#also gwen should get to be bitchy

[adhd-merlin]

ao3 is down, have another snippet

“Hello, Gwen,” Merlin says. Gwen holds Ygraine close to her chest, and gives Merlin a thin smile. It hits him, when she turns to him — the tiredness in her eyes, that goes beyond mere physical exhaustion; the fatigue exuding from her movements, screaming of several sleepless nights, rather than just the one. She looks exhausted. “You look exhausted,” Merlin says.  Gwen’s smile shrivels on her lips. “Thank you.” “I mean,” Merlin goes on, unable to help himself, “you look about to fall over.” “Yes,” Gwen snaps. “I heard you the first time.” Arthur shoots Merlin a look. It’s a warning one, but there’s no hostility in it this time. It’s the look of one brother-in-arms to another, cautioning him to tread carefully. Merlin shuts his mouth.

[earlgreyinpajamas]

do u have any good crack filled meddling knight aus

Kiss Me Once by Camelots_Daffodil (@camelots-daffodil)

Someone spreads a rumour claiming that a kiss from Emrys is worth immeasurable good luck to any sorcerer so lucky to share one. Unfortunately for Merlin, no one bothered to tell him about it.

Arthur, and the court of Camelot, will have to improvise in order to save Merlin from the kingdom's ill-fated romantic pursuits.

Written for Merlin Bing 2023 - Improvisation

~~~

the premise for this is 10/10

2. At Least Out Loud, I Won't Say I'm In Love by Camelots_Daffodil (@camelots-daffodil)

Merlin and Arthur are fighting, and its driving everyone in Camelot insane - especially since they're intent on proving that they don't need each other. Tortured, the Knights get to meddling, and when that doesn't work, they leave it to Morgana.

Includes: Dancing, Pining, Gwaine getting punched in the face, and a very bitchy Merlin, because I'm convinced there's not enough of that. Also Leon breaks. Again.

Written For Merlin Bingo 2022: Competitive Idiocy

~~~

long suffering!leon strikes again

3. To Idiots & Bets by Shana_Rose (@shana-rosee)

Percival smirked widely as he ran into the others in the hallway outside the throne room. “You lot should hand over your gold now because I just won.”

Morgana shared a look with Gwen and laughed. “I highly doubt that.”

Leon sighed gravely, “Do I even want to know?”

