#some of the story telling trends on this show can be a little disturbing when you take a closer look at them

[celebratewindrose]

Surprising Facts You Didn’t Know About Wine Bottles

We all know that the magic lies within the wine, but have you ever stopped to think about the vessel that holds it? Yes, we're talking about Wine Bottles. These glass containers are more than just a casing; they result from centuries of evolution, art, and science. From the shape and size to the colour and design, every aspect of a wine bottle tells a story that's as rich and fascinating as the liquid it houses.

Whether you're a casual wine lover, a connoisseur, or someone who enjoys Personalised Wine Bottles, understanding the little-known facts about wine bottles can deepen your appreciation for the drink and the drinking experience.

So, pour yourself a glass of your favourite Sweet Wines or Dessert Wine, sit back, and let’s uncork some surprising facts about wine bottles.

1. The Color Matters More Than You Think

You may have noticed that wine bottles come in various colours, but did you know that the hue serves a specific purpose? The bottle's colour can significantly affect the wine’s aging process. Dark bottles, usually green or brown, are the go-to for wines that benefit from aging as they protect against UV light. On the other hand, clear bottles are typically used for wines meant to be consumed relatively quickly.

2. The Shape Isn’t Just for Show

Ever wonder why Wine Bottles have different shapes? It's not just for aesthetic reasons; it also serves functional purposes. For instance, Bordeaux bottles have straight sides and high shoulders to catch sediment during decanting, while Burgundy bottles have sloping shoulders to minimise sediment disturbance.

3. The Punts Aren't Just for Kicking

That indentation at the bottom of a wine bottle, known as a punt, has several roles. It strengthens the bottle's structure, making it less prone to breakage. It also provides a recess for your thumb for easier pouring. Most importantly, it gives the illusion of a larger quantity, and who doesn't love that?

4. They Make Exceptional Gifts When Personalised

Personalisation is not just a trend; it's a significant aspect of gift-giving that adds a thoughtful touch. Personalised Alcohol, especially Personalised Wine Bottles, adds a unique element that can turn an ordinary gift into a memorable one. Consider premium Gift Packaging to enhance the presentation and make the gift even more special. Many companies offer Wine Gifts and Alcohol Gift Sets, including various wines and accessories, transforming your gift into a full experience.

Conclusion

So, four surprising facts about wine bottles go beyond what meets the eye. The next time you’re holding a wine bottle, take a moment to appreciate the intricacies and thoughts that go into its creation. Whether you are a wine lover or a casual drinker, these facts deepen your appreciation for the world of wines and their containers.

Looking to impress someone with this newfound knowledge or for a unique gift idea? Head over to Celebrate with Windrose to explore a range of Personalised Alcohol options, including Personalised Wine Bottles, Alcohol Hampers, and much more. Cheers to broadening our horizons—one sip and fact at a time!

[kitkatt0430]

the flash and the problem of the pointless sacrifice

It starts at the end of season one. Eddie Thawne picks up his gun and shoots himself, dying to protect Iris, Barry, and the rest from his dangerous descendent Eobard Thawne.

Season two ends with its reversal, Barry creating the Flashpoint Timeline that, though its eventually set back to 'normal-ish', leaves a time remnant of Eobard Thawne alive and well (if running scared from the Black Flash/Hunter Zolomon as a speed zombie) to wreak havoc once more.

And I get it. The Reverse Flash is one of the Flash's most iconic villains - killing him off in season one couldn't be permanent. But apparently Eddie's suicide could be and the message that sends is... unfortunate.

Eddie is an extremely kindhearted person and we see that about him again and again throughout season one. He always has a smile for the people he cares about and he's an absolutely terrible liar. But we also know that he was bullied as a child/teen and since he never brings up the subject of his own family, it's likely he doesn't have a support structure outside of Central City. And the support structure he does gain in Central City was Barry's support structure first. There's not a single person we see Eddie spend time with in season one that didn't know Barry first.

And that's a big part of what wears him down over the course of the season. When both Barry and Eddie need support, Barry gets it first. Barry's secrets are treated as something Eddie has to prioritize over his relationship with Iris. Barry's loved Iris longer than Eddie's known her and while Iris loves Eddie, she also loves Barry and she's infatuated with the Flash - not realizing he's Barry's alter ego. Over the course of the season, Eddie constantly tries to connect with Barry and Barry constantly holds back. Their relationship is never equal. And that's what leaves Eddie open to Eobard's manipulations with the future news article.

And Eddie tries to make his own future with Iris anyway. But even with Iris accepting his proposal, Joe makes it clear he'll never truly accept their relationship and Eddie's sense of self worth is at an all time low. And that's the state of mind he's in during the fight in the pipeline. When Barry chooses not to let Eobard go after all, it puts them all in a position of potentially having to deal with this fight between the two speedsters just... never ending. It puts Iris in danger because Barry cares about her and because while Eddie is Eobard's ancestor... Iris isn't. From Eobard's point of view, Eddie's the only one who isn't expendable and from Eddie's point of view... he's the only one who is expendable.

His answer is suicide. And his death immediately erases Eobard from the timeline, but its also implied to have contributed to the re-emergence of the singularity. But at least Eobard was dead.

At least, until Barry created Flashpoint at the end of season 2. Presumably Eddie was alive in Flashpoint, but we never see him. Maybe he stays in Keystone instead of transferring to Central City. Never meets Iris. Never gets worn down to feel like he's not good enough. Never kills himself.

When Flashpoint is reset, Eddie's dead again but now his sacrifice has been rendered moot because Eobard's still alive as a time remnant.

It sets a rather nasty precedent for the show.

Season two also ends with a suicide. This time it's Barry's.

Much like Eddie the year before, Barry's been worn down. He had his place in his family's come into question, with Henry leaving at the start of the season and Wally's arrival midway through the season. His back is literally broken by the stress of fighting Zoom and despite everything he's suffered for the city, his honor is called into question the instant a different speedster takes to thievery. He has to give up his speed to protect Wally only for that to immediately put Caitlin in danger. His colleagues are brutally murdered by Zoom to teach him a lesson. His father finally comes back for good, only to be murdered in the same place as Barry's mother.

Honestly, there is no question (to my mind anyway) that Barry's suicidal at the end of the season. And because Barry his time remnants are fundamentally the same person at the moment of their split, the time remnant Barry creates is suicidal as well.

That time remnant tears himself apart to stop Zoom's plan to destroy the multi-verse. His very existence also lures in the Time Wraiths that take Zoom away, transforming him into the mindless Black Flash. All at the cost of a version of Barry killing himself, going unlamented and forgotten. But at least the multi-verse was safe.

Until the Red Skies Crisis when the multi-verse is actually destroyed and rebooted.

Another sacrifice rendered pointless.

HR does not kill himself in season three. But he deliberately places himself in a position to be killed in Iris' place. He arrives on the heels of a scandal on his Earth where he's been revealed to have been taking credit for someone else's work - with that person's blessing, but its still ruined his reputation. He comes wanting to reinvent himself, but from the start he's not the person the team really wants. They want Harry. Cisco wants Harry. He gets it hammered in that his strengths aren't appreciated by the team because he's not a scientist. His efforts to help STAR Labs are dismissed entirely. The only reason any attempts to help his museum venture succeed are because changing the future might save Iris.

It's not that HR is disliked, but he's left acutely aware that he's considered 'a bit much' and that he's always going to come second to the people he puts first. In fact, Tracy's probably the only one who truly and completely appreciates HR as he is.

So HR swaps places with Iris, knowing that he's going to die when he does. And while HR doesn't kill himself, there's an argument to be made that what he did was still suicide by proxy.

And this is a sacrifice that sticks, because Iris West is the love interest. She's never going to be killed off for real.

Three seasons ending with a suicidal sacrifice. And only one of them doesn't have that sacrifice reversed or nullified. Unfortunately, that's not the end of it either.

Harry leaves his Earth at the start of season four. His relationship with his daughter, which was shown to still be strong in season three, has somehow deteriorated to the point where she's thrown him off her support team and he comes to Earth-1 to reconnect with the found family he forged during season two. He's in the midst of a crisis and his understanding of himself as a parent is unraveling. And then DeVoe calls the other pillar of Harry's self identity into question, because Harry's genius isn't enough on its own anymore. He's not smart enough to out think DeVoe and his Earth-1 family is suffering. So Harry creates his own downfall, burns out his own brain trying to be the smartest. And he sacrifices his last moments of lucidity to find the answer to stopping DeVoe. In doing so, Harry puts Barry in the position to save Ralph's life.

But DeVoe still gets the last laugh when he causes the STAR Labs satellite to come falling down, nearly destroying the city and creating Cicada in the process.

But unlike previous seasons, Harry doesn't die. He gets some of his intelligence back and immediately gets exiled by the writers back to Earth-2 due to the massive problems with ableism this show has. But that's a different conversation.

Season five is probably the only season not to include a suicidal character who's kills themselves. Nora dies when she erases herself from the timeline by accident, but we know now she'll be back in the back half of season seven, along with her new brother. But one out five seasons not taking a suicide (or similar action in Harry's case) and painting it as a noble - but ultimately useless - gesture is rather... bad as far as track records go.

Season six has the alternate Barry Allen - implied to be the Barry from the 90s show - who dies in place of this show's Barry. To save the multi-verse and let this other Barry go home to his wife, something he'll never have with Tina again. And the multi-verse is destroyed anyway.

Season seven opened with Nash Wells, whose usual method of investigating mysteries and hoaxes led to the Anti Monitor's freedom and the multi-verse's destruction. His home Earth destroyed so he can never go home. He's confronted with an alternate version of his dead daughter, who can barely stand his presence. He begins to hallucinate alternate versions of himself and is possessed by the Reverse Flash and all his research on how to create a new Speed Force - to try to make up for some of the damage he's caused - points to a single conclusion. The only way to make things better is for him to die.

Instead, Nash's death immediately makes things worse. The artificial speed force is flawed and Barry destroys it in the very next episode. And while one could argue that Nash's death allowed Barry to save Iris and ultimately restored the original Speed Force, it doesn't negate the fact that Nash's suicidal state of mind wasn't addressed by the people who called him friend. And his legacy was immediately deemed a failure and destroyed.

While I wouldn't say the show is glorifying suicide, there's a subtle and incredibly troubling repetition in the story telling on the show that frames suicide as the right decision in certain circumstances. Even though what's being sacrificed for often comes to naught. And it's incredibly uncomfortable, seeing it all laid out like this.

I'm still really not sure what to make of it all, but I've got no doubt it ties into the show's ableism with regards to mental health issues. Because every time its someone whose mental health has been brought down to a low point who commits these acts of 'sacrifice' and while the team grieves these losses... they don't seem to learn from them either. Because it just keeps happening.

(Think I missed something? Please, by all means, add on.)

[cqlfeels]

@lansplaining encouraged me to finish this random meta nobody asked for, so let's talk about Meng Yao, Meng Shi, and 孟母三遷 (mèng mǔ sān qiān), a proverb about good parenting.

A warning: this is super long (even for me!) and is less quality meta and more my ADHD brain jumping around a maze of loosely related ideas. Proceed with caution!

Let me start by briefly going through why I decided to write this, because it’s important. In haunting Meng Shi’s tag in my starvation for Meng Shi content, I’ve multiple times come across the idea that Meng Shi pushed Meng Yao too hard, that she should’ve been more careful with teaching him to seek his father’s approval at any cost, and that she was too naïve. I’ve never reblogged this kind of post because 1) I personally think it’s rude to go out of your way to ramble about how much you disagree with someone on their own post and 2) if this was an isolated incident I wouldn't care either way, so I didn’t want to direct this rant at anyone in particular. It’s more to do with a tendency, primarily (as far as I can tell) from fans who haven’t had much contact with Chinese culture, to oversimplify Meng Shi and make her relationship with Meng Yao slightly disturbing, and I think part of it is due to CQL basically cutting out her entire storyline (so fans simply don’t have info about her to assess her fairly) and part is due to misunderstanding what a good parent is supposed to act like in the context of Ancient China.

[Of course, Ancient China is not a very useful historical concept, not any more than “ye olde Europe” - things change a lot based on time and place - but you know. It’s fantasy. Extremely broad trends are okay in this case.]

Anyway, the idea behind the posts I mentioned is, basically, that Meng Shi (usually through no fault of her own) is to blame for Meng Yao’s obsession with power, since his desire for approval was inherited from lessons she taught him. Just to start with, I’d argue that Meng Yao isn’t power-hungry as much as he craves security and respect, but that’s a different meta. Let’s assume that she really did teach him to be Like That. Was she wrong to do so? I’m not looking for “does that make for a happy, well-adjusted childhood?” or “would you raise your own son as Meng Shi did?” - I’m trying to figure out, would she have been considered a bad mother in the context of the society she lived in? I don’t think she would’ve.

It is surprisingly hard to find texts about the obligations of parents in Ancient China. Their main obligation is to raise filial children, but I feel like that’s not very useful: whether or not parents are good parents, children are expected to be filial, so a child being filial really says more about the child than about the parent. Maybe the parent completely missed the mark and society at large was what taught the child to be filial!

We can assume, of course, that parents were to raise good people, and that by learning what a good person looked like, we could figure out whether the parent was successful, but once again, I feel like that’s pinning things on the outcome, not on the process - the best of parents can end up with an awful kid and vice versa.

While thinking about all this, it took me a frankly embarrassing amount of time to remember the story of Mother Meng and Meng Zi, but once I did, it wouldn’t leave my mind - in part because the Meng here is the exact same Meng of Meng Shi and Meng Yao (yay! fun if useless parallel!), and in part because this is a story about how a woman can successfully raise a son by herself.

Okay, so important note: one of the most influential ancient Chinese thinkers is Meng Zi (孟子 Mèng Zǐ), who is known in the West as Mencius. If you've never heard of him - he's perhaps second in importance only to Confucius. When Mencius was still a young child, his father died, so he was raised by his mother, who is usually known only as Mother Meng (in Chinese, 孟母 Mèng Mǔ.)

Mother Meng's story is told in Biographies of Exemplary Women (列女傳 Liènǚ Zhuàn), which for around 2000 years beginning around the 18th century BCE, was the most commonly used book used to educate women. The book is divided into sections, each one showing a different way women could be honorable and good. Mother Meng's story is told in the Maternal Models section (母儀傳 Mǔ Yí Zhuàn.) The story has a few parts, some of which I'll quote, always from Kinney's 2014 translation.

Before I go on to quote it, though, I'd like to establish that Mother Meng's story is so, so famous that even if Meng Shi had never read this particular book, I'm almost certain she would've been familiar with at least the outlines of Mother Meng's story. I'm not cherry picking a suitable chapter from the book, I'm literally going with the most famous story in it because Meng Shi would be most likely to know this one if she knew no other story.

Okay, the first part of the tale takes place when Mencius is a young boy and Mother Meng is a widow raising him.

The mother of Meng Ke of Zou [a different name for Mencius] was called Mother Meng. She lived near a graveyard. During Mencius’ youth, he enjoyed playing among the tombs, romping about pretending to prepare the ground for burials. Mother Meng said, “This is not the place to raise my son.” She therefore moved away and settled beside the marketplace. But there he liked to play at displaying and selling wares like a merchant. Again Mother Meng said, “This is not the place to raise my son,” and once more left and settled beside a school. There, however, he played at setting out sacrificial vessels, bowing, yielding, entering, and withdrawing. His mother said, “This, indeed, is where I can raise my son!” and settled there. When Mencius grew up, he studied the Six Arts, and finally became known as a great classicist. A man of discernment would say, “Mother Meng was good at gradual transformation.”

According to the translator's footnote, "gradual transformation" is "a childrearing technique, whereby a child is morally formed through daily exposure to correct models of behavior."

From this story comes the proverb 孟母三遷 (Mèng Mǔ sān qiān) - "Mother Meng moved three times." It's come to mean that a parent - especially the mother of a male child - should spare no efforts to provide an environment that will give their child a good education, paying particular attention to what models are surrounding them.

I'm sure I don't need to say if Meng Shi was at all familiar with this proverb (and she would probably be), she must have been very stressed out over literally raising her son in a brothel. (Here I must mention sex workers in ancient China were often essentially owned by the brothels, so literally "moving three times" wasn't really an option for Meng Shi even if she could miraculously pick up another trade.) Meng Shi did however at least try to surround Meng Yao with the accomplishments appropriate for the son of a cultivator:

Xiao-Meng, are you still learning those things lately? [...] The things your mom wants you to learn, things like calligraphy, etiquette, swordsmanship, meditation… How are those things going? [...] His mom’s raising him as a young master of a wealthy family. She taught him how to read and write, bought him all those swordsmanship pamphlets, and even wants to send him to school.

Meng Yao actually talks a little bit about “those swordsmanship pamphlets” in the only time in canon he directly shares memories about this mother:

Lan XiChen, “Your [guqin] skills are also considered quite fine outside of Gusu. Were they taught by your mother?”

Jin GuangYao, “No. I taught myself by watching others. She never taught me such things. She only taught me reading and writing, and bought a handful of expensive sword and cultivation guides for me to practice.”

Lan XiChen seemed surprised, “Sword and cultivation guides?”

Jin GuangYao, “Brother, you haven’t seen them before, have you? Those small booklets sold by the common folk. First jumbled sketches of human figures, then deliberately mystified captions.”

Lan XiChen shook his head, smiling. Jin GuangYao shook his head as well, “All of them are scams, especially to fool women like my mother and ignorant children. You won’t lose anything by practicing them, but you definitely won’t gain anything either.”

He sighed in a rueful way, “But how could my mother have known this? She bought them no matter how expensive they were, saying that if I returned to see my father in the future, I had to see him with as much competence as possible so that I don’t fall behind. All of the money was spent on this.”

See what’s happening? Meng Shi cannot physically take Meng Yao to cultivators, but she spares no efforts in giving him the closest thing she possibly can -- figuratively, we might say she moved three times.

Of course, these booklets don’t work, but as Meng Yao says, how could she have known this? The cultivation world is very closed off - think of how the entire Mo household gathers to see Lan juniors, and how Wei Wuxian mentions once that “Cultivation families, in the eyes of common folk, are like people favored by God, mysterious yet noble.” Not just noble, but mysterious. That tracks, too - I mean, they live in inaccessible households and mostly leave to night hunt or visit each other, neither of which is an activity that would allow commoners to get much more than an occasional glimpse of them.

Now, if Meng Shi doesn’t even know that a pearl for Jin Guangshan was just a trinket, if she doesn’t know even the wealth of a major sect, how can she read booklets and decide whether that’s genuine cultivation or not? All that she sees is a chance for Meng Yao to be surrounded by the ideas and skills of the people she wants him to emulate - cultivators - and therefore she does everything she can to get him that chance. Mother Meng moved three times.

Okay, but maybe the argument is not “Meng Shi shouldn’t have pushed Meng Yao to cultivation” but rather “she should’ve pushed him, just not too hard." To that, I present another tale from Mencius' childhood:

Once, when Mencius was young, he returned home after finishing his lessons and found his mother spinning. She asked him, “How far did you get in your studies today?” Mencius replied, “I’m in about the same place as I was before.” Mother Meng thereupon took up a knife and cut her weaving. Mencius was alarmed and asked her to explain. Mother Meng said, “Your abandoning your study is like my cutting this weaving. A man of discernment studies in order to establish a name and inquires to become broadly knowledgeable. By this means, when he is at rest, he can maintain tranquility and when he is active, he can keep trouble at a distance. If now you abandon your studies, you will not escape a life of menial servitude and will lack the means to keep yourself from misfortune. How is this different from weaving and spinning to eat? If one abandons these tasks midway, how can one clothe one’s husband and child and avoid being perpetually short of food? If a woman abandons that with which she nourishes others and a man is careless about cultivating his virtue, if they don’t become brigands or thieves, then they will end up as slaves or servants.” Mencius was afraid. Morning and evening he studied hard without ceasing. He served Zisi [a great scholar whose grandfather was Confucius] as his teacher and then became one of the most renowned classicists in the world.

Notice that Mother Meng moved three times to ensure Mencius would have the highest of aspirations - to become a scholar. But just aspiration isn’t enough. Not by any means. Now that Mencius is actually studying, Mother Meng is willing to take an extreme action to ensure he's taking it seriously. Mencius doesn't have a father to smooth his path to success. He has to learn that aspiring to greatness isn't enough. He'll have to put in the effort as if his life depended on it. And if he doesn't persist in his hard work, everything he's done thus far will be useless. Sounds like a lesson imparted on young Meng Yao, doesn’t it?

A lot of fandom rage towards Meng Shi would apply to China's Best Mom Contender, Mother Meng. She gives her son big dreams, and teaches him how to go about achieving them in a society where failing is easier than succeeding. Yes, it's fair to say that Meng Shi taught Meng Yao to refuse to settle for anything less than being “Jin Guangshan's son, a respected cultivator.” Yes, it's also fair to say that she probably didn't allow him much time to play like children his age did. But unfortunately, in the world of MDZS, poor children probably wouldn't get to play anyhow, the difference is that they'd usually be working, not studying. Studying is a privilege! It’s a privilege Meng Yao could not afford but was given to him anyway, through his mother’s many sacrifices. We can even say that while she was alive, Meng Shi was trying to ensure Meng Yao would one day have a better life, at the expense of a fun childhood - and that's very Mother Meng of her, whatever our modern Western sensibilities might have to say about that.

Finally, I’d skip other tales (which show Mother Meng and an adult Mencius) and go straight to the poem that ends the Mother Meng section:

The mother of Mencius

Was able to teach, transform, judge, and discriminate.

With skill she selected a place to raise her son,

Prompting him to accord with the great principles.

When her son’s studies did not advance,

She cut her weaving to illustrate her point.

Her son then perfected his virtue;

His achievements rank as the crowning glory of his generation.

I’d like to focus on the last verse - “His achievements rank as the crowning glory of his generation.” All that Mother Meng wanted was for Mencius to not completely ruin his life, but he became great. You can so very easily see a parallel with how Meng Shi hoped Meng Yao would be a cultivator but he became Jin Guangyao, Chief Cultivator, styled Lianfang-zun, one of the Three Venerable, hero of the Sunshot Campaign.

Of course you can say “Jin Guangyao did many Very Wrong Things to get there, though!” Which, sure, okay, fair point. How many and how wrong depends on which canon we're discussing, and your own interpretation, but there’s no version of the story in which Jin Guangyao is 100% an innocent child uwu. But blaming that on Meng Shi is just... straight up weird? I don’t see anyone going “If Jiang Fengmian hadn’t adopted Wei Wuxian, he’d never have dared become Yiling Laozu!” and that’s pretty much the same logic. Would street kid Wei Wuxian have invented a new type of cultivation if he had never been taken in by the Jiang? Probably not, but raising undead armies is very much not something Jiang Fengmian could’ve predicted. In the same way, how could Meng Shi have predicted that teaching her pre-adolescent son “You are the son of a cultivator, act like one and earn your place in society” would’ve ultimately resulted in innocent deaths? How could she predict “You’re not destined to having the same horrible life I did, you can get something better than this” was a bad thing to teach? I quite honestly don’t know.

Finally, I'd like to point towards a much flimsier evidence that Meng Shi did great as a parent. And that is Meng Yao’s love. Nie Huaisang at some point comments Meng Shi is someone who Meng Yao "cherishes more than his life," and I think his assessment is correct.

Even putting aside the fact he built a whole temple to get his mother to reincarnate into a better life, and even putting aside how he refuses to flee the country without her remains, there's still crystal clear evidence that Meng Shi must've done something right. Because a lifetime of people using his mother to bully him doesn't seem to have made Meng Yao resent her. Had their relationship not have been very strong, odds are he'd feel bitter and/or ashamed of her. That doesn't seem to be the case. He's attached to her even decades after her death.

I want to be very careful with equating mutual affection with good parenting, though. When I was a rather rebellious teenager, my mother (in typical Chinese fashion) used to say that parents and children don't have to love each other as long as they're dutiful to each other, by which she meant that a parent-child relationship isn't informed by warm and fuzzy feelings, but by whether you'd be willing to do anything for each other. Specific to my case, she meant "I don't care if it makes you hate me, you will do as you're told because that's what's best for you." (That may also be the reason why people more familiar with Chinese culture see the Jiang family less as outright abusive and more as #complicated, but that's another meta.)

Whether your kid wants to hug you every time they see you is of no consequence to traditional Chinese thought - raising them to be the best they can is all that matters, because at the end of the day, you won't be around forever, but you can definitely set up your kid's life so that it goes smoothly and virtuously. How that's accomplished varies depending on many factors, but to have the goal be "I want my child to love me" rather than "I want to raise my child right" would've been considered selfish as hell.

So even if all that Meng Shi had given Meng Yao had been stern lessons about the need to go get his birthright, she would've still have been considered a good mother!! In fact, she would've been doing everything she was supposed to do, under extremely difficult conditions! (Remember the importance of environment? That Meng Yao grew up to want to be a cultivator despite having probably never even met one speaks wonders about Meng Shi's childrearing powers!!)

But just based off how over the top Meng Yao's filal dutifulness is, I'd go a step further and say that even as she did the impossible, she was also loving enough to inspire genuine affection. This is complicated because children who have present fathers could expect their mothers to be tender with them. The first century BCE text 禮記 Lǐ Jì or The Classic of Rites says that:

Here now is the affection of a father for his sons - he loves the worthy among them, and places on a lower level those who do not show ability; but that of a mother for them is such, that while she loves the worthy, she pities those who do not show ability - the mother deals with them on the ground of affection and not of showing them honour; the father, on the ground of showing them honour and not of affection.

But when the father figure is lacking for any reason, the mother must abandon her tenderness because someone must guide the child, and without a father, the role falls to the mother. A single or widowed mother had to be very careful to not smother their children with affection and raise useless, spoiled kids, or so it was thought. (The presence of Qingheng-jun and Lan Qiren is why Madame Lan can be so affectionate with the Lan boys, by the way - if she was raising them by herself she would've been expected to be much more practical. AUs where she just gets her kids and runs away could do very cool things with this idea. But I digress!)

Where was I? Oh, okay. Because Meng Yao seems to not just respect, but actively miss her, it seems that Meng Shi somehow managed to deal with her son on the ground of both honor and affection, to paraphrase.

So basically, all things considered, it seems not only would Meng Shi have been considered a great mom (if people could look past her being a prostitute, anyway) but she also went above and beyond the bare minimum. She truly spared no efforts on any front to make sure her son had everything your average gongzi would have - someone to teach him and someone to love him, access to education and confidence in his birthright. That she couldn't actually make him a cultivator, that she couldn't actually raise him in a proper home with no one being cruel to herself or him - that's immaterial. Even Mother Meng couldn't control what her neighbors did, only what she taught her son! The key point is Meng Shi tried. She did everything she could to educate her son right. You couldn't ask more of her, and quite honestly, you should probably be asking less.

Of course we can't err on the other extreme and say she was Perfect. Given MXTX only ever writes flawed characters, we can safely assume that if we'd known more about Meng Shi, we would've seen many flaws. Indeed, just the fact she didn't teach Meng Yao the guqin when he apparently wanted to learn it might point to some conflict we don't know enough to speculate about (maybe she focused too much on cultivation when Meng Yao's interests lay elsewhere? Maybe she wasn't able to sufficiently shelter him and he felt it'd be a burden to ask her to teach him anything? Maybe maybe maybe, go wild with your fics.) Nevertheless, I would never hold a female character to a higher ideal than a male character - if the male cast of MDZS can be a hot mess and still be admirable for what they're trying to do, then so can Meng Shi.

At the end of the day, when I look at Meng Shi - and I've made myself a document with all the references to her in the novel canon so I could easily contemplate her life and character - all I see is a woman every bit as determined and resourceful as her son, willing to do everything it took to raise her little boy into the sophisticated and ambitious man he became.

Finally, here's a fun little parallel that I'm 100% sure was unintentional but I still love. I said Meng Shi couldn't have moved three times. She couldn't, but I think maybe she taught her son he was worth moving three times for. Qinghe Nie. Qishan Wen. Lanling Jin. Isn't that super fun to think about?

