#seriously this angelizing of the villain is just stupid

[wolfgabe]

I think people are getting it wrong with King Magnifico.

Now with all the Wish discourse going round I have been surprised at just how many people are going out of their way to angelize King Magnifico and act like he is clearly in the right while ignoring the obvious flaws in his character and motivations.

Now first off people say its a good thing that not everyone gets their wish but that it misses the point of why King Magnifico is considered a villain in the first place. His entire schtick is essentially taking people's wishes which from what I gather essentially amounts to literally taking a part of their entire being and essentially locking them away and basically treating the act of getting one's wish like the freaking lottery all but ensuring it will likely never come true. On top of the fact, it causes said person to effectively forget all about the wish they made. As writer Allison Moore puts it "Magnifico seems to think wishes are just ideas. But they are a part of your heart—the very best part of your heart! Yet he's holding them inside these wish bubbles—hundreds of them—and most will remain there forever because that's how he controls the kingdom—by giving false hope".

You can see this in the trailer with his line "I decide what everyone deserves!" While you might say it's smart that not everyone gets their wish, you can clearly make out the underlying selfishness in this statement and how his rationale for controlling people's wishes isn't so much rooted in good intentions as it is really about maintaining power and control. This is essentially the crux of Magnifico's conflict with Asha as the trailer shows him understandably feeling threatened by this cosmic force in the form of Star and we can clearly see him going to increasingly desperate lengths to maintain his power hence why we see him putting a massive target on Asha and by extension Star's head.

What we are essentially seeing as the film makers described in one interview is essentially a villain origin story in that we don't necessarily see him as a fully formed villain when we first meet him but rather, we are witnessing Magnifico's gradual descent into madness which we can see bits and hints of in the trailer itself with him clearly tapping into what is likely this ancient form of forbidden magic

The point is King Magnifico might had good intentions in the past but it's clear he has likely allowed his power to go to his head which warped his judgement in the process which will inevitably lead to a lot of unnecessary grief and suffering for a lot of people in his efforts to destroy anyone or anything he considers a threat to him and that is what makes him a villain in the end.

[baeshijima]

thoughts on being engaged to duke!sunday, the head of the oak family, an incredibly influential figurehead within society, the close subordinate of emperor gopher wood who brought him and his sister in and raised him like his own, and the villain who faces a tragic ending in a novel you recently finished — the very same one you just so happen to find yourself transmigrated into. he is as cunning as he is blinded, a trait which brought ruin to many in the empire, and one which ultimately brought ruin to himself at the hands of the protagonists.

as luck would have it, you became a barely mentioned side character from a marquis family, whose role was to be the villain's wife stuck in a one-sided love who, too, would get caught up in the tragedy alongside him. however, now that it's you who is stuck in this position, you're determined to try any means necessary to deter him from going down that path, all in an effort to escape your predestined doomed fate!

of course, you didn't expect it to be easy. the day of your arrival in this world was already the night before your wedding, so you had little time to prepare yourself for the nonchalance of your supposed family, how they viewed you as but a means — a tool — to boost their influence and prosperity, the dismissive mannerisms of the household servants, and the absolute beauty of a man you will be married to.

(seriously. the novel descriptions did not do him justice. he was like... like... like he was handcrafted by god himself! and not to mention his sister, robin, was the very epitome of an angel! perhaps you're destined to perish by the god-tier visuals instead...)

to say the least, the wedding ceremony went by quickly. safe to say you didn't spend the night; he was cordial and gentlemanly upon letting you know that he won't do anything until you're ready, that you can take this relationship slow, but somehow you ended up feeling a tad insulted. like, who leaves their newly wedded alone in a big cold bed as they walk out on their own? a sick bastard that's who!

well, whatever. it's not like you need nor want to consummate with him! besides, you have bigger things to worry about — things such as your impending death. and, of course, the only way to stop sunday that you can imagine working is by chipping away at his resolve bit by bit, and opening his eyes to reality.

he is a tragic character, one who cares more about the well-being of penacony and its people than anyone else, but was manipulated into getting his hands dirty in the emperor's stead. you knew this. you sobbed over his story, cursed out the protagonists, and even fought internet randos on novel forums about sunday's motivation and how,

no, he is not just a stupid villain. he is a complex character with flaws and humanity and was cruelly taken advantage of by someone he considered family. he was deceived through the suffering the emperor wanted him to see to make him easily manipulated, creating a rift between him and robin to have that prominent separation. you know what? maybe you're just a !%#@ who can't even #@?"% read properly!

and yet you still find yourself at a loss when faced with the walls he has in place. your initial efforts went as well as it possibly could have; you trying to earnestly help him, while he "kindly" dismisses your offers! well, "kindly" being more condescending since you could read between the lines of his mannerisms and amiable demeanour, but that's fine! you expected this! that just means you have to double down on your sincerity, get through to his heart (somehow), and help him realise humanity isn't as weak as he's led to believe!

you have three years until the novel's plot officially starts, and another year after that until your demise. that's plenty of time to get him to warm up to you!

it was easier said than done, but after your valiant effort and abundance of time put into this relationship, which admittedly you could do with some of that lost time back, you could give yourself a pat on the back with the progress you made! while you definitely could have done without a lot of the headaches, it's safe to say sunday has significantly warmed up to you in comparison to your wedding day. he now willingly eats all his meals with you with some real conversation, takes garden strolls with you in the early evenings, invites you out for dinner at a restaurant at least four times a week, hell he's even joked and laughed with you more frequently! but most importantly, he has begun asking for your opinion before finalising any decisions he is required to make. and he actually listens and considers your side! now, that certainly is the best outcome you could hope for after all this time, and it most definitely will help in your endeavour to save you both from the protagonists!

however, you've noticed he's been more... affectionate? well, at the very least he now willingly holds your hand when in private (not just in moments when you're in the public eye and he has to make sure the family's reputation is spotless), sometimes he will hug you out of the blue ("i just need to... recharge. you have a way of calming me down. i hope you don't mind." ...how could you say no to his supreme god-tier face card? that's just a losing battle you won't even bother fighting against.), oftentimes he opts to just gaze wordlessly at you (robin had mentioned over one of your tea times how it almost appears as though there is no one but you in the world when sunday gazes at you with, in her words, "the eyes of a man so deeply in love!" ...whatever that's supposed to mean...), but a more recent development has been his sudden interest in kissing you; well, more specifically giving you a kiss to the back of your hand or on your forehead — certainly not anywhere near the lips! (besides, he's probably just gotten comfortable with you, enough where he can freely act without judgement. nothing more, nothing less.)

well, either way, development is development! soon enough, the time for the main plot to start has arrived. it of course follows what you remember, from the organised balls to the protagonists meeting to the political aspects of it all. the only difference is sunday's less active involvement in all the schemes and the emperor's ploy. rather, he seems more focused on you and the future of your marriage and even displayed a sudden interest in your practically non-existent relationship with one of the foreign diplomats, aventurine— wait...

"[name]," he calls your name out so sweetly you nearly disregarded it as someone else he was talking to. well, perhaps you would have done had he not suddenly appeared before you, a tight-lipped smile tugging the corners of his lips as he steadily approaches you.

oh. he doesn't seem very happy, if his tense figure is anything to go by. you wonder if one of the nobles grated his nerves a little too much this time?

sunday comes to a halt a step away from you. "i don't like that... gambler being so close to you. it... it brings me a rather unpleasant feeling." there's a slight, trembling pause. not a moment later does he close the gap between you, one knee on the ground as he matches your seated height on the fountain rim, your hands gently enclosed in both of his.

you idly wonder if this is what robin meant by the so-called "eyes of a man so deeply in love" she constantly gushed about, for the way in which he gazes up at you is enough to render you breathless.

"tell me, [name]," he begins once more. there is an underlying desperation woven within his tone, one which has your head spinning and heart thumping wildly as his trembling gaze holds you in place. "tell me, what am i to do with this fervent love and overwhelming adoration i hold for you?"

oh.

...oh.

perhaps your impending doom should be the least of your concerns when you now find yourself in the arms of a clingy husband...

(though, it's safe to say you did, in fact, manage to prevent him from succumbing to his tragic fate! you just gained a loving, yet slight slightly emotionally challenged husband along the way.

well, you can help him work through it; you have the rest of your lives now to figure it out, after all.)

[chaoticace2005]

Reasons the Mothman should die, collectively written by the residents of the Hazbin Hotel:

Coding for Characters: Vaggie, Charlie, Pentious, Alastor, Niffty, Husk, pretty much everyone

TW: References to abuse

He’s holding back Angel’s progress. (Vaggie, is killing really necessary?) (I am concerned about going after a Vee)

I’m hungry (ALASTOR!)

Ms. Angel gets nervous when on the phone with him.

His coat is tacky.

He’s a bug! And bugs must be DESTROYED!

So Angel stops feeling like he has to be so damn fake. This is getting on my fucking nerves.

HE LICKED CHARLIE!!! (Vaggie, wait it’s okay.)

Color scheme sucks. Purple AND red?!

He makes Angel sad, NOBODY should make Angel sad.

Those obnoxious glasses just make him look stupid.

He’s a manipulative, abusive prick.

ANGEL DIDN'T KNOW BOUNDARIES WERE A THING?!?!?!?!?!? (Honestly that explains a lot.)

NOBODY deserves to be in an abusive relationship.

Too many arms. Nobody needs that many. (...Angel has that many?) (Well maybe he shouldn't.)

Ms. Angel keeps coming home all messy!!

He’s ruining hearts for everyone. Me and Angel already have enough. At least those are on our bodies, what’s his excuse?

Hearts should not even be ASSOCIATED with Valentino, THIS IS NOT LOVE.

I can do without all the sexual depravity. While I am in Hell this is NOT one of the reasons.

If I have to hear that ringtone one more damn time-

The Eggies found some of his films. They should never be exposed to such horrors. Now I have to explain what “a sex” is.

Makes picture shows that are a disgrace to the idea of “entertainment.”

He’s making a bad name for Uncle Ozzie. This is NOT “lust.”

