#a bit of a rant here. maybe this fits better on my main but i don’t want classicists killing me there

[amalagam]

every time i see someone go off on “um ackshually ovid isn’t the real mythology he’s not even greek and he made gods into symbols of authorities that he hated so it’s invalid. and also he hated women” i feel just so deeply tired in my bones and have to rant about the same things again.

like first of all. fellas. that is Not how reception of mythology and reinterpretation through different authorial lenses works. there’s no One True Version Of The Story quite nearly Ever in orally transmitted lore and most of the time ancient religion/mythology didn’t have a set canon as we think of it today. and also metamorphoses is nearly as old as the greek versions of the myths And had a very real impact on how they were transmitted through culture up to today so you cannot just dismiss it out of hand.

second of all if he Did use stories about gods being terrible as a way to criticize irl authority i think that’s based actually. down with the gods of empire are they not just the biggest imperials of all etc etc etc.

finally despite not being a classicist i’ve read enough classicists’ wildly different takes on gender in ovid to know that it was Definitely more complicated than “he hated women.” like i’m not gonna defend this man i don’t know that much about him and i am not a classicist and also he was an ancient roman so he probably did hate women to some extent. but i do know about the reinterpretation of the same transmitted stories and i like to sit and listen to different people’s analyses of history and art.

so basically that’s why i have a very hard time swallowing this rhetoric. every story comes from everywhere and can exist in multiple forms especially if they’re that old and especially if multiple forms are that old and had equal impact. maybe instead of dismissing it you can analyze what the different versions Say and how each might be interesting to reinterpret in some way.

i’m just saying there’s a reason people seize onto wanting to retell the version of medusa who was a rape survivor and not the version of her who was just a monster without anything else. it’s because in the current day the former version resonates with people who see a reflection of many survivors’ trauma in her story of being abused and then blamed for her own abuse and failed by the powers that be. the authorities who she believed were supposed to protect her. it’s not hard to see why people’s imaginations are sparked by it and i think looking at that is more interesting than harping on about “yeah but the oldest version” and ignoring all of the reasons why people chose This version. and i bring this up because this whole post Was prompted by seeing someone be like Um But The Real Medusa WAS Just A Monster. like ok but that’s not the version the retellers you’re talking about chose to retell

(ofc i’m not saying that classical myth retellings aren’t ass a lot of the time though LMAO there Is a big problem where a lot of the ones that claim to be Feminist are somehow less feminist than the ancient versions and also definitely overdone and boring as hell. but that’s not what this post is about)

[the-moth-from-elsewhere]

The Epic Amazing Absolutely Insane TAOCC Song Post

Aka: Elsie assigns random songs to random characters for random reasons, vaguely organized by mod. These are almost entirely vibes and randomness so get ready to be utterly confused. Don’t expect any of these to fit too well, I went more based on the sound and random stuff than the actual accuracy. Also i’m kinda brain-broken from overthinking all this music lol. No, I didn’t add links, just because this took so many hours. Maybe tomorrow, I just wanna get this done.

Feiar’s characters.

Nymn

“Dento takes the Stairs” by Gooseworx

I told you these would make no sense. Idk the amount of nymn just being vibes/silly/lighthearted makes me think of how this song is a break from the chaos of the Elain series.

Jessy

“Metamodernity” by Vansire

Okay, I have a really specific animatic in my head for this song in which we flash between the TAOCC characters as they are in the circus, and then a cool transition, and then it’s them pre-circus. My best example is Dusk and Jessy sitting on a bench. A train passes by, and now it’s human Jessy sitting alone on a bench. Because Dusk is AI. And that very specific part of the animatic in my head tends to stick with me, especially seeing as Jessy is very “just go with stuff” and so I can kinda hear him singing this in my head.

”Apocalypse Now” by PinnoccioP

The first appearance of many of my favorite music artist lol. The song is about enjoying existence even if everything is a violent wreck, and it just kinda fits to me lol.

“World’s Smallest Violin” - AJR

yeah just gonna drop this one here and run

“Sweet Tooth” - Scott Helman

Blame Fei.

Clara

”Drosselmeyer’s theme - Kurumi Wari Ningyo (Nutcracker No. 2 March) - The Princess Tutu Soundtrack

Okay, for starters, you should watch Princess Tutu. Like right now. It’s amazing, and the title does NOT do it Justice. Back on track, it…it’s the nutcracker! Come on, this one was basically handed to me.

Tutu vs Kraehe (Swan Lake Act 1 Op. 20 No. 2)

Fight theme.

Lance

”I Don’t Have a Name For It” - Steam Powered Giraffe

I…I’m sorry I don’t have an explanation for this it just works. Lancia sweep.

Raina

”Nightcall” - Kavinsky

…Once again, very flimsy. But like…switch the gender. I’m sorry but it’s giving “they’re talking about my death but I’m still here.” The miku version works better here in my opinion :3

The pirates

“He’s a pirate” - F-777

“The 7 Seas” - F-777

idk man techno piracy go vrrrrrrrr I unironically blasted these during like the entirety of the pirates plotline frick you this is my rant I do what I want /silly

Star’s Characters

Icia

”Long Live” - Taylor Swift

I swear I have reasons for this just hear me out okay- First off, I can see the voice fitting, second off, I imagine her singing this either for Lance or Starro or both after we finally finally finally throw Hexe off a cliff.

“Santa Salvacion” - Magia Record OST

epic fight theme for fighting the terrifying ice lady. I blasted this while writing the fight scene with The Dark Queen Icia.

Dunite

”Postmeridae” - Madoka Magica OST

Cutesy upbeat theme for making merengues to. No notes.

“Witches Dance” - Magia Record OST

Idk, feels like her fight theme

”Roki” - Mikito P

…Vibes. Entirely vibes. Dunite should start a band /hj.

Starro

“Please Never Fall In Love Again” - Ollie MN

I just…him. Singing this. About Conny. I swear to cheese.

Vaga and Nova

“Class Dance - Rensho Kyoku I” - Princess Tutu OST

…Vibes.

Odette

”Vocalise Op. 34 No. 14” - Madoka Magica OST

Vibes. Piano. Sad string accompaniment. Must I say more?

Achilles

“Doubt #2�� - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST

Starting to notice a pattern with the kingdom characters lol?

Joofie’s Characters

Cardlan

“Main Character” - Will Wood

Ego. So, so much Ego.

“Sayo-Nara” - DDLC OST

I have my reasons.

Minimi

“Not Yet (Epilogue)” - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST

Accordion and a little bit of ominousness. Vibes.

Xeyshattersiltav1a’s Characters

Sun

“Cowboy Dan” - Modest Mouse

Yee-haw sun. Do not give that woman a truck. Wow, these descriptions are getting terrible lol.

”Popular” - Wicked Soundtrack

Wicked but it’s sun and Dusk lives in my head rent free okay

“Alright” - Mother Mother

please help me I keep making up sun animatics with this song in class

Mix

“Something, Everything is Wrong” - Madoka Magica: Rebellion OST

This song is the reason I associate Mix with the accordion. Also, I imagine Dusk meeting him/his first real introduction in TAOCC’s background music as this song.

“Intertwined” - CMYK, CircusP.

Rip this man’s love life

“Love is War” - Ryo/Supercell feat. Hatsune Miku

Love is still Vehicular Manslaughter /ref

Dialtone

“Cats!” - waterflame

Does the song fit him? Not at all! It is way too techy and upbeat, and would probably better suit someone like Switch. But like….cats. He’d listen to a song called “cats!”. You can’t convince me otherwise.

“Want You Gone” - The Portal OST

Dialtone is GLaDOS coded to me.

“Killer Spider” - PinnoccioP

vibes and vibes alone.

Soup’s Characters

Silhouette

“Scared of you” - Brandon Hesslau

“Whoops, sorry for kinda almost killing you.”

”What Gave It Away” - Riproducer

evil.

”Burial Ground” - Low Roar

sad backstory.mp3.

Clown

“I’m Number One” - Muppets Most Wanted Soundtrack

Look man he’s silly and egotistical and it’s funny. He’s definitely singing this with carbine.

Autumn’s Characters

Pyxel

”Magical Doctor” - MARETU

once again, more vibes than lyrics and the gender’s wrong but, like, the vibes, man

Neb

“Lonely UFO” - PinnoccioP

…it doesn’t fit. The lyrics, as far as I can tell, do NOT fit. BUT LOOK AT THE OUTFIT, THE BLUE HAIR AND VOID SKIN AND MURDER TEETH AND TELL ME THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE NEB, OKAY?!

“Finding Sanctuary” - Stellaris OST

Silly space song for silly space person.

Lily’s Characters

The bookend siblings, and I mean all of them as a group, Katrina included for brevity’s sake

“Magical Girl and Chocolate” - PinnoccioP

Okay, I have actual reasoning for this one. Each of the siblings is someone’s “magical girl”, whether metaphorically or literally. They’re each fighting to protect and support someone. And they each strain and struggle to cope with a role too demanding for them. This song works for each of them in a different form and context.

Octavia and Steven/Sign

“Isn’t it “A”” - PinnoccioP

The arguments of all time

Honse- I mean Sophro

“Puzzle” - CMYK, CircusP

He’s just here to help. No notes.

Miscellaneous Others/Not big enough for their own section

Lantern

“Lantern” - Undertale OST

…self explanatory. The song’s vibes fit, too, I imagine this plays in his scenes.

“The Other One Left” - VaneLily

Half due to the “I just want a loving father” line. Gender’s wrong, again, but otherwise the lyrics fit.

Seer

“Seer’s Theme” - Cindy

I literally cannot outdo her own theme. It’s just too good. I listen to it randomly just because I like it so much /gen.

Sigil

“I’m Just Ken” - Barbie Movie Soundtrack

this is mostly a joke but come ON you think that guy doesn’t feel a little overshadowed by his GODDESS FIANCÉE?!

“Business Man” - Tom Cardy

Okay so this one takes some explaining because I imagine sigil walking into Dialtone’s place to spy and Insanity ruining everything and shooting everyone. It makes absolutely no sense but it’s funny in my head so here we are.

My Characters, yes this is gonna be last

Dusk

“Ultimate Senpai” - PinocchioP

A song about being overly pressured and stuff? Yeaaaaah.

“Sis Puella Magia!” - Madoka Magica Soundtrack

….Pretty. That’s it.

Aoki

“Decretum” - Madoka Magica Soundtrack

The reason I gave him a violin.

Alpenglow

“Yume Yume” - DECO*27

I have an ENTIRE ANIMATIC for chip and alpen with this song in my head

Lemonade

“Viva La Vida” - Coldplay

lore. Hehe.

Yume

“What are Children Made Of?” - PinnoccioP

This kid’s childhood has been ruined and boy is processing that hard.