“I locked them in a broom closet together.” - Morgana, Gwen, and the knights are tired of watching their two friends pine over each other so they decide to settle it themselves. With a bet.

~~~

afhjsjdsflk why are they like this TT

[kim-ruzek]

You know what, I was just minding my own business but that stupid fucking person has really pissed me off, so I'm just gonna bitch for a while because upstead stans are the fucking worse and have literally been saying insane shit for over a year now.

putting this under a cut tho for my lovely mutuals who are upstead fans who are not part of the crazies and I don't wish for them to have to see my extreme bitchy and pettiness.

"Gwen Sigan doesn't believe that two ships can be happy at the same time" - yeah it's called have you fucking ever watched pd? LITERALLY been happening from the start it's not even unique to Sigan. This also really pisses me off because when I complained about Eid not believing in two ships being happy at once it was 'stop being dramatic' 'it makes for good tv' and, my absolute fucking favourite, 'burzek are just too toxic/traumtised for each other".

Oh but when your ship marries out of trauma (thank you gwen for pointing that out) and who's whole relationship was still very new and tested so frequently compared to ten years of loving, hurting and growing, it's oh no sigan is a shit writer.

There's also the fact that JESSE LEFT. I don't think there's any reason why Sigan shouldn't have re-written the divorce plans set from last season, and built up a happy upstead ending now we're also losing Tracy, but with Jesse gone, 'two ships can't be happy at once' CANNOT literally apply, because one half is gone, so it's no longer a viable plot point to the writers' perspective.

It's also not lost on me that upstead stans worshipped Sigan until Jesse left. 'Sigan didn't give upstead a chance' No, upstead stans didn't give her a chance. Which, granted, they shouldn't have to. If half of your ship leaves, it's perfectly valid to stop watching. But they evaluate sigan like they're fucking unbiased and not that they made up their minds about her as soon as the news hit.

(and that's not even talking about how before the news hit they were saying the 200th episode should be upstead focused, but upstead is broken and suddenly it's it should be about everyone).

And the marriage WAS born out of trauma. They had also barely been dating - it doesn't matter if you've been friends first, a relationship is different. And then they immediately went through A LOT at work, and they hadn't even been in the relationship long enough to learn how it would affect it, long-term.

"They're giving us burzek/burzek wedding to distract from upstead" get fucking over yourself.

"Sigan should admit she hates upstead/hates that the actors left" high talk from people who can't even fucking admit their ship is not the end all or be all of cpd. That they've been faced with the reality that upstead doesn't make or carry the show, like they've been delusionally believing. And that upstead is NO WHERE near the most iconic ship of the show.

Honestly, half the time these fucking people make me wish that Hailey is written out through a death/ or the linsteads get what they want - an off-screen reunion - even though my baby erin doesn't deserve that just to fucking spite them and I would HATE if that happened, but spite is a powerful thing.

if you've gotten to here, thank you for listening to my rant :)

[khaleesiofalicante]

Somehow, I found the time to read Arthur's and Iris' chapters. I regret it (but not really, the pain is real, and I love it). The fact that the real plot hasn't even begun yet and I'm already sending you such long asks is very concerning, I legit will not survive LBAF VI/VII mark my words.

Max saying they will never cross the line between hating someone and hurting them when he is trying to destroy Other Max- you hypocrite (I love him so much I want to hug him so tightly). Also, I feel like he won't be the only one to cross the line

Okay what's wrong with David? Does he get sick a lot or was he pretending as an excuse to not go to Lance's recital?

Kincaid being jealous of Harry is adorable and him missing Joan is also adorable, I really like their friendship I hope they work out and become parabatai🥺

David telling Arthur that the world can be cruel to nice people like it was to him had me very concerned, but Arthur saying the world can suck it reminded me of Max, they both have so much of their parents it's so cute

Oh Lance isn't okay with portals he just wants to stay away from David Lance you idiot

overcompensation from a good heart that tried too hard should be Max's anthem honestly

Why do I feel like Kincaid knowing about Gwen and Arthur sharing so much about Lance with him will backfire?

Harry being suspicious of Devlin Corp and him finding out about everything will be super bad for everyone including him and will get Arthur in trouble right? Not to mention Arthur may lose him

Arthur being worried Lance will grow up hurting people breaks my heart whyy😭

Doesn't Other Max know what Max is doing? Selling blood while pretending to be him and all that

Both Lance and Kincaid made a promise to Arthur they won't keep perhaps?

Lanve sharing his music with anyone was extremely important to him vs him sharing it with Theia: I cry

Anjali for the win-what a queen (had to be said)

Why does Lance choose to work out more?

Danii why didn't Max and David ( being the suckers for romance they both are) have plans for Valentine's day??

Lance I love you but shut you sweet bitchy mouth Rafe and Max are a sensitive subject

What had Max and David fought over that took them two days to figure out?🤔

Theory number one: Lance will destroy Idris for either David or Arthur

Theory number two: Arthur has actual manifesting skills which would be super interesting

This must be the most important bullet point: Dying to see how David reacted to seeing Max's nose ring for the first time, I mean he didn't get to go feral over it in IALS so LBAF should give him some sort of compensation

Okay my thoughts are getting out of hand and that's just for Arthur's chapter. Expect an equally huge one for Iris,again the plot hasn't even started, we're in for a wild ride😅

On a different subject, I really hope that if your current job isn't what you really want to do with the rest of your life, you find the courage you give to your characters to pursue your real passion. I know it's not easy but if anyone can do it it's you. For what it's worth I would love to one day hold a copy of your first official book (and I say official because your current works are books too). I'm sure we will all love it as we love every story you share with us. But also so many other people will love it too, when they have the pleasure to know how amazing and crazy talented you are🌷��

You know what they say, Vicky. Love finds a way and all that 😎

Max saying he won't hurt anyone he hates and then hurting himself is literally the most Max thing ever. I love my self-loathing king :)

He doesn't get sick a lot. But that episode was real. This was implied, but his episode got triggered because Lance asked him not to come to the concert (I'm about to fight Lance. Just watch me).

Kincaid just looking at everyone who gets to openly love Arthur and making this face 🥺 will be the end of me. AND YES JUSTICE FOR JOAN AND KINCAID BROTP.

Arthur is a lil bit of everything. He is a babydoll ;)

Idiot confirmed.

Truly.

Oh yeah, that's gonna backfire on someone for sure...

I WILL PROTECT HARRY AT ALL COSTS HE IS NAMED AFTER MY BESTIE (doesn't mean I won't hurt him a lil bit hehe)

Arthur worrying about Lance makes me emo because as the younger sibling there is something so vulnerable about worrying for your older siblings.

He knows 😭

Perhaps...

Blackbane will be the end of me. Jot that down.

Always must be said.

Multiple reasons tbh. He wants to be 'ready' to fight Kincaid, self-esteem issues (especially after theia said Kincaid is buff), it's one of the things he actually likes doing together with Max (like how he enjoyed driving around with David rip), it's also something that helps him focus (like in IALS)

Mostly because it's canon-verse and they don't celebrate Valentine's Day usually.

What she said.

It could've been anything tbh. I didn't have anything specific in mind. Maybe even something about Other Max...

Niceeeeeee.

NICEEEEEEEEE.

We might actually see this. I'll leave it at that.

And thank you so much for the kind words and encouragement. It really means a lot - and was important for me to hear. I love what I do (Even though it is killing me hehe). But activism will never be just a job for me and I'll always find new ways to do it no matter what I do in life. But currently I'm stuck in the mindset of "but I want to do this too" so I'm just gonna try it. doesn't mean I'll actually write a book or even if I do, I'll actually publish it. but these wonderful people who've been in my head for such a long time deserve to get the hell out of there so we'll see. I have some hope x

Love you 💙

[scentedchildnacho]

Scarborough Fair (Full Version) - Harp Twins, Camille and Kennerly

Today ......and this though is about attacking my hart though......

Walk to the shower then completely full place.....with no real meal given....

Then too many men on smoke doing pushy things

Then being told that their like an LGBT family here.....

If I have to have crystal meth smoke as my brother I would have to really hurt my own brother

So they are not any family of mine....my homeless family is people I can like trust and even notice is like there for me in spite of a lot....I like my family though

Then after a lot of endurance to obtain basic rights offers of a bike....this though is crowd control problems of a program dumping undesirables out here

Path of life maybe has problems dumping out undesirable pushy withdrawals out on the poor to be allowed putting them in jail

And that's path of life doesn't want to fund their recovery if they can place in jail

I am going to have to make a death metal sign at Kamala harris for refusing to get emergency aid to me after two hurricanes hygiene terrorists etc

Kamala harris you can lick balls by the freeway for doing that to a Lakota who deserved status

Psycho an ink blot of my injured pelvis this is why and what for

God I hate Kamala for the bitchy body instead of voto la mujer

Gwen Moore is like women here she looks like the mother though

Pablo apis.....no americanism no children dying

Path of life asked me if I needed anything so I said meal lines is still placing me in a lot of danger for being on the road so a network of people that can distribute food in schedules they already exist in helps me get out of the way.....

She told me they had beds but I had to call everyday so I told her no thank you usually scary places that try to force people into cost effectiveness have an equal and opposite good idea that helps refuse conflict necessity if you won't take me immediately it's not a reputable or good place to be

So you probably still can rely on their being enough good people to not hurt you for the attitude like heroin....I as a christian do and say things I don't always realize is getting into a fight but openly rejecting the poorest people for shelter will get you punched in areas like a public library

She cannot ever be talked to for work if you act that way to her her dad was a Viet vet and she will really beat your head if you ever imply her low status should stoop to work

