#i recognize they were awful characters canonically but in MY canon they are perfect so

[reallyrandombigurl]

People who hate all the slytherins/barty/peter are so wild to me

Like??? What do you mean you hate them because they're awful people???? What wild fanfiction have you been reading???

Ohhhh it's that one by that lady named Joanne, isn't it?

Yeah, I hate that one, it's not at all canon compliant and those are the type that I normally like, plus why did she force all the characters who are canonically queer to be straight????

[karuuhnia]

Okay, I doubt anyone’s ever gonna read this, but I just need to write down my thoughts on Good Omens Season 2. (Beware of spoilers) 

The Characters

First of all, I love, love, LOVE the writing and especially the acting of everyone involved! Both Michael Sheen and David Tennant (and everyone else) gave absolutely stunning performances! I also like that the main cast was a lot smaller than in season 1, so everyone had more time to shine. Great choice! (I did however kinda miss God’s narration and meta commentary).

My favourite new character is Muriel by far. She is like Aziraphale's cute, naive, dorky little sister or niece and I had the biggest smile on my face whenever she was on screen! I hope to see more of her in season 3 (which we probably will since she now runs the bookshop).

What I also liked was that Nina and Maggie don’t just magically fall in love in the end. I mean, they barely know each other and Nina is still in a relationship for most of the season. I liked that they even call out Crowley and Aziraphale for trying to force a romance between them instead of treating them like real humans with free will. (Was that a slight call-out to shippers in fandoms? Who knows lol) I hope they'll find love along the way, but I'm glad they were portrayed as realistic human beings.

Gabriel goes from smug, condescending asshole everyone loved to hate to adorkable himbo and I'm all for it! lol I wasn't in the fandom back in the day, but apparently Gabriel x Beelzebub was a popular ship and I can only imagine how happy the fans must be now that it became canon! I didn't see it coming at all, but it played out really well and didn't come across as forced. I just found it a bit funny and sad that these two fell in love and decided to break away from Heaven and Hell to be together in only a couple of years whereas Crowley and Aziraphale haven't managed to do that in more than 6000 years.

Which brings me to...

The Last Episode

We all know the last 20 minutes of episode 6 were absolutely heart-wrenching, but I wouldn't have it any other way! It was the perfect ending/cliffhanger in all regards and both their decisions make perfect sense. I wouldn't have wanted Crowley and Aziraphale to get their happy end at this point in the story because they're simply not there yet, character-wise. 

Also, then a huge plot point and conflict would miss from the final 3rd season. I live for the angst and the drama and I can't wait for satisfying character development and the ultimate, heartfelt conclusion. (Please, Neil! ;__;)

Character Analysis

Crowley: 

The most interesting things for me were the several hints that Crowley used to be a very high-ranking and powerful angel before he fell (maybe Gabriel’s predecessor?). 

In S2-1 Aziraphale already knows who Angel Crowley is and looks at him with awe and admiration. (In German we have the great expression "jemanden anhimmeln" - roughly meaning sth like "to admire someone as if they came from heaven")

Crowley was part of the designer team of the universe and worked together closely with the higher-ups. He was also entrusted with starting the engine of a quadrant.

He is a creator and visionary who loves the stars, the planets, the whole universe and sees the big picture. He also uses critical thinking and encourages others to do the same.

The miracle he performs with Aziraphale to hide Gabriel’s identity is so strong that Heaven thinks the most powerful of Archangels must have done it. Since Aziraphale hides Gabriel from Hell and Crowley hides him from Heaven, but the alarm only goes off in Heaven, we can assume that Crowley had a bigger part in the miracle.

He can somehow deceive other angels from recognizing him as a demon: Gabriel, Michael & Co. in the Ijob episode and later Muriel when she first comes to observe Aziraphale. 

He can change the weather and cause fire or lightning at will.

He still has access to classified files for dominions or above.

He literally brings the guy who was killed by the demon horde back to life like it's nothing.  Short update: Neil recently said that Mr. Brown wasn't actually dead but only held captive during the battle. Well, Crowley at least healed Mr. Brown's injuries and removed his traumatic memories.

He is the only one in a room full of high-ranking angels who recognizes Metatron as what he is.

But it’s also implied that Crowley may have memory loss after he was kicked out of heaven because the angels did to him something similar to what they want to do to Gabriel now.

He doesn't remember working on the universe with Saraqael.

He remembers being in the Great War, but not battling right beside Furfur.

He vaguely remembers discussing gravity with the other angels, but he doesn’t remember why it was a good idea.

He seems to know exactly what the amnestic Gabriel is going through (the empty house metaphor, the physical pain of trying to remember etc.)

Crowley is hiding a huge trauma and it becomes really obvious how hurt and lonely he really is. 

In S1-5 we learn Crowley was tortured by being thrown into a pool of boiling sulfur, just because he dared to ask a few questions and make suggestions. Heaven is cruel beyond all measure! (But because of their chronic lack of communication I doubt Aziraphale knows exactly how much Crowley suffered both physically and mentally.)

At the end of the Ijob episode in season 2 he laughs at the distraught Aziraphale because he knows what it’s really like to have fallen. The thought of someone like Aziraphale going to Hell is ridiculous to him. And he wouldn’t wish something so terrible on anybody anyway, especially not Aziraphale. He knows first hand what Heaven does to “traitors”.

He’s been tortured and kicked out of Heaven, but he doesn’t resent creation itself like the other demons do, quite the contrary. He often goes out of his way to help humans, even if it means punishment from Hell. 

Because both Heaven and Hell are cruel and toxic, he decides he doesn’t want to be on any side in this eternal and pointless conflict. This, of course, leads him on a very, very lonely road.

Maybe this is why he (consciously or unconsciously) latches onto Aziraphale so much: He notices Aziraphale’s own doubts about the heavenly plan really early on. So he constantly encourages him to question his beliefs and own morals. 

I don’t think he does it for overly selfish reasons, he just wants to show someone else that not everything is black and white and that Heaven’s plans are not always as good as they want to come across. But of course he also doesn’t want to be all alone anymore.

Aziraphale:

Aziraphale is, first and foremost, a guardian, a protector. But we can’t forget he is also a warrior and a leader. 

In the beginning he was wielding a flaming sword, in S1-5 he is supposed to lead the heavenly troops into battle, in 1941 we learn he owns and knows how to use a gun. In S1-6 he is willing to shoot the Antichrist (who is in the body of a child I might add!!), but Madame Tracey stops him.

He likes spending his time helping others and indulging in his quirky little hobbies, but if he needs to, he steps up and becomes a leader (e.g. the stand-off in S2-6 when the demons and angels shout at each other and he takes control of the situation).

Aziraphale embodies many positive core values: Love, loyalty, politeness, kindness, forgiveness - which sometimes lets him come across as naive. He is also a big people pleaser. 

In Season 2 we once again see how much Aziraphale values and loves humanity (more than we deserve tbh). His heart is so big and full of love for them. He is his best self when he can do good for humans and he thrives off it. The thought of innocent people, especially children dying is really the only thing that ever convinces him to go against Heaven’s rules/orders (seen in the entirety of season 1 and in season 2 in the Ijob and graverobber episodes). 

But because of these core values he sometimes acts pretty holier-than-thou and hypocritical: He tends to try to make others do the dirty work so that he can wash his hands of responsibility.

We also learn that he sometimes abuses his heavenly powers to get what he wants. I mean, organizing a ball itself is a very wholesome idea, but he literally manipulates everyone’s clothes, feelings and behaviours, making them do or feel things they wouldn’t normally do in this situation. Nina is the one affected by this the most: She just got dumped and is sad and angry, but Aziraphale’s magic doesn’t allow her to feel those very valid emotions. He only means to do good, but ultimately he forces his will on the participants of the ball. And he doesn’t even realize it! This is not okay. 

There is this one very meaningful line in Season 1 where Aziraphale says: "You go too fast for me, Crowley". And it really shows in every aspect of his personality and character design. 

Aziraphale always wears similar, familiar clothes and barely changes his hairstyle over the centuries. Crowley on the other hand looks completely different in each time period we see him. Crowley lives in the present, goes with the time, Aziraphale lives in the past, can’t catch up. 

No matter how often Heaven disappoints and mistreats him, he still desperately clings to the idea that their plans and institution are good at their core. Even after more than 6000 years Aziraphale is still so obsessed with the idea of good vs. evil, Heaven vs. Hell and to an extent even Aziraphale vs. Crowley. Yes, the two have become visibly closer and more familiar with each other since season 1, but Aziraphale still thinks in the good side vs. the bad side ("my people" vs. "your people", “Of course you said no to Hell, you [not “THEY”!!] are the bad guys!”) absolute, whereas Crowley has distanced himself from both sides long ago and only wants to be with Aziraphale.

Besides their lack of communication this is their biggest problem: Aziraphale can’t accept Crowley for what he is - or is not anymore. 

First there is some sort of resentment and caution towards this fallen angel, of course. But Aziraphale wouldn’t be Aziraphale if his big loving heart held onto those feelings for long. He quickly sees that Crowley isn’t purely evil as demons are supposed to be. He likes and WANTS to see the good in everything and everyone.

Aziraphale begins to enjoy Crowley’s company over the centuries and eventually trusts him completely. But due to his indoctrination by Heaven he still unconsciously believes that Crowley, as an evil demon, is beneath him, Aziraphale, who is a righteous and morally superior angel. And while he has compassion and sympathy for Crowley and his terrible fate - he also somewhat pities him. (And being pitied is certainly nothing Crowley wants.)

This is the reason he is so incredibly happy about the thought that he could give Crowley his angel status back. As sad as it is to see how little Aziraphale understands Crowley after all those millenia, it feels completely in-character why he wants Crowley to be an angel again. He sees that there is still so much good left of the former angel he admired so much. He witnessed how brilliant Crowley used to be, an angel who loved creating and gazed at the universe with such exaltation. How happy he was, how bright, how enthusiastic in what he was doing! 

This plays right into Metatron’s hands in the last episode. 

Early in the season Crowley is offered a huge promotion in Hell if he finds Gabriel. And Crowley doesn’t even consider it for a single second - even though he hates Gabriel (He still clearly remembers the "Shut your stupid mouth and die" and all the other horrible things). When Aziraphale is offered the new position as Supreme Archangel he hesitates at first, but as soon as Metatron suggests reinstating Crowley to angelic status, he agrees in delight. Aziraphale thinks now they wouldn't have to be separated, they could even be together officially and it wouldn’t be reprehensible anymore because they’d now both be angels, both on the “good” side. They’d finally be equals and could even do good together, change the system.

So of course, from Aziraphale’s perspective, making Crowley an angel again would solve all of their problems (or what he perceives as problems). He, Aziraphale, wouldn't have to have a bad conscience anymore for spending time with someone who should be a mortal enemy. He could finally “fix” Crowley, make him truly good again. But of course it backfires horribly.

Their relationship:

As much as I loved the funny banter, the wholesome and adorable slice-of-life moments, this season made one thing really obvious to me: There is a big power-imbalance (for the lack of a better word) between them in their relationship. 

As far as we've seen, Crowley is almost always the one who gives, Aziraphale is almost always the one who takes. When Aziraphale wants something (e.g. protect Gabriel, take the Bentley to Edinburgh, have Crowley take care of the bookshop in his absence, organize a dance etc.), Crowley initially refuses - but in the end always gives in to what Aziraphale wants. 

Aziraphale is very outgoing, has a whole little community with the vendors in his street, actively mingles with humans and has hobbies (reading, collecting books, eating at fine restaurants, listening to music, practicing magic, going on little detective adventures etc.). What I’m saying is: Aziraphale has a life for himself, even after becoming a persona-non-grata in Heaven.

Crowley on the other hand... He either goes along with what Aziraphale does/wants or sleeps in his car (and takes care of his plants I guess). That's pretty much it. He doesn’t get any new tasks from Hell and only communicates with Shax on occasion when she brings him his mail or random news. He is so isolated from Hell, Heaven and Earth that literally his only reason for existing at this point seems to be Aziraphale. He practically has no ambitions or life of his own. Aziraphale always lets Crowley be his rescuer because it makes Crowley happy. But isn’t it sad that Crowley is only ever happy when he can protect and be around Aziraphale? Crowley’s whole life revolves around him and nothing else. This is not healthy!

Think back to season 1 when the bookshop burns down and Crowley thinks he’s lost Aziraphale forever. He is a mess, he screams and cries and breaks down. It was only for a couple of hours, but he’s experienced what a life without his one true friend is like and the loss hits him so hard, it hurts even us as an audience! 

And the worst thing: I don't think either of them really notice all that - because they don't TALK! Nina and Maggie were so right: The two idiots never really talk to each other about their true thoughts and feelings. 

There is so much miscommunication and misunderstanding of each other's needs because of that:

Aziraphale is internally conflicted about what he wants (be a good angel of Heaven vs. be with the enemy, an "evil" demon).

Crowley knows exactly what he wants (to be with and ONLY with Aziraphale), but he can’t muster up the courage to say it. After all, the last time he spoke freely about his thoughts, he was branded a traitor, tortured and cast out by Heaven.

So they constantly fail to find a solution that both of them are happy with:

Both in Season 1 and 2 Crowley asks Aziraphale to leave everything behind and run away with him, not acknowledging Aziraphale's undying love for and loyalty to humankind. And he gets rejected for it both times.

In S2-6 Aziraphale asks Crowley to come to Heaven with him, not acknowledging how Heaven has hurt Crowley, not accepting him for who he is. Instead he wants to fix him. Over the years he has also become so used to Crowley always being there for him, he takes his help for granted. So when Crowley actually stands his ground for once and refuses to do what Aziraphale wants, it shocks Aziraphale to his core. He’s never been rejected like that.

