#some beautiful marvel moments and analysis

[soft-pine]

i believe it's what you would call a tragedy 

hello tomorrow is november 19th. and i need to reserve that day for fix-its and talking about how dean is extremely, aggressively, flamboyantly alive.

but i do want to talk about the supernatural finale. content notes for discussion of Dean's death and mentions of abuse and sexual assault.

i've rewatched 15.20 as much as some of my very favorite episodes of supernatural. it compels me. it enrages me. it astounds me. every fiber of my being screams that it cannot possibly be that stupid, that hollow, that cruel. and every time it is - and more.

i watch it in part because i think somewhere i truly, truly believe that this time it will be different. that this time i will have loved dean enough to save him. that if do good enough analysis that shows, really shows, how sad, how wrong it is, that somehow it will re-form itself. maybe not into something good. but i can imagine something... different.

instead, every time i watch i'm hit with more and more little moments, little details, little callbacks or parallels or revelations that crack me open so i always have this hole inside of me where 15.20 sits and rots the flesh around it.

but here i go wanting to unpack it again. maybe cause of the sisyphean reasons above. maybe for the same reasons i want to unpack every aspect of dean's relationship with john. maybe because they are actually inextricably linked. dean and john and 1.20 and 15.20.

i started watching supernatural on may 23rd, 2021, knowing full well dean was going to die.

so i looked at his beautiful doe eyes in s1 and thought "they are going to kill you" and ached. i looked at his private, chaotic grief in s2 and thought "they are going to kill you." i looked at his self-sacrifice and self-worth in s3 and thought "they are going to kill you." i watched him stumble on resurrected bambi legs in s4 and thought "they are going to kill you." i watched his protective defiance in s5 and thought "they are going to kill you." i saw his patience, hope, and worry in s6 and thought "they are going to kill you." i saw his exhausted, brittle husk in s7 and thought "they are going to kill you." i marveled at the mix of resignation and rawness in s8 and thought "they are going to kill you." i choked on the self-loathing in s9, thinking "they are going to kill you." in s10 i heard dean say both that he didn't want to die and that he knew he'd have to and thought "they are going to kill you." s11, beloved s11, that opens with some of the most down-to-earth moments and ends in some of the most cosmic. dean saves the world by talking and listening and explaining how to forgive and i thought "they are going to kill you." in s12, i watched him struggle as his mother unwittingly repeated the patterns of his father and struggle to bite his tongue and i thought "they are going to kill you." i watched the s13 speedrun of all his worst fears and thought "they are going to kill you." s14 again mixes the visceral and the cosmic. dean strips michael's clothes off his back. he welds himself a magic coffin. he talks about reading mommy blogs and i listened and thought "they are going to kill you." in s15 i watched him proved right about everything he'd ever said about god and wanting to be free. i watched him win. and i thought "they are going to kill you. now."

i knew it was coming all along and i thought i would be ready for it. instead, i sobbed in the car on the way to work for two weeks. i sometimes still do. you will always end up here.

i think in every supernatural circle that's worth even a moment of my time, 15.20 is considered a tragedy (or not considered at all). and so much has been said already. so i'm not going to rehash that killing a character who constantly said he wanted out of the life of violence he was forced into is a tragedy. i'm not going to belabor the twisted knife of killing someone who was so frequently suicidal. i'm not going to go on about how the last time cas was dead dean didn't feel like there was anything to live for and was fine suicidally throwing his life away on a routine hunt and the chance he could save a couple trapped ghosts. i'm not going to wax about the job application. i'm not going to unravel - at length - that they had to kill dean because he loved cas and they couldn't let him live long enough to say it. and though i'm not a chuck won truther, i would never pretend i don't see the math.

but i think one of the issues with having watched the finale so many times, is i notice all the little things. there is so much extra-episodic context that makes 15.20 a godawful, crushing, devastating mess. but i'm always torn over which kills me more because some of the intra-episode parallels and details feel so specifically, acutely cruel.

for example, why would they have dean say, "but if we don't keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing" and then literally kill him 10 minutes later?

why is there a scene emphasizing the mercy of a quick death compared to the pain and anguish of long-drawn out suffering...

DEAN: You see, this... This is quick. It's clean. You know, no muss, no fuss. You blink, and you're dead. SAM: But a blade this small... I'm gonna have to keep sawing and sawing to get your head off, and you'll feel it. Every muscle, tendon, every inch. It could take hours.

if we about about to watch dean bleed out for 8 minutes?

why did sam pie him??

why did they have dean say "you never took any of dad's crap" and then four minutes later send him to "heaven" just down the street from john?

speaking of, let's look at dean's face upon hearing his dad's "got a place over yonder" versus after "well, cas helped."

and that brings us to the other themes the finale. because while the intra-episode moments feel cruel and pointed, it is the way it ties off the rest of the show that makes it a tragedy.

i've said before that it's eerie how well dean's speech in faith would fit into the finale. well, let's look at some other lines that show dean never thought he deserved anything different than dying on some random hunt.

1.12 faith

Look, Sammy, what can I say, man, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw.

2.04 children shouldn't play with dead things

I never should've come back, Sam. It wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it. I was dead. And I should have stayed dead. 

2.22 all hell breaks loose part 2

I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? I--I--It's like my life could mean something.

5.17 99 problems

Look, I have no illusions, okay? I know the life that I live, I know how that’s gonna end for me. Whatever. I’m okay with that. 

6.06 you can't handle the truth

It's the gig. You're covered in blood until you're covered in your own blood. Half the time, you're about to die. Like right now.

8.14 trial and error

I'm a grunt, Sam. You're not. You've always been the brains of this operation. And you told me yourself that you see a way out. You see a light at the end of this ugly-ass tunnel. I don't. But I tell you what I do know – it's that I'm gonna die with a gun in my hand. 'Cause that's what I have waiting for me – that's all I have waiting for me. I want you to get out. I want you to have a life – become a man of Letters, whatever. You, with a wife and kids and – and – and grandkids, living till you're fat and bald and chugging Viagra – that is my perfect ending, and it's the only one that I'm gonna get.

10.07 girls girls girls

Now, the truth is... I'm past saving. I know how my story ends. It's at the edge of a blade or the barrel of a gun.

10.16 paint it black

You know, the life I live, the work I do…I pretty much just figured that that was all there was to me, you know? Tear around and jam the key in the ignition and haul ass until I ran out of gas. I guess I just thought sooner or later, I’d go out the same way that I live – pedal to the metal, and that would be it.

15.20 carry on

You knew it was always gonna end like this for me. It was supposed to end like this, right?

1.12 faith, once again

that is his attitude for so long. but notice the gap between season 10 and season 15? i'm not at all saying he full abandoned the attitude that all he was good for was dying on a hunt. but in 10.17 he also says, "there’s things, there’s…people, feelings that I-I-I want to experience differently than I have before, or maybe even for the first time." in 13.23 he's talking about retiring if he knows the world is safe. in 14.13, he says "I have a family." he says, "I'm good with who I am."

in 15.18, when he thinks he's going to lose a huge part of that family, he says "She's gonna get through that door. And she's gonna kill you, and then she's gonna kill me." and although cas did eventually end up in heaven as well, they very much did kill cas and then kill dean.

and if in the finale after dean dies, the way they showed sam grieving dean was blearily shutting off his alarm at 8 and sleepily getting out of a messy bed and sadly petting miracle, then why.... why did the episode open with dean doing the exact same things if not to show he was grieving.

it reminds me of another thing that happens in canton ohio in november: elliott ness telling dean, "Boo-hoo. Cry me a river, ya nancy. Tell me, are all hunters as soft as you in the future?" and then he continues...

this is maybe one of the smaller little connective gut punches. but there are so many of those.

like why was dean forced to kill lee by impaling him against a wooden pilar if 13 episodes later...

like why is the episode called "carry on"?

like remembering 15.10 when dean says, "Yeah, it’s just how I wanted to die – with a freakin audience."

like when you look at the supernatural wiki transcripts page, it looks like this:

like the parallels between the hunt in faith that dean almost dies on and the hunt in 15.20

like despite all the times he said he knew this was coming, the moment when dean turns away from sam and says, "Well, I did not think this would be the day."

like even if he was trying to be a little silly, we know how he described the funeral he imagined for himself in 11.23. and even in 15.20 there were so many people still alive who loved him and yet only one person is there to grieve him...

like this exchange from 1.20

JOHN: Once a vampire has your scent, it's for life. DEAN: Well. what the hell do we do now? JOHN: You gotta find the nearest funeral home, that's what.

of course john means for dean to go get dead man's blood so he can watch dean play bait while he waits with sam and tipped crossbow bolts. of course he doesn't mean a vampire will get your scent and you're dead so go pick out a coffin. he doesn't mean that; it's only that getting the colt to avenge mary is more important to him than the risk that a vampire might pick up their scent and, oh let's say, one day track them down and kill them.

like the theme of vampires being specifically sexually predatory toward dean (kate kissing him in 1.20, boris assaulting him in 6.05, starr playing with him in 10.08 - not to mention the framing of gordon in 3.07 and desmond in 8.09 drinking his blood). the way jenny stalks over him as he's pinned to the ground in 15.20 doesn't break from this pattern at all. and i hate the layering of violences. i hate that this is who kills him.

like some of dean's first words in the pilot being "It's okay, Sammy." and some of his last being, "tell me that it's okay." over. and over.

like maybe i could handle it being a tragedy if it felt like it was meant to land that way (i still wouldn't be able to, for the record)

like that he wanted rice crispy treats for his next birthday.

like that chuck, even human powerless chuck, outlived him.

like that john lived longer than him too.

and so of course we end up here. with john. i do think we must concede that dean dying on one of john's unfinished hunts - in fact on two unfinished hunts - could not be more cruel. when you can defeat god and escape and his plan for your life but not your own father...

and the thing about the first unfinished hunt with the masked vampires is that john was working it in 1986. the vampires, "target[ed] families that are living outside of town, that are isolated, kids usually between the ages of 5 and 10." the thing is in 1986, dean was 7. was that the first time john used dean as bait, i don't know. but it could have easily been is the thing.

1.20 sets up 15.20 in so many ways. the episode where vampires are introduced. where jenny (though unnamed) is introduced. the episode where you see exactly what dean meant about sam "never taking any of dad's crap." meanwhile in 1.21, when dean starts to push back against john, john says he's "not too crazy about this new tone."

in 1.20 john sets dean up to be bait while he and sam wait in the shadows. in 15.20 dean needles and distracts jenny while he waits for sam to pick up his machete. it recalls 1.20: "you know what to do." it recalls 1.02: "you thinkin what i'm thinkin." like the most common footpath worn into old stone stairs.

the last main theme i want to talk about is parentification. i know i'm not the only one who felt betrayed by sam sorrowful acceptance of dean's death. there's grief, yes. but there's something so profoundly unsettling about basically back-to-back watching dean trying to resign himself to his impending death. and in 15.18, cas' response to that being that he won't let dean die. meanwhile in 15.20, sam's response is to -

but then it clicked for me.

it's because on some deep level, beginning to some extent when sam was less than a year old, dean became in a lot of ways, his parent. and parents are supposed to die before you, right? so sam can be sad. he can grieve. but it's not a grief at the injustice of it - not grief at dean's unfinished life or his early death. sam always knew he would outlive dean.

because if this is not setting in stone the parentification that happened to dean, then why is sam telling dean "you can go now" paralleled only a few minutes later with dean jr later saying the same to sam?

and if not to swing the parentification as a cudgel against my knees, why is every speech dean makes before he thinks he's going to die focused on making sure sam's going to be okay. right up until the very end.

3.16 no rest for the wicked

Keep fighting. Take care of my wheels. Sam, remember what Dad taught you... okay? And remember what I taught you.

9.23 do you believe in miracles

Sam. Hold up. Hold up. I got to say something to you. I'm proud of us.

11.23 alpha and omega

Listen, if—when—when this works, Sam—he's gonna be a mess. So look out for him, okay? Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.

14.12 prophet and loss

I know I wasn’t always the greatest brother to you.... I know things got dicey… you know, with dad… the way he was. And I just… I didn’t always look out for you the way that I should’ve. I mean, I had my own stuff, you know. In order to keep the peace, it probably looked like I took his side quite a bit....

15.20 carry on

I'm fading pretty... I'm fading pretty quick, so... there's a few things that I need you to hear. Come here. Let me look at you. Yeah, there he is. I'm so proud of you, Sam. You know that? I've always looked up to you. Man, when we were kids, you were so damn smar... smart. You never... You never took any of dad's crap. I never knew how you did that. And you're stronger than me. You always have been...

1.12 faith, once again and again and always

DEAN: Hey, you better take care of that car. Or, I swear, I'll haunt your ass. SAM: I don't think that's funny. DEAN: Oh, come on, it's a little funny.

i think about 27 year old dean lying in that hospital bed. and i think about 41 year old dean hanging on that beam in the barn and just thinking you know, he did it. looking at sam and being proud. cause dean knows enough about horror movies to see sam as the final girl. sam made it. dean was always gonna make sure he did. he understands it enough to know he's dying so sam doesn't have to. sam can go on and live a life and have his survivor credits montage and dean's like, yeah, this is how it's supposed to go.

dean knew it was never gonna be him.

AND THAT'S WHOLE GODDAMN REASON IT FUCKING SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

he should have gotten to outlive the god who tried to write his story and he should have gotten to outgrow always putting his life behind his brother's (and everyone else's) and he should have survived the deadly path his father forced him onto and he should have gotten to live a long and beautiful gay life in the world he loved so deeply.

and you should be able to watch goddamn supernatural without seeing him be declared dead in 1.06 and feeling the pit in your stomach and without watching 3.11 and going well that's just not funny and without watching fucking 5.07 and going well now that's the oldest he ever got.

anyway, this whole episode fucking destroys me. here's dean as the ten of swords.

and here's to us saving him. lady, he's tolstoy

[findafight]

i do want catws opinions!! so much!!! mcu cap am was one of my major interests for quite some time, so i am Very interested! tbh don't much care for the rest of the mcu all that much, like ive seen quite a few of the movies but absolutely far from all of them. and like tbh i cared the most about catfa & catws and then steve and his relationship with people, idk i just love his character so much, I've done some sort of analysis inside my head of his character, but it's been A While so i don't remember any of it in words, just vibes lol. also idk how i feel about cacw, it just sorta didn't feel like His story, it felt more like avengers 2.5 or smth.

also related to steve & peggy, i feel like the thing that makes their story stay so strong Is the missed opportunity, the longing for something that can never be. it's this thing that was on the brink of possibility, and where the potential was so big and tangible, and they both felt it, and then all of a sudden the possibility is gone, it's lost, forever. idk like i think steve going back in time to dance with peggy would be sweet, But, it just doesn't move me as much unless peggy also knows that the moment is a promise fullfilled and a dream that can never be, it's one more aching moment together and then it's goodbye. idk like i thought the scene in endgame when they danced was absolutely beautiful, but to me it is a dream, and to me it feels kinda disrespectful to all of them(steve peggy & bucky) to have steve go backwards, that's not him, maybe when he first woke up after the ice, if presented with the possibility he wouldn't be able to resist, but otherwise his character is LITERALLY about getting back up again!! and then also peggy had a life?? with someone else!! and she was happy with her life! he literally knows this, he talked to her when she was old! why would he disregard that?? and then why would he live the rest of his life knowing bucky is the winter soldier and then NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT????????? idk it's just like, when SO MUCH of steves story is so closely intertwined with bucky it just doesn't make any sense to leave him??

also while i am a romantic stucky believer, truly more than that i am a soulmates stucky believer! so the stobin tws au really really hit me in the feels yk.

Okay so. What makes CAWS so good, and one of the best mcu films, is that it uses superheroes not as a genre, but as a vehicle for a genre. Winter Soldier is a spy thriller. Arguably TFA also does this by being a war film? But WS embraces it. It's so clearly a spy thriller with a superhero setting! More superhero movies should have co-genre I think. It can be watched as a stand alone, with good solid introductions to characters, to the point that it's bascially the only mcu movie I've watched with my mother that she hasn't asked "who's that?" and why they were doing stuff. Basically every other one, besides the first in their series require prior knowledge of characters for most of the impact of them.

WS doesn't? We see Steve and Natasha have a friendly relationship, that steve's a supersoldier and also takes risks (no parachute), that they're some kind of soldiers, that there's some secret operations going on. We get this! Then we meet Sam and we see that Steve is also incredibly lonely, we see him at the Howling Commandos exhibit, and sure maybe it's hamfisted by focusing on bucky or whatever but that sets it up! we now who steve is, why he's lonely, and some of his values.

and even without TFA, as soon as the mask comes off, we know this is someone steve knows. When he insists on saving Bucky, he uses the line "even when I had nothing, I had Bucky" having watched tfa before just makes it hit harder.

