#she's a much more monster by behaviour and circumstance

[prettyflyshyguy]

Not in the traditional sense, no.......

But she sort of was one all along.

"If I kill her, is it murder or suicide?"

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Rewatching “All 2 U” and under the contexts of how I personally perceived Stolas’s songs in “Look My Way” and “When I See Him” theres so much potential here for this to be actually interesting and its so far just being thrown away. In every song I have mentioned Stolas has moments where he stops and thinks “maybe I was the problem”.

Examples being:

"Unless it's me, and no matter what in this world I could give; it's not enough to get through the walls you've conjured up to live"

"I will try to make amends for making you means to an end"

"Am I doing something I can't take back? Would he want me if he was free? And if he's only here as a prisoner what kind of monster does that make me?"

"But maybe it's all on me for missin' every sign and every glance and every turn."

"Maybe there's somethin' here for us to glean for you to teach, and me to try to learn."

All of these imply so much that Stolas could be coming to the conclusion that he was one of the biggest issues in their relationship. Yes Blitz also hold fault, but thats a post for another day. I so truly believe Stolas could be so so interesting even if I personally think Helluva Boss should NOT be a romantic story, there’s still so much potential to it. I’ve mentioned before that I was in a very very similar relationship to whatever “Stolitz” is, and while I both hate my ex and how she treated me, it was not a one sided issue. Yeah she was abusive but also I can’t just say I wasn’t a bit rude at times. Getting off topic though, what I’m trying to say is even if one person is the main issue and you hate them, in certain circumstances you can still have part of your mind that wishes the best for them. I think my main point is that for people like my ex who have mental problems that get in the way of relationships and can result in abusive behaviours, I want the chance for them to see themselves in a character that has done the same things, recognized it, forgiven themselves, and made an attempt to be a better person.

I myself have been in many relationships where my mental problems got in the way and ended up separating me from people I care about in one way or another and I know how dogshit it feels when it happens, especially when you are the problem. Many people don’t like acknowledging that they may be the problem and then when they eventually do realise it, they struggle on trying to fix the issue.

This spans to the people you surround yourselves with as well. Just for example in “All 2 U” Stolas is not the first person to call Blitz a “motherfucker” he explicitly goes to “I don’t think you meant to hurt me” meanwhile Verosika and Tex push the implication that Blitz is the problem and during the rest if the song, as stated before, we see Stolas point out “maybe I was the problem” to which Verosika and Tex immediately but in with blaming Blitz instead. And honestly they have reason to (at least Verosika does and Tex is going by word of mouth I assume) but it plays into the idea that a bad person or abuser cant also be abused.

You can see every time Stolas considers something isn’t Blitz’s fault Verosika and Tex are so quick to step in and tell him he’s wrong. He’s just surrounded by yes people right now and i really believe thats something that could be used in the narrative. Stolas getting away from these people to take in reality and then finally be like “no it was me i was right about it”. And idk it could even lead into more Verosika development where she acknowledges that Blitz has now seen how shitty one-sided and abusive relationships can be and they talk more instead of just like 3 minutes on the stairs. This is a topic I touch on with my Vox rewrite but thats in a different way. I just think with so much buildup to Stolas realising he was a huge issue they could do so much helpful representation in certain ways for people with problems like BPD, bipolar, ROCD, and a bunch of other things. I suffer from the last two and I hardly EVER see these portrayed respectfully or how they actually affect people. It’s always just “im happy and then in 2 seconds im going to be mildly upset :(“ or “omgg I love cleaning!!” with OCD. It’s just so infuriating to see Vivzie not touch on so much potential again.

Also “stolitz” should not get back together even if Stolas became a better person, just to clarify.

[battybiologist]

I don't always aim to have a hot take about everything I watch, I swear, but if you'll allow me to get a little spicy, I think the interpretation that the Dalek from "Dalek" was actually corrupted with "human emotions" is at least partially untrue and also really cheapens a beautiful tragedy about ideology and fascism.

In that episode, the Doctor outright states that the Daleks feel nothing but hatred. But that's textually false: Even before the titular Dalek touches Rose, it expresses loneliness when it learns about how the Doctor ended the Last Great Time War, sympathy, albeit cold, with the Doctor about both of them being the last of their kind, gladness to see a human who is not afraid of it, and even suicidal thoughts. Some of it could have been a ploy to get Rose to touch it, but such a plan would require an understanding of the human psyche that is both thematically and diegetically uncharacteristic of a Dalek.

What's truly different in its behaviour after Rose touches it is it gains empathy towards Rose. Not the dozens of security personnel, lawyers, and scientists it killed in its rampage, not Adam, not van Statten, not the rest of humanity, just Rose. And I think this is the crucial part of the puzzle: the Daleks can only connect with things similar to them.

The Daleks are the prime example of supremacists. Anything that isn't a Dalek is considered inferior, but they don't hate each other. Some of them do consider other Daleks inferior, or rather impure, but they agree that they're inferior and wish to be destroyed, either to serve their pure brethren, or simply not to sully their species. This implies an actual ideology; the Daleks are not born as genocidal supremacists obsessed with purity, they are made like this.

That's why the titular Dalek tries to commiserate with the Doctor. Hearing about his destruction of the Time Lords and Daleks alike and seeing his hatred made it consider the Doctor as similar to it, as outright stated in the last third of the episode.

But that connection was weak. The bond between Rose and the Dalek, however, is much stronger. They share DNA, and that combined with humanity's hardwired empathy, Dalek supremacy, and Rose's attempts to connect with it, makes Rose the only person to be able to reason it. And she does - she asks him the most impactful question you can to a victim of propaganda who listens: "What do YOU want?" And by answering anything other than "total genocide", the Dalek ideologically stopped being a pure Dalek.

But an impure Dalek still is a Dalek. And like I said earlier, those who consider themselves impure know they cannot continue to live on. So it makes the only logical choice it can make in its broken set of beliefs, and kills itself. A tragic end in the original sense. The Dalek could not overcome its hamartia, the tragic flaw ingrained in its entire species: the lie that the Daleks are truly superior.

