#so pre character development kevin it is

[cowboygideon]

Kevin sketch but it's vaguely based on that hockey guy everyone uses as a faceclaim for him

[purple-dreams9]

If Thea was Theo, a controversial opinion

I want to preface this post by stating that this is not meant to change anyone's mind or opinion. I am not here to tell you to like a character or to ship a certain ship. You are free to hate Thea, write her off your fics, ignore her existence, and ship Kevin with the milkman if you so desire. This is also not an essay. Instead, think of it as the thought dump of someone munching over it for days.

This all started with a conversation about Thea with a couple people on a Discord server. I've been mostly neutral about Thea, not understanding the overall hate but not knowing much about her either. It led me to read Nora's most recent post about Thea, the replies and the "Why do you not like Thea?" poll, and I've seen plenty of Tweets about her, too.

In general, I noticed one main element when people explain their stance: it is not because Thea is a woman and people want to ship Kevin with male characters. The real reason(s), branched in different directions: the age gap, the lack of building of her character, how little she shows up/how little we know about her/the feeling of her being shoo-ed in out of nowhere as Kevin's love interest, and her attitude (inc. her lack for communication with Kevin after he left the Nest, her comment to Jean in TSC, etc.)

I have been in many fandoms for over a decade, some with more prominent mlm ships, and to be honest, none of those reasons seemed to truly justify the dislike of Thea to the degree she is disliked in the fandom as a whole, especially as the romantic interest of a main character. It seemed to me that most of it is rooted in the desire for Kevin NOT to be straight, but to be gay and be with a guy (or bi, but I see more people using "gay" for Kevin. And some prefer Aro/Ace Kevin, but these fans are a bit more quiet and subdued with their headcanon.) See, even taking Thea out of the equation, there are no popular mlw ships for Kevin with characters from canon, and even in fanon ships the counterparts are mostly (if not all) men.

That got me thinking: "What if Thea was Theo? How would that change how fans interact with this character, even if her personality was the same? What about the relationship with Kevin? Would fans approach the ship differently if he had had Theo as a boyfriend instead of Thea as a girlfriend?"

Of course, it is all hypothetical. For one, a big part of her character is that she is a woman of color (note that I am not black, so I am in no position to talk about how her race plays out with her character) in a predominately male and white team (violent cult) that had to fight her way to the top. It wouldn't quite have the same weight or the same background if she was a male. For two, I am aware it would bring another discourse to the table, that of the "predatory gay men stereotype" (even though there was nothing predatory or "grooming" in their relationship, but that conversation is not for this post.) I am sure plenty of fans would still hate the Kevin/Theo ship, and Theo himself.

Still, I allowed myself to picture it. I read, once, that women used to ship male characters together because female characters were underdeveloped and were not interesting. I wondered if this applies to fandom as well, how certain fandoms prefer to develop and grow male characters.

Things like "lack of canon information about Theo" would not be an issue. Fans are very good at filling in the blanks and building a character from the few spare parts given by the source. This also applies to "there is almost no interaction with Kevin" because let's be honest here, guys, ships are sometimes made from nothing. Rarepairs exist, and even ships like pre-TSC Jerejean can explode in popularity.

With how big of a part Kevin plays in the books and how big his shipping fandom is, if Theo was a thing, I truly believe we would have seen him bloom in fanon spaces. He would have given space and opportunity to grow, change and develop both as a character and in his relationship with Kevin.

The "forbidden relationship" trope and the possibility for angst would have fans foaming, fics working around Theo's past and how he had to fight his way to the top would be written, AUs where he leaves the beliefs of the cult behind and reunites with Kevin would also exist. We would see stories about how his and Kevin's love story played out before and after Kevin left the Nest (at least one primarily focused on the notes they used to pass each other in secret). His mean comments and bitchiness would be ignored, played down, understood, forgiven, or found charming (like Andrew's throughout the series, or even Abby's in TSC.) In a few words, he would be more present and less disliked.

AFTG is a predominately queer fandom, and there is nothing wrong with wanting representation, but I also think it's necessary to use the same scale for female and male characters that are romantically or sexually involved with more popular ones. It's fine not to like Thea, but also to sit and think: would I asses a male character in the same way? How would my view of them change regarding their gender? Just food for thought, I guess.

Again, this is not a call to action of any sort. It is just me, rambling and putting my thoughts down. I can't see different realities so this is basically all fiction. I wanted to take it out of my brain, hear what others think and that's it. Ship what makes you happy. Create what inspires you. Curate your experience. All that being said, Id love to hear your thoughts, but I wont debate anyone's opinion because that's truly, not what Im seeking.

This got longer than I intended so I'll end this here. If you made it, thanks! I hope you have a nice day.

[percheduphere]

people saying, oh it wasn't intended from the beginning so it wasn't intentional thus has to stay fanfiction bug me. like, shows can develop organically based on chemistry. they can surprise you and take you in a direction that wasn't planned but now just works. like, fucking, chandler and monica wasn't planned from the beginning! but the actors had chemistry and the writers tried it out and it became iconic. you don't throw something away just because it surprised you instead of being pre-planned; you cultivate whatever gold you find!

With Hollywood entertainment in particular, I think there is a lot of ignorance regarding how the creative process, production process, post-production process, and business all work. It is readily apparent that in Hollywood, there are many hands in the kitchen when it comes to creating a movie, documentary, or show. The "Original Intent" argument is weakest when it comes to Hollywood art, and in fact fails to be a viable argument in multiple areas. I will discuss how the "Original Intent" argument fails in Hollywood in more depth under the read more, using what I know from having worked in the industry myself as a writer. And to be honest, the fact I have to pull my private professional history out online, just to prove I'm not being delulu when it comes to the importance of queer subtext in film, pisses me the fuck off.

To be clear, since this whole discourse mess on my Tumblr is likely the result of someone thinking I'm an anti-sylki: I AM NOT AN ANTI. I have an extensive analysis on Sylvie as an integral character to the Loki series, Sylki in canon, and her relationship with Mobius here.

I agree with you: a lot of amazing art deviates from the original intention, especially writing. If deviating from original intent in the writing process did not exist, we would not have DRAFT REVISIONS, we would not have IMPROV, we would not have EDITORS (whose entire job hinges on giving the writer not only grammar corrections, but feedback on how to IMPROVE character, plot, and pacing, which inherently means making changes from the original intent!). This is to say nothing of the thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands, of media scholars--with actual PhDs--who spend years of their lives performing meta-analysis to write academic papers on subject matters like this. Papers that become formal publications and contribute to how queer history is taught in universities! This is no different than academic scholars analyzing women and race representation and resistance in film. Why should analyzing queer representation and resistance in film be treated any less?

LET'S TALK ABOUT ORIGINAL CREATIVE INTENT VS POWER HIEARCHY & POLITICS IN HOLLYWOOD

For context with respect to this ask, a different Tumblr user critiqued against queer subtext in one of my posts using the "original intent" argument for the Loki series and Lokius specifically. By this logic, if original intent is always honored, then the original script for Loki's S2E5 (written by Eric Martin) would not have been NUKED by the executive powers that be at Marvel. [source] But no, the original intent was not honored, it was rejected. So how does one square the primacy of original intent with original intent being rejected by people who are not the artist but the people who manage Disney's finances?

In television, "Executive Producer" (i.e. Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, Eric Martin, etc.) is a title that can be given to a writer or actor who has more creative say in the execution of a story than a regular staff writer or actor on crew. It also indicates that the writer or actor is in a much higher salary range compared to their professional peers. It does NOT mean the same thing as a CORPORATE "Producer" of Kevin Feige's level, who ultimately has the FINAL SAY on what does NOT end up on the cutting room floor. The corporate Producer must take into account the wishes of corporate's shareholders and board of directors, who are often multi-million if not multi-billion global investors who need the distribution of the product to succeed internationally in countries like China, which is very anti-LGBTQAI+. This is how a script like Eric Martin's S2E5 can be nuked and the writer can be contractually gagged from talking about its specific contents by Disney, lest they be SUED TO HELL for breaking their non-disclosure agreements (NDAs).

This doesn't even take into account politics.

In 2020, Ike Perlmutter, Chair of Marvel, "gave $575,000 to Trump For Victory, $35,500 to the Republican National Committee in April, $5600 for Texans For Ronny Jackson in February. 2019 saw him donate $248,000 to the Republican National Committee, $466,100 to Trump For Victory, $5,600 to Donald Trump For President." His wife, Laura, mirrored those donations. "In late 2016, he also gave $5,000,000 to the Great America PAC." [source] Ike was only recently laid off from his position in March 2023 [source]. Perlmutter was in a power-struggle at Marvel with Kevin Feige for years. Feige was promoted to Chief Creative Officer in 2019, which brought the power struggle to a head, ultimately contributing to Perlmutter's departure.