They aren’t humans, they are both ageless, sex- and genderless, asexual, otherworldly beings, so human relationship standards don’t apply to them. We can also see that in Gabriel’s and Beelzebubs relationship. Their love is something emotional, not physical. They don’t kiss or even hug, they just look at each other and sing "Everyday" - their personal love song - before they go off together. 

Crowley and Aziraphale have spent so much time away from Heaven and Hell and lead almost human-like lives on Earth. So in a desperate, last ditch effort Crowley chooses to show his emotions in a very physical, human way, a way that beings like them wouldn’t normally do. But it’s his very last chance to make Aziraphale understand. So he kisses him. It’s an angry, sad, messy, utterly unpleasant kiss, it’s painful to look at. 

Aziraphale doesn’t kiss back, his hands are erratic. He is so torn. His heart and his brain tell him two different things. He needs Crowley, but Crowley refuses to come to Heaven with him. 

And what is the first thing that comes to Aziraphale’s mind after the kiss? “I forgive you!” Because that’s what he’s good at, right? Forgiveness. He told Maggie that in the first episode of the season. I don’t know what exactly he wants to forgive and I’m not sure he knows himself. 

When they part they’re both in emotional agony, they both feel betrayed. Crowley storms out, but still waits outside his car. He still has this tiny bit of hope left that Aziraphale will come with him after all. He only gets in and drives off once he sees the doors to Heaven close behind Aziraphale and Metatron.

Metatron’s plan

I read some theories that Metatron poisoned Aziraphale’s coffee, but I really, REALLY hope that this isn’t true. It would take away all the gravity of Aziraphale’s decision if he is just drugged to go along with Metatron and comes to his senses once the drug wears off. That would be boring and lame!

I also don’t think that Crowley and Aziraphale switch appearances again as they did in Season 1: Clearly Metatron would be able to see through the disguise, he is much more powerful than the angels after all.

No, I think Metatron cleverly manipulates Aziraphale by giving him the opportunity (or rather the illusion thereof) to make changes in Heaven with Crowley at his side. Aziraphale is so convinced that Crowley would be full of joy and gratitude at the prospect of becoming an angel again. He once again fails to understand that this is the exact opposite of what Crowley wants.

Metatron on the other hand appears to know Crowley much better in that regard. He remembers how powerful Crowley is and how far he fell for asking the wrong questions. He loathes Crowley and would never want him in a position of power in Heaven ever again. So from the outset Metatron knows that Crowley would not agree to become an angel again, that’s why he makes that specific offer to Aziraphale in the first place. It’s his clever way to make the two fall out with each other, to separate them and still win Aziraphale over for his plan.

I just wonder what his real goal is here. Michael or Uriel seem like a much more logical choice for Supreme Archangel if he really only wants to go through with the next Armageddon. That can’t be everything, right? He knows that Aziraphale actively worked on preventing the first Armageddon. Why would he think Aziraphale would now be on board for the second one? Metatron can’t underestimate Aziraphale that much, right? He’s way too cunning to believe that Aziraphale is weak-minded and gullible.

I mean, I’m not too versed in religious mythology, but doesn’t the Second Coming of Christ mean Judgement Day and that God’s kingdom takes over the world after smiting all enemies? That doesn’t sound like something Aziraphale wants (especially the smiting of all enemies which would include Crowley). So why does he still agree to go with Metatron after learning about this??? 

Does Aziraphale think he can outsmart Metatron and all the other high-ranking angels and avert the end of the world when he’s in a position of power? I mean, he is intelligent, he must have a plan after hearing about the Second Coming, right? That would at least somewhat explain his very weird and uncanny smile during the credit roll. I just don’t know what to think about all this.

My best guess is that Aziraphale will first try to undermine Metatron and speak to the Almighty Themselves (something he already wanted to do in season 1 but was denied), and also to make positive reforms in Heaven. But Metatron sees this coming of course. To make Aziraphale his obedient puppet he will simply threaten to erase Crowley from the Book of Life should Aziraphale ever dare to step out of line.

Crowley never told Aziraphale about what he and Muriel found out in Heaven - that Michael & Co. were actively planning Armageddon 2.0 before Gabriel went renegade. But now Crowley can’t do anything to help prevent it because he knows that Aziraphale is completely at Metatron’s mercy.

I’m dying to see how this will all play out, but at this moment I’m just confused and unsure about all of this. 

So what do I want/expect from season 3?

I want Crowley to overcome his trauma, his pain, his trust issues, all the rejection and loss he faced. I want him to be able to be himself: Free, loved, respected, cared for, accepted. I want him to live a happy life with, but not live FOR Aziraphale. I want him to make other meaningful connections. Maybe with Muriel? She is the only other kind and good-hearted angel we see in the show and a friendship would benefit both of them greatly in my opinion. 

I want Aziraphale to fight for Crowley, to protect him for once. When they meet again I want him to do the stupid apology dance for three hours. I want him to finally accept Crowley as his best friend, his soulmate, his true love, his equal. I want him to take Crowley’s glasses off, look him in the eyes and then be the one to lean in for a kiss. A kiss that isn’t forceful and desperate, but heartfelt and genuine.

As for the plot of season 3… I’d really like to see a flashback of the often mentioned Great War between the angels and soon-to-be-demons. I’d also like characters from season 1 to make a cameo appearance if possible. Apart from that I don’t have any predictions or big ideas (as I said before, still very confused about Metatron’s plan). 

I will put my faith in Neil Gaiman and Wait and See (TM) what he ultimately comes up with. :’)

[anneapocalypse]

rvb fandom for the choose violence ask game! 1, 12, 17, and 24.

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

Obligatory disclaimer that I'm a few years out of the loop on RvB fandom at this point, so take anything I say about "the fandom" with that in mind, and a huge grain of salt.

1. the character everyone gets wrong

I freely admit that I've always been brutally picky about depictions of Carolina, and I think I've griped about most facets of that in one meta post or another over the years! There was the Freelancer-era hate for her of course, writing her off as caring about winning above all else and ignoring her demonstrated concern for her team members (something even later seasons seemed to forget happened), the awful bitch who broke precious perfect York's heart, etc etc but there was also a sort of overcompensation that happened later, where people liked Carolina and wanted to portray her sympathetically but seemed to struggle to reconcile that with the fact that she is, in fact, prickly and difficult a lot of the time! So you'd get these sort of smoothed-over versions of Freelancer and present-day season 10 Carolina that were certainly well-intentioned, but still, for me, kind of off-base in terms of who the character actually is.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Since I just talked about Carolina, and since I think she is in fact fairly well-liked these days as female RvB characters go, I will say instead that Kimball is a wonderful, complex character who deserves so much love always and forever. I don't think Kimball is unpopular in the sense of being hated, but more in the sense of having fallen out of relevance in recent canon and becoming, along with the entirety of the Chorus arc, tragically overlooked.

My hottest take about Kimball, I guess, is that for a lot of season 13's conflicts, she is objectively right and Doyle is wrong. The arc she has to go on in season 13 isn't realizing that Doyle is right about combat strategy (if you listen to what he's actually suggesting, his ideas are almost universally terrible) but recognizing that he, as an individual person, is not responsible for what happened to Chorus or to her people, that most of the surviving Feds are inheritors of the conflict rather than instigators of it, that the people they were originally rebelling against are all dead, and that working together to fight back against Charon is Chorus's only hope for survival. Flattening that into "both sides are wrong" is kind of insulting to Kimball and I think misrepresents the nature of the conflict. Also, I think her season 12 characterization is so important and everything she does in 13 needs to be read in light of that. Her greatest strength is the faith she has in people.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

More love for Chorus in general!

24. topic that brings up the most rancid discourse

Mental illness headcanons as a cover for "my fave is the best/woobiest/poorest little meow meow and your fave sucks and is an abuser/war criminal" slapfights. (Please note I am not saying mental illness headcanons are bad in and of themselves, just that I've seen them tangled up in so much terrible discourse over the years.) If there's one thing I can confidently say about RvB, it's that everyone's a war criminal and they all have PTSD and are wet and sad. Let's move on with our lives.

[genork-the-fandork]

Hero

Word Count: 738

Prompt: "Survival"

Featured Characters: Minoru Hinata & Falcomon

A/N: I mentioned this scene in the drabble for yesterday, but Minoru finding that suspicious mushroom popped into my head when I thought about this prompt. So why not follow Takuma with Minoru? That was the logic, haha. Theoretically, this little snippet takes place between Parts 2 and 3, if I'm following canon logic (and I guess I was). It shouldn't be too spoilery, but here's a warning just in case!

@surviveweek

Minoru lay spread-eagle on the floor of the classroom, staring at the ceiling. The peaceful—if slightly nervous—breathing of everyone around him should have been enough to lull him to sleep. Unfortunately, his thoughts were much louder inside his skull than Shuuji's snoring. And boy, were the gears turning tonight. The faint strains of moonlight shining in through the window couldn't even distract him from his thoughts.

Okay. Minus Kaito and Miu, they had just about everyone that was at the shrine. They still had no clue if the Professor was okay, but they weren't risking the fog, not with the way Falcomon and the others stayed away from it. And after they saw how it got to Fangmon, well… they definitely weren't risking that.

So what was next? How were they going to get through this without the only real adult supervision they'd had? Shuuji seemed to be having a hard time accepting he was the oldest—he had a similar expression to Ryo about all of this.

Ugh. It was getting stuffy in here. Minoru rolled onto his side and pushed himself into a sitting position. He needed some fresh air. And less snoring.

He tiptoed out of the room, trying his best not to step on or disturb the other boys. In a way, he was glad Saki made such a fuss about her and Aoi sleeping in a different room. Less people to step over if he had to pee. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he stepped down the hall and went down the stairs. The floorboards creaked a little under his feet, but he tried his best not to make too much noise. Minoru really didn't need to be yelled at tonight.

Outside held an entirely different atmosphere. If you ignored the possibility of some dangerous monster lurking in the woods, it was almost peaceful. The moonlight lit up the springy grass around the rundown school, dispelling most of the creepy shadows. Plus, no snoring and no stuffy air of a bunch of sweaty boys. Perfect for some thinking.

Minoru plopped down on the grass, releasing a breath. Most of the tension in his chest drained out, but he still felt a knot of apprehension. Yesterday had put everything into a lot more perspective than even the incident with Dokugumon. Then, he and Takuma and Ryo had been able to work together, and they'd even had Labramon to help out. Dokugumon hadn't been all that smart, just tough. Fangmon, though, was a different story. Tough as nails and intelligent. He'd known exactly what he was doing. If there were monsters like that willing to go after them, they were in trouble. And he wasn't sure if Falcomon's new evolution into Diatrymon would be enough next time.

No, he wasn't going to be all doom and gloom about this. The group had enough of that with Ryo's panicking. He had to stay strong. Breaking down wasn't going to get them out of this.

"Minoru?"

"Hey, Falcomon," Minoru ventured, recognizing the voice even before he turned his head. "Couldn't sleep either?"

"I heard you leave and wanted to make sure you were alright." Falcomon lowered himself so he was sitting as well. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, I was just thinking." He looked out toward the forest again. "I really wanna make sure everyone gets out of this alive, y'know?"

"Yes, that's understandable." The bird peered up at him surreptitiously. "You don't have to do so on your own."

"Aw, I know that. I've got you and Takuma on my side." Minoru grinned and wrapped his arm around his partner, hugging him. His expression fell into a softer, more pensive smile. "I just hope that will be enough."

Falcomon leaned his beak into Minoru's chest, the best reciprocation of a hug he could muster, considering they were sitting. "It will be."

"Of course it will." Minoru masked his worry, as he always did, by spreading his arms out and kicking his legs up. "I'm a hero, after all! And heroes can do anything!"

The creature beside him chuckled, and though his beak lacked the necessary structure to form a smile, he seemed to be doing so. "I certainly believe in you, Minoru."

"You know what else heroes need? A good night's sleep! Let's go, Falcomon." Minoru leaped to his feet, leading his partner back inside for some much needed rest. He couldn't be a hero without sleep!

[valleyfthdolls]

talk to me about fnaf. tell me your headcanons

Okay, let’s see.

I do and will continue to until explicitly disproven believe that Cassidy was the victim of the bite of ‘83. This theory isn’t one I like to debate because people are SO awful about me not taking MatPat’s word as law but if you’re curious about why I believe the tag where I keep my fnaf interpretations is #story interpretation. I briefly went over the theory in that post, though certain parts of it are outdated nowadays as it’s been confirmed by the character guide that it was the crying child having nightmares, not the older brother/Michael Afton as I’d theorized. I guess I’ll have to file that away under theories that I can’t really believe anymore but still like to think and talk about along with my 2021 “Gregory and Vanny will be revealed to be brother and sister” theory which I still use for canon divergent AU fics. Also, if you’re interested in the Cassidy theory I could talk a little bit more about it, or if you’d like to share your interpretation of the crying child’s fate and identity I would be free to listen.

I imagine that the trauma the crying child witnessed was likely Elizabeth’s death. I think I touched on this in my fnaf 4 interpretation post, but it makes a lot about the family dynamic fall into place. Seeing Baby brutally kill his sister would be enough to traumatize him severely enough that he spends his days in mourning, emotionally overwhelmed and hurt enough to be reduced to tears at the slightest provocation. It explains the constant fear he holds as well, especially of the animatronics- again, he watched one of them violently grab his sister, pull her inside it, and crush her to death. He wouldn’t then be scared of the characters, but just the robots, which is a perfect 1:1 for his behavior in game. At the same time, Michael has just lost his sister, and his brother has become an emotional wreck. Having learned shitty behaviors from their abusive father, Michael projects his grief into frustration with his brother, and channels that frustration into bullying him. It’s absolutely not okay, but at the same time there’s a clear way to track how he became so mean. It went completely unchecked as well because their dad literally does not pay attention to them (????? What is his deal) so it just kept getting worse.

