#and when there were consequences for the characters. and payoff.

[devilsskettle]

really unhappy with what we do in the shadows rn tbh. i want my boy to kill

[unganseylike]

ok ive talked about my frustration w adam being fine after his cliffhanger at end of mi, but lest we forget that we were also baited w adam turmoil at end of cdth (not replying to any of ronans texts). i understand that tdt isnt supposed to be adam centric but pulling this TWICE is just mean :(

[hexhomos]

Kiss on the check accepted! :3c

And your response reminded me of a detail I always pick up on rewatches but hadn't fully untangled yet—in the flashback of her childhood, Mel steps into that broken throne room with blood still drying on it. At Ambessa's prompting, Mel goes right into talking about how to renovate the place. "Paint the walls gold"...like gilding over the horrors of conquest that got that power in the first place.

And when she describes the regent they should have, she finishes with, "she should be pliant, so we can mold her." That IS what she was doing with Jayce, slowly, over a decade, and then quickly through Acts 2 and 3.

And then in the scene, after Mel finishes describing a "pliant" regent who can be molded, her mother suggests MEL could be that regent. Young Mel is excited at the idea, entirely missing the implication that she too would be an asset of her mother's reign.

That's why she takes off her Medarda ring right before casting her vote for Zaun's independence. She's finally realized she's just as subject to her mother's games as anyone else and Chooses to stop working in the interests of her family's power.

And augh, I wish her s2 plotline hadn't taken her out of Piltover so we could have seen more of the spycraft against Ambessa she was up to in Arc 1. I can't help but think of how much stronger her confrontation with Ambessa would have been if we had a full season of "daughter works against mother" instead of just a few scenes and a lot of getting kidnapped. More ambiguity with Leblanc would've been great too instead of her killing Elora to say hello.

[continued from here]

EXACTLY the way they shafted the politics in s2 (specifically so they wouldn't need to have hard conversations) genuinely had a negative impact in the ENTIRE story. The systematic horrors were downplayed and plotlines were dropped with very short acknowledgements - this is why we get people complaining about the jayce/mel breakup scene "coming out of nowhere" despite the fact that it made perfect sense for these characters!!!!!! It was just too short and they changed the subject too quickly, so we don't have TIME to think about the economic issues again.

It's so clear to me that jayce, viktor, ekko, mel (each representing a diff political facet. curious!) etc were carefully removed from the actual real world so we never have to analyze or push back against the notion that cait/ambessa are doing a hostile military coup and HAVE gotten people killed, imprisoned, and tortured en masse. So they can neatly resolve all of the plot with an avengers-style montage and never talk about the stuff with real world implications. There is no war in piltover and zaun. Just a cartoony last second villain. We just need to unite to protect... piltover...? And now viktor is randomly forgetting his proud zaunite commie stance and teaming up with the imperial invaders that were plaguing the earth moments ago........? We never talk about the class inequality ever again? Forget everything. Nothing ever matters.

The end result was that we spent far less time with these characters and they ended up being pretty underdeveloped. I know this happened for marketing reasons, its so incredibly clear aspects of the story were dumbed down so they could sell more ingame skins or pitch new champions, and that was seen as more valuable and desirable for the company than politicking - because at heart riot don't care about the political stuff anyway. But it still makes me throw my hands up in the air. such an asspull

In a reality where we had enough time and investment to touch on this, Mel could have actually gotten to push back against ambessa/cait and directly deal with the consequences of her actions. SEVIKA could have gotten a proper payoff for her underground character arc, instead of vanishing halfway through and then randomly accepting a diversity hire seat on the council (insanity. that was insanity) Ekko and the firelights would have obviously played a key role in rallying people against ambessa and helping Jinx recover from her displacement crisis (sorry isha, but even you could have been better used as part of the firelights dilemma) Jayce's mounting disillusionment with piltover and his loyalty to Viktor would be much better explored if they were still in conversation about the cities, the world they wanted to help, and the chaotic blurry lines of personhood/citizenship that decide who is an 'acceptable' target under the fist of the state. Vi could have built a self-reliant identity for herself, something better to fight for that isnt 'being a cop'. This show could've been awesome. I wish it existed

[tiredbogwitch]

Seeing as they clearly didn't know what the hell to do with Jinx/the political repercussions of her bombing the council in season 2, I'd like to explore the possibilities of how Zaun would've reacted to this that would've made way more sense than what we saw.

1. Jinx becomes an extremely controversial figure.

Few are neutral to her. This would be largely because, outside of knowing she blew up the council, no one actually knows WHY. What were her motives? Were they politically charged? Was she trying to start a war? What exactly was her goal? It was never really stated that she was infamous prior to this, but I recall in season 1 act 2 that when Vi went looking for her, people knew OF Jinx, and that she worked for Silco, but weren't really aware of any further details. So those that are aware of her connection to Silco- who objectively did make many of their lives worse with Shimmer- wouldn't be happy. They'd be scared of what will come next.

Those who don't know/don't care might fill in the blanks with their own guesses, maybe that she's some kind of activist- which would split them further into the subgroups of "Oh fuck the enforcers are gonna kill us and it's her fault" and "Finally, a war!" The second of which I'd argue would actually be a very small group. I could imagine the Jinxers being seen by the rest of Zaun as crazy radicals who don't know what they're getting themselves into/are gonna drag the rest of Zaun into danger. I think it would cause a LOT of infighting. Like a civil war inside another civil war.

How Jinx would handle this would be.... interesting. Especially if the Jinxers start making moves on their own. She never really shows much interest in activism- she works for Silco because he's her new dad, and while she doesn't seem to DISAGREE with his opinions, it doesn't seem she's all that invested in actually working to make it happen beyond just wanting to help her dad. His death seemed to take her interest with it.

Now, they could either lean into this, and make people question her motives/actions because of her clear disinterest, maybe increasing some of the controversy around her (no follow through on her action, letting Zaunites suffer the consequences, etc.), or they could make her actually take a genuine personal interest in it. But that, I think, would take a bigger arc that might be more work for arguably less payoff when considering you'd probably have to change a great deal of her character to do it, especially when you could probably achieve similar plot points/outcomes even without her intentionally becoming a political figurehead.

2. Zaun becomes fractured politically/other "symbols" of Zaun

This can be in tandem with idea 1, actually, but can still be it's own idea. Basically, after the fall of the council, and Silco's death, Zaunites are terrified. They've been run so far by Vander, Silco, and then some vague council-like oligarchy of Chem-Barons, who could be interpreted as functioning like very large gangs. The Chem-Barons have always been around, but with Silco's sudden death (and no one who was primed/expecting to replace him), this leaves a massive power vacuum that the Chem-Barons and smaller gangs are scrambling to come out on top of.

The fear of the unknown and the extreme instability would lead to people desperately throwing their lot in with whoever they think would be a better/less dangerous leader, and by extension, political symbol. Season 2 shows a bunch of new people joining the Firelights. In that case, I can imagine that before long, several new potential leaders surface, even if they didn't expect it. Namely, Ekko, Jinx, and Sevika.

Ekko because as I said, people were apparently coming to his base in droves. They don't tell us Jack shit about the Firelights besides the fact that A) Ekko leads them B) they don't fuck with Silco OR Piltover C) Piltover thinks they're terrorists and D) they look rad as fuck. That being said, considering Ekko's Everything, I think we can all gather a general picture of what the Firelights are about. Plus his cool tree would be a great symbol (@srslylini for the idea) of growth, healing, etc.

Sevika, because those that knew her as Silco's second might be hoping for some kind of stability with her. Even if they didn't like Silco, it's better the enemy you know and all that jazz. They'd feel safer with someone who at least seems to know what they're doing, even if Sevika herself has no interest in becoming a leader. I think some would just naturally gravitate towards who they see as "second in line". This could also be in connection to Jinx, as she could possibly been seen as someone who could "rein" Jinx in (again, most people don't actually KNOW Jinx, they just know OF her and that she worked for Silco and was volatile. Think how Finn referred to her as Silco's "attack dog").

Speaking of Jinx, she'd probably be treated similarly to idea 1. Extremely polarizing. Her followers would be seen as crazy, like she is. They'd be seen as warmongers and/or people who have no idea what they're getting themselves into. They'd basically be seen as the stereotypical "young rebels". The average Zaunite would see the average Jinxer as a young, angry, maybe idealistic radical who doesn't understand the cost of war. I'd argue that, again, they'd probably be the smallest and most controversial group just because most people don't necessarily WANT a war, even if they're willing to fight for it. And the suddenness of the bombing would've scared even some of the rebels who DO want war, because they weren't prepared. It wasn't a PLANNED attack, so both Zaun AND Piltover are basically caught with their pants down, which would also bring some ire from the other Zaunites.

