#ex: a villains lament

[konakoro]

Whenever I have "video game" dreams, they're always gradual horde survival/"last as long as you can"-esque dreams and I absolutely hate it. I hate those kinds of games as is because they stress me out so much, but now I'm physically in a scenario where more zombies and monsters keep showing up to rip my face off and murder me horribly.

I just wanted to pull a heist on a concert, not get swarmed by zombies and feel my spine get ripped out...

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Traitors & Lovers (Hero & Villain) part 6

Warnings: severely injured villain, blood loss & infection, high fever, initials carved into flesh

He didn't want to miss it if her health suddenly crashed -- and sleep was a small sacrifice to make for his peace of mind that he'd be able to react quickly if Villain's condition deteriorated.

To his immense relief, she miraculously survived the night, though the fight to keep her alive was far from over.

It was still hard for Hero to come to terms with what had been done to Villain. The whole situation was just so... violent. And the fact that Hero had found her like he did, coincidentally driving his usual route home from work...

He couldn't help noticing that it was like someone wanted him to find her like this. Mangled and dying. Had planned the whole thing from the start. Hero had a lot of enemies, but none that immediately stuck out to him as possibly being bold enough to do something like this.

I can worry about that later, Hero scolded himself. Right now I can't afford distractions. I need to... keep making sure Villain doesn't die. Until she's recovered enough that dying isn't a valid concern anymore.

He carefully slipped out of bed, brow furrowing when Villain didn't even twitch at the movement of him leaving her. In all regards but breathing, she was a dead body.

He let out a shallow breath, tugging open the curtains to let in some natural light as he got to work removing the bloodied bedsheets and blankets to throw in the wash, gently carrying Villain away to lay on a couch in the next room over while he worked to let her rest undisturbed.

He cringed in disgust and rage every time he touched some of the dried blood staining the fabric, stuffing the sheets into the washer with more force than necessary before he started the cycle. Just the bedding alone was enough to fill the machine, and he had to take his bloodied clothes and set them aside for a later load when he changed into fresh ones.

The guilt was tearing him apart inside and ripping into his mind. All of the horrible what ifs? What if he'd told Villain the truth about why he'd dated her once he realized he'd developed feelings for her, instead of hiding it until she found out on her own? What if he'd been honest about his Agency-given mission to gain intel from her, the ulterior motives behind his actions during the beginning of their relationship? Would Villain have been understanding? Could it have prevented her from wanting to run away in the first place? Could they have become something more than dating partners if circumstances had been different?

I wish I could change it, he lamented, but I can't. I'll have to live with this forever.

A haunted shiver ran down his spine as he glanced at the pile of clothes he'd swapped out of, the ones covered in blood. Villain's blood. Dark red and awful to look at. The image of his ex-lover laying mangled in the middle of the road flashed clear and vivid through his head, and he flinched before forcing the unwelcome thought out.

Not now.

Hero mentally steeled himself as he finished up and sulked back to where he'd left Villain, gently scooping her up in his arms and carrying her back to the table he'd first placed her on when he'd brought her home -- the one still covered in drying blood from last night. He set her upon the level surface, taking the utmost care not to stretch or exacerbate her many wounds as he laid her flat on her back. Her skin was still tacky in places where the blood hadn't fully dried yet, a grim reminder of what she'd narrowly survived.

Hero's lips tightened into a grim line as he pulled out his medical kit to further treat the vicious wounds. He'd been desperate yesterday to keep her alive, and hadn't been able to follow all the proper procedures for perfectly dressing the injuries. Closing them up had been a bigger priority than sterilizing each and every one before he bandaged them. But today he had time to be thorough, now that Villain was slightly more stable. So he got to work gently peeling off bandages and gauze, cleaning the stitched skin beneath to apply some antibacterial cream to fight infection and cover them back up again.

But it looked like he was a bit too late to stop a few infections from setting in. The puncture in Villain's side in particular worried him deeply. Overnight the skin around it had swelled up, red and inflamed, the wound weeping infected fluid through the stitches. With how weak Villain's body was, it had set in fast, way faster than Hero would have liked. An infection was the last thing Villain needed to have to recover.

Hero flushed the hole in her side with some sterile fluids to rinse out as much of the mess as he could before patching it again with medicated gauze and moving on to the next one. Villain was going to have a lot of nasty scars after her traumatic ordeal.

Hero did his best to wipe as much old blood from her skin as he went with a damp rag to clean her up the best he could, though he knew she'd definitely need a real bath to be fully clean. But he doubted her body could handle something like that in its fragile state.

The silence was thick and suffocating as he worked, methodically moving from wound to wound until he reached Villain’s left shoulder… and faltered at what he saw, his blood running cold. Because there, the cuts were clean and precise – and he'd been too panicked to notice before, but they formed actual letters.

Letters in the order of Supervillain’s initials.

White-hot rage flashed through Hero, brighter than the sun, a wave of sheer hatred that consumed him. Supervillain had done this – caught and tortured Villain, then left her dying for him to find.

Hero’s hands shook with anger, a muscle feathering in his jaw at the realization. There was no doubt now that this was intentional – Supervillain hadn’t even bothered trying to hide what he'd done. He’d wanted to announce it loud and clear to the world, bragging about it.

Hero wasn’t a murderer… but for his rival, he could make an exception. As soon as he tracked him down he would kill him without hesitation for what he’d done to Villain. To Hero’s Villain.

Supervillain had just declared war… and Hero was eager to meet him on the battlefield when the time came. The only thing stopping him from marching out into the city right now to hunt Supervillain down like prey was the fact that Villain was fully dependent on him for survival.

Villain needed him… so finding Supervillain could wait.

Once he finished up he carried her to the bedroom, setting her gently on the soft, fresh sheets he'd put on the bed. He grabbed a coat rack to use as a makeshift stand to set up a proper IV drip in her arm, and he wished he had a heart monitor to go with it just to know her heart was still beating somewhere inside her wrecked body, instead of being kept wondering of it would suddenly give out without him realizing.

He pressed two fingers to the inside of her wrist to check her pulse once the IV line was securely taped to her arm, and his gut twisted in knots when he could barely feel it fluttering beneath his fingertips, struggling weakly to keep pumping what little blood volume was left in Villain. But it was still something, and Hero could work with that.

⏪️ Back Next ⏩️

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @written-in-the-stars135 @neverthelass

@starz8nk @redwinesupanover @whumpisgoodwhumpislife @theforeverdyingperson @whatwhump

@writing-with-olive @and-we-shake-the-iron-hand

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

Stephanie Brown ACTUALLY having the character arc that fanon pretends Jason Todd had (plus a defence of canon Jason)

What I'm really saying is that Stephanie Brown is underappreciated, Jason Todd is often misinterpreted, and, though it should go without saying, ignoring canon is poor media literacy. So let's actually analyse canon and get to the bottom of what the stories are trying to say and how they use their characters to tell this, as opposed to just which character should we stan.

I'm arguing that Stephanie Brown's story actually features a redemption arc that sees her transform from a violent, almost murderous teenager into the most unwaveringly hopeful of heroes and that Jason's story is about a villain who we're meant to empathise with to expose the cracks in the Batman's heroic facade; a Frankenstein's monster if you will. Here's a numbered list:

Part 1: Outgrowing Violence, Anger and Murder

A big part of Stephanie Brown's growth in canon is her learning not to kill or use excessive force. But it's not as simple as just killing is wrong, don't question it.

