#literally how did this happen . literally everyone else in my family disagrees with how i write these

[auroral-melody]

i have once again found out that, years ago when i was learning to write well, i somehow taught myself an extremely niche nonstandard punctuation rule. i refuse to change, though, so i will simply be the last bastion of the oxford english handbook 1996 edition's usage

[vodika-vibes]

The Seer

Summary: With the Fall of the Republic, and the destruction of the Jedi, your specific talents have made you a target. Luckily for you, with the right ambience, you can make even the most determined Inquisitor think that you’re a fraud. Unluckily for you, your fraud has caught the attention of some very dangerous spirits, and they will stop at nothing to see you punished.

Pairing: Future TBB Hunter x F!Reader

Word Count: 1743

Warnings: Mentions of Order 66, Reader is literally haunted

Tagging: @trixie2023 @n0vqni @imabeautifulbutterfly @clonethirstingisreal (since you like hunter ^-^)

A/N: I had an idea, so I decided to run with it. (My husband and friends are making onigiri for dinner with pork and I'm already sick so I'm not having dinner, I guess)

One year ago today, you were a Jedi.

Well, okay, you were a Jedi Padawan who had been sentenced to a year in the EduCorps due to something that you may, or may not, have done.

It had been a slog. So many books, so many papers, so many people lording their intelligence over you simply because they were assigned to the “smart” corps.

You hated it at the time, and even now, a year later, the memory is still enough to make you grumbly. Just, not as much as you used to be.

It’s hard to hate people who were wiped out to the last, after all.  

Sometimes, late at night, you wonder how different things would have been if your nightmares and visions had been taken seriously. Would the Order have survived the Purge? Would the Clones have not turned on them? Would the Council have foreseen the betrayal?

And, like, sure. You know that visions don’t always come true. And you know that sometimes, in the process of trying to make something not come true you can make it happen faster. But! You’d been having the same nightmare since the start of the war.

Surely that had to have meant something?!

Your Master…disagreed.

He disagreed with you about a lot of things.

Not that he’s around to disagree with you on things anymore. He died in the purge…just like everyone else.

You only survived because the night before the purge, the Force practically screamed a warning for you to move, to go, and to never look back. And so you did.

You heard about the Purge 16 hours after it happened. And ever since that moment, you’ve been running.

Bouncing from planet to planet, jumping from job to job, trying to stay one step ahead of the Inquisitors and the Imperial soldiers who would absolutely execute you if they caught you.

That was until you, while working an odd job for a pirate, stumbled across a woman being harassed by Imperial Soldiers. She was an odd looking woman, draped in long skirts and long shawls, with large earrings and intricate paint decorating her pale blue skin. 

The woman claimed to be a seer blessed by the spirits, and could foresee the future and allow the Imperials to speak with their deceased family. She waxed poetic about lucky charms and tarot readings, and, to your genuine shock, they left, calling her a lunatic.

You stare at the woman, your jaw dropped, and she winked at you, before she went back to hawking her lucky charms.

It’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever seen in your life. 

Foolishness.

Ridiculous.

And yet…

And yet, if it’s stupid and it works, then is it really stupid?

Two months later, you open a little shop on Pabu, selling lucky charms, tarot readings, and love readings to anyone who wants to pay you. And a lot of people want to pay you.

You clad yourself in long skirts and loose shawls, and you let your hair hang freely around your head, tied out of your eyes by a ribbon that matches your outfit.

And not a single person pegs you as an actual Jedi.

Con-artist and miracle worker, but not Jedi.

It’s not really how you foresaw your life going, but really, being called a  con-artist is better than being a Jedi any day of the week. Especially since Jedi means dead.

And that is how your days go…right up until Phee brought clones to your shop.

You love Phee, absolutely adore her, but the moment you see clones standing in your shop you are wondering how quickly you can kill her and dispose of her body without anyone missing her.

Still, you’re no fool. So you plaster your most vapid smile on your face and swish around them offering free tarot readings since they are friends of Phee.

You are almost offended when the one in glasses tells you that your tarot readings are a load of hogwash.

Almost.

After all, it’s not like you actually believe this nonsense either.

But, since Phee is a friend and she considers the clones her friends, you decide to tolerate them. After all, they seem very reasonable, not at all like the men you had nightmares of for three years.

And slowly, over time, you end up becoming friends with them.

Wrecker is always good for laughs, and he is more than happy to come around and help you move heavy objects. Tech takes one look at your electrical panel and nearly has a heart attack on the spot. In fact, aside from Omega, who thinks you’re a little weird and likes to keep her distance, the only one you don’t spend a large amount of time with is Hunter.

Echo quietly tells you that the incense that you use around your shop, incense you use to keep force spirits from harassing you, gives him a migraine, and you feel guilty enough that you put them away and air out the shop.

Which brings you to today.

Today you’re wearing shorts and a tank top, and you’ve abandoned your mystical look in favor of more practical ‘running for your life’ attire. 

The Empire didn’t find you. No. That would have been easy.

You can kill Imperial Soldiers.

You can’t kill Force Ghosts.

In your defense, you don’t mean to get Hunter involved.

And you definitely don’t mean to crash into him at full speed. 

Hunter catches you before you hit the ground, which is probably a good thing because running into plastoid armor at full speed is not something that you recommend.

He looks…surprised as he sets you back on your feet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not wearing miles of fabric.” He says slowly, and then his eyes narrow, “What are you running from?”

“Nothing! Don’t worry about it!” You blurt, your eyes darting one way and then the other. 

He opens his mouth to say something and then he stills, his nostrils flaring, “What is that?”

“What?” you ask, alarmed.

And then the sensation washes over you. Cold, like ice nipping at your fingers and the tip of your nose. Followed by the whispers, barely words, yet radiating malice.

“I…have to go. Now. I have to go now.” You blurt as you try to twist out of his grip, only for Hunter to grab your shoulders and jerk you to the side.

A sensation, like that of a hand grabbing for you, brushes passed your arm, causing an immediate bruise to form on your arm.

Hunter stares at the red bruise on your arm, “Time to go.”

“Yep.” You agree immediately, “Away from people, preferably.”

Hunter takes your hand and starts pulling you away from the spirits…things…that are hunting you. 

Luckily he seems to be able to sense them better than you can.

Half an hour later, you’re on the outskirts of the city and you, who haven't worked out properly since well before the Purge, are panting for air as you run after him.

“What did you do to make invisible enemies? And what are they?” Hunter demands as he jerks you to one side and then twists you so that two different spirits aren’t able to touch you.

“Um…no comment, and I think they’re spirits.”

“Please tell me that’s a joke?”

“Uh…no.”

“You’re telling me that ghosts are real?” Hunter demands as he jumps down into a stream and then lifts you up onto the other ledge.

“Well-”

Hunter just sighs, and drops the subject. He stops for a moment, his hand on your shoulder, and he listens. “Okay, I think we’re safe for now. I can’t hear them.”

You collapse onto a rock with a sigh of relief, “I haven’t run so much in ages,” You mumble. And then you straighten and glance at him, “You know, the spirits are very displeased with you.” You say, “They’re mad that you’re helping me.”

“Yeah?” Hunter scowls, “Feeling’s mutual. Little shits.”

You release a slightly hysterical little laugh, and you clamp your hand over your mouth when Hunter looks at you in concern. “Sorry.” You whisper, and you’re surprised to feel tears on your cheeks. 

He looks deeply, deeply uncomfortable but he still kneels in front of you and places his hand on your shoulder, “You’re doing a great job.” He says, “There’s no need for tears.”

“I don’t even know why I’m crying-”

“It’s a lot, being hunted by things. Especially invisible things.” Hunter says, trying so hard to be gentle with you, and it’s obvious it doesn’t come naturally to him, “Do you have any idea why they’re coming after you?”

“I don’t know if you noticed this,” You say dryly, “But, like, all of the Jedi were killed.”

“...o…kay?”

You sigh and pick up a stick and draw some stick figures on the ground, “Jedi.” You say, and then you draw some more, “Sith.” You draw little angry lines around the sith. “When the Jedi died, the Force made a sharp turn towards the Dark.”

“Meaning-”

“Meaning the galaxy’s gone to shit.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Hunter agrees, and then he looks at you, “Follow up question.”

“Hm?”

“How do you know anything about the force?” Hunter asks.

“Uh…”

“Are you a Jedi?”

“...ummm…”

“You are. Why the kriff is a Jedi pretending to be a fake psychic?”

“Oh, come on. Because everyone knows that I’m a fake psychic.” You roll your eyes, “You know,” You adopt the wispy voice you use when you’re working, “If you make a healthy change then your soulmate will appear-”

“...you’re conning the Empire.” He says slowly.

“Better a con-artist than dead.” You point out logically.

