#grudge weaver

[furryeaglebarbarian]

Voltage crawler

Staticshock weaver.

[psychosodomy]

why is escapist fiction always in monarchist societies… people can get into crazy lascivious situations and power struggles regardless of government bc ppl will always have norms and taboos and mind games no matter how stratified or egalitarian their society

[clash-of-moonbeams]

Anybody else ever think about how convenient it was that Micah, Scorpia, and Mermista were chipped in S5? You know, before the Best Friend Squad, Best Girl Entrapta, and Catra landed back on Etheria?

No seriously, how CONVENIENT that it was those three specifically that couldn’t interact freely one-on-one with Catra once she, the Best Friend Squad, and Best Girl Entrapta touched back down on Etheria. Catra caused Angella to be trapped between two dimensions, treated Scorpia like sh*t, and conquered Mermista’s kingdom. And yet Micah and Mermista never got to interact with her, and Scorpia just seemed to insta-forgive at the end of S5. Well, that’s not TOTALLY true, after being de-chipped Mermista looks around and sees Hordak and Catra and is like “So we’re just ok with this?”. The most reasonable question EVER.

So much was lost because Catra was not able to properly interact with these three (not to mention Glimmer only got to really interact with the father she lost at a young age RIGHT at the end). We see Catra apologizing to both Adora and Entrapta (not GOOD apologies where she acknowledges all she’s done against them and sincere remorse for her actions, but apologies nonetheless), but she never really does this with anybody else. She kind of tries with a chipped Scorpia, but the latter is chipped so that doesn’t go anywhere, and by the end she never even finished he apology before Scorpia hugged her.

No complicated feelings, no confrontations, no visible grudges being held (except for Perfuma in that one episode). But why, you ask, am I insisting upon this? Catra still apologized, or at least tried to, in Adora, Entrapta, and Scorpia’s cases. She doesn’t even really know Micah and Mermista anyway!

That’s kind of the point.

Catra only tries to apologize to those who she personally knew, she doesn’t actually acknowledge to harm she’s done to people outside of them. She never apologized for Angella, never apologized to Bow for all the things she did to him, heck she didn’t even try to apologize to Frosta for “ruining Princess Prom”. She just let Adora tell the others that she jumped sides and that she was cool now. And nobody really batted an eye (except for Perfuma in that one episode). Part of why Catra’s so-called redemption arcs sucks is because she’s barely made to really be confronted with all the bad she’s done, and try to atone for it.

Because she hurt EVERYBODY in the Princess Alliance in some way, and she doesn’t even offer a small apology? I know why Mermista and Micah especially were chipped, it’s because those two could hold a GRUDGE. We saw it with Mermista and Entrapta, and we saw it when Micah just glared at Shadow Weaver when he was saved by her. But of course, Catra’s “redemption arc” mostly revolves around ADORA, as does everything with her, especially because Catradora was shoved into S5 and they were sprinting to make that goal. You know, despite how that goal made no narrative sense, especially because before S5 Adora didn’t seem to have any romantic feelings for Catra, but that’s something for another time.

Anyway, Catra was barely made to acknowledge any wrong she had done to the supposed love of her life and the only two allies she had in the Horde. So it really doesn’t surprise me that she wasn’t made to acknowledge the wrong she did to everybody else (except Shadow Weaver, Catra didn’t have anything to apologize about there) by the writers. Catra was handled with kid gloves, and meanwhile Entrapta did NOT get that luxury.

I’m not saying Entrapta didn’t do anything wrong, but geez did the princesses hold more of a grudge for her than Catra. With some ableism splashed in there too, yikes. And yet, Entrapta actually worked on herself and did her best to atone. She risked her safety trying to get the location of Horde Prime’s ship, she tried to be more sensitive to other’s feelings. She fixed Mara’s ship so they could travel to space, she found a way to de-program the chips, she even visibly reined in her love and fascination for tech in order to get those chips off. Meanwhile, what did Catra do that showed that she was making a change to the Rebelion? To prove she was trying to atone?

The most she does is let them slip by without detection from HP’s forces, and that’s not even her doing, it’s MELOG’S!

Tl;Dr: Catra’s redemption was hastily done and poorly written. Nowhere can that be more found than the fact Micah, Scorpia, and Mermista were not able to confront her with their grievances and make her realize the affects she had on other people BESIDES those in her personal life

[justmenoworries]

"You just hate that Catra got a redemption arc!"

Wrong.

I hate that Catra got a bad redemption arc. Where everyone is just suddenly cool with her because she gave a very unconvincing and very unspecific apololgy. Once.

S1-4 actually did a good job of setting it up. It's made clear multiple times that, yes, while Catra did have a shitty childhood and most of her issues can be chalked up to Shadow Weaver being a horrible mother, it still doesn't mean she's automatically in the right. Both the narrative and the characters contiuously call Catra out on her actions and on her insistence that everything bad she does is actually someone else's fault. Adora literally gets a whole-ass speech in the s3 finale where she tells Catra that, no, the bad things Catra has done and does aren't on Adora, or Hordak, or even Shadow Weaver - it's on Catra. It's always been on Catra. She doesn't get to pretend to be a victim. She made her choice. And she has to live with that. S4 has Double Trouble repeat those exact same points word for word.

S5 is where Stevenson completely fumbled it. Because starting with s5, Catra is suddenly absolved of the most important thing in a redemption arc: Taking accountability.

"But Celty," I hear you say, "Catra does take accountability! She apologizes to the people she's hurt! She says she's working on her anger issues!"

Yeah, one measly "uwu I'm sowwy" isn't enough to make up for, let's see: kidnapping, torture, attemtped murder, actual murder, attemtpted genocide, actual genocide and years upon years of physical and emotional abuse.

Two characters in the cast react to Catra suddenly showing up in Camp Good Guy like they should: Frosta and Netossa. And both are immediately convinced that Catra is actually nice now, because Adora said so and so all is forgiven. No need for Catra to actually work to earn these people's trust. No reason to elaborate on how complicated Catra's sheer presence must make everything, because how are the Princesses supposed to feel about suddenly having to work with the ex-leader of the Horde? The woman who took an active part in attacking and destroying their kingdoms?

Other SPOP crits have pointed this out, but it's very convenient that both Scorpia and Mermista, two people Catra has hurt in a far more personal manner, (the destruction of Salineas and the continued abuse toward Scorpia) are chipped and therefor absent from the Good Guy team once Catra and the Best Friend Squad return to Etheria. Once again, Catra is absolved of having to put any work into redeeming herself. Even when everyone unites in the finale, Catra doesn't get to apologize to Scorpia because Scorpia forgets all her character development from s4 and just hugs Catra like nothing bad ever happened between them. Mermista meanwhile is stuck making a joke about Hordak just being let off the hook for war crimes, which is doubly ironic because Catra is right fucking there being portrayed as an uwu poor kitty-cat. We don't get to see how Mermista feels about the woman who destroyed her homeland suddenly being acquitted because she's She-Ra's girlfriend now. Let's not even start with the non-reaction Entrapta has to seeing Catra again. Catra, who Entrapta genuinely believed was her friend, and who not only had her shipped off to Beast Island and, in her mind, certain death, but also let Hordak, who Entrapta had a bond with, believe that Entrapta betrayed and abandoned him. Gentle reminder that Entrapta was so heartbroken about the fact that she really was abandoned on Beast Island by everyone that she started to succumb to the signal in an instant and would have actually died if Bow hadn't snapped her out of it with her hyperfixation. Gentle reminder that Entrapta is capable of holding a grudge, as in s3 she calls Adora out for seemingly having left her behind in the Fright Zone. But because it's Catra, suddenly Entrapta magically doesn't mind having to tend to the woman who shocked her unconscious and had her shipped off to a violent death.

Oh and let's not forget the elephant in the room: Not once, in the entirety of s5 does Catra ever take responsibility for killing Angella. Glimmer suddenly forgets all about Catra being the one who indirectly murdered Angella. She doesn't bring it up once and instead is slowly browbeaten into making nice with Catra through solitary confinement. The Glimmer/Catra friendship in s5 is so forced and so out of nowhere. Bow also forgets that Catra kidnapped him and his best friend/love interest to the Fright Zone and that because of her, Glimmer was suffering from her powers going haywire for quite a while, which, may I remind you, left her with spasms painful enough to have her writhing on the floor unable to move. What is Bow's reaction to Catra when she joins the team? To gush about how cute her sneeze is. I hate it here.

As for the whole "she's working on herself" - no she isn't.

S5 Catra is the exact same person as s1-3 Catra. Only now she gets away with her bs because the writers decided she's a good guy now.