”Everything about Animals” - PinocchioP

an absolute fever dream of a song that she would absolutely sing about animals. And how cool they are. And ohhhh look commentary on the state of humanity

Switchboard

“Kom Susser Tod” - Astrophysics

Idk it doesn’t fit all too well but the mix of utter hopelessness and eurobeat techno is just hercore

TAOCC as a whole

“Something Rotten!/Make an Omelette” - Something Rotten Soundtrack

WHEN I TELL YOU I HAVE AN ENTIRE. FREAKING. ANIMATIC-

”Your Silver Garden” - Madoka Magica OST

I do not know the lyrics literally at all but I could see an OP for TAOCC with this song

[laurasbailey]

hey, sorry to come out of nowhere with this, feel free to ignore! just wanted to get a bit of perspective on the c3 negativity i've been seeing for so long, which i've tried and failed to avoid and has been bumming me out more than i would like. this is my first campaign, it has brought me so much joy and company, but every time i end up reading a deeply negative take i can't really shake off the feeling that they're actually right, cause some of it makes sense to me and i can't unsee that. i know i'm being paranoid about it and truly setting myself up to be miserable and ruin the whole thing, which at this point i might've already done, but i just get sad wishing i could've had experienced the things everyone raves about (like different pacing and a lot of RP) for this campaign, which i'm so close to. do you think c3 is actually, objectively, worse or shallower than the previous ones? is there truth to the criticism (about it being too plot-driven, about the characters making each other worse and not being a good fit for this story, about the cast not being as into it and so on) or is the internet being the internet, and i should basically touch grass? it's not like i would drop it, honestly, i'm just sad thinking about how this story and these characters could've worked out if the "quality" was the one i keep seeing everyone talk about in regards to c1/c2. i know it's not that deep and it shouldn't matter in the long run, i'm just struggling a bit to not give in to the negativity and wanted to get your take on it, as someone's who's navigated this fandom longer! and again, truly sorry for the unprompted rant and thanks in general for being cool and taking the time to make gifs and recaps :)

you said it's brought you joy and company and it's seeing the negativity that's starting to ruin it, which is, honestly and sadly, a common thing that happens in online fandoms. negativity will bring the mood down regardless, because it just spirals into further misery. personally i stopped looking at fandom opinions and i've been a lot happier ever since! half the stuff you've said in here i've never heard before, that's how off the grid i am now lmao.

to answer your question, no, i don't think c3 is necessarily "worse" because, while people are entitled to their opinion, i think that's such a lazy, basic ass way of looking at it. also i just don't think a dnd game with people who are storytellers for a living can be shallow unless that's their goal, quite frankly. are there aspects of c3 i dislike? of course! but the same is true for all campaigns. there were parts of c2 i thought were very weak, despite the entire internet praising it like the second coming of jesus. there are things i think c3 does better than c2, even. and there are things c1 does better than both c2 and c3, and so on.

do i like that most of the campaign has been bells hells vs. a ticking clock? not really, it does mean certain sacrifices are made. do certain characters get on my last nerve? absolutely (but that's not exclusive to c3 lmao). at the same time though, i get the three women front and centre of the main plot, which has never happened before. i get a laura/marisha character romance after watching them have great chemistry for years. i get c1-level stakes and fantastic female npcs/villains, which c2 was mostly lacking. i get ashley full time (!!!) coming out of her shell and being her best and most chaotic self. and i get SO MUCH of the c1 characters? i'm fucking spoiled if you ask me.

maybe some of the criticism is very real and warranted (again, haven't seen it and don't plan to) but at the end of the day, this isn't my game of dnd or yours or any of the viewers'. we are literally watching other people play an improv game where they're crying one minute and making dick jokes the next, you just have to be along for the ride. going into the campaign with certain expectations is really silly and critiquing it the way you would a tv show just doesn't work. also unless these people are friends with the cast and speaking to them irl, how could they possibly know they aren't enjoying it as much like be serious 💀

i'm gonna be so honest here: idk if the people who are constantly spouting negativity are just miserable, but they sure look it! also stupid! why? because normal people who hate something simply ✨ stop watching and move on ✨. sure, hatewatching can be fun if you and your friends are in someone's living room or discord call shooting the shit, but doing it online day after day after day? honestly i just feel sorry for those people. happy people do not spend their time throwing essays worth of negativity up for the big wide world to see! how do i know this? because i was that person in my teens and i was severely unlikeable!

if you've enjoyed something without the bias of someone else's opinion, then you've enjoyed it! but your opinion can also change as the campaign goes, that can also be true! i would be interested to hear the reasons you loved it initially, because i think you'll find that most of that core stuff is present in all three campaigns.

the recent plot of c3 has been more stressful than any plot in previous campaigns, so understandably people have big feelings. my advice: the block button is your friend but so is the follow button! criticism is healthy, find people who deliver it in a way that's not some whiny entitled baby. letting someone else's opinion influence yours will never make you happy.

[still-a-morosexual-help]

I really really hope you're right, this just killed my motivation for everything. What happened with Solomare's story jar already left a bad taste in my mouth too.

I know I'll feel better in a few days, but I felt lied to when they said they'd continue the story and the app. And it's going to be even lighter and fluffier and a replacement for the main story line? One that new players will perfectly fit into? I was so looking forward to learning more about what would happen to Simeon.

Also not announcing it until last minute? For once I'm really glad I can barely afford food, because I'd be devastated if I had spent even a dollar. But maybe that's just me being poor.

I'm mostly likely going to stop writing for a while until I've archived everything important from the app, which is gonna take ages just in case anyway.

But anyway, are there any recent events you thought were better than usual? I've been too sick to grind lately so I haven't unlocked them. I want to know which ones to archive as soon as possible once the six months are up.

Sorry for bringing the mood down and the rant, but you seem to be the only positive one I follow that isn't outright calling people stupid or pathetic for being upset so I'm really hoping your positivity rubs off on me.

I do hope you keep posting for Nightbringer too! I have several issues with my hands so I don't think I'll ever be able to see the end of the og story line, and I especially love your analyses out of anyone else's.

Okay okay so they are continuing the og app and continuing the story, the only difference is they'll be continuing the mainstory in nightbringer and the og app will just be getting events. So the og app will continue the way it has since the end of s4 and new main story content will be uploaded to nightbringer (the devs did says this)

Not sure what happened with story jar but Obey Me! is solmare's most popular game. Objectively, nothing solmare has created has ever come near to reaching om! And I'm talking purely in the money making side of it - the anime? mangas? songs? merch? cons? VAs getting heavily involved in everything? Solmare's a business. As long as there's a fandom and a demand for it they're not gonna kill the og app.

Plus the majority of om's content is on the og app, with new content and old events still being released. If they wanted to kill the og app they'd stop releasing new content and updating lonely devil.

Since nightbringer will be continuing the mainstory from where they left off, they'd also need to move all of S1-4 the chats, call & devilgrams to nightbringer if they were gonna kill the og - and I'd imagine that's more hassle than it's worth

I do think we'd learn more about what happened to simeon;

• devs said they'd be continuing the main story in nightbringer so that'd include simeon

• nightbringer's current plot is about time travel and mc trying to find a way back home - so they will end up back in the current time at some point, where simeon's whole thing can be addressed

• s3 established that luke wasn't alive when the brothers were angels. If they intended to keep mc in the past they'd either have to scrap luke's entire character (?????) or retcon s3 which so far dropped the most lore

• thirteen (who's supposed to turn into a LI)'s first visit to the devildom happens in s4 and in nightbringer's op we see her in Diavolo's castle. Which means we're seeing the present timeline as well

....i think you're maybe panicking a bit too much? You definitely don't need to archive anything anytime soon. For well all of the reasons I mentioned above.... Maybe someday you'd have to but definitely not right now

Honestly I liked all the events🤷

No worries! And Yeah I think the thing people are forgetting is that Nightbringer is STILL Obey Me! I'm definitely going to be still talking about it

Ok so I have an exam in 2 days and I think I've answered every possible question about Nightbringer you could possibly have so I'm calling it here.

Won't be answering new asks until sunday. Everything posted will be from queue.

If you want to see my others asks/answers regarding Nighbringer just hit the tag on this post

[dungeon-gerard]

I thought of posting this on my main but I don't really want that blog attracting pro ed content so I thought it be best here.

I don't even eat weirdly anymore. I haven't binged in months (bc I stopped the negative thoughts abt food, took a few months but its safe to say im clean) I'm healthier now, maybe even a little slimmer, because I dont have the side effects of starving anymore. I think I can say it's ended for a good 6 months now. There's just little things that remind me of it.

So, it might sound weird considering I'm recovered, but I have a thinsp0 folder. I didn't have that during the ed, I did it on pinterest but now I save pictures into a hidden file to use as thinsp0. I barely look at them, only when I add a new photo, but still, it proves it's still there.

If that doesn't strike you as strange, then what if I say I also saved pictures of my friends there. I use ppl I know as thinspo. I wonder about my friends eating habits and sometimes edge the conversation on to get them to share me details in a way that sounds natural. Well, its not malicious, but it's fueled by something they don't understand, and would likely feel upset if they were to know.

I should feel ashamed, but really, they should be flattered I aspire to look like them.

I love the eating disorder headcanon, I use it a lot. I never would have if I didn't have an ed before. I understand the desire to not eat, which I didn't understand before my ed. I didn't have any thoughts on food really, so I'm actually thankful I had that experience.

I'd like to add to that, my ed was mild in comparison to others, to other people I know. I don't use the term all the time, but for the sake of words I call what I had an eating disorder though internally I understand it was disordered eating, and a negative mindset. Bad but nothing compared to what some people have gone through.

Also, I try to keep healthy nowadays. I should exercise more, I want to do it not to hurt myself but cause it feels good and also makes me look slimmer. For example if you want your arms to look thinner lift weights cause they will look so much better afterwards. I want to lift again.

Now, a rant abt the thin aesthetic I like

Some people are so slim and oh it looks so good on them. I want that too. I also want to be taller, what's the deal with me being 5'4? That's boring. I should be 5'9. (This may be bc my best friend is rlly short and we both like the tall short dynamic) Tall and thin. Just like.. other ppl I know. Yeah, and small boobs. It would be GREAT if they couldn't be noticed with a t shirt on. I desperately want to have such small breasts that I don't have to wear a bra with cups. Also, androgyny. I think some people relate to that. Hell, I'm cis but I enjoy the aura of androgyny some people possess. I desire it greatly. Not to say I'm dissatisfied with my appearance, I'm recovered and fine with how my body fits, but oh, it could be just a bit slimmer. Like her. Like him. Hey friend, what kind of things do you eat? What have you eaten today? The whole day, I'm just curious. Do you go out often? Do you exercise?

You're uh.. really thin.. it's nice. Stay like that, stay like that for me.

I'm never posting one of these again I swear I hate the ed community sm

This is no beta read btw, just exactly what my mind threw out without thinking

[moonahstone]

(ignore the fact I straight up forgot I had tumblr and pretend I don't disapear regularly)

You've seen the season 5 trailer, I've seen the season 5 trailer, you know my brain is instinctively rotting with no regard to my own health so lets cut to the chase on a run down of said trailer and what the hell I think is going on in it!! Plz excuse the low quality images and if you don't want to see anything from the trailer do not open this next part <3

Something big is coming. Initially my mind went to potential kid at button house but the rest of the trailer kind of had me leaning elsewhere to the idea of them having to move? I'll go into more detail but either or of them feel like they could fit for "life changing" as both having a kid and moving houses are massive steps in life. I'm kind of hoping for the former because there could be a really cute story line there but also the latter is where I'm placing most my bets.

BARCLEY! MY LEAST FAVOURITE AND FAVOURITE GUY AT THE EXACT SAME TIME! I HATE EVERYTHING HE DOES IN A GOOD WAY! No but seriously, Maybe something happens to him and he sees ghosts? Or maybe he just goes snooping a little too much and gets trapped. If so I'd love it if the ghosts tried to mess with him to get him out and we could get a little Jemima back! Though I'm not sure how old her actress is now so it might now work :|

U good Thomas?

I'm feeling like if Cap's backstory is explored here this could be Pat picking fun at him a little on something related to said backstory? Not necessarily but something along those lines. There isn't a lot of context attached to this but I'm kind of hoping it's something like that. It could be nothing though, this line could have been in any season and I would believe you, it is a very them moment. Maybe though its a little exploration of the Cap's sexuality though? I don't personally think he needs one, I think it's better as it is, making it clear that a LGBT character doesn't need to have a whole coming out scene or anything like that to make them valid, more characters who are gay rather than gay characters. I think I've ranted about that before though and how Cap is the kind of rep I want. If it is something like that though, I don't mind, I still love a good bit of rep!

I mean it is what it says on the tin. They are being investigated for the claims regarding the fire. Thus triggers various theories for me, mostly surrounding the fact that that will not go in their favour and will cause financial difficulty but whatever, these claims will control and be the main plot of this series, like how running the guest house was a focus of series 4.

