#and i am so. glad. to not be in that space any more. this is a much simpler way to be in the world

[lovelytayforce]

I agree with this comment here so hard, I remember getting blasted for calling readers who don't comment "leeches" on R/Fanfiction and I'm glad people are seeing that for what it is even if it's four years late

So, I'm gonna share my own little story here because discord has actively ruined communities for fanfic (and art too I'm not gonna leave y'all out cause my bestie @zoetiger-1106 is an artist who deserves way more praise than she gets!!) The reason why authors and myself see the "I'm shy" shit as an excuse is because the same people will type long ass tirades on Discord without a single thought. YOU CAN EDIT AO3 COMMENTS PEOPLE! If you make a mistake, read it back over and edit it. I've watched it happen in real-time with one of my favorite commenters on my one-shot where they left a short gushing comment and then came back and wrote more, you have no excuse much less reason to go "Man fandom keeps telling me to not critique and I might make a mistake so I will say nothing and consume like the average TV and Streaming consumer who thinks there doing something!" YOU have a lot of power with comments and even those bookmark tags hell just copy-paste what you put into those bookmark tags as a comment I DON'T CARE AT THIS POINT USE THAT LIL BOX TO VOICE SOMETHING!!!! God this is all over the place idc but I read back at those bookmarks, and saw people call my works the best and super cool and I APPRECIATE THAT but tell me! Stop taking the easy route, I been blasted for misunderstandings over comments multiple times cause people take my "tone" terribly cause it sucks being black and emotive online yay and for some reason people think !!!! Is bad? yes, I've been hit with that but I keep on trucking cause fuck whatever some weirdo thinks about exclamation points! Anyways back to discord and why I hate it now, I was in a small fandom, KFP got invited to a discord cause ONE person commented on my works and saw they talked about my fic, and at first, I was happy and people TALKED about my chapters at length in the fanfic channel. I basically was the ONLY ONE posting consistently in that channel and it was great but also I wanted that on my fic to show I improved so guess what I did? I went all in trying to one-up myself to be noticed, to have the acclaim my peers did so it would evolve outside of discord channels but it never happened. And Imma tell y'all now; it never will. Readers prefer convenience over your hard work, they are not gonna take time for you no matter how much you improve. People told me over and over while I looked for solutions for this; "We can't make commenting look like an obligation." "Add more prose, space these paragraphs better" all this just for no one to take the initiative and say something SINCERE towards a work they love on it. I've had to tell my own ex-friends now to go leave comments on works they called Masterpieces while ignoring me. Despite the fact they wanted Gen content in which I WROTE. Or met people who have very weird "I don't review" rules for themselves despite getting motivated by reviews themselves!! We're in a shitty time for creatives much less community cause we don't see each other as humans much less want to treat each others as we desire to be treated. Fanfic readers want to treat authors like showrunners and I hate it. But then your peers will tell you 'not to worry about engagement" and no I am because why is my hit count going up every day but ain't no one saying shit? Make it make sense!! I sat in that community commenting as much as I could, especially on long fics; it wasn't all perfect but I TRIED. I didn't expect shit back but hey it would have been nice but it never happened and again I learned; it never would. That's the real issue, no one wants to give no more; just take and take and take til you're sucked dry of passion worse than any corpo out right now. It's why I thankfully switched fandoms. I got ONE consistent commenter and they are better than that ENTIRE SMALL CLOSED COMMUNITY!! So, to any discord reactor for fanfic you better skip on to that message you made and copy and paste it in this box right here and never utter "I'm shy" ever again cause we see you, our friends tell us about you. You are not as anonymous as you think! 🫵🏽

A writer friend told me something that broke my heart a little bit today; they're going to quit publishing their fanfic.

My instant thought was that they had been trolled or attacked or that something terrible had happened in their life because this person is so passionate about their writing. It wasn't any of that. Engagement with their works has been going down, as it has for many of us. Comments are like gold dust a lot of the time, and just looking through the historical comment counts on old fics on ao3 demonstrates this trend very clearly. It was not simply the comments dropping off which caused them to decide to stop posting, however.

My friend came across a discord server for their fandom (I should point out here that their fandom interest and mine diverged a couple of years ago, we stay in touch but don't currently read each other's posts because I'm not into their fandom and they would rather gouge their eyes out with a wooden spoon than read anything Star Wars) and specifically to share fic in that fandom. They joined, because we all love a good fic rec, only to discover that their latest multichapter fic, which has almost no comments and very few kudos, is being hotly discussed in this server as one of the best stories ever. Not one of these people has bothered to say this to them on the fic. When they asked, none of participants could see the point in telling the author of the fic they apparently loved so much that they love it.

This discovery has absolutely destroyed my friend's love of sharing fic. They share because they love seeing other people's enjoyment, and fic writers do that through comments and kudos/reblogs/likes because we don't get paid. There is no literary critic writing a blog post/article about how amazing the story is for us to copy and keep/frame. There is no money from royalties. All we have are the words of the people reading our works.

Those people on that server could have taken five minutes of the time they spent gushing about how amazing my friend's story was to other people and used it to tell the one person guaranteed to want to hear that praise how much they loved it. They could have taken a moment to express their opinion to the person who spent hours upon hours plotting, writing, editing, and posting those chapters. Instead, they deprived my friend of thing that keeps them sharing their writing, and in the process have killed their love of it. My friend now feels used and unmotivated.

I won't be sharing a link to their fic, they said I could share their experience but not their identity. I know they plan to post one final chapter. I know they intend to express their hurt at being excluded from the praise for the thing they created, and I know they intend to announce that as a consequence they will not be posting for a long while, if at all.

So please, I beg you, don't hide your love of a story from the writer. It's just about the only thing we have.

[thememestrider]

Had an idea, thought it was cute, so I wrote something for it.

Introductions - Dante x F! Reader

Sypnosis: Needing to touch base with the various high lords and regents of his new Imperium, Robute Guilliman hosts an enormous social function at his palace on Ultramar. Naturally, Commander Dante is invited. And, naturally, he's taking his beloved as his plus one.

C/W: No warnings, possible lore inaccuracies/ooc (especially for Guilliman since idk anything about his lore lol), reader is described as female in this one, pre-established relationship, kinda fluffy with a smidge of angst, lil spicy insinuation at the end but nothing nsfw, unedited.

Back in the days before the Heresy, Guilliman had hated events like this.

The pomp, the lavishness, and the expenditure; all so his father could have the opportunity speak with the high lords and imperial regents face-to-face. It's so gawdy, so wasteful. And, frankly, it's so unbearably pretentious.

But, just like those early days, Guilliman understands the necessity. Without them, he'd never see any of the imperial upperclass. Half of them are too preoccupied to try and arrange private audiences with, while the other half will simply refuse. Events like this are a chance to bring all these people together in one place, allowing Guilliman to brief, reprimand and pass orders to everyone he must while keeping them from being distracted or finding some way to avoid him. These conversations are exhausting, though. And, more often than not, frustrating to all hell. Several times throughout the night, Guilliman has to disengage from mingling, to preserve his sanity as much as his strength.

Now is one such time.

Swirling a cup on wine in one hand, the Primarch surveys the floor of his place's vast dining hall, which for tonight has been converted into something akin to a ballroom. His serfs had done well in setting everything up; everything from the music to the drapes to the crystal chandeliers scream luxury from the tops of their lungs. Guilliman takes a swig from his wine. While the taste is pleasant, he find himself resenting the fact that he is immune to the effects of alcohol.

Everyone here, I despise, one way or another.

His gaze catches on the right side of the room. A flash of red; deep, rich and belonging to an ornate set of robes; draped over a man taller than anyone else in the room aside from the Primarch himself. Black hair streaked with silver cascades over his shoulders in loose waves. He's standing against a wall, hands clasped across his lap, sharp amber eyes following something amidst the crowd that Guilliman cannot pick out. The Primarch recognises the man immediately. As he does, a weight suddenly lifts from his chest.

Well, not everyone.

Guilliman starts towards the man in red. When he notices the Primarch approaching, the man's already rigid posture stiffens even more. Setting his fist across his heart, he begins to bow. But before he can complete the gesture, Guilliman intervenes. "How many times must I tell you, Dante? I'll not accept such signs of humility from a man such as you."

He speaks with a smile, but evidently, Dante's innate reverence of the Primarch will not allow him to partake in the jest.

"Forgive me, my lord," the Blood Angel says. "You surprised me, is all."

"There's nothing to forgive." Guilliman sets a hand on Dante's shoulder. "It's good to see you, nephew. I am glad you could attend."

"I..." Dante trails off, and Guilliman fears his attempt at personability have unsettled the space marine. But, eventually, Dante allows himself a brief half-smile. "Thank you, Guilliman. It is good to see you, too."

