#at least as reformed as a villain could be i suppose

[lockandkeyhyena]

Do you have like a. Least favorite mlp character? Like from any of the ones considered main characters? Just asking for curiousity not for a specific reason

this is a good question! i dont really count characters youre supposed to dislike like zephyr breeze or trenderhoof or mudbriar (although i have my gripes with how he was implemented) because theyre unlikable on purpose- theyre filling a role and i cant be mad at them for that.

maaaaybe starswirl? or, and theyre gonna kill me for this one, discord. hear me out! hes just written so inconsistently and comes across as just downright mean sometimes even when hes been reformed. which could make for an interesting character but they never acknowledge it.

oh no wait theyre gonna kill me for this one- specifically reformed starlight. i dont really have any issues with her i just find her as a villain soooo much more interesting and wish they had leaned more into her being an ambiguous character. or at least done her redemption well

[wildflowercryptid]

i feel like it would've been cool if courtly also had a pawn motif along with her jester and diamond motifs, it fits super well with whole "seemingly insignificant figure with infinite possible futures, including the ability to become a queen" thing she's got going on.

[salvagesmha]

The Curious Case of the Jailbreakers

In MHA, the concept of villain organizations having sub-groups or elite squads is nothing new in concept (albeit it rarely is it committed to for too long). For the League of Villains, they had their Vanguard Action Squad. The Shie Hassaikai, they had the Eight Bullets. For the Paranormal Liberation Front/Meta Liberation Army, they had their Base Commanders turned PLF Advisors. Lastly for All For One's army of Villains, he has his Assassins better known as just the Jailbreakers...

Who I think probably has earned the title of the most nothing group during the story's time span. Which is pretty impressive in hindsight.

(Hey, you see this group of clearly seven people - one's in the back of the dialogue box - right? Keep this group shot in mind)

So who are the Jailbreakers?

The Jailbreakers are a group of...eight(?)ish Tartartus Villains that AFO recruited for the purpose of defeating Deku to bring to him (hence them also being called his hired guns or assassins...even if the latter isn't really correct).

On paper, this is a set-up for an interesting premise as the Dark Deku arc, on paper, is also supposed to show Deku trying to reach out to better understand why people become Villains and to at least try to see if they can be reasoned with. The story also established Tartarus to be a place which has numerous human rights violations. So already you can see the potential brewing for a potential sympathetic angle for some of them. If not that, then at least it should be easy to get invested in knowing former convicts are loose and, given their location, are likely immensely strong and provide some backstory to Hero Society as well.......right?

Well........kind of? Of the two, the former was kinda the most realized...sorta? Not really.

Of the Jailbreakers, Lady Nagant easily holds the title of being the most developed of the eight(?) and most thought out of. She's the one that shows the dark side of the HSPC, its corrupt measures to keep society ignorant of issues that could threaten its image. She's the Villain that Deku manages to reach out to sway back to good. She gets her redemption in the Final War. Sounds good...on paper (again XD).

But, in practice, as much as I like Nagant and what she offers, it's still plagued by rushing her introduction and reform stint in a few chapters, and then leaving her comatose up until the final battle. She's in and out of the story just like that. What should have been foreshadowed long ago, and taken its time to really let simmer, is just suffering under a story going too fast to really want to let her stick around.

Yet, that's still way better than what her comrades got - because, wow, did the Jailbreakers run into trouble before Nagant was finised.

Starting with this damning line right here from Hawks:

From the start we're told by Hawks the Analyst that because Deku has One For All, the other escaped cons besides Nagant should be no trouble.

This right here is the start of the Nothingness of the Jailbreakers. Before we even get to see anyone else besides Nagant, a flashback says that we shouldn't be concerned if one of them runs into Deku. That sentence along along is the most damning thing one should never say in regards to a group that hasn't properly debuted.

It is a writing sin, one that makes any attempt at hyping up future villains go to waste! Because, from the very start, you got it into the audience's head that these guys are no real theat. No big deal, because Hawks the Powerscaler said so. Trading out 7ish potential for one who, admittedly, is still not given the best of their treatment is very much a bad call.

This is actually pretty strange for MHA, since Horikoshi actually got it right concerning the other three squads...for the most part XD The Vanguard he made note that these guys were 'elite' compared to the jobbers of USJ, Eight Bullets were noted to be threatening since they had nothing to lose, the Advisors (as much as the story dropped the ball with them) at least had Hawks the Tier King to say they're stronger than average. All three had the story giving an effort to build intrigue and expectation for these guys...things squandered for the Jailbreakers in favor of just one of their number. It's a strange choice, but its pretty much the start of a losing battle for the rest.

And it really doesn't get better for them since after Nagant, do you know what happens to the other two?

Yeah, no, for both the anime and manga, they just get one appearance. That's it. No real showcasing of their powers, no names, any reason as to why they worked for AFO, no real personality either. They're just...footnotes. It doesn't help both get done dirty in different ways. Gangster Fang guy gets caught no problem off-screen to really hammer in the protagonist can't be touched (which...is just a decision I never agree with - decimates the stakes for the story).

King Sharkman isn't even shown defeated. From manga to anime, he just that one still frame (Bones for S5-6 REALLY did not care consistency/extra effort with the Villains, especially the minor ones and it shows). You probably wouldn't even knew they were Jailbreakers were it not for Hawks giving the almighty report that they were enemies sent by AFO.

It's one thing for have dialogue to say these Villains won't be much, it is a very different thing to reinforce that idea. So with these showings, it's now officially solidified in the audience's mind that these guys are nothing special. Which, again, is a bad thing to be doing for your series, especially when you're in the final act and need credible villains to face (which wouldn't be an issue if over half of the credible villains from the First War wasn't shelved, but...that's a topic for another day).

Dictator, the 4th hitman, isn't much better. Sure he has an actual personality, and a cool power, with the bonus of actually using his moves intelligently (with the whole meat shield trick) and providing a boost for Crust post-mortem. But, like with the other two he suffers a lesser case of being disposed of too quickly. He's OHKO'd by Bakugo and only brought up in passing afterword. Arrived too late and gone too quick.

After that, there's a lull since Deku is saved by Class A. By now, you might think, if you haven't completely written off the Jailbreakers by this point, you would have noticed that, after Nagant, there were three of the seven(?) that went down, right? So four to go right?

...

Yeah, now here's the fun part.

???? Who the Hell are two of them?! There are clearly two extras off to the side, so what gives? Weeeelll...just forget about them.

Unfortunately, they're two things that just...don't get resolved by the end of the story. There's six of them here, Hori likely had some original plan that involved six Jailbreakers all getting stomped out during the War...but I guess he just couldn't find room to add in the two......

Okay, scratch that.

He couldn't find the room to add in four, because aside from the namedropped Kunieda and Gashly, no other Jailbreakers either appears or gets focused on, in the manga that is at the time of this writing. Despite clearly showing at least two others on the level of Gashly...they just are not shown off. This especially goes for the Dreadlock Jailbreaker that you would clearly see as being constantly in shot and is likely this guy below.

He was sent to Gunga, we see him at the start...and doesn't appear again. It's utterly bizarre and that's not even getting into the person next to him whose so vague we can't make out any real details.

But, hey, this is just the manga. Perhaps the anime makes things clearer, right?

Nope.

Instead of six Jailbreakers...they just reduced it five, even though we can blatantly see six in the original panels. On the flipside, without the text we get a better view of Kunieda, Gashly, 'Spike' (for lack of better name - also we now know his Quirk) and two of the other enemies. One is apparently bald and next to Spike, so I assume they are on the Gunga battlefield (they're the ones next to Spike in the first manga panel so the anime thought to add them back in)? As for the cloak one...yeah got nothing. I hope the anime does something with them, but if they don't won't be surprised.

But why get hung up on this?

Well, because the story now wants them to be considered important. As the 'wild card' factor that could make their attempts to stop the Villains be in danger. Or rather, it wants Kunieda and Gashly to be important (since Hori made 3/4 others that just...don't get to be shown off - still better than the Advisors situation mind you).

The problem is that the damage was both already done on top of other factors.

Like I said before, up until the 2nd War, after Nagant, the Jailbreakers were treated like a breeze to get through by Deku or Class A. Meaning their threat level is nonexistent in spite of Johnny Average saying otherwise.

Another downside to the Jailbreakers is that, unlike the other Squads in MHA, Hori was really dead set on not showing off their designs until their focus chapter. Meaning, unlike the Advisors or Eight Bullets who we can at least speculate or gain intrigue from based on their looks, speculation or potential hype for the Breakers is dead in the water since 'vague shadows' is not enough to work off of.

Even when they do show up, its not really to the story's real benefit since the focus is hardly ever on them, even as the War is under way. No one is really expecting much from them, and the story is still going along with making sure that notion isn't really defied.

And it's just sad because, when the story does focus on them, it shows a great layer of promise for what could have been.

