#more and more (the more he succeeds the more he disgraces himself as a villain and a criminal)

[dnangelic]

sometimes i think abt towa and argentine in the very last manga chapter n cry

[ogsherlockholmes]

14th October

We’re only two weeks in and we’re onto J villain number I-don’t-even-know with Jack Woodley from The Solitary Cyclist. 

Woodley is a particularly nasty character from the start, when he is first introduces himself as a friend of the client’s (Violet) uncle, then forcing himself on her. 

The first flaw in my [Violet] happiness was the arrival of the red-moustached Mr. Woodley. He came for a visit of a week, and oh, it seemed three months to me! He was a dreadful person, a bully to everyone else, but to me something infinitely worse. He made odious love to me, boasted of his wealth, said that if I married him I would have the finest diamonds in London, and finally, when I would have nothing to do with him, he seized me in his arms one day after dinner—he was hideously strong—and he swore that he would not let me go until I had kissed him. 

Woodley leaves after this, but then reappears, which causes Violet to leave. She says, ‘I would sooner have a savage wild animal loose about the place [than be near Woodley]. I loathe and fear him more than I can say.’ 

We get a basic impression that Woodley is a creep and a pervet, so it’s not a surprise when we find out that he forced Violet to marry him after kidnapping her. He had an accomplice, a disgraced clergyman named Williamson, who had a fight with Sherlock in a pub earlier, but I didn’t put him as the main villain largely because I hate Woodley. 

Williamson ‘married’ Woodley and Violet, but it doesn’t last long after Carruthers (not exactly Woodley’s friend, but his rival in trying to earn Violet’s love) SHOOTS him. 

“I am Bob Carruthers, and I’ll see this woman righted if I have to swing for it. I told you what I’d do if you molested her, and, by the Lord, I’ll be as good as my word!” “You’re too late. She’s my wife!” “No, she’s your widow.” His revolver cracked, and I saw the blood spurt from the front of Woodley’s waistcoat.

Not only does Carruthers shoot Woodley, he also respected Violet when she told him no, and although he did follow her when she rode on her bike, he was doing it more so to make sure she’s okay. Little bit weird, but given the circumstances it did end up being a good idea in the end. Woodley could really take some ‘respecting women’ lessons from him. 

(I say this, but it’s important to mention that Carruthers should have just let Violet go to keep her fully safe, and Watson calls him selfish for not doing so. Watson can teach the lessons instead.) 

The marriage wasn’t official, because Williamson wasn’t a real priest anymore: they didn’t think that one through, but all the better for Violet. 

Unfortunately, Woodley lives, and Carruthers demonstrates how everyone else feels when he says  “I’ll go upstairs and finish him first.” Please do Carruthers. 

Carruthers ruins this image of him being a good women-respecting man when we find out that he and Woodley played CARDS in order to see who would marry Violet. They wanted her inheritance since they both knew her dead uncle was a rich man who would undoubtedly include her in his will. Woodley won, but Carruthers actually fell in love with Violet, so stopped Woodley from marrying her. 

Thankfully, neither of them succeed, and Violet marries her actual love. Woodley gets a bullet hole in his chest and ten years. Not long enough, really. 

[likealittleheartbeat]

I deeply appreciate how ATLA depicts all the main characters responses to trauma. Aang’s, for me, however, stands out for its rareness in media. And we are not hammered over the head with the idea that Aang (or any other characters) repeatedly act certain ways because of a single traumatic event. Sure, there are key moments in our lives when a certain event comes to the forefront, but no one experiences the world as constant flashbacks. Rather, we see only in retrospect the way our sarcastic sense of humor or our heightened friendliness were protective responses to a deep emotional injury. Being able to understand Aang’s approach to loss is essential for the show. The structure of the series is founded on his arc (despite an incredible foil provided by Zuko). Our little air nomad initially confronts the loss of his people with a full-on meltdown in the episode “The Southern Air Temple,” where Katara’s offering of familial belonging soothes him. But this kind of outburst is not Aang’s primary response (and actually the literally out-of-character apocalyptic tantrums align with Aang’s overall process of grieving). Instead of constantly brooding (hey Zuko!), Aang leans heavily toward the monk’s pacifist teachings and toward his assumed destiny “to save the world.” He becomes overtly accommodating and joyful, constantly trying to see “the good” in everything with a perfectionist’s zeal. This is not to ascribe his bubbliness only to his trauma. Rather, he comes to emphasize this part of his personality for reasons related to the negative emotions he struggles to face.  Book 1: Water

In the first season, Aang is simply rediscovering his place in the world. “Water is the element of change. The people of the water tribe are capable of adapting to many things. They have a sense of community and love that holds them together.” This is vital to Aang as he initially faces his experience. He won’t get through this if he is not prepared for his life to change. Even if he hadn’t been frozen for 100 years, his world would never be the same. This fact involves eventually finding new people that he feels safe with. After such a massive loss, he’s learning who to trust, and also often making mistakes; not only does he find Sokka and Katara (and I’d argue he’s actually slow to truly open up to them), this is the season where he helps save a fire nation citizen who betrays him to soldiers, befriends the rebel extremist Jet, and attempts to befriend an actively belligerent Zuko (his moral complexity had only JUST! been revealed to the kid!). He’s constantly offering trust to others and seeking their approval in opposition to the deep well of shame and guilt he carries as a survivor of violence. This is also the season where Aang swears off firebending after burning Katara in an overeager attempt to master the element (one will note how fire throughout the series is aligned with, above all else, assertiveness and yang). Aang is so eager to be seen as morally good to others that he refuses to risk any possible harm to them.  And asserting himself carries a danger, in one sense, that he might make a mistake and lose someone’s positive regard, and, in another sense, that he is replicating the anger and violence he’s witnessed. He has no relationship to his anger at this stage of his grief, so it comes out uncontrollably, both in firebending and the Avatar State. It’s through the patience of his new family that he can begin to feel unashamed about his past and about the ways his shame is finding (sometimes violent) expression in the present. Book 2: Earth In the second season he begins to trust himself and stand his ground. Earth, after all, is the element of substance, persistence, and endurance. The “Bitter Work” episode encapsulates how Aang must come to a more sturdy sense of his values. First, there is the transition of pedagogical style. While Katara emphasized support and kindness, Toph insists on blunt and threatening instruction, not for a lack of care towards Aang. Instead, it’s so Aang learns how to stop placing the desires of others above his own--to stop accommodating everyone else above his own needs. Toph taunts Aang by stealing one of the few keepsakes from the monastery that he holds onto. This attachment to the lost airbending culture is echoed in the larger arc with Appa. And, by the end of this episode, it is Aang’s attachment to Sokka that allows him to stand firm. This foreshadows the capital T Tragic downfall in the “Crossroads of Destiny.” Aang gives up his attachment to the other member of his new found family, Katara, despite his moral qualms. Although he has access to all the power of the Avatar state, his sacrifice is not rewarded. Season 2 illustrates Aang coming to terms with his values. He is learning about what he stands for, what holds meaning to him. Understanding himself also includes integrating his grief, and there’s a lonely and dangerous aspect to that exploration. We see Aang’s anger and hopelessness over longer stretches rather than outbursts in this season. It’s hard to watch and hard to root for him. That depressive state leads to actions that counter his previous sense of morality, as he decisively kills an animal, treats his friends unkindly, and blames others for his loss. Letting these harsher feelings emerge is an experiment, and most people discover their boundaries by crossing them. Finding ways to hold compassion for himself, even the harm he causes others, is the other side of this process. Our past and our challenging emotions are a part of us, but they are only a part. Since Aang now has a strong sense of community and is learning to be himself rather than simply seeking validation, we also see him having more healthy boundaries with new people. He’s no longer befriending villains in the second season! He’s respectful and trusting enough, but he’s not putting himself in vulnerable situations nor blindly trusting everyone. Instead, he’s more likely to listen to his friends’ opinions or think about how the monks might’ve been critical towards something (they’re complaints about Ba Sing Se, for example). By knowing what he cares for, he can know himself, the powerful, loving, grief-struck monk. And he can trust that, though he might not be everyone’s favorite person, he does not need to feel ashamed or guilty for who he is or what he’s been through. Book 3: Fire However, despite a sense of self and a sense of belonging, Aang and the group still find themselves constantly asking for permission throughout their time in Ba Sing Se. It’s in the third season, Fire, that initiative and assertiveness become the focus. And who better to provide guidance in this than the official prince of “you never think these things through,” Zuko. It’s no longer a time for avoidance or sturdy defensiveness. It is the season of action. Fire is the element of power, desire, and will, all of which require us to impact others.  We see the motif of initiative throughout the season: the rebels attempt to storm the Firelord on the Day of the Black Sun; Aang attempts to share his feelings and kiss Katara; Katara bends Hama and a couple of fire nation soldiers to her will. In each of these examples, the initiators face disgrace. Positive intent does not bring forth success, by any means, only more consequences to be dealt with. This is perhaps Aang’s biggest challenge. He is afraid that his actions will fail, or worse, they will succeed but he will be wrong in what he has chosen. The sequencing in the series, here, is important. We have already seen how Aang has worked to care for (and appreciate) the well-being of others and how he has learned to care for his own needs. With this in mind, he should be able to trust that his actions will derive from these wells of compassion. But easier said than done. Compassion can also trap him into indecision, hearkening back to his avoidant mistake in the storm, in which the whole mess began. Aang’s internal conflict, here, becomes more pronounced as the finale draws nearer. I think it’s especially significant that we witness Aang disagreeing with his mentors and friends. He must act in a way that will contradict and even threaten his sources of support if he is to trust his own desires. Even the fandom disagrees about the choice Aang makes, which further highlights the fact that making a decisive choice is contentious. There is no point in believing it will grant you love or admiration or success. For someone who began (and spent much of) the series regularly sacrificing himself just to bring others peace, Aang’s decision to prioritize his own interests despite the very explicit possibility of failure is the ultimate growth his character can have and the ultimate representation of him processing his trauma. (This arc was echoed and made even more explicit in many ways with Adora in the She-ra finale.) The last significant time Aang followed his desire, in his mind, was when he escaped the Air Temple in the storm. To want something, to trust his desire and act on it, is an act of incredible courage for him, and whether it succeeded or failed, whether anyone agrees or disagrees with it, it offered Aang a sense of peace and resolution. Now I appreciate and love Zuko’s iconic redemption arc, but Aang’s subtler arc, which subverts the “chosen one” narrative and broke ground to represent a prevalent emotional experience, stands out to me as the foundation for the show I love so much.

[romiithebirdie]

From the Furthest Tether: Part Three

Harsh rainfall pelted down from the black sky above, fast droplets hitting Tomura Shigaraki's bare chest that exposed the faint scars littering across his body from the battle at Jaku. Narrowing a hardened scarlet eyes down at the decaying wreckage as he stood high and mighty in mid-air, courtesy of the Nomu who had transported him to Tartarus.

Bullets screeched through the air, some connecting with his skin and blasting his arm into a mangled, bloody mess as crimson liquid spilled over the smouldering brickwork. He barely flinched, immediately activating his Regeneration power that had saved his life on multiple occasions when he was facing the recently disgraced Pro Hero Endeavor.

Behind Father, he spread his chapped lips into a gleeful grin. Oh, how he hoped Endeavor was suffering both physically and mentally in the aftermath. He honestly couldn't wait for Round Two where he'd succeed in reducing the Flame Hero to nothing more than dust in the air.

Jumping from his Nomu's back, he casually strolled past the destruction while rejoicing under the loud blare of the prison alarms that howled out in a melancholic chorus. To the Guards and staff inside, they cowered in fear. But to Tomura Shigaraki? The unbearable sound marked the beginning of his deathgrip on the hero society.

Criminals poured from every entrance and window below his spot above them all, the tattered clothes covering the lower-half of his body billowed in between the whistling air and thick black smoke, like a flag flying high in the night sky.

Tomura's eyes wandered over the stampede, recognising Muscular and other villains crowding together as they beat back a futile stand by a few foolish Prison Guards. A cold shiver ran up his spine which seemed to spike his fury further as he slowly turned around, his senses overwhelming him under the image of All for One standing across the platform.

"Master…" the student rasped, suddenly feeling the urge to scratch at his neck. He glanced down at the body held in All for One's grip with little emotion, noting the small line of blood running from the guard's head.

His teacher began speaking to him, though Tomura could barely understand the words coming out of the villain's mouth as his ears filled with the sound of loud static. A possible reaction to their twin Quirks, perhaps?

"I told you…" Tomura's voice was rough, almost as if it was physically hurting him to speak, "That this is my body, my will, Master…"

"Hmm?" Japan's most feared man glanced down at Shigaraki like he was a small toddler. "You need rest, Tomura," his voice cooed, dripping with faux-warmth as he bared his teeth in a wide grin, "that regeneration Quirk will not work unless your body is at full health."

Don't talk down to me like I'm some weak little child!

Shigaraki's eyes flashed in rage, gnashing his teeth together at the large mocking smirk adjourning his teacher's face.

"I...I am not going to be your pawn," he growled out. Not anymore. He had his own goals, his own desires now.

"Oh?" All for One's grip on the eerily-unmoving guard's jacket tightened. "Now why would you think such a thing? No. To me, Tomura Shigaraki, you are an important successor."

The breathing apparatus floated in the air, held up by an invisible force as Japan's most feared man took another couple of steps towards his protege. "See how those below us desire to submit?" he asked, unfazed by the Tomura snarling at him like a feral animal that had been backed up into a corner. "This will be the story of how I become the greatest demon lord in existence."

His large hands then slowly reached out, akin to a puppetmaster controlling the strings of his lifeless, wooden marionettes…

Until Izuku's eyes shot open, cutting off a gasp which caught in his already-aching throat that felt as if somebody had their hands gripped around it with the intent to strangle him in his sleep.

His blurry vision registered the sickly white-coloured walls and scratchy sheets covering his body…

Ah, right.

He was in the hospital. Recovering from injuries that could- should have killed him back in Jaku. He leaned back against the singular pillow supporting the twinge in his neck.

Tick, tock.

Izuku glanced up at the clock across the room as it clicked back and forth in a monotonous motion. The window blinds of Izuku's ward had been put down, blocking out the strips of orange and red rays of sunlight that left the ward remaining a dark and sombre surround.

He reached forward and slowly picked up his phone that had been left on one of the plastic visitor chairs at his beside. Blinking tiredly with eyes that were heavy from lack of sleep, Izuku found himself slowly scanning over the screen of his mobile device. His thumb was brushing repeatedly over the cracked screen while it continued to illuminate his freckled face with a dull, bluish hue.

He swallowed thickly, still feeling the dizzying wave of nausea hit him every couple of minutes. The teen had been given a large amount of strong medication to minimize his body aches and the sharp throb of surgical stitches littered over his broken body. Izuku moaned to himself softly, muscles protesting the small movements as he slid his phone back on his bedside cabinet.

Since the previous night, he had barely heard from All Might. After his outburst in the middle of the hospital waiting area, he couldn't really blame the retired Pro from steering clear. Deep down, Izuku mused that the hospital staff possibly had more to do with the lack of visitation as it had taken a couple of nurses to return him to his ward the night prior. His mother had followed quietly behind the medical staff as they wheeled her son back towards his ward while trying to conceal her flowing tears.

She'd held his hand while Izuku was hooked back up to his IV, where another nurse had then quickly provided morphine. Whether it was just to help with the pain of his recovering injuries or played a part in settling him down, Izuku had no clue.

He glanced down at the cannula attached to his drip with a small whine, regardless of the hospital's reasoning, it had worked a treat last night and still had Izuku feeling like his head was full of cotton wool.