So we don’t have to listen to another one of Angel’s pornos. (Agreed, it’s quite horrifying!!)

So Ms. Angel isn’t tired when she gets home and can save the kinky stuff for then :) (Niff, really?)

So the kid stops coming home with bruises and cuts that I fix up at 3 am. (Husk, what the fuck?)

Because what the FUCK Valentino?

He keeps forcing Angel to do drugs. (HE WHAT?! Like crack??) (That but also I’m pretty sure whatever comes out of him is an aphrodisiac.)

I want to use his antenna as a backscratcher

Has that whole red color thing going on. Only I am allowed to wear red :) (Al, your text isn’t even red.) (My what?)

What is up with his red spit and smoke? Seriously disgusting.

The red stuff from him may be what allows Velvette to create her “Love Potions” which funds Vax’s stupid endeavors (Do you mean Vox?) (Who?)

FOR MY COLLECTION :D (…yeah okay.)

Really is making a bad name for Overlords. And not in the fun way.

Angel’s shown trauma signs of abuse in our meetings. Im pretty sure it’s Valentino.

Make a doll out of his fur so I have a main villain for roach puppet shows!!!

His only purpose is to keep Veks occupied but considering Vixen’s inane attempts to catch my attention it isn’t working.

So Angel can have his soul and he and Husk can run off into the sunset together like in a fanfiction!!! (Ah, yes that would be nice.) (WE WHAT?!) (Oh Husker, denial doesn’t suit you.)

So Angel can get a good boyfriend THAT’S NOT ME to stop these bullshit allegations.

So Angel can admit his feelings to Husker because our cat surely isn’t going to be the first to do it. (ALASTOR I SWEAR TO GOD!)

Who knows how many other people he’s abusing.

Seems to give Vicks confidence. He has enough of that as is. It much more fun to destroy him.

He makes Angel sad which makes Cherri sad!

HE HIT ANGEL!!!

Called my dear Rosie an "old hag" NOBODY CALLS ROSIE AN OLD HAG.

Angel is a good friend and deserves so much better.

I’ve forgotten what moths taste like.

He keeps trying to get Angel to move out :(

Told the kid he had to lose weight. What the actual FUCK. (Ill kill him.)

He’s annoying and looks quite stupid. How has this not been added yet?!

He’s making a bad name for Spanish speakers everywhere. (Yeah it’s embarrassing.) (Wait… what?)

He’s making a bad name for pansexuals everywhere.

He’s making a bad name for wing-holders everywhere. (HE HAS FUCKING WINGS?!) (Oh, yeah, I didn’t tell you?)

Too tall. This is ridiculous.

Won’t admit he’s blind so he’s become even more of a public safety hazard.

If I get one more transmission of him and Box commiting lascivious acts someone will be eaten. I don’t care who. What the purpose of these are I don’t know. Advertisement? (I think it’s to make you jealous boss.) (Ha! Jealous of what? Mediocre sex with a pathetic excuse for a businessman with a TV as a head?)

Because Angel deserves fucking better.

[blossomthepinkbunny]

Talking about Adam and the villians of HB

Adam is such a dissapointing villain for Hazbin Hotel that absolutely doesn't make use of the great opportunities they had for the bad guy of this project. Like, what is Adam? A sexual, irrational, rockstar asshole who kills demons for fun and is shown to be completely idiotic and unable to make any good point for his actions. And that sucks.

Atleast to me, them making Adam an irredeemable asshole type just seems like the show acknowledging that they can't take any actual feedback on Charlies idea. He is a strawman who never really gets to be anything else until his final moments, when they want you to care about his fight. The show doesn't want you to actually think critical about what Charlie has planned it just wants you to think she is right, by making you hate Adam, by making his side actively carry out genocide. The fact that a show all about revealing that people have layers and presenting seemingly morally grey areas in them has a villian who is completely one note and just evil and irrational because the show needs him to be is not great.

There are actual things that can be criticized about the Hotel and the idea of redeeming sinners, but Adam can't call any of these out because then Charlie would have to defend herself, which she can't do and then you would realize that the writers couldn't think of arguments for why she is right. And then Charlie would come off as not as great as they want you to think she is.

What if he had called out the fact that genuinely no demon seems to give a shit about being a better person. We don't get a definitive time for how long Charlie has been working on the Hotel but we can assume that it has been atleast a little longer. We see her advertise her idea on the news in the pilot and the Hotel makes an advertisement in the first episode, so we know that it's pretty open information that a place where demons can redeem themselves exist. Yet in the entirety of the pilot, season one and however much time lays between the two, only two sinners came to the hotel to change (im not counting staff members because they are there to work, not to be redeemed).

Angel Dust and Sir Pentious are the only ones who came to stay, which either means that just no other sinner cares to be better or that Charlie is not taken seriously and that her hotel is viewed as stupid in concept alone. And you have to remember that even these two didn't initially join because they genuinely wanted to change.

Angel just decided to stay because it was a cheap place to live where he wouldn't have to see Val. And while Pentious does decide he wants to be better, we don't know if he would have even done that, had it not been for the agreement he made with Vox (which made him come to the hotel with bad intentions in the first place).

Why doesn't Adam get to point out that sending Sinners to heaven might be a bad idea when there are probably people that they hurt or may have even killed up there. Like, Angel Dust was in the Mafia and you can assume that he has quite the killcount and it's very possible that some of his victims are in heaven. That goes for every other demon too, they're down there for a reason. And while sometimes that reason might be something stupid or irrelevant, just giving every demon the benefit of the doubt and a chance to get to heaven (in theory) seems pretty irresponsible.

That is also completely ignoring the fact that Charlie's method has no proof of even working. Seemingly in the entirety of hell existing no sinner has ever redeemed themselves and went to heaven until Sir Pentious, which was mostly an accident as well.

I'm not saying Adam had to be likeable or relatable, but it's pretty obvious that they made him so hateable just because. He can't just be an obnoxious, sexist asshole because that's not blatantly evil enough apparently. He also has to commit genocide for no reason other than that he enjoys it. Again, im not saying his genocide should be excusable, but he should have a reason that isn't presented as him just doing it for fun because hes a jackass (he should have a reason that would make what he is doing okay in his own eyes where the viewer could understand how he views the world without having to agree necessarily).

Writing evil characters who are purely bad because they just are can work. But in my opinion that shouldn't be the main villian, especially not in a show where the central idea is supposed to be discussing morality and moral greyness.

Cioccolata from Jjba is a villian where this works in my opinion. He is just evil and Araki really plays that up. He isn't just a crazy doctor type who violently experiments on people for fun, his backstory also shows that he has been doing this since he was 14 and started with driving elders to suicide. And also he films everything he does because he just likes watching people suffer. Cioccolata really is just irredeemably crazy and sadistic but it works for him because he is just a side antagonist and therefore doesn't have the burden of playing as a direct counter to our main protagonist and because for all his immoral actions he still has philosophy behind that. A fucked up philosophy but an understandable (not excusable) one nonetheless. He explaines that in his eyes people can only experience true happiness from two situations. Either when your own despair is replaced with hope, or when one watches other people fall into despair themselves. In his eyes, the more people he watches die, the more he understands the human race and the stronger he gets, which leads into another aspect of his philosophy, which is that the strong have have the right and responsibility to rule over the weak. That is why I think he works.

We actually get some insight into Adams deeper character motivation in his last moments. When he gets upset that the demons aren't just falling at his feet, worshipping him, even though he is the original man all life came from. And that would be a good idea to expand on, that Adam has this intense sense of entitlement that leads him to despise the demons because he doesn't have power over them, when he feels like he should. And because a crowd of people that don't worship him, feels threatening to him, he would want them gone as to not possibly risk his position of power with their ideas.

That could be the reason for why he despises Charlie, because she is a demon who makes her own plans to save her people, which would mean they could start to follow her and work with her, rather than idolizing him. Something like that would work so well for his character and would fit this saviour attitude that some religious people have when "helping" atheists by recommending that they should be religious to make all their problems dissapear or something (no shade to people who genuinely find peace and safety in their religion I think that's actually great but it's not a solution for everybody). The last moments he has give great insight into what his character could've been, had they focused on this, rather than always just having him say how much he enjoys killing demons for no reason.

And in the song he has he also nearly approaches giving another possible reason for his actions (that being that he just doesn't care because demons already had their chance to be good, didn't choose that and now don't deserve a second chance), but that is also never expanded on and is pretty much ignored throughout the season.

Also I find it interesting that Adam has to be completely and irredeemably evil, hated by everyone, while Lucifer gets away with just letting the people he is supposed to rule die like it's nothing. Lucifer didn't to anything to stop the exterminations, he didn't contact his daughter in quite some time and actively mocks her idea when first meeting her after these months of not giving a shit for her or what she does (her idea that is supposed to save his people from literal death btw).

We see him easily finish Adam off in the finale which begs the question for why he just never cared to do anything before. But it's fine because he's just so silly and goofy and actually cares a lot for Charlie say's the show. That is why he gets to be redeemed in the same episode he appeared in for the first time and no one is allowed to question him because then you're just not nice and understanding.

Lucifer didn't have to like sinners. I think his approach of basically leaving the sinners to their own devices is pretty interesting. But HH wants you to hate Adam and like Lucifer without acknowledging that people who just watch bad stuff being done without doing anything about it are also shitty. And for Lucifer it seems extra shitty because we see he can literally just defeat Adam and he just didn't do anything for this whole time.

Helluva Boss has this problem too where it picks characters it wants you to like and if you don't like them then you're just wrong. And therefore no villian gets to call these characters out without being shown to be either stupid, irrational or mean.

Striker was genuinely interesting and cool when he first appeared. He was an antagonist who had understandable goals that tied in well with the trajectory of the story. The classism in hell's society is a pretty relevant theme for HB. We see that Blitzø has to sleep with Stolas to be able to even do his job and earn a living, we see Imps just being tossed around and abused and hear Stolas say stuff like "impish little plaything" to Blitzø. Striker wanting to take the demons of high rank down to make hell better for the Imps by ending classism made sense and was an interesting take to see. Especially since at that point the show didn't insist on Stolas being this misunderstood good guy who just cares soo much for Blitzø, there was a sense of suspense maybe to watch wether or not Blitzø will go along with Striker or if this interaction might influence how he views his clearly predatory "relationship" with Stolas.

