#she makes me sad she deserved so much better

[vaguely-concerned]

thinking about not only the specific people lucanis pulls in to represent the 'locks' in his psyche, but the storytelling that happens in the structure/order of them. the underlying ideas are presented something like:

the lucanis who went into the ossuary never came back out again; he died down there (the boy caterina raised is gone forever) -> you're putting yourself in danger doing this (by being close to me), you should leave because I can't bear it if you get hurt because of me -> it doesn't matter even if we do try this, it won't work anyway (again because of me) ('you know what he's like, you can open the door but he won't walk through it' :'( oofie doofie) -> what if the real secret is that there was never anything but the monster in here from the beginning. you should leave, there was never anything here worth saving in the first place. (implicitly: what if I deserved what happened, all along.)

it runs pretty cleanly from outward-oriented attachment anxiety ('caterina won't even want me back like this, she won't recognize me (the same way I no longer recognize myself)) and gradually deeper inwards until we reach self-image and self worth. or you know, the harrowing basic lack of it lol.

"careful -- they'll know we're not right," spite says in one of their first scenes... but clearly, some very deep part of lucanis has feared or suspected for much longer than that that there's something inherently not right at the core of him, way before any demon entered the picture. and the voice he gives those lines to is the person who should know him better than anyone in the world, who he has loved more than anyone in the world -- and who deliberately chose to hurt him so horrifically anyway. 'It's better if I'm just a monster and deserved what happened than it is to allow for the idea that the brother I love doesn't really exist and maybe never did'. it's better if he's fundamentally flawed in some way that needed fixing to help him survive, and that's why caterina chose to hurt him again and again -- out of love. (this one I think he might have a very sad wakeup call on one day if he ever ends up with the responsibility and care of a child of his own in some way and realizes just how alien the idea of ever intentionally hurting them for any reason is to him. oh buddy. also interesting that he keeps caterina as the outermost lock -- there IS a distance he keeps there that he hasn't with illario. he doesn't resent her 'anymore' he says, but he also keeps her carefully further away from his deepest self.)

as far as I could tell the only note in the mind prison that's fully hidden and needs to be uncovered is the sad painful helpless stupid little truth that even after all this, even knowing what happened... he still loves his brother. is there anything illario could ever do that would make lucanis completely stop loving him, do you think? sometimes the trouble with unconditional love is that it is, well. unconditional, even when some terms and conditions probably would have been in order haha.

that's the pattern you see there again and again; he would rather destroy and abandon and imprison himself at every turn than let go of love, even when it's just scraps, even when there's only ever enough of it to hurt him. it's only when rook shows up and as it were takes his hand and walks along with him that he can entertain the idea of changing the story of what walking out the door might mean in the end.

[scar-lie]

Omega Pt. 17 (Natasha)

Summary : you starting to reconcile?? To Natasha

Pairing : Alpha ! Natasha Romanoff x Omega ! Fem ! Reader

Warning : sad, panic attack, shout, hurt Natasha

Word count : 2,648

Too tired and lazy to write the murder/kidnapping/torture scene eheheh

Cherrylemontober

NO one has permission to repost my work anywhere, if you see it please let me know.

This is one of those days again where out of nowhere your tears are falling and you are being hormonal again, making you cry just at Natasha’s departure, and again, Wanda always knew that’s why she’s here, sitting with you on your balcony, offering silent comfort while the pups are sleeping peacefully on their bassinets after their 15 minutes of wailing again.

"Hey, are you okay? "Wanda asked when she saw that your tears had dried and you were just looking into the sky, completely lost in your thoughts, so she nudged you, making you get out of your deep thoughts.

“What? ”You look at Wanda with fresh tears running down your checks.

“I lost you for a minute there, you ok?”You sniff and nod at her and give her a smile.

“Yeah…yeah a little. I just really miss her, and I think the pups too.” Wanda nodded, understanding the situation.

I mean, you're just starting to let your guard down again and letting Natasha in; you’re getting comfortable with her and, of course, the pups too, so the sudden absence of Natasha for over a week and a few days takes a toll on you and the pups.

“If it makes you feel better, I made you some cookies.” You smile at her and nod.

“Cookies sound nice,” you mumble and stand up to go downstairs to eat the cookies and some fruits before the pups wake up.

But the sudden opening of the door with force that makes a loud sound when it hits the wall makes you jump out of your skin and ready to protect and run to your pups, but when you see it's Natasha who’s standing in the bedroom door, you sigh in relief that it’s not an intruder.

"Hi,” Natasha pants, putting down the duffel bag she’s carrying on her shoulder and smiling at you.

But you didn’t meet her expectation, you running to her and hugging her—no, but instead—you just stand in your position, looking at her coldly. You don’t know what to say, do, or feel... but you know that you’re angry at her. That’s why you slap her right on the check when you get close to her, making Natasha speechless and shocked.

“Ok...” Natasha mumbled, looking at your teary eyes, that you refused to run down your cheeks.

“I deserve that,” then another slap right after she finishes her sentence, and this is the signal for Wanda to quietly walk out, pups following behind her with her magic, and give you two some space.

“And that,” she looked down at you again with an apologetic look, analyzing your reaction and body language, looking for any since you don’t want her in your room; in your nest.

“I hate you,” you said with gritted teeth, and a tear ran down your right cheek. Natasha swallowed the lump on her throat, cursing herself to ruin her family again, but she wouldn’t change a thing if she went back in time, and she was not sorry for what she did.

“I’m sorry,” Natasha mumbles, not stepping forward to give you space that you might want and need, but instead you're the one who steps forward and starts to punch her chest.

“I hate you, I hate you, I hate you! "You keep chanting while punching her chest; Natasha just let you get out all your frustrations on her until you are tired; your punches are getting weak until you come to a stop.

Tears are running down your eyes while you look down; your shoulders are shaking because of the sobs you're making. Natasha slowly wrapped her arms around you, giving you time to react if you want to push her away or let her embrace you.