Let's begin with the narrative's relationship to violence, anger and murder. Why doesn't Batman kill? Because "[those] who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you". If he kills, he's playing god, choosing who gets to live and die. No one deserves that kind of absolute power and absolute power also corrupts. Batman doesn't want to lose sight of himself or his cause. Deliberate murder is treated VERY negatively in the Batman mythos.

Enter Stephanie Brown.

Stephanie was a working class latchkey kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. She had an abusive, criminal father, who was in and out of jail, and a mother struggling with addiction, who Steph became a carer for at just 15. Steph also became pregnant with the child of her horrible ex. At 16, she gave birth to that child and had to give her up for adoption. Steph is also a survivor.

The world was never kind to Steph and left this teenager with a hell of a lot of bitterness and rage which her vigilante career became an outlet for. You can tell by the way she fights since Steph fights DIRTY; she'll tug hair and spit in your eyes and strike below the belt and catch a kick to twist your ankle and dislodge your already broken nose. On the one hand; the narrative tells us Steph is resourceful. She's 5'5", 130 lb and has zero powers, but can always find an opening even when going up against Gotham's grizzliest. It's telling that quick thinking, savviness and spontaneity become her thing when she becomes Batgirl; Steph is the wild card. On the other hand, she was a real diamond in the rough and a complete loose canon. In her first arc, it's Batman who stops her from making the biggest mistake of her life; killing her dad. To deliberately kill; to play god, is to lose yourself, remember. Her first arc is about not being defined by who your parents are and about not giving up on yourself. Batman basically tells her, there's hope for you yet Stephanie Brown, by getting her to spare her dad. And she does. And so began her superhero career.

Nonetheless, it's never that simple. Steph is still a bitter, angry teenager, no matter how many jokes she cracks. It becomes a personal crusade when she, now Robin, discovers that The Penguin is using children as runners. It takes Cassandra Cain to stop her from inflicting anything she may regret.

The narrative wants to show us how cruel the world can be and that it isn't black and white, either. The story ends with an angry Stephanie lamenting "why". It's a "why" she is asking herself too. Why does she do what she does? And it informs us that she, and maybe us the reader too, still have a lot to learn. Murder's not the answer but what is?

Stephanie later saves Bruce by almost murdering serial killer Victor Zsasz. Bruce reprimands her and she cries, quite honestly, "I don't get it, I really don't", following on from where we left off in Batgirl. "There are always other options than to kill" asserts Bruce, forget not being on the same page, they're reading different books. The thesis of the story is what Bruce should have told Steph when she was an angry 15 year old about to murder her dad; "[those] who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster". The world's cruel, Steph, but that doesn't mean you have to be too. "Are you firing me?" "No, I'm teaching you".

Over 2 years down the line, an around 19 year old Stephanie, establishing herself as the new, hoping-inspiring Batgirl, is now teaching a brash Damian Wayne what she's learned.

"To murder or not to murder" is just a plot device to the themes of overcoming your own anger at the world's cruelty to contribute good, coming to terms with shades of grey, not giving up on yourself and staying hopeful in the face of adversity and horror. These are Stephanie's arcs and as a consequence, she goes from would-be-murderer to Gotham's cheeriest caped crusader.

Part 2: Double Standards and Second Chances

Another huge part of Stephanie's story is her overcoming double standards and doubters, to earn her own second chances. Her resurrection and rise to the role of Batgirl were choices made to hammer home this theme; it's never too late to turn things around.

There's some juicy metatext to analyse here too. DC editorial's treatment of Stephanie during War Games was horrific and panned by both fans and writers. To reperate for these harms, Steph was retconned back to life and then made Batgirl during Batman: Reborn. Here's a quote by Batgirl (2009) author Bryan Q. Miller on what his run aimed to bring out of Steph:

The whole point of Stephanie's resurrection and take over of the Batgirl title was to give her a redemption arc.

In text, Stephanie was unfairly treated too, notwithstanding that she was brash and had a massive violent streak in her Spoiler and Robin days. Tim Drake constantly condescends her and tells her to give up vigilante life, even though she was ALWAYS a match for Tim according to Convergence: Batgirl. Cassandra Cain constantly underestimates Steph. Bruce Wayne tells his allies to cut off ties with Steph and then later fires her as Robin for DISOBEYING HIM as if that's not the first thing Dick Grayson ever did as Robin. Barbara Gordon tells Steph she has a death wish. Dick deems Steph too reckless (moments before he resurrects a zombie Batman). And Damian is an entitled brat who gives her a hard time for no reason. Everyone doubts Stephanie and it generally says more about the doubter than it does Stephanie.

Stephanie was never great with authority or criticism so she still went out there and earned her second chance. And it felt rewarding when her doubters came around too.

Stephanie was brought back from the dead to be redeemed and man did she take that chance!

Part 3: What is Jason Todd's Story Meant to Tell Us and My Defence of Canon Jason

Jason Todd returns from the dead as a ghost of Batman's past; he is the living embodiment of Batman's greatest mistake who couldn't stay buried and is back to haunt him. He's a character we are meant to empathise with but he's a villain nonetheless. He's not irredeemable but for the most part his story is not really about redemption. Succinctly, it revolves around the idea that "we are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell” to quote Oscar Wilde.

When we first meet the resurrected Jason, he's a cold-blooded murderer who's slinging guns and using The Joker's old moniker. These choices are made to emphasise that he went down the wrong path; he's breaking Batman's "don't play god" rule and his actions become eerily closer to those of the Clown Prince of Crime than Batman's. In fact Nightwing and Batman spend some quality time together in the next two issues because Nightwing is the foil to the Red Hood; he's what Bruce considers his greatest success. Remember that thing about "those who [fight] with monsters might take care lest [they] thereby become a monster"? Well Jason DID become a monster. And if he's the monster, then Bruce Wayne is Frankenstein.

We're not supposed to think "yes, kill the The Joker, Jason", we're supposed to think "good god, please Jason, it's not too late to turn your life around". Here's Dick and Jason being the exact opposite of each other, an issue apart.

So what was Jason's villainous return trying to say? For one, that people are the products of their circumstance, lest we forget Jason was once an eager and studious Robin who just wanted to be part of something greater when life, but specifically Bruce, sent him awry. This is also a story about Bruce which tells us says that our mistakes have consequences that don't stay buried, and that we will always be forced to reckon with our histories or it becomes everyone's problem. This next panel shows this best. All of Jason's killing and torture and fear-spreading and chaos does not come down to some "murder or not to murder" debate, it comes down to his relationship with Bruce. He is the monster that Frankenstein created who's back to haunt him and no one is safe.

Jason's initial Red Hood arcs were never supposed to pose the question "should Batman kill The Joker or not?". The answer is no and always has been. They are supposed to show us how Bruce's poor fatherhood of and partnership with Jason Todd led to all this horror. And Bruce can't turn back the clock, he has to reckon with the consequences of his actions in the present or more people will get hurt. It's significant that these first arcs don't end with Jason returning to the manor and seeking help surrounded by family.

