#my favorite heel ever!!! what a villain!!

[sepptember]

𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒 — Hanta Sero

sypnosis :: what I think would happen if sero had a crush on you!

content warnings :: gn!reader, mentions of reader possibly getting hurt, probably ooc sero, kinda all over the place. not proofread. requested by my bff @lunatiqez.

wc :: 0.8K

Hanta Sero’s interest in you bloomed early on; the sampling was planted after the villain is. hero exercise in the beginning of the show!

I like to think his admiration stemmed from you two playing on separate sides, and he began admiring you & your quirk when he saw you in action.

He immediately attempts to befriend you after, and upon getting to know you I definitely think he falls head over heels.

He likely yaps about you a lot. Bro writes about you in his diary using pink glitter pens, giggles and kicks his feet when talking with you on the phone, twirls his hair as he daydreams about you.

None of this actually happens, but Bakugo is extremely talented at being overly dramatic and says that is what Sero is like with you.

Kirishima is probably Sero’s wing man. He talks with you sometime and Sero, not so subtly, is like “So what did you two talk about? 😊 Did they say anything about me? 😁😄.”

He gets distracted thinking about you during class. You are a welcomed mind weed; you spread but he doesn't have heart nor the desire to pick you.

He's the type to ask you to look at your notes or to borrow a pencil for the sole purpose of talking to you. He did it more at the beginning of his attempts to get closer with you, and they definitely worked because it gave him openings to start conversations.

He also makes that everyone else's problem!! he will talk about you for HOURS to Kamanari or Kirishima, and on the rare occasion Bakugo, but also everyone in class notices the way he looks at you. It is a gaze of pure adoration, and each day it just grows stronger because you continue to impress him.

He looks at you as if you're his favorite hero, and it is so cute at first, but everyone lowkey gets fed up with it because he is taking so long to make a move.

He is ROOTING for you during the sports festival, but when you two face one another, you bet your ass he is giving you everything he's got.

He REALLY likes you and admires your talents, he would actually kick himself if he went easy on you just because of his feelings because 1.) he has a hero future to work for and 2.) he will not disrespect you in such a way.

Whether you beat him or not, I definitely believe his feelings increase tenfold! he just falls deeper in love with you.

He never directly says anything about his feelings, but he does make really subtle moves!!

He was raised to have at least some manners, so he is so chivalrous. Dude holds doors open for you and everything.

I like to think he doesn't act on his feelings until after the camp. He's stuck in that room while you are out there and that freaks him out. It genuinely terrifies him to his core.

He made an effort to get close with you because he enjoyed your presence, even before his crush developed. You two become super close friends, so his worry about your safety stems from far more than his romantic feelings for you.

Of course he is super worried about all of his other friends, but because he formed a stronger bond with you, you're at the forefront of his mind.

He visibly deflates when he sees you. If you got affected by the gas in the same way as Jiro or Hagakura, then he visits you until you're awake. (He contemplated bringing you flowers.)

But if you're just scuffed or non-fatally hurt in the way most of your peers were, he gives you the biggest hug ever, which doesn't happen often because I think he hates hugging people because of his elbows.

He gets insecure and worries that they are uncomfortable, but that all slips out the window at that moment. :((

He also cries. I think he's a quiet cryer, the only hint you get is his trembling body and the tears coating your shoulder.

It was such a tender moment between you two, when you hug him back, he almost begins squeezing the absolute life out of you.

It takes a few days after for him to say anything to you about his crush. It's likely after Bakugo is “rescued”.

He tells you straight up. It's a messy confession, he's definitely nervous, but he doesn't think he can keep it to himself anymore.

Yet when he tells you, you're like “funny story! me too.”

He is kicking himself because you're saying that you like him too?! and that you have for a while?? and that you two could've been together all this time?

He tells his friends and they're like “. . . you were the only one who didn't know it was reciprocated . . .”

He is stunned because they tell him all of these ways you've shown him. Bakugo calls him an idiot and that it obvious. He is so irritated with Sero.

reblogs appreciated! <3

[ninibeingdelulu]

Movie night

synopsis-> Your boyfriend Kunigami really love horror movies, but you don’t.

a/n-> There should be more kunigami content on this app :(

The flickering glow from the TV casts dancing shadows across Rensuke's chiseled features, throwing his rugged jawline into stark relief as a manic, slasher villain's blade slices through the helpless victim on-screen in a spray of garish blood splatter.

You flinch violently at the accompanying shrill shriek of terror, burying your face further into the safe haven of Rensuke's broad chest.

His rumbling chuckle vibrates straight through your trembling frame as those strong arms circle snugly around you.

"Aw, what's the matter, sweetheart ?"

Rensuke's deep timbre thrums with undisguised amusement at your jumpiness.

"Don't tell me the big bad horror movie is too much for my baby."

You risk peeking one eye open just long enough to shoot him your fiercest attempted glare, which only results in his features crinkling further with suppressed laughter.

"Shut it, you jerk!"

You give his solid bicep a half-hearted smack for good measure.

"Not all of us are complete weirdos who find people getting butchered for entertainment funny."

"Hey now, that's just good cinema doing its job if ya ask me," he counters with a devilish grin, chin jutting lazily towards the gruesome scene still unfolding before you both. "Gets the blood pumping in all the right places, doesn't it?"

You huff out an exasperated groan, desperately fighting off the instinctive shudder rippling through you as his words take on a distinctly throatier, heated quality.

Of course your lovably barbaric boyfriend is the type to get...amused...over fictional violence and carnage rather than cowering in fear like a sane person.

Apparently picking up on your squirming discomfort, Rensuke's smirk melts into an expression of pure tenderness you'd quite honestly fallen head over heels for faster than a sucker punch all those months ago.

"Alright alright, I suppose I've teased my terrified little girlfriend more than enough for one night," he murmurs with a gentle squeeze.

Grabbing the remote from where it sits wedged beside his hip, Rensuke rapidly clicks through the menu until your favorite classic romantic comedy populates the television.

"There, that's better." he proclaims in that low rasping tenor sending shivers racing up your spine in the good way this time.

"Can't have my best girl spending the whole night beside me shaking of fear, now can I?"

Those playfully dancing orange irises do something dangerous to your insides each time Rensuke aims them directly at you like that.

"You're the biggest dork I've ever known," you grin up at him despite the jab. "But my dork I guess, for some weird reason."

His responding lopsided smile is equal parts heart-fluttering and knee-weakening. Like delicious molten chocolate trickling over a wildfire ready to sweep you up without warning at any given moment.

Too captivated in the depth of those endless orange pools reflecting back at you, you barely even register Rensuke stretching over until suddenly the thermostat is ratcheting up noticeably.

Within mere moments you find yourself ensconced beneath a deliciously suffocating layer of cozy warmth pinning you to his powerful frame.

Heavy lidded and sinking further into the addictive heat cocooning you in Rensuke's intoxicating scent, your limbs steadily grow heavier and heavier with each blink.

The last coherent thought flickering through your steadily slumbering consciousness as his chest rumbles a soothing tempo is wondering just how in the world you managed to deserve something so wonderful as this as a lullaby night after night...

[generic-sonic-fan]

I know this might be niche/20, but... Do you feel writing Metaze (Metal Sonic/Blaze) as a romantic pair ? Thinking about it I was fascinated by their similarities and differences (also in main canon they've never met so it's open to freedom !)

Ah, I'm so sorry for not answering this in a timely fashion!

Regrettably, I'm actually writing an Omega/Blaze fic write now, which is sapping just about all of my very low tolerance for romance writing. However, I'd still love to imagine some headcanons for you!

He/him pronouns for Metal, but I'm happy to modify if you'd prefer different ones!

Blaze x Metal Sonic (Metaze) Headcanons!

I like to imagine they met after Metal ended up in her dimension due to shenanigans from one of Eggman's experiments with the Chaos Emeralds.

Blaze shows up after feeling the disturbance in dimensions and finds him busted up in a crater. She does remember Sonic mentioning something about a robotic copy. . .

But when Metal Sonic gets up, he doesn't attack.

He's doing two things- attempting to reconnect to the Eggnet, and frantically searching his databanks to recognize this purple cat in front of him. He fails both.

Blaze, hesitantly, holds out her hand.

He takes it.

She leads him back to her palace. On the way, she explains where he is, who she is, and where she's taking him.

(She leaves out the part about being Sonic's friend. Something tells her he doesn't need to know.)

Once in the palace, she finds a notepad and pen so that he can finally respond.

She asks him if he's alright.

He replies, "status: operational."

"Yes, but are you alright?"

She spends the next ten minutes explaining, logically yet warmly, exactly what it means to be "alright" vs "not alright", answering any questions and rebutting any constructive criticism he might have of her definition.

She then waits patiently as Metal stares at his paper and pen.

He writes, "I am alright now. How did you explain so well?"

"It wasn't an intuitive concept for me either, at first," she replies. "I had to figure it out for myself."

And that's when Metal falls head over heels right there.

I imagine the following days are very little-mermaid coded. Blaze takes Metal on a tour of the palace. Seeing that Metal is instead listening intently instead of merely putting up with her for formality's sake (as so many in the royal court often do!), she begins talking more about things that interest her, like her favorite books.

Metal is enraptured by the way she talks. More accurately, the way she treats him as a person. She even waits for him to respond with his pen and paper instead of talking over him!

And she asks him questions as well! She seems genuinely interested in getting to know him! Not Sonic, but the real him!

. . . for better or for worse.

He has to struggle with the game of "how much can I share without giving away that I'm hard-coded to serve a megalomaniac villainous overlord."

But thankfully, Blaze doesn't pry. She understands- she wasn't so eager to share much about herself before she made her first friends either. She doesn't push it.

Moving onto more general headcanons I see for them:

They, as a couple, exist in a comfortable introverted silence.

Yet in between those comfortable silences, they share very sophisticated conversations.

I've always imagined Metal being a bit high-brow about art/literature if he was ever given the chance to be.

And I think Blaze would love discussing the literary techniques of her favorite books.

I think she'd like to read to him. He finds her voice so soothing.

She feels awkward about showing affection in traditional ways, so it's actually Metal that is the super doting, romantic partner of the two.

He loves getting her flowers and holding her hand. Classic, I know.

In return, she enjoys leaning against him. While standing, while sitting, pretty much just whenever.

The first time he felt her purr just about caused him to short-circuit.

As Blaze gets more comfortable with him, she starts to wrap her tail around his waist, and on rare occasions while alone, to nuzzle against his muzzle plating.

Anyways, I also headcanon that they LOVE dancing together.

Please, for your entertainment, imagine Metal in his Neo outfit dancing in a traditional ballroom style with Blaze in her own formal attire.

He's normally a very deferential partner but while dancing I think he'd love to take the lead. Spin her around. Dip her gently towards the floor.

All and all, a very soft and low-key couple, provided that Eggman doesn't interfere and reality comes crashing down.

[morrigan-sims]

Top 24 Screenshots of 2024

I was tagged by @loony-moonsims Thank you!! (Sorry for being so late. I was on vacation and didn't have access to my laptop with all my screenshots.) I'm not going to tag anyone else to do this because it's way too late and I don't know who has or hasn't done it. But if you want to, feel free to say I tagged you!!! It is a lot of fun to do! I already did one favorite post from each month in my 2024 "Year In Review" post, but that was strictly one per month and didn't give me a chance to talk about it. So expect a lot of rambling under the cut.

tw for blood in several images and for spider imagery in Oct/Nov.