All of that is totally explainable without the idea that the Daleks are biologically emotionless monsters. And I don't know about you, but a story about a result of the worst fascist propaganda in the universe realizing through circumstances that force it to question said propaganda that it can think for itself and stop mindlessly following genocidal orders, but cannot go through the end and kills itself before becoming someone different is a lot more poignant and thematically complex than "ontologically Evil race species has one member catch the Feelings and Morals genes from humans"

[momo-ramblez]

why are ppl so quick to demonise Mingus but defend Norm w their life-??

i could write paragraphs about this topic, a lot of ppl may say that Norm is only a bad person due to circumstances caused by Mingus and you’d be right. but you could say the same thing about Mingus because of the way Hannibal treated her. and hannibal did that because of Marla and it’s kinda fuzzy from there as Marla was described as ‘traumatised’ by the hound himself and its another post in itself

either way, norm has done bad stuff. he has his own behavioural issues not to mention how he’s more than willing to commit 1st-2nd degree MURDER. as far as i’m aware, Mingus has no intention to murder because she is very much in a position to get away with it but because of how she didn’t kill Norm (+phonegingi 4 sake of argument) it’s obvious that she isn’t a complete monster.

i also want to say that i understand that we as the player we see Norm go through character development so that’s why i’m guessing why so many people have such a ‘he can do no wrong’ attitude, but my gosh.. are we just gonna ignore how Mingus is doing what she does with good intentions? granted i’m not gonna say that she’s innocent but a lot of her actions are based in wanting the most for Callum and the town by extent.

either way uhhh TLDR : norm isn’t that good and mingus ain’t that bad ! ty for coming to my ted talk ^_^

[ivomartins]

I see many people consider Dmitry a redflag LI but to me he's a morally grey character: he finds a strange girl amidst the rift and assigns her a place in the squad instead of, you know, just taking Lane hostage when she's made it clear she's pursuing her own goals and only compels to the squad's decisions because she has to.

I understand why the interrogation episode is icky for many people but for me the devil is in details: Dmitry stops the interrogation because he doesn't want to hurt Lane further, and the whole situation can be seen as a necessary evil from the squad's pov, given Lane's actions. And at the same time, Lane doesn't deserve that shit either: she's all alone in a trust-no-one situation, and now she sees very clearly that the squad is not her friends.

To me that's what moral greyness is: different interpretations of the situation, when you can see motivation of both parties without whitewashing them.

Dmitry's conversation about turning your weakness into your strength adds another facet to his character, just like the stolen babushka gift 😭. I love the way Alexandra shows that he actually cares about Lane through him wanting to give her a chocolate bar or helping her with the work and sacrificing his sleep.

And the soulmatism of their branch is so well done. It's not "your mc is promised to this LI although you'd rather have her killed him in a cold blood" but "yes the situation we found themselves in is fucked up and bleak but at least we have each other because in another universe we'd pass each other by without looking back"

And I love how you can see Dmitry lashing out in the latest episodes, with more and more people in the squad dying, because he's responsible for their lives, he's the leader. And you, as a player, can choose Lane's reaction to his behaviour.

But the thing that truly made me sympathize with him is him telling Lane "It would be sad to lose my humanity while hunting for monsters and become one in other people's eyes. I hope I haven't cross that line yet?.."

That's how you write morally grey characters! 🙌

P.S. His latest CG fucks

i'm shook tbh that some people consider dmitry a red flag LI 😭 like yeah. the interrogation scene was iffy and lane didn't deserve that. but the world has literally gone to shit and this is a man who's been forced by circumstances to blur the lines of his morality for the greater good and the safety of the people around him ??? when we take that and the post-apocalyptic survival-of-the-fittest setting into consideration, plus the fact that lane was sus from day 1 and didn't really make any effort to prove herself trustworthy, the interrogation makes perfect sense

and like you said the morally grey nature to dmitry is the most interesting thing about him especially when it ties into the development of his bond with lane like !!!! with cain there's affinity in their position as outcasts and the apathetic nature they share, suspended above everything, untouched by what otherwise jars everyone else in the squad

but with dmitry their affinity lies in dmitry having a different nature to lane and still being drawn to her despite that, still accepting her to the point where she points a fucking gun at his head and he doesn't even flinch 😭 and doesn't even hold it against her later on like ??? there's so much devotion and unconditional acceptance to it and for me personally as someone who's on the whisper path it's definitely giving "the hero loving the monster and cherishing their blood-soaked hands" kinda dynamic

like it's "human" organic soulmatism like you called it, to balance out the otherworldly ambiguous soulmatism with cain. ugh i can't enough of it

i also love how he's been lashing out too and that not even lane has been exempt from that because he's just under that much pressure. i just adore how every single character has been written with their own role to play in the story, completely independent from lane, and they all get to develop just as much as she does as the story goes on 🥹

(and yes his cgs have been superior, even to cain, since day 1. i will die on that hill)

[necroromantics]

You have opened a whole new perspective for me with the Nina & Kate ship. The idea, the execution!!!!!! PLEASE I am in need of more

MAN Ok Im very glad this is getting attention cuz bro…. The potential…

MORE NINAKATE HEADCANONS 🔥 (Ill write more proper pieces in the future, for now yall are getting rambles)

- Nina invites Kate to raves and parties, but she refuses to go due to her migraines, sensitivity to light, and cuz shes a feral killer proxy misanthrope…

- Nina sometimes ends up drinking or smoking too much and comes home sick and a mess. Kate just softly scolds her, gives her stupid drunk gf a kiss, and takes her to bed

- She wakes up changed into pajamas, not a clue what happened, Kates already gone doing god knows what. But man its so much nicer for her knowing shes being taken care of

- Kate started off being very against the idea of make up, dressing up, nails done, etc. Until one night after Nina had spent hours begging Kate to let her do her makeup. Nina leaned in so close, so close. Kate didn’t get why her heart was beating so fast, or why she kept eyeing the girls lips. She thought she was getting sick again or something

- After that, she was more open to the idea. Especially since its an excuse to have Nina touch her. And she hasn’t been touched as if she was anything but a monster in so long

- Nina is soft, happy, a loving lover. She absolutely showers Kate with affection and is horribly devoted. She has a journal she doodles and writes in. 90% of that journal is about Kate

- Kate skates, both board and roller skating. Roller derby was a huge interest of hers, but circumstances never really let her fully pursue it. So some nights Nina will take her to a desolate skatepark and Kate will teach Nina to skate

- Once she gets the hang of it, rollerskating dates are frequent. One time, when she was still learning, Nina slipped and busted her ass. Kate laughed so hard water came out of her nose, before she ran to Ninas side to check on her

- Nina was fine of course, but god was she unresponsive. All she could think about was that strong, rough laugh. She started doing everything she could to make Kate laugh, even bought herself a “how to be funny” book

