#being so interested in it you become a character in a movie

[writer-freak]

New year | Twst x reader

Characters: Leona, Rook, Vil, Idia, Lilia and Malleus

Warnings: Gn reader, fluff, english isn't my first language, written quickly

A/n: Another small thing before the new year that I have written pretty quickly. Just some first thoughts that came to my head about them. Also I'm thinking about opening requests next year, but we will see if that works out

Leona Kingscholar

Leona is not really a fan of the loud noises or the effort it takes to set up fireworks. If you want to see them, he’ll suggest watching from a distance, maybe from a rooftop or through a window.

He’s more interested in spending New Year’s Eve relaxing with you. He might claim to "accidentally" fall asleep, but when the clock strikes midnight, he’ll lazily pull you close and mutter a soft, “Happy New Year, herbivore.”

He’s likely to enjoy stargazing more than fireworks, using it as an excuse to be outside in the cool night air with you.

If you do manage to coax him outside to watch the fireworks, he’ll bring a cozy blanket and claim it’s “for you,” but you end up sharing it anyway.

Leona loves the quietness after the fireworks are over, just enjoying your company in peaceful silence as you settle down to sleep.

Rook Hunt

Rook absolutely adores the whole spectacle of fireworks! He’ll insist on finding the perfect spot to watch them, probably somewhere high up with a great panoramic view.

He might even prepare a poetic monologue about the beauty of the fireworks and how they remind him of you.

He’s full of energy and excitement, making sure that the night feels magical. If the fireworks aren’t enough, he might bring along sparklers or even suggest setting off a small display of his own.

Along with sparklers, he might bring a camera or a sketchbook to immortalize the beauty of the moment, with you being his main muse.

As the fireworks burst in the sky, he’ll take your hand and kiss it, proclaiming how this year will be one filled with endless romance.

Vil Schoenheit

Vil appreciates fireworks for their aesthetics but prefers to enjoy them from a more stylish setting, think a private balcony or an elegant private rooftop.

He’s the type to dress both of you up for the occasion. Doing skincare together before he does your makeup and hair. And finally you would put on your slightly matching clothes.

As the clock strikes midnight, Vil will look at you with an affectionate smile, saying something sweet about how he’s grateful to have you by his side for another year.

Vil might coordinate the timing so that you’re both in the perfect spot for a breathtaking photo with the fireworks in the background, making it look like a glamorous movie scene.

At midnight, he may lean in and press a lingering kiss to your forehead, whispering about how much brighter his life has become with you in it.

Idia Shroud

Idia’s not a fan of the loud cheers and crowds associated with fireworks. He’s more likely to watch them through a livestream from the comfort of his room. He might grumble about the noise outside but secretly enjoy the colors lighting up the night.

His idea of a perfect New Year’s Eve involves gaming with you. If you end up gaming together, he might try to pick a co-op game that has a winter theme or even a story with a fireworks scene. It's subtle, but he’s trying to make it special.

At midnight, he might get flustered but muster up the courage to thank you for being the highlight of his year, all while trying to hide his red cheeks behind his hair.

Ortho might pop in, surprising you two with glowing lights or little holographic displays to celebrate the new year, much to Idia’s embarrassment but your delight.

After midnight, Idia might awkwardly hand you a small, thoughtful gift he’s been holding onto for the occasion, mumbling that it’s “no big deal.”

Lilia Vanrouge

Lilia loves fireworks! He’s the type to suggest setting off your own or finding a lively festival or crowd where you can celebrate with others.

He’s really playful and mischievous throughout the day, teasing and challenging you to try strange 'New Year’s snacks' he prepared (which may or may not be entirely edible).

When the clock strikes midnight, he’ll scoop you into a spin, laughing joyously as he wishes you a happy new year.

He might pull you into impromptu dances under the starlight, spinning you around as he hums an old melody from his youth.

As the trickster he is, Lilia can’t resist surprising you with a sudden New Year’s kiss just as the clock strikes midnight.

He pulls back with a cheeky grin, claiming it "didn't count" because you didn’t reciprocate properly. With a teasing glint in his eyes, he declares that you’ll need to initiate the next one for it to be a proper New Year’s kiss.

Of course, every time you lean in to fulfill his request, he finds something “wrong” with it, too quick, not dramatic enough, or lacking “passion.” It’s an obvious ploy to steal as many kisses as he can, his laughter ringing in the air as he continues teasing you

Despite his antics, there’s a softness in his eyes that betrays just how much he cherishes the moment with you.

As the night comes to an end, he’ll suggest sitting down next to the fireplace, just cuddling and chatting about the year before them.

Malleus Draconia

Malleus has mixed feelings about fireworks. He’s fascinated by their fleeting beauty but he’d much rather light a single sparkler and hold it with you than deal with an overwhelming display.

He prefers a more quiet celebration, perhaps a walk under moonlight with you through a snow-covered garden. The calmness of the moment is what matters most to him.

Malleus might surprise you with a delicate charm or trinket imbued with his magic, a symbol of his wish to keep you safe and close to his heart throughout the year.

He’d present it shyly, almost uncertain, before explaining its meaning, hoping that you would also wish to stay next to him.

At midnight, he’ll look deeply into your eyes, quietly vowing to protect you and cherish the time you have together in the coming year.

He might create a private fireworks display just for the two of you using magic, ensuring it’s quiet and perfectly tailored to your taste.

