#guy who is becoming increasingly unstable about it

[barksback]

@oddsfavorcd, blight said: i know you. i can tell when you're lying.

' DON'T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF, YOU KNOW ME ABOUT AS WELL AS MOST PEOPLE DO. ' which is to say, hardly at all. at least, that's what jake would like to think, empty bored gaze sliding from blight to the living room window, mask of indifference forcing down the rising panic at the approaching victory tour date. two weeks. fourteen days. soon, his prep team will return, chiding him about bruises and scars and the length of his hair, scrubbing 'til too-tight skin is raw and no longer his own, every last flaw finally hidden from the capitol's prying eyes. when they're finished, strangers with cameras will invade this house that has yet to become a home, and before he knows it, he'll be whisked away onto another capitol train to begin his victory lap through the districts, as if they need to be reminded of their losses.

wow, i am so deeply, truly sorry that your children died and i had a hand in killing so many of them! i'm still here though, and my life has been fucking awesome thanks to president snow and the lovely people of the capitol! feels fucking rough, huh? well, better luck next time!

he thinks of axel, of having to see his teary-eyed family while he delivers some generic speech about the games, about their sweet, bizarre son who he'd only been able to know for a short three days. how do you say that you wish you could've been better / done more / saved him without being accused of inciting a riot? sorry doesn't even begin to cut it.

he doesn't realize that he's been biting the inside of his cheek until the taste of copper floods his mouth.

the mask falls, if only briefly, as jake sinks further into the sofa, dark eyes still trained, unfocused, on the window. ' sorry. i'm just . . . tired, ' he quietly admits. ' i just want it to be over already. '

[blueikeproductions]

Sentinel Prime also has an interesting conceptual history.

Also interesting is how he managed to be the main villain of two movies in the film series.

His origins lie in the Marvel comics, simply being the name of the guy who was in charge before Optimus, when the comics took the lead set by Rodimus in the original movie, and started setting up a proto-Prime lineage.

For the most part, Sentinel remained a comics only character, as the 80’s cartoon never had a Sentinel, instead using its own lineage consisting of various nameless generics.

Though modern material has retroactively declared this fella is the cartoon Sentinel.

Sadly this design and his rad space rhino truck mode has yet to be immortalized in toy form.

Sentinel’s personality didn’t start getting fleshed out until the Dreamwave era, where most material painted him as powerful, kind and a revered figure among the Autobots. Like Rodimus in the cartoon, Optimus felt inadequate stepping into the role Sentinel left behind.

Sentinel’s more pompous arrogance didn’t become common place until Animated’s version.

Originally more of a goofy friendly jock in his boot camp days, but after a falling out with Optimus during an off the books trip for treasure hunting that saw Elita lost and Optimus take responsibility for Sentinel’s stupidity, the big chinned bot became more entitled and bullheaded, unwilling to accept his own mistakes to look bad in front of Ultra Magnus. Developing a phobia of organics from the giant spider aliens, Sentinel isn’t exactly a people person, not winning over the citizens of Detroit like Optimus did during his time in Earth. This Sentinel would get increasingly desperate trying to make himself look better over Optimus who had won over Ultra Magnus, but usually this wound up backfiring for him like when the Headmaster cut his head off and took over his body. Sentinel got a bit lucky when Shockwave attacked Ultra Magnus, allowing Sentinel to become acting Magnus to lead Cybertron. This saw strict curfews and fear mongering propaganda, mostly about organics and Decepticons to Ratchet and Alpha Trion’s annoyance. In Sentinel’s brashness, he almost unwittingly destroyed Cybertron when attempting to shoot down an unstable Omega Supreme controlled by Megatron, leaking Transwarp energy that’d fry the planet if attacked. When Optimus’ crew came back to Cybertron with Megatron, the missing Protoforms, the Allspark and Omega Supreme they were regarded as heroes, but Sentinel wasn’t impressed, doubling down on how HE was Magnus over Optimus. In the semi but not totally official Trial of Megatron script reading years after the finale though, a dying Ultra Magnus officially appointed Optimus as the true Magnus, which only made Sentinel more desperate, getting fooled by Megatron into being put on a trial that ultimately ended in the Decepticon’s favor.

While a blowhard from top to bottom, TFA Sentinel was still trying to do what he felt was right to protect Cybertron, something that would influence his movie counterparts.

Pry the most well known version besides Animated Sentinel, the DotM version was initially a mix of his Dreamwave version and Star Trek Spock (cuz he’s voiced by Leonard Nimoy).

The IDW movie comics fill in some extra gaps, as Sentinel was a direct descendant of the Primes, and supposedly the last. Leading Cybertron into a prosperous age alongside his “sons” Optimus and Megatron.

Sentinel also fixed an issue that was never fully resolved from ROTF, where special technology was developed with Wheeljack in order to tether a sun to Cybertron, re-energizing the Allspark without needing to destroy it, and powering the planet. Turns out solar power was the answer still, the original Primes just… misunderstood it. The seeds of the eventual Great War were planted however when Megatron overheard Sentinel and Optimus talking, and grew jealous, as Sentinel revealed to Optimus he too was a descendant of the Primes, and is set to take over when Sentinel steps down.

Although it seemed Sentinel had died when the Ark seemingly exploded, he survived and his ship crashed on the Moon of Earth, kick starting the movie. While the Autobots were thrilled to see their old leader back, hoping the tech the Ark held could stop the war, their joy turned to horror when Sentinel Prime revealed he intended to bleed Earth dry, having made a pact with Megatron to save Cybertron in this way. The comics fill in the gaps by better tying it with RotF, where Sentinel and Megatron’s interests aligned, and they decided to go to Earth, the site of the final Star Harvester to complete The Fallen’s goals to save Cybertron.

DotM Sentinel was a noble being and a strong patriot of Cybertron. Like TFA Sentinel, he did what he felt was right, but unlike TFA Sentinel, he employed a form of tough love towards the end, realizing Optimus didn’t have the ball bearings to do what was necessary to win the war. Only too late did Sentinel realize Optimus actually DID when the Prime was pushed too far and shot his former teacher and beheaded his opportunistic brother.

Sentinel falls further in IDW, where due to a lot of retcons and current political events at the time, the orange and red IDW Sentinel Prime was the first instance of a false Prime. Originally an opportunistic Titan Master called Infinitus, he served the ancient Primes and vowed to keep their teachings alive: by keeping the weak in their place with the “good” insuring it. He took on the alias Sentinel and slowly rose to Prime rank, ensuring Cybertron kept its suffocating limitations like the Clampdown and Functionism in place. After being beaten by Megatron, and left for dead, Infinitus merely abandoned his old Transtector in secret (leading the Autobots to be confused how Sentinel was beheaded), and sought to build a new one to continue his plans. Disgusted at post war Cybertron, where the Transformers were slowly unifying with each other and the “disgusting” Colonists and aliens, Sentinel decided to make Cybertron great again by tearing it all down using the power of the Metrotitans. This didn’t go as intended and saw Sentinel die for good, but it did indirectly see the release of Liege Maximo Prime, who had been sealed away in his own MetroTitan that was needed to stop the lobotomized Citybots that Sentinel managed to send to Cybertron.

There was a brief reprieve in IDW’s poorly received reboot, where its Sentinel returned to the just but firm DOTM Sentinel prewar, with the impatience and boldness of TFA Sentinel. This Sentinel wasn’t a racist nitwit, as he led a cultural potluck on Cybertron consisting of other colonists both Transformer and organic aliens. Optimus worked as a political aide alongside Sentinel, and ultimately inherited the Matrix when the big guy was killed by the Rainmaker Decepticons.

Aligned Sentinel is a bit of a mess, because he was originally called Zeta Prime, but they wound up trying to have it both ways calling him Sentinel Zeta, with his younger self looking like TFA Sentinel, but his WFC design being completely unrelated. I’m saving him for Zeta Prime’s entry, but the main thing inherited from this version was being installed as a Prime by the Quintessons.

But now via, TFONE, Sentinel has fully embraced his villainous heritage. A blend of all the major Sentinels, DOTM and TFA visually and IDW personality wise, he inherits his Prime role from the Quints like Aligned. The main difference is Aligned Sentinel Zeta wised up and chased off the Quintessons, TFONE Sentinel sought to bargain with them for personal gain.

A former aide to the Primes similar to IDW, he instead grew jealous of their glory and power, wanting it for himself. He got his wish when the Quintessons invaded, secretly working for them to destroy the Primes and steal the Matrix. Once the deed was done, Sentinel instead took Megatronus’ T-Cog as a trophy as the Matrix spirited itself away from the unworthy blowhard. Creating an elaborate lie to the clueless populace, Sentinel painted himself as a hero who chased off the Quints and ushered in a new era for Cybertron, creating a new generation of diligent (Cogless) wokers to mine Energon, while he “led” expeditions to find the Matrix that was “lost” in the fight. In truth, he was paying off the Quintessons in Energon, though even Sentinel was forced to admit the arrangement was barely leaving the Transformers with anything.

His downfall came when the main heroes witnessed his dirty dealings, and heard the truth from a still alive Alpha Trion, with D-16 out for mech fluid. While Orion succeeded in showing the populace the lies Sentinel told Cybertron, that wasn’t enough for D-16, who first hand witnessed Sentinel’s mask coming off, his true cruel nature exposed at last. Sentinel was perfectly content in wanting to murder the rebellious High Guard and naughty Miners that fell out of line, wanting to use them as an example by massaging the truth. After all, the truth on Cybertron has always been what Sentinel wanted it to be.

While Orion didn’t want a murder (I assume Orion figured Sentinel would just be thrown in jail while Cybertron restructured itself), and took a shot for Sentinel, it was all for naught, as D-16 killed Sentinel anyway, and took back Meg Prime’s Cog, installing it in himself to fully evolve into Megatron.

TFONE Sentinel took the worst traits of his predecessors, becoming the embodiment of what a truly bad Prime looks like. Notably, Sentinel’s actions absolve Megatronus and Liege Maximo of their own counterparts’ misdeeds, putting all of Cybertron’s problems on Sentinel Prime only (barring any retcons in future sequels). Depending on what future stuff may do, perhaps Sentinel Prime is now the defacto bad Prime over Megs and Liege. What Sentinel Prime Transforms into varies, though with the inclusion of the cartoon “U-Haul Robot”, he tends to be a truck to mirror Optimus, but the truck differs depending on the character.

Hilariously, a new 40th anniversary Missing Link toy repaints the old Optimus toy into G1 Marvel Sentinel.

The modern G1 & TFONE Sentinel are the only deviations, opting for planes, and a space train that’s never really used.

Given the series’ habit of making most flyers villains, and ONE Sentinel’s quite literally being above the miners, maybe future versions of Sentinel will be arrogant jets instead.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

BONUS POLL 3

Anti propaganda warning under the cut

V anti propaganda:

"- This man is so undatable, he's barely present in his own route or after end.

- The martyr complex this dude has is legitimately arrogant, taking blame for something you don't have control over isn't noble, it's just self-sabotaging. Taking blame for shit you do have control over and CHOOSING to change nothing makes the apology worthless. 🙃

-How does a man this rich have the balls to be so dumb? Bro, your bestie is also rich af and was gifted a fuckin island as a kid, why didn't you take the abused little ginger boys there for safety instead of shuffling one into a shady agency and the other to your increasingly unhinged gf who is waist-deep in setting up her cult?? Jumin would have had his back and V didn't even give him the chance to prove it!!

- This man chose to pursue a relationship with a woman who is mentally unstable and let himself become her whole world bc he felt guilty for treating his own disabled mother poorly. When you boil it down, this man chose a woman as a project and proposed to her within months instead of getting therapy for himself. 🫠

- V also lied to his and said gf's friends and family, telling them she committed suicide instead of turning her into the police for starting a cult, leading to the severe depression of her younger cousin and allowing her to continue drugging and brainwashing one of the twins he smuggled along with possibly hundreds of other people.