Instead you let her, your hands resting on her chest, leaning forward to have her warm body against you that you missed so much for over the past few days, your hands slowly traveling up to wrap around her neck, crying on her collarbone.

“Sshgh, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Malyshka,” Natasha whispers sweetly in your ear while rubbing your back and the back of your head.

When you didn't move nor stop crying, Natasha felt that all your weight was on her now, so she supported your body, kissed your forehead, and picked you up, closing the door with her foot and bringing you to the bed.

"Hey, hey, hey,” Natasha whispered, putting you on her lap when she sat on the bed, leaning on the headboard, hands gripping her sleeves, afraid she would leave again or maybe you're just hallucinating.

“Hey, Malyshka, look at me,” Natasha cupped your face and made you look at her when you're getting hard to breathe.

"Breath, Malyshka, breathe...” Natasha then gently put your head on her chest, making you listen to her heartbeat and feel her chest rising and falling, indicating for you to follow her.

“Follow my breathing, Malyshka,” she whispers, kissing your head and starting to inhale and exhale.

You nodded and focused your senses on Natasha, how she breathes, smells, feels, and how warm she is. You tried to follow her breathing, but when Natasha noticed it wasn't working, she quickly sang a Russian lullaby that Melina used to sing to her and Yelena.

When you hear her sing, you automatically focus on her voice, distracting you until you finally calm down, sniffling, and your shoulder shoke a little, but the tears finally come to a stop, making you sleepy until you pass out on her arms.

“I’m sorry, Malyshka,” Natasha whispers, laying you down gently, then going behind you and spooning you.

“I love you..so much, Malyshka.” You feel the shift of the bed and Natasha behind you, so you groan a little, turning around and gripping her shirt and nuzzling your face on her neck, under her chin, then you back into deep slumber, making Natasha follow soon.

—

You slowly open your eyes, groaning when you hear a faint crying, blinking your eyes to see more clearly and get yourself together, remembering what happened before you fell asleep.

“Natty? "You sat up; fear was evident in your eyes when you realized and saw that Natasha was no longer lying down beside you or anywhere around the room.

“Natty? "You called out again, getting out of the comfort of your bed, putting your slippers on to go proceed in the bathroom or the walk-in closet.

“Natasha? "Your panic got even worse when you didn't see her anywhere around the room, so you quickly ran out, heart pounding on your chest.

“Do you see Natasha? "You asked Sam when you saw him walking in the corridor, sweaty and out of breath.

“Uhm…no, I just got home from a...” You didn't let him finish you; quickly walk past him.

Going down to the common room just to find no trace of the redhead you've been looking for made you devastated, heartbreaking at the thought of her leaving again.

You're lips quiver, but you stop yourself to cry, so you go back to your room, head down low with a slumped shoulder, trying not to break down. Not at least you're in the comfort of your room, but instead you go to the witch room to see your pups and distract you for a moment.

“Wands? "You knock before you open her door, hearing the soft giggle of your pups, and when you open the door, you see them in the air with Wanda's magic surrounding them and Wanda entertaining them.

“Who's that? I think I heard Mommy calling "Wanda gasp, making them giggle a little louder.

“Hey, Y/N, what's up? "Wanda brought them down, and you sat besides her.

“Nothing, just wanted to be with these little cuties.” You smile at them and tickle them.

“You sure? "You nodded, not meeting the witch's eyes.

“Do you miss Mommy, huh? "You ask in the baby voice, and you make a face that makes them happy; you could feel Wanda’s eyes on you.

"And...” you look at the clock, seeing that it's near their naptime.

“It's nap time.” You give her a smile.

“You sure, you ok? "You hummed and nodded at her.

“Yeah, why wouldn't I be? "With that, you stood up, took the two pups, and came back to get the other.

—

Natasha sigh of relief when she finally got back from different stores. She does not want to leave the bed when she's so comfortable with you in her arms, but she also wants to do something special, simple but special, as a form of apologies and to just spoil you and the pups from now and to the near future.

She looks down at the bags she's holding, and only now she realizes how many she bought, but hey, who's complaining? No one, so she should be good.

“It's for then anyway,” she mumbles to herself while shrugging her shoulders and going to the kitchen to put down everything she bought on the kitchen island.

She started to short out everything she bought: foods, mostly your favorites, and a cheeseburger with onion rings and fries with some nuggets; baby clothes and their shoes; and a flower for you.

“I think I bought too much,” she mumbled, seeing all the things she bought, especially the food.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Is Y/N awake? "Natasha asks, putting back everything in their bags and proceeding to your bedroom.

“She is Ms. Romanoff.” Natasha smiles and runs up to your room, knocking at your door before she enters with a smile.

But her smile faded when she saw your side profile with tears freely falling and a tired expression while looking down at the three pups, already asleep on the bed.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's wrong? "She quickly put down the bag and rushed to you, but before she could take you in her arms, you looked at her with pain in your eyes.

“STOP! "You put your hand up to make her stop.

“Hey, what's wrong? "She whispers softly that all you want to do is cave in and just feel her warmth again, but you shake your head.

“Stop, please, just don't.” Natasha stopped trying to reach out to her and stare at you; her heart was aching when she saw how hurt and scared you look.

“Please stop; she's not here; she's just my hallucinations.” You keep mumbling to yourself while gripping your hair, tugging the ruts of your hair.

“Hey hey, it's me; I’m real, Dekta, hey hey hey,” Natasha softly whispered, cupping your face and making you look at her.

“It's me, Dekta, I’m real,” you grip her wrist, tears slowly running down your cheeks while analyzing her facial structure.

“Natty? "You whispered, she whispered. Yes, for a moment you want to relish the warmth coming from her hand, but it quickly faded when you remember what happened a week ago.

You shake your head, taking her hand away from you, and quickly slap her across the face, leaving her stunt in her spot, eyes widening and confused.

“Get. Out,” you whisper, trying to suppress your sob and look away from her.

“Y/N-” you push her shoulder, but it takes more than a push and your strength to completely push her off.

