#He would want to be the cunning writer and mastermind behind it all

[princescar]

Looking at PYWWR Tsumugi is sooooo interesting, mainly because there's a HUGE debate on whether or not Drag is Cosplay or a form of it.

It also hits harder bc of Ryo's role in creating both the killing game and the tragedy AND was working with The Steering Committee. He was playing both sides, he was writing the story how he wanted it to go. He played a major part in the creation of Izuru then turned around and used that against HPA. This is very apparent even in Canon when Junko is literally writing Dr0, and how everything was set up by her to create a story.

PYWWR Tsumugi wants to BE Ryo, not Junko. Sure, she's the Icon, the face, everyone LOVES her and so does Tsumugi.

I feel this works well with her Canonical self, but its emphasized with the distinction of Ryo and Junko and Ryo's OWN issues regarding himself and his identity.

To put it best: think of one of the first things she says. She love making cosplay, but doesn't think people love them enough to have the privilege to wear them.

She loves creating things, but she has to play those roles bc no one loves it enough.

She loves Junko, but she doesn't think anyone else deserves to play her role.

He loves Junko, but wants to be Ryo.

But Ryo has to be Junko.

So Tsumugi has to be Junko.

[peligin-eyed]

In Dreams

Of Urchins, Criminals, Revolutionaries, and Learning to Chart Your Own Course.

Featuring cameos of the Boatman, London’s greatest criminal masterminds, and the Jovial Contrarian.

(aka I wrote out Robin’s backstory and some early game shenanigans)

---

You don't remember the sun, except in dreams. You were so young when your parents brought you to the Neath that the world above seems hardly more than a story. Your life there was something that happened to some unfamiliar small child who was safe and loved and happy. When you dream of warm golden light and strong arms wrapping you into a protective embrace, you wake in the morning with a hollow ache somewhere deeper than your bones.

You have been in the Neath for less than a month when your mother runs off with a devil. Your father throws himself into his new job at the Docks and sometimes he is gone for two days or more only to stumble home in the middle of the night to pass out drunk on the floor of your dirty little Spite flat. One day, instead, a pair of weather-worn dockers come to your door with their caps in their hands to tell you that your father won't be coming home anymore. It was an accident, they say. He fell into the zee and the Drownies dragged him down. They say they'll find someone to look after you and they offer to bring you to see him one last time, to say goodbye. You are too shocked to do anything but nod silently and follow after them.

They take you to a lonely and empty stretch of dock, facing out toward the inky endless darkness of the zee. One of the dockers crouches down and calls your father's name into the water. He emerges a moment later, dripping and pale and not quite looking like himself anymore. He stares at you, brow slightly furrowed, as if he is struggling to recognize you. Then he starts to sing. The dockers each grab one of your thin arms and pull you back from the edge of the dock, watching you warily. The song fills you with a sadness too deep for words and you wriggle out of the calloused grip of the dockers. They shout at you to stay away from the water but you are already running in the opposite direction, back toward London, tears streaming down your cheeks.

 ---

You never go back to that little flat in Spite. You fall in with the Naughts, who take you in and show you the best places to find food and teach you how to fight. They joke with you and plot against the Crosses and after a little while you find that your thoughts don't dwell on your parents as often.

One night, when you can't sleep, you stay up whispering with one of the other urchins. You wonder if you might be able to track down your mother somehow. The Twitchy Pickpocket tells you that it probably won't work. There are just too many devils in London and you don't even know the name of the one she ran off with, and she has probably lost her soul by now anyway. You lie awake long after he has fallen quiet and started to snore, staring up at the ceiling and trying to recall the color of her eyes.

---

Sometimes, in your dreams, you play with your parents in the sunlight on grass that looks impossibly green. By the time you learn that no one can go back to the Surface after having been in the Neath for too long, it's too late for you. You've died once already after a territory battle took a particularly nasty turn, and no one can survive on the Surface if they've died in the Neath.

(The first time you died, you were terrified. It was so dark and the lapping waves reminded you of your father's pale face rising out of the zee. The Boatman awkwardly tried to comfort you with a bony hand on your shoulder as you frantically handed over every lucky weasel hidden in your pockets and begged him to let you go home. It was never as bad, after that first time.)

 ---

As you start to get older, you realize that you'll eventually have to leave your gang and start your own life. You haven't the faintest idea how you're supposed to go about it. You track down the Twitchy Pickpocket, who left a couple years ago and is now doing rather well for himself. He offers to put you in touch with some of his criminal contacts who could help you get started as a proper adult thief.

The Naughts throw you a party the day before you leave for good. Someone managed to get a little bit of real Surface meat and you get the largest piece, and a whole bottle of cheap wine just for yourself. In retrospect, you realize that perhaps you should not have drunk the whole thing and then tried to burgle a fine townhouse the next morning while hungover. You land yourself in New Newgate on your first day out of the gang.

Once you make it out, you find your own little hideaway up in the Flit. It's drafty and a little precarious but it's all yours. You have your own bed you don't have to share and enough room to spread out your meager belongings with space to spare. You can't sleep the first night. It's too quiet all by yourself, just the wind whistling by outside with no one else around you tossing and turning or snoring or mumbling in their sleep.

You find that it is lonely, trying to make it as a thief on your own. Among the Naughts, at least, you could always trust that the rest of the gang would have your back if something went wrong. Adult criminals seem to all be out for themselves and it's hard to know who you can trust and who is just waiting for the chance to stab you in the back (sometimes literally) for their own gain.

---

You decide you will try to make a name for yourself. You boldly proclaim that you'll be one of London's next great underworld kingpins before it even occurs to you to question if this is what you actually want. You learn, in time.

You hear rumors of a diamond the size of a cow and decide that stealing it will be an excellent test of your skills. You start down a dark and twisted path and find yourself buried alive for your trouble before you learn that it was never about a real diamond, after all.

You spend time smuggling for the Gracious Widow and come to admire her subtle cunning. There is wisdom in being quiet and observing and planning before making a move, though you find it hard to shake the habit of rushing in when you feel strongly about something. You admire the care she takes with the orphans she looks out for, too. You hope you will be able to do the same someday.

You spend hours in the chilly roosts of the Flit trying to understand the Topsy King. You get to know the Cheery Man and do what you can to help him in his pursuit of reconciliation with his daughter. He’s never the same after she dies. 

You pity them all, in a way, and you decide that you have no desire to join their ranks. It isn't the kind of life you want.

 ---

You get to know some revolutionaries along the way. They are hard to miss, really. You listen to their speeches with skepticism but you're willing to consider some of their ideas. You burn down a silk warehouse and get arrested again. You destroy a statue and they celebrate you. You learn about the Liberation of Night and think it sounds like a ridiculous idea, frankly. What good could come of unending darkness?

The more time you spend talking and arguing and drinking coffee with them, the more you find yourself sucked into their world. You learn to differentiate between the different schools of thought they fight for. You still struggle to understand the Liberationists. You can't see why they set their sights on such lofty and (for the moment) theoretical goals when the real evidence of the failings of the Masters and the Bazaar is all around you. It's in the neddy men beating dockers for daring to speak up for better working conditions, in the writers made to disappear just for expressing controversial ideas, in the urchins fighting for food in the streets while those in power refuse to share even a little of their wealth. Who cares about the cruelty of the stars when there are people suffering all around?

You find some others who seem to agree with you and your social circle starts to shift. You take up a new job campaigning for the cause. It's not quite a respectable profession but it feels a lot closer than anything you've done before. A handful of supporters start to look up to you for your passion and dedication, not just because they're afraid of you.

It takes you rather by surprise when an old acquaintance shows up at your door in the middle of the night, covered in blood and begging you to let him stay. You don't know how he found you. You'd left behind the drafty shack in the Flit for a set of warm, spacious rooms at the Bazaar and it has been months since you've heard from most of your criminal friends. You're not actually sure how he made it all the way here without being noticed by someone in the street, though you suppose it is very late. You cast nervous glances around the empty street as you try to convince him that you can't take him in at the moment and it would be in his best interest to leave before the constables come by on patrol. He doesn't leave. Finally, you hear the distant sound of heavy boots on cobblestone and you close the door on him. He bangs on the door a few more times before you hear him run off. You try to tell yourself he'll be okay.  You're not sure if you believe yourself. You don't sleep well that night.

The criminals keep their distance from you for a while after that. Apparently this does wonders for your reputation. The Jovial Contrarian approaches you one day to ask if you would be able to help an agent infiltrate the Ministry of Public Decency. He specifically comments on your sound reputation and you manage to keep a straight face long enough to agree to his proposal. After it is done, you learn that you've earned a certain amount of respect among the revolutionaries. You start to feel like maybe you are doing something important, something that matters for once, instead of just whatever you have to do to survive.

---

 Your dreams have often felt distant from your waking life, like you're catching glimpses of someone else's world, so in a way you are not surprised to learn that it is possible to physically enter a different world through dreams. You just didn't expect to learn about it from a sweaty, balding stage magician in a music hall.

You start spending more time staring into mirrors, trying to work out their secrets. Sometimes you catch glimpses of an unfamiliar place filled with cosmogone light that is almost similar to your dreams of sunlight. You decide that you will find a way to reach it someday.

With time, you learn how it's done. You step through the glass and into the Mirror-Marches. The grass isn't quite like Surface grass and the light isn't really the same as sunlight. The Writhing River is like nothing you've seen before. Parabola is certainly different from the Surface, but it still feels like a sort of escape from the Neath.

You don't know what "home" is supposed to feel like, but something about the wild landscape reminds you of some of your earliest dreams, of being warm and safe and happy in the sun.

[thanagariansnarebeast]

Top 15 villains: Part 1

I’ve been meaning to do this list for a while, but kept getting distracted. Villains are very different for me to rank compared to the heroes; heroes I ranked based on personality and morality; but villains I’m ranking on personality, entertainment, and relationship to hero. After all, villains by nature are almost always the antagonists, and they play off of the hero; so that factor is important. Most of them see themselves as the heroes of their own story in some way, but I would definitely not call any of these characters heroic. Some of these characters have different versions of them over the decades, but I’ll talk about my favorite versions of them.

15. Ozymandias

“ My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! “  That quote does quite nicely define this character, someone who did a monstrous act to try to save the world. I have already featured him on my fallen heroes list, because for most of his life he was a hero; the terrible thing that he did was really surprising to me when I first read it; and I did feel his betrayal. He’s lonely, calm, and extremely intelligent; and you can really tell that he understands that what he did was awful. You might be thinking “Does doing one terrible thing really make you a villain?” and I would argue that yes it does. He didn’t like doing what he had to do, but he doesn’t consider it a mistake, he would do it again if he felt that he had to. Also spoiler for this list, he’s the only one that isn’t a main DC or Marvel villain, I think him being on this list for only being in one book ever really speaks to how interesting he is and how fucking good the Watchmen comic is. I refuse to read the DC Watchmen stuff, so it is possible he shows up in that; but I don’t like how DC keeps unironically using characters meant as a take down of the genre itself. (The HBO Watchmen series is fantastic though, I highly recommend).

14. Deathstroke

Deathstroke seems to be thought of by a lot of people as mainly a Batman villain, and while I think he is a great villain for Batman; I think he’s better as a Teen Titans villain. Some of the plans and tactics he uses to fight them are absolutely brutal. The Judas Contract is one of the best Titans stories, and he is the mastermind behind all of it; he really knows how to twist the knife. Some writers make him more of an anti-hero, but I think he is far better when he is using his intimidating physical prowess, cunning, and ruthless intelligence to do everything he can do destroy a hero.

13. The Anti-Monitor

“Worlds lived, worlds died. Nothing will ever be the same.“ Holy shit is this guy bad news; Thanos and Darkseid showing up is enough for you to understand that the world might be about to end; but this guy destroys entire realities. He is the big bad for one of my favorite comic book stories, and the consequences of his actions shaped the DC multiverse for decades, and his actions sill can be felt to this day. The first villain on this list that is just pure, absolute evil, he is responsible for the deaths of countless DC universes, as well as Supergirl and the Flash. DC really likes bringing dead characters back to life, building off of (and sometimes ruining) the legacy of characters, but they almost never do it with Anti-Monitor; because he’s such a cataclysmic threat that there is not a lot of stories you can even have with him. The CW did a great job with the Crisis on Infinite Earths adaptation they did, though they didn’t really make Anti-Monitor look as intimidating as I would have liked, and they didn’t make him nearly as big as he should be.

12. Kingpin

The kingpin of crime does live up to his name; not all crime in New York is his doing, but much of it is. He is a fantastic villain, and one who really seems to enjoy what he does. He’s just fun to watch and is so good as an antagonist for Daredevil and Spider-Man. His size makes him seem slow and intimidating, but his body is all muscle; and he has come close to crushing Spider-Man to death. When I was very young I was first exposed to him on the fantastic show Spider-Man: The Animated Series, and he’s been one of my favorites ever sense. Vincent D’Onofrio absolutely blew me away with his portrayal of this character in the Daredevil Netflix series, and I really hope we get to see him again in the MCU.

11. Brainiac

Another villain that is a massive threat, Brainiac has had many different incarnations in the comics, but his incredible intelligence is his defining trait. Another cold, calculating villain, he collects cities full of people because to him; they have to be preserved and studied. The idea of being shrunken down and living in an isolated world just to amuse an alien robot is a pretty scary concept. Superman is his main adversary, but many times it takes the entire Justice League (And sometimes some of the more helpful villains) to take him down. He has such a perverse logic to him that I really enjoy, and when he someday shows up in a film I really hope they do him justice.

10. Mr. Freeze

Doctor Victor Fries is one of the most sympathetic villains on this list, he really just wants to save his wife. Batman: The Animated Series wrote that origin story for him, and its stuck ever sense. There is a deep and beautiful tragedy to the character, and you completely understand why he is doing what he is doing, even if you personally wouldn’t go that far. His character makes you think “How far would I go to help the person I love most in the world?” and any villain that makes you introspective about yourself is a great character. His ice theme and very distinct look really makes it fun to see how different artists design him. He’s one of Batman’s more popular villains, and Batman has some of the best villains in comics. He makes Batman question himself and his motivations, because he doesn’t really want to hurt anyone; he just wants to survive and cure his wife, and if no one ever got in his way he would probably do exactly that. His story is a tragedy of circumstances, but his inability to go about getting what he wants in any other way, and his uncaring attitude for most other people definitely makes him a villain. 