But it's me and I refuse male partners for good people community so you can go ahead and say stuff to me you probably will get away with it

Just so you know everybody knows hetero normativity in the states is not a good community

And everybody knows you act that way because your sexually active

My friends married foreign so I suspect it was really relieving to have a foreign spouse and good partnership

I also feel much better if he goes way there and comes here sometimes

That's why their my friends I get to watch them for weapons and that's when I was finally gone for ami

Yea I only like the Africans about self defense weapons

[some-of-the-crow-witches]

i got the “smart” tism and i still hyperfixate on stupid stuff

i was told i have i high iq. i cannot shucking spell. i am failing in school. i used to get reelly overwhelked at least once a day because there was this annoying little mother shucker who would deliberately talk loudly and get in my face every single cod damn day and wouldn’t even stop after i broke down crying or even after i went and hid. and then the annotating in ela would make it impossible to reed and since it didn’t make sense to me (both the annotations and why we should annotate) so i was always behind and it was for a grade and the pressure would make it feel like everyone was watching me and then i’d break down again. i have no friends that aren’t neurodivergent. i had never had friends until now. i am going to destroy humanity. (except for the cool people(which, let’s face it, are all probably autistic, meaning that the entire population of the earth will be autistic when i’m done)) in seventh grade i had a friend who could tell you almost anyfin about the brain and the natures of disorders but could go nonverbal for quite a while (usual one month at max) if there’s was a super loud noise. we also both use fish puns in the daily life. i tend to ramble. i’m gonna keep on tolkien despite my better judgement. i can’t touch some rubber without scratching my hand until i bleed afterwards. if you put your phone up to my ear and play somefin do i can hear it then im gonna start scratching and try to to my ear off because i just really hate close noises. this even hampens with certain people if they’re talking to close and have a certain voice. for some reason this doesn’t hampen with headphones. i love headphones. i say things as they are so naturally im absolute shot at comforting people and i also sound like a bitch. i am pretty bitchy though, like i hear what im saying i just don’t care. i picked all the butterfly wings off my moms car and now i have a bunch of them doing along with a dropped lizard tail. i have a bird corpse under my bed. no one knows about it. they’re macerating. i named my roadkill bird gwen. i named a corpse. i have an imaginary friend. this is a common thing among autistic people. her name is millie. she is a witch. she lives in the ceiling and loves hugs. all the little creatures made of splotches of darkness love her. they make my life a little harder. i also name them. there’s hush, just, sherk, chills, cloak bitch, sleep, jeff, and many more. i was hyperfixating on torture for quite a while. i still love torture but now fixating on vulture culture. i love shiny things and antique boxes. i love shiny things. i should probably stop talking now.

moral of the story there is no distinct “low-functioning” and “high-functioning” It. Is. A. Spectrum.

Neurotypical people when they realize that Autism is an actual disability and doesn’t always make you super genius Sheldon Cooper intelligent like in the media

[agent-jones]

Why Gwen Hate Is Rooted In Misogyny And How The Premise Of Torchwood Is Often Ignored In Order To Hate On Her

Hello, hi. Jacklynn here again to talk your head off about something I feel is important to address when it comes to Torchwood and its fandom. Now, you’ve seen me post my defence of her and her actions [ not condoning, always remember this ] but, this is more on why the hate she receives is absolutely rooted in misogyny whether you want to believe it is or not, especially when talking about the portrayal and reception of women over the years in media [ and, frankly, in society ] as well as the fact that Torchwood’s very premise explains why Gwen should not be so vitriolically hated by the fans.

First, let’s talk about one reason she’s hated: her personality. Oh. This one is just blatant. I’ve seen her called both boring AND bitchy. The first one is obvious to address and that’s the bitchy one. Women who are seen as strong and independent are often labelled as bitchy, while men who act in the same manner are respected and good leaders. This is just simply based on the patriarchy we live in, a woman must be docile and and quiet and if she’s stands for something she believes in, suddenly she’s considered loud and angry and a bitch. How many times have we heard those words thrown at feminists for standing up for women? And boring? If a woman isn’t shown to be fun all the time and up for anything [ see the movie Yes, Man and Zooey’s character ] she’s considered boring. This isn’t just Gwen, this has always been the world women are forced to live in: either you’re a slut or you’re a prude, you’re a bitch or you’re just boring. Comments like that about Gwen’s personality are just downright rooted in the everyday sexism women face in society.

Second, the double standard within the Torchwood fandom when it comes to Gwen’s affair. Cheating on Rhys is the number one reason I always see for Gwen hate. And you know what? It’s absolutely valid to criticise her on how she treated Rhys. It was selfish and she made bad decisions. But, you know what’s never addressed? The fact that Owen knew exactly what he was doing when he was tempting Gwen away from Rhys, purposefully trying to get her to cheat on him. He was very open about the fact that he “tortures people in happy relationships” because he wants to. But, he’s given a free pass for his actions. Why? Had the roles been reversed and Owen’s character was a woman, and Gwen’s a man, Owen’s character would have been considered a ‘homewrecking slut’ who didn’t care about the fact that the man she went after was in a relationship and would have been labelled as such and would have been crucified by the fandom as Gwen was for cheating.

Why? Why is Owen excused for his actions? He was far from innocent. Yes, it is ultimately Gwen’s relationahip, but it takes two to tango. Owen should be disliked just as much for purposefully intending to cause harm to Rhys and not caring for a single moment about the consequences of his actions.

Jack is also given a free pass when it comes to the Gwack stuff. I never understood why people claim that Gwen ‘threw herself at Jack’ when almost every scene which implied Gwack, Jack is the one making moves. He’s the one who does the sexy gun lesson, he’s the one who corners her in the cells and does version two of ‘I came back for you,’ he’s the one sending longing glances at her as she’s kissing Rhys. And yes, these things are returned. But, once again Jack is given a free pass when he knows Gwen is in a relationship and yet does not have the decency to honour that either.

So are we seeing the pattern when it comes to the biggest reason Gwen is hated? The men are given free passes and loved while the woman is given all the blame. Each one made their choices and none of them were good. So why does the fandom only punish the woman?

Also, I would like to quickly address that she also gets hate for ‘getting in the way of Jack and Ianto’ which A. Is absolutely untrue, she never once tries to get Jack to choose her over Ianto, never acts like it’s a competition, is never once anything but sweet to Ianto. She is supportive of them and is never canonically attempting to get between them. B. Is pretty damn close to fetishism and blaming women for ‘getting in the way of your m/m ship’ needs to be re-examined.

Now, as I mentioned above, the premise of the show is often ignored in order to hate on Gwen. RTD has stated that Torchwood is about flawed and real human beings trying to save the world. They are not outright heroes, and they never claim to be. They are doing their best but they are all still human.

Human beings make mistakes. Human beings have emotional reactions that are irrational. Human beings do bad things for selfish reasons. Human beings can be inherently good people who made bad decisions and they can also be inherently bad people who do good things some times. Human beings are flawed and that’s the point of the show.

Gwen was not written to be the antithesis to this. She was written as an outsider coming into this new world and quickly learning how it changes you and affects you and can even bring our your more human traits. She was simply brought in to bring a new perspective for the team, not because she’s better than them.

But, so often this premise of real human beings trying to save the world and do what they can is ignored in order to hate Gwen. She’s just as flawed as everyone else, she’s not more flawed or any worse than anyone else on the team. But, their flaws are either ignored or brushed off in order to love them.

Ianto is the fandom golden child. I get it. I adore him with my whole heart. But, he manipulated everyone on the team, emotionally manipulated Jack, used the team in order to do what he had to to save Lisa. He got innocent people killed. He’s been shown to resort to killing when it felt needed. He has a dark side and he is not without his own flaws. He betrayed Jack twice and then went behind his back again in Adrift. He is not perfect. He is good, but he is human and makes mistakes.

Owen is a self-proclaimed twat who spends the entirety of series one purposefully trying to get Gwen to cheat on her boyfriend, being an absolute dick to Tosh. Not to mention he full on date r**** two people in the first episode. He also betrays Jack and nearly ends the world trying to do what he thought was right. Owen makes mistakes. He does really fucked up shit, but that’s what Torchwood is isn’t it? He’s fucked up but he does what he can to save the world. We love him for his growth and don’t let his mistakes make him hated by the fandom.

Tosh isn’t perfect either. She invaded her teammates’ inner most private thoughts and brought an alien into Torchwood. Yes, she was manipulated into it, but she listened in on Gwen and Owen because she was jealous. Jealousy and pettiness are very much shown within Tosh’s character. From the comments she makes to Gwen about getting her feet under the table, to invading their privacy to her tension about Martha. Tosh made mistakes and she has some not very nice qualities to her personality. But, we love her because she’s Torchwood and she’s good and we can forgive her mistakes because she’s human.

Jack lived a conman’s life. He’s resorted to killing before asking questions, he’s physically tortured peopl. Jack refused to let his team know a single thing about him and kept them in the dark when the truth could have helped everyone. He abandoned them and for a long time was only using Torchwood as a way to wait for the Doctor to come back and he would leave. He makes decisions that other people wouldn’t, he tells Gwen to keep a hold of her life with Rhys but would have been the first in line to sleep with her had she asked him to. But, we love Jack because he is Jack Harkness and he cares and he does so much to save the world and takes so much weight on his shoulders. He is a flawed human being doing what he can to do good and we forgive him because we know he’s trying.