- I headcanon Nina to have BPD. Kate is very good at being her FP, and handles her episodes well. It took Nina awhile to learn how to manage her own episodes as well, especially after she relied so heavily on certain behaviours to get attention from Jeff

- But Kate helped her learn how to calm herself down, how to control her emotions and overthinking. And everyone noticed the improvement in her mental health. Having a person who cared, tried, understood

- And Kate is very protective. She was with Charlie, and she is with Nina. Absolutely no one gets to hurt her, talk bad about her, torment her. Toby went too far with a joke once and accidentally made Nina cry. Tim had to hold Kate back from breaking his jaw

- Theyre each others safe person, a place in the terrible, chaotic world they live in where they can find peace

- They have their own history, secrets, inside jokes. Nobody expected the two to get together, especially not a girl like Kate falling in love. But Nina saw that humanity in her and brought it out in ways nobody had even bothered to try, and Kates patience for her sunshine is infinite

- Surprisingly, works out very well

[saintsenara]

🖤, 🤍 and 💀, please!

thank you very much for the asks, anons plus @poetryandbloods-blog!

which character is not as morally bad as everyone else seems to think?

i mean, given the level of reading comprehension in this fandom, pretty much all of them... with snape and dumbledore at the top of the pile.

but i'm going to go for a female character, for fun and profit, and say... petunia dursley.

petunia is - like vernon - primarily a children's literature archetype - the wicked stepmother/aunt/guardian who is constantly trying to assert authority over the child-hero, with very little success. she has to be pretty one-note - shrill and cruel and demonstrably non-maternal [and performatively womanly because she's innately unfeminine] - because it's what the narrative conventions which govern her demand.

but, nonetheless, when we look at her without the restrictions of these genre conventions, there's a lot about petunia which can be used to contextualise her actions in the series with rather more nuance than they're often afforded.

when petunia is - at most - twenty-four, she has no parents, her sister is dead, she's at home all day with one toddler [and she appears to have no other social support when it comes to caring for dudley], and she's just had another toddler dumped upon her in incredibly traumatic circumstances.

vernon appears to be considerably older than her - him complaining in the very first chapter of philosopher's stone about how "young people" dress doesn't make sense if he's in his twenties as well, and i tend to imagine that he's at least fifteen [if not twenty] years older than his wife, meaning that, since they apparently married before lily and james, petunia was twenty-two at most when they tied the knot and vernon was anywhere between thirty-seven and forty-two. vernon is also from a higher social class than she is - and so much about her canon behaviour can be explained by recognising how nervous she is about not disappointing him by revealing to their neighbours that her class-performance is a pretence, rather than something she was born into.

this isn't to deny her agency in her decisions - she is, of course, also confined in a prison which is directly of her own making [the bland domesticity of her perfect little house, all of which is an artifice constructed so she doesn’t have to admit how deeply she once longed to be magic] - and nor is it to deny that her treatment of harry is wrong.

but it's important to note that nothing is completely black-and-white. petunia's cruelty is intertwined with an obvious loneliness - which is only compounded by the twin societal monsters of class and gender conventions.

and she makes a great subject for a nuanced character study, and i'd love to see more!

which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

hagrid, who is a death eater.

if you had to choose one major character to die, who would you pick?

answered here.

what is a popular [serious] theory you disagree with?

"black family madness".

while many mental illnesses - and the personality traits which can be contributing factors to them - run in families, and while i'm interested in the idea that sirius' depression when he's trapped in grimmauld place mirrors walburga's own after he leaves home in a way which can be thought of as inherited, i really dislike the idea that there's some sort of inherent madness running through the black family like a generational curse.

this fanon attributes anything bad done by a member of the family - especially a female one - to madness. which is obviously an inaccurate and stigmatising approach to mental illness - but which i also think is also a very dull way of examining the cyclical, generational thread of prejudice and restriction which runs through the blacks in canon.

[philosophika]

Writeblr Positivity Tag

Hi @inkovert! Thank you, as always, for the tag. Just a quick shout-out; if you don't know Inkovert yet, please please please go check out their WIP, My Dearest Enemy. Also, do you like having in-depth discussions about writing with other up-and-coming authors? Participate in @inkovert's Spilled Ink Saturdays. The first session (on book-to-screen adaptations) was a lot of fun!

✦ What motivates you to write?

I agree with @inkovert. It's not that I'm motivated to write, exactly... It's more that I feel I... have to? There's a sort of internal inertia that keeps pulling me back to fiction. Maybe it's obsession? Maybe it's Maybelline? 💃😉 No, but seriously, I think it may be connected to this weird instinct I have to document things? To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, when I was in my mid-twenties, I went through a terrifying break-in. I kid you not; there was a literal man with a balaclava crouched in my shower in the middle of the night. How did I respond? By screaming, obviously. But after the screaming? I called up my boyfriend and narrated every single detail of what I saw and heard while trying to escape the house with my family. In my mind, I felt it was critical to tell him what was going on, not because I thought it would help catch the culprit(s) (we didn't know if there were more), save us from whatever bitter fate awaited, etc., but kind of in the same way people carve "I was here" into walls? If I was going to die (which was a possibility; a friend's father died in similar circumstances at around the same time), I needed someone to know what I'd seen, to know that I'd seen... So, do I write because I'd die if I didn't? No. I write because I'm going to die anyway. Because I know I'm going to die.

✦ A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud of/happy with. If not, maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them):

I can do you one better! Because @inkovert kindly tagged me, I'd like to return the favour by referring you to their Wattpad page, where you can read their current WIP, My Dearest Enemy

✦ Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them, and what are they like?

Haha, I don't know if any of the OCs in The Sorcerer's Apprentice make me smile. They all worry me a lot. By accepting an apprenticeship with the sorcerer Valeriano, Altaluna is heading straight into a nest of venomous vipers, and they are going to maim her; they are going to maim her for life. Every time she feels optimistic or wow-ed by the glitz and the glam of her new environment, I cringe internally. My poor, sweet summer child! Valeriano, on the other hand, is a monster, so it's hard to smile when thinking of him. Hmm... maybe the only character I genuinely smile around is Cucufate, the talking monkey. He's the only character whose behaviour and snide comments can be underplayed as just 'animal antics,' which means he's the only character who can get away with giving people a little of what they truly deserve. It's hard not to love him for it.

