#me still holding out hope for a reboot of the show

[heartfullofleeches]

[Angst]

Childhood Best Friends with a small age gap- two or three years, nothing crazy- but it means everything as they age.

It was hard for them to make friends their age when you first met. They liked things that were too "childish" for their peers - things another child who lived not to far away adored. They'd seen each other on the way to school, but they didn't interact frequently due to their difference in grade.

Until that day-

"Whoa...Cool backpack. You like that show too?"

"Thanks... I'm thinking of getting a new one though... Do you want me to ask my parents if you can have it?"

"What?! It looks fine to me... Why are you getting rid of it?"

"My friends called me a baby... I won't be able to go back to class without everyone laughing at me unless I get a better one."

"That's silly!.... It's on right now... Wanna watch it with me?"

The two were inseparable from then on- School hindered the time they had to see each other each morning, but as soon as it let out - both ran to meet with their new best friend. The elder of the pair was often mocked and teased for their choice, but they could hardly care anymore. They had someone who'd stick by their side to the very end - childish fixations and all.

Years went on and they made new friends. It happens. More obstacles began piling up throughout - chipping away at the few hours they scarcely had to begin with. Studying, Hobbies, balancing days between hanging out with other friend groups and the person who once meant the world. They tried to make things works, but nothing went to plan-

"Is it alright if Y/n comes with us tonight?"

"Y/N? Aren't they're too young to see this movie? We shouldn't be responsible if they have night terrors or something.."

"They aren't that young... Are they?"

They never thought about it before. You were so close in age as kids it never hit them that as you grew that little gap drew a bridge between you - and it was easier to let you go than finding an alternative.

"Hey, Dude! Are we still on for this weekend? I can't believe they're making a reboot after all this time!.."

"Are my messages going through? You haven't responded in a while... I saw you outside school yesterday and yelled your name, but....."

"Did I do something wrong?"

"Hey."

"You're hanging out with them today? Did you forget about my birthday?...."

"You removed me off your list of friends...We're still friends, right?"

"Let me alone. I'm sick of being your babysitter. Go find friends your own age and stay away from mine."

And that was the end of things.

College cames around and their live became relatively tame. Their thoughts drifted to that childhood friend of theirs every now and again, but between school and partying with the new friends they had made - those memories faded to the back of their mind.

An acquaintance asks them to help show some new faces around the campus. One sticks out to them amongst the crowd. It's you. What do they say to you after all these years? You don't look sad to see them. Nor angry. Intact - you look..

Relieved.

Pulling them aside at the end of the tour, you free yourself from the burden that's weighted down on you since they left you.

"I'm sorry."

"It was never my intention to hold you back. Overtime I realized I was just that annoying kid who clung onto you because I thought you were my first and only friend...When you never felt that way about me. I'm sorry for taking that away from you. If our paths cross again, I promise I won't even look at you."

After being abandoned by your best friend- the person you looked up to most, you matured well beyond your years in hopes that would make you like them again. Overtime, you gave up that goal, but others could see how you've changed.

"Isn't that.... Y/n?.."

"Oh, man- It is! You guys were glued at the hip before we became teens."

"They're..kinda cute... Do you still have their number?"

All this time apart, a feeling long forgotten resurged inside them. The need to protect you. You didn't know these people like they did. You shouldn't be going to parties with them, getting to know and befriend them. They'll only hurt you - worse than they had. They never should have said goodbye to you- They should have allowed the feelings they were so scared to have, but had always been there develop and blossom naturally until you both were adults ready to move on to that stage in your friendship.

They know you best. No matter how much you grow as a person, you're still the same.

"That's a cute Keychain, Y/n!"

"Thanks! I've loved this show since I was a kid!"

They'll prove it to you.

[xiakato]

YUJIN- Fantasize(M)

Yujin’s pov

There he is again, his perfect face, hair and height. He’s just my type, the way he smiles, he’s just ugh.  The thoughts of putting it down on him day and night runs through her mind but she knows she needs to hold back.

“Yujin?” His voice rings throughout her ears, sending shivers down her spine.

“Oh Hi Y/n oppa, h-how are you?” I smile at him as he walks up to me, towering over me, his cologne invading my senses. He smells so good.

“Oh I’m better now that I see you,”  He smiles as he takes my hand and kisses the back of it. I blush looking up at him.

“O-oh stop it Y/n you’re making me blush,” I giggle as his thumb glides across my hand softly, “So what brings you here today Y/n?” 

“Mom asked me to drop by to give something to Gaeul,” He says as he walks over to her, dropping the bag on her lap. 

“You should stay for the performance Y/n,” I say to him hoping he will say yes.

“Sure I have some time I can stay and watch,” He smiles as the staff comes to tell us it’s time to start the performance of our song for the music show so we hurry to the stage and Y/n makes his way to the crowd. 

“Yujinnie I have a question for you,” Gaeul says as we walk and get our mics on. 

“What’s up?” I ask as I start to sip on some water.

“Do you like my brother?” She asks me, I spit out my water, looking over at her, she stares at me blankly as I nod shyly, she smiles, “I’ll be rooting for you but if you hurt him so help me god.” 

“I won’t hurt him, I’ll never dream of it,” I smile at her as we make our way onto the stage, my eyes racing through the crowd looking for him. My eyes land on him, his eyes meeting mine, making my heart skip beat. I look away trying to calm myself down as we get to our places. 

Third person POV 

Y/n watches on from the crowd, his eyes constantly on Yujin, the way she was on stage drew him in. His eyes travel around her body as she dances, luring him in even more. The song ends and he walks back to the waiting room, they come into the room shortly after and he praises each of them personally till he gets to Yujin and they just stand there staring at each other. 

“Just kiss already,” Rei blurts out, making the others burst out laughing, while the two of them blush, not breaking their eye contact. He makes his move giving her a quick peck on her lips, ‘soft’ he thinks to himself as he pulls away and quickly leaves the room, embarrassed of what he just did. Ignoring the squels that can make high school girls jealous, he rushes out of the building, his mind racing with what he just did. Kissing her hand is different from kissing her lips. But they were soft and supple.  Hearing footsteps behind him, he looks behind him and it’s Yujin. She smiles when he looks at her and she runs up to him and kisses him.

“I’ll call you later okay?” She says as he just nods as his mind malfunctions. She giggles and runs back inside leaving him as his operating system reboots. He gets in his car trying to calm down his smile.  Driving back home, he crashes on the couch staring at the ceiling as she runs through his mind. Hours fly by without him noticing as his phone pings. He checks it, it’s Yujin asking if she can come over.He texts her back quickly and then sets his phone down and waits. Twenty minutes pass, when a knock on his door echoes through the entrance way. He gets up, running to the door, opening it up seeing her in her outfit from the stage. He smiles as he lets in her. 

“Last time I was here, it was for a celebration for our debut.” 

“It was, I made sure that this place was clean though that time. So sorry for the mess this time, work was hectic this past week so I didn’t really have time to clean.” 

“Oh it’s fine, it’s still somewhat clean,” She says as she lays on the couch and stretches, arching her back. He stares at her, his heart beating in his chest. 

“How was your schedule today?” He asks her as you get a glass of water to give to her.

“It was great, you being there for the music show today made it so much better,” She looks over at him, accepting the glass of water. 

“I’m glad that I could make your day better.”  

She smiles and drinks the water, he sits down in one of the chairs leaning back. Her eyes trace up his figure, flashes of him on top of her, deep inside of her going off in her mind. He looks at her, a few strands of his hair falling in front of his eyes. She gulps, staring at him, making up her mind. She stands up walking over to him straddling him. She giggles as his eyes widen at her sudden movement, she moves his hands onto her ass, “You can make it even better though.” 

“And how can I do that?” He asks her, as she wraps her arms around his neck as she fake ponders for a moment.

“Be mine Y/n, and only mine.” 

“Oka-” He gets cut off as she kisses him, the lust and passion is equal as her hips start to grind against his crotch. He squeezes her ass making her moan into the kiss. She pulls away from the kiss, a string of saliva working as a bridge between her mouth and his. She slides to the ground, getting onto her knees as she makes short work of his belt and trousers, pulling them down just enough to fish his cock out. 

She smiles, biting her lip as she starts to stroke it, “Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about this cock of yours?”  He shakes his head no, “So fucking much,” She peppers kisses up and down his shaft, “This big fat cock destroying me,” She takes him into her mouth, her eyes never leaving his as she takes him deeper and deeper into her mouth, pulls him out letting his cock glide against her tongue, “You taste so fucking good.” 

“Keep sucking baby,” He mutters out, making her giggle as she keeps stroking his cock spreading her spit. 

“I have an even better idea,” she scoots back a little pulling him to his feet, smiling as his cock swings in front of her, “Face fuck me.” 

“Are you sure?” He asks, his hands already gripping onto her head, she nods, getting him back into her mouth. He pushes as deep down her throat as she will let him. Her gags fill the room as she rests her hands on his thighs, she keeps looking at him. Well trying to keep looking at him, as she taps his thigh making him pull out. 

“Fuck,” She coughs a little, saliva cascading from her mouth, “Again,” She takes him back into her mouth allowing him to use her mouth for his pleasure, she feels her juices running down her leg, soaking up her panties.

“What a needy bitch you are,” He grunts as she gags trying to get him deeper in her throat. She pulls away again coughing, spreading her spit on his cock. 

“Fuck yes, only for you Daddy,” The smile that hasn’t left her face since she has got here, “I’m a needy slut for you.” 

He pulls Yujin to her feet pushing her to the couch with her ass facing him as he rips her pants, “you’re drenched,” Y/n pulls her panties to the side, setting his eyes on her glistening pussy for the first time, rubbing his tip against her clit, she moans softly and whines.

“Don’t tease me Daddy please just fuck me, use me please Daddy I need it,” She pleads wiggling her ass. Y/n can’t help but to chuckle and smile at the needness of her, slapping her ass and hearing her whimper. He slides into her, she tightens around him, “Fuck yes, give it to me I need all of you daddy,” He slams the rest in making her scream out in pleasure, “FUCK YES!” he starts pounding her into the couch, her ass jiggling as he slams himself in and out of her, “Harder! break me daddy!” 

Y/n slams harder and harder into her, pulling her hair, “You’re fucking mine bitch,” He growls as he keeps going with one goal in mind and that’s to break her. Her legs start shaking and her moans echoes through the room. 