There's another option for a faction I'd like to explore, also thanks to srslylini (thank you icon), but it takes a bit of setting up.

In a hypothetical situation in which Vi did NOT become an enforcer, I think it would happen like this: Vi hangs around in Piltover at first out of guilt/feeling like she has nowhere else to go. She's still not on board with being an enforcer, but she attends the memorial out of a sense of obligation. Her and Caitlyn have a falling out over Caitlyn calling Zaunites "animals", and here is where she storms off and goes back to Zaun, with the final words to Caitlyn that "You Pilties are all the fucking same" (or something to that effect). She's still feeling lost, and so maybe this is where she stumbles around, having maybe a similar pitfighting arc (just not as distraught, more like she's broke and angry and has to pay rent somehow so she might as well get paid to punch someone's face in). Because she's not in a massive spiral, there's unfortunately no emo arc (sad), but the bright side of this is that she's recognizable. I don't think she's FAMOUS, per say, but Babette and Ekko recognized her right off the bat in season 1 (yes you can say Ekko was really close to her, but Babette? C'mon), and considering she was older than Powder when she went off to prison, I don't think it's a stretch to assume her face was a little better-known than her sister's (especially considering she was already going on jobs, and in act 1 she gets into a fight with Deckard who I'm pretty sure knew her name, but not Powder's).

This is to say, I think a lot of the "old heads" knew who she was, especially those who liked Vander. It helps that she tattooed her name on her face LMAO. So I'd imagine she'd show up in the ring, no hair dye no makeup, and eventually after consistently knocking her opponents around and winning every time, she'd become a bit locally famous again- to the point that those same "old heads" who remember her make the connection and come looking. Maybe rumors start swirling, especially once they learn she was gone because she'd been in prison- not unheard of, and probably the first conclusion they drew when they realized she wasn't dead.

So eventually Vander's old followers/younger people who idolized him from their childhood start seeking her out. Sensationalizing her. Asking her what she's planning on doing. Is she taking back the Lanes? Will she get those Chem-Barons under control? What about Jinx? Could she hunt her down, rein her in? Hell, maybe even put her to use? Will you give us our relative safety, our security back?

And Vi, who just wanted to knock some heads around and maybe take a nap in her apartment and cry, is suddenly faced with being "Vander 2.0" and Jinx is the new "Silco 2.0" and all the weight of expectations and legacy and history and literal war and politics are being shoved in her face. She, like Jinx, is now faced with becoming a figurehead when she never wanted to be, which could lead into option 3:

3. A joint approach to Zaun

This would primarily be driven by Sevika even if she wasn't one of the possible leaders, because SOMEONE has to be the responsible adult here and it's certainly not any of these traumatized losers (affectionate). She'd be the glue to keep it all together, the reluctant team mom who WILL make this work because she WILL have Zaun even if she has to die to get it.

This could work with either Jinx and Vi, or Jinx, Vi, and Ekko (I genuinely can't imagine season 2 act 1 Ekko willingly teaming up with season 2 act 1 Jinx AND Sevika without some kind of buffer). Basically, once the other "leader candidates"/political symbols have been established, Sevika would round them up with the intention to use their influence to unite Zaun against Piltover. This would take a LOT of arguing, but ultimately I think she'd be able to get them to shut up and hear her out for a moment. Regardless of how different their beliefs are about what the "ideal Zaun" looks like, they can all agree that Piltover isn't in any of those pictures. She could convince them to set aside their own squabbling for the time being, for the greater good: aka, the independence of Zaun.

At the very least, I think she'd be able to get them to agree that Piltover coming down and hurting Zaunites in revenge shouldn't be ignored, and that they're currently a bigger threat than their fellow Zaunite. So eventually they'd reach some kind of truce: behave like a united front against Piltover, push them out of Zaun, stabilize Zaun, and then worry about tearing each other apart later. And because all of these characters- ALL of them- have shown (prior to season 2) anti-Piltover sentiments, they'd at least be able to agree that enforcers shouldn't be allowed to beat down on their people (especially in this version where Vi has better, more consistent writing lmao).

Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day, so maybe they don't reach a total agreement immediately- maybe they just agree to a ceasefire at first, but still refuse to work together. But once Caitlyn becomes a dictator? Once enforcers start gassing the streets, rounding people up, implementing martial law?

That's when the gloves would come off.

I'd imagine this could also be part of how Vi and Jinx slowly start to repair their relationship. They've got bigger fish to fry, but also, this time their enemy is connected to their own personal conflict with each other. Jinx might ask, "what happened to your enforcer girl? What happened to being a Piltie lapdog?" And Vi would essentially, in perhaps more emotionally constipated words, explain that it wasn't really about Caitlyn, it was about being needed. It was about trying to find Jinx, about trying to stop Silco, about trying to "fix" things, only realize that she couldn't. It was about trying to make things better, but that she realized the person she was trying to do that with didn't actually care. That all she wanted was to make sense of the destruction of her old life, and find meaning in a new one. And I think Jinx, too, in her own emotional constipation, would resonate with that, would understand that. It wouldn't fix things between them, but I think it'd be a start.

It could also help their relationship with Ekko. Since Vi isn't an enforcer this time, and season 1 (the One True Season) showed their sibling relationship, I think her and Ekko's bonding would be more like "reconnecting with an old friend", whereas Jinx and Ekko would have a lot of work to do, too. There'd probably be a bit of a cold war between them for a while, once Ekko agrees to help, because he knows actually talking to her would piss him off. But eventually, through Sevika's manhandling of these three, and being forced to make nice with reluctant-figurehead-Jinx, they'd connect again.

Perhaps part of a plan is for them to develop new technology for Zaun. Whether that's weapons against Piltover (unlikely on Ekko's part I think), or just safety gear/ safer city infrastructure ideas for the betterment of their people, I think eventually they'd figure themselves out, too. He'd see the Powder in her, the part he saw on that bridge, and maybe it would give him the ability to try and understand Jinx. And Jinx would realize that maybe these people in her life DO love her, DO care about her, more than just for what she used to be but for who she is now. And somewhere along the way, they'd be friends again (or they can date IDK or care man I just want them to stop trying to kill each other).

Whatever happens next is so wide in possibility that I can't possibly cover it here so this is where it ends, lol.

[bnha-rot]

ok actually. on that last post: it really is a shame that post-MVA the villain characters lost all agency they had within the story. literally just mouthpieces for arcs that aren't theirs, and then killed off when they had served their purpose and just to cap it all off they are really framed as useless in the grand scheme of things (the hero rankings are still there, the HPSC remains, nothing *major* is shown to have really changed). this also ties into the lack of consequence the leagues most powerful players had (dabi, spinner, shigaraki, and toga all not really killing off any notable characters beyond a handful, and even then the reactions to which were lackluster at BEST) in the war arc, where they stop feeling like 'characters with a chance that will have good payoff' and go on to feel more like 'stand-in villain for the heroes to defeat so stop being invested now' and to come so soon after MVA, after dabis dance, even, it is WILD tonal whiplash!!!!!! and it really fucking sucks not only for villain fans but it reduces the heroes' '''''win''''' to a guarantee and cheapens the story for the hero fans!!!!!!!! everybody loses!!!!!!!!!!