We then see Jason and his issues with Bruce threaten the lives of others like when he beat Tim half to death twice, tried to blow up Mia Dearden and then tried to become a murderous, gun-touting Batman after Bruce's "death".

Once Dick Grayson becomes Batman, the narrative sheds a bit more light on how Bruce's Frankenstein created a monster in Jason; Bruce wanted Jason to be another Dick Grayson.

The red hair is a perfect metaphor. Jason is naturally red-haired and he is now balding because Bruce made him dye his hair black so he'd look like Dick as Robin. That sums it up for me. Bruce really created his own demon here and Dick, as the new Batman, is trying to make amends with the sins of the Batman's past. Jason's a great choice for a Dick Grayson villain because of their histories, considering Dick Grayson is the legacy Batman.

"I tried really hard to be what batman wanted me to be...which is you." Jason tells Dick.

That line is so painful and way more recognisable and relatable than anything fanon has produced.

"But this world...this dirty, twisted, cruel and ugly dungheap had...other plans for me."

Look no further, this is who Jason Todd is.

That's a powerful story if you ask me, and this is why I like Jason Todd as a character; a villain I pity deeply, who is portrayed as a product of their circumstances without diminishing their agency and who makes me see the cracks in the hero's facade because they are the monster our "hero" created. He's also a very nuanced foil to the ever-shining light that is Dick Grayson. The appeal to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein isn't that the monster murdered people. I also would never swap canon Jason out for, I dunno, Wayne Family Adventures Jason who's the amalgamation of 3 or 4 common fanon tropes. This is my two cents.

[java-lava]

My Favorite webnovels/Webtoons/Webcomic/Whatever;

The Remarried Empress

My Gently Raised Beast

I Became the Villain’s Stepmother

Born as the Second Daughter

My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me

The Tyrant Wants to be Good

Men of the Harem

The Matchmaking Baby Princess

Who Made Me a Princess

For my Derelict Favorite

I Thought My Time Was Up

I’m the Queen in This Life

Tricked into the Heroine’s Stepmother

Woes of a Male Lead

Baby Tyrant

Hello Baby

Go Away Romeo

Monster Duke’s Daughter

Divorcing My Tyrant Husband

From a Knight to a Lady

The Male Lead’s Girlfriend

When the Third Wheel Strikes Back

A Heart for the Emperor

My Husband Changes Every Night

Edit to add(I’m constantly updating this);

The Twins New Life

I Got Pregnant with the Tyrant’s child

I’ll Raise You Well in This Life, Your Majesty!

The Evil Princess Dreams of a Gingerbread House

I’m the Soldier’s EX-Girlfriend

I Adopted the Male Lead

Villains Are Destined to Die

The Crown Princess Scandal

Marry My Husband

Perfect Marriage Revenge

Boyfriend of the Dead

Refund High School

Siren’s Lament

Empire’s Cutest Little Hostage

A Tender Heart; The Story of How I Became A Duke’s Maid (dropped due to SPOILERS the child being the ml and his nanny being the fl)

I Hold the Tyrant’s Heart

Lout of the Count’s family

I Am the Villain

The Crown Princess Scandal

The Dragon King’s Bride

Please Kill My Husband

The Reason Why Raeliana Ended up at the Duke’s Mansion

Am I Your Daughter?

Taming the Marquess

Pricilla’s Marriage Proposal

Crowning my Feral Prince

Under the Oak Tree

Finding Camellia

I Raised a Black Dragon

Adeline’s Darkest Night

Wish Upon a Husband

My Husband, My Sister, and I

I’m Being Raised By Villians

Talented Baby Squirrel

The Greatest Estate Developer

The Little Princess and Her Monster Prince

Surviving as the Tyrant’s Daughter

Father I Don’t Want This Marriage

Ten Ways to Get Dumped by a Tyrant

I Will Live The Life of a Villainess

Vampire Husband

Cursed Princess Club

What the Evil Dragon Lives For

1HP Club

Days With You

Batman: Wayne Family Adventures

Love Me to Death

Suitor Armor

I’ll Be the Matriarch in This Life

How is This Hot Duke Just a Background Character

My Three Tyrant Brothers

You Are Obsessing Over the Wrong Person, Lord of the Tower!

Beware the Villainess!

It’s Not Your Baby!

Being Loved for the First Time

I Will Divorce the Female Lead’s Older Brother

Everyone’s Princess

Villainess Have More Fun.

A Wicked Tale of Cinderella’s Stepmom

A Stepmother’s Marchen

The Beloved Fake Saint

Daughter of the Archmage

How to Hide the Emperor’s Child

The Male Lead’s Little Lion Daughter

The Crow’s Prince

The Reason for the Twin Lady’s Disguise

Adopted by a Murderous Duke Family

If anyone wants a one-shot based on a character from any of these, let me know

If anyone know where I can continue reading these for free, pls let me know (I’m broke);

Empire’s Cutest Little Hostage

A Tender Heart; The Story of How I Became A Duke’s Maid (nvm. About this one, I’ve been told that the child IS the Ml)

I Hold the Tyrant’s Heart

Lout of the Count’s family (found on Tapas)

Crowning my Feral Prince

[triassictriserratops]

For the, like, five people who share in these two special interests: CRAZY EX GIRLFRIEND SONGS THAT ARE APPLICABLE TO THG-VERSE MY CONTRIBUTIONS You Stupid Bitch → Katniss to herself after meeting with Hijacked!Peeta after Annie and Finnick's wedding. It Was A Shit Show → Lucy Gray to Coriolanus Snow after All Of The Horrors. Oh My God I Think I Like You → Katniss on the beach with Peeta Let's Have Intercourse → Gale to Katniss when he's literally trying to make a move on her while simultaneously telling her all about his other sexual exploits. @dancing-on-tiptoes'S CONTRIBUTIONS I Go To The Zoo → Coriolanus visiting Lucy Gray. I Have Friends → Katniss realizing Madge was her friend. I'm The Villain In My Own Story → The realization that Snow SHOULD have had but refused to!!! What A Rush To Be A Bride → Katniss playing up the wedding planning to the adoring public. Research Me Obsessively → Katniss and Peeta waching the previous Victors' tapes before the Quarter Quell After Everything I've Done For You (That You Didn't Ask For) → Haymitch talking to Katniss about saving her from the Quell. Haymitch: After all the things I did for you!!!! Katniss: THAT I DIDN'T ASK FOR The Sexy Getting Ready Song → Capitol Makeovers Settle For Me → Gale. Just Gale. I'm In A Sexy French Depression → Katniss finding nap/dissociation spots in the bowels of District 13. Strip Away My Conscience → All those fic where Hijacked!Peeta FUCKS Fit Hot Guys Have Problems Too → PEETA BOB MELLARK Getting Bi → PEETA BISEXUAL MELLARK His Status Is... Preferred → Haymitch about Effie What U Missed While U Were Popular → Somehow this is Katniss picking Wiress and Beetee for allies. Etta Mae's Lament → MAKE PEETA SING THIS LIKE NATHANIEL DID. @vasilissadragomir'S CONTRIBUTION Period Sex → Post MJ when Katniss gets her cycle back.