“I-I-I’m going to c-c-cum,” She cries out as she squirts all over the couch, making a puddle on the floor. He pulls out and she squirts again, her legs shake as she falls over onto the couch trying to catch her breath and waiting for her body to calm down. She peeks over at him, her eyes trained onto his cock now glistening from her juices. Y/n picks her up walking her to the room, dropping her on the bed and spreading her legs wide and pushing them up towards her head, “U-use me,” she tells him even though she knows that he is going to. Pushing himself back into her, Yujin is just as tight as she was before she was stretched out, Y/n rests his forehead onto hers as he fucks her hard making thighs ripple, making her stare into his eyes, “I love you I love you I love you,” She says repeating as she cums again flooding the bed. She feels him cum deep in her, filling her womb, “so warm daddy.” 

“Let's get you cleaned up,” Y/n pulls out of her and watches his cum drip out of her, he smiles as he helps her get out of her clothes and gives her some of his to wear and quickly changes the sheets. 

“I love you Y/n.” 

“I love you Yujin.”

[stuffeddeer]

literally you can completely ignore this bc idk if ur taking asks rn but..

dazai giving reader a flower and them just taking a bite out of it <3

(can be reversed bc let's be fr he is hungry)

Eating flowers with Dazai | Bungo Stray Dogs | Dazai x reader

i’m always taking asks i’m just not always doing them yk lolll hope this is alright anon :)

Dazai was a bit spooked. He’d never really received flowers from someone before - there was that time Chuuya had purchased a bouquet Dazai carried while they were undercover, and that time Kunikida carried a lone flower in that Dazai ended up stealing, of course. Except, no time had ever been genuine. Dazai had never received flowers expressing gratitude, romantic affection, platonic camaraderie, nothing of the sort.

Seeing you holding out a neatly wrapped yellow rose, thin orange cellophane cradling the finely cut plant, with no ulterior motives had his brain short circuiting.

Gesturing it for him to take, you say, “I thought it looked happy. Joyful, or whatever - ‘cause yellow is such a bright color. I thought you might enjoy it. Made me think of you.”

He did.

He so did. How was he supposed to quell his thrumming heart? Muscle beating out of control for just a moment, he stared down at the thoughtful gift in panic. This occurrence had never, well, occurred, and Dazai had no clue how to proceed. The funny jokester of the Armed Detective Agency wasn’t used to displaying emotions so freely, and he especially hadn’t been able to at his job before. Standing on the sidewalk of a quiet intersection, his short circuited brain rebooted all together.

When his mind came to, Dazai’s head was buried in the cellophane and petals were lodged back in his mouth. The taste was… floral, obviously. Maybe a little citrusy. His head pulled back, standing at full height once again as he chewed and swallowed every last petal on his tongue.

It’s no wonder people don’t gift him flowers.

“You just ate…it?” Dazai whispers, lips slightly parted in confusion.

Staring up at him, you slowly open your mouth, tiny white petals dribbling onto the ground. “Sorry. There’s still half left, if you’re hungry!” With a kind smile, assured that he’s merely upset you didn’t share, you lift the daisy Dazai had gifted you to show off that you had only eaten half of the flower’s petals.

Confounded, Dazai decides to sidestep the real question here and instead ask, “…Is it any good?”

You hum for a second, clearly pondering over the answer before nodding. “It’s a little bitter. Like, spicy? But that’s not the right word…”

Dazai raises his hand, gently pushing the half-petaled flower closer toward you. “It’s all yours; I got it for you.”

The grin you showcase before gobbling up the remaining half makes Dazai sigh. It was all worth it, he supposes.

[maxwellatoms]

How are your feelings about the B&M Cosmic Horror Musical now? Are you still holding out hope for a possible pick up, or is that looking unlikely now?

I know a lot of artists who'd love to work on a fanmation of it, but obviously if there's still a chance to make it you should

Ostensibly, the reason "Destroy Us All" didn't happen was because CN felt like modern audiences wouldn't know who Billy & Mandy were, rendering any need for a wrap-up, finale, or revival moot. So the first thing I would need to do would be to come up with a series reboot for Billy & Mandy and sell that to Cartoon Network.

Series reboots are usually pretty gross and sad, but I actually managed to come up with something that not only felt new, but actually got me really excited about a whole new slew of B&M adventures. I showed that to CN and they said that maybe if Genndy and Craig's reboots did well enough, they'd be able to find the money. Maybe.

That was... two years ago? From what I understand, those reboots are all currently in limbo.

That all puts "Destroy Us All" maybe five to seven years away at the earliest. I think it's safe to assume it will never be made unless the animation industry has some sort of instantaneous reverse-shake-up.

I still haven't dropped the script for Destroy Us All or the bible for the reboot here yet, so I guess I do have an eensy-weensy amount of hope. Likely a result of my hopium addiction.

[thatone16216]

and I'm back to thinking about shit that pisses me off. A topic on my top 10 list? That 70s Show Season 8 with Jackie and Hyde.

Obviously, say what you want about Danny Masterson, but Jackie and Hyde were supposed to be end game. You're telling me that they got a new show writer who decided "I don't like the relationship that the show took five fuckin seasons to develop so Imma just throw that shit out the window and have Hyde marry a stripper and Jackie end the series with Fez, then grow up to marry Kelso in the reboot?"

Yes, the marriage of Jackie and Kelso probably had everything to do with Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher's real life marriage, and most likely the Danny Masterson trial (he wasn't convicted at time of filming and at that point it was still technically "alleged") but that doesn't excuse Season 8.

They were in love. They were in love before they knew they were in love. There is no way that one miscommunication would have ended this entire relationship that, honestly, has probably been forming since Hyde took her to prom.

They both displayed character growth in their relationship that wouldn't have existed if they weren't together. Jackie helped Hyde be more in touch with his feelings and allow himself to actually FEEL. It's like Eric said, before Jackie, he was some pissed off guy living in his basement. Jackie made him happy.

Their relationship didn't revolve strictly around their sex like the relationship between Jackie and Kelso seemed to. Hyde was also always there for her, even before they were dating, when they "hated each other" Jackie went to Hyde for comfort. Whether it's because he had the calming presence and wouldn't say something meaningless to try to make her feel better or the fact that she deep down cares about him a lot I'm not sure, but you can't deny that fact.

In season 8, after their breakup, I really thought that they would get back together again. That this was a (though rather large) blip in their relationship. But it wasn't. They stuck with the shitty storyline they developed around Hyde marrying Sam the Stripper, and they shoved Jackie into Fez's arms. The way they made that one happen sucked too. Fez was always up Jackie's ass about getting with him, even while she was in relationships (though he backed off considerably when she was with Hyde), but he didn't really change at all. Fez was still just as perverted as when we first met him when the two get together.

But other than that, Jackie and Hyde also became things they both spent seasons 1-7 trying to avoid becoming. Jackie's bitchiness and shallowness came back worse than ever, and Hyde pretty much became a worse stoner/drunk. Plus, even when they "hated each other" in the series, they were still civil. In Season 8, they just were downright nasty to each other, and it honestly was painful to watch.

Even in background moments during the series, they were always holding each other or talking or generally being close. They truly loved each other, and I think the show throwing that out was one of the main things that led to Season 8 sucking (the other being fuckin Randy)

Jesus this was long-winded, but I'm passionate about this fuckin show, and specifically Jackie and Hyde, so that's probably why. Hope you enjoyed my ranting!

[lahazywriter]

Meet and Greet (Reboot Wally x reader)

Inspired heavily by the TikTok made by @bloodrediscream. Love your work!!!

The convention center was vibrant as ever. People in costumes, food stalls, art booths and even meet and greets. My eyes got lost in all the banners advertising the meet ups for different celebrities, artists, and creators, while my smile grew wider as I recognized a few names that I didn't see last time I checked the schedules. I felt an aggressive pull on my hand dragging me back to reality. My smile faded as I saw the annoyed look on his face.

If he's going to have an attitude all day why did he join me. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes and continued forward. "This is amazing! So many of my favorite creators are here!" I looked up at my boyfriend hoping to rub off some of my excitement on him.

He just looked down at me and shrugged, his face remaining annoyed. I released a heavy sigh and pulled my hand away from his. "I think I'm going to explore on my own. We can meet back up in a couple hours," I held up my phone while walking away. "Just text me, when you're ready."

I spent the next hour perusing the aisles of all the different booths. There were so many ideas in one spot it would take me the entire week to go through everything. Even with that much time I still have doubts that I'd get through all of it. I felt a vibration in my pocket and took out my phone. I had 3 missed calls and 17 messages. I didn't hold back the eye roll and set my phone to 'Do Not Disturb' after sending a message of where I was.

The crowd for this Meet and Greet was insane. There were girls screaming, some crying, all were hourding the lines to the booth. My curiosity got the best of me as I joined the line wanting to see what all this commotion was about.

To my surprise the line was moving smoothly. It didn't take long until I could read the banner that said Welcome Home, each letter having it's own color. The name sounded familiar, I remember reading about a reboot of it happening a little while back. I recalled babysitting for my boyfriend's siblings and how they'd beg for me to put this show on. I racked my brain to remember any specific episode but nothing was coming to mind.

"NEXT" the loud voice shook me to my core. My thought bubble was abruptly popped as I stumbled to move forward. I looked at the security guard as he ushered me to go past the velvet rope he had undone. I felt panic erupt inside me. When did I get to the front? Who am I even meeting? I don't have anything for them to sign.

I tried to calm myself down with deep breathes as I moved closer to the table. My calming methods were immediately ruined as I looked at the man at the booth. I felt blush warm up my cheeks. He was devishly handsome, I couldn't blame the girls I saw earlier. He had messy blue hair, that had been done up in an old hair style. His rsmile was sweet but his eyes…those are a different story. For some reason I felt as if he was looking directly through me, reading my thoughts, trying to uncover my soul. It sent a cold shiver down my spine.

I laughed off my nervousness and tried to avoid his eyes. He cleared his throat and spoke.

"Hello neighbor! Thank you for coming to the meet and greet! Do you have something for me to sign?" He sounded tired. His delivery was perfect almost as if he just started the day and his energy was at it's peak, but I could feel the exhaustion behind it.

"You look tired."

"Excuse me?"

My eyes widen at my mistake, I felt my face flush and grow warm. I wanted to rip out my voice box and stomp on it so I could never speak again. Instead the word vomit began.

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking and a thought slipped through. You look wonderful, not exhausted. Very handsome. Just great, perfection even. Oh you have pictures, can I have one?" I picked one of the photos off the table, and handed it to him. He signed it quickly before giving me a smile bright enough to grow flowers. "I hope your day is going well…Wally."

He chuckled before responding. "Of course it is, I get to meet all my wonderful supporters and fans." He held out his hand for me to shake and I did so.

"Well, to be honest. I've never actually watched your show."

"Oh?" Wally stopped moving his hand and looked at me with confusion. I felt my hands start to get clammy. I tried to gently pull my hand away but Wally held it firmly.

