#and partially because she has something else to focus on now

[zahra-hydris]

I was kind of thinking previously that the ameridan revelation would knock daewen out of her (unfortunately naive) belief that her position as inquisitor and her actions would genuinely improve the position of elves across southern thedas.

but now i'm thinking that - after her initial shock and grief at how ameridan, his friends, and his love ended up (both in terms of their actual fates and their bleaching from history) - it ultimately leads her to double down.

she cannot let that happen again. she won't.

she's gotta ensure that her legacy remains intact.

ameridan was right. they've taken so much from her. she can never go home. she's changed. her clan has changed. she's still playing the game and while she was so proud of how she'd mastered it, she feels increasingly like she's just dancing to the chantry's tune. and she's so alone. she finds comfort in briala's arms now, as well as others when she can, but she still feels... isolated, especially as her companions slowly leave.

so she actually goes into the exalted council intending to fight for the inquisition. it all has to be worth something. if she lets go now, who takes care of her legacy? what she's built for the marginalised across southern thedas, for her people? for herself? she can't trust anyone with that.

[mentally-gone002]

lovers in the night

summary: steve sneaks into his girlfriends room at night in secret so that they can be together.

steve harrington x henderson!f!reader. secret relationship!!!!

can be read in its own, or with this part 2 here, and part 3 here

a/n: reader is dustin’s sister so obvi. she’s gonna have like curly hair but no color is specified. also i L O V E a good henderson!reader with steve!! like idk why but it’s just a great pair since steve and dustin are already my fav duo in the show!! i love them sm😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

———————————————————————

cicadas buzzed endlessly beyond the open window and cotton curtains swished back and forth like a chest heaving with slow breaths along with the late night wind. 

goosebumps rose on her bare arms as she sat with her back against her bed frame on the carpeted floor, slowly flicking through a book that dustin had forced into her hands earlier that day. it was actually really good, not that she didn’t trust her brother’s judgement on literature or anything, but some books he has lent her had been not worth the read. she should’ve read this earlier.

“hey,” a sharp whisper broke her focus on the words across the page and her eyes flew to the door. it was still closed. her eyes went back to the page, only to be interrupted by quiet tapping on glass. 

she turned her head and grinned widely at the barely visible sight of steve behind the glass. “what’re you doing here?” she hissed, still sporting a smile while she got up to place her book on her nightstand and then stand on her mattress and slide the window open wider. steve didn’t answer as he hoisted himself through the window which was far above the ground. he grunted and then fell through the window to land on his back on her bed, making her step back on the mattress with her hands covering her mouth to suppress a laugh. 

he sat up, huffing a little and pushing back his chestnut hair from his forehead as he watched her sit down beside him. “i missed you.” he answered and his hand snaked to hold the back of her neck, pulling her forward into a soft kiss. 

she laughed softly into it. “you saw me a few hours ago.” she whispered, trying to hint that they needed to be quiet. 

its been months they’ve been together and nobody knew that they were dating… yet. she was worried about how dustin would react, along with everyone else in his party; partially because they didn’t like steve until a few months ago. steve agreed with her, with some shock due to the fact that her brother and his friends only just started to like him, but wished he didn’t have to wait until they were alone to be as close as he wanted with her. 

steve shook his head slightly, honeyed eyes holding hers in an intimate stare. “i know, but we weren’t alone.” his fingers gently tangled in the hair on the back of her neck. “sorry dustin booted you to the backseat by the way.”

she chuckled at the remembrance. “it’s okay, he rides shotgun in my moms car too.” her voice was filled with fondness. “what isn’t okay is dustin almost catching us!” she whispered through a toothy grin because she can’t help but feel all giddy at the rush of secrecy with him. 

“well, what can i say? you looked really pretty.” steve whispers, leaning close to capture her lips with his again. he felt his heart race under his ribs the longer he kissed her.

she pulled away. “you can say ‘i’m sorry i almost jeopardized our secret relationship. it won’t happen again.’ or something like that.” her smile showed how she was teasing him while she spoke. 

steve shook his head, tongue poking the inside of his cheek. “it won’t happen again.” he repeated back with a cheeky smile, playing along with her. 

she smiled back and brushed her curls back from her eyes. “good.” 

steve lolled his head to the side so he could just keep looking at her. he liked how her hair looked right now; it was all wild because she took it out of its previous style from earlier and didn’t seem to have tamed it. “how are you?” he wondered. 

she looked away from his eyes with an accompanied smile. her eyes landed on dustin’s book on the edge of her nightstand. “good. just enjoying the night, y’know?” she shrugged a little with a small grin. “dustin lent me a book earlier.” her eyes found steve’s again.

steve nodded and laid down on his back, stretching his arms above his head so that his hands bumped the wall. she stared at where his shirt had ridden up, the soft skin of his stomach was on display. “what’s it about?” he asked, looking over at where she was still sitting up. 

her body slowly settled beside steve’s before she answered. her head was resting on his chest. “it’s about a bunch of fantasy people going on an adventure.”

“is it the hobbit?” steve lifted his head a little to gaze down at her face turned on its side.

she looked up at him when he named the book just based from her description of it. “yeah, have you-“ a knock on her bedroom door had them both jumping in surprise to sit up.

“hey,” it was dustin. “can i come in?” he asked, voice slightly muffled by the door. 

steve looked at her and she put her index finger over her lips before pointing to her bed, intending for him to get under it. he did as she silently told him to do before she left walked to the door and opened it. “what’re you doing up this late?” she rubbed her hand to her eye, giving dustin the impression that he woke her up. he didn’t seem guilty as he walked passed her and into her bedroom, going to her closet and opening the doors. 

steve swallowed thickly, glad he didn’t hide there. it would’ve been cliche and embarrassing.

“i’m looking for batteries. my walkie died.” dustin explained, walking to look at the things littering the top of his sisters dresser after not finding any batteries. “jesus, why do you have so much jewelry?” he asked, lifting up a glass dish housing her rings. 

“i don’t have batteries, dustin.” she sighed and let her eyes slip to steve’s hiding place while dustin’s back was still to her. “why don’t you have spares anyway?” 

dustin faced her with a seemingly exhausted sigh. “i did, until i used them all. there’s been a lot going on, in case you forgot about the upside down.” he sassed with a tone. 

she rolled her eyes at him and gave her own exhausted sigh. “i didn’t, and like i said before, i don’t have batteries.” her eyes once again flashed down to the gap under her bed when she thought she heard steve shift or move around. 

dustin looked with her in confusion. “are you hiding a demo-dog?” he joked lightly. “why do you keep looking down there?” he stepped closer to her bed and she stiffened. 

“something probably just fell from how it was weirdly placed. you know… gravity.” nervous laughter ended her sentence. dustin cast her a look saying ‘you’re lying’ all over his face. he got down onto the floor on his hands and knees so that he could look under her bed. “dustin! get out of my room!” she hissed, kneeling on the floor beside him and tried, and failed, to moved him. 

he was too far into his investigation to be told what to do. he moved a box or two aside and then paused, redrawing his hand. “steve? what the hell are you doing under my sisters bed?” he asked, almost too loud. steve smiled with his teeth awkwardly and crawled out from under the bed to sit beside his (secret) girlfriend. dustin’s eyes traveled to his sister. “did you know he’s here?” 

she nodded. “yeah, he’s been here for a while.” her hand lifted to settle on steve’s shoulder. that was her way of silently telling him that it’s gonna play out fine. “why are you such a snoop?” that question was directed at dustin of course, who scoffed and stood up. 

“i’m not. i was checking for monsters so i don’t wake up tomorrow and find you dead.” he widened his eyes and shrugged, as if his reason was obvious from the start. he walked to the door after receiving nothing but an eye roll and her forceful ushering out oh her bedroom. “oh, and don’t like… do stuff.” he made a disgusted face at the thought. 

steve laughed with his hands over his face. he was still sitting on the floor. “we aren’t together, henderson.” steve covered. 

he nodded with half lidded eyes. “sure. and why would you be hiding under her bed then?” 

steve shrugged. “didn’t want the interaction with the other henderson. one’s enough.” 

she slapped the side of his head after she’d walked back to stand beside where he sat. her lips were pinned into a smile. “asshole.” 

dustin rolled his eyes and walked out of the room. “just be quiet.” and then he shut the door. 

steve stood up after the door shut and pulled her into him in a hug, still laughing slightly. “my hearts beating so fast.” he panted. “he knows.” 

“oh, he most definitely knows.” she nodded, pulling away. “might as well come out and tell them, but he’ll beat us to it with his radio system.” a shrug came from her shoulders. 

steve pursed his lips with a hum and a nod. “how much you wanna bet the group has bet on us?” he wondered. 

she blew out a breath in exasperation at the thought. “i can already see them all exchanging money with stupid smiles.” her gentle laughter filled the room. 

