch is like. ok. what the fuck. i need to go tell the 4 (four) people i know that sherwin isnt actually dead so i can get them to help me track his ass down and kill him. so he will actually be dead.

luckily for twitch they exclusively know people who are Fucking Weird and always open to violence because they have nothing better to do or theyre clyde who is convinced hes a super villain. fox is also there but shes mostly ambivalent on this due to not really. knowing any of them. henry and terrence are also there and theyre not really invested either but they think it sounds fun. so theyre down for whatever. important thing to note is that none of them are really taking this as seriously as twitch. everyone else kind of just views this as a "game". subtle reference to the fact this will be a video game.

so twitch is like ok i have. no idea where the fuck he could have gone. so we're all gonna split up and look for him. feel free to do whatever you want as long as you bring sherwin back to me so i can kill him badly. and everyone hears this as "have fun with it be yourself" so instead of setting up traps like normal people they essentially set up. attractions? meant to lure him in so they can mess with him a bit before grabbing him and taking him home. except for fox shes just watching everyone. plotting or something. she says shes plotting.

sherwin on the other hand runs into sam and ellie who are just completely unrelated. they dont know anyone involved. so the only side theyre getting is "weird dude shows up out of nowhere who is clearly running from something and looks absolutely terrified" so they decide to tag along with him so he doesnt immediately fall down a flight of stair or something. also because it means they get to go on a road trip weeeeeeee (they are actively on the run)

and thats the prologue. basically. every chapter/act/whatever you feel like calling them will focus on one of the "attractions" and which ever guy is assigned to them. and how they are really really bad at their jobs. tldr: sherwin fucked up reaaaaaaaaaaaally bad and now everyone wants him dead. it is up to viewer interpretation if this is fair. personally i think its funny.

^ i think hes funny

[officialgleamstar]

dndads couple songs

okay. i wrote out all of this, and then deleted it all by accident as soon as i finished, so now i’m rewriting it. originally oakworthy was on here too as a bonus ship, but it ended up being the only thing i didn’t delete and so it’s getting cut out of spite. fuck them kids. no one gets to know what small musician’s song i assigned to the freaks.

anyways! i like to collect songs that remind me of the relationships between the parents of both seasons, and i thought it would be fun to share my top picks for them all here with some of my reasoning :D i’m smart. come closer. look at my music, boy/girl/enby/etc.

Season 1: Odyssey

Darryl/Carol - I’d Have to Think About It by Leith Ross

I had a few different options for them but this is the best choice

Yes, I know this is a lesbian song. Hear me out: I am a lesbian and I like them.

They need to be divorced so badly but I truly think Darryl will be in love with Carol forever

“I’ve been a liar and you’ve been a pill” LITERALLY THEM?? Darryl lies about his life/feelings and Carol is hard to talk to, that’s literally them, oh my GOD. Please see my vision

Henry/Mercedes - Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)

Literally the easiest song on this entire list

They’re hippies. They’re so fucking in love. I rest my case

I picture it from Mercedes’ perspective (just because Henry is a druid, so things literally grow wherever he goes), but it works both ways

Ron/Samantha - Lay All Your Love On Me by Dominic Cooper and Amanda Seyfried

Yes, it’s important that it’s the Mamma Mia version and not the ABBA original, because Cooper’s verses fit Ron and Seyfried’s verses fit Samantha

“I wasn’t jealous before we met”, “And I’m possessive, it isn’t nice”, etc. are so so Ron about Terry Sr.

“I still don’t know what you’ve done with me, A grown-up woman should never fall so easily” Samantha is so so in love with Ron despite the bizarre way they met

In conclusion: this song is so them, thank you

Glenn/Morgan - I’ll Never Love Again by Hamilton Leithauser

I have a few different Glenn/Morgan songs but we’ll go with the sad one because I love it

I don’t need to explain this one. You get it from the title. He never loved again (until he met another timeline version of her, I guess).

Jodie/Morgan - Wedding Singer by Modern Baseball

I do need to explain this one because I have a very specific interpretation of the song that may not be entirely accurate, but it’s real to me

This song is about a dying relationship that you feel like you should be able to fix, but you just can’t

This song is about to clinging to your past even though everyone just wants to move on

This song is about being unsure if your lover is your lover anymore. This song is about love not being what romantic movies have shown it to be. This song is about being stuck in a relationship that is on its last legs and you can’t tell if you want to let it go or fight for it kicking and screaming.

Most importantly, it is about Jodie’s endless pining over his ex-wife!

“The selfish side likes to think that my execution’s more of an honest one, these artists all cut cloth with underscore” is definitely aimed at Glenn, by the way. ‘My pathetic pining over you is more honest than whatever he’s doing with you and his dead no longer real wife.’ etc etc

Season 2: Quest

Grant/Marco - God in Jeans by Ryan Beatty

If you know this song, you know I don’t even have to explain this. But I will, because I love this song.

God in Jeans is about worshipping your homosexual lover like he’s your God, and how rewarding it can be to place your love in trust in him

Grant placing his love and trust in Marco despite everything that has happened to him is so deeply personal to me, and this song is essentially all about that

Also Grant just needs more Catholic guilt. He also needs to kiss his husband more. Please. Please I miss Marco so much

Sparrow/Rebecca - Strawberry Mentos by Leanna Firestone

This was another one that was hard because I had too many options. This time, I went for the happy one, because I know I can make it sad but also it’s a happy song and I really want Sparrow to be happy

This song is all about comparing your love to something sweet! Rebecca runs an ice cream parlor! It all adds up!

“So I pick up black licorice from every candy aisle even though I hate the taste of it, because I know when I kiss you, it’ll make you smile” Sparrow is shown to sacrifice parts of himself to accommodate the people around him, and molds himself to fits others whims. This is the sad part.

“You’re not afraid of your feelings and you’re not afraid of mine” Rebecca is shown to be confident in herself. She’s a girlboss. I think Sparrow depends on that sort of sturdiness a lot, since he’s… y’know, Sparrow. Having someone who is so confident in themself helps him be more confident in their relationship

“Taking weekly trips to my dentist, but I know it’s worth it” Sparrow looks over the faults in their relationship (cough cough THE AFFAIR cough) because he wants this marriage to work. He loves his wife!

That’s the end of my case, thank you

Lark/Rebecca - Rebecca by Against Me!

Literally no fucking contest

We are not in love but we ARE fucking. I’m obsessed with you. There’s vague implications that I might have feelings for you but we will never address it because neither of us want more. The song is literally about a woman named Rebecca

It’s their song. Moving on

Terry Jr./Veronica - Be Your Man by Ivan & Alyosha

This feels like a bit of a weak pick but it’s just so them, okay?

The entire song is about wanting to be a dedicated husband to your wife. Terry Jr. does everything in his power to fit himself into Veronica’s life and be a part of her family

Plus, considering what we know about Veronica’s ex-husband, I think Terry would do his best to be almost overly giving and caring in contrast to him

It’s a sweet song, Terry is a sweet man, and this song is so so so them

Nicky/Cassandra - Breathless on DVD by Antarctigo Vespucci

Not to brag, but my Nicky playlist on Spotify has two whole likes. This does not mean that I am confident in this pick. It’s really hard for me to narrow down a song that fits their vibe considering they don’t interact

The closest we get to them interacting is Cassandra saying Nicky was a good man, and also that they’re divorced. I also feel like maybe it was said that they argued, but I may have imagined that based on the divorce line? I dunno

Breathless on DVD is a song about an ex-relationship that ended in a place you’re not fully happy with, and looking back on it now, you’re not sure how you feel about the relationship as a whole

“I wanted to see you to see if I still wanted to see you, but that’s not fair” Being unsure what you even want anymore, etc etc

It’s a reach, I’m sorry, but their vibes are so hard for me to pin down personally LOL

BONUS: Jodie/Scam - She Hates Me by Puddle of Mudd

The girls are fightiiiing lmao

[bishkebab]

Thought dump on the Ted Lasso finale below the cut

The Ted/Rebecca fakeouts actually felt kind of mean to me until I realized I was looking at the show from a tumblr perspective and thinking they were picking on shippers vs looking at it from a mainstream audience perspective and realizing they were thumbing their nose at the expectation that Ted and Rebecca would end up together because Ted HAD to have a love interest at the end.

The way Roy and Jamie were talking about Keeley made me cringe hardcore. It felt like a regression, especially when Jamie brought up the video as a gotcha point. I was so glad that Keeley said fuck it and didn’t end up with either of them, even though I was originally rooting for triad.

That made it clearer that the point was that even though they both have grown a lot, they both have a long way to go….and even if they didn’t, growth doesn’t guarantee anything! They could both have become the absolute paragons of perfection and Keeley still wouldn’t have to choose one of them! I think it made sense for Keeley to be single at the end because she’s barely been out of a relationship for more than short periods throughout the show.

