#idk why but this is malevolent coded

[crazyw3irdo]

id like the many many people who said my romeo & juliet uquiz reminded them of in stars and time to know i started playing it and hell fuckin yeah

[the-owl-tree]

im a little too tired rn, is it okay if i ask you to elaborate on the “tbc shouldve come out after oots because of how asc was handled” post… im curious 👀

Also a little sleepy so I might become back and edit this later but I was kind of nibbling on it in my brain and I think thematically, changing the order just lends itself better to OotS -> TBC -> AVoS -> ASC. Some of this is veering into rewrite/au territory but that's the fun part lol

Omen of the Stars

Sets up the religious themes of TBC with its Heaven/Hell cat war.

Sets up that StarClan can be wrong and this has negative consequences for the living cats. Examples: Yellowfang interfering in Cinderheart's life, StarClan telling the Clans to divide themselves before the war.

Sets up that there are cats in the Dark Forest who do not deserve to be there.

The Great Battle itself, quite literally them fighting demons of the pasts and "codebreakers" who aligned themselves with said demons, creates a really good set up for TBC.

The Clans are reeling and, had OotS pulled it off better, the great battle could've been devastating...and why a more strict leader trying to "pull his Clan together" would've been more acceptable.

The Broken Code

The themes and plot of TBC just work sooo much better with the aforementioned set up.

Themes of StarClan being wrong, making mistake, recontextualizing the Dark Forest as somewhere not as pure evil but also a result of these mistakes.

Ashfur swooping in post-war to get a hold on leadership, taking advantage of Clan pride, and using the code as a guise to unite ThunderClan under an iron fist.

Like the setting feels so perfect for TBC to me?? Post spiritual war between heaven and hell where even StarClan faced losses, a malevolent spirit with a grudge comes down to take advantage of this huge split whilst the worst leaf-bare the Clans have seen approaches.

But that's also obvious connections to make, what it also lends itself to is the new theme of authority and leadership that becomes relevant in AVOS.

This is also where the seeds of code changing are being planted.

A Vision of Shadow

Like I don't like AVOS Rowanstar, I find the text tells me one thing but his actions tell me another but for the purposes of this, I'll indulge the intention of the writers: Rowanstar is supposed to be too permissive.

And like, this doesn't work right after OOTS in which multiple ShadowClan cats sided with the Dark Forest.

But it does work post TBC after the Clans just fought and faced losses against Ashfur.

We see a leader reckon with the consequences of their own unchecked power (and perhaps sees some past echoes in the process?)

We see the use of the code to justify brutality fuel a growing disrespect from those in the Clans.

There is unease and unhappiness with the status quo (and in a good series, this should not be a bad thing)

SkyClan also brings into question the benevolence of StarClan. Would they turn a blind eye to ShadowClan? To RiverClan?

Things need to change, AVoS is the straw that breaks the camel's back: things need to change.

A Starless Clan

Berryheart's role hinges a lot more on AVOS while comparatively everyone else's can be either or, so just making AVOS more relevant adds to that.

ASC, as muddled and sloppy as it got, is about change and it is about progress, even if the authors got really scared and sympathetic towards bigots who want to halt that progress.

Continuing the theme of authority: what happens when a Clan has no leader?

Continuing the theme of faith: what happens when cats turn their back on StarClan?

and don't get me wrong, ASC stumbled downhill into a bush of thorns, but these themes do have more room to stand when we reorder and stack these themes to build on one another.

I'm stretching a little but I think thematically, switching everything around like building blocks just makes ASC like...idk have more to stand on?

I think I'd have to go on more of a rewrite tangent to make this work better but I feel like using TBC to set up AVOS rather than vice versa works better.

Star Specific Point (Spoilers)

I think also the ending ultimately being about choosing to come back and faith in the living also just caps off these building themes better. Frostpaw choosing to come back because she can do more alive than dead just lends itself to ideas of autonomy and breaking from the idea that StarClan is all-knowing and all seeing.

[donnovien]

i think the reason why malevolent had such a huge success is bc jarthur were so girlhood coded, idk if this makes sense but like the boys didn’t show an ounce of toxic masculinity, they were physically affectionate with eachother, not scared to share their emotions and also were proud that+

[sebdoesthings]

HGSN Chapter 27-2 Thoughs

God I have so many thoughts and emotions on this chapter, idk if this won't just be some sort of word and screenshot vomit, so bear with me. Or don't idc.

1. So does this mean we could have a happy ending? We've got the end goal located now: Destroy the hole. But there's no way from a storytelling perspective that Len would make exactly what Tanaka outlined be the ending we get. It just wouldn't be wise to spoil their own ending like that. Which means we could get an ending where the hole is closed and 'Hikaru' doesn't self-destruct... maybe? Hopefully? Pretty pretty please?????

Okay now that I've got that delusion out of my system I need to yell about gay people.

Tanaka is laying it on thick, but not as thick as Yoshiki. He's ride or die now. To think what Yoshiki from the beginning or even the middle of the series would've said instead... that decapitation scare really made him realise some things, huh?

Go on. Say it. SAY IT GAYBOY!!!

Also the continued usage of "go so far" that Yoshiki and 'Hikaru' have been using at each other the whole series long is just. UGH. Why DO you go so far for each other time and time again, huh?

(Side note: Tanaka really said 'Hikaru' is just some guy coded lmaooo)

BONUS:

Special someone,,,, i could cry. I could actually cry, GOD LEN!!!!!!! And Yoshiki still doubles down when Tanaka talks down on 'Hikaru'... ugh I hate gay people.

LASTLY (edit: not lastly) I wanna talk about my boy 'Hikaru' himself. Because I KNEW IT! I KNEW HE WASN'T THIS MALEVOLENT ENTITY EVERYONE SAID HE WAS!!!!!

He's the cleanup crew! He protected the village! He protected everyone!

This does make me question why he's so attracted to Yoshiki's soul though. Maybe because they've mixed and now Yoshiki has something of the other side about him that tingles 'Hikaru's instincts? Idk, but it's interesting. I don't think the whole "i don't have a soul so i wanna eat Yoshiki's" is entirely right. It doesn't fit imo.

But also! We still don't 100% know if 'Hikaru' killed Matsuura-san, because he is unsure and denies it when Yoshiki accuses him of it, and he doesn't usually lie to Yoshiki. Plus there's something I noticed on my reread:

Matsuura-san's eyes look so similar to Takeda Gramps' eyes just before the impurity took over. So my guess is that Matsuura-san was entered into and 'Hikaru' registered that sub-consciously, did away with the impurity, and Matsuura-san died as a result, same as Takeda. Doesn't explain the hand shoved down her throat, but then again that doesn't make sense even if 'Hikaru' did it. So I think it's a pretty solid theory.

Or maybe the whole knocking on the door was just a delusion and the hand down her own throat was Matsuura-san trying to get the impurity out of her? And the thing we see around the corner is the impurity breaking out after the host expired? Idk man... Lots of thoughts.

I think that's all for now. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later, but for now.... that's all.

[fredbydawn]

So, I finally finished reading the book, so here's my updated thoughts on that theory I kinda made as a joke but oops kinda like it.

So, I know Merrin says that there's only one demon, but I disagree.

Basically, I think Pazuzu did start to contact Regan as a form of protection. I think he is probably the original Captain Howdy, and he talks to her to elevate the stress of her parents' divorce and the stress of being the child of a famous actress.

I’m not totally sure if Dennings is already acting predatorily towards Regan before or after she starts contacting Pazuzu, but I think that some of the initial, like, strong paranormal stuff is the result in of an escalation of abuse. I also think it’s important to note that the book repeatedly mentions that some of the weird things going on (noises in the attic for example) might be due to Regan having a form of telekinesis due to extreme emotional duress.

I know there are people who’ve analyzed the film and explored the idea that Regan was being abused by Dennings due to things like what could he possibly have been doing in her bedroom to begin with or his voice being prominent in the crucifix scene, so I won’t go too much into that. What I will say is that Dennings is more queer coded in the book, using Polari phrases like “Ducky” for instance. And considering when the book was released many straight audience members would have been under the homophobic impression that queer people were dangerous to have around children, I wonder if that may have been a deliberate decision to get readers to wonder if the possession stuff, which is often of a sexual nature, is actually just a troubled girl experiencing and reliving trauma even after killing her abuser. I also want to point out one moment in the book when he comes over to the McNeil house while Regan is sleeping and Chris says his facial expressions and demeanor remind her of a time she saw him skulking around while looking for a prostitute.

So I think Pazuzu starts to possess Regan in order to protect her from Dennings, but this leaves her open to possession by other, more malevolent forces. I don’t know if I 100% believe the spirit is The Devil, but I do think that the spirit is the one who engineered Regan and Pazuzu first coming into contact. I think this malevolent spirit traps Pazuzu as the backwards talking entity. Like I noticed in the book it mentions that in the backward portion of the tapes, it sounds like there are multiple people arguing and one of them is afraid of Merrin. Considering Pazuzu and Merrin are linked in the opening scenes, I think Pazuzu is the one who’s afraid of being cast out of Regan and into the void. I’m not really sure why the entity wants Pazuzu inside Regan, but maybe that’s so it can leach off of his power or because if he was outside he’d be able to ward the evil way, idk.