S5 Catra is still a violent, self-serving, abusive asshole. She still blames others for her fuck-ups, still resorts to verbal and physical abuse to deal with her emotions, still would rather have the entire world destroyed than have Adora's world not revolve solely around her. Honestly, Catra saying that she always loved Adora is laughable, because like an episode earlier she left Adora in the woods, crying her eyes out and begging for Catra to stay, during possibly the hardest time of Adora's life. "But she came back!1!!" She came back after, once again, making Adora feel like absolute shit for trying to save people. Not to mention one of the reasons Adora was so deadset on stopping Horde Prime, even at the cost of her own life, was that Catra literally begged her to. Catra told Adora that if Horde Prime wasn't stopped, they'd all be looking toward a fate worse than death. Then suddenly towards the finale, Catra changes her tune and whines that Adora has decided to take the Heart, making it out like Adora just loves playing hero, when the show literally spells it out that Adora is the only one who can do this. Everyone else would literally die if they took the Heart. Adora/She-Ra is the last hope Etheria, no, the universe has at this point. Again, that's not just in Adora's head, that's something the plot itself confirms over and over again. But we're still supposed to side with Catra when she pushes Adora into the dirt and victim-blames her.

[ameliadallon]

see, the issue with shadowbug is that sophia doesnt really even have an issue with taylor. she doesnt like her, but has no personal beef, just fucks with her because emma started it and it seemed like a thing to do. hell, she ends up respecting taylor flat out by the end of it, seeing herself in skitter/weaver/taylor.

taylors got beef, yeah, but shes quick to move past grudges for the sake of workplace cohesion (the work being almost killing people). and if she saw sophia pull shit like she does in flechettes interlude, shes not gonna stay quiet. shes gonna rip sophia a new asshole as soon as theyre not in danger, which, of course, sophia is going to respond to aggressively and theyll get into a spat where they both think the other is being an evil or annoying bitch, but if theyre caping together then sophias seen what taylors like and about and knows shes kinda hardcore and respects and enjoys that, and taylors seen how sophia is actually genuinely trying to do good and protect people from gangs, villains, and monsters even if shes an idiot about what sorts of people deserve protecting. so like, theyll fight about stuff, and often, but neither of them are going to be able to outright reject the other's words for long; hearing, understanding, and (begrudgingly) respecting another is grounds for growth and camaraderie and also because theyre both gay in high stakes, adrenaline-pumping, intense, life-threatening situations, theyre gonna eventually kiss. thats just how it goes.

so yeah. enemies to rivals to lovers to friends (and lovers). they grow with and into each other. its too healthy and respectful, after getting over the initial hump

[thefreakpanda]

I have this strange feeling of disgust for a character we’ve never properly met in ACOTAR and that’s Rhysand’s mother.

The way she died was atrocious, there is no debate on that. (Just like what Mor’s parents did to her was terrible, I still don’t like her, for example).

But everything I’ve learned about that woman made me icky.

First of all, the whole dumping your child in a ring and turning away as he’s getting beaten by other kids. AND turning a blind eye to adults then WHIPPING your child all for the sake of culture ?

The fact that Rhysand has the audacity to hold a grudge against Nesta for Feyre hunting but he’ll find excuses for his mother?

And he got upset when Feyre suggested that his mother abandoned him. Boy, she DID!

Next we have Cassian coming to live with her. When he explained it to Feyre, he told her how mortified she looked upon seeing him at her doorstep and being pretty reluctant to help.

An 8-year-old orphan. Living alone outside in a makeshift tent. Having to clothe himself by beating other kids. And she was horrified that her son wanted to help him?

And the only reason she welcomed Azriel was because she knew his mother. By the time Azriel was born, she was already mated to the HL of the Night Court. He put a stop to the wing-clipping for her but she couldn’t ask him to get an innocent boy out of his father’s dungeon? Couldn’t do anything for all the Illyrian children being mistreated ?

And finally : the RING !

What do you mean you hid you future daughter-in-law’s wedding ring in a monster’s house and she’ll have to risk her life to prove herself worthy of your son? Because you didn’t want him to ‘waste it.’

The boy mom of all boy moms!

Respectfully, no man is worth that effort. Besides, Feyre had already survived 3 damned trials, death and being Made. She could have been spared from the Weaver.

Making a trousseau was nice but everything else about that woman is red flag after red flag. And Rhys cannot make me like her.

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

My DC Cinematic Universe - Creature Commandos: Part IX

Chapter Nine: The Nymph with Lovely Braids

Yeah, Circe, that's about how I'm feeling after seeing how they completely wasted your character in the worst possible ways, so I sympathize. I'm gonna warn all, like, 4 of you that may end up reading this moving forward, and just say that if there is anything...anything...in this series that got me roasted more than the treatment of the Frankensteins and Nina, it's the absolute idiocy that came from the villains of this series, starting with the witch-queen herself, Circe the Weaver. And because of that, it's a possibility that I get a little...heated. And it's not even just for Circe, but also for the actual villain of this series, not to mention a much wider issue I have with a particular rogues gallery.

In fact, the more I think about it, the less likely I am to finish my Circe rant in enough time to get to the main villain of the series...so let's split this baby up. Chapter Nine of this absurd essay series is all Circe's, and the tenth in this series belongs to the actual villain. So, let's get into it, shall we, and start us off with this series' second greatest disappointment...to me, at least.

You do not understand how goddamn excited I was when it was announced that Circe was going to be the villain of this series. I will stand by the idea that Circe is the greatest Wonder Woman villain in an underrated rogues gallery of villains, which is another topic that I'll get to later. But first who is Circe, exactly? Well, for my fellow Madeline Miller fans, I am happy to tell you that Circe is a complex character in her own right...but sad to tell you that you shouldn't expect anything like the nuanced take on the mythological character in Circe. No, this is playing it pretty goddamn straight, as compared to Greek mythology, and Circe is the witch of myth. She's still a complex character, believe me, but she's not Miller's version for sure.

Depending on the version of the character you're looking at, Circe's motives and modus differ pretty significantly, but are always based around Circe's grudge against the Amazons, Queen Hippolyta, and their most famous representative, Wonder Woman. Originally introduced in Wonder Woman #37 in 1949, Circe would occasionally appear as a Golden and Silver Age Wonder Woman foe, also going up against Supergirl, Superman and a couple of other groups, and always aligning pretty closely to the mythological character. Essentially, she was pretty boring in her earlier appearances, and was a witch who would hit on Superman occasionally. She would return as a Wonder Woman enemy in the Bronze Age, and her mythological reputation of turning dudes into animals would be her main method of action. Again, though, she was little more than a mustache-twirler, plotting to take over the world with her animal men, yaddayaddayadda. Not terribly interesting. But, then...George Perez steps into the arena.

Oh, and prepare yourself, Imma rant for a while just about Circe as a character, before I get to Creature Commandos. Sorry. I kinda love her.

For those not in the know, Perez's take on Wonder Woman is a reboot that took place after Crisis on Infinite Earths, and is considered one of the heroine's greatest runs, as well as a showcase for a DC character. It's goddamn great, even for a 40-year-old story (as of me writing this). This incarnation of Circe would become the iconic enemy of Wonder Woman that she is today, giving her the purple hair and green robes that she would adopt as her outfit for decades afterwards. The daughter of Titans, pupil of Hecate, and witch of Aeaea, Circe was a princess banished to an island after killing her weak husband, and an ancient enemy of the Amazons. Staunchly acting against their mission of peace and equality, she grew a rivalry with Hippolyta after helping to kill an Amazon queen, and tearing the Amazons apart in the process, essentially creating the Bana-Mighdall and weakening Themyscira.

She remained the enemy of the Amazons, but assumed they had gone extinct until Wonder Woman appeared. As the princess was prophesied to be the end of Circe's power and reign, she plotted against her and the Amazons. When she was thwarted, she turned her ire to the Greek pantheon of gods, and escalated tensions between them and the Roman pantheon, triggering a deific war. All the while, she was serving Hecate, helping her to achieve her own kind of revenge that would end in the destruction and remaking of the universe in their image. And yes, in case you're wondering, it's badass.

This story, War of the Gods, is a company-wide crossover that brings in Superman, the New Gods, Captain Marvel and Black Adam, Doctor Fate, the Outsiders, the Suicide Squad (relevant for later), the Sentinels of Magic, and the Justice Society, alongside an absolute fuckton of other characters, all with Circe as the main driver for it all. She is an epic villain, and RESPECT SHOULD BE PLACED UPON HER GODDAMN NAME!!! In this war, by the way, Greek gods straight-up die, and Wonder Woman also dies at Circe's hand, turned back into the clay from whence she came. She's brought back, of course, but Circe does actively kill her. After she's thwarted, Circe turns her ire back on the Amazons, creating a civil war between Themyscira and Bana-Mighdall, and SENDING THEM ALL TO HELL for TEN YEARS, before bringing them back at Wonder Woman's behest. And then, she comes up with another plan: amnesia.