“Now! "You growl, glaring at her. Natasha swallows the lump on her throat and nods, looking down.

“I’ll give you some space,” she whispers, and she proceeds to leave the room with a heavy heart. Natasha takes a deep breath and pinches the bridge of her nose when the door is already closed.

“You ok? "Natasha looked up and saw Wanda just get out of her room.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. "Wanda takes a moment to take in what was going on, and by the devastated look on Natasha, leaning on your closed door, she takes it that it didn't go well with you two, so she walks forward and taps Natasha's shoulder with a small, soft smile.

“Give her a moment; she's not emotionally stable at the moment.” Natasha taps Wanda's arm as a sign of saying thanks.

With that, Wanda proceeds to go down to meet Vision for their afternoon stroll, and for Natasha, she stays at your door, waiting if you ever come out, which is not long after.

Natasha remains on the other side, not wanting to invade your personal space, but her eyes never leave you.

“I...” You look down with a frown while fidgeting your hand, and you slowly walk toward her.

“Does it hurt? ”Mumble and lean on her front when you come face to face to her and make her arms wrap around your body.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble, wrapping your arms around her waist while you buried your face on her boobs.

“It's not; don't worry.” Natasha tightens her hold on you and kisses your head.

“I’m sorry too, for leaving just like that,” Natasha hesitates to tell you, but when you look up at her with those doe eyes, even if you try to hide it, Natasha clearly sees how upset, sad, and scared you are.

“I couldn't let them on the loose, knowing they could be around, wanting to hurt you again or the pups,” Natasha whispered, not proud of what she actually did; she wouldn't change any of what she did.

“What did you do? "You look up at her and make a small space between you two to actually look in her face.

“I go after them with Yelena... and kill them,” Natasha whispers, looking down at the floor, wanting to hide from you.

“You killed them? ”Your eyes widen, shocked by what you heard. You took a step back to ground yourself.

“I-” you quickly lift her shirt, looking for any sign of bruise, cut, or any damage around her body.

“Are you hurt? ”You asked in a shaky voice, and you quickly took your hands off of her when she winced when you touched her ribs, looking up at her, worried and concerned.

“I might have a broken rib,” she whispers, lifting her shirt more, and there you see a big bruise right below her left boob.

“And a few bruises on my back.” You turn her around and make her lift her shirt at the back, and you gasp when you see 3 big bruises.

“Then what the hell are you doing here? You idiot,” you shove her shoulder when she turns around to face you, but she winces again.

"Sorry,” you whispered and took her hand.

“You should be in the hospital; why didn’t you go there first, huh? ”You scold her for pushing the elevator button.

“I want to—” you’re not taking her excuses and continue scolding her.

“What if you’re bleeding internally? What if you pass out suddenly? Or worse..you—” Natasha took your face on her hands and made you look up at her; she caressed your cheeks and softly smiled at you.

“I’m fine; it's just bruises; I’ve had it worse.” Your lips tremble, and you hit her chest again.

“I hate you; you know that! "You sob when the elevator door closes and Natasha quickly pulls the emergency button to stop the elevator.

“I hate you for leaving; I hate you for being such a hardheaded; I hate you... I hate you! "You wipe your tears with the back of your hand.

“But I love you, and you're hurt,” Natasha's heart flattered, taking you in her arms.

“I’m sorry, I promise. I’ll never leave again. I’ll stay by your side forever, whatever happens. I'm sorry. I’m sorry, my Omega.” She kisses your forehead and pets your head.

“You're going to see Dr. Cho, end of discussion, ok?"You look up at her, and she nodded, pressing the emergency button.

“Whatever makes you feel comfortable and at peace, I’ll do it,” you nodded, hugging her back gently, not wanting to hurt her further.

[raccoon-in-the-danger-room]

getting pissed about the love triangle again, so here are my ramblings

I hate it cause everyone's characterization gets fucked over implicitly because each of them turn into the worst versions of themselves

Jean is labeled as the slut. A dull and one-dimensional plot device to Logan's angst, an apathetic cheater to Scott's pain

Scott is labeled as the loser. A butt of the joke to Logan's "victory" (I hate even saying it cause Jean isn't a prize but thats how writers hype it up), a guy who's pathetic enough to still be there whenever Jean wants him again

Logan is labeled as the homewrecker. A man Jean "can fix" because of her psychic abilities, an absolute asshole in Scott's story

Everything about the love triangle infuriates me cause they're all such amazing characters for one thing, not to mention their relationships with one another

Like I can't stress enough how much I LOVE Jean and Scott's love. In most narratives, they were high school sweethearts. They were the first students and a part of the first team. They fell hopelessly and deeply in love with each other because how couldn't they!

They were kids tormented by how freakish they were, and each one of them held onto the other to become their anchor. Echoing sentiments like "no, you're not a freak, you're just YOU and there's nothing wrong with that."

Also, it's so cute in the very original run of xmen Scott didn't ask out Jean for AGES and ppl bullied the absolute fuck outta him for it. Cause Scott's whole thing was that he never thought he was good enough for her. But Jean waited for him. And idk what to say other than that Imma real sucker for friends to lovers and the power of being an absolute simp for your girl

As for their friendships with Logan -- it makes me so sad that it's soooooooooo overshadowed or even nonexistent cause of the love triangle

Cause Jean being there for Logan when he's dealing with his memory loss IS really sweet. If romance is taken out of the equation, I think it's such a powerful testament to their platonic love for each other. Logan allowing Jean into his mind and knowing she won't think less of him is incredibly vulnerable on his part. Jean persisting to help him because she cares about him and emphasizing he IS more man than animal is so deeply kind of her

But they shouldn't be in romantic love with each other because of this. It creates an INSANE "I love my therapist -- I mean girlfriend -- I mean Scott's girlfriend" vibe. Just...... gross dude.