I imagine Elizabeth died in 1983, and this is relevant because I think that if she died in ‘83 and was reported missing, Sister Location could then be 1990. Seven years after Elizabeth went missing without any trace she would be declared dead, and that would be the perfect way to lead into Michael being sent to find her.

As for simpler headcanons:

I believe that the pigtail girl from FNaF 4 was one of the missing children. Does this make a lot of sense? Not really, no. But I somehow ended up thinking of her as the spirit of Foxy. (Again, doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand how this happened.) I suppose given she makes up rumors about the animatronics being haunted killers and deaths being covered up, rumors which would eventually turn out to be far more real than she could have imagined, I feel like that foreshadowing her eventual death at the restaurant would work really well.

I don’t think the animatronics were ever actually capable of walking. If you look at animatronics like the Rock-afire Explosion, Chuck E. Cheese and Mr. Munch’s Make-Believe Band or the Circus World Jamboree, really any of those types of bands (forgive me for being a fucking dweeb with a special interest in these things)? They… well, they can’t walk. Mobility ends at the waist. So here’s what I propose. The full bodied animatronics never had functional legs, and only could “walk” when worn as springlock suits. However, after the missing children disappeared, the animatronics became more mobile, specifically in the legs. The company just lied about it, the same way it’s been theorized since FNaF 2 that they lied about the animatronics having facial recognition software.

Vanny isn’t actually possessed or mind controlled. Glitchtrap isn’t in her head, rather an outside force manipulating her. The suit is a cover up, a mask that simply distances her from what she’s doing. It’s not me, it’s Vanny. It’s Glitchtrap. I am not myself. She absolutely is. She just does it to protect her mental state from her own actions.

But y’know who is possessed? Glamrock Freddy.

By Michael Afton specifically.

I imagine that each animatronic character has a different personality. Usually the shows and songs hinge on the characters interacting with each other, so I figure each character has their own personality. Freddy is kind but very easily driven to annoyance by his band’s absurdity, Chica is always energetic and coming up with some new idea, Bonnie is just happy to be there and goes along with all of Chica’s bad ideas while Freddy tries to reel them in, and Foxy is elusive, arrogant, brash and outlandish.

Although, these core personalities are switched around during different eras of the band. In 1987, Toy Foxy was kinder, taking on the role of a pirate captain who was always looking for more recruits. She encouraged her bandmates’ antics on account of it being what a true pirate would do, and Toy Freddy would have to talk sense into everyone, but was much more sarcastic about it- think 1970s-early 80s Chuck E. Cheese. Over time, the edge was softened on each character, leading to the Glamrocks. Glamrock Freddy is friendly and kind, looking out for his bandmates and having to remind them what’s important every time they start something new and ultimately stupid. Roxy, derived from Foxy’s personality, is competitive, brash and loud, but a good sport and always cheering her friends on. Glamrock Chica is really only interested in food, and tends to laugh off her friends’ antics. Monty is excitable and loves to compete and work with Roxy, but just like Bonnie, is just happy to be there.

The Puppet is a Jack-in-the-box, and stays dormant until she is manually turned on by turning a hand crank on her gift box that plays pop goes the weasel until she comes out. Then a child can select a prize and she gives it to them. Originally, the music box was a “warning” of sorts for her security checks, and she was designed to be scary enough to deter kids from trying to leave before they were supposed to, but not necessarily disturbing.

Golden Freddy doesn’t physically exist. I don’t know how to elaborate on this headcanon.

Elizabeth Afton has what would best be described as developing BPD. This is a headcanon I can’t really explain aside from that I have BPD and she reminds me of my young self. In the fan comic BlueyCapsules, which I haven’t checked in on in a while now, it’s actually a common headcanon to my knowledge that she (age 13) has BPD as she shows very realistic symptoms of it as a result of her trauma. Which is generally how BPD forms, especially through childhood abuse or neglect, which is also, kinda perfect for Lizzie who grew up emotionally neglected and abused by her dad.

Charlie being initially referred to as male (the minigame telling you to “S A V E H I M”) and then being switched to female (Henry calling her “my daughter”) is likely a retcon and probably the retcon that Scott Cawthon was talking about when he said he’s only ever retconned one thing in FNaF lore. I doubt that’s true, but this is probably the only one he’ll acknowledge. However, I think Charlie is a trans girl.

Shadow Freddy has been said to have been born out of William’s malice. In that case, I think Shadow Bonnie was probably born from the children’s agony. This is why Shadow Freddy leads the children to William and Shadow Bonnie helps save their souls. William wants them to confront him, and the kids want to move on.

I do not believe Vanny and Vanessa are the same person. I don’t think Steel Wool and Scott Cawthon know what the fuck they’re doing with that, to be completely honest as they’ve backed themselves into a corner with contradicting evidence and any solution would either be absolutely awful or retconning something. I think the best way around it is that Vanny is committing identity theft and framing Vanessa, or to go deeper, Vanessa is directly tied to Glitchtrap’s plans and being manipulated by Vanny by his orders, but she herself has no malicious intent and doesn’t want to hurt anyone.

This is going to sound stupid to say but Michael Afton strikes me as goth. I stand by my post where I said he listens to gothic rock. It just fits him really well.

[llycaons]

Section Four: Part XI

In another life: modern AUs - no magic

*giant mancala* by astrolesbian

summary: uh oh! wwx, jc, and jzx get locked in the basement the day before the xuanli wedding! they proceed to get smashed. family bonding ensues. I just love this fic - very funny and heartwarming work issues: none author issues: has written genderbends

A Temporary Fix by bosgood

summary: wen qing, wen ning, and wwx are living paycheck to paycheck and on the run from us immigration authorities, who will deport them to face death if they’re discovered. wq pov, and not long, but a harrowing and painful journey, especially when they run into a familiar face while seeking medical care. this fic is devastating, but it’s really well-done, it does not end on as depressing a note it could have, and it’s not without its moments of levity and humor work issues: none author issues: jl/lsz

*Unstrictly Ballroom by Ariaste

summary: WOW. professional dancing AU. lwj reunites with wwx after 13 years away from the scene and they embark on a quest to challenge heteronormative dance regulations. the characterizations are good! the writing flows well and is funny. the juniors are really a delight, jc is great except he’s maybe too heroic, and wq is a bit too mean :( also we never saw jyl which bummed me out. but mianmian had a really prominent role, and I loved how they incorporated sl and xxc wwx is well characterized as a wonderful but not perfect teacher, and someone who masks constantly to avoid letting his true feelings or wants be heard. maybe a little more insecure than I’d like. lwj is correctly portrayed as an intense, obsessive, harshly disciplined professional who cares about doing right. however in the flashback part in his early 20s he was totally normal about stripping which I really don’t think would be faithful to his rigid, judgemental, traditional outlook as a younger man the drawn-out miscommunication plot is really annoying but their dynamic and chemistry is so good and the final scene is such a brilliant amalgamation of the setting and canon themes and characterizations. really blew my expectations out of the water and definitely worth reading. either canon work issues: the issues with the drunk kissing scene were not as well examined as I would have liked but it was whatever author issues: xiyao, jl/lsz

*strangers on the shore by seularen

summary: a super fun cold war-era spy fic where wwx and lwj, together and on the run, have to outmaneuver a nefarious blackmailer! on the ocean! not quite a modern AU, but close enough. switches between jyl pov and wwx’s. all the characterizations were excellent, especially lwj. special shoutout to this jyl, too - she’s personable, kind, bright, protective, daring, sneaky, and very human. the wx was really lovely. I enjoyed the drama and interpersonal tension and secret identities and intrigue, and the way relationship dynamics mirrored canon was very impressive. extremely well researched, and not really taking the side of any country, but instead exploring the people and philosophies behind the conflict, and the injustices all government commit. all the espionage in this fic is really for the safety of the characters, not to benefit any government. there is some violence but really not as much as the tags make it sound. easily one of the best fics that actually confronts societal homophobia and how it would impact a wwx who knows he’s into men and knows that’s dangerous for his family. not ignoring homophobia, but recognizing it without making it gratuitous unfortunately the jc in this one is awful. just really disrespectful and ‘jokingly’ homophobic and he’s never called on it and he never apologized and I hate him, but him and wwx work together for some action scenes. and I think the writing also got a little away form the author at certain points, because the pacing got weird at the end and events seemed disconnected, and I could never tell where anyone was, country-wise. it was a bit confusing. still a satisfying finale, though! work issues: none author issues: none

你吃饭没有 / have you eaten? by heuheu_the_goose

summary: so lwj hasn’t seen wwx in almost a year, and neither has anybody else. he’s still in touch with some of his friends, but hasn’t contacted lwj once in all that time. why did he vanish? where has he been? is he okay? what was their relationship before he disappeared? what happened between them? and will lan wangji ever be able to speak to speak to him again? this modern AU has lovely characterizations - it's about recovery from grief, and the expression of love through food, with a well-written trans lwj. the mystery is fun in the first few chapters but I think it spends far too little time on actually dealing with grief and too much time getting really elaborate on the minutiae of self-analysis and guilt and ‘he’s going to hate me!!! he should hate me!!! which gets tiresome. it’s overall nice, and I liked it a lot, but it wasn’t quite as magical or romantic towards the end as I would have liked. the wq and a-yuan were really great though, as well as the lwj and wwx. work issues: none author issues: none

on your marks, get set, bake! by BlackWiresOnHerHead

summary: if you don’t already like great british bakeoff, you probably won’t enjoy this fic. but I watch gbbo and I am just floored by how accurate this fic is to the show in terms of structure, dialogue, judging, tone, atmosphere, and food. a bit ooc by necessity, but not too much. mostly a lighthearted, funny, and engaging work depicting the characters we all know and love competing in this baking competition, with a satisfying conclusion. half of the fic is the juniors watching the show from the future and getting super invested, but I think that section is bad so I skip it. also there is wx at the very end, but I find the lwj and the romance very dull and forgettable, even cringe work issues: wwx (the juniors’ RA at college) just loves calling himself their mom. super fucking annoying author issues: well. see above

An Ache Like This by sofriel

summary: trans wangxian! fic starts with lwj mourning his mother and follows him through his childhood and young adulthood. it skips through years and arcs and ends at a really tender postcanon get-together scene work issues: none author issues: none

Everything You Wanted to Find by brooklinegirl

summary: wwx and lwj visit the jiangs as a couple and things are good! it’s a sweet fic, I thought the character dynamics were all very natural and I enjoyed it a lot work issues: none author issues: age gaps, lsz/jl, and sex pollen

*and after all…by BlackWiresOnHerHead

summary: a funny little oneshot where characters keep trying to play wonderwall and other characters get mad and interrupt them before they can finish. that’s it. wangxian are cute. jyl is horny for her boyfriend. nhs is secretly a menace. jc is clowned upon. it’s good fun. note: this work uses the term ‘chengxian’ in the tags to refer to wwx and jc’s platonic sibling relationship work issues none author issues:: genderbends, wwx calling himself a mom

varied my velocities by fantasiavii

summary: ballet dancer lwj and soccer player wwx. lwj is gnc and works through internalized homophobia exacerbated by other members of the ballet community. emotionally powerful and clearly written out of personal experience, so I both cried and learned a lot about ballet as an art form lwj’s issues here are rather specific to ballet, so he feels somewhat disconnected from his canon character. and wwx isn’t quite ooc, but he’s rather generic and nothing jumps out about him that the reader would recognize as wwx without being told. it read almost as original fiction, and therefore I found the chemistry rather lacking because I didn’t feel like I knew the characters. but it’s a good story nonetheless lwj is a sub in this and it’s actually explored quite thoughtfully and beautifully as an important part of his identity work issues: none author issues: none

My Heart’s Desire by phnelt

summary: established relationship. either canon. a funny and sweet little fic about lwj taking a shot at some jin event and getting drunk and trying to steal a painting and wwx wrangling him to take him home. really funny! I love how judgemental wwx is about the jins work issues: none author issues: has written genderbends, cnc, A/B/O, and sex pollen

the whole day alone with you by fantasiavii

summary: hurt/comfort oneshot - wwx is trans and having a bad period. a very loving little fic written by a trans author work issues: none author issues: none

merry christmas ya filthy animal by belovedmuerto

summary: jzx pov! he, jyl, and their baby fly from china to california to spend the holidays with wwx, lwj, and their baby. jzx is endearingly awkward in this fic and he clearly loves his family so much. it’s funny to watch him and lwj vibing without needing to talk while their respective spouses carry the conversation, and the writing for the babies was really cute work issues: it described wwx as a gremlin and make him kind of annoying and immature, but not to the point where it ruined the fic. also, wwx and lwj start celebrating christmas here, which I don’t love, but they’re taking it as a family holiday/tradition for themselves rather than a religious event. since this is modern AU and set in the usa, I can see it. my roommate did the same thing author issues: none

the thought of us seems wholly make-believe by fensandmarshes

summary: very short, very fun oneshot where wwx, jc, lwj, and some others play dnd. jc gets mad. it’s hilarious work issues: none author issues: none

Back to Start

[call-sign-shark]

After my busy weekend, I'm back and read this? I wasn't expecting little Heaven to be the character who intervenes so this is a touching and wonderful surprise. I am tearing, Lee! I don't even know where to begin.