Releasing his shoulder, Guilliman pauses to look Dante up and down. In spite of his advanced age, Dante remains a spitting image of his gene-father, Sanguinius. Paired with his noble heart and soft-spoken demeanour, and the commander might as well be Guilliman's long-dead brother reborn. The thought tugs at the Primarch's heart. He covers it with a smile. "You look well. Very well. You have recovered from your wounds sustained on Baal, I hope?"

"Somewhat," Dante admits. "Though I cannot say the same for Baal itself."

Guilliman nods sombrely. "The Tyranids are a merciless enemy. Even in defeat, they leave little upon which to rebuild." He offers the commander another smile. "You will rebuild, though. It will just take time."

Dante's expression is thoughtful. "Not too much, I hope; time is not something we have in abundance in the Imperium Secundus. "

Rueful silence follows the commander's words. Slowly, Guilliman can feel it turning melancholic. He moves to break it before that happens. "I see you lack a glass; can I get you a drink?"

Suddenly, Dante perks up. "Oh, no, my lord. You needn't worry. My-"

"My wife is already on it, he meant to say."

Guilliman turns around sharply. He sees you, wrapped in a slinky dress the same crimson shade as Dante's robes, smiling playfully up at the Primarch. You have a glass in each hand. Both filled with wine, though one is significantly larger than the other. This you hand off to Dante, before gliding to the space marine's side and slipping your now-free hand around his arm. For a moment, both men are at a loss for words: Dante, due to your unbelievably casual behaviour towards the Lord Primarch, and Guilliman due to your refering to yourself as...

"Wife?" Guilliman stares at Dante in surprise. "I didn't know you had a wife. "

Dante's expression suddenly hardens. "You don't disapprove, do you?"

"It'd be a bit late if he did," you add slyly.

Guilliman blinks. "I- No, no! Of course not. I'm just... I'm just surprised, is all."

You throw your husband a smirk. "Surprised?" you mutter. "That's a bit rude." Dante's only reply is an unamused glare.

Guilliman shakes his head. "That's not- I only meant that I didn't realise space marines... had partners. Let alone... got married."

"They don't, typically," you reply. "But Luis and I-" quickly rising to your toes, you plant a quick kiss on Dante's cheek. "We're a unique case, you could say. "

Guilliman hardly hears what you're saying; the mere sight of you has his thoughts paralysed. Your crown barely reaches the Blood Angel's shoulder, and yet hanging off his arm, you look completely at home.

Dante is the same, too. Guilliman sees the way his face lights up when you kiss him. Had seen the hostility in his eyes when the Primarch had questioned him, like a primal protectiveness. Even now, it's not yet faded. As much as Dante reveres Guilliman, the Primarch realises that if given the choice between him and you, Dante will choose you without hesitation. Guilliman feels... He isn't sure how this makes him feel. The logicitian in him cringes at the thought of his fellow Lord-regent- his second-in-command, effectively- having his loyalty split between the Imperium and something (or, in this case, someone) else. But another part of him, the human in him, sees the way you look at each. The way you stroke Dante's arm as you speak. The way Dante unconsciously leans into you, as if drawing comfort from your touch. Guilliman sees all of this, and everything that lays unspoken beneath, and he feels... He feels happy. Hopeful. And maybe, though he'd never admit it aloud, he even feels a little jealous.

Before he can ponder that point any further, you address the Primarch again. "Well, Lord Guilliman, it was an honour to finally meet you. But I'm afraid I must steal my husband back for a moment."

Blinking his reverie away, Guilliman nods. "Of course, my lady." He stifles a wince at how quiet his voice has become. "It was... It was a pleasure meeting you, as well."

You flash a brilliant smile. Dante simply nods. Rather than wait for you both walk away, however, Guilliman takes his leave first. Turning on his heel and retreating back to his earlier vantage point. For the rest of the night, however, his thoughts remain on the pair of you. Swirling amongst pleasure, melancholy and other things he does not yet know how to label.

********************************************

The moment that Guilliman is out of earshot, Dante sighs in relief. "By the Throne," he mutters. "That went better than expected."

You raise an eyebrow. "What went better than expected?"

Finishing his wine, Dante sets the empty glass down on a table as you walk past. Then, you feel him squeeze your hand; the one you have threaded through his arm.

"You and Lord Guilliman," he says softly.

You take a moment to study your husband's face. You find it wrought with undeclared anxiety. Slowing to a halt, you turn to face Dante, keeping a hold on his arm. "Why?" you ask gently. "Did you think he'd disapprove?"

His grip on your hand tightens. "I thought he would take you from me."

You find the suggestion humorous- as if you'd let anything get between the two of you- but upon seeing the stress still lingering on Dante's face, you do not say so. Instead, you ask, "Why would he do that?"

Dante looks at you ruefully. In spite of his feelings, it seems your naivety has amused him somewhat. "Space marines are weapons, sweetheart," he answers. "The only things our hearts are supposed to feel are duty and honour. Not..."

Gently, you finish his thought for him. "Not what we have."

Dante smiles sadly. "Exactly."

"Well... Guilliman said outright that he doesn't disapprove. So, that must bide well, right?"

"That could change," Dante argues.

"If it does, we will fight it."

"And if we cannot?"

Sighing, you set your glass aside. Then, you reach up to cradle his cheek. Immediately, he leans into your palm.

"Then nothing," you say softly. "It will change nothing. No matter what does or doesn't happen, Luis, I'm not going anywhere. Remember what I said? You'll never have to manage without me again."

Draping your arms around his neck, you pull him into a hug. You feel him grab you around the waist, forearms pressed against your lower back and pulling you flush against his front.

"I love you," he whispers into your ear.

You nuzzle into his hair, resting your head in the crook of his neck. He smells delicious; of musk and sweet spice.

"I love you, too, " you reply.

For several, tender moments, you remain locked in each other's arms. Many passers-by eye you curiously. Some even begin to gossip. But neither of you pay them any heed. In fact, neither of you even notice them. Eventually, you're the first to draw away, but it's only enough enough to meet Dante's eye. Your arms remain firmly wrapped around his neck. "I don't know about you, but I'm about ready to get out of here."

Absently, Dante begins stroking your back. "Is that why you pulled me away from Guilliman?"

You nod. "I've taken all the high lords and ecclesiarchy I can for one night." With a sigh, you rest your head on Dante's chest. "Between that and meeting a Primarch, I need some peace and quiet."

"I understand," Dante says. "And I agree. Although..."

"What?"

"Maybe you could hold off from the "peace and quiet" for little longer?"

You look up at him. "Why?"

Dante flashes a smirk. Through it, you make out the tips of his angel fangs. "My love," he says sweetly. "You've made me watch you glide around in that dress all evening..." He holds you tighter. Suddenly, you're accutely aware of how low down your back his hands rest.

You give him a sultry smile. "Well, in that case... I suppose I can." With that, you pull away, taking your husband by both hands and pulling him towards the ball room's exit.

Taglist: @solspina :)

[vapolis]

Mara i finished the demo two days ago and i am ILL. i cant stop thinking about this. this THING. (affectionately)

im in disbelief at how anyone can dislike any of the ROs honestly, i get personal preference i mean genuine dislike or 'not getting how others romance them'. i did Echo's route first as im very feral for any character even remotely similar to their almost exact archetype, and was NOT disappointed.

plus, im like 98% sure im gay, and i still somehow ate Orla's route UUPPPP, im a sucker for these fucked up relationship dynamics (dog on a leash, owner loosening and tightening the leash as they please, everyone else fucking terrified).

so this has been occupying alot of space in my brain recently haha. i was literally listening to Brittle Bones Nicky 1,2 and 3 the other day and could not get my Merc's image out of my head. i dont know if im too hyperfixated on this or if the songs really do match Merc alot

anyway yes im gonna! contain my yapping! please let me know if its ok for me to send yappy asks to you more or not, i just enjoy pouring my thoughts out and showing my appreciation that way, am really bad with words otherwise haha. take care!!!

I'm very glad you enjoyed it so much!! I'm always so flattered when ppl say they think about my IF days later like that's so 😵‍💫

I agree, however, that I also never understand ppl that ask how anyone can romance x character. like I actually put thought into their personalities first of all. secondly, everyone's taste differs! which is great!

echo and orla could not be further apart fr but I'm happy you found them both interesting <3

I do think the songs fit the vibe of merc quite a bit! I'll have to give them a proper listen but lyrics wise I can see the vibes.

you're always welcome to send me long asks haha, I enjoy reading people's thoughts quite a lot!