As for Scott and Logan's friendship, they're so funny dude. Just a slapstick good cop, bad cop comedy duo. Eagle scout uncle that gives you genuinely good life advice and that weird uncle who smokes cigs, rides a bike, and tells you how to punch properly so you don't break your hand

They just have SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be good friends and it makes me genuinely sad that all three of them are forced into a love triangle. They're all such interesting ppl that are unique opposing or foil characters to each other

They all deserve better than to be the slut, the homewrecker, and the loser

[astrofhobia]

I tried to help you.

We were never brothers. Pretending our relationship worked was what ended it. You never cared about me, I was aware of that to a certain extent. I pretended to care about you even if you knew better.

You got angry because of that, no, you didn't get angry because I pretended to care about you, you got angry because I wasn't honest with you, because I didn't tell you absolutely everything that was going on in my head.

Maybe things would have been different if they had treated you well, you were alone, trapped in someone else's mind, you felt pain but never showed it.

You were always very proud, Eclipse.

I tried to please you many times, staying extremely still in those analyzes that you did to me all the time. Until now I don't know why you made them. Was something wrong with me? Were you afraid Moon would take control? I guess you'll keep that secret until you actually die.

I was looking for a way to feed your ego and please you because it made me sad that you were alone without anyone congratulating your achievements. You always made me feel sorry for you. You can deceive yourself but you cannot deceive others. You were an artist deceiving others but you never knew how to continue with your lies and people came out of the threads you built around them. You tricked Moon and he tricked you, you tried to bully Sun and he bullied you. You killed me and I killed you.

Don't blame yourself. No one was really nice to you, no wonder you were so cold and empathetic towards me. Until Earth arrived.

She really changed your perception of people, right? You know, I love her, she's my sister. Nothing will make me hate her.

But I'm jealous of her.

She managed to get you out of your bubble without trying, it only took a few soft words for you to stop considering her a threat. You stopped seeing her as a hunting animal, you saw her as a friend.

I tried that many times. But the only thing I received was slaps and insults. You changed with others, but you never did with me.

That's my problem.

I tried to pretend that I didn't care about you. I regretted many times yelling at you, hitting you or disappointing you. I erased those feelings over and over again but they always came back.

I felt like you deserved a hug, a "I'm sorry" many times but I was never able to say it.

I was terrified that you would leave me. All those tests, I was so worried that you would leave me alone like they had left me... But my obsession with the star led me astray.

Maybe if I had been nice to you things would have been different. I mocked you when you betrayed me. But that really hurt me, my own creation stabbed me in the back.

I would have done it too if my creator abused me like that...

I'm not the Eclipse who treated you like that but I don't know how to talk to you without my larynx shutting down. I want to treat you better but our relationship is at the bottom of the sea and I don't know how to start a conversation without sinking further.

At the moment Earth appeared I was so hated by everyone, I was scared when she appeared, she didn't attack me, she didn't ignore me, she tried to be on good terms with me because she didn't know me. He knew what he had done, what he had done to you. But she still approached. She said I could have a second chance if I wanted.

I guess that's when I understood that I could improve.

I moved because I had done so much damage here that trying to walk near daycare or your family became extremely anxious and I hated that feeling.

When I got here I expected everyone to hate me. But apparently, this place is so different and the same at the same time. I feel at home but very far from there.

I try to start something new here, I want to get away from the problems but those problems are still there.

That's my problem.

But I still want to help you.

[s1lly-gh02tz]

Random stuff from today + my unfinished Fiddauthor snow men 👅

[operationandre]

how do you think rachel would've reacted after seeing cal and andre's crosses burnt down to ash? i've been wondering this for a bit now and i just wanted to ask

rachel would be furious. she wouldn’t be angry. she wouldn’t be frustrated. furious. she would be shaking with anger the moment she saw footage of the crosses burning on the news.

the nights that she had spent at cal and andre’s crosses, placing roses at the base of the wooden sculptures, the conversations she had with the memories of them—all gone, all pointless.

her parents would try to comfort her, saying that those crosses weren’t their actual graves, but she would storm out of the house. her friends would say she shouldn’t feel bad, that cal was a piece of shit and that she didn’t like andre in the first place.

rachel would isolate herself, thinking no one understood her. no one knew cal like she did, other than andre, and he was gone.

she had changed her mind on andre, by the way. even though it was obvious he was a bad person, apparently cal was too. but if cal had loved andre so much to perpetrate zero day with him, she realized there must be something to love about the dark haired boy.

[sysig]

Wuh oh (Patreon)

Bonus:

The novel experience of being crushed by a giant rock, a visual metaphor

[descendintorantness]

least argumentative mal stan… (JOKE. JOKING THIS IS A JOKE I PROMISE.)

you got me!!! i’m actually an evil anti-feminist who hates women :( /sar

No defense for excusing the love spell, I see…

"it truly makes ME sick that you can be so hateful towards a teenage girl!” I’m a teenager. I spent most of my teenage years as a teenage girl, and a a victim of many of the forms of abuse that Mal employs. Hating Mal is a coping mechanism for me, and she is not real. Directing my anger onto her doesn’t harm anyone and I find it fun to critically engage with the media in this way. It’s funny to me that you’re trying to take some moral high-ground by calling me out for hating on a fictional teenage girl (Mal) when you also hate on a fictional teenage girl (Audrey).

"A teenage girl who grew up abused and was morally taught to do all the wrong things for her mother's attention and affection.” You know who’s also a teenage girl who grew up emotionally abused and taught to do morally questionable things as a way to get her caretaker (Queen Leah’s) attention and affection? Audrey.

"She didn't know any better.” Didn’t know any better is crazy because Mal's intentions were actively malicious. She was trying to hurt Ben and Auradon and take over the kingdom. “Not knowing any better” implies that the harm caused by her actions wasn’t intentional, when it explicitly was.