[slasherparty]

Hey uh, I'm new to the Beetlejuice fandom, and I was wondering if you could do a bjxreader where the reader dies as of a result of something bj did, and he feels guilty about it? i crave angst, sorry if this is annoying

it’s not annoying! i love reading angst if it has a rewarding payoff. dunno how rewarding it’ll be here, but it’s good for character study purposes either way. thanks anon!

beetlejuice 🪲 x reader, accidental death (whoopsie!)

his hand, it was a clumsy thing... a grotesque parody of life, all bony fingers and inky black nails. it reached out, a macabre puppet show, and brushed against your cheek. a chill, an unnatural cold, seeped into your skin. you should have known better than to trust a poltergeist with such a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"A little surprise for my favorite mortal," he had purred, a sinister grin splitting his cadaverous face. you’d laughed, a light, airy sound that now seemed so far away. it was a mistake, a fatal one. the prank, a harmless little trick, had spiraled out of control, a chaotic whirlwind that swept you away; "away" being precisely four stories down into the basement of your apartment building.

beetlejuice, the self-proclaimed "Ghost with the Most," has always prided himself on his ability to stir up trouble without serious consequences (in his opinion, anyway). however, this particular mishap proved to be a costly error. a well-intentioned, albeit reckless, prank involving a trap door had inadvertently led to your untimely demise.

now, here you were, a ghost, a wisp of ethereal energy tethered to a world you could no longer fully inhabit. in the immediate aftermath, you watched as beetlejuice paced, his usual manic energy diluted to a haunted stillness. his eyes, only moments ago filled with their trademark mischief, were now shadowed with shock and remorse.

a part of you, a tiny, twisted part, reveled in his misery. but the larger part, the part that was still you, ached with a profound sadness. though you'd scarcely begun to process it, you'd been robbed of your life, a cruel twist of fate orchestrated by such a stupid and poorly set-up joke.

yet, as you watched beetlejuice begin to tear himself apart over it, you couldn't help but feel a strange sense of peace. perhaps it was the knowledge that he was now there, forever, nothing keeping him apart from you. or maybe it was the hope that, together, you could find a way to make sense of this tragic turn of events.

left as a fragile spirit adrift in a sea of uncertainty and the endless maze of the neitherworld processing office, bj finds himself once again in the position of being a guide (he even dons the hat for you).

as the days turned into weeks, you began to adjust to your new existence. you learned to phase through walls, to levitate, to communicate telepathically. when you weren't stuck haunting your apartment, you explored the neitherworld, with bj's ever-present companionship. he'd become a bit of a helicopter since the accident. even though you were dead now, with virtually nothing around to seriously harm you, you could tell the guilt had riddled him with anxiety.

the sight of your spectral form, a pale echo of your vibrant self, haunted whatever was left of beetlejuice's conscience. the memory of your warm living touch, a spark that ignited a strange, twisted affection, lingered like a phantom limb. you still touch him, just as soft as in life, but it's now a bittersweet reminder of a life cut short, a casualty of his own selfish schemes.

he became a constant source of both comfort and chaos. he would spend hours pouring over ancient grimoires, searching for a way to restore you to life, at the behest of juno who of course discouraged any and all investigation into such dangerous breaches of the laws around life and death. "The rules are there for a reason, you brat," she'd remind him, smoke fuming from her neck. you knew this wouldn't discourage him; nothing juno ever said did. but there was some truth to her words... it would be impossible to truly bring you back to the living world in any meaningful, non-invasive way.

regardless, he's always remained determined to make amends, if not to restore your life then to help you transition smoothly into this strange new existence. perhaps, through this unexpected role, he can atone for his past mistakes… and maybe even keep you around, for as long as you'll still have him.

you've often wondered if bj is truly sorry for what he's done. was his remorse genuine, or was it simply a performance, a way to manipulate your emotions? you could never be sure. but you knew one thing for certain: you were bound to him, a ghostly tether that neither time nor death could sever. and maybe that made it all okay, in the end.

bit of a long one! thanks for reading!! 💌

you can find more of my writing here on ao3!

[bullyingfictionalmen]

Delicate Things (1/2)

Pairing: Caleb x fem!MC

Summary: Why is Caleb like this? We dig into his traumatic past with Ever to find out. Read on AO3

wc: 2k

cw: angst with a happy ending, graphic violence, major character death (?), amnesia, blood, a smidge of cuteness as a treat, child endangerment, poor baby Caleb shouldn’t have seen all that, brief suicidal ideation, self-loathing

A/N: I started this fic 4 months ago after Homecoming Wings and his first anecdote came out, oh my god. It started as a long notes app analysis of the Caleb-MC dynamic, and now we're here, haha. I’m proud of it, but part 1 and part 2 are very different tonally, so I’m going to separate them for your convenience. Here, we suffer, but the next part has romance, jealousy, gooey love confessions and smut, so if you’re not here for (as much) angst, feel free to skip there and treat it as a standalone, I won't judge :) Still, if you're in a place to handle the subject matter, this does provide emotional context for the payoff. Either way, enjoy!

Caleb has a talent for breaking delicate things.

It used to be out of clumsiness. A wrong move, a slip of the hand, the use of too much strength. Most children don’t have easy control of their bodies, much less a sense of consequence at the loss of fragile objects. You can’t un-squish a lightning bug, un-break a teacup, un-shatter a glass trinket—but a child should never be held responsible for such accidents.

At some point, though, Caleb’s talent was cultivated. His gravity Evol emerged, and suddenly, it was in someone’s best interest to mold him to their liking.

His memories of that time are blurry, and he isn’t sure if it’s the Toring Chip in his arm or the Deepspace radiation he was exposed to that makes them feel so amorphous and terrifying. He only knows that the scientists in their crisp white coats, poking, prodding and scolding, sent him task after task where the goal was to rip, to mutilate, to destroy.

The worst part wasn’t the experiments themselves. It was that over time, Caleb grew to like them. The praise, the approving looks and hushed speculations about his potential, “Someday soon, he could very well create a black hole!” Those comments were a bright spot in such a cold, uncaring environment.

And beyond external validation, he found curiosity, pride, and even joy in the irreversible. Watching metal warp, cracks spiderwebbing through porcelain, hearing a heavy crash or a subtle creak and knowing all of it was his influence. Exerting such power and control when he was otherwise helpless and isolated was addictive. The rush of destruction at once filled the void inside him and made it insatiably hungrier. He could feel the greed of those researchers infecting him, sullying him, and there wasn’t a thing he could do. Not a thing he wanted to do about it.

But there’s one delicate thing he has never wanted to break. One person.

When your hand held his for the first time, so tiny and cold and contrasting a smile like a dying star, for once, Caleb didn’t feel like the monster he feared he was becoming. Being near you was so warm, so overwhelmingly sweet that it made him yearn for a world where he could see you every day, talk with you all the time and comfort you when storm clouds loomed overhead. After he met you, Caleb’s greed began to change form, and he wondered if maybe, somehow, his strength could be used to save someone. To protect something precious.

“A family… do you think we could be one, Caleb? I’ve always wanted a brother.”

‘Brother’.

You meant no offense, but the word was like a slap to the temple. Caleb tasted bile as he turned his face away with a scowl. What were you to him? He wasn’t sure, but these feelings churning inside him weren’t ‘brotherly’. His reply came out uncharacteristically loud and harsh. “Of course not.”

He realized his mistake in an instant when tears sprang to your eyes and your voice trembled. “O-Oh. I see. I’m sorry—”

“Wait!” He called your name and instinctively pulled you toward him with his Evol. His arms settled around your small frame and pressed his forehead into your shoulder so you couldn’t see the pathetic face he was making. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry. I want to be your family, but… If I’m your brother, that’s, um... not good.”

You fell silent, and Caleb held his breath. The urge to flee was so strong, and he would have done it if not for the clear, melodic sound of your laugh. You squirmed in his grip until you were facing him, cocking your head cutely to the side and peering at him intently with those bright doe eyes. “Ooooh, I see,” you hummed. “You wanna marry me, huh?”

Caleb’s cheeks flamed. He let go of you, one hand slapped over his mouth, and the other flicked your forehead. “As if! Who’d wanna marry you, pip-squeak?”

But his protests just made you laugh harder. You batted your eyelashes and made kissy faces until he pinned you down and tickled your sides so mercilessly that you cried.

In contrast to such bright, happy moments, some details still elude him. For all he’s worth, Caleb can’t recall how much time passed in that place. He can’t remember when he stopped seeing you roaming free, only to be told that you caught a cold and you were resting in your room.

No, you cannot see her. Don’t ask again.

He wishes he could forget the night he finally defied orders and searched for you in the dark. Deep in the compound, in a wing he was never allowed to visit, he started to hear familiar screams. Ice ran through his veins, each breath burned, and as he ran, his legs felt as if his own Evol was working against him. Then, the screaming stopped.

The scene he came upon haunts his nightmares to this day. Four researchers hovered over your prone body, connected to all manner of equipment. Crimson blood dyed their gloves and spattered their white coats. Your mouth was still open as if mid-scream, glassy eyes blown wide, unblinking. There was a gaping hole in your chest. A shattered ribcage, under which your heart, too still, was fused with some gleaming, unearthly crystal.

Caleb couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. His throat muscles began to seize, he clutched at his chest as if he were the one spread out on that table like some kind of specimen. Head pounding, his gaze darted from you to the scientists, whose faces were placid, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary here. “A family… do you think we could be one?” Your voice rang in Caleb’s ears as paralyzing despair gave way to all-consuming rage.