✦ What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

Again, I have to agree with @inkovert. The editing process means no blank page, and no blank page means (rejoice!) no existential suffering. My first drafts are always shit and a disappointment. But my second drafts? Dost thou want to live deliciously? With the second draft, I know where I'm going, what's happening, where to trim the fat and everything I need to make the story what I wanted it to be in the first place. Usually, I downright discard the first draft and write the entire story from scratch, but better, so much better. And editing the second (or sometimes, third) draft? Pure, unadulterated bliss. Goodbye, low self-esteem, goodbye doubts; cue me some Nina Simone, why don't you?

✦ What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Editing, re-drafting. I'm good at figuring out what's wrong and have no trouble whatsoever massacring my darlings.

✦ What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

The community! I love participating in tag & ask games, reading people's work, celebrating my mutual's triumphs, and sharing my progress. I don't have any writer friends outside of Tumblr (apart from academic writer friends, though they're a very different kettle of fish), so I really appreciate being able to log on and be met with all this creativity.

✦ A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Okay, so first thing first: I have ADHD. Any thought I have is an explosion that simultaneously sends spin-off thoughts in every imaginable direction, which, in turn, send spin-off thoughts in every imaginable direction, and so on and so forth, and on and on, until some of the spin-offs reach a dead end and their line withers, and/or I reach the limits of my capacity to hold all these thoughts in my mind and spontaneously combust. Instead of trying to fight this multi-generative tendency (this leads to a state of paralysis where I can't do anything), I've found a way to let the 'explosions' take the lead without overloading my systems, so to speak. Basically, I figured that if I stored every direction my mind went in somewhere other than my mind, I could let it do its thing without risking burnout. For that, I use MindNode, a visual brainstorming software. And let me tell you, it's been a life-saver. Now, when considering a scene, I document every possible route available to the characters and/or the setting, assign each ramification a score (for example, +1 Worldbuilding, +1 Foreshadowing, +1 Symbolism, +1 Character Development, -1 Cliché, -1 Undermines Tension, -1 Repetitive, etc.), and then choose the one with the highest score to write out. This method is obviously quite time-consuming, but it does have some unique strengths beyond helping me deal with my ADHD: (1) it ensures that there are no superfluous scenes in the grand design, (2) it ensures that all scenes are layered and fulfil multiple story functions at once, (3) it discourages going with the first option that presents itself (usually cliché, in my case), (4) it encourages out-of-the-box creative thinking, (5) and, finally, it's likely to lead to scenes that surprise you, the writer (for example, I was shocked by how many routes led to my character's death, lol). So, yeah, MindNode has been very helpful to me.

✦ A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law, etc)

I love the magic system, but I'm not sure I'll reveal anything more about it before publication than I already have in this post. You're just going to have to wait and see ;)

✦ Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

I follow TONS of talented writers on this site, among them: @inkovert, @that-chibi-writer, @tate-lin, @kingkendrick7, @ettawritesnstudies, @blind-the-winds, @aquadestinyswriting, @avrablake, @alinacapellabooks, @lordfenric-writes, @moonscribbler, @cee-grice, @sender-paulson, @sarah-sandwich, @liv-is, @athenswrites, @junypr-camus, @rubywrite, @winterandwords, @salmonandfox, @merlina87, @songsofsomnia, @words-after-midnight, @lucianinsanity, @talesofsorrowandofruin, @nanashi23, @sam-glade, @at-thezenith, @kestalsblog, @kaatiba, @theunboundwriter, and so many more!

[peachymilkandcream]

Part two of that samurai au please

Thirty Pieces of Silver Part 2|Levi x Evelyn AU

(A/N: Hope you enjoy and thank you for the request!)

WARNINGS: implied noncon/dubcon, big age difference, kidnapping, slavery, violence, power imbalance, implied somnophilia, forced pregnancies, mind breaking, yandere behaviour, yandere themes, etc.

===============================================

Hell. That was the only way it was possible to describe life being bound to a man like Levi. A life of hell and torture. There was no other way around it, the women who often clamored on the outskirts of his estate had no idea what kind of man they were pining after. He was no soft and war-hardened dream man, he was a monster.

Evelyn was used to serving a master who beat and starved her on the regular. But still, he never touched her. She was permitted to remain pure and innocent for the sake of some purpose that had been unknown until now. She was sold out, sold like no more than some cattle. Her days of her palms raw from scrubbing floors were gone, but replaced with them were nights of waking nightmares.

She had some dignity in serving, at the end of the day she could lie on her mat and know that she had tried her best to please and be useful. In this there was nothing but shame and disgust.

Promoted from slave to concubine was supposed to be an honor, that she was now recognized as a partially human, not solely an object. But with the differences in her and Levi's class a novelty like rights was not granted to her. No one would condemn what Levi did, no one would come to save her. She was entirely on her own.

What was little more than a sack for her clothing was now replaced with fine linens. All in white or pink, one to signify purity and the other youth, life, and happiness. How much of a joke that was. She was none of those things. To further slip the painful knife in Levi had gifted her a comb with a lotus on it, as if a taunt of what she no longer was.

All her days were spent in his chambers, she was there to warm his bed and offer comfort. Nothing more. No purpose to be bred without mercy to gain the satisfaction of the man who owned her. There was nothing more to her life, but this.

How she wished for more.

The slamming of sliding doors announced the return of the house's lord. It would only be a matter of time before he would enter and claim what he believed was rightfully his.

Something she always dreaded, all her pleas and begging resulted in the bruises her carefully applied makeup sought to cover. It wouldn't do to be visible damaged, that always sent him into the most unpredictable rages. The last time she had appeared before him with bruises he gave her plenty more, the next day he had a lady come and teach her how to properly apply it.

Levi wanted his woman to be the picture of feminine grace and beauty, he wanted her to symbolize everything a man could desire from a woman. All for his inflated ego, to feel that he had the best of everything and others would think the same.

His entrance to the chambers started and ended the same, a command. Foul language. Pain, and then warmth. There was no change, no difference in anything. It would never change, he would never change.

She was a dead girl walking. But that would end soon enough.

==============================================

A sedative in his tea was all it took. Levi had trouble sleeping, so teas with calming properties always sent him into a mercifully peaceful slumber. Evelyn only needed to steal into the kitchen when she was granted the liberty of leaving his rooms to bathe. The tea ready, she just slipped more than enough into the pot so that he would hopefully sleep more deeply and longer than normal. She would have a chance. Evelyn never thought about escape before now, but such dire circumstances required action.

Without hesitation or sensing that anything was amiss Levi consumed that which was offered to him. Staring at his prize even while his eyelids drooped, never leaving her until the even sound of breathing reached her ears and signified his sleep.