Izuku's phone buzzed atop the cabinet, the volume completely muted to prevent his head from pounding more than it was. Thankfully, his plump pillows gave him enough height to squint over at the name trying to reach him.

All Might.

Complete with a picture of the grinning Symbol of Peace that Izuku had screenshot from an interview stream several years ago. A bandaged hand gripped the phone and swiped across the screen to answer;

"Hello?"

"Ah, good morning, Young Midoriya!" even though Izuku couldn't see All Might's face, he could hear the smile that his mentor was forcing himself to wear. "How are you feeling?"

"Mm," Izuku shifted his legs through the thin bed sheets, legs tangled slightly as he flopped them down in defeat. He'd been way better but; "I'm getting there, thanks."

This response seemed to be enough to satisfy Toshinori from the other side of the phone line as he bobbed his head in a nodding motion before letting out a soft hum of agreement.

Izuku's eyes returned to his bedsheets, thin pupils scanning over the scratchy patterns running across the thin fabric while the retired Pro breathed heavily over the phone, the silence between them soon growing awkward as they both waited for the other to speak up again.

"So," Toshinori let his voice drag along the 'o' sound for a few moments before swallowing thickly, "any updates with the doctors?"

"Mhm, not really," Izuku switched hands, pushing the receiver against his other ear, "I think they're getting Recovery Girl in today."

Izuku hadn't been told that, he'd listened in on a conversation between hospital staff from outside his door. Not that All Might needed to know about his sudden interest in eavesdropping…

"So I think I'll be able to return to the dorms soon."

"Ah, good," Toshinori paused for a second. "Good…"

Izuku frowned, he recognised that tone.

"Is everything okay?"

He heard the hero splutter from the other end of the call, "E-Everything's fine, why wouldn't it be?"

Izuku's bandaged knuckles tightened around the phone, the plastic making small little cracking sounds of protest. Even without using his Quirk, Izuku's physical strength was more amplified due to his daily workout routine to maintain his Quirk-control.

"Well I-" Izuku's claw clicked shut. Could he bring up what he'd seen while he'd been asleep? Shigaraki and All for One...The villains breaking out of Tartarus… Was that even possible?

"Young Midoriya?"

"I saw more of the First User of One for All," Izuku belted out before he could stop himself. He wondered whether or not he should mention Nana Shimura being there too… Maybe it was better to tell All Might in person than over the phone?

"You did?" there was a small rustle in the background.

"But Shigaraki was there," Izuku chewed his lip before continuing; "And All for One."

"Oh?" Izuku cracked a dry smile at All Might's attempt to mask the concern in his voice. "How very...interesting."

"He could see me, All Might," both of Izuku's hands gripped the phone. "All for One."

"I see," there was a brief silence, the only sound coming from a soft buzz of phone static. "Do you recall anything that could have been said?"

Izuku winced, his chest tightening once again as All for One's cruel taunts forcefully entered back into his thoughts.

"No."

"Midoriya…" there was a slight edge to his mentor's voice and Izuku slumped his shoulders, sighing softly while still holding the phone in both hands. All Might knew he wasn't being truthful so what was the point in trying to hide it, aside from his own pride?

"He, uh," Izuku pushed his head against the wall that his bed lined up against, "mainly spoke to the First User but he saw me there and probably figured it'd be fun to mess with my head too."

Which could possibly explain the cause of his outburst last night and waking up from that weird haze-fuelled dream this morning. From everything that All Might had told him and the things he'd witnessed in the past, All for One was an extremely petty individual. For some reason, that scared the teen even more.

"What did he say?" All Might dreaded the answer, while Izuku dreaded reminding himself of All for One's hysterical tirade.

"Could we do this face to face?" Izuku whispered, bringing his knees up towards his chin and shrinking into himself. "Please?"

All Might was silent on the other end, biting his lip due to the fact that he had upcoming meetings with Tsukauchi and the Hero Commission over the recent events in Jaku. Endeavor was still unconscious but an investigation was already underway…

"Young Midor-"

"It's fine. I understand," Izuku swallowed thickly, understanding his mentor's silence. "It's just…"

"Hard?"

Izuku blinked, taking in air sharply from his nostrils, "Mhm," he shrugged, not caring that All Might wasn't able to see him do it, "his words...Struck a nerve, I guess?"

"Young Midoriya, whatever that monster said to you, do not let it deter you from the path you wish to take," All Might suddenly sounded furious. It made sense. All Might was the villain's nemesis, of course he'd know how Izuku was feeling. "He uses his words and power to emotionally shatter people, either to hurt them or to bend them to his own will. Do not let him succeed in doing that to you."

"I won't," Izuku answered, far too quickly for All Might's taste. The blond had a rough idea that he knew exactly what that bastard had said to his successor. After all, he himself had fallen victim to All for One's influence back in Kamino when he had dropped the bombshell that was Nana Shimura's legacy;

"Oh, surely you remember Tomura Shigaraki? My student?" the masked villain had goaded casually, as if he were simply discussing the weather to the Symbol of Peace. "He's Nana Shimura's grandson."

Toshinori had to admit that after hearing those words, he'd almost shattered upon impact, losing momentary composure in front of the demon opposite him. Thankfully, his mentor and father-figure had been there to keep him grounded and that was what Toshinori intended to do with Midoriya. Despairing was what that creature wanted and he wasn't sinking his claws into his student.

"Izuku, listen to me."

Izuku said nothing, prompting Toshinori to continue;

"You are my successor and the rightful owner of One for All. He wants you to feel this way, so that you'll be more likely to attempt to give up your Quirk willingly. Please remember that."

That...actually made sense, in a way.

Izuku knew the cruel taunts wouldn't leave his thoughts right away, but All Might had offered the teen comforting words that he'd needed to hear, as much as he was currently unaware of it.

"I will, All Might," the teen swallowed thickly, eyes prickling as he tried to force his tears back. "I promise."

"That's my boy," Izuku's heart squeezed hearing those words and this time, he allowed his tears to spill down his freckled cheeks. "I'll come and see you as soon as I can, deal?"

Gulping back a small shudder, Izuku's lips pressed into a wobbly smile, "Deal."

"I'll try and make time either this evening or tomorrow at the latest. You take care until then."

"Same to you too," Izuku breathed out shakily, "hey, All Might?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

Izuku swore he heard a soft chuckle before the phone was put down and his phone screen shut off. Setting it back on the cabinet, Izuku picked up the remote control to the television inside his ward. Perhaps some daytime television could lift his spirits?

Flicking through channels, he almost dropped the controller in surprise at the sight of a reporter clinging to the wide-open door of what Izuku assumed was a news helicopter that was hovering over a massive smoking island.

A smoking island that felt vaguely familiar to the teenager…

"-Seems to be a surveillance breach at this supposed maximum security prison!" the female reporter yelled over the loud chopping sound of helicopter rotors slicing through the rough sea wind. "Footage shows various villains fleeing the island, including Tomura Shigaraki, the young man who was the ringleader for the devastating attack in Jaku City!"

The remote slipped from his hands and clattered to the tiled floor, pieces of plastic scuttling across the ground along with the batteries that had flung out in opposite directions. One ending up rolling under a medical cabinet while the other hit one of the ward wall's skirting boards.

Tight knots began to curl tightly inside his own stomach as Izuku's pale face stared at the television in utter horror.

He hadn't been dreaming.

They were out. The villains. Probably including the ones Izuku had a hand in defeating.

Overhaul, Muscular, Stain...All for One.

"No, no, no," he whimpered. He couldn't take them on now, for God's sake he could barely move! His eyes moved back towards the cabinet and his hand reached back in the direction of where he had set his phone...

[mediaevalmusereads]

Black Sun. By Rebecca Roanhorse. New York: Saga Press, 2020.

Rating: 3/5 stars

Genre: fantasy

Part of a Series? Yes, Between Earth and Sun #1

Summary: In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind. Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger, Serapio, is a young man, blind, scarred, and cloaked in destiny. As Xiala well knows, when a man is described as harmless, he usually ends up being a villain.

***Full review under the cut.***

Content Warnings: blood, violence, gore, body horror, drug/alcohol use, self-harm, suicide, mutilation, reference to child sex slavery

Overview: I came across this book while looking for fantasy novels set in non-European-inspired worlds. I got really exited about the premise: a pre-Columbian, indigenous-inspired story? With multiple perspectives? And crows? It sounded great! Unfortunately, I couldn’t give this book more than 3 stars for a number of reasons: I felt like the writing could have been a little bit better and that character motivations could have been more clear; and I ultimately didn’t feel like the story was a true race-against-the-clock until the end. While I’m intrigued enough to pick up book 2 in the series, I do wish this book had done a little more to make me feel connected to the plot and the characters.

Writing: Roanhorse’s writing reminds me of some New Adult prose styles: it feels straight-forward, clear, and well-balanced, but sometimes tends to tell more than show, especially when it comes to emotion. I really liked that I could follow the prose without issue, but I often felt like Roanhorse was dumping some info on me and expecting me to absorb it right away. For example, Xiala (one of the protagonists) tells us that she’s always felt like an outsider and that’s why she has such an immediate connection with Serapio (another protagonist), but I didn’t exactly feel that. There were also some worldbuilding details that seemed to be inserted to flesh out the world - which was great - but ultimately didn’t feel relevant to what was going on in the plot.

This book is also told from multiple perspectives and flashes forward and backward in time. While I personally was able to follow the voices and time skips just fine, some readers might find it a challenge.

Also, without spoiling anything, the end of this book seemed to rush by WAY too fast, and I honestly didn’t feel like most of the book was building to it.

The worldbuilding, however, was wonderful. I really liked the way Roanhorse described the look and feel of everything from the tastes, smells, sights, etc. and I loved how diverse and rich everything felt. While I don’t know enough about various Indigenous groups to comment on whether or not the cultural elements were incorporated well, I did like that various populations didn’t seem to be monoliths and varied in terms of social structure, dress, and custom.

Plot: The plot of this book follows two-ish threads: in one thread, Xiala must get Serapio to the city of Tova in time for “the Convergence,” a time when the celestial bodies are aligned AND there’s a lunar eclipse. In the other, Naranpa must navigate a plot to oust her from the priesthood while also dealing with rising opposition from clan Carrion Crow (and their cultists, with whom Okoa is involved).

Because of the many POV characters and the flashbacks in time, it was difficult to feel any sense of urgency in either plot thread. Xiala and Serapio’s thread was a travel narrative, and most of the conflict stemmed from the fact that the crew just straight up did not trust Xiala. At first, I thought we were getting a narrative where the crew mistrusts Xiala because she’s Teek, but then they appear to be ok with her in what was a pleasant subversion of my expectations. But then something happens and we’re back to what I expected, and it proves inconvenient for getting Serapio to Tova in time. Because I didn’t feel like I had much of a reason to want Xiala and Serapio to succeed (Serapio’s motivations are mysterious and Xiala mostly wants wealth), I felt pretty “meh” about them potentially missing their deadline. I would have much rather seen Xiala (and perhaps the crew?) be challenged and grow from the setbacks she experiences at sea, and for her to become more personally connected to Serapio so the journey shifts from one done to earn untold wealth to one where Xiala wants to help her friend (even if said friend ends up being deceptive).

The Tovan plot is likewise a little “meh” because there wasn’t a huge sense of urgency or suspense. I felt like I didn’t know the clans enough to feel strongly about their politics (aside from understanding that killing people is bad in the abstract), nor did I have a concrete reason for wanting the institution of the priesthood to remain (once I learned more of their history and the fact that most priests - called “Watchers” - would rather be elitist than minister to the people).

Perhaps that’s why I felt a little underwhelmed by the plot as a whole: while things certainly happened, I ultimately didn’t feel like they impacted the characters’ inner lives much, or if they did, that evolution was told to us more than shown. While I understand that Black Sun is the first book in a series, I still would have liked the plot to have more of an impression on the characters.

Characters: I think it’s safe to say that this book follows 4 main protagonists: Xiala (a Teek sea captain who fills the Han Solo archetype), Serapio (the mysterious blind man with crow-themes magic powers), Naranpa (the Sun Priest who struggles against traditionalists to make the priesthood more active in people’s lives), and Okoa (the son of the murdered Carrion Crow clan matriarch). While I liked all of these characters, I do wish they had been a little less dependent on archetypes (lusty sea captain, Chosen One, etc). Maybe things will change as they develop in later novels, but for now, they’re fun and certainly likeable in their own ways, but not mind-blowing.

Xiala is likeable in that she’s a hot mess with a heart of gold. She drinks, swears, and gets into trouble, all in the pursuit of earning enough wealth to make a living. She is also Teek - a member of a (rumored) all-female island clan, whose members have special sea-based magic. I liked Xiala’s connection to the sea and the way she communicates her people’s stories and cultural values. However, I do wish she was challenged a little more to want something more than material reward.

Serapio is an intriguing character in that he fits the archetype of dark, mysterious Chosen One. While I appreciated that he wasn’t a gruff loner (instead, he seemed eager to connect with people while recognizing that his appearance might unsettle them), I also think his backstory is a little too “edgy” for my tastes. His motivations were somewhat shrouded in mystery, which made it hard to know whether or not I wanted to root for him to succeed, but because he’s not a complete jerk, I found him interesting enough.

The connection between Xiala and Serapio could have been a lot stronger than it was. While I liked that they bonded over their “outsider” statuses, I ultimately felt like this was told to us rather than shown. Thus, when they kind of sort of “get together” later in the novel, it doesn’t feel earned. I didn’t understand what Xiala saw in Serapio other than his physical attractiveness and (maybe?) feeling like he didn’t treat her as a foreigner. While fine, I wanted Xiala to be more attracted to Serapio’s personal qualities, not just that he was nice to her. Same thing for Serapio: I didn’t get the sense that he had genuine feelings for Xiala personally, just that she was intriguing because she was Teek.

Naranpa, the Sun Priest, was an interesting figure in that she was caught up in the politics of the priesthood. While I liked watching her navigate the various setbacks and conflicts with traditionalists, I ultimately wish I had been given a more compelling reason to root for Naranpa to succeed. Trying to make the priesthood more hands-on and philanthropic is all well and good, but it felt too abstract. I wanted Naranpa to have more personal stakes - because she comes from the “gutters” of the city, is she more invested? But if so, how does she reconcile that with her decades-long absence from where she grew up? There was a little of that, but ultimately, I didn’t feel like I had a reason to want the priesthood to continue. I didn’t understand why Naranpa was so attached to the priesthood as an institution; why didn’t didn’t she cut her losses and go elsewhere?

Okoa is something of a late addition. His perspective doesn’t appear right away, but I think that worked out fine, considering when it appeared. Okoa is a warrior who finds himself torn between keeping peace between his clan and the Priesthood and joining a rebellious cult who wants to restore the old religion and seek revenge against the Priesthood for past trauma. While I think his perspective was important, I didn’t personally feel invested in this plot or Okoa’s dilemma. Perhaps it’s because I didn’t feel like the rebels were treated as having a real grievance; we’re told about the past and told that it was harmful, but because we don’t get the perspective of someone dedicated to the Cause, I didn’t feel like I could sympathize with it. Okoa himself is resistant, calling the rebels “cultists” and saying that though he understands their grief, he doesn’t want to support violence. Perhaps if Okoa felt threatened by the cultists, or if their cause was a true threat to the stability and well-being of the clan, then I could feel more involved. But as it stands, Okoa was somewhat wishy-washy, and I couldn’t quite understand the stakes to make his indecision feel justified.

Side or supporting characters were interesting. I really liked that Roanhorse included plenty of queer characters, including trans and non-binary/third gender characters who use pronouns like xe/xir. My favorite was probably Iktan, the head of what is essentially the assassin’s branch of the priesthood.