The other team members get the forgiveness of the premise of the show, and yet Gwen doesn’t. Why? She’s just as much part of the team and while she was written to be the protagonist and main character, the premise of the show still extends to her. So, why is she hated for falling under that same flawed human being saving the world umbrella that the rest of the team is protected by?

Anyway, I’m sure there’s more I could say on the matter. But, honestly what this boils down to is that I understand the other characters deserved more storylines and air time, what they gave Gwen wasn’t used well because the writers didn’t treat her well either.

But the constant need to tear Gwen down in order to love the other characters is absolutely unnecessary.

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 128: 6x16, 9x15

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

March 4, 2022

6x16: ...And Then There Were None

Written by: Brett Matthews

Directed by: Mike Rohl

Original air date: March 4, 2011

Plot Synopsis:

When Sam, Dean and Bobby run into Rufus, and the Campbells all hunting the cause of an upsurge in supernatural activity, tensions erupt into violence.

Features:

A rare Rufus appearance, Eve inducing family murder via Khan Worm, Rufus’ tragic backstory, a combination three-card monty bottle episode, Eve’s message.

My Thoughts:

For the most part this is a decent episode, I dig the bottle episode vibe of all of them being trapped in the warehouse being picked off one-by-one. Monster possession as a concept is… fine, I guess? It doesn’t feel like a scary, exciting new thing because they can and will do this exact concept again with demonic possession and it’ll work better. If they wanted to make us afraid of what Eve could create, it should have been something actually new.

I’m glad Samuel Campbell is dead, he annoyed me and I got bored of his storyline. I liked Gwen ok although I wasn’t particularly attached to her (and I don’t think either of the male cousins have died yet so I don’t see why the only female hunter had to be the one killed for shock value).

Rufus’ death annoys me. On it’s own it isn’t the most egregious thing the show has done, but it is part of a larger pattern of characters of colour being killed off to further the emotional arc of the white leads. We barely got any of his backstory before he died because they didn’t care enough to make him a well-rounded character until he was valuable as a dead guy.

Definitely not the worst episode of this season but I wasn’t particularly invested, either.

Notable Lines:

“A mother would never abandon her children like He did. You'll see.”

“Bobby, you got a cranial saw in the car?” “Of course.”

“Since when do you got a pacemaker?” “Since Bush Jr., term one. I'm down three toes, too, F.Y.I.”

“She has a message for you. ​​You're all gonna die. She's pissed. She's here. And it's gonna be nothing but pain for you from here on in.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 7.0

IMdB Rating: 8.4

9x15: #THINMAN

Written by: Jenny Klein

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc

Original air date: March 4, 2014

Plot Synopsis:

As Dean and Sam investigate the murder of a teenage girl, they once again cross paths with the Ghostfacers.

Features:

The return of the Ghostfacers, ongoing tension between the brothers, 2 counts of paranormal fraud, the Ghostfacers straight up killing a guy.

My Thoughts:

This is a fairly mediocre episode for one featuring fan favourite Ghostfacers. I remember being pretty bored by it when it first aired too - I had caught up and was watching live at that point, and it annoyed me how much they were trying to capitalize on Slenderman being popular at the time. I don’t find any of the emotional beats hitting because the moral and parallels are pretty clunky. Also, I feel like I remember the actor playing Ed being a better actor in earlier episodes, but he doesn’t really emote much in this one.

Harry’s delivery of “we are the professionals, Ed!” did make me laugh out loud, and the beginning of the episode was fun watching the Winchester brothers being so incredibly bitchy to them.

The only scene that I felt emotionally connected to is the one where Dean was describing Sam breaking his arm at 5 years old and Dean taking him to the ER on his bike’s handlebars, which, I think they were trying to make me think fondly of baby Winchesters, but instead I flew into a brief blind rage at their father not being there to take him and not leaving them with any adult supervision that could have taken him. So.

Kind of a bummer that the first Ghostfacers episode we see in Stacked isn’t a great one.

Notable Lines:

I really didn’t write any down, sorry y’all.

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 5.7

IMdB Rating: 7.4

In Conclusion: Do we really get a whole weekend off? Dang.

<< Previous Day  |  Next Day >>

[once-and-future-princess]

As always I forget to add when I've finished things.

Finally finished Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart. My thoughts:

I LOVE that Lancelot's canonical first appearance is him riding his horse to death, asking for another one of guys he barely seems to know, hopping in the nearest one and then riding off and everyone being like "who's this dude?" And Gawain being like "idk but he looks like a party. Let's follow him."

Lancelot being canonically overwhelmed and kind of out of it for most of the story cause all he can think about is Gwenyfar.

He lays down in a bed he's told is cursed and almost gets decapitated but doesn't notice. Like.... I'm not sure how to describe this zoned out lancelot but it's not.... neurotypical.

Everywhere he goes everyone knows about The Cart and brings it up constantly and Lancelot's like "oh come on guys that was once! Can we focus on important shit like WHERES THE QUEEN?" And my new headcanon is all the other knights do not let him forget it EVER.

Early on we're told about something called a sword bridge. Its not described super well so I'm REALLY EXICTED to get there. And things just KEEP HAPPENING that get in the way. And I was like BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SWORD BRIDGE? WHAT IS A SWORD BRIDGE? and we finally get there and I was like YES!!!!!!

Lancelot crawling across it on hands and knees, ripping himself up with cuts and again not noticing or caring cause he'd do anything to get to Guinevere? I'm aro and thats romantic as fuck.

I can't describe how much I love overwhelmed, zoned out but hyperfocused "I just want to find my girlfriend can EVERYTHING stop exploding and getting in my way?" Lancelot. Like he's got to sleep with some girl cause he promised but he doesn't touch her cause Gwen and he's so awkward the girls like....okay maybe not my dude. Carry on. He's just so...."this might as well happen"

When he finally finds Gwen and she's bitchy to him and then they do that "oh no my beloved is dead I should kill myself" romeo and juliet thing? But luckily they both hesitate with long monologues enough they find out the other isn't dead and it's fine? Classic

HE FIGHTS A DUDE WITH HIS BACK TO HOM CAUSE HE CANT LOOK AWAY FROM GWEN . ICONIC. LANCELOT IS A LOT. LANCELOT IS EXTRA. LANCELOT DOESNT KNOW HOW SHIT JUST HAPPENS TO HIM BUT IT DOES AND HE'S KINDA ALONG FOR THE RIDE .

I am told lancelot/gawain is a ship and I like this first meet cute for them going through the woods together and splitting up .

The lions at the other end of the sword bridge just to be extra. Better call Ywain he likes lions.

Omg Gwen did the Knight's Tale thing where she told Lancelot to lose at the tournament to prove his love!!! That came from somewhere!! I always said the Knight's Tale writers did their research and knew what they were doing! That comes from a Arthurian legend!!!

(it's still annoying and dangerous. It's annoying and dangerous in A Knight's Tale and it's annoying and dangerous here. Wtf Gwen? But it's so much fun to know it comes from a source)

When Gwen and Lancelot finally meet and get over their issues they have sex. I can't describe how much I love that there's no sluy shamey ness here, or delicacy, or moralizing about how wrong it is for any reason. Sex is presented as something natural and romantic and good that can and does happen between people in love. Is it kinda weird there's NO mention that Gwen is married and she goes back to being queen and Arthur's wife and it's just not brought up? Yeah a little. But it's also kinda nice. And my queer 21st century ass is VERY HAPPY to read it as Gwen/Arthur/Lancelot poly triad and Arthur knows all about her sort of long distance boyfriend and he's fine with it, Gwen doesn't love him any less and instead of being rivals for her they get along. Like can we have that in an adaptation?

The end trailed off weirdly but I am VERY HERE for the Knight getting put in a tower and being rescued by a damsel who deus ex machinaed in cause she owed him a favor? Like remember her?

But yeah we like rescuing knights from towers.

Overall I enjoyed this one a lot. I like my first introduction to Lancelot, and I'm surprised to see he isn't this paragon of chivalry and champagne yet , he's overwhelmed, hyperfocused, a little weird, shit happens around him and he's just sorta along for the ride. And I LOVE the way him and guinevere are never judged for being in love. I know that comes later, but I really like this now.

[dilfdoctordoom]

👀 give me all your thoughts I know you have them

Bette Kane

How I feel about this character: She is my everything. I love nobody as much as I love her. I am at all times thinking about Bette Kane

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Dawn, Hank, Charley, Barbara, Helena, Artemis, Donna & I think she & Luke Fox dated for a little bit in high school before deciding to be just friends

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Gar!!! Her & Gar are best friends & they shouldn’t be romantic

My unpopular opinion about this character: Don’t know if she’s known enough to have any unpopular opinions, but bitchy Bette Kane should be brought back. They defanged her a lot & I don’t like it, let her be the worst it was really funny

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I really wish that in the N52 Batwoman series, the Kate&Bette dynamic was changed so while Kate had all her military training & was older, Bette had more vigilante experience & they had to learn to work together & learn from each other

my OTP: Hank/Dawn/Bette has a special place in my heart, I’m an eternal sucker for ArtyBette, but when it comes down to it... Bettenelli is simply superior

my cross over ship: *looking pointedly at my drafts* well gee I guess I think her & Danny Rand would have a fun dynamic. Also, Betty Brant for that good ole hero/reporter dynamic

a headcanon fact: she’s bisexual, she is, it’s a fact

Danny Rand

How I feel about this character: I’ve only recently gotten into Iron Fist comics but listen. LISTEN. He’s the love of my life, okay? Got it? I would die for this dumbass idiot disaster man

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Luke, Luke&Jess, Misty, Brenda because I thought they were just funny, Matt, I read a surprisingly good Peter fic so hm. Something there

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Colleen. I know they’re the main romance of the Netflix series, I know they had a thing for a little bit in the comics, but shut up, she’s his exhausted best friend