I'm currently working on echo's playlist I'm just... slow. it's hard finding songs that fit their exact vibe to me, but if you have suggestions lmk! glad you enjoy the others as well :)

[catras-breakup-song]

how do you feel about the whole "you always wanted more" line that got cut? at first i was wondering why they did that because adora didn't want more until it made me think "huh, what if prime was just running on catra's memories and didn't actually know adora?" but i'm curious as to what you think

OH MY GOD I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED THIS. i am such a sucker for the cut STC script. back in late 2020 & early 2021 i had a twitter layout based on “that little spot on the roof that only they knew about” because S3 is my favorite:

even better, i have another old twitter fancam saved from around that time too that used that screenshot of the script in the beginning. it was by the username yoosene but is now long gone, so i reuploaded it to imgur here (the hands part, i’m going insane…)!

anyway, as for interpretations, it was absolutely to manipulate & guilt-trip adora. i recently saw someone say (i don’t remember where though, sorry) that he was torturing both of them by setting up that nasty fight against both of their wills and had planned to kill catra all along — despite saying he wouldn’t right after she rescued glimmer and was imprisoned for it, in my opinion there was an unspoken “yet” even though he did technically say that word but you know what i mean; “you will be of use to me, and then everyone from your blighted planet, including yourself, will be destroyed.”

that’s the thing about what the show was trying to convey through her stay on prime’s ship via glimmer’s desperate pleas, isn’t it? her illusion of power was only ever temporary. once she no longer had anything of value to serve, what would she be worth? how could she have genuinely believed that he wanted to save her, of all living beings, from the curse of humanity & will of consciousness? what makes one individual different to an omnipotent god compared to countless others across the universe throughout space and time? i truly believe that he was subtly mocking her when he talked of her being “exalted, raised up above the other wretched creatures of [her] home world.”

i was actually trying to find another five by five takes quote about this, because mentioning them is always an obligation for me, but surprisingly i didn't really find anything about how catra had worked her way up to prime's recognized single subordinate (only that moment of reflection afterward, which is just this entire short video), and was under the false impression with a cocky & confident attitude that her position meant something for her safety & survival; i'm mostly referring to this moment:

the horde's the horde...even in space. as long as i'm of value to horde prime, i've got a place in this world. i can work my way up here, just like i did before.

actually y’know what… i’m going to tag @horde-princess because this is starting to dive into religious meta which is like… her whole gimmick thingy. we would be blessed (pun intended) to see your take on this writing that never made it to the show, if you haven’t given it already!

now this is veering too far off from the original point after getting sidetracked. the tone of those quotes in the alternate script is (fake) pity, and horde prime was entertained by the struggles of mere mortals. to make adora a failure of what she represented would surely force her to give up she-ra to him, because what would even be the point anymore of living up to expectations if she couldn’t save catra first & foremost (that’s something that she struggled with since initially leaving the horde over three years ago due to how catra made her feel about supposedly breaking their childhood promise… but it’s a story for another post)?

i don’t doubt that your thought process is at least partially right too though, anon. prime didn’t read adora’s mind thoroughly at any point, so it’s entirely possible that he just read off catra’s intense feelings of abandonment & betrayal. that being said, if he really did see all as he claimed, maybe he was able to recreate an objectively accurate collection of events and knows what really happened and what the intentions behind certain actions were. i also wonder if catra secretly knew deep down that adora’s defection wasn’t directly about her but just couldn’t admit it until she had time to deeply reflect on it during “corridors.”

i’ll leave this messy, unorganized post with an amazingly relevant gif set made by an editor whose work on here i really enjoy:

as i said a long time ago, you just had to be there on november 19th 2020 when that excerpt was released because the hype was crazy!

[marlynnofmany]

Formatting a book isn't for the faint of heart.

Book: "Hey look, line breaks that won't go away."

Me: *many hours of sleuthing later* "Some of the spaces between words were 'unbreaking spaces.' Now I know."

Book: "Hey look, page numbers in a weird spot."

Me: *stares* "Are they indented? Oh, the headers and footers are in Body Paragraph Style. So glad I'm almost done with this."

Book: "Hey look--"

Me: "DO NOT."

[lunarharp]

"Found out" set in kind of a made-up chapter where the girls are in trouble, or something.

[faaun]

pls i need to provide updates

[bunnyboy-juice]

spent the first hour and change at work deleting some old files and am having a grand ol time laughing at myself for not realizing i was a lesbian sooner

[yourdrugisafartbreaker]

So I just finished my Tubi watch through of Class of the Titans and… Wow, I wasn’t expecting that ending. But, with all of that done with, I need to talk about my favorite character.

And, like, a lot…

(WARNING: This post has MAJOR spoilers for the show Class of the Titans, I basically go over the whole show, although they mostly pertain to a certain character from the show. This show is currently FREE on Tubi and other streaming platforms. Hell, I looked it up on YouTube, it’s also there too! Please go watch it! It’ll grow on you! Of course, you’re fine to read on if you don’t really care about that, but I wouldn’t want to be the one ruining any possible enjoyment of the show for you. Anyways, infodumping!)

While at the beginning of my watch through of the Canadian cartoon Class of the Titans, I posted about it, and I said Hermes seemed to be my favorite character so far. Now, I still like him pretty strongly, I will admit that he didn’t get enough screen time for me to fully consider my favorite character in this show period.

Now, Cronus on the other hand, he got a LOT of screen time. (Being the main villain will do that to you.) He’s relentlessly evil and campy as hell, not to mention that with his lines, he is the epitome of a villainous Tumblr sexyman. In addition, not only is he the God of Time AND Space, he’s also Zeus’ dad. As a main villain, I absolutely adore him! But, admittedly, something is missing to me. See, he’s the main villain, the foil to the protagonists. If he succeeds, well, the show is done pal. Thus, he’s not really allowed to grow because of that. He always gets beaten and/or forced to flee by the main seven heroes. Because of that, while his writing in terms of pure lines is fantastic, the overall writing is admittedly static. Now, the show does admittedly occasionally venture outside the box and make Cronus something besides the main villain to our heroes, but that’s also understandably limited.

So, someone with screen time and is allowed to develop, who could belong to that group… Why, of course, who else but the main group of heroes! Well, in a way, they are a bit samey. They’re all the destined heroes who want to focus on heroing. Well, of course, there is a bit of an exception…

Neil’s character is written brilliantly.

That’s right, Neil, I’m talking about you.

As the seventh and last hero introduced in the series, the team depends on him to fulfill the prophecy that seven heroes will defeat Cronus! Except, he’s not much of a hero. The word that Neil wants after super is model, not hero. And, this is by design.

First off, all of the heroes are descended from Greek figures. Archie is related to Achilles, Atlanta is related to Athena, and on and on and on. And then, there’s Neil, who is descended from Narcissus. Now, a beautiful guy who fell in love with his own reflection in some water and stared at it until he died doesn’t sound so heroic, does it? Of course, Neil reflects this narcissism, his vanity being his signature trait.

This signature trait shows that, compared to the other characters, his personality is essentially fundamentally flawed from the start. In fact, in the intro, it gives everyone a descriptor for their role in the team. Jay is the leader, Herry is the brawn, and so forth. Neil’s descriptor? He is simply dubbed the good looking one. (For reasons we’ll discuss later, this vastly undersells Neil.)

Now, while this makes him sound like the least likable hero in the show… Well, he 100% is, but that’s the point. I don’t know if I could truly be friends with him, but goodness, he’s probably the objectively best hero in terms of character. He’s egocentric, self-centered, and honestly not too empathetic. However, because he displays these flaws so much, it kinda becomes accepted that this is just Neil.

When other heroes have their flaws become evident, like Odie’s carelessness in taking Zeus’ Time Piece because everyone keeps taking up his time, it’s addressed rather quickly. More often than not, with a lesson learned, it kind of gets swept under the rug. But Neil? Oh boy, try unraveling all of that, much less try fixing all of that!

But, in turn, this has a bit of an inverse effect. Cool, Herry did the hero thing, he’s supposed to, because he’s good guy Herry. But, Neil? I am screaming “GO, WHITE BOY, GO!” at the top of my lungs whenever he seems to be actually helping. It’s a bit dependent of the principles of quality over quantity and how can I miss it when I see it so much. Neil, if he ever looks away from his mirror, can have more meaningful rescues and moments where he helps out simply because he doesn’t do it as much. (Admittedly, he is a hero and should be helping more, but we take the small victories with Neil here.)

Now, how does Neil help, exactly? Well, again, all of the heroes have their roles. Theresa is psychic, Athena is super fast, Herry is super strong, Odie is super smart, Jay is a leader with excellent battle intuition, and Archie is… Immune to disease and has a crappy ankle? (How helpful is that? It does come into play, but it’s not like he’s a healer or anything. Archie is probably my least favorite hero though, so…) Anyways, they all have their powers, and Neil has his. You know what it is? Plot armor.

No, I’m not kidding, it is essentially plot armor. Of course, the show calls it luck, and he is pretty damn lucky. He always wins coin flips and gets good grades on tests without studying, he miraculously avoids getting hurt many times, and can often accidentally or unintentionally inspire ideas in others on the team. This is the reason he is on the team, he can be a pain to put up with and often doesn’t have a weapon, but this luck is literally the answer to anything you need on the show. Admittedly, his luck can only help him so much. (Gods, please help this boy try to perform social interactions…) But, it is very important to not only the show’s story, but also to the character of Neil as a whole.