So while he’s stuck only talking backwards, I think Pazuzu does have enough power to leave if he wanted, so the malevolent spirit does things to make Pazuzu want to remain in Regan to protect her, like keeping the threat of Dennings around as a spirit (cuz I do think Exorcist III rules apply where if you kill someone while possessed, their soul gets trapped in you). Like I think Pazuzu was probably the one who killed Dennings, but it worked out for the malevolent spirit because now Pazuzu would be spending most of his energy trying to stop Dennings from taking control instead of being able to challenge the malevolent spirit.

The more Regan suffers at the hands of doctors, psychologists, and priests, the more Pazuzu clings into Regan, wanting to keep her safe even if that means lashing out violently. But I think in the end he realizes that Regan will die if the possession doesn’t end, and I think that one shot in the movie of Regan and Pazuzu is of him allowing himself to be pushed out in order to save her. I think this then leaves the other spirits vulnerable to being thrown out and that’s one of the reasons why Karras is able to force the malevolent spirit into himself.

So, yeah, it not perfect, but that’s kinda my way of justifying the presence of Pazuzu, cuz tbh I’m super not sure why he was picked as the icon of the devil

And no I will not count the lore of the second movie cuz I don’t feel like it :)

[pidgefudge]

4. And 17. For that ask game

4. whats a rare fear that you have?

ummm gosh i don't actually know how *rare* any of them are per se,,,,, i mean i am always terrified that everyone can read my mind and that i am being Judged for it but that's just a side effect of being raised religious i guess (also why i can only really be gay in my room in the dark lol)

similarly a fear that im being watched by pictures/paintings but thats because there's gotta be at least a hundred pictures of various gods and such in this house. in every single room even mine and im not allowed to get rid of them

17. do you want any tattoos? if so, where, what, and why?

i think i would like some!! idk about where exactly but probably of things that are really important to me like my special interest,,,,,, perhaps a mushroom or fire flower or star,,,,,, OR a buzzy beetle i love them

also depending on how i feel about it down the road maybe malevolent because it's been one of my main fandoms for awhile (could be the yellow sign,,, the lighter,,,,,, other cool things ill think of later) and speaking of pods a bit of find us alive body code of my name (the locations mean something in this case but idr off the top of my head)

[possession1981-moving]

actually you know what top hongjoong looks in general just for good measure

oh hiiiiii sorry this took multiple days okay a LOT of brain power went into it!!! i couldn’t keep it to only 3 sorry you’re getting 3 stage looks and one personal style airport fit as a bonus <3 (as if more joong is a negative)

1.

idk why i was having such issues finding good photos of this look but like. you know it i know it even the priest knows it (that’s a movie reference you might not get sorry)… how do you expect me to be normal?

2.

2023 gayo daejejeon ooaweehdifrbforjt uh idk like what to say really it’s just INSANE? so many people were talking about hwa’s look (which i didn’t like so much tbh) but i saw no one talking about this sexy fucking lee mcqueen ass ensemble um the voluminous sleeves and the latexy vest the opulent iconography sorry it’s so unholy. wish his hair was better bleached but like. i’m eating him idc.

3.

man. a velvet suit will always get me but something about his hips in this suit in particular because it was velvet so it just really emphasized them like sorry but it really really really reallyyyyy was so dyke-coded which is when he is the most malevolent to me. and he had the light brown hair that makes me black out on it damn own.

bonus off duty

my moody art student gf ohhhhhhh the little exposure of collarbones the high waisted pants and the cardigan tucked in for extra hourglass oomph i’m literally losing my marbles and my train of thought.

ask me top 3 anything <3

[chompsloudly]

So some character placements for my au plus explainations.I accidentally went on a rant at one point

Error-muffet

Ink-flowey

fresh-burger pants

Dream-asriel

Nightmare-chara

Horrortale sans-cannibal/butcher grillby

Dust sans-dustbelief papyrus

Geno-either muffet or undyne

King multiverse-asgore?

Blue-underscramble mettaton

Killer sans-killer sans

Sci sans- alphys

core frisk-core frisk

lust-idk

fell-idk. Possibly fell mk? Mad mew mew

epic- maybe undyne

Cross-I have no idea

Time kid- monster kid

Error explanation

Strings, threatening, muffets already kinda out of it if you read her genocide dialogue. Add an eternity in a white void and you get destroyer muffet

Ink explaination

It makes since for flowey to be ink since they both have no soul. I would've made asgore the protector but he doesn't do much protecting. Plus flowey seems to be capable of some range of emotion, which is better than nothing

Fresh explaination

Fresh is canonically a parasite and I randomly thought it would be funny to have him possess burger pants and it stuck

Dream explaination

Asriel is perfectly suited for the role. Just look at the fluffy boi. Kind, sweet, sunshine, helpful. I honestly don't know why there isn't any dream-asriel, well, anything.

Nightmare explaination

Chara is asriels sibling, and they're the more malevolent of the two. Also it only makes sense.

Horror explaination

Made a new au for this grillby since I couldn't think of a good one for the in-code cannibal role. Grillby was the best fit since he already owns a bar.

Dust explaination

I was lazy

Genocide

I'm not sure whether to use muffet again or undyne. It would make sense to use muffet due to errors backstory, but undyne literally dies due to being too determined, which makes her the better candidate. But then that might result in an error undyne, so I'm not sure which one to do

King multiverse explaination

I didn't know where to put king asgore so I made him king multiverse. Admittedly I don't know anything about king multiverse at all, so I'm not completely sure

Swap explaination

Underscramble mettaton is my favorite when it comes to the 'excitable human catcher' role. It was the only character I considered and I can't think of any better anyways

Killer explaination

Unfortunately I can't leave sans out comepletely so I let my favorite of the sans au's stay. He's got a good reason to be a sans that isn't just sans reskin

Sci explaination

I'm going to be very honest when I say that I hate the fact that sci's a sans and not an alphys. Y'know, the literal royal scientist. So I decided to fix that by doing what should have been done in the first place. On a less rant-ish note, I'm kinda tempted to make her a fell alphys

Core explaination

The goal is to reduce the amount of sans aus, so changing core would be pointless. Plus core's a good character

Lust explaination

I have no idea who to use for this role.

Fell explaination

I originally didn't know who to use, but then I remembered mad mew mew existed. I actually want to use a mad mew mew fell instead of a sad mew mew fell though. Anywho I gave mad mew the fell role since she's knows for being angry in the first place.

Epic explanation

Im not completely sure, but undyne seems like a good fit. From what I've seen of epic while he seems laid back he is also a protector. Naturally undyne seems like the best fit. But now the geno problem shows itself again.

cross explaination

I have absolutely no idea who to use

Time kid explaination

A last minute thought, I only gave them this position due to time kid being a kid. Like king multiverse, I don't know anything about timekid. This position is most likely temporary at best

I still don't know where to put all of the characters on this list as I'm not completely sure of the sanses they'll be replacing. Or I can't decide between two characters. Still don't know where to put napstablook. Or gaster. And I want to give toriel a better role cause nim dies immediately.

overall I need help and any criticism is appriciated. Let me know any characters I forgot or would be better suited for another role.

[fandomswillruinmylife]

This is very Malevolent jarthur coded idk why

@thepossumcore opinions?

*holding onto ur heart thru ur ribcage* so what are we

[deniigi]

my supervisor fucked me over with all my other coworkers present. can I request a one shot from you to cheer me up featuring Sammy?

Did I give y’all the fic about the hotpot?

Well if I didn’t, I’m giving it to you now.

Title: hotpot

Summary: Ganke checks the comments for the Blindspot comic daily and there’s this one asshole anon who keeps talking shit about BT.

--

The Blindspot comic went live in the fall and Ganke couldn’t stop checking the hit count every five seconds. All night there had only been ten hits.

He told himself not to be disappointed. The only person who really mattered had read and loved the comic.

Miles said that BT had even forced everyone on the team to read an abridged version of Journey to the West, and had gone as far as to make a quiz to determine everyone’s character.

Miles refused to disclose who he’d gotten.

BT had clearly rigged the game to make himself Sun Wukong and Ganke was proud of him.

That kind of enthusiasm was exactly what he’d been hoping for, anything else now was just icing on the cake.

Even though it would be cool if it wasn’t just BT reading his own comics.

That would be pretty cool, right? Like. If people online all started reading BT’s comic. That would be sort of amazing.

Kind of excellent.

Definitely worthy of an A+ and double pats on the back.

Right?

The hit counter didn’t think so. But hey, five more people had opened the page since last night. That was something, wasn’t it?

 MM: dude why not just ask Sam to tweet out the link?

 How dare you, Miles Morales.

How dare you waltz into this place with logical thought.

GL: I can’t do that. That’s like. Idk. Inflating the views.

MM: okay yeah explain to me how appealing to the person in control of the largest part of his own fandom is inflating the views

GL: I see your logic and I’m banishing it

MM: I’m messaging him

GL: DON’T

MM: too late

MM: he says ‘gimme link’

GL: asdksjsjdks

--

 @blindspot: hi I know y’all can’t get enough of me to the point of asking shockingly invasive questions and for you I say good news! Some amazing folks have gone through the trouble of making a Blindspot comic. it’s good guys check it out [link]

--

 It helped.

