#and then he does it again later!!! his entire relationship to a victim past the point where he can't establish /control/ to hurt them

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

it's wild because over the years i've gone from shipping nive with some degree or other of fluff/happy endings (or at least hopeful ones; or if it does end badly, it's due to external factors) to just unabashedly wanting them to make each other Worse

[wishful-thinking64]

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #05

Apology Tour completely dismantles the very thought of Stolitz ever being a remotely healthy relationship once they actually become canon on account of AT proving that Stolas doesn't truly love Blitzø for who he is but rather the idealized version of him that Stolas created within his own head and could be replaced by anyone who's willing to take/play Stolas' idealized role of a partner. __________

As much as I hate Full Moon for wasting so much of the audiences time, it did give us that scene where Blitzø was finally sick of Stolas' shit and told him off for it. However, since it's HB the show immediately tries to run damage control in it's next episode, Apology Tour. This is not only another episode that I despise but it's also the one that solidified my hatred for Stolas and his character. In the beginning of Apology Tour, Stolas bitches and moans over how Blitzø is still making their "relationship" about sex when, news flash, it's ALWAYS been about sex because you, Stolas, have kept it that way to the point where your victim feels like he has to sleep with you in order to DESERVE to keep his OWN BUSINESS RUNNING!

And Blitzø isn't wrong! Their "relationship" has always been, as Blitzø worded it back in Season #01 of HB, "a transactional fucking." Why would he see it as anything different when that's how its always been? Now, how does Stolas reply to this?

Honestly, this IS very shocking Stolas as I believe this might be the first time where you and Blitzø have interacted with one another where you're not blatantly sexualizing or romanticizing him on screen! After this he says that Blitzø should respect the fact that he isn't in the mood to sleep with or even speak to him right now. Mind you, whenever Blitzø has told Stolas in the past that he isn't in the mood to sleep with him or be flirted with, Stolas has respected that notion ONE TIME which was after the fiasco at Ozzie's back from Season #01. Otherwise, Stolas hasn't respected his boundaries for shit. Boundaries are important but you two aren't in a real relationship and even if you were respect is still a two way street. If you command respect from someone you choose to CONTINUE to disrespect on a CONSTANT/CONSISTENT basis then why the hell should they respect you? If it wasn't for his book, Blitzø wouldn't have any incentive to cross paths with Stolas at all.

Anyway, literal seconds later, Stolas tells Blitzo how he got invited to an annual anti-Blitzø party and comments on how he's above such silly nonsense only for him to quickly change his tune upon seeing Blitzø's annoyed and enraged reaction to seeing that Verosika is behind this petty pity party.

This starts a back and forth with Stolas demanding that Blitzø leaves. This results in Blitzø, yet again, reinstating on what their relationship truly is and how Stolas fetishizes him which discomforts Stolas because deep down he knows what Blitzø is saying is true.

Now, I won't get into the conversation that takes place after this comment as the critical side of the Helluva Boss fandom on Tumblr has already (rightfully) torn it to shreds. So instead, I'll save us all some time by simply skipping ahead to when Stolas is at the party after that Incubus guy (that rabbid Stolitz shippers hate) asks him if he wants to dance and why I despise that entire scene.

We see that Blitzø is uncomfortable with this and Stolas KNOWS that he's uncomfortable with this random guy asking Stolas to dance with him as Stolas made DIRECT EYE CONTACT with Blitzø! Now, Blitzø does effectively advise that Stolas take up the Incubus' offer with a hand gesture HOWEVER for Stolas to claim that he's always been in love with Blitzø and that he has eyes for him and him alone only to later MAKE OUT WITH A STRANGER just proves and validates Blitzø's feelings that you don't actually love or care about him! And moments before this scene Stolas says this.

THEN GO AND FIND THAT PERSON AS LITERALLY ANYBODY CAN DO THAT! YOU DO NOT LOVE BLITZØ, YOU MERELY LOVE THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BECAUSE TO YOU, YOU SEE HIM AS A "CHILDHOOD FRIEND" WHEN IN REALITY YOU KNEW HIM AND HUNG AROUND HIM FOR ONE DAY SINCE YOUR FATHER BOUGHT HIM TO BE YOUR PLAYMATE FOR A SINGLE DAY! ... *Ahem.* In conclusion, there's no amount of future retconning that Viv and Spindlehorse can do to successfully make Stolitz appear as a genuinely healthy ship without trashing the entirety of Apology Tour but even that would create/introduce an entire new set of problems. __________

Man, I've been wanting to get this one off my chest for a while as I haven't seen many people bring up these scenes from AT when discussing how and why Stolas doesn't love Blitzø. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts this time around and I'll see you later!

[themoonking]

elaborating on a post from last night.

back when the good omens show first came out, i saw this fandom quickly dismiss concerns transfems had about the transmisogynistic tropes present in the show, the book, and gaiman's other work. i saw this fandom praise a depiction of a man disguising himself as a woman with the sole intention of gaining access to a child and influencing them into evil as a bold, positive representation of gender nonconformity. unfortunately i, being very young at the time and not as familiar with transphobia as it applied to trans women as i was with how it applied to myself (a tme enby), was part of this dismissal. i, like many other good omens fans, participated in brushing aside trans women's valid concerns in favor of supporting neil gaiman's bullshit. but i have since left the fandom, learned, and realized how fucked up it was.

so it's honestly sickening to see this same fandom now use defense of and support for trans women as a shield to excuse neil gaiman's bullshit once again. i believe that tortoise media had motives for wanting to break the story that had more to do with gaiman's milquetoast support for trans rights than they did concern for his victims, but i also believe the victims. i wish scarlett and k had come forward about their abuse with literally any other outlet, and it's entirely possible that one or both of them have bigoted beliefs about trans people themselves, but i'm not going to dismiss what they went through just because they aren't perfect victims or perfect people.

it's without question that gaiman had sexual relationships with both of these women, both being in their early 20s while he was in his 40s and 60s, one being a fan he met when she was a teenager and the other being his employee, respectively. that alone should make you want to distance yourself from him and his work. it also seriously makes me doubt his innocence that his own defense of himself is that k is just still so upset about the way their relationship ended that she's making sa allegations to get back at him almost two decades later and that scarlett is literally delusional and has created false memories of assault due to a medical condition that she does not fucking have.

we have seen time and time again that victims get absolutely no reward for coming forward about abuse, especially so when their abuser is a wealthy public figure. the idea that women are incentivized to create false allegations is a straight up lie and i had thought, after you all were fooled by depp and his pr team not too long ago, that we had all moved past believing it, but i guess fucking not.

[dom-nautica]

Hi I wanted to ask you a question and also (politely) clarify something for you that I think you may have misunderstood.

To clarify: you have brought up the fact that Shelby pressured to marry Wilbur a very early in their relationship. In Shelby’s original stream however she says that it was actually Wilbur who “talked about ‘forever’ one month in”. It sounds like she also wanted ‘forever’ with him, but that it seems it was not pressured on him originally, but something he was also looking for. She only became upset later when he told her he changed his mind. Which I agree is not a reasonable thing to be upset about to the extent that she was, but it wasn’t her pressuring it on him at first, it was a mutual honeymoon phase where they both wanted a ‘happily ever after’ so to speak.

And my question: you’ve mentioned that you take msr to describe how Wilbur felt suffocated in the relationship. Could you explain that a bit more, like what it is that makes you think that and what specific songs/lyrics mean to you? I have been interpreting it differently (to me, it seems like a genuine expression of woe that the relationship didn’t turn out, both for reasons that he messed up about or that she messed up about, or for wanting different things) and I would love to hear where you’re coming from.