[ravioliage]

Completely hypothetical here: What would Dragon Age be like as a series if it had the backbone of Disco Elysium’s politics and themes? This is not a gotcha, I’m genuinely curious about your opinion.

Oh geez. Once again a disclaimer: I'm not a smart person.

I love Dragon Age, it's my least favorite game series.

I do think entertaining this kind of hypothetical is like looking at a mold ridden house with a cracked foundation, and lamenting all the things that occured for it to get this bad. Everything from improperly mixed concrete to cheap pipes that would inevitably burst. It's the Extreme Home Makeover of video games, honestly. Where for a brief moment the house looked fantastic and everyone celebrated and cried. But in reality was all a rush job house that fell apart in no time and fucked the family financially. And dumb people on the internet blame the family for lack of maintenance to the house. Not, y'know, the people who ran the show who built a shitty house.

Metaphors!

I think what Dragon Age most needed from the start is to figure out what it wanted to say. It's why I love Veilguard, where they were clear with "We're going to tell a story about grief and how you should let go of the past instead of trying to make things great again. Trying to revive the past will only lead to more pain and grief. The future is now, old man."

I'm sure it has no correlation with current events and I'm sure there is no reason people are mad about the plot.

Now, I'm not saying that Origins/2/Inquisition didn't have themes. I'm saying that they didn't know what they wanted to say and then a lot of fandom cope happened to make it good. (And that's okay. Dark Souls is also fandom cope and it's great.)

I could go into the ass oppression allegories and the Chantry in Origins but y'know what I'd rather dissect the Stargate movie where people disappear. Tldr, years before Veilguard, BioWare chronically suffered from "we're going to embark on an interesting topic and quit halfway through" syndrome also known as "erm, actually, we shouldn't let politics divide us. UwU, both sides are bad!" centrism.

Anders is such a fascinating topic in this case. Anders wasn't a character that was written in good faith, especially when you consider who he was based on (iirc it was an ex boyfriend with borderline disorder?). And no. None of this justifies what happened to his writer. But he wasn't written in good faith and BioWare never intended him to be what the fandom has turned him into. So I'm still not sure what in the hell they tried to say with Anders. Maybe they intended to do something smart, saw the fandom reaction to him on release, chickened the fuck out, had a centrist panic attack, and delegated him to John Terrorist.

DA2 also tries to touch on police violence and incompetence, but that falls apart with Aveline's whole character arc. I already ranted about that.

DAI tries to touch on religious zealotry but never fully commits to it, sloppily delegating it to the Venatori instead of Andrastians. There was so much potential for "a religion that has gone off the rails and zealotry is the ultimate cause of the Circles". Then the man who wrote Corypheus says that "moustache twirling villains are antithetical to Dragon Age"

Anyway this probably doesn't answer the question. But if it were written by people with a backbone there probably wouldn't be a story of "police violence is fine if your friend does it" or "mages are terrorists by default" or the Dalish Elf Origin which was atrocious.

With this insane person rant, there is a lot to love with Dragon Age. In some ways the same thing where there is a lot to love about Dark Souls lore. The characters are wonderful for the most part. Shame they're stuck in Thedas.

[bookwormbynight]

The idea behind this fanfic (Null Hypothesis) has fucking grabbed me by the balls guys this motherfucker set off my ryulawlight spiral.

Now, the author has gone in a very different direction than my mind went (more power to em, we're not all Light-obsessed freaks lmao). The main ship is Ryuk/L and Light is only technically involved by both character's shared histories with him which brought them together in the first place. Light has fucked off elsewhere to get comphet married to Misa as the author put it. Poor Light 😭😭 If where that's going interests you, please go check it out because the first chapter is well-written and seems like some pretty good set-up.

Here's what my brain did: saw this in the summary (which hasn't been changed with the author's redrafting as far as I can tell? mayhaps I'm misinterpreting) and went O_O

Guys. If you fucking combined this premise?? With the timeline of my Yotsuba arc headcanons (compiled in Looking For Heaven, Found the Devil In Me)?? And that one post I made where I lamented the fact that that L didn't just fucking burn the notebook?? Hhhhhhhh I'm so mad this fic only exists in my head I would like to read it so much 😭😭

L gets a confession or some shit, finds the other notebook, sends Light off, and burns both death notes, but not before Ryuk is like "oh shit notebook ownership" and comes down to earth JUST in time to watch him do it, which surprises him enough that he drops his own death note on accident and now he's trapped because L snatches it up. L owns his notebook. So he can't kill him and he's stuck following this motherfucker around. In the meantime, Light's memories are permanently destroyed (unless?)

L and Light are sort-of exes but also sort of not bc their relationship was never official, Light breaks it off IMMEDIATELY with Misa because he now has literally zero reason in his head that he should possibly stay with her (I'm sure that would cause fallout too more plot Misa gets a character arc?? Villain arc to redemption and self-acceptance arc?? God I want that for her let her be evil and then let her realize boys are overrated and she's kickass all by herself). L's like 👉👈 well I'm staying in Japan for now 🥺 if u want to have sex again 🥺🥺 and maybe we could go on a real date 🥺🥺? For mixed reasons - a good chunk is just that he would like to and another driving factor as opposed to just letting it go is he and Ryuk are NOT getting along and he is AWARE of how Ryuk feels about Light. Ryuk would be screaming and might (probably will) cause invisible shinigami shenanigans. Light would kinda (really) like to take L up on his offer but their relationship is also hindered by his own trauma that L fucking caused and also he's Very Concerned because Light ALREADY had suspicions that he might be Kira against all of his hopes BEFORE they found the notebook and all of a sudden the case is just resolved and he's totally off the hook and he can tell Something Happened but L just keeps insisting "no no, no Kira here don't worry Light you are not Kira :)". It would be setting off so many alarm bells for him. All of these plot threads weave together and resolve themselves in a satisfying way that I can't discover by reading for myself because it doesn't fucking exist. I need sleep and help.

Edit: Y'all the original author is on Tumblr! @main-exam

[caldella]

Post-Mastermind hot take/possible crack headcanon:

Long read, sorry.

Given Helluva Boss' way of taking scenes and using the same motif but flipped in a future episode, this will not be the last time Stolas uses a public song to protect Blitzø.

Blitzø is becoming famous now, and popular. Imps love him. He's made history. It's strongly implied that this situation is going to start a wave of imps/lower class Hellborn finally feeling like they can push back a bit against oppression. Stolas helped plant that seed but by making himself look horrible. At some point, this is likely going to take on a larger form and be more of an uprising.

The biggest problem for Blitzø in all this? He has Stolas.

Stolas, the exiled prince. Stolas, who just made himself into a condescending villain on Hell-wide TV. Stolas, who all of Hell hates, both upper- and lowerclass.

We know Stolas is going to struggle with being cut off from Via, probably being forcibly cut off by her directly in Sinmas. We know he's going to struggle to believe that Blitzø actually really loves him and isn't taking care of him as some obligation for being saved. Stolas is going to feel like a burden for so long, but there will eventually come a point where he understands that Blitzø really, genuinely loves him. There will also be a point where he better understands the biases and microaggressions he himself has been guilty of, too. He will see how much he did not understand before. And on the other side of all this, we know Blitzø will not abandon Stolas. He will be publically, openly vocal about how much he cares at some point. He's mouthy and protective by nature. This is his birb, he is so fucking proud to have him, and you can pry him from Blitzø's cold dead fingers if you want to touch him.