Alternatively, tl;dr: Oh My God I Can't Believe We're Blaming Women For The Actions Of Their Adult Children In The Year Of Our Lord 2k21, Meng Shi Was Doing Her Best, Chill!

[fabianocolucci]

Can we have one lighthearted and optimistic show or movie for once?

Hello, I am writing this post because I have read that the CW is making a TV show about the PowerPuff Girls, except they’re going to be depicted as “20-somethings who are disillusioned after having spent their childhood fighting crime”.

Reading that angered me, I have to admit it, because this is just the latest of a never ending series of shows and movies that try to take something that is supposed to be lighthearted, funny and optimistic and turn it into something dark and edgy about how much life sucks, trying to highlight that “we live in a society” and so on.

Riverdale is the example many people come up with most of the time, and I can see why: its shared universe (which includes The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) is a textbook example of how Hollywood keeps handling these things. However, what many people fail to realize is that this trend has been going on since long before the CW took Archie Andrews and the others and tried to be as dark and edgy as they can.

When Batman Begins proved to be a huge hit, and it was followed by an even greater hit (The Dark Knight), Hollywood apparently thought that the reason of its success was that it tried to be darker and edgier. However, those things worked only because Christopher Nolan wanted to take a popular superhero and tried to depict him in a more realistic tone (after all, their movies may be even darker than what Batman is supposed to be, unless you take in consideration any Batman comic written by Frank Miller).

Since then, we’ve seen countless movies, games and shows that tried to be so dark they’ve become bleak and, honestly, even a bit bland.

On the superhero side, we’ve seen multiple depictions where, for instance, Superman has become evil and is now a force that needs to be stopped (they even made a movie about this being a possibility, as if it’s inevitable), while we’ve seen at least four live-action depictions of Batman being a killer hero who has lost his vision and hope (to the point where Batwoman casually mentioning how Batman has a no killing code was enough to make that world’s Batman a lighter version than what is the current trend). The Netflix shows about Marvel superheroes even made it look like the Avengers’ arrival caused nothing but problems for New York (admittedly, they kind of have to depict New York this way, otherwise it would feel weird how there’s so many superheroes in that city and yet crime is still a thing).

On the fantasy side, because of Game of Thrones’ success, now every fantasy TV show wants to emulate it, and as such we have bleak, humorless worlds where there’s a lot of darkness, with constant “mature” content like swearing and sex (The Witcher is a great show, but they could have toned it down a bit, in that context). It’s like even a genre whose name is literally “fantasy” can’t escape in trying to depict a more gritty and real world where everything always has to be dark.

On the science fiction side, well, we’ve seen the new Star Wars movie, which took the ending of Episode VI, which was full of optimism and hope, and basically said “nope, everything now is so dark and lonely”. I guess one of the reasons why you could pretend the sequel trilogy never happened is that, well, they end with a more positive note than whatever happened after episode IX.

On the TV side, there isn’t just Riverdale or the upcoming PowerPuff Girls show. The Winx Saga has taken away all the color of the cartoon (no, seriously: everything is so grey and soulless looking in the TV show that someone may have to tell you they’re supposed to be The Winx Club in live action). The Nancy Drew show now is a dark mystery more in line with Riverdale actually. Netflix is making an Avatar show and apparently they want to age up the characters “so that they can have sex” (which somewhat implies that there’s someone who looked at 12 year old Aang or 14 year old Katara and thought “I want to see them have sex”, which is so creepy and disturbing that I even regret pointing it out).

This would not be such a big deal if there wasn’t the fact that we’re talking about the vast majority of big movies and shows! Even something funny like Lost in Space has been turned into a dark remake.

Why is it so hard to find something in Hollywood that doesn’t try to be dark and depressing? Well, I think there are multiple reasons, which I’m going to point out:

·       There is this idea among writers that drama is the only thing that keeps the plot interesting. Characters need to have tragedies thrown at them all the time, they constantly have to fight and (usually) heavens forbid if they even try to lighten up a bit. This is, of course, wrong, as shown by how many fanfiction writers take characters who have a life made of day-by-day drama and depict them in quiet scenes like them making a meal for their beloved or just going to a vacation where they can relax. Just because depicting nothing but quiet and peaceful moments can become boring on the long run, doesn’t mean it can never happen;

·       Because we live in dark times, then everything has to be dark. It’s as if people can’t experience any sort of hopeful escapism when out there it seems like nothing but tragedies and negativity occurs outside of their windows. Illnesses, war, deaths, recessions and so on happen 24/7, so how can you showcase even a bit of positivity? Well, I have one question: what kind of escapism would constantly remind you of the very thing you are trying to temporarily escape from? If I want to forget about the World’s problems for an hour, then why on Earth are you making me think about them? Who decided that the best way of forgetting that life sucks is to have your story say “life sucks” all the time? I don’t understand;

·       Writers are probably influenced by the “loser culture” on the internet. I mean, wherever you go on social media, people seem to have a race to see who has the most miserable life. Many comic artist have their characters experience all sorts of problems and negativity, there’s a lot of memes about negative stuff (how many times have you seen a wholesome post with a reblog or a retweet adding something negative? For example, I don’t know, someone tweets “I asked my mom a puppy, she brought me five of them” and someone says “if I asked it to my mom, she’d bring five slaps to my butt”). Of course, if I, a writer, see that people can’t stop talking about how much their life suck, I would think “well, maybe that’s all they want to hear about” and make characters with miserable lives;

However, I have always noticed how there’s a medium who seems to not be easily affected by all this stuff: animation.

You want a fantasy show where everything is colorful and bright? There’s lots of cartoons for that.

You want to see superheroes doing their best to fight for the good of the World? There’s plenty of them in animation.

You want hope and positivity? Tune in on any station that airs cartoons and you will find it.

However, the problem is that this goes hand to hand with the old stigma that, well, “cartoons are for kids”, so it feels like movies and TV shows are saying “positivity and happiness are for children. Grow the hell up and see how dark and hopeless the World truly is!”.

Why is trying to be positive and optimistic something that can’t happen if you’re a mature person? Why is it so wrong to just want to see a bit of peace in these media?

I don’t know what else to say or to add, so it’s best if I finish my post right here. So, here’s my opinion:

Even though it is okay for you to tell me a story where nothing matters, where “we live in a society” and where you can’t have good things, it should be balanced with something. Have you ever seen the Yin Yang symbol? Why do you think it depicts darkness with a little bit of light? Because nothing can be completely dark. So, just try to add some good energy in your story. It won’t be an issue for anybody to just have one moment where everyone smiles.

[thegirlintheswivelchair]

More Than We Hoped - Ch. 2

Summary: The Daily Bugle drags Spiderman, Tony forces Peter to come up to the compound, and that black haired man packs a punch.

Word count: +6.6k

Warnings: violence, injury, blood, angst...to be honest I think that’s it for this chapter

A/N: OK so I am actually really nervous to put this chapter out. It feels a little different from what I usually do. It felt like the story took on a life of its own, and also...this is all Peter. Y/n is not in this chapter. However, I am gonna have her in the next chapter quite a bit, so hopefully that will make up for it!! Anyways...I hope you enjoy this!

(Oh and this starts off directly after chapter 1!)

series masterlist | main masterlist

——

Still Saturday 

Peter sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone, “Hey, Tony.” 

“Yeah, you’ve already said hello. Got anything else to say?” Tony’s voice deadpanned over the other line. It was sassy, but Peter could tell that he wasn’t necessarily in trouble...yet.

“I just woke up, what else did you want me to say?” Peter said off-handedly. He really wasn’t awake enough to handle where Tony wanted to take this conversation. Plus, he really did not know what was going on.

“I don’t know, you tell me? Why did I wake up this morning to see Spiderman’s name in a trending article from the Daily Bugle?”

“Would you believe me if I said, ‘I don’t know?’” Peter asked.

“Not really, no.” Again, Tony didn’t seem annoyed, but Peter couldn’t help but feel he might be getting a lecture somewhere down the line.

“Honestly, Tony, I haven’t even had time to read the article.” Peter responded evenly.

Tony let out a sigh, “It’s not great, Pete. Whatever you did on patrol last night—they’re spinning it like you lost control, and the guy is in the hospital because of you.”

“What?” Peter said in shock, “Hold on…”

Taking the phone away from his ear, he put Tony on speaker, so he could bring up the article to read.

The same twinge of foreboding that had hit him earlier came back as he read the headline again:

IS HE REALLY OUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDERMAN? Masked Vigilante involved in near lethal apprehension of defenseless substance abuser.

Clicking the article’s link to read more, he was greeted with a photo of his superhero alter ego. The photo showed Spiderman looking like he was being cornered in an alleyway. One of his hands was lifted urging whoever was in front of him to calm down, while the other was gesturing to the heaped form behind him. Anyone looking at it could see it was a body sprawled out on the ground, but the image was such bad quality barely any details were discernible. 

His eyes went quickly to read the beginning of the article:

In the early morning hours last night, distress calls were phoned in by a number of residents of the Bright Valley Apartments. They were alerting authorities of a violent disturbance in the alleyway next to their building between Spiderman and a nondescript man. 

The recorded calls are still not available to the public, but an eyewitness says the man seemed frantic and was lashing out. They said Spiderman struck the man a number of times until the victim was incapacitated. 

When authorities arrived at the scene, Spiderman was still present before webbing his way out of the situation without properly debriefing the authorities that came to the site. It is unclear what the masked vigilante’s intentions were with the victim that has now been identified as Wayne Campbell, who has been known to use drugs. Campbell is now in the hospital with severe internal injuries and is in critical condition.

More was said underneath, but Peter had already seen enough. The feeling of foreboding deepened into a sloshing mess of worry, hurt pride, and a sense of sadness. There was too much misinformation and exploited truths in the first few paragraphs alone for Peter to say it was anything but what it was...

“They-They wrote a slander piece about me…” He said softly, switching the phone back to normal and bringing it up to his ear.

“Looks that way...Sorry, kiddo.” Tony said in a similarly soft tone before continuing, “Know anyone you’ve pissed off lately?”

“No one I can think of,” Peter responded in a sort of mumble after sitting quiet for a moment, thinking.

“Thought you might say that. That’s why I sent Happy to grab you and bring you back to the compound, so we can get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, how about you catch me up on what Spiderman’s been getting up to.”

“What? No—Tony, I can’t just make a trip out to the compound!” Peter exclaimed. 

“Why not?” 

“Because I’ve got...” Peter paused. He felt he was needed here, but with his brain still stuck on the article he didn’t say that. Instead what came out was, “...homework.” He finished, closing his eyes knowing how lame that excuse was.

“Yeah, that hasn’t worked for the last 12 years, not gonna work now.” Tony said matter-of-factly.

Without missing a beat, Peter quipped back, “Technically, I didn’t get to use that excuse for 5 years. So really it’s only been 7.”

“Uncalled for,” Tony said. If they had been in the lab together, Peter could imagine that his mentor would be pointing a wrench at him and raising his eyebrows to emphasize the point that he was hurting the old man. A small smile tugged at the corner of Peter’s mouth at the thought.

“So, you gonna tell me what really happened?” 

The question sobered Peter quickly, making him momentarily forget about going to the compound. He blew air between pursed lips, his cheeks puffing out. “Whatever is happening is so screwed up, Tony…” Peter said quietly.

“It always is.” Tony said this with such sincerity Peter could almost hear the memories coming to life in the retired superheroes head. Tony cleared his throat and spoke up again, “Just start at the beginning.” 

“Yeah, Ok.” Peter breathed out, and he began telling the story of the last 3 nightmarish nights he’d spent patrolling. 

It took 45 minutes before Peter was getting to the details of last night. To his surprise, Tony had let Peter talk without much interruption, only small clarifications here and there and a hum to show he was paying attention.

Once he finally went quiet Tony spoke up, “And you haven’t found any connection between the 3 victims?” 

“Not yet, I haven’t had time—” Peter was cut off by another call coming in. Looking at the contact, he saw it was Happy. He’s seriously making me go to the compound? No questions asked?

Sighing and not hiding his frustration, Peter quickly said “I gotta take this, it’s Happy.” He didn’t wait for a reply before accepting the new call. “Hey, Happy,” he said, adopting a much lighter tone than a second ago.

“Peter, where are you? I’ve been waiting outside for the last 15 minutes.” Happy said in a familiarly gruff greeting.

“Crap, you’re already here? Sorry, Happy. I’ll be right down.” Peter said as he jumped up from his spot on the bed and hung up the phone. He began grabbing at random clothes around the room, hoping they were clean, and throwing them on.

Soon, all that was left for him to do was find his other shoe. Shouldn’t be too hard right? Wrong. He turned over everything. At one point he even stood on the ceiling thinking a new angle would help him—It didn’t. Just as he was starting to get really frustrated, he found it hiding in the corner of his room where he could have sworn he’d looked at least three times before. 

“Ah-ha!” He cheered triumphantly. The victory was short-lived when his phone began to blow up with texts from Happy. Each one getting steadily more grumpy in how they said he needed to get his ass moving and down to the car right now.

So in a chaotic blur of motion, Peter grabbed his lone shoe, his backpack, a granola bar from on top of his mini fridge, and jogged out of his room with only one shoe on.

As he made his way down his hallway, his phone rang for what felt like the thousandth time that morning. He picked it up without looking at the contacts name, and answered, “I know Happy, I’m on my way down right now. Couldn’t find my shoe.”

“See, I keep telling you to put trackers in them, but do you listen?” Came Tony’s amused voice over the other line. 

Even though he had not expected his mentor's voice on the phone, Peter smirked and shot back, “Says the old man that can’t find the wrench that’s still in his hands.”

“That was one time!” Tony’s voice said defensively before changing the subject, “So you haven’t left with Happy yet, I take it?”

“Just getting out to his car.” Peter said, walking into his dorm’s elevator.

“Uh-huh. While, you’re on your way up, try and think through what might be similar to each incident. We’ll use that while going through the info your suit gathered during patrol.”

“Speaking of—Tony, I need to be back by tonight to go patrolling again. I need to be there for the next person that gets affected by this thing.” 

“Yeah, no can do, Underoos.” Tony said. It was said with a casual finality, even off-handed in a way, and it irked Peter for some reason. 

“What do you mean?” He said slightly annoyed as he left the elevator. 

When he neared the door leading outside, he realized he was still not wearing his other shoe having been so distracted by Tony. He put his granola bar in his mouth, and began moving in a way he knew was not even remotely graceful as he tried to keep forward momentum and put his shoe on at the same time.

“There’s too much heat around the situation now, Pete. You need to stay away for awhile.” Tony broke through Peter’s concentration of staying upright as he barreled through the door to the outside.

Once he managed to get the shoe on, Peter paused for a second to take a bite out of his granola bar before moving again. He answered his mentor with a hard tone, “I can’t just drop this, Tony!”

“The media has gotten involved. That automatically makes this trickier. It’s important to tread carefully now.”

“I know I need to be careful,” Peter groaned out, “But I feel really close to a breakthrough! I just need a few more nights of recon. Please—”

“You have any leads?” Tony cut him off before he could keep talking.

Peter faltered before replying. He really didn’t have any leads, and it was clear Tony knew that. He had just hoped that train of thought would work on Tony, and he would be allowed to patrol. “I mean—no, not really.” Peter said quietly, opting for honesty in this moment.

He heard Tony sigh, “We need to be smart. This isn’t a recon-then-action type of mission anymore.”

Peter had made it to the sleek black car that would take him to the compound. Pausing in front of the passenger side, one hand on the door’s handle, Peter started talking, “I know, Tony, but these people—” 

Tony cut him off again, “The answer is still no. We’ll talk more when you get here.” 

The annoyance that had been simmering under Peter’s skin throughout the whole conversation, sparked at that moment. “Fine,” He snapped, and hit the phone’s red ‘End’ button. Opening the car door with a particular amount of aggression, he slid into the seat with a huff. 

Happy immediately began pulling away from the curb as soon as the door shut. A sour silence fell over the two figures, with Peter staying silent and glaring out his window. The other, usually more grumpy, older man glanced at Peter frequently as they made their way upstate. Peter felt the stare each time, knowing the older man was trying to get a read on him as he quietly brooded. 

Over the many years they had been in each other’s lives both had gotten relatively good at reading each other. In this particular situation, it was obvious Peter was frustrated about something, but he knew Happy was trying to piece together what might be annoying him.

“Tony did something again, didn’t he?” Happy’s voice finally broke the silence.

“You could say that,” Peter muttered.

“Whatever he did, I’m sure he has his reasons.” 

Peter had to resist the urge to roll his eyes, Happy didn’t deserve that. “Happy, no offense, but I really don’t want to talk about it.”

“Ok, fair enough.” Happy conceded easily. The rest of the drive was silent, only the soft sounds of music were heard.

When the car rounded the tree lined bend that led up to the compound, Peter’s emotions did a bit of a dance. He always loved seeing this building. It was a symbol of something so much bigger than himself, even bigger than him as Spiderman. Excitement always sparked in his gut as he thought about what and who it held inside and all the inner workings that even he didn’t fully understand yet. The weight of its purpose was inspiring while also being rightfully intimidating. Peter had yet to shake the feelings of being inadequate when thinking about it all. No matter how much he had wanted it, he couldn’t stop wondering if he was good enough to be an Avenger, of being a part of the moving pieces that title gave him power in, and what it meant to protect the world. He was just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman after all.

Today, though, that wash of emotions was dampened by his frustration over why he was here to begin with. He felt like Tony was calling him here to keep an eye on him. Like he didn’t trust him, and it stung.

After the car pulled up to the giant glass doors of the side entrance, Peter said a hasty goodbye to Happy, got out and slammed the door shut a bit harder than necessary. He bounded up to the door, and stepped into the building.

Almost immediately, Friday, Tony’s AI, greeted him with an even tone “Hello, Peter. Should I let Boss know you are here?”

“Tell him I’ll be down in a sec.” Peter answered, but instead of going directly to the lab, he made his way to the large communal kitchen to make himself a sandwich. 

Friday’s voice came through the silence of the kitched “Boss is asking for you to come down to the lab.” The AI paused then added, “He says to just bring the food with you.”

Peter rolled his eyes, Tony knew him a little too well sometimes. Taking a massive bite his sandwich, he grabbed his plate and started his way down to the lab.

When he turned into the large state of the art lab, he was greeted with a view of Tony’s back. 

Since Thanos, Tony had changed from what he had looked like during his active days as Iron Man. It wasn’t for the worse, he had simply changed, gotten older. His hair had gotten distinctly more salt and peppered, even more than when Peter had been remade after the snap. The wrinkles around his eyes had gotten more prominent, and they highlighted the smile he’d started wearing more often now that he was a father and genius mechanic rather than a superhero holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

He also had a prosthetic arm, a constant reminder of the day he saved the galaxy. When you could see it, it was a surprisingly tame color—a dark charcoal grey. “You can wear it with anything,” Tony had joked when asked why it wasn’t bright red. It still held Iron Man’s trademark colors of red and gold in its details, with a bright blue light filling out the crevices or other details that the nanotechnology didn’t cover. The scars from the wound that traced their way across his skin came up his neck and stretched up around his ear and cheek. Anything else around his shoulders and chest was usually covered by a shirt, unless he was in his tank top fixing his cars, or swimming at his house in the woods. 

The biggest difference for Peter though, was the softness that had taken over Tony. He was certainly still the cocky, confident man he’d always been, but he didn’t hold himself that way anymore as a suit of armor. Now that confidence was worn as a person slowly working on their monsters and ever so subtly finding hope in who they actually are. It was a softness that came with years of therapy and walking through it all with good friends and family. Peter was proud of Tony for that, and was grateful he got to be a part of it.

Currently, Tony was in a basic long sleeve black shirt pulled back to his elbows and his usual chop-shop jeans that were filled with grease and other stains. 

With his back to the door, he was surrounded by three different holographic projections. One was the schematics and details of Peter’s Spiderman suit. Another was a news feed scrolling and continuously playing any news that might be relevant to his search, and the last one had numbers, graphs, and other data that Peter quickly realized was the data from his suit. 

The suit, while being his, and even his own design, was still hooked up to the main Stark “cloud” that Tony had created for everything that held Stark technology. That meant Tony could bring up anything he wanted from Peter’s suit. 

At any other time, this would have annoyed Peter, maybe even offended him. The two of them had talked at length about the Baby Monitor protocol, and over the last 4 years had slowly lessened it all so that Peter could be his own person, having complete control over the responsibility he had as a superhero. Tony had promised to no longer check the data or videos on his suit unless Peter let him, or asked him to. For this particular moment, even in Peter’s already frustrated state, he knew there had been an unspoken agreement that Tony would help. That meant he would look into these details. So Peter let it slide, and while taking another enormous bite of his sandwich, he walked up to Tony’s side and asked with a mouthful, “Found anything interesting?”

Tony turned his face towards him with both eyebrows raised quietly asking the parental question of ‘really? while eating?’ to which Peter gave a noncommittal shrug to say ‘yup’. Tony lips twitched with amusement, and he turned back to the projections, answering, “No, not yet. Was waiting for you actually.”

Swallowing the bite, Peter said, “I think we should get Friday working on whether or not the three victims have anything in common with each other. Then you and I can look through the surveillance Karen saved through my mask’s camera and see if there is anything we can see for clues or leads.”

Tony nodded, then said, “You heard him, Fri. Start seeing if there is anything to connect these people together, and please upload the videos from Peter’s suit so we can start watching them.

“What time frame do you want to focus on for the videos?” She responded.

“Let’s see, everything starting from Wednesday at the beginning of my patrol to the end of the last entry on Friday,” said Peter.

Friday didn’t respond. Instead, a new hologram popped up in front of the two men, and the first scenes of the surveillance videos began to play. They silently began to watch together while Peter finished his food. 

Three hours later, the pair were now sitting in chairs, eyes slightly glazed from the amount of random footage they had already gone through. Peter tried not thinking about the fact they were still only on Wednesday night. They had fast forwarded through most of the early evening of that night, until right around when Peter remembered it all started. 

When he heard Karen respond to something he said by saying, “You said never to call a night ‘calm’ because it tempts the universe,” he perked up in his chair and spoke out loud, “This is where my senses started going off before I heard the whimpering.”

The suit’s camera showed the vantage point on top of a building looking down at the still busy street below. “Pause the video,” Peter said. Getting up from his chair, he raised his hands to the image. With an outward wave from both hands he expanded the image to be twice the size it was before, essentially engulfing himself and Tony in the scene.

“My senses went off, but I couldn’t see where it was coming from. It was too hard to tell with so many people staring simply because I had swung overhead, but I know someone was staring for another reason.”

Tony looked at him questioningly, “You know when someone is staring at you for another reason?”

Peter nodded and shrugged, “Yeah, there’s a difference in someone staring innocently, and someone that is staring for another reason. I don’t know why, but I can feel the difference.” 

Tony nodded slowly, and his face briefly flashed a ‘huh, neat’ face before he turned back to the image. “Friday, start scanning the faces and see if there are any that stand out. Let’s start with criminal records or anyone that Spiderman has dealt with directly.”

“Certainly.” Friday responded.

In the meantime, both men were staring at the screen seeing if, on intuition and instinct alone, they could pick anything up. After about 2 minutes, Friday spoke, “There are three different faces detected that have misdemeanor records, none of which are connected to Spiderman for their arrest nor their crime.”

The 3 faces showed up with their records next to them, and it was clear right away that none of them were who they were looking for. One had a public indecency charge, another was a DUI, and the last had the only genuine criminal record for assault, but it was from over 20 years ago.

Peter sighed at the news feeling disappointed, while Tony leaned in. “Friday, run the video and see if anyone stays focused on Peter when we know the whimpering started.”

The time between where the clip started and when the whimpering began was only a few seconds and it was impossible to truly focus on the faces with the way the camera whipped in the direction of the whimpering when Peter had heard it. The audio itself didn’t pick up on the whimper—it being too faint for the microphone—but it was clear enough when Peter had heard it. When nothing could be seen, Tony called for the frames to be slowed down to a shuttering frame by frame pace. 

In the blinking frames that could be seen right before Peter’s head moved, only a few people had remained focused on the superhero. An old man who had been tending to his store front, a child staying planted in awe until his parent tugged him along, and a tall slim man with black hair, suit, and...a silver tie.

“Wait!” Peter blurted, “That guy, right there. I recognize him! I saw him last night.”

“Him?” Tony pointed at the blown up image of the man.

“Yeah, he was coming out of the alleyway right before I went to help the last victim.” 

“Friday, you know what that means.” Tony said to his AI.

The silence lasted for only a moment before Friday was speaking to the room, “His name is Everett Mercury, age 25, born and raised in New York City.”

“Ok, can you tell us anything else about him?”

“Actually, boss, his file and any subsequent information that is regularly available or traceable for the average person is coming up blank. This lack of data would normally suggest all information for Mr. Mercury was wiped clean or is purposefully untraceable in most technological databases.”

“Well, I think that means we found our guy, what do you think, Pete?” Tony said, snapping his fingers together and spinning on his heels to look directly at Peter.

Peter gave a small absentminded nod as he only kind of heard Tony’s question. He was still glaring at the face in front of him, thinking. “Is he anywhere near the second location?” 

Again, the silence filled the room until the AI spoke, “Based on my recognition software, there is no record of him being at the location of the second victim.”

Peter groaned,”Dang it!” all though he used entirely more colorful language in his head.

“That doesn’t mean that wanna-be-young-Keanu-Reeves here isn’t our guy.” Tony said lightly.

“No, but it doesn’t confirm it either. Plus, we don’t know anything about him,” Peter shot back.

“They don’t usually make it that easy for us.”

Peter knew Tony wasn’t trying to goad him. He wasn’t even trying to be condescending, but after the week he’d had, the fear of the unknown and the frustration that was just sitting at the bottom of his stomach mixed and boiled quickly. “No they don’t. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t hoping our first lead might have been a little less vague. What are we supposed to do with this information, Tony?” Peter said heatedly, whirling to face his mentor with a glare.

Tony met his stare with raised eyebrows and a slight cock of the head. “I’m sorry, did I miss something?” He looked into Peter’s eyes for a second, “Are you mad at me?”

“How does this help people, Tony? How does me sitting here with you, finding out this guy's name, in upstate New York, help anyone?” Peter said, not answering the question.

“Pete, this is only just the beginning. We’ve only been here—what? 3 hours?” Tony said, checking his watch.

“Yeah, and by the time I get back someone might already be infected by whatever-the-hell this is and could even be dead!”

Understanding washed over Tony’s features at Peter’s words. “You’re upset I said you couldn’t go patrolling.” It wasn’t a question. He had said it as its own confirmation.

“Have you watched any of these videos, Tony?” Peter said with quiet intensity pointing back at the projected image, “New York needs someone out there protecting them, and right now, no one is.”

Tony remained silent as he looked intently at Peter for a moment, his lips pushed up in thought. When he finally looked away, he gave a heavy sigh, and his hands came up in a loose shrug before he said, “Ok. You want to go out and patrol. Then I won’t stop you.”

“What?” Peter said slightly shocked, “You’re gonna let me go?” He was not expecting that reaction. He thought he would need to put up a fight, argue a bit more. Even then, he didn’t think Tony was going to allow him to go. 

“Yeah. You want to patrol. I won’t stop you.” Tony said lightly.

Peter looked at Tony for a second, hesitating. His brows furrowed as he searched the man’s face. Something about Tony’s reaction bothered him, but he couldn’t think why. Why was that so easy? The thought was momentary, a sparked instinct to push for more information, but as soon as it came, it was swallowed up by the new thoughts of getting back to the city. If he could patrol, maybe he could do better reconnaissance, maybe even find the black haired man himself and question him.

“Uh, right.” Peter breathed out, “Then I’m gonna go.” He turned and started to leave the lab. Right when he got to the door, he looked back and saw Tony had already turned his back on him and was looking at each screen he had pulled up. He had started playing the frame-by-frame video again. His arms were crossed, and it was clear he was thinking and assessing everything he saw. Again, something in the back of Peter’s head told him he should stay, but he pushed it back stubbornly. 