- When confronted over this, he still resists turning Rika into the police. For contrast, the younger cousin who idolized her immediately restrained her, stopped her from slipping party guests drugged wine and got the police on her. He is a 28 year old man and left the task to her 21 year old cousin who has had the emotional whiplash of finding out that not only was he right about V lying, but Rika is alive, AND she is very mentally unwell and has committed some major crimes.

- V is also mentally unstable af. In other routes, not just bad ends, he also returns to HELP HIS GF DO CULT SHIT.

- This is just subjective, but this wet mop of a man is also boring as shit which is why Cheritz kept him mostly vague and stuck to the background. If you want the fucked up relationship dynamics, just get one of the bad ends with Rika tbh, she at least serves lewks with her brand of crazy cunt.

- in short, you will never be in an equal partnership with this man and he won't be held accountable. The one time he tried, he said some pretty obviously triggering things to the crazy gf and got stabbed. He did not have the foresight to come with backup, announce where he would be, etc. He lived only because the gf that stabbed him calls you to come help him while she's still spiraling out of control.

I say this with full respect to the V fans, who are well aware that this man is an absolute mess and needs so much therapy before he's anywhere in the realm of salvaging his friendships, much less being dateable."

Baxter anti propaganda:

"baxter ward has a summer fling with you, which is fine because you agree to date only for the summer. however, when the time comes to break up, he does so in like the most brutal fashion possible. there was no need to be that much of a dick about it. he then proceeds to ghost you for five years.

five years later, when you meet once again, he opts to ignore you at best and continue being a dick at worst for the first half of step 4. there's no reason anyone should desire to get back together with the man. he needs therapy, not a partner."

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Beekeeper (2024)

The Beekeeper could’ve said something about identity theft, those who prey on the vulnerable from the comfort of call centers and what you can do about it… but I’m kind of glad it didn’t.

After retired school teacher Eloise Parker (Phylicia Rashad) loses all her money to a phishing scam, she commits suicide. This triggers her tenant, a quiet beekeeper named Adam Clay (Jason Statham), to embark on a campaign of revenge.

It should be noted that Adam (great name) is not just a beekeeper. He’s a retired operative from a clandestine human intelligence organization tasked with protecting the United States. I guess being mad at the people who stole from Eloise wouldn’t realistically be enough motivation for him to go on a killing spree - not a long, elaborate one anyway. The way the beekeeper sees it, by tearing these scam call centers apart, he’s saving “the hive” that is the country from a threat.

The premise is outlandish, but also deeply satisfying. It doesn’t matter that some of the people our hero goes up against are wimps who stand no chance. When they get mangled or killed, you cheer. In fact, he could’ve gone all-out Jigsaw on them and we’d happily egged him on, but this is an action movie, not a horror film and Adam doesn’t have time to waste torturing people excessively. He’s got to make his way up the chain to the person who profits from all the scam call centers and make sure they regret what they did to that nice old lady.

There’s a subplot about Eloise’s daughter, FBI agent Verona Parker (Emmy Raver-Lampman), trying to figure out who is responsible for the sudden crimes of arson and murder. It’s the weakest part of the film. Most of her scenes are a way to expose what we could’ve deduced on our own, or reveal Adam’s next target. In a way, her role is necessary. We don’t want the beekeeper to be subtle. We want him to drown people in gasoline before they’re set aflame and that kind of carnage won't go unnoticed. If some authority figures didn’t show up, we’d criticize the movie for it. Having Verona and law enforcement after Adam also benefits the film's action scenes. Necessary as they may be, they interfere with the movie's flow.

As Adam works his way up to the food chain, his targets get increasingly worried and wealthy, so they can hire better protection. Throwing in good guys - people who want to stop Adam because he’s going around committing murder - introduces a nice variety in the opponents. Some people standing in Adam's way must be brutally dispatched and pose no threat. Some just need to be taken out as a means to an end and are more adept. Others need to be stopped with non-lethal force. Once again, this shows Parker's subplot was necessary but could've been handled better.

Another clumsy element of the film involves one of the first opponents Adam faces. When they’re introduced, you think they’ll be a big threat, a final boss, or maybe a recurring obstacle for our beekeeper because they come from the same program he does. The difference is that Megan Le’s Anisette is mentally unstable while Adam is cool and collected. You’re prepared for an epic confrontation, but it’s over before you know it. She becomes a plot point rather than a character; a way to explain how Adam can suit up and get everything he needs to keep the action going. That’s a missed opportunity, particularly since the big bad introduced at the end (played by Taylor James) could’ve been merged with Megan Le’s character without too much strain. He’s not technically the final villain. That would be the head of the call center program (played by a delightfully hateable Josh Hutcherson) but there’s a missed opportunity to have the film flow more elegantly.

You shouldn’t be too surprised to hear that Statham’s character leans towards the “invincible” the closer we get to the end but you won’t be too bothered. The Beekeeper is not a great film but it lets you know exactly what you’re in for pretty early on and then meets your expectations. When someone has an unfortunate but well-deserved encounter with a band saw (I actually think there could’ve been more of that), you know this movie is not going to be deep but that it will be satisfying. (July 18, 2024)

[earthling-wolf]

What D&D Alignment are Echo's Side Characters? (and Arches)

if you don’t know the details of this project, check here

What D&D Alignment are the characters in Echo?

At first, this was supposed to be a post about the alignment checks on Echo's secondary cast. Still, I eventually decided to add Arches. Since I'm not planning on doing individual posts for its characters.

Echo's Secondary Cast

Sydney Bronson

Sydney was a childhood friend of the main characters. He tragically drowned some years before the events of the story.

Since he died as a child, he is True Neutral.

Raven

Raven is the main secondary character of Carl's route, a somewhat dim but cheerful husky dog who ends up trapped with Carl, Chase & Jenna in a twisted version of the Hendricks mansion.

Before the events of Carl's route, Raven was just an average guy just living his life. Raven is a friendly, optimistic, eccentric oddball. Before and during the hysteria, Raven consistently tries to be helpful and understanding, both helping Chase and Carl prepare for the interview and helping play peacekeeper between Carl and Jenna during the hysteria. Chaotic Good.

Kudzu Téngwàn

Kudzu is the main secondary character of Leo's route, a raccoon who moved into Echo recently and lives in the trailer next door to Leo's.

After the death of his boyfriend Falion, Kudzu moved to Echo to pursue a life of seclusion. Despite this, Kudzu is shown to be a valiant, reliable, and caring person. He acts as a peacekeeper between Leo and Clint. Once the hysteria starts, he goes out of his way to help Chase and his friends, even risking his life to save them, despite having no obligation toward any of them and despite Leo's increasingly hostile behavior. Neutral Good.

Julian

Julian is the main secondary character of TJ's route. He is a stag, an old friend of TJ's, and he works part-time in the same diner as Janice.

There isn't much to say about Julian. He is generally polite, helpful, and friendly toward everyone. Neutral Good.

Daxton

Daxton is the main secondary character of Flynn's route. He is a nerdy salamander and Flynn's roommate. During Flynn's route, Daxton becomes good friends with Carl and Chase.

Daxton is friendly yet socially awkward. His most notable moral act is when Duke tries to convince Echo's citizens to lynch Chase to stop the mass hysteria. Should Flynn allow it, Daxton will try to talk him down since he is putting himself at risk by confronting an armed and unstable Duke and doing so to protect Chase, someone he has known for less than a week and has just been accused of murder. I'll say both this action and Daxton in general are Neutral Good.

Micha

Micha is the main secondary character of Jenna's route. He is a bat who has been missing for a few years. He seems to spend most of his time in Jasmynn Street, where Jenna grew up.

Micha is a drug dealer and thief who shows open disdain for law, order, and authority figures. He is generally rude, prickly, and disagreeable. However, while he is mostly out for himself, he doesn't go out of his way to harm anyone else either, and when push comes to shove, Micha reveals himself to be extremely loyal to those he considers his friends. Chaotic Neutral.

Duke

Duke is one of the town's older residents, a stoat who likes to imagine that he calls the shots and commands respect among the townsfolk. On Leo, Flynn, and Jenna's routes, he attempts to take matters into his own hands, causing much of the trouble for the gang after the hysteria hits.

Duke's primary goal in all routes is to stop the hysteria by any means necessary. To do this, he kills Janice, kidnaps Chase, Carl, Leo, Jenna, and Micha to intimidate information out of them, and stirs up a lynch mob to attempt to kill/let Chase die. While he claims to have everyone's best interests in mind, he also seems more concerned about stopping his own hysteria-induced hauntings. Lawful Evil.

Brian Dubois

Brian is a psychopathic manchild bear who spends most of his time being resentfully ordered around by the Duke.

Brian is a sadistic drug kingpin and serial killer; he regularly rapes, tortures, and murders people for the sake of his own sexual gratification and has a body count in the double digits. Chaotic Evil.

Arches

The problem with finding the alignment for the new characters, Cameron Wilson, Devon Mateo Ortega, and Arturo "Artie" Herrera, is that for half of the novel, they are all in true neutral survivor mode, desperately trying not to let themselves or the other two be killed by Brian, combined with the overall shorter length of the novel compared to Echo, it all led to my decision of not having separate posts for each of them, opting instead to this current arrangement. Now, to address their alignment properly.

All three are definitely good-aligned. Not only are they consistently kind, friendly, and helpful toward each other, but they all display selflessness toward people in general. Cameron expressed a desire to use his psychic powers to help others, and he is shown in the epilogue giving anonymous tips to the police whenever he has a vision of Brian's victims. Devon is said to take much care to ensure anything he builds is as safe as possible. In the alternative timeline, where Cameron is killed by Brian, he becomes a sort of echo-hunting vigilante, and Artie goes on to work with children with low-functioning autism.

As for their lawful x chaotic leanings, Devon doesn't display a preference for one or the other, Neutral Good. Artie is laid-back, has poor impulse control, and, despite the best intentions, often comes off as insensitive and oblivious to others' feelings, Chaotic Good. As for Cameron, even ignoring his past as a drug-addicted "trailer trash," he still shows stronger leanings toward chaos, in between him delaying their departure from Echo to so he can find out more about his powers, and secretly micro-dosing with shrooms behind Devon's back so he could read Artie's mind, I'll say he is Chaotic Good.

[denimbex1986]

'As a director, Benny Safdie makes sleazy movies about hustlers and gamblers and criminals and strivers. Films that teem with violence and drugs, while a pulsating anxiety yanks you through a gritty underbelly of a New York you thought no longer existed.

But today? We’re about as far from that seediness as you can get. On his suggestion, we meet up at the Upper West Side deli institution Barney Greengrass. The tree-lined blocks around here are stately and idyllic, tucked between Central Park and the Hudson River. Safdie, 37, is dressed in full dadcore: glasses, striped tee, jeans, Tevas. (Tevas!) He has the personality to match, with a warmth and gregariousness that initially catch you way off guard. This is the guy responsible for Uncut Gems?

“My go-to meal here was pastrami, eggs, and Mun-chee cheese. But Mun-chee cheese doesn't exist anymore,” Safdie laments. “Nobody bought it.” He opts for a sesame bagel with butter instead.

This neighborhood is his home turf, and his favorite place in the world. He spent his childhood ping-ponging between an unstable environment with his father in Queens, then comfortable normalcy with his mother and stepdad on the Upper West Side.

As a younger man, he did a brief stint living downtown. “I looked out, I'm like, There's no trees. I didn't realize how important that is to my sanity,” he remembers. Now he and his wife, Ava, are raising their two boys, Cosmo, 7, and Murray, 4, up here.

Safdie made his name in tandem with his older brother Josh, the two perpetually mentioned in the same breath for their idiosyncratic, independent films reminiscent of the heyday of New Hollywood. Daddy Long Legs (2009) was mined from their own misadventures with an irresponsible father. (Safdie says he tends to have a more critical view of their upbringing than Josh and, though he still talks to their dad, “it can be strained.”) Good Time (2017), with Robert Pattinson as a small-time criminal and Benny as his mentally disabled brother, raised their profile.