A guy easily chucking cars around? Superhero to the max. A girl running faster than humanly possible? Yeah, that’s a superhero. A really lucky guy? That might just be how the stars line up. If Neil has always had these powers, (And I am assuming here, because we get like… Not much sense of these heroes’ home life at all really.), of course Neil ended up as the brat he is! If things often tend to go his way, he wouldn’t often have to face the reality of things NOT going his way. He’s obviously gonna get bigheaded because of this, which might inspire others to be jealous/not like him, which only further perpetuates his ego. Also, this luck and subsequent ego allows him to be really dumb. Like, he has enough sense to know he can use his mirror as a way to see things without actually looking, but otherwise, he is as dumb as a bag of bricks. Perhaps because he really only tries to act smart (enough) whenever it seems to benefit him or he already knows about it. (Odie talks to him about tectonic plates and Neil seemingly has no clue what a tectonic plate is. It doesn’t immediately benefit him to know what a tectonic plate is either, and he just knows the team has to stop an earthquake thingy.) This power is so significant, yet it doesn’t really actually empower or instill any sense of heroism in Neil because it’s not obviously a power, which still allowed for Neil to end up as a coward. (At first. Also, damn, he has a high pitched scream!)

Yet, amongst all of the vanity inspired by both his ancestry and his power, there are some interesting layers. Sometimes, he’ll end up coming across as really genuine, even if comes off as SO awkward. He’ll drop down the mask of being cool in a more vain sense, exchanging it in for a more authentic self, which can often still be seen as cool. (For example, he talks about how he would be a really cool DJ while talking to the group in the cafeteria, before he starts using two plates as discs, and it actually pops the team and they laugh about it.) He has one liners throughout the series, but over the course of the series, they come off as more genuine and oddly heroic in a strange way. Of course, Neil will be Neil, but Neil can actually stop focusing on himself for a second. (Probably on something shiny. He loves shiny things.)

However, his vain and genuine parts combine together to create probably his most important part: His lack of a filter. Now, this obviously can create some funny moments, such as his incessant complaining and whining and wailing. Then again, Neil can get kinda wild at times. While talking about Dionysus, the god of partying who consumes an excessive amount of wine, Neil asks, “Is he still a…?” before continuing by making a bottle sipping gesture. Like… Oh my gods. Did he really just ask that on a kid’s show? That is probably the most direct way to ask that in a way that is also allowed on a kid’s show. (Even Hera is a bit taken aback by this, Neil’s question means she has to quickly explain Dionysus now focuses on science.)

However, in a way, his lack of a filter is also a good thing. See, in some strange way, this makes him actually pretty genuine. Now, this man is basically blind to his own flaws for a majority of the series, but that doesn’t prevent him from calling out others. He’s done this multiple times, such as when Archie opened up Pandora’s Box. (He basically called Archie a failure for that, so, again, Neil can get wild!) Hera is explaining to them all (and also the audience) the story of Pandora’s Box, and how she was gifted a box by the gods, but was told not to open it, and her opening up the box released some pretty bad stuff. Neil of course has to add his commentary to it, as he basically says, “You gods suck! You give people presents they can’t open and apples they can’t eat!”. He says this directly in the presence of the gods! Also, he tossed in a potshot at Christianity! He doesn’t care, and I love him for it! (Then again, Neil probably just worships himself, so…)

I fell in love with Neil because of his pure lines written for him, he’s very much like a smarmy pro wrestling heel, which is great, considering I’m a pro wrestling fan. However, after investing into Neil, I most appreciate him for his change over the course of the series. Now, it’s subtle and probably overshadowed by his constant unwillingness to change, but his arc over the course of the entire series is the perfect slow burn for me. Now, let’s start at the beginning.

(Get ready for the length because I took so many notes on Neil!)

He actually isn’t brought in until the third part of the introductory Chaos arc, as he is the last of the prophesied seven heroes, and the others have to go look for him. He’s… Just so not what they thought they were looking for in a hero. Hell, he’s even aligned with Cronus at first! (Then again, Cronus finds Neil when he’s at a photo shoot and convinces Neil that he is a talent agent, so I can’t really blame Neil there.) To make him live up to his Narcissus ancestry, Cronus gets Neil to oodle over his own reflection in a pool of water, before the heroes realize Neil’s power is luck and the heroes chuck Cronus over the top of the building. However, in response, Neil yells about how the heroes just killed his agent. Cronus was okay on the side of the building and climbing up with his scythes though, but the heroes manage to take Neil away, bringing him to the school. He’s so dismissive of whatever the others say until they bring him into the school, and whether or not he likes it (He doesn’t.), he is a superhero now! Funnily enough, Neil ends up unintentionally inspiring Odie to create the thing to stop Cronus’ plans, and the intro arc ends, and we’re strapped in and ready for the rest of the series.

Neil does his thing in the meanwhile, slinging insults and staring at himself in his mirror, all the while not having any weapons and not really fighting all that well, if he even chooses to fight. He gets his first real focus as a member of the team in a particular episode, The Trojan Horse, where Odie gets seriously hurt and gets mad and leaves. After saying Jay’s recent track record as leader stinks, Hera makes an executive decision to replace Jay with Neil, and everyone starts arguing while Odie joins up with Cronus and Jay leaves while feeling disillusioned and Neil gives himself a captain’s hat. After Jay returns with Odie being all evil and strong and stuff now, Neil appoints him as the leader again on the condition that he gets to keep his captain’s hat, and the episode ends with Odie revealing he was a fake defector and helped take out Cronus.

After annoying an already set off Archie (who is afraid of water) by imitating submarine pings, as well as somehow doing magic right on his first try by saying bibbidi bobbidi boo, Neil’s at the zoo taking a photo shoot with monkeys in the Sibling Rivalry episode. Medusa tries to attack him, but thanks to Neil’s good luck, Medusa takes herself out. Well, that’s not how Neil’s telling the story, he’s saying that he laid haymakers into her. Then, when the Gorgon sisters kidnap him, he’s scared and can’t even look at his captors. Of course, Neil gets saved by the others, as the Gorgon sisters get crushed thanks to the cave they are in collapsing on them. And how does Neil tell the story? Well, he goes on about how he took out all 3 Gorgon sisters.

During his first arc, which I call his Getting Acclimated arc, Neil adjusts to everything between his introduction and the Pandora’s Box episode for the first half of Season 1. Everyone gets used to Neil, how he is always late and focused on his beauty, along with his general dumbassery and lack of a filter. Then again, Neil also has to get used to everything, and he leans on certain tendencies to keep himself a bit distant while he grows accustomed to everything.

His next arc, which starts around the Make-Up Exam episode where Neil offers a brainwashed Atlanta his stereo in order to escape Arachne’s web, is his Growing Responsibility arc. He feels he now has to try and prove himself as a hero, and while he doesn’t always help, he is trying to be helpful and fill his role more than being self-serving.

In the Odie-ssey episode, Neil is fine with being stranded on an island with Odie and Jay because he gets to be on the beach and relax, but he ends up doing a lot of climbing and even has to face Cronus by the end of the episode even thought he hates it. In the episode Get Kraken, where a confused Neil infamously says that there is a cracker on the loose, Neil is clearly trying to help by pointing out the Kraken first. However, after Jay saved Neil from being slapshotted like a hockey puck, Neil gets fussy with Jay because Jay interrupted Neil’s thought process and he forgot a very important idea. In the Eye for an Eye episode where Odie is attacked by a one-eyed monster, Neil is convinced the one-eyed part means that the attacker is a pirate, not to mention that he points out where the cyclops is going while he is actively standing in a cyclops footprint. (Neil also faces instant karma this episode, as he makes fun of Atlanta for getting electrocuted by not jumping over the electric wire, before Neil then gets electrocuted by an electric mine.) Again, trying to help, but he’s going about it in a Neil way.

Neil is becoming less static as a character as his boundaries are slowly being opened, but this means that sudden shifts may occur, such as in Bows and Eros. This Valentine’s Day episode, which is the first holiday episode of the series, features a corrupted Eros (Do not call him Cupid!) shooting hate-spiked arrows at everyone thanks to Cronus. As a result, not only do the heroes hate each other, all of New Olympia hates each other! Except, for Neil, it makes possible the one thing thought impossible: It makes Neil hate himself since he looked into a mirror. (Of course, Eros has to shoot him with a second arrow, as the first one missed thanks to Neil’s luck.) He immediately cries about his hair, saying how ugly he looks as he puts a bag over his head, before running out of the bathroom. Next time we see him, Jay finds Neil bald while strapped into a chair with duct tape over his mouth, as Odie explains to Jay that he wanted to do something about Neil complaining about his hair. However, after being comforted by Aphrodite and donning a fake wig which he totally rocks, he actually powers on and helps the other heroes take down Cronus. In typical Neil fashion though, once Eros and Psyche are reunited and start kissing, Neil and some others in the group tell the two to get a room. The ultimate takeaway though is that, instead of backing down and crumbling, which Neil might have done before, Neil actually powers on. (Also, thank the gods Neil being bald exists only during this episode, because I never want to see his egg head again.)