See, Circe realizes she ain't getting the job done, so she whammies herself, and gives herself the secret identity of lawyer Donna Milton, who becomes a close friend and confidante of Diana in Man's World. She does this so that even she would not be able to give her deception away via Diana's Lasso of Truth, and this was a plot that went on for years in out time. It also happens to be one of the better Wonder Woman plots of the '90s, and also results in Circe having a daughter with an also-disguised Ares, just to commit to the fucking bit. Eventually, during the time period where Artemis is Wonder Woman, Donna remembers herself as Circe, and returns as an ally to Diana for five fucking seconds, before coming back as Circe and essentially killing one of Diana's closest friends. Goddamn, do I love Circe, 'cause that's some diabolical petty shit, right there.

Circe would appear often throughout the years as a major enemy, usually acting on a petty motive, seducing and manipulating men for her purposes (and often turning them into animals, staying on brand), caring for her daughter Lyta, and sometimes just fucking with Wonder Woman purely to fuck with her. After the events of Infinite Crisis, the Gods left this plane of reality (with Ares taking Lyta with her, to Circe's horror), and Circe joined forces with another mythological WW villain, Heracles. She powered up WW's rogues gallery (which, again, I'll get to in a bit here), then stole the powers of Wonder Woman, both Wonder Girls, and Heracles, becoming Wonder Woman herself to act as the true avenger of wronged women. She then killed a BUNCH of people in the name of women's rights, but was eventually foiled by Wonder Woman and Hercules teaming up (and the latter betraying them both). That culminates in an awesome fight between Wonder Woman, her entire rogues gallery, the Justice League and allies, Hercules, and Circe. It's...it's sick as hell. Circe parts ways with Diana, giving her the ability to turn into her human identity of Diana Prince (a la Lynda Carter in the '70s), and they part of good terms.

For literally two issues.

Circe then comes back and brings Hippolyta back to life (she died, don't ask), but now a bit unhinged. With Diana being a target for the government due to the events of Infinite Crisis (she kills Maxwell Lord, don't ask), and with Circe helping that capture to happen in the first place, Hippolyta leads the Amazons to attack Washington D.C. in retaliation, leading to the infamous Amazons Attack storyline, which is about to end in the U.S. NUKING THEMYSCIRA, finally fulfilling her vengeance. It destroys the reputation of Wonder Woman in the U.S. completely, even if the nuking never happens, and fucks up the hero's life for a LONG time. Like I said, Circe is arguably the best Wonder Woman villain...in the Modern Age. And then...the New 52 happens.

Now, before getting into this, lemme just say one thing: Circe's New 52 design rules, in my opinion. I will always love the purple-pink haired sorceress with a love of green and silver, but godDAMN if this design doesn't slap. Circe in the New 52 is once again a master manipulator who hates the Amazons, serving Hecate and banished to Aeaea. This time, however, the witch stuff is dialed up to 11, as Circe's mastery of magic has elevated her into almost an undefeatable mystical juggernaut. However, this version came without her soul, having lost it during her magical dealings millennia ago. Because of this, she is regularly on the hunt for her soul, and is interrupted in this by Wonder Woman on an entirely different mission. New 52 and Rebirth Wonder Woman gets a little complicated, and frankly, Circe serves two separate roles in this time period. Because Rebirth was a soft reboot, I'll be focusing more on that version in this write-up.

Circe is brought into a villain-team-up against Wonder Woman by Veronica Cale, in order to save her daughter's soul from Ares' sons, Phobos and Deimos. Circe is offered assistance and vengeance against the Amazons, which is enough for her to fuck with Diana a bit. She binds the souls of the twins into the bodies of dogs (and yes, they are gods, for the record), then realizes that helping Cale would free Ares from his ancient imprisonment, and ends the partnership there. This Circe is petty and vengeful, yes, but a practical menace who knows when to fuck around, and when not to find out. She returns here and here as a somewhat neutral force, acting as a magical help in some instances, and a menace in others. During The Witching Hour event, she takes advantage of magical chaos to try and become the new goddess of magic, killing Diana, Hecate, the Amazons, and all of her enemies in one shot. She then creates her own villainous team, the Injustice League Dark, comprised of the greatest magical villains in DC, before becoming trapped in a mirror prison at Diana's behest.

Look, the point is, Circe is a world-ending threat, and an excellent foil for the Princess of Power that should not be underutilized.

Now, Circe has been adapted more than you'd expect, but not always terribly well. The best version of her, by far, is seen in Justice League Unlimited in the episode This Little Piggy. Here, she pulls an Odyssey on Wonder Woman, and turns her into a pig, while Batman and Zatanna (and B'wana Beast for a great second) have to find her, and get Circe to return her to human(oid) form. It's one of the most fun episodes of the series, and also serves as one of the only episodes to actually focus on a Wonder Woman villain that actually fights Wonder Woman (we'll get to it). Circe here is a quixotic, petty, magical nuisance, who basically only acts on her own desires. She doesn't have the world-ending nature of the comics, but does have the sass and attitude she's often written with. Plus, the hair and the costume honestly work, and I love to see it (even if it's a Kirby-esque short blouse, and not a robe, but that's Bruce Timm for you).

Sure, Circe's had other adaptations, like Justice League Action (which is not bad, but does play-up the power-hungry motives of the character, and pits her against WW and the Amazons), and...gah, fuck, that's actually it. Yeah, she doesn't really have any major appearances outside of these two and some video games. There are alternate universe versions worth talking about, like her heavily redeemed Absolute incarnation from last year, but this post is already way too long, and I haven't gotten to the point yet. So, there is one other adaptation, which is...of course...wait. No. NO!!! Before I ruin my fucking day by talking about this, I'm gonna add an interlude real quick, because I need to talk about this. And for those of you fellow Wonder Woman fans, you've probably known the entire time what I'm getting into here, but I'll do it anyway. Ahem.

Wonder Woman has the MOST misused rogues gallery in DC Comics, and I'm sick and goddamn tired of it.

Interlude: Villainy Incorporated

For the record, that team name comes from the Golden Age, and I agree that it's a dumb name for the Wonder Woman villain team, but here we are. Anyway, Wonder Woman has one hell of a rogues' gallery, and it's very badly used in media adaptations! I honestly may do a post on this all on its own, because it's incredibly frustrating to me, but allow me to list the Wonder Woman villains that have appeared in media, actually fighting Wonder Woman as their main foe, with their major appearances. Here we go:

Ares: The Greek god of war is one of WW's oldest enemies, and has appeared in Justice League Unlimited, the 2009 animated film, and the 2017 live action film, played by...David Thewlis. And honestly, I don't think any of these have done the comic book character very well, but I'm biased when it comes to the depiction of gods. Live-action could've been better if not for some...weird choices.

Doctor Poison AKA Maru: A World War II torturer and poisoner hiding behind a mask. She made an appearance in the genuinely excellent animated film Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, and honestly a pretty good appearance in the 2017 live-action film. Genuine props to the movie for that one, actually.

Baroness Paula von Gunther: A Nazi, but gorl. She appears in the first episode of the Lynda Carter '70s series, and in Batman: The Brave and the Bold for a second or two. Let's through Fausta Grables in here, too, since she's another Nazi who appears more often in that Lynda Carter series, and have a cameo in the 2017 film as that one woman in the blue dress that goes to the party.

Doctor Psycho AKA Edgar Cizko has exactly one notable appearance: Harley Quinn, as a major supporting character for the first season, and an occasional character afterwards. He is seen fighting Wonder Woman directly one time, and he calls her the c-word. Yup.

Giganta AKA Doris Zeul: Oh, boy, this one is frustrating. Arguably one of the most iconic Wonder Woman villains, and she's barely ever seen fighting her. Her most prevalent appearance is seen above, in Justice League Unlimited, and she's only seen fighting WW one-on-one a few times, and she never see their rivalry. Same goes with 2019's DC Super Hero Girls, where she's a major foe...of Bumblebee. OK. She does get her due in Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, though. And speaking of...

Let's get the Wonder Woman: Bloodlines characters out of the way here. Alongside Doctor Poison and Giganta, this film gives us great versions of Doctor Cyber, Veronica Cale, Medusa, and Silver Swan, marking some of the first adaptations for these characters, or at least the first time they're seen speaking on screen (Cyber got a cameo in JLU, and it was actually a robot training dummy that fought Supergirl, not WW). There's one more in there too, but I'll save her until last.