Again I mean no harm with this, just wanted to point something out that seemed inaccurate according to the knowledge I have, as well as ask about where you’re coming from with your interpretation (:

Certainly.

Wilbur and his past friends have mocked that he had a crush on Shelby for years. When she broke-up with her long-term boyfriend they quickly jumped into a relationship. I don't have a source, but I was told it wasn't even a week after she broke up they got together. Thats very quick to get into a relationship and then start talking about marriage in a month. Yes, it's honey-moon fazed.

They didn't even date a full year, but Soot went from a lovesick man to a skinny, depressed mess. So what happened?

I have to remind you that Shelby keeps a pristine innocent look to her entire career. Anytime she mocked her exes, which her long-term fans confirm existed, she deleted every post. You'll find only a clean slate of nothing negative about her. She has done this before and it seems she always does this AFTER they break-up with her. She cannot handle rejection. I believe this is what happened between her and Soot.

She saw a man she could live comfortably with and she took a leap of faith. The landing wasn't what she wanted. It was a guy that loved her without knowing who she is, but he wasn't giving her money, enough attention, time, etc. He also had traits she highly disliked such as depression and kinks.

She was still trying to get with him, even when Soot was already dating his new girlfriend! Soot was enamored by her, but accepted they don't clash together well. Soot got to know her, realized they are vastly different (which was obvious) and moved on - she didn't.

I think her reaction came from multiple things - her religious upbringing and pressure to settle down, her past boyfriends lack of obsessive admiration (which soot provided for a few months) and her own low self-worth. A confident person leaves with their emotions intact - she went out screaming she's a victim and trying her best to destroy his life. She didn't want him to be happy without her, so she grasped at straw such as "he didn't pay for my cat sitter" to somehow justify her hate for him.

The marriage comment was a stab at his lack of commitment. I fully believe soot just wanted a situationship with her, but she demanded more.

Regarding his songs in MSR:

The cover art depicts him wounded, based on the story its illustrated from: a little boy is trying to figure out who killed his neighboors dog. Its later revealed that the person that noone suspected had killed it. Hinting that: noone suspects the person that killed Soot.

The title is Mammalian Sighing Reflex - the action of trying to get air while you are drowning. Its a desperate attempt to survive. Shelby lashed out and made the allegations when this album dropped. The trying to survive and drowning feeling was her. Recently he also changed his bio to "gasping" which indicates he survived her - he didnt drown.

"I start to believe You never liked me at all" - he realises she just jumped into the relationship without thinking or getting to know him.

"I stand just out of reach of your fists" - she physically attacks him.

"You kiss me like it was your job" - Shelby didnt actually love him, she just wanted to settle down with anyone.

"I just want to feel normal again I just want to have meals with my friend I just can't go through this again Find my comfort in envisioning the end" - hes exhausted, he wants this feeling to end regardless even if its ending himself.

"Then in doing so, uh, I feel sad (He feels sad) Which is not a good feeling when you're supposedly in a good phase So as almost a self-sabotage, if you will, uh" - he's "manic". he's unhappy, but people expect him to be so he pretends he is. he pretends until he physically can't anymore.

"And I'll shave my head And forget my name" - he hates where he is in life. he isn't happy. hes dreaming of a different life somewhere else.

"I'll live with you until our bones grow old Ain't that miserable?" straight to the point. the idea of growing old with Shelby makes him miserable. through the album you can feel both anxiety, self-destruction and acceptance. the entire album he's trying to convince himself to be happy. He should be happy - he's with Shelby, his crush, so why isn't he happy?

"The melatonin doesn't work Anymore The Valium just stops the hurt But not the cortisol" - none of his medications work anymore.

"Help, why the fuck do I still self-sabotage When I'm finally happy?" he listened to what people told him. he has a gf, they want to get married, live together - but he feels trapped. he should feel happy, but he doesn't.

"Nothing around here fucking works We're justified abhorrent We're all apes with a diary book And corporate reads your pages" - self-defeat. society reads his pages, tells him what to do and he realizes he can't escape it. its anxiety and hes still forced to perform that hes ok. he IS performin - but hes not happy about it. hes trapped.

Im gonna shorten the analysis for the next ones, because this post is very long ;_;

Oh Distant You, Eulogy, Dropshipped Cat Shirt, Trying Not To Think About It - is Soot comparing Shalby to his pas ex which he sang about in lovejoy. He's sad he lost both, but he lets them go.

The Median - he hopes someone will understand WHO he was talking about. Similar to him using the word "ex" he wont say her name.

10 Week Rule - he wants to end himself.

Theres so much more to the songs, but like i said the post is just too long, I probably should have made a doc instead...

Overall: hes not happy, hes tired just by looking at his songs. his mental state is rock bottom - hes drowning, but after their breakup he updated that hes gasping (so he survived, barely)

Looking at Shlebys comments she was extremely unhappy with him (the horrible comments she said public are definitely polish for the public, i don't even want to imagine what she was like with him in private) and seeing his own physical state its even a bigger indicator he lost hope in saving himself. He's hanging on by a thread basically.

The entire internet also attacking him - 100% doesn't help.

[rise-my-angel]

I am here for your takes on Dani. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought her x Jon smelled of hot garbage. Like at best she was meh, and then when the two of them met I was just like "oh no....you're an entitled bitch". And now that its been years since I last consumed GoT, my thoughts have fermented into "oh no, she really is a conqueror" "oh no, everyone loves her because 'pretty badass lady'" "oh no i'm the fandom minority again". Anyway, where was I. She and Jon had no chemistry. The end.

The *only* way putting them in a romance even makes sense in concept is when you realize Benioff and Weiss gave Jon the Young Griff arc. It's why they gave him a Targ name, beacuse if they call him "aegon" then they can fufill that part of the books without ever having to establish Young Griff as his own character. He is the supposed son of Rhaegar Targaryean and Elia Martell, he goes to Westeros with intentions of using his better claim to take the throne and intends initially on marrying Dany, and it's theorized heavily that Dany will see his claim as a threat and the Burning of Kings Landing will come down to Aegon against Dany.

Jon Snow has nothing to do with that. He is a moral opposite to Dany as a charecter, and we've seen him time and time again be at strong odds against people with her morals. But by giving him the Young Griff arc, it means putting him into the romance spot when it makes no sense for him.

Hey I put a read more beacuse I cannot shut the fuck up about how this relationship is just rape and abuse but beacuse Jon's a man we think he wants it.

All of season 7 Jon is so out of place because he doesn't belong anywhere near Dany's Iron Throne plot, and he's being forced to interact romantically with a charecter that clearly he does not like as a person and is uncomfortable with.

But, Dany is the sacred cow of the GoT/asoiaf fandom. You love her and if you critizize her for villanious actions or morals then you are using bad faith towards her. While I personally don't like her, I don't mind other people liking her but I despise that her stans all refuse to allow any conversation about her being a morally bad person. A person who enjoys cruelty and death, enjoys creating fear and is smug when she can control others. That is not a person Jon would love, let alone even respect.

Their entire relationship wreaks of abuse, of Jon being forced into this and knows he cannot leave it without risking his and his families lives. Remember when Tyrion gave a very small level critisism of her actions and she angrily accused him of treason and siding with his family instead of her? Well what do people think would she have done, if her attraction to Jon was refused? Someone who she took all the defenses away from, all the power from, and could have killed at any moment (dont make an ygritte comparison mimi dont make an yrgitte comparison this is a different anti jon x fandom female fave charecter post).