A lot.

It helped a lot.

--

 People, on the whole, had great things to say. The panels were screenshotted and tagged and sent all over social media and even though Miles was pretending to be chill and aloof about the whole thing, Ganke could imagine him smiling big and bright and white at his phone non-stop.

Mom and Auntie saw a few of the bits on Twitter and tittered over them in the kitchen like pigeons.

The pride rose like a wave. Ganke kept waiting for the crash.

--

 It came two days later in the form of a comment that read ‘Christ, look at all this fuss. BT is fine. I hate his brother.’

It felt like someone punching the wind out of Ganke’s lungs.

He took comfort in the handful of people who leapt in to shout down the commenter. They emphasized that if the anonymous commenter didn’t like the story or the characters, then they didn’t have to read it and they, especially, didn’t have to say anything about it.

Ganke appreciated those guys. He got the feeling that a lot of the people on there knew that the whole thing had been done but a couple of kids.

Not that Anon cared.

Anon replied to all these comments ‘No, I’m gonna keep reading, thanks. Anyways, the brother is lame. The smart part is cool, but why’s it always gotta be a guy?’

The part that haunted Ganke even after he’d shut his laptop and had gone to stick his head out the window for some big breaths of cleansing air was that Anon was kind of right.

--

 GL: should we have made Guotin’s brother a sister?

MM: no

GL: why not?

MM: cause BT’s always wanted a brother

 Oh.

Okay. Then it was fine?

 MM: yeah man ignore them. it’s chill.

GL: k thanks my ego is huge and fragile

MM: trust me I know

 Asshole. Fine, moving right along.

--

 It didn’t stop. Anon commented on every page. Every. Single. Page.

Ganke didn’t know what to do or say. On the one hand, clearly this person was dedicated and deeply engaged with the comic, on the other hand, they needed a Rude Alert button. Ganke wondered if Ned could code one for them and them only.

The latest of their fury was directed at the big reveal in the second issue—BT’s face.

Having now met Sam, BT, Blindspot, Ganke’s whole image of him had changed.

He was not conventionally attractive as far as like, K-Pop idols and famous Chinese dudes went. His eyes were puffy and narrow and his face was round everywhere but the jaw. He leaned more towards ‘cute’ than ‘sexy,’ which Ganke sort of loved about him.

He was friendly. Stressed and grumpy and feisty as hell, yeah, but first and foremost friendly.

Miles claimed that he called it his ‘number one asset in employability.’ Which was wild because hello, Blindspot.

Obviously, BT couldn’t help his face. But Miles and Ganke could help Guotin’s.

Ganke had sent Miles about fifteen different images of Chinese celebrities and had told him to do his worst. They’d reviewed the final few drafts and had picked one that was most like a young Chen Kun. His face was more oval-shaped than BT’s. His chin and lips were slimmer but more defined. He was pretty, but not so pretty as to be called ‘feminine,’ which Ganke thought was a solid compromise between ‘handsome as sin’ and ‘looks like he’s got a quirky sense of humor.’

Anon hated him.

Anon thought that he looked like an idol, and they were not here for it.

They told ‘the artist’ to give him a mole or something, anything to make him look ‘less pristine. God, I can smell him from here and he smells like Dior and staph habitat.’

Ganke had to look up what a staph infection was. He regretted it. He asked Miles if they should censor Anon.

Miles said ‘mmmmm, idk it’s not like they aren’t saying anything that isn’t true.’

Ganke resented that. Clearly this was defamation of BT. This person hated him and was taking their feeling out on the comic.

 MM: I mean yeah but it’s not like they’re talking about the comic, man. They’re talking about the style and like, thinking about it, a mole or smth to help you tell him apart from other folks would kind of be helpful. Like, especially if we ever put him in a crowd, you know?

 HHHHHH.

Fine.

Anon could stay. But they were on thin ice.

--

 It was hard not to be bitter about Anon’s comments, especially when they arrived daily, as though Anon knew exactly what they were doing and which page they’d left off at. They couldn’t possibly be reading the comic one page at a time, this was intentional.

Ganke’s jaw hurt from all the tooth grinding he’d endured as of late.

This latest one read ‘yo, has BT ever mentioned fighting with a sword? I don’t recall him mentioning. Someone should take that thing away from him before someone loses an eye—or maybe even two.’

That felt like a pointed jibe.

That turned the churning irritation in Ganke’s gut into something much, much colder.

Did Anon know about BT’s black and blue eyes? How could they know? Was it a coincidence? It seemed to be more than a coincidence.

The pile of critiques was growing bigger and bigger, and now that Ganke thought about it, they all seemed to take issue with things that didn’t match the real Blindspot’s personality.

It was as if they knew him.

 GL: miles did you read the new comment from AnonTheAsshole?

MM: lol yeah

GL: tell me if I’m talking out my ass or whatever but like

GL: you don’t think they could be Muse, could they?

 Silence.

 MM: oh no

 Yeah. Fuck.

 MM: chances are low.

GL: they know so much tho??

MM: might be stalker? Maybe someone who’s over-invested in BT’s social media pages?

GL: maybe.

MM: hold on let me ask Spidey to screen it

GL: does he know Muse?

MM: no, but he’s paranoid and he’ll get Wade to be paranoid with him, and then they can decide whether its worth giving to DD for verification. He knows Muse.

 Ganke’s head was spinning. His fingers shook with guilt and the thought of Muse’s pale body hunched over a secret, cracked cell phone in a high security prison who knew where.

In Ganke’s head, he smiled wider and wider, until the skin on his cheeks cracked. He dug out scraps of paper and redrew Blindspot—Sam—with gaping holes for eyes and a screaming mouth and he drew dismembered corpses in black lakes and he laughed.

He just kept laughing.

 MM: hey ganke

MM: it’s going to be okay. It’s just a comic. I’m sure AnonTheAsshole is a stalker. They’re not threatening anyone.

MM: Sam can deal with a stalker. And we can too, okay?

 There was a reason that Miles was a hero. Ganke wiped at his eyes and swallowed.

 GL: okay. Thanks for doing that.

MM: 👍🏾

--

 It took a few hours because Spidey and Deadpool had lives outside of being Spidey and Deadpool, but not so long that Ganke ran out of nails to chew.

Miles messaged him back and said that Spidey had read through everything and ‘escalated it.’ This meant that whatever he’d seen had caused him enough concern to take it to DP.

Miles said that he’d get back to Ganke with DP’s verdict as soon as he had it. In the meantime, he’d run the comments by the other Spideypeople and they thought that it most likely wasn’t malevolent but was maybe something to keep an eye on in the meantime. He tacked onto all, somewhat stiltedly, that he had a weird feeling all of the sudden. The pink Spidey’s tone had changed. She’d shut down and gone cagey, which allegedly wasn’t like her at all. Then she’d told the taller guy to DM her and they’d vanished from the chat. Miles wasn’t sure what was going on there or if maybe they knew something about stuff going on that he didn’t, but he wasn’t super comfortable with it.

 GL: crossing my fingers its nothing?

MM: same man, same.

--

 DP escalated it.

Ganke couldn’t stay still in his room. There was no comfortable place to sit or stand or lay. There was nothing to do that would make him stop thinking about everything.

 MM: It’s gonna be fine, man, DD always knows what to do.

 Miles kept saying that for every step of the way, and yet here they were. Double escalated. Ganke wasn’t so sure he even knew what was happening anymore.

That was scary. Miles was supposed to be part of the in-crowd.

 MM: Wade doesn’t think it’s anything that can’t be nipped in the bud.

 That was easy for a contract assassin to say, wasn’t it?

 MM: he says that you and I are fine. Doesn’t see any links there. Waiting on DD for confirmation of tone.

 Hurry up, Daredevil. Your apprentice’s life might be about to take a nosedive into a heap of trash.

--

 Two hours. One text.

 MM: >:/

 Ganke couldn’t contain the bubble of laughter.

 GL: good news?

MM: [image]

 He opened it.

 SC: HANNAH YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE. STOP BEING A BITCH ON MAIN

HC: You can’t tell me what to do

SC: I CAN

HC: Mom he’s being MEAN

SC: Mom she’s scaring children online

HC: I scare children everywhere I go why are these ones special???

SC: Because I said so

HC: that doesn’t fucking work Samuel you’re not her

SC: I am your older brother

SC: your ELDEST brother

HC: YOU AINT SHIT

SC: THEY DON’T COUNT

SC: HALFSIES COUNT

 What.

 MM: so.

MM: she’s not Muse.

MM: Red’s laughing his ass off at all of us for taking this to a level three

GL: wait I don’t understand

MM: Hannah is Sam’s little sister. She’s found a new hobby in our website.

 Blindspot’s little sister was reading the comic??? Holy shit.

 GL: she hates him?

MM: no I’ve been informed that they would literally commit murder for each other but this is how they express love.

 No way. Siblings were wild.

 GL: so we’re good?

MM: [image]

  SC: apologize 🔪

HC: eat my ass

SC: apologize or else

HC: or else what? You gonna come in here and sit on me? Huh? Huh????

SC: I know your email password. All 3 you cycle through. What was his name? Uuuuuuuuuh Jing?

