#especially if they're super arrogant/an asshole

[befuddled-calico-whump]

Imagine a spoiled royal, heir to the throne, part of a powerful bloodline that gives them "divine right to rule". They're raised to be cruel, and told their heritage puts them above everyone else.

And then one day, it's revealed before the entire court that it's all a lie. The royal was switched at birth with the child of a servant. The real heir has been serving in the palace all this time, unaware of their birthright. Maybe they're even someone the faux-royal had been particularly cruel to all their lives.

The ruling family is quick to push out the false heir---blood is more important to them than any illusion of family---and welcome the servant with open arms.

Maybe the false heir is banished from the kingdom they were raised to rule. Maybe they're imprisoned so the truth can never come out. Maybe they're made a servant, now at the beck and call of someone they'd thought beneath them.

Does the true heir take pity on them, or do they seek vengeance from years of abuse? Does the royal family have any regrets, or have they always been cold, only concerned with holding power? What do the servants and commoners do, now that the arrogant "heir" has lost all power and protection?

[maibeenot]

Last one about TUA season 4, for now.

(I talked about this in the tags of one of my RBs before but I wanted to elaborate)

I don't like how they keep trying to make Five a badass.

I find it especially frustrating as doing this constantly, bogs down any form of character development we could've had from Five.

For whatever reason, the writers seem to be allergic to acknowledging Five's biggest character flaw, his arrogance. Five always has to be right. He always has to be capable of everything and never needs any help. Despite the fact that Diego also has a very similar flaw (and is punished for it consistently), Five's seems to go completely untouched.

(A part of me thinks that the reason why they punish Diego so much more is because he comes off as the hot-headed impulsive one. While that's true, it certainly doesn't negate Five's ability to make mistakes or be incompetent)

Instead, they keep trying to invent a new flaw for Five in that; he is obsessed with the apocalypse. In reality, he's not obsessed with the apocalypse. He's obsessed with keeping his family safe. It just so happens that their most immediate threat (in his eyes) tends to be the apocalypse. (I really don't understand what they're trying to get at with this, especially considering the fact that he already has an extremely apparent flaw)

While this isn't an issue I take with season 4 specifically, it has definitely amplified this issue like crazy. Five's arrogance is vaguely addressed by his siblings in season 1, but it never seems to get him in trouble? Or at least he doesn't seem to have learned from it (except for the time-travelling thing from when he was 13, and when he bled out also in season 1)

Season 1 (and 2) handled it the best out of the four. Five never seems to ask for or accept help unless backed into a corner (telling Viktor about the apocalypse, asking Klaus to help him get the prosthetic eye). Or if he is literally incoherent or unconscious (him passing out from blood loss, him being drunk and telling Diego and Luther about what's happening).

And outside of that, Five's arrogance still had brutal consequences within this season (him not noticing Viktor's declining mental state because he was so sure about the apocalypse (but this was partially because this man tunnel-visions like crazy)).

(there are probably more instances of this with s1 & 2, i just can't think of them off the top of my head so tag them if you'd like)

Season 4 is extra mean with this. From the 'Five getting to work for the CIA at 19' to 'Five randomly figuring out what's causing the end of the world with a bunch of other Five's' while he was off moping.

And when he does make mistakes, it's not because he's actually not capable of everything and anything.

Noooo, Ben really really sneakily stole the marigold and spiked the sake. Five couldn't have possibly noticed. (and none of the other siblings for that matter)

Noooo, it's because Luther is actually super smart in figuring out that Five's boss is a Keeper (no shade to Luther btw, I like him. They just don't treat this moment as Five being a complete dumbass).

Oh no! Five (and Lila) can't figure out a way back from the metro! Never mind, another Five managed it.

Five being a homewrecker? That's him being an asshole, not incompetent so it doesn't count (lighthearted).

Five's arrogance one of his defining flaws, yet it's not really challenged. The fact that he gets away with a lot of bullshit is simply because he can! When he doesn't face failure, he doesn't find growth. He doesn't learn to stop being self-destructive just because he thinks he can do anything. He doesn't learn to reach out.

This stunt in growth is obviously not only present in Five but also everyone else. I just find his to be particularly grating since he's my favorite.

Feel free to add your thoughts to this, not just about Five's fucked up character growth but everyone else's too!

(I'll make long a ass post/video essay going into detail about all of them one of these days)

I'd love to read them :)

[izunias-meme-hole]

My Definitive Top 20 Favorite Characters

Number 1. Doctor Doom (Marvel) - I've always respected this man, but I've never been super crazy about him. His animated and game adaptations are good but not perfect, and the movies so far have failed to get his character across in a great way, so that might've been a part of why I wasn't a Doom Superfan. Though after getting back into the absurdity and impactfulslness of superhero comics, it soon hit me... Doctor Doom is a villain made for comics. He's overdramatic, grandiose, terrifying, bombastic, egotistical, pragmatic, powerful, absurd, nuanced, insecure, lonely, the whole package placed within a suit of armor and a green cloak. He's an arrogant, tyrannical, cold hearted technological and magical genius who embodies every inch of supervillainy you could imagine, while remaining a genuinely sophisticated, and honorable figure even with his history of pettiness. Overall Doom is just one big magnificent bastard.

Number 2. Sauron (Lord of The Rings) - The Original Dark Lord. A fallen being of great power, obsessed with order. The enemy army is his army, Mordor is his kingdom, the Nazgul are his servants, the One Ring is his power source fueled by a fragment of his own soul that tempts and corrupts all who bear it, his eye shines its malevolent gaze upon the world with the intent of ravaging and conquering all that it can see, and the entire story is caused by his machinations. Whenever I look back at Sauron as a villain and character, I end up remembering why he is as infamous as he is. A great villain sometimes can just be a genuinely terrifying presence, especially in cinema and literature.

Number 3. Ganon (Legend of Zelda) - Honestly after so many years, Ganon still holds up as a villain. He's had several different outings, multiple designs, multiple bosses, and many different traits though at his core he's remained the same greedy monster that he was introduced as. He remains a King of Thieves, a darwinistic asshole who was forged by his harsh environment, an ambitious man desiring to be a force of nature, a warmonger, an inevitable storm, greed and wrath incarnate, a force of destiny, and a truly demonic King of Evil that worships power above all else. It's this versatility mixed with the consistency of his core traits and ever-looming presence that make Ganon the greatest villain in video game history.

Number 4. Ozai (Avatar: The Last Airbender) - If the Fire Nation is supposed to be Nazi Germany mixed with Imperial Japan, then Ozai is the perfect dictator to serve as the leader of this antagonistic force. He's the descendant of darwinistic and prideful royals, he's the one who authorizes a MASSIVE amount of atrocities throughout the series that exceed the work of his ancestors, his cold and cruel approach to parenting is the reason why his son is so angst filled while his daughter is a killing machine who's barely holding on, and his own belief in the "divine right to rule" along with the envy he has towards his brother pushes him into complete and utter megalomania. Though when you remove all of his power he is shown for what he truly is, a truly pathetic man trying to make something bigger and badder out of himself, just like any other darwinistic and genocidal dictator. All of this, combined with a perfect buildup and the undeniable presence he has through his army & children, makes him a truly legendary villain.

Number 5. Sayo Yasuda/Beatrice (When They Cry)- Sayo Yasuda, a.k.a The Golden Witch Beatrice, is a fun, terrifying, smart, kinda relatable, and overall tragic young witch with many names and faces who serves the scapegoat of a much bigger horror.

Number 6. The Joker (Batman) - The Joker is a crook from god knows where that got a clownish makeover and ended up becoming the arch-nemesis of Batman himself. While the other rouges have their particular danger levels, they all have some type of cause they're fighting for or they're purely out to benefit themselves. Joker just causes chaos, death, and suffering, for the sake of his twisted sense of humor. He is willing to kill and ruin lives in the most creative way possible, so long as he finds it funny. Yet despite how twisted he is, this evil ass clown actually can be funny. Not only that, but he's the most effective contrast to Batman, even more than the other rouges. Batman is a frightening figure with a semi-demonic visage who suffered one bad day in his youth, yet he is a hero dedicated to the cause of justice and protecting the innocent citizens of Gotham City. Joker is a colorful figure with a big 'ol grin on his face, yet he is perfectly okay with causing as much unwarranted harm to others for the sake of artistic chaos. Ultimately, the Clown Prince of Crime is a villain that's managed to last for decades, despite the ever marching clock, for these exact reasons.