January

Starting on January 1st, I fell head-over-heels in love with Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous -- now my favorite game of all time -- and with Areelu Vorlesh. I tried my hand at recreating characters from images, which I'd never done before, and it actually turned out pretty well. (And started a mini obsession.) My first version of Areelu was not my most accurate, but I do have a deep soft spot for it, for many reasons. And while Reda isn't perfect either, I do love how she turned out as a sim.

February

The month of goth/dark fantasy people, I guess. The Lady of Ravens was very fun to design, and I discovered that that pose looks perfect with the crow/raven accessory I have.

March

In March I got bored of sweet, cutesy flower sims, and decided it was about time someone played into the horror of being both a person and a plant. And thus this sim, who someone described as "sleeping beauty if she took control of the roses and became a villain" was born. She has thorny vines growing under and over her skin, and that rose has burst from her eye. I wanted her to have little thorns poking out from under her skin, but no such cc existed, unfortunately.

Also in March, I played the first of Rook's two Horrible, Very Bad, No-Good weekends. This render (lovingly dubbed "Mirror Punch" in my folders) was meant to represent the scene that the party saw upon rushing to see what the giant crash they all heard from the lower floor of the inn was about. Rook had just woken up from being asleep for over 12 hours after passing out from exhaustion and stress, only to be told that the "chihuahua" the party had rescued the day before just so happened to be the very same man who had sold Rook to Captain Wolf 3 years ago. Oh, and this was after dying once and then having a very emotionally tense conversation with his mentor once he woke up. Because my boy is an idiot who doesn't know how to handle emotional surprises, he decided to try and punch a mirror, because repeatedly killing an imaginary version of said chihuahua/man wasn't working.

I'm still incredibly proud of this render. Editing the mirror to be cracked took me over two hours, let alone drawing in all the blood.

April

In April I was deep in my pirate obsession, in part brought about by obsessively watching Black Sails for the first time. I made the first draft of my ship infirmary (now the canon appearance of the Tide Breaker's infirmary), and also made this sim, who despite my best attempts to NOT relate everything to Rook ended up becoming the canon appearance (in my head at least) for Kholl, the Tide Breaker's surgeon, and Jay's mentor.

May

May was a great month for renders. Actually this one specific week was great for renders, since these both got posted in less than a week. The Nine of Swords is still one of my favorite renders I've ever made. I just love the way the composition works, with the chains framing it, and the swords (all copies of Wolf's rapier from my edit of her as Justice) hanging over Rook's head. Of course, I can only take partial credit, since I was inspired by Sara Kipin's version of the card.

Morana's Death card was also a lot of fun to make. It was my first attempt at putting trees into blender (a pain in the ass, but worth it) and with using photo background (easier, and also worth it). I really enjoyed how the final product turned out, and it's just such a good representation of her. She's named after a Slavic goddess of death and winter, and she's a necromancer from a frozen place, so it works well. I also really like the added touch of the red coming from the skull's eye, which was suggested by someone I was on call with while making the render.

June

June was ALSO all about the dnd characters. Aside from spending way too much time furnishing Lockwood Manor and making its awful owner, making Val as a sim, and giving Zenara a zillion new outfits, I also made these two edits.

The Judgement card was my first big in-game edit in a very, very long time. It was an interesting challenge to get it to turn out how I wanted it to. While the editing for this one was very simple, getting everything else as I wanted it was difficult. There was a lot of TOOL involved, and gshade and Relight saved my ass when it came to getting the nighttime scene to look right. This card is a recreation of a moment from Avra's backstory, where she awoke in her own grave. On digging her way out, she found a raven messenger waiting for her. The Judgement card is just too fucking perfect for her, and it was a lot of fun to create my own version of it.

Aspen's Fool Card was an idea that had been floating in my mind for MONTHS before I finally got around to making it. I could not possibly be happier with how it turned out. This was my first experiment with sizing up sims in blender, and it worked perfectly!!! A giant version of Fin (the jester-like god of death and Aspen's warlock patron) looming over Aspen dancing on strings was exactly what I had in mind. It was also my first experiment with bringing in 3D meshes that weren't already made for the sims, which was interesting.

July

July was all about the Liars. I played through (most of) Rook's SECOND Horrible, Very Bad, No-Good Weekend, which kicked off with the traumatic reveal that Rook's beloved mentor, Sigmar, was actually a corpse being puppeted by the BBEG, Dr. Purity. And not only that, but the party wizard, Maka, had known since day 1. Given Rook's name, and the fact that the special moves Sigmar had been teaching him were all named after chess pieces, it was just too damn perfect to turn Rook into a chess piece for this render. To this day, it's one of my favorite renders I've ever made. Not only does it LOOK amazing, but the layers upon layers of symbolism and little details hidden in it, most of which mean nothing to anyone other than me and the DM of Rook's game. This was my 2nd experiment with giant sims in blender, and also with outside models, as well as my first horizontal/landscape render. Making the pose for this one was a TON of fun, and I got to play around with some editing methods I hadn't used in a LONG time.

Speaking of Dr. Purity, his Temperance card was my most detailed blender set to date!! The many objects were a lot of fun to import and set up. And the editing was SO much fun. Drawing all the shadows on his clothes was a ton of fun, as was fixing the clipping in his hair and figuring out how to make it look like there was liquid in the flask was also fun. This is maybe my least popular render, but I am proud of it and I do love it. We finally got a face reveal of the BBEG, of course I had to do something with that!!! (I definitely didn't only start caring this much about him after finding out he was Sigmar's true identity. Nope, not at all.)

August

In August, I was back in a furnishing mood, this time working on the pirate ships. (I was simultaneously working on making maps for all three of them for our VTT.) I really love how this shot of Zara's cabin turned out. And this coming weekend Rook gets to step into this room again, this time as Captain in his own right! I can't fucking wait.

The Weeping Angels gif was SO much fun to make. It wasn't my first time making a gif, but it was the first in a long time, and also by far the most complicated one I'd ever made. It ended up being well over 30 frames long, and I love the final result!!! (After I made it, I watched it so many times I started to get a headache, lmao.)

September

September Rook was still having a Bad Time, and I got obsessed with Carrion.

I love how the editing (although simple) turned out on this render of Rook. The accents on the chains, the veins I drew under his skin, it all looks great. My poor boy, he does NOT deserve this, lmao. Sorry buddy. This render is (somewhat understandably) one of my least popular, but I still love it a lot.

Theodore's render is also super simple, but looks really good to me. Once again, drawing in details on the armor/clothes was a fun experiment, and so was adding more definition and age to Theodore's face. This was also only my 2nd time sculpting clothing in blender (the first being the Nine of Swords) with his cape, and it looks quite nice.

October

In October, I was hard-core fixating on Zara's upcoming introduction, so she (FINALLY) got her own tarot card. I can't believe it took me as long as it did to realize the World was her card. Anyways, I like how this one turned out. The symbolism with the items and their placement was a lot of fun to add in, and the colors turned out great.

The other shot I really really loved was this preview picture for my spider legs accessory edit. Using TOOL to get the sim in position was a pain, but it turned out SO worth it. This sim in general was super fun to make and looks badass as hell, but her in this pose with the throne is even better.

November

In November I took a break from editing and rendering to get back in P:WotR mode, so I did some neat little recreations of character portraits from the game. I was on my evil run this time, and these two were my two new discovery favorites. I was quite happy with how well I was able to recreate these just with what I had in my game.

December

In December I was back on my rendering bullshit, this time with Carrion. I'd had this idea for MONTHS, since one of the other players in his campaign gave it to me, honestly the scenes were basically done. I barely had to do anything to them, and the editing was super basic. (Hilariously someone left tags saying they loved the editing, and my only thought was "thank you, but I basically didn't do anything". Which I guess is a compliment to my blender skills if it makes them look well-edited.)

I especially loved pulling the reversal of the werewolf, where the full moon is monstrous and the new moon is safe. Also just creating Carrion's monster form in general was a lot of fun to do. I made several pieces of cc just for Carrion (his normal armor, his monster arm spikes), and did some whacky things to get him to look how I wanted. (There's actually two copies of monster Carrion standing there. One of them is just the tips of his toes the other is the rest of his body, sans toes. I did this so I could give him the split feet, which are actually illithid feet from BG3, converted by Shandir.)

I also just straight up painted + clone-stamped in a portion of his arm in the monster image, because it was clipping with his leg. I'm proud to say I don't think you can tell. And adding small lights for his eyes in that form was also a very fun little touch. (Honestly, the lighting in general was an adventure in this one. I hated it at the time, but looking back it was an interesting challenge.) I also learned what HDRIs are and how to use them, so that was a fun learning experience for me!

Final Thoughts

I made SO much progress in rendering this year, and I'm very proud of myself. I would love to whittle down my unfinished renders / not started render concepts to zero in 2025, but knowing me that's never going to happen. (ADHD, baby!!!) But I had a TON of fun this year and I'm so happy with all the things I made, be they in CAS, in build mode, or in blender.

And I'm glad you all were along for the ride!!! Whether you've been following me for years, or you just followed me last week, I'm glad you're here. While I'd make these things for myself, it's a thousand times more fun to share them with others, and knowing other people like my work just makes me more motivated to make it.

[miriatwstuff]

My friend just reminded me of the 2010s Disney era and so resurfaces my need for

VilYuu StarStruck-styled romcom

(It is objectively NOT a good movie but it really stuck in my impressionable preteen head back then)

Anyway! I was thinking it started somewhere in book 2, while Cater lead Riddle, Adeuce, Yuu and Grim to investigate the culprit behind the Magift/Spelldrive incidents and that's when they crossed path with Vil! (Actually they were out to see Rook but you know, the vice housewarden was always around his housewarden blah blah). Yuu might have been genuinely entranced by Vil's beauty (as they should) but that's the extent of their impression.

But unfortunately they may or may not have made a fool of themself in front of Vil (due to either Grim or Adeuce bumping into them, making them trip and fall face first in front of the Queen). So naturally, Vil assumed this little potato was yet another admirer, and while he was flattered, he was not at all amused with how they "bent over backwards" just to see him. Just try to approach him normally next time, and maybe he'd be inclined to help them fix their clothes!

We know he really meant well despite how strict he acted, but Yuu didn't. What a self-centered, condescending arse he was! Coupling with the embarrassing situation, Yuu vowed to never like Vil, like ever <3 Not even Cater-senpai's long list of Vil's achievement can change their little stubborn mind! Not like they'd ever willingly see his works, his films, his interviews, his modelling on their own accord!

Fortunately, they never crossed path again so neither paid any more mind to the other. Unfortunately (for Yuu), they gotta bit back their complaints when they was forced to welcome Vil and his NRC entourage into Ramshackle dorm in book 5. Ok they might have tried to play a nice host, but that's because of their friends and because they actually got manners, unlike some superstar! Unfortunately being a magicless half-student and all, they couldn't really voice their opinion, but seeing Epel's "pitiful" state they silently sided with the boy and felt some type of camaraderie with him. Vil, being emotionally dense as he was, didn't realize Yuu wasn't his biggest fan, he just assumed they were a little too starstruck and shy when facing their favorite star <3 (to his defense he was quite astute with malice, and Yuu's awkwardness around him does nothing to indicate that they didn't like him, they just seemed like some of his shy fans <3 which was adorable in a way)

Things started to change along with how the events unfolded, and Yuu started to see other sides of Vil and see through his tough facade and his smart mouth. And Vil... finally got to understand that Yuu neither was shy nor idolized him, they simply did not like him, and that was because of Vil Schoenheit the asshole upperclassman who "made fun" of them (sorry for pointing out the person who fell flat in front of his heels), who "forced their friends go through unimaginable horror" (it was just stretching exercises and a ban of unhealthy snacks), whose "attitude and approach suck harder than a prostitute with a dick" (he'd never heard such... vulgar and graphic comparison before, but that aside he had no justification). They hadn't even seen his work! They hadn't even seen his portrayal of evil villains and all, so their perception of him was just... refreshingly just another student in NRC, albeit a very mean one. Kinda like Epel in a way (though Epel's case was another can of worms... no preconceptions whatsoever except his ideals for manliness).