TL;DR: Black Sun is an intriguing fantasy with intricate worldbuilding and premise. While I personally felt like the inner lives of the characters could have been more developed and the plot more compelling, I think this book (and author) will satisfy many fantasy lovers, and I look forward to picking up the next novel in the series.

[cherubchoirs]

An Explanation of Yaldabaoth

So with Christmas Eve coming up, let’s finally talk about Yaldabaoth – who he is, his motivations and goals, and why he suits P5’s story. Basically, I see a lot of confusion (as well as frustration) surrounding his character and his status as the final antagonist, but I totally get that. His writing is messy and his execution left a lot to be desired, despite the idea of him being sound, so I understand why so many players felt he came out of nowhere and screws up the story’s themes. As I am (unfortunately) a big fan of his character, I wanted to put together a post that might help people confused by him see how he fits in, why he was included in the story, and why he makes a satisfying final boss for the plot of P5. And even if you still hate him (totally fair! Everyone’s got different taste and no matter what, his handling is god awful), I just hope I can sort of explain him so he at least makes more sense. This is going to be long, so let’s get started!

First, Yaldabaoth (also known as the Demiurge) is a figure from Gnostic lore, the false god of the material world. He came to be when Sophia, a part of the unknowable, Supreme God, decided to create something separate from the Pleroma (the divine totality) all on her own, without divine permission. So she gave birth to Yaldabaoth; however, he was so monstrous she grew immediately ashamed of her creation, and so provided him with a throne which she then wrapped in a cloud to hide him and make him ignorant in turn. Unable to behold his mother or the divine, he then believed himself to be god. Because of this, Yaldabaoth set about creating the material world, a place he unwittingly based upon the true world of divinity. His creations are animal, like him, but with Sophia’s divine spark as she provides him the power to create. This world is poorly made due to Yaldabaoth’s own incompetence and so that divine spark is trapped in the material, making it something like a spiritual prison. Because of this, however, humanity can ascend while Yaldabaoth cannot, making him envious of human beings. He grows to hate humanity, angered by their imperfection (as he bungles their creation) and the fact that they can ascend while he’s forever trapped in the depths – he turns spiteful, and he is sometimes thought of as the God of the Old Testament as an explanation for his cruelty. Obviously this is incredibly simplified (as I am by no means an expert on Gnosticism), but this is the basis of his character, and I think it really is something the writers played with (including that Satanael, his son, is the one to rebel against him and his ignorance, which is why he is cast from heaven).

A false, artificial god who believes himself to be the Supreme Being, resents humankind, and traps them in a prison...sounds pretty familiar. So what’s different about his character in P5? This Yaldabaoth is the creator of the Metaverse, and he is born from the will of the public – people wished for ease and comfort over free will, the luxury to be free of making decisions and taking responsibility for themselves, which the Holy Grail explains to the PTs as its origin.

However, Yaldabaoth is also just a manifestation of that need - one that gained sentience through the power it was fed, but he is still simply the unconscious desire of the public made material as pointed out by Lavenza (but this explanation scene is where things get rushed, confusing, and glossed over to a frustrating extent)

Yaldabaoth IS society, a tangible stand-in for the true villain of P5 – The people of the public that allow, condone, and even encourage those the PTs have fought. They can defeat criminals, but as long as society remains intact, another will immediately spring up to take their place. Makoto actually states as much when Joker comes to retrieve her from her cell:

Yaldabaoth, therefor, is not just a god thrown into the plot randomly for the biggest bad possible – he is the evils of society incarnate, the people who allow the heinous crimes the PTs had been fighting against, the people that consumed these devastating crimes as entertainment or turned a blind eye to people in need, the people that threw the PTs out the minute any doubt was cast on them. The apathetic, uncaring, callous public as a whole, the ones who constantly ignore or support these criminals until it is no longer convenient (more on that in a minute) – The palace rulers are absolute monsters and yet...we see them all over society because they are a product of that society. And then there’s Futaba, an orphan and mentally ill girl left to rot by society; Sae, a woman trying so hard to achieve her justice and support her sister, constantly stamped down in a society that says a woman can’t, a woman shouldn’t. Society is the true villain and Yaldabaoth is their collective will, manifested so that the final boss battle of the game can just be the PTs taking down the whole of a corrupt society. It’s really the ultimate culmination of their efforts and what they’ve fought against. Because as awful as they all are, the palace rulers are products of a screwed up society (one that reflects our own) – Totally and 100% responsible for their acts, but they were allowed to exist due to this society.

SO if they’re made by society, why are they “escaped convicts” from the Prison of Regression? This is a representation of how society is broken – it creates these criminals, it condones their actions, but once they become too “disruptive”, THEN and ONLY then do they become an issue. Yaldabaoth, to me, is similar to a supercomputer type villain (think AM, a very similar character imo) – the palace rulers are errant, erratic variables that upset the status quo and so must be culled. His dialogue reads very much like a sterile computer program and I think rather than completely outright malicious in his intent, he is performing what he believes to be a necessary function:

Society creates them, encourages them, and then becomes upset when their actions are brought to light and so punishes them (or in Shido’s case at first and so often irl, are let off) so as to quickly restore equilibrium where they can once again ignore all of their ills. Essentially, the palace rulers exhibit that the whole system is sick and doesn’t work, yet people by and large pretend it does because it’s so much easier to say it was one “bad apple” or blame the victims rather than admitting the entire framework of society is completely rotten from the inside out.

What is Yaldabaoth’s goal then? He sets up a game to see if society can be shaken from this apathy or if they no longer wish to lead their own lives. Joker plays the trickster, an antihero the public can root for, the rebellious and glamorous rogue that punishes criminals without help of the establishment. If he wins, this would indicate the public no longer wishes for the status quo, but for a new society that wants to reinvent itself, which is generally well explained...

Goro Akechi is his opposite – He creates chaos and fear in the public to push them back into their comfortable boxes, make them wish for the status quo represented by Shido so they can stop living in fear and return to their lives where they can ignore everything around them. If he wins, this would signal that the public don’t want to fight but instead only want security and familiarity, choosing to turn a blind eye to everything the trickster had accomplished in order to remain safe. (This is made much less clear in the dialogue, because they don’t go over Goro’s role much at all.)

He sets up the entire game on this premise, and the experiment runs...however, it ends unexpectedly. Joker succeeds in taking down Akechi and the PTs expose Shido’s crimes as well as the conspiracy itself, but the public still does not support the Phantom Thieves. They clamor for a disgraced Shido and THIS is why Joker still loses – remember, Yaldabaoth is only a representation of society itself, and society no longer believes in the Phantom Thieves. Yaldabaoth did expect the loss, he knew how far gone humanity was, he just didn’t expect this exact scenario. Of course, the game was rigged – as Lavenza says, Yaldabaoth expects Joker to fulfill the role of the Trickster and so he keeps him close, watching over him in an attempt to stall him out as Lavenza explains. 

However, due to the set up of the game, the only win condition is public support. Joker doesn’t earn it and therefor he loses, a decision that is not arbitrary despite possibly appearing so (although it is certainly unfair, pointed out by Morgana).

After offering Joker his deal (that’s a whole OTHER post I could write, y’all know I’m a clown), Yaldabaoth then moves to merge reality with Mementos in order to exert his will over the whole of the public. He wishes to rid them of their free will because, as Yaldabaoth sees it, it seems a vast majority of the public wish to no longer have it anyway and the ones that do merely become anomalies that must be purged from his system before they become too disruptive. Of course, this is an oversimplified way of viewing the issue, but again, he’s sort of like a computer – he will take care of the issue in the most efficient way possible, and that is to rule over society himself. (Again, using the word “administrator” invokes computer terminology and likens him to a mechanical program):

Interestingly, his defeat is brought about by the public backing the Phantom Thieves 100% - an action that triggers Arsene’s evolution into Satanael, Yaldabaoth’s rebellious son. Satanael is of the Fool Arcana, the confidant that represents Joker’s bond to Yaldabaoth himself...to the public, in a sense, and so it’s fitting that this persona is the one to destroy him as he is no longer needed.

So Yaldabaoth is both a character in his own right and representative of the will of the public as well. His writing is confusing, lacking in explanation, and relies heavily on obscure references to his Gnostic roots along with religious symbolism (eg., the floors of Mementos taking their names from the Qliphoth and the palace rulers being representative of the seven deadly sins), and I think that’s why he feels so out of place to so many players. However, the best possible final antagonist for P5’s themes and plot is society itself – the society that shunned them, the society that created the palace rulers, the society that desperately needs to be done away with if we wish for these travesties to come to an end. Because P5 isn’t about individual evil, it’s about institutional evils that create and perpetuate so much individual pain that goes unnoticed and uncared for. Yaldabaoth is the amalgamation and manifestation of that broken system, he gives it a presence and a voice so that the PTs can fight back against it physically. So even though his writing is handled poorly and his execution is lacking, I find him to be a perfect fit and a satisfying conclusion to P5’s themes as an unfair, cruel society turned into a dogmatic god. 

This meta really just gives an overview of everything he represents, so I can always go into more detail about any of the points but I hope this explanation helps those that were confused by his inclusion in P5! I’m perfectly happy to elaborate on anything I talked about and clear up any confusion (I didn’t want this post to go on literally FOREVER, so I know some things might require more info), so feel free to ask questions! Other than that have a happy Day of Reckoning and remember to celebrate Bad End Akira’s birthday 🥳🎉

[foundouthatdabiistouyatodoroki]

do you believe hawks decent into villiany?you reblogged a post about it.

Do I believe hawks is going to fall into villainy? Yes.Mainly I found the whole “Hawks is going to die death flag” idea distasteful.

BNHA is a feel good series. We had Nighteye already die with his character arc resolved ending in a high note. It would be far too depressing if Hawks died with a grim conclusion of his arc;for a feel-good series having Hawks die would be gloomy end to his character arc.

The person who first mentioned this is cutiesabyle who brought up this theory and made a lot of good points about it.

In chapter 191, Hawks and Dabi’s conversation in these panels  is what made me think that Hawks is turning to the dark side. If you look at the panels his face is darkened out in them:

Hawk’s face covered in darkness while he’s talking to Dabi in these panels. After his conversation with Dabi when he leaves his back is swallowed up by the darkness while Dabi is walking to the light.

This could refer to him falling into darkness.Hawks is compared to the fall of Icarus (the Greek myth); that why a lot of people believed he would die when they read this.

But, it’s something entirely different.This meant that Hawks will fall in a more disgraced unheroic or better yet turn into a villainy.

As hamliet described it if you see the BNHA volume 21 cover it would be this:

Hamliet:Hawks has his back turned, and in front of Hawks are blue-ish flames and darkness, which seems to be again symbolic of the panel in which Hawks walked towards the darkness, perhaps foreshadowing a future fall to villainy and of course, representing the deal we know he’s struck with Dabi.

As hamliet once described about Hawks on volume 21 this could be the passage of another hint of Hawks falling into villainy and this cover foreshadows it.

Having more free time may seem like he’s carefree response to Endeavor, but when you look even deeper you see a glimpse of his background.

Here in the flashback  of chapter 192 of Hawks back when he was a child,  in this panel he looks to be from a impoverished background holding an Endeavor doll. The words “must become a hero” isn’t something Hawks has said. These words are from his handlers;not his words but the word of the people who leashed him.He was exploited at a young age because of his quirk and circumstances of his background:

All we see that his entire life he had no choice. He was never given a choice to live freely he was never given a choice.

Hawks was no more than a tool to be exploited when he’s given are orders he can’t turn down. Hawks is very well aware this but obeys their orders.Hawks mentioned the investigation with Gran Torino: he hides in his hood when asked. He can’t talk back to his captors but instead jokes not to earn their ire.

These people control Hawks. He’s treated as a tool by these people.

They exploit hawks for their own convenience. Hawks is very well aware that he is essentially a captive; he knows this and he can’t escape because the people are the ones leashing him and handling his reins. Hawks is used as a sacrificial pawn by his handlers and forced to investigate the league of villains.Hawks acknowledges this, bows, and does what he thinks has to do for his goal.

What does this say about hawks he was never free was never given a free choice? This has a much more deeper meaning.

Hawks is self-sacrificing by nature; perhaps too self sacrificing.His self sacrificing nature is going to rear its ugly head.

During Tokoyami internship Hawks is isolated from the rest of his sidekicks being flown too fast and to show the difference what he has gone through.

Tokoyami interns with him which allows Hawks not only to get info on the USJ incident, but also shows how he sees himself in Tokoyami.

This personal moment with Hawks giving wisdom to Tokoyami: “no need for you to be on the ground.” These words reflect a part of himself that is trapped with no way out and cannot fly away.

Speaking of which, didn’t Hawk’s intern have a darkness quirk?Tokoyami who has the dark shadow quirk, which could also be a part that foreshadows his fall into villainy; the personal moment he said birds should not be confined to the ground could be another foreshadow of him flying the coop.

Hawks is a fan of Endeavor; he admires Endeavor for never giving up despite it looking impossible. This is genuine.

We seen in the way he talks to Endeavor he doesn’t know that Endeavor abused his family for the sake of his entire ambition to surpass All Might. This is going to be heartbreaking when Hawks finds out what Endeavor has done to his family for his ambition. Tragically Hawks and Endeavor formed a genuine bond; finding out what he’s done will hurt him deeply–not just Hawks but Endeavor as well. The truth is going to hurt the both of them let me point something about betrayal in writing it’s done by someone you trusted the most as it says down here:

is done by someone you trusted the most betrayal if its someone you trust.

Horikoshi plays around with symbolism seen when he first introduced Hawks. Who he in many ways is related to the Icarus theory with the opening quote: flys to fast for his own good. His quirk using feathers relates to the wax wings Icarus had.This is seen again when Hawks gives Endeavor his feathers to fight being burning up resembling

Icarus wings when they melted from the sun. There’s an interesting detail about about Endeavor: his super move being “prominence burn” came from solar prominence. Endeavor could be the metaphorically “sun” to the theory. Hawks will burn if he gets to close to Endeavor;the whole “flying too close to the sun” would refer to how Hawks becomes too close to Endeavor.

If he does, Hawks will find out the truth faster than anyone, and if he found out the truth what Endeavor has done he will get burned. The fall could mean his fall into villainy and Dabi could have something to do with it

Let’s  talk about Hawks’s character. Hawks is very carefree smiling and joking with the situation even joking around with Endeavor.He doesn’t take things too seriously when in reality he is surprising hardworking and diligent.During the Hood attack, Hawks managed to remain cool-headed in the crisis shown to be very calm in stressful situations not panicking when things got worse. Hawks is sharp and quick on the uptake, catches on faster than anyone noted by several characters. Hawks is an info leech and good at reading at people like when he works he is looking for information and he’s observant and his able to think quickly giving him the ability manipulated the situation based on the people’s characters.

Something I would like to point out about Dabi.Dabi was put in charge of the raid pulled of the forest mission.I pointed there’re a lot of holes in the plan in my post yes the plan may have a lot of things to point out but despite the forest raid only suffering three casualties and things he did not predict he completed his objective he completed his objective in capturing Katsuki.Dabi didn’t only pull off the summer camp raid he also helped the league of villains in making UA take a huge blow to its reputation hero’s protecting its own students.

Dabi achieves the same thing with Endeavor who recently became number one.He send a high end nomu Hood, a nomu stronger than the others on Endeavor succeeds in severely wounding endeavor this started to cause people to question the security of the hero society in question. Dabi drove Endeavor and Hawks into a corner. Even Hawks was greatly unsettled by this.