Quietly, Evelyn gathered her warmest clothes, bundled them on and stole down the maple tree. Taking care to be as silent as possible. The household was asleep at this hour, but who knows who could be prowling the grounds for just such an occasion as this.

Once on the ground, Evelyn cast one last glance at the room where her captor slept, vowing to never go back so long as she lived.

With that, she fled into the night.

[a-french-coconut]

Travis Stoll (Part 10)

There's always some kind of unease when everything is going to a little too well.

Travis deems Tyche has been feeling really generous for this quest.

Way too much for his taste. Little quests like this don't capture the gods' attention for very long.

The occasional thought about oh his brother is dying and he's trying to save him, that's so sweet ! and then moving away very quickly to a much more interesting topic is the standard for gods in Travis' book.

As soon as he gets out of the palace, he feels like someone is watching him.

Maybe he's just paranoid.

Maybe it's just some friendly ghost who wants to have a chat with him, ask him about the living realm !

But as true and honourable demigod, Travis is realistic.

He hasn't crossed any monsters yet.

He managed to get the flower for a very reasonable price despite his entire body flaring in pain every time he walks.

Something is going to get fucked up.

He's going to loose the flower.

A demonic soul will try to eat him and the flower.

He'll get lost.

When he gets to the surface, no cab will take him.

Or maybe Connor is already dead.

Think positive Travis.

He takes the same way he got in with Will, the tunnel plunged in darkness.

He can hardly see anything, rocks appearing from nowhere make him almost fall a thousand times and the only thing keeping him from screaming every insults he knows is the idea of those Keres following him.

He knows that they are somewhere behind him, watching him from the shadows.

He's constantly on his guard, listening carefully to hear them move or breathe.

Every little sound, a rock falling, some little creature passing right next to him make him jump, reaching for his sword.

He's certain they're torturing him, waiting for him to relax to finally attack him and tear him to pieces.

Typical monster behaviour.

He just needs to get to the surface, from there it will all be fine.

Naturally, as soon as he thinks that, pain flares up from his shoulder, something clawing at him in the dark.

He throws his sword in a wild arc, the movement making him wince since the damned monster injured his left shoulder and Travis just happens to be left-handed.

A terrible screech echoes in the tunnel before everything turn silent once again.

He takes a defensive stance, eyes scanning the shadows surrounding him.

Nothing but darkness meets his gaze.

Wait, no.

There's something in front of him, a form he can't quite figure out.

Carefully, never averting his eyes from the dark mass, he reaches with his free hand a small vial in his backpack.

He shakes it strongly, count ten seconds then hurled it in front of him.

When the bottle fo greek fire explodes, making a big explosion of green and revealing the thing to Travis, he regrets doing that.

In front of him are three of the most disgusting creatures he ever met.

Three women, all with grey skin and talons looking at him with shining black eyes.

He can't decide what is worse, the blood coating their mouth or the putrid smell coming from it.

The Keres, eaters of the dead, are monsters Travis would have not regret not meeting.

He adjusts his grip on his sword, black blood dripping from the blade.

The one on the left is looking at him more furiously than the other two so she must be the one who got hit.

Or maybe she's just the most hungriest of the trio and she figures Travis would make a fine snack.

"You're not allowed to kill me, ladies."

The Keres, Persephone explained to him, can only eat on the dead. They cannot kill a mortal in the order to feast.

The one on the middle, the leader he assumes, smiles, showing sharp teeth drenched in blood.

"In normal circumstances, you would be right demigod. But we are famished, nobody fights in the name of the gods now, and require to eat. You are trying to prevent us from that."

"I'm trying to save my brother."

"We care not about who he is to you, boy. All we see is food, fresh and delicious food."

"Then it seems we are in an impasse", he says slightly while looking for another thing in his backpack, "I will not let you kill me and you don't want to die. Find yourself another poor guy to eat."

"I see demigods have not lost their arrogance," she hisses, "you think you can beat us ? We are thousands years old and more importantly, you're alone."

"Mmmh," where is it ? he thinks, still searching, Aha ! his hand closing against the object, "I think I can win against three grannies."

The leader screeches and lunges for him, her talons gleaming in the obscurity. He throw himself to the ground to dodge her then crawls toward the other two.

They both froze for a second, confused about why their prey was coming towards them, giving him the time to pull the grenade he stole from Clarisse a long time ago.

Ten

He scrambles on his feet, looking around for covering.

Seven

An alcove in the rock, three meters away.

Six

He runs for it, wobbling more than truly running but he is going to make it.

Four

He's almost there, just two more steps.

He feels one the Keres behind him.

Three

He turns around and gives her a solid kick in the stomach, sending her tumbling back to where the grenade is going to explode.

Two

He watches with horror the satchel’s shoulder strap break, the monster taking it with her.

One

Survival instincts take over, his legs guiding in the alcove.

Zero

Fire erupts, swallowing the screaming Keres and with them, the satchel with the flower.

Don't kill me please 🥺, we don't need another death. Connor's one is already going to be painful 😔.

Part 11 posted !

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

it’s genuinely so interesting to see azula in completely different circumstances bc like. i mean for one she's very autistic and that’s always fun i too am like that except without the burning things and threats and stuff. but also like, we kinda see a little of how her world is like, just a bit. she's often mean spirited towards her friends like everyone else but she's not intentionally cruel, even apologising to ty lee when she realised she upset her. her perfectionism applies in all areas, even things that would seem petty. she's surprisingly empathetic towards zuko when he's mourning in the beach house. she is just generally awful to the people outside of that specific group though. she sees herself as inherently evil, since she's got such a warped view of love she thinks her mother hated her instead of being genuinely concerned about the way she was being influenced.

she’s awful, but she’s very human, and she's absolutely not heartless no matter how much she pretends to be. her relationships with others she’s close to aren’t at all healthy, obviously- she plays mind games even at the best of times and discards people when they refuse to be useful to her- but that’s not out of malice to them at least (the whole rest of the world is another story). considering how much she adores and idolises her father, it’s probably not a stretch to say where that idea of love comes from.

and like. none of this makes azula a better person. but it makes her a person. she's a deeply messed up kid, but she’s still a kid, and not 100% of her actions at all times are done out of cruelty and spite. she’s got a deeply negative self image, and she feels a need for control and domination to feel like she’s worth something to herself- either her self esteem is dangerously high on an ego boost or she's immediately into angry self hatred she externalises at the world. she’s not just “ooh evil crazy!” she’s genuinely mentally ill and has a distorted perception of herself and the world around her, and she does genuinely deserve help for that, as every person struggling with mental illness does. she also needs to be stopped from hurting others- both those she’s close to and those she’s not, because neither is a good position to be in- and removed from her current environment, and instead be somewhere that doesn’t enable her behaviours and keeps both herself and others safe from her anger. and as long as she believes she can’t be a better person- just a more useful monster- she can’t heal and become a better person, and that might not be something that ever happens. she’s awful, she’s cruel, and she also needs genuine mental help.