And then came 2019’s Uncut Gems, the heart-pounding thriller starring Adam Sandler as a diamond-dealing gambling addict, which planted the Safide brothers firmly at the center of the culture. The success that followed changed everything.

“That was the first time where I had a vision beyond four feet in front of me,” Safdie says.

What does that vision look like? For Safdie, it means pursuing an increasingly successful acting career. He’s branched out on his own, diverging from the brother he’s been working with his entire life. Many actors go on to become directors; it’s much rarer for the opposite to happen. Even the few who do make the jump—say, John Huston—end up being remembered more for their first career.

Safdie, though, possesses a chameleonic talent, so much so that every role of his feels like a genuine surprise. Perhaps you saw him pop up in Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘70s Valley vibefest Licorice Pizza as Joel Wachs, a closeted councilman. Or in Claire Denis’s Stars at Noon as an eerily nefarious CIA man (character’s name: CIA Man). Or as a Jedi in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Or, earlier this year, in—wait a second—the film adaptation of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume’s seminal tome about a preteen girl coming of age.

Safdie’s downtown cred, the A24-ness of it all, maybe didn’t make him the most natural casting choice for Margaret’s dad Herb on paper. “It always delights me when people find out he's in the movie. Just their total shock,” the film’s director, Kelly Fremon Craig told me.

Rachel McAdams, who plays Margaret’s mom, told me in an email that she first met Safdie at a screening he hosted for Uncut Gems. “He was so lovely and effusive with such a gentle, open energy about him,” she said. “I remember my brain not quite being able to compute that guy with the same guy who just put me through one of the most stressful movie-watching experiences of my life.”

Safdie sees acting as a way to delve into certain aspects of himself that he hasn’t had an outlet for otherwise. Playing a dad, for instance. “That's a big part of my personality that I haven't yet had the chance to explore in my own work,” he says. His experience as a director also makes him considerably less neurotic about his own performances. Watching himself in the editing room? Having a big line in a scene cut? No problem—he’s been on the other side, and he gets it.

Now, Safdie has his biggest role yet, a meaty part in Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s wildly anticipated summer blockbuster about the father of the atomic bomb. Safdie plays Edward Teller, opposite Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer. Teller was a controversial figure, a Hungarian theoretical physicist who would go on to testify against Oppenheimer in later years.

The cast of Oppenheimer is comically stacked: Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, to name a few. Nolan was looking for someone fresh and unexpected to play Teller. He had initially seen Safdie in Good Time and then Licorice Pizza. “I called Paul [Thomas Anderson] and I asked about Benny, and he gave him the strongest possible endorsement and pointed out that he's an incredible actor, but also just a wonderful guy,” Nolan told me.

There was also a bit of fate sprinkled in. Safdie had studied physics at Boston University—almost became a physicist, in fact, before he swerved off into filmmaking. Oppenheimer would allow him to combine his two passions, to dive into yet another deep interest that had otherwise not merged with his film career. It would also require him to wear layers of makeup, to have his hair straightened every day until he could hear it sizzle, and to do accent work for the first time. Safdie put off sharing his speech progress with Nolan for as long he could, until he couldn’t. Finally, he sent the director a voice memo of himself describing his breakfast in a thick Hungarian accent.

“When he sent me that recording, I listened to it about a thousand times and very much enjoyed it,” Nolan said.

Teller could have been written as a straight antagonist to Oppenheimer, but instead Nolan used him to inject rare moments of levity throughout the film. (There is one memorable scene in which Safdie slathers sunscreen all over his face before the first nuclear bomb test.) “For the tragedy of that relationship to have resonance, you have to have seen a warmth there and something between them that's more of a brotherly relationship,” Nolan said. “And I felt that Benny could really bring that to the role and give it that warmth.”

“[He’s] such a kind and gentle fella,” Cillian Murphy told me of Safdie. Much has been made of how intense the film is—take a look at any number of harrowing promotional shots of Murphy in character looking like the most haunted man of all time. In between takes, he said it always seemed as if he ended up talking to Safdie.

“You keep the atmosphere light and joke around because I feel you need to be in a relaxed state to act. Your heart rate needs to be low, your cortisol levels need to be low,” Murphy said. “And that's why I think I probably gravitated towards Benny.”

Safdie is obsessed with realism. It checks out, considering how so many characters in his movies were just ordinary people plucked off the street. That sensibility has followed him into his performances.

Eating, for instance. It drives him nuts when people don’t eat on camera. “I hate it when people don't eat,” he says, tearing into his bagel. “It destroys me.” When he filmed a dinner scene in Licorice Pizza, he made sure to eat in every take. “I don't know how many tiramisus I ate, but it must have been 30,” he says. Same thing happened in The Curse, his secretive upcoming Showtime series with Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone about a couple producing an HGTV show: “Sixty chips in one take, and we must have had nine takes…”

“It wasn't just the nine bags of chips,” Fielder told me in an email. “Any scene that involved food, everyone would pace themselves on the first take.… But Benny for some reason would keep shoving food in his mouth the entire scene ’cause he thought it would be funnier. And he was right. There was one scene where he ate an entire Chinese buffet plate every single take for 15 takes and he would always match the exact same volume of food. You'd think any sane person would eat a couple less popcorn shrimp each time as the takes went on. But he wouldn't.”

And then there’s the crying. Safdie tends to cry when he gets into character—thinking of all the things he might be feeling if he were in that person’s shoes. When Adam Sandler, in Uncut Gems, had to weep, dejected, that he was “so sad and so fucked up,” it was Safdie who went into his trailer to pump him up.

“In a weird way, there's nothing better than being able to do that in front of people because it's usually a very private moment that you're ashamed of and you don't want to show anybody. But to actually get the opportunity to show people what it's like when you're really sad,” Safdie recalls saying. “And then I started crying. He goes, ‘You got to stop. Can you take it easy?’”

Before Uncut Gems, even with a handful of celebrated movies under his belt, a film career didn’t feel truly viable. At the back of his mind, he still thought he might have to go back to school and actually become a physicist. His wife was the primary breadwinner, and so when he edited Good Time, he’d set his son Cosmo in bed with a bunch of pillows surrounding him so he wouldn’t roll over, turn on the baby monitor, and work while he slept.

Last year, it was announced that Sandler would be working on a new movie with Elara Pictures, the Safdie brothers’ production company. The project would be set in the world of sports memorabilia collectors, with Megan Thee Stallion also reported to star.

Shortly after, news broke that Benny would not be directing the Sandler movie with Josh. “Elara is still there. We work on a lot of documentaries and there's just a constant flow of ideas,” Safdie says. “It just felt like, okay, there's things that I want to explore that don't necessarily align right now with Josh. So it's a divide and conquer mentality. He wants to tell this story, he can go and do that. I'm going to go and do a couple of other things. It seems like a natural progression for how things have happened.”

Mainly, he had gone away to act on several projects and work on The Curse. By the time he returned, Josh and their longtime third collaborator Ronald Bronstein, were already deep into working on the new Sandler movie. “It was just a matter of, ‘This works for me right now and this is what I've got to do,’” Safdie explains.

Elara also had a shakeup earlier this year. One of its founding producers, Sebastian Bear-McClard, was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. A spokesperson for the Safdies had previously said they fired him upon becoming aware of the behavior in July 2022. “It’s disgusting, and when you find out something about somebody that you didn't realize, you just have to be much more careful,” Safdie says when I ask him about the incident. “It's a lot, and it's not something that you want to have happen to anybody. And when you find it out, the one thing that you can do is really just take control.”

When we speak, Safdie is just finishing up final sound editing on The Curse. The show originated through his friendship with Fielder. Safdie had been a longtime Nathan for You enthusiast, and had even written a Cinema Scope article about his love for the show. Fielder was similarly a fan of Safdie’s. “In those initial hangouts it was clear we were on a similar wavelength,” Fielder said.“We both think a lot about tone and realism. We weren't even intending to collaborate on a project actually, it just sort of happened organically the second time we hung out.”

“We came up with the idea for The Curse and we're like, ‘This is so stupid, but it's really funny,’” Safdie explains. They kept texting and texting about it, until the bit became real.

In The Curse, Fielder and Emma Stone play a couple, while Safdie is a long-haired, turquoise jewelry-wearing HGTV producer. “They live in an area called Española, which is close to Santa Fe. And that's where they're building their new homes. They have a very different way of gentrifying the community. They want to do it ethically, and they want to do it in a way that doesn't hurt anybody. So they want to make a show about that. And you follow their lives as they're doing it,” Safdie explains. “It started out as a 30-minute comedy and became an hour-long comedy-drama.”

So he filmed Oppenheimer in the New Mexico desert and then returned to New Mexico to film The Curse for several more months. While he emerged without any turquoise jewelry, he did leave the set having purchased a ton of props from production. “I do have an insane amount of Talavera dishware, which I love. I love it so much. It brings me so much joy to look down and see the bright colors,” he says.

This enthusiasm and attention to detail saturates everything. Directing, acting, physics—they’re all connected.

“All of it is just trying to understand what this thing is that we're going through,” Safdie says. “How in the world is the universe expanding and here I am, sitting here. What's 14 billion years ago? What's time? How much time is left?”'

[shmowder]

An excuse to ramble about my Pathologic self-insert? Oh, hell yeah.

To start off I want to clarify that my S/Is are never carbon copies of me and while we all share certain traits, I like to make my self-inserts by majorly exaggerating some of those traits and then building up from there. I am aromantic, but have a huge crush on Daniil and thus I decided to make a character who basically has his entire world revolve around this guy.

Meet Florence Vaara! A psychologist specializing in studying trauma and the effects it can have on a person. He has been close friends with Daniil since high school and the two often help each other out in their studies. They’ve been a couple for a few years before the events of the game, although their relationship isn’t public.

He arrives in the town the same day as Daniil, although he didn’t travel with him. In fact, Florence wasn’t aware the small town in the middle of nowhere Daniil had mentioned to him a few days prior would be the same town that he was going to. So when the two reunite, he panics for a bit before giving Daniil the same lie he’d given to others who were curious about his intentions. He says that an old family friend of his had gone missing, but was seen taking a train to this town. So he came here to find him. Florence feels bad about lying to the person he loves more than anything, but he feels too ashamed to tell Daniil why he’s actually here. There is no family friend. The man who was last seen in this town is Florence’s biological father. And he came to this town with the sole intention of killing him.

I always found it fascinating how Daniil transforms from a well respected doctor from the Capital, to a desperate man fighting for his life willing to go so far as to kill someone so the Polyhedron won’t be destroyed. And Florence too becomes increasingly more uncomposed and unstable as the days go by. When Daniil can’t get the organs he needs, Florence offers to get them for him. He came here to kill a man, surely he can kill someone else too if it’s for his love’s sake? His initial distant, but polite demeanor directed towards the townsfolk turns into outright disgust and anger as he starts to despise everything about the town more and more. At first he disliked the town because of the treatment Daniil was given by its people, but once he found out his biological father was originally from there, he started associating everything about the place with this man he hated more than anything. By… I wanna say day 9 or 10? Florence truly feels like it's just him and Daniil against the world.

Now, you might be asking how he gets away with killing townsfolk? Well, he mainly attacks people when he knows there won’t be any witnesses and keeps himself hidden, so the people who end up finding the body that has clearly been stabbed and is missing some vital organs immediately blame Artemy. Because who else could it be, right? 

Does he ever end up finding his bio father? Yes! Too bad he’s already dead, so Florence came here for nothing. This is also when he reveals to Daniil why he truly came to the town and they have a moment. They still have work to do, though, so they can’t stop for long.

How are he and Daniil as a couple? Complicated! They’re two people who are genuinely in love with each other, but actively make others around them more miserable because they keep enabling each other’s worst habits. To quote one of my favorite reddit comments: “You’re both just enabling each other’s mental illnesses. You’re both perfect for each other. Never change. Just never involve anybody else in what you’ve got going on.”