“You’re not wrong, but I can’t believe that that works.”

“They’re not very smart, and they have a specific mental image as to what Jedi look like, so-”

“Huh…You know, I thought Jedi were supposed to be in better shape.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I have been pretending to be a fake psychic for the last year and the year before that I was…not at the temple.”

“Where were you?”

“I was at the EdiCorps Campus. As punishment. For punching a racist senator.”

Hunter smirks, “That right?”

You open your mouth to reply but then both of your heads snap to the side, “They found us.” You say as you scramble to your feet.

“So it seems.” He grabs your hand and tugs you, “Time to run.”

[littlefankingdom]

As someone who is a leftist, who was raised by leftists, who calls themselves a "revolutionary", who is loud about when stuffs aren't fucking okay and people rights aren't respected, I cannot explain how much I dislike the panels of Oliver Queen calling his colleagues "nazis" or "fascists" when they don't agree on something. Like, it doesn't make me want to read his comics, because he sounds like a self-righteous whining bitch, not an actual activist that knows what he is talking about. Your colleague refusing to listen to you doesn't make him a fascist, rich white man. And I don't think anyone would want to have a discussion with someone who insults them of being Nazi when they aren't happy.

Nazi and fascist are important words with meanings, historical and scientific (history and sociology are sciences) meanings. The more you use them without respecting their meaning, the less they mean shit. And like, I have seen enough to realize USAmericans barely know the meaning of Nazi, which is not simply being a white-supremacist or a fascist. Nazism is the ideology that there's an aryan race, which fits mostly GERMAN traits, superior to everyone else, with a ton of eugenics. It isn't just antisemitism, it isn't just white-supremacy, the Nazis did not like most of white people, they destroyed historical and cultural objects from european cultures for not being "aryan". My grandparents' trauma from the occupation shows that quite well. So, Oliver Queen calling Flash "a nazi" because he disagree with how to handle a situation isn't funny or cool, it's tiring and wrong. No, your red-haired, probably doesn't know a word of german, colleague isn't a Nazi. And he isn't a neo-nazi ever, which are more open to white people without tie to German culture but still use the symbolism, because he is still not doing Nazi shit.

Again, these terms aren't insults, they have meanings. Marine Le Pen, a French politician, is a Nazi because her party was created by her father and his Nazi and SS friends, and she sees Hitler as family. I am not a Nazi for wearing all black (yes, this did happened), supporting Palestine (also happened), or telling people that not voting isn't helping at all (just last week).

I would have no issues with Oliver criticizing his colleagues being controlling and abusing their power or authority, I would love that, I'm big on criticizing abuse of power and authority, but he needs to be written doing that, not just calling them "nazi" and "fascist". That's not what they are doing. And also, if you think one of your colleagues is a fascist or a nazi and the JL is letting them in control, WTF ARE YOU STILL WORKING WITH THEM??? (That's my point that he's using these terms like insults)

I can hear y'all: "You're just mad he called Batman a fascist, because you love Batman!" And like, there's a lot to talk about on Bruce's and Batman’s morality, but at the end of the day, DC is an usamerican company. Of course fascist points are going to be encouraged, this is the USA we are talking about. They cannot write a story without it, it's taught to them since birth from the imperialism and nationalism combo. And also, a good written Batman isn't a fascist, he is literally against the death penalty or even letting criminals die, which is supported HEAVILY by fascism. Like, call him out for thinking he is always right, go for it, but that's not fascism.

[missskzbiased]

Okay, I feel prepared to complain about how dirty they did Penelope now. My ted talk will be about ✨Inconsistency✨

So yeah, I'm aware that we are inconsistent in our growth, but I'm also aware that the show wasn't trying to portray that. What we got was another case of "Tell, don't show" (as I'm calling it for now).

The show tells us that Penelope is confident now, that she knows her worth, that she's assertive, that she can stand her ground. She's Mrs.Independent and that's why Colin and us should love her (Ne-yo reference intended). But I honestly didn't see it. I saw people saying she was, and that was it.

My guess is that we don't see it because that's not what a Lawful-Good Female Lead is supposed to be. She's either badass and knows all and fight bad guys or she's a crystal. And they said they had to go for the second, because our female characters can do no bad even when they're doing bad.

Let me break it first: I love Penelope. This doesn't mean I can't see she's a little shit SHUAHUSAHUSHUAHUASHUSA. I love that for her. It's in alignment with her character. She's neglected, she got power, she's young, and she abuses her power. That's perfectly fine, this leaves room for character growth if we face it as it is: A flaw.

"Missy, she only did everything that she did out of concern for those who love"

I'm sorry, but no, darling. No. Penelope literally said to Marina "Anyone but him". If it wasn't Colin, and if she didn't have feelings for him, Penelope wouldn't have said anything as LW, she would let Marina trap someone else. She's loyal, but it doesn't mean she's good necessarily. And when she hurts those who she cares for, who she'd like to be loyal for, she cries, which means there is something we want to improve, right?

So here, we get it: Penelope is a flawed character that has to grow.

Amazing. Now, how do we do this? We have to make her confident, to see her worth, to see Whistledown as it is: a powerful weapon that should be used wisely.

We do not do this by telling the audience that now she's all that. We show the audience that she's all that. But that's not what happens.

Regarding the Featheringtons, I'd say that yeah, we see this. We go from Penelope smugness by being courted by a Lord or not asking permission to marry Colin to Penelope caring and relating to her family. That's great. I think it's the reason why we see so many people enjoying the Featherington side plot this season, including myself. Penelope goes from trying to overpower her family to matching them, and that's great to see.

Now, when we talk about the Bridgertons, that's not what we see.

First, we have Eloise pushing her to confess everything. She says that if he doesn't know her entirely, he can't love her. And Penelope buys it. She's insecure, she can't fathom Colin loving her, she has to ask "Are you sure?" when he says he does. Okay, so this is perfectly in character at this point. It's understandable.

Then, we have Eloise telling her that she can't tell Colin anything, that she can't say Cressida isn't LW, that she can't be both a Bridgerton and LW. At this point, Penelope was determined to tell Colin about her identity, she was just looking for the right time. But once Eloise asks her not to, she gives up. She not only gives up on being LW, she gives up on not letting Cressida, someone who she hates and did her wrong, take the credit. Eloise also says something quite important here "This is just gossip". At this point, Penelope might believe her, or at least not have the presence of mind to disagree.

Okay, so up until now, we only see Penelope bending her wishes and dreams because of the Bridgertons. Still in character, I guess. She didn't acknowledge LW as what it truly is at this point: Power that can be used wisely. Perhaps, as everyone demonizes LW, Penelope also sees it as something to be guilty about, not proud. Or perhaps, she isn't as confident as she thinks she is, and she can't be proud of what she did if no one else is validating it. Still in character. Great.

But then, Eloise freaks out and Penelope goes "I'll publish again and save your family. Whistledown isn't just gossip, it's power". Here, we have her publishing important thinks, some kind of redemption. Here, we can say that Penelope is proud of what she can do, that she understands the importance of what she's doing. That she's assertive and confident, even if what triggers it is the need to help someone else, not herself. Okay, it's a good start to change.

At the wedding, we have her going "Colin, LW is me, and I won't give up on myself". GREAT. That's what we want to see. Here, Penelope's agency is not determined by what the Bridgertons want/expect from her anymore. Or at least, that should be the case.

But we don't see this anymore.

We see her struggling in her marriage. A LOT. We see all the guilt, all the regret, all the challenges. We see her being silenced by Colin, Eloise and her mother once they want to help her. We see her being mistreated AND WE DON'T SEE HER DOING ANYTHING ABOUT IT. WE SEE HER ACCEPTING IT.

Eloise begged her to save her family. Penelope did. She got in trouble with her fiancee because of it. And all Eloise has to say is "Well, thank you for your service, I guess. It's a shame I can't meddle with your relationship, you'll have to figure it out by yourself, we're not friends anymore, remember?". And all Penelope says is "No, yeah, I completely understand your standing".

No, Penelope. You don't. You shouldn't. You should be mad because your said-friend betrayed you and turned back to your just to turn her back to you later. You shouldn't be this understanding. Penelope reacts when she's hurt by her family. Penelope is assertive when the writers want her to be. She's honest. She's proud of herself. Why can't she say anything at this point? Guilt? Guilt isn't a good excuse at this point anymore. She's once more doing what the Bridgertons want/expect her to do. This isn't growth.