[the-pink-baphomet1861]

Alfred Ashford and queerness, an analysis 

So, Resident Evil Code Veronica. It’s a game that has the community split on whether it’s one of the best or one of the worst games in the series. I personally love it, but there is a point to be made that it does have quite a few flaws in how its story and gameplay was handled, and with the newer RE remakes that have all been widely praised by pretty much everyone (some more than others,) many people have been clamouring for Code Veronica to get a similar treatment to the others, giving it another chance to show off its potential.

In all of these discussions of a remake, one thing that I see as being ignored is the character of Alfred Ashford and his rather tragic story. In a nutshell, it is a story about a child who is born of a heinous eugenics experiment and is neglected by his father for not being born with what he was looking for, becoming obsessed with the only person who ever showed him any sort of affection, and eventually losing his mind after she leaves, developing a separate personality to cope, and becoming a monster. 

However, this is not what we see in game.

In game, Alfred is a walking queer stereotype who’s entire character is based around an incredibly transphobic reveal of him dressing as Alexia in her absence and being a source of horror not because of his circumstances, but because he was, *gasp*, dressing as a woman! How disgusting!

Now, I probably shouldn’t need to explain why this is a problem. It’s both incredibly transphobic and ableist and utterly destroys anything else that this character could say.

It’s also something that I’ve never really seen people talking about in any Code Veronica remake, only a few actually talk about this issue in a constructive way. Most are more along the lines of “Oh yeah, that’s a problem, capcom better do something about it.” Which isn’t really all that helpful considering the subject matter, but here’s the thing.

I believe that Alfred’s story can be reworked into something that doesn’t just get rid of these unfortunate implications, but turns them on their head to make it a story about queerness rather than discriminating against it.

First, the crossdressing isn’t the only place where you can put Alfred’s queerness on display. Consider: Alfred was neglected and ignored by his father for his lack of intelligence, sure, but what if that wasn’t the only thing. What if it was also because he began displaying some form of queer behaviour and, as part of a horrible eugenics conspiracy, didn’t take it too kindly, maybe even full on physical abuse against him for displaying it. This not only could emphasise why he latched onto Alexia like he did, but also show why he also displays such an obsession with the military as well, choosing a ‘masculine’ career in order to avoid more harassment from his father, but this doesn’t work because Alexander just doesn’t care. Alfred was born wrong and as such he has no love for his son, only scorn. It also makes their experiment on him not just horrific for what they're doing to him, but also triumphant for getting rid of his abuser, but this is not the end for this story.

Soon after, Alexia leaves in her cryostasis and Alfred is not only alone, but in a system that also hates him for existing. Umbrella is probably also just as queerphobic as Alexander, if not even more so, but they can’t just get rid of him due to his status in the company. So they stick him on Rockfort and keep him there in order to stop him from ruining their plans or reputation, which causes Alfred’s mind to shatter under the stress and isolation, leaving him a broken, monstrous wreck of a man.

(They also shouldn’t make Alfred any less of a villain due to this, in fact, having him be even more cruel and sadistic could also make his story even sadder.)

However, Alfred cannot exist in a metaphorical vacuum of queerness. In order for this to work and work well, the rest of the game must work to emphasise this theme with the other characters. Have Claire and Steve empathise with him not just due to his madness, but also because of what caused him to break in such a way, have Alexia’s love come from not just his praise, but also because he’s the only person who truly understands her. Have all the other Umbrella employees look down on him and hate him for it. If Capcom wants Alfred’s story to work, then queerness has to be up there in this game’s themes along with ‘family bonds’ and ‘shooting zombies and big monsters in the face’

In conclusion, I believe that the only way to make Code Veronica’s story not queerphobic besides just cutting it (which would be boring,) is to make it about queerness rather than treating it like it’s disgusting and unnatural. Besides, if done well, then Code Veronica could go down as one of the best stories in gaming.

[xtinyslip]

"IS THAT NOT WHAT YOU WILL ALWAYS BE? MY DARLING?" cecilia was tolerating his behaviour because she believed that he needed to feel heard. seen. there would come a time in the near future where this would stop, where their dynamics would return to what they always were but she needed to regain her hold inside his head first. more importantly inside his heart. if that meant she had to act apologetic, if that meant she had to act as though she truly cared? that was exactly what she was prepared to do. even if she found this entire circumstance exhausting. "if i had wanted you dead? i would have told kramer about your involvement from the very beginning. i did not. if i'm as cold hearted as you are suggesting. what did i have to gain from keeping you out of it? I ADMIT, the others? they were lost causes -- each and everyone one of them. in the real world? outside of our protection? when we finally left them to their own devices? they would have become nothing but a liability BUT YOU? baby, come on. it's me. it's you. you were different." how could she sound so sincere? her words so heart felt when she didn't know how to make her heart feel to begin with? well, it was a gift. one she was in no desire to part with. "and i love you. parker, why else would i be here? hum?" because she needed someone that she could twist and point in the right direction. someone she knew she could have that affect on and he was that person. always had been, right? cecilia has her nails deep into this one and so perhaps, she didn't want to let him go so she would not. quite simply. "is that it? gabi?" good grief. what was wrong with them all? "the radiation she was exposed to would have burned her to death from the inside out. you really believed all that talk of 'lets get her to a hospital?' it would have been a terrible death. far from what the girl deserved." radiation was nasty, it was unforgiving but would gabi have died? not necessarily but it was very plausible that she would have. therefore, it worked for her story. "if i am such a terrible monster what does that make you? you were right by my side." how was she going to get inside of his head? well, she believed she was already very much there. she just needed him to see it from her side. it may take a little persuading but she believed she could do it. after all, where else was parker going to go? with gabi? please. how long would they last? she could almost laugh but she kept a straight expression. of course. "i did what i had to. if the child had saved both you and i? it would have been a loss i would have accepted. how was to know what he had planned for us at the very end?" oh, she used the kid to get under john's skin. to show him, to prove to him he was no less a monster than she was. however, parker seemed rather fragile over the matter so of course, she needed to make it sound better. "kill me? kiss me? looks like you want to do both, doesn't it? i know which one of those i will let you do." @fcdcdmcmories

[voidandabyssal]

More Below the Ice thoughts

Becuz I'm obsessed, (might wanna be caught up to my latest chapter to avoid spoiling yourself link here!)