9. Doomsday

This character really is the polar (pun intended) opposite of the last character on this list. Doomsday is a big, unstoppable killing machine; and he defeated most of the Justice League with one hand tied behind his back. He is just such a raw, brutal character that I love seeing him show up. This thing has the power to come back to life, unable to be hurt by what killed it before; and spent decades wiping out entire planets before it came to Earth. His biggest and scariest feat is literally beating Superman to death! His best story was his first one, but every time he shows up and Superman fights him, in the back of his mind he has to be thinking “This thing killed me before, and its stronger now.” which is just absolutely terrifying. His striking visual design and brutal nature are always enjoyable, and he was one of my favorite characters to play as in Injustice: Gods Among Us.

[yingyuerc]

Note (skippable): Hi, I’m going to post about my character from Royal Chaos. A lot of stuff here is gonna contradict the canon story in the game but who cares about canon I came here for a good time baby. Anyway I don’t expect anyone to ever read or find this post cause Royal Chaos isn’t very popular on tumblr but I was bored and wanted to break writer’s block. I got very inspired by @sister-ruan and @lady-reinian so thank you guys for posting amazing content!

My Royal Chaos character — Jiang Ying Yue!

Name: Jiang Ying Yue, but call her Ying or Yue for short

Name meaning: Ying Yue means “Reflection on the moon”, Jiang means “river”.

Age: 17 years old.

Birthday: January 21st, she has always celebrated her birthdays on a beautiful winter day.

Western constellation: Capricorn.

Title: Consort decency, upper 2.

Appearance:

Ethnicity: East-asian (chinese) and European (unspecified)

Height: 5′5, or 165 cm.

Hair: Yue has black, straight hair and it’s very long and silky. It reaches below her waist and she usually wears her hair down. Yue takes very good care of her hair and has a strict routine she uses everyday. Yue has a special and expensive jade comb that she uses. She wears golden accessories on her head & hair to enhance her beauty.

Eyes: Ying Yue has sharp, cat-like upturned blue eyes that seem to appear more purple than blue. They’re framed by long, black lashes. Her eyes are a prominent feature to her beauty, and they always appear to be pensive.

Complexion: Yue has a natural olive skin complexion, but she uses pale make up on her face to match the fair skin tones of the other concubines. Although her skin is glowy and sunkissed, a pale complexion is unfortunately the beauty standard in China.

Body shape: Ying’s body is slender, svelte, thin, gracious, elegant after years of serving as a concubine and having to dance and entertain the emperor. She has long legs and soft, dainty features.

Voice: Yue’s voice is sharper and deeper than you expect. Her face is dainty and meek, but her eyes have an edge of sharpness to match her voice. she has a bossy tone when she speaks but still sound as smooth as the dewdrops on a lotus.

Personality:

Personality traits: |Daring|Bold|Brave|Determined|Bright|Clever|Smart|Cunning|Sneaky|Passionate|Ying Yue is a very daring and bold girl. She is not afraid of speaking what’s on her mind and she always faces a challenge head-on. Yue is strong and brave and doesn’t let other people put her down. She is also bright, clever and smart, and she can solve problems easily thanks to her cleverness. Yue enjoys a good challenge such as a good chess match, a tricky word game, or a tough riddle. Although years as serving as a concubine has made her sneaky and cunning, she lies to get what she wants and often work behind the curtains. A mastermind behind a devillish plan. She would do what it takes for the people she cherish. She is very passionate and persuasive.

Hobbies: Ying loves dancing and playing instruments in her free time. She practices dancing a lot and she is very good at it. She plays various chinese instruments as well as western instruments. Ying Yue paints a lot on beautiful days. She enjoys singing in the palace garden when the stars are shining and the moonlight cascades from the sky. Ying Yue adored board games and always play them with Yuexiu. She spends time with Wen Ruyan and solves crosswords-puzzles when Yuexiu is busy.

Likes: Pretty accessories (especially gold), purple, luxurious gowns, board games, puzzles, art, music, dancing, delicious food, sweets.

Dislikes: Being ignored, getting dismissed, disrespectful behavior, rival concubines, being underestimated, worms.

Strengths: Clever mind, very brave, caring for those she loves, an extraordinarily great dancer and musician, good at solving problems.

Weaknesses: Selfish, apathetic toward those she doesn’t care about, appears to be very untrustworthy if you don’t know her.

Misc:

Favorite food: Candied fruits. Especially candied cherry tomatoes.

Favorite color: All shades of purple, but favors Lavender. She often wears purple clothes.

Favorite animal: Koi fish.

Favorite mythological animal: Dragon.

Favorite scent: Lavender, floral scents.

Occupation: Concubine, consort decency.

Love interest: Er, the emperor Consort Nian  

Background:

Financial situation: Poor, any money she hoards from the emperor she immediately sends to her family.

Previous relationships: None, aside from crushing on a dear friend she’ll no longer meet.

Location: China.

Family: Jiang Ying Yue has two brothers and one younger sister. Her brother, Yuan Wu, is 19 years old and is the oldest child in the Jiang family. He’s studying to become a physician, although the family is struggling financially. Yue’s other brother, Zhen Kun, is 15 years old and is the middle child of the family. He spends a lot of his days fishing. The youngest child in the Jiang family — Jiang Lei, 12 years old and loves picking flowers and attending their family garden. Yuan Wu has a sharp intellect, while Zhen Kun is laidback, Jiang Lei is meek and sweet. Ying Yue had a mother and a father, but they tragically drowned when traveling to a foreign land to sell wares. Ying Yue was seven years old when her parents died. She and her siblings had to live in poverty without parents to take care of them. Jiang Lei was often sick and they couldn’t buy her medicine. So when Yuan Wu grew older he wanted to study and become a physician. Meanwhile Ying Yue danced to get enough money for her family, and Zhen Kun sold fish and sea creatures that he found. 

Backstory: Yue was born into a wealthy family that survived off on trading exotic wares and fine silk with foreigners. She and her family lived in a relatively lively village and they had relatives in big cities. Although her relatives had never visited her, or even acknowledged her existence due to her being half-foreigner. Her mother was a western woman with brown hair and peculiar blue eyes. Meanwhile her father was from a wealthy chinese family of merchants. When he married her his family protested and in the end disowned him. They moved to a nearby village and had four children. When Ying Yue was only seven, Yuan Wu nine, Zhen Kun five, and Jiang Lei two years old, their parents passed away by drowning. They were sailing to Yue’s mother’s homeland to sell wares until a storm hit them. Without any parents to look after the children, they had no other choice but to live in poverty. No relatives would help them, and Ying Yue had playmates from the village’s orphanage but they all told her the living conditions at the orphanage was awful and that she was so lucky to have a mother and father. Ying Yue broke down crying, and soon her older brother Yuan Wu decided that they should move into a bigger village, because at least there they’ll have a chance to beg for money from richer merchants and businessmen. Ying Yue was against the idea because she didn’t want to leave her best friend, Xia Lin from the orphanage. Xia Lin was a very stubborn girl, feisty, scheming and cunning. Xia Lin taught Ying Yue a lot and they were the closest of friends. Ying Yue had to say goodbye to her dearest friend and moved to a bigger village with lots of markets and merchants. Since Jiang Lei was only two years old at the time the sudden change of environment affected her the most. She got nervous and very sick, but they couldn’t get her medicine or see a physician. Ying Yue learned how to play and dance to entertain the villagers so she could help her family. Zhen Kun spent a lot of time around the lakes and rivers, occasionally fetching crabs and other sea critters. He sold them cheap to help his family. Yuan Wu wanted to become a physician to help his sister, but of course he was very young and found a physician to mentor him. As the years passed the Jiang siblings grew older. Ying Yue became extraordinarily beautiful, her dance movements more graceful and elegant, and she matured. Yuan Wu wanted to continue studying to finally become a capable physician. Zhen Kun loved fishing and spent most of his time near the water to find food for his family. Jiang Lei’s health improved, but she was still weaker than most girls her age. Unfortunately Yuan Wu couldn’t afford to continue his tuition since the Jiang family lacked money. Zhen Kun’s money from fishing couldn’t help much but feed the family. Jiang Ying Yue only saw one option, she forced herself to become a concubine to help finance her family. Ying Yue was 15 when she entered the palace as a concubine and she has served as one for two years, sending back the luxurious riches to her family. She regularly keeps in contact with them via letters. Yue didn’t like the emperor that much, she faked her nervous giggles and blushes to get money for her family. She doesn’t hate the emperor, in fact she’s very indifferent about him and quite apathetic. But she could never love him. Ying Yue never had time for men and she simply wasn’t interested in them. A lot of dramatic events unfolded, but Jiang Ying Yue kept going strong.

[celtics534]

Natural Chapter 16

So, here we are. The second to last chapter of Natural. Get prepared for quite a ride! 

Read on: FF.net or AO3

Pregnant women are strange, Harry thought as he watched his wife dip a pickle into a jar of peanut butter. They were lounging on their sofa, the room filled with natural light as the wireless crooned in the background. It was comfortable, so comfortable that Harry had almost been lulled to sleep until he heard a loud crunch and saw his wife eating… that.  Now he may never sleep again.

 Five months into her pregnancy and Ginny had fully embraced its quirks. The unique eating habits, her increased body temperature (she had taken to casting cooling charms on whatever room she was in), the really odd dreams, and who could forget Harry’s personal favorite-- an increased libido. Just the other day Harry had been lounging on their bed studying the playbook Wood had created when Ginny basically appeared from thin air and jumped him. Not that he was complaining...quite the opposite, really.  

 Harry figured they were in the peaceful part of pregnancy. According to the books (because yes, he was actually reading them, Mum), this was the easiest part of the experience. Months seven through birth sounded like one of the layers of Hell and Harry was not overly excited for those months, but fuck he was excited to be a father.

 When they told his parents, his mother had cried and nearly hugged them to death. But when James took Harry aside and told him how his life was about to have a bigger meaning than he would have ever thought, that really hit him hard. Father and son had sat in the study drinking and talking, and honestly, it had become one of Harry’s fondest moments with his father.

 “Harry?” Ginny’s voice broke Harry out of his woolgathering.

 “Yes, Gin?” Harry sat up, ready for any task she had.

 “Could you please massage my feet?” Though Ginny had embraced the changes to her body, she didn’t like all of them. The heartburn and swollen feet were two of the worst. The number of foot rubs Harry had given in the last few weeks alone couldn’t be counted.

 He gestured for her to come closer. “Send them my way.”

 Ginny twisted her body so her back rested against the arm of the sofa and her feet were up in Harry’s lap. He tugged off her socks and took one foot into his hands. His thumbs pressed into her arch with knowledgeable precision.

 Harry moved slowly making sure to give every section of her foot plenty of attention. Based on the satisfied moans coming from Ginny, he was doing a good job.

 “Please quit your day job and become my personal foot masseuse.” Ginny arched her freshly rubbed foot, as Harry moved to the next one.

 “I don’t think Coach Cara will like that much.” Harry couldn’t help but smile at Ginny’s unladylike snort.

 “I’ll tell Cara where he can shove it.”

 “Now, now, no need to get violent.”

 Ginny shrugged. “I need a new way to vent. I can’t just go around knocking basic bitches off their brooms for the next few months like usual.”

 Harry paused his magic fingers and looked up at his wife. “You only did that to me once.”

 “And that was enough for you to be inducted into the basic bitch club.” Ginny took another pickle out of the jar and scooped some peanut butter with it.

 “Such loving words from the future mother of my child,” Harry said sarcastically as he dug the pad of his thumb into Ginny’s heel.

 Ginny looked unperturbed. “You knew what you were in for before you knocked me up. Besides, you love it.”

 Harry set her foot down gently before shifting his body so he lay between her hips. Their breaths mixed as Harry leaned in to kiss her. “More than I can say, even with your peanut butter and pickle breath”

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 “Have you seen this?” George flourished the paper at his sister and brother-in-law. The couple were resting on the Burrow’s sitting room sofa, Ginny enjoying an extra slice of pie and Harry a cup of tea. Harry placed his mug on the coffee table and took the paper.

 He quickly scanned over the article that George had folded to, scoffing at the author. “Merlin, they never think before they publish, do they?”

 Ginny leaned onto his shoulder. “They’re talking about my career as if it’s over.”

 George nodded. “That’s what they say on the next page. They say how your impending bundle of joy, who we all pray has his Uncle George’s good looks, will keep you home and off the pitch.”

 Ginny straightened indignantly, her hand naturally coming to rest on her six-month baby bump.  “Just because I’m having a baby doesn’t mean I’m done with quidditch!”

 “Tell that to Witch Weekly,” Fred suggested from his spot by the fireplace.

 “That wouldn’t be the only thing I’d tell those pricks at Witch Weekly,” Ginny muttered darkly. Over the course of her pregnancy, Ginny and Harry had been hounded by the press and it was Ginny’s greatest desire to Bat-Bogey the lot of them. In particular the ever attentive writers at Witch Weekly, who had been harping on about Harry not being the father of their baby, with no evidence whatsoever.  

 “As much as I agree with you, Gin.” Harry placed a hand on his wife’s knee. “I’d rather not have the mother of my child give birth in Azkaban.”

 Ginny raised a ginger eyebrow at him. “That would only happen if they caught me, and I’m pretty sure I’d get away with it.”

 George laughed, nodding his head. “That you could Gin-Gin. It would be just like that time you stole a biscuit from the jar, and you got mum to think it was Ron.”

 “Oh yeah!” Fred shook a finger at his sister. “You are too cunning for your own good. I still don’t know how you convinced mum of that one. Multiple times.”

 Ginny smirked at her twin brothers. “It was rather easy. I just need to send her one of these.” She batted her eyelashes in a way that Harry recognized all too well from the times he hadn’t wanted to do something, and in end had done them. “And then I picked a brother to throw under the bus.”

 Fred let a low whistle. “That’s it?”

 “I would have thought there was more.” George stroked his chin in thought. “What about that time where you made mum think we stole Percy’s favorite quill?”

 “That was you.” Ginny reminded him.

 “Oh yeah. Okay, what about --” Over the course of the next three hours, Harry realized his wife was a nefarious mastermind, and he loved her more for it. But that damn article came back to nag at him throughout the rest of the day whenever left to his own devices.  

 Ginny seemed to still have it on her mind as well because she brought it back up while they finished their nightly routines. “Why is that women are expected to stay home and mind the children?” Harry had already tossed the excess pillows from the bed and crawled into his predetermined side while Ginny had changed into a comfortable pair of sweats and one of Harry’s old shirts. “Just because I want to continue playing after I have a baby doesn’t make me a bad mother.”

 “No, it doesn’t.” Harry faced his wife as she crawled under the covers.

 “Yet, that’s what people will think.” Ginny’s voice was filled with disgust. “I mean I don’t really care what people think, but I still find it fucking annoying.”