Maxwell Lord is an interesting one. He's notoriously the villain of Wonder Woman 1984, played by Pedro Pascal, and not done...particularly well, frankly. He's actually somewhat combined with another Wonder Woman villain, the Duke of Deception, who gets an easily missed mention during the film when discussing the crystal that gives Lord with powers. Lord's also appeared in JLU, Smallville, and DC Super Hero Girls, but is never associated with Wonder Woman in these appearances. So, really, the actual Maxwell Lord has still never been adapted. But, speaking of the second live-action film...

Oh, the rant that I could go on about Cheetah AKA Priscilla Rich AKA Deborah Domaine AKA Sebastian Ballesteros AKA Barbara Ann Minerva. And honestly, forget those middle two, because only the first and last have been adapted into media. Priscilla Rich is the Super Friends Cheetah, the unhinged lady wearing a costume who just kinda hates Wonder Woman. That iteration has also been seen in Batman: The Brave and the Bold as well. But nowadays, you're more likely to recognize the Barbara Ann Minerva version, the one who's an actual cheetah-human hybrid, cursed by a vindictive god to become the ultimate predator. Barbie's been adapted into Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (where she's seen fighting Wonder Woman one fucking time), DC Super Hero Girls (both the 2015 web series, where she's more of a heroic heel mean girl; and the 2019 TV series, where she actually is an antagonist to Wonder Woman, but only gets one goddamn episode), and Justice League: Doom, where she's explicitly a Wonder Woman antagonist. And then, of course...

Look, I'm not gonna go nuts on this topic here, but Kristen Wiig actually deserves some credit. For the character she was given, which was bad in many ways, she actually did pretty well. Was this a comic book version of Cheetah? No, certainly not. Were the effects for this Cheetah good in the end? Uh, holy shit, fuck no, she looked pretty bad, and needed more polishing. Did they waste the character of Cheetah in this film by not giving her more time as Cheetah? The fuck do you think , of course they did! I got a lot of problems with that movie, and the villains are on the top of that list. So, honestly, I'm still hurting for my actual adaptation of Cheetah. But that said...gaddamn it, was that film a wasted opportunity, because you know which character would've been actually perfect as an explanation for Cheetah's origins? Oh, I dunno, how about

THE EXTREMELY MAGICAL SEMI-GODLIKE WONDER WOMAN VILLAIN MOST FAMOUS FOR TURNING PEOPLE INTO FUCKING ANIMALS YOU ABSOLUTE GODDAMN NUMPTIES

...Interlude over. Onto my rage.

Wasting a Witch

James Gunn's iteration of Circe is many, many things. Weirdly motivated. Bad at using nearly unlimited magic. A waste of an excellent character. An obvious replacement for Enchantress, which he couldn't use because he chose to tie this show in with the Suicide Squad films. And above all? She's incredibly stupid. Her entire motivation for killing the princess of Pokolistan is because she saw a vision of her destroying the world? I mean, look, comic book Circe honestly wouldn't give a FUCK about Man's World, and would use that as an opportunity to just take over with magic, but let's go with adaptation logic here. Your plan to save the world was to publicly stage a takeover of a small eastern European country using a bunch of easily manipulated redpilled morons to go after the princess and kill her, and then stage a kidnapping of two government assets to distract the team coming after you so you could do that invasion thing? Interesting, interesting, but hey! Here's a fucking thought...

JUST FUCKING WASTE HER WITH MAGIC

I mean, seriously, goddamn, you didn't have to do fucking any of that. If you hadn't staged the whole "Sons of Themyscira" thing, you wouldn't have gotten the attention of the Commandos in the first place, and none of this would've been necessary! And you're lucky enough that the country you're targeting is also the home country of one of the Commandos, allowing you to use her old home as a bait for a distraction? What a perfect fucking coinkydink! This is a character who can demonstrably, easily, absofuckinglutely just kill the princess with a snap of her fingers, and could've gotten to Pokolistan under the cover of night, with nobody the wiser, and she goes about her plan in the STUPIDEST WAY FUCKING POSSIBLE

And what does she get for her troubles? A failed plan, and her ass improbably beat by a radioactive skeleton man, a corpse, AND A WEASEL!!! THIS IS A CHARACTER THAT SHOULD BE GOING TOE-TO-TOE WITH FUCKING WONDER WOMAN, AND SHE GETS FUCKED UP BY A WEASEL BOY?!?!?!?!?!!? WHAT THE ABSOLUTE FUCK JAMES GUN??????

For real and for true, you guys do not know the absolute fury I felt while watching this take place. Circe gets the worst character assassination I've seen in a while from DC, and that's without talking about the faithfulness to the comic book character as a whole. Because, again, Circe does not usually care that much about the world, and needs to be convinced to care for it. She would not end her somewhat self-imposed exile (and definitely wouldn't work with redpilled schlubby men) in order to kill one, measly, insignificant princess (oh, and I'LL GET TO HER, BELIEVE YOU FUCKING ME). She has another princess to worry about, frankly. And OK, this is a version of the character who was an Amazon. Which again, means that Weasel - fucking Weasel - defeated an AMAZONIAN WITCH. Power scaling? What is that, A FUCKING SKIN CONDITION?? GAAAAAAAAAAAA

And if that somehow wasn't enough, there's the fact that the character is just fucking forgotten after episode 5. Waller gets the premonition from her, and then we just ignore Circe's existence for the rest of the series! It's FUCKING CIRCE!!! We really made this character the red herring villain? That's insane. People who don't give a shit about the comic book character now won't care about this character if she appears as a villain again, and assume she's an asshole, but kind of a good person. And comic book fans, like me, and just gonna get INCREDIBLY PISSED OFF AT THE DISRESPECT FOR THIS ICONIC WONDER WOMAN VILLAIN. I just...it's...so incredibly irritating. And the worst part is...there was a much smarter, better way to do this.

To be clear, my iteration of the Creature Commandos wouldn't do this storyline at all. The Commandos should have a whole different scope and purpose, and this ain't it. This is strictly a Suicide Squad show, but using the Creature Commandos for the mission instead. My ideas will be the focus of another essay, possibly the same one as the princes. Depends on how incensed I got on revisiting this mess. But no, what's really galling about this is, Gunn actually could've done this story, without wasting one of the most iconic DC villains in the process. After all, the focus of this show is on the Commandos, not the villains.

So, you need a powerful witch with a reason to assassinate the princess, and motivations that are flexible enough to allow for both murder and world-saving. Well, Enchantress would be the obvious choice here, but she's got too much baggage with the Suicide Squad to use her, especially since Davis' Waller is in this series. And you need an actual villain, since she's gonna kill somebody. You also need someone willing to work with and possibly enthrall men for her purpose. And lastly, you need a reason for her to use those dudes for the deed, since magic won't cut it for some reason. So, I propose two fixes for this, with the understanding that I think this plot is stupid in the first place. Firstly, have Princess Ilana actually be magical, as a sorceress in the making. That way, as a gifted mage in her own right, she'd actually be a threat in the end of the series, be a credible threat that could take over the world, give us the Creatures taking on a classical monster in the form of a witch, and would be able to use her magic to ward the castle specifically against her teacher, the witch trying to kill her, prompting the recruitment of the incel schlubs that Circe recruits in the show.

And second...

USE TALA INSTEAD OF CIRCE.

First of all, for the record, I considered suggesting Morgaine le Fey for this role, but I decided against it. However, I do have a suggestion on that particular front, which could actually lead to a hint for the future of the series. But OK, let's get into Tala first. This is a character who is essentially a blank slate character, and the only important think about her is that she's a magic user who in some fashion resembles a witch. In the comics, she's actually of demonic descent, and acts as an enemy to the extremely complicated Phantom Stranger. However, she hasn't had a real canon appearance since 1989, meaning she predates, like, three reboots. Time for a reinvention.

More interesting, though, this gives you a character that new audiences don't know, that a select few comic book readers will know, and that fans of Justice League Unlimited will be delighted to see. The character was used as a part of Project Cadmus, and later the Legion of Doom, as a powerful sorceress on only her own side. It's a flexible enough character as to be moldable, and would be recognizable to that select few. Plus, if you don't make her a literal god (she's a lord of some domain in Hell in the original comics, but that's basically been forgotten and ignored nowadays), she's believably powerful, and believably beatable! Finally, you could give her the exact motivations that Circe has in the series, but make it so that she was actually Ilana's teacher.

