#so i can abandon them without feeling bad

[thebennsofdallas]

WWDITS S6 - What we thought we knew vs. what we know now

I’ve been struggling to string some words together about this season thus far. I think, with the exception the episode where Laszlo was forced to relive the abuse of his father, every episode has been wonderful. But two episodes I keep rewatching — Nandor’s Army and March Madness. Because in those two episodes, much was revealed about all these characters. We’re learning that these vampires care, about each other and other things, too. But this season, Nandor has especially been laid bare. No subtext, no wordplay, no wink and a nod.

Hey, Nandor? All those feelings you hide so poorly and hate so much? Too bad, buddy, they are coming out and they are gushing all over the place, like a recklessly pierced vein. Better get a towel because it’s gonna be fucking messy.

The first big thing we’ve learned in Nandor’s Army is how devastated Nandor was about losing the janitor job. So much so that the poor guy went a little mad. For over 700 years, Nandor has survived enumerable hardships and setbacks but Guillermo rejecting him is the thing that ruins him. 

Nandor only took the job at Cannon Capital to be close to Guillermo, to watch over him as he had been doing for 15 years. And that was the second thing we learned about Nandor. He perceived that he had been protecting Guillermo. “Raising him” were his exact words. And once Guillermo decided against being a vampire and separated himself from the vampire world, Nandor felt abandoned. He lost his purpose and in doing so, he lost his mind.

The confrontation between Nandor and Guillermo in the husk of the Hancock and Sons factory was the most honest they’ve ever had. Usually, it’s Guillermo who makes himself vulnerable and Nandor who pretends like he doesn’t care. That night, though, their pent up feelings came spilling out, from both sides. That night, Nandor caved but I don’t think that argument is done yet.

Because, then, in March Madness, the truth bombshell dropped. The foundation of and the motivation for the dumb, sometimes cruel shit Nandor has done is finally revealed.

Nandor knows he’s going to lose Guillermo. He is painfully aware of it. For most of their time together, Guillermo believed that all he wanted was to be a vampire. It was his dream from childhood, as Nandor heard umpteen times. But when it finally happened, in the fucked up manner which no one saw coming, Nandor was gutted by the betrayal. But still, he was willing to turn backflips to make sure Guillermo got what he wanted.

But once he did, once Guillermo chose to go back to being a human, Nandor’s future with Guillermo — or what he thought was their future — was gone.

Nandor was always careful about putting the affection he has for Guillermo on display. He kept that under wraps and rarely allowed himself to let it show. He ignored the tenderness he has for Guillermo and judging from solely from his behavior, it seemed like Nandor was just a big, selfish jerk.

But surprise, surprise, it turns out that Nandor is not so much a deeply delusional asshole as he is a secret soft-hearted sap in self-protect mode. Because Nandor knows Guillermo is human and Nandor knows that humans get hurt and eventually die. In 760 years as a vampire, this is what he knows. He tells Laszlo there’s nothing special about humans. They will leave so a vampire is a fool to get attached to them.

Oh, really? Well, sorry, Mr. Supreme Viceroy/Warlord, you’re too late. That train has already left the station. we know that’s bullshit because whenever Guillermo leaves him, Nandor is totally lost. Through the Djinn and Marwa, we know that Nandor doesn’t know what he would do without Guillermo.

You can run. You can run far because you have those awesome long legs but you can’t hide anymore, big guy. The truth is out. The die is cast.

Nandor. You’re a dead man.

[bidisasterevankinard]

My another rambling why I think Buck(and bucktommy) and Maddie's kidnapper are not related

First I'll say: it won't happen bc it's easy to suspect by their promo+ interview, but no

So my two variants:

1 variant : it's two different people. If Buck dates serial killer it's not the one to kidnap Maddie (more likely not smt that will happen)

2 and more likely canon: Buck never interacts with serial killer. That person kidnaps Maddie yes, but it has 0 connection to Buck. Absolutely 0. Bc he would fight his abandonment issue and his tendency to make everything about himself. But if Buck is connected to killer it creates situation where he can have normal explanation to his bad mood and guilt without writers having a chance to say "look Buck as always childish and thinks everything about him"

Buck will date someone but I guess it will end bc he will understand he dates them just bc he is lonely and milks this relationship like he did with Taylor bc he doesn't want to be alone. So he will end. Or he will think it's not casual and person actually uses him as rebound after divorce or smt like that. maybe he will also just use them to forget Tommy, but it won't work and he will be honest with them and end it like Abby never did to him