Not entirely sure? Maybe something associated with the previous thing of the fire but whatever it is if it is to do with the fire then maybe some sort of lawsuit is placed against them? MAybe it's assumed that they started the fire on purpose to claim off of it and they're forced to gather money to pay back some kind of fine? I'm not sure of those legalities but it could work and could lead to an ending of them being forced to leave for financial difficulties. On that maybe it's to do with the loans from season 1 that Mike took out and they simply ran short of cash for paying it back. Regardless, it wouldn't be so significant in the trailer if it wasn't important for the series (probably)

... I'm not happy about this but also I am. The clothes, the room dress, this just is a Kitty flashback. Hey maybe it could be Thomas but it couldn't be anyone later. I don't know when the pineapple became more popularised but everyone's shocked, Kitty was shocked at the concept of a pineapple in earlier seasons and just look at what she is wearing. Whatever episode this is in, this has to be the episode where we find out how Kitty dies.

IDK BUT LOOK AT THIS INCREADIBLE SCREENSHOT I TOOK HE LOOKS DEMONIC

Same to the Kitty point. This has got to be Cap dying. Even if it isn't it's a little bit of backstory because he has his lil hat on! I can't read the signs so I am likely missing a huge context lump but the sumary of it's his backstory stuff I think covers the most part. This too will likely shatter my entire soul

Oh boy that's gonna be a stinger. It looks like older decor in a way so could be a flashback to when older ghosts and Robins friends got sucked off (chance for a little Mary appearance??? PLeaSE) but also the floor (maybe because of the low quality) looks kind of dusty and leafy which likely means nothing but to me it associates with the current disrepair Button house is supposed to be in? That is likely (and hopefully) me reading too much into things but if so, I'm going to bawl either way. Regardless, we will see someone else move on, mostly clear due to what Robin was saying over the top (Something like "There is battle to when one of us go whoomf")

Maybe about Alison and Mike leaving? He's trying to lighten the mood? Or talking about peoples deaths? I know lots of people have said Caps death is probably going to be something very silly and if so this would be a likely appropriate response. Or its him talking about his own death and is one of those things trailers do to make them more editable for adverts as it is the last season, going out with a bang is an appropriate little phrase for them to snip in.

I'm absolutely stuck on this theory that Alison and Mike will be forced to leave Button house at this point, hence Kitty's reaction which would be pretty appropriate, 'nough said.

This feels significant. Like REALLLLLY significant and I can't figure out why. Maybe the framing? I have no clue but currently thinking if it is forced to leave, they had until midnight on a specific day to pay money or if not, maybe the time that the captain died? Maybe he died after being attacked or something while wandering around Button house at midnight and Alison finds out after finding him sleepwalking around the house which he has always done but she's never noticed before. Like how Fanny always throws herself out the window. It would work as well because of the time difference as that clock I believe is about 4 hours behind so if he died at midnight then he'd be walking around at about 4 which would be a bit late for people to be up (ordinarily)

Nothing really to add, just reiterating that they all look pretty crushed and defeated in this screenshot - throwing hands at one theory AGAIN

Sorry for how long this was but in summary: I think the gate house burning will cause massive financial problems for Alison and Mike and they will spend the entire season trying to fix these problem but be unsuccessful. We know how heart-breaking this show can be after all. It would lead to a very tragic but very round ending where Alison and Mike are forced to leave via financial difficulties and they are forced to say goodbye to the ghosts and there could be a heart-breaking scene as they pull away and the ghosts run after the car like children following their parents down the road. The though crushes me a little but I feel like the most logical ending is that they have to leave. If that is how it ends though I think the last line should go to Julian awkwardly standing there as everyone's sobbing and he just kind of goes "... Now what?" I don't know why, I just think it would be funny :D

[cherry-stained-corpse]

After watching the final episode of Netflix’s Wednesday, rewatching the whole thing a second time, and then letting it sit for a couple days to get my thoughts together, here are my overall likes/dislikes/critiques. Hopefully I don’t forget anything as I tend to do sometimes. I am notorious for long written posts, you’ve been warned.

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❌ WEDNESDAY SPOILERS ❌ [obviously]

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I still hold true that overall I quite love the show. While there are a few critiques and things I didn’t like very much or that I thought could be done better, I would watch it again and still enjoy myself. So now to get into my thoughts in the form of bullet points and lists :). The critiques may seem longer, but that’s mainly because I go into a bit of a rant in regards to writing and choices and stuff. Overall what I like does out way what I disliked or considered flaws.

-What I Liked-

• The casting and overall characterization of Wednesday Addams.

• Maintaining that she’s so bizarrely out of the scape of ‘normalcy’ that she’s an outcast even amongst other outcasts.

• Latino main characters and representation for once.

• Enid. I love her claws and just everything.

• Eugene.

• The focus on being primarily Wednesday and not on the Addams as a whole. It’s a Wednesday show about HER after all. The whole internal conflict is her not wanting to be overshadowed by her mother.

• The further exploration of Wednesday not just being a mini-Morticia

• The inclusion of the supernatural, creatures and such and showing how being a different species does not necessarily make you the oddest one out.

• Gothic Aesthetics done wonderfully.

• Wednesday’s wardrobe.

• Wednesday actively listening to Spanish music and the language overall being used a bit more in dialogue by, yknow, Latino characters and not limited to the usual “hola” and “gracias” in the script. Have Latino characters speak more Spanish more often please I get so excited every time…I promise it’s accurate why do you think spanglish is a thing?

• The headmistress and how it didn’t go down the stereotypical “evil headmistress/the headmistress was the one behind it all or involved” plot twist.

• The school was more interesting and kind of better than Hogwarts and that’s coming from someone who’s a massive HP fan all my life. I just wish we could have spent more times at the school related stuff doing school things. Maybe go harder on the monster high vibes (OG monster high, not G3)

• The uniforms and having Wednesday’s be different was a great choice. This girl cannot be seen in any other color that would just be blasphemy and I can totally see her taking and dying the uniform herself.

• Cello, Typewriter, Gramophone (or as most people would refer to it “record player”). Made me very happy to see those as they are literally things I love as an antique collector and user.

• I love that she’s a writer. Not just cause I can relate as a writer myself. But because it just fits so incredibly well.

• Using the term normie.

• Fuck colonizers

• Blood dance visuals

• Dark Gothy tone with gothic architecture, a boarding school with very nice uniforms, Murder mystery, secret societies…this show is dark academia.

• young Gomez and Morticia was fun to explore.

• Thing. But that’s a given.

• I can go on and on about what I liked but then this will end up way too long.

Things I Felt Could Be Done Better But Did Not Hate.

• Morticia Addams. I thought the actress did a lovely job overall (she certainly got that Morticia walk down), and I don’t really agree with a lot of peoples criticisms. But I would have liked to see a bit more attention to the part she plays in the strain between her and Wednesday. Like I would have liked to spend a bit more time on that, it kind of felt like it just got dropped after that one episode where the parents come to the school and Wednesday’s complex about being compared to her just disappears a bit too quickly.

• Weems and Morticias whole thing going on. Loved the idea but sad it wasn’t explored more, it had such interesting potential. Especially in regards to Weems and Wednesday’s dynamic.

• The whole resolution between Gomez and the Sheriff dude was way too fast. Your telling me this guy that has held a grudge for years against Gomez, is suddenly going to be all friendly after it being proven he was innocent? An apology is fine but then that should have been it. I dunno that final interaction between them even if ht was really short felt a little too “we are friends now yeah my son likes your daughter haha isn’t that funny”. Just would have liked that executed a smidge differently.

• The drama with Bianca, I liked what we got but would have liked to see more of a rivalry and moments like that.

Things I Disliked/Critiques

• while the CGI wasn’t the absolute most amazing, it wasn’t the worse…until we get to the CGI and overall designs of large creatures. I’m sure you must know I’m referring to the Hyde, but Enid’s werewolf form is not at all exempt from this criticism. Granted the Hyde’s form is a lot more agreggious. The only thing I disliked about Enid’s wolf form was her face. As a furry that follows many furry artists including ones that work with 3D sculpting and stuff, I dunno. I felt like the face, the snoot mainly, could have been shaped differently? She looks kind of derpy, the body is fine but it’s just that face. Also the way her hair/fur in her head was shaped reminded me and my partner of bibble.The Hyde though? Everything but ESPECIALLY the face. And why do Tyler’s eyeballs have to be the first things that transform and bulge out I could not stop laughing it was so…wow. It reminded me of when cartoons inflate themselves by blowing into their thumb and their head is the first thing to expand like. I dunno I couldn’t take it seriously. The art Xavier drew of the Hyde looked way cooler and scarier than the actual model of the Hyde, which is such a shame because I think the model could have done the art justice if just a few tweaks and details where added. There wasn’t enough detail so I feel like that made the face look cartoonish in an uncanny way, and not in a good uncanny way.

• Why is Wednesday so eager to work with the police? You could probably argue that she only worked and cooperated with them because they had access to resources she needed so yknow she was using them but that’s not how it came off. This is I think one of two things I did not agree with In regards to this characterization of Wednesday. And yes there are really only two as far as I remember. She was way too cooperative with the sheriff, wanting to work together with him which is very out of character even to this very characterization of her. We are supposed to see how she commits all sorts of criminal activities no problem, I mean it’s in her nature, but she still goes and asks to work with the sheriff? It made it feel almost like a jarring 180 when she did what we expect her to do, disregard morals and torture/kill people without batting an eye. Not sure if I’m making much sense. I would have expected her to have acted like Bianca in that regard, not trusting the police and going straight to Weems instead like she had said to her.

• The second thing I didn’t agree with in regards to this characterization, and it is mainly because I don’t think it’s written well. Why is Wednesday, the girl that is writing and has written several mystery novels about a detective, probably has done in depth research on murders and crime and probably has read detective novels herself…committing the mistake of jumping to conclusions way too soon and forgetting evidence that would actually debunk that conclusion? Like the whole thing with Xavier. Her first inclination to confront him and accuse him? Yeah okay. That’s fine. She’s a teen she’s bound to be impulsive. But after she knew the DNA results had come back and didn’t match? Why did she ignore/completely forget that and continue to pursue, even arrest Xavier? As a suspect yeah he could have remained in her list of suspicious peoples but shouldn’t she have considered that very specific debunking fact SHE had sought out in the first place? Wednesday is a clever person, and she’s written here to be considered as such. But she’s conveniently written to forget or not consider things that I felt like she absolutely would have while sleuthing. Not only that, but just…I feel like after falsely accusing Xavier, and then being further made to question her own deductions thanks to the results of the DNA, why did she continue to go and throw out accusations so easily? It would have made more sense to me if the DNA results made her question her first conclusions and sort of take a step back and proceed more carefully when it came to investigating her potential suspects. She wouldn’t have continued to make the exact same mistake the next several times. I think this was done with the intention of showing how she interpreted her visions with too much bias and kept clinging to a story she put together rather than consider how her visions only show a small piece and not the full picture…but I feel like the over repetition of her kind of blindly going up to and accusing people didn’t quite show that.