Kunieda is the 2nd best Jailbreakers because he, at his least, does fulfill properly the roles of prior minion villains in the past. Kuneida is Aoyama's Villain - an obstacle narrative to challenge his weakness, in this case being his role as a Traitor to UA, and whether is was worth betraying AFO, with Kunieda having fierce loyalty to the Demon Lord. It also helps that he's allowd to actually, you know, FIGHT - he's not steamrolled like the other Breakers before him, he's allowed to beat others. Granted, it was off-screen but its still something that earns him his second place medal.

As for Gashly............

Yeah, I won't lie. Gashly got a raw deal. If Kunieda barely got anything, Gashly just got the scraps. Crumbs of what could have been. He's shown way, way, way too late for him to ever matter (why wait until legit the final fight to show him off). His Quirk, while just as destructive as Kunieda, suffers from taking up too much similarities from Twice and Skeptic (also people who summon clones). And, to top it off, he's worse off since not only does he not get to speak, he's not tied to any of Class A or important cast to triumph against. Tokage and Kamikiri are the ones to take him down. Not Sero, Ryukyu, Thirteen. They just do not effect his defeat and he's a little more than a foot note before the grand finale, even though he outlasted pretty much every other Villain besides Shigaraki.

And that's kind of the problem with the Jailbreakers in a nutshell:

The story treats them like nothing, even when it also wants them to be something, yet takes every avenue it can to prevent them from ever rising above 'oh, right, they're here too'.

It's a rather pitiful decision that drags down the story a bit since the final act was in serious need of threatening villains to wrap things up...and the Jailbreakers just could not deliver. Which is a shame since they had real potential behind their concept. Villains locked away for being that wicked or perhaps spouting truths the government didn't want to see the light of day. There's a lot you can do with escaped convict villains, but sadly in MHA's rush for the end, the Jailbreaker's threat level are another casualty.

[maxwell-grant]

Crossover Question: If Dr.Octopus was in a Marvel vs Capcom game and had to make his own Sinister 6 with capcom villains, who do you think he would choose/who would you choose?

Traditionally the Sinister Six tend to comprise villains covering a wide range of types of threats Spider-Man goes up against, and they also can't be too big as individual villains otherwise because they're all supposed to be operating under at least one leader, usually Doc Ock, which is why you hardly ever seen Green Goblin or Kingpin in the Six unless they're the ones leading it instead. Trying to be as widespread as possible, here goes my picks counter clock-wise:

Vile: We need a Mega Man baddie, he's one of the most visually iconic of the bunch, he's traditionally Sigma's underling but we're not exactly trying to make iron-clad justifications for these. I think we could also argue that Doc Ock did some tampering with his circuits to win his loyalty or is promising him something in return so that he at least goes along with the plan before backstabbing them. Think he works nicely to fill that role filled in by Scorpion or Kraven, someone who is vile or dangerous or scummy even by the standards of the group, someone who helps keep the Sinister Six a oh-shit escalation of threat whenever it shows.

Abigail/Mech-Zangief: We need a Street Fighter character, we need dumb muscle, and we need at least one comic relief guy. The Sinister Six doesn't feel right without Rhino, so I'm elevating either one of these. Abigail is technically reformed but he's not exactly a "good guy", he's a disgruntled taxpayer trying to make ends meet who turns into a destructive rampaging beast at a moment's notice, which is Spider-Man villain territory already. I think we could include him or Mech-Zangief, as a way for Zangief to be in the team in spirit, a tribute to his kayfabe fame as a videogame bad guy that got him the spot in Wreck-It-Ralph's meeting.

Gran Bruce: We need at least one animal costume guy, a Spider-Man villain gathering is not complete without one, and it's good to have at least one guy who's kinda dumb and funny and not really much a threat until he might inexplicably be, sort of the Shocker of the group. I'm not too big on Viewtiful Joe and I could give or take this pick but he's a shark guy, that wins points with me.

Hanbei Takenaka: I think we need one villain who doesn't really fit the line-up, more of a handsome guy than a monster, someone who is bringing extra brains or tactics or weapons to the equation besides what Doc Ock brings. I almost included Vega for this reason but he's too specialized and we already have a major clawed villain, so instead this guy seems to be an interesting fit for contrast, like Martin Li or Hickman's Ultimate Black Cat.

Lady Dimitrescu: We need one Resident Evil villain and at least one more iconic villain besides Vile, and yes I know she is already fanatically loyal to another villain and already has a group, I know, but again, refer to Vile's section, these games don't exactly work on iron-clad character pairings, and if there's a character we need in a Marvel vs Capcom game stat it's her. She just feels right at home in a rogues gallery line-up (the Four Lords are such wonderful villains, they feel like characters you could throw into any series and have it work), and like Vile we need some actually dangerous villains and some villains who don't play nice and threaten to break the group of tiny pathetic stupid man-things beneath her, and she breaks away from the technological aspect by being a biological monster which is, again, definitely ground that needs to be covered. Out of everyone here, she's the one who I could most easily see actually fighting Spider-Man, joining the club of baddies who want to psychosexually tear him limb from limb. Only marginally less horny than Venom's whole deal.

Definitely taking suggestions on what other line-ups could be used for a Capcom Sinister Six, and which Capcom baddies could join.

[flightfoot]

Can you rec fics in which Gabriel isn't the main antagonist?

I mean there are plenty of fics where he isn't the main antagonist, where there's no antagonist at all (ML has a lot of fluff), but I'm assuming you mean fics where there IS a main antagonist but that antagonist isn't him, and probably a more epic sort of story with an antagonist on Gabriel's scale and not like, a high school bully kind of thing (not that there's a lot of those I'd rec anyway).

---

Stitched Together by @nedjsmlfavs

Stitch Witch Marinette was just supposed to be having a nice, terrifying outing with her best friends. She never expected to find a magically trapped kitten, but here we are! Whatever happened to this poor little guy?

Poor Adrien, being transformed and chained up for ages, having no idea that he was gonna be rescued. But at least he got to have fun at Marinette���s place as a cat! 

Most of this fic is adorable, though with some dark undertones lying in wait. After all, SOMEONE chained up that poor little kitty…

---

In Direct Opposition by @generalluxun

Alya Cesaire is a brand new student to Francis Dupont, to Paris even. The first student she meets is one Chloé Bourgeois, and Alya is determined to make a friend. Things advance Chaotically. Her new 'friend' is definitely a handful, and suddenly Paris has a supervillain and two brand new superheroes! Alya finds herself balancing a lot of things, trying to live up to her ideals and those of her icons.

And then reality seems to contradict itself.

As time progresses it seems to happen more often. Becoming a hero, battling villains, staying alive, working through friendships. Something is lurking, tweaking events at times, changing them, and no one seems aware. Alya will need all her wits to get to the bottom of this. Her investigative mind can only get her so far though, and then she needs to rely on her friends. This is not a foe you can beat head on.

I betaed this entire fic, it’s really good! I adore the focus on Alya’s philosophy here, her determination to be a hero, to help people and defeat evil - and that defeating evil means trying to reform the people doing bad things when possible, to try to save EVERYONE, even the “villain”. I thought it was really clever the ways Alya would redirect Chloe and subtly encourage her to be a better person, while also trying to get the people around her to give her a second chance and keep an open mind. 

Also Alya and Chloe are an adorable sapphic couple XD.

---

The Rules of Engagement by @overworkedunderwhelmed

When tragedy sends Adrien Agreste racing back to Paris to run his father’s fashion house, Marinette doesn’t expect much from her very new, very rich boss. At least not until she is set up on a blind date with a very familiar face.

Much to her surprise, Adrien Agreste was hiding far more secrets behind his stoic business-like mask of temporary CEO. Maybe as many secrets as she had been trying to hide for years.

As they grow closer, Marinette fears her mask isn’t nearly as foolproof. Day after day, it gets harder for her to keep all her secrets well hidden from the surprisingly sweet man who insisted on staying by her side as often as possible.

Only she couldn’t afford to fail. Not when her biggest secret could spell the end of the job she’d dreamed about for years.

They might not be superheroes in this universe, but secret identities are still active here. Both Marinette and Adrien used to be involved with the Ladybug and Chat Noir movies, and both kept that a secret - Adrien especially, since if his father found out about it, there could be some bad repercussions, as he voiced Chat Noir without Gabriel’s permission. Marinette, meanwhile, is well known for making cosplay (calling herself “Ladybug” after the movie), and has been in contact with “Chat Noir” for quite some time before the story starts - not that she knows he’s the actual VA.

It’s mostly an Adrienette fic with the two of them getting to know each other after their unusual “first” meeting, where Marinette pretended to be Kagami in order to scupper the date with Adrien and get Tomoe off her back, with some intrigue and drama thrown in. Lila’s skulking around causing problems for the people around her, but she’s honestly not the main focus here. 