The public won't like that.

Blitzø can and probably canonically will risk losing everything all over again, this time by having Stolas by his side. This is the asshole ex-prince who insulted him on TV, declared that Blitzø had no autonomy and couldn't hope to. Why is Blitzø, the charistmatic imp leading this new independent mindset, refusing to dump the Goetia that used and insulted him? Stolas shouldn't be here. Where have Blitzø's morals gone? Has he fallen back into the royal-serving box he so strongly voiced an opinion against?

So...how to keep Blitzø from getting the crowd to turn against him?

Stolas sings again. But the narrative is flipped.

'Yes, as all of you in Hell are aware, I was a thoughtless asshole who viewed imps as nothings only capable of following orders. But this one, this man has changed my perspective. His boldness has served as such an inspiration that I, too, have been irrevocably changed. I have been so very blind! He was right from the start, and I will love and die for what he represents. And if the rest of Hell will listen to him as I have, then we all can make things better just as he's tried to do his entire life. Hellborn are not doomed to their fate - they can and should make their own!'

Stolas plays a role again, now as the remorseful villain who has seen the err of his ways. But the role is only half a lie. Blitzø has saved him, Blitzø has changed his perspective on Hell's hierarchy and Stolas' unintentional role in maintaining it. Not in the way the public thinks, but in a way the two of them understand together. And Blitzø has made him feel like he has chosen a life for himself, as clumsy and messy and painful as that has been.

Instead of saving Blitzø by minimizing his importance, Stolas saves Blitzø by openly amplifying it. He gets to declare his love for Blitzø, and Blitzø gets to be the hero who can convert even the highest of the high or the most irrevocable asshole to his cause.

So Stolas has a 3 act compilation of singing in public about Blitzø:

-All2U, where he mostly laments his not-relationship with Blitzø but it's perceived as him hating Blitzø and encourages the general hatred at the party

- Mastermind, where he pretends to be offended by Blitzø stealing his spotlight and insults him, shows fake disdain for him, but subtly encourages the lower Hellborn to support him

- A future song where he publically supports Blitzø with the intent of publically supporting him

Thank you for reading my crack headcanon. We will check back in the end of S3 or S4 to see how wrong I am.

[is-today-tomorrow-in-nz]

OMG that Rule of Wolves ending was a total Deus Ex Machina! Leigh Bardugo really destroyed ALL the magical system's balance so her favorite could become a God, Avatar, mindreader, emotion reader, and dragon (ironic because LB was a Dany anti for GoT) with no consequences! But Alina, with ONE power just trying to take down the Fold = GREED = STRIPPED OF ALL POWERS. It makes no sense, and causes migraines to think about how LB destroyed all the worldbuilding for poorly thought out wattpad ending.

Thank you! I was beyond frustrated too. Her magic system is like a mirage in a desert- it exists one moment and then vanishes the next minute. It does not help that she plays favouritism with her own characters. Zoya, Nikolai and the crows are clearly her golden children. Aleksander is her scapegoat child. For the sake of her golden children, she bends the plot and swathes them in plot armour. However she refuses to offer any sort of redemption or even decent plotlines for her least favourite ones.

Just the other day, I was lamenting about this in another post. Let me share my fav deus ex machina other than the ones mentioned in the original post.

1)SoC: Began well- foreign country, jurda, everything at stake, heist etc etc. After the disaster of the trilogy, I was excited to read something different. However, the climax just made me want to fling the book to a corner. So Jarl Brum knows the partial truth from Matthias, knows why the crows were there. But somehow they got away scott free. Like yes, Nina made some soldiers fall asleep, but doesn't Fjerda have a navy? Isn't Djerholm not a harbour? Do they not know the ship name? Do they not know how long the jurda effects last in Nina? And yet all Brum did was stomp like a villain at the end of scooby doo saying, "If it weren't for those meddling kids!" and did nothing. They literally attacked one of the most powerful country's capital, blew up a part of their palace, and stole a tank! Somehow destroying a bridge was all it needed to stop an army! And at the final standoff, the soldiers were just put to sleep not killed. even if Kaz was just a day ahead, the fierce Fjerdan navy should have caught up to them. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️ But no... Nina attacked them with parem. Suddenly nothing can be done. It's like Fjerda is this formidable enemy when LB needs it to be and then become a bunch of helpless idiots when her favourite characters need to escape!

2)S&S: Ivan's death or literally any Grisha death on the Darkling side. They were very dangerous and battle experienced one moment but somehow were nothing compared to two sword weilding mercenaries. With convenient plot devices, the man who is literally the oldest and the most powerful Grisha in Ravka, was defeated and left at sea- no doubt hit by LB's idiot hammer. The man literally created THE FOLD for god's sake!!! And yet he and his army of well trained Grisha were defeated in a matter of minutes.

3)Nikolai: The whole Nikolai spiel was that he is the 'good' guy. He desperately wants the throne but instead of doing anything about it he was literally waiting for his big bro to get bored of it and throw it to him. That was the 'most clever fox's' brilliant strategy. Because that's what good boys do. Only evil, dark wizards create a coup.

And when the plot doesn't move forward, the easily-defeated-at-sea Darkling, is suddenly a raging powerful villain who conveniently kills Vasily and hands the good boy his throne.

I could go on and on. She butchered her own universe and is fixing them with cello tapes.

[pod-together]

Filk Broken Telephone 2024

We highly recommend listening to these by starting with the first work in each chain and going in order!

Chain 1

campaign don’t start til I Walk in [A filk about D&D] (Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)) written by Dr_Fumbles_McStupid, performed by crackfics_georg Summary: A filk about fantasy tabletop roleplaying set to Ke$ha's tik tok written for Filk broken telephone 2024

[Filk] I wanna wreck the realm (Tortall - Tamora Pierce) written and performed by ChaosKiro Summary: What if Roger, instead of just monologuing at Alanna at the end had broken into song? Set to the tune of So what by P!nk, because he is kinda acting like a vindictive ex about it.

Rise a Corpse Army [Filk] (魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)) written and performed by esbielle Summary: After the second siege of the burial mounds, while gathered in Lotus Pier, the sect leaders realize what Jin Guangyao was truly like. They turn to Wei Wuxian hoping he's now on their side. And Wei Wuxian has something to say. A filk set to "Love Song" by Sara Bareilles.

[Filk] Say Goodbye (七爷 | Qi Ye - priest) written and performed by minnabird Summary: Scatter all my memories Like petals floating in the breeze I'll say goodbye This road I walk will take me out of sight (Jing Beiyuan puts away his love for Helian Yi, to the tune of Nina Gordon's "Tonight and the Rest of My Life")

[Filk] This Time (คาธ | The Eclipse (TV 2022)) written and performed by Wereflamingo Summary: Akk marvels at how Aye refused to give up on him in spite of everything he's done. A filk based on No! by Bukahara (which is an excellent anti-fascist anthem, so if you don't know it, please listen to it too!)