The first researcher didn’t even have time to scream before his head cracked against the hard floor, his skull compressed in an instant, brain matter painting the walls. Confusion only started to register as the second researcher was thrown hard enough to put a dent in the ceiling, slammed to the ground and back again.

“Caleb? Why is he--? Call for backup, now! Aaagh--!”

The third researcher was crushed by medical machinery before she could finish her sentence, but the fourth was quick on his feet. He grabbed a syringe from the operating tray and lunged at Caleb.

“Stop this now, brat!”

Caleb easily brought the researcher to his knees, grabbed the syringe and plunged it into the man’s neck. With a groan, he slumped over, and Caleb scrambled past him to where you lay. Gently, with the utmost care, he disconnected you from devices giving readouts that he couldn’t understand. He closed your eyes and mouth, wrapped you in a blanket, cradled you against his chest, and only then did he start to weep. “Why?” he sobbed into your hair. “Why couldn’t I protect you?”

“Tch… stop… interfering…” the man on the ground was slurring his words, but whatever sedative had been in that syringe had yet to fully kick in.  “Stupid kid… she’s… too valuable to waste…”

Fury flared anew in Caleb’s heart as he fought back the urge to scream. His fists shook, their white-knuckle grip on your hospital gown unrelenting. All you had been to these people was an object. A tool. He knew he occupied a similar space, but if it was you who suffered, you who died for nothing, that was unforgiveable. Without you, what was the point in living? In anything?

It should all just disappear.

A despicable thought bubbled up. Maybe he could put an end to everything if he focused all of his power on a singular point. How big would the vortex grow? How much would it consume?

Not even that morbid curiosity could stir him from his devastation. The air became heavy, swirling in on itself until, for the first time, a black hole bloomed by his hand. Caleb watched dully as small debris was sucked into the void. Then, as it yawned wider, the two broken bodies in the doorway were engulfed as well. Caleb considered, for a moment that felt like an eternity, what it would be like to follow them. To surrender to the pull. How easy it would be to just… stop.

“Ngh…”

It was a tiny sound. Barely a whimper. But there was no mistaking it. Caleb had heard your voice. The black hole vanished, and stillness reigned as he tried to calm his thundering heartbeat. This wasn’t possible. You had definitely died. And yet, if only shallowly, your chest was rising and falling. Your wounds, grievous as they had been, were slowly closing. Your eyes cracked open the slightest bit, brow furrowing in apparent pain as your lashes fluttered.

Caleb didn’t have words. He could only cry into your shoulder, his whole body trembling as he resisted the urge to hold you tight. He murmured your name over and over again like a prayer, so profoundly relieved that he felt like he would pass out. Footsteps could be heard approaching from some distance away, but Caleb didn’t hear them. He could only bask in the euphoria of your miraculous survival.

“I thought… I thought I lost you. Don’t ever leave me again, okay?”

A small, cold hand reached for his sleeve. Gave him a tiny pat. Bright doe eyes, bleary and tired, met his. “Who… are you?”

Ever since then he’s been careful. So careful not to let you break. You forgot everything about your time together at that lab, and as much as he sometimes resents that, Caleb is glad you were spared the pain of remembering. He’s glad that if anyone has to jolt awake in a cold sweat as if all of this is happening again, it’s him and not you.

How selfless, right? Not really.

Because after he almost lost you, he has been doing everything in his power to never let it happen again. To keep you by his side. No threat is too mundane, no measure is too drastic if it means you’ll be safe. Caleb knows it isn’t healthy. It’s spiraled into an obsession. Sometimes he feels like a monster playing at being human. What a painful, tantalizing game to make everyone believe he’s so perfect, so rational. He’s cheeky, a smidge overprotective, but what older brother isn’t? And the only one who can laugh or gripe about this miserable balancing act, this façade laid carefully, brick by brick, is himself. Because if you knew, you’d be too disgusted to look him in the eyes.

Caleb couldn’t have that. He wants you to dote on him. To need him. To worry like he worries. He has a habit of playing with your wrist, waiting to feel the faint throb of your pulse against his thumb before he lets it go. He sometimes catches himself testing you with inane childhood trivia, trying to make sure you still know him, still remember the years you spent growing up alongside one another. He clings to those shared experiences because he knows that, eventually, he could lose you all over again. That’s something he could never allow.

Caleb’s greed, nurtured first in that lab, and then every time you smile at him, lean on him, rely on him, show him how much you care, has grown so vast and so all-consuming that it terrifies him. He knows there are many forces that seek to claim you, to have your power. But is he any different? A selfish, overprotective man who would sooner lock you away than let anyone else have you? If men are wolves, Caleb reckons he’s right there among them.

But now, you’re onto him. He never expected this death, rebirth and reunion under dire circumstances. The cracks in his charade are showing. And the scariest part is that your inner conflict doesn’t discourage that greedy force inside him. It has awakened something new, a desire to be seen. To be known for who he truly is, warped as that person may be. The disappointment in your eyes was devastating at first, but then it was enthralling. How else can you worry for him? Will your love hold up under the pressure of his schemes? Maybe he’s walking into a trap, risking alienating the person whose good opinion he cares most about in this world. The only person who could truly shatter and destroy him.

So, he has to keep his distance. He has to. Otherwise, one or both of you might be irreparably broken.

Part 2

[hellbrainrot]

Just wanted to say that I love your Aemond posts because it's everything I have been saying since season 2! So happy someone else sees the vision.

I watched an interview from Condal at the end of season 2 and he said that the prophecy will force Aemond to look into his past and present to see how his actions have consequences on the war. And Ewan has mentioned he was told Aemond's entire arc before the show started and how Aemond's motivations were purposely ambiguous in season 2 and he had a facade the whole time. Then the FYC panel, he smirked when he claimed "we will never know" on Aemond's motivations. Seemed like he was hiding something but he's known to not give spoilers, but he is hinting we will find out in season 3.

So yes, I agree we will definitely see more introspective scenes of Aemond next season. The way they have been building up his character, it just makes sense that's where they're heading. I have a feeling he will end up being one of the best developed characters in the end, because Ewan already has a powerful presence onscreen and anytime Aemond shows vulnerability, it's always memorable. So next season, I think Aemond's scenes will be powerful when we finally see that breakdown of the tough facade.

Also, as for screentime, I am actually not that worried. Theory - People forget that the season was supposed to be 10 episodes. Last minute, the writers were told to cut down, and then the writer's strike happened and they couldn't rewrite scripts. Aemond became more prominent in episode 4, and I think he was meant to have at least 40 minutes screentime with the 10 episode format. And unlike some other characters, season 3 is reaching the part of F&B where Aemond's storyline is more defined. So the writers will know what to do with his character, and will be fun to watch.

Also another theory - If the character driven episode isn't Alicent and Rhaenyra, then it's Aemond. It's the perfect setup for his confrontation with Daemon, especially if they're drawing parallels between the characters. The biggest hint is Aemond not appearing in episode 4. Makes me think they will devote most of his screentime to this standalone episode. I have a feeling it was purposely leaked so that it misleads people on Aemond's role. All sides of the fandom want more scenes of him to figure out his motivations, so it's a way to trick us.

Otherwise, I don't think the episode will be on Daeron because the general audience doesn't know who he is and he is at number 23 in episode 4 (I think the order is by call sheet). And Aegon II is out because he appears in episode 4, making me think he will appear throughout the season. I also don't know how they can fill an entire episode on Aegon alone tbh. Makes more sense he shows up sporadically, as they only have 8 episodes and the standalone must advance the plot in some way. By having Aemond go through a journey that will lead to him eventually accepting to fight Daemon, it makes sense the episode will be on him and it advances the plot in some way.

So yeah, I definitely see your vision for Aemond because I 100% agree. I think they have been building to a great payoff of Aemond's character and wanted to give an element of mystery to his character in season 2. So then when season 3 comes around, it will be a great conclusion to his arc. And the fact that Ewan still seemed excited at the FYC Panel and unlike other cast members, hasn't criticized any writing and hinted at knowing his full arc even before season 1, makes me think we will have a great storyline. Aemond's storyline is the only one I look forward to, as I see the vision and understand where the writers are taking him.