 Harry leaned across the small gap between them and pressed his lips to hers, which seemed to be what she needed after her rant. She scooted her body so it was tucked close to his-- well, as close as her extended stomach would allow. He felt her sigh as she pressed her nose into his neck.

 They lay in silence, arms around each other. Content just being there in their bed, where the rest of the world didn’t matter. It was just him and her.

 Harry took a deep breath, inhaling Ginny’s intoxicating scent, before speaking. “I’ve been thinking.”

 “A dangerous pastime, love.” Ginny murmured in a sleepy tone.

 “I know, but what do you think of me minding the baby full time?”

 Ginny shifted in his arms, leaning back so she could look at him in the bare light of the moon shining through the curtain. “What?”

 “Cara is retiring at the end of the year.” Harry guided his hand to rest on her stomach. “And I love quidditch and I do love playing, but not like you do.”

 Ginny reached behind her for her wand and lit the room with a quick wave. When she rolled back to look at him, her eyes blazed like the setting sun. “Are you saying you’re applying for the coaching position?”

 “I’ve already applied and I have it if I want it.” Harry kissed her lightly. “Ginny, I can take the baby with me to practices and what not. There is this little contraption that lets a baby sit on your chest while you walk around. And if the little bugger gets tired I can set up a bassinet in my office with a monitoring charm.”

 “You’ve thought about this a lot, haven't you?”

 “Since the day we found out you were pregnant.”

 Ginny’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

 Harry nodded. “I want to do this, Gin. I just need you to be on board with it.”

 “Why wouldn’t I be on board?” Ginny’s hand came up to rub his jaw. “As long as this is truly what you want to do.”

 “It is.” Harry felt like a weight lifted off his chest. “I’ll tell the owner I accept the offer tomorrow.” He took Ginny’s wand, which she had placed in the small gap between them, and turned out the lights.

 They resettled, Ginny turning around so her back was pressed against his chest and his hands could rest on the baby bump. Nothing had ever felt more right to Harry. This was him in his natural habitat. There was no doubt in his mind that he was doing the correct thing.

 The light fluttering pressure on his hand made Harry smile. His child seemed to agree and acknowledged it with a little kick.

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 “How’s the wife, Harry?” Sirius asked as he, Harry, and James settled in comfortable lounge chairs. They had put on the Wasps versus Catapults games on the wireless when they had entered Sirius’ ‘study,’ which was never used to study anything except old muggle motorcycle magazines.

 “Good.” Harry smiled at the mere thought of his seven, almost eight, months pregnant wife. “She’s out shopping with Luna today. Apparently, Luna thinks the baby needs some… well, I’m not quite sure what genre it is because Luna said a word I’d never heard, but a certain type of music.”

 “And Ginny’s all for that?” James asked with a raised brow.

 Harry shrugged. “Yeah, she loves Luna so she takes her suggestions seriously.”

 “What is this music suppose to do?” Sirius asked curiously before taking a large gulp from his beer. “What makes it so dire?”

 “Clear all the baby’s chakras.”

 Sirius blinked once, twice, and third time. “Oh good, I was worried about that.”

 James snorted but smiled. “Well other than chakra cleansing music, what else do you two need?”

 “Not much to be honest.” Harry took a sip from his drink. “Ginny’s already nesting. The last three weeks have consisted of us going out on random shopping trips to buy whatever item she’s thought of. But I think we have all the basics.”

 James placed his glass down and stood from his lazy chair. “Not everything. I have something to show you.” He poked his head out the door to yell for his wife. Lily hurried over from the kitchen where she had been talking with Sirius’ current bird (who had made it an unheard of six months).

 Harry accompanied his parents out of the study and towards the attic, Sirius following behind them like a dog. The old creaky stairs of Sirius’ old London house was the only sound between the group.

 Once they reached the door, James turned to Harry. “You know how I’ve been taking that woodworking class?”

 Harry nodded. He still found it odd that his father had taken up the old muggle art form. Though he did find it adorable when his father visited after a class and had wood shavings in his greying hair.

 “Well, I started this project as soon as you told me about the baby.” James opened the door and lit the oil lamps with a wave of his wand. A dark oak rocking chair sat in the middle of the room. Harry forgot how to speak as he moved over to the chair. He brushed his hand across the finished armrest up to the intricate headrest.

 “Dad --” Harry cleared his throat, hoping to dislodge whatever had gotten stuck. “It’s amazing.”

 “Your mother picked out the design and wood color.” James threw an arm over Harry’s shoulder. The headrest had outlines of two quidditch players. One held a quaffle under their arm and the other was speeding towards a snitch. With a bit of magic, the two figures flew past each other, and their heads turning to look back at the other.

 Lily pressed a kiss to Harry’s cheek. “It will be perfect for you and Ginny to rock the little one to sleep.”

 Harry nodded, completely forgoing words as he pulled both his parents into a hug.

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 “I swear I’ve become a beached whale,” Ginny moaned as she adjusted her position on the bed. Her bum had become completely numb. Being eight months pregnant had led to an array of unexpected uncomfortable things. The amount of gas she had for starters…

 “The prettiest beached whale I ever did see.” Harry leaned over to kiss her cheek.

 Ginny snorted. “First of all, you shouldn’t agree with the description of beached whale. As the husband, it’s your job to find an alternative comparison. Secondly, if I hadn’t just found the most comfortable position, I would totally hex you for your impudence.”

 Harry smiled at her threat. “Now you wouldn’t want to hex the father of your child, would you?” Ginny just raised an eyebrow. Harry tried again. “Father of your child that wears glasses? Would that deter you?”

 “You know,” Ginny let her voice drop, becoming sultry. “There is something that could, as you put it, deter me.”

 “Oh?” Harry smile slid into a dirty smirk. He adjusted his body so he was on her side of the mattress, his lips an inch from her ear and his fingers at the hem of her shirt. “What might this interference be?”

 “A big bowl of that vanilla ice cream we have.”

 Harry blinked owlishly for a moment, before chuckling. “Out of everything I had to offer, you pick ice cream.”

 Ginny smiled at him. “I think we both know what your preferred distraction would be, that’s what got me into this mess of hormones and cravings.”

 “And wasn’t it a great diversion. It made me forget about losing to the Tornados.”

 “A pick me up wasn't the only thing you got that night.”

 Harry laughed, pressing a final kiss to her lips and her stomach before rolling off the bed. “Right, because it’s my fault you ambushed me while I was in the shower and you were on a faulty potion.”

 “Obviously.”

 Harry smiled to himself as he headed towards the kitchen. He paused in the doorway when Ginny called his name. He spun to see his gorgeous wife propped up on her pregnancy pillow. He still couldn’t get over how amazing she looked while carrying his child. Merlin, his child, who would be born in a month or two...

 In all honesty, Harry didn’t feel prepared at all. He knew all first-time parents felt like this, between talking with his parents and Ginny. Merlin, he was scared. But then he looked at Ginny and couldn't get it out of his head, how their child will be with them in mere weeks. Her freckled nose with his eyes on their baby’s chubby cheeks. Being able to lay in that very bed and just snuggle their baby as they fall asleep. No, Harry wasn’t prepared at all, but he couldn’t wait.

 “Yes, darling?”

 Ginny gave him that look. The look that she only gave him. Her eyes seemed to melt his brain into a puddle of goo, all the while making sure his body knew he was alive. “Don’t forget about the chocolate sauce and cherry.”  

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 “Only one week until the suspected due date of Ginny Potter.” Mothers reminded the listeners. “Dan, what do you reckon the baby will be? A boy or a girl?”

 “I don’t know.” Dan tapped his chin in consideration. “Witch Weekly claims it’s gonna be a girl because of how she’s carrying, but honestly I’m sensing a boy.”

 “Me too. Harry actually told me last week, after the Puddlemere versus Portree game, that they've decided to wait to find out the gender, so they don’t even know.”

 “Did he have a preference?”

 “No. He just wanted his wife and child to be happy and healthy.” Mothers paused for a second. “Though, he did say he would love to have a daughter that was just as beautiful as her mother. And if that isn’t the sweetest thing you ever did hear…”

 “Harry Potter, star seeker of Puddlemere United, the closet romantic.” Gregory laughed. “If everyone didn’t love our star couple, the birds would be flocking to him.”

 “Ah, here come the teams now.” Mothers tuned the listeners back to the game. “This is Puddlemere versus The Harpies. It will be a different game without Ginny Potter.”

 “This is the first time these two teams will have met this season.” Gregory reminded everyone. “The Harpies’ main driving force last year was Ginny Potter and without her talents… Well, we’ll have to wait and see what the Harpies have up their sleeves.”

 “You can tell Captain Gwenog Jones is thinking along those lines. The glare she just sent Harry Potter.” Mothers chuckled.

 “That’s what he gets for impregnating his wife.” Dan joined his fellow announcer's line of humor. “An angry captain.”

 “Though Ginny is here to watch the game.” Mothers pointed her out in the crowd to Gregory. “She’s here with at least two of her brothers. I think it’s the twin owners of Weasley Wizard Wheezes.”

 “The captains have shaken hands and the balls have been released.” Gregory tuned everyone into the action they were paid to talk about.

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 George waited for Ginny to open her eyes before speaking in a low voice. “You’re in labor aren't you?” Over the last hour, George had seen his sister wince three times before shutting her eyes.

 “It’s fine.” Ginny met his gaze. “They’re still far apart. It’s when they come every four minutes that I need to go see Padma.”

 George gave her a skeptical look, but he didn’t know enough to truly argue with her. “Fine. But you’ll tell me as soon as it’s at the four-minute mark?”

 “Of course.”

 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 Harry took a large gulp of water from his water bottle. The game had been brutal, neither team willing to give any leeway. The number of bludgers Harry had already avoided in the last hour was remarkable.

 He threw the bottle back onto the bench and ran his hand against his forehead, wiping off sweat.

 “Alright, lads.” Cara came over to the squad after talking with Devlin. “The Harpies have come to kill, but we won’t let them. Love, I need you to focus on Hawkins. She’s on point today, and we need to ruin her day.”

 Cara listed off a bunch of plays to help the chasers cover more ground. Finally, he turned to Harry. “Potter, you --” He stopped mid-sentence as a silver coyote ran into the pit.

 “Harry!” The patronus spoke in George’s voice, but with a slight nervousness that was wasn’t normal for the prankster. “Ginny’s in labor. I’m taking her to St Mungo's now.”

 There were ten seconds of stunned silence between the entire team, before Bastille shouted, “Well? Get going, Potter.”

 Harry ran a hand through his hair as the team joined in the chant. His brain couldn’t catch up. Ginny was in labor... Devlin gave him a little shove and finally, Harry’s feet got the message. He ran… straight towards the fireplace in the coach’s office, and to his wife.  

[truthbeetoldmedia]

The 100 6x11 “Ashes to Ashes” Review

Trust is hard to come by in a civilization built on lies. In “Ashes to Ashes”, Clarke, Bellamy and Octavia are forced to come up with a plan quick that will appease the Children of Gabriel and save their people in Sanctum while Echo, Gaia, Miller and Murphy forge their own respective plans to get out of the sacred city alive. 

Not only is the story in this episode captivating, thanks to veteran writer Charmaine DeGrate, but the acting and visuals are stunning as well — all due to Bob Morley’s natural talent in his directorial debut. He has definitely proven himself a force in front of and behind the camera, and I know I speak for the entire The 100 fandom when I say I cannot wait to see where his career takes him.

For now though, we are lucky to have him as our Bellamy Blake, who particularly shines in this episode as he faces Octavia and acts as the mastermind behind the plan that aligns them with the Children of Gabriel. That is until Clarke has other, more selfless plans, of course. 

For Monty

Upon waking up as 100% Clarke Griffin, our protagonist has a very different outlook on life. While in the mindspace, she was forced to face her demons in the form of people from her past who knew she could do better. Monty in particular helped Clarke to realize that violence isn’t always the answer. So, when Clarke comes to and realizes her people are still in Sanctum, she is dead set on masquerading as Josephine to get into the city and save them. 

We as the audience get to see that changed and evolved Clarke inside the mindspace come to fruition in the “real world” and witness the satisfying tension it causes between her and Bellamy. Bellamy, who has spent much of the season fighting tooth and nail to get Clarke back finally has her by his side again. So naturally, when she wants to thrust herself back into a dangerous situation, he isn’t a huge fan. 

Though it was disappointing that the two only briefly discussed the lengths Bellamy went to to save Clarke before refocusing their attention on the rest of their people, this is how it has always been. As frustrating as it is, they live in a post-apocalyptic world where there isn’t much time at all to discuss feelings and desires. After the ending scene of 6x10 in which we felt how desperately Bellamy needs Clarke by his side, it’s undeniable that they need to find the time to sit down and have a longer conversation someday about what it actually means that they will risk everything, including the safety of the people they love, to save the other (hint: It is absolutely not platonic). However, as we are approaching the end of the season and tensions are coming to a head, it doesn’t appear that they will find that time anytime soon. 

Regardless, just seeing Clarke and Bellamy back together, working through the problem in front of them side by side was much needed after a season of Clarke mostly existing only inside her own head. Clarke and Bellamy are co-leaders first and foremost, and as such are a force to be reckoned with. Though it pains Bellamy to consider the consequences of Clarke getting caught in Sanctum, he knows that this is what must be done — what Monty would do. 

Monty continues to be their moral compass this season as they try to work towards peace. Though this moon has thrown them for a loop more than once in their attempts to start anew and be better, our heroes know they must do so even when the temptation to get revenge is stronger than ever. Doing what is right is not always the easier route, but it’s still the one that should be taken. 

While callbacks to characters long gone can sometimes be tiring, this season has done a beautiful job at emphasizing the important roles they played and continue to play in the lives of the characters still standing. While Murphy is terrified of facing his mortality, we know through Monty, Maya, Jake and even Pike that dying does not mean you cease to matter. The impact you had on people while you were alive remains. 

And so, Clarke faces her own mortality head on for the greater good. If she doesn’t, she knows her people will likely die. While I’ve missed Clarke deeply, her returning to the screen in such a powerful way almost makes it worth it. She’s evolved into a whole new kind of hero. Just when I thought it was impossible, I love her even more.

The 10-Year-Lie

While brainstorming a plan that will lower the radiation shield and get Bellamy, Clarke and Octavia’s people out of Sanctum, the group is confronted by the Children of Gabriel. They believe that Gabriel is still Xavier, and that he and “the old man” are protecting Josephine, thus betraying their anti-Prime regime. When they discover that Gabriel has bodysnatched Xavier, and has secretly existed in this form for 10 years, the Children of Gabriel are understandably upset. 