————————————————————————

dustin didn’t knock before he opened his sisters bedroom door the following morning, and he wasn’t surprised to see that steve was still there. 

steve was flush against her as they both slept on well through the morning, his arms were wound tightly around her waist to keep her from moving away. 

dustin only shook his head with a sigh and maybe the smallest smile before leaving the two alone. he wasn’t going to tell the party about it, not until his sister was ready to because he respects her. but the party does already think that steve and her are together, so it won’t come as a shock. 

he’ll let him sleep a bit longer before he interrupts the peace. 

[little-miss-dilf-lover]

HI SWEETIE I HAVE A REQUEST!! i hope you dont mind!

so, bucky and f!reader, maybe married and they have a baby together. after that time of recovery reader is a bit shy of her own body cause it's been a while since they did it and she isnt back at her pre-pregnancy weight and bucky is absolutely like mind blown by her beauty? like, nearly drooling? and please can you add body worship on this?

i seriously hope it's okay for you, but if it's not please ignore this!

HII BBY!! I love love love it. thank you for requesting, hope you like it💌

DEFLECTION.

​bucky barnes x fem!reader (married & parents) — comfort

word count. 1031

disclaimer. the hair colour and type has no significance to the writing. the gif just suits the theme of this fic. also please read the ask carefully

Only a few short months ago, you gave birth to a healthy baby girl - a daughter you shared with your husband, Bucky. Very quickly she became the sole focus of your attention, neither of you having much time to do anything like you used to. 

Consequently, your sex life had taken a hit, and not because of the significant decrease in quality time, but instead something far more complex.

So far, motherhood has been a slight struggle to adjust to - the differences in your life between then and now are almost stark. You've been trying to adapt to all the changes that come with it, the main being your new body. You've been feeling shy and insecure with your new shape, often feeling like the weight will never drop off to what you looked like before.

It was hard to digest the change.

You were in the bathroom to freshen up, your eyes looking back at you in the mirror almost pitifully - your gaze travelling down, honing in on your stomach through your once baggy tee.

"They're here," Bucky calls from the other room, his voice putting a hold on the thoughts in your mind.

You step out of the bathroom, meeting your husband and daughter by the front door, a pink baby bag slung over his shoulder.

He notices the downcast direction of your eyes, seeing the way you tried to pull away from his attention. "Everything okay?" he asks you, rocking his little girl in his arms, bouncing her when she makes a noise.

You hum, walking closer to say goodbye to your baby - running a finger over her soft cheek. 

He doesn't believe you, though he waits for it to be just the two of you before he can question it. He doesn't want to create a situation before your parents arrive to pick up your daughter. They offered to have her for a few hours to give you both some respite.

The second the door closes, and it's just the two of you again, he turns to look at you - his brows curled up inquisitively.

"Now, what's really going on?" he asks, referring to all those times you shut yourself off from him - primarily that one a few minutes ago.

You turn away, heading to the kitchen to get a drink. "Going on with what?" you deflect, trying to avoid the topic.

He follows you, standing behind you at the sink - his arms wrapping around your middle, chin resting over your shoulder. 

But he's too close to where you don't want him, so you flinch at his touch, moving his hands away from your tummy and stretching the hem of your top - pulling on the fabric.

Bucky rips his hands from you, your avoidance of his touch making things whirl in his mind. "You don't like that anymore?" he asks, stepping aside to face the side of you.

"I do... just— just not right now," you reply, taking a quick sip of water before moving across the kitchen - heading towards the fridge. "Tired, feel gross," you shrug, trying to ease the tension you accidentally created. 

"That's not it," he softly shakes his head, eyes focused on you even though every glance goes unreciprocated. "It's something else."

"Just need a nap and shower," you partially lie, pulling out two apples, handing him one.

He doesn't accept your attempt at deflection, instead turning it down. "No, it's something else," he continues, his eyes glued to the side of your face. "And you're afraid of saying it."

"I'm not," you softly protest, voice quiet.

"So it is something else," he mutters, the unknown confession of you making things easier for him, harder for you.

You're cornered. You sigh and nod faintly, closing the door of the fridge. 

"What is it? Please talk to me," he reaches for your hand, fingers wrapping themselves around yours. "It's just the two of us, no distractions... what's been going on?"

"It's hard to get used to," you start, pausing to think of what to say next.

"What is? Being a mom?" he asks, noticing your focused gaze on the baby stuff on the counter. 

You nod, pausing once more. "Not just that," you exhale, shrugging. "Everything's changed."

"With us?" he asks, hand tightening in yours. 

"With me," you correct, looking down at your hand in his. "I've changed, and I'm not used to it... I don't like it."

"How have you changed?" he questions, trying to prompt more answers from you. 

"My body has," you softly reply, trying not to squirm at your confession. "My boobs, tummy, my hair. The weight is taking longer to come off than I thought, and I feel— I feel like a..." you go quiet, not wanting to finish your sentence.

However, Bucky's not done coaxing words from you. His face softens when you finally meet his gaze, his features inviting and knowing. "Feel like a what?" he whispers.

"I don't know," you shrug again.

"'You are not your thoughts'," he says, reciting those words you've said to him countless times after his nightmares. Though now he's repurposing them to someone else who needs them, you. "I repeat that saying in my head all the time. Do you know who taught me that?" he asks, his gaze honing in on you - trying to stop you from looking away.

"Me," you whisper. 

"That's right," he nods, bringing his spare hand to cup your cheek. "You need to use that same kindness to yourself. And right now," he starts, pressing a kiss into your lips. "You have never looked more beautiful to me."

You softly frown, the rest of your features relaxing.

"Your body gave us a daughter," he smiles. "You made her. You may or may not get your ‘old body back.’ But the one you have now is perfect too.”

"Thank you," your voice cracks, the sweet words of your lover soothing all the doubts in your mind. You envelop him in an embrace, arms hugging around him in the ways you've recently longed for. "I mean it."

His arms wrap around you just as tight, one hand running up your spine. "So do I.”

[incorrectbatfam]

Types of obnoxious batfam stans

Written by an obnoxious batfam stan

Not really a rant but something I've noticed over the years interacting in different spaces and I've decided to make your problem now.

Please note that I'm not saying there's any "right" way to be a fan because we all suck by virtue of being comic nerds, but there are certain kinds of batfamily fans that stick out to be in particular.

Anywho, here are 12 kinds of annoying batfam stans that you've probably run into and you better get a laugh out of it *points gun to your head*.

1) The Newbies Who Never Heard of Google

There's no shame in being new to something. It's a phase that we're all guaranteed to go through, whether we're 11 or 101. However, in this day and age, so many things can be easily googled that you don't need to shout every question you have into the VVorld VVide VVoid. If you need comic recs or a reading list, google it. If you wanna know a character's origin story, google it. If you need to know the color of Batman's underpants in a particular issue in 1965... well that's probably too specific for Google but Reddit will definitely have an answer.

2) The Middle School Authors

Before the 13-year-olds get up in my notes, I'm not saying everyone that age writes like this. Middle school is a state of mind. These fanfic writers usually stand out in a few ways.

They're oftentimes first-person POV or reader-insert. Give Y/N a break, she's tired.

The grammar is stunningly atrocious. I get if you're inexperienced or if you're writing in a second language, but we are in the prime era of autocorrect. If you need help, it's right there. Also, fuck c*nsoring b*d w*rds and fuck "unalive."

The characters do things that are out-of-character because the author is projecting their own personality. Bruce Wayne is a lot of things but he does not listen to the fucking Mountain Goats.

There's a lack of experience or research when it comes to certain topics. That's not how physics works. He can't walk that injury off. And that's definitely NOT how you do the horizontal hokey pokey.

3) The Neckbeards

Unfortunately, these basement-dwelling mouth-breathers tainted the image of what a comic fan is, though that's been changing recently. Still, we've all seen them. They gatekeep via pop quizzes, 'cause obviously you're not a real fan unless you know what page 10 of Batman #138 smells like. They give unsolicited commentary on people's cosplays, nitpicking the guys and being gross toward women. And heaven forbid the comics add a little diversity.

4) The Moviegoers

Nothing inherently wrong with getting into the fandom via the movies, nor is there anything wrong with sticking to that. I just feel like we're two different species of Galapagos finches, you know?

5) The Christopher Nolans

Separate from casual fans of the Nolan movies. I'm calling them the Christopher Nolans because these people have a tendency to reach for the grimdarkest thing possible. It's like they cannot fathom Batman having any other emotions besides punching and gargoyle brooding.

6) The Canon Purists

Wanna share a fun headcanon? NO, because Stephanie Brown never used cherry lip balm in the comics so therefore that must be the absolute truth. These people are a stickler for comic accuracy to the point where it's like... why bother interacting with the fandom in the first place? The worst part is when they're adamant on following a single continuity and refuse to consider anything else. This is comics we're talking about. Everything either has been or will be canon at some point.