Chain 2

Please note, the second work in this chain has lyrics but no audio, which we've noted right below the summary. When the audio is added to this works, we'll take the note off! You can wait to listen to that chain, or you can read the lyrics for that one and listen to the rest.

[Filk] Costume Party! (Original Work) written and performed by legonerd Summary: A re-imagining of Hell is Forever from Hazbin Hotel.

fun house [filk] (The Magnus Archives (Podcast), Original Work) written and performed by fan_ficcer Summary: looking twice before you leap in faith is wasting time naught left below to catch us but traps of their design we are nothing more than pawns that are meant to be used your choices were made for you before you even tried to move lyrics only—audio not yet added

Sounds of [REDACTED] (No Fandom) written by wilfriede0815, performed by wilfriede0815 and carboncopies

[filk] A Herding Dog's Lament��(If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio) written and performed by ShakespeareStoleMyURL Summary:"Judge me, you gods! Wrong I mine enemies? And if not so, how should I wrong a brother?" - William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar or, James grappling with everything that happened during everyone's time at Dellecher, in a thought spiral and accusing an imaginary Oliver in his mind.

Your World (The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells) written and performed by bluegeekEM Summary: Murderbot grapples with the conflicts and realizations that come with the events of All Systems Red.

Chain 3

Answer Me [lyrics and audio] (Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan) written and performed by farkenshnoffingottom Summary: Nico's POV from after he leaves camp to the end of Battle of the Labyrinth, set to Oingo Boingo's "Dead Man's Party"

You’ll stay with me? (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) written and performed by mangotart_reads Summary: Music: “there is a light that never goes out” by The Smiths Context: (major spoiler alert) Harry has to die by Voldemort’s hands to destroy Voldemort’s horcrux inside himself. They’re in the forest while the “battle of hogwarts” is happening at the castle. But before that, he summons his dead loved ones with the resurrection stone. His mother Lily, his father James, his parents’ friend Remus and his Godfather Sirius. They’re younger and happier than Harry has ever seen them. “He was not really fetching them: they were fetching him”. Lily’s death and, therefore, act of love protected Harry so far, but now his selfless death will protect everyone else with his love.

[Pod_together Broken Telephone Filk 2024] I'm Tired (Original Work) written and performed by Mangacat Summary: Hey, villains get depressed too, you know? To the tune of "I'm Tired" by Labyrinth feat. Zendaya - from the soundtrack of "Euphoria"

Rule the World (Original Work) written and performed by Ceewelsh

Everything I Wanted [Filk] (Original Work, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) written and performed by ssleif Summary: Filk for when you got what you wanted.

Chain 4

[filk] you ate my soul already (The Locked Tomb Series | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir) written and performed by olive2read Summary: stuck in a hidden pocket of Harrow's mind, Gideon urges Harrow to unpack her shit embrace her lyctorhood

[Filk] Sacrifice (陈情令 | The Untamed (TV), 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù) written by irrationalpie, performed by irrationalpie Summary: What do I do with this poisonous gift? Finally knowing the cause of our rift You've got my head spinning, no winning, how did I miss this? Jiang Cheng reacts to the golden core reveal.

Try (Original Work, Fandom - Fandom, 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)) written and performed by mahons_ondine Summary: Love can make you do crazy, impossible things. Like give up a life of crime. Or come back from the dead. A loosely Wei Wuxian coded song about getting what you didn't know you wanted.

[Filk] Meant to be Yours (Our Flag Means Death (TV)) written and performed by horchatapods

[Filk] On the Rise (Our Flag Means Death (TV)) written and performed by nonplussed Summary: Post-canon, Ed is haunted by Izzy's ghost (or perhaps just a dark figment of his imagination)

The Inn of Three (Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling) written and performed by SerenaEW Summary: My Filk Broken Telephone submission for pod-together 2024, based on Schubert's Das Wirtshaus from his Winterreise.

[symbioteburnout]

@invulnerablextouch continued (x)

Was she fangirling? Just a bit.

Wasn't often that Andi Benton and Silence got to team up with another hero, and most of the time, it was one of her Coach's exes. She'd often lamented that she got some of the worst team ups ever. She'd have killed to be able to team up with other heroes close to her age, or some of the X-Men, they were in the news fairly often, she knew them well from stories. It had been her dream to be able to pair up with the likes of Jubilee, or the new girl Wolverine, or Rogue!

So while this might not have been a team-up, seeing as Rogue just wiped the floor with the villain Silence had just been fighting, all Andi could do now was gush. "Th-that was fuckin AWESOME!"

[rosyrosethorns]

(content warning: madi discusses some intense/sensitive topics with EXE M)

୨ ——- ♡ ——- ୧

“… Is it normal to be angry about injustices… even when you haven’t lived through them?”

It wasn’t the first time Madilyn randomly presented a subject, but All-Father Mario still took a moment to think on it before giving an answer:

“I suppose the definition of ‘injustice’ varies at least slightly among people. It is common to experience intense anger if something you hold great passion or respect towards has been disgraced in any shape or form.” He knew his human bride very well by this point, and immediately added his own inquiry: “Have you been letting anger consume you over disgrace again?”

… No reply. All-Father glanced down at the girl to see her facial expression, and it clearly read melancholy and lament.

“Cara mia,” the eldritch being sighed; running his fingers through her hair. “What was it this time?”

A shaky sigh escaped Madi before she confessed to him:

“I mean… it was a few things… within a few days—I just… thought I could let it subside at first. But they piled up—I had to block more tags and… accounts… but the more I do it the more I feel like people were right… about me shutting things out just cuz they’re uncomfortable topics and hiding in my own bubble…”

“A moment, darling?” Father tapped the girl’s lips as part of his gentle interjection. “You use your social media page as a temporary escape—a way to release your tensions through what you enjoy. There’s no need to feel guilty for filtering there.”

“… But learning about what’s going on in the world…?”

“That can be done through less… emotionally charged outlets. I notice your emotional state is not as severely imbalanced if the messenger is not projecting their emotions onto you.”

… Madi still seemed pensive. “But I lost friends over that…”

“That only proves my point, my dear—the people you used to know were intense enough to rub their emotions off on you.”

“But then… then what about the media that upsets me?—the stuff that’s supposed to spread awareness and relate to people but only makes me angry and upset because I can’t do anything…??”

Both of All-Father’s arms gently wrapped around her, holding her protectively. “You’re working yourself up. Take a moment to breathe then elaborate on what you mean.”

The girl obeyed immediately; melting into his embrace as she felt her tension decrease. Some tears even fell from her eyes as a result…

“I… just… want to help people… who try to stay strong… in horrible situations… But sometimes… the only solution I can think of… is—is killing their oppressors, or even those who just act stupid about it!”

Of course the villainous immortal was unfazed by her confession. “Ahh. Sweet girl.” His voice was a soothing purr as he stroked her face. “You’re a sensitive thing as I said before. And it’s true that you can’t help everyone—or even kill everyone~ But instead of focusing on your weaknesses… why not focus on your strengths?~”

“… huh?”