Layla, the sister of Xavier, helps add an interesting layer to the story. As Bellamy and Octavia work through their tarnished sibling relationship, she must mourn the fact that she’ll never get the chance to do the same, as her brother is gone forever. Layla’s hurt and anger is palpable as she must cooperate with Gabriel in order to destroy the Primes. 

We also get to see more of how the Primes are directly hurting people and tearing people apart, even though they believe what they are doing is right. The 100 has always placed emphasis on the grey area between right and wrong, a space that many if not all of the characters on this show have occupied at some point in time. The view of the Primes as godly figures and the cold war between the believers in Sanctum and the nonbelievers in the forest once again highlights that grey area. Both believe they are right, and neither are willing to budge. 

Also interesting is Gabriel’s role in all of this. Though he has notoriously led an anti-Primes movement, he is still alive in yet another body. We get little insight as to why he was resurrected 10 years ago, only that it was done by a man named Eduardo without his consent. This explains why he’s been hiding for so long, pretending to be Xavier. Though this season has largely been about redemption for characters like Octavia and Clarke who we know to have done bad things in the past, Gabriel needs to redeem himself as well. He has his own demons that he must face by helping to rescue the innocent and unwilling before they become hosts.

What is still undetermined is whether he will go along with Clarke’s peaceful plan, or aid the Children of Gabriel in killing the remaining Primes. While Clarke and Bellamy have a moral compass in the form of Monty guiding them, he does not. Though he has agreed to side with Clarke, we know how quickly characters on this show can switch allegiances when it is convenient for them. So, Gabriel is certainly a wild card.

A Spy Named Ash 

Back in Sanctum, Russell and Co. waste no time finding a new host for Simone’s mind drive. Echo, who has just been betrayed by Ryker while attempting to assassinate Russell and save her friends, is the chosen one. 

As Ryker prepares to kill her, Echo stalls, offering up a backstory that gives the audience an important little tidbit of information: Echo isn’t the name she was born with. As a child living under Queen Nia’s rule in the Ice Nation, or Azgeda, Ash was forced to kill her friend, Echo, and assume her identity before a trip to a neighboring kingdom. 

She tells the tale through tears, seemingly still guilty that she was not able to spare her friend’s life. However, when Gaia and Miller (a dream team, might I add) come to her rescue, Echo reminds Ryker of something Queen Nia taught her, right as she plunges a spear into his heart: hesitation is death. 

While this was an unexpected “badass” moment, it completely alters the importance of Echo’s story. While watching the flashback, we’re supposed to feel bad for Echo who was forced to kill someone close to her at such a young age. We believe that this provides more depth to her character, shows her as more than just a spy with good aim. 

However, Echo does not redeem herself by doing better as so many others have done this season. Instead, she takes the easier route, revenge, and kills Ryker. 

While this may be smart and cunning, it makes all of Echo’s flashes of vulnerability up until this point seem ingenuine. If this moment, an important glimpse into her traumatic past, was only a ploy to set her up for revenge, how are we as the audience expected to interpret any moments of warmth or vulnerability from her as anything other than manipulative? I want so badly to like Echo and to see her become a well-rounded character, but unfortunately this flashback only aided me in viewing her as cold-hearted, one-note character. 

The “badass female warrior” trope is only entertaining up to a certain point. If Echo is to continue being a part of the story the writers are telling, she needs an emotional facelift. And pronto. In a season constructed around the idea of facing one’s demons, there’s no reason Echo couldn’t have done the same — and shown some real depth in the process. 

My Sister, not My Responsibility

While dangerous, Sanctum sure is beautiful. I’ll give it that. While foraging for the toxic mushrooms needed to make a bomb with the same hallucinatory properties as the red sun, Bellamy and Octavia get a much-needed opportunity to hash things out in a glowing cave.

Octavia has changed since going into the anomaly and facing her demons, the most significant of which was her brother and what she put him through. She knows that she cannot expect Bellamy to forgive her for the person she became in his absence over those six years, but she also needs him to know that she’s turned over a new leaf. 

It’s understandably difficult for Bellamy to believe that she could have changed so much in such a short amount of time, but it’s clear that he sees some sort of shift. While Bellamy refuses to forgive and forget, he does offer up a satisfying line, delivered perfectly by Bob Morley: “You are my sister, but you’re not my responsibility, not anymore.” 

For Octavia, Bellamy was her moral compass. She needed his guidance, although this is the first time she’s admitting that. The Blake siblings have been through a lot. At times, their tumultuous relationship has felt exhausting. Bellamy’s recognition that Octavia is still his sister, but that she’s not his to guide anymore is something that has been a long time coming, perhaps too long. Though they still have a lot to work through, when and if they ever find a moment of peace, this moment felt satisfying. Bellamy is no longer running away from Octavia and pretending she doesn’t exist, and Octavia is taking responsibility for her actions. 

Marie and Bob’s acting in this scene was impeccable and really brought this relationship back to life. This scene was probably my favorite of the entire night, purely because we got to see a pairing that has been missing all season return. And, perhaps more importantly, Bellamy was able to definitively tell his sister that he doesn’t forgive her for her abusive behavior, and doesn’t have to. 

From this point forward, Octavia will have to continue on her journey of redemption by herself, without that moral compass she claims to need so badly. Her demons are perhaps the darkest of all, so it will be interesting to say the least to see if she can reach some form of enlightenment or if she will fall back into her old ways. 

The Unsung Heroes 

An unexpected yet delightful pairing this episode was Miller and Gaia. These two minor characters got the chance to shine through and bounce off each other in ways I never knew I needed. Gaia helps Miller to forgive himself for following Octavia despite her wicked ways, telling him that mistakes can be forgiven, it’s not learning from them that cannot be. 

This line parallels Gaia greatly to Monty, whose only wish for his people was to be the good guys moving forward. While Monty is the moral compass for Bellamy, Clarke and Octavia in the forest, Gaia is that same moral compass in Sanctum. 

She and Miller escape their holding cell and manage to save Echo, but not before she’s been made into a nightblood. Gaia notices this right away as she’s untying her, and in true Gaia fashion is stunned. 

I can’t help but wonder if Echo’s nightblood is a setup for something greater. Will she take the chip and become commander? I don’t think so. More plausible, I think, is that she will have to lower the radiation shield. Of course this means something would have to happen to Clarke and/or Raven that would hinder them from being able to do so themselves. 

While Gaia and Miller got their chance to be unsung heroes in this episode, perhaps Echo will get that same chance soon, possibly redeeming herself. Though this is equal parts speculation and wishful thinking, The 100 is unpredictable. Regardless, I would like to see Gaia and Miller become best friends and continue being a dream team, please and thank you. 

Caught in the Middle

Poor Murphy, always finding himself caught between a rock and a hard place. Then again though, as Russell puts it, he’s willing to do whatever and align with whoever in order to save himself. While Murphy takes offense to this, he can’t necessarily deny it. 

However, there’s a shift in Murphy’s thought process that is visible when Russell warns him there will be consequences for not bringing Josephine back alive. Murphy assumes he will be killed, “an eye for an eye”. He seems genuinely accepting of this. It’s only when Russell says Emori will be killed that Murphy’s face changes. 

Murphy has always been a selfish person. Arguably, Emori changed that about him the moment they fell in love. In Season 4, he fought to make sure she would not be killed in the radiation chamber. Similarly, she refused to leave him to die on earth at the end of Season 5. The two are willing to die if it means dying by the side of the person they love. 

However, this is the first time we’ve seen Murphy really accept his own death as he recognizes Russell’s deal for what it is, immortality versus mortality. He still wants to live forever by Emori’s side, but if one of them has to die to save the other, he wants it to be him. 

I’m still waiting for Murphy to change sides as he does so well and become the hero we all know he can be (see: him helping to save Clarke in Season 3). This time though, perhaps he will stay on the “good” side and take Monty’s words to heart. 

Murphy’s internal battle with his mortality has been so interesting to watch, and has been perhaps my favorite storyline to come out of Sanctum’s body-snatching ways. He’s known as a cockroach for a reason, but does he want that to be his legacy? Though he’s high up on my list of characters most likely to die this season, I sincerely hope he sticks around purely because I want to see him accept his mortality and live with it.  

This is The 100 though, so I’m not holding my breath that he will get a happy ending. After all, does anyone ever get that on this show? 

The Academy Award Goes to: 

You’ve seen Clarke, Josephine, Josephine pretending to be Clarke, and a Clarke and Josephine combo. Can I interest you in Clarke as Josephine? 

Realizing that the only way to avoid killing innocent people is to lower the radiation shield before the less intense bomb is set off, Clarke knows she must pretend to be Josephine and do it herself. Clarke parallels Bellamy from Season 2 as the inside man, and she certainly isn’t expecting what she finds when she returns to Sanctum. 

Madi is strapped down and being drained of her bone marrow to allow for the creation of more hosts, including one for Simone, Josephine’s mother. Clarke takes on perhaps the greatest acting feat of all time when she tells Madi that she is Josephine, and that Clarke is gone forever. She must be apathetic as Madi struggles in place, promising to avenge her death. 

I genuinely expected Clarke to break in this moment, and I’m sure there will be many moments like it in the near future. Clarke knows she must remain undercover if she wants to save the lives of all her people, including Madi, but that’s her child strapped down and being used as a medical experiment. 

It has been such a joy to watch Eliza Taylor’s range this season as she’s taken on the challenge of not only playing two entirely different characters, but playing them as each other as well. She’s really done an incredible job with it and shown just how talented she is (though just her as Clarke was enough to prove that). With Eliza announcing that she’ll be directing next season, I’m already excited for what’s to come after Season 6 is over. However, we still have two more episodes to get through in which I’m positive she’ll shine in front of the camera like she’s done all season long. 

Final Thoughts

In his first episode as a director, Bob Morley really knocked it out of the park. Everything came together to showcase the story in the best way possible, with the actors shining through in their performances. It’s unsuprising that so many cast members have been singing Bob’s praises since before the episode even aired. Hopefully we will get more episodes directed by him in the future!

As far as the story goes, this episode was pretty on par with the excellent writing that’s been delivered to us all season long. Clarke has been set up to once again save the day, but will she be able to? It’s those unexpected yet expected twists that make this show so great. We know that something is going to go wrong with this plan, we just don’t know what. 

With Clarke and Murphy back in Sanctum, almost everyone is in the same place again. The stories are starting to intertwine, with Abby’s bone marrow solution incapacitating Madi and thus throwing an unexpected wrench in Clarke’s plans to stay cool and undercover. Meanwhile, Murphy has further aligned himself with Russell and the Primes and will likely be a key player in determining the fate of his people. Does this mean more Clarke/Josephine and Murphy? Sign me up. 

And then there’s Bellamy and Octavia who are still with the Children of Gabriel and Gabriel himself. These two will really have to work together to save those they love and avoid a bloodbath. Octavia’s redemption, incoming. 

After all is said and done, Bellamy is going to have to face what he did as well though. He cannot sweep under the rug the fact that he left everyone else behind to get Clarke back. Even if it was in the best interest for his people, his focus at the time was on saving Clarke. 

This episode did give us a few breathers amidst the chaos for characters to work through their personal issues, and I’m hoping that we’ll get more of that after the climax of the finale. If the story is to move forward, the characters' relationships need to change, whatever that means for each respective pairing. 

Interpret that however you wish. 

With two hours of Season 6 left to go, I think this episode ultimately did its job. It forced the characters as well as us to consider how this is all going to end, and if they can really follow Monty’s advice and do better. 

Next episode, the penultimate, will launch us head first into the action and thrill The 100 does so well with that morally grey area growing even bigger. I can’t wait!

Stray Thoughts

Where is Jordan? It makes no sense that he suddenly disappeared, especially having played such an integral role in the first half of the season.

Bellamy hiding his tears after talking to Octavia really got to me. Bob Morley truly is a force in front of and behind the camera.

Speaking of acting, can we talk about Eliza Taylor playing Clarke playing Josephine? Incredible. That “Boo hoo” was everything.

That parallel between Clarke pulling the gag out of Bellamy’s mouth and him doing the same to her in 3x02 was something I never knew I needed until now. *Chef’s kiss*

Gaia must be protected at all costs. That is all. 

Jessica’s episode rating: 🐝🐝🐝.5

The 100 airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on the CW.

[officialthiamlibrary]

Welcome to another profile on Behind the Screens, giving you personal insight on who your favorite creators are and what they do when they aren’t wowing you with their creative ability.

Happy Tuesday friends! Today, we have the delightful pleasure in getting to know one of your most requested authors, @formerprincess. Rena, our aforementioned guest, is the writer of numerous works, most notably A Tale of Claws and Fangs, Overslept, and Finding My Way To You. As you’ll come to find out, she’s also so much more, so let’s not wait a second more to dive in.

Rena! To get us started, share something about yourself! And for the twist: the word could should be around the number of letters of the characters in you’re favorite TW rarepair ship.

Erica Reyes + Stiles Stilinski = 25

Shy but it you know me I can be pretty weird. Huge book lover. Disney Fangirl. Big heart. Need writing like air. Wrestling fan.

Woah, really?! A wrestling fan? What got you into it?

I get this question so often haha. Because I appear so shy and innocent, people are always like: What? Wrestling? You? It’s fun.

My dad watched it for a while and sometimes I watched it with him, nothing too invested. But then I learned about Nikki and Brie Bella over tumblr rp and I got really curious about them so I researched online. I love them both, especially Brie, love that they stand for strong women and through them I started to actively watch Wrestling and over time gathered some other wrestlers, male and female, I love to see in the ring. It’s fun to watch them and what they do in the ring is impressive.

From wrestling to Teen Wolf, I dig it! And, how you find your way to the Thiam fandom? What about the two grabbed a hold on you?

That’s kind of a long story. I started watching Teen Wolf because I saw gifs and pictures of it on tumblr. I got curious and wanted to see this show but it wasn’t broadcasted on TV in my country, so I kind of searched online for a way and I watched until the point where Liam was introduced in the series  but then stopped because I lost interest and with work I was too busy to even think of Teen Wolf. And then I was on tumblr and I saw a gifset of the scene where Liam and Theo almost fistbumped and I was like ‘Oh hey, these two are cute together.’ I don’t even know why, I just liked the chemistry they had in the scene, Theo’s soft smile, and all. I grew curious who they were because I recognized Liam but I had no idea who Theo was. Quick online search. Aha, those two are Theo and Liam, Thiam for short. Interesting. The Thiam fandom was so very small at this point, there like five fanfics or whatever, so I didn’t really get much from my little expedition into the Thiam fandom.