Morgan's the oldest in the little ragtag group of scientists. She's nearly fifty

And she has spent that vast majority of her life on the base, aside from some years where she worked at Ebott aquarium. Though she hasn't been there for some decades.

originally started out researching cetacean behaviour before gaining a PHD in Cryptology (which in this au is a totally legitimate a respected degree)

(spoilers ahead, don't read if you aren't caught up!)

Thomas was not the first to die at that base, as established. But a lot more people died before him,

Morgan kinda (definitely) bent the circumstances of their deaths so she and the company she works for could keep the funding.

Sans used to have a very large family when he was younger, parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, etc.

Like actually Orcas; Orca Sirens live within large family units for their whole lives.

It's completely unheard of to see a Orca Siren alone.

Most scientists theorise that most Orca Sirens would die of the grief alone,

That is part of the reason Morgan is so fascinated by Sans

He is a impossibility,

Murder whales fascination with humans started when the science team was first set up

eventually he developed a taste for human. Honestly we're pretty easy meals for most animals

Okay now onto some.... Worldbuilding! Yippee!

Monsters were never imprisoned underground, the human and Monster war eventually ended with peace negotiations.

They were gifted Mt Ebott and much of the surrounding land.

Mages exist in this world, though they are shockingly rare, though extremely powerful

Sirens are actually one of the less deadly species of cryptids out there

mostly because they remain pretty separated from most humans and Monsters.

the most deadly (the types with the most accounted for deaths and injuries) is probably tied between the Driders and the Nagas.

Both happen to like dry, warm and dark places to live in

and that happens to be fitting descriptors for a lot of homes.

So they tend to come into contact with people more often, which obviously leads to more attacks

Cryptids are not born with the knowledge to speak English, or any other human/monster language

they have to actively try to learn it

Sans knows english because he's been surrounded by humans for so long, and he eventually realised it would make for a better hunt if the scientists were scared shitless by the talking predator

Most Cryptids don't know any human language. That's sorta where that myth of them not being intelligent comes from

[leighlew3]

Hi Leigh. I hope you’re feeling okay. And if you’re not, that’s fine too. We all love you and are here for you.

I know it’s probably not the best time to discuss my concern but like ptsd sometimes ruins my head and I feel extremely paranoid if I don’t try to protect someone I care about.

What I’m trying to say is(and this is entirely presuming through some of your previous posts) that sometimes you do more than your sibling. Which doesn’t mean that it’s bad unless…..it’s sort of intentional in his part?

Once again I’m sorry if this makes you mad and I get it, family can be complicated and I’m just a stranger trying to give you unsolicited advice.

I have a reason to do so and that is I’ve seen my mom under the shadows of her brother. Considering he was a monster and I’m assuming your brother isn’t. Because I only know just one part of his life. However, I’m trying to advice you(sorry for the unsolicited advice btw) because my uncle is a horrendous man. When my granny got cancer and was on her death bed, it was almost the exact situation that you had described in one of your posts. And so I got flashbacks of that time(ptsd??) and I have to admit my uncle is probably way worse considering he tried to sexually assault me when I was 10. But that’s besides the point. What I’m getting to here is that it took years for mom to recognise the behaviour and the nature of her brother until she snapped and then completely cut him off for good. But all those years, she suffered under his tyranny (?) and unfortunately I had to deal with it too.

I just hope that if your case is similar even just a little to what I described, just think about it as a whole. That’s all. I’m not telling you what to do. All I’m saying is be careful.

Much love ❤️

First, thank you, and I'm so sorry you went through that. 💜

So, my brother... was always a genuinely good guy who did the right things, when it counted most at least, especially compared to our evil, abuser 'father'. Unfortunately, he's lately been going through some sort of early mid-life crisis or something, I dunno. But he's just abandoned a lot of people and responsibilities he shouldn't. Things and people that should mean the most are now on the bottom of the priority list.

I've always taken care of our mom single-handedly. I think he's chipped in financially, barely, like... a couple minor times. And for a long time he made more money than I did, so there was no excuse. He just always even as kids amidst trauma -- checked out. His way to deal was to just... not. To run away. To shut it out. Go about his life. Leaving us to survive alone, etc at the time.

Anyway, it broke my heart when I told him this last Christmas might be our last with mom, and to please come, she wanted to be with him and the boys (my nephews) for Christmas, badly. And he instead decided to spend it with his new girlfriend of (at the time) 2 months. The boys were devastated because they could tell grandmama's health was declining and they wanted to be with her/us for Christmas...

Now, after her death, the oldest (15) has said, "Well, we didn't get to see her for Christmas and now she's gone." and the youngest (11, an extra sensitive young soul) hasn't stopped crying fairly regularly since she died. They were already dealing with their parents' split a year or so go, and then their dad basically checking out the second he met the new girlfriend. And now they lost their grandmama who loved them SO much and made them her whole world in the way she made her own children (us) her whole world.

Mom did the best she could for us under hellish circumstances, and she was not perfect, but she was a GOOD mom who loved her two children, would die for her children, always put us first above ALL, including and especially herself. She loved and cared for him so much and he just abandoned her. But for me I always saw no other option BUT taking care of her. She took care of me the first 18 years of her life. So I took care of her the last 18 or so years of hers. I told her she could retire as a teacher's aide and I'd take care of her when her back and legs got bad after years of steroid use due to her asthma + years of abuse. I took care of her, and us. For so long. And in the very end, her last year or so, I was the one bathing her, cleaning up her bowel movement bags, helping her get to the commode by her bed, I was the one feeding her, bringing her her pills, and bankrupting myself on her medical costs -- even as I myself was dealing with long COVID exhaustion/heart/BP issues. To the point that she and I even started having issues of emotional conflict due to both of us being so fucking TIRED and exhausted and frustrated, her suffering, me exhausted and at wits end mental health wise in every way. Those are things I'll forever have to live with and try to process and forgive myself for but at the hospital one night I washed her hair and face and put her lipstick on her and she forgave me for my moments of frustration, and gently thanked me for taking care of her, especially because I was the only one who ever did...