• Everything with Tyler and Xavier portraying anything Wednesday did or said as “signals”. I’m fine with either of them kind of crushing on her. With Xavier, it did feel a bit more one sided and more like he was trying to get close to a girl he liked but then later I feel like that got ruined by him saying “you don’t know who your real friends are” just because his attempts and advances where ignored or rejected or obliviously brushed off. It veered into demanding a bit and not actually being considerate of how she just doesn’t work that way. She’s not selfish for only focusing on a mystery she’s been very clear about wanting to solve, she’s not selfish for not paying any mind to you or your advances. Same goes with Tyler but I feel like he’s kind of worse. At first I found it cute but when he said stuff about her “sending signals” and “I thought you liked me” I was like huh? When? Where? I was at first under the impression it would develop into a more obvious attraction between them as Wednesday learned to navigate any feelings she was beginning to experience for the first time, but by the time he says that there hasn’t been an inkling of development in regards to romance yet other than his very clear interest in her. But not so much the other way around. Also, while I understand being upset or jealous that the person you like is going or chose to go to a dance with someone else…you’re not entitled to them or their time? You can’t really get mad at them for not choosing you when they haven’t even made any actual advance or show of interest towards you. This goes for Xavier too. Why is it that when she went to ask for his help when he was locked up, and she told him about the vision she had that exposed Tyler as the Hyde, his focus was on her “getting action while he’s being framed”…wouldn’t you at least be more interested in how someone finally knew you where innocent and was going to help you? Basically…with both boys it just came off as very forced “obligatory Hetero love interests”. Because it was literally just “Boy like girl. Girl interacts with boy. Boy takes that as interest from girl who is clearly not in tune with those kinds of emotions and hasn’t shown a single whiff of interest. Girl ignores advances and puts epic mystery above any romance. Guy gets mad and views this as selfish and callous for not reciprocating and focusing on her case even though this is all she would talk about around them”. It just feels like they could have done the same conflicts and plot lines with these characters without it having to be love interest right off the bat. Developed in a later season? Yeah okay. But instantly? Instant love interests that are forced in? It feels a but pushing heteronormativity and kind of disregards how character development should be gradual. People growing and especially someone who is not in tune with emotions won’t suddenly be interested in a boyfriend when they don’t even have interest with friends. Someone like Wednesday that is used to isolation and only relying on herself needs to first develop an understanding of friendships and how it’s okay to let people be your friend, that it’s not a weakness, before jumping to insta romances.

• This might go back to the whole sleuthing thing before but I’ll put it in a separate bullet point cause I would not want to make them too terribly long. But…the way Wednesday figured out Tyler was the Hyde…she didn’t actually figure it out. It was pretty much spelled out for her, shown to her. And that could be fine if executed differently but it takes away from the whole whodunnit detective-ing thing. There’s a level of satisfaction we get when we watch or read our main characters finally solving a mystery and finding out the epic answers we witnessed them searching for this whole time, and I feel like having her figure it out because her vision power actually showed her takes away from her actually solving it thanks to her cleverness and the clues she gathered, as well as conflicts with the whole “don’t trust your visions so easily they don’t show the full story and you have to learn how to navigate them” plot.

• Next. Weem’s death. Why? I really wanted to see that character arc between her and Wednesday flourish and conclude properly, maybe even have them bond a little? Explore more about her as a character and her past through Wednesday? But she died. They killed big tall lady headmistress >:(. And so quickly too not even a final word to Wednesday or anything. I get why but still. Such a loss of great potential.

• The vampires are there…but…where are they? We introduce sirens and their existence, we explore werewolves and how they work. Adequat introductory lore for those. But Vampires get one mention, and that’s it. I didn’t even realize Yoko was a vampire until I realized all the vampires wore sunglasses. I would have liked an actual main character with more than two lines to have been a vampire. I would have liked to explore a little of what vampires in this world were like the way we got to explore the wolves and the sirens a little bit. As a vampire enthusiast this made me sad.

• It kind of feels like they where too scared to go full Wednesday Addams level of cruelty and immorality. Like they kept her personality in tact but things where a bit too almost sanitized to keep her as the “good protagonist” when she’s a very very very dark grey. She’s always had a strong sense of justice but she’s not above vengeance and carrying it out in the most fucked yo ways possible. You can’t have her gush over serial killers and but then call the murderer behind the killings a “psychotic murderer” in a derogatory way but then admire murder cases. When we all know she would have been impressed by it at least a little. Cause she’s morbid that way. Also I read someone say that she would have driven her therapist insane and I wish she had that would have been so perfect. There’s ways to differentiate a character like her from the actual antagonists without watering down those aspects. Like when she was down to torture Tyler. But that ended up conflicting with some other things due to that “watering down/sanitization” of her actions.

•I didn’t mind Ajax as character but he also felt particularly empty and like he was only added in to ensure heteronormativity love interests for the mains. He especially had not much to him, no real development, hardly a personality, and on top of that it’s just established that Enid likes him but we never explore any of that so it feels empty and thus forced and shallow.

• Why are there no gay guys? Or non-binary/trans? I see the lesbian parents and potentially lesbian Yoko and that other girl but like…can we have some gay men too please? And gender inclusivity? Non-binary/Trans people would be a nice inclusion to this allegory about outcasts and being different to societal norms.

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That’s it for now. If I remember anything else I’ll edit it in probably :) sorry it’s so long I just have lots of thoughts in this silly skull of mine.

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Bonus section, personal headcanons I agree with :)

• Autistic Wednesday

• Morticia is totally aware of weem’s resentment towards her and considering how the Addams tend to have a very different perspective on things most people view as a bad thing, she’d likely consider it a nice aspect of their friendship. Don’t all friendships include the spice of bitter resentment?

• Bisexual Enid

• Wednesday starts listening to true crime and supernatural podcasts.

• Puerto Rican Wednesday and no one can take that from me.

[defensivelee]

maybe i just feel like shit rn but i feel that for all i've written about Six Lives! William it's very hard to get across all the depth im intending for his character. he has fucking DONA DONA, a whole fucking side story dedicated to him, and yet it feels like he's not anything at all, just my little whump baby...

i can say that in the main story i have at least made it very clear how self-destructive he tends to be as well as a fucking hypocrite... but ALL OF THAT i feel comes across only when it's not HIS POV. you see it best thru Bentinck i think, which is FINE bc it's still there, but in his own POV it just feels like he's going thru events... but there's NOTHING going thru HIM. it's like ur just watching things happen to him but HE himself NEVER FUCKING HAPPENS. there are supposed to be big things in his head BUT YOU CAN NEVER TELL

i loved 'thou shalt have no other gods before me' but his POV is literally EXCLUSIVELY about his trauma and torture and literally nothing else. i want him to be a mess and be very aware of that, like you can't even say 'oh he just thinks he's better than he is'-- yeah he thinks he deserves the world but he also thinks he deserves to die, which I bet you couldn't even tell about him. what his POV is, is basically very surface level suffering. at the very fucking least im glad you can see more of him thru Bentinck's POV but i do still want him to be aware of how bad he has it. his blindness to his own suffering is not intentional.

and even in Dona Dona where i should give him more depth, it still JUST feels like he's going thru events. obv he thinks and he reacts but that is, again, literally just surface level. i want him to take every beating from his father to his fucking soul and i want it to affect every aspect of his miserable, tangled life. i know by then he will have gotten used to the abuse but even then it doesn't feel like it. it remains in his head but it hardly comes out of him in any other way except for fear. he is intended to have very obvious mental illness and all sorts of other issues, but I feel like that only ever came out properly in the second chapter of the main story. has not been better since.

you know what AU William does have more depth? in fucking Alien Alien. i love that AU but it's not my heart and soul like Six Lives is. i feel like there you can understand best where he's coming from and everything fits so neatly together. for Six Lives, i also have this perfect vision for him where he has this emptiness in him a bit like how Bowen writes him (tho not exactly-- i think some parts of Bowen's William are very incompatible with Six Lives! William), and rn he IS empty... but not for the reasons i want him to be, if that makes sense. in his own POV, in his own backstory, he's not a fucking character, he's a mess of whatever i happen to be feeling in that moment, and he has only just barely worked bc of 1. Bentinck's POV and 2. the way i've fit everything together. every time it's his POV, there's hardly any breathers to see him for who he rlly is. it's just that the events happen to call for HIS POV and it wouldn't work any other way. and that's it.

i am definitely intending to get better with this in the next chapters of Dona Dona, as well as, at the very fucking least, the sixth chapter of the main story. now that i've recognized it i feel like it'll actually be easier now, but i just know that looking back on these chapters is gonna be painful. it's not the William i was intending to write. again, he's PASSABLE, but knowing how much better he could be... it really bothers me.

and see, i got this perfect mix of apathy, self destruction, and depression in both Bentinck and Mary. idk how i couldnt get it right with WILLIAM, of all people. i know i will but godfuckingdamnit it stings bc he was supposed to be my little pride and joy here.

i also feel something similar with Marly, but i think he's an easy fix bc as of now he's a side character. i won't go on a rant about HIM rn tho

tldr William was supposed to be more than a whump/porn dump of mine, even in an AU that was originally just that. and i feel like i'm failing to make him what i want. i think i can do it now, but if you noticed it in these first chapters of the main story and Dona Dona, i'm sorry.

[miracleandplagueau]

Let's talk about why Miracle and Plague will be a short series and additionally why I chose to write out characters such as Kagami, Zoe, Felix (I'm sorry baby </3)

Miracle and Plague won't be very long. In fact, It will be twice as short as the canon, purely because I feel like the series lost that sparkle, that thing that really made it special somewhere in the season 3. All of it started feeling worn out, boring or just annoying. It's also when the decision to re-estate Chloe as a villain really took place, so I'm obviously very displeased with how the seasons went on, but It's not the only reason! Adrien's character got completely assasinated, replaced by 10 and more heroes. I really like the doubt arc they had going for him, but It was never actually memorable or so impactful. All the focus seemed to be on Marinette and her issues, but the character who's the closest to the main villain, the one with a ton of their own insecurities to be explored was pushed aside. To add to that, the newer heroes were becoming boring or just straight up made me sigh when Ladybug needed to go get someone to help. Don't even get me started on the mass-hero episodes like Partycrusher or Penalteam. It was a lot squished together into 2 seasons where If not for the miraculous reveal, It would've been nothing short of a filler episode.

I feel like not adding too many plotlines, characters is simply a better idea. It'll ensure that all the existing ones will be explored to their best potential. Adrien's family story, Chloe's character, Chloe and Sabrina's relationship, Jiayi and Lila's relationship/rivalry, Alya's hero potential, Lila's urge for chaos, Monarch/Gabriel's motivation, Master Fu's backstory, possible expansion of Wonders - these are very good plotlines! Not even mentioning the side/less important plots like Luka and Jiayi's past, Unicorn band, Juleka wanting to be a model, Juleka and Rose's plot, Alix's hidden Wonder, Natalie's crush on Gabriel, Adrien's self-discovery. There's a LOT of them already and to add like 10 more just because I want a new character would extend and complicate the plot further. Not that I wouldn't take the challenge, but I just want to see this series conclude in a way that in my opinion is more satisfying than whatever we're getting.

As for the characters I wrote out.. I think most of them already have a sort of pattern to them where you can tell why I removed them.

Zoe. Oh Zoe, the worst character I've had the displeasure of seeing on screen. I already reblogged plenty of content in regards to her, so I'll just refrain from writing a rant on that excuse of a character.

As much as I would've loved to keep Kagami (I still might), I really feel she wouldn't fit the narrtive so nicely. Of course, she appears in Riposte, but upon reviewing the timeline of MnP, that's literally the only episode she is taking an active part in as of today. I don't really see a reason to keep her in the lore If she'll appear once and never again, It feels a bit counterproductive, but like I said, I am still thinking about this one, because her and Adrien have so much potential in development; both coming from strict, cold households, both fencing... They do have quite a bit in common. Maybe If I just move Riposte to season 1....

Moving on to Felix, I believe I already mentioned that my first opinion of him was bitter. I didn't really like him being there and the fact that he look eerily like Adrien as If they'd reused his model was just weird (ig now we know WHY season 5 spoilers). Then, the opinion shifted to much better after mostly Emotion really and since then I really did like him, but... Looking at his journey from the end of season 3 to here and his role in the overarching plot I feel like he just wouldn't fit to MnP, not with the format I'm going for.