But all of that got thrown out the window because in s2 we just can't have people criticise Stolas, since actually acknowledging the fact that he benefited and actively made use of hells classist system would mean that we wouldn't see him as a poor confused bean anymore and that one might actually think of some of the pretty bad implications the Stolitz relationship has. So now Striker is a completely obvious, self obsessed bad guy who loves himself so much that he monologues about how great he feels when torturing Stolas instead of just killing him while they also gave him a weird gimmick where he doesn't like it when someone makes a sexual remark and gets so upset that he drags out Stolas' killing and gets defeated by Millie and Moxxie because of it (the same guy was established as a great assassin in another episode).

They also removed all the backbone to his ideology. He still talks about Stolas diminishing Imps in "Western Engery" but it lacks any point because they have gone so far with woobifying Stolas that he is presented as sympathetic and Striker as bigoted. Striker also acts like he can't kill Stolas because Stella called off the assassination on him. I get him being upset that he won't get his money for the kill but he still has very clear reasons for why he would want Stolas dead regardless (atleast he had when he was still a cool character). It's not like suddenly not being hired anymore would make a big change for him.

Killing Stolas could have consequences because Stolas is royalty, but these consequences always existed for him even while Stella was requesting the assassination. Stella would obviously not want others to know that she is reponsible for Stolas dying (then again we don't know if that would even matter since demons generally don't care about killing others until it's plot relevant) and the point of an assassin is that people are killed in a way that can't be tracked back to someone, so Striker should also not face issues, especially since he is apparently a really good and threatening assassin.

Striker was interesting until the show decided it liked Stolas too much for people to call him out and be presented as reasonable. Stella was turned into just an abusive, whiny and stupid bitch who just hates Stolas and wants his money instead of acknowledging that she pretty much has the same backstory as Stolas, who we are constantly told to feel bad for because of his childhood (arranged marriage, forced to have a child and a set-up relationship neither of them wanted).

Verosika is really not relevant but usually also falls into the "bitchy and just rude" category because she doesn't like Blitzø (it's not as bad for her as it is with Stella but still). Asmodeus and Fizzarolli where really mean and exposed and embarrassed Stolas and Blitzø publicly. But the next time we see Asmodeus interact with Stolas he is just chill with him? Why? Blitzøs and Fizzarollis relationship was atleast handled in a way and we see him act rude towards Blitzø until they make up. But it still followes the theme of people who dislike Stolas and Blitzø either changing their mind or just being shown to be horrible to make their opinion seem invalid (also notice how these male characters in the story get to be forgiven for how they acted and show different sides to their character while the women are reduced to being bitchy).

Barbie Wire was also handled soo bad. She only appears in the last few minutes of her début episode and never gets to talk about specifically why she doesn't want to have contact with Blitzø in the first place. The focus is mostly on how hurt he is by the fact his Sister wants nothing to do with him, even after he worked soo hard to find her and just wanted to make things right with her soo bad. They also basically made her a groomer which just doesn't help her come off as reasonable at all.

For a show that wants it's main characters to do bad stuff and have to deal with being called out for that it surely doesn't like people actually calling them out.

The double standards applied to the villians as opposed to the "good guys" are also just amazing. Like Millie and Moxxie can complain about Chaz being a bad partner in hindsight, but when Verosika talks about Blitzø being selfish in their relationship it's all about how he feels. Loona literally throwing stuff at Blitzø, hurting him just because he dared to carefully point out a true fact about her behaviour is played for laughs, but Stella abusing Stolas is super duper evil and we all hate her now (not saying it isn't bad but the show shouldn't pick and choose who is funny when abusive and who is evil when abusive). The I.M.P taking out random people because they were paid to is fine, but Striker attacking Stolas after being hired is bad just because he also happens to have a (understandable) motiv for why he would want to do it regardless of his job and because Stolas just so happens to be a main character. Blitzø and Loona commenting on Moxxies weight is funny, but when Mammon remarks that Fizzarolli gained a few pounds he is just bad.

That's just my opinion on some of the antagonists in HH and HB. Mammon is pretty much the only villian I really care for in both shows (also Stella and Striker before they got ruined). I mainly think antagonist are either really underused (Vox, Velvette, Verosika) or were just incredibly mishandled (Adam, Striker, Stella). Part of this post was just an excuse to talk about Jjba tho, which I always love.

[veryinnovative]

microfic based on that one tiktok: the hero's partner always calling at the worst possible time and the villain watching their partner struggle from a random rooftop but make it jeggy. microfic. 1392 words. sfw

A midnight lullaby sung by the city sounds—the gentle rattle of stray cars' exhaust pipes, the fading lights of a slowly dying city life, and the vibrant, flashing neon signs hanging lopsided in front of small, tucked-away corner stores. As the night wears on, the last few indoor lights gradually come to a dim, leaving the rooftops of high-rise apartment complexes and office buildings bathed in the slanted glow of slowly winking starlight. 

“Technically, he is on a work trip,” Sirius quips beside him, snorting as he hands over the binoculars, only for James to snatch them with a sudden burst of impatience he seldom displays around anyone else.

The gadget—some stolen thing looted from one of the upper-form security corporations they make a habit of robbing—is blessed with impeccable optical zoom and night vision, giving James a quite defined view of his loving husband, the very one who is hunched over a bomb he and Sirius planted nearly an hour ago, set to detonate in just a couple of minutes.

“His dedication to his job is one of my favorite things about him,” James supplies with a lazy grin, almost swooning when he makes out the annoyed frown creasing the skin between Regulus’ brows.

When the timer reads four minutes, Sirius clears his throat. “Bomb defusing has never been his strongest suit, you know that right?”

“Oh, I know.” That’s no surprise to either of them, given James knows his lover inside out. Though, he doesn’t consider it a flaw but simply an endearing quirk.

“You know,” Sirius deadpans, sporting a look of disapproval that eerily resembles Regulus’ when he’s slightly annoyed. “You know and yet you still let him, I don’t know, try and defuse a bomb that’s set to take the building down?”

“When have you ever doubted Regulus?”

“Well, it’s a bomb. It’s not unusual for me to doubt him when we’re talking explosives.”

“Are you saying my husband is incapable?”

That earns him a punch to the shoulders that’s sure to leave a bruise. “No, I just know my little brother well enough. He’s a little shit at times, but even shittier when it comes to things that blow up, James.”

Maybe. “Would you say he needs a hand, Pads?”

Sirius’ eyebrows fly up at the suggestion, almost blending into his hairline. “Excuse me, what?” He blinks, once, twice, “What do you mean need a hand? You out of all people reached your limit of stupid fucking ideas today, and that’s coming from me.”

In lieu of an explanation, James fishes out the burner phone, which results in much more indignant sputtering and Sirius trying to swat it out of his hands. There’s a lot of “Don’t you dare,” and “Are you out of your fucking mind?!” together with “You’re fucking kidding me—” when Sirius doesn’t quite succeed in disarming him.

“James,” he warns. The name barely comes out, reduced to more of a garble with James having him in a one-arm headlock.

“Sssh,” he hushes as he dials in Regulus’ number.

“Seriously, you’re insane,” Sirius grits out.

“Since when are you against a little bit of fun?

“Fine,” he sharply acquiesces. “Your funeral, but you better fucking keep me out of this.”

There’s peace to be made with that, especially with how Sirius has worked hard to keep this part of his life an ongoing secret from Regulus for a better ten-something years.

Through the binoculars, James can see Regulus with both the cables and a phone he retrieves from his chest pocket, grimace deepening when the device brightens up due to the caller screen. It’s no more than a couple of seconds when he’s greeted by an undoubtedly angelic voice—“James?”

“Hi, baby,” James answers, making sure to sound far more innocent than his current predicament would define him, voice entirely bereft of any hints of evil. “You sound a little bit out of breath, are you okay?”

Three minutes. The great act of fumbling ensues—one in which Regulus has to figure out how to tuck the phone between his shoulder and ear, compose his breathing, and still maintain hawk-sharp focus on the complicated criss-cross mesh of wires that James purposefully left behind in a convoluted tangle. He has to bite down on his tongue when Regulus clears his throat and tries to sound as unruffled as humanly possible in his position, “Fine. Just had to… Run…”

“You and running?”

“I missed the last train.”

“Poor you.” It drawls out, making it all the more pitying, a sure cause for guilt that’s unmistakably bubbling up inside of Regulus. “Waiting on the next one then? I can keep you company if you’d like. I know how much you hate public transport.”

“That’s fine,” Regulus hurriedly answers, now worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. “My battery is running very low so we shouldn’t.”

It’s a tempting look this one: the vein protruding against the thin of his skin, that look of concentration. If Sirius hadn’t been there… “Well, you better get to your hotel quickly then,” James murmurs. “I miss you. You’ve been gone for three days now and we haven’t been able to call during the nights before bed. Can I see your face really quick?”

“No!” Regulus almost shouts into the receiver.

“No?” James asks, trying very hard to come across as hurt, even as a grin is currently cleaving his face in half to the point his jaw hurts.

Clock is ticking.

“No—I mean—I miss you too.” Oh, rambling, Regulus is rambling and if that just isn’t the most adorable thing on earth—“It’s just—My battery is really running low, James. Can we call later? I need Google Maps to figure out where I’m going after this train.”

And because James is just downright terrible, “I don’t know, love, almost sounds like you’re hiding something from me.”

“What?” Regulus falters, cursing under his breath when he zaps one of his fingers trying to wedge them between the wires. “What—What would I possibly hide from you?”

One and a half minute. James has to hurry. Too bad, it’s just so much fun.

“A nice gift, maybe? Bunch of flowers? A box of super fancy chocolates you never let me eat in one sitting?”

Utterly exasperated, Regulus accedes, “Sure, yes. I’ll bring you all of them, okay?”

And because he loves pushing his lucky so, “Call me lovebug before you hang up?”