There is also Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, who was famously quoted during the Writers Guild of America strike for saying, “It’s very disturbing to me. We’ve talked about disruptive forces on this business and all the challenges we’re facing, the recovery from COVID which is ongoing, it’s not completely back. This is the worst time in the world to add to that disruption”

This is the worst time in the world to negotiate to pay your writers, YOUR CREATIVE LABOR FORCE, who entertained millions of people while they were stuck in their homes for 2 years, fairly?

And these are just two men in executive power at Marvel and Disney. We're not even talking about all the other board members and shareholders. You think Tom Hiddleston, Michael Waldron, and Eric Martin have any real power compared to these guys? They do not. They are peons by comparison. And these artists (despite their "Executive Producer" title) are always at odds with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), who are ultimately not artists but FINANCIERS.

Here's another quote from a studio executive that occurred during the writer's strike:

"Receiving positive feedback from Wall Street since the WGA went on strike May 2, Warner Bros Discovery, Apple, Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Paramount and others have become determined to “break the WGA,” as one studio exec blatantly put it.  

To do so, the studios and the AMPTP believe that by October most writers will be running out of money after five months on the picket lines and no work.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” a studio executive told Deadline. Acknowledging the cold-as-ice approach, several other sources reiterated the statement. One insider called it “a cruel but necessary evil.”" [source 1] [source 2]

Fortunately, this negative press and the WGA members' solidarity led to the WGA getting everything they demanded. I still have friends in the industry, specifically in the WGA and MPEG. A lot of them were indeed starved out. My friend who's a film editor is still unemployed because pre-production has only recently started to ramp up again and her profession is all in post. She has to wait for production to catch-up and finish in order to get work.

If the AMPTP is willing to use clearly unethical tactics to underpay their writers and actors (don't forget the SAG-AFTRA strike that joined later), do we really think members of the AMPTP (the studio execs) are willing to honor artists' original intent if the original intent may be "offensive to some viewers" and therefore can potentially cut into their financial bottom line?

We're not naive. We know the answer to this.

OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH, KILLING EVE, AND GOOD OMENS

But what about OFMD, KE, and GO? These shows are on MAX, BBC, and Amazon Prime respectively. These corporations have a different branding image than Disney. Disney touts itself as "family friendly"; (read: on-screen LGBTQAI+ affection between two lead characters is "not family friendly"). MAX and BBC's branding type also affords them the luxury of creating content for niche audiences. Disney, on the other hand, makes additional revenue through using their plethora of licenses to make toys, additions to their theme parks, and other merch. If a parent is offended that a canonically queer character like Loki has romantic love not just for Sylvie but also for Mobius (a same-sex relationship), what are the odds of parents like them not buying Disney's merchandise? We can apply this same question to Star Wars, Pixar, and any of Disney-branded animation or live action movies. How deeply can audience offense potentially cut into Disney's bottom line? If there were no discrimination taking place, we would have LGBTQAI+ representation through a lead character in any one of their licenses already. We do not, and that is a huge red flag.

In addition, these entertainment corporations (who do not tout themselves as "family friendly") generate other sources of revenue elsewhere. Netflix generates international revenue through the production of international programming like "Squid Game" and other K-dramas such as "The Glory" or Mexican shows including, "The Surrogacy" and "Haunted: Latin America". MAX is struggling. They were bought out for that reason. With AppleTV and Hulu, their target audiences are more diverse, they offer a variety of media product, and their business strategy is ultimately different from Disney. All of this grants them more freedom in what kind of characters they choose to represent, including LGBTQAI+ characters.

Remember House and Wilson from House M.D.? That show was on FOX. We know the political alignment of FOX. Dean and Castiel from Supernatural? WB Television. Both shows came out before streaming became dominant, and thus, these shows had to cater to anyone who might happen to land on their channels. When the market demands that you cater to the widest possible audience in order to generate the largest revenue, the creatives are forced to create relatively conservative artistic product. Hence, creative censorship and our long history of queer subtext.

At Nickelodeon, the artists actually had the support of corporate to move forward with Korrasami because the final season Legend of Korra was only available online. It did not air on their channel. If that had not been the case, corporate would not have approved Korrasami. However, that approval was contingent upon the artists being subtle subtle about Korra and Asami's relationship. Even in this canon ship, the animators relied on subtext for queer romance.

Not helping Disney's case is the cancellation of "The Owl House". Why was "The Owl House" canceled? It didn't fit Disney's "brand". [source]

THE FAILURES OF THE "ORIGINAL INTENT" ARGUMENT IN HOLLYWOOD

The "Original Intent" argument fails when it comes to art in Hollywood because:

Original Intent can change, and often does change, during the creative process. This applies to all forms of art, not just Hollywood.

Multiple artists are involved in pre-production, production, and post-production. At any point in this 3-part process of filmmaking, original intent can be changed for a variety of reasons.

Studio Executives, Boards of Directors, and Corporate Shareholders have more power than the artists in Hollywood. If they think a product will not make money, they will order changes accordingly.

Disney specifically touts itself as "family friendly". Its lack of a lead character (in ANY of its live-action licenses) being in an openly queer relationship with someone who presents as the same sex, is the direct result of not wanting to lose conservative audiences.

Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) are common in Hollywood and prevent artists from providing specifics regarding original intent. This is done not only to safeguard corporate's intellectual property (IP), but to also safeguard their public relations image.

THE ORIGINAL INTENT ARGUMENT WEAPONIZED

The "original intent" mindset can be either very naive or very cynical, depending on the thinker's motives for choosing this belief. Naive, in that thinking creative purity actually exists (it does not) or that oppression does not still occur in Hollywood (it does). Cynical, in that either the thinker doesn't believe in artists intentionally finding ways around mass produced arts' media censorship, which has in turn created our rich history of queer subtext in film, OR the thinker wants the "original intent" argument to invalidate a change they do not like.

The last motive is the same strategy used by fans who reject Miles Morales as being a real Spider-Man. The same strategy fans use to deny that Shuri is indeed the new Black Panther. Both are tactics used to mask racism and sexism beneath the veneer of "creative purity". Fans who have internalized racism, sexism, or queer-phobia may also use this tactic at a subconscious level to protect themselves emotionally from disappointment. Finally, there are fans who use this argument to invalidate another ship, usually a queer ship that cannot be formally canonized because of corporate studio power.

Regardless of the reasoning, using this argument is frequently insidious because it perpetuates straight white male dominance in media representation.

PERSONAL LIVED EXPERIENCE

I'm an old poc queer and have worked in Hollywood long enough to know that the writers' original vision rarely ever--IF EVER--pans out as originally intended. If you ever sit through a movie and wonder why the story feels so weird in certain parts, I can guarantee you that about 2/5ths of the time, a corporate producer stepped in and messed with the original story in post-production (usually in an poor, over-worked editor's dark editing bay) and ordered reshoots the director may not have agreed with.

I've also worked in the industry long enough to know that it is an absolutely toxic work environment in which women, people of color, and queer people still struggle to get a creative foothold anywhere. My first experience pitching a script to a prospective agent involved being asked to meet at a hotel for drinks. We didn't talk about my writing at all. What I thought would be a pitch meeting was actually the writer's version of the "Hollywood casting couch". Yes, I was propositioned. No, nothing happened to me. I walked out. This happened to me in June 2008. It was not my last experience. The "Me Too" movement that came years later in 2017 was in response to situations I have encountered like this.

Those of us who succeed are very rare, and 97% of the time, the executive staff is very, very white and male. There is absolutely oppression and exploitation of all sorts still happening in Hollywood. I fucking lived it and continue to have nightmares about it.

QUEER SUBTEXT STILL EXISTS

Thus, to deny queer subtext's validity as an art form and to only accept the words of those who are either in power or limited in what they can say because of those in power, undermines not only the artists' efforts to tell the story they want to tell but cannot tell explicitly, it also undermines queer joy and queer resistance in cinema. And yes, sometimes those artists are cis straight white male allies who want to tell these stories because they simply make sense for the characters. These people are the artists, not the financiers.

It's more mature to embrace, or at least leave alone, the loud joy others experience from shipping and performing meta-analysis instead of publicly pissing on them with the profoundly weak and ignorant argument of "original intent". Don't mess with me on this. The number of scripts I have worked on that completely warped from what I wanted, and then to have my writing credit removed or stolen, still makes me sick. Yes, I'm bitter, but I'm also glad I left.

[fantasyismyonlyrealescape]

If You Want to Fight the World (Just Take Me with You)

Chapter Title: The Light Will Guide You Home

Characters: Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens (Zowens)

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 1052

A/N: Hello and welcome to my second ever WWE story series! This story highlights the time directly after we see Kevin speeding away in his car following the altercation between him and Randy on Smackdown on October 11th. I am still working my way through Whumptober 2024, but I couldn't resist posting this one now. The Kevin Owens versus Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton storyline that is currently developing is oh so good! I can't get enough of it. I will always love Cody, he was one of my first favorites upon joining the WWE fandom, but I also fell in love with Kevin shortly thereafter and I will say that I am firmly on Kevin's side here. Honestly, I've been less and less on Cody's side of things as time has gone on, questioning his reasoning for why he's done some of the things he has. So, if you are expecting this to be a "in defense of Cody" story, it is not that. I am Team Kevin Owens through and through. However, no matter your side, I hope you enjoy this story. It's Kayfabe as Reality, so neither of their families are mentioned out of respect for them. This is solely focused on the wrestlers and their relationships portrayed on and off screen. I hope you all enjoy!!