And throughout his breakdown and overblot, both Vil and Yuu gotta face the inner demons of Vil's, and Rook's encouragement for Vil's beauty as long as he himself believed in it, and the first years chimed in and said how awesome Vil was, and Yuu quietly admitted to misunderstanding him, and they were sorry for accusing him of being superficial despite they themself were superficial when it came to judging him.

And all of those words meant a lot and Vil put his all in his performance, with Yuu, more objectively this time, witnessing his highness' in all of his glory ✨️✨️✨️

Ignoring the chaos that ensued later with Neige and Rook's "betrayal" lol

[willowser]

I have a thought and I’d like to share (if you don’t mind) - Bakugo with a pro hero partner. Like I feel as though all I ever see is civilian!reader or assistant!reader and that’s great, but I need me a girl boss who kicks ass and Bakugo’s head over heels, like I imagine this person to be so adored and loved as well - like the ideal “celebrity” so kind and sweet, well-spoken, but Villains hear her name they go runnin’ - everyone’s low-key got crushes on her, Katsuki’s wondering what the hell he did to rizz her up and because they’re both public figures, in spite of how naturally private he is, I think he’d feel more comfortable off-handedly making comments about her every now and then, showing up to events together.

Idk it’s just in my head

hello dear !! it's so interesting you bring this up, bc i feel like i actually have a lot of thoughts on this and i guess i've never mentioned them LOL

i think bakugou could have such a flourishing relationship with another pro hero.

like, i really do. i think that it's hard for him to meet people outside of work LOL so meeting/working with another pro hero is, i think, a very natural way to come together. i also think that bakugou would really appreciate reader's hard work ! their passion ! their motivation ! i think that would genuinely be such a draw for him ??? i absolutely think a pro hero relationship would really work out for him, and i have one pro hero reader wip and the dynamic between them is my favorite i think i've ever written, bc they just fit so well.

but i will say that this is not typically a reader i picture for him ?? as my go-to ?? it's always assistant reader aikhfaha LMAO and. i really don't think i have a good explanation why, but. something like—i like to imagine bakugou having a break from it all, and i just don't think he'd get that with a pro hero partner ??

idk !! like, if one of you isn't on patrol, the other probably is, like 90% of the time, and i imagine it's hard to get just free time to be together, bc you both would probably be so busy !! and if you were working together at the same agency or partnering up at random points, i feel like it would be so hard to come home from work and not. bring it with you 🥺 as a pro hero i feel like that's impossible, and were the two of you both bearing the weight of that responsibility, i feel like it would be hard to have a relationship outside of that ?? if that makes sense ?? and i also personally believe that bakugou has had too much pro hero at the young age of SEVENTEEN, so i like to imagine a life for him where he can put it all away, even for a little bit 🥺

you could definitely argue that having an assistant reader would be similar, bc you would still be involved in the hero world, but. idk. i think being there on the sidelines and being in it are different, and i like to imagine bakugou coming home from a long shift and getting to hear about what you did at your regular job or what you did in the garden, where you went shopping, etc 🥺 just. give him some normalcy 🥺

but that's just my personal preference !! though i definitely enjoy the pro hero reader angle !! please katsuki wondering what the hell he did to rizz you up LMAOOO tbh, i think if we ever were fed some kind of love story for bakugou in canon, they would give him a badass pro hero partner, bc i really think he would have a lot of respect for someone that can handle it, not to mention does it well. like. i think he definitely has the loserboy hots for them LOL

[seyaryminamoto]

Fiction is really powerful. It has helped me across so many years of anguish and stress over real life matters that only seemed to get worse and worse as time went by.

I admit that, when I started writing Gladiator, there wasn't a single braincell in me that recognized the actual weavings of my personal experiences that I was pouring into that story. It was just a fun story to work on. It was about my favorite ship. I could do whatever I wanted within that space and explore things on my terms.

The longer it went on, the more reality and fiction seemed to blend together. The easier it became to recognize my life's greater villains in the monsters I was creating fictionally.

It may be a melodramatic way to announce that my country has yet again been subjected to an electoral fraud of a scale beyond measure. Where the official count is giving the current president a 51 over 44 lead, the truth is much more likely to be 30 vs. 70, NOT in his favor. He still announced himself the winner. There's no auditing the process because everyone fucking knows they've cheated as cheaply as possible. There's no stopping their frauds because they've already done this a thousand times over and they'll do it a million times again until there's nothing left of the country to sack and destroy with the modern, absolutist dictatorship they've imposed upon us.

What is the connection between this and that? Why... probably the fact that, without my awareness, my chaotic fic became my political power fantasy. Because the characters I write about aren't simply tools at my behest... they're representative of something greater, something that reality continues to deny to me, my family and countless people I love. I went to bed last night with the greatest dread and a spark of hope... woke up after a mere three hours to find the dread had won over, and the hope had been crushed under its heel.

I don't know if my reality will ever change. I don't know if the country I was born to will ever be free. Twenty-five years are not the same as a hundred, sure... but it shouldn't take a hundred. No power should be able to sustain itself on lies, corruption, greed and cruelty for that long. And yet everything in my reality screams that it will happen.

It's so much easier to fight this in fiction. To let your mind wander and imagine outcomes that are profoundly cathartic and blissful instead of the agonizing emptiness that I feel now. I can't sleep again. I can barely eat. I'm terrified of what's coming next. If we fight, the consequences will be as awful as they ever are. If we don't, the same is true. There is no way out. There is no solution. There is no dashing hero with the ability to break the chains of oppresion and change the world. No opening the eyes of the willfully blind supporters of this atrocity: they know what they're supporting. They simply do not give a shit as long as they can pretend they're still winning.

But fiction is a powerful thing.

Think of my work what you will. Think of my efforts to build up a nuanced political conflict what you may. It's speaking of a reality you might be unaware of. Of a pain you're very lucky to never have experienced, if you haven't.

Because, if you have, you long for someone to fix what you know is broken. You long to feel the power to change a reality that refuses to budge. You long to see every corrupt piece of shit thoroughly punished for every misdeed they've inflicted upon you, across the years and years of helplessness.

I don't have the power to do that in real life.

But I can tell stories.

[lucascecil]

Doctor Who - Eighth Doctor Guide

This incarnation first appeared in the 1996 movie ‘Doctor Who’ in which was, at the time, an attempt to bring the show back while trying to bring in American viewers. It was a total failure and the show would only come back on TV in 2005 with the new series. However, these were exciting news to the expanded universe: the Eighth Doctor opened a door to explore new and imaginative ideas in this second half of the wilderness years (as we call the show hiatus from 1989 to 2005).

Virgin Books would lose their license to Doctor Who and therefore their publication of the Seventh Doctor books, at the time the only continuation to the show we had, stopped. Instead, the Eighth Doctor Adventures were released, a book series focusing on the adventures of the Eighth Doctor with new, original companions. And, five years later, Paul McGann would once again step into the role in Big Finish.

These guides include only tv, books and audio stories, but this time only I will make an exception: we’ll include the Doctor Who Magazine Comics too. You totally should give these comics a chance for other Doctors too, but Eight is getting special treatment because the Magazine did its own thing with him just as the other media. It has four well defined narrative arcs/”seasons” and introduces their own original companion. So let’s start!

INTO THE COMICS

‘Season one’ – Adventures with Izzy

[ ] Endgame

[ ] The Keep

[ ] A Life of Matter and Death

[ ] Fire and Brimstone

[ ] By Hook or by Crook

[ ] Tooth and Claw

[ ] The Final Chapter

[ ] Wormwood

[ ] Happy Deathday

This season picks up a plot point from the Seventh Doctor DWM’s comics regarding a recurring villain, but you’ll understand it fine enough even if haven’t read what came before. This is collected as The Eighth Doctor Comics Strips volume 01, as that edition has a summary of what you need to know. Otherwise, it’s a perfect jumping point. The Doctor meets Izzy Sinclair, a young girl from Stockbridge that helps him fight the Toymaker when the elder god takes control of the town, quickstating a long road of self-discovery for Izzy.

‘Season two’ – Continued adventures with Izzy, plus Kroton

[ ] The Fallen

[ ] Unnatural Born Killers

[ ] The Road to Hell

[ ] TV Action!

[ ] The Company of Thieves

[ ] The Glorious Dead

[ ] The Autonomy Bug

This season is collected as The Eighth Doctor Comics Strips volume 02 and introduces a temporary companion I love: Kroton, the good Cybermen. It also has one of the best Master stories ever. It also features the only other proper Grace story ever since I think they just ignored the copyright issue and used her anyway.

‘Season three’ – Continued adventures with Izzy

[ ] Ophidius

[ ] Beautiful Freak

[ ] The Way of All Flesh

[ ] Children of the Revolution

[ ] Me and My Shadow

[ ] Uroboros

[ ] Oblivion

This season is collected as the Eighth Doctor Comics Strips volume 03. This season finishes Izzy’s story while also introducing the next companion, Destrii. It also has one of my favorite Daleks stories.

‘Season four’ – Solo adventures, then joined by Destrii

[ ] Where Nobody Know Your Name

[ ] The Nightmare Game

[ ] The Power of Thoueris!

[ ] The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack

[ ] The Land of Happy Endings

[ ] Bad Blood

[ ] Sins of the Father

[ ] The Flood

This season is collected as the Eighth Doctor Comics Strips volume 04. For the most part it shows the Doctor rebounding from his goodbye to Izzy (platonically, I see their relationship as paternal), kinda trying to find a new companion (he is pathetic in The Nightmare Game) and dealing with solitude. Then the story picks up when he is reunited with Destrii and they begin travelling together. It has a great Cybermen story.

INTO THE BOOKS

‘Season 01’ – Adventures with Sam

[ ] The Eight Doctors

[ ] Vampire Science

[ ] The Bodysnatchers

[ ] Genocide

[ ] War of the Daleks

[ ] Alien Bodies

The Eight Doctors is a terrible first book, just skip it and start with Vampire Science – which is much better. There is a certain character there who was supposed to be Grace but then they couldn’t use her because of copyright and I do think knowing that gives an interesting perspective to the book. Alien Bodies (great, too) starts a story arc about the War in Heaven. Or, simply put, a much more engaging time war done in the books years before the TV series ever thought about it.