A large clawed hand cradled the girl’s own. “What can you do for people within your mental and physical constraints?~”

[comicsforyall]

The Cathartic Misery of Frank Miller's Daredevil: Born Again

Art By David Mazuchelli

Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s 1986 Daredevil: Born Again is one of the most highly regarded story arcs in the superhero space. As the title implies, the arc provides a point for new fans to jump on to the series, without ignoring or outright dismissing the long history of Daredevil comics. The story sees Daredevil broken down completely, and then examines the core components of the hero in an attempt to redefine the character’s trajectory going forward, to great success. Over the course of eight issues, 226-233, Matt Murdock and his readers go on a dramatic journey to examine what it means to be the Man Without Fear.

Why Be A Daredevil?

Matt Murdock is an interesting crime fighter in that he works on both sides of the law as a vigilante and lawyer. This dichotomy is central to the conflict of the character, and is a focal point in the series even early on when the plots for the title are more simplistic. It is common for Daredevil to view himself in and out of the red costume as two distinct men, with each one fighting their own unique fronts in the war against injustice. Unfortunately for Daredevil the results of putting time and energy into either one of his struggles tends to impact the other in the reverse direction.

A lawyer can only be so effective when he spends all night brawling on the streets in spandex, but justice can’t always come from a courtroom. When one man assumes all the responsibilities that Daredevil does, contradictions are inevitable.

At the start of the Born Again arc, Matt is questioning himself and his logic for continuing acting as Daredevil. He is starting to notice that crime is not being suppressed by his fists, and the apparent relapse of the reformed villain Gladiator is nearly too much for his mentality. Matt is raging on the inside as he starts to really see the futile nature of so much of his crusade, though he turns that anger outwards and is able to find blame in all those around him. He is quite miserable.

Matt goes through his internal crises initially in isolation. It’s ironic that as he laments his inability to affect change in the world the reader is given insight into the lives of his closest friends, who largely are floundering for a shred of personal support in their own worlds. His best friend and former law partner, Foggy finds solace from the recent closure of their law office in Matt’s ex-girlfriend Glorianna. Across the country Karen Page, former secretary for Nelson and Murdock, and lost love of Matt is struggling against drug addiction's harsh grip. Three of the people closest to Matt just need someone to be there for him, but he’s crying himself to sleep at night over not being able to beat the world into a better place with his billy clubs. Daredevil’s flaws and misconceptions of himself are some of the most compelling traits from the hero, and this arc is a stellar piece of characterization thanks to his humanizing shortcomings.

For many comic heroes there is little to be gained by examining the logic behind their decision to be a caped vigilante, it’s a necessary suspension of disbelief in order to have fun, but Daredevil frequently invites the conversation due to his core concept of being a lawyer by day. Born Again allows reality to seep into the book by placing Matt and the rest of the cast in relatable dire straits of economic uncertainty, substance abuse, and mental illness. The character’s problems feel rooted in reality, even when the specific depictions are over-the-top. With the characters firmly grounded in a more realistic tone, the book decides to place one of the most traditional comic book tropes of the secret identity as the central conflict.

Art By David Mazuchelli

Secret Identity or Lack Thereof

Countless heroes over countless titles have dealt with the ongoing issue of keeping their identity secret. Some instances can come across contrived, such as Thor with his Dr. Donald Blake alter-ego or Iron Man being Tony Stark’s bodyguard, while others are more believable, like Spider-Man who is blasted in the papers as a public menace. Daredevil has always fallen into the latter camp, with even just his law career being a justifiable reason for the secret identity trope. Born Again takes the concept and challenges anyone who ever questioned the legitimacy of the fear of exposure in the first place.

The shared nightmare of superheroes becomes a reality for Daredevil when Marvel’s nastiest crime boss, the Kingpin, gets ahold of the name Matt Murdock. The name is extracted from Karen in an over-the-top scene where she is in the throes of addiction, and promptly delivered to the villain. Kingpin leverages his vast resources alongside Matt’s now public status of criminal vigilante to ensure the fall of Daredevil is swift.

In response to the revelation of Daredevil’s identity, Matt’s bank accounts get frozen first, and as the news spreads his social reputation enters a freefall. In no time flat the once successful lawyer is virtually penniless and looked upon with suspicion even by those who used to respect him. In a dramatic and unexpected fashion Matt Murdock finds himself bearing the weight that falls on those mixed up in the criminal justice system everyday. He of course goes immediately insane.

Still not grasping the lesson that he can’t punch away his problems, Daredevil tries to take the fight to the top and assault the Kingpin man to man. His loss at the villain's hand and apparent death set the stage for the titular rebirth of the hero. Daredevil’s recovery is aided by a nun/nurse who turns out to be intimately connected with Matt. There is plenty of flowery Christian imagery along the way, though that whole side to the comic feels a bit style over substance.

During Daredevil’s absence Kingpin is never convinced of the vigilante’s death, and puts vast amounts of money and manpower into drawing him out. The story follows reporter Ben Urich as he attempts to investigate the entire situation, and his exploits serve to reinforce the idea of Kingpin’s long reach into all aspects of society. Unable to draw Daredevil out and failing to get rid of Urich, Kingpin is forced to turn to more drastic measures.

The Powerful and the Criminal

After exhausting his local resources in finding Daredevil, Kingpin calls in the big guns in the form of a super soldier named Nuke. Created, owned, and operated by the United States of America, having access to Nuke is yet another showcase of the extent of Kingpin’s power and the true place he fills within society. The book establishes that the crime lord is present all through New York City, and Hell’s Kitchen specifically. He is shown as controlling the police, the doctors, the other criminals, and everyone in between. The addition of Nuke, as an operative of the government, raises the stakes and consequences of Daredevil’s immediate fight, but also has greater implications for the wider ideological struggle plaguing the protagonist and underlining the arc.

In a harrowing sequence Daredevil seems poised to take down Nuke, when unlikely allies step in to help the pill-popping supersoldier. The Avengers, including Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, arrive and step between Daredevil and Nuke, offering protection to the madman terrorizing the city. It is explained that Nuke is under the purview of the federal government. While Captain America goes on to question and challenge the system, the moment where Daredevil is stopped by the premier super team is stark and works well at crafting a better reasoning for Matt's vigilante actions.

In the moment with his most respected heroes standing in the way of him, Daredevil’s pursuit to change the system and take down the bad guys comes across as nothing more than futile and naive. Even when he comes close to taking down a pillar of the criminal world or an objectively dangerous mass killer, the powerful can still arrive and stop him in his tracks should they see fit.

But he keeps going. Daredevil embodies his moniker of Man Without Fear the most when he is pitted against entities much larger and more powerful than him. In a one to one scenario, Daredevil can defeat most criminals thanks to his superpowers, but it is when those powers are incapable of overcoming the situation that the character really comes alive. In some of his best early adventures, the hero’s radar sense is so tangential it is comical. Though a basic concept, it is core to the hero that he fights against those that are not just in the wrong morally but that have power which would otherwise go unchecked. He fights the battles which scare others.