To begin with, I am absolutely fond of the way you describe Arthur's coming back to his senses thanks to his wife's voice, who immediately runs to him and grabs his face. Despite the whole horror of the scene, this is such a soft move. The way you wrote their short interaction brings out the genuine and strong love they have for each other. My favorite bits of this passage is how she manages to anchor him to reality with making him focus on the blood of his hands. "My hands?" Arthur asked, looking down at them as though he didn't recognize them." This is such a powerful and heartwrenching moment that illustrates how sometimes his trauma leads him to blackout. The end of this soft moment between Arthur and Heaven is as gripping as the rest of the story. Your portrayal of Arthur, obeying like a child "who badly needed guidance" is just perfect and canon-compliant. The same goes for using his PTDS. The unsettling and anxiety-inducing scene is rendered even more thrilling with poor Mrs.Shelby thanking her in the background, terrified and relieved at the same time. But we all knew that this relief was only temporary. 😈

One of the many genius ideas of this sequel is how you use Heaven's features and quietness to create a fake sense of safety. What I mean is that, even if I knew it was a dark fic, I almost believed her intentions were good at one point. The little walk in the wonderful garden under the moonlight creates an eerie but almost reassuring setting. No wonder why the poor Mrs. Shelby's guard was down. Also, I must quote this line: "She could see why Arthur was so taken with his bride and she could only hope Tommy would still be as infatuated with her years into their marriage." What an accurate and incredible understanding of Heaven and Arthur's relationship. The mention of Mrs. Shelby hoping for Tommy to look at her the same way after years of marriage is such a cool addition. The conversation that follows also gives a feeling of peace while, I don't know how you can do this, still manages to instill the feeling that someone is not quite right. I think what gave me the chills was how her voice turned cold and far off. The moment she grabbed the pruning shears I knew it was over for Mrs. Shelby.

First thing: WHAT A CRUEL AND GRUESOME TOOL TO STAB SOMEONE. As a horror aficionado, I LOVE the idea. This is also such a wonderful reference to the chapter in which she murdered Hughes' colleague with a pair of scissors. I don't know if it was intended but still! The scene broke my heart 'cause Mrs.Shelby sincerely wanted to know how to make things better with the family. "she turned to look at the only person to show her kindness all evening." Aouch my heart! The betrayal is strong here. Moreover, the reason behind the stabbing, to protect Arthur, is SO Heaven coded and perfect I am squealing, Lee! You're a freakin' genius, I feel you write her better than me!! I winced so bad when she twisted the scissors inside -- this is extremely cruel. Paired with the kiss on the cheek, it's even more terrifying. There was something obviously horrific with Arthur holding a bloody axe, but the sight of an innocent-seeming person committing such awful acts is the worst 'cause anticipating the threat was literally impossible for Mrs. Shelby.

Now, in my mind, Mrs. Shelby manages to survive but never go back to Arrow House nor to Tommy anymore --

Now Lee, I know this is a huuuge and love comment, so I'm going to stop rambling. But thank you so much for writing such an incredible piece of work featuring Heaven. It means the world to me and I'll keep rereading it constantly. Besides the touching gift of using Heaven, this is a terrific tale you've offered us here. You are really mastering all the codes of the horror genre!! Thank you again, darling, I am stunned. 🖤🖤

Heaven Shelby/Garden/Pruning Shears

Requested by @raincoffeeandfandoms for my 2K celebration An Evening at Arrow House.

Author's Note: Read Part 1 with Arthur here. Heaven Shelby (Arthur's wife) is an OC belonging to @call-sign-shark.

As Arthur raised the axe high above his head, Mrs. Shelby closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable, the scream she wished to release caught in her throat. She could feel the warmth of his hatred and body heat radiating over her in equal measure when the sharp click of high heels could be heard approaching, halting his movements.

"Cheri, where are you?” a gentle voice floated through the darkness of the cellar. The soft lilt sounded like an angel's song to her ears. As though a trance had been broken, Arthur too heard the call of this heavenly voice and turned to see his wife running toward him. When she was upon him, her small hands clasped his face as she demanded, "What are you doing?”

"I...I'm not meself, Heaven. I need ya to save me," he begged. The tiny woman at his side nodded in understanding, prying the axe from his trembling hands and helped him to lower it. Mrs. Shelby slumped to the floor, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she watched the couple tenderly embracing before her.

"Thank you, thank you," she repeated to the woman who had saved her.

"Your hands have blood," Heaven noted, turning Arthur's palms over and studying them with concern, barely noticing her sister-in-law.

"My hands?" Arthur asked, looking down at them as though he didn't recognize them.

"Go and wash, then join your family," Heaven instructed and Arthur obeyed like a child who badly needed guidance, shuffling away in silence.

When he was out of sight, Mrs. Shelby looked to the silver haired woman with a mixture of awe and fear as she asked, "What made him do that?"

"Don't you know?" Heaven asked, tilting her head.

"No," she replied, unable to think of a reason why someone should wish her harm when she'd only wanted to gain their approval.

Heaven extended a hand to Mrs. Shelby, her face softening as she begged forgiveness. "He's a war veteran. He has flashbacks. Please don't judge too harshly."

Nodding vigorously she confided, "Tommy has nightmares…though he doesn't like to discuss it."

"Then you understand," Heaven said sympathetically.

"Yes, but I need a moment before I go back to the party," Mrs. Shelby admitted, running a hand through her hair. “I’m not feeling very well.”

"Let's take a walk in the garden. The fresh air will help your nerves," Heaven suggested, her plump lips curling into a reassuring smile.

—————————-

Soon Mrs. Shelby found herself in the cool evening air, feeling much improved. The full moon above them illuminated the gardens and highlighted the frosty beauty of Heaven's complexion in stunning detail. She could see why Arthur was so taken with his bride and she could only hope Tommy would still be as infatuated with her years into their marriage.

As the beating of her heart resumed a normal pace, she allowed her hand to reach for the velvety softness of the flower petals in the manicured beds, feeling a sense of calm descend after an evening of chaos. "Was it this unbearable when you arrived?" Mrs. Shelby asked quietly.

"Yes, at first...no one was kind to me except John," Heaven mused, as she quietly uncovered the gardener's box, her slim fingers ghosting over the tools. "But then it all changed," she said in a far off voice.

"When?" Tommy's bride asked as she stared out into the garden, desperate for a solution to her troubles.

"When I proved to them I wasn't weak," Heaven replied, an acidic burn to her sweetness as her hand grasped the pruning shears.

"How do I do that?" Mrs. Shelby asked, a hint of a laugh leaving her lips as sad and broken as she felt in the moment.

Watching with curiosity, Heaven stalked toward the forlorn woman as silent as a creature of the night, concealing the glint of metal behind her back. Her sister-in-law didn't move as she approached, lulled by the still evening air and an understanding ear. “You want to know how to make them respect you?” Heaven asked on a low breath.

“Please,” her sister-in-law breathed, eyes large and pleading as she turned to look at the only person to show her kindness all evening.

Heaven stood close enough for her lips to brush the other woman’s ear, sending a shiver down her spine. “You fight," she whispered as she plunged the scissors into her abdomen.

Gasping from shock and pain, Mrs. Shelby reeled, looking down to see a trickle of blood escape her body. Her mouth hung open and her vision blurred as she managed, “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Because you’ll tell Tommy about Arthur and I can’t have that,” Heaven said, twisting the handle sharply.

Mrs. Shelby staggered backward in agony as she grunted, “Am I going to die?"

Heaven’s watchful gaze followed her, stepping forward to place a kiss to her cheek, the taste of a salty tear on her tongue as she replied sorrowfully, “That is your choice.” Then her eyes flashed with fire as she pulled the handle out with a jerk, poised to strike once more.

Mrs. Shelby understood the Shelbys perfectly in that moment. Kill or be killed and the thought terrified her. It propelled her forward despite the terrible pain in her side. She ran as quickly as she could through the maze of the tall hedgerows, praying she could find a way out.

-------------

Tag list:

@peakyswritings

@evita-shelby

@shelbydelrey

@alanadetigy

@wandawiccan60

@severewobblerlightdragon

@lovemissyhoneybee

@theshelbyslimited

@kittycatcait219

@callsign-fangirl

@christinasyellowflowers

@notyour-valentine

@theshelbyclan

@areyenotfondofmelobster

@polishcrazyone

@elenavampire21

@little-diable

@lyarr24

@jomarch-wannabe

@the-fangirl-diaries

@kmc1989

@helen06dreamer

@dearshelby

@raincoffeeandfandoms

@runnning-outof-time

@pacifymebby

@babayaga67

@brummiereader

@peakyltd

@call-sign-shark

@the-makingsofgreatness

@shjjpm

@thomashelbyswife

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

dave filoni is amazing and brought us one of the most incredible pieces of star wars media. i love the jedi but holy fuck, some of you in this fandom are just so rabid and bitter. we are allowed to critique things the jedi did and doesn't mean we're anti jedi! things can have nuance.

the jedi are also portrayed very favorably in tcw. we see how much they care about the clones, we seem them acting like a family and being wise and brave. portraying them as flawed just makes them more interesting and layered, it doesn't take away from how good they are.

rabid pro-jedi blogs are making this fandom as hostile as those awful anti-jedi blogs. can you all please just start being normal???

Anon, are you aware that I made a pretty long post saying exactly that (minus the rabid and bitter part) a while back? Here, you can check:

That's me saying Filoni doesn't hate the Jedi and TCW portrays them very positively and he contributed to that.

Or how about this one, about allowing the Jedi to have more nuance:

That's me saying I find frustrating the lack of acknowledgment of how messy some aspects of the Order and that's me talking about adoptions.

Or this one.

Or THIS ONE:

And here's what I said about why their flaws aren't my focus though (and why it bothers me when those flaws become the focus of canon):

I’ll explore the Jedi’s flaws when I write, but I’ll always, always, always talk about how good they were a lot, lot, LOT more. And the reason why is quite simple: I feel like Jedi criticism is nitpicky and pointless, because talking about any flaws of theirs is not only beating a dead horse, but beating a horse that’s so dead it’s been decomposing for fifteen years.  Everything has been said on the subject of the Jedi’s faults - most of which I don’t agree with, but some that I’ll readily recognize (because again, they’re not meant to be perfect). But what is the point of talking about what the Jedi did wrong after a while? Even supposing they were half as flawed as the fandom makes them out to be (which they aren’t) so what? They all died. Their children died. Their history, art and philosophy were completely erased from the galaxy. Most of their legacy was forgotten.  Whatever punishment they might have deserved for not paying enough attention - or too much - to a prophecy, for failing to untangle Sidious’ web, for being blind to a lie or another when they were too busy dying on the front lines to see clearly, for failing to save all the clones, for failing to protect all the Padawans… Whatever punishment this all deserved, they received a hundred times over. 

I don't LIKE that the narrative that's being pushed more and more is that 'they were too beholden to the Senate' when it offers no other viable alternative for what they should have done and their indictment comes from a character pulling the strings of the Senate in the shadows so that the freaking 'coming darkness' he's """"warning"""" them about can become a galactic dictator.

I don't hate Filoni. I may poke fun at him and be annoyed at what he's doing, but I don't hate him. TCW wasn't just a Dave thing tho, GL was still around to supervise, and the more I see of Dave's work without GL around, and the greater creative freedom he gets, the more I'm disappointed that this is where Star Wars is going. That's all.

But point me to one of my rabid posts please. The majority of my TOTJ posts (if that's what this is about) have been either positive, nitpicky or neutral.

I'm not making the fandom "hostile" by disliking things sometimes, anon, I'm making MY blog SALTY. And I either tag that salt, or I don't tag much so that the salt doesn't show up in the general tags so that people in the fandom who don't agree won't have to see it.

If I'm not behaving 'normally' according to you - and you're perfectly entitled to think that, I AM pretty bitchy - you can stop seeing my stuff pretty easily. But please don't come at me anonymously to put a larger fandom issue onto me.

[kyberphilosopher]

Fensterln

“I can’t get up. You’re sitting on top of me.”

Warning(s): some allusions to sex, explicit-ish language, fluff, reader has a whole ‘Black Cat’ thing going on. Word Count: 3273

Notes: This is a requested work. This is a headcanoned canon version of Superboy, meaning he is no version in particular and simply the character I figure as a whole. Reader can be any gender.

“Fensterln is when you have to climb through someone’s window in order to have sex with them, without their parents knowing about it.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You know, most people think that climbing up the side of a building is easy. Like it’s nothing. They see it on TV, and in the movies, and in cartoons even, and they think, “That doesn’t look so bad!” because it doesn’t. Cartoons and actors don’t have to deal with the wind whipping their hair, constantly pushing their whole body all around, the butterflies of anxiousness making their heart thump, threatening the scenario of falling to their death. It’s terrifying. It takes a lot of skill, a lot of courage, and a lot of luck. 

“Shit.”

Your right hand releases from the glass, arm slowly swinging back until it’s at your side. The same sides foot follows this pattern of rotation, until only your left fingertips and toes are stuck to the wall of the building, suctioning you to life. Below you, hundreds and hundreds of feet, is an island of grass and sand, encompassed by a large body of water. Over the tidal waves chip chopping away, there’s a distance. And in that distance, is the city, just under the inky blackness of the midnight sky. 

Jump City, it’s called. You’re not too familiar with it. Most of your time is spent in Metropolis, or Gotham. Luckily, both of those cities have plenty of skyscrapers to practice scaling. One could say that you’d perfected the art of this sort of thing. The finger pads on your suit are sophisticatedly sticky, seamlessly letting you latch onto anything with grace. Your feet are the same. 