7) The Fanon Worshippers

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have the people who base their entire perception of the characters on something either they pulled out of their ass or that their mutual with 16 followers came up with, despite evidence directly contradicting it. I love WFA, but I feel like that's partially responsible for further perpetuating certain popular myths. Also, these fans tend to focus solely on the batfam/their ships. It's one thing to have some people in the foreground vs. background, but put some respect to Bart Allen's name you goddamn cheesecakes.

8) The Golden Age Dads

These guys aren't really obnoxious. I actually find it kind of cute how they think Jason Todd is still dead.

9) The Chronically Online

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to discourse: if it's not something I'd hear about at a bar, it's not worth my mental energy. Some people haven't gotten the memo, though.

These are either the well-intentioned but misinformed teenagers or grown-ass adults beefing with children because they don't have a life. They have takes that are oversimplified, rage-inducing, TikTok algorithm attention-grabbers that no one cares about in real life.

Don't get me wrong, we've got a bunch of issues in comics and fandom that are worth discussing. However, there comes a point where you're splitting hairs and need to go the fuck outside. I'm not gonna link the post 'cause I don't wanna call them and their 7 notes out, but the other week I saw someone saying Stephcass was a racist ship because something something colonialism parallel. You gotta be Elastigirl to have that kind of reach.

10) The Corporate Simps

I love comics. I appreciate the writers and artists. However, you will find my carcass in a ditch before you catch me licking the boots of DC/Warner Bros. Basically, these fans, fewer as they are, can't seem to fathom that their favorite franchise can (and does) put out some steaming motherfucking garbage.

11) The Hot Cosplayers

Not actually annoyed, I'm just a little jealous. Stop being hotter than me, please and thank you.

12) The One With A Punchline For Everything

Wait–

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook x Reader/ Yoongi x Jimin

𝓢𝔀𝓮𝓮𝓽 𝓣𝓸𝓸𝓽𝓱 [Teaser]

Yoongi and Jimin are each proud owners of hybrids, and these days, slowly falling in love with one another. And everything could be so perfect- if it wasn't for you absolutely resenting Jungkook- for no reason?

Tags/Warnings: Human!Yoongi, Human!Jimin, Rottweiler hybrid!Jungkook, Cat hybrid!Reader, Enemies to friends to lovers, mentions of past traume, some Yoonmin here and there oops, Main story focus are MC and Kook though

Length: ~850 words

Read Here!

♥━━━━━━━━━━•.♡.•━━━━━━━━━━━━♥

"But she hates me!" Jungkook complaints, as he stands in the cabin Yoongi is currently unloading the groceries in. "There's no way she'll sleep in the same room as me." He huffs, and Yoongi sighs.

"Well, she has to learn. I already talked to Jimin about it-" He says, putting everything into a box that doesn't have to be stored in the fridge. "-and he agrees that he's spoiled her quite a bit until now. She needs to learn to be a bit more independent." He explains calmly, though he's internally very well aware of your distaste for his dog hybrid. He knows exactly why- but he also respects Jimin's decision to not tell Jungkook anything about your past trauma, claiming that that's something you need to tell, no one else.

And Yoongi agrees with that- but he also feels for Jungkook, who's been really trying to make you warm up to him. He already struggles to find friends due to his intimidating hybrid side and sometimes rather chaotic personality. Seeing you so defensive against him does clearly hurt, no matter ho much Jungkook tries to play it off.

But for once, Yoongi also wants to be a little selfish. He wants to spend time with Jimin, alone time away from you both, just to properly figure out where he truly wants this to go from here on out. It's why he's organized this trip in the first place. To find out if this could truly work out.

And he fears, deep down, that it won't. Because if you and Jungkook don't get along, there's no way Yoongi can ever be happy with Jimin.

A few hours away from the Cabin Yoongi and Jungkook are already setting up, you're pouting next to Jimin in the car, slumped down and with your arms crossed. "Making that face won't make me turn around, princess." Jimin says, voice light- but inside, he's torn. This is going to be tough for you, considering that you're gonna have to stay with Jungkook during the night- and the poor dog hybrid has no idea that you don't actually hate him. You don't hate at all, in fact.

Your defense mechanism when confronted with something you fear however, is to lash out. And that is most of the time taken out of context, making you appear rude and arrogant, when in reality you're just trying not to seem weak or vulnerable.

Because in the past, that would immediately make you the perfect target. Pushed aside and scolded for everything that wasn't ever your fault in your first home, used as a punching bag for other hybrids in the shelter later on, you had to somehow make up a tough façade so you wouldn't end up in those positions ever again. You learned to keep yourself safe by being the one who bites first- and it took Jimin years to truly gain your full trust.

He fears that that's all you can do though. That he's going to forever stay the only person of comfort for you.

And that's an issue. While he himself had been a bit defensive about his treatment of you with Yoongi, he knows that the older man is right. Jimin has been wrapping you in layers of bubble wrap, has spoiled you and nursed your bad habits into what they are today simply because he always saw the scared, shaking hybrid back at the shelter.

But that's not you anymore. You technically have no reason to be scared of anything anymore- but Jimin understands now, after talking numerous times about it with Yoongi, that he's partially at fault for your lack of social skills.

Jungkook had come from a good household- had been raised well, so Yoongi had never really experienced anything like Jimin did with you, but nonetheless, his advice still counts, and is still valid.

You need to learn at some point. You have to realize that there's nothing to fear anymore- and that Jungkook isn't an enemy ready to eat you alive in your sleep.

"Come on, stop pouting now, hm?" He tries, running a hand over your head once at a red light. You just look out the window. "Is Jungkookie that scary?" He asks, and you shake your head.

"He's dumb." You deny, putting your legs up and onto the seat.

"Hey.!" He scolds gently. "Jungkook isn't dumb. He's trying hard, okay? You could be at least civil with him, sugar." He tells you, and you sigh at that, leaning against the door.

"I don't want to." You say defensively, tail angrily flopping around. "You just say that because you wanna be with Yoongi." You huff.

"Partially, I admit that." Jimin nods. "But I also agree with him that you need to be nicer. Jungkookie is really trying to be friends with you, you know?" He sighs.

"I don't care.." You mumble to yourself, angrily looking out the window. You know that Jungkook isn't a threat- but he's still scary to you. He's tall, and a lot of muscle, and he's loud, and energetic, and just.. scary. Intimidating. Potentially dangerous. And that potential alone is enough to make you feel threatened.

Jungkook and Yoongi are currently ruining your perfect life you had with Jimin. So you've got enough reason to be absolutely pissed.

[ewingstan]

Something else about Alec—when we first see him on the field, he’s remarkably less intimidating than the other Undersiders, with a costume much less fear-inspiring and more straight-up gimmicky. I’ve talked about the Undersider’s costumes before, but one of the subtler differences between Worm and more “traditional” superhero media is how the villains’ costumes and personas often don’t have the same level of camp to them that comic villains do. There’s much more focus on practicality, where the only thing that matters aesthetically about a costume is that it communicates “don’t fuck with me.” Every hero in worm has a detailed, practical-yet-aesthetically-pleasing costume, but you run into villain capes with no costume or only the bare bones of one all the time. Rachel’s dressed like a horror movie slasher, Brian doesn’t bother with more ornamentation than an intimidating helmet. Lisa looks the part of your Saturday-morning villain, but she’s more invested in doing that than most because her cops-and-robbers theory—plus, when she’s in action she’s nearly always the scariest person in the room. And Lung, the first supervillain we meet, doesn’t have a costume at all, just a commanding presence. In contrast, the next set of villains Taylor meets, Uber and Leet, are established as losers no one takes seriously partially through having costumes that are just gimmicky. Early worm establishes that the successful villains in this setting are focused on being scary before anything else. Considering the extend Taylor internalizes the “be feared or die” strategy as the story goes on, it’s important for Worm to set that dynamic up quickly at the beginning, even if later characters break this rule*.

But early Regent doesn’t care about being scary. He struts into the battlefield like he’s Gorgeous George**, complete with a costume that wouldn’t look out of place in professional wrestling. He spends less time trying to act intimidating when fighting people and more time trying to get people to forget he’s there until he can steal their cool canon. He’s not trying to scare heroes or rival villains off like the others are, and that’s largely because he didn’t create the Regent persona to scare away people and make crime easier—he made the Regent persona to have a life away from his horrible family. It’s an early indication that Alec’s motivation for being here are not the same as everyone else’s—the other Undersiders are criminals for a living, and are using their personas as tools for their job. Alec is in this to have a good time in a way he didn’t get to in his old life, and is using his Regent persona as a form of play.