Also, I'm in fandom for almost 3 years,and let me tell you, making everything about Buck and his any relationship(no matter what you ship) is not cool, but it happens all the time. Killer/kidnapper is madney, more even Maddie's arc, and let leave it that way. Let other characters' arcs exists more for them,not for Buck. Let's not be writers who make Buck feel everything about him without letting him grow and see that a lot of things are not him related

Ofc Buck should feel smt about his sister in danger, but maybe lets not expect it to bring our ship back

Disclaimer i guess: Buck is my favorite character

[miasmaghoul]

Miasma I need you to speak more about the cumperator fic like desperately

So we all know how I feel about Dew and Imperator.

However.

I think, after all she's been through, Sister just isn't the biggest fan of men. All they've done is disappoint and abandon her, after all. Can't blame her for having a bad taste in her mouth. And when she does indulge, it's all about power dynamics. She WILL be the one in charge, no matter what. Zero arguments to be made.

But sometimes? Sometimes she needs a reminder of her femininity. She needs comfort and reassurance, a soft touch offered instead of taken. This is where Cumulus comes in. She's different that the ghoulettes who came before her - not skittish and sharp, but open and kind. She has claws and isn't afraid to use them, make no mistake, but her nature isn't that of Mist or Cirrus. She can see the tightness in Imperator's shoulders, the downward curl of her lips, the sharpness in her voice that begs for something besides control.

So Cumulus takes care of her. Undresses and bathes her with the finest soaps, styles her hair in soft curls and paints her face in something besides harsh red. Drapes her in silk and brings her to bed, where she will spend as long as Sister wants treating her like the queen she is without expecting a thing in return.

Just like she deserves.

[vilavi-2]

You may not be able to see @andthendk's gifs embedded in AO3 anymore, and thats because enough people loved and downloaded them that it broke my dropbox bandwidth limit for the day 😅

I was today years old when I learned that was a thing! They should be restored tomorrow, but to prevent a repeat issue I'm reposting everything here. You can download the gifs from this tumblr post (compressed to meet upload requirements here), but please don't nab them from AO3 - they are hosted there via an embedded link that counts each download against me. Thanks and sorry for the trouble! 💕

Sway

It was bad right from the beginning. The physical threat the Red Lanterns posed was one thing, the blinding rage that assaulted her mind was far worse. Raven concentrated fiercely to keep the brunt of it at bay, but each little bit that slipped through was like a needle in her psyche. Soon enough it was as though a swarm of hornets was assailing her, their sharp, relentless stings driving her closer and closer to the locked door where she kept her own anger.

It didn’t help how much Ysmault reminded her of Trigon’s realm. A red, rank, screaming world that seemed almost designed to regress her. The only living things here were her and her fellow heroes; their foes had no heartbeat and the landscape itself was made up of bones, blood, and burning rock. Over all of them was the Red Lantern’s power battery, bathing the scene in malignant light.

Raven couldn’t say when that door eventually cracked open, she only knew it had when she saw her clawed, red hand wrapped around a foe's throat, felt the heat of him in her grip, peered into the raw, animal madness in his eyes. She shouldn’t be this close, it wasn’t her style. Raven fought best from a distance, methodically and without any joy in the act. Now she was in the thick of it, reveling in the up close and personal degradation of her enemies. It was wrong, she knew it was wrong, and yet it felt so good . Truly, she had forgotten how good anger could feel. The Lantern in her grasp spewed more of his viscous, spoiled blood at her trying to win free of the iron grip on his throat. Raven tightened her hand instead, cutting off the stream and tossing him aside. Her enemies' corrosive, burning blood had no effect on her — she’d been bathed in hotter fires than they could ever match.

She and Damian sat there quietly, too exhausted to talk, too edgy to sleep. It’s done, it’s over, relax now , Raven kept telling herself. But the trials of their battle weren’t so easy to shake off. The unhinged fury of the Red Lanterns was like a needle in her mind, sharp and relentless. She’d been able to resist the worst of it, but enough had gotten through to her. The worst part was that everyone had seen. Everyone could still see. Raven did not wear fury well.

She shifted in the Javelin’s jumpseat, trying to get more comfortable. Instead the move just reminded her that she was covered in the viscous, spoiled blood Atrocitus’s minions spewed with abandon. The tacky, wet feeling of it repulsed her even as it compounded her shame and guilt.  