"Furthermore, Mal exhausted every other option before turning to the love spell.” Really? From what I saw, the love spell was not a very thought out decision. There was no real reason that Mal had to spell Ben. She tried, from your examples, three things before turning to the love spell? How does that make the love spell the last option (/gen question)? In my opinion, their attempt to break into the museum barely counted as an attempt to steal the wand given how poorly thought out it was. Her attempts to get the wand through Jane didn’t really go much farther than that one conversation in the bathroom from what I remember. While drugging Ben might be the 'easiest' option, that doesn't mean that it's not an awful thing to do. Spelling Ben was truly awful, and Mal decided to do it about two seconds after she learned that Ben's girlfriend gets to sit in the front row during the coronation (which didn't even help her much, since Jane, who wasn’t sitting next to Ben, managed to get the wand before Mal did). And to be honest, I don’t give a shit even if it was her only possible course of action. It was horrible to completely strip him of his autonomy in that way, and I can’t stand attempts to forgive or justify it. Ben deserves the truth about why she really cast the spell (to get the wand), he deserves a real apology, and he deserves to be recognized as a victim.

"What, did you think Maleficent would just take them failing in her plan lightly?” Maleficent was trapped on the Isle, with no feasible way of getting off besides the Core Four’s plan to get the wand. Her escape was purely based upon their actions.

"As well, Mal willingly and knowingly of the possible repercussions gave Ben the antidote, giving him back his choice.” Okay forgive me this is kind of off topic, but honestly, one of the things I’m most curious about is the mechanics of the love spell and its antidote within the Descendants canon. We really don’t know anything about it, and it’s kind of fascinating to me! The antidote seemed to be made with some of the same ingredients as the love spell itself in the movie (tear of human sadness), even though in Mal’s spellbook the process of the “anti-love spell” wasn’t described that way. If the spell hadn’t washed off in the Enchanted Lake and Ben just ate the brownie, would he even know he had been spelled at all? We know the spell causes emotional instability and irrational behavior, but does romantic contact with the caster negate the effects?

I really want to know how it works.

"Mal gave him that option, knowing that she'd most likely die for it, if Ben sent her back to the Isle and she didn't have the wand."

Alright, I think that “most likely die” is quite a stretch. Even though Mal gave him the brownie, she did not plan on him eating it before the Coronation (which was absolutely horrible planning on her part to give it to him before the Coronation started). She had every intention of stealing the wand with Ben still under her spell, and only after she had Maleficent taken over, reversing it. As Ben shows, he is immediately willing to forgive her for the love spell. Maybe Mal didn’t know he would do this, but she goes along with his excuse for her pretty easily. And even if she were sent back to the Isle, what would pose a threat to her? Maleficent, or the other villains, perhaps? The other villains wouldn’t pose a threat to Mal because of her status on the Isle, and given the context of their relationship, I strongly believe that Maleficent would never hurt Mal.

Despite the opinion of the majority of the fandom, I do not believe that their relationship was abusive (at least not to the extent that many people seem to think it is). Maleficent’s behavior has not affected Mal’s self-worth or emotional development in any negative way, nor did it impact her psychological capacity or emotional stability. While Maleficent was quick to criticize Mal in the beginning of the movie, she was also quick to praise her once Mal clarified the situation (“That’s my nasty little girl”). This criticism (the only criticism that we see Maleficent give), seemed to be given in a slightly teasing manner, intending to teach, not degrade. Maleficent never threatens Mal (neither with physical violence nor rejection), and shows affection/love (verbal commendation/praise). She shows her daughter support and guidance, as well as belief in her abilities. She has a whole song dedicated to giving Mal support and guidance about going to Auradon (to fulfill Maleficent’s plan of breaking the barrier, but still). Not that these are the only ways to spot abuse, but Mal also never showed the usual signs of psychological or emotional distress that come from abuse such as anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggression (one could argue that her “evil” exploits were signs of aggression, but those were all planned/controlled acts of “malice/evil,” and not lashing out against people she cared about or risking harm to herself). Maleficent could be considered manipulative (in the sense that she raised her daughter within her own belief system about the world) and forceful towards Mal, but there is canon evidence that their relationship wasn’t as terrible as many people would like to think. Maleficent truly believed that the best way to be successful in the world was to be “evil”. She believes she is right, and that she is teaching her daughter how to best find her way in the world. She does love Mal, and she wants her to have a good life. Not that Maleficent doesn’t have any selfish intentions with teaching her daughter evil and sending her to Auradon, but she never wanted to cause her daughter harm. She truly believed that the best thing for herself, and Mal secondarily, was to break the barrier and take over Auradon. Even if Maleficent’s moralities are not the best values to teach your child, she thought that they were. Maleficent is not a “good parent” by any means, but having her as a mother was not detrimental to Mal’s emotional well-being or development as a person in any way that could possibly excuse her actions and overall behavior.

In one of the final scenes in Descendants, where Maleficent crashes the Coronation, Mal tells Maleficent to go away and actively fights against her (throwing the wand to Fairy Godmother) with no consequences, not even a reprimand. In fact, Maleficent laughs it off and proceeds to show understanding (“You’ll get there”) and offer advice for what she believes to be Mal’s dilemma- Maleficent believes that Mal is confused about what she wants, and that she is only faltering from an “evil path” because she is unsure of herself. To be clear, I am not trying to defend Maleficent here, she is being controlling, manipulative, and a bad parent, but she never intentionally tried to harm Mal, nor did she ever threaten to. She did proceed to yell at Mal later in the scene, but she does so out of annoyance (“this is tedious and very immature”) and desire to control, not intent to harm. When Mal takes the wand from her, she just asks for it back. Forcefully, yes, but with no threats of violence or even withholding affection. She doesn’t harm or threaten to harm Mal’s friends either, she simply puts Dude back onto the floor, and when Jay tries to take her scepter she just knocks him away. And though she does turn into a dragon and breathe fire at Jay, I believe this was done as a show of power and a warning rather than actually trying to hurt him. She very easily could have killed him, Carlos, Evie, or Mal in this form, and had many opportunities, but does not make any real attempts to do so. Maleficent did not want to hurt Mal or her friends even when they actively sabotaged her. Therefore, while she would have been upset that Mal had failed, she would never have hurt her if she were sent back to the Isle, let alone have killed her. She would have protected and controlled her as she had always done. 