Even though I wish Keeley and Rebecca had been endgame, from a watsonian perspective they’re at different points in their lives. Yes, they’re both powerful women, but Keeley has a huge career trajectory in front of her and Rebecca is looking for peace and a family.

I loved the callback to the suggestion box at the beginning of the show, with Nate getting to proudly pass around his even more bedazzled box and Jamie sneaking in extra money with a wink instead of putting in his gum with a sneer.

Rupert sweeping around in his evil coat felt a little over the top, like we could have somehow forgotten that he’s The Villain and they wanted to make sure that we saw him Earn His Comeuppance. Seemed unnecessary.

When they passed the ball off to McAdoo and I was holding my breath trying to figure out how his super powerful corner kick that broke the window was going to be significant, and then he kicked it through the net like something from a sports anime 🥲

Ted’s arc was actually what was most baffling and depressing to me, up until the very end. He looked so subdued for the first half of the episode, and it felt like we were being shown how everyone around him felt about him going but not how he felt? Like, shouldn’t there have been some sign of joy for what was ahead, not just resignation that it was what he had to do? Even the speech in the locker room felt like an attempt to justify the fact that they hadn’t actually given him a future beyond “be in the same country as your son”.

The final diamond dogs meeting helped a lot. We actually got to see Ted being Ted again, plus the full circle of seeing Nate back in the fold plus Trent and Roy added in. Perfect scene 10/10 no notes 🥹

I was going to be so hideously depressed if Ted’s final scene had been him getting out of the taxi and walking with Henry back into his ex-wife’s house. Like what, you’re going to throw away all your autonomy and growth and just be a third wheel to Michelle and Dr. Jake because your son needs you? But the final scene made me feel a lot better, because it felt more like…a real reason. Like look, at the beginning he was running away from a dying marriage and a son he was afraid to fail, and he became a father figure to an entire team, so then he needed to go home and give his own son the coaching he gave those other young men and face his dissolved marriage head on.

And then the elephant in the room, Trent my beloved. I’m not going to blame any of the TedTrenters for being disappointed, but I will say the impression I was given of the laugh police scene by people in the tag was vastly different from my interpretation of the scene. I didn’t see it as Ted shooting Trent down or not liking his enthusiasm at all, it was just a gentle admonishment to not fish for a reaction (and also, like, don’t bug me when I’m concentrating on reading lol) but Ted was looking at him with complete fondness the entire time, he didn’t seem actually bothered by Trent himself; and Trent didn’t seem dampened at all, just a little abashed. I don’t know, I kept seeing it interpreted as Trent’s bid for connection - “I just want you to like it” - being rebuffed in that scene, when to me it is met and returned by Ted’s note on the book- he didn’t just like it, he loved it!

The thing is, people were analyzing everything James Lance was saying about Trent through a shipping lens, and so I can understand why it would be so disappointing to not see what they thought he was telling us we’d see. My view is, James Lance fell in love with his character, and he’s looking at everything from a purely Trent perspective. Someone asking him about how Trent looks at Ted and him saying “oh wow, you noticed that? Yes, that’s significant” could definitely come off as “yes, Trent has feelings for Ted” but I always pretty much interpreted it as “yes, actually Trent is attracted to men and I’m impressed that people picked up on that”. And the final shirt that said it all- “Stay Golden” - is a thank you to Ted and a well-wish for the future, not the love confession we were hoping for.

While I 100% think James Lance did play Trent as having some level of feelings for Ted, ultimately Trent’s love story is with himself. He says it at the final diamond dogs meeting- I don’t necessarily think people change, but they learn to accept the person they always were. Trent went from his tough-as-nails, unflappably suave persona to a massive dweeb 🥹 he wears band shirts and dorky scarves and leopard print shoes! He does cute little paws during diamond dog meetings! He dances awkwardly with his crush’s mom! He takes off his blazer and twirls it around his head like a maniac!

Like to go from being astonished by the fact that Ted actually meant it when he said he enjoyed spending the day together, to joining in with the team’s revelries? He loves himself now!

Like I said, I’m not denying the subtext. I absolutely think Trent has some feelings for Ted, and I absolutely think Ted is bisexual (though I doubt he knows it). But I don’t know, I guess I never saw Ted as showing any conscious sign of reciprocation purely because, to be honest, he IS still a huge mess. He’s way too absorbed in his own guilt and confusion to be able to figure that out. But I didn’t feel like the show actually, canonically shut down the possibility. 6 months, a year down the line…? Trent has finished his book, he’s no longer a sports journalist, Ted is in the states near his son, who’s going to write the fanfic for me about what happens next…? 🤣

I will say one loose end that I sure wish had been tied up was Dr. Jake. So what, Michelle’s just going to…keep dating a walking ethics violation who was shitting on the game to her and her son? I mean, he wasn’t in the final scene so maybe they did break up, though I hope to god that wasn’t supposed to imply that she and Ted would ever end up back together because I WOULD break into Jason Sudeikis’s house and smash his kneecaps.

Anyway, I dunno. I still feel like it was weirdly sad on Ted’s behalf, but I felt like it was a nice ending for everyone else. Overall it was…fine. I’m not tortured by any of it. I’ll just be over here continuing to read Ted/Trent fan fiction 🤷🏻‍♀️

[marshmeowllows]

I wanna talk about this visual novel. It's not new-in fact it was released in October 2021 and won that year's Spooktober VN Jam.

It's called Stillwater, by Studio Clump.

From the itch.io page:

"I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU"

Private Investigator Hugo Laurent was ready to busy himself with more paperwork until a young disturbed woman entered his office to request an investigation regarding her grandfather's safety. What danger awaits underneath the surface of this mystery?

(From picture left to right are Hugo Laurent, Colby, and Noah De Leon.)

What's the danger, and what mystery?

Well, the mystery turns out to concern the grandfather of this woman, Nina Mortimer. His name is Henry Mortimer, and despite being Nina's grandfather...

...He looks like this.

Yeah, it's been that way since a few nights ago. The Mortimers' caretaker also quit because she kept noticing random puddles of water everywhere in the house, stopping in front of Henry's room.

Anyway, Henry received a letter from someone named Louis-someone Nina doesn't recognize. She shows the letter to Hugo, who notices an ominous message on it: "I AM COMING FOR YOU HENRY".

Later while investigating at the estate, Hugo checks the letter again. It looks different-no more creepy message.

This is the locket Louis was talking about. Looks like Henry did keep it.

After finding the locket, Hugo can choose to take it or leave it. Water appears, followed by an ominous figure that tells him "don't get in my way"-then the door jams shut. Hugo has to leave via the window.

Outside, Henry is heading towards the lake, as Nina tries to stop him. Hugo goes after him in her stead. He first tries to appeal to Henry's love for his granddaughter, which works briefly before Henry resumes blaming himself for the death of Louis. Hugo then tries to tell him that Henry dying won't resolve anything for him or for Louis.

If Hugo didn't take the locket, he'll fail to save Henry and end up dying in the lake as well (mundane: drowned, supernatural: killed by the entity). If he took the locket, he can give it to the entity, which lets him and Henry go. Hugo ends up unconscious, meeting the ghost of Louis, who thanks him. Fortunately, Louis tells him he can't "rest" there, and he and Henry are saved by Noah.

Henry has now returned to what's he's supposed to look like in the present. He tells Hugo about how he never got to say goodbye to Louis, how he kept wishing if Louis stayed longer in the world with him. He thanks Hugo for doing so much for a stranger, and also tells him he hopes Hugo can also overcome whatever's troubling him.

Who's Louis?

My interpretation is that Louis was Henry's romantic partner from when he was younger. One day, Louis asked Henry to meet him by the lake, but Henry didn't show. Louis, who's described as "troubled" in the newspaper article about his death, ended up drowning himself. Henry felt guilty after he heard the news, but eventually moved on with his life and had a family.

What's going on with Henry?

Noah mentions that the Mortimers faced many deaths over the years, to the point people believed they were cursed. All these deaths likely took a toll on Henry, who's reminded of the death of someone he loved and who loved him, all those years ago. Over time it culminates-until Henry is returned to the age he was that fateful day, and he tries to drown himself in the lake on what's likely its anniversary.

What's with Henry's eyes and the ominous figure?

Henry's eyes were glowing green. If Hugo took the locket, a green entity will appear at the lake and drag Henry down with it.

I suspect that's part supernatural, part manifestation of Henry's feelings.

What's the thing Henry hopes Hugo can overcome?

In the good ending, Henry says he hopes that Hugo can overcome "it". What's "it"? His troubles with work, troubles with experiencing supernatural shit, troubles with Noah who he maybe wants to be more than coworkers with? I think Henry was speaking in general, but no matter which is it it looks like things are looking up.