How is his relationship with other characters? Mostly negative! He doesn’t trust the Kains in the slightest, most of the townfolk either annoy or flat out disgust him, he’s silently seething in the corner whenever Eva so much as mentions Daniil, he’s pretty aggressive towards Artemy… Pretty much the only ones he doesn’t have a problem with are the kids since he has a soft spot for them.

And here’s the man of the hour himself! There’s probably a lot more I could talk about when it comes to him, but this message is already long enough

- 🐍 anon (except not an anon since i apparently cant add pictures while anonymous. oh well)

A psychologist specialised in studying truama -> Travels across the country to a nowhere town in order to murder his biological father

10/10, I love characters who are true to themselves. It's like majoring in psychology only helped encourage him than anything else. Truly ahead of his time.

It's interesting that he doesn't like the Kains or Eva, contrasting with Daniil's soft spot for her and the great influence the Kains hold on him, managing to sway him to their side and rope him into their biddings. Would it create conflict between them? Would Daniil stubbornly cling to his initial choices even as Florence lists to him all the textbook manipulation tactics they've been using on him?

Framing Artemy for the murder he commits is a clever choice, though murdering others is okay ingame. It's just that stealing their organs isn't. Without prior experience in surgery, it'd be tricky for a psychologist to extract a valid sample without cross-contamination.

But Daniil could also use a dead sample, and I see Florence easily weasling his way into some people's hearts who are overcome with grief and desperate for any comfort or advice a psychologist might be able to offer.

The fact he likes kids while Daniil's biggest harrasers and bullies throughout the game being kids is another nice touch. Just calling him "Uncle Florence" and waving at him on the streets before going to kick Daniil in the shin and running away.

His design is absolutely beautiful, oh my god. If I saw a character like him in a game, I'd quickly save and take a million screenshots, then go and look up fanart. The braids are my favourite part. They lowkey look like hearts even. The way he dressed, too, was such a proper and refined gentleman.

But that unhinged look in his eyes, you did it more than justice in the drawing. Amazing OC, I would love to see him cause more mayham and chaos.

[psychocharlie]

Electric Dream Machine 2.0

Disclamer: the song I used here is NOT mine. The song is called Kill you by Dethklok. All rights to the song belong to Dethklok and Brendon Small. Please don't throw me in Mordhouse's secret prison for this, I used it just for fun. The post with song lyrics is here and the previous AU post is here.

The day after that conversation about Uncle Jack, Charlie doesn't show up at Paddy’s. Dennis thought he had managed to calm him down and put the matter to rest, but apparently it didn't go as smoothly as he'd hoped.  

When Dee asks about Charlie's absence, Frank shrugs and talks about trying to get him out of bed, but he didn't want to go and said he'd stay home in bed. And in fact, the oldest member of the gang assures him, he's been kind of weird and moody lately, and even stopped playing Nightcrawlers. A heavy sigh completes the last words, and Frank's frustration is visible to the naked eye.

– Anyway, – he continues, – I figured I'd better leave him alone, the guy deserves a day off. 

Mac rushes to go check on his best friend, but Dee stops him: 

– Where the fuck you going, asshole? Frank said our guy's in a bad mood today and you got the empathy of a toothpick.

– YOU THINK YOU BETTER, BITCH?! – Mac is outraged, he immediately turns to yelling, and the usual Gang’s bickering begins. Dee retorts that, unlike Mac, she has no plans to go bothering Charlie, who just needs to be left alone for today.

Dennis watches this silently with his arms crossed over his chest. Yes, he wants to see Charlie. Yes, he needs to find out how he's doing and try to calm him down somehow. But he's already too wary of spending too much time with Charlie, especially for Mac. Mac is possessive and jealous of everyone. He’s jealous of Charlie because he's his best friend; he's jealous of Dennis as his roommate and, almost obviously to Reynolds, as the object of his unrequited crush. And because of his jealousy, he becomes increasingly unstable. So Dennis didn't want to provoke him any further and kept quiet.

– Will you two just shut the hell up for a second?! – Frank didn't often raise his voice, but he was really tired of Dee and Mac's pointless arguments, and his concern for Charlie seemed to get the better of him. – You two are just going to piss him off, so unless you want something thrown at you on the way in, stay out of it. – Frank stops talking for a moment, opens a beer can and turns to Dennis. He takes a big sip and looking at him a little too intently. – If you want to go and check him out, let Dennis go. You have a strange way of calming him down, – the man says that words directly to him, – maybe he'll even want to join us at the bar afterwards.

And that's it. This is exactly what Dennis was waiting for, without interfering in the Gang's arguments. That things would somehow work out so that he would be sent to Charlie's and he wouldn't look suspicious in his concern for the janitor. 

– Yeah, you're right, I'll go see him. 

Only Mac explodes with resentment again, like a kid who's been robbed of his candy.

– But Charlie's my best friend! 

– Nobody takes your best friend away, you prick. - Dennis snorts and heads for the exit, thinking that he should do something to distract Mac before he gets even more irritated.

***

When Charlie hears a knock at the door, he hesitates to open it, and Dennis stands under the door for another five minutes, knocking and begging Charlie to open it. He finally gives up and lets the visitor in, but immediately returns to his couch without even looking at him, muttering «don't bother me» instead of saying hello. 

A very peculiar picture appears before Dennis's eyes: Charlie, wrapped in a blanket, sits on the edge of a couch that looks like a battlefield, with a synthesizer and a coffee table piled high with some junk. On the table are two half-empty cups of what looks like very strong brewed tea, empty beer bottles, an open can of glue, a can of spray paint with a sock on it, and most importantly, a notebook covered with incomprehensible scribbles and crooked drawings. Charlie was writing something down, but no one could make out his notes but himself. Well, maybe Artemis, if she's lucky.

Dennis looked from the messy table to Charlie himself, disheveled, unwashed, with red, watery eyes and a face stained with colored markers. Charlie Kelly had always been known for his disregard for personal hygiene, but now he looked as if he hadn't washed his face since he was born. And he was clearly wasted from the chemicals and alcohol. 

– Hey, buddy, what are you doin–

– Shh! Shut up, and let me work, I told you! – Charlie shushes him and starts tapping his fingers on the table. Not paying any attention to Dennis anymore, he mumbles something to himself, barely audible. – I don't want to...have to...kill you.

Reynolds can barely hear anything, and he moves closer, listening to his friend's faint murmurings. – They'll fnd out... I... feel blue, – Charlie slurring some words and quickly sketches something incomprehensible and schematic in his notebook, lest he forget. 

– Are you writing a song? – Dennis connects the dots, sits down on the couch next to his friend, and gently touches his shoulder. But Charlie, lost in the creative process, seems to have forgotten that he's not alone, because the touch startles him so much that he jumps up, screaming. 

- I'm sorry, man, it's okay, it's me. It’s just me. – Dennis frowns, a little startled by this sudden and intense reaction, and moves away from Charlie so as not to stress him further. The disheveled man still doesn't answer the question, instead he brings the jar of glue to his nose and inhales a few times. He hands the jar to Dennis, grumbling to himself that he can't think of a follow-up. 

Dennis resignedly accepts the glue, closes his eyes and breathes deeply over the jar, trying to ignore the swarm of restless thoughts in his head, mixing with Charlie’s quiet mumbling.

– Like to take all the skin off your face.

Dennis opens his eyes and places the glue on the table. His hands are shaking. He seems to got out of huffing glue, which is why his head starts spinning so quickly after just a few minutes of deep breaths he makes over the glue jar.  And the dizzy head makes the whole thing even more surreal. 

He looks at Charlie: his movements are jerky, sometimes he taps his drunken fingers on the synth keys, playing something, but he's displeased – «no, no, no, not like that, it sounds like shit!» – and he looks like a big sad moth under his old brown blanket. – Like to take all the skin off your face.– He repeats it again, picks up the melody, and finally seems to find the right sound, because a triumphant smile lights up his face. He plays the melody again, repeating the same line a third time, tasting it.

Mesmerized, Dennis watched the process, no longer interfering. There's something beautiful about this spectacular sight. 

– Like to smash all your... brains, – Kelly continues to mumble, scribbling crooked letters in his notebook, but this time he has some difficulty. – Like to smash all your brains... all your brains... Shit! – man slams his fist on the table, unable to find the right words, and the beer bottle falls and breaks. But the sound of breaking glass suddenly evokes some interesting associations in Dennis.

– Like to smash all your brains with a... vase? – Dennis asks quietly, touching Charlie's hand with his fingers to get his attention. His touch is as gently as possible. The janitor's eyes widen, and he stares at Dennis for a few seconds, his pupils so damn dilated that his eyes seem almost black.

– Like to smash all your brains with a vase. – He repeats Dennis' sentence twice, tastes it on his tongue and nods contentedly. – Yeah, yeah, that's good!

After that, Charlie stopped seeing Dennis as a stranger and even perked up a bit, allowing him to join in the creative process. Lines are written, fanciful pictures are drawn in Charlie's imagination, a simple but appropriate melody follows the words, and Dennis feels like he's stuck in one of his strange dreams. The pictures Charlie's imagination paints are both strange and bloody. It's unlikely, Dennis thinks, that he himself could come up with an epithet about a fly laying eggs in a dead body, but Charlie, with his abstract imagination and strange ideas, does, and Dennis really likes these macabre line. 

He gives in to the urge, and during the simple playback between these lines and the next, he jumps off the couch and dances around singing «Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!» like those old glam rock songs he used to listen to in college. Well, not just in college. He still likes to listen to good old Guns n' Roses, Kiss, Mötley Crüe, Queen and of course his main idol since he was a teenager – David Bowie.

And Charlie, unexpectedly, appreciates the impulse, nods enthusiastically and smiles at Dennis, letting him know that he'll leave it in the song. Later, Dennis adds a few more «danceable» moments to Charlie's lyrics in the same way, enlivening them and giving the otherwise somber lyrics some drive. But the author himself doesn't mind, he starts to have fun either, even though he continues to pour his anger into the lyrics. And Dennis belatedly, but still realizes for whom and what about this song is written. 

He does, but he keeps distracting wasted Charlie with more cheerful melodies. Kind of therapeutic, huh? There's a reason Dennis studied psychology. It works.

Charlie's song is creepy and bloody, but not in a realistic body horror way, but in a cartoonish way: absurd in its cruelty and non-obvious methods and instruments of murder. The mere desire to break his face with ice cream cone is worth a lot. Weird, cartoonish, but undeniably violent. For some unknown reason, Reynolds finds Charlie's out-of-the-box thinking very inspiring. And the whole situation - writing a song together, Charlie, gloomy and now cheerful, glue, spray paint, beer, disheveled hair, dancing together – it all seems so vaguely familiar to Dennis, as if it had all happened once before... a very long time ago. But it all feels so pretty familiar. He's sure he's seen it before.

– Oh, that was a great song, man, –Charlie says, almost falling on Dennis due to the amount of inhaled chemicals and beer in his bloodstream. But at least he's quite happy now. – Thanks for helping me out. I like the way it turned out. 

And then Dennis remembers why this moment seemed so familiar. Years ago they had written and even performed Dayman in a similar way. Oh shit. – Yeah, that song is real rock 'n' roll, man, you're a talent! Too bad Electric Dream Machine doesn't exist anymore, we could even play it on stage.

– Noooo, – mooed his friend, already half on his shoulder, shaking his head languidly from side to side. – No one can hear this song. Only you. You know why. You know. – Charlie's voice becomes more and more slurred as he slowly falls into a sleep of exhaustion and glue. 

The smile fades from Dennis's face, erasing any trace of his former mirth. The song, though it was catchy and fun despite its somber lyrics, still reflected real emotion, serious emotion, and was a heartfelt wish from Charlie for Uncle Jack, who totally deserved it. 