There is the argument that this supposed “abuse” could have happened off screen, but when examining an on-screen relationship in a movie series, it holds little to no weight. This is a movie, and the portrayal of character relationships on screen is deliberate. What we see is how the characters were written to interact, and how that relationship was meant to be perceived; the characters interacted on screen how their relationship was written within for the movie, and therefore how it is within that movie. What we can glean from Mal’s scenes with Maleficent is limited, of course, but if the writers really wanted to imply that Mal was suffering from abuse at the hands of her mother, they would have made that much clearer to us, the audience.

One again, I am not trying to excuse Maleficent’s actions or defend her as a character. I am simply trying to thoroughly explain why the Isle was never and would never be a dangerous place for Mal, especially when Maleficent was there.

Point One: "Flat out KISSING another guy not even a minute after Ben had broken up with her DOES NOT really scream genuine/deep feelings for him.” I disagree. The fact that Audrey kissed Chad does not necessarily mean that she didn’t care for Ben. As I mentioned, the situation was most definitely heartbreaking and humiliating for her, so within the context her actions make more sense as an attempt to “save face” in front of her friends and peers. Her actions of randomly grabbing a boy and kissing him in front of a crowd of people speaks to emotional instability and deep hurt.

"And please do not give me the 'but it up to Ben to talk to her!' line.” Ben has no autonomy at this point in the story. The fault is on Mal completely. I will agree that Audrey’s lack of communication was immature and indicative/causatory of problems in their relationship, but the blame cannot be placed entirely on her either. Both Ben and Audrey had poor communication and did bad things to each other throughout the movie. Audrey should have talked to Ben, and Ben should have talked to Audrey. Both are to blame, both deserved better closure when it comes to their relationship.

Point Two: I agree with your response here, well said. /gen

Point 3: If you thought I was annoying before, just wait and see what happens when you try and come for my girl Uma. /lh

I will admit that I oversimplified the “drowning” incident, but I believe you are doing the same thing.

"However, an attempt to prank the especially mean Cruella De Vil leads Mal to seemingly falling off the docks and into the water. Uma laughs at her instead of saving her, only for Mal to surprise her and dump a bucket of shrimp on Uma in return. No matter how much Uma tried to wash her hair, the disgusting smell never left her locks.”

"One day, Uma thought Mal was drowning and went in to save her, but when she realized Mal wasn't drowning, Mal dropped a bucket of shrimp on her head before calling her "Shrimpy". Mal was threatened by Uma's evilness and felt that she needed to take out the competition."

These are quotes from the Descendants wikis (I unfortunately don’t have access to the book itself to check). As I stated, Mal wasn’t actually drowning. At least with my recollection of the book, what happened is that Uma laughed at what she thought was Mal falling in the water and then went into save her once she thought Mal was actually in danger of drowning. It is hard to say whether Uma’s initial reaction was due to genuine malice and wish to see Mal harmed, if she didn’t know Mal couldn’t swim (this interpreation makes the most sense to me, as I don’t think Mal would want to share that weakness), or if she (at least at first) realized that it was a prank. However, if Uma did have truly malicious intentions, I do not believe she would have gone in to save Mal.

"Mal could not afford to be "soft.”” Neither could Uma, due to the same expectations put on her by Ursula. And yet, despite this, she showed Mal genuined kindness and put herself in harm’s way to try to save Mal, and was assaulted and harrassed for it; by Mal, her former best friend who had decided to betray her.

"Furthermore, Uma gave as good as she got in the rivalry between them.” This is just my interpretation of the canon events, but I honestly don’t think that anything Uma did had quite the emotional devastation that Mal’s actions had. Threatening to kill Ben would be the highest on the list of Uma’s “evil deeds”, in my opinion, and that was not done just to hurt Mal.

"She went after Ben and turned up to cotillion deliberately and with malice just to hurt Mal.” OOF. Tell me you missed the point of the second movie without telling me you missed the point of the second movie (/hj).

Uma’s main intentions in kidnapping Ben were not just “to get back at Mal”. That’s an insanely reductive, blatant misinterpretation of her motivations and character. She went after Ben with the expressed intention of getting the wand- the same goal that Mal had just a movie before, and the very same context you used to justify her love spell, remember?

Mal cast a love spell on Ben while he was dating someone else. Ben had explicitly told Uma that he and Mal weren't together anymore.

Uma had no illusions about what she was doing. She knew that she was doing a pretty awful thing, but she really had no other choice. Mal, however, had a bunch of other options for how to steal the wand that she never bothered to look into, as well as no real time limit to come up with a plan, but she decided to just drug someone after barely even thinking about it.

Ben knew exactly why Uma spelled him. He still believes that Mal spelled him because she liked him. He doesn't have any idea that Mal spelled him for the exact same reason Uma did: to get the wand.

Uma had reason to hate Mal, unlike Mal to Audrey. Mal bullied Uma for years in a toxic friendship and then threw her to the sharks. Audrey was a little rude to Mal and that's it. And again, Mal and Ben were not dating at the time Uma cast the spell on him. But my point is, Uma was completely justified in taking a little pleasure in the fact that Mal was upset by her showing up at Cotillion.

Although their ultimate motives for spelling Ben were the same, the way they went about it was a little different. Mal cast a spell to make herself Ben's girlfriend. Her goal was to be in a relationship with Ben. She magically forced him into being in a relationship with her, and that was her motive the entire time. Uma wanted Ben to listen to her so that he would take down the barrier. She never wanted to be in a relationship with Ben or force him to be in a relationship with her. She only wanted him to listen to her and take down the barrier. Although the end result of both Mal and Uma's spells were the same, Ben "falling in love" with each of them, their thought process about it was entirely different.

Uma didn’t catch feelings for a person she had complete control over. Mal “fell for” Ben while she believed that he was under her love spell and therefore had no emotional autonomy and no control over what he did in response to those emotions that she created for him without his consent.