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s not annoying. After Netflix, I think that’s an unpopular opinion

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish his TV show didn’t suck balls. I wish that The Living Weapon wasn’t canon (but Pei & Brenda stick around). I wish Marvel would pull the trigger & admit that he & Luke are in love

my OTP: Danny/Misty because they’re cute okay shut up Danny really loves her!!! & obviously Jess/Luke/Danny but in that specific order. Jess & Danny are both dating Luke but they aren’t dating each other, they’re just bffs

my cross over ship: The one mentioned above but also, in whatever universe where DC & Marvel are co-existing, I think he had a fling with Oliver Queen before Ollie went to the island

a headcanon fact: He’s Asian-American. Fuck Marvel

Felicia Hardy

How I feel about this character: My mean wife. I would let her murder me without any hesitation she’s so pretty

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Peter, MJ & Cindy. Matt is allowed but only if it’s a disaster. Danny Rand has a crush on her which she thinks is adorable

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Johnny!!!! They’re funny little shits & they should be allowed to get in more hijinks together. All the Marvel Divas, I like Felicia having friends

My unpopular opinion about this character: Plot twist assholes she was in love with Peter Parker the entire goddamn time re: everyone who keeps trying to insist that Felicia has only ever loved Spider-Man. Shut up, they’re the same goddamn person & Felicia loves him 

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish Dan Slott had never come anywhere near her

my OTP: PeterFelicia is cute, okay. SilkCat is where it’s at though. Cindy & Felicia... soulmates

my cross over ship: Jessica Cruz or Dick Grayson because she likes dorks but only if they’re pretty

a headcanon fact: I was gonna put that she’s bi, but that is canon & Marvel has just ignored it so. Hm. Dan Slott never happened to her, this lady was never the queen pin of crime

MJ Watson

How I feel about this character: I love her so much... angel... sweetie... darling...

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Peter, Felicia & Gwen, some goddamn respect

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Harry

My unpopular opinion about this character: All opinions about MJ are inherently unpopular (as she would want) but Marvel should stop moving her away from the arts re: her being a reporter in PS4, that weird nightclub thing, etc. I’d say TAMJ was a step in the right direction except I hate that book so :/

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she was still married to Peter. Also, that she’d get her own MJ-As-Spider-Woman AU. Or MJ as a superhero in general

my OTP: GwenMJ & PeterMJ & especially PeterGwenMJ

my cross over ship: MJ Waston date Koriand’r challenge

a headcanon fact: She is not straight. Or cis, for that matter

Peter Parker

How I feel about this character: Look at the little bastard man off to do his little bastard things... will he make good choices? No! Will I continue to support him regardless? Yes!

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Okay, here we go, damn: Johnny, MJ, Gwen, Harry, Flash, Ned in the MCU shut up we all know why it isn’t popular (see: racism), he’s definitely at least made out with Bobby, more that I can’t think of right now, Felicia Hardy

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Matt Murdock. No, shut up, their friendship is important to me specifically, they just love each other a lot, okay? And it’s unconditional &nstupid & they’re dumb & I love them. Jessica Jones, too, because I think the idea of her having a crush on him in high school & local hoe Peter Parker not noticing is funny

My unpopular opinion about this character: The only consistently good Spider-Man series in the past, like, decade is FNSM

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: In a very specific thing, I wish that Peter had picked up the phone & called Matt in the Sins Rising arc because Daredevil was such an important part of that original arc & I dunno, it just doesn’t work & it would’ve been really interesting to put Matt back in the role he played in the original story especially with where Matt is in her own series, ya know?

my OTP: SpideyTorch & PeterMJ

my cross over ship: okay, concept here: Kyle Rayner & Peter Parker

a headcanon fact: bider-man, bider-man, does whatever a bi spider can...

Elektra Natchios

How I feel about this character: Murder wife, has never done anything wrong in her entire life

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Matt & Nat

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Logan!!! They’re best friends

My unpopular opinion about this character: @ Daredevil tv series fans please just say you’re racist & leave

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she never met Frank Castle. I wish she had female friends for a change

my OTP: Nat/Elektra. Love Matt but he & Elektra aren’t endgame even though it kills me violently to admit that

my cross over ship: Talia Al Ghul. I will not elaborate

a headcanon fact: aside from the obvious ‘she’s bi’, I think Elektra has a dog

Matt Murdock

How I feel about this character: Himbo idiot love of my life make a good decision I love you

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Elektra, Foggy, Danny, Luke, Kirsten & Mila

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Peter (see: above), Luke, Nat, Jessica, I think it’s very funny when you put him in the same room as Moon Knight & Felicia

My unpopular opinion about this character: He’s disabled, you idiots, that actually does affect his day-to-day life

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish he’d go to therapy, no, Matthew, confession does not count

my OTP: Matt/Elektra, Matt/Foggy & Matt/Kirsten

my cross over ship: I wanna say Hal Jordan... specifically after the Spectre I think that’d be funny, if Hal just casually drops that literal, actual god was basically his boss for a while

a headcanon fact: he gets mistaken for Scott Summers a lot

[punkscowardschampions]

Ali & Tommy

Ali: I am SO glad this holiday centres around drinking beyond reason

Tommy: Me too, like, But why are you?

Ali: I wouldn’t even wanna get into it if it weren’t for the fact I couldn’t with her

Ali: Obvious clue is obvious

Tommy: Oh darling, Kitty, what’s she done now?

Ali: It’s not even what she’s done

Ali: It’s her total lack of desire to try

Ali: I know I shouldn’t take it personally and it’s symptomatic of the bigger picture

Ali: But that’s the problem, it’s so hard to watch, to see it so clearly when she has no front to put up

Tommy: Yeah, it always puts a lovely, thick layer of extra dread onto my homecoming

Tommy: the regularly scheduled updates are bad enough & it’s not like I can do more for being back under the same roof

Ali: Oh God, please don’t start, it’s like no one wants to be here, pure depressing, like

Ali: That’s how I ended up feeling, it wasn’t like she wanted to come but you know, anxiety, strangers etc

Ali: Because my suggestions to alleviate those problems were shot STRAIGHT down

Ali: So she just doesn’t want to

Ali: but not just that, I should feel like shit for going and leaving her alone...which put like that, should I? I don’t even know now

Tommy: Honey, fuck that! I’ve had to veto Fi going full Elphaba on all our faces so that diva maybe this close to not, but there’s no stopping me, Will, Gwen or Steph 🥳🥳🥳

Tommy: she’s getting worse, I dunno what any of us are meant to do

Tommy: other than being certain that I’m not gonna let you have an utter shit time

Tommy: That’s what she wants, that way you’ll stay with her forever 💀🥀🕷🕸

Ali: Nice to hear some genuine enthusiasm, which is fecking ridiculous considering this is apparently every fucker’s fave holiday as standard, I swear everyone but Da is in a right mood atm

Ali: Thank God that everyone’s gotta let tourists be tourists for the 💸🤑 or your mates would need some serious babysitting 😏

Ali: Little green men is fully my groupies’ aesthetic so you’re welcome to out yourself any time, like

Ali: I dunno, I mean, she’ll be alright won’t she? It’s a fairly long sesh, I know…

Ali: Hence my life’d be a lot easier if she’d come for a bit but there we go

Tommy: My honoured guests have got it in spades & buckets tbh 🧶🧚‍♀️🍀🎩🌈 dress up is already well underway just can’t let ‘em also start 🚗💣🍺🥃 or they won’t last to see it in

Tommy: cba to stick in it a 🍼 you know

Tommy: how many groupies you got now? Only ��� while it’s still underground, avant-garde & super niche, naturally

Tommy: What’s she got planned? Other than putting a 💔 hex on you and Carls

Ali: Sensible

Ali: And not in a scrooge debbie downer kinda way

Ali: Found out the tents for yous to sleep in but I’m taking ‘em out first

Ali: 🌄 are calling, obvs

Ali: Naturally 🙄 just don’t click instead that shit is TOO pretentious even for your lot

Ali: She said she was WELL busy, but you know, the usual I imagine 📚💭

Ali: Drew won’t pay her no attention way too busy with the tourists etc 💸🤑

Tommy: 👍 cheers 😸👼 you are

Tommy: 🍀 are calling, is what you mean

Tommy: 🙄 be a waste of a 🙏 I know it’s 1 of her other highly rated activities, like, but still, I don’t need to imagine the two of ‘em getting together rn

Ali: They make NO sense

Ali: Unless his thing is dating a girl like his sister, in place of the standard wanting a mum 2.0, which understandably is not his vibe

Ali: Suspect don’t cover it but we’ll see

Tommy: It’d make more sense if I dumped Will for Fi & suss wouldn’t cover that & that’s a NO from us all

Tommy: Excuse you whore! That’s Meena slander

Ali: You know what I mean though

Ali: Where did this come from, like 🤯

Tommy: 🤯 over straight boy behaviour since forever

Ali: I usually find them so boringly easy

Ali: not the brag it sounds

Ali: I’d rather get her again… I’d know what to do, before

Ali: It was safety, for her and us

Tommy: Before she would’ve followed you anywhere, you can’t keep her safe if she ain’t even gonna try to meet you halfway at anything

Ali: Like you said, nothing to be done, I suppose

Ali: At least today

Ali: I’m going to mass with her, she’s helping to set up, it’s something

Tommy: & I’ll squeeze in a 1 on 1 for me & her before I leave 🩰👒🎹🎤✨

Ali: Tah

Ali: If only getting people to spend time with her was the issue

Ali: Be fully booked if she wanted

Tommy: But like you said, it’s something & if anyone can talk her out of an unsuitable romance, it’s me 🧚🏼‍♂️

Tommy: don’t have your track record

Tommy: there’s at least a chance she’ll take my advice about doing better than a dealer 🤞 now I’ve got myself the “happy ending” of decent hair & only petty crime

Ali: None of my romances have been unsuitable

Ali: You underestimate how discerning her taste is when it comes to other people’s partners

Ali: He might not be Carly levels of demon but don’t mean you’ll find a nice word to be said, like

Tommy: put your claws away, Kit, talking Ro’s POV, Carls is my angel

Tommy: & I guarantee I’ve heard worse than she can dish from the other bitchy ballerinas who couldn’t get their 💅 in first

Tommy: simply not quaking, sorry

Ali: Just saying, if it were that easy, it’d be done by now

Tommy: just saying, I’ve not taken a turn yet

Ali: If there’s any day for luck…

Ali: It ain’t one where she’s decided to be in the worst mood ❌🍀

Tommy: I’ve only got the weekend, like

Ali: I understand her a bit better than that tah

Ali: as well as the appeal of prohibition

