#divorce arc at front and center

[targaryenchester]

Destiel Textposts, 2/? + Bonus, Dig at John Winchester A+ Parenting; coz I can

[deancasforcutie]

#peak romance (via @a-couple-of-dumbasses)

EVERY TOUCH EVER ☞ 185/?

15.8 Our Father Who Aren't in Heaven

[catzncoffee]

Hey there, more BLIND EYE CO. Au content! This is Pt 1. to the Twins arc (aka when the show takes place) but there will be more on the way as well as some just general art! This arc mainly centers on Mabel and Dipper, but there will be more Fiddlestan and some Ford on the way.

More Info on this next part of the Au under the cut, thank u for enjoying!

> Welcome to BLIND EYE CO. : Unsee It All!

**Welcome to Gravity Falls!~☆

THE TWINS ARC Pt 1:

From here we delve into the shows timeline, following Mabel and Dipper as they navigate Gravity Falls. This arc kicks off after Dipper explores the main lobby of BLIND EYE CO. (Aka. The Mystery Shack that has been built onto over the years for production purposes and became the main house/lobby) and discovers some work his Grunkle Stan had left on the table. He's surprised and very curious to find it to be a worksheet detailing expenses being funneled towards the 'Gravity Falls Anomaly Research Facility', run by his Grunkles. Immediately excited, Dipper asks Stan about it, who laughs it off as some department they took over for the town a long time ago after their local scientist went nuts, telling Dipper it was all fake local legends and hoaxes small towns tended to take too seriously.

Naturally Dipper is completely unenthusiastic about this explanation, so he heads out to the woods to see if he can find anything, quickly joined by Mabel who had just finished braiding Grunkle Fidds beard and had to escape the banjo music for awhile.

It's worth mentioning that Both twins are hiding their parents divorce from the other, both hearing some rather awful things before being shipped up here.

Awful things that need really good distractions to keep from thinking about them.

What better than a mystery?

And then, just like in Canon, Dipper accidentally triggers a mechanism deep in the forest, revealing a battered journal with a gold foiled, six-fingered hand tracing pressed into the front.

This time however, there is a peice of paper sticking out. If it were any normal peice of paper Dipper would have flipped right passed it, after all there where numerous pages out of place and practically falling from the book. As it stood, however, Mabel gasped and plucked the particular page from where it was hanging from the journal. The paper was almost iridescent, like mother o' pearl or an oil slick, but it was slightly too dull for that, and the paper itself was gritty, seemingly made of hundreds of thousands of tiny silver sparkles. The shine of the page didn't follow the sun, but rather Mabels fingers as she dragged her fingers across bold cursive lettering, stating simply:

EMERGENCY CONTACT NEEDED

Across the top of the page, before devolving into complicated science jargon that Mabel managed to peice together was some sort of wizard spell. Like one of Dippers nerd games!

Dipper, while Mabel inspected the glittery, otherworldly paper, was enthralled with the journal, hungrily reading paragraph after paragraph of the insanely exciting things his Grunkle Stan had dismissed as 'folklore taken too seriously'. It had everything Dipper had ever wanted to know and things he didn't even Know he wanted to Know! Gushing to Mabel about the journal, she reminds him of the strange spell paper, which now that Dipper was looking, was written in the same loopy scrawl as the Journal! Maybe it was the Author looking for his book after he lost it? But then how did the page get in the book? The Author couldn't have known he would loose it if he did manage to put that page in right? Or maybe he needed to loose it temporarily? Filled with mounting excitement Dipper suggests that it may be a way to find out even more about this strange journal by talking with the Author, and so Mabel suggests to do the spell, which if the description was right was a contacting spell. Dipper gleefully agrees and the two begin to puzzle out the spell, which needed water, a mirror and an incantation.

The two head to the bathroom off of their room at their Grunkles and quickly do the spell, shaking in excitement and expecting a strange looking professor of some kind, or maybe even the ghost of the Author.

What they get is the beginning of the worst summer of their lives.

The mirror ripples and spins to form a large shadow of a man, one with an uncanny resemblance to their Grunkle Stan's shadow. The mirror man speaks to them, saying that He was the Author of the Journal(s) and he was trapped in a dimension not his own. The children are immediately on edge, but not enough to stop the mirror man from saying his peice. He was an older man simply trying to get home to someone named 'Stanley Pines', who apparently desperately needed help. Mabel and Dipper, confused, tell the mirror man that there is no 'Stanley' Pines, only their Great Uncle, Stanford Pines and his husband. The mirror man was silent after this for a minute or two, mumbling something about 'missing a mirror scene' then shaking his head.

He tells them that their family isn't who they think and that there are 'certain forces at play' that pull the strings from behind the scenes. He tells them that the town they were in was full of more secrets than they could possibly hope for in their lifetime. He warns them that there are people trying to keep those strings where they were now, and that they will use force to achieve that. He cautions that he can't give too much information or else they'll be put in grave danger.

The Author then tells them that he can give them all the secrets about this place that they want, he can save their family from the unknown forces not meant for children and protect them, so long as they listen to him and do what needs to be done by following his instruction to get him back to their home dimension.

Ecstatic about meeting the Author and having a chance to research the anomalies up close, Dipper enthusiastically agrees. Mabel pulls him aside for a moment, asking him if this was really what he wanted to do. When Dipper says yes, Mabel insists that she be with him for all of the adventures, and makes him promise.

With that the kids are sent to their first mission: retrieve an incantation from a cave the Author found a very long time ago, then grab a specific part from their Grunkle Fiddleford's workshop, and acceleration something or other. What was important was that the Author had a picture of what it looked like, and that's all the kids needed to know apparently.

It's when they get to that cave that they start to feel that something is very, Very wrong here.

The incantation the Author wants is at the far back of the cave. The cave littered with blood red warnings to never summon something- someOne. A cheerily yellow triangle painted in starkly perfect lines shouldnt have given the children shivers, should not have made their skin pale and their breath coming out in twin shallow puffs. What had the Author been doing here? What WAS that thing, it's eye watching them from the still picture painted on the wall? They slowly inched around the sides of the unsettling circle painted on the floor, finding a small pool of water with an incantation magnified on the bottom of the small basin, just as the Author promised. Maybe this was all the Author had wanted when coming into that awful cave. The twins could only hope that was the only possible answer.

After retrieving the incantation, it allows the kids to pass the part stolen from Fiddleford to pass through the mirror, and the mission is accomplished. The children however, have more questions than answers, and the answers they are given aren't answers at all but rather a warning.

Or rather a couple of warnings.

:DO NOT SUMMON THE TRIANGLE

DO NOT MAKE DEALS WITH THE TRIANGLE (no matter what he offers you)

DO NOT TELL ANYONE ABOUT THE EXISTENCE OF THE AUTHOR

DO NOT TELL ANYONE THE EXISTENCE OF THE JOURNAL

And the hardest warning to digest of them all:

TRUST NO ONE.

DO NOT TRUST 'FIDDLEFORD'.

DO NOT TRUST 'STANFORD'.

TRUST. NO. ONE.

Mabel in particular didn't like that one, and didn't like how everything the Author said had Dippers head nodding in agreement before the sentence was even finished. She didn't like this man telling her that her family wasn't Trustworthy. They were already having enough problems with family, what was this guy trying to sell Dipper and her on?! She was reassured, however, when Dipper, true to his promise, said that they were in these adventures together. If Dipper could Trust no one else, he could Trust in Mabel. If Mabel could Trust no one else, she could Trust in Dipper.

Mabel unfortunately had no idea how literally that would be taken however.

It became a game.

They'd start in the mornings, playing 'everything is normal' at breakfast with their Grunkles, hugging them goodbye as they went out to 'explore' so the adults could work. Dodge Grunkle Stan's employees Wendy and Soos by giving them a small snippet of conversation then bolting when the attention was off the twins for even a moment. Then it was 'Wizarding Time' where the shadowed form of the Author filled the bathroom mirror like someone had poured liquid smoke into the glass, and he told the twins what they had to do for the day to save their family from this 'unknown' danger. Though a couple missions in and the twins couldn't see what the 'Unknown' danger could be considering all of the known, very dangerous dangers the two seemed to be facing near daily now. Then it was time to play 'Mission Impossible', the twins former favorite part, where they went to hunt down their mission objective and take it back to the mirror bound Author.

'Former', because after being blindsided by the Gremgoblin, suddenly the Authors 'fun way of researching anomalies' became a lot more real, and a lot more damaging the less they knew about what they were heading in to.

The look on Dippers face after she dragged him out of that things sight was something she never wanted to see again so long as she lived.

It also became a LOT harder to know what they were going to run into the harder the Authors missions got. The harder the missions got, the more shaken the twins became, taking the Authors minute warnings very seriously for fear of what might happen if they didn't, like they used to.