After midnight, he’ll offer you his coat or cape to ward off the cold, taking your hand as he whispers a promise to make the coming year as beautiful as this one.

Divider by: @cafekitsune

[adioringhamzah]

idk if u take requests but it’s worth giving a shot lolll!!! you dont have to but im sooo in need of the idea of being friends with benefits with hamzah. like there are deeper feelings attached and both of them clearly like each other but neither know or can bring it up…. this could be a one shot or a series IDKKKK BUT ID BE SO GRATEFUL

when you started being friends with benefits with one of your best friends, hamzah, you didn't think you would catch feelings

a.n : fwb y/n x hamzah, fem reader, sfw : fluff & mentions of sex, no fc, might make it into a series with pt 2 being hamzah's pov but only if u want!

you’re scrolling on tiktok when a notification pops up from one of your dearest friends : hamzah. "can i come over pls pls? :((" you read, reacting quickly with a thumbs up.

you already know why he wants to come, and it’s definitely not to watch a movie or drink tea.

for almost a month now, your platonic relationship has turned into something more. or, not really... technically, you’re still just platonic friends, but now with a few added perks.

it all started when you both realized you were single and seriously touch starved, but not quite ready for a real relationship.

the whole thing came up during a random movie night, when you watched a film about friends with benefits. at first, it was just jokes– both of you laughing and pointing out how relatable the characters were.

but then… you started wondering, what if this actually works? and it turns out it does.

now, whenever one of you feels like it, you just send a quick text, pick a place, and that’s it. no strings, no mandatory daily good morning texts, no explaining where you’re going or who you’re with.

while waiting for him to arrive, you brush through your hair quickly, wipe the mascara that smudged under your eyes, and for a second, think about changing into something sexier.

but decide against it since you don’t need to impress him and feel comfier in your pyjamas anyway.

when you open the door, hamzah’s standing there in his "vote kanye" sweater (which, annoyingly, you kind of love) and oversize blue jeans.

you let him in without a word, and he kicks his uggs off like it's his own home.

“so, how was your day?” you ask as he sits down on your couch.

“boring as hell,” he says, stretching out, “you?”

“same,” you reply, sitting next to him.

you both look at each other and just know you’re about to make this boring day a little more interesting.

"so what did you have in mind?" you ask him.

"ermmm" he starts to mumble, slowly getting closer to you, leaving your question unanswered.

he places his big hand on your waist and moves you even closer to him, now both of you being just centimetres away from each other.

this is not the first time you've made use of those benefits, obviously.

in the one month you have been doing this, it almost always went the same : you make the shortest small talk, then start by making out, before getting a lot more intimate and you can probably guess the rest.

hamzah actually loves making you try sabrina carpenter's poses, which had become almost a ritual.

usually, there wasn't any awkward tension. it felt natural as if he were your boyfriend. but this time felt weirdly different.

being so close to hamzah made you feel somewhat shy. you can feel his gaze all over your body while you look into his dark eyes filled with excitement.

he seems to feel your discomfort, backing up a little and looking into your eyes, trying to decipher whatever's wrong with you.

you brush it off quickly, explaining you were just lost in your thoughts and he seems to believe you, now getting closer to kiss you.

if you're actually honest with yourself, this friendship might not be that platonic (on your side at least)... you've been friends for about a year, and it had been one of the best of your life.

he always seems to "get" you, and you could spend hours just playing overcooked or listening to lana while talking about whatever news you just saw on tiktok.

but since you became friends with benefits, you felt different around him.

before, you had always loved him–as a friend–and really appreciated his company.

truthfully, it was the kind of friendship where if he asked you to be his girlfriend, you probably would've said yes.

but obviously, it never happened, and you consoled yourself with knowing that those faint feelings you have couldn't be confirmed... until you had sex with him.

fantasising about you two together was one thing. and doing everything you wanted to do to him but as friends was completely another.

you can't tell him, but after he leaves, you always feel lonely. a boyfriend would stay the night, make you breakfast, and check in with you.

whereas for you, instead of date proposals or check-ins, you get sent silly tiktoks or the shortest texts asking you to come at your house. never mentioning the intimate moments you shared.

once he closes the door and you're left all alone, you can't help but reminisce about his muscled arms around your body or his veiny hands on your boobs.

or even his soft lips on yours and his faint smell of bleu de chanel cologne.

and now, with him kissing you, all these thoughts came rushing back.

you start playing with his hair–that smells incredible thanks to his shea shampoo–, trying to distract yourself while he continues kissing you as if it was the cure to all of his problems (he must have a lot of those).

moreover, you can't help but feel jealous seeing his followings : a girlfriend could have a say in that. but you can't, and have to listen to him talking about whatever pretty girl he saw on his fyp.

but you aren't quite ready to give up on those benefits...

after all, what if hamzah has those hidden feelings for you too?..

next part

i hope u liked it!! also i love getting all of your feedback and what you thought of it, and tysm for the anon that requested this <3

[sapphiresaphics]

I am trying to understand in good faith why there’s this backlash against Arcane season 2, because I genuinely don’t understand it. So thank you in advance for taking the time to respond to me.

I guess my question is… how did you think the show was going to end? Because if you’re coming at it from the perspective of “the class divide is the driving force of the show” then what’s the endgame look like to you? How would this show have ended satisfactorily for you?

Because so far the only way I could see that being satisfactorily at all is if the class divide was destroyed. And frankly I don’t think Arcane even back in season 1 was ever going to do that. Arcane isn’t here to “fix classism” for us.