[evyisaks]

I hate whenever the tag has a resurgence of people trying to defend M*leven shippers. They will absolutely never do the same thing for Bylers. Obviously every single M*leven isn't a raging homophobe. But crying over how unfair it is to say negative things about them when a lot of their fanbase is very vocally homophobic just screams pick me behavior.

Also, I'm sorry. But if M*levens don't see a problem with the gay kid's feelings being used to fix a straight couple's problems, that is really sh*tty of them. Wanting people to get queerbaited and the plotline of the show to be homophobic just because "my ship is cute and I Iike them 🥺 " is not a stance that many Bylers will get behind.

Hii! :)

Yes exactly! And I honestly have no issues getting started on how annoying and problematic parts of the Byler fandom can be. There are people in the fandom that are so hateful, and not for not finding Mcflurry cute or for thinking that Mcflurry's aren't watching the show right, but they are downright hateful.

However, this isn't what's being discussed when talking about the issues in the fandom. And I'm sorry but there's a difference in saying that someone isn't watching a certain piece of media correctly, and then being called slurs. There's a difference in saying that you don't ship Mcflurry and think that they were never in love, and then people calling Bylers homophobic slurs and wishing Will's death so that he doesn't come between McFlurry.

And most of the posts about Will from Mcflurry's is almost never positive- even if it's outside of Byler. Will is a loser. He's annoying. He's a cry baby. He's a crybaby. He's a bad friend and brother. He's creepy for liking Mike. You are creepy if you ship Byler. You hate El if you ship them. You are ableist against El if you want her brother to steal her boyfriend. But gay people having unrequited love stories and ending alone is realistic. It makes sense for Will's character to end up alone. Will realising that he's not a kid anymore and ending up alone makes sense. You need to read these bible verses because shipping Byler is a sin. The social media didn't queerbait with Byler, Bylers are just throwing up that word for nothing. Will dying would make sense in S5. Will dead and Mcflurry as endgame in S5 is the perfect ending.

I get it that people have friends who ship Mcflurry and they are nice, I'm mutuals with people who share different ships and fave characters than I do, and that's okay.

Do I agree that Bylers need to be nice to each other? Yes. Because at the end of the day we only know what the writers tell us and what is confirmed. Ones theory about Henry isn't the correct one and it doesn't make your theory any less valid than the one posted by a popular blog. People speculating about Mike's sexuality need to stop and think why bisexual Mike offends them so much, and some goes to people having bi-Mike as canon. Why does Mike being gay offend you?

Calling out people from your own fandom is so important to do because hey, Bylers aren't perfect shippers. People go too far. People don't always separate real life from fiction. Some Bylers are hateful. That's facts.

I think what bothers me is that we aren't telling some Bylers to back off because they are being hateful and disgusting. No we are telling Bylers to take all the hate and slurs from Mcflurry's, because saying that they are interpreting the show incorrectly is bad. And how can you say that Mcflurry aren't cute??? So sit back and watch the homophobic replies to a post that was "Mcflurry aren't cute. They were never in love and they bring out the worst in each other" because how dare Bylers not like Mcflurry?

[pretty-rad-arson-dad]

hey what if. what if Henry. went looking for charlie the night she was murdered. and found William. in the act--? ~Taco

Sorry for the late response! I’ve gotten a bit busy lately and have been feeling a bit unmotivated. Anyways, here you go! 

-----------------------------------------------------

“Oh god... William, what did you do...?” 

William watched as Henry backed away from him, a smile plastered onto his face. He rubbed his bloodied hands on his soaking pants and approached Henry.

“Youu... I didn’t know you were here....” he mumbled.

Henry continued to back away from him. “Stay back! I’ll-”

William growled and grabbed Henry’s arm, yanking him forward. “You’re staying here-”

Henry let out a sob as he was pulled against William’s chest. He weakly tried to shove at him, but his arms just trembled, feeling like putty.

“Stop it now-” William mumbles, pressing his lips against Henry’s forehead as he gently traced his fingers along Henry’s chin before he harshly gripped it and forced Henry to look up at him before forcefully kissing him. Henry let out a muffled scream and shoved himself away from William, then began hitting at him.

“DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T TOUCH ME! DON’T TOUCH ME!”

William growled and grabbed Henry by his hair. “That’s it! I’ve tried to be nice-” He yanked Henry towards him again. Henry continued to try and hit William. 

“I TOLD YOU TO STOP!” William shouted, throwing Henry against the wall of the pizzaria. Henry fell to the ground and looked up at William, who quickly grabbed Henry’s hair again. “YOU NEVER LISTEN! IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT YOU, ISN’T IT?!”

Before Henry could even reply, William smashed Henry’s head into the wall. Henry struggled against him.

“I LOVED YOU AND YOU JUST TOSSED ME ASIDE!”

Again, he smashed Henry’s head into the wall. He began to bleed. Henry’s struggling became more frantic.

“YOU SAID YOU CARED ABOUT ME!”

“W-WILL PLEASE!”

The blood began to trickle down the back of Henry’s head and down his neck.

“YOU’RE A LIAR!!!”

The blood dripped down into the puddles of rain. Henry’s movements became weak. 

William slammed Henry’s head against the wall one final time before letting go of his hair. Henry slumped down against the wall. He could feel the wetness of the blood and rain running  down his back. He felt nauseous now... Dizzy... And his head ached. 

He tried to move his head to look up at William once again, just so he could see what the other man was doing. Just so he would know that William wasn’t going to hurt him again... And yet, he found he couldn’t move his head.

He let out a few labored breaths and let his eyes slowly close. He felt tired now.

Maybe if I just take a quick nap, I’ll wake up and it’ll all just be a bad dream...

[halcyon-hyacinth]

Which webtoons are your faves?

To those of y'all unfamiliar to webtoons, they're free comics you can read online. They're generally updated weekly and there's all sorts of stories from every genre covered. The ones I have listed are all ongoing and can be found here. Two are on hiatus atm but they'll be back soon.

Generally I like to read Fantasy/Action+Adventure/Romance.

My favorite to read out of all of these so far has been Finding Wonderland which is a different take on Alice in Wonderland. The plot is really intriguing and I love how everything's being slowly revealed.

Summary: In Wonderland, Alex is the Ace. When tasked with hunting down the nefarious Black Knave and his scourge of Nightmares, Alex begins to have visions of another world beyond: our world. In reality, Alex is a normal teen who has been placed in a dangerous simulation to draw out a scientist’s lost son. And time is quickly running out.

This webtoon has my favorite art style by far. The colors are super vibrant and the transitions/character design is on point. It's also near and dear to my heart because there's some unresolved history between Alex and Lucky (the white rabbit) that I'm dying to know more about. While romance isn't the focus of the webtoon I love seeing it as a side development and their chemistry is on point.

Some words on the other ones I have listed:

Purple Hyacinth (Mystery) - A cop with an ability to detect lies teams up with an assassin to fight corruption/plots by a criminal organization to overthrow the ruling monarchy. I don't usually like stories with cops in them but this one has a clear critique of the criminal justice system/policing so it's been pretty fun to read.

Your Smile is a Trap (Romance) - Kiyu is an ex-idol trainee starting at a new high school. He's always gotten way too much attention than he's comfortable with for his good looks so he decides to hide his features with a pair of glasses with thick frames. But try as he might to make some friends, he's socially awkward, his new seat mate is unapproachable, and his fans have tracked him down. Hijinks ensue.

Odd Girl Out (Drama) - Nari starts high school and somehow ends up getting the three most popular girls in the school to hang out with her, when all she wants is a normal life. This one has great found family vibes and the character relationships/dynamics are super well done. Also the art has improved a lot over time so it's been cool to see that develop as well.

Jackson's Diary (Supernatural) - A teenager named Jackson starts at a new school and can't help but feel that something is off about one of the school's most popular students, Exer. This one gives me Stranger Things vibes cause it's set in 1989 and has supernatural elements and I appreciate the character dynamics and the slow reveal of what the hell is going on, lol.

Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell (Comedy) - A teenager named Paul summons a demon to get love advice from to help talk to his crush. Supernatural shenanigans ensue. By far one of the funniest webtoons I've read, with plenty of twists along the way.

Lore Olympus (Romance) - Retelling of the story of Persephone and Hades. Really like their interpretation of all the gods, the character development and plot progression has been super good. Also, it's going to be turned into a Netflix show!!! :))

Mom I'm Sorry (Drama) - A college kid named Henry makes a deal with a lifespan dealer to give away part of his lifespan so that his dying mom can live. Now his mom is his age and they're able to go to college together as Henry decides to live his remaining days helping her live life to the fullest. Shenanigans ensue. I really like the character dynamics and all the different conflicts they run into. It's a pretty engaging story.

