#it’s literally the perfect human transformers villain idea
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Okay so putting this here because this has been in my brain for so long and I need to share it because how has this not been done yet!! Image a cult in the Transformers universe, but it’s a decepticon convincing a bunch of humans that he’s an angel here to save them from the end of times.
Or just a group of people who worship a huge transformers corpse, and they drink the emerging blood as a form of ritual and are slowly growing clumps of energon from themselves.
#transformers#transformers idw#transfomers one#transformers au#horror media#horror idea#how has no one thought of this yet#it’s literally the perfect human transformers villain idea
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Any theories on the new Halloween event? People are saying the boys are going to the twst version of pleasure island.
circus.
that's all i have to say.
No because, masquerade AND circus events, paired together??? That is a literal match made in heaven, especially for Twst. Pleasure Island is also the perfect setting for a circus themed event. Like, just look at this.
It's just so. good. for a circus theme.
Anywho, on any theories regarding how the story will go, hmmm well, Honest John and Gideon were essentially the ones who led Pinocchio to Pleasure Island. They're not the actual villains themselves, in fact, they're hired by the Coachman to lead boys to this island. Maybe in the event, they're also misled, which very much fits the theme of Twst and how its villains aren't simply 'bad' people.
If they're going with Pleasure Island, by God, it's going to be a really complex story. Pleasure Island is a place where bad boys are led to, and they can do anything there: eat to their heart's content, drink alcohol, smoke, etc. Do things that good kids don't do. But the longer they stay, the more they start to transform into donkeys. And once they completely turn into donkeys, the Coachman strips them of their clothes and ships them out to mines where they are made to labor. And according to the Disney wiki, the origin of Pleasure Island is from the original story where the donkey is a symbol of stupidity in Italy. So supposedly, the moral of the island is that boys who don't care about their education and moral code and engage in "jackass" behavior instead will grow up to become men who can't do anything except do backbreaking labor.
It's pretty haunting to think about. Makes me wonder how Twst will twist this to suit the game. Obviously the boys will make it out alive, but I wonder if the themes of the story will be the same. Or will there be some adjustments to accommodate our contemporary sentiments? Regardless, it's really interesting how both Glomas and the upcoming Halloween event tackle themes of morality. Glomas focuses on the high and mightiness of those who think that they're in the right, on the need for atonement. This event is likely going to tackle the other side, people who succumb to their desires too much that they forget their morals, and the consequences.
On the topic of SSRs, a lot of people are speculating Ace and Ortho. Some say Jade. Some say Jack.
I really do hope for Ortho SSR, as much as it may pain Ortho/Ignihyde fans. He and Pinocchio are so similar in that they're not human, yet they are alive in a way. As for Ace, I really see it! I think he fits the aesthetic very well, that's one. But more than that, Pinocchio is also a story of growing up, particularly in growing up to be the kind of person you want to be. You want to be a good person in society? A bad one? Or somewhere in between? And Ace's character arc is definitely ripe for that theme, because as of now, he's not even sure what he wants to be. His chances of being SSR are a little lower than Ortho's, but I still hold on to the idea that he would be an SSR.
I really do want both tweels to be SRs, not going to lie. But something that interests me is that Pleasure Island is advertised to be free. Free food, free alcohol, free tobacco. But it's not. For all that pleasure, you turn into a donkey. There was a price to pay. And that's very on brand for Octavinelle, so Jade being the third SSR is possible.
On the other hand, Jack being the third SSR would be so delicious. First of all, he's a fellow first year, so the theme of growing up would be so good. Secondly, he has strong principles, to the point of being rigid. It would be so good to see him placed in a situation where his morals are tested, where he has to learn the complexities of the real world while keeping his wits and principles about him.
Man, this event is going to be so good. I'm really excited for October. 😭
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"I still just can't believe I did it... Plagg, I... I Cataclysmed someone!"
"You Cataclysmed Monarch. Of all the people to Cataclysm, that's probably the best option."
"It's not about who, Plagg, it's... I used the power of destruction on a human! A living, breathing person."
"Adrien, don't worry about it, it's not your fault. He literally did it to himself. And besides, he was transformed, it's fine. Nothing can destroy those suits."
"How do you know that for sure? A Cataclysm can destroy a miraculous."
"Kid, you literally fought an akuma yesterday. Monarch's clearly still kicking."
"What if it's slow? What if it injured him, and it's gradually eating away at him? What if every day, he gets weaker, and starts having trouble walking, and can barely get out of bed and then- And then-"
Plagg sits on Adrien's shoulder, looking up at him with an unusually serious expression. "Adrien. Calm down. It wasn't your fault. Enough with the what ifs, okay?"
"... Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's just... Sometimes I wish I had a power other than destruction. I can't stand the idea of... ending someone's life. If that Cataclysm kills him..."
"Good riddance."
"Plagg!"
"Look, Adrien, I don't blame you for how you feel. It's human nature to care about others, and that relentless kindness of yours is why I love you as my holder. But you gotta know when to throw out bad cheese, and Monarch? He's so stinky even I'D throw him right in the bin, given the chance."
"That's awful! Even if he's a villain, he's still a person!"
Plagg sighs. "Sorry kid. Just like it's your nature to care too much for your own good, it's my nature to see a problem and want to just get rid of it. But hey, that's why you're the hero. You're Chat Noir, so I trust you to call the shots."
Adrien flops down onto his bed. "Can we just... stop talking about superhero stuff for a while? I don't want to think about this anymore."
"Sounds good to me!" Plagg grabs a magazine from the ground. "I've been waiting to tell you about this new restaurant-"
"I don't want to talk about cheese either."
Plagg sighs dramatically. "I suppose no holder is perfect. Well, I can't stop thinking about cheese now, so I'll spare you my poetry and just grab a snack, 'kay?"
"Thanks. Don't get seen."
"Psh, of course I won't! Careful is my middle name."
Plagg flies through the Agreste mansion, passing through walls and occasionally checking for humans before entering a room. But as he enters the kitchen, he finds Adrien's dad on the phone with Nathalie or that Tsurugi woman or someone. Plagg was about to phase into the cupboard and grab a snack, but he freezes as he hears Gabe say "akuma candidates."
Suddenly paying attention, Plagg starts eavesdropping.
"That's why we need to increase production on Alliance rings, immediately. Marketing, shipping, everyone needs to be wearing an Alliance. The akuma of a lifetime could have the worst day of their life, but if they aren't wearing an Alliance, they'll have no miraculous power, and they'll stand no chance against Ladybug and Chat Noir!"
Plagg didn't understand most of what he was hearing, something about those rings Gabe keeps trying to make Adrien wear? But it sure sounds like Gabe is trying to... help the akumas? Is he working with Monarch?!
"... No, I don't have time to be patient! Look at this!" Gabe pulls up his sleeve, and reveals a black burn spreading across his arm. "If I wait for a chance, this Cataclysm will kill me. I need to make the wish soon."
Holy shit Adrien's dad is Monarch.
"... I don't care, make the rings out of plastic with dollar store microphones if you have to!"
Holy shit. Monarch is right in front of Plagg.
"This isn't about business, the only thing that matters is getting the ladybug and black-" Gabe, in his frantic back and forth pacing, finally turns toward Plagg.
The two stare each other down from across the kitchen.
All is silent, except for the confused sounds of the woman on the phone.
Finally, they both snap out of it.
"Nooroodarkwings-"
"Nadja Chamack here with breaking news! I'm at the home of Gabriel Agreste, where half of the mansion appears to have spontaneously disintegrated! Gabriel Agreste is currently missing, though Adrien Agreste and his bodyguard, as well as Nathalie Sancoeur, are unharmed and currently being questioned by the police. There has not yet been an akuma sighting, so we do not know the source of- Wait, there appears to be a small... er, creature, in the missing part of the mansion! Excuse me, do you have any information on this sudden event?
"... Huh? Wait, is he really not showing up on the camera? W-well, regardless, Mr... Plagg? Mr. Plagg, do you know what has happened to Gabriel Agreste?
"... Bad... cheese?"
#miraculous ladybug#remember in ephemeral when plagg just went for the kill?#he is the kwami of destruction and he knows it#adrien's all like “oh my gosh i can't believe i cataclysmed someone”#and plagg's just “the dinosaurs looked at me funny”
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Homestuck, page 2,818
Dave: Answer Gamzee.
Author commentary:
It's funny how I just get done saying the Nepeta conversations are too useless to show, and then we have to plow through an entire conversation with this piece of shit and his barely legible alternating caps. I'm being disingenuous though, because we all know how important Gamzee is. At this stage, he's still a dark-horse villain, so it's easy to mistake this passage for a lot of pointless bullshit. But it's laying the groundwork for the radically game-changing Murderstuck arc coming up soon (not in this book though). I feel some obligation to keep reminding you of this now and then: LITERALLY NO ONE SAW THIS COMING. Not even one person, as far as I could tell. I spent every day scouring reactions online to all this. I guess the idea was too patently dumb? I feel like I use that to my advantage a lot. Like, "There's no way that will happen, it would be just too dumb." Sorry, suckers. Nothing is ever off the table.
Up until his true aspect is revealed, Gamzee remains affectionately, or perhaps repugnantly, known as the Bard of Fuck. His true aspect, Rage, couldn't be revealed until the time was right, because it's pretty close to being a spoiler as to his true nature. Gamzee says his mind's not sharp because it's been ages since he had a pie (i.e. sopor slime). Which some readers took as implying that his withdrawal from this drug is what unleashed his violent tendencies. Hence murderous Gamzee often is fanonically referred to as "Sober Gamzee." And there is probably some truth to this, that without the sedative influence of the slime, he's naturally inclined toward violence. But I think the best explanation for Gamzee's turn is what Dave is about to do here: link him to a "Miracles" video by the Insane Clown Posse. For reasons I'll get into on the next page, I think this has a lot more to do with his transformation. Dave also boggles over why Alternia has Faygo and how that makes no sense. But we now know it makes perfect sense. It's not even remotely challenging to connect the dots. Faygo was imported to Earth by the Condesce, so as to foster her own home-grown, human-based cult of nasty clowns (ICP, and juggalos in general). She did the same thing with her own favorite soda, Tab.
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Rando Eternals shit: - I haven’t read these issues but according to TV Tropes, but apparently in some of the pre-Gaiman reboot books, Makkari used a lot of outdated slang for the obvious reason that, of course, he’s an ancient immortal trying to catch up to the modern day, and I wish this detail was still around. In my heart it is and she’s totally signing stuff like “tubular” and “cat’s pajamas” and Shaw absolutely thinks she is Clearly Very Hip & Current (*sobs*) - I really like it when writers remind us that these aren’t just immortal humans, these are things that only LOOK human but operate on totally different rules, and what I love even more is when they’re portrayed as kind of SCARY for it. Not scary just in that they have incredible super powers, LOTS of people in the Marvel universe do, but like. . .like an Uncanny Valley thing? Like there’s this bit in Gaiman’s story where Thena, who was transformed into a human by Sprite who rewrote reality so she had a human husband and human son, gets her memories back and transforms into herself. And her son Joey comes in and goes “momma?” and Thena assures him that it’s still her, but the narrative boxes reveal “And even as she says it, she knows it isn’t true” as she picks him up BY THE BACK OF HIS SHIRT like she’s scruffing an animal, not at all how a mother picks up a son. And she largely handles him that same way for the rest of the book, even as she’s protecting him; one Deviant scoffs when she calls him her son, countering that “you’re not even the same species, he’s your pet” and whatever her voice says, he body language agrees. And right after this, she steps outside and sees Ikaris hovering there, golden eyes aglow, and the narrative boxes say how she realizes now why the humans mistook them for gods because “Nothing human. Nothing human could look like that.” And Gaiman’s series also has this VARIANT COVER that depicts the Eternals as monstrous, even though they’re the protagonists of this series (well, protagonists and villains, much like the Inhumans most of their problems come from their own people, which I also enjoy, they’re not superheroes they’re a weird and fundamentally alien culture that is more fun to explore than just use for big battle stories) Like they’re FREAKY AF. And while I think their Uncanny Valley Inhumanity should probably be being Too Perfect and a general SENSE of power and strangeness if they’re not masking it---like, they can walk among humans, Sersi presents as a normal fab party girl ALL THE TME---this gets the same disturbing VIBE across, but it’s sadly a vibe that I think it’s more something people would FEEL when they see them for what they truly are and can’t really be portrayed visually in screen or panels. I imagine that Phoenix Jean has a similiar vibe when she goes off, and I like to think once in awhile Haven does too, like this shadow of a sense that this thing is only human -shaped (I mean Haven is human but she had a cosmic entity in her uterus 20 years I feel like that should just sort of pass through every once in awhile like a ghost’s ghost) - In the latest trade paperback I got of Gillen’s reboot, it includes quotes/notes from him and he says “The Eternals have a complicated and contradictory history, which meant that one of my goals was trying to synthesize it into all one tapestry. “Turn continuity into mythology” was my line. As such, you had to look for ideas and connections, hints and interpretation. It literally can’t all be true---it contradicts. What’s a reading that could make sense? [. . .] I hope many of these [previous] stories now read more like propaganda or warped memories of a more complicated truth, in the light of everything we now know. Yes, this is all true. . .just incomplete. [. . .] I really tried to at least have an interpretation of all earlier stories that was at least kinda true.” And honestly, I really like this? While I didn’t like all the changes his reboot of their lore and history made, I really think this is a GREAT approach to the source material that is, as he said, often contradictory, and a good approach to comic book lore in general for writers. Also, I do have to admit that the changes he made that I didn’t care for---namely, they no longer actually are/have biological families with each other, they were all created at the same time now and grouped into family roles by The Machine, so Zuras and Cybele aren’t REALLY Thena’s parents in the human sense, for instance--does serve to make them that much farther removed from human ways of doing and being. Of course, as much as this makes me admire him on the background reading he clearly did for this and for Exodus, it makes me that much more annoyed how he fudged/retconned Shaw’s background and never brings up his amnesiac self’s relationship with Hope even though clearly he’s a guy who does his goddamn homework. I just...I like Gillen but god I’m so tired of EVERYONE giving my dude the shaft while going above and beyond with bringing back old lore for other characters. Like jfc what did I do? Also sorry I know this isn’t an Eternals blog and you didn’t follow for that but Oh Well.
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hi can you do headcanons about dating klaus mikaelson (tvd)
Dating Klaus Mikaelson would include
Masterlist | Rules | Taglist | Library | More Klaus Mikaelson | AO3
synopsis: beside all the blood and murders, Klaus is a lover. Well, only you know that, but it still true.
warnings: vampire stuff
ps: thanks for your request my love, time to write for our favorite hybrid!
• This man is a romantic gentleman. Klaus would literally have the most creative ideas and he is not affraid of transforming them in reality. He does not get embarrassed: if that is a chance he os going to make your heartbeat race then he is doing it
• Call him protective is a euphemism. Klaus isn't a pacific person in his normal mood, imagine when you are in danger. This man would burn for you but, more than anything, he would set the world on fire if that means you are save
• No, I am wrong, he would set the world on fire if that means you will smile. You know that thing about villains loving better than heroes? It is true, darling, trust me
• Klaus is so freaking jealous. Anyone that seems interesting on you is someone he won't take his eyes off. The type of guy that would appear behind you during a conversation with someone that smiles more than the necessary and grab your waist, pushing you close to him
• Klaus know so many things that talking to him is almost a class about art. Yet, he don't talk like he knows everything. Klaus can be a stubborn little bitch, but he would never act like you are dumb
• He does send you letters. Not for a special reason beside spendind time on making something beatiful for you
• He loves to write about you, but what he is obssessed with is to draw you. Anytime, anywhere: he just wants to save your image. You are his muse, the personification of Afrodite, his own perfect Venus
• Klaus is touch starved and, if you are comfortable, there is a big chance he would be touching you all the time. You're both walking? His hands are on your back pocket. You sitting beside him? His arms are around your shoulders. That is a song playing? Klaus gonna find a way to make you dance with him
• Elijah is a really great partner to call Klaus stupid when he does something violent that wasn't really necessary, you both even have do the Rolling Eyes While Regreting Being Alive™ thing. Rebecca is a awesome friend and, lets be honest, what our sweet vampire need is a great friend. Everyone deserves having someone who gonna agree with you when someone wronged you or that gonna gossip about anything that breaths
• Your voice is like poetry to him. Klaus loves to lay on your lap and just give you freedom to talk about anything that comes to your mind. And he listen, like really listen to what you said, and he remembers everything
NSFW 🦇
• Althought your voice is perfect for him, he likes it better when you are moaning his name. Klaus love when you can't barely speaks. When your words are softer, the lips almost don't move, and whatever you said don't make sense
• Klaus is a provoking. The way his eyes meets yours, how have so much profanity hidden behind smart words choice, how he would won't mind literally stop what his doing to you if that means you only would want him more. No, Klaus isn't provoking, he is challeger
• Klaus is romantic, but that doesnt imply to sex. The passion is always there, but thing tend to get pretty rough. Even when it starts romantic. Being with Klaus is so easy, so comfortable, that you both get kinky and don't even notice
• And don't even start thinking he is not kinky. Do you think someone can live hundreds of years and not being creative about what to do during sex?