I don't care how the show frames it, or what the intent was. What we got on screen, was Jon Snow being held prisoner to an immoral, cruel, military conquerer. And when that woman was attracted to him, she essentially forced herself into his life and gave him all but no choice. The Jon bending the knee scene and..the uh...boat...scene...later...uhhh....anyways, those to me feel so out of charecter. You cannot convince me Jon did any of this willingly. He is clearly trapped in this situation and cannot leave and is only with her beacuse she is violent and bloodthrirsty. But beacause Jon is a strong, capable man, it's not talked about as if he's the victim and that is insane to me. (Oh my good god the ygritte comparisons are almost laughable send help).

I don't consider a lot past season 5 to be canon, but if I am forced too, then I refuse to accept Jon was a willing participant in that relationship.

Jon's parentage reveal will always be about the revelations of his mother, and the understanding and acceptance of WHY Ned raised him the way he did. And how it was both his parents, his mother and his adopted father who loved him and kept him safe. The very fact that Young Griff's entire story is based around whether or not he truly is Rhaegar's son as opposed to that being a twist reveal is beacuse HE is the charecter whose Targaryean links is the important one. Jon's story is about him as Stark, and is always shown to be the moral opposite of Dany.

Their relationship in the best senario is not canon, but if it has to be, then there is no world in which Jon is there of his own free will. He is being forced into this relationship against his will. But considering his other love interest was another charecter who essentially forced him into a relationship against his will, and we were supposed to root for that tells me all I need to know.

Dany is a sacred cow charecter, and her stans are unreasonable in defending her. When you can like a charecter and critize them for their actions. Ned Stark was an idiot for ever trusting Petyr Baelish, Catelyn Stark's spiteful attitude and neglect of Jon Snow is was abusive behavior, Theon Greyjoy was a moron who ruined his own life for a father who long since abandonded him. Bam all charecters I love and there are some major flaws that I refuse to defend them for but thats also what makes them good charecters. Their flaws arent writing flaws, they are personal flaws for them as people.

Dany is not allowed to have personal flaws she is always to be justified even with incredibly bad faith defenses, but when she is flawed it's the writings fault not hers. Dany is a cruel, sadistic, controlling, military tyrant who enjoys watching her subjects fear her and her dragons. And she forced Jon Snow into a relationship with her beacuse otherwise then he is against her and we already knew she has no use for people who dont support her to be alive.

Jon Snow deserved better then to have both his love interests be domineering, controlling, abusive women who forced him into a romantic and sexual relationship.

Also, I mean, incest being normal is only a learned trait from Targaryens supporting their own blood purity. Jon was not raised to think incest is normal. Dany thinks its normal beacuse she and Viserys both were raised to think that, and Young Griff thinks marrying Dany is normal beacuse he too was raised with the mentality that Rhaegar would've been raised with. Jon finding out Dany was his aunt would've had Jon looking right at Sam and just

[cervicrazed]

Can I get the whole hog for Wilton Rader pls

Oh man...the og...

I have been so evil to this poor guy and i will do it again

OC lore for the poster boy of suffering below:

^ This is Wilton Rader (late 20s & mid 50s respectively)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Wil here was the first victim of my 'W' name obsession

I didn't wanna give him a "boring" name like William, so I looked up variants that 'Wil' could be a nickname for + Wilton won

last name (Rader) was picked bc together his name means 'Wheelmaker Who Lives by the Stream' & it felt like a nice little easter egg foreshadowing his retirement

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

As of the Dead Wood storyline, he's in his mid-late 60s

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Walt!! They met after being recruited for a demonic civil war neither really wanted to take part in. They became nearly inseparable over the course of The War, but Wilton still had a hard time coming to terms with how he really felt. He was only able to admit his love for Walt many many years later, when he thought the world was about to end. your typical mlm confession

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Being the only member of his family that can't feed off of intangible emotions, he's forced himself to learn how to cook and is pretty good at it!

He's got terrible food anxiety regarding red meats, so he uses fish and eggs instead - he loves making quiches!

💼 - What do they do for a living?

Wilton is a woodworker! He goes into town every so often to sell his wares; anything from bed frames and cabinets to mini wooden sculptures

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Wilton likes to spend his free time reading, or at least practicing.

He never got the chance to go to school, so never learned to do it in his youth; a fact that he's embarrassed of but will never admit.

🎯 -What do they do best?

He insists his only talent is whittling & carving and will fervently refute anyone who says otherwise.

Unfortunately for him, it's hard for many to forget his fearsome and bloody past.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Aside from woodworking, Wilton loves to take long walks along the river, especially when it rains. It's a deeply calming experience for him.

He hates having to recall or talk about his younger years. Apart from meeting Walt, he doesn't believe there's anything good worth remembering, let alone telling his daughter.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Holding a baby Bambi in his arms for the first time. Well, "arms". She was so small that she fit into the palms of his hands and her teeth hadn't yet grown in; he stayed up all night just holding and rocking her.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

A tactical error during The War led to him and his troop being ambushed and his wings were ripped out for trophies. As punishment, he spent his entire recovery in a nightmare coma induced by the demon that lives in his brain.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

yes and no..

OG design is him as a youngin w/ a blue hoodie he never takes off (bc of the little antlers)

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

an RPG i was apart of run by @/fvriva on Scratch, my first social media

He was originally a mlp horse(?) turned human if you can fuckn believe it....

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Fantasy Body Horror

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Cis(?) + Aspec

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

Just Warren, but they don't talk much without interference from Bambi. After mauling him, Wilton doesn't feel like he deserves to have a relationship with his brother. He respectfully keeps his distance.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

TERRIBLE.

His father (Gindikouk) is a demonic spirit of decay who trapped and tortured him in his own mind for decades. Wilton wants nothing more than to forget about His existence entirely.

His mother (Fable Monroe) was a witch who only gave birth to him so Gindikouk could have a host body. She died before he could meet her, but that was probably for the best.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

The angst for sure, but also exploring how he heals from it.

It's pretty easy to traumatize a character but it's been more interesting to see how they put themselves back together.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

I used to write about and draw this guy all the time.

I've since let him "retire" so I can focus more on Bambi + co!

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

I had a lot of drafts where I killed him off and none of em felt like a satisfying end for him.

He's technically dead in Dead Wood, but that's after getting a happy ending so it's fiinnee

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

That Gindikouk will somehow worm His way back into Wil's life

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Gindikouk. hands down.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Since 2013 i think!

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

12!