‘Season 02’ – Continued adventures with Sam

[ ] Kursaal

[ ] Option Lock

[ ] Longest Day

[ ] Legacy of the Daleks

[ ] Dreamstone Moon

[ ] Seeing I

‘Season 03’ – Continued adventures with Sam

[ ] Placebo Effect

[ ] Vanderdeken’s Children

[ ] The Scarlet Empress

[ ] The Janus Conjuction

[ ] Beltempest

[ ] The Face-Eater

‘Season 04’ – Adventures with Sam and Fitz

[ ] The Taint

[ ] Demontage

[ ] Revolution Man

[ ] Dominion

[ ] Unnatural History

[ ] Autumn Mist

[ ] Interference – Book One: Shock Tactic

[ ] Interference – Book Two: The Hour of the Geek

‘Season 04’ – Adventures with Fitz and Compassion

[ ] The Blue Angel

[ ] The Taking of Planet 5

[ ] Frontier Worlds

[ ] Parallel 59

[ ] The Shadows of Avalon

[ ] The Fall of Yquatine

[ ] Coldheart

[ ] The Space Age

[ ] The Banquo Legacy

[ ] The Ancestor Cell

‘Season 05’ – Exiled on Earth

[ ] The Burning

[ ] Casualties of War

[ ] The Turing Test

[ ] Endgame

[ ] Father Time

[ ] Escape Velocity

Following the ending of The Ancestor Cell, there is this smaller story arc with the Doctor stuck on Earth for plot reasons I will not elaborate because I don’t want spoil it too much.

‘Season 06’ – Adventures with Fitz and Anji

[ ] EarthWorld

[ ] Fear Itself

[ ] Vanishing Point

[ ] Eater of Wasps

[ ] The Year of Intelligent Tigers

[ ] Dark Progeny

[ ]  The City of the Dead

[ ] Griim Reality

[ ] The Adventuress of Henrietta Street

‘Season 07’ – Continued adventures with Fitz and Anji

[ ] Mad Dogs and Englishmen

[ ] Hope

[ ] Anachrophobia

[ ] Trading Futures

[ ] The Book of the Still

[ ] The Crooked World

[ ] History 101

[ ] Camera Obscura

[ ] Time Zero

‘Season 08’ – Continued adventures with Fitz and Anji, joined by Trix

[ ] The Infinity Race

[ ] The Domino Effect

[ ] Reckless Engineering

[ ] The Last Resort

[ ] Timeless

[ ] Emotional Chemistry

[ ] Sometime Never…

‘Season 09’ – Adventures with Fitz and Trix

[ ] Halflife

[ ] The Tomorrow Windows

[ ] The Sleep of Reason

[ ] The Deadstone Memorial

[ ] To the Slaughter

[ ] The Gallifrey Chronicles

INTO THE AUDIOS – THE MAIN RANGE ERA

‘Season 01’ – Adventures with Charley

[ ] Storm Warning

[ ] The Sword of Orion

[ ] The Stones of Venice

[ ] Minuet in Hell

[ ] Solitaire

[ ] If I Should Die Before I Wake

The Eighth Doctor joined Big Finish a little bit after Doctors Five to Seven, but it was still quite early when their main releases were ‘just’ a monthly two-hour long story in the style of the classic series. We call this range of releases the Main Range. As the current Doctor at that point, having McGann back in the role was obviously a novelty and he was instantly joined by India Fisher as Charlotte Pollard, Edwardian adventurer.

Solitaire and If I Should Die Before I Wake are not main range releases but I do think they fit tonally well enough with theses stories and therefore I don’t think there is any problem listening to them here.

‘Season 02’ – Continued adventures with Charley

[ ] Invaders from Mars

[ ] The Chimes of Midnight

[ ] Seasons of Fear

[ ] Embrace the Darkness

[ ] The Time of the Daleks

[ ] Neverland

[ ] Zagreus

This finish the story arc of Charley’s life as was set up in Storm Warning. It all culminates in Zagreus, which is also a 40 years anniversary story of the series. Romana and Leela, former companions of the Fourth Doctor, reappear at the end of this arc and their interaction starts a spin-off just about them in Gallifrey – a series also called Gallifrey. I will not elaborate on it in this post, but let it be noted it happens.

‘Season 03’ – Adventures with Charley and C’rizz

[ ] Scherzo

[ ] The Creed of the Kromon

[ ] The Natural History of Fear

[ ] The Twilight Kingdom

[ ] Faith Stealer

[ ] The Last

[ ] Caerdroia

[ ] The Next Life

Also known as the Divergent Universe arc. It continues at the point Zagreus ended, with Doctor exploring a brand new universe – but there is something disturbingly wrong there. He and Charley are joined by a new companion from this universe, C’rizz.

‘Season 04’ – Adventures with Charley and C’rizz

[ ] Terror Firma

[ ] Scaredy Cat

[ ] Other Lives

[ ] Time Works

[ ] Something Inside

[ ] Memo Lane

[ ] Absolution

[ ] The Girl Who Never Was

The end of this era of Eighth Doctor audios. A goodbye to C’rizz, but a see you soon for Charley. There is a huge cliffhanger at The Girl Who Never Was that is continued on later releases – look at ‘beyond the Eighth Doctor’ if you wanna know about that, but ONLY if you are fine with being SPOILED. Again: THERE ARE SPOILERS THERE.

More from Charley and Eight

‘Season 01’ – The Further Adventures of Charlotte Pollard

[ ] The Mummy Speaks

[ ] Eclipse

[ ] The Slaying of the Writhing Mass

[ ] Heart of Orion

Specifically, this was one single released of four one-hour long stories that are set during the first story arc of Charley in the Main Range. So, certainly before Neverland but you could argue about the when specifically. I like to put it between Minuet in Hell and Invaders from Mars. But why didn’t I put it there, then? To be honest, it’s because I don’t think they fit tonally with the Main Range adventures and therefore it will break immersion if listened then. They are much, much closer to the new who style and just don’t capture the era, for me. So, listen to them as an extra to Charley story, when you miss her.

‘Season 02’ – Adventures with Charley and Audacity

[ ] The Devouring

[ ] The Great Cyber-War

[ ] Twenty-Four Doors in December

[ ] The Empty Man

[ ] Winter of the Demon

2023 saw the Doctor being joined by a new companion, lady Audacity. The first release, which included the first stories in this season, had a cliffhanger that placed them as the Doctor was still travelling with Charley, in their earlier days. So this is also a season that happens during the first story arc on the Main Range, but I wouldn’t place it there because not only it’s still happening, being published, but also because it’s better if you listen to it as its own thing already having the knowledge of how Charley’s story originally developed.

Beyond the Eighth Doctor

‘Season 01’ – Adventures with Charley

[ ] The Condemned

[ ] The Doomwood Curse

[ ] Brotherhood of the Daleks

[ ] Return of the Krotons

[ ] The Raincloud Man

[ ] Patient Zero

[ ] Paper Cuts

[ ] Blue Forgotten Planet

I already WARNED you of the SPOILERS. So, at the end of The Girl Who Never Was, the Eighth Doctor and Charley are separated. He thinks she chose of leave him, and she thinks that he is dead. She is isolated in a terrible situation and sends a distress signal, hoping that someone will rescue her. A TARDIS arrives and she thinks Eight is alive and came for her, but when she enters, she finds an unexpected face – the Sixth Doctor. And they would have a handful of adventures together, as listed here.

‘Season 02’

[ ] The Lamentation Cipher

[ ] The Shadow at the Edge of the World

[ ] The Fall of the House of Pollard

[ ] The Viryan Solution

But Charley story doesn’t end with Six. They do eventually part ways, as told in Blue Forgotten Planet, but Charley got her own spin-off that continues from there. There have been two seasons since then, but the story is unfinished: there is a third series that should be released at some point to wrap the story but we haven’t gotten any news from it for a long, long time.

‘Season 03’

[ ] Embankment Station

[ ] Ruffling

[ ] Seed of Chaos

[ ] The Destructive Quality of Life

THE CLASSICALS

‘Season 00’ – Adventures with Mary Shelley

[ ] The Company of Friends

[ ] The Silver Turk

[ ] The Witch from the Well

[ ] Army of Death

The Company of Friends is a ‘special’ Main Range release as it’s the only audio story that features the Eighth Doctor exclusive companions from other medias. It’s four half-a-hour story: the first with Benny, former companion of the Seventh Doctor. The second have Fitz and the third have Izzy. And then there is the fourth one, that shows the Eight Doctor meeting Mary Shelley. She wasn’t a companion, but would soon become one as a trilogy featuring their travels together would be released in the Main Range.

These stories happened before Eight meets Charley and honestly could be listened at any point, but I put them here, after Charley, because I do think it’s a better experience to enjoy the Eighth Doctor main range era in the order the stories were published.

INTO THE AUDIOS – THE LUCIE MILLER ERA

Beginning 2006, it all changed for Eight. His stories were probably the most popular of the Main Range – much because of the novelty of exploring the Doctor that never had anything on TV – and so he got his own range. The Main Range was now only for Doctors Five, Six and Seven, and ‘The Eighth Doctor Adventures’ began. But it was also 2006, Doctor Who was back on TV. And much because of that, this era is structured more alike to a new who season than classic.

You can jump into this era without any prior knowledge of the Eighth Doctor if you want to.

‘Season 01’ – Adventures with Lucie

[ ] Blood of the Daleks [two-parter]

[ ] Horror of Fang Rock

[ ] Immortal Beloved

[ ] Phobos

[ ] No More Lies

[ ] Human Resources [two-parter]

Notably, Horror of Glam Rock starts a ongoing arc through the seasons about Lucie’s aunt Pat.

'Extras Season’ – Continued adventures with Lucie

[ ] The Dalek Trap

[ ] The Revolution Game

[ ] The House on the Edge of Chaos

[ ] Island of the Fendahl

This was actually a release called The Further Adventures of Lucie Miller, four one-hour stories that makes a small season. It fits the tone of the era very well and it happens relatively early in her timeline, so if you want to listen to it between seasons 1 and 2, you can. The finally feature the Fendahl, a villain from Classic Who, so it’s a good idea to check out Image of the Fendahl from the Fourth Doctor era if you want more context.

‘Season 02’ – Continued adventures with Lucie

[ ] Dead London

[ ] Max Warp

[ ] Brave New Town

[ ] The Skull of Sobek

[ ] Grand Theft Cosmos

[ ] The Zygon Who Fell to Earth

[ ] Sisters of the Flame/The Vengeance of Morbius

The Zygon Who Fell to Earth is part of the aunt Pat story arc. The finale features Morbius, a villain from Classic Who, and it’s a good idea to check the Fourth Doctor story The Brain of Morbius if you want more context.

‘Season 03’ – Continued adventures with Lucie

[ ] Orbis

[ ] Hothouse

[ ] The Beast of Orlok

[ ] Wirnn Dawn

[ ] The Scapegoat

[ ] The Cannibalists

[ ] The Eight Truths/Worldwide Web

There are plenty of villains from Classic Who this season. You don’t need to watch any of their original stories to understand theses audios, and this is valid for the previous seasons too, but as I said if you want more context… You can watch The Seeds of Doom, The Ark in Space and Planet of Spiders.

‘Season 04’ – Adventures with Lucie and Tamsin

[ ] Death in Blackpool

[ ] An Earthly Child

[ ] Situation Vacant

[ ] Nervermore

[ ] The Book of Kelis

[ ] Deimos/The Resurrection of Mars

[ ] Relative Dimensions

[ ] Prisoner of the Sun

[ ] Lucie Miller/To the Death

Lucie’s era ends with a bang. Death in Blackpool is a Christmas special that wraps up the aunt Pat storyline. In An Earthly Child, the Doctor is reunited with someone from his past. Then, the rest of the season deals with Lucie and Eight’s friendship and how they are dealing with everything that happening recently, while also introducing new companion Tamsin Drew.