Mabel, in a fit, had quit for a while. She'd managed to strike up a friendship with two girls even, Candy and Grenda. Even Dipper seemed to be doing a little better, talking with Wendy a little bit more rather than couped up with the Author and Journal alone all day, like he had since Mabel had left the 'adventure'. Heck Mabel even saw him talking a bit with Stan! Dipper hadn't really been super close with Grunkle Fiddleford at all, but before the Author he'd at least talked to Grunkle Stan more often than not. It had been nice to see them talking again.

For a week.

For one, glorious week.

For one week, Mabel got to do normal adventures with her brother. Well, normal enough when you and your brother fight over a time tape and you end up with the best pig ever because your brother was super selfless and went back in time for it. For one week she and Dipper sat watching Ducktective again, in between their Grunkles at dinner, all of them trying to guess the culprit first. Dipper even let Mabel and her new friends put makeup on him! (Well just the mascara anyways but he never let her do it before!)

For one perfect week Mabel had her brother back when she hadn't even known she'd lost him.

Then she'd found Dipper half dead by the Siren pool.

Alone.

Turns out he hadn't stopped doing the Authors missions. He had just assumed Mabel had left him to continue on by himself, that she had voided their promise. Well as 'by himself' as he could be receiving mission orders from a shadow realm man. The Sirens had actually saved him from drowning, he told her in a shaky blank tone. There was this bird. A giant one. Feathers like knives. The Author had needed one for some substance inside the hollow feather bones for the creature, and had told Dipper that all he'd needed to do was sneak one from it's nest.

He hadn't been told how high up that nest was, high above the Sirens grotto. He hadn't been told that it was laying season, and that those creatures were extremely territorial of their grounds during this season.

Dipper didn't have to explain all the ways it went wrong for Mabel to understand how scared he was.

Mabel wanted to punch him for being stupid enough to go alone. Wanted to punch herself for being so stupid. For leaving him alone.

For leaving Dipper with Him.

Mabel had planned to join again to make him quit, not wanting him to go alone, even though she was the one who had stayed back of the own volition.

The Author took her rejoining as her accepting her place in his strange 'hero's tale' he was spinning, and decided to 'bless' them with more knowledge about the supposed danger, seeing as they were too deep in it now for secrets to be anything other than dangerous. Apparently. Didn't stop the Author from leaving parts out though.

'It' was run by their Grunkles.

Their. Grunkles.

What was 'It'? What was running besides their company? Sure Grunkle Stan wasn't known to be the most legal man this side of the law, but Grunkle Fiddleford? Even then, running something that could put them in danger, sure, but actively Hurting them? Their Grunkles would never. Never in a million years. Mabel knew that. Dipper should have known that. The Author had filled his head up with so much distrust that Mabel was nervous her brother would loose sight of his promise to her.

If anything it reinforced it.

Mabel was probably one of the only people Dipper talked to anymore. Maybe Wendy on an off day. Maybe Grunkle Stan on a verrrrry off day. But he didn't even say hi to Grunkle Fiddleford anymore, or Soos, didn't talk to anyone in town. Just Mabel. It was concerning, but the reason Mabel got for the change in behavior was worse. Dipper had gotten more information out of that Author when they were alone together. Figures. Turns out their Grunkles were apart of some weird memory cult thing, where they had a machine that could just. Delete memories. Just like that. How terrifying that was, knowing someone you loved could hold something like that, use something like that, and never tell you? How could you even tell someone that? Mabel has memories she never wanted to remember again, she could understand that, but what gets someone to the point they steal someone else's memories?

Mabel watched and watched and watched as her brother stumbled even deeper into paranoia and made a decision after a week of on and off joining Dipper on these missions.

They were going to finish that evil shadow Authors stupid missions, get him to fix the (Grunkle side at least) family, and then Mabel was going to get her twin the hell away from him, no matter how much Dipper thought they could Trust and rely on him. Mabel knew it was because Dipper idolized the Author, thought he was the coolest person alive aside from Mabel (and oh, didn't that hurt so bad to hear, when that stupid mirror man was Hurting her Twin.)

Mabel would almost feel bad about leaving Candy and Grenda in the dust, but Mabel would give the mirror man this:

There really were very few people here she could Trust. Maybe not 'Trust' in the way the twins were keeping secrets, or Trust in the way Mabel still Trusted that her Grunkles would never hurt them no matter what Dippers paranoid brain told him.

However, what Mabel didn't Trust, was having anyone but family protect her brother. Especially in this town. Especially after the Author. They just wouldnt understand what Mabel had to do to keep her twin safe. Which was being next to her at all times. So as lovely as having friends had been, Mabel strapped a newly purchased, fully stocked supply kit to her pig Waddles, grabbed a backpack, and lead her twin into the fire he would've jumped into alone.

(This Pt 1. Of the Twins arc, more on the way!)

Also, for those who made it till the end, this Au has 2 endings. It is called BADEND FiddleStan for a reason. =)

Also light version of the pic!

[captain29thegamer]

So let's talk Stella. I know that a lot of people are dissatisfied that she seems to be a surface level villain, but I don't expect that to last. I know that Vivzipop has said in an interview that we will get backstory from her, and that she has her own perspective and 'many people have guessed some of it that she didn't choose the marriage either', given this, I have some speculation. This is long, but hey, just scroll by if you don't like that! :D

Let's get it out the gate. Stella is not the smartest chick in the nest. She's petty, mean spirited, and self-centered. I don't think too many people would argue that. She's a narcissist and not a good person.

However, people are not just born evil. Not even Stolas grew up immune to picking up bad habits from the Goetia, even if he is overall good natured.

I think it's very likely that all she was expected to be was a 'pretty face' and an egg factory. Andrelphus can only say that she's lucky she's hot. He can literally come up with nothing else. To him, it's her one redeeming feature and that's rather telling.

A lot of people interpret this as being incest-based, but for someone like Andrelphus all he thinks of with people is how they're 'useful' to him. Her being attractive is something he can 'use' so him saying 'you're so lucky you are hot' implies that if she wasn't hot, she'd be completely useless to him and he'd just get rid of her.

It would not surprise me since her divorce is final that he tries to pawn her off to another Goetia to start trying to find ways to siphon power off of her new husband. Sort of a 'black widow' situation. Keep talking about how hot she is in front of the other goetia and try to get the attention of a new potential husband that wants to see this beauty he can't stop talking about. :/

It could also be that noble born women aren't educated the same way that male nobles are for the most part. Andrelphus is only a Marquis, so that means that Stella wasn't a princess until she married Stolas. She may have been raised rather spoiled, but also not nurtured. Nothing was expected her competency wise, so as soon as she was set up with Stolas they may have been "Well, that's all set, she'll be married off and produce that heir so now we don't have to put more energy into raising her."

She didn't get that engagement to Stolas out of her own merit, it was most likely transactional between the two families. Basically she spent her time being spoiled and raised to value things over people and her own indulgences rather than what was best for anyone else, she grew up in money and it corrupted her. The rich kid that lived off of Daddy's credit card with no limit and did what they liked without ever having to ask.

At the same time she could have still very much resented this because she wasn't stimulated or nurtured. I don't expect a full on redemption arc for Stella, but I do think she may wind up learning that while 'That filthy beast was just using him to gain access to his grimoire' as she put it in Mastermind, Andrelphus is only using her to gain access to Stolas' and anyone else's power he can access because he's got a hot sister he can toss at people and entrap them with.

Maybe at some point he will decide she's not useful anymore and when their plot is exposed he will throw Stella under the bus. "It was Stella who hired the assassin! I just learned about it and I am so devastated!" I really fully expect that to happen to some degree. When things are no longer going his way and she's a full hinderance instead of a potential advantage he will break ties with her and leave her very lost.

In this way, Stella would have another parallel to Stolas where he was previously being used by Blitz for the Grimoire, Stella was used by Andrelphus for any power he could get through her marriage. Let's face it, Stella isn't gaining ANYTHING by Andrelphus being given Stolas' legions, just the satisfaction of seeing her ex-husband who embarassed her suffer, which may be enough for her, she's rich already, she probably couldn't care less about the legions, the last thing she wants is responsibility.

She's happy just doing whatever she wants and being rich, another reason she wasn't upset about getting 'nothing' in the divorce from Stolas if he died. He angered her and his death would be enough to satisfy her because she wasn't wanting for anything else.

Right now Stella is useful to Andrelphus because of her family tie to Octavia, and given that Stolas messed up HARD by throwing himself under the bus for Blitz and then asking about Octavia as an afterthought after he didn't die from it. It's just another nail in the coffin where he showed he wasn't thinking of her before he acted.

Stella is now at least 'pretending' to care that she's hurting, so Octavia's vulnerable to it and grasping for some stability, and it's absolutely scummy that they're twisting her emotions like that. I think Stella certainly wasn't raised with any empathy, and that's not entirely her fault, but how do you all think she was raised to turn into the Stella we see on screen?

[mermaidsirennikita]

ARC REVIEW: Triple Sec by TJ Alexander

4.5/5. Releases 6/4/24.

Vibes: healthy polyamory, front and center genderqueer rep (from a trans nonbinary author), slice of life in the best possible way, BOMB ASS COCKTAILS

Heath Index: 7.5/10.