Picture this: she's a Pokolistani witch, possibly a former advisor to the throne of Pokolistan, coming back with magical might and an army of thralls to stage a civil war of sorts, invading the castle to kill the princess on what is seen as a power grab or revenge quest. What is unknown at the time is that Ilana was actually a student of Tala, self-trained in some magical arts and denied access to higher arts, due to Tala's apocalyptic visions of her pupil using her power to take over the world. In attempting to stop her, Tala was banned from the property magically, then banished legally from the country by the king before his death by unknown means. With that, Tala began her plan of reinvasion, also staging it in the way she did specifically to get the Americans involved, meaning that the entire series will have been a part of Tala's plan, rather than lucky happenstance on the part of Circe.

As for the set up, well...if Tala is the Mother, and Ilana is originally the Maiden...well, there's gotta be a Crone. And sure, that Crone could be Circe, but I prefer somebody else for that role. Wouldn't it be crazy if you cut to the end of the series, Tala has gotten away somehow (because yeah, Circe should not still be in an American prison cell, what the fuck), and she reconvenes with her coven mate, talking about their next recruit as the Maiden. This time, they'll go after June Moone, AKA Enchantress for the maiden role, with Tala remaining the Mother, and the Crone being played by...

I originally considered using Morgaine le Fey instead of Circe, but no. Too powerful. We need to nerf her first, then allow her to become a powerful villain worthy of being a season-long enemy. And sure, this is a Justice League villain of a pretty high caliber...but hey. What list of monsters is complete without a witch? Plus, whether or not the Enchantress in in the Creature Commandos, it gives a drive for the next season of the series, either finding and recruiting the Enchantress, or showing a conflict in the second season by pulling her away from the group in which she was established in the first. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

The point is, this could've been done better all-around. And I won't be doing a full "in-my-version" here, because the plot of my iteration of the series wouldn't involve Circe or Pokolistan AT ALL. So, what would it involve? Well...that'll be the focus of the next one. Assuming I can fit it all into one essay, anyway...

Part One: Introduction and Adaptation Part Two: The Original Creature Commandos Part Three: Amanda Waller and Rick Flag, Sr. Part Four: The Frankensteins Part Five: G.I. Robot Part Six: Weasel Part Seven: Doctor Phosphorus Part Eight: Mermaid Part Nine: Circe Part Ten: The Princess and the Monster (next)

[antispopausandstuff]

it'd be interesting if Etheria had a strong 'forgive and forget' aspect of their overall culture, and characters are seen as disrespecting said culture when they don't forgive and forget what they've suffered ( like Adora not forgiving Shadow Weaver or Catra for being their victim ).

there's plenty of media that has a 'forgiveness is good' message, which is fine. not my personal cup of tea, as i don't believe everything and anything can be forgiven and forgotten, or should be forgiven and forgotten, but i can understand that the message is generally taught to kids to prevent holding petty grudges and building healthy relationships with others. most of the time.

but to have a world where forgiveness is essentially an expectation, or you suffer shame and ridicule otherwise would be interesting and maybe provide commentary for a lot of societal // cultural norms or expectations, especially with AFABs // female-aligning // transfemmes // women that are held to a higher standard of being emotionally intelligent to cater to others.

[g0ddess-0f-love]

Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty, born of seafoam and starlight, radiant as the dawn and fierce as the tides. From the depths of the ocean to the heights of Olympus, her presence stirs hearts and awakens longing.

She walks with the grace of blooming roses and the fire of unspoken desire, her laughter as intoxicating as the sweetest perfume. She is the weaver of passion, the muse of every lover’s sigh, the spark in a poet’s pen and the ache in an artist’s soul.

With every glance, she binds gods and mortals alike in silken threads of enchantment. Yet beneath her divine allure lies power — the power to shatter empires or mend broken hearts, to stir wars and inspire peace, to reveal the truth hidden in longing. Eternal, untamed, and endlessly adored, Aphrodite reigns not only over hearts — but over the very essence of love itself.

Name: "Who else would I be? The Great Aphrodite."

It's Aphrodite.

Age: "It's rude to ask a lady her age."

The current age is unknown, but she's been around for centuries.

Relationship Status: "Married. Yes the rumours are true."

Married, Correct.

Relationships:

@bl00d3d-sw0rds - Ares.

Aphrodite generally cares for him and checks on his well-being every now and then, she always tries to rouse his attention. She'd do anything in hopes that it might bring a smile to his face one day.

@lightninglux3 - Zeus.

Aphrodite sees him as nothing more than a pretentious asshole who rules Olympus and others, There is some days where she may get along with him, it depends on the situation.

@qu33n-0f-f34th3rs - Hera.

Bitch, In no world would Aphrodite get along with Hera. After all, the goddess of marriage, married her off to Hephaestus out of spite. (If you have an idea as to why, please dm me ❤️)

@lightning-wielder and @hera-of-peacocks - Zeus and Hera.

The other versions of the ones she's more familiar with put her at slight ease. Sometimes she'll snap at them but apologise afterwards of course, it's just different for her.

etc etc.

Tags:

Let him feel the pain that his mother felt and rot - Talking to Odysseus.

Ares, Tell me you're listening. - Talking to Ares.

Tell me? Is there anything new about you? - Talking to the other Olympians.

Tell me you're not after me for looks because even that hurts. 🫀- Angst.

Just a touch of this and that! - Ic Aphrodite.

Is what people say these days? - Anon Answering.

Venus lives to tell the tale~ - Venus, The Roman variant of Aphrodite.

A tale as old as time ~ 🥀 - Talking to Hera @hera-of-peacocks

(I'll add more as time goes on.)

Aphrodite talks in Pink.

Ooc and blog owner talks in small font.

Small note: My inbox and dms are always open if you need to clear things up, share ideas and he's bc if they're amazing I'll definitely ask to use them ❤️

Head-cannons. (Please respect these even if you don't like them)

Aphrodite believes that Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so she does not have a defined form currently. She appears as what others perceive as beautiful.

If someone sat Next to Ares when the Olympians one and a lifetime eat together, she will grab that person and throw them off the chair before acting like nothing happens.

In terms of her being married to Hephaestus It's an open marriage, they both believe that he would rather work on inventions and others than focus on love, allowing her to be with Ares.

If her and Ares got into a fight, she'd give him the silent treatment by turning her head away, if they were in the same room, she'd repeat that or skedaddle out of there.

Aphrodite has a strong dislike for Hera and Zeus, Her marriage to Hephaestus was forced upon her and she didn't get the option, she still holds that grudge.

Everytime a God or goddess who were together fight, Aphrodite becomes vulnerable as in disoriented and distressed along the lines of more weaker depending on the severity of the outburst. (Shout out to @lightninglux3 for that starter rp that gave me this wonderful idea.)

Aphrodite has wings at the back of her head that covers her face majority of the time, it resembles a heart. (Creds to: @moonstruckdraws for the lovely design inspo.)

Aphrodite never gets a chance to say 'Happy Mother's day' to her own mother.

[priscilla9993]

Chess Allusions: Pawn Parallels

Rogers: “So you can use [her info] as leverage against [Belfrey]?”

Weaver: “Well that’s how this game works, Detective.”

Talking in the park, Weaver and Rogers both want the information that Tilly knows, the kind that causes Victoria to feel threatened, enough to blackmail Weaver with Tilly’s imprisonment and some CCTV footage of his misdeeds. Although both detectives covet finding and questioning Tilly for what she knows, their motives differ. 

Weaver has a “means to an end” approach, valuing Tilly only when she can be useful in his schemes. His selfish nature sides with his freedom and power over her wellbeing, and he’s okay with that. Tilly might be his informant with the ‘best eyes and ears in Hyperion Heights’, but at the end of the day, she’s replaceable, someone worth losing if it means he gains a stepping stone in the long game against taking down Victoria Belfrey.

Rogers: “Is that all this girl is to you and Belfrey? A pawn? Then why don’t we split up, since one of us actually wants to help her?”

But to Rogers, who doesn’t even know Tilly at this point, he sees Victoria and Weaver’s game as something where people win at the expense of somebody else and goes into full papa bear mode. Rogers wants to help Weaver as a partner and wage justice against Victoria, but not at the cost of using Tilly. He sees Tilly as a vulnerable person caught in the crossfire of a game they didn’t even know they were playing, rather than a soldier in a chess match, and wants to talk to her on equal terms. 

His opinion of Tilly being a bit off kilter but innocent at heart only strengthens when Weaver, in the hospital, unexpectedly pardons her of assumed criminal charges, telling Rogers an obvious lie about a masked robber being the one who shot the gun. Upon meeting Tilly outside of the hospital room, Rogers sees a confused, distraught, and guilt ridden young woman playing a game of chess alone. He tells her the facts with a kind opinion, “Look, you weren’t in your right frame of mind. He doesn’t blame you.” They build up an acquaintance and the budding start of a camaraderie over chess.