When Dennis looks at Charlie again, he is already asleep on the couch, hugging the blanket with a silly smile on his face. At least that makes Dennis happy, at least he's not dreaming about something creepy and bloody. He finds another blanket on the floor, covers Charlie and moves the junk-filled table and the synthesizer away from the bed so that his friend won't knock it all over when he gets up to take a leak. Then he leaves quietly.

***

– Hey, Dennis, did you go see him? How's he doing? Still won’t leave the house?

Of course, Reynolds is greeted with questions when he comes back. He calms everyone down by saying that Charlie is better now, but he fell asleep, which is why he didn't join him at Paddy's. The gang is somehow satisfied with this answer and he's left alone. 

But Dennis still has some lines from Charlie's new song running through his head. And he can still see his friend's sleepy but momentarily serious face repeating «You know why. You know». And then Uncle Jack's face appears. Deep in his thoughts, the man doesn't notice that he's humming.

– I don't want to have to eat you 

   I won't fit into my swimsuit.

– What are you singing there? – he's called out by Dee, who's already slowly getting ready to go home. 

– Mm? – Dennis flinches in surprise and shakes his head. – Nothing, just a song, Dee. Just a song.

Dee shrugs and just walks away while Dennis stares at her leaving for a long time. Then he turns around and goes into Paddy's office, locking the door behind him. There he goes through the drawers for a long time, goes through old newspaper, takes some, also takes scissors, a sheet of printer paper and starts to cut something out. 

After a few minutes, he has a crooked inscription made of different-sized letters  cut from newspaper headlines, which says: «I know what you did».

[timelxrd-victorious]

Good day. I have an idea for a short story based off of your muse and your AU. Though not interested in Roleplay, I would like some pointers about the character.

The premise is Teine deciding to mess with a mentally unstable supersoldier who helped him fight the cybermen during his seventh incarnation.

Given the involvment of seven, I am curious about how your Muse relates to seven as a past incarnation.

In this specific story, I am using a slightly altered design of the Muse in that rather than being Nyarlathotep directly, instead he was a normal gallifreyan, but started to mutate/change during his seventh incarnation. He doesn't know why. This will be mystery played with in the story.

Anyway, Any pointers/tips about this story concept?

For Teine's Seventh incarnation, I primarily go with Seven's TV era + the Virgin New Adventures novels written by Dave Stone.

It's very heavily implied in Classic Who with Seven that the Doctor had ties to the foundation of Time Lord society, back before they were the Doctor. (This mostly comes up in Remembrance of the Daleks and Silver Nemesis.) Seven mutters "and didn't we have trouble with the prototype" regarding the Hand of Omega (before correcting himself when called on this by Ace), and flat-out tells Davros that he is "far more than just another Time Lord".

Lungbarrow by Marc Platt runs with this and reveals that the Doctor is basically the reincarnation (so to speak; it's complicated) of the Other, a Gallifreyan who might not have actually been a Gallifreyan, that was erased from Time Lord history and was one of the founding Triumvirate of Time Lord society along with Rassilon and Omega. After Rassilon became increasingly paranoid and power-hungry, the Other eventually threw themselves into the Loom and was reborn thousands (if not millions) of years later as the Gallifreyan who would go on to become the renegade Time Lord known as the Doctor.

The Seventh Doctor novels written by Dave Stone outright show that the Doctor is very much not an ordinary Gallifreyan and is this massive eldritch thing from another universe that goes exploring around the universe in a Gallifreyan form. It's heavily implied that the Doctor is Nyarlathotep, but this is never outright stated.

I go with Teine outright being Nyarlathotep because 1) I like eldritch cosmic horror in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft (without actually being written by Lovecraft, because fuck that guy); 2) it's fun for me to play around with.

Though, this was not how I originally wrote xem. I didn't find out about the whole Doctor Nyarlathotep concept until I'd been writing Teine for around a year, got deep into the expanded universe with the Eighth Doctor Adventures novels and Faction Paradox, and stumbled onto Dr. Nyarlathotep from there. Loved it, decided to incorporate it into my RP muse (and some of my Doctor Who fics). Before then I was primarily familiar with the revival series, the New Series Adventures novels with Nine and Ten, and some of the Classic serials with Four, Five, Three, and Seven that were on DVD at my local library.

In this specific story, I am using a slightly altered design of the Muse in that rather than being Nyarlathotep directly, instead he was a normal gallifreyan, but started to mutate/change during his seventh incarnation. He doesn't know why. This will be mystery played with in the story.

The Doctor has so much other stuff in their biodata at this point that this is totally plausible. Faction Paradox fucks around with Eight's biodata at one point and alters his history from when he was a Loomling; they go back and kill Three on the planet Dust way before Three regenerates in TV canon, etc. The Master in the 1996 movie exclaims at one point that "The Doctor is half-human!" (this was mocked to no end in the expanded universe and revival series). One of the EDAs has Team TARDIS meeting a group of wartime Time Lords that look like Elder Things. Interference has a freak show made up of a Gallifreyan priest's 13 incarnations, and the last one is a sentient timeline.

Going back even earlier, there's the Doctor's fight with Mobius, and a whole bunch of unknown faces flash onscreen that are all but stated to be previous incarnations of the Doctor that he has zero memory of.

One through Six had no memory of their previous lives from before they were the Doctor. Seven is the only incarnation that really seems to remember it. As for why that is... it's anybody's guess.

[wendigonamecaller]

Deadly Kiss.

Desc: Asher wasn't a bad person. She was quiet, well behaved, and had a gentle beauty about her that naturally made people flock to her. Asher was a good person, until she was given a reason not to be. 2002, she's only 22, never willingly been intimate with anyone, when police stumble upon her body in the Tennessee senator's home, a single gunshot wound to her head and a gun in her corpses grasp. She wakes up in hell, with a new appearance and powers, which present her with new opportunities, until she meets Angel Dust and becomes mixed up in Charlie Morningstar's hotel, unevitably becoming mixed up with Alastor.

Taglist: @sparrowrye

Pt. 14: Mind Numb.

Asher was thankful when Lucifer left, the iconic King having given the doe a migraine after things had settled down. Her sleep deprived self could only handle so much and her mind pulsing with pain was nothing short of annoying.

Asher despised having migraines, migraines made her emotionally numb to many things, and being sleep deprived brought out a much more unstable side of her that she wasn't ready for anyone at the Hazbin Hotel to see. And so to keep herself from crashing or lashing out at someone, Asher decided to keep herself busy by sitting at the bar and strumming her guitar absentmindedly. The tv was on, some sort of show was playing as Angel Dust and Sir Pentious relaxed on separate couches to watch it, not paying any mind to Asher as she occupied herself with her instrument. Husker leaned against the counter and observed her, she was more quiet than usual.

Alastor was in his room eating, Charlie was brainstorming ideas and Vaggie had mentioned needing time to herself. "What's on that little mind of yours, Asher?" Husker asked, tilting his head slightly.

Asher doesn't respond, continuing to simply let her fingers glide over the strings elegantly. Husk is about to ask again, when she stops playing and turns to him, her black ears furrowed against her head.

"Lucifer is loud." She says simply. He notices the droop in her eyelids, and figures out what was truly wrong very quickly.

"He is the King of Hell, kid." Husk says with a shrug, getting Asher a glass of ice and pouring a small bit of tequila into it. Something light to take her mind off things.

"You'd think that would make him respectable, not loud, pompous and a prideful son of a bitch who can't tell when someone's not interested in him." She growls, sipping the alcohol.

Alastor strolls into the parlor, seemingly satisfied. He approaches the bar, wanting nothing to do with the tv or either of the demons watching it. "Hello my dear, hello Husker." He greets, setting his staff against the bar top as he sat down.

Asher waved with a small smile and Husk grunted, pouring Alastor a glass of whiskey. Asher still donned the waist coat, the scent it gave off was comforting and she'd smelt it on Alastor a few times, so she was satisfied with it despite the scent lulling her her into a half-asleep state that she kept desperately pulling herself out of.

"Are you alright, Ash?" Alastor asked, shocking himself with the shortened version of her name he'd heard Midnight use to address the doe.

Unknowingly, this was what Asher needed to be set off into a rant. "You know what, Alastor?" She asked, and the Radio Demon turned his full attention to the doe.

"I'm not okay. I'm in Hell because I was a killer, I killed myself because I killed the guy who raped me which by the way he still tries to find ways to harass me," she begins, her ears furrowing again as her hand clutches the lapel of her waist coat.

"Lucifer kept staring at me like I was a piece of meat, my mind is becoming darker and darker everyday, I haven't slept in what feels like an eternity, the extermination is right around the damned corner, oh and on top of that everyday I'm tested and end up revealing more power than I wanted to you and everyone else and I become increasingly hungry for blood and flesh." She growls, hands gripping her black and white hair.

Alastor's brows furrow and his grin is tight while he thinks. He stands abruptly, grabbing his staff and then grabbing Asher's hand. He tugs her to stand before guiding her towards the stairs with his hand on the small of her back.

"Alastor.. what are you doing?" Asher questioned. He doesn't answer right away, and she doesn't have the energy to press him or fight against him guiding her down the halls.

They stop outside of Asher's room, and Alastor opens the door before nudging her inside. "Get into comfortable clothes, I'll be right in." He orders before closing her door.

She does as she's told, slipping into a pair of loose fitting red pajama pants that hung on her hips and a thin baggy black T-shirt, exposing the white starry freckles that painted her arms and collarbones. She's taking off her jewelry when Alastor re-enters her bedroom, closing the door behind him. He's still dressed to the nines, but he slips his dress shoes off as well as his waist coat by the door, hanging his coat on the doorknob.

"Lay down, my dear. I'll stay while you rest." He says, sitting at her bedside with a book.

She tilts her head, one of her ears laying flat against her head as she reluctantly crawls into her bed. Alastor snaps and the electric lights in her room are snuffed out, leaving only a few simple candles to cast the room in a dim glow. Soon after, Alastor's static filled voice is reading passages from the book he'd brought, his voice successfully lulling the doe into a somewhat peaceful rest.

[dnfinite123]

(What if) THE MARK WEBB AMAZING SPIDER-MAN SAGA

MOVIES

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

PLOT-Peter Parker is an outcast high schooler abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is, and when he discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance, leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. As Spider-Man, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

MAIN VILLAIN-Lizard

Connors is a dedicated scientist of genetic research, particularly in the field of cross-species genetics, hoping to find a way to regenerate his missing right arm. Connors develops a serum derived from lizard DNA and under pressure from Oscorp to produce results, Connors tests the serum on himself. Initially, it works, regrowing his arm, but it also transforms him into a massive, reptilian creature known as the Lizard. As the Lizard, Connors gains many superhuman abilities but his mind becomes increasingly unstable as he aims to turn every human into what he is, viewing it as a path to human perfection.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

PLOT-For Peter Parker, life is busy. Between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen Stacy, high school graduation cannot come quickly enough. Peter has not forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away, but that is a promise he cannot keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro, emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn, returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.

MAIN VILLAIN-Electro

Max Dillon is an electrical engineer at Oscorp who feels unnoticed and unappreciated by everyone around him. Dillon's life changes drastically when he falls into a tank of genetically engineered electric eels. The accident transforms him into Electro, giving him the ability to generate, control, and manipulate electricity. Initially confused and frightened by his new powers, Dillon's feelings of isolation and betrayal escalate into seeking recognition and vengeance against those he believes wronged him, especially Spider-Man.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 3

PLOT-Peter Parker has since struggled to deal with his grief after Gwen's death, taking his anger out on petty crooks around the city. Although, he comes across a mysterious black substance, which he discovers was engineered by Oscorp. It also enhances Peter's already grim emotions to new levels, causing him to distance himself from his loved ones, including a girl named Mary Jane Watson who has the potential to help him heal.