The wind hits your face like sharp needles, amplified by the cold air and the incline. Your hair whips around wildly, also different from how it flows, softly, in the movies. The harsh breeze roars in your ears, louder than the thousands of explosions you’ve heard in your lifetime. Although dangerous, nothing beats the view. Those thousands of lights in the distance, the cars, the buildings, this building that you’re on now. Titan’s Tower is far larger and closer and more important than anything else at the moment. 

“Okay then,” you mutter, twisting your body over to the right twice more, until finally both hands and feet are connecting against the glass in a stealthy, perfect crawling position. 

You work your way up, one foot and hand at the time. You resemble that of a spider, or perhaps a cat. One, two. One, two. 

His room is on one of the top floors, if not the top floor. From the two other times that you’ve done this, you remember the number of steps, the distance, the little cracks in the glass panes to look for so you know you’re close. Even from the outside, hundreds of feet up, hanging above death tantalizingly, you know exactly where you are and where you need to be. And you know, of course, that you are close. 

Your right hand leaves the wall once more and reaches down to the belt on your hips. “Coming, my love,” you mutter as you flip open a small pouch attached. From the inside you pull out a slim switchblade, made specifically to cut through glass walls like this- designed it yourself. 

The knife springs open. In a circle big enough to fit your entire body, you trace the blade in a wide arc from up to down, left to right. Then you flip the blade back inside, place the whole thing back into the pouch on the belt, and shove your left elbow against the middle of the glass in front of you. 

It pops free immediately. The circle of wall falls forward into the room, with you not far behind.

Landing like a gymnast on your toes with your arms overhead, you are immune to the sharp pain in your femurs that comes from a sudden pressure like this. The glass pane is still intact on the floor ahead of you, which is coated with a red carpet that you recognize so well. It’s much warmer inside than it was outside, although you can still feel the night wind from behind you.

“Silent,” a voice remarks from beside you. It’s not an amused tone, really. It’s genuine and full of awe, surrounded by something casual. 

You hum as you stand before throwing a look over your shoulder. Sure enough at your back, splayed casually on a bed against the wall you just broke through, is your favorite boy toy. Dark, curly hair framing his classically handsome face, nose scrunching slightly on instinct. He’s wearing the black and red super shirt he always does, coupled with the plaid pajama bottoms you’d gotten him as a gift in spring.

You want so badly to quip something back, but you both know you can’t right now. Not when you’re so close to the door. And yeah, that’s partially Conner’s fault, if not all. Too much noise would attract the attention of his team mates, the Titans, and then something probably not that great would happen. Maybe they’d throw you out. Maybe they’d fire him. Maybe things would just get weird. It’s not as if you and Connor are an official couple, even after all this time. You could stop sneaking around to see each other at any sense of danger.

You take a step towards the bed he lays on, noting the big, bright smile that lights up Superboy’s face at the motion. “Can you fix the hole?” you whisper, just loud enough for him to hear.

Conner’s eyes go wide and the smile gets bigger.

“In the wall.”

The smile turns into an eye roll. “Yes,” he sighs, almost dramatically, pushing himself up. The boy crosses to the center of the room a few feet from you and begins picking up the perfect circle of cut window- wall while you look around the area.

You’ve snuck into Conner’s room before. Twice, in fact. It’s not clean, not horribly messy. His leather jacket is usually hanging off the dresser or door handle. Sweatshirts of different colors are littering the floor in a collective pile. It looks like a normal teenage boys room, really. It just feels very ‘Conner’.

First, he pushes the glass back into place in the wall, then he takes a few steps back. You throw him a smirk, nudging your head to encourage him to do the thing.

Conner’s eyes heat up. Little at first, as a soft yellow. Then into an all consuming scarlet that hisses out in two beams meeting in the middle between them. They move in a circle around the pane until you can’t even tell it was ever not there, and the wind you once heard no longer exists. The wall is perfectly in tact.

“Thank you, Superboy,” you tell him, tone laced overly sweet. Your hands, freezing from the cold even through the gloves of your costume, wrap around Conner’s upper arm.

“Yeah,” he tosses, back, voice low. His cheeks are turning pink.

You unhook your arms and saunter over to his mattress. As you throw yourself on and relax as you sink into the pillows, you let your eyes close. “You’re lucky I like you so much,” you tease. “Mm, do you know a lot of people who would climb up the Tower for you? I don’t.”

Upon hearing him take a single step forward, one eye pops open. “I know you missed me,” you continue.

Conner lays himself on the bed beside you, hands behind his bed with his arms bent. You turn to face him, propping your head up with your palm.

“You never answer my texts,” Conner says, Adam’s apple bobbing.

“You text me?” you smirk, watching Superboys eyes sink close as he releases a sigh of defeat.

Your left leg slips over Conner’s hips. Then you pull your whole body up and over into a straddle over him, looking down at him. He’s handsome in the way nobody can argue with, so perfect and soft and structured. When you squint, he looks like Superman. But Conner’s not Superman, he’s better. You can’t explain why, or how, but he just is.

You place your palms forward on his chest at first, then backwards, behind your back, on Conner’s thighs. Your chest puffs out at the slight change of position.

Below you, the boy bites his lower lip softly in thought for a second. “What if I got you a phone?” Conner asks you. His light eyes holding yours through thick, dark lashes. “Just so you can text me back sometimes?”

“Us?” you gasp with wide eyes. “Talking? During the daytime?”

Conner glances away. “Message received. Very funny. Forget it.”

“I’m messing with you,” you promise with a smile. “Loosen up Super-Annoy.”

“So you’ll let me get you one?” Conner pushes himself up with a snap, eyes wide with some kind of excitement.

Well… would you? You haven’t had a lot of long term partners, if any. Your time with Conner has been the longest with anyone, and he’s not even really your boyfriend. He’s just… you know… the guy you kissed on a rooftop one night. The guy who once surprised you with a cone of ice cream, again on a night time rooftop, whilst you were sitting on the side of the building to watch the city below. The guy who remembered your birthday, the guy who keeps sending you the many, many texts reminding you that you can watch your favorite show on the TV in the tower. The guy who once lied to get you to ice skate with him.

Something about Conner has been enough to keep you hooked for months and months, always coming back. Sneaking into the Tower, taking more and more trips to Jump City, keeping notes of events throughout your week to tell him about when you see him. 

How silly. Never giving the time of day to any other partner of yours, but for Conner? Conner has gotten at least eight months of it. 

“I’ll think about it,” you roll your eyes. 

“You promise?” Conner urges. 

“Yes. Jeez, I promise. I will think about letting you get me a phone that only you have the number to.”

“Please don’t laugh at me about this.”

“I’m not laughing at you.”

“It feels like it.”

“Connor,” you clasp a hand on his shoulder, pushing back laughter. “Have I ever laughed at you?”

“W- Is that- is that a serious question?” Conner’s eyebrows raise. 

“Get up,” you roll your neck. “I want to change positions.”

The boy below you shifts. For a quick moment, something pokes between your hips from underneath. Your pupils dilate in response, but by the time they finish, the movement has ceased. “Tell me about your day.”

“I want to lay down,” you say as you stretch. “I just scaled up the side of the skyscraper-”

“You love it.”

“-and it was oh, so cold. I’m tired.”

“That’s not your day.”

You just stare at him expectantly, not quite sure what it is you’re waiting for. 

“I can’t get up. You’re sitting on top of me,” Conner concedes. “You chose to be up there.”

“Prove it,” you challenge.

“Yeah, yeah,” the boy below you hisses as if annoyed. “I get it,” he says, but his arms are already snaking around your torso to pull you close and slowly pull you into a new position. 

You lay on your side, back against Conner’s broad chest. His arms stay wrapped around your middle as he curls up against you on instinct, legs quick to tangle with your own. You know he must really be interested in you if he’s not going to mention that your ‘work’ shoes are still on while in bed. 

“You’re an ass,” he mutters into your hair. 

“What was that?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Ha,” you chuckle once. “Douche.”

“Please tell me about your day now?” you hear Conner almost plead. “Please?”

One of your hands, your right one, rests on top of Conner’s against your stomach. “Oh, you know. The usual. I helped out a small jewelry store today, snuck into a big building, currently hiding from Nightwing- you know how it is.”

“There wasn’t much crime today. I mostly just stayed in. You know that big building you snuck into?”

“Such a douche,” you breathe.

“Jealous much?” Superboy rumbles against your ear. 

“I’m gonna tell Dick,” you tell him. “I’ll send an anonymous tip that one of the Titan’s is a big poop face.”

Conner puts his whole face in your hair. “Shiver me timbers.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s not fair you guys get a whole building to yourselves. What are you even using half these floors for? People in Gotham are struggling.” You frown. “Well, except for Wayne. But you know what? He’s a douche too. You’d get along.”

Conner squeezes you once. Then you feel him still from behind you, not even breathing. And then-

“Move in then.”

At once, your brows furrow. “What?”

Your companion squeezes you once more. “Move in. Move in with me. In the Tower.”

Your mouth opens and closes a couple times, eyes looking around. You can’t see Conner, but you can feel him out. His eyes are closed, still inhaling the scent of you shamelessly. It’s hard for people to catch you off guard, not just like this, but at all. You just have that sarcastic, witty, sultry reputation. And for him- Super-Annoy, of all people- to just throw you off so easily?

“I’m not a Titan,” you decide on explaining, almost asking. 

“Become one, then.”

“I don’t have the money to move in. The rent must be crazy.”

“I’ll pay for you.”

“Conner,” you swallow. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not joking.” His head pops up. When you turn yours a little, you can look up at him, and he can look down at you. “Move into the Tower.”

Now your eyes are wide, and his are relaxed. No, Conner’s are focused, drilling into your own. “I’m... hardly Titan’s material.”

This was true. You’ve been skirting the gray line far longer than you’ve known Superboy, and he’s been super since the beginning of his creation. The first time you’d met was about ten seconds before you’d robbed a bank and sent him a wink before disappearing. 

“You just told me, not five minutes ago, that you helped a small business. Helping people is what heroes are all about. You can do this, Y/N. You are Titan’s material.”

Shit. He’s right. 

“Why not?” Conner questions. 

“I... um...”

You’ve never lived with another person before. Your family, once upon a time, sure. Not friends. Not Dick Grayson, or Kori, or Rachel fucking Roth. And certainly not Superboy- Super-Annoy. Not someone you have a ‘thing’ with. What would that mean for the two of you? And when things go terribly, terribly wrong, what then?

Gotta’ think fast. 

Your face is wiped clean, replaced by your signature smirk. “Get me a phone first. Then I’ll consider it.”

Conner doesn’t budge though. You wonder if X-Ray vision can see through lies too. “I mean it,” the boy tells you. “I want you here.”

“I have to survive the night in the building with boy prodigy and star flame.”

“Starfire.”

“Whatever. I have to do that first. There’s a reason we sneak me in, you know.”

Your free hand reaches up and cups Conner’s cheek without you telling it to. You ask your brain why, but yet, your palm doesn’t move. It feels over Conner’s cheekbones, encouraging you to look deeper into his somehow soft eyes. Your fingertips can even feel his hair, which is in need of a wash, as they get comfortable. 

“For you,” you finish the sentiment, voice now genuine- also not predicted. “Sneaking in for you.”

“I don’t want you to feel like a secret,” the boy above you whispers, pouring his entire heart into it. 

You answer with a snort. 

If anything, Conner’s the secret. If he had his way, the two of you would probably be on your honeymoon at this moment. Hell, your whole relationship and subsequent marriage would be a honeymoon. You’re the one letting him follow you around. You’re the one never giving him just what he wants. 

But then again, you’re the one who keeps coming back. Conner’s the one that never left. 

“Trust me,” you nod with a humored grin. “I don’t.”

Conner sighs and falls back down to rest behind  you. “Good.”

Besides his breathing, then there is silence. 

Really? Telling you to move in? Of course it doesn’t seem like such a big deal to him. Of course he has the solution to all the reasons why not. Your fairly certain that Conner hasn’t thought about this until mentioning it, but even then, how did he have all the answers so fast? Where would you stay? With him? Sandwiched between Conner and Wally West playing video games for the rest of your life? Dying after Donna Troy catches you accidentally stealing her lunch?

“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Conner begins, “but you should really stay the night.”

In response, you practically burst. “You hate being told what to do!” you say as you squirm in his arms. “Now you’re giving me suggestions?”

Conner sits up again so he can look down at you with a little frown. Luckily, it’s too nice of a view to be really scared of anything he could do. “Shh! You’re gonna get caught, Y/N.” Then Superboy’s eyes widen a little. “If you lived here, you wouldn’t have to be so quiet, either. You could just come through the front door.”

“Oh my God,” you squeeze your eyes closed. “Conner...”

One battle at a time. 

“Fine,” you begrudge. “I’ll stay the night.”

Conner tightens his grip around your form happily in response. “Will you need any help in the morning?”

“No. No, I got it.”

Silence. 

Say it. Say it. Say it. 

“Conner? I, uh...”

Say it. 

“I don’t have any sleeping clothes,” you lie. 

“Sleeping?” you hear the boy behind you whisper. “I didn’t think we were going to be sleeping.”

“Now who’s going to get us in trouble?” you smirk. “Seriously though. I’ve been wearing my suit all day.”

“I can get you out of it.”

“You can’t just see through it?” you question. “Don’t you have X-Ray vision?”

Conner groans. “You’re ruining it.”

You smile. Conner’s the only partner of yours you realize you’re actually happy to be around. “I think you just want us to get caught.”

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Yayyy. Request finished. Next I have a Reverse Flash request, and then I should be good with the DC requests for now. Other than that I have some Jason Todd things, something for Damian and 2 fics for a character I haven’t written for before but are looking pretty good. I hope this satisfied the prompt that I was given in the request. Let me know anything you want or whatever. 