---

Kwami Magi Homura Magica by Crossoverpairinglover

After eighty-four loops in time, Homura Akemi takes a new path to Paris to save her friends.

The sixty-third loop after that, Homura arrived at the Agreste Mansion.

After clash after clash with the heroes of Paris and its greatest menace, events have reached a tipping point.

Ladybug faces someone verging on a second wish, a wish that endangers space and time to save a friend.

This was an absolutely AMAZING story that crossoverpairinglover dropped out of NOWHERE. Seriously, if you like Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Miraculous Ladybug, this is a real treat - but be prepared to sit down and binge, because it’s over 100,000 words and only has three chapters. 

Anyway, I adore the care that’s taken with going through Homura’s mindset here, she gets a lot of character focus. And the lore! There’s some good explanations here for the history behind kwamis and Incubators’ interactions, and the Order of the Guardians normally treats Magical Girls, and why the Incubators are wrong in their assessment of the universe needing more energy to stave off entropy (hint: it involves Plagg), and just... there was a lot of love put into this.

And the action! Most Miraculous fics don’t have much in the way of fight scenes, and what they do have is mostly just functional. This is one of the rare exceptions. There’s some really long, detailed fight scenes in this (roughly the entire second half of the second chapter has one between Ladybug and Homura), which are a treat to read! 

We also get some glimpses into a variety of other universes here, other timelines, alternate ways things could have gone down - I’m especially partial to the rather detailed view we get of one where Homura sent a message asking for help to the Ladyblog on her third time loop, and how things progressed from there. 

The ending I also thought was really good, a happy ending that generally made sense and dealt with the issue of the Incubators. 

If you can’t tell I’m really happy with this fic, it was incredible and unexpected. The length of the individual chapters can be daunting, but if you’re up for the task, I highly recommend giving it a shot!

---

Dreams of You by @chocoluckchipz

Dreams had long been his only escape. Dreams of Ladybug, the girl who had always been there for him.

If only in his dreams. And only while she was also sleeping.

Because with the first rays of sunshine gliding over her skin, with the first fluttering of her eyelashes, from the moment she opened her eyes in the morning, memories of Adrien would vanish from her mind.

She would go on living her life.

He would always be the only one who remembered.

At least until they meet in the real world and fall in love all over again, something that would’ve been easier to do if Adrien wasn't a prisoner in his own home.

Chocoluckchipz has some of the most beautifully executed lovesquare fics I’ve read, and this is no exception. Most of the fic is dedicated to Adrien wooing Marinette, spending time with her, with her own dream self acting as his wingman, giving her tips on how to get her to fall for him, all the while frustrated that she can’t share memories with her waking self, and that she and Adrien can’t share as much information as they’d like while asleep, due to limitations of the “curse” that allows Adrien to share dreams with his soulmate. 

It’s not all cute Adrienette fluff though. There’s a threat in the background waiting to erupt, as the weirdness of Gabriel’s ultimatum to Adrien about finding Ladybug or else being forced to marry Lila keeps on gnawing at him - and with good reason. This is a world with magic and kwamis still, and that fact makes itself very relevant in the last third of the story. 

It’s a well-written tale and very much worth a read!

---

[burningvelvet]

One of my favorite excerpts of Jane Eyre (1847) taken from chapter 14:

“Yes, yes, you are right,” said he; “I have plenty of faults of my own: I know it, and I don’t wish to palliate them, I assure you. God wot I need not be too severe about others; I have a past existence, a series of deeds, a colour of life to contemplate within my own breast, which might well call my sneers and censures from my neighbours to myself. I started, or rather (for like other defaulters, I like to lay half the blame on ill fortune and adverse circumstances) was thrust on to a wrong tack at the age of one-and-twenty, and have never recovered the right course since: but I might have been very different; I might have been as good as you—wiser—almost as stainless. I envy you your peace of mind, your clean conscience, your unpolluted memory. Little girl, a memory without blot or contamination must be an exquisite treasure—an inexhaustible source of pure refreshment: is it not?”

“How was your memory when you were eighteen, sir?”

“All right then; limpid, salubrious: no gush of bilge water had turned it to fetid puddle. I was your equal at eighteen—quite your equal. Nature meant me to be, on the whole, a good man, Miss Eyre; one of the better kind, and you see I am not so. You would say you don’t see it; at least I flatter myself I read as much in your eye (beware, by-the-bye, what you express with that organ; I am quick at interpreting its language). Then take my word for it,—I am not a villain: you are not to suppose that—not to attribute to me any such bad eminence; but, owing, I verily believe, rather to circumstances than to my natural bent, I am a trite commonplace sinner, hackneyed in all the poor petty dissipations with which the rich and worthless try to put on life. Do you wonder that I avow this to you? Know, that in the course of your future life you will often find yourself elected the involuntary confidant of your acquaintances’ secrets: people will instinctively find out, as I have done, that it is not your forte to tell of yourself, but to listen while others talk of themselves; they will feel, too, that you listen with no malevolent scorn of their indiscretion, but with a kind of innate sympathy; not the less comforting and encouraging because it is very unobtrusive in its manifestations.”

“How do you know?—how can you guess all this, sir?”

“I know it well; therefore I proceed almost as freely as if I were writing my thoughts in a diary. You would say, I should have been superior to circumstances; so I should—so I should; but you see I was not. When fate wronged me, I had not the wisdom to remain cool: I turned desperate; then I degenerated. Now, when any vicious simpleton excites my disgust by his paltry ribaldry, I cannot flatter myself that I am better than he: I am forced to confess that he and I are on a level. I wish I had stood firm—God knows I do! Dread remorse when you are tempted to err, Miss Eyre; remorse is the poison of life.”

“Repentance is said to be its cure, sir.”

“It is not its cure. Reformation may be its cure; and I could reform—I have strength yet for that—if—but where is the use of thinking of it, hampered, burdened, cursed as I am? Besides, since happiness is irrevocably denied me, I have a right to get pleasure out of life: and I will get it, cost what it may.”

“Then you will degenerate still more, sir.”

“Possibly: yet why should I, if I can get sweet, fresh pleasure? And I may get it as sweet and fresh as the wild honey the bee gathers on the moor.”

“It will sting—it will taste bitter, sir.”

“How do you know?—you never tried it. How very serious—how very solemn you look: and you are as ignorant of the matter as this cameo head” (taking one from the mantelpiece). “You have no right to preach to me, you neophyte, that have not passed the porch of life, and are absolutely unacquainted with its mysteries.”

“I only remind you of your own words, sir: you said error brought remorse, and you pronounced remorse the poison of existence.”

“And who talks of error now? I scarcely think the notion that flittered across my brain was an error. I believe it was an inspiration rather than a temptation: it was very genial, very soothing—I know that. Here it comes again! It is no devil, I assure you; or if it be, it has put on the robes of an angel of light. I think I must admit so fair a guest when it asks entrance to my heart.”

“Distrust it, sir; it is not a true angel.”

“Once more, how do you know? By what instinct do you pretend to distinguish between a fallen seraph of the abyss and a messenger from the eternal throne—between a guide and a seducer?”

“I judged by your countenance, sir, which was troubled when you said the suggestion had returned upon you. I feel sure it will work you more misery if you listen to it.”

“Not at all—it bears the most gracious message in the world: for the rest, you are not my conscience-keeper, so don’t make yourself uneasy. Here, come in, bonny wanderer!”

He said this as if he spoke to a vision, viewless to any eye but his own; then, folding his arms, which he had half extended, on his chest, he seemed to enclose in their embrace the invisible being.

“Now,” he continued, again addressing me, “I have received the pilgrim—a disguised deity, as I verily believe. Already it has done me good: my heart was a sort of charnel; it will now be a shrine.”

“To speak truth, sir, I don’t understand you at all: I cannot keep up the conversation, because it has got out of my depth. Only one thing, I know: you said you were not as good as you should like to be, and that you regretted your own imperfection;—one thing I can comprehend: you intimated that to have a sullied memory was a perpetual bane. It seems to me, that if you tried hard, you would in time find it possible to become what you yourself would approve; and that if from this day you began with resolution to correct your thoughts and actions, you would in a few years have laid up a new and stainless store of recollections, to which you might revert with pleasure.”

“Justly thought; rightly said, Miss Eyre; and, at this moment, I am paving hell with energy.”

“Sir?”

“I am laying down good intentions, which I believe durable as flint. Certainly, my associates and pursuits shall be other than they have been.”

“And better?”

“And better—so much better as pure ore is than foul dross. You seem to doubt me; I don’t doubt myself: I know what my aim is, what my motives are; and at this moment I pass a law, unalterable as that of the Medes and Persians, that both are right.”

“They cannot be, sir, if they require a new statute to legalise them.”

“They are, Miss Eyre, though they absolutely require a new statute: unheard-of combinations of circumstances demand unheard-of rules.”