“James —”  

Sixty seconds

“You don’t love me anymore?”

Fifty-five seconds. Regulus looks like he is seconds away from jamming a knife into the bomb. “Darling,” he starts, almost breathless. James’ jaws hurt from how much he’s smiling. “Lovebug, I love you so much, but I really—Really need to hang up. Please, I promise I’ll call back in a bit.”

“How much do you love me?”

“So much. I miss you a lot. I hate my job. I want nothing more than to come home and crawl into your arms. In fact, I’m considering finally quitting.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past years, yet you won’t.”

“After tonight, I just might. I love you, James. Please, I’m out of time, my battery is running empty.”

God, James is a man besotten. If not for Sirius jabbing in his side, insistently pointing at the timer and urging him to finally interfere, nothing else would’ve pulled him from the daydream that is Regulus Potter-Black

Six seconds.

“Baby?” 

Five seconds.

“James, for the love of—”

Four seconds.

“It’s the green wire.”

Three.

The last thing James sees is Regulus’ eyes blowing wide before he lowers the binoculars and drops the phone onto the ground, smashing it into the concrete beneath his heel.

Two. 

One…

“He’s going to kill you.”

No eardrum-shattering explosion echoes from a few rooftops away after Sirius points out the obvious. For good measure, James destroys the remote detonator as well. “Nonsense, I just helped him defuse a bomb.”

Sirius pulls the mask down his face again, voice muffled by the thick fabric when he speaks, “When he finds out you’re the one who planted it, you’re a dead, dead man.”

James shrugs, carding back his curls to pull down his mask as well. “Well, he’s been trying for the past five years. It’s only fair to level the playing fields for a change.”

notable mention <3: @wordsofwilderness @pretentiouswreckingball @shimshimshirrie

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

These Episodes Confirms Everything I Feared About How Heaven Would Be Handled

It will be just the reverse "heaven-bad, hell-good", while Adam would be a one note strawman of what a sexist man is. Seriously, everything about Adam contradicts theology and what he stands for. Like Adam is shown being a horndog which goes against the laws against lust, which should not even make him an angel or a high one. Again this show really contradicts itself to create up a simplistic understanding of what Christian morality is. And again it's a stupid idea to make angels like Adam not so different from the sinners because it's stupid. Also again I really don't understand even if they are sinners they are still his descendants so him being gleeful about killing them off contradicts himself. Actually Adam should be on board with the idea of more of them being saved would be something he would for if he's the ancestor of humanity. He wouldn't be against it. And again he's just depicted as just a one dimensional kill happy villain with no reason but to just treat heaven as just evil. And again this is just boring like with Stella which is treating one side as the lesser evil while giving the other side no depth. Adam is just fucking boring as a result and again this show is going to be the Velma of this year.

[theoddest1]

with how the fans and even viv being VERY excited with the “visuals” of poison it’s was very clear that the intended purpose of having those scenes was for porn. Why else would viv be excited for SA scenes and make a cum joke? Not dismissing any SA survivors that felt seen or represented through Angel. I think the bar scene where Angel has a breakdown is good I just hate how they kinda swept everything he said under the rug for a musical, with the episode ending on a happy note and were told not shown that he gets better.

That’s why people kept bringing up moral Orel, silent hill 2 and tuca and Bertie as good SA rep because the abuse is NEVER shown were told or it’s heavily implied it was the aftermath that was shown, nurse bendy is hyper sexual in public but she secretly hates, is lonely and regresses into a little girl playing family with stuffed animals when she’s in her safe space. Angela is depressed/suicidal her only hope is to find her mother so things can get better but she never finds her mom and it’s implied Angela dies, Tuca and struggled with her sexuality and sexual trauma even feels ashamed about having intrusive fantasies of her abuser and thinks that after being SA’d but she is complete control of those situations and it’s her way o healing and even if she wasn’t SA’d she’d still be into those fantasies. It’s too early to say anything about Angel character it might change in season 2 and actually talk more about his trauma especially since the vees are gonna be more prominent (which I call bs because they said the exact same thing about Adam and he didn’t do shit, he only showed up in 3 episodes and he was so underwhelming plus he was the 2nd most powerful being in the show, idk what vox and Val are gonna bring to the table expect be stupid wannabe “mean girls”, plus lute is still around and she is by more powerful and interesing villain) but we have to wait and see, right now I’m indifferent to Angel he’s not a bad character but he’s not the best, sir pentious and nifty outshined him and everybody else, they were the best characters, and they were just joke characters

Viv is very, very obvious with what she seeks involving Angel Dust's character arc. She sees it as an opportunity to recreate a similar situation to Raph's animatic, a 3rd person view surrounding Angel's dilemma rather than Vox's. It's paraded around as though it's a tragic "Love Song" but there is no proper or meaningful way to convey the tragedy surrounding it all. It's an elaborate kink video for those who indulge those sorts of subjects. As you've mentioned, some other known media have handled the topic with much care and didn'tshow it, but this time around, this could have been a great time to make useful imagery to show just how awful the entire situation is. But we don't get that. All of it is glamorized in a pop song with neon lights and no subversion of one's expectations. The only time we are shown any blunt and saddening imagery is when Angel is passed around in bindage gear. The colors change and turn red, and we are faced with a strikingly blunt reality of the situation, but we then see Angel dancing in front of his situation, whiplash of the seriousness pertaining to it all. And while the pacing is better in this episode than most, it's still FAST.

So on top of everything we have a rushed pop song that's supposed to engage the audience in a mindset regarding SA to further think and discuss but it only aided in fueling kink culture and no one has had any strong meaningful discussions when it is about that entire sequence but the kinks sure are THRIVING! Imo, the fact that this side of the community got more outta this than those who love to discuss stories reflects on how unserious and sexual Viv saw it to be, and THAT is what makes Viv's shit representation bad. The remix only solidifies what I had assumed this entire song to sound like. It fails to be commentary, only fuel for a kink someone has, and NEARLY EVERYONE in the community is letting it slide cause of that.

[fandoms-and-salt]

My thoughts on Hazbin Hotel's villains, because I think they have a problem

Valentino

Val is just. where do i even start.

His introductory scene is largely comedic and makes his freak-out over Angel just living somewhere else the butt of the joke. The same scene conveys that he is already losing control over Angel and can’t do anything about it, since Angel is ignoring his calls, and Vox convinces him that ignoring this blatant misstep is the better option. This is an okay scene (i even found it funny), but it’s a bad villain introduction. Especially a villain that we are meant to take seriously and, from the perspective of the main characters, fear.

(There’s also an inconsistency with Angel in ep1-2 feeling free to ignore Val’s calls and messages, but in ep4 he is stumbling all over himself to please Val)

His introduction had to be made from the point of view of one of his victims to set up a proper tone of menace to him, instead of making it from the point of view of his fellow overlords, who view him as a whiny dumb piss baby. This scene would be okay a lot later down the line, in my opinion, when we are already familiar with what a despicable dangerous asshole he is, and the characters (Angel Dust) begin to step up to him more. We see his facade crumble alongside the main characters to reveal who he truly is without all his power and control - a whiny sex-obsessed loser.

There's also an issue of us not really getting a scale of his power. This guy is portrayed as an extremely forward hot-tempered dumbass, who has to be verbally guided to make a better strategic move than a “just kill and rape everybody”. He freaking licks the princess of Hell, talks down to her like she is one of his porn actresses, and physically assaults a person under her care right in front of her, and she is supposed to be someone more powerful than him, and he should know that.

This guy can’t manipulate and strategize for his life, so to compensate for this (and make his rise to power more believable), he needs to have some truly impressive physical power. And tearing apart some character offscreen and wielding some guns doesn’t cut, bc basically everyone can do that in hell, what makes him special? Show off how his vaping powers can really fuck people up, poison dozens, hypnotize them, make them addicted to him! Make him so uniquely dangerous that he doesn’t even need to be smart and cordial to rise to power!! Otherwise, how the hell we should believe that he owns the whole porn industry of the Pride Ring, including legally owning his workers, if the show puts more focus on his stupidity and lack of tact than on whatever power he has?

Like he is meant to be our main antagonist and threat, alongside with his TV boyfriend, until the angels come back in the finale, don’t just waste them away on lame jokes.

Speaking of which.

Vox

I like Vox. I like his voice actor’s performance and the voice effects and filters that they give him to reflect his mood. I feel like he had a better introduction than Val (which is not a high bar to clear): it showed that he is pretty smart, strategic, and image-conscious. With this and his heavily implied power to hypnotize and stalk people through his tech, the fact that he is in power and the threat that he poses are much more believable.

Anyway, this gets completely wasted 10 minutes into the first episode he appears in, when he gets verbally floored by Alastor. And he cried about it right after. And later in the same episode we see him fail again at another one of his schemes, bc he chose the most incompetent spy ever. Once again, silly comedy shatters any kind of illusion of threat that the villains might pose. Which also leads me to..

Alastor

Who is not really a villain, and this is kind of a problem. He really could have been a great threat and an antagonist, but i really don’t believe they are going to go in that direction.

Alastor is a very OP character and is the one holding power and control in basically any interaction he is in, including the villains. And since he is an ally of Hazbin Hotel, whose goals (the details of which we are not aware of) partially align with theirs, he completely fucks over any kind of tension regarding anything that might threaten the Hotel or it’s residents. Because you can just throw Alastor at it and make it go away. Because the writers just can’t have him lose.

And we don’t have any reason to believe that he would just refuse to help, because so far? He does whatever Charlie or Vaggie ask him to do. He might be a smug dick about it, but he still does that. He even agrees to film a TV commercial (twice!) despite his vocal hate of such technology. Furthermore, he has to make a deal with Vaggie so they don’t have him do something like this again (granted, this scene might hold some additional implications in the future, but so far this is all the context we got). Why can’t he just refuse to do things that he doesn’t want to do?