Besides, can I just mention how random it was that Emilie and Felix's mom look literally identical AND their sons look identical as well? It made me so confused when I first watched the episode lmao

[drifting-pieces-blog-blog]

What’s your opinion on the Black, White and Blood stories for Moon Knight?

You ask a difficult question and that is okay. I'm here for it.

So I'm not going to do reviews on anything that came out this year for at least another year. At least not reviews where I break them down and post pictures and things. I may give some commentary or rant a little. I want to avoid anything current for several reasons, but the main reasons are:

Spoilers - Maybe someone has had a heck of a year and I want to give them plenty of time to discover the new thing, find time to enjoy the new thing, and then most importantly: Form their own opinions. It's very important that people have their own thoughts and opinions before they seek out what someone else thinks. It helps to open up discussion and also to open up the possibility of new opinions and well thought out arguments. At least this is my opinion on the matter.

The authors are listening. When it's brand new, the author is likely lurking somewhere looking for discourse or reviews or opinions. And CERTAIN authors have proven to be lurking around Tumblr and causing problems for negative reviews (one of them is an author in this series! I won't name names.)

I don't want to risk posting pictures on something new enough to still possibly have legal percussion. Marvel is owned by the mouse. #1 rule of the internet is don't mess with the mouse. I'm also not going to post any reviews on runs that are still going on, like for MacKay. I don't judge till their run is finished. I love what I've seen so far, but there's a chance he could take a huge shit at the finish line. (Please no. I hope he continues to do well and keeps going for a long time).

SO. Back to your question!

Issue 1:

Anubis Rex - Not a fan. Just wasn't my type of story. Nothing specific about it.

So White. Yet, so Dark - I love when Spider-man gets to be around the other lesser known heroes and I love it more when he's just chatty. This one was fun and I enjoyed it.

The End - This one was interesting. I appreciate a story told backwards once I get what's going on. He'll be fine. He's walked off worse.

Issue 2:

The Empty Tomb - Nope.

A hard day's knight - I wanted to like this one. The art was adorable. It had a good premis. But it fell flat for me. It felt like a jab at something that didn't need a jab. They could have done better.

Blood red glider - I'm a sucker for a well done story about Marc's past. This one was not bad. Didn't know what to think the first time. Gave it time. Now I'm alright with it. It has a certain feel to it that I appreciate.

Issue 3: Wrong turn - Jake Jake Jake Jake! This I love.

No Empty Sky- Not a fan.

Astronuts - Nothing personal. Just not my type of story. I'm sure it was fine.

Issue 4:

Good Morning - Alright. Very Marc.

The Scent of Blood - Why were there so many cult ones in this? I blame Bemis.

Born to be - Moon Knight vs. animal is a long time classic. Especially cats. ….also more cult things.

Over all! Why were there so many cult problems and blood sacrifices and just over all weirdness? I think two or three of them I genuinely enjoyed. The rest were either Meh or just upsetting to me. It was an interesting thing to see Moon Knight get treated a little extra special with many writers getting to try their hand at writing for this special little guy... Perhaps even a sort of Marvel Try out to see if any of them had the chops to actually do a full special or run later on.

But I also feel like some of them didn't know who Moon Knight was and just sort of threw in their own story that could have easily fit in with ANY character and didn't have to necessarily be Moon Knight. In that case, they are missing the point of writing for Moon Knight. Others I felt actually tried and missed the mark by just a tiny bit. And others got it. So not bad for a series of shorts.

What did you guys think of it? Which ones did you like and which ones did you hate?

[deadricslover]

request?

idk if you do song posts but if you do could you write one where the main female!reader is like district attorney and is giving a speech of some sort but gets caught up in a feminist rant when one of the reporters is rude towards her? Shes talking to bale! bruce wayne also and is comparing herself to him saying stuff like "if bruce was up here and not me would you be saying the same?" and all this kind of stuff

thanks sm

I'd be the man

here's my Masterlist!

a/n: my gif! kinda hate this and it's also not proofread. None of the lyrics of 'the man' are mine! I'm just using them. gotta love feminists. yes! I'd love to do this. you never specified what song to do so I picked a pretty general one by Taylor swift. 'the man' by ms. swift herself is a really powerful song with a powerful message behind it too! I hope this lives up to your standards :)

summary: in the request ^^ I didn't know how to write this if Bruce was your partner so I made it as if they get together after? I'm sorry 😭

warnings: enemies to lovers?. bit of spice at the end?. annoying ass reporters. cursing. little use of y/l/n. like always.

pairings: fem!reader X bale!Bruce Wayne.

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Don't even talk to you about stress. Stress is a daily part in your life. Driving to work every morning? Stress. Walking into your office? Stress. Meetings? Stress. Files and paperwork? Stress. Stress. Stress. Surprisingly enough you don't have gray hair yet. Today was one of the biggest press meetings you have had In your career so far and rumour has it that Mr. Prince of the city, Bruce Wayne will be there watching you and my god did he get on your nerves. His whole 'I'm better than you' 'I'm richer than you so I can do what I want' attitude got to you. But, today you weren't going to let him distract you because today is your day and you will ace this. Today you were being asked to give a speech about your thoughts on the masked vigilante running the streets outside the law. To be completely honest, you didn't mind this 'batman' guy at all. He did the cops job so you didn't know why they were complaining. But maybe if you sat down and thought about it for a little bit you would find some cons regarding the man in the mask. You were expected to do something in order to make the vigilante stop what they were doing, but in all honesty, you didn't want to. But, boy did you have a speech lined up.

Camera flashes blinked into your eyes making the large attentive crowd harder to see, which wasn't completely a bad thing. The cameras for the news and for the newspaper were lined up at the front, the sides and the back of the room, all facing right at you. You clear your throat quietly before drawing in a breath and starting to talk.

"good evening, ladies and gentlemen of Gotham. Today, as you know I have been asked to talk about a long list of topics that I physically could not fit into a time space this short. So, I will be focusing in on the main point that you all are eagerly waiting to hear about which is the masked vigilante running the streets." you lay out your flashcards incase your debate goes backwards.

"As you know a man in a mask has been fighting crime for the past several months in Gotham, and doing the cops job for them which you would think Is a good thing for them so they could sit back and eat more doughnuts" you joke and thankfully you get a few snickers out of people. It would be beyond words embarrassing if you didn't.

"But. There are much more disadvantages to this crime fighting being than advantages. Wheather or not I agree with these arguments doesn't matter today because I am here to do what's right and seize the Batman's actions. Nobody should be allowed to act outside of the law, no matter how cool the costume." you weren't expecting a laugh from anyone at that moment but there was one particular one that caught everyone's ear in the silence of the room. Bruce mother fucking Wayne. You take a deep breath calming yourself for the next while not allowing yourself to get agitated by him.

You continue with your arguments getting the odd dirty look from Bruce and some reporters. How did you come to hate Bruce Wayne so much you ask? Well he basically just thinks he is better than you in ever single way just because he is wealthier than you, and of course because he is a man after all and men get the upper hand in society. Men always have. You're a successful women? Oh, who did you sleep with to get here? You're a woman and have an opinion? oh, lord no. that can't happen. Had a dating life? no.no.no. you can't play around before finding the one to commit to. Unless you were a man of course. Being a powerful women leader without getting hate, just isn't on the cards for us. And the list goes on and on and on. This was the last thing on your mind right now but some how it happened to up it's way into the discussion today. And boy did you go off on everyone. It may have been a little bit embarrassing but so what? You were standing up for every single women, not just in Gotham, but around the whole world.

"In this particular photograph here, we can see the batman phy-" you get cut off by a loud, obnoxious laugh that could only belong to Bruce.

"Are you finished Mr. Wayne? I have a presentation to present" you say turning 90° to the crowd.

"Yes. I am. Sorry about that" he replies re-gathering himself again.

"Good. Now If I could draw your attention to this pie-" you are cut off again by the exact same noise.

"Bruce, would you like to share whatever it is you are finding so amusing with everyone else? I'm sure they would love to hear." you say enraged at his behaviour

"No, it's just- well The batman is in fact outside of the law. I agree with you on that one. But he's not all bad. You are making him out to be a bad guy when he's really just trying to help the city." he says stuttering his words out of humour whilst getting up out of his seat and walking up to you.

"And what about that is so funny to you?" you reply full of anger

"Just the fact that you had to go against your beliefs regarding the batman to even be here today"

"Every meeting I have been at that you were there, you just slept the whole time. Why don't you do us all a favour and doze off for the duration of this." The amount of 'boo''s and negative mumbles you got from that were really destructive actually.

Bruce puts on a fake sarcastic pained face whilst mouthing 'ouch' to you before perking an eyebrow upwards. He could see the anger bubbling deep inside and that acted as fuel for him to keep going.

"That's not very mature of you Ms. Y/L/N" which earns a bunch of light giggles from the crowd.

you place your palm flat on the surface of the podium holding yourself upright as you push away the microphone for a moment trying to sus out what He's playing at here.

"What the fuck are you getting at here, Bruce? You're making me look bad." you whisper angrily at him

He cocks his head to the side resting his elbow Infront of your palm leaning at an angle becoming your height. he gasps lightly before saying sarcastically "language!.....And I'm not trying to make you look bad" he says lying. His face shows it all and be made sure you could see it.

"Then why are you up here?! I have thirty minutes left of this shit and you're wasting my time, Wayne" you rant.

"wow I gotta find something to argue about for thirty minutes....I'm sure it won't be hard with you"

"It is taking every bone in my body to not punch you across that smug face of yours"

"I'm gonna change the topic of discussion. Is that ok? yes?! thank you, you're a star, Babe" he says winking whilst walking away before letting you give him an answer.

"Ms. district attorney. Recent sources have confirmed that you are not in a relationship your ex boyfriend anymore. I came here today to ask you, How has your career changed since? Have you been making less money now that you're a one person package again? hmm?"

here we go.

"That's it. Bruce I'm going to ask you this one more time. What. Are. You. Doing. Here. I have a presentation to finish and you are not helping in any way, shape or form. So, unless you are going to help me get this vigilante off the streets and not ask me about my personal life that you are not a part of, then I suggest you go back to your seat. How does that sound?"

"It doesn't tickle my fancy. I'm sure everyone else wants to know though? right?! How hard had the breakup hit you? In here if you need to talk about it-"

That was the final straw. After this slipped past Bruce's lips you turned around to face him, who was standing a good bit away from you - which is probably safer for him- and let go of your anger cutting him off.

"Bruce, Bruce, Bruce. May I ask. What's it like to brag about ranking in dollars and getting all the girls that are models? It being socially acceptable to make women look bad for the things that you are doing that get praise. How does it feel, Mr. Wayne" you start. slowly stepping away from your previous spot. He gets visibly angry by this. The hypocrite.

"Wait. It's all good if you're bad at your job and even more ok if you're mad right now. Because You are a wealthy, powerful MAN that can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. right? But imagine this..."

You turn around to the crowd and return to your spot at the podium before getting into character and saying.

"But. If I was out flashing my dollars, I'd be a bitch, not a baller." There is uproar. People standing up and shouting over you because you cursed on TV.

"They'd paint me out to be bad. so it's ok that I'm mad!" you exclaim the last line louder than the rest because of your anger and also because if the overlapping chatter and angry sentences coming from everyone. you hit your first off the surface below you in anger which seems to silence everyone.

"I am so sick of working as hard as I can and getting no credit for it. I'm wondering if I would get there quicker if I was a man. If Bruce- Mr. Wayne, exuse me.. and I swapped positions would there be as much chaos in the crowd as there is now? Ok so If Bruce was trying to get the batman of the streets and I was rudely interrupting him by obnoxiously laughing and causing a scene. Would there be any hesitation in shooing me off the stage? No....see. I'm not getting fully into this today but For those of you who don't know, women are treated like shit compared to men when it comes to power. Men have the upper hand and have it easier than women and still think it's ok to treat us unfairly.....Thank you everyone for your time." you finish gathering your cards and walking off stage, the crowd livening up again with questions for you. But you ignore them.