Summary:

To drive is to be set free, or so Kevin Owens thinks. He had sped off in the aftermath of all that had happened on Smackdown that night, trying to get away from all that had left him behind. Little did he know, the one person who could bring him back to all that he was running from was in South Carolina. Kevin had never been one who could resist the light, his light.

A Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn story.

Cross posted on AO3 under user wrestlinginjeans.

Security had escorted him to his rental car after the incident with Randy, watching him as he slammed the driver’s door shut angrily before punching the gas almost as soon as he turned the key in the ignition. The situation echoed almost exactly what happened some six days ago in Atlanta, when a discussion had quickly turned violent in a clash of fists and kicks, his need to pound flesh into the asphalt overriding every other instinct that he had. In Atlanta, he had turned on one that he had once called friend, who he had been proud to once call friend. Not anymore… It had happened again tonight, and he knew then that he was truly on his own.

So, he did what he always did when he was trying to avoid thinking about the future and what came next for him. He drove, putting distance between himself and his problems, trying to outrun the thoughts and memories threatening to swallow up all that he is. He refused to acknowledge what had happened, what his position with the company would be come sunup. If he didn’t think about it, it wouldn’t come to pass. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

He didn’t know where he was going, long since losing himself in the sound of the radio blaring in his ears and the warm glow of the streetlamps illuminating the roadway as he drove on. As he slowed down slightly, jerking into the other lane as the car in front of him slammed on their breaks, he felt the persistent buzz of his cell phone shoved in his front pants pocket. He sighed, pointedly ignoring the call.

(No, I don’t want to talk to anyone. Leave me alone.)

A minute or so later, there was another buzz which he also ignored. He questioned why he had placed his phone on vibrate to begin with, the buzz starting to irritate him.

After the fourth straight ignored call, he had had enough. Slamming his right palm down hard on the steering wheel, he dug in his pocket with his other hand and fished out his phone.

“Damn, stop calling me!” The darked haired man growls, glancing down at the illuminated screen and not even bothering to read the name before pressing the “accept” button. “What do you want?” He growls into the receiver, pressing the speaker button as he waits for an answer.

“Kev?”

And the tentative voice that responds, his voice, hits him harder than anything he had felt all night. In that next moment, he had lowered the radio so that he could better hear the caller.

“Kev, where are you? I drove to the show after… After I heard what happened.”

“What?” Kevin said quietly, the anger leaving him momentarily as he sucks in a ragged breath at the realization that Sami was in South Carolina, in the same city that he was, or had previously been in earlier that night.

“Kevin, where are you?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“What do you mean, ‘I don’t know’, Kev? Come on, you have to do better than that.”

A pause as Kevin stares blankly out into the darkness around him, his route of escape currently consisting of a patch of road that is sparsely lit save for his headlights.

“I just started driving, Sami… I don’t know where I am right now.”

Kevin hears a tired sigh on the other end of the phone as Sami realizes what Kevin had done, what Sami knew Kevin always did when he was struggling with something.

“Alright, just—. Just, come back. Please…” Sami mumbles quietly and Kevin didn’t have to be able to see his face to know from Sami’s voice what his expression was; one of pain, one of confusion, one of heartache. “We can talk; we’ll figure this out together.”

Kevin let his eyes fall shut for just a moment before he refocused back on the empty road in front of him, debating whether or not to turn around, to go back to the one man who had always been home to him.

“I really screwed up this time, Sami…” Kevin said quietly, a sigh escaping him as he continued. “I don’t want to get you involved in all this; you don’t deserve it. This is my mess…” Kevin added, realizing how much his actions differ from his words. He was running from his problems, from his actions earlier in the night, he wasn’t facing them. But he still didn’t want Sami involved.

“That doesn’t matter now. None of it matters, just turn around, Kevin. Please…” Sami reasoned, trying to convince Kevin that he didn’t care, he would fight whatever battle he needed to help his friend.

Kevin hands grip the dark colored steering wheel until his knuckles turn white, his blunt fingernails digging into his palms. He doesn’t know what to do, he wants to run, he wants to put this all behind him. He doesn’t feel like he can be around anyone at the moment, he doesn’t know how. But this was Sami. Sami, the one man who could be around him even on his darkest days. The one man who wanted to be around him no matter his mood, no matter what he was going through, no matter what he had done. He realized then in that moment that there was only ever one choice.

His eyes find a pull in just up the road, a turnaround point where he could point his car back in the direction that he longed to be in, back towards him. The maneuver was quick, a screeching of rubber on chipped asphalt, the only noise filtering through the phone to Sami for a few moments.

“Kev?” Sami asked, nervousness dripping from his tone as he listened to the sounds of the car.

“I’m on my way, Sami…”

Kevin could hear the smile in Sami’s voice, the smile that could light up Kevin’s world whenever he saw it as he answered. “Good, I’m at the Westin just up the road from the arena. I’ll send you the address…”

After a moment, his cell phone buzzes with a message, and he punches in the address to his maps app.

“I’ll be there in 30.”

“Okay, Kev. Please drive safe… I’ll see you then.”

______________________________________________________________

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! This will be somewhere between 2 to 3 chapters, so stay tuned for that. Kudos, comments and critiques are always appreciated and noted. I hope everyone has a wonderful day, night, afternoon, or evening wherever you are in this wide world. Cheers!

[msnihilist]

what do you think about rook's character in ben 10 in general?you know I never really liked that he was this serious and workaholic partner from beginning to nearly the end,in Wikipedia says he's kinda ben's other best friend too but they hardly had a memorable scence for that together maybe except 1 or 2,and also he has scenes where he mocks ben seriously which I didn't like,idk it feels like his character is so unexplored he had more potential to him since he was ben's partner replacing gwevin in OV so just wanted to know your opinion👍🏻

I've already put all of my thoughts about Rook into my fics. Namely, Separately (S2-era Rook, who would disrespect Ben's boundaries purely for his own curiosity and then feels like shit for it), In All The World... (pre-canon Rook, and how/why I think he grew to idolize Ben and become a Plumber), Cross Your Heart (and Hope to Die) (puts Rook through absolute hell to break him down into one of the rawest character studies I've ever done), and Diamonds Are Forever (post-canon fic that explores the kind of person Rook is and how Ben has changed who he wants to grow to be/how Rook defines himself without Ben around).

But I know that's a lot to read, so here are the SparkNotes:

Rook mellows out a lot by season eight. This change is incredibly noticeable if you watch two episodes back-to-back.

Ben and Rook are very close, and this is something else you can see if you watch season one and then season eight to compare.

I think Ben and Rook had plenty of memorable scenes/moments. Their fake fight in season one, Rook being pushy during Showdown and later apologizing for it, "I don't always get him, but he's cool." "The feeling is mutual.", Rook physically holding Ben back from attacking someone (twice, lol), Rook fighting Lord Transyl's mind-control to warn Ben, "I have worked with Ben long enough to know that when he foolishly charged headlong into a trap, I should have foolishly charged after him.", Ben meeting Rook's family, literally all of their interactions in The Vengers, "Ben! I made a wisecrack!", acting like proud parents after Young One's tail fell off, Rook's promotion to Magister (and their successful fist bump!!), "It has been an honor to fight at your side," (Rook using his final words to tell Ben how important their partnership has been to him and that he doesn't regret a thing just does something to me), etc. If you don't think they're as iconic as Ben and Kevin, that's fair, but they do objectively have plenty of relationship-defining moments.

Rook has scenes where he mocks Ben. In early seasons, this is a character flaw. In later seasons, this is a product of the Omniverse writers thinking it's funny when the punchline to a joke is, "Ben's an idiot." If I held it against Rook, I'd have to hold it against literally every character... So I ignore it, lol.

Here are some episodes that I think do a good job of exploring Rook's character.

S2E6: Bros In Space

S2E7: Arrested Development (not a character-heavy episode, I just think Rook is really funny in this one.)

S3E2: Tummy Trouble

S3E8: While You Were Away ("You have become a hero while you were away," just makes me grin like an idiot every time.)

S3E10: The Frogs of War: Part 2

S4E2: The Ultimate Heist (I loved the scene towards the end where Albedo called Rook out on his willful ignorance.)

S4E8: OTTO Motives

S6E1: Catfight (Another one where Rook is really funny.)

S7E2: Rook Tales (Rook's fight with Kundo is iconic as hell to me. "You taught me everything you know. But we are not in your training hall anymore.")