*for the later successful villains who DO care a lot about aesthetics, such as Accord or Trickster, their motivation for bucking the trend tend to says a lot about them. But that’s a different post.

**now I have the image stuck in my head of Alec coming to an important villain meeting in an evening gown, puppeting his henchmen to spread a carpet of rose petals ahead of him. Fuck he’d love doing that. The real tragedy of the Behemoth fight is that it robbed us of Aisha and Alec forming the best tag-team heel duo the wrestling world has ever seen.

[itsclydebitches]

This has got to be one of the most frustrating screenshots in RWBY.

Fans can deny it as much as they like that Qrow was not responsible for Clover's death but this screenshot proves that he did. Tyrian may have struck Clover through the heart, but Qrow was the one who allowed it to happen by fighting him and whittling his Aura levels down to dangerous levels before breaking it. AND there was literally no reason for Qrow to strike him, Clover had Tyrian restrained, the literal serial killer was ready to be taken back into custody and instead of stopping the fight and surrendering...he decides the best course of action is to attack the man restraining the serial killer. Okay. The worst part is Clover's death changes nothing, whether he lives or dies doesn't change the fact that Qrow still gets arrested and taken to James.

The concept of responsibility in the canon is so hopelessly skewed. Personally, I consider characters at least partially responsible for an outcome if their action meets three criteria:

Did this action directly allow for the outcome to occur, even if it wasn't the final step? e.g. Qrow breaking Clover's aura = Clover is now vulnerable to death via Tyrian. No punch = new outcome (Clover not dying then)

Did the character have agency in this moment? i.e. they're not mind controlled, not threatened into taking an action they otherwise wouldn't consider, not manipulated or lead astray by false information, etc.

Was the character aware that this action could lead to a horrific outcome? Are they reliably informed of the risks? e.g. Qrow ABSOLUTELY understands the dangers of breaking someone's aura, in the middle of the tundra, while a long-established serial killer is attempting to murder them

Now, note that when I say "responsible" I mean in the sense of, "You should be held accountable for this" rather than the equally literal and ethically simpler, "You just did the thing." I'm just plain old responsible if I knock a vase over like, "Yeah, regardless of this being a total accident I am the one who knocked it over. No one else did that. I'm the responsible party, but in a chill, very forgivable way." I'm accountable-responsible if I willingly throw a ball across the room, knowing full well it might hit something, but not really giving a shit for stupid, OOC reasons.

The show tries to play Qrow's choice off as just generic-responsible (when it's not irrationally blaming Ironwood), but he's accountable-responsible. He made a choice of his own free will, understanding better than most (as a huntsman and someone who has faced Tyrian before) the danger that choice presented to his friend, and that choice directly provided the means of Clover's death. Qrow didn't murder Clover, but he sure as hell was an accomplice.

And RWBY is full of these moments that, like with Qrow, the story ignores or forgives a character because the action in question is taken by one of the heroes. The above criteria is why I hold Ruby largely responsible for them ending up in the Ever After (you made a series of informed demands that directly lead to this outcome), or why I hold Jaune responsible for Penny's death (you made the choice to end her life without persuasive evidence that she couldn't be saved), even though both obviously have villains taking that final step: Salem is the one actually attacking Remnant, Cinder is the one who stabs Penny. Yet neither character has to grapple with their choices; the story glosses over them by introducing a new emotional focus that makes us feel for the character instead, not their victim(s): Ruby doesn't have to own up to her actions as leader because she jumps straight to crying over how hard it is to be leader; Jaune doesn't have to own up to Penny's death because he jumps straight to being traumatized by a lifetime of Ever After isolation. As a side-note, this is very similar to one of my biggest issues with Bakugo from MHA: too often the story has him engage in horrific behavior, immediately introduces something Bad in his life - he's kidnapped, injured, upset that All Might doesn't love him best - and saving/comforting him becomes the new focus, bypassing accountability. Or, fans read the Bad Thing as divine punishment for previous actions... despite there being no connection between the two and thus no growth. Meanwhile, in parallel world, Ruby helps doom Remnant but it's fine because she's upset about something and all the story cares about is showing Any Emotional Reaction, not one that will demonstrate that the character a) understands how their actions lead to this outcome, b) understands why that's an issue, and c) strives to change their behavior in the future.

RWBY also plays the Dramatic Emotional Card. Like, you know that person who when you correct them about something they become SO over-the-top upset about their mistake that you wind up comforting them rather than allowing them to sit with the correction? Yeah. There's no space to let Qrow sit with his responsibility because the show is too busy having him rail against Ironwood, or stare his Super Depressed stare at Clover's badge. The cue to the audience is, "He's so upset! Feel for him!!" not "Damn, he fucked up... how's he gonna grow from this?"

Then to round things off the responsible hero is always narratively forgiven. Qrow stops the bomb with an unprecedented spout of good luck: Clover from beyond the grave helping him in his time of need (not literally most likely, but in a thematic sense). Ruby returns to a world with her image painted in alleyways as a martyr: Remnant overlooking all the ways she helped cause their predicament and, again, positioning her solely as the injured party, rather than a victim and a perpetrator (which, frankly, makes Ruby more boring!). You're not supposed to hold them responsible, but if you do don't worry, here's a "hopeful" scene that explicitly says blaming them is a mistake.

[floatinginzerogravity]

Character Analysis of V/ Timeline of her getting back her memories/ whatever else is in here

Rewatching Murder Drones for the 5th (6th? 7th? I lost count) time right now. Got a lot of thoughts about V that I haven't seen anyone else mention, so I'm throwing them down here Be warned, senseless word vomit ahead. Something I find particularly interesting is V's memory throughout the series as well as how she treats N in relation to it

So, an analysis of her and N's relationship in the first episode. The disassembly drones have absolutely no memory of their time in the mansion at the start of the series, as well as their previous relationships That being said, scraps seem to carry over, like N's crush on V, and I think scraps of that also carried over to V. (Not in the form of a full blown crush, but more like she senses she cares about N for a reason she doesn't quite understand) And how does V respond to these phantom memories? Push them away and don't think about it, hence, the dismissive/avoidant way she treats N in the scene pictured above. And the memories are only phantoms and barely present, which makes it easy for her to simply focus on her programed mission, including trying to kill N when he "rebels like an angsty teen" At least, that's my two cents on it.

On to episode 2! First thing I'd like to point out is that she broke the chain somewhere between the gap between the beginning and the end of the episode (2:34)

(16:54)

She probably had her first encounter with Lizzie while N & Uzi were out investigating the J-solver. Speaking of the Absolute Slover, V doesn't recognize it at this point in the story, which is interesting because she (seems to) fully remember what happened with Cyn by Cabin Fever.

As a side note, while her "wanna do an autopsy?" thing can be brushed off as simply V being V, it could also be that she does recognize the solver and wants to get rid of Uzi. Do I find this likely? no, this is 100% me overthinking. moving on

Okay, this scene This has a very high possibility of being V trying to intimidate Uzi, but she's also kind of right. Nori had the solver, she was dangerous. But the thing is, she wasn't dangerous to Cyn's, and by extension, the disassembly drone's, mission. My theory is that V simply got lucky when hitting the mark on the Uzi's mom thing, but some things regarding the solver are starting to leak through and she just happens to pin it on the Worker Drones due to Uzi being a Worker Drone. Additional notes on the V scene at the start of the episode:

I find her bubble wand funny Also, she seems very okay with this for being a prisoner(?) Probably just likes messing with Uzi, if I'm being honest

But then there's the fact that she keeps up the whole "prisoner" thing even though she's fully capable of escaping. This is at least partially so she can go through with her murder plan in episode 3, but also partially so she doesn't have to leave N behind (especially, after the incident with Uzi) showing the first signs of her actually caring about N (with the show having prepped us to look for it beforehand using the mansion flashback) On to episode 3, AKA the first episode where V actually does stuff!

Ptff, V's little glance away

"Oh no, emotions, what do I do?"

(War flashbacks)

So, V 100% has most of her memories of what happened with Cyn by now, at least enough to have a good view of the picture

This scene is actually the first time we've seen V be somewhat vulnerable. Neat! Also, just last week she was pretending N didn't exist, and now she's asking him to run away with her? slow clap V, slow clap/hj

V just walks into the prom and is immediately ready to murder

also, what happened to

LIES

ptff, her disgust at the prom queen crown

she is so out of her element it's hilarious

V: wtf is happening THIS WAS NOT THE PLAN

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd I have reached the image limit, this shall be continued through reblogs

[drewsbuzzcut]

Hurt in a ballet studio!

Warnings: mentions of dehydration, not eating, passing out, paramedics and some angst (this is edited sorry)

“Did you eat today?” Nick asks, coming up behind Dallas while she packs her ballet bag. He pulls her into a half hug and she momentarily melts into his chest.