Soon after you get off stage and sit down in your office chair, you begin to massage your temples kneading away the anger that built up that you didn't let out. You hear a knock on the doorframe and look up to see a man in a black tux with a white shirt not standing straight leaning up at an angle against the wooden frame. He's standing with a sincere sorry face painted on.

"I can't get a moment's peace" you mumble slightly seeing that it's Bruce.

"Yes. Mr Wayne. How can I help you" you say with an urgent annoyed tone

"Believe it or not I came to say I'm sorry." he says softly sounding genuine

"apology accepted. now get out I have to find a new job" you reply sarcastically

"you're not going to get demoted. I am going to get...alot...of hate for what I started. I didn't know it ever annoyed you, I was just....god this is going to sound so weird and I'm going to sound like a lying dick. But, I just wanted to get your attention. I thought it was the only way to have a relationship with you and I was willing to have one where you hated me over nothing at all. I see that was wrong and you didn't like it and I'm really truly sorry. I'm not expecting you to say anything back but I just owed you an explanation as to why I was acting the way I was all these years." he talks on and on

to say you were shocked was an understatement. You had no words, there was nothing flowing through your head at all. In all honesty Bruce was an insanely attractive man but all this time you thought he was an ass so you never had any desire to have a romantic relationship with him. After hearing this there was part of you that wanted to just run up to him and kiss him, but the sane part of you knew that that would be the wrong thing to do. Apparently you're insane. After a second of looking at him deep in thought you get up our of your chair walking towards him with butterflies in your stomach, he straightens himself curious as to what you're doing until his questions are diminished when you smash your lips to his in complete euphoria and impulse. He kisses back and you can feel his smirk against your mouth. His left hand firmly draws the back of your waist towards his, your fingers thread through his hair tugging at it while his other hand slips under your arm and keeps a firm grip on your upper back toying with the neck's seam of your shirt. Eventually you pull away and draw in a quiet breath while he composes himself.

"That was the last thing I thought you would do, Mrs." he says sleepy-eyed into yours, seductively.

"well, was it a good surprise?" you retort in the same tone

"why don't I show you what I thought of it?" and you felt the impact of that line immediately in-between your legs, before you had one of the best times of your life which you or Bruce would never ever forget.

[postalenha]

on and off % jake

pairing: playboybf!jake x reader genre: angst, fluff, lovers to exes, exes to lovers idek word count: 1.89k words requested: yes / prompt 14, “we called it off again last night.” / 18, “it’s been you all along.” / 19, “for the first time, i had something to lose.” synopsis: immaturity isn't needed in a relationship, but that seems to be jake's and your's specialty. warnings: curse words, mentions of drinking, throwing up, su!cide, toxic relationship, making out

"i thought you're going with jake today?" sunghoon asked as you hop into his car.

you rolled your eyes at the thought of riding in the same vehicle as the boy, "no, we called it off again last night."

"again?!" the boy exclaimed, "y/n, that's probably the nth time you guys called it off." he sighed in disbelief, "that's not how relationships work." he commented.

judgingly looking at his way, "yeah? like you know any better?"

"shut up." he started the engine, "this isn't about my love life."

"whatever." you blurt out, "i guess being bad at handling relationship runs in our blood." you jokingly said, as your cousin laugh.

he tilt his head smiling, "damn, of all things that can be passed down, that's what we got."

"well, at least we got good looks. that works as a payoff." he added. you agreed at him with a nod, "anyway." you changed the subject.

"i'm planning on ending it with jake." you stated. he looked at you, "no shit, you sure?" he assured, "to be honest, whatever makes you happy." he added, looking like he wanted to say something but he decided not to.

"don't apologize." you led before he could even say sorry for insisting that you should date his best friend, sim jaeyun.

"i'm not- okay whatever." he almost want to deny the urge but he saw you looking at him with a teasing face, "i just feel a little responsible for all the stress this relationship have caused you." he scratch the back of his head, as you slap his arm.

"shut up, dating him was my decision. you don't have to blame yourself for all the bad decisions i made for myself. i'm an adult now." you told him.

parking his car he nod his head, "okay. just remember i'm here if things are bad, okay?"

"okay." you said, before going out of his car. walking at the corridor of your building, trying to see if jake arrived earlier than you today.

and he certainly did. there he is on his designated seat beside the window, silently watching as the wilted leaves fall down from the tree.

the clock ticks time faster than you expected and your professor came in, not able to call out for jake's name to even talk to him.

sitting down to a chair, you told yourself that you'll talk to him later. and here you are, in front of jake sim at the rooftop of your university's main building.

it might be your lucky day for no one else is here but the two of you. this place is usually cramped with so many people and miraculously today isn't one of those days.

this may be one of the many signs sent from above that this relationship should end as it wasn't right from the beginning.

your blood boils as your cousin sunghoon pushes you into the table of his friend group, "come on! you wouldn't lose anything! he just want to talk to you." he shouts.

"then tell him i don't want to!" you shout back a little annoyed. the last thing you want to do tonight is talk to the famous serial dater, jake sim. "for i know, he just wants the best out of me!"

"come on! jake's not like that!" he defended his friend. to be honest, sunghoon is the last person you should be ranting to. for he is just like his friend, they play with girl's hearts for fun.

you rolled your eyes as you reach the table of ego. the decision of naming that wasn't yours, but the other students. they called this the table of ego because everyone in here got some solid ego. heeseung, jay, sunghoon, jake. all of them.

"y/n! you actually came!" heeseung cheered as soon as he saw you, he scooted a little bit on his right to leave some space between him and jake, "come sit!"

sitting beside him was probably one of the decisions you will forever regret in your life. the memory of that night was a blur. you barely recall anything that happened then.

the only thing that you remember was when jake was reaching for a kiss, you accidentally threw up on him before passing out.

the next day, he told you to be his girlfriend to compensate with the mess you gave his brand new shirt. you said yes just so he could shut up, telling yourself you'll break up with him after a day or two.

two months then passed and you are just breaking everything now. well, it's better late than never. you just didn't expect that he would actually be a good boyfriend.

he's mostly good, not until everything gets complicated even with nothing. you fight over the smallest thing like, not being able to respond to each other's text to someone getting jealous.

it wasn't the best relationship you've been in but it was a good experience. you learned so much and now, it's time to move on.

"what is it that you wanted to say?" jake impatiently snapped you back into reality. you swallowed a good amount of saliva before saying, "let's break up."

it was better to say it forward than beating around the bush. with this, more time and energy will be saved. because even if you give him an explanation he probably won't listen.

he slowly blinked and sighed, looking away he said "okay. if that's what you want." see. he wouldn't even bother asking you why.

well, if you get things easy. they would also go easily, "okay. it was fun meeting you." you head out, leaving him there.

he most probably would not be so upset that he might think of jumping off the building, but you still prayed that he wont.

and he didn't. you can guarantee that as you see that three weeks later jake sim is with a woman walking the same isle as you are. the chances of you seeing him here at this huge mall was small, but never impossible.

you grabbed your friend's hand trying to hide from the sight of the man, "what are you doing-"

"shut up, jake is here." you told here looking at their way, walking into a clothing store. you hurriedly go and sit at a restaurant far from them and ordered food when your friend speak up.

"y/n, what's the point of hiding now when you guys already broke up?" she patheticly looked at you who's trying to hide from a menu list.

putting the menu list down on the table, you crossed your arms, "i am not hiding from him. i simply don't want to involve myself with anything that has to do with him."

"yeah, like seeing him in a shopping mall involves you with him." she said with full sarcasm. "you have no idea how pathetic that sounded."

not listening to anything she said, you started eating your pasta. almost choking when you saw a familliar figure walk in the restaurant.

trying your best to lean down and not get noticed you hear your friend call, "jake!" you kick her feet under the table as you see jake wave back and walks closer.

"what the fuck did you just do?" you whispered at her, she just smiles like an idiot as jake reach your table.

"hello, jia." he greeted your friend, "hi, y'n."

flashing a fake smile, you said "hi." satisfied with how annoyed you are, jia announced "you guys can join us! we got two extra seats here."

"we don't want to intrude-" you cut him off, "yes, there are a lot of vacant tables. they sure can find their own, right?"

serving a glass of wine, a waiter says "oh, we're fully booked, ma'am. so if you want to eat here, you have to wait for another hour or so." he said pouring some on your glass. "if you'll excuse me."

"it would be rude if we don't invite you right? so join!" your friend cheered as the girl jake's with sit next to you.

taking a sip of your wine whenever jake helps the girl cut her steak, you became unaware of how drunk you are. "so, when did you meet jake?" you asked the girl.

to be frank, she was quiet the whole time. just sitting there, not saying a thing but a "thanks." whenever jake helps her with anything.

"you can't answer that? well can you tell me if you are able to use your hands to their purpose? like cutting off a steak or puring your own glass of wine?"

"y/n-" your friend tried to stop you. but you didn't listen. you just continued to blabber nonsense until jake grabbed your wrist to the bathroom.

shaking your hand off his grip you screamed at him asking, "why did you bring me here?!"

"y/n why are you being so rude?" he calmly asked you.

you sarcastically laughed, "i'm being rude? who's more rude when you're out here eating at the same table as your ex-girlfriend and your current girlfriend?"

"current girlfriend- y/n that's my cousin!" he tried to calm himself by breathing slowly, pushing the side of his mouth using his tounge "do you really think i could replace you that fast?"

the sudden question made you feel like someone cut off your tounge. because you mostly have answer for everything but this. his question caught you off guard.

"when you broke up with me, i never asked why. i knew you were tired and i don't want to exhaust you more." you hear his voice shake as he speak. "i was also tired and we both needed a break."

you looked straight at his eyes that are sparkling from moist done by the tears that he have been trying so hard to hold back, "but as time pass by, i felt more and more empty. there is a big mark of you in my heart that ever since you left, no one has ever filled."

"nobody could ever fit in, but you." cupping your face he also wipe your tears away. "i never felt that way before. it's like, for the first time, i had something to lose."

"jake, i-" it was as if you forgot how to compose a word. you never knew he felt the same way you did when you broke up with him.

maybe sunghoon was more of your cousin than he is jake's friend. because if jake only knew how many times you told sunghoon that you miss him, he would've came back faster than this.

he smiled pulling you into a hug, "it's fine if you don't feel the same way anymore. i understand that. but i just want you to know that i am not the douchebag you think i am."

pulling away from the hug, you see his eyes were bloodshot "sorry, the last thing i want to do is make you cry-" you pulled him into a kiss not letting another word out of his mouth.

running out of breath, you seperated his lips from yours. you widely smiled at him, "it’s been you all along."

kissing outside a three star restaurant's restroom isn't as ideal as other comeback stories, but you wouldn't ask for anything else. as long as you have jake in your arms, your heart is content.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Hey, I've slept on it, and now I know why I felt so weird about the whole finale.

It's literally just... the pacing. Things move too fast and the characters don't have time to do anything but fight and make jokes. It has a lot of excitement and whimsy but lacks character grounding.

If this episode was a bit longer, fitting longer quieter character scenes in between all the kick ass fighting, it would have seemed more cohesive.

(It's in my opinion that it would have worked best as a MOVIE, a three act structure with the long fight scene at the end.)

Think about this, the whole first act follows N getting the ship from J and completely torn up over the fact he lost both V and Uzi, he's fighting with tears in his eyes, but does win because he's not holding back anymore (why would he? He's lost everything) And when he goes to leave (which is what Uzi wanted) he spots her and the music swells. Then we have that scene with Nori just the same as it is.