Hawks was the one that Dabi notified about the nomu Dabi threw Hood on him and didn’t tell him that he is stronger.He set the hood nomu in a heavily populated area of the city knowing full well that hero always save the lives of others first to further drive the heroes in a corner.Dabi manipulated the situation one that Hawks didn’t predict, Hawks who is perceptive and observant was run over by Dabi. Dabi pulled all this over Hawks’ head.Dabi is the only person who gets under hawk’s skin  Dabi is the one who made Hawks lose his cool.

Here are things you need to note about Dabi. I mentioned that Dabi is not unintelligent; I stated before in his stats. Dabi’s good at seeing through people this is seen with Snatch, Eraserhead, even Shoto. During the forest raid mission Dabi distracts the pros from the league’s true objective: Dabi was keeping the heroes on their toes while the plan proceeded.

He knows what makes people tick goes under people’s skins and uses that to his advantage.He attacks when they don’t retaliate like with Endeavor and Hawks weakened after the fight with hood, as seen with Snatch when he used “hero always save the lives of others first”

he identifies Snatch’s weakness.

He noticed that the rational Aizawa is fierce and asks if he’s gotten unders his skin:

Dabi knows that Aizawa cares about his students leaving behind a cryptic message which visibly unhinged Aizawa.

Dabi taunts Vlad, anticipating his reaction and saying that he voicing completed his objective while driving the rest of them in a corner.

Dabs ran both Hawks and Shoto in circles. Shoto is very powerful,quick and smartest in his class, known to be very agile, yet Dabi catches Katsuki in front of him.

These attacks are done by Dabi. He pulled off two successfully He. led two of the major operations that put the league of villains in the spotlight. Dabi would is one put the league of villains in the spotlight Dabi might really have a big effect on the media as a whole. Despite his success and failure of the last two attacks he was really good at doing what he is doing. Despite being called weak he could be one of the most dangerous members that’s how deadly he is this demonstrated just how ruthless Dabi is as a villain.

What does that half to mean for the media attention for Dabi? Well in the meta liberation arc Himiko doesn’t want to be pitted by others she wants to live life her own normal way:

She never wants to die and be painted as tragic figure. Himiko doesn’t want to be used for media attention especially for the meta liberation’s army motives.

Himiko’s backstory would not be seen as sympathetic I mentioned in of my posts. it won’t work since her backstory is far from sympathetic it wouldn’t be justifiable just be picked apart by critics why more quirk restriction. The meta liberation army tried to use Himiko to show the truth but unfortunately she’s not painted as a tragic lead that the meta liberation is going for as Himiko is not a sympathetic figure.

Dabi and Himiko are foils when they are first introduced:

Dabi seems to have the flare for the dramatics seen in the beginning of the forest raid standing on top with his opening speech.

with Vlad he talks about how the league of villians already completed the objectives with abudting one of their students how the loss of faith will spread like wildfire all the while pinned down.

While talking to Snatch he’s happy that he got media recognition for his burn murders:

Dabi seems to be happy that he is getting more media recognition for his villainy. Himiko’s story would not garner sympathy, but Dabi’s will. Which would make his reveal being Endeavor’s son turned villain exposing Endeavor is going to cause public outrage. His story would have more media attention than Toga’s; Dabi could be painted as sympathetic, not Toga.

People said that Hawks is going to find out about Dabi’s identity; here’s the thing” he won’t.As I mentioned before Dabi ran Hawks in circles he knows something that he doesn’t and he holds something over Hawks’ head that and Dabi is incredibly ruthless he knows how to get under people’s skin. Dabi is going to spring this on Hawks in a more dramatic and unexpected way. Also Hawks’ entire situation is that he’s trapped :exploited and used since his childhood.

Hawks would be integral into finding out that Touya is Dabi in the theory. His bond with Endeavor would also serve as a focal point for his character. This would be very great narratively speaking for a hero becoming a villain. Dabi would be the one who is responsible for his fall by revealing that he is Touya Todoroki and Endeavor’s abuse.

This is why I believe Hawks will fall into villainy and why I don’t believe in the death flags but him falling into the darkness. Thanks to cutisayble that brought up this theory and allowing me to talk about it.

[animatical-fandoms]

Kwami Swap Week Masterpost

Long post ahead; buckle up!

TIKKI

Adrien/Catbug- Well, it’s going to be canon. He needs to call Mari “Kitty” and hearing him say “miraculous ladybug” will be amazing

Alya/Ladybird - My personal design for @lunian‘s Ladybird AU. It’s awesome, go read their work!

Nino/Ladybeetle - In this AU, Mari was too nervous, despite Chat’s belief, and gives Nino the ladybug miraculous. He and Chat!Adrien are the best of friends, and Adrien lowkey crushes on him almost as bad as Mari!Ladybug.

Chloe/Lady Scarlet - My interpretation of the wonderful @zoe-oneesama‘s Scarlet Lady AU. 

Luka/Redbug - Plain and simple, Master Fu showed up a few years earlier, and ran into this kindhearted musician before Mari. TBH Luka is one of my faves, so he’s going to show up for the majority of the week because I loved playing around with designs for him

Felix/Lord Coccinelle- He doesn’t get cursed with bad luck, but with a kwami that insists he be responsible and help poor Lady Noire (Bridgette) break her curse. He’s gentler, kinder as a bug than as Felix, always happy to help others and to calm akuma victims after a fight. He’s drawn to Lady Noire, ever melancholy and mysterious, and lets himself loose with an edge against Bridgette because that’s how he’s always been.

PLAGG

Marinette/Lady Noir - Again, based off of the leaked art. I just really, really hope she’ll call Adrien some version of My Lady, and make at least one cat pun.

Alya/Nina Noir - Instead of Master Fu picking Adrien, he asks New Ladybug who she would like by her side. Obviously Alya is the first choice, and she’s ecstatic to be a superhero, keeping the Ladyblog focused on Ladybug because, you know, she can’t record herself. Nino and Adrien crush HARD on the new superheroes, and while that frustrates Mari, Alya is absolutely delighted.

Nino/Felus - Adrien pulls a Marinette, afraid that he’ll get caught since he’s under so much scrutiny as a model with a ton of visibility, and though it physically pains him to not fulfill his magical girl dreams, he knows Nino would be an amazing hero. Nino takes it in stride, and he and Mari!Ladybug are the bros to end all bros. Alya, crushing on Chat!Nino, creates both the Ladyblog and another blog dedicated to Nino’s alter ego. His thought? Best girlfriend ever.

Chloe/Duchess Noir - Adrien did the above, but with Chloe, thinking her confidence would be an asset  Mari as Ladybug would be irritated by Duchess, but it becomes a series of growing moments for Chloe, because she gets to see what a force she really can be on people’s lives and gets better at the Friend Thing.

Luka/Pantheon - My boy omg this one was fun to draw. Kinda similar AU to him as Ladybug. 

Bridgette/Lady Noire - Reverse PV - Bridgette thought her luck was bad enough with her being unable to speak at a normal pace and pitch in front of her crush, not to mention her clumsiness makes her look like a fool during their dance classes. Now she’s cursed with a god of destruction and a Perfect Superhero Partner - well, at least her clumsiness disappears when she’s Lady Noire. A shadow to Lordbug’s light. She knows it’s as hopeless to try and break her curse with him as it is to get together with Felix, so she just stands aside as his protector.

TRIXX

Marinette/Fennette - See the Ladybird AU with Alya; I couldn’t help myself!

Adrien/Kitsune - In the world where Alya is Chat and Mari is Ladybug, the two need help against the multiplying twins, same as before. Except Mari goes to lonely Adrien who she knows would be amazing. And the nerd goes for an anime name immediately. 

Nino/Volpino - The above babysitting disaster happens to be Nino’s little cousin, Chris, rather than Alya’s sisters, so Mari offers the fox miraculous to him. He and Adrien get to be bros for all sides of the mask. Alya makes an entirely new blog dedicated to the new fox.

Chloe/Mistress Amber - She made like Queen Bee and stole it, thinking: I can do way better than Lila because I won’t be faking it.

Luka/Vulpes - He probably would get this if another akuma was the reason they needed the Fox - maybe if Fu gave it to Ladybug while his mom was akumatized and he was worried about everyone’s safety.

Felix/Reynard - He was free of the Black Cat’s curse, and the miraculous could no longer be his. It got passed to Adrien through Fu without him knowing, and as soon as he sees his little brother vaulting across the city in a catsuit (without stripper boots, what the hell Plagg why did you make me suffer this way) he storms up to Fu’s place and says give me the fox those are small children my god and becomes Mentor #1 to the new Chat and Ladybug. Naturally, no one catches on that he’s himself. He’s a professional at this secret identity thing.

WAYZZ

Marinette/Mlle. Bouclier - In the world where Nino and Adrien are Ladybug and Chat respectively, Alya has been chosen as the fox. During Anansi, though, she’s captured - so Nino’s like omg Marinette could be the turtle and Marinette, upon receiving it, is having major panic mode set in, but you know, she does her best. Adrien takes a look at her protecting them and is like omg my Lady, a la Alya knowing exactly who Carapace was, but he keeps it to himself, and becomes more comfortable and flirty with Mari.

Adrien/La Tortue - Don’t know if this fits in with any of the others … but probably Chat!Chloe verse, and Marinette is like please can you be my partner forever

Alya/Turtledove - Instead of her getting kidnapped during Anansi, it’s Nino, since Nora had a beef with him being too girly. She totally saves him and fangirls over being a superhero and he just knows.

Chloe - How did this happen? I’m not even sure.

Luka - Both Alya and Nino are unavailable during Anansi, so Marinette is like, Luka was super helpful on the boat and is super nice let’s do this.

Bridgette - Fox!Felix verse - she sees her boyfriend, who was once Chat, as a fox teaching the two bb heroes the ropes. She goes to Fu, stands in the door with her eyebrow raised.  Fu had meant for her to succeed him as guardian anyway, and she takes up a job at his place so he can still hang out with Wayzz. She becomes Mentor #2 and is basically Mulan in fighting style - totally unexpected strategies. (It’s her fault that identity reveals happen, idk how, but it is)

POLLEN

Marinette/Marigold - My version from the Lady Scarlet universe!

Adrien/Goldenbee - From the universe where Chloe ends up as Chat, Marinette is super protective of this sunshine bee boy

Alya/Honeybee - Marinette actually? Gets the Bee Miraculous to Alya instead of losing it to Chloe?

Nino/Bumble - Mari’s mind goes to Nino instead of Alya when the Bee is needed, and she makes it to him.

Alix/Piquer - After seeing her do so awesome with Reverser, Marinette turns to Alix for help as the Bee. 

Max - well, I don’t have too much of a headcanon for him, but @kwamiswaps did a fanfic, so that’’s what this design is for! (I did little suspender stripes without meaning to omg I really do like how it turned out)

DUSUU

Marinette/Bluebird - The Peacock wasn’t damaged, just disappeared - and, while visiting Adrien for a study session, she ends up with a new bird friend.

Adrien/La Paon - He inherits it from his mom okay??? Like, Fu has it and knows and is like your mother would have wanted you to have this. And this pisses off Hawkmoth to no end because he thinks whoever stole it is Definitely Not Adrien and is disgracing his wife’s name. Obviously a lot of drama. 

Alya/Ava Azure - Swap the Peacock for the Fox - let’s just say Hawkmoth had a direct source to mess with Lila. Instead of illusions on the night the twins start multiplying, she creates a summoned creature to lure them all together.

Nino/Plume - The Peacock was damaged still, but Nino was willing to risk that to save his girlfriend and the city after a really nasy attack

Chloe/Royal Blue - Somehow, since the Mayor was friends with Gabriel and his wife, he ended up in possession of the Peacock before Gabriel knew what it was. Chloe gets her hands on it relatively at the same time she would have gotten the Bee and is just as Extra(TM).

Jagged/Pavo - He deserves to be a flashy birb. His suit would have sequins if I’d had time. 

NOOROO

Marinette/Mariposa - Mayura is the main villain in this universe, and Emilie is comatose because of a damaged Ladybug Miraculous. Adrien is still Chat, but he makes “my wings” and “my little butterfly” comments rather than “My Lady”. Gabriel has Nathalie generally doing his dirty work, and he calls Emilie his lady. Mari uses her friends’ best qualities to fight against the beasts Mayura creates.

Adrien/Papillon - He’s been Chat for some time, but now Gabriel has been revealed to him and Mari, and he gets really, really angry, and steals the miraculous as Adrien. This is a Problem. Plagg is concerned Adrien is getting too angry to deal with powers of destruction full-time, so Adrien brings him to Fu and alternates between Plagg and Nooroo, and he confronts Gabriel a lot as the Butterfly because betrayal reasons. Ladybug is concerned, but she trusts him and that’s what gets him through.

Nino/Wingbeat - He is So Supportive of his friends, okay? He gets chosen as the Butterfly holder when, say, Bridgette has the Turtle and they manage to take it from Hawkmoth but still need help getting the Peacock or some other stolen one.

Chloe/Madame Monarch - Okay, this version of Chloe does not get a redemption arc, like, ever - she’s Hawkmoth. Straight up.  She starts every akuma purposefully, becomes a villain, etc.  Don’t ask why; I don’t know - attention? I prefer Redeemed!Chloe, but I feel like she’d totally be past saving as this particular supervillain.

Kagami/Painted Lady - Adrien gets to pick some new holders in my personal headcanon. Let’s say while the Mouse and Snake go to Mari and Luka, they get the Butterfly so Adrien chooses Kagami because she tried to help him and she wouldn’t let her emotions get in the way when she chooses people with her powers.

Felix/Hawkmoth - Brother!AU. He was Chat Noir when he was younger, has been abroad with Bridgette, and comes home to see the canon situation. He is Not Fooled by Adrien, Mari, anyone - he’s been there, and he has distance of not knowing most of the people involved, so he gets very, very, angry. He knows his father is Hawkmoth. So he steals the butterfly and sides with Ladybug and Chat Noir, who are both thankful but confused at this new Butterfly who’s So Angry - Adrien doesn’t figure it out, but he comforts Felix without meaning to and Felix is so touched. Felix eventually reveals that he knows who the previous Hawkmoth and the current (insert new villain identity) is - Gabriel Agreste. Obviously disbelief and angst, but he reveals himself and is like I am the last person to want Gabriel to actually be a supervillain  and Agreste brotherly bonding and HawkDad butt-kicking. 

Another universe idea I had was that Felix and Adrien share the cat and the butterfly, trading depending on what’s needed. 

That’s a wrap!

[erinaceina]

1920s-set Fantasy

@sirjohnsmythe asked about the 1920s-set fantasy I mentioned, so here goes:

Spectred Isle by K. J. Charles: “ Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense...except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.” Green men, genuinely creepy magic, and a lovely m/m romance. Set in the "real world" but with added magic. I never found the fenland creepy before I read this book.  Probably my favourite of the lot.

Amberlough by Lara Elena Donnelly: “ Meet three people who deal in secrets and lies... living in a decadent era just before a political coup is about to set the city on fire.... “ Set in a city roughly analogous to Weimar Berlin where everyone’s a hot mess. Seriously, if you imagine Jerott Blyth at his most angstily drunk but without the will to do good, you’re getting somewhere near the level of the main characters. I had complicated feelings about this one, to be honest, but I did think it was very good. m/m but not a romance.

Witchmark by C. L. Polk: “In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a world war, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own.” Not, strictly speaking, 1920s-set; it’s closer to an analogue of 1918. Although the blurb says the world is reminiscent of Edwardian England, a lot of the worldbuilding reminds me more of New York (e.g. the way that streets are named). I’m reading this one at the moment and I’m really enjoying it. An interesting magic system, a murder mystery and what I think is shaping up to be another lovely m/m romance.