Ali: the more everyone weighs in on her being wrong, the more bolstered she feels in how right she actually is

Ali: one fuckboy mistake she’ll have to learn from

Tommy: & I don’t? PLEASE 🙄 No notes needed for this performance

Ali: She always gets worse when Bea comes back

Ali: I’ll be the one dealing when you all fuck off again

Tommy: I know

Tommy: so let me deal with her this time, Will, Gwen & Fi have all been here enough & they’ve got each other

Ali: Sorry, the moods catching

Tommy: She can run but the house ain’t grown any new hiding places & I remember ‘em all

Ali: She’s still small enough to fit in all the gaps and cracks, you less so

Ali: Anything is worth a shot

Ali: The party will be enough, loads of my mates are coming, yours won’t get bored 🤞

Tommy: True but when she gets in one she ain’t got the strength to get to another quick as I can 🐁🩰

Tommy: yeah, yeah the party don’t stop when I walk out, I know ☹️😏

Tommy: & Carls isn’t just my angel, she’ll save that bit of the day if needs

Ali: Tourists love St Paddy’s

Ali: and no one does it better than da

Tommy: if I were gonna disagree it’d only be to annoy him

Ali: @ the family group chat for that hilarious bants, Tommo

Tommy: 🐻👈

Tommy: 1st time I’ve used those not as a euphemism? Oh definitely

Ali: Please, you’re a couple of 🧚🏼‍♂️🧚🏼‍♂️s

Tommy: Tah, Darling

Tommy: flattery will get you an invite to the next teddy bears picnic

Ali: Bit rude to Carly that you think that’s my type

Ali: no 🧔s here

Tommy: It’s not me trying drive a wedge, she’s invited too

Ali: Thoughtful 😏

Tommy: You shall go to the ball

Ali: Glass shoes is an idea… 🤔

Tommy: One way to keep hold of your drink or stop a fight

Ali: Me and my shoes are keeping well out of any more fights, fuck that

Tommy: What is your outfit plan then?

Ali: I’ve got all the material to construct it now, I think

Ali: See what it comes out like 🤷‍♀️✨

Tommy: Fi don’t believe you can top last year’s

Ali: I love a challenge and a chance to impress, obviously

Tommy: chop chop 😼

Tommy: shameless distraction tactic I’m throwing at you, who?

Ali: Christ knows I’m running out of time with the to-do list never ending, hey ho

Tommy: Same tbh

Tommy: we’d better get back to it 🧹🎃

Ali: Fuck being a middle kid, right? 💔

Tommy: Honestly

Ali: You know what you’re getting Rocky yet, speaking of the little shit

Tommy: Probably that bow with the glowing arrows that stick to windows & shit, he keeps seeing the ad & reckons they’ll fly over the house

Ali: Alright, going for 🥇 sib, fair play 👏

Tommy: Sure you’ll have me beat with whatever you’re planning

Ali: I’ll think of something

Ali: Once this is all out the way

Ali: If ma will let us, we’ll take him camping with his 🏹

Tommy: Once all the 🍬🍫🧁🎂🧃 hits she’ll be glad to be rid

Ali: not the baby though 🙄

Tommy: thank god for daddy’s girl, yeah?

Tommy: you’ll never lose that 👑

Ali: try as you might, yeah yeah 😉

Tommy: 😏

[hellzyeahwebwielingessays]

Madgoblin’s Mary Jane Rebuttal

“Even before he became Spider-Man, he carried the burdens of the world on his shoulders. He would need a girl with Mary Jane’s naturally bubbly and effusive personality (much of which was genuine – and much of which was lost in the modern era as the spider writers seemed to forget this aspect of her personality and turned her into the oh so serious Mrs. Spider-Man) to draw him out socially and complete him as a person.”

“Mary Jane went from having her own personality, her own set of virtues and vices, distinct from Peter’s to one that almost mirrored his. In these instances she essentially became Mrs. Spider-Man, and therefore lost much of what had made her a popular, endearing character in the first place. MJ has always worked best when she’s a bit goofy and off the wall, needing to be brought back to the center, because that way she contrasts nicely with Peter’s overly serious nature and “I’ve got the burdens of the world on my shoulders” personality, and thus she helps bring him back to the center as well. A great example of this is in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #7 (1987), when she’s picking on the uptight Thomas Fireheart (aka Puma), among other things, by contrasting his hairstyle to Eddie Munster. Goofy doesn’t have to mean irresponsible, which was done with the Black Cat. The second personality type was the whiner (closely associated with a certain amount of bitchiness). She either whined because she was worried about Peter, or she was all over his ass because of his extracirricular activities, and as a result did things like take up smoking for awhile. This was the result of the writers feeling the need to introduce conflict – but doing so clumsily.”

I want to talk about these comments made by J.R. ‘Madgoblin’ Fettinger because they’ve bothered me for years.

To an extent his comments are correct but they are utterly without nuance.

For starters, MJ is seriously underwritten in the Honeymoon annual he referenced. She barely has any thought captions and the story was written deliberately to undermine the marriage/relationship because the author (Jim Owsley/Christopher Priest) actively hated that direction.

He is right in that MJ has a certain goofy side to her and that that wasn’t a façade per se. MJ’s ‘façade’ was rooted in the exaggeration of certain traits she had and the concealing of others. The end result was presenting the pretence of someone totally carefree and perhaps shallow.

But yes, the goofiness is an aspect of her character. But what Fettinger gets wrong is his presumption that that is how to correctly  write MJ.

There is no singular way to correctly  write any given character. Not if they are three dimensional anyway.* These characters aren’t Loony Tunes who only have maybe 3 personality traits if they are lucky.

Mary Jane is not going to be goofy all the time because no one is one thing all the time. Equally MJ doesn’t ‘work best’ that way. That’s clearly an example of Fettinger feeling she works best that way probably because it was what she was like when he first got into Spider-Man in the 1970s.

In reality what makes MJ work best is when she is written believably. A believable character will behave and react differently depending upon the situation. Case in point MJ was a far cry from ‘goofy’ in her origin story from ASm #259, and yet this was critical  in making her a three dimensional character. Or at least more  three dimensional.

She wasn’t goofy in Kraven’s Last Hunt, nor that goofy in the present day scenes of Sensational Spider-Man Annual 2007. She wasn’t goofy in her iconic takedown of the Chameleon.

This is like saying Spider-man is best when he is displaying a sense of humour. But he’s not. That’s great but so is his moments of contemplation, his grief, his heartfelt kindness, etc.

Spider-Man isn’t just one  thing. Nor should MJ be.

His point about becoming Mrs. Spider-Man is also ill considered. MJ didn’t cease to have her own views after she married Peter at all. But her beliefs about justice and responsibility were always sort of on the same wave length as his own but became bolder and more steadfast because of his influence. She developed  as a character and became more actively heroic in her beliefs due to his influence. Just as Peter became more well rounded and more emotionally stable as a result of her own influence.

They made each other better people!

His comment about Mj losing what made her initially popular is also ill considered.

MJ didn’t sporadically nor gradually change from her 1960s incarnation after she married Peter.

In reality she’d been evolving from the very moment she closed the door after Gwen died.

Gerry Conway was the first chief architect of this and he even hinted at MJ being much more than readers believed her to be in his short stint on Ms. Marvel.

And of course MJ’s origin fundamentally changed fans’ perceptions of her. It was in fact before  the more serious and concerned worrier MJ first came into focus.

Now was MJ made too serious in the 1990s? Was that goofiness sorely missed?

Yes, but not for the reasons Fettinger claims.

See the 1990s was the age of the grimdark, everyone  was less goofy and more serious so MJ wasn’t unique in this regard.

However, it’s vitally important to recognize that not only was MJ older  (so you’d imagine less goofy, her marriage began with a simulation of her husband’s death after all) but more poignantly the situations she was placed in demanded she act that way.

In the 1990s the characters were put through a mental and emotional wringer for various reasons.

Harry’s madness and attempts to torment the Parker family.

Harry’s death.

The debuts of the creepy stalker Venom and his serial killing counterpart Carnage.

The return and eventual betrayal of Peter’s parents.

Kraven burying Peter alive and his lover then torturing him and manipulating their friend Curt Connors.

Aunt May falling into a coma.

The return of Ben Reilly and the Jackal and Norman Osborn, all of whom contributed to darkening the world of the Parkers.

Peter having TWO mental breakdowns.

The loss of their baby.

The list just goes on and on.

Peter and MJ were put in dark, arduous, serious situations. What sense would it have made for MJ to have acted goofy during these times honestly?

It wouldn’t have.

The fault is therefore not what the writers turned  her into but rather the situations they put her into.

As for her whining, again, this is entirely in character and justified by the situations. And it didn’t begin with the marriage either.

The problem with this portrayal along with the serious/less goofy stuff was merely frequency and execution.

Had that stuff happened less often  and with moderation  it would never have been a problem.

P.S. I already addressed his point about the smoking here.

*Conversely they absolutely can be written incorrectly.

[forestwater87]

hi! can i ask how you go about writing gwen? i’ve rewatched a bunch of her episodes and am still having trouble getting her on paper!

Okay, first you’re going to need to get a time machine and travel back in time to the summer of 2016, just after season 1 ended, when she had like 3 character traits and a couple dozen lines and zero fanfics, then fill her with elements of your own personality and project wildly onto her, slowly falling into deeper and darker despair as canon!Gwen becomes less like your iteration of the character with every season.

At least, that’s what I did, and it worked like gangbusters.

Fine, let’s try a serious answer. Gwen’s interesting because, despite how frequently she appears in the show and how much we love the shit out of her, it wasn’t really until seasons 3-4 that her backstory and less surface-level characteristics started getting filled in. She’s an ever-present enigma in a lot of ways.

So start with what we know for damn sure: 

She doesn’t like working at Camp Campbell.

She’s an anxious, emotional mess. 

She’s lazy when it comes to things she doesn’t care about, but is willing and able to step up when it’s called for.

She enjoys writing fan fiction and has a passion -- if not necessarily a talent -- for smut, drama, romance, violence, and monsterfucking. (Some of these things overlap.)

Her father’s an extremely successful musician, and their relationship is . . . complicated.

She’s beautiful and perfect and in love with David and also my girlfriend. Okay, that’s not true. This is where the projecting comes in, dang it.