I'm going to be real with you I've watched civil war once and was like "this is kinda stupid? very stupid" and then stopped really paying attention to most marvel movies.

oh yes so true about Steve and Peggy. It's compelling because the could have beens. If that had happened, but then steve went back to present, I would not be mad. It wouldn't be weirdly stealing someone else's life? Especially combined with the Agent Carter Tv series, Peggy has closure for Steve's death. Though it's still an ache, and she mourns and misses him, she's still living her life. She isn't caught up on him as a romantic interests. She has multiple (they should have given us more cartinelli tbh we were robbed in s2) in the series! She had a good, long, and happy life. Steve just dropping in sometime in the 40s(?) with the expectation of pursuing a romantic relationship with her would likely be a shock, and unwanted. They both would have changed from where they left off, both having mourned each other and their relationship. It wouldn't have worked! But to have him drop in. tell her "hey. I can't stay for long. I'm sorry it has to be this way. But I owe you a dance, and it's been killing me breaking a promise to my best girl." That!!! would have!! been! so sweet! A final goodbye for both of them. The final closure and fulfilled promise from oh so long ago.

Steve had spent at least ten years out of the ice before endgame. I just. How could they slide him back to what he would have done directly after being thawed? Like I don't think even lost sadman beginning of ws steve would have stayed back. He's changed and he can't go back to what things were. he keeps getting up, even when he shouldn't! That's what's endearing about Steve, his stubbornness, and his willingness to put himself on the line to protect people. That's why he was the first and only (official) American supersoldier. He carries on, even when it's almost unbearable for him to do so.

It's so... It felt cheap and insulting to him and Peggy and Bucky. Because you're correct!! It means Steve went back to nineteen fourty-whatever and chose not to do anything about the 80+ years of horrible things that happened in the world. Especially chose not to do anything when he knew exactly where Bucky, who he had previously jumped behind enemy lines with nothing but a wing a prayer and a shield to save, who he had defied governments for, who he's nearly died for multiple times, was??? how in the WORLD did the same screenwriters and directors who made one of the best marvel movies that highlighted and used their friendship in such a compelling way also write/direct that for them? how? valuing romance over any other kind of relationship I guess?

yeah I think what's compelling about stucky is that there is so much love there, that they've known each other for their whole lives, and will continue to be (or should be) a vast part of each other's worlds no matter what that relationship looks like. They're soulmates, whatever that looks like for them. and if it's romance then that romance is built upon the deep devoted friendship they have. That's everything about them. Everything is built on a sickly and scrappy kid who couldn't leave well enough alone and got pushed into the dirt by bullies he stood up to over, and over, and over again, and some charming schmuck who looked at him and thought "I'm gonna help him keep get back up". to the point where they broke over half a century of brain washing because of it.

[randomfoggytiger]

Hi! Thanks so much for all your fic recommendations and analysis posts! They are fantastic! 

I was wondering if in your travels you had come across any fics that rewrite season 9, so that Mulder didn't leave, BUT also keep going with something that looks like the plot of season 9. Not necessarily the exact plot (since it’s bonkers), but something where Mulder and Scully have to deal with the larger Mytharc while being parents. Falling In And In by Aloysia_Virgata is the closest I’ve come to what I’m looking for. 

And just to be clear, I love fics like Terra Firma by Malibusunset and Hurricane Season by Beduini and Rah, but they aren’t quite what I’m looking for in this case. 

Thanks!!!

YES I HAVE! (Thanks for the compliments~.) I did my best sticking to this very, VERY specific niche. Some of these include Mulder left but Scully joined him later:

Mulder Doesn't Leave But the Mytharc Continues

Lapsed_Scholar's MASTERFUL fill-in series: Mulder is a stay-at-home dad during the entire events of S9 (including the cat autopsy scene.) Love this to death; and it further cemented my hatred of canonical S9, so there's that: Season 9 Rewrites and Musings - Lapsed_Scholar - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own] 

ML/ML_is_me’s (Ao3, Gossamer, DW, Invidiosa)  

Mulder is a stay-at-home dad battling the Conspiracy. Scully and their new partner get a call and drop-in from Phoebe, who is relatives with a higher-up:

1/ Project:TruthSeekers Alt Season Nine: Home Fires, Part One - ML_is_me, spookyawards_archivist - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own] Goss Gossamer | Story: "The New Truth, A Project 09x04 - Home Fires 01" by ML  

2/ Project:TruthSeekers Alt Season Nine: Home Fires, Part Two - ML_is_me, spookyawards_archivist - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own] Goss Gossamer | Story: "The New Truth, A Project 09x04 - Home Fires 02" by ML AU/INTP marvels that ISTJ tracked him down w/ Will-- Gossamer | Story: "155 Words - Thankful" by ML

@baronessblixen's short AU covers a S9 nightmare Mulder had: (53) Hate is always foolish and love is always wise on Tumblr Ao3 Just A Dream - Baroness_Blixen - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own]

@o6666666's (Ao3) 20. As we huddle together, the storm raging outside--  Untitled — 20 (tumblr.com)-- is an invasion story where Mulder and fam bunk out to escape the aliens.

jeri's (MC) fic focuses on a case Monica and Doggett bust in connection to Marita. Mulder is in the background being a stay-at-home, mentioned occasionally by Scully: Ahonis (mulderscreek.com) Goss Gossamer | Story: "Ahonis" by jeri 

@aloysiavirgata has a long series about Mulder and Scully parenting a specially-abled Will, ending with mytharc Colonization:

By Falling In and In

LiveJournal 2

LiveJournal 3

LiveJournal 4

LiveJournal 5

Other assorted S9 fics w/ dashes of By Falling In and In are:

A Heart of Star-- Mulder has bonding moments with his growing son

Elysium-- Scully has bonding moments with her son growing up

Mulder Left, Scully Joined-- Mytharc Flavored

@touchstoneaf's epic that diverges from your idea only slightly-- Mulder is on the run; but Scully hauls Will out to him with her. The series is long and beautiful, touching on their entire relationship but mostly the wounds of S8 he has yet to address. She also reforms the entire mytharc while only using tools the show's writers gave us. Stunning work:

Part 1/ Amor Fati: Destinata (The Fated Love), Act One: Desiderium (The Longing) - touchstoneaf - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own]

Part 2/ Amor Fati: Destinata (The Fated Love), Act Two: Et Perierat et Inventus Est (The Lost and the Found) - touchstoneaf - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own]

Part 3/ Amor Fati: The Fated Love, Act Three: Tres Discendens (The Leaving of the Three) - touchstoneaf - The X-Files [Archive of Our Own]

Tess (Ao3) and Jacquie LaVa's fic covers Byers escorting Scully and Will to Mulder to Christmas. Mulder convinces her to stay: xfms.xffics.com/stillstillstill.txt Goss Gossamer | Story: "Still, Still, Still" by Tess & LaVa, Jacquie 

Tess also writes about Scully being shoved back to the FBI for resources since Mulder is on the outs. The conspiracy rages on: Gossamer | Story: "The New Truth, A Project 09x00 - Prologue, A New Beginning" by Tess

ML/ML_is_me’s (Ao3, Gossamer, DW, Invidiosa) Slightly off topic-- Scully tracks Mulder down with Will in tow: Gossamer | Story: "155 Words - Thankful" by ML

Does this count? Gillian Leigh's (MC) AU diverts from canon midway? when Mulder gets a vision from his future daughter warning against the adoption. He goes back, packs up Scully, his fam, and hers, and hides out in a civilization bunker. Samantha's there, too: Visitor in the Desert (mulderscreek.com) Goss Gossamer | Story: "Visitor in the Desert" by Leigh, Gillian 

I have more; but this is long enough as it is! XDDDD

Hope these all do somethin' fer ye~!

[theemporiumreport]

Grand Opening of The Emporium Report!

Hello and Welcome to my blog!

My name is Wayn (They/Them) and I started this blog because I just wanted a place to formally store my thoughts about certain comic issues or comic events!

A little about me, I'm:

Non-Binary

21 years old

Currently in university as a Technical Theatre Major and a Creative Writing Minor.

Filpino-American!

Although I am a Creative Writing Minor, I'm really bad at grammer and overthink a lot so if I write terrible sentences, no I did not <3 :). Other than reading and thinking about comics, I love playing video games such as League of Legends (sadly) + related games, Dark Souls, Resident Evil, Bayonetta, and so much more! (I may from time to time write about these games, but that will be in the future ;)

Little more fun facts:

Favorite Food: Sushi or my mother's sisig

Favortie Musician(s): Wolf Alice, Beyonce, Doja Cat, Rina, plus my monthy music obsession (which is Janelle Monae's The Age of Pleasure)

Favorite Color: Love a good blue, purple, or red

Favorite Movie: At this moment? Across the Spider-verse (EEAO is VERY close behind)

Favorite Show: The Magicians

Now to get into my comic journey and experience!

Comic History

My first exposure to the comics, or at least superheroes, was the Fox X-Men movies! My family had the 2000's trilogy on DVD and it was the one of the only things I liked watching alongside with Spongebob and Ben 10. I would always watch these movies on loop at my father's work on those portable DVD players. Looking back, it was such a fun and simple time!

As I grew up, I watched more Marvel related media such as Ultimate Avengers (2006), Super Hero Squad, Agents of Shield, and even played Marvel Heroes Omega for years until its sad shutdown in 2017. But enough of what I watched or played, the very first comic I read was in 2014 with All New X-Men #18!

But why this particular issue? Well I purely blame Stuart Immonen and his beautiful artwork! I remember seeing this particular cover and loving the new costumes of the O5! The futuristic unitard with each person color coded was very appealing to young me! I also liked that I knew the central characters: The Original Five X-Men. I specifically loved Jean Grey and had an unhealthy crush on Scott Summers (I even read is solo series :o). But this issue is what brought me into comics and when re-reading the run today, I get great flashbacks and memories!

Now here are some personal comic fun facts:

Favorite Character(s): Illyana Rasputin (Magik), Danielle Moonstar (Mirage), Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), Ororo Munroe (Storm)

Honorable Mentions: Kwannon (Psylocke), Jean Grey, Rachel Summers (Askani), Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman), Gwen Stacy (Ghost-Spider), Miles Morales (Spider-Man), literally all the New Mutants (except Magma...)

Favorite Writer(s): Chris Claremont (past), Jonathan Hickman, Vita Ayala, Leah Williams, Steve Orlando

Favorite Artists: Russell Dauterman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kevin Wada, Kris Anka, Joshua Swaby, Sara Pichelli

Favorite Limited Comic Run: House of X (2019) by Jonathan Hickman

Favorite Issue: New Mutants #41 by Chris Claremont

What is The Emporium Report?

To elaborate more on the purpose of this blog, I just wanted a place where I can write and write and store my thoughts. Out in the real world, I don't really talk about comics as the community around me are not really fond of comics (theatre people D:). So, I made a twitter (@emporium_report) that I ramble on about comics. But, I wanted to make a full report or essay about certain issues (such as the brilliance of New Mutants #41) so I made this!

Prepare to read:

Analysis on single issues or characters

Reactions/General Thoughts on Comic Runs or Events

Personal deepdives into characters

Possible video game analysis/reactions and such

and more!

Lastly, why is it called The Emporium Report?

Well, I am a really big Scarlet Witch fan (will probably go into my history with her later) and I found her new shop in Orlando's run to be quite neat! The mystical shop is called Emporium and now this page is called The Emporium Report!

Thank you for reading all the way to the end!

I am currently looking for any comic friends so apply away! :D

But in all seriousness, thank you and I hope that I stay comitted to this page!

-Wayn.

[mazrealestate]

Invest in Your Dream Home: Luxury Villas for Sale in Fay Al Reeman, Abu Dhabi's Premier Community

The Abu Dhabi real estate market has grown steadily over the years, and investing or purchasing a luxury property is a wise decision at the moment. With years of experience in the Abu Dhabi real estate industry, Maz Real Estate provides some of the best homes for sale, such as villas in Fay Al Reeman and flats in Yas Island for sale. The above properties are ideal for those who want to live in comfort, style and the latest in modern architecture.

Why Choose Fay Al Reeman for Your Luxury Villa?

Fay Al Reeman is one of the most elite projects in Abu Dhabi and is situated in the prestigious location of the city. This elegant neighborhood is featured with a range of villas for sale to cater for the needs of families and those that seek close to nature active living. The villas are lavishly built and modern in look and feel and are characterized by enabling built-in space, superior quality interior and exterior finishes, and an integrated utility that refers to modern technology. Regarding architectural design, its primary concern is to achieve the balance of the house’s lavishness and comfort for people who live there.

Access to prominent business areas, learning institutions, hospitals, and entertainment amenities is also well done for the development. Citizens can have access to good and well-ended tilled grassed, green areas, paved ways and good, beautiful and well-tended parks with marvelous programs for relaxing and family entertainment. However, the increasing need for dwelling units in this zone proves the sound real estate market in Abu Dhabi, which is suitable for investment.

Buy Luxury Villa in Fay Al Reeman

Due to the privileges of different types of villas, you have a numerous possibility of getting 3 to 6 bedrooms in your dream house. The Buy Luxury Villa in Fay Al Reeman address the need for privacy with space and community living within the unit with extra features such as a swimming pool, gym, and round-the-clock security. Such aspects give Fay Al Reeman luxury homeowners what they seek most.

Why Apartments for Sale in Yas Island?:

Yas Island has always been one of the most elite locations in Abu Dhabi, featuring a variety of lifestyle, entertainment, and leisure activities. Among the landmarks it accommodates are Ferrari World, Yas Marina Circuit, and Yas Mall, among others, making it Strategic to both residents and tourists.

That is why, if someone decides to purchase an apartment in Abu Dhabi, Yas Island will be perfect. Apartments for Sale in Yas Island are modern and luxurious ones with views of mesmerizing waterfront, Golf courses or Yas Marina. Furnished or unfurnished, a simple one-bedroom apartment or a luxurious three-bedroom penthouse, you will find Yas Island as the perfect destination for all your residential requirements.

Market analysis of the Yas Island real estate shows that unique lifestyle opportunities and strategic access to business-sandy and leisure destinations have driven market demand. Easy accessibility and connectivity, increasing demand for short-term and extended-stay rentals, make the buying of an apartment in Yas Island a good investment and lifestyle for elites with high ROIs in the long-term rental business.

Many properties in Yas Island have modern facilities such as swimming pools, gymnasiums, spas, and quality restaurants, among others; hence, clients’ needs are met within the area. Versed in the day-to-day of Yas Island, one can indulge in the best in dining, shopping and recreation as well as leading a harmonious life in a modern integrated environment designed with future sustainability in mind.

Why Maz Real Estate?

Maz Real Estate is a well experienced and reputed real estate service provider company located in Abu Dhabi through which the client gets selected superior quality properties in the area. Our team of fifty agents has all the necessary basic experience to help clients acquire their dream homes or investment opportunities and focuses on Fay Al Reeman and Yas Island projects.

We know the need to secure a good property in today’s market, and this is why we offer tailored services to fit the needs of all our clients. Maz Real Estate is always ready to offer its services on how to purchase a villa in Fay Al Reeman or an apartment for sale in Yas Island.

Currently, the investment in villas and apartments of the luxury segment in the market of Abu Dhabi’s real estate will be more appropriate. From the abovementioned, there are so many superior opportunities in the real estate sector, and this makes Abu Dhabi among the best places for investors as well as those intending to construct houses for their accommodation.

Conclusion

Whether you want information on luxury villas for sale in Fay Al Reeman or apartments in Yas Island, Maz Real Estate is the best Abu Dhabi-based agency you can trust. We have a wide array of luxury properties and have a strong feel of the market that will help you make the right decisions when it comes to your lifestyle and investment. You can reach out to Maz Real Estate today to enable you to get the best property in the Abu Dhabi real estate market.