Spellbound by Allie Therin: “ Arthur Kenzie’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric…and the only one available has sworn off his abilities altogether.” Set in the “real world” but with added magic. With a m/m romance again. I really enjoyed this, particularly the depiction of a diverse, multicultural city. The bit where the hero absolutely tears one of the minor villains to shreds about his shitty attitudes towards immigrants is absolutely priceless.

Goblin Fruit by Celia Lake: “Addictive potions challenge even the best minds.Lord Geoffrey Carillon is well-known as a pleasant and harmless sort of man. On the surface, he's recovered from the Great War, taking his role as Lord of Ytene seriously when he's not seen at any number of house parties, concerts, and balls. When an inquiry agency needs his particular talents to help investigate a mysterious and highly addictive golden drink, he's happy to lend a hand.” Set in the “real world” with added magic, but mainly in a magical milieu existing side-by-side with the normal world (think Harry Potter). There were bits where the worldbuilding didn’t quite seem to work - I think that things were probably explained in previous books, but this is the kind of series where you can read the books out of order, so I’d have liked to see the details clarified. The ending was a bit rushed as well. BUT Carillion was basically a magical version of Lord Peter Wimsey, so I was happy. m/f.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, but if anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know.

[yourhero404]

Control.

Day 5 of @shigarakiweek! I wasn’t sure how to approach it so I said “fuck it, go for a song fic” so, that’s where I’m at lmao :^)

Day 5: Hands/Control/Secrets (though it may fit the others as well? But it started out as just control!) Word count: 1,666 Description: Based off of the song CONTROL by Halsey!

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They send me away to find them a fortune A chest filled with diamonds and gold

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The speaker icon on the screen felt rather lonely.  

Tomura was aware his Sensei was on the other side of the connection, but his voice alone didn’t feel personable.  

He was set to be his successor—his greatest invention—the one to take All Might, and the system of heroes, down in flames.  

The price that came with an unjust society was surely profitable to those like Tomura should they succeed in tipping the scale. Power, influence, freedom—all gold in the eyes of those who are forced to creep in the shadows of those polished like diamonds by the public. They could reach for it had they only been encouraged to do so. The heroes—they shoot people like Tomura down without another thought, never bothering to dig deep and judge if they are worthy or not.  

The shadows could snuff out such a light, if they chose to follow the leader All For One had presented them.

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The house was awake, the shadows and monsters The hallways, they echoed and groaned

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Tomura truly hated the heroes—but was it his own hatred? There were days he wasn’t sure whose voice belonged where; Was his even still coming from his own throat?  

The bar was dirty and drab. The outside looked uninhabited—intentional, possibly—but decent within. Tomura hated it, how empty it seemed to be; Silence was a rare delicacy for those with tortured souls, but there were times it drove him further away from reality.  

Standing at the end of the hall, it took him back to his childhood; He was afraid, then. Why was he afraid? Something related to shadows crawling along the ground and the monsters just out of sight calling out for him.  

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I sat alone, in bed till the morning I'm crying, "They're coming for me"   And I tried to hold these secrets inside me My mind's like a deadly disease

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Nightmares were much scarier then—perhaps now he had just grown accustomed to them? Someone had always been there to comfort him, tell him that nothing had to be feared for the heroes would protect those in need.  

He started to keep the monsters to himself, then. Being a hero meant showing no fear—making sure you were always brave, smiling, ready to protect those around you. He was young, then-- naïve, innocent—childish for assuming the poison from the shadows that clouded his soul would taint his mind. Why were the monsters calling out for him once again?

At the end of it all, he found himself crying, covered in blood, calling out for someone to save him from the shadows clawing their way into his sight, though no hero had bothered to show up.

It was just a child’s imagination, he had been told, it was foolish and irrational. Monsters were not real—until he turned into one.

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I'm bigger than my body I'm colder than this home I'm meaner than my demons I'm bigger than these bones

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Tomura wondered if he were a god. Surely, something about him was otherworldly—how would one such as him be so blessed had he not been?

Tomura was a god, though the world turned a blind eye to the bitter truth that no god was truly free of sin.

He had been sinful, sinister, evil—whatever form of the word felt the heaviest across their tongues—but he had been truthful. True to himself, true to his Sensei, true to those who dared called themselves his disciples and joined him in his cause.  

Mean, nasty, despicable—the public loved calling him all sorts of things, though they felt no need to call their beloved heroes the same. Were they not just as corrupt as he? Were they as just as they claimed to be? It was as though they were the thieves of heart, swaying the publics opinion to see those like him as the trash beneath their feet. Disgusting.  

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And all the kids cried out, "Please stop, you're scaring me" I can't help this awful energy God damn right, you should be scared of me Who is in control?

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“Villains”, what a dirty word—Tomura enjoyed the title, though it’s meaning was futile when thought about it. Wasn’t everyone a villain to someone else? Wasn’t everyone a hero to another? Or had he simply been too tainted by the world to ever be golden as the ones on the television; Thinking about the light hurt his head far too much.

He liked control. He liked instilling fear in the hearts of those who dare defy him—who dare worship these corrupted heroes so willingly as though they were pure gods. Tomura was a god! Had they not seen it? Had these children been blinded by the light for so long that the shadows no longer became visible to them? One good encounter, face to face, should keep the flame of fear alive in the back of their minds—that's what he’d give them.

“An adolescent”, “a tantrum”, they had described him as nothing more than a child and had written him off as a minor threat—still a threat, mind you—but something minor. Tomura’s role in this game was anything but minor in the grand scheme of things, and they would be sure to realize as his hand grow closer to the heart of it all.

Tomura was much more than the neighborhood “bad guy”-- he was the shadows that clutched at the hearts of other little children like him.

But who’s hand had been tugging at his strings?

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I paced around for hours on empty I jumped at the slightest of sounds

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The stress of it all had made him go mad.  

It was the stress, wasn’t it? The need to please his Sensei, to take him place on the throne, to make those who shine yield to his crown—it all was too much, wasn’t it?  

Tomura found himself in another world when his thoughts got to be too much—it was almost as though he had given his body to another and allowed them to make his body’s decisions. Walking, reading, studying—none of which seemed to be done by him though it was indeed his hand that had been holding the metaphorical reigns. It was odd—it reminded him of his childhood shadows, a doppelganger of sorts, creeping in through his skin to make itself at home. It was frightening, not knowing when or where you would find yourself, and coming to made him feel much worse as the weight of his duties crushed his chest.

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And I couldn't stand the person inside me I turned all the mirrors around

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They were right—those people on the news, the ones walking the street, those who simply had to say their piece on the matter—he was dirty. He was disgusting, evil, disgraceful—nothing about him was pretty and his Sensei had made this very clear.

“It doesn’t matter,” he had told him, “You’ll shine in the way you’re meant to.”

But how? How was one like him to shine when everything inside him had been dark and twisted? A misfit—that's what he had been—surrounded by equally as blind characters who needed to look to him for guidance. Where was his guidance? Where had the other version of him gone when he needed it the most?  

His stomach was upset. Thinking too hard about who he was hurt his head; The voices beyond the mirror grew far too loud—he turned them to dust.

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I'm well acquainted with villains that live in my head They beg me to write them so they'll never die when I'm dead

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As the days go on, his head only grows more painful. His limbs are heavy, they’re as tired as he was, but something had kept them going. String, perhaps? They pushed and pulled as though he were nothing but a puppet among a handmade stage.  

“This is who you are,” a voice says, “You’re nothing. You’re tainted.”

Tomura used to cry at the words, they stung after all. They hurt him in ways he wasn’t used to, ways in which he didn’t think were possible; That’s changed, now. They grew onto him—with him—he's done nothing to fight back with them anymore. Such dirty words are nothing but a breeze against scars that had once been hit with knives.  

The voice felt like home. It was something he had grown accustomed to—it certainly wasn’t his own, but he wasn’t sure whose it had been. Familiar, yes, but something about it was needy—it needed him to continue forward. It cried for him to follow through and complete what it couldn’t-- to become the god it never got to be despite its will. They needed him to live life for them.

The shadows hand was much colder than he had expected as it wrapped around his throat. It had finally caught up with him—though he wasn’t surprised—and now it wasn’t going to let go.

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And I've grown familiar with villains that live in my head They beg me to write them so I'll never die when I'm dead

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The voice demanded he do his part. It broke him—bending his will and snapping whatever fight he had left in him. He was tired—it was useless, anyway. It demanded he play this part in the game, finishing it’s will until he was no longer necessary.  

The shadows hand gripped much tighter, though Tenko had no longer fought to breathe. He was a puppet, a marionette at most, something the shadows had longed for since he could remember.  

He didn’t fear them anymore; The monsters were something that had always lived just out of his sight, until he turned to finally find one with a foreign hand gripping his face, pulling his strings, in the mirror.

[generatorera]

I don’t post often, but when I do, it’s because there’s something I really want to talk about. Like this.

If you’re a fan of Spider-Man, Insomniac and or potentially great games in general, you’re probably aware of the new game that recently came out. Let me just say that it was definitely worth the wait. This is not just a great game, but a great Spider-Man game. It is perhaps the best version of the character and his universe that I have seen. When Insomniac’s creative director said they know what he means to people, he meant it. I do have a few minor complaints but overall, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

That being said, I want to talk about this trailer in particular. It was released the day before the game released (unless you went to the midnight release) and when I said Insomniac knows Spider-Man, this trailer is a clear testament to that. 

It starts off with the game’s main villain, Mr. Negative blasting Spider-Man out of the top of the building, sending him and the building’s debris plummeting to the ground. As he gets closer, the world starts turning dark and time begins to slow down. There’s a neon sign in the background that says ‘Deep End’ and the meaning behind it becomes more apparent. Someone whispers Spider-Man’s name softly as Spidey closes his eyes in his slowed down, darken state. Then, a demonic voice yells “You’re Nothing!” and out of nowhere, Shocker grabs Spider-Man and pulls him up. He’s standing on the floating debris and punches him through it. As he hurdles down, multiple voices call him a “Nobody, Loser, a Freak!” just as Electro floats above him and zaps him downward. As he hurdles back down, Vulture flies up to him and kicks him down as a female voice says, “You don’t belong here!” As he slows down again, Scorpion’s tail wraps around him as more voices tell him to “Give up” and that he’s “Useless, disgrace, a failure!” and Scorpion throws him down into the debris. Spider-Man finally lands, but before he can even get up, Rhino steps on him. As he glares at the hero, all the voices finish by saying, “Everyone hates you!” Then Rhino stomps him down and he falls through the ground, into a pitch black space with the only light coming through the hole he came through as he slowly falls.

If this isn’t a metaphor for depression, I don’t know what is. Spider-Man was made to be the most relatable hero, the everyman, the guy we can see ourselves as. In this universe, Spider-Man has been around for eight years, faced all of these guys but Mr. Negative is the newest threat. Even with all he’s experience and skills, he still struggles against the newest member of his rouges gallery. We can see how this relates to ourselves. As we get older, we hone our skills and get better at what we do. However, that doesn’t make us perfect and unbeatable. There are times where after years of learning, we are met with a new threat, one that challenges us in ways we never imagined. We can try to fight it but despite our efforts, we can still fail and fall like Spider-Man did. When we do fail, we sometimes think back to the struggles we previously had and how hard they were to overcome. We think back to our other failures even if we don’t want to. Eventually, we send ourselves to our lowest point with little strength to get back up. We enter the deep end of ourselves.

However, in his deep end, Spider-Man heard the voice of Aunt May, the woman who raised him, sacrificed so much and got so little in return all for her family, telling him to “Get up” which is probably a reference to all the times she had to wake Peter up for school after sleeping late, which was probably due to all his late night patrols. However, it was enough to shake Spidey out of the faze and back into reality. He uses his webs to pull himself back up, while enter the dark world again and kicking Rhino in the face, causing him to vanish. Back in reality, Spider-Man is webbing up all the falling debris as he works his way back up to the top of the building. He reenters the dark world, webs zips onto Scorpion and causes him to fade as well. Spider-Man continues to make his way back up and goes back to the villains as he shoots Vulture with a web and throws him into the remain debris. Spider-Man makes one last stop to the real web, webbing up whatever remains, then goes back to the dark world and hits Electro with a web line and pulls him onto the ground. All that’s left is Shocker as he prepares to shoot Spidey with a shock wave but Spidey, using his momentum, grabs Shocker, spins around, tosses him above himself, shoots a web line, pulls him in, lets out a scream of power, and finally punches him into dust like all the rest. Finally out of the dark world, Spider-Man is about to reach the top as we see behind him, the debris is all webbed up, as he kept all of it from hitting the ground. On the street level, everyone in New York who say, all of whom probably hated Spider-Man when he first appeared in this world, cheered for him, seeing his accomplishment. At the top, Mr. Negative turns around in shock as he sees Spider-Man back up on top, shooting a web line, ready to fight him again. The two then  resume their fight, which is more or less even, as a man from the real world watches on as he says to the audience, “Some see self-debt as an invitation to be greater. This is your opportunity to prove it.”

So. Much. Awesome. If the first part showed how we fall into depression, the second part shows us getting out. When we feel like the whole world is against us, there is also someone, even if you feel there isn’t, who still loves us and wants us to succeed like Aunt May does for Peter. When Spidey stopped himself from falling, he was able to keep up the momentum and make his way up to the top, catching the debris and fighting the villains. It shows that sometimes the hardest part of something is starting but when we start we can keep going for as long as we want, reminding ourselves that, while we failed in the past, we have also succeeded and overcome the odds against us. It’s with this I think back to a line I heard in my new favorite anime “My Hero Academia” which was, “remember where we started, who I am, how I got here.” If we remember all that when facing the odds, remember what drives us, where we get our strength from, and what we can do now, we can fight the challenges ahead and win the day and be ready to take on the next challenge, even if we don’t know if we’re gonna win or not.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you probably know all this is obvious. All I’m saying isn’t new. Hell, what this trailer did has probably been done in others before. However, this is the first time I’ve seen it done so well with a character I love so much with only a few seconds to work with. It reminds me why I love Spider-Man and heroes in general. A lot of people say heroes are boring and easy to predict and they’re not wrong. Sometimes heroes can come across as that. However, there are so many stories and works that show that being a hero is a lot more complex than people think it is and why, even if they can seem boring at a first glance. I’m also reminded of how the heroes were sometimes presented with a seemingly unbeatable threat that seemed impossible to overcome and yet they did it anyway. Some people call this an ass pull or ridiculous or bad writing. In cases like these I disagree. I think that as long as it seems plausible fits the world that was made, it can make for a truly epic moment. You either loved the train scene in Spider-Man 2 or hated it, you either loved Deku vs Muscular or hated it, you either loved it when a character was almost defeated and displayed overwhelming strength to overcome the odds at the last second or hated it. I for one, loved seeing this. Even when it’s not done well or right, I’m still soft around knowing the message it’s trying to display. I’ve said before, I’m not a critic, I don’t intend to be one, so there’s a lot of things I like even if a lot of it is controversial. Call me an idiot who forgives to easy with bad taste, I don’t care. I do what makes me happy and unless I hurt someone or myself, I don’t care what others say about me. Like Spider-Man, I want to face the odds and do what I think is right, even if the world’s against me. 

That is why I love this trailer, this game, this character, and so many more things I that inspire me to be greater.

[possiblyimbiassed]

What “stories” is Mary referring to?

OK, of course, I see; that’s it – the stories. Conan Doyles’ amazing detective stories at the hands of our “Baker Street boys” have once again been interpreted into a new adaptation, this time played out in our own modern times. But it’s still about these wonderful stories; nothing else matters.

But wait – what ‘stories’ exactly do you refer to, Mary / AGRA / Rosamund / Gabrielle-or-whatever-your-name-is? Series 4 may have lots of Conan Doyle canon references, but why doesn’t it have a single coherent crime story? Not one!

