#VILLAIN issue 3

[8eb]

just thinking about how gale, the most normal looking man alive, comes out of that portal and sees the three most obviously traumatized & evil-coded people to ever exist and is still like "can i join you" like bffr

[nonpoppie]

tianjiu (food 4 me specifically)

[bisclavret]

like many who have suffered at the hands of bbc merlin before me, i recently indulged in a thought experiment in which i outlined my own version of seasons 3-5 that stay thematically and tonally in line with the show (except they're less fucking stupid). but then i quickly realized that focusing on details is pointless: all you need is to solve the one Big Problem the show has, and the rest will follow. the problem in question? ✨morgana✨

i like the first two seasons. s1 achieves what it sets out to do and has fun while doing it, and s2, while flawed, sets up a ton of potential that the following seasons unfortunately squander, beginning with the insidious season 3. you can only distract me with cute knights and goblins and fart jokes for so long before i start seeing through you, evil, evil season of television.

my hypothesis is that if the writers had crafted s3 morgana into anything more sympathetic than a violent half-alive poltergeist that can never be reasoned with because she's suddenly terminally off her rocker, everything would've fallen into place. a sympathetic morgana would've made real, valid arguments against uther (and arthur) that wouldn't just be the ramblings of a woman possessed. her betrayal of arthur would have stemmed from her feeling increasingly morally superior to him because of his complacency in the face of their father's tyranny. under morgause's guidance she would stop believing that arthur is capable of change, and the whole point would be that she might actually be right. arthur would have to actively try and prove her wrong, instead of getting praised for doing the bare minimum because the bar is on the floor.

furthermore, morgana's prophetic dream about arthur and gwen becoming king and queen and her decision to prevent this however she can is a direct parallel to merlin learning about that same prophecy and making it happen by any means necessary. merlin's desires about his and arthur's futures are subtextually fueled by gay love and devotion, so why couldn't morgana's be? why couldn't she properly express her bitterness that arthur gets to be with gwen in a way she can't "took gwen away" from her, instead of suddenly declaring that gwen is nothing more than a servant, after two seasons of demonstrating again and again that she loves, values, and respects gwen more than anyone else in that godforsaken castle?

following this, an angry and emotionally volatile but still sensible morgana asking gwen to stay by her side during the coup of the castle in the s3 finale and gwen going behind her back to help arthur and the knights would've hurt like a bitch. double-sided betrayal! gwen having a real plot! the proper beginnings of a toxic yuri that would shape a generation!

then there's the utter hubris of having morgana shoot arrows at the same civilians she worried herself sick over for 2 seasons — even morgan, her medieval counterpart that was rooted in every sexist trope in existence, doesn't just go around killing senselessly but instead has (often petty!) personal vendettas against gwen, arthur, and the knights. morgana had every right to be sick of the pretensions around chivalry in camelot (she was always quick to mock it, even in s1), and to lash out at the knights and soldiers after years of feeling powerless in a castle full of armed men that blindly followed her oppressor. the show conveniently forgets that morgana was victimized as a woman as well as a sorcerer those first 2 seasons.

but like i said, this is not just about morgana. allowing her to remain a real and multifaceted character even as she betrays everyone in pursuit of her ambitions would've given the rest of the core four more interesting conflict to work with: merlin because he would have to experience real consequences to his actions, arthur because he would watch his sister go against his father (and his knights, and his birthright) and experience some actual internal dilemmas about it, and gwen because she would be forced to choose between morgana and arthur without the pretense that it's an obvious or easy choice for her to make.

even morgause and gaius would come off more interesting as mentors: neither one inherently evil or inherently good, both jaded by events that happened before our protagonists were even born, both heavily influencing morgana and merlin into fulfilling roles that they think are appropriate, but that morgana and merlin may not have chosen for themselves had they not been under their care.

you get the gist. if the show followed its own setup, morgana's mistakes wouldn't lie in cheap and senseless acts of violence but in alienating the people she loves because she is too hurt and jaded to trust them. meanwhile, everybody else would feel guilt over "failing" her and yet they would be too caught up in their own (sometimes flawed!) beliefs of right and wrong to truly see her point of view.