[genremarketing]

Box Office Winners and Losers - Spacenet TV's Analysis

After a glut of movies such as Fast X and Spider-Verse, the summer movie season began to slow down. Both Greta Gerwig's Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s atomic-bomb drama Oppenheimer two summer movies with huge budgets, did not perform. There are a few franchises that have not brought in the money neither. We profile the top performers and losers of this summer's box office. 1. The Fate of the Furious With a reported $100 million in revenue, The Fate of the Furious (aka Fast & Furious 8) was able to frighten away rivals and is now nearing the point of overtaking Beauty and the Beast for the top domestic film of the year. The film also set records on the international market. In China, it opened with $190 million -- the highest ever opening for this series. It's predicted to be among the fastest films to cross $1 billion worldwide in 2017. 2. Spider-Man Far Away From Home Spider-Man: Far From Home is a Marvel Studios release that opened on Wednesday and lasted 6 days (Wednesday-Monday), reenergized the viewers after a tough summer. The sequel exceeded the previous record of its predecessor in a big way. Tom Holland returns as the wise-cracking web-slinger from a film which sees him join Nick Fury and Mysterio on an educational trip to Europe. This is set to be the very first Sony MCU film to reach the threshold of $1 billion globally. 3. Avengers: Endgame

The Avengers come together following the events of Infinity War to reverse Thanos’s actions and save their world. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America Chris Evans, Black Widow Scarlett Johansson and Thor Chris Hemsworth are the survivors. Endgame's anticipation was intense and the anticipation paid off since the movie set records on its opening weekend. The film is also predicted to reach $2 billion in the world this is something no other film has ever accomplished. 4. The LEGO Movie 2 - The Second Part The first Lego Movie was released in 2014. It was heralded as an enthralling animation that changed the game, a frenetic and free-wheeling burst of energy which fought against the cynicism inherent to the film genre. The sequel is much the same that heavily draws on the after-school special feelings. While it's a decent film, it has some disappointing moments. 5. The Lego Batman Movie The Lego Batman Movie dominated the President's Day long weekend. Will Arnett stars as the billionaire superhero who defends Gotham City against crime. It has now earned $107.1 million on the American market. Both Fist Fight & The Great Wall were not up to the mark. They are not expected to challenge for top spot next week. Hidden Figures and Split are in good shape. 6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been a huge hit for Disney. The sequel to JJ Arams' Force Awakens has joined the exclusive group of 32 films that have reached the $1 billion mark. The film will soon beat Beauty and the Beast, which was the most viewed film released in the year 2017. Despite the fact that it polarized some fans, Episode VIII was a big success for the franchise. 7. The Lego Movie 2 - The Second Part The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part made $34.4 million in the last weekend to top the box office. The film fell short of Warner Bros. and tracking services' projections. The sequel was a massive success but it lost some of the appeal that the first film possessed. This could explain why the movie wasn't quite as popular. 8. The Lego Batman Movie The original Lego Movie is a huge success. It was an absolute blast, even though it did not receive the same scores as its Pixar rival (a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.8 on IMDB). It's unfortunate that this sequel doesn't seem quite as entertaining. Perhaps it's over saturation and there are two spinoffs that have been out (The Lego Batman Movie and The Lego Ninjago Movie) Or maybe the public weren't keen on seeing any more from this series. 9. The Lego Batman Movie 2 The Lego Batman Movie 2 The Second Part Warner Bros.'s animated sequel fell short in its attempt at appealing to older audiences, as it did with its predecessor. Fifty Shades Darker & John Wick 2 were able to fend off the competition of Warner Bros. Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks, Rosario Dawson, and Zach Galifianakis all return as voice actors. The theme of the film is that optimism can be a positive force for good. 10. The Lego Batman Movie After the commercial and critical popularity of The Lego Movie, Warner Bros. was quick to begin planning another sequel. The movie, however, never happened. Chris Pratt is joined by Elizabeth Banks and Zach Galifianakis in the film. Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph are also in the film. Mike Mitchell directed this movie which was based on a screenplay written by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Its premise was a dramatic tale of The Godfather Part II and Boogie Nights that teaches Batman the importance of friendship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1JT4WD3IOQ

[myfrenzi]

OTT Platforms and the Art of Personalization: How They Recommend Content

OTT Platforms and the Art of Personalization: How They Recommend Content — What to Watch on OTT”

In the ever-expanding universe of online streaming, OTT (Over-The-Top) platforms have not only redefined how we consume content but have also mastered the art of personalization. Imagine a streaming service that understands your tastes, preferences, and moods, and serves up exactly what you want to watch. In this blog, we’ll delve into the captivating world of OTT platform personalization, exploring how they recommend content tailored just for you. Plus, we’ll provide you with a list of “What to Watch on OTT” for an emotionally enriching viewing experience.

I. The Power of Personalization The cornerstone of OTT platforms’ success lies in their ability to offer personalized content recommendations. This isn’t just about suggesting movies and shows; it’s about understanding your unique preferences, viewing history, and even your mood at a given moment.

Personalization is driven by a combination of sophisticated algorithms, user behavior analysis, and content tagging. Here’s how it works:

User Profiles: When you create an account on an OTT platform, you provide information about your preferences and interests. This helps build a user profile.

Viewing History: OTT platforms track what you watch, how long you watch, and when you watch it. They analyze this data to understand your tastes.

Content Tags: Each piece of content is tagged with various descriptors, such as genre, mood, theme, and more. These tags help the platform categorize and recommend content effectively.

II. Understanding Your Viewing Behavior To provide personalized recommendations, OTT platforms employ sophisticated algorithms that take into account various factors:

Collaborative Filtering: This technique analyzes the behavior of users with similar tastes. If you enjoyed a movie, the platform will recommend other movies liked by viewers who also enjoyed the same film.

Content-Based Filtering: This approach focuses on the specific attributes of content you’ve already watched. For example, if you frequently watch romantic comedies, the platform will recommend similar movies.

Machine Learning: OTT platforms continuously learn from your viewing patterns and adapt recommendations over time. They may also factor in external data like reviews and trends.

FAQs about Personalization:

How do OTT platforms protect my data when personalizing content recommendations?

OTT platforms take data privacy seriously and use encryption and strict security measures to safeguard user information.

Why do recommendations sometimes feel repetitive?

Recommendations can become repetitive if your viewing habits are consistent. To diversify recommendations, explore different genres and content.

III. What to Watch on OTT Now that we’ve explored the mechanics of personalization, let’s dive into some fantastic recommendations across various genres, showcasing the power of OTT platform algorithms:

Drama: “Breaking Bad” (Netflix) — A high-stakes crime drama that delves into the transformation of a chemistry teacher into a ruthless drug lord.

Comedy: “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime Video) — A witty and heartwarming series about a housewife turned stand-up comedian in the 1950s.

Fantasy: “Game of Thrones” (HBO Max) — A sprawling epic set in a fantasy world with intricate politics, magic, and dragons.

Science Fiction: “Stranger Things” (Netflix) — A nostalgic sci-fi thriller set in the 1980s, featuring supernatural mysteries and a group of kids.

Documentary: “Our Planet” (Netflix) — A visually stunning documentary series narrated by Sir David Attenborough, exploring the beauty of the natural world.

IV. The Future of Personalization The art of personalization on OTT platforms is an ever-evolving field. As technology advances and user data becomes more refined, we can expect even more accurate and engaging recommendations. This means more emotionally resonant content tailored to your preferences.

Conclusion: OTT platforms have turned the act of finding what to watch into a personalized, emotionally enriching experience. By understanding your viewing behavior and preferences, they bring stories and characters that resonate with you right to your screen.

In this blog, we’ve explored the fascinating world of personalization on OTT platforms, revealing how they recommend content tailored just for you. As you continue your streaming journey, embrace the magic of personalization, and let the algorithms introduce you to new stories and experiences. Discover, indulge, and savor the emotional connection that comes with watching precisely what you love.

[elysianslove]

HI FOR THE DICK ANALYSIS CAN U START WITH JJK PLSS SJSJSJ btw i love your blog sm. thank you for making my day better <3

—🧢 (i hope no one have claimed this emoji yet)

HVSJSJD ABSOLUTELY YES I CAN also i love YOU so much mwah <3 and no it’s not taken!! it’s yours now <3

anyways let’s get into w the unrealistic dick analysissss <3 while writing this i deadass was like “so hm should i mention what their cum would taste like” i hate myself 

could i have said more? yes. did i want to spare you guys and my dignity? yes. 

JJK DICK ANALYSIS

starting off with our mc, itadori yuuji

fat cock. fat! cock! it’s around 6.5 inches, but god, there’s so much girth he needs to prep you for forever before you can take him. very veiny too, with a slight curve to the right, and the head flushes so pink when he’s fully hard. it’s just so thick and heavy and feels so good in your hand when you stroke him. inside of you?? holy shit. never used to shave, but once he got an s/o, he started to trim so that it’s tolerable. so kind of him <3 and he has the sexiest happy trail ever. literally so hot, especially when it peaks from his shirt. took him a while to learn how to use a cock as thick as his tbh, but it’s so big that even if he messily fucks into you he’ll leave you braindead. also need to point that yuuji cums like so much. an unbelievable amount. dick looks so good all wet and messy though mwah 

fushiguro megumi

pretty fucking dick. it’s so pretty. so pretty. bit on the longer side, at around 6.9 inches <333 but it’s a skinny dick. hits all the right spots though. it’s so pretty y’all. pale all along and a dark pink tip, not very veiny, but curves a little to the left. the tip is generally sensitive, but he’s just extra sensitive. like the moment he slips inside of you and your walls tighten around his tip he’s ready to bust. loves it when you suck on it then blow and it’s all cold, he just full on shivers it’s beautiful. clean shaven, always. before, with, and after an s/o. he just feels so much cleaner and put together, and becomes he adores deep throating, he doesn’t wanna inconvenience his s/o like that. get you a thoughtful guy like megumi <3 

gojō satoru

i hate this man. he’s like a 7.2 inches and acts like he’s 10 inches. but to be fair, he really does know how to use it. it’s a little tanner than the rest of his body, which is suspicious. do you tan your dick gojō? knowing him he probably does. golden, light pink head, and doesn’t curve at all. just like slaps straight up against his stomach. clean shaven, but he does it to like??? prove a point??? it’s pretty, i’ll admit, has some girth to it too. relatively veiny as well, but nothing that stands out too much. oozes out so much precum when he’s aroused, like ok damn???  but trust, he’ll really know how to make you feel good. also, need to add that gojō definitely flexes his dick at you just cause he can. like makes it bob up and down and twitch. hate him. 

ryomen sukuna

okay so i know he technically shares a body with yuuji but for the sake of this analysis. he is— my god, i. good luck like, not dying. 15 inches 8.5 inches? give or take :) so fucking thick, and is a darkish, fair color all along his dick, and is a dark, dark pink/mauve at the head. so fucking veiny, like you can feel it when he’s inside of you. doesn’t shave lol. to be fair, he doesn’t want you to shave either, but like he won’t stop you if you do. don’t expect him to though. makes you deep throat him and pushes your head down and all, the audacity. cums so much it’s scary. if cum inflation was legit it’d be sukuna’s main thing. 

nanami kentō

big, fat, long. all of it. bigger than gojō’s. he’s like a 7.6 inches and god does he put every single inch to use. tip flushes an angry red when he’s properly horny. the way he fucks you feel him in your guts, for real. it’s just so fat, and it fills you up so deep. perfect dick. not clean shaven, but it’s not unnecessarily messy either. he likes making you cream around him and marveling at that ring of cum around his cock. and speaking of, he cums so much, and it’s so thick too. anyways. can’t fuck nanami kentō and not cry because of how overwhelmed you are. thank you, moving on. 

getō suguru 

AH. GOD. monster cock. it’s like 8 inches pls. doesn’t he look like an 8 inches. tell me he doesn’t. is that even realistic. who cares? he’s 8 inches. it’s longer than it is thick, though, but trust, you’ll feel him in your guts. flushed, dark, pink head, relatively pale all throughout, and curves a little to the right. never preps you because he’s an asshole i guess? also never shaves, sometimes, if he’s feeling generous, trims, and has a lovely happy trail leading down. dick looks gorgeous when it’s all wet and glossy <333 

inumaki toge 

another insanely pretty dick. like the moment you tug his pants down you just gasp ‘cause wtf it’s gorgeous? very pale, light pink and flushed head, always oozing precum. not veiny at all, and curves to the right. he’s not longer than he is thicker, neither is he thicker than he is longer. justttt right, at 6.4 inches. knows how to use it. angles it perfectly when he’s fucking you. also clean shaven! absolutely! it’s the least he could do, you know. incredible orgasm control to the point that his dick’s always teetering on a purpling head, all for you though <3 

fushiguro toji

another monster cock. like around 7.7/7.8 inches, relatively thick, and another one who’s tip gets a dark red when he’s hard. likes to get himself ready for you by deep throating you and coating his dick with your spit. honestly, in his defense, his dick does look gorgeous like that. not too veiny. there’s one or two that are prominent, maybe. not clean shaven. maybe if you like bully him into doing it something he might. threaten him with no sex! his dick is so hefty and heavy though, like it’s just thangin’ when he’s in sweats. i just know he goes commando. ugh, dilf <3 

[averagewriter-inthedark]

The Wedding of Prince Loki & Lady Stark | Marvel HC

link to my marvel Masterlist

Loki marrying Tony’s sister would look like:

Tony had choked on his drink when he found out his younger sister was dating the God of Mischief so you can imagine he was two seconds from a heart attack when it was announced you two were engaged.

Thor was ecstatic, lifting Tony in his arms in celebration. “Stark we’re gonna be brothers!! How fantastic!” “I think I’m gonna pass out point break—please put me down.”

The rest of the team were happy for you two—saying congratulations with hugs and all that jazz. Much to your surprise, Tony hosted an engagement party at the compound despite still wrapping his head around the news. “A party? Really, Tony?” “C’mon sis—I might not be your boos biggest fan, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate!”

When it came time to plan, you’re bridal party consisted of Pepper, Natasha, Wanda, some of your close friends with little Morgan as the flower girl. Tony actually cried when you asked him to walk you down the aisle, wipping his face while mumbling, “I’d be honored, sugar plum.” You made a mental note to have his chair at the wedding to have a box of tissues.

You and Loki decided to have wedding in Norway with a combination of Asgardian & Midgard traditions. Tony wanted to pay for everything but you refused saying he can only help with certain things. Given you had a good income being a tech analysis & professor for MIT, there was no need to lean on Tony for funding when you and Loki were well equipped. Plus Loki was a prince, so that helped greatly.

The wedding was held outside in a beautiful wooded area that was decorated to the nines. Thankfully the weather held up so sunshine lasted all day until it set.

Loki had to wipe his eyes when they met yours. You looked absolutely breathtaking—like a true goddess who was to become his queen. Your dress truly captured your beauty and made you radiate under the glowing sun peaking through the woods.

All the Avengers were present, as were the guardians & what remained of Asgard. Pepper was your maid of honor and walked with Morgan—the young girl throwing the rose petals with excitement. Thor was Loki’s best man, the man having to hide his face cause he was crying during the vows like Tony was. He was the loudest to cheer when you two sealed your bond with a kiss.

Thor also was in charge of running the bar—which the God had a grand time of doing. He even made you a special cocktail when you approached, toasting to you with “To my new sister!! Welcome to the family, Lady Stark—or should I say Lady Odinson.”

You and Tony had a ‘brother/sister’ dance considering your dad was not present. It was a heartfelt moment between the two of you, on where you had glossy eyes as you swayed to the music in the comfort of your brothers arms. “Thank you, Tony. For everything.” “I’d do it all again for you, sweet pea. I’m so proud of you—and I’m happy for you. Truly.”

Tony & Thor stood beside each other when you and Loki had your first dance—the two passing a handkerchief to remove the tears. Both were filled with emotion seeing their younger siblings find love—and in each other nonetheless.

The party was in full swing after that with everyone dancing, chatting, drinking and celebrating. You had danced nearly all the guys like Thor, Steve, Sam, and Bucky and even shared a dance with Peter and Harley when an upbeat song came on. Loki danced with the several of the girls including Pepper, Nat, and Wanda—where some of the words exchanged were threats if he every were to hurt you. The God even twirled around Morgan while she danced between the two of you.

When the night came to an end and it was time for goodbyes, you exchanged another hug and cheek kiss with Tony. “I love you, bro. I’ll call you when we land, okay?” “Sounds good sis, be safe now and I just don’t mean traveling,” the wink was enough implication causing you to swat at his chest playfully. “Hey, I’m ready to be an uncle but—.” “Tony…”

As you two drove off to your honeymoon after being bombarded with cheers, hugs, kisses and flying rice, the man of Iron with his super powered team waved off in glee as the Prince from Asgard with glorious purpose & the Lady from Midgard with a talent for technology sailed off to their happily ever after.

[blzzrdstryr]

Galatea

Yandere(?) Albedo x gn!reader

Wordcount: 2410

CW: Panic attacks, hallucinations, slight dehumanization.

...and his creation was so beautiful: silent and non judgemental, pure and demure, it would endure any of his whims of love and passion.

Albedo looks calm as usual as he scoops the honey from the beehive, even though he doesn’t wear any protection; Bees are angrily buzzing nearby, but otherwise not attacking him. It would look strange to you if you didn’t know the answer: insects are not real. The alchemist created them, turning pure slabs of carbon, water and organic matter into tiny fuzzy bodies, as you watched the scene with wide eyes, one moment and a non-living becomes living. He commented on the whole process and while you tried your best to listen to him there were so many scientific terms and jargons in his speech that after some time you zoned out, preferring to observe the birth of insects instead.

There are bones and flesh and organs growing and fusing together. They writhe and convulse as blood starts to fill them. Whose body is it?

“Is this for examination too?”, you remember that Albedo was collecting honey several days ago, albeit in much lesser quantities, and when you asked what the alchemist was doing, he said it was for comparative analysis.

“Well, you could say that” alchemist looks at the full jar and closes the lid, “Previous analysis showed that this honey has the same compounds as the natural one in the same proportions and isn’t dangerous for consumption”. You nod, urging him to continue - even though Albedo isn’t the chattiest person, you noticed how talkative he becomes when you ask him for explanations.

“Smell and taste are usually dependent on the composition, but there is always a place for exceptions, so I decided to conduct another experiment, one that needs your help”

You raise eyebrows - alchemist, despite actually enjoying your company, usually didn’t disclose much of his work :“Is that so? How can I help?”

Small smile appears on his lips, subtle and controlled, “I want you to taste it”. He looks happy.

You have seen that smile long before. You can’t remember where.