S8E6: The Final Countdown

S8E10: A New Dawn

Rook is not an overly complicated person. He's a solid guy who gets character development and learns to loosen/open up. He's not as nuanced as Kevin. He doesn't have the history with Ben that Gwen does. But Rook is not a bad character by any means, and his bond with Ben feels earned.

But if you still aren't impressed with Rook, you can always rewatch UAF :p

[herrscherofmagic]

The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that an Eden expy would be perfect for HSR.

Beauty... What is your definition of beauty? Did you have it? Did the old me have it?

TL;DR: Eden's a HI3rd character with themes/motifs around music, beauty, elegance, and so on. I think it would be cool to see an Eden expy in Honkai: Star Rail :)

Slightly longer TL;DR: Eden is a character whose story revolves around the meaning of beauty in an ugly world, a world in which terrible things happen to good people, in which the greatest and bravest heroes of humanity fail to save the day. In spite of this, even as the last cities of Earth crumbled to dust, Eden still held steadfast on her belief, and she had faith that even though her era is now fading away, the new era of humanity would "script their own fate and sing their own songs."

So I've seen a fair bit of discussion about expys on the HSR subreddit from time to time, and I figured I'd have a go at this with my own post discussing a pre-existing Hoyoverse character I'd like to see in HSR someday!

This post is mostly aimed at an HSR audience so I've written it in a way that should be understandable even without any prior knowledge of HI3rd, but fellow HI3rd peeps might enjoy it too :)

The thought of this came to me when I was playing HI3rd earlier, because when I was looking at Eden's signature weapon, I was thinking "wow, I forgot how beautiful that was" and then it hit me- one of Eden's core themes as a character is Beauty, making her a perfect candidate to be a future Pathstrider of the Path of Beauty! Whether part of the Knights of Beauty or part of a different faction or even walking this path on her own.

There's going to be some light spoilers for HI3rd's story, but nothing that spoils major story beats. Eden is a character from the Previous Era, meaning most of her story takes place in the form of archives and records of the past. This post is pretty much all backstory, and I won't discuss any important "secrets of the past" meaning any big plot twists should remain unspoiled.

So if you're ambivalent or unconcerned about HI3rd spoilers, I'd say it should be okay to proceed, but if you want to play it safe then you should probably return to this post later. All of this is lore from the Elysian Realm, so if you're already familiar with that then there won't be any spoilers at all :)

That being said, this post does contain some pretty heavy content. Nothing particularly graphic or violent, but there is discussion of death and trauma so please keep this in mind!

Some quick context, to start with:

HI3rd's story takes place on Earth, and in this setting there have been multiple "past eras". Over the course of a civilization's development, powerful apocalyptic beings called "Herrschers" appear and wreck havoc upon the world. When the final Herrscher, the Herrscher of Finality*, descends upon the Earth it removes all trace of the current existing civilization... or whatever remains of it. Over the course of 50,000 years a new civilization develops in its place until someday Finality returns once more and the samsara repeats.

Eden is a character belonging to the Previous Era (PE), which is the civilization immediately preceding the Current Era (CE), which is the present-day setting of HI3rd.

*disclaimer: this Finality is not related to the Path of Finality. It's a matter of translation, since the original text uses different characters.

Eden was living a pretty great life- she was a superstar and she was filthy rich, with global tours and widespread fame. In fact, several of the other major characters of the Previous Era (such as Kevin and Su) were fans of her music! Singing, playing instruments, she could do it all. Naturally, she was a fervent supporter of the arts.

Despite this, Eden was still living a "normal" life- a life in which she was blissfully unaware of the looming threat of Honkai. She became painfully aware of it when disaster struck during a concert of hers in Sydney (the PE version of it, of course). During this concert but elsewhere in the city, the 7th Herrscher awoke: the Herrscher of Fire. Almost immediately the entire city was engulfed in raging fires. According to some sources, even the entire continent of Australia was destroyed, but this may have been retconned so take it with a grain of salt.

Eden was (un)fortunate enough to survive this disaster, being saved by one of the former Fire MOTH soldiers that was under the leadership of the person that became the Herrscher of Fire. Though Eden survived and still retained her public image and wealth, there was no returning to her past life. She ended up learning about the organization Fire MOTH, humanity's leading force fighting against the threat of Honkai. While she kept her usual public image, she would also use her wealth to help support MOTH.

The past is no more, but I can still remember this moment. This is what I can do right now.

Over time Eden grew to become a more active member of MOTH, until someday even she would end becoming a soldier herself. She witnessed the toll of war as fewer and fewer soldiers returned from battle and as the survivors became increasingly worn and weary. Though many people knew of her music and appreciated it, as the war went on Eden realized even her music had its limits to how much it could help people. Because of this, Eden chose to volunteer for a program that would give her the strength to fight alongside the rest of MOTH.

One of MOTH's many programs to fight Honkai was the MANTIS project: augmenting humans with the DNA of Honkai Beasts, granting them tremendous power. If they survived the Meta-Morph surgery. Eden underwent this program and survived, placing her as part of an elite force with the strength to fight the Herrschers head-on.

Plus she got a sick pair of guns! so that's pretty neat ^.^

Unfortunately, we know how this story ends. We call it the Previous Era precisely because it ended. Even humanity's greatest heroes couldn't stop the crushing power of Finality.

Eden would not live to see the next era of humanity.

With this summarized backstory of Eden in mind, I'd like to share a few archive entries from HI3rd, featuring Eden. I was originally going to try and summarize and discuss these lore entries myself, but I think it'd be best to keep my thoughts to a minimum and provide the full text instead, so anyone reading this can think about it for themselves and come to their own conclusions instead of taking my word as law.

First, we have one of the records discussing the events of the awakening of the 7th Herrscher. Do note that I snipped out a portion of this archive to shorten it and reduce spoilers, so it's not the complete version found in-game.

Another part of Eden's backstory I want to mention is the way Eden interacted with another major member of Fire MOTH, Dr. Mobius.

Mobius is a pretty complicated character, because while she seems to be a straightforward "mad scientist" type of character, there's a lot of nuance to her behavior and attitude. It's difficult to sum it up, but in this case I'll focus on how other people perceive her: very negatively.

Dr. Mobius' work was groundbreaking for genetics and biology, and her projects (including the MANTIS project as well as early versions of Project Stigma) were crucial in fighting Honkai. However, she was incredibly intimidating and her experiments were... questionable, to say the least. Cold and calculating, not someone to inflict needless cruelty but also someone who doesn't let silly little things such as "ethics" get in the way of progress.

Interestingly, Eden is probably one of the few people that was capable of interacting with Dr. Mobius in a positive way. Many people found it difficult to work under the supervision of Dr. Mobius and most would go out of their way to avoid her, but it seems that Eden was not one of them. This scene in particular is a good example of this:

At this point I think Eden's theme of Beauty is quite evident, and I could probably cut the post short here. But there's one final part of Eden's story I'd like to share, and since it's a scene involving Mobius it builds on the previous entry quite neatly. Since I'm going to end the post with this scene, I'll give my final thoughts first!

I don't really think it's worth worrying too much about expys and whatnot, because ultimately the important thing is whether a given character fits the story, not whether they look like a past character. If we get a "HSR Kiana" or an "HSR Kiana", what matters is the way they fit into this setting. The setting of Aeons and Paths, of a diverse set of factions vying for power and influence across the universe, and how the Nameless will cross paths with this character.

But I wanted to make this post anyways because I feel like Eden's story is greatly underappreciated, and since it has such a neat connection with the Path of Beauty.

Eden's theme of "Beauty" is not just about Eden being a beautiful person, nor is about her beautiful music. To me, it's her understanding of humanity and the way that the arts allow us to connect with each other. It's her ability to reach out and connect with a person as cold and calculating as Mobius. It's just as Eden says, "something that makes people happy, guides the way, and sparks hope."

Just something to keep in mind when reading this final archive entry. I've also re-attached the same image from the start of the post, since I think it takes on a much more powerful meaning with this scene in mind.

For those who're curious, the first & last image of the post are a still shot from the credits of the HI3rd animation "Because of You", which is a very beautiful but also spoiler-filled animated short

[domain-of-revelation]

Herrscher of Origin 2.0: The Purposeless of Mei’s Growth

Spoilers for 6.3 and 6.4. Talks of Anti-Elysium Everlasting & (anti) Elymei.

Well, here we are I guess. Welcome to the culmination of the disappointment and decline of the Honkai universe’s writing and execution.

Mei’s Growth Pre-Flamechaser - Was the most “grown” and self-sustaining in terms of maturity and power (because of HoT persona and their bond). However, she put restraints on herself, thereby making her weaker as time went by. She was unable to do anything because of the shackles she tied to herself. Eventually, this led to a break in her character (Lament of the Fallen) where she in turn sacrificed herself to save the light of her life. She became the concept she hated, and she full fucking sent that shit! That’s our girl! When it became too much, she had to make that decision, and she took it by the throat and made it her personality. It was even better because it made sense for her to finally, finally let go of her own conviction because the ends justified the means to her, for Kiana.