Which they could have fixed if they made his power more limited. Either by reducing the scale of his power so he is at most on the same level as the villains,

OR have his presence and help be limited. Make that the characters often can’t access him for help or he just. refuses to help them. He even says that he is here to have fun and watch them suffer, so wouldn’t them struggling to, idk, get rid of Sir Pentious, for example, be entertaining for him? Or balance out his help with instances where he causes conflicts and problems on purpose. Beyond just him annoying Vaggie for comedy’s sake.

And if any of this is what they are actually going for, then you need to make it a point to the audience that yes, this guy is powerful, but don’t expect him to productively help with any of the narrative threats and problems.

And lastly,

Adam and the angels

I don’t like Adam. He is annoying as hell and his jokes are drawn out and not funny at all. The logistics of him being an angel when he is Adam and when he acts like this, give me a massive headache that is related to a whole other topic i’ll need to make a separate post about.

Despite all this, Alex Brightman is doing a great job selling how utterly insufferable he is. His song is also pretty good, one of the more memorable ones in the show. And he (and the angels by extension) is also the most menacing and competent villain on the show so far. ...Do you see my predicament here?

Granted, this is not a very high bar to clear, as established with. the other ones. For example, in contrast to the pilot, we are only told about how dangerous and deadly the exterminator-angels are. “[Sinners] never managed to kill one of us [angels]” “In the latest extermination, [angels] killed the highest 18% percent of our [sinner] population” etc etc. We don’t see the angels killing anybody on screen, we barely see the aftermath of the extermination.

What we do see is the panic and helplessness with which most of the hell population treat the exterminations, including Charlie. We see Charlie struggling to convince Adam of her plan, barely able to talk back to him, which sells Adam as the more powerful in the interaction. We see Adam not showing all his cards to Charlie, like the fact they are planning to completely wipe out the whole Hell/Pride Ring, showing that he is not completely stupid despite his whole deal (well, there’s implied to be some kind of plan here, but i’ll talk about my problem with the logic in another post).

Otherwise, we don’t have anyone else to compare with him, since Charlie is the only one who interacts with angels on-screen. But all of this so far gives a suitable illusion of how dangerous and powerful the angels are. But what will happen if angels are faced with our all powerful Tumblr Sexyman Mary Sue? Will the universe let Alastor lose and then collapse in on itself? Or the other obvious option?

Anyway, in conclusion, Hazbin’s villains are not very good so far. Their main problems are the fact that the writers can't properly establish their threat and lever of power, or they undercut this with unsuitable comedy. Also, they don't know how to use their OP main character, so they won't ruin the stakes of the story.

[ellie-eames]

I’m reading POTO and what they never tell you is that Erik the Phantom of the Opera is the least scary person on the planet.

He signs his shitty red letters with ‘the opera ghost’, he pretends to be an Angel to try get a girl to love him, he steals a horse, he leaves English toffees for the woman who cleans his stupid little opera box. He howls angrily and outwardly while trying to be hidden because Christine calls him horrible.

He’s just some guy. He would subscribe to an alpha male podcast. He is not scary or threatening or even very appealing.

The book is not bad but it’s hard to take seriously when the main villain just sucks.

[chaifootsteps]

I can't be the only one who feels weird about the only black coded characters also being villain coded. Like look, I get wanting representation, but it feels like every single attempt viv has made at being "diverse" and "inclusive" has ended up just making those characters massive stereotypes. Vaggie is the angry latina lesbian who's name is literally Vagina, Charlie is the stupid childish blonde who means well but never learns, Angel is the mean-girl gay who's only personality beyond being raped is being a dick sucker, Niffty is the Japanese maid who also happens to be the only straight one, Alastor is the mixed creole voodoo cannibal, like I could go on and on and on but did she seriously not see the issue with basically implying that the white rulers in one kingdom are being oppressed by the black rulers in another kingdom? What the fuck are we even doing here man, why even imply race and sexuality if you're just gonna be a weirdo about how you show it?

I don't even know if this makes sense anymore, man - signed a black enby sick of vivzies weird bullshit

I mean, there's Husk. Husk the cool old black guy, voiced by a cool old black guy, and at least he's depicted pretty--

Never mind.

[sari-artworks-schyzotypalmind]

Hot take regarding Heihachi Mishima coming back.

I know I said my page was going to be art focused from now on but I need to get this out of my chest.

I´m a veteran Tekken player, since 3 . I basically consumed any Tekken related media too (the mangas, comic books, the animated movie, the CGI movie, the horrible live action one, the anime on Netflix, etc)

Tekken 8 for me was a perfect conclusion for the story. I know that Kaz and Jun had an open ending but it was ok, she is going to take him to wherever she wants, maybe to retire, heal, you get it.

But... the whole clash between Kaz and Heihachi was CLOSED, ended in Tekken 7 in a very emotional manner, it was peak.

In Tekken 8, the final confrontation between Kaz and Jin was INCREDIBLE. I got shivers with Jun stands, T3 Jin theme ost, Angel Jin, etc...

It was cool as it is. It is true that Reina was very disappointing lore wise, I thought she was going to play a bigger role but it was, ok I guess??? leaving an opening to Tekken 9 as her as the main villain probably.

Now, after FINALLY progressing the story for all our main characters we get THE STUPID GRANDPA BACK. Seriously, am I the only one pissed??? it hasn´t even a WHOLE GAME without him. It makes zero sense, it destroys everything that happened during the climax of Tekken 7 and 8. We go back to the starting point. Is getting BORING and tiresome.

I get it... main Heihachi players missed him, cool. MAKE HIM A FLASHBACK.

Heihachi got his own flashback in Tekken 7 along with Kazumi and even though she was dead the whole time, she was still playable. They could have done the same with him.

Kazuya didn´t get ANY flashback of him and Jun in Tekken 2. Why???? Do we even know his aspirations appart from "muh control of the world" . NO. NOTHING.

They could have also bring Jinpachi back as a playable character in a flashback mode telling us about Kazuya childhood. But no... we got CANONICALLY GRANDPA RESURRECTED AGAIN.

Also... isn´t it misogynistic as well???? Jun was missing for +20 years in real time, she didn´t appear canonically since Tekken 2 and the old fart comes back not even one game later.

Same with Kazumi... she HAS THE DEVIL GENE. Heihachi only broke her neck ONCE and she can´t come back ???? COME ONE BAMCO.

Jin and Kazuya have died multiple times and survived others because the Devil Gene allows them to but not for Kazumi???? The true inheritor and probably pure blood devil gene user. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK.

Bruh... honestly. it pisses me off.

On the other hand... Heihachi gets thrown into a volcano, no human being can survive the erosion and melting of the body because of the lava.

Also, I´m pretty sure Heihachi didn´t gave her a proper shinto burial. She came out of a volcano in arcade mode, so Im 100% sure he just tossed her body along with the tiger into the lava. According to Shintoism, if someone doesn´t get a proper burial, they can come back as a vengeful ghost. So she can be brought back as well, not only as an evil ghost but also BECAUSE SHE HAD THE FUCKING DEVIL GENE.

I love Tekken lore to the core and Namco has just killed any progression the story had.

[physalian]

Villain Power Scaling (It's over 9000!)

@sarah-sandwich ask and you shall receive

Quick! We wrote an insanely, unexpectedly successful one-off fantasy series! How do we top the villain?

A bigger, badder giant space laser

The villain’s secret jealous sister

The same power, but purple now

The True Mastermind you’ve never heard of

JK, they’re not actually dead!

When you choose to continue on a series and have already committed to possibly destroying the legacy of the characters who fought and died to save the world once by undoing it for money, you had better have a damn good story to tell.

So if you decide your new threat is any of the above, you have quite the uphill battle ahead of you, my friend.

What is Power Scaling?

Power scaling is the nature of the ability of the heroes and the villains to grow more competent over the course of the story via new skills, new powers, or more training. Protagonist’s first fight (that they win, at least) will generally be against a baby, tier-one mook and not up against the main antagonist (*cough* Force Awakens *cough*)

As the story progresses, the mook that was so scary and so hard to beat oh so very long ago will become unnamed cannon fodder in the climax of the story. Generally speaking, this is a linear event and the hero and the villain are constantly one-upping each other until they come head to head in the unavoidable final fight.

Sometimes, things run askew. Maybe the hero’s super special power that saved them last time was a fluke, possible only in those specific circumstances, or one-time use.

Maybe they have amnesia, or the being that gave them that power revoked it, or using it cost them too much. Maybe they got seriously injured in the last fight using it and can no longer go near it if they want to not get hospitalized. Maybe the super power was another character that won the final fight for them last time, but died in the process.

It doesn’t have to be linear, but if you’re going to regress your character without creating a “why didn’t you do what you did last time” plot hole, you will need an ironclad excuse.

So, feast your eyes while I summon the Supernatural fandom back from the dead.

What not to do, as told by Supernatural

This show was originally written to last five seasons and five seasons only. No matter how die hard a fan you are or were, you cannot escape this fact, and neither could the writers.

Season one villain: A demon and her demonic minions

Season two villain: Psychic demon children and Papa Demon Yellow-Eyes

Season three villain: OG Demon Lilith, and Dean’s ticking demon-deal clock

Season four villain: OG Demon Lilith and preventing the rise of Satan

Season five villain: Satan and some douchebag Angels

Then you have Ten. More. Seasons. trying to do better than Satan and the douchebag angels to… varying levels of success and stupidity.

The problem: Supernatural tried to be linear with their power scaling, focusing on ramping up the threat level to nonsensical ends while undermining the threat level of all who came before.

The other problem: Sam, Dean, and Cas never stayed dead long enough for any of these threats to matter.

What I mean is this: In making the threat of the season so impossibly strong, by threatening the world over and over again no matter how many times they save it, by never committing to killing your three most important characters, by never letting the world go a little unsaved in the end, you’re left with a story that *says* it’s bigger, badder, bolder, but is really just a rinse and repeat that goes blander and blander each time.

Coming off Satan and the Douchebag Angels to… Cas and Crowley conspiring over the souls of Purgatory and the unseen war in Heaven because they didn’t have the budget for that, without any of the thematic weight of *why* it was angels and demons? Talk about a loss of momentum.