INTO THE AUDIOS – THE BOXSETS ERA

With the end of Lucie’s era, the publishing format shifted again. Now, the stories were released four at a time, as a boxset. These stories also build up bigger arcs, in sixteen parts, and therefore should be listened sequentially: Dark Eyes, Doom Coalition, Ravenous and Stranded. You can jump into the Eighth Doctor audios with Dark Eyes, but it’s better appreciated after listening to Lucie’s era.

‘Dark Eyes’ – Adventures with Molly and Liv

[ ] The Great War

[ ] Fugitives

[ ] Tangled Web

[ ] X and the Daleks

[ ] The Traitor

[ ] The White Room

[ ] Time’s Horizon

[ ] Eyes of the Master

[ ] The Death of Hope

[ ] The Reviled

[ ] Masterplan

[ ] Rule of the Eminence

[ ] A Life in the Day

[ ] The Monster of Montmartre

[ ] Master of the Daleks/Eye of Darkness

Liv Chenka is a character introduced in Robophobia, a Seventh Doctor story that you can listen to if you want more from her, but isn’t necessarily needed here. It’s good, though. She didn’t become a companion until reuniting with the Doctor, this time Eight, here in Dark Eyes. This season explores a temporal conflict between the Daleks, some Time Lords and an enemy from the future, the Eminence. It’s not part of the Time War, tho.

‘Doom Coalition’ – Adventures with Liv and Helen

[ ] The Eleven

[ ] The Red Lady

[ ] The Galileo Trap

[ ] The Satanic Mill

[ ] Beachhead

[ ] Scenes from her Life

[ ] The Gift

[ ] The Sonomancer

[ ] Absent Friends

[ ] The Eighth Piece/The Doomsday Chronometer

[ ] The Crucible of Souls

[ ] Ship in a Bottle

[ ] Songs of Love

[ ] The Side of Angels

[ ] Stop the Clock

Molly’s story wraps up during Dark Eyes, but Liv goes on a companion. She is then joined by Helen, introduced here in The Red Lady. This season is full of time lord political conflicts and if you have watched New Who you’ll notice River Song is a recurring character.

‘Ravenous’ – Continued adventures with Liv and Helen

[ ] Their Finest Hour

[ ] How to Make a Killing in Time Travel

[ ] World of Damnation/Sweet Salvation

[ ] Escape from Kaldor

[ ] Better Watch Out/The Fairytale of Salzburg

[ ] Seizure

[ ] Deeptime Frontier

[ ] Companion Piece

[ ] L.E.G.E.N.D.

[ ] The Odds Against

[ ] Whisper

[ ] Planet of Dust

[ ] Day of the Master

This season deals with a terrible fairy tale from the Time Lord’s past that seems to be real. Liv reunites with her sister Tula in Escape from Kaldor, and then spends one year with her before the Doctor and Helen pick her back. This is que start point to a spin-off, The Robots, which explores focusing on her and Tula during that one year. I will elaborate on it later on.

‘Stranded’ – Continued adventures with Liv and Helen, joined by Tania and Andy

[ ] Lost Property

[ ] Wild Animals

[ ] Must-See TV

[ ] Divine Intervation

[ ] Dead Time

[ ] UNIT Dating

[ ] Baker Street Irregulars

[ ] The Long Way Round

[ ] Patience

[ ] Twisted Folklore

[ ] Snow

[ ] What Just Happened

[ ] Crossed Lines

[ ] Get Andy

[ ] The Keys of Baker Street

[ ] Best Year Ever

Stranded picks up where Ravenous ended: the TARDIS have been damaged and now the Doctor, Liv and Helen are stuck for one year on Earth while it heals. And so, they start their lives in a house the Doctor used to own in Baker Street, but are met by unexpected neighbors. This season starts very slice-of-live/sitcom-like, kinda, but then evolves in a temporal conflict.

‘Season 05’ – Continued adventures with Liv and Helen

[ ] Paradox of the Daleks

[ ] The Dalby Spook

[ ] Here Lies Drax

[ ] The Love Vampires

[ ] Albie’s Angels

[ ] Birdsong

[ ] Lost Hearts

[ ] Slow Beasts

It’s the current era. Big Finish is still releasing Liv and Helen stories, but they are not the only ongoing story arc for Eight (see: Audacity; and the Time War). However, things changed a bit. They are still released in boxsets – with three one-hour stories rather than four -, but there is no sixteen-parts epic anymore. They are just standalone stories that starts where Stranded ends.

Spin-off – The Robots

[ ] The Robots of Life

[ ] The Sentient

[ ] Love Me Not

[ ] The Robots of War

[ ] Toos and Paul

[ ] Do No Harm

[ ] The Mystery of Sector 13

[ ] Circuit Breaker

[ ] A Matter of Conscience

[ ] Closed Loop

[ ] Off Grid

[ ] The Janus Deception

[ ] The Enhancement

[ ] Machines Like Us

[ ] Kaldor Nights

[ ] Force of Nature

[ ] Face to Face

[ ] The Final Hour

As I said in the Ravenous section, there is a spin-off about Liv reuniting with her sister Tula that is set during Escape form Kaldor. They are both from Kaldor, a planet from the Classic series, and to better appreciate what this spin-off is doing I recommend watching the Fourth Doctor story The Robots of Death. And, why not, listen to Robophobia, which itself is a sequel to The Robots of Death.

INTO THE AUDIOS – THE TIME WAR

And of course, we have stories with Eight set during the Time War. We can divide it into eras: the first four boxsets, when he is travelling with the new companion Bliss; and the current releases, with him travelling with Alex – listen to Lucie Miller season 4 for more context – and Cass. Yes, Cass from the Night of the Doctor. How that’s possible given the circumstances of that story have not yet been fully explained, but of course it’s safe to assume it’s the War’s fault.

‘Season 01’ – Adventures with Bliss

[ ] The Starship of Theseus

[ ] Echoes of War

[ ] The Conscript

[ ] One Life

[ ] The Lords of Terror

[ ]  Planet of the Ogrons

[ ] In the Garden of Death

[ ] Jonah

‘Season 02’ – Continued adventures with Bliss

[ ] State of Bliss

[ ] The Famished Lands

[ ] Fugitive in Time

[ ] The War Valeyard

[ ] Palindrome

[ ] Dreadshade

[ ] Restoration of the Daleks [two-parter]

The Valeyard is a villain from Classic Who. You’ll get more out of The War Valeyard with more context – so watch season 23, Trial of a Time Lord, or simply know that he is a “version” of the Doctor from the future that encapsulates everything bad and evil that exists in the Doctor.

‘Season 02’ – Adventures with Alex and Cass

[ ] Meanwhile, Elsewhere

[ ] Verpertine

[ ] Previously, Next Time [two-parter]

[ ] Nowhere, Never

[ ] The Road Untravelled

[ ] Cass-cade

[ ] Borrow or Rob

OTHERS

The stories ‘Day of the Vashta Nerada’, ‘The Sontaran Ordeal’ and ‘The Silent Priest’, all of them featuring monsters from New Who, are set during the Time War. However, the Doctor is travelling alone and they are all standalone stories.

There are plenty of ‘short trips’, short stories set in the Doctor Who universe, featuring the Eight Doctor. Both in prose and in audio. I did not include them in this guide, and they are not really essential, but they can be good. So, listen or read them if you ever miss a companion or the Eighth Doctor.

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

I will be updating the guide as new stories are released. I will also do one for each classic Doctor, at least, at some point.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 6 Portrayals of the Grinch

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch. You really are a heel…!”

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the works of Dr. Seuss: I am very passionate about and very protective of them, and very critical of many adaptations/reimaginings of the same. Tied to this, most of you probably know that while my favorite Seuss CHARACTER is the Cat in the Hat…my favorite Seuss STORY, and by extension my second favorite Seuss character, is that of the Grinch. Fun fact: the Grinch originally appeared in a very early Seuss story he wrote for a magazine, called “The Grinch and the Hoobub,” where he was depicted as a diminutive con artist. This Grinch scammed a gullible and lazy creature called a Hoobub into buying a simple piece of green string for a ridiculous fee. Eventually, Seuss revisited the idea of the Grinch: frustrated with his own feelings of bitterness, isolation, and general annoyance with the holidays, Seuss decided to essentially vent his feelings, and thus created the story of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” This was arguably the character closest to his heart: Seuss himself often said that he felt his own personality was “part Cat in the Hat, part Grinch,” and he even once drew a self-portrait of himself looking in the mirror and seeing the Grinch’s face staring back at him. The Grinch was an outlet for all of his inner irritations: a grouchy, nasty, reclusive character who took delight in taking folks down a peg when he felt needed. Since then, the Grinch has become one of the most iconic villains of children’s literature, and while he’s especially prominent during the Christmas season, he’s managed to wiggle his grubby, fuzzy green fingers into all sorts of other places. Now, contrary to popular belief, I actually have NOT seen EVERY version of the Grinch there is to see: for example, I have not seen the recent horror film parody “The Mean One” (and I have absolutely zero intention of seeing it EVER, thank you very much), and I also missed the telecast production of the stage musical, which starred Matthew Morrison. (I actually wanted to see it for the sake of this countdown, but couldn’t find the full show anywhere in time.) Still, I’ve seen more than my fair share of screen takes on the Grinch, so - this Christmas Eve - I decided to give the King of Sinful Sots a spot in the limelight. Therefore, I present to you all my Top 6 Favorite Versions of The Grinch!

6. Walter Matthau.

This is by far the most obscure Grinch on the list; out of all the people who might be reading this, my guess is that only…five of you, at best, have heard of this hidden gem. In the early 90s, Random House - the company that still publishes many of Dr. Seuss’ stories - began releasing a series of direct-to-video adaptations of some of the books. The series was originally planned for TV, but when that scheme fell through, it instead became “Dr. Seuss Video Classics.” The productions were very similar to the earlier work of another publishing company, Rabbit Ears: creating what were essentially motion comic versions of the stories, with minimal animation, some music and a small number of sound effects added in, and with celebrity voice actors telling the stories and playing the character. In 1992, they released their own take on “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (paired up with the totally unrelated “If I Ran the Zoo”), and called on Walter Matthau to handle the vocal chops. Considering Matthau had played Ebenezer Scrooge decades before, and was also a major character in the film “Grumpy Old Men” a year later, I’d say this casting makes perfect sense. This is basically just the book brought to life in the most bare bones sense of things, but it’s not necessarily done badly; as a kid, before the advent of the Jim Carrey version, I used to watch this take on the Grinch almost as often as the more fondly-remembered Chuck Jones cartoon. It had, and still has, a unique charm on its own.

5. Hans Conried.

In 1977, eleven years after his first animated outing, the Grinch returned to television not for Christmas, but for Halloween. The resulting special, “Halloween is Grinch Night,” has gained a cult following all its own: it’s not as well known or popular as the original story, but it’s certainly interesting in its own right. While ostensibly billed as a prequel, the special seems to take place in its own continuity separate from the book or the original cartoon, and features arguably the most evil version of the Grinch created within Seuss’ own lifetime. Keeping with the tradition established by the earlier cartoon, the Grinch and the Narrator of the special are played by Hans Conried: a lifelong friend of Dr. Seuss, now most well-known as the voice actor for Captain Hook in Disney’s Peter Pan. Conried was famous for playing villainous characters with a melodramatic, often comedic side to them, and his work as the Grinch is no exception. He’s clearly having a blast in the role, and from getting brickles in his britches to doing a funny little dance routine, there’s a lot of typically Seussian humor to the character…but in the scenes where the Grinch shows his teeth (both literally and figuratively), Conried actually does succeed in making him effectively creepy. As much as I love him and the special, however, I think I just prefer other portrayals that are a little more complex, like the character from the original story; the original Grinch wasn’t just a monster, he could change and ultimately did. This Grinch doesn’t seem capable of that, but he’s certainly a lot of fun.