She tried again, futilely, to force the emotional echoes from the Red Lanterns from her mind, glad that she and Damian were alone in this part of the Javelin. The seats near the front were occupied by Titans and Leaguers alike, licking their wounds and trading happy banter about their victory over the Red Lanterns. Raven stole a glance at her teammate, guilt and distress prickling her heart at the injuries that dotted his skin. She had promised to heal him as soon as she was back in full control of herself, to which he’d shrugged and told her in his blunt, cocky way not to worry about it. His gaze hadn’t flickered when he saw her, nor when he’d met her golden eyes with his own. Even when they were kids Damian hadn’t ever seemed bothered when he saw her like this, for which she was endlessly grateful.

He slumped a bit in his seat, arms crossed and eyes closed, though she knew he wasn’t asleep. Raven decided to follow his lead and forced her body to relax, resting her head against his shoulder in hopes that some of his unshakeable composure could leach into her. They’d been here before and she knew he wouldn’t mind. Change back damn it, she thought tiredly. Damian shifted alongside her to settle them both more comfortable and she moved with him effortlessly, exhaustion and contentment finally starting to cool her blood.

Minutes must have passed, but it felt like she’d only just closed her eyes when a bright spike of emotion and noise opened them again. Supergirl and Shazam had taken seats opposite them, flamboyant in their giddiness. A quick look around showed the Javelin had filled up quite a bit since they first boarded and the whir of the engines told her they’d be taking off soon.

“You were amazing !” Billy was telling Kara, the raw admiration in his voice a dead giveaway for his real age. “Atrocitus totally didn’t see it coming! I bet he thought it was Superman that hit him!”

“It was just a lucky shot,” Supergirl said, but she was beaming from the praise. Raven couldn’t help her tired stare, something twisting in her belly when she saw how immaculate the other heroine was. Not a spec of rancid blood, not a tear on her clothes, not a hair out of place. Raven admired her, envied her, maybe hated her. Don’t be stupid. We’d still be out there dealing with rage zombies if not for Kara . She was more spent than she realized, if she wasn’t able to keep those small, petty emotions at bay.

“Don’t even,” Billy went on, goodnaturedly. “You oughta let loose more often. Don’t let your cousin soak up all the attention.”

“Maybe I will,” she grinned back, her aura bright with satisfaction. Only then did Kara seem to take notice of her and Damian sitting across the ship’s aisle. Her smile slowly tapered off, and careful (forced) nonchalance overtook her expression. Billy followed her eyes and quickly adopted the same look. As their twin gazes crawled over her, Raven felt a sinking feeling. She knew what they were seeing. 

Scarlet skin, black horns and claws, four feline yellow eyes. Not to mention the splatters of rank blood that decorated her body. Letting loose doesn’t look quite as good on me as it does her.  

Something unfamiliar stirred in her — shame? vanity? insecurity? she couldn't decide — and she dropped her eyes, reaching up to draw her hood over her head. The least she could do was hide her horns…

Damian caught her wrist in a firm grip and tugged her hand back down into her lap, thwarting her. She looked over in confusion and saw he was alert now, staring unflinchingly back at the two other heroes. His expression was neutral, but there was a clear challenge in the set of his jaw and the steely look his eyes. It was a look that both heroes and villains were known to quail from, and this time was no different.

Shazam was the first to break, ducking his head and muttering out a half-hearted pardon before hurrying to find another seat on the Javelin. Kara was soon to follow, albeit with a bit more grace and an uncertain smile for Raven. The empath felt a touch of guilt for her earlier, uncharitable feelings towards the heroine. It wasn't Kara's fault she was such a mess.

Damian’s unflinching stare followed them up the aisle before he finally turned his eyes to her, the fingers on her wrist sliding to coil with her own. He said nothing for a few seconds, just studied her from behind his mangled domino mask. Raven looked back at him wearily, feeling slightly bitter at his intervention and wishing he would have just let her hide. His expression softened and Raven blinked in surprise when she felt his thumb brush lightly against the skin beneath her second set of eyes before migrating north and tracing one of her ebon horns.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of," he declared, finality in every syllable.