“Yes,” she lies through her teeth. She didn’t need Nick worrying about her.

“What did you eat?” He tests because he knows she unintentionally doesn’t eat whenever she’s busy or stressed. In this case she’s both.

“I got something from the dining hall with Sienna. I have to go, baby. I should be back before the sun goes down,” Dallas says in a haste.

With no room to respond, Nick lets her leave after she gives him a goodbye kiss.

A couple hours pass and Dallas hasn’t answered any of Nick’s texts. Now, he knows his girl won’t always answer because she throws herself into her little routine, but she should’ve been home by now. The sun has already started to dip down and Dallas never goes back on her word without some kind of warning.

“Nick! Is D in the shower or something? I’ve been waiting for a response to a text I sent her like an hour ago,” Sienna says as she walks into her and Dallas’ apartment.

“No, I was just about to ask if you had heard from her. She went to the studio like 2 hours ago. She should be back already, but she isn’t answering my calls or texts,” Nick responds, voice growing worried.

Sienna tries to hide her concern, but her face is too expressive and Nick starts to feel his heart sink into his chest.

“I’m going to go over there. If she was staying later than planned, she would’ve said something,” he mutters, grabbing his keys.

“Hey, she’s going to be okay. If you need anything, just let me know and I’ll be there,” Sienna says, feeling that same sense of dread.

Luckily Nick has visited Dallas enough times at her ballet studio, that he knows the security guard. The man lets him in without hesitation, especially when he sees Nick’s frantic state.

The hockey player feels his world come crashing down when he spots Dallas laid out on the floor through the large window of the room. He’s immediately pulling the door open and running to his wife.

“June?” He lifts her partially onto his lap.

His hands shake as he feels for her pulse. Fear is wrapped tight around his throat, but he has to see if she’s even breathing. A sigh of relief passes his lips when he feels her pulse under his fingertips.

“June, you have to wake up. Baby, c‘mon. It’s Nicky and you have to wake up,” the boy murmurs with an unsteady voice and tears gathering in his eyes.

He quickly dials 9-1-1 and waits with a sick stomach for someone to show up and helps his wife.

Once the paramedics arrive and Dallas gains consciousness again, Nick is feeling frazzled himself. Everything feels like it’s moving too fast but not moving at the same time. He’s not really even hearing what the paramedics are saying and asking Dallas. His ears only pick up on a few words, “dehydration, semi-malnourished, and rest. Everything else fades away as his eyes focus on a living and breathing Dallas.

After everything is settled and Dallas is given the okay to go back home, she and Nick settle in an uncomfortable silence during their car ride.

“Why did you lie to me?” Nick finally asks the one question that’s been nagging at him.

“I didn’t want you to worry,” the girl whispers, eyes avoiding her husband

“You didn’t want me to worry? Look at what the hell happened today! I’m still worried and you still lied to me,” he yelled, any semblance of calm escaping his mind as he thinks about how he could’ve lost her.

“Why are you yelling at me right now?” She asks in her teary voice that makes Nick want to pull her into the biggest hug.

“Because I’m scared! I don’t want to lose you, Dallas. We just got married and I don’t want to lose you, ever and especially not so soon,” he admits and the car falls silent.

Dallas doesn’t even know what to say to make things better. She knows she shouldn’t have lied to him and she knows she shouldn’t have mistreated her body in the way that she did, but she couldn’t control it. She’s been so busy and stressed with the end of the school year rounding the corner, so everything has been one big mess.

“I’m sorry, Nick. I’m so sorry. I love you and the last thing I want to do is worry you. I’m sorry,” she apologizes and finally catches a glimpse of his red rimmed eyes.

Her heart aches for him.

“I love you, June. So much. Please take care of yourself, baby. I want you around forever,” he says, bringing up a hand to cup the back of her neck. His thumb rubs at her nape and soothes her down.

Dallas gives him a half smile before letting herself melt into his touch. She never wants to go through what she just went through ever again.

a/n: This isn’t my favorite thing ever, but just some angst that was requested! Enjoy!

[lavenderfeminist]

Do you ever worry about doing more harm than good? Feminism is one of the most important things for our society. However your viewpoints on feminism are quite different than a lot of people’s, including a handful of your friends. Do you ever feel like you’ll have any chance someday that your thoughts will change and you will be able to at least partially recognize MtF people as women, FtM people as men, etc., especially considering the medical studies on gender dysphoria? I’m curious. I am a non-binary individual (and because I just know there’s going to be assumptions otherwise, I was assigned female at birth), and I can genuinely empathize with the feminist aspects (not the trans exclusionary ones) of the TERF movement: women need more rights and protections, abortion is a human right, men oppress women (and people like me who don’t identify as women but still present fully as such for acceptance reasons) and this needs to change, etc. I just wish people in these circles would focus on that rather than painting trans women as this huge problem. I’ve met a trans woman when she was still identifying as a man, her dysphoria was extremely hard for her. She’s started transitioning now and has always been respectful and supportive of the other women in her life. I guess I’m just ever the optimist, that y’all will realize, yes there are a handful of shitty men out there who want to use the trans identity for something harmful, but there are shitty people from all walks of life, and overall even if our experiences with our birth sex are different, trans women shouldn’t be shunned more than they already are. I can’t believe I wrote this whole thing on a terf blog because ik it won’t change your mind but respond as you wish I guess lol

Yeah, I used to be what some would refer to as a "transmed"/"truscum". In other words, I viewed transgenderism/transexualism as a medical issue resulting from a discrepancy between someone's brain and their outward sex. I have not and will never consider being "nonbinary" a legitimate identity; there is no third sex. And before someone says "what about intersex people!", intersex conditions are sex specific and more accurately called disorders of sexual development (DSDs). Stop using them as pawns in your invalid arguments.

There is no chance of me ever reverting to that set of beliefs again in the case of today's evidence. If presented with evidence that it is physically possible for someone to have a female brain in a male body or vice-versa, and medically possible to verify this in a given individual, my beliefs would change again. But not only is the "brainsex" argument nonsensical when taken to its conclusion (a "female" brain in an otherwise-male body is simply a variation of a male brain...), but modern science very clearly demonstrates that there really are not significant enough biological differences between male and female brains for us to even make a distinction wide enough to sort tran people.

I once passionately believed what you do (to an extent), but I cannot anymore, for these reasons:

The modern trans movement is lying to you. They're telling you that the "transwomen in bathrooms" arguments are a lie, right? That transwomen just want to pee like everyone else? I believed them too, until I was confronted with undeniable evidence that trans women are just as predatory in women's bathrooms as men dressed as women (shocking, because there's no actual distinction being offered to allow the former while barring the latter from women's bathrooms). If anybody who says they're a woman is allowed in women's bathrooms, actual gender feelings are irrelevant, because any man can enter a female space so long as he says the right things.

"Woman" to me holds no more meaning than being a adult human being of the female sex. I have no other associations beyond that. So "trans women are women" is as false to me as "gingerbread women are women". If you say "trans women identify with the gender associated with women", I will agree with you, because femininity, the sex role (gender) assigned to women, is something a man can want to perform. But trans women are not women, because they are not female, and to claim that half of the population calls themself the word for "woman" in their language for any reason other than being female is to assert that half the population identifies with femininity, and that is regressive. I have nothing in common with a trans woman other than us both claiming the word "woman", and that is an absolutely meaningless similarity. I literally have more in common with every trans man on the planet by virtue of inhabiting a female body.

I still believe in sex dysphoria. I still believe that ADULTS with sex dysphoria are entitled to make decisions to modify their bodies, even if they are decisions I find confusing/dangerous/odd, so long as they are adequately informed about the medical risks and consequences of their decisions. I simply do not believe that this necessitates me remaining uncritical of the social and capitalistic factors that may motivate transition for reasons not covered by innate sex dysphoria.

I do not believe in gender identity, and I never will. I do not believe in gendered souls, gendered feelings, etc. I do not believe any sense of gender is innate. A man who feels like a woman is, to me, simply a man making assumptions about the way women feel. A man who wishes he was female is, to me, someone with the rights to make body modifications that mimic a female body, but not someone who will ever be female. I do not believe there is anything inherently different between men and women save for our sexes. Thus, there is no avenue through my worldview in which a transwoman could ever be a woman.

I support your right to believe in gender identity, the same way I support a Christian's right to believe in souls. But I am not obligated to participate in or validate your beliefs, the same way I do not need to participate in or validate a Christian belief in souls. That does not make me transphobic, in the same way that it does not make me Christianphobic. Stop reducing the actual, real hatred that some people have for gender nonconformity to a lack of religious beliefs.

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Hallo! I'm not sure if you've already discussed or talked about the Obliviation spell and how memory magic works in general in HP already, but I think that'd be pretty neat if ever.

Hello!