If y'all want some specific recs lemme know! There's a couple of really good sapphic webtoons out there that I've checked out :,)

[ruby-whistler]

Alright curious anon here. All this is /dsmp /rp from here on out unless otherwise specified and is refering to characters. If i make any mistakes or am misinformed please let me know! So by the cat was nothing compared to mushroom henry i was meaning more toward the fact that the cow was killed as a punishment for something not worth or ok for it to be killed for at all and the fact that it belonged to tommy, wheareas the cat was killed more to annoy dream and belonged to tommy. (1/?)

alright then another lengthy reply, here i come! /lh /dsmp /rp

Dream also did not seem to mourn the cat much, shrugging it off with a "just more motivation to break out".

it was killed to hurt dream, not to "annoy him". it doesn't matter who it belonged to, c!dream was attached to it and it died, which had an effect on him and also further proved his point about attachments being weakness and caring getting you hurt, and it's still very sad.

you say that it was not ok at all to kill mooshroom henry, but the cat's death wasn't ok either, so i really don't see your point.

again, i disagree it was "nothing compared to" either way. i never meant to compare them in the first place, i was simply talking about the cat and c!dream so i don't see why it is in any way necessary to drag c!tommy and other dead pets into this. /nm

also, it isn't true he didn't mourn it. he is a very reserved person who doesn't show his feelings much, that's true, but the cat death still changed the way he acted afterwards, as well as the attempts he made to prevent it. he didn't "shrug it off", he yelled about it because he was understandably upset.

You mentioned that propganda was used to make dream seem like a tyrant, could you specify a bjt? Cus im a little confused srry /gen. Because the most i can remember from the lmanburg era at least is him being called a b'tch or other similar insults. You also mentioned how trauma responses can be differet which is true! I agree! Do you have any ideas to what caused dream the trauma?

wilbur would continuously make him out to be some sort of oppressive, tyrannical force, in front of his troops - a prime example of this being the lyrics of the l'manberg anthem itself and the l'manberg declaration of independence.

actually! here's a nice thread about l'manberg's establishment complete with links, timestamps and evidence :]

i also said in my previous post what could've possibly caused it, but since the character intentionally hides his emotions from the public, it would be difficult to see how things really affected him - which is why the way his spiral went is the majority of the evidence that would imply it, however it does make sense within the story as well with what i mentioned last time.

I would like to note that for sapnap at least had reason to leave dream. Some examples off the top of my head are dream leading an angry fundy to sapnap's pets on purpose, resulting in some deaths, dream assisting tommy in burning down sapnap's effiel tower where he got engaged to karl, and dream giving tommy either mars or the other fish at the battle of the lake. Idk about george tho other then the whole mexican lmanburg/el rapids thing and decrowning him

c!sapnap was actually at fault for most of this, and it wasn't really ever betrayal on c!dream's part.

c!dream is a mediator and he wants to stop everyone's conflict - c!fundy was angry because of c!sapnap's actions, and hence it made more sense for c!dream to centre him on c!sapnap's animals instead of running around killing everyone's pets (at that time, all c!dream knew was c!sapnap did something really bad and c!fundy wanted beckerson / mars from him, which were also his and c!george's fish).

c!sapnap was an instigator, and in multiple conflicts during the time as well as before he'd align himself against c!dream. he isn't "loyal" per se, he causes chaos and the reason c!dream helped c!tommy was because, c!sapnap, again, killed his pet. the first l'manberg war and then the 16th are signs of the fact that c!dream and c!sapnap were willing to fight together in actual war, but these small conflicts where c!sapnap continuously picked fights weren't about personal loyalty, nor did they seem to affect their relationship at all.

c!george was never really hurt by c!dream either. the dethronement was him very obviously being a guilt-trippy drama queen, but, well, that's just the character. he had stolen the l'mantree while he was supposed to be the diplomatic figure of the greater smp, which is why c!dream was justified in - very politely, may i mention - taking the duties off of him (seeing as he was also trying to keep him safe and c!techno had already assassinated him once).

Im pretty sure i remember cc!sam stating that his character never canonically physically tortured dream during his subathon but take this with a grain of salt as i am looking for the clip currently. So to the best of my knowledge dream did not have a physical contact trigger during tommy's visit which! I rewatched the vod and dream actually was first to hit tommy and i can give you my full writing downs but 10/12 of the phy-

you never finished this point because you had to go do something, but i'll reply to what is here at the moment (i suggest writing these down before sending next time, or even writing them out wholly before sending a single one could help avoid stuff like this).

i am 95% sure that the reason cc!sam stated this was because people were suspicious he had already been doing what c!quackity was doing after - torture within the storyline itself is associated pretty much only with what c!quackity is doing, so that's what he meant, just to clear up confusion - the starvation or terrible conditions haven't been retconned, but it was direct torture (like c!quackity is doing) people were asking him about.

i never said c!dream had a physical contact trigger at all, i don't think he had that, though he probably will after the torture.

huh, ok, i'm gonna have to rewatch then, but i remember c!tommy punching c!dream a lot and him just telling him to stop and only punching back to get him to stop. trigger or not, getting hit isn't very pleasant, if you know what i mean.

You mentioned tommy stealing dream's armor unprovoked. Do you have the vod or a general idea of the time so i can find it? Like before lmanburg after another event so and so because if you do not have it i can find it but any help is appreciated.

i am pretty sure you can find the video on cc!tommy's channel! there are also recaps of the disc war on youtube :]

I wanna talk a little on why the Final Control Room was so messed up. For starters, with the way the room was designed. It was small, and had labeled, empty chests with each person's name on them as a mockery. The next reason is that its bascially a kill box.

It's fairly inescapble with the stairs being ones you have to jump up, slowing anyone who climbs them down. The final reason it is messed up is that it is shown to have caused every person who died in it trauma. With tommy there are several examples, the time he saw it with techno, the way he refuses to go near it, the exposure trauma, etc. Fundy also appears to have trauma, as when the Red Banquet executions began, it can be seen as him being afraid of dying last again.

It can Be thought as tubbo having trauma because he buries most of his issues and pretends to be ok. Moreover this event took at least one of each person's canon lives, making it the most canon lives lost EVER in a dream smp event. (This is not hate on any of the ccs btw i loved this scene and its one of my personal favorites). Plus the fact Eret's betrayal just literally happened, giving at least Tommy and Wilbur canonic trust issues.

i wouldn't call the chests mockery? it was a trap. people had traps on the smp before. it was a trap in the middle of war, supposed to end said war by killing them all at once rather than individually which would be a lot more bloody and difficult.

i agree c!tommy and other people might have post-war trauma, especially if they were young during the time, but i think that's because the final control room was "messed up", moreso because the war itself was. it all happened fairly instantly as well? i don't think c!fundy would be able to realize he was the last one standing within the two second before he wasn't.

it "can be thought" and it can be interpreted like that but besides c!tommy there isn't much evidence for them "all" being traumatized by the final control room. of course betrayal would spark trust issues, i understand that.

The probation was humiliating in my opinion because dream was Sending tommy anatgonizing messages through out the whole meeting, plus he had to write a review of his day every single day, which fundy mocked him for.

i mean, it was definitely a strike to his pride, but he was being extremely uncooperative so i don't really blame the other members of new l'manberg trying to teach him to listen for once? of course i know c!dream was riling him up, and that should definitely be considered. i don't think it would be as humiliating if c!tommy didn't make it, is what i'm saying.

for the tommy being toxic to fundy? At least for the examples you gave, to me personally they come acoross as either in a meta way being the cc's bantering or in canon being the characters having banter. If you can send the post with the clips so i can read the tone better that would be cool but if not i will try and find em.

no, these were all in canon. canon isn't only when c!tommy is being nice, it's also when he's being a jerk. /lh

the first one was him threatening c!fundy about kicking him out of l'manberg and undermining his self-worth, and the second one was him trying to get c!sapnap to vote for them via bullying c!fundy.

i found these from a transcript focusing on c!fundy's character, so i don't know exactly where the first one is from, but the second one i am pretty sure is from when the elections were starting with the whole cabinet battle deal and all of that.

there are other instances, and all of them are canon. his personality was never being nice or compassionate, so i'm not really surprised? he still cares about the people he cares about and is very brave, y'know. but this part of his personality is definitely a valid reason for people to dislike him.

I hope the exam went well :). Hope u have a great day! (Ps i think theres something called a submission box to send in pictures? Am not entirely sure sry)

it would've gone well but my work-speed is a tad too slow for the schooling system (considering i'm three years younger than my classmates,,, probably that's also a factor) so probably not despite the fact i knew everything and would've aced it if i only had more time. i did as well as i could so i'm not worried about it, but thanks!

i think you're thinking submissions. sadly, i tested it and it doesn't work on anons, so idk how you'd solve that, maybe make a burner account?