A profound affection swept through her, heating her blood in a different way than before and making her heart beat too fast. The feeling belonged to both of them, Raven realized, and was more than enough to sweep away the last few drops of rage poisoning her psyche. Her vision blurred for a quick second as four eyes became two. Damian dropped his hand, skimming her hair lightly as he did, and settled back against his seat. He kept his eyes on her and Raven felt the unmistakable pride in his gaze. She laid her head on his shoulder again; partly to hide from the power of his regard and partly because of an uncontrollable need for closeness.

He reciprocated, resting his cheek against the crown of her head and exhaling deeply. The sense that she was soiled or shameful, which had dogged her since the battle, was gone now, replaced with the  inexplicable feeling that she was pristine.

“But he who dares not grasp the thorn

Should never crave the rose.”

― Anne Bronte 

DamiRae Week 2024 - Day 3 / Al Khala

Sway

Sometimes, when you and I collide

I fall into an ocean of you

Pull me out in time

damiraeweek2024 contribution from me and @andthendk! Enjoy!

[ithurielkeepsgettingkidnapped]

.

[giantkillerjack]

Favorite part about Death Note is that Light gets the Note and IMMEDIATELY becomes a serial killer fascist with a god complex.

No build-up, no Fall From Grace, no slow corruption of a good boy gradually becoming a monster. Just-- SPEED RUN STRATS. And I love that for him.

Tbh, I think there are a lot of folks (especially boys) from my high school days who would have immediately become monsters if given the power of life and death over every person around them.

It's kind of like how when people have apparently casual ableist beliefs, and you push them to elaborate on that just a little bit, they'll often end up openly saying stuff like "well, some people are just too disabled to be worth the resources it takes to support them." - Which is... eugenics. It's just eugenics, justified by the myth of scarcity. Now these folks almost certainly won't call it eugenics, or even think of it that way. But that doesn't make it NOT a core belief of the Nazis.

In a similar way, Light seems like a nice and well-adjusted boy with strong beliefs. No harm in that.

But to paraphrase Lindsay Ellis in her analysis of the Game of Thrones ending, "Power doesn't necessarily corrupt. Power reveals." [I think she was quoting someone else when she said this. It was someone who wrote a biography on LBJ. Whatever. Lindsay said it and she's smart as hell and I recommend her videos.]

And 15 minutes into the Death Note musical, I'm already thinking about how so many beliefs "casually" held by well-adjusted, nice people immediately reveal their monstrousness when talked through to their natural conclusion.

And I wonder how many of those people, given the power of life and death over everyone around them - the power to take their ideas to their natural conclusions - would also immediately reveal how their lack of self-reflection has laid the groundwork for them to become monsters.

[clockworkcheetah]

yknow im surprised there arent more fics with lydia and amanda

[nylloth]

@tloczek

I'm afraid Viktor's whole story won't fit in comment. First off he was never the “time traveling wizard” who gave Jayce the stone. The time loop is the worst trope that leads him to “Only Jayce can change my mind”. not a consequence of his decisions (s1 Sky death changed his mind without Jayce!), not a result of his work, not something logical, but only Jayce. It's silly

Secondly his “cultists” were not puppets of the void, Viktor believed in choice! He only helped those who asked for his help. He gave them new arms and legs, but he didn't force them or render them unconscious. They believed in him, that's why it's a cult. They had personalities. Viktor doesn't have a disability in LoL, his choice of evolutions isn't forced by illness. I'm fine with adding a disability, but it should never be the sole reason for his belief in evolution. Jayce is emphasizing Viktor's disability in his final sentence, again! Evolution is NOT about that.

Jayce changes Viktor's mind in 5 minutes, the original Viktor is always true to his views as they are not born out of resentment or lack of self-confidence. “Hasty” is putting it mildly. Keep in mind that Viktor made the decision to kill his humanity (Sky), for the sake of this evolution. It should have been a dramatic and sad process. So why wasn't it? Because he already gets his humanity back in the next episode because of Jayce's words. This nullifies killing Sky and makes this move extremely tasteless.

LoL MH has motivation and belief in what he is doing. These are feelings stronger than resentment or disappointment. Jayce killed Viktor and he became disillusioned with humanity (and Jayce???) and so chose evolution. Viktor had no convictions, he's like a guided kitten who got trapped because Jayce resurrected him.

Gradually changing your own body because you believe it, and unwanted resurrection from the dead are not the same thing.