And finally, both Mal and Uma spelled Ben in an attempt to get the wand, but they wanted it for different reasons. Mal wanted the wand for her mother so that she and Maleficent could take over Auradon. Uma wanted the wand to free all the kids on the Isle from poverty. Uma's goal was never selfish or with bad intentions. She genuinely wanted a better life for every kid on the Isle.

"Uma may have been the original victim of the shrimp, yes, but she quickly lost 'victim' status with her actions afterwards.” No she didn’t. No matter what she did, she remained the victim of wrongful imprisonment from Auradon and bullying from Mal.

One thing that a lot of people don't seem to get about why Uma is a much better person than Mal is that Uma isn't selfish. Sure, sometimes she has a bad attitude, yes, sometimes she is mean. But she is never selfish like Mal is. Mal couldn't care less about helping any of the other kids get off the Isle, or even getting them aid or help. Uma did. Uma truly believed that other people should have the opportunities that both people in Auradon and the Core Four got, and she was so angry because she knew that the worst kid on the Isle, Mal, got the opportunity compared to all the other kids who were actually good people. Mal just did not care about anyone on the Isle after she got to Auradon.

Uma didn't go about her goal "the right way", but since when was that ever an option to her? Kids on the Isle don't get to, say, meet with royalty and negotiate getting themselves off prison. Uma saw one chance to do something for her people, and she took it. She was skewed as the villain for thinking it was unfair that Mal, her old bully, got to be the ruler of paradise while Uma and all the other Isle kids were left to suffer.

In defence of Mal getting her 'karma' by the love spell in D2, and the people smirking, 'now she knows how it feels!'

It. Is. Different! 1 Unlike Audrey, Mal has genuine feelings for Ben at that point. (and think about the context of that. This is a girl who has never truly romantically loved someone in her life. And now that she has the person she let have her heart is getting taken away) 2. Mal has just come off months of putting herself through hell/Tartarus trying to be what she thought Ben needed. So that she wouldn't cause him issues with being a VK and on the night it was all supposed to pay off, Ben turns up with another girl. 3 Even if it's unknown to Ben and Uma Mal knows that that's not just any girl taking Ben. It's her cousin, her family that's just a deeper level of low/hurt!

So no, you cannot compare Mal and Audrey's feelings in that moment because the context of the two situations was not the same.

[theboyanachr0nism]

i love you carrie i'm sorry about the world

details:

[novelconcepts]

Do you ever just lay awake at night, turning over in your head the stark difference in delivery between Hewson's Van saying--steadily, unshakably--"it's just something that's happening to you...happening to us" and Cypress' Taissa saying--imploringly, whiningly--"this was not just my dream, this was our dream"?

Do you ever just turn it over and over, how often Tai tried to scare Van away, and how it only made Van set her feet more firmly? How Taissa's first love was this person who saw a problem fall into Taissa's lap, a problem that was quite literally trapped inside Taissa's body, and decided unflinchingly: No, that's an us problem now? How she refused point-blank to walk away even with blood in her mouth, how she flatly informed Tai "I'm never gonna be scared of you", and promptly turned a moment of pain into a declaration of love? And how this would etch itself into Taissa for the rest of her life? How she'd take these things that worked with Van--with the person Van was, with the bond they shared--and try so hard to run through an identical script with Simone?

Except Simone is her own person. A completely different kind of person. A person who hasn't been offered any of the context, any of the realities going on inside Taissa. So: naturally she doesn't respond the way Van did at eighteen--and will go on to do all over again in her forties. Naturally, she hears our dream as the excuse it is, not as a plea for connection. Naturally, she is scared away when Taissa pushes, and shouts, and begs. Because there isn't blood in her mouth, not yet, but there will be. And they have a son to worry about. And she isn't eighteen and a special kind of immortal, a special kind of romanticized. She's a grown woman with responsibilities, with priorities, with an understanding that you can't fix someone just because you love them. And Tai can't just perform a revival of the play she and Van had memorized twenty-five years later with a whole new performer in the works, and expect it to shake out the same.

Of course it doesn't work. But look at Taissa trying it. Look at Taissa trying to reframe her first love through a new lens. Trying to recast it. Trying to play it through again. Van taught her love was sticking out the blood, shaking off the pain, making a you problem into an us problem. Does it ever just eat at you, how tragic it is, watching Taissa try to shape her marriage around a woman who isn't even wearing a ring?

[quixtrix]

god save our women; a ramble of an analysis

or, captain laserhawk REALLY shot jade in the face and im still upset about it because oh my GOD they really made her be thrown into a role that is not HER and in death she's still a Figure. yknow, i personally don't have a problem with sarah x jade, but over the past few months occasionally i'd think about it. yeah, it's funny to call sarah gay as hell for putting jade in a femme fatale outfit, but. should that truly be our basis for the ship? or should we think a bit deeper on why exactly sarah would put the sole woman in her lil tool set into such a position? i wonder why it wouldn't hurt to think about why jade would be forced into a role where one has to be sexual.

sarah is an extent of eden and eden is society and society will occasionally harp an odd sort of something masquerading as feminism to you that being sexual gives you power! but really it only serves to loop back into being for the man's enjoyment.

now i have to say that being sexual can be empowering! it really is! we just also have to acknowledge that in the eyes of society, sex is an exchange where it serves the man more than it does the woman. it still feels good to be sexual though, and being sexual can be used right for what you want.

but when it comes to jade, jade is forced to fall into this femme fatale role, this role that demands one to be a maneater, when she usually sticks to a more impersonal way of work. in this role, she dresses in clothes that she's not comfortable with wearing, when told to change from her usual outfit she is visibly uncomfortable, and overall it doesn't fit her.

she is not a sexual person. she does not typically utilise sexuality as a tool in her arsenal, she doesn't even seem to really touch it (or she's just insanely bad at flirting). either way, she's not used to being in this position because she does not choose to be in this position often.

anyways, why does sarah think to put the woman in a position where she would have to step out of her comfort zone? because obviously, she uses things and positions as tools, and sexuality is a tool.