After he gets turned into a statue in the Underworld in Road to Hades, Neil’s importance is raised a bit in the show, and what he manages to accomplish in the next few episodes is astonishing. After agreeing to give up his plans of any Spring Break parties in Many Happy Returns, Neil actually gets the gang out of a tight spot when they get caught breaking into a museum by a security guard, as Neil uses his Speech 100 to convince the security guard that they are night researchers who study things like owls and comets in order to bring back Hephaestus’ robot ladies. This… Somehow works. In fact, later on in that same episode, Neil proudly lives up to his role as a decoy standing at the peak of a volcano while a bronze giant in Talos is actively trying to destroy the heroes. The next episode titled Labour Day shows a wrestling match between Herry and Neil, and even if Herry is super mega distracted by some bodacious babes he saw yesterday, along with Neil shockingly throwing out the worst insults ever, all of that doesn’t matter when Neil actually beats Herry! (Then, when the gang has to search for a missing Herry, Neil tries to stay in the car to listen to some sweet jams.) Neil is putting in the effort and actually being rewarded.

Now, with this episode called They Might Be G.I.Ants, Neil’s shenanigans get taken to some of the weirdest I have ever seen. So… Cronus raids a military base and turns all of their soldiers into giant ants. How does Neil get involved? Well, when the heroes end up clashing with these ants, Neil manages to get the collar off of one. Not only does this help later, as Odie needs one of the collars to try to take over the ant brains back from Cronus, a particular ant becomes super connected to Neil. Why? Well, the ant stung Neil in the ass. This sends Neil into a state of delirium, where he befriends the ant, and even lowkey flirts with it. Neil somehow is the key to helping mitigate the giant ant problem. I could not believe this at all when I first saw this episode. Interestingly enough, there’s a part of this episode where Neil and Odie form their own team in a tactical exercise because they got picked last and are upset that they are perceived as not as valuable, and they actually end up as the winners of the exercise by the end of the episode.

Neil gets kidnapped (again) by a Stymphalian Bird in Cronus’ Flying Circus, but uses his mirror to avoid becoming bird food, although he sadly broke a nail in the process. He ends up being the most knowledgeable in the episode Sybaris’ Fountain episode when it comes to fighting Sybaris and her ghost vampires, considering he has watched so many vampire movies before, as he brought garlic and stakes and holy water soakers in his vampire hunter drip, and these tools end up stalling their undead foes for long enough for Sybaris to be defeated.

But, amongst all of the things he has had to do, The Last Word may host Neil’s biggest show of commitment to the team so far despite how annoying things personally get for him here. While performing a beautiful rendition of Michael J. Frog’s Hello My Baby in the shower, Neil gets paranoid about a voice talking to him, but no one else cares because they cannot hear it. Surprise, Neil is kidnapped for a third time in Season 1! Echo is enamored with Neil’s ancestor Narcissus (which means she is also enamored with Neil by extension) and is a chatterbox who always has to have the last word, but she ends up spilling about how she is working with Cronus to keep Neil busy while the others are trapped, but Neil convinces her that Cronus would mess things up with no more talking and no more Neil. Thus, his logic makes Echo work with him, and his friends end up freed with Cronus defeated. At the end of the episode though, Echo gently dumps Neil because he is way too obsessed with himself, and Neil is mad she dumped him before he could dump her.

In the season 1 finale, Time After Time, the gang essentially has to time travel in order to stop Cronus’ attempts to change history through time traveling in order to change the prophecy of the seven heroes who can defeat him. Neil… Doesn’t really do much. However, he does have to tell Zeus and Hades from the past that he is not an action figure for the gods. This is basically the end of Neil’s second arc. So… What now?

The first half of Season 2 houses Neil’s Deep End arc, because Neil is finding himself able to swim in the deep end and do things Neil used to be unable to conceive, but the problem is making sure he can stay above the water in the deep end. How does he start this arc? By knocking Cronus out cold! In the opening scenes of Cronus Vanquished, Neil complains about not having a weapon, with Jay realizing Neil should probably have a weapon in the middle of combat. Jay gives Neil his reflective laser shield thing before Neil complains thag is too tight on his wrist, which causes Cronus to easily spot Neil and goes to shoot him as Jay tells Neil how to turn it on, and Neil essentially pulls off a perfect parry and sends Cronus’ evil fire back at him to send him into trees before knocking him out into a big rock.

Here, everyone assumes Cronus is defeated, with Hades personally dealing with Cronus in the Underworld. Neil’s response to the seeming end of their battle with Cronus is that he can’t wait to get out of the “dump” they’ve stayed at, as he’s had enough with doing good, he just wants to get back to looking good again. But, surprise, Cronus did Cronus things and trapped Hades and Persephone in hourglasses and is currently in control of the Underworld right now! In response to this news, Neil in particular seems to be upset, as he complains about how he’ll have to unpack. However, once again, Neil puts on his brave face and serves his role once again. He does complain about how his role is as bait with Odie for the literal God of Death Thanatos, but his absolutely fantastic acting attracts Thanatos into the trap, Odie breaking a rope that causes a big tree to snap into Thanatos and send the God of Death into a pile of rocks. Neil says something of interest after their success though, as he blurts out, “Yeah, we bad!” Hm… Has… Has Neil actually developed a bond with Odie? A friendship, if you will? He might just be reacting to their success… I might be overlooking into things, or perhaps crazy, but I’ll put a bookmark on this one for now.

We get into Neil’s mind a bit in Graes Anatomy, where Odie finds the Eye, a magical thing that can show where anyone desired is. While the group is using the Eye, they are baffled about how they are right by Cronus, and it takes Neil wanting to nap on a log that he accidentally finds Cronus by leaning back into a part of rock that wasn’t actually rock. However, the group using the Eye pissed off the Graes, who the Eye belonged to until Perceus stole it and put it in some lake where the gang originally found it. As punishment, the Graes trap them in their own head, leaving them to fight their fears. Get ready everyone, because Neil’s fears are… Being bald, fat, and having acne. That… That just seems obvious. Anyways…

in Star Quality, a girl named Cassie is supposed to interview Neil due to his rising stardom. (Where does Cassie first recall seeing Neil from? A diaper commercial. In addition, Neil is currently in a fast food employee outfit during their initial conversation, as he is doing a fast food shoot when Cassie interrupts it.) This is Neil’s dream, he has always wanted this, it’s what will truly make him the star he always envisioned himself as! And yet, the entire time, Neil’s words and actions basically show everyone that he’d rather focus on this interview instead of help with the team’s SECRET mission. The way he goes about it to becomes a bit of an active hinderance to the team, as they have to spend time tracking down Cassie and destroying any possible tapes she has, this is happening while they also have to track down and fight Orion. (Orion? Like the constellation from the stars? Yeah, him.) By the end of the episode, Cassie gets her mind erased of recent events, and Neil gets super annoyed because Cassie has no clue who Neil is and won’t give him his interview. (This is also the episode where Neil says he is allergic to clothing without designer labels.)

Neil basically gets punished for his lack of care for the mission in the next episode, Forget Me Not, where the heroes attempt to traverse through the Underworld to get to Elysian Fields to meet their ancestors. Neil tries to drink from the River Lethe because he is thirsty, but Odie ingrains it in Neil’s head that the River Lethe causes forgetfulness with said forgetfulness becoming permanent if they step into the Elysian Fields, and the only cure are some flowers that cause bring back memories before one steps into the Elysian Fields. (Of course, to add on, these flowers can cause drowsiness.) As cruel fate would have it, Neil has to remember this, because he is the only one who can remember it, since the heroes AND Cronus get splashed with water from the River Lethe. The now forgetful group doesn’t take Neil’s help, because they don’t remember him, not to mention that he’s on the other side of the river. This means that he has to go through Charon, the boat guy, but he didn’t bring any money with him. However, he still has payment Charon deems suitable, so Charon will work with him. This leads to the scene of Neil begging for his friends to listen to him and take his flowers before they step into the Elysian Fields while arguing with Cronus, which is accentuated by his lack of his typical vintage shoes and silk shirt, because Charon took those as payment. After all of this, do you know what his reward is after convincing his friends to defeat Cronus? He meets Narcissus, who Neil was thoughtful enough to bring hair product for as a present, with Narcissus giving him clothes he describes as unique and asks if they are made of toe hair. This seems fair enough after last episode.