Honestly, there’s . . . not a lot of there there. I think that’s why some fans are kind of bored by her, and why others absolutely love the shit out of her. Her personality is rock-solid -- seriously, just write “bored and seemingly uncaring with a heart of gold and a lust for monsters” and you’ve got a very solid Gwen portrayal right there -- but the backstory is virtually nonexistent, and that’s the bits you get to have fun with. 

For example, with all of our facts we have:

She doesn’t like working at Camp Campbell. Okay, but why doesn’t she like working there? Is it just because it’s dilapidated and Campbell is a shithead? Did she ever like working here and got burned out by its overwhelming mediocrity, or was she forced to take this job and hated it from day one? What’s the worst part of it for her: is it working with kids? Is it working with these kids? Is it the outdoors stuff? The lack of resources? That her coworker is an adorable goddamned idiot who doesn’t know how to adult? 

She’s an anxious, emotional mess. Anxiety, parasocial relationships (do those apply when talking about fictional characters and/or monsters?), serious doubt and/or regret about her life choices, a complicated and unclear sexuality . . . there’s a lot going on with Gwen. She is trash, and we love her. Add to it that she’s a psych major, and how little we know about her backstory, and she’s a great opportunity to armchair-psychologist and/or overidentify all over the place. Do you have emotional issues or identities you’d like to project onto someone? Congratulations -- Gwen now has all of those too!

She’s lazy when it comes to things she doesn’t care about, but is willing and able to step up when it’s called for. She’s a lot like Max in this way, which I think is why people are such a fan of their dynamic. She cares very deeply about some things and not at all about others, and it’s fun trying to parse out what will make her give a shit. It seems like high enough stakes will make her step up, but her idea of important is very different from David’s a lot of the time. Hell, for all we know her investment in her job changes on as little as her mood; that’s part of what you get to try and figure out as she takes shape in your writing.

She enjoys writing fan fiction and has a passion -- if not necessarily a talent -- for smut, drama, romance, violence, and monsterfucking. (Some of these things overlap.) Not gonna lie, as a book snob I had the hardest time accepting that my girl loves 50 Shades knockoffs. Her tastes are . . . I don’t wanna say bad, but they do tend to be what is popularly considered the lowest common denominator: reality TV, fashion magazines, bodice-ripping romances, paranormal tween novels. Basically, anything with lots of sex and violence seems to be her jam. It creates a really interesting dichotomy, in that she reads all the time, but isn’t necessarily what we’d call well-read. She’s a nerd, but the “worst” kind: a fangirl, and arguably the most adolescent kind. Yet she has a liberal arts degree, which tends to focus heavily on literary and creative arts, so snobs like me would assume she should know better. Apparently pretentious college English classes didn’t rub off on her all that much. I don’t have much in the way of leading questions for this one, because unless you want to psychoanalyze why she enjoys Prison Teen Mom Wars (as I most definitely do), you just sort of need to be aware of and use the fact that she enjoys high-octane drama, fighting, and kinky sex.

Her father’s an extremely successful musician, and their relationship is . . . complicated. Really, there’s two ways to work with this: either Gwen just has a normal “millennial embarrassed by her boomer dad” relationship, which is relatable to the max but doesn’t have a ton of angst fodder, or she’s dealing with some deep-seated issues about being a show toddler and/or failing to live up to his creative legacy (or whatever other parent-child problems you could imagine). Her mom is a complete nonentity. There’s definitely love between her and at least one parent, and that needs to be incorporated into any sort of discussion about her dad, but I don’t think their problems have been magically solved, which has to potential for lots of interesting scenarios.

She’s beautiful. She doesn’t think she’s beautiful, that’s for sure. One Direction in its early period of completely sucking would have lots of opinions about this, but if you don’t think Gwen is a snack (snacc? I’m very old and out of touch), you’re wrong and also not welcome on this blog.

The fun part, in my opinion, is trying to fill in the blank spaces. If I was starting out my own creation of Gwen, I’d focus first on these points: what they tell us about her, and more importantly what they don’t.

I think the hardest thing about writing Gwen -- at least, what I struggle most with -- is trying to soften her up. I took her “crippling anxiety and regret” and filled it in with all my own angst, and I think a lot of fans do that; it’s one of the great things about her, her potential for angst. But despite crying a lot (more, I believe, than any other character except mayyyybe David), she’s not especially sensitive toward other people. And I think it’s tempting to take our love for her and translate it into her being much more perfect and snuggly than she actually is. It’s an incredibly hard balance to strike, and in my opinion this makes her the hardest character to write besides Max, which makes sense, considering #3 up there.

So my advice for that would be: lean into the bitchiness. Let her be blunt and dismissive; she’s more than that, of course, and I think one of the reasons people have gravitated so much toward gwom-type portrayals is her genuine concern and even affection towards other people, but focusing too hard on her kindness and/or her angst tends to push aside the trash goblin Gwen we all fell in love with.

Let her be a trash goblin. She deserves it.

[catgirlxox]

A friend of mine highkey just fucking implied that BenKai is healthy because they "negate each other". As in Ben is the only one that can handle Kai's bitchiness and Kai's the only one that can reign in Ben's ego. Not paraphrasing. She really said that. And I was like, bitch, put it up That's Ben Tennyson abuse ma'am you're going to jail—

Oh no. No no no I hate this argument. Prepare yourself. I’m about to go off…

First of all, Ben probably has the most humble “cockiness” I’ve ever seen. 

We all know those people (or at least have run into them at some point) that act as if they’re entitled to the entire world for no reason. 

Ben actually has a reason to be proud of himself, but does he ask for any more than a little credit? No.

He doesn’t demand fame and fortune in return for risking his life everyday. He barely even demands respect (that he deserves)!

He called himself “adorable” once (he’s right) and everyone somehow got it into their heads that his “ego” is extremely inflated. 

So much so that now they think he deserves to be stepped on - metaphorically and literally - in order to be a better character somehow. It’s just as bad as people who think that Ben has to actually lose someone close to him, like Max, in order to “really” mature.

Anyway, the reason Ben can handle her “bitchiness” is BECAUSE HE’S TOO GOOD FOR HER. 

How many times has Ben had to cooperate with people he didn’t particularity like or agree with in order to reach a common goal? 

How many times has Ben forgiven others and given them second chances even when they didn’t seem deserving? 

He literally made peace with aliens who previously wanted to kill, not only him, but EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE. He even made friends with one who was spitting insults in his face practically half of “Alone Together.”

He’s all about saving lives. Do you people know what that entails? 

What do we do with criminals? 

Either one of two things: punish those whose crimes are unforgivable, or attempt to correct their mindset, outlook, and behaviour in order to reintegrate them into society. 

Considering Ben’s “second chances” philosophy, which one do you think he leans towards more whenever reasonably possible? 

(Ben 10: Alien Force - “War of the Worlds Part 2″)

What I’m saying is that proves it’s in character for him to be cooperative rather than begrudging and vengeful.

It’s the begrudging and vengeful attitude that drives his enemies to keep coming back in attempt to end him. But as we know, it’s not productive. 

Holding a grudge implies being stuck in your ways. And, because Kai’s attitude towards Ben hasn’t changed much since they were ten, even after he saved her multiple times, in a sense, she is stuck in her ways as well. She’s stubborn.

And that is another argument people like to bring up to validate this pairing - that both Ben and Kai are stubborn. They have “similar flaws”, apparently.

But Ben is a different kind of stubborn. He never backs down but he’s always fighting the good fight.

Kai, on the other hand, is fighting the good guy.

I think the silliest argument I’ve heard in attempt to validate the claim that Kai is a good match is that she “fits” into his action lifestyle. Basically, unlike Julie, Kai doesn’t seem to have an issue with Ben being a full time superhero, so that automatically makes her more “suitable.“ 

But shouldn’t that be expected of someone dating a superhero?

By supporting your significant other’s passion, you are doing what you should be. It’s literally the bare minimum of being decent.

Am I supposed to be impressed by the bare minimum??

Besides, just because two people are in the same field of work doesn’t automatically mean they have chemistry. Being in the same line of work just means they’re in the same line of work. 

And, going back to my point about Ben’s second chances philosophy, they definitely wouldn’t work together so well if Ben wasn’t cooperating in the way he always tries to. 

The argument that they "negate” each other heavily undermines Ben’s character in order to attempt to place them on an equal level. 

Did Kai ever attempt to redeem herself for her “bitchiness”? No.

It just became a character trait. 

The truth is that everyone has flaws. And that’s not inherently a bad thing. A character having distinguishable flaws allows them to feel fleshed out. Flaws are a significant feature to focus on because they often stem from something deeper. The beauty is that, through character development, having flaws gives the character something to attempt to improve when their storyline and interactions with other characters provide them with chances to do so. 

You could see this with Kevin’s redemption, for example. Or even what is referred to as Ben’s “ego” throughout the continuity. 

But when Ben continuously gives Kai chances to be better, and she shuts him down, she ignores her own flaws. 

Notice that Ben doesn’t ignore what others perceive are his flaws. 

I say it like that because flaws are arguably subjective. But regardless, all those moments throughout the OS and UAF which show characters like Gwen, Kevin, Max, and even Azmuth critiquing Ben on his character actually did make an impact. Whether I think it was right or wrong is irrelevant to the fact that, by Omniverse, we had him explaining to an imaginary crowd what it actually means to be a hero.

(Ben 10: Omniverse - “Malfactor”)

“It’s about making a difference." 

In front of nobody but himself, where he could have just indulged in the fantasy, he put his “ego” aside to display the integrity of his character development by that point. 