[raisedbythetv89]

I’m seeing a post saying “Riley isn’t terrible he’s just a 23 year old guy” and to that I say let’s look at a brief summary of his behavior,

Riley: That girl is weird but everyone around me likes her which is strange to me but I guess I like her?? Literally completely unaware of his feelings then later:

No buffy you’re stupid. Me, who didn’t know my own feelings and couldn’t even approach you without going to your friend for advice and help first, knows you better than you. I don’t care about your past heartbreak you should stop being afraid and try again because I said so without knowing literally anything about it or you

Pulls a gun on angel when literally the only person a gun would hurt is Buffy and just ASSUMES Buffy cheated on him without confirming anything first and starts acting like a lunatic and then instead of taking accountability he blames how strong he feels about buffy as a justifiable reason for behaving erratic and dangerous

Says shit like “I don’t even know if I can take you” when he learns about what an impressive slayer she is. When both spike and angel have said buffy IS STRONGER THAN THEM so no Riley you cannot take her…. Always disregarding her strength and the importance of her calling

Sleeps with Faith/Buffy because he refuses to take Buffy’s warnings about her seriously and so isn’t on high alert for anything that could be off and doesn’t even hesitate when buffy is acting SUPER WEIRD. Make all the excuses you want, her boyfriend should have known something was wrong and waited to be intimate until he figured out what was wrong

Continually victim blames buffy for everything that happens with Dracula and not believing she didn’t secretly want it because of “her history with angel”

Recreates angel trauma of basically threatening suicide and being willing to die in front of her while heavily implying this is her fault because he cannot STAND the idea of being weak around her, making her think he wishes she wasn’t the slayer, adding to her growing insecurities WHILE HER MOTHER IS SICK

Then is shocked and surprised she’s not this super emotional woman always falling apart in his arms when things get hard with her mother when she’s been the strong one for the family and her friend group AND THE WORLD for five years at this point and has literally died - again showing he doesn’t want or understand the slayer. Also why would she ever depend on someone with such a fragile ego who has lost it on SEVERAL occasions during the course of their relationship (how he handled maggie’s attempt on Buffy’s life and discovering spike, threatening the woman in the demon bar while buffy is BEGGING him to calm down, ignoring a fatal health condition for ego, handling the whole angel thing and drac HORRIBLY like if you’re a normal person sure whatever but you fought to date the slayer you gotta be better than this under pressure dude) Riley does not have the mental or physical strength to support her and then is like “why won’t you let me support you??” Like bro bsffr you can’t and you not understanding that is a PROBLEM.

Further proving how unreliable he is while she is dealing with a sick mother, glory, school, and just her general Slayer duties he puts her and her entire family at risk by going to the suck house (could you imagine the harm that could have been done if someone knew he was the slayers bf and turned him) because he needs to feel “needed” when he IS and WAS needed by buffy but just not in the ways he wanted so he had a whole ass tantrum and betrayed buffy in literally the worst way imaginable and being SUCH a hypocrite after he talked sooooo much about buffy having a thing for vampires and then blames her and spike for his own failings and selfish choices!

And then when he should be groveling for forgiveness he’s like you have to talk to me because I’m leaving unless we talk and you forgive me which is SOOOO fucked up. Like I cheated on you and betrayed you and put you and your family at risk but if you don’t forgive me immediately and accept blame for my failures I’m leaving you and going where I’m NEEDED. Because he is an actual child throwing a tantrum

And don’t even get me STARTED on as you were 🤢

He is constantly making buffy feel like she is wrong, bad, too strong, too distant, stupid and when he cheats on her, completely worthless and like everything bad in his life is somehow her responsibility to fix instead of his.

The fans have such a strong reaction to him because he is never called out or properly held accountable/villainized for all the harm he causes to buffy in the show and that lack of accountability causes all of us to feel a very justifiable outrage. So no we aren’t overreacting he has MANY crimes that go far beyond an average man in his 20’s

Basically, man tells woman she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and then is very upset and takes it out on woman over and over again when it turns out she did know what she was talking about. He succcckkkkksssss

[secretceremonials]

I'm completely fascinated by Cassandra's character. But I noticed that here on Tumblr some people romanticize her relationship with Agamemnon and I was very surprised, as I always thought it was obvious that it was a toxic relationship. You seem to understand more about this subject than I do, but did Cassandra have any affection for Agamemnon? Or even Agamemnon for her?

Hi anon! And thank you for the question, I had a lot of fun writing this.

That's a very complicated question, but I'll be my best (disclaimer that I'm not an expert, but I do read a lot).

We do have to take the relationship in its cultural context a little bit. A lot of people do seem to make Agamemnon a lot worse than he is in the texts. The fact that he took a concubine after a war would have been completely acceptable behaviour (Achilles does it, and we mostly forgive him), and doesn't really prove that he must have been violent to her or anything like that. I'm not saying that these attitudes are, or were ever, okay, but the fact that he is coming from a society in which slavery was fine means we can't just assume he is a monster on the basis of him having a slave. But I think that considering this context can also only take us so far. I find it difficult to believe that victims were less troubled by these occurrences, just because they were an accepted part of their society.

In terms of how Agamemnon views Cassandra, I do think there is something resembling affection. In Aeschylus's Agamemnon, he asks Clytemnestra to be kind to her, and in Euripides's Hecabe, Hecabe appeals to Agamemnon almost as her son-in-law, asking for his help, considering the "warm embraces" he enjoys with Cassandra. In Euripides's Trojan Women, Agamemnon takes her as his "bride", and Talthybius remarks that "Love for the god-inspired girl pierced Agamemnon's heart" (James Morwood translation), again suggesting affection, not just lust for her. But, then again, as he cannot possibly have known Cassandra for long enough to base this love on anything except her looks, can we really say it's any different (there is also the view that Apollo orchestrated the pairing, more on that later)? Ultimately, he still feels entitled to marry (have sex with) this pretty girl, by virtue of him being the general of the army that destroyed her home (cultural context is important, but its still hard to see past some things). Still, I do think that this shows that the popular interpretation of Agamemnon as a cruel old man is inaccurate. He definitely cares about Cassandra, and really only feels entitled to her in a completely socially acceptable way.

How Cassandra views Agamemnon is a bit trickier I think. In Euripides’s Trojan Women, I struggle to read anything other than her hating him. She admittedly does express a desire to marry him, but this is because she views it as a way to ensure his death (even if it comes alongside hers). So, she is motivated entirely by a desire for revenge, firmly believing that the match was orchestrated by Apollo, meaning that any acceptance she shows isn’t really any sign of love, just submitting to her fate with the knowledge that she is sealing his. In Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, I think there is a bit more apparent affection. She obviously hates Clytemnestra, and speaks badly of her murder of Agamemnon, which she callas an “accused deed” (Henry Howard translation), so this dislike doesn’t just seem to be of the woman who will kill her, but mourning for Agamemnon as well. 

I think it’s worth noting as well that these characters are really more archetypes that can fulfil a different role in whatever story they are involved in, than any concrete characters with distinct personalities. So even amongst ancient sources, opinions vary depending on what the writer intended to use them to show. For example, Aeschylus's Agamemnon is a pretty standard tragic hero plot. Here it makes sense to portray the relationship positively, to highlight Agamemnon as a hero and Clytemnestra as a villain (in very simple terms, since I’d need a whole essay to get into it fully). On the other hand, In the Trojan Women, Euripides was trying to commentate on the horror and futility of war, particularly for the women of the losing side, so it makes much more sense for Cassandra to hate her new master and be vengeful towards him. I would say that even the modern retellings can be valid as well, they are just taking these archetypes, and applying them to their own narrative (it’s just that the extent from which they have derived from the myth varies considerably).

Basically, how I view them depends almost entirely on what version I am reading. When I make my own interpretation, I would say that I don't romanticise them, and that I generally view Agamemnon as somewhat loving Cassandra, but Cassandra despising him, although he treats he fairly well. At the end of the day, he is the general behind the army that ruined her life. I do also sometimes like portrayals where they have a better relationship, but this is more because I love Cassandra and want to see her be happy than anything else.