Then, Colin proceeds to be an ass to her (JUSTIFIED BY HIS CHARACTER AND WHAT HE'S GOING THROUGH. BUT HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE HURTING. PENELOPE IS HURT BY HIS ACTIONS, AND SHE'S ALONE NOW CUZ SHE HAS NO FRIEND AND NO LOVER AND SHE'S STILL GROWING IN HER FAMILY HERE). The point is: Colin does everything he wants to do, he tells her she manipulated him, he tells her she's foolish, he tells her he can't accept her, he says "Not up to you to decide your own life" and makes things worse. He does everything bad, he doesn't show her in any kind of way that he loves her despite their problems, and she still doesn't say anything.

I wanted to see Penelope throwing a tantrum. I wanted to see her going "Excuse me?! My life is up to me, I think I should have the right to talk too" once he shuts her up. I wanted to see her storming out, or fighting or anything, really. All we got was seeing her taking hit after hit and not hitting back. And I don't think that's growth. I'm not saying that she needed to be an ass like Colin, but she NEEDED TO SAY SOMETHING FOR HERSELF. And she didn't. So it felt REALLY unbalanced. And it wasn't consistent to the point the got her in character development either.

And then we have that speech. But at this point, it's so tiring seeing her doing nothing about herself, that I don't buy it. She looks nervous, and the speech isn't really delivered in an impactful way (not because of Nicola, but because they're telling us what they want us to believe, but that's not what I'm seeing, so it doesn't hit me). And we get Colin confessing to her. And all is well. And that's it.

I felt like they promised me a good character development and got me a Female Lead with no flaws but being different than other girls and too good to this world to do anything wrong while doing everything wrong. It was a waste of potential.

[sunmizuiro]

Does it look to you that she's keeping away Charlie from Lucifer?

Does it look to you that Lucifer is not smiling while looking up at his beloved?

Does it look to you that Lilith is being harsh while holding so gently little Charlie?

Okay you may disagree with me with the first one and I do too! It's complicating since we don't know much about the family but,,, okay what if she's actually the reason why Lucifer and Charlie never were close even if you see the family pictures it looks like they are and that they're having genuinely a good time, but it could be a possibility that Lily knows that Lucifer is really not that idealistic dreamer anymore and that he lost hope unlike her,,, maybe for Charlie's sake both of them wanted their kid to really live a happy hell life! No matter the conditions or the mistake that her parents did before, yes I didn't forget that Lucifer did show Charlie when she was a kid some of his dreams with light pure magic and all,,, but it looked to me that Lilith was waiting for them, and just took back Charlie to bedtime and nothing else! I didn't want to read too much into it because I really really don't want Lilith to turn out to be a bad mother or villain. I do plan to write everything that we know so far about her and theories— opinions that I have and what I'm predicting for the first family in Hell.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////HELLO BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE!! What you're going to read below was me watching Hazbin Hotel before episode 7 and 8 were out! And again I'm really planning to write a completely whole hopefully theory about Lilith and many other things in Hazbin Hotel, if you're obsessed with the show just like me I hope you'll have fun reading this date of it was 01/28/2024, english is not my first language butttt it's readable,,,maybe.

Okay so why on earth would Alastor be owned by Lilith (yes it seems to me that this speculation is surely true)? What happened exactly? Either because Al kept killing every overlords for power and so does he also crave to rule literally all hell? And it looks like Lucifer really doesn't care about his people unlike Lilith, Because she uses her singing and all? Literally the show is a musical and the characters aknowledge that kind of whenever they sing and dance, it's like just something normal in their hellish life. So maybe Alastor tried to have a deal with Lilith herself, a deal with the queen of hell which is well wildly powerful, so I feel like she turns the table around and in the end was the one in control of Alastor, making him go to the hotel immediately after Charlie's call in the pilot because she knows that Lucifer and Charlie aren't that close because she would bring her daughter back for bedtime to let Lucifer do his work since the man is the king of hell so he must be busy (I don't think that she is the reason for making Charlie avoiding Lucifer, he literally kept his smile and all when he gave her back his daughter and again the pictures on the walls do show that they were a happy family, and Charlie states in the pilot that Lilith is also super busy;probably more than Lucifer), and when Alastor succeeds he'll finally be free. Or maybe he got more powers with Lilith's deal? I cannot figure out why both of them were absent for seven years, quite suspicious… But according to how Alastor acted with Lucifer, the guy hates him deeply because the king's wife owns his soul? Like instantly when Lucifer got inside the hotel Al's eye was twitching, he looked so mad plus we figured out that Alastor seems to really care about his image and what others think of him, specifically asking everyone if they missed him because of his disappearance so adding that to how Lucifer doesn't know him yeah that could be irritating to Al, I just feel like Lilith is evil in some way but come on…Maybe she just really wants to rule properly in Hell like if Charlie's so sweet even when there is moment she gets angry and is quite intelligent and knowing what to say while not forgetting her slight naiveness, but what about Lilith, I don't trust completely the wiki about what is her personality? Like the thing she has in common with Alastor is that he's like the radio demon and Lilith with her singing.. Going back to Lucifer I don't believe they got divorced but just split up, Lucifer still cares like he's still wearing the ring, got pictures of Lilith with Charlie… Seeming to be staring at them when Charlie was asking for his help in his call, even before Lilith lefts it looks like that Lucifer was still absent with Charlie, in More Than Anything the lyrics 'Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again' before Lilith left or after that? Maybe it has gotten worse since Lucifer kept coping while creating rubber ducks as he is depressed, all we know about the couple is that supposingly they're a cheesy and love each other deeply. And according to that introduction story of the first episode it looks like they both really do, but why did she leave? For what reason? Yeah that's all I got lol

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Ennnd of it! If you really read it all.... Love u man!

[livin-like-larry413]

What is happening in the COD fandom? Who is celebrating??

This user has all the info you need. They took the time out of their days to gather as many resources as they could to try and find her, hopefully before anything bad had happened, but in the end made sure she was found and was there for the victims family. It’s devastating hearing about such a tragic loss, no matter where it you hear of it, but it’s especially heartbreaking when you learn of it being—once again—due to butthurt, immature, childish-minded people on the internet that think they’re entitled to spew hatred just because they see someone make a post they disagree with.

My heart breaks for her family, and I can’t imagine the devastation they’re going through, and I am disgusted with the people who were practically swarming this woman to attack her for truly no other reason at all, besides “because they could”. And because I know how vile people who do this shit online are, those that haven’t been caught yet are celebrating.

The minority of this fandom that thinks this kind of backwards, hateful mindset about what they view as “okay” to say to people, regarding literally anything to do with fandom that they disagree with, is disgusting and shameful to the people in the fandom like @sheheal and everyone else who tried to reach out and help @codslut. The people that hid behind their screens, who tormented and mentally tortured that poor woman for having a different view of a character than they did, should be ashamed of themselves for what they have done, but majority of them, if they can be found will likely have nothing to say other than something along the lines of“It wasn’t that serious” and “Well, it’s not my fault”. I’ve seen it enough times to know.

I’m upset it took me this long to know of it, but since I’m not even a cod fan to begin with and I was still able to find out about it, says everything about how serious this issue in fandom is becoming. It should NEVER get to this point, especially not from a lighthearted nsfw image post that people saw and got upset that the character Gaz wasn’t in. That is batshit, idiotic behavior, and is never okay.

I’ve been in fandom spaces and apart of fandom communities for 15 years, more than half the time I’ve been alive, and never in my life have I seen a fandom become so twisted so quickly as I have with CoD, and my god, have I been in some twisted fandoms. I am honestly truly speechless, disgusted and I am livid.

You can disagree with headcanons and image posts all you fucking want, but the second you start telling someone to end their life because they don’t pay attention to a certain character you like, or they don’t view the character the same way you do—you are a vile human being, and should no longer be allowed on the internet, because you have proven that you are not and have never been an adult.

You control your own internet experience. Interact with what you like. Block what you don’t. It’s that easy. Blocklists (where you omit things from your experience on the internet, and you don’t ever have to see again after submitting it) exist for a reason, and should be utilized more. Tumblr has them, has had them since it was created, and they’re limitless. If you see hate such as the likes of what’s happened recently, speak up on it and make sure it gets spread and known for what it is. Expose the toxicity in the situation as soon as possible and make the person spreading it be held accountable, if you’re able to. There’s enough hatred in the world already, and fandom is supposed to be a place you can go and experience joy.

Long story short, a lesson that somehow still needs to be stated: If you don’t like something you see—block it. Grow the fuck up, and mind your own fucking business. Keep your negativity to yourself. If it’s something you know is truly hurtful, speak up on it, but be respectful. Never be someone’s final straw that ends in their loss.

[chuckwon]

"They didn’t miraculously outsmart Chuck. It’s all his plan that unfolds like a magic trick, and it works. He takes away everything and everyone else in the world, ensuring that the one course of action left– his planned course of action–is the one that the brothers will take. They forget the power of their free will and feel they have no other choice.