The Flamechaser Arc - Mei: *angry about girlfriend dying to terminal radiation and her sacrificing herself* Flamechasers: Okay but have you heard about our lord and savior Elysia? Elysia (EE version): 🌸 👼🏻 ✨ 🌈 “by the way, I’m god” - Elymei. Uhhhh-

Moon Arc - Can we all just agree that this arc so far has been a complete flop (besides Seele, because I’m biased)? Seriously. Why do I need to become a PhD in astrophysics and electromagnetism to understand this chapter. Why dump exposition sentence after sentence that amounts to nothing but “I know you are but what am I?” It takes so much momentum out of this chapter that I scratch my head and think, “maybe I should just wait for all the chapter to be done”. It feels so padded out with philosophical nonsense pushed into a package already ready to burst. All we (at least here on Tumblr) wanted to see we’re our trio back together and kick Kevin’s ass. We’re simple people, I think. We don’t need our brains melted out with these lectures to enjoy a good, compelling story.

- Also, thanks for the retcon of Bronya no longer being a child soldier/assassin. No reason for that, so thanks for making the lore even more complicated for no reason.

- A shoutout to the translation team making me want to work for them instead because why do they not do quality assurance anymore.

- Open World is getting old. My phone shrieks in binary every time I have to load in to that stupid fucking god damn dog shit ass moon map. :)

Herrscher of Origin 2.0 - I said in an earlier post that this is a rare battlesuit that I highly dislike. Where do I even begin with this development for Mei? While I do love that Mei is the new HoO, as HI3 started with her, that’s really the only thing I actively enjoy with this development.

- Anything else about the battlesuit? I dislike. The “heavenly” theme of her suit, the lighter colors, the emphasis on Elysia, I actually hate it.

- And I hate to say I hate it, but I do. Elysia is supposed to be ka-put, gone, her and her comrades stories are O V E R. Let them rest for once.

- It feels like they’re trying to override Mei with Elysia, and it just doesn’t work. This entire shift in her personality, especially with the leaks of Mei saying she basically does not care if Kiana sacrifices herself, goes against the entire reason for her growth in the first fucking place!

- Why does Mei now have flower themes when it was never entirely relevant to her character? Bronya has technology and “coldness”, with a focus on blues, whites, and grays. This continues in her HoTr battlesuit. Kiana has her outgoing, tempered liveliness and hope, symbolized by whites, oranges, and blacks. Her symbol being the stars and fire actively fits her suits in at least some capacity through all of them. This has been her theme up to Flamescion. Now why I’m sitting here wondering why the hell Mei got this “heavenly angel” looking schtick that makes no sense. Her themes were red, black, purple, and white. And of course, lightning. This about-face turn around of punting these themes into the stratosphere isn’t growth, it’s a complete erasure of her journey and efforts to become stronger. What’s with the light blues and golds? The pinks of her eyes? Why flowers. Again? Also, the parallel between HoO Mei and Raiden Ei… how similar their battlesuits are. 🫠 end me. Mihoyo stop introducing Genshin to Honkai pleASE.

- Mei isn’t Elysia and she never will be. I need everyone to read this again. And another time. Mei might be the inheritor of the title, but Mei will not and can never be Elysia. To make Mei seem closer to Elysia is to erase everything Mei is and has done. Removing Mei’s autonomy in exchange for an Elysia cameo is downright ridiculous. Why can’t her bond with Kiana and Bronya be the trigger? Why does it have to lie in people long gone? Why can’t it be love? Love for humanity was the inspiration for Elysia, so why can’t it be love for her friends (and girlfriend)? Why, why, why does it have to always be Elysia?

- Mei’s growth has and will always be focused around learning from others. From Kiana saving her life at the very beginning of HI3, to learning the beauty and importance of life and sacrificing it with the FCs, Mei is always the mirror of another’s actions. To make Mei this… almost lassiez-faire to Kiana sacrificing herself is actually infuriating. They just got back together after half a year apart, where their parting almost meant killing each other, to now Kiana waving sacrificial-offering flags like a Naval officer, and Mei suddenly not caring anymore?! Just because you grow doesn’t mean you suddenly don’t care about things anymore! The beauty and anguish from Lament of the Fallen is due to the circumstance that Mei had no other choice but to leave to find a way to help Kiana. If she had to be the bad guy, she would be. So where the fuck does this “yeah I might’ve just reunited with my girlfriend after she tried to shoulder everything by herself, but now I couldn’t care less what she does” attitude come from.

A Little Ending Blurb I’m just, I’m so tired. After the Everlasting Flames Arc, I feel that the writing team is just blasting us to the end of this saga and not caring unless it’s a cool animation or battle scene. As someone who has been playing since global launch in 2018, it is more than just disappointing to see the quality nosedive to the level it’s at now. It’s, in my opinion, heartbreaking (as cringey/cheesy as it might sound). I’ve loved this game with so much passion and intrigue, it’s become a large point in my life. “Protect all that is beautiful in this world.” It’s served as a way to reflect on myself and my growth, especially compared to the girls who all have their threads of relatability and genuineness. I cherish these characters. I’ve laughed and I’ve most certainly cried at the art Mihoyo has created in the past that ripped out my heartstrings and played them like a harp. Honkai has really, truly touched my heart. It’s not something that a lot of media is able to do, but this one has, and it’s magical. It’s beautiful in its anguish and its sacrifices. It’s maddening in the way that it crawls underneath your skin with how human these characters are. But I hate how much it seems like this past year, that feeling has been pushed behind a curtain. Nothing seems earned or deserved or meaningful. Characters just do because they do, particularly in Mei’s case. She’s constantly ham-fisting her recollections of the Flamechasers, telling her memories to characters who’ve never heard, let alone cared, of simulations of a bygone era. Everyone’s just like, “Oh? Yeah? Mhm, sure.” And move about their next dialogue. There’s no real significance to her exposition, there’s no drive to explain what’s been happening on her end. And it sucks to see.

Sorry I’m ending it like this, but I’m frustrated. I’ll try and make another addition to this in a more eloquent way, but I just needed to get these thoughts out there.

[sleepyiswhumping]

10, 11, 19, 20 for the ask game :)

10. Ooh, this one's hard. While I'm not satisfied with most of what I've written and plan on rewriting a lot of my work, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have favorites. My current favorite piece is untitled, and is the aftermath of Theo, our poor whumpee, being released back into the world by his whumper, Z, and the trauma he's suffering from after the 2 years of abuse, manipulation and pain Z forced him to undergo, and his recovery, with the help of his boyfriend, Lynn, who's been searching for him ceaselessly since he disappeared. I'm actually currently working on a rewrite for a part of this that I may share soon!

11. Agh. There's not really anything I'm comfortable sharing, but this'll have to do. It's not great, but one of the few scenes that's more than a sentence or two that I think is okay.

Z ran his hands across Theo’s hips, up his stomach, his fingers playing across the scars and fresh wounds on his chest, before coming to rest on Theo’s neck. Theo gasped as Z wrapped his fingers around his throat, struggling to get one final breath in as his hands closed tight, crushing his windpipe. Theo’s hands flew to his neck, scrabbling at Z’s, trying to pry them off, but found no purchase. As panic began to set in, Theo hammered and scratched at Z’s chest, but his efforts grew weaker as his vision faded, his mind going blank, running out of oxygen. The last thing Theo saw before he blacked out was Z’s hungry, intense smile, looming over him.

19. Funnily enough, I started writing whump last February, so I haven't been part of the community for very long at all. Despite how fresh I am, however, I've fallen in love with both the community and my writings, even though most of them are pretty bad lol.

20. I actually haven't written whump for any fandom yet. So far, I've written exclusively about OCs. While OCs are, in my eyes, tougher to start with, due to having to construct a character from scratch, I prefer the versatility and freedom you have with an OC compared to a pre-existing, developed character. I have much less obligations and pre-existing tropes and characteristics to follow with characters of my own creation, making the process easier for me. That being said, I have been considering writing about some specific characters in some fandoms. I'd probably write about R. Daneel Olivaw, from part of the Lije Bailey series by Isaac Asimov. From the first story I read about him, I was in love with a robot so complex as he was, to be essentially human, and I've recently been thinking about all of the whump you can do there. I've also been considering whumping Erasmus from the Dune prequels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson, but I think that's just due to my obsession with his character as a whole. Lastly, there are so many characters in the Maximum Ride series by James Patterson that are ripe for whumping, and considering this was the series that spawned my love for wing whump before I ever knew what whump was, it'd be remiss if I didn't whump at least one character from the series.