Number 7. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) - Sephiroth is one of the most frightening bosses in gaming and a genuine horror villain. He is a tragic monster born from science, and a loyal “son” to his alien mother, Jenova, but he’s still scary as hell thanks to his god complex, unlimited strength, ethereal vibes, years of experience, his ability to live off of pure spite just so he can make the lives of his enemies (and Cloud) complete hell. His appearance in of itself is creepy due to how beautiful, yet unsettling it is thanks to his silver hair, green snake-like eyes, and perfect physique which is complimented by a black coat. However the most dangerous things about him are that he’s completely delusional, his strength is unmatched, and just how far he’s willing to go to distort other peoples sense reality, specifically Cloud’s sense of reality. Sephiroth a tragic character and a truly phenomenal villain.

Number 8. DIO Brando (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) - I feel like I'm always going have a soft spot for this piece of shit, because his development and influence is something else. In Phantom Blood, he’s still one of the greatest evils the series has ever seen, but we also saw a human element to him in a very negative way. He was bitter, envious, and straight up angry at the world for making him the bottom of the barrel, but after becoming a vampire he’s becomes sick, scary, and slightly pitiable due to his lack of humanity. In Stardust Crusaders, the re-emerged DIO is out to get the Joestars, not for revenge for Jonathan humiliating him, but because he knows they’ll be a threat in the long run. He's still a vain and power-hungry sociopath, but he's less erratic and more paranoid, controlled, and slightly nihilistic from a mortal standpoint. DIO was not really sane, but he did a damn good job of holding himself together, until the final battle. This isn't even mentioning the Stone Ocean flashbacks where we get to see more of this controlled DIO interacting with the man who would carry on his work, showing that around that point in his life that he became aware of his limitations and is willing to leave unfinished business to someone he genuinely trusts. Overall, DIO is a complete monster who is willing to do whatever he can to be at the top because of his nature and because he understands what being at the bottom is like.

Number 9. Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts) - Ah yes... the greatest Disney Villain of all time. This doesn’t require much explanation, but allow me to explain. Xemnas is an amazing villain. Xemnas is the nobody of Apprentice Xehanort, his husk, an entity that can feels nothing and wasn’t meant to exist, yet he’s quite the specimen. He’s a very sinister figure due to his nature, the fact that he’s a special nobody like Roxas, his inability to feel emotion, and his belief that negative emotions are what give the heart power, but at the same time you somehow manage to feel pity for him because of these things. While what he does is his own choice, you can clearly see that while he’s a different entity from his human self, he still chooses to go in that hollow shadow because it’s in his own nature, and it ended up being his downfall. That and his boss was truly a test of your skills. TL;DR: Xemnas is amazing.

Number 10. Messmer The Impaler (Elden Ring) - Messmer was certainly a welcome surprise. He was the firstborn son of Queen Marika, ultimately the one who personally oversaw the genocide of the hornsent in the Land of Shadow, and event so horrific and cruel that its impact could still be felt within the present day. He was afflicted with a curse at his birth, in which a dark and malevolent snake threatened to eat him from the inside, which resulted in Marika plucking out his eye and replacing it with a seal of grace. Sounds like quite the monster, right? Well here's the thing. Messmer's a surprisingly good boss, like he literally preserved his enemies culture inside a storeroom just because one of his knights requested it, and has at least some level of compassion. Sure some of his men defected after finding out about the true nature of his existence, but there were some that even stuck around because they know who he is as a person. So why did this great guy commit literal one of the most horrific events in history? Well you see, Marika basically told him to eliminate the hornsent, and it wasn't just a standard order... it was a secret banishment for him, and Marika's vengeance on the hornsent. That's right, Messmer was exiled so he could be a scapegoat for his mother in the Land of Shadow. While this doesn't absolve him of his crimes, it ultimately makes him extremely pitiable.

Number 11. Count Orlok (Robert Eggers Nosferatu) - Count Orlok was originally made to be a Dracula expy for an unofficial German Dracula movie, but oh my god it is surprising to see how Robert Eggers Nosferatu not only utilizes this vampire to his fullest extent as a bloodsucking parasite and plague bringer disguised as an aristocrat, but also as a predator. He literally spends the entire film in pursuit of his former victim while she spends the film trying to deal with what he did to her. Ultimately they both die, but not without Orlok being brought into the light as the rotten creature that he is.

Number 12. Scar (The Lion King) - The more I thought about it, the more I realized that there's really no discussion who Disney's best cinematic villain was. Scar not only is a delightfully stylish and downright manipulative bastard, he also won. Like yeah he got dethroned 10 years later, but he's really the only Disney Villain from their decades worth of films to succeed in their evil plot for so long. He's not too interesting and he's not in the film for long, this sneaky lion utilizes his time perfectly.

Number 13. Ghetsis (Pokemon) - Ah yes, the worst father in Pokemon and the greatest villain the series has ever known. Ghetsis is Team Plasma’s founder, the father of N, and the greatest embodiment of evil this series has seen, so that kinda makes him the perfect foil to N. Ghetsis is cunning, manipulative, abusive, banal, psychotic, self-righteous, and narcissistic, not to mention that his plan was actually put together pretty well. However the best part about this guy are his BREAKDOWNS, like good lord it’s satisfying to kick this rancid old man into the dirt and watch him mentally not take a loss.

Number 14. Bowser (Super Mario Bros) -  Bowser is a genuinely great villain and fun as hell. Sure, there are a crapton of underrated villains in the Mario series, but no matter what you cannot really hate this guy. He’s a giant fire breathing turtle-dragon who’s a evil king, but he’s also a meathead, arrogant as hell, has very cool boss fights, is a surprisingly good father to his kids, and he’s an amazing protagonist and ally. He's also a VERY huge asshole in Mario Party. Though at the end of the day, Bowser is just an entertaining villain and a great character.

Number 15. Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik (Sonic) - What else is there to say that hasn't been already? Eggman’s just a simply a twisted take on the magnificent bastard trope, with some traditional cackling supervillain elements thrown in for good measure. He's egotistical beyond belief, discontent with his life and striving to extend his greatness, made an super advanced A.I that ended up becoming something of a "daughter" to him, made a copy of his Sonic that he treats both like a son and a tool, and has overall proven to be an irredeemable villain with a lot of different things that make him tick.

Number 16. Professor Moriarty (Sherlock Holmes) - Despite being created for the sole purpose of killing off Sherlock, Moriarty is easily one of the best literary villains ever due to how he functions. He barely makes a single appearance in his own case aside from 2 or 3 pages, but his presence is felt everywhere due to the web that he weaves, and its a very convincing web since it gave someone as smart as Sherlock a lot of trouble. Not only that, but as a character he's a very deliberate evil counterpart to Sherlock, which does a very effective job of showing readers that the detective has finally met his match.

Number 17. Edelgard Von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem) - I would repeat several points about why her fans like her, and also explain just how in the wrong she is, but there’s a simpler way to explain why I love Edelgard. She’s the best take on the Rudolf Archetype in the entire series. She’s calculated, arrogant, and self-righteous, yet she’s also very charming, likable, self-aware, and had a good end goal that can resonate with some people, despite the way she intended to go about it. Her character basically mixes parts of what made Rudolf, Arvis, and Walhart good, and places them into a single character, without making her seem unoriginal. Overall, Edelgard is one of the most well done villain the series has ever had. Long Live The Flame Emperor!

Number 18. Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls) - An overarching existential horror that not only takes the form of an illumination triangle with a used car salesman look, but is also meant to be his shows physical manifestation of ego itself? And he's given a tragic explanation as to why he's like this 10 years later while also expanding upon his ver deserving final fate? Oh yeah Bill's definitely as great as he sounds.

Number 19. Cell (Dragon Ball) - Cell is a Perfect villain. He’s got the traits of 3 main villains (Piccolo, Vegeta, & Frieza), along with some Goku elements in the mix, and it makes sense when you remember that he’s an android with the cells of the universes strongest fighters. Also he’s got the ability to absorb people, can perfectly copy techniques that would take years to learn, has quite the suave and charming personality in his perfect form, is extremely funny and snarky sometimes, is terrifying a lot of the time, and overall Cell was designed to be the endgame villain of Z, before Toriyama was asked to write the Buu Saga. Also he’s the SECOND villain from Z to be brought into Super, excluding Buu, only that time he became this Shin Godzilla inspired monstrosity with the appearance of his second form. Yet it did nothing to decrease how frightening he was.He’s on the same level as Frieza, but is held back by the fact that he was basically an endgame type of villain put in a penultimate setting. Still, he was and is the PERFECT, Non-Frieza, Dragon Ball villain from the get so in terms of concept and execution.