If the cases were that important, wouldn’t we be able to follow them as they unfold, basking in the brilliance of these fascinating adventures and their clever resolutions? Or at least be privy to some logical deductions and conclusions about them from the great detective Sherlock Holmes, narrated by his loyal friend Dr John Watson?

I think the ‘stories & adventures’ approach, in a traditional meaning, might be valid up until the beginning of Series 3, but then the coherent plot line gets abandoned in favour of a rather different content. Which means Mary’s words about ‘stories’ above may not be relevant. So – why not take a closer look at all of this show’s stories to see if they actually merit the name? I’ll go through all of them one by one since Series 1, focusing on the factual events in them, trying to evaluate their narrative interest as plot line and see where we end up in S4. I will try to not go into any personal issues for Sherlock Holmes or other characters – just the stories, as ‘objectively’ and free of Sentiment that I’m capable of. (And this is a monster post, so please bear with me).

For a start: A Study in Pink in Series 1 gives us the background where Holmes first meets former army doctor John Watson, whom he offers to be his flat mate. Watson moves in and Holmes takes him on their first ‘adventure’ -  a creepy crime story of a serial killer cabbie who ‘persuades’ his victims to commit suicide. His MO is to lure them into his cab, drive them to some remote location and threaten them to play Russian roulette with him by taking pills. Holmes helps the police (New Scotland Yard) with the case, but some of them distrust Holmes, and when he withholds a piece of evidence, they come to Holmes flat on a drug bust (finding nothing). Holmes does solve the case, however, and we are privy to his impressive deductions to get there; one of them involving the pink colour of a missing suitcase and another a desperate clue from a dying victim to find her murderer. Holmes gets in personal grave danger from the cabbie, but Watson saves him in the last moment by killing the culprit. Fair enough; I think this is a really good, intriguing detective story!

Next: In The Blind Banker Holmes and Watson get involved in a crime case with a mystic killer, who murders his victims in rooms locked from the inside (making it look like suicides). Cracking ciphers and codes and doing interesting deductions that we can follow, Holmes solves this one too, with some help from Watson. It turns out there’s a Chinese crime syndicate behind the murders, dealing with drugs and ancient stolen treasures, and a killer “spider man” who climbs buildings to execute their murders. Holmes, Watson and a third person get in serious trouble, but Watson saves the day in the culmination of the adventure. 

Interesting story, I’d say (if it weren’t for the rather prejudiced depicting of Asian people, perhaps…)

Series 1 culminates with The Great Game, where a super-villain manages to get Holmes’ attention by wrapping his victims up in explosives (as if they were suicide bombers) and make the detective solve other crime puzzles to save their lives. Every puzzle is marked by a ‘pip’ on a mobile phone, five of them in total. Holmes solves all of them (among them a case of “national importance”, involving a stolen secret memory stick that his brother wants recovered for the government). At the end Watson is kidnapped and wrapped in explosives to threaten Holmes. He doesn’t defeat the super-villain, which makes for a nice cliffhanger. The stories are thrilling and exciting, and the deductions are made clear to the audience.

First out in Series 2 is A Scandal in Belgravia, where a ‘femme fatal’ Dominatrix is working on Holmes to deceive him through ‘Sentiment’. The case starts with Holmes’ mission to recover some compromising photos of a royal person from the Dominatrix’s locked camera phone. But it soon turns into a case where the government (and the CIA) is trying to lure international terrorists into a trap by sending up an aircraft full of dead corpses for them to blow up. The Dominatrix (who is actually working for the super-villain) is supposed to make Holmes crack the code to the governmental operation in order to warn the terrorists. Which he does, with an amazing deduction that ends in:

She succeeds in this by getting his emotional attention, but Holmes defeats her in the end by breaking into her camera phone, and hands her secrets over to the government. In this episode Holmes also solves some other crime puzzles, some of which are told as mere fragments (if we want to know more about them, we can read John Watson’s blog).  The main narrative is a bit confused and convoluted, but I’d still say it’s a good, coherent story.

The Hounds of Baskerville is perhaps the story that is most similar to Doyle’s original. Holmes and Watson travel to Dartmoor to solve a case in which the young client Henry Knight thinks he’s going crazy. Henry believes a legendary gigantic hound was the killer of his father 20 years earlier (a crime he witnessed as a child), and he’s having creepy visions and sightings of this monster. Holmes suspects that the nearby top-secret military laboratory Baskerville is involved in the supposed appearances of the hound. Genetic cloning experiments with animals at Baskerville are suspected at first, but then Holmes concludes that the Hound is partly a figment of people’s imaginations. Henry Knight turns suicidal, but Holmes’ deductions save him in the last moment and the murderer who has been ‘gas-lighting’ Henry (a scientist at Baskerville) is revealed. When people’s sightings of a big, salvaged dog on the moor combines with the effect of a hallucinatory drug applied by aerosol, the result is the impression of a monster. Holmes’ deductions are presented for the audience to follow step-by-step, accompanying the plot line. This is a classical, fascinating detective story.

In The Reichenbach Fall the super-villain is back again, this time with an elaborate plan to disgrace Holmes and drive him to suicide. He starts by committing a series of sensational crimes and gets away with them in spite of overwhelming evidence, just because he can. His plans also involve poisoning children and make them fear the very sight of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes finds the kidnapped children through chemical lab analysis of their traces and clever deductions (which we can follow). But then Holmes get blamed for this crime and others, after the villain has influenced a tabloid scandal journalist. Four snipers are placed in Holmes’ neighbourhood, ready to kill Watson and two other of Holmes’ closest friends, unless he throws himself from a rooftop.

The villain shoots himself in the head, but this only permanents the sniper threat; Holmes has to jump. At the end of the episode, the audience knows that Holmes must have faked his death and somehow survived the fall, but we’re left to figure out how. The story line is thrilling, coherent and easy to follow.

Series 3 and The Empty Hearse starts with an explanation of how Holmes survived “The Fall”. This, however, is where the plot line starts to derail and lose credibility. We never get to know the real events of Holmes’ fall, but are introduced to a Holmesian Fandom within the series, with their respective versions of how the detective survived, one of them more outrageous than the other.  Holmes, who has spent two years traveling around to dismantle the super-villain’s network, is captured and tortured by Serbian criminals wearing WWII Red Army uniforms. When he gets back to London, however, he doesn’t seem to be the least bothered by his wounds. He gets involved in a case concerning a skeleton and a book by Jack the Ripper, which turns out to be a fake crime arranged by a former police officer (same guy who accused Holmes of being a fraud in the previous episode; what was his motive?).

Watson, who is reluctant to forgive Holmes for having played dead, gets drugged, kidnapped and tied up in a bonfire (we aren’t told by whom), but Holmes finds out where he is kept (through cracking a skip code), and sets off to rescue Watson. The main story about a planned terrorist attack on London is sketchy, to say the least (I’m afraid reality vastly surpasses BBC Sherlock fiction when it comes to terrorist attacks). We are allowed to follow some of Holmes’ deductions to locate a bomb in the subway, but several plot holes become evident: When did Holmes call the police?

Why did Holmes and Watson go down in the subway to diffuse a bomb with their bare hands? Why did the bomb have an off-switch, when no-one was supposed to be there when it exploded? Which organization was behind the attack? What were their motives? The plot seems secondary in this episode!

The Sign of Three focuses entirely on Watson’s wedding, and Holmes - who hates social gatherings - abandons his work in favor of a full-time commitment to plan the reception, down to the tiniest details of table decorations and who is to sit together with whom. None of these details turns out to be relevant to the story, however (plot-wise: WTF?). We’re now told in Holmes’ best man speech that his and Watson’s adventures are “frankly ridiculous”.

We do see flashes of cases to entertain the guests, but the only more or less coherent case happens on the wedding reception. Most deductions now take place inside Holmes’ head - his so-called Mind Palace. It turns out that the wedding photographer tried to murder one of the guests by stabbing him in the waist from his backside with a thin blade, while rehearsing for a group photo. The victim is supposed to not have noticed the stabbing until he took off his uniform belt (WTF?). When the victim is informed of this he threatens to commit suicide by removing his belt, which Holmes manages to talk him out of, so Watson can give him medical treatment. The photographer is captured; Holmes makes one more deduction about Watson’s wife being pregnant (which none of the parents are aware of?) and leaves the party early.

His Last Vow is the series final and plot-wise the most problematic episode, many times crossing the border of credibility. I’d definitely call this “frankly ridiculous”; it seems to contain more plot holes than a Swiss cheese and the kind of fantastic exaggerations one might expect from someone high on drugs.

Holmes is engaged in a blackmail case, involving prominent members of the government. The blackmailer is a powerful media magnate. Watson and his wife go to a drug den to rescue their neighbour’s son, where Watson also finds Holmes lying on a mattress. They take him to a hospital lab to test his blood for drugs. Holmes claims his drug use is for the blackmail case, which his friends dismiss. Members of Holmes’ fan club search his flat for drugs (sounds illegal to me), but find nothing. Later the blackmailer visits Holmes, intimidating him and showing him the letters he is using to put pressure on Holmes’ client. Holmes and Watson go to the blackmailer’s office later that night, to recover the letters. They manage to get through the security with help from the black-mailer’s PA, whom Holmes has a fake relationship with and fake-proposes to. (How she can buy this is an enigma, but that’s food for another meta).

Inside the office they find Holmes’ ‘fiancée’ unconscious on the floor. They smell a perfume that both Watson’s wife and Holmes’ client use. Holmes interrupts a scene where Watson’s wife is threatening the blackmailer at gunpoint. She turns out to be an assassin who is being blackmailed, but when Holmes offers help she turns the gun on him and shoots him in the chest.

In a matter of seconds, Holmes uses his Mind Palace to try to find advice on how to survive the gunshot. Watson finds him, takes him to hospital and Holmes ‘flat-lines’ on the operation table, but somehow he manages to restart his own heart (?). We then see Watson’s wife entering Holmes’ hospital room, threatening him to keep quiet. Later the ‘fiancée’ (already fully recovered from the blow to her head that rendered her unconscious), visits Holmes, fiddles with his IV morphine and shows him how she, as revenge for his fake proposal, is selling stories about their supposedly intensive sex life to the tabloid press (why would fame as a sex-god be a punishment?)

Somehow, shortly after this, the seriously injured and recently operated Holmes manages to flee the hospital room and arrange a whole scene of revelation to Watson. He escapes through the window, buys a bottle of perfume, travels to Baker Street, moves back Watson’s heavy chair, places the perfume beside it as a clue and calls Watson at the same time he discovers the clue. Together with Doctor Watson (who apparently is OK with Holmes leaving hospital) he travels to the fake houses of Leinster Gardens and arranges a set-up for Watson’s wife, involving her highly enlarged wedding photo projected on the walls. Not bad for a man recently shot in the chest, is it? ;)

When she arrives, she (unknowingly) reveals in front of Watson that she shot his best friend, having no remorse about it. Holmes orders them back to Baker Street to “sort it out quickly”, because they “have work to do” (what work?).  

Oh dear storyteller, what did you take? Did you make a list? Anyway, the ‘story’ continues at Baker Street: Holmes is crumpling from pain, but there are no painkillers. Doctor Watson throws a tantrum and threatens his injured friend. Holmes makes excuses for his killer with some of the most ridiculous ‘deductions’ I’ve seen in the whole show. Then the meddlesome bastard (sorry, couldn’t resist – Sentiment got the better of me), before being taken back to hospital in an ambulance, goads Watson to trust his assassin wife claiming that she saved his life, at the same time as he accuses Watson of being attracted to this sort of people. The timeline jumps backwards and forwards between this scene and Christmas at the Holmes family House where Watson reconciles with his wife, while claiming that he doesn’t want to know who she really is an burns the memory stick she has given him with this info.

For the first time in the show, Holmes utterly fails to solve a case, leading to the suicide of his client’s blackmailed husband. Holmes and Watson go to the blackmailer’s luxury house to make a deal for Watson’s wife, but when things don’t go as he had planned, Holmes shoots the blackmailer in the head. (Where are his clever deductions to solve a tricky case? Since when is Holmes a murderer? Where is the coherence of this story? I’m loosing track here). The episode ends with Holmes being sent away on a private jet to a suicide mission in Eastern Europe, but he is immediately called back when the dead super-villains face is suddenly projected on every TV screen in the country.

The Abominable Bride is called a “Special” episode, since it mostly takes place in a Victorian setting inside Sherlock Holmes’ head. He re-plays his first meeting with Watson in the Victorian environment, and then starts to solve crimes involving a murderous bride who fakes her own suicide and re-appears as a ghost.

There’s also a conspiracy of women in hoods, having some sort of cult connected to the ghost bride, in a desanctified church. The dead super-villain shows up trice, challenging Holmes and drawing his attention to the fact that he’s dreaming. On two occasions Holmes seems to wake up on the private jet after severely overdosing drugs, met by Watson, his wife and Holmes’ brother. But they never really take him to hospital, and when the episode ends Holmes is still in the Victorian setting. All in all, the plot line’s total lack of coherence and logics is fully explained by it all happening in a drug-induced, dreamlike state inside Holmes’ head. So even if the actual story is missing here, I find this episode far more ‘logical’ than HLV.

The Six Thatchers marks the start of Series 4, and the plot lines (there are more than one) are bizarre, to say the least. In fact, it’s so weird and illogical that I would definitely not call this a ‘coherent story’.

First of all we see how the government covers up the fact that Holmes now is a murderer, supposedly so he can work on the case of the super-villain’s return with top priority. But he never solves anything about the super-villain; this whole plotline seems to just vanish!

Instead, there’s this other case where the corpse of a young man is found when his car explodes, having been dead for a week. Holmes explains to the shocked parents that the boy had disguised himself as a car seat, as a practical joke on his father’s birthday, when he suddenly had some sort of fit and died on the spot. Holmes’ deductions seems like wild speculation with next to no evidence. Why would this guy go to the trouble of finding a vinyl car seat disguise (where do you get such a thing by the way?) to surprise his father, when he could easily just have hidden in the dark of the back seat? And how likely is it that in this precise moment, he would have ‘some sort of fit’? But suddenly Holmes’ ‘prickling of thumbs’ are valid, rather than his hallmark logical methods.

At first the other plot line is similar to Arthur Conan Doyle’s story The Six Napoleons: Six plaster busts of Thatcher are smashed, the owners have the same names as ACD gave them, one person is murdered and Watson is suggesting that the culprit has an idée fixe. However, instead of discovering the precious Pearl of the Borgias in one bust, which was the canon case and what Holmes also expects this time, we end up with – a memory stick about Watson’s wife and her gang of assassins? The culprit of the smashings is another member, and he accuses Watson’s wife of treason in an earlier operation when they worked for the government. When Holmes meets up with her for an explanation, she drugs him with some sort of dust from a letter, which he deliberately sniffs on, and she disappears.

Then we follow Watson’s wife on her escape through many countries under several aliases. At one point she knocks out (kills?) a stewardess and steels her identity. When Holmes and Watson find her in Morocco (through a tracker on her memory stick) everything is forgiven without discussion, and Holmes swears to protect her. Instead of Watson’s wife, Holmes accuses a member of the government of treason.

But he is wrong (again) and the traitor turns out to be a governmental secretary, who also tries to shoot Holmes. Seeing this, Watson’s wife somehow manages to move faster than the bullet (??) and takes it for him. In a long speech, with a bleeding wound in her abdomen, she declares her eternal love for her husband and, for the first time, apologizes for shooting Holmes. Then she dies. For some odd reason Watson blames Holmes for her death, and cuts all contact with his best friend. But John’s wife leaves behind a recorded DVD with a strange message where she tells Holmes to go to hell to save John Watson.