HC: you fucking bastard

SC: Hi Jing, it’s me, Hannah. I’ve been in mad crush with you since sophomore year. Please notice me senpai 😖

HC: Die

SC: kill me

HC: I will.

 The giggles that came this time were a mix of relief and genuine intrigue. This lady read the comic every day. She took the time to scroll through pictures of her brother being an absolute lunatic and fighting with a huge monkey. Then she hopped into that comment box and took him—not Miles, not Ganke, specifically Blindspot--down a peg.

She must miss him a lot. Ganke wondered if this was her way of keeping him in her thoughts.

 MM: I don’t think we’re getting a sorry, man. DD says Sam’s been at this all morning and has been tricked into apologizing himself twice

GL: so you’re saying that she’s an evil genius

MM: idk but she’s def Sam’s main nemesis. I always thought that older siblings got like, rights or something over younger ones, but idk anymore. Angel says this is normal.

GL: do you think she misses him?

 Miles took a long time to respond.

 MM: yeah

 Yeah, Ganke thought so, too.

 GL: should we change Guo tin’s brother’s name to ‘hamish?’

MM: ASDLDSDSFKdsjf

MM: one moment.

MM: sam says yes. Hannah says that she thinks our comic is shit and we need to draw everything uglier

GL: she’s kind of funny

MM: 👀perhaps she would like to be a consultant?

GL: 👀👀👀👀

MM: brb asking

MM: sam says no. Hannah says she’s got better things to do than proofread comics on the internet. She’s also not sorry. She wants that to be clear. DD says that the conversation has moved from English to Chinese and to maybe duck and cover for now. He says all is good tho. Thanks for checking in.

MM: Muse doesn’t use punctuation and talks in riddles, so if we get any of that, we’re supposed to send it to DP right away.

 Oh, nice. That was a relief.

 MM: oh

MM: sam wants to put us in a chat. Can I give him your number?

 Uh, only if he wanted Ganke to hyperventilate.

 GL: sure

 --

  [GL has been added to a Secure Chat]

 It was a page of characters and emojis that were somehow more menacing than Ganke had ever seen them before. Miles popped a little waving hand into the fray, as though testing the waters, but the characters just carried on scrawling around it.

Ganke wasn’t quite sure what to do.

 GL: hi? Are y’all okay?

 There was finally a pause. Then a few shorter lines of characters. And then finally, Blindspot switched from Chinese to English.

 SC: yes we’re FINE. We’re GREAT. Aren’t we, sibling from hell?

HC: who’re you? Why are you in our family chat? This is a family only zone, can’t you read?

SC: God Hannah he’s Korean don’t be a dick

HC: I can’t not be I learned it from you

SC: fair but pretend in the face of company

HC: okay fine. Hello losers.

MM: adksadfadsdfldfsldf

MM: hi

GL: hi?

SC: go on

HC: UGH

HC: fine

HC: I didn’t mean to shit talk your creation. Only my brother.

SC: also a sin, we’ll get to that later

HC: no one cares about you Samuel, stop spreading lies

SC: you first. We both know this is no lie, my white dad cares about me a whole lot

HC: well we can’t all have white dads now can we

SC: don’t be jealous

MM: lol you really call Matt your white dad??

HC: who is this person and how do they know our mutual parent’s name?

SC: this is not a mutual parent situation how many times have we been through this. He’s mine. Get your own.

MM: hi! 👋🏾I’m Bitsy! Spidey no. 4

GL: I’m his friend. He draws the comic. I write it.

HC: oh. nerd children x2

HC: anyways yeah Matt is our dad

SC: ffs

MM: he’s sort of dadly ig.

HC: ?? oho

SC: mind your face. Think about your face. Think about how much you like your face.

HC: little spider, did you not hear?

SC: kay everyone out. We’re done here

MM: hear what?

HC: lol Sammy you didn’t tell them about how Matthew Mcconaughey adopted you in all ways but paperwork?

 Ganke held his phone away from his face as far as it would go.

 MM: …wait are you for real?

SC: no. okay out.

HC: awwww Sammy so shy now. What are you embarrassed about? It’s cute.

SC: Hannah literally shut up I’m not playing

HC: damn okay sorry

MM: can I be honest?

SC: no

MM: I’m going to be anyways: I think we all sorta knew.

SC: …

HC: right?

SC: what does that even mean?

MM: idk, it just felt right, you know? You two are always fussing at each other and red lost his shit that time you got shot. He doesn’t treat you the way he treats the rest of us and we’re his teammates. He doesn’t even treat spidey like he treats you. So like, yeah. It fits.

MM: I’m really happy for you guys.

MM: is there a reason it’s a secret?

 Ganke eased himself back down onto the mattress. This was real. This was like, actual, real information. Something that he and like, four other people in the world now knew.

He kind of wanted to forget it. It didn’t feel right to know.

 SC: I dunno.

HC: if sam has an honest emotion towards anything he has to calculate its weight so he can make space for it in his collection of satellites.

MM: wh

SC: you’re so not funny.

HC: it’s called emotional repression, darling. It’s all the rage in this family.  

MM: oh

MM: so that’s why you and Red get on so well

SC: HHHHHHH

HC: HA

SC: okay but listen his is different, I’ve only seen him cry at his wedding. I cry at least 4 times a week. Obviously under the bed, but that can’t be emotional repression. That’s expression. That’s clearly expression

HC: I can make the old man cry watch me

SC: please don’t I’ll die

MM: awwwww

SC: shut up it doesn’t even matter.

MM: AWWWWWW

SC: LEAVE ALREADY

MM: no I like it here. I want to hear you talk about how much you love your white dad

SC: I don’t. He loves me. I’m fine with this because it results in food, shelter, and continued employment.

HC: uh huh

SC: I’m using him

HC: yeah because you’re like the most manipulative person I know.

SC: thank you

HC: /sarcasm

SC: I know I ignored it.

MM: so wait why do you actually pretend like you hate him tho?

SC: wh

SC: what the fuck am I supposed to do? Just go on up for a cuddle? Have you met Matt? The second someone starts crying, he finds trash to take out to the bins. Hell no. Life is easier for everyone if I stab him with a stick and he kicks my ass in training. It’s fine.

HC: Sam is learning how to be a Manly Man. This is step one.

SC: I’m plenty manly

HC: you’re what mom imagined as manly

SC: which is perfect. That’s all I need.

HC: mama’s boy

SC: must suck to suck, no one’s kid.

 Wow. Ganke had never been more glad that he didn’t have a sister.

 GL: That’s kind of cool, though.

GL: that you and DD are close like that I mean.

GL: Its different from all the other mentor/mentee superheroes we see who like, sort of hate each other.

SC: wh

SC: OH. you mean Peter and Kate. Peter doesn’t actually hate Stark, fyi. And Kate calls Hawkeye the Old bi-weekly to make sure he’s still breathing. It’s actually pretty normal.

MM: he doesn’t mean like that Sam. I mean, like those guys don’t associate with their Olds now that they’re grown up and stuff, but you and DD stick together. It’s like you’re family.

MM: and that’s super cool. Idk if Spidey would ever consider me family. I don’t think he wants that for us.

SC: I?

SC: oh shit

HC: CLARITY ON THIS FINE DAY. What was your name again, tiny spider?

MM: miles

HC: PRAISE BE TO MILES

HC: AN EMOTION WAS HAD

SC: get fucked

HC: An epiphany was obtained!

SC: would you shut up

HC: Something has finally permeated that non-porous, two-inch thick skull of my esteemed eldest brother

SC: I’m your only brother

HC: you’re not

SC: they don’t fucking count

HC: now will you FINALLY invite our mutual dad to hotpot?

SC: Hannah he doesn’t want to come to hot pot we’ve talked about this. it’s too spicy for him.

HC: I’ll make it 1/3 less spicy

SC: that’s still too spicy

HC: I’ll make it 2/5 less spicy

SC: 3/5

HC: listen

HC: I have all this fucking equipment that SOMEONE left here callously

MM: what’s hotpot?

SC: 👀

HC: 👀

GL: 👀

SC: well fuck

HC: EYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

GL: have we never taken you with us for hotpot???

MM: no?? is this the sticks?

HC: can be. Where do you live?

SC: Hannah no

HC: Hannah yes. We’ll make one here. You’ll make one there.

SC: do you know how much shit I’ll have to buy? Where are we gonna put it?

HC: this wouldn’t be a problem if you’d taken your goddamn inheritance with you to SF

SC: HHHHHH

MM: you guys are actually being serious?

HC: I am. I am here all on my lonesome. Abandoned by my only kin. I require enrichment.

SC: try doing your fucking homework

HC: did anyone hear something?

MM: lololololol I like you

HC: 😊

SC: wh

SC: oh no. No no no.

SC: you two don’t get to be friends

HC: come here bb pspspspspspsps

MM: I’m here

HC: got ‘im. Let’s have hotpot. Sammy send me resippy. We’ll do it together over video so I don’t fuck it up.

SC: I’ve got to go. This has been traumatizing.

HC: byeeeeeeeeeeee

HC: is he gone? Hell yeah, he’s gone.

HC: hey thanks for making that comic thing. It’s hella rad. He loves it. Mom used to call him Monkey when he was little.