• And talking about age, he has a lot of experience. Klaus would love to try new things with you, it will always be new because now he is with you. And he loves to teach new ways of feeling better
• Blood can be a thing if you like it. When you are a human he would be affraid, not to murdering you but to making you fear him. If you want it, he would find a way to treat you even more like a god. And lets be honest, everyone thinks that but no one said: do you really think that period sex is not a thing for him??? And when you are a vampire, damn, that are so many things he would love to make you feel
• He can go down on you for hours. He have a lot of stamina, you would need to beg him to stop and he would just feel proud if your make up is ruined and your legs are shacking
• He loves when you bite him. Leave marks honey, he is yours, sign his skin with your teeths, nails, mouth. Have your fun, make him surprise when look at the mirror
• Klaus likes bath sex. When it start as something innocent and natural and ends with water all over the floor
• Klaus doesnt mind if there is anyone watching, but he loves the ideia of someone having no other choice than hearing you both. Like when he knows you both are being too loud, but the other person is to embarassed to do something beside wanting to die
• Want him hard? Play with his hair. Want him to cum? Pull his hair. Klaus is sensitive and you know how to use it for the greater good
if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡
@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.
#the vampire diaries x you#the vampire diaries x y/n#the vampire diaries x reader#the vampire diaries#the vampire diares imagine#the originals#the originals x y/n#the originals x reader#the originals x you#the originals imagine#klaus mikealson x reader#klaus mikaleson imagine#klaus mikaelson#klaus mikaelson x you#klaus mikaelson x y/n#madwomansapologist#ask box
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I have two suggestions for the Gray Ghost AU.
1: Wes Weston is no longer under suspicion of being a Ghost. Now, he is under suspicion of being the Phantom Hunter. He is athletic, fits the build, is on record as saying he wants to fight Ghosts, and has access to the tech (just BS a connection to the GiW or Axiom). The difference this makes in his regular life is mostly null... except for the fact that Ghosts now keep targeting him for retribution attacks. Danny goes out of his way to obscure his identity from everyone, meaning Wes is seen as them catching Phantom Hunter off guard. I imagine him trying to pin it on Danny but because he so clearly disdains his parent's work, literally no one believes him.
2: The idea of Danny getting his hands on an Ectoplasm enhanced suit like the Technus upgrade Val got to her suit, most likely given by Maddie as a way to bond with Danny (and further prep him for a transformation into a Halfa). Except given his preexisting contamination (his mum is half Ghost) and Maddie messing with the suit, he ends up with the suit now fusing to him more thoroughly. After reading too many Iron Man comics, I picture something like his Bleeding Edge armour. It is basically stored mostly in his body, and he can augment it with extra technology. This would probably be a win scenario for Maddie because this puts Danny even further into Halfa territory. This also makes things more tragic with Val. Because not only has Maddie betrayed Danny to experiment on him, but because it means Val failed to stop this happening to someone she cares about. Also, this opens up a new opportunity for one of the Clones: one who is now a more pronounced cyborg made with a prototype of the suit Maddie gave to Danny, maybe he looks like the Terminator or something. For extra irony, he's the nicest one and likes gardening or something. I know this can be taken further, but I'm not able to focus on it more due to exhaustion.
Also, your idea is great, and thank you for sharing it with us and letting us all throw our suggestions at you. Thanks for all the good content.
no thank you! this stuff is always way more fun and interesting when it's collaborated! most of these ideas wouldn't exist without other people's suggestions, even the initial prompt! ✨
also @everystarstorm this will answer your ask too ~ y'all sharing a braincell today haha
1. omg yes YES yes this is perfect absolutely 100%
Wes just cannot catch a break in ANY universe (the concept of Walter Weston working for Vlad has been a Thing so we can keep that around here since Vlad works at Axion and that can be the connection, maybe Walter is just the paperwork guy or the company's legal attorney)
I also had a suggestion from @burns-art-account that Valerie gets her own version of a Wes, but like since the name Wes initially came from a joke about Sam's name being misread upside down, we could do the same with one of Val's friends, like Star could be Jets or Jeqs, or something like that
although I think this person would be less open and vocal about Valerie since her popularity would make it impossible to point a finger at without being laughed at by the whole school (I mean just look at Wes, his target is just some nerdy kid and he's still a laughingstock), so this character could be a little more subtle in trying to get evidence to out Val, it would make a pretty funny running gag if every time she got a chance to photograph Val transforming or capture some kind of evidence, something always gets in the way at the last moment, like a bird flying in front of the camera or something
2. I want to keep Danny getting the suit from Technus because I'd want this universe's version of that episode to still happen because it was a great episode between these two and it could still work with the switch around
but Maddie really would have to change course with her portal plan because this whole thing could actually make that more difficult for Maddie, all of her calculations weren't made with a highly ecto-contaminated person in mind, this would mean she would have to readjust the portal's design between Danny and the rest of her family, or actually just throw that plan away in favour of working with this new angle
she could realise that her kids HAVE picked up some traits from her because yeah a normal human shouldn't be able to do that to ghost tech
the idea that Maddie does add to his arsenal is good, once she figures out that any tech he uses gets absorbed into his suit she starts making more weaponry that's super compatible with him, possibly even making stuff that will purposely contaminate him further to bring him closer to being like a halfa (this would be a pretty huge step in Maddie's villain development because now she's resorted to experimenting on her own son, she's losing sight of why she's doing all this in the first place) it would be really cool to see Maddie gradually losing her maternal motherly nature to the cold calculating scientist
like her warmth used to feel at least somewhat genuine deep down but now it just feels like a part she's playing, slimy and sinister, she was always manipulative but she had a real genuine care for her family underneath, she thought she was doing the right thing, but that love and care is slipping away into just doing whatever it takes to get what she wants, to complete her experiment
also I was thinking about the cloning ep being set kinda earlier in this universe, so that would have happened pre-upgrade, but the idea of there being a cyborg clone made later is super cool, and then we could get a clone centric episode where the other clones try to convince this newer more dangerous clone to join their family, and yes him becoming the sweetest, nicest clone is *mwah* perfection
that ep could pave the way and maybe even foreshadow Maddie's eventual experimentations on Danny himself
and the repercussions on Val oooooof, she would feel so guilty, she would feel so much like she let him down and she couldn't save him from becoming something he never wanted to be and now it's getting to a point where it'll be too late for him to get back to normal
and since we've established in a previous post that Vlad knows about Danny, he could even play as Danny's one guiding light, warning him that if he keeps doing this he won't be able to turn back, and his interactions with Danny could give us some insight to what's going on in Danny's head, he's trying so hard to point Danny away from all this while his own mother is more subtly encouraging him and pushing him in the other direction, like a shoulder angel/shoulder devil kinda thing
these are some great ideas thank you for sharing! ❤️❤️
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Tysm for the ask about my OC Isaac- I was so happy when I saw it. So this is an ask about your OCs! I've seen quite a few posts of yours tagged with Ceremorph vibes- who are they? 👀
Also I just love hearing about other people's OCs in general. Feel free to use this ask to rant about like. Any OC you want :D
hi hi hello!! aaa ok so! let me explain the tag system i've got real quick! It's always "[character name] vibes," to show that it kind of has? the vibes of one of my OCs, in a sense. (they're almost all dnd ocs because that's my special interest ig) This might be incoherent because I don't know how to talk about my characters in a way that makes sense but here we go!
(woahoho, old-ish art! ^)
Ceremorph is one of my villain ocs! It originally started as an AU version of one of my other characters, Ven- that AU was based on the idea of "what if he embraced his magic instead of being afraid of it?" and then oops! Ceremorph eventually became its own character in Ven's canon story. Because they're so entwined with each other (quite literally), I have to talk about Ven for a short moment.
oh wait uh quick CW for kidnapping, talk of parasites, starvation(?), cannibalism, loss of bodily autonomy/possession
Ven is a human who got kidnapped by illithids and was put through the process of ceremorphosis- it's the process of how illithids reproduce, where they lay a clutch of eggs which hatch into tadpoles. The tadpoles cannibalize each other for a while, before eventually being inserted into a suitable host. They latch onto the brainstem (or eat through the brain? not sure) to take over the mind, and slowly, the host's body changes into the body of an illithid. Ven had a tadpole inserted into his eye, it latched onto his brain stem, and perhaps this was a new experiment the illithids were doing or perhaps something went wrong, but the transformation didn't happen correctly. Ven was found two months after his disappearance, still looking like a human but with no memories of his past. What he did have, however, was a parasite in his brain and the new ability to cast magic- of course, he didn't know about that.
Ceremorph is the source of Ven's magic and has all of Past Ven's memories, but is aware that those aren't its own- in fact, it hates Ven's wife because she stirs up all of the emotions Ven had felt towards her, and Cere is very emotionally repressed and doesn't like that At All. Its people aren't very big on emotions, and it carries itself with a logical and manipulative coolness, though it can have a flair for theatrics and can be prone to anger. Cere, like all illithids, eat brains for the psionic energy, and the hungrier Cere gets, the more... feral/ less sentient it gets.
Currently, Ceremorph can observe almost everything Ven does from inside his brain- it occasionally takes a step back if things get boring, but it Watches. Cere can also take over Ven's body, but almost never does this when Ven is awake, and prefers to do it when he's asleep so it can be passed off as sleepwalking. Given how Cere can mimic Ven really well, the reason it doesn't take over when Ven is awake is due to the fact Ven himself would question the gaps in his memory, possibly causing Cere to be discovered. Also because as good as an actor Cere is, it's not perfect- it dislikes touch, and some of its mannerisms and movements are off. Despite being hidden, Cere talks to Ven: as far as Ven is concerned, it's just his anxiety or part of his subconcious. Cere was actually the one who pushed Ven to unlock their magical abilities- Cere was thrilled at the magic finally being unlocked, and Ven was horrified over the fact he tore a man apart with sorcery he didn't even know he had.
There are some scenes I'm excited for, actually: Ven is currently travelling, and locks the door from the outside so he can't leave while he's "sleepwalking." Eventually, perhaps some other characters will wake up to hear Ven's voice asking them to open the door, please, why don't you? Another scene is where Cere's hunger finally gets the best of it, causing it to take over Ven's body while he's awake and attacking a low-level antagonist, smashing open their skull with magic and devouring their brain in front of Ven's friends. Cere unintentionally reveals itself, and Ven has to wake up and realize he's committed an act of cannibalism, there's a parasite in his brain, and oh yeah! He's becoming a monster that can only live if it kills others.
And of course!!! If Ven ever dies, Ceremorph will in fact take over his corpse!! I don't know what it's planning, but it will absolutely form a cult, and Ophelia will have to fight the monster that looks like and can almost perfectly mimic her dead wife.
Since it's a dnd villain npc, I truly don't know what it's planning. Where does it try to go at night when it's not hunting? Why did it form a cult?
I had a whole paragraph talking about the seperate physical differences Ven and Cere are drawn with (sharp teeth, webbed claws and ears, etc). but even then Ven gains all those traits once his body starts to change. The floating hair is difficult, since Ven has that when he uses his magic, and Cere really only starts to float off the ground once it realizes it doesn't have to pretend to be Ven anymore and can use its magic however it wants. I'd argue the glasses, but Cere wears those when pretending to be Ven (although Ven!Cere's glasses always have a lense flare to hide its eyes). It's all a wild mix.
(behold! quasi-illithid Ven, he's not doing okay ^)
I have no idea if that was? Making sense? I'm aware there's not much to it, it's just a typical dnd villain, but I have a lot of fun with it- Cere is surprisingly easy to joke about
Anyway this probably didn;t make sense and it is! 12am now, oh goodness
but yeah i just think it's cool and tbh i made Cere bc I wanted a self-indulgent au for myself where my nervous poet was a very dangerous and pretty villain
any-vay goodnight, it's so so very cool someone's intrigued by my ocs, thank you ☆
#dont even get me started on apollo#he has a 40 masterdoc#ceremorph vibes#eric finally speaks#ask answered#sorry if this was poorly written#i dnot know how to desrcibe character personalities
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Didn’t Need Burrow (July 20th-August 2nd)
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Tikki's stance on the prospect of The Reveal is abruptly reversed and/or retconned so that she's completely in favor of Marinette telling Chat Noir her secret identity. Bonus if she doesn't tell her this until AFTER some Drama Bomb has dropped, with Mari getting lectured for not reading her damned mind/'taking initiative'/figuring out before now that everything is always her fault, always and forever, because she's not P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
omg
I’m reminded of “Lady Wifi” with Tikki asking Marinette if she’s sure about not telling Chat her identity, and also “Sentibubbler” where Tikki was perfectly fine with Alya knowing.
Like?????
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Something that comes as a devastating blow for Marinette mildly inconveniences Adrien. Naturally, HIS reaction to whatever it is gets played in all seriousness while HERS is glossed over/mined for humor/she's shamed for the grievous sin of having an EMOTIONAL REACTION instead of being Tikki's perfect little flawless automation.
Well, obviously his issues are worse! Look how sad he is!!
Look how SAD!!
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Tikki lectures Marinette for putting Too Much Responsibility on Chat Noir's shoulders. This is possibly passed off as how she should KNOW that PLAGG is Unreliable, as opposed to *Chat Noir* being Unreliable. Bonus: this is coupled with how she should TRUST Chat Noir more... just not, you know, with actual RESPONSIBILITIES or anything.
I’m like, laughing but also seething, because just the double standard of “YOU SHOULD TRUST HIM... but don’t put more on his shoulders, he’s going through so much!!”
“Bonus” if it’s a “Marinette, it’s all your fault!! You don’t know what Chat goes through!!!” despite how she literally can’t.
emikogale asked:
I don't need a burrow to know that the season 4 finale is probably going to have some forced drama and cheap shock value.
is it time to pull Reverse Love Square
is it
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: It's explicitly stated that Plagg is meant to be 'teaching Adrien' how to be more selfish (or 'independent'), because cats are stereotypically selfish/independent creatures, and Adrien obviously NEEDS to know that it's okay for HIM to be selfish.
Deep breaths, Clarity.
Deep breaths.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Marinette's trauma from Chat Blanc will be treated as a *good thing*, as she is told that she SHOULD feel guilty and that this should motivate her to be more honest with her partner, despite all evidence to the contrary. If she took 'the wrong lesson' from this, then it's her own fault, clearly!
What’s the phrase? “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”?
Naturally though, Adrien will be exempt from this and will be told that he deserves better and shouldn’t take this.
Anonymous asked:
Don't need to burrow: Luka/Kagami will never get a magical charm or have a scene where they break their akumazations. If we do get that scene, for Luka he will most likely break it off for his family or to another love interest like Zoé. (I can see the show frame it as a lesson to Marinette like "You see Marinette, Luka can break it off if you told him the truth in the first place. But no, he prefers Zoé since she's more honest than you". For Kagami, it'll be mostly be off screen and ignored.
Zoeka: *exists*
all of us: oh god
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Once Alya inevitably screws up in a way that Tikki can't gloss over, Tikki will berate Marinette for going against THE RULES and make everything out to be All Her Fault, while acting as though she NEVER supported the idea of Alya knowing.
It’s times like these where I wish we could double up on Didn’t Need Burrows, but then we’d have like, a card’s worth of doubling up, lol.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Adrien/Chat Noir actively sabotages one of Ladybug/Rena/the other heroes' plans in order to prove that 'they still need him'. Marinette/Ladybug takes all the blame for the fallout.