arthur would convince himself it was sorcery that corrupted her. merlin would know that isn't true but he wouldn't be able to argue without confessing everything, which is the defining conflict between him and morgana and it's cheapened when she's just an evil witch caricature and merlin is framed as inherently virtuous in contrast. gwen, too, would become a more active participant in her own life by choosing arthur over morgana and choosing to rule camelot with him instead of just waiting politely to see where things go.

and, of course, uther's downfall and death would be quick, final, and completely earned — when and why did the show even decide he of all people was the sympathetic villain, anyway?

lastly, and perhaps controversially, i think morgana should've learned merlin's true identity by season 4. her being the first of the main characters to find out makes perfect sense considering their shared history and their interconnected and mirrored arcs. even the show seems to agree, considering she does find out a little before arthur. but the narrative itself tried pointing flashing neon arrows towards this way earlier — there is a whole entire episode in s4 where merlin being emrys is repeatedly spelled out for morgana and she still isn't allowed to see it. that episode makes her look like the stupidest person to ever live, which is pretty funny im not gonna lie, but also another frustrating thing in the endless string of frustrating things that make up this show.

morgana learning that merlin has magic would've transformed the source of merlin's anxiety from a crippling fear of being outed someday to the crippling fear of knowing she could out him at any moment. this would make him want to beat her to the punch (perhaps he'd consider killing her for a minute and decide against it because she isn't a cartoonishly insane evil person in my version of events) and maybe he would even feel some tentative excitement at the idea of coming clean, now that it seems inevitable. after all, he always intended to tell arthur eventually! and i think gaius would have to admit outright that he does not want merlin to tell arthur he has magic because he, gaius, simply cannot risk such a gamble. it would be so interesting to see gaius and merlin clash and disagree once it becomes obvious that it's not merlin that isn't ready for the reveal, it's gaius. delicious!

with morgana's knowledge looming, things would inevitably spiral into a magic reveal by the end of season 4. i picture this season as an absolute mess of miscommunication between everyone at camelot, which is, y'know, canon. growing increasingly cunning and vengeful, morgana would use this tension to her advantage, destabilizing the court from the outside while she creates alliances with other sorcerers outside of camelot (instead of living alone in a hovel for no reason — morgana le fay i'm sorry i'm so sorry they gave you agravaine instead of your all-female entourage oh my god).

and here's where the events would change beyond recognition (aka here's where the meta becomes the fanfic i refuse to write). picture it with me: a militia of sorcerers infiltrates camelot and arthur and gwen have to set aside their differences (assuming gwen kissing lancelot and arthur overreacting happens, which it should) for the good of the kingdom as well as for love. picture high priestess morgana in her element, side by side with a bunch of misfit sorcerers that aren't so easily vilified, chopping down camelot's soldiers and knights and assuredly making their way to the newly-minted king.

then, just as it starts to seem that all hope is lost, in swoops merlin (the actual merlin, not his old fart disguise) on dragonback (kilgharrah hates morgana so much i know his sexist ass would stoop to anything to stop her)!!! imagine merlin showing off the extent of his powers in front of everyone and preventing the sorcerers from getting any further, declaring loud and clear that camelot is protected by him, by emrys. imagine that display of power alone being enough to send everyone home.

imagine the loyalties clearly drawn: merlin on arthur's side, morgana on the sorcerers'. imagine arthur, feeling confused and betrayed by everyone at this point, banishing merlin despite everything he's done for him in the angstiest, most emotionally dysregulated scene the show had ever put to screen. imagine merlin starting season 5 free at last but very lonesome, an embittered dragonlord like his father. imagine the absolute mess camelot would become without him, even with gwen — now queen guinevere — there to pick up the slack. imagine arthur actually earning merlin back, finally growing into his role as king as he does so. imagine the reunion.

all this and more could've been not just possible but inevitable if morgana was allowed to remain a complex character that is neither inherently good nor inherently evil: it was undeniably the biased and one-note treatment of morgana's downfall by the writers that set the precedent for literally everything else that happened after merlin chose to poison her. the show wouldn't have even had to jeopardize its tone or the monster-of-the-week vibe, all it would've had to do is admit that even the "good guys" are capable of mistakes and what makes them good is the ability to feel remorse and change for the better. (as opposed to uther, who was miles beyond redemption since way before the pilot and deserved to lose everything and die alone. OBVIOUSLY???)