Number 20. Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars) - Despite literally everything ever happening to Star Wars, Palpatine is a consistent riot to watch. In the first two movies of the original trilogy, he never appears once, he’s only mentioned as “The Emperor,” and based off what we heard from Vader after he chopped Luke’s hand off, The Emperor sounds like a bigger and scarier dude than Vader. Then Return of The Jedi happens, and we see that he’s just a frail old man, yet he somehow manages to not only have Vader under his thumb, and based off what we see in the climax of the movie, it was primarily based off manipulation and not the force lightning he shoots out of his fingers. Then the Prequels happened, and The Clone Wars happened, which is honestly the exact moment that young me liked him more than Vader. It also helps that the Prequels & their spin-offs show how well written hs is as a pure evil, card carrying dark lord, and as a politician. Sure he’s one of the strongest sith lords in the series, but that alone isn’t what makes him scary. It’s his careful planning, and the best part of it is that he rarely appears onscreen, yet his presence can be felt 24/7. I am not as much of a Star Wars fan as I used to be, but I will admit that I still hold some love Sheev Palpatine and I’m not afraid to say it.

[scentofdriedflowers]

so I bit the bullet and watched the svu premiere today and well for me it was... meh on the characters/squad... better on the case (heard it was from a real story kind of so...)...

squad is still a mess

Bruno and Velasco are kind of useless and boring I don't see why they're still there, sorry not sorry, one of them AT LEAST gotta go. They don't bring much if anything to the plate like, dudes have been there for 2/3 years now and have still 0 personality and the acting is wobbling at best, also how the fuck Bruno is dressed? he looks like he just got off bed, dude?!

new girl, Silva is it?, is meh, don't like her much, kinda like muncy but better acting at least, I need more to see, now is kind of a show off and bit arrogant on her 'i know things i'm from homicide' like gurl, you've been there 3 weeks tone it down a notch will ya? svu is gonna mentally challenge you, but at least she's kind of competent and can do the boys job alone lol. Imagine being mentored by Velasco tho LOL! big laugh I had there lmao. get me Rollins back ffs

I save Liv and Carisi here, at their best! thank god for a court scene fucking finally they remembered they have a court set. God I missed Amanda being there supporting him and watching him do his magic. Defense lawyers are kind of limp tho, I miss Rita Calhoun or Barth or Buchanan kind of lol assholes sharks but good. Fin is Fin, weird comment on the gun at the shooting range but whatever.

Talking about the shooting range, kind of weird/cringe, what was that?? this showrunner way to write 'team bonding' lol? news flash it didn't work. Also kind of coding this new girl as the Rollins replacement number...5? 6? lost the count , oh look she can shoot 🙄

I still found so many scenes were I'm: 'Amanda should be here', 'it's missing Amanda Rollins hour', yeah there still a big Rollins-shape hole in the squad room, still want her back there, big time.

Also Curry, only 'new' character I really like, but what the fuck is she still doing there??? why? what's the point? she doesn't look and act like a captain that's offending for her, I'm offended on her behalf! get her the deputy chief position for fuck sake! I thought that was the whole point on reintroducing this character!?!!! why Graziano is ruing characters that are not even his?! or if she likes so much svu get her to take the bronx svu to fix and lead, she get the boys out of Manhattan and we're good, and we see 16th interact with her in some episodes.

Bottom of the line it wasn't super horrible but it didn't feel like SVU, it doesn't feel like SVU anymore, since season 24 since Rollins left there's no family squad, they're just coworkers, no found family feelings, no meaningful private scenes, no real bonding...only happen sometimes when the core 4 are together and we need Rollins for that, they don't know how to introduce new characters and make them stick and be loved. When they introduced Amanda, Amaro, Carisi and Barba they were big presence since episode 1 and loved right there, when they introduced Mike Dodds or Kat or Garland they were swept in the family too, but now nothing. Maybe there's no chemistry/feelings with this new actors like there is with Mariska, Ice T, Kelli and Peter, but it's lacking the heart of SVU. and I don't see it happening anytime soon. Also still missing Amanda like crazy and not worth losing sleep over this show. I think I'll tune in when the Rollisi family is in, so episode 3 and 4 for now I guess lol.

rant over✌️

Ah I forgot new opening credit is yikes you get mariska and then a string of men, i think they put the new girl in it already just because if not it looked really bad with just a men cast with M, especially for a show about 99% women trauma. And why it looks so dark?? Why they all dressed in black or dark colors? it ain't a Johnny Cash song, it's missing some colors, also a blonde, just saying. And the precinct too, I miss season 17-20 layout, it had warm colors.

[astralleywright]

the ashton stuff where everyone is reverting back to treating them like they did in early c3 just reminds me of when people were pushing back against everyone seeing caduceus as a perfect flawless angel by saying he was actually super arrogant and cruel and judgy. which like... dude?

so the thing abt ashton is that they’re a weird asshole and they suck so bad. and there were plenty of people who were put off by this, some of whom came around when he started becoming more vulnerable with the hells, and especially when he started his hero era. and then, like a beautiful butterfly emerging from its cacoon, New Ashton is born and is... also a weird asshole. A weird asshole who cares deeply about things, which makes people infinitely more uncomfortable than a weird asshole who pretends not to care. so now some of the people who thought Ashton was becoming terrifying things like "nice" and "well adjusted" and actually wanted that are confused and annoyed at him. that's what i think of when you mention people reverting to early c3 treatment.

related to, but not the same as that, is people who treat ashton's current behavior as not just weird asshole behavior (which it often is), but weird asshole behavior rooted in stupid or invalid premises and feelings. its gods discourse again, basically, when expecting anything of them at all (even, "don’t kill me in the name of protecting your colonialist interests") is selfish and entitled, bc they're totally dying rn and 👏 gods 👏 don't 👏 owe 👏 you 👏 anything 👏. ashton's suffering is sympathetic until they start demanding some sort of recompense, or seeking out their own power and capacity to enact change.

and there are cogent points in that discussion, about how Ashton's politics are still mostly self-centered and he's rushing into things he doesn't understand and acting on impulse judgements. and then there’s cross-campaign meta about how Taliesen's Characters are Always Super Wrong About Stuff, and Also Mad (Which is Bad), where i have no idea how much of that actually holds true. but even if it does, a lot of that stuff's wrapped up in discussions abt how "Ashton Resents the Dominant Power Structures of the World and Yet He Desires Power in Order to Destabilize Them, Curious! I Am Very Intelligent," and it's like, alright. what the fuck goes on.

[darkangel0410]

Ooooh for Cali OT3 (for those not lurking in our chats, that's Trevor/Turcs/Jamie): 🌈 🍭 🐀 👉

For McEichel: ⭐️ 🌙 ✈️ 🔥 👉

For OT3 (Jack/Quinn/Chuckie Mac): 🐇 🕸 🥀

For Heguin (im in mourning): 🐬 🌹😒🍁

(People wish they could get a peek at the insanity that's our chats, lbr 😂😂😂)

under a cut because this got super long, lmao

Cali ot3:

🌈 - What were their first impressions of each other? 

I think Trevor and Alex's first impression of Jamie was along the lines of 'wow, he's cute but boring' because lbr we all know Jamie was the quietest guy on that Canadian WJC team. Jamie's impression of Trevor was definitely 'arrogant asshole' because - well, we've all seen/heard the quote, right? I think his first one of Alex was a little softer, probably more 'he's cute, but with Zegras, ugh' type of thing. Trevor and Alex's first impressions of each other so long ago, but it was probably 'W O W HE'S HOT'

🍭  -What are their nicknames for each other? 

Alex is usually 'sweetheart' or 'baby' because I think they're softer with him than they are with each other (it's the dimples, shhhh). Trevor's usually 'babe', unless Jamie's in a mean mood and trying to get him wound up (horny), then it's 'princess'(derogatory). Jamie's 'Jamison', 'babe', 'stud' or, when he's being mean, 'sir'.