I rewatch a grand total of one episode of season six, “The French Mistake”. I have lost all context for the plot surrounding this episode and it’s virtually independent of the rest of the season because Sam and Dean get transported into the Real World as Jensen and Jared and poke fun at each other for 52 minutes. This episode is timeless.

The show wasn’t a complete disappointment for the remaining ten seasons or it wouldn’t have lasted that long. It had good beats, but they shot their load in Season Five. After five whole years of buildup to this main event it never recovered.

Alternatives to Linear Power Scaling

Anyone who has or even hasn’t seen Dragon Ball should know that series is famous for infinite power scaling. There’s always someone stronger, always some new secret powerup to unlock with the power of Screaming, always some new Super Sayan color that we promise is more powerful this time, for realsies.

That show is so dedicated to the bit that it’s gone full circle to being loved, not despite it, but because it’s so ridiculous.

You did not write Dragon Ball. Do not do this.

Instead of the infamous clashing multicolored power beams, what other ways can you up the ante of this new threat after your heroes have conquered all they thought stood in their way?

Give a damn good reason why this villain, who is no different than the last schmuck, is unbeatable by the macguffin this time.

As stated above, there’s no need to make the villain More Powerful* if your heroes have lost the world-saving abilities that helped them last time.

2. Exploit the hero’s other weaknesses

More Powerful* is never as exciting as you think it is. Often times, especially in superhero sequels, the villain isn’t necessarily stronger, but the niche power that they do have finds the chink in the hero’s armor that they didn’t have to worry about last time.

3. Make the hero’s niche skillset completely irrelevant

This time, the threat might not be something they can punch or shoot or smack with a hammer. This time, it’s their reputation at stake, or the villain is un-punchable because they’re simply unreachable, causing havoc the hero is helpless to stop.

4. Make the issue not the villain at all, but the hero or their team

Maybe the villain is just a schmuck that would be beatable on any other day, but team infighting means that they make utter asses of themselves and the villain doesn’t have to lift a finger to win because they’ve taken themselves out.

This can get very dramatic like in Captain America: Civil War or the Teen Titans epside "Divide and Conquer". Or, to comedic effect in the Spongebob Episode "Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy V" (the one with the International Justice League of Super Acquaintances).

Some would argue that the above options aren’t power scaling at all if it’s not linear, and that’s fair. You’re telling a story though—is your story going to be about the superpowers and how cool they are, or the people who wield them?

5. It’s not actually power scaling, it’s about stakes

Supernatural began to feel so stale because even though we were told the villain this time was bigger, badder, bolder, the stakes were always the same. OSP has talked about this, how threatening to end the world has a foregone conclusion of “never actually gonna happen” because what author is crazy enough to let the world get blown up and all their characters murdered?

Raising the stakes, too, is not linear. Last time it was the world, this time, it’s the life of the love interest, it’s someone’s sanity, it’s a ticking clock on a secret that’s about to go public.

That’s why the first five seasons of Supernatural were so engaging. Were Demons the problem every time? Yes. The Demons were causing the problem, but they were causing five different problems. It was finding and saving their missing dad, then it was uncovering the sinister plan of the psychic demon children, then it was trying to escape Dean’s deal, then it was trying to stop the rise of Satan, then it was trying to stop the apocalypse. It was not five seasons of demons trying to destroy the world.

The more personal the stakes, the more likely your audience will believe the hero could actually lose this time. That’s what will keep them engaged. Dean died at the end of season 3! They lost! There was no escaping that deal. Sure he came back in the pilot of season 4, but the entire 4th and 5th seasons are haunted by Dean’s PTSD and new pessimism about the world given what he’s seen and done in Hell.

6. Threatening the world without destroying a legacy

Covered in this post about timeskips and this post about sequels but it’s too important to not keep repeating.

So. The Star Wars sequels. Rain down your wrath like snow on a hot desert—these movies were a giant mess. The audience sat through six entire movies following the rise, fall, and redemption of one man who died to save his son and the galaxy.

Then, what, twenty years later, absolutely none of it mattered? New space Nazis are out for blood with the same equipment, same weapons, same soldiers, same reach, same motives. Within the theatrical release (because I am not paying money to buy content to do homework to understand a movie made for a layman audience) these movies undermined the legacy of the six that came before it.

It didn’t have to be a new galaxy-ending regime and the same rebels still rebelling for the same reasons—how the heck did they let another empire rise so fast?—it could have started small, inconsequential, and then the actions of the new cast then undermined everything Anakin worked for.

I feel like Mr. Incredible wondering why the world can’t just stay saved for ten minutes.

All of this is salvageable. End the world again if you want. There will always be bad actors out to do bad things, you can’t expect a utopia to last forever. But that bleak reality is for the real world, not fantasy. In fantasy, the sacrifice of beloved characters must matter. Otherwise, what’s the point of their story?

How do you do this?

Make the utopia the old characters died for last up until the new inciting incident, and make sure it’s the new characters’ fault, not just due to the passage of time

Make the villain threaten something other than their legacy

Make that legacy the banner behind which the new cast rallies, determined to make sure it wasn’t in vain

7. Or, burn the world down this time

Some of the best middle beats of a story feature a “did we just lose” moment a la Infinity War. The villain has won, fan favorites are dead, their home is in ashes, and now they’re not only starting from the bottom, they’re doing it with righteous vengeance.

Then the loss of the original character’s legacy *is* the tragedy, instead of a side effect. Then, in a way, they’re still part of the story, a ghost on the sidelines cheering on their successors, and we, the audience, are right beside them.

—

I have a shiny, fresh-off-the-press Insta @chloe_barnes_books now for this blog and my upcoming novel. Go check it out!

[p3n-i3]

you don't mind if I send another request right 👀

Traffic light trio(separate) x GN reader and they were desperate to be in a relationship with anyone? They have a crush on a guy that didn't even like them, even tho they just stays like that while traffic light trio is like- loved them lmao IDK- also could be any genre

-Awkward Anon 👀

𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨; Redson x GN!Reader/ Mk x GN!Reader/ Mei x GN!Reader 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦; light Hurt/no comfort (Redson) Fluff to slight Angst (Mk) light Angst (Mei) 𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺; Having a crush is hard, being desperate for love is harder. With too many ideals being pushed on Redson, he was desperate for a lover and didn't look into who he was dating. Wanting to destress and just have someone to come home too, Mk mistook friendly actions for loving ones. Too caught up in her mind about love, Mei never paid attention to the signs of discomfort from her lover. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴; It's angst season guys. In all seriousness, I really find this idea interesting and I'm happy that you requested this! I tried to go lighter on Mk, as I know he is a fan favorite by most of my readers, but that did not save me from being brutal with Redson. He's my favorite punching bag lmao (I kin him that's why) 𝘚𝘰𝘯𝘨; Angel by Pinkpantheress 𝘓𝘺𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘴; ,,'Cause one day, one day, my baby just went away'' 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵; 2.4k

With a groan of irritation, Redson merely stomped into his room and slammed his bedroom door shut, the noise reverbing through the castle. He had many fits of anger a day, but this one was much different than the ones he normally had. He was often mad at his parents, but he never expected them to be this strict with him.

They wanted him to find a partner, and soon, or else they will get rid of any chance of him taking the throne. It was something so stupid that he couldn't help but scream at. He had told his parents time and time again that he would find a lover, he just needed time. Finding someone and loving someone wasn't something that happened in the blink of an eye.

Sure, he would be able to find someone that could suit his needs for a while, but he didn't just want anyone. He wanted someone that he could actually care for, and someone that would care for him as well. Though, people like that nowadays seemed scarce and hard to find. However, there was a person he had in mind, regrettably.

He had met you a grand handful of times, and you were close to Mk and Mei, so that's how he came to know of you. You were practically glued to Mk's hip, so it wasn't hard to find out about you. At first, Redson thought you were Mk's sibling, that's how close the two of you were.

But, you were still available, and you were nothing short but kind to him. Sure, you had your moments where you would express hatred towards him, but all those times where valid. Most of the time, it was because he was on the side of the villain, so it was understandable.

With his choices running low and with no one else to go for, he decided to hunt you down and ask you out on a date. What he thought to be a quick fling to get his parents off his back turned into something deeper with him. Redson slowly caught himself not looking for other lovers, but instead kept his gaze set on you.

At first you were iffy about the whole dating thing, but slowly relaxed into it. Redson took this as a sign that you were growing comfortable with the relationship, that you changed your mind on him. Sure, you both had your moments where you would argue, but what couple doesn't argue?

Redson found himself slowly diving deeper into his ideals of love and fantasy, everything circling around you. He would give you gifts just to see the shocked reaction on you face, missing the awkward laughs that came from your throat. Redson didn't' really pay attention to these signs, as he had a firm belief that you would be the one for him.

As time went on though, he often found you trying to ditch out on dates or simple hangouts. At first, he didn't mind, as he was being pretty forcing on the whole relationship thing. But after a while, he slowly started to get suspicious of everything when you started making up the dumbest excuses to ditch out on him.

At first, he thought you were sneaking out to go hang out with Mk and Mei, only to find you laying in your bed on your phone. He confronted you a great many times about this, but you only responded with things like, "I was tired." "I got sick earlier." "I have a migraine." and other things of the sort.

Eventually, he had enough of you just skipping around dates that he had planned out and decided to address you himself. Upon entering your house, he found a very grim look on your face, it was as if you didn't want to see him at all. Redson just pushed past that fact and sat down right next to you, trying to reassure you that he wasn't mad with you.

What he though was going to be a smooth conversation ended up derailing and taking a turn for the worse. You ended up screaming at Redson, leaving him no room to talk or try to reason with you. He didn't realize how badly he had messed up the whole relationship thing until you screamed at him.

"I don't care about your status, or if you want to take the throne. I don't want to be apart of a big family like that. I only agreed to date you because I thought you had an actual interest in me, but it turns out you didn't. I never really liked you Redson, but I stuck with it because you looked so helpless by yourself."

If only he had looked into the details further, then maybe he wouldn't have gotten kicked out of your house. Now, you wouldn't even look at Redson anymore, and when you did, it was in the form of scowls and glares. He just wished he had taken into account of your feelings more.