So, I talked a bit here about pensive memories and how I think there's more than one spell involved. Now, mind magic in general in HP aren't talked about that much, but I have some thoughts about it (like I have about everything in HP).

I'll start with something I mentioned here regarding mind magic in general, and that mind magic seems to be the opposite of spells like the Patronus Charm or the unforgivable cures. While the unforgivable and the patronus required emotion, Snape says Occlumancy requires a clear mind:

“Clear your mind, Potter,” said Snape’s cold voice. “Let go of all emotion. . . .” But Harry’s anger at Snape continued to pound through his veins like venom. Let go of his anger? He could as easily detach his legs. . . . “You’re not doing it, Potter. . . . You will need more discipline than this. . . . Focus, now. . . .”

(OotP, 535)

I assume all magic that has to do with the mind requires a clear mind to work correctly. Like, you can obliviate someone without a clear head, but you might delete too much or too little. The clarity of mind is necessary for control and precision which is also required for Legilimency (or to at least understand what you're seeing with it).

Now, we know that pensive memories as I mentioned here can be collected and physically removed from one's mind, as Snape does in his Occlumancy lessons with Harry:

Snape merely raised the wand to his temple and placed its tip into the greasy roots of his hair. When he withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from it and fell gracefully into the Pensieve

(OotP, 533)

But Obliviation doesn't seem to work the same way. We know from Dumbledore that you can try and retrieve obliviated memories or memories buried by false ones that are implanted:

“Never,” said Dumbledore. “He gave, as I say, a full and boastful confession.” “But he had this real memory in him all the time!” “Yes, but it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency to coax it out of him,” said Dumbledore

(HBP, 367)

Lockhart, too, after obliviating himself, still retains some of his memories and mannerisms:

“We’re doing autographs!” Gilderoy told the Healer with another glittering smile. “They want loads of them, won’t take no for an answer! I just hope we’ve got enough photographs!” “Listen to him,” said the Healer, taking Lockhart’s arm and beaming fondly at him as though he were a precocious two-year-old. “He was rather well known a few years ago; we very much hope that this liking for giving autographs is a sign that his memory might be coming back a little bit

(OotP, 510)

This suggests that unlike what Snape did with the pensive Obliviate doesn't really remove the memory from the mind, just severs the connections to the memory within the brain, but it's still there and could still be retrieved partially (or even fully) by a skilled Legilimence (Like Dumbledore) or the mind healers at St. Mongos.

Even so, the memories that return aren't perfect. Dumbledore couldn't get the full memory back from Morfin's mind, likely because Tom hid certain parts better than others. Memories returning, even if they are still present and not fully removed, is no easy task. It requires careful coaxing to not damage the mind and memories further.

Then we have false memories that can be implanted:

“I see we are of one mind,” said Dumbledore. “Certainly, there are many similarities between this death and that of the Riddles. In both cases, somebody else took the blame, someone who had a clear memory of having caused the death —” “Hokey confessed?” “She remembered putting something in her mistress’s cocoa that turned out not to be sugar, but a lethal and little-known poison,” said Dumbledore. “It was concluded that she had not meant to do it, but being old and confused —” “Voldemort modified her memory, just like he did with Morfin!” “Yes, that is my conclusion too,” said Dumbledore.

(HBP, 438-439)

This magic is different from both Legilimency and Obliviation but requires the same clear mind (I assume). What I expect it does is the opposite of the spell that removes a memory entirely to be placed in a pensive. Essentially placing a new memory in.

Now, we know memories can be edited once they're outside someone's brain (be it a copy or the actual memory):

As several of the boys tittered, something very odd happened. The whole room was suddenly filled with a thick white fog, so that Harry could see nothing but the face of Dumbledore, who was standing beside him. Then Slughorn’s voice rang out through the mist, unnaturally loudly, “You’ll go wrong, boy, mark my words.”

(HBP, 370)

So, I think making a false memory works the same way. You take a memory from yourself (a copy) or remove a memory from the target, edit it as heavily as necessary, and then place it in someone's mind the way you would a removed memory. It is probably the same spell Snape used to return the pensive memories to him after the Occlumancy lessons:

and hurried toward the office door. As he opened it he glanced back at Snape, who had his back to Harry and was scooping his own thoughts out of the Pensieve with the tip of his wand and replacing them carefully inside his own head.

(OotP, 538)

Now, a bit more about editing memories. This is a complex skill and not something everyone is doing. Memories in HP are more like frozen fragments in time than just memories. We see it in SWM that Harry can listen in on the Marauders when Snape isn't near them. The memories are perfect in detail and "remember" more than a person naturally would. So, even though in SWM Snape wasn't listening to the Marauders, he still heard them in his pariphary. So their conversation was in his memory even if he couldn't actively recall it.

Basically, calling them memories is a little misleading. They are memories, but they also perfectly capture a moment in a way human memory almost never would. It captures everything your senses get from the scene, even the bits your brain would usually filter out because you don't need all that information.

That's why editing them is probably so hard. Because there is a lot of detail and it all has to be perfected if it's to be viewed in a pensive.

That being said, if the memory is placed in someone's mind without the intention of them viewing the memory outside their own recollection, it doesn't have to be perfect. As I mentioned, compared to how the pensive shows memories, human recollection is very flawed. If something is missing from your memory of a scene a few years ago, you won't get suspicious someone replaced it, you'll think you forgot a detail.

So editing memories into someone's mind is much easier than memories that go into a pensive. It's possible Slyghorn's edited memory wouldn't have felt edited inside a mind, since the brain would fill in the lack of visuals on its own (the brain just does things like that) but in a pensive, there is no human brain to finish his work for him, so the edit is glaringly obvious.

This is, like, all I have to say about mind magic off the top of my head, I believe, hope this answers your ask.

[electronickingdomfox]

"The Covenant of the Crown" review

Novel from 1981, by Howard Weinstein. This is the first novel set in the TMP era (not counting the movie novelization), though strangely enough, they still refer to Kirk as "Captain". I didn't love the story A LOT, but it was a fine read with good characterization and entertaining plot. This author seems to love McCoy, so he receives the main focus, while Kirk moves to a secondary position, and is absent from most of the novel. Spock and McCoy's bickering is fun, with a really bitchy Spock, and a somewhat pitiful, somewhat childish McCoy. The Doctor is going through a middle-age crisis, and his vulnerable portrait is kind of tender.

As for the plot, is a bit unusual, since sci-fi elements are scarce, and instead, the story takes the form of a traditional quest to restore the rightful king to the throne.

Some spoilers ahead:

The neutral planet of Shad, rich in valuable minerals, has been torn by civil war for decades, between the Loyalists (partial to the royal family and supported by the Federation), and the Mohd Alliance (warlike and secretly aided by the Klingons). Whoever wins the war, will determine if Shad enters the Federation, or becomes a Klingon satellite.

Almost twenty years ago, Kirk had been a Federation envoy in the planet, and had befriended the King. But back then, the advance of the Mohd Alliance forced the royal family into exile. Things are looking more hopeful now, and it's about time for the King to return and finally bring unity and peace to Shad. The Enterprise is thus tasked with the mission of bringing him there. Problem is, the King is very, veeery old now, and he dies soon after arriving to the Enterprise. The full weight of Shad's restoration falls then on his only daughter, Kailyn. But she's in her early twenties, and very inexperienced. (Why is it that these fantasy kings always wait until they're at least 60 to produce a heir? Seems very risky, if you ask me. I guess this is something that Kailyn has in common with Disney princesses). Anyway, Kailyn lacks confidence in herself, compounded by her chronic illness, which she doesn't know how to treat herself, and forces her to take shots regularly or die. Also, before being accepted as Queen of Shad, she must retrieve the crown (hidden in a different planet) and pass a test. Rightful heirs to the throne always have some psychic powers, which make the crown's crystals react upon touch.

The plot diverges then, with the main story following Kailyn, McCoy and Spock going in a shuttlecraft to a most inhospitable planet to find the crown. As Klingons are likely to sabotage Shad's unification, Kirk stays in the Enterprise, hoping the Klingons will follow him, and not notice the shuttlecraft's course. Kirk's subplot revolves around him trying to find out who in the ship is the Klingon spy, who's been feeding info about the mission to the enemy.

Meanwhile, Kailyn and the others aren't having a fun time looking for the crown. The shuttle crashes upon landing, there are horrible storms in the surface, Kailyn falls ill, a savage tribe captures them and wants to sell them as slaves, McCoy is feeling too old for this shit, and Spock has to babysit the two princesses (Kailyn and his dear Doctor). If this wasn't enough, Klingons have, in fact, noticed the shuttlecraft and followed them. So it seems there won't be much landing party for the Enterprise to rescue later. And at this point, I have to ask: "Why, Kirk, WHY did you send this landing party to such hostile planet!!?" Spock, I can understand, but McCoy and the only heir to the throne? (you know, the one who should be ALIVE, in order for the mission to be successful at all?). As it turns out in the end, Kailyn's presence was necessary, because the crown's guardian wouldn't give it to anybody else. But I'm not sure Kirk and the others were aware of this at first.