"B-but I am definitely a fan and will be binge watching it as soon as I get home. Thank you for time!" I finished shaking his hand and waved before leaving the booth. I wanted to die from embarrassment. Why did I even go up there? I've never even sat down and watched his show in it's entiretity. I ran a hand through my hair to calm my never ending thoughts. I looked at the picture of himself that he signed.

"Show me your smile" - Wally Darling

His signature was perfection, I wouldn't believe he didn't just copy and paste it 1000 times over if I didn't see him sign it right in front of me. Did I smile at all when I went up there or did I just stand there like a fool? Wait. Why did I care? I have a boyfriend. Oh shit I have a boyfriend. I pulled out my phone, over 30 missed calls. I immediately called him back. He picked up on the first ring, and started yelling at me through the speakers, why didn't I answer him, why was I ignoring him, blah blah blah. I held my heavy sigh back and told him where I was. He responded by hanging up the phone. I looked at the ended call for moment before putting it back in my pocket, I guess that means he was coming to me.

There was more fangirling happening, as a bunch of girls started forming a circle around who I can only assume to be Wally. I looked over there and he appeared to be singing and dancing to Shakira. I almost burst out into laughter, at how good it was. Guess there's a pretty good reason why he's on television. It was a cute sight. I sighed and looked at my autographed photo again. Wally Darling. Show you my smile? I looked up from my picture to see where he had gone, and found him in the middle of a crowd. I looked at the picture again before looking back up. To my surprise, he was already looking at me. His eyes were half lidded and as piercing as ever. The cold shiver came back as he looked at me. At least I thought he was. Without realising I followed the command on my autograph and gave him a smile, or his general direction at least.

I shook my head at my delusions and began to walk away to find my boyfriend. At least I can say I met THE Wally Darling. I see my boyfriend hanging around the booth selling drinks when I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and see Mr. Darling himself standing before me. I gave him a wave and a confused look.

"Uh hi? Did your meet and greet end?"

"No, but I forgot to add something to your autograph. Couldn't let you get away without it."

"Oh. I didn't realise." I handed him back the photo trying not to linger on the idea of our fingers brushing against each other. I watch as he quickly scribbles something in one of the corners. He doesn't hand the photo back and instead he gives me a sly grin.

"So are you single? Did you come here by yourself?" He looks at me with those same piercing eyes. I wanted to say yes really badly. Which is awful. I mentally slapped myself to restart my thinking process. It took me a moment to answer but by the time I could string together a sentence, my boyfriend had already found me. He put a hand on my shoulder and tried to look as intimidating as possible. I rolled my eyes and shrugged his hand off my shoulder. I looked at Wally with an apologetic smile.

"No, I'm not."

Wally didn't respond, his gaze was on my boyfriend. It felt sinister like he was trying to kill him with a look. I mentally laughed at the idea. I'm just overthinking things. I nudged my boyfriend in the side, so he would stop this dick sizing contest. Wally finally tore his gaze from my boyfriend and looked at me with a smile. He handed me my photo, it had one of the corners folded in. He gave me a quick wink before turning on his heel and heading back to his booth. I turned around and noticed my boyfriend had went back to the drinking booth. I started to walk over to him, and unfolded the corner of my autograph. My internal thermometer broke as I saw the 10 digit number followed by xo. I folded the entire photo and put it into my pocket.

"That was some meet and greet."

[soaps-mohawk]

i’ve been following this story since chapter 3 and it has only gotten better and better. you are an incredible writer and the way you string words together genuinely moves a piece of my soul. i’ve laughed, i’ve cried, i’ve gasped, i’ve even screamed out in anger all for this wonderful story. some people see the things that ‘mega does and will say that it “doesn’t makes sense” but i can say that i would in fact act like that.

the way you write simon specifically really speaks to me because you aren’t in a hurry to make him all lovey or automatically accepting of ‘mega (who by all accounts is a drastic change). he is slowly opening up and showing who he is but he still has a long ways to go.

i feel like you really understand trauma and the effects that it can have on someone.

i’m really excited to see how you write all of the boys’ reactions to the cameras, because of course they are going to be drastically different between the four of them.

congratulations by the way on your new job! i hope the best for you and all that you wish to accomplish!!

thank you so much for all that you’ve done

i can’t wait to read more

-🍁

Awww 🥺 omg thank you so much!! This is so amazing 💚💚 definitely something I needed to hear right now. I know I say that a lot, but it's true. Helps me fight the inner gremlin thoughts.

Simon is so slow burn coded that man would wait weeks, even months to even hold your hand. He would not be the type to fall fast, even if we're going strictly canon reboot Simon and not including '09 Simon's backstory in there. The line during the Alone mission when he says not to trust anyone?? Yeah.

Unfortunately the trauma piece comes from experience. It sucks and I'm slowly healing from it but I have a long way to go. That's part of this story though, a way to get some of the trauma out. A lot of it has weasled its way in, some things I didn't even notice until I was thinking about them. Yeah, it's experience and understanding just how badly it can affect you and change you.

It's going to be interesting, I'll say that much 🤭 no other spoilers though.

And thank you!! It's such a relief honestly. A huge stressor has been solved for now. 💚💚💚

[inthedarkshadows000]

SneakPeak#101.......

From the story I might never write.

"I would like to take offence to that. I too can be that and more." He said and moved forward, into my personal bubble. His eyes never leaving mine. My fingers that held the cigarette to my lips froze right there and my smirk dropped.

"Inhale yn...." he whispered, too close for my brains to function. Like a puppet on strings I did what he said and inhaled.

"Good girl, let go now." And like a braindead person I did. My brain had turned to mush but I didn't care because when i saw him inhale the smoke that left my lips, leaving not a tendril behind, I felt my brain short-circuit.

His lips moved right next to my ear and I heard him exhale while murmuring "give me a chance to show how much of a gentle-man I can be."

Sir, can you not. I am already in love with you why give me a heart attack with such stunts.

OK, deep breat- no no deep breath. Can't let his unholy cologne invade any further.

So let's reboot. Brain fucking reboot. Right what were taking about.... hard no wait gentle- gentleman!! right!!!

He had moved back to where his nose touched mine, probably watching me short circuit. He had a smirk plastered on his gorgeous face that had to leave because I will ALWAYS  have the last word!!!!

"What say princess?" He WAS LAUGHING AT ME. Well not all out but his tone was mocking.

"The princess wants to actually tell you about her observation." I set my chin in defiance and looked straight back. " So please correct me if I am wrong but your manners, although genuine, are mainly a cover for your inner freak. You show the world how calm and intelligent you are, no doubt you definitely are, but that not all there is to you, is there?" I had taken him by surprise. His eyes wide, he moved back a tiny bit in shock and I took that moment to move into his space.

I traced his face with my finger that still had the cigg.  Starting from where his bangs fell perfectly on his forehead and moved along his cheek as I continued to whisper "Its because of that hidden menace that you click so perfectly with gojo. You might be tamer but just a lethal, aren't ya?" finalling reaching his chin, I held it between my thumb and forefinger and tugging him closer.

I watched a his eyes few bigger and bigger and a prominent blush coating his cheeks. He opened and closed his mouth like fish and it only made me want to tease him more. So I did.

I leaned close to his ear and continued "Don't worry, this personality of your is the reason why you have brownie points over the rest of them."

Leaning back into my seat, I took a gulp of my coffee and smiled sweetly at him, while he stayed right where I was holding him. This made me busy out laughing. "Please tell me I haven't broken you, geto" I couldn't help but comment.

This made him jerk back into his seat and shake his head a little. "You are evil. I hope you know that" I just grinned cheekily at that.

"Also you might as well call me suguru. With you knowing everything from the show,  you are hardly a stranger."

"I agree I have watched the show but I do not think I know everything. Plus whatever I do know is something extremely generic and not to mention one sided. That doesn't make us familiar. Familiarity comes when information is exchanged. Willingly. Ask me to call you suguru when you think I deserve it. After all it's a privilege to be considered close to you, a privilege that I should earn, don't you think?" I winked at him playfully.

"I... thank you. I didn't realise I needed to hear that. I was feeling restless but hadn't realise it was because I felt invaded" He turned his face away to look out the balcony as he's said that.

I pursed my lips together in sympathy. "You'll feel better once you know what is shown in the show." And he nodded.

I avoided looking at him and annoyed a frayed string on my jeans as I mumbled on, "If it makes you feel better, my description of your personality is not something that is extremely highlighted. It's just one of the many theories people have."

His sudden booming laughter made me jump a little in my seat and look at him. 

He still sat facing the sky so only half his face was visible and what a beautiful half it was. The glow of the full moon made him look ethereal.

[lakecitysilenceme]

my digested thoughts on the reboot trailer!

ALFEA & FAIRIES

Starting off, i want to say that the animation looked very hard, and what i mean by that is that there is a lack of natural motion.

When bloom was riding her bike, it just didn't look very natural;

Also, in this scene the skirts and hair looked very stiff [but i won't take that much into my heart because it's a paused frame]; otherwise, i really love the textures!

And, Stella has her "staff' back! I guess it's not much of a staff now, as it's very small so it would be more appropriate to call it a Wand or a Scepter, but it's there!

I'm a little dissapoited with the background characters here because they all look very bland. Characters in the original were all so fun and unique that even background fairies, who never even spoke, were people's favourites because of their designs.

Through design, we got the gist that they had different personalities and that they all came from different planets all over the magical dimension, where different types of clothing were trendy. It breathed life into the universe without needing tiring exposition about it.

Here, their styles just look very similar to each other, and they all are quite boring.

On another note, i think Alfea looks very stunning as always, and i really do like the design of the castle. I just think it looks a little bit less unique to the original.

Also, this fairy's design looks extremely simple compared to the winx's transformation. This just lowkey makes me upset because, at least for the modern fairy transformations, the background girls always looked top-notch and even had more complex looking desings when compared to the winx.

+ a clearer look of her scepter > I think the intention behind this design was to make it look like the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross or Queen Mary II's Orb, but the colour choices and star at the bottom make it look a bit tacky. I don't hate the idea of the design, but i think a different colour scheme would have made it look more regal. And I say this because thinking back to her original staff, it was quite sleek and luxurious looking because of it.

THE SPECIALISTS!

The scene where they appear is so blurry and quick that there's not much to talk about, but i definitely enjoyed what could be seen during those 2 seconds.

Brandon being with his full body upside down, you go king! We can't see any of them that well, but Sky looks cute, even if he's blurry, and Brandom, they could never make me not like Brandom. Riven looks like he's scowling, so that's good for him.

Also, I think the details of the uniforms look very cool, but something about the Board is giving plastic toy for me. The ship also look alright and other then that, I love that they had some falir whilst coming out of it.

some quick design commentary

I still don't love their daily outfit designs; actually, i think i'm starting to dislike them even more.