GL: omg aw

HC: ikr? P cute. He misses her a lot so I think it brought back good memories. Anyways, I’m actually going to make hotpot. Come over and have some with me, it’s more fun with more people.

MM: you’re not joking

HC: nope, it’s been ages since your whole team has gotten together, right? Ask them to do it. I’m a shit cook, but Sam’ll show us how not to screw it up. And he’s playin’, he’s totally down to hang out with us. We never had more than three people. It’ll be new. Exciting. Enriching even.

MM: are you secretly a nice person, Hannah?

HC: the fuck do you mean ‘secret’??? I’m a delight.

MM: Okay I’ll ask the team and my mom

MM: ganke?

HC: 👀

 That—

Sounded kind of nice?

 GL: I’ll ask my mom.

HC: nice. You can tell them that it’s a friends dinner or whatever. Idc. I promise I’m not going to kidnap and murder you. I’ve got like, class and work and shit. I don’t have time for that.

MM: 👍🏾

GL: 👍🏼

HC: great here I’ll message you my number. This is legit our sibs chat so Sam’ll freak if you’re still here when he gets back.

MM: thank you! And sorry for thinking you were muse!!

GL: yeah that too

HC: lol np ttyl                                    

 That…had really just happened, hadn’t it?

Ganke needed to sit down even though he was already sitting down.

 GL: they’re so nice???

MM: ikr?

GL: are you actually going to ask your mom?

MM: Im gonna ask BT if its cool first. Then yeah. Why not? Our team really hasn’t gotten together in a minute. Everyone’s been super busy. It would be a nice change of pace, and if everyone brings smth then Hannah doesn’t have to pay for anything.

MM: ah, Sam says it’s okay. He says sorry his sister is weird and that he’ll make sure she doesn’t poison us.

GL: I kind of love her

MM: same

MM: okay will check in with the others. Talk to you later.

GL: yeah see you later

 Damn, at this rate, Ganke’s family was going to triple in size, and all thanks to a comic.

Before he left for downstairs, he made a note to make Guo tin’s brother snarkier.

[twilights-800-cats]

Rewriting The Broken Code

I know it’s a little premature, what with there only being 4 of the 6 books out yet, but I wanted to jot down my thoughts on how I would improve The Broken Code.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad arc - the plot is the most unique by far and has a lot of potential to go into interesting places and it really feels like the Erins are pushing into those interesting directions - but there are things I would like to change about it.

No, this isn’t a promise that I will be rewriting tBC in the future, lol. These thoughts are put down without the need to change much from previous arcs.

The Protagonists

Bristlefrost - I feel like her role in the story would be more improved, and interesting, if she were to spend the first half of the arc as Bramblefake’s willing comrade. She wants what’s best for ThunderClan, like any other loyal warrior, and she wants to bring back StarClan by punishing the Codebreakers. That’s what her leader has ordered, and a Clan leader’s word is law.

I want her to be Bramblefake’s most loyal lackey, and then see the cracks in his façade and slowly realize the wrongs she’s committing. I want her to really work hard to put things right - and realize that loyalty doesn’t mean sacrificing one’s free will. Perhaps her relationship with Rootspring can help her come to see this, see that the warrior code needs changing and that the Clans need changing, too.

Perhaps Flipclaw or Thriftear could die and help push this? idk, but I really like the idea of “evil” Bristlefrost, who slowly begins to realize that she’s been the bad guy all along, and that Bramblefake was playing with her emotions after she was rejected by Stemleaf.

Shadowsight - not many changes for Shadowsight. Personally, I do like the idea of a medicine cat tricked by a malevolent spirit into delivering false signs - it has a lot of potential.

However, one major thing I would change about Shadowsight’s arc is that he is an only kit - Lightleap and Pouncestep? Nonexistent. This would intensify the isolation that Shadowsight feels when it’s revealed that he has been delivering false signs, and heighten the overprotectiveness of Tigerheartstar and Dovewing, who treat Shadowsight with no small amount of favoritism (to the chagrin of his Clanmates).

This would very easily push Shadowsight to a point where he seeks to befriend just about anyone - cats from other Clans, rogues, loners, and even a spirit that seems to be whispering prophecies in only HIS ears... 

Rootspring - not too many changes for Rootspring, either. I do like his character and how he grows from a petulant child to a rather mature, emotionally sound adult. I would do a lot more with his connection to the Sisters and his powers, and add in more conflicts with Tree and more bonding moments with Violetshine and Hawkwing.

Perhaps he’s trained as a medicine cat from the start? His little stint as a medicine cat was an interesting idea but it came far too late to really mean anything imo - plus, it might give him some cute interactions with Shadowsight.

The Villain(s)

Ashfur - I’ve been over this before, but I’m not in love with the idea of Ashfur being the villain - but if he has to be...

I want him to play on Bristlefrost’s feelings of rejection and court her to his side. After all, this is a pain they share! It would give Ashfur and Bristlefrost some interesting interactions, and definitely open up a lot of opportunities for him to be, y’know, creepy ass Ashfur.

I want Ashfur to bring up how abusive Bramblestar has been to Squirrelflight. I enjoy how frightening their dynamic is in the books, so I would want to keep that.

I want him to really screw with ThunderClan. Exile cats. Kill cats! Who are all these strangers to him, anyway? What do they matter? I want him to surround himself with loyalists and make it really, really hard for him to be deposed.

Other Ideas - I pointed out that a character could be made from wholecloth to take Ashfur’s place, and in some ways I really think that this is how it should go... but thinking more, I don’t think I want to get rid of Ashfur completely.

Hear me out - multiple imposters. Multiple spirits who have possessed the recently-dead and are manipulating the Clans from within, turning them against Codebreakers and the other Clans. Ashfur takes ThunderClan all for himself, and perhaps gets a little too single-minded in his pursuit of Squirrelflight.

This would get the other Clans in the picture. More Clan-on-Clan battles, more deaths - more spirits for this Grand Schemer to use. More chaos. Rather than spending two chapters of a book doing nothing but trying to figure out what to do with one spirit, there’s an infestation to try and figure out!

And when they finally reveal the true architect behind it all, it really doesn’t matter who they are or why they did it - the flaws have been revealed. The warrior code has been smashed, and it needs to be remade, or destroyed.

Other Stuff I’d Do

I want Bramblestar to DIE. Not just because I don’t like his character, but because I think it would be a great way to pit ThunderClan against the other Clans even more, for even MORE conflict - they killed Bramblestar, but this problem is still escalating. They thought removing him was the key, but it’s not, and Squirrelflight and ThunderClan are pissed. Take Mistystar too while I’m at it...

I want more cats to leave the Clans. It’s only natural! Things are going haywire, and not just in ThunderClan. Cats move off and form their own groups, or maybe just leave to become kittypets. Most that left don’t want to return. A good way to cull the Clan numbers without too many deaths, and maybe those that come back don’t always come back alone.

Each Clan copes with losing StarClan in their own way. Some still hold violently to their beliefs (WindClan or RiverClan). Others might seek different solutions (SkyClan or ShadowClan). Some might be lost (ThunderClan), and some might just fall apart. Either way, it would make Clan-to-Clan conflict have more depth, and show more insight into the other Clans’ problems... and maybe make RiverClan relevant again.

Rewrite the Code. Obviously, this would all end with the warrior code being rewritten and, possibly, the Clans themselves changing. Perhaps they become more open, more willing to accept one another while still doing what makes them unique. 

[elenathehun]

Watching the Clone Wars, part 2

Another week, another batch of episodes watched.  Some of these were (dare I say it) actually good, and some of these are rather bad.  Read on for the details of my opinion on “Clone Cadets”, “Supply Lines”, “Ambush”, the three-episode “Malevolence” arc, and “Rookies”. 

“Clone Cadets” (3x01)

This was very clearly a way to capitalize on the success of episode 1x06 “Rookies”, one of the top five episodes in the first season of TCW, providing background on the mostly-doomed Domino Squad.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t really warm up to it, even though I liked all the characters, and was excited to see 99 and Shaak Ti.  I think the core issue is that it was framed as a coming-of-age story, but coming-of-age stories imply agency.  No clone has agency in this war - or if they do, it’s something they have to carve out themselves.  Their entire existence is dependent on their martial performance, damn all their other qualities.  Success throws them into the meatgrinder of the war; failure dooms them to an ignomious existence as janitorial staff.  There is a lot a viewer can pick out regarding how physical disabilities are seen by the Kaminoans and the trainers, as well as how those values are transmitted to the clones, in 99′s story, as well as further hints of some kind of inter-clone caste system, but none of this is ever elaborated upon, at least in the episodes I recall.  

Either way, Domino’s “success” left a sour taste in my mouth.  TCW insists on portraying war as worthy and necessary, and in certain situations, that can be true.  But the Clone Wars is not one of those situations.

“Supply Lines” (3x03)

Another day, another episode where we see some cool characters die!  RIP Captain Keeli, you deserved better.  TCW did not have a military advisor, as the tactics used as abominable.  Like, I’m not asking for much, but hey, a little bit of mass fire wouldn’t go amiss, or even the use of an infantry square...  