Ambitious high-end bartender Mel Sorrento has been in a rut since her divorce. Enter the vivacious, brilliant Bebe... who happens to have spouse. Quiet, reserved Kade doesn't have a problem with Mel dating their wife, however--because Kade and Bebe are polyamorous. Mel's never considered the lifestyle, but her instant connection with Bebe makes her willing to give it a shot. But when her dynamic with Kade begins to shift into something entirely new, she must confront what she's actually looking for in a relationship, and how much this new opportunity for love really means to her.

UGH. YES. This is how you do a contemporary romance that, at the end of the day, is a slice of life character piece. Triple Sec is not about shocking you with plot twists and over the top dramatics (and that's not a critique--often, I'd say that I prefer plot twists and over the top dramatics). It's just fucking good writing with great character development and romance. It's also one of the more realistic contemporary romances I've read, which is honestly so refreshing. I truly believed that there were grown-ass adults figuring out their shit.

Quick Takes:

--One thing I love about a triad romance (and while this is the most realistic one I've read (I say having never been in a polycule or a triad more specifically), I do generally enjoy reading about the complexities of both figuring out a three-way relationship and developing the different "segments". While I've read some that begin with love triangle elements, that isn't the case here. Though they aren't without expected hiccups, Kade and Bebe have a very healthy approach to Bebe's beginning relationship with Mel (and later Kade starting things with Mel as well).

I feel like in less capable hands, the degree to which Bebe and Kade communicate and deal with jealousy would seem overly sanitized or boring. Like, they begin the relationship with Kade sitting in on Bebe asking Mel out and everything, just to reassure Mel that there isn't any cheating going on. But like... it's NEVER dull. It never feels expected, or like these people are perfect. (I mean, they aren't--Mel has some struggles and stumbles when beginning her journey into polyamory.)

--Part of what makes that work, I think, is the contrast in the relationships. Kade and Bebe have been together for almost a decade--they know what they're doing, and their lived-in love reverberates off the page, even though the book is entirely from Mel's third-person perspective. (Kade calling Bebe "love" constantly, despite seeming kind of frosty? Swoon.) Bebe and Mel have this immediate chemistry, full of fun and fire. And Kade and Mel sort of like... I felt an automatic sexual tension, but I also think that Mel was a bit too "new" to their dynamic to super sense it. This is probably not going to make sense to anyone but me, but I got this kind of like... Darcy and Lizzie vibe? Kade was never as prickly as Darcy, but I definitely felt like Mel was in that "WHAT. BUT THEY DON'T EVEN LIKE ME???" space.

All of it worked to me. I mean--I won't lie. I was a little partial to Mel and Kade's dynamic, because a) I like it to be a little difficult and b) Kade was my favorite but everything is great.

--Let us expand on Kade being my favorite. I really appreciate a "still waters run deep" character. Kade is that. They seem remote, but they have so much feeling and passion rumbling under the surface, and Alexander throws them into this situation with Mel that is sooooo tropey and fabulous and reading as the feelings spilled out of them was just pitch-perfect.

This does happen somewhat later, so you technically spend a lot more time with Bebe and Mel together on the page. However, Kade has a such presence, and they're constantly sort of like... looming in the background. And because of that, the slowly bubbling tension that Mel doesn't even fully register for a while is so HOT. I mean. Kade is also so hot. I was ABOUT them. Again--love Bebe and Mel, together and apart, but WHEW.

--This is completely an aside, but I do think the cocktail competition and the highlighting of the art of making a great cocktail was really cool. It made me both want to learn how to mix drinks (to the extent that I can) and try something new. These types of details make a contemporary romance way richer, and they're appreciated.

--I think it's really important to show books that are both incredibly romantic and sexy and approachable. Again, I've never been in a polyamorous or more generally non-monogamous relationship. I can't attest to have truly realistic this book is. But in general, I loved seeing a romance in which the relationship part started fairly early, showing negotiations, showing boundaries, showing rules. I mean, really, monogamous relationships should also be subject to rules and negotiations and boundaries. We should normalize this in romance. Things change. That HEA does kinda take work in some stories, and that is more reflective of real life.

Speaking of the HEA... I so appreciated that both Kade and Mel had been in very serious, very intense relationships in the past. Kade's openness and honesty about how their past partner did offer them things Bebe couldn't (and Mel can't either) was so refreshing. It's not that they necessarily need someone else to come in and take that space (though the rules do allow room for new partners--we don't see anything happen beyond the triad in this book). It's just a reality. No one person can give you everything, and that doesn't mean that every person needs to be with enough people to comprise "everything". If that's even possible. It's just something to accept, no matter what your relationship preferences.

I also loved that Kade was kind of like--yeah, this could end. How many things are really forever? But we love each other when we love each other and make each other happy and that's good. I mean, I think some people will categorize this book as one with an HFN versus an HEA--personally, I'd kinda disagree with that. But either way, I really loved seeing a romance that validated the idea that like... A relationship ending doesn't mean it wasn't VALUABLE.

The Sex:

HOT HOT HOT. Technically speaking, there are three full sex scenes in this novel. Every single one of those scenes went HARD. We have sex in a public space, we have LICK! IT! UP! (as in cum) the strap is indeed taken out and used to great effect. It's great. I loved it. I also liked and overall agree with Bebe's philosophy regarding sex and how people often tend to switch up their "out of bed" personalities compared to their "in bed" personalities.

(Also. Kade is a dirty talker. What can't they do?)

A super queer, super sexy, super bubbly contemporary romance with a heavy emphasis on character development and love story that really sold me on the "love" part. And on a personal note--I have a trans nonbinary person in my life who is much loved, and I so appreciate them having someone like TJ Alexander to see out there, creating art and leaving a mark.

Would highly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[curedigiqueen]

Fresh Precure is about community, and how community forms support systems beyond the family unit.

Many heel face turns focus on the characters growth. How they come to understand differently, and how they grow into a new person. Setsuna, once freed from Labyrinth actually changes her personality rather quickly, she doesn't spend much time struggling with everything all things considered. Now, I think Setsuna's arc is top tier: her denying her true wants because its different from what she's been told she wants all her life, wanting to be useful to her community but her community not serving her, finding people who care about her and give to Setsuna rather than only take, her guilt for taking the happiness away from others that people have been giving her. But ultimately, it's not so much about Setsuna's personal growth, so much as about how this community rehabilitates an abused girl.

Unlike many other seasons where her living situation would be a bit of an afterthought its front and center here. We get to see all the little things that the Momozono's do for Setsuna, all the little things they get for her.

It's why the toothbrush scene is so important. A toothbrush is such a little thing, but the Momozono's are going out of their way to remember she needs one, to get one for her. And they ask her what kind she wants. The Momozono's are giving her freedom, are allowing her to embrace her own decisions, rather than in Labyrinth where she was manipulated into doing what others wanted of her.

It's not just the Momozono's. It's Kaoru giving her a donut simply because she hadn't had one before. Lucky and Takeshi playing with Setsuna. Miyuki helping support Setsuna when she was feeling pressured to dance. Of course the whole town does this for everyone.

The Cures go and support a little girl in the hospital, both as themselves and as their cure selves. Kaoru looks after the girls and tries to get them to eat when they're overworking themselves. Miyuki helping the girls balance their lives. This is the first iteration where Cure's are truly celebrities rather than their occasional public appearance in Fresh and the public cheers them on accordingly, and even helps in more tangible ways (like offering an expensive training facility).

This is contrasted against Labyrinth who erases individuality in the name of the collective, but where the collective is suffering. Who has no art, no family, no socialization. Where no one offers help unless ordered to. Where everything is for Moebius. And so, the smallest acts of kindness (a donut) have far reaching effects. Because the people of Labyrinth believe they're doing right. That this is the best for everyone. They don't know what happiness is, so when faced against actual it for the first time, as well as actual community for the first time, it crumbles.

But even the individuals in Labyrinth aren't always heartless. Westar has even more of a sense of community than Eas. A desire to give back. However, is loyalty to Labyrinth is stronger. Westar takes Eas leaving personally. He's often cast aside, underestimated. Westar's a goofy sort of villain, but more than that he's a victim just like Eas and Soular. He thrives once he gets to leave. He thrives in a community that gives him the support he gives others.

I think it's no coincidence that this season has the first cure with divorced parents. We never see her father, but we know he's not completely absent from her life. She still has a close relationship with her brother. This nontraditional family dynamic I think sets the stage for Setsuna later on, who is welcomed into the Momozono family. She's family even without blood.

[filthy-reckless-rp]

♛ Spotted on the Upper East Side…

Name: Scottie Takeda Pronouns: He/Him Age: 25 years old Hometown: London, UK Occupation: Actor, currently starring on 'Friday Night Bites' Social Status: Insider Faceclaim: Darren Barnet

Who Is Scottie?

“You'd leave me dead if it'd set you apart, and I'm like, oh, goddamn, not another rockstar."