Thanks for the ask, @stalecabbage! <3

[weepylucifer]

Hmmm okay. I think we can theorize why, on a characterization level, Kid Kevin wants to kill Adult Kevin until the cows come home, but as someone who has witnessed these things, I reckon we should also maybe consider what's going on at the meta level

I'll explain through a little retrospective, for those who haven't invested any thought in Kevinology. From Triptych onward (at the latest) Kevin has been a widely beloved character, subject of many fanfics. When the Mudstone Abyss dropped, it was highly controversial to the crowd who had become very attached to various fanons: A) one where Kevin already had an OC boyfriend (Diego, or similar) and B) one where Cecil and Carlos take pity on Kevin, take him into Night Vale, unbrainwash and "adopt" him. A) is not important right now. It is to B) that we shall turn our attention.

I think Finknor noticed, since obviously they're on social media, that the Mudstone Abyss was unpopular at the time for not giving Kevin an unbrainwashing arc where he becomes nice, soft, sad, adorable and childlike and/or turns back into Pre-Strex Kevin. Instead, they portrayed Kevin as a complex adult man who is trying to reckon with a traumatic past but frequently does so in unhealthy and harmful (to himself and others, especially others) ways, and who is struggling to consolidate said harmful coping mechanisms with new adult responsibilities (a partner and step-son). People did not know what to do with this. They had existed in a fanon where trauma survivors are expected to turn back into their Before Selves at the snap of a finger, where trauma makes you sad, and soft, and uwu, and unambiguously better, for years at that point. I think that's why we didn't get any new Kevin episodes for a long, very long time. (Charles and Donnie have gained a handful of fans since. But I cannot overstate how hated they were initially.) I think now, with The Boy, the writers have decided it is time to address the issue.

Things can go several ways now:

Kid Kevin kills Adult Kevin and "make[s] a fresh start". The people finally get what they wanted: Kevin as a cute little kiddo who gets raised in Night Vale and gets doted on by Cecil and Carlos (and bonus Tamika!). The unpopular adult version from Mudstone Abyss onward is erased. Charles and Donovan, idk, are never heard from again. We have set right what once went wrong.

Kid Kevin and Adult Kevin reach some sort of agreement and part ways without a fight. The outcome can be the same: Kid Kevin returns to Night Vale, Adult Kevin is just never really relevant again. The fandom can forget all about him. We have set right what once went wrong.

Adult Kevin kills Kid Kevin. Unlikely, also a bit anticlimactic.

They manage to resolve the conflict in a poignant way that doesn't pander to thee most annoying subsection of the Desert Bluffs fans, showing that they stick to how they chose to develop Kevin in Mudstone Abyss and that he has a right to exist even though Cecil and parts of the fandom do not really like him. Holding out hope for that one personally, but who knows 😬

[duckapus]

Some details about the Bichitaru Arc:

Because they redrew all the characters for the Kevin's School remake, Reboot Saiko has a slightly different design from our Saiko. Mostly just some added details on her clothes

Because Saiko's from the original version, her code isn't fully compatible with the remake, which is making her glitch painfully

It gets worse if she doesn't follow the script, no matter how much she hates it

The method Reboot Saiko used to trade places involved hijacking Saiko's body, so saving her isn't as simple as just using magic or Tari to pull her out because she'd end up in the same situation as Theo in Meta Runner

Kaizo and Boopkins know more about how a default canon Saiko would act than the others since Kaizo's her in-game best friend and the whole reason she was brought to life in the first place is because Boopkins was obsessed with the game in general and her in particular, so they notice when Reboot Saiko is acting off in ways that even the remake's improved writing can't explain away and figure out what's wrong on their own

Reboot Saiko was pretty quickly able to figure out how Saiko feels about Tari (girl is not subtle) and decides to Go For It, partly to somehow prove herself as the "better" Saiko and partly because she's still more dating sim character than person

This actually tips Tari off that something's wrong, so she believes Kaizo and Boopkins when they come to her with their theory instead of brushing it off as Reset Things

Mario also believes them because he thinks it's weird that Saiko's been so chill about his usual antics

They use Tari's powers to go inside the game (except Kaizo since the two Kaizos meeting would crash the game) and Tari has to go along with Saiko's route so they get chances to talk and figure out a way to fix things. Considering their feelings this gets hilariously awkward very quickly

Meanwhile Boopkins and Mario find out how Reboot Saiko managed to do all this...because they find a heavily modified version of one of the bug viruses from the Emulator Arc. One that has the TV Adware logo on its back

Also meanwhile, Reboot Saiko is getting increasingly frustrated that this isn't the Perfect new life where she wouldn't get overlooked for someone better anymore that she was promised. And when a pre-character development Saiko feels rejected, things tend to get violent

[shrinkthisviolet]

🔥MJ (MCU-version)

Ooh I have a few hot takes about her. Though the one I keep coming back to is that we don’t really know anything about her? Which is bizarre for such a prominent Spidey love interest. I swear, she’s more well-rounded in some fanfic (written by the right people) than she’s ever been in the movies. She’s done such a disservice in the movies, even so far as her origin.

Like…for context, here’s what we definitively know about MJ:

Has somehow never met May before NWH despite dating Peter for a week between FFH and NWH and being friends with him and Ned for two years between HOCO and FFH

Likes the Black Dahlia murder because of how gory it is

Doesn’t care what other people think…mostly

Social activist (at least in HOCO)

Likes to draw and read (very likely as hobbies)

And here’s what we can extrapolate about MJ:

Probably has a STEM interest regarding career, given her wanting to go to MIT and calling Ned “my fellow engineer” (and given the kind of school Midtown Tech is)

Was very likely friends with Liz, seeing as she was chosen as AcaDec successor

Is friends with Betty, but given that the only proof of this is the brief scene between them on the plane in FFH, they could also canonically be acquaintances

And here’s what we don’t know:

What’s her family like? Any sisters? What’s her parental situation? Why doesn’t she go by Watson? (bad home life apparently intended by the creators, but never really explored)

What schools has she gone to in the past? Does she know Peter and Ned in passing pre-HOCO?

When did she become interested in STEM and why?

When did she fall for Peter? Why? What attracted them to each other?*

Where did the nickname MJ even come from?

Why did Liz choose her to be successor? If it’s based on a friendship, how did that come about?

*this is an especially crucial one because their crushes on each other are only brought up in FFH, assumed to have developed in the 2 years between HOCO and FFH. This is the main beating heart of the Spidey trilogy, and yet most of its great moments are in its third movie!

Oh also, Michelle’s surname, Jones? That wasn’t in HOCO. That was given to her by a Variety article and the fandom ran with it (and her surname Jones-Watson wasn’t canonized even partially until NWH, with her passport in FFH just saying “Michelle”).

And Kevin Feige even said for a while that she wasn’t THE MJ, despite her calling herself that at the end of HOCO.

Like…I know she’s not the main character, guys, but surely she, Peter, and Ned talk about things?? I’m not even saying all these questions need to be answered, I just want to see more of her life outside of Peter. Even Ned got that in NWH, however brief that was! We got to see and hear about his family! Where’s that for MJ??

All this to say…I love her very much and always will, but she was done a disservice in these movies and deserved better ✋

[sebeth]

Who's Who In The DC Universe #2: Big Sir, Bizarro, and Bizarro World

Big Sir by Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson

Dufus P. Ratchet “was born with a malfunctioning pituitary gland that allowed his body to gtow to monstrous proportions, while his mind stopped developing past the intelligence of an eight-year-old”. FYI, Big Sir is listed as 6’9” and 307 lbs.

Ratchet was kept under observation at Central City’s Breedmore Mental Hospital.

The Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery freed Ratchet and outfitted him with high-tech armor provided by the Monitor. The Rogues manipulated Ratchet into believing the Flash was a bad guy by claiming he killed a rodent. Ratchet went on a rampage that nearly killed the Flash (Barry).

Barry took Ratchet to Gorilla City where their scientists corrected his mental deficiencies. He now has a near-genius IQ and is “seeking to make a valuable contribution to society”.

The only Big Sir stories I’ve read were his appearances in the “JLI” era of the Justice League series. This version of the Injustice League consisted of Big Sir, Cluemaster, Clock King, Major Disaster, Multi-Man, and the Mighty Bruce. This version of Big Sir was most definitely not a genius. He was more of a sweet idiot. I’m not sure when or how his genius IQ was retconned as he was created shortly before the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Barry died in the Crisis and the Flash comic was cancelled around the same time. The Flash comic was re-booted with Wally West as the Flash. Big Sir did not make any appearances in the early years of the Wally West series. Justice League International began shortly after the West-Flash series started. So how did Big Sir lose his genius IQ? Were Giffen and DeMattis simply unaware of the IQ upgrade?

Read Justice League International, not only for Big Sir, but for the whole cast of characters – heroes, villains, and supporting. Great series, highly underrated.