There is sort of an interesting theme in this episode about the duty of the government to it’s people. Cham Syndulla is right to be upset that his people are being hung out to dry, but on the other hand...it happened to Naboo ten years previously.  It’s honestly surprising the Republic hasn’t fallen apart faster.  I’m rather neutral on the mission to Toydaria.  On one hand, it’s nice that Star Wars is trying their best to redeem Lucas’ very obvious and horrible stereotypes.  On the other hand...idk, Bail Organa vs Viceroy Gunray wasn’t really a great showing for what either side believes in? I’ve already forgotten most of it  

However, I feel like this is the first time I’ve ever seen Jar Jar Binks subvert his own reputation for good.  If he was always like this, he would be much better as a character.

“Ambush” (1x01)

This episode is mostly a showcase for Yoda, an 874-year-old murder machine.  This guy is basically a one-man army.  I like all the clone companions, and it was nice of him to give them a pep talk, but they were sort of superfluous to his reign of destruction, you know?  It would have been nice if we had seen the obvious end result of this natural-born killer fighting and beating Asajj Ventress.  Not really sure he actually has any mercy in him in the heat of the moment.

Boy, the writers are trying so hard to make these battle droids personable!  It’s should be funny, and it occasionally is, but it mostly leads to many questions about computer programming in the GFFA.  I like to think that Dooku has pulled a Krennic (or did Krennic pull a Dooku?) and he has a whole team of unwilling computer programmers writing the code for the droids, which is why they are so badly programmed. 

Of course, the  real answer is that Star Wars is space fantasy, and the real answer to the droids is magic!  Bad magic.  One might even say...incompetent magic.

“Rising Malevolence” (1x02)

I really intensely enjoyed this episode.  Finally, a superweapon that makes sense!  A giant ion cannon to be used against capital ships!  That’s actually brilliant.  Now, I have my quibbles with the design: since the CIS is mostly staffed by droids and drones, it doesn’t really makes sense for there to be a missive ship superstructure around the cannon.  It would make more sense for it to basically be like the old Legends Darksaber, which was basically the Death Star laser sans the battle station.  The ion cannon, repulsors and a hyperdrive, turbolaser emplacements and attached hangar bays for starfighter drones, as well as a screen of protective cruisers to defend the cannon against more maneuverable ships - that would make more sense.  But of course, it would have a much different silhouette in that case.

More truly graphic clone death.  Seeing several men get spaced is not PG, idek how this managed to get past the censors.  That is actually a real war crime, and I have no how parents explained this to Little Johnny and Sally (age six) when it aired on Cartoon Network.  And although I do love the relationship between Ahsoka and Plo, the central emotional question of the episode was left unresolved.  Who would come for a clone?  As it happens, a Jedi, but only if they’re looking for another Jedi :(

“Shadow of Malevolence” (1x03)

This was an OK-but-not-great episode?  Unfortunately, I read the X-wing novels multiple times as a pre-teen and teenager, so I have pretty high standards for starfighter combat and this didn’t really measure up to it.  I did love the space manta ray scene, though, it was very pretty.�� Also a nice shout-out to the Y-wings, the perpetual butt of all the jokes in the X-wing series.

Again, I have no idea why “it’s a kid’s show!” was ever even tried as an excuse for the shoddy writing.  This is the third episode ever released, and the CIS is deliberately targeting a hospital.  Again, this is not appropriate for small children to watch!

On the bright side, a fun AU would be to play with the fact that this ion cannon apparently shorts out anything.  It would be pretty funny to see a story where the 30,000 walking wounded (I think) who were being medically evacuated, as well as Wolffe, Boost, and Sinker (plus Shadow 7, 8 and 10) are spread throughout the GAR when Order 66 comes through - and it doesn’t work for them, because the cannon shorted out their chips and no one realized.

Just a thought, that’s all.

“Destroy Malevolence” (1x04)

This episode mostly exists to show that Anakin will definitely put the greater good aside for the purpose of rescuing his main squeeze. I think it could have been cut for that reason alone.  Also to have some standard R2 and C-3PO hijinks, as well as Obi-Wan just being insufferable in general.  

Honestly, I would like this episode better if Padme was a Sith apprentice that Palpatine was trying to kill, that would at least make it more interesting.  Aside from that, it could have easily been cut.

“Rookies” (1x06)

This is definitely one of the better episodes of the first season.  Finally, Filoni gives the people what they want: an episode mostly dedicated to clones!  For a show about the clone wars, they’re in awfully short supply.  This was a nice war story, artfully executed.  I wouldn’t call it original, but honestly, originality is over-rated.  Cody and Rex are delightful as always, and unlike “The Hidden Enemy” (or “Clone Cadets” for that matter) it portrays clone relationships in a more positive, wholesome light.  

I also loved the droid commandos.  Kudos to the animators, who gave them a unique, more menacing walk and style.  However, I do dislike the continuing use of instantaneous communications through hyperspace even in star wars.  It’s a shame that the writers are either unwilling or unable to use the tension of time in their stories so far.

Next Week: “Downfall of a Droid”, “Duel of the Droids”, “Bombad Jedi”, “Cloak of Darkness”, “Lair of Grievous”, “Dooku Captured”, and “The Gungan General”.

[mothmans-gender]

Oooooh boy do I have Thoughts on this!! Yes there are no canonical queer characters (Harlan thatd be great gimme canon aro arthur). However there's a lot of themes that I think a lot of queer folk can relate to.

1) John. Just......John. Like, that feeling of wanting to have your own personality and identity and then being essentially told you're not your own person/who you want to be. The king is kind of like (to me personally) an abusive parent to Jon. See the "Now come home" line. Jon wants to separate himself from TKIY but finds himself still tied to other peoples perception and control of his actions. Many queer folk I know have a similar relationship to their parents/identity due to the constant invalidating of their identity. He is clawing and biting all these notions he doesn't understand but Wants desperately to. John wants to be human. He wants to be better and he is shown literally through Arthur's eyes a whole new world that was alien to him but beautiful compared to what he knew. A world that he dreams of being a part of. Idk about yall but that to me feels a lot like coming from a conservative abusive environment and figuring out you're queer and having to heal and grow.

2) Arthur! He is so aro coded I love it! He doesn't love his marriage with Bella, despite liking her fine as a person. He says their relationship feels wrong. He doesn't know how else to describe it other than...wrong. This could be him just being stuck in a loveless marriage. However I've seen many aro people relating to Arthur. There's also the possibility that Arthur is gay and uh oh he lives in the 1930s so whoopsie. Neither of these are canon but it doesn't stop queer people from resonating with his character.

3) John and Arthurs relationship. Its very unhealthy and codependent... but also very tender at times. They lean on each other and navigate through this world with each other. John giving Arthur words of encouragement, or Arthur telling TKIY that John is his own person and withstanding excruciating pain to protect him. Arthur sharing poetry and being so happy just to shake John's hand after they've been apart. Their relationship feels sort of homoerotic and I am genuinely so excited to see both of the characters growth.

This is just my personal view on why I as a queer person love Malevolent and how I can relate to it. Id love to hear others thoughts though!!

Why does malevolent seem to attract so many queer people? A lot of the Malevolent fans I've spoken to on discord are either aro, ace, or trans. Malevolent itself doesn't have confirmed queer characters, although I guess aros and aces enjoy the deep emotional bond private eyes have without it being romantic (I'm ace and I love the qpr thing they have going on), but there's just so many queer people in a fandom with no queer relationships or characters, which is interesting to me.

[pekkt]

okay first off thank you for that tag!!!! secondly, it makes me think less unseelie for Red and more primordial? idk if you know about the show the blacklist I can't remember, but with Red he's like the head of a crime syndicate. if you need something or need to make something go away? If Red can't do it himself, he knows someone who can. He's the concierge of crime so he can do whatever, he's got all the hookups. he does have a moral code?

Like okay so Sigyn is a prime example of a primordial being? or at least the second gen. of such beings? who hale from being once part of ymir himself tbh? she is a landvaettir, a particular kind of wight that is attached to the land and i take some liberties and personal upg in expanding that as her and her family being LITERALLY the land. this is why she says trees and shit are her siblings because her mother and father have spent an age as trees before taking on a different form to have her.

anyway i think if you did unseelie there is a lot about them that always seems to ride back to death. and not in a bad way either, just in a “this is far more frightening to humans” sort of way and “we come off malevolent because how else would you see us?” like i always split the two into seasons as well.. so typically the autumn and winter season fae would be unseelie because they are likely associated with that end cycle of the seasons. they associate with all the creatures that are like them. why wouldn’t they?

but that doesn’t mean a spring/summer fae of a seelie court is somehow kinder and less vicious or tricky. as a whole the fae can be incredibly chaotic because they ARE nature. they are the thing that frightens those of laws of order and control, of man who can not see the GOOD in some violent aspects of nature.

a summer fae might be delighted to see a forest fire. not because they are evil but because they know it is natural that these things DO happen and for good reason and they celebrate the chaos that is nature. in this way i can also see a LOT of instances of some fae being caught in cusps where a summer fae like that might have almost been an autumn fae instead.

can you imagine?

and the idea that these two halves fight each other makes me think of who nature fights it’s self, how it is destroyed by natural means and reborn by natural means and it’s a war that will never really stop.

anyway i think whatever you choose will be fine but consider the fact that if you even decided to make him seelie there is something cool about someone who can come off as put together, sweet, law abiding, but secretly be as vicious as a nest of wasps found in the spring.