Musa and Stella's faces still look very weird (I think for Stella using yellow eyeshadows really was a BAD choice)

I like that their exploring outifts hate different-looking bottoms and that all of them have their hair tied up in different ways [not sure what's going on with Bloom's bangs tho];

Also still on the exploring scene i love that Aisha is the one leading even tho Bloom is on scene :p

The Trix are honestly so iconic that i get very happy just by seeing them, even though i don't love theirs looks. They still look good, and I like that the bit with their initials looks that way, but something is off about the texture for me.

That was all from me. I didn't want to be very negative, and overall, i do think that it looks fine, y'know. And i do have high hopes for the storytelling and for it to be good!

Also, i don't think it needs to be just like the original series for it to be good, but I have set expectations. Because Winx Club was my childhood show, and now, as an adult looking back at it, I can see so many great aspects of the show that still hold up to this day.

And for me it just doesn't make sense how people back then could do such great things, and nowadays they can't produce something that's up to the same standars y'know [Winx Club Seasons 5-8, I'm looking at you].

Anyway, i'm very excited to watch it when it comes out. What are your thoughts?

[masonic-critical]

x - Double Toasted Interview Pre-Helluva Boss Prouction

Seeing vivzie flub her numbers and mouth over her """team""" within this video is very telling.

"40 or 50 people or so I think i would have to check and make sure on discord--we have sorta 10-ish people in my core team with my animators. I'm a main compositor with my friend while my background artist and cleanup team of 15 or so is just so-big it's so Huge its so large! We have so many people working on this project and just handling with so many key components over backgrounds and key framing the lip syncs, my background artists doing so much work. I feel like and hope people will really stay on"

Interviewee Joke: 'Oh how many animators do I have [again], no-oh god no!!!'

It's insane to think Helluva Boss has over 80+ animation credits which is definitely not a good thing. It's one thing in industry to have a large studio but it's another thing of collaborating artists coming and going to work on an ongoing series is not a good thing to flaunt. Even if your show has won two independent animation awards you should take pride over producing to actually make something good instead of flaunting the fact that you acknowledge the bare minimum of abuse, rape, misogyny, supremacy, classism, sexism, or gender critical writing fails face first in every episode.

Her favorite movies being Cat's Don't Dance/Who Framed Roger Rabbit and referencing BoJack Horseman even referencing that they anthropomorphize their themes being prejudice and STORYTELLING DEVICES, so what story is Helluva Boss even telling right now???? She claimed to even want to write about dark themes and mature adult topics about prejudice and yet has nothing to show for it after 6 years of nothing burger that is Helluva Boss and Hazbin Production :/

She fully admits that patreon and merch hauls fund hazbin/helluva production and that she fully handles the patreon money herself she budgets to push towards 'Hazbin' to 'Pay her small team'. She wanted to try to promote a Kickstarter over the pilot pre-A24 pickup before she made it big-time which is weird to hear when she didn't even have hazbin finished while boarding out 4 episodes of helluva bosses' first season. Even if it was supposed to allegedly be a 1 season show only. It's weird to try to discern which show she's trying to elaborate/talk about which one.

X - Evidence of the promotional videos for Helluva Boss/Hazbin. Strangely enough it has always been together instead of separated meaning she was attempting to garner hype for her series through Helluva Boss Merchandising and attempting to cyphen even more money over small Hazbin merchandising.

X - Here is Vivs' patreon promo earlier before the Hazbin pilot. Discussing how much she wanted to have a bigger budget at the time to fund her animation. Talks about Zoophobia Reboot and there has never been discussion since. Originally charged 10$ for private qna's. 50$ for discord access calls, unsure if this is still a Patreon feature. Also unsure over the 100$/500$ speeddraw commissions she promo'd... There is another production patreon she teases that holds nothing beside the Vivziepop name.

The show being placed upon rehabilitation and redemption despite the focus only being towards 'A Disney/Tim Burton Princess in Hell' goes to show that she had no direction of where she wanted to take Angel or Charlie. Charlie always being based on a porcelain doll? Greek/Religious Context/Egyptian mythology where???

"The best animation in it, is not done by me"

Within full admission of her nervous attitude without naming anyone within her team and just referred to everyone as 'My team/Crew' is very telling of how humbling she really even is.

Thr 'Yotta' she refers to is in reference to Studio Yotta, Helluva Boss is funded and produced alongside Horseless Cowboy with Horvitz towards the Casting Direction, meaning she's been funded with a major video game industry since day 1 of Helluva Bosses' production ergo, Vivziepop/Spindlehorse/Vivienne Medranno has never been independent in her entire production malpractice. She stated to be aware and know of wanting to work under SAG is very intriguing given that since Moxxie has been absent for half of season 2 its probably due to Richard striking as my best guess to the messy writing of broken railroad tracks that was supposed to be Helluva Boss production.

While it is one thing to have connections in industry to connect and come together and credit within your artists and studios, Vivzie does not have a studio. The merch sales/Patreon/YouTube QnA's directly go towards paying her animators, voice actors, and production management but not at all a 'Studio' she promotes herself as. All animation work and shots are handled through Discord and emails online this has been proven time and time again.

The fact that the pilot has been pushed aside so much over Helluva Boss and not a genuine interest to have redemption or care and love within the disguised nightmare that is Helluva Bosses' writing. She loves to flaunt demonology and love towards hell of aesthetics with demons/monsters she fails to actually represent the actual Demons of folklore/hell world building in HB leaves me to be worried... That she discredits actual Demon culture by stating

'I don't know have you seen one? They don't exist its just been human mysticism, Demons can be anything. Have you been to Hell?' Without realizinf she will fail to depict the Lord of the Flies as Gluttony....

"--It might not ever happen to work together with [Ke$ha] professionally would be a dream honestly. --The next Ke$ha song I want to animate is either is going to be official or is something that she wrote for one of MY projects or something"

She did and she made her state 'There's like, a rainbow inside my vagina.' Wooow so professional, "Cotton Candy" so originally produced to be so professionally Disney-Grade. The fact that she halted and couldn't release season 1's full finale due to having Ke$ha break her contract with legal battles and corporate music industry bindings during the Dr. Luke 2016 trial, waiting until 2020 to finally release it within this year and have Lukewarm perception because Rose cannot even sing within the episode its a replacement actor to sing for her! She just wrote the bare minimum draft of a song to submit for you to animate! Time and time again viv just flaunts herself to throw herself out there over 'Look at my projects aren't they neat!" And then be a monster during production of hoarding artists to herself and trash talking/harboring a group of bullies within her 'Core Crew'.

"Zoophobia is my Childhood project, it had everything and it was a mess. It was the magic of a childhood story told by an adult because I was in college while working on it at the time. It's the incubation chamber for all of my projects now. When I go back to it, it will be a complete reboot but for now it's on the shelf.... I lost all passion for it but I love my characters in it."

... And yet she hasn't talked about the comic since Bad-Luck Jacks' animation release nearly 4 years ago? All merchandising she promotes is about Helluva Boss and barely anything towards Hazbin or Zoophobia which is supposedly 'In-Production' while these merchandising of stickers, pins, skateboards, switch cases, posters, sketchbooks covers of Demonic stickers, sexualized hornybait, racist and transphobic enamel pins that can't keep character skin colors correct, and puzzles because of course! All of which, is merchandising of HELLUVA BOSS!

Vivziepop only views her characters as dollar signs. She still features her old Zoophobia designs within her Redbubble account goes to show how much profit she loves to make with other peoples' character designs.

X X Evidence of the Above Statement with the character KiKi/Christine [Cherry Bomb] originally being from Zoophobia before redesigned into Hazbin

X

Zoophobia concepts of what we lost rambling from Viv herself....

X

An interview of 7 years I didn't get to discuss over

X - A Season 1 Helluva Boss poor promotional trailer trying to garner hype for the series acting as if it was telling a cohesive story with actual plot happening with little Stolas screen time. It makes me wonder if season 1 was an entirely different drive of writing thoughts and artist drafts compared to season 2's production.

X - Helluva Boss Season 2 promotional storyboard conception, Two years ahead of time and finally all the boards make sense for season 2 and there still is no eventual plot besides setting up Fizz and Ozzy over Belzebub and Tex or any returning season 1 villain akin to D.H.O.R.K. or Cherub/Verrosika and especially no sight of Moxxie and Millie development besides fight scenes.

It makes me think of however much season 3 will suffer to spiral into production.

[definitelynotstable]

Camomile [Ghost x gn!Reader] pt. 18

pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3, pt. 4, pt. 5, pt. 6, pt. 7, pt. 8, pt. 9, pt. 10, pt. 11, pt. 12, pt. 13, pt. 14, pt. 15, pt. 16, pt. 17, pt.18

AN: Sorry for the wait :,( I've had exams and a new job! Not much Rags/Ghost content in this one – I promise I have some more relationship development coming soon! Bare with me :) Thank you for sticking around x

Synopsis: Closely follows the “El Sin Nombre” mission from mw2 (reboot). Rights to the game developers <3 Word Count: 2.2k (sorry it’s kinda mission heavy.) Warnings: canon divergence, canon typical violence, guns, wounds, swearing, brief mentions of sa etc Ghost x gn!Reader (Callsign: Rags)

✧˚ · .

You follow Alejandro down the hall, he walks with a confidence you attempt to mimic – still shaken up from the interrogation. 

You cross to one side as the hall splits in two, throwing a glance round the corner. Alejandro shows you the ‘all clear’ sign and you hold up a finger. One guard.

You press yourself against the wall, listening as the guard paces at the bottom of the stairs. There’s a buzz of static and you watch as the guard raises a hand to his radio.

“Control, this is C-1. I'm going to the armoury. Two minutes.”

He speaks in Spanish but you know enough to surmise he is heading your way. You throw a glance at Alejandro and you both flatten against the wall as the guard strides past and down another wing of the villa.

Alejandro crosses the hall to join you, voice hushed. “You can look for a way up or follow that guard. Your call…”

“I’d rather find a way up,” you reply, “scaling the building seems far less risky than playing hide and seek in this maze.”

The Colonel nods and follows behind you as you creep towards the stairs and onto the balcony beyond. The breeze is warm but you feel your skin prickle as it picks up your hair poking out from your balaclava.

Your radio buzzes. 

“Got a visual on you, Rags. There's a trellis outside you can take to the roof.” Ghost speaks clearly and you feel a little safer knowing his scope has you in it’s sight.

“What about Diego's keycard?” You ask your lieutenant, “Think I’ll make it without?”

There’s a pause and you throw a glance at Alejandro who shrugs.