Curious anon here one point you may wanna include in the redemption essay is that c!tubbo or c!tommy do not necessarily have to forgive him. What's important is that he recognizes what he did was wrong (exile, beating tommy to death, manipulating them both, etc) and does his best to make amends. Hope this helps! Can't wait to see your essay

it's out, idk if you've seen it yet, and i think i included enough of that so hope it's all good! :)

the mcc update video is out if you are an mcc enjoyer. It's very neat, if you wanna check it out

yeah! i am a fellow mcc enjoyer, saw it already, thanks for telling me though, i'm really hype for today.

Allo curious anon here sorry if the lots of asks bother you. I was just curious if i could share an interesting post i saw today about c!dream :0 (not necessarily negative i think? More of a statement of an often-confused canon)

sure thing! i don't know what you mean by often-confused since, the entire fanbase is very confused always, and often selection bias plays into the perception from both sides, but sure :]

you also sent in a thing for the other anon who said they didn't know what c!dream did that bad; pretty sure they couldn't really be alerted since, not sure if they watch my blog that closely, but i'll summarize your points just in case and add some notes;

the repeated blowing up of l'manberg (in my mind that's largely a positive since i,, despise that country, but fair enough), revealed c!ranboo as a traitor (they seem to be friends so i also,, think that might've been planned between him and enderboo), sent ghostbur away (i don't think c!dream knew it was dangerous for him and wanted to actually hurt him, but idk), participated in fighting against c!sapnap when he killed people's pets (that's only negative against c!sapnap and didn't seem to hurt him much at all), and then the whole vault scene where he was allegedly planning to steal people's things (though saying he would & being stopped beforehand and doing it are two different things, frankly).

so i still agree with the other anon that a lot of the hurt he did "to the entire server" (he only negatively interacted with like,, a half of them) is exaggerated both by the characters and the fandom, but i guess that's a consequence of most people seeing him as a threat to everyone's happiness rather than a complex personality.

Also he was aware of the butcher army going to kill techno but only got involved because he saw an opportunity to get a favor. (As he knew in advance due to him telling techno to get a totem, watching from afar instead of interveing or manipulating tubbo out of it)

i don't understand this at all, i'm sorry. how do you know he only helped techno in order to get a favor? last i remember he was only doing it to protect and strengthen his alliance, and techno came up with the whole favor thing entirely on his own. you might've not watched techno's perspective or their prior interactions, idk, but this really is a misinterpretation in my eyes. /nm

sorry if that is overly dream negative i just wanted to let yall know cus you seemed unaware -curious anon

nah dw, i watch the smp and i watched all of these things happen so, wouldn't say unaware, but thanks.

[bindi-the-skunk]

The disturbing part of this and the reason why it seems like Jekyll’s face is like that in the panel is because what does it sound like when you’re willing to die?

Suicide, yes that’s right it seems The Lodgers doing this is bringing up some very bad memories

Well it has not been confirmed that the character has attempted suicide the glaring looks that he gets in the one panel and the words “why won’t you help me” do seem to lend themselves towards this interpretation

Because he could’ve very well felt look down upon by other people for his depression when he wanted/needed help from them but they didn’t give it when he needed it and therefore that is what created Hyde Because that is the only out he felt he had other than that… Other one

This could also be an issue in the second page as he accidentally reveals his depression ,and possible attempted suicide, he rips into the lodgers telling them that they should not try to die as he managed to not do so, they do not have his issues, so they should not even be trying to take such drastic actions,especially not to try to impress somebody else

It will be very upsetting if the lodgers choose to take Frankenstein’s side or a Frankenstein catches onto Jekyll’s depression, and tries to use that against him

As we have seen time and time again that this woman is very morally bankrupt and will be willing to use any means to get back at the one she feels went to far with her despite the fact that she has continuously hurt him, and may in fact try and physically hurt him very much like how she did so meeting him for the first time punching Henry in the face.

And should Henry strike her back in self-defense the lodgers will immediately turn against him even more even when he struck back in defense of his own well-being, or even if he chooses to simply shove her away and somehow manages to knock her down either because she loses her footing or intentionally lets herself fall to make him look worse

Or this could actually be the chapter where Jekyll transforms into Hyde for the very first time without his iconic potion, And his secret is let out at last, but this is a very Unlikely outcome because we still have More of the comic to go though.

The cover art with the cabin does loan itself to the fact that he may be forced to run away for some reason, either because he manages to hurt Frankenstein severely and runs off or because he is kicked out by the lodgers for arguing with her and trying to “control everything” And the lodgers being under the naïve assumption that they can take care of the society on their own without his assistance, And Jekyll Goes to the cabin in some attempt to un-create Hyde out of misplaced anger and blame or just a spot to hide out because he feels too embarrassed to go ask to stay with Lanyon especially after their last official meeting involved violence

And Lanyon will find him at the cabin and this will end up heading into the situation similar to the book where they have a falling out though unlike the book it won’t last as the situation is different and the aforementioned love they have for each other, This could also be an interesting twist on the original ending where Jekyll flees with Frankenstein from the city after being chased out but instead he ends up leaving with Lanyon and they end up running off together to do other adventures, As Frankenstein would need to Undergo severe character rehab in order for that ending to be a possibility

And this will lead to another book reference when Lanyon’s father ends up dying because he hears the news that his son ran off with another man or he witnesses a transformation when confronting the two.

[quillsink]

FIRE AND THE FLOOD BY VANCE JOY: How it relates to John Laurens’s love life

This post is entirely for me to ramble and I doubt any of y’all are gonna read it but here you go because I needed to fucking write this shit down 

TW - Death, internalised homophobia, implied sex

I was only walking through your neighborhood

Saw you out loud honey in the cold I stood

Anywhere I go there you are

Anywhere I go there you are

So now we have three POVs and I’m going to walk you through each one of them

1. JOHN

Okay so let’s imagine this is John’s view. We have John and Alex’s relationship finally starting, and John is walking through camp with Alex, and it’s cold, it’s in the snow, but there’s a black-haired soldier and Alex’s hand brushing his and all he can think of is Francis. Or, second option, we have Francis switching sides and going to Washington’s headquarters, and there we have John, with “Saw you out loud honey in the cold I stood//Anywhere I go there you are” and Francis is in the SC House of Representatives and votes for John to go to France, so it’s almost like Kinloch is haunting him. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE HIS KID BEING NAMED FRANCES :)))

2. FRANCIS

Okay now let’s go to Francis’s POV. After the breakup, we have the same Francis going to Washington’s headquarters and we have the first “Anywhere I go there you are.” But for the second one, we have the whole him voting for John to go to France, then we ALSO have his wife dying close to John’s death date (or birthday I forgot lmao) AND WE HAVE HIM GETTING ON A SHIP CALLED THE JOHN AND FRANCIS.

3. ALEX

Holy shit this is getting long and it’s only the first verse. So here we have after John dies, and Alex is like, haunted by his ghost? Idk lmao. He also sees the Laurens name everywhere when he corresponds with Henry over the matter of a slave, and whenever he hears of abolition he thinks of John, then he names his kid John Church Hamilton for fuck’s sake we all know he was thinking of Laurens even if it was technically after Angelica’s husband.

NEXT VERSE!

I been getting used to waking up with you

I been getting used to waking up here

Anywhere I go there you are

Anywhere I go there you are

There you are

There you are

1. JOHN

PART 1 (laurloch) - So he and Francis have just started their relationship, and John is weird about it cuz internalised homophobia shit. He keeps seeing him around Geneva, the first verses apply for the “Anywhere I go there you are.”

PART 2 (lams) - He and Alex have just started their relationship, and John had to get used to seeing him in the corner of his eye, everywhere he is since the aides are in such close quarters. OR, this can be interpreted as Francis still haunting him during lams.

2. FRANCIS

Same as with John, basically just getting used to their relationship.

3. ALEX

Same as with Francis, getting used to dating John.

Next!

You're the fire and the flood

And I'll always feel you in my blood

THIS. THIS IS BY FAR MY FAVOURITE FUCKING LINE IN THE WHOLE ASS SONG. I LOVE IT. 

1. JOHN

Okay now we have John dating Alex. So first “You’re the fire.” This. This refers to Alexander motherfucking Hamilton. His hair is fire, his ambition is fire, he is a fire, he’s always compared to one—so can his relationship with John, cuz love is like fire idk 

NEXT. THE FLOOD PART.

So John and Alex are dating and everything is great, except for one thing—he’s haunted by memories of his relationship with Francis!! Because I love to torture John in my headcanons. Anyways, he’s haunted by this.