in a world where morgana remains multifaceted and sympathetic, mordred would get a better arc as well, so if we really wanted to, we could still end on the same tragic note that the show ended on. with so much harm inflicted onto so many innocent people by the pendragons for so long (including mordred and the many druids and sorcerers that raised him), it could realistically end up being a little too late for anything more than one shining glimpse of king arthur and the sorcerer merlin's short-lived golden age before fate catches up to them. glimpsing that reality just to immediately lose it would've been far more satisfying and far more tragic than whatever the writers thought they were doing with all that pointless carrot-dangling.

and finally, an ending in line with morgana's new and improved arc. in this version, rather than bleeding out on the forest floor alone, she would channel the morgan le fay we know from the legends: sobered up by the reality of her brother dying, she would use her high priestess status (and perhaps also her pendragon status) to be granted passage over to avalon alongside arthur on the boat — a one-way ride — just to make sure he gets there safely. this is her penance for the harm she has caused, the same way arthur's penance is to die and leave the true ruler of camelot (gwen) behind to achieve everything he was too slow and indecisive to build while he still had time.

merlin's penance, then, would be to stay behind and watch them cross over without him, waiting and waiting and waiting until they come back or until he can finally join them. which is a bit fucking harsh if i'm honest, so i'd at least make it slightly more faithful to the legends by having him return as an old man and letting him take a long nap under a tree by the shore, his body slowly enveloped by vines like the cobwebbed fisher king in 3x08, never fully sure if he's dreaming or if there really are strange shapes fading in and out of the fog over the lake. still tragic, but nevertheless a little more open-ended and whimsical than [TRUCK NOISES] THE END!

[shrimpchipsss]

peerless melons 🍈

[climbdraws]

after further review I have concluded that HTTYD 1 is actually the best out of the trilogy, not HTTYD 2

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Eugene was truly the best boyfriend. saw his girlfriend get broken up with, and immediately had a revenge glow up. Imagine being Cassandra seeing your ex girlfriend's boyfriend and he's wearing a golden choker with the just deepest v neck known to man, the world's sluttiest gloves, and a thigh garter. I'd have to give up then and there.

[fluffypotatey]

you ever think about how MK never gets a chance to really define himself?

[dukeofthomas]

Y'know sometimes I forget (cause I'm mainly a jaybin fan honestly) but like. jason todd is a whole ass serial killer. full-on mass murderer. he is also just a genuinely bad person who does bad things. and i should love him for it, not in spite of it

[corellianhounds]

“You have done the highest honor of the Creed: Saving a foundling.”

I take umbrage with this statement in the larger context of the show this season because Mando still has yet to have what I think is a pretty significant conversation with the Armorer concerning why he removed his helmet in the first place since that ⬆️ was precisely why he did it

This season has largely brushed past one of Din’s biggest internal conflicts by never showing the audience how he feels as an exiled member beyond him asking how he can atone, not discussing with the Armorer why the transgression was done or in what context— which they apparently didn’t have to address because hey, look, the kid’s back with him again, oh also we’re not going to talk about that despite the Armorer telling him to take the kid back to his own kind in season 1— making it barely an inconvenience to ‘redeem’ himself in the end anyway, and by overshadowing his ritual redemption by knocking him out when he goes into the waters and having him sink to the bottom, having to be saved by Bo-Katan (when we still don’t know why she saved him at all), AND by having his return to the covert and Armorer be overshadowed by Bo-Katan’s out of place induction into the covert.

If they want to credit Bo-Katan with ‘saving’ the Mando kid because she headed up the hunting party even though Din was the one to actually grab the kid in the end, fine, whatever, but it is also the most overt way to again show that everything of value that Din has done this season has still been pushed to the side in favor of showcasing Bo-Katan

Unless they’re leading up to Din having some ego issue regarding Bo-Katan’s popularity and place within the covert because of how much he’s being shoved aside (which is entirely out of character for him), I’m not sure why they aren’t making him and his character more of the focus of the season. We’re not getting anything from him regarding his feelings or direction in terms of the bigger picture, which is why all of the episodes feel like filler— They’re achieving plot points like a checklist instead of showing us how Din feels about anything by not tying the emotional stakes to the physical ones. There’s no tension or narrative weight to any of these actions. His dialogue regarding the Creed, his redemption, and teaching and bonding with the kid (his character’s two main focuses) has been factual and exposition-y without feeling like his story is being told.