[dani-camp]

honestly all this talk about ableism is starting to make me rly uncomfortable because ableism is so much more than coding and zoom buttons??? it’s literally this mindset that not being like everyone else physically/mentally means you’re lacking, that you’re inherently inferior. and that shit follows me around everyday.

and you want to use that as a reason to justify a rpc debate that in all honesty seems to be more about pettiness and name-calling than actually protecting disabled people?

those of you who are pro smaller themes: your theme is not just about what you want it to look like, it’s about what your visitors will see too. and sure, they always have the option to unfollow you, but that’s not the point. for me, i have to ask people to repeat themselves a lot and if they just say “nevermind” it breaks my heart a little each time, not because i missed out on some comment, but because the only reason i missed out is because of my disability, and thereby someone’s unwillingness to help me get the information i needed. this applies here too. no matter how small or unimportant your blog may be, disabled people should be just as able to get the information they need as abled people. and zooming in doesn’t work with a lot of themes and a lot of screens. 

those of you who are anti smaller themes: idk the deets but i really hope you’re not redefining ableism as “an unwillingness to cater to all of the disabled’s desires”. if you’re disabled, we both know the world does not and will never work that way for us. we have find loopholes and we jump through hoops to do what we have to do and we shouldn’t be blaming one blog for a world’s mindset (as it’s only borne of ignorance and not malevolence), we should be upholding people who reject that mindset. and frankly if you’re not disabled, why are you making this argument for us? 

[handsingsweapon]

Of you still have time. For the October challenge 12 and Chris (of courde I have to ask for a Chris story xD)

12. Write a plot about a character meeting a fae creature, but realizing they aren’t as pretty and delicate as the fairy tales made them believe.

“You’re back early,” Christophe notes as Victor sweeps into their suite, back from a practice he’d insisted was going to take some time. For a moment there’s uncharacteristic silence, the sort Victor doesn’t sink into unless he’s in one of his moods. Is he? When Chris glances back to check, it doesn’t look like it: behind him, Victor’s rattling around in the fridge, more restless than despondent. 

“Yeah. It just …” Victor trails off, uncertain, and Christophe counts to ten inside his head. He makes it to the number six. “It felt like I was being watched, you know?”

It’s a strange thing to say for a dance major, but they’re not exactly at the world’s most ordinary university. On the one hand, in Victor’s chosen career, people will be watching him all the time. On the other, Christophe’s been watching him narrowly evade one supernatural encounter after another ever since they met, freshman year. Everyone knows about Barkley, goes the saying among people who are like Chris: it’s a bohemian kind of institution, very artsy, in Savannah. It’s also the only place he knows of in the country where there’s tacit acceptance of students who maybe aren’t quite human, and this is why their mutual friends consist of a werewolf, several witches, one harpy, and, in Christophe’s case specifically, a part-lilin, incubus being such a misconstrued word these days. My mother’s a very misunderstood woman, Christophe jokes. His mother is a professional dominatrix. This is his life. 

In any case, Victor is none of those things. He certainly has the looks for it: high, fine cheekbones; wonderfully bright eyes, and gorgeous, sweeping silver hair. Except Christophe’s tested him more than once. There is absolutely nothing magical about Victor Nikiforov, aside from his dancing, and perhaps his ability to accept with wonder the community of oddballs who have sprung up around him, be it his tolerance for Georgi’s monthly moon-induced moodswings or the sort of mischief Mila Babicheva gets up to. Which isn’t to say there haven’t been some close scrapes: Victor’s beautiful and beauty tends to attract attention in the kind of community they’re in. Victor doesn’t need to know how many attempts there have been to harvest that sort of thing from him: the inspiration of it, or the elegance he carries. He just needs to know that Christophe occasionally inserts himself into the process with a flash of red eyes and subtle fang, perhaps the most useful part of the other side of his lineage. This one is under the protection of the lilin, he’s lied, at least a dozen times. In truth, Chris hasn’t really taken those kinds of steps.

Still: there’s something about Victor which seems to make everyone want to claim him. Chris would be lying if he didn’t include himself in that list. 

“Weird,” Chris hums, pretending not to think about it primarily because he doesn’t want Victor thinking about it. Being strictly human, he doesn’t have the same right to navigate throughout magical communities, and Christophe usually tries to not incite his curiosity, which can sometimes be a terrible, potent thing. “Probably just an old ghost passing through the studio,” he says instead, and he makes a note to get Victor drunk enough that he goes to sleep early so that Chris can trudge down to the Performing Arts building and tell yet another creature the boundaries he’s imposing around Victor’s person.

“It was …” Victor’s not letting this go, so Chris gets up and goes to the kitchen under pretense of making dinner. “Not necessarily unpleasant,” he says, and Chris, who’s more naturally in tune with people’s motivations and drives primarily because something lives under his skin that hums feast, hears: intimate.

It’s nearly midnight by the time he has a chance to check it out himself. Christophe’s wearing Victor’s jacket as a trace, and badges into the building with Victor’s ID. He inhales deeply, picks up what little essence there is left on the jacket, and follows it into one of the studios. Nothing malevolent catches his attention, which is good: it took Chris three months to dismantle JJ’s imaginary rivalry with Victor and he’d prefer not to spend his night calling Mila in for a favor to unwind new hexes. 

Victor’s not wrong, though: something is here. Something is watching him. Chris lets his other senses extend, tastes wistfulness and longing and a very complicated, fragile kind of hope: twisted up in a wanting that it’s not uncommon for him to encounter directed towards Victor, but which isn’t, at least this time, just attraction or simple lust. 

Christophe would almost prefer those things, frankly. They’re wholly in his dominion. 

“Alright,” he grumbles, exasperated, and blinks until his hazel eyes show garnet in the mirrors along one wall. “Are you going to show yourself, or am I going to have to go resort to something drastic to find out what the hell you’re doing to my best friend?”

Nothing happens immediately, but Christophe’s eyes narrow on the edges of alarm and worry and a hearty dose of sheepishness. 

Then a shadow forms in the mirror. A figure there comes closer and closer until Christophe can see him standing right next to his reflection. The word brownie comes to mind almost immediately, and just as quickly, Christophe knows it’s wrong. Fae, he corrects himself, though the being in the mirror seems very different from what he’s heard in the stories. He’s rather plain, for one thing, and they tend to be such flamboyant things. As soon as Christophe thinks this, he’s prompted to look a little bit deeper. Something about the shy demeanor has an illusive nature to it, and there’s hearthlight in the stranger’s eyes.

He’s not to Christophe’s tastes, but under the right circumstances, charming might be the right adjective. “Oh, good,” he says. “Out with it, already. Tell me what you want with him so I can tell you that you’re not going to get it. I’ve got a Psychology of Sex exam at 8 AM tomorrow and my advantages aside, I’d rather not sleep through it …”

What he gets back is a sad look, ripe with consternation. Then the figure clamps both hands over his mouth, miming his inability to speak. Christophe considers this. Then he steps forward to the glass and blows on it until it fogs up with his breath. “I’m Christophe,” he says, pointedly. “You?”

.iruuY

“Yuuri,” Chris deciphers, and decides not to explain the mechanics of their backwards, inversed worlds. “Yuuri, you can’t stalk my friend.”

.mih pleh

“Help him?” Unlikely. Victor doesn’t have the kind of luck that makes a fae indebted to him; in fact, he’s rather the opposite, attracting bad interests and a whole lot of people eager to graft him into their own personal codes. “Help him do what?”

Something must be happening, though, because the fae, Yuuri, jolts upright and scrambles to write and underline his earlier words: 

.MIH PLEH

Then he’s gone, leaving behind an airy smell, pure and light. 

“I started leaving it notes,” Victor announces, one afternoon. Christophe has all-but-forgotten Yuuri-the-fae, distracted by his own midterms and, lately, an art major with just a hint of clairvoyance and a tremendously talented mouth that he hardly ever uses for speaking. 

“It?”

“You know,” says Victor. “The thing in the dance studio.”

“Notes,” Christophe mutters. “What kind of notes?”

“No need to get so prickly, Chris.” Victor has a heart-shaped smile that’s positively angelic sometimes. If one of the Lilin had the ability to make the face he’s making right now, there’d probably be a thousand conquests happily vanquished in the trail of their footsteps, all of them still proclaiming innocence. “We’re just friends,” he says.

“Friends,” repeats Christophe.

“The studio smells a lot nicer when he’s around,” Victor says with a shrug. “It’s like going home.”

“How do you know it’s a he?”

Victor shrugs. Christophe can’t help but read him again: wouldn’t it have to be?

“I’m coming with you next time,” says Chris, and on the way to his practicum, he phones (texts) in a favor with a longtime friend. Phichit. What the fuck do your people want with Victor Nikiforov?

My people? IDK the courts are kinda too busy to bother with humans ATM … he didn’t like, go traipse through a ring or w/e?

Name Yuuri ring a bell?

His phone rings almost instantly, and Phichit proceeds to put him through the fairy inquisition for a good twenty minutes. It goes something like this: Holy hell, Christophe. Yuuri? Yuuri’s been missing from Minako’s court for five fucking years. How do you even - where - what -

“I don’t care about all that. I want to know what the hell he’s doing to Victor.”