Of course she does.
Marinette, you need to TAKE CHARGE!!
Anonymous asked:
Don't Need a Burrow: Chat Blanc Sentimonster
It won’t happen, but I just got an awful thought of Chat Blanc and Sentibug returning at the same time.
Anonymous asked:
Don't Need a Burrow: We will have even more Akumatized Villain/Sentimonster pairs which are rehash of Reflekta/Reflekdoll situation.
“Bonus” if the sentimonster barely matches the akuma’s original role. Like Reflekdoll VS Guiltrip.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Adrien/Chat Noir will start secretly destroying the Anti-Akuma Charms so that people can keep getting victimized, providing more chances for him to see Ladybug. Marinette will blame herself, thinking she made them improperly/incorrectly somehow.
And even once it comes out, Marinette will forgive him and insists that it’s her fault for not “considering his feelings” and how she “should’ve made the charms stronger.”
Anonymous asked:
Theory that could be DNB I guess: The REAL Adrien is in a coma/dead and OUR Adrien is a senti that his mother created to be the “perfect” replacement goldfish son. Real Adrien is in some treatment facility in Tibet (if alive) and Gabriel and Emilie found their miraculous shortly thereafter.
FDKJGKFDGf
Okay, this ask wins for “Didn’t Need Burrow that made me laugh most.”
“Perfect replacement goldfish son,” oh my gosh, it’s beautiful.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: When Maribug gets akumatised, Renalya and Adrichat have the "knights in shining armor" to save the "damsel in distress". Maribug is eventually blamed for getting akumatised in the first place while Renalya and Adrichat get off scot-free :)
:)
Real talk, one of the only akuma I can think of who were “blamed” for the akumatizations was Markov (since Max debated turning him back on even though he himself has gotten akumatized before). Does that put Marinette on the same level as a robot, expected to follow orders to a tee?
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Marinette gets Yet More Lessons about how she shouldn't be selfish and must always put others ahead of herself, no matter how much she suffers as a result. Adrien, meanwhile, is 'taught' to put himself first. Bonus: one episode combines the lessons, AND we're shown how Adrien already KNOWS how to be selfish and is OPENLY SO as Chat Noir, yet his misbehavior is presented as Good while Maribug is punished for being imperfect, as always.
Thanks, I hate it, take it away.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: In a Shocking Twist on the Senti!Adrien theory, Gabriel MAKES a Senti!Adrien to replace his own son. The REAL Adrien winds up locked up and/or running away, and much Angstrese is had. Bonus if this leads to Reversed LSBS: Senti!Adrien shows polite interest in Marinette because Gabriel still wants to akumatize her, damnit, while Ladybug notices that Chat Noir seems stressed and reaches out to him, only to be rebuked because he's still a selfish little creep who hates her having secrets.
The fact that Gabriel has never taken advantage of Marinette’s crush despite knowing that she’s crushing on Adrien (”Chat Blanc” doesn’t count) is weird to me. If he was after her in “Ladybug” then why not take advantage of it?
...Wait, is SentiAdrien going to cause reverse love square because “Adrien would never make Marinette fall out of love for him because he’s perfect so it has to be a misunderstanding”?
oh no
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Shadowmoth makes a Senti!Adrien for some stupid reason or another. Like Sentibug before him, Marinette tries to save him upon realizing the truth, and is hit hard by the inevitable loss. Fandumb naturally SLAUGHTERS her for it, insisting that she would have gladly replaced the REAL Adrien with the fake, much like how Adrien/Chat Noir preferred Sentibug to Ladybug. Bonus if Alya/Tikki/others reinforce that mentality by accusing Marinette of the same thing themselves.
I don’t know which of these two SentiAdriens DNBs are worse.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: The difficulty of using multiple Miraculi at once is retconned so that the REAL issue is how well the kwami get along. Marinette learns this the hard way when Tikki gets into a jealous snit-fit with one of the other kwami, and they refuse to work with each other in a joint transformation. Naturally, it falls upon Marinette to help them reconcile, as she's blamed for whatever sparked off the argument in the first place. Because of course she is.
*sigh*
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Marinette has a full-fledged breakdown over all her responsibilities piling up on top of the guilt complex she's naturally developed from being blamed for everything that goes wrong. At best, she gets a pithy line or two about others 'completely supporting' and 'believing' in her before she's forced to get back up, still staggering under the weight; at worst, she's guilt-tripped for having the breakdown, because HOW DARE she be HUMAN, am I right?!
Just the idea of it being said already that teens aren’t meant to be guardian/hold miraculouses and then Marinette being chided for “not doing a good job” is just--
ugh.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Adrien outright admits that he hates Ladybug having other allies, complaining that things were so much better when it was just him and 'his lady' against the world, without even the Guardian's support. His whining is treated as sympathetic, even if he outright states that he wishes she was completely dependent upon him and didn't have anyone else to turn to.
tbh this is the only reason we don’t have permanent heroes; because Chat wouldn’t have his private time with Ladybug to flirt.
I can’t be convinced otherwise.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Chat Noir's jealousy of Rena spurs an outburst from him that forcibly reminds Ladybug of Chat Blanc. The trauma response this triggers is naturally used *against* her, played as Marinette's Latest Mistake. Since her trauma is CLEARLY her own fault, and she's GOT to learn how to cOnTrOl HeR eMoTiOnS while Adrien can throw Cataclysmic hissy fits to his heart's content.
Honestly, even if they didn’t do this specifically, I could also see Marinette being blamed for “being afraid of Chat Noir/Blanc” when she “doesn’t even know what happened.”
Basically, her “““blaming”““ Chat or “““reacting to him”““ for something he “““didn’t even do.”““
Anonymous asked:
DNB: 'Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought them back.' Much like the old nursery rhyme, Adrien's insistence that he DESERVES to know everything he wants to stick his nose into 'kills' any pretense of Chat Noir being heroic as he turns on/abandons Team Miraculous. Marinette/Ladybug is forced to cater to his whims in order to 'satisfy' him enough that he comes back.
Seems fair. :|
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Adrien/Chat Noir inflicts physical damage on somebody/something that is NOT magically wiped away/restored by his partner's Cure. This inconsistency exists purely to blame Ladybug for the consequences of HIS actions. Possibly with a side of Angstrien (provided they have him actually act like he *gives a damn* about what he's done).
I think that’s a pretty common trope in fics too; Ladybug being worried that Miraculous Ladybug won’t bring something back.
So yet another thing taken from the fandom.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: When Marinette finds out about Alya betraying her faith in her yet again, Alya bleats that she didn't explicitly SAY that she couldn't tell Nino, only that she trusted her, which she took to mean that she 'trusts her judgment'. In other words, Alya blames her *deliberately ignoring Marinette's wishes* on her 'bestie'. Bonus if Marinette subsequently TRIES spelling things out more only for Alya to complain about her being too 'pushy'/'controlling'/not leaving her that wiggle room.
“Girl, I told you to trust me, because I know that there won’t be any consequences to this!”
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Alya discovers Adrien's secret identity. Rather than telling/warning Marinette, however, she either spills the beans to him or schemes to get them together/force a reveal, believing that this will 'magically solve everything'. The show acts as though she's entirely justified in jerking Marinette around, pretending it's *hilarious* for her to add to her BFF's misery with her plotting behind her back.
Obviously this is all for Marinette’s sake so it’s fine.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Adrien will FINALLY learn/figure out that Marinette made his scarf... and be heartbroken that SHE lied to him about it.
Marinette, how could you possibly let Adrien believe that his father did something nice for him to make him happy! You let him live a lie!!
Anonymous asked:
Don't Need a Burrow: Mister Rat Sentimonster
I will only accept this if Xavier Ramier saves the day somehow.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Chat Noir will confront Ladybug directly about 'replacing him with Rena', whining about how HE'S her partner, not HER. No matter how much she tries reassuring him/strokes his ego to calm him down, Adrien remains pissy about it. Bonus if this blow-up happens during an akuma attack/other crisis, and Marinette is presented as unreasonable for wanting to focus on the bigger problem at hand. Screw the civilians, what about Chat's pOoR fEeLiNgS~?
What about THE DYNAMIC, Marinette?????
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Gabriel's grousing about how Ladybug 'never makes mistakes' foreshadows an inevitable moment where, after gaining a major advantage thanks to somebody else's screw-up, he gloats that Ladybug has finally made a major tactical error.
...They would.
They absolutely would.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Gabriel will exploit his son's gross sense of entitlement towards 'his lady' by convincing Adrien that Ladybug has neglected him more than HE has, what with the whole 'wanting to have a say in her own love life/rejected his unwanted advances/begging him to take things seriously rather than treating superheroics as a game'. Adrien laps this tripe up like cream to soothe his ever so precious ego.
Which makes Shadow Moth out to be a decent manipulator but continues to make the love square look bad.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: Adrien will be responsible for exposing the fact that Alya still has the Fox Miraculous to Gabriel. This could be by telling him directly during a face-heel turn, or simply because he's careless with that information (such as confronting Ladybug about Rena during an akuma attack/while Hawk/Shadowmoth is in a position to overhear).
I presume Ladybug is to blame for this for ever giving Alya and Nino a miraculous at the same time (when her hand was forced) in the first place.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Chat Noir straight-up *assaults* Alya out of jealousy over Ladybug trusting her more/'replacing him' with Rena. This may involve Cataclysm, and she may or *may not* be transformed at the time. Bonus if this happens *BEFORE* or *WITHOUT* him switching sides to join Hawk/Shadowmoth, and is purely about him *getting her out of the way*, possibly with the paper-thin excuse of wanting to 'prove himself' without her being around to 'screw him up' or 'steal his glory'.
I’d like to say that this isn’t likely, but he’s already been driven to property destruction soooooo--
Anonymous asked:
DNB: After investing so much time and effort into building Alya up as this incredible individual who absolutely deserves Marinette's trust despite doing nothing to earn it or her preternatural skill with Guardian-related tasks, she will abruptly lose all competence in order to 'prove' that Adrien is naturally better than her and that HE is Ladybug's 'only TRUE partner'.
Or Alya telling Nino comes out and in comes Chat with “I would never keep things from you, m’lady!!!”
Meanwhile, fandom having “Chat Blanc” flashbacks.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: The series ends with Adrien selling the in-universe version of Astruc the rights to tell their story, with the clear implication that everything we just watched is the end result. Meaning that Marinette gets to be humiliated by her adventures being 'recreated' in precisely the form we've seen, every episode cheerfully depicting her as a constant screw-up who got blamed for EVERYTHING that went wrong. Because why should she get to have any kind of positive self-image, right? GIRL POWER!
Oh my gosh, they would.
Anonymous asked:
Didn't need burrow: In Crocodues, Luka will fully be over Marinette and act like a friend while Marinette might still have feelings and is super awkward around him, highlighting how Marinette (or girls in general) has poor control over her emotions unlike Luka (er boys in gerenal).
Still waiting for reverse love square where Marinette is over Adrien but Luka is no longer an option so guess she has to go for Chat.
...Does that make Chat a rebound?
Anonymous asked:
Didn't Need Burrow: One or more of the kwami outright admit that yeah, no, they simply don't respect Marinette at all. Due to her youth, inexperience, lack of training, or maybe just because they can get away with treating her like shit and acting like a spoiled brat. Naturally, this is treated as entirely HER fault. Bonus if she TRIES to lay down the law with them and is promptly villainized for it. Maybe even compared to Hawk/Shadowmoth.
Completely understandable, of course. They’re just so used to people who are older and wiser and professional--
Anonymous asked:
Don't Need a Burrow: Mass of episodes fleshing out Luka, since Lukanette is out of picture now. (Bonus points if Anti Lukanette people will make posts saying that fleshing out Luka would be impossible without breaking Lukanette first)
“Wishmaker” will probably do this. I can’t see them giving Luka anymore screentime than the three episodes he should be “grateful” for. (”Truth,” “Crocoduel,” and “Wishmaker”)
Anonymous asked:
Don't Need to Burrow (Wishmaker)
The episode will be a mixture of Hearthunter and Frozer. There will be a Luka/Mari/Adri moments throughout the episode. And as the episode ends, Marinette will look at Adrien and Luka will be sad and say you should go to him to which she does. Thus making...the Lukanette ship...sighs...dead.
I’m blown away by this idea of the person who is arguably most “deserving” of a warm and loving relationship not getting one (or getting a “second choice” with Zoe for example) while characters who clearly aren’t ready to be in a relationship get all the attention.
Anyone wanna take a guess on which “nice guy” writer lost a girlfriend to an actually nice guy and is still salty about it to this day?
Anonymous asked:
Don't need to Burrow Wishmaker
Luka will play a song on his violin that represents the love square, it will be be so beautiful that Mari and Adrien will be in awe together when in reality its just the Spongebob sad violin music.
I can also see violin scratching for it as well.
I choked on my drink.
Anonymous asked:
Don't need to Burrow (Wishmaker)
This episode will either be the Lukanette vs Adrienette feud or it will show us all these crazy shipping scenarios from LS to Lukanette to LukaAdri. It will give the fans what they wanted but ended the ships in a nightmare.
Psst....you can tell by the icecream symbolism
Ugh, I’m dreading the idea of it being an episode about these repeated scenarios and then having to go back or whatever. Viperion’s there so maybe him witnessing them and then having to go back.
tc-leo asked:
Don't need to Burrow
Luka will basically lead Adrien and Marinette down the Love Square endgame path through his violin playing.
This would be the second time they forced Luka to play for the love square.
I swear to several lords--
tc-leo asked:
Don't Need to Burrow to know that in Wishmaker, the scene of Adrien in the middle while a closeup of Luka and Mari holding hands represents the end of Lukanette.
“““plot twist,”““ the writers say, while we sip our tea going, “you really think you can still bait us?”
Anonymous asked:
Didn't need burrow: Wishmaker will be the Heart Hunter of Lukanette. As in Luka and Marinette have Adrien third wheel them and it's actually cute and stuff. Optimistic I know but that's what it looked like in the trailer.
Your optimism is adorable and I appreciate it even if I’ve been burned too many times to be lured in by it.
Anonymous asked:
DNB: Juleka reveals a deep-rooted resentment towards Marinette for 'breaking her brother's heart'. This bottled-up anger fuels a call out where she rants about how she never deserved Luka, tossing out accusations that Mari can only weakly deny, since Everything Is Always Her Fault and She Deserves To Suffer. Juleka going off is presented as a positive thing since she's sharing her true feelings; meanwhile, Marinette has to bottle HERS up even more and absorb the abuse, apologizing to her/Luka.
show: *continuously pressures and pushes Marinette towards Adrien*
also show: *blames Marinette for being into Adrien*
Anonymous asked:
DNB: That teaser picture Gloob released that had Marinette looking at Luka wasn’t actually a Lukanette scene! It was actually taken right after Luka told Marinette about how he’s dating Zoe and is happy now. Marinette is smiling to show her support and totally not because the writers took away her ability to feel love for any character other than Adrien! 🙃 (Also Luka had the obligatory “You two are made for each other” line, because the show is going to forget how much he loved her and force him to move on with a character who was only in three other episodes 🤦)
Even if Zoeka doesn’t happen in 4 and 5, it probably will in 6 and 7 considering that it’s “post-series” or whatever and they wouldn’t know what else to do with him.
Anonymous asked:
Dnb: In Crocoduel, Luka figures out Marinette's secret identity but doesn't tell her (so the writers can justify he is a crappy bf). In Wishmaker, he finds out about Adrien's secret identity, has tge realization that they are into each other and goes "Marinette I live you but you and Adrien are meant to be so bye"
The lack of self-awareness in ignoring that Adrien also didn’t tell Marinette.
Anonymous asked:
Don't need to Burrow
We will find out that Wishmaker will show Adrien's wish which is to confess his identity/love to LB which results in Luka/Viperion finding out and keep using Second Chance/self sacrifice himself. If it was Marinette's case, Luka (whether or not he knows her secret identity) will find out her wish is to confess her identity/love to Adrien and he would use Second Chance/sacrifice to prevent that. He'll also find out that part of Mari's wish is she might not want to have a future with him and consider him as a second option. Realizing both of their identities as LB/CN and how dangerous their wishes are, Luka will do everything in his power to prevent that from happening.
Once the day is saved, Luka will pretty much tell Mari its best not to continue and stay friends. He'll either be sad that Mari don't like him that way anymore or scared of Mari finding out that he knows both of their identities.