You were one of Mk's best friends, and the two of you were attached by the hip. There was never a bad day whenever Mk had you around, even if he ended up injured. He would always come back to the noodle shop to find you sitting there anxiously, ready to patch up his new wounds.

Living the life of a hero was hard, and you knew that it was, so you tired your hardest to help Mk through his pains. Giving him relaxing baths, taking him on walks and even taking him out to dinner on multiple occasions. You were trying your hardest to be the best friend you could to Mk, to provide some kind of barrier he could rest upon.

However, there were two different thoughts running through your heads, none of them lining up with the same ideals. While you were trying to be a great friend, Mk mistook your actions as romantic ones. He thought that you were trying to show him that you had an interest in him, and he was ready to accept your feelings at full.

He always wanted a lover, but was too scared to go out and find one, merely out of fear of being rejected. He was also scared that his hero work would get in the way with his love life, so he often strayed away from it. That and he was scared that his lover would get caught up in the mess and end up hurt or dead. He didn't want that.

But with you, you were always at his side, as you were apart of the gang. You knew how to handle things on your own if you were ever detached from the main group. Sure, you came back with a few bumps and scratches, but you always managed to find your way back to the main group.

And when you weren't fighting or with the main group, you were often back at the noodle shop. You waited there for the gang to meet up there and have a bowl after their victories. From there, you would patch Mk's wounds and gave him a shoulder to lay on.

With the idea of you being so close to him, and the fact that your schedules wouldn't fight each other, he decided to shoot his shot. Mk was pleasantly surprised to hear the words, "Sure, we can try." come out of your mouth. He was a little to caught up in the moment to note the awkward smile on your face.

Mk tried his hardest to be the best lover that he could be to you, giving your gifts, hugs and kisses on the cheek. You always accepted them with strained smiles, but Mk often ignored that part. He barley had time to think things through, so it never crossed his mind to take things slow with you.

You were understanding and patient with Mk for a good long while, until it became unbearable. Mk was a sweet guy and he deserved a good lover, and you didn't believe that you were that person. You thought that you would be better off as Mk's friend, someone who stayed out of the main light.

Being Mk's lover meant that you were often tossed into the bright light of the world. Everywhere you turned, people recognized your face as that of Monkie Kid's lover. You didn't hate the attention, but it got to a point where it was merely unbearable.

So, you did what you had to, and decided to break things off with Mk. You had to thoroughly explain how great Mk was as a boyfriend, but that the attention was just too much. Mk's face slowly deflated the longer and longer you went on, his heart tugging in multiple directions.

"Mk, you're a super great guy, and you deserve nothing but everything good in the world. With that, you deserve a lover who actually wants to be with you. I don't see us as romantic partners, we are best friends at most, and I often saw you as a brother to me. And even if I didn't, the attention of being your lover is just too much for me."

Mk was understanding and took the breakup well on a surface level. The second you were gone though, he was a crying mess, cursing and hating himself for being so dumb to think you liked him like that. It took a while, but eventually, you guys got your friendship back to normal. But you don't miss the longing looks that Mk often gave you.

Mei loved reading books that involved romance, she especially loved the fantasy ones. The forbidden love trope was her favorite one, as she often found herself struggling to find a lover her parents enjoyed. She's dated a great handful of people, but neither of her parents approved of her choice.

Until one fateful day, she met you! She thought you were absolutely perfect, and her parents seemed to think the same. You also came from a family of dragons, but it wasn't a family that was linked to her own. Though you were used to a noble life and she was used to a carefree one, she still found a way to get in contact with you.

She took things slow, and started the two of you off as friends, seeing as you were someone who got uncomfortable easily. Once you decided to agree on the term 'friends' she was over joyed. From there on, she continued on with her plan to call you her lover.

Her parents were encouraging in her manners, and your parents were encouraging of Mei as well. Both sides kept you in the dark, which lead to many thoughts of confusion on your end. When Mei would randomly flirt with you or try to pin you, you would always blink it off. You thought it was a custom that non nobles performed in, so you had to awkwardly laugh the interaction off.

Mei would get confused when you did this, but only shook her head and continued on with her efforts. All the time she was trying to get her point across, you were left in the dark. Her parents and your own were currently trying to arrange something between you and Mei, only Mei being known of the plan.

Eventually, the big question slipped out when Mei asked you to be her lover. To say you were shocked would be right, as you didn't see this coming. You merely told her that you need a moment to think about it, but you should have an answer soon. Mei ignored that blatant red flag and skipped home with her heart already full of love for you.

You had a thorough discussion with your parents, to which they only encouraged you to accept the young dragons love. You thought it through on your own before agreeing to be her lover, watching as Mei jumped up and down with excitement. With that, she gave you a big hug, not only giving you great discomfort, but conflicted emotions.

You and Mei from there on out would schedule weekly dates, something that you really didn't mind at first. They started off as small dates where you would walk around the park or hang out at the others house. Slowly, they started to grow in size, going from hikes across a mountain, to dinner dates, to even using your dragon forms to fly across the sky.

Though these where all fun dates, sometime you would enjoy them and request the same kind of date again, there was still an odd feeling in you. You were certain that lovers don't feel this kind of way towards each other, so you went to ask you parents. When you told them about how you were feeling, you only got a harsh scolding from them.

After the conversation with your parents, you couldn't help but feel bad for Mei. She was falling in love with you, and you were not falling in love with her. Sure, you thought that eventually you would start feeling the same way with her, but as time went on it became obvious that you were not. It was not only hurting you on the inside, but it was going to end up hurting Mei.

No longer caring about your parents constant pleas to not break up with the girl, you called Mei over to your house. After apologizing about inviting her over on such short notice, you began your speech. The whole time Mei kept on a smile and nodded in reassuring ways.

"Mei, I appreciate your efforts on being a great girlfriend towards me, but I have something to confess. This whole time, I've felt slightly uncomfortable with your actions. I was fine with them when we were friends, as they seemed friendly. But now that we are lovers, I can't help but feel as if this whole thing is wrong. I'm sorry Mei, you don't deserve me, you deserve someone that actually loves you back."

Mei took the break up fine on the outside, but on the inside she was crying. The moment she got home, she threw herself into her room and cried until she couldn't feel anything else come out of her eyes. It took a good long while before Mei built up the courage to see you as a friend again, but when she did, she was happy that you agreed to still be friends. You were fun to hang around with, she's happy she didn't lose that.

I fear I've been getting too silly as of late.

[notafunkiller]

My honest opinion about Karen Page

I am genuinely curious how people can like Karen Page as a character and even ship her with Matt, because I don’t think I’ve disliked a character so much probably ever. Karen Page got on my nerves fast and, as I watched more episodes, it got even worse.

About her

For someone who is supposed to be smart (and the definition of good), she is very stupid. The way she thinks and chooses to act makes no sense 99% of the time. She is more of a bad character than a good one. Even her “sense of justice” is flawed, with many double standards (a subject I will touch on especially when I’ll describe her relations with Matt Murdock and Frank Castle). She is arrogant, troublesome, and headstrong, she calls herself and is considered a journalist despite her lack of real experience (law experience too!!! -> so why is she now included in the firm name? SINCE WHEN IS SHE A LAWYER? I could not believe it!)

She is written in a very annoying way and flat. She is a flat character in the first place (=two-dimensional in doesn’t change throughout the work), kept around for 3 seasons (+The Defenders) for no other reason than the fact she is problematic. But she isn’t necessarily needed for creating drama if we had more villain(s) scenes and plans. She is boring and whiny, and she has a pick-me attitude most of the time. She is not just impulsive, but also extremely FOOLISH (the way she decides to go to Fisk and spill out in his face she killed Wesley... I was like: seriously?) And the writers make other characters praise her... I still find is shocking Matt only said she was brave for what she did. She is VERY judgmental and noisy and thinks the world revolves around her (The fact that when she came to Matt in S2 and found Stick and a very visibly hurt Elektra in his bed, she did not ask a goddamn thing like what happened? instead everything was about her and how she is betrayed. But like another man was in the room, you think he cheated on you with him there? Absolutely ridiculous.) But she loves to play the victim a lot, so I am not surprised.

I don’t know how the writers thought a pretty, angelic face can make the audience (and the characters) ignore her lack of development (zero) and the horrible things she does/provokes. She caused deaths and yet the writers still make others find excuses for her and not blame her.

NewsFlash: SHE IS DARK AND SHE LOVES DARKNESS. I am not even talking about a side, she is completely into PURE DARKNESS with only 1% of light.

When out of the blue, she decided to murder James Wesley despite him only threatening her, it was like ???  And she did not shoot him one time, she did it 7 times. SEVEN. And she did not even try to be cautious (locking the firm door was a joke, right? Cause I refuse to believe writers consider the audience so stupid) and caused another death: Ben, a real journalist she dragged around with her despite him wanting a way out. Fisk killed him with his own hands and Ben didn’t tell him Karen (who is the one who came up with the idea) also visited his mother. We don’t see justice, we only see her being treated as a victim again. And she didn’t even actually help to get Fisk in prison in S1 and in S2 she is a babysitter (Foggy and Matt’s) and a murderer defender (*pretending to be shocked*). S3? I was surprised by how much screen time she had (+A WHOLE EPISODE ABOUT HER)... sometimes more than Matt and it made me so unhappy because this screen time could have been used to build more. For me, the second half of S3 is not even centered on Matt.

And she caused the death of another character, a pivotal person in Matt’s life: Father Lantom and we don’t talk enough about this. I am also not surprised Maggie and her get along, they are both two selfish, horrible people who think a few tears are enough to be excused.

The writers tried to make her relevant, but they failed. The way she was basically forced down my throat made me see her flaws even more. She is not even a character than has enough traits to be a part of the main team. In S1, the contrast between her and Claire was huge (and Claire was just a supportive character). And it’s funny how they changed the love interests - direction. At first, we saw Foggy and her bonding, Ms. Cardenas hinted about them being romantically involved, but then they literally ignored that and started to focus on Karen with Matt, then Karen and Frank (still unfinished business), and a little more on Karen and Matt again, but the show on Netflix got canceled. To be honest, the last thing I wanted and want is to see Matt and Karen together.