Will I wait for the screams of your adoring fans to quieten down before I continue? Then again, I might be waiting all day. You, Scottie Takeda, need no introduction. With parents like yours, we all should have known that you'd shine in front of the camera. You've always loved to be the center of attention, doing anything to stand under the spotlight. You've always been charming, intelligent and cut throat. You knew how to work a room before you knew how to talk. Making the right connections, dating (or at least being photographed with-) the right people and maintaining your follower count, takes up most of your time. Now that you're thriving on FNB, I hope I see more of you on the Upper East Side. XOXO ---Gossip Girl

A Little Extra

Scottie Takeda was born under a thousand flashing cameras, already a national treasure. When his parents were married, it was the biggest news story of the year (second only to their divorce). Scottie was destined for great things and boy, did he know it. With two iconic actors for parents, Scottie's career was pretty much mapped out before they were born. He took every opportunity he could, picking up small roles in his parents' movies, standing toe to with the best of them even then. Scottie loved acting first but once he found 'fame', everything changed. While Scottie had always been confident, cocky and shallow, being actively famous only nurtured the worst in him. Very few people will ever get to glimpse the good in Scottie. He doesn't want the expectations the real life 'hero' gets, you know? Of course, Scottie would never act badly in front of the camera. He'd never get caught throwing a tantrum on set. Scottie can be demanding, dramatic and kind of an asshole but never unprofessional. It's just important to Scottie that people know he's the star! Scottie is very good with his fans, making public appearances, interviews and getting photographed in all the right places. He's usually the one starting rumours about himself. Scottie stays on top of everything about his public image. After all, he learned from the best. After a three episode arc on 'Doctor Who' filmed back in the UK and a one season fantasy TV show 'flop' on Netflix, Scottie was cast on "Friday Night Bites". Since joining the cast, Scottie's career has taken off further. He knows his name is bringing a lot of attention. It's a good cast though, Scottie just needs to make sure that in a room of big egos, his is the biggest.

What Does Gossip Girl Have On Them?

People don't get to know things about Scottie that Scottie doesn't want them to know. Gossip Girl is just more press, right?

Connections

Laurel Xu - Laurel is Scottie's best, most beautiful, friend. No one gets Scottie like Laurel, and vice versa. Scottie's always dragging Laurel along to events, parties and most other places outside their comfort zone but they're always happy to do it, for Scottie.

Frankie Vives - co-star on 'Friday Night Bites' and biggest pain in Scottie's ass. Their vampire characters play opposite each other, tangled in all sorts of love triangles and tense situations. Scottie plays the 'hero' to Frankie's 'villain/anti-hero'.

Joy Greenaway - co-star on 'Friday Night Bites' and someone Scottie loves to work with. They even did a couple of gigs together when they were kids.

Gracie Watts, Ryan Star and Sienna Haven - co-stars on 'Friday Night Bites'. Gracie and Ryan are the younger cast members so Scottie tries to set a good(ish) example. Sienna is the 'new girl' that Scottie knows will bring them a lot of publicity if they cozy up to her.

Johnny Akana - Scottie's #1 idol when it comes to actors (don't tell their parents). Johnny was an absolute badass back in the day and Scottie can't wait to work with them this new season on FNB.

[signalwatch]

Neo-Noir Watch: The Last Seduction (1994)

Watched:  05/06/2023

Format:  Criterion

Viewing:  First

Director:  John Dahl

Well, at long last I got around to The Last Seduction (1994).  

I can see how well-meaning dopes would have cast Fiorentino in Jade on the heels of this movie, possibly trying to borrow some of the heat she brings to this film, but the two movies are worlds apart, and one is a 90's indie darling playing to a punchline, and the other is a shiny studio movie that feels like a hastily jotted-off airport-book thriller.  

The Last Seduction reads more like a Goodis novel or Jim Thompson book, with low-level crooks twisting and turning over each other and innocence is a commodity of dubious value.  Fiorentino plays a con who encourages her husband (Bill Pullman) to take part in a risky drug deal, earning a huge amount of cash.  After a bitter argument in which Pullman slaps Fiorentino, when he goes to shower, she takes the money and runs.  

Headed for Chicago, Fiorentino stops off in a small town in upstate New York, where her attorney advises her to lay-low while she runs a divorce through.  She picks up Peter Berg in a bar (who believes he's picking her up).  Berg has recently returned from Buffalo, where things didn't work out.  He's a bit bummed as he thought he was the guy who was going to get out of this one-horse town.  Now he's met someone from NYC who seems like his ticket out.

Fiorentino schemes.  A lot.  

This film was Fiorentino's big breakout and - looking at IMDB - her career peak as far as notices went.  She'd appear in films for another 15 years or so, before retiring from in front of the camera.  Berg would go on to be a highly successful producer and director, and I'd frankly forgotten he was a successful actor.

SPOILERS

It's certainly an interesting film and a great piece to study regarding "where were we in the 1990's vis-a-vis women in film?".  The movie requires a certain level of belief by the audience that Fiorentino's character isn't doing the things she's obviously doing because no one (read: women) could be capable of those things, and the audience expects that movies end with the two leads falling in love.  It's all unspoken, but it's there.  Otherwise, I'm not quite sure what we're looking at.  In any case, it's largely a movie about a very dumb guy who doesn't know he's dumb being led around by his nose by a very good looking, very mean woman (which, fair enough).  In this way, it's definitely a neo-noir - with the femme fatale pushed front and center.

That said, it felt sort of clunky watching the movie in 2023.  There's no subtlety or nuance.  There's no mystery of what Fiorentino is up to, so it's just watching Berg be a dope for 2 hours.  Which, honestly, I remember being a thing in the 1990's as being pushed to audiences so movies would work, but no specific examples leap to mind.  To highlight one character, we were fine with another character just falling all over themselves.  

But at no time do you think "well, maybe she is really falling for this guy" or "I bet he flips the script on her".  Instead, it's just watching our femme fatale go about her scheming, hoping things work out, and, indeed, it does.  The "twist" at the end is that Berg realizes how thoroughly he'd been set-up, but that's also something we see at every move.  It's more a list of "oh, yeah, I guess that did happen" than "ha HA!  Wow, what a twist!" at the end of the film.

This is not Body Heat.  By design.  We know Fiorentino is a sociopath from jump.  So...  I'm not sure, exactly, what her arc is other than "she does many things people do not expect".  Which is a story of sorts, but I'm not sure what the takeaway is other than not to be a small-town loser who gets big ideas?

I mean, the movie feels like a comedy in many ways, with that last scene the punchline.  But it's a long walk to get there.  I see Ebert in reviews referring to Fiorentino's performance as dry-humor, and that's right.  But I don't see anyone referring to the film as a dark comedy, which it mostly feels like it is.  To me.  But I don't know how else to read how dopey Peter Berg is in the film.

That said, released in the mid-90's, we hadn't seen many women's roles that would have allowed for this sort of thing since the post-WWII heyday of noir.  And we wouldn't have paired it with overt sexuality during that window, just the deeply implied sexual whiles of the femme fatale (see: any of the big name noir films from Double Indemnity to Out of the Past).  But we knew those women were trouble, but we weren't sure how.  This movie has no secrets or mysteries other than what happened in Buffalo, which, when told, is...  silly?  Unbuyable?

I largely liked the film, with some significant caveats.  It feels like it lifts the "ABC" scene from Glengarry Glenn Ross for it's opening, and the twist reveal of what happened in Buffalo from The Crying Game, both of which would have been on the minds of movie-goers two years after they came out, and then made it into homes via cable and VHS.  

The challenge of noir is that:  there's a lot of it, and it does a lot of the same thing.  So you're going to draw down comparison by existing.  And you're never created or being viewed in a vaccuum.

There's no question that Fiorentino is great.  She is.  And I'd argue that Peter Berg gives it his all.  Bill Nunn as the private eye is good, and Bill Pullman is Bill Pullman.  The movie leans into the "erotic" bit of "erotic thriller" with an eye less to sexiness and more to grinding, angry sex, but there's no question about the seductiveness of the proceedings. 

I know I'm picking at the movie but (a) welcome to this site, and I have bad news for you, and (b) I actually mostly liked the film.  I'm just surprised less that it has the reputation it got in 1994, but that it seems like this movie bubbles up a lot in conversation, that this movie is still as relevant now as then.  What I think is that it helped lay the groundwork for what you could do with women in film and television, and Fiorentino just surprised the hell out of everyone.  But I'm not sure it holds up as noir, thriller, mystery, etc... all that well.  I do think it holds up as a vantablack comedy of sorts, if you expect to never really laugh.  And that's a feature, not a bug.  

Apparently there's a Last Seduction II (which, technically, makes this film The Second to Last Seduction) which has none of the original cast and has a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and now I am deadly curious.

https://ift.tt/du782Ve

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/oTnQ5F4

[tobiasdrake]

Sonic the Hedgehog borrows from Dragon Ball a lot. It's an open secret. Everyone knows it. Even Frontiers could be argued to be Sonic's version of Namek, which gets harder to unsee when you notice Eggman's conspicuous saucer ships dotted around the landscape.

But do you know what strikes me as interesting?