Then that spaceship doesn't get immediately destroyed. They reunite (throw in a sparky head tap, they deserve that much) and confess their feelings here, N addresses his anger on how she martyred herself here too, its not put off till later, and make a plan on wtf to do, Uzi fills in N on how to destroy Cyn, and possibly explain how she's resisting the solver (which i think is just 'positive thoughts, given the very few context clues' so that when the time comes she's completely immune to it, it doesn't come off as 'plot armory.

Then at the end of first act. (Of an hour long MOVIE) The solver destroys the ship. They still have the spin fall, and a hug (but they don't confess, they already did that!) Instead they ALMOST KISS, but don't, because Uzi is still Uzi and feels weird about it. Doing the whole "ew gross, let's go kill God now." Bit.

And then we'd get into the second act, witch would be running scared shitless from the solver, which was the best scenes from the finale, and paced pretty well so I wouldn't change much, probably just make it slightly slower, they talk in between running, maybe just Uzi checking in on N because he's 💫 TRAUMATIZED.

We can also flip to the B plot here, Lizzy, Thad and Khan doing their thing, trying to get to Uzi and the others. (And we'll spend a little more time with them! Whooo!) Have Khan have a little inner (or have him rant.) monolog about trying to be a better parent. Hence the rescue mission. Have Thad and Lizzy talk about themselves and Uzi and why Lizzy was such a bully and why Thad wasn't, give em character growth.

And then flip back to The Horrors. Uzi and N are still scared hiding in the bars, trying to be quiet. And then V! She's Alive! (But hasn't had that fight with J yet, that comes later.) And apologies to fake N, which gets them caught, and normal core hot potato insues.

Khan, Lizzy and Thad arrive! And save N from being devoured! This is when J shows up as well, which make all three of out main characters do a double take, like what? Why the fuck are you working for Cyn? We trusted you, bleh.

THEN and only THEN, will the final fight and third act start. Which is exactly the same, big bombastic, fast paced. No changes.

I might do a rewrite at some point, but that would take awhile so, don't expect it anytime soon.

Aight I watched it; got things to say

Spoiler Warning; Obvi-

First; gotta get my main ship outta the way.

WHOO AWKWARD RELATIONSHIP CONFIRMATION!

Nuzi be cannon, and done in the most 'them' way possible. Talking over each other and being soooo dorky, love them, they're great.

No kiss tho, which yeah, didn't figure there would be. Still slightly dissapointing.

V's ALIVE! Which I think we all figured, but I am glad!

Vizzy is also cannon and I wasn't expecting that. Not that I don't ship it, just didn't expect it, but that cute little lean at the end confirmed it.

But enough ship talk. Let's get into my initial thoughts.

My main one being.... that it's totally not the end?

We get left on a CLIFFHANGER!?

is Uzi's body a hologram? It certainly glitched out like one. And also CYN is in her tail? Like alive? And just... being passive aggressive?

Cool but... how? Why? Is Uzi like... the absolute solver program now? She literally dies and comes back so uh... ???

I've only watched it once, so maybe my opinion will change over time but;

It doesn't feel like a cohesive end.

It's not BAD, don't get me wrong. I just feel like it left me more questions then it answered. So I feel like a second season or a movie or... SOMETHING is in order.

Those are my very first; initial thoughts. Give me time to let 'em stew and maybe I'll have more later.

[greensaplinggrace]

honestly THANK YOU for saying all that abt baghra bc i thought i was going crazy from not liking her??? bc i haven't read the books and only summaries of them on wiki and like. i dunno why ppl like her actually even in the show bc this guy, her son, is like "i wanna make the world better for us grisha" and she's just like "no." even tho he sees that she's MAKING HERSELF SICK from suppressing her powers! she's literally like in bed coughing in the flashback yet seem much healthier at the little palace. also like after everything, after her disapproval, after the fold, after centuries of waiting for the sun summoner.. he never abandons her. he makes sure she's cares for. he doesn't harm her. and i have to wonder if baghra has ever thanks him for that, for just not leaving her alone. like i dunno how im suppose ro believe aleks is a heartless villain when he still cares for his abusive mom like this. like has baghra even told her she loved him (honestly she reminds me of a classic emotionally unavailable asian parent but maybe that's just me). also im wondering if baghra ever told aleks that he had an aunt.. bc like.. now that u bring up her isolating him it's like hmmmm...

not at me being like alina... why do u trust the bitter old woman who literally beats u with a stick and verbally abuses u every chance she gets.. just bc she showed a bad painting... like.. pls use two braincells to see that who u figured out as his mother... is also using his protection..

like baghra could've upped and left with alina. but no. she stayed bc she knew she was safe under aleks's protection.

alsoim just impressed that after his first friend tried to drown him and harvest his bones... he didn't go into hiding???? he still wanted to make a safe heaven for grisha!!! HE STILL WANTED TO PROTECT GRISHA EVEN AFTER HIS GRISHA FRIEND TRIED TO KILL HIM FOR HIS FUCKEN BONES. like... this is the guy im suppose to believe is the villain???

honestly i feel like part of the reason why LB's plotlines seem so bad and disconnected (and sometimes outright racist but that's another rant) and why darkles is disproportionately more violent and villainous in the later books is bc she didn't expect the darkling to be so popular and wanted to stick with her guns of making him the villain. but also wanted the money from aleks's popularity. but like you can't have ur cake and eat it too.

Well thank you for sending this ask! It's very sweet and very passionate. I'm glad you liked my post! I didn't put as much thought into it as some of my others lol. I kind of just talked. But it was nice to be able to finally talk about some of the problems I have with both her character and the fandom/author's perception of her.

HERE is the post this is referring to, in case anyone's wondering.

👀👀 You've hit the nail on the head for so many things, here!

Baghra is extremely emotionally unavailable, basically to the point of neglect. She's also verbally and physically abusive, traits which I doubt were only reserved for her students and not her son. Baghra claims she would do anything to protect him, but I've known a lot of parents who have that mindset and yet still harm their children because they think it's "good for them".

Aleksander stays at Baghra's side for years, and even when they're opposing each other she's never too far away from him. Idk if you've read the books but he does eventually hurt her. And as much as I don't like Baghra, I think his actions were horrid. But I'm also honestly kind of surprised it took him so long lmao.

Yeah I mean, in terms of isolation, let's not forget that she never wanted to introduce him to his father, either. Baghra's sense of eternity clouds a lot of her judgments on relationships, which means she views most people as dust and therefore teaches her son to as well. The problem with that is that he's a growing child, and he needs those social and emotional attachments for healthy development.

I would bet quite a bit of money that Baghra has either never told him she loves him or she has told him so few times it's practically forgettable.

And everything becomes more complicated because so many of Baghra's actions are understandable because of her life and her history, but the impacts they have on the people around her, especially Aleksander, are permanently damaging. And the fact that that's never gone over in critical depth in the books or how it's glossed over in fandom is just very disconcerting. Like, acknowledging Baghra's failings doesn't mean we're excusing Aleksander's actions, it just means we're holding Baghra liable for her own. Which the fandom should be doing, considering she's the epitome of an abusive parental figure.

And Alina trusting Baghra over Aleksander is even more confusing! Especially in the show!! This is the woman who beat her and abused her and tortured her friends when they tiny little children (and who probably still does so now that they're adults). This is the woman who mocks you and harasses you and insults you on a regular basis. Why does Baghra revealing she's Aleksander's mother make Alina change her mind?! Like fuck, I'd just feel bad for Aleksander. No wonder he kept it a secret, I would too! And that painting is enough evidence?! Really?! A random painting shown to you by this abusive mentor that's been making your life hell. That's what you're going to betray your new lover over?

The friends trying to harvest his bones thing is a good point, too. I think Aleksander, especially show Aleksander, is incredibly idealistic. I think he cares too much for others - those he's deemed worth his care (a sentiment given to him by Baghra). Despite everything she's tried to teach him about hiding and abandoning others and never caring and never doing anything to help or reach out or connect with people, Aleksander still continues to do so. It's likely because he never got it from Baghra growing up, and so is desperate for those emotional needs to be fulfilled elsewhere.

His turning point, when Baghra tells him it was understandable that those kids tried to kill him because the world is such a hard place for them - that's crucial. And the reason it's possible as a motivating factor is because of that idealism and that desire to help and that desire to be everything his mother isn't. Baghra tells him this trauma he just experienced was because of the oppression of his people, and instead of following her lead and accepting that, going into hiding and abandoning everybody to their misery, he goes I can do something about that. I can make it so this never happens again. Which is usually how trauma like that combines with one's core personality traits at a young age, especially when there's none of the essential support systems in place to aid in recovery (ie, the role Baghra should have been filling but wasn't, because she decided to exacerbate the problem instead).

And yeah, one of my biggest problems with the ham-fisted "beating you over the head with a sledgehammer of evil deeds" look-how-bad-this-character-is! portrayal of the Darkling in the later books comes from the impression I get that Bardugo doesn't trust her readers. She's so desperate to have us hate this character and think him an irredeemable villain, not trusting any of her readers to engage critically with a morally gray character, that it feels quite a bit like condescending fucking bullshit. Which ew, I know how to engage with literature, thanks.

She really does seem to look down on a large part of her fandom, and imo, the infantilization of the female characters in her books seems to carry over to her impression of most of her female readers as well. Which is why the Darkling's character arc gets fucking destroyed. But he's still a good cash grab, of course, so she'll shake his dead corpse in front of the fandom for money every time she wants something from it.

Also! Another reason I think her plotlines feel disconnected (I'm sorry Bardugo I respect you as a person, but shit-) is because the writing in SaB is just bad. I mean, nevermind the absolutely nauseating implications of the way she portrays the Grisha as a persecuted group who's situation is never actually fully addressed as it should be, considering Grisha rights is what her main villain is fighting for (imo for a series called the Grishaverse, LB seems to be pretty anti Grisha), but her characters and story alone are just wrong for each other. They don't fit together.

And the ending is one of the main pieces of evidence in that regard! You can’t say the ending where Alina isn’t Grisha anymore is her “going back to where she started” when she’s always been Grisha. She just didn’t know she was Grisha because she denied that part of herself that she was born with.

Alina is reluctant to move forward or change, she struggles with adapting, and she’s very set on the things she’s grown attached to throughout her life. She also has some latent prejudices against the Grisha, and so denies the possibility of being Grisha for those reasons as well.

Alina’s lack of powers in the beginning of her life because she willfully doesn’t learn about them to avoid change versus her lack of powers at the end of the book when she’s accepted them and then they’re stripped away from her by outer forces are two entirely separate circumstances. You can’t make a parallel about lost powers and lack of Grisha status bringing her back to the start when she was always Grisha and she always had powers and she simply refused to come to terms with it because of personal reasons.

The first situation is an internal conflict that indicates a story about growth and a journey of self acceptance. Denying herself the opportunity to learn about her heritage and to find acceptance with a group of people like her because she’s tied to the past and because of the way she was raised is the setup for a narrative that tackles unlearning prejudice and learning how to connect with a part of her identity that was denied her and learning how to grow independent and self assured. It’s the setup for a different story entirely. The second situation is an external conflict that centers around the ‘corrupting influence of power’... for some reason.

In a world where Grisha do not have social, political, or economic power and they are hunted, centering your heroine’s journey of self acceptance and growth around an external conflict about... the corrupting influence of power (in a group of people that don’t actually have any power?!) just doesn’t work. It is literally impossible to connect the two stories Bardugo is trying to push in Shadow and Bone without seriously damaging the main character’s developmental arc.

The only way a narrative like this would work, claiming that she has gone back to where she started, is either a) if the Grisha weren’t actually a persecuted group and instead were apart of the upper class, or b) if the one bad connection between the two instances is acknowledged - that Alina denied a part of herself crucial to self acceptance and growing up, and that losing her powers at the end has also denied her. It is a tragedy, not a happy ending.