“That sounds a dangerous maxim, sir; because one can see at once that it is liable to abuse.”

“Sententious sage! so it is: but I swear by my household gods not to abuse it.”

“You are human and fallible.”

“I am: so are you—what then?”

“The human and fallible should not arrogate a power with which the divine and perfect alone can be safely intrusted.”

“What power?”

“That of saying of any strange, unsanctioned line of action,—‘Let it be right.’”

“‘Let it be right’—the very words: you have pronounced them.”

“May it be right then,” I said, as I rose, deeming it useless to continue a discourse which was all darkness to me; and, besides, sensible that the character of my interlocutor was beyond my penetration; at least, beyond its present reach; and feeling the uncertainty, the vague sense of insecurity, which accompanies a conviction of ignorance.

“Where are you going?”

“To put Adèle to bed: it is past her bedtime.”

“You are afraid of me, because I talk like a Sphynx.”

“Your language is enigmatical, sir: but though I am bewildered, I am certainly not afraid.”

“You are afraid—your self-love dreads a blunder.”

“In that sense I do feel apprehensive—I have no wish to talk nonsense.”

“If you did, it would be in such a grave, quiet manner, I should mistake it for sense. Do you never laugh, Miss Eyre? Don’t trouble yourself to answer—I see you laugh rarely; but you can laugh very merrily: believe me, you are not naturally austere, any more than I am naturally vicious. The Lowood constraint still clings to you somewhat; controlling your features, muffling your voice, and restricting your limbs; and you fear in the presence of a man and a brother—or father, or master, or what you will—to smile too gaily, speak too freely, or move too quickly: but, in time, I think you will learn to be natural with me, as I find it impossible to be conventional with you; and then your looks and movements will have more vivacity and variety than they dare offer now. I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it but free, it would soar cloud-high. You are still bent on going?”

“It has struck nine, sir.”

[missmahgenta]

I still have to see that new Miraculous special in its entirety, but a few things based entirely from what I have seen

(Spoilers ahead)

…

I find it funny that in that alternate universe, where the heroes are villains and the most despicable individual (Gabriel) is that world’s greatest hero, Chloe is still the hugest jerk that is and an overall irredeemable villain. Like “Sure, we can make the child abuser be a decent person, if not for being an absent father, but the 14 year old bully is just too evil to ever be anything else”. Come on Thomas, why are you beefing with a fictional child?

I really liked seeing that moment where Adrien talks with emo!Adrien about moving on from his grief and stuff, it was beautiful, and it would have been something I would have love seeing on the finale with his dad, had he not been made to be jailed in a tiny room for all of its duration (even though he’s suppose to be just as important as Marinette, srs why would you leave him out of a resolution that involved him directly?? Let the boy be his own person with agency for goodnesses sake!)

Still on the topic of Adrien, why didn’t they give him a new ‘akumatized’ form instead of just giving him wings?? Marinette gets a whole new form, but all he gets is a reskin, ugh. They could have done so much more for an ‘akumatized’ form built not from negativity, but from the desire to protect.

That also extends to emo!Adrien when he reforms. Like, emo!Marinette at least got her colours inverted and a ‘’’’’new’’’’ hairstyle (though I wish they had done more with her as well), but my boy got nothing

Seriously, justice for Adrien

[whump-4-ever]

Reformed, Part 4

Please let me know if you would like to be added to the tag list OR if you are already on it and would like to be removed 😅

-

Once the seizure had ended and Caretaker had checked Hero over to ensure that they were still breathing okay and hadn’t injured themself, Caretaker had climbed onto the couch with them, their head in Caretaker’s lap.

“Their fever hasn’t gone down at all,” Villain murmured under their breath as their eyes took in what was in front of them, concern forcing a wrinkle into the skin of their forehead. Hero was damn near gasping for air now, each inhale and exhale a desperate, shallow wheeze.

Caretaker nodded their head in acknowledgment but did not speak. Instead, they began to brush Hero’s hair back with their palm, grief squeezing their heart and causing moisture to gather in their blood-shot eyes, their reddened, tear-stained face screaming to the world how emotionally distraught they were. Hero was their boyfriend/girlfriend, the man/woman they would give their life for. They couldn’t die, not now, not after everything they’d been through, and certainly not to something as simple as an illness. Hero was supposed to die many, many years from now, to something courageous like saving people.

Villain sighed heavily, unsure of what to do next. Nothing they’d already tried had had any effect on Hero’s condition, and taking note of how much worse Hero had gotten in such a short amount of time was enough to inform them that they were running out of options. “Your healing magic isn’t working,” Villain stated, breaking the silence. It wasn’t exactly a question, but rather an audible confirmation; it was Villain’s way of making certain that Caretaker was on the same page as they were in terms of the situation.

Caretaker shook their head in reply, sniffling softly as they continued to run their fingers through Hero’s sweat-soaked curls. “I don’t understand,” they whispered brokenly. “I don’t know why I can’t heal them. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Before Villain had a chance to respond, Hero suddenly moved, fidgeting where they lay and letting out an agonized groan as the movement aggravated their aching bones. Slowly, they then peeled their eyelids apart just the slightest bit and ran the tip of their tongue over their chapped lips. “…..d-don’….” they gurgled out, a violent shudder rippling through them.

Immediately upon Hero regaining at least partial consciousness, Caretaker wiped their tears away and shifted where they sat so they could cup Hero’s too-warm cheeks in both hands, stroking their thumb along their cheekbone in an affectionate manner. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” they murmured. “I’m here. I’m-“ they stopped mid-sentence, fear spiking inside their chest at what they saw. Hero’s eyes weren’t their normal hazel color, nor were they the radiant sapphire blue of the Tempestinians. They were glowing a bright scarlet red, the same scarlet red of a Demonian, Supervillain’s species.

Villain jumped to their feet and took a few steps back, adrenaline pumping through their veins. They were a Demonian. They’d rebelled, they were no longer working for Supervillain, and no, they were not responsible for what had happened to Hero, but they knew exactly what Caretaker was thinking. Seconds after they retreated, Caretaker’s head snapped upwards in one swift movement, their facial expression radiating fury. “I didn’t-“ Villain started, but they were quickly interrupted.

“You did this.” Caretaker’s voice was barely audible, their words threatening to break under the weight of their rage. “You bit them, infected them, didn’t you? You did this to them and then you lied to me about it.”

Villain could see Caretaker’s body visibly shaking with barely-contained anger even from a few feet away, but they refused to give in, because they knew they didn’t do it. No matter what it took, they would prove that. “I did fucking nothing,” Villain snarled back defensively. “If not for me, Hero would already be dead, and you wouldn’t have had a clue as to where they disappeared to until it was too late.” They clenched their jaw in an effort to remain in control of their emotions, but the anger inside them was rising rapidly.

Caretaker was now breathing so heavily that it was audible. “I’m not going to kill you,” they began, “but when I’m done, you’re going to wish you were dead.” They fixed Villain with a glare so powerful it sent chills down Villain’s spine.

Villain prepared themself for another verbal assault, ready to bite back and defend themself again, when Hero very abruptly shot up into a seated position. If not for Caretaker’s quick reflexes, Hero would have hit them in the face with their head. The room fell into a silence of anticipation as both pairs of eyes locked onto Hero, waiting to see what they were going to do next.

“I hate you,” Hero spat as they twisted around to face Caretaker. “I fucking hate you!” They yelled. Without warning, their arm shot out and they grasped Caretaker’s throat, their fingers curling around it. Then they squeezed as tightly as they could.

Caretaker choked out a startled gasp, their eyes going wide in shock. “Hero, i-it’s…m-me….” they wheezed, but their words only seemed to increase Hero’s anger.

“Fuck you.” Hero yanked Caretaker so close that saliva splattered onto their cheek. “Pick a god and pray, princess. It won’t matter who you choose. The elements have abandoned you, as have your kings and queens. The place you once called ‘home’? You’ll never see it again. In fact, where you’re going, you won’t be seeing anything for a long, long time.” They chuckled deeply, grinning widely before lifting Caretaker up into the air and throwing them across the room. They slammed into the wall with a loud ‘thump’. A sickening smirk of delight tugged at Hero’s lips as they heard it, overjoyed when they saw how much of a struggle it was for Caretaker to stand back up.

“I suppose now is as good a time as any to make my entrance,” came the sound of a new yet nauseatingly familiar voice from a darkened part of the room. Both Villain and Caretaker looked in the direction of which it had originated from, shock and terror written into their facial features.

“Supervillain,” they hissed simultaneously.

Supervillain stalked forward out of the shadows, revealing themself fully. “Why the surprise, darlings? You had to have known I’d be arriving to collect my prize.” They were in their wolf form, their partially-shredded wings spread out at full length to show dominance. Their eyes glowed the same scarlet red as Hero’s. “Ding! Dinner’s done!” Supervillain snickered at their own comment. “Well then. Sorry to cut this reunion short but I must be getting my newest team member home.”