Born Again

There’s plenty to like going on in Born Again, but as it goes not everything feels truly of one piece. The arcs of Karen and Matt specifically are a bit nebulous and weird, which works well at points but leaves the reader uninvested just as often. The cartoonish simplicity of Karen’s drug addiction and the fantastical rehabilitation properties of a re-lit romance are awkward compared to the nuanced and multi-faceted plot involving reporters and crooked cops. The depiction of drug addiction in general is cringey or in poor taste at times, but in truth Karen as a character is used to push the narrative forward and as a symbol for Matt’s changing priorities. She is less of a well rounded human and more of a plot tool in these pages, even if the problems she goes up against themselves are harsh and too commonly relatable in reality.

The story being told is focused on dissecting the character of Daredevil and elevating the elements that work the best, so the flattening and resigning to the margins of other characters is not entirely arbitrary. The vast majority of the book reads as purposeful, and that does elevate it above a large portion of its superhero competitors.

There is a lot of moralizing and considerations of purpose or place in the world by the characters but the answers are kept muddy and even the most blatant of villains like Kingpin are given sympathetic moments. The result is a melodramatic over-the-top story that still is able to feel dark and real to an impressive extent. The silliness and caricature of the superhero world is never abandoned even when confronting serious concepts, which works as a dual edged sword accentuating the crazed intensity of a madman character like Nuke, but diminishing the impact of elements such as Karen’s addiction. The title strives to address some of the fundamental, and often contradictory, tropes of the medium and succeeds broadly without preaching or talking down to the reader.

Art By David Mazuchelli

Citation Station

Daredevil 226-233

Frank Miller (writer), Denny O'Neil (writer), David Mazzucchelli (penciler, inker, colorist), Dennis Janke (inker), Max Scheele (colorist), Christie Scheele (colorist), Joe Rosen (letterer).

[a-tale-of-legends]

i actually liked drayton up until he started being mean to a clearly and visibly emotionally-distressed kieran. honestly when he pulled that "ex-champion" quip i fully expected that to be a full on reveal that drayton was the real villain all along

[Indigo Disk Spoilers Below!!!]

Honestly I never expected him to be a villain cause what Drayton acts like towards Kieran is one of those teenagers. The ones who claim to be your friend and probably seems pretty chill but ultimately twist their words so they are passively aggressively insulting you. Someone can probably describe what I mean better but that's what I thought Drayton is. There's a part of me that wonders of Drayton kinda bullied Kieran in the past. Not blatantly but like. "softly"????? God I do not have the words to describe what I'm thinking I seriously apologize here. But I was expecting him to be revealed to be an even greater ass than he was kinda showing himself to be. Hm not being a bigger asshole honestly isn't surprising, but like. I dunno the way he acts and treats others ( PARTICULARLY KIERAN) rubs me the wrong way.

That being said, and this might come as a shocker, I don't hate him. I think he's pretty chill and kinda cool. I just see what he's doing and just. Don't like it at all. He's still a teen ( I think ) and hopefully he can check himself in the future, but as he is now, I say he's a very interesting character. Him being Drayden's grandchild, being related to Iris, who was an actual champion, and in general coming from a prestigious family, you can pretty easily connect some dots and come to a conclusion as to why Drayton acts the way he does. Of course, it's never an excuse, but it's very interesting for someone like me, who just thinks about these things for characters regularly.

All in all....yeah. Drayton is an ass lol. After everything was said and done Drayton laments in how him and Kieran still aren't on the best of terms and it's like " GEE I WONDER WHY DRAYTON. I WONDER WHHHHHHY".

[jollyinteractive]

DashingDon Recs

Scales- Author: @scales-cyoa. Short demo. MC is part of a relatively new and misunderstood dragon-hybrid race. You and your family live in a remote village. Story starts with intense fighting in the village. Seems to be abandoned.

Red Herring- Author: Nix. Fairly short demo. MC is an ordinary human in a world of super humans. One villain is targeting you specifically for your relationship with their greatest rival. You don't know the hero, but somehow, they know you. Can't tell if it's abandoned.

Panic Spring- Author: Ange (no link found). Short demo. MC is born to a family of powerful witches, from both sides. In this world, there is a bitter history of hatred between witches and fairies. You must contend with extremely high expectations. World/ familial relationship building. Seems to be abandoned.

Dark as Night- Author: @cereuscross. Short demo. MC is a half-witch and half-demon. When a werewolf pack experiences several disappearances, at the hands of a coven of witches, they approach you to help track down their missing pack-mates. Seems to be abandoned.

EX: A Villian's Lament- Author: @ex-a-villains-lament. Mid-size demo. MC is a former villain who joined the heroes to take down an even bigger threat, and they're learning to live with their decision. Most of the text is backstory and world building. Tumblr page claims hiatus but hasn't been updated since 2022.

[robertantrimcalwellauthor]

True Crime as Tragedy: Recasting Evelyn Dick’s Tale in Modern Myth

In Evelyn, Robert Antrim Calwel does something few true crime authors dare—he retells a harrowing real-life murder with the gravitas of Greek tragedy and the lyrical soul of Shakespearean drama. Set against the grey skies and winding escarpments of 1946 Hamilton, Ontario, this poetic novel transforms Evelyn Dick’s infamous case into a mythic saga—one where murder, madness, and maternal betrayal echo not just in headlines but in human history.

What marks Evelyn as distinctly tragic is not merely its subject matter, but its structure. Like a classical tragedy, it presents its characters not as cardboard villains or heroes but as flawed beings, caught in spirals of fate, desire, and social dysfunction. Evelyn herself is not just the “Black Widow” of sensational journalism—she’s a figure torn between the expectations thrust upon her and the darkness she inherits and perpetuates. The reader is left to ask: is she Medea, Lady Macbeth, or something more uniquely Canadian and haunting?

In the tradition of Greek drama, the book uses poetic monologue to give each character a voice, not unlike soliloquies in Hamlet or the confessional laments of Sophocles’ Antigone. These aren’t just stylized for effect—they allow the reader to sink into the psyche of each player: Evelyn, John Dick, Bill Bohozuk, Donald MacLean, and even Alexandra, whose hushed rage seethes from the margins. Their verses bleed grief, pride, and guilt, painting a picture far more intimate than the cold pages of a court transcript.

Perhaps most evocative is how Calwel handles fate—another nod to classical tragedy. John Dick, Evelyn’s ill-fated husband, narrates his end from beyond the grave with an eerie peace, as though he always knew the Packard trunk was waiting. There’s no deus ex machina here—only the relentless ticking of doomed choices, generational scars, and urban shadows too dark to see through. Hamilton itself becomes a mythic backdrop, its streets and waterfalls transformed into an amphitheater of blood and bone.

Yet, the story doesn’t ask for pity. It seeks understanding. Evelyn doesn’t rewrite the facts—it reframes them. Like Shakespeare’s Macbeth, it offers readers the rare opportunity to feel the sorrow behind the scandal. To look past the crime and into the conditions that birthed it—poverty, misogyny, secrecy, and the simmering class wars of post-war Canada.

This modern myth doesn’t demand that we sympathize with Evelyn. But it compels us to witness her. And in doing so, we confront our own uneasy fascination with true crime. What do we gain by retelling these stories? Calwel’s answer seems clear: catharsis. That ancient release we seek not from justice—but from the grief of knowing we are all, in some way, complicit in the world's suffering.

For readers who want more than a murder mystery, Evelyn offers a poetic reckoning. It doesn’t just recount the fall—it invites you to stand in the rubble and listen.