You hate sweets, but there's something stopping you from declining. It's bone-deep and chilling, woven into every fiber of your flesh. You can’t get out the needed words, even if you wanted, with your lips somehow shutting tight at the mere thought. There's something stopping you from saying "no" to Albedo and you assume it's gratitude.

***

The honey turns out to be as sickly sweet as the one from the real bees. You frown, as you take another sip of tea, trying to wash down the saccharine taste from the tongue. Albedo sits in front of you and scribes something in his notebook, throwing occasional glances at you from time to time.

“It seems that we’ll need to keep this secret from Klee” you muse, no longer tasting the nectar on your tongue.

“Why so?” he asks, still writing - his handwriting is too small for you to see from this distance. You could stretch your neck to have a better glimpse, but it would be rude to do, so you refrain, curiosity still nipping at you.

“Well, you know what a big sweet tooth she is, and if she learns that your bees don’t sting...”

“But they do sting, just not me”.

“Why?”

“Bees were created with my will, so they just can’t. It’s against the nature of alchemical creation to oppose its creator”

You hum, processing the new information and guessing how far he would teach you that in your own alchemy lessons. You are far behind Sucrose or Timaeus in your studies, still stuck on basics, but Kreideprinz doesn't look displeased or bored with you. In contrast, mentoring you is something he really likes, judging by the rare smiles he allows himself to show. He proposed to teach you one day and you couldn't find it in yourself to turn him down.

You thought it was strange at first how the recluse seemed to favour you, but then as you familiarized yourself with a man you realized that he liked all things unseen and unheard before and your selective amnesia must be the one.

There are large gaps in your memory, but you can remember some small moments - peeking into a cave and plunging deeper into a forest out of curiosity, spending hours in the library, completely captivated by the book before you, feeling satisfied from finally solving an advanced math problem.

None of the memories include people.

It's an identity forming memories, Albedo theorized when you shared your concerns, experiences shape who we are, [First], and maybe that's why you retained them, they define you.

Were you as reclusive as him then?

A bit later you see what Albedo was drawing: a familiar bird and decapitated head. You are disturbed - how does he know my dreams?

***

Mondstadtians are weird, it’s the first time you leave Albedo’s lab and side, deciding to take a quick stroll around the city and look around. Some look at you with wide eyes, as if you just grew a second head before their eyes, some shamelessly whisper things to each other.

The knight that was assigned to look after you for the duration of the walk is no better than them. He also treats you like some sort of oddity, with all that persistent glances and hesitancy to interact with you.

What kind of person old you were to prompt such a reaction?

Walking along the streets of the city you can't remember any of it. Books that mentioned amnesia and other memory related issues stated that visiting once familiar places can help with overall recollection. Walking along the streets of the city you can't recollect any of it, memories slipping past your fingers like water.

You can’t remember the blue cloudless sky above, or the deep clear lake of the same shade or the gentlest breezes playing with your hair. You can’t recall the bright red roof tiles, or the giant windmills that dwarf other buildings, or the statue of the anemo archont overseeing the city. You can't think of once being among the other idle citizens, of praying and worshipping Barbatos, of participating in the windtrace or Ludi Harpastum. There’s emptiness where a familiarity should be, a dull ache rotting and festering at the back of your mind - I don’t belong here, I never did.

You don’t feel like a part of Mondstadt, not even a single part of you does. There’s an invisible yet unbreakable wall separating you from other people. You can smile and chat and be all polite and nice, yet there’s always a certain coldness and caution others treat you with. You want to be both accepted and left alone, feel loved yet be distant enough to avoid any emotional hurt.

Of course, there are people who managed to get close to you - Albedo and Klee, with the former one being your official caretaker and mentor and the latter being as bright as the Sun, you doubt there’s anyone that couldn’t fall under little girl’s charms, except acting Grandmaster Jean.

That must be why you act so warm towards them, why you decide to bare your soul and feelings towards them, no matter how scary it can be. That’s why you play with Klee, engaging her in less destructive entertainment than the fish blasting and that is why you never refuse Albedo in any of his requests, be it a quick walk on a sunny day or assistance in his experiments.

***

A familiar dream.

You see a giant owl, it's yellow eyes piercing right through you. It's a majestic creature, with snow white fluffy feathers and razor sharp talons. Bird looks at you with all knowing eyes, and then spreads its wings, soundlessly flying in your direction. You dodge it, still marvelling at its grace, as the bird continues its way to the giant head laying behind you.

You turn back still tracing the bird's flight, eyes then turning to the bodiless head. It has the face of an aged man with wise eyes, it's lips move silently chanting. There's something hypnotizing in the chant - listen to me and you will now, listen to me and I will tell you, listen to me and you will learn things that he doesn’t want you to know.

You take a step, hand outstretched to touch it. It burns your skin, and the world around you darkens, all sounds stop and soon enough darkness consumes the bodiless head too, leaving you all alone.

A memory comes.

You're absolutely naked and shivering with Albedo hovering above you. He says something but you can’t understand the words, liquid(?) in your eyes and ears. You hear Sucrose and Timaeus in the background too and how excited they sound.

You turn your head, catching the sight of slabs of pure carbon, bottles of water, pieces of lime and ammonia solution and the rest of organic and inorganic matter lying around you.

There are no thoughts and feelings - you are nothing but an empty vessel that needs to be filled.

"Timaeus, bring the blanket" It's Albedo's voice, “Sucrose, check.. [First]’s temperature. I will observe them”

“[First]?”

“It’s a fitting name”

The memory ends. You wake up.

***

You wake up to Albedo sitting near your bed. It's not a rare occurrence with him frequently checking up on your health, but the memories of previous dreams make you almost jump when you see his silhouette again.

"Uhm, hello?" you still sound husky from sleep.

"Apologies for coming here, I heard your whimpers and decided to check if everything was alright". His face looks as impassive as ever, but there's a concerned tone in his voice. He must be extremely worried then.

"I..” you start but then trail off, unsure what to say. Is the revelation that you dreamt even true? Aside from the strange coincidence and sense of isolation that loomed over you, becoming a bit unbearable with each day, you had nothing to prove your nonsensical conclusion: you are not real.

“I saw a dream, of me lying among the lime and carbon and water” Albedo gives you an intense stare, eyes and expression completely unreadable: “it wasn’t just a dream, was it?”

A moment passes and then another and you feel even more stupid with each second to just come to that conclusion, not to mention saying it outloud. And then the most unexpected thing happens: Albedo nods.

“Yes, yes it happened to you” he suddenly sounds tired, as if he admitted a dark, dark secret, that it arguably is. A shock goes through you, as you start to gasp for air - it’s one thing to speculate and guess, it’s completely different to hear a confirmation.

You can’t exactly remember what happens next - you think you broke down right there and then, as alchemist awkwardly tried to comfort you. He was explaining how and why he created you - he thought that your creation would give him answers he was looking for, solve his internal conflict, and then he started to wonder how different artificial life is from the natural one and that’s why he decided to give you memories.

It was hard at first, he says, to push back the existing ones back and replace them with new. Make you believe that you were born too. Memories were his favourite thing to do, he had a theory you see, that people are majorly products of their environment, and he wanted to prove that with you. That’s why he decided to mold you into a person with traits he usually finds valuable.

In the end you found yourself nursing a hot tea mug with a few drops of calming concoction dissolved in it. Albedo is lingering around in his own disquieted fashion, as you rethink your whole life - can it even be called a life anymore?

You glance at the alchemist fretting around you, frowning, and unsure what to do, the warmth and happiness you felt upon seeing him replaced by disappointment and confusion. Albedo isn't the one who you thought him to be, Archons, you're not the one who you thought yourself to be!

Suddenly the way all others interacted you became crystal clear - they treated you like oddity because you were one. You remember Klee and how she always seemed to love calling you her "bestest special friend". No way they don't know of your origin. No way they will ever treat you like a person.

There's an ache when you think about Klee also turning away from you; She is a sunshine personified right now, spreading her kindness and enthusiasm without even trying, but who knows what will happen once she grows up, will she have a problem with her peers because of you, or she'll adopt the general public's opinion of you? The thought is almost enough to send you into a crying fit again. You want to run far away.

"I want to travel" you finally say, there's no way you can integrate into society when everyone knows what you are and will always see it before who you are. You want to run away and start anew somewhere far, so the rumors will never reach that place and no one will look at you with that wide eyed stare again. You say what you think about this whole situation.

"Please, don't" he says and you of course stop, legs no longer listening to you, "I understand you are distressed right now, but running away isn't the solution"

"But I will never be able to truly connect with anyone, they know it, of my birth, right? The whole city knows about it, right?"

"I know that you want to feel loved, I… We are the same - before your creation I felt the same loneliness, I couldn't bond with anyone save for Klee, but interacting with you was far more pleasant than expected. Relationships are needlessly tiring and I never understood why people focused on them so much, yet now, looking at you I can understand them. I love you, [First], you are perfect".

You still again, now stunted by his words and sudden love confession. It's all so sudden and strange and confusing and you are too tired and too shocked to deal with this, so you decide to distance yourself. "I can't love you in return"

"But you will"

"Why do you think that?"

"It's against your nature to oppose me in anything"

Note: Galatea is an ivory statue created by Pygmalion, who later fell in love with it. The head in reader's dream is decapitated Mimir, a figure in Norse mythology who is known for his knowledge and wisdom. His decapitated head was reciting secret knowledge and giving counsel to Odin.

[zalrb]

General TV Masterlist

I’ve been asked to do this a couple of times so, alas.This barely covers all of the content on my blog but it’s a start. No direct TVD posts are on here because I have two separate masterlists dedicated specifically to TVD. MUST USE THE MOBILE APP TO CLICK ON THE LINKS. Enjoy.

The Borgias

In-depth Breakdown of the Cesare and Lucrezia timeline

Cesare and Lucrezia + The torture of “I manage to forget you”

Cesare and Lucrezia + The Unholy Family Kiss

Cesare and Lucrezia and their inability to abstain from their connection

Why Cesare and Lucrezia have the chemistry (and dynamic) other ships lack

The details that make up Cesare and Lucrezia’s dynamic

Cesare and Lucrezia in 3x09 - what are Lucrezia’s frustrations?

Cesare and Lucrezia in 3x08 - the bed scene

Cesare’s relationship to Ursula and how that relates to Lucrezia

Favourite Cesare and Lucrezia moments before season 3

Let’s talk about “You spent a lifetime pulling away from me”

What happened immediately after Cesare and Lucrezia gave in?

Let’s talk about Lucrezia’s smile after the kiss

How would Lucrezia react after Alfonso’s death?

Was Lucrezia jealous of Cesare getting married?

Did Lucrezia always want what Cesare provided?

What are my favourite Cesare moments?

Cesare and Lucrezia + Jon and Sansa

Cesare and Lucrezia + Jon and Sansa Pt. 2

Merlin

When do I think Merlin and Arthur fell in love?

Can we PLEASE talk about this Merthur argument?

Let’s talk about Arthur’s love for Merlin

What do Merlin and Arthur love most about each other?

Do I think other characters see the Merthur devotion?

Why I think people love Merthur so much

Moments I love between Merlin and Arthur

Do I think Arthur marvels at Merlin’s devotion?

The beautiful pain of this Merthur moment

What’s great and not so great about 5x03, The Death of Uther Pendragon

Why I love 3x08 for Merthur

Overall favourite Merthur scenes

What do I think about Merlin not telling Arthur about his magic?

How did I want the Merlin magic reveal to go?

Yeah, I kind of do feel like this moment was OOC for Arthur

Merthur and Dair parallels part 2

Favourite funny Merthur moments

CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT GWENCELOT AND THEIR CHEMISTRY?

The nature of Gwencelot’s relationship

Why Arthur and Gwen are only adequate in the face of Merthur and Gwencelot

Why Arwen are only adequate in the face of Merthur and Gwencelot Part 2

Favourite Colin Morgan acting scenes

Saddest moments in Merlin

Acting on Merlin in general

Star Trek Disco

Ash and Michael are soulmates

Let’s breakdown Ash and Michael

Ashburn details

Ash and Michael analysis

Gossip Girl

Dan and Blair were not an uneven relationship part 1

Dan and Blair were not an uneven relationship part 2

So can we talk about how Dair does the “just gets under my skin” dynamic well?

Dan is the one who got through to Blair from season 1

I would’ve just continued Dair down their trajectory if I’d written the show

Dair and Rufly parallels

Dan understood Blair in a way Chuck didn’t, sorry.

Chair were not compatible, sorry.

How Dair’s build-up kind of mirror PJo’s (even though they’re better than Pjo)

The way Chuck saw Blair and the way Dan saw Blair

Why Chair worked in ways DE didn’t

When did I stop shipping Chair?

I don’t ship Chair but here are some moments I liked

I don’t ship Chair but here are some moments I liked part 2

I don’t ship Chair but here are some moments I liked part 3

Derena had the chemistry but they were really boring

Let’s talk about “toxicity” and Derena

I don’t feel bad for Serena in the Derena relationship

Let’s talk about the chemistry Serenate actually has

Why the Non-Judging Breakfast Club Chemistry worked

Gossip Girl cast chemistry

Romantic chemistry in Gossip Girl

Gossip Girl and TVD Part 1

Gossip Girl and TVD Part 2

The acting on Gossip Girl

subcategory rewatch:

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/search/gg%20rewatch

Game of Thrones

subcategory: here is why Sansa is a badass:

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184463381555/what-do-you-think-of-sansas-character-overall-and

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184485128465/hey-zal-whats-your-take-on-the-idea-that-sansa

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184787962300/im-not-tryna-sht-on-sansa-i-just-have-a

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184790549330/agree-with-the-other-anon-sansa-is-being-a-ruler

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184795134250/about-sansa-trusting-littlefinger-dd-made-it-so

subcategory: here is why Daenerys fucking sucks:

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184904471095/all-im-saying

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184853496740/ngl-i-was-buying-into-the-whole-from-broodmare-to

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184840125235/this-show-destroyed-a-great-female-character

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184520049955/if-dany-was-as-badpower-hungry-as-you-make-her

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184877853720/i-love-a-good-sinking-into-darkness-storyline

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184840501265/honestly-i-just-need-people-to-think-about-how

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/185014765100/ok-so-heres-the-thing

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184865405700/jon-giving-dany-side-eye-for-killing-a-traitor-and

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184877199065/im-seeing-all-these-posts-and-think-pieces-about

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184929658705/how-do-you-feel-now-with-all-of-the-dany-fans

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184844802580/waste-to-armies-and-cities-not-civilians-she

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184842946410/your-opinion-on-dany-would-sound-more-fair-and

subcategory: Jonsa

Favourite Jonsa moment

Jonsa’s ending in GoT

Jonsa has chemistry, Jonerys does not

Jonerys does not have chemistry, sorry

The particulars of Jonsa chemistry

Kit and Sophie being compelling together onscreen

Jon’s chemistry with Sansa and with Ygritte

No reason, I just like them

The Jonsa sigh

subcategory: anti-Jonerys

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/183836691480/i-love-that-youre-analyzing-got-now-what-did

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/185014765100/ok-so-heres-the-thing

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184840156895/so-are-we-going-to-talk-about-the-fact-that

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184193677165/jon-shes-not-her-father-jon-didnt-she-just

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184785648735/your-got-opinions-are-pathetic-the-viserys-scene

subcategory: general

Game of Thrones ships with chemistry

Favourite GoT moments but mentions of chemistry between scene partners

Ranking of GoT characters

The writing for Jon is ugh

subcategory: unpopular opinions

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184878384405/is-it-just-me-or-was-cersei-and-jaimes-death

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/182696102600/i-know-you-preferred-jaime-as-an-asshole-but-what

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184842885080/i-feel-like-people-are-being-over-dramatic-about

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/184774433485/the-jamexbrenne-sex-scene-was-soooo-dry-and

The Handmaid’s Tale

Let’s talk about 4x10

Nick and June in 3x03

June’s unconditional love for Nick

Nick and June’s cosmic communication

Fanvids showing the differences between Nick and Luke

The intimacy of Nick and June’s jokes

When I knew I’d ship Nick and June

Fred deluded himself into thinking he is to June what Nick is to June

Can we please talk about Nick’s expression in 4x10?

Let’s talk about Nick and June’s kiss in 4x09

Breakdown of Luke’s suggestion for June to see Nick in 4x09

The fundamental breakage of Nick and Luke’s marriage

Nuances of June’s message to Luke Part 1

Nuances of June’s message to Luke Pt. 2

June and Luke’s reunion

June and Luke’s reunion part 2

June’s expression when she sees Luke on the bridge

Analysis on Nick and June in 4x02

BRIDGE KISS

Why did Nick fall in love with June?

Nick and June heartwarming moments

Why I ship Nick and June after Nick saw Luke

Analysis on Nick and June snow kiss

Describe Nick and June’s relationship

Underrated Nick and June moments

Analysis of Nick and June in 2x02

Nick and June + their lovers’ quarrel

One Tree Hill

Brooke and Lucas absolutely had depth

Favourite Brucas moments  

Why Brucas is organic in season 2

Favourite Brucas season

Did I buy Lucas’ reason for keeping Peyton’s stuff in his room?