MAIN VILLAIN-The Symbiote Suit

a mysterious black substance, which he discovers was engineered by Oscorp. It also enhances Peter's already grim emotions to new levels, causing him to distance himself from his loved ones, including a girl named Mary Jane Watson who has the potential to help him heal.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 4

PLOT-After ridding himself of the symbiote, Peter Parker struggles to rebuild his life. His path takes a dramatic turn when Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man from a dystopian future, arrives with a warning: . Now, Peter and Miguel must confront this synthetic symbiote before it grows powerful enough to threaten the multiverse. Only then can they face their darkest fears to prove that Spider-Man’s hope can transcend generations.

MAIN VILLAIN-Venom

Alchemax, a powerful corporation in his time, has obtained the symbiote fragments Peter left behind. Using advanced technology, they’ve created a new, more dangerous Venom inspired by Peter’s past.

THE SINISTER SIX

PLOT-When Alchemax unveils its latest innovation, the "Neogenic Recombinator," a machine capable of rewriting genetic code, it sends shockwaves through the scientific and criminal worlds alike. Pitched as a breakthrough in curing diseases and enhancing human potential, the device is secretly being developed to weaponize genetic mutations for corporate dominance. Harry Osborn, aka Green Goblin, sees the Recombinator as the key to cementing his legacy. Harry later strikes a deal with the Black Cat, who he doesn't know is really his assistant Felicia Hardy, whose connections to the criminal underworld can assemble a team daring enough to infiltrate Alchemax. The team infiltrates Alchemax’s high-tech facility, only to uncover the company’s darker secret: human-animal hybrid experiments designed to create an unstoppable army. As tensions within the group rise, Alchemax unleashes its ultimate creation: Scorpion, a deadly enforcer born of the Recombinator’s experiments. In a desperate showdown, the Sinister Six must confront Scorpion, Alchemax’s forces, and their own fractured loyalties. With the Recombinator’s power at stake, they face a choice: seize it for themselves or destroy it before it reshapes humanity forever.

MAIN VILLAINS-Green Goblin, Rhino, Vulture, Venom, Black Cat, Chameleon

Harry Osborn, aka Green Goblin, sees the Recombinator as the key to cementing his legacy. Harry later strikes a deal with the Black Cat, who he doesn't know is really his assistant Felicia Hardy, whose connections to the criminal underworld can assemble a team daring enough to infiltrate Alchemax.

SILVER AND BLACK

Plot-Silver Sable, a mercenary with a personal vendetta against war criminals, is hired by the government to track down a group of powerful individuals exploiting the chaos of global conflict. However, her mission becomes complicated when she crosses paths with Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, a notorious cat burglar with a sharp wit and an even sharper sense of survival. When their paths collide during a high-stakes heist targeting a corrupt arms dealer, the two women find themselves tied together by a shared goal: taking down a larger, more dangerous criminal syndicate that controls powerful weapons capable of tipping the balance of power in the world. As they work together, their different methods and conflicting motivations spark tension, but also mutual respect.

MAIN VILLAIN-Kingpin

 the two women find themselves tied together by a shared goal: taking down a larger, more dangerous criminal syndicate that controls powerful weapons capable of tipping the balance of power in the world. 

AGENT VENOM

PLOT-After losing his legs in combat, Flash Thompson is recruited by Project Rebirth, a covert military program experimenting with the Venom symbiote. The program aims to create a new super-soldier, but its ties to Alchemax's secret Hybrid Program raises questions. Flash becomes Agent Venom, tasked with high-risk missions while struggling to control the symbiote’s darker impulses.

When Peter Parker uncovers Alchemax's involvement in replicating the symbiote, creating unstable hybrids, he confronts Flash, forcing the two to unite against a deadly symbiote army unleashed by the program. Together, they must stop Alchemax’s agenda before the hybrids destroy the city and beyond.

MAIN VILLAIN-Scream, Riot, Phage, Lasher and Agony

When Peter Parker uncovers Alchemax's involvement in replicating the symbiote, creating unstable hybrids, he confronts Flash, forcing the two to unite against a deadly symbiote army unleashed by the program.

A.U not done by me big shoutout to a Devantart username sunnyjay9

[sorrelpaws]

ive been playing a lotta clangen recently and heres my clan.  more info on everybody under cut :3

first there’s the leader rosestar and deputy podflight. they’re close in age, but only really became friends as apprentices, and they’ve been pretty much inseparable every since. rosestar is a very silly average guy, a bit awkward at times but he really does mean the best. podflight is a bit more serious and stern, but she can also be a lot of fun and tends to command respect around her. they’re both getting kind of old, and recently rosestar’s memory has gotten kinda wonky, and he tends to be very confused. podflight tries to be supportive, keep the clan at ease etc, but it’s becoming increasingly obvious how unstable rosestar has gotten, and it causes the clan to be on edge.

one of the medicine cats, sharppath. he’s a bit strange and quiet, tends to keep to himself, but he really does mean the best. he started out as a regular apprentice, but had always shown an interest in herbs, so when he asked to change positions there wasn’t really anyone arguing against him. however he lacks a connection to starclan and rarely receives any kind of omens or prophecies. he doesn’t really let it bother him, and the clan doesn’t mind too much since his healing skills are genuinely very good.

these three are kind of the “main characters”, or at least the ones i kept my eye on the most. they’re all littermates, and they’re very close as kits. when they become apprentices meadowpaw and birchpaw start receiving frequent messages/notes/signs/whateva from starclan. birchpaw is much more fascinated by this, and has always kind of shown an interest and preference towards being a medicine cat (she never changes from a warrior apprentice though), but meadowpaw actively ignores the signs since he wants to be a warrior. he tries to talk to his sisters about his visions and dreams, but molepaw doesn’t really understand them/how to help, and birchpaw just talks about her own experiences. about halfway through their apprenticeships birchpaw dies in a dog attack, and after this meadowpaw starts feeling pressured to take on the medcat role because his sister can’t. he decides to change positions pretty much right before he’s made a warrior, and starts training under sharppath. the first months are pretty rough on him, because of his sister’s death, and him and molepaw(moledrift at this point) start growing distant. they manage to reconnect a little when they’re older, but they never really become super close.

jaggedflight and skywing are two peas in a pod, really close brothers. emy is a loner who joins the clan in search of a community, and he becomes good friends with both of them. unfortunately skywing is murdered, and this takes a massive toll on jaggedflight. after his brother’s death him and emy become a lot closer due to their shared grief. burm joins the clan pretty soon after skywing dies, and since he’s pretty young jaggedflight offers to mentor him in order to get his mind off his brother’s death. burm has a pretty similar personality to skywing, and this helps him bond with emy and jaggedwing, and the three are kind of this middle aged father trio. like you get the kind of vibe i mean right. just terrible jokes and old stories thrown around.

these four all join the clan around the same time, and because they all feel a little left out they get to bond!! hazelspirit is a calm and careful molly who joins the clan with her kits. she tends to help around the medicine den. thistlepelt is kind of an anxious and traumatized cat who joins the clan to ensure his kits have a good, safe life (hashtag girldad), and overtime he gets to kind of heal and become happier. yellownose and oscar both just kind of stumble across the clan. yellownose is a very prickly fella who tends to complain about almost everything. oscar tends to be much quieter and calmer, and he (+thistle and hazel) often goes around to apologize about yellownose’s behavior.

because hazelspirit and thistlepelt’s kits are around the same age, the four of them tend to be glued together. blossompaw and lowpaw are both very excitable and adventurous, and tend to think up fun ideas or games, and since leopardpaw and beetlepaw are a bit quieter, they tend to go along with the former twos’ antics

the actual timeline isn’t laid out here very well, i may do that at a different time, but i wanna say just in case that skywing dies a good chunk of time before rosestar’s dementia kicks in

[rollercoasterwords]

Have no clue if you’re still on The Prank discourse but one thing I find so interesting about it is how much it emotionally affects people compared to something like Regulus being a canonical blood supremacist or Barty torturing people or other more traditional bad guys. And I think a lot has to do with how it affects two characters that people often project themselves into (Remus and Snape) rather than just being a generic “oh ya he tried to murder someone we hear about for a line or two.” Like people don’t approach it from a literary or a character standpoint, they often seem to see it as something that wronged THEM. It’s so fascinating to me- the epitome of how one attempted murder is a tragedy but the attempted murder of many that I don’t happen to care about is an easily ignored statistic.

of COURSE i am happy to continue talking about The Prank u bring up a really interesting point!! i do think a lot of the things that become these big like...moral debates in this fandom have less to do with like. actual morality and more to do with like....constructing identity through social media. like god ok let me see if i can be concise abt this:

we're being increasingly conditioned to construct our identities around online presence and social signifiers like the media we consume; so for a lot of people the books they read or the shows they watch etc etc are not just something to enjoy but are a pillar around which they are constructing their perceptions of themself. and in order to reify that construction you basically have to put yourself in this constant feedback loop of posting these social signifiers so that other people can look at them and go "oh so this is your identity," because a performance can't be real without an audience.

SO. i feel like that's where we're getting people who will say "oh yeah i'm a [character] kin" and feel as though that is truly an important expression of their deepest personal selves. and then, once your identity is tied to those characters, any attack on those characters feels like an attack on you. you can't accept the fact that other people might interpret the characters differently, because to do so would mean to accept that this thing you've tied your identity to is somewhat meaningless/empty/fluid/unstable, which would force you to confront the fact that this identity you're performing is, in fact, a performance, and not a revealing of some true and inherent inner self.

in reality, all of the things that happen in harry potter do not hold any real-life moral weight. like...these actions aren't happening. we aren't talking about real people doing real things to each other, we're talking about characters. so to use an example from ur message, barty killing his dad is no better or worse than The Prank, because neither of those things actually happened. and THAT means that everybody can take those fictional actions and interpret them in different ways and say they think one is better or worse within this fictional context, but there is no single true and correct interpretation, because none of this is real.

so, yeah. i think ur 100% right that when we do get these really contentious debates about the morality of certain characters, it's because people aren't approaching the topic through the lens of literary critique but rather through the lens of this Personal Moral Performance. like, if you kin sirius, and someone says sirius was bad for doing The Prank, then you HAVE to defend sirius and insist that that person is wrong, because u need to perform ur own moral correctness to the audience. like, sirius can't be a morally bad character, because i kin sirius, and i am morally good.

and yeah, that definitely leads to some cognitive dissonance! people are going to be quick to defend the characters they've attached themselves to while decrying the bad actions of the characters they don't like/don't care about--again, oftentimes to perform Morality on the internet more than in service of any actual literary critique. and like. if ur stuck in this mindset of feeling like you need to be constantly proving to the world how morally good you are, then anyone pointing out the fact that you defend one character but shit on another who did similar things is gonna feel like a personal attack, and that just makes the whole situation worse because then you feel like you need to dig your heels in and insist that your interpretations are right and their interpretations are wrong, and nobody feels like they can give ground without becoming Problematic for defending/shitting on whatever character they're fighting about.

[thelightofthingshopedfor]

I really like your meta about Wanda. So this isn't a criticism, more a question. When you talk about emotional and irrational female leads, I wonder if the reason it doesn't bother me as much is that when infinity war came out, Quill and Thor (not killing Thanos straight away at Wakanda) kind of both did a similar thing. I don't see that being attributed to them being men. Hope that makes sense. Or is it you are more concerned that this will be attributed to them being women?

It’s not so much that as...well, it’s partly that. But it’s mostly about numbers and patterns, the things that turn one-off plotlines into tropes and trends. In a vacuum, there’s nothing wrong with this type of storyline going to a female character, where grief and power combine to make her increasingly and dangerously unstable to the point where she either becomes a villain or can only find redemption through sacrificing herself. But nothing exists in a vacuum, and the actual context is that I’m having a hard time thinking of any male characters who get this type of storyline. Instead it tends to be a thing that’s written for female characters, the implication—whether it’s deliberate or not—being that women are too emotional to handle power past a certain point. Off the top of my head, comics Wanda, MCU Wanda, comics Dark Phoenix, definitely the first Dark Phoenix film (as I understand it, the more recent one was somewhat better this way), and Aida in Agents of SHIELD fit into this trope, and then you have even dumber stuff like Oz the Great and Powerful where the Wicked Witch of the West used to be good actually until she had her heart broken by a dude and then she just...kinda...turned evil?