However, this all changes when the monster that is Gothel/the fire nation arrives Eloise Gardener gets into the playing field. Victoria and Drizella play cat and mouse, Weaver uses Tilly in a game of lies, and Rogers tries to make sense of things, inadvertently rescuing Gothel, the big bad spider.

Rogers to Weaver: You lied! And you made Tilly lie. Why did you do that?!

Weaver: Because you don't know what's going on around here... But I did it for one reason: to protect you from your bloody self.

(gratuitous physical violence scene bc I love the dynamic)

What Rumple could mean by ‘bloody self’ could be that Rogers lets his temper cloud his judgment first before he goes seeking revenge on/fighting for justice for those who deserve it most. I think that's where Rumple sees the most Killian come out from the supposed "Eagle Scout" detective, stubborn and determined to stick to his guns until he gets to his desired conclusion, which in this case is finding Eloise Gardener (Gothel). 

Rogers defends Tilly, despite only meeting her a few times, going so far as to bodyslam Weaver as he confronts him. However, he loses his respect for her after finding Eloise, where no explanation could outweigh the cost.

Rogers: What do you want?

Tilly: To say I’m sorry about the page. Weaver said it was for the best and I can’t always figure that out for myself.

Rogers: Take a look at what he was covering up. Now tell me, was that for the best? You know what? I understand. I’m just disappointed. You weren’t the person I thought you were.

Rogers is a man of many things, holding grudges being one of them and being rational in the other. The blonde informant had gone so far as to even lie to him about Eloise, dead of all things. As much as he wanted to forgive Tilly, he didn’t know if he could.

At the end of the day, in Rogers’s mind, Eloise needed help, rescue, and emergency aid, something that only happened because of his deep obsession with finding a missing girl from a cold case. And Tilly deterred him from saving a life, unintentional or not.

Roni: “Henry told me about how Weaver used that girl, Tilly.”

Rogers: “Well, it seems to me like she wanted to be a pawn.”

Rogers feels his trust was betrayed and remains disappointed in Tilly. He saw Weaver being a shady bastard from a mile away, but he didn’t expect her to be complicit in Weaver’s dirty schemes. He wanted to believe Tilly was the kind of person who questioned whatever she was told and made her own path on decisions like he did, not so easily roped into following plans, especially ones of slimy bastards like Weaver. If Rogers saw Tilly as an innocent victim of society before, moved around like a pawn, he feels wronged in his judgment and probably thinks she was content to be a sheep to Weaver’s mysterious whims. 

Who was he to believe she could be more than a pawn when she chose to be one?

Luckily, Roni was there to whack the obviously menacing poisoned cake from his hands and knock some sense into him.

Regina as Roni: “You know, people only let themselves be used when they don’t have any other option. How about you give her one?”

Tilly, even if a marmalade sandwich was needed as incentive, had been willingly helpful to his case. The only moment she hadn’t been was when she was under Weaver’s thumb, someone she had known and trusted like a father figure, unlike him who was a stranger in her eyes. People came and went from the older detective’s team, knowledge of informants and detective partners leaving frequently unless they had a special skill set or blackmail hanging over them. If anything, she wasn’t fully to blame.

What Tilly and Rogers can't see until it's too late, being cursed and all, is that they are good natured people afraid of getting hurt, wanting to help others, but unfortunately victims of manipulation, of those with ulterior agendas that use them as playing pieces, making them no better than pawns. 

Roni was right. People like Tilly wouldn’t let themselves be used like pawns if they didn’t have any other option. She had been brave enough to show up to the crime scene to apologize to him in person after what she did, not caring about being forgiven, and he hadn’t even given what she had said a second thought. Knowing Weaver, Rogers would have concluded that the old bastard probably didn’t even give her the entire picture and used her good intentions in an ill manner befitting the man’s deceitful ways, leading her to think it was for the best. 

This leads to Rogers making a step in the right direction. It doesn’t take more than Roni’s small nudge of advice to get him to internally forgive Tilly and go in search of her, eventually offering a chess set to help pass the time with a weekly game and a friend who’d listen if she’d accept. From then on, Rogers and Tilly both grow and begin to trust again, trying to protect the other from getting harmed as the consequence of another’s scheme.

[witchthewriter]

𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐅𝐚𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 & 𝐌𝐨𝐫'𝐬 𝐬/𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ | ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ ᴵᴵ

ESFP

Gryffindor

Neutral Good

Libra Sun, Leo Moon, Cancer Rising

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿    

・You were an outcast.

・Your family wanted nothing to do with you

・All because of your love of magic

・You couldn't satiate the hunger you had for wanting to know more. To understand the world around you.

・Feyre had gotten curious about your cottage in the middle of the woods. Not like the Weaver, but a welcoming home that seemed to buzz with ... magic

・When a certain High Lord problem arose, and even Amren couldn't find the answer - they sent Mor to see if you would help

・What the High Lord needed was in one of your books, but you couldn't find which one.

・So everyday, Mor was sent to help you look amongst the thousands of books that you kept in your library

・You had the ability to think things up and create them. Like illusions but ... real. Except you needed to use all your senses to have the essence of said thing and then, you were able to create it. Or ... duplicate it.

・You couldn't bring anyone back from the dead, or duplicate a human being.

・But magical objects - you just had to hold them, see, feel, smell. And at times ... yes, taste. The more you were able to use all of your senses, the more real it would be.

・That's how you were able to create your library. You literally took it from your favourite library in Prythian.

・When Rhysand gave Mor the order to get your help, she shrugged her shoulders and asked "why me? why not Amren?"

"Because Amren is looking into something else for me" (aka Amren is too mean and scary so I'm sending you, so be as charming as you can be)

・You both bonded over being kicked out of your family. With Mor not wanting to marry, and you being a witch.

・It's how you started to open up to her. Especially when you were forced to spend hours together on missions.

・Mor is a very affectionate person. For example, you'll casually sit on each other's lap when around other people, constantly hold hands, and always have a hello and goodbye kiss.

・She is a BIG grudge holder

・And if someone hurts you, insults you behind your back, or even looks at you the wrong way; she will hate them for eternity.

・In the early part of your professional relationship, Mor invited you to meet Rhysand and Feyre - your High Lord and High Lady.

・You were thrilled and when you walked inside, you saw a flushed Feyre with one earring in.

"Oh, hello!" She said, and invited you in. "I just have to find my other earring ... it was birthday present from Rhys... oh god Mor can you help me find the other?"

"Ugh, I - I can help," you said, stepping forward.

"That's so kind, but you're a guest! There's drinks in this room over here," but you interrupted her and explained your power.

・Holding the earring in your palm, you counted the stones, felt the ridges and different parts of the piece. And with a flash of light, another one had appeared.

"Oh!" Feyre said, her face pure with amazement. "We're definitely keeping you."

・And that's how you became apart of the Inner Circle. Along with the growing relationship with Mor, you were also a prized member. Able to duplicate weapons, food, clothes.

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔

I Don’t Know What I’m Doing But At Least I’m Alive, Right? (You) x You’re Doing Great, Sweetie! (Mor)

Madly In Love (Mor) x Ridiculously Oblivious (You)

 Opposites Attract

𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒄 𝑷𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆  

Accidental confession during the heat of the moment/fight

Forced Proximity

Found Family

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈

Karchata by Folknery

𝑁𝑆𝐹𝑊 🔞 No one under the age of 18 past this point, I bloody mean it. 

・Mor is so passionate; there is so much love in her heart that she could explode from it

・So when she's able to touch you, she shows you just how much she loves you

・Leaving warm kisses all over your body, her hands never leaving your exposed flesh.

"I" *kiss* "love" *kiss* "you" *kiss*

・There's also a lot of fucking after an argument, just angry, passionate sex.

・Mor loves adventurous sex - almost getting caught is part of the fun. Even when you're at home, Mor doesn't shut the curtains.

・She's both a dom and a sub. But has a lot more experience than you do. As she's experimented more.

・Likes to leave love bites on your neck, but you feel so embarrassed when other people notice them.

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/22/2024: THE GRUDGE (2020)

I had no idea that this movie even existed when I stumbled upon it one night and figured it would be an OK waste of time. The film's invisibility is explained by the fact that it was released right at the beginning of 2020, which was a lousy time to do anything, but that doesn't clarify for me why everyone hated it so much. I have a few theories, the main one of which is GRUDGE burnout. Various factors make it hard to describe how many GRUDGE movies there actually are, but let's generously say there are 7 original Japanese features, 2 Japanese reboot films, the SADAKO VS. KAYAKO movie, then there are 3 American remakes and this reboot. The present film is the only one I like.