I’m also not sure I would call classism as set dressing to be tactless either. I mean… classism itself as a concept in the real world still exists. If I were to set a movie and focus heavily on how classism affects my characters, that wouldn’t be seen as tactless if I don’t end up solving classism by the end of the film, right? Like a film set during WWII isn’t tactless if it is only focusing on the soldiers in the trenches and not on horrors of the concentration camps, right? You can have concepts like classism be the backdrop for your characters stories, and the more interesting aspect is how your characters confront and deal with that classism, isn’t it?

I guess thats’s my main issue with this seemingly pervasive idea that season 2 abandoned the “central themes” of season 1 because I don’t agree that season 1’s central theme is actually about classism. I think the central theme of the series in general is the one that they repeatedly call back to over and over again: “the cycle of violence.”

Because if you’re right, and classism IS the central theme of the show… what’s the ending of season 1 mean to you? Season 1 ends with the Piltover oppressors agreeing to stop oppressing the undercity… but Jinx blows it all up. What’s Jinx blowing up the only opportunity they’ve had to fix the problems between the two cities say about classism? I gotta be honest, I can’t really see much value or a point in ending a show about classism by making the classism worse.

But when you look at that ending through the lens of the cycle of violence… it becomes a lot more apparent. Because the violence the undercity and Jinx in particular has suffered through because of Piltover is the reason why she blows up the Piltover counselors. And the fact that they were just on the verge of reaching peace, having that all be undone by Jinx’s terrorist attack is inherently tragic and sad. They were about to have peace, but the cycle of violence interrupted it and this whole dance begins all over again.

I hope you’re not mad or angry or anything, I’m just trying to understand where this idea of classism is the central theme came from because I don’t see it that way and I never saw it that way. Classism has always only ever been the backdrop for the main story to unfold against to me.

Do not create a literal upper caste lower caste class divide in your show if you are incapable of presenting the nuances of such a divide it makes you look lazy

[shini--chan]

Yan face with human! reader (they are analytical cold and don't like hugging (tend to be sociopathic)

Scratching the sociopathic part because it doesn’t entirely fit with the analytical and cold part. Besides, I already had this finished and then my laptop decided to stage a rebellion. To say I’m a bit pissed would be an understatement

Yandere Allies - Winter Solstice

America

Alfred would see it as a challenge. In his eyes, you would just be so closed off because you wouldn’t have met him yet and have had somebody to open up to. It would just be like those old (as well as modern) Hollywood films where the love interest of the protagonist would make him chase them to prove his worth. Every slap to the face would just be a hint to try harder and every no would be a yes in disguise. Like the main character in those movies, he would just have to wear you down and you would just be playing hard to get. Never would a rejection of yours be taken seriously and it would just be seen as one of those silly games people like to play with each other. An important thing to keep in mind would be that the faster you would try to run from him, the more stubborn and passionate he would become in his pursuit of you. Even after he would have you bond to his side, he wouldn’t let go of that delusion. It just would compute for him that you aren’t enamoured with him, especially after you played hard to get for so long. 

You can bet your life that he wouldn’t respect your boundaries when it comes to touch, a feature that would be amplified after the two of you would “establish your relationship”. Wriggling out of his embrace, brushing off his hands, turning your cheek when he would go in for a kiss - that and many other rejection of his advances would just lead to him repeating the action more intimately and longer than before. It goes without saying that this would lead to some very … uncomfortable situations. 

Canada

Matthew would actually be relieved, There wouldn’t be such pressure to be a romantic this way and there wouldn’t be much difference between courting and living with him. This man would be from casting you lovelorn gazes while stalking you to casting lovelorn gazes at you while you go about your business in the isolated cabin he would keep you prisoner in after kidnapping you. His relationship would consist a lot of just observing you - he would act very much like a naturalist in that respect, so it wouldn’t matter much if you wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings. 

China

Yao wouldn’t have a big problem with it. Of course he would prefer it if you’d be more affectionate with him, yet he’d take what he is given. If being cold and distant is your baseline personality, then so be it - he’d have become obsessed with you for who you are after all. However, if you’re just playing at being standoffish to scare him off, then he wouldn’t have any of it. He’d increase his pursuit of you, maybe even going as far as forcing you to cooperate with him by pulling some strings and having you assigned to him. Then he’d have time to file away at your armour.

England

Arthur would actually be disturbed by your coldness and aloofness. The partner he would seek would be sweet and tender in the right moments, and have recognisable emotional expressions. You being so closed off, so one dimensional in character wouldn’t sit well with him. Which is why he would become quickly convinced that you would be hiding most of your personality from him and putting up a cold front to scare him away. As such, he would use any method to thaw that icy heart of your’s. Romantic gestures aplenty would be employed - from flowers to poetry to strolls in the park. Eventually though, he would become fed up with his failures and lure away to the woods. A scene would occur, that would culminate in him kidnapping you. 

After squirreling you away to his estate, he would put you through various trials in order to make your hard shell break. All good romantic relationships would have their own obstacles, and this would be one of your’s. For England, it would be alright if you’re cold to others, however you should be willing to grant emotional tenderness and warmth to him. He would also be very merciless in his pursuit of that. 