The Chaos Emeralds are Sonic's version of Dragon Balls. In fact, they even shored up the number to seven, matching Dragon Ball, in the same game that they introduced Sonic turning into a Super Saiyan. Originally it was six Emeralds and no Super Sonic.

But the staying power of the Chaos Emeralds has far outshone the Dragon Balls. The titular Dragon Balls often end up being dialed down to a background MacGuffin. Characters will collect the Dragon Balls offscreen because they're too busy doing plot stuff to have a serious gathering arc.

Someone will just turn up going, "Yo, I got all the Dragon Balls. Let's resurrect everyone who died or whatever we're doing with them."

But the Chaos Emeralds have remained front and center for much of the franchise. Where the individual Emeralds got scattered to and how to bring them all back together comes up a lot in Sonic the Hedgehog, as does the lore and history behind them.

Why is that? Well. Here's the thing.

The decision to tie the Emeralds into Sonic's central themes and especially into Super Sonic makes them critical to the story.

Goku's Super Saiyan form is a power that he has, independent of the Dragon Balls. This works for the central themes of Dragon Ball, which are about hard work and self-improvement to overcome obstacles. Ultimately, Dragon Ball is the story of Goku, not the story of the Dragon Balls. So the gathering of the Dragon Balls often becomes a vestigial element.

Sonic's central themes are about the effects of industrialization on the ecological world. Eggman represents the cold, uncaring advance of "progress" turning forests into lumber yards and fields into factories. Like, the fact that his murder robots are being powered by innocent woodland creatures is pretty unsubtle about what's being said here. The Chaos Emeralds are much more firmly tied to that theme.

The Chaos Emeralds are presented as a natural resource. They're mysterious artifacts of ambiguous origin that produce immeasurable power. To Eggman, they exist to be exploited. They're something he can plug into his latest machine. He doesn't really care about the Emeralds, so much as he cares about what he can build with the Emeralds.

But the Chaos Emeralds aren't his. They're something raw and wild and majestic in their own right. They have no real origin because they don't need one. Nature doesn't stop to explain itself. Ultimately, Sonic's goal is typically not to get the Emeralds for himself, but to simply keep them away from Eggman's ever-expanding industrial engines.

Eggman wants to take these ancient, mysterious natural artifacts of immeasurable wonder and turn them into batteries. Sonic says, "No, you can't do that, I won't let you." This ties into the greater conflict, where Eggman wants to turn the whole world into a chain of factories, warehouses, and production lines, and Sonic won't let him.

Sonic is basically a more aggressive Lorax who isn't taking any of the Once-ler's shit.

By contrast, Super Sonic is the result of Sonic taking the Emeralds as they are and channeling their power in its raw, unmodified form. This is something Eggman would never do because, as mentioned above, he doesn't really care about the Emeralds themselves. But Sonic does. Sonic respects the unchecked power of nature. And he uses that power to wreck Eggman's stuff and free the enslaved woodland creatures within.

Dragon Ball was able to ultimately move on from the Dragon Balls because, at the end of the day, they're just a neat plot device that Goku can sometimes use, but they aren't really central to the story. The story is about Goku and his journey to expand his horizons.

But you can't really divorce Sonic the Hedgehog from the Chaos Emeralds. They are the ultimate manifestation of everything Sonic's story is about.

[lokilickedme]

New banner!  Temporary because obviously I can do better than that, but I was in a hurry and the mood struck me.

As some of you know, I’ve been busy lately.  Like, fell off the edge of the world busy.  Something about packing up one’s entire life and hauling it (along with two children and two cats) 1200 miles away from where you started has a tendency to force everything into a holding pattern while you focus on keeping everyone alive.  Arriving in the middle of a blizzard doesn’t help.  Having your housing fall through also doesn’t help.  But our temporary accommodations are serving well both in terms of having a place to live for a while *and* providing inspiration that’s been sadly lacking since the stress of the relocation took over all my available headspace, so here’s to refraining from complaining and getting my ass back on the wagon.  (No I haven’t become an alcoholic but don’t delude yourself for one second assuming I haven’t thought real good and damn hard about it)

Long story short, we’re here, we’re once again headed toward closing on a new house, we landed slightly off center of where we’d intended but as it turns out the detour put us in a better place, and though I’m still without my computer (WHERE IS IT?!?!?!) I do have a tablet with a very stripped down edition of my writing files.  So away we go.

Rancho de La Luna

This is new, for those of you who haven’t been paying attention :P  Inspired directly by the place we’re staying temporarily and featuring my personal favorite faceclaims as a team of capable but quarrelsome cowboys at a tourist ranch beleaguered by problems, including a new arrival with a penchant for fibbing about her skills.  Just for funsies, because why not.  I hope to update it pretty often for a little while, until I run out of steam or start to get bored or *gasp!* actually finish it.  Watch for potential unscheduled updates.

The Empty Arms Hotel

Gonna pick back up on this one again soon before I forget what the big deal is with the tenants.  Whipplefilter finally got to bang somebody besides the desk clerk so he’s a happy camper, but the Traveler isn’t sure he wants to do that again...yeah no he’s totally gonna do that again because like the woman at the front desk said, once that tall slurp of poisoned Kool Aid goes down on you there’s not a single thing in your sad sorry excuse for a life that will EVER measure up again.  The third floor resident got it in gallons.  Weirdness is still afoot, though...that storm has gone off the bejeezus scale and doesn’t appear to have plans other than eventually wiping the entire planet off the solar system’s map.  So - more degenerate sex while we wait for that, anyone?  Yes please.

The Money Shot

Will get back to this one later - and since Momoa is divorced now, you can probably safely assume meat’s back on the menu.  Ohhhh yeah.  Don’t expect an update anytime soon though, there’s other stuff I’d much rather be working on than this silly little vanity piece.  Even with Momoa fresh on the market.

The House Next Door

My favorite - this one will update again soon.  I’m not as frantic to get it done as I was when I was living the actual nightmare that inspired it, but now that that’s over and I can look at it with a clear head, I feel like it’s going to become less of a revenge piece and more of a sweet romance...because Thomas Dowd only *thinks* he’s not crazy about kids, and Carly’s children (particularly Connor) are getting a good solid grip on his heartstrings.  Also there’s Duncan.  God, I love Duncan.  Somebody’s gotta have a redemption arc and since Dowd and Carly are both victims of their circumstances, it’s gonna have to be Dunk.  Things are about to get fun up in this suburban romcom.

The Variant

Again, one that I love but don’t have the headspace for right now.  Once we’re settled good and proper and I have time to watch some Loki-centric stuff and fire up the remotivation thrusters, I’ll finish this one.  I do so love Variant 77.  And Tech Sevensix.  Seven’s personal Loki-love is about to become an angst generator so be ready for that - and do NOT underestimate President Loki’s lust for all things problematic.  Original Loki embarrassed the crap out of him the last time they crossed paths and that’s not going to go unavenged.  Ha!  Loki finally gets to be an avenger!  Wrong Loki and wrong team, but we take what we can get, right?

Shrine Of Your Lies

Yep, gonna finish this one.  The dreamy tone means it hits me when it hits me, so the next time it hits me I’ll hit you with it.  Promise.

Aingeal Ard

KING!!  I’m going to finish this one this year, sooner rather than later, just to have it off the roster and to clear the way for book 4 of The McClary Chronicles.  It would have happened last year, but...well, you know what happened.  And we’re almost done, so once King has his final say, this one wraps up.

Tales From Quarantine

Not sure if I feel like doing any more vignettes for this one.  We’ll see.  I think pandemic fatigue is a thing and I’m not sure all that many of us want to read about other people going through it.  I’m double vaccinated and extremely careful yet I’ve had covid twice, so...kinda had enough.

Sunflower

Tommy and Chloe will have their happy ending, you have my word.  Will it happen this year?  Yeah, I think so.  Hang in there.

The King of All The Rest

I’m going to be honest here, I’d forgotten about this one.  I’d love to get on it because I love me a good fun snarky Loki tale, but it’ll have to wait a bit.

Stop The World (And Melt With You)

This was meant to be my next “big” project, but it got waylaid by The House Next Door and now Rancho de La Luna.  I do plan to start it this year though - fun romps through the backstage side of the music industry are right up my alley and my characters are ready to go.  Stay tuned for a start date on this one once RdLL gets rolling.

Happy Merry Thankschristmas, Chief

This one obviously was intended for a pre-holiday release, but since I was on the road navigating blizzards and staying in motels during that particular timeframe, it sat in drafts unfinished and now all the holidays referenced in the title have passed.  There are two options I’m willing to consider on this followup ficlet to The Department - an off-season release as soon as it’s finished, or I can hang onto it until the holidays roll around again.  Feel free to offer an opinion if you got one.