If his ego was really so bad that it desperately needed to be squashed, then he wouldn’t be out here believing time and time again that everyone deserves a chance to be better.

(Ben 10: Omniverse - “Parallel Paradox”)

Perhaps it’s because he has always taken that chance himself, knows the benefit of it and wants to see others improve as well rather than being vengeful or begrudging. 

Kai is a…tragic case, tbh. 

The fandom likes to daydream about her “potential” and what she could have been. But truth of the matter is that the writers chose to present her this way. If they wanted to have her some other way, wouldn’t they have done that? 

Whether it was to make her somewhat interesting by being a source of drama, I don’t know. All I know is that they crossed the line between dramatic and toxic very quickly, and possibly without realizing. 

In conclusion, it also pisses me off is that these kinds of claims just gloss over the abuse. 

It’s not something to make light of just because Ben can "handle it.” I know he can handle rough treatment. That’s what his literal job entails. 

It’s not what his relationship should entail. 

If anyone else reading this still doesn’t believe me, please. Go get stepped on and belittled constantly and tell me that shit is romantic. Because I’ve had my fair share of experience with mistreatment and it hurts terribly. I can’t imagine having to deal with that on top of all the selfless manual labour he already chooses to do everyday.

[hayleysstark]

You don’t think Merlin is a good person? I have always thought he was fantastic. He has always done what is best for everyone which often causes great harm to himself. He has never been malicious or taken joy in any of the terrible things he’s has to do in the name of destiny. In the name of Arthur. I’m very curious as to why you think that. Could you possibly elaborate? I’m not saying your opinion is wrong, I’m just wondering.

Oh, no, I do not think Merlin is a good person!!! not at all!! and I do not think Merlin is a hero!!! don’t misunderstand me, because God knows you do make a truly wonderful point here, that Merlin has made many sacrifices, he has buried every last one of his own dreams, and all to protect his friends, and I would never, ever try and ignore or disregard that outright. I don’t think Merlin is a good person, but I certainly don’t think he’s selfish, either. He’s usually the first one to put himself last in every circumstance, and I would absolutely never say Merlin is a selfish man. For all his faults - and we all know he has a straight-up surplus of those - his friends are always his number-one priority, top of his list.

But it doesn’t really cancel out all the rest.

You say he feels badly for the terrible things he’s done. Good. He should feel badly. He should lose sleep over all the horrible choices he’s made. He should remember all the innocent people who lost their lives at his hand. He should know he is not a good person. If you do something wrong, and you feel bad about it, your guilt does not negate the wrong thing you did. Guilt is not a get-out-of-jail-free card. It’s literally basic human decency to feel bad if you hurt people. So, yeah, Merlin should feel bad. It should hurt him, to do the things he does.

I’m not going to go into a super-long and detailed thesis about this, because A. I’m seriously not trying to rip up such a cherished and beloved character and B. i legitimately don’t think actual humans are going to read this when i’m done because, point A, i am, essentially, ripping up a cherished and beloved character.

And Merlin definitely has some flaws I’m not going to touch on - i.e. he’s impulsive, he’s melodramatic, he’s oversensitive, he’s childish, he’s whiny, he’s self-pitying - mainly because those flaws fade as he grows and matures and also, are largely played up for humor in the series anyways (can you honestly think of a single episode before S3 where Merlin didn’t take at least ten minutes out of his day to bitch to Gaius about how hard his not-very-hard life was??). But I’ll tackle as much of the serious stuff as I can before I inevitably just spiral into repeatedly calling him a Terrible Bastard Man lmao.

Merlin has shown, hundreds upon hundreds of times over the series, that he will stop at absolutely nothing to get what he wants, to get where he wants, and he takes full and often brutal advantage of everybody around him to further his own agenda. Remember in The Wicked Day how he straight-up refused to heal Uther until Arthur promised to bring magic back if he did?? yeah. same here. And we can’t forget the way he literally took away Arthur’s free will in The Sword in the Stone, can we? or when he deliberately sabotaged Arthur’s second chance at love and happiness in The Hunter’s Heart because Mithian had committed the cardinal sin of not being Gwen???

Even if you can overlook all that really blatant manipulation Merlin puts his friends through on a regular basis, he also tries to kill Mordred in The Witch’s Quickening ((okay, he actually just tries to make sure the attacking knights find Mordred, but same difference, really)). And do I even need to talk about how he tried to poison Morgana in The Fires of Idirsholas? no, i’m serious, do i even need to talk about that??? a billion other people have already discussed it, so you know what, fuck it, but the takeaway is, it was a terrible thing to do, even if Camelot did hang in the balance at the time. ((no, he does not get a pass for trying to save the kingdom. he’s a bastard. you can’t change my mind.))

oh, he also sets Kilgharrah free in The Fires of Idirsholas, too, which brings his Bastard Points up to a two for that episode--wait, no, it’s a three, he gets a Bastard Point just for existing i think. a n y w a y s

And he murders Agravaine in The Sword in The Stone. Doesn’t sound too horrific on its own, we all know the story, Agravaine is the traitor in the court, and Merlin does what he has to do to eliminate the threat, but, wait, he doesn’t. Does he? Merlin doesn’t have to kill Agravaine, because Agravaine literally presents no real threat to Merlin. God knows Merlin could keep him alive, God knows he could just truss the asshole up like a goddamned Christmas morning turkey if he wanted to, but that’s the thing - he doesn’t want to. Because what if Agravaine escaped, and made it back to Morgana? He knows about Merlin’s magic now, and Merlin can’t let him live with that knowledge.

Merlin does not strike back at Agravaine in self-defense.

Merlin murders Agravaine to save his own lying skin.

so. yeah!! Merlin is ruthless !!! Merlin will turn literally anyone he lays eyes on into a pawn in his game to fulfill destiny. everybody is just a piece he can move around the board, and it’s not good. it’s not okay. yes, Merlin values his friends, Merlin would do absolutely anything for friends, but he doesn’t hesitate to use them, either. Yes, most of the time, he truly believes he’s doing what’s best for them, but that is not his decision to make.

I’m not trying to say Merlin is unforgivable or irredeemable. I’m not trying to say you shouldn’t like Merlin ((obviously, I’m not trying to say that, I love one (1) Merlin Emrys with my whole-ass heart, he’s kind of the reason i didn’t off myself once upon a teenage depression, so)) and I’m not trying to say you should change your entire opinion on Merlin to fit mine!! if you still think Merlin is a good person, don’t let me stop you!!! now, if you need me, i’ll be showering a Tall, Dark and Bitchy Bastard in a little more love ~

[beans-and-rice101]

Hey, hi, I'm here to, uhh, talk about Gwen Stacy of Earth-65? Okay, here we go;

So, I've seen a lot of talk about Miles Morales which is fucking ACES because I always thought he needed more stans, so good job there. There's a blow-up about Spider-Ham and Spider-Man Noir which is... A thing, that's a thing that's happening... But I've seen little talk of Gwen and Peni and I??? Huh???

Gwen is, like, such a magnificent breakthrough and so is Peni??! I'm here to talk about mostly Gwen, but during my research I found that both FEMALE spiders are pretty much ignored unless it's shipping. Which makes me angery. Very. Angery.

In the movie, when we first meet Gwen she is undercover at Miles' new school. She starts off being hella cool and diverting some of the attention of the class from Miles when he's late, then later she's understandably a little weirded out, but still tries to be as nice as she can despite the fact that this kid has his hand stuck to her hair. Later, after revealing herself in the forest and saving both the boys' asses, she dives straight into considerate and relaxed with Miles, humouring him when he lies and, despite having every reason to avoid friendships - especially with the guy who, albeit accidentally, messed up her hair, even makes him an exception to her rule when he suggests it.

She continues, then, to constantly consider the newer spider's safety, empathizes with him over his loss, and looks out for him throughout the end fight. And that's so amazing. Here we've got this badass girl, tragic backstory of losing her best friend and blaming herself, a whole city on her shoulders. But she's nice. Always. Just because she "doesn't do friends" that doesn't mean she doesn't do nice. Even though it's not exactly visible in this picture, you can still see Gwen's second-hand pain for Miles' loss.

She could've so easily been that character who smirked and turned her nose up at Miles, be that bitchy character that thinks he's useless. But she's not. And I'm really happy about that. In addition, as if she wasn't awesome enough, you see those ballet shoes she's wearing? That's such a fucking SMART IDEA HOLY SHIT! I'm no dancer, nor am I a shoe expert, but in my mind, I see ballet shoes as the best option for a spider person after bare feet. Ballerinas spend a lot of time on tiptoes, so there's actually a box in the front protecting their toes. Guess how Gwen kicks most of the time?

Damn straight. And that's not all! Ballet shoes are made of thinner, flexible material, which is equally helpful to one who probably wants to feel the surface under her feet, especially when high up. I think it's super cool that Gwen took something that many people would sneer at, something girly and weak, and uses it to kick ass!

Gwen should be more popular. And not as a ship with Miles or as a second child-figure for Burrito Peter. Gwen should get more attention because she's cool

and nice

and a well-rounded, well delivered character. Treat her better, guys!

Also, as a sidenote paragraph, I wanna quickly gush about Peni Parker, y'know that awesome girl whose friends with her dimension's radioactive spider? The one with the big fuck off robot with an emoji face?? Yeah her. Holy crap, I was honestly afraid that the movie would take the piss out of this character for being anime style and pretty magic girl-esque. But for the time she was on screen, she was intense, loud, smart, sweet, kickass and A LITTLE GIRL WITH NO MALE GAZE SET UPON HER. She was unapologetically smarter than the our main protagonist, aggressive and ready to kick names and take ass, and yet still emotionally open like a child should be. She, Porker and Noir stood out the most out of the cast for their different art styles, which was fantasticly done. I loved the way her eyes were always twinkling, and her fight shots were typical of anime art, yet not so much as to stray from the movie's flow. I rate her A+++

In conclusion, pay the females more attention. Goddammit you guys, please be cool about these ones, they're real special to me!