Anyway, I asked him, in order to make room for her hospice bed while she was in the hospital, if he would grab some bed cover bags for the beds to go into my storage, so hospice had room to install her literal death bed. I hadn't slept in a week, being at the hospital anywhere from 5-12 hours a day to be sure she was being treated right and wasn't alone. She hated being there alone and I refused to let her be alone. I was exhausted. His ex wife was there at the hospital with mom to relieve me more than he was. She's been there for me this whole time in ways that if I hadn't had her, I don't think I would've made it through.

So, I was running around making sure mom's whole room was redone for her comfort, the equipment, etc (for what wound up being 2.5 days before she died, but at least I got her home in time and she passed at home like I always promised her I would make sure she did) -- and I just needed him to grab $10 plastic covers from U-Haul and come help me move the beds. He came to help me move the bed, but claimed her couldn't buy the bed covers (?!). He came by a total of... 3-4 times, briefly, throughout the hospital / hospice / hell final days because his priority was his new girlfriend and her children, over his own dying mother, his sister who was exhausted, and his sons who were devastated and hurting and trying to process it all.

I love my brother, I always will, but in her final days he broke her heart. He abandoned me. And now she's gone and aside from him holding me for 30 seconds the night she died (the first time he's really hugged me in half our life) -- he hasn't even called or texted since she died, or the memorial, to ask if I'm okay. He hasn't checked on me. He's just... living his life.

One of mom's dying wishes, I even have on tape, was telling him to take care of his little sister (me) and his sons (especially due to recent events that were devastating her around all that).

And I'm breaking. And I'm not okay.

But this is where it's that thing... where it's always been mom and me, just us, against the world, on our own, no matter who else came or went. No matter what, we at least had each other.

But now she's gone.

I don't have my mom anymore, my best friend, my confidant, my biggest champion and defender... my world is gone. Half my heart and soul is gone. And I don't even have my brother either, really. Barely ever have. I took care of our mom alone most of my adult life while he got to live his. And I'm angry with him for abandoning us all this time and putting it all on me, but especially at the end. And I don't know if I'll ever be able to get past that. My mom always thought he'd come around, she only ever wanted to see the best in him, and it's heartbreaking. She loved him so much, just as much as she loved me even though I was the one who was always there for her... because she couldn't ever really face that he just... wasn't there, and wasn't going to be there.

But I was. Even in the end. And now I'm broken.

But he's just living his life.

And none of that seems fair.

But that's life, I guess.

[themaresnest-dumblr]

OK, have now watched that ‘Max’ episode of Stranger Things, Season Four, Episode Four, and it is by far the most overrated and ludicrous of the lot. It’s not bloody bogeymen from the upside down she should be having visions of, it’s jumped sharks.

First up, the premise this hardboiled ginger nut had some secret guilt about Billy’s death.

Oh please!

The p**ck physically as well as verbally abused her every chance he got for years, and we’re supposed to believe she’s all torn up inside because he did one decent thing in his whole oxygen stealing existence?

Real people in the real world don’t behave like that. The only regrets they usually feel is never applying a sledgehammer to their tormentor’s worthless skulls when they had the chance. Eleven’s behaviour towards her tormentors: realistic. Max’s behaviour: baloney.

Besides, Max is someone who treats the people she likes as disposable pick ups and drop downs like toys as it is (especially her supposed boyfriend), and openly admits to her councillor the death of Billy had the bonus of ridding her of her equally violent and abusive stepdad. Does that sound like someone that’s gonna have a moment’s regret over Billy’s fetid carcass going to the Oldest Recycling Centre?

It’s not that she is incapable of caring, but she’s an atypical survivor of a toxic environment, ergo her own needs override just about much else - and that kind of mindset takes years (and more than a few long dark nights of the soul) to change

Finally, the whole dumb arse notion of her being into Kate f**king Bush ... again, history matters.

Skater kids haven’t changed much since the days the slim boards were replaced by the giant sawn off ironing boards more familiar to the current generations. They like fast aggressive music for a reason - when doing a highly physical hobby with some physical risks, you want to listen to stuff that gets the adrenaline pumping, not f**king ‘Clair de lune’ by Debussy!

On the other hand, skater kids wouldn’t want to be into the same stuff as the macho meatheads into heavy metal or hard rock, so ‘old school’ punk like the Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, the Vandals, the Damned and others loved by the counterculture of the day was their bag - later morphing into the likes of Green Day, Offspring, Rancid, etc.

The reality is someone like Max would be more likely to find Kate Bush the antithesis of her sensibilities, a self-indulgent posh bird from England disappearing up her own lilywhite world arse. And the album ‘Hounds Of Love’ is just about the most offensive it would have been possible to get for a skater girl (had she even heard of it - both it and ‘Running Up That Hill’ only reached No.30 on the Billboard charts, and only gained any sort of traction around Ivy League university campuses. The nearest most Americans had to intellectualism in music at that time was Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Time After Time’ ...). It was slaughtered in the American press at the time as ‘something only English ears would like’, with Rolling Stone (at that time still considered the bible of the zeitgeist in the USA) being particularly scathing.

In 1984, after the major financial disaster for EMI caused by the flop of her ‘disappear up my own arse’ album The Dreaming (one result of which being its proposed merger with British Aerospace collapsed when Thorn EMI profits doozied), she’d been presented with much the same diktat CBS have given The Clash under similar circumstances three years earlier - ‘you’ve twelve months to present us with a commercially viable album plus a bonus track for a projected Greatest Hits album to make good on our losses - or your contract’s terminated.’

‘Hounds Of Love’ did the job in spades, even if ‘Cloudbursting’ (the latter with no less than Donald Sutherland in the video) wasn’t the monster global hit EMI was sure it would be, that long sought after next ‘Wuthering Heights’ which would always elude them until, ironically thirty six years too late later.

Bottom line: the idea of Max turning into some secretly sensitive Kate Bush fan is baloney covered in a thick WTF sauce, and a sign the shows writer’s were not merely out of ideas but by season four butt lazily lapsing into self-indulgence. The whole notion of some supernatural alien whatever supervillain killing people after feeding off their guilt is stolen wholesale off the famous Polymorph episode of Red Dwarf, for crying out loud. The whip crack sound of the tentacles that ensnare Max when in her own nightmare is the exact same sound used by the tentacles in the Apocrypha in The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim: Dragonborn!

(Come to that, much of that whole nightmare world looks suspiciously like bits of the Apocypha and the Soul Cairn ...)

The first two seasons of this show were great, the third one a curate’s egg, but this last one is starting to wear thin half way through the bingewatch, rather like one of those video games franchises like Far Cry which doesn’t know when it needs to take a break and breathe for a bit.