So overall, it's not very clear cut, and a lot of Agamemnon hate is a bit unjustified (he acts like a petulant child sometimes, but honestly every hero does). While I don't think it is possible to ignore the fact that Cassandra has no agency in the relationship, it may be worthy of note that even in modern law, she could still be capable of consenting (evidential presumptions would fall onto the defence to prove the presence of consent under s75 of the Sexual offences act 2003, so consent would actually still be hypothetically possible, just harder to prove in current English law, obviously not super relevant here, but I do think it is interesting that this isn't automatically legally rape- I am stretching the statute a bit here to say that Cassandra's slavery is akin to unlawful detention, which isn't strictly true, but since slavery is illegal in any case it's the closest comparison I could think of).

Their relationship is inherently unequal, and impossible to form a conclusive judgement on, but I don't think either extreme view is particularly helpful for analysis (although completely fine for making your own interpretations).

[becomingbuffypodcast]

One of the biggest themes in the Buffyverse is choice, and apart from Buffy, no character reflects this idea more than Angel. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common to hear Angel dismissed as boring and lacking in personality and character development, especially in his three seasons over on Buffy. And while he may not be as flashy or as outwardly demonstrative as other characters, his rich backstory, paired with both his internal and external conflicts, create a fascinating and uniquely complex character.  

Once a man, then a vampire, then a vampire cursed with a soul, his entire existence until Buffy is defined by a lack of choice. In Becoming Part 1, Whistler compares Angel’s transformation and Buffy’s calling, mirroring the similarities between two people whose lives were forever changed by circumstances out of their control. But it is that recognition of changed destiny and shared grief over the death of a future once longed for, that draws Angel to Buffy. Her strength and courage amidst her new path, sparks something in Angel, and for the first time he makes a choice.  

This is what makes it so tragic when the very next episode, both Buffy and Angel are once again forced to deal with the consequences of the roles they have been given. But just as Whistler said, the big moments, while inevitable, don’t define who we are. It’s the choices we make afterwards that define us. 

In season 3, Buffy shows who she is when she makes the choice to take up the mantle of Slayer once again. Torn out of hell by some unknown force, we see Angel’s desire to fight his nature, as he clings to Buffy, his symbol of hope and redemption, yet as the season progresses, he begins to wrestle with the purposelessness of it all. How can he choose good when outside forces continue to step in? Does he even have the option of choice, or is it all meaningless? 

Everything comes to a breaking point in Amends, when the unkillable First Evil (a representation of Angel’s never-ending fight) manipulates Angel with visions of his past victims, and then speaks to the darkest parts of him, urging him to act on his impulses and bite Buffy, his metaphorical mission. In an act of despair and desperation, Angel decides that the best choice is to give up the fight and take himself out of the equation. 

 Yet on that hilltop, Angel’s perspective begins to shift.   

Evil will never be destroyed, and he may never redeem himself, but he can either let that knowledge bring him to despair, or he can get back up and use his power of choice to make a difference in the world. It is through this that Angel discovers his meaning and purpose in life:  

“Strong is fighting, it’s hard, every day.” 

It is in this scene that the show begins to metaphorically separate Angel’s mission from Buffy. While the rest of the season shows a more purposeful Angel, his vampiric nature and impulses continue to plague him with guilt over his relationship with Buffy and his place in her world. The show subtly conveys Angel’s inner conflict over feeling unworthy through episodes like Enemies and Choices, until finally, in “the Prom,” Angel makes another significant choice and breaks up with Buffy.  

Two episodes later, and the fears whispered in his ears by the First evil become reality as he nearly kills Buffy after drinking her blood. Still desiring to do good, yet unsure of where he belongs, Angel leaves Sunnydale and Buffy, his mission as her guide supposedly complete. 

Except in Angel’s mind, it isn’t.  

In the Dark reveals that Angel still longs for Buffy, and metaphorically still has not fully accepted his mission apart from her. He rejects the ring of Amara and the synthetic redemption it would offer him, choosing instead to wait, and earn the real thing. In doing so, he takes the first major step apart from Buffy, in owning his fight against evil.  

Then, “I Will Remember You Happens,” and Angel is suddenly faced with his biggest choice yet: live a human life with Buffy, and risk her death, or take up the weight of a cursed soul once again. Ultimately, he chooses to carry not only the burden of his torment, but hers as well, in the heart-wrenching memory of a life that could have been. And while his desire is always to protect and love Buffy, his sacrifice is no longer just for her, but for the innocent people he now sees as his mission.  

The man whose life has been defined by a lack of choice, when faced with everything he could ever want, uses his freedom to sacrifice it all for the sake of the world. In making his decision, Angel owns his autonomy, embraces his mission, and proves that it is not his past that defines him, but his choices.  

He may not have chosen a soul but in “I Will Remember You,” Angel proves that he has earned his. And he does so again, and again, and again. 

[anyoldfandom]

Actually I've been reblogging a lot of Renfield shit (sorry to my 2 followers) and like. Readmore bc talks about abuse obvi but this film is *much* better when you realize it's not a metaphor for Renfield in an abusive relationship, but *after* an abusive relationship.

Very early on in the plot of movie we see Renfield leave Dracula, actually, and I don't think that's not on purpose. Dracula confronts him after, but doesn't try to get him back - merely tells him that his chance is over. Now all that's left for him is suffering.

Once Renfield tells Dracula it's over, he doesn't try to win him back. He just sets out to ruin his life. Dracula moves from the abuser in the relationship to the abuser *after* the relationship. He destroys the people Renfield cares about, the ones who encouraged him to leave in the first place. He does that out of vindictiveness - cuts Renfield off from his supports not to control him, but to hurt him. He leaves Renfield alone to literally deal with the aftermath, and pursues new victims - in this case, people just as bad as him.

It's not just about an abusive relationship in that way, it's the way Renfield is *after* the relationship that's important. That's why I actually love that the plot is so short - bc the plot is only something used to facilitate the character arc of Renfield.

That's why Quincy is such a static character. She doesn't change, bc she's not really a character for herself, she's a character for Renfield to understand what it means to stand up to people (as much as I don't like that bit - once again reducing the female lead, and a POC female lead, to a method for the male lead to grow). She is steadfast throughout the entire movie bc she is meant to be a beacon of light to him. And that's why Dracula wants her to join him! Bc it would hurt Renfield so much to see that the one person who gave him strength, the person he idolizes for standing up to Dracula, is not as strong as he thinks. It's *just* again all about hurting Renfield bc the story itself is all about abuse.

You hear it in how Renfield not only immediately acts submissive, but talks about himself too. How he's clearly a good person - Dracula manipulated him from the start. It's no coincidence he compared his story to one of romantic abuse. He was never at fault for what happened - he just wanted to make a better life for his family and he thought this was the way. But he was manipulated into thinking he was a bad person over and over again, that he deserves this for being greedy and abandoning his family in the past when he just wanted to get them a good life. Dracula gave him luxury, a life he thought his family deserved, and then isolated him from them.

You see it subtly, really well shown in a few lines too. When he suggests they lay low, Renfield tells Dracula that they can have the life he wanted - and then changes it to we. And then later on he makes himself seem more selfish doing the opposite, when he tells Quincy about his past.

I'm not saying he hasn't fucked up, but he clearly wasn't nearly as bad as he thinks he was, but it's all internalized abuse.

[mr-oscarwilde]

@sagewhisper It would be a massive pain to try to reply to you in the comments of our post, so we’ve just put our response in one single thing. 