now i want yall to bear with me as i compare sarah to another woman in media; makima. no im not calling sarah some god awful dommy mommy or some shit, i'm bringing in makima to highlight how sexuality is used. she uses her sexuality as a woman to entice this young boy into doing things for her, ranging from a kiss to assaulting him and telling him that she'll give him more as a reward. while not inherently sexual, she offers up a date with her to encourage the devil hybrids under her control. she even offers up a kiss at one point to encourage competition. makima, someone raised by the government and given tools that she uses to manipulate others, has sexuality in her arsenal. it is not a stretch to say that sarah, someone who has intimate understanding of the government, the ladder she climbs, has seen others use sexuality as a tool. hell, it might even be encouraged to use it as a tool. i'm absolutely not saying that sarah fucked her way to the top, im saying that sarah is aware that sexuality is a tool that one can use.

now we all know how sarah got to the top, which can be reasonably assumed to be through military rank and impersonal ways. ways that don't require one to lower your guard and take you in before they strike, like a femme fatale way would. sarah most likely got through to the top by using people and throwing just enough weight around. so why does she not allow jade to flourish in a way that honestly would benefit the team way better yeah no its because she sees her as a fucking tool in order to recognise jade's real talents she must first let go of the notion that she is a simple tool and accept that as a human she has legitimate strengths in unique areas and not just one where you can remind them who is in charge and how you are a tool and FUCK EDEN AND THEIR FUCKING TOOL MINDSET FUCKING CAPITALIST MINDSET IN A SO CALLED POST CAPITALISTIC SOCIETY!!!!! okay im getting a lil heated but yknow what let's continue FUCK PEY'J LOOK AT THIS SHIT

IM SO SORRY BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL FANS THEY DID YOU SO WRONG BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO FUCKING HAMMER IN THE IDEA OF JADE BEING A FIGURE AND NOT A PERSON EVEN IN DEATH SHE IS BOILED DOWN TO SOME FUCKASS WHO KNEW HER AS A BABY'S LOVE INTEREST AND I KNOW FOR A FACT THEY DID YALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they did yall so wrong my god. my god !! imagine! someone who knew you as a BABY openly admitted to you when you were a young adult in your 20s that he has feelings for you! what the hell! what purpose does this serve than to cement the idea that jade is a tool, a motive? jade, a goddamn REPORTER tryna spread light on a legitimate issue on society and then gets thrown into the Ghosts because of it, is boiled down to a tool. a fucking tool by both sarah and pey'j, TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEN by both show and fandom AS POSSIBLE LOVE INTERESTS FOR JADE.

SHE LITERALLY COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH MORE IF SARAH DID SEE HER AS HUMAN AND DID UTILISE HER ACTUAL TALENTS INSTEAD OF SEEING HER AS A TOOL AND FOR THAT JADE IS UNFORTUNATELY NOT SEEN AS A PERSON, BUT AS A FIGURE.

but yknow what. yknow who also has been seen as a figure and not a person.

dolph laserhawk. eden's child soldier that they raised as a paragon of hope fallen into disgrace.

yknow what also happens with dolph and jade? they treat each other as human. jade includes dolph in her lil vlogs as she does with the rest of the team, because she is a good person. dolph recognises that she is indeed a person, someone worth remembering as themselves. not as who she was to someone, but as someone who went out of her way to offer kindness. she gets a goddamn speaking role in his vr dream alongside alex, who yes groomed him, but he also made dolph feel human.

i didnt even realise it before that they put the only two people (that are. dead. bullfrog is not here for obvious reasons) that have made dolph feel human and not an extension of eden in one frame BUT THYE FUCKING DID. these mfs and dolph are basically real recognises real

this isn't about dolph though, this is about jade. jade, who didn't get to be shown to the world as a person, who posthumously became a figure for a man's revenge, who was put into a position she is not suited for because she was not recognised as human. jade, who is the most human out of the ghosts, who gave voice to those that couldn't through her work, who went into exposing pagan min because of her uncle, her family that she loved. for being the most grounded member, they had to kill you because you mattered so much. kept the team together through kindness. god they did you so wrong jade.

[quietwingsinthesky]

the last unicorn post from earlier has me thinking about the master. that yana is still in there, you know? is still someone he was, if even for a brief flash across the life of a time lord. there’s no way to unlive that life. there are ways to twist it later, sure, to make utopia into hell on earth. but the life was lived. in much the same way that the doctor can remember, can feel, the love he held onto as john smith even as that life is ripped out of his hands. the doctor choose denial and then grief and then to shutter it all away. and so john smith died, and so professor yana died, and the doctor and the master live on. the doctor has done this before, and he lives in orbit around humanity, trying to keep the best parts of them and hold them deep enough to take root (which he can pretend he gets to choose, as a time lord. as a human, it all floods in and can’t be dug back out.) but what about the master, right?

to borrow a turn of phrase: i think there are two time lords left in the universe, and they both learned how to regret.

[funfettidoc]

best teen titan dont argue with me!! (Feel free to argue actually)

[gudakdalee]

i actually think jinx's ending makes sense... i dont think it was a surprise or unwarranted, esp when the writers set up every warning leading up to it since 2x03

i get that fans are sad to see her go, but story-wise, thematically, character arc-wise, and relationally, it was an ending that just fit. It hurt, but it fit. it punched home her journey/growth, and allowed the sister relationship to grow another layer, that certain bittersweet resolution. And im not saying jinx had to pass in order for us to feel her impact, but I'm saying her decision of sacrifice makes sense for her journey and shows how far she's come.

if we got every fairytale ending we imagine, it would be ooc, and we as viewers wouldn't feel the sacrifice or lessons to the same degree.

[authenticcadence18]

Society if Steven had brought Bismuth back before the Rupphire wedding:

[jessmalia]

So you're telling me that Katherine's last act was to give up the life she'd been running, fighting, lying and killing for for 500 years so that she could apologize to her daughter and be with her as she dies, giving her a dream of the life she deserved so that she could go out in peace, and the writers rewarded that by literally introducing hell into their universe just so they could put her in it?