A couple hours later found Peter atop the lone skyscraper on campus. It was a massive clock tower that used to ring every hour with a real bell, but it had since been turned electronic, telling the time silently as it watched the students wander below. On nights when he needed to just think Peter would find himself up here, especially when he couldn’t be bothered making it to his usual favorite perches closer to the center of the city. Tonight, Peter was watching dusk settle over the city, thinking of a game plan for the night’s patrol.

Somehow, the other incidents had happened right where he was, no need to search far and wide. That left Peter with little direction as to where to start, but he still had to get moving. The shadows were growing, and that meant more alleys to hide in and go unnoticed. 

Standing up, he shook himself loose, and flicked out his hand. His two middle fingers came to the base of his palm, tapping his web shooter to life. It responded with a string of web flying over to the next building, and just as Peter stepped off the tower, he spoke to his AI, “Karen, I want you to monitor for raised temperatures, and scan every face you can for Everett Mercury. Let’s make tonight worth it.” 

“Initiating scanning parameters.” Karen confirmed.

As Peter swung, he felt his senses open up and his nerves coil like springs. The anticipation he held for finding another victim was growing, and he hated how afraid he was. It wasn’t just the fear of these people getting hurt. Frankly, that he could deal with. He’s had to deal with it. It was a responsibility of a superhero to deal with the fear of people getting hurt. No, he was afraid of seeing the side effects of this thing again. The glowing eyes, the pulsing veins, the shrill cry that comes with each victim—it was haunting. He was also afraid of holding another person in his arms as they fought whatever it was they were affected by. He didn’t know how many more people he could watch seize and drop into a comatose state. 

He was uneasy, and he felt a little ashamed this thing had dug its claws into him so quickly, but the apprehension he didn’t want was still there all the same. With each flick of his wrist that carried him farther into the city, he tried to think of a way to turn that fear in his favor, but all he came up with was a sour and shaky form of adrenaline. 

Much later into the night, Karen’s voice came out clear in Peter’s ear,“My scans show a man that fits the description of Everett Mercury by the ATM’s on the corner.” 

Peter swung to the nearest rooftop, and upon crouching and turning around to look out at the four-way intersection he felt his senses buzz lightly. That annoying warning was back, and his skin crawled at the feeling. He spoke quietly to his AI, “Where is he?”

Before Karen could answer, Peter’s eyes found a black haired figure in a sharp suit standing motionless at the corner. When Peter found his eyes, he felt his stomach do a flip. The man was staring straight at him, unflinching and unfazed as their eyes met. His eyes were cold and dark, set within a face of stone. Each second felt stretched in time as Peter looked at him. He stood expectantly, like he had known Spiderman would be there, looking for him. As if to confirm the suspicion, a small smirk began to play itself on Mercury’s lips before he broke eye contact, turned and in a few steps, seemed to vanish into thin air.

“What? What was that?” Peter whispered harshly as he stared wide eyed at nothing, “no no no no!” 

In a panic, he shot out a web, and launched himself down to the other side of the intersection. As he landed lightly on his feet where Mercury had been standing, he looked in all directions only to catch a glimpse of the dark suited figure slipping down a darkened road at the end of the street. Peter sprinted in that direction, and when he turned the corner he was met with more empty space. 

What the hell?!

Scanning the area, Peter saw that he had run into a large empty courtyard. It was rundown, with pipes coming out haphazardly from the walls, concrete benches spotted the outskirts of the central space where the ground had broken and the cracks were growing grass and weeds. It was lit by a solitary orange street light that shone weakly at the entrance making shadows fall over the far side and its corners turn black. 

As Peter squinted in the direction of those shadows, he saw a flash of movement in the corner of his eye. Flicking a web in the direction of the movement, he knew he had caught nothing as it hit a pipe with a hard hollow sound. 

He jerked his head in the direction of the movement, and felt his body crouch instinctively, muscles tightening, ready to launch into motion. 

Another glimpse of movement, and another web that hit nothing. 

“I know you're in here!” Peter spoke out into the courtyard. Still crouched with fists clenched, he felt his heart hammering in his chest, and adrenaline coursing through his body.

Peter tried to hone in on his spidey senses hoping to locate the man that way. He felt the familiar buzzing at the back of his head, but the warning felt like it was coming from more than one direction. There was nowhere that didn’t feel threatening, and his mind began to go fuzzy the longer he tried to focus on it. It was like white noise slowly getting louder as the threat started to close in like walls.

In the fog taking over his brain, Peter didn’t notice the air shimmering a few feet in front of him until Everett Mercury had materialized in front of him. The man stood towering over Peter’s crouched figure, a smirk still on his face. 

As quickly as he had appeared, his body crouched and shot out a hand which connected with Peter’s sternum and sent him flying into the wall behind him. After the hit landed, he vanished into the darkness again.

A voice, low and smooth came from the dark, “I’m not the one you should be focusing on, Spiderman.”

The impact had knocked the wind from Peter’s lungs, and he slipped to the ground on all fours coughing. He tried to right his breathing quickly as he scrambled up and got into a ready stance again, saying breathily, “Oh, yeah? And your cloak and dagger thing is what, a party trick? Doesn’t exactly convince me you’re a good guy.”

Peter didn’t get an answer. Mercury appeared at his side and shoved him hard enough to make Peter stumble towards the center of the open space. Peter tried to correct his balance and figure out where his opponent might be coming from, but there was nothing but mental static.

“It’s not about me being good or bad. I just follow orders. You on the other hand...What are you doing to save all those helpless people?” The disembodied voice spoke casually. It sounded like it was circling the perimeter of the yard. “You’re wasting time, Spidey.” 

Peter knew he was being baited, but that didn’t stop a spark of fear and anger to go through him at the thought of more victims. Fuck, please be bluffing.

“Why are you doing this?” Peter growled, trying to stay focused on the task at hand.

“Why am I doing this?” The voice answered, amusement laced its deep tone, “I’m not doing anything. They seek us out.”

With the white noise still muffling his senses, Peter didn’t notice Mercury come up behind him until he was whispering in his ear, “They ask for it.”

Peter whirled around to see Mercury standing right in front of him. With a knee-jerk reaction, Peter shot out his fist, but he hit nothing as Mercury smoothly ducked out of the way. Peter pivoted to counter the dodge, but the dark haired man’s eyes flashed with an intensity that charged the air. It felt like the split second between when a fuse runs its course and the firework finally erupts. Except, Peter wasn’t ready for the explosion. 

Mercury lunged forward, and swung his fists at Peter. First a straight cross, then an upper cut, then another jab. Mercury’s fists were flying, and each hit was made with a trained precision. The ferocity of the attack caught Peter off guard, and each blow was thrown with such brutal speed and power that he felt defenseless against them as they slowly pushed him backwards towards the wall.

Finally, a particularly harsh punch came and hit his face. Peter’s body gave him no choice but to drop to the ground dazed. He felt warm blood flow from his nose, and in the back of his head he guessed his nose might have been broken. 

The other man, barely breathing heavy, stalked closer to Peter’s hunched figure, and mumbled something under his breath that Peter didn’t catch over the ringing in his ears. Then he picked Peter up by his shoulders and slammed him into a mess of pipes jutting from the wall behind him. A loud crack sounded, and pain radiated through Peter’s ribs as one of them broke on impact. His head rocked back into a lead pipe, and he felt the edge of yet another pipe’s broken opening cut into his skin because of the sheer force he was being pressed into it. Weakly, he tried and failed to squirm out of the other man’s grasp. 

Mercury glared into Peter’s masked face and spoke in a low menacing voice, “You might not believe this, but what’s happening is for the better.” He looked between the two bright white eyes with cold intensity and growled, “Don’t fight this.” 

He let go of Peter, who immediately slumped to the ground, and stepped back. Shadow engulfed Mercury’s figure once more, and he was gone.

Peter sat on the ground, clutching his torso, and trying to breath through the pain that was currently coursing through his body. It had been a while since he had been beaten up this badly, or been so taken by surprise. Why wouldn’t my spidey sense work? His pain addled brain couldn’t think of a reason just yet, and his main priority needed to be getting back to the dorms. 

“Hey Karen, how far are we from campus?” Peter whispered out.

“You are currently 2 miles away.” The AI responded.

“Great,” He said a little high pitched, “I can do that. No problem.”

Shakily, he stood up and raised his arm to shoot out a web. The broken rib screamed in protest, but gritting his teeth against the pain, Peter shot and pulled himself into the air. 

He must have blacked out as he swung back because Peter would not have been able to tell anyone how he managed to make it back to his dorm room that night. All he remembered was waking up on the floor during the very early hours of the day with Ned shaking him awake.

“Pete. Peter! You gotta wake up!” Ned’s voice was full of worry. 

He groaned as his friend continued shaking him. He reached up his hand and swatted clumsily at the arm connected to the hand shaking his shoulder.

“Oh, thank god,” Ned sighed, “Dude, you’re a fucking mess. What the hell did you do tonight?”

Peter couldn’t form coherent thoughts just yet with the pain and disorientation his injuries were causing him, and just mumbled, “Patrol.”

“Yeah, figured that much out myself. I meant what happened to you?”

“Everett Mercury.” Peter said briefly, still trying to stop the spinning in his head.

“Whose that?” Ned asked curiously.

Just then, Peter’s phone began ringing and buzzing on his desk. Ned reached over Peter’s head and handed it to him. The screen’s brightness bit into Peter’s eyes and he flinched while making out the series of texts coming in from Tony.

Tony: We need to talk.

Tony: Mercury is enhanced and highly dangerous.

Tony: Do not engage with him. We need to make a plan

Too late, Tony... Peter thought as he felt each injury pulse in time with his heart.

There’s chapter 2! Please let me know any feedback you might have! I’d love to know if there are things you are hoping to see, or if you have any thoughts about the story in general. All reblogs are so incredibly appreciated! 💙❤️

Taglist (Let me know if you want to be added)

@cocoamoonmalfoy @empath-bunny @storybookholland @kassey @touchmethomas @greenorangevioletgrass @emilyparkerholland​

[padme-amitabha]

I just watched a video countering a couple of Prequel bashers and, my god, the things the haters said should happen to Jake Lloyd! It's an abhorrent injustice that these disgusting people were catered to by the 2008 CW series. You know, however terrible they are, I'm almost glad for the sequels, because if there's one good thing that came from them, it was watching the Prequel hate coming back to bite these people hard.

Tell me about it. The people who bullied Jake Llyod are despicable. I think the actors in the sequel trilogy sometimes overacted and it came out as too forceful at times and I wasn’t a fan of Daisey Ridley’s wooden acting but that’s no excuse to bully the actors! Jake tried his best and did exactly what George instructed him to do i.e. play a simple good-natured kid. The sequels have been criticized but I think the acting is rarely brought up while prequel actors like Ahmed Best, Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman had to deal with this nonsense because people didn’t agree with their characters’ actions, how they were written and/or couldn’t handle character flaws.

Still Jake Lloyd showed more emotional range than the adult sequel trilogy actors (I mean is Rey even capable of other expressions than being wide eyed or smiling in inappropriate situations or looking like she’s trying too hard?). I understand getting teased at school because let’s face it kids are immature and they were probably just jealous he got the role in such a highly anticipated movie but what angers me is when grown men picked on him and bullied him like the man-babies they were AND had the nerve to blame it on George (who still defends the prequels and it’s characters). I know it’s hard for them to swallow this but Star Wars is George’s creation and doesn’t exist solely to fulfill their male power fantasies. I have seen their version of “fix-it” videos where they are like Anakin should have been born with the suit and basically making him a psychopathic soulless monster and also a demon child. The atrocious Darth Vader Marvel comics are still trying to please said man-babies but TCW started that trend. These days actors can gain sympathy and support from fans on social media but back then people rarely stood up for little Jake and Ahmed Best. What’s worse is some reporters continued to harass and insult Jake in interviews to the point it permanently damaged his mental health. They even harassed his mom and continued to make those awful podracing jokes after the car-chase incident. He didn’t deserve any of this. And people still continue to ridicule him. I have seen people joke about him being unattractive compared to Hayden Christensen which is just so shallow and mean. Anakin is a fictional character - he can be played by any actor as long as it is convincing. 

You’re right about TCW, that’s one of the reasons why I can never accept it (no matter how much I overlook the other terrible retcons). They were made to “fix” the prequels and even George was forced to change his characters a little because of the intense backlash. TCW caters to those horrible bullies and introducing that Ahsoka character wasn’t the best decision. You know, I once saw a video where fans voted for their favorite Jedi and she came in no. 2 and one of the common reasons they provided was because they found her attractive. Now female characters in a male dominated fandom have always been sexualized but the number of times TCW sexualized a minor is disturbing. And of course, Filoni’s blatant bias for his OC is extremely annoying. TCW caters to the fanboys’ ideals of toxic masculinity and are indirectly supporting these bullies. It started this trend of changing the prequel characters to make them more “acceptable” and “stereotypical” because fans can’t grasp the concept of complex and emotional characters and changing the “cheesy” romance to an abusive/unhealthy one to make it more “realistic”. Star Wars is more like a fairytale, even George said it’s a space opera. It’s meant to be dramatic and have mythical themes. But fanboys absolutely love these changes because now the prequels have been “improved” like this show was made specifically to please them and apologize for the prequels. They complain about how prequels ruined characters like Darth Vader because sometimes you should be able to use your imagination to fill in the gaps but TCW was that gap. The originals left so many valid unanswered questions like who was the Emperor (and how could he use force lightning), what was the clone wars, how exactly did Anakin fall from grace and who was Luke and Leia’s mother? The prequels answered them all and did a fantastic job at world-building. TCW is the unnecessary extension, we didn’t need to see their everyday lives and still if anyone was curious the 2003 CW was there to bridge the gap perfectly while staying true to the characters and keeping the tone consistent.

I agree with you on the sequels. I have never been invested in them in the first place to be outraged. I was bored watching TFA and its unoriginal plot, mildly amused at how ridiculous the TLJ was and just confused at how pointless and messy TROS was. So yeah the trilogy served those people right who thought a shallow unoriginal remake of ANH “revived” Star Wars after its creator “ruined” it and thought a director (whose other films are not very original either) could do better than one of the most creative and intelligent men in Hollywood.

Star Wars is so much more than these pointless action movies with stereotypical action heroes. George had combined elements from mythology, history, literature, science fiction, fantasy to create a beautiful story with symbolism, depth and a great message. The prequel trilogy and the original trilogy are two halves of that story and both are needed to complete the saga. Hollywood and these fans don’t deserve George Lucas. They disrespected him and his work.

[jhoudiey]

#ChickenChallengeComplete

Jumping back in time a bit here, wrote a fic to go along with the Halloween story cause a half a bird and magicamonsters makes for some angsty shit. Warnings I guess for bullying/humiliation (of the same vein Malleus was hit with in the event story), but tried to work in some wholesome bird dad at the very least.

Word Count: 2850

***************

“Yoru, I can’t talk now, I’m doing intense research!” Idia motioned for her to hush when she walked into his room unannounced. He was sitting on his bed, attention fixed on a screen that was seemingly in the middle of some awful student made film. 

“Looks to me like you’re watching a movie” She said dryly, sitting on his bed next to him and glancing toward the screen. On it, a person with a pumpkin for a head gestured wildly. Idia paused it and glared at her. “How dare you suggest that my intense concentration on this film isn’t research! Look! Witness the details of the costumes! The backdrop! The tense mood the music has set! It is Pumpkin Hollow! Truly a masterpiece!” He stared at her, as if daring her to contradict his ramblings. She blinked slowly at him, still not seeing anything he had mentioned. To her, the movie looked grainy and poorly made, but maybe that was it’s charm? Idia had always been peculiar about certain things. 

“Okay, what’s the research for then?” She asked, knowing Idia was about to launch into one of his never ending rants. “Halloween! I am on the planning committee this year, and as such it’s my responsibility to decorate the Library in a way to please the guests that will be coming to NRC! And what would be more exciting than getting to experience the beauty that is PUMPKIN HOLLOW in person!? I’m gathering info so that the projection mapping I have been working on is flawless! No detail will go astray, it would be an insult to the film! Look! See the Pumpkin Knight!? That will be Ignihydes costumes! Ahaha! I cannot wait! Soon everyone will understand the mastery of the greatest B horror movie of all time.” Yoru patted him on the shoulder, smiling slightly “I will leave it to you, then” She got up to leave and heard a muttered “I wouldn’t expect a normie to understand…” from Idia. His attention glued to the screen again before she’d left the room.

****

“Whoa Idia, this is impressive!” Yoru exclaimed, eyes wide as she gazed around the library the first day of the stamp rally. It had transformed completely, the shelves and pillars transformed into trees and pumpkins. “This is going to be great! All of the visitors are going to love this! Do you mind if I stay in the upper area and watch reactions? This is so cool!” Idia beamed, he knew his work was a flawless replica of the film, and was glad that even a normie like Yoru was able to appreciate it. The hours ticked by, Yoru amazed at the details every time the projection show started, she had thought that the film looked cheesy and contrite, but being in the middle of it was something else entirely. She went home that night feeling as if she had just spent the whole day in the forest.

Yoru found herself visiting the library every day during the event. She’d gone to the other dorms earlier to check out what they had set up, but with the amount of people that had started to pour in, she wasn’t comfortable being so exposed everywhere else. She’d managed to get rid of her wings and the talons on her hands, but her feet were still that of a bird, stubborn as ever. From the upper decks in the library she felt as if she was able to participate, while still keeping herself hidden, people outside of the school were always rude about her bird features so the less she was seen the better. All was progressing well, though she’d noticed Idia getting more frustrated with the crowds as the days wore on. The visitors weren’t listening, they were eating and drinking in the library and had started trying to feed Ortho, getting some books destroyed in the process. Still, despite the disturbances she kept to her shadowy corner, enjoying the projections and low chattering of the crowd. So long as she was hiding, everything would work out

“Oh hey! Check it out! That chick has got bird feet!” Yoru wheeled around to find a couple that had ignored all the signs posted about not entering the upper levels of the library. “Oh! We should get a picture! I bet it’ll be huge on magicam! I wonder if she’ll let us touch them like the Draconia Challenge!” the girl of the pair giggled, stepping towards Yoru with her phone held in her hand. “Haha yea! Hurry! We’ll call it the Chicken Challenge!” The pair roared with laughter as Yoru tried to back away from them. Crowley had made sure to tell her that the guests were not to be harmed, even if she couldn’t use magic he knew she was able to deal a heavy amount of damage in a short amount of time. Dead guests were hard to explain away, so Yoru had promised to leave everyone alone, no matter what. 

“What the hell are you doing up here?” She snapped at them, trying to find an escape route between the shelves. For the first time in almost a year, she wished she’d had her wings back so she could simply fly away to escape them. As it were, there was nothing she could do about the advancing teens taking selfies as they approached her, trying to get her feet in the shot. The couple looked at each other and nodded, suddenly jumping forward to either side of her. They grabbed her around the shoulders, raised their phones up, “Everyone say CHICKEN CHALLENGE COMPLETE!” The flash from their phones flared, laughter ringing in Yoru’s ears. “Hey, check my hashtags, do you think this will get us trending!?” the girl giggled as the boy checked her phone. #ChickenChallengeComplete #secretchicken #chickeninthetrees #comefindit He howled with fresh laughter. “Secret chicken! That’s too good! Should we say where we are so more people can find it?” “No! Lets keep it more of a secret, it’s more fun if it’s harder to find right?!” They couple walked away talking as if Yoru only existed as a means to entertain them. The hot feeling of inadequacy and shame flooded into her stomach, she hadn’t been this humiliated since her elementary school days before she had learned to fight.  

She looked down at the crowd of people below, knowing there was no way for her to make it back to her bedroom without being spotted. She swallowed the bile that had crept up her throat and ventured deeper into the library hoping that no one else would stumble across her to complete whatever the so called “chicken challenge” was. She had barely made it out from between the original shelves of books when another group of people were rushing at her shouting that they’d found her, taking pictures and touching her legs as she pushed through them searching desperately for privacy. She hoped the darkness of the back wall would give her some respite from the plague of visitors as she climbed the stairs towards the upper levels of the library. She knew that the higher she went the less routes of escape she had, but she couldn’t face the crowd below, not in a way that would leave everyone uninjured, that is. She found herself in the farthest reach of the library, saddened to see that it wasn’t bathed in complete darkness, the light from the projections was too strong. She climbed the shelf to sit on the very top of it, at least this way if the visitors found her, they could only get a picture of her shadowed body. Yoru hugged her knees to her chest, looking out across the library, watching the people mill around and climb the stairs in the dark looking for her. She hoped that ten o’clock would come soon, but she hadn’t thought to check the time when she first arrived, it was likely hours until she would be able to make it home. Cameras continued to flash as guests found her, the tallest of them braving to jump and touch her feet from where she sat, her muttered mantra of “don’t hurt them, don’t hurt them” the only thing keeping her from lashing out.  

What seemed to be hours later, she heard a single pair of footsteps coming towards her. She’d shut her eyes long ago not wanting to see the gleeful faces of those who had found their elusive chicken. “Y-Yoru?” Idia asked quietly “I thought it might be you up here. I kept seeing cameras flash in this corner, it kept throwing off the projections. Ortho said you were trending on magicam…” She refused to look at him and nodded, worried that somehow he’d be able to see how red the skin around her eyes had become. “Umm… there’s only an hour left, I-I brought a pumpkin for you… if you wanna at least hide your face…” He handed her a hollowed out green pumpkin prop, the same that he was wearing. “It’s….it’s easier if they can’t see your face…all these normies..ruining everything...” He muttered, not knowing how to help his friend. She reached down and grabbed the pumpkin, firmly pressing it onto her head “Thanks Idia… I hate this…” Her voice caught in her throat with her last words, and she curled herself tighter around her legs. “I’ll try and adjust the projection so no light gets up here… It’ll be done soon…” He shuffled away, back into the thick of the crowd, and true to his word, the upper floors became a little darker. She suspected Ortho had stationed himself at the foot of the stairs as there were no more visitors for the rest of the evening. 

She jumped from her perch as the lights came on, hurrying as quickly as her chicken legs would carry her towards the safety of home. She ignored the cries from the other Ignihyde students shouting that they needed their prop back and she couldn’t just steal it. Yoru had never really considered the campus to be especially large, though today it seemed as if the library and the sanctity of her bedroom were leagues apart. The ghosts of laughter ringing in her ears drowned out the conversations of the lingering students talking about the successes and failures of the day. Mentions of the word chicken seemed to cut through the air as swiftly as the flashes of the cameras had cut through the projections. Even on campus she wasn’t free from the questioning looks, she stared at the ground hurrying her pace to make it home. She felt  herself bump into someone and muttered “shit” before realizing she’d been walking staring into the pumpkin, not even seeing the outside world.

“Ahh Yoru-san, you must be more careful, if you’d knocked into me any harder I may have been injured!” Azul teased “It seems you’ve stolen one of Ignihydes props, is that why you are in such a hurry? Hand it over, and I’ll return it to Idia-san before we head back to Octavinelle” He reached towards the pumpkin but she slapped his hand away, as far as she was concerned the pumpkin wasn’t coming off until she was alone, she wouldn’t let anyone see her face in the state it was in. Jade stepped up behind her and put a firm hand on the small of her back, holding her in place until they were finished with her “Fufufu, Azul, it seems Yoru-san would rather like to keep her pumpkin hat, perhaps it was a gift from Idia-san for the success of the Chicken Challenge that seems to be trending on magicam”. Yoru’s stomach dropped again fresh tears springing to her eyes, it seemed everyone was aware of her newfound notoriety. “Huuuuh? Chicken challenge? That’s stupid” Floyd complained, trying to pull the pumpkin off her head again. She stepped free of Jades hand and slapped Floyds away continuing her race for home.  “Fugu-chan isn’t even a chicken. Find the Fugu-chan sounds way more fun...” She made it out of earshot as fast as possible. It was one thing to hear all the unknown visitors calling her a chicken, but she wouldn’t be able to get Jades delighted voice praising the successful chicken challenge out of her head. 

Her bed came as a welcome refuge, she pulled the blankets up over her head and completely cocooned herself within them. She hadn’t felt so small since she was a child. Yoru had always looked forward to Halloween, even in elementary school all the children would give her a day of freedom and focus on all the other ghosts and ghouls and forgot to make fun of her. Halloween was supposed to be the day where she felt most normal, instead she’d been turned into a sideshow freak act. She crawled out of bed to dig through her desk to find her phone. She wanted to see how far it had gotten, dreading that there may be a repeat tomorrow. She didn’t have to look far on magicam to find the endless stream of #ChickenChallenge posts. Most curiously, there was often a second hashtag of #DraconiaChallenge with a picture of the guest touching Malleus in some way. This must have been what the first couple to find her was talking about.  Yoru had only ever briefly talked to him when he interrupted her late night rooftop brooding, but she felt a certain solidarity with the horned prince she’d never experienced before. Turns out all freaks were fair game on campus this halloween, it wasn’t just her. 

A gentle knock on her door indicated that Crowley had arrived home. “Yoru, you in here?” he asked before quietly pushing his way into her room before waiting for an answer. He looked at the lump of blankets in the center of her bed and sighed. “I... heard about the magicam challenge” he said faintly, frowning when the lump seemed to sink further into the mattress. He sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on where he thought her head would be. ‘Are you okay, Nugget?” he asked, mad at himself for using her nickname in such circumstances. He felt her shake her head, it had been years since he’d seen her like this; a blanket-ball of Yoru meant that she had been crying, and he didn’t know how to fix it. He sat with her in silence for a moment, not knowing what to say but not wanting to leave in case she wanted him to stay. “All of that attention and no one lost an arm… I’m so proud of you!” He heard her sniffle from her blanket cavern “Thanks to your hard work the police weren’t called and we’re free to live another day!” He joked, hearing the faintest snort of laughter from her. “You hungry?” He asked, hoping that his attempt at humor had cheered her up a little bit. He felt her nod and hurried to make her some sort of dinner, wondering if he could convince one of the school ghosts to make them something good. As he was banging around in the kitchen he heard a faint clicking of talons on the floor, he turned to look at her and saw her completely wrapped in blankets with only her feet and the tiniest sliver of her face visible. 

“I came to investigate to make sure you weren’t going to burn the house down” She muttered peering over his shoulder to look into the frying pan. Crowley let out a dramatic sigh “you wound me! I so kindly offer to make you dinner and you come down to bully me!” He let out a longer, more dramatic sigh to prove his point. She smiled a little and nudged him away from the frying pan, if left to his own devices he would burn the house down for real, and she was too hungry to watch a house fire. “If they come busting in here for that stupid challenge tomorrow can I rip their arms off?” she muttered quietly, poking at the sausages in the pan. He looked at her inquisitively “you know the rules, Yoru! We can’t have the police called on us!” he said shaking his head. “But… they would be breaking into our home, perhaps a sort of deterrent to chase them away… it would be self-defense after all... ?” He muttered, more to himself than to Yoru. “I can string up the corpse of the first person to come in outside the door to ward off anyone else…” Yoru suggested. Crowley jumped back in a show of fake shock “No no! We couldn’t do that!” He crossed his arms and shook his head furiously. “On campus? Absolutely not! How could we explain that! You're forgetting one of the first rules I taught you!” He looked at her and smiled, she laughed a little, still poking at the sausages. “Yeah yeah” she sighed. “No body, no crime” they said together, both hoping they’d one day be able to forget today.

[96thdayofrage]

The practice was an excuse for many white mothers to avoid breastfeeding with hopes of maintaining their stature and avoiding the “messy” part of motherhood.

The act was perceived as a self-demeaning and women who were seen breastfeeding were often thought of as uncultured, poor and often shunned. The practice became very popular when doctors of the time did all they could to prove that breastfeeding was an unhealthy act for women. It is believed that doctors were paid huge sums of money to write such reports. The children of slaves grew healthy while many white families lost their children to ill health.

This made many westerners force slave mothers to breastfeed their white children so that they could develop better and survive the early months of childhood. By the 18th century, the trend had become very popular.