Caretaker, still a bit dazed from bashing their head against the wall but capable of staying on their feet, stumbled over to Villain and stood beside them. Pain pulsed through their skull with the movement and a rush of dizziness temporarily distorted their vision at the movement, but they chose to ignore it. “No! You won’t be taking them anywhere!”

Villain gave Caretaker a warning shove, reminding them who exactly they were dealing with before clearing their throat and drawing Supervillain’s attention onto themself instead. “You’re trespassing, you know, Supervillain.”

“Nonsense! I’ve merely come to retrieve what was taken from me,” Supervillain replied. “Come, my child.” They gestured for Hero to walk over to them.

As Hero reached Supervillain and Supervillain had wrapped a wing around their waist possessively, Villain spoke up. “Bullshit! Nothing was ‘taken’ from you. Hero left on their own and I found them alone in the woods. For one thing, if not for me, they’d be dead. Second, if my history with you is anything to go by, I’m willing to bet they were running from something. They were not ‘taken’. They escaped, and you can only blame yourself for that one, you lazy bitch.” Villain’s heart thudded painfully in their chest, anxiety surging through them with each beat, but they stood their ground, refusing to take back what they’d just said.

Supervillain barred their teeth and growled sharply, their ears flattened to their head in a display of pure aggression. It was a warning. “This is your one and only chance, Villain. Hand Hero over willingly or I’ll do to you what I did to your parents.”

Villain had to bite their tongue at that last part. It was very clearly only said to piss them off, and they could barely contain the fury that threatened to consume them at the mention of their mom and dad, meaning the comment had done its intended job, but they fought against it. Instead, they answered with, “As Caretaker said: no.”

Supervillain didn’t give up easily. They never did. “You’re a stain on your family’s history, as were your mother and father,” they continued, sensing Villain’s rage and wanting nothing more than to play with fire. “You and your fucked up parents have tainted the Demonian bloodline with your betrayals. I can’t change the past, but I can have a do-over.” They gestured towards Hero, implying that Hero was their do-over. “With Hero, we’ll start anew, make up for your mistakes with new beginnings, starting with your punishment.” Supervillain then met Hero’s gaze. “Kill them.”

-

Tags

@morning-star-whump @whatwhumpcomments

[neakco]

Inspired by the above song.

Lies and misunderstandings have caused Marinette to be hounded by press. Thankfully her best friend is there for her.

They Don’t Know About Us

Masterlist Ao3

Another day another lie, Marinette turned up the volume on her headphones and walked a little faster towards the café. With practiced ease she dodged the subtle jabs and cold stares. The current lie had been printed in papers for all to see, she was a homewrecker. Someone had spotted her leaving Jagged's apartment while Penny was out, while last week it had been Adrien's and before that it was the eldest Wayne's. At least Adrien was her friend and actually her age.

She entered the café and sighed, finally she was safe from the cold eyes judging her every blink. The owners here knew her and not only had they threatened legal action against the media if they were caught harassing any customers, but they had also installed tinting on all the windows to make it impossible to look in. They also treated her just the same as any other customer, it was relaxing. Still she selected a back booth with clear escapes routes.

She had only just sat with her coffee when a tall women with long dark hair and a bright maxi skirt approached, “Is this seat free?”

“I am sorry but I am meeting….” She cut herself off as she recognized the bright blue eyes of her best friend and smiled, “you, I am meeting you.”

“That seems rather convenient now doesn’t it?”

“I missed you Birdie.”

“Missed you too bug, been getting harder to escape reporters “

She sighed and glanced at the pack just waiting for her to leave. “Is it wrong of me to hope for a new super villain to distract them?”

“Nette, no”

“Nette, yes.” Mischief flashed briefly across her face before she smoothed it into something neutral, “It would only be for a month, maybe two, than Ladybug would swoop in to defeat me.”

Her friend had the audacity to laugh, “You don’t swoop.”

There was a pleasant thud as her head hit the table, “I know, swooping is trademarked by your family, bit this is exhausting. How am I supposed to keep clients when every consultation ends as a front page scandal?” Dexterous fingers pried her chin up and forced her to look at her coffee, “Sorry Tim, this is supposed to be us time, work stays at the door.”

He laughed quietly before dramatically pouting, “Here I am all dressed up pretty just for you and not one single compliment.”

She sat up straight and made an obvious show of studying his outfit. “You do look very pretty, is that skirt one of mine?”

“Of course, who else includes pockets?”

“Oh, I have a list if you want.” She pulled out her phone already knowing she would have no need for it. “If you had let me know you were interested in skirts I could have made you some in your colours so you wouldn’t have needed to steal one of Steph’s.”

“Maybe next time.” He placed a hand over hers, forcing the phone down. “Seriously though Nette, anything you need, I am here for you.” He paused, “Unless it is murder, than you need Jay or The Gremlin.”

“I thought they were reformed.”

“They are, but I am positive they would do it if you promised to bake them pastries.”

This brought a more genuine laugh to her lips, “Thanks love, but you know me, I have a plan. I just had to step up the timeline a bit.”

“Your going to do a reveal?” His eyes were wide. She couldn’t tell if it was from anticipation or shock. “Are you aiming for fashion week or a private show?”

She took a wistful drink before settling on her words, “If fashion week wasn’t months away I would wait. I just can’t deal with this palatable hatred for that long.” His hands tightened on hers, he could probably tell she was close to a panic attack. “I have enough designs ready right now, and enough of my friends owe me favours that I will have no shortage of models.”

“Than what do you need?”

“A venue. The good ones are either all booked or cost more than I think they’re worth.”

Tim started to massage her palm, “Did you forget that I am rich?”

“I don’t want the press to label you as another member of my harem.”

His phone dinged and he pulled it out with a flourish, “Look at that, I appear to have placed a rather large commission and paid in advance.”

Her phone lit up with the request, “You already knew this would be my plan and figured out where it would fall apart. How did you time it so well?”

“I keyed a timer to start when I said a certain sentence.”

“You are ridiculous.”

He hummed as he took a drink of her rapidly cooling coffee. “But you love me anyway.”

“I do.”

“You forgot the most important part.”

“Did I now?” Is this what being relaxed felt like?

“Be it hate, rumors or glares, why should we care? None of them actually know us.” She blushed at the affection radiating off of him. “They don’t know how much you care about everyone, how much of yourself you put into everything you do. No just for me or your friends, but to anyone in need.” He leaned forward and made sure to hold her other hand as well. “Those that matter care and those that don’t care don’t matter.” He suddenly dropped her hands and stood to adjust his skirt before offing her a hand up.

“Tim?”

“Let’s see how fast those paparazzi really are?”

She laughed and took his hand as he led her at a run through the back door and into the ally, pausing only to make sure she was ready before sprinting towards the wall.

She followed with a laugh, the vultures could try to give chase, but the roofs were hers.

[fantasyinvader]

I’ve been wondering if there’s more to Edelgard’s Napoleon allusion than meets the eye. I mean, sure, Edelgard has Amyr adorned with the “Crest of the Beast,” suggesting she’s an antichrist figure much like how Napoleon was seen in the past over his ability to wage war (see War and Peace). Likewise, Edelgard is a villain while Napoleon was considered THE villain back in the day. Just look at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hyping up Sherlock’s supposed last opponent Moriarty as “the Napoleon of crime” to see what I mean.

But what I’m thinking is how Edelgard is an absolute monarch (autocrat) whose rule is backed by the army. We see this in her Japanese ending, how Claude refers to her rule as “military rule” and her being identified as a hegemon in both Flower and Moon routes. But this rule comes after an insurrection that was meant to limit the power of the crown.

People tend to forget that feudalism isn’t just simply obeying what your king says. Titles such as dukes, counts, barons, knights are all granted with privileges, but those privileges must be respected by the monarch. It’s transactional, and if the monarch doesn’t honor his/her side of the bargain they’re liable to face uprisings. That’s why these things are backed by laws, traditions or customs. It’s not just “God says to follow this guy, so do it.” If the monarch simply tries to impose their will, it could very well lead to a civil war.

And in France, King Louis XIV/The Great/The Sun King went about weakening the nobility in this regard by centralizing power. He didn’t appoint someone as his prime minister, he did that work himself while at the same time using his charisma to get nobles to want to support him. The French nobility were too busy partying at his court, keeping them in Versailles rather than in their own lands where they ruled in his name. And while the nobles were busy, Louis XIV and his ministers went about overhauling France, taking power out of the hands of the nobility and instead putting it in the hands of selected intendents who were dependent on the king for their position.