Bizarro by Kevin O’Neill

Lex Luthor reconstructed a duplicator ray (invented by Professor Dalton). Luthor used the ray on Superman but created an imperfect duplicate. “Composed of lifeless matter, this duplicate also shared Superman’s memory, but in a distorted manner.”

Luthor named the creature “Bizarro”.

Bizarro searched the world for love and acceptance resulting in Lois Lane using the Duplicator Ray to create an imperfect duplicate of herself.

Bizarro and Bizzarro-Lois left Earth and soon founded the Bizarro World in another galaxy.

Bizarro rules the planet, “happy in the company of his family and friends.”

Bizarro is one of the more well-known villains of Superman. I first encountered the pre-Crisis Bizarro in the Silver Age Legion of Super-Hero stories. The 1980s saw much of the early Legion of Super-Hero stories reprinted in a pocket digest format. He wasn’t so much villainous as an over-eager nuisance. Frankenstein’s Monster had to be an inspiration for the creation of Bizarro – the imperfect appearance, the rejection by his creator, the search for love and acceptance – all the story beats are there.

Bizarro will always be one of my favorite Superman Family members. Post- Crisis, Bizarro has had many versions ranging from threatening (Injustice) to heartwarming (Red Hood & the Outlaws).

Bizarro World by Curt Swan and Karl Kessel

A short entry that details the inhabitants of Bizarro World. Bizzaro has used the Duplicator Ray to create duplicates of Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, Lana Lang, Krypto, Mr. Myxzptlk, the entire Justice League of America, and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Bizarro-Lois predates the creation of Bizarro World.

The World has a Bizarro Code: “Us do opposite of all Earthly Things! Us hate Beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect for Bizzaro World!”

Superman reshaped Bizaarro World to make it an imperfectly-shaped cube.

[greensparty]

Talking with Michael and Shawn Rasmussen

A few weeks ago I attended the 2023 Boston Underground Film Festival and the Opening Night Film was Jeffrey A. Brown’s The Unheard, which just premiered on Shudder. What got my attention about this, was screenwriters / producers Michael and Shawn Rasmussen. 

2023 Boston Underground Film Festival: Michael, Shawn and Jeffrey during the Q&A with BUFF Artistic Director Kevin Monahan 

The Brothers Rasmussen have become friends of mine over the last decade though the Boston film scene. 2005′s underrated Long Distance was co-written by them. Then they wrote 2010′s institution thriller The Ward, which was John Carpenter’s first movie he directed in about 10 years. Then they wrote and directed 2013′s Dark Feed, a horror movie about a movie crew filming in a scary location. They wrote and directed the indie horror film The Inhabitants (I was lucky enough to attend the private cast/crew/friends screening in 2015). Then they co-wrote Alexandre Aja’s Crawl (one of my 10 Best Movies of 2019). With The Unheard, Michael and Shawn have created a psychological horror film that was one of the highlights of this year’s BUFF. Plus it was filmed in Boston and Cape Cod. I recently got the chance to talk to Michael and Shawn while we both were attending BUFF.

movie poster

Me: I’ve hung out with you both many times over the years at BUFF, sat next to you at screenings, and hung out at festival parties. This year you had the Opening Night Film with The Unheard. What was that like for you guys?

Michael: It was pretty awesome. It was surreal.

Shawn: We’ve always wanted a movie at BUFF, but to have a movie as the Opening Night at the festival was unbelievable. It wasn’t something we expected to happen, it was just a huge surprise when our director [Jeffrey A. Brown] reached out and said “Hey guys, the film is going to be at BUFF and it’s going to open the festival” and we were just stoked.

Me: I’m sincerely happy for you guys. Something I’ve talked to you about with Crawl is that the house was like a character in and of itself. In The Unheard, there is something similar in that the house is like a character. Is that something intentional you were thinking about throughout the writing process?

Michael: Well, maybe less the house and more the Cape. We had stayed out on the Cape in the off season, especially in the Outer Cape (Wellfleet and Truro area), it’s kind of a spooky setting for a horror film. And the way sound travels out there. That time of year when no one’s around, it seems a little different, so we thought would be a great place for a horror film. So the Cape was something we were trying to make a character...in the script at least.

Shawn: We were always feeling it would be cool to shoot a film in Wellfleet in the off season. 

Michael and Shawn

Me: Looking at your filmography: you’ve written something for someone else to direct like The Ward, you’ve gotten the financing in order to direct your own micro-budget films like The Inhabitants, and developed a project with a director like Crawl. Do you guys like where you’re are at this time in your career where you can write and produce The Unheard, work closely with the director and film in Massachusetts for a Shudder production?

Shawn: Well, yeah on this one we are producers, but the way we like to put is we are kind of more creative producers. So it’s more in the development, working with the director in the pre-production. Whereas when we were directing stuff, we were on the ground doing the physical production. So where we are at is more focusing on the creative producing part of it and working with visionary directors like Jeffrey, who when we spoke to Jeff the first time we knew he had a vision for our story that was unique and that he was passionate about. We had seen The Beach House and said this is someone we’d love to work with and see what he would bring to one of our stories, because it’s a very collaborative medium.

Michael: Yeah, I think every time we’ve ever worked with a director they’ve always brought something to the project, whether it was Aja, Jeffrey or Carpenter - they kind of elevated what we already had on the page. We love working with great directors, it makes our job easier [laughs].

Me: Between 2007 and 2012, I worked at AMC Networks in their post and media services department. A few years after I left is when they launched Shudder. In the early years it was mostly streaming the horror and genre movies that they had, but then they actually got into producing some films, which is great for targeting that audience and knowing your film is going to reach the audience you want to see this. What’s it been like working with Shudder?

Michael: It’s awesome, I’m a subscriber. Shawn and I are. So it’s exciting to know when we go in to look at new releases on there, we’re going to see something that we wrote and produced. 

Shawn: They are really filmmaker-friendly. There’s a lot of filmmakers that we know that are doing original projects for Shudder and they are really supporting the filmmaker’s vision. I think Jeff felt that tremendously on The Unheard. They are very auteur-driven and very much supportive of whatever the filmmaker vision is of that project.

For info on Michael and Shawn Rasmussen: https://www.instagram.com/rasmussenbros/

For info on The Unheard: https://www.shudder.com/movies/watch/the-unheard/ef08766525c1f63c

[justjstuff]

I don’t know what it is about Kastle that awakened this beast of an Angst Monster inside of me but I really want to write a fic post-tps1 pre-dds3 that develops into dds3 where for some Marvel Reason the Castle family comes back to life (and also Kevin just for the added angst) and they all have to deal with it.

Like. Definitely Kastle endgame but lots of Angst in between, ya know?

Recently I saw a post here about American boys coming back from the war with European wives and not knowing how to be with American girls anymore because they’ve seen death and found it easier to connect with people who shared their trauma and it got me thinking about Frank and what he says versus what’s actually the truth for him? I think I might not make a lot of sense here but my point is... Frank has a narrative he tells himself that he firmly believes to be the truth and it blinds him to the actual facts. Like how Schoonover and Billy betrayed him, how he felt like everyone should kind of see the world like he does, etc.

I know it gave a touch of realism to the series when Frank was talking about Maria and making a point to say that they fought and it wasn’t everything perfect but it got me thinking how he said that every time he mentioned her in dds2. This is a man who went through a very traumatic experience and is already looking back on his past only being able to think about the good stuff (he said so himself) and I found it so interesting how he still managed to have “bad” things to say about Maria and Frankie. Not bad as in criticising but bad as in not happy memories I guess or mentions of fights. I have a bit of a headcanon which can totally be wrong but I think it’s because Lisa is the only one in his family that Frank really had a strictly pure connection with. I might go back to change this phrasing since I’m not sure it really captures what I mean but let me explain.

Maria was a soldier’s wife through and through and while this isn’t common in my country and I can’t speak from experience, it feels to me like that might put a particular kind of strain on any relationship. We can see in the series when she talks about Frank leaving pieces of himself behind every time he came back and her feeling insecure (“Where is home?”) and I think that speaks a lot about their characters and their relationships, esp if we consider the fact that Frank is remembering all that with rose coloured glasses. I do genuinely think they had many problems and it really interests me to think how they would have dealt with them after Frank quit. That’s not to say I think their relationship was doomed from the start but my whole point is that for Frank there was a lot of love involved, yes, but also guilt, sadness, anger and resentment.

Then there’s Frankie which oof. He breaks my fucking heart. Out of everyone he’s probably the one Frank speaks about the least and it’s just so common for there to be distance between a father and his son esp when the father himself had a shitty relationship w his own dad. Again, Frank’s relationship with his son had a lot of resentment, fear and guilt involved, imo, he missed his goddamn birth for christ’s sake. But not Lisa. From day one, Frank took on the responsibility of being a dad and he wanted Lisa, she was his whole world, his sweet little girl who held him up when he cried. Out of all of them, she’s the one he mentions more, and that I felt (while watching dds2 just once) the one he grieved more in a way. Only because it felt like pure unadulterated grief with no other conflicting feelings in the mix. The only thing he ever mentioned feeling guilty of with Lisa was not reading her the story and then he latched on to that so fucking hard after everything (one batch, two batch, penny and dime).