If we're talking a bottom Jamie verse 😈😈 then it's flipped a little, Jamie gets called 'slut' (derogatory and sexy), 'baby girl' (affectionate when he's being good). Jamie calls them mostly by their names in bed, and then 'babe' (Trevor) and 'sweetheart' (Alex) outside of it

🐀 - Who steals the covers? 

Trevor, 100% - Alex sleeps in the middle so he always gets some, too, but Jamie gets left without any - which is why he has an extra blanket stashed by the bed in case it's cold out

👉 - Who is better at giving directions?

Oh, all three of them suck at it - they're so, so bad that no one bothers asking them anymore and just use gps

McEichel:

⭐️ - Who is a morning person? 

Oh, Jack for sure - he gets up early to run/workout, depending on the day. Connor's usually up by 8 in the off-season, but Jack's up at 5:30am no matter what time of year it is

🌙 - Who is a night person? 

Connor, probably - they'll both stay up if there's friends over, they're out, etc etc, but Jack's usually out by 11pm if there's no extenuating circumstances (hockey games)

✈️ - How do they celebrate anniversaries? 

Their anniversary is at the very tail end of the season (June 26) so I think they have a small thing at home, just them and their families, then go somewhere in July for a week, maybe to Cancun, Greece - anywhere that's warm and sunny and there's a beach nearby.

🔥 - Who realized they were interested in who first? 

Connor for sure - he fell in love with Jack the first time they played each other at U16s and Jack knocked him on his ass (by the time they finally got together, Dylan and Mitch were both ready to throw a party, they were so tired of hearing about it) - and he also made the first move on Jack draft night.

He had to play the long game because it took Jack a little bit to admit that he loved Connor, too (feelings make him grumpy!!!)

👉 - Who is better at giving directions?

It depends where they're at!!! In the States, Jack is, and in Canada Connor is

Ot3:

🐇 - Who wants to cuddle the other longer in the morning? 

Jack and Quinn definitely get more chances to cuddle together, especially in the off-season, but they double-team Charlie and make him stay and cuddle them when he's there

🕸 - What does one do that scares the other?

Watching horror movies, for sure - Jack gets scared SO easily that sometimes Quinn will tell him he thinks he heard something just Jack will crawl in his lap

Charlie tried to scare them one (1) time, and he just thought it'd be funny to sneak into the lakehouse and tap Jack on the shoulder when he didn't know Charlie was there yet, and Jack screamed loud enough to bring Quinn running downstairs buck ass naked and soaking wet from the shower with a baseball bat, and Jack punched him in the nose before he realized who it was

So, you know, they all agreed to never do that again 😂😂😂

🥀 - Do they both get jealous?

Hmm, I don't think, like, it's jealous jealous - not in the sense that one of them's going to cheat, or that one of them love the other more, but I do think Quinn gets sad sometimes that Jack and Charlie get to see each other so much during the season

Heguin:

🐬 - Who made the first move? 

They both got tipsy and kissed each other the night before the draft and then refused to talk about for a decade until they got drunk and kissed again at Worlds, then Tyler was like 'want to fuck' and they just sort of fell together after that

🌹 - Who initiated the first kiss? 

Oppps, see the last answer lol

😒 - Do they get jealous easily?

Hmmm, I think by the time they get together - mid 20s - they're both more secure in themselves and each other, so not really

🍁 - How was their first kiss?

Sloppy mostly! They were tipsy and seventeen and just not really sure what they were doing

*

Thanks for the ask, babe!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️ (otp asks)

[emcscared-whumps]

Character Profile: GUY BURTON

Name: Guy 'Burton' Matthews Name Meaning: Ravine, fort enclosure/settlement, gift of Yahweh

Age: 19

Height: 179cm Weight: 78kg

Birthday: 21 Mar Star Sign: Aries MBPT: ISTP

Pronouns: he/him Sexuality: straight

Species: Human

Weapons: N/a, but he can fight.

Personality: Burton is rather arrogant and lofty when it comes to boosting his social status among his clique, which often leads him to become a complete asshole to most people around him, and he often shows off his strength and fighting prowess.

He uses this aggression, consciously and subconsciously to conceal his emotional insecurity, loneliness, and unstable home life, and he doesn't care about the consequences he has on other people because he is so consumed with his own problems.

He does have morals, but he buries them until things get out of hand and guilt starts eating him.

Once someone gains his true friendship, he is very loyal and likes to spend as much time around them as possible, though he will go to great lengths to hide it.

Appearance: Burton has medium brown eyes, and dirty blond hair usually cut to a 'short back and sides style', but with a bit of a quiff. He is of moderate height and is quite lean. He is prideful in his appearance, but does not have the resources to really polish it, so he focuses mostly on his hair and body rather than his clothes.

Clothes: His clothes are fairly ratty and worn, and he doesn't have any money to get new stuff. He wears whatever he can get, and that usually consists of hoodies, baseball jackets, holey jeans, and whatever underclothes he can get to keep warm.

Brief Background: Burton's parents are terrible, and they really didn't care much about him-- they're both alcoholics and at least one of them smokes. They were self-interested and so they sucked at raising him.

On bad days after Burton had been out for a day, his parents would get aggressive. Both of them would often shout at him and beat him, and he doesn't even talk back, he takes it quietly and avoids them, often spending days at a time couch surfing and living on the streets. He is quick with his hands, though he tries to pay for what he needs/wants wherever he can.

He practically raised himself on the streets, so his morals and tenancies lean toward petty crime and small-time gangs to give him shelter and community. He has a good heart, but he lacks direction his actions rarely show that.

Eventually, the manager of a convenience store he frequented began to befriend him, and let him get away with stealing muesli bars and other snacks and essentials after noticing more about his home life. He pitied Burton, so he would get him to do small favours, like stacking shelves and sweeping the floors in exchange for pocket money, and when he was old enough, decided to give him a job there to help him afford what he needs and eventually leave. Burton views the manager as a father figure, so he decided to take his surname. His parents don't know, but he gets everyone to call him 'Burton' instead of by his legal name.

Relatives:

Shona Matthews (human, mother, alive, ??)

??? Matthews (human, father, alive, ??)

Trivia:

I'm actually super surprised that the name 'Guy' has a meaning, because his parents named him that without really giving him a damn.

Often brawls with Liz when he messes with her friends, (especially when Pete is involved), and they usually come out even. Liz is vicious and he respects that but hates it. He's a sore loser.

Burton is fond of poetry, and writes it in secret in his spare time. The quality far exceeds any work he did at school and in his courses.

Other Art:

--

[catinfroghat]

Companion impressions so far: (spoilers)

Shadowheart = to start with I didn't really like her because she seemed snooty and rude/prejudiced towards Lae'zel but now my affinity is higher with her I feel really sorry for her... It seems like she was raised in a cult and is quite heavily indoctrinated? I'm trying to stay open-minded because I don't really know much about the religions of faerûn but the taking her in as a child and manipulating her into giving up her own memories seems like a huge red flag especially all the stuff about pain being sacred and wanting to bring about an age of darkness or whatever? Hopefully I can help her? Also clerics are by far the most essential party member in early levels so I'm glad I've learned to like her because she's almost constantly in my party.

Gale = Love him! Instant fave!!! I have the highest affinity with him but still know very little about him. He mentions that he likes cats at every opportunity though which is enough for me. His ironic humour and quips are great. He's a bit of an asshole and a snob in the typical academic/wizardly fashion which reminds me a lot of my very first dnd player character (She was also a high elf so even more arrogant) which is cool. My sorcerer has a bit of a friendly rivalry with him when it comes to their differing approaches to magic. I think the game knows he's my fav because when he gets downed my character always says something like "I can't lose you!" and when I click to speak to him she says stuff like "this always cheers me up". It makes me laugh... they're besties! I wish he wouldn't keep eating my magical items but tbh I have no use for some of the bardic ones since SOMEONE decided to kill the only person in my party proficient in instruments 😑

Lae'zel = I really enjoyed her right from the start! I like that she's rude and uses people's fear of her race against them by playing up the intimidation. When she showed her vulnerable side and I saw her fear of failure she became one of my faves (Sure she was planning on annihilating the entire camp at the time but god forbid a woman do anything). I really wish I could have her in my party more because I find her the most interesting but I think she would get pissed off at me for choosing the nice options and I don't want to tank my affinity now we're getting along well...