In this context, Versailles sounds like Enbarr in how all the Imperial nobility are supposed to work out of the capital rather than their feifs. This also sounds a lot like how Edelgard frames her reforms. But if you know your history, it’s these reforms by Louis XIV that planted the seeds of the French Revolution. After all, he fed the decadence of the nobility in a time when things were good, decadence they refused to give up when times got bad. His successors also didn’t have the charisma to make this work for them.

The parallel here is Ionius, trying to consolidate power for himself and take it from the nobility. However, he appears to have lacked the charisma of the Sun King, leading to the Insurrection of the Seven. After all, he wasn’t performing his duties to his nobles and presumably his parties fucking sucked. Reforms are made to limit the powers of the monarch by corrupt individuals, each seeking to empower themselves rather than the people. Hell, these same nobles would want to join with Edelgard’s intended conquest of Fodlan in order to further their own authority, see Caspapa joining her in Houses in exchange for control of the former Alliance territories.

Sadly, this reflects how the French Revolution became corrupt, not living up to it’s own ideals and giving way to the Reign of Terror. We don’t really get much of a RoT in Fodlan, at least until Edelgard, the Napoleon figure, takes over. And of course, we can argue the hypocrisies of Napoleon and Edelgard. Whatever lofty ideals they talked about spreading didn’t really gel with their actions.

Patricia fleeing the Empire with Cornelia’s help calls to mind the Scarlet Pimpernel.

There’s also the Enlightenment angle. We have the whole Enlightenment/Nirvana symbolism with regards to Buddhism, but there’s also the European Age of Enlightenment. We have technological clues to suggest Fodlan is around the 1700’s in terms of development comparative to our world, such as the fact there’s children’s literature, with opera being from the 1600’s as well as the discovery of the speed of light. We have John Locke, believing that humans are inherently good and would work in the interest of society in opposition to the Church’s stance that people are naturally sinful and need guidance. There’s also the belief if we did away with the old order it would lead to a new golden age.

Those last two points remind anyone else of Edelgard? Bonus points, the end of the Napoleonic wars is said to be the end of the Age of Enlightenment.

Edelgard also restores the Church under her control after it was kicked out of the Empire over a hundred years prior. Reminds me of Napoleon bringing back the Catholic Church after the revolution tried to replace it with their Cult of Reason/Cult of the Supreme Being, but did so in a way he wouldn’t be under their control.

But it is known that when Napoleon was defeated, the people of the capital opened their doors to their enemies. They were sick of him and his endless wars. With regards to Edelgard, reach Enbarr and you can recruit a battalion of civilians to oppose her with Dorothea and Manuela. You don’t get that for any other lord. It’s meant to show that even her own people think she’s a tyrant, just like Napoleon was considered the first modern dictator. Both are also skilled at using propaganda, both ran police states (see Hubert about that one).

Invading a frozen country only for their capital to be set on fire as you take it?

Really feels like there was this effort to link Edelgard to a real person, one greatly debated by history, when you look at stuff like this. Too bad Fodlan didn't have a Horatio Hornblower, but to be fair he is a fictional character.

[kerryweaverlesbian]

Lofty of BBC's Holby City was maybe one of the worst characters on the show. Is this a hot take? Do people outside of me and my family somehow adore Lofty? I can't imagine how. Here is my hateful mean and nasty reasoning. Read at your own risk I'm not accepting criticism at this time lmao:

A) he was effective comic relief on Casualty because it's the Emergency Department and moments of Lofty tripping over or doing a social faux pas are necessary tension breakers in episodes where people are constantly at deaths door.

Casualty is (when it's GOOD) required to have at least a third of the episode dedicated to a narsty horrible accident (hell yeah) and tensions are always running high so you can see how having someone a be awkward is not going to be the worst thing that happened to them that day.

Holby City is a more hospital staff focused show (although again. If there's less than a third of an episode focused on patients it is probably a bad episode. PLEASE HAVE PATIENTS IN YOUR HOSPITAL SHOW.) but there's a lot of waiting around for people in Holby because it's the longer term care zone. If Lofty is dropping stuff in the background of scenes with this lower energy it suggests he has some sort of untreated disability rather than 'argh I'm frantic OOPS'. He is painted more as incompetent on Holby compared to their more grounded staff. Which makes everyone ELSE look incompetent for putting up with it. (To be clear!!!! I'm not saying people with disabilities are incompetent lol if he had one it would have been a storyline!! And if he had one and none of the doctors who see him every day flagged it it also makes them look incompetent. He doesn't CARE enough to be CAREful. And in a show ABOUT caring for vulnerable people as far as you absolutely can. That's a big problem.)

Like the thing is. Characters on Casualty can be one note architypes forever because they're doing medical CSI. Holby spends so much more time with the cast, they NEED to become more complicated and Lofty never does, he's the same guy no matter what happens. The only other guy like that in Holby is the incomparable Guy Self and he's a villain! He is a villain for never changing or trying for anyone! And even he TRIES to reform occasionally. Lofty (and the SHOW) doesn't see a problem with him perpetually disengaging from making emotional choices, putting most of the work of maintaining relationships on other people, and generally coasting through a profession that everyone else is giving 110% to. The building could be on fire and he'd wander outside and not think to rescue any of the patients unless someone else told him to.

B) the B is for Bisexual. Bisexual representation on Holby City where he cheats on his husband with a woman. It's a yikes from me.

C) speaking of Dom. God their relationship was horrible. POOR FUCKING DOM. tw abuse. Lofty talks to and believes Dom's abusive ex over him? He hugs the guy that RECENTLY pushed Dom down a flight of stairs? And they're still supposed to be a cutesy couple by the end of this? He shuts down Dom's excitement constantly? Hello??

D) the D is again for Dom because. It's their one year anniversary. By the way it was on their honeymoon that Dom couldn't go on to support his sick mother that Lofty cheated on Dom. Just by the way. BY THE WAY if your husband says he's going to stay home for your honeymoon and insists you go by yourself so he can stay home to support his sick mother. Maybe. Hm. Stay and support him instead. Just a fucking thought.

Lofty decides it's not working and they amicably split up (Dom is an angel sent from gay heaven by the way. I perhaps have my biases.) Dom kindly gives him the quirky and personal gift he'd bought him for their one year wedding anniversary as Lofty unicycles away (it may have been a bicycle but I picture it as a unicycle). Lofty gives him. Nothing. Which means that this man sat there as they planned a big anniversary party and not ONCE. not ONCE did he consider buying Dom an anniversary present. Because he's an arse!!!!

E) he only does this :| or this :/ for any emotion. I love characters with flat affects, for example my close personal friends Hannah Supernatural, Abed Community, and also as well my actual real human friends who do this 💖💖💖. HOWEVER. Lofty doesn't show emotion any OTHER way either. There IS nothing going on in his heart. He has passion for nothing. He goes where other people point. He avoids giving his opinion because he doesn't have any. This makes him a bad tv character for a drama. Opinion IS story on Holby. There is an issue, they all take sides and fight over it, and he doesn't get involved.

Anyway. Show's been over for over a year I will never have to see Lofty's face ever again as long as I live unless I for some reason decide to do a bizarre Holby City Rewatch and keep going to season 19.

By the way as I was looking up when he came to the Holby side of Holby City Hospital, I found this quote from his wiki page:

"Lofty is portrayed as a nice person who is likeable and popular."

Hm. He IS PORTRAYED as a nice person. The show thinks he's a nice person who is likable. However.

This concludes my ministry of hate.

[virtuouswhitehatorganization]

I Think Coyote Was Treated More Like A Servant Than Omega Was

I just feel when he was brainwashed Coyote was treated more like a go to serving boy in comparison with Omega who at least got the appearance of still being apart of the superhero clique. Again it has to do with him being a supposed reformed villain which can make him feel like an outlier that has suck up to the popular crowd. I mean Heed said in a Q & A publicly she didn’t see any relationship happening between a villain and hero even if they reformed which again shows that distrust against reformed villains that could be running in the Villainous superhero community. It again gives more a subtle commentary of how the superhero business and has just become a celebrity club rather than focusing on helping people. 

[moosecow]

UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME!

Ten things I wish would just DIE already…

10. Miraculous Ladybug

Before you sharpen your pitchforks! Hear me out! I actually REALLY like this show…but GOD It is the BIGGEST tease I have EVER seen! Marinette and Adrien should have gotten together at the end of the first season, and maybe we could have explored their relationship, given them more depth? Raised the stakes instead of the CONANT. ENDLESS. FILLER. Of absolute nothing that is this show. We all know they’re going to get together, just rip the bandaid and let us move on. I’ve never seen a show jerk its fan base around so much!

9. Avatar the Last Air Bender

Again, I LOVE THIS SHOW, SO, SO MUCH! But I can tell that they’re now turning this into a cash cow. I don’t want to see another avatar show, especially after what they did with Legend of Korra. What made Avatar so special was that, yes there was a lot going on in their world, but it never stopped focusing on the core cast, their development, their relationships, and their reactions to the world they live in. Korra just gave us more and more characters instead of focusing on the ones we had, and it lost me with its overcomplicated plot, and I fear legend of Genji, AND the live action remake (which already has alarm bells going up because it’s live action and when has worked out well?) Can we just…revive an old gem on Nickelodeon? Or make something new and substantial instead of relying on SpongeBob reruns?