The difference between Brucas and Naley chemistry

Brucas vs Leyton gifset

Favourite Underrated Brucas scene

Outside factors played into the way Brucas ended up

Brucas in season 1

Brucas’ chemistry vs. Leyton’s lack of chemistry

Does Jeyton from OTH have chemistry?

Brucas chemistry vs. Brulian chemistry

Jeyton and Forwood

Teen Wolf

Favourite Scott and Kira moments

Why the Scira rain kiss works and Damon and Elena’s doesn’t

This is what I love about Scira

Did I ship Scott and Allison?

Favourite Stiles and Malia moments

Do I ship Scira or Scallison and do I ship Stalia or Stydia? Why?

The Stalia development wasn’t traditional but it was certainly there

Stalia actually was developed, sorry

Stalia had chemistry, sorry

You know who wasn’t developed? Stydia.

When did I know I’d ship Stalia?

Dylan’s best acting in Teen Wolf

Teen Wolf is highly stylized which is why certain things work on the show

Legit, Jackson and Lydia were awful but that chemistry...

Dawson’s Creek

Why I prefer Pacey and Andie over Pacey and Joey

Pacey and Andie were Pacey and Joey BEFORE Pacey and Joey

Pacey and Andie were Pacey and Joey BEFORE Pacey and Joey Part 2

Unpopular opinion: Season 4 PJo were not more mature than season 2 DJ

What kind of chemistry do Pacey and Joey have?

Pacey and Andie in the future

There are holes in the PJ dynamic

Just because y’all hate DJ doesn’t mean that they didn’t have chemistry

DJ has a lot of issues but people purposefully misinterpret them

Kdramas

Kdrama recommendations (will be updated regularly)

Protective male characters (mostly kdrama men)

Why do I like kdramas so much?

The details in Goblin

Favourite Eun Tak and Shin scene in Goblin

Why I love Eun Tak and Shin in Goblin + Other Ships

Goblin and the age difference

Dong Man and Ae Ra in Fight For My Way

Jin Ah and Joon Hee in Something in the Rain

Hwi and Seon-ho are the loves of each other’s lives in My Country

Favourite thing about Crash Landing On You

Crash Landing On You

How CLOY enforces kdrama tropes but also makes them fresh

Episode 6 of CLOY

Yumi’s Cells

Coffee Prince

I like both Seojun and Suho in True Beauty and wish it was poly and not a triangle

I like both Seojun and Suho and wish it was poly and not a triangle Part 2

I like both Seojun and Suho and wish it was poly and not a triangle Part 3

Seojun is not a better person than Suho in True Beauty Part 1

Seojun is not a better person than Suho in True Beauty

Not a proper love triangle in True Beauty

Young Hoon and Shin in Are You Human Too?

The use of “we” in Are You Human Too?

The triangle in Start Up is unnecessary

Parallels between kdrama couples I like and Stelena

Bro, I did NOT care about Extraordinary You

The King Eternal Monarch was a mess, sorry

An issue with Sky Castle

I thought Come and Hug Me would ruin my life but it didn’t

I couldn’t get into Come and Hug Me

The OC

Ryan and Marissa were not toxic

Favourite Ryan and Marissa scenes

Ryan and Marissa being there for each other

Seth and Summer’s chemistry vs Ryan and Marissa’s

Favourite Seth and Summer moments

Friends

subcategory: EVERYONE. ON. FRIENDS. IS. TRASH. NOT. JUST. ROSS.

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/636611256737054720/is-it-ok-to-as-a-friends-question-did-it-bother

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/179934252950/i-love-your-blog-and-i-agree-with-almost

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/638623427663708160/the-one-where-nobody-is-ready-is-so-annoying-lol

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/180176784415/why-rachel-is-worst-than-ross-for-you

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/186968770355/im-only-on-the-first-season-of-friends-but-what

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/179872748195/sheishookedtothesilverscreen-zalrb-ive-been

subcategory: Mondler

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/639229867117936640/heyy-happy-new-year-what-are-some-of-your

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/659180589895794688/hi-zal-since-i-often-see-mondler-and-peraltiago

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/638265698514305024/can-i-ask-your-opinion-on-the-chandlermonica

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/637005782889693184/random-thought-but-i-think-chandler-and-monicas

subcategory: Rosschel

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/190991085270/i-always-think-the-show-focused-on-the-we-were-on

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/661005414295552000/hi-how-would-you-rank-these-ships-in-order-of

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/641609018846199808/ill-never-understand-why-some-fans-of-friends

subcategory: general

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/180078258785/i-think-i-just-like-how-a-large-part-of-their

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/658079693112803328/hi-zal-i-was-wondering-if-you-prefer

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/649641327984869376/do-you-find-chandler-as-funny-and-likable-as

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/644321030698139648/opinions-from-phoebe-and-joey-from-friends

https://zalrb.tumblr.com/post/180419586990/your-favorite-friends-dynamic-i-always-felt-like

The Office

Jim is not the devil, you all just need to stop

Favourite Jim and Pam moments

Jenna Fischer’s best acting moments

Jim and Pam in season 9

Did Pam’s storyline revolve around Jim?

What do I think about Karen?

Pam’s arc

Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Why do I love Ozillow?

Favourite Bangel moments

Fuck season 7 Spuffy

Fuck Riley

Do NOT compare Bangel to Delena

Bangel age gap

Spuffy does not have more sexual chemistry than Bangel

Why do I ship Bangel?

Bangel kitchen scene

Bangel is not toxic

The difference between Bangel and Stelena

It’s always Bangel

Spuffy would not have happened if Angel was still around

Tbh, I don’t mind Xander

Buffy and the Scooby Gang post season 3

BTVS and handling Buffy’s trauma

Faith is a bit too conceptual of a character for my liking

Xander and Willow and their cheating storyline

Scandal

Jake and Olivia stares

Jake and Olivia in Scandal 5b

What do you think about Olake?

Olake and reciprocity

Olitz pisses me off so much

Olivia goes hard for Jake

I would restructure Scandal

Jane The Virgin

Why I loved Jane and Michael

Gina Rodriguez is terrible so I stopped watching JTV but let’s talk Villadero

Why I loved Jane and Michael Part 2

Let’s talk about Villadero chemistry

Why I liked the Jane faking an orgasm storyline

Gilmore Girls

Breakdown of Dean, Jess and Logan as boyfriends for Rory

I don’t like Rogan but why they’re better than Delena

Why Dean actually was the perfect first boyfriend for Rory

In defence of Dean

In defence of Dean pt. 2

I stopped shipping Jess and Rory LONG ago but here are scenes I liked

Why Mitchum actually isn’t an asshole to Rory

You know what’s funny about Lorelai moving to Stars Hollow?

Here’s the problem with the way the show wrote Rory part 1

Here’s the problem with the way the show wrote Rory part 2

Rory and her pattern of avoidance

Rory and lack of consequences

Why I’m “eh” about the Jess/Rory “Yale” scene

Why Klaroline chemistry reminds me of Chris/Lorelai chemistry

Sons of Anarchy

The relationship between Tara as a character and Jax and Tara as a ship

Jax and Tara as a high school couple

Breakdown of Tara and Gemma’s relationship

Favourite Jax and Tara scenes

Could Tara’s death be avoided?

Top 5 SOA episodes or scenes

That 70s Show

Analysis of Jackie and Hyde in That 70s Show

Analysis of Hyde cheating on Jackie

Why does Jackie and Donna’s friendship work?

One of my favourite things about zenmasters...

Favourite Donna and Eric scene?

Donna and Eric were not toxic

Donna and Eric + values

Donna and Eric chemistry

One of the things T70s did better than TVD (and there are many)

Favourite zenmasters scenes

Hyde could never stand to see Jackie cry

That 70s Show friendship dynamics

General

Updated List of OTPs (updated semi-regularly)

Tokenism vs Representation in casts

Tokenism vs Representation part 2

What do I mean when I say Gen Z television

Why I don’t particularly care for Euphoria

Why I don’t particularly care for Euphoria Part 2

Grand Army was eh + writers of colour quit because of the racist environment

I prefer Jason and Tahani over Jason and Janet

Chidi and Eleanor did not work for me romantically

Grace was a terrible character on Peaky Blinders

What makes a good sex scene?

Good almost kisses

Movies that hit me right in the feels

Painful OTP moments

Why Alicia and Will had bad kisses

Favourite Love Declaration speeches

List of angsty ships

Top ten physical-intimate moments that aren’t kissing

Moments I like with ships that are my NOTPs

Favourite comedic drags

Actors good at monologues

The acting in HTGAWM vs Scandal

Favourite quotes from ships

Why I like Gallavich

Favourite Matt and Julie moments

Why Robin and Barney from HIMYM weren’t toxic

Ben and Leslie are my favourite enemies to lovers trope

Ben and Leslie have such great build-up

What makes April and Andy work

Favourite love confessions

Favourite shots of OTPs

All of you need to stop purposefully misinterpreting Maiko Part 1

All of you need to stop purposefully misinterpreting Maiko Part 2

Book!Romione is not toxic, relax.

What makes Peraltiago so great

Best actors I’ve seen in teen dramas

Actors with versatility

Thoughts on Brokeback Mountain

Some drunk reviews

Original Netflix shows/movies I actually enjoyed or didn’t mind

Favourite Childhood Movies

Favourite Classic Movies

Opening Credits to shows I really like

TV shows I watched as a kid

Best scenes + background music combinations

Ranking Spartacus villains

The most manipulative characters I’ve seen on TV

Favourite reveal moments

Favourite reveal moments part 2

Favourite TV villains

Funniest TV characters

Top 5 Disney villains

Favourite Disney sidekicks

What makes a villain complex?

It’s not that I don’t like villains with sad backstories...

Movies about female empowerment

Camera twirls that work with kisses

There is a lack of Black couples on mainstream television

Why I couldn’t get into All American

Favourite bickering couples

Favourite frenemies and rivals

Sitcoms match and sometimes surpass dramas in emotional beats

Ben and Leslie chemistry vs Jim and Pam

Ricky and Pray Tell’s relationship Pt. 1

Ricky and Pray Tell’s relationship Pt. 2

Let’s breakdown Silvermadi from Black Sails

The issue with the Maroon storyline in Black Sails

Why I like Sasil

Which Breaking Bad death had the most impact - Gale or Jane?

Shows I recommend to writers

[lokiondisneyplus]

Yes, Loki series director Kate Herron knows about your fan theory about the show, the analysis you posted to social media. No, she won’t tell you what she thinks about it, or whether you were right.

“I follow all the conversations on Twitter,” Herron told Polygon in an interview shortly after Loki’s season 1 finale. “I don’t always weigh in on them, because I made the show, so they don’t want me weighing in like, ‘Actually, guys…’ I think that’s the whole point of art — it should be up for debate and discussion.”

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for season 1 of Loki.]

Loki has been a hit for streaming service Disney Plus — episode 6 of the show, the final installment for this season, was reportedly watched by more households than any of the platform’s MCU finales to date. The series has been a popular source of fan conjecture and argument, with one particularly big rolling conversation focusing on whether the budding romantic relationship between trickster Asgardian Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his alternate-universe counterpart Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) is a form of incest.

Herron is willing to speak up about that one. “My interpretation of it is that they’re both Lokis, but they aren’t the same person,” she says. “I don’t see them as being like brother and sister. They have completely different backgrounds […] and I think that’s really important to her character. They sort of have the same role in terms of the universe and destiny, but they won’t make the same decisions.”

Herron says thematically, Loki falling for Sylvie is an exploration of “self-love,” but only in the sense that it’s Loki learning to understand his own motives and integrity. “[The show is] looking at the self and asking ‘What makes us us?’” Herron says. “I mean, look at all the Lokis across the show, they’re all completely different. I think there’s something beautiful about his romantic relationship with Sylvie, but they’re not interchangeable.”

Directing the final kiss between the two characters was a complicated process because it had to communicate something about each of them over the course of just a few seconds. Herron says the primary goal was creating a safe, comfortable environment for Hiddleston and Di Martino, and after that, she had to think about how to bring across Loki and Sylvie’s conflicting goals in that moment.

“It’s an interesting one, right?” she says. “Emotionally, from Sylvie’s perspective, I think it’s a goodbye. But it’s still a buildup of all these feelings. They’ve both grown through each other over the last few episodes. It was important to me that it didn’t feel like a trick, like she was deceiving him. She is obviously doing that, on one hand, but I don’t feel the kiss is any less genuine. I think she’s in a bad place, but her feelings are true.”

Herron says directing Hiddleston in the scene mostly came down to discussing the speech Loki gives Sylvie before the kiss. “That was really important, showing this new place for Loki,” Herron says. “In the first episode, he’s like, ‘I want the throne, I want to rule,’ and by episode 6, he isn’t focused on that selfish want. He just wants her to be okay.”

Loki writer and producer Eric Martin recently tweeted that he wished the show had been able to focus more time on two of its secondary characters, Owen Wilson’s Time Variance Authority agent Mobius M. Mobius, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s Ravonna Renslayer. “I wanted to explore her more deeply and really see their relationship,” he says, “But covid got in the way and we just didn’t have time.”

Asked if Loki and Sylvie’s relationship suffered from similar necessary edits, Herron says it’s true that the show’s creators and audience still don’t know everything Sylvie went through to make her so different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s original version of Loki. “We’ve seen her as a child, but she’s lived for thousands and thousands of years, in apocalypses on the run,” she says. “I think there’s so much more to delve into with Sylvie […] You’re filling in the blanks. You see [her on the planet] Lamentis, and it’s horrific. And you’re like, “Well, what kind of person would she be, growing up in apocalypses? What kind of personality would that give her?”

Herron says Sylvie’s backstory actually reminds her of the 1995 movie Jumanji, where a young boy is sucked into a magical board game in 1969, and emerges 26 years later as a full-grown man, played by with typical manic energy by Robin Williams. “It’s such a weird reference, but…” she says. “He’s a little boy when he ends up captive in that game, and when he comes out, it’s obviously been a life experience. With Sylvie, it’s similar. She was a child when she had to go on the run, so she’s had a very difficult life. I would love to see more of it. As Eric said, she’s a rich character, there’s so much to be explored.”

Herron says, though, that during her time on the show, material about Sylvie was added rather than cut — specifically, those scenes of her as a child, being kidnapped by the TVA. “This was before my time, but I know in the writers’ room, there were lots of avenues exploring Sylvie on the run and what her life was like,” Herron says. “I wouldn’t want to speak more to those, because I wasn’t there when they were being discussed. But something wasn’t in there that was important to me — I felt we should see her [history] in the TVA. Me and the team were talking about how it made complete sense, because episode 4 is all about twisting the idea that the TVA might be good on its head. And so that’s something that came in later, once I joined, was seeing her as a child. I think we needed to see that, not to understand her completely, but to get an idea of her motivations, why she’s so angry at this place.”

Talking more broadly about the series finale, Herron says the last few episodes weren’t as heavily referential as the first episodes, which she intended as “a love letter to sci-fi.” While early images like the TVA’s interrogation rooms had specific visual references from past science fiction, episode 6’s locations were drawn more from collaborations with the crew.

“The idea of the physical timeline being circular, our storyboard artists came up with that,” Herron says. “I had in the scripts, ‘We move through space to the end of time,” and then me and [storyboard artist Darrin Denlinger] discussed how we could play with the idea of time, while also adding MCU nods. He was like, ‘What if the timeline is circular?’ I think that’s such a striking image, like the Citadel at the End of Time is the needle on a record player. I just thought that was such a cool image, but it wasn’t necessarily taken from anything.”

Episode 6 focuses heavily on the mysterious figure He Who Remains and his citadel, a space she says was largely conceived by production designer Kasra Farahani. “I remember he brought in the art of the Citadel, and I thought it was beautiful,” Herron says. “He said, ‘The Citadel has been carved from an actual meteorite,’ which I thought was such an inspired idea. And He Who Remains’ office is the only finished portion of it.”

She says there are only a few direct homages in episode 6, including the zoom shot through space, which directly referenced a similar sequence in Robert Zemeckis’ 1997 film Contact.

“And then I have my Teletubbies reference for episode 5,” Herron says. “I wanted the Void to feel like an overgrown garden, like a kind of forgotten place. And I realized I’d pitched it as the British countryside. I remember trying to explain it to ILM, who did the visual effects, and saying, ‘Oh, you know, it’s like the Teletubbies. It’s just rolling hills, but they go on forever.’ That actually was quite a helpful reference in the end, which is funny.”

Asked for her favorite set memory from shooting the season, Herron says it comes down to Tom Hiddleston starting a mania for physical exertion before takes. “Sometimes he runs around set to get himself in the right mindset before he performs,” she says. “He does pushups. You know, you’re going into an action scene, you want to look like you’ve just been running. And it became infectious across all the cast. We’ve got so much footage of — I think Jack [Veal] ended up doing it, who plays Kid Loki. I’ve got [shots of] him and Sophia doing pushups and squats, just to get ready. It was so funny watching that echo across all the cast. I think all of them ended up doing those exercises with him at some point. It was so funny.”