Wyll = He's so sweet... He was helping all the tiefling children and he even sacrificed himself to save Karlach... He's the kindest in the party and tries hard to protect others. Honestly I've never played in a party with a warlock before so I don't understand their uses but I just went into a surprise battle with him by accident and he held up really well so I'll definitely be keeping him in my party a bit more. The horns are badass and I really want to find out what a warlock oath involves and how to break him out (Again I don't know much about warlocks because I've never had much to do with them them during dnd campaigns)

Astarion = I wasn't expecting him to speak like that but that's really his voice huh. I still think it was kind of ooc for my player character to invite him to camp but whatever I'm metagaming. I've never used him in a battle but I used him to pick a lock and all his bonuses make it super easy most the time. I don't like rogues as a rule in RPGs because they don't suit my playstyle but I'll have him tag along for dialogue at least. He has a vicious dry sense of humour that does make me burst out laughing sometimes. Unfortunately, he's another character I will probably struggle to get my affinity up with since he seems to only like cruel options and my player character is nicey... Also sorry monsterfuckers but I have a fear of bites/puncture wounds so I don't think I'll let him drink my character's blood because it would gross me out.

Karlach = I love her silly quips and she is so so useful in battles since the rest of my party is usually spellcaster weaklings. She does little dances and brings a jolly energy to the party. I haven't killed the guys she wants me to kill yet because I was underlevelled and died very quickly but I'll probably be okay to go back to them once I've finished what I was doing with the goblins. I think maybe the fact I haven't done what she asked yet made her have a grudge against me because during one particularly bad battle my player character died like straight up and the first thing she said when we finished the battle was something like "I'm so glad to be alive!" whilst standing over my corpse which seemed a bit mean tbh. I've been making it up to her by giving her all the teddy bears I can find/buy. So far she has about 3 in her inventory.

[nevergonnabemuchmorethanweather]

Is it just me, or is Derek Venturi almost like the much, much better version of Xander Harris? They have very similar mannerisms and the same sense of humour, and have some traits in common, but ultimately Derek is a super loveable guy and Xander is almost universally considered irritating. I think the main difference is that Derek had character development and wasn't used as a self-insert by the primary screenwriter, and although he has his moments where he's kind of a perv and not so great to the girls he dates, his character isn't DEFINED by being the "loveable perv" like Xander's is.

They definitely have a few traits in common but in most ways I'd say they're actually opposites. Xander's whole thing is that he's an insecure loser with a massive victim complex. Derek's whole thing is that he's arrogant, spoiled and vain. Xander feels entitled to be a creep because he resents that girls don't fall all over him (never mind that multiple awesome, beautiful women have fallen in love with him and he sabotaged every single one of those relationships), while Derek feels entitled to be careless and sometimes borderline cruel because they do.

Xander seems like a good guy at first, but it's all toxic waste underneath the surface. He's hateful, manipulative, hypocritical, and selfish.

Derek seems like an asshole at first, and he often behaves very badly, especially in the beginning, but there's real goodness underneath-- which is ultimately the reason that Derek's character develops and Xander's doesn't. When Derek realizes that he's gone too far and really hurt someone, he feels bad and tries to fix it and not to do it again. It might take a few times for a lesson to stick, but it will eventually stick. It never does for Xander, because Xander doesn't care enough to let it.

Beyond those most important differences, they just have extremely different personalities. Derek is, for lack of a better term, an alpha male. He has a dominant personality and it’s the source of both his good and bad traits. He can be bullying, territorial, arrogant and insensitive but he’s also ultra loyal to ‘his’ people and feels driven to protect and take care of others.

Xander on the other hand, while brave in the face of physical danger, is whiny and passive aggressive the rest of the time. He tears other people down and plays the victim because he doesn’t have the balls to face his own problems or fix his own inadequacies. Everything is always someone else’s fault.

They’re both snarky and horny, but other than that, I see them as very different characters. I really enjoyed this question though... as you can probably tell by the fact that I responded with a literal essay.

Thanks for the ask!

[maelerie]

Ooohhh how abouuuuut… prussia?

Omg yes, Prussia!! Thank you for the ask Yuki 🧡 [From this ask game]

favorite thing about them: Him being that loveable asshole type and the fact that he clearly loves his little brother.

least favorite thing about them: Sometimes he comes off as super annoying and arrogant.

favorite line: [to Germany] “People go nuts for a man in uniform. Especially when he kicks a leg up on a chair. My milkshake brings all the boys!”

brOTP: Germany

OTP: PruHun, PruMano, PruCan

nOTP: GerPru (or however this shipname is called. They're brothers in my eyes. Nothing else/more.)

random headcanon: He acts as if he doesn’t care about what others think of him, does his own thing and has the whole “deal with it” attitude, but he secretely cares very deeply about what others think of him. Especially those he holds close to his heart. But centuries of emotional repression makes him think that showing that side of him would be ‘weak’.

unpopular opinion: I don’t like the hoarse yelling-y voice he has in the anime (dub). I mean, I get that’s part of his character but it could’ve been toned down. A Lot.

song i associate with them: ‘Strength of a Thousand Men’ by Thomas Bergersen (an instrumental piece that gives off this unstoppable force, triumphant in his path to glory. Or what he considers to be glory) and also ‘Morgenstern’ by Rammstein (because apart from it being sung in German, some of the lyrics really scream Prussia to me because, well... angst, I guess. A translated part of the chorus is “Morningstar, oh shine; Onto the visage of mine; Cast a warm light; Onto my frightening face; Tell me I'm not alone; Ugly, you are ugly”)

favorite picture of them: 

[crossdressingdeath]

As much I agree that JZX had the right to want to hate his engagement with JYL I stil don't think WWX was at fault for how he handled the situation. CR is where the cultivation elites get a chance to learn. For JZX to hesitate when asked who he thinks is a beauty/likes when he's engaged is insulting to his fiance in itself. He just stands there uncomfortably until someone else mentions that he's engaged to JYL. So of course WWX is pissed, they're literally surrounded by the other elites of their society and JYL's fiance is showing his displeasure with her. When given a chance to correct himself he doubles down and further insults the Jiang clan. Honestly if they weren't teenagers that could've easily spiraled into a political disaster. Luckily for the characters the adults realize they're hotheaded kids and JFM doesn't want to make another unhappy marriage.

I 100% that people shouldn't be forced into marriage and JYL agrees too. So I don't like the way some of the commenters are framing her. She even mentions that she was in love with the idea of JZX not the real him and hopes to find someone who actually likes her. I think you guys mentioned it before but JZX problem was that he felt his life was being controlled so he showed his anger at the person that was easiest to target---JYL. While it's understandable for him to feel that way he was still an asshole to her in public which is why I don't consider WWX to be the one who escalated anything.

I want to start with the obvious point: WWX by definition escalated the situation when he punched JZX in the face. This isn’t a reasoning thing, he turned it from a verbal confrontation to a physical one, that is escalating it. ...And he also escalated it by challenging JZX on his attempt to sidestep the question, given he for sure already knew why JZX didn’t want to talk about his betrothal; he could’ve just left it, that would’ve been fine.

Alright, with my pedantry out of the way... when is it said that JYL agreed that people shouldn’t be forced into marriage? Yes, she puts on a brave face after the engagement is broken off, but she seems super down for it before then and really broken up about it afterwards even though the evidence suggests you’d have to be living under a rock to miss the fact that JZX really, really didn’t want to marry her. I get that JYL’s great and all, but all evidence suggests that she very much took after her mother in this (thought to a lesser extent) and was perfectly content to marry JZX even knowing that he really, really didn’t want to until she was forced to accept that he Was Not Interested. And she grew out of that! Character development! It’s good! But suggesting she was entirely innocent in the whole affair and did nothing wrong is... inaccurate, I’d say.