Once a slave mother had a child, she was quickly assigned to a white mistress and forced to breastfeed her white baby instead of her own. Young and healthy slave women were also forced to breastfeed white babies after doctors discovered that the continuous sucking of a sexually active female breast could result in lactation. While they breastfed white babies at the expense of theirs, slave mothers tried to keep their children alive by feeding them with concoctions they believed will be good substitutes for milk. They also gave cow milk and dirty water which were not suitable for babies health.

This resulted in high deaths of babies of slaved throughout the slave trade. At the peak of the forced wet nursing, slave traders often kidnapped newborn babies from their slave mothers. The pain in the breasts left these women with no choice but to breastfeed other babies who were often white. Some reluctant slaves were beaten and often milked like cows to feed white babies.

Slave mothers often kept the white babies in their homes until the child’s family felt it was time to take them back. Since the living conditions of the slaves were not the best, several white babies died. Speculating that slave mothers were killing the babies out of spite, they were later forced to move in with the family where they could be monitored.

In a talk entitled “‘She could spare one ample breast for the profit of her owner’: White Mothers and Enslaved Wet Nurses’ Invisible Labor in American Slave Markets,” Jones-Rogers argued that studying enslaved wet nurses reveals white women’s complicity in expanding slavery in the south and demonstrates how white mothers were at the forefront of these market transactions. White southern women had created a “niche sector of the slave market” dedicated to providing them with the specific maternal labor that they sought from bondswomen.

Jones-Rogers emphasized that we cannot forget about the reproductive and maternal violence white women perpetrated against black bondswomen. Indeed, the commodification of slave mothers provides an important example of the disturbing “quotidian” horrors of slavery.

Jones-Rogers’ research has much significance in the field of nineteenth-century U.S. history, particularly because so little attention has been paid to non-masculinized enslaved labor. The few nineteenth-century historians who have discussed enslaved wet nurses, like Walter Johnson in River of Dark Dreams, downplay the extent to which white women capitalized on black breast milk.

The reason for this, Jones-Rogers’ contends, is because historians have focused their research on elite southern white women, while ignoring the ways in which non-elite white women used black wet nurses. By studying wet nurse advertisements in southern newspapers, Jones-Rogers’ uncovered a disturbing story of white women’s reliance on and exploitation of black women.

These advertisements, along with other primary source documentation, reveal much about the reproductive violence inflicted upon black women by their white counterparts. They show, among other things, how white women timed their pregnancies with that of their black wet nurses, and how they forced black mothers to dedicate the majority of their milk to white children, rather than their own children.

When black wet nurses became “unproductive,” that is, could no longer produce milk, they were replaced by white mothers who deemed them to be defective. White women did this rather than improve nutritional conditions for black wet nurses.

Because white women managed black wet nurses’ labor, they were the ones who determined the market for black wet nurses. Using a lexicon derived from the greater slave market, white women graded black wet nurses based on whether they were “likely” (meaning “likely to work out”), their skill level, whether the white children they nursed in the past ended up healthy, and whether or not their milk was “fresh.”

Freshness was determined by the age of the enslaved wet nurses’ infant. The older their infant, the less valuable her milk. Enslaved wet nurses whose infant died soon after childbirth were extremely valuable. White women appreciated the lack of the extra “encumbrance,” knowing full well that more time and resources would be spent on their own children.

Becoming a wet nurse had a number of detrimental emotional effects on black women, beyond those created by more traditional forms of slave labor. For one, it separated them from established kinship networks. It also made it more difficult for them to bond with their children, who were often separated from them for prolonged periods so that they could focus on servicing white children instead.

The extent to which white women had commodified black wet nurses’ labor can be seen in how they reacted to this emotional distress. Instead of trying to improve conditions for enslaved wet nurses, white women typically used their wet nurses’ despair as an excuse to sell them, noting in advertisements to other prospective buyers that this particular wet nurse was prone to “the sulks” or “madness,” lessening her value.

Black mothers were used daily for their bodily resources, with no regard for their personal well-being, often leading to their mental and physical decline. It is only with research like Jones-Rogers’ that we can truly begin to understand the depraved nature of the south’s “peculiar institution.”

Before the mammy stereotype was born during the post-civil war revisionist period, every plantation had a mammy. As described by historian Kimberly Wallace Sanders, “more often [mammy] served as a generic name for slave women who served as a wet nurse or baby nurse for white children.” This was in large part to the trend of medical experts of the day discouraging mothers from breastfeeding. Outsourcing breastfeeding was not a new phenomenon during the pre-antebellum, as it had been occurring since the biblical times. Still, it is no less shocking that black women were good enough to give bodily fluids to white babies, but not good enough to be treated as human beings.

While black women were forced to give life to babies they did not birth, their own children sometimes went hungry. Per Sanders, “A lot of slave babies died during slavery because they weren’t breastfed. They were fed concoctions of dirty water and cows milk.” As any doctor will tell you, breastfeeding often creates a bond between the mother and child, and slave wet nurses were not immune to feeling affection for their white parasites, and vice versa. Said one European visitor to a plantation in the Carolinas: “Richard always grieves when Quasheen is whipped, because she suckled him.” Wet nursing did not end after slavery, and many southern white women continued to employ black wet nurses until the practice fell out of fashion in the twentieth century.

Like their slave ancestors, “free” wet nurses were often kept from their children in addition to being forced to do other household chores, but with a severely unfair wage instead of no pay at all.

In the present, only 59% of black women breastfeed, compared to 79% of white women. Certified nurse and midwife Stephanie Devane-Johnson interviewed black women and found that some reject breast feeding because of the exploited wet nurses of slavery. I am left to wonder if the infrequency of breastfeeding among black women has to do with the high infant mortality rate in our community.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 132 Results

The chapter poll closed with 1,746 responses. This month’s chapter poll results were brought to you by /u/_Puppet_, /u/staraves, @momtaku​, @shifter-lines​ and /u/berthototototo

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,693 responses

When we compare “Wings of Freedom” with other chapter results we’ve recorded, it comes in 25th out of 41, making it middle of the pack as far as ratings go.  Looking at the chapter on it’s own, however, it’s very well received with nearly 86% of the fandom rating it good (30.4%) or great (55.3%).

I think it was definitely just a classic aot chapter, had that plot that always had you on the edge of your toes, had the emotional moments, the momentary funny and bittersweet moments, 10/10 chapter

It couldn’t have gone any better besides Hange’s death :/

wish Floch got a little more screen time upon death but otherwise, awesome chapter.

It felt a little bit rushed but I enjoyed it nonetheless

It was so well executed yet so sad. I'm pride of our Hanji but feel so much distress thinking it's over for her.

It was a great emotional piece, and last moment before the true final battle begins. There’s no going back.

It was a good chapter but I would’ve liked if there was more dialogue between the alliance members

The deaths were rushed and poorly written

It was good, but alliance focused chapters are still a drop in quality.

It was a solid chapter and did what it aimed to do well, though I think it had pacing issues with the two deaths.

It had a little something for everyone. Except Zeke stans.

WE’LL GET TO THE GOODBYES IN A SECOND, BUT FIRST, WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

1,695 responses

Hange’s sacrifice was the moment that people liked the most at 30%, and seeing the old Survey Corp crew was a stand-out moment for 21%. Seeing Mikasa and Annie have an almost casual conversation brought joy to 12.1%, and Floch’s determination and brutal death were appreciated most by 11.6%.

I love the final shots of the scouts being shown in the afterlife. Ty Isayama

The little moments between the characters was great because it reminds us that they're still human.

The overall scene was legendary seeing Hange dying for her comrades and even in her last seconds she thought that she sacrificed herself in order for her comrades to live. That's what she thought a great commander would look like. That's why Hange was one of the best commanders of the Scouts.

Mikasa is such a boss, love seeing her fight and hopefully we'll get more big moments from her (as opposed to Levi).

Chad, King, hero. Every moment that Floch was in is a great scene.

I loved the Colossus slipping down the mountain

My favorite part is Kiyomi refilling coal with a shovel alone :)

  WHICH OF THE GOODBYES WAS YOUR FAVORITE 1,699 responses

In a chapter filled with goodbyes it was Levi and Hange’s final moments that we found most endearing with close to 60% selecting it. “Please don’t make me choose” was a very distant second with 14.7%. Interestingly Annie and Reiner (10.4%) beat out Annie and Armin (6.5%) for third place.

i think isayama truly gave hange a great goodbye, and writing them still being cheerful and joking around made me feel so much more for their death.

It made me cry because of all the goodbyes. It reminded me of Erwin saying goodbye to the people inside the walls and people of the military. And his iconic “roar”. All of that before the battle.

Hange’s and Levi’s goodbye was very well done (that look in Levi’s eyes too, ouch), props to Isayama for breaking my heart.

The Reiner/Annie hug was all I could ask for, bless Yams.

I wanted a Levihan moment for this chapter and NOT a last levihan scene 😭

  WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER’S MVP? 1,700 responses

Who else could it be? Hange Zoe is the chapter MVP according to two-thirds of all poll respondents. Floch (13%), Engineer-kun (3.4%) and Mikasa (2.6%) all got tiny slivers of the remaining pie.

Hange was truly the hero of this chapter and i'm so happy to have been witness to their characters journey over the years!

Hange is overall my second favourite character and I looked up to them. For me Hange is the true embodiment for the Survey Corps which is for Humanity and their courage, optimism and selflessness really made me love them so much.

Hange was a flawed commander. We all know this. They made mistakes like any other human being would when faced with the stress of a leadership position. They tried desperately to fill Erwins shoes but in the end accepted that they should be themselve. But overall Hange Zoe is an incredible person and I will miss them so

Best girl Mikasa rocked it this chapter with the way she swiftly killed Floch!

While I don't agree with some of Floch's beliefs, he died trying to save his home by slowing down the Alliance. Goodnight, sweet prince!

Floch did his best he anchored all the way from the beginning to the hangar with a bullet wound and that mustve hurt like hell all that salt water coming in

Someone please send me help I can't do this my family and friends got so worried because I've changed. They be like "Bro you've changed and I be like yeah Hange died bro what do you expect I'm in genuine pain you won't understand."

  HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT HANGE’S HEROIC EXIT? 1,701 responses

Just over half of respondents loved the way Hange went out at 51.4%, and 26.5% liked it despite some quibbles. Not many of us saw it coming but it was at least emotional and a badass way to go. However, 9.6% hated it – there is an undeniable trend of every vaguely older character getting the chop. Who will poor Levi sit with in the retirement home with now?! 6.8% don’t really care about how the scene went. I suppose they’re the ones most prepared if no one in SnK gets to go to the retirement home.

A great ending to an amazing character, it's sad to see her go, but her time was up and she died fighting the creatures she loved.

I'm disturbed by how much it affected me

I loved it, but its not something i'll cry over.

I don't hate it but it did seem kinda unnecessary tbh could've been better

I STILL CAN'T STOP CRYING ABOUT IT. OPTION ONE IS GOOD BUT DOESN'T EXPRESS HOW MUCH THIS CHAPTER HURT ME.

It does break my heart,however the way and the time she do that, That was... Memorable

It happened too quickly for me to consider it perfect, but I'm glad she got to go out on her own terms.

Not heroic at all, she didn't even stop the colossals and was a cheap way for her to never face the consequences of her betraying the island

It was dope but Floch indirectly killed her so he takes that dub

I'M STILL CRYING ABOUT IT, SHE WENT OUT LIKE A FUCKING CHAMP

I'm super frustrated that she died, but she was heroic

She’s a traitor, nothing more to be said

i hated it. it was perfect. she really did go out with a bang and i hate it

Felt a bit pointless, would've loved to see some emphasize why it was crucial to kill these exact two titans. For me it looked like plain suicide

Had to go through the 5 stages of grief after that one, honestly. I was so angry immediately afterward because Hange is my favorite character of all time in any piece of media, losing them was almost like losing someone I've known and cared about for almost 7 years of my life. I've now come to accept that maybe death is the only happy ending any character can achieve in this story.

I don’t want to think about it

I don't like the idea of every Scout commander having a ""curse"" that they have to inevitably pay for with their lives. They're outstanding people and volunteers, just like their comrades, no one forced them to join.

  WHAT WAS THE ASPECT YOU LIKED MOST ABOUT HANGE’S LAST MOMENTS? 1,687 responses

This question was fun to write but looking at the even distribution of selections, I suspect choosing an answer was difficult. Levi saying devote your heart to Hange was top pick with close to 30% selecting it. Retaining their sense of humor to the end (17.1%), being able to reunite with their old comrades (14.7%), having a moment of amazement while confronting the titans (14.4%), being able to die on their own terms and say goodbye (12.3%), stealing death from Reiner yet again (8.2%) and telling Armin he can boss Levi around (3.4%) were the other selections.

I really love Hange and when i see her died and see erwin and other old friends and morbit helping her i just cannot cry (sorry for my english im french ^^)

I was never a really big fan of Hange, but that exit was badass as hell.

It was a heroic death but it felt forced and unnecessary and she was my favorite character, so I'm extremely salty and in denial.

Hange seemed too eager to just die, like welp, i guess my contract is up, gotta go die.....It felt like when actors are written off a show

I never really considered myself a fan of her, but her death got me good. I think it was because how she marvelled and was genuinely amazed by titans, even in her final moments.

glad to see the old titan obsessed hange back before her final sacrifice

Most people seem to think that Hange's death was a bullshit ending, but I think that it was perfect, going out the way they were introduced.

To have hange say that titans are amazing before she dies was just perfect! It shows how she stayed true to herself until the end. And the part where she reunited with Moblit, Erwin, Mike and the others was so beautiful.

  WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE HANGE QUOTE THIS CHAPTER? 1,686 responses

Hange really got to shine this chapter as we’re reminded of how off-kilter and fun they can be, even when the situation is at its most serious. We got a chapter chock full of memorable lines, but the favorite was of course “Titans really are incredible,” a call back to the reverence and respect for titans that made so many love the character to begin with.

"titans.. are truly incredible." was a fitting last(ish) words for hange.

  SO GOES THE 14TH COMMANDER OF THE SCOUTS, HANGE ZOE, FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THEIR PREDECESSORS. WHAT ARE YOUR FINAL THOUGHTS ON THEIR OVERALL LEGACY? 802 responses

GOAT

I think their legacy is one of grit and determination in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Not as revolutionary as say, Erwin, but they were perseverant and selfless, and innovative in their own right, as a scientist and researcher, always seeking new possibilities.

I will always remember Hange as our awesome scientist who came up with ideas for weapons! and was passionate about titans! and would stand up for a better comprehension of them instead of... whatever it is that Isayama made of Hange post-time skip that they no longer could shine about anything or would even reflect about what Eren was going through. Love you, Hange, you deserved that we followed your struggles more closely. <3

Hange became the commander in the most difficult moment and had bad times having to deal with politics, a whole new world and their own powerlessness. I think the Alliance is their most precious legacy and it really represents the old SC's spirit.

I adored seeing them go from loony scientist to a powerful and serious commander, even if it did come with a boatload of trauma. I also respect the hell out of them for being willing to watch their own culture destroyed if it meant not committing genocide. On a more personal note, as a nonbinary person it's just been really wonderful to see a character like Hange treated with such respect.

Amazing character and leader. Not on Erwin's level but she was a badass 😭😭 #rip

*you tried star*

A bit hypocritical. She was willing to stop Eren and endanger all Eldiana to save strangers from other nations that want to kill them. She also says killing is wrong, but proceeds to kill multiple Eldians unbothered, but when she sees Marleyans or people from other nations, she softens up.

Being a commander is not an easy job, and Hange's start was even more difficult because of Zeke annihilating like 90%(??) of the Scouts and the reveal in the basement and the crisis that followed. Still, she kept going, never giving up, even if she clearly had some moments of selfdoubt. I feel like Hange can be proud of herself and the life she lived, and I am happy that she was able go in her own terms. Her death bought them precious time, but it was a great loss as well. I feel a bit empty and wistful...

Brilliant character, brilliant way to let them go. I’m most interested to see how this death will effect Armin and his leadership as they alliance approach the founding titan. I’m also glad we got to see them in the afterlife, that was a bittersweet comfort.

Every commander dies young, rip armin

Hange was annoying. Glad they're dead.

Hange was incredible in their own field of interest, but definitely not fit to be the commander. Loved how they could be themself once again at the end.

Followed in Erwin's footsteps and even went beyond. Hange will be remembered as the commander who took Paradis from the titans and who explored beyond the island for the first time in 100+ years. Plus a rational commander, putting facts and science before everything else, as well as grasping how important diplomacy and politics are even beyond Paradis. Also although quirky, an example of tolerance.

Fuck that.. Their death was worthy of them.. it was a very sweet goodbye.. But I really thought they would make it to the end... And I really wanted them to. Hange was such an important character, they did so much for the cause and for everyone. They were someone who could be trusted but who didn't hesitate to do what had to be done. Incredibly smart and humbled, I just wish they believed in themselves a bit more.. cus they are incredible.

Hange was given a shit-circus to try and handle- complete with clowns, children causing mayhem, and a giant fucking monkey.

Her "gEnOcIdE iS wRoNg" quote with no actual solution in 126 really turned me off for her for a while as a character; overall however, Hange was one of the more memorable and likable characters from the series and it's sad to see her go.

Given the difficult job of rebuilding the Survey Corps after its destruction with very little help. Had to deal with the wannabe hegemon in Zackly who was doing lots of underhanded power grabs in the background. Had to deal with a populace who finally realized they were not alone. Had to deal with a moody weapon known as the Attack titan who knew all the answers but shared it with no one. Poor Hange who was never given a chance for victory

Hange was amazing character that got entirely too much flack for not being a "good commander" This is a character that above all stayed true to themselves in what they fought for and believed in.

Hange Zoe spat on the legacy of the scouting league by squandering their sacrifice to protect their families and communities. Hange's actions if successful will likely lead to the deaths of all their families which is something they would never support.

Considering how we never truly knew if Erwin was totally devoted to humanity or totally selfish, and considering Shardiz' inferiority complex, Hanji was the true one who gave her whole being to humanity and who truly embodied Survey Corps' abnegation, without any regard toward such senseless conception like homeland. No wonder why the title of her final battle is "Wings of Freedom"

Legendary commanders, each one going out with with a bang. Erwin going out by distracting Monke and Levi taking him out. Hange going out by taking care of a few Bert ripoffs, having the alliance survive a few more hours. And Armin, wait-

Hange helped the main characters in the story with her quick thinking and managed to put the missing pieces into place for us. Their different outlook on the whole situation gave us a fresh perspective and there’ll be no one else like them.

hange is great!!! too bad she tortured bean and sawney tho and sannes smh but 10/10 regardless love that mad scientist

Hange embodied the spirit of the survey corp. She was the commander that made unlikely alliances and advanced Paradis infrastructure.

Hange has been one of my favorite characters. They are the best Titan Scientist. RIP.

Thank you Hange, you did great 💖

  FLOCH FINALLY GOT THE GLOCK. OR ACTUALLY, THE ANCHOR. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF HIS LAST HURRAH? 1,660 responses

Let’s not forget that Hange wasn’t the only major death in this chapter.  After months of being voted most likely to die, Floch’s time finally came.  About 30% of respondents are just celebrating that he’s finally dead, a quarter are glad he’s dead but got this last fun scene, and 20.4% are glad he was able to screw with the alliance once more before dying.

🦀🦀🦀FLOCH IS DEAD🦀🦀🦀

A fitting ending for an interesting, yet very unpleasant character. Love how his death was contrasted with Hange's, and the fact that Mikasa was the one to off him (the symbolism of the person who represents Eren's humanity killing the person who keeps referring to him as the devil is... well, not subtle but it can't be ignored).

Could have done more, but he never wavered or lost his convictions, more of a hero than any of the alliance will ever be

he should have been dead since 129, makes no sense

He should've stayed on the island and failed

Died a hero, wouldn’t even beg for his life but for his friends and countrymen instead

Even though I didn't really like him, I have my full respect to him for following his beliefs till his last breath

Floch is one of the best characters, and most complex characters, he got a very good ending.

I love eren’s boyfriend ♡

He died a hero's death after carrying chapters 124-130 on his back. He also did nothing wrong.

He's a mega chad and I love him. Managing to survive underwater for 2 days and slowly losing blood, and then shooting the ship to stop the Alliance, and then having a bomb-ass speech? He was a legend that needs to be appreciated more.

His arm should've been blown off to begin with and even if it wasn't, he should've died from hypothermia. I think it was needed drama, but done poorly.

His death was far better executed than I thought. He shot the fuel tank instead of one of the SC or one of the engineers/Onyankopon. That should tells you that he just want them to stop, not killing them all. He stays true to his belief of saving Paradis by following Eren, even in his last words he is pleading for Paradis' instead of his own live. From someone whose country has been colonized once, I say that is a true soldier for his nation.

Oh fuck off floch, he was a dick with volatile ideals anyway. Fuck that guy honestly. Like I agree with his stance but like. Everytime it feels oddly implanted when he has an opinion, like he does think with his own head but gets influenced very easily into changing sides too fast? Like, he does the right things but jot for the right reasons because he doesn't really think them through enough? That's my vibe. Idk. Ignore all my answers I feel stupid

RIP Hero of Paradis. To save your civilisation is an admirable goal, although it being achieved through genocide is still morally wrong

I'm sad he didn't get to know how Eren used him.

  FLOCH FORSTER WAS A COMMANDER IN HIS OWN RIGHT, FIGHTING HIS WAY UP FROM HIS ORIGINS AS A BACKGROUND CHARACTER. ANY OVERALL THOUGHTS ON THE BIRD NEST BOI AND HIS IMPACT ON THE STORY? 912 responses

Best boy. Fly high you little devil :(( <3

a bitch but i respect the fact that he did what he believed in (even if its genocide😕)

Controversially, I have no opinion on him.

Ding dong the witch is dead

A character that was perfectly written for his purpose. AoT World isnt black and white and he showed us. Pain and loss made the Floch that died in 132. but Eldia and Marley made the Floch that survived to see all his comrades dead.

Floch is shit :) but also is a good character because its represents a real human.

A complete and satisfying character. It's not easy to summarize, but the way he went from a naive gloryhound to a single-minded guy trying to make his own survival/the deaths from the charge mean something while still remaining a relatively normal, unremarkable soldier was great. Also, I appreciate how he, Eren, and the Yeagerists basically reenacted Uprising by overthrowing a regime that would've just continued the royal family-eating and messed around until the island got destroyed. The prediction from Sannes all those years ago turned out to be too accurate, unfortunately.

A lot of people did hate Floch, I didn't. I think adding Floch to the story was just as essential as the other supporting characters. He played out a good and effectively annoying enemy. I think in every Action-thriller story, a Floch is a must as a villain. The hate on Floch reminded me of the hate on Joffrey from Game of Thrones. But Joffrey did have a great impact on the story, so did Floch. The way he was written just really did manage to get on our nerves, and I think that's what makes a character great.

A true patriot.

An asshole but at least he went out feeling like a rounded character

An nazi ass bitch

Based and Redpilled

Best character not named Eren or Erwin.

By far exceeded expectations.

Disagree with his agenda, but he's a very real character and a representation of the monster someone can become when driven by survivor's guilt and trauma.

He was the literally epitome of a roller coaster ride.

Floch always felt like a background character, and even though he gets far more to do than other background characters, he never felt like an actual person but rather just a plot device. He has no personality.

Floch was surprisingly good given he was such a minor character. He fully displayed the shades of gray of the narrative.

Heck him >:(

Floch has always been someone who held an opposing view to the main cast, and his entire arc revolved around his need to "bring back the devil" in order to ensure the safety of his land and his people. Some people seem to have forgotten that, but at his core he never changed. Sad to see him go out like this.

Floch has my respect for fighting until the very end (and even after the end since we all thought he'd been killed by Gabi) for what he believes in, but obviously it is not what I and my favourite characters believe in, so I'm glad he's gone. His impact is great as he earned the title of "most tenacious villain ever" when he only really started as a coward rookie soldier many chapters ago. Also props to him for holding onto this boat for such a long time and being up for a fight after probably being hauled in the sea and swallow more water he ever had his entire life.

The panel of him shushing Hanji will always be iconic. His descent into nationalism (new Eldian empire, anyone?) however, was not so cash money"

When Floch had captured Miss Kiyomi (ch. 128) he dismissed what she said and had his speech about ‘it’s important to know your place’, and then not even a minute later he was taken down by this same old lady smh. Previously, he wanted to kill Onyankopon and Yelena, but Jean deceived him and he failed. Later, he wanted to kill someone on the boat, but Gabi shot him and he failed. He wanted to stop the alliance, but Mikasa got him with her anchor and he didn’t just fail, he died. I’ve seen some readers applaud him for fighting for what he believes in and having a strong will, but they don’t see what else there is. Strong will? Not giving up? So many characters have the same traits in AoT. The difference is that Floch repeatedly never achieved what he wanted to accomplish, despite his strong will and belief to not give up. His determination and willpower made him achieve nothing. By contrast, Hange’s will and determination to keep fighting made her kill about 2-4 colossals and save her allies just in time for them to get away. Is the difference obvious enough? Their deaths are even put in the same chapter. Floch was not important, admirable, or whatever you want to praise him like. He kept interfering with the alliance and for what? He simply never knew his place.

He played a larger role than I ever thought he would and became one of the most interesting characters during this time. I’m glad he was here to push the story along, and I’ll miss him.

His fans are insufferable but he is a needed counterbalance to the alliance characters and stuck to his beliefs to the end.

He started up as a fodder and ends up as one of the biggest threats for SC. I might be in the minority when I said I already like him since pre time skip. He showed us how the war is like from the perspective of a normal soldier, not the talented ones who got into the 10 top ranks. Just a normal soldier who was inspired by the words of his leader to devote his heart, and came to a realization that it's an actual hell, just like reality. Maybe he's wrong to vent about choosing Armin instead of Erwin when Armin was feeling down, but I can understand. All his friends died, he's currently having emotional and survivor trauma over the suicide charge, and all of those sufferings came to a waste because of the people in front of him.

Pee pee poo poo

Good riddance. What a worthless pile of garbage.

Goodnight sweet prince

  ARMIN WANTS TO BRING ALONG THE LEFTOVER EXPLOSIVES. HOW WILL THEY BE USED? 1,638 responses

Chekov’s explosives are now in play.  37.7% of you think they’ll be used to try to blow Eren out of his nape, and 33.7% think they’ll definitely be used for another suicide mission.

Another failed suicide attempt by Reiner

Any of the above, depending on the situation. I think Armin isn't really thinking of anything in particular, simply that having the option to explode something is better than not.

Armin could use them as a suicide necklace to threaten Eren. If Eren still cares for Armin he may stop the rumbling if he knows it will stop Armin from killing himself and possibly Mikasa.

dude there's been so many unexpected turns and plot twists right now I really don't want to make any assumption. But the plane idea is interesting.

i still think armin will fight eren with his colossal titan. I can only hope for something truly epic.

I think they'll be used for more than one of the above

Idk, but for sure they want to damage Eren's Titan to buy some time in doing something

If Eren doesn’t comply I’d assume they will be used to destroy his “nape” if they can even find it. Someone probably has to go on a suicide mission to do so.

Kamikaze Onyankopon like its written all over the poor fellas face,

Levi will suicide bomb Zeke to cut off Eren's connection to paths

make my brain explode hopefully since this plot is ridiculously bad

Only Armin (and Isayama) knows how the explosives will be used. I'm sure it will have something to do with stopping Eren.

Plan A: Blast Eren nape, but it will fail so Plan B: Kamikaze

Reiner will try to use the bombs to commit suicide and take Eren with himself

they'll probably kaboom zook with that idk (I missed my monke so so much)

They will be as useful as farting on Eren.

  WHAT DID YOU THINK OF MIKASA AND ANNIE’S CONVERSATION? 1,665 responses

Mikasa and Annie have a heart to heart near the start of the chapter, after being rivals early in the story.  The two most popular options were being in awe of the cuteness when Armin became the topic, at 34%, and just loving seeing these two characters interact, at 31.3%.  17.5% are wondering how they made the switch to friends so quickly, 9.5% view it as rehashing what’s already been talked about, and 7.8% are more interested in that Mikannie action.