Oh and the morality of the episode for Marinette is it's okay if you don't know what to do if life. It's best to not know and just live with it.
wow thanks i hate all of it
Anonymous asked:
Dnb: lukanette angst in crocoduel doesn’t make sense to happen now so it only shows up now to provide trouble for Marinette, akuma, or extra drama juleka for no reason
So the usual.
May I just point out that Juleka has now run away anxiously two episodes in a row now since “Guiltrip” is the episode before this in procode?
#((I keep forgetting how long it takes to reply to all of these lol but I adore them lol.))#category: salt#Didn't Need Burrow#other: ask and answer
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if you're interested, i'd love to hear your thoughts on That scene in empty places, bc the way that i've seen most people talk about it doesn't always feel very nuanced and like... i get being frustrated and i for sure think some extremely unfair things to/about buffy were said, but i don't think it's as cut and dry as buffy being totally blameless (even though i love her) and everyone else (particularly the main scoobies, who don't have her responsibilities but have fought alongside her and earned the right to disagree w her imo) being terrible. Like it may have gone too far?? But idk, I have trouble articulating why, but I think there's more nuance to the situation than people want to say, so I'm curious about your thoughts
Anonymous asked:
whats your take on empty places and the scoobs kicking buffy out of her house?
Anonymous asked:
Why did Buffy allowed Dawn to kick her out in Empty Places?
Wow, so many questions about “Empty Places”! Sorry, as ever, that these took me a while to get to.
I actually agree, I think there’s more nuance there than it’s given credit for. I talked about that a bit in this post a while back. I wouldn’t say that the character build-up to that scene is as well-executed as it could have been, but it hardly comes out of nowhere, and it’s not some random thing. Or, as I’ve seen people suggest, simply there to make Spike look good and push him and Buffy together. I’m sure their romantic arc was a factor in the storytelling, but to call that the only motivation seems to me a vast oversimplification and dismissal of ideas that were built over the course of the season.
Season seven is, as I’ve discussed before, about how the Slayer system is broken. It’s a system that isolates Buffy and puts all of the decision-making in her hands. Meaning that it’s a system that is neither good for her, nor good for anyone around her, no matter how strong and brave Buffy is. All season long, we see Buffy struggle with both the limits of her power, and the demands of her authority. She wants to be able to save every girl, and fight every ubervamp, but she simply can’t be everywhere and stronger than everything. She wants to be a caring friend, but when she’s the one who has to make decisions about whether people should live or die, she can’t always be. When she’s the one who has to make all the hard choices, that means the blame always falls on her shoulders. When she fucks up, there’s nothing for her to fall back on. The fact that Buffy is forced to be this kind of sole authority means that the people around her are right to feel that they aren’t being listened to, or fully considered. Because often they aren’t. They see the people around them getting maimed and killed and suddenly realize that maybe it isn’t right that all their eggs should be in Buffy’s basket. But at the same time, they’re wrong, because they’re the ones who put their eggs there. They’re the ones who kept looking the other way as Buffy made hard choice after hard choice on their behalf. They’re as complicit in (and victimized by) the broken system as Buffy is.
Keep in mind the season’s perception themes. Everyone gets mad at Buffy, and Buffy gets mad at herself, because they’re all too close to the situation to see that the problem isn’t really Buffy, it’s what being the Slayer has forced Buffy to be. The dynamic it’s forced between her and the people around her. Notice how in the very next episode, Faith finds herself dealing with the exact same problems that Buffy was. The same hard decisions, and the same ambient resentments. It’s actually very important that Faith has to be a leader for a bit, in order to show this--the fact that the problem is being the Slayer, not Buffy. I’d even argue that it’s the much more thematically relevant motivation for the scene than getting Buffy and Spike alone.
As far as thematic motivations go, I also think it’s crucial that Buffy is thrown out of her house. That is some powerful symbolism for a season that leans so hard into the symbolism of Buffy’s house in general, and it’s disappointing to see people ignore it in their eagerness to be mad at everyone. The house is a lot of things—the familiar, the stable, the normative, the safe—but most importantly it’s also Buffy’s self. Notice how Spike and Faith, both Buffy’s shadow at different times, hang out in Buffy’s basement: the realm of the id and subconscious. Notice how as the house breaks down, Buffy gets injured as well.
So for Buffy to be thrown out of her house, it’s the climax of the season’s isolation themes not just in terms of story, but also metaphor. She has literally been cast out of herself. She’s been banished from her identity and role. But at the same time, once she’s on the outside of that myopic, claustrophobic system, she is able to connect with her shadow (Spike) and see the situation with new eyes. The reason that Spike is the one who can talk Buffy back is that firstly, unlike the Scoobies, his later seasons arc is all about learning to not ask Buffy for things that aren’t appropriate--romantic reciprocation, moral structure. Secondly, he was once the tool and symbol of her isolation, the icon of her shame and guilt and belief that she needed to isolate herself. For her to make peace with Spike is about her rejecting that isolation and shame, and transforming it.
Of course, I can talk about symbolism all I want and it doesn’t necessarily matter if the writers didn’t make it believable on the object level too—the level of character and plot and all of that. It’s a regular problem on Buffy, the writing caring more about symbolism than sense. While I think that most of the characters have adequate motivation for the scene—really, it’s been building from the beginning; remember the confrontation between Buffy and Xander as early as “Selfless”? or Buffy fighting with Giles and Wood two episodes earlier? or the way she argued with everyone in “Get It Done”? or the Potentials doubting her from basically their first episodes?—the one character that seems truly undeveloped is Dawn. She got that warning from the First in “Conversations With Dead People”, but the season doesn’t follow up on it well enough to draw a clear line between that seed of doubt and her attitude in “Empty Places.” Given that Dawn is Buffy’s “humanity” or “youth” or what have you, it’s symbolically significant that she would be the final one to cast Buffy out. But that seems like a clear case of the story not earning its metaphor, unfortunately.
To answer the third ask: as far as why Buffy let Dawn kick her out, on a character level I think she was pretty defeated by that point. But symbolically, I think the part about Buffy’s human self rejecting her is important for that. Buffy has a tenuous relationship to her belief in her humanity at the best of times, so it’s pretty easy for me to believe that she would feel lost and numbed enough by being rejected by that part of herself, that she wouldn’t fight it.
(Controversial opinion, but I actually kind of like that “Empty Places” isn’t due to the First sowing obvious discord. I’ve seen lots of people suggest that that would have been the stronger and more believable choice, and I get the instinct. But if the point of the season is to show that the villain is the Slayer system, then it makes more sense for that to be the thing that drives the conflict, and not an external force influencing them. There might have been a way to use the First that was compatible with that, but it wouldn’t have worked if the problem was just The First. Imo, of course.)
All of which is to say, that if you see the season as being about faulty perception, broken systems, and the dangers of isolation, then “Empty Places” actually makes perfect sense as a climax of the season. The problem really comes down to whether you think it was earned enough (which in some cases I think it was, and in others it wasn’t), or generally handled well, and whether you think those ideas are interesting in the first place.
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Lovely Writer Episode 3/4; The Discovery of Identity; Transformation, Perceptions and Hidden Ideals
Writing about this show is interesting, mostly because I have so much to say about everything. With this show it’s layers upon layers upon layers, it’s a lot of information even if it seems like a cheesy BL and like a typical storyline. The story tackles with so much irony and hints and clues to unveil and also representations of real life that takes sensitivity and time to understand and acknowledge. The show is so good already in 3-4 episodes and it’s also at times soft and romantic whilst also at times real and painful about some of the truths about society and the acting and writing industry. The director, screen writers and producers of the show have come with this ideology that they are making a BL storyline but they do not want to repeat the same mistakes as the previous, no instead they will call it out, educate the audience and also still have flawed characters learn and grow from their actions. That’s why with this show even the villains are not villains per say but humans who are forced to act the way they do to survive, they’re understandable and have reasons for why they will end up being an obstacle but also this show has no heroes, at first it seems that Gene and Sib the main characters are going to be perfect, and one dimensional caricatures that fall in love with no personality, depth or growth but actually both of them are flawed, have interesting perspectives on things, attitudes to people and ways of thinking that is vital to connecting them to where the story is going. And that’s brilliant. Whilst episode 3 is more information and outlook into the other characters as Gene deals with pressure of the industry and people and his new feelings for Nubsib, episode 4 is a softer , calmer episode dealing with Gene and Nubsib actually making their relationship mean something to the audience, showing that they could have a chance to grow a healthy, romantic love story and not the toxic, worrisome ones we feared. And I adored both episodes. So this essay we are going to be focusing on the love story of Gene and Nubsib portrayed in these two episodes, but also how it connects to Gene’s self awareness, and also unveiling Nubsib’s character more and changing him from being seen in a sinister scary light to a soft romantic light instead.
The Price of Ambition: The Effects of Pressure
So First of all Episode 3 maps out what the writers and director want to achieve with this show. I tend to think this show becomes like a self insert for the director/writer. What they make Gene say about the way a story should be written, is also what they want to tackle and achieve with this. The nightmare scene discusses about the physical nature of BLs when it comes to NC scenes, the show mocks the lack of actually talking about the reality about what that entails by showing us Gene learn about positions and educate himself on that topic, but also it mocks the audience who expected from the books for the show to be more explicit and aggressive with NC since that’s what happens in the novel with Gene and Nubsib. Gene says in the nightmare scene that all he wants is a story that does not need that type of content to get fans but focuses on the depth of its characters, fleshing out their romance and showing why they are in love, a way to make the audience focus on the humanity of the characters as they fall in love. And that’s exactly what immediately the show starts to show, we start to immediately after the nightmare scene see Nubsib’s true colours and realise he’s not just with Gene for physical chemistry but he’s actually warm, comfortable and his love for Gene is actually quite pure and innocent despite him using inauthenticity to show it. So that’s important to think about because the next episode goes into more detail as well about these two’s romance, we start to really flesh out our characters opinions on companionship and love and we evade a NC scene by focusing on gentleness, devotion and protective love that Nubsib has for Gene as he ensures that he treats Gene properly and does the right thing and wait for consent. That’s one of the best things about this show, it will talk about the issues of BL industry but it’s not going to repeat the same mistakes its making. Yes Nubsib seems like a typical controlling, manipulative BL lead but actually he’s different and all we have to do is wait to understand why he’s hiding who he is and what his aims are. But the show is also not afraid to talk about flawed characters, and problematic actions, we may have characters that make mistakes because that’s life but they will learn from those actions. This is why I’m really in love with this show.
Episode 3-4 also tackles transformation and the discovery and awareness of self. Especially since in episode 3 the theme is pressure, the pressure to conform which makes Hin want to start writing new BL novels like Gene did so he can get more success and notice from his writing, pressure to be something different like Aey has to do because he’s pressured to act romantic on set with Nubsib with people who objectify and sexualise them, and pressure for Gene to write more NC scenes and lose his own values and ideas on what he wants his content to be like. So there is this idea of pressure causing characters to transform and push down parts of them self.
Desperation and Transformation
I do not know where Hin is going in the storyline of course episode 4 focuses most of the story on the development and intimacy of Gene and Sib’s new relationship but in episode 3, I still feel like I could be right about Hin. Hin is a mirror image of Gene just like Aey is a mirror image of Nubsib. Both of them are exposing the hidden flaws of the characters. The more we focus on him the more we have a storyline for him building, we’ve been told he wants to be a writer, he’s not making money, he’s not being noticed, he has a lot of things that he wants to do but his sacrifices hint that there is a desperation in him that I think it’s really important to observe and notice that’s going to make him soon snap or act out. In episode 3 Hin mentions his new BL novel more, and he asks Gene to look into it. I do need to mention that Hin and Gene have essentially the same outline/novel idea because it’s both based on the love story of Gene and Nubsib brewing. Gene is writing about an actor and a writer falling in love with each other, Hin is writing about an editor in chief falling in love with an actor it’s really similar, like really really similar as a layout, it may be different because he doesn’t always see them but what are the odds that he is writing out the same dynamics as Gene’s new novel and asking to Gene to look at it. If the novel ends up being similar isn’t he essentially a rival to Gene? Where is Hin’s storyline going? No matter how much I want to say his journey is to write and become popular and to assert himself with his BL writing, I just don’t see it not being more important?
All I see is a layout for Gene and him being rivals even though it doesn’t seem like it right now but for him to be like Gene you’re my idol, I look up to you and I really love you, yeah positivity, it’s great he’s inspired by Gene, it’s great that he feels these emotions towards Gene, and there’s no hostility, but I do think that if he thinks Gene is taking writing for granted, or doing something that makes him look like he’s taking that path for granted, then he would be affected, and be disappointed, and disappointment breeds resentment so I think it’s really interesting Hin isn’t being noticed by the publisher, he’s in a desperate situation right now, pressured right now to do something good and so he’s started to start writing BLs similar to Gene, I can’t help see similarities to ideas about plagiarism, because twice they have mentioned him being immensely helpful and writing the same ideas as Gene, I can’t help notice that they’re both writing for the same publisher and one of their new books is going to be seen as more fit for the publisher, and three Tee has directed and loved characters that seem positive and obsessed with the main character only for that character to be revealed to be the obsession drove that person to villainy. Pressure and Desperation reaches a height with him, and he reacts by giving into that and being an obstacle to Gene later. I love Hin right now but I can’t help thinking he’s going to be an obstacle to Gene and Nubsib, I can’t help thinking he’s an obstacle to writing path of Gene because he really could sacrifice Gene to become like Gene, to replace Gene, because he needs money and notoriety to make it as a writer. Hin also mentioning Gene as an idol is mirroring Nubsib because that’s exactly what Nubsib also sees him as, Nubsib relates to Hin, because he understands being affected and looking up to him the same way. Gene gives him a positive feeling and makes him want to do well, and pushes him to do more I’m guessing.
There is twice that Gene is mentioned as an idol to others, he’s an idol to Hin and he’s an idol to Aey. Nubsib does not like that Aey has read Gene’s novels, he does not like the fact that Aey seems really supportive towards Gene. One Nubsib can call out bullshit, because he’s king of faking and pretending, and as mentioned Aey is like Nubsib’s mirror character, I think Nubsib knows how fake Aey is and he sees Aey as a rival. I really do think the mirror characters may be rivals to each other to and that’s the pattern. Two is Nubsib jealous because he thinks there’s any chance for Gene and Aey to get close? The jealousy and frustration and possessiveness he feels for Gene around Aey is something that needs to be noticed, because Sib definitely has an issue with Aey only he and Aey knows about. I don’t know why he’s so upset about Aey’s actions because he’s literally doing the same thing, he sees Gene as an idol etc, so why’s he upset about Aey unless he sees Aey in him and that he’s just as fake as he is being. So there’s two reactions from Nubsib towards the two who mention they look up to Gene, one is jealousy and disgust and anger towards Aey and the other is support and understanding towards Hin.
In the episode where the nightmare scene talks about how Gene wants to focus on characters and not focus on the sexual relationships of the BL storyline, not focus on the toxicity of the characters but the depth and reality about their relationship and personalities, we finally get to see the answer to our question, Nubsib is 100% in love with Gene, there is no weird scary feelings about him in both episode 3 and 4. Episode 3 exposes how he feels for Gene, his natural state and personality with Gene, even when Gene is not watching him, he’s still devoted and caring about him when Gene is sick, he doesn’t need to do that if he’s being creepy and evil and what not, every single thing he does with Gene it’s like there’s a hold on him, and he forgets where he is and it’s just filled with ultimate devotion, ultimate care, and three Nubsib is someone who cares and cherishes Gene so much that his consent is important to him. Nubsib is very practical and serious about issues with consent, even with the kiss, he ensures Gene is okay with it, even in episode 4, he struggles to not give in to Gene’s drunk demands telling Gene he’ll wait till he’s ready. He’s not forceful, he’s not controlling, all he wants is for Gene to be near him and okay.
Now you could argue that there is a line between non consent and manipulation/coercion but I do think Nubsib was falling more into the line of coercion a little bit as first like manipulating a need for a kiss, but the most important thing that has been noticed since episode 2, is that it’s not by force, he gives Gene a lot of options repeatedly, even if he acts all sad to get guilt, or what he wants. It’s also not because he is sad that Gene is like let’s do whatever it is, it’s more like Gene sees it as opportunity to get better with his writing since Sib inspires him to write, but also he feels comfortable and safe with Nubsib. Nubsib asking for consent is something I really appreciate about him and something I like about him so much.