Honestly was just so happy to see someone else not completely hating on the writers and what they're doing with Aemond. It makes sense to me and I think patience is key. I definitely see the direction and it seems like they just wanted a slow buildup of his character. His journey very much reminds me of season 1 Daemon. And theory - I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed that he burned Aegon only because Aemond thought he would be the best at protecting his family from a war he accidentally started and felt guilty over. People forget Aemond wasn't actively trying to kill Aegon, it just seemed like the opportunity presented itself at Rook's Rest to take Aegon out.

Hi!

Thank you! sorry I'm just now seeing this ask.

I watched an interview from Condal at the end of season 2 and he said that the prophecy will force Aemond to look into his past and present to see how his actions have consequences on the war. And Ewan has mentioned he was told Aemond's entire arc before the show started and how Aemond's motivations were purposely ambiguous in season 2 and he had a facade the whole time. Then the FYC panel, he smirked when he claimed "we will never know" on Aemond's motivations. Seemed like he was hiding something but he's known to not give spoilers, but he is hinting we will find out in season 3.

YES. Ewan brings up multiple times how Aemond "keeps the audience at a distance", and highlights the ambiguity surrounding where his loyalties truly lie .

A lot of fans are refusing to see the nuance and intentional choices the writers are making. I'm not saying its perfect or without flaws, but the way they're framing Aemond feels deliberate. He's the only character besides daemon who shuts himself off.

This is very noticeable in ep 3. The humiliation from Aegon, which resulted in him losing his only emotional crutch [the madam].. caused him to put his mask back on and close himself off , we can literally see the switch happen. From that point until ep 7 he remains stotic , in control and emotionally shut down and because of this most of the season his internal struggles are expressed more through subtext than direct exploration. Then in ep 8 after seeing the dragonseeds and realizing he’s outnumbered, fear sets in. It causes him to lash out to the point where he can barely keep his shields up.

I'm really looking forward to the conceptual episode and I'd love if it centered on Aemond. I'm not too worried about screentime either I think Aemond will get more focus as well and as we finally start peeling back those layers it can set him up for more longer intimate scenes.

"It makes sense to me and I think patience is key. I definitely see the direction and it seems like they just wanted a slow buildup of his character. His journey very much reminds me of season 1 Daemon." EXACTLY.

Like you said, the writers have and will continue to draw parallels between Daemon and Aemond . Im of the opinion that they’re using Harrenhal as a character piece for both of them, because these are men who either run away from their emotions or suppress them. Harrenhal is a place that brings out your inner demons and it at the very least, it marks the beginning of the exploration of  Aemond’s psyche just like it did for Daemon. Patience is really the key ..

The groundwork for his inner conflict is already there, but the show hasn’t fully pulled back the curtain on it yet. Season 3 will be where it explores his vulnerability in a more tangible way. We will come to know and understand his motivations.

I think core purpose of Daemon and Aemond time at Harrenhal in their arcs will be the same, it’s where they undergo a personal transformation. My guess based on the parallels and themes :

Daemon: starts of disregarding duty and responsibility — neglecting his roles as a husband and father even though both need and depend on him—> Harrenhal experience —> after seeing the vision forces him to reckon with a larger purpose. He embraces duty by pledging himself fully to Rhaenyra and the Targaryen cause. His arc in season 2 was about moving toward duty and legacy . Working on being a better husband and father (with Condal hinting that Rhaena will have an impact on him come season 3)

Aemond, on the other hand,  starts out as a quiet and disciplined child who cares about duty, he wants to be the pillar/leader of his family but instead of being embraced, he is kept at arms length. We know he’s heading to Harrenhal next season where he meets Alys. Through his time with her, he'll come to realize that his devotion to duty and legacy has only isolated him, leading him to reject the very ideals he once clung to. His arc in season 3 points to a shift away from duty and legacy toward forging his own path and choosing something more personal and fulfilling with alys .

"And theory - I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed that he burned Aegon only because Aemond thought he would be the best at protecting his family from a war he accidentally started and felt guilty over. People forget Aemond wasn't actively trying to kill Aegon, it just seemed like the opportunity presented itself at Rook's Rest to take Aegon out"

When Aemond goes to visit Aegon there are small subtle clues on how he feels.. he looks almost sad and regretful. And in the finale when Helaena confronts him and says "Would you burn me as you did Aegon" he immediately responds with "That is a lie" . What's telling is that he doesn't gloat or try to justify himself, it tells me that Aemond hasn't fully accepted or even processed what he's done. He's buried it deep .Even if someone tried to argue that he doesn't care about Aegon, the fact remains that the choice he made had a ripple affect on every relationship he had.. Alicent, Helaena and Criston. There's no way he's untouched by that. I definitely think the writers will explore it more next season.

[deanscutiepiesam]

Hello! I'm still relatively new to the fandom, so I'd gone my entire spn existence not seeing this until now, and I have to share because I'm actually going insane and I need smart people to rant to, so apologies if you've already seen this. D*stiel warning, read at your own risk:

Credit to this [post] on Twitter for the screenshots ☆

There aren't even words, like I'm literally losing my mind. Like these can't be real people. Anyways, let's dive in, guys...

You took Dean's dying speech to Sam, where he's directly vulnerable and honest about his love for his baby boy and diluted it to the fucking gas n sip scene?? Like this is insane I can't even begin to understand the thought process (probs because there isn't one), but omg?? That's so unserious and it's almost funny, but let's move on to the replies because it's way worse.

1. People torn up about the barn is so crazy to me. Buddy, it's not that deep. It's not foreshadowing. They literally just happened to happen in the same type of building. It's so crazy for a character to make their first appearance in a barn, and now every barn must be about him. Weak. Do better.

2. Now this one. This one actually drives me crazy. The scene made you uncomfortable because you think asking him to stay is a "Dean and Cas focal point??" Are you serious?? First of all, Dean has serious abandonment issues, so of course, he wants people to stay in his life, but secondly, Sam has been the main focus of that since the first season. Ever since he went to Stanford. Like did you watch with a fucking blindfold?? Half of the show is just Dean making a crazy decision to keep Sam by his side and the consequences of that. How are you this dumb??

And if I were a gambling man, I'd bet that this person started spn at s4. Like the pieces have fallen into place; it's the only explanation. They're so delusional because they missed the core foundation of the show in s1-3. Their world began when Cas walked on screen so they don't even get the show's thesis, and it's so annoying. It's about Sam and Dean. Get over it. "Love story of two brothers." - Jensen Ackles.

3. "Sam/Dean wasn't the relationship that was crying out for emotional payoff." Bestie I'm in your fucking walls. This has literally been building between Sam n Dean for 15 YEARS. Dean was dying and needed to get out how he felt since the beginning. It was a confession, alright, but you can't handle that it was to his brother, and I feel sorry for you. I get you don't care about the brothers' relationship because of your D*stiel compulsion, but get it together. It's embarrassing.

Also, Jensen literally said he went off script for emotional scenes (including the Sam/Dean barn confession) because it felt right [X]. J2 knows Sam and Dean better than me, you, or anyone else. Even the writers (to the point where they were given the script and told to make it theirs). It's so wild that you can ignore that.

4. "Head touch." I'm not even gonna waste time typing about this. Just look at [this] post. Says more than I ever could.

Anyways. Sorry about that, guys. I'm actually so chill and friendly, I swear :33 I just needed to rant to my homies with media literacy because it's literally dead and I was going insane :)

Thanks for reading, and always remember...

[markrosewater]

I seem to always find lots and lots of discourse about block sets. Two sides of the same argument every time.

Side 1 says something like:"I hate all these random sets, I miss block sets."

To which, Side 2 says; "Well block sets never sold as well at the end, players attention span's are better suited for one and done blocks."

My problem with this response is that it essentially ignores the initial statement. Rather than clarifying what they mean, they assume and answer.

Personally, I miss block sets, but ONLY from a story perspective.

Basically, do sets exactly the same as you're doing now. Draft is better now than blocks were, standard with Foundations sounds fantastic. The only thing I'd like to see is a set of setup, and a set of payoff.

MKM was a set based on a murder mystery with the big twist ending basically included in the release, as an example. It could've benefitted from a real, but delayed, payoff. Set up the consequences for each suspect, then reveal and give different consequences that were hinted at in other ways. Bam. Improved.

The last time we visited New Phyrexia, it was a block, I remember ubiquitous speculation over how the story would wrap up. There were factions events at local game stores, branded posters and packs for the factions at play, etc. I had a friend get the New Phyrexian emblem tattooed on themselves. The story felt *Important* and so much less divorced from magic than it does today.

Usually, in my experience, when someone asks for blocks, they're asking for the story to matter. There are lots of mechanically interesting card games out there, and mechanics are only part of what makes magic, magic!