[vivid-creates]

you see, the problem with writing my oc backstories while listening to epic the musical is that i start instinctively changing details to match the lyrics of the current song playing.

and then i have to examine whatever "brilliant new backstory detail" i just thought of, and go:

(in the voice of someone trying to see what's in their dog's mouth) is that your oc's backstory? is it? yeah, um- no. no, it's not. that's odysseus of ithaca. put him back. no, i don't care if "ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves", your oc is ten years old and she does not have the ability nor the time to somehow get a crew of soldiers killed. move her along to the assassin plotline and put the sad greek man back where he came from.

[mister-faltine]

Umar visiting her Daughter // Dormammu visiting his Son:

Strange (2022) #4.

Writer - Jed MacKay.

Artist - Marcelo Ferreira.

Strange Academy: Finals (2022) #4.

Writer - Skottie Young.

Artist - Humberto Ramos.

P.S: I find it funny that the two Faltine Siblings are visiting their respective children in the fourth chapter of each story.

[nonuggetshere]

GOD I HAD AN IDEA AS I WAS FALLING ASLEEP TODAY

About FaaF naturally

A sad one, TW fir near child death and harm

Involves Xero's attempt at an assassination, or it could be literally just any guard controlled by the Radiance

PK and WL need to talk about something private, and WL looks at the tiny vessel tagging along by her wyrm's side

"Should it be here?"

"It wouldn't understand anything anyway."

"Still, it's...a little..."

He sighs lightly, "Yeah, I get where you're coming from... Vessel, come here."

He kneels down and orders them to sit by the door and wait for them while they talk, says he'll come pick them up once they're done and not to move, then the two go to talk on the balcony and close the door behind them

At some point, Xero/the guard bursts in and attacks PK in the middle of the conversation, managing to take them by surprise and so gets one good swing in before PK darts away and retaliates, pinning them down with soul blades, though he has to keep his wife from killing them on the spot - he doesn't want to be so hasty, knowing they're infected and not themself. He pulls out the sword from his chest and that's when they realise, it's covered in void...

Child harm/near death TW beyond this point

After a moment of shock White Lady, who's closest to the doors, runs out and all her husband can hear is a horrified, heartbroken scream. He feels nauseous, his stomach twisting into knots and feeling like his heart is in his throat as he runs out after her. He sees her in tears, cradling a tiny bundle soaked in void. There's- there's so much void. It covers the floor where he left their child vessel and soaks through his lady's shawl and clothes as she cradles them in her arms.

For a moment he's paralysed, before he just snaps. He flies back onto the balcony, screaming at the possessed guard that he'll kill her, he'll make her pay for this, and he slays them in his rage (something he'll regret and feel ashamed of later), still hitting and screaming at Her well after the possessed person is dead and she can't hear him anymore.

He collapses, panting, near tears, and just gets himself up and stumbles out the door and towards the two, he wants to see how bad it is for himself.

Flower survives, but just barely. They had multiple stab wounds and lost their left arm, if not for their parents immediately healing them they'd be dead. They're barely older than 5, still so very little and defenceless, PK is horrified at how could anyone hurt a baby this young and helpless (hypocrite), even if they're not alive.

They're still on bed rest because that was so much damage and their mother doesn't leave their side and their father only leaves when necessary. They still don't realise Flower's alive and they know they shouldn't be so attached but it still feels like their baby and they can't just leave them. WL spends the entire day by their side, gently stroking their hair and horns with her now permanently void stained hands and softly coos and sings to them

Of course, they quickly realise they ARE alive because no way in hell a toddler is getting this hurt and NOT crying and screaming the second they wake up <3

Which just makes this situation so much worse

[sakurarisen]

⚡ : What typically leads to inspiration for you when it comes to writing? 💔 : What kinds of characters do you have the most trouble writing for? 💕 : When it comes to shipping do you prefer to draw things out and let them develop slowly, or do you prefer to jump right into them and skip the developmental stage?