“That might be my favorite set story, but it’s honestly, not a sweet one,” she adds. “I would say my favorite thing is his enthusiasm. He’s a very kind empathetic person. We were filming this in quite tough circumstances, a lot of people were far from home and isolating, and he brought this warmth and energy and joy to the set every day. And I think that made everyone feel very safe and very bonded. I’m forever grateful to him for doing that.”

[its-tea-time-darling]

maze runner secret santa guesses!

in the order of the works posted. i focus mostly on textual analysis, and draw on formal hints (notes, tags etc) where the guesses were harder to make.

the guesses:

<3 Lena: Major Arcana ✅ <3 Momo: Body Pillow ✅ <3 Dee: draw me a heart in the snow (because my love is a blizzard) ❌ <3 Clod: to hell with you ✅ <3 Snick: so like, stop me if you've heard this one... (Three Cryptids Walk into a Bar) ✅ <3 Juliette: christmas glader drawings <3 Crest: these truths unbound and ripe for burning ✅ <3 Fabs: Knocking on Your Heart, Could You Let Me in? ✅ <3 Saph: we were together, I forget the rest ❌

(very) elaborate (2.3 k words, you have been Warned) explanations below. enjoy <3

Major Arcana - Lena, @nachoupala

i am 100% sure of this.

thominewt

lena likes merlin

slow burn

long, chaptered fic

newt has long hair

sitting on a bed + leaning against each other

hands in hair

generally intimacy between friends described in a way that makes you go hnghhhh and feel soft inside til you're just a puddle of happy yearn-y pin-y feelings

everyone going 'hmm i sure love 2 people wish there was a sOLuTioN for this' until lena hits them over the head with polyamory

newt's monologue on how love isn't exclusive to one person is very Lena

i mean y'know just generally the polyamory and friendship feels ygm

epilogue

and this is maybe random but: epilogue that takes place at a vantage point where there is not only a plot-overview, but it takes place at a physically 'higher' situated place where they can see over the city (in broken promises) or the surrounding city and countryside (major arcana)

this is all based on 'broken promises and how to fix them'. marvelous fic.

Body Pillow - Momo, @thominho-incorrectquotes

again, this is a 100% sure guess.

the book scene 'if i don't see you on the other side' is mentioned

momo loves bookverse

momo loves that scene

hc for that scene is that minho was serious when saying he loved thomas, and really hurt when thomas laughed it off

thominho being best friends, and them being the most important people to each other is really important to momo

cuddling and sleeping in the same bed

minho characterization is just Momo.

misunderstandings, build-up, dramatic moment (in flower fic is was minho nearly dying of that disease, here it's thomas' breakdown), love confessions

they've always loved each other

both thought the other didn't love them

i repeat: beautiful love confessions

ending that makes you feel Peaceful, like big time, and you know thominho are always going to be together

generally, if you liked this fic i highly recommend momo's thominho flower-disease fic.

draw me a heart in the snow (because my love is a blizzard) - Dee, @graeae

this i am less sure on, mostly because there's not that much of dee's writing i have been able to read. (some of their fic explores themes which are too heavy for me) also if you wrote a newtmas fic dee, i probably haven't even laid eyes on it yet i'm sorry.

but. i have read that nalby ficlet, and. yeah. here's what i've got:

the main thing is that this fic made me *puppy eyes* all over, and that's what nalby ficlet did to me.

nalby. need i say more. hilarious and amazing charcterization, newt's a little shit and alby's all Grown Up. they make an amazing couple

introversion/social anxiety. well described, and it goes away when minho feels comfortable

what i didn't know where to place were mentions of prague (don't know if dee's got any feelings on prague), and that thomas uses a french word for humor. i think dee knows a little french, but was under the impression that portuguese is the main foreign language they know?

"formal clue" (from the notes):

dee is relatively 'new' to thominho, and the notes, of this fic bringing them closer to thominho, makes sense under that aspect.

if you liked this fic, you'll like dee's nalby thunderstorm ficlet bindweed and clover

to hell with you - Clod, @un-ah / @manako-no-yami

this i will say i am... fuck it. i was gonna say 99% sure, but i'll give this one a 100% as well.

no one whumps gally like clod does

beautiful thomally characterization. this had me thinking of crest (@crestfallercanyon ) in the beginning, but that adds up bc clod and crest talk similarly about thomally. lot of beautiful tumblr posts out there to prove that

a Bad Guy that turns out not to be as clear black and white bad

humand are Complicated and their relationships hurt

this leads me on a tangent. as i said i at first thought this could be crest's piece as well. apart from the fact that my gift was uploaded later and i'm, again, 100% sure that it's crest who wrote it, this made me think of the differences in clod and crest's writing.

in crest's writing, bad stuff happens, but it always gets *better* with human connections.

in clod's writing, it's the human connections that hurt. not to go all pretentious but what clod does reminds me too much of it to not mention it: the french play 'huis clos' (engl. 'no exit') by sartre.

in that play, 3 people are locked inside a room and told that they're in hell. at first, they're not sure how this can actually be hell, but as time goes on and they tell their story, it becomes apparent that they're trapped with each other because each of them needs something from another person present (love, approval, forgiveness), while another one needs something from them that they're not willing/inclined to give. and that makes the play end with those famous words (i *think* it's the ending lol, maybe it's just a quote but whatever):

l'enfer, c'est les autres

[engl. 'hell is other people']

and yeah, i think that's what happens in clod's writing and what she manages to do over and over. okay sidetrack over, let's go back to the List.

thomas' attraction to gally is open and borders on pathetic which we love to see hmmmmm

an ending that's not a happy ending (this is actually quite cheery if you know the rest of clod's writing alskdjflas)

no one makes me cry and hurt over fic like clod does.

and no one does that in a way that leaves me begging for more, and where i'd let her do it again in an instant

so yeah. it's clod. hi bb <3

so like, stop me if you've heard this one... (Three Cryptids Walk into a Bar) - Snick, @persnickett

this one i'm less sure on. there's 2 main reasons for that:

i haven't read all newtmas fics

there's a lot of people who write newtmas, and i am familiar with almost none of them. unlike with authors for eg thomally and thominho.

so this was a harder one to guess, and if i'm wrong, this will just be a list of things that i like about snick's writing that showed up in someone else's writing.

writing:

brackets. FUNNY brackets.

mention of newt being cold in like the first few paragraphs, when it's the think gel and snick bonded over (consult Hot n’ Cold (or: Sweaters) [headcanon] on that)

newtmas have a major PDA problem (consult airport fic on this)

the word PDA. i know other people use it, but snick uses it, too, and i know that bc i had to look it up when she first used it lmao

generally the newtmas feels very Her. nuzzling into each other like there's no tomorrow (get yourself some snick newtmas nuzzling in catfic )

frequent mention of kink lololo

minho characterization. very Her.

gally characterization. very Her.

used words i had to look up. from the authors i read, that only ever happens to me in snickfic.

generally: language. rolls off your tongue and guides you through the story lightly and like a rolling boat, if that makes sense.

puns. loads of other people picked that out, too, but again snick's the only one who thinks puns are funny i've seen use puns in writing (consult: coffeeshop fic)

long 1 chapter fic

i wanted to keep reading

sweet scene breaks, i see that being her

gally‘s eyebrows even made it into a tag for snick‘s 2019 minally fic so their ample description in this fic could check out

the pining/describing minho‘s attraction to gally and all the little things he notices and how gally feels like *home* and feels *safe* are also super beautiful in both that 2019 fic and this one. so beautiful. minho and gally. my heart. 🖤 (gally's stormy eyes make an appearance in both fics i think?)

bc this was a harder guess, i'm going to include 'formal hints' in this one.

the title, 1) funny, 2) long, 3) brackets

the notes, happy cryptid-mas lmao

2nd time snick wrote a gift for gel, first time around there was a long personal message, this time she tried to keep it short and not let on how well she knows her wife.

formal thing: i first thought 'raise the black' could be snick, then scrolled through rachel's writing bc some people guesses it was hers, and it turns out rachel places periods outside of brackets also when they're full sentences, like so:

(words words words).

while snick does it

(words words words.)

cryptid fic does it the snick-way.

the notes, 'For the maze runner secret santa (tmrss21)', snick has used a variation of that each year. ('This was written for The Maze Runner Secret Santa 2019 (tmrss19)' in 2019 for example)

tags: i know no one else who posts fics with as little tags as snick does. these 2 tags, just specifying the universe.

the drawings of chrismtas soniet and tha gladers around the campfire - Juliette, @ohbluesky

i loved her piece on vulnerability for thominho week (admire it here), and instantly knew this was her. i'm not good at art so i can't say more on that, i just Knew. and just as thominho week art, these drawing made me feel super Soft inside, especially the soniet one, it's just so beautiful!

these truths unbound and ripe for burning - Crest, @crestfallercanyon

100% sure guess.

the campfire. the drinking. the friendships.

gally's brew.

generally, i caught major vibes of crest's first ever (Beautiful!) maze runner fic

safe haven (crest has 3 safe haven thomally fics and so is very comfortable writing them, and i daresay she likes the setting.) (to build a home is one of them)

bookverse. this is a bookverse fic, and crest loves bookverse. she read the books growing up, and they've felt like home to her in way that's unique to this day. she also knows those books intimately and by heart, so she feels very comfortable writing in their setting.

Minho Is A Good Friend

apelsin references. crest knows apelsin, crest loves apelsin, crest has written a fucking continuation of apelsin. additionally i think crest knows i love apelsin.

minho/sonya reference!!! (other people could know that, too, but crest definitely knows of it and she'd be thoughtful enough to include it <3)

has some vibes of sha's ( @hoesaekyoongi ) writing as well, and i know crest has read that (it's great, read it here)

the attraction

the beautiful characterizations

the words. the fucking WORDS. crest takes words and makes things with them i don't even know how to say it.

gally. he's holding back, he's There, he's so much, he's guarded but ready to be loved.

thomas. he's careful, he knows his flaws, he likes gally a lot, even if it takes him some time to realize it.

thomas' and gally's past isn't just pushed aside. thomas forgives gally, there's a sense for the things they've done, the guilt, and the way they cope with it is just so palpable, so Real.

generally, the Thomally! they're maybe even 'reluctant' at first, there's a lot of potential for misunderstandings, and there's rough edges, and it all takes Time. the time spent besides each other, the slow understanding that creeps in. the appreciation.

the way they both come to appreciate each other's company, the way that the other fills a... Place inside of them in a way that no one else quite can

i know this isn't supposed to be a liferead, but that kiss. that kiss man. it killed me. a lot like he goes down easy for me which i love to death. this is how crest writes attraction, physical contact up until s*x. it's SO fucking real, the emotions are just There, and you want to sink into this moment and never reappear again.

i'll end this by saying this fic made me feel the way crest's writing makes me feel. it makes me feel peaceful, it makes me feel whole, it makes me feel happy in a way i didnt' know i could feel.

if you liked this fic, you'll love: he goes down easy for me and those heavy hands aren't sure

Knocking on Your Heart, Could You Let Me in? - Fabs, @go-catch-a-chickn

this guess has the same problems as snicks guess:

i haven't read all newtmas fics

there's a lot of people who write newtmas, and i am familiar with almost none of them. unlike with authors for eg thomally and thominho.

it would be insane luck if i'd spotted both of my newtmas friends' fics, so i'm totally aware i could be wrong here. let me list the reasons why i think it's fabs anyway.

hair porn. need i say more.

pining. fabs likes them to pine. it's what she thrives on, i'm telling you.

fabs likes stargazing and dates

formal clue:

german quotation marks. i didn't see them in other fics, but they could have snuck in all the same. i know my word sometimes changes from english to german quotation marks randomly.

we were together, I forget the rest - Saph, @onceuponabluemoon

this one is mostly based on ~vibes~ to be honest. same as with dee, i haven't been able to read all of saph's writing because of some of the heavy topics. the one's i've read though i loved, you know that. (that scallison ficlet hmmmmm <3)

strong on environmental descriptions. i loved saph's piece on the greek village in summer that demonstrrates this perfectly, read it here)

dark, but also Good

formal:

end notes explain and give reference to the title, just like the end notes of solid ground say which songs were used.

-

those were my guesses, kudos to you if you made it to the bottom of this post lol <3 it was amazing to parttake in this event, and see all of the stunning fics that were written for it. so much love for the maze runner fandom hnghhh

[c-m-li]

Marvel has slowly been upping their diversity game but they have a lot of ground to cover and a lot to make up for

THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG ONE FOLKS

Spoilers for the following:

Agents of Shield – seasons 1-2

The Punisher – season 2

Daredevil – season 2

Jessica Jones – season 1

The Defenders

Captain America: Winter Soldier

Spider-Man: No Way Home (extremely mild and only in regards to Dr. Strange)

Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

(please note that while I name several MCU characters, I am in no way shape or form shitting on your faves, I am just using them as examples)

At this point, Marvel has built an empire, but it is still distressingly lacking in the diversity department regarding characters of color. After almost a decade and half worth of movies and tv shows, you’d think they’d have more main characters of color. It’s not like they don’t hire people of color, but the amount of POC who end up playing either the sidekick or the villain is ridiculously high. For the purpose of this analysis, I will mainly be going off the motion picture portrayals rather than relying on the comics but li? how can you analyze something without taking the source material into account? because i fucking can, okay? Also, this is in no way a comprehensive list, but just the ones that have jumped out at me - that being said, that’s still a lot of stuff so here we go . . .

So, let’s count - how many title characters of color are there in the MCU?

T’Challa in Black Panther

Luke Cage in Luke Cage

Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Marc Specter in Moon Knight

Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther broke some historic ground with their majority African or African descent cast and only two named white characters. It was also a grand showcase of African culture with several themes on colonization and pan-Africanism.

Mike Colter as Luke Cage where, in the actor’s words that I’ll paraphrase, in a time that could do with a bullet proof black man. The show also touched on the disproportionate incarceration of black men, and had a badass black female detective in Misty Knight played by Simone Missick.

Simu Liu as Shang-Chi was very uplifting for me to see for three main reasons. For one, the entirely Asian cast was a beautiful sight and how especially Awkwafina as Katy did a lot to go against the model minority type. For two, seeing all the Chinese culture in a positive light was very nice. And for three, fixing the racial caricature that was the Mandarin. It only touched lightly on the Chinese Diaspora through Katy, but it was enough for what they were going for.

Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/the Falcon was a great character from the moment he was introduced and he was one COC that got elevated from supporting character to title character which was also how his role changed in the comics. The show also had continuing social commentary on the history of racism and how it tracks into modern times.

Oscar Isaac as Marc Specter/Moon Knight - okay, cards on the table, literally the only thing I know about Moon Knight is what a coworker told me: that he has DID and one of the personalities is an Egyptian deity whose powers wane with the phases of the moon. I have no idea what race the character is in the comics, but Oscar Isaac is Latino so I’m counting him.

Now we’re down to the rest of the COC’s in the MCU. They’re either no-name characters, supporting characters, or villains sometimes both. Now, there are a lot of characters on the below list who are considered important to the MCU and/or reoccur throughout multiple movies or tv shows, but because they’re not the title characters, they are considered supporting characters. I reiterate, just because they’re supporting characters does not mean that they are not important; if you’re writing the supporting characters correctly then the story would fall apart without them.

That said, here’s the POC that ended up being supporting characters in no particular order:

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury - shut up, I know he’s pretty fucking important, but he’s not a title character, if he gets his own movie or tv show then he can move up the list (maybe it could be a movie about Fury dealing with the events of iron man 2 the incredible hulk and thor 1 in the same week bc there’s a comic of that if i’m not making shit up). I know in the comics that he was originally white, but that they changed it up for the MCU. There are a couple blink and you miss them moments in CA:WS that nod towards micro-aggressions.

Ming-Na Wen as Melinda May/the Cavalry. Also a total badass and the top tier of Asian actresses. However, no matter her badassness or importance to the plot, her character falls into the stoic icy warrior stereotype more often than not. Not necessarily a bad thing because it’s not like those don’t exist in real life, but in my opinion, it’s an overused character type for Asian characters. Watching her character actually develop beyond that was the highlight of the show.

Chloe Bennet as Skye/Daisy Johnson/Quake. Also a pretty fucking important character, arguably the main character of Agents of Shield - however, Agents of Shield is promoted as Agent Coulson and his crew, and the show focuses on so many other things that she’s relegated to supporting character. Now, the actress is half Chinese, but those of us me that didn’t know the actress, the character was racially ambiguous, which meant it was supposed to be such a huge reveal that she was half Chinese in the show. Which . . . okay, I have mixed feelings about a surprise race reveal in any media which rides the edge between that’s cool vs. that feels cheap.

Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider. I loved his character and he really elevated the entire show for me. He’d be a main character except he showed up in a show called Agents of Shield which he wasn’t. Also, he was only in the first third of the season then disappeared then came back for the season finale.

Benedict Wong as Wong. I heard that initially they were going to do away with his character altogether in the movie since he was a stereotyped manservant in the comics but then decided to add him in by changing up his character. I’m glad because I didn’t get that vibe from the character but it doesn’t take away from their bigger transgression with that film. Though it’s interesting that he’s now the sorcerer supreme due to a technicality.