Gene’s self discovery is also explored in episode 4 more when we have an episode that just focuses on him and Nubsib starting their relationship. There is a transformation of Gene who is avoidant and evasive of companionship to someone who starts to want that and see the value in that by living with Nubsib for almost a month. By the end of episode 3, his fear of vulnerability and the truth makes him regress and try to bring back what he sees as normal and get some kind of control of his environment that Nubsib has successfully invaded in.
Nubsib; The catalyst for transformation and inspiration
Nubsib causes Gene to have a transformation. Not that being an introvert is a bad thing, I’m an introvert and I also dislike always being forced to go out and hang out in large crowds. But it’s about how Nubsib’s presence is essentially making Gene become better, discover his loneliness in distancing himself from people due to his obsession and focus on writing. Nubsib makes Gene feel good and that’s why you see a difference in him from episode 3-4 after spending just almost a month with him. Even though I was confused with his transformation this episode just because he seemed more outgoing, a bit more open to people, as we see in episode 4, his work is what pulls him away from people but also it’s how he feels when he’s surrounded by people who make him feel uncomfortable. People who bring out worry, insecurity and more. He rather just focus on writing than deal with those people.
I do agree that Nubsib is invasive until episode 4 ha. Gene is an introvert. And as one the way Nubsib does invade his space was a lot, but Nubsib just has feelings for Gene, he’s a doe eyed puppy around him, he loses himself basically when he gets into caring mode with Gene, he doesn’t try to hide his support and eagerness to be with Gene and show him affection, because it’s so automatic for him to take care of him, protect him, treat him, because he sees Gene as a romantic partner so I do agree it is uncomfortable but that’s not the reason why Gene is even weird about it. Episode 3 and 4 is about Gene’s internalised homophobia about his sexuality. When Gene starts to put two and two about his feelings for Nubsib he explodes with anxiety and anger because he’s still struggling to accept who he is, but also he has a lot of misunderstandings and biased opinions about what being gay/queer actually means. Because of the way BL has made him view it as unrealistic, shallow, and well toxic, not that being gay is that, but he believes him ending up that way makes him like the characters in his novel, makes him be part of a world he’s seen so negatively about, something he’s trying to escape from because of seeing it as shallow and toxic. When Nubsib invades Gene’s space as well, its for positive reasons it’s not him purposely trying to make Gene uncomfortable, it’s to help and make sure Gene is okay, safe and cared for. So it’s not because Gene is scared by Nubsib’s actions because he’s scary but it’s because of panic and repressed feelings he’s felt for him since episode 1. So these are ways we can tell that Nubsib’s feelings under his façade is genuine, he’s just like Aey and others where they are inspired and affected by Gene.
Nubsib: The catalyst for transformation and self discovery
The past two episodes instead of seeing Nubsib being ‘shady’ just like what Gene wanted from the nightmare scene, we saw Nubsib’s good side. His genuine personality with Gene is exactly how he treats him. What I’ve decided with Sib’s character is he’s not evil, manipulative or someone so powerful he thinks he can get with everything. He’s not greedy or scary. He’s just a spoilt child. A child who wants attention, a child who feels neglected, hence he acts like how a spoilt child does, he manipulates the situation to get what he wants and is a brat, but acts like an innocent person on the surface to get what he wants but he’s in a position of being used to getting what he wants, a position of power especially with Tum who he screams at and shouts at, that’s what a child does, just throws tantrums and make it hard for the person they know they have control over. He’s just a child who’s naïve, puppy like, who wants Gene to look at him. But he’s also spoilt because he’s in a place of privilege, so him being spoilt makes him treat others badly, but Gene makes him different, he wants to be someone better for Gene.
As of episode 1, it has been hinted that Gene is attracted to Nubsib, he feels this inherent care for Nubsib, wants to hang around him and is also curious about him naturally. He is affected by Nubsib’s presence, and his presence is the the thing inspiring him and makes him want to write. He’s being inspired by his real feelings but doesn’t know that because he has IH. So the question was in episode 3, as the show started to hint about it; if Gene knows about his identity and sexuality and who he is or was he learning about himself through finally falling in love with Nubsib. I thought he was learning about it but episode 4 made me think he’s known and has just been avoiding it. Gene isn’t homophobic as I’ve seen people worry he is, he has a very ignorant, uneducated, societal opinion on what those relationships is like. So Gene is like very similar to another character Tee directed Type from TharnType (before all those who detest this idea start to click of listen to the explanation), the thing with Type was his was psychological trauma and hate and pain making him have the mindset he had, he never got to know or understand who he was because he tried hard to avoid thinking about anything to do with sexuality. With Gene, it’s his writing that makes him act sometimes homophobic, makes him overreact when there’s ideas to him being queer/gay or being in a situation like that, the way he acts is because of the corruption of the industry he has had to witness; its why he thinks its all shallow, no substance, it’s so ironic and funny to me because he’s about to find out that what these stories portray or the boys love does have substance, because now he’s falling in love, like real love, authentic love he now understands the real feelings behind wanting to write a boys love story about just two men in a relationship, he now understands the sexual attraction behind some things, why it’s just like any other novel about real life relationships, he understands why characters in BL might be more important than just what the industry is using it for.
Gene’s way of educating himself as the show goes on in this industry is so great to me and one of the reasons I adored episode 3. Opening himself, researching and trying to understand more about things is so important because
1. He’s a writer trying to do well by this genre but he also feels uncomfortable about
2. He’s someone represented by this genre as he is queer character.
3. He’s literally going through self discovery the more he writes his novel
For example the nightmare scene in episode 3 is the catalyst of that episode. It what spirals the transformation in Gene’s character we start to see, from being withdrawn to starting to be comfortable and open. He goes through the nightmare and Nubsib shows him care when sick. (That’s what he represents to him, comfort, healing, warmth, companionship, protection). Because he feels cared for by him, he also starts to want to show the same to Nubsib to show him the same care, warmth that Nubsib was showing him etc. And because he has been holding unto his feelings for Nubsib, has been feeling overwhelmed by his fear about them, when he gets drunk to avoid dealing with him sending him away, he blurts out all he’s felt, he becomes the most truthful at that moment because he’s been holding unto all these thoughts since he first met him. But he also says to Nubsib in episode 4 that he reminds him of a lead BL character and it’s like aww he complimented his looks but the fact that Nubsib reminds him of that isn’t a good thing to Gene remember, he doesn’t want to end up like BL characters because he thinks there’s no substance, no truth, just toxicity with that situation so it’s something he panics about that it’s ironic because he’s essentially falling for someone and playing out a BL trope.
BL: The pressure of transformation and authenticity
Another thing meta about this show is the inclusion and mirroring of Bad Engineer the series. I mentioned in my previous essay whilst Bad Engineer is another meta call out to the industry it also could play a role as a shadowing device to show you similarities and differences between Nubsib and Aey the actors who play Kin and Bun the caricatures and characters that are exaggerated. It kind of exposes the thoughts and ideas about these two in an interesting way. Let me explain. Bad engineer starts of with Bun being forced to get the attention of Kinn who is aggressive and seen as wanted and powerful but too scary to go near to. After he hugs Kin we already are hinted from Nubsib’s audition line that Kin could not let go of the mark Bun left on him and becomes essentially obsessive and controlling over Bun wanting to be with Bun. Okay first of all it’s already calling out and exaggerating the obsession that Nubsib seems to have for Gene, he would go to lengths to hide who he is, make up excuses to be near him and hide his power and privilege (by lying he’s poor, and about his housing situation essentially lying about the power he probably does hold over people) which is why his exact words he says to Gene in the audition is foreshadowing, he knows who Gene is before, he’s been affected by whoever Gene was to him in the past and he’s in love with him. Just like Kin proceeds become hooked onto Bun.
What’s really funny is that Aey is playing a character that is very vulnerable and gentle and sweet, like what is normally perceived as a typical feminine uke stereotype. It’s interesting because its because he gives of this vibes that he was chosen for this audition, but also in reality he’s wearing a mask to act like this to Gene and everyone around him especially the vulnerable act, where he makes you feel guilty for being in his way or making you feel pitiful for how he’s treated by Nubsib. The fact that Tawan (played by Mhok in the series) is a second lead in bad engineer the series and Mhok is essentially in the second lead role for Aey, he’s the one behind the scenes unrequitedly loving and caring and worrying about the main lead but is always neglected or pushed aside for the other main which is mirroring how Aey isn’t seeing how Mhok cares for him (he gets so jealous if you notice whenever he has to see Aey and Nubsib together) and is pushing him away to focus on his hunt for fame by getting Nubsib’s attention.
Nubsib has a different type of similarity with Kin. It’s how people perceive him that’s similar to how Kin is on the surface, but also Kinn is an exaggerated character, who is toxic and Nubsib as finally shown isn’t going to be toxic or problematic because the writers don’t want him to be that way. For some reason Kin is filled with anger and is aggressive and loud, Nubsib isn’t as angry as Kin but he also expresses his distaste of things when it doesn’t go his way with anger and tantrums to Tum especially because he’s a spoilt child. Kin is possessive, aggressive and obsessive and even though Nubsib isn’t like that in a large scale, he has some of those traits, he is possessive with Gene, and protective and jealous easily when it comes to him thinking something is in the way. Kin is a trope, he’s written to make fun of semes in BLs like Fighter from WhyRU, someone seen as cold and indifferent to people who is meant to be seen as rough and mean, rich, but then the story unveils a softer side when he’s with his partner later. Or Kin also reminds of toxic Kdrama male characters (its not just BL this trope is used), like Gu Jun Pyo from boys over flowers who is just like Kin because he’s rich and spoilt. The reason why Kin and Nubsib is similar is because is that Kin likes to get what he wants, he’s just as invasive, he’s forceful (though as mentioned Nubsib isn’t as problematic with this as Kin), he’s just as determined to do what it takes to get his partner. Both portray this demenour around them where they are not meant to be messed with.
And I think that’s important about Nubsib, there’s some kind of power and control he has that makes people not mess around with him when Gene is not in front of him, he doesn’t try to be nice or kind as he does when he’s with Gene. Things that they don’t have in common is that for Gene, Nubsib is the opposite, he’s gentle to Gene, because he’s determined to a better person to him, he’s manipulative but he’s not forceful or aggressive towards him, although he wears a mask, he’s actually authentically automatically the way he is with Gene as we have seen in both episodes. Gene transforms him; he makes him kind, caring and sweet. Gene is a prized person to him; so valuable and worthy that he doesn’t even think he’s worthy as he is for him hence why he chooses to be better with him, he doesn’t see Gene as less than him but the others he does which is something that does need to be worked on. But if he is spoilt and privilege, if he’s been so used to people treating him this way then I can see why he can be this way. So Kin and Nubsib’s character calls out Nubsib’s flaws and Aey and Bun’s character also show what Aey wants people to view him as on the surface and Mhok and Tawan are mirroring the same roles.
Bad engineer being written by Gene is so funny to me since all he does is like complain how much he hates everything to do with tropes like it, so there must be some kind of shame inside him for him writing it to remove pressure from his company even though he doesn’t want BL to mean that. It also again shadows Hin’s desperation as Hin takes on his own BL novel, because Gene must have been so desperate when he first wrote it because he was writing it just to also please people and be noticed as a writer more.
Lovely Writer is it obvious despite my late releases of my analysis that I am obsessed and I have high respect and love for this show? The fact that there is problematic worries in the storyline, there are flawed characters and action in the plot, but they’re so real and human. The fact that this show talks about BL, and is trying to make fun of it, call it out but then the characters in it are also falling into some of its tropes and ideas. But it does show that with love sometimes people do get into these situations even though it’s seen as problematic or weird, but it’s dealing with sexual attraction, showing instant connections and portraying passion, sometimes when people are into someone you can get crazy, possessive, sometimes you may even want to be with that person all the time. It’s really important that the show is drawing a line between what is toxic and what is not, what is romantic and what is not, the authenticity of romance vs the idealism of romance in tv shows and books. The fact that Gene and Nubsib are falling in love with each other and are going to go through a lot together I think shows me that at the end I will also think they’re meant to be together, they’re like a realistic couple falling in love. Gene feels real to me. Nubsib feels human to me even though we’re uncovering his personality. All of the characters feel real and dimensional to me. It’s something I love about the show, it just feels so real despite being literally a BL that’s making fun of how unrealistic BLs are, it’s so real, it’s so meta, it’s so important and I really think it’s needed in this genre, and industry. I think it’s such a great, great show. I love Tee, because he’s good at directing these layered, meta, deep shows always able to provide reasons for why the story is the way it is, what its trying to show, why the characters are the way they are and make mistakes, there’s so much depth to his stories and the things he chooses to focus each time he does a show. In a way Gene’s character development and growth is so important to me because to him the BL industry and genre is bad, and the show seems like that’s what its message is as well, because that’s what his perception seems to portray only, as Gene falls for Nubsib who is literally like a trope that reminds him of the stories he seems to hate (especially when he discovers his inauthenticity) , as he falls in love and finds out more about his relationship, his sexuality, his identity as he starts to realise how BL should be written, why it should be created, that there can be authentic love stories in BL, he can change what BL represents for people like him. I just think its fantastic to see him with a negative perception on writing BL to finally understanding why it should be written but it should be written in a different way, or changed to fit a different way, instead of letting corruption happen he shouldn’t give in but should try and change. He may be making fun of the fact that BL is known for its weird tropes like NC, but NC is real its just attraction between two people, as long as its not toxified or problematic its just another way people can show feelings, there’s so many het series that have NC scenes but when it comes to BL its seen as a fetish or something negative when really if done right its just two people being like normal couple and giving into their affections for each other. Yeah I think this is amazing to talk about and portray. This is one of my favourite shows right now, and I’m so eager about where we’re going with this. Because I just love the layers, the message and the story.
#lovely writer#lovely writer the series#thai bl#bl series#bl drama#nubsib#cwg#nubsibgene#march#kaoup
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Fourth (and Final) Impressions of Deltarune Chapter 2
Edit: forgot to put a readmore. Forgive me! Spoilers under the cut!
- So I wasn’t even in the palace very long before we got to a series of puzzles that Berdly couldn’t solve, much to his frustration. I figured Berdly was building up to something, either a boss fight or a growth moment, and it was the second one. Turns out when you thrive off of praise, you develop a bit of a dependency... good on him to be self-aware.
- In the flashback sequence with the spelling bee, I noticed the word Noelle got nervous and stuck on - “December”. See, I remember another sequence in the city where we had a character moment with Noelle while pressing a series of switches that spelled out “December.” Clearly the word is significant to her in some way, and probably a negative way considering how it made her freeze up. Either something big happened in December, or something big happened involving a person close to her named December, since I remember her mentioning a “Dess”. I’m looking forward to where this goes.
- The theme in the Queen’s palace slaps, just gotta say that before we go further.
- So backtracking a bit, Lancer has been stone-ified, and Ralsei knows exactly what’s up: the dark fountains create worlds, the dark fountains that was sustaining Lancer’s world is gone, and that’s why Lancer is stone now. He’ll be fine, though, if we can get him back to Ralsei’s castle town and the fountain there. Good of him to offer a solution, except...
- ... hold the fuck up, Ralsei. So you’re telling me that this happened to Lancer because of the loss of his dark fountain - which Ralsei encouraged us to go through - and because of that, the Dark World that Lancer comes from is no more? And what’s more, Lancer now depends on the Castle Town fountain - that is, Ralsei’s fountain - to live. He is now life-bound to your town, Ralsei. He literally cannot leave you and still live, and even if he could, the world he knew is gone. Oh, but it’s ok, because you conveniently have a place for him to live under your roof now.
- And, hold on, who was it who told us we had to go through the Dark Fountain to get home?? I played through the first chapter just recently, that was you, Ralsei. I definitely remember Ralsei saying we had to do that, he gave us that quest in the first place, and I definitely do not remember him mentioning at any point that this would end with Lancer’s world being destroyed. This is absolutely not fine, Ralsei. Oh, and considering how conveniently us getting isekai’d in the library lines up with Ralsei suddenly insisting we had to go and do homework... Ralsei, are you the one isekai-ing us???