I kind of forgot about them again because life and other stuff and all and then I saw something about Theo being evil months after my little encounter with the Thiam fandom and I was all ‘Wait a minute! What? But he and Liam…What the hell is going on?’. I was totally confused and stayed confused until was finally able to watch Teen Wolf again (I watched because I heard about the series ending and felt nostalgic so I gave it another shot). I watched season 4, 5, and season 6A and I was hooked!! And so ready for more screen time of Theo and Liam together, so ready to see what would happen to my boys.Tumblr came in handy again and damn had the fandom grown. I saw what everybody had to offer and the ship itself gave me so much inspiration that I wanted to contribute and put in my own two cents on them. The fandom was so welcoming and friendly, it felt like a family from the start and thus I decided to stay. I met many great people because of Thiam already, it’s really awesome.

What drew me in about them? The unspoken chemistry between them, not only romantically but also platonically. Even when I saw gifsets from them without any context, the looks they shared showed such a connection for me, I was astonished and delighted. And when I saw the whole scenes with them, every episode, I liked how different they acted around each other. I always felt like they got each other to a point no other was possible. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the relationship they have with other characters but I always felt they had this special level of a connection. As if they found their ideal counterpart with each other because they both have this fire inside them and don’t shy away from unleashing it.

Oooh, that last bit is so poetic!

Thank you. It came to my mind while I laid in bed and couldn’t fall asleep. When I thought of this, I sat up and almost yelled “That it! That’s Thiam!” Thank god I didn’t or I would have scared the neighbours probably haha.

Haha, most definitely. What’s another thing you’re passionate about beside Thiam and wrestling?

Being creative in general, not only writing.  I mean, yes, writing is the biggest thing I am passionate about. I view writing as a way to deal with the stress of daily life and I would go crazy if I couldn’t write. I also write poetry sometimes.

But not only writing, sometimes I like to create some picture collage or maybe an outfit on Polyvore. Or I simply create things in my head, characters, storylines, worlds, whatever I can think of at those moments. Sometimes I take my thoughts and try to realize them in my Sims game, it’s fun.

LOL, fellow Sims lover! This is one of my fav things to do! What’s been your favorite characters/scenario to conceptualize in the game? How did the game turn out? Any entertaining stories?

Hey, that’s great haha! I love to do this and I’m currently building some houses I could use as inspiration for my stories. I usually play with original Sims, see them starting a family and see how many generations I can have until it starts to get old or until I’m running out of ideas but I once created Stiles, Lydia, Erica and Derek in the game and the Stiles Sims immediately took a shining to the Derek Sims. It was hilarious to watch because even when I was not telling him to, he was interacting with Derek, followed him around. It was adorable. He tried to make Derek laugh^^. It ended with them falling in love and Lydia and Erica being the bridesmaids.

Aww, natural shipping, sigh. That’s the best. Let’s say you could put Thiam in a similar situation, but with characters of another show. Which would you choose? How’d you think the interaction would go?

I’d chose Shadowhunters tv series and to me, this would be hilarious and awesome at the same time. Theo and Jace would so have this little competition who’s better at basically everything; Izzy would be like an older sister to Liam but without actually treating him like a baby. She would admire his determination and will to protect those he loves, they have this in common. I imagine Liam and Jace siding when it comes to fighting because they are all like: Act first and think later but really just want to protect their family and friends. Alec would roll his eyes and ask himself what he has done to deserve this but come around in the end because is actually someone able to not like Theo and Liam? 

Magnus would be totally amused by the whole thing, especially if Liam and Theo are not a thing yet but he has eyes and he can basically taste the sexual tension okay? And Luke, Liam would not stop asking Luke questions about how he leads his pack and everything because another Alpha, how cool is that??? Also Maia and Liam? Dreamteam! Both struggle with control sometimes and they so would get each other. Imagine Luke and Scott running after their Betas to save them from trouble XD. Theo and Clary, because I love the headcanon about Theo being an artist, would bond over that and probably have a tentative friendship going on.

Before we chat about your works, one more silly question. If you could build the ultimate paintball/laser tag team from any five characters AND one villain on Teen Wolf, who would they be and why?

Liam, Kira, Allison, Theo, Erica, and Kate Argent

Liam because he is very athletic and competitive.

Kira because it surely would fun to have her around and she is just an awesome badass cutie. Also, she has fast reflexes.

Allison because she has an amazing aim and also girl power!

Theo because he is like a mastermind and can come up with the best strategy.

Erica because she is my queen and she would lure the other team out so we can shoot them. She and Theo would be great at making a cunning plan.

And Kate because she is ruthless and would destroy the other team.

Perfect. I still say Theo and Allison would’ve been a sight to behold together–for better or worse. Alright, so we have wrestling, sims, shadowhunters, outfit planning. And on top of all those, writing! If your creative process was a person, what type would they be? What would they do? Wear? Listen to? How do they handle conflict?  

They would be a very chaotic type, all over the place. Somebody you see and wonder how they get any work done because they seem to not be organized at all. They would be that type of person that oversleeps and then bolds into work with their bag hanging off one shoulder, their jacket almost slipping down the other shoulder, travel mug filled with coffee clutched in their grip, and clutching a notepad with lots of notes hanging out from it to their chest. They would not be the one that steps into the spotlight at all but rather satisfies with the result of their work.

Their clothing would be a mix from different styles, Boho but also athletic, sometimes chic. Everything they want to wear, they wear it.

Their taste in music is mixed. They mostly listen to Pop but they also have some rocks songs they are addicted to, some Hip Hop. Whenever they hear something with a good beat, good lyrics, that’s what they like and listen to. Their favorite band would probably be Little Mix.

Handle conflict? That’s a tough one. Hm. They would try to see it from the other’s perspective while at the same time telling themselves they should not explode and yell. They are mostly quiet but if they are peeved, they can lash out. If somebody yells at them they would shy away and close themselves off.

Does your creative process also extend to other fandoms? Pairings? Novels or stories with original characters?

I started to lay down the basics for my own original novel and I can’t wait to start. I wanted to write it for years and now I finally got the right motivation and the right mindset.

Aside from Thiam, I have written some fanfictions for Charmed since that’s one of my favorite tv shows. And I have some Stucky fanfictions started as well as the base for a Malec fanfiction that lingers in the back of my mind.  But Thiam is definitively the ship that inspires me the most and I wrote the most about.

An original novel, that’s awesome! What genre are you setting it in? Also supernatural?

It is a novel playing in this day and age but it’s all about the supernatural world mixed with the normal world of the humans. Think Charmed or Shadowhunters. You have the innocent humans living without actually knowing that demon witches, vampires and such live among them. The supernatural society is still in the focus of the novel.

That sounds awesome. Would you say there’s one trope or situation that somehow always wrangles itself in your stories?

I try my best to use different tropes and situations to challenge myself as a writer but one thing that happens for sure is character A watching character B and marveling around how gorgeous they look and how stunning they are. Just some good old-fashioned swooning. I just like to imagine one person being so completely enamored by another person that they have to stop and stare for a while because they sight is breathtaking. And the other person is either completely oblivious and continues with what they do, or knows exactly what they are doing, smirk at person A and preen at the attention.

And yes, friends to lovers, I’m a sucker for this.

Who isn’t really?! What’s the best friends to lovers story you’ve ever read, either fanfiction or novel? (Or one of the best, since they’re probably so many to choose from)

I guess it’s one of the greatest tropes out there haha. Puh, I read so many great stories and novels about that trope, it’s hard to tell. I remember a novel I once read (I can’t remember the title  or the character names though) where this was one of the main story lines but it really took the whole novel for them to finally become a couple and yet while reading you saw their relationship growing and evolving. That’s what I always try to achieve with my stories. 

I also read a Malec fanfic once where both were human but Magnus was a tattoo artist and Alec a florist. They got to know each other and it was simply perfect, Magnus helped Alec with some things and it was just adorable and awesome and amazing. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the title of this one either. I will search for it and maybe give it a shout out later when I found it again because it was really good

Oh, I’ve read that Malec fic, so good! There’s a fantastic MM novel called Switched—I think—by N.R. Walker that’s friends to lovers and I read it in one night. It’s just something about two people, who know one another in and out, coming together, more sighs.

I’d love to jump into your Thiam works. First, the Raeken Twins and your story, Finding My Way To You. Do you have any twins headcanons/imagines which helped you bring Mike Raeken to life?

I got this awesome ask one day about Theo and Mike from PPL being twins and my mind began to rattle. I thought about Theo, his personality, and began to develop someone who would be Theo’s complete opposite. Pretty Little Liars helped a lot because Mike was a sweetheart there, at least until the point where I stopped watching the show. I absolutely loved the idea of Theo having someone to take care of and protect, being a big brother.

I had a vague scene in my mind where Theo berates Mike for being too trusting and Mike just rolls his eyes and tells his big brother to relax. That was the base on where I developed the Raeken Twins. I wanted somebody who was the opposite of Theo but I didn’t want to go completely black and white and so I carved out Mike’s character more, gave him some rough edges as well.

It is fun to play around with the aspect of Theo having his counterpart who at the same time gets him to a T and has someone he always aimed to protect. He may act like he doesn’t care but it had always been my headcanon that he would do anything for Mike and Mike is that one person who knows everything about Theo and who also knows Theo does in fact care

So, if Mike Raeken was part of the Pack and the TW universe, how would he handle these few scenarios:

a: Who would be his pack allies, the pack members he’d bond with? Who would be his pack friend-enemies?

Mike, just like his brother, would become a member of the puppy pack because Mike’s a puppy too. He’d probably bond the most with Nolan and Corey because they share the most character traits with them being kind of cute and sometimes awkward. Brett would be his crush for sure. But he would also be good friends with Liam and totally root for Thiam.

Friendenemies? Good question.  He’s not as harsh as Theo so he probably would not really have problems with the people around. Unless you come for his brother, then he will end you.

b: In a Supernatural crisis, how would he respond?

That clearly depends on the situation. When it comes to facing an enemy and taking them down, Mike’s a fighter and goes into the full experience. He is fast, he is agile, he is ruthless. But if it comes to protecting the people he cares about, he gets very defensive and worries more about them and bringing them to safety than taking part in the fight itself. He’s not even afraid to charge in and drag the person out of the fight (especially his brother). Mike is pretty level-headed and can stay calm even if times get rough. He checks a situation, makes his own theories about it, but he mostly stays in the background, lets the others talk and discuss, and only interferes when he feels like it’s not going anywhere. But most of the times he is fine with just watching and striking when it’s the right time.

c: One hilarious scenario you think would occur between him, Theo, and other member of the pack?

They would pull a Switch-A-Raeken so often to confuse the pack and get their laughs out of this. Liam is probably the only one who can tell them apart because he pays so close attention to them (mostly Theo though) but the others always get totally confused and the twins love to switch even during a conversation to completely confuse everyone.

One situation I find absolutely hilarious and I will write one day would involve the Sheriff, probably to introduce them as twins. One twin gets arrested, the other shows up to bail him out. Stilinski is in his office when suddenly one of the deputies knocks at the door. He calls them in and they open the door, slightly nervous. “We…uhm…have a situation here with the boy we arrested. You might want to check? He said you surely would love that.” The sheriff narrows his eyes and gets up from his chair. He walks out of his office and there they are. Two identical smirks on their faces and casually leaned against the backrest of the bench in front of his office. “Hey, Sheriff!” One of them says. Stilinski is baffled, moments pass by. He finally finds his voice again. “There are two of them? Because one Raeken wasn’t enough???” He yells, voice cracking at the end. He scratches his neck and grimaces. The twins’ smirks intensify. The deputy ducks away and hides behind the computer screen.

Rofl, I hope you do write it! Are you planning to continue Finding My Way To You too? Any spoilers you can slip us?

I am definitely planning to but I have more prominent ideas for A tale written with fangs and claws and other stories at the moment. I do have written some part of the next chapter still. I love this story and the feedback I received was wonderful. Raeken Twins are a fun thing to write about, so expect more to come.

For a spoiler, I will tell you we will have some drama, much love and yes also smut. There will be a slightly different take on the Dread Doctors spin because I am dissecting the storyline a bit to make it more fitting for Finding My Way To You. There will be a shift in the relationship between the twins as well. For everything else, you need to stay tuned ;D

Well, I suppose we must now haha. Until then, we have all of a Tale of Fangs and Claws to keep ourselves busy. Speaking of….a Tale of Fangs and Claws Time!! (I held out for this long; I’m proud of myself.) For anyone unfamiliar, could you give us a quick synopsis? What inspired the idea? 

Whooo!!  The story is about Liam becoming an Alpha when he least expects it. He and Theo are living in Seattle, are roommates in college, and totally in love with each other but they both feel the other might not return their feelings in the beginning. Theo still joins Liam’s pack and together they return to Seattle. The story follows Liam’s journey in his new role, especially when other werewolves appear and Liam and Theo soon have a pack of their own to take care of. They become a family, face many battles and they all learn more about each other and their strengths and weaknesses, help to find their place in the world.

My inspiration for this came from the sole wish to see Liam as Alpha. I think he would be a great Alpha and would have loved to see it happen at the end of the show as some kind of next-generation thing with the older pack members leaving Beacon Hills and him taking over from Scott. The more I thought about this, the bigger the need for Alpha!Liam became and I started to imagine his pack, created their characters a little bit and searched for faceclaims. It took me a while until I finally started to write the story; until I had a decent enough base to actually imagine turning this into a multi-chapter fic and upload it.  Add me playing around with my basic photoshop program and create some Liam as Alpha manips and the inspiration was there. It came to the point where I could no longer hold back and thus I uploaded the prologue. I never imagined the success it would have and I am still amazed by this.

Wow, and it’s almost 300,000 words long! First, huge congrats on being the longest Thiam fic thus far! Is this the longest story you’ve ever written? Did you originally plan all the chapters or has it reshaped itself? Would you say you have a secret to writing longer fics while also keeping your personal interest high?

It’s crazy! Thank you so much!! I have to say I never expected this to turn out so huge, I still can’t believe it. Every time I check the chapter numbers, it still feels so unreal. When I started, I had no idea how long this would be. I had basic elements and certain points I wanted to have happen but everything else was non-existent in the beginning. It still is nowadays because that’s how I write. I don’t have everything planned out and so my own story keeps surprising me but I love this.  I’m writing a chapter and some things are coming to my mind while I’m writing and I take a break to consider, bring this in a vague timeline, and then continue writing.

 I admire people whohave every little detail plannedout but I’m so not like this and I had it happen to me that I wrote a chapter completely different than I intended to. Because my thoughts didn’t work as good as the thing I had been actually writing, if that makes sense. Sure, I have some scenes I have in mind for a long time and while I have not every word planned out, I have a pretty solid image of the scenes. Theo’s development for example. I knew how I want to have the big moments to happen and I am even more excited than usual when it is time to write it.