Throughout her adventures, Kailyn matures a lot and grows confident and self-sufficient, so of course she becomes a worthy queen. However, she had developed a misplaced crush on McCoy. And when the Doctor finally rejects her, and explains that he loves her "but not like that", she has a hard time. Now, McCoy's attitude had been less than stellar, and he shouldn't have been such a flirt and mislead her. But at least this receives the proper criticism, and the author doesn't turn Kailyn into a trophy girlfriend for McCoy to feel younger.

Spirk Meter: 0/10*. Judging by Weinstein's Star Trek comics, this author leans much more into...

McKirk: The novel opens with Kirk in McCoy's cabin, while the Doctor counts his gray hairs in the mirror and complains about getting old. And Kirk (as the good husband he is) assures him that he's not that old and still looking fine. Later Kirk pulls him out of bed, where McCoy is lying depressed, to bring him to his surprise birthday party (and Kirk's very anxious about McCoy not liking the party idea, since he's feeling so bad about his age). Then Chapel is gossiping about how Kailyn follows McCoy everywhere, and probably has a crush on him, and Kirk hears this. Chapel is like "uh, oh... spoke too much in front of the wrong person...". As result, Kirk has a bedroom discussion with McCoy (no, literally, McCoy was just getting into bed). And Kirk confronts him with the typical "what the hell are you playing at!?". And McCoy retorts with a "what about ALL the things you did in the past!?". You get the idea... There's not a lot more, since Kirk almost disappears from the story later. But consider McCoy's literal definition of love in the novel:

"Caring about someone more than I care about myself... enjoying someone’s company through thick and thin... trusting completely..."

Reminds you of anyone?

There's also a bit of Spones, though they spend most of the time bickering with each other. But Spock is protective of him, and McCoy is a bit clingy. Specially in the latter parts, their dynamic becomes more like that of two proud dads for Kailyn. There's also this exchange:

“Spock,” McCoy said slowly, “Kailyn’s in love with me.” The Vulcan raised an eyebrow. “Indeed?” “Don’t act so surprised. I happen to be quite lovable.” “I have never doubted that, Doctor,” Spock replied wryly.

*A 10 in this scale is the most obvious spirk moments in TOS. Think of the back massage, "You make me believe in miracles", or "Amok Time" for example.

[lesbiansanemi]

SHINOBU FOR ASK GAME!!!

OFC OFC HELL YES MY BELOVED SHINOBU <3 TY JAYFORD <333

Favorite thing about them: There are so, so many things I love about Shinobu, but ultimately I think my favorite thing has to be her all-consuming desire for revenge. That sounds so edgy, but it is very rare that I get to see a female character have a genuine revenge plot line, let alone that being the main focus of her story, and it actually gets to end with her killing the man she wants revenge against. So many revenge plot lines (especially ones given to women) end with the character giving up vengeance, or allowing someone else to take it for them. Not Shinobu. She got what she wanted and told Douma to go fuck himself in hell. Queen shit

Least favorite thing about them: I tried so hard to come up with something, but I truly have no genuine complaints with Shinobu's character and how she's written. So I'll choose something petty. Her hairstyle. Like, pinned up it looks fine, I like it, but we never see her hair down so I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT DRIVES ME INSANE. I def don't think she has very long heir, I tend to go with shoulder length, but god I would love to know

Favorite line: Tbh her whole monologue from her opening scene still sticks with me. Her cadence and word choices and cheery smile as she talks about torturing the sister spider demon did such a good job of introducing her as a character, and their the lines I can most clearly remember off the top of my head

brOTP: Now.... hear me out.... Shinobu and Sanemi. I like the hc that they grew kind of close themselves when Sanemi and Kanae were Hashira together. I think they probably would have gotten along pretty well (well, by Shinobu and Sanemi standards) before Shinobu adopted a lot of Kanae's mannerisms and personality after her death. Because of this, I like to think that Sanemi is one of the few people she will fall back into her "old" personality with, at least in small ways. I do think they drifted apart after Kanae's death though. Partially because Shinobu emotionally distanced herself from pretty much everyone, but also because Sanemi didn't like her trying to emulate Kanae in the ways that she did. He found it weird and unsettling. But, every now and then, in brief moments where they're alone together, they can fall into old teasing and banter more easily than they realize

OTP: ShinoMitsu, easily! It's one of my favorite kny ships in general. I think that Shinobu and Mitsuri compliment each other as characters very well, and there is so much angst potential regarding their relationship (I know you know what I'm talking about, you understand Jayford haha). Mitsuri inspiring Shinobu to want to live again but she doesn't know how is actually something that can be so personal

nOTP: Shinobu x any man. Sorry that's a whole lesbian. But more specifically, I really can't fuck with Giyu//Shino or Dou//Shino. Keep that shit AWAY from me. I just don't like them in general, but I find so much of the content for them leans very heavily into "woman fixes sad broken man" and makes Shinobu way too nurturing and mothery which.... eugh....

Random headcanon: I like the headcanon that she opens the Butterfly Mansion to any women who need a shelter/resources for any reason, related to demons or not. The estate is huge, and as a Hashira, money is not an issue. So she's more than happy to give any women and girls a place to stay if they need to get out of bad situations (be it related to family, marriage, or something demonic). She is obviously very busy, so she's not directly involved with a lot of the women who are in and out, but she does what she can for them. She's also very willing to get any girls to good trainers to become swordsmen, if they want

Unpopular opinion: I feel people in the fandom swing wildly between two misinterpretations of her. The first being where people act like she's a much "better" person than she is, and who seem to fall for her smiles and pleasant tone. They treat her as if she can do no wrong, and tend to get mad/upset if someone depicts her as less than perfect (wild to me, esp considering canon makes it very obvious that she has many flaws). However, you also have the other side of the spectrum, where people act as if she's a horrible, awful irredeemable bitch and disregard her kindness as nothing but an act because she's complex and sometimes does questionable things. I do think both of these things are rooted in misogyny, the belief that women have to either be perfect goddesses, OR they're two-faced fake bitches, and unfortunately because Shinobu is so nuanced, she tends to get both. But yeah I hate both these interpretations of her and they are both very wide spread. Like guys... can we please just appreciate her for being a nuanced character who has both good and bad aspects, I'm begging

Song I associate with them: I have a couple! Kamikaze and Spoils of War for Shinobu specifically, and then Thank You For the Venom and Dying Star for some ShinoMitsu vibes imo (I should make a Shinobu/ShinoMitsu playlist)

Favorite picture of them: Every time I think of this little drawing I lose my mind, it's so cute and the way Shinobu is just fucking staring at her.... Real

[flowercoasts]

thinking a lot about how laudna bases her self worth on how she can service everyone else around her. for 30 years she was chased down with torches and pitchforks just for existing. even before that, she was ostracized throughout her childhood. so, of course, once she gains some true, lasting connections with people (her family, now), she would give all of herself in service to them, would do anything to keep that connection. 

back in episode 16, laudna says to ashton: “... i’m desperately wanting to be helpful. useful. have a purpose.” and isn’t that the entire point? laudna’s purpose is to help the people around herself. to take care of the ones she loves. which is why, as soon as she is alive again (after enduring a week’s worth of reliving her trauma in a loop, after waking up in the city that failed her, after everything) laudna is the one apologizing. 

she wakes up in a whitestone and instantly, people she doesn’t recognize have weapons pointed at her. an entire army is ready to kill her for the woman living inside her. not only that, but she knows that the hells experienced her trauma and, quite literally, fought her demons for her. waking up and knowing, explicitly and implicitly, how complicated she’s made things. how her past cannot be buried and forgotten. (death was never a big deal to her. it’s something that happened to her, and she’s had to learn to live with that. but now it’s happened again, and bells hells had to deal with that. now she can’t ignore it. now other people know how terrible it is, and how terrible it is to know.)

and her perception of herself too - because laudna’s a puppet. a vessel. she has never been able to live for herself, and has never been more than a instrument for someone else. she’s alive, partially, but her life is entirely about everyone around her. they revived her, but at what cost? she loves these people so wholeheartedly but cannot find it in herself to imagine they’d feel the same about her. because she’s just a tool. she has a use, a purpose. her life is parallel to theirs, but it’s not quite the same. in her eyes, they lost time to find out more answers about ruidis. they lost time to pursue otohan. they lost time to save someone. her resurrection is a nuisance. a roadblock. a distraction. in the grand scheme of things, she’s not important, they are. and she’s very sorry for not being strong enough to shift the focus back to them.