8. Dragon Ball

Yes, another show I like! But MAN! How many power-ups can we go through before it gets old! Even ASH finally reached his goal in pokemon! There’s so much content here, and I’m grateful for that! I don’t mind more games and merchandise, but enough of the show! It’s clear that only Goku and Vegeta are the only characters capable of beating the big enemy, and no one cares much for the younger characters taking over. But at this point their not that interesting. ESPECIALLY Goku. He’s just a guy that likes fighting. Vegeta was more interesting with his reformed villain arc, but he is constantly overshadowed by his dumber super-saiyen. It feels like they’ve exhausted all their stories….

7. Velma

I’m gonna barf. Seriously, all people do is complain about this show. Can we just, STOP? Review bombing it, complaining about it, making reaction videos to it, is just…feeding it at this point. If all of us hate so much! So many shows that deserved to be watched and enjoyed were completely ignored and faded away from the public consciousness, but not this one, at least, not yet. I see video and video about it! Ignore it. Let it die like it’s supposed to! And now I will never mention it again, and neither should you!

6. Marvel

It’s not so much as I want this franchise to die…more like…I think we need a break! It’s been like 20 years of non stop Marvel and I feel like we already peaked with the Avengers Endgame. Besides Moon Knight and Wakanda Forever, all I’ve seen is general dislike of all the new stuff coming out. I know that Disney is a big conglomerate and they’re going to milk this thing for all it’s worth…but wouldn’t people enjoy it more if you let it simmer for a bit, let the ideas come back after some rest, and then get back into it?

5. 13 Reasons Why

This show should have stayed a book! Oh. My. God. As someone that struggles with mental illness, watching this get sensationalized and reduced to nothing more then teenage angst for badly written teenage characters is so gross! I don’t have much to say about it. It just makes me so angry! How do people actually like this and continue to watch and recommend it? It’s basically the same as every other “dramatic” teen show out there, but uses suicide as a hook to draw people in, which is so disrespectful! You want a show that is more mature then this and actually handles mental illness well? Watch BoJack Horseman.

4. Grey’s Anatomy

I don’t care about the relationships in this show. I don’t who broke up with who, who died, who couldn’t have a kid, who cheated on who. I cared more, in the first season at least, when they were just young surgeons, and they were dealing with the struggles of that. BUT MAN! This show quickly became a soap opera! I mean what did I expect from an ABC show. Just end it already! If you want a good show about doctor’s that focuses on their personal growth and the difficulties of the job watch House, or better yet, watch Scrubs.

3. Kingdom Hearts

This hurts. This hurts. So. Much. GOD! I love these games…but I REALLY hate the direction they’re going. KH3 was such a red flag! The story was complicated enough with time travel, the whole foretellers things, how we keep adding characters instead of focusing on the core Destiny Islands Trio, how Kairi is basically a plot device where, EVEN IN HER OWN GAME, she has to be rescued by Sora. And now, KH4 is on its way and Nomura is basically turning it into versus 13….I don’t even know anymore. Things were getting real dumb in Dream Drop Distance. I’m just going to pretend thee series ended at KH2, where the emotions were there and the story wasn’t derailed and removed of all the charm it had…Either end it…or do something actually good with it, because at this point, it’s just getting ridiculous. And this is coming from someone that loves this series with every fiber of their being.

2. Stranger Things

Yeah, Netflix will cancel actually interesting things like Inside Job, Dead End National Park, I’m not okay with this, Sense 8, and introduce stupid ideas such as removing password sharing (EVEN AFTER RAISING THE PRICE BECAUSE PEOPLE WERE PASSWORD SHARING) but they will keep things like Cuties and…this show. At this point, Stranger Things is a shadow of its former self. Not only are there no stakes, because everyone has plot armor, but it’s basically just teenage drama at this point. Remember how in Season 1, the demagorgan was actually scary? Remember how going into the upside down had health consequences? The characters just walk around now without a problem. But this show is just drama filled enough to keep the attention of the masses without actually having any substance. It makes me sad that it followed the pattern of the first season being the most interesting season and then everything going down hill from there. How did THIS show, of all shows…make me not care? What could be worse then this?

Well…

#1. Harry Potter Series

I loved this as a kid. I read this thing so many times…but now…I’m past it, and JK is just. A. Terrible. Terrible. Person…the fact that it doesn’t end with her words, that she actively gives money and supports hate groups, kind ruins the messages I learned in HP. As a kid, I thought part of the point was to be inclusive, and to make life better for people that are mistreated by the mainstream. But no. Not only were the last few movies terrible, but Rowling keeps digging that hole. Even if I wanted to, I just can’t enjoy it anymore. So, even if not everyone will. I’m going to let it die. We need another book series to inspire a generation…I just can’t with this anymore…

[joocin-thebox]

me: ranting about mlp g5 and its continuity errors and world building logistics

my friends who are subjected to my long winded complaints:

its too many thoughts too many tags i realize so they're going here YAY

complaints and spoilers for up to chapter 6 of make your mark below!

ND formatting bc i see walls of text and i die!

again: who cares if g4 is the history??

like whatever that is so cool i love that idea! made me so excited!! but the entirety of g5 is unintentionally undoing everything they allegedly set up between g4 and g5

im just confused as to why have 6 whole chapters of 'we are strengthening the magic twilight made!' and then 'well its all gone!'

i GET that its... you know... not the worst thing and its not bad on its own, that's totally fine, i just

personally i think it could have gone a better route with a better finale (not that chapter 6 is the finale) :/ opaline was a villain with lots of potential but horrible execution. reduced to comedic relief villain that randomly actually takes her motivations seriously! she was lazy for 6 whole chapters, until a halloween episode and suddenly!! she's a little less lazy! yay!? no depth to her character whatsoever. she was jealous of celestia and luna and apparently she wasnt even a fire alicorn to begin with???

i think having most of make your mark into a summarized exposition for the inital movie, would have set up something a bit better for opaline as a villain and our characters as heros! the "we did it mrs obama, we got rid of pony racism!" is so... stupid i think that idea was bad and that's okay bad ideas are fine to have, but imagine opaline being a villain in the movie instead of not being relevant at all!

we get introduced to all of our main characters right off the bat, and focus on opaline's peak and fall as a villain so we have our central antagonist, because the preaching of unity imo goes ultimately no where. i like the idea of "when you have friends, you're never truly alone", but at the same time... them splitting up to defend their own homes when they could defeat opaline together as a unit makes so much more sense and its the reason they lost! they were not as united as they claimed! they're not even symbols of unity, in the slightest!

in their defense, all bg ponies are dumb as rocks, so :/ go figure no one would actually stand behind the "keepers of the crystals" even in times of need

make your mark could have been about ensuring opaline didn't return, exploring new kinds of magic, deepening bonds within our main cast and with our main cast and their other relationships, creating character we can care about their success instead of expecting deus ex magica to fix everything for them! giving them a reason and a will to fight, give their friendship and confidence boost speeches weight. make ANYTHING mean something. and you can have "filler" and non-lore related episodes in that and still have a good story! i literally know its possible... g4 did it... but g5 main case dont really grow as characters, i mean, Zipp is allegedly supposed to be training to be queen or preparing for it, and yet we never see that. We know she doesnt want to, but we know she might have to. You could literally parallel a Frozen dynamic where the older sister gives up her reign just because she can!

We could see Pipp train to be queen, Zipp becoming queen like accidentally, or someone new entirely trying to take over Zephyr heights as a low stakes antagonist. (like sprout)

We could have a potential Opaline reform, or attempt at reform that ultimately fails and we seal her away for good! it would give her a chance because Sunny seems like the type to at least give anyone a chance.

I talked with a friend and was like 'oh instead of introducing sparky during mym, introduce him in the movie as a dragon egg opaline had captured and he had hatched DURING the movie, and hitch could have rescued him and maybe felt a greater attachment bc he SAVED sparky from possible death!! kids like drama and angst too! it doesnt have to be cushy, i mean shit chapter 6 pushes the envelope a little bit i think!

i could literally think up what kind of story beats and what we could have done all night for g5,

except for tell your tale.... 5 min youtube shorts that sometimes have an explanation for mym details is unforgivable and needs to just be gonezo. a lot of people have netflix. share mym clips on youtube if you need to so badly. or, if you have to tyt so bad, dont have them do things... that never get explained in mym... or have tyt be a sub product of mym, where something happened in this mym chapter, oh we will lightly reference it in tyt! but tyt is more focused on lighter character bonding or even background characters! like holy shit! the possibilites!!

watch me make a "what we could have done better: mlp:ang" video with my shitty mic and piss poor editing abilities! i stg.... im inspired... i have so much hope for this show but it has just... it falls a little flat where it could be greater!

and dont get me wrong! g5 has a lot of great moments! i like the relationship hitch and misty have, despite how they barely ever talk to each other in the show (sunny, zipp, and pipp are our REAL main characters, lets me real)

i love the sisters' relationship with each other, i love how izzy and pipp are creatives of different types, how hitch and zipp are sleuths of different types, how they're protective and reluctant in similar ways, i like how sunny always wants to inspire others and is kind of sassy and lowkey shades ponies when she's trying to give the good word. I love all that stuff. its not as bad as i tend to make it seem because im a world class hater but g5 is not BAD, i just think it could be BETTER

honestly i could even just put my ideas into an au... a fix it au... hmmm.... thinks?? thinks hard??