“Your call.” Is Ghost’s reply and you let out a sigh, squinting up at the trellis. 

“The AC units could get you on top of the garage.” He radios in again, “There's a ledge above you, Rags.”

You crane your neck, spotting the ledge. 

“Could help you get around that guard.” Alejandro mutters, watching the entrance to the balcony.

You nod back, pressing a hand to your radio. “Moving to the roof.”

“Copy.”

“I’ll be right behind you.” Alejandro says, nodding at you in encouragement.

It doesn’t take long to scale the trellis and AC unit and soon your crouching just below the ledge of the roof. You peer over the edge cautiously, spotting an entire group of guards. 

“Careful, Rags.” Ghost speaks in your earpiece, “Multiple cartel up there. We'll have to clear it.”

“I can’t just shoot them, LT,” you say, watching as they mill around, a couple smoking, “That’ll alert the whole villa.”

“Ever heard of a knife?”

You scoff quietly, “You’ve got a bloody silencer, want to help me out?”

“You’ll have to shank those closest to you first, if you can manage to do it without alerting the others I can make a few shots.”

You flex your hands against the ledge. “Alright, LT. On your mark.”

The words buzz in your ear and you’re over the ledge like a cat. The terrace is dimly lit and your mainly black attire helps you melt into the shadows. You sneak up behind a guard, forearm cutting off his windpipe and slit his throat. Messy but quiet. You try not to think about the warm rivers of blood soaking your gloves as you drag the body deeper into the shadows. You manage to take down three more before any from the denser group notice. One turns around and surveys the roof, you hold your breath, hoping the shadows are thick enough to disguise your shape. 

The man says something to the rest of the group and they all turn around. They’ve noticed.

You press your comm. “Any minute now, LT.”

There’s a grunt. “Workin’ on it, love.”

You tense up, locked in a crouched position and gripping your knife till your knuckles pop as the guards begin to fan out towards you. Just as one nears where you are half hidden behind a large decorative clay pot, a body falls. There’s a shout and you leap out, stabbing the man in front of you as more bodies slump over. 

After a few seconds you stand, panting amongst an array of fallen guards. 

“Thanks LT.”

“Roofs clear.” Is the lieutenants reply, radioing to the shared channel before switching to yours. “Good job. Penthouse is in the north corner; check the penthouse. I'll cover you. El Sin Nombre is in the penthouse. North corner.”

He repeats it till the words ring in your head. North corner. El Sin Nombre. Penthouse.

“Copy, LT.”

You make your way towards a ladder which should lead to the elevator shaft where you’ll meet Alejandro. You take it slowly, cautious as you reach the top but sighing when you spot the Colonel.

He nods at you, offering you a hand up. “Elevator's this way. Can you operate the lift?”

You let him pull you up and dust yourself off with a huff. “We’re about to find out.”

Alejandro nods slowly, “All visitors got out. If the guards catch you now, they'll engage.”

“Then let’s not get caught.”

✧˚ · .

The lift is simple and you manage to hijack the brakes, using it to lower floor by floor.

“What level?” You throw a glance at Alejandro over your shoulder.

“Third floor. Hold here and release the emergence lock.”

You do as he says and the doors slide open. You raise a hand to your comms. “Doors open.”

Alejandro follows suit, using his radio. “All teams, we're moving on the penthouse. Stand by.”

You adjust your grip on your knife, hugging the walls as you use the stairs to reach the second floor. If the guards catch you they’ll shoot on sight.

A large oak door looms ahead of you and you tap your comms. “I think I found Diego's room.’

"Could have something useful.” Alejandro speaks, voice buzzing in your ear, the Colonel still a floor above you.

The room is lavishly decorated and as your eyes skim around the room you notice a painting, the corner an inch from the wall. A vault. 

Careful not to make a noise you creep over to it and swing the painting away from the wall, revealing a vault. The combination lock is a simple one and you only need a minute with your ear pressed to the cool metal surface before it clicks open. There’s nothing too important, just a plate carrier and some weapons. You sift through it all carefully before locking the vault and swinging the painting back in place.

“Find anything useful?” Ghost asks through your earpiece.

“Negative, LT.” You leave the room and sneak through the atrium, a warmly lit room looms ahead. “Possible visual on the ofrenda.”

“Diego should be inside.” Alejandro replies and you send a ‘copy’ back.

Angry voices reach you, echoing through the sparse rooms and halls as you near them. You reach the doorway and spot the two men inside.

“Alejandro,” you whisper, hoping the radio picks it up, “found Diego.”

“Roger that.”

You wait with your back pressed to the door as Diego argues with the guard.

The man bursts out in English suddenly and you flinch “Motherfucking American PMCs in our fucking city?! This is a whole new world now... We can't let them take an inch from us!”

The guard replies in Spanish and the meaning escapes you.

“We are conducting some very... important operations right now. Growing, expanding... when you rise up, the devil comes to knock you down... If they want a war... We'll show them violence like they've never fucking seen! Call all the plaza bosses... I want these intruders hanging from every bridge in Las Almas.”

“Tell me you got that keycard.” Alejandro’s voice buzzes in your ear and you jump, swearing under your breath as you reply.

“Shit. Stand by…”

The voices have stopped and footsteps near the doorway. A man steps out of the room and you jump, knife tearing through his throat before he can so much as scream.

You drag the body out of the way and slip into the room where Diego now stands, his back to you as he faces the ofrenda along the wall. You school your breathing, tiptoeing towards the hulking figure. 

You’ll have to be quick, this man couple overpower you in seconds. You raise your knife and just as you prepare to strike the man whirls around. 

His eyes widen in surprise and you duck as he swings at you with a yell. He swings again and this time manages to clip your jaw. Your vision reels but with a growl, you lunge back at him with renewed fervour. You swing for his neck, leaving your torso open as the knife sinks through his throat. At the same time, Diego has reached for his knife and made a final strike of desperation. Pain surges through your left side, he misses impaling you but mere inches but manages to slash a deep stripe across the side of your stomach.

His dark eyes meet yours with a grin of malice as blood bubbles at his lips. You shove him back and he crumples in a heap on the floor as you stand their panting. 

You pant tiredly, wrapping a hand around your wound and raise a shaking hand to your radio.

“Diego's dead.”

“A huevo, that's my carnal.” The Colonel replies with a quiet laugh, “Now get his keycard, quickly.”

You push the body over with your boot, reaching for the card.

“Got it.”

“Good work. RV at the elevator or meet on the first floor. Just stay quiet.”

✧˚ · .

You stay in the room with Diego longer than you’d’ve liked, having moved to the window to press a wad of the thick curtain hanging there to your wound to staunch the bleeding. It isn’t too deep but bleeds like a bitch.

It doesn’t take long to find Alejandro, most of the hallways empty from the Colonel’s handiwork and you meet him as the bottom of the stairs which lead to the penthouse. Together you climb the grand staircase and reach the double doors. Alejandro squats against the wall, pulling out a snake cam and threading it under the doors. You watch the monitor as he pushes the camera through.

“No fucking way.” You gasp as slightly pixelated but undoubtedly clear footage of Valeria appears.

Alejandro stills his movements. “What is it?”

“The Sicaria I met downstairs, in the interrogation.” You whisper, turning to him. “Valeria- She's El Sin Nombre.”

His eyes widen. “Valeria? Are you sure?”

You nod, jaw clenched. “I’m sure.”

Alejandro searches your eyes for a second before raining a hand to his radio. "We have to move. Graves, Sin Nombre is posing as a female sicaria. We're moving in. You set?”

You hear a murmur from Alejandro’s earpiece. “Check.”

“Ghost?”

“Ready.”

Alejandro looks at you again and you give him one nod. 

“Alright. Take her alive.”

✧˚ · .

You follow suit as the Colonel kicks the door open. The guards and Valeria look up, surprised at the intrusion. Alejandro lobs a smoke grenade over the conference table in the centre and you both duck as the guards fire blindly. You both manage to take out most of the men before Valeria turns and flees out the back door.

“She ran out the back! Don't let her escape!” Alejandro calls out as he wrestles with a guard but you are already sprinting in her direction having taken a rifle from a dead guard. 

“She’s headed for the roof!” You puff into your comms as you follow the woman, taking the stairs two at a time. 

The rooftop terrace is flooded in a bright white light and you squint as the air whips around you.

“Down! Get down, now!”

A distinctly American voice calls over a loudspeaker from the helicopter which hovers over the woman’s form.

“I kneel for no one, motherfucker!” Valeria calls back in spanish and you can’t help but be impressed at her gaul.

Grave’s spots you nearing her and grins. “A bullet will make you kneel.”

Valeria turns and spots you, your rifle raised. She clenches her jaw, grinning as she concedes defeat; raising her hands as she kneels.

You sling the rifle across your back and take the woman’s wrists.

“El Sin Nombre.” You spit, cuffing her roughly. 

“My name is Valeria.” She says, scowling at you over her shoulder, still speaking in spanish. 

You scoff. “Hiding in plain sight.”

She laughs. Completely unfazed that she has been caught. Alejandro jogs up to the two of you, eyes wide as he watches Graves take her out of your hands and leads her towards the chopper.

You watch him carefully. 

“You know her, don’t you?”

“I do – did.” He corrects himself, stare still locked on the woman’s figure as she boards the helo. 

“How?” You ask, following his gaze.

He blinks before shaking his head. “That’s a story for another time.”

You raise an eyebrow, having had taken your mask off earlier. “That time might be soon, Colonel.”

The man clenches his jaw, giving you a tight nod. “Soon.”

✧˚ · .

Taglist

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Masterlist

[regarding-stories]

The dark abyss that is Andor

There were several things that led to Andor.

On the one hand, Disney screwed up its Star Wars intellectual property by handing it to complete hacks for Episode VII to IX, leading a potential cash cow to attract less and less viewers over the course of three increasingly bad installments. Seriously, The Last Jedi is one of the worst disappointments I've actually watched, and not only was I thinking "This can't get worse..." every five minutes only to be proven, "Yes, it can!!", it completely killed my appetite to see IX (and I would have left the cinema at that one's sheer stupidity). With VII, I saw it once with some initial excitement in a cinema when it released and a strange feeling afterwards, and I never revisited it. VIII I saw on two separate long-distance flights because I couldn't stomach the thing in one sitting. IX I didn't see at all, but devoured YouTube videos ripping it apart. Clearly, Disney had a Star Wars problem.