It is bold of you to assume that we have not read De Profundis. It was one of the first things we read when we started having an interest in Oscar. Kindly refer to our post; we never said that it was not a valid piece of evidence. It is evidence of a lot of things—chiefly Oscar’s state of mind whilst he was in prison. But it is not objective fact. You mustn't take our word alone for it, though:

Oscar’s feelings towards Bosie at this time were complicated. Contrary to what it might at first seem, De Profundis is not a break-up letter. Oscar still, very much, wanted to be with him. […] Wilde brings up the ‘Oxford Mishap’ again and again in De Profundis. He emphasises this to show that Bosie was already ‘corrupted’ before they became intimate. Wilde also highlights the times he thought about ending the relationship and depicts a dynamic in which Bosie is constantly in pursuit, and he is constantly trying to escape. The explanations and justifications of his actions, and the anger and recriminations, make up such a large part of the letter that the ‘record of bitter moments’ overwhelms the more loving parts. Had he written the story of his friendship with Bosie at another time, he might have focused on the moments of joy rather than pain. (Indeed, there was such a record once, before Bosie burned his love letters.) In prison, he could produce only a story of suffering. [...] In the context of the prison document, nothing Bosie does is good enough. (Laura Lee, Oscar’s Ghost, ch. 17)

Douglas Murray also points out the distortion of Oscar’s recollections in his biography of Bosie (pages 77 and 101-102 are particularly relevant here). Interestingly enough, this entire topic is the source of increasing scholarly debate:

If one of them was exploiting the other, it’s not entirely clear who was the predator and who was the victim. The extent to which Bosie was responsible for Wilde’s downfall has been debated, while the source of Wilde’s foolish decision to sue the Marquis (arrogance? blind love for Bosie? deliberate martyrdom for a cause?) has likewise come under scrutiny. (Jean Roberta, ‘What Wilde Left Out of De Profundis’, The Gay & Lesbian Review)

Why shouldn’t we discuss this beyond the same old narrative that has been pushed for the past 100 years? That’s the thing with history; we have the incredible benefit of hindsight to objectively look at all the evidence, and should be able to posit views informed by research without being accused of ‘fetishizing’ or thinking their relationship was ‘some cutesy aesthetic’. Obviously. I’m pretty sure everyone knows they weren’t exactly an unproblematic couple. But you cannot conclusively state that Bosie was “a horrible excuse for a man and partner”, any more than you should act like Oscar was without flaws. He wasn’t. How did so many, after his death, recall him fondly? He was incredibly complex and possessed both good and bad traits, some of which appeared at different stages of his life. And if you cared to read more about Bosie—whilst not making his actions excusable (in particular reference to many of his actions that really were bad in the 1900s and 1910s)—he later recognised many of the mistakes he had made. He had masses said for Robbie, years after his death. He managed to converse with Vyvyan, at a ball in the late 1930s. He strongly rejected his earlier condemnation of Oscar, and Oscar Wilde and Myself. Oscar himself ends De Profundis by requesting that Bosie should tell him about his life, and his article in the Mercure de France, and the dedication of his poems: 'I have no doubt that there will be beauty in it.' He then goes on to explicitly express his belief that Bosie could learn from him; if he was so awful, would Oscar still display such faith in him, or demonstrate such an interest in him and their future reunion?

In pointing this out, we are not ignoring Bosie's bad sides. Shake your head all you want. We are not ‘Bosie apologists/defenders’; we are fully capable of acknowledging wrongdoing where wrongdoing was done. But these things can and should be discussed without the lens of De Profundis blurring Oscar’s entire relationship with Bosie. Do you think we have not read more about Bosie? We’ve read two biographies dedicated to him, alongside works focusing on Oscar.

This response can end on one of Bosie’s recollections, of words spoken by Oscar, ‘to the following effect’:

Surely you are not bringing up against me what I wrote in prison when I was starving and half mad. You must know that I didn’t really mean a word of what I said.

Considering Oscar rather happily returned to Bosie after his release, this bears some consideration, no?

[firstagent]

Digimon Ghost Game #64 Review

With the crisis introduced last episode in full swing and the final arc kicking into gear, it’s a awkward time for a sidebar. But, as always, Hiro deals with recognizing the problem of Digimon flooding into the human world the same way he always does: refusing to offer any solutions and going off to do something else. That does take a lot of attention away from this horde of refugees, but at least Ruli and Kiyoshiro try attending to it, since it’s extremely relevant to what happens at the end. As feared, the story potential of all this won’t get a chance to be mined properly, and it’s a shame given how much earlier chaff it could have replaced. That said, it’s hard to lament that for too long, as Hiro winds up in a story that’s Ghost Game at its most savory, while the new development is big enough to catch your attention even if you didn’t commit to the earlier slog.

There was nothing subtle about the direction this episode was taking. The title, the sailors getting possessed, the fog compelling everyone to the ocean… after Millenniumon and Quartzmon, it’s not even that big a deal to see Dagomon the way we first met and fell in love with. But Dagomon’s natural influence isn’t the only good thing: the trio having to react to a sudden situation from a position of disadvantage adds plenty of tension on its own. Rather than have one of them victimized by the fog they all find a way to get past it and rally together for the big showdown. While the buildup is Ghost Game at its best, the battle itself represents Ghost Game at its clumsiest, as Espimon awkwardly bails the team out thanks to a random bit from the first act and the fight gets cut short right as it was sizzling the hottest. Even if the reason for the interruption is a welcome one and the disturbing corruption to Dagomon may be a prelude to some dangers down the road, it’s a letdown that Siriusmon doesn’t get either a clean win or a dark transformation here.

Still, it’s not like Dagomon isn’t used to being shut out abruptly and the arrival of Terriermon Joshu Hokuto makes enough waves on its own. Hiro not showing any emotion to being reunited with his lost father (as opposed to Gammamon… and Espimon) is appropriate to their relationship, but you’re salivating for him to have some sort of outburst over this later. More important—and amazingly cutting in after the requisite Angoramon outro—is both the network and the power going down everywhere. The Digimon are overwhelmed as they sense the entire Digital World has vanished. In a moment, the push to send all the Digimon into the real world has new context, and the prospect of both this and a powerless human world makes for a juicy final few episodes. Again, you wish there was more time to explore all the ramifications of this, because damn.

Initial Grade: A-

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[chestharrington]

I'm glad another person linked the character analysis I saw yesterday because that's literally so true.

If Steve inherently wouldn't be a good person, he wouldn't have cared about hurting others. In s1 when he was still with Tommy and Carol, his prime king Steve era he still did small things to ensure others are comfortable. Such as simple things like sharing food with Carol or Tommy, don't question why Barb came to the party despite him probably wishing only Nancy to come, then making sure Barb gets something for her cut and not being an ass about it too. Literally Nancy made Barb way more uncomfortable by forcing her to drink at the party than Steve did. Plus his entire relationship with Nancy was to make sure she's comfortable, he shut down Tommy's and Carol's bickering after the party as soon as he saw that it made Nancy uncomfortable. He sincerely apologized after being mad at Nancy for telling the cops and being getting in trouble, which btw is just dumb teenage boy behavior, and showing concern trying to cheer her up with a movie night and then later showing up at her house bc he was still concerned about her. Plus he was literally obvious to the whole supernatural plot up until the last minute of the last episode, how could he have known things.

Before he invited Nancy to the party it was was implied his dad was a cheater, so he had this extreme reaction when he saw Nancy and Jonathan in Nancy's room, when it was established Nancy Wheeler wouldn't just let boys in her room, and def not at night. What he did was fucking awful and over the top but he immediately went to apologize and make up for it. To say it was all Nancy's doing is just weird and kinda diminishes his character bc again if he wasn't a good person at heart he wouldn't have gone to the Byers house.