And... here’s the thing. Yes, maybe it was a bit of an insult for JZX to stay silent and not immediately start praising JYL because She’s His Fiancée, but... he’s at most sixteen years old and has had this marriage hanging over his head his entire life? And everyone already knew he didn’t want to marry JYL anyway, so it’s not like it would’ve been a big insult? And it’s not like he mentioned someone else or anything like that? I think we can cut the teenager not wanting to lie to preserve the face of the woman he’s being forced to marry against his will and who is openly infatuated with him despite not knowing him (whether she realised her mistake later or not doesn’t change that she was infatuated with a false impression of who JZX was) a little slack, here! Especially given... yeah, if WWX hadn’t challenged him on it despite knowing why he wasn’t saying anything it never would’ve reached the point of JZX being an asshole to her, even if he had been; reminder once again that JYL was not there, as far as we know JZX never insults her to her face aside from maybe telling her off while under the impression she stole credit from a servant (and there’s no proof he insulted her there either, aside from the fact that he assumed she was stealing credit). And note that he doesn’t start passing judgement on JYL until WWX challenges him; he could’ve passed it off as being shy or something, being embarrassed about already being engaged; it was WWX who forced him to explain himself, at which point JZX’s temper was engaged and so he had no interest in lying for JYL’s sake. And when does JZX target JYL? He doesn’t really target anyone! A refusal to pretend to be super impressed with the woman he’s being forced to marry who has (let’s be honest here) nothing going for her in terms of being a sect leader’s wife isn’t him targeting her! WWX asking him what his issue is and him giving a straight (and... painfully blunt) answer isn’t targeting her either!

At the end of the day... could JZX have been nicer? Yeah, sure. But he’s a teenager being treated like he’s an arrogant piece of shit for not being able to lie and claim to be overjoyed about a marriage he doesn’t want! Of course he’s not going to be super nice about it! And honestly? I suspect that if JZX (or even just an outsider in the whole affair instead of JYL’s shidi) was the protagonist and he and JYL were gender-flipped the fandom would praise him for being so furious about being forced into an unwelcome marriage, even with him refusing to praise his unwanted betrothed. Basically JZX gets a lot of shit in this fandom for reacting in a very understandable way; the situation wasn’t great for JYL either, but JZX definitely came off worse due to not wanting to marry her and him reacting accordingly is in fact fair.

[isocrime]

The way you write ults Steve and Tony!!!!! They're so dynamic and it's so explicitly shown that they're are A Fucked Up bunch of people and how they find sweetness within that???? A form of excellence, honestly.

thank you so much! i love my fuckup moron darlings. the wonderful thing about ults steve and tony is that they’re two people who are very unlikely to get along who nonetheless like each other SO MUCH. 

tony does stuff that makes steve nuts, he’s arrogant and can be super, super mean, he offends steve’s sensibilities constantly, and is generally just -- he’s ults tony. he isn’t an easy person to be friends with if you’re a self-righteous conservative asshole like Steve. but underneath the thousand provocations and irritations, steve thinks tony is super great! tony is incredibly difficult and steve doesn’t want to like him exactly the way he is, but he does. i think steve sees all the ways tony’s hurting under all his defenses, and respects how tony’s tough enough to cover it up and make sure the show goes on.

steve is also an impossible person for tony to be around. he’s kind of a bigot, for one! he doesn’t do chit-chat very well, especially not about arts and culture -- ults steve has two hobbies: daytime soaps and weights. steve’s emotional range is about an inch across and he hates fun. logically, tony should not enjoy spending time with steve. but instead he looks at all of steve’s rigid asshole self and sees a good man under there, a man who is trying so hard and is also so afraid and doing his best to hide all of it.

i guess what this is making me realize is that steve and tony see the same thing in each other: a man with a good heart who’s hardened on the outside so he can go on. and i think that’s why they’re drawn to each other, even when they drive each other crazy. they definitely fight, but not because they hate each other. the conflict i write between them is always spats between two people who like each other. which does not make the fights less nasty! i think everyone knows that conflict cuts way deeper when you love the other person.

in ults steve and tony never want to hurt each other; they bungle it a lot anyway. not a surprise! they’re giant fuckups! but when they get themselves sorted out, they’re coming from a place where they both get that there’s a difference between their exterior and the person they’d like to be in an ideal world. and it makes them kind to each other, when it counts, which is why they are my faves!!!

[phantasmsinsideme]

Angels can be assholes or super arrogant! Especially nephilim, they're definitely not the most friendly. So if you don't connect to angels, you don't have to!

Some entities may just connect to you for a reason and that reason may often be past lives. Have strict boundaries with entities cause they can be jerks. But also listen to the things they're communicating to you, with caution of course.

You may or may not attract spirits depending on your energy. Some people almost have nothing happen to them except for intelligent experiences, and some people have so much that happens to them always. If you're the former, you might have several friends who are the latter. (I don't know if this happens to anyone else but it happens to me).

Figure out your method of communicating and how to astral travel. It might be much easier for you to bilocate in a meditative state, but for some of you, full on astral projection might be better. Also figure out your preferred method of talking, whether it's divining or otherwise.

You *will not* have the same experiences as other people. Especially if you just feel intuitively that other people are wrong about specific topics. Like on the fey or other creatures. Everyone has different paths and some people align differently. That's okay. This doesn't really have rules and do like the high priestess and listen to yourself and your spirit guides.

Some people in your soul family may not have the same beliefs as you, that's okay. Talk to the ones with similar beliefs and don't mind the ones who don't. Besides, some people are just karmic, don't bend over backwards for others

Learn boundaries and stop buying into the popular topics about "emotional empathy". If you're constantly being drained by others, it's because you lack boundaries with them, not because they're eating away at you. It's the same with spirits. Be firm about your space and what's yours. If you want to communicate with spirits, you need to set aside a space for them, you can't just let them in willy nilly. Learn your boundaries.

Please unlearn any sort of ableism in this community, it can be a help to yourself and how you interact with others. Spirit is honest with you, especially through tarot. Sometimes the things you say or do can be harmful. You can't just expect everything to have a supernatural explanation for things. And do not, under any circumstances, push your beliefs onto others to try to solve their mental illness(*especially* if they experience delusions, do not do this). I say this as a disabled witch, stop, bigotry is so rampant here and it's exhausting. Please refer to a doctor or a therapist if you are struggling.

Keep track of things! Past life memories, visions/prophecies, entities you interact with, tarot readings/divination readings, etc! Keep a journal or a private discord server. Keep track!!!

And basically just be pretty damn cautious in this community. Not everyone will be accurate or right or have a good answer. Sometimes your path is just different from a popular path (like lightworkers, ascension, loss of ego, etc), especially if you're queer or disabled. And please watch out from culty behavior from others or just controversy in general, people dont need to know every step of your path so it's okay to keep it to yourself. Trust yourself and stay on your toes. You don't know what kind of people or entities that want to control you. Stay away from shit that gives you a bad vibe. Learn info first hand too. Take second hand info with a grain of salt.

Some Basic Spirit Work Things (for beginners)

-Not all spirits are evil

-Not all spirits are good, either

-Not all demons are bad or evil

-Some demons are really cool and make awesome friends!

-Some demons want to kill you and do bad things to you

-Along the same lines, hellbeings can be very nice or very mean

-Some spirits look scary but are actually very kind

-Some spirits look sweet/cute but actually want to hurt you in the worst ways

-Not everything is black or white, evil or good, apples or bananas. Sometimes spirits can be in between, or off the charts completely.

-(The previous statement applies to their moral alignment, their ethics, their friendliness, their desire to hurt humans, and pretty much anything else)

-Spirit work is really fucking dangerous, but there are ways to be safe.

-Yes, spirits can affect your physical body. It happens, good or bad.

-Wards. Look up warding. Get a good handle on warding before you start practicing spirit work.

-Spirits are actual beings, which means that they have thoughts, feelings, and lives outside of you and yours.

-Safety should probably be your #1 priority in spirit work, unless you really have a death wish for yourself (or enjoy being in immense pain… I’m not going to judge)

-Spirits and spirit work are probably going to be different than your expectations.

-The spirit world is much different than ours, but can also be quite similar!

-Once you start working with spirits, more tend to show up. You kind of send out a signal that attracts other spirits once you flip that spirit working switch to the on position. Not all of them are going to be friendly.

-Spirits can be dirty lying decievers, but they can also be your best and closest friend, depending on which ones you meet. And sometimes you’ll think a spirit is ur best friend just to find out, days/months/years later, that they’re actually a dirty lying deciever! Don’t trust them right away!

Feel free to add on (or correct me)!