All I would ask is that writers get the opportunity to do setups and payoffs with magic's evolving story with multiple sers, and that story related sets have *some* play synergies. They don't need to share mechanical themes just to share story themes, but it would be a nice little florish if they had mechanical synchronisets,

Hell, a REALLY good idea (in my opinion) would be to do these sets in a different order than the old method. Modern fantasy novels swap POV characters and follow different stories. Why not set up multiple stories in a row, then start to alternate resolving an older, established plot line, and then starting a new one or swapping to another established one. This really gives players time to get interested and speculate (and making the story FEEL present will likely also boost novels and comics numbers, etc., if you need a monetary reasoning.)

What do you think Mark?

We already do a lot of what you’re asking. Each Magic “year” does have a larger connected story, often with different POV characters.

[equiz923]

Please don’t crucify me for this, but I really do not like how dunmeshi ended. Spoilers for the ending of the manga under the cut (obv this is all my opinion but if you have a diff one and you wanna chat im v open to that)

Ending things is hard, ending great stories is even harder but I just finished rereading the manga in full and it makes it so apparent how rushed the ending feels.

With Laios specifically, him running a kingdom Does Not make sense. It feels too storybook ending. ESPECIALLY with what the winged lion showed him during his dream- the idyllic world where he runs a monster kingdom but figures it all out. I thought that this was kind of clear with how dream falin had to shoo him away from his actual duties to make the idea more palatable. It was a clear manipulation by the winged lion to try make it something Laios would actively want to do, an appeal to his greater sense of morality to try convince him that he was the good guy, especially because we all know he just deep down wanted to be a super epic monster.

With this in mind, the manga actually ending with him running the kingdom is insane. We as an audience have already found out and understood that he actually does not want to do that shit, and that there is no way that the kingdom would prosper under him. I personally really don’t like the way that the winged lion’s curse is pretty much thrown in as a joke on the final page, because the idea is really really interesting from a character perspective. From what we know of Laios, would he not clearly break at some point and try to chase after the monsters? Go insane? Both? Also him always being hungry is such a genuinely cool idea that gets another throwaway line, that has such interesting character implications. It is fine to add that as a footnote at the end, but it’s not treated with the gravity it should have.

Another character I think really got rushed toward the end is Marcille. Her character resolution of after the banquet being okay with Falin’s death is crazy. Her calling her time with the winged lion a tantrum is insane. Her extending of others life may be something that she now sees the consequences of, but there is not payoff for that realisation. We do not see it happen, it apparently occurs offscreen.

There’s a lotta other little things that feel off to me but those are my two main examples. I found in reading it again there were times that the story didn’t show or explain things properly (Kabru in magic handcuffs is something I only found out about when he broke them, I genuinely cannot find where itsumi found that doll of Yadd). You can make the argument that’s a reading comprehension error on my end, that’s fine but there were enough small things that I don’t think I’m the only one that missed small half panel cues. Chekov’s gun only works if you let the audience actually see and note the gun.

Again, please don’t take this as a hate rant, I genuinely love dunmeshi. It’s a really good story. But the best stories are the ones that need to be critiqued. The basic happy ending just does not fit at all, to the point that it feels completely wrong.

Idk, hi if you actually read this whole thing, you’re a legend. Please tell me your opinions id love to hear them

[drmajalis]

I feel like talking about Kira Nerys.

She is definitely one of the all time greatest Star Trek characters, and an absolute triumph of character development and payoff. She was a terrorist, she is absolutely open and unapologetic over that fact. Her planet was under a brutal, genocidal imperialist occupation and she did whatever was necessary to frustrate the Cardassians and eventually expel them from Bajor. She starts the series with that initial, momentary victory- the Cardassians have retreated, the resistance- now Bajorian militia have captured Terok Nor, but she barely gets to enjoy it for the day before Bajor's new provisional government decides to invite Starfleet to run the space station, wanting to set up their slow, eventual ascension to the Federation. And she's PISSED. Her literal first scene is arguing with her superiors before reluctantly handing over the commander's office to newly arrived Benjamin Sisko, and while that resentment slowly fades as Sisko shows overwhelmingly that he wants to be the best advocate possible for Bajor, it remains even as he is revealed to be the Emissary, Bajor's literal messiah. Kira never ceases in her struggle to see Bajor truly independent and thriving, even when it comes into conflict with her own conflicted moral code, something she had to adopt while fighting the Cardassians, but is ill equipped to handle the nuances they now have to face. This even eventually leads her to rebel, if briefly, against her own government, because she eventually decides her allegiance is to the Bajorans she fought to liberate, not Bajor the planet, or political entity.

And then there's Kira's complicated, evolving relation to the former Cardassian occupiers. It's easy to understand why she would paint them all with the same brush, they were genocidal, unforgiving, claiming to do what they did in some deluded idea that they were "helping" Bajor. But very quickly events transpire that shake her previously black and white beliefs about them.

What can I even say about "Duet" that hasn't already been said? Being confronted with a Cardassian who was so traumatized by what he witnessed his own people doing to the Bajorans that he pretended to be the very Gul who ordered the killings just so he could beg the Bajorans to put him on trial and execute him! It's such a shocking reveal that it turns Kira from eagerly wanting to put him to the death, to weeping over his murder by the very kind of revenge obsessed Bajoran she started out as.

I still cry over Marritza's confession. And the worst thing was, he was absolutely right. He knew that if Cardassia didn't own up to the crimes they had committed that they would eventually be destroyed, and he was proven right as Gul Dukat's irredentist views led him to ally with the Dominion, which ended up nearly destroying Cardassia in the long run. She even finds it in her heart to welcome Ghemor as a surrogate father figure after the time spent thinking she might actually be his daughter, and fully accept that he was trying to atone both for his own actions and that of Cardassia's, eventually burying him on Bajor next to her own father. She also ends up being confronted with the consequences of her zealotry by Silarin Prin, just a humble, innocent servant who was horribly disfigured by a bombing of a prominent Gul that Kira was involved in. And yet, she's able to recognize that while what she did was not an absolute good, fully justified by what the Bajorans were subjected to, she doesn't denounce her old self and her activities. She doesn't forgive, or forget, and that goes for both her actions, and the Cardassians. That's why she was the perfect person to help the Cardassian resistance against the Dominion, because like Marritza said, to save Cardassia, they have to change, and admit that what they did was wrong. Even Garak, who is really never shown to be that remorseful over his past activities acknowledges this when Kira points out to Damar that his family being executed by the Dominion was no different from Cardassia executing the families of Bajoran freedom fighters. "Yeah, Damar, what kind of people give those orders?" Her character came full circle, and that's why it was perfect to end the series with her finally, fully taking over command of DS9.

She'll always be one of the greatest of all time.

[nellie-elizabeth]

What We Do in the Shadows: Come Out and Play (6x09)

I liked this one!

Cons:

So, back to the Guide/Nandor thing - I think I realized my core issue here. It feels like a potentially funny subplot that would happen in a single episode, but stretched out over the full season until it feels threadbare and irritating. Like, the bit where Nandor dramatically offers to die for the Guide, or the Guide letting him down easy and Nandor spacing out staring at her eyes, those were perfectly funny bits. But they come after multiple false starts that suggest a story and then never capitalize on it. The Guide has said her piece now, but it seems like Nandor hasn't gotten the memo, so are we just going to keep limping through jokes about them for the last few episodes of the show? It feels like they don't actually have good funny ideas with this plot thread and I am increasingly sure that the payoff won't be worth the setup, whatever it is. I wish "Nandor has a crush on the Guide" had been the plot of a single episode, basically. That could have worked.

Pros:

This was such a fun episode! It's got so many classic elements that this show does really well, gives our gang a chance to be involved in all sorts of shenanigans, and has a... groundedness to it? That I can't quite explain - I think it's the fact that a bunch of vampires die in this episode, and a few of them are killed gruesomely by Cravensworth's Monster squishing their heads in, and these deaths have narrative consequences and it feels like our core cast of vamps are in some real mortal peril! It's fun to see Guillermo kick ass as a vampire hunter, it's been a long time since that's happened.

The Baron co-parenting and dealing with babysitters is so funny, as is the fact that Jerry, a character so underutilized this season I almost didn't recognize him when he appeared, suddenly gets killed off at the top of the episode. After Jerry's death it's a mad dash through Staten Island as various different themed gangs of vampires chase down the gang, and they wait for Guillermo to come rescue them.