In the context of the MCU specifically, it’s...kind of worse, although not quite as much as it would have been a few years ago, but—well, I mentioned numbers. In MCU canon at this point, only looking at what’s actually been released so far or will be released within the next month or so (and assuming I’m counting and adding right), we have:

22 movies named after one or two title characters

7 movies named after an ensemble and therefore not relevant to this discussion

6 Disney+ shows named for 1-2 title characters

What If, which I’m counting as an ensemble show, so it’s also not relevant

7 non-Disney+ shows with 1-2 title characters, and

4 non-Disney+ shows named after an ensemble.

Again assuming I'm counting right (although if I'm not, I don't think I'm off by enough to change my point), that leaves us with 39 movies or shows named after 1-2 characters each. (I’m only counting “the Winter Soldier��� as a title character in his show, not in Cap 2, and I’m not counting Ultron at all.) Because a disproportionate number of those movies are about the same handful of dudes, I think it actually ends up being 30 different title characters, even if they shared billing with someone else. Of those title characters, only 8 or maybe 9 are female: Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Wanda, Wasp, Agent Carter, Dagger, Jessica Jones, Ms. Marvel, and arguably Hawkeye, although Kate’s kind of a stretch. (It’s also fair to note that only half of these characters get to be title characters by themselves rather than sharing the title with a guy, but since I’m trying to be fair, I will also note that only Ant-Man has been a title character by himself, and the others seem to have equal billing in their respective pairings. But honestly, that doesn’t make it much better.)

Want to guess how many other title characters get a storyline like Wanda’s, where they maybe start out with the bad guys (although for understandable reasons, if you’re not dead set on hating them from the jump), firmly establish themselves as good guys for multiple entries, and then spiral so far into villainy that apparently they just have to go the redemption = death route to finish things off, with absolutely no guarantees they're coming back from it?

Um…none! None characters! Bucky kind of does something similar, but I really don’t think that counts because it wasn’t his choice at all, and Loki’s arc is more the reverse of that than anything. I never watched The Punisher but I’m pretty sure Frank was an antihero from his introduction so I don’t think that counts either. Supreme Strange in What If is also sort of similar, except he gets a chance to redeem himself after his episode despite destroying—I’m pretty sure—a lot more than Wanda did. Come to think of it, Vision in the zombies What If episode is also pretty similar in that he’s a card-carrying Good Guy who ends up doing some awful, selfish things out of love and eventually sacrifices himself in an attempt to make things right, which is honestly kind of funny in terms of any WandaVision discourse about how she didn’t deserve him or whatever, but just like with Supreme Strange, that’s not the main-timeline version of the character…and it was in a one-off episode that didn’t matter that much because a lot of people didn’t even see it. Plus there’s nothing ickily gendered about it with Vision, because you’re not presented with a multiverse of possibilities where the only sane, stable version of the character is—just as a random example—the relatively low-powered suburban one who’s perfectly content having not come into his full power. Probably the closest any of our many male title characters came to Wanda’s arc was just…the glimpses of alternate-timeline Stranges in Multiverse of Madness. Which, again, were not the main-timeline version of the character like Wanda is.

The MCU has had so few female title characters to begin with. One of them was already dead before she ever got her movie, for fuck's sake. Making Wanda a major character, letting her be so incredibly powerful, and then doing this with her is just—

Again, in a vacuum, it wouldn't be such a huge deal. In a vacuum, or in a world where we've had a roughly equal number of male and female title characters in the MCU, with comparable levels of agency, it could be a compelling storyline, at least if you find a way to do it without sacrificing existing characterization. In a world where the MCU has at least experimented more with morally gray protagonists outside of Netflix, it would still bug me but it wouldn't be so bad, because there would be precedent, and there would probably be more of an attempt from the editing and directing--rather than just from Elizabeth Olsen's acting, by all accounts--to make sure the character stays sympathetic. In the context of the numbers and storylines we actually have so far, it’s...really kind of gross!

And actually if you consider a handful of additional major characters who haven’t been title characters, it gets a little worse, because still the only marginally relevant dudes I can think of were relatively minor SHIELD agents (well, and Ward) that we assumed were good guys who were later revealed to be HYDRA, and...Sharon Carter making herself the Power Broker because of reasons, which isn’t really relevant to the whole “women are too emotional for power” trope but is pretty weird in terms of “all the card-carrying Good Guys in this franchise who kinda decide to switch sides have something in common”. So there's that, too.

[helliontherapscallion]

New Enemies, New Alliances (Sweet Betrayal Part 4)

Part 1     Part 2     Part 3

Spotify Playlist (collaborative)

Warnings: Swearing, graphic description of injuries/death, violence, grief, blood, manipulation

Word count: 3,661 

(A/N): Things are starting to get spicy, folks!

“Nice job today, I think you’d actually put up a fight in battle now,” Dream grabbed your hand and helped you up. You basked in the compliment, they were few and far between. Now, if you didn’t pass one of the Badlanders by accident, Dream and Lucius were the only ones to recognize your work. 

You brushed off your training clothes and smiled to yourself when you saw Lucius move to pat you on the back before stopping himself. He’s been around for a month now and he still isn’t used to not being able to touch anyone. You remembered that when he was alive, physical touch was his love language. It must be killing him to not touch anybody. 

“Yeah! I’d hate to be on the other side of your sword, homie!” You have no clue why he started to call you ‘homie’, he hated that word when he was alive. Faintly, you supposed that he must’ve learned it sometime between after he died and when he was looking for you as a ghost. 

“Thanks, guys,” you fiddled with the handle of your sword before swinging it over to rest on your shoulder. The walk home was filled with Lucius and Dream exchanging terrible puns, much to your exasperation. Out of all the things he could’ve kept in his personality after he died, it just had to be his love for puns. 

As the days passed and the war’s climax drew closer and closer, stress was increasing in the White House. Schlatt had become far more paranoid of traitors in the midst of the remaining cabinet, and truth be told you were also growing more paranoid. It was like you and Schlatt were the only ones completely loyal to Manberg anymore. 

Lucius had increasingly grown worried for your well being, always trying to push you to go to bed early and urging you to distance yourself from Schlatt. In your opinion Lucius was insane for even suggesting the latter, Schlatt was everything to you. Without him, you’d be nothing. 

“I really don’t-”

“Lucius, drop it,” you hissed out, rubbing your forehead and returning to your work. You needed to get this paperwork done as soon as you could, otherwise Schlatt would have your ass. 

“I’m not going to ‘drop it’, (y/n). You need a break! All of this,” he swung his arms around to gesture at your office, “isn’t you.” 

“You don’t understand, Lucius,” you bitterly chuckled and threw your quill down onto your desk. The ink that was on the tip splattered over the desk, staining the birch wood black. “This,” you gestured towards the office and walked over to the window. Lucius followed you and looked out at the city. You clasped your hands behind your back and smiled fondly at the sight of the endless buildings. “This is me.” 

“I know you, you aren’t this- this brutal or bloody insane!” Lucius tried to put his hands on your shoulders but stopped himself, settling for crossing them across his chest. “You’re caring, funny, ambitious, and most importantly agreeable! Now, if someone even slightly crosses you, your first thought is revenge.” 

“That person was a coward through and through. Aren’t you happy that I’m finally standing up for myself?” 

“Standing up for yourself? Standing up for yourself? You get stepped on constantly by that ram asshole that you call a father, you call that standing up for yourself?” 

You spun around to face him, looking down at his face with a harsh glare, “you have no right to bring Schlatt up, he’s done everything for me while you were just galavanting around the SMP doing Ender knows what! He’s the one that took me in. He’s the one that cared for me. He’s the one who made me who I am today. He’s the one that made me less of a coward.”

“Are you serious? He’s the one that completely fucked up your life! When was the last time he’s said anything that bordered on nice to you? When was the last time he said he loves you? I just want the best for you, (y/n),” he ran a hand through his hair and looked up at you in desperation and frustration. “You wouldn’t be this mentally unstable or this disfigured if you would’ve just stayed away from him like I told you to do when I was alive.” 

“You clearly don’t know what’s best for me if you’re too blind to know that Schlatt changed me for the better,” you scoffed to yourself. “That person left the second I killed you.”

You watched as his already pale skin blanched impossibly and his eyes widened in horror. “You- you what?” 

So he doesn’t remember his own death? How interesting. 

“You don’t remember? You were my first kill, I can still remember the crunching sound your skull made and how warm the blood that splattered on my face was when I drove that pickaxe through your forehead. The power I felt after I came to terms with the fact that I just took someone’s life? Exhilarating.” 

You smirked down at his terrified face, taking great pleasure in the fear he felt. He took several steps back from you, almost tripping when his heel caught the edge of the carpet. Grinning, you followed him until he was pressing himself up against the wall. You leaned down close to his ear and whispered, “I’ve never felt anything like it before. You were my first friend and my first kill, kudos to you.” 

He ducked out of your presence with haste and distanced himself from you, his chest heaving with panicked breaths. He stuttered out a response, “do you even regret it?” 

Regret was something you always pushed deep into your subconscious, “regret is for losers, winners own up to everything they do,” Schlatt’s voice echoed in your mind. You didn’t like thinking about your regrets, however the delicious fearful tone that shook Lucius’ voice was too alluring to ignore. He deserved every single ounce of the fear that racked his body, the argument that had raged on previously still filling you with anger. You’d humor him for now.

You certainly regretted it when you first killed him prior to losing your first life, if losing your first life is anything to go by. You hadn’t even done it on purpose; it was simply a freak accident in an abandoned mineshaft. You didn’t know that when you and Lucius discovered it that you’d leave without him. You could remember exactly what happened that day.

“Luci, wait up!” You pushed yourself to run faster into the cave, chasing the short teenager. He threw his head back and laughed, “catch me if you can!” 

You grinned happily to yourself, “I’ll catch you faster than you can say a damn pun!” 

You followed him deeper and deeper into the cave, passing different assortments of ores and jumping over crevices along the way. The carefree laughter that bounced off from the stone walls mingling with the slapping of both of your leather boots against the floor. 

Despite the sharp twists and turns, you managed to stay hot on his trail. Eventually, he led you deep into a mineshaft. That was where you couldn’t keep up with him anymore. By the time you followed him around a corner, he was nowhere to be seen. You slowly came to a stop and looked around at the dark hallways. This had to be the largest mineshaft you’d ever seen, it was seemingly endless with a labyrinth of twisting halls. You looked behind you only to be met with even more dark halls. You couldn’t even remember where you came from, everything in here looked the same. 

In the distance, you heard the hissing of cave spiders and the pitter pattering of their multitude of feet on stone. You swallowed nervously and took out your pickaxe, mentally scolding yourself for not thinking to bring your sword. Every single sound made you jump out of your skin and press yourself up against the wall, preparing yourself to swing at any movement. 

Eventually, you gathered the courage to start to wander the maze of hallways. You gripped the handle of your iron pickaxe in a vice grip, ready to kill any mob that would potentially sneak up on you. 

“Luci, please come out. I’m starting to get scared.” 

You paused to strain your ears for any potential reply, only to sigh to yourself when you heard nothing but cave spider sounds and the faroff dripping of water. With a steadying breath, you ventured further into the mineshaft. 

As you passed a hallway, you saw sudden movement from the corner of your eye. Squeezing your eyes shut with a small yelp, you spun around, raised your pickaxe, and swung it down with all your might. 

In an instant, you heard a sharp gasp. When you felt your pickaxe make contact with something, a sickening combination of a crunching and squelching noise accompanied the feeling of something warm splatter across your face. You peeked your eyes open to see what mob had attacked you. 