[aizenat]

I am actually like full body crying rn. I’m not even exaggerating. Like never have I felt this way about hearing about a stranger’s death and like it’s really making me think of how so much about what moves me and motivated me started with dragon ball z. My love for writing wouldn’t exist without it.

I remember being a kid watching sailor moon and dbz in the mornings waiting for my bus for school. I remember singing rock the dragon when I wanted to ignore annoying girls in my class lol. I always credited sailor moon with what got me into anime (because I loved it more lol), but dbz specifically got me into anime.

In fourth grade, a new kid in my class sat next to me and had a picture of the dbz characters on his binder. I hadn’t seen dragon ball in years so when I saw it I said “Hey I know that show!” In typical boy fashion, he couldn’t believe a girl was into dbz. So he went through pointing at all the characters asking who they were. I knew them all and eventually he realized I knew. I could tell at a point that he was just asking just to go through them all. But he finally pointed to someone I didn’t know, and I thought hard but knew I didn’t know this character.

“Who is that?”

“That’s Trunks! He’s Vegeta and Bulma’s son!”

“What? But he’s older than Gohan! How?”

“Aw man, are you not watching it right now?”

“Watch it? Where? When?”

“After school on Cartoon Network! They play this and a lot of other shows like this!”

We didn’t even know what anime was.

I found toonami thanks to me recognizing those dragon ball characters. And from there, I was reunited with Sailor Moon and picked up some new favorite watches. Tenchi Muuyo, Outlaw Star, Rurounin Kenshin, etc. So many and I loved them all!

If it weren’t for dbz, Yu Yu Hakusho probably wouldn’t exist. When YYH finally made its way on toonami, I was HOOKED. It was literally the perfect show to me. I was so hype over it that I tried to write fanfiction at 12 following Yusuke’s daughter as a spirit detective.

I ran into a problem though: I wanted his daughter to be Black like me. So I decided to make her a half Black half Japanese girl whose mother was a demon Yusuke cheated on Keiko with (to justify why she was Black). And she was in Japan to find her father but got caught up in spirit world stuff.

But I ran into a major issue with this: I loved Keiko and I loved Yusuke and Keiko as a couple and couldn’t ever see Yusuke cheating on her (still can’t). So I was stuck with how to justify this story.

That was when I got the idea to write my OWN story. One similar to YYH, but different, with my own characters and own world where things would be different but similar enough to not be too messy lol. At 12, I started to write my first story because I couldn’t write YYH fanfiction without it fucking up the canon (knowing this, you can probably guess why I don’t have a lot of respect for fanfiction lol).

I wouldn’t have gotten into YYH if I hadn’t learned DBZ was airing new episodes on toonami back in the fourth grade.

My love for anime grew, my love for storytelling grew, and my love for writing grew. The latter of which has saved my life more times than I can count.

Sean Schemmel, the voice for Goku in the most well known English dub, was the first American voice actor whose name I committed to memory. Chris Sabat, the voice of Vegeta and Piccolo and others, was the second. After finding yugioh abridged in hs, I got into TeamFourStar’s dragon ball z abridged and fell in love with the show for a second time. I’ve followed those guys for years watching the series, and I still return to it for an easy watch. In fact, Lanipator and KaiserNeko, two of the creators of the series, had a series last year on their second channel going through the show and giving their commentary. I would pop a delta gummy and enjoy the revisits every Saturday. It just wrapped up around the holidays. And while Ygotas started the abridging trend, lbr, dbza perfected it. And all the following abridged and parody videos that exist online wouldn’t without it.

Rdc world and their popular anime house series features Goku and Vegeta. The Piccolo is a nigga memes. How Broly coming out a few years ago was like a major moment for anime fans. You know you got a real friend when you’re doing the fusion dance with them. And what anime fan hasn’t pretended to do a Kamehameha wave at least once? I sat front row at a panel where Sonny Strait (Krillin’s va) played Dragonball Evolution (lol) and just straight ripped on it the entire time.

God, I remember watching that movie for the first time in a friend’s basement and when Emmy Rossum came on scene for the first time, I asked who she was supposed to be. And I’ll never forget the serious face on my one friend as he turned to be and said as though it was the most logical thing ever “It’s Bulma. Can’t you tell by the steak of blue in her hair?” I laughed so hard! Lol

My uncles watched dragon ball. One watched the original back in the 80s when you could only get the original Japanese bootlegged. My brother who went to art school and has a degree in animation started drawing by trying to draw dbz characters. For YEARS, until he went to art school honestly, his art style was insanely reminiscent of dbz, especially with how he drew clothes lol. I used to yell at him to stop drawing like Akira Toriyama and make his own style.

This man and the impact he had on anime as a whole, how dbz is the most mainstream anime to ever exist, and even in my own personal life: I didn’t realize until now that I’m thinking on it how influential he was. If he and dragon ball didn’t exist, my life would be vastly different. *I* would be vastly different. And that honestly scares me because I don’t know who I’d be without it.

So yeah for the first time in my entire life, I am fully sobbing and crying the death of a celebrity. I used to think people who did this were overly invested idiots, but I get it now. Because I never considered myself invested in dbz. It was just some anime I watched as a kid and remembered fondly. I don’t watch Super, and I’m a pretty casual fan of the story I feel.

But Akira Toriyama, the man behind the story, and the impact of that story, can’t be understated. I can’t deny that even in my personal life, everything he created helped shaped the world that inspired me. That moved me and motivated me. That kept me going all the times I wanted to give up. And that made me brave enough to tell stories myself in my way, the way he did in his.

Idek how to end this because the tears are starting again and I just don’t want this to be true. I just wanted to get it out somehow and yeah…

Holy fuck I’m in shock. What do you mean Akira Toriyama passed away??!!!!!

[himboskywalker]

(Okay to post publicly) Should I read Star Wars brotherhood? I’ve been hearing good things but also some people were saying that obi/anakin’s relationship felt onesided and that obi and Anakin felt ooc? I Trust your Anakin and obikin opinion more than anyone so I just wanted to ask. Thanks ahead of time.

I very much enjoyed Brotherhood but I also have several mutuals who did not and I think both opinions are valid. Star Wars books are so polarizing in opinions and I’m usually in the camp of enjoyment unless it’s truly just awful.

I don’t think they were OOC but I do agree that the relationship was one sided through several parts of the book. But also in my opinion,this is very in character for Anakin especially during this period of his life. People’s qualms with the book I’ve seen is that Anakin is very dismissive of Obi-Wan and ungrateful while Obi-Wan sort of reaches out to him in vain and feels rebuffed. But to me that is very much in character of them during this period,Anakin is 19 and JUST knighted and he’s just married Padmé. Yes he’s a bit of a bitch but that lands very true to his characterization for me at the start of the war. The book is very much about how they’re adjusting to the new dynamic of their relationship,Anakin is now Obi-Wan’s equal and that comes with Obi-Wan being a bit wrong footed by it while Anakin is casually cruel in the way he ALWAYS is in canon.

Yeah it’s frustrating and I understand people not liking that dynamic when the book is literally titled Brotherhood and was marketed as a “the dynamic duo” story,but for me it rang very true to the both of them grappling with the change of the war and the change of their master/Padawan dynamic and the change of Anakin from child to adult. I think it’s fitting that Anakin begins to drift away while Obi-Wan kind of,not chases after him but reaches out through the book and is ignored while Anakin is so besotted with Padmé and distracted that he doesn’t recognize it. But again that’s a dynamic to them that,while I don’t love it,is a canon part of their relationship.

So I really enjoyed the book for the added nuance and depth it added to those inbetween years for their relationship but I think other people’s lack of enjoyment is understandable to,I think it’s just what you go into the book expecting to get out of it. It’s far from perfect but I really enjoyed it,and it’s also extremely gay in parts which is always super funny where they have these canon interactions that you just raise your eyebrows at lmao

[sweetbitterimpossiblecreature]

A Brief And Concise Summary Of Is Wrong With The ACOTAR Series

I think we can agree that a lot of ACOTAR is pretty iffy. Consider this a very brief refresher.

What's Wrong With Feyre/Rhysand (juxtaposed against Feyre/Tamlin)

Rhysand drugs and sexually assaults her in Book 1

This is "for her own good". Because he "has no choice". Despite the fact that, from what we know of the plot, Amarantha thinks that Clare Beddor was the one Rhysand was diddling, and is only interested in Feyre because Rhysand, "her" man male, has taken an interest in her.

If we extrapolate from this we can figure that Rhysand is the one directly putting her into danger.

Now, let's be clear: drugging someone is bad. Sexually assaulting someone is bad. One could argue there were extenuating circumstances. But if, in such a situation, what your mind goes to is "I know, I should assault this person... for their safety" I have questions about your moral qualities. There were a million things he could have done. He could have done whatever he did to Clare - that is, remove her ability to feel any pain - easily. He could have helped her escape. Under The Mountain, he - while still there unwillingly - has a lot of power, as Amarantha's side piece. Maybe this would have resulted in him being punished- however, he is hundreds of years old and a badass motherfucker, and she is a nineteen year old human girl.

Now, onto Tamlin. Obviously not a lot of people really ship F/T anymore after ACOMAF, because compared to F/R, it's boring. I read another person's post about it, which was very enlightening: they said that Feyre's personality is essentially a mirror. When she is with Rhysand, she's snarky and malicious- because she is "bouncing off" his energy. When she's with Mor she's super feminist and "in awe of her strength". On the other hand, Tamlin is kind of an empty character. He's a pretty boy with anger issues, which should be more interesting than it is. SJM manages to make him bland. Because Feyre has nothing to bounce off of, (a lot of this is from the person's post), she and Tamlin together is mainly just him introducing her to his world.

What Tamlin Does: prevents a skinny twenty year old from going on dangerous missions with him and combat-trained soldiers, accidentally blows up a room with her in it, and, at the end, prevents her from leaving the house.

This is not a Tamlin apologist post. Obviously it was really fucking gross of him to do that, and their relationship was toxic. However, a lot of his abuse stems from their inability to communicate, as well as own negligence. He does not knowingly and purposefully sexually assault her or rape her mind. And tbh, leaving a girl without combat training at home while he goes on missions with a bunch of muscled sentries is... kind of reasonable?

Again: not a Tamlin apologist post. It was abuse. However, if Rhysand is "allowed" to sexually assault, mind-rape, and drug Feyre "for her own safety", why is Tamlin demonized for preventing her from leaving his mansion "for her own safety"?

Another pertinent point: Rhys is never punished for sexually assaulting her. It is brushed off as part of his "mask" or that his hand was forced. Jesus Christ my dudes, his hand was not forced under her skirt. If he has to maintain his gross rapist abuser tyrant oppressor mask... why? Who did that benefit beside him? None of his actions remotely helped Prythian. They were done solely for his buddies - five people safe in a rich hidden city - and no one else, which is explicitly stated.

Finally, the power dynamic is fucked up. Feyre is less than twenty five years old. Rhysand is 500. There is a tendency in fantasy romance to romanticize a centuries year old man with a young girl, because the man does not show symptoms of age, and so it is easily ignorable. However, can we just briefly acknowledge how fucked up it is? Rhys is over five times older than Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and other known predators/abusers. She is twenty. That is really fucking gross. She is in a vulnerable position and he takes rampant advantage of that.

If he had wrinkles, liver problems, and erectile dysfunction, more people would acknowledge it.

Let's be clear: I'm not saying writing a book with an uneven power dynamic is automatically bad. For example, in The Locked Tomb series, which is in my opinion THE BEST FANTASY SERIES THAT HAS GRACED THIS EARTH (lol i'm starting fires), one main character Harrowhark Nonagesimus is in a position of power over Gideon Nav, the other main character. However, this is not glossed over or romanticized. Gideon resents Harrow for this- there is a relationship of mutual antagonism, fraught with unwilling familiarity and intimacy from growing up together. They are roughly the same age. While there is a certain power dynamic (in that world, there is a dynamic of necromancer and cavalier, i.e. sorcerer and sword) the "empowered" character (Harrow) emphatically respects her and does not abuse this power, although both would of course deny this, and she does make a show of threatening and being aloof. In short, while Gideon obeys her, Gideon also has power over Harrow, and the idea of what is essentially slavery is not romanticized.

Feyre Doesn't Face Any Consequences For Her Own Actions

Let me present a radical notion: a guy preventing you from leaving his house does not justify completely fucking ruining his country and harming the people inside it.

In other words: Tamlin does not deserve what she did to him.

I know that sounds iffy. We're conditioned to think that if someone is an abuser, then they are the scum of the earth, they deserve to die, torturing/murdering/doing anything to them is completely A-OK. However, here's another radical notion: someone harming you does not justify you doing worse.

Obviously, the effects of psychological abuse can cause you to hurt other people (see: Nesta), but Feyre deliberately and maliciously (oh, God, that insufferable POV of her in Spring Court; she reads like a cartoonish Disney villain) dismantles his country. She uses sexual manipulation (Lucien), torture (causing the sentry to be whipped), and mind-rape (who didn't she do this to? lol).

A summary of the entire first half of ACOWAR: "It smelled like roses. I hated roses. For this capital offense against my olfactory system, Tamlin and the entire Spring Court deserved to burn in hell. I knew exactly what I was doing. I smiled at him sweetly: no longer a doe, but a wolf. He didn't see my fangs.............." *aesthetic noises*

Man. I'm starting to think SJM had a horrible experience at a Bath & Body Works and took it out on the rest of us. Don't do it, Sarah!! I know Pink Chiffon and Triple Berry Martini are way too strong, but don't take it out on an innocent population!!