I said it after the first act, he's a hostage to circumstance. Everything's been decided for him. The murder, the resurrection, the second murder without any discussion. Only at the end he makes his own decision, only to abandon it 10 minutes later. This is bad for any character, not just Viktor. The character doesn't stick to his views.

Viktor's evolution never destroyed nature, but if you take that element out of Jayce's story (the apocalypse) then all their interactions immediately lose meaning. And of course Viktor can't talk about “loneliness”, because Viktor is not alone with his supporters. (which are not empty)

LoL Jayce are not opposed to hextech. He thinks it should be controlled and that's why he and Viktor had a conflict. They used different methods and that's why their quarrels seemed more logical. Arcane Jayce hates everything to do with it.

The time loop creates a bunch of gaps, like in au where Ekko got to, where hextech wasn't invented and Viktor can't be a mage there.

Viktor also has a robot son, Blitz. He is not mentioned in Arcane and since Viktor dissolved in time (don't know what happened to them), he will never be. Jayce's influence literally predetermines Viktor's entire fate (death-resurrection-death), but they kind of make it look like Viktor is looping his own suffering fate with a time loop (the stone). That seems like a bad plot move to me. All Viktor's roads lead to Jayce, and believe me, that never happened in the original lore. Yes, they were adversaries, but Viktor had a robot son, ties to Renata, other henchmen, etc… It wasn't just “me and my friendship with Jayce, the only person who can change my mind”.

It's as if the characters can't exist outside of this cycle, making them appendages. While the original Viktor lore still exists, I suggest you read it, there are some nice stories in there and this man is much more like the Viktor from season one than Viktor we see in season two. He has motivation, motives, determination and a separate personality. I'd say Viktor s1 was a pretty good backstory for Viktor LoL if they didn't kill him off in season 2 with the first episode. Knowing the original lore and comparing it to what we got, there is a bad flavor. I know ppl like Jayce/Viktor connection, for parallels, but given the pacing of the story and the crappy “time loop” branch, it sucks. Though even if it had been given more time it wouldn't have worked. For the reasons I described above.

“Viktor and Jayce got the best ending ever” if you knew Viktor's original lore and appreciated him as a separate character and not an appendage to Jayce, you would never say that.

[dilf-phoenix-rights]

misunderstanding of my point on one of my post :/

[ironhusband]

Thinking about Erik snapping at Charles with “well maybe you should have fought harder for them” and the pain in his eyes when Charles told him they didn’t want the same things.

[quietwingsinthesky]

the song remains the same au where Anna lives somehow, Michael didn’t finish the job or something, and it’s Dean being told he gets no choice, nothing but his destiny as Michael’s vessel, and he’s back where he was in Heaven and Hell with both Anna and Sam under threat, but god, this time he’s saving both of them, he has to. Pushed further towards saying yes not just because of his own failing faith that they can stop the Apocalypse, but because in that moment, he promises he will, if Michael will send Anna back with them. Reasons that she doesn’t belong there any more than him and Sam do, and maybe she’s been hurt so badly that she’s been knocked back down to practically human.

But the point is that Anna lives, and she tried to kill Dean’s parents, and failed, but at the same time, he gets it. He just tried to convince his own mom not to have him or Sam, and it all got erased. They are more like pawns than they ever have been, but they could still try to find something in each other. Some bit of lost tenderness. It’s the end of the world. Any night could be the last night.

[kerorowhump]

[queensparklekitten]

I think I just guaranteed queen of nothing by the crane wives a place in my spotify wrapped tonight because of time princess

[relicsongmel]

Just spent over an hour searching for the static Ho-oh in the overworld and suddenly Ryuji taking literal years to reunite with his family makes sense to me now

[moe-broey]

HATE. When I start Longing for a specific Pokemon but I really don't care about any of the games it's appeared in. Like. Deep desperate urge to shiny hunt a Pumpkaboo, I've wanted one for years, I want it SO BADLY, maybe even enough that I want to start a new save and have one on my team, that would be so cool. However, due to online being shut down I can't justify losing what little Friend Safaris I have (they stay in your Friends List ofc, but you'll be locked out of the third Pokemon on a new save), and also. Just don't care about X and Y. And then there's Galar. Pretty game. No substance. To me anyway. Lost interest as soon as I beat the main story. And like, I Guess there's SuMo/Ultras, but I'd have to transfer one in.... and idk if you can even do that at this point.

[fitzfunnymoments]

Man </3