Instead of a zombie or… or whatever your mind was expecting to see, Lucius stood there looking at you with his eyes bulging and his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Your hands left the pickaxe and flew up to your mouth as you stepped back in horror at what you’ve done. As soon as you dropped the pickaxe, Lucius’s body dropped with it. He fell to the stone ground limply with a thud, landing on his side with his arms and legs awkwardly sprawled out. 

You stood frozen as you watched his body start to convulse before falling still completely after what seemed like hours. Nothing but the roaring of blood in your ears and the obnoxiously loud thumping of your heart in your throat was heard. You finally snapped out of your trance when you saw his body still and started to dissolve in glowing golden dust. 

“No, nonononono what the fuck did I just do?!” You dropped to your knees next to his body, feeling icy dread as you saw the telltale sign of death floating from his body. Gritting your teeth, you pressed your hands over his limp arm where the majority of the dust was coming from in a desperate attempt to potentially save him. He was already losing his warmth, you could feel him rapidly cooling under your hands. To your terror, the dust merely slipped through the cracks of your fingers. 

Strangled sobs left your mouth as you removed your hands and dragged his upper body onto your lap. You lifted him up and hugged him as tight as you could, once again pressing your hands over the glowing gold, trying and failing to keep his body in one piece. You hated how he was slowly lightning as his body was dissolving. 

“I’m sorry,” you repeated to him like a mantra. “I’m so fucking sorry Luci, come back.” 

Just before he fully left you, you buried your face into the crook of his neck, praying to whatever gods were above that he’d just wake up and laugh loudly. 

“You should’ve seen your face,” he’d tease you, “I really got you good this time, didn’t I?” 

He’d then realize just how terrified you were, and he’d then hold you close to him while humming your song over and over. He’d tell you, “turn that frown upside down! You’re never fully dressed without a smile.” He’d put his pointer fingers on the corners of your lips and lift it into a smile, telling you to “fake it til you make it” and that “your smile is your best asset to use against someone.” 

You’d ask him in a bout of confusion, “but then you’d be vulnerable! Isn’t it better to just… hide it all?”

He’d give you that dazzling smile of his and gently tap your nose with a finger, “hiding everything behind a smile is better than being a husk of a person. I know there’s a constant happiness deep down in you, I’ve seen it and it’s absolutely beautiful. C’mon,” he’d start to jab your sides lightly, “give me a smile!”

You’d shove his hands away from you with a small, genuine smile. He’d then haul you up to your feet and lead you out of the mines, pulling you behind him as he ranted constantly about what he had planned for you both for the day with his signature blinding smile. 

But that didn’t happen.

Soon enough, you were holding nothing in your tight grasp and your face was hovering midair with something coming to rest in your lap. As you pried your eyes open and saw the bloodied pickaxe that laid in your lap and the blood that covered your clothes and slicked your hands, a guttural scream ripped itself from your throat. You’ve never screamed so loudly or so intensely; you were unsure if the copper you tasted in the back of your throat was from your fried vocal cords or from Lucius. 

You stayed in that spot crying until you couldn’t anymore. The full reality of the situation hit you as you finally found your way out of the cave after days of wandering. Not knowing where else you could go, you stumbled to Schlatt and Quackity’s house. 

The second Quackity opened the door and saw you sobbing and splattered with blood looking like you haven’t eaten or drank anything in days, he immediately took you into their household and sat you on the edge of the bathtub. He was the one that cleaned the blood off from your face with a warm washcloth and held you to his chest after you cried out when the feeling of the warm water was too similar to the blood that had splattered your face days before. 

Schlatt had been the one to coax you to eat something after you had passed out in Quackity’s arms, whether due to lack of sleep or nourishment, you didn’t know. Alongside that, he was the first one you talked to about a couple of days into your stay with them. 

Though you never told them what happened to your late best friend and what you did to him, they fully supported you and slowly nursed you back to the point where you could keep yourself alive without their constant aid. Whenever you’d have nightmares of the incident, Schlatt would be quick to make you realize that you were in their guest bedroom and not deep inside of a mineshaft while Quackity would stay by your side throughout the night softly humming small tunes. 

Though everything came crashing down when Philza showed up at their door one day and drugged you home, your time with them solidified your suspicions that you could be loved. 

You blunk, the scene of the blood spattered stone being replaced with your office and the very boy you accidentally killed cowering in the far corner of your room. He was staring at you like you were a starving lion and he was a cornered gazelle, watching your every move vigilantly. You couldn’t blame him, he was in the same room with his murderer after all.

“...I didn’t mean to kill you; I was terrified at the time, I couldn’t believe that I killed my best friend. Hell, I even killed myself because of the guilt.” 

Though a brief flash of sadness reflected across his face, he hadn’t budged from his place with his eyes still trained on you, “t-the past doesn’t matter. Do you regret it now?”

You once again paused, the question of ‘do you regret it’ circulating your mind once more. If Lucius hadn’t died that day, you wouldn’t be the person you were today; you’d still be getting stepped on by everyone. You’d still be a coward, a spineless nobody. You wouldn’t be happy. 

Though you hated yourself for even thinking about this, you questioned if you were truly happy here. You had everything you’ve ever wanted here: the power that you craved, a surefire means of getting your revenge, and living with the person that had constantly supported you. You couldn’t explain it, but it felt like something was missing. Yes, you’ve felt like that your entire life, but lately it felt like a massive, evergrowing void from deep within your core was swallowing everything within you. Maybe Lucius was right. Maybe-

“Why are you hesitating?!” Your eyes snapped to Lucius, surprised at his outburst. Now instead of the petrified look on his face just moments before, a spiteful one replaced it. “Why the fuck are you hesitating?” 

“Lucius-” 

A bitter chuckle interrupted you, “the fact that you’re hesitating tells me everything I need to know. I really thought the real you was somewhere deep within you, but you were right! This is the real you... You really are the monster everyone says you are.” 

Before you could say anything, he fazed through the door leaving you standing in the middle of your desolate office. It felt like a spike was driven through your heart, you never would’ve expected Lucius to say anything like that. Not Lucius, never Lucius.

The pleasure that coursed through your veins previously during the argument had long since fleeted and been replaced with something you vowed to never feel again: regret. Disgust hit you full force as you remembered the delight and satisfaction that filled you at the sight of his fear. Your first and closest friend that stuck with you through thick and thin, his utter fear gave you pleasure. You really were a monster, weren’t you?

A knock sounded at your door, making you jump out of your skin. 

“(Y/n), it’s time for our session.” Dream’s voice sounded through the thick doors. You sighed and looked at your suit, you weren’t even dressed properly. 

“I’m not ready yet, I will be in about five minutes.” Your tone wavered slightly, making you hope that Dream wouldn’t comment on it.

“Is everything alright? I’m coming in.” 

The door opened to reveal Dream wearing his usual lime green hoodie and his signature smiling mask. His curls bounced as he made his way over to you and examined your face. 

“You look like shit,” he mused, “you know, you don’t need that ghost. He’s just been holding you back this entire time.” 

“Well,” you crossed your arms and looked off to the side, “he isn’t in the picture anymore.” 

He was silent for a moment before he walked over to your couch and sat down haphazardly, gesturing for you to do the same. When you did, he hummed, “you know, Lucius isn’t the only one holding you back from your full potential.”

“Who is then?” 

“Schlatt.” 

Schlatt’s name sent ice through your veins, your fingers growing numb and your throat drying up. 

Just as you opened your mouth to object, Dream raised a finger to silence you. “He can’t even run his own country that he claims to be so proud of. In fact, he’s making you do all his dirty work while he gets drunk off his ass, not even recognizing you for your work. Everything you’ll ever do, even if you half ass it, is always going to surpass him at his best... He’s going to fire you soon, you know.”

You felt truly helpless in that moment, “what? He needs me, he-”

“As soon as the war ends, he’s just going to toss you aside just like everyone else in your life has. Just like Philza has, and now just like Quackity, the Badlanders, and Lucius has. But…” 

He turned his head towards you and tilted it slightly. You hesitated before clearing your throat, “but what?” 

“I can help you. I won’t throw you out like you’re a piece of garbage; I’m not a brain dead idiot like they are. I see your potential, and you’re going to absolutely thrive if you accept my help.” 

You narrowed your eyes at him, “...what’s the catch?” 

“Ever the vigilant one; so wary of the world at such a young age, so smart,” he chuckled to himself. “What you have to do is simple, not even a moron like Schlatt could fuck it up. I’ll do all the work here, all you have to do is pledge your undying loyalty to me. Of course, you could stay here,” he released a long sigh, “and waste your potential while simultaneously inevitably getting abandoned, or you could break the cycle by working with me and reaching your full potential; I’ll never abandon you like they all did. Are you in?” 

He stuck his hand out towards you and held it in the air, waiting for you to seal the deal. You stared at it as you contemplated his offer. 

Though the thought of Schlatt throwing you out crushed your heart, you wouldn’t be lying if you said you expected him to do so sooner or later. With his ever growing dependence on alcohol, his judgement has grown increasingly more clouded. The furthest corner of your mind acknowledged that he was going to abandon you sooner or later as the abuse got worse, but your conscious mind refused to even think about him not being in your life. 

Maybe it was time to turn a new leaf, Dream had said that you hadn’t reached your full potential yet and everything here was holding you back. You trusted him, he had proved to be a good mentor and a good person during your training sessions. He proved to genuinely care about you. 

“Well, are you in or not? I’d hate to see such potential get wasted because someone is stuck in the past.” 

You slapped your hand into his and shook it firmly, “I’m in.” 

His mask lifted up slightly as he smiled underneath it. He shook your hand and matched your firmness, “excellent.”

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[valentineforlemonandcherry]

I said I’d be back in a day and it’s now the 27th. I just really wanted to take time to enjoy this 😄. I absolutely love this series. It’s just the perfect combination.

Art’s thoughts made me laugh. I honestly wish she was my pet. And Remus holding onto her because it’s the next best thing to being close to his lovely 🥹I’m looking forward to Remus and my girl talking because the miscommunication!!!! Ahh and Rowan asking that question at the end!!! I believe he cares for my girl a lot, maybe even loves her, so hearing another guy call her ‘loveley’ is conflicting for him.

I’m so looking forward to more! Thank you so much for updating 💗

I saw your reply on the Foxtail & Wolfsbane post and it made me smile. (By the way, I'm honestly not sure how notifications work on here and I don't have a consistent posting schedule, so I'm sorry if my posts slip through somehow.) Thank you for coming back and reading and also for sticking with Foxtail & Wolfsbane for so long! I'm really happy to hear that you liked the latest chapter.

Further reply under the cut (just in case some readers haven't caught up on Foxtail & Wolfsbane yet):

I love the idea that foxes just hate Remus in general. It's probably funnier to me than it should be. Even in the corridor, when Remus is trying to catch Artemis to take her away from where you're/Reader's sleeping, I imagine that very quickly, Artemis isn't even trying to get to you anymore. She's just trying to get the hell away from Remus. Only, Remus misunderstands and doubles down on trying to catch her. Naturally, Artemis becomes increasingly horrified at how determined Remus is at catching her, and so on. I'm sure that at some point, Sirius wonders what's taking Remus so long and comes out and Artemis runs into his arms straightaway. Meanwhile, Remus is now completely exhausted and has devolved into a tired old man who needs to head straight to bed.

I think it's really interesting (at least, for me when I'm writing) to try to imagine what love has become for Rowan, that he finds it easier to reject it. Also, I don't want to say too much, but I think for me, Rowan represents how, when you are feeling uncertain of yourself, every obstacle, even a seemingly small obstacle, that comes your way is capable of throwing you completely off-balance, because you were already unstable to begin with. In my mind, it's an entryway into self-sabotage, where you're nervous and so you mess up, and then you become even more nervous and you almost force yourself to mess up because you feel like you have to react to being nervous, and it becomes so easy to spiral. Anyways, I have no idea if any of the things I just said will make sense to you, but they are some of the things I've been thinking about as I write about Rowan.

Thank you again for taking the time to read my stories! ♥ I appreciate it very, very much.