In The Lying Detective many elements are taken directly from Conan Doyle’s The Dying Detective: Mrs Hudson seeks out Watson to tell him that Holmes is in a very bad shape. We then see him in a haggard state, babbling deliriously, and we learn, along with Watson, that Holmes is dying.

This picture of Watson looking at Holmes’ hospital bed...

...fits nicely with this quote from ACD canon: “I had stood for some minutes looking at the silent figure in the bed”.

Holmes then lures the criminal, Culverton Smith, to confess that he is trying to kill Holmes. At the end of the story, Holmes takes Watson out for dinner (“cake” in TLD).  

However, while Conan Doyle’s version is a perfectly coherent crime story, TLD is not. Doyle has Holmes explain the actual crime case: the murder of Smith’s nephew Victor Savage. Holmes has figured out that Smith killed Savage by poisoning him with a mortal disease. Holmes’ disguise is just a setup to make Smith confess, while gloating over both Savages’ and Holmes’ death.

On the other hand, in TLD, Holmes claims that Smith is a serial killer; he calls him “the most dangerous, the most despicable human being that I have ever encountered” and he shoots pictures of Smith on the walls of 221B. But who did this ‘monster’ kill? We don’t get to know about a single victim! Lestrade seems nauseated when Smith keeps confessing, but we never, ever get to know what the man has actually done. The only killing in TLD is instigated by Holmes himself; Holmes has told Smith that he wants Smith to kill him. And Holmes’ purpose with this is to make Smith confess that he is trying to kill Holmes. Redundant, isn’t it? What kind of ‘crime story’ is this? Holmes later tells Watson in TLD that the recording device he has used (hidden in Watson’s cane) qualifies as “entrapment”, which invalidates the confession. But since Smith supposedly has kept confessing other crimes (which we aren’t privy to) that’s enough to have him arrested. In canon Watson serves as a witness to the confession of the Savage murder, which is just what is needed to get Smith arrested. But in TLD Watson comes to rescue Holmes from a self-inflicted attack - in other words: Holmes’ suicide attempt.

In general, the other plot lines of TLD are even more ridiculous than in T6T, and the episode is perforated with plot holes that are never explained. Which is why I prefer to present them as questions below:

Why is Euros Holmes (Sherlock’s hitherto unknown sister) disguised as her brother’s suicidal client who walks the streets of London with him, only to suddenly leave him alone? Why does she fake being suicidal in the first place?  Why has she disguised herself as Watson’s new therapist? Why does she want to capture Watson?

Why is Watson haunted by a ghost of his deceased wife? Why so much focus on Watson’s wife in general, even when it doesn’t move the plot forward in any sense? 

If Mrs Hudson were worried about Holmes’ health, why would she put him handcuffed in the boot of a car and drive like crazy? And why would the guys from the café drop Holmes twice “because they know you”? 

Why would Molly Hooper bring an ambulance when going to examine a patient? Since when does she even do medical consulting; isn’t her expertise post mortem? And after her diagnosis that her patient is dying; why don’t they take him to hospital to help him rather than having him answer questions to a bunch of kids?

Since when does Watson do deductions (here in the form of his dead wife in his head doing deductions) to figure out how Holmes does deductions to predict Watson’s future plans? Couldn’t Watson otherwise just – I don’t know – plan them? And how the heck can Holmes predict future events involving actions of various people in detail and with an exact timing?

What happened with TD12, the memory-altering drug; weren’t they actually going to use this plot device? 

How can Watson assault Holmes, beat him to a pulp, be captured by the hospital staff, but then it’s suddenly said that Holmes has made a mess of himself? 

How can DI Lestrade know about Holmes shooting the blackmailer in HLV, when that was supposed to be highly classified information?

Sorry Mary, but I can’t see even the trace of an actual story or adventure here, since none of all these questions is answered satisfactory. And the characters are so distorted, compared to how we know them from before, that the plot line gets extremely confusing.

The Final Problem is presented as if it was the last episode of BBC Sherlock, but this is never actually confirmed by the writers.  As for the plot line, it’s so ridiculously convoluted, surrealistic and inconsequent that I simply refuse to call it a “story” at all; it’s much more similar to a nightmare.

When Holmes has learnt about Euros - his hitherto unknown sister - he sets up some sort of horror theatre with clowns, bleeding portraits and other tricks to scare his brother into telling him the truth.  

We learn that Sherlock Holmes’ brother Mycroft as a teenager took to incarcerate their mentally ill sister in Sherrinford - an isolated, top-secret fortress out in the sea. Their parents thought she was dead (never investigated?) and Holmes has, strangely, forgotten all about her. While Mycroft is telling Holmes and Watson this in 221B, a drone flies in with a patience grenade that will explode if anything in its surroundings moves. Holmes and Watson jump out of the second floor window as the apartment blows up, but we never see them land on the pavement below. Instead they suddenly appear - without a scratch - on a fishing boat heading for Sherrinford. They highjack the boat, claiming they are pirates and, together with Mycroft, sneak into the fortress in disguises.

Pretty soon it gets clear that the dangerously intelligent Euros has taken over the fortress and manipulates people into doing her bidding. The persons Holmes and Watson have met as “Faith”, “E” and John’s new therapist are all one and the same person; Euros in disguise. Euros starts to perform a series of cruel experiments on Watson and the Holmes brothers. First she tries to force one of them to kill the governor of Sherrinford, threatening to kill his wife otherwise. When none of them can do this, the governor shoots himself, and then Euros kills his wife anyway. Next she shows them three men, bound and dangling from a cliff. She forces Sherlock to figure out who of them is guilty of murder, but when he obeys she kills all three. In the next experiment Euros has Sherlock phone Molly Hooper and make her say “I love you” to him – otherwise her flat will be blown up.  But Molly doesn’t know this, and before declaring to Sherlock, she makes him say the same thing to her. Sherlock thinks he has won this one, but Euros claims that he has only managed to hurt Molly (who is in unrequited love with Sherlock).

All the time at Sherrinford, Holmes has somehow been in voice contact with a frightened little girl who is on-board a jet plane in the air, full of sleeping adults (including the pilot). He tries to get information from this girl, but their communication is constantly interrupted by Euros.

In the fourth experiment Sherlock has to choose between killing either Watson or Mycroft. Instead he chooses to shoot himself, but Euros stops him with a tranquilizer arrow. He sinks into a black liquid and wakes up in a room, which turns out to be a wooden box with walls that fall apart, and he ends up outside his old family manor. He can somehow hear Watson, who is chained at the bottom of a well, telling him that the water is rising. At the same time Euros’ voice presents the fifth experiment: he has to solve a puzzle to save Watson from the well. Once he manages it, he finds Euros in a room of the old house; it turns out she was the little girl on the plane (and now there is no plane anymore). Sherlock hugs her and tells her it’s all right, and then he finds Watson and rescues him with a rope (which is strange considering the chains). The police come and take Euros back to Sherrinford, where she stops communicating with people, except Sherlock, who plays violin in duet with her when visiting.

The series ends with 221B being rebuilt, Holmes and Watson solving cases (which we aren’t privy to) and a strange voice-over from Watson’s wife, who has sent a posthumous message to them on a DVD (see the beginning of this monster-post).

While these events in TFP are technically crimes, I wouldn’t call them ‘detective stories’ or ‘adventures’ because a) No actual motive is presented for any of the cases other than that Euros ‘wanted to play’; her actions are completely illogical, and b) They are too surrealistic to be even plausible in real life and c) There are no satisfactory solutions to the ‘crime cases’, except for the last one.

I can’t for the life of me believe that the twisted fairy tales of S4 are meant to be some sort of detective stories. If I try to take Series 4 at face value, I can’t find any kind of narrative quality that even resembles ACD’s legendary Sherlock Holmes adventures. So what is ‘Mary’ actually talking about?  What stories?? 

The impression I do get is that in Series 4 the authors are trying very hard to tell us something through subtext. The only way I can make sense of it is interpreting it as something very different than a story; Sentiment, dream logics and a continuation of Sherlock’s drug-induced imaginations in TAB.

[aion-rsa]

Lex Luthor and the Three Times He Was Elected US President

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DC Comics villain Lex Luthor has, on three occasions, become President of the United States. Here's what happened...

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Feature Greg Evans

Superman

Mar 13, 2019

Lex Luthor

DC Entertainment

Lex Luthor is a man of many talents in the world of DC Comics. He possesses a genius level IQ, is a successful businessman and inventor, exuding charisma from every pore. All of those assets are extremely important when it comes to politics, and that world has provided him with some of his biggest accomplishments.

The power-crazed criminal mastermind has been elected President of the United States multiple times in various stories, but who in their right mind would vote for a known super-villain?

Ahem.

Anyway, with this in mind, let’s explore three different Luthor presidencies and analyze whether he was fit for the job or not.

Lex 2000

Perhaps the biggest story to involve Luthor as President was the one that took place in DC Comics shortly after the turn of the century. The megalomaniac billionaire turned to politics after his popularity grew following the restoration of Gotham City. The hometown of Batman had been cast adrift from the rest of the United States when struck by a devastating earthquake in the No Man’s Land arc.

The previous administration had handled the disaster poorly and Luthor’s financial intervention exposed the failings of his predecessors. This, along with the promise of major technological advancements and a ban on fossil fuels, helped him slide into the Oval Office with barely any opposition.

Despite initially refusing to overthrow Luthor by force, Batman and Superman eventually teamed up to bring down the President. Although the duo was faced with an army of villains and converted heroes, it was Luthor who proved instrumental in his own downfall. Whilst secretly being recorded by Batman, he admitted to trading weapons with the alien despot Darkseid in order to defeat another invading alien, Imperiex.

read more: The Many Faces of Lex Luthor

Batman, whose alter ego Bruce Wayne had been framed for murder by the Luthor administration, made this confession public. In a further act of vengeance, Luthor learned that his business empire had been sold to Wayne right from under his nose. Disgraced and bankrupt, Luthor was forced to step down as President, serving less than three years in the White House, a period that was rife with corruption and deception. Ah, escapism...

Justice League: A Better World

The Justice League animated series had many great storylines during its five seasons and this two-part episode is one of the best. It only gives us the briefest glimpse of President Luthor but the ramifications of his actions are unthinkable.

At the start of the first episode we see Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman storming the White House. Within the Oval Office, Luthor is rummaging through papers, muttering to himself about “a grand design for the world” and how the public failed to appreciate his vision for the future.

With Luthor’s finger on the nuclear weapons launch, Superman bursts in only to learn a shocking truth from his arch-nemesis. By allowing Luthor to be elected President and impose his politics upon society, Superman has been his greatest accomplice. If Luthor is never truly punished for his crimes, like murdering The Flash, Superman and the Justice League can never truly win their struggle.

read more: The Actors Who Have Played Superman

In that moment Superman abandons all of his heroic intentions and disintegrates Luthor, putting to an end his schemes once and for all. This shocking turn of events sees the entire Justice League resort to the tactics of a police state, keeping the entire human race under heavy surveillance, effectively eradicating all crime, ruthlessly using their special powers.

Of course, this isn’t the regular Justice League, but an alternate version from another universe, known as the Justice Lords. The loss of The Flash, combined with Luthor’s rise to power, was too much for the heroes of this world to take and resulted in them mirroring the callous methods of their enemy. Although he didn’t defeat the Justice Lords, Luthor did succeed in perverting their goodwill beyond all recognition.

Watch Justice League Unlimited on Amazon

Superman: Red Son

What if, as a child, Superman hadn’t have landed in Smallville, Kansas but 1930s Ukraine instead? What if the Man of Steel had adopted the ideals of communism and became the all-powerful leader of the Soviet Union, whose expansion grew to consume most of the world? What if the President of the United States, Lex Luthor, was the only man who dared to stand up to him?

Mark Millar’s Red Son is a fascinating take on the cold war melding the goodwill of Superman with the totalitarianism of Stalin. Once again Luthor proves to be the polar opposite, embracing capitalism and standing as the leader of one of only two nations not to fall to Superman’s iron grip.

Their growing rivalry escalates to the point of global war but there remains an air of mutual respect between the pair. Both men have good hearts but they can never truly co-exist on the same planet. Luthor is not strong enough to fight Superman, but Superman is not intelligent enough to debate with Luthor. Eventually, Superman sees the error of his ways and sacrifices himself to prevent the world from annihilation at the hands of Brainiac, thus conceding his power to Luthor.

read more: Ranking the Superman Movies

With no opposition to him, Luthor achieves global domination, but this isn’t a bleak dystopia. Earth and the known universe prosper under Luthor’s reign. Disease, illness and even sleep are rendered obsolete. Governments are dissolved and replaced by a one-world parliament of writers, artists, scientists and philosophers. Life expectancy is increased to an astonishing 800 years. Humanity eventually becomes the most advanced species in history.

Red Son suggests that both Superman and Luthor could change the world significantly if one wasn’t in the way of the other. There is no doubt that this incarnation of President Luthor is the most hopeful and ambitious. His genius solves all of humanities problems but he can only do this once his Superman obsession has concluded.

Read Superman: Red Son on Amazon

Was Luthor a good President?

These three stories provided audiences with three differing takes on President Luthor, but they are all defined by his desire to eliminate Superman. In only one of these instances does he succeed, but even in that case it is Superman who truly wins, as he realizes his absence will be for the greater good. Unfortunately this is why Luthor can never truly be a good President. He is too consumed by his hatred of Superman, and any politician who has that much hatred and contempt in their heart should never thrive in such a position.

from Books https://ift.tt/2Hl8uzU

[osekkaiyaki]

@angryspacegirl @letoballz

It felt as if Venan had been laying there for hours, before she could compose herself enough to get to her feet let alone conjure the thought of doing so. She made her way to Scorin, who thankfully hadn't fallen victim to the fissures in the ground, and fell to her knees next to her friend to begin healing her. She quickly found that her curative energy didn't come to her as easily as usual. Like trying to pull-start a stalling lawnmower, the energy flowed from her fingertips after a few attempts, but it was far weaker and held more of her concentration. After ten straight minutes of focused healing, Scorin was well enough to regain consciousness and sit upright, meanwhile, Venan was left drained from the menial ordeal. "So did we win?" Venan couldn't even bring herself to shoot her an incredulous expression. "Does it look like it?" "Well, we're alive aren't we?" Scorin observed, getting to her feet and dusting off her gi. "I mean, you look like shit but besides that we and the planet are still here." "That's not the point!" Venan's voice shook as she stood, and she made a move to either hit, or grab the Saiyan, but thought better of it and her arm flopped back to her side. "He's out to possess the universe, not destroy it, he's not stupid. What happened there was just him messing with me. That was nothing. And now that we've let him leave here, we're effectively fucked." Scorin listened with a mild expression, before opening her mouth for her suggestion. "Well we could do what we were supposed to and fuse right?" Clenching her fists and biting down on her lip, Venan did her best not to violently retaliate, as if she had the drive or energy to in the first place. "YES SCORIN, THERE'S THAT." As much as she would rather give up, the thought of at least getting to die while showing the universe she tried was an ideal outcome in the likely chance that they didn't succeed. "We may still have that, if you're still sharp on the training." "Hold up though," Scorin interrupted. "Genuine question, still gonna help, but...if it's not his aim to destroy anything...then who really cares if he wins or not? Does it really matter who's in charge of what at the end of the day? Especially considering he's pretty confident in his abilities to sort things out right...wouldn't it be...better?" "Not when the King of Everything finds out and takes it upon himself to destroy the universe." Scorin stared, not bothering to ask questions and comprehend who and how higher powers ran things and shrugged. "Fair enough." "Just give me a few to realign my energy, then we'll go over the dance a few more times to be extra sure, then we'll go."