I was a total sucker for J Horror when it hit the states, but even at the height of my mania, I didn't get anything in the extended JU-ON franchise. None of them have the depth or convincing dread of RINGU or KAIRO or any of the other allegories for festering trauma and alienation. They all just seem extremely silly to me; oooh, a spooky cat, oooh, a spooky child. Every time the ghosts start making that noise, it's almost impossible for me to stop myself from also making the noise. It's a noise you learn to make as a little kid to be annoying. It makes me think of this every time:

The 2020 version, on the other hand, really works for me. Not that it's never silly, but considering that it's built on a foundation that is so fundamentally ridiculous, it's pretty accomplished. It's intensely atmospheric, effectively scary, and it has an absolutely stacked cast; with all that in mind, I find the de rigueur silliness pretty forgivable.

Andrea Riseborough (yesss) is a recently widowed cop whose first case in a new town involves a string of seemingly-unrelated deaths tied to a certain house. As per GRUDGE tradition, the asynchronous story unfolds over three years, during which: - A grudge-infected woman returns from Japan to kill her family and herself in the house. - A pair of husband-wife realtors, who are expecting a potentially-severely disabled child, contract the grudge as they try to sell the house, resulting in a murder-suicide. - An aging couple moves in, and they temporarily host a woman who performs assisted suicides, hoping she will help the wife, who suffers from advanced dementia. Soon, they all start to see the angry spirits of the first family.

I really enjoy the way that this story is layered, with a character who recently experienced a death; a couple who are seeking death (Lin Shaye and Frankie Faison); and a couple who struggle to decide whether their baby will live or die (Betty Gilpin and John Cho). It's a lot to pack into a 94-minute movie, but the cast is so strong, and the atmosphere is so well-developed that nothing feels half-baked. I especially enjoy Jacki Weaver (of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK among many other things) as the assisted suicide professional who brings a touch of Tangina to her segment, without going over the top. This is certainly Lin Shaye's finest moment; I've always been a fan, but in this role she balances tragedy and terror very successfully. She's someone who has that Robert Englund quality where she just really knows how to be in front of the camera, she knows what her angles are and has an excellent sense of timing, but here she also gets to do a bit of proper drama. It's nice.

All that aside, I just find this movie really appealing materially. It has a couple of the best movie corpses I've ever seen, and it has an interesting way of presenting haunted houses. One of the few things that I like about the other GRUDGE movies is how they tackle the challenge of making a new, cheaply constructed house look scary. The big old Victorian that the movie centralizes is an easy one, but Andrea Riseborough's suburban ranch-style place is a less obvious candidate, and they still manage to spookify it pretty well. I used to think about what makes a new building disturbing when I would see images of Jeffrey Dahmer's parents' place, which was so ordinary in most ways, though it was also shoved back into the shadows of the trees...I always wondered whether I was just projecting that it looked sort of grim. I also think about my in-laws' suburban home, which I don't personally find spooky--perhaps due to comfort and familiarity--but it crazily doesn't get any light at all, from any angle. It's perpetually cold inside because of this, and I always ask myself if I would find the place frightening if I were a stranger there.

William Sadler FTW!!!

Anyway, that's enough about me. I can pick out things about this movie that don't work as well (like I find Demian Bichir deeply ridiculous although I don't exactly blame him, I think it's just the way he is), but I don't find that the problems stand out farther than the virtues, and I think that makes this a success. I did browse through some of the negative reviews just to see what I might be missing, and I found that the vast majority of them said things that I just didn't think were true; I think it's objectively not true that the performances are shallow, I think it's objectively not true that it's overly predictable and cliched. I think that sometimes people preemptively tell themselves what a movie will probably be like--especially horror movies, and most especially an American reboot of a remake of a Japanese horror movie--and then when they see the movie, they only see what they told themselves they would. Of course I can't prove that that's what happened, it's just what I think, because almost no negative review made me feel like we had even seen the same thing. I'm here to tell you not to be afraid of THE GRUDGE (2020). Go ahead and see what you think, without all the baggage. If you really don't like it, it can be my fault.

[loafaethernaut]

Recap of all the teasers (as of August 2nd, 2024) from the official Black Ops 6 zombies teaser website below!

If you wish to see them for yourself first the link to the site is the current pinned post on my blog- however I will issue a warning that the interactive site does include jump scares and flashing/flickering images so I would not recommend viewing it if you are photosensitive.

The website acts as an interactive television with six total channels. Yesterday the first two channels became active, with channel one showing a template for a scrolling TV guide that after a moment turns into a jumpscare of Mr. Peeks/the mystery box bunny from Cold War.

The screen then flashes and flickers between several images including shots of our Requiem Crew in their prison cells on Terminus Island:

My apologies for the poor image quality, this is a screenshot from my phone lol. I agree with the majority consensus I’ve seen from others in the community that the top left is Carver, top right is Weaver, bottom left is Strauss, and the bottom right is Grey.

It seems like Weaver and Strauss appear distraught, while Carver and Grey are doing pushups and getting into shape.

The second channel shows what looks like a weather radar of a hurricane or a typhoon before it forms into an image of Mr. Peeks once again (definitely a huge emphasis on Mr. Peeks in this game, more on that later).

After that the screen flashes and shows a really dark shot of what is likely Terminus Island it’s just really hard to tell so I didn’t take a screenshot. There’s a voice in the background listing off numbers but I can’t make them out either.

Channels 3 and 4 were updated today, and we finally got some new intel on our Requiem Crew.

Channel 3 starts off as a fake news report like a lot of the BO6 teasers have been however it cuts off and starts flashing a ton of fragmented images of “interrogation progress reports” for each of our members of the Requiem Crew.

I was only able to get a good screenshot of Carver’s report, so I give credit and thanks to MargwaNetwork on Twitter for the images of Grey and Weaver’s reports.

Based on Carver’s report it seems like he’s been the main source of encouragement for the team, and it’s likely he’s been helping Grey (and presumably the others) get into shape?

Weaver is presumably the one their captors have been the toughest on so far, and the Director definitely has a grudge against Weaver in particular. Seeing him described as a “broken, bitter man” is genuinely saddening.

But now comes the one that got me the most excited, Grey’s report. I’m mostly just trying to get the information out there with this post so I might gush more about this in another post but it’s clear she had some kind of hope of someone rescuing her and that hope is definitely gone now. “Acts ambivalent in regard to her own safety” Really? Now THIS is an interesting direction to take her character in. I am very excited to find out more.

As of right now there are no good images that I could find of Strauss’s progress report, but from the snippets I could make out it seems like he still cares about the others but might be losing his grip on reality?

Channel 4 gave us a fake commercial for a love song CD before flashing to a commercial for the new gobblegum machine.

It looks just like the one from BO3 except it’s clearly from Mr Peeks instead of Dr Monty. It showed images of the same gobblegums from BO3 and the machine has a little screen on it that plays a cartoon of Mr. Peeks.

So far there really hasn’t been much but finally getting an update on the Requiem Crew since the end of CW is really exciting!! As someone who cares a lot about these characters I am in anguish over their pain but also (somehow?) still hopeful that things will improve for them!!

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

Due to feeling intense brainrot for this new The Thing au me and Rufus made I'm gonna make a kinda. intro? post to it? basically listing off the characters with basic descriptions and the whole. premise of the au. You will listen to me ramble. no you don't have a choice. /lhj

BASICALLY. the au is a crossover between TMC and John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), and is about the main TMC cast working at an antarctic research station before being attacked and picked off one by one by an alien entity that mimics organic material. It follows most of the same events as the movie does, though has quite a few differences from the source material that we'll. discuss later. In the meantime, here's the main cast:

Mark Heathcliff (34): Already touched on this dude's main deal in another post but i'll add some things here. He's the head mechanic of the station, and is quiet, and a bit of a loner. He's a recovering (or attempting to recover) alcoholic that is estranged from his family due to such, and only maintains contact with his sister, Sarah. He sometimes lets his emotions get to him, though he knows how to act in serious situations.

Sarah Heathcliff (21): A college student studying electronics, and was invited to the research facility by Mark because she was thinking of working there one day. Still has some grudges against Mark, as their relationship isn't perfect, but she still cares about him and Mark still cares about her. Becomes friends with Evelin.

Evelin Miller (22): The helicopter pilot and technician of the group. Also a bit of a loner, but helps around the facility whenever needed. Hangs out with Dave sometimes.

Cesar Torres (35): The dog Handler of the group, and thus spends a lot of time with the dogs. Is friends with Mark, though their friendship is. rocky, even if they're trying to fix things between each other. He's a bit more social than Mark, though isn't super energetic either. Overall, the voice of reason.

Dave Lee (46): The Biologist of the group. Is pretty friendly towards his coworkers, albeit awkward at times. Also has an interest in tech, even if it isn't his main profession. Though, he tends to make rash decisions when stressed.