- *deep breath* Okay. I’m calling it now. There’s something Ralsei isn’t telling us. I joked earlier about how he wants to bake us into cakes and eat us, but to be clear, I think whatever’s going on here is more complicated than “Ralsei was the bad guy all along”. I get the feeling that Ralsei’s desire for friendship, especially towards Kris, is very genuine. It’s just... this whole situation is reminding me of Asriel’s deal in Undertale. Fitting considering the whole anagram situation... I wonder how Deltarune!Asriel is going to play into this.
- Okay, back to more current stuff in the game. I met up with Roulsx Kaard (idc how to spell it) again and he’s facing me in... the thrashing machine I made in the first chapter. I’m serious. Same color and everything, holy shit.
- behold the majesty
- COMETH FORTH, MY SQUEAKY DUCKY!!!
- ...whut?
- this is excellent. I’m going to die of excellent.
- ohh, now he’s gonna transform... aaaaand...
- oh. ... you know, I wondered when it was gonna catch up to him?
- ice cold, Ralsei. Ice cold.
- “Why don’t we close our eyes and imagine how she’s doing now” Just like last game... is Ralsei actually activating some kind of power when this happens?
- “I wish Dess could see this”? I knew it! I’m on to something!
- taking a moment to acknowledge the shipping energy in the air
- Noelle (paraphrased): “Where are we, anyway?” Me: say “Dark World” Susie: “You’re just having a dream” Again with Susie thwarting player intentions...
- .. a heart-covered Ferris Wheel. Okay, Toby Fox, we’re doing this now!
- Susie has a tail???
- BERDLY WHAT
- And again, we return from a Susie Sequence to Ralsei apparently explaining something to Kris and finishing with a variation of “so that’s why-” before getting cut off by Susie. What are you explaining, Ralsei.
- Checked a calendar in Noelle’s palace room. “Every page is the last month, every day is the 25th”... what??
- another banger of a final battle!! let’s do this!!!
- See, I had a feeling that the Queen didn’t actually want to hurt anybody, but she has a... funny... idea of what constitutes helping. It clicks with her being basically a personified search engine - she literally wants nothing more than to give people what they want and make them happy, but she’s not always great at figuring that out based on what they search. She mentions Noelle’s “sad and lonely searches”... Noelle, honey, are you ok?
- Excuse me, Queen, this Dark World was created *today*? ... And it was created by the Knight... and I already suspect that Ralsei is “isekai-ing” us... Ralsei, are you the knight?
- New important info: “Lightners” are apparently necessary to create Dark Fountains due to their determination, and unlike Undertale, determination isn’t exclusive to humans
- BERDLY!!! BERDLY IS PUTTING THAT REDEMPTION ARC TO GOOD USE!!!
- ...
... this game just became perfect
- Oh hey, White Diamond, what’s up?
- “Oh Damn I Did Not Know That” WELL NOW YOU TELL US, RALSEI!
- Susie doesn’t have a tail? Make up your mind, game!!!
- Phew. Okay. Okay. The actual game part is over. Time to process some thoughts...
- So we’ve seen two Dark Worlds so far, Lancer’s world based on games (cards, checkers, etc) and the Queen’s world based on computers and the internet. The running theme I notice so far is escapism. During her fight, the Queen monologued about a desire to fulfill the desires of people who turn to the internet to dull their pain or look for new distractions. And as for Lancer’s world... well, it’s implied to literally be made of abandoned toys. Both of them things people turn to when they need a little entertainment or escapism to avoid their real-life problems for a bit. And I think it’s been mentioned that Darkners are essentially made to serve Lightners; perhaps helping them cope with the difficulties of life?
Even putting aside the symbolism here, Susie and Kris literally escaped to this world to blow off their classwork, and Susie in particular seems to think the Dark World is better than anything in the Light World. In the final battle, Susie, Noelle, AND Berdly were all just about to open up a Dark Fountain themselves and make themselves better lives in the Dark World and only stopped when Ralsei very firmly informed them about the Roaring. Is this going to come up again? Are these kids going to struggle with the temptation to abandon their real lives to go play eternally in the Dark World?
And isn’t that just a perfect microcosm of the relationship that people have with video games in general - including this one? The perfect opportunity to just forget about your own life for a bit and temporarily live in a different world altogether, one with battles and magic and adventure?
Just what the fuck is going on here, Ralsei? Was I too quick to accuse him of being a secret villain earlier? Is Ralsei just trying to get us to process our shit in the Dark World, and then destroy it so we move on to the Light World with renewed hope in life? .. or is he just trying to make himself the center of our fantasies?
- HOLY SHIT THE QUEEN IS HERE! THE QUEEN IS HERE AND SHE’S GONNA BE A MOM FOR LANCER!!! (or “girldad” as Lancer puts it)
- ...have the Queen and King met? I mean, it would make sense, but they haven’t been mentioned as having a relationship of any kind or even knowing each other. Is this another Toriel/Asgore kind of situation?
- HOLY SHIT I KNEW IT SHE IS HIS MOM
- So I’m just talking to NPCs around Castle Town, right, and I meet up with Seam again. He just told me to be careful not to stay in there too late and that I don’t want to get caught when the sun goes down... DAFUQ YOU MEAN, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN???
- This is wonderful, I’m now witnessing Toriel and Sans having a joke-off in person.
- (Sees Kris going in to wash their hands) (Hears Toriel say “they do that sometimes”) ...so Kris has like... a condition? The heart-ripping thing has happened before?
- (Sees last thing before credits) ...okay then!!! I think that’s all the things I can get into one post, haha! Forgot to mention some things, but I can only type so much!!! Can’t wait to talk about this later, haha!!! (holy shit)
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The Handler is really a fascinating character to me as is her dynamic with Five and how alike they are. Get ready because I’m gonna go on a tangent about them.
I think it goes without saying that in many ways The Handler and Five are very similar people. They’re both pragmatic, goal orientated, cold, and quite simply, both willing to do absolutely anything needed to achieve what they want despite the repercussions others might face at their expense. They both lack a significant level of humanity, something that clearly is a requirement to be able to do the work they do/did at the Commission. They are constantly at a battle of wits and attempting to one up the other, both proving to be a formidable foil to the other consistently throughout the show.
Where things start to contrast between the two is how they grew to be the people they are now. With Five, well, we know why he is the way he is. Five isn’t simply just a product of his childhood. Yes, he still retains a good level of characteristics from his youth into adulthood (arrogant, brash, sees himself as better than everyone else) but Five ultimately was sculpted into the man he is today due to his time subjected to the apocalypse and then shortly after, the Commission.
The apocalypse did a number on Five. It isolated him for over four decades. It tore layer after layer of humanity away from him until he was left so distanced from other people that segueing into becoming an assassin was like second nature. It forced him to become entirely dependent on himself for survival in every aspect of the word. Physically, of course, he had to take care of all his basic survival needs; food, water, shelter, first aid, etc. Mentally and emotionally? He created a whole ‘nother person in the form of a mannequin to help him retain any semblance of either of those things. It damaged Five so deeply that afterwards he was left almost entirely incapable of empathy (key word, almost), unable to ask others for help/acknowledge he needs help, and able to see assassination as a reasonable means to justify an end.
Five was left broken by the apocalypse. He is a product of it. And after going through that traumatic ordeal, he was offered a way out but only through accepting employment at the organization that sat by and allowed his suffering to go on for decades. (I’d love to go into the body modifications/DNA manipulation but that isn’t canon compliant for the show anyway (yet) so I won’t). He was transformed into the perfect killing machine. He took the lives of anyone and everyone who stood out of line by the Commission’s standards. Many who I’m sure weren’t actually bad people (ex, Lila’s parents), but because they were deemed irregularities in the timeline (or they were someone who The Handler could benefit from their death, ex Lila’s parents), they had to go. One doesn’t complete a task like that regularly without lacking a level of morality or connection to fellow humankind.
But The Handler? We don’t really know her back story at all, so perhaps this is going out on a limb here, but I can at the very least say that she did not go through what Five did. There is really no one in the series whose backstory can equate to Five’s. And while I am not entirely excusing Five for being a shitty person sometimes, he and The Handler are very different in the fact that while he was sculpted into one, I think The Handler was just born an awful, monstrous human being. Actually worse than Five. And you know why?
The Handler isn’t even capable of love or empathy or putting anyone else before herself. We don’t see this at all, not even once. The Handler does things strictly for the benefit of herself and no one else. Even when her own self proclaimed daughter asks her if she ever loved her, The Handler doesn’t answer and then proceeds to murder her. Que sera, sera. (Whatever will be, will be). No remorse. No regret. Nothing.
Five, for all of his faults and flaws and uh, murder, still remains more connected to humanity than The Handler. Despite everything he has experienced, everything he has lost, he still has an inkling of heart that’s still beating for others left in him. Because Five still does love and care for people - his entire life purpose is to keep those people, his family, safe and alive, even at the expense of his own happiness and life. Five puts his family before himself every episode, every damn step of the way. He survives 40+ years alone and then works as an assassin for an unspoken measurement of time, all to save his family.
The Handler throws up the front of being a people person and charming. And she does it really damn well. But in reality she is not morally gray. She doesn’t do some good things and some awful things. She is just all around horrible. She employs Five, again, to work for the organization that tore so much away from him. She dangles the idea of a new body before him, gives him a suit with the claim, “clothing make the man, Five,” as if he isn’t something to be taken seriously in his current physical state, as if he still isn’t the man who survived a lifetime in the end of the world and becoming an assassin. She claims that Five owes her because she ‘saved him from a lifetime of being alone’, which in actuality she watched and allowed him to suffer exactly just that. (I have another meta on here about that scene in particular, which you can read HERE). She tricks Five into murdering the board so she can assume power, all under the guise of claiming to help him get his family back to 2019, only to then use him as a scapegoat in their assassination. She literally kills him (almost) and all of his siblings. She writes the kill order on Lila’s parents, lets Five kill them, and then kidnaps Lila all for her own benefit. She continuously lies to her, ultimately betrays her, and kills her too. She sees zero wrongness in kidnapping a disabled boy from his mother so she can transform him into her weapon just like she did Lila. There isn’t a single instance in the entirety of the show where The Handler shows even an ounce of regret, only shock and anger when things don’t go her way. She is power hungry, merciless, and quite possibly even deranged with how unemotive she is towards other human beings.
And one more thing I want to touch on with The Handler that is a bit of a controversial topic in the show - her handsey-ness with Five. Her unnecessary touching and closeness. I am a firm non believer of the idea many have that her and Five used to be involved romantically or physically in any way. I think it’s quite a reach to imagine Five trusting her whatsoever at any point during their time knowing one another. Five is observant as hell and smart - I just can’t see him ever having an ounce of trust in her, especially with again, how she blatantly admits to him when they first meet that the Commission has been watching him for some time. So no, I don’t think her creepy touches with him have anything to do with a former fling (even if Kate or Aidan play into it that way or claim they might have in the past - sorry, headcanon not accepted lol).
I view her behavior as demeaning. I see it as her being condescending towards him, like, “Oh, see how you betrayed me and now look at how you fucked up. Small and weak and nothing to be taken seriously.” She treats him like the tiny child he has physically become and she does it to make him feel inferior and like he has no control of the situation he is in or his life. It’s a slap in the face, a reminder of what he has done to himself because he left the Commission, and she does it because she knows how much it bothers him to be perceived that way. Everything she does and says around Five, she does to make him feel small.
All in all, I really do love The Handler. Do I love that she played a larger role in season 2 than Carmichael? Absolutely not. I don’t love what her character did for the writing or the plot of the show and how it backburnered a lot of things. I think they missed out greatly on a character who was already a fascinating antagonist to Five (Carmichael). However, Kate Walsh is an absolute delight to watch on screen. Her and Aidan have great chemistry and play off one another very well and their scenes are certainly some of my most favorite to watch. I think The Handler is an amazing villain and keeping her as a female as opposed to a male Jon Hamm esque actor as they originally were intending to do was a great idea IMO. I love a female bad ass, even if she is a villain. I’m sad we won’t see more of her purely because she is so fun to watch (and her wardrobe is utter goals) but I’m definitely ready to move on to the next set of antagonists for our favorite dysfunctional family.
#the handler#five hargreeves#number five#tua#the umbrella academy#meta#kate walsh is still a fuckin queen
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Since you wrote about Yandere Villians with Y/N having a cute fairy quirk, how about a Yandere Hero having a Y/N with a monstrous quirk? SO...you pick the hero! Pick any male hero who you believe can handle Y/N. You do such amazing writing.
Y/N have to wear a face mask to hide the muzzle she wears going outside. Y/N have a quirk where she goes on a frenzy. Her eyes turn red, her veins pop out of her skin, she starts growling and trying to bite anyone near by. A monster who craves to rip flesh and bones. Y/N can turn on her quirk if she feels so much anger or fear. Y/N doesn't want to hurt anyone. She wants to live a quiet and alone life.
Wolf
Pairing: Best Jeanist x f!reader
Warnings: light yandere content, power abuse, threats
Thank you so much for the compliment, dear anon! I went soft with the monster idea that I just made the reader into a werewolf...hope it is still good! I was torn between Kiri and Best Jeanist! I really like Best Jeanist, I wish he got some more screen time ... Maybe I’ll do another one for the shark boy later.
Some groundwork:
When your quirk manifested at four years old, you were not surprised: you come from a family of Mutant quirks, after all.
Your quirk, wolf, means you can transform into a wolf anytime. The longevity is unknown to you since you barely use it. Even in your normal human form, you still have wolf ears and tail. You also have a sensitive nose, just like canines. You (hair color) fluffy fur is the same color as your hair. In acient times, before quirks become a thing, you would be seen as a werewolf.
While transformed, it is hard to supress the wolf’s wild instincts, the desire to hunt, to kill and consume raw meat (extremely difficult if you are hungry). You hate it, being like a beast instead of human. You had outbursts in the past that nearly killed one of your friends. There fore you stay in human at all times.
So most of the time, you just kept a muzzle near you, just in case you would lose yourself to the beast again.
You always feel this...strange sense of difference between you and normal people, so all of your friends have mutant quirks. You kept your social circle small, only letting those who are deemed trustworthy close to you (you told them to run if they see any signs of you getting wild)
You always had a soft spot for animals, therefore you decided to work in a pet shop. Dogs especially loves you, maybe because your canine quirk. Cats not so much, as they had left quite a few marks on you when you just started.
Now you are the assistant manager, the salary is decent, so you do not look for anything more. You never thought of having a romantic relationship because you do not trust yourself: you do not want to hurt the person you love. So even if you had crushes you just kept those feelings hidden until they went away.
Best Jeanist/Tsunagu Hakamada
Did you know his favorite animal is wolf? Therefore he is a furry
Being the No.4 pro hero means taking on lots of stress, so Tsunagu decides to have an animal friend at home who he can talk to freely, without worrying leaking information (I mean how can animals pass on information).
He went into the nearest pet shop, hoping to find a furry companion, preferably dogs.
What he did not expect is to find you there, with those literal puppy eyes and fluffy ears sticking out of your hair, tending to the puppies.
Tsunagu met people with similar quirks before, and he finds them aesthetically pleasing. But seeing you with a litter of adorable puppies, laughing and petting them? He felt like his heart just melted.
“Hello sir. How may I help you today?” You put on your usual smile. Tsunagu is wearing his civilian clothes, so he is just another customer to you. A fashionable one, though. You took notice at his stylish blonde hair.
Tsunagu would ask you about all the options for adopting a puppy. However he is only half-listening: he is drawn to how your ears twitch towards any abnormal sounds...
“Oh, my ears? Sorry if they are distracting. It’s part of my quirk.”
Would get you to talk to him as much as possible, with lots of polite questions.
When you bid him good day as he walks out the door, holding a poodle puppy with its supplies, Tsunagu is determined to see you more.
You are warm, like a ray of sunlight in this stormy world. Having worked as a pro hero for so long, dealing with many negative things so often, make him attracted to positive people. Those furry wolf ears and tail only added to his admiration.
Whenever Best Jeanist is not needed at his agency, Tsunagu Hakamada would find excuses to drop by your shop. Whether it be buying new accessories for his puppy or simply need some advice on her, he would find a way to talk to you, to hear your voice.
Until he become acquainted with you enough, Tsunagu finally asked for you name.