Guillermo's displacement from his found family is an interesting theme this season, because there's this interesting push-pull from him trying to maintain his independence and make his own choices, but still wanting to be valued by his friends. He's rejected at the start of the episode when he's not invited to the party to honor the Baron, but then validated in the end by Nandor telling Guillermo's cousin that if he's family to Guillermo, he's family to the rest of them too. You get this sense that Guillermo and all the vampires know they'll always be in each other's lives, even if the form of that relationship has shifted. It's sweet!

And seeing Guillermo failing to connect with his family in basic ways is sad, but then the mood turns around when you have Guillermo's cousin go all ride-or-die and call in his buddies to go with Guillermo to save the vampires from potential death. He doesn't ask any questions: if Guillermo's going into danger, he's coming too. And of course he's got the Van Helsing blood in him and his able to be an inexplicable bad-ass when facing down the barista vampires. Or, sorry, the artist and writer vampires who just happen to be working as baristas right now. Lol.

Nadja and Laszlo have a continuation of a plot thread that's been happening a lot this season, where Nadja is irritated with Laszlo for trying to take care of her so much when in fact she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Seeing Nadja single-handedly take on the graveyard vampires was very fun, especially the bit where she just continually slams the one guy's head over and over again. Laszlo is very into it. He reveals that his protectiveness is more about the fact that he cannot live without her, rather than any belief that she needs help. I love that, it's very sweet! And Nadja has a great response, which is to say that she doesn't need Laszlo's protection, but she can't live without him either - it's not his protection that she'd miss if he were gone, it's everything else about them - their relationship and the awesome sex they have and all that stuff.

This was a fun one - I hope we're done with the Guide/Nandor stuff, or at least I hope we can do something bigger and sillier with it. I hope we get lots of good quality time with these characters in the last few episodes. I'm feeling really sad about saying goodbye!

8/10

[physalian]

On Fight Scenes (Or, getting creative with your magic system)

This is coming from a reader’s perspective, not a writer’s, in what I like to see and what my thought process was when writing my fight scenes—I hate these things and can’t call myself any authority on the matter. They’re tedious and translating what’s in my head onto page is always frustrating.

This is also for fantasy and sci-fi: Fight scenes that have some magical or technological element to them, not a straight-up action story with two dudes punching each other. This includes anything from fights in Harry Potter to battling a Xenomorph to bending in ATLA to a throwdown between superheroes.

Side note: I really, truly hate “two dudes punching each other”.

—

I have a friend who loves comics, specifically DC Comics, and watches all the DCAU films. When we lived together, I often watched a lot with them. My favorite remains Constantine: City of Demons because unlike literally every other DCAU movie, it doesn’t drop the ball in the third act and devolve into a stakes-less fistfight. This dude faces *consequences*.

I’m not a comics (like actual, paper comic books) fan, but without fail, every time the setup is good, the characters are good, the first 2/3s are good with pacing and usually a mystery and passable character development like Batman: Under the Red Hood…. The last 15 minutes or so always abandon what had been a good plot for just superheroes punching each other and I get so bored. I’m invested and then they rarely deliver any payoff.

But I do like Constantine. Dude needs a nap.

Point is: On top of those fight scenes not really mattering, by the nature of what comic books are in that they can never stray too far from the status quo, or if they do, it doesn’t stay that way for long, the people who made these characters don’t get all that creative with their powers.

I think, actually, I liked Constantine so much because his stuff is rated R and it doesn’t shy away from the more realistic effects of living in a superhero society… without being gratuitous like The Boys.

I just get bored. The fight stops when the plot says so. Knockouts are arbitrary, power scaling is arbitrary. Someone can get thrown through a wall and walk it off but the villain or their buddy can come up behind them and hit them really hard on the head and that’s enough.

Anime is its own thing and would take far too much time to address here but I do want to talk about My Hero Academia real quick, following up on a previous post about tournament arcs.

Season 2 of the show has three main arcs: The tournament in the first half, and the Stain fight/final exams in the second.

For a while, the show actually seemed to take injuries rather seriously (for shonen, at least), and got insanely creative with characters’ very niche powers. In season 1, their teacher, Aizawa, gets pretty brutally beaten by a horde of villains and his powers are permanently impacted by his recovery—he can’t use them for as long as he used to, and he has a new scar.

Midoriya, too, whose powers break his bones on the regular, has consequences for overusing them, like his hands and forearms not healing properly despite superpowered medical intervention.

Power scaling, too, was fantastic…. Until the Stain fight.

I will never understand the thought process behind this logic:

“Hey let’s show how powerful Todoroki is by having him manifest an entire glacier in about 3 seconds!” *9 episodes later* “Hey let’s make this fight with a dude who only has various blades to work with super tense by making Todoroki completely nerfed in a legit life or death situation!”

Buddy couldn’t take two seconds to yell at his friends to get the fuck out of the way? Was he worried about damage to the buildings? I feel like nepotism could have spared him from some consequences if breaking a few windows meant him not getting murdered. It wasn’t like he had daddy issues over his ice powers.

The rest of the show (until I DNFed) had similar issues. Powers were as competent as the plot allowed at any given moment, which I guess is the nature of shonen, but if you’re going to go out of your way to establish realistic rules and consequences really early on, breaking them willy-nilly because it looks cool later is annoying.

Which is applicable across all fantasy sub-genres: Consistency.

I might not be the best at writing the step-by-step choreography, but damn it if I don’t know how to make sure I’m not opening up plot holes in how much damage my characters take and dish out.

—

So. How I approach fight scenes as told by Eternal Night and my sci-fi WIP.

Before anything else, establish a reason that this has to be a fight, that it has to happen now, and what’s happening beneath the combat to keep the story progressing. The plot will not stop just for fisticuffs.

A magic system is only as cool as what its characters cannot do with it, and breaking those limits ruins the magic system.

Make sure this is a fight that can only happen in this story, taking full advantage of the various powers/abilities/magic system rules, if this is meant to be flashy and grand.

Eternal Night is about vampires, thus my vampires, being immortal, can take a lot of hits and not suffer long-term consequences compared to a mortal. I adhere to a lot of classic vampire lore while also making up my own rules. They don’t have super speed, super strength, or compulsion, they just have a lot of experience and know how to use their weapons well, and can essentially go at 100% without mortal limitations of fatigue.

Basically: My vampires are only as strong as a mortal in absolute life-or-death situations, but that’s also dependent on how strong they were in life. Somebody who was a couch potato isn’t going to be as strong as a bodybuilder, and that carries over. I don’t have “younger/older vampires are supernaturally stronger” rules.

They have the same immortality risks as most versions: Stakes, beheadings, sunlight. Anything else is survivable.

Simple magic systems tend to be the most robust because there’s less rules available to risk breaking or forgetting (why ATLA's bending feels so real).

So when I was writing ENNS’s big fight, on top of making sure they weren’t all gods with their weapons—they missed shots, got tired, made bad calls—priority one was making sure I kept killing blows consistent, and when they’re temporarily “dead,” that the timing of when they revive isn’t determined by the plot.

Meaning: If I have a vampire who, idk, gets stabbed by a regular sword and it “kills” them, they have to stay “dead” for whatever amount of time I’d previously established and not wake them up early to participate in the plot again. Those are my rules and I have to work with them.

And in that way, yes the choreography is frustrating, but even if it’s an average description of a fight, I will appreciate that the writer respects their own rules and still be entertained.

With that, in the sci-fi WIP I had incredibly complex and diverse magic systems, 3 complete and unique practices split between two characters. One of which was incredibly OP.

This was a very reluctant OP character who wouldn’t use the full extent of his powers even to save his own life, often to the ire of his team who suffers the consequences of unnecessarily complicated battles when he could one-shot the enemy but chooses not to.

Internal limits tend to be stronger than external ones if you have an OP character, because they’re more believably toggled on and off without breaking the lore.

Even with OP character stubbornly making life harder for himself, he was still OP. He had two different magic systems at his disposal, and beyond his internal limits, they had two very easily exploitable external limits.

Magic system A was tied to a physical artifact he had on his person. If he got separated from it, he couldn’t use it. A is also a lot harder to use if B is also busted.

Magic system B was counteracted easily by users of Magic system A, and by the enemy military who’d developed weapons specifically to nullify those powers, and that weapon was everywhere.

Which meant my fights concerning OP character were rarely “why doesn’t he insta-kill them” it was “oh shit, he can’t insta-kill them, now he has to be clever to get out of this alive”.