Not gonna lie, I expected and wanted her death at the church because she is literally pointless, but it didn’t come. It would have been a surprise if they actually did it as in the comics. It would have impacted Matt and Foggy, and Matt’s decision not to kill Fisk at the end of the season would have been even more powerful and meaningful.

One of her defining features is hypocrisy. Matt is the bad guy for keeping secrets from her, but her hiding and lying, for example not telling him and Foggy about Wesley is okay. Matt being Daredevil and not killing people is not fine, but Frank being The Punisher (a freaking cold blood murderer) is more than fine. She was so happy when Matt defended him in court... it’s insane! She can be a bad friend, a liar, etc because she is special. It was hilarious when she started to give advice to Matt about how you change after ending someone's life. Shocking! And poor her, how she isn’t the same after her brother died because of her. See how she positions herself as the victim again?

It’s also very interesting how at first she tells matt (S3) she came to warn him Fisk knows about him, leaving out the part she basically told Wilson that he is Daredevil, and only later she plays semi-victim again and says she is to blame, and, OF COURSE, Matt says Fisk already knew (which is actually pretty false: he assumed, but it was never 100% confirmed) and comforts her basically. It’s absolutely infuriating how Karen messes up every freaking time and everyone goes: oh, poor you, you’re an angel, it’s okay, it’s not your fault. I am even more disappointed how the writers didn’t make Matt even have a proper reaction to her admitting she killed someone. S2 and S3 feel like two completely different writing approaches, and even though the plot in S2 made me think: IS THIS A JOKE?, Matt and the characters building speaking, it was soooo much better (not the love triangle thing though, because both: Elektra and Karen don’t deserve Matt and are horrible in two different ways).

She is a manipulative, self-centered, and dramatic person. We saw her past (drug addiction too) and how easily she can make the decision to kill someone, but she never actually faces real consequences. Her father kept it underground and Matt still protected her from Fisk.

Karen around Matt Murdock/Daredevil and Frank Castle/The Punisher

Matt and Karen not only don’t have chemistry (Charlie and Deborah have plenty of chemistry with other people), but they also don’t match at all no matter how much the fans and the writers push(ed) the idea.

Karen does not want Matt Murdock (she liked the idea of him at some point, but not the real him), and she certainly doesn’t want Daredevil, which is quite funny (Remember when she was obsessed with the idea of him, but when she found out it’s Matt, she wasn’t interested any longer?). Should I even talk about the way she wanted Matt to stop being Daredevil and not even for a second tried to support or/and understand him? SHE didn’t want him to be Daredevil so he should stop. Even when Foggy brought him the suit in The Defenders, she was annoyed. She doesn’t understand that her boss/friend/almost-boyfriend has two sides, just like Elektra tried to have only one side of him. Matt isn’t just Matt. I really loved the She-Hulk posters for Matt: Charlie Cox is Matt Murdock & Matt Murdock is Daredevil. Do you see? It’s such an important thing. Daredevil/Matt isn’t dark enough for her. He isn’t what she wants. 

And Karen doesn’t have the same moral code as Matt does (even when he thought about killing Fisk to protect the people close to him). They don’t see the world in a similar way and they never will. I don’t think Matt and Karen would have ever lasted even if Elektra wasn’t around, they are too different. She is dark, like Elektra. She wanted to change him, like Elektra. She doesn’t accept him as a whole, like Elektra. But, at least, Elektra accepted how toxic and bad she is for him. Karen is portrayed as a victim and a great, great person, as I said.

S2 had this scene in episode 7 that made it clear to me that Karen and Matt could and MUST never be together. I don’t even know if I have to explain, the dialogue is quite clear:

Not only Karen stood up for Frank Castle (who almost got her killed, killed so many people, and should be in jail), but she also compared his actions to Daredevil’s actions. She justifies murder probably because she did it too. Matt and Karen are in opposite positions and the message is loud: they could never be together. Not killing people is the fundamental principle Daredevil/Matt has, the one that makes him who he is actually. Things would be completely different if he actually took someone’s life (bad or not) for lawyer Matt and Daredevil.

For Matt: Vengeance isn’t justice and no person is God so he can decide who lives and who dies. In She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (1x08), Matt tells Jennifer: I think you’re in a unique position to do some real good. Jen Walters can use the law to help people when society fails them. She-Hulk can help people when the law fails them; which reminds me of his talk with Foggy in S1 when he finds out Matt is Daredevil:

It shows his views didn’t change and it’s quite moving to see Matt giving someone else (someone in the same position as he is) this piece of advice. It shows he finally accepted he has two sides, despite everyone else’s attempts to control him.

Their date in S2 started as quite a disaster: in a place Matt despites, awkward, and tensed, and then Elektra called! It was clear what the writers wanted to show (despite them having a better date later) and it was also clear Matt wasn’t 100% healed and that Karen and Matt were never going to be serious. So no matter how much they tries in the seconds part of S3 to push Karen and Matt closer, it looked forced, out of the place. Especially since she felt something for Frank Castle and the things that happened in the first part of the season.

Also, I can’t believe the writers made Matt reveal his face to Agent Nadeem cause he saved Karen’s life. This is infuriating.

And as much as Matt probably likes the idea of peaceful life, he would never be happy with Karen, nor make her happy. Because there will always be that Murdock side of him she will never understand just like it will always be the killer side of her he would never understand.

Matt: You deserve better, Karen… Karen: So do you...  (The Defenders, 1x05)

Frank, on the other hand, and her match. Crazy, right? But they did from day 1, even in the worst situations. She always felt drawn to him and she did not use the innocent facade as she did with Matt (Can you believe she kind of blamed him for not telling him the truth about Wesley cause he saw her as an innocent person?). She was there for him, he was there for her. They were attracted to each other (despite him still being emotionally unavailable because he is scared he’d lose her). She would rather be with him than with Matt 100% because they are similar. She had the nerve to defend his actions and mindset in Matt’s house after all. But they really match and I really believe she should be with him and live somewhere far away from Hell’s Kitchen.

Frank: I need to find these b*stards that took 'em from me. I gotta kill 'em. Karen: So where does that end, Frank? Because I look at you and... my heart breaks because all I can see is just this endless, echoing loneliness. Frank: I'm not lonely, Karen. Karen: Bullsh*t. We are all lonely. I sometimes think that that is all that life is, we're just... We're just fighting not to be alone. Frank: So what do you want? What should I do? Should I let it go? Karen: No, but I want there to be an after. For you. (The Punisher, 1x05)

In conclusion, Karen Page is not a good character despite the writers’ efforts to show otherwise. She puts everyone in danger and never pays for her mistakes and actions.

P.S. I will say this again: no, she did not deserve to be next to Nelson and Murdock: Attorneys At Law.

[wereballs69]

Okay, but seriously: I don't think Kunikida is dead.

Evidence #1: Asagiri has yet to seriously kill of major characters on screen. Trust in his inability to kill off any character.

Evidence #2: ...?

Evidence #3: yeah... maybe I am delusional.

Evidence #4: We saw this once before at the beginning of the Decay of the Angels plotline when the ADA was on the run from the Hunting Dogs. Kunikida blew himself up to ensure the rest got away, paralelling him this intant where he ensured Tanizaki could flee.

Ranpo says about Kunikida in Chapter 48, right after his actions have resulted in the death of a small child: "You are the noblest, strongest member of the agency. That's why our enemy tried to break you first."

I know it's not entirely sound to reason the way that I'm about to, but to me, it would entirely destroy the themes and message of Bungo Stray Dogs if Asagiri let Kunikida die.

The villains - Dostoyevsky, especially, but also many smaller villains - are keen on destroying Kunikida's morals, his sense of good. But Bungo Stray Dogs is nothing but a hopeful story. It's not sinister (hence why Asagiri is so reluctant in disposing of characters).

The implication of good felled down by the divine Ame-no-gozen doesn't sit right with me. Recall Dazai and Dostoyevsky's discussion about God. Dostoyevsky wants to purge sinners, Dazai laughs and tells him God doesn't care about perfection. Dazai also says at one point: "Certainly people are sinfully stupid. But what's so wrong about that?"

I can't imagine it's Asagiri's intent to just let Kunikida die. He is hope. He is goodness. He isn't supposed to be dead in the end (else he'd just occupy the same space Odasaku does).

The most important aspect of Kunikida's character to me is his ability to rise again. We're told he used to sob about cases. He cried three days before the big ADA reunion in Anne's room. He is broken often. Yet he continues to live on.

And that's why, ladies and other gentlefolk, I think Kunikida will live.

[almacambiondaughterofsaleos]

This Video Misses The Point Why People Have Issues With The Val Fandom

The creators and fans wants us to hate him for what he does to Angel Dust, but at the same time tries hard to treat him like a harmless funny villain which is tone deaf. The problem is that there is a cutification going on that is making people even overlook his actions because he's their main character. Seriously, a lot of merch fetishes his abusive tendencies so no it's not unproblematic when there is a fanbase with a pandering creator trying to bank on the horrible stuff this guy does. I have laugh at these guys who say he's etertaining and well written a lot of these stans really have some stupid pills going for them.

Again what personality does he have that isn't a one note caricature of a pimp. Heck, he's not even a scumbag you can see as the reason why he has Angel on a leash. He's just a manbaby who needs to be coddled which is stupid and just "Screams Of Silence" levels of bad writing when it comes to abuse. Abusers can be smart and one thing I notice is that this series depicts them all as dumb and not realize that is counterproductive. Seriously, even if Charlie is nice it's dump to piss off the Princess Of Hell who could (should) smite him on the spot for licking her.

There is also the fact that he's paired with Angel Dust in often erotic ways with again a lot of noncon going on which again goes against the supposed message about abuse. It's again showing how tone deaf this series can be and it feels they want to win rewards for depiction without actually putting effort. And again the inconsistent writing doesn't help because he goes from a joke to threatening which is jarring and hurts again how are we supposed to take the guy seriously.