Anyways let me get back on track. Just thinking about Frank coming back from his last tour and trying to fit into a civvie life already gets me thinking about how hard it would be for the Castle family. Remember, Frank didn’t join the Marines because he felt some sense of patriotism or whatever, he did it because he’d always had that war inside of him and Schoonover told his dad he’d be a good fit there. So yeah, we go back to Frank telling himself his narratives. Now, I’m not sure this was canon or fiction but the sentiment is the same even if he never said the words “If Maria walked through those doors and asked me to cut off my arm I would no questions asked”. Because of his loss, I think it’s very easy for him to fall into that mindset of “I would do anything for them” and simplify it a bit too much. Because the fight with Maria didn’t come out of nowhere, she had been feeling like that for some time and either they’ve been fighting about it for close to ten years or they haven’t but the problem was still there and I have no idea what’s worse.

Backtracking to Frank, I think one of his most admirable qualities is his loyalty. He treats people who aren’t blood like family and everyone he considers family has a special place in his heart and soul and he listens to them. Frank was pushing Gundel (was that his name?) forward when they were burying bodies and digging out bullets from civilian’s brains “It’s our orders” and while I don’t think he was unaffected, I think it was something he was prepared to do quite easily in some ways and that says a lot about him. Then he takes Rawllins eye and Billy, his brother, is there telling him to quit. Next, there’s Maria crying and asking him to come home. Frank doesn’t think twice about doing what both of his loved ones told him to do. Because Billy is his brother and Maria is his wife and those things mean something to him. Something really deep and really raw and intrinsic in his soul but... it doesn’t change who he is.

Again, I’m not saying they were doomed to fail (Frank and Maria) but I have a lot of doubts about them if they got to have a future together. First let me just say that I think the key for a good lifelong relationship is putting in the work every day and Frank and Maria had that down to an art imo. But it’s not the only thing. No amount of work can change a person’s knee jerk reactions, their base thoughts, the way they really feel deep inside. Sure, you can work to change habits and all that but how is it fair to have to keep fighting to change a part of yourself just for the sake of staying together? I dunno. This, of course, can be very easily argued with because everyone has an ideal relationship in their head and in the end I don’t really think there’s a right or wrong in this, just different opinions and perspectives. But my next point I can’t see a way around. Bc look. Frank and Maria had three months together before they had to get married because of Lisa. They were both really young (I’m thinking 21?) and immediately after Frank got deployed again and again and again, missing all this shit that was happening with his family. I have a friend who used to be married to an airline pilot (closest thing I can think of from “personal” experience), they had two sons and she said that she was basically a single mom for all the things that counted. Now that they’re broken up she can only remember the good things but still. Imagine Frank back at home after never having been home full time before. Imagine Frank, who has this darkness inside of him and that only snowballed with PTSD (bc really Frank? U don’t have it? Psht) and trauma and all that shit and he has no more outlet for it all. Because yes, he is a family man, but he only had to be a father and a husband for some stints of time and then he was being deployed again. Most of his time, he was used to having a family in war with his brothers.

Now, all of that was pre-Punisher Frank. Imagine Frank fresh out of avenging his family, changing names post-dds2 AND post-tps1 suddenly getting his family back. His family who he would do fucking anything for but they still haven’t been around for the past almost three years (i’m guessing, the timeline is so shaky). The past really traumatic and life changing three years of his life.

I already have a lot of headcanons for this but since this is a Kastle post and it’s getting way too big I’ll just backtrack to the beginning.

When I first started thinking about this scenario I only saw heartbreak for Karen (and Frank, really) but the more time passed, the more complex it got in my head and it all revolves around the canon relationship Karen and Frank have, more specifically, that it wasn’t about being together or being physical. (short disclaimer: I will never watch tps2 and I pretend it never happened). See, Frank in a lot of ways was still grieving Maria. I think he was still in love with her and he would always be as long as she was dead and the pain would never fully go away. Imo, I don’t think any of those facts were the reason him and Karen didn’t end up dating. I think they could (should) have ended up together eventually but those first 2/3 years where not only Frank but also Karen were hot messes with a bunch of shit thrown their way wasn’t going to be it. Instead, something much more meaningful and intense was building between them.

Shared trauma really bonds people and brings them together, it’s why Frank considered the marines his family and also why him and Karen got so attached to each other to the point that Frank could look David (who had been miserable for a year and a half because he lost his wife and kids and was at the end of his fucking rope) in the eye and compare her to Sarah. “Sarah is my wife, my family.” “So is Karen”. Again, the fact that they never shared a kiss or anything makes it all that heavier because their connection wasn’t because of attraction or lust or just loneliness, it was something so much deeper.

And if his family got back, his wife, I don’t think Frank would have any guilt associated with his connection with Karen. Bc even though to someone looking from the outside it might seem like they had something, in his head he wasn’t thinking in terms of this is my next girl now that my wife is dead. He wasn’t battling with guilt over his dead wife to make a move on her or not. He was just Frank and she was Karen and she became his family. They shared moments in the eye of the storm, she grounded him, made him remember.

And anyway, in the same way I don’t think David could have let Micro die, I don’t think Frank could keep the Punisher at bay, even with their families back. You can’t go back to who you were no matter how hard you try and once you get a taste for something so addictive as that, it’s really fucking hard to go pretend it never happened. This would be a story as much about the Lieberman’s as Kastle and the Castle family because oh wow how interesting would it be to explore it all?

Anyway, no one will probably read this giant post about weird ramblings but if you do and you’re interested to discuss it, feel free to reblog w your answer or dm me! <3

[cpd5777]

I don’t know about you but that finale sucked! No cliffhanger and hardly any Upstead scenes. What did you think?

Hello! Honestly I don’t think it sucked per se, but it was not up to usual CPD expectations. Granted, last year was really hard to live up to!!

I have to be honest, I do think there has to have been some push at some point pre season 9 to give Voight more of a true character arc, and I think this Anna case was the attempt at that. Unfortunately all I think it served to do was take more time from other characters that need more development like Kevin.

I think the Anna storyline was an attempt to “humanize” Voight, but they did so with a CI, who this show has already trained us to basically consider disposable to the plot because “they know what they are getting themselves into”.

Even if I buy that Voight cared about Anna, he was about to put Jay (and Hailey), again in an illegal and precarious situation over some random “new chick”?! It’s absolutely remarkable how awful he is. And how little he cares about his real unit.

I think the real cliffhanger here is it Hailey and Jay even want to put up with his ass next year. They both saved him at huge personal cost during the Roy situation. But to see him willing to do this to them all over again? I think they’re done.

[strifesolution]

How much hints around RTs and Wilbur's implied relationships are you planning? I only spotted to but I'm also kinda dumb and maybe forgot another couple. (In my head when I first seen Dan thinking about Wil's letters, I thought 'when will a letter showing up saying Wilbur died' even though I don't think that will happen) (I am bad at english)

Gonna talk more in detail about this fic, but it'll only be spoilers if you're not caught up, so you can do so HERE!

okay there's your warning. anyway.

you clever bastards keep saying things that are impossible to respond to without directly confirming or denying if said thing is going to happen or not, so i am very pointedly and intentionally refusing to acknowledge the last part of this ask.

first thing: Dan and Wilbur. we'll get a few more hints going forward but it's essentially: Wilbur was the first person in Dan's life after [SPOILERS] his entire family died. so he gets very attached in a short period, especially with as young as he is (almost everyone in this au matches up with the IRLs CC age, Dan would've been 20 and Wilbur 19) Wilbur's a total hotshot so of course Dan gets a tiny crush, but then Wilbur has to leave before anything develops and they only interact through letters after that, so of course Dan is left with unresolved feelings.

actually, now's a GREAT time to bring up the pre-canon timeline!

obviously a few things are missing because they haven’t been revealed, but hopefully this helps visualize it better! but again. wilbur will continue to be brought up, we just can neither confirm or deny how much closure you (or dan, for that matter) will get.

HOWEVER. LOL. the Ambiguous or Implied Relationship(s) tag isn't even there for RTSoot, it's there because Dan and Kevin are. literally sleeping together. they kiss. in chapter 10. but it's unclear of how far that's gonna go/if it'll stick around/etc so we're not tagging them as a pairing. not to mention all the other ""questionable"" moments between all 5 of them in this au.

we decided when developing this fic that revealing any end game pairings from the get go would be putting our cards on the table, hence that disclaimer at the beginning like "you signed up for whatever that tags ends up turning into" basically

last little thing, the Minor or Background Relationship(s) tag will probably get added... next chapter, actually? they weren't originally planned but there's at least two ships that naturally formed between characters that aren't any of the lads. so look forward to that! :P