The story is indeed the longest I have ever written until now.  Who knows what the future has in store? :D

I wouldn’t exactly call it a secret. Thiam itself inspires me so much and receiving so much feedback from so many people is also a very good source of motivation, not gonna lie. This story, the reactions I got from people, has made me feel better about my talent as a writer and that fueled my passion. I associate so many great things with this story and I got attached to every single character that writing a new chapter feels like coming home. I see them as part of my family, my babies if you want, and I am curious to see how they develop further. That’s what keeps me inspired to make this story longer and longer. I’d say the secret, in general, is creating something you truly love, no matter how cliche this sounds. Create this word that is truly you that brings yourself joy and I’m sure you won’t lose interest.

Yes, I so agree! When I was writing my main Stacksonstory, I fell so in love with the characters and the progress of the story! And then to be able to talk about them with so many people, it definitely kept the thoughts coming, even long after I finished it!

Exactly what happened to me with A tale written with fangs and claws! It is wonderful to have such great response and it’s a great source of motivation. I get so many ideas for this story just by reading comments or talking with people. That’s the beauty of fanfiction I think.

Most definitely! Would you then say any of your original characters are based on people you know personally?

Actually no.  I was more inspired by fictional characters, took some things from them, and created my own individual character. If there are any resemblances I haven’t noticed them yet but hey, maybe I will someday^^

Maybe, who knows what might happen. Not us, certainly. Thinking forward, is there one thing you’re dying to add in the story but you have to write a few more chapter before it comes up?

Liam’s and Theo’s wedding! I am dying to write this since a few chapters and everyone who read the last chapter knows I’m toying around with this thing a bit but I really, really can’t wait to write their wedding. It will happen one day and I am excited about it but it will take some more (a lot more) chapters until we can get there.

Yessssss, we’ll be patiently waiting until then! Before we wind down, I’d love to give you a time to impart some wisdom onto us. Any life hacks or creative wisdom on your mind lately?

It is important to figure out what works best for you and never let anybody butt in, writing-wise and in life too. I had to learn this myself but there will be people telling you how you should do a certain thing and then you need to figure out if this is really the best for you. I’m not saying you should not take advice, you definitely should, but it is okay to change this advice, maybe combine it with the advice you got from someone else and create your own special way to get things done. There might be people who are very critical of how you work, how you handle things, and sometimes it can really get to you and be a bummer but it is important to remember that as long as it good for you, as long as it helps you get something done the way you want it to, it’s the right way for you. Your own opinion and your own wellbeing are more important than what some might think are the right thing for you. Your way is the right thing and great things will come from this, just stay true to yourself even when it’s hard sometimes

Also: Allow yourself to change. What was on your mind a year ago, what you wrote a year ago, doesn’t become less valid just because you changed your perspective. You are ever-changing and there will be moments where you realize that your old mindset doesn’t apply to the situation anymore, not to the person you became anymore. That’s okay. It doesn’t take anything away from the progress you made before, doesn’t take anything away from what you created back then. It simply shows your development as a writer, as a person, and that’s a fascinating progress.

Thank you so much for your honesty and depth. Aww, well, we reached the end of our time, Rena! Luckily, we’ve learned so much about you in our short time together. To end us out, what’s next for you? Any big plans?

I have several projects planned. In terms of fanfiction, I’m planning a sequel to A tale written with fangs and claws if I finish the story, I’m planning on continuing my Mated series, Finding My Way To You will be continued as well, and there are several other fanfictions on the line. I’m also planning on finally writing my first original novel, something I’m very excited about.  Those are the things I have planned, who knows what else is gonna happen? Life is full of surprises.

Good luck with your novel! And all the other bundles of surprises and happiness that are whirling your way. Is there anything else you’d like to share? The mic’s in your hands.

It’s okay to struggle. I sometimes feel like the standards expect everyone to be perfect at anything they do and it can be really frustrating when you feel like you’re not reaching these standards. You feel like a failure and it’s a horrible thing to feel. I had so many moments where I felt like I would never reach the standard for that thing to be considered good or even great and it took me a long time to learn not to always compare myself to others and be proud of who I am, my talents, what I create. I still feel like I’m not good enough sometimes but every time I struggle, I learn new things about myself and that’s what made me realize it is okay to struggle. You learn next to nothing when you don’t struggle and ease everything perfectly on the first try.

Sure, it’s great to have a lift first time you do something, it’s even important to be a natural in some things, but I also know that struggling causes doubts and insecurities because you feel like anybody else doesn’t seem to struggle at all. What I’m trying to say is embrace your struggles as part of your development process on becoming the best version of yourself that you can be. And remember: Nobody has the same story to tell as you. The world needs to hear yours, don’t let the doubts take this away from you. It’s a long and difficult way to go but it’s worth it in the end.

Thanks so much Rena! It was a freaking blast getting to know you and your life, inspirations, and quirky interests haha! 

Thankfully, the conversation doesn’t have to end here. To chat with her about her works, Thiam, Teen Wolf, even Wrestling, you can find Rena at these three places:  

AO3: Former_Princess

Tumblr: formerprincess

Ask Box: formerprincessask

In her words, “It’s more than okay! I love getting asks, messages. I’d even love to get a carrier pigeon. I am a shy noodle myself but I absolutely love to interact with people and have them interact with me. Ask as many questions as you want, send in as many things as you want, you will never bother me and in fact make me very happy. Also - on a non fandom related note - myaskbox is always open for anybody who needs somebody to listen to them.”

She’s also currently accepting prompts, though it might take her a while to get to them–you know busy lives and what not. So, feel free to “send in things, share your thoughts, headcanons, and everything else,” with her. (Also, her words!)

Thanks so much for reading. We will see you next week as we get to know about fandomtrashwhore, aka Marie, our resident Thiam Social Media expert. Until then!

Have a Thiam Creator you fan over? Send us their names. Likewise, if you as the creator, would like to be a part of the Behind the Screens series, give us a shout too! We’d love to get to know you, as well.

[uk-news-talking-politics]

Rethinking Dominic Cummings

By Josh Self

In an infamous photo taken on Boris Johnson’s first day in 10 Downing Street, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill greets our new prime minister. Sedwill beams (outwardly at least) as he shakes Johnson’s outstretched hand—our new PM looks away uninterested. Just in shot, perched against a wall in a jarring t-shirt-jeans combo, is the newly-appointed chief adviser to the prime minister: Dominic Cummings.

Like you, I remember double-taking on my first viewing of this still. In one moment, we find 2 years of hard work, of failure, distilled. Of the photo’s stars: Sedwill, Cummings and Johnson, only the last-mentioned survives—and then again, only just.

I am by no means the first to note the symbolism of this famous pic. The photo’s microcosmic commentary became somewhat of a cliché during the macrocosmic spectacle that one Tory MP labelled “Dom’s reign of terror”. In this snapshot we see Cummings alone, scheming (presumably) and staring down the suited Whitehall staffers opposite. Back in 2019, this imagery aligned perfectly with Cummings’ media portrayal and, crucially, is emblematic of the lack of nuance applied therein.

“Britain Hates Johnson’s Machiavelli”, carried Foreign Policy after the “Durham” scandal; “The Machiavel in Downing Street” read the New Statesman six months prior. It appears no article on Cummings was complete without a Machiavelli namedrop; and I’m sure the Oxford history graduate in question smirked at this amateurish renaissance. For us, however, the motivation behind this newfound interest in 16th-century philosophy is cause for great concern. By conscripting Machiavelli’s reputation for their own ends, the media launched a broader project: to style Cummings an erudite, if unscrupulous, diabolical genius.

The Channel 4 drama “Brexit: The Uncivil War” was pivotal in cementing Cummings’ “mastermind” status in the public imagination. The film depicted a self-consciously clever Cummings cutting through incompetent, bit-part politicians to secure Leave’s victory in the 2016 EU referendum. Cummings was played by Benedict Cumberbatch, famous for portraying such exceptional minds as Sherlock Holmes, Alan Turing and Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Cumberbatch needed to draw on this experience and more to depict the devilishly clever Dominic Cummings. The film made good television, but of course it did—for this “Cummings” is a mere literary trope.

Society has long-been obsessed with the shadowy courtier. In his coverage, Cummings drew from a tradition including all of Rasputin, Thomas Cromwell, Dick Cheney, Peter Mandelson and, of course, Niccolò Machiavelli. Like his forebears, Cummings’ power-behind-the-throne allure proved irresistible to writers. Combining themes of influence, cunning and intrigue, Cummings was fashioned an omnipotent consigliere: Machiavelli on steroids. Plainly, all this was far more interesting than reality. Rather than a reflection of great-skill, Cummings’ ascent up the greasy-pole exposed a political-class out of ideas. More pertinently for us, however, Cummings’ “master of the dark arts” portrayal revealed a comment-class out of its mind.

For sure, Cummings long-styled himself a visionary messiah figure—and he was first introduced in 2016 as such. By rights, Cummings does deserve some “praise” for Brexit, but his subsequent influence has been significantly overstated. Since 2016, commentators have adopted Cummings’ delusions-of-grandeur without critique. In the view of far too many, it was Cummings—and Cummings alone—who carved out Britain’s destiny; through Brexit, through Boris, through COVID…

It wasn’t just the media creating this image, Cummings wore each of his sobriquets—damning or not—as proudly as an ill-fitting beanie. The speculation assured Cummings that he really was as great as he thought. In time, the headlines served to motivate Cummings. If the media wanted a Machiavel, he would not let them down.

In May 2020, it was reported that Cummings had warned the world about coronaviruses in a wider 2019 blog on pandemics. If this was true, Cummings’ “mastermind” credentials would have been more than vindicated. However, such reporting long-left facts behind. So much for the eager technologist, Cummings was caught editing in the passage on coronaviruses sometime between April and May of 2020. Interestingly, these dates directly align with Cummings’ extended trip to Durham. Sure enough, Cummings went on to reference his COVID “prediction” in his infamous post-“Durham” Downing Street press conference.

The deviousness on show here was astounding. At this moment of national and personal crisis, Cummings focussed on improving—or at least proving—his media image. Refusing to have his mystique tarnished by scandal, Cummings opted to flaunt false powers of projection. At once, he exposed his recklessness, inflated ego and contempt for the British public.

It is high time we rethought Cummings. Yes, he headed the Brexit campaign and contributed to Johnson’s 2019 General Election effort—but what else of his influence? To offer a short summary: Cummings “masterminded” Johnson’s unlawful prorogation of parliament, mishandled the sacking of Sonia Khan, took a disastrous drive to Durham, oversaw the A-level results fiasco and suffered from a serious lack of foresight on free school meals. Had Niccolò Machiavelli made an opponent of one Marcus Rashford, he might have handled it all better.

Further, we need to stop lending support to Cummings’ “lone-messiah” routine. The Leave campaign was bolstered—maybe decisively—by Farage and his ilk. And Isaac Levido and Lee Cain joined Cummings in seeing to Johnson’s 2019 General Election victory.

Nonetheless, some reality did seep into Cummings’ media coverage. Cummings does possess a deep-seated disdain for the British political and administrative classes; he’s an outsider; and, undoubtedly, an inflamed, nationalist reactionary. But what this image fails to project is Cummings’ origin-story. The media failed to answer—or even ask—one very-basic question: where did Cummings come from?

Cummings did not operate in a vacuum—nor did he “break” British politics single-handedly; Cummings’ “victories” were not his, not in outcome or execution; and Cummings was never “master” of the populistic forces he helped unleash. By styling Cummings an invincible schemer supreme, we distract from the real forces driving British politics. It allows us to ignore the discontent across Britain that enabled Cummings’ short power trip.

Cummings was a bad influence on British politics and it is good that he has gone. He was important to the rise of our divisive political culture and laid crucial path-stones to the post-truth age. Nonetheless, the post-Cummings age will hardly be so different. Ad hominem side-swipes remain all-too relevant and no armistice has been reached in Britain’s “culture war”. Cummings’ departure from Downing Street was a rejection of the individual rather than his ideas.

After all the speculation, Niccolò Machiavelli and Dominic Cummings finally have something in common: they are history. Our attention must now turn from the former “disruptor-in-chief” to the problems he helped expose. Cummings’ coverage provides a crucial lesson in how we analyse our leaders; for if we continue to obsess over not-so-great “great men”, the societies that surround them fall from view.

[ganymedesclock]

Voltron Character Study: Lotor

[read more analyses like these here]

Zarkon’s son, notable tactical mastermind, and, apparently, someone with really nice hair. The writers really did deliver when they promised a complicated character.

We know relatively little of Lotor besides that he’s considerably withdrawn from the empire, preferring the near-exclusive company of his mixed race generals. While we have yet to see him and Zarkon actually interacting with each other, Haggar comparing him to Zarkon once, even in a rather offhanded manner, made him immediately angry- and Haggar also seems to see fit to follow him.

It is incredibly likely that Lotor is half-Altean given he was able to activate the beacon on the ship stuck between realities, as well as his overall appearance.

Other than that, it seems rather clear Lotor’s trying to work behind the empire’s back.

Fight Smarter, Not Harder

What definitely can be said about Lotor is that so far, the empire has operated exhaustively in terms of “when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” Which makes sense- the galra empire has the biggest hammer in the known universe for the last ten thousand years. Their only real issue is that an even bigger hammer has turned up- Voltron itself- and no less, in the hands of people who have the good sense to not try and solve all their problems by smashy smash.

Zarkon’s defeat, however temporary, is the ultimate failure of that hammer thinking, and Lotor, in one of his very first spoken onscreen lines, outlines it perfectly in his opposition to Throk:

“Your technique is flawless, I’ll grant you that. But you must realize your repetitive attacks are getting you nowhere.”

“And in the end, your aggression is your own undoing.”

Lotor, eloquently and very mockingly, tears into his father’s strategy, while, more subtly, outlining his own.

“You must realize your repetitive attacks are getting you nowhere” is the first part: Lotor is someone who constantly reevaluates opponents and situations. If the response is not exactly what you thought it was, then you need to adjust your models, whether or not it works out in your favor. 

Lotor takes nothing for granted- when Voltron seems out of commission his immediate response is to set a trap and prod them until all five Lions come out. If he prevails too easily, that’s evidence something is afoot here- because these are the soldiers that defeated his father, and Lotor hates his father, but he knows that Zarkon is too dangerous to get shown up by a bunch of chumps.

So that’s one of the central tenants of Lotor’s philosophy- pay constant, excruciating attention to your surroundings and adjust or replace anything that doesn’t work or doesn’t get you there fast enough.