Mikasa's reaction was so cute after realizing Annie has a thing for Armin.

The chapter was also surprisingly humorous, with Mikasa's reaction to learning Annie likes Armin having me burst out laughing.

The sudden closeness between Alliance members who used to be enemies, such as Mikasa/Annie, feel forced and unearned, and the extra Armin/Annie shipping is just unnecessary and a waste of panels when we are so close to the ending yet many things still need closure.

Aruani😍

Mikasa and Annie's conversation almost made me gag because I feel so sorry for Annie having to put up with the constant misunderstanding of her feelings. Annie is aromantic and Mikasa needs to sit down and respect that fact quite like Armin himself does.

I legit laughed out loud when reading Mikasa and Annie's chit chat. At 1 AM.

  MIKASA TELLS ANNIE SHE HAS KEPT THE SCARF WITH HER. WHAT DO YOU THINK HER PLAN IS? 1,662 responses

The scarf has become an actual plot point as of late, with Louise stealing it and now this.  Will it be important for the end game?  45.1% of you believe Mikasa will use it to try to see if the Eren she used to know, who gave it to her is still in there somewhere.  29.1% of you don’t think she has any particular plans as of yet.  15.2% think she’ll comfort Eren in it once they stop him, and 10.5% are putting their money down on the “She’ll use it to strangle Eren” option.

Mikasa need to understand the Eren she remembers is no longer coming back from this.

Mikasa is really a frustrating character... but I think it's on purpose that she keeps swinging from realizing who he really is (chapter 123) and still wanting to be with him (or rather the idealized version she has of him aka the ""old Eren""), because her whole character arc is to separate herself from Eren and coping with it."It's up to Mikasa whether or not she'll be a slave. If she decides to fight against her slave instincts, Eren will have no choice but to kill her since, as an Ackerman, Mikasa, is immune to the memory-fuckery.

In fact, Mikasa should just hang herself with Eren's scarf and the story would become infinitely better and women might finally have better representation. I have never liked Mikasa, but now I actively despise her. She is nothing more than an Eren simp as was revealed to us when she said she's still holding onto that threadbare rag of hers despite everything Eren has proven himself capable of doing. You know, that whole genocide thing that Mikasa herself barely survived in this very chapter while her Commander very much did not. "

I feel tired of people who make fun of Mikasa. She is the one who still believes in Eren's good side and doesn't see him as monster. Everyone else see Eren as devil, while Mikasa still keeps memories about kind Eren and believes that this "old Eren" still is somewhere there. He is the most important person in her life and she will not give up on him as fast as everyone think. She is not obsessed. She is aware of Eren's dark side, of his cruelty and everything he has been doing, but on the same time she will still keep trying to help him and show him that he is NOT the devil, he is not as horrible person as he thinks he is. Everyone are saying that HISTORIA saved him in the cave when he was in his dark moments. Maybe this time it will be Mikasa who will save him from his darkest nightmare.

I can't wait for Eren × Mikasa confrontation "

  WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL HAPPEN WITH THOSE ON THE BOAT? 1,653 responses

The party has split in two, with one half going directly to Eren, and the other half…?  Nearly half of you think that they’ll certainly end up doing something to help the alliance still.  21.8% think they’ll run into the survivors of Liberio, 17.9% think they will in fact be absent for most of the story no, and 11% think they’ll dock at Paradis and do something of import there.

Please isayama, please don’t add any more needless sideplots with the boat doing something

Could have done many alliance interactions/good-byes better. Reiner didn't seem to care for the kids, despite them being his motivation to live. Bert never mentioned. Annie/Armin had no discussion. What are the boat crew even going to do?

"Falco & co. WILL join the battle! At least he has to, because the Jaw Titan is the only one who can break through the Warhammer's hardening!

With them leaving Falco behind (and therefore the Jaw titan's power), I think the explosives may at some point be used if Even tries to shield himself using the Warhammer's power.

Anyone that thinks Annie, Falco and Gabi sailed off is an idiot.

The only thing I'm not too sure about is Annie, Gabi, Falco, Yelena and Kiyomi staying behind. I was every character to have their chance to shine in the final battle. Hopefully, Isayama will find a way to bring these characters back into the conflict.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT LEVI EQUIPPING HIMSELF FOR BATTLE? 1,661 responses

After being blown up and almost out of the story a year and a half ago, Levi is finally suiting back up to get a slice of someone or something, despite still being heavily injured and scarred.  Almost half of the fandom, at 44.6% are excited for his upcoming role in the story, but find it hard to believe he’s ready to fight, as it hasn’t quite been a year and a half in their world.  About a quarter, at 23.2% have been waiting for this moment to finally come for all that time.  15.1% want him to stay away from danger the way he has been, and 9.2% wish he would have just died all those chapters ago.

Kinda silly, but I'll roll with it.

Now that we know Levi is ready for battle, I think his role in the story at this point is for one final confrontation with Zeke (assuming Zeke is within Eren's Founding Titan body somewhere). There, Levi will kill Zeke once and for all to finally fulfill his promise to Erwin, but something tells me Levi will die shortly after he lands the killing blow on Zeke.

Beast Titan vs Levi Round 3

Can't wait till he's forced to team up with Zeke

He will go out in a blaze

Definitely going out with a bang. He’s done with life, it’s obvious he is just here now to complete an objective, he wants to go out strong because of the weight of the survey corpse members gave him. Everyone he has cared about has died. He wants make them proud in a sense, at least dying with pride, and finally getting to meet them again in the afterlife.

I think he should have died in the explosion BUT I think that to do that, he should have had a longer philosophical talk with zeke and overcome his erwin issues, AND THEN die

He’s survived this long- he’s definitely earned the rights to go out on his own terms.

His comeback to fight is just another asspull.

How can he even move, let alone fight? If he survives all of this I’ll be shocked.

I can only see a Pyrrhic victory. I'm scared.

Isayama still has the chance to have Levi die by Eren's hands. The entire story has been leading up to this. Levi was always right about Eren and the sweet irony is that Levi always fought and saw all of his comrades die for Eren only to get killed by Eren as well.

I don't know why people are angry at that. Levi is a soldier and is not a suicidal one. He has a definite role to play and I don't want him to sit around. He's been through much worse.

He is a liability, I don't see him surviving.

-Death flag initiated-

He ain't surviving this one, huh?

Good that he’s feeling better. But I don’t want him to die.

He’s going to make a final charge and die

The man can barely stand on his own, so I think fighting is pretty much out of the question. Really interested in seeing what a character who has always relied first and foremost on violence is going to do now that this has been taken away from him.

As a good commander (and letting annie stay) Hange or Armin had to tell him to stay in boat, like he s only going to kill himself against zeke if he crossed him

He'll be fine...right? RIGHT?!

he'll probably die in a suicide attack on the monke

I feel like this may be a death-sentence. Levi dying and finally getting the burden of killing Zeke off his chest is a likely/ and good way for his character arc to end.

I just hope he doesn't have a cliche death alongside Zeke.

He'll rest with his comrades soon

He will get more injured, then give a speech to mikasa about letting the man he loved die instead of becoming a monster, then he will die

Watching him makes my anxiety level raised to 100

He's gonna give monkey chan a thousand years of death two finger style

Please just let him rest, he's tired, I'm tired, we're all tired ffs

  YELENA IS HOLDING FAST TO HER BELIEF IN THE EUTHANASIA PLAN AS THE ONLY WAY TO PEACEFULLY END THE CONFLICT. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ZEKE’S PLAN IN HINDSIGHT? 1,620 responses

While the plurality of fans acknowledge Zeke’s plan is better than Eren’s (at 48.2%), only 7.7% say they agree in hindsight, and 5.8% always agreed with Zeke, for a combined 13.5%.  This makes a total of 61.7% who would vote for it over Eren’s plan today.  Interestingly, when Zeke’s plan was first revealed in 114, 76% voted for his plan when given the choice between that and rumbling the world.  So after seeing the rumbling, the support for Zeke’s plan as an alternative has actually dropped.

I get it, Yelena’s something of an ideologue but the fact that she still thinks euthanasia is the way to go is sad

I originally thought forced euthanization was disgusting and now I’m hindsight it’s still disgusting and solves nothing.

I still hate it. The lesser evil doesn't mean it's an optimal solution. Would've kept Kiyomi's plan by sacrificing Historia and only attacking the military forces to keep them at bay.

Thinking with logic only, Zeke had a good plan, but if we put emotions and moral in to play, it's just horrible. I don't support it, not even now.

It's a terrible plan. Eren's plan is evil AF, but it's not stupid. Zeke's plan it's stupid. Imagine throwing your entire nation under the bus because your dad didn't hug you? Zeke's a loser.

Maybe so in this messed up world, but then again no. Both plans are awful, the answer to solving this question was to stop hatred in the first place and find a way to have a conversation with everyone. Clearing the air, stopping the rumors and fake news regarding Eldians being devils, etc.

Both plans are shit. 50 year plan + a partial Rumbling (in other words probably Armin's choice) is the most logical plan.

Denying children being born is denying a human being to grow and live their own live, and experience the world. I never accepted Zeke's plan and never will.

Depends whether you were born in Paradis or outside of Paradis.

Eren's plan is better. It ensures Eldians can survive and continue to grow. Zeke's plan just makes them die out. Me no likey.

50 year plan gang 50 year plan gang

Both plan suck.. But everything fair in love and war so...   The winner was the one who right

There has to be some third option we/they just can't think of that doesn't involve genociding the entire planet *or enslaving another young woman (Historia in this case)

Zeke's plan was the lesser evil OF THESE TWO (Rumbling and Euthanasia). They should have found a third, peaceful option that doesn't kill anyone off.

“Evil is evil, Stregobor. Lesser, greater, middling, it's all the same. Proportions are negotiated, boundaries blurred. I'm not a pious hermit, I haven't done only good in my life. But if I'm to choose between one evil and another, then I prefer not to choose at all.”

  JEAN SEEMED RATTLED BY FLOCH’S FINAL WORDS. HOW DO YOU THINK THEY WILL AFFECT JEAN? 1,641 responses

We’ve seen Jean yearn for a peaceful life on Paradis, and Floch has tried to convince him to give in to that desire before.  Did Floch’s dying words do anything to further affect Jean?  About 69% of respondents say that we will see Jean think on them, but he’ll end up staying with his current convictions.  Interestingly, among the 17.8% who think he will change his mind on helping the alliance, 12.9% think he’ll join Eren and actively oppose the alliance, vs. the 4.9% who think he’ll just abandon the mission like Annie.

After 127 no way is Jean leaving the Alliance. However, I think this will affect his resolve and affect whatever discussion they end up having over how to stop Eren.

Dies trying to avenge Mikasa

He was rattled by Floch's dying moments, as he was one of the last survivors from the Survey corps of Erwin's time

He'll single-handedly stop Eren by telling him how cringe his followers are

he's gonna hesitate when he shouldn't have and will die for it

I feel like it's not the words, but the actions--Floch is who Jean could have been if he didn't see past his own self-interest.

Floch died so his homeland could live. His noble death will inspire Jean to fulfill his duty as a soldier of ELDIA, and oppose the alliance. Thus, Floch will have helped Eldia one last time. Even after he died.

He's too coward to do something about it. Jean's arc was all about suppressing his own desires and keep moving forward; he's a slave of his sense of duty.

I smell another sacrifice coming.

I think it's too late for him to change his mind at this point. We're almost at the end. He'll move forward because that's what he promised Marco. He won't be able to look him and his comrades in the eye if he alters his stance.

  WAS ARMIN THE BEST CHOICE AS COMMANDER? 1,639 responses

From Keith to Erwin, to Hange to Armin.  Was that the right step to take in the line of succession?  The majority, at 61.8% believe that Armin is the perfect choice, at least for this particular Eren scenario.  Just over a quarter, at 26.5% are sticking with Marco saying Jean has the potential to lead.  11.7% are wishing Hange stayed in command instead.

I didn't like the way Hange died and how she left the commander role to Armin. He's probably the worst person to take the job, not long ago he was literally trying to kill himself (chapter 126) cause that's how insecure he is.

"I both believe Jean makes a better overall commander than Armin *and* that Hange's choice in this instant was the correct one.

Jean has more of a skill and flair for leadership. He is, as Marco once said, the every man which makes it easier to follow him. With his attitude, he can inspire others to follow his plans even if they do not closely know him. He also has some more confidence in himself. He doesn't have Armin's mind for crazy strategies, but he still can reasonably think of his feet and is willing to take hard decisions and sacrifices as they are needed. If the story was still like it had been earlier in the manga, with a big Survey corps and regular missions, he should be the commander.

People are arguing who ""deserved"" to be the commander between Armin and Jean, when it doesn't fucking matter because there are like 5 people left in ""old"" SC and they are all on a suicide mission. What *does* matter is that everything was pushed on poor Armin yet again, first Erwin was allowed to die and his legacy was put on him and Hange, who never asked for this, now Hange killed themselves too and left Armin to solve this shit by himself. I wish he would call out Levi, because his decision in Serumbowl is what led to this mess, but we'll probably not get that.

Jean shouldve be the commander but it's okay to be armin

Either Hange should've lived or Jean should've been the commander

Armin becoming Commander was probably the highlight of this chapter for me

I thought it was a good death for hange, but also kind of a combo of all of the above choices; their death seemed rushed just to make armin commander. I don’t hate armin, but I don’t think he should be commander, and it feels so much like isayama had NOTHING planned for hange ad commander, which was extremely disappointing. but at least hans is at peace lol

Armin as commander? Really? He has never really led troops in to battle. He is not a logistician or a tactician. He is only a good strategist, but even then he failed to plan for everything that Eren has so far done. Can you imagine him turning into a titan and attempting to direct everyone? He’ll kill them all or put them on fire by waving his arms. I’m so worried for him and for Jean too. Jean is suppose to be the next commander or why else is he even here?

A bit sad we didn’t get much time with her a commander, but she was a GOAT

A "You Tried" commander that was truly ineffective. Erwin should've been kept around.

Each Survey Corps Commander (current or former) all dedicated their hearts to protect humanity. If someone or something threatens their mission and their lives, they do what is necessary to uphold the mission, mainly giving up their lives in order to give time for their comrades to act. Their sacrifices affect their closest allies to the point that they have to carry on their mission by any means necessary.

Felt like a filler commander for Armin wish Hange had gotten to do more and be more successful

1- Armin isn't the new commander of the survey corps because the SC belongs to Paradise island and he & his group betrayed that place .

2- Armin is the new commander of the alliance .

Not sure of making Armin commander the best choice but mmm yeah, Isayama needed them out of the way to make a final Armin/Eren confrontation *sigh*

survey cops commander is the worst position you can find yourself at the moment. I can't even imagine what's on Armin mind right now

Armin does actually make the better leader. The problem in front of them is Eren. Even though he doubts himself right now, Armin has always been able to understand Eren and get through to Eren in a way others (and definitely not Jean) can't. He's also capable of thinking outside of the box in a manner that this situation needs. Though he's only now made commander, throughout the Rumbling arc, we've already seen that his closest friends look to him for leadership/plans. And while he still lacks self-confidence (though, who knows, maybe he'll get a special Levi talk??) a lot of his other leadership flaws (like his limited ability to command and inspire groups) are not relevant now because there isn't huge group of people anymore. There is just a handful of his friends left who already trust in his abilities. He doesn't need to inspire loyalty right now; that has already been built over years.

Narratively speaking the Alliance are the true successors of the SC, not the Jaegerist and the 15th commander is Armin, not Floch.

Hange should've stayed alive.

king jean commander jean ftw

  COULD SOMEONE ELSE HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE COLOSSALS IN PLACE OF HANGE? 1,621 responses

We’re losing a lot of veterans lately and suddenly.  After Magath and Keith’s sacrifice a few chapters ago, was Hange’s necessary as well?  The vast majority, at just over ¾ say that others could have technically taken the role, but Hange was still the best choice to stay behind, as morale would be drained much more by the commander sending others to their deaths.

A mix between love and hate. With Shadis' death (specially after Nile and Pixis) I thought that Isayama was judt getting rid of a veteran again. But Hange's death at least had her in character, and she was the one who deserved to see her comrades the most.

At first it was nice to see them sacrificing themselves but then I noticed i didn't really care much. It was too sudden and a copypaste of Magath's death

Hange died because the situation called for it. She did what she had to do because of Floch. I feel like the anime will make it much clearer that Hange HAD to die.

Shoulda been Reiner bruh

I think Armin could use his titan, stand on the water and push avery titan that was going to destroy the Angar but anyway

Shadis' death left a bad taste in my mouth since Magath could've handled the deed on his own. Shadis didn't need to die. Hanji too could've sent someone else in her stead; she is (was) the commander, a veteran, she was necessary. Not saying that I would've wanted Jean or Connie to die or anything, but sending one of these two or Mikasa to hold back the titans would've made sense.

  WHAT IS THE TRUTH BEHIND THE SCENE WHERE HANGE MEETS THE DEAD SCOUTS? 1,649 responses

The scene where Hange, after having died, seems to wake up to meet the rest of the deceased Survey Corps members was a scene unlike any we’ve seen before in this manga. Isayama hasn’t shied away from the depressing reality of death before, so what exactly is happening here? 45.9% of respondents think it was strange enough that something real was happening, Paths, afterlife… something. 30.3% don’t buy it being real and think it was a symbolic scene, perhaps to lessen the pain of Hange’s death. 23.8% think it was purely in Hange’s mind, a euphoric experience to lessen the physical shock of death. Whatever it was, it was remarkable.

Purely symbolic, though I don’t mind if it has to do with Paths

The comrades scene its a metaphore of the relief she had sacrificing herself, being useful just like her comrades and friends before her.

Probably Valhalla, would be pretty badass if it was confirmed in the end to actually be Valhalla or something.

THE AOT AFTER LIFE  IS REAL AND MY BBYS LIVE AGAIN 🤧😭

The author was trying to Placate the audience over killing off a popular character

The characters that died may have their happy ending in heaven

The dead comrades have always been watching over the living.

We only see Eldians, it very well could be a connection to Paths. And it seems like the people you go to are people you knew well and had a strong connection with. ALSO I'M HAPPY WE GOT A GLIMPSE OF SASHA and seeing Erwin for most likely the final time is cool too.

Afterlife real. Dead characters keep on living. Shifters go to PATHS, probably. Expect a specific someone to appear :)

Delusions of a naive and idealistic character. Hange saw what Hange wanted to see.

Dunno, but i REALLY hope that was just Isayama softening the blow for Hanji fans and what not, otherwise having a true afterlife would render all deaths and racrifices pointless and would ruin the whole theme of survival the manga has.

Eren may be using PATHS fuckery to comfort Hange in her death.

I believe the final scene did happen as Instructor Keith is seen in the back and Hange should have no knowledge of his death.

I don't think Isayama particularly cares for fan service in any regard (though Annie x Armin might signal a change), so I don't think he'd dedicate that to make Hange's death any less tragic. I think there's something to it.

  NOW THAT WE’VE SEEN THAT IT’S POSSIBLE FOR OUR DEAD FAVORITE CHARACTERS TO STILL HAVE THEIR SOULS, WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE REST OF THE STORY? 1,621 responses

If these ghostly figures do make another appearance in the final confrontation, what on earth will they do?! 43.1% say they don’t matter damn it, because they’re not even real. 32.2% think the dead characters might be alive in some kind of afterlife, but it’s just an interesting part of the SnK universe. 18.8% think that PATHS will make its infinite fuckery known once again, and 6% think that those ghosts are going to make a difference standing up to Eren – how is he gonna fight against a million dead guys, huh?

The most interesting part about the data we got was a surge in responses for only this and the previous question. About 300 entries to the poll which only wanted to submit that “It was purely symbolic and Hange did not experience this,” and “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. It was just in Hange’s mind or symbolic.” Now that is curious indeed. For someone who ain’t afraid of ghosts, I’m sensing some real trepidation here!

They likely will not interact with nor affect the coming events, as their roles have already played out.

" Valhalla’s battle-honed residents are there by the will of Odin, who collects them for the perfectly selfish purpose of having them come to his aid in his fated struggle against the wolf Fenrir {Fenir had been previously associated with Eren by fans} during Ragnarok – a battle in which Odin and the einherjar are doomed to die."

Setup for Reiner to converse with his fallen comrades.

Afterlife. Not convinced it's significant in any way, but would love it to be

An afterlife would be completely unnecessary for the story and make things needlessly more complicated for little reason/narrative payoff.

Feels like a set up for an ending where even if everyone dies they can be together in the afterlife

Mobuhan is fucking real

Hange is in heaven, surrounded by everyone who she's fought alongside. She can't help the alliance in any way, but she can watch them win. And they will win.

They are bystanders.

  CARE TO EXPOUND YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS SCENE AND WHAT IT MEANS? 611 responses

Through PATHS the thought of 'Afterlife' is possible. And if it isn't, then it's nice to hallucinate something good while they're dying.

Is hange really dead?

it means ERWIN KNOWS WHAT'S IN THE BASEMENT AYEEEE

IT MEANS ERWIN GETS MORE LINES WOOO

y'know how from the start there's been the idea that the survey corps have been making sacrifices that no one will ever care about? this is a rebuke to that. Hange, like every other survey corps member, is watched over by their own dead and now Hange gets to be a part of the ghost crew that watches over the corps and occasionally appears to freak out the commander. I also tend to dislike the idea that this manga has a perfectly happy afterlife because it cheapens the goal they're fighting for and comes dangerously close to validating Reiner's attempt.

You should have given a choice of this is symbolic. Ya'll should really read more fiction if ya'll think this is really the afterlife ffs

Afterlife makes all the deaths useless and less impactful, hope it's not a thing.

All the Eldians have the ability to “stay” alive after they die thanks to the paths dimension.

All this suffering to get an afterlife?!?

Although I do think that an afterlife could be possible, I don't think it'll affect the story. It may come back during the epilogue, but I can't figure out how Isayama could use it for the main story plot.

Anything is possible, either it's Hange's own hallucinations or something real. Though i would like for it to be smth tangible, (esp since a clue was that Hange didn't know Shadis died but he appeared anyways). idk I'd just like for everyone to be happy and see each other again 😭

Beetroot alive in PATHS and he's gonna kill Eren

Being dead is happier than living in this world, such an uplifting moral Isayama

Both Hange and Erwin thought about their comrades and "saw" them when their role was weighing on them. I don't think I have nothing against it being real, but I like the symbolism. Some things are cooler when I don't overthink.

Perhaps it will be less edgy to see so much death if there is an afterlife in SnK, but use the opportunity well! For me it was a gift to see the veterans again: Moblit caring for Hange, Erwin being in peace, Mike being there after the impact that he gave us…

every time "ghosts" have been shown in attack on titan they've just been visual depictions of the character's mental state.

Everyone who begged to see Erwin in another chapter can finally be at peace

Expansion of what chapter 85 already implied

I don't care, I'm just happy we get to see our babies again.

I think it is some sort of a special place in paths because they are standing on where Hange died, that's really weird if if it's afterlife, if it's afterlife they should be in a paradise or a peaceful place, but no. It's weird if they are all ghosts like almost the survey corps are in that area

I think it means that every dead soldier have meaning and we shouldn't forget them

I think it shows that their deaths weren’t in vain and they are watching over their comrades. It was a truly moving scene.

I think it's symbolic. Honestly with all the discourse around this scene I am not sure if it was even worth it to include.

I don't believe she's dead. We have an unexplained memory shard of her without glasses (ch130) and one of the panels this chp looks like she lost her glasses.

if levi could hurry up and join them that´d be great

If Yams tries to pull a kny I'm gonna rip him a new one. This is bullshit and he should stop before people believe there is an afterlife in aot. This doesn't fit into the story he created for years. But he is willing to kill his own world in hopes to get some readers back from stealing smth from a way more successful manga. It's pathetic.

Im still in doubt if the afterlife scene really happened since erwin is still missing his arm while the others are just fine. I hope its all just in hange's head and that someone from the boat could rescue her.

It might be the Path. Because just like Eren Kruger said, "All Eldians is connected to what we say the coordinate." This maybe a paradise or a heaven that Eren or someone with the founding titan and royal blood can control.

It only serves to dramatize hange's death. No shit, I was crying like hell when I read this scene😭😭 other than that it's just like other deaths we've seen before, only to set a dramatic and brutal tone for a thriller series

The remaining of Hange blood in the floor indicates she/he was already dead,  so no hallucinations in her last moments. Symbolic? Doesn’t sound like isayama. The only symbolic stuff in manga concerns the cult to Ymir. Has to be a connection through paths.

They really gave their hearts to humanity, they were all incredible, and it's really nostalgic to see them in this way

This scene wasn't here for no reason. It just felt different from any other vision we've seen, and I believe it'll come into play later on.

This was Hange's imagination because she saw the dead ones in the same shape she saw them alive last time like Mike and Nanaba. Erwin too(without one hand)

those who died are finally set free

You just died and entered spectator mode

  FAVORITE PIECK MOMENT THIS CHAPTER? 1,601 responses

For a chapter not focused on Pieck plotwise, there sure were a lot of short moments with her.  The two most popular options being her shooting down Hange’s ask for a ride with no hesitation, and vowing to give her comrade’s sacrifices meaning.  A moment of meme and a moment of serious nature, perfectly balanced.

Idk but Pieck is a bad bitch

Pieck sounds like she may turn on everyone in the end but I hope not.

pieck finger = some kind of marleyan erwin smith

Pieck is gonna DIE 😭

Pieck isn't really interesting....and she doesnt do any Import to the others....Just for Reiner maybe

Pieck will sacrifice herself for the sake of her fallen comrades. (that's what I think)

  WHICH “FRINGE” THEORY DO YOU BELIEVE IN? 1,597 responses

Despite the manga racing towards its conclusion crack theorists have had no shortage of new material, most recently with the bizarre amount of focus given to birds and Hange’s warm welcome to the afterlife. We wanted to find out which of these fringe theories have a broader appeal.

Nearly half the fandom is no fun at all, selecting “These theories are all just cope” (49%). For the rest of us “Birds are spies” apparently requires the least amount of tin foil since just over a third of the fandom thinks it has potential (35.4%). “The ghosts are real” (16.7%), Historia’s pregnancy is fake (13.7%) and the “The birds ARE the ghosts” (8.7%) didn’t fare quite as well.

Overall a great chapter. But this whole Theory of there being an afterlife in Attack on Titan is utterly ridiculous and extreme coping.

The afterlife thing was completely garbage and was easily the worst part of the chapter.

I believe that afterlife exists. It has nothing to do with paths, titan powers or religions. It is just afterlife, where souls of dead soldiers may find a peace. The world of SnK was always "cruel but also beautiful". Cruel - because innocent people die, but beautiful - because there is still a hope for happiness for their souls.

the birds...work for the bourgeoisie

I hope it's all symbolism but these "dead people" motive have been weirdly often mentioned in the story. People asking Erwin if he thinks that "dead have no regrets" in season 1. Levi Ova called " No regrets". Erwin asking Levi if he thinks that dead are watching them in S.3. There is also role Valhalla plays in Ragnarok in Mythology...

  WHICH MOMENT OF LEVITY BEFORE THE DOOM OF THIS CHAPTER WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 1,633 responses

THAT face from Mikasa was the highlight for 28.2% of you. I don’t think she’s ever been that stunned. 22.8% loved that one of Hange’s priorities was getting to ride the Cart Titan in the future, and Pieck not having it. 17.6% enjoyed Levi being the butt of a joke even as Hange was about to meet their doom, and 14.5% appreciated Levi throwing his fans a finger bone. Annie talking with Reiner about the good old days earned a laugh for 13.3% of you, and 3.5% liked seeing Levi throw shade at Yelena’s kinks.

the "what the heck" face on mikasa's face  after realising annieés feelings made my day.LOL

Levi x Yelena is cute and soon to be canon

Poor Levi. He cearly is still not recovered but his comment on being forgotten was a nice knock on the fourth wall.