The focus on Neil basically drops before being built up to later, as he doesn’t really do anything too notable in the next episode, although he drops a wild comment in the next episode called Pandemonium about Chiron needing to watch his diet while ALL OF THE GODS ARE LITERALLY DYING. Neil drops a cool line in the next episode titled Nothing To Fear But Fear Itself by telling Theresa he wants her to take a picture of him IN Greece, not him AND Greece, and he busts it down sexual style on the dance floor with some pretty sick moves. (This scene made me laugh so hard, because not only is Neil doing the coolest dance moves in such a Neil way, but because it’s cutting between Neil dancing and a fear-stricken Archie shaking and pissing himself because he’s so scared in an alley somewhere.) He does get to show off his monster movie knowledge again though, as Neil mentions that silver can take out a werewolf, and Archie ends up using a silver medallion he bought while in Greece to slay the werewolf chasing after him and Atlanta.

Speaking of Atlanta, her and Neil have to work together in this next episode titled Cold Day In Hades, and we see probably one of the strongest examples of Neil’s good luck power. Persephone sits down in the Chair of Forgetfulness placed by Cronus while on her way back to Earth, and her capture makes her Goddess of Harvest mother Demeter so sad that she causes an intense winter on both Earth and in the Underworld. (Neil still tries to work on his tan despite it being a “little chilly” because he is a hero after all.) Once all are informed of Persephone’s disappearance, most of the group goes to find her and bring her back, while Neil and Atlanta are tasked with finding Demeter and calming her down so the snow in spring stops. Atlanta is driving the two to Demeter’s farm on a snowmobile, but she is going so fast which is making Neil scream and complain, which basically forces Atlanta to let him drive. Neil then proceeds to go really slow despite the mission at hand, until he hits the nitrous boost button, which makes the snow mobile go so fast that it crashes into a tree. However, his luck makes it so him and Atlanta are somehow completely unharmed at the cost of the snowmobile, with even Neil shocked at this turn of events. Then, once Neil and Atlanta finally find Demeter, Neil tries to work his magic. However, he was (for some reason) tasked to talk Demeter for his social skills, and he is doing nothing but making the winter more intense. Instead, Neil ends up going fast anyways because Atlanta convinces Demeter to let them borrow her flying horse chariot, and Neil literally kisses the ground beneath him once he got off of the ride. In one of his biggest tasks so far, Neil came off as an active hinderance to the mission.

For the rest of the Deep End arc, he doesn’t quite have this level of focus again, although he still has moments. In Tantalize This, Neil complains about Herry trying to save a cat because Herry got in the way of his light, later bemoaning about how cats are so self-centered without a hint of irony. In Mother Knows Best, Herry’s Granny tells Herry to be a good host and get his friends whatever they want as they are guests, with Neil using this as an excuse to make Herry get him lemonade refills while the others look at him pissed.

Neil does a good bit of varying helpfulness in the episode Applet of Discord, where the God of Discord (@everyone) Eris makes people argue with each other, Atlanta and Archie being affected by this. They come home and bother everyone, including Neil while he is reading a magazine that has him on the cover and causes him to say, “I hate when mom and dad fight, I’m out of here!” He then goes to respond to his fan mail before getting a message from Eris, which unleashes a sound that makes everyone argue with each other, but he also gets a picture of Eris to help the team plan on what to do. (The group does this while ignoring Theresa who has a vision and knows what is going on.) After finding Eris at the bell tower and working with his teammates despite Eris’ attempts to sow discord into the group, Neil drops Eris’ phone down to the bell tower floor to stop the discord, with Harmony causing everyone to be happy with Neil striking the final death blow of a hug to Eris making the Goddess of Discord go away. After not doing much notable in Bad Blood, Neil in Dreamweaver is hesitant about Cronus taking the talisman in their plan to try and trap Cronus because Cronus isn’t “street” enough to go for that bling, and he leads Archie and Atlanta in a marching jody that pokes at Jay being cranky since he is so focused about the mission and is essentially overworking everyone.

For the rest of the series, we get the Realization of Neil arc, as Neil seems to get what he is. Overall, it seems like Neil has comfortable, but perhaps too comfortable. This can lead to carelessness, and even a bit of hostility on the part of Neil, such as in the episode titled Breathtaking Beauty. Odie is texting some girl named Wendy he met up with online while at the movies, until he sees her actually in the film he is watching, with Neil laughing and revealing that he was Wendy along. Odie gets pissed, not to mention that Herry and even random moviegoers get pissed at Neil, with Odie driving off on his little moped scooter thing. Neil tries calling Odie to apologize, but Odie’s not having it, and it seems that karma would agree because Neil and Herry end up getting in a GAS STATION FIRE AFTER A GAS PUMP BLOWS UP. Once all of that is resolved, Neil finds Odie being challenged by a Sphinx (who was disguised as a hot babe) to answer a riddle, and Neil also ends up taking the challenge because he wants to show he is sorry. (Neil can’t come up with sorry himself, Odie has to say it, but Neil says that’s why Odie is the smart one.) Neil comes up with an incorrect and vain answer of good looks to the riddle, which Odie berates him for and says he’s some friend, before realizing Neil led him to the correct answer of friendship with the two making up after the Sphinx is truly defeated. Now, this! This episode is actual confirmation as to Odie and Neil being friends! Neil is probably the closest to Odie out of any of the other heroes, and with this episode, it is firmly cemented. (Go white boy, you truly made a friend!)

Of course, in typical Neil fashion, he ends up helping out Odie again in the Recipe for Disaster episode. All of the gods are behaving like old people, and this is traced to the ambrosia they are eating, which is later traced specifically to the plants involved in the honey making process being tainted evil plants by a tainted evil botanist who used to be Hercules’ friend. In the meantime, Odie has to make ambrosia, which sucks considering the main ambrosia maker Athena can’t remember the recipe. In addition, Odie overthinks things, and he ends up convincing himself that he absolutely cannot use honey not from the magical garden of the gods. However, Neil runs to the corner store and grabs some organic honey despite Odie’s repeated resistance, but it turns out that Neil’s corner store organic honey creates ambrosia that is loved by the gods and makes them all act not like old people again.

Neil steps back in terms of focus in the episode named Polyphemus Returns, acting more like the old Neil since he is quite concerned about how the heat of the volcano he is in will do to his pores, and Neil’s insists on not leaving behind his moisturizer even if he nearly gets struck by lightning by a giant. (This actually turns out to be a smart move, as he causes a giant to slip in it.) He is slightly more notable in Cronus 2.0 though, as he teams up with his best friend Odie in combat class, hitting him with a down low too slow before following Odie’s plan and set up to absolutely clown on Herry to cause him to fall out of the ring by poking him in the butt. Despite their gelling in combat class though, when Odie builds a cyborg called Cronus 2.0, he is not immune to Neil’s lack of a filter. After a close incident with Theresa, Odie assures the group that Cronus 2.0’ safeguards are fine although he needs to install some new ones, with Neil asking if the old safeguards can really be fine if new ones are needed.

You wouldn’t think an episode titled The Game Plan would be a Christmas special, but it is, and let me tell you, it is a doozy! Amongst all of the craziness though, Neil plays a pretty significant part. Neil is shopping with Jay when Jay mentions how Neil could probably get some presents for people besides himself, but Neil says he cannot help resist buying gifts for himself as he see things he “desperately” needs, basically implying that he feels more comfortable buying presents for himself since he knows himself way more than others. He then meets up with a talking goat named Almatheia who claims to have raised Zeus, dismissing the idea before admitting that he’s been through weirder things, with him coming to the realization that him causing Zeus and Almatheia to meet up again would be the perfect present. Well, it would be, but Cronus was actually the goat in disguise and ends up capturing Zeus and goading him into a game of chess where the lives of the seven heroes are on the line if they are taken out. (Guess what piece Neil is? The queen.) Neil and Jay have to find the Goddess of Good Fortune and Luck Fortuna to get Almatheia’s Cornucopia, which is obtained by playing the Wheel of Fortuna, a wacky and zany game of luck where a wheel spin can cause anything to happen! Neil spins first and he… Oh my gods. He turns into a baby and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen. (He is literally absorbed into his shirt, I can’t-) Anyways, baby Neil ends up spinning the wheel while Jay fights for his life, with Neil winning and being able to use his wish on anything he wants. Neil really stretches out his wish to bring Zeus back and end the chess game which thwarts Cronus’ evil plan, as well as getting everyone the perfect presents for everyone, although he forgets to wish for some pants after turning back from a baby and he ends up in his underwear. (For some reason, the show loves stripping down Neil of some layers…) Anyways, Fortuna is also there and awaits her present, but Neil lays into her and doesn’t have a present for her because things could have been done a lot sooner if Fortuna wasn’t so fickle about things. (And honestly, he’s right, screw you Fortuna!)