The other side of it is: the whole ‘victory or death, we are a Culture Of Warriors’ schtick ain’t your friend according to Lotor.

Merciful

Lotor is plenty outspoken in his challenging of the empire’s regard of any kind of compassion as proof of weakness. He’s keenly aware of the empire’s culture and attitudes, and yet- despite being a talented orator, to Lotor, this seems to be his hill to die on. We see Lotor pushing this attitude of mercy in audiences that it will not remotely endear him to.

Lotor’s first act onscreen is to betray his own cunning strategic edge and the incredible teamwork and precision he and his generals share. Without anyone even knowing he was on the fleet, Lotor identified Throk’s plot, had the generals surround him, and then arranged a public challenge that Throk, by the very culture of the empire that Lotor is so aware of and so willing to challenge, really could not have backed down.

Lotor basically crucifies Throk as a warning to the empire at large that despite his unorthodox policies, he’s not to be trifled with- but at the same time, he spares Throk in the public eye, something that serves both practical and moralistic purposes. Practically, killing Throk on the spot would create a martyr in the eyes of his followers. Sparing Throk appeased most of them. And when Throk is ultimately taken out- it’s certainly not anything that can be traced back to Lotor himself.

But from a moralistic perspective, that Lotor so utterly disarms a potential opponent and then spares him is a very bold challenge to Zarkon’s assertion- and one that the empire operates on- that mercy is weakness. Lotor’s devastating outfoxing of Throk is supposed to shake up the audience, many of whom were potentially supporting Throk in a bid for the throne.

Lotor basically walked in, said “I can take one of the highest-ranking and most powerfully interconnected people here out of the picture that quickly, like I’m not even trying. Do you really want to call me a weakling?”

Pragmatism

And this is something really interesting about Lotor- an awful lot of what he does cannot really be chalked so easily to purely self-serving or purely altruistic. It’s usually some of both. Even Lotor’s stance on mercy seems to have two components to it.

On the one hand, Lotor keenly understands the machinations that drive rebellions. To Lotor, it’s not a coincidence so many people are crawling out of the woodwork to fight the empire- because those people were always there. Zarkon has created an environment that people just plain can’t tolerate. They’re in deplorable conditions dying like animals and being killed for the amusement of an upper class of imperial soldiers who are themselves sticking to their caste because they’re aware that their position is not that much more secure than the people below them.

Lotor knows that tearing people down builds resentment. And more importantly, he knows that Zarkon has given him a golden advantage in that Lotor doesn’t really have to be the best person or an ideal person- he can be the lesser evil and people will go for that. Because their other option is Zarkon- and once again, Zarkon is unlivable.

Playing the nice guy card even when it doesn’t in the short term get him what he wants- continuing to spare the people of Puig even when their leader doesn’t choose to join him- is going to pay off. Because Voltron right now is desperately trying to coax in allies and a lot of these planetary leaders are scared for the sake of their people. They’ve been living in awful situations (“I’m so glad I put on my best tarp”, anyone?) and it stands that not all of them are going to be feeling brave and heroic and ready to fight the empire.

Some of them would just rather the empire was a little more agreeable, and a little bit less of a boot on their windpipe. If maybe they didn’t have to fight- if they had a shot at negotiation.

Word is going to spread that Lotor is reasonable in a way Zarkon isn’t. And just that- being reasonable- suddenly changes the game. I think there’s an incredible thematic parallel to this with Lotor stealing the second comet and seeming to build... basically, an anti-Voltron.

Charisma

Because Voltron isn’t just a weapon, the way Zarkon sees it. Lotor understands the other side of Voltron- it’s the beacon of hope to a downtrodden and enslaved universe. It’s a symbol- an incredibly powerful symbol.

And Lotor’s fighting Voltron not just on the military front, but the symbolic and interpersonal front.

Lotor doesn’t attack Puig to show them that resisting the empire is futile. Lotor’s spiel to the leader of Puig is basically making a point that Voltron won’t protect them the way they’ve promised- but Lotor, with his superior reach and resources, is making the claim that he can.

Lotor is challenging Voltron on who’s the real defender of the universe.

The fact that he’s so attentive and focused on small details in his environment stands out because Zarkon basically threw away everything that wasn’t direct military supremacy. We do not see Zarkon as a diplomat. We don’t really even see Zarkon addressing his populace. Civilians look up to Zarkon because he’s a symbol- but at the same time Varkon betrays a fundamental understanding of what Zarkon actually stands for.

Zarkon is basically passed into public awareness as a generic everyman that the empire supports because they assume his priorities are theirs. He’s like an Uncle Sam figure- treated as an abstract of the empire, when, in actuality, he is a person with specific policies and actually someone whose specific policies are very easy to disagree with. Despite the size and weight of his authority, he’s fundamentally on shaky ground because he’s not really, in practice, the person he was revered as.

Lotor, on the other hand- Lotor is actually a politician. He’s a diplomat first- and when he attacks something, that’s just one tool in his arsenal. Lotor ultimately is someone who makes a plan, identifies an end goal, and will then take whatever route actually works for him, and much more than combat, Lotor knows people.

Even his actual fighting style, both in a craft and on foot, has a distinctly psychological angle. He isn’t just talking off his own morals when he says Throk’s aggression was his downfall- Throk repeatedly trying to hammer at Lotor’s defenses wore him down because Lotor’s style of evasion and parrying is very minimal energy- Lotor dodges by inches at best and parries strikes juuust far enough to not get stabbed.

And the dismissive air to that style just further angers an opponent like Throk, the same way having the Lions of Voltron get shown up by a single, puny fighter waves a big red flag in front of Keith’s face. Even a more levelheaded adversary gets mad, because- it’s right there! One shot and he’s dead! You just have to get that one shot in.

There are a lot of layers to how Lotor operates and what he does because Lotor is keenly aware that everything he does makes a statement- that any engagement with a potential enemy, rival, peer, or even ally sends messages and other people will read them.

The authentic side

But how, exactly, is Lotor so keenly in tune with the plight of downtrodden people? Because something repeatedly asserted with Lotor is he has clear preference of company and it is not the empire at all. Towards Haggar, towards Throk, towards even the idea of Zarkon, Lotor is dismissive and manipulative at best, and far more often, outright scornful.

The generals- seemingly the only people Lotor really completely trusts- are all mixed-race galra looked down upon by the main empire, and in the eyes of said empire, Lotor fraternizes with them to a truly improper degree- fighting alongside them.

The standoff with Haggar over the fate of the galra general Haggar sent after him, Raht, illustrates I think a significant side of Lotor:

He is not as free, or as happy, as he pretends to be.

Lotor is ostensibly a member of the imperial elite, but in practice, he’s an exiled son and it seems until very recently, Haggar has been quite content to keep him on as short of a leash as she can afford. Which is about what we could expect: he’s Zarkon’s son, and with Haggar as the sole exception, all of Zarkon’s close interpersonal relations seem viciously possessive in nature.

And even if the general public doesn’t know it, Lotor is very likely an “unacceptable” mixed-race galra himself, and Lotor’s clear proclivity and interest towards Altean technology would suggest he knows it quite well.

Lotor has not been raised as an elite or groomed as a legitimate heir to the throne. He has been, in some regards, a prisoner of his father’s empire, very likely for most of his life.

This has fueled a far greater understanding of, and empathy towards, victims of the empire- the people of Puig, other mixed-race galra who were rejected or overlooked- over the soldiers themselves.

Bitterness

Unfortunately, as it stands, being able to empathize viscerally with people’s suffering because you’ve spent most of your life being trapped, frustrated, and upset yourself does not usually make for an enlightened soul. And this is where the real twist comes in with Lotor’s character.

Because Lotor would really love to be nothing like his father- in another time, another situation, he’d probably love to be a perfectly altruistic figure and a pure diplomat.

But he can’t afford that... because he is also terrified, desperate, and embittered.

All of Lotor’s generals, when we see them, are very bitter. Ezor’s ebullient personality often waxes very facetious indeed- she acts bubbly but she enjoys tripping people up, hurting them, having power over them. Zethrid wants to prove herself powerful and dangerous and thrives for being able to strike back and dominate people who themselves try and dominate her, first. Narti’s power bodes absolutely no negotiation. Acxa, the most inhibited, still has her coldness and haughty anger.

And Lotor fits in perfectly in that regard. His smooth charisma only hides so much. When cornered, when confronted, when caught off-guard, what slips is gritted teeth and raised hackles. When Haggar sends people to follow him he lashes out, hard, fast, and very harshly and snarls at her for insinuating he’s anything like his father.

Lotor’s whole strategy betrays a distinctly cynical worldview. He has an exquisite understanding of unhappiness, pride, vindictiveness and cruelty, but also, in contrast to Zarkon who was self-assured to a degree of pure hubris, Lotor tends to turn tail and run as soon as the situation isn’t in his favor. He fights and plans like someone whose victory is never given unless he can think of a way to profit off of any of the most likely scenarios.

He’s smug, but never actually smug enough to not worry. Because he worries constantly. We really only see Lotor acting safe and satisfied when he feels like everything is accounted for and as soon as he can’t track a variable then he isn’t happy.

And Lotor’s fighting style often hinges on multiple opponents attacking him- tripping them up and making them hurt each other. He gets rid of Throk by playing Haggar, another enemy, against him. It’s brilliant, but a style and worldview that only really makes sense by someone who feels that most of the time, they are surrounded by enemies and in an environment that wants to hurt them.

It’s a strategy we see echoes of in Shiro and Slav both- but on Lotor, he’s had his entire lifetime to perfect it.

Because ultimately Lotor isn’t playing this game because of altruism. He’s playing this game because like so many other people in the universe- he can’t live like this any more. He’s been about as controlled, restrained, forced down, as he can tolerate.

Lotor wants power, and he’s much more dangerous than Zarkon, because Lotor doesn’t want power because he thinks he’s entitled to it or some other elitist posturing.

Lotor wants power because he sees this as his only conceivable way out of an abusive environment. He doesn’t have Zarkon’s laid-back certainty, and he’s not content to play the slow inexorable villain. He’s the type to set up forks where he wins either way because he can’t afford a single loss at that juncture. 

He negotiates, but negotiates at swordpoint because he’s ultimately, not in a position to think beyond what his life experience and almost certain abuse has taught him: that with the exception of a tiny cluster of safe people, anyone he gives the opportunity to will try and hurt him.

Ultimately, Lotor is desperate- and right now, Voltron is something standing between him, and escaping his abuse- and that’s a nasty place to be in, because Lotor isn’t going to hold anything back.

In Summary

Lotor is a highly intelligent and perceptive individual whose behavior is intensely multifaceted, and part of it very deliberate because he’s very much a politician and diplomat trying to send specific messages with his behavior.

However, at his core, Lotor is a curious mix of empathetic and calculating- he can relate very intimately to the victims of the empire and seems to genuinely want to do better for them, but he can relate because he feels trapped himself and ultimately, he desperately wants to free himself, and that desperation makes him both highly tenacious, cynical, and belligerent about achieving his goals.

[margoteve]

Death Note on Netflix - I watched it so you don’t have to

Ok so I cooled off, washed the dishes and got my mind sorted out after that clusterfuck. I am not even going to lie. This movie was terrible. Now onto the review. (I apologize to mobile users this gonna be long)

Let’s start by presenting the plot of the original story (if you don’t know) created by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ōba, of the same title. The plot: A teenage boy named Yagami Light finds a notebook that allows you to kill anyone whose name you write down in said notebook. If the cause of death is not specified the person dies out of heart attack. Driven by strong sense of superior intellect and justice Light decided to become the new god of Justice, in the world known as Kira. He is being supported by a young idol Misa Misa, who is in love with Light and is also an owner of her own Death Note. Both are being accompanied by Shinigami - the gods of Death. As any protagonists there is also the nemesis - genius detective known as L who is trying to capture Kira. 

Now, that is the general idea of the Death Note but the plot is way more elaborate and we will get to it later. The series stars Nat Wolf as Light Turner and not Yagami anymore, William Dafoe voices Ryuk and L is played by Lakeith Stanfield. Misa got a name changed into Mia Sutton played by Margaret Qualley. 

The best thing in this movie - I really liked William Dafoe voicing Ryuk and how creepy the god of Death was, as well as the fact that L is a POC which is great. These were amazing cast choices. 

Here goes the bad and eh stuff. Light, like Misa got a name makeover into Light Turner, which sounds more like a very bad pun and as much as I usually like puns this was not very funny. The first time we see Light he is doing homework for people in exchange for money. He finds the notebook and later gets in trouble by standing up to the school’s bully. In detention he meets Ryuk, who explains and tempts Light into using the notebook so the boy would see it was real. 

Now this greatly deviates from the original series where Light started using the notebook on his own. It took Ryuk a week to actually meet the new owner of the Death Note, where here we meet his immediately. It’s not that bad of a change and honestly I found the shrieking Light did rather hilarious. The deviation from the original that I don’t really like was that they got rid of the heart attack rule. I feel like this was done for the sake of needless blood spill everywhere, including the terribly gore-y deaths of first two victims - one being the high school bully and the second being the protagonist’s mother’s killer. 

Another big change was the fact that Light was an only child, and his mother was dead. I can understand that and get behind this to some degree. We got some personal motivation from him. Light’s father in the original was the Chief of NPA, that coordinates the entire Japanese police force as far as I can remember/understand. The Netflix switched him into an officer of Internal Affairs Department in Seattle Police Department. In the original manga Light was a supergenius and in this adaptation we maybe see the proof of this maybe twice, first in the initial homework scene and then in the very last one, where he worked out how to save his own life from being killed by Mia, though it was not that convincing. 

The script writers basically purged the entire story of the core reason this was so interesting in the first place - the battle of wits between Light and L. Light actually acts scared of Ryuk, first thing he does after being confident in his abilities is to go on and show off his new cool power to Mia. We don’t even get any clever ways of fooling L when he had him under observation. He just lays low instead of taking action. It is Mia who feels more like the mastermind behind everything Light does. Which basically is a huge alteration to Misa’s role. I am not saying this is a bad thing but if you wanted to make Kira female you should have went for it because Light feels not so bright (yes, pun intended) here anymore.

L is not free from this either when he PERSONALLY showed himself to a conference meeting. HE was supposed to be this mysterious person behind the scene. Yes in original we had a double posing in stead of L on public television. But it was a double. L never revealed his face like that. He never even had a personal on the crime scenes of cases he worked on! 

Also the moment where he went to use a gun after the whole “I don’t need it, it’s distracting” speech, felt very out of character for me.