Jack’s sacrifice is completed as he supposedly becomes the 'new God,' but he actually 'dies.' As he told Cas in 15x15, 'God and Amara will cease to exist, and I won’t survive,' and that’s still exactly what happens.

. . . This is where the rest comes in: regardless of the mechanics of the plot’s specifics in 15x19–whether Jack is literally dead, simply caged in his own mind as Chuck uses him as a vessel, altered/corrupted by the God powers within him, or some similar variation–Chuck’s influence remains. Chuck deliberately removes himself from the story, but nothing of significance changes, either in the structure of the universe he created or in the brothers’ lives. And not only does Chuck get the ending he orchestrated in regards to Jack, but his ending for the story also punishes the Winchesters shortly thereafter."

–THE HOW: Chuck’s Method of Victory

Deeply apologize for insufferably quoting my own meta, but it's for the sake of expediency because I just want to put this thought / clarification out there right now and I've only got a few minutes!

(Standard disclaimer that I'm speaking from solely my perspective on the mechanics of a potential "Chuck won" plotline, aka I do not have a monopoly on this analysis or theory and others are free to disagree with my POV. The fact that I have this blog does not mean I'm positioning myself as an Authority on the matter.)

In terms of the plot (as in the literal things and not the metaphorical)... the idea that Chuck won is not beholden to the idea that the way to convey that concept or run with must literally include Chuck being inside of Jack's body. That's one possibility, and it just happens to be one that I tend to gravitate to when imagining potential for storylines. But the exact “method” if you will has several options. Maybe Chuck took over Jack, or maybe he knew the God power would corrupt Jack, or so on and so forth.

The idea of Chuck winning (in terms of the literal events) is essentially that...

A) God power should not have personhood. The fact that it does at the "end" of the story is inherently a problem based on everything the Supernatural universe has put forth thematically, literally right up until the end in 15x17.

B) What happens to Jack–him becoming the "new god"–isn’t okay. It's awful and it was Chuck’s plan or aim all along as part of the "Abraham & Isaac" ending he desired: the father sacrificing his own son.

C) Therefore, Jack needs saving (in some fashion) through his family making it clear that he’s loved for who he is not what he is, and that he never needed to prove himself or earn their forgiveness. By "his family" I specifically mean Sam and Dean, as they are the ones who unintentionally sacrificed Jack. Or, to reference SPNWIN 1x06,

"So you had a friend stuck in a cycle of violence, and instead of helping him, you wielded him like some kind of weapon?"

Sam and Dean needed to have told Jack something along the lines of what Mary tells John in that episode:

"I still want to get out of hunting. I really do. But it's not gonna be at your expense."

D) What happens to Jack–WHATEVER the specifics–embodies the cycles of violence on the micro and macro levels. He is a son who is burdened with the expectations of his fathers. He is also the grandson of Chuck/God and in the end he could not escape the fate of becoming him.

Sam and Dean may not have meant to “kill” Jack, but they did anyway between 15x17 and 15x19 because Jack was sacrificed on the altar of their hopes, struggles, and expectations. It plays right into Chuck’s favorite themes and ideal ending. In Chuck’s words from 14x20, it’s “the father killing his own son,” otherwise known as “Abraham and Issac.”

Jack’s sacrifice fits perfectly into an unbroken cycle of violence that Chuck embodied and that was embedded into the DNA of Supernatural as a story from day one. Breaking that cycle once and for all was the only avenue to true victory, but in the end, the cycle remains intact. In-narrative and out-of-narrative, the story and characters were not allowed to fully grow beyond it —which is why it’s important to understand the breadth of these themes in order to understand the reasoning behind the writing of Chuck’s canonical victory.

How the future authors or any future sequel may or may not run with all of this in terms of a plot–is Chuck using Jack as a vessel, and if so, is Jack alive or dead? Or is Chuck not involved and this is a consequence he left behind as part of the tragedy, and the God power itself corrupting Jack and he has to be convinced into giving it up? etc.–the baseline idea is the same.

My point in bringing this up is that "something's wrong with Jack"–which I think many people are picking up on anew in the SPNWIN finale–is enough to be getting on with :)

[katherinecrighton]

Nuts and Bolts: Jump-Starting Stories

(Reposting a 2013 post from the Anna Katherine co-tumblr)

Because I just did this, here you go: Some simple ways to start a story, particularly if you don’t know what you want to write about, but you know you need to write something. (For money, for practice, for mental health, for whatever.)

Standard caveats apply. 1. The reason advice looks contradictory is because it literally is different for everyone — shit that works for one person won’t work for someone else. Just stick it in your toolbox and move along. 2. I will say obvious shit that you already know. Because it’s possible somebody else doesn’t. 3. You may totally disagree with anything/everything I say, oh my god, that’s fine.

::::

1. A line of dialogue. Particularly one that makes no sense, so you have to then have a second character explain it.

“You said what to the Queen?”

—Instantly you have to answer who said it, what was said, why it was scandalous, who the queen is, what she’s queen of, and who actually spoke the dialogue. Getting all that exposition in gracefully is at least 150 words right there.

2. (All of my points are going to boil down to variants of point 1, so, you know, grab a soda or something.)

3. A sudden burst of action. A nice explosion, maybe, or someone getting knocked unconscious unexpectedly. In medias res is always a pleasant place to start. You’ll want to start with a brief sentence that makes the reader empathize with whatever you’ve decided to blow up, and then destroy it in the second sentence, as that’s more fun.

"The Manor had been in the Candleford family for generations, a bit more curly-topped and hodge-podge than most stately noble homes. It burned for three days before anyone could put it out.”

—Now explain how that happened, or what happens next, or who’s affected, or who did it.

4. A vivid description. This one can be a bit tricky, as it can all too easily go on too long. I’d stay away from vivid descriptions of landscapes or weather or other (dare I say it) fairly boring things. Corpses — those are fun. Terrible kisses. A really interesting tentacle that maybe is touching something else that’s about to become interesting because, hey, tentacle.

“The running shoe was worn along the edges, and had a rubbed patch in the heel. It was pink and grey, and the laces were still tied, clearly toed off after a return to the house. The inspector stared at the shoe that lay on its side on the landing, and wondered where the other one was.”

Once you’ve got a couple of sentences of vivid description, stop and backfill with exposition — why are we seeing this thing? Who’s seeing it? What are they going to do with this information? As you can see, I couldn’t help but add in the inspector looking at the shoe — it just sort of starts to fill itself in.

5. A terrible secret that you don’t want anyone to know about yourself. Writing is frequently auto-cannibalism. You take parts of yourself and you write them into your stories to make them real. So if you need to write something, and you’re not sure what to write, dig out one of your secrets and give it to a character. 

I wrote a horror story (still haunting some editor’s slushpile [eta 2023: it was bought!]) about the weird urge I had when I’d had abdominal surgery to dig around in there afterward — I didn’t actually follow through in real life, but I decided to write a story about a character who did. Use first person POV if you have to, but it’ll definitely get something on the page.

.

+1. After you’ve got a story going, you can go back and delete whatever you started with. Nothing says you have to keep what got the motor running.

+2. If you’re interested, my sentence for this evening was: “It would be a bit much to say that the kiss was magical.”

[mdhwrites]

A Nasty Element of Analysis, Featuring Amity and Hunter

So someone in my Discord argued that they prefer Hunter over Amity because they believed that Hunter hit all the same notes as far as an arc goes but did them more satisfactorily, more dramatically and kept more of his personality. That if you were talking about who was better, this made him better. Now I actually disagree with this pretty much entirely. There's a reason I write Amity and Amity like characters into a lot of stories rather than taking inspiration from Hunter.

...But it didn't leave my mind because they did have a point, just not on the front they were making. After all, if you were to remake TOH to keep it closer to its core concepts, themes and GENRE...

Amity is arguably the least justifiable element in the SERIES to have been included. She is almost entirely written for a romantic drama, not a comedy adventure. She's not that funny, she doesn't allow for much comedy, she's not an interesting fighter, she goes on few adventures and commonly when she is a part of an adventure, the adventure element is DRASTICALLY downplayed. That's how we get episodes like Reaching Out.

And for a character like Raine, that's a problem too but Raine is in like 4 episodes in the entirety of the series. Amity takes up a THIRD of the entire series. She has more main plots with Luz than quite literally ANYONE ELSE IN THE SERIES. Lumity takes so much time from the rest of the series as to make it so much harder to actually have things like themes, found family, and a main plot because Luz doesn't have time to interact with those elements.

Worse yet, Amity goes AGAINST elements of world building and theme. She is single coven, she has no reason to go against Belos besides her girlfriend saying so, treats the covens like college rather than the law and instead of self expression and finding a space you can be yourself in, discards her entire character for the sake of making her girlfriend happy. Then in the epilogue, they double down on this by making her just her father.