[sociallyanxiouscryptid-writings]

Burn

This isn’t my best work, its a little experimental and very short but for some reason I have a deep desire to just post it as is, so here you go. 

CW: Blood, death, fire, missing person

~

Something had been wrong for weeks now, or perhaps it was something very right. The air had shifted, thicker yet sharper, confusing in a tantalising way. Villain’s world had fallen silent, no whispers in the world of Hero’s, no secret missions reaching their ear, no information at all. It was as if all the Heroes had just vanished.

Villain searched, casually at first, frantically after, when the world really had seemed empty. Not literally, no, there were still plenty of civilians to torment, people to spread fear within, turn over to the supposed dark side. But Villain didn’t care about them. They cared about the Heroes. They cared about Hero.

And when things got desperate Villain was not afraid to take the leap, to break their own rules. The Heroes’ castle was a place of extremely high security, somewhere you only messed with if you were prepared to die along the way. Not that the general public was aware of that, they only got to see the arrest side of it, not the execution block out back.,

At least the Villains’ compound killed you outright, they weren’t afraid to show their true colours.

And they aren’t afraid to show the growing uncertainty on their face, the dread. Smoke billowed out of the castle, sections of walls blown out, guards burnt to crisps, exploded into gooey bits. It was a complete and utter massacre.

Villain walked through carefully, avoiding rubble and fire and pools of blood, but after a while they had to give up that feat.

Their voice found them before they found it.

“Hero?”

The sound was swallowed in the swirl of light and dark, fire burning through curtains, crackling on wooden supports. This was still recent, this had just happened. How had they not known? How had no one known?

They swallowed thick saliva, their tongue drying against the roof of their mouth as they breathed in the hot air and fear.

“Hero?”

They moved faster through the mess, dancing through the shadows to avoid the struggle across rubble. Their voice made it further then they expected.

Detecting movement was hard but a figure seemed to shift up ahead, standing much more upright then the ones around Villain. They moved, melting into darkness and travelling like a wispy smoke.

The figure whipped around with a flash of burning light as Villain reformed and the fire stopped centimetres from their face. They stared through it, as best they could, at the eyes they barely recognised.

“Hero?” An actual question now.

Hero lowered the fire, their gaze lifeless and hateful.

“Villain…” their voice sounded surprised to whatever degree they were currently capable.

The relief that flood Villain was borderline overwhelming. A wash of relaxation and a hint of excitement that brought a smile Villain couldn’t fight. They found their hero, but also they found their hero changed.

“What happened?”

Villain looked about them, at the death and chaos, the apocalypse they had always dreamed of. Hero didn’t look, didn’t move. Villain’s gaze returned to Hero.

“Did you do this?”

It was a stupid question, but Villain wanted to hear the answer noen the less. Hero was covered heard to toe in dry blood, their clothes were torn, charred, fire still blazing in their hands. This massacre was theirs, no questions, many questions but no doubt.

“Is this not what you have always wanted?” Hero’s voice sounded so distant, as if they weren’t truly in their body. Villain doubted it they were even aware of themself right now.

“Yes, I have dreamt of this day for years, but you haven’t,” Villain cupped Hero’s chin, examined Hero’s bloody face.

“I want them to burn…”

“It seems you have succeeded at that.”

“I want them all to burn.” Hero said, “everyone.”

“Now you are sounding like me,” Villain’s head tilts, “what happened?”

Hero stares off, watching things Villain isn’t privy to. It fuels the fire around them, their hands burning brighter.

“They deserve it.”

Villain watches them, smiles.

“Yes they do.”

“I want to burn the world.”

“I can see that.”

“Will you help me?”

“Of course I will, what kind of friend do you think I am?”

Shadows dance around them, rising of the fires, putting them out as they knit together, growing thicker and strong before encompassing them both entirely.

[brokentoys]

coming up with puzzler has been a fun journey. because initially, when i started this blog, i had no real concepts for a reformed eddie then just "he's a single dad, and i'm going with the P.I. thing. that's it." however, my disappointment with how eddie's character is being handled, especially as of recent, got me thinking what i would do if i could write comics for eddie. and with this initial concept, i had to give eddie a main antagonist. i didn't want it to be another big rogue. i want it to be a lesser known character, or a new character. because, the harley show for example, there are many ppl who are disappointed in how the bigger popular rogues are either thrown away, or how they're depicted. i didn't want that if i were to do a comic. therefore, i use characters that aren't as well known, or as established. so, thinking of a main antagonist, i decided to go with puzzler. there have been a few puzzlers throughout comic history, especially against superman. but i went with the '66 series. as puzzler may be one of the least popular '66 villains, and less memorable one. especially because he was literally created to be a stand in for eddie as frank left the show, so they couldn't use the character. but i thought, i WILL take puzzler and reinvent him to be something maybe people could like. but i had a problem.

that was... i didn't really know what i wanted to do with puzzler. in the beginning, he was simply an older man who got bored of his life and seeing there was no longer a riddler, he would take eddie's place as a puzzling villain. and whilst i had other things - such as puzzler had parents who actually encouraged his intelligence, opposite to eddie, and i may have had his perpetual boredom thought of back then? as well as him being gay. but... i was very unhappy with puzzler. i felt he wasn't compelling enough, his motives weren't as interesting nor his story. in fact, i even planned on killing puzzler when introducing a bigger threat because i was just not happy with my ideas, and thought the other villain ideas i had for other characters were better.

BUT THEN. i had came up with a concept of eddie having an uncle. as a reference to a 60s comic where a wealthy uncle was mentioned, and it was a way to expand the family. after i thought of this "uncle edward" it just came to me - i can combine edward with puzzler. THEN BAM. puzzler's character and what he's supposed to be all just came rushing to me. like i knew exactly what i wanted to do with him, what kind of person he is, and his motivations. somehow, just making him a relative to eddie just put all the pieces together. and now it's a character i'm quite satisfied with, and i hope other ppl would be too if i were to ever do a comic. (and no, i don't kill him off anymore just to introduce another villain - he's too important for that)

yet i had a problem. eddie's story is indeed one of tragedy and trauma. but... i felt it would be tiresome if i gave him another relative who neglected or disliked him. no, i wanted uncle edward to actually care about eddie. however, this puts a major plot hole in the story. if uncle edward is so wealthy, why wouldn't he support eddie more? this was something i had trouble coming up with an explanation that didn't feel contrived. because i definitely want eddie to grow up poor - that's a very big part of his character, and who he is. i was actually a poor kid who had a grandmother who once had a million dollars. (which she spent all eventually bc she was a shopaholic) but she had very little to do with my life. so that made sense why that happened to me. but that couldn't apply to eddie - when edward genuinely loved eddie, and even wanted eddie as his own son. sooo... i HAD to find a way to make this work. initially, i thought "well, edward has fucked up views that he believes to be good, maybe he wanted eddie to work hard for his own money?" and i went with that for the longest time. but that also felt way too contrived. then i came up with an idea that puzzler's wealth is obviously dirty money. both people in the underground, as well as in the GCPD, begin to suspect that the socialite edward boucher is puzzler. there's even a part in the lore where a baby eddie gets harmed because one of edward's rivals figured out he's puzzler. so, the idea is that edward fakes his death, and does not leave any money behind for eddie, because he doesn't want eddie to be at all involved with his life as the puzzler. he doesn't want more people to target and harm eddie. he does this because he thinks he's protecting eddie, and the innocence of a child. and i feel that's a much better, and a more understandable reason. it feels more satisfying to me.

there's still drama and hurt involved in this family dynamic. as puzzler genuinely cares about eddie, one of the very few people puzzler is capable of caring for. and eddie held his uncle in this high regard, as his uncle was the nicest person to him, but only in his life for 5 years. but once eddie finds out just who his uncle is - turns out his uncle is practically everything he's against, and swore to fight. eddie now feels hurt and betrayed. but puzzler, still very much cares about eddie. it's a complicated dynamic that way while not being the same "eddie has a neglectful/hateful relative" deal.