France

Francis would pity you. Who on earth would have harmed his beloved so much that they would have become closed off and introverted and distrusting? How dare the cruel world harm his petite little love. His notions of your relationship would lead him to directly skip the courting part and straight up kidnap you. When you would continue to be closed off and cold, he would sit you down to explain at length that you’re safe with him and that you no longer have to retreat into yourself to ensure you remain unharmed. With him, it would be alright to be vulnerable. To extend on this, he would see it as within his right to play therapist to you and if you wouldn’t cooperate, then he would resort to underhand methods. Romantic dinners would turn into interrogations, and every menial problem of your’s would be traced back to your childhood. 

Additionally, he would enact your “revenge” for you so that you can get over your past “traumas”. Your “abuser’s” head would be served to you on a silver platter. While it can be so easy to label him as a sappy, romantic fool, there would be instances like this where he would remind you that that would just be a singular facet to the personality of a warfaring empire.France would be like a cat bringing a mouse to your doorstep, and be as expectant as a hound for praise. 

Russia

Ivan would be alright at first - he would see it as a normal reaction to meeting somebody new. True smiles and real tears are only shared with family and friends, yes? If things would continue that way, then he’ll assume that he wronged you somehow or needs to step up his game. Eitherway, you’d be on the receiving end of a parade of flowers and chocolates. If you’d be naturally cold, then he’d come to terms with it. However, if he’d think you’re trying to get rid of him by giving him the cold shoulder, then you would be kidnapped. 

[caramel-maveeato]

𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 ♡˚₊ 。。。 ᴋ. ᴀᴋᴀʙᴀɴᴇ ᴅᴀᴛɪɴɢ ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴ

❧❤ SYNOPSIS: What it’s like to date THE Akabane Karma…   ♡ Pairings/Love interest: Akabane Karma x GN!reader ♡ Genre: fluff, slight hurt/comfort ♡ TW: too much yapping, might be very OOC this is just my opinion ♡ Word count: 1.5k

Note: All characters originated from “Assassination Classroom” except for y/n.  All characters are 18 or older. English is not my first language!!! Sorry in advance if I make any grammar and vocabulary mistakes.

Oh god I love him

My bish. 

Been happily married to him for 8+ years so here's a fic to describe my experience (Delusion is my middle name.)

Akabane Karma has a very Akabane Karma way to love. 

Karma is rich and can afford fancy restaurant dates, but he prefers more casual dates: coffee date, study date, arcade, park, mall, concerts, outdoor movie, late night walks, throwing rocks on the rooftop of some dickhead’s houses he/you hate, going around causing troubles with you becoming his accidental accomplice, etc. He loves the light-heartedness and silliness of them.

(It’s lowkey romantic when you run away from security hand-in-hand.)

On nighttime dates, he’ll sneak you out during random midnights by climbing through your window (if you live with family) or barging through the front door just so you can go on an adventure with him.

No one’s stopping him, no one can stop him anyway. 

His love language is a mix of Quality Time, Act of Service, and Gift Giving. 

Quality Time: He likes being near you. Doesn’t matter if he was on his game console and you were on your phone scrolling through Tumblr or if you both are working like a dog on two different laptops, doesn’t matter. 

He doesn’t mind the comfortable silence as long as he can still feel your presence or see you. 

Daily contact is needed. Not that you have to chat 24/7, but enough communication (that’s the bare minimum). If you can’t see each other at all, he wants to at least text a bit or talk on the phone.

The feeling of closeness is comforting to him considering how he never really has it growing up.

Act of Service: As much as he subconsciously does little things for you like paying close attention to what you tell him and your body language, doing research on things you like, giving you his jacket when he notices you slightly shiver without you even asking him to, reminding you to eat (though his ass doesn’t eat regularly either), making you your favorite dishes—Karma secretly melts when you pays him the similar amount of attention. 

You don’t have to do allat, just be yourself and love him in your own way is enough to show him that you really care. 

Gift Givings: Karma spoils you to death (he’s rich af).

You stare at a bracelet for more than a few seconds at a mall? Boom he already got it nicely wrapped up while you go to the bathroom. You say a shirt is cute? Boom he’s taking his wallet out right now. You wonder whether you should get fruit smoothie or milkshake? Boom he’s paying for both. You woke up on a random Thursday morning? Boom there’s a silly, stupid looking plushie sitting on your bed with a small note, “It looks like you :P”

This is lowkey the way he’s been taught growing up—which his traveler parents would throw gifts and souvenirs at him once every blue moon they came home as a way to express that they ‘cared’.

But he isn’t like them. The gifts he buys you aren’t empty envelopes that’s called ‘love’ nor half-assed apologies for ignorance. These are just physical emphasis of what he feels for you, just something extra to add to the genuine love he already shows daily. 

Physical Affection: Karma is quite closed off and despite his effort to seem like a nonchalant, I-don’t-need-no-one lonewolf, he’s diagnosed with touch starvation.

But he has trust issues, plus that colossal reputation of a “cool guy” he has to maintain, he doesn’t like it when people become too physically comfortable with him. Or at least deep down he’s programmed himself to think that he doesn’t like being touchy-feely. 

(Which is the reason why bro’s always caught standing there like a sims character when Koro-sensei lovingly pats his head or Itona that one time too lol) 

Inwardly, he’s a bit flabbergasted to find out (be honest with himself) that he actually doesn’t mind receiving some physical love. From people he trusts and is close to only, of course. 

This explicitly includes his ✨romantic partner✨

Though despite the above belief of Karma being a touch-starved boy, I feel like he doesn’t show his true color until weeks or even months into the relationship. And still mildly bashful sometimes when he initiates the affection until completely get used to it, which can take 1-2 years or more.