And both Lumity and Raeda were elements that were planned for the show FROM THE START. If there is any better showing for why the writers had simply WRONG priorities for the show is that for this COMEDY ADVENTURE, part of their main concept was romantic interests.

The point of all of this is that from an analytical standpoint, if you were to try to review the show by what it claims its narrative goals are... Lumity is only a negative. It's one of the elements that makes Luz feel the least secure since she never even pauses about spending time with Amity until Knock Knock Knocking and then NEVER AGAIN besides when she fears everyone will leave her and not for personal reasons, it consumes so much time without doing world building or advancing the plot (anyone remember the memes that if Amity was in an episode, nothing important could happen) and is just straight up against the themes at times.

Meanwhile, I may not like Hunter's character but he is connected to the plot, even if not well, he adds worldbuilding literally just by existing and has a genuinely interesting concept as a part of the world as an outcast due to disability from birth. Even if these elements aren't handled well, they are still more of a part of TOH's genre than quite literally anything Amity does.

The ONLY arguments for Amity are that A: she does allow for representation which... Yay for that and I'm not in the correct position to be able to claim whether it's good or bad representation like I can with Luz as nuerodivergent rep or Eda as disability rep. But B: She is more fun than Hunter. The elements she adds are just more interesting than TOH's main plot 90% of the time. But... These aren't great arguments for saying TOH is some great story. They're excuses for why you should overlook the issues.

And if you're trying to critique a piece of media, those excuses should only go so far which is why I do feel I have to be fair to anyone who tries to stand up for Hunter over Amity (since their characters are so close to being the same) because... Yeah, Amity has no excuse for being here, let alone getting more time than KING with Luz, especially when their relationship literally is the justification for bringing Luz back to life at the end of the series.

Buuuut still don't expect me to shift to writing Lunter anyways. I've got better things to write nowadays regardless.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

[kohakhearts]

tonight's anipoke rabbit hole (actually something i've been largely contemplating since i started rewatching the os, but i've been contemplating it Even More tonight LMAO) is the does gary oak is ash's childhood best friend (established) discussion, which...maybe it's because i already knew the direction of their arc when i went back to episode one, but i think i actually disagree with the notion that episode one presents a continuity error, i.e. that it suggests gary doesn't know ash. to save you all from my ramblings i put them under a cut but tl;dr this is a hashed out conversation i'm putting my two cents into for no reason other than that i can and i want to.

i will say that like...takeshi shudo's novelization does kind of contest my reading here, but it doesn't explicitly say ash and gary don't know each other, either. (iirc, what it actually says is that ash knows gary sort of peripherally and has the impression of him being A Bit Of A Jerk, because he comes from a family of local celebrities and it's inflated his ego - which also debunks the childhood friends thing, just in a different way. all things considered, this does make it pretty clear to me that ash and gary were not originally intended to be childhood friends however the head writers of the silver league arc were part of the team from the beginning or at least fairly early on in the os, so. take that as you will.)

i say this in reference to both the original and the dub, but there are some interesting language nuances that get cut out of the dub because they...obviously don't make a lot of sense. but i was doing my rewatch with the dub, so let me talk about that first. 'cause i actually watched the scene a couple times trying to decide if it really did feel like it challenged the childhood friends thing. and...i don't think it does?

the first line gary says that makes everyone say he doesn't seem to know ash is "well, you must be ash," which. yeah. okay, that'd be a pretty weird thing to say to a guy you already know, but i have one (1) strong thesis here and it's this: that's just how ten year olds are, lmao. the second thing he says (regarding how late ash is) is "at least you get to meet me." that one...okay, fair enough. now i'm starting to sound like the crazy one for saying This Proves Nothing. but you can't tell me ash's response to this isn't straight-up weird, ok, because he just kinda c: and goes "gary?"

this is...a poor translation, for the most part, but i'll get to that in a second. even watching this with no knowledge of the original, that call and response kinda feels like someone playing along with a bit. there's no way that he knows this guy's name just from the cheerleaders he literally bowled over to get to the lab. it's clear he already knows it from somewhere else (and following with the novelization, it's definitely the family of local celebrities thing, although that same novelization stipulates that gary doesn't even attend school in pallet town, so this is all around just a really Absurd series of events - that's why i love it so much, but still).

anyway, then gary says "that's mr gary to you" and ash's c: turns into a o: he's like. flabbergasted lmao. and he only reacts again to be like whaaat you got your first pokemon???

the rest of their interaction is just "can i see your pokemon" and "sucks to suck, sucker," so not incredibly noteworthy other than that ash goes from, like, weirdly polite with his little "um, excuse me" to when gary fucks off and he's suddenly pissed.

so in my efforts to like, dig into this more, i found that fan subs don't...completely translate the intention here, either. mostly i only got to thinking about this tonight because i was making a Joke and i pulled up a scene from this episode and it happened to be this one. for whatever bizarre reason, my choice to download Every Episode Of The Pokemon Anime led me to downloading japanese raws, not the dub. but that's beside the point. i actually sat down and listened to this scene with no english subtitles, and i was like. wait. i think this fits my thesis. let me explain.

(it all started when i noticed that when gary goes from addressing ash to addressing the crowd around them, he switches from using the pronoun "boku" to using "watashi," which probably is meant to show that he's trying to come across as Serious and Mature. i have not watched all of gary's episodes in japanese, but i've watched enough to know this is pretty irregular. i thought it was really silly, especially when...put in context.)

SO, in the japanese version, that whole "at least you get to meet me" bit isn't there - that was the translators' attempt at working around something untranslatable, because the actual progression after ash bumps into him here is something like:

>you're satoshi, aren't you? >yeah, it's satoshi-san >or should i say satoshi-kun?

which is...where the nickname comes from, obviously. and it's why he gets that Look on his face...you know the one

(this whole scene is very expressive and i love it, lmao)

even in subs, this is a weird thing to translate, so most people seem to emphasize the reference to ash's tardiness, like in the dub. but it misses some of the character beats laid out here, unfortunately. the satoshi-kun to ashy-boy pipeline is very complex. the shortcomings of the english language and all that.

anyway, gary's next line being "that's mr gary to you" does imply something about honorifics, but when ash just calls him "shigeru," he actually says "hey that's shigeru-kun to you," which doesn't suggest that he's telling ash off for being too chummy with him, as a stranger, so much as he's trying to say hey, we aren't friends, make some distance. because the next thing he says is something to the point of "you're supposed to be my rival, but you're already falling behind."

then the polite little "excuse me" of the english dub is actually ash saying "shigeru-kun?" which does seem awfully polite of him, but then he immediately drops it in his next line and just refers to him as "shigeru" again, so i maintain that it literally feels like he's just humouring gary here a bit lmao.

also worth noting, when gary drives off, ash in the dub says "i'll show you," but in the original just repeats the word "rival," looking very Worked Up.

also, just in general, i do think some of gary's lines here are like...pure exposition. he tells ash he's professor oak's grandson because the audience needs to know it. that doesn't really mean that we as the audience need to - or even should - assume it means he thinks ash doesn't know it, because he clearly does. i mean, he knew his name. that probably speaks for something, lol.

anyway, back to my thesis: this literally just reads like classic "first day of middle school" fuckery. gary oak is literally displaying symptoms of 12-year-old girl syndrome and ash is playing along because that's what pals do, right. like all i'm saying is that these two entered sixth grade and gary suddenly was like hey you can't sit beside me anymore and ash just kinda shrugged and was like haha ok, you're so quirky, and then only later when he heard gary shit-talking him realized hey wait a second, you're a bitch, we aren't friends anymore (and if this feels like an exaggeration, i work with children in this age bracket and believe me when i say i wish it were shdfhjdk).

in conclusion? yeah, the childhood best friends thing makes perfect sense. did they have a fight before this scene? has it been Years? no. gary just woke up and decided to start shit one day. most compelling relationship of the century, if i'm being honest.

ADDENDUM: when professor oak sees ash, he says something about "thats right, there were four people scheduled to see me today," but gary already seemed to know ash was going to be there, which leads me to believe they have at least enough of an established relationship for gary to know becoming a pokemon trainer was a goal of ash's and he had in fact gotten his license. because clearly professor oak didn't give him that info!

[ass-sassafras]

I got married and had kids because you wouldn’t stfu about getting grandkids. The pressure was immense. And then I got stuck in a marriage that almost made me kill myself, and now every time the kids stress me out or won’t let me get enough sleep for days in a row, the responsibility falls on me and no one else. I love my kids, but I’d feel better about all of this if I wasn’t pressured to have them by literally everyone. It was a foregone conclusion, no one was interested in my opinion about it. Christianity says it’s my job as a woman. It’s my purpose. I drank the kool-aid. 