4. Anthony Asbury.

This version of the character hails from the now-often-forgotten TV series “The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss.” Made by the Jim Henson company, the show was an attempt to bring the style and sensibilities of Seuss’ timeless works to TV, but with all new, original content. It’s big gimmick was that most of the backgrounds and various other elements were made with CGI, while the characters, props, and small bits of the sets were accomplished with physical constructs and puppetry. The show was a mixed bag, but it gained a decent following in its time, and is still home to a small but loyal fanbase…and I suppose I’m among those fans. I loved this show as a kid, and I even still have merchandise related to it, including two Christmas ornaments and a Grinch puppet. On that note…the Grinch was a recurring antagonist who popped up throughout the show. Among his many dastardly deeds, he pilfered a rare bird’s egg, went on a rampage of destruction at a popular theme park and resort, and tried to steal spring itself (I guess he figured “been there, done that” with winter), just to name a few. We also got a story introducing us to how the Grinch and Max met up, and to this day it’s still my personal favorite way to imagine how they became partners-in-crime. (Reluctantly, on the doggy’s side.) In typical fashion, the Grinch would frequently be defeated either by someone worming their way into his two-sizes-too-small heart, or just being beaten with some form of karmic punishment. Like the show, this Grinch is often forgotten nowadays, but is definitely worthy of a look if you ever get the chance.

3. Bob Holt.

Long before the days of the MCU and “Puny God” (though NOT before the publication of the original Avengers comics), Marvel helped to produce THE GREATEST CROSSOVER EVER KNOWN TO MAN…the Grinch vs. the Cat in the Hat. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic, but admit it: you weren’t sure.) In the cartoon “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat,” the Mean Green One starts off actually apparently redeemed. He’s happy, he’s cheerful, and all seems well…but then, haunted by a split-personality he sees in the mirror…(looks towards Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin)...proof that this is DEFINITELY a Marvel movie, he quickly goes back to his fiendish ways. A chance run-in with the Cat in the Hat gives the Grinch inspiration, and he proceeds to devote all his time and resources into trying to ruin the Cat’s mood and make his life a living Seuss-Hell just for the sheer fun of it. The cartoon actually takes a very odd direction, as it depicts the Grinch as…well…frankly insane. It’s hinted that something in his childhood is to blame, as he seems to deeply care for his late mother, and his reflection actually addresses him with the same tone you’d expect a scornful father to speak to his disappointing son. (I MIGHT be reading too deeply into things, but the Cat LITERALLY imagines putting the Grinch on the psychiatry couch at one point, so take of that what you will.) As usual, by the end of the special, he sees the error of his ways, and this time he change seems to be for good in more ways than one. Holt was a wonderful Grinch, bringing of sophistication to the part that called back to Boris Karloff’s portrayal, and gave the Grinch a sort of old-timey villain vibe in his evil antics. I’m honestly sad we never got to see him play the character again, but que sera sera.

2. Jim Carrey.

Yeah, I bet a lot of you thought this would make number one, didn’tcha? While the Jim Carrey movie has its fair share of detractors, the majority of people around my age, and a bit younger, seem to enjoy it. I am no exception, BUT…the older I get, the more I DO see flaws in the picture. It actually reminds me a lot of another movie, “Hocus Pocus”: I feel the 2000 Grinch is to Christmas what that film is to Halloween. They have a lot of the same faults…but I also think they have a lot of the same values. The biggest value of all being the insanely quotable, delightfully over-the-top, but still incredibly powerful performances of the lead actors. Carrey’s Grinch might be annoying to some, and I guess I can understand why (especially for people who were longtime fans of earlier Grinches well before the film came out), but for me, he’s still hilarious, and you have to admire the sheer amount of dedication, determination, and outright bravery it took to do everything he did while forced to wear some of the most intense and all-encompassing costume and makeup options of any film to come out within the past couple decades. It’s telling that, ever since this film, most versions of the Grinch - onstage, at theme parks, in cosplays, and so on - all seem to take their cues primarily from the Carrey version beyond all else, in terms of how the character looks, sounds, and generally behaves. I actually debated for a bit whether I would put Carrey at first or second, and while I’m 99% sure most people who read this would have made the opposite choice I did…hey. Second place still ain’t bad, right?

1. Boris Karloff.

As much as I do enjoy the Jim Carrey movie, and for all the soft spots I have for other Grinches…in my opinion, the original cartoon from 1966 is still the best interpretation of the story, even better than the original book that inspired it. It takes all the stuff that made the Dr. Seuss story great and pluses it, but doesn’t really go too far beyond the call of the source; it sticks true to the ideals Seuss had in mind, and simply makes them even better. It’s proof that sometimes less is more, when compared to the mad spectacle of the Carrey version, but it’s also proof that you can take what was not broken and still make it better, when compared to the later Matthau version that is comparatively drier in tone. Karloff’s voice, both as the Narrator and the Grinch, set the standard for basically every person who would play either role in later endeavors. He actually can be legitimately menacing and unsettling at times (heck, it IS Boris Karloff), but he can also be funny, and at times very heartwarming, in both roles involved. Chuck Jones’ animation of the Grinch helps out a lot, giving the character a ton of personality and impact. As much as the Jim Carrey rendition has influenced popular culture, that movie - and likely all other versions of the character - probably wouldn’t EXIST if it hadn’t been for the success of the original cartoon. Heck, a lot of things we now recognize about the Grinch - the color of his fur, the songs that accompany him, the style of his world, etc. - really start with the cartoon more than the book. For all these reasons and more, Karloff’s Grinch and the cartoon he hails from take my top spot. "Welcome Christmas," everybody.

HONORABLE MENTIONS INCLUDE…

Benedict Cumberbatch.

I’m not really a fan of Illumination’s Grinch from 2018, nor of Cumberbatch’s work with the character, but a.) I don’t think the latter is the actor’s fault, and b.) the movie isn’t ENTIRELY without merit. I basically just prefer the earlier Grinches more. I include him primarily because I feel somebody would complain if I did not.

Patrick Page.

Page was the original Broadway Grinch for the stage musical - the same one that would later be telecasted with Matthew Morrison in the role - and this was my introduction to the actor. Unfortunately, while I’ve heard the soundtrack with Page, and watched a few clips, I’ve never actually seen the show proper, with him or any other performer, so I didn’t think it was fair to include him in the countdown.

[aromancy]

You know, Nimona isn't as groundbreaking technically as Puss in Boots: the Last Wish or Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, but it's timing is impeccable. We were fresh off the heels of the late 2010s-early 2020s, with the rise and fall of Marvel's trend of "sympathetic" villains with some legitimate grievances about society who commit some heinous deed solely to remind the viewer that they're the bad guys. Killmonger is the ur-example, but let's throw out a few more just to prove my point: Baron Zemo, the Flag Smashers, the Vulture, and to a lesser degree Thanos.

Queue a movie where the villain with the legitimate societal grievance is, shocker of shockers, the GOOD GUY! WHAT A NOVEL. FUCKING. CONCEPT.

If Nimona were a Disney character, she'd have killed a child during the prison break scene, and shrugged it off and called it "metal" when Ballister confronted her about it after the fact. Then we could have a final confrontation where Bal defeats Nimona the same way Glorith did a thousand years ago, and gets welcomed back into the status quo without ever having to question whether the Institution might be the bad guys. Meanwhile, the director gets exposed via the EXACT means she was in the film we got, with the "filmed confession" trope, only in this version it'd work because Disney thinks cancel culture works on the fucking head of state.

But Nimona's not a Disney character. She defies Disney and it's favorite tropes; the divine right of hereditary rulers with it's princesses, and the sanctity of the status quo with it's villainous subversives. Nimona, both the character and the movie, delivers a gout of fire-breath to all that shit.

You are not bound by your status, you are not bound by "the way things are," and you certainly are not bound by the actions of your ancestors. Nimona preaches freedom, or as she might call it, "ANARCHY!!!" She says you can be whatever you want, and refuses to be defined by ANY preconceived notions! When asked what she is, she stubbornly replies "I'm Nimona," and that's ALL you get. And if you ask me, that's all that need be said.

[grave-queen-jakrabitt]

Comic headcannons batfam edition

Every fucking villain in Gotham has an agreement NOBODY FUCKS WITH ALFRED. As a matter of fact he's rather well liked

Harley, ivy and Catwoman invited Alfred to a gossip circle and he takes them shopping. When they ask why he just responds "girls please I work for the richest family in Gotham not wearing an owl mask, I live at their house I don't need to save money at my age"

The supervillains all have a favorite robin (continued below)

Bane respects Jason's violence lust for vengeance

riddler loves swapping brain teasers with tim on the ride to Arkham

Dick Grayson will only refer to Dr freeze as victor. Victor always loves hearing stories from his circus days and dick helps victor figure out how to save his wife

Scarecrow enjoys discussing phobias with Damien (thought over)

Alfred is actually more loaded then the Waynes because he convinced the penguin to bet all of his assets including the iceberg lounge on a game of cards and Alfred won but is content with a 50% of the legitimate casino profit.

Jason todd and killer croc are actually close friends and croc gave batman an offer, say the word and I eat him

Cassandra Cain is extremely protective of Damien because of their similar upbringing and she absolutely hates Thalia al ghul

Alfred knows how to fight in heels and nobody questions it.

If one of the kids comes out as a different gender or sexuality Alfred takes the time to actually learn about it and makes Bruce do the same if they want Bruce to know. If they don't his lips are sealed tighter than nightwings cheeks

Duke, Steph and Harper develop a unique system of Morse code and hydrographics that correspond to them.

Cassandra is a lesbian and got Alfred's help figuring out a way to turn music into a code so she could ask out Harper with a passionate love song.

Colin Rowe is one of Damiens best friends, Bruce had to make him invite Colin over but as soon as Titan seemed him Worthy to rub the belly they were instantly cool.

Colin calls Cassandra aunt Cass and she helps him with homework Harper doesn't understand.

Damien actually made friends with Harley's Hyena's and has vowed to make the jokers life a living hell "father said I can't kill, but the joker has upset the she clown with the nice hyenas, oh and Todd died by his hand so he will pay.

The entire batfam has something called the pit stop protocol. If anything ever happens to batman his normal contingency plans run as normal with one exception, sedate Jason for a night, then the entire batfamily including Alfred and Harley grab crowbars and find the joker, they all know what happens next and they take it to the fucking grave. They never tell J.