I feel like he doesn’t mind PDA, but he doesn’t want to overdo it either. So usually Karma would just hold your hand, placing his hand on your waist or wrap an arm around your shoulders. 

But he’d show more than just the slight touches in cases where he wants to tease you or to shoo “competitors” away, or just… when he feels like it. 

Words of Affirmation: Words on the other hand isn’t something Karma will do much, he’s capable of doing so though. Compliments may be spilled once in a while, he’d rather keep them in his head. He loves you, but he’ll express it through actions instead of words because his huge ego doesn’t want to sound “overly sappy.” It’s just not his style. 

This makes his “I love you”s hit harder than they’re supposed to since he doesn’t say it often. 

As much as Karma cherishes his partner, he’s still a playful little shit.

He’ll poke fun at you and tease you just because. He does know when to stop and remembers certain boundaries not to cross, but still pisses you off sometimes because he.is.so.annoying. 

If something he said hits a sore spot for you, he’d try to throw his pride down the stairs and apologize almost instantly because hell, how could he hurt you?? On the other hand, if you’re just having enough of his relentless teasing, then no, he wouldn’t beg for your forgiveness. 

Instead, Karma would buy you some small gifts or favorite food, or crack a joke, anything to pull out even the slightest, littlest lift of your lips.

Then he’ll surprise you with a hug or a kiss, trapping you in his arms until the tension evaporates entirely. 

He’s hateable but lovable at the same time ugh

Jealousy Karma we need.

He’s outward and inwardly chill most of the time.

So it’s not like him to constantly be worked up and worried about your loyalty. He trusts you a lot, if he doesn’t you two wouldn’t be dating. He knows you aren’t gonna cheat on him or do anything behind his back.

But the jealousy can be caused by something outside of your relationship, like someone shows too much interest in you. But I feel like this can only apply when that person makes him feel threatened in terms of “perfection.” 

Karma doesn’t show it but his insecurities can still be triggered, he’s only human after all. So on the bad days he feels like his “love rival” is a bit too good and compatible with you, that’s where you can see a jealous version of your boyfriend. 

He’s gonna be more pissy and quiet, (or just sulky in general, even clingy), and he urgently needs the confirmation that you love him. So please don’t ignore the signs and show him just that. 

Being a rising bureaucrat is exhausting, but Karma wouldn’t let it affect the person he deeply treasures. 

We all know Karma doesn’t trust easily. So if he goes out of his way to confess and date you, he’s extraordinarily, horribly smitten. 

He grows up alone and neglected, most people in his life either hate him or respect him out of fear. So I don’t think he’s willing to let go of someone he finally, finally feels safe and loved with if the reason is simply stress/busyness. 

Time management is hard, of course. But if he wants to he would, and Karma wants to. 

It might be overwhelming at first, pressures from different aspects of life might kick both of you in the ass. You two probably would find yourselves arguing more than normal. But even if he’s tired and stubborn, Karma won't let you stay angry at each other overnight because his partner is so dear to him.

He’ll try to be at home every night, but omg Japan’s work culture… that can be impossible on some days due to overtime work. 

He’ll text you or call you during breaks, more callings on the nights he’s stuck at work—your voice is emotional support and keeps him going. If you fall asleep during FaceTime he’ll just keep the phone there and glancing at your sleeping face once in a while, lowkey feeling more comforted while going half batshit insane with paperworks. 

He’ll make it up to you afterwards.

So yeah, once you both get the hang of it it’ll be fine again. Busyness is just a dumb excuse for a relationship to fall apart, that means effort wasn’t being put in enough from both sides. Your relationship with Karma is far away from this.

I feel like when Karma finally finds someone to be openly affectionate with and the said person gives him the same amount of care, it’s healing his inner child too. (I cried)

Please love him I love him so much. 

A/N: It's almost 2025 and I'm still not over assclass I want them back so bad my class E babies :((

[artbyblastweave]

Re: WW84 and Maxwell Lord

What didn't you like about how that movie did the character, and what do you view as the essential parts of the character?

So, I've gotta lead with the caveat that my understanding of Lord's character arc in the comics is informed by a very scattershot sampling of comics from across his publication history, acquired piecemeal via thrift stores and inheritance. I'm not the world's foremost Maxwell Lord Understander.

With that out of the way, my understanding of the shape of his character arc is that he was a originally well-meaning but morally-flexible Trump pastiche who was bank-rolling the Justice League during a nadir in their perceived legitimacy, before an eventual pivot to antagonist status after a retcon that he had become disillusioned with superhumanity during his stint with the League and had been maneuvering to purge them for some time. Or something. Eventually he escalated in the threat he posed until Wonder Woman wound up snapping his neck on live television because he'd established irrevocable mind control over Superman through years of subtle psychic conditioning. Or something. My understanding is that how well this pivot and the attendant retcons were executed is up for debate.