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t need me to do what you want me to do and never disagree with you but also not resent you. Don’t treat your adult children in such a way that they don’t feel like they can really be themselves until you’re gone. Otherwise they’ll be subconsciously counting the years until you’re dead and wondering if they’ll have to wait until they’re 60 to actually be who they are. By then they’ll be old and used up and resentful toward everyone. Is that what you want for your kids?

I’m trying hard not to make the same mistakes with my kids that my parents made with me. 

And while we’re at it, every time I do what you guys want me to do, I’m the only one who has to deal with the fallout. You wanted me to get married to a believer so I did. Then, you didn’t want me to air my personal marriage issues because that’s private, so I endured the emotional abuse alone and let him treat me badly because I didn’t know it was wrong. He isolated me from my family with his hoarding, unwillingness to help clean our house and his crappy attitude, so I never saw my family only his. I was surrounded by people who didn’t like me and didn’t care how he treated me. I gave you the grandkids you wanted but it still wasn’t enough because you didn’t like my husband. Somehow his personality and actions were my fault. He was not a good person. So I divorced him. That was also the wrong thing to do. I was somehow supposed to stay with him and make it work and not kill myself, all without talking about my marriage to anyone and with no support from my family or his. 

So I left and made a friend who ended up taking advantage of me emotionally and financially, but also kept me company. I was able to be honest with him and be myself. No one liked him. I didn’t always like him either but he was my friend. He didn’t judge, he just tried support me. No one liked him and I didn’t’ like how he treated my kids. So I got rid of him. I made him leave. 

Now I’m alone and I got rid of both guys who my family didn’t like and I’m raising the kids my family wanted me to have and I’m doing it all by myself. And still it’s not enough. No one is supporting me, no one is helping me and I can’t even be honest about my opinions and feelings. There’s no room for my issues. I just need to shut up, be helpful and do what everyone wants. Not need anything, not make waves. People just want me for what I can do for them. They’re not interested in who I am as a person. My two options in everyone’s eyes are to either somehow miraculously go back to my ex husband and make it work at the expense of my mental health (not going to happen) or just be alone forever and be the martyr of the family. Fade into the background and not need anything ever. 

I need to get therapy or I’m not going to make it.

[folliesandfolderols]

Writing prompts day 9

From this prompt list. I set a goal of writing at least 150 words per day in 2024, which sounds pretty pathetic but if you take into account the fact that I haven't written any fiction since 2019 it felt like a feasible target. Anyway I've finished the first draft (it topped out at 88k words) and will be unlocking each post as I edit.

read from the beginning here

Day 8 here

***

71. "How are you feeling?"

***

They all had nightmares, and they almost all had protocols for how they were supposed to be woken up in case they dreamed around someone else.

Dick didn't react badly to being touched, so usually a hug was the right choice until he opened his eyes.

Jason had to be left utterly alone until he woke himself up, and then sometimes whoever was with him was allowed to sit next to him without talking while he clutched the knife under his pillow and pretended he wasn't pressing into their side.

Steph needed someone to call her from safely out of arm's reach, and then hold her hand while she stared at the ceiling.

Cass dreamed silently, without providing a clue of what was happening in her sleeping mind. Her companions only knew she'd had a bad dream if she chose to tell them.

Duke would wake himself up and then talk about literally anything else. It was the job of the person with him to laugh at his jokes and act like nothing had happened.

Damian was mean as a snake for a good half hour after being awoken from nightmares unless it was Dick who did it, so whoever was with him had to be careful not to be caught checking on him.

And Tim . . .

Well, Bernard had just straight-up called it creepy, though only in the most affectionate way when Tim was past the worst of it. Tim couldn't disagree with the description. His brain wouldn't shut down even in the middle of relived trauma, and he usually ended up talking out loud in his sleep, so whoever was nearby got half of whatever dialogue he was trapped in. He'd had a lot of run-ins with talkative villains, people who preferred to frame their violence with words. So if he was having a bad dream, usually the best way to help him was to talk back, to tell him he was safe and it was over.

Of course, none of that helped when he wasn't dreaming, like right now. Standing in his father’s apartment. His father lay on the floor opposite Captain Boomerang.

“Oh God . . . oh God, not again . . .” he quavered in the doorway. “I'll get it out . . . I'll get help . . .”

You should've .  .  . tried harder . . . Jack whispered.

You weren't drafted, his own voice added. You waltzed right in and demanded this role. So why are you so bad at it? No answer? Beautiful. Then we'll just have to run it again, won't we?

“You think this is a game?” Tim demanded.

Wow. Fifty-two times and not even close. Not once.

His father lay dead on the floor again.

“I can save you, Dad- - you just have to trust me. I can do it--I have to do it!” he panted out.

Face it, Bird Boy, you can't save anyone. You’ll get everyone you know killed someday. It's just too bad that your best was never good enough.

His father lay dead on the floor again. 

Batman didn't have any training when his father died- - what’s your excuse? Stephanie sneered. Now stay back before you get anyone else killed!

“Stephanie, wait!” he shouted after her. “You can't do this! You're one of my best friends! I can't lose you too - -”

You wanted to carry the world on your wings, little Robin . . . the doppelgänger rasped.

His family lay dead on the floor.

How do you even go on breathing? the other Tim asked, acid in every word.

“Leave me alone,” Tim cried, but none of it made any difference because they were dead again, they were always dead on the floor and it was always his fault--

"Ssh," a voice said in his ear, low and soothing. "You're home. You don't have to save anyone tonight."

Tim sobbed and curled into a ball. Everything was so cold and he would never see anyone he loved ever again--

But heat curved to press against his back and wrapped around his chest, pulling him close to the person still murmuring reassurances. "You're no longer there. You're in your Nest and there are no active threats to the others. They're finished with patrol and in bed."

With another shuddering sob, Tim finally woke fully and pushed his body even more tightly against Damian's. The dark surrounding them was a relief when he still saw the bodies sprawled in puddles of blood every time he blinked.

"I'm awake," he whispered when his voice started working again. "Thanks."

Damian brushed a kiss against his temple. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts but that's it. Fuck. I'm so glad I'm not really there." Tim overlay Damian's arm with his own and pulled it closer to his chest.

"As am I."

day ten here

[c0unt3rc0m84t]

So the following is my opinion on the Loki S2 finale spoilers ahead.

So I've been seeing people call Lokis finale act selfless and he went from most selfish to most selfless and I have to disagree heavily at least for my perception.

Loki started selfish but not as bad as everyone else claims. He got Thor delayed coronation because either he wanted the throne or he wanted Thor to grow first and save Asgard from someone not ready for the throne. As the movie goes along Loki discovers why he's the least favorite and why they treat him differently and he snaps. He becomes angry and bitter. With one revelation his world cracks and he knows he's a bargaining chip with Laufey and now he doesn't trust anyone because there's a millenia old cosmic joke on him. Even his mother was in on it and admits it. The one person he thought he could trust. So he massacres the Frost Giants and Laufey because he wants to be loved and trusted by his family. He wants it proven that he's good enough. That he's more than another stolen relic but he also hates himself and it seems like an act of self hatred. They hated the frost giants, they hate him so burn it all. Then the golden child returns seeking his righteous throne that he doesn't deserve. A few days on Earth and suddenly he's some wise being? He appears and reveals what Lokis done. He's ruining everything so he doubles down and goes to annihilate the frost giants and then the idiot goes and ruins it. All he wants is the same love that Thor got. The love he was denied. He's always been less than but if he can do this and wipe out their worst enemies, his blood then maybe he'll be worth it. But Thor wins. Odin saves them. Loki begs and pleads, "I could have done it father! For you! For all of us!" And the worst things that ice runt shivering in the cold could hear after all he's done, "No, Loki." And with one sentence he realizes it'll never be enough, he never will. And he lets go. He casts himself into that void ready for it all to end. He's a monster and everyone fears the monster that parents tell their children about at night.

Then he's tortured and doing Thanos bidding. There's no saving him and no one wants to. Thor appears to take him home and instead of wondering what happened he immediately attacks him and yells at him. He suffered so much and he might as well get the throne since now he knows no one will love him. All he can do for himself is get a throne. But now it's just spite and anger. They ruined his plan, rejected him so he will take a throne. He will rule like he should have been allowed. If Thor hadn't been in his way or he hadn't been stolen.