In the next episode called Like A Rolling Stone, Neil arrived late to mini golf late and apologizes, which catches people off guard because he usually never apologizes for that. I’m gonna be honest, the way they laugh this off kinda makes me feel a bit sad for Neil because of circumstances, these circumstances being revealed once Herry pours some mustard on Neil and Neil doesn’t immediately freak out. This is because this is not actually Neil, this is Sisyphus granted the power of metamorphosis by Cronus, and Neil doesn’t actually show up until later since he was conditioning his hair in the time he was supposedly eating pizza. (Neil is confirmed at the real Neil deal because Jay tries to touch Neil’s shirt, and it doesn’t even take Jay touching it for Neil to get fussy, trying to get Neil to mind the crease.) While his friends know him well enough in order to figure out the real Neil, their earlier laughing off of Impostor Neil’s apology hurts because if that was actually Neil, the poor boy’s heart would sting after that.

Following this Sisyphus metamorphosis debacle, Neil in the Cronus’ Keystroke episode looks real cool after Theresa sets him up for a spike shot in beach volleyball that makes Odie and Herry crash into each other while Neil is wearing some cool shades, but there is a minute he actually scares the rest of the group closer to the end of the episode where Neil comes out of the portal while unintentionally making people think he was Cronus coming out of the portal. Neil’s whole thing in Daedalus or Alive is that he goes to the island Odie and Herry and Jay find because he wants to stay at the beach, ultimately being distraught at the end of the episode when he cannot stay. He also makes a comment about Theresa kicking the head off of a sentient stone statue imposter of Jay because he called her Atlanta, with Neil saying a wild comment that Theresa REALLY broke up with hey boyfriend, which makes Theresa quickly fling back a comment about how Jay is NOT her boyfriend. (Heh.)

Now, this episode titled Face Off probably has the most notes on it, and for good reason. Out of all of the episodes in this show, this is probably where Neil gets the most aggressive. Then again, his territory gets encroached on this episode, so it’s understandable. Now, how exactly does Neil’s territory get encroached on in this episode? Well, after saying that his beauty is both a gift and a curse, Neil opens up a box and unknowingly releases Adonis. The appearance of the God of Beauty causes Neil to become extremely jealous as literally every girl (Including Atlanta and Theresa) starts oodling over Adonis, and his pleas for Adonis to get back in the box are ignored, not to mention that he gets ignored while trying to make a dramatic exit. (During this bit of the episode, Adonis says that he usually hunts wild boars, but Neil takes that a different way as he says that it is wrong to hunt boring people. Neil, never change. Or, wait, do change, because that’s literally what I’m writing about…) In addition, Neil becomes extra angry with Adonis this episode because he doesn’t refer to him as Neil, with Adonis calling him Ned instead. Neil also has trouble properly expressing his frustrations to others either, as Herry and his best friend Odie don’t care because they’re playing video games, and Neil bringing up Persephone just makes here start throwing herself at Adonis as well. (By the way, Persephone is married to Hades, yet this wench cannot resist Adonis.) So, using 100% of his brain power, he comes up with the idea to challenge Adonis! Adonis interprets this as a fight to the death, Neil having to quickly back up and explain that he doesn’t want a physical contest, but a beauty contest. Neil throws out all of the stops, as not only does he look good in his first strut out on the catwalk, but he tells Adonis to bring it on as he employs the use of spotlight tricks and even brings out his signature black jacket and shades on the second go around. And… He fails miserably. Everyone cringes, his score is nowhere close to that of Adonis who really only had to walk out once, and his own mentor Aphrodite shoves him off the stage to kiss Adonis and announce The God of Beauty as the winner. As Aphrodite and Persephone start fighting over Adonis, Neil is watching this by peeking behind the curtain, with his takeaway basically being that people should be fighting over him instead. In the overall course of this series, I feel so bad for Neil, as this is the second lowest point Neil gets to in this series. (We’ll get to the first lowest point later.)

Neil’s comment in Tantalize This about how cats are self-centered carries more weight than I thought, because it just seems like a joke comment, but it actually helps reveal the psychology of Neil. The hilarity of the comment comes from the irony of how cats and Neil are both self-centered, which means that Neil is kind of like a cat. (I… Kind of want to see that fanart now.) Extending this metaphor further, much like cats, Neil can often be so greedy for attention. When he doesn’t receive this attention, he can become aggressive towards those not giving him attention or stealing the attention, but he can also become distraught. How does his life continue without the attention?

The rest of this episode focuses on Envy’s appearance, as the amount of envy generated by this situation attracts her, and she ends up trying to shoot Neil with her envy beam. Key word: trying. Instead of Neil getting shot, Adonis pulls a “GET DOWN, MISTER PRESIDENT!” and takes the beam instead. One problem: This makes Adonis hellbent on killing Neil. Neil starts scurrying as the chase begins, and Neil can initially outsmart Adonis with some cool reversals, but Adonis ends up catching Neil in the library. Neil ends up pinned on a statue by Adonis as he starts to admit that Adonis is the fairest one of them all, but after seeing himself in a mirror, Neil stops himself because that simply cannot be true. After the other heroes trap Envy back in Pandora’s Box, the episode ends with Adonis apologizing to Ned for nearly shooting him with his bow and arrow, and Neil finally begrudgingly overlooks the incorrect name and accepts the apology.

We don’t have much of the series left, which unfortunately means not much Neil left, so let’s get a move on! In the episode titled The Deep End- Hey, what the hell! I’m already using that name for Neil’s third arc, get a new name! What? That can’t be changed? Well, alright, I’ll ignore it… In The Deep End episode, mostly everyone (Except poor little Archie who is afraid of water) is enjoying their day out on the water, and they all start playing water polo a bit out of nowhere. This catches Neil off guard because he doesn’t know what the teams are, and his best friend Odie informs him he is the goalie of the team with Odie and Jay, before the team of Atlanta and Herry and Theresa subsequently score on them. Neil’s totally healthy response to Odie not informing him of this soon enough is to deke Odie in the back of the head with the water polo ball. (This isn’t addressed again in the episode, Neil gets away with this major friendly fire.) He also later teases Archie for accepting Atlanta’s swimming lessons and says that Archie’s fear of water is not as big as his crush on Atlanta, and despite being too busy tanning to go diving with the rest of the group, Neil gets fussy about there being no pictures of him on the dive camera.

Considering we’re now on the episode before the finale, along with how Neil centric Face Off was not too long ago, I didn’t think we’d get much Neil focus again. But… Oh boy. Would I be wrong. So TERRIBLY wrong! In fact, honestly, Golden Boy is probably the best Neil episode. However, this is only really worth it with all of the buildup we have had so far. At the beginning of the episode, the group notices Neil trying to pick up a girl by asking her to go be beautiful together, laughing amongst themselves about how that girl has no clue how vain Neil truly is. Shockingly though, with his unspoken rizz, Neil actually convinces the girl to go on a date with him. However, the girl quickly ends up leaving the date upset, because Neil is constantly talking about herself and dismissing her in the process. Neil gives himself a not so helpful affirmation that, if he really did talk to himself, he’d look stupid. Neil is then shown taking a depressed walk, and while realizing he does talk to himself and driving himself mad over it, he is giving off lowkey incel vibes by asking why no girl ever really wants. (I do hate the lowkey incel vibes this scene gives off, but it makes sense with the context of this scene, and it is admittedly a bit funny and pointed that such a self-centered character is the best incel representation.) Nemesis then shows up and tells him to shut up, before then cursing him with The Midas Touch, as he is such a golden boy. In typical Neil fashion, he of course sees this as a benefit at first, before then telling Nemesis he can’t exactly use a phone made out of gold. But then, it sinks in for Neil that everything he touches turns into gold, and he then freaks out and calls out for Nemesis and asks what he did wrong while having no self-awareness.

Neil’s not heard the end of it however, because his date and later interaction with the God of Justice has made Neil do the one thing he has always done, and that is be late. This extra sucks considering the group has a super important mission, a mission where the group could actually defeat and take out Cronus for good, and Atlanta is sent to pick Neil up with her super speed. All the way from the place where Atlanta picks Neil up to the docks where the mission is going down, Neil is trying to explain his situation, but Atlanta is just chewing him out the entire time because he’s always late and self-centered. This causes Neil to acquire depression, and in the process, he messes up with his task on a really big mission once again. He turns a boat to gold, which is causing mayhem with the other boats, alerting Cronus of the heroes’ presence and ruining the element of surprise. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: He also ends up turning Atlanta, Herry, and his best friend Odie into gold. Everyone is pissed at him, Cronus dismisses him off as a golden boy, and Neil runs away.

Neil ends up at the park, complaining about how it’s not fair that narcissism is literally in his veins due to his ancestry, before sarcastically remarking that he is like a mutant superhero named Golden Boy that people need to be saved from. He then spots a fountain and turns it to gold, before then hopping into the fountain, then turning the fountain water into bars to make himself a makeshift cell. This, right here, is Neil’s lowest point. His friends hate him, Cronus could very likely take power because of his mistakes, and he can’t even deflect by being narcissistic. In his moment of self-conviction, things are made even worse when the rest of the group decides it’s more important to find Cronus instead of Neil, making Neil truly feel all alone. (This… Wow, this entire scene just makes me feel so sad.) However, without his knowledge, Nemesis is watching this go down on a park bench. Then, he gets a smart idea to ask for Zeus to reverse The Midas Touch, before breaking out of the cell he made for himself. (Even Neil is surprised on how the gold is shocking soft.) Zeus then tells Neil he cannot reverse another god’s will, but instead, he should use the Midas Touch to his advantage.