In fact, opinions are welcomed on everything on this list - sometimes having someone say “I’d love to see this one update first” or whatever can give me just the motivation kick I need to get on it.  Don’t be shy.  I can’t guarantee it’ll work out that way (inspiration and motivation are tricky arbitrary monsters) but I can sure give it a try.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Beth Chapel, Amanda LaRusso, Joe West

Beth Chapel:

(Note that this is about DCTV Beth Chapel, because I haven’t read comics)

Beth Chapel is an absolute sweetheart and incredibly smart!! I love her so, so much!! Though...something I don’t see a lot of people talking about is how much she really needs therapy?? Like...Beth acts so much like an adult in s1, clearly so self-sufficient and seeming to take care of her parents more than they take care of her...and maybe it’s just me, but I wonder if they’ll ever address that??

I also think it’s a large part of why she latches on to Chuck. Yes, it’s about friendship, but even after she has the JSA...she really, really misses Chuck. Because Chuck was more than a friend for her...Chuck was someone who looked out for her and was there for her, and I really wonder if he was (at least in part) filling the parent-shaped hole in Beth’s heart. Because her parents clearly love her so much!! They do!! But...I can’t be the only one who thought they were on the verge of a divorce during s1, because they seldom talked to each other, and they were always busy, and Beth seemed so used to that...

Just...idk. Get this girl some therapy in s3 please...and let her and her parents have a real heart-to-heart about how maybe she felt forced to grow up too fast or rely on herself more than anyone else

Amanda LaRusso:

Amanda...oh boy. Okay. So...I’ve said something to the effect of her being one of the best characters on CK, and the moral center/level head, etc. When she says something, I’m on her side about it...usually.

I’ve made no secret about my gripes about s4, and Amanda’s characterization is definitely a major reason for that. Mostly because Amanda reminds me a lot of my own mom, and seeing how she acted in s4 really struck a nerve.

Like...okay. The show wanted to give Tory a redemption/regret arc. Totally fine with that, and it fits with her character - in s3, she regretted the school fight, so naturally in s4, she’d regret the home invasion (why tf she actually DID the home invasion is another thing but I’ve complained about Tory’s ooc writing before). And they wanted to tie it to Amanda. Okay, that could be an interesting angle.

However. The way they went about it is absolutely baffling. Amanda, at the start of s4, is fully intent on seeing Tory delivered justice. Which makes sense with who she is as a character and how she is as a mom. But then...she meets Kreese in a grocery store and Kreese is like “hey Tory has a bad home life, consider treating her better.” And then Amanda just...does??

Like?? What?? This is the man who tried to kill your husband, sent his kids after your daughter and her kids (who then broke Demetri’s arm and traumatized Sam), whom you slapped for doing that...but now suddenly he says “Tory has a bad home life”...and you believe him??

And it’s not even just that. Not only does Amanda believe him...she also immediately throws all negative feelings about Tory out the window. Because apparently a bad home life means all harm ever done is immediately negated. So much for the interesting internal struggle of “she has a bad home life but she still hurt my daughter.” Guess that was too much for the writers.

More to the point...this shouldn’t have been Kreese’s role. It should’ve been Robby’s. Robby is in a relationship with Tory, and he and Amanda are presumably on good terms (and they’ve had this talk before, about their pasts not defining them)!! The setup was there!! Have Robby appeal to Amanda on Tory’s behalf, have Tory scoff and try to put up a front...have Amanda be reluctant and still dislike Tory but agree to help her anyway...have her soften towards this girl who reminds her of herself.

But also...do not have her tell Sam that she needs to forgive Tory when Tory hasn’t even apologized. Absolutely not. Tbh, I would’ve liked to see this arc with Sam, with her having the inner conflict of “she has a bad home life but also she hurt me”...but if it has to be Amanda, she can’t force Sam to forgive Tory. Not her place.

Basically, I loved her in the first three seasons, and I’ll always write her with nuance...but wow did s4 tank my opinion of her (she isn’t the only one, to be fair)

Joe West:

...oh man could I go on a rant about Joe.

Let’s start with the most obvious grievance that everyone and their mother has been talking about: Armageddon!! The sheer audacity of this man to yell at Barry and Iris for (finally!! After years of letting him go!!) agreeing to let Thawne die (not kill him, btw. Let him die, as a result of his own actions)!! The audacity!! This is the same man who shot Harry within a second of meeting him, rightfully on guard because Harry could’ve been Thawne!!

Also let’s not forget that Joe’s lecture comes after Thawne tells Barry that he’ll continue trying to kill him if he gets free. Thawne is that arrogant, that he’s fully truthful about his intentions and still expecting Team Flash to do what he wants and let him go free...and they did it?? It’s baffling. Thanks, Joe. I hope you know that the entire bs s8 finale arc is your fault (including that godawful black suit...wtf was that)

But now let’s rewind. Because...I’ve been rewatching s1, and it strikes me just how much Joe is restrictive of his *checks notes* 25-year-old daughter?? Like...Iris is presumably an adult when she applies to the police academy...he shoots her down with a cold shoulder. A cold shoulder! Not a sit-down-and-let-me-explain-why, not anything...just a cold shoulder until Iris withdraws. Even on E2 this was the case!!

And then with everyone knowing Barry was the Flash except Iris?? Including Iris’s fiancé?? Come on now 💀 Come on, Joe. Your daughter is an adult!! Let her make her own decisions!! Let her in on things!!

(also...they couldn’t dissuade Iris from writing her blog...yet they still didn’t let her in on the Flash stuff?? Remember how she was literally kidnapped for her blog?? Barry, Joe, Eddie…did none of y’all think that maybe letting her in on Barry being the Flash would allow her to be more prepared to defend herself against threats?? Y’all could’ve given her the Flash alert early too!!)

I don’t even have an opinion on him per se, just frustration

send me a character (or multiple) and I’ll fill out the bingo!

[mc-critical]

You said in your previous reblog in the tags that you notice character parallels between Mihrimah and Mahidevran. Are you able to go more into depth on this?

Sure thing! The primary parallel between Mihrimah and Mahidevran is in their character arcs that are based more on the protection of what they know and love than strictly gaining power and using it for their own benefit.

First off, despite of their different circumstances, the environment and the people in it were placing expectations on Mihrimah and Mahidevran ever since their respective debuts- and the root of these expectations is pretty similar. Both of them have already gained certain position and power - Mahidevran as Süleiman's haseki and Mihrimah as a princess of the dynasty. Both were consistently motivated to protect (or protect through) their positions in their new predicaments by applying them both for themselves and for someone else's sake: Mahidevran has to behave as per her position not to cause trouble and to win SS's favors again, Mihrimah has to do that to "do what Hürrem can't", stand her ground when she's cornered the way her mother never could; Mahidevran has to act like a mother of a prince for the sake of Mustafa, Mihrimah has to use her power as SS's daughter for the sake of her brothers. Both of them have parts of their positions they apply openly in front of others to demonstrate superiority right from the start and another part they haven't grasped yet and/or didn't want to grasp early on, but they eventually do later on.

Their path to the adaption to the system is similar: what they initially wanted was to seek love (Mahi with SS, Mihri with Taşlicali and Bali Bey) and for a long while, they didn't give up on this desire, no matter what stood on the way of it. Every disappointment and heartbreak they faced in these stages of their lives hurt them severely and it wasn't easy to move on. At one point, both had to face that they weren't loved in the same way they once were or thought they were (by SS and Bali Bey respectively), so their only choice remained an inevitable one. Mahidevran and Mihrimah both had to grapple with what they knew they had to do, but were hesitant to. They had to accept the unchanging position they were in and play by the rules for the sake of a probable better future they believed in. (Mustafa to sit on the throne and Mahi to become Valide, Bayezid to sit on the throne and Mihri's brothers not to be potentially killed.) The more it all continued, the less optimistic and more cynical they became. The more engrained in it they became. They still ended up doing crueler stuff more out of necessity than them loving intrigue all that much, but the more this necessity arose, the more used to it they became.

They have similar supportive natures to others, because their lives became centered around that. Protecting others became a big part of their identities, coming to disregard what they lost or what they wanted for themselves. While both Mahidevran and Mihrimah know what they have to do, there have been not so few instances where they have openly and strongly protested against it (Mahidevran in E45 as a whole and her asking SS to free her; Mihrimah marrying Rüstem and then asking SS for a divorce), but then always "faced the "no's" and moved into the other stages of their lives. It's kind of an internal conflict for them and it drove both of their arcs and motivations forward. And their arcs and motivations are always personal and familial: they value the families they have or have created and seem to be capable of anything for them. They try to spare them from trouble (Mahidevran's advices to Mustafa and actions toward him in S03; Mihrimah helping Bayezid with money etc.), but also lean on them a lot. (Mahidevran with Mustafa throughout the show and Mihrimah with SS, Hürrem and Cihangir.) They try with all their might to offer help to their collective causes and they to be as involved as possible, even when that isn't provided to them. (Mustafa objecting to Mahi's interference in many matters and not allowing her to put her head in "state matters"; Hürrem hiding her schemes from Mihrimah and the rest of her children even in S04 and asked her whether she was sure she wanted to help in the Mustafa issue.)