So this- these memories are the flood. The memories of Francis are the flood that douses the “fire” that is his love for Alexander—every time he wants to kiss Alexander, touch him, talk to him, ignite that “fire,” the flood that is his memories of Francis douses that.

2. ALEX OR FRANCIS

Now if we’re looking at this from Alex or Francis’s POV, you can compare John to fire because of how they cared for him at some point or another, and again love can be compared to fire. 

AND THE FLOOD IN THIS CONTEXT—the flood is John’s internalised homophobia, his reluctance to be in a relationship because he’s scared of “sin” or whatever. That’s the flood that douses the love that is fire in this context!

NEXT!

Everything is fine

When your hand is resting next to mine

Next to mine

You're the fire and the flood

Okay so, this can be interpreted as John when he’s having an anxiety attack or some shit, self hate, self harming, depressed, generally mentally fucked up, but Alex or Francis is there to help him calm down. Fire and the flood, see above for my fangirling.

Since we met I feel a lightness in my step

You're miles away but I still feel you

Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)

Anywhere I go there you are

1. JOHN 

PART 1 (laurloch)—he’s happy when he starts the relationship with Francis because he feels like he’s finally worth enough for someone to want him, and this gives our boy a major self esteem boost. Then, the miles away, because John moved to London later and Francis was still in Geneva.

PART 2 (lams)—happy because of the relationship because again, self esteem boost. Again, they’re always far apart but “I still feel you”

2. FRANCIS OR ALEX

Same, happy because of the relationship but constantly apart.

Late at night when you can't fall asleep

I'll be lying right beside you counting sheep

So Alex or Francis have trouble sleeping and John helps them sleep, or John has trouble sleeping and Alex or Francis helps him sleep

Next!

Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)

Anywhere I go there you are (anywhere)

There you are

There you are

You're the fire and the flood

And I'll always feel you in my blood

Everything is fine

When your hand is resting next to mine

Next to mine

You're the fire and the flood

Just a repeat of the lyrics here, already analysed

Now listen here she said

Boy when you know you'll know

And I know

NOW THIS WILL BE FUN TO INTERPRET BITCHES

1. JOHN

So this can be interpreted as little John being curious and asking Eleanor questions about love and relationships. OR. THE MORE HEARTBREAKING OPTION. HE HAS A BREAKDOWN AFTER HE MARRIES MARTHA AND IS LIKE “I DON’T KNOW IF I LOVE YOU OR NOT” AND SHE’S LIKE “When you know you’ll know” AND SHE FINALLY ACCEPTS THAT JOHN WILL NEVER LOVE HER.

2. ALEX

Now this. This can be little Alex asking Rachel about love and relationships. Or. Or it can be him asking Kitty or someone I don’t know but Rachel is the more heartbreaking option tbh.

You're the fire and the flood

And I'll always feel you in my blood

Everything is fine

When your hand is resting next to mine

Next to mine

You're the fire and the flood

Now this is just another repeat, and so the song ends!

Anyways that was my fangirling over dead gays, hope you liked it-

[charlemange1]

Ranking adaptations of Victor Frankenstein from least to most evil

The character Victor Frankenstein has been adapted many times over the years. Sometimes he’s a heroic YA protagonist while others have him using his clone army to wipe out humanity and take over the world. But which Victor is truly the worse?

After reading several adaptations, I’ve decided to rank Victor’s morality in each one and find out! The gothic lit community doesn’t talk about these adaptations much, so hopefully this list can introduce the fandom to some of the lesser-known interpretations out there!

This is part one, which ranks printed retellings only. If people enjoy it, I’ll do a part two and merge the films into the mix!

Disclaimers (please read):

SPOILERS! Victor’s actions in these adaptations will be thoroughly analyzed with no regard for the spoiler tag.

Some of the more evil Victor’s get into dark territory, and while I will not go into extensive detail (lest I go insane) if mentions of abuse, sexual themes, possessive behavior and murder bother you, don’t make my mistake and turn back! (I will leave an additional reminder when said parts come up)

This list centers on Victor’s actions and NOT the quality of the books themselves—so if you see your favorite title getting a low score it’s not because it’s a bad book—it’s because Victor is a jerk.

This list is by no means complete, just the ones I’ve read personally.

These are my silly personal opinions and if you disagree with my ranking that’s perfectly fine!

Ranking: On a 1-10 scale, with 10 being fantastic and 0 being “run if you see this man in a dark alley.”

10/10 Perfect Sunbeam. Overall great, wholesome guy!

*crickets chirp in a serene backdrop of a Romantic field*

Good dude

Junji Ito’s Frankenstein: 8.5/10

Props to the master of manga monsters for making the twist be that Victor is not secretly evil/insane.

Not only does Victor pity the creature and agree to create a mate for him—but he keeps his word! This is especially touching when you consider how the creature treks alllllll the way to Switzerland to dig up Justine’s head as a face for the bride. (Henry says he probably didn’t know it was Justines, but come on, you just happened to pick up the head of the girl you framed and carried it for miles across land and sea to deliver it to Victor instead of stopping somewhere closer? I don't buy it.)

Victor even goes the extra mile, kindly stating:

Yet the bride rejects the creature (not Victor’s fault) and in revenge, the creature kills Henry, Elizabeth, and Alphonse. In retaliation, Victor follows him onto the ice and relates his tale to Walton before dying.

Victor's actions are nothing heroic, but what more could he have done? He didn’t break his promise and kill the bride like in the original novel and he clearly cared about reanimating “Justine” as shown in the above image.

And did I mention this manga was done by Junji Ito? Would YOU stay in the same room if you created a Junji Ito monster? Didn't think so! After the initial mistake of abandoning his monster, this Victor did the best he could to make amends and protect his family--making him an overall good person.

Decent guy

This Dark endeavor by Kenneth Oppel: 7/10

Serving as a prequel to the original novel, This Dark Endeavor tells the untold story of what leads young Victor Frankenstein to create his monster.

While Victor very much struggles with his angsty dark desires (bad), he tirelessly searches for the alchemic "Elixir of Life" to save his twin brother (good). A brother who is more talented than Victor, has the heart of his love interest, and Victor believes everyone prefers over himself.

Good on you, Victor, for letting the love for your brother override understandable sibling jealousy. If that wasn’t enough to make him decent, letting a few fingers be cut off to save his twin definitely does.

What brings Victor down to a 7 is his relationship with Elizabeth. It’s born out of jealousy from her loving his twin rather than genuine affection. Even if this retelling makes Elizabeth a feisty, pants-wearing independent female (to lessen the possessive undertones Victor exhibits, I presume? Read it and judge for yourself), the relationship does nothing positive for his character. Tricking someone into kissing you is a jerk move, bro.

Ok I guess….

Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel 6/10

The sequel to This Dark Endeavor loses Victor’s careful balance of good and bad traits its predecessor boasted. Victor wasn’t perfect in TDE, but the majority of his negative actions stemmed from trying to save his ill brother and were mostly forgivable. In Such Wicked Intent, his understandable sibling jealously now comes off as petty since Victor’s twin is already dead.

Victor trying to bring his brother back to life (good) is undermined by his growing reliance on supernatural butterflies that increase his abilities despite other characters pointing out the obvious danger. Victor is also not the greatest parent to Twin 2.0 and the previous issues with him and Elizabeth from book 1 don’t improve. He’s the same Victor from TDE, but the plot focusing on his selfish desires makes him more flawed as a result.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (the original novel): 6/10

Depending on how you interpret the events of the original novel, Victor is either a college Dad in over his head and trying his best after an initial mistake, or a misogynistic, irresponsible jerk only capable of thinking of himself. There are enough professional articles to support both interpretations, and I’m not the person to pick one over the other. 

However, if the narrative he tells Walton is to be taken as truth (and the creature not correcting Victor's account tells me it is), Victor spent most of the novel trying to fix his mistake (intentions may vary)—and isn’t too bad as a result.  

Pride and Prometheus by John Kessel: 5/10

Despite being a crossover with Pride and Prejudice, Kessel tries to be as faithful to the original Frankenstein as possible. However, the few changes he makes hurts Victor from a moral standpoint.

Victor’s not the greatest guy when handling the romantic gestures of both Mary Bennet and Henry. Also, murdering his creature's mate with poison right before they leave to start their happily ever after is awful, but understandable from his point of view.

Then there's P&P's ending, where Walton describes meeting Victor on the ice. It’s revealed that Victor left killing the creature's mate and the Bennet’s out of his narrative. While this is probably Kessel justifying why Jane Austen’s characters and his changes weren’t mentioned in the original text (and who can blame him?) it does make Victor a liar. In the original, the creature never called Victor out for omitting anything—so altering the story on his deathbed places P&P’s Victor a rung lower than his original counterpart.