The other thing is the reboot that was The Mandalorian, especially season 1. The Mandalorian had a penchant for not very strong logic in its writing that you still accepted because you had so much damn fun and loved the characters. Given the fact that it clearly pulled lots of viewers into Disney+ that were loving its vibe that was true to the core of Star Wars, Disney management saw the fact that theaters and theme parks were closed due to COVID on the one hand and that big Star Wars movies were at risk of actually losing money on the other hand, and they did what executives are wont to do - they decided that if it worked once, it will work again and declared they will pump out TEN Star Wars series in the near future.

Meanwhile they cancelled also their ongoing series of "A Star Wars Story" movies that started with what could be called "Episode III.5" - Rogue One. Rogue One was plagued with production problems, so much so that seeming key scenes from the trailer weren't in the movie. "I rebel!", anyone?? Still, it turned out to be something new - a new kind of Star Wars story. It took the idea of a war movie (or its modern equivalent, Band of Brothers) and put it into the Star Wars cinematic universe. It did without an actual Jedi (kinda-sorta) and it showed a strong performance of Diego Luna as the morally gray Cassian Andor. And... (spoiler alert) ... it killed its whole cast in its finale.

I know people that say Rogue One is their favorite Star Wars movie. (But other people dislike it.) I hold it in high esteem. The way the resistance is portrayed also seemed to be somewhat subversive - both to its previous image on screen and to what is portrayable on screen for mainstream audiences in general. It became clear that unlike in the original three Star Wars movies resisting an empire is, on the ground, a dirty business and not just about big battles or commando raids. (Which then happen anyway. Because Star Wars.)

Then followed the lackluster Solo and the third installment Yoda was never made as Star Wars increasingly lost its ability to draw crowds into seats.

And thus it came to Andor

Now what do you do with a character that (spoiler alert? really?) dies. You make a bloody prequel. Which is funny. Andor is a prequel to Rogue One which is a prequel to A New Hope. Prequels, like sequels, carry the risk of rehashing the original material without adding anything to it (Solo ...) and being trapped by the inevitability of what has to happen next, curtailing its writing (Kenobi ...). But Andor season 1 betrays none of that. (Talk about being addicted to prequels, Disney...) It is a strong piece of cinematic art in its own right.

And yes, I'm saying art. About a Star Wars series. That's how I feel about it. Andor not only has strong execution, it has depth. It was a show that made me pause it and think about what just happened on screen. It's a show that gets deeper if you know about history, unlike most shows that actually reveal their shallowness to the knowing eye. (Looking at you, The Man in the High Castle. Boy, I hated that tripe.)

But even before we get into that, let me say how I impressed I was with its set and costume design. Whereas the Book of Boba Fett gave us cyberpunks on floating scooters, Andor poured a lot of heart into how everybody looked in their various environments, creating a more rich and varied Star Wars society by portraying various strata thereof, from the life of imperial senator Mon Mothma to the middle class living literally in her shade somewhere on the middle levels of planet-city Coruscant to the mining town labor class that we find Cassian in. It flawlessly cuts between different well-thought out locations, including, of all things, a holiday resort.

This is paired with some very strong performances by similarly strong actors. I mean, we all knew Stellan Skarsgard would deliver, sure. But Denise Gough absolutely kills it, acting-wise. Her delivery as a villain is perfect, the way she manages to always look so sour and annoyed already is quite something, how she normalizes evil into a technocrat career. Every flinch of her face conveys books of information to me as the fascinated viewer. She is at the heart of this series, and worth the price of admission alone.

And let's not forget Andy Serkis' heart-rending performance. Really, we're being spoiled. People are seriously acting, not just standing in front of a camera wearing costumes! In Star Wars!!

And yet, if it was only that, it still wouldn't have impacted me as deeply as it had. There's one more layer to this, and it's the massive bottom of the iceberg that is Andor. I haven't forgotten, even though I'm writing this a year after watching it.

(And definitely spoilers from here on onwards.)

Life under fascism

The second half of season 1 however can put deep horror into any thinking person's mind. It radically departs from previous portrayals of the evil Empire. It's not relying on cheap gimmicks like Episode VII where we see a village razed by the First Order. (So evil. So cliche, too. Also murdering Max von Sydow. Tsk, tsk. They had to get him off stage before any good acting happens...) Andor creeps under our skin and then reaps havoc.

(This part of this entry will become increasingly dark. You might not want to read on. Because fiction is one thing, and comparing it to historical reality is another. This is an actual trigger warning. Proceed with care.)

The first half of the season is standard fare, almost. Cassian gets himself in trouble and there is really no redeeming quality about it. He also gets everybody else into trouble. The Empire in its heavy-handed hurry to eradicate resistance actually creates it in the first place. And still... the lack of compunction about torture, about going victim by victim, vanishing people into its torture cells, breaking them... this is merely an overture. No hero is born here, but evil wears its mask imperfectly.

Cassian escapes his small world to eventually live the good life on a resort world, getting laid, pretending to be someone else. Instead of being caught as the fugitive and murderer and partisan he actually is by now, he simply gets caught up in the arrest of somebody else. The way the Empire "perpetrates justice" not only gets him arrested while having done no wrong (in that cover identity), he also gets sentenced by a court that doesn't even pretend to actually care about due process in any way. There's a machine of oppression, and instead of competently catching him, Cassian becomes caught up randomly in one of its many gears.

And while this may seem random, it's brilliant. It's one of the many reasons why resistance exists. Because the Empire's overreach is everywhere, grinding up people just living their lives while trying to perfect its control. The corruption of the desire for power leaks through in its banality.

What follows is Cassian's imprisonment, and this segment is brutal and horrifying on a deep level. The more you know, the worse it gets. Cassian is transported to a prison facility where he's forced into repetitive labor to make equipment for the Empire. There's a set of steps every labor team has to execute, and the team with the lowest quota gets punished with electric shocks. Day after day.

This is "Vernichtung durch Arbeit." ("Destruction through labor.") This is what the Nazis did to their political opponents. Before there was a Holocaust, there were concentration camps. And prisoners were made to work - the cynic motto across the gate of Auschwitz was "Arbeit macht frei." ("Labor sets you free.") People would gradually be ground down until they gave out in one way or another, fell sick, die of exhaustion, broke psychologically. The series never tells us its "inspiration," it just goes through similar motions. With the veneer of a super-clean techno prison over it.

Not only that, the very scene reminded me of what I read in a book about the Holocaust. Towards the end of the war the engines for the new secret weapon jet planes or rockets were manufactured by prison labor. Crews of malnourished prisoners would each execute a few pretrained steps and crank out more jet engines in slave labor than was previously done in the Reich's armament factories. This was the culmination of the Nazi system where all labor-intensive things like the bunkers of the Atlantic Wall or the underground factories of Dora-Mittelbau were erected by and on the back of slaves that were themselves gradually killed in the process.

Without ever breathing a word of what is portraying, Andor portrays the same. Skillfully, horribly so.

The devil is in the details

Some way into this horror, everybody gets their sentence doubled. The counter simply goes up. No explanation. Total helplessness in the face of total control. The deep gut feeling of "No one gets out here alive" or "It will never end" begins to descend. That number was a sort of life line for people to brave another day. And it lies!

As unbelievable as it may seem, people did get released from concentration camps, especially those on "lighter charges" like "antisocial behavior." But nobody really knew how long they had to stay or if they were to be released. Often, initially told they had to do 3 to 6 months depending on their conduct, and yet most people never left alive. A quick read in a book behind me says that 8 million people were sucked into the system, 7 million died, 200,000 left by being released by the system itself. The idea you might be released one day added false hope that in itself could create further psychological torture if it was dashed over and over again.

Then there is the "divide and conquer" approach to prisoner management. Work crews are led by other prisoners, rebellion and resistance is quelled within the ranks. This Andor merely hints at, but the Nazi oppression system skillfully created hierarchies to make sure a comparatively small detachment of guards could handle a large mass of inmates which could overwhelm them if acting together.

But it doesn't stop here, not in Andor, either. Eventually we learn that the Empire starts to eliminate the prison population. Rumors start to spread that an entire floor of the super prison was eliminated by electrocution. Just like the real Nazis the space Nazis start to construct yet another death machine to eliminate opposition.

And this leads to that sub-plots final chapter, the prison revolt. There are a few historical mass escapes, even from Nazi death camps. There's also the heroism of the two uprisings of Warsaw (including the ghetto uprising). Left with nothing to lose, left with nothing but death ahead, the prisoners overwhelm the guards.

And this happened in real life, too. It's probably based on the historical case of the death camp inmates that were forced to run the gas chambers and crematoria themselves. This is part of the Holocaust itself, the Nazis had finally dropped all pretenses and resorting to kill people in an industrial manner. And these people knew that eventually their whole detachment would be killed. They knew too much, were witnesses to this massive crime against them and humanity itself. They were also among those destined for death. Like in an antechamber of hell itself they were merely bidding time. So they managed one of the few mass escapes on record.

While Andor doesn't stray as far down the road as actual history does, it knows how to cite history for those who know. It's not made up of whole cloth. It actually is referencing the real history of the most inhumane version of fascism, but it does not put the fact in your face. But if you know, its chamber of horrors becomes so much deeper.

And that's why

This is what makes Andor an absolute masterpiece. It recreates the conditions without blindly copying the source. It adapts, but you can feel how deeply inhumane the circumstances are that it depicts. It gives you the bloody creeps, and even if you don't know how much it is rooted in darkness, you will still feel it. It shows. It tells. But it never spoils the source material.

This is art. This is the deep craft. The banality of evil, the careless, uncaring attitude of evil towards those it deems unworthy and not human. It's all on display. It switches us into the place of Cassian and of Andy Serkis' character as it draws us in as audience. We don't see what happens on other floors. We don't have the information advantage. We can only imagine. We are subjected to the fact that we can only imagine it. And so we share a bit in the plight of these characters. Sometimes not showing a thing is the highest accomplishment of movie making.

And this is why I'm pissed that a series that was planned for five seasons was already cut to play out in two. Because we need more of this and less of more Jedi doing backflips. Just like Loki plays on a completely different level than the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Andor leaves all of Star Wars in its dust. If Rogue One was the attempt to tell a different kind of story in the same universe, Andor is the attempt at a different level of depth.

And this, more than Rogue One, makes it clear why they fight.

Watch it if you can.

And sorry if I horrified you.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

I was just passed along interesting news from an RT stream and it sounds like 1. RT has 60 days before shutting down. 2. Beyond is going to come out and 3. CR/WBY “care too much” about RWBY to let it go and are trying to hold onto it.

Regarding beyond I’m concerned with how they plan on getting it out and hope that it’s just very close to finished and that’s why they’re going to put it out instead of forcing their workings to work even more inhumane hours then they already do to push it out when it really shouldn’t.