But, regardless of your judgement of how it was actually executed, the idea of the League falling in with a snake in the grass during a lean season and not noticing the threat he poses until it's too late- or that threat not even coming to exist without the snake's inside access to, and experience with, the League- is a really rich one, pulling the angels down to earth and forcing them to interface with questions of Money and Marketing and how that can backfire on you and your lofty ideals. The idea of the funny 80s tycoon gradually swelling in threat in the background over the course of out-of-universe years until he's in a position to fuck the entire planet is an idea that has some resonance for. Reasons. The fallout of an A-list superheroine having to put him down on live television because he's working Superman like a muppet could be really interesting. Basically you can point to any iteration of Lord, describe to me his role in the universe at any given point in his publication history, and it would sound cooler to me, more embedded in the world and the worldbuilding, than the WW1984 version, where he was an 80s Fantasy-Comedy Protagonist who Needs to Learn An Important Lesson About The Value Of Family, haphazardly stapled to a superhero plot. And it was, I don't know, fine. No better or worse than the movie it was embedded in (not very good). But there wasn't a lot of room to take that implementation of the character anywhere. You can't retool him as a Machiavellian manipulator executing heroes gangland style once he's Learned About Family. He did his thing, he's done.

Anyway, the upcoming version seems, at a glance, like it's synergizing a lot of the ideas I like about the character in a way that aligns with Gunn's worldbuilding sensibilities. This is a guy who's rich but not Lex Luthor rich. This is a guy who's throwing his weight around to get in a say in the superhero game but his sponsored team is a bunch of second-stringers, he doesn't have Vought-levels of corporate monopoly over the space. This guy is an aspirant player in an established field, a guy who could break in a bunch of interesting directions from the opening status quo (or just die in his first appearance like a chump, who knows.) This is a kind of public figure who would plausibly exist- if superheroes were quotidian enough that they're back to being just another kind of job, how many real life overly online businessmen do we know that'd jump to scoop a handful up as corporate mascots?

[flock-of-cassowaries]

So I’m not endorsing Fight Club - it’s a problematic book with a deeply toxic cultural legacy - but as a queer AFAB millennial who grew up in the sunken place of really wanting to identify with images of traditional masculinity… that shit rocked my world circa 2006.

And it just occurred to me how easily you could map Fight Club’s core plot conceit* onto NBC Hannibal (especially season 1); and that got me thinking about the parallels and differences between these two works.

Spoilers for a 28-year-old movie below the cut.

*the core plot conceit of Fight Club is that the two principal characters - the charismatic and dangerous Tyler Durden, and the story’s unnamed narrator - are in fact one person. The narrator is not aware of this until the final act.

(Also - I’ve added headings, because I know this is very long and rambly, and I feel an appropriate amount of shame about that. )

[How this idea originally occurred to me]

So what originally got me thinking about this is that in NBC Hannibal, Will is always tired, while Hannibal, mysteriously, seems to have at least 40 hours available for crafts and hobbies in every day.

This maps very neatly onto the way time seems to work for Tyler Durden, vs. how it works for the insomnia-plagued narrator.

[Main thesis]

But there’s a lot more similarities than that - most notably, the overall arc of the narrator-Tyler / Will-Hannibal relationship:

1. Both Hannibal Lecter and Tyler Durden breeze into our main character’s lives, and very quickly install themselves at the very centre of it.

2. Both become an object of unacknowledged homoerotic yearning for the main character, before finally being revealed to be extremely dangerous villains who were manipulating the main character all along, and who were instrumental in blowing up the main characters’ lives.

3. Ultimately, in both works, the main character ultimately rejects their “friend” by attempting suicide in a way that will kill both of them (and, in doing so, stops the “friend” from committing further harm).

[Bonus Round]

Other parallels include:

- that Hannibal and Tyler are both exceptionally ostentatious in their mode of dress, in contrast to our comparatively mousey main characters.

- that they both serve to invite the main character to embrace violence (something the narrator in Fight Club does easily, but which Will Graham, to his credit, resists).

- Hannibal’s ritualized sadistic physical torture of Will (in Mizumono, and the again in Dolce / Digestivo) also mirrors the scene in Fight Club where Tyler burns the narrator’s hand.

- Hannibal and Tyler also both enter the main character’s lives at a time when they are struggling with insomnia based on guilt related to their jobs. (Jobs, btw, where both of them have bosses they cannot stand and do not respect.)

[Alana Bloom and Marla Singer]

I also think the Marla Singer / Alana Bloom parallel is interesting.

In both cases, these women are implied to be the only woman who might, possibly be a match for the main character - someone who could possibly understand them enough to form a possibly-healthy relationship.

Instead, however, Alana and Marla end up forming relationships with Hannibal and Tyler (respectively).

In both works, this makes the main character despair (even as it is implied that the woman would actually rather be with the main character than with Hannibal / Tyler).

[Bonus Round II - Electric Boogaloo]

Also, on a more superficial level, both Marla and Alana have stunningly pale skin and dark hair (much as both Tyler and Hannibal are sandy blondes who seem larger-than-life in comparison to our dark-haired, ruddy-complexioned protagonist).

I would also like to rapidly recognize:

- the aesthetic similarities in Randall Tier’s death and that of Jared Leto’s character in the film version of Fight Club

- the amusing parallel of both Tyler and Hannibal creatively repurposing dead human tissue, which they then gleefully give to rich people who do not know what they are consuming (Tyler, by making medical-waste human fat into bougie soap; Hannibal, by making murder victims into gourmet meals)

- the way that the “the line between us has begun to blur” theming in Season 3 of Hannibal echoes the “literally the same person” reveal in Fight Club

[Conclusion]

With all this in mind, I think it would be very possible (and potentially quite fun) to plot out a Fight Club AU of Hannibal, wherein there is no Hannibal Lecter. (Might explain why he has such a stupid fucking name. Yeah, I said it. It’s fucking dumb that his name rhymes with “cannibal”. Fight me, Thomas Harris.)