Uh... you feeling okay, Yelena?

"I AM GONNA KILL THE BEAST TITAN"   "Okay grandpa, now let's get you to bed"

  DESCRIBE THE CHAPTER IN ONE WORD 1,065 responses

I get the feeling this chapter was a little upsetting for many. But then again, three over the top five words were the same as last month! Such is the life of an SnK fan. The top five words this time were:

Pain [143] Sad [56] Heartbreaking [29] Emotional [24] Sacrifice [20]

For those of you still thinking this is a cookbook, it's obvious you're making soup for your souls. Tangy, Cheesy, Hot, Chile, and YAMS must be the dish that represents this chapter.

  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,634 responses

Are we actually about to see the final confrontation?! I can hardly believe it, but 48.6% of you are goddamn ready for it. 17.9% still want to see Historia’s own POV (what, weren’t you satisfied with that one convoluted flashback?), and 15.5% would like to see some kind of discussion before the alliance launches into an undoubtedly insanely reckless maneuver. Also, Zeke had better come back soon or I’ll forget to put him in the options again!

girl i wanna see eren with the alliance

Next chapter I hope to see Zeke, you didn't put the option

We really really need to see Historia. She's been missing from the narrative for so long, and the flashback crumbs from Eren's memories explained nothing.

Surprises ..!!! More of them...flashback about carl fritz ...zeke ...more about eren ...we wanna more important moments and facts

I'd like to know what happened with Zeke. Is he dead? Is he merged with Eren? Is he still back on paradis? What's going on?

Alright, where is Zeke? I've lost my patience.

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,492 responses

Reddit maintains the lead this month, with just a few percentage points over Twitter, which takes second. A bit behind Twitter is “In real life”, which goes to show that Attack on Titan fans are total chads with social lives. Stay safe and don’t die though! After real life comes Discord, with 22.3% of the vote. Trailing Discord, in order, is Instagram, Youtube, “I don’t”, Facebook, 4Chan, the wiki, Snapchat, and Steam. Much to my dismay, this question was made multiple choice this month, which MEANS that, in theory, some of you could have ~erroneously~ voted Snapchat. Either that’s the case, or you lot are multiplying far faster than I’d anticipated… I’m going to elect to believe the former on account of not wanting to believe the latter.

  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 497 responses

What the fuck is doing the survey corps

where is that goddamn monke

WHERE IS THE MONKE

snkpolls admins please hold me

Floch with wet hair looks cool.

Glad to see yams isnt afraid to kill characters, I was getting worried.

I have a love/hate relationship with Floch, and while I disagree with the rumbling, his last words got to me and it was sad.

I honestly found Floch's death to be tragic, even though he was a bastard, he still believed he was fighting for Paradis's wellbeing

I laughed when random Floch appeared, but I hate that his actions lead to Hange deciding to sacrifice herself.

Even though the manga it's coming to an end Isayama really gives us details which is interesting in order to understand the storyline but I'd like more action

Even though we didn't see him this chapter, Hanji's sacrifice took me from "Eren must be stopped" to "I WILL strangle Eren to death with my own two hands". Dude's ground-breaking idea of rumbling got Hanji killed and he will pay for that.

Everything about this chapter was just so breathtaking. I Loved this chapter so much it was just amazing. Words can’t even describe how I feel. Only thing I didn’t like was floch shooting the plane. God answering these just makes me wanna cry.

Also Bert mentions! We're finally going to see him soon and have a long-awaited RB-union!

REALLY GLAD I FOUND AOT BEFORE IT ENDS , I wish Annie and armin ends up, and jean and mikasa 👀👀👀 dont judge me please. It really gave more insight on the feelings of the alliance now.

WHY ISAYAMA, WHY?!

Why no Bertholdt :(

Why no one is happy?

I feel like the fandom would've broken if only an Alliance member died, so to make things equal, we lost a Yeagerist and an Alliance member.

EREN IS A VILLAIN

FLOCH DID NOTHING WRONG

Listen. I couldn't stop crying, like UGLY sobs, from the moment Hange says they're gonna "do it" and then they become all "Armin Arlert" and "I hereby name you" and then I was DONE. Buckets of tears, squealing noises, repeating "no no no" while rereading the same panels over and over again. I Loved Hange. I loved them so much. They were THAT kind of weird, they were passionate, smart, funny... I loved them, but I love how they got to choose how to die, and when, and especially knowing their death will be useful for the others. They died fighting brilliantly, and I will love them, and they will inspire me forever. Farewell Hange, have a nice time in the afterlife with all your fallen comrades, knowing you can stand tall and proud among them.

No one can force Annie to stay. But I can't believe everyone's just fine with this. The world is fckin' ending and only by a miracle they can win, there's NO WAY those people are compromised to the gravity of the situation if they're all just "yeah, Annie is a titan and she's out, let's get the other titan too because he's a kid, Pieck I thought you were coming to the ship too?", because it really sounds like they're not even trying at this point. Is this a walk in the park or the destiny of all people in the world?? :/

Levi’s “see you later, Hange” reminds me of Mikasa’s “see you later, Eren” in the first chapter. A foreshadow of Eren’s eventual demise?

There still isn't a third realistic alternative.

Hange sacrifice was the greater good and I hope the alliance makes the most of this chance, For those they have lost. For those they can yet save

Hange knows their time is near and they are correct.

There was no need to kill off Hange, felt forced and rushed

this armin/annie stuff had better go somewhere plotwise after wasting cringy panels on it that could have been dedicated to less rushed interactions between other alliance members. might as well just kill the alliance off at this point and let reiner finally die, since their chapters are such a drop in quality.

This chapter and the previous two are perfect reminders that we're at the point of no return in the final arc. While I want to see some good moments, twists, and any loose ends tied by now (Zeke, WHERE ARE YOU?!!), it's all going to be all doom and gloom from here on out. Whether Eren or the Alliance succeeds depends on how these next chapters turn out; Whoever wins, bloodshed will continue until the Rumbling ends.

I realised Hange probably has huge survivors guilt and that she wanted to die, and wanted to make her old friends proud(who are dead)

They all really cared for Hange a lot and that's sweet.

They should have a concrete plan on how to stop eren if they could

Things are gonna get wild.

Great chapter, and I'm really excited to see how the Alliance and Eren confrontation plays out. This ending has the potential to be absolutely legendary.

Half of the characters have no hope in what they are doing (the "leaders") but do that because "ThEY hAD tO" and another half will makes me sad because they dont care about eren plan really (not speaking about gaby and falco)

Hange could have exited the story in another way, I guess.

Hange's death should have been more dramatic.

Hange's death was handles perfectly and the chapter had it's fair share of humour.

Hange's death was rushed, could've been better handled. Floch's selfless death was the only high point,  and maybe LH being semi-confirmed.

Honestly, I don't hate Hange but I wish she had lived to see the consequences of her betrayal of Paradis, by putting her own feelings and morals over her own people's wellfare; for better or worse, her actions will have huge repercussions on the entire island and she should be there to take responsibility over the inevitable fallout. Even though she never tried to avoid responsibility over her choices, and I genuinely respect her for sacrificing herself over her ideas, it honestly feels to me like death was an easy way out from having to deal with Paradis' fate (SPECIALLY if the Valhalla stuff is real) while leaving Armin to clean up her mess.

Levihan is real

i expected sex on the ship or aruani huge/kiss/touch

Honestly, I'm just following it because I got used to reading a chapter every month, but the story is terrible now. Hange's death only served to confirm that Isayama intends to have a 'final battle' between childhood friends, nothing unexpected.

hope we get more from Jean

Hope we now start going into the final confrontation cause this chapter seemed setup to that.

As I've said before, I'll miss Hange. RIP you absolute legend.

Hopefully we get to see historia

Hoping for more Hanji backstory.

I don’t need a heart to live

I don’t see how this story can have any sort of a happy ending

I dont see a possible ending where all these characters can live the rest of their lives in peace but oh well

This chapter dropped massive death flags on Armin and Pieck. These two aren't going to last. Yelena is probably dead from compartment syndrome next chapter.

This chapter honestly makes me more scared for Levi because I was hoping he would get the kind of ending that Hange got. Now we just have to wait and wonder about how much more pain Isayama is going to put him through.

ZEKE WHEN ?????? I MISS YOU

I’m frustrated with the direction the story is going in. Armin being made commander, Hange dying, Annie being brought back just to confess to Armin and then be sidelined, Mikasa being the one to kill Floch, it all just seems to make little narrative sense. I don’t feel like we’re building to a clever twist, it all feels capricious and random

After comparing Hange’s death in the manga to Erwin’s death in the manga, I can safely say that Hange’s death was better. Hange’s had comedy like her complaining about how hot the CTs were and of course that line she said to Pieck, it was sad with the Levi and Hange moments and the chapter’s conclusion, and it was epic with her killing 3-4 Colossal Titans, getting scorched to death and her dead body falling until she got trampled in the Rumbling. Erwin’s was just epic with bringing the entire Survey Corps going down with him. If Mappa does well with the anime, this will break the internet for sure and this death will be remembered.

bruh my favorite character just fucking died

It was a quick way for removing another veteran. I feel that the vets sacrifice their lives too easily. They see their own existance like it was some rpg game and they were going to go back to life after while. First Magath and Shadis decided to commit heroic suicide, now Hange decided to leave this world "just like that"/ C'mon, people don't give up with their lives so fast..

Oh, and this chapter made me start shipping levihan!

characters stop dying challenge

This and next chapter are the calm before the storm. And once that storm comes, this is going to end up as either a great story or a perfect story. Also, what the heck happened to Zeke? I need answers on that matter.

At this point the only way for this story to end in a satisfying manner is for Eren to kill everyone, successfully finish the Rumbling and save his people.

Aún estoy llorando.

I feel Hange should have been given more space to make a bigger impact as a commander. It’s like, Erwin always made gambles that magically worked out for him in the grand scheme of things (for the most part and in a group with a horrible survival rate like the SC no less) but for whatever reason Hange just stuck their thumb up their butt and twirled the whole time. Sometimes making one character smart results in everyone else only being allowed to have one shared brain cell. Overall I liked Hange a lot but they were done dirty. And blaming Eren for everything? Lol Hange. You can put your clown nose on now.

Overall best leader? Jean. Best leader for this particular set of circumstances? Armin.

I can't wait until the Alliance realize their futile efforts and come face to face with the reality that, Eren has power over the memories of all subjects of Ymir and can control their titan shifting.

Isayama just want to kill everyone,isn't he? In every chapter we've got deaths this is just depressing. Isayama I respect you but I hate you but I respect you but I hate you.

I cried buckets while reading it, so props to Isayama for that! :)

I cried when Floch died and I laughed when Hange died .

I don't have words for that. I am just lucky enough to be able to witness this  work while

Pain. So much pain. Levihan pain. Aruani pain... *cries for a week while preparing self for more tears in the near future*

i just want everyone to be friends again😭

Jean has not been about stopping Eren from the get-go. I think we are up for a MAJOR revelation about his own involvement in Eren’s plans.

Hange should be survived

Hange should've not died in this chapter since we still do not know the clear plan of the alliance. Their death was written in a hurry, not as epic as Erwin.

Hange was my favorite character. But, as much as I am sad to see her go, her last moments were pretty epic, I am looking forward to see how it will affect the rest of the story.

Hange wasn't a good commander no matter how much her fans cry about it. her being a good character is another thing altogether.

My babies Yelena, Pieck, Reiner, Gabi, and Falco deserve the world.

Hange's manner of death, in her own terms fighting to save others, is my favorite so far.

Hanji death was unnecessary and Floch death only made Allience look worse then they already are

0/10 no Zeke

Jean is the only one who undestands eren and Floch

Jean never really supported the Alliance, he will try to reason Eren's plan isn't all that bad.

Jean will see Flochs words as a possible option but i dont see him going through with opposing The Alliance. He made his choice when he joined them.

(THE DEAD SPEAK LMAOOO) I really liked this chapter but it’s still horrible and traumatizing like the 131 (wait actually the 131 is way more horrible 😭)

Amazing art as always.

Amazing yet sad chapter since I respected both hange and falco and to see them die was pretty sad.

ANNIE AND ARMIN FOREVER. I want her to be free to be soft and caring and to have someone who loves and adores her. I love this dynamic and I think it’s a good foil to Eren and Historia

ANNIE IS THE BEST GIRL!

I want Reiner to live on as the clinically depressed sole survivor.

i’m still broken. hange and sasha were my comfort characters✌🏻😭

Idc but your quiz suck

Idk its just i'm pretty sad about hange's death cuz she was one oof my top waifus

One of my favorites ✊😔 rip Hange

One ship. I just want ONE CANON SHIP by the end of this, Isayama. JUST ONE. Is it really too much to ask, man. I've already given you plenty of my tears to sip on so idk what more you want from me...

Only Armin, Mikasa, Levi and Reiner will survive.

OUCH

Please stop making Levi suffer be it a final rest or a peaceful life anything PLEASE

Please, don't let anyone else die :(

Plot wise it was shit, but I love it for the drama

POGGERS

Poor Levi. Everyone important to him was taken away. Also, HANGE GOAT.

Poor Reiner.

rest in peace Hange "nonbinary icon" Zoe

rest in peace king, now is in Eren hand to keep giving meaning to your life

Really was good. Hange went out in a great way.

Surprised Floch didn't end up killing anyone, especially no named engineers, Yelena or Connie.

The way Mikasa shot the grappling hook at Floch’s throat was like how Levi killed an MP by shooting their throat during Uprising. Ackermans can access the battle experience of other Ackermans through Paths – Mikasa learnt that move from Levi.

I would think that this chapter should have gotten into more interactions between Armin and Annie, because i feel as though their relationship should be explored a bit further. Given that we know that both do like each other, it should be seen on how these two handled their possibly last goodbyes.

I'm just gonna let it flow

I'M NEVER GETTING OVER HANJI'S DEATH

Hange is one of the most well-written characters of a manga abounding with them. I love the way they always stayed true to their ideals without wavering, despite all their doubts about their suitability as Commander. Their open-mindedness, humour and love for knowledge make them truly special, and their most quintessential line must be this one from chapter 127: "'Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me'. Do you think a single one of [the dead Survey Corps] would be so narrow-minded as to say that?" Chills. Very glad they chose Armin as their successor as well before taking down the colossals. They will be missed.

I'm quite curious about Armin's next moves. He is the commander now after all. Also, wondering what Levi is going to do now.

I'm really curious about the weapon that Yelena brought up to the alliance

i get the feeling that annie has had all the closure she needs and she’s gonna die but at least she might pass on her power to gabi ? either way i’ll be devastated to see her go

I HATE it that Hanji had to die, but loved the way she got her heroic moment. It's a love/hate chapter for me.

I have fears of Annie to die

I hope Levi lives just so he can be the most tragic character in AOT.

I hope soon, eren can stop all of this thing

I it wasn’t for the spoilers, Hange’s death would have break my heart.

I just hope Levi found his peace and die, please. He's already lost Hange, please don't make him suffering more.

I just thought it was impressive that this was one of the three moments in the whole story that actually made me ugly cry (Other two were Hannes' death and Serumbowl)

The more i think on Hanges death the more i like/understand it.

The sad looks on Levi and Hanji's faces are enough to say thousands of unspoken words. Nuff said.

Reiner is immortal

reiner looked hot af

This beast of a man, how many hours did he spend nearly drowning with a wounded arm? I got to really care about him even if his ""political"" choice was the worst. I just wanted him to have a dignified end and he had (even if Jean wasn't the one to do it). And the vignette... Perfect. In the end, he really fought as the devil he needed so much, no matter their identity. Relax, honey. Now you're safe from Eren's bullshit.

i miss hanji

I need HISTORIAAAA

I need more PATHS and I smell it coming

...i´m tired.

The Survey Corps never actually fought for humanity prior to the Rumbling, only against it. Hange even states this irony in chapter 89. The "well, the Corps was always fighting for humanity" rationalization is just disingenuous cope that ignores everything that got revealed with the basement and, by extension, the plot itself.

Super based

I really just want to see how this ends already.

I still can't believe Hange died. And to think that Levi's got no one else in his life anymore breaks my heart. I've always think that Levi and Hange should be together until the end. Not shipping them tho. I don't if it's platonic or romantic,but they love and care for each other. And Levi realising that his only friend is going to die and his eyes turn dark like an abyss really makes me feel like broken in half. And that dedicate your heart scene..oh my god I can't. And Hange still got some nerves to joke around at time really made me goes "HANGEEE-SANN!!"༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽

Floch's final moments were sorely needed to remind us just how human he really is. He didn't care about ruling the country or destroying the alliance. All he wanted was for his people and the island to survive, and he felt the alliance was putting that in jeopardy so he did what he thought he had to do.

Isayama keeps killing my favorite characters

I liked the chapter but it felt unnecessary Floch probably should have died before the boat left and Hange was killed off to lighten the cast and make Armin commander.  Hange and Levi probably could have died/stayed in the forest.

R.I.P. in horny titan jail

I like this manga. Very much so ❤

[scentedsongrebel]

Homecoming

Pairings: Steve Rogers × Female! Indian!Reader

Summary: You bring Steve to Mumbai to meet your Family.

Warnings: None I guess.. Some Indian references, talking in Hindi but side by side translations, fluff, tell me if I miss any.

Word count: 4620

A/N: Hey guys! So this was inspired by @pies-writes-and-more' s story Makeshift Thanksgiving dinner (Its amazing go check it out). And ever since I read it I wanted to write one like that myself with an Indian reader. We all need some representation.

I have tried to make it as natural as possible with all the things I do when I visit Mumbai. There were so many things I wanted to add but couldn't at the moment. Maybe I can add that in a possible sequel where Steve learns about Diwali?

I hope you guys like it!

This story is not edited yet

"You look perfect already you know that right?" Steve says, crouching down to get to your level, pressing your cheeks together and looking in the mirror in front of which you stand, trying to decide the best hairstyle

"Shhh" you shush him and he just rolls his eyes "its been a while okay, I'm just scared"

"From your own mother?" He says taking hold of your shoulders and turning you to look at him "from what you told me, she doesn't seem that strict"

"She is not" you shake your head "its just me, I kinda feel guilty for being gone for so long"

"Hey" he says moving his hand to caress your cheek "its gonna be alright. She knows it was important. And from what you have told me, she did encourage you and its been what two years"

"That's a long time for us Steve"

"But now look at you and the success you have achieved, she will be proud"

You nod your head and give him a small smile

"Thank you" you wrap your arms around his neck and he moves forward to take hold of your waist and pull you in for a long heated make out session

When you pull back, you look at him, breathlessly bringing your pointer finger in front of his face

"Remember do not--"

"Kiss you in a public space or in front of your family" Steve continues, shaking his head "I know"

You hit him on the shoulder lightly, an offending smile on your face

"Its important information"

"I know" he gives you a small smile, taking your hand in his and moving towards the exit gate of the quin jet

"Mumbai here we come!”

----------------

"I need to take something over" Steve says through the blaring of horns of the cars around as he sits besides you on the rickshaw "My Ma always said to take wine or some flowers when visiting a dame's house"

Your eyes widen and you shake your head vigorously

"No! No wine and no beer"

"Okay?" He looks at you uncertainly "I can't go there empty handed"

"Why?" you ask, knowing the answer but still teasing

"Because its manners and well" he blushes a little "I wanna impress her.. Okay?"

"You wanna impress my mother" you laugh "isn't she a little young for you?"

"Ha ha ha very funny" he nudges your shoulder as a scooter honking loudly passes beside your vehicle

"Sorry" you say, laughing "couldn't help it. And don't worry" You place a hand on his shoulder "I got it covered"

---------------

You ask the rickshaw driver to stop at a place a little away from your house and get down, paying in accordance to the meter.

Steve gets out after you, pulling all your luggage out and looking around at the busy road, observing the countless shops that line both the sides.

The narrow street has a divider in the middle that separates the vehicles going in opposite directions. Along the footpath, where countless pedestrians walk countless shops line the entire perimeter as far away as he can see.

There are book stores with books lying on a counter, jewelry stores, bakeries, toy shops, an umbrella stand, a small shop that seems to sell grocery items and so many more, Steve can't even name them all.

You look at him as he looks around the street, his eyebrows furrowed as he tries to take it all in.

You are so thankful for Nat and the Bionic mask she provided you with as no one recognizes Steve. To them he is just some random white man and not Captain America.

He does get double takes and stares from locals not used to seeing foreigners in this part of the city but you can have that as long as 'Captain America in India' does not become trending news. This is to be a peaceful trip.

"Follow me and if you get lost" you dig in your pocket, producing a business card "Here, this is my Mom's just show it to someone and ask for directions to her house"

"Can't I just call you?" He asks confused

"Call me?" You exclaim "I don't currently have an Indian Sim card, its at my mom's house. Do you know how much an international call costs?"

"So you would rather I have to hunt for your mother's house in a place I don't even know the language of, rather than call you for help"

"Okay fine" you roll your eyes "just call me and if for some reason your phone does not have signal just ask a shopkeeper if you can make a call. They would be happy to help. And DO NOT use the poor guy's phone to make International calls. You have my sister's number just call her okay?"

"Got it" he gives you a fond smile "Calm down"

"I am calm" he rolls his eyes "I mean, its just, its an unknown city for you and it can get crazy sometimes"

"I am from New York doll" he smiles "I know crazy"

You just shake your head

"or so you think"

You motion towards an area crowded with people in the middle of which sits a man with a big wok cooking something.

"Stay here and take care of the luggage" you say before pushing through the crowd and ordering 15 vada pavs. Steve looks at you with his eyebrows raised as you come back back to stand besides him as the guy prepares your order

"I don't know what this thing is but 15?"

"Well its called vada pav, its kind of like a umm... patato cutlet in bread with some chutneys but better" you say, giving him a small smile, moving ahead as the guy gives you 2 before going to pack the rest. You give one to Steve and bite on your's. He observes you before biting into his.

"Oh wow" he says through a bite "its really good. Like a little spicy and sweet but its good"

You smile at him through a bite and a hiccup escapes your mouth "God I missed real spicy food" you say closing your eyes before looking up at him "if its too spicy, I can get you some extra sweet chutney"

Steve just shakes his head as he takes another bite "No, I kinda like this taste and its not that spicy"

"Me too" you smile "and I kinda already had him put extra meethi chutney in yours"

"Meethi?"

"Sweet"

He nods his head "I still don't understand Why we bought 15 of those"

"Well, 2 for us right now, 2 for me when I get home, 2 for my sister, 2 for my mother, 2 for my aunt uf she is home, 2 for you, then 1 for the maid or 2 if she wants , extra if some neighbours show up or if we want more and the rest for breakfast tomorrow" you say as you finish yours

Steve looks at you amused

"Trust me, they will all be over before you know it"

"You sure love this thing"

You just nod your head cheekily but before you can say anything else, the shopkeeper calls out to you, waving the bag with your order. You pay, take your order with a 'Thankyou bhaiya' and he gives you a small smile.

You come back to Steve showing him your polythene and smiling.

"All done" Steve pulls the bag out of your hand before you remind him of all the other luggage by his feet which he promptly picks up. You try to reach for your bag before he shakes his head and motions for you to just to lead the way and you look around to get another rickshaw. Super soldier or not there is no way you will let him walk this distance with all your luggage.

-------------------

"Okay one last time" you say as Steve pulls out the last bag from the rickshaw and he sighs

"The moment we see your mother, I gotta touch her feet and you will pretend you forgot to do it and she will be impressed by me"

You nod your head resolutely

"This is so stupid" he says grumbling as you take out your phone to call your sister

"You wanna impress her or not?"

He nods his head, sighing dejectedly.

You seem to realize you can't call her with international roaming so you ask Steve to wait as you look up towards your mother's apartment. Its only on the second floor so circling your hands to make a make shift microphone, you scream your sister's name

"TANYAAAAAAAAAAA" Steve visibly flinches next to you, moving to cover his ears

"Are you crazy???"

You wave a hand in his direction, screaming again. He looks around to apologize to any neighbors that may be disturbed but no one seems to care.

A moment later a girl comes up on the balcony of an apartment on the second floor and screams back

"KYA?" (What)

"SAMAN BAHUT HAI NEECHE AA" (there's a lot of luggage, come down) you scream and Steve winces again, looking at you in irritation 

Your sister just rolls her eyes in irritation before muttering a "Theek hai" (ok) and running back inside

A minute later Steve sees her coming out of the main entrance on the building and giving you a tight hug. You hug her back, Something akin to tears forming in both your eyes as you hold on to each other.

She rubs your back before turning to Steve and frowning

"I thought you said your boyfriend was Captain America"

You just shake your head and move to pick up a suitcase as Steve picks up a bag and a suitcase. Your Sister picks up the rest of your stuff, sighing and moving towards the stairs.

---------------

The door to the apartment on the second floor is open as you make your way in, placing the bags down on the living room floor before taking your shoes off near the shoe stand.

Steve copies your actions but picks up both your shoes and his and places them on the shoe stand. You shake your head, smiling back at him as he gives you a teasing smirk.

He observes the beautiful living room of the house with shelves lining the front wall and a television in the middle of all the show pieces. An L-shaped sofa set sits against the back wall of the room and behind the sofa a gate partially opened to reveal the entrance to a balcony. The dinner table is pressed against a far corner besides the corridor that leads to the other rooms in the house.

On the main wall just above the TV he sees countless pictures of your family along with a framed one which he recognizes as your father from the pictures he had seen with a flower necklace around the frame.

He turns back to you but you are busy looking around the house searching for your mother before she comes out of the kitchen, wearing a beautiful yellow colored salwar kameez.

You move to run and hug her before your plan comes to mind and you give Steve a look.

He quickly moves ahead as your Mom reaches you both and bends down to touch her feet.

She looks at him confused for a moment before her lips break into a fond smile and she places her hand on his head.

"Jeete raho" ( live long)

Steve seems unsure as he looks at you and you give him a discreet nod as he stands up.

Your turn

"Oh no" you say feigning shock and bringing your hand to your heart "I completely forgot, thanks for reminding me Steve"

You say and then bend down to touch your Mother's feet to seek her blessings, missing the defeated sigh by Steve and eye rolling by your sister.

Your mother gives you her blessings too before shaking her head at you and crossing her arms, her eyes narrowed

She turns to Steve

"This her master plan?"

Steve looks at her, startled. Not because he is shocked she saw through your horrible plan but because she asked him. He looks at her a moment, a little scared before remembering he needed to win over this woman even if it meant pushing you under the bus.

So he just nods his head and your mother sighs

"And I was supposed to what be naive and stupid and think that you know how we great our elders here while my daughter, who I raised teaching all this forgot?"

Steve feels his heartbeat quicken by the look she gives him and he nods quickly

"I tried to tell her it was a stupid idea" he says and you look at him incredulously and mouth traitor.

Your mom shakes her head again

"She has been like this since she was young" your mother says, a smile gracing her lips "coming up with the most mundane ideas"

"Tell me about it" Steve rolls his eyes before realizing where he is and shaking his head and looking at your Mom apologetically "I-I didn't mean to-"

Your mother grins at him "Don't be so scared of me beta. I know she has not changed a bit"

"Mummaaa" you whine and she turns back to you, laughing

"Mera baccha" (my child) she says and then pulls you into her arms. You have to bend a little with your height difference but you quickly hug her back. Tears stream down your cheeks as she gently moves her hand up and down at the back of your head. The hug lasts a long while before she pulls away to look you over

"Kuch khaati hai ki nhi?" (You eat something or not?) She says taking hold of your face between her hands

You nod your head at her, rolling your eyes

"You've gotten so thin" she says

"Only to you. I've only lost a little weight because I started learning self defense from Nat"

Before your mother can say anything more, you are interrupted by your sister

"Nat as is Natasha Romanoff?" She says moving forward "Black Widow? She your friend because now I'm really doubting you. I was promised Captain America, I took a day off and he" She turns to Steve "No offense"

"None taken"

"He is not Captain America"

"You took a day off work because you wanted to meet me" you say laughing

"You tell yourself that" she mutters "now I don't mind if your boyfriend isn't a super hero but like why would you lie to me?"