Alina suffered because she didn’t use her powers. She grew sick. It was bad for her. This was not a resistance to 'the corruption of power and the burden of greed', it was her suffering because she couldn’t fully accept herself.

Framing the ending as a return to the beginning can’t be done if you don’t address how bad the beginning was for your main character. You brought her back to a bad point in her life. You regressed her. This should be a low point in her arc. It should be a problem that’s solved so she can finish developing organically or it should be something that is acknowledged as a tragedy in it’s own right, for the future the world (the writing) denied her.

This is a ramble and it makes no sense and I’m really sorry, but my point is that Bardugo put the wrong characters in the wrong story. The character arc required for organic development doesn’t match the story and intended message at all. The narrative doesn’t fit the cast. She's got two clashing stories attempting to work in tandem and she ends up with both conflicting messages that fans still can’t comprehend in her writing and an ending that doesn’t suit her main character to such an impossible degree that it’s almost laughable.

So yeah, there's a few reasons why I think the story and the plot feels so bad and disconnected. I hope you don't mind me making this answer so long! 😅 I was not expecting to write this much.

[disaster-vampire]

i'm so sorry but i have no idea how to put in a "read more" on mobile. this is really long.

this rant was inspired by this post, i agree with most of it but it prompted a lot of thoughts that derailed the more i wrote, so buckle up. i wrote a whole ass post on hannibal and dante that you can find here, where i highlight how impressive it is that hannibal can give lectures on dante as a foreigner, just to get that out of the way. i add a few more thoughts on that specific topic here on the technicalities of how hannibal would even get to that point and why dante is so fitting for hannibal but let's go.

i also grew up bilingual with italian being my main language and sardinian regrettably being my second when it should have been my first. and i learned italian much faster than sardinian, even with both being my mother tongues, because i was taught italian in school and it's kind of "forbidden" to speak sardinian in formal environments as it's considered low-brow to speak it for historical reasons so i only really speak it with family and a few friends that know the language, as not everyone does. bear with me this is part of the meta.

so, all that said, growing up in lithuania and interacting with other lithuanian people, including his family and whatever staff they had in that big ass castle, plus schooling, he probably knew lithuanian better than italian in his childhood. that is not taking into consideration the soviets though. i went to read about it without falling in too deep into the rabbit hole and lithuania has been independent since the 90s, so even show hannibal, who is younger than book hannibal, would have only known soviet lithuania. i unfortunately know fuck all about how soviet russia treated its conquered countries and am not willing to dive into that right in this moment so i'm not gonna make assumptions, but as was said in the original post hannibal did end up in a soviet orphanage so he was likely taught russian there.

this would mean that hannibal grew up knowing russian very well, speaking lithuanian with family and friends outside of school and formal events, which means reduced lexicon, and only speaking italian with his mother, maybe his sister and father, and his other italian relatives who we know nothing of.

i like to think he also speaks esperanto as it was developed during the soviet occupation of poland to be spoken amongst the various countries that were also occupied by the soviets but that's more headcanon than anything.

idk how to feel about him and lithuanian considering what has been said in the original post and in its notes, because i'm a bit biased. i'm very proud of where i'm from and i speak sardinian to spite mussolini and hope he rolls in his grave every time a child learns a new sardinian word. considering mischa in the books was killed by soviet soldiers (correct me if i'm misremembering that, i haven't read all the books yet but i know the gist of his backstory) i like to think hannibal also speaks lithuanian both to spite them and to keep the memory of his sister alive. i'd say if anything he'd hate to speak russian since it was spoken by said soldiers and in the orphanage.

considering that what he does is re-enact what was done to him, he's not letting that memory go, despite how much he likes to say "nothing happened to me, i happened," he feeds other people human meat without them knowing just like he was fed his sister unknowingly.

and yes i do think he probably had it in him before as well, and i do think if nothing had happened to him he still would have turned out to be a criminal anyway, but what happened to him did shape what kind of criminal he became in his adulthood, and he even put (in the show) will through the same ordeal when he convinced him he ate his surrogate daughter and actually force fed him part of her as an effort to change him.

he's very self aware, and i think he knows both that he always had the potential and that what he chooses to do is linked to his trauma.

now, more on latin, dante, and italian. this is about to get unhinged because it's 3am and i have strong opinions on dante (namely: he thought he could dole out judgements on whether or not other people would or would not go to hell- which is a thing he made up btw, based on the greek myth of hades, and the vatican had to make it canonical because so many people read his books that it became a widespread belief- based on his personal opinion of their actions).

i have no idea if hannibal being a dante lecturer in florence of all places is something the show took from the books, and i'm also not sure where the hell hannibal studied dante, but i'll do my best here. i know about dante because boy do they drill dante into your brain in italian school from middle school onwards. i assure you every single living italian can quote the opening of the inferno to you. i don't think they teach dante that religiously in french schools but lemme know if i'm wrong.

so i'm assuming, again, that he went to high school in italy and likely went to a liceo classico, which as you can probably guess from the name, is where you study classic literature. classic as in roman and greek. so. they study latin and ancient greek, and they probably got dante coming out their eyeballs.

i believe the reason hannibal likes dante so much is that dante was an asshole who put all the people he knew irl and didn't like in hell in his self insert fanfiction where he meets god and various creatures from greek myth. and if any of y'all come at me defending dante and being pretentious asshats about calling the divina commedia a self insert fanfiction i will bite you because i hate his guts even if the inferno is a fun read. the dude couldn't write a transition scene to save his life, he just fainted every time he needed to change scene. the only credit i give him is that he wanted to bring academic discourse to the common folk. anyway. the way dante wrote the inferno is very reminiscent of hannibal's modus operandi. he tortures and consumes people that have committed a sin that specifically irritates him, thus making himself god (and yes dante did that too, he hated indecisive people and made a special circle in hell just for people who wouldn't pick a side, and as a non-binary bisexual, i love that for me).

lemme tell you about this real dude that dante put in hell that i believe inspired hannibal lecter as a character: count ugolino della gherardesca. now those of you who know the story know where i'm going with this. count ugolino is in hell because he changed political factions. yea. as i said. dante hates indecision. he's showed gnawing at the head of another politician he was associated with when he was alive, and i won't get into the political side at all because it's been 800 years and i do not care, though dante cared Very Much, in fact this circle of hell is the one reserved for the traitors of the country. the interesting part is that from the way that dante worded the passage about the count, people interpreted it a bit differently from what he may have actually meant. count ugolino died of starvation while imprisoned in a tower with his sons and grandsons. the way dante wrote it made it sound like they died before him and he, mad with hunger, ate them, and then died of starvation after that. thus the legend of the cannibal count was born. we actually have no idea or historical proof if he cannibalised them or not, but that's the story most people hear anyway. yes my family told me they would feed me to count ugolino if i misbehaved as a child.

we also get a quote about his sons offering up their flash for their father to consume after they died as he is the one that created it which i know some of my mutuals are gonna love.

btw did ya know count ugolino was a lord and vicar in sardinia? did ya know the first victims of the real mostro di firenze case were sardinian? did ya know the first suspects in the mostro di firenze case were sardinian? did ya know there were rumors during the case that a foreign doctor was buying the organs of the victims in the black market? did ya know that they consulted quantico in the mostro case? did ya know mason's man-eating pigs trained by sardinian people are a direct reference to sardinian faida culture that i don't think the average italian knows about? did ya know thomas harris was sitting at the mostro trials taking notes that later inspired red dragon?

moral of the story i think hannibal lived in sardinia at some point and he heard the story of count ugolino and then had casu marzu (cheese with worms, yea people eat that and it's considered a delicacy but it's illegal to sell it and hannibal would be down for that and my proof is the ortolans) and it made him a crazy bitch

[unstable-unicornn]

THANK YOU FOR THESE TAGS.

Thor: The Dark World is one of my favourites if not my favourite MCU movie overall, I've watched it so many times I can do it better than the actors maybe... the characterization is just so good, for every character... yeah Jane might not be too interesting (at least for me, other people might like her), Malekith could have been used better, but THE CHARACTERS, everyone was done VERY well: Thor, Odin, Frigga and of course Loki. And the movie didn't lack jokes and comedy too (that people seem to need to enjoy a movie, cause they can't stay concentrated on a plot without a joke every five minutes evidently).

Also the whole vibe, costumes, aesthetic and visuals of the movie were so good... I look at fanarts and screenshots of the movie to take in every detail of Loki's costume cause it's soooo good, the colour, the fabric, the armour inserts that still don't make the whole costume look like an armour...

[Here comes my (maybe) unpopular take on Loki's costume in The Dark World: it looks like it's both masculine and feminine, a bit like Sif's and Frigga's costumes but in a different way... it has some armour here and there, but the majority of it is leather, mostly tight fitting, and it has those loose parts (pardon my language) falling down his legs that make it almost look like a dress from afar. It's also a similar style to the outfit he wore in Thor (2011) during the Battle of Jotunheim, and I loved that costume too sadly it's not used for a long time...]

(Sorry for this add I love that costume. Back to main topic)

The Dark World is amazing, it's not boring like people say... it had character build and development, something that takes time, pain and "boring" scenes to be done well. You can't do it well in a comedic movie with little to no plot (*cough* Ragnarok *cough* Loki show *cough*) and then try to tell me the characters had this amazing development that wasn't there.

So whenever I find people who take for a fact that every Marvel fan hates The Dark World and loves Ragnarok I go feral... like I love The Dark World so much and I'll defend it with my life.

Sorry for the rant... I just love that movie (and I hate that show).

I just want to reflect how much the Loki show ruined Loki as a character for me and how much disheartened I was with it.

I had always wanted a spinoff on him, which explored him more. And the Loki show did anything but that.

Do you guys remember how Loki was in Infinity War for like 5 minutes, yet Tom Hiddleston was at almost every media interaction the cast had? The same thing happened in the show as well. They used him to market the show, then sidelined him in his own show. I think that was unacceptable, because they used Loki as a bait to promote a character that I held no emotions for.

Sylvie.

The argument that one does not like Sylvie because they “hate a strong female character/a character with complex arcs” is so pathetic. I don’t think I would’ve liked Sylvie even if she had the most elaborate arc in the MCU (which she doesn’t) because it just wasn’t meant to be about her.

I wanted to see Loki’s story, his journey, and if you take this moment to interject with the statement that “she’s Loki too, just different”, then I say that I wanted to see our Loki, the one who was broken when he found out that he was the monster parents told their children about at night, the one who had plethora of iconic dialogues while fighting the avengers, who was killed only for us to realize that he wasn’t.

Everytime I said that we needed a Loki spinoff before it was announced was not because I wanted new characters, it was because I wanted to see more of the character that was already there, very much beloved by the fans. I wanted them to explore his character in a deeper sense and maybe dip a little into mythology as well.

I think Loki was one of those characters that neither needed a love interest nor was ready for one. I don’t ship him with either Sylvie or Mobius, because it feels like neither of them genuinely like Loki for who he is.

Loki had far more compelling things they could have explored like his jotun heritage, his trauma from the time with Thanos and his magic that is the only memory he has of Frigga instead of his love life.

The whole show felt like it was written by someone who wasn’t the least bit interested in Loki and barely looked into him before creating his female counterpart.

It feels like a disrespect for the fans who were connected to Loki on an emotional level.

Why am I saying this now, after like 2 years since the show came out?

I don’t know, after hearing the news about season 2 releasing in October, I just feel so upset. Tired. I hate this show much because it made Loki so irrelevant to me. A sidepiece in his own show. He went around in ugly costumes and all the regal vibes I had from him just disappeared.

I still remember a time when Loki was on the top of my favorite characters, and I loved him so much. I still do, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch the 2nd season and my 13 y/o self would hate me for this.

I’ve gotten detached from his character and I hate myself for it because Loki was someone whom I adored more than anything else in the fandom world.

Loki is that one character who is loved by the fanon but absolutely despised by the canon.