Another thing is ignoring rules of the notebook itself. Watar was NOT the real name of L’s butler/caretaker. Are you trying to tell me that a partner to the most renowned detective would be that stupid to reveal his real name to ANYONE working on a case where the killer can get to you by just knowing your face and name?? Also what is that thing - Light DIDN’T EVEN KNEW HIS FIRST NAME. Which as far as I remember was also a requirement. 

There were a lot more rules of ownership of the notebook, also anyone who touched it could see the Shinigami also anyone who writes in the notebook becomes the owner. That was forgotten as well. 

The movie got rid of Rem, and the fact that Misa aka. Mia in here was also an owner of a Death Note, which is kind of a sad thing. Could have been included in a sequel if this thing was better written. Speaking of Mia, she is cunning, I dare say she probably was smarter of the two but we will never know as we didn’t get much of elaboration on her. She was the one to steal a page from Light’s Death Note and kill the 12 FBI agents behind his back then made him believe it was Ryuk who did it even though the Shinigami was not capable of such a thing.

The music in the final parts of the movie is just terrible. 80s romantic disco songs is not something you put on a slow motion of two killers falling to their death from a ferris wheel or the brilliant moment where L finds the page of Death Note battling himself to write Light’s name on it, at the same time when Light’s dad figured out his son was Kira after all. 

In conclusion: This would have been a much better thing if it was either a spin off or a sort of a sequel to manga happening years later and Mia as the evil protagonist. Light was not smart, L had sloppy mistakes. The blood spill was unnecessary. Entire thing was very shallow. I do not recommend. 

[officialthiamlibrary]

Welcome to another profile on Behind the Screens, giving you personal insight on who your favorite creators are and what they do when they aren’t wowing you with their creative ability.

Hiya! I’m popping out of my writing cave to share with you the greatness of another artist, Glitter-cake20, also known as Sammy.  You’ve probably seen her awe-inspiring manips, gifs, incorrect quotes, and stories floating around your dashboard. In our talk, she shares her #1 guilty pleasure ship, creates her optimal Teen Wolf Puppy Pack spin-off, and lets us in her creative process.

Sammy! Why don’t we start off simple? Tell us about yourself. The catch: the word count is either to or less than the number of letters in your two favorite Teen Wolf episode names. (ex. Raving + Galvanize = 19)

Memory Found + Smoke and Mirrors = 25

I’m really lazy. I like reading. I’m great at killing zombies on Xbox. I have blood in my coffee stream. I have resting bitch face. 

Ooh, what makes these two your favorite?

Memory Found because i feel like that is really where Theo learned to be selfless. He fought with Liam knowing he could get killed or taken, and then later he literally sacrificed himself for a pack that wanted him dead.

Smoke and Mirrors - the entire Mexico trip was great but the part that really stood out in Smoke and Mirrors was when Berserker Scott had Liam pinned to the wall and Liam said “Scott listen! You’re not a monster, you’re a werewolf like me” which parallels to earlier in Season 4 when Scott had said that same thing to Liam. It was just beautiful because it showed how Liam had accepted himself as a werewolf.  Also, Derek evolving was just wow!

And how did you come to the Thiam fandom? What about them drew you in?

You know, I had just created a twitter account and I was just following few accounts for Teen Wolf, kind of just bopping along with all the other popular ships, and then someone made a post about “OMG what was THAT” and I opened the video and it was Theo and Liam making glorious eye contact, and I was never the same again.

What drew me in the most was that Theo was so vulnerable when Liam brought him back. He was once such a badass and now he was suddenly latched on to Liam - just made my heart melt. And Liam is my boy, but he made me so angry when he was mean to Theo! Like no boo, that’s not how Scott raised you!

Lately, there’s been exclamations from our pack about Thiam bleeding into their real lives (like, seeing their relationship in every movie/song or experiencing story plots in real life, etc.), have you felt this sensation recently? If so, in what ways?

Yes!  I was sitting at a coffee shop writing the other day, and this adorable couple walked in. My brain immediately went “That’s Theo and that’s Liam” And I’m like, what is actually wrong with me? And literally every epic movie quote is now about Thiam, I’ve actually done a bunch of edits about that, which I will share for the Thiam Movie Fest.

Omg! That totally happens to me all the time, everywhere!! Since you see Thiam in anything, would you say they’re your #1 guilty pleasure ship? If not, what are your guilty pleasure ships, couples where you don’t care who knew or who disagreed, you ship them regardless?

Oh gosh I’ve had many. Stalia was one.  I really liked the dynamic, in the same breath I was also pining for Stydia. I loved Jethan when that teaser came out.  Briam, although I don’t think anyone would disagree.  Brett and Mason!  And even when Scott and Allison broke up I was like, no but Scallison.  I literally ship anything. 

If you could build the ultimate paintball/laser tag team from any five characters on Teen Wolf, who’d be on your team and why? Twist: now, choose one Teen Wolf villain who’d be your secret weapon, provided they don’t double-cross you first, mwhahaha. 

Mmm okay…(this actually makes me excited!) So for paintball, first of all I’d choose Corey for his ability to disappear and strike from a position unknown to our opponents. Then I would pick Theo, he’s proven to be quite strategic and cunning in mapping out a plan! Peter, because he just no objection to kicking ass, any time any place. Kira, because she can divert the paintballs with her sword (and yes in my mind they would allow her to take the sword onto the field, shh). Braeden, because she’s just a total badass and I just love her. And for my secret weapon I would choose Jackson so he can paralyze the opposing team with his Kanima venom!! Ha!

Jackson would be a total knockout secret weapon. The game would be over in seconds lol! Let’s jump into your works. Like @da-smiley99​, our artist last week, you also create a little bit of it all: drabbles, gifs, manips, and incorrect quotes. For you, which would you say is your favorite art form? How do you balance creating them all? 

I really love doing the incorrect quotes, they are fun and I enjoy looking for gifs to match!

Whatever inspiration hits first is what I will do, most of the time its manips/aesthetics that I do for other writer’s work. I love appreciating and promoting what people have created because I know the effort that goes into it. There are still so many works I would like to do an edit for!

If your creative process for these pieces was a person, describe him or her to us. What do they do? Wear? Listen to? How do they handle conflict?

She’s running around in a pink fur coat, stilettos, champagne in hand, chocolates stuffed in her cheek yelling “OH MY GOD!” at everything. I imagine her in a clothing store, the clothes being ideas, and she’s just grabbing everything pilling it onto her arm in a heap, eventually losing her balance and falling over. So when the shop assistant (my family) is like “Mam, you need to calm the hell down” she just runs to the next store, her champagne spilling as she wobbles down the sidewalk in the way-too-high stilettos. She probably listens to Taylor Swift in her pink drop top.

And what’s hers (and your) writing Kryptonite? How do you two battle it?

With regards to writing -I come up with the most amazing and original idea for a story and I manage to write one mind blowing paragraph and then I’m stuck.  That’s why I take so long to create a story, it just takes me forever to get inspired again.  I have a few WIP’s and I don’t know what to do with them!

Creating comes pretty easy and I haven’t had many hiccups while editing. I just suck at making video edits and I honestly wish I was better at it because I have so many ideas! I usually fight writer's block with generous amounts of wine.

If you did become that video-making mastermind, which one of those ideas would you explore first?

I always wanted to do an AU vid of Thiam just living life you know. Id also like to do a “trailer” for these amazing fics that’s been written, kind of like what was done for Airplanes!

I sense a perfect opportunity to practice your videographer skills, mentally, of course! Say you were the Jeff Davis of the Puppy Pack Teen Wolf Spin-Off. Describe your very first and last scene of the pilot episode? How would you put your personal touches on those two scenes? 

Personal Touches: A-class lighting because we suffered enough with the ever loving darkness of Teen Wolf.  I’d like to see the characters develop more of a personal style, Liam would probably wear more ‘jock’ outfits as he plays varsity lacrosse now. I’d love to put Theo in shorts for a change, maybe an early morning kitchen scene where he is wearing boxer shorts…okay I’m getting distracted.

Eeek!  Okay so, the Opening scene would be Theo, Liam and Alec running from hunters, Theo has Liam by the arm, he pushes Liam and Alec into his truck and ducks in behind them. They speed off. Then he starts yelling at Liam “Are you crazy, Li?! I’m getting real tired of saving you!” (que fandom freaking because he is calling him “Li” now) and then at Alec “And you! What the hell did we tell you about sneaking out with Liam!?” Liam and Alec are just out of breath trying not to  laugh at Theo. Theo calls Mason to confirm that they are fine.

Closing scene: Liam flops down on the couch in the McCall house, next to Theo (because that’s where he is staying now) “So, uh, thanks for coming to get us today”. “You’re an idiot” but Theo smiles. “How did you find me anyway?” Liam is twiddling his thumbs, “Tracked your scent” Theo gets up abruptly and leaves. Yup it’s going to be a slow burn!

Oooh, and which TW characters would you bring back as cameos or minor characters?

Frikken Danny! I feel like the guy deserved better. So definitely Danny.  I’d make him the supernatural privy teacher at the high school. Brett would also come back -as a ghost haunting Liam, especially when Li gets angry then Brett would just be in the corner jabbing insults at him and the pack would look at him like he’s crazy when he yells at the wall to shut up. Scott would make regular appearances. Deaton, Argent and Melissa would be regulars, and I think a guest appearance by Jackson because for some reason they are going to need a vile of his Kanima venom. Kira’s going to come looking for her sword at one point. And Isaac shows up with Scott a few times.

I agree with you about Danny; we needed more of him! We should petition to get you in the writer’s room because I need your ideas to happen!! 

How about gifs/manips specifically? Where does your inspiration for those stem from?

I would think of a scene that I really would have loved to happen and then I try to match it as best I can using existing material. Sometimes i would just be scrolling through gifs and I’d be like “oh wait! This with this is perfect!”

Ooh, up for a quick demonstration? Let’s pick one of your favorite fanfiction scenes lately. Which images/thought processes would stick out to you? Any specific gifs come to mind?

So let’s take Airplanes 28 for example. The scene where Liam is weighing up all his options about how to deal with his feelings and Theo asks what his problem is.  I would use the scene from S6 in the locker room where Liam is punching the locker, it had a few different shots of Liam being frustrated. For Theo’s part I’d use the scene form 6x16 where he actually says ‘what is wrong with you”. Then I just use the app to edit and merge them and voila.

That’s pretty neat. I didn’t even know you could use apps to mash gifs together! If someone wanted to get started with creating manips/gifs, what advice/steps would you give them?

If you’re doing it from your phone, like me, you have to firstly find the right gif app preferably one that does video to gif and vice versa. There are a few that work really well, so hit me up if you want more detail!  I’m also still learning so if anyone has any suggestions let me know.

We’ve chatted about your art for Thiam. Do you also create outside of the Thiam fandom? Original Fiction/Artwork? Other Fandoms?

I used to write and draw when I was younger, the Thiam fandom actually got me back into all of that! I don’t have any of my earlier writing works anymore but I still have drawings.

Aww, can you remember what you liked to write back then?

It was all fictional stories, mostly horrors! I loved writing scary stories, short or long and I would sometimes freak myself out a bit, especially late at night. I remember the one was about a guy whose car ‘broke down’ on a deserted road and he went looking for help at an old farmhouse and couldn't figure out why the people were so weird towards him, so after a few days he left, walking back down the road and he came across his car completely wrecked, his dead body hanging halfway out the door...he was a ghost haha.

Looking ahead, what’s one piece you’re working on that you’re dying for the pack to see?  

Yes! This is a snipped of the AU I’m doing for the Movie fest:

-“That’s him,” Corey said nodding in Theo’s direction “that’s the Judo champ”,

By the time Liam realised he had been staring it was too late, Theo’s head was tilted to the side, an amused grin spread across his face as he looked down slowly at this abdomen and then back up at Liam. There was no reason for Liam to deny that Theo Raeken was gorgeous, that he looked like a demigod in the golden light of the street lamps, but this was not the time for these kinds of thoughts. ‘Get it together Liam’, he shook his head as if to rid his mind of Judo Boy.-

I will also attempt some manips for this piece!

Ooh, intriguing. How dare you stop there! I guess we’ll just have to wait until next week, smh. One final anecdote before we wrap up?

Characters often find themselves in situations they aren’t sure they can get themselves out of. When was the last time you found yourself in situation like that and what did you do?

The PA of our department at work tried to sell me sex toys from this ridiculously expensive catalogue and tried to make me have a sex toy party for my birthday because she would get a free gift and commission for it. First I said, but my friends and family ain’t about that life, and she’s like “No I’ll just invite all my friends it's fine” (to my birthday?? Okay bih). So then I said I’ll think about it hoping she’d forget. She didn’t.  Eventually I told her that I’m not doing anything for my birthday but thanks.

Oh no, she didn’t! It was your birthday smh. You’re stronger than me! Not only would she convince me to throw the party, I’d have bought at least  two things from that freaking catalogue haha! Well, we’re coming to an end, but first, what’s next for you? Both in life and in the creation world? 

Career wise I’d like to do a few courses, and really start going into the direction of what I really love, which is anything creative, instead of just doing a 9-5 to pay bills, you know?  So I’m going to look for a way to bring these two worlds together so that I can always do what I love. Fandom wise, I really want to do more writing, explore different characters and ships!

And, we’ll be over here, looking forward to more of your writing! Finally, Is there anything else you’d like to say? The floor is all yours. Dance away!

I hardly get to writing my own ideas so I’m reluctant to say that I'll take prompts for fics and frankly I take so long to write that it will be disappointing, however, if someone has a scenario/idea for an incorrect quote, manip or aesthetic requests, I’m all for it! I would love to do it! Other than that i just want to thank this entire fandom, you guys are keeping this ship sailing and its beautiful! Keep doing what you’re doing!

Aww, thank YOU for writing, creating, and giving us a lens into your world! I’ll be looking forward to the day you gift us with all the Thiam videos haha. From there, we give you Glitter-cake20. 

As always, you can keep the conversation going; respond to any of her thoughts, ask more questions, send a prompt, or simply swing by for a chat with Sammy anytime. To dive into her works, check out her Tumblr. You can also find her on instagram!

Tumblr: Glitter-cake20

Ask Box: glitter-cake20

Instagram: @spraybitch_chrisberry

That’s all for now, so stay warm, amused, and tuned for next week’s Movie AU edition with @underthegallowws.

Over and Out <3 

Get involved in the Behind the Screen series! Have a Thiam Creator you fan over, from any platform (AO3, Tumblr, Wattpad, Instagram, FFN, etc). Please send us their names. Bonus points if you include any questions you’re dying to ask them. Likewise, if you as the creator, would like to be a part of the Behind the Screens series, give us a shout too! We’d love to get to know you, as well.