She steals from Summer Court (there are, yk, other solutions to theft. Like maybe asking politely) and ruins Spring Court. Her boyfriend - yeesh sorry, MATE - does nothing while a dozen Winter Court children are murdered.

Now: moral ambiguity is not automatically bad. Again using The Locked Tomb as an example, in the second book (spoiler alert), Harrowhark has a sort of moral ambiguity. She was raised from the beginning to worship the King Undying as God, and so she obeys him without question. Because of this, she commits a lot of crimes in His name: she "flips" - i.e. kills - the life force of planets, and she plots murder (albeit the murder of someone who tried to kill her first). There is no attempt to justify this. There is also no attempt to paint her as a virtuous and yet also badass Madonna figure. She is desperate, plagued with the "wreck of herself", and the book clearly displays her moral pitfalls. While her POV is of course colored by her mindset, it also is limited by her lack of information, and we as readers can acknowledge that.

BACK TO ACOTAR: Feyre is seen by everyone as gorgeous, formidable, and essentially perfect. Rhys sees her as flawless, "made for him", wonderful, beautiful, blah blah blah. (THEY ARE SO BAD FOR EACH OTHER; THEY EXCUSE AND GLORIFY EACH OTHER'S CRIMES, IT'S SO BAD, GUYYYS). Tamlin is insanely batshit in love with her, or whatever. To the Night Court she's the High Lady. In this way she personifies the Mary Sue character. (Excerpt from the TV Tropes page on Mary Sues: "She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal." Sound familiar?)

There is the Ourobous scene. And yet, paradoxically, while presented as an acknowledgment of her flaws, it is in fact a rejection of them. She sees her own brutality... and instead of recognizing that she has these deep, deep moral flaws and realizing that she needs to grow and be better, she in fact "accepts" them.

Guys: Self love means: "I'm important to me, so I'm going to get a massage today after work", or "heck, why not splurge on some expensive lotion, you only live once" or "you know what? I had a tough day today. I'm going to get that strawberry cupcake". SELF LOVE DOES NOT MEAN "oh, I accept all the war crimes I have done, I love myself". LOVING YOURSELF DOES NOT MEAN ABSOLVING YOURSELF OF ALL WRONGDOING.

It's this refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing that is so grating about ACOTAR. It's so goddamn one-sided. And you can tell that after Book 1, SJM decided to completely change the trajectory simply because of how jarring Book 2 reads compared to the first one.

Also: Feyre is a very, very young girl (compared to the other ruling fey) who did not know how to read for the majority of her life. She has no experience whatsoever in politics. Her being High Lady is not a win for feminism.

Rhysand: He Sucks

First, he is 500 years old. He should be written as such, not as some 20 year old virile frat boy feminist. Fantasy is all the more compelling for its elements of realism, which is a concept that SJM does not appear to grasp.

Second of all, his morals are absurd. He is written as the Second Coming of Christ, as someone who can do no wrong, ever, and his flaws only serve to make Feyre love him more. Anything shitty he does is written as part of his "mask" and she can See Beneath It and knows that it "hurts" him to maintain this "mask".

Fellas, WHY DOES HE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THIS MASK???? There is no reason for it. If A) he does not give a shit about Court of Nightmares (we'll get back to that), only about Velaris, and B) Velaris is hidden/protected from the world, what is he pretending for?

It would not hurt him politically to be seen as someone who cares about his country.

"Pretending" to be "Amarantha's whore" does not in any way shape or form benefit the macro-world that is Prythian. In Amarantha's name, he commits atrocities. He commits war crimes; he systemically oppresses entire societies. It doesn't even really benefit Velaris, because Velaris is already hidden.

Let me put this in a real-world perspective. This would be like if Donald Trump was suddenly like: "I know I was a shitty president but IT WAS ALL PART OF MY MASK, WHICH WAS TO PROTECT THIS MICROCOSM OF PRIVILEGED PEOPLE THAT I CARE ABOUT". Like: okay? Sorry, or whatever, but I don't actually give a shit. What about the parents of the children who died? What about Clare Beddor? What about the people who were held in slavery, murdered, tortured?

Rhysand: omg it sucks that my cousin Mor was oppressed by this toxic misogynistic culture from the Court of Nightmares.

Also Rhysand: lol whatever, who gives a shit about Court of Nightmares. They all suck. They meanie. Lol what did you say? That there might be other girls just like Mor who are oppressed by this system? Lol whatever. I can't do anything, I gotta maintain my Mask. I gotta sit on this throne and show the entire Court that not respecting women is completely okay.

In summary: by parading Feyre around as his "whore" (!!) he demonstrates by example that it is completely okay for the Court of Nightmares to abuse their women.

A good ruler cares about all his people. Rhysand cares about a tiny tiny fraction of his people: those who were fortunate enough to be born into Velaris.

God, I'm exhausted. Onto Nesta:

The only character who successfully breaks the Mary Sue effect Feyre exerts on her people is Nesta. Her POV for the first half is a joy to read.

Obviously it sucks that Nesta was a huge bitch to Feyre for the beginning of her childhood. However, it was wrong for Rhysand to threaten her- he is a man male with a huge insane amount of power, and it is not okay for him to threaten to bring the brunt of it down on a young girl because she was a bitch to his girlfriend.

I've seen a lot of discourse on the morality of F/R sending her out of Velaris. Here is my two cents:

It was okay for them to cut her off of their money. If they don't want to enable her self-harm, that is their choice. Again, it's their money, even if it wasn't fairly earned (Rhysand born into an enormous fortune).

It was not okay for them to banish her from Velaris with the implication that she was an embarrassment. Let me explain.

If Rhysand and Feyre are talking to her as sister/brother-in-law, then that is that. They have the complete right to express disapproval and try to help. However, they should not be using their royal privilege against her.

If they are talking to her as ruler to subject, then they have the power to banish her from the city. However, a ruler would not give a shit about a random subject getting drunk and having sex. So, they should not be talking her about her problems as a ruler to subject.

I've heard it compared to her being sent to rehab. However, rehab is a system designed to help people with certain problems. It has specialized medical centers and involves therapy. Nesta gets her life threatened multiple times. It is not rehab.

In summary: why did SJM inflict this upon us. Throne of Glass was actually good! GAHHH! After the first few books she completely whipped around and introduced the idea of males and mates and fey and that C is actually A and the quality took a huge nosedive. Sigh.

Final horrible but unmistakable truth: The entire ACOTAR series reads like a bad A/B/O fic. I hate to say it but it's true. We're lucky there were no heat cycles. OH WAIT

[myhumanweakness]

I don’t want to be a huge asshole, but...

There are a lot of people trying to find a modicum of positivity in the finale. It’s not about this Destiel-Bibro war that’s happened over the years, it’s not about Cas, it’s not about any of the superficial drama. This finale was the weirdest mixture of OOC and in character writing I have ever seen. 

Things that are in character: 

The brothers put each other first. They are each other’s safe place and stability. Up until the very end. Sam respected Dean’s wishes, stayed with him in his last moments, and let him go gracefully. Sam even went on and had a full life so Dean’s sacrifices weren’t in vain. 

For Dean, Heaven wasn’t perfect without Sam there. And he had this huge sense of relief and happiness when Sam arrived. 

Jack deconstructed the walls of Heaven so that it was a vast place where everyone could be together. They weren’t living out their “best memories” anymore. They were creating new memories eternally with each other. And Bobby recognizing that Jack is like Dean’s son by saying, “That boy of yours...” 

Cas helped build the Heaven that he always dreamed of. Cas always had such a high standard for Heaven, and it always fell short. He helped Jack build a home that was warm and comforting and beautiful and open and loving and true. Everything Cas stood for. 

Bobby, the man Dean adopted as his father, was there to share a beer with him (just like Dean shared with his dad in his childhood). And Bobby was happy and confirmed that Dean is in a Heaven he deserves. 

Sam mourning Dean’s death for the rest of his life, but also living his life to honor Dean. Classic Sam. 

Dean using his last moments to tell Sam how much he loves him and how proud he is. Sam deserved to hear that because we all know Sam looked at Dean as a parental figure. 

Things that are OOC:

Sam not marrying Eileen. The show created this HUGE story arc around Sam and Eileen and their real love and connection. And then they shoot this finale and couldn’t even get an actress that looked like Eileen to stand it the blurry background. Like, I don’t care what you say, it’s NOT open to interpretation. Sam did not end up with Eileen. All of you people who are Sam stans, who say you want your character to be happy and live a full life should be livid. Sam ending up with Eileen wouldn’t have canceled out the fact that Dean was/is his number one person. Dean gave his blessing for Eileen, and he loved her and welcomed her into their lives because he knew Sam loved her and had a genuine connection with her. Having them together would not have ruined the ending in any way. Sam still could have ended up with Dean on that bridge. 

That woman with the blonde/light brown hair is NOT Eileen. They couldn’t even get an actress with dark brown hair to keep hope alive that they ended up together. Absolutely awful. 

Dean just accepting Cas’ death and not even talking about it, other than to say, “Yeah I think about em’ too.” I don’t care if you don’t believe in Destiel or that the love was reciprocated. Dean EXCLUSIVELY said multiple times that Cas is a member of their family and a brother to the boys. He said the words, “YOU”RE MY BEST FRIEND.” I’m not saying Dean should have scarified himself to go pull Cas out of the Empty (because we had 40 minutes to wrap up 15 years). But the fact that Dean was like: I’m gonna eat some pie and just not acknowledge any feelings or thoughts and act like nothing ever happened is SO OOC. If your best friend died tragically, you’d have something to say about it or act like you had something to say about it. And that’s not to say I wanted Dean to be miserable and hurting. I’m happy he got a dog and found some normalcy. But they lost SO many people, and he’s just walking around cool as a cucumber? When every other season/episode where they lost someone important to Dean he was a mess. And I’m not just talking about Cas- we all obviously know how Dean behaved when Cas died/was missing/Lucifer was controlling him. But even when Jo and Ellen died. Even when Mary died. Even when Bobby died. Even when John died. Even when Crowley died. Even when Jack died, Dean was shown hurting. Suddenly everything is cool and normal there’s no pain or anything? The fuck? A brief moment of acknowledgement. That’s all it needed.

I will never forgive the writers for ending Dean’s story that way. A rusty nail impaling him (probably in his pulmonary arteries/aorta based on the angle) on some random hunt after he finally exhaled the episode before and said, “We’re finally free.” He sacrificed his ENTIRE childhood and life for his brother and the world and so many other people, and he didn't even get to enjoy being a human on the Earth and living a life for more than a week. What! Dean was always a character filled with tragedy, and yeah, maybe he did have to die. You can make that argument. But like that?! AND. AND! Sam held a funeral for Dean and DIDN’T INVITE ANYONE! What!!! No one was there to toast to Dean and share their memories and give him the send-off he deserved. Sam just burned his body alone. Never. That would have NEVER happened. Sam loved Dean SO much and looked up to him and thought the world of him. Dean was his big brother who was fearless and strong and the best hunter on this Earth (and probably every other planet), and he didn’t celebrate his life in the end? 

Cas not showing up in Heaven is absolutely insane. INSANE. It doesn’t matter what you think of their relationship, the show has proven that Cas is important to Dean (even if you think Cas is way at the bottom of the list, he’s on it!). Dean’s ideal retirement/endgame was him, Sam, and Cas on a beach, drinking cocktails, with hula girls. That was the future Dean wanted for him and his family. And you’re telling me that Cas helped Jack build the best version of Heaven possible, and the minute Dean Winchester arrived Cas wasn’t there to greet him. Even just to say “Hello, Dean.” Even call Dean’s phone and say, “Welcome home.” Cas would have been the one greeting Dean in Heaven, with Bobby. Requited or not, it’s canon that Cas is in love with Dean. You don’t just ignore the opportunity to see the person you’re in love with. And... and! Even if Cas didn’t greet Dean in Heaven immediately, he would have appeared in the Impala during the drive. He would have met the brothers on the bridge to welcome them both home. Cas loved Sam too. He would have been there. The three boys together again. Team Free Will!  

I love Cas, and I know a lot of Cas stans feel buried and betrayed and hurt over the show doing a “is he there or isn’t he?” thing. And that is completely valid. I can’t even express to you how sorry I am that so many of us in the fandom are hurting. But I know this show. And this show has always made it clear that it was/is always about two brothers. Fine. But Dean Winchester, the most caring and loving human in the entire universe, deserved better. I am so sick to my stomach that Dean’s whole life was him convinced that there was only one way for his story to end and it was him dying tragically. For years he never let himself even entertain the thought of living a life because he 1) didn’t think he deserved that or was worth it 2) it just wasn’t in the cards. We watched Dean grow so much, SO MUCH, that we finally saw him talking about the future and having hope for the future. And yeah, maybe he wouldn’t get the future he talked about with the retirement on the beach, but he would have lived long enough to experience life outside of just “playing whack-a-mole” and being God’s favorite story and puppet. Dean didn’t even get to enjoy his freedom and humanity. They took a character that they purposefully pushed through so many stages of character development to attain hope and faith and self-worth and promise, and killed him. 

What the fuck!

[pendragaryen]

#TheBestOfBellarke: A Celebration Event - September 10th - September 30th 2021

Shoutout to one of my all time fave Bellarke-fanfictions from one of my fave fanfic-authors ever: Simple Pleasures by @pawprinterfanfic!

“She was going to tell him. I care about you. I’m falling for you. I think, I could be in love with you, one day.

She knew exactly what she was going to say to him.

Bell, I’m falling in love with you.

She was speaking before she could stop herself. He deserved to know how much he meant to her.