Regarding volume 10…the language it sounds like they used has me concerned. Warner Bros owns RW/BY so them refusing to let it go…I don’t even know how they plan on that working. They’re apparently negotiating with partners so it seems like they want someone to buy it who would keep the main CRW/BY but again not sure how they plan to pull this off or if they…should? I feel bad for all the people losing their jobs but CR/WBY and RT did horrific things to their employees and it feels….wrong? To reward that bad behavior by forcing whoever takes over RW/BY to take them on as well still. I get not wanting to let go of a passion project but this more feels like trying to cling onto a cash cow then a passion project.

It’s a lot of complicated feelings I’m struggling to verbalize because I’ve been their having a show ripped out from under you that you loved flaws and all but RT did horrible things and the show in the end had extremely harmful tropes and ideals they leaned on so the thought of CR/WBY getting to finish it feels wrong given all they’ve done but leaving fans hanging also sucks. But also is it better to just…leave it and not continue to push these harmful things out in this show? Like we’ve had some vile “lessons” and I’m worried it’ll only get worse if they do volume 10. A part of me hopes of it was finished by someone else who maybe wouldn’t continue said harmful tropes but it sounds like CR/WBY is going to fight to stay with the show in an honestly unhealthy manner.

Gut feeling is best case scenario WB tells RT to pound sand and someone buys it and reboots it but again…I’m not sure anyone will given the fan base and how they’ll likely behave if said new owners don’t keep CR/WBY.

[cleromancy]

while from the doylist perspective the stories are specifically propping tim up compared to jason by doing this... i am obviously still very interested in, and compelled by, jason canonically having a pretty high opinion of tim going all the way back to their first meeting.

(for the record, absolutely nothing in-universe justifies jason having this opinion of tim up until tim springs him from prison imo. he beat the snot out of tim in tt29 and it wasn't even hard and yet for some fucking reason he still walks away thinking tim is a Better Robin than he was? like... ok. sure. more thoughts on this later in the post tho)

so the new earth (post-crisis pre-reboot) continuity tim-jason interactions we have, in order, are batman 617-618 (from batman: hush, this ones a retcon and barely counts, its just jason holding tim hostage with a batarang to his throat; and you might also get a glimpse of jay doing this in batman annual 25 lol but its in the other room so im not checking), tt29 (published in the middle of uth coming out, lol), tt47 (countdown tie-in), robin 177 and 182-183 (post-countdown, immediately after jason dumps his red robin costume and one of tims rogues fishes it out of the dumpster to wear, correctly intuiting *for some reason* that this will get to tim), and......... sigh. stupid battle for the stupid cowl.

(and, since were talking about jasons perspective, theres also the picture wall in lost days. i dont know what issue it is because to me lost days is not "made up" of "issues", it is one book i simply open to devour whole whilst weeping.)

i think tt 29 is the interaction i find the most frustrating because... we have an idea what tt29 would have been like if it were good. bc we have ga01 69-72. and granted Tim is such a cocky little shit (affectionate) that jason simply. Would probably not have been able to scare him no matter what, lol... but imagine if this fucking issue had been good.

ok cutting 4 length

the problem with johns. .......the FIRST problem with johns. is that he regularly has interesting ideas and his execution of them completely falls flat. the second problem with johns is that he can't write dialogue. the third problem with johns is that it was really really important to him that you understood what a Talented And Special Boy tim is but instead of showing you that he just forced other characters to. tell you. over and over. jason is not johns' only victim in this quest. (and johns was also not the only perpetrator, as we will see when i get to fuckin fabnic.)

but like i said i *am* actually interested in the potential here, because i do think there is potential.

and i also think that--at least when you read into it as deeply as i do--jason is sympathetic in this issue. (don't give me "hes beating up a child" crap here btw. jason's only 2-3 years older, tims a peer to him, they could easily have gone to high school together if jason hadnt fuckin died.) johns deliberately shows us Jason hoping raven gets a reprieve from the nightmares, and he certainly was *trying* to show us how much it would fucking suck to be remembered as the Bad Robin, forgotten except to be a cautionary tale, what kind of things that would do to a person emotionally. AND he makes a point of highlighting Jason's loneliness and isolation as robin, and. tbh i dont think the issue itself rly blames Jason for that. (you most certainly do not gotta hand it to him though. under no circumstances do you gotta hand it to johns for anything.)

and while jason tearing off his clothes to reveal his party city knockoff robin costume--the better to beat you with, my dear--was, erm. falling mostly on the wrong side of the line btwn camp and cringe... i do think jason writing his own name in blood on the wall was right on the money, *especially* because it was obviously not tims blood. like, tim wasnt bleeding anywhere near enough for that. it was either fake blood or jason prepped his own beforehand for them to DNA test--but also if they saw it before they saw tim, to make them fear for tims life, as a reminder of the risks theyre dealing with here.

oh but i was planning on talking specifically about like. what Jason might actually have seen in tim that left him with a positive impression. as-written? kinda nothing. lmao. or well the one thing imo is this

just kidding i couldn't find the panelz somehow despite posting them literally like yesterday and i ran into this lol:

>:| got distracted again. by this.

anyway i give up ill add the pics later. but its the exchange where jason has *decisively* won the fight, tims crumpled on the floor concussed and winded, and jason demands if tim *really* thinks he was good enough to tail bruce unnoticed for weeks.

and tim says "yes." hes beat up enough he can barely talk but there's still no hesitation whatsoever. and jason is *really* down on himself in this issue--he calls himself a failure, he feels like no one cared about his death, he feels unremembered. and jasons stated intentions here were to get the measure of tim but i also stand by the interpretation that he wanted to warn tim off of the sidekick gig, to remind him you uh. you have to be dick fucking grayson to survive it. (i dont believe either of them mentions him by name, but hey, dicks shadow is big enough for the both of them.)

i think what jason finds worthy of respect here--and, on top of that, intriguing enough that in robin 177 he entreats tim to join him--is the confidence, and also? at absolutely no point does tim believe jason is there to kill him. not a fuckin high bar, i know, but like i said i do think jason had *planned* to try and scare tim off (just also mega derailed himself by accident bc he got too in his feelings about the statue room 🥺), and... its not a bar he would have expected Tim to clear, is all im saying. particularly because while it is *possible* this took place in the middle of uth (tt 29 was released in november 05, between batman 646 and 647, which is the part where slade shows up bc black mask hired him to take jason out, so tt29 couldnt have happened in the middle of those two specific issues, but there are several other points at which jason could have taken a break in menacing gotham to fly to san Francisco), with Jason talking so negatively about himself i have to assume this is after the end of uth.

(you might be able to place this in the in-universe chronology by if/when teen titans mentions chemo dropping on bludhaven, which happens immediately before the bruce-jason-joker final showdown. however i dont feel like poking around for that or any other details to anchor tt29 to the other events happening at the time rn.)

i just also think so much of what jasons doing in this issue is like--he doesn't know *what* hes there to do. he had a plan and hes kinda fumbling it, not because tim is being especially resourceful but because jasons still licking his emotional wounds from uth, and titans tower is bringing up ones i dont think he ever realized hadnt healed. hes feeling everything at once. hes angry and hurt and full of self loathing but i think by the time tim simply says "yes," jason hits the stage of just being... burnt out. done lashing out, fucking tired, just wants to go home, if he can ever find it.

but i do think that "yes" would stick in his craw for a long time afterwards.

tt47: tim kicks jason in the nuts and pretty much declares them even for tt29 lolol. you may have seen my post about how jason only *sometimes* wears armor in countdown--hes drawn in the armored turtleneck and tac pants in tt47, but there are times in countdown hes out there fighting aliens and metas and shit in his jacket, a *t-shirt,* and *jeans.* just a squishy regular degular baseline human doing this and no one ever brings it up. but anyway. do i think tim would have seen jason wearing the equivalent of civvies plus a domino mask, narrow in on that, and immediately decide to kick him in the balls? i sure do. do i also think that this would make him rise in jasons estimation?

yeah. yeah, i really do. lol

anyway after this! after this is jasons briefish world-hopping stint as red robin saving the universe being a big damn hero and getting paid dust by everyone around him, in countdown; i think i mentioned before in this post that at the end he abandons the red robin suit in a dumpster, where it gets picked up by one of tims rogues. this storyline sucks and fabnic is a hack unfortunately. the rogue did it bc he wants tims attention or whatever. not important except for how irritating it is that fabnic fumbled a concept this juicy (tim inheriting and eventually purposely adopting The Bad Robin Mantle) which is also further fumbled by stupid battle for the stupid cowl, and the people who it falls to to salvage it are. johns again, in adventure comics 3, and yost, who is a better writer than johns or fabnic but not by like a huge margin.

and while i do think tim having a bad opinion of jason at this point was inevitable i find it so frustrating the way it was executed... like so often with Bad Tim Writing and also fuckin DC Editorial's Jason Slander Agenda shit it wasn't because in-universe thats how the characters would feel, the writer was using tim as a mouthpiece, and jasons competence and things he cares about arent taken seriously... BUT WHATEVER the point is that when Tim goes to stop Jason from his villainous scheme to reduce crime or whatevr jason has such a high opinion of him that he asks tim to join him:

and jasons loneliness, his desperation to be heard, is such a theme for him in the new earth/post crisis era and i wish it had been. Handled better lol are you noticig a theme here its that Jason has been written badly. (tim too, tbh.) and when tim says no jasons dejected but unsurprised acceptance breaks my heart. but to me the most interesting part of jasons appearance at the end of tims robin series is in 182, when tim--for absolutely no good reason--gives jason the means to break out of prison.

he says something about how its what Bruce would have wanted, but for. reasons i wont get too deeply into rn, that absolutely does not hold water.

anyway i just think there's no way jason doesn't start crushing on tim at least a little at this point. shrug.

bftc sucks and i dont want to look at it rn. but its also got examples of jasons high opinion of tim. and also im mad at it bc both countdown AND his appearances in robin feel like they could have been taking jason to a like. more of an antihero type of role and then we get bftc and morrison and its kind of. fucking hard to get jason anywhere near back on track after that for those of us who still like playibg in the post-crisis pre-reboot sandbox. and i wouldnt be mad about that if bftc had been good bc Jason absolutely does make an incredibly interesting and effective and tragic antagonist when handled well but well. he wasnt. and i have no idea what bftc would.have even been like if it was good bc it was so off the wall and dumb and assassinated actually *everyones* characters. so.

anyway

im just going to roll back to robin 183 now

jasons referring to the damage tim got when he got a little bit exploded in 180, this pretty nasty burn on the back of his head, which was actually why he wore jasons RR cowl for the first time (he was still robin). but what you do see here--aside from Tims narration which puts him *firmly* on the side of obnoxiously arrogant and judgmental instead of charmingly cocky in this issue, to my estimation, thanks for nothing fabnic--is the two of them on firmly cordial terms. jason still thinks more highly than tim does of him, but theyre asking each other about their injuries... tim caring about the wellbeing of people he doesn't even like is par for the course with him, ofc, but once again Jason doesn't really get that a whole lot. constantly haunted by this panel from countdown btw:

does he though!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here is another jaytim preboot canon interactions post from a few months ago with some more thoughts, some repeated lol.

anyway. incoherent rambling complete for now. however. jaytim time is all the time 👍 i will revisit this.