One of my favorite fights was at the tail end of Book 2 where he was stuck with two of his non-powered teammates, on a ship dead in the water being overrun by the enemy. The ship had no power, the radios were dead, and the engines were fried.

He had already been sick for half the book and physically and mentally exhausted, and when the enemy arrived, they nullified the rest of his powers. All he had was Magic System A, but in his condition, it was like being asked to do long division on paper by hand, because his calculator was broken.

Dude was not having a good time.

Which meant he was basically useless, with two of his basically useless teammates, who all had to work together to get creative and clever with the tools that they had, on a ship they all knew like the backs of their hands.

So many things they would not have had to do in any other situation, with stakes so much higher because OP was powerless. The characters came first, not their powers, which I think is the most crucial ingredient to any fight you want people to keep talking about for years to come.

—

I can’t tell you how to choreograph your scenes, but I do think that why they’re fighting matters far more than what they’re fighting about, and especially in fantasy: What’s the point of writing magic if you don’t take full advantage of your magical characters?

[shiraoyagi]

wow haru5 was REALLY good!! I'm really happy to see this arc for mmj get better and better after they kinda had a weird dip in their event quality around anni3 ... I'm really excited to see where this group goes next

my one criticism is not with the event specifically, but rather what led to this event.

i think haruka's general arc suffers in how it's side characters are implemented (particularly hiiragi and the unnamed oneesan that gave haruka her dream) which is exacerbated by the fact that the game deliberately parallels her arc with an's

for an, taiga (and nagi by consequence of how writing his character would work) is introduced in kohane1, and the payoff of his screentime hits its peak in an4, which would be an's equivalent of haruka5.

my problem with hiiragi as a character is that his introduction starts with haruka world link— he's not a pre established character we know about that feels seamlessly integrated into haruka's story— he's essentially a plot device for this specific event to work (and the event is very good, don't get me wrong). this also means that haruka5 had a lot less buildup than an4 ever did, and hiiragi's reveal has a lot less impact than taiga's for this reason imo (both were easily predictable, but at least with taiga, there's a sense of emotional attachment with how involved he's been with every single member of vbs thus far).

i do think hiiragi is going to get more developed later on (which I'm looking forward to), and my... very specific prediction is that his actions are going to blow up in his face, he'll unintentionally recreate the situation with asrun (like haruka and mai), and relight will disband (and the three members who are fully modeled will make up new prsk unit[s])

also, my problem with oneesan is first off, that she's not named. they could've at least given her a name. my second problem is that, to my knowledge, oneesan was never mentioned by haruka prior to haruka3, which makes that whole event (and by extension oneesan herself) out to be just clpl heavily referencing an3 so they wouldn't run out of event ideas after haruka2. my third problem is that, like hiiragi, oneesan also feels more like a plot device rather than an actual character. it's just a bit annoying seeing them have oneesan be a parallel to nagi, but then proceed to give oneesan pretty much no character. I wish they did more with her, especially when nagi is so well written (and I'd like her supposed parallel npc to be written similarly)

that's all. read haruka5. how did this event get overshadowed by enstars lol

[heliza24]

Wilhelm, The Look (™), and Endings

The recent poll on the confessions blog about the ideal end of the series (King Wilhelm vs leaving the line of succession vs the end of the monarchy) got me thinking about endings. In trying to think of what my own answer to this question was, I ended up reflecting on the way that Season 1 and 2 end, and that got me thinking about the infamous straight-to-camera Wilhelm looks that bookend each season. I’ve always loved those moments and found them crucial to the visual language of the show, but I don’t think I’ve ever really stopped to analyze why. But if I’m trying to decide how I feel about the possible endings of season 3, I should probably stop and figure out why I feel the way I do about the ending (and beginning) shots of season 1 and 2, right? So let’s take a minute and talk through these shots, and what I think they do for story structure and Wilhelm’s character.

I think the main thing those glances to camera do are establish Wilhelm as a protagonist with agency. Just for a second, he’s aware that he’s being watched, and that awareness means that he’s going to make active choices about what happens during his story. I think this makes sense when we realize that the first look to camera happens when Wilhelm is giving his first press interview. Wilhelm has always been in the public eye as a member of the royal family, But this is the first time that the attention of the press has been directed directly at him. It’s the first time that he has been asked to answer for his actions, and the first time he’s had to take responsibility for something like an adult. The camera catches him right as he makes his first decision: to follow his parents’ wishes, do the press conference, and go to Hillerska. It’s not a look of rebellion so much as it is a look of acceptance. All the growth that comes after as part of season 1 comes as a result of the awareness that starts in that moment. I think it’s significant that the gaze at the end of season 1 comes right after Wilhelm has made a very similar decision to the one he made in episode 1. Once again he has obeyed his parents, given the statement to the press that he was supposed to give, and toed the party line. It’s only in the fourth wall break that we know that something is different. We see all the rage and disappointment and heartbreak he has in that look, and we know that moving forward something is going to be different. But the season ends simply on this promise, and doesn’t let us see the payoff. Before we knew whether or not we were getting a season 2, I remember thinking that season 1 felt like a complete story (if not a happy one) but I would be mad if we never got to see all that Wilhelm was promising us come to fruition. 

I think the gazes in season 2 function in much the same way– they emphasize Wilhelm’s agency and show us how much he changes over the course of the season. At the beginning of the season Wilhelm is literally ready to burn it all down, as he stares at us in the mirror as he burns August’s photo. But the look we get at the end of episode 6 is much more calm and confident. He’s taken the rage that fueled his initial revenge quest against August and turned it into the bravery he needs to tell the truth on his own terms. This last look once again acts as a promise; Wilhelm is swearing that he will live authentically, no matter the consequences. But once again the season ends before we have a chance to see him follow through. We know that there will be a whole host of difficulties that arise from his confession, and that last look gives us the confidence that Wilhelm will rise to meet them. But we don’t see any of that, or at least we won’t until season 3. The fact that the season ends here really emphasizes that what was most important about the season was Wilhelm’s growth. The fact that he grew to a point where he could give the speech and stare down the barrel of the camera with confidence meant that the story the season was trying to tell was complete, even though we might expect a longer denouement. I know it’s common fandom knowledge that there was at least one additional shot filmed, of Simon and Wilhelm walking away together. So I think it’s significant that in the edit Lisa and Co decided to end on The Look (™) instead. I don’t want to suggest that the Wilmon relationship isn’t hugely significant to the show, its ending, or to Wilhelm. It is, and I think that’s represented when they lock eyes right before Wilhelm’s final look to camera. But there’s something about Wilhelm growing just enough to tell the truth in front of everyone that means that this chapter of the story is now closed, with no additional Wilmon scene needed.

The other thing that first glance does of course is establish us, the audience, as part of the public that is watching and judging Wilhelm. We’re in the audience for the press conference he gives at the beginning of season 1, and we’re in the stands watching him give the speech at the end of season 2. The relationship this creates between Wilhelm and the audience is really charged. Those looks create an intimacy which makes us care about Wilhelm as a character. But they also implicate us as part of the reason why Wilhelm is always being observed. We’re part of the oppressive force Wilhelm has to deny in order to live truthfully and claim his agency.  When Wilhelm looks into the camera he’s defying *us*. He’s daring us to stop him from getting revenge on August, or disobeying his mom, or telling the truth about the video. We’re brought in as co-conspirators in the same moment that we’re sized up as an enemy. 

Circling back to thinking about season 3, I think it’s a fair guess to assume that the season will begin and end with The Looks (™). I also expect that the last moments of season 3 won’t tie up every single loose end, much like the end of season 2 didn’t address the fallout from Wilhelm’s speech. I expect that last look to feel like a promise, like Wilhelm saying “I’ve got it from here.” 

In general I’m not huge on making super specific predictions. But if I were to guess how season 3 will end, I would predict that any questions about the larger fate of the monarchy will not be answered fully by the show, and will instead be covered by The Look (™). I think this holds true whether or not Wilhelm decides to remain in the line of succession, but that his character arc will feel most complete if he makes the decision to leave.  

If Wilhelm does make the decision to leave the line of succession and this does have national implications, I don’t imagine that we’ll see them fully play out. Wilhelm growing enough to leave will mean that the story that Young Royals is telling is complete. After a lot of consideration, I think this is my desired outcome for the show and my best shot at predicting the general shape of the season 3 finale. I want Wilhelm to grow enough to leave (with Simon) and I want the show to end with us confident that he’ll be able to handle the consequences of that decision, even if we don’t see them all play out.