Monday Malarkey!

⚡ : What typically leads to inspiration for you when it comes to writing?

Just about anything, honestly? But for the vast majority of it, it's music and whatever game or book I'm into at the moment, three times as much if it's the source material for the verse I'm writing. It's rare that I can pick up Genshin or the Remake games and not walk away with some kind of inspiration or plot related thought by the end of my play session, and the light novels I'm reading now have sparked up a ton of it in regards to things like Sera's health and worldbuilding. Music often makes me sit and daydream out plots, too, so it brings its own form of inspiration - Heck, the Halcyon Era storyline/Sera's full backstory was inspired by a gorgeous mecha figure promoted in an email from one of the shops I buy Gundam model kits from, though I wasn't expecting the colorscheme and words 'Snow Phoenix' that inspired me to create to turn into the massive story it has!

Tl;dr? Never let me read or play games, I make things happen after. XD

💔 : What kinds of characters do you have the most trouble writing for?

The asshole, in your face, stuck up, only here to be a jerk types. The ones whose personality is "I'm here to be a problem and have nothing else going for me". I love a good antagonist and I have a few more blunt, serious, will fight you for fun muses (Leandros, Kalistratos, and Kagota over on @thundertide being primary examples of this XD), but I really struggle when their entire personality is abrasive jerk and they don't ever act like anything but, or they're just the scheming type constantly trying to cause issues - Even just a straight antagonist who would cause problems and smirk and leave is difficult for me to grasp, regardless of if they have more to their character or not? Like I could never write Rufus Shinra even though he's a pretty well rounded character 'cause I just can't get my head around that character, and it'll never not impress me others can and write him and characters like him so well. <3

I'm also not very good with writing canon characters. I have a handful, both on @shinrarisen and Thundertide, but unless they're characters like Kunsel or Cissnei, who have more open to interpretation storylines and big gaps to fill in, I end up feeling suffocated and struggling to match what canon gives. Basically, I didn't create them, so trying to match what the creator made gets hard because I can't just step into their mind and know everything about the character, if that makes sense? It's why the canons I do have end up being at least somewhat divergent in their portrayals - Because I love them and click with them enough to write them, but I don't feel like I do a straight, fully canon compliant take any kind of justice. ...Or I just don't agree with part of their story, looking at you old Yu-Gi-Oh multimuse of mine-

💕 : When it comes to shipping do you prefer to draw things out and let them develop slowly, or do you prefer to jump right into them and skip the developmental stage?

Both, but I will say the later requires heavy trust in my partner, and isn't really exactly a 'we ship now' and go. I have maybe three incredibly close friends I trust to skip the developmental phases in a ship and the ship still work out, but we have years of friendship and rp'ing partnership behind us for that to happen; this is seen best in my Genshin multimuse, where new characters get added and already have a ship tag - But to be fair, too, it's not exactly an insta-ship, either. While Kasa ( @honorisen ) and I jump into them pretty quick, what people don't see is the behind the scenes discussion on it, deciding if the muses even get along, letting them meet in short, one off things off-dash, let the muses flirt, really talking out how things worked out... We're jumping right into it and avoiding writing out the buildup (which gets usually drabbled or even a flashback thread much later on - It's avoided at the start but ends up happening eventually anyway to flesh out the characters and their relationship(s)), but we're still in heavy talks beforehand to make sure what we're really eager to do for a ship will even work, first - And if we actually like it when it's more than just a thought, even though our muses generally always just... Click.

For the most part, thought, I LOVE developing a ship! I love the buildup, I love the working things out and getting on the same page, the seeing if the muses get along, the figuring out of "how do we navigate this" - It's a big part of why even with close friends I can just skip into the ship with, we eventually come back and develop an entire story with them and even rp or drabble out those developmental stages. Sera and Zack had years of buildup even though their blogs were launched with their ship already in place, both on dash and off, but over on Thundertide and @yoroiis, Childe and Kagota swandived into a ship, yet we've gone back and worked out not only the developmental stages, but have a couple of ideas from those stages waiting in the wings to rp out and are constantly learning more about their backstory together, both as a ship and as old, childhood best friends.