Jessica Henwick as Colleen Wing. Full disclosure, I have seen exactly none of the Iron Fist tv show; everything I know about her is what I saw in The Defenders. I don’t know if I’m qualified to give an opinion considering that, but she seems like the typical Asian martial artist sidekick to the main character.

Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. A complex character who can go toe-to-toe with Loki - I’m sold. I’d like to see an entire movie with her and the other Valkyries in the full Asgard conquering days because that’d be epic, but only if Taika Watiti directed.

Randall Park as Agent Woo. He’s been across multiple MCU platforms as the same character which is cool to see him pop up every so often, but he always plays second fiddle to whatever shit the main characters are getting up to.

Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau. Very cool and maybe based on what happened in WandaVision she’ll get her own movie hopefully we won’t have to wait over a decade like with black widow.

Zendaya as MJ. Fingers crossed they won’t fridge her like comics tended to do in general to the hero love interest and to Peter Parker’s love interests in particular.

Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds. Crossing my other fingers that they don’t follow the comic books and he ends up being one of those POC that turn into the villain.

Claudia Kim as Helen Cho. She was kinda cool because of course the Avengers need a dedicated doctor, but then she got brainwashed then shot in the chest did she die? and then was never seen or heard from again.

Terence Howard and Don Cheadle as Colonel James Rhodes/Rhodey/War Machine. A powerhouse in his own right, he got the most screentime in the Iron Man movies considering he’s Tony Stark’s friend, but he stayed in that zone of supporting character. I thought that when Iron Man died, he would take on that role but apparently not. Also, we were deprived of having him and Sam Wilson together talking about being fellow pilots.

Rosario Dawson as Clair Temple/the Night Nurse. Clearly capable and a well-rounded character with multiple romantic interests where she bounces between the different shows. I’ve only read a little bit of her in the comics so I have no idea if her comic counterpart matches.

Elodie Yung as Electra Natchios/the Black Sky. She was actually really great as she’s shown to be just as badass as Matt as well as being able to go toe-to-toe with him personality-wise. Her character really shined in the Daredevil show until she, ya know, died. Then she was resurrected but she didn’t really have any personality until the very end right in time for her to die again. did she die this many times in the comics? who am I kidding, it’s marvel, of course she’s died in the comic

Vondie Curtis-Hall as Ben Urich. A much more seasoned journalist as a contrast to Karen’s wide-eyed outlook. It would’ve been cool to see that mentorship kind of relationship between them grow a lot more if he hadn’t been killed off.

Royce J. Johnson as Brett Mahoney. Also one of the ones that bounced between the shows and he actually got a promotion between Daredevil and The Punisher from Sergeant to Detective (yeah, i know sergeants technically outrank detectives, you get what i mean).

Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle. The more moral, but no less efficient side to Frank Castle.

Amber Rose Reva as Agent Dinah Madani. All that righteous fury packed into her tiny frame, she was a great POV to the other side of how things were going opposite to all the shit that Frank was getting up to. She also provided the interesting social commentary, particularly between her and her mom regarding their status as Americans from the Middle East.

That super minor female Asian character that Bucky went on a date with. I was excited when I heard there was an Asian potential love interest for Bucky, but she was there for the beginning of the first episode then never seen or heard from again. And if I can’t even find her fucking name after a casual Google search then she was really fucking minor.

Adepero Aduye as Sarah Wilson. She fit very well into the show and contrasted well against Sam’s idealism. I bought the potential romance between her and Bucky way more than the minor Asian character in episode one, and I would totally be down for a romance between them.

Zoe Saldana as Gamora is that weird gray area because she’s a main character considering the title is Guardians of the Galaxy and she is a Guardian, but she doesn’t actually portray a black woman so her ground is a little iffy for me.

Then we have the COC’s that turned out to be villains:

Maximiliano Hernandez as Jasper Sitwell. He turned out to be Hydra and then promptly killed off. I think I took this a little more personally than I was meant to because I liked his snarky little ass in the different MCU movies he kept popping up in leading up to CA:WS even though his screentime was miniscule. Also, I read a lot of fanfiction about him fitting in with the whole Delta team of Shield.

Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez/Echo. I actually really liked this one because she’s a very kickass villain who has this entire mob of guys following her orders. Not only that, but she actually got her own character development which is rare for a villain.

Peter Shinkoda as Nobu. I mean, the Yakuza plays a big part with all the other organized crime and it’d be even weirder if the Japanese mafia had a leader that wasn’t, ya know, Japanese. Then he died by immolation before getting resurrected and then killed off again.

Wai Ching Ho as Madame Gao. Again, it would be weird if the Chinese organized crime didn’t have a Chinese leader. That fight between her and Daredevil was actually pretty sweet as was the dialogue between the two of them.

Chiwetel Ejiofor as Baron Mordo. Started as a supporting character but took the turn to villain in the end credit scene and looks to be the main antagonist in the next Dr. Strange movie. Still, he was a complex character whose morals convincingly changed as the movie progressed as well as the role he had in actually teaching Dr. Strange.

Floriana Lima as Krista Dumont. Her character flip-flopped for me throughout season 2. She went from naïve to calculated and equally twisted accomplice to delusional love sick. That fight between her and Agent Madani was pretty cool in how vicious it was and it really gut punched me when she fell out the window. I would’ve liked her to stay in that zone of cold calculation because it would’ve been a great segue to her turning into her own villain rather than the love interest of the villain.

Eka Darville as Malcolm Ducasse. His character was consistently that sloppy drunk or high character that you have no idea why the main character puts up with them, then it turned out that he was informing on Jessica the entire time due to his addiction.

Ruth Negga as Reyna. We know she’s bad news from the word go, but she’s very suave and sophisticated, known only as the girl in the flower dress for the longest time. My gripe isn’t that she’s a villain because she plays it so well and doesn’t fall into stereotypes nor do they do a bait and switch where you think she’s good but she turns out bad. No, my gripe is that when she does whatever the hell it was called to activate her inhuman gene, they completely change her physical appearance by turning her into a human porcupine and giving her white skin then killing her off. Big. Fucking. No-no.

Dichen Lachman as Jiaying. This is the one that broke me. Because we find out that not only is she Skye’s mother, she also a very powerful inhuman and the leader of this secluded paradise like refuge for other inhumans. She was a beautiful Asian woman with all this power and then . . . she turned out bad. I don’t care if it’s in line with the fucking comics. Is there some kind of limit on the Asian characters they could have in the show? Melinda May is awesome, but you know what would have been even more awesome? Seeing Melinda May and Jiaying actually become friends. Nope, sorry, can’t happen because the other female Asian character is actually evil.

It was at this point that I stopped watching Agents of Shield. It was an extremely compelling show if you ignored the blatant human rights violations that they regularly committed such as the INDEX and the FRIDGE, but I was just done after that. And then Skye’s equally evil white father gets the redemption arc, but that’s whatever. I only got back to watching the episodes that included Robbie Reyes as Ghost Rider so I know that there were other COC’s added to Coulson’s crew but I don’t even remember their names.

Then we have the white washing, the most egregious of which is Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch. In the comics, Wanda is originally Romani and Jewish. Not only is Elizabeth Olsen white, her MCU character joined HYDRA, an organization that originated with the Nazis, but she also turned out to be a villain, kidnapping and sacrificing children which is a racist myth associated with the Romani people. (what's the term for a white savior but for a villain?)

And finally, we have the two biggest transgressions with the white savior trope:

Finn Jones as Danny Rand. His origin is from the fucking comics but that doesn’t change what it is. He’s a white guy that was trained by this group of Asian monks that he eventually surpasses and gains the magical ability that means he is the one to lead them to victory. Giving him an Asian sidekick does nothing to help this trope.

Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. Now, this one had a lot of controversy around it when it was announced. Arguably, the entire Dr. Strange movie is an exercise in the white savior trope. Like Iron Fist, Dr. Strange has his origins in the comics so there’s no changing that, however, I think there are two main reasons why Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t bother me; one is that it’s shown in the movie that the sorcerers are from all walks of life and therefore they are fairly racially mixed so it makes it more believable, and two the movie shows how he spent literally all of his time studying so he didn’t magically gain the spot just, ya know, ‘cuz.

But Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One? Yeah, um, no. The Ancient One is an Asian man in the comics and I would’ve been fine changing the gender, but not the race because there are enough fucking white people playing the titular or pivotal characters.

Ya’ll, if you’re still here after having read the entirety of the above, it probably sounds like I’m really shitting on the MCU, but I promise I’m not. I thoroughly enjoy the vast majority of the MCU and the majority of everything they put into it. The types of themes and character depth and character developments they have managed to squeeze into their entertainment is astounding.

What I’m saying is that I can recognize when something’s problematic but still enjoy it. I also understand the difficulty of translating the comics to today’s film considering the majority of these characters were created around the same time that Wonder Woman got dresscoded by the comics code for her outfit. Marvel has started to gain some ground with their more recent properties, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier being the biggest example with how much relevant social commentary they managed to weave into it, but looking back makes it evident that they need to tread carefully to regain the ground that they’ve lost.

A thank you to Skye for saying what we were all thinking but no one really talks about:

And a blessing to the writers for giving Agent Madani this line:

[yostresswritinggirl]

Tales of The Ghost Writer

“You met Xingqiu at Wanwen Bookhouse when delivering a batch of your newly-published book. But as a ghost writer, no one knew it was you that authored such books. Safe to say it was cute watching the noble bookworm fanboy about you in front of you.”

Pairings -> Xingqiu x Author!Reader

Word Count -> 3518

Theme -> Long Fic, Fluff

Series -> #Bonafide specials (100 followers event)

Warnings -> Xingqiu's name might be mispelled at times, also he rambles a lot

Entry Log # 645:

I’ve once again delivered the new batch of books to Wanwen Bookhouse today at 4PM, 30 new books in collection to be sold. That would add up to a total of 420 published books for Legend of the Lone Sword. Despite its old circulation, collectors and avid bookworms still seek out the volumes. In a spur of the moment thought, the 4th volume was finally rereleased for more readers to get a chance to read them. While on my rounds, I’ve met a particularly peculiar fan.

“4th volume?” You nod as you set down the stack of books on the counter where Jifang stood behind with a welcoming smile. “Thank you, everyone has been asking about it for a while now. I don’t understand how people keep missing out on the last volume like so.” There was an exchange of giggles between you continued your idle chatter, busying yourself with recounting the stack to make sure the order placed was exact. Yep, 30.

You picked one up from the top pile as Jifang enters the bookhouse to gather the payment. It wasn't that much of a feat to carry a pile of 30 books when it's only this thick, you thought as you opened the book in the middle and... buried your nose in it, literally. Archons, the scent of freshly printed books had always been such a stress reliever of a kind. The imprints were still fresh as you run your thumb over the pristine white page of page 75, the gravings of the letter bumping it in such an intricate and endearing manner. You suppose it should be prime time you get a copy of your own-

"Ah, the glorious scent fresh books offer are quite irresistible to everyone," your head whipped to the side in a hurry at the embarrassing display. Yet your new company only offered a light-hearted laugh, floaty and flowing swiftly past his lips. You find it enjoyable to listen to. "Fret not, I don't judge such honest guilty pleasure."

His smile was soft and respectful as you return it, watching his hand (wrists largely ruffled) pick up the next book on the pile, his interest shining the more he recognizes the the piece of literature. Such expensive clothing and poise, you thought as you continued to inspect. "I knew Wanwen had a schedule of new releases today, but I was not informed it would be the 4th volume of the Legend of the Lone Sword!"

"A fan?" You mused as you placed back the copy you took, leaning against the counter as you watched him quickly scan the lines of the book. He was intensely staring at every word with such a calculating gaze, that sometimes break when he reads how the character would sometimes reach an impasse, or when a new discovery reaches its peak. His ardent gaze was enough of an answer. When he took a break from reading to pass you his attention, you hadn't realize how red your cheeks had been out of embarrassment. "I've always wanted to get my hands on my own copy of the 4th, yet everytime all bookhouses in Liyue keep running out of stock. Is delivery normally this scarce?" He'd gestured at the not so looming pile.

You nod in response with a forgoing giggle. "Publishing could be running into some... shortness of funds?" Subtle, yet he hums in disappointment at the thought. His little pout, adorable, as he buries his face in the book again. I would gladly fund such glorious writing, you thought you heard past the leather back before the ornate doors past the counter finally opened again.

"Ah sorry it took so long, I couldn't find the exact pouch for the- hey! You again, you've read and been scolded dozens of times already," the woman angrily gestures to the notice board by the table, "Pay first, read later!"

You snorted, thankfully masked by the sudden cry of the caught culprit as he was smacked (hopefully gently) on the head by the owner, forcing him to put back the book to the pile. "Hnghh, but Lady Jifang! You didn't scold her, she was indulging herself with the book just the same," you breathed a fake gasp of astounded betrayal, before you three had laughed in chorus.

The oldest of your trio scoffed in amusement as she placed the bag of Mora unto your waiting hand. "What, her? Why would I scold her, she probably knows every word like the back of her ha-" her rambling was then cut off by a loud smack on her bottom, a book expertly finding its way back to your hand with a perfectly cut smile. Her yelp was not unnoticed by the male as he laughs at the display.

"Let him be, he's really been patiently waiting for the release!" Jifang scoffs at the word patiently as you came to the defense of blunette. You were never really aware of the norm in Wanwen, as you usually come by at a time where you would have been alone. This was a first.

"Quite so! Just the start of the volume had me hooked, setting for the peak of the story climax! The synopsis itself already hinted of another inclusion of a new element into the story I had not expected from this style of a book, surely such a writer would not tread such parallel territory without being an expert teller-" Jifang watched in amusement as her gaze lands on you at the start of the bookworm's rambling, watching the redness touch the tip of your ear with an abashed smile shyly gracing your lips. Behind it she can see the mirth and amusement, something she outwardly shows with her own expression.

"Wow," was the Liyuean woman's only response once the speaker has finished his lengthy speech. His dorkiness stands with pride at his examination.

You cleared your throat before you could mutter your initial words, finally realizing the time. "That was... quite marvelous of an analysis. A-Anywaysss, thank you for your partnership, I hope the books are all sold by tomorrow!"

And with that you swiftly made your exit, wanting to find a place to scream the embarrassment out. Or maybe squeal, just to be subtle.

Entry Log # 15:

As a distant relative to the Guhua clan, the (L/N) clan was not exactly known to be tied closely to the prestigious clan known for their expert martial. However, despite the impure connection, they carry with them still the honor of learning the arts to a meticulous detail.

Your family was one of the living practitioners of the Guhua Arts, twice removed, yet your spotlight was not that obvious as the name would carry. Your father wish to carry a new kind of prestige without relying on the powerful namesake and he had been adamant since birth to grind every teaching and form of the art into his immediate family.

"Misogyny nor feminism will not save you from battle, only your own strength." Something along those lines, was what he said.

Your eldest brother was his main point of reference when scolding you on not taking your lessons properly. A slacker he is, now he lacks not only a means of security but also financial stability, that's what you end up to if you don't treasure the arts of our family. You have no idea how martial arts brings you monetary security, but you can't really state to your own father that his logic was a bit skewed.

Daily during morning and the first touch of evening, you had resigned yourself into training under your father's supervision. As the eldest daughter of the house, you carry with you still a responsibility to be strong. No fraility was accepted, and your mother always argues about your father's ever so masculine lifestyle being imposed on you, a lady that should be taught other customs for means of living.

Yet after every session, at the end of the day under the caress of the lamp by your study table, your hands move with precision and calmness he would have scoffed at in the dojo. The beauty of words and their power to create new worlds effortlessly had drawn you in too easily, ever since you were young you had a knack for the books your mother reads to herself or to you.

Entry Log # 651:

The next time you'd met the Wanwen Bookworm (nickname you gave) was a rare moment when he'd finally looked at you more than the book in his hand. It seemed your little interaction from the bookhouse was attention-grabbing enough to make him seek out your person with a bunch of questions and wonder.

You gulped, patting down your blue skirt before accompanying him. The way he rambles was too dangerous, it was drawing something within you to also do the same, and you feared you may let out something you shouldn't. But a fellow 'reader' is good company, and with the little interactions you had with the same age group with the same interest makes this moment something you can't pass.

"Carrier to the Yae Publishing House?" You nodded calculatedly, after confirming you've said just the right information. "Quite intriguing, especially with such young age to be working in line with the greatest press house in Teyvat." Ohhh, he's surely smart despite the first impression of goofiness.

You giggled as politely as you can remember you should upon the scarce teachings of your mother. "I've always liked literature so I couldn't uhm let the opportunity pass, even if it's insignificant like that." Good, good, piling up the lies. You're grateful you haven't made some contract of friendship and happen upon the wrath of your nation's God. Or Qixing.

"Surely, you must have been in the presence of some of the wordsmiths during your rendezvous! So tell me," there was a dangerous glint in his eyes and you knew exactly what he's gonna ask, "Have you met the legendary Bob Ong?"

Oh goodness, you felt him caress and pat your back as you tried your best to breathe after the sudden choking on nothing, he was so spot on that you were horrified even if you had an inkling of what he was gonna inquire. "I uhm I don't really know what I'm allowed to say." In the inside you were goddamn screaming.