Barbara still has days where her back gives her problems so she keeps the wheelchair around

[fifteenth-entity]

Arc Purgatory: The one (and only) major flaw of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies

-oh, hiii, just a note, this post is super uncleaned and kinda messy, you can see points where my ADHD patience wore off. sorry bout that, ill come up and clean later, for now, i gotta recharge-

I think I speak for most PotC enthusiasts when I say that the PotC trilogy (franchise? Wym theres more than three movies?) is one of the best written trilogies I’ve ever seen. Amazing choreography (they just don’t make swashbucklers like this anymore!!), amazing set and design, amazing writing, the comedy is peak, the world building is great shit, but by far, the best and most hooking part of the series is its characters!! You have the elusive trickster captain Jack Sparrow, you have the naive but headstrong and well-meaning Will Turner, the cunning and crafty Elizabeth Swann, and an array of amazing villains to boot! Barbossa and his excellent character arc, Davy Jones and his excellent character arc, the excellent dynamic between Commodore Norrington and Cutler Beckett and who being a villain when and why, the whole shtick. With how well the villains are written, it’s no surprise that a lot of them hold a spot in many fans’ top favorite characters - I’m no exception, Barbossa has always been a favorite of mine and upon a rewatch later on in life, Davy Jones is up there too. And while all of the characters are iconic, memorable and loveable (most times), Ive noticed a sort of… pattern in who places at the top of people’s favorite characters. Namely, I’ve seen the villains and Jack Sparrow. I’ve never seen Will or Elizabeth be explicitly placed high up, or higher than the villains/Jack  Sparrow. And even when I see Jack Sparrow be high up, I always see him be high up because he’s “iconic”, while I’ve seen the villains be high up because they’re “compelling”. That discrepancy really meant nothing to me when I rewatched the first two movies; they were, after all, an incomplete story. The third movie would bring it all together and cement these characters as excellent. Right? … Well… wrong. Now, before I go on, what I said before still stands. The trilogy is still impeccable in all the ways I’ve listed above. Great characters, plot, world building, choreography, score, cinematography… but there is only one area it falls short on: character development. But the peculiar thing is that it falls short only sometimes. So I wanna examine where it doesn’t fall short, where it does, and why I think so.

As previously stated, the character development falls short only sometimes. Where it absolutely doesn’t fall short is with the villains. For at least the first three movies (cuz i have not and refuse to rewatch 4 and 5), the villains have excellent, fully rounded character arcs, with memorable story beats. Barbossa going from bloodthristy merciless captain of the black pearl to hesitant co-captain of the black pearl, leaving behind his lonesome ways and instead choosing to make alliances if not for his own benefit. Davy Jones going from a terrifying force of power to blah blah blah, we've watched the movies, we remember what happens, we all get the gist. The villains have complete character arcs, they develop from one thing to another, either by way of actually becoming a decently better person and improving in some of their qualities, or by digging in their heels and dying as a consequence (or in Norrington’s case, becoming a better person but dying anyway because his narrative foil is cutler beckett and hell hath no fury like an 18th century british twink in a position of power). Even the side characters which are related to them have fully fleshed out character arcs of their own to complement them, namely Tia Dalma, who develops from a mysterious bogwitch to a lovestruck goddess. From this section, I want you readers to remember that the people who insofar have complete character arcs are the villains, who mostly switch up every movie. Now let’s talk about the lame ducks, shall we?

A few characters dont get any character development; namely, the side characters whose name you don’t really remember, or cannon fodder (i am counting Sao Feng as cannon fodder, I take no further questions at this time). However, there’s three other characters in the series that don’t get compelling character development and that’s the three protagonists. I’m gonna start with Will and Elizabeth; both of them do develop in a sense! They become more mature and more tolerant of piracy as they learn about the fallacies of the state. They are forced to mature rapidly thanks to their turbulent circumstances, namely as only-dubiously-pirates and only-dubiously-free and legally pronounced enemies of state unless cutler beckett decides otherwise. Thats a lot of Circumstance. No matter who you are as a person, that forces you to grow in one way or another. But let’s not forget that becoming pirate king and abandoning high society/abandoning citizenship and becoming an undead pirate are only half of Elizabeth and Will’s character arcs. Why do they get into this entire mess in the first place? Well, love! They love each other so much that they’d literally uproot their safety to be together, and the only thing keeping them apart is Circumstances™ . Naturally, this then means that their character arc would involve them triumphantly overcoming the circumstances and finally being together, either by abandoning pirate life or pilfering together as captains! Or alternatively, they discover it was never meant to be either by way of death or by departing tearfully. Yeah, neither happens. Instead they leave off movie 3 right back at square one; pining and yearning from a distance. But instead of the distance being lord vs peasant dynamics, it’s a time gap of 10 years. How is this any different from what the problem was 2 movies ago? This is their wrap up? Same circumstance with a different name and an outfit change? At best, this is incomplete. I can’t even count it as full circle if I wanted to; normally, here would be the beginning of a spin off or something, because this development is something penultimate. A darkest hour at best. Not a climax, and definitely not a conclusion; again, it is incomplete. And, sadly, the same can be said about Jack Sparrow. The movie goes out of its way to point out where Jack is flawed: he fears death so much that he refuses to see the pain and drawbacks of immortality, which leads him to do all his tomfoolery. Which is great character motivation! But it never changes. He is constantly afraid of his own mortality, so he will constantly hold himself back from going guns blasing, and it will always lead to him chasing the promise of immortality. Even when he sees what that does to Barbossa and Davy Jones, he digs his heels in and goes “la la la”. even when the plot of one of the movies was that he died. He died and came back to life. At this point, he has gone face to face with his greatest fear and come back a victor. But by the end of the movie, whatever happens, happens because he is still mortally afraid of death. Even after he comes back to life, people point out that all he wants is to be immortal, and he affirms that. So like… did the death… not happen? Because even if this is happening because Jack refuses to process it, then that gives us new motivation. And that’s not the only way for Jack to continue his adventures; one alternative could be that Jack, after conquering death, instead turns to life to see how he can maximize his limited fun, and starts pilfering and pirating to the nth degree, purely because of zero inhibitions. But instead like with Will and Elizabeth, with him, we are right back to square one.

So… why is this happening? Why are we having these fake character arcs for the protagonists? In most media and most cases, the answer is “because the writers suck” in one variety or another. Time constraints, budget constraints, bad writers, the works. But I firmly believe this is happening not because of the writers, but because of one mouse that keeps ruining everyone's fun.

(if i could add sound bytes, i would, but please imagine the intro song jingle thing of disney playing here)

Obviously we all know Disney; they want to milk their cash cows until the bitter end, which means that in order for that to happen, they need to keep an avenue open for Will and Elizabeth’s story in case they need to milk that for an extra buck, and obviously, Jack needs more motivation to keep doing his silliness. Now, as stated above, there are multiple ways for that to happen without keeping the same motivations that kept us going for 3 movies, but it has been proven time and time again that Disney will take the easy way out instead of the interesting (and potentially more costly) way out. Now, I refuse to watch star wars, so I cannot validate this point by myself, but according to a friend (thank you for your service @greetings-humans), when “somehow palpatine returned”, the franchise was owned by disney. Star wars fans, and even people with a brain, recognize how much of a cop out this is, and having seen the above cop outs happen in PotC, i am now firmly of the belief that the protags of PotC dont have character arcs because Disney believes this is the cheapest way of keeping the franchise going. This, btw, delightfully, ended up making disney shoot themselves in the foot; not only were movies 4 and 5 poorly received, but because of the way they were written, it wouldn’t make sense for any of the protagonists to suddenly have a change of motives and resume character development, which would be especially detrimental since we are talking about the PotC franchise; famously adored for its writing. They could mask the cash cow before, but now they cannot. So it’s no surprise that instead of continuing a story that is continuously shooting itself in the foot thanks to Disney’s executive decision to take the easy way out of creating a continuous cash cow, the 6th movie is rumored to be a remake of the first one.

But yeah, this is pretty much my analysis. I dont have much more to say. The key take away here is: write your own fanfics of the ending, or engage with the series however you like. I think if the series had different producers and was just left at a trilogy, then it would’ve been perfect. I don’t really have much more to say here;; this is pretty much it. I’m just glad that PotC’s one major flaw wasn’t due to incompetence and was due to the mouse being the mouse.

[eksentrismi]

Howdy! I'm sending this ask to all my mutuals so I can get to know you better, feel free to answer all, some, or none of the questions!

When you meet someone new, whether online or in person, what are the first things you tell them about yourself?

What are your main interests currently?

What is the last song you listened to?

When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Best breakfast food?

Whether or not you answer this I hope you're doing well in real life and off to a good start this year!

Hi! :D And oooh, questions, interesting!

Hm, I'm not sure actually. I'm terribly bad at casual small talk & I sometimes struggle with keeping up conversations, so I usually just go straight into just talking about my interests (especially if I already know that the other person also likes a same interest as I do). I struggle with my social skills and socialization quite a lot always because of my disabilities, but I do try my best, lol.

I've got a lot of interests, but Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is the main one. I really also like few underrated Disney-villains a lot. Also I'm really obsessed with my own characters and AU's, stories etc.

Tears For Fears - Head Over Heels

I remember either wanting to be an artist or an archaeologist. Artist mainly since well, I've loved drawing ever since I was really little. And archaeologist mainly just because my mom is one and I often got to assist her or visit museums with her.

I don't have much of a schedule when it comes to eating during the days (so sometimes my lunch might as well be my breakfast too), but a classic favorite breakfast of mine has always been either cereal or scrambled eggs. Back when I still lived with my grandparents, my grandma would often make "letut" (though my family calls them as lätyt, it's a dialect thing ig) for me during some mornings; basically they're crêpes, but sweet.

[nicknickknacks]

PTN x WWE Lore Bits #1 - The Sinners' Roles in MBCC's Wrestling Promotion

This post is based on a comment I received from Reddit asking what roles I want to put the sinners in the MBCC's wrestling promotion, Minos Championship Wrestling (MCW).

Sidenote: I like how the megaphone weapon has hearts on it. It matches Deren's heart design on her outfit.

My original reply is still there but I wanted to expand it further to include the sinners' roles backstage and in storylines (storylines I made up on the fly while playing WWE 2K24's Universe Mode 😅), so I'm posting it here.

Hope you enjoy reading it! No spoilers here as this is me mostly transplanting the characters' personalities and backstories to fit in a wrestling setting. (Sorry for the tag spam, there's a lot of characters mentioned here)

Sinners' Roles in Minos Championship Wrestling (MCW)

Chief is the sympathetic onscreen general manager who gets beaten up by the heel (bad guy) sinners. She works in tandem with Nightingale and they operate using the good cop, bad cop dynamic. If there is a situation that Chief and Nightingale cannot handle, that's when Langley steps in.

Deren works behind the scenes as the producer and director. She's the one who goes over the matches with the talents themselves and sends directions at ringside. If a show is held at Eastside, she is often assigned as the host alongside other Eastside favorites like Eleven.

Raven is the main writer of the storylines and works with Bianca to handle promotional materials to spread the word about MCW's presence in DisCity.

Eirene's onscreen character is that of the rich heel. If there's an opponent she can't defeat, she can just buy their contract or have someone do the fighting for her. If that doesn't work, she resorts to underhanded tactics (e.g. using weapons while the referee isn't looking or using illegal moves) to win. She later forms a heel stable with Chelsea and Cabernet called The Million DisCoin Corporation in an attempt to buy out the promotion from Chief.

NOX has the same role as The Undertaker, a spooky grim reaper-like figure that Chief originally summoned from DisSea to deal with misbehaving heels in the roster.

Adela is sometimes the babyface (good guy) or heel (bad guy) depending on whether she has the shears. If she has the shears, she adopts the Mad Shears gimmick and challenges the roster to a "hair vs. hair" match. This is Adela's specialty match wherein if she wins, she cuts the loser's hair and removes their memories.