Jay. Archie, and Theresa are trying to fight Cronus on their own. However, they don’t have the power to defeat him just on their own, and it looks like Cronus is gonna take them out. However, like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin running in to help Mankind win the WWF World Championship, Neil makes his entrance to save the day. He unironically calls himself Golden Boy and fully owns up to the nickname he has been tormented by this episode, and while his friends are just so shocked and honestly cringing a little bit, Cronus explains to Neil that he was mocking himself with that nickname because he assumes Neil is being just idiotic. Cronus doesn’t know what he’s getting into though, as Neil ends up turning Cronus to gold like a boss, and ends up calling Cronus pretty arrogant. Nemesis has seen enough, as she reverses the curse which turns everything and everyone Neil turned into gold back to normal, Nemesis believing that there is still hope for Neil. (Cronus really tries to claim he reversed the effects of The Midas Touch before Nemesis has to tell Cronus that she reversed the curse.) At the end of the episode, thanks to Neil’s actions, Cronus is defeated for now. This is the payoff I’ve been waiting for, and despite constantly blowing it and having a massive curse placed on him, Neil proves that he has truly changed enough and that he is truly a hero.

It’s now time for the series finale, and since it’s all hands on deck, Neil gets some good moments before we have to say goodbye to him. Neil gets woken up by a purple ghost thing, when he realizes that the purple ghost thing broke his mirror in his bedroom, which causes him to wail about it. (Side note, Neil immediately crying about a mirror of his getting broken is my favorite running gag.) While Odie and Hephaestus wonder how they are going to defeat the purple ghost thing, Neil does his Neil thing and his best friend Odie uses some big words to essentially describe a ghostbusting gun, with Neil not even realizing how he inspired the ghostbusting gun. Neil is hesitant about the ghostbusting gun, but his best friend Odie offers to let him use it, and Neil is immediately on board considering he gets to deliver cheesy one liners while using it. Jay asks if Theresa can sense Cronus, and Theresa says she can practically smell him, with Neil responding with “That’s just gross.” Later on during the big bad boss fight, literally everyone is getting in the way of Neil’s shot, with Neil understandably complaining about it. When he finally lines up a shot, Neil nearly blows the mission again, but Jay tells Neil to shoot the purple ghost thingy and not Theresa.

However, the cherry on top is my final note on Neil, and it wraps everything so nicely to me. So, at the end of the big fight, Theresa dies. Theresa is dead. She’s gone. Everyone is sad. Especially Jay. Jay never got to tell her the words he wanted to say. He loves her. He goes up to her. He holds her. He starts to cry. Tears fall down his face. They fall onto Theresa. Theresa… Wakes up. She’s alive again. Everyone is unsadified. Everything seems right again. And, before another situation pops up and it is too late to tell each other what the wanted to say, Theresa and Jay exchange a kiss. And… You know what Neil does? HE TELLS BOTH OF THEM TO GET A ROOM AFTER ALL OF THE SHIT THAT HAS JUST GONE DOWN! Gods, I love Neil. He has obviously changed significantly from his original appearance, but he’s still Neil at the end of the day, which I appreciate.

Obviously, I prefer Season 2 Neil over Season 1 Neil, he got more of a chance to improve and evolve and I got more invested into him because of that. Admittedly, while I am overall sad that the show didn’t get another season due to low viewership in the United States, I am also sad because we don’t get more of Neil. In a third season, I imagine he has storylines along the lines of one where he actually makes a friend that isn’t one of the heroes with that friend then turning out to be bad and/or a monster working for Cronus, or maybe one where him and Odie’s friendship is explored more. I am still very happy with the rollercoaster I got on by watching this show too, and after reading this and finally making it to the end of this extremely long post, I hope you did too.

[deeisace]

..

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Ok so uh just to clear up my tags from yesterday bc i overthink everything & don't want ppl to get the wrong idea fjhdhg; when i say "liking/hating things the wrong way" i mostly mean having bigoted reasons for opinions or being a dick about them or being weirdly performative with/invested in fictional activism (and those same ppl tend to be the ones who make dragon age opinions a morality race smh).

And overall of course everyone is entitled to simply Not Like a character! And there is lots of valid criticism that i might even agree with! But i am also entitled to blocking ppl who are being overly negative about them; not because you're not allowed to do that or because you're wrong, but bc i like to curate my fandom experience and not going insane bc of constant discourse. Highly recommend doing that btw; blacklists are there for a reason and your mental health is important✌

[im-a-goat-in-disguise]

Images of despair [stellaris version]

[rowenabean]

So I have been really actually doing better this last week, which is absolutely lovely, and two things that I have noticed:

It's much simpler now. It's really nice to have a phone call with a friend and just be like "nice phone call that we can both enjoy" instead of being like "does she actually like talking to me is she just doing this because I'm asking for it is she just pitying me". That's an exhausting way to be!

And then the corollary to that is that it actually is easier for me to be interesting! Because I'm not stressing about three levels of anxiety about the conversation I can relax into just chatting and it's much less of an effort! It's a terrible catch-22 but I actually am a less boring person now!

[neverendingford]

.

[monstersholygrail]

I am such a nuzzler (I’m severely touched starved). But I just love me a good nuzzle with some sweet cuddling and maybe a bit more than that.

Imagine Werewolf bf who welcomes and encourages your clingy behavior and all the nuzzling that comes with it. Not only because he loves the attention but because he is just as obsessed with you as you are him.

You get this sort of shy look in your eye when the urge arrives and Werewolf bf notices it instantly. His arms move on their own as they spread out wide. Allowing you to immediately dive into his embrace. Nuzzling your way up his furry body till you burrow into his chest.

Loud purrs emanate from Werewolf bfs chest as his arms move to wrap around you, practically squishing you to his chest. You both adore the hard secure touch of each other’s hold. His purrs only growing louder as you move up and nuzzle into his neck, nosing brushing along his marking spot.

His cock can help but harden whenever you do this. It’s his instant weakness. The idea of you two marking each other. Of being bound and getting these cuddles for the rest of your life. It sounds like heaven to him.

And of course when you’re cuddling with a Werewolf bf, cuddling doesn’t stay cuddling for long. With your delicious shapely body pressed so tightly against him, he can’t be blamed for his actions that follow.

As you two continue to squirm against each other, practically wanting to crawl into each other’s skin, it’s simply not Werewolf bfs fault that his erection just so happens to grind into your lovely pussy. He can feel the growing dampness through your panties and he growls out his approval. Always so wet for him you are.

The whine that leaves you vibrates through his skin, only serving to make Werewolf bf even harder. His hands never leave their place around your body, not even as they slide down and so gently push your panties off to the side. He wouldn’t dare take his hands off of you when in need of such closeness.

Making sure to maintain your cuddles while he rolls his cock easily inside your addictive wet heat. Werewolf bf tightens his hold on you to the point where you can barely move as he starts moving your bodies in a steady rhythm.

Your bodies rocking together as noises of pleasure fall from your lips and spill right into each other’s skin. Not an inch of space between you and neither of you would have it any other way. Werewolf bf’s claws scratch along your back and you cry out, toes curling at the added sensation.

Burying your hands in his fur you move as best you can, eagerly sucking his cock back inside you with every thrust. Wanting all of him as close to you as possible. Rough grunts leave your bf as his pace picks up, fulfilling your need as he does all the others.

Werewolf bf keeps his grip firm but gives you the room to move faster and meet the snap of his hips. You immediately jump at the chance, drool dripping onto his fur as you bounce sloppily on his huge girth. Wanting to feel just how roughly he can split you open and stretch your weeping cunt.

As you both move together it doesn’t take long for you both to explode, clenching down on his length and milking his cock for all it’s worth as he shoots spurt after spurt of hot cum deep inside your walls. Werewolf bf shivers in return, his body buzzing as your essence coats his member and your walls stay firmly implanted around him.

Your limp form sags happily back into his chest. Nipping playfully at his neck and resulting in Werewolf bf’s cock twitching inside you as he snaps his jaw at your neck in retaliation. You laugh lightly, nuzzling back into him, glad to be even closer to him as his softening cock stays inside you.

Werewolf bf moves his hands up and down your back and over your body, caressing every inch of you. Loving how your body trembles and leans into it in response.

Yeah, Werewolf bf wouldn’t give up your nuzzles and clingy behavior for anything. He’s got everything he needs right here.

[larrysblooming]

coming to terms with the fact that the last time i saw harry was in 2021 and i won’t be seeing him again any time soon is making me want to jump off a fucking bridge 🫠