When they arrived on the Sacred planet of the Supreme Kais, they found it deserted. Venan wasn't about to waste her energy scrying the universe for him, and plopped herself down onto the grass to meditate, something she hadn't done in centuries. Even Scorin knew it was an odd motion for her, more used to seeing the Kai in training passed out or loafing rather than sitting and using time to concentrate. "So what exactly are you doing?" "Trying to reestablish a spiritual connection to myself." Venan explained, hastily forming her now uneven and frizzed out hair into smaller, sloppier versions of her usual twin braids before closing her eyes and settling herself. "Never took you for a very spiritual person." Scorin scoffed, crossing her arms and idly watching her. "I was, being spiritual doesn't always mean i have to be burning incense or meditating or you know, what most mortals think." In truth, Venan never did enjoy meditating. She could never fully clear her mind and tended to avoid any instance where she would be alone with her thoughts. "I just always have been, my hair has been a root connection to that, which is why I've never adopted a more traditional hairstyle, and why this now is such a big deal." "Eh, I wouldn't know anything about that." Scorin shrugged. "Just do your thing...where do you suppose he is? You sure this is the place?" "That's kind of hard to do when you keep talking. I don't know why he's late, but I know it's here."

Contrary to his boasting, Grendine had managed to get himself lost. In fairness, before he had been banished to the demon realm he hadn't had much experience in teleporting outside of or between universes. The only time he had been to Universe Seven's Sacred Planet had been side travelling with his instructor. He inwardly cursed himself for not planning this part a little better. It wouldn't matter however, as in due time he managed to right himself and get where he needed to be. As he appeared on the Sacred world, his mental image of how this plan was going to go shattered. Not only had he been beaten there, but his primary target wasn't even present. He accosted Venan, "Where is the Supreme Kai?! His attendant?!" "Gone, summoned for an event by Lord Zeno." Venan explained, bringing herself to her feet. "And when he returns, it will be like nothing happened here." Grendine grimaced, it seemed like not only was this going to be a chore, but that the very person he had meant to usurp wasn't even around. Everything about this plan was just getting more and more ridiculous. He masked his indignancy behind a sassy quip, "Love what you've done with your hair. I don't see how you think you can do anything at all being weaker than last time, even if you do this funny little mortal fusion." He scoffed, "I'm actually kind of curious to see it now, so this will do well to pass the time until...Shin was it? Returns." Venan shot Scorin a side glance, and she didn't have to be asked, before shooting her energy up in a golden aura around herself. Even in Venan's current weakened state, Scorin still needed the boost of energy the Super Saiyan transformation lent her to level off with the deity as required by the dance. The motion of the dance was embarrassing enough when they practiced it in public, let alone doing it in front of the villain they aimed to be defeating with their new fusion. unfortunately, time would be wasted had they performed it before his arrival. Grendine watched, floating in a relaxed, seated position as they performed the odd, synchronized display.  In spite of performance anxiety, the few day's practice, most likely coupled with the dire necessity did well in ensuring the duo completed the dance flawlessly. The two converged in a flash of light, and when it subsided, only one entity remained there standing. The figure appeared to resemble the Scorin more, with skin tone, dark Saiyan hair, whose short braids defied gravity, and long, despite oddly coloured, purple tail. Her slightly pointed ears, Potara earrings, and crooked grin portrayed Venan's qualities.  Grendine gave the fusion a slow clap, descending to his feet. "That's some fashion there." He nodded to the Metamoran garb that came with the ritual. "It's about as passé as humans trying to copy our art of fusion to begin with." The fusion purposely ignored him, too busy admiring herself and her newfound physique. Pleased with herself, she didn't bother allotting any more time to small talk, and launched herself without warning at the demon.  Before he could summon his wall of ki bullets to absorb the blow, Grendine was propelled backwards by a flying double kick to the gut that sent him pin-balling back into many of the large planet's tall rock formations. The fusion darted right after him not skipping a beat, kicking off of and destroying the rock formations he hit as she followed. Grendine managed to right himself before slamming into the final pillar of rocks, summoning a rain of multi-coloured bullets in layers around him, on top of a multitude of them aimed to home in on his attacker.  The girl effortlessly dodged the barrage aimed at her, and pointing her fingers like a gun, sent a beam of crackling white energy up and through his protective layer, exploding them all around him on impact. Thoroughly singed, Grendine fell to his knees, his staff clattering to the ground next to him. The fusion blew smoke from her fingertip and approached, leaning down to grab the disgraced demon by the scruff of the neck and haul him upwards. She opened her mouth to speak, but changed her mind and gave him a vicious headbutt between the eyes, followed by spitting down on him. "This is it huh? I can feel it, you don't have anything left. Underneath all the flash, you're really actually pretty weak huh?" Her voice was gravelly, but also high, in a most obnoxious tone.  Grendine could do nothing but sneer back, hair a mess that had flopped off to the side while his face and now bent nose ran with blood. "This is kinda underwhelming isn't it? I'm not even five minutes in and it's over...I've got over twenty minutes left in this body...and I've got a lot to get back at you for...don't I?" With her free hand, she reached up and fondled one of his Potaras as she continued. "I'm not going to kill you until we go down the list. Who was first? Kandai!" She took a firm hold on the earring, and wrenched it from his ear, eliciting a howl of pain from her victim. He was quickly silenced with a punch in the mouth, the earring still enclosed in her fist. "And that impacted Shin and myself," She brought her fist down on his nose again, twice for emphasis. The crunching of the cartilage bringing the crooked grin back to her features. "There's all the mortals you've messed with too isn't there? And my friends, and my job, Morgan, I'm going to throw another in there just in case I lose that promotion at Daddy Burger for having to deal with this shit." Each point brought her fury down on Grendine's face, until he didn't have the strength to hold his arms up in defense anymore.  "And then there's Serori. You fucked up real bad messing with people close to me Gren, I'm saving the best for last." He didn't receive a punch for this mention, and could barely keep his vision in focus as he watched his attacker turn her gaze towards the sky. "You know, I've taken a lot about this job for granted, but I've never noticed until now just how many moons this planet has." Her tail swished behind her excitedly, and her grip on his collar faltered, her attention clearly elsewhere. Soon Grendine was free of her grasp as she began experiencing muscle spasms, though he hadn't the energy to attempt any form of escape. All he could do was watch through bleary, swollen eyes as she began to transform. Defying nature, her frame grew immensely, with seemingly no strain on itself, and began sprouting fur the same colouration as her tail. By the end of this physical reconstruction, her appearance was that of a giant purple monkey. Through most likely the same magic that had brought them there, her clothing managed to resize itself to fit.  Letting out a triumphant roar that seemed to shake the planet, the fused warrior spoke, voice now deep and booming as accommodated by her new body.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT IS DESTROYED IN THE PROCESS THESE LAST FEW MINUTES ARE GOING TO BE WILD."

[queensofmystery]

5x18

Re: this post

@elementary-said-ni said: Totally agree with the Joan thing. But the Sherlock being racist part? Are you sure? He definitely didn’t go by emotions when it came to Shinwell, he was always objective when it came to him, right from the start. But the only reason he was so hell bent on getting the truth out of Shinwell was because he has always believed that if you murder someone, you cannot be excused, no matter what the circumstances. I was reminded of Murder Ex Machina where Mason tries to justify the killer who murdered a bad person, and Sherlock says that the killer did not have the right to take a life, and so he must face the consequences.  I also believe that the writers want us to be in two minds, and want us to pick a side. I think this is what leads to the conflict between H and W that the writers have been talking about. Should SBK take priority (for now) or not…  And this doesn’t mean that Joan is wrong, I think she is right in prioritizing taking down SBK, I just don’t think that he is in the wrong either… The whole murder being a no-no thing is why he practically pleaded with Kitty not to murder Gruner, and was so relieved when she didnt have a murder on her hands…

I want to answer your comments in two parts - first, on Sherlock’s prejudices and second, on Sherlock’s attitude toward murder in general and the idea of Kitty committing murder. 

I want to highlight what @beanarie said here about 5x18 - it made me think of the double standard we’re seeing in how Sherlock is treating the event of Kitty mutilating a man who abused her vs. Shinwell murdering a man 12 years ago because a gang he belonged to manipulated him into doing so. I don’t think Sherlock thinks he’s being racist, of course not, but his distrust of Shinwell has been there from the beginning, and even after he’s been training Shinwell to succeed against SBK for weeks (months?), he’s immediately ready to turn on him once he has proved (to himself; we have a witness account and Shinwell’s indirect confession but so far no physical evidence - Idk what’s enough to make a conviction) that Shinwell committed murder. If it’s not racism in his character, it’s racism in the writing. Kitty, a white woman, was allowed to mutilate her rapist’s face and return to New York without any consequences because Gruner would implicate himself by revealing Kitty as his mutilator. 

In my view, Sherlock has never been objective about Shinwell—he has been the Devil’s Advocate from the beginning, I think purposefully on the writers’ part. They wanted to set up Sherlock as the side that believes Shinwell to be inherently bad because of his background. Joan was the side that believes Shinwell to be capable of doing good, of redeeming himself (as she wishes to by helping him, but no one writing the show cares about that). Sherlock then is the person who saves Shinwell from prison, and the person to offer to train Shinwell, even though both he and Joan do the training. After all these sacrifices Sherlock sees himself to be making for a man who he has always believed to be untrustworthy, to learn that Shinwell has committed murder 12 years ago puts Sherlock in a spot that, as you said, forces the audience to choose a side. Racism is inherent in this, because Shinwell is a victim of a racist system. 

Even with Sherlock’s comment in Murder Ex Machina, I don’t think Sherlock has a black-and-white view of murderers. I think he is black-and-white about intent, and what the killer in question did or didn’t deserve. There is Abigail in 2x04, his first “killer” who he didn’t give away (and the abused teenage boy who actually was the killer who he didn’t give away either), and the scene with him and Kitty in 3x12 was not him begging her not to kill Gruner. He hoped she wouldn’t murder him, but he did not dictate to her that murder was not the solution.  He said: “You, um... saved me. I'd like to return the favor. This is a favor. Interfering. If you decide that killing Gruner is going to make you feel whole again, I won't stop you. But I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you that we had found a way to expose him.” (Kitty: What does that have to do with me? With what he did to me?) “Nothing. Everything. Wish I could tell you. Whatever you decide, you must understand that you will always be special to me. You will always... be my friend.” (via transcripts.foreverdreaming.org)

He wanted to tell her it wasn’t necessary to murder Gruner to ensure he got the punishment he deserved. I think the issue with Sherlock and Shinwell is Sherlock assumed he knew Shinwell murdering Jameel was proof that he was right about Shinwell, that Shinwell was, in fact, the bad, untrustworthy, dangerous person he had believed from the beginning and this murder from 12 years ago was going to prove to the world, and to Joan, that he was right all along. But he didn’t take into account the circumstances of Jameel’s murder like he did with Abigail and her abusive father and Kitty and Gruner. He didn’t even try. He just wanted Shinwell to admit to the murder so he could get the guy back in prison and out of the way (remember he commented how the structure of a gang and prison gave no proof that Shinwell would make a good informant?) That’s what seems clearest to me, and that’s why I think Sherlock’s actions show racism. In this situation, Sherlock playing the Devil’s Advocate about Shinwell is going to have a racist tone no matter what, because Shinwell is black, and prisons and gangs are predisposed to victimize black people. Sure, the white writers may not be aware of the full social and racial weight of what they’ve written, but it’s there. That Joan, a WOC, is the one to want to help Shinwell move forward with his mission is just as significant (and I sincerely hope they don’t flip their views after this episode and have Joan turn completely against Shinwell I will be pissed because it wouldn’t make any sense).

I definitely admit I am coming at this while being firmly on Shinwell’s side. His murder of Jameel is not excusable, but nor should he be villainized for it. His last lines in 5x18 need to have an impact on people: “You looking for someone who killed one person. SBK kills dozens of people a year. Their drugs ruin thousands of lives, but don’t nobody care. They don’t get press. They’re not clever. They’re not fun. They’re just evil.” Sherlock focusing on the murder of a single person, by a person who has been trying to prove his willingness to destroy the very thing that made him a murderer, over the myriad of crimes committed by the gang he’s trying to take down—if I was Shinwell I’d probably want to beat up Sherlock too. (I don’t like that the show chose to show Shinwell acting that way toward Sherlock, they did not set it up well, I don’t think most of the audience will be discerning enough to not immediately villainize Shinwell…it’s happening already, and Idk which direction the show will go, but I don’t think it’ll be helpful.) 

(This might be a stretch for some but idc) Shinwell is like a more extreme version of Joan. He killed someone because he was manipulated into doing so (not that he doesn’t have free will, but think what might’ve happened to him if he’d refused to kill Jameel?), while Joan killed someone during a surgery. Both killed people that they cared about, to varying degrees. Both killed people they would’ve otherwise done everything to save if events had gone differently (Joan was trying to save her patient but did the exact opposite; Shinwell and Jameel were like brothers, and Shinwell would’ve done anything for Jameel if SBK hadn’t lied to him about someone he thought he could trust). Both came to regret those deaths to such an extreme they shaped their lives around redeeming themselves for those lives they had taken. The show won’t address it, but I think Joan sees herself in Shinwell. She sees a successful surgery, a positive memory from her disgraced medical career, a life that she was able to save that actually mattered. What does Sherlock see? A former criminal and gang member, a murderer, someone who doesn’t deserve redemption despite all the strides Shinwell’s been making toward that very thing, with Joan’s help (and if they’d approached 5x09 the way they should have, Joan would’ve had a direct say in saving Shinwell from prison—and there’s nothing in the canon to tell us she didn’t have a say in it /shameless self-promotion)

I hate even talking about what I want the show to do with Shinwell because I feel if I talk about it that means it won’t happen. And I know you didn’t say Shinwell should be villainized, I’m bristling against the writers who seem to want to deliver a moral message with Shinwell’s character that will only demonstrate that people like Shinwell are doomed, fighting a losing battle. Once a black criminal, always a black criminal. The violence against Sherlock in 5x18 rang like a nail in Shinwell’s coffin. So many people don’t excuse violence committed by MOC, while they will excuse it again and again when committed by white men. Like @nairobiwonders said here, Shinwell is Sherlock in season 1. She thinks Sherlock will come to want to see Shinwell redeemed…but what makes me angry about that idea is that the show won’t give us enough to make Sherlock’s turnabout convincing, I just can’t see it. They give so little to Joan I have to resign myself to seeing her emotions twisted whatever way suits the plot best, regardless of what little emotional development she might’ve had with Shinwell if this show actually cared about her.

[jinxygenie]

More Disney live action with a twist

I love all the live action Disney movies planning on coming out but I hope at least one of them is a twist like Maleficent was. Can you imagine if Jafar wasn't actually just a villain but a disgraced nobleman whose family had been cheated by the sultan early in his reign. The sultan we all know as it turns out was the nephew of the true sultan that ruled before him. Intent on gaining the throne, the sultan want-to-be plans an uprising and it succeeds. However, this leads to the deaths of Jafar's family, blamed for their magical abilities. Jafar's father (scapegoated as the leader of the uprising), mother (died protecting her children as they attempt to flee the city), younger brother (captured and charged with being a key figure in the uprising like his father), and younger sister (frail from a young age falls ill with a terrible fever from living on the run and in horrible conditions) all suffer for the sultan's greed. Jafar only rises to power after creating a false identity for himself and joining the military. He serves for many years, proving himself infallible. Eventually gaining the attention of the sultan. After assuring his position as Royal Vizier, he beginnings making plans to bring down the man that was responsible for the disgrace and death of his family. Till one day a street rat got in his way.