I can't just 'okay, we ship now' with most partners - I can't even do it with you, Knight, OR with Kasa, even though you're both two of the three previously mentioned friends. I can launch blogs with ships in place, I can skip the developmental stages and go right into a ship when the muses click as well as we have - But I can't just cast it aside completely. Even when a ship is decided, we're still discussing how they met, how the ship happened, how they got where they are. We still go back and rp that out, or write it up. The development may be skipped in one verse, but it's very much present in another, and mimics the first regardless. In my personal opinion, ships that don't have any development, even discussed, feel shallow to me? And I mean that as in my muses and my ships and my experiences - Everyone else's varies and it may not feel that way to someone else, and that's totally awesome! <3 I'm glad other people can pick up two characters, tell them to kiss, and it works! But me personally... I can't. I have to have something, somewhere, and I have the best partners in the world who do the same. <3

[oxygen-stealer]

Cataloging the process of my Scarecrow shrine (did you know that I like Scarecrow?)

I plan on getting some mounts for comics and some posters so that it covers the wall behind it as well, and of course I'll try to fill the shelf with all the little things I pick up :3

And yes there's a few riddlers there just to keep em company. Until I'm out of room at least.

[grungiiuvu]

one of my fav things about cheap villain is how easy it is to see MQ as trans. He's got so much body dysphoria he can spare a little bit of it to have gender dysphoria. (and he can yell at SQ for it because he was trans before he died, what do you mean MQ was one of the few trans characters SQ wrote??? When was this ever established??? and then SQ has to run away from getting bopped by MQ's fan)

Lmao, feel free to headcanon that!!

Mq's body dysphoria is a very key part of his character and i knew while i was writing it that it was a massive trans allegory.

I likely won't write anything explicitly trans, just because there's so much going on already, but if i can help my fellow gender-non-conforming friends, that's great!!

[imminent-danger-came]

*sets down my folding chair and sits* So, 3x01 of the o/w/l h/ou/se. Fair warning this is a negative rant so I'm putting it under a readmore:

I can not believe the stars were aligned for the PERFECT Hollow Mind parallel, and it DIDN'T HAPPEN. Hunter and Philip trapped in the same body/mind? Hunter fighting for control? Luz coming to terms with the fact that she lead Philip to the collector? Flapjack getting absorbed into Hunter like all those previous palismens were absorbed into Belos? Like that would have been so good it KILLS ME that it didn't happen. Learning how Philip and Caleb found their way to the Boiling Isles would have been way more satisfying coming from Philip himself.

And honestly like...the episode was fine-ish, but I think overall I was disappointed by it. I don't really care for how they handled Hunter and Luz's respective secrets, and I was SUPER disappointed by Luz's reaction to Belos' return. Like there he is, the man who caused about 3/4 of all your trauma, and like....nothing? Like on god running into Belos should have been the culmination of her s2 and 3x01 arc, yet it wasn't.

I also just kinda wish Luz's refusal to tell her friends she helped Phiplip meet the collector was based more in her fear of being a burden rather than the fear of her friends hating her. This isn't to say there weren't good moments in the special, but they were definitely scattered throughout the episode. It all just fell super flat for me. But I guess in general I find The Owl House to be a very mid show.

Since typing this post in my drafts I've also watched 3x02 and honestly, I feel the same way I did watching the first episode. The writers tried to give every character their own new mini arc instead of focusing on what had already been established previously. Which would be fine, except... this is the penultimate episode. We should be building off of everyone's series long arcs (of which Luz only really has, and I guess Hunter too since he was only around for season 2. Kind of Belos? They've just like, abandoned writing him).

Genuinely disappointed they took away all of the fucked-upedness from the Collector and just made him a lonely kid, rather than a child with the powers of a god and no regard for others or morals. His debut in "Hollow Mind" made him out to be someone who truly relished in chaos, and now he's just like...a child playing make-believe. I think an angle like this could have worked with a different approach, but the episode as is isn't really my thing.

Both these specials feel like "these are all the ideas we had for season 3, let's shove them into these specials" rather than effectively using the time they had. Like...the human world and hexside shenanigans are fun, sure, but focusing on the like...everything else you now don't have time to pay off is way more important.