Then he's defeated and returned to Asgard where once again he's greeted by Odin. Once again he's reminded how not his son he is. He did exactly what Odin would do and he's punished for it. Humans are fleeting and an easy species to conquer so why shouldn't he. But no Odin can't let his slave get the throne and locks him in the dungeon. He never had a chance and he's angry and bitter. He feels he has no one, he barely trusts his mother. She lied too. They all did. She tries to reach him, and get him to be honest with himself. He stays true, Odin isn't his father. "Then am I not your mother?" That's the question that hits the child right in his heart. He has a choice, accept his weakness and love her or let his anger and disdain and hatred for Odin and Thor win. "You're not." He says reluctantly and painfully. "Always so perceptive of everyone but yourself." The last words he ever hears her utter to him. She sees his pain and knows the child she cared for is still there. He's told she's died (whether he knows he caused it is unknown I believe) and he loses it. The last person he could ever care for and trust. The one person hevcwred for. She's gone. He's angry and broken and he seizes the chance to make her murderers pay albeit with the fun of jesting Thor. So he fakes his death (also he literally saved Jane and idk if he did it cause he liked her or cause he still unfortunately cared for his brother). Anyways his death is faked so time to remove Odin. He takes the throne and Asgard prospers for years until...

Thor shows up again and ruins his plans. He'd gotten rid of Heimdall, he was good and then ruined again. He's dragged to go find Odin and it seems that they've mellowed a bit while they travel to Odin. Then Odin finally gives Loki validation and acceptance and love... but only in his final moments. Hela appears and Loki saves him and Thor but are thrown to Sakaar. Loki has favor with the Grandmaster (ever the opportunist) and plans to get Thor off world (because he does care unfortunately). But then he sees an opportunity again and he can't deny himself because he only has himself to rely on. He can't chance it. He'll throw Thor not because he wants to but because he needs to. But then he realizes that he doesn't have to keep putting himself first and Thor finally had shown he cared and Loki accepts (albeit rushed fuck Ragnarok) his love for Thor and Asgard so he goes to save them. He takes the role of savior and saves them all (and grabs the tesseract because self preservation bitch).

Loki saves them all then Thanos appears and he knows what he's capable of. So he tries (knows he's likely to fail but fuck it what more could he lose) to kill Thanos. He can't lose Thor so he loses his life.

Then TVA Loki discovers it all processes a lot and then tries to trick the TVA and get back to Thor all while gaining more power for himself. So he goes and manipulates and claims what opportunities he can and ends up befriending Mobius and once again offered with opportunity or a real connection he chooses opportunity and self preservation

So he meets Sylvie. He sees her and gets to know her and falls for her because she's just like him in her own way but she's different. She's someone on his level and he grows to care for her. They actually have meaningful conversations and it's actually stimulating. It's thought provoking. He falls for her because she's special. Then the TVA captures them and Loki has finally found a connection he doesn't want to lose. He's found companionship and someone he can rely on (kinda). Then Mobius interrogates him and while at first he doesn't believe him eventually he does. Mobius trusts him and is pruned because he trusted him. Loki lost his friend but he has Sylvie and he cares for her and then he's ripped away from her too.

He appears at the end of time surrounded by himself and he realizes that they are forced to be villains and to be alone and to lose. If they can seek connection, pruned. If they get power, pruned. If they are any form of not dastardly they are pruned. They are destined for this and it's heartbreaking. And ever the rebellious trickster he is he fights back. He seeks the audience with the timekeeper so he may take hold of his destiny. He refuses to have strings pulling him. So he and Sylvie work together to get to He Who Remains and this is where he realizes that yet again his connection is fake. That to everyone else he is untrustworthy and unlovable. He tells her he does not care about a throne, he tries to tell her she's not alone and he understands (prolly what he needs to hear most people say to others what they themselves need to hear). He doesn't care about a throne, he just wants her to be okay. He finally chooses connection over self preservation (well besides for when he saved Jane and then Thor in Infinity War but who cares)

They fight, he admits his love and he's cast aside. He then suffers through a reality where none of his friends know him. He's alone again and he's seeking Mobius desperately his best friend left. He explains it all and Mobius accepts and helps him. He's not upset at him for failing he just wants to help him.

So they go through the season trying to save everyone. Loki wants to find Sylvie, to know what happened, but to also know if she cares at all about him. She wants a life. She cares more about living her life after millenia of running and hiding in Apocalypses. Who can really blame her. But Loki needs her help and she needs her life. He knows he can't make her help him and they go their separate ways. So he and Mobius go on their adventure and Loki tries to be a good friend and ask him real questions and be to him what he was to Loki. They find Timely and Renslayer and Loki fights Sylvie again. He fights the person who made him truly choose connection over self preservation. She's hellbent to kill Timely but Loki finally has other people he cares about and he won't lose everyone else. She betrayed him and he understands but he won't lose everyone, not again. He's lost his world before, never again. But eventually she helps him and they go to save the loom. But it's too late. Timely dies and then everyone is wiped.

Loki ends up alone timeslipping again. He's dragged to his friends, he sees who they are supposed to be and he learns that his connections aren't just weakness. His connections end up being his guiding light and he saves everyone. He talks to Sylvie and she makes him confront that. He knows she's being selfish and she knows he is too. So she makes him admit it. He wants his friends back. He saves his friends and goes back to the loom. He doesn't care about all of reality, he cares about the people who care about him.

He learns and endures and gets them where they need. He learns that the loom won't work and then learns why. HWR always had a plan. If Loki wants everyone safe he has to kill Sylvie. He has to kill the person who made him capable of getting to this point. So he refuses. He beats HWR at his own game.

He goes to talk to Sylvie and explain what's happening. She tells him what she believes and it's what gets him to do what works to save everyone he cares for. They have to have free will. They have to fight back. If he kills her they'll never have that. Loki knows he doesn't want to let anyone make another call for him it's what's happened all eternity and he knows Lokis are always tortured. So he listens and finds another way. He goes to talk to him most reliable and consistent person. Mobius tells him what Mobius needed to know. He tells him what Loki needs to know. That the glorious purpose he wanted to make all the pain he suffered worth it, what Odin wanted, what Thanos made him seek, what he sought when he had no one, that its more pain for his already tortured soul. Loki knows that Lokis are destined to lose but they always survive. He makes the hard call. He wants his friends safe. He wants everyone he loves in all existence safe, even if it hurts. So he knows what he has to do. He takes one last look at them all then one last look at the 2 people who made it truly possible. "For you. For all of us." He breaks the loom, gathers the dying timelines and breathes life into the multiverse and sits alone atop his glorious purpose. It was never about everyone. It was always about him, and what he wanted. He knew there was no way to get what he wanted, so he did the next best thing he could. He saved his friends and took the heavy crown of his glorious purpose because at least then he can see them and know they're okay and safe. He saved the people who saved him. Everyone else was just convenient.

[earth-scented]

Lol, you did not respond to any of the points given in your last post (except 2 and 1 was in the tags), just the comments referring to you. Is this you refusing to debate?

I will say, career destroying move would not be outing Cody and Satori, they don't need Satori's connections. They already have big connections with people like Zak Bagans (who is also an asshole I grant you) and all their collabs.

What would be far more career destroying would be to lose all credibility and be labelled frauds and fakers. They would lose a lot (or even all) of their subscribers, they would lose all their collabs, all their videos would be questioned far more as fake which could lead to them being demonetised if people then start reporting the videos for being misleading/false. Places would refuse them entry like they used to before they became viewed as credible, serious ghost hunters (want to point out Ghost Files gets rejected access to a lot of places for this exact reason, no one takes them seriously)

Their career would literally be completely over if they were caught to be involved with this. Worse that would happen if they weren't involved and ended up outing Cody and Satori is they'd lose that connection and her daddy would maybe block a few places access to them. But their credibility would still be with them and they'd still be able to continue on doing what they've been doing.

Also that anon stated clearly they agree with you that cody and satori are frauds, they just disagree that SnC are in on it so your last statement is not what they're debating with you.

There is nothing to debate. Until things unfold, there's literally nothing to be said that hasn't been said already at least on my part. You are being ignorant on purpose. I referred to what I wanted to, you're just skimming through it because it touches on points you don't wanna talk about.

You have some valid points and sure maybe you're right and SnC aren't in on it. Would be amazing if that turned out to be true, I would gladly stand corrected. Right now I'm of different opinion. I believe everyone can handle difference in opinion, so can you. Agree to disagree and time will tell as it always does.

If you want a few more brain puzzles to think about:

they never channeled any family members for Bella because none of her personal info is online. Everything else they channeled is available online through google, obituary and family tree search. Nothing mystical there.

Suddenly there's Abigail, a new character who plays into the "love" narrative, who conveniently never appeared in all the years the house was being intensely investigated by A LOT of people including the previous owners. New management new spirits i guess 🤷🏽‍♀️

Terri the spirit, who famously spelled her name wrong? It happened because the online name also has an error. Why on earth would a person spell their name wrong. Someone half assed the research, more likely.