[asexual-society]

Hii hope you have a wonderful day today! -I wanted to ask something to make sure im not being mean but- is it possible for an Ace person to be Aphobic? Im in a fandom where there used to be a Ace character- he said he was- thing is, the show never said he was SexRepulsed- but fans took his lack of interest as such. believed he was in fact SexRepulsed. -that character is gone- now, there is yet another character (think, a reboot of the old one) believed to be Ace but this time, he seems to be ok with touch an even seems very friendly ~ with only one character. my ask is, if some people view this second version, as still Ace. but sex favorable, is that aphobic? is maybe having another view on this chracter that is questioning himself, a bad thing? because this is said a lot, that ppl is being aphobic for "refusing to accept he is sex repulsed" or "using the fact he is questioning himself to ship him" (mind you-most shipart is literally hand holding and being buddies) hope Im making sense- im so lost and I trust your blog to help me (because im also scared to be harrased for asking this inside that fandom)

Hey! (We got your other ask, I got half way through answering it and then forgot, so I will get to that soon I promise) Good to hear from you again :) I ended up going a little off topic here, but I hope I managed to fully answer this (if not, just send another one). Also get ready for some parentheses.

In answer to the first part of your question, yes ace people can be aphobic (many ace people can be arophobic, but also acephobic, both to people who share their own identity and others who have a different identity under the ace umbrella).

This is a pretty interesting question actually, because there is acephobia at play in the situation you're describing, but not necessarily in the way those people mean. It is NOT acephobic to have a sex favourable ace character, that's fine, because there are sex favourable aces out there and they're just as much a part of our community as those who are indifferent, averse, repulsed, or some sort of mixture. Sex favourable aces have just a much right to see themselves represented as sex averse aces, but unfortunately, there is so little asexual representation that it can feel like if one flavour of ace people are represented, that that representation has been taken away from aces of other flavours.

It's totally understandable to feel that way, but that doesn't mean those feelings are actually justified? And people get pretty negative reactions for complaining about any lack of rep, which can lead to bad feelings all round and just creates even more of a divide between us. We have to understand that our individual experiences not being represented is NOT the fault of other ace people. It's not fair to want one group to miss out on representation, just so another can get theirs. Additionally, it can be important for people who are questioning or struggling with their identity to work through that in their art, and explorations of things like touch aversion and touch starvation can be very nuanced because one person can experience both to very high degrees, and they each can even compound the other. And, a sex favourable asexual person will not feel the same way about sex as an allosexual person, and that is an equally nuanced and interesting (and fun) thing to be able to explore.

I don't know what media this ask is about, so I can't comment on specifics, but I can admit, I've been frustrated by this sort of thing in the past; it can be really hard to shake an instinct to push back when you feel like you're being treated unfairly, but sometimes we do have to step back and understand that everyone in our community feels the same way, we just want to see ourselves and to feel seen by others. As a person who is both aro and ace, and doesn't want to have sex or be in a romantic relationship, I don't feel represented by characters who are alloace in the way an alloace person does, or sex/romance favourable aroace characters in the way sex favourable aroace people do, but they probably feel that same way when they see aro characters or sex averse characters. It does really suck when people outside of the community ignore and erase the identities of aspec characters because they don't feel our experiences are interesting or valuable enough to represent and explore, but that isn't what's happening on an intracommunity level (as in, within the ace community).

The recent discourse about shipping aroace characters has sort of been getting me down, because it's a complex topic and rather than being a black-or-white, two sides thing, there are people with good and bad takes (mostly bad, let's be real) coming from so many different directions, there is so much nuance it would take me much more than one little answer to cover (and let me tell you, if I were to try, it would not be on this blog!). I might have said this before, but I tend to avoid fandoms of media with canon aroace characters for the most part for this exact reason, and within the community we are SO far ahead of where the rest of the world (and even the rest of the queer community) sees aspec people, I genuinely believe (call it cynical if you like) that this will continue to be a problem for several more years. And like, you can just block people and move on with your life, your fandom experience will be so much more enjoyable if you block people who say shit you think sucks, aphobic or not. Everyone should do this.

I think this is probably long enough now, and I've definitely missed something important, but I hope it helped.

~ mod key

[13docwriting]

NOTE: this post was made on November 26th, 2023, before the 60th specials aired. I wasn't going to post it but due to the recent episodes, I feel it really fits. It's me, more than a year after the Power of the Doctor! As time moves on and more spoilers / interviews / trailers / content comes out for the 60th (and then some), my already limited hope continues to dwindle for human kindness. Why? Here's my twenty page essay down below! (I'm not kidding, it's 20 pages)

The Thirteenth Doctor has been a life changer for me, as many could tell from my username. Chibnall's series came to me in the midst of the pandemic and a very hard time in my life. Ironically, my motivation for watching DW once again after more than a four year hiatus of the show was actually the idea of the Doctor being a woman. My reason to stay, however, was the stories we received. I've lived through the Chibnall and Jodie bashing on this hell-site in real time. I've read downright nasty comments on any/all of Doctor Who's social media posts about thirteen's series. I've seen people call each other horrible names for simply liking one of the Thirteenth Doctor's episodes... And now, as her series has ended a year ago, I'm even more saddened to see her era get pushed to the side as if to be forgotten. Nobody came at me with the whole "it's not because of Chibnall/Jodie's era! DW just needed a reboot!" I would have agreed! I would have agreed that a fresh coat of paint would have helped DW gain some more traction, especially in the states! The more people who watch DW, the better! But the change RTD is presenting and the continued changes come at the cost of dealing with bullies online and defending something I love with all my heart.

I'd like to remind everyone that Chris Chibnall did not just barge his way into Doctor Who. He has written episodes for DW for a while before he took over as showrunner. Tenth Doctor: 42 Eleventh Doctor: The Hunger Earth, Cold Blood, Pond Life, Dinosaurs in a Spaceship, the Power of Three. Recognize some of those titles? Yeah, even when I was a wee lass, those were some of the best episodes DW had ever done. "42" scared the crap out of me in the best way, "Dinosaurs in Spaceship" had me smiling ear to ear, etc. etc.

Don't just take my word for it, read some of the reviews for those episodes. They are highly positive if not still mid-range.

That being said, I have a hard time believing that every single one of Jodie's episodes have been awful. And, if not outright stated as awful, certainly below every single nuwho Doctor.

Was there some not-so-great episodes? Yeah, of course! But every Doctor has had some questionable episodes. With a show that has a new plot nearly every episode, you're going to have some misses! My point being... Chibnall CAN write good episodes and, with that being said... Why HAS Thirteen's era been considered one of the worsts? Well, I think it's because, as always, people hate change. We've just come off of Twelve's era which was rooted in deep and meaningful conversations with a underlying of, dare I say it, Time Lord Victorious. Twelve holds a special place in my heart for the amount of care he showed through his era. From the Twelve's darkest moments, Thirteen is born. Thirteen is a ray of sunshine that holds hope in the palm of her hand. She's happy, bubbly, and ready to smile. She wants the universe and everything it has to offer and she's ready to travel the stars again.

Chibnall introduces a series of stories that are rooted in that hope. There's kindness at every turn, there's compassion, there's empathy... Is that the reason people hate her era? No. A new Doctor has never stopped anyone from getting back into the show. So, it's the writing, you say? I have one thing to say to that: Prove it. Point me in the direction of bad writing without ONCE mentioning the word "woke". If you found Jodie's era to be preachy, perhaps there's a reason that you take offense to it. DW has always been a progressive show and it will forever stay that way. And I am the first one to admit that, again, there are weak episodes. There IS some bad writing, but the hate that Jodie's ENTIRE era gets, I feel, is unjustified. So, if not writing, must be the acting! Where? When? I had no problem watching Jodie Whittaker be the Doctor. She's quirky and fun and eccentric... She has a thousand different emotions on her face at one time. Any actor that knows how much a smile can hide is a talented one. Besides that, her work on Broadchurch and her newer works (One Night, Time) have some raving reviews. She clearly has talent. So, not the acting or writing... Companions, then? Why? "The fam" had all of their moments to shine. I won't say their character arcs were perfect, especially for Ryan and Graham, but they did have their own arcs. Was it the fact that there were three totally separate companions at once? Was it just too big a job? I can't answer that one. I personally felt that they all got a good ending, one that makes sense and that isn't tragic for the sake of tragedy. This my be my opinion piece, but I liked having multiple companions that had their own little storyline, but that's MY opinion and I'm fine with someone calling me out on that. Let's go really basic... It's because the Doctor isn't meant to be woman, right? Oh, so, the Master can be a woman and that's totally fine, but when it's the Doctor... Woman can be villains but they can't be the main protagonist, right? I didn't see people up and arms over Missy, why was Thirteen so different? I remember seeing her very first introduction trailer and having people immediately be upset by the gender change. Well, forget my opinions, let's look at the statistics and viewings numbers, right?

HOW ABOUT NO. Remember the writing strike that just ended? Remember how regular cable has been nearly done with? Remember how writers are fighting to earn something for streaming services? We can't rely on normal/live views while a literal pandemic was happening, while streaming has become the norm, while watching online for free has existed for so long... Views have CHANGED. The way people consume media has changed, especially during the pandemic. Now, for an excuse... The pandemic happened. It changed how people were filming, it changed how close people could get to one another in terms of acting, it changed filming times and locations. I can't confirm, but I know that the Flux storyline was cut by two whole episodes, which could be the reason a lot of people felt disappointed by the end of the Flux. Chibnall and Thirteen's era had so many real-life obstacles to overcome that past era's did not have to deal with.

I'm tired, alright? I'm tired of defending my love for a character. And to have that love be spat out in the form of a different writer by.... 1. Discarding the Thirteenth Doctor's iconic outfit after a regeneration for the first time ever (under the guise of calling it "drag" if Tennant was to wear her outfit even after a male co-star had just worn it.) 2. Introducing a very popular Doctor back into the show ("to gain views") 3. Doing a soft reboot by calling the new season "season 1" (could be Disney's fault, but I'm not entirely sure of that fact) Every day I read another article about how RTD is "saving" Doctor who when I myself have been saved by the Doctor already. I didn't ever need to justify my love of a character until today.