[izunias-meme-hole]

My Definitive Top 10 Favorite Characters 

Number 1. Doctor Doom (Marvel) - I've always respected this man, but I've never been super crazy about him. His animated and game adaptations are good but not perfect, and the movies so far have failed to get his character across in a great way, so that might've been a part of why I wasn't a Doom Superfan. Though after getting back into the absurdity and impactfulslness of superhero comics, it soon hit me... Doctor Doom is a villain made for comics. He's overdramatic, grandiose, terrifying, bombastic, egotistical, pragmatic, powerful, absurd, nuanced, insecure, lonely, the whole package placed within a suit of armor and a green cloak. He's an arrogant, tyrannical, cold hearted technological and magical genius who embodies every inch of supervillainy you could imagine, while remaining a genuinely sophisticated, and honorable figure even with his history of pettiness. Overall Doom is just one big magnificent bastard.

Number 2. Sauron (Lord of The Rings) - The Original Dark Lord. A fallen being of great power, obsessed with order. The enemy army is his army, Mordor is his kingdom, the Nazgul are his servants, the One Ring is his power source fueled by a fragment of his own soul that tempts and corrupts all who bear it, his eye shines its malevolent gaze upon the world with the intent of ravaging and conquering all that it can see, and the entire story is caused by his machinations. Whenever I look back at Sauron as a villain and character, I end up remembering why he is as infamous as he is. A great villain sometimes can just be a genuinely terrifying presence, especially in cinema and literature.

Number 3. Ganon (Legend of Zelda) - Honestly after so many years, Ganon still holds up as a villain. He's had several different outings, multiple designs, multiple bosses, and many different traits though at his core he's remained the same greedy monster that he was introduced as. He remains a King of Thieves, a darwinistic asshole who was forged by his harsh environment, an ambitious man desiring to be a force of nature, a warmonger, an inevitable storm, greed and wrath incarnate, a force of destiny, and a truly demonic King of Evil that worships power above all else. It's this versatility mixed with the consistency of his core traits and ever-looming presence that make Ganon the greatest villain in video game history.

Number 4. Battler Ushiromiya (When They Cry) - Honest to god, Battler is a prime example of how to make a phenomenal flawed protagonist through someone that you can easily describe as a walking wad of grease who's bark is more dangerous than his bite at the start of his journey. It takes quite a bit for him to navigate his new environment due to the amount of mayhem he's been exposed too, hell he regresses big time at one point in the story and it bites him in the ass. Though when he finally just gets it, he finally makes some solid and true development that peaks by the final act of the finale. Great protagonist.

Number 5. The Joker (Batman) - The Joker is a crook from god knows where that got a clownish makeover and ended up becoming the arch-nemesis of Batman himself. While the other rouges have their particular danger levels, they all have some type of cause they're fighting for or they're purely out to benefit themselves. Joker just causes chaos, death, and suffering, for the sake of his twisted sense of humor. He is willing to kill and ruin lives in the most creative way possible, so long as he finds it funny. Yet despite how twisted he is, this evil ass clown actually can be funny. Not only that, but he's the most effective contrast to Batman, even more than the other rouges. Batman is a frightening figure with a semi-demonic visage who suffered one bad day in his youth, yet he is a hero dedicated to the cause of justice and protecting the innocent citizens of Gotham City. Joker is a colorful figure with a big 'ol grin on his face, yet he is perfectly okay with causing as much unwarranted harm to others for the sake of artistic chaos. Ultimately, the Clown Prince of Crime is a villain that's managed to last for decades, despite the ever marching clock, for these exact reasons.

Number 6. DIO Brando (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) - I feel like I'm always going have a soft spot for this piece of shit, because his development and influence is something else. In Phantom Blood, he’s still one of the greatest evils the series has ever seen, but we also saw a human element to him in a very negative way. He was bitter, envious, and straight up angry at the world for making him the bottom of the barrel, but after becoming a vampire he’s becomes sick, scary, and slightly pitiable due to his lack of humanity. In Stardust Crusaders, the re-emerged DIO is out to get the Joestars, not for revenge for Jonathan humiliating him, but because he knows they’ll be a threat in the long run. He's still a vain and power-hungry sociopath, but he's less erratic and more paranoid, controlled, and slightly nihilistic from a mortal standpoint. DIO was not really sane, but he did a damn good job of holding himself together, until the final battle. This isn't even mentioning the Stone Ocean flashbacks where we get to see more of this controlled DIO interacting with the man who would carry on his work, showing that around that point in his life that he became aware of his limitations and is willing to leave unfinished business to someone he genuinely trusts. Overall, DIO is a complete monster who is willing to do whatever he can to be at the top because of his nature and because he understands what being at the bottom is like.

Number 7. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy) - Sephiroth is one of the most frightening bosses in gaming and a genuine horror villain. He is a tragic monster born from science, and a loyal “son” to his alien mother, Jenova, but he’s still scary as hell thanks to his god complex, unlimited strength, ethereal vibes, years of experience, his ability to live off of pure spite just so he can make the lives of his enemies (and Cloud) complete hell. His appearance in of itself is creepy due to how beautiful, yet unsettling it is thanks to his silver hair, green snake-like eyes, and perfect physique which is complimented by a black coat. However the most dangerous things about him are that he’s completely delusional, his strength is unmatched, and just how far he’s willing to go to distort other peoples sense reality, specifically Cloud’s sense of reality. Sephiroth a tragic character and a truly phenomenal villain.

Number 8. Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts) - This doesn’t require much explanation, but allow me to explain. Xemnas is an amazing villain. Xemnas is the nobody of Apprentice Xehanort, his husk, an entity that can feels nothing and wasn’t meant to exist, yet he’s quite the specimen. He’s a very sinister figure due to his nature, the fact that he’s a special nobody like Roxas, his inability to feel emotion, and his belief that negative emotions are what give the heart power, but at the same time you somehow manage to feel pity for him because of these things. While what he does is his own choice, you can clearly see that while he’s a different entity from his human self, he still chooses to go in that hollow shadow because it’s in his own nature, and it ended up being his downfall. That and his boss was truly a test of your skills. TL;DR: Xemnas is amazing.

Number 9. Ozai (Avatar: The Last Airbender) - If the Fire Nation is supposed to be Nazi Germany mixed with Imperial Japan, then Ozai is the perfect dictator to serve as the leader of this antagonistic force. He's the descendant of darwinistic and prideful royals, he's the one who authorizes a MASSIVE amount of atrocities throughout the series that exceed the work of his ancestors, his cold and cruel approach to parenting is the reason why his son is so angst filled while his daughter is a killing machine who's barely holding on, and its his own belief in the "divine right to rule" is what pushes him into complete and utter megalomania. Though when you remove all of his power he is shown for what he truly is, a truly pathetic man trying to make something bigger and badder out of himself, just like any other genocidal dictator. All of this, combined with a perfect buildup and undeniable presence make him a truly legendary villain.

Number 10. Messmer The Impaler (Elden Ring) - Messmer was certainly a welcome surprise. He was the firstborn son of Queen Marika, ultimately the one who personally oversaw the genocide of the hornsent in the Land of Shadow, and event so horrific and cruel that its impact could still be felt within the present day. He was afflicted with a curse at his birth, in which a dark and malevolent snake threatened to eat him from the inside, which resulted in Marika plucking out his eye and replacing it with a seal of grace. Sounds like quite the monster, right? Well here's the thing. Messmer's a surprisingly good boss, like he literally preserved his enemies culture inside a storeroom just because one of his knights requested it, and has at least some level of compassion. Sure some of his men defected after finding out about the true nature of his existence, but there were some that even stuck around because they know who he is as a person. So why did this great guy commit literal one of the most horrific events in history? Well you see, Marika basically told him to eliminate the hornsent, and it wasn't just a standard order... it was a secret banishment for him, and Marika's vengeance on the hornsent. That's right, Messmer was exiled so he could be a scapegoat for his mother in the Land of Shadow. While this doesn't absolve him of his crimes, it ultimately makes him extremely pitiable.

[oumakokichi]

Hello! I would first like to say that I love your metas about ndrv3, they're really interesting to read and make me like ndrv3 a lot more than when I first saw spoilers about it, especially regarding the ending! Also, I was wondering who was Iruma close to (as friends or romantically) in the game, if anyone? Because I've seen some "spoilers" that say it's implied that Shuuichi liked her romantically, and that it's confirmed she likes Kiibo romantically, and I was wondering if that's true?