"You don't have to tell me anything about him, really! It's his mystery that makes his character just the most intriguing." You gulped down hard, this time without choking out of nothing. "I don't really know much about who he is since he's, you know, unknown? No clues whatsoever, he could be anywhere right now, maybe you've talked to him already or no. Yeah?"

He held a convincing hum before taking in the cryptic answer, content, for now you assume. "Not many avid readers of the book can place a name to the unnamed author, but how blind they were to see the cryptic signature at the back of the cover. Truly a wonderous act." Xingqiu, you finally learned his name, had took you out to lunch for the trouble and enjoyment. It wasn't really necessary, but you figured it was probably to keep you with him longer to converse about the books more.

A lot of his... analysis actually coincide with the messages that you lodged between the lines. He understands your way of narration more than you do at times, and you were left wondering just how much he had read of the fourth volume despite only having it for a few days then. When evening once again struck, you had bid each other farewell in the promise of another time to hang.

"It's a literature of love and freedom- disguised as a martial arts novel." Was his parting analysis, and you were left to wonder, was that really what you had projected into your works?

Entry Log # 32:

In your young and hopeful mind, you'd sent your first ever manuscript to Yae Publishing House. It wasn't your first work but it was the one you worked hard on the most, with weeks of furbishing and reworks. Your mother, although not directly informed of your whole plan, had provided you with great feedback and generous suggestions. And soon you created the first manuscript of 'String of Pearls'.

With a generous note and what you hoped is enough mora to at least publish a book, your package was sent to Inazuma.

You waited for days, of which turned to weeks, and then to months. You thought by the end of it all, you had been swindled but as young as you still hoped for the best of its outcome.

And then one day, as you were sweeping the outside of your gates in preparation for your father's return from some business in the harbor, a lone man of Inazuman style found its way to your humble abode. He calls himself Mr. Nine, and in his arms cradled two similar looking books, with a familiar envelope.

That was when you had been given the opportunity to write for the greatest Publishing House under the guise of a pseudonym. The great Nine was astounded by your ripeness paired with your prowess in writing. You hid behind Bob Ong, a protection from being belittled as a young child and a woman, to prevent being traced by your father if ever.

Yet you remained as subtle still. Even if your name was not written on the covers themselves, within your heart you were still the writers of those books. You've placed anagrams and mysterious puzzles revealing your name but it was part of the intrigue of the story that they had not thought much about it.

One day, you lost your book when you had gone out to eat. It was the second copy, as you carried the first one in your room, yet it still held a special place in your heart.

Xingqiu was a master novelist too, as you'd expect from someone so enthusiastic on the art of literature too. You'd long since become friends and found out soon enough his true identity. The heir to the Feiyun Commerce Guild, master practitioner of the Guhua Clan Arts, soon to be novelist. He was in every aspect the better half between you two.

One day in his daily reading breaks where he would happen upon you, he had found his eyes wafting over your notebook that you always carry. It was designed to look like a hard bound book specially tailored to your tastes, but it was nothing but mere keepers of your notes and musings.

Your newest page had in it a brand new draft for a brand new story you wanted to flesh out before the success of Legend of the Lone Sword diminishes. Mr. Nine still praised you for the success of your first major publishing and had assured you that there's no need to immediately compensate with another work so early, but your mind was already so eager to work. Your friend had never seen you so- flamed and passionate as the paper caves to the intense pressure your pencil places on it.

So he leans on your shoulder slightly (glad you were still distracted) as he quietly reads the words that articulates on the paper. The more Xingqiu reads, the more he craves, just the same vigor he felt everytime he had read his favorite works when each chapter invigorates him to continue to the end.

"Such a great outline," the blunette breathes out as he leans his cheek at the crown of your head. You let out a cute squeak when you'd finally come to, and turned your head to face him- "I didn't know you were into romance, my liege. Tell me, just where do you get such inspirations?" Your nose softly collided against the smoothness of his cheek, your lips ghosting over the line that is his jaw.

You scrambled backwards to direction opposite of his, yet with his body weight leaning on you, his center of balance quickly shifted on your weight like a net being pulled against the sides of a boat. You both toppled over.

"My, my, I didn't expect such abrupt resistance from you," Xingqiu's arms caged you as it holds him up against the grassland on either side of you. There was a certain mischievous glint in the ocean that is his eyes, which only meant one thing. "No need to be shy," you closed your eyes shut as his face leans in closer to yours, fanning over the frame of your face as he lets out a warm yet teasing exhale, "I'm sure we've gone past our personal bubbles in this relationship." You felt his chest against yours and braced for the inevitable-

as he finally licked your nose(?).

What.

"X-XINGQIUUUUU!" And then a cry of pain after a particularly harmful blow.

Entry Log # 659:

Xingqiu had always been a man of great words despite his chicken scratch of a penmanship. Vivid tales of his manuscript that I'm sure the Publishing House would take great value for, his years of memorizing numerous works in his arsenal. He told me that if I were to one day publish the manuscript, he wants to get the first copy and the first to get it signed. However Xingqiu has one glaring weakness when it comes to the art of words. When I asked him what would be a good title for the manuscript I made, he simply said, "Tales of the Writer!" And he sent a goofy smile. I thought he was joking, and I asked again, this time of what his work would be named. He replied:

"Why, Legend of Sword, of course!" He really sucks at titles.

Entry Log # 660:

Upon returning home with my new work ready to be shipped off for mass publishing, I've finally confronted my father. I had with me the final volume of my first work and offered it to him as first a gift of reconciliation, and my father took it with a mirthful glint in his eyes. He said he has been looking for the last volume of the series he'd been wanting to complete. I... I didn't know father was a fan.

The climax of my entire double-life ended so peacefully and tragically meh. I was expecting a martial arts fight of honor that will go down in history, but instead I ended up signing my own book as my father gushed about how nicely I illustrated the martial arts teaching we had during our sessions. I did not sleep well that night.

October 9th was a day celebrated by others more than the young master Xingqiu. The pavilion was mixed in with people from different walks of life and of faces he doesn't necessarily recognize. He lingers by the open window that shows the grandeur balcony, beckoning him outside. Today was a scheduled new release for Wanwen Bookhouse, and he had heard several chatters from the citizens that a new series would be published hailing from Yae Publishing House once again.

And the virtuoso of literature cannot attend such important matter himself because of his own birthday. How irking, you weren't even there to help appease his grumbling, you should have been here by now upon his invitation.

Suddenly the master of invitations bellowed out a familiar name, as his job to announce the entrance of the invited guests to the banquet. When he looks up, you were already walking down the grand staircase in your creme and blue Hanfu garb, accompanied by a tall man of a different wear—

"(Y/N), M-Mr. Nine-!" He bowed politely to the man as you curtsied at his presence. You looked absolutely dashing yet the man towered your form easily. "It's my honor to finally meet you, sire."

"Happy birthday, Xingqiu, I've heard many great things about you," the blunette opened his hands to receive the book gifted by the man. It had a familiar cover and title to it, Legend of Sword, "Great things, in fact, that there would too be great things to discuss later on." The Inazuman graced him a smile and he almost teared up at the implications, if not for when the author suddenly nudged you forward from your demure state.

Tales of the Ghost Writer

"X-Xingqiu, happy birthday! This is uhm, I've always wanted to- I wanted to give you this myself, I know you'd miss the first batch of releases," an unfamiliar book sits on his palm now. A plume and sword adorning its cover but no title, he shifts his hand to open it to the first page, "You said you wanted its first copy be signed, and I thought it appropriate to be given now at such a special occasion."

There in fresh print and ink he'd finally been revealed the mysteries he had long been searching for.

Against the translucent paper it was written and signed,

Tales of The Ghost Writer

Bob Ong, (Y/N)

@creation-magician @your-local-venti-simp @boxofteenageideas @indigodreamtime47

[lostsoulaltair]

Genshin Impact - Twins Personalities

This is the second time I touch topics related to Genshin Impact, while it’s true Honkai Impact 3rd stays more to my heart than Genshin, I must say in terms of gameplay Genshin is pretty good, I’ve had fun like most players or so I want to believe.

One of the topics I’d like to discuss is the twins personalities which is something that I’ve noticed with time and how people tend to point out a personality related to PV or Update trailers.

P.S: Before starting, this analysis isn’t focused to discuss if Aether is the MC and Lumine is the antagonist.

Both are viewed as MCs since there are two sides to play the game; the game itself gives free will to choose who the MC of the story will be, therefore, I hope this can be followed suit with proper respect.

Analysis are held within a neutral view.

First of all, let’s talk about the intro of the game, when the twins appear for the first time along their fateful meeting with the Goddess.

But before we proceed, there’s something I must highlight. 

Within the Genshin Fandom, I want to believe some parts tend to use EN VA, other part uses JP VA or CN VA; I don’t know in terms of KR VA but I must remark that VA change a lot the perception of both protagonists/antagonists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhyRv8Ly1ag

(The video is not mine but for example, I use JP VA since I got used to the dynamic with Honkai Impact 3rd; and of course, the CN VA are really good as well, just by looking at Shattered Samsara which is HI3rd’s latest CG Animation, speaks a lot about the VA).

1. Combat

    1.1 Aether’s Combat personality

Aether’s battlestyle relies a lot on his strength and energy, it is needless to say he’s the older among between the two and of course, he displays the protective elder brother figure, backing up his sister when it comes to fights. But, within this, it is to say that in battles, specially against unknown enemies, such display of talent leads to two issues:

Exceeding confidence and talent/weapon mastery

Within the trailer, one of the things many admired from Aether is how he displayed his sword technique, among this, there was a YouTube user that made a comparison between the twin’s swordstyle which relies a lot on how they choose to fight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb0ugVuVMtY

Aether and Lumine swordstyle and elemental abilities

In Aether’s case, he is straightforward within his swordstyle attacks, his first pattern can reflect his first goal which is to break defense from the enemy, following suit a horizontal slash, moving forward to more patterns that aim to break the stance of the enemy, following suit to gather momentum and lastly delivering the final strike along traces of elemental attack which depends of player’s choice.

It could be said that Aether’s swordstyle relies a lot in technique and mastery but within this, and focusing with the intro, it grows into overconfidence, but why?

The reason goes to how the intro is explained itself. It gives an insight that Aether and Lumine cover each other’s back to the point they only need themselves to make a good combination against any enemy that comes in front of them, but within this, it also goes to their weakness; such weakness is overconfidence against anything which is why they easily lost to the Unknown Goddess and why both got separated.

gif belongs to kumiiko

   1.2 Lumine’s Combat personality

When it comes to Lumine, it must be said that she’s not focused on displaying her talents with the sword or how she manipulates it compared to Aether in the FIrst Cutscene which leads the players to choose one of the twins; instead, it is displayed that Lumine is more collected in battle, she is very aware of what her brother might have in mind in terms of combat which is why both rely on each others support to face down or strike down enemies.

Making a comparson again with the video provided by a YouTube user, Lumine’s attacks are indeed more refined and elegant, she uses her body in order to gain momentum.

Her first strike is an horizontal slash which of course, in combat scenario would lead to an evental clash against another warrior, followed suit, it goes Aether’s first strike, which is aimed to break the defense of the enemy she might be facing, leading to a spin that gives momentum to the sword wielder, delivering a strike with more strength and eventually, leading to the common release of elemental attack which depends a lot on the choice of the player.

In terms of disadvantage, Lumine’s attack patterns indeed are more refined, which of course, gives openings to the enemies and thus, it could be said that this gives away why both rely and are aware of their own attack patterns to cover each other’s back.

2. Personalities outside combat

It isn’t required to say that both hold a touch of sassy moments within the game, among this, it is visible which of them tends to be more expressive and this of course goes for Lumine.

P.S: I’m not saying Aether is not expressive.

Due to Lumine’s design, it is more visible to see her facial expressions easier or rather, it could be said her expressions are more defined compared to Aether, of course, there are moments on which Aether’s facial expressions give away the best laugh for many players.

But for this, let’s focus on each of the twins.

  2.1 Aether’s personality

Thanks to the constant footage Aether recieves with each update, it is to say that Aether is a rather emotional character, he tends to have a strong calm demanor but nevertheless, he does have a soft heart when it comes to his sister; and this is heavily seen in the Trailer of 1.3 which took part of the Lantern Rite (which of course, was quite a down in terms of what it was expected inside the game)

So far, he displays a lot of sadness and specially grief, but why?

Due to the fact that Aether is the older sibling between them, even if they state they play rock paper scissors to decide certain stuff, Aether carries grief due to the loss of his sister; and of course, when it comes to celebrations, he wishes he could have his sister with him and due to the stream of 1.4 and that battle that will make many players shiver depending of the choice, his personality comes to full terror to see his sister on the other side, fighting with those who strike to destroy the peaceful days of Teyvant.

When it comes to positive aspects or rather, when there are good moments, Aether personality tends to be more calm, nevertheless, he does express happiness if anything’s going well.

  2.2 Lumine’s personality

When it comes to Lumine, most people see her as a savage or rather as the beffiting girl for the role of the antagonist, and I must say, when it comes to people picking her as the traveller, she displays a different vibe.

Since there’s barely any trailer for her since the first game trailer was for PS4 platform along mobile devices. 

Note: The trailer of “We will be reunited” in fact was released for the PS4 port, hence why it’s seen Aether as the MC of the story within versions BUT, this doesn’t mean Lumine isn’t an MC as well. On the contrary, due to the fact the game will be taken to PS4 and Nintendo Switch, it is required to have marketing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGMvTL9AedQ

The link above is the First Trailer for Nintendo Switch which has actually been delayed due to how they’ll port the game to such device.

Nevertheless, focusing on such short footage, it is to say that Lumine’s personality tends to display hope instead of grievance, does that mean she’s a not thoughtful sister?

No. In fact, this shows that she hasn’t lost hope about finding her elder brother, she is aware her journey will be long filled with hardships but that doesn’t mean she’ll dismiss the marvels of the world she was sent to, in fact, as travellers, both discover and acknowledge the beauty of the world of Teyvant and of course, within said trailer, Lumine’s adventure was just beginning to reach Liyue by having Paimon by her side,

Within the game, Lumine shows to be calm, thoughtful and reflective, giving a warm vibe when it comes to the characters that appear within the gameplay along having a sassy side just like Aether’s dialogues due to them being twins. But, within this, Lumine’s personality strikes more since she doesn’t display what lingers in her heart, of course, this doesn’t mean she’s heartless, instead she decides only to show such emotions is with Paimon unless the events that take place get the best of her which can be seen with Tartaglia’s character story along Dainsleif quest.

She enjoys the marvels within Mondstadt and Liyue but deep down, she misses her brother and wishes to find him. She gives the impression she will do anything to help just like her brother would if there were others in need.

And of course, within the Lantern Rite and Web Event that took place in 1.1; it is to said that Lumine is a hardworker, and of course, just like Paimon, she enjoys eating a lot, and this is due to the choices that are given within the gameplay whcih are protrayed very well for both sides.

3. Personality as antagonist

So far, many have seen Lumine playing the role of the Antagonist but of course, this doesn’t mean she’s the default villain within the story, so far, due to the fact that of how the trailers of each version has displayed her but of course, for those who play Lumine’s side, they see the same when it comes to seeing Aether as the abyss prince.

3.1 Aether Abyss Prince Personality

Aether as the Abyss Prince gives an impression that he changed due to the time he has spent within Teyvant, and of course, it is well known that one of them, depending of the choice, spent 500 years wandering around Teyvant which would explain why their clothing parts shine in a white color, meaning the unselected Twin traveled within Teyvant with the help of Dainsleif until the end of the journey was settled.

It is to said that Aether’s eyes reflect no mercy, he reflects his decision and will to work with the Abyss Order even if it stands against the moralities of the world. His emotions were hardened due to the time he spent in Teyvant without any trace of his missing twin and of course, his stare gives or rather displays power and indefinite strength to fight.

It is to said that the next time the side on which Aether plays the role of the Abyss Prince will be displayed in the new update version related with the continuation of Dainsleif’s quest.

3.2 Lumine’s Abyss Princess Personality

In contrast to Aether, Lumine gives an insight that she dwelled a lot in order to take such decision. That she dwelled until she reached the conclusion she’d take such footsteps even if it meant not seeing her twin brother again. Even if it meant they’d have to fight due to a difference or clash of ideals since the perception of the world will be fractured between them.

Due to her signature and design, it is to say that even if she tries to give a menacing aspect compared to Aether, she looks determinated but she does not give the vibe of being someone that will have no regrets. And this is heavily seen with the trailer “We will be Reuinited”.

In such trailer, it’s visible that Lumine gazes at her brother Aether with longing but of course, she can’t go to his side anymore due to her working and leading the Abyss Order, it shows there’s regret of her decision in contrast to Aether, of course, it would be a matter of time until mIHoYo chooses to give an insight of the Abyss Prince in the futrue.

What are your thoughts?

To be fair, this analysis is based on all the official media along recollection of people that made comparisons between the twins.

Is there a detail you might perceive from them in terms of personalities?