You just roll your eyes before moving forward and hitting the back of your sister's head

"I hoped you would have learned some manners by now but clearly I was wrong"

She narrows her eyes and moves to hit you back before your mom interrupts you both

"Girls we have a guest over" she says "show some respect"

Before any of you can blame the other for the fight, Steve moves forward and removes the Bionic mask, revealing that he in fact is The Captain America.

Your sister's eyes widen to the size of saucers as she stares and stares and stares before Steve looks at you uncomfortably.

You sigh

"And she says she has manners" you say to tease her "Come on Tan, staring is bad"

This seems to wake her up from her daze and she looks at you in shock before turning back to Steve

"Wow dude, that was so cool"

"SHEILD equipment" you say "Didn't want to attract any unwanted attention on the way"

She nods in understanding before your Mom reminds her to bring water for you guys as you maybe thirsty after the journey.

Your sister seems to have just realized that and nods her head before running to the kitchen and coming back out with a trey and 3 glasses filled with water on it, she offers them to the two of you and then your mother and all of you gulp it down.

"You wanna go inside and rest for a while?" Your mother asks

"Actually we were a little hungry" you say looking over at Steve as he blushes, scratching the back of his head

"Oh yeah!" She says quickly rushing towards the kitchen "I have made so many things for you"

You try to offer your assistance but she insists you have come home after a long time and she wants to serve you today.

You furrow your eyebrows looking at your sister and she just gives you a smile back. It was very rare for your mother to be sentimental. But maybe being away from your child for so long does that.

As your mother comes to sit on the small dinner table after she has placed all the containers, bowls and plates in front of you guys.

Steve looks over at the dinner table, looking nothing short of an entire feast. He knows even he and Bucky can never finish this much food. Even together!

When he looks at you, he smiles at the wonder in your eyes as you too are busy browsing through the dishes set on the table, removing the lids to inspect the items.

"Haye! Mumma I missed your pav bhaji so much" you say moving forward in your seat and taking a serving of the brown curry or something Steve doesn't understand what it is on your plate.

Then you take a spoon full and put in on his plate

"This is called pav bhaji. This is the bhaji or ummm basically like mashed mixed vegetables and you eat it with this" you move forward to remove the plate that covers a bowl and produce a bun, picking it and placing it on his plate.

"Its the same bread we ate with the vada pav"

He nods at you, taking it all in. He has always had an interest in your culture and had tried to learn everything that makes you you.

He copies your motion as you break a piece out of your pav, folding it to make a spoon and then dipping it in the bhaji before eating it.

"This is really good" Steve says as he takes his third bite "You made this mam?"

Your mother goes to nod before you speak up

"Yup" you say between a mouthful "Mumma makes the best bhaji. Even when we lived in Delhi, all my friends loved her pav bahji"

Steve smiles "Well you can add me to the list of people that like this"

Your Mom gives out a small laugh and moves a plate in front of him

"You don't need to flatter me Beta" she says "I know you may not like this food so I ordered pizza for you"

Steve looks at her, his eyes wide "I no- I like this, there's no need to-"

"This is like the best pizza here" Your mom says smiling at him "Its Tanya's choice so I don't know how good it really is"

"Mummaaaa" Tanya wines as you all laugh

You turn to Steve "Tani has the worst choice when it comes to food"

"Yeah and you with your pineapple on pizza are the best food chooser"

"Hey! Its good"

"Okay girls stop" your mom says and you both stop to look at her "Fight when I'm not around"

You both laugh and nod at her before going back to your food.

Your Mom offers the Pizza to Steve which he promptly denies telling her he would like to have the things she made while you nod and say the same thing. Your sister on the other hand takes three slices.

The conversations goes as Steve gets to try more of the Indian food. The table is lined with things that your Mother prepared because they were your favorites. He tries some kind of small yellow colored rolls called khandavi, Steve couldn't for the love of himself pronounce it, there's samosas which he has had before in the Indian restaurant you took him too but these ones have cheese in them because you only ate them like this when you were young.

He specially loves the lassi which is a milk based drink and your mother tells him about how she learnt it after getting married to your father seeing as he was from the north where the drink is originally from.

When your Mother serves him a serving of the shahi paneer with some rice, Steve moves his spoon to take a bite before you hit your leg against his. He turns to look at where you sit besides him in confusion

You give him a look and he internally groans and sighs

"Oh I will eat this with my hands" he sighs discarding his spoon, and looking at his plate having no idea how to do this

Before you can initiate the next step of your plan your Mom laughs and turns to Steve

"She put you up to this?"

Steve immediately gives a nod, not even fighting for you and your Mom turns to you with narrowed eyes

"Leave the poor boy alone will you"

"I didn't-" you try to speak and she shushes you

"You have never in your life been able to eat chawal (rice) with your hands, how do you expect the poor boy to do that?"

Your Sister snickers while drinking her lassi.

"I eat rice with my hands" you try to defend yourself and your mother just snorts

"The floor and table eat more then you do when that happens" she says

You narrow your eyes at her as a smile comes to your lips but before you can say anything, she turns to Steve

"Beta, whatever else stupid plans she has given you just abandon them"

Steve nods his head, smiling "Yes mam"

"You can call me Aunty" she says with a sigh "Mam makes me sound like I'm at work"

"Okay Aunty" Steve grins, feeling like he is making progress as he dives back to eat his food having to close his eyes as the ras malai melts in his mouth.

The conversation around the table goes on as your mother enquires about his job and life during the war. She gives a nod of approval when he expresses how impressed he is of the work you do and assures her he would never have problem even if you work odd hours.

She tells him about how your father was a doctor too and your biggest inspiration to persue this field how no matter how sceptical she was about you going to the states alone, she knew your father would have wanted anything that would have been best for your career and she wants that too.

When you get teary eyed at the mention of your father, your mother just places her hand on yours and starts talking about how your brother is travelling around the world as a travel photographer and your sister's new project and how she is proud of all her kids.

"This will always be your house too now" she says as she finishes the last servings in her plate "Whenever you come to mumbai you have to stay here Steve, no hotel nonsense"

Steve looks at the kind woman and nods his head with a grin. Your mother then turns to you

"I know you were scared of bringing a white guy home and trust me I was scared of this day too but your father always assured me how smart you were and you would always chose the right guy. I guess he was right"

She sighs and Steve feels his heart stopping before he grins and looks at you. Your eyes are wide and you keep staring at your Mother before she nods her head towards the bowls on the table and starts to get up to discard her plates for washing, clearly indicating she won't say more about this topic.

You just smile to yourself before looking at Steve and giving his hand a small squeze.

-------------------

You reluctantly go with your sister, shooting Steve a worried look as she insists on catching up. Steve gives you a thumbs up as your sister pushes you inside the door that leads to her room, shooting him a wink. He gives her a grateful smile.

It was when you had gone inside the kitchen, helping your mother put the leftovers in the refrigerator that he had asked your sister for help in getting a moment alone with your mother.

She had looked at him suspiciously before he promised her a signed picture by Natasha herself and your sister was sold.

So here he stood, looking around as your mother shows him your brother's room. You hadn't even tried to ask if you two could share a room. Not a road you wanna go down honestly.

"Its been a while since Tarun was home but don't worry the bed should be comfortable enough, that boy spent weeks choosing the most perfect, comfortable mattress"

Steve nods, looking around the room. The queen sized bed is placed against the wall on the right side of the room, a side table with a table lamp sits besides it. A full length mirror cupboard is besides the larger cupboard against the right wall. The front half of the room and nunerous shelves lined with different pictures of different places around the world. There is a study table with a spare keyboard and some some below the pictures.

"If you need anything just call me" she says smiling at him and moving to leave before Steve stops her

"I umm, I needed to ask you something" he says uncertainly

She gives him a small smile, motioning for him to say it

"I umm I-" he shakes his head, digging into his bag and producing the velvet box he carries everywhere "I wanna marry her"

Your mother's eyes widen as she looks at the ring and then at Steve in shock

"And I need your permission"

That seems to shock her even more "My- My permission?"

He nods his head

"Don't you western kids just decide to get married and then tell the parents?"

Steve shakes his head at her

"Your approval means a lot to Y/n and to me too. If you feel I am not the one for your daughter, If you don't want me to ask her,I won't"

He says solemly

"I love her but I know how important her family, her culture is to her and I would never wanna take that away from her. I know she wants the proper Indian wedding and I would love if you help us organize that"

A lone tear falls down your mother's eye as she moves forward and places a hand on Steve's cheek.

"You are a good boy Steve" she says smiling up at him and he bends down a little so she can place her hand on his head "You have my blessings beta"

Steve lets out a laugh of his own at that

"Thank you aunty I won't disappoint you. I just hope she says yes"

She smiles at him

"She would not have brought you here if she weren't completely sure of you, trust me"

Steve looks at her thankfully

"You take care of her" she says moving to get out of the room "and you can call me Mumma"

A grin takes over Steve's face as he moves to do a happy dance.

"That is if she says yes"

And the curve of his lips flattens as your mother leaves, laughing on her way out.

--------------

Taglist: @kayteewritessteve

[thedc-verse]

Spreading The Love (Harrison “Harry” Wells x Reader x HR Wells)

Summary HR, Reader and Harry wake up in the same bed.

Warning: F-Bomb, implied sex, swearing, talk about sex

Note: Found some old request that I thought I had posted. Sorry it's taking me 500 years. Shits happened. Also I'm considering writting for Supergirl and Batwoman. I know I've been mostly flash and DC Lot but I'm finally expanding... Slowly.... I'm sorry... I wish I was more active. I genuinely do. 💔.

 ________

You're not sure how it happened but you, Harry, and HR had woken up in the same bed. Your bed. You would have never known the two men were laying next to you in your queen-sized bed had it not been for the loud crack of thunder that awoke you that morning. The rumble was explosive, setting off car alarms all down the streets of Central City. The thunder waking you with a jolt, you sat straight up momentarily confused by your abrupt consciousness. When you fully grasped at what happened you heard a small yet clear groan from the floor, you had managed to knock Harry out of bed. Not a moment later HR stirred. "Harry?" You asked confusedly. "Why are you in my house?" He sat up still on the floor, he looked past you at a sleepy HR. "HR?" He asked now even more confused. You raised a brow and followed his line of sight. Your eyes widened at the shirtless HR. "What the f-" Lightning truck the ground outside your window. With the momentary burst of light, you noticed the rest of HR was just as bare.

Quickly turning away from him you look at Harry, also naked and exposed you averted your gaze. Quickly you clutched your sheets to your chest but it was no use. Your chest had been exposed far too long to leave anything to the imagination. The three of you sat for a moment, no one spoke or looked at each other. You panicked, trying to recall any of last night, but it was as if last night hadn't occurred. As if you all had the same idea at once, which you most likely did, you all stood up ignoring each other and start searching for your clothes. The awkwardness was unbearable.

“How did this happen?” Harry grunted as he grabbed his pants and slipped his right leg in them. You tried to turn on the lamp but nothing came on. The electricity must have gone out. You couldn't see well and you didn't want to walk across the room to get new clothes while naked.

Moonlight shining threw your bedroom window was the only source of light. You finally found your shirt on the floor. It was almost completely under the bed. “Psst.” HR whispered. "Hey," He whispered a little louder to get Harry’s attention from the other side of the bed. He had put on his shirt and scarf and now held up a pair of pants in his right hand. “Harry.” He whispered again. “What!” Harry snapped breaking the trend of whispering. “Those are my pants.” He pointed to Harry who had the jeans halfway up his legs. “What?” Harry paused his movements. “These are yours.” HR raised his hand that held the pants. "Harry well that makes sense. I knew these were too tight." Harry glanced down at his legs contemplating if he should take off the skinny jeans. “. . . Fuck it.” He shrugged pulling the jeans up to his waist. His double watched slightly surprised, after all, Harry did hate skinny jeans. Once Harry zipped up the pants HR shrugged putting on the more breathable pants.

”What happened to your face?” Harry asked finally looking at him. “What happened to yours?” HR retorted seeing the black around his eye. You pulled your shirt over your head before reaching further under your bed and blindly slapping your hand around until you felt a familiar plastic handle. You smiled to yourself pulling out your camping lantern and turning it on, your loft glowed insignificantly brighter. You frowned slightly remembering it was brighter during the last blackout.  

“What the hell happened?” Harry whisper-yelled at HR. “Me? What makes you think I know?” Hr placed a hand over his chest defensively. “Because whenever something goes wrong it's usually your fault!” Harry argued, to this HR rolled his eyes, shifting so his back faced Harry. 'They act more like brothers then doppelgangers.' You thought with a sigh as you grabbed your pants. The two men bickered as you put on your pants. You were getting a headache from all this chaos. You rubbed your temples as you walked downstairs. “This is ridiculous, Harry. I did nothing wrong.” You heard HR protesting voice fade as you made your way down the steps.

'No, what’s ridiculous is waking up in bed with two men, or was it one? Same man different bodies. . . I need an aspirin.' Walking into the kitchen section and opening the fridge you grab a water bottle. As you opened the medicine cabinet you made a mental note to reorganize it. "What a mess." You grumbled finally finding the aspirin. You heard quick footsteps come down the stairs as you swallowed the capsule. You glanced at the clock on your stove curiously. The clock was blacked out. "Great..."

“So I’m guessing you don’t remember last night either?” HR asked entering the kitchen. “Not really... All I know is that the three of us must have had sex . . .” You squinted at them not liking how that sounded. Nor sure if that was the best way to word it. "I mean doppelgangers are technically the same person... so was it actually a three-way?" Harry averted his gaze to stare at the floor, hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Well yes and no..." He trailed off. You handed placed both the aspirin bottle and your water on the countertop for them to use. HR wasted no time grabbing the medication and taking two tablets. He tried to hand the bottle to Harry but he pushed it away annoyed. “Gross. I’m not drinking after you.” He spat. You patted his shoulder tiredly. “No telling what you did last night. Just drink it.” You said heading to the couch. HR offered then now disturbed Harry the drink again. Harry glared at HR while he ripped the bottle from his hand harshly. He rolled his eyes as he drank from the bottle. After he finished his drink he opened the front door and left. HR grabbed his hat and followed after him.

________

You were running late. You overslept big time. 'I knew I shouldn't have tried to squeeze in a nap. I rest everything but the alarm clock. Smooth.' You scolded yourself. As you stepped onto the elevator your phone pinged.

New Message from Cisco: WHERE ARE YOU!!!!

"Oh great." You muttered hitting your floor on the elevator. You glanced at the clock as you typed a response back. 'Holy shit. 8:40. I'm two hours and forty minutes late. That's almost three hours! Three! That's way too many. Can I get fired? But I love this job! My friends wouldn't fire me, right? Barry is kind of too nice and a push over...No, of course, they wouldn't fire you. Just calm down. You're only freaking out because of what maybe-no-definitely happened last night...' You stepped off the elevator and headed to the Cortex.

As walked in you were greeted by Cisco. “Hey, Y/N," He said smiling cheerily as he slings an arm around your shoulder. "Let’s threesome this afternoon.” You stopped walking. “I’m sorry, what?” Barry, Caitlin, Harry, and HR turned around curiously. In doing so you could now fully see Harry's deep black eye and HR's bandaged up nose. “Let’s do something this afternoon?” Cisco repeated confusedly, his voice going high pitched as he let go of you. “Oh, No thanks I can barely stand.” You said walking to your desk. You placed your work files and laptop on the desk. “Why can you barely stand?” He asked rather loudly. You paused again, internally swearing, you glanced at the doubles before turning around to face the others fully.

HR suffocated on his coffee gasping for air at Cisco's words. Harry squinted questioningly at HR not sure why he had suddenly inhaled if favorite beverage. You saw the connection click in his eyes as they both turned to you. “How come I what?” You raised a brow, playing dumb. This time Barry spoke up. “You said you can barely stand. Why?” You glanced from Barry to Cisco to Barry. The speedster made a face as if asking, 'Are you gonna tell us?’ as he shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. “No, I said I can barely stand... today. As in if I’m this tired now, how would I have any energy to do anything tonight. I'll tell you how." You pointed at them. "I won't. I’ll be dead asleep.” You laughed awkwardly. "Anyways we need to make up for the lost time. Barry, hurry up." You attempted to change the topic smoothly, but when Cisco opened his mouth to question you, you grabbed Barry's hand and dragged him out of the room.

You just wanted the day to be over and you would like as little questioning as possible. Even if you wanted to answer, which you didn't, you couldn't remember anything anyway. For all, you know the three of you decided the room was too hot, took off your clothes, and then passed out drunk. Maybe nothing happened and this would make for a funny story later. You think back to this morning. After the doppelgangers left without a word you sat on the couch for an hour trying to make any sense of the situation. Part of you wished you'd just stayed asleep, you'd have never known anything happened and life would be fine.

Once you had entered the speed lab Barry couldn't help but ask, “What was that about?” You glared at him as you took your position behind the monitor. “Just run.” He raised a brow curiously but did as he was told. While Barry was running you tried to focus on his speed but your mind kept drifting off. A few laps into the test you started to remember bits of last night. It flashed through your head so fast and on loop until the fragments made a story of what had actually happened the night before.

HR had shown up at the bar where yourself, Caitlin, and Cisco were drinking. He must have a bunch of coffee because he was talking way to fast to understand what he was saying. You honestly couldn't remember a word he said. You vaguely remember ordering a drink before Harry showed up. His hair was ruffled as if he'd been running, his cheeks were red and he was out of breath. His chest puffed in and out clearly taking deep breaths as he scanned the bar rapidly. He looked determined. His eyes met yours and then suddenly the three of you were at your loft. 'HR was kissing me or was it, Harry? . . . It was HR. He was wearing a scarf.' The three of you managed to get up the stairs without falling, 'I was laying on my bed and... HR and Harry got into a fight? What were they saying? Leave? Just tell her?' Tell me what?' HR pushed Harry onto the bed, his back hitting the mattress. They wrestled, Harry got on top for a brief second before HR flipped them over... 'Kind of looks like they were... oh god! Wait-! Where did Harry’s shirt go? Where are my pants? Harry’s pulling me to him...HR’s taking off his shirt behind Harry.

“/N. Y/N!” Barry yelled as he walked out of the track. “Are sure you're ok?" He asked. “I’m fine.” You huffed. You might not remember what happened after that but your body did. It was reacting in ways not safe for work. You crossed your legs instinctively.  

________

It was now the end of the day and you had to work up the courage to get the work you left in the Cortex, which is where both HR and Harry would most likely be. When you walked in you were alone, the cortex being completely empty was rare so a quick beeline for your desk was suitable. No one around to question why you're in a hurry and you didn't want to waste this opportunity. HR popped out of nowhere, you flinched in surprise at his bright smiling appearance. Which at this point shouldn't be a surprise, showing up out of nowhere was his thing. “I remember.” His smile grew. “What?" Both you and Harry blurted. Jumping again at the sound of another voice entering the conversation. Your face flushed embarrassed your not a jumpy person but clearly, you were more on edge than you thought.

“You told me you didn’t remember,” Harry growled as he approached you both. “Well when you asked me if I remembered, I thought about it and it started coming back to me. I don’t see what the big deal is you almost died when you got your memory back. Muttering “I’d never do that.” and then you glared at me.” He shrugged. Your head snapped to Harry. “You remember? How much?”

“You say that like you want to know.” Harry scoffed turning to leave. “I remember how you got your black eye and how HR broke his nose.” You smirked crossing your arms over your chest. "How did either of you explain that to the others?" Harry turned to face you. His mouth opened but HR cut in. “And what happened next was quite a sight-” “Don’t!” Harry's voice cracked as held up a hand to his doubles mouth. “Oh, so you remember that too?” HR smirked, 'Since when did he smirk?'

“I’d rather not,” Harry grumbled as he stared at the floor. “So where does this leave us?” You asked. “What do you mean?” They asked in unison. “Aren’t we gonna piece the night back together, figure out what lead to this?” Harry glimpsed at the entrance. “It was a one night stand.” Harry deadpanned. "A one time mistake." He stated firmly before brushing past you.

You watched him leave.

[that1britishperson]

Another World - Chapter 1

pls note that this story does contain mentions of mental illness such as; social anxiety, depression, anxiety, and ocd. this is to spread awareness, as i am diagnosed with three out of the four. i understand it is not fun and it can put a huge burden on your life, and some things are better to be talked about than left in the dark. always remember that there is help and know that you are loved and that you are not alone.

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[6 months earlier]

It was the same thing almost every day. Her parents arguing, failing almost all of your classes, going to meet your therapist. And every day, she comes home from school and locks yourself in the only place where she could feel secure; her room.

"And how are you doing today, Miss [L/N]?” The therapist had asked. He had a notepad with a pen his daughter gave to him. Mr Meaner crossed his legs while looking in your direction, hands folded on top of one another while he waited for a response.

[Y/N]’s head was thrown back against the leather sofa as she stared at the ceiling. The old lights were replaced with a chandelier with crystals on the side, it wasn’t too bright but enough to make the room feel cosier. “Same as any other day.” And it was the truth. She didn’t have many friends. It wasn’t like she wasn’t a likeable person, it’s just her anxiety telling her that nobody wants to be her friend.

And that is something the young woman hated. Feeling as if everything was her fault, that the reason nobody wanted to hang out with [Y/N] was because of the parents or that she came off as ‘weird’. “I see... And how are you doing on sleep the last we talked.”

Silence.

That was a good question. If only it were that easy to sleep in the current situation - but it wasn’t. The yelling, throwing, it kept her up most of the night and even with the prescribed medication, it was not enough.

“I haven’t slept in a few days.”

Mr Meaner sighed and took off his glasses and placed them on the desk. “Do you have anyone else you could stay with?” 

“No. Almost all of my relatives are in California or out of the state. Nobody that I know is in New York.”

The therapist nodded his head and took a moment to figure out what to do. Mixed with [Y/N]’s social anxiety and insomnia, he understood that it was not easy to make friends and get out and meet new people. “You mentioned last week that you have a computer?”

Rising her head, she finally looked at the person who has been listening to her vent and help the young woman cope for almost a year, “yeah.”

“Okay,” He nodded, “I want you to do something for me [Y/N] - it’s to help you and settle your anxiety. Try making YouTube videos, music.. anything like that. I understand it sounds crazy now, but I promise in the long run that it will help you.” 

“Absol-” She began but was immediately cut off.

“You don’t even have to show your face. I realise that you may be nervous, but doing this with help soothe your nerves when you talk to people. Give it a week, and if you do not like it then you don’t have to continue. Just give it a try.”

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And so, that's exactly what she did – almost a week later. After using the last of her birthday money buying a few games for her stable PC, and having the recording fail about five-time; she managed to film -webcamless-. 

It was called Fallout 3, as it was always her favourite out of all of the four and was really great at it -- aside from the national guard depot, as she had little to no grenades and had died quite a bit, however, it was nothing editing couldn’t handle.

‘There you go,’ [Y/N] whispered to herself after she was done with her editing, it was not the best but would get better if she were to continue, ‘All you have to do, is it publish.’

To her, that was easier said than done. Many thoughts had run through her head:  What if they didn’t like it? What if someone pointed out how she mixed up her words because of her nervousness? Would they call her out for not being able to get the vault 87?

As these thoughts carried on, the cursor slowly inched towards the ‘publish’ button. And just like that, it was done. Out, for anybody to see.

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The following morning she awoke to the phone buzzing, signalling that somebody was calling her phone. Groaning the young woman rolled over and picked up her cell that was on the nightstand next to the bed, being careful not to knock the [favourite colour] lava lamp on the ground. It was a gift that her father had gotten her on her eighteenth birthday just last week, and it’s something she would always remember because that day felt like everything was normal again -no parents fighting, staying up watching movies until all of them had fallen asleep. 

Once in a blue moon would that happen again. “Hello?” Her voice was raspy, clearly telling the person on the other line that she had just woken up and most likely disturbed her.

“Hey honey,” It was her Nan and the only one in the family who she actually liked, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

[Y/N] gave a soft smile even though the elder on the other end couldn’t see, “No, Nan, it’s okay. I had to get up soon anyway for school.”

“How are you doing there?”

“I would say I’m doing good. Although [major] is beating me up.”

A laugh was heard on the other end, “I am sure you are doing the best you can, sweetie. What about your parents? Did anything change?”

And there was that question.

“Same thing, different day.”

“You know you are always welcome to stay with your gran’dad and I in California.”

The young woman sighed, “I don’t have the money to fly down there, besides if I did, it would put my scholarship at risk.”

“We will gladly fly you here; and there are plenty of opportunities here [N/N]. Besides you are a smart girl, any school down here would be lucky to have you as a student.”

She laid back down and stared up at her ceiling, phone in one hand and the other tracing the patterns that the light gave above her, “I’ll think about it.” 

“Just let us know, I love you.”

“Love you too.” After hanging up, [Y/N] tossed the phone to the side. Sure New York had some great places and many things to do even if you don’t have that much money; however she did have people in Vacaville that loved her (or more so her grandparents and her only friend she made in grade 8 who sadly moved away just before their graduation to grade 9: though both still try their best to talk to each-other.

Her phone buzzed, groaning as she debated weather or not to answer it. Thinking of the latter, [Y/N] reached for her phone and checked to see who was texting her.

                        ��               New text from Ezra

Speak of the devil.

Unlocking the phone, she made her way to the messages and read what was sent.

EZRA YOU BITCH!

EZRA YOU MADE A YOUTUBE WITHOUT TELLING ME???

EZRA GURL, I HAD TO FIND OUT BECAUSE YOU ARE TRENDING!

EZRA i thought what we had was special 😔

Wait what? She had to go back to make sure she had read that correctly, she was trending?                                                                                                     Exiting the messages, she had made her way over to YouTube and sure enough, she was at #6 for gaming.

Shock ran through her body. Her first video has gone viral overnight. And then reality settled in; she has gone viral in one night.

[thetaoofbetty]

I find it not just petty but like, actually disturbing when ppl say bughead is toxic bc of jugheads story. Firstly it shows ppl blurring the line between reality and fantasy and second, it's an argument that's used to bully real fanfic authors who write dark content. And some of that bullying gets very nasty, I followed someone who even had to delete her account just to make it stop. It's just so sad and gross and dumb.

Hello gorgeous! 

Gather round, children, and let me tell you a tale about purity culture and the absolute hatred of the female power fantasy. 

That’s like a Harry Potter book. Only JKR would never write it because she’s a big ol’ TERF. So, maybe not. 

Here’s the deal, I’m old, man. Okay, not really, but I’m old enough to remember when you were allowed to like whatever the fuck you wanted. Fandom spaces were sacred. Sure, there was discourse and infighting and bullshit, that’s life. But, for the most part, it was read at your own risk, dead dove don’t eat, ykinmk (your kink is not my kink), etc. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE. 

In an age where we have Twitter Karens training the next generation in their image, people just refuse to let women be the monster fuckers they want to be. I am, of course, being facetious. Mostly. Some women would fuck the ever loving shit out of monsters and you know what? Valid. 

We’ll notice that it’s not an issue with men. They’re allowed, still, to like whatever it is they like. And if they yell loudly enough on reddit and youtube, they will be catered to. (Ahem.) 

People really don’t want to let women just be. We’re either too loud, too quiet, too smart, too stupid, too slutty, too innocent, and someone else, somewhere, always, always, always knows what’s best for us. 

We have this new weird trend of people who cannot handle conflict (mostly pearl clutching white women and teenagers who only see in black and white) coming at us from all directions of why anything less than a coffee shop meet cute is A Bad Thing™. 

It’s also bullshit. 

The censoring of women (because it’s just for us, let’s be real) started as being seen as empowerment. It’s not. It’s shaming women for their darker urges. Listen, most little girls are weird. And that’s beautiful. I used to bury my barbies (I wanted to excavate them later) and collect dead sea creatures but still cried when I’d accidentally step on a bug. We’re not going to become Bad People for liking the darker side of fiction. It’s an expression of self, it’s not blurring a line between fantasy and reality. 