“Bell, I-”

His hand flew out from under hers and pressed against her lips, making her fall quiet. Her body stiffened as soon as she realized just how frightened he looked. His eyes were wide, his muscles tensed, and he was holding his breath. Her heart began hammering in her chest as she seen him.

She only seen this fear in him one time before. The cave.

That’s when she heard it. Faintly, she could hear the creak of a wooden step.

They weren’t alone.”

I’ve read this fanfic for the first time during one of the darkest times for our Bellarke-fandom: Last september, when that awful, disgusting, never-again-to-be-mentioned episode aired, where my all time fave comfort character has been senselessly murdered. By the hand of his own soulmate. What the FUCK. (This is NOT canon content for me, just so you know.)  But this fanfiction here guys, this fanfic kept me occupied and distracted, so that i could somehow manage to breathe and live through this horrible time. Right after that (if this wasn’t already difficult enough) my surgery took place, and i had this fic printed out in two books with my own created covers with me when i was in hospital. And AGAIN it was the right amount of distraction to keep myself going, although i received one of the most devestating diagnoses of my life in that time. Nothing mortal, but something, that changed my life and my hopes in a future with kids of my own forever…

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to paw, for combining two of my all time fave fandoms in this remarkable fic, The Hunger Games and The 100, to create one of the most gripping and intriguing stories i’ve ever read about Bellarke so far, for this much needed distraction throughout a very hard time in my life. Saying that i LOVED reading it is an understatement. It was literally a rollercoaster of bare emotions i was going through, never boring in the slightest. -Spoiler alert!-  How could i describe what all these beloved characters meant to me, pawprinter wrote and planned out so perfectly? I CRIED when Raven died. I cried even harder, when Murphy had to go - what i never would have expected from myself in the first place. And i laughed with our sweet Bellarke-bbs, when they repeatedly met on that roof together in the night, looking over the skyline of the Capitol-city and finding an echo of themselves in the night’s sky, the stars. True north. I LOVED all the tiny things from the series being woven into the story so beautifully, like Clarke’s watch from her father, her feeling betrayed of Wells, her best friend, the actual betrayal of her mother Abby, so that her father got killed! And so many more little and not so little things - and so many QUOTES! - you’d all recognize from the actual show! I am also VERY grateful for the little one-shots, pawprinter wrote after she finished her fic. They rounded it all up perfectly, especially when it comes to Octavia and what happened to her after Bellamy and Clarke had been banished from Panem. And i was specifically pleased to read about the Griffin-Blake reunion then. It was THE perfect ending for that au in a whole - and it felt so right. -Spoiler end!- 

It was a marvellous, heartwrenching trip and i don’t regret reading it for the 2nd time already now. ;)  So this little aesthetic is my tribute to this story i got to love so dearly. Thank you, paw. You may not know me, but… From the bottom of my broken shipper-heart: THANK YOU.

[enigmaticvariation]

C!Phil is a cool character, y’all are just mean

I feel like a lot of you don’t understand c!Phil and his motivations very well, so as a c!Phil enjoyer I’ll give you my thoughts.

A lot of you aren’t thinking about what this must be like from c!Phil’s perspective. He had absolutely know idea what was happening when he first joined the server, (hell, he didn’t even know who Schlatt was.) He didn’t know what L’manberg stood for, what people sacrificed for it, what it meant to them. Just that his son needed help and he was the only person who could provide that help. 

He came to L'manberg to save his son, realized his son had been severely traumatized and mentally broken without him being able to do anything, was forced to kill his son which was deeply traumatizing, and then his son came back as a living reminder of what he did so he could never escape the pain he felt. He didn't understand the political ramifications of what Techno did, just that people were being awful to him and so he went to go support him because Techno was the person he knew the best out of everyone and he wanted to hang out with him and help him heal. I don’t think cc!Phil was aware if Tommy was his son or not in canon, so he had no reason to check up on him within the lore. Techno was his best friend and he wanted to make sure he was ok. He stated from the beginning that he wanted to be a neutral party and that he didn’t want to be in L’manberg, but no one listened to him.

 Then, people wanted to hurt Techno and instead of selling out the closest person to him he had his house ransacked and his things stolen and was put under house arrest. Then he saw they kidnapped Techno and was forced to watch him get publicly executed right in front of him with no trial. He only saw injustice and hurt come from L'manberg from day one, so naturally he agreed with Techno and wanted to help out his friend (plus he wanted to blow stuff up because he's Phil.) He had no idea about the abuse Tommy suffered at the hands of Dream so he had no qualms helping him. He just knew that L'manberg was an unjust society that in his eyes only caused harm and that it should be gone. The bit with Ghostbur was a bit fucked, I’m not trying to say he’s perfect but I think that he has his reasoning. He just wanted to show everyone how fucked the society they created was because all he knew about it was that it was what killed his son and ruined his best friends life.

Another thing I feel like mentioning, I feel like a lot of people’s judgement of c!Phil has been completely clouded by fanon. The Fanon Phil we built up in our heads before November 16th was a very kind and loving father who’s completely family oriented and came to the smp to be everyone’s therapist and help them heal from their trauma. That’s not what happened, nor would it have ever happened. Cc!Phil isn’t really a roleplayer or an actor, he likes writing backstory and lore for his projects using environmental storytelling, (go watch his hardcore series please I’m begging you go do it.) Thus, while he likes being a part of the lore and has thought out character motivations, he primarily just wants to hang out with Techno and blow things up because that’s what’s fun for him and comes the most natural. Phil in all iterations is a man of chaos. Need I remind you that he completely annihilates and then rebuilds biomes for fun IN HARDCORE MODE. Plus, you’d know this if you watched smp earth, (smp earth gives a lot of insight into c!Phil because he was playing a more subtle version of the same character in that,) his chaos is heightened around Techno. In his words “being around Techno makes him see blood in the water.” They were called the Blood God and the Angel of Death for christ sake. We should have known from the start he would take any opportunity available to him to fuck shit up with Techno. From the beginning I was advocating for this because it’s fun to watch and it’s what Techno and Phil have fun doing together. He was never going to be what everyone wanted him to be, and by inadvertently  pushing him into that box people seemed to forget that he was a complex character who had motivations in his own right, not just in relation to others. People do this a lot in general, both cc!Phil and c!Phil are often only recognized by their roles in a group setting and not what they do on their own. 

TL;DR: C!Phil is a very interesting and well thought out character and I think that he had reason to do what he did. Like all characters on the smp however, he is morally grey. Also, in general we should think of Phil as his own person and not primarily define him by his relationships

Also, please watch Phil’s hardcore series, it’s so fucking good. There’s cool lore, and it deserves more love from the fandom as it is its own cool thing, he puts so much love and care into it!

[mittensmorgul]

it’s a bummer to see you can’t enjoy the ending. I hope someday you can come around it it. It wasn’t perfect but it didn’t nuke its integrity. i think the heart of the show really shines through and it’s a shame that it’s not being appreciated bc there’s so much shipping drama 😣

Hi there!

I... first of, I really need people to understand this... the travesty of the finale for me has almost nothing to do with “shipping drama.”

Yes, I see the wild conspiracy theories flying around, and I’m honestly concerned for some of those folks and hope they can find a way to make peace with this in whatever way they can, because we aren’t likely to ever get a better answer than that this is legitimately the ending that Dabb thought was best, despite years of us seeing the best of his writing choices and guiding Sam, Dean, and Cas to grow past the roles that Chuck would’ve forced them to fulfill, and that at the end it fell flat because he couldn’t actually come up with a better ending than “this was always their destiny, free will is a lie, and these characters had nothing outside of the revenge quest they’d been raised for since birth and manipulated into over and over for the entertainment of a vengeful god.”

I can see how “surface level” viewers would feel that this one basic narrative point was satisfying, that Sam and Dean had grown beyond their own hopeless cycle of self-sacrifice that had driven the narrative for so many years. The fact that they both acknowledged that they should allow their stories to end in that way was satisfying... but only in the shallowest and most detached read of the narrative. Like, is this really the ONLY thing these two characters learned in the last 15 years? If so, that is BEYOND depressing af.

And even THAT message lost all narrative weight when the two of them were once again reunited in death, as if nothing else had ever mattered in their lives. As if neither of them had ever outgrown the codependency that had driven so many of those previous self-sacrifices and refusals to let go of each other even in death.

So yeah, in the absolute most basic sense, I suppose I can see how casual viewers or people who aren’t actually invested in these characters could find that at least narratively coming back to a starting point.

But narratives don’t actually work that way, and that’s not the point of watching fifteen years of story develop in between.

This story wasn’t JUST about Sam and Dean needing to accept that death might be okay actually.

This story was also about free will, fighting for humanity as a whole but also their OWN humanity and self-identities. In Dean’s case, the absolutely transformative growth from feeling like nothing but a hammer, a killer, a tool to be used. And then less than an episode and a half later, after finally accepting that truth into his heart and using it to defeat the original creator and reclaim the story of his own life for himself... he gets pied in the face after flippantly talking about his destiny and having no choice, and then three scenes later he literally dies impaled on a great big nail... like a hammer...

So I would kindly ask folks who feel satisfied by that shallowest possible takeaway of this episode, and maybe invite folks to look just under that surface. Try to understand why loads of us will NEVER feel satisfied with this ending, and why it truly does feel like the most hopeless version of the story. Like even in defeating Chuck, they could never be allowed to own their own stories and what happened to them after that point was just a twisted version of the “destiny” that drove Chuck’s entire plotline for them anyway.

Please understand where we’re seeing this as horrifically painful irony rather than some beautiful circular narrative about letting go.

For a lot of us, the shipping stuff would’ve been the cherry on top of the sundae. We would’ve been happy with a scoop of plain vanilla, though. We would’ve been happy for anything that honored the journey to freedom, and the choice at any sort of a different life of their own making than literally falling back on a nail fighting off one of John’s unresolved hunts and a vampire who had literally never been named in canon before, yet who Dean instantly recognized somehow... 

but sure, for those of us who felt that “the heart of the show” was all the stuff that the finale actually erased-- that “family don’t end in blood,” and that this was actually not a show about just two brothers but the love of their found family and coming to terms with the choices they actually HAD made for themselves versus the narrative that Chuck kept centering them in DESPITE what they would choose for themselves, the finale basically told us no, everything you ever found of value in this story actually meant nothing. It told us that Chuck’s story for them was their only truth in the end, and their only freedom was to be found in death.

Please, I am begging people, stop trying to gaslight us that this was some beautiful ending. Maybe think for a second that “your read” of the narrative that allows you to find peace with the ending is not what we saw and loved about this story for the 326 episodes leading up to this finale.

And please try to understand that we were not wrong to see the entire narrative through this lens. Because we were literally validated IN CANON, and told that we understood the depth of the story and the characters just fine, actually. There’s literally ONE episode of the entire series that burns it all down in a bewildering pile of wtf. And that’s #327. That throws that entire read out the window to well actually us all back into Chuck’s literal ending... This was literally the ending Chuck wanted to force them to enact for him, and it’s what ended up happening even after they defeated him-- the ultimate Big Bad of the entire series should’ve been defeated, but instead he pulled off one final victory over the entire story.

Becky: No. You can't-- Chuck: I did. Becky: Y- This is just an ending. Chuck: Yeah. I don't know how I'm gonna get there, but I know where I'm goin'. Becky: B-But it's so... dark. Chuck: But great, right? I can see it now -- "Supernatural: The End". And the cover is just a gravestone that says "Winchester". The fans are gonna love it. Well? Becky: It's awful! Horrible. It's hopeless. You can't do this to the fans. What you did to Dean? What you did to Sam? Chuck: There, see? It's making you feel something. That's good, right?

and

Dean: Well, what now? You're not gonna dust us. Chuck: Oh, yeah? Why not? Dean: Because you're holding out. For your big finish. Yeah, we know about your galaxy-brained idea, how you think this story is gonna go. Sam got a little look into your draft folder. Chuck: Sam's visions -- they weren't drafts. They were memories. My memories. Other Sams and other Deans in other worlds. But guess what. Just like you, they didn't think they'd do it, either. But they did. And you will, too. Dean: No. Not this Sam. And not this Dean. So you go back to Earth 2 and play with your other toys. Because we will never give you the ending that you want. Chuck: We'll see.

And even in DEFEAT Chuck thought he understood these characters, thought that having rendered him powerless they would finally take their revenge and kill him, but they didn’t, because he never actually understood these characters at all. And the story he tried to force them into from day one was never about THEM, it was about HIM. 

And then Dean gets like two whole days of freedom and choice and is apparently incapable of making any of the choices that don’t throw him immediately back into Chuck’s favorite story. Like none of that resolution in the previous episode meant anything at all. He even SAYS it in the finale:

Dean: Yeah, no. I think about 'em, too. You know what? That pain's not gonna go away. Right? But if we don't keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing.

And then two scenes later the show gives us the Nelson Muntz HA HA and Dean is no longer living, and Sam is left to carry on as a shell of himself and wander off into Blurry Wife Land to devote any even remotely content moment of the rest of his years to raising a  Replacement Dean to fill the void, and is never able to pick up the pen to write anything better of his own life than Chuck would’ve dealt him in the first place.

So I’m glad that top-layer takeaway is sustaining and enough for you. It wasn’t, and will never be enough for the rest of us.

What was actually real in all of this? We were.

Until we weren’t.

And that’s honestly a shit message to be pushing on people in the wake of it all. So please stop.

I should actually thank you for the kind intent with which your message is phrased, but that doesn’t make it feel less hilariously awful. Though I chose this one to reply to as the least insulting of all the messages currently in my inbox on this subject. So thanks for that, at least.