Both of them can be very perceptive of what is going on around them (while Mihrimah moves more between perceptiveness and obliviousness for the sake of "doing what is best for her brothers' future", she still has it in her.) and do try to warn when possible problems could arise. (Mahi with Musti again, Valide and Ibro; Mihri with Hü about Selim and Bayezid.) They show they're aware of both the luck and misfortune of their positions. (Mahidevran's quote in E16 and Mihrimah's monologue in E99 while totally different in their context, show similar awareness, combined with notably strong yet bitter acceptance of what's happening.) They are aware of the toxicity of the system, no matter how much of it they've absorbed.

The culmination of their character arcs are the same: Mahidevran and Mihrimah do the cruelest deed in their lives (ordering Mehmet's death; stealing Mustafa's seal thus playing a part in his death.) when their will for protection reached its peak and the prospect of losing became stronger. Both of their decisions are sudden, yet expected, built up narratively for a lengthy period of time. (Hürrem's constant schemes against Mustafa, culminating in the assigning to Amasya; Hürrem and Rüstem convincing Mihrimah that he's the enemy and her own changing position on him and his actions.) They come to these decisions on their own, helped by ongoing events and conversations. They decide to act against someone they haven't directly acted against before by already seeing him solely as a threat that can bring no good. However, before they make the decisions they hear the perspective of the people they love and care about (Mustafa and Selim) and seeing how much the happenings have upset them is what motivated Mahidevran and Mihrimah even further to act the way they did. Both of them come to the same realization (though not so directly spelled out with Mihrimah): that they have no one but their family and can't rely on others or on the sole chance, respectively. Both use trust to do the deed: Mahidevran sends Illyas to gain Mehmet's trust, Mihrimah goes to Amasya with the pretext to make amends with Mustafa and of course he would obviously trust her. When it's all done, both regret it severely and call it a sin, but decide to repress or bottle up their regret inside- Mihrimah shows superiority, while Mahidevran responds with silence when it's brought up.

The hint of letting go of the toxic system is present in both Mahidevran and Mihrimah's arcs, while more strongly realized with Mahidevran. Both have been offered detachment of their environment - Mahidevran went to Bursa after Mustafa's demise, Mihrimah was offered a way out by Pedro. They go with it because it's something they also want deep down: Mihrimah didn't go with Pedro, but ultimately managed to get rid of Rüstem after Hürrem's death, their marriage being a part of the toxicity for her. Mihrimah no longer wanted to be a part at least of this. With SS taking all her wealth and "previous self" away and her own wish to leave justice in the hands of God, Mahidevran moved past her ire for Hürrem and let go of the toxic game of the sultanate she called out directly in front of "the decider of all their fates", a far cry from the former love or respect she had left for him. Both meet in their joint scene in E139 with Mahidevran having found her peace and refusing to accept Selim's offer to go back to the castle and Mihrimah being seemingly against everything Mahidevran told her, but eventually deciding to get out of the castle and retire, maybe leaving things to Safiye when the rest of the episode up to that point promised a fair amount of future involvement from her. Maybe she didn't want to fully deal with it any longer. Mahidevran and Mihrimah have experienced a lot and have come to terms with these experiences, but they manage to also get away from them, at least to an extent.

[terrainofheartfelt]

I see a lot of people’s problem with dair is lack of reciprocity but like wouldn’t be odd for Blair was going the mile the way dan was when he wasn’t going through a whole ass divorce and for the most part grew up in a stable home. My problem is that dan and Blair were actually getting to a place of reciprocity and then the writer ripped it all away

yeah I don't buy the lack of reciprocity because look at her!!! girl is glowing!!! (x)

Meester really did so much. Blair was clearly smitten.

I do think, that it can read that she's less invested because she was going through a LOT. Blair basically does not get a break for the entirety of the season, and what she goes through is heavy. What I said before, about her being the one in crisis - I think Dan senses that too, he's had a front row seat to the all the traumatic shit she undergoes since the fall. And we see, after the divorce, Blair trying to come back to herself (re: "OGB"), and do things that are for herself and not for anybody else.

(she also lowkey gets that chance in 4b, but on a less highstakes dramatic scale, during the Secret Friendship arc. She. Found. Her. Center. Is. All.)

But the enormity of that, of not being beholden to anyone else, Blair's never really had that before. She built her life around Serena and Nate, and then Chuck, and then Louis, and being with Dan is the first time she ever allows herself to make room for herself, and that's scary as hell. (and Dan, I think, who's been secretly and silently in love with her for so long is extremely conscious of not taking up too much space).

So, when chip wiskers falls into crisis again at the end of the season, it's easier for Blair to take up that old mantle of his savior than facing the unknown of being someone else. Being herself. Which, even from an exclusively Blair character analysis standpoint, makes her arc at the tail end of season 5 very upsetting.

[sillysunshinesstuff]

Ok so this is totally bullshit and totally disproven but indulge my rambling.

We know Sam was supposed to be the main protagonist. The show started with his perspective and the story starts after his tragedy. The first few seasons then follow that type of story telling. It's from Sam's perspective, his view of the story. (again, I know this changes with Dean becoming main protag but listen) So Supernatural is from Sam's perspective. It's his view on how their stories went down. Narratively, it had to be unreliable. He only gets a limited view of the story and characters around him. This means what we saw isn't necessarily the true story.

That's where Dean and Cas come in.

What if their very hetero friendship was only because that's how Sam viewed it? The story is put together through what he saw and was told, so perhaps he didn't see everything. Maybe Dean didn't tell him everything. Maybe this is why deancas scenes are always so fucking charged and nobody knows why. It's why such intense devotion happened with only very minimal interaction between the characters. Maybe there was more to the story that nobody told Sam about.

Think of the intense stare downs with absolutely no explanation. The big declarations of " I did it, all of it, for you" "I need you" and "I forgive you, of course I forgive you." "I love you." Romantically coded scenes but since Sam didn't explicitly see it, he views it as friendship because his dumb brother and best friend never showed him the more, the in-between. It's why all the bigger arcs later, the Cain/Colette/Cas arc, the Amara/Dean/Cas arc, the widower arc, the divorce arc, are all romantic but since Sam never saw more, it was never expressed as such to the audience.

Think of the mixtape. Why didn't we see Dean give it to Cas? Why do we only see Dean telling Cas it's a gift and you keep those? Perhaps it's something one of them mentioned to Sam, perhaps he saw Cas listening to it and filled in the blanks. Perhaps the deancas narrative is only half there because Sam was kept from most of it.

Or what about Tombstone and husband cowboy costumes? We learned Dean and Cas marathon movies together but never saw it because Sam never saw it happen. He only saw them interacting like dorks during the case. He only saw Dean's intense happiness at having Cas back.

In my opinion, Dean and Cas have been together for a long ass time. Probably off and on. That's why Dean's grief and feelings for Cas are always front and center because Sam can't make sense on why they're so much more intense than his own. It's why Dean has had no love interests (few exceptions?) but Sam doesn't really pay that fact any mind.

Now this all hinges on Sam being a bit naive and not connecting the dots. And you know what, it makes sense. Sam's fatal flaw the first few seasons was his selfishness. Went to college, left his family, left Dean, and just tried to erase it all. (Not selfish things in my opinion but the show does frame it as such) It's why narratively, he had to make the selfless sacrifice at the end of season 5. He's definitely grown from that flaw but maybe not in regards to Dean. Dean is his parent and children don't really pay attention to their parents. We love and care for them, but we assume they're gonna handle their own shit and we don't need to be part of that. Sam stays naive because it's not a big deal. Dean sticks with him and Cas is their best friend. Why does there need to be more to it than that? Why should he care?

So perhaps the confession scene was something Dean and Cas had always avoided. Love. I mean, they got divorced in the last season. Maybe they still weren't together, even after Dean forgave him and apologized himself. Maybe they both felt like it was too much to come back from and therefore didn't get back together. "You don't have to say it, I heard your prayer." They both thought they were done. That they were out of love and that was that. But Cas called bullshit and said he loved Dean. Had always loved Dean and always will. That was his moment of true happiness. Letting Dean know that after years of being together, he loved him. Through all the pain and suffering, he loved him and it wasn't over. Would never be over, not for him at least.

Maybe when Dean recounted this to Sam, it finally clicked as romantic. But he never thought to consider their past and how the confession was built up to. He probably just thought it was a random confession after years of unrequited love. Never considering that maybe the love was requited the entire time and acted upon. That maybe these two had been together all along but things always got in their way of being happy. That Chuck always threw something at them to keep them apart because they were the one part of his story he did not write. This was Sam's story. It was never supposed to be a love story.

Remember when Dean ran to the door after Lucifer/Cas phone call? Even though Lucifer only ever pretends to be romantic love interests? Requited love interests his target is/has been in a relationship with? It's because Dean was running to his love of many years.

In conclusion, Sam is a clueless unreliable narrator and Deancas has been together the whole time. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[retvenkos]

anyways i guess i'm a portwell stan now (enemies to lovers/best friends brother/make each other better trope & troy and gabriella parallels my beloved)

and i'm also exasperated at the writers at ricky's path this season. and the writers in general.

i just. want miss jenn and mr mazzara to get together this season and ej and gina to be happy, if that's too much to ask for.