Steve is literally theee characters who constantly makes up for his past, other characters like Nancy never fucking apologize for their mistakes but get a pass in the fandom and in the show. I'm probably also a bit too forgiving because Steve is my favorite as well, but really if you look at canon he constantly tries and has redeemed himself from his actions in s1. Antis making up headcanons to paint him in a worse light is usually to paint other characters, like Jonathan in a better one. Literally all those extreme takes come from Jonathan or Nancy stans.

You are so wise. I love everything you said but I especially want to say thanks for pointing out how his experience with his parents’ infidelity (which is pointed out clearly in the season), would have greatly affected his reaction to seeing Nancy with someone else. And yeah letting tommy paint that sign and humiliate her publicly is an absolute dick move. There’s really no excusing that, but he does but Tommy off and chooses Nancy. That’s admirable and shows his commitment to changing and being better than he was.

I will say I am a victim of the “make-bad-headcanons-for-characters-I-don’t-like” mentality and I will own up to it and let it exist out of any defense or criticism I hold over a character when it comes to that. I could make up a million more reasons why Billy is a shitty person (not like he can get that much worse) that aren’t in canon, but that won’t hold as much weight as what he did, you know? That’s why I don’t get the whole Steve SA argument, I guess. They’re just desperately reaching for straws to say that steve is a better character and Jonathan or Eddie or Nancy or Will or whoever “solos” lmfao

Anyways, love this response and love you ❤️

[allergic-to-four-leaf-clovers]

Alrighty, time to try doing a character summary for Rayan. Oh dear me.

Just an fyi, this is gonna be a little different to character summaries I've seen. Cuz like- y'know what? You'll find out yourself once you start reading the summary. Go on. Read.

==========================

Full name: Rayan Cruz Griffiths.

Nickname(s): Ray-Ray, Mr Cruz if you're a fancy fuck.

Age: 25.

Birthday: October 24th.

Place Of Birth: Dublin, Ireland.

Height: About 5'8.

Eye colour: Green.

Hair colour / length: Short, dark brown hair.

Gender: Male (transgender FTM, has not had surgery)

Sexual orientation: Bisexual.

Skin type / colour: Pale, scarred, freckled.

Scars: Across his throat (mostly covered up), scars from top surgery, Oliver's (we'll get onto him later) name dug into his thigh, along with many, many other small scars around his body. he also has a lot of tattoos.

Clothing taste: Dark clothing, stuff like hoodies, jumpers, boots, cargo pants, ripped jeans, fingerless gloves etc. He'll also wear some rather dull colours, too.

Music taste: Just rather loud music in general. Artists like Ghost, Rob Zombie, SHE WANTS REVENGE, etc.

Insecurities: Deefffinetly his body, scars, etc.

Good habits: ....uhhh- he's rather good at cooking, if that's a good thing?

Bad habits: Murders / tortures people, literally cannot be trusted what-so-ever, has a habit of killing his friends for some reason (cough August n Maclin n nearly Ezra cough).

Current family situation: Left behind one of his older siblings after killing his first victim, the other sister visits him rarely. Both parents are dead.

Current friendship situation: Good friends with a group of people, though one of his ex-friends are afraid of him after he nearly killed them.

Deepest fear: Death, losing his sister, losing his friends, just losing everything he has.

Worst thing that could happen to him: Getting caught by the police, getting killed by Foster (the man trying to kill him), Oliver getting his hands on him again, killing himself.

Favourite thing: Murdering / torturing people.

Favourite person / role model: Madison (his older sister).

What would break him: Seeing his friends / sister dead.

What is he reluctant on telling people: He's a murderer, his past, etc.

Opinion on sex / relationships: Not too keen on them, since one of his partners killed themselves in front of him, and the other sexually harassed him for the entire time they were in a relationship. Isn't looking for a relationship currently.

Major flaws: Can't be trusted, can't trust himself, if you're mean to him then nine times out of ten he will end up killing you, bad a keeping promises ig (has promised about five times he'd stop killing. Is still killing).

How does he feel about himself: Heavily dislikes himself.

==========================

Phew, now that we're done digging into the heartless soul that is Rayan, how about we dig into his lore, hm? These are only some major lore events, I'm not telling you his entire life, we'd be here for a long time.

(also, hehe, tw for suicide, a lot of murder, sexual harassment, sexual assault, etc etc- view with caution!)

==========================

During his childhood, he meets August and Maclin. They become friends.

Skip many years, to when Rayan was about 17 and during his transitioning process, he meets Sage and gets introduced to Vinyl Wraps Record Store, along with Harris and Iris.

A year later, he gets a job at the record store, and months after that gets into a relationship with Sage.

About a year into their relationship, so Rayan is now 19, Sage commits suicide practically directly in front of Rayan. Rayan leaves him to rot away in his bedroom.

A couple months later, Rayan gets into a relationship with Oliver, and meets his sister, Delia.

Oliver ends up "taking advantage" of Rayan multiple times during their relationship. Delia knows about this yet doesn't do anything about it. Rayan also meets Ezra and his older brother, Rome, during this time.

After a year of the relationship, so now Rayan is about 20 years old, he kills Delia for revenge. He also decides to slit his throat afterwards but, unfortunately, he survives.

He loses contact with Harris, Iris and Carrie (who began working alongside Rayan in the record store), and is now on the run from the police.

He kills August, and a couple of days later kills Maclin as well.

He attempts killing Ezra, but he somehow survives and is now afraid of him. Rayan kills Rome instead. Ah yes, he also tries killing Madir, but that doesn't go too well..

He meets Zaden and Clyde, who are in a relationship, and decides to spare them for some reason. He also meets Kade at this time.

He reunites with Madison, and finds out she now has a fiance, Vivian.

Back to killing. Rayan kills Dorian, an innocent little guy, but also decides to kill Dorian's best friend, Ophelia. However, Ophelia is somehow revived and now is hunting Rayan down. Meanwhile, Dorian is a ghost and is just chilling in Rayan's house.

Rayan becomes aware that a handful of people want him dead: the police, the newly revived Ophelia, and a couple of his other victims who made a group specifically for hunting him down. This group consists of Foster, Ezra, Madir and, surprisingly, someone who wasn't one of his victims. Esrana Flynn.

After a while, and after his 25th birthday, the stress of having five people hunting you down, having a voice inside your head constantly harass you, having the ghost of one of your previous victims torment you for ages, along with many other things, begins to sink in. He ends up practically leaving Madison behind and willingly isolates himself from mostly everyone in an abandoned building, hoping upon hope that he'll become a better person. His habit of murdering people slows down, and eventually he stops killing entirely. He also begins smoking again. He lets certain people visit him (people such as Zaden, Clyde, Kade etc) every once in a while but, other than that, he's entirely alone.

==========================

Aaaannnndd we're done! I've added a few updates, there's also a bit of new lore! I'll update this whenever I think of new lore pieces I guess- hope you enjoyed!