Ehh….

Frankenstein According to Spike Milligan: 4/10

As a nearly-word-for-word retelling with minor, humorous changes by the comedian Spike Milligan, Victor is more pathetic than anything. He’s a harmless, pathetic, hilarious jerk.

Some quotes:

"I bounded along with feelings of unbridled joy and hilarity. From a great distance my family could see me bounding with unbridled joy and hilarity." (53)

*

"'I tell you,’ I said, ‘that murderer had his trousers down, was eating fish paste sandwiches and traveling 100 miles per hour.’" (59)

*

"‘I can offer you no consolation,’ said he.

‘Then piss off.’ said I." (54)

Here’s his jail visit with Justine in animatic form (and me shamelessly plugging my other creative endeavors)

Monster by Neal Bell 3.5/10

Warning: contains mentions of animal abuse

On one hand, Victor wants to conquer death to save his family and is clearly disturbed over Justine's and his mother’s death. However, the man expresses little concern at the possibility of William getting struck by lightning with his kite in front of his mother who had already lost 9 children.

He can also talk to dogs and cats (for…some reason?) who are portrayed as intelligent beings with feelings—yet that doesn’t stop him from eating said dogs in the Arctic and killing said cat after threatening her with a knife. He also flings around Bible verses while being painfully egotistical about “being God”.

Using Henry’s romantic affections toward him to his advantage, briefly forcing himself on Elizabeth, and tenderly caring for his monster only to abandon him after the creature expresses a want to die just makes him an awful person all around. The fact he doesn’t do these things with clear malicious intent saves him from being any lower.  

Quotes:

ELIZABETH: A bone. A brittle bit of skin. A tooth—

VICTOR: Would you not be womanish now?

Be useful. Here—hold the Leyden jar,

While I attach the string…

*

VICTOR: A satisfactory morning, then, Mister Puss—tormenting the dogs?

CAT: God gave me a duty. I fulfill it.

VICTOR: Papa says there is no God.

(He takes out a knife)

Pretty bad dude

WARNING: Please note that some of these Victors get into unsavory territory. If the mention of sexual themes/abuse/murder bothers you turn back:

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd: 3/10

This one was tricky. The narrative chugs along with Victor being an intelligent, thoughtful guy with only a few obsessive tendencies. He’s chilling with the Shelleys, talking to the poor in the streets and financially supporting Fred’s family along with giving out generous tips. He’s a cool guy. He’s a great dude! He’s….revealed in the final 2 pages to be recounting everything from a mental asylum, the monster was in his head, and he’s actually the one that committed the murders.

Alrighty then.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Having his insanity revealed in the final pages, it’s hard to judge whether there was genuine malicious intent or if Victor truly thought he created the creature and believed he was doing good in trying to “stop” it. No matter his intentions though, the body count remains and a child strangler has no place being anything higher than a 3.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White: 1/10

We all knew this one would make the list. Elizabeth’s first flashback sets up Victor as having serious issues—the question becomes how low will he go? Turns out pretty low. 

He’s the one who killed William and framed Justine along with murdering his father, brother Robert and various people at Ingolstadt. 

What really makes him despicable is that Elizabeth is the novel's main POV character who only sticks with Victor so she’s not thrown out on the streets. He’s abusive, controlling, dominating, and so possessive that he’ll perfect reanimation so that not even death can take her away from him! Yikes. I can’t stress enough how being in Elizabeth’s POV makes these actions all the more menacing. 

Quote:

“There was never another path for you. Consider how much worse it has all been for me. How much I have had to suffer. And how much of that suffering has been caused directly by you!” His face twitched, and his fingers tightened on the pistol. Then he sighed. “It does not do to dwell on it. There is no point in fighting. This is your fate, Elizabeth Frankenstein. I will let no other claim you—not man, not death, not even God.” (279)

Nice guy.

Despite his terrible actions, Victor is trying to "save" Elizabeth from death. In his mind, he wants what’s best for her. It’s a crazy mind that mixed up domination and love, but the fact that his evil actions come from wanting to keep someone he wants to control cares about safe vs. other versions where his crimes stem from wanting to rival god and rule the world, this version isn’t THAT bad. At least his hearts in the right place—even if his mentality is utter garbage.

The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Theodore Roszak 0/10

*insert my screams of insurmountable anguish here*

Caroline: Hey son, you should do NSFW things.

Victor: Sure. I will now do NSFW things.

Victor: *proceeds to do NSFW things*

The reprint of this novel mentions on the cover it’s erotica, but the copy I bought (and to this day have not finished) had no such disclaimer. I’ll break my rule and speak on the quality of this book: there is none. For an alleged “pro-feminism” novel everyone is terrible—and Victor is no exception.

Literally Satan.

Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein Series: -∞/10

So you’ve read far enough to join me in Hell.

Where do even I start? This is a Victor who extended his life to the present day. Who worked with Hitler, Stalin, Castro and regretted the fall of the Third Reich. Who created an army of emotionally deprived “new race” creations to kill people and assume their identities so he could ascend the ranks of politics. Who, once he has enough of his new race integrated into society, desires to commit mass genocide on humanity and establish himself as supreme ruler of the world—only then can he conquer the cosmos as well because why the hell not?  

Oh, and he’s a wife-beater/murderer too! Which isn’t a problem, considering he can create a new wife whenever he sees fit (he was on Erika 5 by book 3). The sheer lack of any positive traits in this man is laughable. Koontz really, REALLY wants to get across that Victor is a bad guy.

And if you’re somehow not convinced by the above description, here are some quotes I pulled from the first 3 novels as a bonus to reeeeeally sell how despicable this clown is:

Regarding Elizabeth:

“Victor had not loved Elizabeth. Love and God were myths he rejected with equal contempt. But Elizabeth had belonged to him. Even after more than 200 years, he still bitterly resented the loss of her, as he would have resented losing an exquisite antique porcelain vase if [his creature] had smashed that instead of the bride,” (3.97). 

Regarding Mary Shelley:

“When Mary Shelley took a local legend based on truth and crafted fiction from it, she made Victor a tragic figure and killed him off. He understood her dramatic purpose for giving him a death scene, but he loathed her for portraying him as tragic and as a failure. Her judgment of his work was arrogant. What else of consequence did she ever write? And of the two, who was dead—and who was not?” (1.79-80)

(Author Note: For your information, Victor, The Last Man is considered by some to be the first dystopian novel)

His…ah…"friends”:

“Fire was featured in some of his less pleasant memories. The great windmill. The bombing of Dresden. The Israeli Mossad attack on the secret Venezuelan research complex that he had shared with Mengele in the years after World War Two. Nevertheless, he liked to read to the accompaniment of a cozy crackling fire,” (1.76).

*

“Victor admired Hitler. The Führer knew talent when he saw it.

In the 1930s and 40s, Victor had worked with Mengele and others in Hitler's privileged scientific class. He made considerable progress in his work before the regrettable allied victory…the problem with the Führer had been that his roots were in art and politics…The future did not belong either to artists or to politicians,” (2.24-25).

Dat ego tho:

“When I die, those cells will be capped descend a signal that will be relayed by satellite to everyone made of new race flesh, to every meat machine that walks. And you will fall down dead,’…Victor smiled, anticipating triumph in spite of their silence. ‘Did you think a God would die alone?’” (3.345).  

*

Civilization would not be remade or sustained by Christianity or by Islam. Neither by Scientologists nor by the bright-eyed adherence of the deliciously solipsistic paranoid new religion encouraged by The Da Vinci Code. Tomorrow belonged to scientism. The priests of scientism were not merely robed clerics performing rituals, they were gods, with the power of gods. Victor himself was their Messiah,” (2.25).

*

“With Victor's unstoppable drive for power, with his singular intellect, with his cold materialism and his ruthless practicality, and now with synchronicity on his side, he had become untouchable, immortal.

He was immortal,” (3.329).

*

“How they goggled at him, abashed by his wisdom and knowledge, mortified by their ignorance, over-awed by his godlike power,” (3.330). 

*

“’Murder,’ said the caller. ‘murder…excites me.’

Victor kept the growing concern out of his voice. ‘No, your mind is fine. I don't make mistakes.’” (1.156)

Oh yeah, he has a wife, doesn't he:

“This is why Victor requires …the cruel humiliation of his partner. He has long ago transcended the guilt that committing acts of cruelty might spawn in others...the exercise of raw power thrills him,” (1.244).

*

“I have given you a life…remember that. I have given you a life, and I will choose what you do with it,” (1.464).

Wives view of him:

“She owned literally hundreds of outfits. Having been created to his ideal measurements, Victor had purchased everything…She hoped that someday she would be allowed to shop for herself. When Victor allowed that, she would know she had at last met his standards and earned his trust. Briefly, she wondered what it would be like not to care what Victor—or anyone—thought of her. To be herself. Independent. Those were dangerous thoughts. She must repress them.” (1.107)    

*

And those are just the PG bits, he does much, much worse.