Thank you so much anon! I’mglad if I’ve been able to help improve people’s opinions on ndrv3 at all! It’sa really wonderful game, and while it’s not without flaws, I’ve really enjoyedbeing able to clear up false information and just let people decide forthemselves whether they like it or not once they have more of the facts!

As for Miu, haha, she’s…wellshe’s not exactly close with many of them. A lot of the point of Miu’scharacter is that she’s kind of hilariously disliked by the rest of the group,with even Ouma going as far to say when she dies that since she was “thesecond-most disliked person here” after himself, he doesn’t know why everyoneis acting super distraught.

Miu is not someone who canbring herself to trust others. She’s good at what she does—really, absurdlygood at it. Her talent is one of the most useful I’ve ever seen in the DRfranchise, arguably just as useful as Chihiro’s/Alter Ego’s, and it’s preciselybecause Miu is so ridiculously talented and such a forceful presence of brasharrogance and comic relief in the group that I wound up liking her even thoughI didn’t expect to at first. But precisely because of her personality, she’sreally not very well-liked at all.

This is played largely forcomic relief at points. Most of the group in Chapter 4’s trial with theexception of Gonta and Kiibo, kind of agree that even if they hadn’t been putinto a killing game at all, they still wouldn’t have been able to becomefriends with her. Miu is so loud, sobrash, and she puts on this huge arrogant façade where she talks down to peopleand acts like she’s better than all of them. She backs down when pushed at amoment’s notice, of course, but her arrogance still clearly grates on most ofthe group, moreso when she makes them doubly uncomfortable by bringing upsexual innuendos all the time.

Because she insults them andjust sort of grosses them out all around, no one exactly likes her, for themost part. Of course no one wanted her to die, either. Not even Ouma, as I’veexplained in previous posts. Though it’s true that I think if Miu hadn’t hadsuch a ridiculously useful talent he would never have associated with her at allbeyond the bare minimum of having to respond to her in the class trials.

As far as Saihara having romanticfeelings for her, this isn’t canon. Of course, you can still interpret thingsas you like! Much of the fun of DR rarely ever confirming a ship on both sidesis that it leaves a lot up to fan preference, and that’s why things like FTEsand bonus mode content exist, so you can get a feel of which ships you likepersonally and sort of roll with it. Personally, Miu’s love hotel scene made memuch too uncomfortable to ever consider shipping them—there’s a lot of grosspandering in the love hotel scenes in particular that’s pretty much just therefor sheer fanservice, and while these things aren’t canon, they do make meuncomfortable with quite a few of these types of scenes.

The only character Saihara hasever been confirmed to have romantic feelings for is Kaede. He definitelyremembers Kaede fondly the whole game through, and he and Maki both discusswhat it’s like to fall in love in the midst of a situation as ridiculous as akilling game.

However, there’s plenty of roomfor interpretation to ship Saihara with plenty of other characters. I will saythat I think it’s certainly canon that Saihara has a preference for verytake-charge personalities—he gets flustered and embarrassed by pretty much anycharacter who takes him by the hand and inspires him to improve himself, includingnot only Kaede, but Momota, Ouma, even Amami in some of their bonus modeinteractions.

As for Miu’s feelings aboutKiibo, this probably came about as a result of that one CG where she performsmaintenance on him. It’s pretty much just a fanservice CG, and there are loadsof comments from Miu about being very…uh, excited.She loves inventing, she loves mechanics, and she loves electronics, so gettingto actually add new features to Kiibo and perform maintenance definitely wasright up her alley.

There’s not really a lot aboutromance between them, but I’ll say that I wound up not disliking their interactionspecifically because Kiibo is one of the only characters after Chapter 4 whoremembers Miu somewhat fondly. While most of the group is just kind of agreedon the fact that, “Yeah, we don’t really like Miu much because she was kind ofan asshole to us,” Kiibo says he actually felt she was pretty nice, because shewas always doing maintenances on him and always helping him out, in a way. Hedefinitely is one of the few characters to express that he thought the problemwas with the killing game, rather than Miu’s personality, and I’d say thatpeople could definitely read into that if they want, even though it’s a far cryfrom canon.

And as for anyone else she was “close”with—ironically enough, there’s Ouma. I don’t mean this romantically so much asI mean they were close by virtue of having struck up a sort of semi-alliancepretty early on, much sooner than Chapter 4. They certainly never trusted eachother or were entirely open with each other, but the fact that they were ableto put aside their differences and work together to make some pretty incredibleinventions (inventions which became vitalto the rest of the group’s survival in Chapters 5 and 6) was always interestingto me.

In many ways, Ouma and Miu arequite similar when it comes to their inability to fully trust or open up toother people. While many things about each other grated on one another, I thinkthey did sort of subconsciously realize that they had that particular point incommon, and it’s one reason they were able to work together as long as theydid. Things only fell apart after Miu became much too scared to even keep inventingand much too determined that things were going to fall apart, she couldn’ttrust anyone, and she’d rather kill to get out. But while they certainly didn’tlike each other, I’d say part of the tragedy in Chapter 4 is that they didn’thate each other either, and they could actually understand each other quitewell.

Thank you for sending this in,anon! Miu is extremely fun as a character, and I wound up liking her quite alot despite myself, because even if she was certainly not the best person, shehad such a presence, and her role inthe group was fun precisely because so many people were either uncomfortable orannoyed when she was around. While I don’t know that I’d say she was directly “friends”with anyone, the most canonical evidence we have says that Gonta wasn’t closeto her but definitely didn’t dislike her like the rest of the group did, andKiibo was arguably one of the ones in the group closest to her by virtue of herworking on him quite a lot. I hope this helps clear up some of those rumors!

[egg-emperor]

I'm so happy to see this fic back and let me tell ya, it was well worth the wait! I didn't even realize the length of this chapter because I was having so much fun reading it that it was over before I knew it. I've just got to talk about some of my favorite moments!

You have no idea how much these scenes of Eggman have made me smile! You know I can never get enough of that lovable arrogant asshole. He's so confident and smug here, getting so much joy out of surprising his enemies with how unpredictable he is as he keeps them guessing. The essence of his character is captured so well, I can see it and hear it all and it leaves me beaming. Same goes for the others! They all play off each other wonderfully and are well represented with their charm.

The Egg Cloudburst sounds AMAZING, my god! I remember being stoked for it back when you mentioned it was going to be a thing- but seeing it in its full description? Makes it even more badass! It isn't just a beauty for show either, of course it's well equipped too and all to the extreme because this is Eggman we're talking about, the dial starts at eleven! And it's one of the first of many surprises. Heheh, I love it.

I enjoy the settings for this one, it's aesthetic galore and so something I can get really immersed in the visual of. Once again the enemies and the theme ideas work together well, it's bursting with creativity.

And the characters' relationships warm my heart! Sonic and Tails' bro moments are a joy. Especially Sonic and Lutrudis! Their interaction comes so naturally to them the more time they spend together. You can tell how comfortable they're becoming with each other.

Sonic looking back on the past is nice, Secret Rings' bizarre tale of entering a book to battle a genie will never fail to be entertaining. Seeing him try to explain it is just too good. Trudy's enthusiasm for hearing another instance of him saving the day is so sweet too aafkdngksngkd

Metal Sonic proves his usefulness in being able to creep on them for that long. Some neat examples of his ability too, he put up a good fight! A closer insight to his devotion to destroyed his blasted copy is very interesting. Oohh, and from the moment they discovered he'd been spying, my mind instantly went to how he overheard Sonic and Trudy.

YES Rouge!! She often doesn't get a lot of focus with her team in media, let alone on her own so this is a great opportunity for her personality to really shine. So many faces are making their appearances, including Shinobi with that Goliath beast! Eggman is really throwing it all in and I'm so here for it!

I LOVE the process of Eggman carefully observing Sonic and Trudy's interactions and the building of his suspicion. That "I see myself in the mirror every morning, I KNOW that look." is fucking priceless! I never want to stop hearing of his extreme case of self love. And ohhh, that man be scheming! With his confident attitude you know he's got a lot much more up his sleeve and I'm super excited to see! Though I'm sure Sonic and friend's reactions will be much more different towards what he might have in store for them! ;D

Sonic & Tails: Beyond the Stars - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Dunes of Intrigue

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