[llycaons]

later is now. so I love herla and I'll get to her, but aethel strikes me as a horribly careless and self-centered leader fixated on her own victimization and whining about how hard HER job is to murder unarmed prisoners for what they MIGHT do. like!!! you couldn't have offered clemency to these impoverished men you ADMITTED were pressed into service for your enemy!! what the fuck!

and it IS unfair she's criticized disproportionately by misogynistic men for her strategic decisions but she also seems unable to admit when she's made a mistake and she's also like, a war leader who slaughters people in battle at the head of an army and her goals seem to be crushing rebellion (okay) but no grander principles beyond that so she just looks like a bloodthirsty mass murderer idk. what does SHE want for the people of her land? herla and boudica were fighting against roman invasion and conquest, fighting for the political liberation of their land and people. this political situation is much more complicated. I don't really care if ein is the king, and aethel's fixation on holding onto her and her husband's power doesn't inspire much enthusiasm for her or her cause.

and in fact her erratic behavior IS extremely concerning for a HEAD OF STATE like she claims to be. not to echo the sexist old men here but being a political leader means you have to be aware of your image to a certain extent. she's willing to kill a bunch of people and murder prisoners in cold blood but apparently can't control her behavior in public? THAT'S too much of a toll? like, get over yourself lady! maybe this is bc I just came from reading about a pirate commander in a similar position...sk had a horrific past, she lost so much and came from extreme poverty and literal sex slavery, she had to claw her way to power and hold it, and she takes her professional responsibility to her men and crew extremely seriously, as well as her personal relationships to the people around her. and she has zero legal legitimacy, she's done terrible things that she recognizes and that haunt her, and she acts from a place of desperation to keep control but NOT constant angry defensiveness like aethel does. it's only been one chapter so maybe this is unfair but aethel comes off as if she IS the unreasonable and brutal leader she's being accused of. it's like she's insecure. 'if they they want a she-wolf, let them see one' and then kill a guy???? 1. they DIDN'T want to see a she-wolf! and 2. you don't meed to kill a man to prove a point so pettily! wtf!

like honestly? I think the author is a fan of them ('power couple'? 🙄) but ein seems far more reasonable and humane. aethel doesn't come off well as a warrior when she's the one who holds all the political power, she seems like a spoiled and overly agressive brute. sk personally beheading a crew member as punishment for assaulting a woman after making the consequences for such a crime clear, and aethel having a prisoner of war killed without question for the mere RISK that he'd defect again, are completely different in my head.

ALSO. what is going ON with the heir. this is a serious fucking mistake on the author's part, because whatever personal hangups the king has, he HAS to have an heir. he's clearly not stupid. adopt a kid if it's so impossible for him to fuck his wife or something idk. clearly he's the one with the issue! but it was so dumb when his brother was like 'you need an heir' and ein made it about disliking aethel, and maybe his brother does dislike her, but it's an extremely important political concern! for the entire court! if aethel and ein want to be stable rulers, they NEED an heir! go and adopt someone! I'm losing my mind here. the author has GOT to know better than this right. the foreward was so interesting and she clearly did so much research. she knows what she's doing!

but that's the complaints. the other half of this story, about herla, is just spellbinding. I do wish the author knew a different word than 'tawny' when it came to hair, but the mythological style and the lyrical prose of the prologue was absolutely stunning. I WISH we'd stayed in the past with herla and boudica. I bet I would have liked boudica far more for the righteousness of her cause 😭 I like herla a lot as it is tho. her voice is very strong and I loved hearing about her intimacy with her queen. and the descriptions are ao vivid! in every chapter I'm like oohh. the scene where aethel and herla see each other was SO good

and the mythological aspect itself, the worldbuilding, is so delicious. I'm definitely going to keep reading and I feel bad I dislike one of the leads so immediately and I really hope that changes because this story is so cool in every other way. I don't want her to 'soften' or stop being a warrior I just want to see some maturity and humility and a sense of justice. something that makes me think she'd be worthy to be an spiritual succesor to boudica. she doesnt even need to stop acting insane like stop murdering prisoners in cold blood and then complaining about it. please.

[percontaion-points]

Delicious Monsters chapters 7 & 8

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

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Chapter 7

Jayden and I were in our first year and hadn’t made any sort of media connections that could tell us we were being offered scraps. Both of us were just happy to be able to pay our tuition for the semester. Everything felt so shiny. Torte made it clear that this was also an investment in our future at the company. More money to come. 

This is exactly why there was such a brain-drain at Buzzfeed. After people got their start there, they left to do it on their own… Without being beholden to a company that was pocketing probably like 70% of the money made from somebody else’s hard work. 

“My connection to Daisy was… complicated.” 

“How so?” I interject. 

Noah rolls the words around in his mouth. “We met through a program at my alma mater. It paired up university upperclassmen and high school kids so you could help coach them. I signed up for people who didn’t know what they wanted to major in because, honestly, you get more interesting mentees that way.” 

More interesting mentees. I bet you also get a lot of young girls who don’t know what they want to do with their lives. Lost girls.

Brittany’s POV is interesting because it’s not holding any punches in explaining that Noah is a fucking paedophile piece of shit. 

I echo back his words with less enthusiasm, “Time for Timmins.”

Chapter 7 summary: Brittany and Jayden go over to Noah’s house to interview him for their show. Brittany starts getting bad vibes from the guy at his home, since he’s the guy who tries so hard to pretend like he’s poor when his couch costs more than what Brittany and Jayden make in a year. Part of their show involves the people talking about the people in past-tense, no matter if that person is still alive or not. 

Noah tells them about how he was at university, and signed up to mentor high school students. He says that he wanted to help those who didn’t know what they wanted to do in college, because that was “more fun”. Brittany mentally calls him a creep for intentionally putting himself close to vulnerable teenage girls. 

But Noah continues on and insists that he and Daisy weren’t in a romantic relationship. That Daisy became obsessed with him, and went so far as to stalk his actual girlfriend on social media. Again, Brittany doesn’t like that much. 

Brittany and Jayden wrap up the interview and leave. As they’re going, they do “on the spot thoughts”, which they’ll edit into a coherent storyline for the show later. Brittany calls Noah out on his shit, and insists that everybody else in Daisy’s life insists that Daisy was in a romantic relationship with Noah. Jayden only sees what Noah said as further proof that Daisy was mentally unhinged to start with, and being in the house gave her a psychotic break. 

They briefly talk about trying to find somebody who knew Peter when he was still alive. But the entire situation with him is beyond weird. Nobody liked him. His ex-wife’s family has disappeared into a void. There is exactly one person who they think could be good, but the entire situation is odd. 

Again, Brittany can’t help but hold onto the idea that Daisy was a victim in all of this. Not the obsessed stalker that Noah painted her as. 

Chapter 8

He had texted me several times during the drive. Asking why I hadn’t listened to him. Pleading for us to not move. But, of course, when I’d asked him why, he’d had nothing to say.

If you can’t be bothered to explain yourself, then it’s clearly not important. 

That was the difference between Mom and Dad. One of them pretended to know me, to care about me, and one of them actually did.

Chapter 8 summary: Daisy does a lot of thinking on her way home. When she gets in, she tells her mom that they should go to the house. 

So they make plans and then go. The closest city is Timmins (BTW, this is all taking place in Canada, so this isn’t that odd.) The worst thing about learning about all of this is finding out that Daisy’s mom spent six summers up there, and never once told Daisy any of this. 

As they drive, Daisy keeps getting texts from her dad begging her to please stop this, but refusing to explain why he’s so dead-set against them moving. When mom stops the car, she begs Daisy to call her father while she goes into some random house to talk to somebody. 

On the phone, dad tells Daisy that if she changes her mind or needs out, he’ll send her money so that she can go… Live with grandma. Not even him. Grandma. Daisy gets pissed off about the entire thing, and quizzes him about her personal likes. He has no answers for any of them. When mom comes back, Daisy asks her the same questions, to which she responds with the actual answers. Daisy thinks that simply knowing what her favourite colour is makes a huge difference between “caring” and “acting like you give a shit”.