*

In conclusion:

So yes, Spike Milligan made Victor a pathetic jerk, Casebook made Victor a madman, Memoirs made him an erotic predator, Dark Descent had him as an abusive boyfriend ruthless in possessing “his Elizabeth”,  but nearly succeeding at worldwide genocide while abusing/murdering/manipulating people to achieve his goals makes Dean Koontz’s Victor Frankenstein the worse, more morally despicable Victor Frankenstein of them all. At least from what I’ve read.

Annnnd that’s it! If you want me to make a part 2 and add in the films/plays let me know! Hopefully at least one of these peeked your interest as something to check out during spooky season.

Shameless plug-in: here’s my own Frankenstein adaptation

*

Bonus!

Ranking the books on how much I liked them personally!

Great:

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein: Nice to see Victor’s villainy stem from family relations and not ego and wanting to defy God for a change.

Junji Ito’s Frankenstein: Phenomenal artwork, fairly faithful adaptation, and the changes serve to put Victor in a better light—which I love! The master of manga monsters himself made the right choice in keeping the creature more monstrous in this version instead of focusing on his humanity.

This Dark Endeavor: Frankenstein characters go on a Harry Potter styled adventure. Need I say more?

Average:

Such Wicked Intent: Victor’s character takes a dip, and pit monsters/life-absorbing butterflies don’t quite fit in a Frankenstein prequel.

Frankenstein According to Spike Milligan: It’s a silly, stupid comedy. Got a few chuckles out of me.

Pride and Prometheus: The concept works way better than it should. However, it follows the original text to a fault and can be boring at points. 

Bad:

Warning: contains mentions of suicide 

Monster: Victor’s character was far too inconsistent to be likable. He can talk to animals why, exactly?

Casebook of Victor Frankenstein: So, Victor is revealed to be crazy in the final 3 pages? So, the monster was in his head? Alright. But other characters throughout the book SAW the monster and described him like Victor did. So, there’s no way to separate Victor’s POV from reality and that kills the reread value and makes this a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, the creature being symbolic for Victor’s inner demons is a fascinating direction if done well—and I recommend the essay “Frankenstein: The Man and the Monster” by Arthur Belefant if you want a much shorter exploration of this concept. It’s not perfect, but beats Casebook by a longshot!

Also, taking the real-life suicide of Percy’s wife Harriet and turning it into Victor murdering her and framing it on someone else to mimic Frankenstein’s Justine/William scene is just wrong. You made a woman’s suicide a cheap plot point in your fanfic of the mistress’s novel. That is what you did, author.

Dean Koontz Frankenstein: It starts out good and has great suspense—too bad the actual plot is awful. Victor’s so painfully evil it comes off as comical, the characters are bad/bland, plot holes abound (they state Mary Shelley’s novel is canon, then mention the windmill which was only in the films—so who even IS this Victor? Book or film?). The conclusion in book 3 is one of the most underwhelming finals I’ve ever read, and the creature “cures” a kid of Autism in the final chapter. No really. How this is a book series/comic series/movie is beyond me.

So atrocious I couldn’t bring myself to finish:

Warning: contains mentions of sexual themes

The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein: It claims to be pro-feminist, but the women “good guys” blatantly state they are grooming children for sexual rituals and Victor and Elizabeth are coerced into doing NSFW things by Victor’s mother in the name of ��women’s rights”. Here’s the kicker: these awful actions are framed as being positive. I—a woman—loath this novel. Maybe things got better by the end (and if there was some plot twist that changed the entire setup, I apologize for ranting about nothing) but I’m not reading to that point to find out! This will forever stay both my first and last experience with erotic literature. Thank goodness The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein exists to give us a decent feminist take on Frankenstein!

[phoebehalliwell]

Ok I’m curious, how would you fix season 8? Which is objectively the worst season IMO but had the most potential

i mean like there were a lot of things wrong with season eight but i think by far the worst thing was their villains like. for starters. making billie and christy our big bad was. bad. and then there was dumain? the triad? the source came back for a second? it was sloppy, at best. like. like!! i think s8 would have benefitted best from a clear-cut villain from the get go, something that was evil with an agenda, that offered a couple one-off plots rather than like. a girl who was kidnapped an emotionally manipulated into believing she's right by older powerful men exploiting her and wrapping up her plot by literally(!!) incinerating her. she burnt to death i'll never be over this she was literally human lmao what the Fuck. so instead of doing a billie manipulated by christy manipulated by dumain who's like. the triad's bitch. Don't. the underworld is currently in chaos what with the source dying and then the avatars stint and the zankou bit. they need leadership. have someone vy for the throne. forget the ultimate power. leave that shit in the dust. we could still potentially have billie, but billie was just a really bad character for charmed where we were. like we just watched the girls go thru endless shit for a near decade and now we have some knockoff buffy like i know more than you!! like it doesn't matter that in some cases, billie is right (hello?? scrying with a laptop????), like, we’ve been with the charmed ones so long like it's so hard to read billie as anything other than annoying. and then both henry and coop were done So Fast like. those could stand to marinate a shade longer. every tho paige and henry's wedding is my fav out of all the weddings on the show (bc it was the cutest) um. it's very ooc. like they can just be in a long term committed relationship. moving in together could be their big thing. maybe getting engaged. but like the speedrun in three months? two months? unbelievable. and then i've mentioned this before coop entering phoebe's story of his own volition as a passing cupid who senses a blocked heart and tries to fix it and then ends up in way over his head when phoebe summons him and threatens to vanquish him. like way more believable than the elders just sending coop down as a sorry present girl what. other people have also pitched work rivals to lovers phoebecoop as two rival pop culture cupids. there are options. skip over dex obvi. i will give a shout out to the way they got rid of leo. the um. mechanics of it were stupid, as previously stated. but i'm always a fan of bringing in death, and i thought it was a good loophole for getting rid of brian 2 save money. oh you know what else i didn't like? agent murphy. fuck that guy he was both boring uninteresting bland and also a dickwad. so. :\

okay. so to salvage s8 on a budget. here's what i'd proposed: focus on seats of power. sets you already have: magic school, the manor, the underworld (presumably). first thing under siege so 2 speak is the manor, now that the charmed ones are dead. paige keeps trying to help charges on the dl, phoebe still practices magic and intervenes in like. letters that warrant it from the advice column. piper and leo are living that domestic life and maybe we get a quote from wyatt just like from melinda in s2 don't worry mommy i promise not to use my magic and like all these girls kinda hit the conclusion hey. this is wrong. we are the charmed ones. let's own up to it. they're back!! we give paige two relevant charges: speed, a future whitelighter who just graduated high school in the spring. no he's not going to college, despite henry's insistence, and later paige's. he'll hit that epiphany later. billie. wicked smart, independant, freshman at berkeley with a tragic past. they r gonna be each other's love interests, giving us a plotline off the sisters so the actresses can have a break because evidently that was a requirement as well. speed's first 2 notice, but billie's first to put the pieces together: there's something demonic afoot in san francisco. and up-and-coming demon clan have been like. like giving mortals demonic powers, granting them magic in exchange for fealty. this can lead for kind of a big final battle, with the charmed ones vs like an army that can easily be disarmed once they find the necessary magical pathway. we can also have the sidequest of magic school, which will soon be falling into the hands of the charmed ones. in fact, we can have the demon clan going for a "magical seat of power" which the girls interpret as the manor but realize almost too late that it is magic school. from there, all the mortals who went demonic can like. be knocked unconscious have their memories wiped and place back in the world like nothing ever happened, wrapping that up in a neat bow. the girls finish the fortification of magic school, resealing its protections and confirming its place as a haven for the next generation of magic. speed almost dies and you think he's gonna die fr fr because he's a future whitelighter and you're like oh that's how we're gonna wrap that plot up but psych! billie saves him at the last minute. they get to stay in a healthy normal relationship together <3 piper gets leo back after the great battle, phoebe and coop get married in the manor and take the place of the paigehenry wedding because like. again they should also hold off on that (maybe we just include it in the flash forward montage) but we kinda do need at least one wedding to wrap this motherfucker up. and paige and henry get a domesticity beat and also maybe a roadtrip we give them a literal drive off into the sunset symbolizing how piper gets the domesticity the white picket fence life she's always wanted phoebe gets true love and the ability to feel whole again and paige gets freedom and independence symbolized by her road trip, which also shows us how magic has reached such a point of stability that each of the charmed ones can actually live on their own. paige drives off into the sunset And Then we get the flashforward montage of everyone's individual happy endings. fin <3