There are waivers, liability forms, most importantly NDAs that have to be signed especially if you're a content creator renting a house for a week of filming. All the content that's to be published needs to be approved by the house owners/management. Given how CS are making big bank for the house brand (especially now with all the hype) i still believe what i said: if they weren't in on it then, they are now.

These are just some of the blatantly obvious things to think about, but I have a feeling many people would rather not.

[slayerchick303]

I've been thinking about the characters in QAF and how I relate to each of them. It's part of why the show is so great.

●Brian Kinney- I completely agree with his utter contempt for society's expectations of us. I feel the same about his thoughts on marriage (and somewhat on his opinion regarding romantic relationships), but I'm not judgemental about people who disagree with us like he is. I also hate to appear vulnerable. His relationship with blood relatives and found family is also similar to mine. Not to mention, we're both cynical and stubborn. I'm with early Brian: uncredited guest appearances are the only part I want to play in a kid's life. I don't relate to his Ayn Rand worship at all. That's total garbage.

●Justin Taylor- His age gap start was pretty much my experience, too. Though mine was a 13 year gap, and a much more problematic age range (I was 14 and the guy 27). Fortunately, mine only went on for a weekend as he went back to Italy, and I went home from the camp I was at. Thankfully, I couldn't respond to the 2 letters he sent me, so he stopped writing to me. Justin was simultaneously braver and dumber than I was in regards to that. As a disabled person, I also really relate to Justin's disability journey. I have traumatic brain injury, a degenerative neuromuscular disease, etc, so that part of his story really resonates with me. Also, his being especially studious while simultaneously making some wild recreational choices as a teen (mine were early teen years, though). I don't want marriage, children, stables, or a pool, though.

●Emmett Honeycutt- Emmett is the person I aspire to be. I literally named my dog after him. Emmett is such a good man. He's the ultimate defender and champion of people he loves. He refuses to be anyone other than himself, and he supports others in being true to themselves. I identify with his devotion to his friends and his refusal to tolerate people who harm his or other's well-being. If I were given a large inheritance, I'd do the exact same thing that Emmett did with it. I wish I could be as confident and optimistic as Emmett.

●Michael Novotny- I love Michael with my whole heart. I have similar creative interests to Michael. I used to turn a blind eye to people mistreating me like he does. I spent years bending over backward to defend people who would never do it for me. I don't want kids or to get married, though I do love Ben. Ben is superior to David in every single way. I 100% relate to Michael's "nerdy" interests. At least once a week, Hal and I will geek out about comic books/movies. If it's not with me, then Hal does so with someone else. That's pretty much the only thing Hal and Michael have in common. As an aside, a few months ago, I convinced Hal to get an AI to write a new episode of QAF for us when he has time (which knowing his hectic schedule may never happen). If Hal can get me the scripts for every episode, I'll do it myself.

●Ted Schmidt- As much as I want to be Emmett, and I feel like Michael, I know I'm season 1 Ted. I have zero self-esteem. No, less than zero. I have -1,000 self-esteem. My interests and professional ambitions couldn't be further from Ted's, though I do love opera.

●Melanie Marcus- I love Melanie. I share her desire for true justice. Her disgust at hypocrisy is mild in comparison to my own. She doesn't suffer fools and loves fiercely. I'm like her in that I'll defend the rights of someone even if they make my blood boil with anger.

●Lindsey Peterson- I relate to Lindsey's artistic nature and her devotion to lifting up the community. Lindsey also hoping time and time again that she'll be treated well despite all evidence and experience showing her that'll never happen was absolutely me, once upon a time. Thankfully, I've mostly gotten over that. The whole maternal thing I could not relate to less. I have zero desire to have children. Children are fine in small doses, then they can be given back to their parents.

●Debbie Novotny- Everyone deserves a parent like Debbie. I'm like her in that I can be... course and sometimes crass. I enjoy slapping a loved one upside the head to show affection. If you hurt someone I love, I will destroy you. My mouth occasionally gets me in trouble. I'll say, "I told you so to someone's face." I don't know how she has the energy to do everything she does though. She's a true hero and mom to everyone in the community.

I'd love to see how all of you feel, too. How do you relate to each of these characters? Are there other QAF characters that you think should be on this list? Are there any people you can't relate to at all?

[anothanobody]

I agree with you, Mai. A happy, utopic ending was unlikely in AOT from the start. I understand that the ending was rushed, but to me it conveys perfectly the message AOT was trying to send from the beginning, the cycle of hatred never ends, wars never end, exactly how it happens in real life as you pointed out.

What I disagree with is this widespread sense in the fandom that Eren died for nothing and his actions were innocuous because in the end Paradis was destroyed all the same. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe Eren ever said his goal was to stop the cycle of hatred and the wars. His goals were: that his friends survived and lived happy lives; that, in his words, he gave Paradis “a fighting chance”; and end the Power of the Titans by freeing Ymir Fritz through his own sacrifice at Mikasa’s sword. He accomplished all three.

Remember, the war we see in the end was many many decades after our main characters passed away. We can’t even quantify how far in the future that is. We’ve seen, however, that Mikasa, Armin, Levi etc. lived happy lives and died of natural causes without wars and that Shiganshina District developed into a modern society. That took literal decades, so Eren did give Paradis peace and “a fighting chance” for many generations. To expect that the Rumbling would give eternal worldwide peace is naïve, in my opinion, not even Eren expected that. Eren also freed the Eldians from the titan curse so that they couldn’t be controlled by the Founder nor turned into cannibal mindless titans again.

We also don’t know what the war in Shiganshina in the last panels was about. A lot of people somehow speculate that this was Marley, or the rest of the world exacting revenge on Paradis for the Rumbling, and therefore Eren failed completely. This was never stated. That could very well be only a civil war that destroyed a district. Like parts of Syria are destroyed. Or the war only partially destroyed Paradis, in this case Shiganshina, much like how it’s only Eastern Ukraine that’s in shambles due to the Russian invasion, it’s not like the whole country is completely, hopelessly destroyed. We don’t know what happened. It could very well be that only Shiganshina got destroyed – like, you know, what happened in canon in the first arcs – while the rest of the island thrived on. Or Paradis got destroyed, but maybe at that point in the future the Eldians had other settlements, be it in in other parts of the island or even in the former Marleyan territories (which, if I recall correctly, were the actual birthplace of the Eldian Empire, so it wouldn’t be unusual for people to move there after the Rumbling destroyed everything). We just don’t know.

And although I personally believe Mikasa did get married do another man, like Jean or some random NPC and moved on without forgetting Eren (which is what he wanted, he said that word for word), we’re also not sure this happened. We got one panel with Mikasa and another man. That could be Jean or Armin or anyone else, we got no way of knowing, only of speculating. Some people have pointed out that the flowers on Mikasa’s casket symbolize innocence and virginity, as if she lived a spinster’s life, which could also very well be true and beautiful, if not bittersweet.

People make a lot of assumptions to hate on the ending, which I do not agree with. You and everyone else can throw their lot and disagree, though. To me, what bothered me a bit in the finale was the whole Ymir Fritz – Eren – Mikasa cause and effect relationship that proved so vital and was so little elaborated. I think it should’ve been better explored in previous chapters or foreshadowed Ymir’s character and choice. In the same vein, I think Ymir’s relationship with the Founder’s power should’ve been better explained also, it was weird seeing this whole “only the royal family can control the Founder” but then Eren suddenly can, which implies that only Ymir can control it… but maybe she’s dependent on some stronger will… you know, this dynamic is fine, I like it, but it came out of nowhere in my opinion. Anyway, that’s my critique.

But it was showed that Eren asked Ymir (the founder and controller of everything) for her power, so that’s given. that’s consistent. it’s not sudden. she’s sharing it through Eren which is why we see her reflection in the panels in the last chapters. she’s present. like 134 side by side or 133 with Ramzi, because in itself Ymir is not real, she’s a consequence of Paths, she still controls it but she gave agency to Eren to take revenge for her on the world that she cannot step foot on. I do agree that this trio needed more tho, while i also get the lack of words and agency for Ymir is what make Ymir at all.

his goals can speculated honestly because he never said all of them out loud, the only thing we know is that he didn’t do it for Eldia alone, but seeing the last bits in 139 and 138 he’s giving his friends a chance and for Ymir to be free as well, which essentially ends the cycle of royals that he was avoiding all throughout the timeskip (him protecting historia). so we can say that’s also a goal. he more than anyone should know that the cycle cannot end, so i do think he’s actually just giving them time and that was the purpose kind of.

for the rest i agree, i do have an open mind on mikasa’s ending honestly, she’s a grown woman and if after a decade she decided to stay alone or get with another, i’m fine either way. i’m on the opinion that the man with her is Armin just coming to visit.