[Appendix - Contrasts]

That said, the differences are also quite notable:

1. Whereas Tyler Durden seduces the narrator in Fight Club with the promise of validation from a male social group, Hannibal Lecter’s pitch to Will is that he recognizes that Will is is unique and special, and appreciated him as such.

2. Tyler Durden is overtly political, positioning himself as outside the system, and explicitly anti-capitalist. Hannibal Lecter, on the other hand, is apolitical, and perfectly comfortable being a member of the ruling class. There is no anti-capitalist motive to his crimes against the rich.

3. In rejecting Tyler, the narrator in Fight Club (especially in the film version) symbolically reclaims his heterosexuality, and is implied to have formed a bond with Marla; whereas Will Graham (literally) embraces Hannibal even as he rejects him, and Alana has long since been clearly shown to have adopted a position of “To hell with these gay idiots”.

4. While imperfect, Will Graham is a lot more sympathetic than the narrator of Fight Club; both because of how vigorously he resists Hannibal (as alluded to above), and in terms of what we see of him before he falls under Hannibal’s spell:

— Will’s guilt stems from an action (shooting Gareth Jacob Hobbs) that most people would consider morally-correct. In Fight Club, on the other hand, the narrator’s guilt stems from condemning strangers to die in order to save his company money.

— The narrator in Fight Club is shown to have been driven by his insomnia to the point of engaging in vampiric support-group grief tourism (which - yikes). By contrast, Will is seen calling Jack Crawford out on the inherently exploitative nature of his “Evil Minds Museum”.

— Whereas the narrator in Fight Club lives a life of hollow consumerist grasping, Will is shown to live a materially-simple life, which he generously shares with a menagerie of abandoned dogs. It is easy to imagine that he would put his dogs’ needs ahead of his own, given that we see him putting time and energy into rescuing and washing Winston, even at the end of a long, exhausting workday.

[Postscript]

I literally typed this whole-ass essay out before I remembered that Edward Norton (who played the narrator in Fight Club) also once played Will Graham (in the 2002 film Red Dragon, which I have not seen, but which I remember Bryan Fuller having credited with giving him the idea to write NBC Hannibal).

[alexanderwales]

A small addendum to the post on art under communism/capitalism, which had been queued for a bit: I occasionally see people complain about the "everything is a reboot, sequel, prequel, or tie-in" nature of modern mass market pop culture film, and then also complain that this is a capitalism problem, and if you're a person who cares about empiricism (like me!) you immediately go out to see whether this is true.

Which immediately led me to the character of Stierlitz, who I had never heard of before. But you can't just say "well, this was a 14 novel series with six adaptations, written and produced under communism", because this was also a series that was being pushed by the KGB, and maybe that doesn't fit in with your idea of "communism", and says more about the particular time and place it was written/made than the economic system it was made under. But my suspicion is that popularity and risk-aversion are what cause the sequel/reboot phenomenon, and that this is only substantially different under other economic models if there are deliberate efforts to avoid it. There's another example, the Soviet Union's most popular film of 1965, Operation Y, which was followed by a semi-sequel, Kidnapping, Caucasian Style, and actors reprising their roles across multiple films, and ... does this count? How many more of these examples could I dredge up if I had more than a passing familiarity with Soviet film? How many from other regions?

Possibly coordination between communist film organizations would help this problem. It's unclear to me, but I don't think that we can say that this is clearly a problem that capitalism created, not unless we're just talking in terms of pure theory.

Certainly we can say that it wasn't an endemic problem in any communist country, but I don't think that by most measures it was an endemic problem during the same time period in the United States either. In the 60s and 70s Hollywood was mostly making original films, a pattern that didn't begin to shift until later. The emergence of television created reduced demand for cinema basically everywhere, so that might explain some of the risk aversion, and funding for Soviet film declined pretty rapidly going into the 80s with much fewer standout films (the movie "Come and See" is a notable counterexample).

There's also an argument that whereas in the Hollywood system there was a great deal of risk aversion, that aversion was financial in nature: a film is a bet, and a studio can only make a limited number of bets at any given time, with a string of bad ones leading to bankruptcy. But in the Soviet system, the primary risk was ideological risk, which wouldn't give the same incentive structure that led to sequel culture. I'm not sure how much I buy this, more study is needed.

I guess I want to immediately compare sequel culture to oral traditions and the way that Arthurian legend (for example) ballooned with new knights and new quests over time, becoming confused. Or the way that fanfic, absent any market forces, results in many of "the same" fics being written and consumed, similar beats getting hit over and over, formula that we can only (at best) blame on attention economy. Writers and creators often want to capture the largest number of readers/viewers, and so pitch to the lowest common denominator, using the tropes and characters that people are most familiar with.

The writers that are writing specifically for their weird friends are obviously just doing their own thing, but it's going to be harder to interest people in funding a movie with a niche story, even if it's well-told, and it's going to be difficult to get theaters to show it unless those theaters are specifically committed to showing weird stuff.

[billveusay]

Why I love mechas/real robots stories

In 2023, I played Armored Core 4, For Answer, and 6. And I loved them. On top of being incredible games, there was something about them... something that seemed to scratch an itch just right in some part of my brain I never noticed. A few months later, I got into Gundam and apparently loved it enough for it to become my biggest special interest ever. And for a while, I wondered why. I didn't like every gundam show/movie I watched but the ones I liked... seemed engaging beyond their individual quality. Something about them giant robots just works for me. And after giving it some thought, I think I finally nailed why.