“I want to see him,” Phichit says, with a strange note in his voice. “Christophe, he’s my friend, he’s harmless, I swear.” 

“Seelie or Unseelie?”

“Christophe –”

“Phichit,” Christophe repeats himself. “Seelie or Unseelie.” 

“… Unseelie, technically,” Phichit finally admits. “But all of Minako’s stuff works differently, and I’m Seelie, sure, but I’m friends with him and so is Guang-Hong, who is practically as Seelie as it gets, Chris, you have to help him …” Christophe could care less about the distinctions made between the different fae clans; in fact, it’s far more common for his kind to form alliances with the unseelie types, not out of something as mundane and simple as evil, the way the stories now all talk, but because they’re both really beasts of nuance and mystery, creatures who understand that the world is complicated and sometimes dangerous.

“Of course,” grumbles Christophe, because, nonetheless, this would all be easier if there was a Seelie on the other end of the transaction; simple do-gooders, those sorts, and easily motivated, too. 

Unfortunately, that’s not the kind of luck Victor Nikiforov has.

This is how they find themselves at 9 PM on a Friday, arranged in the dance studio where it all began, Victor, Christophe, Phichit. Christophe studies their faces together in the mirror: Victor looks the most out of place, curious and perhaps over-eager, the way he gets any time Christophe’s about to reveal more than he should about the kinds of preternatural creatures that occupy the fringes of Victor’s whole world. Chris looks vaguely inconvenienced, which he supposes is true; Phichit is uncharacteristically anxious, not nearly so cheerful as his typical demeanor suggests. “Yuuri,” he calls quietly. “Yuuri, it’s okay. Yuuri, won’t you come out?”

Yuuri appears in the mirror a few seconds later, and Phichit rushes for it, moves smoothly through its surface to a world that Christophe doesn’t even want to attempt to get to. Rather than express shock, Victor’s quiet, studying the fae creature who has been his silent companion these past few weeks while he holds an animated conversation with Phichit that neither one of them can hear. If Christophe thought he received an inquisition over the phone, he quickly begins to revise his opinion: in the mirror’s reflection, he’s witnessing a full shakedown of the other fae: Phichit has gone from hugging him to interrogating him in an impressive three second span. 

Whatever answers Yuuri gives must be vague; Christophe recognizes Phichit’s quizzical, somewhat unsatisfied look before he steps back over and looks at Victor. “He says he needs your hair,” Phichit explains. 

“What?” Asks Victor, stepping forward to look into the mirror. It’s not Christophe’s imagination that Yuuri blushes from ear to ear as he’s inspected for the first time by this human he’s been following. “Like a strand of it?” Already he’s separating out a thin sliver of long, platinum blonde, ready to pull a piece out if only Phichit or Christophe will say the word.

This is why Victor can’t be left to his own devices: surrounded by all kinds of magical people and he’s already freely offering up a strand of his hair. “No,” Christophe says. “You can’t just run around giving people a piece of yourself, Victor.” It’s dangerous goes unspoken, but Christophe doesn’t need to say the words. He’s already got his arms crossed, and his posture speaks for itself.

Not that Victor’s paying any attention to him.

“Not exactly,” Phichit murmurs, reluctantly. “Like. Most of it.”

“Oh,” says Victor, as Yuuri watches, fidgeting under the weight of Victor’s bright blue stare. “Is he in trouble?” 

“He wouldn’t say.”

Without another word, Victor turns on his heel and leaves. The fae in the mirror looks dangerously close to tears; perhaps, for this reason, Phichit stays behind to try to reassure him. Chris follows Victor as he tears through one classroom after another before he finally marches down towards the main office and proceeds to wiggle the lock until it gives. “Victor. What are you doing?”

Victor says nothing while he rummages through desks until he comes up triumphant with a pair of scissors. “No,” Christophe reminds him, playing the role of Victor Nikiforov’s impulse control for probably the three-hundredth time. Now there’s something ironic. “Bad idea. Victor, wait. Listen to me.”

“Time for a change,” Victor hums as he walks back to the studio, pulling his hair into a band of elastic at the nape of his neck. When they walk back in, Phichit and Yuuri are facing each other in the glass; Yuuri’s sunk to his knees on the other side, curled in on himself, and Phichit is kneeling, pressing his fingers against the glass. 

“Yuuri, just give it time, okay? We’ll figure something –”

Snip, go the scissors, and then too many things are happening all at once.

The lights go out in the dance studio.

A crash sounds around them, loud and insistent like broad, booming thunder.

Every mirror in the room shatters.

A howling wind rattles around them.

“You insolent brat,” Christophe hears someone shout, and nearby Phichit drops to a knee, bows. 

“Yakov,” he whispers, and he sounds terrified. Yakov is a name Christophe knows only through the grapevine, one of the fae-Kings, master of a decidedly Unseelie court. It’s a name that carries weight: he’s known for his temper, for his exacting standards, for crafting challenges that are all-but-impossible for a mere mortal.

If Yakov wants something to do with Victor, that’s very, very bad news, from Christophe’s perspective. Yakov is storm and stress, he’s thunder, he’s danger, and yet: the shards of mirror that ought to be flying around them have been reduced to a fine, glowing dust, little more than blowing, shifting sands.

Then Christophe hears the one thing he’s worked so hard to make sure nobody says about Ordinary Human Victor Nikiforov. 

“Mine,” Yuuri says, and his eyes are awash in brilliant gold. “He’s mine.”

“You idiot,” Christophe says, turning to look back at Victor, and prepared to protect him if necessary: “this is wh –”

Victor’s hair – Victor’s short hair – is fae-white, the pure silver of moonlight, and his eyes are bluer than they’ve ever been. To say that he’s suddenly very magical would be the understatement of Christophe’s entire life.

Not until after a dozen different retellings will Christophe quite believe what happens next: he watches the previously meek fae from behind the mirror approach one of the fairy kings, his eyes sharp and narrow, magic whirling around Victor in protective, powerful circles. “You will stop harvesting his magic for your own use, or alliances and protocol be damned, I will end you.”

“Wow, Yuuri,” breathe both Phichit and Victor at once, in very different ways.

“Let me get this straight,” says Mila Babicheva, while they’re working on Yuuri’s application for admission together, a week later. “Christophe Giacometti, who prides himself on knowing everyone’s fucking business at this school, has lived with a changeling under his roof for three goddamn years?”

Christophe glances over his shoulder. Victor and Yuuri are in the kitchen, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d say it was Victor who was being protective: Victor who tends to keep a hand anchored on Yuuri’s shoulder, who’s already prone to making sweeping gestures in public to underscore their fledgling relationship. 

“… Yeah,” he admits. There’s love between them, and enough chemistry that if it was his to take he’d be full for weeks. 

“Lilia’s heir,” Phichit emphasizes helpfully. This is a useful tidbit he was able to discover after-the-fact; Lilia and Yakov’s courts cycle through seasons of war and peace so often that it’s hard to keep up, and so Yakov’s curse on one of her own – one of the most magical of her own clan, nonetheless, makes sense.

A part of Christophe, the part that isn’t very nice, even appreciates the nasty work of the spell: fae tend to be vain creatures, and Victor’s hair, long and beautiful and almost certainly never cut, was precisely the kind of thing he’d never have sacrificed on his own if it weren’t for the gentle face of the fairy on the other side of the mirror.

Or Yuuri’s airy, light scent: the moonlit breeze, stronger than Victor’s vanished memories of a time Yuuri recalls which Victor cannot.

Not yet, at least, although he’s already dealing with the change like the prodigy he is, producing elegant, flawless magic that’s surprisingly crisp and clean.

“… And Minako’s,” Victor chimes in helpfully from the kitchen. He kisses Yuuri’s temple and smiles his heart-shaped smile, and Yuuri goes as red as the strawberries they’ve been slicing into pieces. “Look how useless I was on my own,” he admits, which is a lie: Christophe’s been acclimating to just how powerful his magic really is, now that it suffuses their entire house. 

“It took Yuuri to show me who I really am.”

“Gross,” Mila mutters, sounding exactly like that young harpy they all know. “Really, though, Christophe. Aren’t you banging a precog?”

Chris is banging a clairvoyant. That clairvoyant has a name – Bastien – and he’d more or less shrugged off the inquiry. Did you know?Not precisely. 

You could have said something. 

As I recall, there were other things you wanted me doing with my mouth.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” grumbles Christophe.

“I didn’t think it would work,” Yuuri admits quietly, as he carries a plate over. Christophe is still getting used to the illusive way he constantly underplays himself, the way he seems to ignore the deep reservoir of power just waiting for him to draw on its strength. “That he’d think it’d be worth it, I mean.”

“Why’d you leave Minako’s court to go figure it all out in the first place?” Phichit wants to know. 

“Oh, that.” Victor and Yuuri share a glance, and Yuuri smiles softly. Christophe senses that original undercurrent of longing once more, the unique, complicated thing that dances between Victor and Yuuri and which sometimes boggles even his senses. 

“Victor doesn’t remember it,” Yuuri explains quietly, “but we met, back then.” Five whole years ago. 

“… At a banquet.”