[birgittesilverbae]

thinking of mary stumbling out of shannon’s sick room with blood on her hands, dizzy from the smell of ozone and cooked flesh, the raw and precise circle of ruined tissue. recalling the lacelike tracery of the halo’s mark before, and how it leaked blood and fluid onto her hands as she held shannon, shouting for the others to move. certain that she would die right there. her, both of them.

now, in the quiet, she’s pulling strands of shannon’s hair out of the wound. her back splayed open, showing knots of muscle and the pink-streaked white of bone. blackened where it touched the halo.

looking at shannon’s hand fisted loosely in the sheets, her head turned sideways, eyes closed, breathing tight and irregular.

associations fly at her and shannon is icarus, patroclus, achilles.

but she’s not. she’s sleeping, and it’s not her fault how similar survival is to death.

it strikes her then, in the dark room they wheeled shannon into, that in another life she is standing over a corpse. flipped as easily as a coin and in that world shannon’s body is torn open so they can find what killed her.

mary wipes a palmprint of blood absently onto her shirt, resisting the urge to kneel beside shannon, to touch her face. to remind herself that even if her rib bones are demarcated where little rivulets of blood and plasma have followed the lines of her body, this shannon is alive.

going outside. for air, for the smell of incense, or warm stone. anything that’s not cedarwood overpowered by iron, copper, by the harsh metallic scent of the halo’s absence.

running into suzanne - headlong, grabbing at the sleeve of her habit in blind panic. blinking at the streaky stain it leaves; just a patch of darker color that barely betrays itself in the low light.

‘is she…?’

‘asleep. i have to… i left bea in the-’

torn between them both. watching beatrice stand pale under the candlelight. pews casting shadows onto shadows. holding her hand and listening to the burn of bright light. again, twice. how many times will i lose what i love inside this luminosity?

mary tears away from the memory, feeling a hand touch her shoulder. ‘it’s okay.’ suzanne’s voice is steady. a rock (upon which i will build)

‘i’ll watch over her. go and check on your… on beatrice.’

moving past her, still hazy but looking back. the silhouette of suzanne staring at the doorway like it’s a tombstone.

‘how long does it take?’

suzanne looks at her, but in the dimness mary can’t make out any expression.

‘what do you mean?’

‘for her to heal? i just- it looks bad and i just want to know how long she’ll be…’

(in pain. struck open with her bones visible. a kind of nakedness that cannot be dressed over. thinking of tipping shannon onto her side to drain the wound because it’s only partially cauterized).

there’s a sound like a sigh, or just like the wind. suzanne looks away again. ‘it’s best to focus on what you can do for her now.’ a sad smile, half-glimpsed in the antique lamplight, ‘the worst thing is to be alone with your pain.’

and then mary leaves. she cries the whole way to bea’s room.

suzanne lets the quiet gather again. rolls her shoulders against the prickle of damaged nerves. and then she opens the door.

inside, she finds shannon lying on the gurney like something out of a painting. sheets tangled around her waist, musculature of her back exposed and shining with sweat.

the bedclothes are red and white. someone (mary. who else?) has pulled shannon’s hair into a careful smoothness. away from her face and the wound of her body.

she’s small again.

suzanne thinks of her, years ago arriving with fading bruises, a sort of blunt, scrappy fighting style that made her see - in the darting, brutal motions - a girl accustomed to fighting when cornered. then, in the way she took punches, suzanne saw a girl who knew when she had no choice but to accept a blow.

(she prays this will be the last one. the last hurt they force her to carry)

there’s an old folding chair against one wall and suzanne drags it over, slips shannon’s limp hand into both of hers.

raises it to her lips.

[miracles-and-butterflies]

lmaoooo Mirabel calling the creative team “tormentors”

Without fail, every letter is addressed that way. She doesn’t learn their names, she doesn’t know why she should bother - it’s not like they bothered to do anything for her. Even if she is talking to them in person, she still calls them “tormentor” or “abuser” or something to that effect.

Not the entire creative team - she recognises a lot of them (and the cast) had no control and were just doing their job to be paid.

Now seems as good a time as any to post Mirabel’s list of inaccuracies in the film.

Roughly in order to the film’s narrative:

(Anything not mentioned is accurate).

Clothing is wrong - we’ll get back to this

Lines are also aren’t word for word what they actually said

Mirabel doesn’t think she and Abuela were ever as close as that in the opening scene. The youngest/fourth girl was far from a favourite

Mirabel doesn’t talk to herself

Mirabel did set the table, but she never spoke to the kids - that’s Camilo’s job

She never left the house, partially because she was finishing up on Antonio’s gift ceremony suit

She only left the house that day to collect Osvaldo Ortiz’s delivery, which she didn’t order but was made to get it, which he did describe as the “non-special special”. However, she couldn’t lift it and was dragging it across the grass until Luisa spotted her and intervened

The children stopped her before she could follow Luisa in, they did have a similar conversation of “maybe your gift is being in denial”

Mirabel is ironically the most graceful and careful of her sisters; hence Isabela’s need to practice. So she didn’t crash into anyone

Isabela should have been a lot meaner and vicious with her insults

Mirabel’s scene with her parents was fairly accurate - she just didn’t interact with/mention Casita in the moment

She did make her own decorations for her family and was told to leave them by Abuela; she didn’t set Abuela’s on fire either, she burnt her finger on accident

Mirabel wasn’t there for Antonio’s moment with his side of the family because she was busy having a panic attack (not that she knew it at the time), she arrived after they had left

Casita pushed her into taking Antonio’s hand

She stood behind all of the adults while Antonio received his gift with her eyes closed because she couldn’t bring herself to watch it go wrong

Mirabel didn’t go onto the roof to check the candle; she did hear Abuela’s concerns, but from below. She went to check the floor tiles because that’s where the cracks started and that smashed one had to have gone somewhere

Mirabel is scared of heights

Dolores was more aware of what was going on

She was a lot more clever and subtle in how she questioned Luisa, she didn’t shout at breakfast. She was moved but that was because she took Luisa’s coffee off her and then argued about why Luisa shouldn’t have so much of it with Abuela

She didn’t rope jump across Bruno’s room because she’s “not a fucking idiot” or Isabela. Instead, she walked all the way back down the stairs to find another way in and she did

She spent the next hour exhausted on the floor

She was aware of the cracks in Bruno’s room, subsequently took the pieces and ran without putting them together. It was the only vision in there, it has to be what Luisa was talking about

She was going to leave the vision and sort it tomorrow - focus on Isabela’s engagement as Abuela wanted. But after hiding the pieces in her room, she realised on of the shards kinda looked like her and was then curious to put it together

She and Luisa didn’t throw themselves around the room during the engagement. Mirabel never got up out of her chair and wasn’t sat anywhere near Isabela - she and Luisa were swapped

Mirabel also exclaimed a rather jubilant “I told you so!” after the cracks appeared and the magic started to fritz. Luisa covered her mouth to prevent her saying anything else that would further piss the family off

Mirabel is scared/disgusted of most animals, but especially rats

She didn’t remember anything about Bruno and initially didn’t recognise him when she first saw him in the walls, instead screamed about there being an intruder and tried to go back for help. Bruno chased her away from the exit to prevent her from doing that

Mirabel and Bruno’s entire interaction until Antonio appeared

Mirabel did not whine about it being Isabela. She didn’t question it, just accepted it and immediately started planning about how she was getting the hug. Bruno would later say to Isabela that she became as calculative as Dolores in the moment

Mirabel came in and formally apologised (because she does generally believe she ruined the proposal, regardless about her feeling for Isa). She tried to make Isa more comfortable and willing to voluntarily hug her

She was horrified with Isabela’s cactus and tries to insist that Isabela stop touching it

Isabela didn’t grow anything outside of her room, nor did she break Mariano’s nose a second time

Abuela was a lot harsher to Mirabel (in general, but especially) before Casita fell, nor did Mirabel get the last word in

The last thing Mirabel saw was her own headless body and the candle that went out

Clothes are noted to be inaccurate. They are of the time style-wise, but some of the colours aren’t or wouldn’t have been as vibrant. There is an issue with length of women’s clothes too. The family had a lot more detail on their clothes. Mirabel is the most inaccurate - butterflies were always Alma’s and Pedro’s symbol, not hers. She doesn’t know where the idea for that came from. Her earrings also aren’t accurate. She also did all the embellishments of Isabela’s dress.

(I might show you the designs for those, if somebody wants to see them).

Nobody obviously sang. Though Luisa and Isabela sometimes try to convince the cast that they did suddenly turn around and start singing to a very confused Mirabel. She will admit that the songs do fit/compliment her sisters’ styles and voices. She disagrees on hers. The Family Madrigal works as being incorrect, it’s a mask of bubbly extroverted happiness. Waiting On a Miracle doesn’t as it should be more true to her person.