Shawn starts out as a ringside announcer but eventually becomes part of the roster after a clip of her receiving an impromptu over-the-shoulder throw from Chief becomes viral on DisCity's internet.

Shalom is the main ringside photographer and the special guest referee on certain occasions.

Zoya is the heel that people still cheer for even if she's brutal in the ring, like Rhea Ripley. She was originally framed as a villain out to terrorize Chief (and to an extent, the entire roster) in the storyline, but the audience still cheered for Zoya.

It is in this feud that Chief recruits Cinnabar, Rahu, and Ninety-Nine to form the Super Bodyguards (a team based on this Sinners at Work comic), a group of hired enforcers out to protect the babyfaces (the good guys) from the heels. The team disbanded after Rahu disobeyed orders, causing tensions between the three.

This eventually led to the formation of the most popular tag team called...Toxic Attraction! The original team consists of Rahu and Shalom in a manager role (a non-fighting role that acts as the mouthpiece on Rahu's behalf). They didn't have an official name at first, but ever since one of the sinners called their dynamic toxic, the name got stuck.

Du Ruo and Yao are part of an "Eastian Invasion" storyline wherein the promotion brings in sinners from Eastia and Outlands to showcase their unique wrestling style.

[fictionfixations]

twisted wonderland (and talking about visual novels)

TWISTED WONDERLAND SPOILERS.

and brief mystic messenger mention

okay. so. im getting into twisted wonderland

and. can i just ask. why does the story actually seem cool? also DESIGNS??? WOAHHH.

Maybe I'm biased, I've had the story a bit spoiled to me cause. Okay so I got into Twisted Wonderland because I was reading Katekyou Hitman Reborn! fics, and there's this series filled with Skull being characters from Twisted Wonderland (and other stuff ofc). And I decided, why not, and it seemed so cool (I adore bamf skull), and also. Honestly. My favorite is Riddle Rosehearts. (Also the 'OFF WITH YOUR HEAD!' ability. 1. Ayo CoLLAR ME PLS HAha- 2. I don't know if it gets more extreme but in the fics its been used to kill a bunch of people at once because, y'know, off with your head. The ability seems very cool.)

honestly i have no complaints about the story?? and maybe thats on me because the most experience i have with japanese visual novels is they're all romance games. and i really appreciate it not being that. HELL YEAH. give me my fantasy adventure with disney villains everyday!

i cannot tell you how much i LOVED Ever After High. And then there was Descendants (i think it got so popular that Ever After High got discontinued, which NOOOO)

Anyway I got so obsessed with Descendants. And then I went to a store and there was Descendants stuff and I bought a lot. I don't know why but I even bought like a Mal wig?? I don't even know why, I don't cosplay.

I'm not sure whose related to who and where exactly it fits in the universe (like, for example, if Riddle's related to the queen of hearts or something, no idea), but there's basically these dorms for seven of these like.. villains. Introduction to who they are in the prologue imo is kinda portraying it in a way that you want to be inspired by them? Like, oh, Scar just wanted equality between the Hyenas and the Lions (I think? I haven't watched that movie in so long), and while technically that's kind of true.. I think other stuff happened but I honestly can't remember.

Or like... The. evil queen? I think that's from Snow White's story. Uhh, that she wanted to be the fairest in all the land and was willing to do whatever it takes, which that was something to be admired about. Honestly don't hang on my word if you don't know about the game's story and reading this anyway because I don't remember a lot from the movies.

(ALSO for once not a story where we're assumed to be like, a girl? again, my only experience is those romance games sadly, but oh my god. I've been trying to get back into Mystic Messenger cause I never had the patience for it before, but the

me: I'm not a girl [dialogue option]

707 I think: ..Then why are you here??? Did you miss the 'something something. It was like [for females] or [female-oriented]'

it was 'youdidntreadsweetfantasyforladies?'

apparently its cause korea wasn't supportive of lgbtq stuff so even the more gay-er routes (COUGH COUGH jAEHEE MY BELOVED) were risky, sad.

but i don't know man. (can we talk about how guys are pushed to like those really overly muscular and buff men.? Wouldn't that technically make them possibly more gay? like idk. question:

if a boy were to play with, say, a barbie doll, would that be more gay then

playing with muscular half-naked men??? i really wonder why it's not flipped the other way around to promote f/m instead of f/f or m/m admiration lol)

anyway i got so off topic. and then i got distracted and i dont remember what i was talking about

segway to my next topic:

also. also. can we just. talk about the overblot designs? okay so im spoiling myself and going on the wiki but im not that patient

LOOK AT HOW GORGEOUS. ALSO HEELS. and i cant tell if its heeled boots but STILL. that little dress part that hangs around the body, the thing behind the head i dont know the name of but ive seen it before, the marking on the face reminding me of like one of those widow veils, the flowers around the waist is a nice touch

and the mark on his neck is 👀

like just SQUEEE, its very pretty, i would LOVE to play him but I'm pretty sure that's not possible

and cause overblotting is like a dangerous thing

(ive read that its like a rare thing in a fic but kept happening often since we arrived [one overblot for every 'book' or dorm] but idk if its canon cause i havent gotten to the explanation in the game and i dont think the wiki mentions it)

[itsbenedict]

per @etirabys's request, here's a paste of a whole lot of highly spoilery words about my favorite Horizon: Forbidden West NPC, who makes so many bad decisions

alright, so- the game in question is Horizon Forbidden West, a big AAA action game about hunting robot dinosaurs. the interesting stuff is almost entirely unrelated to the robot dinosaurs.

the backstory of this game is- a while back, evil military company made a big military AI that went out of control and took over a bunch of military robots and started wiping out humanity. standard stuff. principal characters are a couple of scientists who were part of the last-ditch effort to try to prevent this from happening before the machines wiped out humanity.

one of them, Elisabet, is spearheading this thing called Project Zero Dawn, whose plan for saving humanity is "build an AI terraforming engine equipped with a bunch of human embryos, hide, and wait for the apocalypse to finish and then re-terraform the dead world". the other one, Tilda, works for a company called Far Zenith whose plan is "let's just build a spaceship and GTFO".

Elisabet is a big deal- genius scientist, multidisciplinary, very famous. Tilda is less of a big deal- she's like a PR person for the space company, but is head over heels in hero worship for Elisabet.

this relationship is fairly loosely sketched out, since it's only conveyed via backstory and a few audio logs. Tilda asks her out, and Elisabet is- she's the kind of person who's totally consumed by duty and doesn't know what having fun is, and while she's interested on a physical level, she proves incapable of sustaining a relationship. they break up after a few months- and then their companies start competing for the dwindling resources left as the apocalypse progresses. things turn sour.

Tilda believes- correctly- that Elisabet's going to die if she stays behind to do her project, and she's still in love, so she tries to invite her to abandon her world-saving project and join her in space. this doesn't work, and in their final conversation Elisabet blames Tilda for being complicit in the shortsighted military-industrial fuckery that's going to imminently destroy the world. this is the last they ever see of each other.

but that's not where this ends.

Tilda goes off into space with the rest of her company, and they develop advanced biotechnology and she becomes immortal. meanwhile on Earth, that Zero Dawn thing Elisabet was working on… it has problems. doesn't work quite right. the details are like, the whole plot of the game (two games, actually, forbidden west is a sequel) and involves a whole lot of fighting robot dinosaurs.

but the main thing is- the AI terraforming thing, in an effort to fix itself, decants a clone of its creator, Elisabet Sobeck, to try and create someone with the gene-print authority necessary to fix itself. this clone is the protagonist of the game.

this is, like, a thousand years after the initial apocalypse. a whole bunch of Video Game occurs in which this Elisabet clone, Aloy, saves the world and stuff. and then… Tilda shows up on Earth.

Far Zenith apparently had a problem with their space colony and it got destroyed, and now her and the last few survivors- insanely technologically advanced- have fled back to earth in hopes that Zero Dawn succeeded and the terraforming project would be there intact. they want to take control of the terraforming project and re-terraform the planet to their specifications, wiping out the native life, blah blah blah they're the villains of this game.

Tilda has an important role in this plan. They're aware that the terraforming project requires a clone of Elisabet Sobeck to operate, so they made their own. And Tilda, for totally non-ulterior motives, volunteered to raise this clone.

The clone, Beta- her role is just to open doors for the badguys, and her education is spartan and abusive and all-around horrible, designed to turn her into a tool. Tilda does not like this. She feels bad for the clone, and creates a secret VR replica of her house which she covertly invites the clone to, to teach her about art and music and poetry in between the horrible drills. And attempts to woo the teenaged clone of the ex who rejected her and then died.

Beta's life is this woman running this bizarre abusive hurt/comfort homeschooling experience, and she regards Tilda as both the source of her suffering and the source of her relief and has a bunch of complicated feelings. Beta, like Elisabet, is also terminally duty-poisoned and submits to all this semi-willingly because she's told it'll save humanity.

this whole scenario would be enough for me to want to tell you about on its own- but it gets even more fraught.

the other bosses start to catch wind of what she's doing, and she eventually shuts down the VR house and cuts off contact with Beta to protect her from reprisal, which Beta interprets as abandonment and adds a whole other layer to this nightmare smoothie.

this- and also witnessing the various evil villain stuff they start doing on earth- causes Beta to defect and be rescued by Aloy, her badass videogame protagonist dinosaur-hunting clone. she dumps all this Tilda-related trauma on Aloy and starts plotting to bring her down. Tilda, meanwhile, is despondent, because Elisabet Sobeck broke up with her again and she blames herself for it again.

but then she discovers- oh. hey. hold on. there's another Elisabet. this one is a sexy twenty-something dinosaur-exploding badass who's sticking it to her awful coworkers and saving the world. she has another chance!

so she bides her time, and- during a climactic cutscene where the other baddies all show up to re-kidnap Beta- allows them to kill Aloy's friends so that she'll be defenseless and alone, and then picks that moment to jump in, betray her bosses, and rescue Aloy at the last minute.

Aloy wakes up in the basement of Tilda's actual house, which contains a vault full of classical paintings and various art, and Tilda tries to do the same high-culture seduction act as Aloy's selfless savior.

this Elisabet Sobeck is also duty-poisoned, and has a hundred questions, and her attempt at playing the wise benevolent savior falls flat. she has like. a fancy dinner prepared on a balcony at sunset, to make it as romantic as possible- but oh, fuck, this Elisabet Sobeck is also duty-poisoned and can't think about anything but world-saving, she's about to fuck it up again.

so she frantically tries to rewrite the script and concedes a bunch of stuff and Aloy very forcefully tells her her plan to betray the others is stupid and won't work and here's her much better plan, which is of course a dance she's danced before. but she refuses to give up on making it work with this woman who's into her but has rejected her three times.

ultimately Tilda is the final boss of the game, after her various attempts to get in good with Aloy by helping her betray the main villains don't work as intended. she tries to get Aloy and Beta to run away into space with her (there's another twist final act threat to the earth, not really relevant), and when they reject her again she summons a big robot to try and kidnap them. the final boss is not difficult as a fight as much as it is difficult to listen to this woman completely lose her mind throwing everything she can think of at the wall to try to get Elisabet Sobeck to give her another chance.

it's way more fucked-up and poignant than i was expecting from the big AAA robot dinosaur fights game. this woman tries every awful move in the book to make her ex love her again and just keeps taking it too far and self-sabotaging.

anyway that's it. the main thought i had walking away from that was "oh man, i know exactly who would eat this up, and also there's zero chance she plays like 200 hours of videogame to find out about it"