AND WHY DOES THERE HAVE TO BE SO MANY LOVE TRIANGLES????

nobody wants it, they're not needed- all this season has been about romance, with a few crumbs of musical theatre, and it's not what i signed up for! i want more friendship moments between kourtney and seb, and i want more of the dorky improv games.

let the kids be kids.

the north high rivalry is getting unrealistically annoying. if anything, the theatre community is supportive of each other (i'm in a performing arts school, i should know lmbo)

ricky's parents' divorce plot was completely thrown out the window.

nobody wanted the redlyn angst.

why is carlos being kinda mean?

this whole has season has been a mess, and the only people carrying the show on their backs now is ej, gina, mr. mazzara and howie's rendition of "if i can't love her".

i'm so sorry for vomiting this all over you, i just felt this show is going downhill- kinda like glee.

dfghjdsfghjhgfdsdfghjhgfd,,, i haven't watched glee but i know enough about it to know that was a sick burn, cass. i love it.

and omg,,,,, do i have thoughts™. let's unpack them, shall we?

i agree that this season has been..... a lot™. it’s just a cluster of half-baked plot points that are strung together really losely. i feel like they should have scaled back on some of their ambitions.

namely, the north high rivalry is really bland and unnecessary. the only good things to come out of it is howie, the song around you, and the stunning location (i mean, art deco ogden high? count me in). you could take out the menkies entirely and so little would change to the overall story. i’d argue the story could have been even better without it because.... big shock..... we could focus on the characters.

because, truly, they’re trying to tackle too many things at once. whatever angst is happening with carlos and seb is the worst developed plot point we’ve had to suffer through. carlos says “does chip have any big scenes?” and it’s the catalyst for a fight? then we have them split for spring break and it’s just snippets of them fighting? literally, there’s zero reason for seb and carlos to fight - their dynamic is cute but it’s background chatter when you have whatever the hell is happening with ricky, nini, ej, and gina front and center. there was no reason to make then fight and it doesn’t add to their development, it isn’t well executed, and it isn’t particularly interesting. just let them be happy?

and i feel like that’s such a running theme for all of the side relationships? like you said - redlyn didn’t really need angst? i feel like the whole “career day” arc was well done and was compelling (but maybe that’s just because i had a friend who went through the same thing as red, so i’m sympathetic to it), but whatever went on with antoine and ashlyn was just.... really unnecessary? it didn’t add anything? maybe they’ll be revisiting the plot point, but as it stands right now, it was just really random to add in, and perhaps if i were more invested with north high, i would appreciate it more. but they’re.... so inconsequential.

and now we get to talk about one of my biggest gripes,,,,,,, ricky’s parents’ divorce. listen, i thought it was well developed in season one. it had importance. it affected ricky. it affected the plot. it raised the stakes. now it’s just underdeveloped. we’ve barely seen ricky’s homelife, given the sheer amount of plot points the show is juggling, and since ricky has mainly had negative scenes through the totality of the season, viewers aren’t really interested in seeing how the crumbs of his tumultuous homelife are affecting his behavior (which is kind of important, seeing as it accounts for the degradation of his character). 

ricky is going through a lot this season, and i feel like the main reason why people are so upset with him is because the writers leaned into his sad boi™ status. maybe it’s because the screentime is so divided and the stakes are higher, or because the writers really just got rid of all of ricky’s personality, but ricky has had two personality traits this season - sad clingy boi and bitter, passive aggressive boi. 

now, these personality appeared in season one - quite a lot, actually - but because it was framed  between light hearted moments and exploration of his conflicts, it was palatable and understandable. viewers understood why ricky was so desperately clinging onto the past and resisted change so much. we saw the tempest he was in! we had moments where friends like big red or even gina mentioned it. his reactions had merit because the viewer saw the buildup! 

this season, we have not had that. we see ricky’s dad trying to do his best with moving out, and with trying to move on, and we see ricky’s mom trying to do the same, and this is all strong for them, but when ricky can’t move on, and we see less of the struggle that ricky feels, we become disenchanted. ricky has stagnated, and we see everyone else moving on, and we do not focus on hat influences ricky to stop dead in his tracks. 

what’s worse is that the writers have ricky blow up so much more than last season, when we see less reasoning, and when he mentions how his parent’s divorce is a main reason for his angst, we really have no basis for that - except for what we saw in season 1. season 1 isn’t enough anymore, though, because ricky’s dad has moved on! so has ricky’s mom! 

i’m just scREAMING because ricky’s story is important and it was done well in season 1 and now the writers are losing ricky in the crossfire and pulling out the most degraded, negative traits of his character and running with them.

where is the ricky bowen i love and miss????

and lol, i’ve spoken so much about north high already, but i agree 10000% that it’s just getting out of hand. it’s just so not realistic. the rivalries aren’t like this,,,, someone please make it stop. they north high kids are also just so underdeveloped? the only exception is howie, and we didn’t even know he was a north high kid for half of the show,,,,,, (which, imo, should have been built up much better. kourtney said they never hung out with his friends, but we should have seen that so the mystery was more fulfilling. we should have also gotten hints he was in theatre - maybe kourtney hears him sing beauty and the beast, and she thinks it’s vvv cute, and she asks him he didn’t try out, and howie has to do some mental gymnastics to come up with a decent lie.) 

there’s so much poor or just underdeveloped writing in this season,,,, i’m crying.

even gina (my beloved) is the subject of poor writing because literally what happened between her and ricky? she was so emotionally involved she was about to leave, and then she suddenly decides to stay? and she suddenly just ignores ricky? girl worked through all of that off camera and while it’s not bad per se, it’s just lazy. they just underdeveloped that entire story.

the only one who has really shined this season is ej, and that’s just... really out of left field, but i’m not complaining.

and, i mean, i could talk about my earlier gripes with nini, but i see that they’re making narrative sense, now that the show has progressed a little further. i just wish she had stayed at yac longer, or we had seen more of her, there, so that when she says “she liked who she was [at yac],” we would have more basis for that. and i kinda wish we saw more of her sans boy drama, but i’m sure that’s coming.

and the love triangles,,,,, don’t get me started. rina didn’t have to be angsty or happen at all,,,, they could have just been friends and it would have had the same effect. don’t believe me? they’re friends and they lean on each other, but then nini comes into the picture and ricky just wants to be with nini all the time. he starts to really blow gina off and gina wonders if they were ever friends at all, or if she was just a cardboard cut out that ricky projected nini onto. the angst happens, gina realizes she has friends with carlos, she has that moment with ashlyn that gets fixed, then gina gets close to ej,,,,, literally no difference.

and lol, mr. mazzara. i think he and miss jenn are vvv cute together - definitely my favorite out of the miss jenn romances. i love a good slow burn, so i’m willing to wait for an eternity to have it. i just think they’re neat.

[yusuke-of-valla]

I’m 99% sure it’s just been us two talking about it after every RWBY ep. Long story short, All of Fortuna is related to someone in RWBY and/or P5, they’re an elite team in the Atlas Military, they end up double-crossing Ironwood and keeping secrets from everyone and end up helping the resistance later.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m pretty sure that

-Touma is Coco’s older brother, he was adopted by her family after the whole thing with his parents. His semblance is Gaia’s Whisper and basically he absorbs fire and can use that to attack or support his allies.

-Itsuki is P5!Ren’s older brother, and is front and center dealing with his parents divorce. His semblance is Aura Spheres and basically he can focus his aura to Attack (Thoron), Support (Strike a Pose), or Heal (Diarahan)

-Ellie is one of Jaune’s older sisters, and also very gay because all of the Arc sisters are WLW. Her semblance is Debilitating Arrows, so she basically can make a special arrow with her aura and reduce the Atk/Def/Spd of her enemies. The larger the radius the more aura it takes.

-Tsubasa is Ruby and Yang’s cousin, and I don’t know if we ever actually added this in the au but I vaguely remember talking about Ayaha having been the former Fall Maiden? Her semblance is Hit It! She can basically cause music to play at any time and it increases the power of any attacks done to the beat. Also it creates an arena around them that looks like the TMS battle arena.

-Kiria is Pyrrha’s older sister and helps Winter fight Ironwood. Her semblance is Destroyer’s Aura, depending on the pitch of her voice, she can create different elemental spells. Higher is Wind, Lower is Fire, Normal is Ice.

-Yashiro is RWBY!Ren’s older brother and also helps Winter fight Ironwood. I’m pretty sure we said Yashiro could have two semblances because of the Heterochromia so one semblance is Song of Flames, basically he sings and a huge fire blast will come up. His second one I don’t remember the name I came up with for but basically it’s a speed semblance like Harriet’s except it’s got fire around it.

-Mamori is Nora’s younger sister and yes she is still a baby with an axe. Her semblance is Shield of Love, basically the same thing as in TMS, she throws herself in front of attacks and creates Aura Shields to protect them both.

Yeah that sounds about right, though Ayaha being the Fall Maiden means she’s dead so idk if we want to keep that