“I’m (y/n), and you, sir?” “Tsunagu. Tusnagu Hakamada.”
Never have once you associated your friendly customer with the No.4 Pro hero of Japan. Tsunagu is charismatic and talkative (at least to you), never putting on airs like Endeavor. Since he wears a mask, the public does not have a good idea what he looks like.
Then you noticed those small gestures, how Tsunagu’s hands would “unintentionally” brush against yours when you hand over his paid items, how his body would lean in slightly towards you whenever you are talking. Or how his lips would curl upwards whenever your tails wags with excitement. You also seen him way more frequently compare to average customers.
“He got a crush on you.” One of you co workers, teases after Tsunagu left the store.
“No he doesn’t.” You blush, although considering her hypothesis.
You seen some of his clothes in fashion magazines, one of them costs more then your monthly salary. Tsunagu is clearly a rich man, a fashion designer perhaps.
“Ms.(y/n), sorry if this sounds intrusive, but do you have a lover?”
That was...unexpected. “No, I do not. Why did you ask, Mr. Hakamata?”
That saves him trouble. Best Jeanist has got this flawless reputation for years, he prefers not to taint it. But if he must, Tsunagu would not hesitate. You belong with him, and him only. “Well, it’s possible such a beautiful lady like you already has a significant other.”
“Mr. Hakamata...I-” You were not sure to blush or to smile. Now it is clear to you: This blonde is interested in you. However you do not know what to respond.
“Call me Tsunagu, please.”
The next day you would find a lily bouquet wrapped in denim on the store counter?! Who use that as a bouquet wrapper? Flatter as you are, you still find this unsettling. He did not show up for the rest of the day, which gives you time to think.
Tsunagu is handsome and kind. He seems like a perfect choice, but you wonder what he would say if he saw you as a bloodthirsty wolf, feral and hungry for killing.
You decide to turn him down, not wanting to give him false hope.
Some minor villain is causing trouble in the streets when you were walking home. You were just going to sprint away at first, but in the corner of your eye you saw a mother with her toddler daughter being corner by the villain. The way the mother tries to protect her child triggered something in you. You have to do something!
“Grr!!!” Suddenly a piece of flesh is ripped off the villain’s leg. The villain screams in pain, but you dodged every last one of his attacks while leaving deep bite marks on him. Soon the sidewalk is stained crimson with blood. You know the two had already gotten away, you should stop now. But the wolf instincts got the better of you. You crave blood, lots of it. The growing pool under you is not enough.
You heard police sirens, someone yelling for you to stop, but the wolf is not willing to. It seems it would not be satiated unless this villain dies a brutal death.
Streams of fibers wrapped around you, restraining you until you cannot move anymore.
When you regained consciousness, you were in a clean jail cell, still in your wolf form. You assumed that you are being confined in a hero agency since you just lost control.
The door cracked. It is Tsunagu! What is he doing here? And why is he wearing a jean mask?
Then you saw the rest of his outfit. Demin jeans suit from head to toe, the...the No.4?
He is Best Jeanist? What is happening now?
Tsunagu wanted to take things slow, he wanted to date you normally, letting you know everything about him, but this seems like too good of an oppertunity to pass up.
“(y/n), can you understand me?” He crouches down with a concerned look on his face.
You nod. You are not able to speak human languages while in wolf form, another draw back.
“Do your clothes come back when you transform? Or do you need some clothes?”
You left your clothes behind a dumpster before, so you just shook your head. If you were to transform now, it could be quite embarrassing.
Handing you a denim dress, Best Jeanist leaves to give you some privacy to change.
After you are dressed and back in human form, he took you to his office.
“I know you must have lots of question right now, but please allow me to explain somethings first.”
“The villain is in bad shape. You did quite a bit damage on him. His blood loss is immense; he is still in the ICU as we speak.”
Why don’t you just let him die, he’s a threat to society anyway. You ask yourself, silently.
“However, while he is a villain, you still hurt him too much. And it’s not even self-defence. You are not a hero, it’s illegal.”
You tense up. Would you face charges for this? For trying to protect other people.
“Would I go to Tartarus? For how long?”
“Oh, come now. As long as I have any say , I won’t allow that to happen.” Your eyes lit up, wanting to thank him.
“You can be my wife instead. Stay with me, and no charges would be pressed.”
What?
You know he likes you, but just asking to become his wife like that? Without dating first.
“Tsunagu, I... you...this...” He finds your stutters cute, as he traces his fingers along the edge of your wolf ears. Best Jeanist had been wanting to do that for so long, he worked so hard to restrain himself.
“Your choice. Either face court charges, or you can be with me, all is well.”
Tsunagu Hakamada is confident about his chances. An innocent, adorable civilian like you will not last long even in the most outer cells of Tartarus.
Tears slides down your chin as you give a reclutant reply. “I’ll...be with you.”
Who could have thought Tsunagu would do such a thing? He is always so nice and friendly. But now here he is, threatening you with this crime?
“Perfect.” Snapping a denim collar around your neck, he lifts your chin, forcing you to look up to him. “I can’t wait to get you home; you would be such a lovely little wolf. My little wolf.”
“Should you ever try to leave me, I’m sure Tartarus is always avaliable.”
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I'd love to hear some of your recommendations! And I'm good without any content warnings, but since you're posting this for all your followers to see probably best to add them
Alright sure! I’ll be general then and since you’re just starting out this will sort of be bringing up a lot of really popular ones, the really good ones where the general consensus is “you gotta see this!”, but I’ll also try to give ones from different genres so you have a variety of things to pick from, so this isn’t really a list of personal favorites but I’ll throw in a couple of those too lol, but generally think of this as a handy beginners guide with just a little personal bias.
I wrote a lot so I'm gonna put them under the cut here.
Fullmetal Alchemist
Fullmetal Alchemist is a franchise that’s considered a must-watch, it takes place in a world where alchemy is a borderline magical power, but is considered scientific in-universe and follows scientific laws, namely the law of equivalent exchange. Something can’t be made from nothing, to gain something of equal value must be lost. The story follows the story of two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, who at the ages of 10 and 11 committed alchemy’s one and only unforgivable sin, human transmutation, in an attempt to bring their mother back to life. As a result, one brother lost his arm and leg and the other lost his entire body, leaving his soul bound to a suit of armor. However the brothers are resolute to regain their original bodies, and the older brother, Edward, joins the State Alchemists, a branch of the military, to try to gain access to research materials to help them achieve their goal. But was that really such a good idea?
Fullmetal Alchemist can be a bit confusing to get into due to the fact that there are two series: Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009). The latter is a reboot with a different story that follows the original manga. They both have the same beginning, but diverge paths and tell very different stories. My recommendation for how to watch this show is: Watch 2003 first, and Brotherhood second. Everyone has a different opinion about which is better, but everyone agrees that 2003 has better backstory but a contrived ending, and Brotherhood has a rushed beginning (Because it works off the assumption that you’ve seen 2003) with a great and fulfilling ending. If you can’t do both I say just watch Brotherhood because it will leave you more satisfied and you don’t have to watch 03 to get into it.
For both series the biggest trigger warnings are: Parental death, child death, pet death, war, genocide, dismemberment, religious themes, and miscarriage. For brotherhood specifically: on-screen suicide, and for 2003 specifically: rape (not on-screen) and pregnancy from it. The 2003 series is also a lot darker than Brotherhood which has a more optimistic tone, so that’s worth noting too.
Soul Eater
A show I think is incredibly fun, and a good one for an October watch if you wanna save it. It takes place in a world where certain people have the ability to transform into weapons, and they team up with other people who become their meisters. The characters often travel around, but the main setting is Death City, a fictional city in Nevada based off of Las Vegas but with a huge Halloweentown vibe, and a school right at the top of it called the Death Weapon Meister Academy (DWMA) where a bunch of kids that turn into weapons learn how to hunt down witches and kishins (Beings that consume human souls). The school, of course, is run by the grim reaper, Lord Death himself.
Our main characters for the series are a group of 7 students. Our protagonist Maka Albarn and her weapon partner Soul “Eater” Evans, a scythe. A loud mouth assassin named Black✰Star and his weapon partner Tsubaki, who has many weapon forms. And the son of the grim reaper, Death The Kid, and his two weapon partners Liz and Patty Thompson, who are twin pistols. There are also a bunch of really lively colorful background characters and antagonists, and the cast of the show being as insane as it is really makes it, on top of the great atmosphere and of course the plot, which just builds more and more as the series progresses. Also Crona is there and we all love Crona.
Trigger warnings for this show include: Child abuse (Mental and physical), manipulation, snakes and spiders (The motifs of two major villains), some very surreal moments that can verge on unreality. Also, in the dub and most subs: misgendering of a canonically trans character. Crona is a character who is non-binary, but the dub and subs use gendered pronouns for them due to general ignorance about neutral pronouns in 2008, though this isn’t the fault of the original series and falls on the translators hands.
Also it’s important to note: that the first 3 episodes are prologues and they take themselves less seriously, there’s more fanservice in them than there is in the rest of the series (Except for Blair she stays the fanservice character :pensive:)
Zombieland Saga
Idol anime is really prevalent as a genre, the most popular being Love Live, but my personal favorite is Zombieland Saga. It’s an idol anime, but it’s also a comedy about zombie girls who become idols. It sounds ridiculous but there’s an insane amount of heart in it regardless, it wasn’t a show I expected to get emotional at but I did! It also made me laugh a lot too. The series itself can serve as a bit of a subversion on what idols are, not just because they’re literally zombies, but because of who the characters are.
Sakura Minamoto is a character who starts off as a more typical idol, a peppy pure girl, as the series continues her struggle with depression gets highlighted. Saki Nikaido serves as her initial foil, a delinquent girl with a criminal record who subvers the idea of pure perfect idols. Ai Mizuno, a former idol who has since undergone severe trauma (The way she died). Junko Konno who has ideals that seem very different on what idols “should” be due to the time period she died. Lily Hoshikawa, an explicitly transgender idol. Yugiri nolastname, a former high ranking courtesan, subvering the pure image of an idol by being a sex worker. And Tae Yamada, a completely nonverbal idol who’s still treated with the same amount of importance as the rest of the team. The premise here really is just that these girls don’t fit the incredibly rigid mold of what idols should be and yet they still all deserve love and they gain a fanbase by being their earnest selves.
Trigger warnings for this series aren’t incredibly severe but since they’re zombies there’s still talks about death and they way they died (Including motorcycle/car accidents, plane crashes, getting struck by lightning, and a heart attack), there’s also comedic dismemberment, as in their arms just sort of pop on and off and stuff like that. The most notable thing is the deadnaming of Lily, the trans idol, by her father, but it doesn’t appear to be malicious in any way.
Note: this series is in the middle of it’s second season right now, if you want to wait until it’s over it should be 12 episodes long and just aired it’s 3rd, so about 9 more weeks.
Death Note
This is also absolutely another series that gets recommended to people right off the bat, and for good reason, this show is an intricate game of chess between a serial killer and a detective trying to catch him, and it’s incredibly easy to get super invested in the suspense of what happens next. The story begins when a shinigami, a god of death, drops his “Death Note” into the human world out of pure boredom. A Death Note is simply a notebook where if you write someone's name in it… They die! And who better to pick up such a powerful object than Light Yagami, a prodigy praised for his genius and academy accomplishments as well as his charm and popularity, and with a very strong but juvenile black-and-white sense of justice, likely due to being raised by a cop.
So naturally Light begins his power trip as soon as he finds the notebook, he intends to “fix” the world by cleansing it of all the bad people, but truly he intends to become the world’s new god. Or the “God of the new world” as he puts it. But there’s one thing standing in his way, a detective resolute on catching him with the codename L. The series entire crux is a game of cat and mouse between these two, as they try to outsmart each other and the murders continue, Light loses more and more of his humanity, L becomes more resolute on catching him. There are more twists and turns than a cheetah race, and it’s honestly pretty addictive to see what happens next.
Trigger warnings here obviously include a lot of death and murder, including suicide, but in some cases it’s a forced suicide at Light’s hands. Also abuse, as Light loses his humanity he isn’t above manipulating and discarding people who love him. And one instance of near-rape on screen fairly early on, but the purpitrator dies before it happens and the victim escapes.
K-On!
Slice-of-life is an incredibly popular genre, and K-On! is the quintessential example of it. It’s a series that not everyone will like, because not a lot truly happens, and it can be overly saccharine or “moe” for a lot of people, and that’s fine. But I personally think that despite not a lot happening, the story has genuine substance, more than you may gather at first glance. It’s true that not much in the way of big plot really happens, it’s mostly life events, that’s why it's a slice-of-life. But it’s not about nothing. The real theme of the show is the fleeting nature of youth. It’s about how important the friendships you form at that time are, how they’ll stick with you for a lifetime, and how everything comes to an end. It’s sweetness even becomes a little bittersweet because you knew their after school tea time would end come graduation, and as they realize this it breaks their hearts a little, but they continue on, because they’re still After School Tea Time!
The series itself is simply about 5 girls in a band, Yui Hirasawa on lead guitar, Mio Akiyama on the bass, Ritsu Tainaka on the Drums, Tsumugi Kotobuki on the Keyboard, and Azusa Nakano on Rhythm Guitar (Who shows up later). They’re in a club at school called the light music club where they waste a lot of their time just drinking tea and eating cake, but they’re having fun and that’s what counts! The series has a lot of really great direction and expressive animation despite the fact that a lot of it is just sitting around and talking, it’s incredibly visually interesting so you don’t get bored.
I honestly don’t think there are any big trigger warnings I can give for this series, maybe that Sawa-chan can be a little too forceful when she wants to dress up the girls in cute outfits sometimes but it’s usually not presented as too creepy especially after season 1 where they tone it down due to straying from the manga.
Mob Psycho 100
This series is an absolute love letter to the art of animation as a whole, the artstyle itself may not seem like much to look at but the animation is some of the most expressive, fluid, creative, and vibrant out there right now, it’s the type of series that you can tell was made with a real passion for its medium and it’s story. It’s protagonist is Shigeo Kageyama, nicknamed “Mob”, a term that literally means “Background character”. Mob is a middle school kid and an incredibly powerful psychic, like, insanely overpowered, but he’s currently working part time for a shady conman, Reigen Arataka. Though it may seem as if Reigen is just using Mob for his powers, their bond is actually a very sweet one and you can tell they care for each other, it’s a very important one at the heart of the series.
The core themes of the series itself are what really make it shine, it’s message is stated as clearly as possible in the opening songs, “your life is your own” and “if everyone is not special, maybe you can be what you want to be”. Put simply, you’re the protagonist of your own life, but the other important message of the series is that all the supposed background characters are just as important. The friends you make, the connections you have with other people and the way they impact you, they’re what make you strong. No one is born special, everyone is just a normal person, and everyone deserves kindness. It’s a series that I recommend incredibly strongly for just how powerfully it portrays this message.
Trigger warnings for this series include kidnapping, possession, a scene with a “man in a dress” joke, and a racist design for a background character. Also (spoilers) a scene where it seems like a child was murdered and a scene where it seems like Mob’s entire family was murdered.
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War!
Hey, speaking of amazing animation, Kaguya-Sama is a romantic comedy series centered around the premise of two incredibly arrogant people falling in love. Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane are the vice president and president of the student council at the prestigious Shuchi'in Academy, they eventually develop feelings for each other but they’re both simultaneously too proud and too insecure to admit it, so the real crux of the series is the 3D chess they play with each other to try and get the other to confess first. Along with the scatterbrained secretary, Chika Fujiawara, the treasurer in desperate need of Prozac Yu Ishigami, the cast is incredibly fun and they all fit into the comedy great. Every single little game of “do you like me?” that they play is written like the most intense thing in the world, the insane animation absolutely adds to it, making it seem almost like a psychological thriller, the comedy comes from the absurdity of just how much they hyperbolize it.
It’s not pure comedy though, due to a lot of the series being set up around mindgames, the characters are actually fairly psychologically complex with a lot of genuine development stemming from their childhood to explain why they are the way they are. The series may be about mindgames, but the actual narrative frames them as a juvenile way to go about relationships, a way to try to protect yourself from getting hurt because you’re afraid to trust. The entire core theme is that communication in relationships of any kind is the most important thing and you cant replace it with clever little tricks, so the main pair only ever make actual progress when they’re actually upfront with each other. Even if it’s scary to be that vulnerable with someone, especially if you’ve been hurt in the past like they have, the relationships you build off of mutual trust and openness will be worth the risk, and they can help heal you. And one of the things I love about the series is that this doesn’t just apply to the main pair, but it places equal emphasis on the importance of friendship. All the characters' relationships with each other are unique and interesting and they all develop the same way, with trust and openness, and they become better because of each other.