Coldest take ever : there's something appealing about works of fiction that get crazy with scale. Larger than life, you could say, whether it's in terms of worldbuilding, action or aesthetics. Galaxy spanning civilizations are cool, huge armies are cool, big monsters are cool, big explosions are cool. However, for me at least, there's a threshold where the scale gets so big it becomes meaningless. This is why I kinda bounced off DBZ and 40k. Through no fault of theirs, mind you (DBZ is awesome and 40k... contains awesome stuff), they just weren't what I was looking for. Because most of the time, what makes stories click for me is immersion, so for the stories that go BIG it often means a human point of view to put the scale in perspective.

Now, this can be done in every genre or medium featuring large-scale setpieces, using their respective tools. For example, many action movies emphasize the size of their setpieces with grounded directing, filming at shoulder height looking up and making the big stuff break frame. However it's also baked in the very core of several genres. For example, it's a building block of Lovecraftian horror.

But not only is this contrast between human-sized and big as balls a large part of real robot stories, they also let the human-sized humans bust some big-ass balls. You can have fight scenes on par with Avengers or DBZ but inside the 20 meters tall death machine, there are relatable squishy dudes, which is an immediate +5 in investment for me.

However, this specific kind of appeal is a hard balance to strike. Super robot animes and superhero stories with giant piloted robots often don't have that tangible feel. But there are also pieces of media that lean harder on the "realism" aspect, and those tend not to work as well for me, because they don't give off the same sense of awe at seeing something incredible from a grounded POV. Real robot at its best is a bridge between immersive storytelling through human eyes and wild, massive concepts, setpieces and action. It also provides nice theming if your story is about humans being small in the face of overwhelming forces beyond their control, like war or capitalism. Funny how often that happens.

In Armored Core 6, the titular mechs are 10 meters tall, and they're mostly used to showcase how everything is even more bloody gigantic. There's a robot worm that's 1,5 km long, a walking mining ship boss that's 5 km long and 1 km tall, and if you're not familiar with it, just google "armored core vascular plant". In most games, this would probably pull me out of the story, but somehow it works here. Because despite only interacting with them through radio comms, the characters feel very believably human. With human feelings, motivations and relationships. Also, they did a great job making all the technology look and feel grounded, which helps the immersion. So er... yeah. Can you tell me if that made sense ? Or if I was just pointing out the obvious, because I genuinely can't tell. In any case, thanks for humoring me in this longexplanation of why I didn't watch Gurren Lagann. Cheers!

[ourlittlesister2015]

Journey to the West [西遊] (2014), dir. Tsai Ming-liang

[lgbtlunaverse]

So I watched A Silent Voice with some but minor knowledge of the story going in. And right at the beginning when Shoko's bullying started I had the nagging worry that while Ishida would be redeemed they'd leave Ueno and Kawai as one-dimensional bullies. Painting the girls as the "real villains" while the male protagonist got to have depth. Anyway I just finished the movie and I would like to formally apologize to Oima Yoshitoki and Yoshida Reiko I should never have doubted you.

[icewindandboringhorror]

sneeping with his legs up over his head for some reason... weird boye

[sonknuxadow]

jesus christttt im not surprised at all to hear that the knuckles series focuses on wade and other human characters a lot i saw this coming a mile away with how almost all the news we were getting before the trailer came out was about the human characters/actors and not about knuckles (or sonic or tails or any other animated characters) but the fact that somebody calculated how many minutes of screentime knuckles has and it came out as LESS THAN HALF OF THE ENTIRE SERIES' RUNTIME when the series is NAMED after him is ridiculous. after this show comes out wade will likely have more screentime and overall plot relevance in the entire scu than tails does. did they actually think wade is a popular enough character for people to be down with this. what the fuck

[designernishiki]

as much as a i understand and respect ace kiryu truthers, i really feel like kiryu is the type to really take the idea to heart that sex is something vulnerable and meaningful and thus reserved for someone completely trusted and special to him– someone who feels right. after years and years he’s still never legitimately voluntarily slept with someone, always tries to turn women away or is at least apathetic when they try to get physical with him, never feels that deep and specific bond with a woman– nothing compared to some of his bonds with other men throughout his life. and maybe, hopefully, one day it’ll hit him that there’s a pretty big, glaring reason why no women have ever felt “right” to him.

[musical-chick-13]

See, I think the thing about deranged, toxic relationships in fiction, is that everyone involved has to actively choose to walk into or keep coming back to this relationship. That's the interesting part for me. What would make someone, against every single ounce of reason, decide that being in a relationship like that is genuinely worth it for them? Why would someone willingly put themselves in that situation? What has to be going on in their psyche? What do they get (or think they get) out of it?

If the toxicity is one-sided or one party is completely railroaded into the relationship at every turn until they finally cave, or there's some outside force trapping both of them in the relationship and they don't actually want to be there, that's not particular interesting to me, personally.

(Obviously, other people can disagree with this; people have a wide variety of opinions and ways they engage with fiction, which is good, actually. I'm simply talking about my own thoughts.)

[comixandco]

an isekai story where it’s slowly revealed that every single character in the story is a person who died and woke up there and none of them are the original characters

everybody keeps walking around each other trying to act like who they’re meant to be and trying to keep the story on track but they’re all just keeping up pretences because there’s nobody to keep the story on track for anymore