Thatcher Davis (45): One of the station commanders. Overall: very tired and stressed. all the time. DEFINITELY has cabin fever. Overall pretty blunt, and occasionally rude, though he almost never means it in malice that's just how he sounds-

Ruth Weaver (46): The second Station commander, as well as a physician/medic. Quiet and calm in stressful situations most of the time, and is overall just there to help.

Jonah Marshall (23): The radio operator and cook of the group. Overall pretty positive and jokes a lot, though gets stressed and frustrated easily, along with being a bit of a coward at times.

Adam Murray (23(?)): A man who doesn't remember who he is after waking up in a Norwegian research base in the arctic. He doesn't remember much of anything from his past, and is unsure why he's so cold, or why he was found with blood on him.

Gabriel (30): The station commander and medic of the Norwegian research facility. Found Adam and took him in to be treated for frostbite. they seem nice, though something about their stare is. unnerving. They have a few coworkers as well (though they don't have proper names or personalities/occupations yet. Though one of them goes by Six, and is. oddly quiet.)

[songoftrillium]

The Dawn Tribes, led by the Hapil, are arguably the oldest of the factions. Divided during the War of Rage, and their oral tradition nearly erased during the 19th century, they reunited in the face of widespread destruction of caern and den realm alike. They argue that the Age of Apocalypse began with the destruction of their traditions, and believe healing the wounds of the past are the way towards healing Gaia. They have made great strides to this end, working with the Hearthbound and Gurahl to connect their cousin tribes with their kinfolk, and through great effort have successfully reawakened Turtle, who devoured Old Windtooth and thawed the hearts of Kalaril, creating a new tribe. They firmly believe that all Killi are cousins in the eyes of Gaia, and that they must reconcile past grudges to confront the Wyrm. This faction initially reformed around the Hearthbound, but regained prominence through the revelations of Fera previously believed to have been eliminated.

Tenets of the Dawn Tribes

• The Weaver is a spinner of traps; her tools are one of them. Detangling the wyrm from her web is key to restoring balance. • The Killi are all our family cousins. The Bitten and the Warborn our brothers and sisters in spirit. All are needed in the coming fights. • The old spirits have seen history repeat. We must relearn their old ways to fight the Wyrm. • We serve no kings, and no colonists. The moon reflects a bright sun and we will share it's light. • The traditions of the peoples of Turtle Island are hidden but not lost. One must only listen, seek, and ask, to find them.

[justforbooks]

The director and producer Norman Jewison, who has died aged 97, had a career dedicated for the most part to making films that, while entertaining, included socio-political content. His visual flair, especially in the use of colour, spot-on casting and intelligent use of music, enabled him to raise sometimes thin stories into highly watchable films.

He hit the high spot critically and commercially with In the Heat of the Night (1967), which starred Sidney Poitier as a northern US city police detective temporarily held up in a small southern town and Rod Steiger as the local sheriff confronted with the murder of a wealthy industrialist. The detective mystery plot was perhaps mainly the vehicle for an enactment of racial prejudices and hostilities culminating in a grudging respect on both sides, but it worked well. The final scene, much of it improvised, in which the two men indulge in something approaching a personal conversation, was both moving and revealing.

The film won five Academy awards – for best picture, best adapted screenplay, best editing, best sound and, for Steiger, best actor – and gave Jewison the first of his three best director nominations; the others were for Fiddler on the Roof, his 1971 adaptation of the Broadway musical, and the romantic comedy Moonstruck (1987). In 1999 Jewison was the winner of the Irving G Thalberg memorial award from the academy for “a consistently high quality of motion picture production”.

The son of Dorothy (nee Weaver) and Percy Jewison, he was born and brought up in Toronto, Ontario, where his father ran a shop and post office. Educated at the Malvern Collegiate Institute, a Toronto high school, Jewison studied the piano and music theory at the Royal Conservatory in the city, and served in the Canadian navy during the second world war. On discharge, he went to the University of Toronto, paying his way by working at a variety of jobs, including driving a taxi and occasional acting.

After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree, in 1950 he set off with $140 on a tramp steamer to the UK, where he landed a job with the BBC, acting and writing scripts. On his return to Canada two years later, he joined the rapidly expanding television industry, producing and directing variety shows for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Jewison was spotted by the William Morris talent agency and invited to New York, where he signed with CBS and was given the unenviable task of rescuing the once successful show Your Hit Parade, which was by then displaying signs of terminal decline. He revamped the entire production and took it back to the top of the ratings. He directed episodes of the variety show Big Party and The Andy Williams Show, and specials for Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Harry Belafonte, Jackie Gleason and Danny Kaye.

On the Belafonte special, Jewison had white chains dangling above the stage, an image that displeased many southern TV stations, which refused to screen the show. This was the first indication of his stance on racism.

Success brought him to the notice of Tony Curtis, who had his own production company at Universal, and Jewison began a three-year contract with 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), starring Curtis. This was followed by the likable but light Doris Day comedies The Thrill of It All (1963), Send Me No Flowers (1964) and The Art of Love (1965).

In 1965 he got out of his contract to make the first film of his choice, MGM’s The Cincinnati Kid, starring Steve McQueen (the Kid) and Edward G Robinson (the Man) and centring on a professional poker game between the old master and the young challenger. He took over the project from Sam Peckinpah, tore up the original script by Paddy Chayefsky and Ring Lardner, and commissioned Terry Southern, the result getting him noticed as a more than competent studio director.

In 1966 he made the beguiling but commercially unsuccessful comedy The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, about a Russian submarine stranded off the coast of Cape Cod. This was at the height of the cold war and gained him a reputation for being a “Canadian pinko”, although it was nominated for a best picture Oscar.

In the Heat of the Night was followed by The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) in which McQueen and Faye Dunaway played thief and insurance investigator respectively and engaged in a chess game that evolved into one of the longest onscreen kisses, as the camera swirls around and around above their heads. The theme song, The Windmills of Your Mind, was a hit and the film a success.

Fiddler on the Roof, with a silk stocking placed by Jewison across the camera lens to provide an earth-toned quality, won Oscars for cinematography, music and sound, and a nomination for Chaim Topol in his signature role of Tevye.

Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), his adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s rock opera, and Rollerball (1975), starring James Caan, were followed by F.I.S.T. (1978), a tale of union corruption starring Sylvester Stallone as an idealistic young organiser who sells out, and And Justice for All (1979), starring Al Pacino, a deeply ironic portrayal of the legal world.

A Soldier’s Story (1985), based on the Pulitzer prize-winning play and including an early performance from Denzel Washington, dealt with black soldiers who risked their lives “in defence of a republic which didn’t even guarantee them their rights”, and some of whom had internalised the white man’s vision of them.

Moonstruck, a somewhat daft love story but a tremendous box office success and for the most part a critical one, won the Silver Bear and best director for Jewison at the Berlin film festival and was nominated for six Oscars, winning for best screenplay, best actress for Cher and best supporting actress for Olympia Dukakis.

Then came Other People’s Money (1991), a caustic and amusing comedy on the new world of corporate finance and takeovers, in which Danny DeVito played a money hungry vulture, made largely in response to Reagan’s era of deregulation, and The Hurricane (1999) in which Jewison again worked with Washington, who played the real life boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, falsely convicted of a triple murder and imprisoned for years before the conviction was quashed. The latter film aroused controversy over its alleged manipulation of some facts and, despite its undoubted qualities, this fracas probably contributed to it being commercially disappointing.

In the early 1990s, Jewison had begun preparations for a film on the life of Malcolm X, and had secured Washington to play the title role, when Spike Lee gave his strongly expressed opinion that only a black film-maker could make this story. The two met, and Jewison handed over the film to Lee.

Jewison’s last film, The Statement (2003), starred Michael Caine as a Nazi war criminal on the run. He was also producer for films including The Landlord (1970), The Dogs of War (1980), Iceman (1984) and The January Man (1989).

He had returned to Canada in 1978, living on a ranch north of Toronto with his wife Dixie, whom he had married in 1953. There he reared Hereford cattle, grew tulips and produced his own-label maple syrup. In 1988 he founded the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies, now known as the Canadian Film Centre, in Toronto.

He was a confirmed liberal, a man of integrity who turned in his coveted green card in protest at the Vietnam war and saw film not only as entertainment but also as a conduit for raising serious issues.

Dixie (Margaret Dixon) died in 2004. In 2010 he married Lynne St David, who survives him, as do two sons, Kevin and Michael, and a daughter, Jennifer, from his first marriage.

🔔 Norman Frederick Jewison, film director, producer and screenwriter, born 21 July 1926; died 20 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?