Despite being generally a comedy, a lot of the characters deal with some really heavy things too so trigger warning for: child abuse (not on-screen), child abandonment (again not on screen), anxiety and panic attacks, suicidal ideation- initionally played off as a joke but it becomes very obvious the character in question is legitimately suicidal and in the manga he nearly attempts it but is stopped, this plotpoint will most likely be in the anime at some point as it’s also not complete.
Your Lie In April
Alright I gave you a funny show now I’m going to make you cry. In fact it’s hard for me to type this synopsis because I’m an absolute crybaby and thinking about this show gets me, but I think it’s absolutely worth checking out because it’s a very beautiful sadness. Your Lie In April is a series that follows the stress and trauma young musical prodigies face in their lives, as well as the people around them, and it’s a series about the beauty of music and art, and just how much it affects people. The music in the show is absolutely gorgeous, the way that they convey emotion through it is so beautiful and intricate that it just sticks with you. You feel the music, and you understand.
I’m actually going to give the trigger warnings right now instead of at the end because in order to explain the plot I’ll have to talk about them so tw for: Child abuse (phsyical and mental, on-screen), terminal illness, death, in depth depictions of PTSD, vomiting, panic attacks, the works.
The series follows Kousei Arima, a formal piano prodigy who hasn’t performed since the death of his mother two years ago. Kousei's mother was terminally ill, but she was also incredibly abusive. Kousei has incredibly complex feelings about his mother because of this. The trauma she instilled in him is severe, but because he was a child, he still is a child, and he loved his mom a lot, as any child would, and he didn’t want her to die and he blames himself for not being good enough. He wanted to make her happy, and the only way he knew how to do that was to play the piano. So he played and played and practiced until he was perfect, they called him the human metronome. But he would still get severely punished for being anything less than perfect. He had lost all the passion he once had, and after his mother died it was the final nail in the coffin, his trauma manifests now in a way that makes him unable to play. But all that changes one day in April when he meets a violinist named Kaori Miyazono, a girl full of life and passion for music, she’s someone who according to Kousei “Exists in springtime.” and she’s going to help him play again and refined that love for music whether he wants to or not! Teen drama happens of course, but there are much bigger roadblocks ahead.
Assassination Classroom
This series is thankfully generally more lighthearted… Most of the time at least. The premise is pretty simple, but incredibly ridiculous. An incredibly powerful octopus-like creature is the teacher of a classroom of middle school students tasked with the assignment of assassinating him in order to save the world. The series starts off very slice-of-life as it focuses on introducing the very large cast of characters inside of Class E, also known as the “end class”, but it quickly gains traction and gets a lot more intense as time goes on.
The octopus creature in question, Korosensei, is actually a very kind and genuinely good teacher to all his students. The real crux of the series is that it’s sort of a critique on the educational system, the students in the end class are there because they’ve been ostracized from the rest of the campus, far away in the mountains, to be made examples of. Why? Because they’re students that are considered worthless, instead of getting help they’re only pushed back further down in the system and left to struggle within it fruitlessly. They’re given up on, despite being children with so much potential, because they don’t fit a very rigid mold. That’s what Korosensei wants to help them with, and they’re able to grow as people together. As the series progresses you feel such a great sense of unity for the class, they’re like a family, they stick together and it’s very heartwarming. And watching them work as a team of assassins is so fun!
However the series can get heavy at times too, it doesn’t stray from heavier subject matter at all and i found myself incredibly shocked by it a few times, so trigger warning for: Child abuse (on-screen and off), both at the hands of a parent and a teacher and in one case a parent who is also the principal, misgendering of a character, sometimes as a “joke” but other times played dead serious at the hands of his mother, child death- specifically suicide, a successful one as well as 3 assassination attempts that doubled as suicide attempts by the main 3 characters (weird parallel they all got there huh)
Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Honestly this is a series that is good to go in blind for if you need to tws, it’s a deconstruction of the magical girl genre, but if you don’t want to know more than that you can stop reading here. If you want to know more, it’s a series that starts off very light-hearted and in tune with typical magical girl conventions at first, however by episode 3 it’s made painfully clear that these girls are being led to sign up into something they shouldn’t. It’s heavy, though not incredibly so, but it’s also a lot to explain in a summary. Madoka magica is… It’s Faust with magical girls.
I’ll explain as much as I can without giving too much away. The story begins when Madoka Kaname and her friend Sayaka Miki encounter a creature who calls itself Kyubey, who says it can grant a wish of theirs and in exchange they have to become magical girls and fight witches. Both the girls are hesitant, but Sayaka wants to wish for her childhood friend’s injuries to be cured so he can play violin again, while Madoka is content as she is and can’t think of a wish. Luckily they have a mentor, a magical girl named Mami Tomoe who helps introduce them to everything. However something is stopping Madoka from becoming a magical girl, a mysterious new student who is also one herself, Homura Akemi, is resolute on keeping Madoka from becoming a magical girl by all means possible, for reasons Madoka doesn’t understand. Things get even more complicated when a rival magical girl shows up, Kyoko Sakura, who becomes Sayaka’s new rival. As things get more heated between those two they discover a terrible secret about the nature of magical girls, and what they truly signed up for.
Spoilers ahead but trigger warning for: Child death, parental death (backstory only), decapitation (off-screen), needles, incredibly surreal imagery inside the witch’s labyrinths that may feel unreal, mind control, suicide, depression and despair expressed by young characters. Also don't bother with Magia Record
The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K.
Alright something lighthearted now, there are a lot of comedy anime I enjoy, a lot of series that have made me laugh, but none has made me bust a gut like this series has, it’s absolutely hilarious. It follows the life of a boy named Saiki Kusuo who has psychic powers. His powers are incredibly overpowered, and he absolutely hates them, in his eyes they cause him nothing but trouble. There’s not much in the way of a plot to describe, because there isn’t any, the series is comprised of 5 minute segments surrounding Saiki and an incredibly vast and colorful cast of characters that are just all completely insane, many serve as parodies as types of anime tropes because the series as a whole is very self aware and doesn’t shy from breaking the fourth wall a lot, but the characters surrounding Saiki are what make his life… Disastrous.
Like I said there’s not really a plot to describe but like FMA people may get confused with this one, there are 3 seasons but one of them is titled “The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K: Reawakened” as is a continuation of the first two with just 6 episodes in it. Also for some reason only the second season isn’t dubbed so if you’re planning on watching it that way you’d have to either stop or switch to subs for season 2
The only major tw I can give here is an ongoing joke about a character being into his sister, he’s treated as disgusting for it of course because he’s a parody of that trope but that doesn’t make it any less uncomfortable, luckily he doesn’t show up much.
Little Witch Academia
Little Witch Academia is a series I personally just adore, it takes place in a world where witches are common and well-known among the people, but the era of witches is over and magic is dying out. However that doesn’t mean passion of magic doesn’t exist, the protagonist is a young girl named Atsuko Kagari, or Akko for short. She’s resolute on being just like her icon, a witch known as Shiny Chariot, as she attends the same magic school: Luna Nova! Unfortunately Akko isn’t exactly a magical prodigy, in fact she can’t even fly a broom, but that’s not gonna stop her, nothing will. Just like Chariot said, believing in yourself is your magic.
Once at school Akko gets into all types of crazy shenanigans with her with her two roommates, Lotte Yanson and Sucy Manbavaran, and occasionally her rival, Diana Cavendish. Akko still struggles a lot in school, in fact her inability with magic is pretty explicitly handled as a metaphor for a learning disability, and though this makes it harder for her she’s still resolute. Though the series is generally episodic, a concrete plot starts to form by the second core. Along with the help of her guidance counselor, Professor Ursula, Akko learns that she needs to unlock 7 “words” to bring magic back to the world, each time she learns a new one it comes with an important lesson to her and ultimately relates back to each of the core themes of the series
The series is pretty lighthearted so the biggest trigger warning I can give is one for bullying, two characters in particular tend to target Akko for not being a good witch and it can really sting to watch. Other than that none come to mind
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Psycho Analysis: Lucifer/Satan
(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)
Please allow me to introduce this villain. He’s a man of wealth and taste...
Satan, or Lucifer, or whatever of the hundreds of names across multiple religions, folk tales, urban legends, movies, books, songs, video games, and more that you choose to call him, is without a doubt the biggest bad of them all. He is not just a villain; he is the villain, the bad guy your other bad guys answer to, the lord of Hell. If there’s a bad deed, he’s done it, if there’s a problem, he’s behind it. There’s nothing beneath him, and that’s not just because he’s at the very bottom of Hell. He is the root cause of all the misery in the entire world.
And if we’re talking about Satan, we gotta talk about Lucifer too. They weren’t always supposed to be one and the same, but over centuries of artistic depictions and reimaginings they’ve been conflated into one being, a being that is a lot more layered and interesting than just a simple adversary for the good to overcome when handled properly.
Motivation/Goals: Look, it’s Satan. His main goal is to be as evil as possible, do bad things, cause mischief and mayhem. Rarely does anything good come from Satan being around. If he is one and the same as Lucifer, expect there to be some sort of plot about him rebelling against God, as according to modern interpretations Lucifer fought against God in battle and was then cast out, falling from grace like lightning. When the Lucifer persona is front and center, raging against the heavens tends to be a big part of his schemes, but when the big red devil persona is out and about, expect temptations to sin, birthing the Antichrist, or tempting people to sell their souls.
Performance: Satan has been portrayed by far too many people over the years to even consider keeping count of, though some notable performances of the character or at least characters who are clearly meant to be Satan include the nuanced anti-villain take of the character Viggo Mortensen portrayed in The Prophecy; the sympathetic homosexual man portrayed by Trey Parker in South Park and its film; the hard-rocking badass Dave Grohl portrayed in Tencaious D’s movie; Robin Hughes as a sneaky, double-crossing bastard in “The Howling Man” episode of The Twilight Zone; the big red devil from Legend known as Darkness, played by Tim Curry; the shapeshifting angel named Satan from The Adventures of Mark Train who will make you crap your pants; and while not portrayed by anyone due to being entirely voiceless, Chernabog from Disney’s Fantasia is definitely noteworthy in regards to cinematic depictions of the devil.
Final Thoughts & Score: Satan is a villain whose sheer scope dwarfs almost every other villain in history. It’s not even remotely close, either; Satan pops up in stories all around the world, is the greater-scope villain of most varieties of three major religions, and his very name is shorthand for “really, really evil.” Every other villain I have ever discussed and reviewed wishes they could be a byword for being bad to the bone. Even Dracula, one of the single most important villains in fiction, looks puny in comparison to Satans villainous accomplishments.
Satan in old religious texts tended to be an utterly horrifying force of nature, until Medieval times began portray him as a dopey demon trying to tempt the faithful (and failing). Folklore and media have gone back and forth, portraying both in equal measure – you have the desperate, fiddle-playing devil from “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and the unseen, unfathomable Satan who may or may not exist in the Marvel comics universe who other demons live in fear of the return of. Satan is just a very interesting and malleable antagonist, one who is defined just enough that he can make a massive, formidable force while still being enough of a blank slate that you can project any sort of personality traits onto him to build an intriguing foe.
One of the most famous examples of this in action is the common depiction of Satan as the king of hell. This doesn’t really have much basis in religion; he’s as much a prisoner as anyone else, though considering how impressive a prisoner he is, he’d be like the big guy at the top of the pecking order in any jail for sure. But still, the idea of Satan as the ruler of hell was clearly conceived by someone and proved such an intriguing concept that so many decided to run with it.
I think that’s what truly makes Satan such an interesting villain, in that he’s almost a community-built antagonist. People over the ages have added so much lore, personality, and power to him that is only vaguely alluded to in old religions to the point where they have all become commonplace in depictions of the big guy, and there really isn’t any other villain to have quite this magnitude on culture as a whole. It shouldn’t be any shock that Satan is an 11/10; rating him any lower would be a heinous crime only he is capable of.
But see, the true sign of how amazing he is is the sheer number of ways one can interpret him. You have versions that are just vague embodiments of all that is bad and unholy, such as Chernabog from Fantasia, you have more nuanced portrayals like the one Viggo Mortensen played in The Prophecy, you have outright sympathetic ones like the one from South Park… Satan is just a villain who can be reshaped and reworked as a creator sees fit and molded into something that fits the narrative they want. I guess what I’m trying to say is that not only is Lucifer/Satan one of the greatest villains of all, he’s also one of the single greatest characters of all time.
Now, there are far too many depictions of Satan for me to have seen them all, but I have seen quite a lot. Here’s how Old Scratch has fared over the millennia in media of various forms, though keep in mind this is by no means a comprehensive or exhaustive lsit:
“The Devil Went Down to Georgia” Devil:
I think this is one of my favorite devils in any fiction ever, simply because of what a good sport he is. Like, there is really no denying that Johnny’s stupid little fiddle ditty about chickens or whatever sucks major ass, and yet Satan (who had moments before summoned up demonic hordes to rip out some Doom-esque metal for the contest) gave him the win and the golden fiddle. What a gracious guy! He’s a 9/10 for sure, though I still wish we knew how his rematch ended…
Chernabog:
Chernabog technically doesn’t do anything evil, and he never says a word, and yet everything about him is framed as inherently sinister. It’s really no wonder Chernabog has become one of the most famous and beloved parts of Fantasia alongside Yen Sid and Sorcerer Mickey; he’s infinitely memorable, and really, how can he not be? He’s the devil in a Disney film, not played for laughs and instead made as nightmarishly terrifying as an ancient demon god should be. Everything about him oozes style, and every movement and gesture begets a personality that goes beyond words. Chernabog doesn’t need to speak to tell you that he is evil incarnate; you just know, on sight, that he is up to no good.
Quite frankly, the implications of Chernabog’s existence in the Disney canon are rather terrifying. Is he the one Maleficent called upon for power? Is he the one all the villains answer to? Do you think Frollo saw him after God smote him? And what exactly did he gain by attacking Sora at the end of Kingdom Hearts? All I know for sure is that Chernabog is a 10/10.
Lucifer (The Prophecy):
Viggo Mortensen has limited screentime, but in that time he manages to be incredibly creepy, misanthropic… and yet, also, on the side of good. Of course, he’s doing it entirely for self-serving reasons (he wants humanity around so he can make them suffer), but credit where credit is due. The man manages to steal a scene from under Christopher Walken, I think that’s worth a 10/10.
Satan (South Park):
Portraying Satan as a sympathetic gay man was a pretty bold choice, and while he certainly does fall into some stereotypes, he’s not really painted as bad or morally wrong for being gay, and ends up more often than not being a good (if sometimes misguided) guy who just wants to live his life. Plus he gets a pretty sweet villain song, though technically it’s more of an “I want” song than anything. Ah well, a solid 8/10 for him is good.
Satan (Tenacious D):
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It’s Dave Grohl as Satan competing in a rock-off against JB and KG. Literally everything about this is perfect, even if he’s only in the one scene. 10/10 for sure.
Robot Devil:
Futurama’s take on the devil is pretty hilarious and hammy, but then Futurama was always pretty on point. He’s a solid 8/10, because much like South Park’s devil he gets a fun little villain song with a guest apearance by the Beastie Boys, not to mention his numerous scams like when he stole Fry’s hands. He’s just a fun, hilarious asshole.
The Howling Man:
The Twilight Zone has many iconic episodes, and this one is absolutely one of them. While the devil is the big twist, that scene of him transforming as he walks between the pillars is absolutely iconic, and was even used by real-life villain Kevin Spacey in the big reveal of The Usual Suspects. This one is a 9/10 for sure, especially given the ending that implies this will all happen again (as per usual with the show).
The Darkness:
While he’s more devil-adjacent than anything and is more likely to be the son of Satan rather than the actual man himself, it’s hard not to give a shout-out to the big, buff demon played by Tim Curry in some of the most fantastic prosthetics and makeup you will ever see. He gets a 9/10 for the design alone, the facty he’s Tim Curry is icing on the cake.
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