The idea the women need to be coddled and guided to the Right Direction is infuriating. It’s insulting to my intelligence and my moral compass. You really want to do some good in this world? Stop telling other women they’re bad for liking fiction you don’t personally like and get up off your ass and do something that will actually uplift another woman who needs it. 

Performative armchair activism helps no one. 

The darker side of fiction is often a female power fantasy. A woman, taking control, having an often strong man love her unconditionally and treating her as his equal, bending to her will? Offering her the world? That’s power. And women have very little of it. Trying to shame them for the one escape they can find to let themselves grab a little bit of it for themselves? That’s cruel and unnecessary. 

If you’re so far left, you’re coming at me with alt right talking points, you’ve lost all credibility. If you’re talking to me in misogynistic language, you have no argument, you have an idiotic rhetoric that I have no time for. If you’re so woke you need to back to sleep, you’re probably a teenager who feels entitled to be in adult spaces online while also yelling that you’re a minor when it blows up in your face. 

You know what’s toxic to me? Telling me a boy that shows no interest in me until I’m happy with someone else is the boy I should choose, that the Good Boy gets me as a prize? That’s toxic. And it’s what happens most often in our society but they’re not ready to have that conversation.

Thanks for the ask, doll! 💜

[ginnyzero]

8 Reasons “Insta-Love” Doesn’t Work

A reader’s perspective.

I’ve taken up doing a review booktube for indie SFF books, and have decided only to do 4 or 5 star reviews due to some social pressures being an indie author and also being a reviewer. This means I’ve been SLUSH reading. (You can get lots of indie books free if you trawl twitter and start an amazon wishlist and wait.)

I’m coming up against some trends. A major one is what I call “Insta-Love.” You know, girl/boy meets girl/boy and they are attracted to them for some reason they can’t explain and the next page or chapter they are in love.

Except, the story isn’t about this romance at all. And in the end, the romance doesn’t work for me as a reader, so here are 8 reasons why in author terms b/c I also happen to be an author.

1) It’s Creepy.

Speaking from personal experience and having been on the receiving side of someone who met me and then claimed they loved me less than 24 hours later, this is seriously creepy. You don’t really know this person. They don’t know you. Yet, they’re claiming after to have knowing you for 12 hours, you are the one for them. If asked, they probably can’t tell you why. And if pressed, it’s probably because they have an idealized fantasy of you in your head and aren’t in love with the “real” you at all. They can’t be. They don’t know you. Instead, they are crossing lots of reasonable boundaries and trying to plan a rosy future, or giving you love poetry, or making hyperbolic claims to your mutual friend group.

It becomes downright disconcerting very quickly. So, if all your characters know about each other is that the other is attractive and then they are claiming they are in love. I’m going to be highly disturbed and not believe it for a moment.

2) There is something else important going on and honestly, there’s no time for a romance.

Unless your book is specifically in the romance genre, usually, there is something else going on in the book taking more words and the character’s urgent time and attention. Therefore, regulating your romance to the designation of a subplot. The thing about subplots is they need to be as structured and given attention to as much as your main plot.

And usually in a science fiction or fantasy setting, the main plot is something with pretty high stakes, so much, your main character isn’t going to have time or emotional energy to do more than go “oh pretty person” and move on. If your character is under stress, not getting enough sleep, is preoccupied with saving the world, they are simply not going to have a sex or romantic drive. Stress/Lack of Sleep/Big Projects put the brakes on the hormones causing sexual/romantic attraction.

So, really, your “insta-love” romance subplot becomes little more than a distraction from the main plot when your character isn’t even going to have the energy to do more than go “oh cute person.”

3) It feels contrived or shoe horned into the plot.

Carrying on from above, making the entire romance feel contrived or even forced into your main plot usually for no reason.

If you can take out your romance subplot and it doesn’t actually change the overall story of your book, then I have to question why you feel the need to have a romance subplot in the first place!

Writing in a romance for the sake of having a romance, and your authorial belief that these two people should be together are not great reasons for having a romance. Because…

4) There’s no valid reason for them to be together.

With an insta-love romance plotline, we are given no good reason why these two people even like each other, would be friends, much less fall in love. “Oh, they’re hot,” is a nice valid reason for casual sex, not for an involved and committed relationship. Usually, the reasons given for them being in love are superficial and shallow and the characters’ basic personality sheet.

“She’s smart.” “He’s warm.”

When it comes to a romance, there needs to be more than that. Why should this character trust this new character they just met with their emotions?

99.99% of the time they shouldn’t because…

5) In fact, there’s usually a valid reason for them to be apart.

The biggest question a romance plotline needs to answer is “why can’t they be together now?” And the most common answer I’ve found to it in a science fiction/fantasy setting tends to be ‘power imbalances.’ Power imbalances are things like age differences, and commander/boss and subordinate relationships. Sometimes power imbalances include class, education, and money.

If the power such as age, authority, education or class, is weighed too far in the direction of one character over the other, we are back to point number one. It is creepy. In fact, it is downright toxic. The worst is when they combine age and authority. It is enough to make my skin crawl. Relationships when one character has power over the other are unhealthy. They can lead to abuse and assault.

Only a relationship where the characters are on equal footing with each other and trust and respect each other are going to be healthy.  

6) It’s not earned.

With insta-love plotlines, I, the reader, are told over and over and over again that these two characters are in love. I’m not shown this due to the fact it’s a subplot most of the time and the author doesn’t take the words to have the characters interact with each other on a regular basis as real people do and if they are shown together it’s probably in the capacity of ‘this is why they can’t be together.’ So, if they are getting together at the end of the book it doesn’t feel satisfying because I’ve been told they’re good for each other instead of having them interacting together and showing they work well together and they have chemistry.

This, also, by the way goes for friendships.

In order for a romance plot to feel satisfying and to feel like it actually matters and can’t just be ripped out of the book, you have to take the words and take the time to throw these characters together consistently so the reader can see, instead of being told, they are good together. If your book has to fall within a certain word count and you don’t think you have those words. Take out the romance subplot and see how much it changes the book.

It probably won’t. Your book, in fact, might be better off without it.

I challenge you to go through your book and take out anything that says “they are the best friend, lover,” followed by any summary, give it to a beta reader and ask them questions about the relationships in the book. If your beta reader can go “oh, and the best friend is awesome as a best friend” without much prompting, then your relationships have come across without having to actually say they’re the best friend.

Show. Show. Show. Any time you’re tempted to tell us a relationship and summarize, show it instead. Then the relationship will feel earned by the end of the book.

7) It usually makes smart, competent characters look anything but smart and competent.

There are two versions of this really. One version is the main character really is smart and competent, so having her be distracted from their job or the mission at hand by a hot guy just makes her come off as a ditz whose brain has fallen out her ear at a time when she really can’t afford to have her brains fall out her ears. You’re telling me one thing, this character is smart and competent, and showing me another, this character is easily distracted by ‘oh shiny.’

Version two is the main character doesn’t think they are smart and competent, but a hot guy shows up to ‘save the day’ and she’s going to refuse him at first due to ‘oh my independence’ until she really can’t save the day herself or learn anything and ends up relying on the hot guy anyways. And they fall in love despite his boundary crossing and stalking and insistence he has her best interests at heart when he’s a stranger. See point one of creepy!

I am not really sure which leaves more of a bad taste in my mouth to be honest.

It doesn’t help that sometimes the character in the book seems little more than a list of traits off a personality sheet being told to us than a well-rounded fleshy character with wants, needs, fears, likes, conflicts, and personal stakes in the matter at hand. Whether or not flat character is remotely likeable is debatable.

Dumping a romance onto a character who is paper thin doesn’t actually make the character more rounded. It just adds more pressure to that paper thin character to try to uphold any semblance of character consistency and the plot without tearing in half. And many, many times, the hot character shows up to solve the problems in the first chapter of the book before we even have a chance to know the main character at all!

When you tell the reader one thing, and show them another, it creates dissonance. The character isn’t being consistent. Inconsistent characters leave the reader frustrated. And they won’t want to read more of your books.

8) Psychopaths are warm and charming too. AKA If your character is opening up to a stranger after less than a real time day of knowing them, that is a cry for help and they need therapy not a romantic relationship.

“There’s just something about them,” the character says. “I can tell them anything even things I won’t tell my best friends/parents.”

And I go, “he’s going to kill you, run!”

In order for people to really connect to each other, they have to show or experience vulnerability together. It establishes this thing we call trust. Having the ‘deep conversation’ about past trauma is a short cut authors use to try and establish trust between two strangers to try and show that this person isn’t like other people and is worthy of said trust.

-makes grand gestures at Frozen’s Hans-

It doesn’t work. Why? Because honestly, if you’re opening up about your trauma to a sympathetic stranger, you need help. Like, therapy style help. Being vulnerable, and pouring out your trauma to a sympathetic stranger who is now going to cheerfully take advantage of you because yes, psychopaths can be warm and charming, aren’t the same things. For a balanced healthy person, having a complete stranger tell them about their traumatic past is really downright terrifying and intimidating. You’re just trying to have coffee and find out if you like the same weather patterns and they’re talking about their dead parents.

Check please!

Relationships are fragile and they take hard work. You need to build them up over time to create a strong foundation before dumping past trauma on them. Or, you know, go to therapy and learn coping mechanisms, how to move on, before you toss a bunch of emotional weight/stress onto your romantic partner. The same is true for a character in a book. See six. Make them earn it!

This has gotten a little long because I have opinions. Obviously. In conclusion, in my opinion as a reader, if you aren’t willing to spend as many words on your romance plot as you are your main plot, then you don’t have the words or the tools or a good reason to be including a romance into your story. And here are 8 reasons, I don’t think insta-romances work out for the reader. Take your time and use your words wisely!

[elisaphoenix13]

Mainstream Barbeque

"Mama...up." Valerie says quietly as she reaches up toward Stephen and makes grabby hands at him.

"Just a minute cub."

The baby pouts but continues to cling to Stephen's leg as he sets up the table for the barbeque. It had been like this all day, and the more of the team that arrived, the more she stuck to the sorcerer and made it a little difficult to move around and help. She was comfortable with the team and trusted them, but the noise was still overwhelming for her and Stephen was safe and calming. He hoped she would be content to go to Natasha or Quill when they arrived but Valerie seemed intent on staying with Stephen today. Not even Tony was able to successfully pry her away. Maybe the two new teenagers made her nervous.

Stephen lifts a brow when the container of brownies he knew had been next to the plates suddenly disappears and pulls some plastic cups out of their packaging calmly.

"Put them back Thomas."

Said teen appears to his left with a small gust of wind to give away the fact that he had run over. "How did you know?"

"He's Mom. He knows everything." Bucky answers as he sets down the container of cookies he brought.

"Oh...I thought that was a joke."

Stephen huffs in amusement. "It started out that way...but then it stuck...and then Diana and Valerie kind of made it real."

He finally finishes setting up the table and bends down to pick up Valerie and place her on his hip, and then looks around. Peter, Cassie, Harley, and Diana were in their bathing suits giving Athena and Gerald baths, some of the men were either playing football or swimming in the lake (Clint was starting a trend of doing dangerous tricks off the tire swing and into the lake), and Laura was inside helping prep food. The Barton kids had been part of the lake shenanigans but looked to have joined in on giving the wolf and alpaca their baths.

Some further observation showed Wanda and Loki helping William practice his magic, and Thor and Quill were off in the distance sparri--

"No! Absolutely not!" Stephen shouts at the two gods as he sends a spell at them with a flick of his wrist to stop them.

"Quail was just going to show me how much he's improved with his powers!"

"It's Quill." The celestial corrects with some annoyance.

"Yes. That's what I said."

Stephen glares at them as he approaches them. "There will be no sparring between you two! Last time you sent out a shockwave and blew out every single one of the compound's windows! It had just finished being rebuilt too!"

"Pfft...it was one time--owowow!" Quill whines when Stephen grabs his ear.

"My husband had to pay for that!"

"He's a billionaire!"

"He's not going to be at the rate you break things! Find something else to do!" Stephen releases Quill and starts to walk away before calling over his shoulder. "That doesn't mean Scott either!"

"Well there goes my day." Quill grumbles.

Valerie rests her head on Stephen's shoulder and watches calmly as he walks around to check in on everyone. Even Carol, T'Challa, and Shuri had come to enjoy the barbeque, and Stephen takes the seat next to the king as they watch the rather rough football game. T'Challa looks over at Valerie and smiles at her softly, and the baby hides her face in Stephen's shoulder.

"The last time I was here, you only had Peter." He says and Stephen looks at him.

"That's right. You didn't come here with the rest of us after…"

"No. Now I see you have four children."

"Harley was adopted under similar circumstances to Peter, but Diana and Valerie are biologically both mine and Tony's thanks to magic."

"What about the other three? I met Clint's kids earlier but I'm not familiar with the others."

Stephen looks over at Cassie. "Cassie is Scott's...Quill parents her as well. The twins are William and Thomas. They're technically mine too but Wanda and Vision take care of them."

"Did you adopt them too?"

"No. Tony and I just have permanent guardianship over them."

"This really is a family." T'Challa mutters softly and Stephen looks back at him.

"Well I'm sure if you ask anyone, they'll all tell you that I parent everyone."

The king smirks. "Do you?"

"Well someone has to keep them all from doing stupid things."

T'Challa laughs and looks back to the football game and Stephen watches as Natasha and Carol occasionally flip the others onto their backs. Football was always played a little extremely, but as long as the right people were playing, Stephen didn't stop it. If there were any players that weren't enhanced or trained assassins (Nat was a force to deal with so Stephen never bothered to keep her away), the sorcerer would either tell the enhanced persons to take it easy or just have the others wait a little while so the enhanced could get it out of their system. The unenhanced were content to spend time in the lake for now.

Stephen looks over to the kids when he hears laughter, and sighs when he just manages to watch Athena shake the water from her body. Harley and Peter cover the wolf in towels and dry her as thoroughly as possible, and when they finish, the girls take over with the grooming. Athena actually liked the attention Cassie, Lila, and Diana were giving her, and stood very still so they could brush her down. The boys turned their attention to Gerald, and the alpaca barely paid the kids any kind as they gave him his bath. He just lazily munched on his hay as he was scrubbed down. Instead of towels being used though, Thomas ran over and used his speed to air dry Gerald. By the time his bath was finished, the girls had finished with Athena, and the wolf happily trotted over to Stephen to sit by him.

Loyal as ever.

"Athena pretty." Valerie mumbles against Stephen's shoulder as she reaches out to the wolf. Her tiny hand pets Athena gently and the baby smiles. "Soft, Mama."

"Is she?" Stephen humors his youngest by reaching down and petting his wolf as well. Valerie was right. It was like touching silk. The girls did a fantastic job grooming her.

"How do you have a wild creature so tame?" T'Challa asks from beside the sorcerer.

"Long story short, the kids and I were turned into wolves, Athena came across us and helped us, but when we were turned back, she wanted to come with us. She was by herself and I was able to use a spell to communicate what the rules were and what she would have to expect. Tony caved and let her come home with us, and Athena has yet to disappoint. She protects the kids and I only have to tell her who a friend is once. If I tell her to attack, she will...unless family is attacked first. That's the only time she won't wait for a command." Stephen explains.

"That's amazing." The king admits. "She acts like a pet."

"She is and isn't. She's a companion too. Although she does sleep at the foot of our bed." Stephen chuckles.

"How does Tony feel about it?"

"He doesn't care as long as she stays off the pillows."

Stephen then catches the king up with everything up to that point, and halfway through it, Tony announces that lunch is ready. The sorcerer got up so he could get Valerie's food, since kids got their food first, then the unenhanced, then the enhanced. He figured on getting both of their plates since going back a second time would be a waste of time and he wasn't enhanced, and let his daughter pick most of what she wanted. He had to persuade a little more vegetables on her plate, but it wasn't too big of a deal since Valerie enjoyed everything for the most part. As soon as they were finished, they sat down on one of the many laid out blankets, and Stephen made sure Valerie was all set before he started eating himself. Tony would take care of Diana, and Wanda would explain the process to the twins. Athena of course waited patiently until Stephen was situated before she joined him on the blankets and flopped onto her side next to him to doze.

"She won't bite me will she?" Stephen looks up when William speaks and smiles softly before turning his attention back to his food.

"No. She knows you're a friend. Everyone here is."

"... can I sit here?" The boy asks shyly and Stephen nods.

"Of course." When William sits down, the sorcerer glances over at him. "How are you and your brother adjusting?"

"It's...it takes some getting used to. We're not used to this kind of attention, but it's nice...and Wanda makes really good food."

"That's good."

"I don't get the ban on peppermint though." William brings up with confusion.

Stephen chuckles. "It makes Peter sick. A con of the spider bite. Just the smell itself drives him into his room. Last time I ate it, he avoided me like the plague for a full twenty-four hours. He can smell it on whoever ate it."

"Did he like peppermint before the bite?"

"Loved it."

"That sucks."

Lunch passed just like that. William asking questions about the Stark family (and in the background, Stephen noticed that Harley was at war with himself trying to figure out whether to join them or not. He didn't. He sat with Peter and Cooper with a defeated sigh). William asked Stephen about his magic and the girls' existence...and the sorcerer calmly answered each question. The teen was still learning after all.

William was then surprised when an alpaca decided to disturb the teen's personal bubble to steal the leftover apple slices on his plate. He shouted when Gerald bent down to Hoover the fruit and then actually held a hand over his heart to no doubt attempt to calm his pounding heart. Gerald was harmless, but he was pretty persistent about things he wanted. He had a bad habit of helping himself to people's fruits and vegetables and Stephen and Tony had been trying to kick the habit, but to no avail. Someone had to be sharing with the alpaca for their scolding to fall on deaf ears.

"Gerald! No! Get out of here you overgrown fuzzball." Tony shoos the animal away when he runs over, and huffs as the alpaca walks away with an annoyed grunt. "Sorry TinkerBell. Want me to get you some more fruit?"

William blinks and looks up at the engineer. "Wh-what did you call me?"

Stephen rolls his eyes. "Better get used to it. He gives everyone a nickname. Sometimes more than one."

"Your brother is Speedy Gonzalez." Tony informs the teen with a grin.

"That's... accurate." William sighs and drops his hand. "It's fine. I was done anyway. He did me a favor."

"Just push him away if it happens again. He's harmless." Stephen says as he gets up and Valerie follows him to throw their plates in the trash.

The cans were sitting behind the cabin and when the two were done tossing their garbage, Stephen looked around when he heard muttering. He raises an eyebrow and walks around the far corner to investigate and narrows his eyes when he finds Sam feeding Gerald some fruit from his own plate.

"You're the one teaching him this bad habit?!"

Sam jumps and looks up at him sheepishly. "Sorry Mama Bear."

"You in twouble." Valerie says quietly from her position at Stephen's leg.

"Stop feeding him from your plate and I won't make you clean his pen." Stephen compromises and the darker male nods quickly.

"He won't be getting anything from my plate anymore. Strictly treats I grab just for him."

"Thank you. He just gave William a heart attack."

"What? This guy?" Sam grins and pets the alpaca's neck. "He's--"

"Harmless. Yes. I told him."

"Mom!" Peter runs around the corner and nearly trips over his own feet as he stops. "Quill and Carol are about to spar."

"Absolutely not! She's on par with a god--all of you overgrown children are chipping away at my sanity…"

Sam smirks as Stephen picks up Valerie to stop the new attempt at a godly sparring session.

"Up for some ultimate frisbee in the mud?" Peter asks and Sam shrugs.

"Sure. Why not. I'll enjoy it while I can before Stephen finds out.

[regrettablewritings]

Podcasts, Youtubes, and TV Shows to Distract Yourself With Because Why Not, and Also Because I Wanna Blab About Some of These

Since I can’t go to work and horrify my coworkers/make them realize I’m a mess and/or nerd by telling them about the type of media I’m into, I’m foisting my recommendations on all of y’all who choose to read this. I frankly do not care how many people have actually heard of these things because I’m also sure there’s plenty of people who, like me, are very slow and oblivious to entertainment, or who have heard of the property but were never that convinced.

Kipo and the Age of the Wonderbeasts

Type: TV series

200 years after a mysterious yet earth-shattering event, much of humanity has taken to living beneath the surface in communities called burrows, wherein life goes on, if effected somewhat by the bizarre fauna that exists above them (referred to as “mutes”, short for “mutant”). One burrow girl, Kipo, founds her world turned almost literally inside-out when she finds herself not only separated from her father and the only world she’s ever known, but on the surface, no less. What ensues is her trying to find her way back home with the help of a stony-faced little girl with a massive chip on her shoulder; a music enthusiast and his literal gadfly friend; and some . . . unusual allies that only an oblivious optimist like Kipo could make. All to a kickass soundtrack, a beautiful backdrop of art, and a world where animals have basically evolved into gangs under a looming threat known as Scarlemagne. If you can’t already tell, I love this series to bits and now is the perfect time for people to get into it and encourage another season of it. Just . . . don’t think too hard that whatever happened to cause the Event in the show happened in October 2020 . . .

Available on: Netflix

My Dad Wrote a Porno

Type: Podcast

This should go without saying, but this podcast is definitely meant for more mature audiences. Or somebody with a strong stomach. Not that it’ll always be easy to tell with the type of content this series gives. When Jamie Morton’s father handed him his manuscripts for his self-published books, he had no idea he was being given a pinnacle of a polished turd: It was erotica. Really, really, really bad erotica. But the ear’s trash is the heart’s pleasure with this bad girl, as Jamie enlists the company of friends Alice and James to provide commentary on “Rocky Flintstone”’s series Belinda Blinked, a drama chronicling the sexcapades of Belinda Blumenthal as she climbs the ladders (and men and women) both in and out of the cut-throat world of pots and pans sales. What follows is a goldmine of awkward metaphors, strange bedmates, and just an overall stampede of whiplashing events that somehow exceed expectations. Listen in if you dare . . . And make sure you’re in good company for it. Fun Fact, though: Daisy Ridley, Ben Barnes, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Michael Sheen, Mara Wilson, Elijah Wood are but a few well-known fans of this series! Nobody is safe . . .

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

Lore

Type: Podcast

Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. And what better way to be reminded of that, then to have the dulcet tones of Aaron Mahnke tell you about the lighthouse incident that the 2016 movie The Lighthouse was loosely inspired by? Suffice to say, this podcast could also be interpreted with some advised discretion, but definitely in a way that’s different from My Dad Wrote a Porno. In the centuries humankind has existed, we’ve managed to create a menagerie of beasts, both fictional and in ourselves. Lore explores all the many different kinds of events and persons and creatures we have to offer. In any given episode, we could be talking about anything from the bizarre story of a lady who convinced 18th century physicians that she was giving birth to rabbits, to something more disturbing like the life of H.H. Holmes. Or something as relatively innocuous as the relationship between gremlins and flight. Regardless of the subject, however, you’ll definitely walk away knowing something new, if bizarre. And perhaps slightly terrifying.

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

The Amelia Project

Type: Podcast

Congratulations: You have been made aware of The Amelia Project. If you’re not interested in this, exit the page. Now. If you continue, there’s no unhearing it. Good choice! A new interest awaits. If you don’t enjoy it, please consider the whole thing a hoax. Okay but in all seriousness, there’s no way to do The Amelia Project justice in just a simple description. The plot sounds quite simple, really: People want to disappear and start a new life, The Amelia Project is there to help – with a price. And that’s if you can actually get a hold of them! What really makes the show, however, are the people and the writing, and I’m not just talking about the almost childlike Interviewer with an obsession for hot cocoa. I’m talking about the clientele: I’m talking about the macabre-obsessed theme park owner who’s out for revenge; the cult leader who’s in way over his head; a Santa impersonator stuck in a miserable marriage with his own manager; an actual podcast character trying to outrun his creators. And obviously this would all be nowhere without the spectacular writing! I really can explain this series without blabbing on and potentially spoiling things; The Amelia Project is an experience!

Available on: Wherever podcasts can be found

LegalEagle

Type: Youtube channel

To be frank, I just like learning for the sake of learning, even if I may not always necessarily understand the topic or have any plans to use it in the foreseeable future. The big difference here being that at least this channel makes learning about the law fun and breaks it down. Headed by a certified lawyer (because what an age we live in, where professionals actually take time out of their lives to teach us common folk), there’s a multitude of series D.J. Stone uses to help break down the complex world of law, from reviewing the realism of procedural favorites (Law & Order, The Good Wife, HTGAWM, etc), to analyzing real-life situations, to even watching childhood media that has nothing to do with the law and determining how much money, say, Willy Wonka would owe in a lawsuit. In short, it is one of my worst subjects done in one of my favorite ways to learn! Plus, Stone hates business students and is perfectly willing to poke fun at law students so it’s all fun, frankly.

Available on: Youtube

Nando v Movies

Type: Youtube channel

Sometimes, movies are bad. Sometimes, they’re good. And sometimes, they could use a few adjustments in hindsight. Especially the nerdier movies where the directors may or may not have tried way too hard or way too little. And that’s where Nando comes in: Whether it’s explaining why a different villain might have worked better for a hero’s origin story movie, or analyzing how one seemingly small adjustment could’ve potentially made more sense in explaining characterization, this channel is always providing a new perspective on a movie or show you’ve probably seen and maybe weren’t necessarily too pleased with. (Or maybe you were – I enjoyed Justice League okay but I love the version he rewrote more.) Oh, yeah: Sometimes he does rewrites of movies or even series. So if you’re anything like me and you’re way into that, this is a channel you don’t want to miss out on.

Available on: Youtube

DEATH BATTLE!

Type: Youtube channel

Does anyone remember Deadliest Warrior? No? . . . How about that one time during lunch where you and your friend got into it over who would win in a death match between Superman and Goku? Good news: A buncha geeks did the math for you and have come out with the results! Specifically, hosts Wiz and Boomstick have analyzed the weapons, armor, and skills of each combatant in every episode, resulting in an ongoing series of absolute nonsense and satiation of bloodshed. The description is admittedly nothing crazy, but the amount of detail applied is honestly where it’s at: From calculating how loud Black Canary’s screams are to approximating Scrooge McDuck’s speed (I’m not kidding you), there’s actual thought put into the characters being assembled and how they might fair with their respective combatant. And it all comes together for an actual fight, often animated but always amazing. So if you’ve ever wondered if Thor could beat Wonder Woman, or if McGruff the Crime Dog stands a chance against Smokey the Bear (I’m…I’m being honest), then this is the show for you!

Available on: Youtube

Sideways

Type: Youtube channel

If there is music in that movie or show, it will be analyzed to a degree that, unless you’ve been trained in music, you would’ve probably never thought about. There isn’t necessarily much rhyme or reason to Sideways’ videos in terms of themes beyond music, but really, must they? Is it not enough that this man is screaming to the internet these wack and awesome trends he’s noticed in certain pieces associated with movies and musicals and the genius behind them? Could life not just be him explaining the symbolism of the instruments associated with the Crystal Gems of Steven Universe, or breaking down the cultures explored by way of the Black Panther soundtrack? Also, here’s a fun drinking game: Take a shot every time he mentions leitmotifs or the Dies Irae.

Available on: Youtube

Craig of the Creek

Type: TV show

In the woods of suburban Maryland, there exists a kid’s utopia: A place where horse girls are free to roam the fields, where a boy can be a king of garbage, and where children travel the sewers completely unsupervised. That is, until the dinner horn rings; then they have to go home until the next time they can return to The Creek. The show focuses on one specific trio (Craig, JP, and Kelsey) as every day, The Creek (and their own childish naivete) brings them new hijinks to experience. There’s a blissful lightheartedness to the show, in addition to a lot of creativity that feels like it was ripped straight out of your own imagination as a child (robots made from cardboard boxes, building portals using lights, etc). But beneath it all, there’s something just plain wild brewing. I don’t want to spoil anything, but CotC has some G-rated GOT shit going on the further along the series goes and I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds!

Available on: CN app, wcostream.com

And that’s probably enough for now, I think. Lemme know if you want any other suggestions, or how you’re findin’ ‘em if you take any of them up! Stay safe, stay healthy my dudes!